Welcome to NECF Sermons. Each message here is
designed to uplift and strengthen you in your
walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until
the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive
right in. Let's have us. Hallelujah. You're welcome
to today's service. I trust God and I believe
God that you'll be blessed today in the name
of Jesus. So throughout this year, we have been
taught that every believer or everybody who has
come to Christ is a minister of God. That it
is not reserved for certain individuals. It is
not reserved for a special people, right? But
that everybody that is a child of God is a minister
of God. So today we're just going to be looking
at that. And as most of the pastors do, I also
struggle to find the topic sometimes for some
of these teachings. But I would just like to
call it the minister. Praise the Lord. Mark chapter
16. Mark chapter 16. From verse 15. 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, but he who does not
believe will be condemned. And these signs would
follow those who believe. In my name, they will
cast out demons. They will speak with new tongues.
They will take up sapiens. And if they drink
anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them.
They will lay hands on the sick and they will
recover. Praise the Lord. They will lay hands
on the sick and they will recover. And like I
said, that we have been taught that every believer
is a minister. Praise the Lord. Every believer
is a minister of God. So we see that Jesus made
this statement after the resurrection. After
the resurrection, he tells them to go and preach.
Go and preach the word to every creature. He
that believes is saved. Praise the Lord. He that
believes is saved. We notice that the gospel
is to be preached in all the world. Praise the
Lord. The gospel is to be preached in all the
world. There is no ascertaining people that the
gospel is targeted to, praise the Lord, but that
the gospel is preached to all nations, to every
creature on the earth. So this is God's plan
that everybody to be saved, that man is to be
saved, praise the Lord. And so therefore the
gospel is to be preached in all the world. 1
Timothy chapter 2, from verse 1 to 4. 1 Timothy
chapter 2, verses 1 to 4. He says, Praise the
Lord. So the desires of God is that all men be
saved. Praise the Lord. The desire of God is
that all men be saved and come to the knowledge
of the truth. Praise the Lord. God does not want
men to be ignorant about the things that he has
done for them. Praise the Lord. God does not
want man to be ignorant. So we see the desire
of God. His desire is that all men be saved and
come to him. Praise the Lord. So we preach the
gospel all over the world. Praise the Lord. So
we preach the gospel to every creature. 2 Peter
3, verse 9 tells us as well about this desire
of God. It said, The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some count slackness, but is
longsuffering towards us, not willing that anyone
should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Praise the Lord. So the Lord is willing and he's
patient so that every man will come to repentance.
Every man will come to the knowledge of truth.
Every man should be saved in the name of Jesus.
So he wants all men to come to repentance. His
plan and his desire is that all men be saved.
Praise the Lord. In Mark chapter 16 that we just
read, verse 15. It talks about that the gospel
should be preached to every creature all over
the world. And we know that the word that is
there is a Greek word for cosmos, which is used
for the system of things. It's that the gospel
is preached all over the world. It means the
activity of men. Praise the Lord. To preach the
gospel in every activity of men, to preach it
in their... going out and they are coming in.
That the gospel is a part of them, praise the
Lord. That the gospel is a part of them. It means
the inhabitants of the earth. So the gospel should
reach every inhabitant of the earth, praise the
Lord. The gospel should reach every inhabitant
of the earth. It should affect the activities
and the interaction of men, praise the Lord.
That the gospel should affect the activities
and the interaction of men. So we preach the
gospel. Praise the Lord. And one other thing
we can notice there is that they say you should
preach it everywhere. It means that there is
nothing that is, should be, everything is included.
Praise the Lord. Or everybody is included. Praise
the Lord. To all the families of the earth. Praise
the Lord. It means that the gospel should be
preached in every family of the earth. It should
be preached in your family. It should be preached
in your neighbor's family. It should be preached
in your friend's family. It should be preached
in every family of the earth, in all creation,
in all nations of the earth, in every part of
the earth. So there's no segregation. It does
not see race. Praise the Lord. It does not see
a different type of people. The gospel is for
everybody. Praise the Lord. The gospel is for
everybody. So it should be preached in every
system or in every nation. The fact that some
people's system works, for example, you are here
in Cyprus and you rarely see interruption of
electricity or you always have constant water,
does not mean that they don't need the gospel.
Praise the Lord. Or the fact that maybe in America
there's more, there's so many things that are
beneficiary or would help your lifestyle. Does
not mean they don't need the gospel. Praise the
Lord. Material possession or riches do not stop
somebody from receiving the gospel. Praise the
Lord. So everybody is included. Every nation
is included. So we don't segregate. Praise the
Lord. The fact that your friend has a big car,
or he or her life is going perfectly, does not
mean they don't need the gospel. Praise the Lord.
Does not mean they don't need Christ. Or there's
some people that will come online and say, you
know, these things you are saying is because
these people are poor, right? It's only poor
people that can receive the gospel. Praise the
Lord. But we see, even from the scriptures, example
of the Ethiopian eunuch, right? He was in charge
of... The treasury of the queen, Candace. But
the gospel was also preached to him. It was reading
Isaiah when Philip came and he explained to him
the scripture and he received the gospel. Praise
the Lord. In Acts chapter 18 from verse 26 to
40, we see that, that even with his wealth and
his riches, There was something still lacking
in his life. When he opened the scriptures to
read, he could not even understand it. Praise
the Lord. That he needed somebody to explain
to him. And we saw that Philip explained the
gospel to him and he believed the gospel. And
he was baptized and he was saved. Praise the
Lord. So we see that every class of people need
the gospel. King Agrippa, for example, when Paul
was making the argument about his faith or how
he came to the knowledge of truth. Praise the
Lord. He said, you almost persuaded me to be
a Christian. In Acts chapter 26, from verse 27
to 28. Praise the Lord. We see that he was explaining
what had happened to him. How he encountered
Jesus. And so the man was feeling persuaded.
But he told him that he's not just for you, but
everybody else. Acts chapter 26, from verse 27
to 28. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophet?
I know that you do believe. Then Agrippa said
to Paul, you almost persuaded me to become a
Christian. Praise the Lord. And then let's see
the other. And Paul said, I will to God that
not only you, but also all who hear me today
might become put almost and all together such
as I am, except for those, for these chains.
Praise the Lord. So he wants that everybody that
hears him, so all the royalties, the people that
were there to come to the knowledge of truth.
Praise the Lord. But he was telling them that
except for the chain that he has. Praise the
Lord. So he was in preaching the gospel, there
was consequences and there was persecution. And
that's why there was chain in his leg. But he
was preaching to them so that they will not have
to have the chains in his leg. That his chain
will mean much more to him. Praise the Lord.
So the gospel is for everybody. Everybody needs
the gospel. Your parents need the gospel. That
your stubborn sibling needs the gospel. Praise
the Lord. So, but then some people believe that,
like we have been saying, and I'm going to reiterate
now, that some people believe that not everybody,
you know. Maybe our money can work for us. If
we cannot preach the gospel, let's give offerings
so that it would help the ministry. It does help
the ministry, but that is not the way that we
go about partnering in preaching the gospel.
It is that you know and you preach. Praise the
Lord. It is that you know and you preach. Is
everybody called? Praise the Lord. Are you called
to preach the gospel or do you have that calling
upon your life? Is it for your particular people?
Is it for the people that stand in the pulpit?
Praise the Lord. Is it for the people or is it
for everybody? And sometimes we, from our eyes,
we judge people that are doing well for God or
we think that people that are doing well for
God are necessarily just people that are in the
pulpit. Praise the Lord. There are a lot of people
that are doing the work of ministry and nobody
knows their name. Praise the Lord. They probably
have never had a stage to stand and to speak,
but they are there because they understand that
they are a minister of God. Praise the Lord.
So not every one of us will start a ministry.
Not every one of us, what I mean by minister,
not every one of us will start a church like
this. Praise the Lord. But in our various places,
in our various places of work, we are to preach
the gospel. That is the way God intended to be.
Praise the Lord. We see that the disciples, that
when they were scattered because of persecution,
that they went to different places and they continued
to preach. They were not concerned about, oh,
how do we gather again? You know, we love the
setting of the church. And that's why as a church,
we teach you some of the things that we teach
you because we know that Cyprus is a passing
place. You come here for four years, you come
here for six years or more, depending on what
you're doing, and you go somewhere else or you
go back to your home. The will of God is that
you know him and that you carry on this to continue
to preach the gospel. With all the knowledge
that you have, with all the understanding that
you have been given, with all the catatismos
that you have attended, with all the Bible studies
and interpretation you have learned, with everything
that has been invested in your life, God expects
that when you go to a place and then you go to
a church and then you don't understand what they
are preaching, or you go to another church, you
don't expect what they are preaching, or you
don't understand what they are preaching, you
don't sit down there, praise the Lord. What do
you do? You start preaching the gospel. Praise
the Lord. If there is need, you begin to gather
people. Praise the Lord. If there is need, you
begin to pray over them. Praise the Lord. If
there is need, you begin to, you start a church.
Praise the Lord. If there is need, you gather
people together to fellowship. The people that
started a lot of the churches, I can assure you
that not every one of them have this much knowledge
that you have. They ran with the little that
they had. Praise the Lord. With every investment,
they have taught you Bible study and interpretation.
They have taught you many things, how to study
the scriptures, how to create the studies, how
to do so many things. Do you think it is too
small or do you think you're too small to start
something? Praise the Lord. Or you're waiting
for, as I was asking, whether everybody is called
or few are called. To say, you know, God is telling
me, go that direction. Or you hear a clear voice
like Paul telling you that, why have you not
preached the gospel? Or why have you not started
the walk? Praise the Lord. Every believer is
called to preach the gospel. Every believer is
called. Matthew chapter 16, as Pastor Fred has
been explaining to us, I'm not really going to
go into a lot of details. Pastor Fred has taught
us a lot from these scriptures. I want us to
read it and then we talk about the calling of
God upon our lives. Matthew chapter 16, verses
13 to 19. When Jesus came into the region of
Caesarea Philippi, he said to his disciples,
Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And
so they said, Some say John the Baptist, and
some Elijah, and some Jeremiah, or one of the
prophets. And he said to them, But who do you
say that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said,
You are Christ, the Son of the living God. And
Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you,
Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed
these things to you, but my Father who is in
heaven. And I say to you that you are Peter,
and on this rock I will build my church, and
the gate of Hades shall not prevail against it.
And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of
heaven, and whatever you bound on earth will
be bound in heaven, and whatever you lose on
earth will be loosed in heaven. Praise the Lord.
So Jesus said to him, upon this rock, I will
build my church. Praise the Lord. And we say
the word for church there is what? So we say
the word for church there is ecclesia, right?
Which means what? You see? Called out ones. Praise
the Lord. It is a word to use. It's a word that
is used for summoning somebody. Praise the Lord.
To be called out. So when he says, I will build
my church, he's referring to those that he has
called or those he will call. Praise the Lord.
So how did he call them? How did he call these
people? When he says that they are the called
out ones, that upon this rock he will build his
church and the gate of Hades will not prevail
against it. How did he call these people? Ephesians
chapter 1 from verse 17 to 22. Ephesians chapter
1. He said that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, may give you the spirit
of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of
him, and the eyes of your understanding being
enlightened, that you may know what is the hope
of his calling, what is the riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the saints, and what is
the exceeding greatness of his power towards
us who believe, according to the walking of his
mighty power, which he walked in Christ when
he raised him from the dead. Praise the Lord.
In verse 18, he tells us something. Go to verse
18. of his calling. Praise the Lord. Who is doing
the calling? Praise the Lord. Christ is doing
the calling. So for the Greek word, the same
thing that we saw, right? Which means those,
or which means those who he called, or what he
has called us. Praise the Lord. So that calling
is what he has called us. Praise the Lord. Let
me put this thing back on this. So that calling
means what he has called us. So let's look at
the earlier verses of that place. In the earlier
verses, in verse 3, it tells us something. Verse
3, Ephesians chapter 1, verse 3. It says, Blessed
be God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has blessed us with every spiritual blessing
in heavenly places. He has blessed us with every
spiritual blessing in heavenly places. This is
what he has done. Praise the Lord. This is the
calling that he has called. In verse 4 now. Just
as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love. Verse 5. Having predestined
us to the adoptions as sons by Jesus Christ to
Himself, according to the good pleasure of His
will. Verse 6 and 7 now. To the praise of the
glory of His grace by which He made us accepted
in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sin according to
the riches of his grace. Praise the Lord. It
is God who is doing the calling. So this is God's
calling. Praise the Lord. He has blessed us with
every spiritual blessings in the heavenly places.
He has redeemed us through his blood. Praise
the Lord. He has redeemed us through his blood.
He has given us the forgiveness of sins. according
to his riches in his grace. So when he says that
you will know the hope of your calling, this
is what he's trying to say, that you will know
these things that he has done. Praise the Lord.
That you will know the blessings in which he
has blessed us with. That you will know the things
that we have in him. Praise the Lord. That is
what he has called us. That is what he has called
us. We also see another way in which he called
us. 1 Peter 2, verse 9, that we all know about,
that he called us out of darkness into light.
Praise the Lord. He called us out of darkness
into light. He said, but you are a choosing generation,
a royal priest to the holy nation, his own special
people, that you may proclaim the praises of
he who has called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light. Praise the Lord. He has called
us out of darkness into his marvelous light.
So this is what he has called us, that we're
a royal priesthood, that we're a holy nation.
This is the calling of God upon our lives, that
we're a holy nation. We're a royal priesthood.
We're a special people, a peculiar people. That
is what he has called us. Praise the Lord. So
what has God called you? He has called you a
royal priesthood. He says that you are blessed
in the heavenly places. Praise the Lord. With
every spiritual blessings in the heavenly places.
So this is what God has called us. Does this
look like somebody who is saved? Praise the Lord.
So does everybody, is everybody called of God?
Praise the Lord. So every one of us is called
by God. So we see from the scripture that every
one of us is called by God. So when Paul says
that you may know the hope of your calling, that
you may know the hope in which he has called
you. That you know that he called you a peculiar
people. Praise the Lord. So we also look at,
in the epistle, we also see that a lot of the
time, Paul also refers to the believers as called
saints, or he called them saints. Praise the
Lord. And it is God who has called them. It is
God that is doing the calling. So being called
out of the world, the believer is sanctified,
right? That is declared a saint or called a saint.
Praise the Lord. So being called out of the world,
the believer is sanctified, called out or being
called a saint. So we also see that in Ephesians
that when he's using the word calling, he talks
about it in terms of salvation. Praise the Lord.
A lot of the places, several of the places, talks
about it as salvation. It is used to reference
to he that is saved, he that has received salvation.
So there's a calling that is referred to as,
that is those who are now saved, or those who,
in the epistle as we see, are the called out
ones, right, are what is known as the church.
Praise the Lord. is what we refer to or the people
that we refer to as church so the church are
referred to as people that are called out so
to go to the phrase again that some people have
found a way to coin together that the church
is a you know it's like a hospital we have like
six people there six people there speak people
there As we continue, as we have seen through
the scriptures, the more we study, the more we
find out that those statements are very wrong.
Praise the Lord. But the church is a gathering
of called out people. Praise the Lord. So when
we come to the church, what do we do? We come
to fellowship. Praise the Lord. We come to correct.
We come to exalt. Praise the Lord. We don't come
again and we're talking to you about repentance.
Or we're talking to you about receive Jesus into
your life. Praise the Lord. The way it should
be is that it is a gathering of called out people.
And when we come with fellowship, it will not
be strange when we say you should minister to
one another. Praise the Lord. It will not be
strange when we say pray in tongues. It will
not be strange when we say heal the sick. Praise
the Lord. Because it is a gathering of kindred
minds. It is a gathering of people that believe
the same thing. that are taught properly. There
are people that are called out, people that have
believed the gospel. So like I said, this calling
is used for salvation, all those, and then all
those who are saved are called. Praise the Lord.
So everybody who is saved is called. So if you're
saved in this building, you are called. You are
called of God. Praise the Lord. So don't wait
for the road to the Damascus calling. Praise
the Lord. Don't wait for the road to the Damascus
calling or something dramatic happen in your
life. Praise the Lord. Then we know, okay, we
are called. You need to focus now. Praise the
Lord. Or we need to start doing the things we
need to start doing because something has happened
and it has helped you to bring you back to God
or to make you refocus. Praise the Lord. You
are called out once. Hallelujah. Ephesians chapter
4, verse 4 to 6. It said there is one body and
one spirit. just as you are called in one hope
of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism.
One God and Father of all, who is above all and
through all, in you all. Praise the Lord. So
the word one there is talking about those who
are saved. Praise the Lord. The word there is
the one is talking about those who are saved.
That no one is excluded from this. Praise the
Lord. That we have one faith. We have one baptism.
Praise the Lord. Nobody is excluded from this.
Nobody is excluded from this calling. There is
no special reference to a believer, to one particular
believer or a group of believers. Praise the
Lord. It is to all. It is common to all. Praise
the Lord. It is common to all. So all the believers
have one Lord. They have one baptism. They have
one faith. Which is from one calling. Praise
the Lord. They have one calling. Your calling
is not different though. Praise the Lord. The
calling of God upon your life is not different.
We have one calling. Maybe sometimes we mistake
it or we think about it as, you know, maybe God
has blessed you. Maybe you have a talent and
then you say, that's the calling of God upon
your life. Praise the Lord. No one is exempted
from this. We have one faith. We have one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, which is from one calling.
It is God that is doing the calling. So although
this word, calling, like I mentioned, it primarily
refers to salvation, it also, in many places
of the Scriptures, refers to as ministry, or
refers to for ministry. We see in Romans 1, verse
1. Paul, a born servant of Jesus Christ, called
to be an apostle, separated for the gospel of
God. Praise the Lord. So we see called to be
an apostle here. He's talking about ministry.
Praise the Lord. He's talking about ministry.
And then in verse 6 and 7 of that same place.
Verse 6 and 7. Among whom you also are the called
of Jesus Christ. All who are in Rome, beloved
of God, called to be saints. Grace to you and
peace from our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Praise the Lord. So this is talking about salvation.
Praise the Lord. So in the same place or in the
same chapter, we see a place where he talks about
calling in terms of ministry and also calling
in terms of salvation. Praise the Lord. And Pastor
Kosted and Pastor Emmanuel has done a lot of
justice during the catatismus in teaching us
about the different type of gifts. Praise the
Lord. So we can go on and to listen to those.
Romans chapter 8, verse 28. He said, And we know
that all things work together for good to those
who believe. Sorry, for those who love God. and
to those who are called according to his purpose.
Praise the Lord. So when he says to those who
are called according to his purpose, he's talking
about salvation. Praise the Lord. Those ones
that are saved. He's talking about salvation.
Jude chapter 1 verse 1. Also talks about the
calling of the believer. Jude chapter 1 verse
1. Jude, a born servant of Jesus Christ, the
brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified
by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ.
Praise the Lord. He's talking about the calling
of the believer. So the believer is called of
God. He's sanctified and justified and forgiven.
Praise the Lord. So this is what a believer has.
He's called of God, and in that calling, what
happened in that calling, or the context of that
calling, is sanctification, it is justification,
and it's forgiveness. Praise the Lord. So, when
he says that you are called, it doesn't mean
that they have called you out of this world.
Praise the Lord. It doesn't mean that you have
left the world. If you have left the world, you
are asleep. Praise the Lord. It does not mean
that. But you are sanctified in the world. Praise
the Lord. You are justified even as you are here.
Praise the Lord. You are forgiven as you are
in this world. Praise the Lord. So all are called.
All are called. So let's look at some interesting
things about this calling or about salvation,
about justification, about sanctification, about
forgiveness. It tells us in Romans chapter 10
from verse 8 to 13, 1 Corinthians chapter 12
verse 3 and Philippians chapter 2 verse 11 about
salvation. Romans chapter 10 from verse 8. He
said, but what does it say? The word is near
you in your mouth and in your heart. That is
the word of faith which we preach. Praise the
Lord. So he talks about how a person is saved.
Praise the Lord. So when the word is preached
and he's saying that the word is near you, it
means that you had it. Praise the Lord. It is
in your heart. Right? You've had the gospel.
You've had it. Verse 9 now. It said that if you
confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe
in your heart that God has raised him from the
dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one
believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture
says, Whoever believes in him will not be put
to shame. For there is no distinction between
the Jews and the Greek. For the same Lord is
over all, is rich to all who call upon him. For
whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be
saved. Praise the Lord. 1 Corinthians chapter
12, verse 3. Therefore I make known to you that
no one speaking by the Spirit of God Call Jesus
a curse. And no one can say that Jesus is Lord
except by the Holy Spirit. Praise the Lord. Except
the person he saved. Praise the Lord. And then
Philippians 2 verse 11. It said that every tongue
should confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory
of God, the father, just keep that verse on that
screen. So salvation is therefore by faith. Praise
the Lord, as we have explained. Salvation is
therefore by faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
So Jesus is the savior of the world, right? Or
he's a savior. And when a man believes in him,
we can say that that person, that Jesus is the
Lord of that person. Praise the Lord. Salvation
is by faith. in the gospel of Jesus Christ. So
salvation is not faith, right? Salvation is by
faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. You saw
in Romans, right? That it is what you had. It
is a preaching that was preached to you. The
faith you have is in the gospel that was preached
to you of Jesus Christ. So Jesus is a savior
of the world. And when a man believes, we can
say according to this, that Jesus is the Lord
over his life. And that word for Lord means that
he's a master. It's a Greek word to mean the
master or a ruler or refers to authority or leadership
over somebody or ownership over somebody or something.
So when a person is saved, right, Jesus becomes
their owner. That's what he means. When a person
is saved, Jesus becomes their owner. 1 Corinthians
6, verse 20. He said, But you are bought with
a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and
in your spirit, which are God's. Praise the Lord.
So when he says that when a person is saved,
Jesus becomes their master. Praise the Lord.
It means that Jesus owns us. We are now his property.
And this place tells us that we are bought with
a price. Praise the Lord. We are bought with
a price. And so Jesus becomes our master. There
is an authority over us. So therefore, at the
point of salvation, Jesus becomes our Lord, a
master, a ruler. He becomes our Lord. He owns
us at the point of salvation. So Jesus has called
us, or he has called us, or to whom Jesus called,
the same person Jesus becomes the Lord over.
Praise the Lord. So let's look at what the will
of God is for us as believers or people that
he has called. What is his will consigning us?
What is his will consigning us? Before we go
to the New Testament, let's just read a couple
of places in the Old Testament. Exodus chapter
19, verse 6. We're looking at what God's will
is. Exodus chapter 19. He said, and you shall
be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
Praise the Lord. These are the words which you
shall speak to the children of Israel. Did we
read this earlier? Did we read this somewhere
in the New Testament? Praise the Lord. That what
God has called us, what did he call us? He said
we're a holy nation. Right? We're peculiar people.
Praise the Lord. So we see that this is God's
plan, even from the Old Testament, that he has
always had this plan that we should be kingdom
of priests and a holy nation to him. And so when
he was telling Moses this to tell the children
of Israel, he was saying to them that preach
these things to them. Right? And how they become
a kingdom of priests is what? That they believe
what I'm saying. Praise the Lord. So this is
the message that Moses was preaching to the children
of Israel. And how they become that is that they
believe God. Praise the Lord. It's that they
believe that he wanted them to be a kingdom of
priests and a holy nation to him. Praise the
Lord. So this is the message that Moses had for
them. It depends or it is the condition is that
they believe the message they receive or they
trust God. They believe that this is good for
them. Praise the Lord. So the preaching here
will say that Moses gave is that Moses taught
them or he tells them about the promises of God
as kingdom of priests and kings. Praise the Lord.
So the message or the sermon you see about what
the preaching Moses did to them is that he taught
them about what? That God intended you a kingdom
of priests, right? And a holy nation to me. A
kingdom of kings and priests. So this is a message
that was given to them. He said, I will make
you a kingdom of priests. And this is what God
is going to fulfill. Praise the Lord. We saw
in the New Testament that the calling, it is
God that is calling it. Praise the Lord. Right?
It is God that is calling it. Did you do anything
to be saved? Was there any of your workings to
be saved? The same thing that he was preaching
to them here is that this is what he said. This
is what he is going to do. It is God that is
going to make this happen. Praise the Lord. It
is God that is going to make this happen. And
what they needed to do was to believe the gospel
or to believe what was preached to them. So God's
plan was for man to be a kingdom of priests and
a holy nation. So he doesn't want that to be
restricted to the tribe of the Levi. Praise the
Lord. He doesn't want that to be restricted just
to Moses. He doesn't just want that to be restricted
to a certain people, but that everybody will
be to him kings and priests on the earth. Praise
the Lord. So, but we see that the people, when
they were taught this message, they did not receive
it. Praise the Lord. As we see in Exodus and
the teaching that most of our pastors have done,
that they did not receive God's message to them.
They did not receive God's message. They rejected
God's plan and they decided that, oh, Moses,
we want you to be a mediator for us. We want
you to speak for us. We want you to be between
us and God. We don't want to see him or we don't
want to talk to him face to face. We reject this
message. We want something else. Even they went
for that, even when God wanted to be king over
them, they said, no, let us have kings like every
other nation. And he told them the consequences
of what that would mean, right? That your children
are going to be in the soldiers, that your children
are going to be walking in the palace. They rejected
even God being king over their lives. Praise
the Lord. So we see that they rejected these
things. And some of the examples of how God wanted
or wanted to show them or begin to see also is
that as God wanted them to be kingdom of kings
and preached on the earth, there was a few demonstrations.
to show them what that will be like. Praise the
Lord. In Exodus chapter 18, we see that in the
life of Moses. Exodus chapter 18, from verse
13 to 26. So it was on the next day that Moses
started to judge the people, and the people stood
before Moses from morning until evening. So when
Moses' father -in -law saw all that he did for
the people, he said, what is this thing that
you are doing for the people? Why do you sit
alone and all these people stand before you from
morning to night? Praise the Lord. Go back. So
he tells them that, why did you sit alone? Praise
the Lord. I don't know if Jethro knew what the
intention of God was for his people, but he said
to him that, Why do you sit alone? Why is it
only you? Praise the Lord. Or why is it, why
is it that you want your pastor to hear God for
you? Praise the Lord. Why is it that you cannot
also, or why is it that you are not exercising
what God has given you to hear God consigning
your life? Continue. And Moses said to his father
-in -law, because the people come to me to inquire
of God. Praise the Lord. When they have difficulties,
they come to me and I judge between one and another,
and I make known the statutes of God and his
laws. So Moses' father -in -law said to him,
This thing you do is not good. Praise the Lord.
But you and those who are with you will surely
wear yourself out, for this thing is too much
for you, and you are not able to perform it by
yourself. Listen to my voice, I will give you
counsel. God will be with you. Stand before God
for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties
to God. And you shall teach them the statutes
and the law and show them the way in which they
must walk and the work they must do. Moreover,
you shall select from all the people able men
such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness,
and place them over them to be rulers over thousands,
rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers
of tens. And let them judge the people at all
times. great matter they shall bring to you,
but every small matter they themselves shall
judge. So it will be easier for you, for they
will bear the burden with you. And if you do
these things, God, he said, if you do these things,
I also God commend you that you will be able
to endure and all these people would go also
to their places in peace. So Moses heeded to
the voice of his father -in -law and did all
that he had said. And Moses chose able men out
of Israel and made them heads over the people,
rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers
of fifty, rulers of tens. So they judged the
people all the time, and they had cases they
brought to Moses, and they judged every small
case themselves. Praise the Lord. So we see here
as well that they begin to see glimpses of what
God has intended, or the intention of God. Praise
the Lord. They begin to see some of those intentions
of God. In verse 21 and 22, we saw that Moses
judged these people, sorry, Moses judged these
people and he taught them, right? And he taught
among them. So his father -in -law's suggestion
in verse 21 and 22, right, was that these things
are too much for you. Select for yourself people
among these people that will judge them. Praise
the Lord. And we saw that the characters of these
men were people that feared God, people that
had truth in them, or people that had no truth,
and people that hated covetousness. Where can
we see this again in the Scripture? About people
and the selection of people and this criteria
to them. We see that in Acts of the Apostles.
Praise the Lord. So we also see the same thing
in Acts of the Apostles and the four Gospels.
In verse 20 of this. Chapter we just read, verse
20, Exodus 18, verse 20. So he say, and you shall
teach them the statutes of the law and show them
the way in which they must go and the work they
must do. So Moses had to teach them the ordinances
and the laws of God. He also taught them how
to do practical things, how to do the little
things. Praise the Lord. They say the way that
they must walk and the work they must do. Praise
the Lord. So that they are able to judge. So
he tells them to put people over them. officers
over them right and he's so we also see the same
thing in the new testament right when jesus chose
his 12 disciples he chose them in in the same
way or he chose them just like moses chose the
70 uh elders that he chose that will stand before
god the 12 disciples were people that should
learn from christ mark chapter 3 verse 14 Mark
chapter 3, verse 14. Then he appointed the twelve
that they might be with him and that he might
send them out to preach. Praise the Lord. He
said that they might be with him. Praise the
Lord. So in this being with him, he means that
they will learn from him. Praise the Lord. And
when they learn from him, they will go out to
preach. They will go out to preach. So they will
stay with him. And when they have learned, they
will go out to preach. So we saw that in the
Exodus, as the people were coming out of Egypt,
we saw that it is a like of what Christ has done,
right? So being called out of Egypt, that is,
Egypt represented bondage or sin, a life without
God. Praise the Lord. And into the promised land,
that is God's promises, right? The Holy Spirit's
redemption, right? That when they came out of
Egypt, that there were people that should proclaim
or should teach about God to the other nation.
Praise the Lord. So the coming out of Egypt was
coming out of bondage into freedom or into God's
blessing. And in turn, they would declare the
promises of God or in turn, they will become
ministers. Praise the Lord. So in line with that
which God has said concerning them, that he want
them to be a kingdom of kings and priests, is
that when they come out of Egypt, when they come
out of the land of bondage and the land of sin,
they are coming into the promises of God, into
the spirit of God, into the redemption of God,
so that they will become God's ministers on the
earth. Praise the Lord. The king and the priest
will become God's ministers on the earth. so
that they will preach the message of salvation
to every creature, to the people around them.
So the disciples being with Jesus is that they
also learn from him. Praise the Lord. So he called
them from their different professions. He called
them from the different things that they were
doing so that they will be with him. They will
learn from him. Just like the same way Moses
taught the children of Israel, the same way Jesus
was teaching the disciples so that they will
learn from him and do the same. They will go
out and they will preach the gospel. So the 12
disciples were to learn from Jesus so that they
could be trained enough to... to be in his stead.
Like when he's gone, they will be able to continue
preaching the word. In Mark chapter 1, verse
16 to 20. Mark chapter 1, verse 16 to 20. Mark
chapter 1, verse 16 to 20. So this is Jesus calling
out, calling the disciples. And as he walked
by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew,
his brother, casting out a net into the sea.
for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them,
Follow them, and I will make you fishers of men.
And they immediately left their nets and followed
him. And he had gone a little further from there,
and he saw James the brother of Zebedee, and
John his brother, who were also in the boats,
mending their nets. And immediately he called
them, they left their father Zebedee in the boat,
with a hired servant, and went after him. Praise
the Lord. So we see here also Jesus calling out
his disciples, calling them from where they were
to something much more better. And they followed
him, right? He would train them to do the things
that he's doing. So to be with him is that he's
training them to be in, to do the things that
he's doing. In Luke chapter 5 verse 10, we see
that Luke used the word that he will make them
catchers or to catch men. Praise the Lord. Luke
used the word to catch men, meaning that they
are going to preach, right? What it means to
catch men is to preach and to teach the gospel.
This implies that Jesus' focus was that he was
making people or he was building people that
will continue the things that he's doing. Praise
the Lord. He's drawing men or he's bringing men
so that they will continue the things that he
has been doing. So he reached out to the 12 and
he called them and he trained them and he sent
them out to do the same thing. Praise the Lord.
To reach out and to train and to send out. Praise
the Lord. We see that those were the works of
the apostles. Wherever they were, they were reaching
out to men, they were teaching them and they
were telling them to continue the same thing
that they were taught. We learned from some of
our previous... that a faithful servant is one
that do the same or one that gives exactly what
he was given. Praise the Lord. That the gospel
did not come to you so that when you are giving
it out, you begin to preach something we don't
understand. Praise the Lord. Or something that
cannot save anybody. Or something that cannot
make somebody's life the way that God intended
it to be. So we learn that a faithful servant
is one that gives exactly that which they were
taught. So Jesus taught his disciples, he trained
them and he sent them out to do the same, to
reach out to men and to train them and send them
out. It is the same thing that the church ought
to be doing. The same thing that we are doing,
that we are teaching you the word or we are teaching
you or we are training you so that when you go
out, you will do the same. You have the manual
for training. You have the manual for training
and when you have trained people, you will send
them out. Praise the Lord. You will send them
out. Even as you are doing the little things
that you are doing, you are filled with the Spirit.
In Acts chapter 6, talking about Philip and the
other people that were chosen, when there was
a problem in the church because some people were
neglected, these men were chosen to handle these
matters so that the apostles would focus on the
world and in prayers. Just like the same way
Moses chose men because of the advice of his
father -in -law and the 70 that he also chose.
So we see that although these men are believers
and they have made them... People who serve tables,
like the way we say in the church, let's say
welfare team now, you are serving tables. But
it doesn't mean that you cannot preach the word.
It doesn't mean that outside of this place, you
will not be able to cast out demons. Praise the
Lord. We saw later on in Acts chapter 8 that
Philip went on to continue to preach and to heal
the sick and to do mighty things for God. Praise
the Lord. Because in the place of training, there
are a lot of things that is acts of them. So
as you are in church and as you are receiving
training from God, as you are receiving training
from the church, you might not be doing a lot.
Praise the Lord. You might not have the opportunity
to come to the pulpit and preach. You might not
have the opportunities to be in the front or
to lead a team. Praise the Lord. But it doesn't
diminish your training. It does not diminish
the main thing that you are here for. Praise
the Lord. It's that you're in a place of training.
That this calling is common to all. Praise the
Lord. If they point you and say, next two weeks
you are preaching, you are able to come out and
preach properly. Praise the Lord. That you have,
it's like you are capable of doing things and
you're just sitting down. Praise the Lord. You
are capable of doing many things, but you're
just sitting. So we saw that Philip, although
he was serving tables, was a man full of the
Holy Ghost. He was preaching the word. He was
healing the sick. So even as you are in the place
of training, do not neglect the things that we're
doing. Do not neglect the things that the church
is trying to help you or trying to instruct you
to do. Because something will happen tomorrow
or your studies will finish and you'll be in
a field and you'll be in a place where you have
to teach, where you have to preach. Praise the
Lord. Where you have to cast out demons. I remember
one time, and I'm going to share this story as
we close. There was a time where the house that
I lived, I don't know what happened to the guy.
He just started, you know, displaying so many
things. He looked like he was sick. He was not
breathing properly. We're waiting for ambulance,
all of so many things like that. And we begin
to call the neighbors. So please come and help
us. The guy is a heavy guy. Come and help us.
Let's take this guy downstairs, take him to the
hospital. And then nobody, everybody refused
to come. All the hefty guys, nobody came out
because what he was displaying was first. So
I hope this is not a demon or something like
that. And he's all, he has a medical condition.
Praise the Lord. And so they came and called
me downstairs and I was like, what will I do?
We're waiting for car to come. But in the back
of my mind, I was thinking, let this guy not
die here. Not in this place. There's so many
explanation to be done. I mean, nothing happened,
but you're going to spend a lot of time doing
a lot of explanation, right? So I just started
to pray. I don't know what's going on, but I
still started to pray. continue to pray. And
I continue to pray. Continue to pray until his
situation was such that he needed to go to the
ICU for days. So, but everybody else was running.
Praise the Lord. Everybody else was running because
they don't understand what is going on. I also
had the choice to run. I also had the thought
in my heart that, ah, may this guy not hold my
neck. Do you understand? Or something else should
not happen there. But if you know that you have
the Spirit of God in you, what do you turn to?
Praise the Lord. You turn to do that which you
have been equipped to do. So as you are in church
here, there's a lot of equipping that has happened
to you. There's a lot of investment upon your
life. As the opportunities come to you, you take
it. Praise the Lord. As the opportunities come
to you, you take hold of it. And let Christ be
glorified. Amen. Just close our eyes and just
begin to pray. We appreciate you being here today.
We hope you carry this word with you throughout
your week. Don't forget to check the show notes
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stay blessed.