WEBVTT 00:00:01.159 --> 00:00:06.639 Welcome to NECF Sermons. Each message here is 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:09.660 designed to uplift and strengthen you in your 00:00:09.660 --> 00:00:13.939 walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until 00:00:13.939 --> 00:00:17.879 the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive 00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:22.679 right in. Father, we thank you because as your 00:00:22.679 --> 00:00:24.500 word comes forth, there is light and there is 00:00:24.500 --> 00:00:29.940 understanding. We receive, we receive. We receive 00:00:29.940 --> 00:00:32.840 your word. We receive your word. We receive your 00:00:32.840 --> 00:00:35.179 word and we posture ourselves to act on what 00:00:35.179 --> 00:00:38.039 we are receiving. We thank you for how you're 00:00:38.039 --> 00:00:40.719 opening our eyes to see the things that you are 00:00:40.719 --> 00:00:43.119 showing us. Thank you for how you're posturing 00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:45.039 us to act on the things that we're receiving. 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:47.219 Thank you because we are people that pay attention. 00:00:47.479 --> 00:00:49.380 Thank you because we're people that are grateful 00:00:49.380 --> 00:00:52.340 for what we have received. And in that act of 00:00:52.340 --> 00:00:56.399 gratitude, we are able to share. And as an expression 00:00:56.399 --> 00:00:58.659 of our gratitude, we're able to share. We're 00:00:58.659 --> 00:01:00.960 able to teach others. We're able to pass it on. 00:01:01.079 --> 00:01:02.960 We're able to hold fast. We're able to stand 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:05.340 fast in the faith and pass on that which we have 00:01:05.340 --> 00:01:07.939 received as faithful men and women in the mighty 00:01:07.939 --> 00:01:11.980 name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. So 1 Corinthians 6, 00:01:12.060 --> 00:01:16.480 13, it says, watch, stand fast in the faith, 00:01:16.659 --> 00:01:23.099 be brave, be strong. The faith there is pistis. 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:29.799 That is P -I -S -T -I -S. Stand fast in the faith. 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:36.180 Be strong. Be brave. Be strong. Be brave. Be 00:01:36.180 --> 00:01:39.719 strong. And in this year, we're going to be marching 00:01:39.719 --> 00:01:43.900 forward brave and strong. We are soldiers. We 00:01:43.900 --> 00:01:46.920 are believers. We are God's children. We are 00:01:46.920 --> 00:01:50.129 God's army. We are God's men and women. for the 00:01:50.129 --> 00:01:52.010 work that he has called us to do. And we need 00:01:52.010 --> 00:01:53.969 all of that to be able to do it. And we're doing 00:01:53.969 --> 00:01:56.069 it in the strength that he supplies in the name 00:01:56.069 --> 00:01:57.890 of Jesus. And the first thing we discussed on 00:01:57.890 --> 00:02:01.989 Sunday is that we focused on paying attention, 00:02:02.129 --> 00:02:04.750 giving attention, paying attention. It's a very 00:02:04.750 --> 00:02:08.590 important currency in the work. To do the work, 00:02:08.650 --> 00:02:11.229 to understand, to do the work, it's very foundational 00:02:11.229 --> 00:02:12.710 to our understanding. It's very foundational 00:02:12.710 --> 00:02:14.469 to our growing. It's very foundational to our 00:02:14.469 --> 00:02:18.020 doing the work. And we saw how important is it. 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:20.280 We look at some of the passages that, thank you 00:02:20.280 --> 00:02:22.479 so much prayer team for working us through it 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:25.639 again, just reminding us and praying on it. We 00:02:25.639 --> 00:02:28.780 saw that if we give attention to know, we give 00:02:28.780 --> 00:02:30.539 attention to understand. And if we don't give 00:02:30.539 --> 00:02:36.000 attention. We will be stunted or we'll be lacking 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:38.080 in understanding or we'll be lacking the ability 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:41.159 to act or to do. And this season, we're going 00:02:41.159 --> 00:02:43.919 to be seeing how we take heed. We're going to 00:02:43.919 --> 00:02:46.419 be seeing ourselves take heed more. We saw 1 00:02:46.419 --> 00:02:49.840 Timothy 4, verse 13. I'm just skimming, bringing 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:52.520 us back to a place where we can do. It says, 00:02:52.620 --> 00:02:56.840 until I come, give attention to reading, to exaltation, 00:02:56.840 --> 00:03:00.060 and to doctrine. To doctrine. And we're giving 00:03:00.060 --> 00:03:02.479 attention to doctrine. We're holding what we're 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:04.180 holding on to. What we're paying attention to 00:03:04.180 --> 00:03:07.500 is sound doctrine. We saw, I think, in the earlier 00:03:07.500 --> 00:03:12.379 verses on 2 Timothy, where it says, preach the 00:03:12.379 --> 00:03:14.699 word. We're to preach the word. We're to preach 00:03:14.699 --> 00:03:17.319 the word. 2 Timothy 4. Let me just read that 00:03:17.319 --> 00:03:22.719 to us. 2 Timothy 4. We prayed from there. 2 Timothy 00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:24.840 4. Preach the word in season and out of season. 00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:29.680 Convince, rebuke, exalt. with all longsuffering 00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:32.759 and teaching. And then 3 now says, for a time 00:03:32.759 --> 00:03:36.800 will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, 00:03:36.919 --> 00:03:40.659 but according to their own desires, they will 00:03:40.659 --> 00:03:44.280 have itching ears. They will heap up for themselves 00:03:44.280 --> 00:03:49.879 teachers. So how we stand fast in faith is holding 00:03:49.879 --> 00:03:53.610 on to and giving attention to. The reading of 00:03:53.610 --> 00:03:56.550 God's word to exaltation and to exaltation to 00:03:56.550 --> 00:03:59.349 doctrine. Praise God. And we had done all of 00:03:59.349 --> 00:04:03.389 that and we saw an example. We came to the Apostle 00:04:03.389 --> 00:04:06.689 Paul. We saw how he was able to make a defense. 00:04:06.930 --> 00:04:08.930 And we said all of that is anchored on the fact 00:04:08.930 --> 00:04:11.270 that this is paying attention and brings us to 00:04:11.270 --> 00:04:13.210 that place of understanding. And in that place 00:04:13.210 --> 00:04:14.990 of understanding, we are able to, when asked, 00:04:15.189 --> 00:04:18.449 make a defense, make a defense. We saw 1 Peter 00:04:18.449 --> 00:04:22.680 3 .15 where it says, He says, always be ready. 00:04:22.819 --> 00:04:25.079 I'm just going to that point. Always be ready 00:04:25.079 --> 00:04:30.379 to give a defense to everyone who asks you a 00:04:30.379 --> 00:04:34.019 reason for the hope that is in you. And we are 00:04:34.019 --> 00:04:37.259 doing it with meekness and fear. We saw a couple 00:04:37.259 --> 00:04:42.459 of examples. We saw Acts 22 .1. We saw Acts 26 00:04:42.459 --> 00:04:49.000 .24 -32. And I will... And we saw that the word 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:51.899 there, in Acts 22, verse 28, I want us to go 00:04:51.899 --> 00:05:01.660 to 28. Acts 26, 28. Acts 26, 28. Agrippa said 00:05:01.660 --> 00:05:05.519 to Paul, then Agrippa said to Paul, you almost 00:05:05.519 --> 00:05:10.959 persuaded me to become a Christian. You almost 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:12.980 persuaded me to become a Christian. And Paul 00:05:12.980 --> 00:05:17.350 said, I would to God that not only you, but also 00:05:17.350 --> 00:05:23.250 all who hear me today might become almost and 00:05:23.250 --> 00:05:26.230 altogether sort as I am, except for this change. 00:05:26.410 --> 00:05:31.810 You can see the desire, desire of Paul that every, 00:05:31.930 --> 00:05:36.670 not just King Agrippa, not just Governor Felix, 00:05:36.850 --> 00:05:40.230 not just Bernice, but everyone that is listening 00:05:40.230 --> 00:05:43.410 to him, he wants them to be convinced. and to 00:05:43.410 --> 00:05:47.389 be persuaded of the truth of the gospel, persuaded 00:05:47.389 --> 00:05:50.089 and convinced of the gospel. And I just bring 00:05:50.089 --> 00:05:54.230 attention to that word persuade. The word persuade 00:05:54.230 --> 00:06:02.329 is P -E -I -T -H -O. P -E -I -T -H -O is a verb. 00:06:04.050 --> 00:06:08.490 The Greek word is P -E -I -T -H -O. It also means 00:06:08.490 --> 00:06:10.410 to convince. The word is used as to persuade. 00:06:10.430 --> 00:06:14.740 It also means to convince. to win over. And it's 00:06:14.740 --> 00:06:20.339 often implying an active influence, often implying 00:06:20.339 --> 00:06:25.300 an active influence through reasoning or appeal. 00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:32.980 Often implying an active influence through reasoning 00:06:32.980 --> 00:06:37.879 or an appeal. And it also carries that connotation 00:06:37.879 --> 00:06:42.459 of yielding or obedience. yielding obedience. 00:06:43.060 --> 00:06:46.060 And this is agreeing to someone after the persuasion, 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:48.160 after the communication, after the person has 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:51.040 communicated. And I want you to not see it as 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:53.040 something that is mechanical. I want you to see 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:56.139 it as something that the Spirit of God does through 00:06:56.139 --> 00:06:58.300 the communication of His Word. Something that 00:06:58.300 --> 00:07:00.519 the Spirit of God does in the hearts of the individual 00:07:00.519 --> 00:07:02.879 through the communication of His Word. And I 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:06.699 want us to see it again in Acts 28. We see the 00:07:06.699 --> 00:07:16.310 same word in Acts 28. Acts 28. 23. Acts 28, 23. 00:07:16.709 --> 00:07:43.180 It says, both the law of Moses and the prophets 00:07:43.180 --> 00:07:46.680 from morning till evening. I want you to notice 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:51.779 from morning till evening. 24 now says, and some 00:07:51.779 --> 00:07:55.899 were persuaded by the things which were spoken 00:07:55.899 --> 00:08:01.980 and some disbelieved. Some were persuaded, some 00:08:01.980 --> 00:08:04.639 disbelieved. I want you to see the fact that 00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:07.379 he had spent this much time from morning till 00:08:07.379 --> 00:08:10.589 evening. persuading and convincing. And for some 00:08:10.589 --> 00:08:14.189 of us, we go out to evangelize and we just spend 00:08:14.189 --> 00:08:16.370 a couple of minutes and then we are somewhat 00:08:16.370 --> 00:08:18.350 offended when the person doesn't believe. After 00:08:18.350 --> 00:08:21.769 we've invested a certain amount of time and you 00:08:21.769 --> 00:08:23.709 leave, it's like these people, they are just, 00:08:23.850 --> 00:08:26.769 the devil is walking in their hearts. And you 00:08:26.769 --> 00:08:30.110 want to understand that the label, you are not 00:08:30.110 --> 00:08:34.350 the one at the other end regulating whether the 00:08:34.350 --> 00:08:37.169 person receives or doesn't. The person that you're 00:08:37.169 --> 00:08:43.269 speaking to first and foremost has given you 00:08:43.269 --> 00:08:45.669 audience and listening to you. You want to understand 00:08:45.669 --> 00:08:48.710 that it is the individual's responsibility to 00:08:48.710 --> 00:08:50.750 respond. And if they don't respond, it's your 00:08:50.750 --> 00:08:54.190 responsibility to persist. And you can persist 00:08:54.190 --> 00:08:56.610 there, continue in the convincing or continue 00:08:56.610 --> 00:09:00.389 in the preaching and the teaching. But you must 00:09:00.389 --> 00:09:02.649 also understand that there's a part where once 00:09:02.649 --> 00:09:07.250 you have a responsibility, It's Sister Christy 00:09:07.250 --> 00:09:10.669 when she was leading us in prayer to take that 00:09:10.669 --> 00:09:13.789 person to God continually in the place of prayer 00:09:13.789 --> 00:09:15.990 because the word that you have sown, the seed 00:09:15.990 --> 00:09:18.789 of God's word that you have sown is active, is 00:09:18.789 --> 00:09:20.629 living. And even when you're not having that 00:09:20.629 --> 00:09:25.090 conversation, God will bring to their attention 00:09:25.090 --> 00:09:27.909 that which you have spoken to them and there 00:09:27.909 --> 00:09:29.769 will be a convincing that will happen as a result 00:09:29.769 --> 00:09:32.450 of that. And for some of us, you have interacted 00:09:32.450 --> 00:09:34.789 with someone the first time, someone else will 00:09:34.789 --> 00:09:37.559 do the, But what will happen is that on the second 00:09:37.559 --> 00:09:39.960 of the thought, that person is convinced on the 00:09:39.960 --> 00:09:43.320 premise of all that has happened, the build up 00:09:43.320 --> 00:09:45.580 to it. There's a build up to it. And we want 00:09:45.580 --> 00:09:49.100 to really, really hold on to this because sometimes 00:09:49.100 --> 00:09:51.460 you can be disappointed when we go out and we 00:09:51.460 --> 00:09:53.679 do these things. And sometimes our feet can be 00:09:53.679 --> 00:09:55.899 shaking when you feel like this thing. I don't 00:09:55.899 --> 00:09:58.159 know how other people are doing it, but I'm struggling 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:00.940 to. to convince. I'm struggling to communicate 00:10:00.940 --> 00:10:04.039 it. But we are encouraging God's Word to stand 00:10:04.039 --> 00:10:06.320 fast. We are encouraging God's Word to keep at 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:09.080 it. Praise God. To keep at it. To keep at it. 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:11.500 Because we see, even in Apostle Paul's situation, 00:10:11.700 --> 00:10:14.080 when he was talking with Agrippa, when he was 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:20.519 shouting, he said, Agrippa said to Paul, he said, 00:10:20.539 --> 00:10:23.220 you almost persuaded me. You almost persuaded 00:10:23.220 --> 00:10:25.799 me. You were wondering how many percent was it? 00:10:26.279 --> 00:10:29.720 Was it 99 .9? like where exactly it is. You can 00:10:29.720 --> 00:10:34.679 tell what the almost is for the individual. And 00:10:34.679 --> 00:10:36.480 some people will not even be, they will not tell 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:39.220 you, just leave this thing some other time. Or 00:10:39.220 --> 00:10:41.460 some people will be looking at their watch. But 00:10:41.460 --> 00:10:44.960 it doesn't still stop you from engaging. It doesn't 00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:47.059 stop you from keeping at it because it's the 00:10:47.059 --> 00:10:48.840 work that you're doing. It's the work that you're 00:10:48.840 --> 00:10:52.179 doing. The results should not deter you. The 00:10:52.179 --> 00:10:54.580 immediate results should not deter you. Praise 00:10:54.580 --> 00:10:57.539 God. So we see we're persuaded and it's all, 00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:01.139 what he kept on doing. And as opposed to Paul, 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:04.500 did that from morning till evening. From morning 00:11:04.500 --> 00:11:08.820 till evening, he was laboring. You see, some 00:11:08.820 --> 00:11:11.299 were persuaded of the things which were spoken, 00:11:11.419 --> 00:11:16.179 that is 24, 28, 24, and some still disbelieved. 00:11:16.500 --> 00:11:21.820 Some disbelieved. 25 now say, so when they did 00:11:21.820 --> 00:11:27.019 not agree amongst themselves, they departed after 00:11:27.019 --> 00:11:31.759 Paul, had said one word. Paul had taken them 00:11:31.759 --> 00:11:36.759 to Isaiah. Paul had said one word. The Holy Spirit 00:11:36.759 --> 00:11:40.220 spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet of our 00:11:40.220 --> 00:11:45.019 fathers. 26 saying, Go to these people and say, 00:11:45.139 --> 00:11:48.919 Hearing you will hear and shall not understand. 00:11:49.340 --> 00:11:54.360 Seeing you will see and not perceive. For the 00:11:54.360 --> 00:11:57.100 hearts of these people have grown dull. Their 00:11:57.100 --> 00:12:02.039 ears are hard of hearing and their eyes have 00:12:02.039 --> 00:12:07.059 been closed. Lest they should see with their 00:12:07.059 --> 00:12:09.720 eyes and hear with their ears. Lest they should 00:12:09.720 --> 00:12:13.960 understand with their hearts and turn so that 00:12:13.960 --> 00:12:17.639 I should heal them. And this is a quote from 00:12:17.639 --> 00:12:21.879 Isaiah 6, verse 9 and 10. 28 now says, therefore, 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:26.179 let it be known to you. that the salvation of 00:12:26.179 --> 00:12:29.940 God has been sent to the Gentiles and they will 00:12:29.940 --> 00:12:32.919 hear it. Praise God. He says the salvation of 00:12:32.919 --> 00:12:35.980 God, they will hear it. So even if you are choosing 00:12:35.980 --> 00:12:38.700 not to, there are people that are going to listen 00:12:38.700 --> 00:12:44.980 and receive. Praise God. 29 now says, when he 00:12:44.980 --> 00:12:48.840 had said these words, the Jews departed and had 00:12:48.840 --> 00:12:52.480 a great dispute amongst themselves because this 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:55.370 is offered to you. You're turning it down. He 00:12:55.370 --> 00:12:58.029 brings it to their attention and says, so if 00:12:58.029 --> 00:13:00.730 you're turning down the general house, which 00:13:00.730 --> 00:13:03.149 I'm called to, we'll receive it. I want us to 00:13:03.149 --> 00:13:05.549 see 30 now to see what Paul continues to do. 00:13:06.049 --> 00:13:10.669 Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented 00:13:10.669 --> 00:13:14.570 house and received all that came to him. He didn't 00:13:14.570 --> 00:13:18.509 stop him, right? He didn't stop him. And I'm 00:13:18.509 --> 00:13:20.830 bringing this to attention that regardless of 00:13:20.830 --> 00:13:24.529 how much challenges, some difficulties, people 00:13:24.529 --> 00:13:26.690 not receiving what you're saying, he shouldn't 00:13:26.690 --> 00:13:30.269 stop you from persisting in the walk. He shouldn't 00:13:30.269 --> 00:13:32.529 stop you from persisting in the walk. And he 00:13:32.529 --> 00:13:35.750 says, and receive all that came to him. Preaching 00:13:35.750 --> 00:13:37.929 the kingdom of God and teaching the things which 00:13:37.929 --> 00:13:41.570 concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence. 00:13:42.129 --> 00:13:45.610 No one forbidding him. With all confidence. Mark 00:13:45.610 --> 00:13:48.509 the word, with all confidence. You know, there's 00:13:48.509 --> 00:13:50.669 something that happens when you speak to someone, 00:13:51.149 --> 00:13:54.690 You don't hear you. It makes sense for your confidence 00:13:54.690 --> 00:13:57.570 to drop. Like, are you sure I'm doing it correctly? 00:13:57.870 --> 00:14:00.049 Are you sure I'm saying it? I think I'm doing 00:14:00.049 --> 00:14:02.950 something. I think I'm not putting it together. 00:14:03.509 --> 00:14:06.470 It will just be dropping. But regardless of the 00:14:06.470 --> 00:14:10.429 numbers and the amount of times, what keeps building 00:14:10.429 --> 00:14:13.389 is the confidence. With all confidence, he continues 00:14:13.389 --> 00:14:17.340 to do the work that he has called. where he was 00:14:17.340 --> 00:14:19.980 instructed or was called to or was commissioned 00:14:19.980 --> 00:14:23.600 to do. And my challenge is that we continue to 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:26.220 stay in that place of doing the work that we're 00:14:26.220 --> 00:14:28.879 commissioned to do. Nothing should cause our 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:34.299 faith to dwindle. Not even the, I don't believe 00:14:34.299 --> 00:14:36.779 you, I don't agree with you. And I think I was 00:14:36.779 --> 00:14:39.419 listening to, I think it was yesterday or the 00:14:39.419 --> 00:14:41.399 first day, we were listening to a testimony of 00:14:41.399 --> 00:14:46.139 a person who used to be converted to the faith. 00:14:46.590 --> 00:14:49.409 and he was talking about how it was difficult, 00:14:49.490 --> 00:14:53.370 that there was so much, like choosing to believe 00:14:53.370 --> 00:14:56.590 in what Christ has done had a lot of consequences, 00:14:56.649 --> 00:15:02.350 that just thinking about it, he knows, he's looking 00:15:02.350 --> 00:15:04.809 at the facts, he agrees, he sees it, he has taken 00:15:04.809 --> 00:15:07.090 time, he has studied it for even about four years. 00:15:07.269 --> 00:15:09.429 But anytime he comes to make the decision, he 00:15:09.429 --> 00:15:12.110 thinks about his family, thinks about how the 00:15:12.110 --> 00:15:14.549 family would, he will lose his family, he will 00:15:14.549 --> 00:15:17.399 lose his, his friends, his longtime friends. 00:15:17.539 --> 00:15:19.740 And that brings him to that place where he had 00:15:19.740 --> 00:15:21.980 to, he was battling and battling and battling. 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:24.120 And the funny thing is that when he goes to God's 00:15:24.120 --> 00:15:26.960 word and opens God's word, he's more and more 00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:28.440 convinced that this is the right thing to do. 00:15:29.059 --> 00:15:32.220 But he said, one time he had cried all night. 00:15:33.019 --> 00:15:36.379 He had cried all night and he was like, Lord, 00:15:36.580 --> 00:15:40.759 you have to, you have to show me more because 00:15:40.759 --> 00:15:43.179 I know that there's a lot I have, I will deal 00:15:43.179 --> 00:15:46.490 with. I'm facing my Parents disowning me. I think 00:15:46.490 --> 00:15:51.610 I'm even facing debt. That debt is what I'm going 00:15:51.610 --> 00:15:54.250 to face once I decide to take this stand. And 00:15:54.250 --> 00:15:57.490 he cried and cried and cried and cried, came 00:15:57.490 --> 00:16:00.009 to the parents, told them that this is what it 00:16:00.009 --> 00:16:03.509 is. And he ended up, the parents were like disappointed. 00:16:03.590 --> 00:16:05.169 He said they had never seen his mom look the 00:16:05.169 --> 00:16:08.990 way she looked at him in his life. But he cried 00:16:08.990 --> 00:16:11.379 and he was like. In fact, he was even screaming, 00:16:11.460 --> 00:16:13.139 Lord, kill me, and all of that until when he 00:16:13.139 --> 00:16:17.899 heard God say a couple of words to him that encouraged 00:16:17.899 --> 00:16:20.799 him to go on from there. And this person went 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:26.100 on to do a lot because he was faced with the 00:16:26.100 --> 00:16:29.320 truth. And for some people, and this is one thing 00:16:29.320 --> 00:16:31.279 I think he mentioned, which blessed me, was the 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:35.460 fact that he was very critical when he came to 00:16:35.460 --> 00:16:37.820 scrutinize the Bible. He was very critical. He 00:16:37.820 --> 00:16:40.330 was like... where's this? What is this? He was 00:16:40.330 --> 00:16:43.250 very critical. But when he goes back to his own 00:16:43.250 --> 00:16:46.289 religion, he's not as critical. And I remember 00:16:46.289 --> 00:16:49.389 when I was talking to some people and they were 00:16:49.389 --> 00:16:51.870 like, oh, people just want us to be this good. 00:16:51.950 --> 00:16:54.370 People want us to be this good. And it occurred 00:16:54.370 --> 00:16:58.570 to me, which is what I said. I said, when excellence 00:16:58.570 --> 00:17:01.950 is demanded of us, we tend to, when it's demanded 00:17:01.950 --> 00:17:05.089 of someone else, we tend to raise the bar. But 00:17:05.089 --> 00:17:07.250 when it's demanded of us, we tend to lower the 00:17:07.250 --> 00:17:11.609 bar. Because the focus is us. Because when you 00:17:11.609 --> 00:17:13.690 want to go and buy something, you want the best. 00:17:14.609 --> 00:17:16.569 When you want to go and get something, you go 00:17:16.569 --> 00:17:19.410 to the market. You don't go substandard. You 00:17:19.410 --> 00:17:22.009 go excellent. You go, I want the best because 00:17:22.009 --> 00:17:25.470 you're paying for it. But when it's now demanded 00:17:25.470 --> 00:17:29.589 of you, you're like, we can manage. It's not 00:17:29.589 --> 00:17:33.990 that serious. We can just... It's not... We can 00:17:33.990 --> 00:17:37.069 just do it like this. We shouldn't stress ourselves 00:17:37.069 --> 00:17:40.609 too much. Because it's now, the focus is us. 00:17:41.230 --> 00:17:44.970 And we're not being fair. Because the same thing 00:17:44.970 --> 00:17:47.289 applies when he was like, he was scrutiny. And 00:17:47.289 --> 00:17:50.029 the same standard he puts the Bible on, when 00:17:50.029 --> 00:17:54.369 he puts, he was like, he sort of, man, the Bible 00:17:54.369 --> 00:17:58.390 wins all the time. Because the word of God is 00:17:58.390 --> 00:18:01.630 true. Because once you're face to face with truth, 00:18:01.769 --> 00:18:06.849 you can only deny it. You can only deny it. But 00:18:06.849 --> 00:18:10.329 it's very evident and it's very, the proof is 00:18:10.329 --> 00:18:13.990 very, it's clear. Praise God. And I want us to 00:18:13.990 --> 00:18:21.750 go back to the text in John. John 14. John 14. 00:18:24.589 --> 00:18:31.240 John 14 verse 12. Jesus Christ speaking says, 00:18:31.299 --> 00:18:34.119 most assuredly I say to you, and I think I brought 00:18:34.119 --> 00:18:38.839 it to attention that the Greek, the phrase most 00:18:38.839 --> 00:18:44.740 assuredly I say to you is amen, amen, lago, alego, 00:18:44.779 --> 00:18:52.559 yamen. It's not, in English, which in the New 00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:54.819 King James, in the Old King James, you see it 00:18:54.819 --> 00:19:01.400 as verily, verily, or truly, truly. It's most 00:19:01.400 --> 00:19:06.700 assuredly I say to you. And it's translated that 00:19:06.700 --> 00:19:11.240 way. It's used mostly. And John is the one that 00:19:11.240 --> 00:19:15.299 you see. You don't see most assuredly. All of 00:19:15.299 --> 00:19:17.259 the places in Scripture where you see it is that. 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:20.059 And I want to walk quickly through it for us 00:19:20.059 --> 00:19:24.559 to see something. To see how in the places it's 00:19:24.559 --> 00:19:29.930 used, what Jesus points to. In John 1 .51, he 00:19:29.930 --> 00:19:33.490 said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, Hereafter 00:19:33.490 --> 00:19:37.589 shall you see heaven open and the angels of God 00:19:37.589 --> 00:19:40.970 ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. 00:19:41.069 --> 00:19:45.549 I want you to see that you will see in this communication 00:19:45.549 --> 00:19:48.750 that it's communicating something very important, 00:19:48.829 --> 00:19:52.400 which is the humanity. It's communicating to 00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:55.119 humanity because the use of the word son of man 00:19:55.119 --> 00:19:59.960 is descriptive of Jesus' humanity. His sufferings 00:19:59.960 --> 00:20:02.819 and the work because he has to be human for him 00:20:02.819 --> 00:20:05.900 to do the work. He has to be human for him to 00:20:05.900 --> 00:20:07.740 do the work. One thing you will see there is 00:20:07.740 --> 00:20:09.960 you will see the identity and you will see the 00:20:09.960 --> 00:20:13.720 mission. What this particular passage is or we're 00:20:13.720 --> 00:20:16.119 going to be looking at that uses that most assuredly. 00:20:16.119 --> 00:20:17.519 You will see that it's communicating something 00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:19.019 that you should pay attention to. Something very 00:20:19.019 --> 00:20:23.160 important. And he says, Moses surely, and he 00:20:23.160 --> 00:20:26.519 says, the angels ascending and ascending upon 00:20:26.519 --> 00:20:29.579 him points to that connection between heaven 00:20:29.579 --> 00:20:32.140 and earth. That connection between heaven and 00:20:32.140 --> 00:20:33.859 earth. That connection between heaven and earth. 00:20:33.940 --> 00:20:38.019 And we'll see in John 5 .19 now. John 5 .19, 00:20:38.140 --> 00:20:41.640 I want you to see, we just saw John 1 .51, where 00:20:41.640 --> 00:20:46.480 Moses surely is used. We'll see John 5 .19. Then 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:48.799 Jesus answered and said to them, Moses surely, 00:20:48.980 --> 00:20:53.569 I say to you, The son of man, the son can do 00:20:53.569 --> 00:20:56.710 nothing of himself, but what he sees the father 00:20:56.710 --> 00:21:02.970 do. For whatever he does, the son also does in 00:21:02.970 --> 00:21:06.049 like manner. So we see something very important. 00:21:06.230 --> 00:21:08.809 That is a perfect unity and dependence of the 00:21:08.809 --> 00:21:11.750 son on the father, the father on the son. Praise 00:21:11.750 --> 00:21:15.569 God. And that is communicating mission because 00:21:15.569 --> 00:21:17.269 he didn't just come and did things by himself. 00:21:17.720 --> 00:21:20.500 And this also, all of the things very much translates 00:21:20.500 --> 00:21:22.819 to us. We don't even act on our own accord. The 00:21:22.819 --> 00:21:24.619 work we're doing is the work he has instructed 00:21:24.619 --> 00:21:26.619 us to do. Praise God. The work we're doing is 00:21:26.619 --> 00:21:27.819 the work he has instructed us to do. We see that 00:21:27.819 --> 00:21:31.359 perfect unity, the Father, the Son. John 6, 32. 00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:37.779 John 6, 32. Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, 00:21:37.779 --> 00:21:41.740 I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread. 00:21:42.220 --> 00:21:44.539 For you see, Moses did not give you the bread 00:21:44.539 --> 00:21:47.259 from heaven, but my Father gives you the true 00:21:47.259 --> 00:21:50.700 bread from heaven. My Father gives you the true 00:21:50.700 --> 00:21:54.220 bread from heaven. We see that Jesus, in this 00:21:54.220 --> 00:21:56.500 communication here, is speaking about the true 00:21:56.500 --> 00:21:59.720 bread, which is himself. Praise God. The true 00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:01.180 bread, which is himself. With the true bread, 00:22:01.319 --> 00:22:03.839 which is himself. Speaking about his identity, 00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:07.220 speaking about tying it to his mission. The identity 00:22:07.220 --> 00:22:09.660 tied to his mission. And I want us to go to the 00:22:09.660 --> 00:22:15.880 interesting part in... John 8. John 8, 58. John 00:22:15.880 --> 00:22:20.720 8, 58. Jesus said to them, most assuredly I say 00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:25.500 to you, before Abraham was, I am. Before Abraham 00:22:25.500 --> 00:22:32.039 was, I am. That was the statement that broke 00:22:32.039 --> 00:22:34.240 it up for them. It was like, ah, what did you 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:39.930 just say? Before Abraham was, I am. You see him 00:22:39.930 --> 00:22:45.450 communicating his eternal pre -existence. And 00:22:45.450 --> 00:22:48.450 you might not understand if you don't understand. 00:22:49.769 --> 00:22:52.430 They understood the magnitude of the statement 00:22:52.430 --> 00:22:55.329 being made. Because if you go to Exodus, I think 00:22:55.329 --> 00:22:58.250 those of us that read on Sunday, I think we read 00:22:58.250 --> 00:23:05.529 Exodus 3, verse 14. And God said to Moses, I 00:23:05.529 --> 00:23:11.269 am who I am. He said, thus you shall say to the 00:23:11.269 --> 00:23:16.430 children of Israel, I am has sent me to you. 00:23:16.609 --> 00:23:21.309 I am has sent me to you. I am has sent me to 00:23:21.309 --> 00:23:24.230 you. So when the use of the phrase, when he says 00:23:24.230 --> 00:23:28.309 before Abraham was, I am, you know, you write 00:23:28.309 --> 00:23:29.990 that in there. I think that's one of the scriptures 00:23:29.990 --> 00:23:33.400 I saw this morning again as well. Somebody else 00:23:33.400 --> 00:23:38.279 says, I am. It's like, I exist. It's not just, 00:23:38.440 --> 00:23:44.599 in fact, when you, I think I've heard a Jew talk 00:23:44.599 --> 00:23:47.440 about how we take for granted the use of the 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:50.240 word, because when you say, I am this, I am this, 00:23:50.259 --> 00:23:52.519 to a Jew, the use of the word I am, in fact, 00:23:52.539 --> 00:23:55.240 is like the... The rabbi was saying, before you, 00:23:55.279 --> 00:23:58.059 God is so important, before you even call your 00:23:58.059 --> 00:23:59.819 name, you call his name first. When you say, 00:23:59.859 --> 00:24:03.559 I am this, that's how they regard the use of 00:24:03.559 --> 00:24:06.299 the, for us, I am, is you're trying to point 00:24:06.299 --> 00:24:09.180 out to identify, you're trying to identify yourself 00:24:09.180 --> 00:24:11.119 because when you say, I am this, you're identifying 00:24:11.119 --> 00:24:14.339 yourself. But in his case, he's not just, he's 00:24:14.339 --> 00:24:16.819 telling them who he is, not without, you see, 00:24:16.900 --> 00:24:20.559 before Abraham was, I am. And for them, that's 00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:24.500 like, who are you to like, equate yourself to. 00:24:25.400 --> 00:24:28.079 But that was him clearly communicating to them 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:29.859 something very important that they shouldn't 00:24:29.859 --> 00:24:33.519 miss. That they shouldn't miss. In John 10, 1 00:24:33.519 --> 00:24:38.680 and 7. John 10, 1 and 7. See, the same most assuredly 00:24:38.680 --> 00:24:43.359 I say to you. He who does not enter the sheepfold 00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:48.700 by the door, but climbs up some other way. The 00:24:48.700 --> 00:24:54.769 same is a thief and a robber. 7 now says, and 00:24:54.769 --> 00:24:59.349 Jesus said to them again, most assuredly I say 00:24:59.349 --> 00:25:04.609 to you, I am the door of the sheep. I am the 00:25:04.609 --> 00:25:08.470 door of the sheep. And Jesus is telling them 00:25:08.470 --> 00:25:11.490 that, look, there is no other legitimate way 00:25:11.490 --> 00:25:15.609 to salvation. There is no other legitimate way 00:25:15.609 --> 00:25:20.269 to salvation. And he emphasized this in the 14, 00:25:20.390 --> 00:25:23.980 in the John 14 that we're looking at. John 14, 00:25:24.059 --> 00:25:26.259 that we're looking at verse 6, where Jesus said 00:25:26.259 --> 00:25:30.599 to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. 00:25:30.839 --> 00:25:33.180 I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one 00:25:33.180 --> 00:25:38.319 comes to the Father except through me. So you 00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:40.680 see that Jesus Christ is telling, is establishing 00:25:40.680 --> 00:25:44.460 something very important, which is that he is 00:25:44.460 --> 00:25:46.700 the only, there's no, there are no, you know, 00:25:46.700 --> 00:25:50.839 I was speaking to someone and we're evangelizing 00:25:50.839 --> 00:25:53.019 to this person and then he was like, We asked 00:25:53.019 --> 00:25:55.759 a simple question. I was like, so are there several 00:25:55.759 --> 00:25:58.279 ways, because it was talking about how some people 00:25:58.279 --> 00:26:00.519 are good, all of that. Are there several ways 00:26:00.519 --> 00:26:02.980 to get to God? And you can be tempted sometimes 00:26:02.980 --> 00:26:05.740 to think that some people are good so they have 00:26:05.740 --> 00:26:08.380 a relationship with God because they are doing 00:26:08.380 --> 00:26:11.579 good works. You can be tempted because you feel 00:26:11.579 --> 00:26:14.119 like, oh, I don't think, no, this person will 00:26:14.119 --> 00:26:17.259 not. But when you see statements like this, and 00:26:17.259 --> 00:26:19.480 that's why you want to pay attention to the word 00:26:19.480 --> 00:26:22.759 of God very carefully. Because if you don't be 00:26:22.759 --> 00:26:24.119 attentive to the word of God, you can just assume 00:26:24.119 --> 00:26:25.880 that because this person is doing this and this 00:26:25.880 --> 00:26:28.140 and this, on the strength of that, this person 00:26:28.140 --> 00:26:29.859 has a relationship with God and this person will 00:26:29.859 --> 00:26:32.259 make him. We've said this time and time again, 00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:36.599 the basis by which we'll see as the passage progresses, 00:26:36.799 --> 00:26:38.940 the basis by which we come into a relationship 00:26:38.940 --> 00:26:42.000 with God is by believing in what he has done. 00:26:42.400 --> 00:26:44.960 There's no other way. Because he says, I am the 00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:47.220 way, the truth, and the life. If you go any other 00:26:47.220 --> 00:26:50.160 way, what you have is not the result. You don't 00:26:50.160 --> 00:26:53.099 get that result. Praise God. And he says it very 00:26:53.099 --> 00:26:55.220 emphatically that he is the only that is made 00:26:55.220 --> 00:26:58.539 way to salvation. Then I'd like us to see the 00:26:58.539 --> 00:27:04.980 other bit in John 13, 20. John 13, 20. He says, 00:27:05.119 --> 00:27:09.400 Most assuredly I say to you, he who receives 00:27:09.400 --> 00:27:15.440 whomever I send receives me. And he who receives 00:27:15.440 --> 00:27:20.640 me receives him who sends him. Going tiny to 00:27:20.640 --> 00:27:23.059 the previous way, you're receiving. So there's 00:27:23.059 --> 00:27:26.299 a chain of authority. Receiving the messenger 00:27:26.299 --> 00:27:28.839 of Christ means receiving Jesus and also means 00:27:28.839 --> 00:27:32.380 receiving the Father. It's communicating to the 00:27:32.380 --> 00:27:34.180 mission, communicating to the identity, communicating 00:27:34.180 --> 00:27:36.640 to how it's all connected. So there's a chain 00:27:36.640 --> 00:27:41.599 of authority. And I'll continue to... Bring us 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:44.119 to the other segment where they use, or the section 00:27:44.119 --> 00:27:47.220 where this is used in the passage to communicate 00:27:47.220 --> 00:27:51.119 also what the conditions for salvation. We see 00:27:51.119 --> 00:27:54.720 this in John 3, where he says, Most assuredly, 00:27:54.720 --> 00:27:58.960 I say to you, John 3, verse 3 and 5. Jesus answered 00:27:58.960 --> 00:28:01.859 to him and said, Most assuredly, I say to you, 00:28:01.940 --> 00:28:07.480 unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom 00:28:07.480 --> 00:28:10.789 of God. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless 00:28:10.789 --> 00:28:12.289 one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom. 00:28:12.369 --> 00:28:14.730 Then five now says, most assuredly, and Jesus 00:28:14.730 --> 00:28:17.269 answered. In the end, most assuredly, I say to 00:28:17.269 --> 00:28:20.009 you, unless one is born of water and spirit, 00:28:20.190 --> 00:28:22.930 he cannot enter the kingdom of God. And you see 00:28:22.930 --> 00:28:25.369 here from the get good in the necessity of being 00:28:25.369 --> 00:28:27.670 born again, of being born from above to be part 00:28:27.670 --> 00:28:30.910 of the kingdom. Praise God. For you to be born 00:28:30.910 --> 00:28:33.210 again, for you to be born from above to be part 00:28:33.210 --> 00:28:35.710 of the kingdom. Very important. Remember, we 00:28:35.710 --> 00:28:38.390 talked about how the salvation happens by him. 00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:40.579 And once you're born again, you're born into 00:28:40.579 --> 00:28:44.700 the family. Praise God. Then five now. John 5, 00:28:44.759 --> 00:28:49.539 24. I want you to see how the different, most 00:28:49.539 --> 00:28:53.039 assuredly, ties to very, very important things 00:28:53.039 --> 00:28:56.859 that we all have to pay attention to and it's 00:28:56.859 --> 00:29:03.059 going to make the passage make more sense. John 00:29:03.059 --> 00:29:06.500 5, 24 says, Most assuredly, I say to you, he 00:29:06.500 --> 00:29:11.140 who hears my word, and believes in him who sent 00:29:11.140 --> 00:29:15.500 me has everlasting life. He who hears my word 00:29:15.500 --> 00:29:18.279 and believes in him who sent me, he shall not 00:29:18.279 --> 00:29:21.160 come into judgment, but has passed from death 00:29:21.160 --> 00:29:24.220 to life. Very important. This is a condition 00:29:24.220 --> 00:29:27.059 for the eternal life. So, hearing God's word, 00:29:27.160 --> 00:29:29.859 believing in the Father who sent him. Praise 00:29:29.859 --> 00:29:32.200 God. Hearing God's word, believing in the Father 00:29:32.200 --> 00:29:36.440 who sent him. I want us to see John 6, 47. John 00:29:36.440 --> 00:29:41.579 6, 47. John 6, 47 says, Most assuredly, I say 00:29:41.579 --> 00:29:46.599 to you, he who believes in me has everlasting 00:29:46.599 --> 00:29:50.160 life. So we see that believes, believe in him, 00:29:50.240 --> 00:29:54.420 believe in me. So believe in Jesus is the source 00:29:54.420 --> 00:29:57.599 of everlasting life. That passage just establishes 00:29:57.599 --> 00:30:01.859 and it repeats itself again and again. It says 00:30:01.859 --> 00:30:09.440 then in the same John 6, 53. St. John 6, 53. 00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:13.380 Then Jesus said to them, most assuredly I say 00:30:13.380 --> 00:30:18.819 to you, unless you eat my flesh or eat the flesh 00:30:18.819 --> 00:30:23.039 of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have 00:30:23.039 --> 00:30:26.920 no life in you. Unless you eat the flesh of the 00:30:26.920 --> 00:30:28.880 Son of Man, and I think we've taught this time 00:30:28.880 --> 00:30:31.099 again, our list pastor has taught us, he was 00:30:31.099 --> 00:30:35.200 not speaking physically, right? He was not speaking 00:30:35.200 --> 00:30:38.380 physically. He says, unless we, We partake in 00:30:38.380 --> 00:30:41.640 this spiritually by believing in that sacrifice, 00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:45.940 in the sacrifice that has been made for us. That's 00:30:45.940 --> 00:30:48.160 basically, we partake in it by believing in that 00:30:48.160 --> 00:30:53.960 sacrifice. In also John 8, 34, and you will notice 00:30:53.960 --> 00:30:55.559 that all the passages that we're reading, what 00:30:55.559 --> 00:30:58.119 he has in common is Jesus speaking and he's saying, 00:30:58.299 --> 00:31:02.079 most assuredly, Jesus answered them, most assuredly 00:31:02.079 --> 00:31:06.130 I say to you, whoever... commits sin is a slave 00:31:06.130 --> 00:31:10.529 of sin. Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 00:31:10.690 --> 00:31:13.930 Stating that there's that enslavement to sin 00:31:13.930 --> 00:31:17.450 that makes it a necessity or makes the requirement 00:31:17.450 --> 00:31:20.450 for salvation very important. Praise God. Because 00:31:20.450 --> 00:31:24.509 it's presenting to you that okay, people have 00:31:24.509 --> 00:31:27.990 been enslaved to sin and then keening to what 00:31:27.990 --> 00:31:32.009 he has done takes that away. takes that enslavement. 00:31:32.009 --> 00:31:34.289 Now there's freedom in him. There's a salvation 00:31:34.289 --> 00:31:36.670 that we find in him. It means that it's void 00:31:36.670 --> 00:31:42.650 of being enslaved. To escape slavery, you key 00:31:42.650 --> 00:31:46.650 into what he has done, salvation. So in John 00:31:46.650 --> 00:31:52.150 8, 51, also we see Jesus still speaking. He says, 00:31:52.190 --> 00:31:55.009 Most surely I say to you, if anyone keeps my 00:31:55.009 --> 00:32:00.349 word, you shall. He shall never see debt. If 00:32:00.349 --> 00:32:02.549 anyone keeps my word, he shall never see debt. 00:32:02.789 --> 00:32:06.029 And we see that he's establishing the fact that 00:32:06.029 --> 00:32:10.509 as a result of you believing, and when you say 00:32:10.509 --> 00:32:14.589 keep my word, you will not think of it as do's 00:32:14.589 --> 00:32:17.869 and don'ts. No, you're believing in what he has 00:32:17.869 --> 00:32:21.589 done. You're believing in where we are now. You're 00:32:21.589 --> 00:32:23.750 believing in what he has done. And as a result 00:32:23.750 --> 00:32:26.869 of that, you are saved. And as a result of that 00:32:26.869 --> 00:32:30.369 salvation, you will not taste death. It says, 00:32:30.509 --> 00:32:33.589 the word is, you will never, there's no death 00:32:33.589 --> 00:32:37.549 for you. You are saved and you're saved in him. 00:32:37.670 --> 00:32:42.329 Praise God. Then that 14, the 14, 12 now, which 00:32:42.329 --> 00:32:44.690 is what we're going to look at and we'll stop, 00:32:44.849 --> 00:32:48.630 we'll stop at this point where it says, where 00:32:48.630 --> 00:32:50.849 14, verse 12, it says, most assuredly I say to 00:32:50.849 --> 00:32:55.240 you, he who believes in me, The works that I 00:32:55.240 --> 00:33:01.799 do, He will do also. And greater works than this, 00:33:01.980 --> 00:33:07.400 He will do. Because I go to my Father. And I 00:33:07.400 --> 00:33:11.339 want you to see now. Where we started from all 00:33:11.339 --> 00:33:12.759 the different things that Jesus Christ established 00:33:12.759 --> 00:33:16.339 and how salvation is found in him and how it's 00:33:16.339 --> 00:33:18.940 based on believing in what he has done that brings 00:33:18.940 --> 00:33:21.079 us into that reality. And then we see here, he 00:33:21.079 --> 00:33:26.480 who believes in me, he who believes in me, the 00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:30.220 works I do, he will do also. And greater works 00:33:30.220 --> 00:33:35.180 than this he will do because I go to my father. 00:33:35.240 --> 00:33:37.420 And I think we've taught this previously. We're 00:33:37.420 --> 00:33:40.289 going to look at it. Again, even this particular 00:33:40.289 --> 00:33:43.250 season, we know that all of this is anchored 00:33:43.250 --> 00:33:46.730 on what Christ has done because of what he has, 00:33:46.769 --> 00:33:49.990 I think, and I want us to know that when he was 00:33:49.990 --> 00:33:53.069 speaking this to the disciples, he has not yet 00:33:53.069 --> 00:33:55.829 done it, right? He has not yet done it. So you 00:33:55.829 --> 00:33:57.710 want to, sometimes, you know, sometimes you can, 00:33:57.769 --> 00:34:00.789 we can say these things and then we say it from 00:34:00.789 --> 00:34:03.329 the premise of it has happened, but to them, 00:34:03.839 --> 00:34:07.240 that are recipients of this word that nothing 00:34:07.240 --> 00:34:10.300 happened. So he says, I say to you, he who believes 00:34:10.300 --> 00:34:15.320 in me. And we said, and the believing is in what 00:34:15.320 --> 00:34:19.179 he is said to do. And the receiving happens after 00:34:19.179 --> 00:34:21.800 he goes to his father, right? And that is at 00:34:21.800 --> 00:34:24.300 his resurrection. Praise God. That is at his 00:34:24.300 --> 00:34:27.000 resurrection. That's when all of this will be, 00:34:27.159 --> 00:34:30.880 because in that same passage, when we go further 00:34:30.880 --> 00:34:33.119 down, we see that he was talking about the promise. 00:34:33.820 --> 00:34:37.219 I was talking about a promise. So believing in 00:34:37.219 --> 00:34:40.940 that walk, he's you into the promise. So that 00:34:40.940 --> 00:34:44.139 promise that anyone who believes will not just 00:34:44.139 --> 00:34:46.940 do the things he has done, but he won't do greater. 00:34:47.219 --> 00:34:49.099 So I want us to, because there are a couple of 00:34:49.099 --> 00:34:51.860 more passages, I just want us to skip that a 00:34:51.860 --> 00:34:54.500 couple of, okay, I'll just read it through, so 00:34:54.500 --> 00:34:56.800 I will just take notes. I'll just read through, 00:34:56.860 --> 00:34:58.800 just go through the passages, so I'll take notes. 00:34:59.800 --> 00:35:03.329 So we see even, him also in the book of John, 00:35:03.369 --> 00:35:05.550 because all of this is in John. We see him also 00:35:05.550 --> 00:35:08.929 making reference to promises or prophecies as 00:35:08.929 --> 00:35:10.610 well. We see him making reference to promises 00:35:10.610 --> 00:35:14.750 and prophecies. In John 5 .25, we see him making 00:35:14.750 --> 00:35:20.510 reference to prophecy, John 5 .25. In John 13 00:35:20.510 --> 00:35:26.210 .21, where he prophesies his betrayal, John 13 00:35:26.210 --> 00:35:32.710 .21, and John 13 .38, where he prophesies Peter's 00:35:32.710 --> 00:35:39.070 denial. John 16, 20. So he prophesies so to his 00:35:39.070 --> 00:35:43.750 disciples. John 16, also 23. So I'll start from 00:35:43.750 --> 00:35:49.309 the top. John 5, 25. John 13, 21. John 13, 38. 00:35:49.829 --> 00:35:58.010 John 16, 20. John 16, 23. John 16, 23. John 21, 00:35:58.289 --> 00:36:03.849 18. John 21, 18. Then the other last four is 00:36:03.849 --> 00:36:07.190 him also communicating spiritual realities, profound 00:36:07.190 --> 00:36:10.510 spiritual realities. We see it in John 11, John 00:36:10.510 --> 00:36:19.710 3, 11. John 3, 11. John 3, 11. John 6, 26. John 00:36:19.710 --> 00:36:25.889 6, 26. John 12, 24. And then John 16, M13, 16. 00:36:26.230 --> 00:36:31.480 John 13, 16. So let's, Now focus on he who believes 00:36:31.480 --> 00:36:36.360 in me. And that believe there is the word pistou. 00:36:36.659 --> 00:36:43.099 P -I -S -T -E -U -O. P -I -S -T -E -U -O. And 00:36:43.099 --> 00:36:46.460 this implies trust that arises from hearing and 00:36:46.460 --> 00:36:49.619 understanding. Trust that arises from hearing 00:36:49.619 --> 00:36:53.519 and understanding. And we see it is a verb. It's 00:36:53.519 --> 00:36:56.320 a verb means to believe, to have faith, to trust. 00:36:56.400 --> 00:37:01.090 I think even the... The first, the verse, we'll 00:37:01.090 --> 00:37:04.829 see that in the 14 verse 1. That same 14 verse 00:37:04.829 --> 00:37:08.269 1, it says, let not your heart be troubled. Believe 00:37:08.269 --> 00:37:12.650 in God, believe also in me. I think the NLT uses 00:37:12.650 --> 00:37:18.110 trust. The NLT uses, let your heart, it said, 00:37:18.110 --> 00:37:21.530 don't let your heart be troubled. Trust in God 00:37:21.530 --> 00:37:25.800 and trust also in me. So it uses that word, trust, 00:37:25.940 --> 00:37:29.940 and it also emphasizes entrusting ones. You have 00:37:29.940 --> 00:37:34.039 to entrust it to someone. And in this case, it 00:37:34.039 --> 00:37:37.820 says, trust in God, trust in me, that's Christ. 00:37:38.000 --> 00:37:41.260 And it emphasizes that decision to rely beyond 00:37:41.260 --> 00:37:45.000 an intellectual assent, right? To rely beyond 00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:48.360 an intellectual assent. And the result, when 00:37:48.360 --> 00:37:50.500 you are relying beyond intellectual assent, you 00:37:50.500 --> 00:37:55.559 are... trusting wholly in that individual. And 00:37:55.559 --> 00:37:57.659 for some of us, we better understand this when 00:37:57.659 --> 00:38:01.780 everyone of us seated here, you're seated on 00:38:01.780 --> 00:38:05.480 a chair. You are putting your entire weight on 00:38:05.480 --> 00:38:08.159 the chair, regardless of knowing who made it, 00:38:08.320 --> 00:38:10.980 who cleaned it, who has sat there before you, 00:38:11.039 --> 00:38:13.860 who is sitting there. You just put your full 00:38:13.860 --> 00:38:16.300 weight on the chair. You're just putting that 00:38:16.300 --> 00:38:19.670 trust because you know that chairs carry... carries 00:38:19.670 --> 00:38:22.070 our weight. You just put your full weight on 00:38:22.070 --> 00:38:24.210 it. And we see that in the passage, it says, 00:38:24.369 --> 00:38:28.670 believe in God, believe, and believe in God, 00:38:28.710 --> 00:38:30.710 believe also in me. Like in that book where we 00:38:30.710 --> 00:38:32.429 read, it said, believe in God, believe also in 00:38:32.429 --> 00:38:35.010 me. Meaning that our belief in God translates 00:38:35.010 --> 00:38:37.949 to our belief in Christ. And it uses that intention. 00:38:38.110 --> 00:38:39.650 But some of the passages we read, we see where 00:38:39.650 --> 00:38:43.389 Jesus Christ is calling, because he's not doing 00:38:43.389 --> 00:38:46.090 things independent of himself. He's doing things. 00:38:46.589 --> 00:38:50.289 dependent on the father. So that belief in God 00:38:50.289 --> 00:38:53.449 translates to a belief in him and it's synonymous, 00:38:53.550 --> 00:38:58.070 praise God. And in John's gospel, we see, if 00:38:58.070 --> 00:38:59.949 you, I think when you do a search, just type 00:38:59.949 --> 00:39:03.670 belief, you see that John uses a lot, he uses 00:39:03.670 --> 00:39:08.010 a lot of the word. If you just go back home or 00:39:08.010 --> 00:39:10.449 do your studies, you see that that word believe 00:39:10.449 --> 00:39:14.610 appears a lot of times in the book of John. And 00:39:14.610 --> 00:39:16.750 as much as that, word appears a lot of times 00:39:16.750 --> 00:39:18.849 in the book of John, you will not see the word 00:39:18.849 --> 00:39:22.469 repent in the book of John. It's funny. You will 00:39:22.469 --> 00:39:24.289 not see the word repent in the book of John. 00:39:24.409 --> 00:39:27.269 And it's funny because in other passages of the 00:39:27.269 --> 00:39:30.110 scripture, you will see a very classic example 00:39:30.110 --> 00:39:35.469 is Mark 1, 15. Mark 1, 15, I'll read to us. It 00:39:35.469 --> 00:39:39.949 says, and saying, the time is fulfilled and the 00:39:39.949 --> 00:39:42.880 kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe 00:39:42.880 --> 00:39:45.059 in the gospel. You see that most of the times 00:39:45.059 --> 00:39:49.019 when they use the word repent, that repent is 00:39:49.019 --> 00:39:55.699 the word metanoeo. That's M -E -T -A -N -O -E 00:39:55.699 --> 00:40:01.440 -O. M -E -T -A -N -O -E -O. That word means, 00:40:01.519 --> 00:40:04.980 we understand it as turn away from, and we know 00:40:04.980 --> 00:40:06.599 that the turn is not just turning away from, 00:40:06.659 --> 00:40:09.199 you're turning to, right? You're turning to God. 00:40:09.960 --> 00:40:13.380 And it says, and believe in the gospel. So he 00:40:13.380 --> 00:40:17.340 uses a lot of the word believe. He uses believe 00:40:17.340 --> 00:40:21.059 so many times, but not with the word. So he communicates 00:40:21.059 --> 00:40:23.659 that. He communicates whatever it is he's communicating 00:40:23.659 --> 00:40:25.500 or different things he's communicating using 00:40:25.500 --> 00:40:30.179 believe. And when he uses in this passage believe, 00:40:30.260 --> 00:40:33.940 when he says believe, that is in. because we 00:40:33.940 --> 00:40:36.099 know that believers believe in the gospel. And 00:40:36.099 --> 00:40:38.119 as at the time when Jesus Christ is speaking, 00:40:38.300 --> 00:40:40.780 we know that he's talking about the things he 00:40:40.780 --> 00:40:43.679 was going to do and what the things he was going 00:40:43.679 --> 00:40:46.760 to do will make available for us. Praise God. 00:40:46.940 --> 00:40:48.360 What the things he was going to do will make 00:40:48.360 --> 00:40:52.280 available for us. And that in itself demands 00:40:52.280 --> 00:40:56.760 the trust, demands the belief of the individuals 00:40:56.760 --> 00:40:59.210 that are listening to him, right? Demands an 00:40:59.210 --> 00:41:01.989 active trust and belief for them to be able to 00:41:01.989 --> 00:41:08.869 expect it. And know that it's not just believe 00:41:08.869 --> 00:41:11.730 in the words he was saying, right? Remember from 00:41:11.730 --> 00:41:13.949 what we explained, it's not just believing in 00:41:13.949 --> 00:41:16.309 the words, you are believing in the person and 00:41:16.309 --> 00:41:18.570 what that person, what identity, what that mission 00:41:18.570 --> 00:41:20.489 of that person is. Remember we said when we started 00:41:20.489 --> 00:41:22.929 that most assuredly I said to you, we see that 00:41:22.929 --> 00:41:25.289 there was the initial part that's in John 1, 00:41:25.349 --> 00:41:27.820 51. It was speaking about... his humanity, what 00:41:27.820 --> 00:41:30.840 he had come to do. And what he had come to do, 00:41:30.880 --> 00:41:34.820 the high point of it was his death and later 00:41:34.820 --> 00:41:38.360 on his resurrection. And later on what that his 00:41:38.360 --> 00:41:41.579 resurrection will mean for us, praise God. Because 00:41:41.579 --> 00:41:43.599 it's very important that we understand that the 00:41:43.599 --> 00:41:47.159 end goal of all he had done is for us to have 00:41:47.159 --> 00:41:50.420 his spirit, right? That's why that promise, that's 00:41:50.420 --> 00:41:53.019 why that promise kept on coming. You see how 00:41:53.019 --> 00:41:55.710 it's... It continues itself. When you look at 00:41:55.710 --> 00:41:59.190 John 14, you see John 15, you see John 16. All 00:41:59.190 --> 00:42:01.929 of it is pointing us to or bringing attention 00:42:01.929 --> 00:42:05.530 or holding on to what he had come or his establishment. 00:42:05.750 --> 00:42:10.269 I want us to see Titus 3 verse 8. Titus 3 verse 00:42:10.269 --> 00:42:15.989 8. Titus 3 verse 8 says, this is a faithful saying. 00:42:16.449 --> 00:42:19.090 This is a faithful saying. The faithful there 00:42:19.090 --> 00:42:25.760 is pistos. So it's P -I -S -T -O -S, which is 00:42:25.760 --> 00:42:28.699 different from pistis. Faithful sin, that's logos. 00:42:29.579 --> 00:42:34.840 And these things I want you to affirm constantly. 00:42:35.280 --> 00:42:37.559 These things I want you to affirm constantly, 00:42:37.719 --> 00:42:41.860 that those who have believed in God, that believed 00:42:41.860 --> 00:42:43.980 in God is the pastor that we just looked at, 00:42:44.079 --> 00:42:48.280 should be careful to maintain good works. These 00:42:48.280 --> 00:42:51.739 things are good and profitable too. men. These 00:42:51.739 --> 00:42:53.559 things are good and profited to men. I just want 00:42:53.559 --> 00:42:58.099 to help us to define and just see the slight 00:42:58.099 --> 00:43:02.679 nuance with the pistis and the pistos. The pistos 00:43:02.679 --> 00:43:05.659 there, that faithful saying, the faithful there 00:43:05.659 --> 00:43:11.940 is pistos. It means faithful, believing, trustworthy, 00:43:12.340 --> 00:43:16.380 reliable. Faithful, believing, trustworthy, reliable. 00:43:16.579 --> 00:43:19.059 So it describes a person or a thing that embodies 00:43:19.059 --> 00:43:25.010 faith. of fidelity. So we have faithful saying, 00:43:25.050 --> 00:43:27.989 we have faithful servant, a trustworthy servant, 00:43:28.130 --> 00:43:30.510 a reliable servant, a servant worthy of belief. 00:43:41.150 --> 00:43:44.550 So it says, those who, and I want you to notice 00:43:44.550 --> 00:43:47.530 that he didn't say believes now. It says, those 00:43:47.530 --> 00:43:54.920 who have believed. Those who have what? Believed. 00:43:54.980 --> 00:43:58.599 Those who have believed in who? In God. And we 00:43:58.599 --> 00:44:00.780 say that believing in God means that you're believing 00:44:00.780 --> 00:44:04.019 in what? Christ, right? Jesus Christ, what he 00:44:04.019 --> 00:44:06.659 has done. He says, should be careful to me. Now 00:44:06.659 --> 00:44:10.179 that you have believed, there is a lifestyle 00:44:10.179 --> 00:44:12.519 that follows, right? There's a lifestyle that 00:44:12.519 --> 00:44:14.400 follows that is consistent with what you have 00:44:14.400 --> 00:44:18.639 believed in. Right? It's a lifestyle that is, 00:44:18.699 --> 00:44:20.980 and that lifestyle is the lifestyle of someone 00:44:20.980 --> 00:44:25.300 who is faithful to what they have received. Praise 00:44:25.300 --> 00:44:29.000 God. Because if you say you believe and there 00:44:29.000 --> 00:44:32.659 is no, there has to be a distinction. Even when 00:44:32.659 --> 00:44:34.980 the children of Israel, there was something that 00:44:34.980 --> 00:44:37.239 distinguishes the children of Israel from every 00:44:37.239 --> 00:44:41.739 other nation around them. And when all of the 00:44:41.739 --> 00:44:43.480 things that are being given, they're given to 00:44:43.480 --> 00:44:45.639 see you are my people. When you use the word 00:44:45.639 --> 00:44:48.260 holy, you are set apart. There's a clear distinction. 00:44:49.440 --> 00:44:53.360 And it all starts off from the premise of what 00:44:53.360 --> 00:44:55.739 you have received, you believe in Christ, and 00:44:55.739 --> 00:44:59.340 then what now happens is the result is that you 00:44:59.340 --> 00:45:02.639 act very differently from what used to be. Praise 00:45:02.639 --> 00:45:09.039 God, what used to be. And please note that. As 00:45:09.039 --> 00:45:10.880 we see, as Titus is encouraging, so this is a 00:45:10.880 --> 00:45:13.739 faithful saying, that these things I want you 00:45:13.739 --> 00:45:18.190 to affirm constantly. affirm constantly. When 00:45:18.190 --> 00:45:20.570 somebody tells you to affirm something constantly, 00:45:20.769 --> 00:45:26.349 what are they trying to get you not to do? When 00:45:26.349 --> 00:45:30.630 I say, when we do affirmations, what are we doing? 00:45:30.889 --> 00:45:33.170 What are we trying to bring to our consciousness? 00:45:34.090 --> 00:45:42.110 Right? When we do it, when we affirm, when we 00:45:42.110 --> 00:45:44.829 affirm the things that we affirm, what are we 00:45:44.829 --> 00:45:49.630 trying to Tell ourselves. Huh? Identity, right? 00:45:50.389 --> 00:45:53.750 Identity. And remind, and not, you know, it doesn't 00:45:53.750 --> 00:45:55.949 stop at your identity. There's also the responsibility, 00:45:56.070 --> 00:45:58.690 right? There's also the responsibility because 00:45:58.690 --> 00:46:01.250 identity is very good. Remind yourself that you 00:46:01.250 --> 00:46:03.469 have this, you have that, but once you're not 00:46:03.469 --> 00:46:05.869 responsible, it almost makes your identity invalid, 00:46:06.090 --> 00:46:10.309 right? And responsibility is, it's on the strength 00:46:10.309 --> 00:46:14.000 of responsibility you act. So on the strength 00:46:14.000 --> 00:46:17.320 of our responsibility, we act. So when we say, 00:46:17.360 --> 00:46:23.579 as Apostle Paul was persuading people, he knows 00:46:23.579 --> 00:46:27.920 and he boldly would declare it. And he was very 00:46:27.920 --> 00:46:31.139 responsive to the instruction, because that was 00:46:31.139 --> 00:46:33.900 his mission. Because his mission was to the Gentiles 00:46:33.900 --> 00:46:36.440 in Acts 9, where he was given that mission to 00:46:36.440 --> 00:46:40.219 do so. And he ensures that no matter what, he 00:46:40.219 --> 00:46:42.139 takes that responsibility every time to do so. 00:46:43.820 --> 00:46:49.960 Praise God. And if we note this for ourselves 00:46:49.960 --> 00:46:52.460 and we see it as something, we will not allow 00:46:52.460 --> 00:46:56.380 anything be a distraction to us. Nothing will 00:46:56.380 --> 00:46:58.460 have to be sacrificed for this one, which is 00:46:58.460 --> 00:47:02.699 our mission. And that is staying faithful. That 00:47:02.699 --> 00:47:09.019 is you taking the faithful saying to heart and 00:47:09.019 --> 00:47:13.099 staying faithful and true to that. Praise God. 00:47:13.469 --> 00:47:14.989 Taking the faithful saying to heart and staying 00:47:14.989 --> 00:47:17.030 faithful and true to that. And he says, should 00:47:17.030 --> 00:47:22.269 be careful. Careful. Careful. Careful brings 00:47:22.269 --> 00:47:26.989 us back to that idea of paying attention. Right? 00:47:27.090 --> 00:47:29.989 That idea of paying attention. That idea of not 00:47:29.989 --> 00:47:34.449 just allowing anything to go. Right? Not allowing 00:47:34.449 --> 00:47:36.809 anything to go. Be very critical. You know, I 00:47:36.809 --> 00:47:41.119 think when I shared earlier of... Someone that 00:47:41.119 --> 00:47:43.260 was conversing, you know, it's very subtle where 00:47:43.260 --> 00:47:45.719 the person just says, I feel everybody, you know, 00:47:45.780 --> 00:47:49.159 has their own way. We have our own way. You know, 00:47:49.260 --> 00:47:52.599 it just comes to, it brings to bear that you 00:47:52.599 --> 00:47:55.619 don't really know what you believe in, right? 00:47:56.039 --> 00:47:58.260 You don't really know that Christ is the only 00:47:58.260 --> 00:48:04.219 way. Any other way is not the way. And there 00:48:04.219 --> 00:48:06.780 are little things and that is foundational. There 00:48:06.780 --> 00:48:09.239 are other things that are very subtle that you 00:48:09.239 --> 00:48:11.699 don't necessarily, you have to, God's word has 00:48:11.699 --> 00:48:13.900 to bring it to attention. And that's why we say, 00:48:13.960 --> 00:48:17.219 pay attention to sound doctrine because there 00:48:17.219 --> 00:48:21.539 are things that will appeal to you, but it's 00:48:21.539 --> 00:48:25.119 not sound. It will appeal to you, it will sound 00:48:25.119 --> 00:48:29.579 good, but it's not sound. And for many of us, 00:48:29.639 --> 00:48:32.440 it's that thing that we like, you know, it's 00:48:32.440 --> 00:48:36.929 even, They take, okay, who do I listen to? Right? 00:48:37.230 --> 00:48:42.389 See, in time, I just feel my spirit. I'm like, 00:48:42.489 --> 00:48:48.610 there's something I just want to... Sometimes, 00:48:48.889 --> 00:48:52.750 you know, the thing... How do you put it? The 00:48:52.750 --> 00:48:54.429 thing that is good to you might not be good for 00:48:54.429 --> 00:48:59.809 you. Right? It sounds like it's good, it appeals 00:48:59.809 --> 00:49:04.489 to you, but you... You want to, as that person, 00:49:04.670 --> 00:49:06.849 you want to, it's God's word that is a standard, 00:49:06.969 --> 00:49:11.030 right? And how many of you have found anything 00:49:11.030 --> 00:49:14.929 in this, like, is there any discipline that is 00:49:14.929 --> 00:49:20.530 easy? I think people that, people that respect 00:49:20.530 --> 00:49:24.670 discipline, like, they have to, no, no, I can't 00:49:24.670 --> 00:49:27.650 find any, very quick, I can't find it. No disciplines. 00:49:27.889 --> 00:49:30.449 And so, when someone comes and motivates you, 00:49:33.299 --> 00:49:37.179 and tells you, like, this thing is easy. You 00:49:37.179 --> 00:49:42.460 just need to believe. You just need to... That's 00:49:42.460 --> 00:49:45.920 all the motivational talk. Because once it comes 00:49:45.920 --> 00:49:47.139 to you, you know, there's a lot of things that 00:49:47.139 --> 00:49:49.679 you can talk about, but when it comes to acting 00:49:49.679 --> 00:49:52.320 on that thing, you discover it's difficult. You're 00:49:52.320 --> 00:49:55.480 almost like, nobody told me this part of the... 00:49:55.480 --> 00:49:56.940 You know, they say, pray, you know, when you 00:49:56.940 --> 00:49:57.760 wake up in the morning, the first thing you do, 00:49:57.880 --> 00:49:59.340 and then the cold just comes, and then you're 00:49:59.340 --> 00:50:05.789 like, ha! you'll be like, hi, this is good. And 00:50:05.789 --> 00:50:07.449 then when you, listen, you now do this, you do 00:50:07.449 --> 00:50:08.590 this a couple of times and then you just say, 00:50:08.610 --> 00:50:10.690 okay, I will walk around. And you see this cold 00:50:10.690 --> 00:50:14.550 again. See, that would be the best place to pray 00:50:14.550 --> 00:50:17.449 for. And then you find yourself in the morning 00:50:17.449 --> 00:50:21.250 when the day, when you come out of it, there's 00:50:21.250 --> 00:50:25.940 nothing. And you just have to desire. to grow, 00:50:26.099 --> 00:50:28.639 desire to do more of it. The same way Apostle 00:50:28.639 --> 00:50:30.599 Paul would have done this so many, and he just 00:50:30.599 --> 00:50:33.019 gets through with it. Where you speak to someone, 00:50:33.219 --> 00:50:35.840 the person doesn't, you pray for the person, 00:50:35.900 --> 00:50:38.480 you go on to the next person because the more 00:50:38.480 --> 00:50:41.119 times you do it, the more opportunities you have 00:50:41.119 --> 00:50:44.639 for someone to say yes, right? But once you do 00:50:44.639 --> 00:50:49.920 once, you lose momentum. And that's why we have 00:50:49.920 --> 00:50:53.599 the family. We're encouraging ourselves to go 00:50:53.599 --> 00:50:55.739 out and do it. Once you do it together, wherever 00:50:55.739 --> 00:50:59.079 it is, you're carried along. And we go out in 00:50:59.079 --> 00:51:02.440 twos and we walk and we do it faithfully. Praise 00:51:02.440 --> 00:51:05.519 God, we do it faithfully. And what I'm just doing 00:51:05.519 --> 00:51:07.380 to us is just to bring to attention the fact 00:51:07.380 --> 00:51:12.280 that there are many things that we have to give 00:51:12.280 --> 00:51:16.519 attention to to get better at. And the more we 00:51:16.519 --> 00:51:19.759 are distracted, the less likely we are to. build 00:51:19.759 --> 00:51:23.739 ourselves, to intensify, to build capacity, to 00:51:23.739 --> 00:51:25.960 see how God is going to do more in and through 00:51:25.960 --> 00:51:28.420 us. And the earlier we start, the better for 00:51:28.420 --> 00:51:34.659 us. There's no perfect time to accomplish all 00:51:34.659 --> 00:51:37.039 that. Sometimes I say, I'll wait until the beginning 00:51:37.039 --> 00:51:40.820 of next year. Some people are just very wonderful 00:51:40.820 --> 00:51:46.820 at how they... We have 24 hours every day that 00:51:46.820 --> 00:51:49.260 you can decide to make it. Make a decision today 00:51:49.260 --> 00:51:52.980 to start something. But you want to relegate 00:51:52.980 --> 00:51:55.480 it to some other time in the future where we 00:51:55.480 --> 00:51:57.119 don't even know what is going to happen. We don't, 00:51:57.119 --> 00:52:00.219 we don't know about, you know, I think I heard 00:52:00.219 --> 00:52:03.980 this said by someone like, you want to, instead 00:52:03.980 --> 00:52:06.619 of you to defer worry, like, you know, people 00:52:06.619 --> 00:52:10.719 hold on to worry instead of deferring. Like, 00:52:10.739 --> 00:52:14.300 just push it. Scripture says, don't worry about, 00:52:14.519 --> 00:52:17.460 don't worry about this. You like, you want to 00:52:17.460 --> 00:52:19.519 do it now. And then the one that they say you 00:52:19.519 --> 00:52:22.519 should do, you will not do it. You want to now 00:52:22.519 --> 00:52:23.920 pick the one that they say you should not do. 00:52:23.980 --> 00:52:27.119 Just to tell you how very interesting we, sometimes 00:52:27.119 --> 00:52:30.019 we, and this scripture tells you to do it that 00:52:30.019 --> 00:52:35.760 way. It has lived longer than yourself. Praise 00:52:35.760 --> 00:52:38.239 God. There's been, there are the people that 00:52:38.239 --> 00:52:40.960 we're looking at and say these people are faithful. 00:52:41.559 --> 00:52:45.550 They had lived by it. Praise God. So you are 00:52:45.550 --> 00:52:47.949 not the first person to be given the instruction 00:52:47.949 --> 00:52:52.590 or to be given sound doctrine. Right? You know, 00:52:52.610 --> 00:52:54.010 sometimes we think that we're the first people. 00:52:54.050 --> 00:52:56.869 This thing is hard. Like we're the first. Is 00:52:56.869 --> 00:52:59.889 it that they just carry us and put us inside 00:52:59.889 --> 00:53:03.210 this thing? Like how are they doing it? But you 00:53:03.210 --> 00:53:06.449 see people, we see examples and that's the beautiful 00:53:06.449 --> 00:53:08.570 thing about God's word. We have examples to live 00:53:08.570 --> 00:53:11.469 by. We have examples to follow. We have examples 00:53:11.469 --> 00:53:14.340 to anchor. our faith on. And the ultimate of 00:53:14.340 --> 00:53:17.420 those examples is the example of Christ. Right? 00:53:17.579 --> 00:53:21.260 It's the example of Christ. He is the one that 00:53:21.260 --> 00:53:23.820 regardless of the difficulties, regardless, he 00:53:23.820 --> 00:53:27.559 still carried out the will of the Father. He 00:53:27.559 --> 00:53:30.880 still carried out the will of the Father. He 00:53:30.880 --> 00:53:32.820 still carried out the will of the Father. And 00:53:32.820 --> 00:53:39.139 I will repeat and repeat the whole idea of the 00:53:39.139 --> 00:53:43.230 fact that it's not easy. It's difficult, but 00:53:43.230 --> 00:53:46.530 the desire to see God walk mightily through you 00:53:46.530 --> 00:53:51.670 should be your motivation. You want to see God 00:53:51.670 --> 00:53:54.769 do more with you, and that keeps you grounded. 00:53:55.829 --> 00:53:58.849 That keeps you desiring more. That keeps you 00:53:58.849 --> 00:54:00.570 in the place of study of God's Word. That keeps 00:54:00.570 --> 00:54:03.949 you in the place of preaching the Word. And I 00:54:03.949 --> 00:54:08.570 want you to note this, that once you do the... 00:54:09.009 --> 00:54:11.010 That thing that is very uncomfortable for you 00:54:11.010 --> 00:54:14.630 to do, you do it and keep at it. Before you know 00:54:14.630 --> 00:54:17.230 it, it becomes a habit. It becomes a lifestyle, 00:54:17.409 --> 00:54:19.949 which is what every one of us should do by default. 00:54:21.510 --> 00:54:23.989 Because we're encouraging us to do so, but we 00:54:23.989 --> 00:54:26.090 will experience some resistance here and there, 00:54:26.130 --> 00:54:27.849 but you want to make it a lifestyle, make it 00:54:27.849 --> 00:54:29.849 a habit, make it not something that when we gather 00:54:29.849 --> 00:54:31.369 around and say, you have to do this, you have 00:54:31.369 --> 00:54:33.750 to do that, then it now calls to you. You now 00:54:33.750 --> 00:54:37.699 say, okay, I have to do this. The ultimate example 00:54:37.699 --> 00:54:42.059 is Christ Jesus and he was faithful to endure 00:54:42.059 --> 00:54:46.719 all, to accomplish that which we now have. And 00:54:46.719 --> 00:54:50.300 he demands the same from us. He demands the same 00:54:50.300 --> 00:54:52.219 from us. He demands that we take responsibility. 00:54:52.719 --> 00:54:55.760 He demands that we do more. He demands that we 00:54:55.760 --> 00:54:59.500 testify of what he has done to others. He demands 00:54:59.500 --> 00:55:02.980 that we walk in the supernatural. He demands 00:55:02.980 --> 00:55:05.619 that the power gifts find expression to us. He 00:55:05.619 --> 00:55:07.420 demands that the relational gift finds expression 00:55:07.420 --> 00:55:10.480 to us. He demands that the ultra gifts find expression 00:55:10.480 --> 00:55:13.840 to us. He demands that no matter where we find 00:55:13.840 --> 00:55:16.460 ourselves, our focus or our priority should always 00:55:16.460 --> 00:55:19.760 be his work. He demands that regardless of all 00:55:19.760 --> 00:55:22.480 the things that we're pursuing, he should take 00:55:22.480 --> 00:55:25.179 the center stage of our lives. He demands all 00:55:25.179 --> 00:55:28.260 of that from us. And that is what Apostle Paul 00:55:28.260 --> 00:55:34.550 in 1 Corinthians 4. 1 Corinthians 4, 1 to 2. 00:55:34.869 --> 00:55:38.989 1 Corinthians 4, 1 to 2, it says, Let a man so 00:55:38.989 --> 00:55:42.190 consider us as servants of Christ and stewards 00:55:42.190 --> 00:55:46.250 of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required 00:55:46.250 --> 00:55:50.630 in stewards that one be found faithful. It's 00:55:50.630 --> 00:55:52.889 required in stewards that one be found faithful. 00:55:53.110 --> 00:55:55.230 So we're servants and stewards of the mysteries 00:55:55.230 --> 00:55:58.409 of God. We're faithful stewards. We're not just 00:55:58.409 --> 00:56:02.159 stewards. We're stewards that are faithful. And 00:56:02.159 --> 00:56:05.320 we constantly prioritize that walk of ministry. 00:56:05.659 --> 00:56:08.440 We constantly prioritize it. And it's in little 00:56:08.440 --> 00:56:11.059 things that we see these priorities. The things 00:56:11.059 --> 00:56:13.119 that you tend to forego for the other one will 00:56:13.119 --> 00:56:15.719 tell you which one is more of a priority than 00:56:15.719 --> 00:56:18.260 the other. The things that you tend to forego 00:56:18.260 --> 00:56:20.920 for the other. The things that you tend to consistently 00:56:20.920 --> 00:56:23.619 engage rather than the others. You know, it's 00:56:23.619 --> 00:56:26.340 very easy for someone to tell what you like with 00:56:26.340 --> 00:56:29.400 what you don't like. just by how much times you 00:56:29.400 --> 00:56:31.119 show up for the things that you do like as against 00:56:31.119 --> 00:56:33.579 the things that you don't like. And as I said 00:56:33.579 --> 00:56:36.099 earlier, there are things that you don't necessarily 00:56:36.099 --> 00:56:40.980 love them, but you are here. You have to. Praise 00:56:40.980 --> 00:56:45.500 God. You are here. You have to. And your refusal 00:56:45.500 --> 00:56:49.219 to do so will only elongate the process which 00:56:49.219 --> 00:56:51.300 you have to attain, which is the growth. Because 00:56:51.300 --> 00:56:53.400 if you're in an environment, whether you like 00:56:53.400 --> 00:56:56.579 it or not, you have to move the next step. It 00:56:56.579 --> 00:56:59.400 might take you a while, but if you want to come 00:56:59.400 --> 00:57:00.980 out at the other end, you have to keep moving. 00:57:01.460 --> 00:57:04.099 Even if it's two steps, one step, but you have 00:57:04.099 --> 00:57:05.619 to just keep moving. Some people are running, 00:57:05.760 --> 00:57:09.239 but some people are just taking one step. So 00:57:09.239 --> 00:57:12.179 it's not, it's at whatever pace you are moving. 00:57:12.300 --> 00:57:15.219 The idea is just keep moving. Praise God. Just 00:57:15.219 --> 00:57:18.239 keep moving. This is another year. Keep moving. 00:57:18.519 --> 00:57:23.340 Keep being, be persistent, be persistent. And 00:57:23.340 --> 00:57:25.260 if there's anything I want to drop is for us 00:57:25.260 --> 00:57:31.280 to desire, to see more of God mightily in and 00:57:31.280 --> 00:57:33.699 through our lives, to see more of God, find expression 00:57:33.699 --> 00:57:36.699 in and through our lives. And it will show first 00:57:36.699 --> 00:57:40.920 and foremost from our families, right? There 00:57:40.920 --> 00:57:42.960 are many of us that we want to see God do something 00:57:42.960 --> 00:57:45.860 supernatural in our families. We want to see 00:57:45.860 --> 00:57:48.179 God do that thing supernatural. And if that is 00:57:48.179 --> 00:57:52.460 not what is before you every now and then that 00:57:52.460 --> 00:57:54.659 motivates you to, you know, there's something 00:57:54.659 --> 00:57:56.780 about when, Things are not going well and then 00:57:56.780 --> 00:58:01.360 you always have this, you know, and you have 00:58:01.360 --> 00:58:03.699 faith and you're standing fast in faith for God 00:58:03.699 --> 00:58:06.000 to do something. And then you know that there's 00:58:06.000 --> 00:58:09.280 no other way that this will happen if God doesn't 00:58:09.280 --> 00:58:13.699 intervene. You know, anytime you are relenting 00:58:13.699 --> 00:58:15.860 in the place of prayer, you will be encouraged 00:58:15.860 --> 00:58:17.739 to do so because you know that, see, there's 00:58:17.739 --> 00:58:21.579 no other way and this will happen than me trusting 00:58:21.579 --> 00:58:24.400 God or believing God for it to happen. Praise 00:58:24.400 --> 00:58:27.679 God. So that should stir us up. That should encourage 00:58:27.679 --> 00:58:31.500 us. I want us to rise up to our feet. We appreciate 00:58:31.500 --> 00:58:34.159 you being here today. We hope you carry this 00:58:34.159 --> 00:58:37.219 word with you throughout your week. Don't forget 00:58:37.219 --> 00:58:39.219 to check the show notes for additional insights. 00:58:39.780 --> 00:58:42.619 Stay connected with us through our website or 00:58:42.619 --> 00:58:46.079 follow us on social media. If you were encouraged, 00:58:46.280 --> 00:58:48.460 share this message with someone you care about. 00:58:49.199 --> 00:58:51.320 Until next time, stay blessed.