Welcome to NECF Sermons. Each message here is
designed to uplift and strengthen you in your
walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until
the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive
right in. Father, we thank you because as your
word comes forth, there is light and there is
understanding. We receive, we receive. We receive
your word. We receive your word. We receive your
word and we posture ourselves to act on what
we are receiving. We thank you for how you're
opening our eyes to see the things that you are
showing us. Thank you for how you're posturing
us to act on the things that we're receiving.
Thank you because we are people that pay attention.
Thank you because we're people that are grateful
for what we have received. And in that act of
gratitude, we are able to share. And as an expression
of our gratitude, we're able to share. We're
able to teach others. We're able to pass it on.
We're able to hold fast. We're able to stand
fast in the faith and pass on that which we have
received as faithful men and women in the mighty
name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. So 1 Corinthians 6,
13, it says, watch, stand fast in the faith,
be brave, be strong. The faith there is pistis.
That is P -I -S -T -I -S. Stand fast in the faith.
Be strong. Be brave. Be strong. Be brave. Be
strong. And in this year, we're going to be marching
forward brave and strong. We are soldiers. We
are believers. We are God's children. We are
God's army. We are God's men and women. for the
work that he has called us to do. And we need
all of that to be able to do it. And we're doing
it in the strength that he supplies in the name
of Jesus. And the first thing we discussed on
Sunday is that we focused on paying attention,
giving attention, paying attention. It's a very
important currency in the work. To do the work,
to understand, to do the work, it's very foundational
to our understanding. It's very foundational
to our growing. It's very foundational to our
doing the work. And we saw how important is it.
We look at some of the passages that, thank you
so much prayer team for working us through it
again, just reminding us and praying on it. We
saw that if we give attention to know, we give
attention to understand. And if we don't give
attention. We will be stunted or we'll be lacking
in understanding or we'll be lacking the ability
to act or to do. And this season, we're going
to be seeing how we take heed. We're going to
be seeing ourselves take heed more. We saw 1
Timothy 4, verse 13. I'm just skimming, bringing
us back to a place where we can do. It says,
until I come, give attention to reading, to exaltation,
and to doctrine. To doctrine. And we're giving
attention to doctrine. We're holding what we're
holding on to. What we're paying attention to
is sound doctrine. We saw, I think, in the earlier
verses on 2 Timothy, where it says, preach the
word. We're to preach the word. We're to preach
the word. 2 Timothy 4. Let me just read that
to us. 2 Timothy 4. We prayed from there. 2 Timothy
4. Preach the word in season and out of season.
Convince, rebuke, exalt. with all longsuffering
and teaching. And then 3 now says, for a time
will come when they will not endure sound doctrine,
but according to their own desires, they will
have itching ears. They will heap up for themselves
teachers. So how we stand fast in faith is holding
on to and giving attention to. The reading of
God's word to exaltation and to exaltation to
doctrine. Praise God. And we had done all of
that and we saw an example. We came to the Apostle
Paul. We saw how he was able to make a defense.
And we said all of that is anchored on the fact
that this is paying attention and brings us to
that place of understanding. And in that place
of understanding, we are able to, when asked,
make a defense, make a defense. We saw 1 Peter
3 .15 where it says, He says, always be ready.
I'm just going to that point. Always be ready
to give a defense to everyone who asks you a
reason for the hope that is in you. And we are
doing it with meekness and fear. We saw a couple
of examples. We saw Acts 22 .1. We saw Acts 26
.24 -32. And I will... And we saw that the word
there, in Acts 22, verse 28, I want us to go
to 28. Acts 26, 28. Acts 26, 28. Agrippa said
to Paul, then Agrippa said to Paul, you almost
persuaded me to become a Christian. You almost
persuaded me to become a Christian. And Paul
said, I would to God that not only you, but also
all who hear me today might become almost and
altogether sort as I am, except for this change.
You can see the desire, desire of Paul that every,
not just King Agrippa, not just Governor Felix,
not just Bernice, but everyone that is listening
to him, he wants them to be convinced. and to
be persuaded of the truth of the gospel, persuaded
and convinced of the gospel. And I just bring
attention to that word persuade. The word persuade
is P -E -I -T -H -O. P -E -I -T -H -O is a verb.
The Greek word is P -E -I -T -H -O. It also means
to convince. The word is used as to persuade.
It also means to convince. to win over. And it's
often implying an active influence, often implying
an active influence through reasoning or appeal.
Often implying an active influence through reasoning
or an appeal. And it also carries that connotation
of yielding or obedience. yielding obedience.
And this is agreeing to someone after the persuasion,
after the communication, after the person has
communicated. And I want you to not see it as
something that is mechanical. I want you to see
it as something that the Spirit of God does through
the communication of His Word. Something that
the Spirit of God does in the hearts of the individual
through the communication of His Word. And I
want us to see it again in Acts 28. We see the
same word in Acts 28. Acts 28. 23. Acts 28, 23.
It says, both the law of Moses and the prophets
from morning till evening. I want you to notice
from morning till evening. 24 now says, and some
were persuaded by the things which were spoken
and some disbelieved. Some were persuaded, some
disbelieved. I want you to see the fact that
he had spent this much time from morning till
evening. persuading and convincing. And for some
of us, we go out to evangelize and we just spend
a couple of minutes and then we are somewhat
offended when the person doesn't believe. After
we've invested a certain amount of time and you
leave, it's like these people, they are just,
the devil is walking in their hearts. And you
want to understand that the label, you are not
the one at the other end regulating whether the
person receives or doesn't. The person that you're
speaking to first and foremost has given you
audience and listening to you. You want to understand
that it is the individual's responsibility to
respond. And if they don't respond, it's your
responsibility to persist. And you can persist
there, continue in the convincing or continue
in the preaching and the teaching. But you must
also understand that there's a part where once
you have a responsibility, It's Sister Christy
when she was leading us in prayer to take that
person to God continually in the place of prayer
because the word that you have sown, the seed
of God's word that you have sown is active, is
living. And even when you're not having that
conversation, God will bring to their attention
that which you have spoken to them and there
will be a convincing that will happen as a result
of that. And for some of us, you have interacted
with someone the first time, someone else will
do the, But what will happen is that on the second
of the thought, that person is convinced on the
premise of all that has happened, the build up
to it. There's a build up to it. And we want
to really, really hold on to this because sometimes
you can be disappointed when we go out and we
do these things. And sometimes our feet can be
shaking when you feel like this thing. I don't
know how other people are doing it, but I'm struggling
to. to convince. I'm struggling to communicate
it. But we are encouraging God's Word to stand
fast. We are encouraging God's Word to keep at
it. Praise God. To keep at it. To keep at it.
Because we see, even in Apostle Paul's situation,
when he was talking with Agrippa, when he was
shouting, he said, Agrippa said to Paul, he said,
you almost persuaded me. You almost persuaded
me. You were wondering how many percent was it?
Was it 99 .9? like where exactly it is. You can
tell what the almost is for the individual. And
some people will not even be, they will not tell
you, just leave this thing some other time. Or
some people will be looking at their watch. But
it doesn't still stop you from engaging. It doesn't
stop you from keeping at it because it's the
work that you're doing. It's the work that you're
doing. The results should not deter you. The
immediate results should not deter you. Praise
God. So we see we're persuaded and it's all,
what he kept on doing. And as opposed to Paul,
did that from morning till evening. From morning
till evening, he was laboring. You see, some
were persuaded of the things which were spoken,
that is 24, 28, 24, and some still disbelieved.
Some disbelieved. 25 now say, so when they did
not agree amongst themselves, they departed after
Paul, had said one word. Paul had taken them
to Isaiah. Paul had said one word. The Holy Spirit
spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet of our
fathers. 26 saying, Go to these people and say,
Hearing you will hear and shall not understand.
Seeing you will see and not perceive. For the
hearts of these people have grown dull. Their
ears are hard of hearing and their eyes have
been closed. Lest they should see with their
eyes and hear with their ears. Lest they should
understand with their hearts and turn so that
I should heal them. And this is a quote from
Isaiah 6, verse 9 and 10. 28 now says, therefore,
let it be known to you. that the salvation of
God has been sent to the Gentiles and they will
hear it. Praise God. He says the salvation of
God, they will hear it. So even if you are choosing
not to, there are people that are going to listen
and receive. Praise God. 29 now says, when he
had said these words, the Jews departed and had
a great dispute amongst themselves because this
is offered to you. You're turning it down. He
brings it to their attention and says, so if
you're turning down the general house, which
I'm called to, we'll receive it. I want us to
see 30 now to see what Paul continues to do.
Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented
house and received all that came to him. He didn't
stop him, right? He didn't stop him. And I'm
bringing this to attention that regardless of
how much challenges, some difficulties, people
not receiving what you're saying, he shouldn't
stop you from persisting in the walk. He shouldn't
stop you from persisting in the walk. And he
says, and receive all that came to him. Preaching
the kingdom of God and teaching the things which
concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence.
No one forbidding him. With all confidence. Mark
the word, with all confidence. You know, there's
something that happens when you speak to someone,
You don't hear you. It makes sense for your confidence
to drop. Like, are you sure I'm doing it correctly?
Are you sure I'm saying it? I think I'm doing
something. I think I'm not putting it together.
It will just be dropping. But regardless of the
numbers and the amount of times, what keeps building
is the confidence. With all confidence, he continues
to do the work that he has called. where he was
instructed or was called to or was commissioned
to do. And my challenge is that we continue to
stay in that place of doing the work that we're
commissioned to do. Nothing should cause our
faith to dwindle. Not even the, I don't believe
you, I don't agree with you. And I think I was
listening to, I think it was yesterday or the
first day, we were listening to a testimony of
a person who used to be converted to the faith.
and he was talking about how it was difficult,
that there was so much, like choosing to believe
in what Christ has done had a lot of consequences,
that just thinking about it, he knows, he's looking
at the facts, he agrees, he sees it, he has taken
time, he has studied it for even about four years.
But anytime he comes to make the decision, he
thinks about his family, thinks about how the
family would, he will lose his family, he will
lose his, his friends, his longtime friends.
And that brings him to that place where he had
to, he was battling and battling and battling.
And the funny thing is that when he goes to God's
word and opens God's word, he's more and more
convinced that this is the right thing to do.
But he said, one time he had cried all night.
He had cried all night and he was like, Lord,
you have to, you have to show me more because
I know that there's a lot I have, I will deal
with. I'm facing my Parents disowning me. I think
I'm even facing debt. That debt is what I'm going
to face once I decide to take this stand. And
he cried and cried and cried and cried, came
to the parents, told them that this is what it
is. And he ended up, the parents were like disappointed.
He said they had never seen his mom look the
way she looked at him in his life. But he cried
and he was like. In fact, he was even screaming,
Lord, kill me, and all of that until when he
heard God say a couple of words to him that encouraged
him to go on from there. And this person went
on to do a lot because he was faced with the
truth. And for some people, and this is one thing
I think he mentioned, which blessed me, was the
fact that he was very critical when he came to
scrutinize the Bible. He was very critical. He
was like... where's this? What is this? He was
very critical. But when he goes back to his own
religion, he's not as critical. And I remember
when I was talking to some people and they were
like, oh, people just want us to be this good.
People want us to be this good. And it occurred
to me, which is what I said. I said, when excellence
is demanded of us, we tend to, when it's demanded
of someone else, we tend to raise the bar. But
when it's demanded of us, we tend to lower the
bar. Because the focus is us. Because when you
want to go and buy something, you want the best.
When you want to go and get something, you go
to the market. You don't go substandard. You
go excellent. You go, I want the best because
you're paying for it. But when it's now demanded
of you, you're like, we can manage. It's not
that serious. We can just... It's not... We can
just do it like this. We shouldn't stress ourselves
too much. Because it's now, the focus is us.
And we're not being fair. Because the same thing
applies when he was like, he was scrutiny. And
the same standard he puts the Bible on, when
he puts, he was like, he sort of, man, the Bible
wins all the time. Because the word of God is
true. Because once you're face to face with truth,
you can only deny it. You can only deny it. But
it's very evident and it's very, the proof is
very, it's clear. Praise God. And I want us to
go back to the text in John. John 14. John 14.
John 14 verse 12. Jesus Christ speaking says,
most assuredly I say to you, and I think I brought
it to attention that the Greek, the phrase most
assuredly I say to you is amen, amen, lago, alego,
yamen. It's not, in English, which in the New
King James, in the Old King James, you see it
as verily, verily, or truly, truly. It's most
assuredly I say to you. And it's translated that
way. It's used mostly. And John is the one that
you see. You don't see most assuredly. All of
the places in Scripture where you see it is that.
And I want to walk quickly through it for us
to see something. To see how in the places it's
used, what Jesus points to. In John 1 .51, he
said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, Hereafter
shall you see heaven open and the angels of God
ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.
I want you to see that you will see in this communication
that it's communicating something very important,
which is the humanity. It's communicating to
humanity because the use of the word son of man
is descriptive of Jesus' humanity. His sufferings
and the work because he has to be human for him
to do the work. He has to be human for him to
do the work. One thing you will see there is
you will see the identity and you will see the
mission. What this particular passage is or we're
going to be looking at that uses that most assuredly.
You will see that it's communicating something
that you should pay attention to. Something very
important. And he says, Moses surely, and he
says, the angels ascending and ascending upon
him points to that connection between heaven
and earth. That connection between heaven and
earth. That connection between heaven and earth.
And we'll see in John 5 .19 now. John 5 .19,
I want you to see, we just saw John 1 .51, where
Moses surely is used. We'll see John 5 .19. Then
Jesus answered and said to them, Moses surely,
I say to you, The son of man, the son can do
nothing of himself, but what he sees the father
do. For whatever he does, the son also does in
like manner. So we see something very important.
That is a perfect unity and dependence of the
son on the father, the father on the son. Praise
God. And that is communicating mission because
he didn't just come and did things by himself.
And this also, all of the things very much translates
to us. We don't even act on our own accord. The
work we're doing is the work he has instructed
us to do. Praise God. The work we're doing is
the work he has instructed us to do. We see that
perfect unity, the Father, the Son. John 6, 32.
John 6, 32. Jesus said to them, Most assuredly,
I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread.
For you see, Moses did not give you the bread
from heaven, but my Father gives you the true
bread from heaven. My Father gives you the true
bread from heaven. We see that Jesus, in this
communication here, is speaking about the true
bread, which is himself. Praise God. The true
bread, which is himself. With the true bread,
which is himself. Speaking about his identity,
speaking about tying it to his mission. The identity
tied to his mission. And I want us to go to the
interesting part in... John 8. John 8, 58. John
8, 58. Jesus said to them, most assuredly I say
to you, before Abraham was, I am. Before Abraham
was, I am. That was the statement that broke
it up for them. It was like, ah, what did you
just say? Before Abraham was, I am. You see him
communicating his eternal pre -existence. And
you might not understand if you don't understand.
They understood the magnitude of the statement
being made. Because if you go to Exodus, I think
those of us that read on Sunday, I think we read
Exodus 3, verse 14. And God said to Moses, I
am who I am. He said, thus you shall say to the
children of Israel, I am has sent me to you.
I am has sent me to you. I am has sent me to
you. So when the use of the phrase, when he says
before Abraham was, I am, you know, you write
that in there. I think that's one of the scriptures
I saw this morning again as well. Somebody else
says, I am. It's like, I exist. It's not just,
in fact, when you, I think I've heard a Jew talk
about how we take for granted the use of the
word, because when you say, I am this, I am this,
to a Jew, the use of the word I am, in fact,
is like the... The rabbi was saying, before you,
God is so important, before you even call your
name, you call his name first. When you say,
I am this, that's how they regard the use of
the, for us, I am, is you're trying to point
out to identify, you're trying to identify yourself
because when you say, I am this, you're identifying
yourself. But in his case, he's not just, he's
telling them who he is, not without, you see,
before Abraham was, I am. And for them, that's
like, who are you to like, equate yourself to.
But that was him clearly communicating to them
something very important that they shouldn't
miss. That they shouldn't miss. In John 10, 1
and 7. John 10, 1 and 7. See, the same most assuredly
I say to you. He who does not enter the sheepfold
by the door, but climbs up some other way. The
same is a thief and a robber. 7 now says, and
Jesus said to them again, most assuredly I say
to you, I am the door of the sheep. I am the
door of the sheep. And Jesus is telling them
that, look, there is no other legitimate way
to salvation. There is no other legitimate way
to salvation. And he emphasized this in the 14,
in the John 14 that we're looking at. John 14,
that we're looking at verse 6, where Jesus said
to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one
comes to the Father except through me. So you
see that Jesus Christ is telling, is establishing
something very important, which is that he is
the only, there's no, there are no, you know,
I was speaking to someone and we're evangelizing
to this person and then he was like, We asked
a simple question. I was like, so are there several
ways, because it was talking about how some people
are good, all of that. Are there several ways
to get to God? And you can be tempted sometimes
to think that some people are good so they have
a relationship with God because they are doing
good works. You can be tempted because you feel
like, oh, I don't think, no, this person will
not. But when you see statements like this, and
that's why you want to pay attention to the word
of God very carefully. Because if you don't be
attentive to the word of God, you can just assume
that because this person is doing this and this
and this, on the strength of that, this person
has a relationship with God and this person will
make him. We've said this time and time again,
the basis by which we'll see as the passage progresses,
the basis by which we come into a relationship
with God is by believing in what he has done.
There's no other way. Because he says, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. If you go any other
way, what you have is not the result. You don't
get that result. Praise God. And he says it very
emphatically that he is the only that is made
way to salvation. Then I'd like us to see the
other bit in John 13, 20. John 13, 20. He says,
Most assuredly I say to you, he who receives
whomever I send receives me. And he who receives
me receives him who sends him. Going tiny to
the previous way, you're receiving. So there's
a chain of authority. Receiving the messenger
of Christ means receiving Jesus and also means
receiving the Father. It's communicating to the
mission, communicating to the identity, communicating
to how it's all connected. So there's a chain
of authority. And I'll continue to... Bring us
to the other segment where they use, or the section
where this is used in the passage to communicate
also what the conditions for salvation. We see
this in John 3, where he says, Most assuredly,
I say to you, John 3, verse 3 and 5. Jesus answered
to him and said, Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom
of God. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless
one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom.
Then five now says, most assuredly, and Jesus
answered. In the end, most assuredly, I say to
you, unless one is born of water and spirit,
he cannot enter the kingdom of God. And you see
here from the get good in the necessity of being
born again, of being born from above to be part
of the kingdom. Praise God. For you to be born
again, for you to be born from above to be part
of the kingdom. Very important. Remember, we
talked about how the salvation happens by him.
And once you're born again, you're born into
the family. Praise God. Then five now. John 5,
24. I want you to see how the different, most
assuredly, ties to very, very important things
that we all have to pay attention to and it's
going to make the passage make more sense. John
5, 24 says, Most assuredly, I say to you, he
who hears my word, and believes in him who sent
me has everlasting life. He who hears my word
and believes in him who sent me, he shall not
come into judgment, but has passed from death
to life. Very important. This is a condition
for the eternal life. So, hearing God's word,
believing in the Father who sent him. Praise
God. Hearing God's word, believing in the Father
who sent him. I want us to see John 6, 47. John
6, 47. John 6, 47 says, Most assuredly, I say
to you, he who believes in me has everlasting
life. So we see that believes, believe in him,
believe in me. So believe in Jesus is the source
of everlasting life. That passage just establishes
and it repeats itself again and again. It says
then in the same John 6, 53. St. John 6, 53.
Then Jesus said to them, most assuredly I say
to you, unless you eat my flesh or eat the flesh
of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have
no life in you. Unless you eat the flesh of the
Son of Man, and I think we've taught this time
again, our list pastor has taught us, he was
not speaking physically, right? He was not speaking
physically. He says, unless we, We partake in
this spiritually by believing in that sacrifice,
in the sacrifice that has been made for us. That's
basically, we partake in it by believing in that
sacrifice. In also John 8, 34, and you will notice
that all the passages that we're reading, what
he has in common is Jesus speaking and he's saying,
most assuredly, Jesus answered them, most assuredly
I say to you, whoever... commits sin is a slave
of sin. Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.
Stating that there's that enslavement to sin
that makes it a necessity or makes the requirement
for salvation very important. Praise God. Because
it's presenting to you that okay, people have
been enslaved to sin and then keening to what
he has done takes that away. takes that enslavement.
Now there's freedom in him. There's a salvation
that we find in him. It means that it's void
of being enslaved. To escape slavery, you key
into what he has done, salvation. So in John
8, 51, also we see Jesus still speaking. He says,
Most surely I say to you, if anyone keeps my
word, you shall. He shall never see debt. If
anyone keeps my word, he shall never see debt.
And we see that he's establishing the fact that
as a result of you believing, and when you say
keep my word, you will not think of it as do's
and don'ts. No, you're believing in what he has
done. You're believing in where we are now. You're
believing in what he has done. And as a result
of that, you are saved. And as a result of that
salvation, you will not taste death. It says,
the word is, you will never, there's no death
for you. You are saved and you're saved in him.
Praise God. Then that 14, the 14, 12 now, which
is what we're going to look at and we'll stop,
we'll stop at this point where it says, where
14, verse 12, it says, most assuredly I say to
you, he who believes in me, The works that I
do, He will do also. And greater works than this,
He will do. Because I go to my Father. And I
want you to see now. Where we started from all
the different things that Jesus Christ established
and how salvation is found in him and how it's
based on believing in what he has done that brings
us into that reality. And then we see here, he
who believes in me, he who believes in me, the
works I do, he will do also. And greater works
than this he will do because I go to my father.
And I think we've taught this previously. We're
going to look at it. Again, even this particular
season, we know that all of this is anchored
on what Christ has done because of what he has,
I think, and I want us to know that when he was
speaking this to the disciples, he has not yet
done it, right? He has not yet done it. So you
want to, sometimes, you know, sometimes you can,
we can say these things and then we say it from
the premise of it has happened, but to them,
that are recipients of this word that nothing
happened. So he says, I say to you, he who believes
in me. And we said, and the believing is in what
he is said to do. And the receiving happens after
he goes to his father, right? And that is at
his resurrection. Praise God. That is at his
resurrection. That's when all of this will be,
because in that same passage, when we go further
down, we see that he was talking about the promise.
I was talking about a promise. So believing in
that walk, he's you into the promise. So that
promise that anyone who believes will not just
do the things he has done, but he won't do greater.
So I want us to, because there are a couple of
more passages, I just want us to skip that a
couple of, okay, I'll just read it through, so
I will just take notes. I'll just read through,
just go through the passages, so I'll take notes.
So we see even, him also in the book of John,
because all of this is in John. We see him also
making reference to promises or prophecies as
well. We see him making reference to promises
and prophecies. In John 5 .25, we see him making
reference to prophecy, John 5 .25. In John 13
.21, where he prophesies his betrayal, John 13
.21, and John 13 .38, where he prophesies Peter's
denial. John 16, 20. So he prophesies so to his
disciples. John 16, also 23. So I'll start from
the top. John 5, 25. John 13, 21. John 13, 38.
John 16, 20. John 16, 23. John 16, 23. John 21,
18. John 21, 18. Then the other last four is
him also communicating spiritual realities, profound
spiritual realities. We see it in John 11, John
3, 11. John 3, 11. John 3, 11. John 6, 26. John
6, 26. John 12, 24. And then John 16, M13, 16.
John 13, 16. So let's, Now focus on he who believes
in me. And that believe there is the word pistou.
P -I -S -T -E -U -O. P -I -S -T -E -U -O. And
this implies trust that arises from hearing and
understanding. Trust that arises from hearing
and understanding. And we see it is a verb. It's
a verb means to believe, to have faith, to trust.
I think even the... The first, the verse, we'll
see that in the 14 verse 1. That same 14 verse
1, it says, let not your heart be troubled. Believe
in God, believe also in me. I think the NLT uses
trust. The NLT uses, let your heart, it said,
don't let your heart be troubled. Trust in God
and trust also in me. So it uses that word, trust,
and it also emphasizes entrusting ones. You have
to entrust it to someone. And in this case, it
says, trust in God, trust in me, that's Christ.
And it emphasizes that decision to rely beyond
an intellectual assent, right? To rely beyond
an intellectual assent. And the result, when
you are relying beyond intellectual assent, you
are... trusting wholly in that individual. And
for some of us, we better understand this when
everyone of us seated here, you're seated on
a chair. You are putting your entire weight on
the chair, regardless of knowing who made it,
who cleaned it, who has sat there before you,
who is sitting there. You just put your full
weight on the chair. You're just putting that
trust because you know that chairs carry... carries
our weight. You just put your full weight on
it. And we see that in the passage, it says,
believe in God, believe, and believe in God,
believe also in me. Like in that book where we
read, it said, believe in God, believe also in
me. Meaning that our belief in God translates
to our belief in Christ. And it uses that intention.
But some of the passages we read, we see where
Jesus Christ is calling, because he's not doing
things independent of himself. He's doing things.
dependent on the father. So that belief in God
translates to a belief in him and it's synonymous,
praise God. And in John's gospel, we see, if
you, I think when you do a search, just type
belief, you see that John uses a lot, he uses
a lot of the word. If you just go back home or
do your studies, you see that that word believe
appears a lot of times in the book of John. And
as much as that, word appears a lot of times
in the book of John, you will not see the word
repent in the book of John. It's funny. You will
not see the word repent in the book of John.
And it's funny because in other passages of the
scripture, you will see a very classic example
is Mark 1, 15. Mark 1, 15, I'll read to us. It
says, and saying, the time is fulfilled and the
kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe
in the gospel. You see that most of the times
when they use the word repent, that repent is
the word metanoeo. That's M -E -T -A -N -O -E
-O. M -E -T -A -N -O -E -O. That word means,
we understand it as turn away from, and we know
that the turn is not just turning away from,
you're turning to, right? You're turning to God.
And it says, and believe in the gospel. So he
uses a lot of the word believe. He uses believe
so many times, but not with the word. So he communicates
that. He communicates whatever it is he's communicating
or different things he's communicating using
believe. And when he uses in this passage believe,
when he says believe, that is in. because we
know that believers believe in the gospel. And
as at the time when Jesus Christ is speaking,
we know that he's talking about the things he
was going to do and what the things he was going
to do will make available for us. Praise God.
What the things he was going to do will make
available for us. And that in itself demands
the trust, demands the belief of the individuals
that are listening to him, right? Demands an
active trust and belief for them to be able to
expect it. And know that it's not just believe
in the words he was saying, right? Remember from
what we explained, it's not just believing in
the words, you are believing in the person and
what that person, what identity, what that mission
of that person is. Remember we said when we started
that most assuredly I said to you, we see that
there was the initial part that's in John 1,
51. It was speaking about... his humanity, what
he had come to do. And what he had come to do,
the high point of it was his death and later
on his resurrection. And later on what that his
resurrection will mean for us, praise God. Because
it's very important that we understand that the
end goal of all he had done is for us to have
his spirit, right? That's why that promise, that's
why that promise kept on coming. You see how
it's... It continues itself. When you look at
John 14, you see John 15, you see John 16. All
of it is pointing us to or bringing attention
or holding on to what he had come or his establishment.
I want us to see Titus 3 verse 8. Titus 3 verse
8. Titus 3 verse 8 says, this is a faithful saying.
This is a faithful saying. The faithful there
is pistos. So it's P -I -S -T -O -S, which is
different from pistis. Faithful sin, that's logos.
And these things I want you to affirm constantly.
These things I want you to affirm constantly,
that those who have believed in God, that believed
in God is the pastor that we just looked at,
should be careful to maintain good works. These
things are good and profitable too. men. These
things are good and profited to men. I just want
to help us to define and just see the slight
nuance with the pistis and the pistos. The pistos
there, that faithful saying, the faithful there
is pistos. It means faithful, believing, trustworthy,
reliable. Faithful, believing, trustworthy, reliable.
So it describes a person or a thing that embodies
faith. of fidelity. So we have faithful saying,
we have faithful servant, a trustworthy servant,
a reliable servant, a servant worthy of belief.
So it says, those who, and I want you to notice
that he didn't say believes now. It says, those
who have believed. Those who have what? Believed.
Those who have believed in who? In God. And we
say that believing in God means that you're believing
in what? Christ, right? Jesus Christ, what he
has done. He says, should be careful to me. Now
that you have believed, there is a lifestyle
that follows, right? There's a lifestyle that
follows that is consistent with what you have
believed in. Right? It's a lifestyle that is,
and that lifestyle is the lifestyle of someone
who is faithful to what they have received. Praise
God. Because if you say you believe and there
is no, there has to be a distinction. Even when
the children of Israel, there was something that
distinguishes the children of Israel from every
other nation around them. And when all of the
things that are being given, they're given to
see you are my people. When you use the word
holy, you are set apart. There's a clear distinction.
And it all starts off from the premise of what
you have received, you believe in Christ, and
then what now happens is the result is that you
act very differently from what used to be. Praise
God, what used to be. And please note that. As
we see, as Titus is encouraging, so this is a
faithful saying, that these things I want you
to affirm constantly. affirm constantly. When
somebody tells you to affirm something constantly,
what are they trying to get you not to do? When
I say, when we do affirmations, what are we doing?
What are we trying to bring to our consciousness?
Right? When we do it, when we affirm, when we
affirm the things that we affirm, what are we
trying to Tell ourselves. Huh? Identity, right?
Identity. And remind, and not, you know, it doesn't
stop at your identity. There's also the responsibility,
right? There's also the responsibility because
identity is very good. Remind yourself that you
have this, you have that, but once you're not
responsible, it almost makes your identity invalid,
right? And responsibility is, it's on the strength
of responsibility you act. So on the strength
of our responsibility, we act. So when we say,
as Apostle Paul was persuading people, he knows
and he boldly would declare it. And he was very
responsive to the instruction, because that was
his mission. Because his mission was to the Gentiles
in Acts 9, where he was given that mission to
do so. And he ensures that no matter what, he
takes that responsibility every time to do so.
Praise God. And if we note this for ourselves
and we see it as something, we will not allow
anything be a distraction to us. Nothing will
have to be sacrificed for this one, which is
our mission. And that is staying faithful. That
is you taking the faithful saying to heart and
staying faithful and true to that. Praise God.
Taking the faithful saying to heart and staying
faithful and true to that. And he says, should
be careful. Careful. Careful. Careful brings
us back to that idea of paying attention. Right?
That idea of paying attention. That idea of not
just allowing anything to go. Right? Not allowing
anything to go. Be very critical. You know, I
think when I shared earlier of... Someone that
was conversing, you know, it's very subtle where
the person just says, I feel everybody, you know,
has their own way. We have our own way. You know,
it just comes to, it brings to bear that you
don't really know what you believe in, right?
You don't really know that Christ is the only
way. Any other way is not the way. And there
are little things and that is foundational. There
are other things that are very subtle that you
don't necessarily, you have to, God's word has
to bring it to attention. And that's why we say,
pay attention to sound doctrine because there
are things that will appeal to you, but it's
not sound. It will appeal to you, it will sound
good, but it's not sound. And for many of us,
it's that thing that we like, you know, it's
even, They take, okay, who do I listen to? Right?
See, in time, I just feel my spirit. I'm like,
there's something I just want to... Sometimes,
you know, the thing... How do you put it? The
thing that is good to you might not be good for
you. Right? It sounds like it's good, it appeals
to you, but you... You want to, as that person,
you want to, it's God's word that is a standard,
right? And how many of you have found anything
in this, like, is there any discipline that is
easy? I think people that, people that respect
discipline, like, they have to, no, no, I can't
find any, very quick, I can't find it. No disciplines.
And so, when someone comes and motivates you,
and tells you, like, this thing is easy. You
just need to believe. You just need to... That's
all the motivational talk. Because once it comes
to you, you know, there's a lot of things that
you can talk about, but when it comes to acting
on that thing, you discover it's difficult. You're
almost like, nobody told me this part of the...
You know, they say, pray, you know, when you
wake up in the morning, the first thing you do,
and then the cold just comes, and then you're
like, ha! you'll be like, hi, this is good. And
then when you, listen, you now do this, you do
this a couple of times and then you just say,
okay, I will walk around. And you see this cold
again. See, that would be the best place to pray
for. And then you find yourself in the morning
when the day, when you come out of it, there's
nothing. And you just have to desire. to grow,
desire to do more of it. The same way Apostle
Paul would have done this so many, and he just
gets through with it. Where you speak to someone,
the person doesn't, you pray for the person,
you go on to the next person because the more
times you do it, the more opportunities you have
for someone to say yes, right? But once you do
once, you lose momentum. And that's why we have
the family. We're encouraging ourselves to go
out and do it. Once you do it together, wherever
it is, you're carried along. And we go out in
twos and we walk and we do it faithfully. Praise
God, we do it faithfully. And what I'm just doing
to us is just to bring to attention the fact
that there are many things that we have to give
attention to to get better at. And the more we
are distracted, the less likely we are to. build
ourselves, to intensify, to build capacity, to
see how God is going to do more in and through
us. And the earlier we start, the better for
us. There's no perfect time to accomplish all
that. Sometimes I say, I'll wait until the beginning
of next year. Some people are just very wonderful
at how they... We have 24 hours every day that
you can decide to make it. Make a decision today
to start something. But you want to relegate
it to some other time in the future where we
don't even know what is going to happen. We don't,
we don't know about, you know, I think I heard
this said by someone like, you want to, instead
of you to defer worry, like, you know, people
hold on to worry instead of deferring. Like,
just push it. Scripture says, don't worry about,
don't worry about this. You like, you want to
do it now. And then the one that they say you
should do, you will not do it. You want to now
pick the one that they say you should not do.
Just to tell you how very interesting we, sometimes
we, and this scripture tells you to do it that
way. It has lived longer than yourself. Praise
God. There's been, there are the people that
we're looking at and say these people are faithful.
They had lived by it. Praise God. So you are
not the first person to be given the instruction
or to be given sound doctrine. Right? You know,
sometimes we think that we're the first people.
This thing is hard. Like we're the first. Is
it that they just carry us and put us inside
this thing? Like how are they doing it? But you
see people, we see examples and that's the beautiful
thing about God's word. We have examples to live
by. We have examples to follow. We have examples
to anchor. our faith on. And the ultimate of
those examples is the example of Christ. Right?
It's the example of Christ. He is the one that
regardless of the difficulties, regardless, he
still carried out the will of the Father. He
still carried out the will of the Father. And
I will repeat and repeat the whole idea of the
fact that it's not easy. It's difficult, but
the desire to see God walk mightily through you
should be your motivation. You want to see God
do more with you, and that keeps you grounded.
That keeps you desiring more. That keeps you
in the place of study of God's Word. That keeps
you in the place of preaching the Word. And I
want you to note this, that once you do the...
That thing that is very uncomfortable for you
to do, you do it and keep at it. Before you know
it, it becomes a habit. It becomes a lifestyle,
which is what every one of us should do by default.
Because we're encouraging us to do so, but we
will experience some resistance here and there,
but you want to make it a lifestyle, make it
a habit, make it not something that when we gather
around and say, you have to do this, you have
to do that, then it now calls to you. You now
say, okay, I have to do this. The ultimate example
is Christ Jesus and he was faithful to endure
all, to accomplish that which we now have. And
he demands the same from us. He demands the same
from us. He demands that we take responsibility.
He demands that we do more. He demands that we
testify of what he has done to others. He demands
that we walk in the supernatural. He demands
that the power gifts find expression to us. He
demands that the relational gift finds expression
to us. He demands that the ultra gifts find expression
to us. He demands that no matter where we find
ourselves, our focus or our priority should always
be his work. He demands that regardless of all
the things that we're pursuing, he should take
the center stage of our lives. He demands all
of that from us. And that is what Apostle Paul
in 1 Corinthians 4. 1 Corinthians 4, 1 to 2.
1 Corinthians 4, 1 to 2, it says, Let a man so
consider us as servants of Christ and stewards
of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required
in stewards that one be found faithful. It's
required in stewards that one be found faithful.
So we're servants and stewards of the mysteries
of God. We're faithful stewards. We're not just
stewards. We're stewards that are faithful. And
we constantly prioritize that walk of ministry.
We constantly prioritize it. And it's in little
things that we see these priorities. The things
that you tend to forego for the other one will
tell you which one is more of a priority than
the other. The things that you tend to forego
for the other. The things that you tend to consistently
engage rather than the others. You know, it's
very easy for someone to tell what you like with
what you don't like. just by how much times you
show up for the things that you do like as against
the things that you don't like. And as I said
earlier, there are things that you don't necessarily
love them, but you are here. You have to. Praise
God. You are here. You have to. And your refusal
to do so will only elongate the process which
you have to attain, which is the growth. Because
if you're in an environment, whether you like
it or not, you have to move the next step. It
might take you a while, but if you want to come
out at the other end, you have to keep moving.
Even if it's two steps, one step, but you have
to just keep moving. Some people are running,
but some people are just taking one step. So
it's not, it's at whatever pace you are moving.
The idea is just keep moving. Praise God. Just
keep moving. This is another year. Keep moving.
Keep being, be persistent, be persistent. And
if there's anything I want to drop is for us
to desire, to see more of God mightily in and
through our lives, to see more of God, find expression
in and through our lives. And it will show first
and foremost from our families, right? There
are many of us that we want to see God do something
supernatural in our families. We want to see
God do that thing supernatural. And if that is
not what is before you every now and then that
motivates you to, you know, there's something
about when, Things are not going well and then
you always have this, you know, and you have
faith and you're standing fast in faith for God
to do something. And then you know that there's
no other way that this will happen if God doesn't
intervene. You know, anytime you are relenting
in the place of prayer, you will be encouraged
to do so because you know that, see, there's
no other way and this will happen than me trusting
God or believing God for it to happen. Praise
God. So that should stir us up. That should encourage
us. I want us to rise up to our feet. We appreciate
you being here today. We hope you carry this
word with you throughout your week. Don't forget
to check the show notes for additional insights.
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Until next time, stay blessed.