Latest / Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons / Understanding the Spirit led life pt II
Transcript
- 0:00Welcome to the NECF Podcast, where we share our weekly sermons and faithfully interpret
- 0:13the Bible to encourage and direct you on your spiritual path.
- 0:17We are devoted pastors and special guests devout to the depths of the Bible, exploring
- 0:22its profound lessons and useful applications for your daily life.
- 0:27Join us as we explore the timeless truth that have the power to change people's hearts and
- 0:32minds, promoting a closer relationship with God and a firm belief in His promises.
- 0:39Romans 8 verse 14 says, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.
- 0:57As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.
- 1:07Galatians chapter 5 verse 16 says, I say then, work in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill
- 1:21the lust of the flesh.
- 1:24Work in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
- 1:29And for those who are joining us newly in this church, or those who have traveled and are
- 1:35forgotten what we've been doing and you are back, we welcome you home in Jesus' name.
- 1:40And for those who are joining us for the very first time, we welcome you once more in Jesus' name.
- 1:46Amen.
- 1:47Hallelujah.
- 1:48So our theme for the year, who can remind us, what is the theme for the year?
- 1:53The leading of what?
- 1:55Of the Spirit.
- 1:56Which Spirit?
- 1:57The Holy Spirit. That is the Spirit of God.
- 2:00So our focus and our consideration for this year has been the leading of the Spirit.
- 2:06We are the sons of God, and we are men that God has led by His Spirit.
- 2:12And the first instance of this leading is in salvation.
- 2:16We come to know Jesus.
- 2:18That is the first leading we have as believers.
- 2:20That is the first leading we have as Christians.
- 2:22Which means that every man and every woman, every man and every woman,
- 2:26every man and every woman who believes in Jesus Christ has been led by the Spirit.
- 2:31Hallelujah.
- 2:32It therefore means that you have the capacity to continuously walk in the leading of the Spirit.
- 2:38So when we say walk or the leading of the Spirit,
- 2:42we're not saying that this leading is for some specific individuals alone.
- 2:47But it's that which happened in every believer's life.
- 2:51So long as you are born of the Spirit and the Spirit lives in you,
- 2:54you are off to always be led by the Spirit that lives in you.
- 3:01So the last time I taught here in my teaching,
- 3:06I started a new series on understanding the Spirit led life.
- 3:10And the goal is for us to understand what encompasses this leading.
- 3:14The life of a man that is led by the Spirit.
- 3:17The life of a man that is led by the Spirit.
- 3:21Hallelujah.
- 3:22And in that we had a sub topic.
- 3:24We started by looking at a sub topic, the love of God.
- 3:27We said that the man that has been led by the Spirit or the life that is led by Spirit of God
- 3:35is expressed in love.
- 3:38Because what constitutes the life of the Spirit that lives in you,
- 3:43because the Bible says that God has shed his love,
- 3:46have brought our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
- 3:49So when we receive the message of salvation and the Spirit of God begins to live in our hearts,
- 3:56we have the capacity to express love.
- 4:00And first and foremost, we began looking at the love for God.
- 4:05Hallelujah.
- 4:06We saw that Jesus in his teaching stated that the first and the greatest commandment
- 4:12is what?
- 4:12Is to love God.
- 4:14And his teaching, we established that to love God is the most primary, primary, the most important.
- 4:23Matthew 22 verse 34 to 38, where Jesus was teaching.
- 4:28But the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees.
- 4:32You know, the Pharisees are a group of scholars.
- 4:35The Sadducees are also another sect, having some variations in their
- 4:41beliefs and their school of thoughts.
- 4:43Amen.
- 4:44So when the Pharisees saw that Jesus has silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.
- 4:51They gung up together, right?
- 4:52The next verse, 35, quickly, please.
- 4:55Now one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him and saying,
- 5:01Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?
- 5:04Because these men were expert of the law and they were taught the law.
- 5:09They were expert of the law and they were looking for something that they would see and do.
- 5:14And then they will feel good about themselves.
- 5:17Jesus said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
- 5:23and with all your mind.
- 5:26This is what the first and the great commandment.
- 5:31This is the first and the great commandment.
- 5:34So what does it mean to love God?
- 5:35What does it mean to love God?
- 5:37You know, we saw also in the last teaching, it's on our, you know, pages where we upload
- 5:42our messages, just a recap so that we understand where we're going to.
- 5:47So we also saw that loving God is not just in words.
- 5:52He says you must love the Lord your God with all of your heart,
- 5:55all of your mind, with all of your soul, with everything that is in you.
- 5:59And for us, when you ask any average believer, you say, yes, I love, I love God.
- 6:04Everybody, you know, in the church, we love God.
- 6:07But what does it mean to love God?
- 6:09First John chapter three, verse 18.
- 6:13Give me this text in the amplified.
- 6:16First John 3, 18.
- 6:18It says little children, that is believers, dear ones, let us not love merely in theory.
- 6:26All right.
- 6:27Because some of us, or most of times, we express our love in words, in theory.
- 6:34Let us not love merely in theory with words or tongues, giving lip service to come to compassion.
- 6:45But in action and in truth, what does it mean to love God in action and in truth?
- 6:51It means that in practice and in sincerity, because practical acts of love
- 6:58are more than just words.
- 7:00Hallelujah.
- 7:01So whatever we say as we express our love in those songs we sing, in our conversation,
- 7:08as we express that we love God, let this expression of the things we say, the things we sing,
- 7:16be seen in our actions.
- 7:19That is what it means to love God with all of our hearts.
- 7:23Because it's possible for us to say one thing and we do another.
- 7:25We noted that there is a possibility of professing the love for God with our mouths
- 7:30while our actions show otherwise.
- 7:32Isaiah 19, verse 13.
- 7:34Instances in scriptures where men profess their love for God with their lips, where the Bible
- 7:41says their heart is very far and far away from God.
- 7:47Isaiah chapter 29, verse 13.
- 7:50Therefore the Lord said, inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths, right,
- 7:56they draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far
- 8:03from me and their fear towards me is taught by the commandments of men.
- 8:10Is taught by the commandments of men.
- 8:12They come to me with words in their mouths and they say, I am the Lord.
- 8:16They are taught by the commandments of men. They come to me with words in their mouths.
- 8:20They orchestrated their own way of worship which is taught by men and their heart is far away from me.
- 8:32So their conduct is a reflection of what is in their hearts, not necessarily what they profess with their lips.
- 8:38And there is that possibility in you as a Christian that your actions and the things you say does not match,
- 8:44especially when it comes to expressing love towards God.
- 8:48Ezekiel 33, verse 31.
- 8:54So they come to you as people, that is the prophets speaking here.
- 8:58So they come to you as people, as people do.
- 9:02They sit before you as my people and they hear your words.
- 9:06You see, they hear the words.
- 9:08What happened?
- 9:10They listen but they do not do them for their mouth, for with their mouth they show much love.
- 9:18They listen but they do not do the things they listen for their mouth, for with their mouth they show much love.
- 9:28But their hearts pursue their own gain.
- 9:32So there is a disengagement between what is professed with the lips and what action.
- 9:38Because your action is a product of the abundance of what resides in your hearts.
- 9:42Hallelujah.
- 9:44So we see love demonstrated in action.
- 9:48Even God himself, he didn't just say I love you, right?
- 9:52But he demonstrated his love towards us with an action.
- 9:56And what is the action that demonstrated his love towards us?
- 9:58Is that he gave, he moved.
- 10:00We see God becoming man as a demonstration of his profession of love to you and I.
- 10:06So also our own love towards God cannot be limited by only the professions of our lips.
- 10:14But our actions, what we do must reflect the condition of our hearts.
- 10:22Because the love for God is not on the lips but it's from our hearts.
- 10:28Isaiah 1 verse 11.
- 10:32It's an lamentation here, it says to what purpose is a multitude of your sacrifices to me, says the Lord.
- 10:38I have had enough of burnt offerings because this man, they love doing a lot of things.
- 10:44Of course we say that actions, right, must match with words.
- 10:48Isn't it?
- 10:50Genuine actions must match with words.
- 10:54Must match with words or words must match with genuine action.
- 10:58But there is another aspect where our actions, activities, who seems to be deviating from the condition of our hearts.
- 11:08Look at an example, it says to what purpose is a multitude of your sacrifices to me, says the Lord.
- 11:14I have had enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fowl of faith cattle.
- 11:18I do not delight in the blood of bulls or of lambs, O God.
- 11:26Let me just interrupt quickly to 15.
- 11:30When you come to appear before me, who has required this from your hand to trample my courts?
- 11:36Bring no more futile sacrifices.
- 11:40Incense and abomination is an abomination to me.
- 11:44The new moons, the sabbaths and the callings of assemblies, I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meetings.
- 11:54You call your act of worship iniquity.
- 11:58You call your act of worship iniquity.
- 12:00Say your moons and your appointed feet, my souls hates.
- 12:04They are a trouble to me.
- 12:06I am weary of bearing them.
- 12:10When you spread out your hands and I hide, I will hide my eyes from you.
- 12:16Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear.
- 12:20Your hands are what?
- 12:22Full of blood.
- 12:24So these men are in a religious wrath, mixing religion with a lot of atrocities.
- 12:32Their heart's condition is not surrender to God.
- 12:36Hallelujah.
- 12:38So we concluded by saying that our love for God is expressed in what?
- 12:44Is expressed in obedience.
- 12:46Our love for God is expressed in our obedience to His word.
- 12:54What His word says, we live by it.
- 12:58We do what His word says.
- 13:00Our lives, that is the land that is led by the Spirit.
- 13:06The Spirit is not leading you into doing your own things.
- 13:10Hallelujah.
- 13:12The Spirit of God is leading you to do the things that are of God, especially as revealed in the written word.
- 13:22The most accurate means of direction for the believer is not dreams and visions,
- 13:30but it's actually instructions embedded in the written word.
- 13:35So if you are a believer and you are living a life led by the Spirit,
- 13:40what we should see emanating from your life is unconditional obedience to the words of God.
- 13:49That is how love towards God is expressed.
- 13:54And we emphasize that the written word is inspired by the Spirit of God.
- 14:00The written word cannot be disassociated from the Spirit of God,
- 14:04and the Spirit of God cannot lead you into doing anything that is against the written word,
- 14:10because the written word is an inspiration of the Spirit of God for our direction, for our leading.
- 14:21So obeying the written word is actually walking in the Spirit.
- 14:27So when we say, this year we seek to understand the leading of the Spirit,
- 14:35we cannot remove the word from the leading of the Spirit.
- 14:40And if you want to have direction for your life,
- 14:44direction that the Spirit of God will lead to you, you cannot have direction without the help of the written word.
- 14:53When you pray and fast for direction and you close your Bible,
- 14:57put it under your box, I can assure you that there will be no leading.
- 15:02Because all the leading that you can ever have has been given to you,
- 15:07and it's in the book that you have before you, the Word.
- 15:11So rightful and careful explanation of scriptures will lead you in the direction of the Spirit of God.
- 15:18The way we measure and test every leading is by his written word.
- 15:24So you and I have the obligation to give ourselves to the Word,
- 15:30thereby leading our lives according to the Spirit of God.
- 15:38Now for the sake of those joining us newly, let's lay a foundation on one of the most profound realities of a Christian life.
- 15:46I'm going to do this. We've done this several times.
- 15:49We keep doing this and we will continue to do this.
- 15:54And this reality of the Christian life is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Amen?
- 16:02We need to lay this foundation again for the sake of those maybe joining us in this church newly.
- 16:09And for some of us have been around for quite a while, it's a refresher course for many who have been with us.
- 16:15Amen. Paul will say that for me to repeat this over to you is not what?
- 16:21It's all burdensome. But it's for what? It's for your own safety.
- 16:27Hallelujah. So we cannot move an inch without going back to the basics
- 16:33to understand the foundational things that are needed for us to move forward.
- 16:37So whenever we come to talk about the Spirit of God, the leading of the Spirit,
- 16:41first of all understand what it means for the believer, the man that is born again,
- 16:46to have the indwelling of the Spirit in him.
- 16:50So this is foundational. And as brothers and sisters, let's be patient with those who are just joining us.
- 16:58And let's start from the basic. So when we're starting from basic, from the beginning, where are we going to?
- 17:05Genesis, okay. Salvation, Genesis, of course. Genesis is the book of salvation.
- 17:10Obviously. Amen. So we're beginning from where? We're beginning from Genesis.
- 17:15And what we're going to do is we're going to look through scriptures and understand the idea of salvation,
- 17:23what happened at salvation, and how the believer is able to be what the temple of the Spirit,
- 17:30how the believer has the Spirit in him. Then we'll begin to see how the believer ought to work
- 17:37according to the Spirit that is in him, especially in love. Hallelujah.
- 17:44So now, when God created Adam, did God give the Spirit to dwell in him? Amen.
- 17:55We start from there. Amen. When God created Adam, was Adam given the Spirit to dwell in him?
- 18:05That's the question we're going to answer. Now, the common knowledge we have is that God created Adam,
- 18:13and when God created Adam, what did he do? He breathed his Spirit into him.
- 18:18And when Adam sinned, what happened to the Spirit that God put in him? The Spirit what?
- 18:25The Spirit was taken away from him. Therefore, he lost the Spirit of God as a result of disobedience.
- 18:33Is this true? It is important for us to go to the beginning of all things to understand man,
- 18:44how God created man. Now, Genesis 1.26, let's go to Genesis 1.26.
- 18:50And God said, let us make man in our image, on the line image. Our image is very, very crucial.
- 18:58We must be very intentional about some statements in scriptures. God said, let us make man in what?
- 19:06In our image. Cycle our image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea
- 19:17and over the fowls of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth,
- 19:24over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image.
- 19:32In the image of God created he him male and female created he them.
- 19:39So let's examine this text. From the first verse 26, we see let us make man, which is an intent, right?
- 19:50When I said let us make man, there is a statement that has been made. OK?
- 19:57And this statement will follow by an action. So the phrase let us make speaks of an intention,
- 20:06of an intention God is stating his plan, his plan for man, for the creation of man.
- 20:12In verse 26, the creation of humanity. Therefore, in God's plan, God wants to make humanity in his image.
- 20:23God intends that man will do what? Will be created in his image. God is spirit.
- 20:32So for man to be in the image of God, he must carry the spirit of God in him, isn't it?
- 20:40And that image will be what will make him have dominion.
- 20:45So the dominion that man will exert upon the things that God has created is a product of the spirit of God in him.
- 20:54Because without a spirit, it is impossible for man to have dominion.
- 20:58So he asks a question. When God created Adam, was he in the image of God?
- 21:08What we are invariably asking is this. Was Adam given the Holy Spirit to dwell in him at his creation?
- 21:21If yes, does that mean that when he sinned, the spirit was taken away from him?
- 21:28So we see in Genesis 2 verse 7, where the man was created, we saw the statement, the intent of God in chapter 1 verse 26, 27.
- 21:38And in Genesis chapter 2 verse 7, we saw where the actual creation was done.
- 21:42And the Lord God formed man of dust of the ground and breath into his nostril, what? The breath of life.
- 21:52Now let's look at the effect of this breath of life. And the man became what? He became a living soul.
- 22:01The dust and the breath of life came into the man and the man became what? The man became a living soul.
- 22:09So when God made the first man, he only became a what? A living soul.
- 22:15Alright? And the Bible in that verse did not say that he became the image of God.
- 22:22Okay? That means Genesis 1, 26 to 28 that we read earlier on has not been revealed yet in the first man.
- 22:32This brings us to the conclusion or rather will give us a hint that man that was created by God doesn't mean that he is already in the image of God.
- 22:53Alright? So we can now ask a follow up question. How does man actually come into the image of God?
- 23:02How does a man come into the image of God? If we are saying that God created man and he breathed into him life and he became living,
- 23:14he became a man from the dust, the man became a living soul. And we are saying that that breath is actually wind, right?
- 23:25Oxygen, he began living as a human being. Then how does a man become or how does a man come into that image of God?
- 23:36What condition will a man fulfill, will that man fulfill to come into the image of God?
- 23:43Now let's look at Genesis 5 briefly then we'll come back to answer this question too. Genesis 5 verse 3.
- 23:51Genesis 5 verse 3, we see another word where image was used.
- 23:54And Adam lived 130 years and he gave birth to a son in his own what? In his own likeness.
- 24:03He gave birth to a son not in the likeness of God. Alright?
- 24:08In chapter 5 here, the son that Adam gave birth to was in his own likeness after his own image.
- 24:15And he named him what? He named him Seth. So Adam bore a son in his own likeness and his image not the image of God.
- 24:26Why? Why is this man that Adam born was not in the image of God?
- 24:34We can make reference to what happened in chapter 3. Alright? The falling has already happened, right?
- 24:39And then he gave birth in his own image, isn't it? So up until now we can see that no image of God is seen yet.
- 24:48Nowhere is mentioned that the man anyway so far so good is in the image of God.
- 24:56And let's go back to Genesis 2 verse 8 and 9. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden.
- 25:04And there he put the man that he has created whom he had formed.
- 25:09And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to sight and good for food.
- 25:18The tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
- 25:26So now notice in this verse as we always tell you, every tree here does not mean that there are plenty trees.
- 25:34Alright? We've taught several times that this every tree is referring to what?
- 25:39Referring to those two trees. Alright? So you don't have to imagine different variation of fruits but remain in the context of the explanation here.
- 25:50Jump to verse 16 to 17. Genesis 2 verse 16 to 17.
- 25:55And the Lord God commanded the man, now you see he gave a word, alright?
- 26:00He gave a word saying of every tree, referring to those two trees, every tree, right? Of every tree of the garden thou mayst freely eat
- 26:10but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
- 26:21So if there are only two trees as we've established, please be patient. Alright? Let not your mind go over.
- 26:32I know of course we have basics on the school knowledge, alright? But remain in the context of what I'm saying.
- 26:40Don't be put off even if what I'm saying to you is new.
- 26:45So God gave an instruction not to eat of, alright? Not to eat of one and to eat of another.
- 26:56So I want us to know two important things from this verse. Number one, the tree of life, okay?
- 27:04What does it lead to? The Bible says it leads to life.
- 27:09And then there's another tree of the knowledge of good and evil which leads to what? Which leads to death.
- 27:16Now these two concepts are very important as we go on to understand this passage.
- 27:21It is important for us to note here that Moses' communication here is of God's plan.
- 27:29Moses is communicating God's plan and in his attempt to communicate the plan of God concerning man,
- 27:40he involved the usage of what? Of figure of speech to communicate God's promise of life to humanity.
- 27:52And he also communicated the consequence of not choosing life, which is what?
- 27:59Which we see clearly in this passage is death.
- 28:05So since Moses is deploying the use of allegory, which is a figure of speech, to explain God's plan,
- 28:19we must ask what did Moses mean by it? What we are saying is that Moses was using an allegory to explain God's plan for humanity.
- 28:36Moses was using an example, right, of something natural, okay, to communicate the plan and the purpose of God to man.
- 28:48And he uses trees, he uses fruits, he uses what? Eat, not eat, and many other things we can see, physical things around the story.
- 29:00Now what does it mean to eat according to the story or according to the method or the allegory that Moses used in his teaching?
- 29:07What does it mean to eat? Now let's come as a tradition to the New Testament to see how this concept is also explained,
- 29:16especially by Jesus Christ. Jesus used this same concept in Matthew chapter, in John chapter 6 actually.
- 29:23But let's look at Matthew 15 first, Matthew 15 verse 16 to 20.
- 29:28Then we look at John chapter 6, Matthew 15 verse 16 to 20.
- 29:34So Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? Do ye not yet understand that whatsoever entered in and the mouth goeth into the belly and is cast out into the drought?
- 29:54Do you not yet understand that whatsoever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated?
- 30:00Do you not yet understand that whatsoever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated?
- 30:05But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from where?
- 30:10It comes from the heart. And they defile a man.
- 30:15For out of the heart of a man proceeds what? Evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
- 30:31These are the things which defiles a man. But to eat with unwashed hands and does not what?
- 30:39It does not defile a man because there is a custom that the Pharisees, the Jewish people, they have that when you eat without your hands washed, it means that you are sinful.
- 30:52And Jesus is saying, Don't you know that, see, what makes a man sinful is not what comes into his mouth and goes to his stomach and is dedicated.
- 30:59But what makes a man sinful is a heart condition.
- 31:04So sin emanates from the heart. Right?
- 31:09So this concept that Jesus explains that whatever a man eats enters his belly and goes into the toilet later on, you know, nullify the idea that it is what a man takes in him that makes him sinful.
- 31:27Jesus also explained for that eating does not defile a man. However, what defiles a man from this text is that which proceeds from his mouth, which is directly coming from where? Coming from his heart.
- 31:42So this explanation takes down the idea, right?
- 31:46The idea that Adam ate an apple.
- 31:53Even though the Bible did not say it's an apple. Adam ate a fruit and he sinned against God.
- 32:02Remember, we said earlier on that Moses was communicating what?
- 32:07He was communicating a spiritual activity. He was communicating a spiritual reality, but he uses physical things in order to communicate a spiritual reality.
- 32:21So Moses will be presenting God's plan in his writings because Moses, right, was not a gardener.
- 32:29He was a nutritionist, right? He was a prophet of God.
- 32:34And what a prophet does is that he speaks for the plan and the purpose of God.
- 32:39And in his use of the story, he was trying to communicate the plan of God to humanity.
- 32:47Right from Genesis 1.
- 32:51Now, let's see John chapter 6 verse 32 to 33, continuing in Jesus's way of teaching, trying to understand what does the word eat mean?
- 33:03What does it mean to eat and what does it mean not to eat?
- 33:07Then Jesus said unto them, John chapter 6 verse 32 to 33, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father gave you the true bread from heaven.
- 33:21For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world.
- 33:29In this verse, we can see Jesus explaining that this true bread is where?
- 33:33Where is the true bread coming from? It's coming from heaven.
- 33:37Now, true bread does not mean that it is a false bread.
- 33:43True bread, the opposite of this true bread does not mean that it is a bread that is false.
- 33:47He said that what Moses gave you is physical, but this is the explanation of what Moses was trying to communicate.
- 33:55And we see in this verse also, verse 32 especially, he says for the bread of God is he, the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world.
- 34:09So the bread is a he and this bread, what does it do? It gives life.
- 34:13So this hunger is not a physical hunger, right?
- 34:18It's communicating something spiritual because the bread is a he.
- 34:23It's a person. It's a person.
- 34:27It means the perfect bread means, you know, the true bread means one which is perfect, one which is perfected, one which is perfect, which is a real deal.
- 34:39So the bread given by Moses is a type and a shadow of the true bread.
- 34:47Types and shadows is a pointer to what God will do or is a pointer to what God has done in our own context.
- 34:55So Moses ministered or Moses' ministry of teaching was in types and shadows.
- 35:03All right. What do you mean by types and shadows?
- 35:07Hebrews 8 verse 5.
- 35:09What Moses did in the wilderness with the people of God,
- 35:13the physical things he did, the ordinances established by Moses were a pointer to another one which is real,
- 35:21was a mode of teaching, was a mode of explanation that Moses employed.
- 35:27Because remember, Moses wrote the Genesis, the first four books, right?
- 35:32The first, is it four or five?
- 35:34The first five books of the Bible.
- 35:36So let's look at Hebrews 5 verse 8.
- 35:39They say, who served from verse 6, let's see, verse 6, but now had obtained a more excellent ministry.
- 35:47Talking about Christ, how much more also he is the mediator of a better covenant.
- 35:54This better covenant is referring to something that is perfect, which was established upon what better promises.
- 36:03I think next we're going to look at what promises are.
- 36:06We're going to look at the concept of promise. When the Bible says promise, what does it mean? Promise.
- 36:12Because many times we think that, oh, we have many promises in the Bible.
- 36:16Let me give us a clue. We have only one promise. God made only one promise to man. Amen.
- 36:21And we'll see what a promise is in scriptures. Verse 6, right?
- 36:26Verse 5, verse 5, who served unto the example and shadow of the heavenly things as Moses was at mornish of God when he was about to make the tabernacle.
- 36:39For see, saith he, that thou make all things according to the path and should thee in the mount.
- 36:47Which means that what Moses established, the ordinances, the programs, all the arrangements of Moses was of the real that he saw on the mountain.
- 36:59God showed him the reality. So he was able to establish something athlete to point people to what is real.
- 37:07Hebrews chapter 10 verse 1, for the law, when we talk about the law, what are we referring to?
- 37:13We're referring to the writings of Moses, especially. All right?
- 37:17For the law having a shadow of what? Of good things to come and not the very image of the things.
- 37:25So the law carry what? It carries stripes and shadows. It explains the reality of these things.
- 37:33And not the very image of the things can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the commerce there unto perfect.
- 37:44Which means that all the activities and the sacrifices, the killing of ghouls and rams and the sacrifices, the blood, you know, things we see, blood this, blood that, they couldn't make a man perfect.
- 37:59They couldn't make a man accepted in the sight of God. But that which God will do by himself in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah.
- 38:08So let's continue back to John 6 verse 35.
- 38:15John 6 verse 35, and Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He didn't hide it. He says, I am the bread of life that cometh to, he that cometh to me shall never hunger. Amen.
- 38:31Have you all come to Christ? Who is hungry now? I am hungry. I'm not eating food this morning. Amen.
- 38:40Which means that Jesus is not talking about physical hunger. Right? If you come to him, he said you will never hunger.
- 38:48So if you read this, right, without trying to understand the mood of communication, you will think in Jesus and if you come to me, you will never lack food to eat. You will lack food.
- 38:58Some of you, you don't have food in your house and you are Christians. Let's be real, right?
- 39:03So that's not what it's meaning here. Alright? So, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. Are you thirsty for water? Do you get thirsty? Of course.
- 39:15Remember the woman, the Samaritan woman, right, by the well side? Jesus said I will give you water, right?
- 39:23And you will never thirst again. So he's not talking about something physical. He's using a physical thing to communicate a spiritual reality.
- 39:33Are we together? He that believeth on me shall never thirst, but I said unto you that ye also have seen me and believe not.
- 39:43Alright? So Jesus here explains here that he is, am I going back? Yes. That he is a true bread and anyone that eats out of this true bread will never hunger.
- 39:59Here we see Jesus introduce a word believe in that verse. Eat of we see line by line here.
- 40:09He that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
- 40:16So if you come, coming is believing and you will never thirst and you will never hunger. Alright?
- 40:24The person who believes in him shall never hunger. So if you believe in Jesus, you get hungry, of course we get hungry.
- 40:31So we therefore means that he is not explaining something natural. Chapter 6 verse 40, jump to verse 40.
- 40:40And this is the will of him that sends me, that every one who seeth the Son and believeth on him may have what everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day.
- 40:54He must, he used the word rather, he used the word believe again to explain that anyone that believes will receive everlasting life.
- 41:02Verse 47 to 48. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am what? The bread of life.
- 41:14Verse 50. This is a bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die. You believe you have everlasting life.
- 41:26You eat and you will not die. So the hunger there is not a physical hunger. Alright? And the bread there is not referring to physical bread.
- 41:42The man who eats of this bread will have everlasting life. Verse 51. I am the living bread which cometh down from heaven.
- 41:48If any man eats of this bread, he shall live forever and the bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world.
- 42:02So the story is getting interesting. So Jesus is saying that he will eat his flesh. This bread is referring to his flesh. Right?
- 42:12Jesus says that he is the living bread and anyone who eats of the bread will have everlasting life.
- 42:19Verse 52. The Jews therefore strove among themselves saying, how can this fellow give us his flesh to eat? How can this man give us his body to eat? Are we carnivores?
- 42:34Of course, the audience does not understand the communication, right? They got him wrong. They thought Jesus was talking about his physical body.
- 42:43Let's move to verse 53 to 58. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
- 42:59Whosoever eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life. So you mean if you eat Jesus, you drink his blood, you have eternal life.
- 43:13For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him.
- 43:26As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. You eat him, you live by him.
- 43:39This is that bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth of this, of this bread shall live forever.
- 43:51So the provision of manna in the wilderness coming down on earth is types and shadows, is a typology, is an allegory of God through Moses teaching to the people of God concerning Jesus Christ.
- 44:13So verse 56 speaks of identification. The man that eats is identified in Christ.
- 44:22The Father explains in verse 58 that the man that eats of the living bread, which is Jesus, will do what? Will live forever.
- 44:31This is eternal life, which is found actually in Christ.
- 44:3561 to 64, when Jesus knew in himself that his disciples were normal and he said unto them, Do this offend you? What if he shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before?
- 44:48There is a spirit that worketh, that quickeneth, the flesh profited nothing. The word that speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.
- 44:57But there are some of you that believe it not. So many of them did not believe what Jesus was saying.
- 45:07So Jesus will explain that eating his flesh and drinking his blood is what? Is equal to what? Believing.
- 45:16So eating Jesus' blood, flesh and drinking his blood is equivalent to what? Believing. Alright?
- 45:27What he meant by eating his body, his flesh, it means believing in him. That is what it means.
- 45:36Jesus will explain this believing in his works, believing in who he is and what he has come to do.
- 45:42So since the scripture teaches it as to believe, we can also, you know, look at the Moses' way of teaching as well because I will say it's in the same era.
- 46:01Moses also in his writing in Genesis, he will use the word eat to refer to what? To refer to believe.
- 46:08So what was Adam to believe? He was to believe in God's plan for man. He was to believe in God's promise. In God's promise of life.
- 46:19So Adam believing in that will come into God's image. So God's image. Man come into God's image by believing.
- 46:35Man will come into God's image of God by what? By believing. God's image is based on God's life.
- 46:45But sadly we saw in the story of Adam, he didn't believe. He rejected God's promise.
- 46:52And he was found in death and opposite nature to the image that God has wanted him to be.
- 47:01He rejected life. He demonstrated unbelief. That means that God's image, as I said Aaron, can only be come into by faith.
- 47:14All right? To come into the image of God is by faith. To come into the image of God is by faith.
- 47:23So if Adam will be found in the image of God, he must believe. He must exercise faith. He must exercise faith in what God has said.
- 47:33In what God has said. In the offer of life that God has given.
- 47:41We'll see Paul explains Moses to us in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 4.
- 47:47Moses is in explanation of Moses. Paul in explaining Moses writing in 2 Corinthians 4 verse 4.
- 47:56It says, In whom the God of this world hath blinded their minds. They blinded the minds of them which believe not.
- 48:04So if you are in unbelief, there is a coverage on your face.
- 48:09Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God? Who is the image of God?
- 48:18The image of God is Christ. Are we together? It's not Adam. It's who? It's Christ.
- 48:25Who is the image of God? To shine on them. To shine on them.
- 48:33The image of God is Christ. Paul calls Christ. The image of God. Colossians chapter 1 verse 14 to 15.
- 48:41Colossians 1 verse 14 to 15. It says, In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Verse 15.
- 48:53Who is what? Is the image of the invisible God. Who is the image of the invisible God? Christ.
- 49:02The firstborn of every creature. I don't want to explain deeply here.
- 49:09The firstborn of every creature. Jesus is the image of the invisible God.
- 49:15So if you want to see the invisible God, what do you look at? You look at Jesus.
- 49:20You look at who Jesus is and you are able to understand the invisible God.
- 49:24Hebrews 1 verse 2 and 3. It says Jesus is the express image of his person.
- 49:32Hebrews 1 verse 2 and 3. Let's read from verse 1.
- 49:38God who at sundry times and in divers manner speak in time past unto the fathers by who? By the prophets.
- 49:46The modes of God's communication to the men of the past were through prophets.
- 49:50God, yes verse 2. Verse 2. Had in these last days spoken unto us by his son.
- 50:00Whom he had appointed her of all things by whom also he made the words. Verse 3.
- 50:10Who been the what? The brightness of his glory and the express image of his presence.
- 50:18So if you want to know God, the only formula by which you know God is not in Scientology.
- 50:26Are we together? If you want to see the image of God, you focus on who? You focus on Christ.
- 50:33Anything outside Christ, any knowledge outside Christ can never arrive at the perfect knowledge of God.
- 50:42You cannot arrive at the knowledge of God by understanding your personality. Are we together?
- 50:49By understanding your temperament. We've tried that before. We never arrive at Christ. It's a wrong formula.
- 50:56Are we together? You can never arrive by knowing God by psychology.
- 51:05You arrive as a false image of yourself if you are a believer.
- 51:10So the ways by which we can see God, he has given us the express image of his person.
- 51:17And upholding all things by the word of his power when he had by himself pushed out sins and sat on the right hand of the majesty on high.
- 51:24So we see here that Jesus is what? Is the express image of who? Of God.
- 51:32Hence when God said let us make man in our image and likeness in Genesis chapter 1 verse 26 to 28.
- 51:40God was stating his intention for man. And what is the intention?
- 51:45That man that God will create will believe in his message and will come into this image, will come into Christ.
- 51:56God was stating his intention of man to be found in Christ and if you are a believer it means that you are where you are in Christ.
- 52:06You are in the image of God. His son. The very image of God.
- 52:12God's plan for man is to be in his image, to be in Christ. That is God wanted man to have everlasting life.
- 52:22So what was presented to Adam for him is to believe the gospel, right?
- 52:28This was tapify or was given in tithes and shadows as a tree of life in Genesis chapter 2.
- 52:38And we see Adam on the other hand shot unbelief towards a message and then he was found in death.
- 52:48Therefore the tree of life was a figurative expression or it is an explanation of God's plan of life in Christ for man.
- 52:58Of which Adam rejected as an act of his will.
- 53:03So Adam exercised his will against the plan and the purpose of God.
- 53:11That is why even up until today for you to come into the image of God you must as a matter of exercise your will in believing the gospel.
- 53:20In believing the gospel. So becoming the image of God is not automatic.
- 53:26It's not automatic. Adam disbelieved God.
- 53:29So Adam's sin was a sin of unbelief, of disbelief which we can see is in disobedience, right?
- 53:36In what God told him is not a behavioral misconduct.
- 53:41He is not in eating and not eating.
- 53:45He rejected life. The tree of life.
- 53:49To eat of a tree of life is to...
- 53:53To not eat of a tree of life is to reject what God has said.
- 53:57Is to reject God's offering of life.
- 54:01Alright? Is to reject God's offer of life.
- 54:06Hence Genesis 1, 26, 28 didn't come to pass in the life of this Adam that was created in Genesis 2.
- 54:15So we can ask the question did God ever fulfill that promise of man to be created in the image of God?
- 54:23Did God ever fulfill this promise of man being found in the image of God?
- 54:29Yes. How?
- 54:33Huh? How?
- 54:36After Adam's sin, God became a man, Jesus Christ, right?
- 54:42Paul calls him the last Adam, the second Adam. Let's look at John chapter 1 verse 14.
- 54:48John chapter 1 verse 14 in the KJV.
- 54:51He says, And the world was made flesh and dwelt among us and with beheld is glory.
- 54:58The glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
- 55:031 Corinthians 15 verse 45 to 47.
- 55:09And so it is written, the first Adam was made a living soul.
- 55:14Where did we see that living soul? In Genesis chapter what? Huh?
- 55:20Chapter what? It's true, right?
- 55:23There was a breath of life into the man and he became a living soul.
- 55:28So we see here expressly Paul was explaining Moses.
- 55:32The first man Adam was made a living soul.
- 55:36The last Adam, referring to who?
- 55:39Christ was what? Was a quickening spirit.
- 55:43How be it that was not first which is spiritual?
- 55:46How be it that was not a?
- 55:49How do I read this all King James? Give me new King James.
- 55:52Verse 40, this is in New King James.
- 55:55However, correct. However, the spiritual is not first.
- 56:01Which means that the first Adam was not what? Spiritual. Amen?
- 56:08But natural. Is it clear? Is it clear?
- 56:13The first Adam was what? Was not spiritual. He was natural.
- 56:19Afterwards, the spiritual. What is that after all?
- 56:23Afterwards, he's referring to after all, the second Adam, referring to Christ.
- 56:27Let's look at verse 47. The Father explained this.
- 56:31The first man was of the earth, made of dust, right?
- 56:36The second man is the Lord from where? From heaven.
- 56:41Hallelujah. So Paul here says that the last Adam,
- 56:47he is a quickening spirit. He is a Lord from heaven.
- 56:50That means he has been the last Adam. He will begin a new kind of humanity from that last Adam,
- 56:56comes forward a new kind of humanity that is by the spirit.
- 57:04One which anyone who believes will take on the image of God.
- 57:09So the image of the Son of God.
- 57:13So Paul put it like this in Romans 5 verse 9. Look at Romans 5 verse 19.
- 57:18As we run up, Romans 5 verse 19. He says,
- 57:21For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners.
- 57:28Tango didn't say all.
- 57:32By one man's disobedience, how many were made sinners? Many.
- 57:38I say again, not all, but many.
- 57:43Why would I say not all?
- 57:47Adam gave back to two. One is Wu, Cain, and one is Wu, Abel.
- 57:56Cain was what? Found in what? In unbelief, right?
- 58:01What about Abel? Abel believed.
- 58:05So was Abel in the likeness of the sin of Adam,
- 58:13in the context of the disobedience of Adam, was Abel a sinner?
- 58:19In the similitude of Adam's sin, was Abel a sinner?
- 58:23In the nature of Adam's sin, found as disobedience, which means that he's conditioner, right?
- 58:29He's a product of will, he's a product of choice.
- 58:33Are we together?
- 58:36So, for as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners.
- 58:42So by one, by the obedience of one, shall all, shall what?
- 58:52Also many, because not all.
- 58:54So it relegates all this concept that Jesus died and he has paid it for all, so everybody is now safe. No.
- 59:01He says many didn't say all, which means that it's conditional to all to believe in.
- 59:05So many will become what? Will be made righteous.
- 59:09So the obedience of Christ makes many righteous by faith.
- 59:12When we believe we come into God's image and likeness, we become like Christ in character and in nature.
- 59:21Because he lives in us. First, Genesis 1, 26 to 28 is fulfilled where?
- 59:27It's fulfilled in Christ. Hallelujah.
- 59:31Genesis 1, 26 to 28 is fulfilling who? It's fulfilling Christ.
- 59:38The last Adam, the one that gives us his nature by faith and from where we walk in dominion.
- 59:45So the believer today walks in dominion as a result of his belief, his faith in Jesus Christ.
- 59:52The male and the female in Genesis now will be male and female in Christ.
- 59:58Humanity in Christ, the last Adam.
- 1:00:01The new creation today and forever.
- 1:00:06Founded in God's glorious image and likeness.
- 1:00:09Let me conclude.
- 1:00:12The first and the important commandment of God.
- 1:00:16The first and the most important commandment we saw earlier in Matthew 22 verse 27.
- 1:00:21Matthew 27, part seven again.
- 1:00:26Jesus said, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.
- 1:00:35So loving God is not just in words, but in actions.
- 1:00:40First John 3 verse 18.
- 1:00:43My little children, let us love not in words or in tongue, but what?
- 1:00:50But in deeds and what? And in truth.
- 1:00:53Now these actions of expressing love towards God.
- 1:01:01First, because see, the reason why we are focusing on God is because you cannot love men without loving God.
- 1:01:07Are we together?
- 1:01:09And for you to even love God, we will see that he first loved us. We're going to go into that first.
- 1:01:14God first of all, he loved us.
- 1:01:17Right? Then we love him by what? By obeying.
- 1:01:22When we obey, we now begin to love others. That is the sequence.
- 1:01:26Are we together? So these actions must be founded on faith.
- 1:01:34It is a response to love God is a response to the leading of the Holy Spirit in you.
- 1:01:41If you don't have the Spirit of God in you, you don't have the ability to love God.
- 1:01:46You don't have the ability to love men unconditionally as Christ have loved you.
- 1:01:53So these actions must be founded on faith.
- 1:01:57It is a response. Loving God is a response of what? Of the leading of the Spirit in the believer.
- 1:02:05And we who believe have the ability in us.
- 1:02:10All this explanation is for me to arrive at this last sentence.
- 1:02:14We who believe have the ability to do what? To love God because his Spirit does what?
- 1:02:23Has been given to us. How was the Spirit given to us? Because we believe.
- 1:02:29Are we together? Let's open our mouth and give thanks to God.
- 1:02:35Say Father, thank you Lord for the gift of your Spirit and for giving us the ability to express love.
- 1:02:41First of all to you. Because a life in the Spirit is a life inspired and live in obedience to your Spirit.
- 1:02:51And we've seen that sin is no longer a problem. It's no longer a barrier.
- 1:02:59Christ has become the eternal sacrifice. Therefore we have the capacity to love you.
- 1:03:07Say Father, I walk in this truth.
- 1:03:15Thank you for listening to our sermon today. We hope you were blessed by this teaching.
- 1:03:20If you want to learn more about our church, please visit our website or follow us on social media.
- 1:03:25We would love to connect with you and hear your feedback.
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- 1:03:33You never know who might need a word of encouragement.