WEBVTT 00:00:01.299 --> 00:00:06.639 Welcome to NECF Sermons. Each message here is 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:09.660 designed to uplift and strengthen you in your 00:00:09.660 --> 00:00:13.939 walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until 00:00:13.939 --> 00:00:17.879 the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive 00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:22.059 right in. Father Lord, we thank you. We give 00:00:22.059 --> 00:00:24.500 you praise. We give you adoration. Thank you 00:00:24.500 --> 00:00:27.359 for another opportunity to gather before you 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:29.600 today to hear from you, to fellowship with one 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:32.240 another. Pray that you bless us. Pray that you 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:35.020 strengthen us. In the mighty name of Jesus, we 00:00:35.020 --> 00:00:53.600 pray. Amen. Let's have our seats. Mark chapter 00:00:53.600 --> 00:01:07.530 16. Mark chapter 16. He started looking at the 00:01:07.530 --> 00:01:14.209 minister. He started looking at the minister. 00:01:14.209 --> 00:01:19.390 We're going to continue in that Mark chapter 00:01:19.390 --> 00:01:37.640 16. From verse 15 and 16. He says, And he said 00:01:37.640 --> 00:01:40.719 to them, Go into all the world and preach the 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:43.920 gospel to every creature. He who believes and 00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:47.239 is baptized will be saved, for he who does not 00:01:47.239 --> 00:01:50.040 believe will be condemned. And this sign shall 00:01:50.040 --> 00:01:53.159 follow those who believe. In my name they shall 00:01:53.159 --> 00:01:56.280 cast out demons, they shall speak with new tongues, 00:01:57.079 --> 00:01:59.939 they will take up serpents, and if they drink 00:01:59.939 --> 00:02:05.120 anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them. 00:02:05.659 --> 00:02:07.939 They will lay hands on the sick and they will 00:02:07.939 --> 00:02:11.979 recover. Praise the Lord. And we started establishing 00:02:11.979 --> 00:02:16.580 that God has called us to preach the gospel. 00:02:17.159 --> 00:02:21.719 God has called us to preach the gospel. And that 00:02:21.719 --> 00:02:25.560 the scope of the gospel is not restricted to 00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:29.180 a particular people. It is not restricted to 00:02:29.180 --> 00:02:36.300 a particular nation. It is not based on economic 00:02:36.300 --> 00:02:45.539 values of people. It is not based on anything 00:02:45.539 --> 00:02:49.060 that we can think about or that every man needs 00:02:49.060 --> 00:02:52.379 to be saved. It is God's desire that all men 00:02:52.379 --> 00:02:56.580 come to the knowledge of Him. Praise the Lord. 00:02:57.020 --> 00:02:59.979 It is God's desire that everybody, that every 00:02:59.979 --> 00:03:03.280 man is saved. This is the yearning of God. So 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:07.120 he tells us to go into all the world. Praise 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:09.919 the Lord. To go into all the world. And we looked 00:03:09.919 --> 00:03:15.539 at how Jesus chose his disciples and how he called 00:03:15.539 --> 00:03:19.060 them together. And he trained them and told them 00:03:19.060 --> 00:03:23.860 to go and become fishers of men rather than... 00:03:24.169 --> 00:03:27.349 in the in the seas fishing praise the lord he 00:03:27.349 --> 00:03:30.949 changed their occupation as a result of associating 00:03:30.949 --> 00:03:34.090 with him praise the lord so they should go out 00:03:34.090 --> 00:03:37.969 and preach the gospel that is to tell people 00:03:37.969 --> 00:03:43.030 the gospel of the kingdom that no man is exempted 00:03:43.030 --> 00:03:49.449 from a from salvation praise the lord That no 00:03:49.449 --> 00:03:52.469 man should be exempted from it. Every man needs 00:03:52.469 --> 00:03:56.409 to hear the gospel because that is what can save, 00:03:56.689 --> 00:04:00.150 or that is what saves a man. Or that is what 00:04:00.150 --> 00:04:05.930 brings man in relation with God. Praise the Lord. 00:04:06.349 --> 00:04:09.750 And so we also looked at that God has called 00:04:09.750 --> 00:04:13.569 us. Praise the Lord. That every believer is called. 00:04:13.650 --> 00:04:16.990 All of us are called by God. Praise the Lord. 00:04:17.269 --> 00:04:20.250 Everybody that is saved is called. So there are 00:04:20.250 --> 00:04:23.029 no special people that are called and then you 00:04:23.029 --> 00:04:26.769 are not. Praise the Lord. As you are saved, you 00:04:26.769 --> 00:04:33.589 are called of God. Praise the Lord. So today 00:04:33.589 --> 00:04:37.329 we're going to continue in that plan, the desires 00:04:37.329 --> 00:04:41.769 of God that we saw. We saw in Exodus how God 00:04:41.769 --> 00:04:45.290 intended that the children of Israel become a 00:04:45.290 --> 00:04:49.439 kingdom. of priests and kings to him. Praise 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:52.500 the Lord. That he become a royal priesthood. 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:55.579 That he become people of his possession. Praise 00:04:55.579 --> 00:04:58.339 the Lord. Because they are peculiar people to 00:04:58.339 --> 00:05:01.279 him. It is God who is doing that calling to them. 00:05:01.660 --> 00:05:12.519 Numbers chapter 11. Numbers chapter 11 from verse 00:05:12.519 --> 00:05:22.550 25. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and 00:05:22.550 --> 00:05:27.490 spoke to him and took the spirit that was upon 00:05:27.490 --> 00:05:31.089 him and placed it upon the seventy elders. And 00:05:31.089 --> 00:05:33.829 it happened when the spirit rested upon them 00:05:33.829 --> 00:05:37.430 that they prophesied, although they never did 00:05:37.430 --> 00:05:42.730 so again. But two men who had remained in the 00:05:42.730 --> 00:05:46.620 camp, the name of one, Eldad, name of the other, 00:05:46.779 --> 00:05:51.459 Midad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they 00:05:51.459 --> 00:05:57.000 were among those listed, but who had not gone 00:05:57.000 --> 00:06:00.339 out to the tabernacle, yet they prophesied in 00:06:00.339 --> 00:06:04.180 the camp. A young man ran, and a young man ran 00:06:04.180 --> 00:06:07.500 and told Moses, saying, Eldad and Midad are prophesying 00:06:07.500 --> 00:06:13.079 in the camp. So Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:15.519 assistants, one of the chosen men, answered and 00:06:15.519 --> 00:06:21.339 said, Moses, my Lord, forbid them. And Moses 00:06:21.339 --> 00:06:27.600 said to him, Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, 00:06:27.720 --> 00:06:34.259 that all the Lord's people were prophets, that 00:06:34.259 --> 00:06:39.620 the Lord would put his spirit upon them. And 00:06:39.620 --> 00:06:43.240 Moses returned to the camp. He and the elders 00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:45.060 of Israel. Praise the Lord. Let's go back to 00:06:45.060 --> 00:06:50.660 that verse 29. So we also see here that Moses 00:06:50.660 --> 00:06:55.180 declaring, again, the desires of God. What God 00:06:55.180 --> 00:06:59.540 intended for them to, or how he intended his 00:06:59.540 --> 00:07:03.800 people to be. That everybody is able to prophesy. 00:07:04.420 --> 00:07:07.399 Praise the Lord. So again, he tells them of the 00:07:07.399 --> 00:07:11.160 intention of God. That every... people of God 00:07:11.160 --> 00:07:15.899 prophesy and the Spirit of God is put upon them. 00:07:16.259 --> 00:07:19.680 Praise the Lord. So we see again that Moses is 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:23.579 telling them again the desires of what God intends 00:07:23.579 --> 00:07:25.959 that they should be or intends that the nation 00:07:25.959 --> 00:07:33.420 of Israel should be. So he tells them that he 00:07:33.420 --> 00:07:36.339 wants everybody to be a spokesperson, that is 00:07:36.339 --> 00:07:39.060 a prophet, as we all learned what that word prophet 00:07:39.060 --> 00:07:42.759 is. That every one of the children of Israel 00:07:42.759 --> 00:07:46.439 are prophets, people that are spokesperson for 00:07:46.439 --> 00:07:48.920 God. And so what would a spokesperson for God? 00:07:49.079 --> 00:07:51.579 A spokesperson for God will begin to speak the 00:07:51.579 --> 00:07:54.060 counsel of God. Praise the Lord. They will know 00:07:54.060 --> 00:07:57.259 the counsel of God and they will speak also the 00:07:57.259 --> 00:08:00.569 counsel of God. So it means that they are going 00:08:00.569 --> 00:08:04.189 to go and preach the message of God. Praise the 00:08:04.189 --> 00:08:07.050 Lord. That they will go and preach the message 00:08:07.050 --> 00:08:11.069 of God. So we also saw last week, Sunday, that 00:08:11.069 --> 00:08:14.209 of the intention of God consigning the people 00:08:14.209 --> 00:08:18.129 of Israel. And that plan came in the form of 00:08:18.129 --> 00:08:20.980 preaching. It came to them as a message. God 00:08:20.980 --> 00:08:23.259 was sending them a message that I want you to 00:08:23.259 --> 00:08:26.300 be a kingdom of priests and kings. It is God 00:08:26.300 --> 00:08:28.600 who is going to do that. Praise the Lord. We 00:08:28.600 --> 00:08:30.579 also saw that in the New Testament and how Christ 00:08:30.579 --> 00:08:34.899 did it for us. So it is God who was going to 00:08:34.899 --> 00:08:37.379 do that. It is the doing of God. And all they 00:08:37.379 --> 00:08:40.440 needed to do was to have faith or to believe 00:08:40.440 --> 00:08:43.340 the gospel that was preached to them, that God 00:08:43.340 --> 00:08:46.470 is going to do something. And so if God is going 00:08:46.470 --> 00:08:49.710 to do something, I'm going to believe him. Praise 00:08:49.710 --> 00:08:52.470 the Lord. If God is going to do something, it 00:08:52.470 --> 00:08:55.190 is not what they are going to walk. It is not 00:08:55.190 --> 00:08:57.850 what they are going to do by their own understanding. 00:08:58.230 --> 00:09:00.330 It is not what they are going to do by either 00:09:00.330 --> 00:09:03.269 sacrificing or doing anything. It is what God 00:09:03.269 --> 00:09:06.269 is going to do. It is a calling of God. And we 00:09:06.269 --> 00:09:10.210 saw that also when we were reading about the 00:09:10.210 --> 00:09:11.929 calling of God upon our lives. And we're going 00:09:11.929 --> 00:09:16.460 to look at it briefly again. So God's plan was 00:09:16.460 --> 00:09:20.879 for them to be kingdom of kings and priests on 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:23.360 the earth. They were supposed to be speaking 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:30.080 the messages of God as they leave Egypt. As they 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:32.080 come to the promised land, they were supposed 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:34.940 to be spreading the message of the kingdom. It 00:09:34.940 --> 00:09:37.279 was not that they will come and then they will 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:40.639 need a prophet again that will tell them the 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:44.179 things of God. Praise the Lord. So we see that 00:09:44.179 --> 00:09:47.340 because of this rejection, they constantly need 00:09:47.340 --> 00:09:51.440 a prophet amongst them. They constantly need 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:57.080 a leader amongst them. They constantly need judges 00:09:57.080 --> 00:09:59.899 among them. People that would speak the mind 00:09:59.899 --> 00:10:02.919 of God because they have rejected the gospel 00:10:02.919 --> 00:10:05.899 that was preached to them. Praise the Lord. They 00:10:05.899 --> 00:10:14.950 constantly needed this to happen to them. So 00:10:14.950 --> 00:10:17.169 as they are leaving Egypt, or as they are leaving 00:10:17.169 --> 00:10:22.250 Egypt, in what we look at as the Exodus, right? 00:10:22.809 --> 00:10:25.730 Which is that they are going out of sin, right? 00:10:25.809 --> 00:10:28.789 It is a figure to say they are going out of sin, 00:10:28.830 --> 00:10:33.049 right? Into the promises of God. Praise the Lord. 00:10:33.470 --> 00:10:39.450 Into redemption. Into the spirit life. Praise 00:10:39.450 --> 00:10:42.059 the Lord. So as they were living, the plan of 00:10:42.059 --> 00:10:44.899 God was for them that when they go to a new place 00:10:44.899 --> 00:10:46.960 or when they have come to this place, they are 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:51.419 ministers of God. Praise the Lord. They are ministers 00:10:51.419 --> 00:10:55.019 of God. And it's also the intention of God or 00:10:55.019 --> 00:10:58.820 it is the plan of God. And we have had it time 00:10:58.820 --> 00:11:01.539 and time again for our lives that we are saved 00:11:01.539 --> 00:11:05.480 not to stay in one place. Praise the Lord. We 00:11:05.480 --> 00:11:09.399 are saved not to continue to... Yes, continue 00:11:09.399 --> 00:11:11.580 to receive because that is part of what we do 00:11:11.580 --> 00:11:15.440 as Christians, but also that we share our faith, 00:11:15.580 --> 00:11:18.740 that we keep growing. If we refuse to share, 00:11:18.899 --> 00:11:21.580 you begin to find people begin to create different 00:11:21.580 --> 00:11:23.879 type of groups in church. Maybe they will call 00:11:23.879 --> 00:11:26.200 you the elders. Maybe they will call you the 00:11:26.200 --> 00:11:28.639 deacons. Maybe they will call you this and that. 00:11:29.059 --> 00:11:33.139 Praise the Lord. Because people just want to 00:11:33.139 --> 00:11:35.960 sit. and not do the things of God, and not do 00:11:35.960 --> 00:11:39.279 the intention of what God has planned for every 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:42.179 believer to do. Praise the Lord. That as you 00:11:42.179 --> 00:11:46.919 continue to grow, just like the disciples were 00:11:46.919 --> 00:11:49.440 with Jesus three and a half years. That was what 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:53.679 it took for them to be able to start doing something. 00:11:54.259 --> 00:11:57.519 And you've been in church all your life. Praise 00:11:57.519 --> 00:12:00.519 the Lord. And so it therefore means that you 00:12:00.519 --> 00:12:03.559 should be able to come to the place Where you 00:12:03.559 --> 00:12:06.500 are knowledgeable enough to spread the message 00:12:06.500 --> 00:12:09.340 of the kingdom. Where you are able enough to 00:12:09.340 --> 00:12:12.519 explain what the gospel is to somebody who does 00:12:12.519 --> 00:12:15.500 not know. Praise the Lord. And like I mentioned 00:12:15.500 --> 00:12:17.919 from the beginning, the gospel does not discriminate. 00:12:18.600 --> 00:12:21.840 It is no racism. Praise the Lord. We will not 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:24.139 come and put here, say no racism. Or we will 00:12:24.139 --> 00:12:26.440 now, you know the things they put in football, 00:12:26.659 --> 00:12:32.269 say no to racism. It does not apply here. Everybody 00:12:32.269 --> 00:12:35.690 needs the gospel. Everybody is in need of the 00:12:35.690 --> 00:12:37.590 gospel. I was talking to somebody the other day 00:12:37.590 --> 00:12:41.669 that was like, a person who does not have Christ 00:12:41.669 --> 00:12:44.250 or who does not have God in their life, the more 00:12:44.250 --> 00:12:48.690 they become big, the more devices of evil in 00:12:48.690 --> 00:12:51.049 their life continue to become big. Praise the 00:12:51.049 --> 00:12:54.470 Lord. The more they become big, the more the 00:12:54.470 --> 00:12:58.950 devices... I said, have you ever found a poor 00:12:58.950 --> 00:13:02.659 person? They say he died of cocaine. Or let's 00:13:02.659 --> 00:13:11.879 say, or somebody who has no money died of something 00:13:11.879 --> 00:13:18.200 that is expensive to get. Praise the Lord. Have 00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:22.519 we had any stories of, oh, somebody maybe, do 00:13:22.519 --> 00:13:24.100 you understand? A poor person's trouble might 00:13:24.100 --> 00:13:26.779 be that he's drunk with alcohol. There's nothing, 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:31.820 he's languishing with local beer. Praise the 00:13:31.820 --> 00:13:36.759 Lord. But a man who does not have God in the 00:13:36.759 --> 00:13:39.340 inside of them, the more they become powerful, 00:13:39.539 --> 00:13:41.720 the more they want to control the things of the 00:13:41.720 --> 00:13:44.559 world. Praise the Lord. The more their vices 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:49.100 increase. I don't want to talk about the concluded 00:13:49.100 --> 00:13:57.039 sentence, music mogul, and the things that he 00:13:57.039 --> 00:13:59.820 was doing with his money. Praise the Lord. But 00:13:59.820 --> 00:14:02.279 we see examples of these things all over the 00:14:02.279 --> 00:14:08.000 world. The more people do not know God, the more 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:11.860 the devices of evil increases. The more they 00:14:11.860 --> 00:14:18.980 are prone to doing a lot of things. Praise the 00:14:18.980 --> 00:14:22.860 Lord. So we ought, as Christians, ought to teach 00:14:22.860 --> 00:14:26.639 the gospel. Praise the Lord. So the people that 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:28.919 are sitting in your class, The people that are 00:14:28.919 --> 00:14:30.779 close to you now, you don't know who their fathers 00:14:30.779 --> 00:14:32.639 are. You don't know who their mothers are. Maybe 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:38.120 they are people that are in line to be influential 00:14:38.120 --> 00:14:41.139 as a result of the family they come from. And 00:14:41.139 --> 00:14:43.500 they have been around you and they've never had 00:14:43.500 --> 00:14:47.139 the gospel. Praise the Lord. 10 years from now, 00:14:47.240 --> 00:14:49.820 20 years from now, when they inherit the things 00:14:49.820 --> 00:14:51.379 that they inherit, what do you think they are 00:14:51.379 --> 00:14:55.259 going to do with it? Praise the Lord. They are 00:14:55.259 --> 00:14:57.620 not going to propagate the kingdom of heaven. 00:15:00.620 --> 00:15:03.620 So God intends that as the people leave Egypt, 00:15:03.779 --> 00:15:06.720 that they go and they become ministers on the 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:10.000 earth. As we come to the knowledge or as we come 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:18.840 to God, right? He intends that we become ministers 00:15:18.840 --> 00:15:22.899 of God, that we teach the gospel. Ephesians chapter 00:15:22.899 --> 00:15:57.519 1. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 17. It said, what 00:15:57.519 --> 00:15:59.419 is the exceeding greatness of his power to us 00:15:59.419 --> 00:16:01.899 who believe according to the working of his mighty 00:16:01.899 --> 00:16:05.960 power, which he walked in Christ when he raised 00:16:05.960 --> 00:16:08.320 him from the dead and seated at the right hand 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:12.500 in the heavenly places, far above all principalities 00:16:12.500 --> 00:16:15.399 and power and might and dominion and every name 00:16:15.399 --> 00:16:19.200 that is named, not only in this age but also 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:23.700 in the one to come. And he has put all things 00:16:23.700 --> 00:16:27.190 under his feet and given him and giving him to 00:16:27.190 --> 00:16:30.830 be the head of all things to the church. Praise 00:16:30.830 --> 00:16:38.370 the Lord. In verse 18, he tells us, He said, 00:16:38.389 --> 00:16:40.129 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, 00:16:40.309 --> 00:16:43.049 that you may know what is the hope of your calling, 00:16:43.149 --> 00:16:46.669 what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance 00:16:46.669 --> 00:16:48.669 in the sins. He said that you may know what is 00:16:48.669 --> 00:16:53.059 the hope of your calling. And we say that word 00:16:53.059 --> 00:16:56.639 called in here is what he called us. Praise the 00:16:56.639 --> 00:17:00.980 Lord. What God has called us. Praise the Lord. 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:03.379 It means what he called us, what he has called 00:17:03.379 --> 00:17:05.900 you. And the things that he has called us, we 00:17:05.900 --> 00:17:11.839 can see from verse 4 of this same chapter. Verse 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:16.400 4 to 7. He said, just as he has chosen us in 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:18.339 him before the foundation of the world that we 00:17:18.339 --> 00:17:28.869 should be holy without... without blame. Verse 00:17:28.869 --> 00:17:35.089 5. Having predestined us to the adoption as sons 00:17:35.089 --> 00:17:37.569 by Jesus Christ to himself, according to his 00:17:37.569 --> 00:17:43.170 good pleasure, the good pleasure of his will, 00:17:43.289 --> 00:17:55.940 to the praises of his glory. Are you sure we're 00:17:55.940 --> 00:18:01.740 reading the same place? He talks about, he says, 00:18:01.779 --> 00:18:03.980 he has blessed us with every spiritual blessings 00:18:03.980 --> 00:18:10.660 in heavenly places. There's three. Okay. Okay. 00:18:11.259 --> 00:18:13.039 Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:15.619 Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual 00:18:15.619 --> 00:18:18.339 blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Praise 00:18:18.339 --> 00:18:20.819 the Lord. So this is the first thing that we 00:18:20.819 --> 00:18:23.099 can see from this few scriptures that Paul is 00:18:23.099 --> 00:18:25.259 saying to us. That the hope of our calling, this 00:18:25.259 --> 00:18:27.940 is what he has called us. Praise the Lord. He 00:18:27.940 --> 00:18:31.160 said he blessed us with every spiritual blessing 00:18:31.160 --> 00:18:36.180 in the heavenly places in Christ. And then verse 00:18:36.180 --> 00:18:41.119 4 now. He said, just as he has chosen us in him 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:43.839 before the foundation of the world, that we should 00:18:43.839 --> 00:18:46.559 be holy and without blame. Right? He has chosen 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:49.660 us in him before the foundation of the world, 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:53.450 that we should be holy and without blame. Before 00:18:53.450 --> 00:18:58.490 him in love. Verse 5. Having predestined us to 00:18:58.490 --> 00:19:01.490 adoptions as son by Jesus Christ to himself, 00:19:01.789 --> 00:19:05.410 according to the good pleasure of his will, to 00:19:05.410 --> 00:19:10.390 the praises of the glory of his grace, by which 00:19:10.390 --> 00:19:14.750 he made us accepted in the beloved. In him we 00:19:14.750 --> 00:19:16.710 have redemption through his blood, forgiveness 00:19:16.710 --> 00:19:20.369 of sin, according to the riches of his grace. 00:19:20.450 --> 00:19:23.210 Praise the Lord. This is what he has called us. 00:19:23.509 --> 00:19:26.369 So Paul is saying that you will know the hope 00:19:26.369 --> 00:19:29.410 of your calling. Praise the Lord. That you will 00:19:29.410 --> 00:19:33.589 not miss it. That you will not miss that which 00:19:33.589 --> 00:19:37.210 Christ has done for you. Praise the Lord. That 00:19:37.210 --> 00:19:41.009 you may understand it. He said he has redeemed 00:19:41.009 --> 00:19:43.970 us through his blood. The forgiveness of sins 00:19:43.970 --> 00:19:47.470 according to the riches of his grace. He said 00:19:47.470 --> 00:19:50.130 he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. 00:19:50.670 --> 00:19:54.930 in the heavenly places. Hallelujah. So this is 00:19:54.930 --> 00:19:57.049 the things that he has called us. This is what 00:19:57.049 --> 00:20:02.069 he has called us as believers. This is his calling 00:20:02.069 --> 00:20:06.150 upon our lives, that we are blessed in the heavenly 00:20:06.150 --> 00:20:12.029 places. This is what he has done. So Paul tells 00:20:12.029 --> 00:20:14.549 us that we should come, that we will come to 00:20:14.549 --> 00:20:16.470 the knowledge of this, that we will know the 00:20:16.470 --> 00:20:21.920 hope of his calling. that will know the hope 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:32.700 of his calling. Luke chapter 5. Luke chapter 00:20:32.700 --> 00:20:41.880 5 verse 10. He said, And so also were James and 00:20:41.880 --> 00:20:44.900 John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners 00:20:44.900 --> 00:20:47.900 with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Do not be 00:20:47.900 --> 00:20:53.220 afraid for For now you will catch men. Praise 00:20:53.220 --> 00:20:55.960 the Lord. So this is Jesus calling his disciples 00:20:55.960 --> 00:20:59.160 to him, right? And he's saying that, don't be 00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:02.819 afraid. Now you're going to catch something much 00:21:02.819 --> 00:21:06.579 more valuable. I'm calling you to something higher 00:21:06.579 --> 00:21:09.619 than what you were doing. Praise the Lord. I'm 00:21:09.619 --> 00:21:12.059 calling you to something much more precious. 00:21:12.759 --> 00:21:16.099 Praise the Lord. So he tells them that fishing 00:21:16.099 --> 00:21:20.869 is good. Praise the Lord. But... Bringing men 00:21:20.869 --> 00:21:24.809 to the kingdom is more important. Praise the 00:21:24.809 --> 00:21:28.009 Lord. Your studies or the professions that you're 00:21:28.009 --> 00:21:31.849 doing is very, very good. But bringing men to 00:21:31.849 --> 00:21:35.829 the kingdom is very, very important. Praise the 00:21:35.829 --> 00:21:39.049 Lord. So he said they should follow him for he 00:21:39.049 --> 00:21:41.970 would show them something of a higher priority. 00:21:42.670 --> 00:21:48.640 Praise the Lord. So even as you go about your 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:51.259 school, as you go about your class, as you go 00:21:51.259 --> 00:21:53.799 about your work, when the opportunity comes, 00:21:54.059 --> 00:21:56.259 you also seek those opportunities, you preach 00:21:56.259 --> 00:21:59.140 the gospel. Praise the Lord. Because your work 00:21:59.140 --> 00:22:01.819 is good, it is important that you work, but at 00:22:01.819 --> 00:22:04.599 the same time, it's more important as well that 00:22:04.599 --> 00:22:08.160 you preach the gospel. Praise the Lord. Because 00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:13.940 this does not have, the value is not that which 00:22:13.940 --> 00:22:19.240 can be destroyed. Praise the Lord. The value 00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:23.140 is not in that which can be destroyed. It has 00:22:23.140 --> 00:22:28.799 eternal reward. It has eternal values. It has 00:22:28.799 --> 00:22:35.299 eternal reward. So Luke uses to catch men to 00:22:35.299 --> 00:22:41.160 mean to preach and to teach people. So he said 00:22:41.160 --> 00:22:43.559 to catch men. It means that what you're doing 00:22:43.559 --> 00:22:45.200 is that you're not going to go and hold their 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:48.210 shirt. Okay, since we're using nets to catch 00:22:48.210 --> 00:22:51.130 fish or hooks, let's also, you know, let's spread 00:22:51.130 --> 00:22:54.650 something. No, you are going to preach and to 00:22:54.650 --> 00:22:58.190 teach men. This is how you catch men. Praise 00:22:58.190 --> 00:23:01.450 the Lord. This is how you catch men. You don't 00:23:01.450 --> 00:23:03.869 go there and then you're doing some psychology 00:23:03.869 --> 00:23:06.589 or some things like that. Praise the Lord. Or 00:23:06.589 --> 00:23:08.730 tell them, you know, if Christ comes, if Christ 00:23:08.730 --> 00:23:10.509 comes into your life, all your troubles will 00:23:10.509 --> 00:23:13.769 go away. Or, you know, all the issues that you're 00:23:13.769 --> 00:23:16.079 having, your school fees will be paid. Do you 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:18.059 understand? This is not what he has called you 00:23:18.059 --> 00:23:20.440 to do. This is you trying to be a fisherman. 00:23:20.900 --> 00:23:26.220 You're trying to catch fish, not men. So to catch 00:23:26.220 --> 00:23:30.400 men means to preach and to teach the gospel. 00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:34.740 It implies that what Jesus was doing was that 00:23:34.740 --> 00:23:38.519 since he was preaching, he was going to make 00:23:38.519 --> 00:23:42.259 these men just like him. Praise the Lord. He 00:23:42.259 --> 00:23:45.279 was making them just like him. And we looked 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:47.500 at it on Sunday that he brought these people 00:23:47.500 --> 00:23:50.660 in to teach them and to train them so that they 00:23:50.660 --> 00:23:54.279 can do the same thing. Praise the Lord. So that 00:23:54.279 --> 00:23:56.740 they can do the same thing. Even much more powerful 00:23:56.740 --> 00:24:02.099 things. Hallelujah. Even much more powerful things. 00:24:02.539 --> 00:24:05.660 So he reached out to these people and he trained 00:24:05.660 --> 00:24:08.900 them. He brought them to himself. And they saw 00:24:08.900 --> 00:24:11.220 him. They were under his leadership. They were 00:24:11.220 --> 00:24:13.960 under his tutorship. And they learned from him. 00:24:14.319 --> 00:24:16.319 for three and a half years and they went out 00:24:16.319 --> 00:24:19.279 there and did exploits and they did great things. 00:24:20.299 --> 00:24:23.220 So the same way that you are sitting under the 00:24:23.220 --> 00:24:27.799 teaching of Jesus every Sunday and every Wednesday 00:24:27.799 --> 00:24:32.539 and every Fridays and in many other meetings 00:24:32.539 --> 00:24:37.859 that you have, it is to the end that you also 00:24:37.859 --> 00:24:43.019 do greater things. Praise the Lord. That you 00:24:43.019 --> 00:24:47.660 also, do greater things. It is not for you to 00:24:47.660 --> 00:24:51.920 say, oh, you know what? I know what a tohu bohu 00:24:51.920 --> 00:24:56.660 means, right? There's this word in Greek that 00:24:56.660 --> 00:24:59.519 talks about something of nothing. I think that's 00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:04.759 the... So, it's not for you to say, oh, this 00:25:04.759 --> 00:25:06.299 is what I've learned. You know, this is good. 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:11.109 It's very... It's very good for me. Praise the 00:25:11.109 --> 00:25:14.730 Lord. It is for you to do greater things. Praise 00:25:14.730 --> 00:25:17.569 the Lord. It is for you to do greater things. 00:25:17.589 --> 00:25:20.750 That's why as a church, we are very interested 00:25:20.750 --> 00:25:23.569 in teaching you the gospel. We're not trying 00:25:23.569 --> 00:25:26.190 to promote men. We're not trying to do something 00:25:26.190 --> 00:25:28.589 that we're trying to do some gymnastics. Praise 00:25:28.589 --> 00:25:32.970 the Lord. We're trying to show you the gospel. 00:25:33.029 --> 00:25:35.750 We are showing you who the Christ is for you 00:25:35.750 --> 00:25:37.950 to understand the gospel so that you can do greater 00:25:37.950 --> 00:25:41.579 things. And I was mentioning on Sunday that you 00:25:41.579 --> 00:25:45.000 go back to your home country after here or go 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.700 somewhere else and you go to a place. Don't be 00:25:49.700 --> 00:25:54.980 afraid to say you want to start something. Praise 00:25:54.980 --> 00:25:59.160 the Lord. Because you are equipped. A lot of 00:25:59.160 --> 00:26:03.259 people have started ministries with less than 00:26:03.259 --> 00:26:05.640 what you know. They didn't know anything Greek. 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:08.569 They just learned. You shall preach the gospel. 00:26:08.650 --> 00:26:11.730 They know John 3, 16. They were prayerful. They 00:26:11.730 --> 00:26:13.809 were studying their Bible and they were preaching. 00:26:14.109 --> 00:26:16.329 And they started him. But you have been, there's 00:26:16.329 --> 00:26:19.029 a lot that has been given to you. Praise the 00:26:19.029 --> 00:26:22.089 Lord. A lot of investment has been, has gone 00:26:22.089 --> 00:26:26.130 your direction. So you cannot, after five years, 00:26:26.289 --> 00:26:28.470 you will be confused, more confused than when 00:26:28.470 --> 00:26:32.009 you came. Praise the Lord. So when you came, 00:26:32.049 --> 00:26:33.930 you were struggling with this understanding here 00:26:33.930 --> 00:26:35.950 and there. And then after five years that you 00:26:35.950 --> 00:26:39.289 left, where you got knowledge, you now are confused. 00:26:41.470 --> 00:26:55.250 Praise the Lord. And so, the reward of preaching 00:26:55.250 --> 00:26:58.670 the gospel is not so that you'll be popular. 00:27:00.849 --> 00:27:03.589 Praise the Lord. The reward of preaching the 00:27:03.589 --> 00:27:05.789 gospel is also that you'll be popular. So that, 00:27:05.910 --> 00:27:07.630 you know, they would just do one reel of you 00:27:07.630 --> 00:27:11.690 on Instagram. You'd be moving and just talking. 00:27:12.029 --> 00:27:15.190 That's not the idea. Praise the Lord. It's not 00:27:15.190 --> 00:27:18.289 for you to be popular. It's for you to bring 00:27:18.289 --> 00:27:21.769 men to salvation. That men be saved. That is 00:27:21.769 --> 00:27:27.509 the reward of it. That men are saved. It's not 00:27:27.509 --> 00:27:31.299 for you to have a mighty church. Praise the Lord. 00:27:31.380 --> 00:27:34.880 The success of preaching the gospel is not so 00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:38.380 that your church will increase or wherever you 00:27:38.380 --> 00:27:42.019 start will increase. You have 200 people in your 00:27:42.019 --> 00:27:44.480 congregation. That's not the aim. It's that men 00:27:44.480 --> 00:27:48.099 know the truth. And as they know the truth, as 00:27:48.099 --> 00:27:49.920 you are teaching them the truth, they are able 00:27:49.920 --> 00:27:53.880 to do the same thing. Praise the Lord. They are 00:27:53.880 --> 00:27:56.799 able to do the same thing. They are able to teach 00:27:56.799 --> 00:28:05.029 others also. Praise the Lord. Let me say that 00:28:05.029 --> 00:28:07.450 again. The reward of the gospel or the reward 00:28:07.450 --> 00:28:10.089 of teaching the gospel is not so that you'll 00:28:10.089 --> 00:28:13.730 be famous. Praise the Lord. It's not so that 00:28:13.730 --> 00:28:18.349 you'll be famous. The fame can come with it, 00:28:18.450 --> 00:28:20.769 right? But that's not the goal. That's not what 00:28:20.769 --> 00:28:22.309 you're trying to achieve. What you're trying 00:28:22.309 --> 00:28:26.309 to achieve is that men know Christ. That men 00:28:26.309 --> 00:28:28.990 are saved. It's that you fulfill the desires 00:28:28.990 --> 00:28:35.039 of God. Praise the Lord. Is that you fulfill 00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:41.640 the desires of God. So what happens in the place? 00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:47.440 Before we go there, let's just look at what God 00:28:47.440 --> 00:28:50.319 was saying or what somebody like, what God was 00:28:50.319 --> 00:28:53.019 saying about Abraham and the things that Abraham 00:28:53.019 --> 00:29:09.269 did. Genesis chapter 15, verse 5. Sorry, verse 00:29:09.269 --> 00:29:14.329 6. Yeah, we can start from here. We can start 00:29:14.329 --> 00:29:19.710 from verse 5. He said, then he brought him outside 00:29:19.710 --> 00:29:22.029 and said, look now towards the heavens and count 00:29:22.029 --> 00:29:25.549 the stars, if you are able to number them. And 00:29:25.549 --> 00:29:28.630 he said to him, so shall your descendants be. 00:29:29.569 --> 00:29:33.490 Verse 6 now. I say he believed God and he accounted 00:29:33.490 --> 00:29:37.440 to him for righteousness. Praise the Lord. So 00:29:37.440 --> 00:29:40.880 it therefore means that Abraham believes God's 00:29:40.880 --> 00:29:47.740 message. Although, you will not say his own is 00:29:47.740 --> 00:29:50.920 more difficult. I mean, you can say his own is 00:29:50.920 --> 00:29:52.599 more difficult than what God said to the people 00:29:52.599 --> 00:29:55.279 of Israel. Because they saw examples of people 00:29:55.279 --> 00:29:58.319 becoming prophets, right? They had examples of 00:29:58.319 --> 00:30:03.599 the 70. They had examples of Moses appointing, 00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:08.559 by the advice of his father -in -law, Jethro, 00:30:08.559 --> 00:30:11.440 advising him to put people in charge. They saw 00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:13.700 some of those things, but yet they didn't believe 00:30:13.700 --> 00:30:16.660 God. Praise the Lord. They did not believe that 00:30:16.660 --> 00:30:19.059 God has called them. But we see Abraham, who 00:30:19.059 --> 00:30:21.880 his wife is barring, who has not given birth, 00:30:21.980 --> 00:30:24.220 and he says, look at the stars of the heavens. 00:30:25.519 --> 00:30:27.619 Praise the Lord. And he says, your descendants 00:30:27.619 --> 00:30:32.799 will be so. For somebody who physically and medical 00:30:32.799 --> 00:30:35.609 -wise and everything in front of him, suggest 00:30:35.609 --> 00:30:38.450 to him that there is no example. Praise the Lord. 00:30:38.549 --> 00:30:42.309 There is no place to hold on to it. Right? But 00:30:42.309 --> 00:30:44.509 he believed God. And he said it was counted to 00:30:44.509 --> 00:30:48.490 him as righteousness. Right? And then we will 00:30:48.490 --> 00:30:53.269 see Genesis again. So Abraham, right? We see 00:30:53.269 --> 00:30:59.990 Genesis chapter 20 verse 7. So because of this 00:30:59.990 --> 00:31:01.950 belief, we will see something. Genesis chapter 00:31:01.950 --> 00:31:09.940 20 verse 7. He said, Now, therefore, restore 00:31:09.940 --> 00:31:13.720 the man's wife, for he is a prophet, and he will 00:31:13.720 --> 00:31:16.900 pray for you, and you shall live. But if you 00:31:16.900 --> 00:31:19.319 do not restore her, know that you shall surely 00:31:19.319 --> 00:31:22.980 die, you and all who are yours. Praise the Lord. 00:31:23.359 --> 00:31:26.720 This is what God is saying to him. He said, Restore 00:31:26.720 --> 00:31:29.079 the man's wife, for he is a prophet. How did 00:31:29.079 --> 00:31:32.339 he become a prophet? He believed the message 00:31:32.339 --> 00:31:36.900 of God. He believed God. Praise the Lord. He 00:31:36.900 --> 00:31:39.160 believed the things that God said he was going 00:31:39.160 --> 00:31:45.220 to do. Please keep that. He believed in what 00:31:45.220 --> 00:31:48.839 God said he was going to do. And so God said 00:31:48.839 --> 00:31:50.440 to him, now this man is a prophet. He said he 00:31:50.440 --> 00:31:53.279 will pray for you and you'll be restored. Praise 00:31:53.279 --> 00:31:58.299 the Lord. So Abraham was a prophet of God. He 00:31:58.299 --> 00:32:02.579 was a teacher of the gospel. Praise the Lord. 00:32:02.940 --> 00:32:04.880 So as God has said to him that your descendants 00:32:04.880 --> 00:32:07.779 will be like this, right? He's also teaching 00:32:07.779 --> 00:32:11.500 the people of his generation, right? He's a spokesman 00:32:11.500 --> 00:32:17.019 for God. So we see that that plan of God or what 00:32:17.019 --> 00:32:21.099 God said is about the salvation of men. Praise 00:32:21.099 --> 00:32:24.680 the Lord. So Abraham was a teacher about the 00:32:24.680 --> 00:32:31.400 salvation of God. That is God's promises. on 00:32:31.400 --> 00:32:33.359 all the earth. This is what God has promised 00:32:33.359 --> 00:32:39.140 for all the earth as we saw in 15 verse 15. Verse 00:32:39.140 --> 00:32:43.519 5 rather. So he believes God's message. So Abraham 00:32:43.519 --> 00:32:46.180 believed God's message for the salvation of the 00:32:46.180 --> 00:32:49.940 earth. Praise the Lord. Abraham believes God's 00:32:49.940 --> 00:32:53.059 message for the salvation of the earth. And so 00:32:53.059 --> 00:32:57.420 God called him to preach. Because God tells him 00:32:57.420 --> 00:33:00.549 that He is a prophet. He will pray for you and 00:33:00.549 --> 00:33:03.710 you shall live. Praise the Lord. So he's a spokesperson 00:33:03.710 --> 00:33:06.930 for God because he had believed God. Genesis 00:33:06.930 --> 00:33:14.049 chapter 18, verse 18 to 19. So Abraham shall, 00:33:14.230 --> 00:33:18.289 since Abraham shall surely become a great and 00:33:18.289 --> 00:33:21.049 a mighty nation and all the nation of the earth 00:33:21.049 --> 00:33:27.579 to be blessed in him. For I know him. For I have 00:33:27.579 --> 00:33:30.559 known him in order that he may command his children 00:33:30.559 --> 00:33:33.839 and his household after him, that they may keep 00:33:33.839 --> 00:33:36.579 the way of the Lord to do righteousness and justice, 00:33:36.900 --> 00:33:40.000 that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has 00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:42.880 spoken to him. Praise the Lord. What is Abraham 00:33:42.880 --> 00:33:47.240 doing in this verse 19? Abraham, he's a teacher 00:33:47.240 --> 00:33:50.960 of God. He's a teacher of the things of God. 00:33:51.400 --> 00:33:54.960 Praise the Lord. To his family and to his generation. 00:33:55.660 --> 00:33:58.250 Praise the Lord. That's what he tells us. That 00:33:58.250 --> 00:34:00.430 Abraham, he knows that Abraham will do what? 00:34:01.049 --> 00:34:03.250 He will command his children that they will keep 00:34:03.250 --> 00:34:05.089 the way of the Lord and to do righteousness. 00:34:05.329 --> 00:34:08.510 It means that Abraham is a prophet of God. He 00:34:08.510 --> 00:34:11.750 speaks for God. He's going to share this message. 00:34:12.110 --> 00:34:14.789 He's not going to keep it to himself. Praise 00:34:14.789 --> 00:34:16.730 the Lord. He didn't believe God and say, you 00:34:16.730 --> 00:34:18.750 know what? I believe God. My children can do 00:34:18.750 --> 00:34:23.469 whatever they want to do. Praise the Lord. He 00:34:23.469 --> 00:34:26.030 didn't believe God and say, you know, to your 00:34:26.030 --> 00:34:33.730 tent, O Israel. Praise the Lord. He believed 00:34:33.730 --> 00:34:38.349 God and because of that, he became a spokesperson 00:34:38.349 --> 00:34:42.469 for God. So those who believe God are spokespersons, 00:34:42.550 --> 00:34:45.429 are people that speak for God, are people that 00:34:45.429 --> 00:34:50.989 show forth the things of God. He said to do righteousness 00:34:50.989 --> 00:34:56.730 and to do justice. Praise the Lord. Also, we 00:34:56.730 --> 00:35:02.090 are looking at the idea of Christ being Lord 00:35:02.090 --> 00:35:08.170 to mean that He owns you, right? It means that 00:35:08.170 --> 00:35:23.619 He has influence over your life. So, if... And 00:35:23.619 --> 00:35:26.300 so the salvation that comes to us or the salvation 00:35:26.300 --> 00:35:28.739 that we have, he said, is something that God 00:35:28.739 --> 00:35:34.719 is going to do. So even the work, right? Even 00:35:34.719 --> 00:35:37.199 the work of righteousness is what God is also 00:35:37.199 --> 00:35:40.199 going to do or what God has done. Praise the 00:35:40.199 --> 00:35:43.059 Lord. To live righteously. It is God that is 00:35:43.059 --> 00:35:46.179 doing it. Praise the Lord. So if you find yourself 00:35:46.179 --> 00:35:48.300 that you're struggling with something, there's 00:35:48.300 --> 00:35:50.500 something in your life that is keep on happening, 00:35:50.539 --> 00:35:54.320 keep on happening, right? You need to understand 00:35:54.320 --> 00:35:57.219 that it's God also who is going to work that 00:35:57.219 --> 00:36:04.559 to bring you to righteousness. You can try many 00:36:04.559 --> 00:36:07.840 things you want to try. Praise the Lord. But 00:36:07.840 --> 00:36:11.019 it's God who is also going to work it out, right? 00:36:11.059 --> 00:36:14.480 With you coming to the place of acknowledging 00:36:14.480 --> 00:36:17.219 that it is Him that can work, believing that 00:36:17.219 --> 00:36:24.510 God can restore you. Praise the Lord. So like 00:36:24.510 --> 00:36:28.309 I was saying earlier, that the children, the 00:36:28.309 --> 00:36:32.090 disciples were with Jesus for three and a half 00:36:32.090 --> 00:36:34.530 years because he has called them, he reached 00:36:34.530 --> 00:36:37.309 out to them and drew them to himself so that 00:36:37.309 --> 00:36:40.650 they will become just like him, so that they 00:36:40.650 --> 00:36:42.989 will go out and catch men, so that they will 00:36:42.989 --> 00:36:46.150 go out and preach and teach the gospel, right? 00:36:46.210 --> 00:36:48.550 It means that they were in the place of training 00:36:48.550 --> 00:36:51.750 for three and a half years. Praise the Lord. 00:36:52.190 --> 00:36:54.829 And if you read the Gospels, right, you will 00:36:54.829 --> 00:36:56.929 discover that Jesus will say sometimes to his 00:36:56.929 --> 00:37:01.110 disciples, O you slow of heart, praise the Lord, 00:37:01.269 --> 00:37:06.050 O you so many things. So they will sound like 00:37:06.050 --> 00:37:08.750 insults, praise the Lord. He will say to Peter, 00:37:09.010 --> 00:37:12.309 get thee behind me, Satan. Okay, yes, Peter might 00:37:12.309 --> 00:37:19.789 understand what he's saying, but there's so many 00:37:19.789 --> 00:37:22.579 things that he said to them. And there's also 00:37:22.579 --> 00:37:25.460 so many things that he has shown to them. So 00:37:25.460 --> 00:37:27.960 there was places of affection. There's places 00:37:27.960 --> 00:37:30.559 where there was rebuke. There's places where 00:37:30.559 --> 00:37:32.639 there were correction. There were places where 00:37:32.639 --> 00:37:35.019 there were explanation. So he explained something 00:37:35.019 --> 00:37:37.559 to him, to them, and then they don't understand. 00:37:37.679 --> 00:37:39.159 Or he says something they don't understand, they 00:37:39.159 --> 00:37:41.940 come to him, and he tells them that they are 00:37:41.940 --> 00:37:44.619 slow to understand. But then he goes on to explain 00:37:44.619 --> 00:37:47.219 to them. Praise the Lord. They don't just pack 00:37:47.219 --> 00:37:49.400 their bags and say, ah, he said I'm slow to understand. 00:37:49.820 --> 00:37:56.199 Let me go to a place where they can follow me 00:37:56.199 --> 00:38:00.719 slowly. Praise the Lord. So the place of training 00:38:00.719 --> 00:38:05.179 has a lot of things. Praise the Lord. It has 00:38:05.179 --> 00:38:09.500 love. It has correction. It has rebuke. It has 00:38:09.500 --> 00:38:14.019 everything. Somebody who is in training stays 00:38:14.019 --> 00:38:18.199 in the place of training. Praise the Lord. Because 00:38:18.199 --> 00:38:20.460 if you don't stay in the place of training, you're 00:38:20.460 --> 00:38:28.719 going to come out as what people don't want to 00:38:28.719 --> 00:38:32.079 see. Praise the Lord. Or somebody will say, I 00:38:32.079 --> 00:38:36.199 don't know that person. You cannot. I know a 00:38:36.199 --> 00:38:41.699 couple of people that once it seems like you're 00:38:41.699 --> 00:38:44.920 no longer, or maybe you just left the place and 00:38:44.920 --> 00:38:47.860 then they will just deny you. And you start doing 00:38:47.860 --> 00:38:50.699 like anyhow on the BBC, in the internet, you 00:38:50.699 --> 00:38:52.099 are doing some things, you are doing some like, 00:38:52.159 --> 00:38:54.760 do you know this person? I don't know him. Praise 00:38:54.760 --> 00:38:57.300 the Lord. Because their behaviors, they don't 00:38:57.300 --> 00:38:59.880 suggest that they have learned anything. What 00:38:59.880 --> 00:39:01.639 they are doing there does not suggest that they 00:39:01.639 --> 00:39:06.360 have been trained. Praise the Lord. So the place 00:39:06.360 --> 00:39:09.500 of training is for you to be equipped. Praise 00:39:09.500 --> 00:39:12.139 the Lord. For you to be equipped to do the same 00:39:12.139 --> 00:39:14.800 thing. Understanding that they're not just, you 00:39:14.800 --> 00:39:17.920 know, there's a... teaching for you to pass exams, 00:39:18.199 --> 00:39:21.119 right? There's usually teaching for you to become 00:39:21.119 --> 00:39:24.519 a teacher, right? So what happens in the place 00:39:24.519 --> 00:39:26.739 of training is that so that you become a teacher. 00:39:27.119 --> 00:39:28.840 If you're trying to pass exam, you can go and 00:39:28.840 --> 00:39:31.039 cram, you know, just, you know, do it for the, 00:39:31.059 --> 00:39:33.280 might not even be cram, just read it and, and, 00:39:33.400 --> 00:39:35.320 you know, put everything in your head for the 00:39:35.320 --> 00:39:37.239 moment. After two days, you forget about it, 00:39:37.300 --> 00:39:40.079 right? After all, I passed my exam. But if you 00:39:40.079 --> 00:39:42.480 are training or if you are learning to be a teacher, 00:39:42.619 --> 00:39:45.989 what happens is that you are You're taking every 00:39:45.989 --> 00:39:49.610 bit of the process because you know that you 00:39:49.610 --> 00:39:53.389 cannot go to the mess or be a teacher and your 00:39:53.389 --> 00:39:55.469 standard should drop because that's not the intention 00:39:55.469 --> 00:39:59.750 of God. That's not what Paul says to Timothy. 00:39:59.989 --> 00:40:03.670 Praise the Lord. He says you're committed to 00:40:03.670 --> 00:40:09.829 men who are able to teach the same. Praise the 00:40:09.829 --> 00:40:15.090 Lord. They will not go through the you know, 00:40:15.090 --> 00:40:18.250 so many teachings, so many teachings taught you 00:40:18.250 --> 00:40:20.130 so many things. And then when it's your time 00:40:20.130 --> 00:40:22.530 to teach, you say, ah, you don't know that. Yeah, 00:40:22.610 --> 00:40:25.250 you're not serious. Yeah, let's continue. Do 00:40:25.250 --> 00:40:27.849 you understand? You explain, you take your time 00:40:27.849 --> 00:40:32.570 to explain. You teach the way you were taught, 00:40:32.690 --> 00:40:36.050 the way time was taking upon you, the patience 00:40:36.050 --> 00:40:40.030 that was taking upon you. A lot of the pastors 00:40:40.030 --> 00:40:43.320 sometimes If they think about your case, they 00:40:43.320 --> 00:40:46.579 will want to quit. Praise the Lord. But the encouragement 00:40:46.579 --> 00:40:50.440 is that we don't do it unto men. So they are 00:40:50.440 --> 00:40:53.000 not looking at your face again. Praise the Lord. 00:40:53.900 --> 00:40:55.800 So they are no longer looking at your face. They 00:40:55.800 --> 00:40:58.159 say, ah, this person. No, they are looking at 00:40:58.159 --> 00:41:03.260 you as we are not doing it because of you. We 00:41:03.260 --> 00:41:06.159 are doing it because of God. Praise the Lord. 00:41:06.179 --> 00:41:09.400 It is the will of God for your transformation. 00:41:10.219 --> 00:41:12.820 It is the will of God that you grow. It is the 00:41:12.820 --> 00:41:15.440 will of God that you continue to abound more 00:41:15.440 --> 00:41:19.619 and more in love. Praise the Lord. So the place 00:41:19.619 --> 00:41:23.440 of training or the place of staying is the place 00:41:23.440 --> 00:41:26.760 where you are equipped to do the same. That's 00:41:26.760 --> 00:41:30.139 why the teaching is so serious. That's why there's 00:41:30.139 --> 00:41:32.760 a lot of work to be done. That is why there's 00:41:32.760 --> 00:41:35.000 a lot of things. It seems like they are bombarding 00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:37.179 you with too many things because they're not 00:41:37.179 --> 00:41:40.519 trying to make you pass an exam. They are trying 00:41:40.519 --> 00:41:44.539 to make you become a teacher. Praise the Lord. 00:41:46.139 --> 00:41:50.559 So, it is important that we preach the gospel. 00:41:51.219 --> 00:41:56.579 We preach the gospel wherever we go. We preach 00:41:56.579 --> 00:42:11.679 the gospel wherever we go. 2 Timothy 4 It says, 00:42:11.739 --> 00:42:14.280 verse 1 says, I charge you, therefore, before 00:42:14.280 --> 00:42:17.199 God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge 00:42:17.199 --> 00:42:20.159 the living and the dead, at his appearing and 00:42:20.159 --> 00:42:25.500 of his kingdom, preach the word, be ready in 00:42:25.500 --> 00:42:29.760 season and out of season, convince, rebuke, exalt, 00:42:29.980 --> 00:42:32.739 with all low suffering and teaching. For the 00:42:32.739 --> 00:42:34.840 time will come when they will not endure sound 00:42:34.840 --> 00:42:36.539 doctrine, but according to their own desires, 00:42:36.900 --> 00:42:39.239 because they have 18 years, they will heap up 00:42:39.610 --> 00:42:41.949 for themselves teacher, and they will turn their 00:42:41.949 --> 00:42:44.769 ears away from the truth and be turned aside 00:42:44.769 --> 00:42:48.610 to feebles. Praise the Lord. He says that you 00:42:48.610 --> 00:42:53.329 should preach the gospel, right? In season and 00:42:53.329 --> 00:42:56.750 out of season. It therefore means that you are 00:42:56.750 --> 00:43:01.250 not, there is no off season. Praise the Lord. 00:43:02.130 --> 00:43:04.250 People that do sport have off season. They have 00:43:04.250 --> 00:43:06.960 time to rest. They have time in which is their 00:43:06.960 --> 00:43:09.239 downtime. They need to recover. They need to 00:43:09.239 --> 00:43:13.139 do. He says you preach the gospel in season and 00:43:13.139 --> 00:43:16.960 out of season. Praise the Lord. And the person 00:43:16.960 --> 00:43:19.159 who can do that is somebody that knows, somebody 00:43:19.159 --> 00:43:21.699 who is equipped, somebody who has been trained. 00:43:22.119 --> 00:43:23.940 Praise the Lord. Because he will not go and start 00:43:23.940 --> 00:43:26.980 saying, ah, my Bible no day here. You understand? 00:43:28.380 --> 00:43:31.619 He will not be thinking, ah, the places I, my 00:43:31.619 --> 00:43:33.500 notes. This person has this question in the middle 00:43:33.500 --> 00:43:37.199 of this conversation. I am not prepared. Or maybe 00:43:37.199 --> 00:43:38.559 you're having a conversation all of a sudden. 00:43:38.860 --> 00:43:40.880 I'm sure your friends, all of a sudden, somebody 00:43:40.880 --> 00:43:43.840 just throws something at you. It's like, this 00:43:43.840 --> 00:43:46.420 thing you said is not, is not following. Do you 00:43:46.420 --> 00:43:48.500 understand? And you see an opportunity to talk 00:43:48.500 --> 00:43:53.119 to them about God, right? But you're not, you're 00:43:53.119 --> 00:43:55.139 waiting for your Bibles and the places that you're 00:43:55.139 --> 00:43:58.000 placed or your notes. So I'm not ready for this 00:43:58.000 --> 00:44:01.420 conversation. Praise the Lord. I'm going to share 00:44:01.420 --> 00:44:04.079 one story. It's a very embarrassing story, but 00:44:04.079 --> 00:44:07.119 I'm going to share it. One time, in the days 00:44:07.119 --> 00:44:11.500 when I was very hungry, right? I think we were 00:44:11.500 --> 00:44:14.280 still staying in Ganyeli at the time. Somebody 00:44:14.280 --> 00:44:18.860 called me to want to know the, want to know the, 00:44:19.019 --> 00:44:24.500 want to know more about Jesus. Right? The Muslim 00:44:24.500 --> 00:44:27.840 guy. And I went there, went to a restaurant. 00:44:28.099 --> 00:44:31.480 He told me to just focus on the Jesus we killed. 00:44:32.099 --> 00:44:38.559 That's how I go for his chalk. And after this 00:44:38.559 --> 00:44:42.260 thing, I didn't have, I don't feel I did a good 00:44:42.260 --> 00:44:49.800 job at this. I don't think I did a good job to 00:44:49.800 --> 00:44:52.059 explaining to him more about Christ because I'm 00:44:52.059 --> 00:44:54.019 eating, you know, I'm just feeling like, let 00:44:54.019 --> 00:44:59.429 me just go home. Praise the Lord. So you don't 00:44:59.429 --> 00:45:03.489 want to be in that place where because of knowledge 00:45:03.489 --> 00:45:06.070 and because of the things that are surrounding 00:45:06.070 --> 00:45:08.750 you, maybe you're hungry and then they give you 00:45:08.750 --> 00:45:10.969 food. You don't know what to do again. Say, I'm 00:45:10.969 --> 00:45:15.349 satisfied. I think that was my problem. Do you 00:45:15.349 --> 00:45:18.050 understand? So you don't want to be in that state. 00:45:19.070 --> 00:45:21.269 Praise the Lord. You don't want to be in that. 00:45:21.309 --> 00:45:22.909 Every time I think about it, I was like, man, 00:45:23.090 --> 00:45:26.329 I don't think I'll forget that guy's name. Right? 00:45:26.809 --> 00:45:29.030 Because he also did civil engineering with me 00:45:29.030 --> 00:45:34.250 in this department. So, sometimes I see him online 00:45:34.250 --> 00:45:37.010 and he's, but I just know I will not forget his 00:45:37.010 --> 00:45:39.610 name. Because I knew I had opportunity and I 00:45:39.610 --> 00:45:41.929 was ready to, but when I finished eating like 00:45:41.929 --> 00:45:47.849 this, man. So, like I said, you don't want to 00:45:47.849 --> 00:45:50.010 be in the place where you'll be trained such 00:45:50.010 --> 00:45:53.369 that whether you are fasting, whether it's hunger. 00:45:53.949 --> 00:45:56.449 That's what it means, that no matter your state, 00:45:56.670 --> 00:45:59.250 right? No matter your state, when they say the 00:45:59.250 --> 00:46:00.849 gospel or when it's opportunity to preach the 00:46:00.849 --> 00:46:03.389 gospel, you're not thinking, the things around 00:46:03.389 --> 00:46:06.110 you are not affecting you. Praise the Lord. You 00:46:06.110 --> 00:46:08.050 say, ah, we came here to settle this one, but 00:46:08.050 --> 00:46:11.150 there's an opportunity here. Let me say this 00:46:11.150 --> 00:46:13.409 before I continue what I'm doing. Praise the 00:46:13.409 --> 00:46:17.789 Lord. So even when God tells Abraham to leave 00:46:17.789 --> 00:46:21.210 his father's land and to leave his kindred, right? 00:46:21.309 --> 00:46:23.699 He could easily stay there. But because of the 00:46:23.699 --> 00:46:26.719 calling of God upon his life, he put priority 00:46:26.719 --> 00:46:30.619 on living that which was comfortable. He put 00:46:30.619 --> 00:46:34.179 priority on living that which was convenient. 00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:38.159 Praise the Lord. So it's the same thing for us 00:46:38.159 --> 00:46:41.780 that we preach the gospel in season and out of 00:46:41.780 --> 00:46:44.880 season. It means that the way you can do it, 00:46:44.900 --> 00:46:47.219 like I said, it's only when you are prepared, 00:46:47.440 --> 00:46:50.679 when you are properly trained. Praise the Lord. 00:46:51.130 --> 00:46:53.309 That you can be injured or something can happen 00:46:53.309 --> 00:46:55.969 to you. But when it comes to preaching the gospel, 00:46:55.989 --> 00:46:59.730 that is not a conversation. You just go to teach 00:46:59.730 --> 00:47:05.269 it. Praise the Lord. You go to explain it. Because 00:47:05.269 --> 00:47:07.449 he said that time will come where people will 00:47:07.449 --> 00:47:10.050 not endure sound doctrine. They don't want to 00:47:10.050 --> 00:47:14.030 hear that which is sound. Praise the Lord. So 00:47:14.030 --> 00:47:16.530 the more you are teaching the gospel, the more 00:47:16.530 --> 00:47:21.010 that a... The people that time will come, they 00:47:21.010 --> 00:47:22.630 will not endure. They will have endured now. 00:47:23.769 --> 00:47:26.750 Praise the Lord. Before that time comes, or before 00:47:26.750 --> 00:47:28.789 their own time of not enduring sound doctrine 00:47:28.789 --> 00:47:31.570 comes, they will have endured now. Praise the 00:47:31.570 --> 00:47:48.170 Lord. And lastly, on this, that the minister, 00:47:49.480 --> 00:47:58.300 The minister, just like we look at the idea of 00:47:58.300 --> 00:48:01.679 Jesus being or being Lord over us, right? The 00:48:01.679 --> 00:48:05.079 minister's life is that that should show that. 00:48:05.579 --> 00:48:09.179 Praise the Lord. So when you notice in your life, 00:48:09.260 --> 00:48:12.420 right? When you notice in your life that there 00:48:12.420 --> 00:48:16.219 is something, right? There's something that you 00:48:16.219 --> 00:48:19.699 as a child of God are struggling with. Right? 00:48:19.840 --> 00:48:22.420 Or something that you feel like is besetting 00:48:22.420 --> 00:48:28.679 you. It is an alarm or it's something that is 00:48:28.679 --> 00:48:30.780 alerting you that something needs to be done 00:48:30.780 --> 00:48:34.099 concerning this part of my life. Praise the Lord. 00:48:34.739 --> 00:48:37.139 Something needs to be done concerning this part 00:48:37.139 --> 00:48:40.059 of my life. You might not know all the Greeks 00:48:40.059 --> 00:48:43.860 and all the Hebrews, right? But a minister of 00:48:43.860 --> 00:48:48.179 God is somebody that has good character. Praise 00:48:48.179 --> 00:48:50.579 the Lord. And that good character is as a result 00:48:50.579 --> 00:48:53.820 of fellowship with or as a result of the spirit 00:48:53.820 --> 00:48:57.659 that they have in the inside of them. Praise 00:48:57.659 --> 00:49:01.820 the Lord. The more you grow in God, the more 00:49:01.820 --> 00:49:04.139 you are transformed. The more you study the word 00:49:04.139 --> 00:49:06.239 of God, the more you are transformed. Praise 00:49:06.239 --> 00:49:09.900 the Lord. So when you are reading the scriptures, 00:49:10.099 --> 00:49:13.480 you are reading it for you, for your transformation, 00:49:13.559 --> 00:49:17.639 for it to be a blessing to your life. Praise 00:49:17.639 --> 00:49:20.659 the Lord. For it to be a blessing to your life. 00:49:21.539 --> 00:49:26.159 And don't be afraid to share. Don't be afraid 00:49:26.159 --> 00:49:30.400 to share your struggle. Right? One of the things 00:49:30.400 --> 00:49:36.659 I learned a while ago is that when you share 00:49:36.659 --> 00:49:40.699 something that you're struggling with, the power 00:49:40.699 --> 00:49:45.880 that it has gets broken over your life. That 00:49:45.880 --> 00:49:48.969 is that Secrecy, for you to keep something secret, 00:49:49.210 --> 00:49:54.630 is going to keep you bound. But once you share 00:49:54.630 --> 00:49:59.449 it, you have gone halfway. The fight has been 00:49:59.449 --> 00:50:05.449 won halfway. Praise the Lord. The fight has been 00:50:05.449 --> 00:50:12.150 won halfway. You are encouraged to share, to 00:50:12.150 --> 00:50:14.869 talk about the things that are going on in your 00:50:14.869 --> 00:50:20.030 life. Praise the Lord. Don't carry too many things. 00:50:20.610 --> 00:50:24.449 Praise the Lord. So let us rise on our feet and 00:50:24.449 --> 00:50:28.789 just begin to pray. We appreciate you being here 00:50:28.789 --> 00:50:31.869 today. We hope you carry this word with you throughout 00:50:31.869 --> 00:50:34.750 your week. Don't forget to check the show notes 00:50:34.750 --> 00:50:37.510 for additional insights. Stay connected with 00:50:37.510 --> 00:50:40.190 us through our website or follow us on social 00:50:40.190 --> 00:50:43.869 media. If you are encouraged, share this message 00:50:43.869 --> 00:50:46.869 with someone you care about. Until next time, 00:50:46.929 --> 00:50:47.869 stay blessed.