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to enrich your faith. Here's today's sermon.
Amen. Praise the Lord. Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter
2. From verse 42 to 47. So they continued steadfastly
in the apostles' doctrines and in fellowship,
in breaking of bread and in prayers. Then fear
came over every soul. Many signs and wonders
were done through the apostles. Now all who believed
were together and had all things in common, and
they sold their possessions. and goose and divided
them among themselves as anyone had needs. So
continually daily with one accord in the temple
and breaking of bread from house to house, they
ate their food with gladness and simplicity of
heart, praising God and having favor with all
the people. And the Lord added to the church
daily those who were being saved. Praise the
Lord. And we said that part of the things that
we do as After the believers' meeting, or even
after any meeting of God's people, is that we
continue in the Apostles' doctrines. We continue
in the things that have been taught to us. We
make it a part of us. We go back to the things
again to ensure that we understand them. Praise
the Lord. There are a lot of people that have
questions. maybe you've not had this type of
teaching before, or you didn't understand what
is going on, that there is need for you to go
back and to listen again, to continue in the
Apostle's doctrine, to be steadfast in it, praise
the Lord, to not stop. Praise the Lord. To continue
means to not stop, right? To be devoted to it,
to give yourself to the Apostles' Doctrine. It's
what we see in Acts chapter 2, that they continue
in the Apostles' Doctrine. The things that were
taught, they made it a part of their life. They
allowed it to change their life, to change the
things that they were doing. Praise the Lord.
Part of the teachings or part of the things that
was being taught to them is how to fellowship
together, how not to forsake the assemblies of
themselves. That's why we see that they are together.
They ate together. They saw the things that they
have and they ensured that nobody had need. Praise
the Lord. So these are some of the teachings
that came to them. And these are some of the
implications we see from the scriptures that
these people have no need. among themselves because
whenever they come together, people had enough.
Praise the Lord. People had enough. So the pastors
took time, as I was explaining on Sunday, that
the pastors took time, five sessions and maybe
minimum of one hour, 15 minutes each or more
to teach, to teach us doctrines, to teach us.
the ways of God to teach us the things that we
need to learn. So, and for example, Pastor Victor
was teaching about laying of hands, right? And
so many other teachings came. He didn't just,
I remember Pastor Costin was talking and he was
like, if somebody was teaching that, maybe from
beginning, he would just start laying hands.
Praise the Lord. But we see that there was up
to four or five sessions of teachings concerning
a thing before the practical started. Praise
the Lord. Because you cannot act or you cannot
behave out of knowledge. You cannot just do it
because somebody says you should do it. You will
do it when you have the knowledge of it. Praise
the Lord. That's why when we see that somebody
is not speaking in tongues, we don't tell you,
start speaking in tongues because this is the
Apostles' Doctrine. Praise the Lord. This is
what you should do. We go through the Scriptures
to explain to you why... you should speak in
tongue or why speaking in tongue is part of your
life, praise the Lord, or part of your makeup.
So the pastors took time to teach us, praise
the Lord. So it therefore means that we also
need to take time to continue in the things that
we have been taught, praise the Lord, to continue
in the things that we have been taught, to go
back to them. If you have questions, to ensure
that we ask them, praise the Lord. So they took
time to teach us because knowledge comes before
you begin to see manifestations. Praise the Lord.
Or you are able to do manifestation. If you don't
have knowledge of it, you will not be able to
do anything. Praise the Lord. So it also tells
us, it also gives us a pattern that we should
follow. Praise the Lord. It gives us a pattern
that we should follow, that doctrines are taught
to edify us. And when they edify us, then we
begin to do the practical aspect of it or begin
to show the manifestation of it. Praise the Lord.
We should learn from the method that we have
been taught. So it encourages us to continue
in the apostles' doctrines, to continue in the
things that we have been taught. Praise the Lord.
And the reason why we should continue in those
things is so that we will know what is original.
Praise the Lord. We saw it from on Sunday that
we'll know that which is true. You continue in
the doctrine so that you're able to distinguish
between that which is false and that which is
true. We continue because we want to live in
victory. Praise the Lord. We continue because
we want to live in victory. Praise the Lord.
And then we also learned that man is God's method
and plan on the earth. Man is God's method and
plan on the earth. So from that teaching, I don't
know if you were challenged to understand how
important you are in the agenda of God. Praise
the Lord. From that teaching, I don't know if
it's... Helped you to understand how important
you are in the agenda of God. That the things
that God wants to achieve on the earth, it is
through you. Praise the Lord. It is through you.
We also see from the teaching that Pastor Kostin
taught us. about spiritual experiences or some
of the spiritual experiences that we should have,
that the believer has utterance to their advantage.
Praise the Lord. The believer has utterance to
the advantage. It is there to your advantage.
It is there for you unconditionally. It is there
for you to practicalize in it. Praise the Lord.
To continue in spiritual experience. So the things
that we do after the believer's meeting is to
continue in those spiritual experience. If you
are speaking in tongues just as our sister has
shared, just as our brother has shared as well.
They continue in the things that they have been
taught. This is a spiritual experience. They
have experienced something. They have experienced
the ability to pray for that long. So they continue
in it. Praise the Lord. They don't go on vacation.
They don't fold their hands. But they continue
in it. Praise the Lord. Matthew chapter 11. Matthew
chapter 11. Matthew chapter 11 and from verse
1. He said, Now he came to pass, when Jesus finished
commanding him. twelve disciples, that he departed
from there to teach and to preach in their cities.
And when John heard in prison about the work
of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said
to him, Are you the one coming, or do we look
for another? And Jesus answered and said to them,
Go and tell John the things which you hear and
see. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers
are cleansed. The deaf hear, the dead are raised
up, and the poor, the gospel is preached to them.
And blessed is he who is not offended because
of me. Praise the Lord. So, as we have been taught
that God is, that man is God's method on the
earth. That you are the thing, you are the person
that God... He hopes to accomplish this plan
that he has. It is you that he walks through.
It is you that he walks through to perform miracles,
to heal the sick. Praise the Lord. The song that
we are singing, we heal the sick, right? We raise
the dead. It is things that should be practical
in our lives. Praise the Lord. It is things that
should be practical in our lives. So we continue
in these things. We put ourselves in the position
and in the place where we begin to learn or we
begin to align ourselves to these things that
God uses us to manifest his will and his purposes
on the earth. Praise the Lord. So we see that
the disciples of John came to Jesus and they
asked him a question. He said, are you the coming
one or do we look for another? Praise the Lord.
Are you the coming one or do we look for another?
So John knows what the coming one should be like.
Praise the Lord. He read it from the prophets,
right? There is a coming one. He prophesied about
it. And we said that part of the reason why the
Bible tells us that John is the greatest in the
kingdom of God is because he introduced the Christ.
Praise the Lord. He saw the Christ. He recognized
the Christ. Praise the Lord. The things that
the prophet could not see or the things they
prophesied about, he saw it and he identified
it and he introduced Christ to the world. Praise
the Lord. And so he asked Christ the question,
he said, are you the coming one or do we look
for another? And it's the same question that
I want to ask to us. With everything that we
have learned, with everything that we have learned
in the cataclysmos, do we need another cataclysmos?
Or you got what you need? Praise the Lord. Is
the knowledge, is the doctrine that has been,
you have learned sufficient for you? Or is it
enough? Do you still need to sit down and continue
to receive and not do anything about it? Do you
still need more teaching so that you are able
to do the things or you're able to align yourself
in the will and the purposes of God concerning
your life? Are you the one? Are you the coming
one or do we look for another? And so Jesus said
to him to go and tell him, he said that, tell
him what you see and what you hear. He said,
the blind see. And the lame walk, the leopards
are clean, and the dead is raised up, and the
poor the gospel is preached to them. Praise the
Lord. Does this look like the thing that Christ
said we are going to do? Does it look like what
Christ said that the believer is going to do?
Mark chapter 16. Mark chapter 16, verses 15 to
18. And he said to them, Go into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature. He who
believes and is baptized will be saved. He who
does not believe will be condemned. And these
signs will follow those who believe. In my name
they will cast out demons. They will speak with
new tongues. They will take up sapient, and if
they drink anything deadly, it will not by any
means hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick,
and they will be recovered. They will recover.
So we see here that this is what Christ says
about those who believe. Praise the Lord. The
same thing that he said to the disciples of John.
He said, the lame walk and the blind see. The
gospel is preached to the poor. Praise the Lord.
So these signs also should follow you or would
follow you, he says. who follow those who believe.
So if it's a question of, are you the coming
one or should we expect another? You say, oh,
this is what I'm doing. Or this is what I have
been doing. Praise the Lord. I've been in the
purpose of God. I've been in the plan of God.
I've been in alignment to the things of God.
I speak in new tongues. I heal the sick. I preach
the gospel. Praise the Lord. So there's no expectation
for another because I'm already doing that which
God has destined for me to do. I'm already doing
that which God has said I am going to do. So
I say that John knows by the prophet what the
Christ is or who the Christ should be or what
he should do. So he speaks about you that you
would heal the sick, that you would speak with
new tongues, that you would cast out demons.
Praise the Lord. So there is no expectation of
another. 1 Peter tells us that you are a choosing
generation, you are a royal priesthood. He's
not just telling you things that will puff you
off. Oh, you know, some people will tell me,
you know, they will say, The word is, is it hail
me or something? You see somebody, you're hyping
them up. Hype me up, hype me up. Maybe the person
is wearing a clean dress. You're hyping the person
up. This is not a hype. Praise the Lord. It's
not what is said to make you feel good about
yourself. Oh, I'm a choosing generation. I'm
a royal priesthood. Praise the Lord. It is a
reality of your life. It is the reality of your
life. Like I mentioned on Sunday that If we're
looking for revival, revival has come to you.
Something has happened in your life. A shift
has happened. Praise the Lord. A shift has happened
to you. A shift has happened to you. Greater
work will you do. Praise the Lord. So again,
my sister was saying something during the prayers
that after what we do is to also pay attention
to the spiritual things or the prophecies that
have been said to us. Praise the Lord. The word
of knowledge, the prophecies, the word that came
to us, we should pay attention to them. So this
is what we do after a believers meeting or after
a gathering of believers is that we pay attention
to the things that are said. We don't despise
them. Praise the Lord. 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse
12 to 16. He said, let no one despise your youth.
Praise the Lord. Don't let your mind despise
your youth. You know, there is... Sometimes there's
a notion in our head that, oh, we are young people,
you know, there's still time for us to do some
things. You know, let's not, as a young person
now, somebody sees you and they say, ah, this
person is on fire for God. He's going to be like,
I don't, let me just be, you know, let me be
somebody who goes to church, but, you know, I
can have some other accommodation of things.
Praise the Lord. Let not your mind despise your
youth. Praise the Lord. Don't despise your youth.
Before you start showing it and let others despise
it, you first. Don't despise your youth. Praise
the Lord. Don't say you are too small for these
things. Praise the Lord. The word that came to
you did not come to you and say you are small.
Praise the Lord. We see in judges, right? We
see in Judges about Gideon. Judges chapter 6.
About Gideon. He says, and verse 12 says, The
angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to
him, The Lord is with you, you mighty man of
valor. Praise the Lord. The Lord has called him
mighty man of valor. He's small among the smallest
tribe. Praise the Lord. And he's hiding. He's
showing weakness. By the way. He's hiding. His
physical state is that he's hiding for his life
and he's coming out. And the Lord is saying to
him, you mighty man of valor. So even the Lord
has not said, oh, you are such a small person.
You know, I see that you're afraid. No. He said
to him that you are a mighty man of valor. So
God sees him. Praise the Lord. So what your definition
of yourself is from God. We did these studies
that we get the revelation of ourselves through
Jesus. Praise the Lord. The revelation of ourselves
is through Jesus. So don't despise your youth.
And Gideon said to him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord
is with us, Why then has all these things happened
to us? Where are all the miracles which our fathers
told us, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up
from Egypt? But now the Lord has forsaken us
and delivered us to the hands of the Midianites.
And the Lord said to him, Go in this might of
yours, and you will save Israel from the hands
of the Midianites. Have I not sent you? Praise
the Lord. So even Gideon himself knew the things
of God. He knew that there's some abnormality
about our state. Praise the Lord. He knew that
there's something wrong about where I am. Right?
In as much as, yes, I'm small. In as much as
my family is the smallest. In as much as we are
suffering and we are hiding and we cannot even
plant. And if we plant, the Midianites will come
and take it from us. Praise the Lord. They will
come and destroy our crops and take it. In as
much as those things are happening to you. Right?
He's saying that there's something off about
this. Because what our fathers have told us is
that God is great in this kingdom. Praise the
Lord. What our fathers have told us is that God
has been great in this kingdom. So how is it
that we are suffering? So in the mind that he's
going is in the mind that he knows that we are
not supposed to be there. Praise the Lord. So
the strength that he's going on is he's going
in the strength that he knows that something
is off and we are not supposed to be where we
are. Praise the Lord. So God sees you for who
you are. So do not despise your youth. Do not
say you are too small. Do not say you are the
firstborn of your family. Maybe they will say
you have carry Christian things in your head.
Praise the Lord. Do not say there is nothing
for me to do. He said, you mighty man of valor,
a man who is hiding. Let's go back to Timothy,
1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 12 to 16. He said,
let no one despise your youth, but be an example
to the believers in word, in conduct, in love.
In spirit, in faith. Praise the Lord. He said,
do not let anyone despise your youth. Right?
What he's saying is that you should be a believer.
Be a believer. Praise the Lord. Be my child.
The list he's giving here is what a believer
has or what a believer, the traces or what we
can see in a believer. But be an example in word,
in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in
purity. Till I come, give attention to reading
and exaltation and to doctrine. He said, Do not
neglect the gift of God that is in you, which
was given to you by the prophecies with the laying
of hands of the eldership. Meditate on these
things. Give yourself entirely to them, that
your progress may be evident to all. He said,
Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue
in them, for in doing this, you will save both
yourself and to those who hear you. Praise the
Lord. Let's go to verses 13. 14 run. He said,
do not neglect the gift of gold that is in you,
which was given to you by the prophecies with
the laying of the hands of the eldership. Praise
the Lord. He said, do not neglect them. So the
prophecies that came to you, As a result of your
prayers, as a result of the cathartismus, rather,
as a result of the prayers that we had here,
is to do not neglect them. Don't say they are
too big. How are we supposed to achieve this?
Or you have received so many words in the past
before, you know, they said you're going to be
a pastor. You know, they told me that three years
ago, four years ago. I'm still here, still struggling.
Praise the Lord. You say you don't neglect them.
How do you not neglect these things? How do you
not neglect these things? How you don't neglect
them is that you pray about them. Praise the
Lord. How you don't neglect them is that you
have it written down. Praise the Lord. You have
it written down and you pray about them. The
fact that there is a prophecy that came to your
life does not mean that it would automatically
flow. And go and you will start walking in it.
Praise the Lord. You have to pay attention. You
have to pay attention to the things that have
been said concerning your life. The prophecies
that came upon your life. You have to give attention
to them. You have to pray about them. You have
to meditate on them. You have to practice them.
Praise the Lord. You need to get direction consigning
some of them. And so you need to pray about them.
You need to seek the face of God consigning some
of the things that you have received. If the
Lord is saying to you that he is going to, or
somebody, you know, the Lord is saying to somebody
that you are, you're going to preach or you're
going to be a preacher. And then where you are
right now, you don't know any Greek word, for
example. You don't say, ah, they told me something
that is too big for me. Praise the Lord. It means
that you need to seek counsel and get direction
concerning what you should do. It means that
you need to start learning. You need to come
under training. Praise the Lord. You need to
come under training so that the things that were
said concerning you will begin to find manifestation.
Praise the Lord. You need to find, so you don't
just run off and start. I remember a preacher
was saying that, God was saying to him that you,
he's going to, you're going to make friends with
some people and that is going to be for the kingdom.
Right? And he just took off and started making
friends. Praise the Lord. He did not ask for
which friends should we make or who are the people
that you are sending me to that we're going to
be friends, that is going to help us or is going
to help me, that I'm going to partner with that
will progress this kingdom. He just took off
and said, oh, okay, I see that preacher. I see
this preacher. Okay, let's be friends. Praise
the Lord. But then he later found out that those
are not the people that he should be friends
with because they were going to cause him issues
and problems. So when the Lord is saying something
to you or has said something to you, you're confused
or it's too ambiguous or it's too big, you need
to start praying about them. You need to start
seeking counsel about them. What am I supposed
to do now? Praise the Lord. What am I supposed
to do now? How do I go about it? Don't leave
it in the back of your book and maybe somebody
else again will come and tell you after one year,
the Lord is saying this thing. You now say, ah,
they have told me this thing before, but you
are waiting for it. Praise the Lord. You start
walking in it. You start finding alignment. You
start aligning yourself to the things that were
said. You don't wait for it. Praise the Lord.
You don't wait for those things to come and meet
you. Or maybe somebody is You are living the
way you should not live and they ask you, what
are you doing like this? Do you not know the
Lord has said I'll be a preacher? Why are you
talking to me like this? Praise the Lord. And
so that's where the church then comes in to help
us. Praise the Lord. This is where the church
comes in to help us. I started on Sunday talking
about the family of God. I was talking about
Why the Lord has given us the local church. Praise
the Lord. Why the Lord has given us the local
church. And I said that the local church is God's
structure for your spiritual growth. Praise the
Lord. The local church is God's structure for
your spiritual growth. It is what God has designed
that you grow, that you find direction, that
you find family. It is where you learn how to
function. Right? In the local church, it's where
you follow the instructions and the directions
of the pastors because this is what God has designed
for you, for your growth. They will guide you.
And I said to us not to be careful not to join
those who are saying many bad things about the
church. That a local church might not be perfect,
or it might not be as you think it should be,
but it doesn't mean that you should be speaking
bad about it. Praise the Lord. Because this is
God's design for your growth. There are some
people that have used it for their own benefit.
Praise the Lord. But it doesn't mean that God
is not interested again in the local church.
Praise the Lord. So to give yourself to the local
church as a place of training. So we must be
planted again in a local church because that's
where we learn how to function. Right? We cannot
grow when we have divided commitment. You are
in this church. You are in that church. Your
mom is Anglican. Your father is Catholic. You
say, okay, let's go to Catholic this Sunday.
Anglican the next Sunday. You will not grow.
Praise the Lord. Oh, okay. I'm here in NECF.
I am somewhere online. That's my church too.
You know, some Sundays I might not come because,
you know, my church is holding something online.
You will not grow. Praise the Lord. There will
be a lot of confusion in your life because the
church then has a structure or have a plan for
your growth. Praise the Lord. The church, the
local church has a plan for you to grow. They
don't just say, okay, on Sunday, you know. As
the Lord is leading, you just preach anything.
Praise the Lord. At least we don't do that. To
just say, okay, yeah, just preach anything. Praise
the Lord. Or just say anything that comes to
your mind, you know. Or, you know, what studies
do you think we should do next? Praise the Lord.
So there's already a plan consigning your growth.
So when you begin to have those divided commitments,
you will not be able to grow properly. So to
hear one thing is how to grow, right? Not many
things. So you grow by hearing one thing. You
grow by hearing one thing, not many things, as
a result of the fact that you have access to
the social media. We cannot grow like that. We
cannot have a lot of commitment and grow spiritually.
Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter
10 verse 38. Now it happened as they went that
he entered a certain village and a woman named
Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had
a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus'
feet and had his word. But Martha was distracted
with many servings, and she approached him and
said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has
left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to
help me. And Jesus said to her, Martha, Martha,
you're worried? and troubled about many things.
But one thing indeed, one thing is needed. And
Mary has chosen the good part, which will not
be taken away from her. Praise the Lord. Which
will not be taken away from her. So what Martha
was doing was very important. Right? What Martha
was doing was very important. It's a very important
thing to do, to serve, to... serve in the house
of God or in the local church, as you say. It
is a good thing to serve, right? But she was
worried about many things. She was worried about
serving, helping. In our case, listening to many
things or not being committed to a local church
is the troubles and the worries that you might
have. Praise the Lord. So in our case, listening
to many things and not following, not being committed
to a local church is a thing that will become
the trouble and the worries that you are having.
Praise the Lord, or you might have. Praise the
Lord. And he said, if you sit, he said Mary sat
in verse 39. He says, and she had a sister called
Mary who also sat at Jesus' feet and had his
reward. So sat at Jesus' feet. It's not just
talking about that what sat at Jesus' feet. It's
not, it's just merely a geographical location.
Okay? So it's not, it's not merely that she sat
on the floor. Praise the Lord. Right? But rather,
it is that she gave herself to trading. Praise
the Lord. So, Sat at Jesus' feet that Mary did
is not just that she's physically sitting at
Jesus' feet. Just like every person is seated
in church, but not every person is given to training.
Praise the Lord. So, sat at Jesus' feet is much
more than that. That word, sat at Jesus' feet,
is just more than that. It means to give yourself
to training. So Mary gave herself to the training
that Jesus is doing. Praise the Lord. Mary gave
herself to the training in which Jesus was given.
So the church is where you give yourself to training.
The local church is where you give yourself to
training. We also see in Acts chapter 22 verse
3. He said, and he said, I indeed am a Jew born
in Tharsis of Sicilia, no, Silesia, right? But
I was brought up at the city at the feet of Gamaliel,
right? So we also see this place. I was brought
up at the city at the feet of Gamaliel. It's
also saying that he gave himself to training.
Right? Taught according to the strictness of
our father's law and was zealous towards God
as you all are today. Praise the Lord. So, brought
up at the city, at the feet of Gamaliel, he's
saying that he gave himself to training. It's
the same word that we see in Luke chapter 10,
verse 38, 39. Right? So, he's giving himself
to a mentorship. So the church is where you give
yourself to training. Praise the Lord. You give
yourself to be trained. So it therefore means
that you are not the one that designed the curriculum.
Praise the Lord. So you don't design the curriculum.
You give yourself to be trained. So the local
assembly brings structure to your life. Right?
It brings structure to your life. It's a place
of mentorship. You should not be just everywhere.
Praise the Lord. You give yourself to training.
And so that's why I gave the example of last
week that if you're thinking about the subject
of anointing and we are dealing with something
else, the gospel in Genesis, you might have to
wait for anointing to reach you. Praise the Lord.
The teaching of anointing to reach you because
that's the structure that it is right now. You
cannot tell your teacher that he's teaching you
a subject at the beginning of the seventh stanza.
You want to learn what is before finals. Praise
the Lord. He should teach you what is beyond
before finals. So there's a structure that the
church brings to your life. Praise the Lord.
You cannot do everything at once. You will not
just learn everything at once. It comes gradually.
That's how you get impacted with knowledge. That's
how you grow. It is that things are done gradually.
So the church brings order in a systematic way
to your life. It is not a place of entertainment.
Praise the Lord. So there's people that will
say, ah, this is your church service. They're
not dancing too much or they're not bringing
comedians. It's not a place, you're not the custodian.
Praise the Lord. It's not a place of entertainment.
So it's not, the growth in the church is not
from human perspective. You don't say, you know,
as young people. We need some few jokes around,
some entertainment here and there, some drama
here and there, some dancing here and there,
some performance in the stage. We need to bring
a comedian, you know, something like this. Praise
the Lord. So it's not, the church is not, the
growth that happens is not to your own perspective.
Praise the Lord. That's why it's a place of training.
It's also not a place where you go. To get pleased.
The way you go and say, let me please myself.
Like the way an entertainment place is. Or a
place where you say you want to go and shine.
Praise the Lord. A lot of people that came to
shine, some of them have left. Praise the Lord.
It's a place of training. So the local church
provides stability to the believer, stability
to your prayer life, right? And supernatural
experiences, just like the way we had catatismus,
just like the way we had all day prayers. It
brings stability to your prayer life, to supernatural
experiences. We organize believers conference.
We organize a Holy Ghost meeting. Praise the
Lord. The church brings these things to bring
stability to your life. Right? We have time for
prayers. Just like in this service, there was
50 minutes of prayers. Praise the Lord. So we
have all these things to ensure that the believer
is stable and is growing. There's time for evangelism.
There's time to serve. Praise the Lord. So by
listening to many people or many things, you
begin to lack stability. Praise the Lord. Because
what is said here might be different from what
is said there. Praise the Lord. And you are getting
a little from here and there. So when you stick
to the local church, you will gradually begin
to grow. Praise the Lord. When you stick to the
local church, you will gradually begin to grow.
So you focus more on what is happening in your
local church, not in the body of Christ. Praise
the Lord. Focus more on what is happening in
this local church. not what is happening in the
body of Christ. If you focus more on what's happening
in your local church, there will be much more
growth. Praise the Lord. Because you might see
somebody that you, you know, according to you,
the person is misbehaving, but there might be
somebody in your local church that is showing
you signs and some symptoms. Praise the Lord.
If you don't focus on that person, you will grow
up to become one of those people that will bring
much more problems. Praise the Lord. So you focus
more on what is happening in your local church.
Lord, what are they doing there? They are not
even praying. They are not even singing. They
are not even teaching the word. Focus more on
what is happening in your local church so that
you grow. 2 Timothy chapter 1, 2 Timothy chapter
2, verses 1 to 2. He said, You, therefore, my
son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ
Jesus, and the things which you have had from
me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful
men who will be able to teach others. Praise
the Lord. Commit these things to faithful men
who will be able to teach others. So the one
thing about the local church is that it has people
that think alike. Praise the Lord. For example,
they say, let's rejoice. Everybody here understands
what it means to rejoice. So the local church
gives you this opportunity to think alike, to
behave in certain ways. So you share in common
things. You share the same thing. You share the
same word. He said, the same thing you should
commit to faithful men. He said, the things which
you have heard from me, among many witnesses,
commit these things to faithful men who will
be able to teach others. How do you know a faithful
man? Praise the Lord. You know a faithful man
from a local church. Praise the Lord. You know
a faithful man from a local church. And because
this man is being around, he's in the local church,
he's able to commit these things to many other
people because he has had the same thing. He
has received the same thing. Praise the Lord.
So because he's been in a place of training,
he's able to pass these things on to faithful
men. Praise the Lord. Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter
1, verse 1 to 4. Inasmuch as many have taken
in hand to set in order a narrative of the things
which have been fulfilled among us, just as those
who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and
ministers of the Word deliver them to us, it
seems good to me also Having had perfect understanding
of all these things, from the very start, to
write to you an orderly account, most excellent
Theophilus. Praise the Lord. So he had had the
same thing. He has been among them. Praise the
Lord. So he can, he can, he can, we can say that
he's a faithful man because he has been among
the same set of people. He's not going to write
something else to Theophilus. Praise the Lord.
He's not going to write something else to Theophilus
because he has been among the happenings that
are happening around. So he's going to write,
the thing he's going to write is not going to
be contradictory to the things that has been
taught. Praise the Lord. So Luke is a faithful
man. It's the same thing that Jesus tells us,
right? In Matthew 28, verse 20. Matthew 28, verse
20. It's teaching them all the things I've commanded
you and know I'm with you always to the end,
even to the end of the age. Amen. It's teaching
them to observe all the things I've commanded
you. Praise the Lord. Do you know what Jesus
is saying to them? I know that you have learned
everything I've commanded you. Praise the Lord.
You're not going to water down the things I've
taught you. Praise the Lord. Because you have
been in a place of training, because you have
been with me all this while, because you have
been in a local church. Praise the Lord. You're
not going to water down the things that you're
going to command them. It's all the things I've
commanded you. So these men are faithful men
that have received, that have been trained. Praise
the Lord. So a faithful man is a man who has
received training, right? Who has received training.
A man who has received training, who has been
in the local church. One who is safe, right?
Who gives himself to the message. And he teaches
others the same thing that he's been taught.
Praise the Lord. He's not trying to add some
spices to it. He's trying to add his own doctrines
to it. Praise the Lord. He's a man that I received.
The way he received it is the same way he's going
to deliver it. Praise the Lord. So these are
faithful men. Deliver it unto them. So we should
not be people that have information about many
things but have no depth about these things.
That's what the local church comes to. do for
us. He comes to bring stability to our life.
He comes to commit the word of truth to us so
that we're able to commit it to others. Praise
the Lord. You have two years or one year here.
Praise the Lord. And when you are done, it is
expected that you're supposed to commit the same
thing that you learned. Not a watered down thing.
Okay? Lord, they say, okay, come and preach laying
of hands. You now say, if I just lay hands on
you now, you fall. Praise the Lord. It means
laying of hands is when you touch somebody's
forehead, you fall. That's not what you were
taught. They took four or five sessions to teach
you and two hours message. And then you just
came and said, come and receive it. Praise the
Lord. So, to be faithful men. So, the church
helps us to be faithful men. Praise the Lord.
The church gives us the platform to receive the
word of righteousness so that we are able to
commit it onto other people, so that we are able
to teach it to other people. Praise the Lord.
So that's what we do after Catholicism. Praise
the Lord. We stay in the local church. So I just
want us to take some time now. The mic is still
on. We're just going to pray for this house.
We're going to pray for this church. Okay? And
we're going to give word consigning this church.
Praise the Lord. In the next 10 minutes, we're
going to pray consigning NECF. And we're going
to give word consigning NECF. The secretaries
are very active and available to receive this
word. And the mics are on for us to receive this
word. So for the next 10 minutes, I just want
us to begin to pray for this church. Pray for
the leaders of this church, especially the lead
pastor of this church. Praise the Lord. And we're
going to receive word for this local church.
Let's just be on our feet. If today's message
was a blessing, share it with a friend. Till
next time, be blessed.