Welcome to NECF Sermons. Each message here is
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right in. Good evening everyone. So welcome to
our midweek service. We're going to continue.
We're going to continue with the teaching. On
Sunday, I think we were about closing and then
we looked at Joshua. And I want us to see, let's
just start, let's just pick it up from there.
And I want us to be reminded that there are times
when the word comes and because we are still
trying to grasp or understand because we can
only act on the word. when we trust and we're
persuaded that this is what the Lord is instructing
us to do. And this is where we're convinced.
And we know that this is what the Lord is instructing
us to do. And it's one thing for us to have something.
And it's another thing for us to exercise that
which we have. And God is helping us. And we're
seeing an example in Joshua's case. And we said,
Joshua 9, we're looking at Joshua 1, 9. Joshua
1, 9, it says, have I not commanded you? Have
I not commanded you? be strong and of good courage.
I have highly commanded you. And I want you to
see that in Deuteronomy 3, in Deuteronomy 31
verse 6, Deuteronomy 31 verse 6, we see Moses
passing the baton to the young man Joshua. He
says, be strong and of good courage. Do not fear,
nor be afraid of them. For the Lord your God,
he is the one who goes with you. He will not
leave you nor forsake you. I want you to just
continue to see how there's a reason why he says
he's the one who goes with you. He's the one
who goes with you. He will not leave you nor
forsake you. And you will see all through scripture
that that is the encouragement that comes to
us when we are instructed not to fear. We're
instructed to be strong. We're instructed to
be of courage. And even in 23, when in 23, we'll
see in 23, that's 31, 23. 31 verse 23. I would
like to read it from the NLT. It says, Then the
Lord commissioned Joshua, son of Nun, with these
words, be strong and courageous. for you must
bring the people of Israel into the land I swore
to give them. I will be with you. He says, you
must bring the children, the people of Israel,
you must bring the people of Israel into the
land I have sworn to give you. And there is a
reason why he must be strong and courageous.
Remember, I told us that it's not something because
there's oppositions that we're going to face.
That is why courage is necessary. Courage is
not an add -on. Courage is not optional. Courage
is necessary for the work. There are people that
need to be saved and you cannot take on that
task without ensuring that being courageous and
being confident and placing your trust in God
to get the work done. That is a necessity for
us to be able to get the work done. And he says,
the people of Israel, he says, the people of
Israel, the land is already theirs. The action
that is needed is Joshua has to take on that
tax and responsibility. He has to be conscious
of the fact that God, as he ends this verse,
I will be, he says, I will, he says, I will be
with you. I will be with you. I will be with
you. And that is the, upon this, he's able to
move. And we go back to the Joshua one. I want
us to see the nine and then see 10. And in that
Joshua 1, I told us that we see it in six, we
see it in seven. Let's just read, let's start
from six, seven, and then we go to six, seven,
and then nine and 10. Six, it says, be strong
and of good courage. For to these people, for
this, to these people, you should, yeah, okay.
For to these people. You shall divide as an inheritance
the land which I swore to their fathers to give
them. 7. Only be strong and very courageous,
that you may observe to do according to all the
law which Moses my servant commanded you. Do
not turn from it to the right hand or to the
left, that you may prosper wherever you go. Just
jump to 9 and then let's do 9 and 10. And then
we said, have I not commanded you? Be strong
and be of good courage. Do not be afraid, nor
be dismayed. For the Lord your God is with you
wherever you go. Then 10, now we see him acting.
It says, then Joshua commanded the officers of
the people saying, 11. That's just the 11. It
says, pass through the camp, command the people
saying, prepare provisions for ourselves. For
within three days you will cross over this Jordan
to go in to possess the land which the Lord your
God has given you to possess. Praise God. We
see him not just hearing the word had come again
and again. And the result is that he acts on
the word. The result of the word, the action
that we see from Joshua is that he takes on that
stance of let's do this. And then they go and
act on the word. God's word has to have a result
in our lives. This has to be a tangible effect.
It doesn't keep us in one place. It gets us to
that place of action. And bravery is a result
of reliance on God's strength because we see
that the reliance on God's strength is what causes
Joshua to say, we can do this because the word
has come again and again. And note that God demands
men to rise up. God demands men to rise up. God
demands you to rise up. God demands me to rise
up. He will keep bringing his word to us. Keep
bringing his word to us. Keep bringing his word
to us. And one very key thing we'll see again
and again as we progress is that God's word comes
to us to encourage us. God's word comes to us
to encourage us. God's word comes to us to dispel
doubt. God's word comes to us to dispel fear.
God's word comes to us for us to rely on him
to get the work done. Joshua is already doing
something that has been instructed because it
is already done. And if you remember, there were
times like in Numbers, back in Numbers, where
they were instructed, the spies, 12 of them were
instructed to go. Notice that 10 of them came
with their own report. Joshua and Caleb came
with a positive report. And it is... You know,
when one, two, three persons have said something,
you know, you might just fall in line because
that's like, who am I? What do I know? If all
these people, 10 of them, have already said,
you just respect yourself and say, yeah, these
people, we cannot take it. But we see that there
was something, we see if God has said it, we
are going for it. Praise God. They are not taking
on what those people are saying, how they see
themselves. And that is what we should always
look to. We should always count on. We should
count on. I said the word strong there means
you're firm. The word strong there means you're
firm. And the word courage, the Hebrew word there
means that you do not yield. You do not yield.
Meaning that no matter what happens, you don't
yield to anything other than the word of God.
The word of God is what we yield to. The word
of God is what we stand by. regardless of what
happens. And the command will keep coming. The
instruction will keep coming. And our response
is that we yield to the word. We yield to the
instruction. Why are we yielding? Because he
has promised, right? Because he says he's there.
He says he's going to be there with us. And we
know that for us now, we know that he is there.
We are not in doubt of God's power, God's presence
in and through our life. And we say that courage
is not detached from God. God's presence with
us is what encourages us. God being with us is
what encourages us. That's what we see every
time he says, I am with you. I am with you. I
am with you. I am with you. That is what stares
away. It's not about your willpower. It's not
about you saying, oh, I can do this. It's not
motivational talk. It's not motivational talk.
It's not about willpower. It's that God has said
it. His presence is with us. And that is why
everywhere we go, we know that he is with us.
And it is his will that is at the forefront.
His will is not at the back. is at the forefront
of our minds. Meaning that we are in that particular
place and we know that I am an ambassador. I
am an ambassador. I am God's instrument in this
place. I am the one that God is going to use
to minister to that person. I'm the one that
God is going to use to minister to him, to minister
to her. I'm the one that God is going to use
in my family to minister to my father, to minister
to my mother. I'm the one that God is going to
use. I'm not waiting for someone else to do it.
Praise God. I'm not waiting for someone else.
Because Joshua can say, Maybe Caleb will do it.
Right? We have instances, and many men will just
resign and say, okay, somebody else will do it.
If I don't do it, God will raise up somebody.
But that is not the stance of someone who knows
that God has placed us in ecstasies for such
a time as this. Praise God. In the book of Esther,
I say for such a time as this, because... Monica
had to tell her that, look, deliverance will
come from somewhere else if you don't rise up.
But she knows that it was not an accident that
she found herself in the palace. So we should
not undermine the fact that God has placed us
strategically in the different places where we
find ourselves. We should just be courageous.
I told us on Sunday that fear is always the cause
for people turning down or going back on the
word. Fear is the threat. to everything, every
instruction of the Lord. And that's why you see
that many times it comes, the word comes, the
word encourages us not to be afraid. The word
encourages us not to be afraid. Praise God. When
the word of the Lord comes, it ensures that fear
is out of the window. Fear is out of the window.
And what happens is that our courage grows from
our confidence in God's word. Our courage grows
from our confidence in God's word. Anytime that
you are feeling like. or you are entertaining
all manner of fears, just know that what is happening
there is your word, your prayer, something is
happening around that department that will result
in that. Anytime you check yourself and you are
seeing that, oh, I'm very fearful, I'm scared,
I'm too scared, I'm always scared, I'm panicking,
I'm all of that, just ask yourself this question,
what are you feeding yourself on? What are you
entertaining? Because there is no way you'll
be entertaining the word of God and the entertaining
fear at the same time. Because God's word comes
to dispel fear. The two cannot be compatible.
And even when you say, okay, sir, I am reading
the word, I'm reading the word, I'm reading the
word. What are you trusting on? Is it the word
or the circumstances around you? Praise God.
Because it's easy for us to look around us and
say, Joshua should look at the people and say,
Kai, these people, they will finish us. Praise
God. It's easy for him to say that. But he chooses
not to because he is trusting, he's relying on
the word of the Lord. I said, we looked at Psalms
a bit, Psalm 27. That Psalm is the Psalm of David.
And David says, the Lord is my light and my salvation.
You know, for you to come to a point where you
say, the Lord is my light and my salvation, you
know him to be your light and salvation. Praise
God. And David is a man that, when you read through,
Kings, Chronicles, you see that he took every
action. He goes to seek God's guidance for every
step and every action he does. That is almost
like his go -to. His default setting is, what
is the Lord saying? What does the Lord want us
to do? What does the Lord want me to do? What
is our stance? He says, the Lord is my light
and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? That's the
question. Whom shall I fear? If the Lord is my
light and salvation, what then am I? Why should
I be scared? He says, the Lord is the strength
of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? Praise
God. He says, the Lord is the strength of my
life. Of whom shall I be afraid? You will say,
oh, if the Lord is the strength of your life,
then you will not be weak, right? But it means
that there is the strength that dispels fear.
There is the strength in the Lord. Note that
there is the strength in the Lord that dispels
fear. Because you can be strong physically. but
weak in the face of fear. Praise God. You can
be strong physically and still weak in the face
of fear. And as I said on Sunday again, in the
end of that chapter, he says, wait on the Lord.
He says, wait on the Lord, be of good courage,
and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait on the
Lord. Wait, I say, on the Lord. He says, and
he shall strengthen your heart. He said, wait
on the Lord. And I encouraged us and I told us,
I said, waiting on the Lord doesn't mean doing
nothing. Waiting on the Lord doesn't mean doing
nothing. Waiting on the Lord means that there
is a posture in this. Waiting on the Lord will
include you putting your trust in him. And putting
your trust in him will mean that you are praying.
Putting your trust in him will mean that you're
reflecting on this word. Putting your trust in
him will mean that you are posting yourself for...
to obey every instruction that he gives. Because
in your waiting, it's not a period of idleness.
It's not the season of, okay, it's not the season
of dryness or just doing nothing. But it's a
season of where you are refined because you are
in the place of praying. And that is the default
setting. And I told us, I said, you're waiting
for something to happen or you're waiting for
graduation. As a student, it doesn't mean that
you're doing nothing. At every step of the way,
there's something that we need to do. And being
courageous demands that you go ahead. You move
forward. You don't stand in one place. You move
forward. You're taking little steps. You are
making the progress. Because even in Trinidad
and Tobago, when they were asked to scout the
land, scouting the land is, they're not yet taking
the land, but they're just doing the scout. Scouting
required work. And even in that, you had some
people saying, we cannot take it. You have some
people saying, we can take it. Praise God. So
it means that at every point in time, you don't
want to entertain any form of fear. You want
to just go into it. You want to do it in the
strength that the Lord supplies. Praise God.
We say bravery. When we see a soldier, we say
this is a brave soldier. This is a valiant soldier.
But when we talk about bravery in our own sense,
it's spiritual. Praise God. It's spiritual because
the... Being brave is a function of our union
with God. It's very different from that kind
of bravery. And we'll get to the point where
we give examples, see the example in our nature.
And it's what God enables us to do. And that
is, it's bravery that will make a person say,
I will not bow down, like the Hebrew boys. It's
bravery that will, that bravery that comes only
from God, that will make them see. the phone
has been hit seven times and not go back on their
word. Because, you know, I was thinking about
it. When somebody has nothing to lose, that person
becomes very dangerous because you don't want
to, you know, there's how, when athletes are
looking, they're trying to gauge, is this person
afraid of something? What is it exactly? And
the moment they find weakness, that's where,
That's where they attack. Right? The moment they
find weakness, that's where they attack. But
we see that these people were not, they were,
there's no threats that could shift their stance.
Praise God. There's no form of threat that could
make them say, oh, let's just change our mind.
As the furnace was being heated, they would see
the furnace and they, you know, you could at
this point say, hmm, self -preservation. Let's
preserve ourselves. is we can fight. But they
were very confident in the fact that, see, look,
even if God doesn't show up, and that is the
mindset we should have as believers. Whatever
thing, whatever idol, whatever form of cultural
pressure, what should be at the forefront of
our minds is, how do I still honor God in the
light of what is going on around me? How do I
still glorify God in the light of what is going
on around me? And we say true bravery is trust.
True bravery is trust. True bravery is trusting
in God, trusting in the one who declares, I am
with you. Trusting in the one who declares, I
am with you. Trusting in the one who declares,
I am with you. And you should have no other one
that you're trusting except this one who declares,
I am with you. And we say being bold, bold obedience
actually flows from, a steady heart that is anchored
on God's character, notice that we always want
to bring attention to the fact that if you have
a wrong understanding of the character of this
God, it will be shaky. Your confidence in him
will be shaky. If you read your Bible and you
still think that God is out to get you, anytime
you're going through a difficult situation, you
think it's him. You will start looking for the
things that you've done wrong that is out to
get you. You start looking for the things that...
But once you know that he says he's with you,
he's not going to turn his back on you because
you did something that you shouldn't have done.
And we say that you are doing it because you
know that this God is faithful. This God is a
God that keeps his words. This is a God that
continues to stand by his word regardless of...
the missteps that we make, regardless of the
challenges that we do have. He stands on his
word. And I want you all to see another example
in Daniel, since we're still in Daniel. I want
us to see Daniel 6. This is Daniel himself. Daniel
6, I want us to look at 10. We look at 10. Daniel
6 verse 10. Daniel 6 verse 10. It says, now when
Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went
home and in his upper room, with his windows
open toward Jerusalem. He knelt down on his knees
three times that day and prayed and gave thanks
before his God, as was his custom since early
days. As was his custom since early days. I want
us to underline as was his custom since early
days. It means that this Daniel had a custom
of praying, giving thanks. That doesn't shift.
It doesn't shift. That was his custom since early
days. That was his custom since early days. What
I want us to understand is that challenging times
and difficult times is not when you start doing
the disciplines that you should have done way
before. Difficult times or challenging times
is not when you start saying, I'm going to pray
now because I'm going through this. I'm going
to study my Bible more because I think I really
need the Word. now than before. Meaning that
we have to have a routine. We have to have a
lifestyle. We have to have something that is
customary. And this is not just unique to Daniel.
We see it all through scriptures. We see it was
customary for Apostle Paul, customary for Jesus
himself to have a regular time of prayers. And
I know that we say three times that day. So we
don't prepare when it's in the face of danger.
We are prepared. in the face of danger, praise
God. But we don't prepare in the face of danger.
So Daniel did not simply, what Daniel was doing
when he went on to do, by the way, just the background,
these people were trying to get something on
Daniel. They looked for everything that they
could. The only thing they could get on him was
just his prayer. That's the only thing they could
use, they could place their hands on. And that
was why they capitalized on it. And Daniel actually
echoed something that we see in 1 Kings 8. Daniel
actually echoed something we see in 1 Kings 8
because you'll be thinking, why is it important
for him to pray towards Jerusalem? Or why is
it important for him to open the window? He would
have just closed the window and nobody knows
he's praying, right? But we see that because
it's customary, customary means that is something
he does usually. And that is how he did it. And
he didn't want to change it for anything because
that is basically what he does regularly. And
I want us to see 1 Kings 8, 35. What he was doing
here was echoing something that King Solomon
would see in his prayer at the delegation of
the temple. In 35, he says, And when the heavens
are shut up and there is no rain because they
have sinned against you, When they pray towards
this place, and this place is the temple, the
place that they were dedicated temple, and confess
your name and turn from their sin because you
afflict them in 47. Let's jump to 47. 47. I want
us to see why Daniel, so yet when they come to
themselves in the land where they were carried
captive, and we know that Daniel, was a captive
in Babylon at that time, and repent and make
supplications to you in the land of those who
took them captive, saying, We have sinned and
done wrong. We have committed wickedness. 48.
And when they turn to you with all their heart
and with all their soul in the land of their
enemies, who led them away captive? and pray
to you towards the land which you gave to their
fathers, the city which you have chosen, and
the temple which I have built for your name.
So notice that Solomon here is praying and then
is saying that there be a prayer, that there
be a repentance and a prayer, and praying towards
the temple is... how they are able to, that's
the posture, that's the stance, that's what will
ensure that they are able to, and that's basically
what he's going by. That Daniel is going by this
prayer of Solomon, he's going by this. And we
see other instances, even with David. David in
Psalms 55 verse 17, David in Psalms 55 verse
17, talks about evening and morning and noon,
he will pray and cry to the Lord and he will
hear his cry. And notice that he says morning,
evening. morning and at noon. And all of this
will just be, all of this at times of the day
is not like three times a day. It's just pointing
to the importance of prayer and the discipline
of prayer and then also suggesting, most importantly,
the fact that you can wholly depend on God to
hear you when you cry. You can wholly depend
on God to hear you when you cry. And that's basically
what Daniel is illustrating in that his posture.
And it means that what, A consistent life of
prayer naturally will cause us to express or
manifest supernatural boldness. A consistent
life of prayer will cause us to always naturally
express that supernatural life of boldness. Because
once a person is confident, he's wholly dependent
on God, because your prayer is a function of
your dependence on God. You going to pray is
you saying, Lord, I depend on you. I'm giving
thanks. I'm giving thanks to you because I know
that everything I have, everything I am, everything
I own is you, is your doing, is of your doing.
And the encouragement of the scripture on death
is the person is honoring God's word by placing
themselves in that posture or placing themselves
in that stance. And we see Daniel not regarding
man, but rather honoring God in his stance to
pray. Not regarding man, but honoring God in
his stance to pray. And we see time and time
again when men honor God in their stance. There
is always deliverance. We see it as a pattern.
When men honor God, take their stance and say,
I choose to trust you. I choose to walk in your
ways. We see that what happens is deliverance.
And for Daniel, we saw that in lions, then the
lions could not, God shut them out of the lions
on his regard. And I want us to still see that
this courage or this boldness we're talking about,
we said, and we'll repeat again, is supernatural.
It's supernatural. It doesn't come by a... natural
means. It's not a function of your temperament.
It's not a function of your temperament. You
just say, I'm naturally a courageous person.
I'm a courageous person, so I'm always courageous.
It's not a function of our temperament. It's
not a function if somebody says, I'm not that
courageous. I'm just a very shy person. I can't
do this. And I want us to see an example in the
life of Peter. I want us to start from his low
point. I want us to start from his low point
and then build up to it because we'll later see
him addressing the children of Israel. We'll
see him addressing the people with Sahandrin.
We'll see him addressing all of this. But let's
start at his low point. Let's look at Luke 22,
54 to 62. Let's see if we can run through. We
just see Peter at the fire. So Luke 22, 54. Having
arrested him, they led him and brought him into
the high priest's house. But Peter followed at
a distance. 55. Now when they had kindled a fire
in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together,
Peter sat among them. And a certain servant girl,
seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently
at him and said, this man was also with him.
And he denied, but he denied, but he denied him
saying, that's he denied Jesus saying, woman,
I don't know him. I do not know him. And after
a little while, another saw him and said, you
also, you also are of them. But Peter said, man,
I am not. 59. Then after about an hour had passed,
another confidently affirmed, saying, Surely
this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.
60. Says, But Peter said, Man, I do not know
what you are saying. Immediately, while he was
still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord
turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered
the word of the Lord, how he had said to him,
before the rooster crows, he will deny me three
times. 62. So Peter went out and wept bitterly.
63. Okay. So 62, that's where we stop. So we
see that Peter had denied and we said, All this
had happened afterwards while back in the garden,
Peter had pulled out a sword. Peter has pulled
out a sword, boldly pulled out, because for you
to pull out a sword against someone, slice off
somebody's ears, that requires a bit of bravery.
But we say that that's of a physical sort, right?
That's the one that comes naturally. But we see
that in the face of just, okay, because you're
like... See, I don't know the man. First time
would have been a mistake. Second time, maybe
somebody else was pointed at. Third time. And
I want us to even look at it in Matthew. Matthew's
account. Matthew 26. Matthew 26, 72. From the
NLT. Matthew 26, 72. Matthew 26, 72 from the
NLT. Again. Peter denied it, this time with an
oath. I don't even know the man, he said. 73.
A little later, some of the other bystanders
came over to Peter and said, you must be one
of them. We can tell by your Galilean accent.
So something was giving him off. Peter swore
a curse on me if I'm lying. I don't know the
man. And immediately the rooster crowed, I can
imagine. Immediately the rooster crowed 75. Suddenly
Jesus' words flashed through Peter's mind. Before
the rooster crows, you will deny three times
that you even know me. And he went away weeping
bitterly. So this one, Matthew tells us that
it was just to just... sound to just make the
person believe that he doesn't really know. He
had to add a bit of swearing to it to just confirm
that, see, I'm not the person. If I'm swearing
like this, I'm not the person. And you can look
at it and think to yourself, when you are depending
on your strength, you're depending on your ability
to be able to do God's work, you will get to
points like this. Notice that when Jesus Christ
speaking to Peter told him that he would deny
him. You know, when you're thinking, oh, how
can I? How can I? You're not thinking of the
fact that there is a possibility for that to
happen. You're thinking that, no, there's no
way. Because in your mind, things will always
be like this. Things will always be like when
we gather like this. There's going to be a time
where you go out. And then you are in a place
where you're like, what do you believe in? Right?
And you have instance, you know, the Lord loves
everybody. He loves everybody. Like you can come
to him, like any way, any path is a path that
leads to him. Just to make everybody, just to
accommodate everybody. But that will not be the
truth because you know better than that, that
Christ is the way, Christ is the only way, right?
Christ is the only way to the Father. And we
see that in, In John, like John 18 verse 10,
John 18 verse 10, where John 18 verse 10, it
says, and Simon Peter drew a sword and sliced
off, if you can, then Peter said, having a sword,
he drew it and struck the high priest's servants
and cut off his ear. And the servant's name was
Malchus. And I want you to see that I think John
just gives us details. John just gives us details.
Every other person that wrote this account just
didn't disclose that Peter was the person that
did it. And it's important for us to see that
in that height, in the height of what was going
on, his action, his willingness to defend and
his willingness to, he just did the first thing
that he could do. It is, okay, we had a sword.
Initially when Jesus Christ was telling him,
okay, go, he got the sword and then he put the
sword to use. What we see, Jesus' action, even
in that light, it was, he picked the ear of the
person and there was healing. But what is most
importantly is we contrast the character of Peter
at this point and Peter next to the fire. You're
looking at the person here and looking at the
person there, you think it should be two different
persons because one person is denying him, the
other person is willing to defend him. Praise
God. The other person is willing to defend him
and you might say, okay, it was in the garden,
it was dark. There was fire there. You could
see him. So note that physical bravery is not
what we're talking about when we're talking about
supernatural bravery. Physical bravery, physical
being, physically brave, pulling out a sword
is not what we're talking about. Because you
can have the spiritual and you can have the physical.
Because your physical translated. Remember we
said that. Once there's supernatural bravery
or supernatural boldness, you are able to speak
up. You are able to speak up. You're not silent.
Supernatural bravery or supernatural boldness,
you don't keep silent. And we'll see that as
we progress. We'll see that Peter was able to
stand before the Sanhedrin. Peter was able to
stand before the children of Israel and boldly
declare the word. We'll see that in Acts 2 .14.
We see that in Acts 2 .14. I want us to read
this from the NLT. Acts 2 .14. Then Peter, stepping
forward with the 11 other apostles, shouted to
the crowd, Listen carefully, all of you, fellow
Jews and residents of Jerusalem. Make no mistake
about this. Make no mistake about this. You can
hear from his words. You can hear from his words
that this person is persuaded. about what they
are communicating. And note that it's the same
person he denied his defending here to the Jews.
Praise God. The same person he denied his defending
here to the Jews. And what the result of all
of this is 3 ,000 persons and more believed.
Praise God. About 3 ,000 persons believed. And
we see in Acts 3 .12, Acts 3 .12, Acts 3 .12,
Peter saw this opportunity and addressed. the
crowd, that was just after the man that was at
the beautiful gate. People of Israel, he said,
what is so surprising about this? And why stare
at us as do we have made this man walk by our
own power or godliness? And we will see as we
progress that in Acts 4 .4, that about... 5 ,000
also believed at the teaching or the preaching.
But many of the people who heard the message
believed it. So the number of believers now totaled
about 5 ,000, not counting women and children.
Praise God. So there's something about not looking
at ourselves or thinking about, okay, we're convincing
ourselves, okay, I can do it. Many of us, when
we are faced with a situation where we are, to
open our mouth and be bold. We look at ourselves,
we say, I don't think I'm cut out for this. I
don't think I can do this. I see how the sister
does it graciously. I see how this brother does
it graciously. I don't think I'm able to do it
because we are looking at ourselves. We're looking
at our ability. We're looking, we're trying to,
and we're not really convinced that we're able
to do it. And that's where there's a thing, there's
a place of where you are confident in God's word.
There's a place of where... You're trained. There's
a place of where you understand what you're doing.
There's a place of even where people don't necessarily,
the woman or the whale, there's a place where
you don't need to have it together or it's good.
You just need to be persuaded that the person
you saw is the Messiah or the person that you
have a relationship with is the Messiah. So the
challenge is stop looking at yourself, right?
Stop looking at yourself. Stop looking at what
you know. Stop looking at yourself. Stop looking
at what you know. But look at the one who is
with you, right? Look at the one who is with
you, the one who has promised. So boldness is
an expression of supernatural bravery and it
comes out in words, through our speakings. It
comes out in words. It's an expression of supernatural
bravery in words and through our speaking. It
comes out in words. And we say the outward working
of faith in our lives is boldness. how you know
or how you can see faith at work in your life
is in your speaking. Because if you have faith,
you will speak. Praise God. If you have faith,
you will speak. We've been taught that again
and again. And we see in Ephesians 6, verse 19
to 20, as Apostle Paul was reminding us, he says,
for me, he says, pray for me, that all trans
may be given to me. All trans may be given to
me that... I may open my mouth boldly to make
known the mystery of the gospel, for which I
am an ambassador in chains, that in it I may
speak boldly as I ought to speak. I may speak
boldly as I ought to speak. So we see here, utterance
may be given to me, that I may open my mouth
boldly, boldly, boldly to make known. Notice
that the boldness there is to make known. To
make known what? The mystery of the gospel. And
he says, he continues, an ambassador in chains,
telling it that I may speak boldly as I ought
to speak. I may speak boldly as I ought to speak.
The Greek word there is P -A -R -R -E -S -I -A.
P -A -R -R -E -S -I -A. It means speaking plainly
without reservation, public declaration, speaking
boldly without reservation, public declaration.
And even the other boldly there is perissia somae.
It's similar, but it has the somae, which means
to speak freely, to grow confident with boldness,
to speak freely, to grow confident with boldness.
Second boldly there. It's the same spelling.
P -A -R -R -E -S -I -A. Then Z -O -M -A -I. Z
-O -M -A -I. The first one without the Z -O -M
-A -I. The second one is with the Z -O -M -A
-I at the end. So it means that believers, boldness
is supernatural and is in words. And Apostle
Paul clearly... He's demanding that he's able
to, because that is necessary for the work, that
the utterance that he has is for declaring the
gospel. The utterance that he has is for declaring
the gospel. And even in our lives, we want to
boldly declare the things that we are. Praise
God. We want to boldly declare the things that
we are. As David says, the Lord is my light and
my salvation. You are to declare with confidence
and with persuasion that I am a child of God,
that I cannot be moved. I'm not afraid. I trust
the Lord. The word of the Lord through me is
mighty. The word of the Lord through me is mighty.
I am alive and well. I am not sick. I will heal
the sick. I will raise the dead. You want to
be able to declare God's word with that level
of persuasion. And basically what we do when
we do affirmations is that we affirm God's word.
Praise God. We affirm God's word. And we're affirming
God's word and saying, through me, the Lord is
winning billions of souls. Through me. And how
would that happen? It's by me opening my mouth
with boldness and declaring the gospel. Praise
God. And declaring the gospel. And we see men
and women doing the same. And all of them are
an example to us. If these men and women are
able to take a stand for this same thing that
we're taking a stand for, and we can see the
result. How much more? We. Praise God. In this
day and age, we look around us, there are people
that need to hear the gospel. Praise God. And
our challenge is to be bold enough, to be brave
enough, to be courageous enough to declare it
without fear. Praise God. Declare without fear
because you are God's hands and feet. You are
his mouthpiece. You are opening your mouth and
being an instrument through which God will use
to deliver that person. Praise God. And in Acts
2, In Acts 2 .29, we'll see examples of boldness.
In Acts 2 .29, it says, Men and brethren, let
me speak freely. The freely there is the parousia.
Freely. To you of the Petrarch David, that he
is both dead and buried, and in his tomb with
us to this day. He says, let me speak freely.
And he goes on and on and on and on. And Peter's
confidence isn't in his, it's not his personality.
He's confident that his spirit empowered and
is anchored on his certainty because he's certain
of what he's saying. He says, let me speak freely.
Let me speak boldly. Let me speak to you of the
patriarch David. Let me speak to you of this
man. Let me speak to you of this man. And we
see in Acts 4, 13. I love the example in Acts
4, 13. It says, now when they saw the boldness
of Peter and John, and perceived that they were
uneducated and untrained men. They marveled.
And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
Praise God. They say they saw the boldness, that
is the paresia, of Peter and John and perceived
that they were uneducated. So it's not even a
function of the normal education that you have.
It's a function of the fact that you have. You
have an encounter, you are saved, you have a
union with him and you are grounded on the word
because you have been hearing God's word. All
the things that you've been hearing, what you're
doing is that you are allowing God to use what
you've learned to bless the other person. Praise
God. You are doing it. And for many of us, we
feel that we have not gotten enough. Same as
Joshua. Joshua felt that, okay, I still have
a lot of training to do. I still feel like I'm
not ready to. And in fact, we even see, Instance
that I think can just bring us back to Corinthians.
In the first Corinthians 16 verse 10. First Corinthians
16 verse 10. It says, when Timothy comes, don't
intimidate him. I'm reading from the NLT. When
Timothy comes, don't intimidate him. He's doing
the Lord's work, just as I am. It says, don't
let anyone treat him with contempt. Send him
on his way with your blessings when he returns.
to me. I expect him to come with the other believers,
praise God. Meaning that he's charging the Corinthian
church, don't intimidate the young man. Don't
intimidate the young man. Don't, don't, like
he's doing the Lord's work, praise God, just
as Apostle Paul. And Apostle Paul is pushing
him forward. Meaning that he's cheering him on,
he's trying to, because you can have instances
where you, people play, like, Things can come
at you, right? People can intimidate you, praise
God. But you don't get intimidated. You don't
get intimidated. You don't allow anyone to intimidate
you. He says, you are uneducated and untrained,
and they marveled. And then they realized this
one thing, that they had been with Jesus. 29
now says, now look on their threatens. That is
Acts 4, 29. Acts 4 .29. Say, Now, Lord, look
on their threats and grant your servant that
with all boldness that they may speak your word.
With all boldness. That boldness there is the
same word. And then 31. It says, And when they
prayed, the place where they assembled together
was shaken, and they were all filled with the
Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with
boldness. Praise God. They were threatened not
to. And these people prayed and the place was
shaken and they continued. Praise God. They continued
to preach the word, meaning that no matter what
threats, no matter what exactly it is that comes
at you, you should not allow it to put you down.
Praise God. You should not allow it to put you
down. You should continue to do the work of the
one who has called you because the one who has
called you is greater. Praise God. The one who
has called you is greater. Then Acts 28 .31.
Acts 28 .31. It says, Preaching the kingdom of
God and teaching the things which concerns the
Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence. No one
forbidding him. That's Apostle Paul. No one forbidding
him with all confidence. Confidence there is
heresia. No one forbidding him. So he kept on
doing that. That's the end of the 28th. He kept
on doing that. Preaching the kingdom of God.
Teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ. No one forbidding him. And then. Lastly,
Ephesians 3 verse 12. That's Ephesians 3 verse
12. It says, In whom we have boldness and access
with confidence through faith in him. In whom.
That's Christ Jesus. In whom we have boldness.
In whom we have boldness. It's in him that we
have boldness, access, and confidence in faith.
Our boldness is not in our strength. It's not
in our might. Our boldness and our confidence
is in what? It's the word and the strength that
the Lord supplies. Praise God. And as I said
on Sunday in passing, our confidence is contagious.
Our confidence is contagious. And I want to read
to us the quote. It says, courage is contagious.
When a brave man or woman takes a stand, the
spines of others are often stiffened. The spines
of others are often stiffened. Stephen. And we
see this in the life of Apostle Paul in Philippians
1 verse 14, as we read during the time of prayer.
I said that on Sunday, that people saw what Apostle
Paul was going through. And the scripture says,
and most of the brethren in the Lord, having
become confident by my change, are more I'm much
more bold to speak the word without fear. That
without fear there is boldly. That without fear
there is boldly. Without fear is aphobos. It's
not fear, no fear. And then no fear means that
you are bold. Because once you remove fear from
the equation, boldness is basically what is expressed.
So they are able to speak boldly. They're able
to speak. boldly and i want us to see matthew
i want us to see peter again i want to see matthew
14 27 and i want us to read it from the amplified
matthew matthew 14 27 and he says but immediately
he spoke to them saying take courage it is i
do not be afraid take courage this i Do not be
afraid. And just a background. The disciples
were in the boat and then Jesus Christ was walking
on water and they thought it was a ghost. And
immediately he spoke to them, he says, but immediately
he spoke to them saying, take courage. It is
I, do not be afraid. Take courage, it is I, do
not be afraid. That take courage there, you'll
see it as in some translation as take heart.
You see it as in some translation, take heart,
be of good cheer. And we have several passages
of scripture that has the same. Take courage
is a word to mean be of good courage or be of
good cheer. The word is be of good courage, be
of good cheer. And he says it is I. Remember
when we talk about when he says, be strong, be
courageous, and then tells you I am with you,
right? And then he says, do not be afraid. We
see that it's the same pattern where you are
reminded of the fact that God is with you, and
that's the reason why you should not be afraid.
Praise God. Because God is with you, that's the
reason why we're afraid. And that word in a sense
means that you should radiate confidence. You
should be confident. You should be confident.
Remember when we said be confident means that
you are expressing or you're manifesting that
which you have by virtue of your union with God.
Because you have a relationship with him, because
he is with you, you are confident. You're not
manufacturing it, praise God. You're just manifesting
that which you have. And it goes beyond human
bravery. It's an assurance that you have and
a peace that you have because of your faith in
God. Because you have faith in God, you have
that assurance that you are safe. Praise God.
You have that assurance that you are safe. And
the moment that kicks in, we see an action in
the life of Peter. The moment, you know, all
of them are in the boat. And that's the thing
of how we can be here, but there can be a situation
that demands people's... to act. And what happens
is that somebody will, without thinking, and
I can imagine, I can imagine what would have
happened because going by how Peter is, he will
act and then it's almost like he thinks about
it later. And notice that he makes a request
in 28. He makes a request in 28. Peter answered
and said, just put it in New King James, in 28.
Peter answered him saying, and said, Lord, if
it is you, command me to come to you on the water.
If it is you, command me to come to you on the
water. And you will just be thinking to yourself,
like, it's scary enough that you thought it was
a ghost, right? It's scary enough that you thought
it was a ghost. And then now, because now you
believe it is him, your next response is, yeah.
I would like to walk with you on the water. I
would like to experience. I want to see what
the view is. Praise God. I'd like to see what
the view is. And that takes a level of confidence.
Like you are persuaded. I see because it is him.
I can do likewise. Praise God. And I want you
to see it like this. Because God's word says
so. I want to see it. in my life. Praise God.
Because God's word says so, I want to see that
same thing manifested through me. I'm not okay
with me seeing it around me, right? I'm not okay
with me seeing, just looking at him walk on water.
I want to see that I'm able to do likewise. Praise
God. And that is the boldness, that is the confidence,
that's the courage in action. That's the courage
in action. So it's not just Peter looking at
it and admiring it, but it took him a lot to
go ahead and say it. And I can imagine that when
he has said, okay, Jesus Christ bids him come,
and then he starts walking, and then the storms
come, right? The storms come, and then you see
fear being entertained, and then you see all
of that happening. But I want you to pick on
something very beautiful, There's no limit to
what you can do once you rely on, you trust God.
There's no limit to what you can do when your
confidence is in his instruction. Because he's
given that instruction. You say, if it is you,
bid me to come. Praise God. And God's word is
saying that without, from where we started, because
he heard the word, because he believed that it
was him, because he had put the full weight on
God, he now says, and then God instructs him,
he didn't stay in the boat. He still acted on
the word and he came out of the boat. And he
was able to walk. Praise God. He was able to
walk. And you can just think of it like, how
am I going to do this? How am I going to do this?
how will God help me get this done? There are
two things, two different things. How am I going
to do this? And how will God help me do this?
There are two different mindsets. There are two
different, there are two different approach to
the same challenge. You want to get this thing
done. You want, one person wants to do it by
their self. The other person wants to do it.
And sometimes we can even say it spiritually,
just spiritualize and say, how am I going to
do this with God's help? But what you're... saying
in essence is, how am I going to do this by my
own strength? Praise God. But we see Peter walking
on that water and even when he was sinking, he
still cried out, save me. Praise God. He still
cried out, save me. So I want to challenge you
in closing. What is that fear that is holding
you back from sharing the gospel? What is that
fear that is denying someone an opportunity of
being saved? What is that fear that you have?
that's denying someone an opportunity of being
saved? What's that fear that keeps you silent
when you should be speaking? What is that fear
that keeps you silent when you should be speaking?
What is that fear? Because you, and then you
just keep, you reject. You know, like Peter,
you might just be, because you just, because
you're scared. of what can happen, what people
will do to you. You can just be silent or you
can deny him. You can just keep running. Some
people, they just know how to run. When there's
anything that they don't understand, they just
keep running, just keep running. I want you to
understand that you can genuinely cry out to
the Lord for boldness. You can genuinely cry
out to the Lord for boldness and boldness will
find expression in and through you. Boldness
will find expression in you. So I want us to
pray because in Acts we see that the people wanted
to honor God rather than men. They wanted to
honor God rather than men. And what they decided
to do is that rather than we be cowards, rather
than we be cowards, we would rather pray and
then continue doing. I can imagine how they were
supernaturally delivered from prison and they
went back to what they were. arrested for. They
went back to what they were arrested for. And
whatever it is that is that fear, you want to
pray that courage will continue to find expression
in and through your life, courage will continue
to find expression in and through my life, courage
will continue to be my stance with regards to
what God's will is for my life. And that courage
is able to make ordinary men and women be, regardless
of what the challenging situation is, where they
put no fear. above the work of God. They put
no fear above what God's responsibility, what
the responsibility God has called them to. They
put no fear. They put no fear. And they continue
to declare that we'll continue to work. We'll
continue to stand fast in faith. We'll continue
to be brave for the work. We'll continue to be
strong in the Lord. We'll continue to be steadfast.
We'll continue to be immovable. We'll continue
to abound in the work. We'll continue to abound
in the work. We'll let nothing. We will let nothing
stop us. We will let nothing hold us back. We
will let nothing deny us the great privilege
of the work that God has called us to. Because
what he has called us to is great and requires
great faith, great confidence, great boldness
to do the work. And we will continue. We will
not cower. We will not say no. We will continue
to stand. We will continue to stand. We will
continue to stand. We will continue to stand.
And it's not about how we feel. It's about what
he has said. And fear can be crippling. But we
will continue to trust in the Lord. We will continue
to trust in the Lord. We will be the ones who
dare. Who dare to say, I will walk on the water.
I will walk on the water. Because you have said
so, I will do it. Because you said I can heal
the sick, I will. put myself in that position.
I will not pass out on an opportunity to do so.
Even if it scares me, even if I'm afraid, even
if I'm afraid, but I choose to, I will choose
to trust you and allow the light of your word
dispel every fear and any fear in me. I will
not let anything hold me back. We appreciate
you being here today. We hope you carry this
word with you throughout your week. Don't forget
to check the show notes for additional insights.
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Until next time, stay blessed.