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Day 2: Greater Works (Part 5) · Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons

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  Welcome to NECF sermons. Each message here is
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  designed to uplift and strengthen you in your
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  walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until
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  the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive
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  right in. John chapter 14, from where our theme
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  is John chapter 14. verse 12 John chapter 14
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  verse 12 John chapter 14 verse 12 he says most
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  assuredly I say to you he who believes in me
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  the works that I do he will do also and greater
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  works than this he will do because I go to my
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  father and Matthew chapter 7 Matthew chapter
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  7 Matthew 7 21 Matthew chapter 7 verse 21 Not
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  everyone who said to me Lord Lord shall enter
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  the kingdom of heaven But he who does the will
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  of my father in heaven so Just here is speaking
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  And then he's saying that the one that will be
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  part of his kingdom, the one that will be part
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  of his father's kingdom is the one that does
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  the will of the father. Hallelujah. Now, what
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  is that will of the father? What is that will
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  of the father? You know, what is that will? What
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  is that will littered around scriptures? we'll
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  see that the scriptures contains the will of
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  God, the will of the Father. Now that word will
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  is a word that is translated from the Greek into
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  the English Bible that we have and that will
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  is the word Thelema in the Greek T -H -E -L -E
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  -M -A T -H - E L E M A and it means the desire
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  okay is a word that when used it can be used
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  to express desire similarly is a word that also
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  you know can be used for purpose or determining
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  tension contextually in scriptures It refers
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  to God's revealed purpose. God's revealed purpose,
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  especially in His redemptive plan that is made
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  known to us in the scriptures. So when the Bible
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  is talking about the will of the Father, it has
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  to do with what God has proposed, what God has
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  determined. What God has determined so when Jesus
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  Christ is saying that not everyone who said to
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  me Lord Lord Shall enter into the kingdom of
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  heaven, but he who does the will of my father
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  in heaven Jesus speaks of you know the one that
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  will Will align himself to God's purpose to God
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  determine intention from the beginning and of
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  course, we know that is actually You know the
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  walk of faith so God's will is that we will be
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  part of his Of his kingdom and to be part of
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  his kingdom is to believe in he who he has sent
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  And he who has sent is Christ who has come to
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  die for the sins of the whole world and when
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  we believe that The sins our sins are in Christ
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  as he was crucified And then he died and he rose
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  again Then we become part of the kingdom of God.
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  Hallelujah So Jesus's earthly mission as revealed
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  in scriptures Is to accomplish the Father's will
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  that was the lima and we'll see in John chapter
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  4 verse 34 Jesus will say that my foot is to
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  do the wheel of him who sent me, the wheel of
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  him who sent me. My foot is to do the wheel of
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  him who sent me. Jesus said to them, my foot
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  is to do the wheel of him who sent me and to
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  finish his work. And we have been called to do
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  the work, do the works. And these works are embedded
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  in the wheel of God for us. Hallelujah. And then
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  in John chapter 6 verse 36, you will see another
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  statement of Jesus Christ. He says, I've come
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  down from heaven not to do my own will, but to
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  do the will of Him who sent me. And now we can
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  see the cross reference in Matthew 26 verse 39.
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  So the same emphasis continues throughout the
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  epistles. We'll see Paul will be praying. That
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  the believer will be filled with what? with a
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  knowledge of his will So that day that is asked
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  the believers now may work worthy of the Lord
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  Colossians chapter 1 verse 9 Colossians chapter
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  1 verse 9 to 10 We'll see where Paul is praying.
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  He says for this reason We also since the day
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  we heard Do not cease to pray for you and to
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  ask that you may be filled with the knowledge
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  of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
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  Of course, by context of what we've discussed
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  yesterday, we know where we can see the knowledge
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  of His will. Vastan says that you may work worthy
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  of the Lord. When we come to a comprehension
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  of His will, We will walk worthy of the Lord
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  pleasing him fully pleasing him being fruitful
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  way in a walk of ministry in every good walk
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  and Increasing in the knowledge of God So we'll
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  see later on Epaphras in chapter 4 verse 12 Epaphras
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  in the same text chapter 4 verse 12 same scripture
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  it says Epaphras who is one of you a born servant
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  of Christ greet you So it is essential that the
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  believer come to understanding what the will
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  of God is. It is important that the believer
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  has, you know, a proper foundation of the will
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  of God. Believers as well are chosen by God's
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  will. By God's will, Ephesians chapter 1 verse
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  5 will see that our salvation is God's will Ephesians
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  chapter 1 verse 5 He says having predestined
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  us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself
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  According to the pleasure of his will the pleasure
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  of his will Give me verse 9 verse 9 Ephesians
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  1 verse 9 having made known to us the mystery
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  of his will according to his good pleasure good
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  which he proposed in himself verse 11 verse 11
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  in him also we have obtained an inheritance being
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  predestined according to the purpose of him who
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  works all things according to the council according
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  to the council of His will. So we see the council
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  and we see the will of God. Yesterday we look
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  at how related, you know, we look at the idea
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  of the council of God and we're just trying to
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  emphasize because the scripture, the Bible from
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  Genesis to Revelation is a book that encompasses
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  the plans, the purpose, the will of God. Not
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  only that we are safe, What we are choosing according
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  to God's will we are commanded to understand
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  the will of God in Ephesians 5 verse 7 Paul continues
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  communication to the Ephesian Church Ephesians
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  5 verse 17 says 5 verse 17 says therefore do
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  not be unwise but understand what the will of
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  the Lord is okay What the will of the world is
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  not only that we understand it, but we do the
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  will of God. Ephesians 6 verse 6 Ephesians 6
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  verse 6 Ephesians 6 verse 6 not with eye service
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  as men pleasers but as born servants of Christ
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  doing the will of God from where from our hearts
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  from our hearts and then we endure the will of
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  God Hebrews 10 verse 36 Hebrews chapter 10 verse
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  36 For you have need of endurance So that after
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  you have done the will of God you may receive
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  what the promise All right, and of course 1st
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  Thessalonians talks about holiness, which is
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  his will 1st Thessalonians 4 verse 3 says he's
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  calling the believers to pursue for this is the
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  will of God Your sanctification and what is that
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  that you should abstain from sexual immorality,
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  hallelujah And then giving thanks in all situation
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  is a will of God for the believer 1st Thessalonians
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  5 18 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 18 says
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  in everything give thanks For this is a will
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  of God in Christ Jesus. So the will of God in
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  Christ Jesus is not everything but the will of
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  God in Christ Jesus is that the believer the
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  Christian should give thanks in all circumstances
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  hallelujah so ultimately God's will or the word
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  thalima is revealed in the scripture so we will
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  find the will of God within the scriptures therefore
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  anyone called to serve God as we are believers
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  in in Him, we believe in Him, we are born of
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  God, we must diligently study the scriptures
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  so that we will be able to rightly discern His
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  will. For only by knowing His revealed will can
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  we faithfully accomplish the works that He has
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  called us to do. Because if we don't know, we
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  will not be able to accomplish the task. So the
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  study of the Old Testament scriptures as we've
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  started looking at yesterday is not optional
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  for us because these are scriptures that explain
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  to us the desires, the purpose, the plan of God.
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  It reveals to us the foundational truth about
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  the will of God and how we can fulfill the will
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  of God. Hallelujah. So our emphasis yesterday
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  was that the All Testament scriptures, what we
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  call the All Testament scriptures are, you know,
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  the scriptures by which Jesus himself was able
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  to see himself and the purpose for which he accomplished
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  on the earth. And we say that the apostles themselves,
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  their ministry, all the works they did were also
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  from the scriptures because that is the boundary
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  for the works that they've been called to do.
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  And we emphasize so much about the Old Testament
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  scriptures. Now, the New Testament scriptures
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  writings are also part of scripture. We must
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  emphasize this because we are not trying to reduce,
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  you know, the authority of the New Testament
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  scriptures just to bring a clarity to that. You
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  know, Peter places Paul's letters, most of the
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  uh what do you call it epistles it places the
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  authority on those writings as scriptures we
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  see in second peter chapter 3 verse 15 to 16
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  when he was speaking in this epistle let's let's
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  just look at how the apostles saw you know the
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  the epistles that they were writing in that in
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  those times second peter chapter 3 verse 15 second
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  peter chapter 3 verse 15 And consider that the
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  longsuffering of our Lord is salvation as also
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  our beloved brother Paul Okay, our beloved brother
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  Paul, which means that the Apostles especially
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  Paul Who was a letter apostle? You know half
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  an understanding of the gospel as handed down
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  by Jesus Christ to the apostles not only that
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  he had an encounter but there was a synchronization
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  of doctrine they were able to he was able to
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  align himself so he says as also our beloved
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  brother Paul according to the wisdom given to
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  him as written to you verse 16 as also in all
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  his epistles talking about the writings of Paul
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  what Paul wrote how did Peter saw the writings
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  of Paul speaking in them of things in which are
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  some speaking in them of these things in which
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  are some things hard to understand not that they
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  cannot be understood but they are hard to understand
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  which unlearned people people that are untaught
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  and unstable people twist to their own destruction
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  as they do the rest of scriptures so that statement
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  the rest of scriptures will mean that he is putting
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  the writings of paul and the holy scriptures
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  at his genesis to malachi on the same level of
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  authority and saying that people who are untaught
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  who are unlearned they twist the rest of the
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  scriptures including the writings of Paul, the
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  epistles of Paul, to their own destruction. Hallelujah.
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  So Paul caught both Deuteronomy, okay, in his
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  writings, we will see an instance where not only
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  that he made reference to the Old Testament scriptures,
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  he also made reference to some things in Luke,
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  for example, in Deuteronomy 25 verse 4. Luke
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  chapter 10 verse 7 he caught this together in
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  1st Timothy chapter 5 verse 18. Let's look at
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  1st Timothy chapter 5 verse 18 1st Peter chapter
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  5 verse 18 we see where Paul is making reference
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  to the Old Testament scriptural and equally bringing
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  in you know an instance from Luke chapter 10
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  verse 7 it says for the scripture says You shall
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  not muzzle an ox while it threes out the grain
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  Okay, and then he brings in, collaborates it
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  with a part of scripture that is in Luke. He
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  says, and the laborer is what is worthy of his
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  wages. So they, in their writings, recognize
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  the authority of the gospel. Paul himself recognized
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  the authority of the gospel writings. The New
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  Testament, of course, will see the expressions,
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  not only him, the early church historically.
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  Utam Unopa made us to go into history to see
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  how they handle this, the early church handle
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  some of this, what do you call it? Handle the
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  epistles when they were collected. But I want
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  you to understand that they understand the ideas
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  as expressed. Of course, Luke chapter 10 verse
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  7, I said yesterday that the... That the the
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  cosmos were written sometimes a letter All right,
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  you were eating sometimes later, but most of
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  this were narratives, okay, there was A custom
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  of you know storytelling of the things that happen
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  Again time will not permit us to go into how
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  you know, they preserve the historic events of
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  Jesus Christ and how, you know, they were corroborated
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  and written down for us. So let's move on to
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  what we started looking at yesterday. We're trying
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  to look at the message of God as presented in
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  the Old Testament scriptures. You know, how the
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  Old Testament scriptures, especially the book
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  of Genesis, is the book or is where God revealed
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  His will and His purpose for us. And we started
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  with a particular theme that is important that
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  we're going to continue establishing on today,
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  and then we conclude. We say that one of the
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  first themes or the first theme as expressed
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  in the book of Genesis is the creation theology.
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  And we say that the creation is, you know, the
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  biblical theology that is a starting point for
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  understanding the message of the entire Bible.
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  And we emphasize that the first two chapters
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  of Genesis provides us, you know, the theological
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  framework to understanding every major doctrine
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  in the scriptures. Okay, because they open us
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  up to God's plan, God's purpose and God's will.
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  And without a proper understanding of this, you
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  know, the creation theology, we cannot properly
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  understand the rest of scriptures. Of course,
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  understanding the will of God, understanding
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  the works that we are to do, understanding what
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  God has done in Christ. So it is important for
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  us in our ministry, because without this comprehension,
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  It's impossible to walk in the will of God. It
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  is impossible to walk in the plan of God. Many
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  of the, you know, challenges we've had especially
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  in the Christian faith stems from the very basic
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  foundational explanations. Especially when it
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  comes to the concept of salvation. If a man cannot
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  properly explain what salvation is and it's difficult
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  for him. In fact, you cannot trust anybody. Whatever
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  he's going to teach If he does not understand
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  the basics the basis has to do with salvation
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  and we can see this at the very very beginning
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  of God's plan and God's intention. Let's go to
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  Genesis chapter 1 Genesis chapter 1 In the beginning
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  God created the heavens and the earth the earth
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  was without form and void and darkness was on
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  the face of the deep and The Spirit of God was
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  hovering over the face of the water. So yesterday
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  what we did basically was to Try to explain Genesis
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  1 1 Genesis chapter 1 verse 2 Genesis chapter
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  1 verse 3 Today probably just focus on just verse
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  4 and verse 5 and God saw the light that it was
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  good and God divided the light from the darkness
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  God called the light day and the darkness He
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  called night. So the evening and the morning
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  were the first day. So from verse 4 and verse
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  5, we see that God's plan, of course from chapter
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  1 verse 1 down to verse 5, in the context of
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  it is that God's plan is to separate darkness
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  and light. Okay, it's a separate darkness and
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  light And it is in this that he will it will
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  be good when there is a separation between darkness
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  and light That is his plan and we've seen that
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  darkness light are figurative expressions in
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  scriptures. They are not literal We spend so
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  much time yesterday trying to see how they are
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  used across the scriptures Mostly figuratively
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  referring to spiritual, you know realities Sometimes
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  light is referred to individuals it refers to
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  you know people it refers Christ call himself
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  light of the world and there are instances where
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  the believers are called the light of the world
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  so when we see the light especially as presented
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  at the very very beginning of Genesis it is used
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  in a figurative way and Consistently we see in
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  scriptures. That is how it is used so also in
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  this place. So this was a major theme in the
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  later writings of scriptures. We observe the
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  contrast of the same theme in the four gospels,
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  light and darkness. Luke chapter 16 verse 8.
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  Luke chapter 16 verse 8, we see a bit of a contrasting
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  between light and darkness. So the master commended
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  the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly
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  for the sons of this world. are more shrewd in
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  their generation than the sons of light. Hallelujah.
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  So light here is associated to the children of
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  God. Okay. So this similar, you know, idea concerning
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  light and darkness in his usage in scripture
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  can be seen in Paul's writing. Second Corinthians
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  chapter 6 verse 14. Second Corinthians chapter
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  6 verse 14. 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 14,
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  yes. Do not be unequally yoked together with
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  unbelievers. Yesterday we saw this text. For
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  what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness?
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  And what communion has light with darkness? What,
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  you know, communion has light with darkness?
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  So here Paul is contrasting light and darkness.
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  as two opposite that should not be allowed to
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  function together and In his writing here unbelievers
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  are regarded as darkness Okay, and then the believers
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  are regarded as light in his writings So in this
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  text, we see how he deliberately described the
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  unbeliever as unrighteousness, darkness, and
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  further on in the subsequent, let's read the
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  subsequent verses, verse 15, let's see verse
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  15. Verse 15, and what accord has Christ with
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  Belial, or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?
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  And what agreement has a temple of God? with
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  idols For you at a temple of the living God as
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  God has said I will dwell in them and Walk among
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  them and I will be their God and they shall be
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  my people. So this was a promise that God Introduced
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  the children of Israel when he you know, he brought
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  them out of Egypt That is his plan and purpose
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  right from Genesis all right that light will
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  shine in the hearts of men and there will be
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  union between the heavens and the earth hallelujah
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  and then we see the children of israel as god
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  called them out of egypt reintroducing the similar
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  message to them that he will dwell among them
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  all right be with them and we see you know doing
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  it in in these deliverance In the deliverance
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  of the children of Israel, we see how God was
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  with them. And even in the wilderness, we see
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  the presence of God with them in clouds, in fire,
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  and the miraculous things that happens in the
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  wilderness. We see the presence of God always
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  with them. And then we see Jesus Christ coming,
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  you know, in the flesh, establishing, you know,
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  a permanent work that God had in his mind right
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  from the beginning that he gave us a spirit and
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  the spirit living with us today permanently hallelujah
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  so here in this text we see that paul describes
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  the unbeliever as unrighteousness as darkness
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  as bilial bilial is a god temple of idols he
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  described the believer as righteousness he described
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  the believer as light he described the believer
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  as christ and the temple of God. These descriptions
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  are codified terminologies or pointers in the
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  Hebrew text. So Paul here is not just writing
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  from his own head, but actually the origin of
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  what he's writing here is from the Hebrew text,
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  from Genesis to Malachi. So this shows a clear
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  division between light and darkness. As pointed
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  by what we see in the creation story here in
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  Genesis chapter 1 From verse 1 down to verse
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  5 so far that we've read So second Corinthians
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  chapter 4 verse 1, let's look at second Corinthians
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  chapter 4 verse 1 First Corinthians chapter 4
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  verse 1, second Corinthians right there. Therefore
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  since we have this ministry as we have received
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  mercy, we do not lose heart We do not lose heart,
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  but we have renounced the hidden things of shame
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  not walking in the craftiness In craftiness no
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  handling the word of God deceitfully But by manifestation
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  of truth commending ourselves to every man's
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  conscious in the sight of God verse 3 But even
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  if our gospel is veiled it is veiled to those
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  who are perishing Whose minds the God of this
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  age has blinded? Who do not believe lest the
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  light of the gospel so here we see, you know
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  the gospel Light here relating to the gospel
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  whose mind the God of his each has blinded who
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  do not believe Lest the light of the gospel of
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  the glory of Christ who is the image of God Should
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  shine on them For we do not preach ourselves,
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  but Christ Jesus the Lord ourselves your born
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  servant for Jesus's sake. Verse 6. For it is
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  the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness.
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  So where did we see God commanding light to shine
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  out of darkness? We see God commanding light
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  to shine out of darkness in Genesis. Genesis
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  chapter 1 verse 1 that we just read. For it is
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  God who commanded light So here Paul is explaining
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  that text. He is in that text to explain the
• 29:13
  plan and the purpose of God. He says, for it
• 29:16
  is God who commanded light to shine out of darkness,
• 29:20
  who has shone in our hearts to give the light
• 29:24
  of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
• 29:28
  of Jesus Christ. So here he described the gospel
• 29:33
  as light. Light of the glorious gospel of Christ
• 29:38
  who is the image of God that gospel shines on
• 29:42
  to the recipient who receives it Okay, secondly
• 29:46
  The gospel is hidden to those who are lost Is
• 29:52
  that the God of the world has blinded their mind
• 29:54
  so look at verse 5 give me verse 5 again in verse
• 29:57
  5 You see that he explicitly state that Christ
• 30:00
  is that message. Okay, and the focus of the gospel
• 30:05
  So he described the gospel as the light of what?
• 30:10
  He described the gospel as the light of the glorious
• 30:13
  of the gospel of Christ So that statement Commanded
• 30:22
  light to shine out of darkness was not referring
• 30:25
  to the Sun Okay, he was not referring to the
• 30:29
  Sun or the moon and the stars or the creation
• 30:34
  of the solar system because he had described
• 30:36
  the glorious gospel of Christ as that light that
• 30:41
  shines into the heart of men in verse four. So
• 30:45
  as I stated earlier on, this was a direct reference
• 30:48
  to what? To Genesis one, from verse one to two
• 30:52
  and three. Also in the context of second Corinthians
• 30:56
  chapter four, verse three to six, the darkness
• 30:59
  has to do with the heart of man, okay? The darkness
• 31:04
  there has to do with the heart of man Which is
• 31:08
  a state of man without the gospel of Christ that
• 31:11
  darkness is found in the heart of a man without
• 31:16
  that gospel of Christ And we'll see how John
• 31:23
  explained this in his account in chapter John
• 31:27
  chapter 1 verse 4 will help us to see how this
• 31:30
  darkness is in the heart of Those that don't
• 31:33
  have they don't have the gospel John chapter
• 31:35
  1 verse 49. He says in him was life. Okay, and
• 31:40
  the life was the light of men and The light shines
• 31:48
  in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend
• 31:52
  it There was a man sent from God whose name was
• 31:57
  John this man came for a witness to bear witness
• 32:02
  of the light that all through him might believe,
• 32:07
  verse 8. He was not the light but was sent to
• 32:10
  bear witness of that light. That was a true light
• 32:15
  which gives light to every man. So the light
• 32:21
  gives light to every man. This true light is
• 32:26
  a personality here. is not the sun, is not the
• 32:29
  moon, but the light is used to express, to figuratively,
• 32:35
  you know, point to the person of Jesus Christ
• 32:38
  as the one who comes to light men. So we saw
• 32:46
  this also in Jesus's, you know, teachings. Jesus
• 32:51
  also taught the same in his teachings John chapter
• 32:53
  8 verse 12 We've read this several times where
• 32:55
  he emphatically called himself that light Then
• 32:59
  Jesus spoke to them saying I am the light of
• 33:02
  the world Okay, he who follows me shall not walk
• 33:06
  in darkness but have the light of life Chapter
• 33:12
  9 verse 5 we see more emphasis of that chapter
• 33:16
  9 verse 5 Then just spoke to them. Okay, as long
• 33:20
  as I am in the world I am the light of what of
• 33:23
  the world chapter 11 verse 9 and 10 Chapter 11
• 33:28
  verse 9 and 10 of John Jesus answered are there
• 33:35
  not 12 hours in the day If anyone walks in the
• 33:39
  day, he does not stumble because he sees the
• 33:41
  light of this world But if one walks in the night
• 33:48
  he stumbles because the light is not in him So
• 33:51
  the light is expected to be in men. Okay verse
• 33:54
  11 These things he said and after he said to
• 34:00
  them our friends Lazarus sleeps, but okay, okay
• 34:03
  Yeah, so we see that Jesus Christ here is teaching
• 34:06
  and is mentioning and emphasizing that he himself
• 34:10
  is the light So we can see evidently from Paul's
• 34:15
  explanation In 2 Corinthians 4, relating to Jesus
• 34:21
  as a light is the consistent message in the epistles
• 34:26
  and even in the words of Jesus himself. So the
• 34:28
  gospel of Christ is that light of God. When a
• 34:33
  man believes and receives the same, he is no
• 34:36
  longer in darkness, but in light, in the light
• 34:41
  of the Lord. He becomes a child of light. So
• 34:45
  this is the message that we can see that Moses
• 34:49
  was trying to communicate to his audience in
• 34:51
  Genesis chapter 1 Let's look at more explanation
• 34:57
  Ephesians 5 verse 8 Ephesians 5 verse 8 Ephesians
• 35:05
  5 verse 8 as children of light here paul speaking
• 35:19
  to the efficient church he uses the word darkness
• 35:24
  however to describe the state of a man he says
• 35:29
  you were once darkness but now you are light
• 35:33
  so he describes the state of man who is yet to
• 35:37
  believe in the gospel as darkness okay so darkness
• 35:41
  here is figurative explaining or bringing The
• 35:45
  picture or explaining a man who does not believe
• 35:48
  in Jesus as the Savior So the man without a spirit
• 35:52
  or the man without life is referred to here as
• 35:55
  darkness. All right So 2nd Corinthians 6 verse
• 36:01
  14 2nd Corinthians 6 verse 14 and 16 Where we
• 36:10
  read Elaron We'll see that he contrasts these
• 36:17
  ideas together, okay? He explained here that
• 36:24
  the God of the world blinds the mind of those
• 36:26
  who are lost who are yet to believe in the gospel
• 36:29
  Okay in this text, so I'm trying to point to
• 36:34
  us the condition of a man trying to explain how
• 36:37
  darkness will emphasize light but darkness you
• 36:42
  know use figuratively as those who do not believe
• 36:45
  and In Ephesians 5 verse 8 refers to the unbelievers
• 36:50
  and Paul telling the Ephesians that they were
• 36:54
  once in that state But at this moment the light
• 36:57
  has shone in their heart. All right, let's let's
• 37:00
  let's check again Ephesians second second Corinthians
• 37:04
  of the 10 verse 3 Second Corinthians of the 10
• 37:08
  verse 3 To see how that darkness works in men
• 37:16
  for though we walk in the flesh We do not war
• 37:20
  according to the flesh For the weapon for was
• 37:27
  for was for but was for For the weapons of our
• 37:33
  warfare are not carnal but mighty In God for
• 37:37
  pulling downward strongholds. Okay, we now strongholds
• 37:41
  verse 5 casting down imaginations, casting down
• 37:51
  arguments and every high thing that exalts itself
• 37:53
  against the knowledge of God, and bringing every
• 37:57
  thought into the captivity to even the obedience
• 37:59
  of Christ. So Paul here is referring to the mind
• 38:04
  of man, okay? And remember we say that this light
• 38:08
  shines in the heart of a man. The darkness itself
• 38:10
  also what? has his grip in the mind of men. So
• 38:14
  Paul was referring to the mind of men in this
• 38:18
  text, which functions through information, through
• 38:21
  knowledge and understanding. So the statement
• 38:26
  to the obedience of Christ was referring to the
• 38:28
  gospel which Christ, which is Christ of course,
• 38:31
  which is that same light that he has consistently
• 38:33
  expressed in his writings. So in other words,
• 38:36
  through the preaching of the gospel, we pull
• 38:39
  down that stronghold Okay, that casts down imaginations
• 38:45
  That exists in the mind of those who do not believe
• 38:51
  So it will be very important to know that the
• 38:57
  mind of man That is a man that is lost the man
• 39:01
  that is unbelieving Can hinder him from receiving
• 39:05
  salvation which is a light of the gospel the
• 39:08
  glorious gospel. So Paul clearly explain the
• 39:12
  importance also of the believer even the believer
• 39:17
  to renewing his mind also because the mind is
• 39:20
  where the operation of light happens the mind
• 39:23
  is where the operation of darkness happens so
• 39:26
  even the believer Romans 12 verse 2 needs to
• 39:30
  regularly you know renew his mind by the word
• 39:34
  of the gospel that they receive when he does
• 39:38
  He will not conform himself to the darkness,
• 39:41
  to the system of the world that is around him.
• 39:45
  And by renewing his mind by the light, by the
• 39:48
  gospel that he has received, he will approve
• 39:52
  that he will walk in the will of God. So clearly,
• 39:59
  where we see the darkness or the light and the
• 40:02
  darkness is in operation is in the mind of men.
• 40:06
  So the decision -making process of a man is in
• 40:09
  his mind, okay? And for the believer to walk
• 40:12
  in God's will, he must constantly renew his mind
• 40:17
  with a written word. So the mind therefore plays
• 40:22
  a vital role in recognizing and walking in God's
• 40:25
  plan on the earth. Now remember we said that
• 40:30
  the conversation in Genesis 1 is heaven and earth,
• 40:35
  okay? and the idea of that light is talking about
• 40:39
  men and we say that that has to do with the heart
• 40:42
  of men okay the heart of men so in second Corinthians
• 40:53
  chapter four verse three we read Eleron let's
• 40:56
  go back to that text again to make emphasis on
• 40:58
  the issue of the heart then we'll move on second
• 41:01
  Corinthians chapter four verse three chapter
• 41:06
  4 verse 3 It says even if the gospel is veiled
• 41:09
  and we know what that gospel is, right? What
• 41:11
  is the gospel is what has been described as light,
• 41:14
  right? So even if the gospel is veiled it is
• 41:18
  veiled to those who are perishing. Why are they
• 41:20
  perishing? Because verse 4 something has happened
• 41:25
  to their mind Whose mind the God of this age
• 41:29
  has blinded so the God of this age has blinded
• 41:33
  In the Old Kingdoms, they used the word hearts,
• 41:36
  the word hearts or mind. And it was, you know,
• 41:40
  translated from the Greek word, cardia. We've
• 41:42
  seen this in church some times back. And it refers
• 41:46
  to that core place, a central place of a man's
• 41:50
  will, where activities happens, where he makes
• 41:53
  decisions. That unseen part of the man. So from
• 41:59
  Paul's explanation in the text that we've read
• 42:01
  so far, especially referring to the heart, where
• 42:03
  we see darkness and light operates, it is evident
• 42:06
  that the reason why the light of the glorious
• 42:08
  gospel of Christ does not shine the heart of
• 42:11
  the lost or the unbelieving is that the God of
• 42:15
  this world has blinded their minds. That is,
• 42:17
  for the light of the gospel to shine in their
• 42:19
  hearts, it must pass through their mind. The
• 42:24
  mind is very vital, you know, to them receiving
• 42:29
  the light of the gospel. Therefore the mind is
• 42:36
  the heart because by blinding the minds of them
• 42:38
  that believe not the God of this world invariably
• 42:42
  blinds their heart. So you see exchange in scriptures
• 42:46
  mind and heart sometimes is mind sometimes is
• 42:48
  heart. Let's see Ephesians 4 verse 17 Ephesians
• 42:54
  4 verse 17 and verse 18 So the believer is one
• 43:00
  who has clearly, you know receive that light
• 43:04
  of the glorious gospel I Say therefore and testifying
• 43:10
  the Lord that you should no longer work as the
• 43:12
  rest of the Gentiles Okay, let me check my text
• 43:17
  Ephesians Okay, having okay give me verse the
• 43:26
  previous verse verse 17. Yes This I say therefore
• 43:30
  and testify in the law that you should no longer
• 43:32
  work as the rest of the Gentiles Work and the
• 43:36
  futility of what of their minds because they
• 43:38
  are in darkness. Okay having their understanding
• 43:41
  darkened being Alienated from the life of God
• 43:46
  So number one we see that being in darkness simply
• 43:50
  means to be alienated from the what from the
• 43:53
  life of God because of ignorance that is in them
• 43:56
  because of the blindness of what of their heart.
• 44:00
  All right. So this is the condition of the unbeliever,
• 44:05
  but the believer has clearly received the light
• 44:09
  of the glorious gospel through his mind and believed.
• 44:13
  Therefore he is called a new creation. Hallelujah.
• 44:18
  So you see, Paul has a technicality of always
• 44:21
  using Old Testament messages or themes or Vabbage
• 44:28
  and explaining, you know and writing his epistles
• 44:31
  in 2nd Corinthians 5 verse 17 He would refer
• 44:34
  to the one that has received the glorious message
• 44:37
  and then he will call him what a new creation
• 44:40
  2nd Corinthians 5 17 He says therefore if anyone
• 44:44
  in Christ He is a new creation all things have
• 44:48
  passed what has passed away the life that is
• 44:50
  defined in darkness the light that is that is
• 44:56
  defined by darkness. All things, that old things
• 45:00
  have passed away. Behold, all things have become
• 45:03
  new. So this is a man that light has shone in
• 45:08
  his heart. All right, this is a man that the
• 45:11
  light of the gospel has been shone in his heart
• 45:13
  and he has received that light of the gospel.
• 45:15
  So he's called a new creation. So we see the
• 45:18
  idea of the creation theology expressed in the
• 45:24
  context of the salvation of man. So we see Jesus
• 45:32
  Christ will be referring to people who believe
• 45:35
  in Matthew 5 verse 14. Matthew 5 verse 14 because
• 45:39
  they have the light in them. Matthew 5 verse
• 45:42
  14 and 16 says, you are the light of the world.
• 45:48
  You are the light of the world. A city set on
• 45:52
  a hill cannot be hidden. Jesus describes his
• 46:18
  audience as a light of the world, which is in
• 46:20
  reference to what God's creation in Genesis referring
• 46:24
  to you know the explanation of Genesis chapter
• 46:29
  1 from verse 1 down to verse 3 verse 4 verse
• 46:32
  5. However in verse 16 we see him saying let
• 46:39
  your light shine this clearly shows that the
• 46:42
  believer has a responsibility once he receives
• 46:46
  the light in himself is to do all is to shine
• 46:50
  the light and we've described and we've defined
• 46:52
  the light as what the glorious message of the
• 46:55
  gospel hallelujah so this will be seen in the
• 47:03
  conduct and the preaching of the gospel in this
• 47:05
  world so how the believer will allow the light
• 47:09
  that he has received to be seen in the midst
• 47:13
  of darkness in the midst of chaos is by his conduct
• 47:18
  And by the preaching that he preaches about what
• 47:21
  he has received and what he has in him. Okay?
• 47:25
  So this is exactly similar to what we see in
• 47:27
  Ephesians 5 verse 8, where Paul described the
• 47:32
  believers as light in the world. Okay? For you
• 47:36
  were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
• 47:40
  Work as children of light. So, the believer is
• 47:45
  light in the Lord. Okay, the believer has received
• 47:48
  light he has become light and he has light so
• 47:51
  he is to shine the light even on earth on earth
• 47:56
  Within a human relationship within human, you
• 48:01
  know interaction The light that is in us who
• 48:05
  have belief should be allowed to shine So this
• 48:10
  shows the believers identity is light all right
• 48:14
  This shows that the believer's identity is light,
• 48:17
  while the identity of the unbeliever is called
• 48:19
  darkness. And we see Paul, you know, instructing
• 48:25
  the believers to walk as children of light. Walk
• 48:29
  as children of light. Say, walk as children of
• 48:35
  what? Of light, verse 8. He says, walk as children
• 48:37
  of light. That walk has to do with peripatio,
• 48:41
  which figuratively implies to live. children
• 48:45
  of light to follow it also implies to conduct
• 48:49
  yourself or a disposition that is influenced
• 48:53
  by the nature of light that is in the believer
• 48:55
  so the believer is no longer in darkness but
• 49:01
  that light has been shown in his heart so he
• 49:05
  has an identity a new creation has been formed
• 49:09
  creation you know theology a new man has been
• 49:13
  formed He has received light and he has become
• 49:16
  light himself. So let him walk in the newness
• 49:20
  of life that he has So the word as walk as children
• 49:24
  of light as employed by Paul here Will be the
• 49:29
  same thing as Jesus will say let your light shines
• 49:32
  they are synonymous. So what Paul is saying Walk
• 49:36
  as children of light is synonymous to what Christ
• 49:38
  is saying in Matthew 5 14 and 16. Let your light
• 49:42
  shine Let your light shine before men that they
• 49:47
  may see and give glory to God So both speakers
• 49:51
  are passing across Jesus and Paul here are passing
• 49:54
  across the same instruction You know same instruction
• 50:00
  We see severely in Paul's epistles Romans chapter
• 50:04
  6 verse 4 Romans chapter 6 verse 4 Therefore
• 50:09
  we are buried with him through baptism into his
• 50:12
  death that Jesus that just as Christ was raised
• 50:15
  from the dead by the glory of the Father, even
• 50:18
  so also should walk. How to walk there is the
• 50:21
  word paripatheo in the Greek, p -e -r -i -p -a
• 50:26
  -t -e -o, p -e -r -i -p -a -t -e -o. Walk in
• 50:32
  a newness of life. What is the newness of life?
• 50:34
  The newness of life has to do with the light
• 50:36
  kind of life, the life that has received the
• 50:40
  light of God. Hallelujah Galatians 5 16 Galatians
• 50:44
  5 16 Galatians up to 5 16 Paul in his epistle
• 50:49
  will emphasize the believer to walk in that light
• 50:51
  I Say don't walk in the spirit. You see the word
• 50:54
  spirit All right is used to refute the light
• 50:59
  walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill
• 51:01
  the loss of the flesh Ephesians 4 verse 1 Visions
• 51:08
  of the 4 verse 1 so That life is a spirit. Ephesians
• 51:15
  4 verse 1, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord
• 51:20
  beseech you to walk worthy of the calling which
• 51:24
  you were called. What was the calling that we
• 51:26
  are called to walk in the light? That is a calling
• 51:29
  right from the beginning, right? We are called
• 51:32
  into light to walk in the light. So we are expected
• 51:37
  to respond to that which we are in. Ephesians
• 51:40
  5 verse 2. Ephesians 5 verse 2. And how do we
• 51:44
  respond? By our conduct and by the preaching.
• 51:48
  By conduct and by preaching. It says, and walk
• 51:52
  in love. So that light, life of light has to
• 51:56
  do with love. It says walk in love as Christ
• 51:58
  also had loved us and given himself for us an
• 52:02
  offering, an offering and a sacrifice to God
• 52:04
  for His sweet. Smelling sour. All right, Colossians
• 52:08
  1 verse 10 Colossians chapter 1 verse 10 That
• 52:16
  you may walk worthy of the Lord Fully pleasing
• 52:20
  him being fruitful in every good walk. Where
• 52:23
  do we first see something that is good? Hmm In
• 52:28
  Genesis, right? He said and it was good Genesis
• 52:32
  chapter 1 verse 3 and God said let there be light
• 52:39
  and there was light and God saw that the light
• 52:41
  that it was what it was good hallelujah so Colossians
• 52:49
  1 verse 10 we see that the life of the the life
• 52:55
  of a believer in the light is a good life hallelujah
• 52:58
  That you may work worthy of the Lord fully pleasing
• 53:01
  him being fruitful in every good work and increasing
• 53:07
  in the knowledge of God So poor clearly identifies
• 53:12
  a work peculiar to the man who is born again
• 53:16
  how he ought to conduct himself in the war in
• 53:19
  this world and Glorify God in his conduct in
• 53:24
  the earth So This is God's light shining out
• 53:29
  of darkness. OK, this is the idea of God's light
• 53:33
  shining out of darkness. God's desire is that
• 53:36
  there will be distinction. OK, there will be
• 53:39
  distinction between light and darkness. So this
• 53:43
  is what God would refer to as good in the creation
• 53:47
  narrative that we see in Genesis chapter one.
• 53:51
  That we will walk in the light, that we will
• 53:56
  allow the light that God has put in us to do
• 53:59
  what? To find expression. Later we'll see, even
• 54:02
  in John's epistles, I think in the first John
• 54:05
  or second John about the way he says that they
• 54:07
  should walk in the light, alright? And when he's
• 54:10
  talking about walking in the light, he's referring
• 54:12
  to Genesis, the expression, the plan and the
• 54:14
  purpose of God is that the believer will walk
• 54:18
  in that kind of life, you know, and John will
• 54:21
  say that Jesus is at light, okay? Jesus is at
• 54:25
  light. John chapter 1 we say that Jesus is that
• 54:27
  light we see it there Okay so Ephesians chapter
• 54:35
  5 verse 8 Ephesians chapter 5 verse 8 to 11 for
• 54:42
  you were once darkness But you are light in the
• 54:45
  Lord work as children of light. Okay for the
• 54:49
  fruit of the spirit in all goodness righteousness
• 54:51
  and truth finding out what is acceptable to the
• 54:55
  Lord and have no fellowship with what with the
• 55:01
  unfruitful works of darkness but rather what
• 55:04
  do we do how do you expose works of darkness
• 55:09
  it's by walking in the light how do you expose
• 55:12
  the work of darkness is by preaching the gospel
• 55:14
  when we allowed what we have within us to find
• 55:17
  expression we expose the works of darkness We
• 55:21
  expose the works of darkness. Ephesians chapter
• 55:24
  2 verse 1. We see further description of the
• 55:29
  believer. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1. And he
• 55:39
  who made a life, who were dead in trespasses
• 55:43
  and sins, in which he once worked according to
• 55:48
  the cause of this world. According to the Prince
• 55:52
  of the power of the air the spirit who now walks
• 55:56
  in the sense of disobedience According to the
• 56:00
  spirit that now walks, so there's a walk. There's
• 56:02
  a darkness that walks in the sense of disobedience
• 56:05
  You call it the spirit of disobedience and yesterday
• 56:09
  we saw You know the story of Noah Genesis chapter
• 56:13
  6 where the world was weak was full of wickedness
• 56:17
  Okay, we see an instance where wickedness darkness
• 56:21
  was upon the face of the earth and God commanded
• 56:24
  his life to shine in that darkness Alright, so
• 56:28
  the description of the children of disobedience
• 56:30
  and it takes here gives an allusion To men without
• 56:35
  the life of God Alright men that don't have the
• 56:39
  life of God and Jesus similarly described this
• 56:42
  contrast and look it it looks 16 looked up the
• 56:45
  16 verse 8 See, it's important that we keep seeing
• 56:50
  in scriptures how, you know, this narrative is
• 56:54
  made clearer. So the master commanded the unjust
• 56:57
  to what? Because he asked, they're shrewdly for
• 57:03
  the sons of this world are more shrewd in their
• 57:06
  generation than the sons of light. So here we
• 57:09
  see sons of light, okay, and sons of darkness.
• 57:14
  There's a distinction between these two. Therefore,
• 57:19
  in the earth today, we have the children of light,
• 57:23
  that is believers, and the children of disobedience.
• 57:27
  And we are instructed to shine the light or walk
• 57:32
  in the light as a mark of separation to the world.
• 57:36
  All right? We have to walk in the light as a
• 57:40
  mark of separation from the world. This is proper
• 57:44
  in God's creation plan. This is what God has
• 57:49
  in His plan from the beginning. This is His plan
• 57:53
  for the earth. Okay, this is His plan for where?
• 57:58
  For the earth. That there should be distinction
• 58:00
  between His walks and the walks of darkness.
• 58:05
  Romans 13 verse 12 says, the night is fast spent.
• 58:13
  The day is at hand, therefore let us cast off
• 58:16
  the works of darkness and let us put on the armor
• 58:20
  of light." This is clearly a direct reference
• 58:25
  to God's reordering and giving a function to
• 58:30
  the light in the darkness in Genesis chapter
• 58:31
  1 verse 5. You know, light should shine amidst
• 58:36
  darkness. a supernatural function as a day. You
• 58:43
  know, when we see day and night, let's look at
• 58:46
  that Genesis, because when we see day, it's not
• 58:48
  literal day, okay? It's not literal day. Genesis
• 58:52
  1 verse 5 says, God called the day, okay? God
• 58:56
  called the light. What did he call the light?
• 58:59
  He called the light day. And what did he call
• 59:02
  the darkness? Darkness equal night. So the evening
• 59:07
  and the morning were the first day. So, when
• 59:10
  we see night in scriptures, okay, consistently
• 59:14
  we see reference to the works of darkness as
• 59:18
  night, okay? So here Paul is making reference
• 59:22
  to this text here in his writing. He employed
• 59:28
  the words light and day and darkness, all right?
• 59:33
  Night to distinguish between the disposition
• 59:35
  of a man Alright, so Romans 13, did I read verse
• 59:53
  14? Give me verse 14. Yes, put on the Lord Jesus
• 1:00:03
  Christ as and make no provision for what? For
• 1:00:06
  the flesh to fulfill it is lost. Yes, that's
• 1:00:09
  the text I was looking for. Again, it is vital
• 1:00:11
  to recall the term good as we keep seeing in
• 1:00:14
  Genesis chapter 1 verse 4. referring to that
• 1:00:16
  which is proper and fitting in God's plan. So,
• 1:00:24
  in John chapter 1 verse 5, we see clearly also
• 1:00:29
  how John writes, he says, the light shineth in
• 1:00:32
  the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it
• 1:00:37
  not. As children of light, we believers, As we
• 1:00:41
  walk more deliberately in the light shining the
• 1:00:43
  light over darkness in our conduct As we shine
• 1:00:48
  the light of God's glorious gospel in our preaching
• 1:00:50
  and teaching We dispel the darkness that is in
• 1:00:54
  the heart of men. Hallelujah Mark 16 verse 15
• 1:00:58
  says and he said to them go ye into all the world
• 1:01:00
  and preach the gospel to every creature When
• 1:01:04
  we fulfill this You know what we do is that we
• 1:01:09
  bring light to the earth we bring light to people
• 1:01:14
  all right by the preaching of the gospel and
• 1:01:18
  of course we'll find the same explanation of
• 1:01:20
  the Christian theology you know in Genesis chapter
• 1:01:24
  7 let's let's let's go to Genesis chapter 7 Genesis
• 1:01:27
  chapter 7 verse 11 Genesis chapter 7 verse 11
• 1:01:32
  in the 600 year of Noah's life in the second
• 1:01:36
  month the seventh the seventh day of the month
• 1:01:40
  on the day all the fountain of the great deep
• 1:01:43
  were broken up and the windows of heaven were
• 1:01:46
  open and the rain was on the earth 40 days and
• 1:01:51
  49 i wanted to see the comparison between this
• 1:01:55
  genesis 7 and genesis 1 you would discover that
• 1:01:58
  in genesis 1 all right god declared his will
• 1:02:03
  and his purpose and we've stretched it over a
• 1:02:06
  long period of time In Genesis 7 you begin to
• 1:02:10
  compare between Genesis 7 and Genesis when you
• 1:02:12
  discover that it is actually the same plan God
• 1:02:14
  reiterating All right, so let's read to verse
• 1:02:19
  13 and rain was on the earth verse 12 verse 12
• 1:02:23
  and Rain was on the earth 40 days and 40 night.
• 1:02:27
  You see the idea of day Okay, and night, right?
• 1:02:30
  On the very same day Noah and Noah's son shame
• 1:02:34
  Ham and Zapheth and Noah's wife and the three
• 1:02:37
  wives of his sons with them entered the ark.
• 1:02:41
  They had every beast after his kind, all cattle
• 1:02:45
  after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps
• 1:02:49
  on the earth." Does it look like Genesis 1 and
• 1:02:51
  2? Recreation, right? After we see wickedness,
• 1:02:55
  then we see the plan of God. Hallelujah. Yes,
• 1:03:00
  so the art was filled with violence Okay, the
• 1:03:05
  art was very corrupt in the time of Noah this
• 1:03:08
  type of this is a typology of the chaos and a
• 1:03:11
  disorder and the violence and The roaring which
• 1:03:15
  can be explained as we saw in Genesis chapter
• 1:03:18
  1 verse 1 and 2 Okay, the same story Expressed
• 1:03:25
  toward through the story of Noah Noah's time
• 1:03:30
  was characterized by chaos. So Noah built an
• 1:03:35
  ark. What is that ark that Noah built? What is
• 1:03:40
  that ark that Noah built? So Genesis 7 is also,
• 1:03:45
  you know, God's new renewing what he has said
• 1:03:51
  in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1. The ark was translated
• 1:03:55
  from the Hebrew word tabba. The word tabab, T
• 1:03:59
  -A -B -A -H. And then the word has, the idea
• 1:04:03
  of ark has a context. That's a context to the
• 1:04:10
  culture of the people of that day. The word is
• 1:04:12
  from the Egyptian world. And then that ark from
• 1:04:17
  the Egyptian world is a shrine. Okay, it's a
• 1:04:21
  shrine for idols and gods, small gods. It's a
• 1:04:25
  dwelling with three levels. in compartments and
• 1:04:29
  by implication is a temple is a house for God
• 1:04:33
  so what Noah was asked the ark is actually a
• 1:04:36
  shrine you know a temple kind of structure and
• 1:04:41
  when we look at the dimensions of the ark it
• 1:04:43
  has three floors you know specifically as God
• 1:04:46
  will give Noah to build so it is important to
• 1:04:50
  note that the first place God established the
• 1:04:52
  temple space was in Genesis chapter 2 verse 8
• 1:04:56
  Okay, the first place we will see God establish
• 1:04:59
  a concept of a temple a place of fellowship.
• 1:05:03
  I Wish we were halftime. We're gonna have maybe
• 1:05:05
  in church. We're gonna treat this about You know
• 1:05:07
  the sin of Adam and what is truly and actually
• 1:05:11
  the sin of Adam So in Genesis 2 verse 8, we'll
• 1:05:16
  see the idea of the Garden of Eden The Garden
• 1:05:20
  of Eden as a place of fellowship between God
• 1:05:26
  and man So let's see Genesis chapter 7 verse
• 1:05:30
  5 let's read from verse 5 Genesis 7 verse 5 let's
• 1:05:35
  let's look at more of the story about Noah and
• 1:05:38
  Noah did according to all the Lord commanded
• 1:05:40
  him Noah was 600 years old when the flood waters
• 1:05:44
  were on the earth So Noah with his sons his wife
• 1:05:49
  and his sons wives went into the ark because
• 1:05:52
  of the waters of the flood of clean animals,
• 1:05:58
  of animals that are unclean, of bears, and of
• 1:06:02
  everything that creeps on the earth. Two by two
• 1:06:05
  they went into the ark to Noah, male and female,
• 1:06:07
  as God had commanded Noah. And it came to pass,
• 1:06:11
  after seven days, that the waters of the flood
• 1:06:15
  were on the earth. In the 600 year of Noah's
• 1:06:20
  life, If in the second month the seventh day
• 1:06:23
  of the month on the day that all the fountains
• 1:06:25
  of the great deep These were all expressed in
• 1:06:29
  Genesis 1 we see we're broken up and the windows
• 1:06:31
  of heavens were open And the rain was on the
• 1:06:36
  earth 40 days and 40 nights Genesis 8 let's move
• 1:06:43
  to Genesis 8 verse 1 to 4. Genesis 8 verse 1
• 1:06:45
  to 4 Genesis 8 verse 1 to 4 Then God remembered
• 1:06:52
  Noah and every living thing and all the animals
• 1:06:56
  that were with him in the ark. And God made a
• 1:07:00
  wind to pass over the earth. Does it look like
• 1:07:03
  what we saw in Genesis 1? God commanded what?
• 1:07:07
  A wind to pass over the earth. Alright? And the
• 1:07:12
  water subsided. The fountains of the deep and
• 1:07:18
  the windows of heaven were also stopped. And
• 1:07:20
  the rain from heaven was restrained, verse 3.
• 1:07:24
  And the waters receded continually from the earth.
• 1:07:27
  At the end of the 150 days, the waters decreased,
• 1:07:31
  verse 4. Then the ark rested in the seventh month.
• 1:07:38
  Where do we see the idea of rest? Rest is a creation.
• 1:07:43
  Vabbit right from Genesis when God finished his
• 1:07:46
  work he rested then the ark rested in the seventh
• 1:07:49
  month and the seventh day of the month of the
• 1:07:52
  mountains of Ararat move to verse 13 and verse
• 1:07:54
  14 verse 13 and verse 14 and it came to pass
• 1:08:00
  in the 601st year in the first month the first
• 1:08:04
  day of the month that the waters were dried up
• 1:08:06
  from the earth from the air so we see the idea
• 1:08:09
  of earth earth, earth, and Noah removed the covering
• 1:08:12
  of the ark and looked and indeed the surface
• 1:08:15
  of the ground was dry. Hallelujah. So, we observe
• 1:08:22
  and point out the similarities between Genesis
• 1:08:25
  1 and Genesis 7 and 8. The flood of waters, for
• 1:08:30
  example, in Genesis 7 verse 5. Give me verse
• 1:08:34
  5, we'll see the flood of waters. Verse 5, verse
• 1:08:38
  11, verse 12. Say verse 5, Noah did according
• 1:08:43
  to all, yes the Lord has commanded, is this,
• 1:08:47
  yes. Verse 11, of course we see on the day all
• 1:08:58
  the frontiers of the great deep were broken up
• 1:09:00
  and the windows of heaven were opened, yes. So
• 1:09:03
  we have also in Genesis chapter 1 verse 2, given
• 1:09:09
  Genesis chapter 1 verse 2 The earth was without
• 1:09:13
  form and void and darkness was on a deep Was
• 1:09:17
  on the face of the deep and the spirit of God
• 1:09:19
  was hovering over the face of the waters Okay
• 1:09:23
  So an arc went upon the waters chapter 7 verse
• 1:09:29
  18 arcs Genesis 7 verse 18. We see that the arc
• 1:09:34
  was upon the waters in Genesis chapter 7 verse
• 1:09:37
  18 The waters prevail and greatly increase on
• 1:09:42
  the earth and the arc move upon on the face surface
• 1:09:45
  of the water Remember we'll talk about the arc
• 1:09:47
  the arc is actually a a temple kind of a structure
• 1:09:51
  a shrine kind of a structure Alright, and it
• 1:09:54
  hovers upon the waters and we'll see similarly
• 1:09:57
  as we read in Genesis chapter 1 verse 2 What
• 1:10:00
  do we see in Genesis chapter 1 verse 2? The spirit
• 1:10:03
  move upon the face of the waters right now on
• 1:10:06
  the face of the ground was dry The art was dried
• 1:10:10
  up Genesis chapter 2 chapter 8 verse 2 and to
• 1:10:15
  3 chapter 13 Talking about a dry ground. These
• 1:10:19
  are terminologies that when we study We discover
• 1:10:22
  that in the listen in the story of the people
• 1:10:25
  that were there. All right Moses was trying to
• 1:10:30
  communicate in them The consistency of God's
• 1:10:33
  plan. That's what I want to bring to your notice.
• 1:10:36
  All right That what we see in Genesis 1 Genesis
• 1:10:42
  2 We see that it is the iteration of same in
• 1:10:46
  the time of Noah And even when we come to Abraham
• 1:10:51
  we see that similar thing was communicated to
• 1:10:55
  Abraham and even when God came to the children
• 1:10:59
  of Israel in Egypt it was the introduction of
• 1:11:03
  similar conversation right from Genesis So for
• 1:11:06
  every time and for every season we see the consistency
• 1:11:09
  of God's plan in typologies in symbols in Figures
• 1:11:14
  of speech and in all those things the iterating
• 1:11:17
  is eternal purpose for man And his plan is that
• 1:11:21
  his spirit will dwell in men that light will
• 1:11:24
  shine in the hearts of men. Hallelujah So, all
• 1:11:37
  this is important for us to understand that the
• 1:11:41
  creation story is vital. It's vital for us in
• 1:11:46
  understanding the purpose of God. It's very crucial
• 1:11:48
  for us to understand the plan and the purpose
• 1:11:52
  of God. I wish we would go into looking at Genesis
• 1:11:55
  chapter 2 and chapter 3 more in detail, that
• 1:11:58
  we would see how sin came into being. Okay, we'll
• 1:12:02
  see how sin came into being and how you know
• 1:12:05
  What actually is that particular sin that Adam
• 1:12:08
  sin in the Garden of Eden? What is the concept
• 1:12:10
  of Eden itself? We'll discover that all this
• 1:12:14
  speaks about the intention of God and a plan
• 1:12:17
  and the purpose of God for humanity and often
• 1:12:20
  times when God declares his plan and his purpose
• 1:12:22
  What do you see? Even in the declaration of God's
• 1:12:28
  plans and purpose is at main In their weaknesses
• 1:12:31
  may fail as we see in the fall of Adam and we
• 1:12:35
  see the salvation of God even in the fall In
• 1:12:39
  a time of Noah we see wickedness in increase
• 1:12:41
  and we see that God interrupted and introduces
• 1:12:45
  himself into their face of the earth For salvation
• 1:12:50
  so that is a message of salvation Even in the
• 1:12:55
  nation of Israel when God began with Abraham
• 1:12:58
  Abraham was a pagan Right? And we see God coming
• 1:13:02
  to him to declare his plan and his purpose for
• 1:13:05
  humanity. And even when the children of Israel,
• 1:13:09
  who are the people that, you know, through which
• 1:13:12
  God has promised to Abraham, were in captivity,
• 1:13:16
  we see that he sent them help. All right? He
• 1:13:21
  sent them Moses, and Moses delivered them and
• 1:13:24
  brought them out of Egypt. We see the salvation
• 1:13:26
  story of God consistently in scriptures. And
• 1:13:29
  even when he brought them out to the wilderness,
• 1:13:34
  they were saved from Egypt. They walked on dry
• 1:13:37
  land, they came out of the waters, you see. And
• 1:13:41
  they were in the wilderness and he declared his
• 1:13:43
  plan and his purpose for them even in their unbelief.
• 1:13:47
  Yet we see the consistency of God's faithfulness
• 1:13:49
  that he still brought about the fulfillment of
• 1:13:52
  his promise. And even when the nation of Israel
• 1:13:57
  enter into the promised land as we read through
• 1:13:59
  their history we will see consistently where
• 1:14:02
  they will disobey they will turn their hearts
• 1:14:03
  away from God and then as they turn their hearts
• 1:14:06
  away from God we will see that they are displaced
• 1:14:08
  okay they will sin and in their sin they will
• 1:14:14
  they will be displaced from the land of promise
• 1:14:18
  does that give us a picture of Adam? Adam placed
• 1:14:22
  in the garden okay and then he's seen and then
• 1:14:27
  he was displaced from the place that he was created
• 1:14:28
  and placed all right so all these things are
• 1:14:34
  explanations of God's dealings with man and they
• 1:14:37
  are narratives that are very very important and
• 1:14:39
  if you see how men will come into God's plan
• 1:14:42
  from the time of Adam and Eve is by faith okay
• 1:14:48
  and even in the time of Noah Noah was a preacher
• 1:14:52
  of righteousness And how people will come into
• 1:14:57
  you know the reality of what Noah will do was
• 1:15:00
  preaching was by faith Not to think of even immediately
• 1:15:05
  after Adam we see his offspring We see Cain and
• 1:15:12
  Abel When Cain did not hearken to the voice of
• 1:15:16
  God All right, and he murdered his brother the
• 1:15:20
  Bible said that he was he became a fugitive that
• 1:15:25
  we see you know the actions of God even in the
• 1:15:29
  midst of that he was not he was even in his sin
• 1:15:32
  right he complained to God and say God whoever
• 1:15:34
  sins me will kill me but we see even in his rebellion
• 1:15:38
  we see the preservation of God what put a mark
• 1:15:40
  on him that no man will kill him hallelujah so
• 1:15:46
  consistently we see the stories and the activities
• 1:15:49
  of men in the activities of men we see God's
• 1:15:54
  salvation plan declared and fulfilled in that
• 1:15:57
  time and we see Jesus Christ Then what is the
• 1:16:00
  essence of Jesus Christ? We will see shortly
• 1:16:02
  that Jesus Christ comes to Bring in the permanence
• 1:16:08
  of God's plan and God's purpose the permanence
• 1:16:11
  of God's plan and purpose has to be the fulfillment
• 1:16:13
  of God's plan and his purpose for all men because
• 1:16:15
  how We will come into the plan because we are
• 1:16:20
  not a nation of Israel So God picked a nation
• 1:16:23
  and He picked a nation to bring about His plan
• 1:16:27
  and His purpose for the entire world and how
• 1:16:29
  we will come into it is through Jesus Christ
• 1:16:34
  Hallelujah, so let's for a short period of time.
• 1:16:39
  Let's look at the gospel as preached in the book
• 1:16:45
  of Acts and we close Throughout the book of Acts
• 1:16:50
  whenever the Apostles preach the gospel they
• 1:16:53
  consistently told the story of God's dealings
• 1:16:55
  with Israel before presenting Jesus Christ as
• 1:17:01
  a Messiah. This is a pattern that we see all
• 1:17:03
  through their summons in the book of Acts Whenever
• 1:17:06
  they go to preach the gospel, they don't omit
• 1:17:09
  the story of Israel and that is very very crucial
• 1:17:12
  Okay, we'll see how everything linked together
• 1:17:18
  Before even to the Gentiles they must explain
• 1:17:21
  God's dealings with Israel is very important
• 1:17:23
  to the message For example now in Peter someone
• 1:17:26
  in Acts chapter 2 verse 14 to 41 We'll see Peter
• 1:17:30
  begins by explaining Joel's prophecy. Is that
• 1:17:33
  the story of Israel? prophecy of Joel all right
• 1:17:37
  Particularly to the nation of Israel actually
• 1:17:38
  2 verse 16 to 21. He traces God's promise through
• 1:17:42
  David. This is a soul of people of Israel Before
• 1:17:45
  proclaiming Jesus as a risen Lord and Christ
• 1:17:48
  in Acts chapter 2 verse 26 to 38. Now we cannot
• 1:17:52
  Tell the story of God especially salvation without
• 1:17:57
  Actually explaining the story of the nation of
• 1:18:01
  Israel Peter also did the same thing Acts chapter
• 1:18:05
  3 verse 11 Peter presents Jesus as the fulfillment
• 1:18:10
  of what Moses and all the prophets foretold connecting
• 1:18:14
  Christ directly to God's covenant with Abraham.
• 1:18:17
  Abraham is actually the story of Israel, the
• 1:18:23
  nation of Israel. Acts chapter 3 verse 18, and
• 1:18:25
  then we'll see 22 verse 25. Alright? Oh, look
• 1:18:30
  at Stephen's defense. Stephen is another example.
• 1:18:36
  When he was speaking in chapter 7, the entire
• 1:18:39
  chapter, we see that in the entirety of the chapter
• 1:18:42
  7, What Stephen did was to narrate God's dealing
• 1:18:46
  with the nation of Israel. Why is this important?
• 1:18:52
  Why is this important? It's important because
• 1:18:56
  salvation, okay, is actually expressed in God's
• 1:19:03
  dealing with the nation of Israel. The reason
• 1:19:06
  for salvation, hear this properly, the reason
• 1:19:10
  for salvation is explained in God's dealing with
• 1:19:14
  the nation of Israel. Why did God save the nation
• 1:19:18
  of Israel? Is that He will have a kingdom. All
• 1:19:22
  right? Is that He will have a people. Is that
• 1:19:26
  He will have a family. So if you take away the
• 1:19:31
  story of the nation of Israel, we will not be
• 1:19:33
  able to explain vividly the idea and the concept
• 1:19:37
  of salvation. If we decide to cut away the story
• 1:19:41
  of the nation of Israel, we will not be able
• 1:19:44
  to declare properly God's plan and God's purpose,
• 1:19:46
  because through them, God really exposed or expressed
• 1:19:50
  to us His will and His purpose. We'll see another
• 1:19:55
  example, Acts 13 verse 16 to 41, where Paul was
• 1:19:59
  preaching. Paul begins with God's choosing of
• 1:20:01
  Israel. Then he went on to speak about the Exodus,
• 1:20:05
  very crucial. Then the judges the time of the
• 1:20:08
  judges then he comes to talk about David and
• 1:20:11
  then he declares Later on in verse 23 that from
• 1:20:16
  these man's descendants are calling to the promise
• 1:20:18
  God brought Israel the Savior Jesus Christ Is
• 1:20:23
  a line of his story that we must We must comprehend
• 1:20:28
  Okay, we must comprehend so the story of Jesus
• 1:20:33
  is the story of israel actually i started giving
• 1:20:39
  us a hint of this yesterday i said the story
• 1:20:41
  of jesus christ is from the story of israel so
• 1:20:45
  when we ignore this we can't know the gospel
• 1:20:48
  we cannot know the gospel the life and the mission
• 1:20:53
  of jesus on earth are the all testament stories
• 1:20:57
  of israel retold jesus christ in his life and
• 1:21:02
  his mission We will see clearly that he is repeating
• 1:21:07
  the story of the nation of Israel. So if we will
• 1:21:12
  have an understanding of what Jesus did, we must
• 1:21:15
  look at God's dealing with the nation of Israel.
• 1:21:19
  Even in the explanation of what Jesus did in
• 1:21:23
  the epistles, the apostles always reference the
• 1:21:27
  nation of Israel as a context what Jesus did.
• 1:21:36
  So we cannot fully understand the gospel without
• 1:21:39
  understanding God's work through Israel because
• 1:21:42
  Jesus is a fulfillment of the story and not a
• 1:21:47
  departure from it. God's work of salvation is
• 1:21:52
  first revealed in his dealings with the nation
• 1:21:55
  of Israel. God's salvation is first revealed
• 1:21:59
  in his dealings with the nation of Israel, whom
• 1:22:02
  he redeemed to establish his kingdom purpose.
• 1:22:08
  Once we are able to understand what God did with
• 1:22:11
  the nation of Israel, we will understand God's
• 1:22:15
  purpose. We understand God's will. This riches
• 1:22:20
  is fulfillment in Christ who brings salvation
• 1:22:24
  to all who believe and establish God's kingdom
• 1:22:30
  through his church. So the story of the church
• 1:22:34
  is actually the story of the nation of israel
• 1:22:38
  retold hallelujah for example in exodus chapter
• 1:22:44
  19 verse five to six let's see exodus chapter
• 1:22:47
  19 verse five to six quickly exodus chapter 19
• 1:22:51
  verse five to six now there now therefore if
• 1:22:54
  you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant
• 1:22:57
  then you shall be a special treasure to me Above
• 1:23:02
  all people for all the earth is mine. The earth
• 1:23:06
  is mine speaks of people all the earth is mine
• 1:23:09
  What will they become to be a treasure to him,
• 1:23:11
  right? verse I Shall be a kingdom of priests
• 1:23:19
  That is after he has saved them. You shall be
• 1:23:22
  a kingdom of priests and a holy nation These
• 1:23:26
  are the words you should you shall speak to the
• 1:23:28
  children of Israel. That is after salvation So
• 1:23:32
  Moses came and called for the elders of the people
• 1:23:34
  and he laid before them all these words which
• 1:23:37
  the Lord had commanded him All right Matthew
• 1:23:44
  chapter 1 verse 21 Matthew 1 21 Because of time
• 1:23:51
  quickly And you shall bring forth a son when
• 1:23:55
  Jesus came and you shall call his name Jesus
• 1:23:57
  for he will save his people from their sin. Yes
• 1:24:01
  Luke 1 32 Luke 1 32 We're trying to link the
• 1:24:08
  story of the nation of Israel and then we see
• 1:24:10
  Jesus and then we see the church He will be a
• 1:24:13
  great he will be great and will be called the
• 1:24:15
  son of the highest and The Lord will give him
• 1:24:19
  the throne of his father David Okay, we see kingdom
• 1:24:23
  In the story of Israel we see Jesus Christ coming
• 1:24:27
  and then getting the kingdom from David and he
• 1:24:32
  will reign over the house of Jacob forever and
• 1:24:35
  of his kingdom there will be no end. Colossians
• 1:24:38
  chapter 1 verse 13, Colossians chapter 1 verse
• 1:24:42
  13 and verse 14. He has delivered us from the
• 1:24:45
  power of darkness, Genesis 1 conversation, and
• 1:24:49
  conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of his
• 1:24:53
  love in whom we have redemption through his blood,
• 1:24:57
  the forgiveness of sins. Then 1st Peter chapter
• 1:25:00
  2 verse 9, we see that Peter expressly linked
• 1:25:05
  the story of Israel to our reality today. He
• 1:25:09
  says, but you are a chosen generation, a royal
• 1:25:13
  priesthood. This is a story of Israel, a holy
• 1:25:16
  nation. This is a story of Israel. His own peculiar
• 1:25:19
  people read this in Exodus chapter 19 verse 5
• 1:25:22
  and 6. His own special people. Why? that you
• 1:25:28
  may proclaim the praises of Him who call you
• 1:25:30
  out of darkness. Which darkness? Darkness has
• 1:25:33
  to do with the idea of God calling us out of
• 1:25:36
  sin, out of the chaos, out of an identity of
• 1:25:40
  chaos. As we've seen in the altar sermon, into
• 1:25:47
  His marvelous light. What is that light? That
• 1:25:49
  life, the life that is in Christ, we've explained.
• 1:25:53
  Who was, were not a people, but are now the people
• 1:25:56
  of God. who had not obtained mercy, but now have
• 1:25:59
  obtained mercy. All right. So when we read the
• 1:26:09
  creation account, we see God's plan of salvation
• 1:26:13
  and his purpose of establishing his kingdom,
• 1:26:16
  his rule that is heaven on earth. That same purpose
• 1:26:21
  is progressively revealed in his dealings with
• 1:26:24
  Israel, whom he chose and dwell among them. Did
• 1:26:30
  God dwell among the nation of Israel? How did
• 1:26:33
  he stay with them? We see him all through in
• 1:26:36
  the activities, in the wilderness, right? He
• 1:26:39
  was in the cloud, representing, and also what?
• 1:26:43
  The fire, right? So he dwell among them, in the
• 1:26:49
  tabernacle. He tabernacle with them, a temple
• 1:26:55
  symbol. The same purpose is progressively revealed
• 1:27:00
  in his dealings with the nation of Israel and
• 1:27:02
  then we see him dwelling among them and then
• 1:27:06
  shaping his covenant with them. In this sense,
• 1:27:12
  the creation narratives as recorded by Moses
• 1:27:16
  because see Genesis 1, Genesis 2, Genesis 3 and
• 1:27:19
  the entire books of the Old Testament were not
• 1:27:22
  written for us, to us rather. The his audience
• 1:27:27
  were the people of Israel So in that writing
• 1:27:30
  that Moses wrote Genesis one two down and all
• 1:27:34
  the writings he did He was actually telling them
• 1:27:36
  about God's plan and God's purpose for them Hallelujah,
• 1:27:41
  he was revealing that God has called him out
• 1:27:45
  of darkness He was revealing that God is calling
• 1:27:47
  them out of chaos that they will be a people
• 1:27:50
  of light So Moses was given was to reveal God's
• 1:27:56
  eternal plan and purpose to Israel. So when we
• 1:28:00
  understand God's plan as Moses communicated to
• 1:28:03
  his audience, and we see God's dealing with the
• 1:28:06
  nation of Israel, alright, then we'll better
• 1:28:10
  understand what Christ did. When we understand
• 1:28:15
  what Christ did, then we'll appreciate the church,
• 1:28:21
  the early church. We'll read through the book
• 1:28:22
  of Acts, we'll see how you know the church lived
• 1:28:26
  and exemplified the same so Moses was given the
• 1:28:36
  writings he wrote was teaching them about God's
• 1:28:39
  eternal plan and purpose showing that his redemptive
• 1:28:43
  work you know even though yes it did not begin
• 1:28:47
  with them the intention of God did not begin
• 1:28:50
  with them but From the beginning, I mean the
• 1:28:53
  story Abraham right before we see the Exodus
• 1:28:57
  down to Isaac to Jacob Then we see them You know
• 1:29:01
  in the wilderness in Egypt, then he saved them
• 1:29:04
  out of Egypt and then he gave them the laws All
• 1:29:08
  right so Jesus Christ in his resurrection Express
• 1:29:16
  God's finished walking express the finished fulfillment
• 1:29:21
  of God's work through the Holy Spirit. And the
• 1:29:26
  benefits of Christ's redemption are applied to
• 1:29:28
  us today. What Jesus did was to bring God's plan
• 1:29:33
  of salvation to his fulfillment and ushering
• 1:29:37
  believers into the kingdom, those who are all
• 1:29:40
  men, because God's intention in the beginning
• 1:29:42
  was for all nations, for all the earth. The kingdom
• 1:29:46
  is for all nations the plan is for all nations
• 1:29:49
  not only the nation of israel but god intended
• 1:29:52
  plan was for all the earth the father's purpose
• 1:29:55
  to unite all things together in all in one god's
• 1:30:00
  eternal purpose was the unification of all things
• 1:30:02
  the entire earth talking about people and his
• 1:30:05
  creation but we see the unity is in christ The
• 1:30:15
  Jew and the non -Jew, the Jew and the Gentile
• 1:30:21
  are united in Christ. All of us from different
• 1:30:26
  nations and tribes and tongues are united in
• 1:30:30
  the person of Christ. Because that was the mission
• 1:30:33
  right from the beginning. Hallelujah. And let's
• 1:30:38
  read through this and then we see how we summarize.
• 1:30:41
  John chapter 19 verse 30. We just read and see
• 1:30:44
  how these realities are expressed in scriptures.
• 1:30:47
  John chapter 19 verse 30. So when Jesus had received
• 1:30:52
  the sour wine, he said it is finished, that is
• 1:30:54
  on the cross. What is finished? The fulfillment
• 1:30:58
  of what he has been sent to do. And bowing his
• 1:31:03
  head, he gave up the spirit. That's his death.
• 1:31:06
  Romans 8, 11. Romans 8, 11. Romans 8 -11. But
• 1:31:15
  if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the
• 1:31:17
  dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from
• 1:31:20
  the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
• 1:31:23
  through his spirit who dwells in you. So we see
• 1:31:26
  that his death brought about the indwelling of
• 1:31:29
  the spirit. Acts chapter 2 verse 32 to 39. the
• 1:31:39
  salmon of Peter this Jesus God has raised up
• 1:31:45
  of which we are all witnesses therefore being
• 1:31:49
  exalted to the right hand of God and having received
• 1:31:52
  from the father the promise of the Holy Spirit
• 1:31:55
  okay he poured out this which you now see and
• 1:32:00
  hear for David did not ascend into the heavens
• 1:32:04
  but he said himself the Lord said to my Lord
• 1:32:06
  sit at my right hand Till I make your enemies
• 1:32:09
  your footstool Therefore let all the house of
• 1:32:13
  Israel know assuredly that God has made these
• 1:32:16
  Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ
• 1:32:19
  Now when they had this They were caught to the
• 1:32:27
  heart and said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles
• 1:32:30
  men and bread and what shall we do? Then Peter
• 1:32:34
  said to them repent And let every one of you
• 1:32:37
  be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the
• 1:32:39
  permission of saints and you shall receive the
• 1:32:41
  gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to
• 1:32:46
  you and to your children and to all who are far
• 1:32:50
  off. Now that is the emphasis that I want us
• 1:32:51
  to see. The promise is to them, to their children
• 1:32:55
  and to all who are far off. As many as the Lord
• 1:33:01
  our God would call. Remember. We will see in
• 1:33:07
  true scriptures that that spirit hmm Is represented
• 1:33:11
  as Christ is represented as that light from Genesis
• 1:33:14
  All right, so that declaration of God's plan
• 1:33:18
  is for all The promise is for all To all who
• 1:33:23
  are far afar of who are not even within the nation
• 1:33:28
  of Israel God's plan was for all men All right
• 1:33:33
  Colossians of the one verse 19 and 20 Colossians
• 1:33:37
  chapter 1 verse 19 and 20. For it pleased the
• 1:33:43
  Father that in Him, in who in Christ, all the
• 1:33:49
  fullness should dwell and by Him to reconcile
• 1:33:55
  all things to Himself by Him. What are things
• 1:34:00
  on the earth? What do you think is things on
• 1:34:03
  the earth or things in the heaven? Does it look
• 1:34:05
  like Genesis chapter 1? verse one in the beginning
• 1:34:08
  god created the heaven and world and the earth
• 1:34:12
  this is god's eternal plan right from the beginning
• 1:34:15
  that in him john will say in the beginning was
• 1:34:18
  the world right in him so paul here is talking
• 1:34:22
  is the same genesis one verse one is explaining
• 1:34:24
  here for he pleased the father that through him
• 1:34:27
  that all things in himself by him where are things
• 1:34:31
  on the earth what are the things on the earth
• 1:34:34
  Humans, men, humans, we, the creation on the
• 1:34:39
  earth, men. Things on the earth or things in
• 1:34:42
  the heavens, heaven has to do with God's activity.
• 1:34:45
  Heaven on earth, God's activity. Having made
• 1:34:49
  peace through the blood of his cross. So from
• 1:34:53
  the eternal plan is a unification of heaven on
• 1:34:56
  earth. Hallelujah. Ephesians, is it? Yes, Ephesians
• 1:35:00
  1 verse 9 and 10. Having made known to us the
• 1:35:07
  mystery of His will. What is His will? Where
• 1:35:09
  do we find the mystery of His will? The mystery
• 1:35:11
  of His will is in the scriptures from the beginning.
• 1:35:15
  Having made known to us the mystery of His will
• 1:35:17
  according to His good pleasure. What is His good
• 1:35:19
  pleasure? He's proposing Himself, verse 10. Look
• 1:35:21
  at verse 10. That in the dispensation of the
• 1:35:24
  fullness of times, He may gather together. What?
• 1:35:29
  He may gather together in one All things in Christ
• 1:35:35
  what all things in Christ Both which are in what
• 1:35:39
  in the heaven that this is Genesis 1 and which
• 1:35:42
  are on the earth in him Hallelujah. So this has
• 1:35:47
  been his intent from the beginning that the heaven
• 1:35:50
  and the earth will be united in Christ and we
• 1:35:57
  see Moses communicating these plans of salvation
• 1:36:00
  All right to the people of Israel and I will
• 1:36:03
  see even in their own story. We see the expression
• 1:36:07
  of God's plan and purpose rewritten in their
• 1:36:10
  own life And we see when Jesus came he told the
• 1:36:16
  story by what he did what he preached and what
• 1:36:19
  he fulfilled Hallelujah, and then we see the
• 1:36:23
  message Matthew 28 verse 18 Matthew 28 verse
• 1:36:27
  18 we see God's plan And Jesus came and spoke
• 1:36:32
  to them saying, all authority has been given
• 1:36:35
  to me where? Heaven. What is heaven? Heaven,
• 1:36:41
  the unseen, the activities of heaven, all right?
• 1:36:43
  Genesis 1 verse 1, all authority has been given
• 1:36:46
  to me where? In heaven and where? On earth. How
• 1:36:51
  did he access this authority? But what he accomplished,
• 1:36:53
  his death, his burial and his resurrection has
• 1:36:56
  given him what? that authority on earth to unite
• 1:37:00
  things. That means he has fulfilled things by
• 1:37:03
  his death, his birth, his resurrection. All authority
• 1:37:06
  has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
• 1:37:09
  This is Genesis 1 .1 verse 19. So go therefore
• 1:37:15
  and make disciples of all nations. You see where
• 1:37:20
  our mission came from? It's from the unification
• 1:37:23
  of the heavens and the earth that we have our
• 1:37:26
  ministry derived from. That we now have the ability
• 1:37:29
  to do what to go. Baptizing them in the name
• 1:37:31
  of the Father and the Son of the Holy Spirit.
• 1:37:34
  Teaching them to observe all things that I've
• 1:37:36
  commanded. You and Lo, I am with you always,
• 1:37:39
  even to the end of the age. Hallelujah. So our
• 1:37:43
  ministry is rooted in what Christ has done. It's
• 1:37:48
  a complete story of what Christ has done. Okay?
• 1:37:53
  So we read earlier on 1 Peter 2 verse 9 and 10.
• 1:37:57
  We read earlier on, and we see in this, I'm not
• 1:38:02
  going to read it again, we read it earlier on,
• 1:38:05
  Peter identifies that both the Gentiles are included
• 1:38:10
  in what God is doing. Gentiles are inclusive
• 1:38:15
  in what God has done or what God is doing as
• 1:38:19
  the continuation of his kingdom. And he applies
• 1:38:23
  this to the church. He applies this to the church.
• 1:38:26
  He applies to the church the identity first given
• 1:38:29
  to Israel in Exodus 19 verse 4 to 6. He applies
• 1:38:33
  the identity given to Israel in Exodus chapter
• 1:38:37
  19 verse 4 to 6. A chosen generation, a royal
• 1:38:41
  priest with a holy nation, his own special people,
• 1:38:45
  this calling reflects God's original purpose,
• 1:38:48
  right? Revealed through Abraham, that through
• 1:38:52
  his descendants, All the nations of the earth
• 1:38:56
  will be blessed. This was a promise made to Abraham
• 1:39:00
  All right, and we see it beginning with what
• 1:39:04
  the nation of Israel a kingdom Okay But when
• 1:39:09
  the promise was made to Abraham, it was to the
• 1:39:11
  whole earth not only to the nation of Israel
• 1:39:13
  All right. So Peter in this in his epistle first
• 1:39:17
  Peter 2 verse 9 and 10 He pre he is not presenting
• 1:39:21
  the church as a replacement for Israel because
• 1:39:25
  often times we have this idea that the church
• 1:39:27
  era is a replacement to what God did to the nation
• 1:39:32
  of Israel. But what God actually did is that
• 1:39:36
  He expanded the fulfillment of His promise of
• 1:39:39
  His covenant through Christ. Hallelujah. So God's
• 1:39:44
  kingdom mission revealed through the nation of
• 1:39:47
  Israel. now includes people from every nation
• 1:39:51
  who are united by faith in Jesus Christ. So we've
• 1:39:56
  emphasized this over and over and over and over
• 1:39:58
  again that we must always understand the story
• 1:40:04
  of the nation of Israel because that is where
• 1:40:07
  our own story came from. God expressed it through
• 1:40:11
  them. We cannot understand the mission for the
• 1:40:14
  church without understanding the mission to Israel.
• 1:40:18
  The mission to the church of doing greater works
• 1:40:21
  is a mission to the nation of Israel to be priests,
• 1:40:25
  to be kings on the face of the earth. That through
• 1:40:29
  the nation of Israel, the whole world will understand
• 1:40:32
  the plan and the purpose of God. That when the
• 1:40:35
  men in the world see God's dealing with the nation
• 1:40:37
  of Israel, they'll understand the purpose of
• 1:40:40
  God, they'll understand the will of God. The
• 1:40:41
  nation of Israel was called to teach the world
• 1:40:46
  about the plan, the purpose, and the mission
• 1:40:48
  of God on the earth. So we can say that God's
• 1:40:52
  kingdom mission was revealed through Israel and
• 1:40:56
  now includes all of us. The kingdom of God is
• 1:41:01
  not merely about leaving the earth, because oftentimes
• 1:41:03
  when we talk about heaven, we always think about
• 1:41:07
  an escape from the earth, hallelujah. But that
• 1:41:11
  was not God's communication to the nation of
• 1:41:13
  Israel. He says that he will dwell with them.
• 1:41:16
  Was that the communication? Heaven and earth
• 1:41:20
  will be united. Heaven will come to earth. Heaven
• 1:41:24
  and earth will be one. Heaven will be on earth.
• 1:41:28
  In the beginning, God created the heavens and
• 1:41:30
  the earth. The idea was that earth, heaven will
• 1:41:34
  be on the earth. Hallelujah. The idea is that
• 1:41:37
  God will visit men and He will tabernacle with
• 1:41:40
  men. So we see God visiting the nation of Israel
• 1:41:44
  and dwelling with them So we see Jesus Christ
• 1:41:47
  coming to us All right visiting us saving us
• 1:41:52
  and what did he do? He dwell with us Hallelujah
• 1:41:57
  By the Holy Spirit. Amen. He resides in us permanently
• 1:42:03
  Israel story is our story is a is the story of
• 1:42:08
  the church explained So, it's not about an escape
• 1:42:14
  on the earth and going to heaven. It's about
• 1:42:17
  God establishing His reign and presence on the
• 1:42:20
  earth through His people. Okay? The Kingdom of
• 1:42:24
  God is not about going to heaven. It's about
• 1:42:27
  God establishing His reign and presence on the
• 1:42:30
  earth through His people. Matthew 6 verse 10,
• 1:42:33
  Revelation 21 -3. We see this. So the earth is
• 1:42:38
  God's dwelling place. That is God's plan from
• 1:42:40
  the beginning. That the earth will be his dwelling
• 1:42:44
  place heaven on earth All right, he always visits
• 1:42:50
  and the goal is that he will visit and he will
• 1:42:54
  dwell among men And we see it in Christ as a
• 1:42:59
  finished work And we who are in Christ have received
• 1:43:03
  the spirit So the earth is God's dwelling place
• 1:43:08
  and its purpose is a restoration of all things
• 1:43:11
  under Christ. So the church is appointed instrument
• 1:43:16
  today. The community through which he continues
• 1:43:20
  the kingdom work on earth. So the church is a
• 1:43:24
  continuation of what we see in the scriptures
• 1:43:27
  concerning the nation of Israel. The continuation
• 1:43:30
  of God's work on the earth. So every local church
• 1:43:33
  must see itself as part of this mission. What
• 1:43:38
  is our mission is to do greater works and this
• 1:43:41
  greater works is proclaiming what God has done
• 1:43:44
  in Christ Okay Demonstrating his kingdom through
• 1:43:48
  the power of the spirit making disciples Reflecting
• 1:43:54
  the character of God because he dwells in us
• 1:43:56
  as that particular light as a shine in darkness
• 1:43:59
  That is our mission. The church mission is to
• 1:44:02
  proclaim that the walls belong to God The earth
• 1:44:06
  belongs to God He created all things. He created
• 1:44:11
  all things. Our calling is not to escape the
• 1:44:16
  earth, but to present God's kingdom on the earth.
• 1:44:20
  But to represent God's kingdom on the earth.
• 1:44:25
  The creation story, man is part of the creation.
• 1:44:28
  When God created Adam, he created him in his
• 1:44:32
  image. He didn't create him in his image so that
• 1:44:34
  he would escape and go to heaven. The idea is
• 1:44:38
  that that man will be his representation on earth
• 1:44:40
  and in that message Moses communicated that purpose
• 1:44:44
  and that will that plan that idea to the nation
• 1:44:46
  of Israel that this is that the that man belonged
• 1:44:51
  to God and Man is expected to do what to remain
• 1:44:55
  on the earth God in dwelling man on earth and
• 1:45:00
  we'll see in the Garden of Eden The Garden of
• 1:45:03
  Eden is a presence of fellowship where God and
• 1:45:07
  man will fellowship. And man, Adam, was given
• 1:45:11
  a duty in the Garden of Eden, a priestly responsibility
• 1:45:15
  of tending. He represents, he thanks, and he
• 1:45:20
  operates a priestly role on the earth. That is
• 1:45:24
  God's plan from the beginning. That is His plan.
• 1:45:28
  And we have been incorporated in the plan by
• 1:45:31
  virtue of what Christ has done. So the church
• 1:45:35
  is not preparing people for a rapture escape
• 1:45:39
  from the earth. All right, so our message and
• 1:45:43
  our preaching is not to declare that God is escaping
• 1:45:47
  people from the earth We are to preach the gospel
• 1:45:50
  about salvation But much more that we must declare
• 1:45:54
  our goal is to teach that the earth that the
• 1:45:57
  desire of God from the beginning Our ministry
• 1:45:59
  cannot be fulfilled All right If we don't announce
• 1:46:04
  to people that it's not only that they will be
• 1:46:06
  safe alone. Salvation is fundamental. It's important.
• 1:46:10
  But much more is to tell them that God's desire
• 1:46:12
  to inhabit men and to dwell in the earth with
• 1:46:16
  men. The plan and the purpose of God is for heaven
• 1:46:19
  to be on the earth. That through men, God will
• 1:46:24
  establish his divine will and his purpose on
• 1:46:27
  the earth. That is our call for the greater works.
• 1:46:31
  bringing his reign on earth, his presence and
• 1:46:34
  his glory through the earth, through the activities
• 1:46:37
  of men, that God will be seen in the activities
• 1:46:40
  of men. Hallelujah. We need to understand the
• 1:46:46
  purpose of God. We need to understand the story
• 1:46:49
  from the beginning, how God has been communicating
• 1:46:52
  it time and time and time again, that we will
• 1:46:56
  be aligned to God's calling for our own lives.
• 1:47:00
  So as we continue in this conference, I want
• 1:47:04
  us to understand that God is revealing His plan
• 1:47:08
  to us. He's opened up our eyes more. Some of
• 1:47:11
  the things I try to explain here, I struggle
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  a lot to bring clarity because it was so much
• 1:47:17
  that I have to just cut it to just shed light
• 1:47:21
  on little and it was not even conclusive from
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  the beginning. Maybe in the course of a Church
• 1:47:29
  services will shed more light on it to show to
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  us that actually God's plan of salvation is for
• 1:47:37
  him to dwell on the face of the earth and through
• 1:47:39
  us and through our activities we'll be able to
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  represent him and to make him known on the earth.
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  Hallelujah. I want us to just rise on our feet
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  and communicate our heart's desire. You see?
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  Often times when we read the story of Israel,
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  we think maybe they were unbelievers. And it's
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  okay to look at them as unbelievers in the context.
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  But let me show something as we pray. Genesis
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  chapter 3. No, Exodus chapter 3, yes. Genesis,
• 1:48:17
  Exodus rather, chapter 4, verse 38, 28. When
• 1:48:23
  God had encountered Moses, and he has told him
• 1:48:28
  his plan and his desire for the nation of Israel.
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  He gave him a word to the people and consistently
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  what we expect to see all through scriptures
• 1:48:39
  right from Adam to the time of Noah to Cain and
• 1:48:44
  Abel to the time of Noah to the time of Enoch
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  and all the people that live in scripture is
• 1:48:50
  that they will believe the word of God. Hallelujah.
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  Without believing the word of God They will not
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  enter into the plan of God. The only way that
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  they can enter the plan of God is by believing.
• 1:49:02
  That is the same to people across all generations.
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  So how did God save the nation of Israel? Sometimes
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  we think that God just kidnapped them out of
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  the nation of Egypt. No. Look at verse 28. So
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  Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who
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  had sent him and all the signs which he had commanded
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  him. Where did God inform Moses about his plan
• 1:49:29
  and his purpose for the nation of Israel in his
• 1:49:31
  encounter in the wilderness, right? Look at verse
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  29. Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together
• 1:49:37
  all the elders of the children of Israel. They
• 1:49:41
  were in Egypt now. They have not been saved out
• 1:49:43
  of Egypt. He went and gathered them and Aaron
• 1:49:47
  spoke all the words which the Lord has spoken
• 1:49:49
  to Moses. Then he did the signs in the side of
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  the people. Look at verse 21, very importantly.
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  So the people did what? They believed. What did
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  they believe? And when they heard that the Lord
• 1:50:05
  has visited the children of Israel, does this
• 1:50:08
  look like salvation? All right. Does it look
• 1:50:11
  like the Lord has come to save them? And when
• 1:50:14
  they heard that the Lord has visited the children
• 1:50:17
  of Israel, and that He had looked upon their
• 1:50:20
  affliction, then they bowed their heads. and
• 1:50:24
  worshipped. Hallelujah. So they believed the
• 1:50:26
  message of salvation that Moses brought and upon
• 1:50:30
  this belief they were willing to follow Moses
• 1:50:33
  out of Egypt. Hallelujah. And we see that they
• 1:50:37
  experienced the salvation of the Lord because
• 1:50:39
  they believed. But when they came to the wilderness
• 1:50:42
  and God unfold unto them the plan of priesthood,
• 1:50:47
  okay, we see them restraining themselves from
• 1:50:50
  entering that responsibility of priesthood. So
• 1:50:53
  what I'm trying to portray is that it is not
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  enough to be born again. Salvation is fundamental
• 1:51:00
  and is basic and is necessary to enter, to be
• 1:51:04
  ready, to be saved eternally. But much more than
• 1:51:07
  the salvation that we experience is the call
• 1:51:11
  into the priesthood, the call into being a kingdom,
• 1:51:15
  call into what? The purpose, the plan of God
• 1:51:18
  on the earth. We must also by our will align
• 1:51:24
  ourselves To God's plan for humanity because
• 1:51:28
  what God presented to them in the wilderness
• 1:51:30
  was God's plan for the entire world That there
• 1:51:33
  will be a kingdom and a priest that they will
• 1:51:35
  teach the entire world about him And we see that
• 1:51:39
  that is where their unbelief comes in Hallelujah
• 1:51:42
  that when they enter into the promised land the
• 1:51:45
  promised land is on the land of Canon when they
• 1:51:47
  enter the promised land They will be able to
• 1:51:49
  do what? represent God and not serve the gods
• 1:51:52
  that they came out with from Egypt and they will
• 1:51:55
  not worship the gods of the people they were
• 1:51:57
  meeting in the land and they second them that
• 1:51:59
  they will be a priest unto the nations but they
• 1:52:03
  have to believe to enter this hallelujah we appreciate
• 1:52:08
  you being here today we hope you carried this
• 1:52:10
  word with you throughout your week don't forget
• 1:52:13
  to check the show notes for additional insights
• 1:52:16
  stay connected with us through our website or
• 1:52:19
  follow us on social media. If you were encouraged,
• 1:52:23
  share this message with someone you care about.
• 1:52:25
  Until next time, stay blessed.