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Standing Fast in the Faith (Part 8) · 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. Good evening everyone. So welcome to
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our midweek service. We're going to continue.
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We're going to continue with the teaching. On
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Sunday, I think we were about closing and then
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we looked at Joshua. And I want us to see, let's
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just start, let's just pick it up from there.
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And I want us to be reminded that there are times
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when the word comes and because we are still
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trying to grasp or understand because we can
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only act on the word. when we trust and we're
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persuaded that this is what the Lord is instructing
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us to do. And this is where we're convinced.
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And we know that this is what the Lord is instructing
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us to do. And it's one thing for us to have something.
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And it's another thing for us to exercise that
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which we have. And God is helping us. And we're
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seeing an example in Joshua's case. And we said,
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Joshua 9, we're looking at Joshua 1, 9. Joshua
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1, 9, it says, have I not commanded you? Have
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I not commanded you? be strong and of good courage.
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I have highly commanded you. And I want you to
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see that in Deuteronomy 3, in Deuteronomy 31
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verse 6, Deuteronomy 31 verse 6, we see Moses
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passing the baton to the young man Joshua. He
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says, be strong and of good courage. Do not fear,
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nor be afraid of them. For the Lord your God,
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he is the one who goes with you. He will not
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leave you nor forsake you. I want you to just
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continue to see how there's a reason why he says
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he's the one who goes with you. He's the one
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who goes with you. He will not leave you nor
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forsake you. And you will see all through scripture
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that that is the encouragement that comes to
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us when we are instructed not to fear. We're
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instructed to be strong. We're instructed to
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be of courage. And even in 23, when in 23, we'll
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see in 23, that's 31, 23. 31 verse 23. I would
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like to read it from the NLT. It says, Then the
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Lord commissioned Joshua, son of Nun, with these
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words, be strong and courageous. for you must
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bring the people of Israel into the land I swore
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to give them. I will be with you. He says, you
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must bring the children, the people of Israel,
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you must bring the people of Israel into the
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land I have sworn to give you. And there is a
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reason why he must be strong and courageous.
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Remember, I told us that it's not something because
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there's oppositions that we're going to face.
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That is why courage is necessary. Courage is
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not an add -on. Courage is not optional. Courage
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is necessary for the work. There are people that
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need to be saved and you cannot take on that
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task without ensuring that being courageous and
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being confident and placing your trust in God
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to get the work done. That is a necessity for
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us to be able to get the work done. And he says,
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the people of Israel, he says, the people of
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Israel, the land is already theirs. The action
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that is needed is Joshua has to take on that
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tax and responsibility. He has to be conscious
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of the fact that God, as he ends this verse,
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I will be, he says, I will, he says, I will be
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with you. I will be with you. I will be with
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you. And that is the, upon this, he's able to
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move. And we go back to the Joshua one. I want
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us to see the nine and then see 10. And in that
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Joshua 1, I told us that we see it in six, we
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see it in seven. Let's just read, let's start
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from six, seven, and then we go to six, seven,
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and then nine and 10. Six, it says, be strong
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and of good courage. For to these people, for
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this, to these people, you should, yeah, okay.
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For to these people. You shall divide as an inheritance
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the land which I swore to their fathers to give
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them. 7. Only be strong and very courageous,
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that you may observe to do according to all the
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law which Moses my servant commanded you. Do
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not turn from it to the right hand or to the
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left, that you may prosper wherever you go. Just
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jump to 9 and then let's do 9 and 10. And then
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we said, have I not commanded you? Be strong
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and be of good courage. Do not be afraid, nor
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be dismayed. For the Lord your God is with you
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wherever you go. Then 10, now we see him acting.
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It says, then Joshua commanded the officers of
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the people saying, 11. That's just the 11. It
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says, pass through the camp, command the people
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saying, prepare provisions for ourselves. For
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within three days you will cross over this Jordan
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to go in to possess the land which the Lord your
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God has given you to possess. Praise God. We
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see him not just hearing the word had come again
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and again. And the result is that he acts on
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the word. The result of the word, the action
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that we see from Joshua is that he takes on that
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stance of let's do this. And then they go and
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act on the word. God's word has to have a result
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in our lives. This has to be a tangible effect.
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It doesn't keep us in one place. It gets us to
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that place of action. And bravery is a result
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of reliance on God's strength because we see
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that the reliance on God's strength is what causes
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Joshua to say, we can do this because the word
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has come again and again. And note that God demands
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men to rise up. God demands men to rise up. God
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demands you to rise up. God demands me to rise
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up. He will keep bringing his word to us. Keep
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bringing his word to us. Keep bringing his word
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to us. And one very key thing we'll see again
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and again as we progress is that God's word comes
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to us to encourage us. God's word comes to us
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to encourage us. God's word comes to us to dispel
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doubt. God's word comes to us to dispel fear.
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God's word comes to us for us to rely on him
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to get the work done. Joshua is already doing
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something that has been instructed because it
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is already done. And if you remember, there were
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times like in Numbers, back in Numbers, where
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they were instructed, the spies, 12 of them were
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instructed to go. Notice that 10 of them came
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with their own report. Joshua and Caleb came
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with a positive report. And it is... You know,
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when one, two, three persons have said something,
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you know, you might just fall in line because
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that's like, who am I? What do I know? If all
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these people, 10 of them, have already said,
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you just respect yourself and say, yeah, these
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people, we cannot take it. But we see that there
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was something, we see if God has said it, we
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are going for it. Praise God. They are not taking
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on what those people are saying, how they see
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themselves. And that is what we should always
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look to. We should always count on. We should
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count on. I said the word strong there means
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you're firm. The word strong there means you're
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firm. And the word courage, the Hebrew word there
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means that you do not yield. You do not yield.
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Meaning that no matter what happens, you don't
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yield to anything other than the word of God.
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The word of God is what we yield to. The word
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of God is what we stand by. regardless of what
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happens. And the command will keep coming. The
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instruction will keep coming. And our response
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is that we yield to the word. We yield to the
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instruction. Why are we yielding? Because he
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has promised, right? Because he says he's there.
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He says he's going to be there with us. And we
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know that for us now, we know that he is there.
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We are not in doubt of God's power, God's presence
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in and through our life. And we say that courage
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is not detached from God. God's presence with
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us is what encourages us. God being with us is
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what encourages us. That's what we see every
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time he says, I am with you. I am with you. I
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am with you. I am with you. That is what stares
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away. It's not about your willpower. It's not
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about you saying, oh, I can do this. It's not
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motivational talk. It's not motivational talk.
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It's not about willpower. It's that God has said
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it. His presence is with us. And that is why
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everywhere we go, we know that he is with us.
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And it is his will that is at the forefront.
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His will is not at the back. is at the forefront
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of our minds. Meaning that we are in that particular
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place and we know that I am an ambassador. I
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am an ambassador. I am God's instrument in this
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place. I am the one that God is going to use
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to minister to that person. I'm the one that
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God is going to use to minister to him, to minister
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to her. I'm the one that God is going to use
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in my family to minister to my father, to minister
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to my mother. I'm the one that God is going to
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use. I'm not waiting for someone else to do it.
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Praise God. I'm not waiting for someone else.
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Because Joshua can say, Maybe Caleb will do it.
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Right? We have instances, and many men will just
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resign and say, okay, somebody else will do it.
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If I don't do it, God will raise up somebody.
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But that is not the stance of someone who knows
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that God has placed us in ecstasies for such
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a time as this. Praise God. In the book of Esther,
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I say for such a time as this, because... Monica
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had to tell her that, look, deliverance will
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come from somewhere else if you don't rise up.
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But she knows that it was not an accident that
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she found herself in the palace. So we should
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not undermine the fact that God has placed us
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strategically in the different places where we
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find ourselves. We should just be courageous.
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I told us on Sunday that fear is always the cause
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for people turning down or going back on the
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word. Fear is the threat. to everything, every
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instruction of the Lord. And that's why you see
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that many times it comes, the word comes, the
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word encourages us not to be afraid. The word
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encourages us not to be afraid. Praise God. When
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the word of the Lord comes, it ensures that fear
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is out of the window. Fear is out of the window.
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And what happens is that our courage grows from
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our confidence in God's word. Our courage grows
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from our confidence in God's word. Anytime that
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you are feeling like. or you are entertaining
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all manner of fears, just know that what is happening
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there is your word, your prayer, something is
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happening around that department that will result
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in that. Anytime you check yourself and you are
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seeing that, oh, I'm very fearful, I'm scared,
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I'm too scared, I'm always scared, I'm panicking,
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I'm all of that, just ask yourself this question,
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what are you feeding yourself on? What are you
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entertaining? Because there is no way you'll
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be entertaining the word of God and the entertaining
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fear at the same time. Because God's word comes
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to dispel fear. The two cannot be compatible.
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And even when you say, okay, sir, I am reading
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the word, I'm reading the word, I'm reading the
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word. What are you trusting on? Is it the word
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or the circumstances around you? Praise God.
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Because it's easy for us to look around us and
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say, Joshua should look at the people and say,
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Kai, these people, they will finish us. Praise
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God. It's easy for him to say that. But he chooses
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not to because he is trusting, he's relying on
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the word of the Lord. I said, we looked at Psalms
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a bit, Psalm 27. That Psalm is the Psalm of David.
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And David says, the Lord is my light and my salvation.
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You know, for you to come to a point where you
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say, the Lord is my light and my salvation, you
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know him to be your light and salvation. Praise
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God. And David is a man that, when you read through,
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Kings, Chronicles, you see that he took every
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action. He goes to seek God's guidance for every
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step and every action he does. That is almost
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like his go -to. His default setting is, what
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is the Lord saying? What does the Lord want us
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to do? What does the Lord want me to do? What
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is our stance? He says, the Lord is my light
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and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? That's the
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question. Whom shall I fear? If the Lord is my
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light and salvation, what then am I? Why should
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I be scared? He says, the Lord is the strength
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of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? Praise
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God. He says, the Lord is the strength of my
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life. Of whom shall I be afraid? You will say,
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oh, if the Lord is the strength of your life,
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then you will not be weak, right? But it means
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that there is the strength that dispels fear.
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There is the strength in the Lord. Note that
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there is the strength in the Lord that dispels
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fear. Because you can be strong physically. but
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weak in the face of fear. Praise God. You can
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be strong physically and still weak in the face
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of fear. And as I said on Sunday again, in the
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end of that chapter, he says, wait on the Lord.
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He says, wait on the Lord, be of good courage,
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and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait on the
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Lord. Wait, I say, on the Lord. He says, and
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he shall strengthen your heart. He said, wait
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on the Lord. And I encouraged us and I told us,
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I said, waiting on the Lord doesn't mean doing
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nothing. Waiting on the Lord doesn't mean doing
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nothing. Waiting on the Lord means that there
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is a posture in this. Waiting on the Lord will
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include you putting your trust in him. And putting
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your trust in him will mean that you are praying.
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Putting your trust in him will mean that you're
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reflecting on this word. Putting your trust in
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him will mean that you are posting yourself for...
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to obey every instruction that he gives. Because
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in your waiting, it's not a period of idleness.
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It's not the season of, okay, it's not the season
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of dryness or just doing nothing. But it's a
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season of where you are refined because you are
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in the place of praying. And that is the default
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setting. And I told us, I said, you're waiting
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for something to happen or you're waiting for
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graduation. As a student, it doesn't mean that
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you're doing nothing. At every step of the way,
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there's something that we need to do. And being
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courageous demands that you go ahead. You move
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forward. You don't stand in one place. You move
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forward. You're taking little steps. You are
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making the progress. Because even in Trinidad
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and Tobago, when they were asked to scout the
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land, scouting the land is, they're not yet taking
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the land, but they're just doing the scout. Scouting
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required work. And even in that, you had some
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people saying, we cannot take it. You have some
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people saying, we can take it. Praise God. So
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it means that at every point in time, you don't
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want to entertain any form of fear. You want
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to just go into it. You want to do it in the
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strength that the Lord supplies. Praise God.
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We say bravery. When we see a soldier, we say
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this is a brave soldier. This is a valiant soldier.
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But when we talk about bravery in our own sense,
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it's spiritual. Praise God. It's spiritual because
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the... Being brave is a function of our union
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with God. It's very different from that kind
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of bravery. And we'll get to the point where
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we give examples, see the example in our nature.
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And it's what God enables us to do. And that
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is, it's bravery that will make a person say,
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I will not bow down, like the Hebrew boys. It's
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bravery that will, that bravery that comes only
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from God, that will make them see. the phone
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has been hit seven times and not go back on their
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word. Because, you know, I was thinking about
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it. When somebody has nothing to lose, that person
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becomes very dangerous because you don't want
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to, you know, there's how, when athletes are
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looking, they're trying to gauge, is this person
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afraid of something? What is it exactly? And
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the moment they find weakness, that's where,
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That's where they attack. Right? The moment they
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find weakness, that's where they attack. But
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we see that these people were not, they were,
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there's no threats that could shift their stance.
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Praise God. There's no form of threat that could
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make them say, oh, let's just change our mind.
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As the furnace was being heated, they would see
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the furnace and they, you know, you could at
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this point say, hmm, self -preservation. Let's
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preserve ourselves. is we can fight. But they
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were very confident in the fact that, see, look,
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even if God doesn't show up, and that is the
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mindset we should have as believers. Whatever
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thing, whatever idol, whatever form of cultural
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pressure, what should be at the forefront of
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our minds is, how do I still honor God in the
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light of what is going on around me? How do I
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still glorify God in the light of what is going
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on around me? And we say true bravery is trust.
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True bravery is trust. True bravery is trusting
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in God, trusting in the one who declares, I am
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with you. Trusting in the one who declares, I
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am with you. Trusting in the one who declares,
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I am with you. And you should have no other one
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that you're trusting except this one who declares,
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I am with you. And we say being bold, bold obedience
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actually flows from, a steady heart that is anchored
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on God's character, notice that we always want
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to bring attention to the fact that if you have
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a wrong understanding of the character of this
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God, it will be shaky. Your confidence in him
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will be shaky. If you read your Bible and you
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still think that God is out to get you, anytime
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you're going through a difficult situation, you
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think it's him. You will start looking for the
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things that you've done wrong that is out to
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get you. You start looking for the things that...
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But once you know that he says he's with you,
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he's not going to turn his back on you because
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you did something that you shouldn't have done.
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And we say that you are doing it because you
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know that this God is faithful. This God is a
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God that keeps his words. This is a God that
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continues to stand by his word regardless of...
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the missteps that we make, regardless of the
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challenges that we do have. He stands on his
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word. And I want you all to see another example
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in Daniel, since we're still in Daniel. I want
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us to see Daniel 6. This is Daniel himself. Daniel
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6, I want us to look at 10. We look at 10. Daniel
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6 verse 10. Daniel 6 verse 10. It says, now when
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Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went
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home and in his upper room, with his windows
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open toward Jerusalem. He knelt down on his knees
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three times that day and prayed and gave thanks
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before his God, as was his custom since early
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days. As was his custom since early days. I want
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us to underline as was his custom since early
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days. It means that this Daniel had a custom
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of praying, giving thanks. That doesn't shift.
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It doesn't shift. That was his custom since early
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days. That was his custom since early days. What
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I want us to understand is that challenging times
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and difficult times is not when you start doing
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the disciplines that you should have done way
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before. Difficult times or challenging times
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is not when you start saying, I'm going to pray
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now because I'm going through this. I'm going
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to study my Bible more because I think I really
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need the Word. now than before. Meaning that
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we have to have a routine. We have to have a
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lifestyle. We have to have something that is
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customary. And this is not just unique to Daniel.
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We see it all through scriptures. We see it was
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customary for Apostle Paul, customary for Jesus
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himself to have a regular time of prayers. And
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I know that we say three times that day. So we
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don't prepare when it's in the face of danger.
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We are prepared. in the face of danger, praise
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God. But we don't prepare in the face of danger.
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So Daniel did not simply, what Daniel was doing
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when he went on to do, by the way, just the background,
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these people were trying to get something on
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Daniel. They looked for everything that they
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could. The only thing they could get on him was
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just his prayer. That's the only thing they could
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use, they could place their hands on. And that
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was why they capitalized on it. And Daniel actually
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echoed something that we see in 1 Kings 8. Daniel
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actually echoed something we see in 1 Kings 8
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because you'll be thinking, why is it important
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for him to pray towards Jerusalem? Or why is
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it important for him to open the window? He would
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have just closed the window and nobody knows
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he's praying, right? But we see that because
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it's customary, customary means that is something
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he does usually. And that is how he did it. And
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he didn't want to change it for anything because
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that is basically what he does regularly. And
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I want us to see 1 Kings 8, 35. What he was doing
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here was echoing something that King Solomon
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would see in his prayer at the delegation of
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the temple. In 35, he says, And when the heavens
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are shut up and there is no rain because they
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have sinned against you, When they pray towards
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this place, and this place is the temple, the
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place that they were dedicated temple, and confess
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your name and turn from their sin because you
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afflict them in 47. Let's jump to 47. 47. I want
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us to see why Daniel, so yet when they come to
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themselves in the land where they were carried
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captive, and we know that Daniel, was a captive
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in Babylon at that time, and repent and make
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supplications to you in the land of those who
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took them captive, saying, We have sinned and
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done wrong. We have committed wickedness. 48.
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And when they turn to you with all their heart
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and with all their soul in the land of their
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enemies, who led them away captive? and pray
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to you towards the land which you gave to their
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fathers, the city which you have chosen, and
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the temple which I have built for your name.
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So notice that Solomon here is praying and then
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is saying that there be a prayer, that there
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be a repentance and a prayer, and praying towards
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the temple is... how they are able to, that's
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the posture, that's the stance, that's what will
24:09
ensure that they are able to, and that's basically
24:12
what he's going by. That Daniel is going by this
24:15
prayer of Solomon, he's going by this. And we
24:17
see other instances, even with David. David in
24:21
Psalms 55 verse 17, David in Psalms 55 verse
24:24
17, talks about evening and morning and noon,
24:28
he will pray and cry to the Lord and he will
24:30
hear his cry. And notice that he says morning,
24:33
evening. morning and at noon. And all of this
24:37
will just be, all of this at times of the day
24:40
is not like three times a day. It's just pointing
24:43
to the importance of prayer and the discipline
24:45
of prayer and then also suggesting, most importantly,
24:48
the fact that you can wholly depend on God to
24:51
hear you when you cry. You can wholly depend
24:54
on God to hear you when you cry. And that's basically
24:58
what Daniel is illustrating in that his posture.
25:02
And it means that what, A consistent life of
25:07
prayer naturally will cause us to express or
25:11
manifest supernatural boldness. A consistent
25:14
life of prayer will cause us to always naturally
25:16
express that supernatural life of boldness. Because
25:19
once a person is confident, he's wholly dependent
25:24
on God, because your prayer is a function of
25:27
your dependence on God. You going to pray is
25:30
you saying, Lord, I depend on you. I'm giving
25:33
thanks. I'm giving thanks to you because I know
25:35
that everything I have, everything I am, everything
25:37
I own is you, is your doing, is of your doing.
25:40
And the encouragement of the scripture on death
25:42
is the person is honoring God's word by placing
25:45
themselves in that posture or placing themselves
25:47
in that stance. And we see Daniel not regarding
25:50
man, but rather honoring God in his stance to
25:54
pray. Not regarding man, but honoring God in
25:56
his stance to pray. And we see time and time
25:59
again when men honor God in their stance. There
26:02
is always deliverance. We see it as a pattern.
26:04
When men honor God, take their stance and say,
26:07
I choose to trust you. I choose to walk in your
26:10
ways. We see that what happens is deliverance.
26:13
And for Daniel, we saw that in lions, then the
26:15
lions could not, God shut them out of the lions
26:19
on his regard. And I want us to still see that
26:22
this courage or this boldness we're talking about,
26:25
we said, and we'll repeat again, is supernatural.
26:28
It's supernatural. It doesn't come by a... natural
26:32
means. It's not a function of your temperament.
26:38
It's not a function of your temperament. You
26:40
just say, I'm naturally a courageous person.
26:43
I'm a courageous person, so I'm always courageous.
26:46
It's not a function of our temperament. It's
26:48
not a function if somebody says, I'm not that
26:50
courageous. I'm just a very shy person. I can't
26:55
do this. And I want us to see an example in the
26:58
life of Peter. I want us to start from his low
27:02
point. I want us to start from his low point
27:04
and then build up to it because we'll later see
27:07
him addressing the children of Israel. We'll
27:12
see him addressing the people with Sahandrin.
27:15
We'll see him addressing all of this. But let's
27:17
start at his low point. Let's look at Luke 22,
27:20
54 to 62. Let's see if we can run through. We
27:26
just see Peter at the fire. So Luke 22, 54. Having
27:30
arrested him, they led him and brought him into
27:37
the high priest's house. But Peter followed at
27:40
a distance. 55. Now when they had kindled a fire
27:47
in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together,
27:51
Peter sat among them. And a certain servant girl,
27:56
seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently
28:00
at him and said, this man was also with him.
28:06
And he denied, but he denied, but he denied him
28:10
saying, that's he denied Jesus saying, woman,
28:13
I don't know him. I do not know him. And after
28:16
a little while, another saw him and said, you
28:20
also, you also are of them. But Peter said, man,
28:26
I am not. 59. Then after about an hour had passed,
28:33
another confidently affirmed, saying, Surely
28:38
this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.
28:45
60. Says, But Peter said, Man, I do not know
28:50
what you are saying. Immediately, while he was
28:54
still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord
28:58
turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered
29:01
the word of the Lord, how he had said to him,
29:05
before the rooster crows, he will deny me three
29:08
times. 62. So Peter went out and wept bitterly.
29:12
63. Okay. So 62, that's where we stop. So we
29:22
see that Peter had denied and we said, All this
29:28
had happened afterwards while back in the garden,
29:33
Peter had pulled out a sword. Peter has pulled
29:37
out a sword, boldly pulled out, because for you
29:39
to pull out a sword against someone, slice off
29:41
somebody's ears, that requires a bit of bravery.
29:45
But we say that that's of a physical sort, right?
29:47
That's the one that comes naturally. But we see
29:51
that in the face of just, okay, because you're
29:55
like... See, I don't know the man. First time
30:00
would have been a mistake. Second time, maybe
30:03
somebody else was pointed at. Third time. And
30:06
I want us to even look at it in Matthew. Matthew's
30:09
account. Matthew 26. Matthew 26, 72. From the
30:14
NLT. Matthew 26, 72. Matthew 26, 72 from the
30:21
NLT. Again. Peter denied it, this time with an
30:27
oath. I don't even know the man, he said. 73.
30:34
A little later, some of the other bystanders
30:38
came over to Peter and said, you must be one
30:41
of them. We can tell by your Galilean accent.
30:45
So something was giving him off. Peter swore
30:48
a curse on me if I'm lying. I don't know the
30:54
man. And immediately the rooster crowed, I can
30:57
imagine. Immediately the rooster crowed 75. Suddenly
30:59
Jesus' words flashed through Peter's mind. Before
31:04
the rooster crows, you will deny three times
31:09
that you even know me. And he went away weeping
31:12
bitterly. So this one, Matthew tells us that
31:16
it was just to just... sound to just make the
31:20
person believe that he doesn't really know. He
31:23
had to add a bit of swearing to it to just confirm
31:27
that, see, I'm not the person. If I'm swearing
31:30
like this, I'm not the person. And you can look
31:35
at it and think to yourself, when you are depending
31:40
on your strength, you're depending on your ability
31:43
to be able to do God's work, you will get to
31:47
points like this. Notice that when Jesus Christ
31:50
speaking to Peter told him that he would deny
31:53
him. You know, when you're thinking, oh, how
31:56
can I? How can I? You're not thinking of the
32:00
fact that there is a possibility for that to
32:04
happen. You're thinking that, no, there's no
32:06
way. Because in your mind, things will always
32:11
be like this. Things will always be like when
32:14
we gather like this. There's going to be a time
32:16
where you go out. And then you are in a place
32:19
where you're like, what do you believe in? Right?
32:24
And you have instance, you know, the Lord loves
32:26
everybody. He loves everybody. Like you can come
32:29
to him, like any way, any path is a path that
32:32
leads to him. Just to make everybody, just to
32:35
accommodate everybody. But that will not be the
32:38
truth because you know better than that, that
32:40
Christ is the way, Christ is the only way, right?
32:43
Christ is the only way to the Father. And we
32:45
see that in, In John, like John 18 verse 10,
32:51
John 18 verse 10, where John 18 verse 10, it
32:57
says, and Simon Peter drew a sword and sliced
32:59
off, if you can, then Peter said, having a sword,
33:03
he drew it and struck the high priest's servants
33:05
and cut off his ear. And the servant's name was
33:07
Malchus. And I want you to see that I think John
33:13
just gives us details. John just gives us details.
33:16
Every other person that wrote this account just
33:19
didn't disclose that Peter was the person that
33:22
did it. And it's important for us to see that
33:24
in that height, in the height of what was going
33:30
on, his action, his willingness to defend and
33:34
his willingness to, he just did the first thing
33:37
that he could do. It is, okay, we had a sword.
33:39
Initially when Jesus Christ was telling him,
33:41
okay, go, he got the sword and then he put the
33:44
sword to use. What we see, Jesus' action, even
33:47
in that light, it was, he picked the ear of the
33:48
person and there was healing. But what is most
33:51
importantly is we contrast the character of Peter
33:54
at this point and Peter next to the fire. You're
33:59
looking at the person here and looking at the
34:02
person there, you think it should be two different
34:04
persons because one person is denying him, the
34:07
other person is willing to defend him. Praise
34:10
God. The other person is willing to defend him
34:11
and you might say, okay, it was in the garden,
34:13
it was dark. There was fire there. You could
34:16
see him. So note that physical bravery is not
34:21
what we're talking about when we're talking about
34:22
supernatural bravery. Physical bravery, physical
34:25
being, physically brave, pulling out a sword
34:28
is not what we're talking about. Because you
34:30
can have the spiritual and you can have the physical.
34:41
Because your physical translated. Remember we
34:43
said that. Once there's supernatural bravery
34:46
or supernatural boldness, you are able to speak
34:48
up. You are able to speak up. You're not silent.
34:51
Supernatural bravery or supernatural boldness,
34:54
you don't keep silent. And we'll see that as
34:57
we progress. We'll see that Peter was able to
35:00
stand before the Sanhedrin. Peter was able to
35:03
stand before the children of Israel and boldly
35:06
declare the word. We'll see that in Acts 2 .14.
35:10
We see that in Acts 2 .14. I want us to read
35:13
this from the NLT. Acts 2 .14. Then Peter, stepping
35:16
forward with the 11 other apostles, shouted to
35:21
the crowd, Listen carefully, all of you, fellow
35:27
Jews and residents of Jerusalem. Make no mistake
35:30
about this. Make no mistake about this. You can
35:33
hear from his words. You can hear from his words
35:37
that this person is persuaded. about what they
35:40
are communicating. And note that it's the same
35:43
person he denied his defending here to the Jews.
35:47
Praise God. The same person he denied his defending
35:49
here to the Jews. And what the result of all
35:52
of this is 3 ,000 persons and more believed.
35:55
Praise God. About 3 ,000 persons believed. And
35:59
we see in Acts 3 .12, Acts 3 .12, Acts 3 .12,
36:05
Peter saw this opportunity and addressed. the
36:08
crowd, that was just after the man that was at
36:11
the beautiful gate. People of Israel, he said,
36:16
what is so surprising about this? And why stare
36:21
at us as do we have made this man walk by our
36:25
own power or godliness? And we will see as we
36:30
progress that in Acts 4 .4, that about... 5 ,000
36:36
also believed at the teaching or the preaching.
36:40
But many of the people who heard the message
36:44
believed it. So the number of believers now totaled
36:49
about 5 ,000, not counting women and children.
36:53
Praise God. So there's something about not looking
36:57
at ourselves or thinking about, okay, we're convincing
37:01
ourselves, okay, I can do it. Many of us, when
37:04
we are faced with a situation where we are, to
37:05
open our mouth and be bold. We look at ourselves,
37:08
we say, I don't think I'm cut out for this. I
37:11
don't think I can do this. I see how the sister
37:13
does it graciously. I see how this brother does
37:16
it graciously. I don't think I'm able to do it
37:18
because we are looking at ourselves. We're looking
37:21
at our ability. We're looking, we're trying to,
37:24
and we're not really convinced that we're able
37:26
to do it. And that's where there's a thing, there's
37:29
a place of where you are confident in God's word.
37:32
There's a place of where... You're trained. There's
37:34
a place of where you understand what you're doing.
37:36
There's a place of even where people don't necessarily,
37:38
the woman or the whale, there's a place where
37:41
you don't need to have it together or it's good.
37:44
You just need to be persuaded that the person
37:47
you saw is the Messiah or the person that you
37:51
have a relationship with is the Messiah. So the
37:54
challenge is stop looking at yourself, right?
37:56
Stop looking at yourself. Stop looking at what
37:59
you know. Stop looking at yourself. Stop looking
38:02
at what you know. But look at the one who is
38:06
with you, right? Look at the one who is with
38:08
you, the one who has promised. So boldness is
38:11
an expression of supernatural bravery and it
38:14
comes out in words, through our speakings. It
38:17
comes out in words. It's an expression of supernatural
38:20
bravery in words and through our speaking. It
38:23
comes out in words. And we say the outward working
38:28
of faith in our lives is boldness. how you know
38:32
or how you can see faith at work in your life
38:34
is in your speaking. Because if you have faith,
38:38
you will speak. Praise God. If you have faith,
38:41
you will speak. We've been taught that again
38:42
and again. And we see in Ephesians 6, verse 19
38:45
to 20, as Apostle Paul was reminding us, he says,
38:50
for me, he says, pray for me, that all trans
38:53
may be given to me. All trans may be given to
38:57
me that... I may open my mouth boldly to make
39:03
known the mystery of the gospel, for which I
39:06
am an ambassador in chains, that in it I may
39:09
speak boldly as I ought to speak. I may speak
39:14
boldly as I ought to speak. So we see here, utterance
39:17
may be given to me, that I may open my mouth
39:20
boldly, boldly, boldly to make known. Notice
39:25
that the boldness there is to make known. To
39:28
make known what? The mystery of the gospel. And
39:32
he says, he continues, an ambassador in chains,
39:34
telling it that I may speak boldly as I ought
39:38
to speak. I may speak boldly as I ought to speak.
39:41
The Greek word there is P -A -R -R -E -S -I -A.
39:48
P -A -R -R -E -S -I -A. It means speaking plainly
39:54
without reservation, public declaration, speaking
40:00
boldly without reservation, public declaration.
40:02
And even the other boldly there is perissia somae.
40:07
It's similar, but it has the somae, which means
40:11
to speak freely, to grow confident with boldness,
40:18
to speak freely, to grow confident with boldness.
40:21
Second boldly there. It's the same spelling.
40:24
P -A -R -R -E -S -I -A. Then Z -O -M -A -I. Z
40:33
-O -M -A -I. The first one without the Z -O -M
40:37
-A -I. The second one is with the Z -O -M -A
40:41
-I at the end. So it means that believers, boldness
40:45
is supernatural and is in words. And Apostle
40:48
Paul clearly... He's demanding that he's able
40:50
to, because that is necessary for the work, that
40:53
the utterance that he has is for declaring the
40:58
gospel. The utterance that he has is for declaring
41:00
the gospel. And even in our lives, we want to
41:04
boldly declare the things that we are. Praise
41:07
God. We want to boldly declare the things that
41:09
we are. As David says, the Lord is my light and
41:11
my salvation. You are to declare with confidence
41:14
and with persuasion that I am a child of God,
41:17
that I cannot be moved. I'm not afraid. I trust
41:20
the Lord. The word of the Lord through me is
41:24
mighty. The word of the Lord through me is mighty.
41:26
I am alive and well. I am not sick. I will heal
41:31
the sick. I will raise the dead. You want to
41:34
be able to declare God's word with that level
41:37
of persuasion. And basically what we do when
41:41
we do affirmations is that we affirm God's word.
41:43
Praise God. We affirm God's word. And we're affirming
41:47
God's word and saying, through me, the Lord is
41:50
winning billions of souls. Through me. And how
41:53
would that happen? It's by me opening my mouth
41:56
with boldness and declaring the gospel. Praise
41:59
God. And declaring the gospel. And we see men
42:02
and women doing the same. And all of them are
42:04
an example to us. If these men and women are
42:07
able to take a stand for this same thing that
42:10
we're taking a stand for, and we can see the
42:13
result. How much more? We. Praise God. In this
42:16
day and age, we look around us, there are people
42:18
that need to hear the gospel. Praise God. And
42:20
our challenge is to be bold enough, to be brave
42:24
enough, to be courageous enough to declare it
42:27
without fear. Praise God. Declare without fear
42:30
because you are God's hands and feet. You are
42:33
his mouthpiece. You are opening your mouth and
42:36
being an instrument through which God will use
42:39
to deliver that person. Praise God. And in Acts
42:44
2, In Acts 2 .29, we'll see examples of boldness.
42:49
In Acts 2 .29, it says, Men and brethren, let
42:53
me speak freely. The freely there is the parousia.
42:58
Freely. To you of the Petrarch David, that he
43:03
is both dead and buried, and in his tomb with
43:07
us to this day. He says, let me speak freely.
43:12
And he goes on and on and on and on. And Peter's
43:14
confidence isn't in his, it's not his personality.
43:17
He's confident that his spirit empowered and
43:22
is anchored on his certainty because he's certain
43:24
of what he's saying. He says, let me speak freely.
43:26
Let me speak boldly. Let me speak to you of the
43:30
patriarch David. Let me speak to you of this
43:32
man. Let me speak to you of this man. And we
43:34
see in Acts 4, 13. I love the example in Acts
43:39
4, 13. It says, now when they saw the boldness
43:42
of Peter and John, and perceived that they were
43:45
uneducated and untrained men. They marveled.
43:49
And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
43:53
Praise God. They say they saw the boldness, that
43:56
is the paresia, of Peter and John and perceived
43:59
that they were uneducated. So it's not even a
44:03
function of the normal education that you have.
44:07
It's a function of the fact that you have. You
44:11
have an encounter, you are saved, you have a
44:15
union with him and you are grounded on the word
44:18
because you have been hearing God's word. All
44:20
the things that you've been hearing, what you're
44:22
doing is that you are allowing God to use what
44:24
you've learned to bless the other person. Praise
44:26
God. You are doing it. And for many of us, we
44:29
feel that we have not gotten enough. Same as
44:32
Joshua. Joshua felt that, okay, I still have
44:34
a lot of training to do. I still feel like I'm
44:36
not ready to. And in fact, we even see, Instance
44:41
that I think can just bring us back to Corinthians.
44:43
In the first Corinthians 16 verse 10. First Corinthians
44:48
16 verse 10. It says, when Timothy comes, don't
44:52
intimidate him. I'm reading from the NLT. When
44:54
Timothy comes, don't intimidate him. He's doing
44:57
the Lord's work, just as I am. It says, don't
45:01
let anyone treat him with contempt. Send him
45:06
on his way with your blessings when he returns.
45:10
to me. I expect him to come with the other believers,
45:14
praise God. Meaning that he's charging the Corinthian
45:18
church, don't intimidate the young man. Don't
45:20
intimidate the young man. Don't, don't, like
45:23
he's doing the Lord's work, praise God, just
45:25
as Apostle Paul. And Apostle Paul is pushing
45:30
him forward. Meaning that he's cheering him on,
45:33
he's trying to, because you can have instances
45:36
where you, people play, like, Things can come
45:40
at you, right? People can intimidate you, praise
45:42
God. But you don't get intimidated. You don't
45:45
get intimidated. You don't allow anyone to intimidate
45:49
you. He says, you are uneducated and untrained,
45:52
and they marveled. And then they realized this
45:55
one thing, that they had been with Jesus. 29
45:57
now says, now look on their threatens. That is
46:03
Acts 4, 29. Acts 4 .29. Say, Now, Lord, look
46:10
on their threats and grant your servant that
46:14
with all boldness that they may speak your word.
46:18
With all boldness. That boldness there is the
46:21
same word. And then 31. It says, And when they
46:25
prayed, the place where they assembled together
46:29
was shaken, and they were all filled with the
46:31
Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with
46:34
boldness. Praise God. They were threatened not
46:36
to. And these people prayed and the place was
46:39
shaken and they continued. Praise God. They continued
46:42
to preach the word, meaning that no matter what
46:46
threats, no matter what exactly it is that comes
46:48
at you, you should not allow it to put you down.
46:51
Praise God. You should not allow it to put you
46:52
down. You should continue to do the work of the
46:55
one who has called you because the one who has
46:56
called you is greater. Praise God. The one who
46:59
has called you is greater. Then Acts 28 .31.
47:03
Acts 28 .31. It says, Preaching the kingdom of
47:06
God and teaching the things which concerns the
47:10
Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence. No one
47:14
forbidding him. That's Apostle Paul. No one forbidding
47:17
him with all confidence. Confidence there is
47:19
heresia. No one forbidding him. So he kept on
47:22
doing that. That's the end of the 28th. He kept
47:25
on doing that. Preaching the kingdom of God.
47:28
Teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus
47:31
Christ. No one forbidding him. And then. Lastly,
47:34
Ephesians 3 verse 12. That's Ephesians 3 verse
47:39
12. It says, In whom we have boldness and access
47:43
with confidence through faith in him. In whom.
47:47
That's Christ Jesus. In whom we have boldness.
47:50
In whom we have boldness. It's in him that we
47:52
have boldness, access, and confidence in faith.
47:56
Our boldness is not in our strength. It's not
47:59
in our might. Our boldness and our confidence
48:02
is in what? It's the word and the strength that
48:06
the Lord supplies. Praise God. And as I said
48:08
on Sunday in passing, our confidence is contagious.
48:13
Our confidence is contagious. And I want to read
48:16
to us the quote. It says, courage is contagious.
48:20
When a brave man or woman takes a stand, the
48:25
spines of others are often stiffened. The spines
48:29
of others are often stiffened. Stephen. And we
48:31
see this in the life of Apostle Paul in Philippians
48:34
1 verse 14, as we read during the time of prayer.
48:37
I said that on Sunday, that people saw what Apostle
48:43
Paul was going through. And the scripture says,
48:48
and most of the brethren in the Lord, having
48:51
become confident by my change, are more I'm much
48:56
more bold to speak the word without fear. That
48:59
without fear there is boldly. That without fear
49:03
there is boldly. Without fear is aphobos. It's
49:07
not fear, no fear. And then no fear means that
49:14
you are bold. Because once you remove fear from
49:16
the equation, boldness is basically what is expressed.
49:20
So they are able to speak boldly. They're able
49:23
to speak. boldly and i want us to see matthew
49:27
i want us to see peter again i want to see matthew
49:31
14 27 and i want us to read it from the amplified
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matthew matthew 14 27 and he says but immediately
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he spoke to them saying take courage it is i
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do not be afraid take courage this i Do not be
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afraid. And just a background. The disciples
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were in the boat and then Jesus Christ was walking
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on water and they thought it was a ghost. And
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immediately he spoke to them, he says, but immediately
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he spoke to them saying, take courage. It is
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I, do not be afraid. Take courage, it is I, do
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not be afraid. That take courage there, you'll
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see it as in some translation as take heart.
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You see it as in some translation, take heart,
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be of good cheer. And we have several passages
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of scripture that has the same. Take courage
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is a word to mean be of good courage or be of
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good cheer. The word is be of good courage, be
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of good cheer. And he says it is I. Remember
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when we talk about when he says, be strong, be
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courageous, and then tells you I am with you,
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right? And then he says, do not be afraid. We
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see that it's the same pattern where you are
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reminded of the fact that God is with you, and
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that's the reason why you should not be afraid.
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Praise God. Because God is with you, that's the
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reason why we're afraid. And that word in a sense
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means that you should radiate confidence. You
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should be confident. You should be confident.
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Remember when we said be confident means that
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you are expressing or you're manifesting that
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which you have by virtue of your union with God.
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Because you have a relationship with him, because
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he is with you, you are confident. You're not
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manufacturing it, praise God. You're just manifesting
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that which you have. And it goes beyond human
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bravery. It's an assurance that you have and
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a peace that you have because of your faith in
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God. Because you have faith in God, you have
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that assurance that you are safe. Praise God.
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You have that assurance that you are safe. And
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the moment that kicks in, we see an action in
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the life of Peter. The moment, you know, all
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of them are in the boat. And that's the thing
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of how we can be here, but there can be a situation
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that demands people's... to act. And what happens
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is that somebody will, without thinking, and
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I can imagine, I can imagine what would have
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happened because going by how Peter is, he will
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act and then it's almost like he thinks about
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it later. And notice that he makes a request
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in 28. He makes a request in 28. Peter answered
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and said, just put it in New King James, in 28.
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Peter answered him saying, and said, Lord, if
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it is you, command me to come to you on the water.
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If it is you, command me to come to you on the
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water. And you will just be thinking to yourself,
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like, it's scary enough that you thought it was
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a ghost, right? It's scary enough that you thought
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it was a ghost. And then now, because now you
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believe it is him, your next response is, yeah.
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I would like to walk with you on the water. I
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would like to experience. I want to see what
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the view is. Praise God. I'd like to see what
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the view is. And that takes a level of confidence.
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Like you are persuaded. I see because it is him.
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I can do likewise. Praise God. And I want you
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to see it like this. Because God's word says
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so. I want to see it. in my life. Praise God.
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Because God's word says so, I want to see that
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same thing manifested through me. I'm not okay
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with me seeing it around me, right? I'm not okay
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with me seeing, just looking at him walk on water.
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I want to see that I'm able to do likewise. Praise
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God. And that is the boldness, that is the confidence,
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that's the courage in action. That's the courage
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in action. So it's not just Peter looking at
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it and admiring it, but it took him a lot to
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go ahead and say it. And I can imagine that when
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he has said, okay, Jesus Christ bids him come,
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and then he starts walking, and then the storms
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come, right? The storms come, and then you see
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fear being entertained, and then you see all
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of that happening. But I want you to pick on
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something very beautiful, There's no limit to
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what you can do once you rely on, you trust God.
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There's no limit to what you can do when your
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confidence is in his instruction. Because he's
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given that instruction. You say, if it is you,
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bid me to come. Praise God. And God's word is
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saying that without, from where we started, because
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he heard the word, because he believed that it
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was him, because he had put the full weight on
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God, he now says, and then God instructs him,
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he didn't stay in the boat. He still acted on
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the word and he came out of the boat. And he
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was able to walk. Praise God. He was able to
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walk. And you can just think of it like, how
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am I going to do this? How am I going to do this?
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how will God help me get this done? There are
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two things, two different things. How am I going
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to do this? And how will God help me do this?
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There are two different mindsets. There are two
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different, there are two different approach to
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the same challenge. You want to get this thing
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done. You want, one person wants to do it by
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their self. The other person wants to do it.
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And sometimes we can even say it spiritually,
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just spiritualize and say, how am I going to
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do this with God's help? But what you're... saying
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in essence is, how am I going to do this by my
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own strength? Praise God. But we see Peter walking
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on that water and even when he was sinking, he
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still cried out, save me. Praise God. He still
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cried out, save me. So I want to challenge you
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in closing. What is that fear that is holding
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you back from sharing the gospel? What is that
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fear that is denying someone an opportunity of
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being saved? What is that fear that you have?
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that's denying someone an opportunity of being
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saved? What's that fear that keeps you silent
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when you should be speaking? What is that fear
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that keeps you silent when you should be speaking?
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What is that fear? Because you, and then you
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just keep, you reject. You know, like Peter,
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you might just be, because you just, because
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you're scared. of what can happen, what people
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will do to you. You can just be silent or you
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can deny him. You can just keep running. Some
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people, they just know how to run. When there's
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anything that they don't understand, they just
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keep running, just keep running. I want you to
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understand that you can genuinely cry out to
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the Lord for boldness. You can genuinely cry
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out to the Lord for boldness and boldness will
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find expression in and through you. Boldness
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will find expression in you. So I want us to
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pray because in Acts we see that the people wanted
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to honor God rather than men. They wanted to
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honor God rather than men. And what they decided
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to do is that rather than we be cowards, rather
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than we be cowards, we would rather pray and
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then continue doing. I can imagine how they were
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supernaturally delivered from prison and they
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went back to what they were. arrested for. They
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went back to what they were arrested for. And
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whatever it is that is that fear, you want to
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pray that courage will continue to find expression
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in and through your life, courage will continue
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to find expression in and through my life, courage
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will continue to be my stance with regards to
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what God's will is for my life. And that courage
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is able to make ordinary men and women be, regardless
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of what the challenging situation is, where they
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put no fear. above the work of God. They put
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no fear above what God's responsibility, what
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the responsibility God has called them to. They
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put no fear. They put no fear. And they continue
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to declare that we'll continue to work. We'll
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continue to stand fast in faith. We'll continue
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to be brave for the work. We'll continue to be
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strong in the Lord. We'll continue to be steadfast.
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We'll continue to be immovable. We'll continue
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to abound in the work. We'll continue to abound
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in the work. We'll let nothing. We will let nothing
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stop us. We will let nothing hold us back. We
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will let nothing deny us the great privilege
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of the work that God has called us to. Because
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what he has called us to is great and requires
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great faith, great confidence, great boldness
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to do the work. And we will continue. We will
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not cower. We will not say no. We will continue
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to stand. We will continue to stand. We will
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continue to stand. We will continue to stand.
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And it's not about how we feel. It's about what
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he has said. And fear can be crippling. But we
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will continue to trust in the Lord. We will continue
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to trust in the Lord. We will be the ones who
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dare. Who dare to say, I will walk on the water.
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I will walk on the water. Because you have said
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so, I will do it. Because you said I can heal
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the sick, I will. put myself in that position.
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I will not pass out on an opportunity to do so.
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Even if it scares me, even if I'm afraid, even
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if I'm afraid, but I choose to, I will choose
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to trust you and allow the light of your word
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dispel every fear and any fear in me. I will
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not let anything hold me back. We appreciate
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you being here today. We hope you carry this
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word with you throughout your week. Don't forget
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to check the show notes for additional insights.
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Stay connected with us through our website or
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follow us on social media. If you are encouraged,
1:00:04
share this message with someone you care about.
1:00:06
Until next time, stay blessed.