Latest / Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons / The Minister pt. 2

Transcript

The Minister pt. 2 · Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons

0:01
Welcome to NECF Sermons. Each message here is
0:06
designed to uplift and strengthen you in your
0:09
walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until
0:13
the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive
0:17
right in. Father Lord, we thank you. We give
0:22
you praise. We give you adoration. Thank you
0:24
for another opportunity to gather before you
0:27
today to hear from you, to fellowship with one
0:29
another. Pray that you bless us. Pray that you
0:32
strengthen us. In the mighty name of Jesus, we
0:35
pray. Amen. Let's have our seats. Mark chapter
0:53
16. Mark chapter 16. He started looking at the
1:07
minister. He started looking at the minister.
1:14
We're going to continue in that Mark chapter
1:19
16. From verse 15 and 16. He says, And he said
1:37
to them, Go into all the world and preach the
1:40
gospel to every creature. He who believes and
1:43
is baptized will be saved, for he who does not
1:47
believe will be condemned. And this sign shall
1:50
follow those who believe. In my name they shall
1:53
cast out demons, they shall speak with new tongues,
1:57
they will take up serpents, and if they drink
1:59
anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them.
2:05
They will lay hands on the sick and they will
2:07
recover. Praise the Lord. And we started establishing
2:11
that God has called us to preach the gospel.
2:17
God has called us to preach the gospel. And that
2:21
the scope of the gospel is not restricted to
2:25
a particular people. It is not restricted to
2:29
a particular nation. It is not based on economic
2:36
values of people. It is not based on anything
2:45
that we can think about or that every man needs
2:49
to be saved. It is God's desire that all men
2:52
come to the knowledge of Him. Praise the Lord.
2:57
It is God's desire that everybody, that every
2:59
man is saved. This is the yearning of God. So
3:03
he tells us to go into all the world. Praise
3:07
the Lord. To go into all the world. And we looked
3:09
at how Jesus chose his disciples and how he called
3:15
them together. And he trained them and told them
3:19
to go and become fishers of men rather than...
3:24
in the in the seas fishing praise the lord he
3:27
changed their occupation as a result of associating
3:30
with him praise the lord so they should go out
3:34
and preach the gospel that is to tell people
3:37
the gospel of the kingdom that no man is exempted
3:43
from a from salvation praise the lord That no
3:49
man should be exempted from it. Every man needs
3:52
to hear the gospel because that is what can save,
3:56
or that is what saves a man. Or that is what
4:00
brings man in relation with God. Praise the Lord.
4:06
And so we also looked at that God has called
4:09
us. Praise the Lord. That every believer is called.
4:13
All of us are called by God. Praise the Lord.
4:17
Everybody that is saved is called. So there are
4:20
no special people that are called and then you
4:23
are not. Praise the Lord. As you are saved, you
4:26
are called of God. Praise the Lord. So today
4:33
we're going to continue in that plan, the desires
4:37
of God that we saw. We saw in Exodus how God
4:41
intended that the children of Israel become a
4:45
kingdom. of priests and kings to him. Praise
4:49
the Lord. That he become a royal priesthood.
4:52
That he become people of his possession. Praise
4:55
the Lord. Because they are peculiar people to
4:58
him. It is God who is doing that calling to them.
5:01
Numbers chapter 11. Numbers chapter 11 from verse
5:12
25. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and
5:22
spoke to him and took the spirit that was upon
5:27
him and placed it upon the seventy elders. And
5:31
it happened when the spirit rested upon them
5:33
that they prophesied, although they never did
5:37
so again. But two men who had remained in the
5:42
camp, the name of one, Eldad, name of the other,
5:46
Midad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they
5:51
were among those listed, but who had not gone
5:57
out to the tabernacle, yet they prophesied in
6:00
the camp. A young man ran, and a young man ran
6:04
and told Moses, saying, Eldad and Midad are prophesying
6:07
in the camp. So Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses'
6:13
assistants, one of the chosen men, answered and
6:15
said, Moses, my Lord, forbid them. And Moses
6:21
said to him, Are you zealous for my sake? Oh,
6:27
that all the Lord's people were prophets, that
6:34
the Lord would put his spirit upon them. And
6:39
Moses returned to the camp. He and the elders
6:43
of Israel. Praise the Lord. Let's go back to
6:45
that verse 29. So we also see here that Moses
6:50
declaring, again, the desires of God. What God
6:55
intended for them to, or how he intended his
6:59
people to be. That everybody is able to prophesy.
7:04
Praise the Lord. So again, he tells them of the
7:07
intention of God. That every... people of God
7:11
prophesy and the Spirit of God is put upon them.
7:16
Praise the Lord. So we see again that Moses is
7:19
telling them again the desires of what God intends
7:23
that they should be or intends that the nation
7:25
of Israel should be. So he tells them that he
7:33
wants everybody to be a spokesperson, that is
7:36
a prophet, as we all learned what that word prophet
7:39
is. That every one of the children of Israel
7:42
are prophets, people that are spokesperson for
7:46
God. And so what would a spokesperson for God?
7:49
A spokesperson for God will begin to speak the
7:51
counsel of God. Praise the Lord. They will know
7:54
the counsel of God and they will speak also the
7:57
counsel of God. So it means that they are going
8:00
to go and preach the message of God. Praise the
8:04
Lord. That they will go and preach the message
8:07
of God. So we also saw last week, Sunday, that
8:11
of the intention of God consigning the people
8:14
of Israel. And that plan came in the form of
8:18
preaching. It came to them as a message. God
8:20
was sending them a message that I want you to
8:23
be a kingdom of priests and kings. It is God
8:26
who is going to do that. Praise the Lord. We
8:28
also saw that in the New Testament and how Christ
8:30
did it for us. So it is God who was going to
8:34
do that. It is the doing of God. And all they
8:37
needed to do was to have faith or to believe
8:40
the gospel that was preached to them, that God
8:43
is going to do something. And so if God is going
8:46
to do something, I'm going to believe him. Praise
8:49
the Lord. If God is going to do something, it
8:52
is not what they are going to walk. It is not
8:55
what they are going to do by their own understanding.
8:58
It is not what they are going to do by either
9:00
sacrificing or doing anything. It is what God
9:03
is going to do. It is a calling of God. And we
9:06
saw that also when we were reading about the
9:10
calling of God upon our lives. And we're going
9:11
to look at it briefly again. So God's plan was
9:16
for them to be kingdom of kings and priests on
9:20
the earth. They were supposed to be speaking
9:23
the messages of God as they leave Egypt. As they
9:30
come to the promised land, they were supposed
9:32
to be spreading the message of the kingdom. It
9:34
was not that they will come and then they will
9:37
need a prophet again that will tell them the
9:40
things of God. Praise the Lord. So we see that
9:44
because of this rejection, they constantly need
9:47
a prophet amongst them. They constantly need
9:51
a leader amongst them. They constantly need judges
9:57
among them. People that would speak the mind
9:59
of God because they have rejected the gospel
10:02
that was preached to them. Praise the Lord. They
10:05
constantly needed this to happen to them. So
10:14
as they are leaving Egypt, or as they are leaving
10:17
Egypt, in what we look at as the Exodus, right?
10:22
Which is that they are going out of sin, right?
10:25
It is a figure to say they are going out of sin,
10:28
right? Into the promises of God. Praise the Lord.
10:33
Into redemption. Into the spirit life. Praise
10:39
the Lord. So as they were living, the plan of
10:42
God was for them that when they go to a new place
10:44
or when they have come to this place, they are
10:46
ministers of God. Praise the Lord. They are ministers
10:51
of God. And it's also the intention of God or
10:55
it is the plan of God. And we have had it time
10:58
and time again for our lives that we are saved
11:01
not to stay in one place. Praise the Lord. We
11:05
are saved not to continue to... Yes, continue
11:09
to receive because that is part of what we do
11:11
as Christians, but also that we share our faith,
11:15
that we keep growing. If we refuse to share,
11:18
you begin to find people begin to create different
11:21
type of groups in church. Maybe they will call
11:23
you the elders. Maybe they will call you the
11:26
deacons. Maybe they will call you this and that.
11:29
Praise the Lord. Because people just want to
11:33
sit. and not do the things of God, and not do
11:35
the intention of what God has planned for every
11:39
believer to do. Praise the Lord. That as you
11:42
continue to grow, just like the disciples were
11:46
with Jesus three and a half years. That was what
11:49
it took for them to be able to start doing something.
11:54
And you've been in church all your life. Praise
11:57
the Lord. And so it therefore means that you
12:00
should be able to come to the place Where you
12:03
are knowledgeable enough to spread the message
12:06
of the kingdom. Where you are able enough to
12:09
explain what the gospel is to somebody who does
12:12
not know. Praise the Lord. And like I mentioned
12:15
from the beginning, the gospel does not discriminate.
12:18
It is no racism. Praise the Lord. We will not
12:21
come and put here, say no racism. Or we will
12:24
now, you know the things they put in football,
12:26
say no to racism. It does not apply here. Everybody
12:32
needs the gospel. Everybody is in need of the
12:35
gospel. I was talking to somebody the other day
12:37
that was like, a person who does not have Christ
12:41
or who does not have God in their life, the more
12:44
they become big, the more devices of evil in
12:48
their life continue to become big. Praise the
12:51
Lord. The more they become big, the more the
12:54
devices... I said, have you ever found a poor
12:58
person? They say he died of cocaine. Or let's
13:02
say, or somebody who has no money died of something
13:11
that is expensive to get. Praise the Lord. Have
13:18
we had any stories of, oh, somebody maybe, do
13:22
you understand? A poor person's trouble might
13:24
be that he's drunk with alcohol. There's nothing,
13:27
he's languishing with local beer. Praise the
13:31
Lord. But a man who does not have God in the
13:36
inside of them, the more they become powerful,
13:39
the more they want to control the things of the
13:41
world. Praise the Lord. The more their vices
13:44
increase. I don't want to talk about the concluded
13:49
sentence, music mogul, and the things that he
13:57
was doing with his money. Praise the Lord. But
13:59
we see examples of these things all over the
14:02
world. The more people do not know God, the more
14:08
the devices of evil increases. The more they
14:11
are prone to doing a lot of things. Praise the
14:18
Lord. So we ought, as Christians, ought to teach
14:22
the gospel. Praise the Lord. So the people that
14:26
are sitting in your class, The people that are
14:28
close to you now, you don't know who their fathers
14:30
are. You don't know who their mothers are. Maybe
14:32
they are people that are in line to be influential
14:38
as a result of the family they come from. And
14:41
they have been around you and they've never had
14:43
the gospel. Praise the Lord. 10 years from now,
14:47
20 years from now, when they inherit the things
14:49
that they inherit, what do you think they are
14:51
going to do with it? Praise the Lord. They are
14:55
not going to propagate the kingdom of heaven.
15:00
So God intends that as the people leave Egypt,
15:03
that they go and they become ministers on the
15:06
earth. As we come to the knowledge or as we come
15:10
to God, right? He intends that we become ministers
15:18
of God, that we teach the gospel. Ephesians chapter
15:22
1. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 17. It said, what
15:57
is the exceeding greatness of his power to us
15:59
who believe according to the working of his mighty
16:01
power, which he walked in Christ when he raised
16:05
him from the dead and seated at the right hand
16:08
in the heavenly places, far above all principalities
16:12
and power and might and dominion and every name
16:15
that is named, not only in this age but also
16:19
in the one to come. And he has put all things
16:23
under his feet and given him and giving him to
16:27
be the head of all things to the church. Praise
16:30
the Lord. In verse 18, he tells us, He said,
16:38
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened,
16:40
that you may know what is the hope of your calling,
16:43
what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance
16:46
in the sins. He said that you may know what is
16:48
the hope of your calling. And we say that word
16:53
called in here is what he called us. Praise the
16:56
Lord. What God has called us. Praise the Lord.
17:01
It means what he called us, what he has called
17:03
you. And the things that he has called us, we
17:05
can see from verse 4 of this same chapter. Verse
17:11
4 to 7. He said, just as he has chosen us in
17:16
him before the foundation of the world that we
17:18
should be holy without... without blame. Verse
17:28
5. Having predestined us to the adoption as sons
17:35
by Jesus Christ to himself, according to his
17:37
good pleasure, the good pleasure of his will,
17:43
to the praises of his glory. Are you sure we're
17:55
reading the same place? He talks about, he says,
18:01
he has blessed us with every spiritual blessings
18:03
in heavenly places. There's three. Okay. Okay.
18:11
Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus
18:13
Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual
18:15
blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Praise
18:18
the Lord. So this is the first thing that we
18:20
can see from this few scriptures that Paul is
18:23
saying to us. That the hope of our calling, this
18:25
is what he has called us. Praise the Lord. He
18:27
said he blessed us with every spiritual blessing
18:31
in the heavenly places in Christ. And then verse
18:36
4 now. He said, just as he has chosen us in him
18:41
before the foundation of the world, that we should
18:43
be holy and without blame. Right? He has chosen
18:46
us in him before the foundation of the world,
18:49
that we should be holy and without blame. Before
18:53
him in love. Verse 5. Having predestined us to
18:58
adoptions as son by Jesus Christ to himself,
19:01
according to the good pleasure of his will, to
19:05
the praises of the glory of his grace, by which
19:10
he made us accepted in the beloved. In him we
19:14
have redemption through his blood, forgiveness
19:16
of sin, according to the riches of his grace.
19:20
Praise the Lord. This is what he has called us.
19:23
So Paul is saying that you will know the hope
19:26
of your calling. Praise the Lord. That you will
19:29
not miss it. That you will not miss that which
19:33
Christ has done for you. Praise the Lord. That
19:37
you may understand it. He said he has redeemed
19:41
us through his blood. The forgiveness of sins
19:43
according to the riches of his grace. He said
19:47
he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing.
19:50
in the heavenly places. Hallelujah. So this is
19:54
the things that he has called us. This is what
19:57
he has called us as believers. This is his calling
20:02
upon our lives, that we are blessed in the heavenly
20:06
places. This is what he has done. So Paul tells
20:12
us that we should come, that we will come to
20:14
the knowledge of this, that we will know the
20:16
hope of his calling. that will know the hope
20:21
of his calling. Luke chapter 5. Luke chapter
20:32
5 verse 10. He said, And so also were James and
20:41
John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners
20:44
with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Do not be
20:47
afraid for For now you will catch men. Praise
20:53
the Lord. So this is Jesus calling his disciples
20:55
to him, right? And he's saying that, don't be
20:59
afraid. Now you're going to catch something much
21:02
more valuable. I'm calling you to something higher
21:06
than what you were doing. Praise the Lord. I'm
21:09
calling you to something much more precious.
21:12
Praise the Lord. So he tells them that fishing
21:16
is good. Praise the Lord. But... Bringing men
21:20
to the kingdom is more important. Praise the
21:24
Lord. Your studies or the professions that you're
21:28
doing is very, very good. But bringing men to
21:31
the kingdom is very, very important. Praise the
21:35
Lord. So he said they should follow him for he
21:39
would show them something of a higher priority.
21:42
Praise the Lord. So even as you go about your
21:48
school, as you go about your class, as you go
21:51
about your work, when the opportunity comes,
21:54
you also seek those opportunities, you preach
21:56
the gospel. Praise the Lord. Because your work
21:59
is good, it is important that you work, but at
22:01
the same time, it's more important as well that
22:04
you preach the gospel. Praise the Lord. Because
22:08
this does not have, the value is not that which
22:13
can be destroyed. Praise the Lord. The value
22:19
is not in that which can be destroyed. It has
22:23
eternal reward. It has eternal values. It has
22:28
eternal reward. So Luke uses to catch men to
22:35
mean to preach and to teach people. So he said
22:41
to catch men. It means that what you're doing
22:43
is that you're not going to go and hold their
22:45
shirt. Okay, since we're using nets to catch
22:48
fish or hooks, let's also, you know, let's spread
22:51
something. No, you are going to preach and to
22:54
teach men. This is how you catch men. Praise
22:58
the Lord. This is how you catch men. You don't
23:01
go there and then you're doing some psychology
23:03
or some things like that. Praise the Lord. Or
23:06
tell them, you know, if Christ comes, if Christ
23:08
comes into your life, all your troubles will
23:10
go away. Or, you know, all the issues that you're
23:13
having, your school fees will be paid. Do you
23:16
understand? This is not what he has called you
23:18
to do. This is you trying to be a fisherman.
23:20
You're trying to catch fish, not men. So to catch
23:26
men means to preach and to teach the gospel.
23:30
It implies that what Jesus was doing was that
23:34
since he was preaching, he was going to make
23:38
these men just like him. Praise the Lord. He
23:42
was making them just like him. And we looked
23:45
at it on Sunday that he brought these people
23:47
in to teach them and to train them so that they
23:50
can do the same thing. Praise the Lord. So that
23:54
they can do the same thing. Even much more powerful
23:56
things. Hallelujah. Even much more powerful things.
24:02
So he reached out to these people and he trained
24:05
them. He brought them to himself. And they saw
24:08
him. They were under his leadership. They were
24:11
under his tutorship. And they learned from him.
24:14
for three and a half years and they went out
24:16
there and did exploits and they did great things.
24:20
So the same way that you are sitting under the
24:23
teaching of Jesus every Sunday and every Wednesday
24:27
and every Fridays and in many other meetings
24:32
that you have, it is to the end that you also
24:37
do greater things. Praise the Lord. That you
24:43
also, do greater things. It is not for you to
24:47
say, oh, you know what? I know what a tohu bohu
24:51
means, right? There's this word in Greek that
24:56
talks about something of nothing. I think that's
24:59
the... So, it's not for you to say, oh, this
25:04
is what I've learned. You know, this is good.
25:06
It's very... It's very good for me. Praise the
25:11
Lord. It is for you to do greater things. Praise
25:14
the Lord. It is for you to do greater things.
25:17
That's why as a church, we are very interested
25:20
in teaching you the gospel. We're not trying
25:23
to promote men. We're not trying to do something
25:26
that we're trying to do some gymnastics. Praise
25:28
the Lord. We're trying to show you the gospel.
25:33
We are showing you who the Christ is for you
25:35
to understand the gospel so that you can do greater
25:37
things. And I was mentioning on Sunday that you
25:41
go back to your home country after here or go
25:45
somewhere else and you go to a place. Don't be
25:49
afraid to say you want to start something. Praise
25:54
the Lord. Because you are equipped. A lot of
25:59
people have started ministries with less than
26:03
what you know. They didn't know anything Greek.
26:06
They just learned. You shall preach the gospel.
26:08
They know John 3, 16. They were prayerful. They
26:11
were studying their Bible and they were preaching.
26:14
And they started him. But you have been, there's
26:16
a lot that has been given to you. Praise the
26:19
Lord. A lot of investment has been, has gone
26:22
your direction. So you cannot, after five years,
26:26
you will be confused, more confused than when
26:28
you came. Praise the Lord. So when you came,
26:32
you were struggling with this understanding here
26:33
and there. And then after five years that you
26:35
left, where you got knowledge, you now are confused.
26:41
Praise the Lord. And so, the reward of preaching
26:55
the gospel is not so that you'll be popular.
27:00
Praise the Lord. The reward of preaching the
27:03
gospel is also that you'll be popular. So that,
27:05
you know, they would just do one reel of you
27:07
on Instagram. You'd be moving and just talking.
27:12
That's not the idea. Praise the Lord. It's not
27:15
for you to be popular. It's for you to bring
27:18
men to salvation. That men be saved. That is
27:21
the reward of it. That men are saved. It's not
27:27
for you to have a mighty church. Praise the Lord.
27:31
The success of preaching the gospel is not so
27:34
that your church will increase or wherever you
27:38
start will increase. You have 200 people in your
27:42
congregation. That's not the aim. It's that men
27:44
know the truth. And as they know the truth, as
27:48
you are teaching them the truth, they are able
27:49
to do the same thing. Praise the Lord. They are
27:53
able to do the same thing. They are able to teach
27:56
others also. Praise the Lord. Let me say that
28:05
again. The reward of the gospel or the reward
28:07
of teaching the gospel is not so that you'll
28:10
be famous. Praise the Lord. It's not so that
28:13
you'll be famous. The fame can come with it,
28:18
right? But that's not the goal. That's not what
28:20
you're trying to achieve. What you're trying
28:22
to achieve is that men know Christ. That men
28:26
are saved. It's that you fulfill the desires
28:28
of God. Praise the Lord. Is that you fulfill
28:35
the desires of God. So what happens in the place?
28:44
Before we go there, let's just look at what God
28:47
was saying or what somebody like, what God was
28:50
saying about Abraham and the things that Abraham
28:53
did. Genesis chapter 15, verse 5. Sorry, verse
29:09
6. Yeah, we can start from here. We can start
29:14
from verse 5. He said, then he brought him outside
29:19
and said, look now towards the heavens and count
29:22
the stars, if you are able to number them. And
29:25
he said to him, so shall your descendants be.
29:29
Verse 6 now. I say he believed God and he accounted
29:33
to him for righteousness. Praise the Lord. So
29:37
it therefore means that Abraham believes God's
29:40
message. Although, you will not say his own is
29:47
more difficult. I mean, you can say his own is
29:50
more difficult than what God said to the people
29:52
of Israel. Because they saw examples of people
29:55
becoming prophets, right? They had examples of
29:58
the 70. They had examples of Moses appointing,
30:03
by the advice of his father -in -law, Jethro,
30:08
advising him to put people in charge. They saw
30:11
some of those things, but yet they didn't believe
30:13
God. Praise the Lord. They did not believe that
30:16
God has called them. But we see Abraham, who
30:19
his wife is barring, who has not given birth,
30:21
and he says, look at the stars of the heavens.
30:25
Praise the Lord. And he says, your descendants
30:27
will be so. For somebody who physically and medical
30:32
-wise and everything in front of him, suggest
30:35
to him that there is no example. Praise the Lord.
30:38
There is no place to hold on to it. Right? But
30:42
he believed God. And he said it was counted to
30:44
him as righteousness. Right? And then we will
30:48
see Genesis again. So Abraham, right? We see
30:53
Genesis chapter 20 verse 7. So because of this
30:59
belief, we will see something. Genesis chapter
31:01
20 verse 7. He said, Now, therefore, restore
31:09
the man's wife, for he is a prophet, and he will
31:13
pray for you, and you shall live. But if you
31:16
do not restore her, know that you shall surely
31:19
die, you and all who are yours. Praise the Lord.
31:23
This is what God is saying to him. He said, Restore
31:26
the man's wife, for he is a prophet. How did
31:29
he become a prophet? He believed the message
31:32
of God. He believed God. Praise the Lord. He
31:36
believed the things that God said he was going
31:39
to do. Please keep that. He believed in what
31:45
God said he was going to do. And so God said
31:48
to him, now this man is a prophet. He said he
31:50
will pray for you and you'll be restored. Praise
31:53
the Lord. So Abraham was a prophet of God. He
31:58
was a teacher of the gospel. Praise the Lord.
32:02
So as God has said to him that your descendants
32:04
will be like this, right? He's also teaching
32:07
the people of his generation, right? He's a spokesman
32:11
for God. So we see that that plan of God or what
32:17
God said is about the salvation of men. Praise
32:21
the Lord. So Abraham was a teacher about the
32:24
salvation of God. That is God's promises. on
32:31
all the earth. This is what God has promised
32:33
for all the earth as we saw in 15 verse 15. Verse
32:39
5 rather. So he believes God's message. So Abraham
32:43
believed God's message for the salvation of the
32:46
earth. Praise the Lord. Abraham believes God's
32:49
message for the salvation of the earth. And so
32:53
God called him to preach. Because God tells him
32:57
that He is a prophet. He will pray for you and
33:00
you shall live. Praise the Lord. So he's a spokesperson
33:03
for God because he had believed God. Genesis
33:06
chapter 18, verse 18 to 19. So Abraham shall,
33:14
since Abraham shall surely become a great and
33:18
a mighty nation and all the nation of the earth
33:21
to be blessed in him. For I know him. For I have
33:27
known him in order that he may command his children
33:30
and his household after him, that they may keep
33:33
the way of the Lord to do righteousness and justice,
33:36
that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has
33:40
spoken to him. Praise the Lord. What is Abraham
33:42
doing in this verse 19? Abraham, he's a teacher
33:47
of God. He's a teacher of the things of God.
33:51
Praise the Lord. To his family and to his generation.
33:55
Praise the Lord. That's what he tells us. That
33:58
Abraham, he knows that Abraham will do what?
34:01
He will command his children that they will keep
34:03
the way of the Lord and to do righteousness.
34:05
It means that Abraham is a prophet of God. He
34:08
speaks for God. He's going to share this message.
34:12
He's not going to keep it to himself. Praise
34:14
the Lord. He didn't believe God and say, you
34:16
know what? I believe God. My children can do
34:18
whatever they want to do. Praise the Lord. He
34:23
didn't believe God and say, you know, to your
34:26
tent, O Israel. Praise the Lord. He believed
34:33
God and because of that, he became a spokesperson
34:38
for God. So those who believe God are spokespersons,
34:42
are people that speak for God, are people that
34:45
show forth the things of God. He said to do righteousness
34:50
and to do justice. Praise the Lord. Also, we
34:56
are looking at the idea of Christ being Lord
35:02
to mean that He owns you, right? It means that
35:08
He has influence over your life. So, if... And
35:23
so the salvation that comes to us or the salvation
35:26
that we have, he said, is something that God
35:28
is going to do. So even the work, right? Even
35:34
the work of righteousness is what God is also
35:37
going to do or what God has done. Praise the
35:40
Lord. To live righteously. It is God that is
35:43
doing it. Praise the Lord. So if you find yourself
35:46
that you're struggling with something, there's
35:48
something in your life that is keep on happening,
35:50
keep on happening, right? You need to understand
35:54
that it's God also who is going to work that
35:57
to bring you to righteousness. You can try many
36:04
things you want to try. Praise the Lord. But
36:07
it's God who is also going to work it out, right?
36:11
With you coming to the place of acknowledging
36:14
that it is Him that can work, believing that
36:17
God can restore you. Praise the Lord. So like
36:24
I was saying earlier, that the children, the
36:28
disciples were with Jesus for three and a half
36:32
years because he has called them, he reached
36:34
out to them and drew them to himself so that
36:37
they will become just like him, so that they
36:40
will go out and catch men, so that they will
36:42
go out and preach and teach the gospel, right?
36:46
It means that they were in the place of training
36:48
for three and a half years. Praise the Lord.
36:52
And if you read the Gospels, right, you will
36:54
discover that Jesus will say sometimes to his
36:56
disciples, O you slow of heart, praise the Lord,
37:01
O you so many things. So they will sound like
37:06
insults, praise the Lord. He will say to Peter,
37:09
get thee behind me, Satan. Okay, yes, Peter might
37:12
understand what he's saying, but there's so many
37:19
things that he said to them. And there's also
37:22
so many things that he has shown to them. So
37:25
there was places of affection. There's places
37:27
where there was rebuke. There's places where
37:30
there were correction. There were places where
37:32
there were explanation. So he explained something
37:35
to him, to them, and then they don't understand.
37:37
Or he says something they don't understand, they
37:39
come to him, and he tells them that they are
37:41
slow to understand. But then he goes on to explain
37:44
to them. Praise the Lord. They don't just pack
37:47
their bags and say, ah, he said I'm slow to understand.
37:49
Let me go to a place where they can follow me
37:56
slowly. Praise the Lord. So the place of training
38:00
has a lot of things. Praise the Lord. It has
38:05
love. It has correction. It has rebuke. It has
38:09
everything. Somebody who is in training stays
38:14
in the place of training. Praise the Lord. Because
38:18
if you don't stay in the place of training, you're
38:20
going to come out as what people don't want to
38:28
see. Praise the Lord. Or somebody will say, I
38:32
don't know that person. You cannot. I know a
38:36
couple of people that once it seems like you're
38:41
no longer, or maybe you just left the place and
38:44
then they will just deny you. And you start doing
38:47
like anyhow on the BBC, in the internet, you
38:50
are doing some things, you are doing some like,
38:52
do you know this person? I don't know him. Praise
38:54
the Lord. Because their behaviors, they don't
38:57
suggest that they have learned anything. What
38:59
they are doing there does not suggest that they
39:01
have been trained. Praise the Lord. So the place
39:06
of training is for you to be equipped. Praise
39:09
the Lord. For you to be equipped to do the same
39:12
thing. Understanding that they're not just, you
39:14
know, there's a... teaching for you to pass exams,
39:18
right? There's usually teaching for you to become
39:21
a teacher, right? So what happens in the place
39:24
of training is that so that you become a teacher.
39:27
If you're trying to pass exam, you can go and
39:28
cram, you know, just, you know, do it for the,
39:31
might not even be cram, just read it and, and,
39:33
you know, put everything in your head for the
39:35
moment. After two days, you forget about it,
39:37
right? After all, I passed my exam. But if you
39:40
are training or if you are learning to be a teacher,
39:42
what happens is that you are You're taking every
39:45
bit of the process because you know that you
39:49
cannot go to the mess or be a teacher and your
39:53
standard should drop because that's not the intention
39:55
of God. That's not what Paul says to Timothy.
39:59
Praise the Lord. He says you're committed to
40:03
men who are able to teach the same. Praise the
40:09
Lord. They will not go through the you know,
40:15
so many teachings, so many teachings taught you
40:18
so many things. And then when it's your time
40:20
to teach, you say, ah, you don't know that. Yeah,
40:22
you're not serious. Yeah, let's continue. Do
40:25
you understand? You explain, you take your time
40:27
to explain. You teach the way you were taught,
40:32
the way time was taking upon you, the patience
40:36
that was taking upon you. A lot of the pastors
40:40
sometimes If they think about your case, they
40:43
will want to quit. Praise the Lord. But the encouragement
40:46
is that we don't do it unto men. So they are
40:50
not looking at your face again. Praise the Lord.
40:53
So they are no longer looking at your face. They
40:55
say, ah, this person. No, they are looking at
40:58
you as we are not doing it because of you. We
41:03
are doing it because of God. Praise the Lord.
41:06
It is the will of God for your transformation.
41:10
It is the will of God that you grow. It is the
41:12
will of God that you continue to abound more
41:15
and more in love. Praise the Lord. So the place
41:19
of training or the place of staying is the place
41:23
where you are equipped to do the same. That's
41:26
why the teaching is so serious. That's why there's
41:30
a lot of work to be done. That is why there's
41:32
a lot of things. It seems like they are bombarding
41:35
you with too many things because they're not
41:37
trying to make you pass an exam. They are trying
41:40
to make you become a teacher. Praise the Lord.
41:46
So, it is important that we preach the gospel.
41:51
We preach the gospel wherever we go. We preach
41:56
the gospel wherever we go. 2 Timothy 4 It says,
42:11
verse 1 says, I charge you, therefore, before
42:14
God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge
42:17
the living and the dead, at his appearing and
42:20
of his kingdom, preach the word, be ready in
42:25
season and out of season, convince, rebuke, exalt,
42:29
with all low suffering and teaching. For the
42:32
time will come when they will not endure sound
42:34
doctrine, but according to their own desires,
42:36
because they have 18 years, they will heap up
42:39
for themselves teacher, and they will turn their
42:41
ears away from the truth and be turned aside
42:44
to feebles. Praise the Lord. He says that you
42:48
should preach the gospel, right? In season and
42:53
out of season. It therefore means that you are
42:56
not, there is no off season. Praise the Lord.
43:02
People that do sport have off season. They have
43:04
time to rest. They have time in which is their
43:06
downtime. They need to recover. They need to
43:09
do. He says you preach the gospel in season and
43:13
out of season. Praise the Lord. And the person
43:16
who can do that is somebody that knows, somebody
43:19
who is equipped, somebody who has been trained.
43:22
Praise the Lord. Because he will not go and start
43:23
saying, ah, my Bible no day here. You understand?
43:28
He will not be thinking, ah, the places I, my
43:31
notes. This person has this question in the middle
43:33
of this conversation. I am not prepared. Or maybe
43:37
you're having a conversation all of a sudden.
43:38
I'm sure your friends, all of a sudden, somebody
43:40
just throws something at you. It's like, this
43:43
thing you said is not, is not following. Do you
43:46
understand? And you see an opportunity to talk
43:48
to them about God, right? But you're not, you're
43:53
waiting for your Bibles and the places that you're
43:55
placed or your notes. So I'm not ready for this
43:58
conversation. Praise the Lord. I'm going to share
44:01
one story. It's a very embarrassing story, but
44:04
I'm going to share it. One time, in the days
44:07
when I was very hungry, right? I think we were
44:11
still staying in Ganyeli at the time. Somebody
44:14
called me to want to know the, want to know the,
44:19
want to know more about Jesus. Right? The Muslim
44:24
guy. And I went there, went to a restaurant.
44:28
He told me to just focus on the Jesus we killed.
44:32
That's how I go for his chalk. And after this
44:38
thing, I didn't have, I don't feel I did a good
44:42
job at this. I don't think I did a good job to
44:49
explaining to him more about Christ because I'm
44:52
eating, you know, I'm just feeling like, let
44:54
me just go home. Praise the Lord. So you don't
44:59
want to be in that place where because of knowledge
45:03
and because of the things that are surrounding
45:06
you, maybe you're hungry and then they give you
45:08
food. You don't know what to do again. Say, I'm
45:10
satisfied. I think that was my problem. Do you
45:15
understand? So you don't want to be in that state.
45:19
Praise the Lord. You don't want to be in that.
45:21
Every time I think about it, I was like, man,
45:23
I don't think I'll forget that guy's name. Right?
45:26
Because he also did civil engineering with me
45:29
in this department. So, sometimes I see him online
45:34
and he's, but I just know I will not forget his
45:37
name. Because I knew I had opportunity and I
45:39
was ready to, but when I finished eating like
45:41
this, man. So, like I said, you don't want to
45:47
be in the place where you'll be trained such
45:50
that whether you are fasting, whether it's hunger.
45:53
That's what it means, that no matter your state,
45:56
right? No matter your state, when they say the
45:59
gospel or when it's opportunity to preach the
46:00
gospel, you're not thinking, the things around
46:03
you are not affecting you. Praise the Lord. You
46:06
say, ah, we came here to settle this one, but
46:08
there's an opportunity here. Let me say this
46:11
before I continue what I'm doing. Praise the
46:13
Lord. So even when God tells Abraham to leave
46:17
his father's land and to leave his kindred, right?
46:21
He could easily stay there. But because of the
46:23
calling of God upon his life, he put priority
46:26
on living that which was comfortable. He put
46:30
priority on living that which was convenient.
46:35
Praise the Lord. So it's the same thing for us
46:38
that we preach the gospel in season and out of
46:41
season. It means that the way you can do it,
46:44
like I said, it's only when you are prepared,
46:47
when you are properly trained. Praise the Lord.
46:51
That you can be injured or something can happen
46:53
to you. But when it comes to preaching the gospel,
46:55
that is not a conversation. You just go to teach
46:59
it. Praise the Lord. You go to explain it. Because
47:05
he said that time will come where people will
47:07
not endure sound doctrine. They don't want to
47:10
hear that which is sound. Praise the Lord. So
47:14
the more you are teaching the gospel, the more
47:16
that a... The people that time will come, they
47:21
will not endure. They will have endured now.
47:23
Praise the Lord. Before that time comes, or before
47:26
their own time of not enduring sound doctrine
47:28
comes, they will have endured now. Praise the
47:31
Lord. And lastly, on this, that the minister,
47:49
The minister, just like we look at the idea of
47:58
Jesus being or being Lord over us, right? The
48:01
minister's life is that that should show that.
48:05
Praise the Lord. So when you notice in your life,
48:09
right? When you notice in your life that there
48:12
is something, right? There's something that you
48:16
as a child of God are struggling with. Right?
48:19
Or something that you feel like is besetting
48:22
you. It is an alarm or it's something that is
48:28
alerting you that something needs to be done
48:30
concerning this part of my life. Praise the Lord.
48:34
Something needs to be done concerning this part
48:37
of my life. You might not know all the Greeks
48:40
and all the Hebrews, right? But a minister of
48:43
God is somebody that has good character. Praise
48:48
the Lord. And that good character is as a result
48:50
of fellowship with or as a result of the spirit
48:53
that they have in the inside of them. Praise
48:57
the Lord. The more you grow in God, the more
49:01
you are transformed. The more you study the word
49:04
of God, the more you are transformed. Praise
49:06
the Lord. So when you are reading the scriptures,
49:10
you are reading it for you, for your transformation,
49:13
for it to be a blessing to your life. Praise
49:17
the Lord. For it to be a blessing to your life.
49:21
And don't be afraid to share. Don't be afraid
49:26
to share your struggle. Right? One of the things
49:30
I learned a while ago is that when you share
49:36
something that you're struggling with, the power
49:40
that it has gets broken over your life. That
49:45
is that Secrecy, for you to keep something secret,
49:49
is going to keep you bound. But once you share
49:54
it, you have gone halfway. The fight has been
49:59
won halfway. Praise the Lord. The fight has been
50:05
won halfway. You are encouraged to share, to
50:12
talk about the things that are going on in your
50:14
life. Praise the Lord. Don't carry too many things.
50:20
Praise the Lord. So let us rise on our feet and
50:24
just begin to pray. We appreciate you being here
50:28
today. We hope you carry this word with you throughout
50:31
your week. Don't forget to check the show notes
50:34
for additional insights. Stay connected with
50:37
us through our website or follow us on social
50:40
media. If you are encouraged, share this message
50:43
with someone you care about. Until next time,
50:46
stay blessed.