Welcome to NECF sermons. Each message here is
designed to uplift and strengthen you in your
walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until
the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive
right in. We're going to continue with our teaching
on standing fast in the faith. Standing fast
in the faith. The last time I taught I think
was April. I didn't finish off certain parts
and I think we have some parts to tidy up on.
And our key text is from 1 Corinthians 16 verse
13. 1 Corinthians 16 verse 13, it says, Watch,
stand fast in the fate. Be brave, be strong.
Watch, stand fast in the fate. Be brave, be strong.
We're going to be looking at being brave. That's
from the New King James. We're going to be looking
at being brave. We're going to look at being
brave. And I want to just recap for the sake
of those that are joining us, because this is
part seven of the teaching. This is part seven
of the teaching. And Apostle Paul in this first
letter to the Church in Corinth ends with this
series of commands. And you may not notice it,
but these four different commands are military
order. They are military terms. They are military
terms to watch, to be at alert, to stand, to
be on guard. The NLT will say to be on guard.
And you know, it's military. That's a very military
terminology, to be on guard. If you're a civilian,
you just move around about your entire day, except
if you have some people that are military conscious,
they're always looking around. It depends on
where you grew up from. You're always looking,
even when there's nothing. And you watch. Standing
fast is also a military term. Be brave is also
a military term. Be strong is a military term.
And these words are what you would use for people
in the military or even athletes. We are having
the World Cup and a lot of things are happening.
Some people are losing, some people are winning,
some people are drawing. And notice that there's
a mindset that the athletes go into the game
house, listen to someone talk about how they
interview the athletes and they ask them certain
things. And the athletes, even though it's scary,
they try not to communicate fear. They try not
to communicate fear. They will tell you, they
will say things like, it's exciting. They're
looking forward to their tournament, they're
looking forward to the game, they're looking
forward to this. The athletes don't communicate
fear because that in itself puts you at a point
of disadvantage. It will undermine all your preparation.
Because the moment you have a mindset of losing,
you have already started to lose. Those of us
that are students, if you say, I'm going to fail
for this exam, even with all the preparation
you did, you're going to make mistakes. because
you have put yourself in a situation where you
are panicking. And what Apostle Paul is doing
in this command and this charge to the church
is bringing the attention to how it is important
for them to guard whatever it is that they have
received, to stand fast in the faith and the
doctrine that they have received, also to be
brave. to be brave. And there's something about
being brave that doesn't keep you, you don't,
you're not quiet. You're not quiet. You're not
quiet. And there's a stance, even though when
you, when a person is brave, it's seen in their
actions. It's seen in how they act. And even
a strong person is seen now. All of those things
are very key ingredient for success, very key
ingredient for doing anything at all. And what
I want to do is for the purpose of just touching
on the things that we've looked at. I want us
to just see how the book itself starts off. We
see in the Corinthians, the first Corinthians,
we see in the first chapter. Apostle Paul starts
by first and foremost the introduction, the usual
introduction, and then he thanks God. And then
when you come down to the 10th verse of that
particular chapter, you see him already starting
to address issues that was going on, issues of
division. And basically the aim of writing this
letter is to be able to address certain things
that is going on in the church, be able to correct
certain things that are happening. And it's very
important that we understand that when things
are going south, we have to be bold enough. We
have to be brave to speak truth. We have to be
brave to come back to the foundations to the
basics because when people don't understand in
the root of all the problems are going on here
is because people are not watching people are
not standing fast in what they believe people
are not brave enough in the positive sense because
you can see people brave doing evil and people
are not strong in the Lord people are not holding
on to the truth that they have received and that's
why he starts off by admonishing them. He appeals
to them. He pleads with them. He pleads with
them. He says this division thing should stop.
Because at the heart of it is the one God that
we're serving. At the heart of it is what have
you like why are we having to do this? Praise
God. Why are we having to be addressing this?
This should not be happening if you really know
the truth and you're holding on to the truth.
Like you're not leaving out your identity. Praise
God you're not leaving out your identity and
he continues to tell them and I and I think we
started this teaching by When we started in the
first part we say paying attention One very key
thing that guarantees that you don't miss out
on anything is when you are listening when you
are attentive and That's why he says watch right
watch be at a lot because if you This if you
snooze you lose You will miss out on important
details if you look out and come. Like the players
that are playing in their sports. The moment
a player decides to daydream, when he comes back,
other players will just be looking at him. Because
you can't be, your goal is the ball. and the
people that are around you, you should not miss
out. And it's in everything for success, for
you to succeed, even in the work of ministry,
you have to pay attention. But we're in the world
and in a place where people just are looking
at you, but they're not listening. And it's very
important that, and even in the things he's communicating,
he's saying that it's important, right? And then
he goes down to even the... whole idea of standing
fast in the faith. Notice that there's something
that's been handed to them. They want to keep
holding on to that thing. And that is where you
see Him taking time to teach. To teach. He takes
time to teach. To teach. Even His letters, you
see Him communicating truth again and again and
again to remind them of their reality. To remind
them of their identity. To remind them. He keeps
doing that. Keeps doing that. Warning them of
the dangers of of the different thing he addresses.
I think in the last teachings we talked about
that division, right? We talked about division.
We talked about even the different, the false
teachings. The false teachings. And I want us
to see that. Let's start from there in 15. 1
Corinthians 15 verse 1. 1 Corinthians 15 verse
1. It says, lest anyone, 1 Corinthians 15 verse
1, not 1, 15. It says, moreover brethren, I declare
to you the gospel which I preach to you. I declare
to you the gospel which I preach to you, which
also you have received, and in which you stand."
See that word again, in which you stand. He declares
to them the gospel that has been preached to
them. If you see the second chapter, it says,
by which also you are saved. If you hold fast
to the word which I preach to you, unless you
believed in vain. Three now, you see where he
talks about it being delivered. Say, for I delivered
to you, first of all, in the NLT says most importantly,
most importantly, that which I have also received,
that Christ died for our sins according to the
scriptures. Let's look at four. It says, and
that he was buried. and that he rose again on
the third day according to the scriptures. Stop
there. He's laying a foundation to address a
certain issue. Because some people had come around
to say, why do they believe in the resurrection
of the dead? Why do they believe in it? And noted
at the root of that is if you don't believe in
the resurrection of the dead, which is what he
starts the chapter because this chapter goes
down to eight. This chapter goes down from 1
to 58 58 he starts to because it's very important
and he takes his time to talk and Explain why
if you hold on to that doctrine, we're gonna
look at that We are gonna do just a big bit of
a recap if you hold on to that doctrine that
false doctrine You are undermining the truth
Praise God means that if you swallow a lie the
The consequence is that you will be leaving a
lie and walking in a lie. And that's why He challenges
them. Say, look, this thing was passed to you,
except if you're saying it is in vain, but if
you had received this that was passed to you,
then walk in it. Then walk in it. Don't allow
somebody to lie to you. Don't allow somebody
to lie to you. Praise God. And when a day and
an age where... a lot of people are peddling
lies and if you're not careful you will swallow
a lie and leave with the consequence of that
lie. Praise God. And he establishes that and
he goes on and on and on and on till he explains
and first and foremost he establishes the fact
that Christ resurrected. Right? Which is what
he starts to build here. Christ resurrected and
if he did resurrect means that anyone that believes
in Him will also be resurrected. They will not
die. And that's why He uses the word. They're
very careful. You see the word sleep. He used
the word sleep to communicate death because when
we hear death, we feel everyone here will say
this person is normal. But there's something,
because of the hope that we have, because of
the hope that we have, we understand that death
is not the end of the story. But it's the beginning
of something better. Praise God. But it paves
way for the beginning, for something better.
Praise God. And we see that in the verse 58 of
this same chapter, he concludes with a dear four.
He says, dear four, my beloved brethren, be steadfast,
immovable, always abounding in the walk of the
Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain
in the Lord. Praise God. Knowing that your labor
is not in vain in the Lord because certain things
will come to fight against or oppose or oppose
the truth that you have received. You oppose
the truth that you are holding on to. Certain
things will oppose it, but you have a responsibility
to contend. Right? You have a responsibility
to contend. Some other translation will say defend
the faith. Because if you're holding on to something,
you know that someone really wants what you have
if it's something of value. Praise God. You have
to defend it. You have to hold it like your life
depends on it. And it says, stand fast, which
is on our translation, we'll say be strong. Right?
Immovable, always abounding. What we should be
abounding in is the walk. And there's a walk.
Praise God. There's a walk to be done. I was
very grateful to God for that, brother, because
there's walk. There are people that need to hear
the gospel, right? There are people in your family
that need to be strong, to hold on, to keep.
There are a lot of lies that will put people
at a point of disadvantage when they have a lot
to be grateful for, a lot to be thankful for,
a lot to live for. Praise God. We have a lot
to live for. We have a lot to do and we want
to stay in that place of doing the work. It says,
immovable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord. And all of this statement goes to prove
that there will be oppositions. There will be
oppositions. Hence the need for bravery. Hence
the need to be brave. Hence the need to contend.
I want us to see in Jude, and we will see this
in Jude 1 verse 3. I want us to see that even
the Apostle Peter also addresses individuals
that will come to peddle false doctrines, false
teachings. In Jude 2, it does the same. Peter
in 2 Peter verse 2 starts and talks, devotes
a whole chapter to tell you how this is very
important. He dedicates a whole chapter to talking
and teaching about people that peddle false teachings.
In Jude 1 -3, we see that it says, Beloved, where
I was very diligent to write to you, concerning
our common salvation. I found it necessary to
write to you, exalting you to contend earnestly
for the faith which was once for all delivered
to the saints." No, no, no. Go to the second
verse. That's four. Jude one verse four. Jude.
Okay, it says, for certain men have crept in
unnoticed. It says, for certain men have crept
in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out, we
discussed this in the cell, their actions is
what placed them in that position. Who long ago
were marked out for condemnation, ungodly men,
who turn the grace of God into lewdness and deny
the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
So notice that there's the characteristics of
these people. I think the NLT will say they warmed
from underneath the snorkel. And these people,
they are taking their time to infiltrate, taking
their time to lie, taking their time to do all
manner of things. I think I heard a minister
in the UK one time talking about how a certain
cult group was infiltrating the churches around
and they were teaching things like, it's okay
to lie if you're going to get away from trouble.
It's okay. They were just teaching all manner
of things and teaching that it's okay to split
the church. It's not a problem. In fact, they
would go to the school and say there were divisions.
That's not today. Divisions started. It was just
communicating all manner of things. And if anyone
is not holding fast or standing fast. Yes, you'll
be saved, but you'll be in another direction.
And as we have been taught, it's not a problem
for you to, because the devil knows that you
are already saved, right? But if he can only
get you to live in error, to live in what is
not your identity, it's kind of a partial win
for him. So you want to ensure that you are studious,
you know what his word for You put yourself on
the way you'll be taught and learn. Because learning
is important for growth. Nobody grows mentally.
Nobody grows. There's no growth that happens
without any form of learning. If you want to
be trained, you have to learn. Training happens
by learning. And that's why Apple Support takes
its time to address the false teachings, the
false doctrine. And I want us to see something.
I think I had done this before, but it's... something
that is important and worth mentioning. The reason
why, because the Bible that we have is in English
language, and we'll see that when we come to
the text, the key passage, which is, be brave.
I'm doing all of that just to get us to that
point. The reason why we go into the use of Greek
words, Hebrew words, is because our Bible that
we have in our hands is in English language.
And you can miss the richness of what has been
said if you don't go back to it and see. Because
in our text or when we read our Bibles, we'll
see doctrine and teaching. And that one or those
words used interchangeably can mean three different
Greek words. It can mean three different Greek
words and it can communicate, depending on the
context, something different. Praise God. Something
different. And we'll see the first of them, which
is the first of my words I'm talking about is
doctrine, or teaching. Doctrine or teaching.
Doctrine or teaching. And one of the words is
Didache. One of the words is Didache. D -I -D
-A -C -H -E. D -I -D -A -C -H -E. And this word
means the content of the teaching or what is
being taught. The content of the teaching or
what has been taught. The content of the teaching
or what has been taught or the truth that has
been passed down. The content of the teaching
or what has been taught or the truth that has
been passed down. And in the gospels, you will
see where this is used to qualify the teaching.
And teaching is very important because if nothing
is passed down, then we have nothing to hold
on to. Nothing to hold on to and people will
have nothing to learn because the people that
are listening Should and are always expected
to be learning Should and are always expected
to be learning and the gospel will see a couple
of times where this is used for Jesus Christ
in Matthew 7 28 in Matthew 7 28 we see that it
says and so it was when Jesus had ended these
sayings, the people were astonished at his teaching.
The people were astonished at his teaching, meaning
that when he taught, there was something about
the way he taught. There was something about
the teachings that was coming forth from his
mouth. In Matthew 22, 33, we see again, it says,
and the multitude heard this, and they were astonished
at his teaching. They were astonished at his
teaching. And then also we'll see another Greek
word, the second one, which is Didascalia. The
second Greek word is Didascalia. D -I -D -A.
They sound alike. D -I -D -A -S -K -A -L -I -A.
D -I -D -A -S -K -A -L -I -A. And this one is
The activity of teaching or learning speaks about
the process of instruction. The activity of teaching
or learning and speaks of the process of instructions.
And sometimes it can be used to communicate content
like the other one did here. Sometimes it can
be used and this one was used mostly by the Apostle
Paul. It was used mostly by the Apostle Paul
and he's the one that wrote the book, the main
book that we're looking at. And Paul will use
it extensively, especially in Timothy, we use
it extensively on how to teach, how to protect
and preserve sound doctrine. He uses it a lot.
And we'll see the first use of it in 2 Timothy
4. 2 Timothy 4, we'll look at 2 to 5. 2 Timothy
4, 2 to 5, and we'll see how the 2 even appears
in this. 2 Timothy 2 to 5. So preach the word
Be ready in season and out of season. Convince,
rebuke, exalt with all long -suffering and teaching.
The teaching there is Didache. It says, for the
time will come when they will not endure sound
doctrine. Sound doctrine there is Didascalia.
Sound doctrine. The time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine. But according
to their own desires, because of because they
have itching ears they will heap up for themselves
teachers and they will turn their ears away from
the truth and be turned aside to fables but you
be watchful in all things praise god it says
but you be watchful in all things but you be
watchful in all things endure afflictions Do
the work of an evangelist fulfill your ministry
fulfill your ministry So we'll see and there
are many other instances where he uses that But
I just want us to just do this quickly and then
go to the third one. The third one is hetero
didascaleo The third one is hetero didascaleo
hetero H E T E R O D I D A S K -A -L -E -O. Very
similar to the Daskalia, but the Daskalia with
the hetero in front of it. And this is to teach
something other than what is correct. Teach something
other than the truth or deviate from the truth.
teach something other than the truth or deviate
from the truth. And the hetero there means different
than the dascalio there means to teach. So you
are teaching something different, something other
than the truth. And the two places where this
appears is in the book of Timothy where I think
Apostle Paul is the one that uses that. In 1
Timothy 1 verse 3 says, charge some that they
teach no other doctrine that they teach no other
doctrine that that they teach no other doctrine
is the hetero didascaleo so that whole phrase
is the hetero didascaleo so it's a compound word
and notice that it's one word explaining a phrase
just one word qualifying and that's to tell you
the richness of these languages and that's why
you have different translation or different interpretations
of the Bible, and I will get to that. We will
see that very soon. In 1 Timothy 6 verse 3, he
says, If anyone teaches otherwise, that teaches
otherwise is hetero didascaleo, that teaches
otherwise is hetero didascaleo, and does not
consent to wholesome words, that is the truth,
even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
to the doctrine, doctrine dna didascaleo, which
accords with godliness. So we see him bringing
our attention to the fact that you can have people
teach other things and if you are saying all
of that it means that we should be careful of
what it is that we are entertaining or listening
to and we cannot we cannot effectively know what
is false if we don't know the truth because to
anybody that doesn't know the truth everything
is truth. Praise God. Everything is true. Hence
the need. And we charged us on the church. We
said, okay, the church, we're doing a canonical,
right? And we're reading the books. We're reading
the books in the Bible and we have started from
January. And in the cell, we're like, where are
we now? Some people are still in Job. Some people
are somewhere in Genesis. Some people are somewhere
around, somewhere, somewhere. We're in the book
of Psalms. We're in the book of Psalms and we
have been... moving and moving and moving. And
Psalms is a lengthy book, praise God! And you
don't want to look back and give up. So, you
want to continue and today was five, I think
the beginning of Psalms, we were introduced into
Psalms with eight chapters, eight whole chapters.
I think some people are doing one, two, three
and all of a sudden, ha! Eight chapters! So,
that is the journey we have to take to get to
the promised land at the end of the year. Praise
God. And you want to stay consistent. You want
to keep at it. I think for the first year, if
it's your first time, you struggle. But once
you get used to the routine, it's very important
that we discipline ourselves. It's a discipline.
It's a discipline that we have to and we... And
if you're struggling, don't struggle in silence.
Don't wait until we ask you before we discover
that you have fallen somewhere along the way.
We want to carry everybody along. We want everybody
to be carried along. So, choose to be carried
along. So, we see that Apostle Paul does all
of this. Or, Apostle Paul takes his time and
energy explaining, teaching, ensuring that people
don't fall by the wayside. People don't enter
into error. And in the book of Corinthians, he
takes his time to address several issues. We
talked about the first, which is the fact that
people are looking at division. Somebody says,
I'm for this person. The other person says, I'm
for that person. We see all of those things.
It doesn't help the work go forward. If you're
doing, if you're solving problems in the house,
you cannot solve problems outside. You cannot
go and meet people's needs outside. You are always
resolving one issue or the other issue in the
house. It doesn't help the work move forward.
And then we see him addressing even issues around,
because with false doctrine was one. Divisions
was another. We see him addressing issues around
temptation from the surrounding cultures. Temptation
from the surrounding cultures. So we see that
around the culture, there's always this constant
pressure. And even in this day and age, we have
the same thing because we are in the same world.
So there's always a pressure for one thing or
the other. And yet system, they had different
idols. They had different idols. They have the
whole thing of sexual immorality. That was a
big thing. in the city and it's still a big thing
today in the world that we're living in. And
hence the charge to stand fast, hence the charge
to watch, to stand fast, to be brave and be strong
because it takes boldness. You have to be bold
to stand. In fact, you have to watch first and
foremost to be able to... be standing on something,
right? You have to be watching what people are
saying and you want to always be checking what
exactly it is they're doing. You want to be very
conscious of that. And in 1 Corinthians 10, 14,
he says, therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
Here you have the proof that he was addressing.
See, flee from idolatry. He says, flee, flee.
That word there to flee is fugle. Sounds like
fugle. Fugo is P -H -E -U -G -O. Fugo. P -H -E
-U -G -O. And the word there means to run away.
I think everybody knows that the flea means to
run away. And it can be literal. It can be figurative.
And by implication, it means to shun. It means
you can look away, right? When somebody does
something in it, just look away. And the analogy
also means to vanish. The flea. Like you saw
somebody and you did not see the person again.
I think animation helps our imagination. You
don't see them again. So you want to have that
mindset, escape. You want to always have that
mindset of, when I'm faced with something as
an error, don't entertain it. Don't entertain
it. Don't entertain it. I'm saying it again,
don't entertain it. Because the moment you entertain,
I think our lead pastor was teaching us, the
moment you start entertaining, something you're
giving them audience and the words will take
root and before you know it you they have you
it's like if you don't want to buy something
i think those of us that do market when you're
somebody's trying to sell you something you know
if you say i don't need it and you hush them
you know that would be the end of it but some
people are persistent they will keep coming at
you but if you listen and listen and listen a
part of you will say i think i need this thing
and then you will give into it but At first,
your first response was the actual response because
you actually didn't need it. But because you
entertained the whole talk, it now got to a place.
That's why you don't entertain certain things.
Because you know that this is error, you don't
even give attention to it. You don't give attention
to it. Very important, you don't give attention
to it. And we see that retreating, sometimes
when we say retreating, we say, oh, it's not
brave to retreat. Notice that even in the military,
there are strategies that involve retreating
so that you can be able to win. Right? Retreating
looks like defeat. It looks at the go you like
why they're running away. They're lost. Right?
But we see even in scripture a strategy that
was employed in Georgia by the children of Israel
against the benjamite. In fact, the children
of Israel had lost a couple of times to the benjamite.
And because they had lost, they had to come up
with a plan. And they came up with a plan to
retreat. And then the benjamats will think that
we're winning as before. And for some of us will
think like, oh, I've done this before. It's nothing.
And then you almost will entertain something
you shouldn't even entertain in the first place.
And the result is that you'll be, because what
had happened is that when they say, oh, this
power retreating, then there was a smoke. You
can read that in judges 20. I don't want to go
into more details, but notice that. Fleeing from
a situation or running away from a situation
is not a sign of weakness. It's you trying to
preserve yourself because you know this is error.
Praise God. And we need to come to the consciousness
of the fact that, you know, sometimes some people,
you're just full of yourself. You think that
I can handle. I can handle it. I can handle it.
And we see in contrast the three Hebrew boys
in Daniel 3. In Daniel 3, we see the three Hebrew
boys, and I want us to just look at Daniel 3,
12 and 16. We'll come back to this at some point
in time in the teaching, but I just want us to
look at this. to do to you they do not serve
your gods or worship the golden image which you
have set let's go just jump to 16 let's just
leave it at 16 just jump to 16 and he's saying
that these people don't have a regard because
they they had grown up and been trained to serve
the only god the living god and then now someone
presents to them an idol and says they should
worship the idol, they should bow down to the
idol. And we see that this resolve didn't start
here. In the first chapter of this book, you
see that they made a resolve to not do certain
things contrary to the God that they serve. Anything
you want to do, if you don't make a resolve,
if you don't make a resolve, you are setting
up yourself for anything that comes. In anything
you want to do. If you say, I resolve, that I
will serve God, I resolve that I will fear Him,
I resolve that I will do His will, that is a
resolve that will determine how far you will
go with that. But once you do otherwise or say
anything goes, nobody makes any progress with
anything goes. Anything goes will mean that you
will do a lot of work but no results. Praise
God. You'll do a lot of work and no result and
this is a resolve that this man had made. And
we know them, or they are properly known as Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, but their Hebrew names
are Hananeah, Meshael, and Zechariah. The names
that we see or the names that we know them for
are the names, the Babylonian names, the names
that were given to them. And this man spoke boldly.
We see them speaking boldly. They didn't just
act, they spoke. And what we're going to be seeing
in this teaching is that bravery comes from a
place of decision. Bravery comes from a place
of decision, but bravery also has the place of
action. And boldness is where we see bravery
manifest in your speaking. Boldness is where
we see bravery manifest in your speaking. Boldness
is where we see bravery manifest in your speaking.
And we see Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered
and said to the king, that's when the king told
them, he says, Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need
to answer you in this matter. They were challenged.
They were said, okay, why don't you want to bow
down to this? So they had now take a stand. It
will look like, you know, they acknowledge the
fact that yes, they are faulted, but they don't
want to even engage. And we know the story. We
see how God delivered them. And here is a picture
of bravery. Here's a picture of bravery. You
have what you believe. and you stand for it.
You have what you believe, you hold on to it
and you stand for it against all odds. Against
all odds. And anytime I think of this story,
what I see is that all the people that bow down
to the image, we don't hear of them. Right? We
only hear of the people that did something different.
It's the same thing with people that protest.
or people that do anybody that fights you the
people because it's you're fighting against something
you're fighting against a regime or something
that is going wrong and you do that It costs
you it's not comfortable It's not comfortable
to do what they did and nobody should convince
you to think that if it's not comfortable then
it's not good Praise god because we can get to
that point where we think that if something is
not comfortable if something is not convenient
then I was just given. And Apostle Paul, the
one thing I came here because he encourages to
flee. But we see these people not just fleeing,
there's a mindset. They stood because they will
be bowing down to something they don't believe
in. And if they don't believe in it, they don't
bow, they are not going to bow down to it. And
the image is an image that Nebuchadnezzar had
made. It's something that a man had made. I think
I saw something yesterday. I can't remember.
The person was asking me, like, why do you wear
this? He said he wears it for protection. So
he was like, you wear it for protection. Is it
not something that a man made that you're wearing
for protection? He says, okay, what if you lose
it? Say you buy another one. As you buy another
one and to keep protecting yourself. He says,
I believe God to protect me. That's basically
what I believe. I don't believe the thing that
God created will create something that will protect
me. And that understanding is what should tailor,
because the problem is that we sometimes say
we trust God in our words, but in our actions,
we do otherwise. We do otherwise. And it's very
practical. It's very practical. As we're going
to look at this thing called being brave, we'll
see something. I was thinking about it, I said,
If someone That you know or let's let's make
it yeah if a friend that you know that is rich
Tells you to do something that requires a lot
of money He tells you to do something request
a little Because you have knowledge of one singular
fact that that person has the money to fund it
and he's the one that Instructed you to do it.
You know that you're not you're not you're not
be afraid I think I was telling my wife, I said,
the best thing to say is just go to your cars
and say you will buy the place. You know, as
damning as that will be, buy up a place of some,
like, you will go there because you know who
instructed you. Right? You will go there and
you will, in fact, you might not have anything
on you. But the way you enter that place and
say, you guys are going to be my new staff, you
start talking to them with some kind of audacity.
because you know something that probably the
people around that you're talking to don't know.
Praise God! And when we say that for someone,
even when you say, okay, your father, your Eddie
father, because you know what your Eddie father
is capable of doing, when he says, okay, start
looking for an admission to come to North Cyprus,
you know you will go ahead. But if there's nothing,
you know that there's no, there's a place where
you say, let's just do it just to respect, but
you know that there's no, there's no going to
come, nothing's going to come out. Because you
know what, or you believe that for Him to tell
you, you know that something's going to come
out of it. Praise God. How much more Heavenly
Father? And then He tells you to trust Him. And
we'll see that as a team, a very consistent team
that are anchored on our, we are able to trust
Him because He's true to His Word. We're able
to trust Him because He has never broken or failed
to keep His promise. We're able to trust Him
because When He says something, He backs it up
with actions. When He says something, He backs
it up with actions. And we see this because it's
easy for you to make something an idol because
you feel like you're getting some results from
that thing. But I want you to know something
that anything you place above God is what qualifies
as an idol. Anything you place above God, anything
that you are willing to trade for God, You are
in the grip of that thing and it takes that place
of an idol. It's an idol. Because for them, in
their age, it's them bowing to something as an
idol. But in this day and age, we can easily
trade God for people. We do it. We just easily
shift and put God in that place. Which communicates
lack of trust? in God. And we see when you are
faced with a difficulty and you resort to other
things to find your way out rather than God,
someone says you don't run to the throne, you
run to the phone. When you resort to other things,
we're not saying that it's bad too, but we're
saying that What is your stance? What is your
posture? Are you already in panic mode? We read
Philippians 4 verse 4. Are you worrying? Is anxiety
the motivation of your action? Is anxiety why
you're picking up that phone to call and then
you transfer the panic to the other person at
the other line? Is that what is motivating your
stance or your decision? And very importantly,
if you are finding the words You are making up
things to defend that thing and it's not the
gospel. It's an idol. Praise God! Somebody is
telling you that these things, you say, you are
defending with your life. It's not the gospel
you are defending. It's that particular thing.
That thing is obviously an idol. And in 2 Timothy
2 verse 22, Apostle Paul writing to Timothy,
he says, Flee also, youthful, lost. It says,
but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace.
It says, with those who call on the Lord out
of a pure heart. It says, pursue. Say, but pursue.
Say, flee, but pursue. We are instructed to flee,
but there's something that we're instructed to
pursue. So the challenge to us is, what are you
pursuing? Are you pursuing learning? Are you
pursuing knowing God? Are you pursuing loving
God? Are you pursuing? What are you pursuing?
In James the book that we're asked to read in
this month the book that we're instructed to
read the book that we should have been should
be reading James 4 verse 7 it says therefore
submit to God Resist the devil and he will flee
from you Meaning that there's a stance that you
take there's a boldness. There's a strength that
you that the Lord supplies that makes you Pitch
in the place of advantage where you have an authority
over the enemy. Praise God. You're not the only
we are not you're not fleeing Right, you're not
always fleeing. You are taking the stands and
you are declaring and then let's look at What
Apostle Paul Brings to attention in that watch
We stand for the business. Let's go back to our
key scripture in 1st Corinthians 6 13 And we're
looking at the word brave, be brave. And when
we see be, be, I think it uses be brave and be
strong. Being brave and being strong is not,
you are instructed to be who you are. What you
are is what you are instructed to be. You're
not, nobody's, they're not giving you. Because
you have a union with God, that is what should
show forth. And it's not about saying, no, I'm
naturally quiet or I'm naturally bold. It's not
about your temperament. It's not about your temperament.
It's something that you have because you have
the Lord as your God. Praise God. And we'll see
that tied to His presence with us. His presence
with us. We'll see that tied to His presence
with us. So, the B -Brave is the Greek word and
the Greek word and Andrizomai. That's Andrizomai
is A -N -D -R -I -Z -O -M -A -I. A -N -D -R -I
-Z -O -D -O -M -A -I. It means to act like a
man. To act like a man. To act like a man. To
show yourself courageous. to show yourself courageous,
to conduct yourselves valiantly. To conduct yourselves
valiantly. And I told us that this is a military
word. And when the soldiers hear this, they are
like, they are lats. Men be brave. They are at
a stand, they are at a stand because they know
that they are ready for action. They are ready
because that is very important. Because any form
of cowardice is a loss. is a loss. And the different
translations word this word I think I've never
seen I think a word that has varying like this
word. So because in English language it captures
because of the culture and the Greek language
in English language it's because of how English
language is you see several words being used
to communicate this word. So in the ESV you see
it as act like men in the esv if your bible is
an esv you say this translations interpreter
you see act like men esv and then in the niv
you see be courageous in the niv you see it as
be courageous and in the footnote of the nlt
because the nlt also uses be courageous in the
footnote you also see be men be men is a good
thing that is father's day you say be men Amen!
And we also celebrate the women too as well,
because we will not be here if not for our mothers,
we will not be standing if not for our wives
and our friends around. We thank God for, even
though you have every other day, like we almost
feel left out, but we don't even know if we don't
celebrate it as much. It says be men. Then in
the King James version, it says quite like...
Is it quite you like a man or quit you like a
man, right? Quit you like a man. Quit you like
men. Sorry, quit you like men. That's the new
King James. It says, yeah, I'd like men. I was
looking at it, I was like, thank God for the
other translations. Then the new King James says,
be brave. Be brave. So we'll see that the nuance
of all of this, and we say this one is just,
it's act like, like you have a nature that you
are showing, right? Even when a woman does something
like a man does, there is a characteristic that
is expected from you and a characteristic that
is there in you. Praise God! There is a characteristic
that is there in you. It says, conduct yourselves
valiantly, which is what the expectation is.
You are conducting yourself valiantly. You are
conducting yourself valiantly and it is very
important that we see that... Fear is the biggest
thing that silences or cripples, as in, fear
does more damage to a believer than persecution.
Fear does more damage to a believer than persecution.
Think of all the things that you would have done
that you didn't do because you were afraid. Think
of all the things that you had, in fact, you
had said, I will do this, and you didn't do it
because you are, it's not even persecution now.
Because the fear of persecution is still the
fear, it's still fear. So this fear and the devil
does in mind because the defeat is already like
if you're having a debate the defeat is already
because when he closes your mouth to speak that's
the defeat because your inability to speak because
you're afraid cripples you. Some of us are like
you're so scared that you can't even talk you're
so scared that you can't even say the words and
that's how crippling fear can be and it has a
grip has a grip and that's why he says Apostle
Paul did not just say, he did not end his letter
saying, let's be all things to all men. He didn't
end it in that way. He didn't say, let's be agreeable.
He didn't say, let's be agreeable. But he says,
be brave. Praise God. He says, be brave because
being courageous is not optional. Being courageous
is not an add -on. It's not something you add
to the list. Being courageous is not something
you add to the list in your Christian life or
your Christian work. Being courageous is what
is as a result of your union with God. Praise
God. And it's a necessity for the work. It's
a necessity for the work. Being courageous is
a necessity for the work. Being brave is a necessity
for the work. It says, because you are not saved
to be a coward. You're not safe to to always
be behind and some of us we make that excuse
of oh, that's the way I am That's the way I do
things. I don't I I as I say this but when I
say this now because Yeah, most people I think
you if you you know me now I think I think I
think we lived with we lived with some of the
pastors I by nature even though my wife I told
me I should stop saying I'm a shy person. I said
I still feel like sometimes I have a tendency
to be shy, right? But when the need arises, you
have to be brave, right? You have to be brave.
Standing before people to talk is not the easiest
thing to do. But because you have to do it, you
have to be brave. Because nobody is going to
hear you when you are... Praise God. You have
to be brave, you have to... Open your mouth and
boldly declare what it is you're saying because
it's necessary for the work and the commission
demands it. What we are commissioned to do is
to go out. It demands courage. So when you go
out, you forget what your temperament is. Forget
what your temperament is. Forget what your temperament
is. In fact, when you've been doing it for long,
you will not even remember you have that as part
of the temperament. People will not believe because
when I say like, no, you don't look like a But
we're not born like this. Praise God. And that's
the things that God does in us. People that know
us now can't relate with what they know of us
from before. Praise God. Because you have to
come out. You have to come out. And as Apostle
Paul started off, he says you want to be alert.
Yeah, you want to hold on to the doctrine. You
want to be brave. You want to... There has to
be... You have to be active. You know, when we
talk about active, active means a lot of things
to a lot of people. Praise God. But active here
means that there's an active courage to face
opposition, right? And then there's a strength
and enduring power because the strength we're
talking about is not physical strength. In fact,
the bravery we're talking about is not the bravery
and I would have loved us, but let's just go
a little bit further. Because one thing is anchored
on the other and what Apple support does is that
he puts it layer and layer. You see how important
everything he says layers on itself. You see
because if you're not standing fast, if you're
not standing, if you cannot stand fast, it'll
be hard for you to watch. Like the watching will
be difficult. If you're not brave, you will not
have anything to stand on like you will not have
use because we're going to see a person that's
not brave is spineless. That's what we say in
English. The person doesn't have spine and we
will see in the teaching that being courageous
is contagious. I think a famous preacher that
is now late talks about how it says the same
thing being courageous as being contagious because
when you're around brave people you tend to like
yeah we can do this and Apostle Paul himself
He declares this I think in Philippians 1 verse
14. He says, because of what he's going through,
other people are confident in preaching the gospel.
Because of the fact that he's in chains and they're
seeing him go through this thing and still stand
fast. It's motivating them to do it. They don't
have any excuse. They don't have any excuse.
I saw a video of someone with cerebral palsy.
And if you know what that condition is, it's
difficult for you to speak. And the person is
preaching, and then at the end it says, if I'm
doing it, what excuse do you have? Because you
are able to speak clearly, you're able to talk,
sometimes you're afraid, but regardless, this
man says you don't have any excuse. Praise God.
And what God calls us to is bravery. And I wanted
us to see, or let's just see this. Let's see
Joshua. Let's look at Joshua. Joshua 1 verse
9. And because this command is important, this
command is very important. This command is very,
very important. We see how it is repeated again
and again from Deuteronomy into the book of Joshua.
And this command in this book of Joshua is coming
from God Himself. He says, Have I not commanded
you? Joshua 1 .9, Havanah had commanded you,
be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid.
You see anywhere it says courageous, you see
most of the times you see do not be afraid. Because
your fear can undermine, like the courage disappears,
like there's no courage when there's fear. Those
two things can't be there at the same time. It
says, or be dismayed. For the Lord your God is
with you everywhere you go. For the Lord your
God is with you everywhere you go. There's a
reason why you're not afraid. Because the Lord
your God is with you everywhere you go and it's
important that you see this. It's important that
you know this. That the Lord your God is with
you everywhere you go. And he repeats this again
and again in Verse 6 says, Be strong and of good
courage. For to this people you shall divide
as an inheritance the land which I swore to their
fathers to give you. 7 now says, Only be strong
and very courageous that you may this observe
to do according to all the law which Moses my
servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to
the right hand or the left. Notice that you're
staying in what has been instructed, that you
may prosper everywhere you go. This word, the
word be strong means to be firm. The word courageous
there means to not yield, to not yield, to not
yield, to not be afraid, to not yield, to not
be afraid. Bravery is a result of our reliance
in God's strength. Bravery is a result of our
dependence in God. Our trust in God is what helps
us to stand fast. We don't look at our situation
when we're brave. Because if we look at ourselves,
we don't have any reason to be. What are you
brave about? But when we say we are standing
fast, when we say we're doing, we're doing that
in the strength He supplies. We're doing that
in the bravery that we have because we have Him.
And all of this, you see it, because He has Him,
He's brave. And all of it is anchored on the
Word of the Lord to Him. We see the Word of the
Lord come to Him in Deuteronomy 31. We see the
Word of the Lord keeps coming and then even in
Joshua, it tells Him. Be bold, be strong, right?
Be strong, be courageous. Be strong, be courageous.
Be strong, be courageous and when it keeps coming
again and again and again and again is to make
you see, make you know, make you express what...
He can't be demanding from you what He has not
given to you. God cannot be demanding from you
what He has not given to you and He says it again
and again that you will get it and our trust
is in what the Lord has said. If the Lord says,
you are my child, I believe it, I trust him and
then I move around as his child. If the Lord
says, I have healed you, I move around not as
someone that is sick but as someone that is healed.
If the Lord says, I have delivered you from all
your trials, you move around like that. If the
Lord says, you are sound, you are safe, I'm taking
care of you, I'm providing for you in spite of
the lack that you are looking at, you hold on
to that word. You hold on to that word. You hold
on to that word. And even in this season, I see
that there are people that will be saying, oh,
I don't think I'll be able to graduate because
of this, because of that. If you have started
it and the Lord says you'll finish it, hold on
to that word. The question is, what is the word
of God that you see from His word that, in fact,
we will have times here when a prophetic word
is given to you. Someone speaks to you and then
you are doubting. Doubt will not help you. move
forward, praise God. That will not help you move
forward. And it's important that we hold on to
the Word of God. We hold on to the Word of God.
That is where bravery starts from. Bravery is
not a function of your willpower. It's not willpower.
You don't, you don't, you know, people can act
brave. And I wanted, I wanted, if we had more
time, but time is up. I wanted to show us how
the Apostle Peter was very quick to carry, to
bring out a sword and cut off someone's ear.
But the same person, when they asked, do you
know this man? He was very quick to say, I don't
know, he even swore. Swore and it was just not
fair. So, being brave to declare, to confess
the Lord is not a function of Jim Jim, as they
say in the Greek word. It's not a function of
your ginger. It's a function of the knowledge
you have of God. That is why knowledge is important,
because you know God to be true to His Word.
That is why you hold on to His Word. Praise God!
I will close on this note. No matter what it
is you're going through, no matter what the difficulty
is, no matter what the circumstances are, hold
on to the Lord. In Psalm 27 verse 14, we looked
at it. David started a psalm by saying, the Lord
is my light and salvation. In whom shall I be
afraid? The Lord is the strength of my life.
Of whom shall I be afraid? In the ending of the
psalm, he says, wait on the Lord. Be of good
courage. And he shall strengthen your heart.
Wait, I say, on the Lord. Wait on the Lord. And
for most of us, we think waiting is like doing
nothing. Waiting is not doing nothing. As a student,
if you are waiting for graduation, you are walking
towards graduation. Even when you have graduated,
you have done other things. You are making preparations
to ensure that your graduation is smooth. You
are able to do it and do it properly. I want
you to just open your mouth and just thank God
because you are seeing the strength of the Lord
like never before. You are engaging. Your waiting
involves prayer. Your waiting involves the word.
Your waiting involves obedience to every word
spoken. Your waiting involves trusting Him. Your
waiting involves not wasting your time. It's
not a season of waste. It's a season where you
are refined. It's a season where you're strengthened.
And even for those that are graduating, you're...
Believing God for direction. You're waiting on
the Lord is for direction. You're watching. You're
at alert spiritually. You're at alert spiritually.
You're sensing where the Lord is leading you
to. There's no confusion. Tell yourself, I am
not confused. I want you to declare this word,
I am not confused. I am not confused. I can't
hear us. I am not confused. I know God's plans
and purpose for my life. I will wait on Him even
when it doesn't feel like it. I will be of good
courage. I will take courage. I will act courageously.
I am courageous. I have the strength of the Lord.
I am strong. When it doesn't make sense, I will
still trust Him. Even when it makes sense, I
trust Him. I will trust Him all days, always.
I am not anxious. I am not anxious. I am not
fearful. I am not afraid. I am not afraid. Because
He is with me. Because He is in me. He is walking
through me. We appreciate you being here today.
We hope you carry this word with you throughout
your week. Don't forget to check the show notes
for additional insights. Stay connected with
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with someone you care about. Until next time,
stay blessed.