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 --> 00:00:23.640 right in. Alright, today we will continue from 00:00:23.640 --> 00:00:28.820 where we stopped on Sunday. And we will be dealing 00:00:28.820 --> 00:00:34.079 with... Still faith for evangelism, right? Still 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:37.740 be dealing with faith for evangelism. And we 00:00:37.740 --> 00:00:43.399 will consider some conduct, actually, or some 00:00:43.399 --> 00:00:47.539 pains that causes men to be weak in their faith, 00:00:47.659 --> 00:00:50.520 or some indicators. Let's use the word of the 00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:55.079 researchers. Indicators or factors that we can 00:00:55.079 --> 00:01:00.789 see and... can point to weak in faith or weakness 00:01:00.789 --> 00:01:05.370 in faith. So things that we can see that points 00:01:05.370 --> 00:01:08.709 to weakness in the faith of a believer, things 00:01:08.709 --> 00:01:11.430 that we can see. So it means that when you are 00:01:11.430 --> 00:01:14.549 checking yourself, right, when you're checking 00:01:14.549 --> 00:01:16.430 yourself, these are the things you must always 00:01:16.430 --> 00:01:18.969 check. Or when you see these signs, you should 00:01:18.969 --> 00:01:23.390 begin to seek your faith to be strengthened, 00:01:23.609 --> 00:01:26.090 right? Seek that your faith be strengthened. 00:01:28.010 --> 00:01:34.909 The body of Christ is established by Christ that 00:01:34.909 --> 00:01:38.730 we might strengthen each other. And one of the 00:01:38.730 --> 00:01:43.189 things that people really want to do or that 00:01:43.189 --> 00:01:45.290 we might find ourselves doing in the body of 00:01:45.290 --> 00:01:53.609 Christ is to believe that you can survive alone 00:01:53.609 --> 00:01:58.700 or to believe or see things. uh that are taking 00:01:58.700 --> 00:02:01.980 place in our lives and we we do ignore them or 00:02:01.980 --> 00:02:05.859 take them for granted or just you know uh see 00:02:05.859 --> 00:02:08.439 them as no problem right means that we don't 00:02:08.439 --> 00:02:11.020 check ourselves well or even when we check we 00:02:11.020 --> 00:02:14.340 don't call ourselves to action by seeking us 00:02:14.340 --> 00:02:18.919 our faith to be strengthened so when we see these 00:02:18.919 --> 00:02:21.080 things that we are going to highlight out now 00:02:21.080 --> 00:02:23.740 it means that we should seek our faith to be 00:02:23.740 --> 00:02:26.520 strength we should talk to a brother talk to 00:02:27.050 --> 00:02:33.889 a sister talk to a pastor right and say sir i 00:02:33.889 --> 00:02:36.590 see myself being weakened because of this circumstance 00:02:36.590 --> 00:02:41.629 and therefore i seek your encouragement and you 00:02:41.629 --> 00:02:45.569 know when we come to cathartismus uh believers 00:02:45.569 --> 00:02:49.430 meeting holy ghost meeting one of the things 00:02:49.430 --> 00:02:53.509 that happens there is that we are strengthened 00:02:53.509 --> 00:02:57.460 in faith Right. Your fears are brought before 00:02:57.460 --> 00:03:01.120 your face and the power of God that has taken 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:05.740 away the worries is made manifest. So let's quickly 00:03:05.740 --> 00:03:08.159 check a few scriptures. So we're talking about 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:10.479 things that indicate that a believer is actually 00:03:10.479 --> 00:03:14.819 weak in faith or signaling that you need help. 00:03:14.900 --> 00:03:18.680 Right. You need help. So let's put the first 00:03:18.680 --> 00:03:23.159 scriptures. Acts chapter one. Acts chapter one. 00:03:24.039 --> 00:03:25.580 I'm just going to call all of the scriptures 00:03:25.580 --> 00:03:29.180 and I'll be going on. So, chapter 1 actually 00:03:29.180 --> 00:03:36.520 is the beginning of how the apostles began to 00:03:36.520 --> 00:03:42.840 gather. They were together. Acts chapter 1 from 00:03:42.840 --> 00:03:49.520 verse 19. Let's read from verse 19. And as it 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:53.449 was known unto all dwellers at Jerusalem. In 00:03:53.449 --> 00:03:55.770 so much more as the feud is called in the proper 00:03:55.770 --> 00:03:58.729 tongue, that is to say the feud of blood. For 00:03:58.729 --> 00:04:00.210 it is written in the book of the Psalms that 00:04:00.210 --> 00:04:02.449 let his habitation be desolate and let no man 00:04:02.449 --> 00:04:05.270 dwell therein and his bishopric let another take. 00:04:05.930 --> 00:04:08.930 Therefore of these men which have accompanied 00:04:08.930 --> 00:04:12.569 with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went 00:04:12.569 --> 00:04:15.169 in and out among us, beginning from the baptism 00:04:15.169 --> 00:04:18.209 of John unto the same that he was taken up from 00:04:18.209 --> 00:04:22.579 us, must one... be ordained to be a witness with 00:04:22.579 --> 00:04:25.560 us of his resurrection. And they appointed to 00:04:25.560 --> 00:04:30.720 Joseph called Barsabbas and who was son named 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:34.439 Justus and Matthias. And they prayed and said, 00:04:34.600 --> 00:04:37.879 Thou Lord, which knowest the heart of all men, 00:04:38.259 --> 00:04:44.180 show whether of these two thou hast chosen that 00:04:44.180 --> 00:04:47.740 he may take part of this ministry and apostleship. 00:04:48.329 --> 00:04:51.750 from which Judas by transgression fell, that 00:04:51.750 --> 00:04:54.990 he might go to his own place. And they gave forth 00:04:54.990 --> 00:04:59.850 their lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and 00:04:59.850 --> 00:05:04.050 he was numbered with the eleven. He was numbered 00:05:04.050 --> 00:05:06.509 with the eleven. So what are we picking here? 00:05:06.850 --> 00:05:10.269 Now you realize that in verse 24, they prayed, 00:05:10.529 --> 00:05:17.459 right? They prayed. And in verse 26, They casted 00:05:17.459 --> 00:05:22.139 lots. Okay? So, more or less, having two combinations, 00:05:22.540 --> 00:05:28.779 right, of things to discern the will of God. 00:05:29.079 --> 00:05:34.399 So, they prayed and they casted lots. Good. Now, 00:05:34.399 --> 00:05:40.740 let's go to Acts 13, verse 1 to 3. Let's see 00:05:40.740 --> 00:05:44.540 the difference in the conduct of the apostles. 00:05:46.279 --> 00:05:48.459 Now they were in the church that was in Antioch, 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:52.759 certain prophets and teachers, as Barnabas and 00:05:52.759 --> 00:05:56.100 Simeon, that was called Niger, and Lucius of 00:05:56.100 --> 00:05:59.920 Cyrene and Minyan, which had been brought up 00:05:59.920 --> 00:06:02.899 with Herod the Tetrarch and Saul. As the minister 00:06:02.899 --> 00:06:05.279 to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, 00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:08.639 Separate me, Barnabas and Saul, for the work 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:11.600 whereunto I have called them. And when they had 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:16.560 fasted and prayed, they laid hands on them, them 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:21.160 away now two different scriptures are this one 00:06:21.160 --> 00:06:23.920 talking about someone coming into the work of 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:27.740 ministry right and this other chapter 13 also 00:06:27.740 --> 00:06:30.920 reveals someone who is also going for the work 00:06:30.920 --> 00:06:35.459 of ministry right so we see these two uh scenarios 00:06:35.459 --> 00:06:38.759 almost very similar more like ushering people 00:06:38.759 --> 00:06:41.199 into the work of ministry and we see that the 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:46.120 first part in act chapter one they prayed and 00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:48.600 the casted logs. But in Acts chapter 10, they 00:06:48.600 --> 00:06:51.100 just prayed, fasted and prayed, and they sent 00:06:51.100 --> 00:06:55.180 them forth. Right? Now, the first thing we must 00:06:55.180 --> 00:06:58.000 know is that when they said the Holy Ghost said, 00:06:58.339 --> 00:07:02.720 it's not a voice from heaven. Okay? Because from 00:07:02.720 --> 00:07:04.339 the scriptures, we know how the Holy Ghost speaks. 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:06.600 It's not like a voice from heaven. It's not like 00:07:06.600 --> 00:07:10.480 an angel entered and was, you know, flapping 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:12.839 the wings and then saying some word. It means 00:07:12.839 --> 00:07:18.329 that someone gave a word. And that giving of 00:07:18.329 --> 00:07:24.350 a word is what is presented as the minister and 00:07:24.350 --> 00:07:26.829 pastor. The Holy Ghost said, it means from one 00:07:26.829 --> 00:07:29.189 of the believers there, the word came and it 00:07:29.189 --> 00:07:32.129 separates me, Barnabas and Saul, from the world 00:07:32.129 --> 00:07:34.529 where I have told them. So someone gave a word, 00:07:34.550 --> 00:07:38.569 a direction for the ministry of Barnabas and 00:07:38.569 --> 00:07:42.569 Saul. Do we see that? so it means only because 00:07:42.569 --> 00:07:44.389 the holy spirit speaks through the believers 00:07:44.389 --> 00:07:47.730 right they were ministering uh in that situation 00:07:47.730 --> 00:07:51.209 and then what we saw there was that they just 00:07:51.209 --> 00:07:53.850 fasted and prayed and they sent them forth without 00:07:53.850 --> 00:07:58.230 casting lots right so casting lots was used as 00:07:58.230 --> 00:08:00.649 the means by which they could discern what god 00:08:00.649 --> 00:08:04.129 was saying right what god was saying so we can 00:08:04.129 --> 00:08:09.050 see that the disciples or the apostles grew from 00:08:09.050 --> 00:08:12.209 that revelation or from that position where prayer 00:08:12.209 --> 00:08:16.290 and something to where prayer and that is it. 00:08:18.769 --> 00:08:22.389 So they grew from where prayer and casting of 00:08:22.389 --> 00:08:25.189 blood to a place where they just prayed and ushered 00:08:25.189 --> 00:08:29.490 people into ministry. And therefore we can see 00:08:29.490 --> 00:08:33.620 that at this point, There's the level of ignorance 00:08:33.620 --> 00:08:37.139 that was exercised. They didn't know that this 00:08:37.139 --> 00:08:40.899 casting of blood was not to be carried out again. 00:08:42.179 --> 00:08:44.799 So there's a level of ignorance that made them 00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:47.779 walk in that. Because the prayer in verse 24 00:08:47.779 --> 00:08:52.419 was sufficient for them to pick someone. It was 00:08:52.419 --> 00:08:54.679 sufficient for them to pick someone. So we can 00:08:54.679 --> 00:08:56.720 say that at the beginning they had some level 00:08:56.720 --> 00:09:00.519 of weak faith. But as they grow in their understanding, 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:03.840 some of these conducts like casting of law was 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:07.759 taken away. And as you would bear a testimony 00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:10.360 that this never happened again in the book of 00:09:10.360 --> 00:09:12.820 Acts. This never happened again in the book of 00:09:12.820 --> 00:09:14.639 Acts. And progressively we see that. So we can 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:17.600 see ignorance is one of those things that can 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:20.580 actually affect the conduct of a believer. It 00:09:20.580 --> 00:09:23.860 can affect you if you don't have a revelation 00:09:23.860 --> 00:09:25.879 of God's word. And that is why we pay attention 00:09:25.879 --> 00:09:29.830 to every bit of... the scripture like we pay 00:09:29.830 --> 00:09:32.309 attention in this church as much as we can to 00:09:32.309 --> 00:09:36.289 each verse that you don't miss out in any revelation 00:09:36.289 --> 00:09:38.970 of god you don't miss out in any rebel so see 00:09:38.970 --> 00:09:42.250 uh ignorance there as one challenge now let's 00:09:42.250 --> 00:09:47.529 see uh another one we can just write the scriptures 00:09:47.529 --> 00:09:50.309 down because we already discussed them on sunday 00:09:50.309 --> 00:09:57.960 acts 11 act 11 showing the same thing uh From 00:09:57.960 --> 00:10:00.820 Peter's conduct, right? Showing the same thing 00:10:00.820 --> 00:10:06.379 for Peter's conduct. Just write Acts 11. Acts 00:10:06.379 --> 00:10:13.860 11. Then Romans. Romans 14 and 15. We're not 00:10:13.860 --> 00:10:15.320 going to go through those ones again because 00:10:15.320 --> 00:10:19.279 we have taught them and explained them on Sunday. 00:10:19.740 --> 00:10:24.820 What was happening in these two places was, for 00:10:24.820 --> 00:10:29.059 example, in Romans. 14 and 15, is that there 00:10:29.059 --> 00:10:33.139 was no sufficient knowledge among the people 00:10:33.139 --> 00:10:35.159 that says, well, we shouldn't eat food sacrificed 00:10:35.159 --> 00:10:39.259 to idols. So it means that their faith was weak. 00:10:39.279 --> 00:10:42.419 It was explained as weak in faith because they 00:10:42.419 --> 00:10:44.000 didn't have the full knowledge and understanding 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:48.120 that nothing should be rejected. Nothing should 00:10:48.120 --> 00:10:52.200 be refused, but should be received with thanksgiving. 00:10:52.539 --> 00:10:54.340 So we see that the lack of knowledge in that 00:10:54.340 --> 00:10:55.820 place, and we see that it's ignorance as well. 00:10:56.169 --> 00:11:02.210 in 11 we find that as well in the corner of peter 00:11:02.210 --> 00:11:06.029 and we saw paul correcting right as we read from 00:11:06.029 --> 00:11:09.789 galatians uh paul correcting so scriptures just 00:11:09.789 --> 00:11:13.250 reflects ignorance in the revelation of jesus 00:11:13.250 --> 00:11:18.070 right and then a revelation comes from paul the 00:11:18.070 --> 00:11:21.169 same thing so as a believer what we can see is 00:11:21.169 --> 00:11:24.519 that if we don't understand Right? If we walk 00:11:24.519 --> 00:11:27.600 in ignorance, it will be difficult to be strong 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:31.059 in faith. So, when we are teaching every part 00:11:31.059 --> 00:11:34.779 of the scripture, line by line, is because we 00:11:34.779 --> 00:11:38.220 don't want to miss anything. Right? We don't 00:11:38.220 --> 00:11:40.840 want to miss anything. That is why we teach and 00:11:40.840 --> 00:11:44.960 we pay attention to the word of God. Now, the 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:47.539 thing is that sometimes, certain part of the 00:11:47.539 --> 00:11:50.259 scriptures... right certain part of creatures 00:11:50.259 --> 00:11:55.600 might look as if they are not of presence of 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:58.799 present application let me put it that way that 00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:02.440 is not uh that is not the goal or that's not 00:12:02.440 --> 00:12:05.080 the goal of the bible in terms of trying to make 00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:08.240 that everything that is being taught like is 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:11.340 now now you have to apply no it is that you grow 00:12:11.340 --> 00:12:14.580 in the knowledge you keep increasing in the knowledge 00:12:14.580 --> 00:12:19.590 the growth and the knowledge is the goal So it's 00:12:19.590 --> 00:12:21.169 not like, oh, we are teaching you now and we 00:12:21.169 --> 00:12:23.070 want you to go out to just go. No, you cannot. 00:12:23.149 --> 00:12:25.929 You can find certain teachings that you would 00:12:25.929 --> 00:12:28.629 apply on the floor and certain teachings that 00:12:28.629 --> 00:12:33.289 you would come to later in the future in your 00:12:33.289 --> 00:12:39.110 life. Do we get it? So the main emphasis of teaching 00:12:39.110 --> 00:12:41.309 the scriptures is that you grow in that knowledge. 00:12:41.450 --> 00:12:46.509 So no knowledge is, no knowledge is, how can 00:12:46.509 --> 00:12:50.110 I put it? No knowledge is insignificant while 00:12:50.110 --> 00:12:52.929 it's being taught to you. Every knowledge is 00:12:52.929 --> 00:12:56.389 significant. So the emphasis is that you pay 00:12:56.389 --> 00:12:58.929 attention, right? You pay attention. So don't 00:12:58.929 --> 00:13:00.250 ask, why are we teaching this? Why are we learning? 00:13:00.289 --> 00:13:04.070 Just go. Just learn it, right? Learn it, note 00:13:04.070 --> 00:13:07.250 it down. Learn it, note it down. Learn it and 00:13:07.250 --> 00:13:08.570 note it. So you are growing in grace. You are 00:13:08.570 --> 00:13:10.789 growing in the knowledge of Jesus. So take away 00:13:10.789 --> 00:13:14.350 every ignorance. Take away every form of conduct 00:13:14.350 --> 00:13:17.850 that reflects that. Now let's go to Matthew 16, 00:13:18.029 --> 00:13:26.690 verse 8. Let's see some scriptures from the Gospels, 00:13:26.710 --> 00:13:34.590 right? 16, verse 8. Now let's start from verse 00:13:34.590 --> 00:13:37.289 5. And when his disciples were come to the other 00:13:37.289 --> 00:13:40.429 side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then 00:13:40.429 --> 00:13:43.940 Jesus said unto them, Take heed. and beware of 00:13:43.940 --> 00:13:46.019 the living of the pharisees and of the services 00:13:46.019 --> 00:13:49.419 and the reason among themselves saying it is 00:13:49.419 --> 00:13:54.059 because we have taken no bread which when jesus 00:13:54.059 --> 00:13:56.980 perceived he said unto them all ye of little 00:13:56.980 --> 00:14:00.820 faiths why reason ye among yourselves because 00:14:00.820 --> 00:14:04.299 ye have brought no bread do you not understand 00:14:04.299 --> 00:14:07.940 yet do you not yet understand neither remember 00:14:07.940 --> 00:14:11.259 the five loaves of the five thousand and how 00:14:11.259 --> 00:14:14.929 many baskets yea took up neither the seven loaves 00:14:14.929 --> 00:14:18.230 of the four thousand and how many baskets yea 00:14:18.230 --> 00:14:22.190 took up how is it that ye do not understand that 00:14:22.190 --> 00:14:26.129 i speak it not to you concerning bread that ye 00:14:26.129 --> 00:14:28.470 should beware of the living of the pharisees 00:14:28.470 --> 00:14:34.250 and of the sadducees then understood they how 00:14:34.250 --> 00:14:38.230 that he had begged them to beware of the living 00:14:38.230 --> 00:14:43.450 of bread uh sorry Then understood they how he 00:14:43.450 --> 00:14:47.129 bid them not beware of the living and dead, but 00:14:47.129 --> 00:14:51.830 of the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. 00:14:51.909 --> 00:14:54.789 So you see Jesus also called, you know, their 00:14:54.789 --> 00:14:57.970 lack of understanding little faiths, their lack 00:14:57.970 --> 00:15:00.870 of their ignorance to think that it was about 00:15:00.870 --> 00:15:02.730 physical bread rather than Jesus was referring 00:15:02.730 --> 00:15:07.750 to the teachings and doctrine of the Pharisees 00:15:07.750 --> 00:15:11.820 as bread. Mark 8, verse 17. Similar scripture, 00:15:12.019 --> 00:15:16.799 same rendition. Still talking about ignorance 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:22.179 when it comes to the teaching of the Pharisees 00:15:22.179 --> 00:15:27.539 that is misinterpreted by the disciples. Verse 00:15:27.539 --> 00:15:30.519 17. He said, and when Jesus knew, he said unto 00:15:30.519 --> 00:15:33.840 them, what reason? You see, why reason ye? Because 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:37.289 ye have no breath. Perceive ye not. perceive 00:15:37.289 --> 00:15:41.110 ye not yet neither understand have ye your hearts 00:15:41.110 --> 00:15:44.970 yet hardened having eyes see not and having ears 00:15:44.970 --> 00:15:49.350 hear not and do not remember what when i break 00:15:49.350 --> 00:15:51.850 the five loops among five thousand how many basket 00:15:51.850 --> 00:15:55.830 full of fragments took it up they said unto him 00:15:55.830 --> 00:16:00.649 they say unto him twelve and when the seven among 00:16:00.649 --> 00:16:03.909 the four thousand how many baskets full of fragments 00:16:03.909 --> 00:16:07.720 took it up they said seven and he said unto them 00:16:07.720 --> 00:16:12.740 how is it that ye do not understand right you 00:16:12.740 --> 00:16:14.620 do not understand and in matthew he called it 00:16:14.620 --> 00:16:17.740 little faith right he calls it little faith so 00:16:17.740 --> 00:16:19.980 we can see this as one of the things that can 00:16:19.980 --> 00:16:23.299 actually affect believers faith i can affect 00:16:23.299 --> 00:16:26.200 uh believers for example i can give you an example 00:16:26.200 --> 00:16:29.879 uh you probably have gone out and you had preached 00:16:29.879 --> 00:16:34.019 to people and you have seen that although they 00:16:34.019 --> 00:16:37.519 are believers But they hold on to certain things, 00:16:37.720 --> 00:16:40.039 right? Some of you come here, you begin to ask 00:16:40.039 --> 00:16:41.639 questions. Are they really saved? Well, some 00:16:41.639 --> 00:16:44.659 of them are saved, right? For example, people 00:16:44.659 --> 00:16:48.340 who believe in using elements as the presence 00:16:48.340 --> 00:16:50.840 of God, right? Using natural things as the presence 00:16:50.840 --> 00:16:54.620 of God. Or people who believe in taking the Bible 00:16:54.620 --> 00:16:59.320 literally and practicing it literally, right? 00:16:59.539 --> 00:17:02.580 You can see a lot of weakness of faith in that. 00:17:03.159 --> 00:17:05.259 When I mean practice literally means, for example, 00:17:05.480 --> 00:17:07.440 some people believe in taking Holy Communion 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:10.240 and that is the blood and the body of Christ, 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:12.519 right? Things like that. Now, those are expressions 00:17:12.519 --> 00:17:15.140 actually of weakness of faith because it does 00:17:15.140 --> 00:17:17.940 not come with the revelation. In the revelation 00:17:17.940 --> 00:17:21.359 of that, we understood that we don't have to 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:24.200 practice that. So in such practices, you can 00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:25.599 see, okay, these people are weak in faith and 00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:29.200 that's ignorance. And we too, sometimes, we can 00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:31.799 find ourselves in that. Now, let's move to the 00:17:31.799 --> 00:17:35.269 second one. The second one, the first one we 00:17:35.269 --> 00:17:37.309 just dealt with is ignorance, not having sufficient 00:17:37.309 --> 00:17:40.490 knowledge, not working in sufficient knowledge. 00:17:43.890 --> 00:17:47.309 Fear, anxiety, and doubt, right? Fear, anxiety, 00:17:47.410 --> 00:17:51.710 and doubt. Fear, anxiety, and doubt, right? It's 00:17:51.710 --> 00:17:54.809 a signal, it's a pointer to the fact that you're 00:17:54.809 --> 00:17:57.769 weak, right? You're weak at that point in time, 00:17:57.849 --> 00:18:01.359 pertaining that situation. Right? You are weak 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:04.039 at that point in time pertaining that situation. 00:18:04.359 --> 00:18:06.980 There are situations that comes to you like your 00:18:06.980 --> 00:18:09.579 faith just, you know, you're like, no, this one, 00:18:09.619 --> 00:18:11.880 it doesn't get to you. Right? You're very strong 00:18:11.880 --> 00:18:14.299 like, oh, this situation is going to pass. You're 00:18:14.299 --> 00:18:16.339 holding on to the word of God and you're moving. 00:18:16.440 --> 00:18:19.579 You're moving without doubt. But there are certain 00:18:19.579 --> 00:18:22.359 situations, you know, that when they touch you, 00:18:22.440 --> 00:18:25.779 right, or you find yourself in such situations, 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:30.339 fear, anxiety, and doubt sets in. Right. Fear, 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:32.720 anxiety, and doubt. Now we can see Matthew 6 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:36.980 verse 30. Matthew 6 verse 30. It's a word for 00:18:36.980 --> 00:18:40.759 if God so clothed the grass of the field in which 00:18:40.759 --> 00:18:46.259 today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, 00:18:46.380 --> 00:18:50.140 shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little 00:18:50.140 --> 00:18:52.819 faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What 00:18:52.819 --> 00:18:56.660 shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal 00:18:56.660 --> 00:19:20.200 shall we be clothed? Now we see that worrying, 00:19:20.500 --> 00:19:23.319 anxiety about what to eat, what to drink, is 00:19:23.319 --> 00:19:26.299 also regarded as little faith here, right, in 00:19:26.299 --> 00:19:30.470 Matthew. 6 verse 13. So things in the natural, 00:19:30.750 --> 00:19:33.589 talking about things in the natural, needs in 00:19:33.589 --> 00:19:39.569 the natural can actually become a circumstance 00:19:39.569 --> 00:19:42.930 by which we are weak in faith. We are little 00:19:42.930 --> 00:19:44.970 in faith. So it means that when those things 00:19:44.970 --> 00:19:46.289 come, you need someone to encourage you. You 00:19:46.289 --> 00:19:50.150 need to talk to someone before it drags you away 00:19:50.150 --> 00:19:53.029 from the doctrine of Christ. We have seen people 00:19:53.029 --> 00:19:55.789 where the needs, the natural needs, let them 00:19:55.789 --> 00:19:59.970 away. Right? And you see that they lost their 00:19:59.970 --> 00:20:02.309 salvation. No, they didn't lose their salvation. 00:20:02.509 --> 00:20:04.849 People who have believed, walked with Christ. 00:20:04.930 --> 00:20:07.269 Right? But because of the natural needs, because 00:20:07.269 --> 00:20:10.950 of needs, they are drawn away. Right? They are 00:20:10.950 --> 00:20:14.349 drawn away. We see Demas, right? We see Demas 00:20:14.349 --> 00:20:18.569 as an example. Right? We see Demas as an example. 00:20:18.609 --> 00:20:21.970 We see John Mark maybe as an example as well. 00:20:22.049 --> 00:20:25.250 Right? As examples of people, of course, them, 00:20:25.289 --> 00:20:26.690 as the Bible says, they loved the world, right? 00:20:26.710 --> 00:20:29.369 They loved things of the world. We saw John Mark, 00:20:29.490 --> 00:20:32.690 of course, left the field where they were working 00:20:32.690 --> 00:20:36.289 together with Paul. And then later, somehow, 00:20:36.369 --> 00:20:40.049 somehow, found his way back to a place where 00:20:40.049 --> 00:20:43.829 he was ready to go out again. So we can see that 00:20:43.829 --> 00:20:47.210 the things are natural can actually cause our 00:20:47.210 --> 00:20:48.710 faith to be weak. And it's because we are on 00:20:48.710 --> 00:20:51.779 this earth and... It can cause our faith. Now 00:20:51.779 --> 00:20:55.660 we go to Matthew 8, 26. Matthew 8, 26. Another 00:20:55.660 --> 00:20:58.460 expression by which Jesus emphasized and called 00:20:58.460 --> 00:21:01.599 the faith of people working with him, little 00:21:01.599 --> 00:21:06.920 faith. From verse 23. And when he was entered 00:21:06.920 --> 00:21:10.460 into a sheep, his disciples followed him. And 00:21:10.460 --> 00:21:13.059 behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:16.559 insomuch that the sheep was covered with the 00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:19.490 waves. But he was asleep. And the disciple came 00:21:19.490 --> 00:21:22.230 to him and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us, 00:21:22.349 --> 00:21:26.250 we perish. And he said unto them, Why are ye 00:21:26.250 --> 00:21:29.009 fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose 00:21:29.009 --> 00:21:32.730 and rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was 00:21:32.730 --> 00:21:35.869 a great calm. But the men marveled, saying, What 00:21:35.869 --> 00:21:39.849 manner of man is this, that even the wind and 00:21:39.849 --> 00:21:44.329 the sea obey him? Even the wind and the sea obey 00:21:44.329 --> 00:21:46.430 him. So again, in this scenario, we see fear, 00:21:46.430 --> 00:21:51.119 we see anxiety. we see fear we see anxiety fear 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:54.859 and anxiety even while jesus was with them so 00:21:54.859 --> 00:21:58.480 this is also regarded as weak in faith regarded 00:21:58.480 --> 00:22:01.019 as you know lead of faith you know it's like 00:22:01.019 --> 00:22:03.579 someone regularly coming to church hearing the 00:22:03.579 --> 00:22:08.500 word but still working in fear and anxiety right 00:22:08.500 --> 00:22:12.240 here in the world but walking in fear and anxiety 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:14.700 so this is not ignorance in that sense but you 00:22:14.700 --> 00:22:17.000 know right christ is there you know what scripture 00:22:17.000 --> 00:22:21.319 says Yet, emotions, natural emotions, overthrow 00:22:21.319 --> 00:22:25.680 the word of God in your mind. In your mind, right? 00:22:25.740 --> 00:22:28.779 The word of God is overthrown by the natural 00:22:28.779 --> 00:22:31.420 emotions that you give expression to. Matthew 00:22:31.420 --> 00:22:34.819 14, verse 31. So it's also called, we can experience 00:22:34.819 --> 00:22:39.720 those things as we go daily. And when we see 00:22:39.720 --> 00:22:49.480 them, we should know what to do. And immediately, 00:22:49.740 --> 00:22:53.019 Matthew 14, verse 31. And immediately Jesus stretched 00:22:53.019 --> 00:22:56.000 forth his hands and caught him and said unto 00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:59.839 him, O thou of little faith, careful didst thou 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:03.539 doubt. And when they were come to, okay, so we 00:23:03.539 --> 00:23:07.799 can read from verse 27. But straight away Jesus 00:23:07.799 --> 00:23:10.380 spake unto them, saying, Be of good care, it 00:23:10.380 --> 00:23:14.559 is high, be not afraid. And verse 28, Peter answered 00:23:14.559 --> 00:23:31.049 him and said, Not if it be thou. So, it's talking 00:23:31.049 --> 00:23:47.599 about... peter uh in this case as well seeing 00:23:47.599 --> 00:23:50.000 the kids in the natural i'm beginning to doubt 00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:53.339 beginning to doubt and it's also called little 00:23:53.339 --> 00:23:55.640 faith right it's also called little fear and 00:23:55.640 --> 00:23:59.140 we see fear anxiety we see doubts in that circumstance 00:23:59.140 --> 00:24:02.119 doubt in desert can these things happen to believers 00:24:02.119 --> 00:24:06.579 while they walk on it yes but should a believer 00:24:06.579 --> 00:24:09.819 walk away and say i don't need help when these 00:24:09.819 --> 00:24:14.839 things happen or not admit it no You shouldn't 00:24:14.839 --> 00:24:16.700 say you will not. There's a brother actually 00:24:16.700 --> 00:24:19.579 in church that someone called me, and I'm sure 00:24:19.579 --> 00:24:23.160 I will inform the pastor about it. I don't know 00:24:23.160 --> 00:24:28.099 which of these stages, but I know one of these 00:24:28.099 --> 00:24:32.019 is happening to him, and he's almost going to 00:24:32.019 --> 00:24:37.819 no faith. He's abandoning the gathering of the 00:24:37.819 --> 00:24:40.859 brethren. He's walking away from the meetings 00:24:40.859 --> 00:24:43.529 that we're holding and all of that. And I believe 00:24:43.529 --> 00:24:46.170 that it's a matter of fear, anxiety, and doubt. 00:24:46.950 --> 00:24:50.369 And a solution is for him to stay in his room 00:24:50.369 --> 00:24:54.589 and not go out to meet anybody. That's a solution, 00:24:54.690 --> 00:24:56.829 right? Thanks to the believers that are around 00:24:56.829 --> 00:24:59.309 me, that are around him, that are calling us 00:24:59.309 --> 00:25:00.829 and say, sir, I know you are his pastor. This 00:25:00.829 --> 00:25:04.269 is the circumstance of things. No believer should 00:25:04.269 --> 00:25:07.430 do such a thing. It's because you don't understand. 00:25:07.630 --> 00:25:09.920 At that point, he's weak in faith. But I'm sure 00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:11.599 if you even ask him, he will say he doesn't even 00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:13.559 know what confidence in faith is, right? I hope 00:25:13.559 --> 00:25:15.119 he should be here today, he will be here today 00:25:15.119 --> 00:25:19.200 to listen and be able to diagnose himself. Now, 00:25:19.220 --> 00:25:21.339 the next thing we find is actually confidence 00:25:21.339 --> 00:25:25.339 in self or confidence in self, right? It's also 00:25:25.339 --> 00:25:28.799 an expression that a person is weak in faith, 00:25:28.839 --> 00:25:33.380 actually. Confidence in self, right? In self, 00:25:33.480 --> 00:25:37.039 in your own ability. Confidence in self, in your 00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:42.819 own ability. Luke 22, verse 32 to 33. Luke 22, 00:25:42.880 --> 00:25:54.980 verse 32 to 33. Luke 22, verse 32 to 33. So you 00:25:54.980 --> 00:25:58.700 can just read from verse 30. We can start from 00:25:58.700 --> 00:26:02.900 verse 30. That ye may eat and drink at my table 00:26:02.900 --> 00:26:06.079 in my kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging twelve 00:26:06.079 --> 00:26:09.319 tribes of Israel. And the Lord said, From 31. 00:26:09.500 --> 00:26:12.880 Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have 00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:17.000 you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have 00:26:17.000 --> 00:26:21.380 prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. And 00:26:21.380 --> 00:26:26.319 when thou art converted, printing thy brethren. 00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:29.339 And he said unto the Lord, verse 33. He said 00:26:29.339 --> 00:26:32.319 unto the Lord, Lord, I am ready to go with thee 00:26:32.319 --> 00:26:38.000 both into prison and to death. And he said. I 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:40.859 tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this 00:26:40.859 --> 00:26:45.960 day before that thou shalt tryst deny that thou 00:26:45.960 --> 00:26:49.299 knowest me. And he said unto him, and he said 00:26:49.299 --> 00:26:51.559 unto them, when I sent you without paws and feet 00:26:51.559 --> 00:26:54.940 and shoes and ye lacked anything, right, lacked 00:26:54.940 --> 00:26:58.240 ye anything, and they said nothing. So what we 00:26:58.240 --> 00:27:01.940 see here, right, while we continue, if you also 00:27:01.940 --> 00:27:04.579 continue, you'll see that in verse 36, he said, 00:27:04.680 --> 00:27:07.660 then said he unto them, go now. He that hath 00:27:07.660 --> 00:27:10.980 pause, let him take it. Okay, I think we don't 00:27:10.980 --> 00:27:12.380 need that part. So it just goes to the point 00:27:12.380 --> 00:27:16.019 where Peter actually had believed that he could 00:27:16.019 --> 00:27:21.859 actually swallow Christ based on his own strengths 00:27:21.859 --> 00:27:24.980 and his own confidence. And although Christ was 00:27:24.980 --> 00:27:27.519 still wanting, he said, well, I'm seeing something 00:27:27.519 --> 00:27:30.380 that certain desire to save you. But he said, 00:27:30.440 --> 00:27:33.160 well, I can go with you anyway. I can put my 00:27:33.160 --> 00:27:36.480 life down on you. Yet Christ was warning, was 00:27:36.480 --> 00:27:39.140 giving that warning, saying, this is what is 00:27:39.140 --> 00:27:42.779 about to come. And did he fall into that? Yes. 00:27:43.720 --> 00:27:46.900 He fell into that because he believed that he 00:27:46.900 --> 00:27:51.680 could have been able to follow Christ, even to 00:27:51.680 --> 00:27:53.200 the point of death, follow him to the prison. 00:27:53.480 --> 00:27:55.779 And we see that that did not take place, and 00:27:55.779 --> 00:27:58.299 he realized it at the end. We see here is more 00:27:58.299 --> 00:28:02.920 of confidence in self, confidence in self. can 00:28:02.920 --> 00:28:06.880 actually point to weakness in faith, confidence 00:28:06.880 --> 00:28:09.140 in self. So we can pay attention to ourselves. 00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:11.619 When we carry out this conduct, when we see ourselves 00:28:11.619 --> 00:28:14.279 working in this, we can caution ourselves and 00:28:14.279 --> 00:28:17.859 say, I think I'm believing so much in self rather 00:28:17.859 --> 00:28:21.960 than in what Christ can do through me, in what 00:28:21.960 --> 00:28:25.119 Christ can do through me. And we talked about 00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:27.779 it, it was read on Sunday when Pastor Victor 00:28:27.779 --> 00:28:30.599 was praying that, I think he talked about it, 00:28:30.660 --> 00:28:35.240 he mentioned it, that, Paul himself had certain 00:28:35.240 --> 00:28:39.299 things he could be confident about when it comes 00:28:39.299 --> 00:28:45.119 to the flesh, right? And he gave a profile of 00:28:45.119 --> 00:28:50.740 himself, yet he understood that all this is garbage 00:28:50.740 --> 00:28:54.200 for the excellences of knowledge of Christ, right? 00:28:54.259 --> 00:28:57.440 So what we see there is that his believing is 00:28:57.440 --> 00:29:00.799 not in self, but much more. So we can say he's 00:29:00.799 --> 00:29:03.650 strong in faith. He's strong in faith, having 00:29:03.650 --> 00:29:07.490 that understanding that he would not have confidence 00:29:07.490 --> 00:29:11.309 in the flesh. Now, let's see again the last one. 00:29:12.349 --> 00:29:17.430 The last one. The last one, then we will check 00:29:17.430 --> 00:29:25.029 a particular example in the Bible. Offenses is 00:29:25.029 --> 00:29:29.230 also a signal of weakness in faith, right? Offenses, 00:29:29.230 --> 00:29:33.400 when you hold on to offenses. When you hold on 00:29:33.400 --> 00:29:36.079 to offenses, it shows that you're weak in faith. 00:29:36.140 --> 00:29:40.640 When you hold on to offenses, it means a brother 00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:45.380 offended you and you refuse to forgive or you 00:29:45.380 --> 00:29:49.900 refuse to fellowship with the brother. Now, Luke 00:29:49.900 --> 00:29:59.299 17, verse 1 to 10. Offenses. Luke 17, verse 1 00:29:59.299 --> 00:30:06.759 to 10. Then Jesus said unto his disciples, unto 00:30:06.759 --> 00:30:11.180 the disciples, it is impossible but that offenses 00:30:11.180 --> 00:30:16.839 will come. But woe unto him to whom they come. 00:30:17.519 --> 00:30:20.240 It were better for him that a milestone were 00:30:20.240 --> 00:30:24.400 hanged around about his neck and cast into the 00:30:24.400 --> 00:30:27.599 sea than that he should offend one of these little 00:30:27.599 --> 00:30:30.740 ones. Take it to yourself. If thy brother trespass 00:30:30.740 --> 00:30:35.519 against thee, rebuke him. And if he repents, 00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:39.299 forgive him. And if he trespass against thee 00:30:39.299 --> 00:30:44.220 seven times in a day, and seven times in a day 00:30:44.220 --> 00:30:48.279 turn again to thee, saying, I repent, thou shalt 00:30:48.279 --> 00:30:52.420 forgive him. And the apostle said unto the Lord, 00:30:52.599 --> 00:30:57.200 increase our faith. And the Lord said, if ye 00:30:57.200 --> 00:31:01.200 had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might 00:31:01.200 --> 00:31:03.220 say unto the sycamore tree, be thou plucked. 00:31:03.480 --> 00:31:06.180 up by the roots and be planted and be planted 00:31:06.180 --> 00:31:11.640 in the sea and it should obey you but which of 00:31:11.640 --> 00:31:15.500 you having a servant uh having a servant or feeding 00:31:15.500 --> 00:31:19.119 a cattle will say unto him i and by when is come 00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:22.059 from the field go and sit down to meet and will 00:31:22.059 --> 00:31:25.119 not rather say unto him make ready where which 00:31:25.119 --> 00:31:28.500 i may stop and get up thyself and serve me till 00:31:28.500 --> 00:31:31.180 i have eaten and drunk in an apple thou shall 00:31:31.180 --> 00:31:34.450 eat and drink Don't he thank the servant because 00:31:34.450 --> 00:31:37.990 he did the things that were commanded him? I 00:31:37.990 --> 00:31:42.089 true not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have 00:31:42.089 --> 00:31:44.549 done all those things which are commanded you, 00:31:44.650 --> 00:31:48.410 say, we are unprofitable servants, and we have 00:31:48.410 --> 00:31:54.210 done that which was our duty to do. We have done 00:31:54.210 --> 00:31:58.109 that which was our duty to do. Now we see that 00:31:58.109 --> 00:32:01.750 Jesus was talking about offenses here. He was 00:32:01.750 --> 00:32:05.930 talking about offenses here. And then they said, 00:32:05.990 --> 00:32:11.829 increase our faith. Increase our faith. So it 00:32:11.829 --> 00:32:15.769 means that when we hold on to offenses, it reflects 00:32:15.769 --> 00:32:19.250 being weak in faith. It reflects so much of our 00:32:19.250 --> 00:32:22.609 weakness in faith. If we find it difficult to 00:32:22.609 --> 00:32:25.650 forgive someone. Now imagine someone who finds 00:32:25.650 --> 00:32:28.390 it difficult to forgive another person. A brother. 00:32:28.509 --> 00:32:34.789 A brother. At what point would they believe that, 00:32:34.910 --> 00:32:37.250 or at what point would they find it necessary 00:32:37.250 --> 00:32:41.349 that forgiveness should be given to outsiders? 00:32:42.009 --> 00:32:44.769 And the second forgiveness I mean is that at 00:32:44.769 --> 00:32:47.450 what point would they find it necessary to preach 00:32:47.450 --> 00:32:50.309 the gospel? Because the preaching of the gospel 00:32:50.309 --> 00:32:55.789 brings forgiveness to men. Do we get it? So if 00:32:55.789 --> 00:32:57.990 your brother who is in the same faith with you, 00:32:58.049 --> 00:33:02.380 you find it difficult to... Forgive the brother. 00:33:03.059 --> 00:33:05.920 How much more or to what extent can you go out 00:33:05.920 --> 00:33:09.559 and preach that people may receive forgiveness? 00:33:09.940 --> 00:33:13.480 So offenses is also one of those areas that we 00:33:13.480 --> 00:33:17.259 see that the believer can actually be weakened. 00:33:17.359 --> 00:33:20.039 So you should be someone who forgives very easily. 00:33:20.259 --> 00:33:24.259 You forgive people. You don't hold on to offenses, 00:33:24.500 --> 00:33:28.180 especially when it has been. It has followed 00:33:28.180 --> 00:33:30.160 the manner at which the Bible says we should 00:33:30.160 --> 00:33:32.299 deal with offenses. It means you have spoken 00:33:32.299 --> 00:33:33.980 to the pastor, you have spoken to the brother, 00:33:34.079 --> 00:33:36.559 right? You have spoken to the pastor, you have 00:33:36.559 --> 00:33:37.720 spoken to the brother, you have spoken to the 00:33:37.720 --> 00:33:41.259 church, you have been called upon. You should 00:33:41.259 --> 00:33:44.539 forgive. You should forgive. It shows that you 00:33:44.539 --> 00:33:48.839 are strong in faith, right? It shows that you 00:33:48.839 --> 00:33:51.319 are strong. So, exercises of forgiveness, right, 00:33:51.420 --> 00:33:54.720 is showing strength in faith. It's showing strength 00:33:54.720 --> 00:34:03.140 in faith. So we can say that we don't need an 00:34:03.140 --> 00:34:08.119 angel to tell us if you are strong or weak in 00:34:08.119 --> 00:34:11.960 faith, but we can see it from your conduct, right? 00:34:12.019 --> 00:34:13.699 So when people approach you, when your pastors 00:34:13.699 --> 00:34:16.539 approach you, when a brother approach you and 00:34:16.539 --> 00:34:19.960 is having a conversation with you, we can know 00:34:19.960 --> 00:34:22.320 whether you're weak in faith or not. We can know 00:34:22.320 --> 00:34:24.039 who you are forgiving, who you have not forgiven. 00:34:24.519 --> 00:34:26.760 We can know if you're agreeing in the word or 00:34:26.760 --> 00:34:30.610 not. We can know. if anxiety is there and the 00:34:30.610 --> 00:34:33.909 job or the responsibility of the believer is 00:34:33.909 --> 00:34:37.730 to seek help right is to seek help and in seeking 00:34:37.730 --> 00:34:42.070 help what do we do we grow in seeking help we 00:34:42.070 --> 00:34:44.110 we grow it therefore means that in our conduct 00:34:44.110 --> 00:34:51.070 we can see that now let's go to a study of a 00:34:51.070 --> 00:34:52.949 man of god right i'll call him man of god that 00:34:52.949 --> 00:34:57.059 was weak in faith right but the bible explained 00:34:57.059 --> 00:34:59.679 the part of his life and told us that he actually 00:34:59.679 --> 00:35:03.019 became strong in faith, right? He actually became 00:35:03.019 --> 00:35:04.760 strong in faith. Now, just the same way we see 00:35:04.760 --> 00:35:09.000 the apostles from Acts chapter 1 across to 11, 00:35:09.300 --> 00:35:13.000 right, or 10 thereabouts, there is increase in 00:35:13.000 --> 00:35:15.940 the revelation. Ignorance taken away. They became 00:35:15.940 --> 00:35:18.699 strong in faith. Their conduct also changed. 00:35:19.380 --> 00:35:22.639 Their conduct changed. The kind of, the way they 00:35:22.639 --> 00:35:26.039 deal with believers changed. The way they understood 00:35:26.039 --> 00:35:31.960 the Bible changed. The way we relate with Gentiles 00:35:31.960 --> 00:35:35.420 changed. The way they seek the direction of God 00:35:35.420 --> 00:35:39.260 also changed. From casting load to much more 00:35:39.260 --> 00:35:41.699 the things of the Spirit, walking in the direction 00:35:41.699 --> 00:35:43.639 of the Spirit. So we see that in the Apostle 00:35:43.639 --> 00:35:46.000 book. Let's check Abraham's life a little bit 00:35:46.000 --> 00:35:51.019 and see some parts of his life. Now, the main 00:35:51.019 --> 00:35:52.820 scripture that we should start with is Romans 00:35:52.820 --> 00:36:08.809 18, verse 22. Romans 4 verse 18 and 22. Romans 00:36:08.809 --> 00:36:27.530 4 verse 18 and 22. so shall thy seed be. And 00:36:27.530 --> 00:36:30.510 being not weak in faith, he considered not his 00:36:30.510 --> 00:36:35.130 own body now dead when he was about a hundred 00:36:35.130 --> 00:36:39.010 years old. Neither yet the deadness of Sarah's 00:36:39.010 --> 00:36:43.750 womb. He started not at the promise of God through 00:36:43.750 --> 00:36:48.329 unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory 00:36:48.329 --> 00:36:55.079 to God and being fully persuaded. that what he 00:36:55.079 --> 00:37:01.340 had promised, he was able also to perform. And 00:37:01.340 --> 00:37:06.500 therefore, it was imputed to him for righteousness. 00:37:07.480 --> 00:37:11.679 Now, it was not written for his sake alone that 00:37:11.679 --> 00:37:15.920 it was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom 00:37:15.920 --> 00:37:19.619 it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that 00:37:19.619 --> 00:37:22.630 raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. who was 00:37:22.630 --> 00:37:27.250 delivered for our offenses and was raised again 00:37:27.250 --> 00:37:31.590 for our justification was delivered from offenses 00:37:31.590 --> 00:37:33.769 and was raised again for justification so up 00:37:33.769 --> 00:37:38.389 until verse 25. so what we saw here is that there's 00:37:38.389 --> 00:37:42.329 something abraham did or there's at a point in 00:37:42.329 --> 00:37:45.909 his life where the bible says and therefore it 00:37:45.909 --> 00:37:49.610 was imputed to him as righteousness right something 00:37:49.610 --> 00:37:54.190 was imputed to him as righteousness now that 00:37:54.190 --> 00:37:57.110 part by which it was imputed to him as righteousness 00:37:57.110 --> 00:38:00.190 is the part that we want to trace that before 00:38:00.190 --> 00:38:06.150 that time right where the times where the promise 00:38:06.150 --> 00:38:09.349 of god that was spoken to him where he thought 00:38:09.349 --> 00:38:12.170 that he himself could fulfill it where the times 00:38:12.170 --> 00:38:15.630 are such right so we can start with genesis 12 00:38:15.630 --> 00:38:18.989 verse 1 to 3. so we're just going to go through 00:38:18.989 --> 00:38:22.920 genesis a little bit and then see. Genesis 12, 00:38:23.019 --> 00:38:27.420 verse 1 to 3, which is the instruction of God 00:38:27.420 --> 00:38:31.380 for him to live and follow, right? For him to 00:38:31.380 --> 00:38:35.079 live and follow. And now, the Lord has said unto 00:38:35.079 --> 00:38:37.619 Abraham, get thee out of thy country and from 00:38:37.619 --> 00:38:40.900 thy kindred and from thy father's house unto 00:38:40.900 --> 00:38:43.099 a land that I will show you. And I will make 00:38:43.099 --> 00:38:46.619 thee a great nation and I will bless thee and 00:38:46.619 --> 00:38:50.309 make thy name great and thou shall be a blessing 00:38:50.309 --> 00:38:52.869 and now bless them that bless thee and cause 00:38:52.869 --> 00:38:54.489 them that cause thee and indeed shall all the 00:38:54.489 --> 00:38:58.130 families of the earth be blessed so abraham departed 00:38:58.130 --> 00:39:01.230 as the lord has spoken unto him and lord went 00:39:01.230 --> 00:39:05.969 with him and abraham was 75 years old when he 00:39:05.969 --> 00:39:11.269 departed right when he departed now this is where 00:39:11.269 --> 00:39:14.329 god began to speak to him and of course this 00:39:14.329 --> 00:39:17.130 is the first time god is speaking to him and 00:39:17.130 --> 00:39:19.239 telling him you become the father of all nations 00:39:19.239 --> 00:39:21.760 so you become the father of uh all through you 00:39:21.760 --> 00:39:24.039 all the families of the earth will be blessed 00:39:24.039 --> 00:39:26.719 right through you all the families of the earth 00:39:26.719 --> 00:39:29.199 will be blessed you will be a great nation and 00:39:29.199 --> 00:39:32.619 i'll bless thee bless uh and make thy name great 00:39:32.619 --> 00:39:35.440 and that shall be a blessing so we see that god's 00:39:35.440 --> 00:39:38.940 plan and its communication to abraham at this 00:39:38.940 --> 00:39:42.920 point in time was clear right it was clear of 00:39:42.920 --> 00:39:46.739 what god wants to do uh through him but let's 00:39:46.739 --> 00:39:52.900 see uh verse 15 let's say verse 15 let's see 00:39:52.900 --> 00:39:56.320 verse 15 and let's see some considerations that 00:39:56.320 --> 00:40:02.480 took place now verse 15 says verse 15 from chapter 00:40:02.480 --> 00:40:06.480 15 sorry genesis chapter 15 from verse 1. this 00:40:06.480 --> 00:40:08.679 is after these things the word of the lord came 00:40:08.679 --> 00:40:12.400 unto abraham genesis 15 verse 1 in a vision saying 00:40:12.400 --> 00:40:16.039 fear not abraham i am thy shield and thy exceeding 00:40:16.039 --> 00:40:20.980 great reward And Abraham said to the Lord, God, 00:40:21.119 --> 00:40:26.179 what will thou give me, seeing that I go childless? 00:40:26.380 --> 00:40:32.019 And the steward of my house is Eliezer of Damascus. 00:40:32.139 --> 00:40:37.380 Now, the first thing we see here, or what we 00:40:37.380 --> 00:40:42.139 see here, or the first option for him was the 00:40:42.139 --> 00:40:45.530 steward of his house. that god might do what 00:40:45.530 --> 00:40:48.150 he wanted to do or what he has spoken through 00:40:48.150 --> 00:40:51.349 his steward so the problem is you have said it 00:40:51.349 --> 00:40:55.570 you will do it but can you use this steward since 00:40:55.570 --> 00:40:59.150 i go childless now we see that in that sense 00:40:59.150 --> 00:41:02.130 and we see that in this place we can say well 00:41:02.130 --> 00:41:05.949 the word of god that he had received in genesis 00:41:05.949 --> 00:41:09.329 chapter 12 right was not what was on his lips 00:41:09.329 --> 00:41:13.630 right he said through you All the nations of 00:41:13.630 --> 00:41:16.309 the earth were blessed. And now, he himself is 00:41:16.309 --> 00:41:19.210 saying, well, can you use Eliezer? I believe 00:41:19.210 --> 00:41:22.429 what you will do, but maybe through him. Or maybe 00:41:22.429 --> 00:41:26.710 through this person. And Abraham said, Behold 00:41:26.710 --> 00:41:29.710 to me, thou hast given no seed. Verse 3. And 00:41:29.710 --> 00:41:34.530 lo, one born in my house is my heir. So, who 00:41:34.530 --> 00:41:37.650 will inherit all his house? His servants. So, 00:41:37.769 --> 00:41:41.510 he's saying, since it is the servants, that is 00:41:41.510 --> 00:41:43.989 there at this stage, at this point in time, can 00:41:43.989 --> 00:41:46.989 you do it through these servants? And we say 00:41:46.989 --> 00:41:51.269 that the word in Genesis 12, verse 1 to 4, or 00:41:51.269 --> 00:41:55.230 3, was not on his lips, right? Was not on his 00:41:55.230 --> 00:41:58.710 lips. Now let's check chapter 16. Just move to 00:41:58.710 --> 00:42:08.349 the next chapter as well. Chapter 16. Now let's 00:42:08.349 --> 00:42:10.940 read from verse 1. I said, now Sarah, Abraham's 00:42:10.940 --> 00:42:14.400 wife, bear him no children. And she had an unmade, 00:42:14.519 --> 00:42:16.940 an Egyptian whose name was Agur. And Sarah said 00:42:16.940 --> 00:42:20.900 unto Abraham, behold, now the Lord restrained 00:42:20.900 --> 00:42:25.420 me from bearing. I pray thee, go in unto my maid. 00:42:26.840 --> 00:42:30.300 It may be that I may obtain children by her. 00:42:30.460 --> 00:42:33.099 And Abraham acting to the voice of Sarah. And 00:42:33.099 --> 00:42:36.400 Sarah, Abraham's wife, took her girl and made. 00:42:37.150 --> 00:42:40.809 Amid, right? The Egyptian after Abraham and dwelt 00:42:40.809 --> 00:42:44.309 10 years in the land of Canaan and gave her to 00:42:44.309 --> 00:42:47.429 her husband Abraham to be his wife. And he went 00:42:47.429 --> 00:42:51.670 in unto Agur and she conceived. And when she 00:42:51.670 --> 00:42:56.070 saw that she had conceived, her mistress was 00:42:56.070 --> 00:43:00.190 despised. I got to read that again. And when 00:43:00.190 --> 00:43:02.630 she saw that she had conceived, her mistress 00:43:02.630 --> 00:43:05.769 was despised in a heist. And so I said unto Abraham, 00:43:05.909 --> 00:43:10.179 my wrong. Be upon me. I have given my maid into 00:43:10.179 --> 00:43:15.380 thy bosom. And when she saw that she had conceived, 00:43:15.659 --> 00:43:18.300 I was despised in her eyes. And the Lord judged 00:43:18.300 --> 00:43:21.699 between me and thee. But Abraham said unto Sarah, 00:43:21.800 --> 00:43:25.039 Behold, thy maid is in thy hand. Do to her as 00:43:25.039 --> 00:43:28.039 it pleaseth thee. And when Sarah dealt hardly 00:43:28.039 --> 00:43:32.539 with her, she fled from her face. She fled from 00:43:32.539 --> 00:43:36.730 her face. Now again, another... alternative, 00:43:37.010 --> 00:43:39.630 right? The word of God, not in the mouth of the 00:43:39.630 --> 00:43:41.230 husband, not in the mouth of the wife. And we 00:43:41.230 --> 00:43:44.949 see that in this case, right? The word of Genesis 00:43:44.949 --> 00:43:49.150 1 to 3 or 1 to 4 was also not in their mouth 00:43:49.150 --> 00:43:53.150 and they were working in a way by which they 00:43:53.150 --> 00:43:55.389 seek to fulfill what God wants to do. And this 00:43:55.389 --> 00:43:59.670 became an example in Galatians, right? An example 00:43:59.670 --> 00:44:02.469 in Galatians while Paul was talking about and 00:44:02.469 --> 00:44:06.710 talking to believers who had started in the spirit, 00:44:06.809 --> 00:44:09.170 believing the scriptures, and people bringing 00:44:09.170 --> 00:44:12.530 circumcision onto them. And this was used as 00:44:12.530 --> 00:44:17.510 an example of, you know, of works that is away 00:44:17.510 --> 00:44:20.849 from faith. So, but let's see what happened from 00:44:20.849 --> 00:44:31.550 chapter 17. Right, from chapter 17. From chapter 00:44:31.550 --> 00:44:40.139 17, verse 1. From chapter 17, verse 1. What happened 00:44:40.139 --> 00:44:43.599 in chapter 17? God again appeared and revealed 00:44:43.599 --> 00:44:47.900 himself and spoke his word, right? Spoke his 00:44:47.900 --> 00:44:52.579 word to Abraham. And when Abraham was 99 years 00:44:52.579 --> 00:44:57.239 old, sorry, 90 years old and nine, the Lord appeared 00:44:57.239 --> 00:44:59.519 to Abraham and said unto him, I am the Lord, 00:44:59.639 --> 00:45:02.860 I am the almighty God. Walk before me and be 00:45:02.860 --> 00:45:05.239 that prophet. Now make a covenant between me 00:45:05.239 --> 00:45:07.780 and thee. He will multiply thee exceedingly. 00:45:07.920 --> 00:45:10.159 And Abraham fell to his face, and God talked 00:45:10.159 --> 00:45:12.840 with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant 00:45:12.840 --> 00:45:15.579 is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many 00:45:15.579 --> 00:45:18.340 nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called 00:45:18.340 --> 00:45:23.139 Abraham, but thy name shall be Abraham. For a 00:45:23.139 --> 00:45:25.980 father of many nations I have made thee. Now, 00:45:26.039 --> 00:45:28.800 this is exactly what was spoken in Genesis 12, 00:45:29.699 --> 00:45:33.539 verse 1 to 5. And I'll make thee exceedingly 00:45:33.539 --> 00:45:36.039 fruitful, and I'll make nations of thee. and 00:45:36.039 --> 00:45:38.380 kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish 00:45:38.380 --> 00:45:41.400 my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed 00:45:41.400 --> 00:45:44.179 after thee in their generation, for an everlasting 00:45:44.179 --> 00:45:48.500 covenant to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed 00:45:48.500 --> 00:45:52.239 after thee. And I will give unto thee, to thy 00:45:52.239 --> 00:45:54.360 seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a 00:45:54.360 --> 00:45:57.400 stranger, the land of Canaan, for an everlasting 00:45:57.400 --> 00:46:01.559 possession, and I will be their God. And God 00:46:01.559 --> 00:46:03.659 said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my commandments. 00:46:04.559 --> 00:46:07.880 thou shalt keep my covenant therefore thou and 00:46:07.880 --> 00:46:10.800 thy seed after thee in their generations this 00:46:10.800 --> 00:46:13.360 is my covenant which ye shall keep between me 00:46:13.360 --> 00:46:17.500 and i see now what we see here right what we 00:46:17.500 --> 00:46:21.039 see here is that god started reiterating what 00:46:21.039 --> 00:46:24.579 he has said right god started reiterating what 00:46:24.579 --> 00:46:28.199 he has said in genesis chapter 12 verse 1 to 00:46:28.199 --> 00:46:32.360 2 to abraham again right he started reiterating 00:46:32.360 --> 00:46:35.800 genesis chapter 12 to him meaning that restating 00:46:35.800 --> 00:46:38.480 now was it the first time that god is stating 00:46:38.480 --> 00:46:43.699 this no right so it means that when the word 00:46:43.699 --> 00:46:46.980 of god comes to someone and there is doubt or 00:46:46.980 --> 00:46:51.940 anxiety there is need to treat it with the same 00:46:51.940 --> 00:46:55.000 word of god that has been spoken so there is 00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:59.079 no new any new revelation that would treat the 00:46:59.079 --> 00:47:01.840 weakness of faith than that which is already 00:47:01.840 --> 00:47:05.940 revealed There is no new revelation that will 00:47:05.940 --> 00:47:10.000 treat the weakness of faith than that which is 00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:13.019 already revealed. There is no new revelation 00:47:13.019 --> 00:47:16.059 that will treat the weakness of faith than that 00:47:16.059 --> 00:47:22.019 which is already revealed. So God began to explain 00:47:22.019 --> 00:47:25.500 to him and explain and teach him once again. 00:47:39.400 --> 00:47:43.980 All right. So this reiteration of God's statement 00:47:43.980 --> 00:47:49.159 is what Abraham started believing and changed, 00:47:49.360 --> 00:47:54.159 right? Changed his pattern of bringing alternatives 00:47:54.159 --> 00:47:59.059 to what God wants to do. Do we get that? So when 00:47:59.059 --> 00:48:02.760 the revelation of God increases in a man's life, 00:48:02.940 --> 00:48:06.059 right? When God reiterates what he's about to 00:48:06.059 --> 00:48:09.579 do, when we return back to the word of God, it 00:48:09.579 --> 00:48:13.880 strengthens us and takes us away from what our 00:48:13.880 --> 00:48:17.179 alternatives are so from here we saw that there 00:48:17.179 --> 00:48:20.380 was actually no point in time where he began 00:48:20.380 --> 00:48:23.840 to think of an alternative again and if you read 00:48:23.840 --> 00:48:27.440 romans romans says at 100 so if you go back to 00:48:27.440 --> 00:48:30.519 romans 4 romans says ads we can check right we 00:48:30.519 --> 00:48:34.320 can go back to romans 4 because in chapter 90 00:48:34.320 --> 00:48:37.500 chapter 17 he says he was 99 years old right 00:48:38.039 --> 00:48:41.260 chapter 17 he was 99 years old and if you go 00:48:41.260 --> 00:48:57.840 to romans 4 again romans 4 from that verse we 00:48:57.840 --> 00:49:02.199 will see conversation he said who against or 00:49:02.199 --> 00:49:05.340 believe in him that he might become the father 00:49:05.340 --> 00:49:07.940 of many nations According to that which was spoken 00:49:07.940 --> 00:49:10.460 to all the saints. Now verse 19 says, And being 00:49:10.460 --> 00:49:16.019 not weak in faith, he considered not his own 00:49:16.019 --> 00:49:19.599 body dead. When he was about a hundred years 00:49:19.599 --> 00:49:23.500 old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb, 00:49:23.860 --> 00:49:27.679 he staggered not at the promise of God, full 00:49:27.679 --> 00:49:33.119 unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory 00:49:33.119 --> 00:49:38.900 to God. So Paul writing, picking Genesis 17, 00:49:39.119 --> 00:49:44.420 and the conduct of Abraham from that moment, 00:49:44.559 --> 00:49:51.059 he called it being strong in faith. He called 00:49:51.059 --> 00:49:54.960 it being strong in faith. Verse 17 says it was 00:49:54.960 --> 00:50:00.280 about 99, and Romans 4 says it's about 100. It 00:50:00.280 --> 00:50:03.219 means within that same period, which we can point 00:50:03.219 --> 00:50:07.860 to chapter 17, that from then henceforth being 00:50:07.860 --> 00:50:11.840 strong in faith he glorified god right and being 00:50:11.840 --> 00:50:15.260 fully persuaded means that something was spoken 00:50:15.260 --> 00:50:18.340 to him verse 21 of romans was said something 00:50:18.340 --> 00:50:23.059 was spoken said being fully persuaded that's 00:50:23.059 --> 00:50:29.699 what he had promised he was able to perform away 00:50:29.699 --> 00:50:34.019 from what abraham himself would do so it means 00:50:34.019 --> 00:50:36.889 that when we observe his life at this point we 00:50:36.889 --> 00:50:41.050 can say he's now fully persuaded of what god 00:50:41.050 --> 00:50:47.449 wants to do that he himself god will do it so 00:50:47.449 --> 00:50:49.250 we can say he's an expression of a weakness of 00:50:49.250 --> 00:50:53.710 faith when he considered eliza it was a as a 00:50:53.710 --> 00:50:55.590 weakness of faith when he considered ishmael 00:50:55.590 --> 00:51:01.309 right to see uh to be the hair of what god will 00:51:01.309 --> 00:51:09.400 do So, it means that we ourselves must pay attention, 00:51:09.579 --> 00:51:14.880 right, to how we walk. Now, when we come to Galatians, 00:51:14.900 --> 00:51:18.739 Galatians actually now explains it, right? Galatians 00:51:18.739 --> 00:51:23.900 now explains it and use that example, use Acts' 00:51:23.980 --> 00:51:27.320 example as someone of the bond or someone of 00:51:27.320 --> 00:51:30.960 the flesh. So, Galatians 4, Galatians 4, 21. 00:51:35.010 --> 00:52:03.909 Galatians 4, 21 to 31, actually, writes, was 00:52:03.909 --> 00:52:07.650 one of the promise, right? So stating that which 00:52:07.650 --> 00:52:13.210 God himself will do. And in Romans 4, it was 00:52:13.210 --> 00:52:17.210 regarded as strong in faith from that point where 00:52:17.210 --> 00:52:20.250 he believed God. And which, verse 24, which things 00:52:20.250 --> 00:52:23.309 are allegory for these are the two covenants, 00:52:23.409 --> 00:52:26.570 the one that was from Sinai and which generates 00:52:26.570 --> 00:52:30.010 to the bond, which is Agar. For the Agar is Mount 00:52:30.010 --> 00:52:32.619 Sinai in Arabia. and answer it to Jerusalem, 00:52:32.800 --> 00:52:37.980 which now is and is in bondage with her children. 00:52:38.239 --> 00:52:40.599 So in this place, if you continue reading, what 00:52:40.599 --> 00:52:44.360 we see there is that that was not God's plan. 00:52:44.599 --> 00:52:48.000 Ishmael was not God's plan. Ishmael was a man's 00:52:48.000 --> 00:52:53.599 plan, was a man's effort. But Isaac was who God 00:52:53.599 --> 00:52:57.539 was pointing to. And we know that also beyond 00:52:57.539 --> 00:53:03.820 Isaac is Christ. Beyond Isaac is Christ himself. 00:53:04.880 --> 00:53:08.179 So we can see these as weaknesses of faith. We 00:53:08.179 --> 00:53:10.000 can check the scripture across the scripture. 00:53:10.340 --> 00:53:14.880 One thing that is consistent among such examples 00:53:14.880 --> 00:53:19.260 as such is that they do not stay in that weakness 00:53:19.260 --> 00:53:22.760 of faith. They do not stay. Now we have Gideon 00:53:22.760 --> 00:53:26.099 as well making a statement, if God be for us, 00:53:26.219 --> 00:53:29.599 what if these things happen to us? We have such 00:53:29.599 --> 00:53:33.800 examples. So many examples are such. One thing 00:53:33.800 --> 00:53:36.559 that is consistent is that they do not stay in 00:53:36.559 --> 00:53:38.860 the place of the witness of the God. They move 00:53:38.860 --> 00:53:42.440 on to believe and fully persuaded. So the key 00:53:42.440 --> 00:53:45.360 word is that to be fully persuaded that what 00:53:45.360 --> 00:53:50.219 God has promised, He will do in your life, in 00:53:50.219 --> 00:53:52.420 the ministry that He has called you to do. That's 00:53:52.420 --> 00:53:55.320 not about to say, faithfully is He who has promised, 00:53:55.440 --> 00:53:59.730 who also will do it. Right? Faith is he who has 00:53:59.730 --> 00:54:02.309 promised, who also will fulfill it, who also 00:54:02.309 --> 00:54:06.789 will bring it to pass. Now, the one thing that 00:54:06.789 --> 00:54:09.889 we can just conclude with today is that also, 00:54:10.110 --> 00:54:16.289 when we go for evangelism, okay, to preach the 00:54:16.289 --> 00:54:21.809 good news of Christ, it is not you that will 00:54:21.809 --> 00:54:26.880 save the man, but it is through you that the 00:54:26.880 --> 00:54:31.280 man will be saved do we get it it is not you 00:54:31.280 --> 00:54:35.159 that will say so most of the time it's we are 00:54:35.159 --> 00:54:39.280 so we can be so full of uh how do i want to say 00:54:39.280 --> 00:54:42.400 it's prepare all the words what what should i 00:54:42.400 --> 00:54:46.699 say yes it's good but in that you must know that 00:54:46.699 --> 00:54:54.159 your communication would be the spirit working 00:54:54.159 --> 00:54:57.920 in the person not in the eloquence of your word. 00:54:58.059 --> 00:55:00.619 So when we go for evangelism, it's not all about 00:55:00.619 --> 00:55:03.199 you trying to save, trying to convince. Yes, 00:55:03.199 --> 00:55:05.179 you have to persuade them, you have to explain 00:55:05.179 --> 00:55:07.599 the scripture to them, but it is not you who 00:55:07.599 --> 00:55:11.739 is saving. So it makes the work easier as you 00:55:11.739 --> 00:55:14.699 go to preach. So if you know that this preaching 00:55:14.699 --> 00:55:16.880 I'm doing, the Holy Spirit is going to walk through 00:55:16.880 --> 00:55:20.159 my teaching, through my explanation of the scripture 00:55:20.159 --> 00:55:25.019 to fulfill what he has said. Right? So we're 00:55:25.019 --> 00:55:28.400 going to, 1 Timothy 2 verse 4. Let's go to 1 00:55:28.400 --> 00:55:32.880 Timothy 2 verse 4 and just wrap it up on that. 00:55:34.960 --> 00:55:37.920 It says, go from verse 1. Let's go from verse 00:55:37.920 --> 00:55:43.239 1. I exhort thee that, first of all, supplications, 00:55:43.239 --> 00:55:46.539 prayer, intercessions, and giving of thanks be 00:55:46.539 --> 00:55:49.420 made for all men, for kings and for all that 00:55:49.420 --> 00:55:52.000 are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and 00:55:52.000 --> 00:55:55.159 peaceable life in all godliness. and honesty 00:55:55.159 --> 00:55:57.980 for this is good and acceptable in the sight 00:55:57.980 --> 00:56:01.000 of god our savior who will have all men to be 00:56:01.000 --> 00:56:05.340 saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth 00:56:05.340 --> 00:56:09.659 and come unto the knowledge of the truth so god's 00:56:09.659 --> 00:56:13.260 promise is that he wants men to come to the knowledge 00:56:13.260 --> 00:56:15.699 of the truth and he wants all men to come to 00:56:15.699 --> 00:56:18.380 the knowledge of the truth and it is taking place 00:56:18.380 --> 00:56:20.159 through you so first when you know that this 00:56:20.159 --> 00:56:23.099 is what god said this is his desire this is what 00:56:23.099 --> 00:56:27.420 it will do your preaching is easy your evangelism 00:56:27.420 --> 00:56:31.239 is easy as you go so as you go you are depending 00:56:31.239 --> 00:56:34.820 on god's promise to save man not on your promise 00:56:34.820 --> 00:56:38.360 to save man okay as you go you are depending 00:56:38.360 --> 00:56:42.699 on god's promise to save man and not on your 00:56:42.699 --> 00:56:46.980 promise to save man so when we tell you to go 00:56:46.980 --> 00:56:48.980 for evangelism we are not telling you promise 00:56:48.980 --> 00:56:52.050 us that you would save somebody Or promise us 00:56:52.050 --> 00:56:55.230 that someone will be saved through you. There's 00:56:55.230 --> 00:57:00.130 nothing like that. But you can be rest assured 00:57:00.130 --> 00:57:03.170 that God will save someone through the preaching 00:57:03.170 --> 00:57:05.389 of the God. So what we tell you to do is to preach. 00:57:07.010 --> 00:57:11.289 Do we get it? So what we tell you to do is to 00:57:11.289 --> 00:57:13.389 preach. So there should be no anxiety, worry, 00:57:13.710 --> 00:57:16.750 or doubt that someone... What if the person is 00:57:16.750 --> 00:57:21.929 not saved? No. What if the person... you know, 00:57:21.929 --> 00:57:24.550 does not understand what I'm saying. What if, 00:57:24.550 --> 00:57:27.110 what if, there should be none of that? Because 00:57:27.110 --> 00:57:31.289 God's promise is that it would save man. Right? 00:57:31.349 --> 00:57:34.809 It would save all men. So, when we go out, we 00:57:34.809 --> 00:57:38.190 should have this boldness and have this faith 00:57:38.190 --> 00:57:42.510 and have this confidence that as I teach, as 00:57:42.510 --> 00:57:47.269 I explain the gospel, the Holy Spirit would save 00:57:47.269 --> 00:57:51.239 this person. Right? That this person will come 00:57:51.239 --> 00:57:55.000 to the knowledge of Christ. So we'll stop here 00:57:55.000 --> 00:57:58.239 for now. Can we be on our feet and just give 00:57:58.239 --> 00:58:03.719 thanks? We appreciate you being here today. We 00:58:03.719 --> 00:58:05.619 hope you carry this word with you throughout 00:58:05.619 --> 00:58:08.519 your week. Don't forget to check the show notes 00:58:08.519 --> 00:58:11.260 for additional insights. Stay connected with 00:58:11.260 --> 00:58:13.960 us through our website or follow us on social 00:58:13.960 --> 00:58:17.650 media. If you were encouraged, share this message 00:58:17.650 --> 00:58:20.650 with someone you care about. Until next time, 00:58:20.710 --> 00:58:21.650 stay blessed.