WEBVTT 00:00:01.179 --> 00:00:06.620 Welcome to NECF sermons. Each message here is 00:00:06.620 --> 00:00:09.640 designed to uplift and strengthen you in your 00:00:09.640 --> 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 --> 00:00:23.600 right in. Heavenly Father. Thank you, Heavenly 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:28.460 Father. Thank you, Heavenly Father. In the mighty 00:00:28.460 --> 00:00:32.340 name of Jesus. Jesus speaking to his disciples, 00:00:32.439 --> 00:00:36.579 he said, most assuredly, I say to you, most assuredly, 00:00:36.579 --> 00:00:40.299 I say to you, most assuredly, I say to you, most 00:00:40.299 --> 00:00:42.299 assuredly, I say to you. When someone is speaking, 00:00:42.600 --> 00:00:45.420 you listen. When someone says most assuredly, 00:00:45.420 --> 00:00:48.799 in their time, that will be truly, truly, that 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:51.539 will be like twice. The word will, I think another 00:00:51.539 --> 00:00:53.780 translation, I want you to give us on the King 00:00:53.780 --> 00:00:59.469 James. Verily, verily, or truly, truly. The ESV 00:00:59.469 --> 00:01:02.210 will say, truly, truly, this is verily, verily. 00:01:03.049 --> 00:01:04.909 Verily, verily. It's like someone calling your 00:01:04.909 --> 00:01:07.109 name once and calling your name again to get 00:01:07.109 --> 00:01:09.790 your attention, to bring you to this consciousness 00:01:09.790 --> 00:01:12.590 that this is important. And we'll see that this 00:01:12.590 --> 00:01:18.450 is unique to the gospel of John. We'll see about 00:01:18.450 --> 00:01:24.250 in 25 verses, you see this exactly as it is. 00:01:24.290 --> 00:01:26.930 Moses, surely I say to you, verily, verily I 00:01:26.930 --> 00:01:29.829 say to you. You see this happen several times. 00:01:29.930 --> 00:01:32.549 And it's a cue for something important. It's 00:01:32.549 --> 00:01:37.109 a cue for something worth noting. In the teaching, 00:01:37.170 --> 00:01:39.909 I will go further and explain that. But I'm setting 00:01:39.909 --> 00:01:42.049 the stage for us to understand that we need to 00:01:42.049 --> 00:01:44.409 pay attention, right? We need to pay attention. 00:01:44.469 --> 00:01:48.370 And we're in a day and age where people lose 00:01:48.370 --> 00:01:50.670 attention. People don't pay attention. People 00:01:50.670 --> 00:01:52.409 can be looking at you. A person can be looking 00:01:52.409 --> 00:01:55.409 at you, but their minds are far and in a distant 00:01:55.409 --> 00:02:02.060 land. And attention is, we most times pursue, 00:02:02.200 --> 00:02:05.219 we want to get attention, but we don't want to 00:02:05.219 --> 00:02:09.099 give it. We don't want to give it. The world 00:02:09.099 --> 00:02:12.219 is revolving around people seeking to be noticed, 00:02:12.300 --> 00:02:15.520 people seeking to be known, people seeking clicks, 00:02:15.699 --> 00:02:21.500 likes, and follows, or subscribers, people seeking 00:02:21.500 --> 00:02:26.210 all of that. One very key thing and one very 00:02:26.210 --> 00:02:28.990 important thing that's very foundational to understanding 00:02:28.990 --> 00:02:33.949 is giving attention or paying attention. Giving 00:02:33.949 --> 00:02:36.050 attention or paying attention. And in this year, 00:02:36.169 --> 00:02:39.129 God is demanding that we pay attention to his 00:02:39.129 --> 00:02:42.069 word. He's demanding that we pay attention to 00:02:42.069 --> 00:02:45.810 the disciplines that will account for our growth. 00:02:46.009 --> 00:02:48.729 Pay attention to the things that he's speaking, 00:02:48.849 --> 00:02:50.569 the things he has spoken, the things that he's 00:02:50.569 --> 00:02:53.469 still speaking. You are paying attention to the 00:02:53.469 --> 00:02:58.469 prophecies that you have received, paying attention 00:02:58.469 --> 00:03:02.129 to it so that you are able to partner with God 00:03:02.129 --> 00:03:07.550 to see its fulfillment. And the whole of Scripture 00:03:07.550 --> 00:03:11.090 is littered around with this whole idea or this 00:03:11.090 --> 00:03:15.310 concept of having to give attention, to be attentive. 00:03:16.750 --> 00:03:24.979 Proverbs 4, 1, 2. Two, it says, hear my children 00:03:24.979 --> 00:03:28.300 the instruction of a father and give attention 00:03:28.300 --> 00:03:33.840 to no understanding. Give attention to no understanding. 00:03:34.819 --> 00:03:39.620 For I give you good doctrine. Don't forsake my 00:03:39.620 --> 00:03:45.139 law. Give attention to no understanding. Give 00:03:45.139 --> 00:03:47.500 attention to no understanding. If you want to 00:03:47.500 --> 00:03:49.699 understand, you have to give attention. You have 00:03:49.699 --> 00:03:53.710 to pay attention. You don't understand by being 00:03:53.710 --> 00:03:58.590 passive. You don't understand by being casual. 00:03:59.050 --> 00:04:02.930 You understand by paying or giving attention. 00:04:03.310 --> 00:04:06.889 Praise God. And in Proverbs 2, verse 1 to 5, 00:04:07.150 --> 00:04:12.490 it says, My son, if you receive my words and 00:04:12.490 --> 00:04:15.729 treasure my commands within you, so that you... 00:04:16.430 --> 00:04:18.649 If you receive my words and treasure my commands 00:04:18.649 --> 00:04:21.730 within you so that you incline your ear to wisdom 00:04:21.730 --> 00:04:24.910 and apply your heart to understanding. Yes, if 00:04:24.910 --> 00:04:28.449 you cry out for discernment and lift up your 00:04:28.449 --> 00:04:32.430 voice for understanding. If you seek her as silver 00:04:32.430 --> 00:04:35.829 and search for her as hidden treasures, then 00:04:35.829 --> 00:04:38.649 you understand the fear of the Lord and find 00:04:38.649 --> 00:04:43.170 the knowledge of God. There is this inclining 00:04:43.170 --> 00:04:46.160 your ear. to the wisdom, applying your heart 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:49.600 to understanding. There's this, every part of 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:51.819 you has to be involved in it. You don't just 00:04:51.819 --> 00:04:55.160 give me your ear. You want to give God your ear. 00:04:55.300 --> 00:04:56.860 You want to give him your heart. You want to 00:04:56.860 --> 00:05:00.360 give him your full attention. Because when someone 00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:04.300 has your full attention, they will not miss a 00:05:04.300 --> 00:05:06.980 thing. Praise God. You will not miss a thing. 00:05:07.259 --> 00:05:10.060 You will not miss a thing. And scripture continues 00:05:10.060 --> 00:05:13.620 to communicate this strongly to us that Paying 00:05:13.620 --> 00:05:16.920 attention is foundational to understanding. Paying 00:05:16.920 --> 00:05:19.939 attention is foundational to growth. Anybody 00:05:19.939 --> 00:05:24.279 that wants to grow in fact in a specific area, 00:05:24.360 --> 00:05:27.220 you want to give attention to that area for you 00:05:27.220 --> 00:05:30.360 to see growth. You can't just be aiming everywhere 00:05:30.360 --> 00:05:34.759 and expecting to grow everywhere. Paying attention 00:05:34.759 --> 00:05:36.920 means that you are focused. Paying attention 00:05:36.920 --> 00:05:39.759 means that you are single -minded. You're not 00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:41.959 all over the place. When someone is not paying 00:05:41.959 --> 00:05:44.060 attention, the word for it is that they are distracted. 00:05:45.100 --> 00:05:48.100 And for many of us, our walk with God is full 00:05:48.100 --> 00:05:52.620 of distractions. If I ask you to reflect on 2025, 00:05:53.100 --> 00:05:55.759 you will remember all the times you were distracted, 00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:58.720 on the things that you had planned to do, you 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:01.939 had prayed, you had prepared, on the day of execution, 00:06:02.139 --> 00:06:04.439 you found yourself doing another thing. Or you 00:06:04.439 --> 00:06:06.279 find yourself doing something else. And then 00:06:06.279 --> 00:06:08.220 when you finish, you say, Lord, I'm sorry. And 00:06:08.220 --> 00:06:10.399 then you come back again and then you repeat 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:12.540 the cycle. It's almost like the cycle just comes 00:06:12.540 --> 00:06:15.980 back again. But we see in that same Proverbs 00:06:15.980 --> 00:06:20.800 4, when you read down, I want us to read down, 00:06:20.860 --> 00:06:31.899 I think, from 20, 420. 420, I think. The minister 00:06:31.899 --> 00:06:37.779 don't mind. Oh, the song. My son, pay attention 00:06:37.779 --> 00:06:40.459 to my words. In fact, that's the song that comes 00:06:40.459 --> 00:06:43.600 out when you're reading this Proverbs. Pay attention 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:47.459 to my words. Incline your heart to my sayings. 00:06:47.860 --> 00:06:52.079 Do not let them depart from your eyes. Keep them 00:06:52.079 --> 00:06:55.300 in the midst of your heart. For they are life 00:06:55.300 --> 00:06:58.240 to those who find them. They are health to all 00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:02.850 their flesh. Keep your heart. with all diligence, 00:07:03.230 --> 00:07:08.050 for out of it springs the issues of life. Put 00:07:08.050 --> 00:07:14.069 away from you a deceitful mouth, and put perverse 00:07:14.069 --> 00:07:18.689 lips far from you. Let your eyes look straight 00:07:18.689 --> 00:07:23.750 ahead. Let your eyelids look right before you. 00:07:24.209 --> 00:07:29.709 Ponder the patch of your feet, and let all your 00:07:29.709 --> 00:07:34.459 ways be. established. Don't turn to the right 00:07:34.459 --> 00:07:41.259 or to the left. Remove your foot from evil. I 00:07:41.259 --> 00:07:43.420 would like us to read 1 and 2. That is chapters 00:07:43.420 --> 00:07:50.379 1 and 2. Chapters 5 starts off with my son again. 00:07:51.180 --> 00:07:58.220 Pay attention to my wisdom. Lend your ear to 00:07:58.220 --> 00:08:03.850 my understanding. that you may preserve discretion 00:08:03.850 --> 00:08:08.569 and your lips may keep knowledge. We see that 00:08:08.569 --> 00:08:10.829 there's a repeated theme in this particular area, 00:08:10.970 --> 00:08:15.949 in the passages that we've read, it starts off, 00:08:15.970 --> 00:08:19.810 he encourages his son to pay attention, to give 00:08:19.810 --> 00:08:23.170 attention. And this is a theme repeated and scattered 00:08:23.170 --> 00:08:26.959 through. scriptures, you find it. It says wisdom 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:30.339 actually demands that you deliberately pursue 00:08:30.339 --> 00:08:35.620 it. You don't stumble on wisdom. Wisdom doesn't 00:08:35.620 --> 00:08:40.500 stumble to you. You look for it. You find it. 00:08:40.580 --> 00:08:43.159 You give attention to it. You hold on to it. 00:08:44.419 --> 00:08:48.059 You hold fast to it. And then you treasure it. 00:08:48.750 --> 00:08:52.409 Some of us receive things and we don't treasure 00:08:52.409 --> 00:08:55.830 the things that we have received. We take it 00:08:55.830 --> 00:08:59.529 casual. We incline our hearts towards understanding 00:08:59.529 --> 00:09:05.789 it. We seek insight and we intensify our desire 00:09:05.789 --> 00:09:13.230 for it. We look at it. The way a gold miner mines 00:09:13.230 --> 00:09:16.379 for gold, they dig. They investigate. They look 00:09:16.379 --> 00:09:18.860 around. They search. They clean the dirt. They 00:09:18.860 --> 00:09:22.299 get dirty. They get rough trying to do that. 00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:25.460 And once they have found the gold, the search 00:09:25.460 --> 00:09:28.240 doesn't stop because there is more gold to find. 00:09:28.360 --> 00:09:31.379 Praise God. There is more gold to find. And God's 00:09:31.379 --> 00:09:35.059 word is gold and God wants us to treasure it. 00:09:35.139 --> 00:09:38.519 God wants us to treasure it. We incline ourselves 00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:40.340 to it. We apply our hearts to it. So there's 00:09:40.340 --> 00:09:42.899 always something to do. There's always something 00:09:42.899 --> 00:09:45.240 to do. There's always something to do. And I 00:09:45.240 --> 00:09:47.639 want to just put this in as we're talking about 00:09:47.639 --> 00:09:49.700 it. When Pastor, if I was leading us in prayer, 00:09:49.779 --> 00:09:53.440 he dropped it in. This is the 18th of January. 00:09:54.720 --> 00:09:57.799 This is the 18th of January. I want to ask you, 00:09:57.899 --> 00:10:00.220 you know, many people still do this thing of, 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:02.899 okay, this is a new year. I want to do something. 00:10:02.919 --> 00:10:05.840 I want to do a new year, new me. I want to do 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:08.139 things differently this year. And then they say, 00:10:08.179 --> 00:10:10.860 okay. I'm going to try. Last year, I couldn't 00:10:10.860 --> 00:10:13.759 complete my Bible, the canonical. I want to do 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:17.480 better this year. If you want to do better this 00:10:17.480 --> 00:10:21.340 year, and we are on the 18th of January, first 00:10:21.340 --> 00:10:23.179 and foremost, doing better will mean that you 00:10:23.179 --> 00:10:25.779 should be on the plan, the one we are together 00:10:25.779 --> 00:10:28.799 as a church. Some people will say, sir, there's 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:30.960 a personal plan I do. Yes, there's a personal 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:33.789 plan you do. How do we... How are you accountable 00:10:33.789 --> 00:10:36.269 in that personal plan? How we can know that you're 00:10:36.269 --> 00:10:38.590 accountable because you already are used to doing 00:10:38.590 --> 00:10:41.309 it. So what you'll just do is that you'll join 00:10:41.309 --> 00:10:44.070 us and then we'll be able to hold ourselves accountable 00:10:44.070 --> 00:10:47.549 together. That's one. Two, where we've started, 00:10:47.649 --> 00:10:50.929 this is the 18. And the question is, are you 00:10:50.929 --> 00:10:52.950 playing catch up? Because if you're playing catch 00:10:52.950 --> 00:10:54.149 up, you know, some people have been doing catch 00:10:54.149 --> 00:10:57.950 up since last year. Now is a new... It's a new 00:10:57.950 --> 00:11:01.850 plan. If you're going to do catch up again, it 00:11:01.850 --> 00:11:04.509 shouldn't be 18 days. We're now still doing 15 00:11:04.509 --> 00:11:09.809 days. Not behind by 15 days. It means that if 00:11:09.809 --> 00:11:13.950 you want to start off to do better, it means 00:11:13.950 --> 00:11:17.929 that you should be closing in. We can be in day 00:11:17.929 --> 00:11:21.769 18 and then it's bad enough that we're doing 00:11:21.769 --> 00:11:26.299 like three days missed, four days missed. If 00:11:26.299 --> 00:11:27.879 it's 10 days missed, it means that you have not 00:11:27.879 --> 00:11:30.600 learned your lesson from the past year. Praise 00:11:30.600 --> 00:11:34.259 God. And I'm saying this to say that little things 00:11:34.259 --> 00:11:37.779 like this are the micro changes that you make 00:11:37.779 --> 00:11:42.259 for the macro changes to occur. Praise God. They 00:11:42.259 --> 00:11:44.279 are the micro changes that you make for the macro 00:11:44.279 --> 00:11:45.679 changes to occur. I'm saying this and looking 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:48.779 into the eyes of some people. They are the micro 00:11:48.779 --> 00:11:51.360 changes you make for the macro changes to occur. 00:11:51.679 --> 00:11:55.860 You don't just arrive at here. You move slowly 00:11:55.860 --> 00:12:00.240 and you can make mistakes or you can skip, but 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:02.340 let it not be too far apart. Let your recovery 00:12:02.340 --> 00:12:06.340 time be shorter this year. Praise God. Let your 00:12:06.340 --> 00:12:09.360 recovery time or let the days apart be shorter. 00:12:09.460 --> 00:12:11.559 Some people, I was horrified to see that they 00:12:11.559 --> 00:12:14.120 had like 100 and something days in last year. 00:12:14.200 --> 00:12:16.500 And this year, there is no 100 and something. 00:12:16.519 --> 00:12:20.620 There is no catch up this year. Praise God. It 00:12:20.620 --> 00:12:23.950 means that if you want to. If you want to do 00:12:23.950 --> 00:12:27.690 better, you have to plan. You don't stumble into 00:12:27.690 --> 00:12:29.970 it. You want to say, I want to pay attention 00:12:29.970 --> 00:12:33.370 to my study of God's Word. I want to see that 00:12:33.370 --> 00:12:36.169 there's an improvement from what used to happen 00:12:36.169 --> 00:12:41.750 before. Yes, I'm up to date, but how am I internalizing 00:12:41.750 --> 00:12:44.169 what I'm receiving? That is the step further. 00:12:44.450 --> 00:12:47.269 I think one way, Brother Gabriel was leading 00:12:47.269 --> 00:12:49.409 us in prayer one time. He says, yes, there are 00:12:49.409 --> 00:12:52.659 nine gifts of the Spirit. If you are doing eight, 00:12:52.659 --> 00:12:54.980 there's one more. If you are doing one, there's 00:12:54.980 --> 00:12:57.720 eight more. If you are doing five, there's four 00:12:57.720 --> 00:13:00.799 more. It means that anywhere you find yourself, 00:13:00.940 --> 00:13:03.419 there's more. Meaning that if you have been doing 00:13:03.419 --> 00:13:07.779 it successfully, you want to put in a challenge 00:13:07.779 --> 00:13:12.639 to it. Say this year, I'm going to add more fasting 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:16.480 to it. I'm going to add more of intense study 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:20.000 to it to challenge myself, to enable myself to 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:24.279 do. Because there's actually a consequence of 00:13:24.279 --> 00:13:26.200 not paying. There's a big consequence to not 00:13:26.200 --> 00:13:29.340 paying attention. Praise God. There are consequences 00:13:29.340 --> 00:13:33.580 to not paying attention. I think I will give 00:13:33.580 --> 00:13:37.220 an illustration with, I think, this semester 00:13:37.220 --> 00:13:42.700 that just ended. Even in your everyday life, 00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:44.399 if you don't pay attention, you pay for it daily. 00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:48.220 I'd given announcements to all the students, 00:13:48.360 --> 00:13:51.100 stated, okay, this is how you're going to do 00:13:51.100 --> 00:13:54.240 it. This is the venue for the exams. And I walked 00:13:54.240 --> 00:13:56.139 into an exam hall and I saw a particular student 00:13:56.139 --> 00:13:59.539 in the wrong exam, writing the wrong examination. 00:14:00.100 --> 00:14:02.139 And this student looks at me and I said, I looked 00:14:02.139 --> 00:14:04.919 and I'm able to tell that this student shouldn't 00:14:04.919 --> 00:14:07.259 be in this examination. I looked into the student's 00:14:07.259 --> 00:14:09.220 eye. I said, you shouldn't be in this exam. She 00:14:09.220 --> 00:14:11.460 looks, the student looks at me and tells me, 00:14:11.500 --> 00:14:14.279 thank you, Hojam. And then I'm thinking to myself, 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:16.700 I was like. I don't have time. I have like different 00:14:16.700 --> 00:14:18.820 rooms to attend to. I can't explain to the student 00:14:18.820 --> 00:14:21.139 again that they're in the wrong class after telling 00:14:21.139 --> 00:14:23.600 me thank you and not doing anything about it. 00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:28.000 And then I'm thinking to myself that if you continue 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:31.000 and finish the entire exam, I hope you know that 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:33.019 the consequences that you have zero because the 00:14:33.019 --> 00:14:36.899 courses are not the same. And then you have people 00:14:36.899 --> 00:14:42.919 giving or you're doing work, but you're doing 00:14:42.919 --> 00:14:47.360 work. in the wrong direction. And for some of 00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:51.960 us, last year we were busy. We were very busy. 00:14:52.700 --> 00:14:56.639 We were doing a lot of things. But we were not 00:14:56.639 --> 00:14:59.679 in church. We were not in the Word. We were not 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:02.480 found in a place of prayer. We were nowhere, 00:15:02.779 --> 00:15:07.440 but we were everywhere. Praise God. I want to 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:11.269 challenge you that you want to look And see, 00:15:11.350 --> 00:15:13.470 paying attention is not just examining your life 00:15:13.470 --> 00:15:15.289 and doing nothing about it. Because most of us 00:15:15.289 --> 00:15:18.230 have examined our lives. And we have seen that 00:15:18.230 --> 00:15:19.769 there is a problem in this area and this area. 00:15:20.070 --> 00:15:26.509 But we are just locked in the habit of living 00:15:26.509 --> 00:15:29.809 things the way that they are. This is my challenge 00:15:29.809 --> 00:15:33.970 to us. That there is more, right? There is more. 00:15:34.409 --> 00:15:37.620 There is more. There is more. And I think in 00:15:37.620 --> 00:15:40.240 the passage that was read to us, I think on Wednesday, 00:15:40.580 --> 00:15:46.080 when Pastor Victor was teaching us, he read to 00:15:46.080 --> 00:15:52.700 us from Hebrew. And in Hebrews 2, he mentioned 00:15:52.700 --> 00:15:55.200 something. He says, Hebrews 2 is one. He says, 00:15:55.240 --> 00:15:59.980 therefore, we must give more earnest heed. I 00:15:59.980 --> 00:16:03.470 like the way he emphasizes more. earnest heed 00:16:03.470 --> 00:16:07.230 to the things that we have heard. More earnest 00:16:07.230 --> 00:16:10.710 heed to the things that we have heard. Lest we 00:16:10.710 --> 00:16:15.210 drift away. Lest we drift away. You're giving 00:16:15.210 --> 00:16:16.789 heed to the things you have heard so that you 00:16:16.789 --> 00:16:18.889 make progress. In fact, it didn't just say give 00:16:18.889 --> 00:16:23.009 heed to the things. It said more earnest heed 00:16:23.009 --> 00:16:26.659 to the things that you have heard. And for some 00:16:26.659 --> 00:16:30.419 of us, we have been hearing, hearing, hearing. 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:32.919 It's a broken record. We've been hearing and 00:16:32.919 --> 00:16:37.139 hearing, but we still have not decided that this 00:16:37.139 --> 00:16:40.240 is the time it will end. What I believe God is 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:42.639 going to be doing to us or doing in us in this 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:44.320 season is that he's going to be stirring the 00:16:44.320 --> 00:16:47.320 desire. We're going to look at, as we prayed, 00:16:47.399 --> 00:16:49.779 we're going to see examples, as we saw in the 00:16:49.779 --> 00:16:54.149 passage in 1 Timothy 4. We're going to see examples 00:16:54.149 --> 00:16:56.509 that will challenge us. We're going to see people 00:16:56.509 --> 00:16:58.809 around us, and God is going to put us in that 00:16:58.809 --> 00:17:02.509 place where we'll be challenged to insist on 00:17:02.509 --> 00:17:06.509 change. Insist on change. That we will not drift. 00:17:06.630 --> 00:17:09.150 Some people drift and drift and drift, and to 00:17:09.150 --> 00:17:11.309 come back, it's like a little slow fade, slow 00:17:11.309 --> 00:17:12.849 fade, and before you know it, there's nothing. 00:17:15.009 --> 00:17:18.509 Jesus Christ speaking in Luke 18. I want us to 00:17:18.509 --> 00:17:28.460 go to Luke 8, Luke 8, 18. Luke 8, 18, it says, 00:17:28.579 --> 00:17:34.380 Therefore take heed how you hear. Take heed how 00:17:34.380 --> 00:17:43.339 you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be 00:17:43.339 --> 00:17:47.920 given, and whoever does not have, even that which 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:57.130 he seems to have, will be taken from him. Even 00:17:57.130 --> 00:17:59.650 the things you do have, you can lose it if you 00:17:59.650 --> 00:18:04.450 don't apply yourself to it. Some of us, we just, 00:18:04.549 --> 00:18:07.569 we regress a bit and when we come back, it's 00:18:07.569 --> 00:18:13.410 like it's new to us. Because you have regressed 00:18:13.410 --> 00:18:18.970 or you have held back a bit. Means that if you 00:18:18.970 --> 00:18:22.329 don't consistently pay attention, you're going 00:18:22.329 --> 00:18:24.690 to lose already gained grounds. You're going 00:18:24.690 --> 00:18:26.750 to lose already gained grounds. If you don't 00:18:26.750 --> 00:18:29.250 consistently pay attention, you will miss something 00:18:29.250 --> 00:18:33.410 that you will struggle to catch up with. It's 00:18:33.410 --> 00:18:34.990 like if you don't pay attention in the whole 00:18:34.990 --> 00:18:38.190 of the semester, when you fail, you have to pay 00:18:38.190 --> 00:18:40.650 for another semester. It means that it will cost 00:18:40.650 --> 00:18:43.849 you. It will cost you. It means that you don't 00:18:43.849 --> 00:18:46.549 want to give yourself, you want to really pay 00:18:46.549 --> 00:18:49.150 attention to what is happening so that you don't 00:18:49.150 --> 00:18:53.240 miss out. You don't miss out. I want us to go 00:18:53.240 --> 00:19:02.099 to the first Timothy. First Timothy 4. First 00:19:02.099 --> 00:19:09.039 Timothy 4. We'll start from 13. First Timothy 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:11.240 4. We'll start from 13. It says, Till I come, 00:19:11.500 --> 00:19:17.319 give attention to reading. Till I come, give 00:19:17.319 --> 00:19:21.380 attention to reading, to exaltation, to doctrine. 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:24.980 Give attention to doctrine, that is teaching. 00:19:25.940 --> 00:19:30.500 Do not neglect the gift which is in you, which 00:19:30.500 --> 00:19:33.160 has been given to you by prophecy by the laying 00:19:33.160 --> 00:19:39.299 on of hands of the eldership. 15 now says, meditate 00:19:39.299 --> 00:19:43.299 on these things. Give yourself entirely to them. 00:19:43.500 --> 00:19:47.259 Notice he says, give yourself entirely to them. 00:19:47.460 --> 00:19:51.539 He didn't say partly. He didn't say somehowly. 00:19:52.039 --> 00:19:56.500 He says entirely to them that your progress may 00:19:56.500 --> 00:19:59.039 be evident to all. It means that what we'll see 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:01.680 as a result is progress, right? What we'll see 00:20:01.680 --> 00:20:04.200 as a result is you'll get better. What we'll 00:20:04.200 --> 00:20:07.059 see as a result is that you will not struggle 00:20:07.059 --> 00:20:10.859 to catch it or to understand when it's being 00:20:10.859 --> 00:20:13.799 taught. It means that your progress will be evident 00:20:13.799 --> 00:20:18.599 to all. 16 now says take heed to yourself and 00:20:18.599 --> 00:20:22.019 to the doctrine, which is teaching. Continue 00:20:22.019 --> 00:20:26.180 in them. For in doing this, you will save both 00:20:26.180 --> 00:20:30.019 yourself and those who hear you. So it means 00:20:30.019 --> 00:20:33.140 that your making progress is not going to be 00:20:33.140 --> 00:20:35.640 beneficial to you alone. Even people around you. 00:20:35.740 --> 00:20:38.019 In the prayers that we're saying, it's now not 00:20:38.019 --> 00:20:41.119 we or you're looking forward to who will encourage 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:44.539 you. It's now you encouraging someone else because 00:20:44.539 --> 00:20:47.980 you yourself have been encouraged. Praise God. 00:20:48.440 --> 00:20:50.940 You have been encouraged. And time and time again, 00:20:51.160 --> 00:20:57.880 the purpose or the plan for God is not for everyone 00:20:57.880 --> 00:21:01.700 to be needing, right? Everyone to always, God, 00:21:01.859 --> 00:21:07.519 what is it for me today? What do you have for 00:21:07.519 --> 00:21:14.779 me today? That kind of work is what we are here 00:21:14.779 --> 00:21:19.000 encouraging you not to. Give yourself to praise 00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:23.099 God. The work should be such that you will say, 00:21:23.180 --> 00:21:27.400 what do you want me to do? That is someone that 00:21:27.400 --> 00:21:31.400 is paying attention. Someone that is paying attention 00:21:31.400 --> 00:21:35.779 will be like, there is work to be done. I am 00:21:35.779 --> 00:21:37.799 availing myself for that work that needs to be 00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:41.180 done. But someone that is needing attention will 00:21:41.180 --> 00:21:44.160 wake up and say, what do you have for me today? 00:21:44.440 --> 00:21:47.779 I want... You know, I have fees that are not 00:21:47.779 --> 00:21:51.240 paid. But someone that is paying attention will 00:21:51.240 --> 00:21:55.000 see the pattern. The way your fees have been 00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:57.759 coming from last year, it has been miraculous. 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:02.339 But it has been coming. So it means that you 00:22:02.339 --> 00:22:06.359 don't want to give your attention to that, but 00:22:06.359 --> 00:22:10.420 focus your attention on the work that he's instructing 00:22:10.420 --> 00:22:14.859 you to do. So we see that it's very... practical 00:22:14.859 --> 00:22:20.900 either benefits or consequences to it. There 00:22:20.900 --> 00:22:22.720 are practical benefits or consequences to it. 00:22:22.859 --> 00:22:26.099 And I want us to pick something from the parable 00:22:26.099 --> 00:22:29.980 of the sower, right? And this further exemplifies 00:22:29.980 --> 00:22:34.579 or illustrates the matter. Because when people 00:22:34.579 --> 00:22:38.900 hear spiritual truths and they don't understand 00:22:38.900 --> 00:22:43.470 it or they don't heed it, there is There are 00:22:43.470 --> 00:22:46.509 things that can happen. There are things, there 00:22:46.509 --> 00:22:48.509 are consequences, or there are things that they 00:22:48.509 --> 00:22:51.130 can allow themselves to give heed to that will 00:22:51.130 --> 00:22:53.990 distract them from the truth. Because if the 00:22:53.990 --> 00:22:56.569 truth that you have received doesn't take root, 00:22:56.809 --> 00:22:59.690 you will not see the fruit of it. Praise God. 00:22:59.890 --> 00:23:01.509 You will not see the fruit of it. And it's very 00:23:01.509 --> 00:23:04.269 important that we don't undermine the things 00:23:04.269 --> 00:23:06.509 that God is exposing us to, the things that God 00:23:06.509 --> 00:23:08.369 is teaching us, the things that He's helping 00:23:08.369 --> 00:23:10.690 us to come into understanding of. I want us to 00:23:10.690 --> 00:23:13.880 see it from a sense where I want to see this 00:23:13.880 --> 00:23:28.039 from Matthew 13. Matthew 13 from verse 9. It 00:23:28.039 --> 00:23:32.579 starts off with, He who has ears to hear, let 00:23:32.579 --> 00:23:37.019 him hear. 10 now says, And the disciples came 00:23:37.019 --> 00:23:42.660 and said to him, Why? Do you speak to them in 00:23:42.660 --> 00:23:46.819 parables? He answered and said to them, Because 00:23:46.819 --> 00:23:50.700 it has been given to you to know the mysteries 00:23:50.700 --> 00:23:56.440 of the kingdom of heaven. But to them it has 00:23:56.440 --> 00:24:01.259 not been given. For whoever has to him more will 00:24:01.259 --> 00:24:07.859 be given. have abundance, but whoever does not 00:24:07.859 --> 00:24:11.700 have, even that which he has will be taken away 00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:15.680 from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, 00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:19.200 because seeing they do not see, and hearing they 00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:22.960 do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them 00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:26.059 the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, 00:24:26.359 --> 00:24:30.799 Hearing you will not hear, and shall not understand 00:24:30.799 --> 00:24:35.059 and see, you will see and not perceive. For the 00:24:35.059 --> 00:24:39.019 hands of his people have grown dull, their ears 00:24:39.019 --> 00:24:42.880 are hard of hearing, and their eyes have been 00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:51.660 closed, lest they should see with their eyes 00:24:51.660 --> 00:24:55.059 and hear with their ears, lest they should understand 00:24:55.059 --> 00:24:58.019 with their hearts and tongue. So I will... so 00:24:58.019 --> 00:25:04.180 I should heal them. 16. But blessed are your 00:25:04.180 --> 00:25:11.759 eyes for they see, your ears for they hear. 17 00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:17.519 now says, For assuredly I say to you that many 00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:21.019 prophets and righteous men desire to see what 00:25:21.019 --> 00:25:23.539 you see and they not see it and hear what you 00:25:23.539 --> 00:25:27.700 hear and they not hear it. 18 now comes to the 00:25:27.700 --> 00:25:30.660 explanation. Therefore, hear the parable of the 00:25:30.660 --> 00:25:34.140 sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom 00:25:34.140 --> 00:25:37.160 and does not understand it, then the wicked one 00:25:37.160 --> 00:25:40.940 comes and snatches away what has been sown in 00:25:40.940 --> 00:25:46.119 his heart. This is he who received seed by the 00:25:46.119 --> 00:25:50.720 wayside. But he who received the seed on stony 00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:54.789 places is the one who hears the word and immediately 00:25:54.789 --> 00:25:59.450 perceives and receives it with joy. Yet he has 00:25:59.450 --> 00:26:03.210 no root in himself but endures only for a while. 00:26:03.369 --> 00:26:06.410 For when tribulations or persecutions arises 00:26:06.410 --> 00:26:08.950 because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 00:26:09.690 --> 00:26:14.369 Now he who receives seed among the tons is he 00:26:14.369 --> 00:26:17.670 who hears the word, and the cares of the world 00:26:17.670 --> 00:26:20.250 and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word. 00:26:20.799 --> 00:26:29.160 And he becomes unfruitful. 23. But he who receives 00:26:29.160 --> 00:26:32.839 seed on the good ground is he who hears the word 00:26:32.839 --> 00:26:36.359 and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and 00:26:36.359 --> 00:26:41.420 produces a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirteen. 00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:48.759 Praise God. So, we want to be people who receive. 00:26:49.549 --> 00:26:52.670 the Word with enthusiasm and allow it to take 00:26:52.670 --> 00:26:57.190 root in us without letting things choke the Word. 00:26:57.569 --> 00:27:00.950 We can read this in the different accounts in 00:27:00.950 --> 00:27:04.369 Luke 8, which we had read earlier, the ending 00:27:04.369 --> 00:27:08.849 part of it, from 4 to 15, and Mark 4, 1 to 9. 00:27:09.049 --> 00:27:13.509 It means that genuine fruitfulness requires not 00:27:13.509 --> 00:27:17.930 just you, hearing but there's the vigilance or 00:27:17.930 --> 00:27:20.170 there's the consistent engagement what you're 00:27:20.170 --> 00:27:22.829 receiving and allowing it to take root that results 00:27:22.829 --> 00:27:27.970 in the growth that we are believing to see and 00:27:27.970 --> 00:27:30.309 we see that in the proverbs that we read and 00:27:30.309 --> 00:27:34.549 remember we read proverbs 4 23 where we see that 00:27:34.549 --> 00:27:39.329 the heart has to be diligent right you have to 00:27:39.329 --> 00:27:41.750 guard your heart with all diligence right Guard 00:27:41.750 --> 00:27:43.430 your heart, keep your heart with all diligence, 00:27:43.690 --> 00:27:46.769 for out of it springs the issue of life. Meaning 00:27:46.769 --> 00:27:50.329 that if you are not guarding the Word, guarding 00:27:50.329 --> 00:27:55.690 it, and I want us to notice that when you are 00:27:55.690 --> 00:27:59.589 being taught something, and then you go outside 00:27:59.589 --> 00:28:03.369 and heed the opposite or something different 00:28:03.369 --> 00:28:05.789 from what it is you've been taught, you're undermining 00:28:05.789 --> 00:28:09.089 what you have been taught. Praise God. You have 00:28:09.089 --> 00:28:12.279 been taught about... your identity in Christ, 00:28:12.339 --> 00:28:14.779 and someone comes and tells you, like, something 00:28:14.779 --> 00:28:18.380 else. Know that it's going to undermine what 00:28:18.380 --> 00:28:20.920 you have understood. You held on to it, but you 00:28:20.920 --> 00:28:24.000 let go of it. And for many of us, there are many 00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:26.039 things that are even more detrimental, where 00:28:26.039 --> 00:28:29.059 you have heard about this, you believed it, in 00:28:29.059 --> 00:28:32.519 fact, you saw the fruits of it. And then you 00:28:32.519 --> 00:28:34.539 go, and then you listen to something else, and 00:28:34.539 --> 00:28:37.480 you allow that thing to take root. The consequences 00:28:37.480 --> 00:28:40.490 are there because you didn't pay attention. You 00:28:40.490 --> 00:28:43.690 didn't heed. You didn't even notice. You didn't 00:28:43.690 --> 00:28:45.869 understand that this thing you are entertaining 00:28:45.869 --> 00:28:50.890 will affect you on the long run. And note that 00:28:50.890 --> 00:28:55.589 this, your attention is able to shape your life 00:28:55.589 --> 00:28:57.849 in ways, which is what the Proverbs are saying. 00:28:57.950 --> 00:29:00.109 It's able to shape your lives in ways that you 00:29:00.109 --> 00:29:02.789 can't even imagine. And for some of us, it's 00:29:02.789 --> 00:29:05.049 because we're allowing, we don't have filters. 00:29:06.250 --> 00:29:09.250 And we are in a world where everybody now just 00:29:09.250 --> 00:29:12.410 allows anything to go through. We don't have 00:29:12.410 --> 00:29:15.269 guards. We don't have filters. We just allow 00:29:15.269 --> 00:29:18.130 whatever it is that is flying around, just come 00:29:18.130 --> 00:29:24.190 and sit on us. And once it sits, the fruits, 00:29:24.369 --> 00:29:27.650 the same way the word of God takes root in your 00:29:27.650 --> 00:29:29.970 life and the fruit is evident, the same way once 00:29:29.970 --> 00:29:33.190 the errors or the wrong things flying around, 00:29:33.329 --> 00:29:36.839 once it sits, the... manifestations of it will 00:29:36.839 --> 00:29:39.500 be very evident. Praise God. It will be very 00:29:39.500 --> 00:29:43.660 evident. So paying attention to Scripture is 00:29:43.660 --> 00:29:46.599 not just a minor spiritual discipline, right? 00:29:46.980 --> 00:29:50.880 It's a gateway through which all the growth that 00:29:50.880 --> 00:29:52.980 is needed, all the possible things that is needed 00:29:52.980 --> 00:29:55.920 to be manifest in our life is made available. 00:29:56.299 --> 00:30:01.440 And it's not something you don't just... Most 00:30:01.440 --> 00:30:06.670 of us don't actually... look at the areas that 00:30:06.670 --> 00:30:10.589 need immediate care and attention we allow things 00:30:10.589 --> 00:30:16.369 to go out of hand and then we now react to it 00:30:16.369 --> 00:30:19.890 when it goes out of hand we find ourselves reacting 00:30:19.890 --> 00:30:23.190 to the circumstance or reacting to the difficulties 00:30:23.190 --> 00:30:27.609 but what should change in this year is we want 00:30:27.609 --> 00:30:31.740 to not just assess the situation but walk towards 00:30:31.740 --> 00:30:37.079 ensuring that we constantly make it a habit to 00:30:37.079 --> 00:30:40.680 continue in the new things or in the things that 00:30:40.680 --> 00:30:42.299 God is laying our hearts to because we're going 00:30:42.299 --> 00:30:44.220 to be getting instructions. Instructions are 00:30:44.220 --> 00:30:46.200 coming. Instructions will continue to come. We 00:30:46.200 --> 00:30:48.500 want to be consistent. We want to be regular 00:30:48.500 --> 00:30:52.200 because it's in your consistency and your regularity 00:30:52.200 --> 00:30:56.220 that you are able to see the areas and heed the 00:30:56.220 --> 00:30:59.500 word and get the instructions and make progress. 00:31:00.079 --> 00:31:03.799 And in this season, building capacity is, paying 00:31:03.799 --> 00:31:06.880 attention is inevitable when you are wanting 00:31:06.880 --> 00:31:10.380 to build capacity. Paying attention is one thing 00:31:10.380 --> 00:31:12.640 that is inevitable, meaning that you have to 00:31:12.640 --> 00:31:17.440 focus steadily towards the area that needs attention. 00:31:17.599 --> 00:31:20.920 And for most of us, it's all around information 00:31:20.920 --> 00:31:23.819 because it's information that guarantees that 00:31:23.819 --> 00:31:26.920 we understand. If you don't have information, 00:31:27.240 --> 00:31:29.740 you'll be lacking understanding. And if you lack 00:31:29.740 --> 00:31:33.039 understanding, you are very much in a disadvantaged 00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:37.079 position and to result in no growth or growth 00:31:37.079 --> 00:31:39.980 in the areas that is not important. Praise God. 00:31:40.119 --> 00:31:42.420 Because many of us are having a lot of information, 00:31:42.420 --> 00:31:45.980 we're growing in areas that are not as important 00:31:45.980 --> 00:31:49.420 as the areas that demand our immediate attention. 00:31:49.619 --> 00:31:55.630 Praise God. And we want to be like... a detective, 00:31:55.730 --> 00:31:59.089 as the Proverbs was talking, how you are investigating, 00:31:59.349 --> 00:32:02.309 you are focusing and trying to find clues. Yes, 00:32:02.309 --> 00:32:05.150 you know, but you are not allowing what you know 00:32:05.150 --> 00:32:09.309 cloud the things that you are taking or you are 00:32:09.309 --> 00:32:13.089 receiving. Because in it lies clues or things 00:32:13.089 --> 00:32:16.650 that you will learn while you are at it. Praise 00:32:16.650 --> 00:32:20.309 God. For some of us, we come to, we pay attention 00:32:20.309 --> 00:32:27.119 and we hold on to the things that we know. and 00:32:27.119 --> 00:32:29.740 push away the things that we don't agree with 00:32:29.740 --> 00:32:32.039 very quickly. And that in itself doesn't allow 00:32:32.039 --> 00:32:36.259 us to make room to understand what is being taught. 00:32:36.420 --> 00:32:40.880 Because once you are so critical of everything 00:32:40.880 --> 00:32:44.140 that you hear, that you miss out on the truths 00:32:44.140 --> 00:32:46.779 that is coming to you, there's still not going 00:32:46.779 --> 00:32:48.839 to be any progress. Praise God. We want to be 00:32:48.839 --> 00:32:54.259 people that you have a filter. But you're open 00:32:54.259 --> 00:32:57.299 to allow what exactly it is that you're hearing 00:32:57.299 --> 00:33:00.140 pass through that filter. Praise God. Because 00:33:00.140 --> 00:33:01.900 if it doesn't pass through the filter, you never 00:33:01.900 --> 00:33:04.680 got it. And if you don't understand it, you're 00:33:04.680 --> 00:33:07.759 not going to make any progress in and along that 00:33:07.759 --> 00:33:10.259 line. So you are looking for clues and you're 00:33:10.259 --> 00:33:13.000 hoping and expecting to learn something new. 00:33:13.039 --> 00:33:16.920 Praise God. And I want to share a story of someone 00:33:16.920 --> 00:33:19.559 that I think a couple of us are familiar with. 00:33:19.880 --> 00:33:24.099 Because his wife became a believer. And he's 00:33:24.099 --> 00:33:26.480 a journalist. His wife became a believer. And 00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:29.440 because of his wife becoming a believer, he decided 00:33:29.440 --> 00:33:35.759 to investigate the faith. He, as a journalist, 00:33:35.940 --> 00:33:40.019 took on the research of finding out about Christianity, 00:33:40.259 --> 00:33:43.079 finding out whether this Jesus Christ actually 00:33:43.079 --> 00:33:46.740 existed and finding out whether he actually died. 00:33:47.039 --> 00:33:50.680 And note that in his research or in his investigation, 00:33:50.960 --> 00:33:56.059 he had to hear both sides. and had to sift through 00:33:56.059 --> 00:33:58.700 the information given, and he arrived at a conclusion. 00:33:58.900 --> 00:34:01.380 At the end of the day, his journey was from that 00:34:01.380 --> 00:34:04.500 of a skeptic to that of a convinced believer. 00:34:05.619 --> 00:34:08.599 Praise God. Meaning that he started off as a 00:34:08.599 --> 00:34:12.679 skeptic, and he didn't allow what he understood 00:34:12.679 --> 00:34:16.159 of it to deny him the privilege of learning something. 00:34:16.840 --> 00:34:20.840 And he learned, and the man now is a convinced 00:34:20.840 --> 00:34:25.659 believer, and as a result of that, he had written 00:34:25.659 --> 00:34:28.719 a book, or several books now, because I checked 00:34:28.719 --> 00:34:31.380 up just to confirm, that he has now several books. 00:34:31.960 --> 00:34:36.500 And his book now is one of those, is a very powerful 00:34:36.500 --> 00:34:39.179 tool in Christian apologetics because of the 00:34:39.179 --> 00:34:42.710 research that he has done in ensuring that. there's 00:34:42.710 --> 00:34:45.670 a proper like in communicating his findings so 00:34:45.670 --> 00:34:48.550 that other people will be able to know what he 00:34:48.550 --> 00:34:51.190 had learned that brought him to the faith and 00:34:51.190 --> 00:34:53.250 christian apologetics for those of us that probably 00:34:53.250 --> 00:34:55.409 are not aware of what or this is the first time 00:34:55.409 --> 00:34:59.130 hearing christian apologetics the the word apologetics 00:34:59.130 --> 00:35:00.550 i think we know what christian is i shouldn't 00:35:00.550 --> 00:35:02.769 be defining what christian is we know what apologetics 00:35:02.769 --> 00:35:05.289 is apologetics is derived from the greek word 00:35:05.289 --> 00:35:09.340 apologia And it means to give a verbal defense 00:35:09.340 --> 00:35:13.579 or a speech in defense or a reasoned statement 00:35:13.579 --> 00:35:18.539 or argument. Apologia, I'll spell it if it's 00:35:18.539 --> 00:35:21.900 apology. Just instead of apology, you write apologia. 00:35:21.940 --> 00:35:24.360 The apologetics is the same spelling, but it 00:35:24.360 --> 00:35:29.159 ends with jetics. That's E -P -O -L -O -G -E 00:35:29.159 --> 00:35:33.500 -T -I -C -S. Then apologia is the same spelling 00:35:33.500 --> 00:35:40.440 with an I -A. A -P -O -L -O -G -I -A. And it 00:35:40.440 --> 00:35:43.420 just simply means to give a verbal defense, simply 00:35:43.420 --> 00:35:47.760 means to, as a speech in defense or a reason 00:35:47.760 --> 00:35:50.760 statement of argument. And when we say argument, 00:35:50.840 --> 00:35:53.539 most people would think of argument as violent 00:35:53.539 --> 00:35:56.599 argument. You know, some people don't have, the 00:35:56.599 --> 00:35:59.679 argument has to be, it almost would look like 00:35:59.679 --> 00:36:03.760 it's physical. But this is the argument in. Like 00:36:03.760 --> 00:36:06.320 you are defending a stance. I think the people 00:36:06.320 --> 00:36:08.619 in the court of law will understand because it's 00:36:08.619 --> 00:36:12.880 a courtroom. It's a term, courtroom. And I want 00:36:12.880 --> 00:36:14.880 us to see, because we're going to look at defense. 00:36:16.719 --> 00:36:19.340 Because if you don't pay attention, you will 00:36:19.340 --> 00:36:21.599 not have understanding. And once you don't have 00:36:21.599 --> 00:36:25.579 understanding, you cannot give a defense of why 00:36:25.579 --> 00:36:31.059 you believe what you believe in. Remember, you... 00:36:32.519 --> 00:36:37.039 You didn't stumble. You heard something to come 00:36:37.039 --> 00:36:41.800 to the knowledge of the truth. And what you had 00:36:41.800 --> 00:36:45.099 heard is what convinced you. The person actually 00:36:45.099 --> 00:36:47.960 had presented something to you, made a defense 00:36:47.960 --> 00:36:52.079 of why he believes what he believes, and then 00:36:52.079 --> 00:36:54.019 you bought into that whole idea, and then you 00:36:54.019 --> 00:36:57.219 now became a believer. Praise God. In 1 Peter 00:36:57.219 --> 00:37:05.639 3 .15, 1 Peter 3 .15 says, But sanctify the Lord 00:37:05.639 --> 00:37:09.780 in your hearts. And always be ready to give a 00:37:09.780 --> 00:37:13.760 defense. Always be ready to give a defense to 00:37:13.760 --> 00:37:18.679 everyone who asks you for a reason for the hope 00:37:18.679 --> 00:37:23.360 that is in you. With meekness and fear. With 00:37:23.360 --> 00:37:27.300 meekness and fear. So he says always be ready. 00:37:27.920 --> 00:37:30.260 Always be ready. Turn to your neighbor and say 00:37:30.260 --> 00:37:35.150 this year. I am always ready. I am always ready 00:37:35.150 --> 00:37:41.349 to give a defense for the reason of the hope 00:37:41.349 --> 00:37:47.610 that is in me. And I do it with meekness and 00:37:47.610 --> 00:37:55.750 fear. Amen. I think the song of a battle ready. 00:37:55.989 --> 00:38:00.429 So you want to always be ready. Praise God. You 00:38:00.429 --> 00:38:02.570 want to always be ready. You can be a believer. 00:38:02.809 --> 00:38:07.289 And because what is going on, it's a warfare, 00:38:07.550 --> 00:38:11.550 right? Even right now, in this world and this 00:38:11.550 --> 00:38:13.829 day and this age, everything is competing for 00:38:13.829 --> 00:38:17.989 attention. So it's really a battlefield. Everyone 00:38:17.989 --> 00:38:21.389 is competing. There's a whole lot of money that 00:38:21.389 --> 00:38:24.190 goes into this whole idea of wanting to get your 00:38:24.190 --> 00:38:27.429 attention, into media. A lot of money goes into 00:38:27.429 --> 00:38:30.250 media. The way they design things to take your 00:38:30.250 --> 00:38:32.949 attention or to get your attention, it's they 00:38:32.949 --> 00:38:35.730 are really paying attention to how you pay attention 00:38:35.730 --> 00:38:39.829 to get your attention. That just came here. So 00:38:39.829 --> 00:38:42.110 they are really putting a lot of work into it 00:38:42.110 --> 00:38:45.650 and you have a responsibility to pay attention 00:38:45.650 --> 00:38:48.170 to the things that you pay attention to so that 00:38:48.170 --> 00:38:50.849 nothing steals your attention, but rather you 00:38:50.849 --> 00:38:53.130 give your attention to the things that demands 00:38:53.130 --> 00:38:55.610 your attention. Praise God. There's a lot of 00:38:55.610 --> 00:38:58.090 attention in the statement, but I hope we get 00:38:58.090 --> 00:39:01.929 the point. Praise God. And we're going to look 00:39:01.929 --> 00:39:04.329 at a bit while we close. We're going to look 00:39:04.329 --> 00:39:09.530 at a bit, look at Apostle Paul's, the way Apostle 00:39:09.530 --> 00:39:11.250 Paul carries out his defense. We're going to 00:39:11.250 --> 00:39:15.570 analyze it a bit in closing. In Acts 22 verse 00:39:15.570 --> 00:39:22.989 1, Acts 22 verse 1, I want us to listen and see. 00:39:25.099 --> 00:39:31.039 Yeah, he says, brethren and fathers, hear my 00:39:31.039 --> 00:39:34.960 defense before you now. Notice, Paul, you remember 00:39:34.960 --> 00:39:39.239 we said with meekness and what? Fear. Notice 00:39:39.239 --> 00:39:42.960 the way he acknowledges the audience that he's 00:39:42.960 --> 00:39:46.340 making a defense. He says, hear my defense before 00:39:46.340 --> 00:39:49.199 you. Next verse, we're going to, I think, get 00:39:49.199 --> 00:39:53.139 to probably five, six or so. See, and when they... 00:39:53.340 --> 00:39:57.619 When they heard that he spoke to them in Hebrew 00:39:57.619 --> 00:40:02.840 language, they kept all the more silent than 00:40:02.840 --> 00:40:06.039 he said. Praise God. I want you to notice something. 00:40:06.159 --> 00:40:08.500 Please, while I'm going through the verses, I'll 00:40:08.500 --> 00:40:11.860 be bringing out points for us to note. Note that 00:40:11.860 --> 00:40:15.079 in making his defense, he had to communicate 00:40:15.079 --> 00:40:20.039 in a language that they would listen. that will 00:40:20.039 --> 00:40:22.500 demand the attention. So it means that when you 00:40:22.500 --> 00:40:25.619 are making a defense, you want to make that defense 00:40:25.619 --> 00:40:27.980 in something that the other person can understand. 00:40:28.780 --> 00:40:31.199 You can't be, a Turkish person can't be making 00:40:31.199 --> 00:40:33.559 a defense to you in the language if you don't 00:40:33.559 --> 00:40:35.260 understand. You will just be looking at them 00:40:35.260 --> 00:40:38.199 and not understanding. So know that people will 00:40:38.199 --> 00:40:41.320 listen to you or you get the attention of the 00:40:41.320 --> 00:40:44.360 other person by communicating in a language that... 00:40:44.360 --> 00:40:50.780 So, next verse. He says, I am indeed a Jew, born 00:40:50.780 --> 00:40:58.079 in Tarsus of Sicilia, but brought up in this 00:40:58.079 --> 00:41:00.199 city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according 00:41:00.199 --> 00:41:03.639 to the strictness of our father's law, and was 00:41:03.639 --> 00:41:08.980 zealous towards God as you are all today. Notice 00:41:08.980 --> 00:41:13.099 that he also introduces himself. One other thing 00:41:13.099 --> 00:41:15.860 that we do when we are trying to, we just meet 00:41:15.860 --> 00:41:20.849 the person. Hello, brother. just run to whatever 00:41:20.849 --> 00:41:24.690 it is you want to make them understand that, 00:41:24.730 --> 00:41:26.710 okay, you're a person, your name is this, you're 00:41:26.710 --> 00:41:28.630 this, and that, and that. All of those things 00:41:28.630 --> 00:41:32.030 aid the conversation. A person will know that, 00:41:32.090 --> 00:41:34.690 they will kind of get to know you before you 00:41:34.690 --> 00:41:38.309 say the things that you have to say. And sometimes 00:41:38.309 --> 00:41:40.969 it's very important that we do these things because 00:41:40.969 --> 00:41:44.710 it goes a long way in ensuring that what your 00:41:44.710 --> 00:41:48.360 defense is heard. Praise God. Your defense is 00:41:48.360 --> 00:41:53.019 heard. Then in 3 and go down, it says, I persecuted 00:41:53.019 --> 00:41:56.039 this way to the death, binding and delivering 00:41:56.039 --> 00:41:59.860 into prison both men and women. So he didn't 00:41:59.860 --> 00:42:05.980 just, he tells them that he's part of them and 00:42:05.980 --> 00:42:11.840 he did work. He also explains to them the training 00:42:11.840 --> 00:42:14.760 he had received and his commitment to the cause. 00:42:15.289 --> 00:42:18.349 He uses, we see that in the three and the four 00:42:18.349 --> 00:42:22.889 that we're looking at, that he had introduced 00:42:22.889 --> 00:42:26.329 himself, described his training, and explained 00:42:26.329 --> 00:42:28.710 his commitment to the cause. And we see in verse 00:42:28.710 --> 00:42:31.550 five, let's look at verse five. He says, as also 00:42:31.550 --> 00:42:34.130 the high priest bears me weakness and all the 00:42:34.130 --> 00:42:37.389 council of elders, from whom I also received 00:42:37.389 --> 00:42:39.969 letters to the brethren and went to Damascus 00:42:39.969 --> 00:42:44.199 to bring. in chains, even those who were there 00:42:44.199 --> 00:42:47.739 to Jerusalem to be punished. So he also now has 00:42:47.739 --> 00:42:51.300 proof. Like he tells you, okay, the things I've 00:42:51.300 --> 00:42:54.199 done, these people are weaknesses. They can confirm 00:42:54.199 --> 00:42:57.719 the credibility of what my defense, the credibility 00:42:57.719 --> 00:42:59.719 of what I'm saying or the credibility of who 00:42:59.719 --> 00:43:03.800 I was because he's no longer that anymore. Then 00:43:03.800 --> 00:43:07.420 let's go to six. It says, and it happened that 00:43:07.420 --> 00:43:12.369 as I journeyed and came near Damascus, At about 00:43:12.369 --> 00:43:15.730 noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone 00:43:15.730 --> 00:43:20.130 around me. 7. And I fell to the ground and heard 00:43:20.130 --> 00:43:23.210 a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, why are you 00:43:23.210 --> 00:43:27.650 persecuting me? So I answered, Who are you, Lord? 00:43:27.789 --> 00:43:32.030 And he said to me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom 00:43:32.030 --> 00:43:34.469 you are persecuting. And I want you to notice 00:43:34.469 --> 00:43:36.929 something that sometimes we read this passage 00:43:36.929 --> 00:43:39.670 and we probably might not notice is the fact 00:43:39.670 --> 00:43:46.039 that Apostle Paul hadn't persecuted Christ, but 00:43:46.039 --> 00:43:49.239 rather his people, right? And when we communicate 00:43:49.239 --> 00:43:52.639 this, our oneness with God, we don't understand 00:43:52.639 --> 00:43:56.800 the extent to it in the sense that he is here 00:43:56.800 --> 00:44:00.639 having, and it's Jesus of Nazareth, not Jesus. 00:44:00.760 --> 00:44:03.099 He's a physical person that you'd be like, oh, 00:44:03.119 --> 00:44:07.300 I should know this person because if he's a Nazarene, 00:44:07.300 --> 00:44:10.860 I should have had an encounter. He knows what 00:44:10.860 --> 00:44:13.019 is going on. He says, you're persecuting. Why 00:44:13.019 --> 00:44:14.760 are you persecuting? Whom are you persecuting? 00:44:14.920 --> 00:44:18.360 Then we see in the next verse, it says, and those 00:44:18.360 --> 00:44:22.059 who were with me indeed saw the light and were 00:44:22.059 --> 00:44:25.460 afraid, but they didn't hear the voice of him 00:44:25.460 --> 00:44:28.179 who spoke to me. So it means that they saw light, 00:44:28.219 --> 00:44:29.619 they saw all of those things, but they didn't. 00:44:30.730 --> 00:44:32.769 There was the light, but they didn't hear who 00:44:32.769 --> 00:44:34.750 was speaking. He was the one that was hearing 00:44:34.750 --> 00:44:37.369 what was going on. And then we see him go through 00:44:37.369 --> 00:44:39.449 what, all of this are the things that happened 00:44:39.449 --> 00:44:44.730 in Acts 9. And if you go down to, I think, 20 00:44:44.730 --> 00:44:49.489 or so, we see him also makes reference to... 00:44:49.820 --> 00:44:53.260 him also being part like him he says and when 00:44:53.260 --> 00:44:56.079 the blood of the matthias stephen was shed i 00:44:56.079 --> 00:44:59.159 also was standing by consent to the death and 00:44:59.159 --> 00:45:01.699 guarding the clothes of those who were killing 00:45:01.699 --> 00:45:05.219 him as him as way back as act six seven so we 00:45:05.219 --> 00:45:09.559 see that he had done a lot and this is him explaining 00:45:09.559 --> 00:45:12.719 the encounter that happened to make a defense 00:45:12.719 --> 00:45:16.480 and what he was doing was making a defense of 00:45:16.480 --> 00:45:19.679 his case before them. And I want us to see him 00:45:19.679 --> 00:45:23.239 make another defense. I'll do this in Acts 26, 00:45:23.460 --> 00:45:32.860 Acts 26, 24. Acts 26, 24. It says, now toss and 00:45:32.860 --> 00:45:35.860 toss his defense, which is the same. And this 00:45:35.860 --> 00:45:38.860 is the verb of the apologia. This is the verb 00:45:38.860 --> 00:45:43.059 of apologia. It ends with, it's A -P -O -L -O 00:45:43.059 --> 00:45:50.019 -G. E -O -M -A -I. A -P -O -L -O -G -E -O -M 00:45:50.019 --> 00:45:52.780 -A -I. And he makes, this is the verb form of 00:45:52.780 --> 00:45:55.280 it. So Festus, which is Governor Festus, said 00:45:55.280 --> 00:45:58.619 to him in a loud voice, Paul, you are besides 00:45:58.619 --> 00:46:03.780 yourself. Much learning is driving you mad. Much 00:46:03.780 --> 00:46:06.260 learning is driving you mad. Meaning that what 00:46:06.260 --> 00:46:10.090 Festus is trying to do is undermine... The validity, 00:46:10.429 --> 00:46:12.510 you know, in the court of law, you know, we see 00:46:12.510 --> 00:46:14.349 this all the time. When people want to faint, 00:46:14.510 --> 00:46:18.269 they act mad. Because once the person is mad, 00:46:18.409 --> 00:46:21.809 what they are saying loses credibility. So we 00:46:21.809 --> 00:46:24.489 see him trying to undermine his defense by saying 00:46:24.489 --> 00:46:28.250 he is mad. And understand that other translations 00:46:28.250 --> 00:46:32.329 will say insane or crazy. Insane or crazy. Note 00:46:32.329 --> 00:46:35.739 that Apostle Paul did not take that. from him 00:46:35.739 --> 00:46:39.960 he goes ahead he said in 25 he says but he said 00:46:39.960 --> 00:46:45.139 i am not mad most noble festers notice the fact 00:46:45.139 --> 00:46:47.619 you know when somebody calls you mad some people 00:46:47.619 --> 00:46:50.539 will not take it lightly it's can that meekness 00:46:50.539 --> 00:46:52.380 part of the passage that we read will be out 00:46:52.380 --> 00:46:55.739 of the window But know that in this case, he 00:46:55.739 --> 00:46:57.860 says, I'm not mad. Except if, you know, when 00:46:57.860 --> 00:46:59.519 you say mad is making a difference, then you 00:46:59.519 --> 00:47:03.059 can say, yes, I'm not crazy. I'm not, but I'm 00:47:03.059 --> 00:47:05.599 making a difference. That is M -A -D. But know 00:47:05.599 --> 00:47:09.300 that he's clearly states, he is clearly stating 00:47:09.300 --> 00:47:11.719 that he's not mad because he knows that that 00:47:11.719 --> 00:47:14.320 will undermine his defense. And then he says, 00:47:14.599 --> 00:47:19.699 but speak the words of truth and reason. Speak 00:47:19.699 --> 00:47:23.800 the words of truth and reason. 26. He now says, 00:47:23.980 --> 00:47:28.780 for the king before whom I also speak freely 00:47:28.780 --> 00:47:32.000 knows these things. That is speaking about King 00:47:32.000 --> 00:47:36.440 Agrippa. For I am convinced that none of these 00:47:36.440 --> 00:47:40.679 things escapes his attention. Praise God. None 00:47:40.679 --> 00:47:42.820 of these things escapes his attention since these 00:47:42.820 --> 00:47:47.460 things was not done in a corner. 27. King Agrippa, 00:47:47.639 --> 00:47:52.059 do you believe the prophets? I know that you 00:47:52.059 --> 00:47:57.219 do. Then Agrippa said to Paul, you almost persuaded 00:47:57.219 --> 00:48:02.119 me to become a Christian. You almost persuaded 00:48:02.119 --> 00:48:05.119 me to become a Christian. That word persuade, 00:48:05.360 --> 00:48:08.719 we'll discuss that on Wednesday. You almost persuaded 00:48:08.719 --> 00:48:13.019 me to become a Christian. And Paul said, I would 00:48:13.019 --> 00:48:21.460 to God that not only you, but also all who hear 00:48:21.460 --> 00:48:26.400 me today. might be, but almost altogether, such 00:48:26.400 --> 00:48:29.219 as I am, except for this change, which is very 00:48:29.219 --> 00:48:33.820 powerful, that he wants all of them to be such 00:48:33.820 --> 00:48:36.900 as he is, except for the change. 13 now says, 00:48:37.059 --> 00:48:39.780 and when he said these things, the king stood 00:48:39.780 --> 00:48:44.699 up, as well as the governor and Bernice and those 00:48:44.699 --> 00:48:48.679 who sat with them. And when they had gone aside, 00:48:48.840 --> 00:48:51.949 he... they talked amongst themselves saying, 00:48:52.110 --> 00:48:58.010 this man is doing nothing deserving of debt or 00:48:58.010 --> 00:49:01.230 change. Then Agrippa said to Festus, this man 00:49:01.230 --> 00:49:07.750 might have been set free if he had not appealed 00:49:07.750 --> 00:49:10.889 to Caesar. So what I want us to notice very quickly 00:49:10.889 --> 00:49:15.250 in closing is that Paul's passion or passionate 00:49:15.250 --> 00:49:18.980 defense of his faith came across to the governor 00:49:18.980 --> 00:49:21.900 Festus as being like, why is this person here 00:49:21.900 --> 00:49:25.400 talking to us about how a light shone, he heard 00:49:25.400 --> 00:49:27.420 the voice of somebody that is dead, all of that. 00:49:27.820 --> 00:49:30.699 That doesn't sound to him as something that is 00:49:30.699 --> 00:49:32.760 saying, that's something that will come from 00:49:32.760 --> 00:49:34.519 him. He just feels that it's all superstition. 00:49:34.840 --> 00:49:37.820 He didn't understand it, but Apostle Paul did 00:49:37.820 --> 00:49:39.579 not allow it to deter him from communicating 00:49:39.579 --> 00:49:41.940 the truth that he was communicating. And that 00:49:41.940 --> 00:49:45.199 is, the same should apply to us. People should 00:49:45.199 --> 00:49:47.449 not make us feel mad. Because of what we believe 00:49:47.449 --> 00:49:49.210 in. Because we're the ones that believe what 00:49:49.210 --> 00:49:50.570 we believe in. They don't believe. What we're 00:49:50.570 --> 00:49:52.929 doing is that we're trying to convince them to 00:49:52.929 --> 00:49:56.829 see what we have seen and what we know. See, 00:49:56.869 --> 00:49:59.949 don't let anyone explain your faith away with 00:49:59.949 --> 00:50:03.170 madness. Don't let anyone explain your faith 00:50:03.170 --> 00:50:06.110 away with madness. Because, as I said earlier, 00:50:06.250 --> 00:50:07.690 some of us didn't get the joke. It looks like 00:50:07.690 --> 00:50:09.650 I saw Sister Fola Kemi laughing. I think she 00:50:09.650 --> 00:50:11.659 got... The joke that, except if you're making 00:50:11.659 --> 00:50:13.679 a difference in the life of the person, making 00:50:13.679 --> 00:50:15.400 a difference in life, if mad means making a difference 00:50:15.400 --> 00:50:18.420 in the life of a person, then you can, mad can 00:50:18.420 --> 00:50:21.219 work for that. King Agrippa's familiarity with 00:50:21.219 --> 00:50:24.099 the Jewish customs basically was what made him 00:50:24.099 --> 00:50:27.900 a very, too, in evaluating Apostle Paul's case. 00:50:27.980 --> 00:50:30.099 And that's why he mentioned, that's why he... 00:50:30.269 --> 00:50:32.670 Apostle Paul could tell that this person is following 00:50:32.670 --> 00:50:34.710 through with what I'm saying. And notice that 00:50:34.710 --> 00:50:37.250 the fact that he's king, notice he said, you 00:50:37.250 --> 00:50:41.989 almost persuaded me. In the sense that if probably 00:50:41.989 --> 00:50:44.409 it was a one -on -one, there's a likelihood that 00:50:44.409 --> 00:50:49.130 he would have just walking off the conversation. 00:50:49.130 --> 00:50:50.809 I'm not inferring anything, but walking off the 00:50:50.809 --> 00:50:53.309 conversation that had happened. So the fact that 00:50:53.309 --> 00:50:56.519 you speak to someone. and you didn't seem to 00:50:56.519 --> 00:50:58.960 have got the response that you require, doesn't 00:50:58.960 --> 00:51:01.639 mean that the seed hasn't been sown. Praise God. 00:51:01.880 --> 00:51:05.119 The seed of God's word, God's word is powerful. 00:51:05.320 --> 00:51:07.960 Meaning that the fact that you had that opportunity 00:51:07.960 --> 00:51:11.579 to allow the seed be sown, God is working in 00:51:11.579 --> 00:51:13.380 the life of the person. Beyond your conversation 00:51:13.380 --> 00:51:15.900 with that person, God is doing something in the 00:51:15.900 --> 00:51:17.840 life of that person. And I've seen time and time 00:51:17.840 --> 00:51:21.000 again how you meet with someone and you are finishing 00:51:21.000 --> 00:51:23.840 a work that someone else has... planted the seed 00:51:23.840 --> 00:51:28.199 for praise God and we all and they all agreed 00:51:28.199 --> 00:51:30.119 in one thing even though they didn't agree on 00:51:30.119 --> 00:51:32.519 that to the face of Apostle Paul that he shouldn't 00:51:32.519 --> 00:51:34.340 be in prison or he shouldn't be in prison or 00:51:34.340 --> 00:51:39.000 be placed in debt for any reason and I am running 00:51:39.000 --> 00:51:42.019 off with this to encourage us in this season 00:51:42.019 --> 00:51:44.800 as we've started from last year and getting into 00:51:44.800 --> 00:51:49.190 this new year you want to share your faith And 00:51:49.190 --> 00:51:52.590 how you stand fast in the faith is by sharing 00:51:52.590 --> 00:51:55.349 what you have received. Because holding on to 00:51:55.349 --> 00:51:58.849 what you have received is not good enough. How 00:51:58.849 --> 00:52:01.750 you solidify or how you allow what you have received 00:52:01.750 --> 00:52:05.710 to take root is by sharing it. Praise God. And 00:52:05.710 --> 00:52:11.050 you don't have to know too much to share. What 00:52:11.050 --> 00:52:15.449 you just have to do is to desire to share. And 00:52:15.449 --> 00:52:18.139 once you desire to share, you will see. the promise 00:52:18.139 --> 00:52:20.420 of God ring true, that once you open your mouth 00:52:20.420 --> 00:52:22.239 to speak, he will put his words in your mouth. 00:52:23.000 --> 00:52:26.059 It's not really, yes, you have to know what you're, 00:52:26.099 --> 00:52:29.139 but notice that he's the one that does the work 00:52:29.139 --> 00:52:31.400 and the life of the other person by the spirit 00:52:31.400 --> 00:52:33.019 of God. I want us to open our mouths and just 00:52:33.019 --> 00:52:35.639 say, Father, I thank you because in this season, 00:52:35.679 --> 00:52:38.260 I'm standing fast in the faith. In this season, 00:52:38.280 --> 00:52:41.360 I'm paying attention. In this season, I'm strong. 00:52:41.460 --> 00:52:44.840 I am brave. I am brave to go out and share my 00:52:44.840 --> 00:52:48.679 faith. I am brave to engage and make a defense 00:52:48.679 --> 00:52:52.980 of the things I have received, the things that 00:52:52.980 --> 00:52:55.940 I know, the things that you are doing. And in 00:52:55.940 --> 00:52:59.239 this season, our hands will heal. In this season, 00:52:59.260 --> 00:53:03.980 our ears will hear. We appreciate you being here 00:53:03.980 --> 00:53:07.039 today. We hope you carry this word with you throughout 00:53:07.039 --> 00:53:09.960 your week. Don't forget to check the show notes 00:53:09.960 --> 00:53:12.699 for additional insights. Stay connected with 00:53:12.699 --> 00:53:15.400 us through our website or follow us on social 00:53:15.400 --> 00:53:19.059 media. If you are encouraged, share this message 00:53:19.059 --> 00:53:22.059 with someone you care about. Until next time, 00:53:22.099 --> 00:53:23.079 stay blessed.