Latest / Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons / Understanding the Father's Love in Christ pt 4: Walking in Love
Transcript
- 0:01Welcome to NECF Sermons. Each message here is
- 0:06designed to uplift and strengthen you in your
- 0:09walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until
- 0:13the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive
- 0:17right in. This evening, I sense that this evening
- 0:32is going to be very different. We're going to
- 0:33do as much as we can this evening. So I want
- 0:37to just remind us of what we're doing. We said
- 0:41just a bit of recap, and then we're just going
- 0:45to what we're doing today. Understanding the
- 0:47Father's love in Christ. Understand the Father's
- 0:50love in Christ. Walking in love. And our scripture,
- 0:53which is the prayer team. Thank you so much,
- 0:54prayer team. Helped us just build, just remind
- 0:57us. and just set the foundation for us to continue
- 1:00in the teaching. Ephesians 5, 1 and 2 says, Therefore
- 1:04be imitators of God as dear children, and walk
- 1:10in love, as Christ also has loved us. Note that
- 1:14it's loved us, not will love us. Has loved us
- 1:18and given himself for us. An offering and sacrifice
- 1:22to God for a sweet -smelling aroma. For a sweet
- 1:26-smelling... Arama and we had gone back and gone
- 1:31forward. We were going to take time. We were
- 1:32looking at the prayers and we looked at the one
- 1:36in 1 Thessalonians 3, 12, and then we're looking
- 1:40at the one in Philippians and we'll continue
- 1:42with that. We'll continue with that. But I want
- 1:46us to remember, which is what I've been saying,
- 1:49that our thoughts, our minds is very important
- 1:53in the things that God is doing in and through
- 1:57us. Our minds are very important. And I'm saying
- 2:00this to tell you how, I'm saying this to build,
- 2:03I will build more and more, talk about it more
- 2:05and more because if you have a wrong mindset
- 2:10or wrong understanding or your thoughts are wrong
- 2:13about a thing, it means that you have a wrong
- 2:16belief system and it means that your conversation
- 2:18will be, there will be error and then even your
- 2:23actions will be erroneous. So it just spirals
- 2:26down. It builds up from your thinking. And I'll
- 2:28start this by telling us something that we need.
- 2:32I think that was a powerful lesson to me back
- 2:35in high school. Back in high school. And what
- 2:39happened in high school was that I was born in
- 2:43the northern part of Nigeria. I was born and
- 2:45not raised. I schooled there for most of my growing
- 2:50up. And in the north, there's this attire. I
- 2:54don't know. They call it Jalabia. I don't know.
- 2:57What do you call it in English? I think African
- 3:00middle. It's a long robe. I don't know. What
- 3:04do you call it? Is this the same? That's what
- 3:07they call it. So it's a long robe. It's silk.
- 3:11Some of us have seen it around. It's silk, long
- 3:13robe. So what happens is that people wash their
- 3:16clothes and spread them, right? People typically
- 3:19wash their clothes. And in the dormitory area,
- 3:21when there are enough spaces to spread, people
- 3:23hang them on trees. People hang them on trees.
- 3:26So you can have it on hangar and people hang
- 3:28it on trees. That's just like, because in our
- 3:31dormitory, I can remember, I can see it as I'm
- 3:33speaking to you now. In our dormitory, there's
- 3:35a tree just somewhere in the middle of the tree,
- 3:37of the dormitory. So people hang those things
- 3:39there. So in the middle of the night, one of
- 3:43our roommates wanted to go ease himself. That
- 3:49night was dark, cold like this night, and a bit
- 3:53windy. A bit windy. So on opening the door to
- 3:58want to go out, he saw something around the trees,
- 4:05moving like it was, you know, when something
- 4:08is not on the ground. You know, you see something,
- 4:13it's not, you can't, he couldn't see, it's suspended
- 4:17in the air. And it's around the tree area. And
- 4:20then the wind was moving it like it was moving,
- 4:22but it was not moving. And the young man decided
- 4:26that he was going to hold his pee throughout
- 4:29the night. In fact, I think he tapped some of
- 4:35us. We heard the story in the morning because
- 4:38some of us were fast asleep. We don't know what
- 4:41we were. But yeah, it went on until light came
- 4:47in the morning. And you can imagine his horror
- 4:50or his disappointment or his like, oh, it was
- 4:54even a or someone's clothes. He started looking,
- 4:58who is the person that owns this clothes? Who
- 5:01owns this? So what had happened is that in the
- 5:04dark, in the thick, in the dark and in the dead
- 5:07of the night, because it's dark, he couldn't
- 5:10see. And he assumed that what he saw there was
- 5:13a ghost. or something, you know, Jesus Christ
- 5:17and his disciples. So, you know, that one is
- 5:19understandable. You're in the sea and then you
- 5:21see somebody. It's understandable. You know,
- 5:24if your brain is not prepared for certain things,
- 5:27you just assume. And if you have a mindset that
- 5:30is very, you have a very spooky or you watch
- 5:33too much of all of those things, you will have
- 5:35so many ideas when you see certain things that
- 5:37don't even, like, you can logically, a person
- 5:39that doesn't have that view on things will say,
- 5:43oh, this and this is what I'm seeing. But for
- 5:46someone that has a mindset structured in that
- 5:48manner, you will conclude, you reach a conclusion,
- 5:51act on that conclusion. Because what has happened
- 5:53is that he reached a conclusion, this was it.
- 5:56And we know that now, because when I was telling
- 5:58the story, the moment I got to the part where
- 6:00he couldn't go out and he thought it was something,
- 6:02we understood, we're all laughing. But for him,
- 6:04it was serious. Because he lacked what? Understanding
- 6:08of what he saw. And what brought that understanding
- 6:12was the... light or the morning sun right i can
- 6:16imagine when he could imagine when he woke up
- 6:20and then he was like he was angry because can
- 6:24you imagine what someone's clothes that stopped
- 6:26me from going to ease myself because what is
- 6:28more important to him is we live in himself what
- 6:30should be more important to him is we live in
- 6:32himself but at this point in time fear crippled
- 6:35and didn't allow him to make the move that was
- 6:37important to his well -being praise god So I
- 6:41used that to start, and that wasn't even the
- 6:44plan. I think I was afraid. I was reminded of
- 6:47it, and I said, let me share it to just bring
- 6:49to us the importance of what you think about,
- 6:53your thoughts, the things you think about, the
- 6:56things you hold on to, the things that you, the
- 7:00way you understand things. It will greatly affect
- 7:03your work. It will greatly affect your action.
- 7:06It will greatly affect your action. As I said
- 7:08earlier, If you have a wrong thinking or wrong
- 7:11perception, that wrong perception will build
- 7:14into a wrong belief system. And that wrong belief
- 7:18system will be expressed in how you communicate,
- 7:22the things you say. And that will build into
- 7:26your action because you don't just act on things.
- 7:29Some people think you just wake up one morning
- 7:30and say, this is my idea. I was sharing to a
- 7:33couple of people. I said, even your career, You
- 7:37can be walked through to where you decide that
- 7:40you say, this is what I want to do with my life.
- 7:43But somebody had given you ideas that you internalize
- 7:49and you saw yourself doing that particular thing.
- 7:53And then when they say, what do you want to do?
- 7:55You say, right from when I was a child, that
- 7:59is what I had in mind. But you can be trained
- 8:02or fed certain information that will make you.
- 8:05act in a certain kind of way. And this is what
- 8:07we see here and then. And as I said earlier,
- 8:10what enables, the renewing of our mind, the renewing
- 8:15of our mind is very important in our walk. In
- 8:19Ephesians 4 verse 23, the instruction is be renewed
- 8:23in the spirit of your mind. Be renewed in the
- 8:26spirit of your mind. What it means is that our
- 8:29love for God, our love for God, The love of God
- 8:36must be what is rooted, our hearts are rooted
- 8:43with. The teaching, the understanding, his word
- 8:47is what should tell our action. If we act a certain
- 8:52way, it's because we know that as the only way
- 8:56to act. We can't do anything other than where
- 8:58our minds are at. So when we looked at Romans
- 9:0112 verse 2, It says, do not be conformed to this
- 9:04world, but be transformed by the renewing of
- 9:08your mind. Do not be conformed to this world,
- 9:13meaning that there are informations that you
- 9:17get that makes you act a certain kind of way.
- 9:22It says, but be transformed, meaning that there
- 9:24should be a change, right? That happens by the
- 9:29renewing of our mind. The B part now will say
- 9:33that you may approve. That you may approve. And
- 9:38that word there, the Greek word may approve there
- 9:41is dokimazo. That is D -O -K -I -M -A -Z -O.
- 9:47That you may approve, that is dokimazo. And this
- 9:51will mean that the transformation of your mind
- 9:55will result in a different kind of action. There's
- 10:00a demonstration now. And it will show what it
- 10:02is you value, what it is you accept as true.
- 10:04Because now you have a new set of information
- 10:08that will tell your action. A new set of information
- 10:11that will tell your action. See, approve what
- 10:12is good, acceptable, and a perfect will of God.
- 10:15I mean, we have been taught in this church that
- 10:17it's not like good, better, best. Like there's
- 10:20good, there's better, and then there's the best.
- 10:22It means that all, you see, the good, which is
- 10:25the acceptable, which is the perfect. Will of
- 10:27God. All is the will of God. I like the NLT.
- 10:29It says, don't copy the behavior and customs
- 10:34of this world. We have a lot of people or we
- 10:40are bombarded with a lot of information. And
- 10:44when you receive, and some of us don't even know
- 10:46the extent to which we have absorbed this information
- 10:49because we just go about our daily living assuming
- 10:52that, oh, it doesn't get to. As little as what
- 10:54people say subconsciously. Like you're not even
- 10:57paying much attention. You are receiving that
- 11:00information and you won't be surprised when it's
- 11:02time to act. You act that kind of way. He says,
- 11:05don't copy the behavior or customs of this world,
- 11:08but let God transform you into a new person by
- 11:11changing the way you think, even though it was
- 11:13it and then you will know and then it goes further
- 11:16and further on that. So what I want us to live
- 11:19with is if your lifestyle does not reflect Christ.
- 11:24Not that you're saved. That doesn't change. You
- 11:26don't lose it because you are living differently.
- 11:30If your lifestyle does not reflect, the root
- 11:34of it is your thinking doesn't reflect. Because
- 11:40your thinking, if your thinking reflects the
- 11:42character of Christ, what you think the most,
- 11:45what you give your mind to, give your attention
- 11:47to, is the Word of God. When it's time for you
- 11:51to act, you will not act any different because
- 11:55you have a set of information that tell us your
- 11:59thinking. So what this means in essence is if
- 12:03your thoughts are not guided, your actions won't
- 12:08be guided. If your thoughts are not guided, your
- 12:12actions will not be guided. We know that what
- 12:17guides our thoughts or what we should even give
- 12:21attention to is the word of God, meaning that
- 12:23when it's time for us to, or when the opportunity
- 12:26presents itself, we don't show up and then we
- 12:29start. Our actions don't just spring up from
- 12:32nowhere. They come from a place and our minds
- 12:35are where this whole thing happens in. And just
- 12:40to tie it with Philippians, remember when we're
- 12:43going through Philippians, Philippians 1, 9.
- 12:48He says, And this I pray, that your love may
- 12:54abound still more and more in knowledge and all
- 12:58discernment. 10 now says that you may approve.
- 13:0510 now says that you may approve. Go to New Kingdoms.
- 13:08It says you may understand what really matters.
- 13:12It says that you may approve. That may approve
- 13:14is the same word as we saw in Romans 12 .2. Romans
- 13:2412 .2. May prove and may approve is the same
- 13:29Greek word that we saw in Romans 12 .2. That's
- 13:33New King James. New King James. Yeah. It says
- 13:40that may approve, that you may prove. May prove
- 13:44here and may approve in Philippians 1 .10 is
- 13:50the same Greek word. Go back to Philippians 1
- 13:53.10. And the word, let me use the opportunity
- 13:59to explain. The word, the Greek word, which I've
- 14:01said is to test, to examine. and then accept
- 14:07if it's genuine is to test, to examine, and then
- 14:15accept if it's genuine. So what this means is
- 14:20that your thinking demonstrates what you value
- 14:24and accept as true or correct, or true and correct.
- 14:29So your thinking demonstrates what you value
- 14:33and accept as true and correct. So, you can dwell
- 14:42on a thought if you have not received that thought.
- 14:45If you don't agree with that thought. Most of
- 14:48us, notice I think last, on Sunday, I think I
- 14:53was speaking to someone. When somebody says something
- 14:58you don't agree with, how many of you have noticed
- 15:01that your first reaction is, you just say no?
- 15:03Some of you, by default, you just say, no, I
- 15:05don't. Your mind just says, I don't agree with
- 15:09this. You just quickly will say, I don't agree
- 15:11with it. Because your mind is the guard. You
- 15:15don't even allow it to settle because you don't
- 15:20agree with it. And when you agree with something,
- 15:23you're like, ah. And sometimes we even say, I
- 15:25just like this brother. See, this brother, we
- 15:29just, we, there's something about meaning that.
- 15:32You have thoughts, the mindset the person has
- 15:36and your mindset aligns a lot. And for many of
- 15:39us, we're in a day and age where people don't,
- 15:40if you don't, if your mindset, you just say,
- 15:43I don't, I don't just know. In fact, some people
- 15:45will say my spirit and the spirits. They go to
- 15:48spirits. They say my spirit and the spirit doesn't
- 15:50just align. I don't just know why. Every time
- 15:54he's talking A, I'm talking B. Talking C, I'm
- 15:56talking his mindset. It's just, it's just. What
- 15:59is important to him is not what is important
- 16:01to you. That's basically what it is. What you
- 16:03prioritize is not what you prioritize. And you
- 16:05always have issues because if somebody say, let's
- 16:08go up, you say, let's go down, you'll be like,
- 16:09well, why are you always going north? And then
- 16:11we're trying to go south because that's the mind.
- 16:15The same way, if a person is grounded, you will
- 16:19just naturally flow because you agree on so many
- 16:22things that scripture, and that's where we come
- 16:25together on is on scripture. Praise God. Why
- 16:29we come together on this on scripture. So it
- 16:30says, our thinking demonstrates what we value
- 16:33and what we accept. So it means that if our thoughts
- 16:35are not anchored on the word of God, we'll have
- 16:38a lot of, there'll be, I don't want to use a
- 16:44big word, but I want to say dissonance. Things
- 16:46will not align. Like you'll just be going south
- 16:48and you will not be leaving out things or leaving
- 16:51out your identity. Praise God. And then it goes
- 16:55to say, that which, Approve the things that are
- 17:00excellent. You know, he mentioned when he was
- 17:02leading us to prayer, he says, the excellent,
- 17:04I show you the excellent, we say, that which
- 17:06is excellent, that is it that are excellent.
- 17:10It's another Greek word which refers to things
- 17:12of higher priority and value. Higher priority
- 17:16and value. So you approve because you know that
- 17:19you're thinking of what you value and those things
- 17:21that you value are things of higher priority
- 17:24or things that are excellent. That's the diphero.
- 17:27So it's a D -I -D, that excellent is a Greek
- 17:31word, which is D -I -A -P -H -E -R -O. So this
- 17:38word refers to things of higher priority of value,
- 17:42things that are higher priority of value. We
- 17:45see this a lot in scripture. Our highest priority
- 17:50and value is what God values, not what the world
- 17:55values. Every now and then, the renewing of mind
- 17:59means that we are prioritizing God's values,
- 18:03not the world's value. So it means that when
- 18:07you prioritize the things of God, your actions
- 18:12will show it, right? Your actions will show it.
- 18:17When you are asked to choose between doing this
- 18:21or coming to... midweek service or coming to
- 18:25Sunday service or coming, it naturally will show
- 18:28itself because you know what is more important
- 18:31to God. God will prioritize because you can't,
- 18:37there's no way you say, okay, it will be better
- 18:39for you to be elsewhere than with his people.
- 18:43Praise God. There's no way that will be what
- 18:45he will want for you. Your mind will naturally,
- 18:49a mind that is, fixated on worldly things will
- 18:56naturally gravitate there. Because things will
- 18:59naturally find their place. You know, I was talking
- 19:02to some people, I said, as Africans, check yourself.
- 19:06When you walk into a room, the first tendency
- 19:09you have is to look for the Africans in the room
- 19:11and go to them. You don't even think too much
- 19:15about it. In fact, you do it so much that you
- 19:17say, why are you always with your... Then you're
- 19:18like, no, am I with my... Then it now brings
- 19:20it... Your attention is brought to it because
- 19:22you naturally will find them or naturally because
- 19:24you know that you will not have much difficulty
- 19:27communicating with them first and foremost. Your
- 19:30brain is not wanting to deal with the difficulty
- 19:31of... Excuse me, can you... No English. You don't
- 19:36want to deal with that or you don't want to...
- 19:38But once you... and then you are doing what doesn't
- 19:44come naturally to you because you know that it's
- 19:46important. I was discussing with someone, I said,
- 19:49if you really want to improve in a particular
- 19:51area or you want to learn a language, you can
- 19:54learn a language when you are speaking the language
- 19:56you already know. Praise God. You can learn a
- 19:59language when you're speaking a language you
- 20:00already know. You can learn a language when you're
- 20:02speaking that language that you want to learn.
- 20:05And sometimes we can say, I want to learn a language.
- 20:07You just want to, you just like the idea. of
- 20:11speaking a new language. It's not like you want
- 20:13to learn the language. You just like the idea
- 20:15of speaking a new language, but you know that
- 20:17it moves from... When you know that this thing
- 20:20is important, it moves from just liking the idea,
- 20:22but seeing yourself speaking the language and
- 20:26being motivated to do the things that are most
- 20:28uncomfortable for you, the things that you don't
- 20:30like, but you have to do it because this is the
- 20:33new nature that you have. Praise God. So it says
- 20:35we gravitate towards... So a renewed mind will
- 20:38naturally gravitate towards... The things that
- 20:40are excellent in God's eyes, not the world's
- 20:43eyes. And we see in Matthew 16, Matthew 16, 23.
- 20:49Matthew 16, 23. But he turned and said to Peter,
- 20:57get behind me, Satan. You are an offense to me,
- 21:01for you are not mindful of the things of God.
- 21:05but the things of man. You're not mindful of
- 21:07the things of God, but the things of man. Meaning
- 21:09that Peter's attention was not on the things
- 21:12that are of value to God, because what would
- 21:15be of value, what was in the conversation of
- 21:17value to God is his son, right? Remember what
- 21:20I've been talking about, and it's almost like
- 21:21Peter always finds his way in this conversation
- 21:23anytime we're talking about it, where what is
- 21:26going through his mind is something else, which
- 21:28is not bad, right? Not that the things, some
- 21:31of the things, the things that are around us
- 21:33are important. But not that when you have prior,
- 21:37you choose what is most important when you have
- 21:40several important things. Because something has
- 21:43to rank because you can't do all of them at the
- 21:45same time. There's certain things you can't do
- 21:47all at the same time. It's like you can't be
- 21:49in your house sleeping and be here. Right? Or
- 21:53you can't be in your house studying and be here
- 21:55at the same time. It means that you have to choose
- 21:57which one. And sometimes we go for the one that
- 22:00is most convenient. The weather is cold. There's
- 22:03heating in my house. Outside it's cold, like
- 22:06who, who, who, who? So that's why I applaud you
- 22:09for making the effort to do the difficult thing,
- 22:13which is find your way, get on the bus or get
- 22:15a taxi or get something, get a means by which
- 22:18you can transport yourself to this place. So
- 22:20it means that, at least for starters, you prioritize
- 22:23fellowship. You prioritize sharing the word of
- 22:27God. You prioritize. And note also, in Philippians,
- 22:33it also goes further to talk about how that it
- 22:38is. That's in the same thing. It says that you
- 22:41may be sincere and without offense. We'll just
- 22:46look at the sincere and without offense. And
- 22:49sometimes when we say somebody's sincere, we
- 22:51use the word sincere for somebody that's genuine,
- 22:55right? Somebody that's genuine. somebody that,
- 22:57and the Greek word there is somebody that's pure,
- 22:59that you have genuine motive and thought. So
- 23:03for someone's thought to be genuine means that
- 23:08there are motives of the actions, because it
- 23:10starts, remember, everything we're talking about
- 23:12starts from the thought. If I have a wrong, if
- 23:15my thought stores you evil, will my actions towards
- 23:18you be good? No. Even if I have a good, even
- 23:24if my actions towards you are good, temporarily
- 23:28is for the end goal. Because people do that.
- 23:33I think most times what comes to mind about this
- 23:36is when you have an animal that you're training
- 23:38for around the season. When you have an animal
- 23:42you're training for around the season, the animal
- 23:44will think you love them. But when it's time
- 23:49for something to die, when it's time for something
- 23:53to die, They will have to lay down their lives.
- 23:58They have to lay down their lives because people
- 24:01need to eat, right? People need to eat. So, know
- 24:03that there is always the thinking or the thought,
- 24:07I think Proverbs says it, Proverbs 23 verse 7
- 24:10says it, that for his thoughts, for he thinks,
- 24:13for as he thinks in his heart, so is he. Because
- 24:17the person's thinking will very much reflect
- 24:20in how they act. So, that's why it's the... and
- 24:23even 2 Peter. 2 Peter 3 verse 1. I want us to
- 24:27go to 2 Peter 3 verse 1. 2 Peter 3 verse 1. It
- 24:31says, Beloved, I now write to you this second
- 24:35epistle. In both of them, which I stare your
- 24:41pure minds by way of reminder. Note that he will
- 24:47not be saying, when he says pure minds, I mean,
- 24:50jeez. It's not necessary, you know, when we hear
- 24:53the word pure, I think one time, I think when
- 24:56Pastor Victor was teaching, when we say something
- 24:58is pure, we think of pure as something that is
- 25:01solely that thing. We think of pure as something
- 25:04that is solely that thing. And we can say the
- 25:06water in the bottle is pure, even though we are
- 25:09taught that it's wholesome. It's not necessarily
- 25:12pure, meaning that it has one thing. It's wholesome,
- 25:15meaning that it's drinkable. You can drink it.
- 25:17But it has more than you know. When I explained
- 25:20to students in class, I said, the water they
- 25:22think is just H2O has ions in it, has different
- 25:26ions, has different other minerals and all those
- 25:29things inside the water. So it's like a combination
- 25:32of things, but it's wholesome. We can drink it
- 25:34and not have issues. And then he says without
- 25:38offense. That without offense, many times when
- 25:41he says, I am without offense, we feel that he's
- 25:45taking offense. You know, to take offense is
- 25:49different from giving offense. You know, many
- 25:52times we have a tendency when we say without
- 25:54offense. So, I don't want trouble. I'm just on
- 25:59my own. I don't want to. We think of the offense
- 26:03there as someone, like we taking offense. But
- 26:08when he says without offense, the Greek word
- 26:10there, I'll spell it to us. The Greek word there,
- 26:13just to check and see, is A -P -R -O -S -K -O
- 26:20-P -O -S. A -P -R -O -S -K -O -P -O -S. Sounds
- 26:27like a word from where I come from. So it means
- 26:37to not cause others to stumble. It means to not
- 26:41cause others to stumble. It means to not cause
- 26:44others to stumble. It's not about you. It's about
- 26:47the other person. Praise God. It's not about
- 26:49you, but the other person. Because many times
- 26:51when we think of offense, offense, offense, offense,
- 26:53offense, it's like he offended me. I am offended.
- 26:57The church has offended me so deeply. That's
- 27:01why I don't even come to church. I missed church
- 27:05for a couple of times. Nobody checked up on me.
- 27:09How is love? How is this law of their teaching
- 27:14expressed if they did not even check up on me?
- 27:20It says, not causing others to stumble. And we
- 27:24see this in 1 Corinthians 10, the same word,
- 27:271 Corinthians 10, 32. 1 Corinthians 10, 32. It
- 27:33says, give no offense. Now it's you that is not
- 27:37giving the offense, right? It's not you, it's
- 27:39not taking offense. It's give no offense. Either
- 27:42to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church.
- 27:45So, you know, you can give, you know, it can
- 27:48be cultural. You know, one time I was in a church.
- 27:51I was in a church where on the service day, the
- 27:58brother, I know the brother speaks English. I
- 28:01know the brother speaks English. He can speak
- 28:02English very well. In fact, he has preached before
- 28:04in English. But on that particular day, he decided
- 28:06to preach in his native language. Ha! The Ghanians
- 28:10did not like it though. Me, I was excited because
- 28:13the brother was on fire. You know, when you're
- 28:15preaching in your native tongue, there's a different
- 28:17feel. For some people, there's a different feel.
- 28:20When they're preaching in their native tongue,
- 28:22there's this, and he had a translator. So now
- 28:26we had to do, he would say it, and then we'll
- 28:29hear it, he would say it in Shona, and we'll
- 28:31hear it in English. And we'll hear it from the
- 28:32translator in English. So he was doing, so the
- 28:35Ghanians were very angry. They were like, how
- 28:37can he? Me, I was like. I was taking notes with
- 28:43the one I understand. I was taking notes with
- 28:45the one I understand. But it was an issue. It
- 28:49was an issue. So they took offense because the
- 28:53brother had given, had done things in a way that
- 28:58it was like, and he was, he felt that that was
- 29:01the, because actually the good amount of the
- 29:03congregation was Zimbabwean. So he felt like
- 29:07that's the way to go from there. He says that
- 29:11you may be sincere and without offense. And know
- 29:19that in our dealings with our brothers and our
- 29:21sisters, right? We have a tendency to give. Like
- 29:27we cause the other person to stumble. We know
- 29:31that the word is to cause the other person to
- 29:32stumble or to, on other ways, to harbor harm.
- 29:38or evil in your heart towards that person. And
- 29:42they are very subtle things. I used that example
- 29:44of someone coming and what he was doing was the
- 29:49best work, what he was doing was good in his
- 29:51own sight, but the other person took an offense
- 29:54because what the actions of this person caused
- 29:56them to have that. So you want to, even when
- 29:59a situation happens, you want to still have that,
- 30:04you know, when you love someone, Right? You always
- 30:09will have, you know, the way you defend yourself
- 30:12against the action is make an excuse for them,
- 30:15right? Because we do that. And then every other
- 30:18person will be like, can't you see what the person
- 30:19did is wrong? And you're like, no, I think he's
- 30:21trying to do this. You will construct, you will
- 30:25like think of what the reasons why, you know,
- 30:27notice that I told you the reason I stood for
- 30:30why he used the language. in the course of construction.
- 30:33Because I wasn't offended because I felt like
- 30:35this guy was, I was enjoying the way he was,
- 30:38even though I wasn't hearing a good amount of
- 30:39what he was saying, not saying what he was saying,
- 30:42but I was following the one I was understanding,
- 30:44right? But I was enjoying the fact that he was
- 30:46very much energetic, he was doing, he was very
- 30:50much, I could tell the difference because I observed
- 30:53and I saw the difference. But the other person
- 30:54wasn't getting it. Because in my mind, I was
- 30:58like, he just wanted to do something different.
- 31:01And then even though... But just to enjoy the
- 31:05service, right? Just so that you'll be blessed
- 31:08from the service. Because if you... I know that
- 31:11he wasn't taking notes. The other man, he had
- 31:15every right to. But know that when you prioritize
- 31:18being blessed from a service, you will not allow
- 31:21what the other person does to not allow you to
- 31:23be blessed. Praise God. And this is... This is
- 31:27something that we need because we're dealing
- 31:29with individuals that are different from ourselves.
- 31:30Sometimes we think everybody is from our hometown.
- 31:34They understand our language. We can relate to
- 31:37them. But you always have people, you remember
- 31:40on Sunday I was telling us, people's culture
- 31:42is different from your culture. And what is normal
- 31:46in your culture is offensive. So they will take
- 31:50offense because you don't understand. That's
- 31:52why we're dealing with knowledge, right? You
- 31:55want to go out of your way to understand how
- 31:57things operate. And you want to be very careful
- 31:59not to now, because of their actions, now have
- 32:03harbor setting, like harbor evil towards the
- 32:08individual. Because if you're harboring evil
- 32:11towards that individual, you will struggle to
- 32:16express love to that person. Praise God. You
- 32:20struggle to express love to that person because
- 32:22you're harboring evil towards them. And you don't
- 32:24want to allow for the enemy to make instances
- 32:29where you will not be able to do so because you
- 32:31would be the person at that point in time to
- 32:33do that and then you deny yourself an opportunity
- 32:35of being blessed. Because when we love on someone,
- 32:38we allow the love of God to flow through us.
- 32:39We're blessed while we're at it. Praise God.
- 32:41We're blessed while we're at it and we're encouraged
- 32:43to do so. We're encouraged to do so. So I want
- 32:47to go to... Yeah, this is also very important.
- 32:53That you want to, from time to time, check yourself.
- 32:57Because sometimes we don't do it. Check yourself.
- 33:01And ask yourself, what is my touch towards this
- 33:05person? Or what is my touch towards that person?
- 33:09Like, what emotions do I feel when I think of
- 33:15the person? Because that in itself will help
- 33:17us to ask ourselves, Is it consistent with the
- 33:21word of God? Because sometimes we push it off.
- 33:24And for some of us, we do it and it piles up.
- 33:28I've never seen instances where somebody does
- 33:30something, in fact, a very practical situation.
- 33:33You know, you won't know that you are working.
- 33:37You can't determine whether you're working in
- 33:39love if everybody's saying, hi, love you, brother,
- 33:41love you, sister. You know, you can't find out.
- 33:44It's when somebody that doesn't have the fear
- 33:45of God comes around. That's how you will know
- 33:49whether you're truly working in love. The person
- 33:50does something, presses all the buttons. You
- 33:53know, somebody say, he knows how to pee. If he
- 33:56knows the button, the button should not be working.
- 34:01But he presses all the buttons. You know, when
- 34:03somebody presses all the buttons, you know, there's
- 34:06individuals that you see, they say, don't do
- 34:08this. It's that thing that they say, don't do.
- 34:11That's the one. You know, I was, so I think every
- 34:14time I talk about this, I see that there's this,
- 34:17video of a guy that they say don't touch the
- 34:19walls the guy just went like this i'm just going
- 34:21i don't do it was just going we're just going
- 34:25they said don't touch the world you guys like
- 34:26is that that's what you want to talk to just
- 34:28go go around and you'll be because you're like
- 34:32you have painted this wall now this guy is and
- 34:34probably he had oil in the hand and so something
- 34:36like that just to get you because now we will
- 34:41know what is and when you have done it and probably
- 34:46poured out everything of yours and you're done.
- 34:50You know, when you're calm, have you ever noticed
- 34:52when you're calm, that's when the Holy Spirit
- 34:54will say, see this thing you've done now. How
- 34:57has it communicated the love of God? And many
- 35:01times we don't even have to say, let him go away
- 35:04now. Say what he did was wrong. But they say,
- 35:09what you now did also did not help. The situation,
- 35:15praise God. It doesn't help the situation. So
- 35:17you want to, and even when in a church setting,
- 35:21where you interact with people, you want to also
- 35:24ensure that you're touched towards them. Remember
- 35:27we used the word pure. You're looking at a sister.
- 35:30You want to see that lady as your own sister,
- 35:32your blood sister. The things you won't do to
- 35:35your own sister, you don't want to do to that
- 35:37lady. A guy, same thing. You don't want to be...
- 35:42Remember we said, you don't want to cause an
- 35:44offense to that person. Because the moment we're
- 35:47doing that with one another, we're training ourselves
- 35:50to walk in the nature that we've received. Praise
- 35:55God. We're training ourselves to walk in the
- 35:57nature we've received. It doesn't speak well
- 35:59of you when you are just, because once you, remember
- 36:03we said, when your actions are not guarded, it
- 36:06means that your thoughts to just go, you allow
- 36:08your thoughts to go anywhere. You allow your
- 36:12thoughts to go anywhere. Praise God. And it says,
- 36:15it says, continuing that, it says, till the day
- 36:20of Christ, meaning that you have to continue
- 36:23in it, right? You have to continue. Just keep
- 36:26on it. Keep on it. You don't come to a point
- 36:28and say, I'm tired of this. You know, there's
- 36:31how you do stuff. Say, in fact, I've tried. It's
- 36:38like you're taking it and then you explode it.
- 36:43Praise God. There's no explosion. What should
- 36:46happen is that you keep pouring it out and the
- 36:50explosion is love that should be coming out because
- 36:52that's what you are full of, right? When we say
- 36:55abounding more and more in love means that the
- 37:00love should always find expression whether you
- 37:02feel like it or you don't feel like it. Praise
- 37:05God. Because what? God had done, you know, I
- 37:10think I listened to, I saw a video, I think this
- 37:15morning when, I think you shared a video and
- 37:18then I saw another video after. I was just thinking
- 37:20about it. I was like, just imagine what Christ
- 37:25had gone through. At some point in time, he got
- 37:27it, he had it up to here. And then he decided
- 37:30to just say, all of you. You know, some of you
- 37:36have thought about it. Your mind has already
- 37:37gone there. He said, in fact, you know, some
- 37:47of you are, you know, Avengers, you know, when
- 37:50he does it like this, when he does like this,
- 37:53everything, like all the, he doesn't even need
- 37:57to, he does the thought of it. Praise God. If
- 38:01I, he would say, I say I could, if my kingdom
- 38:03was of this, I would have, Ah, praise God. But
- 38:11we see an example, right? And you know, sometimes
- 38:15I've heard a song, you see, don't try me. Don't
- 38:21try me. It's Jesus. It's Jesus. You know, when
- 38:28you sing those kind of songs, you'll be further
- 38:30justified. But yeah, he's him. I am me. But remember
- 38:38we say the love is in Christ and we have the
- 38:40life of Christ, right? So it means that if they
- 38:43try you, what Jesus did is what you're going
- 38:45to do. Praise God. Praise God. And it's not a
- 38:49problem when sometimes you lose it, right? That
- 38:52just shows that you have work to do, right? That
- 38:59just shows that we have work to do because really,
- 39:02if you're dealing with... If you're here, you
- 39:05will have situations sometimes. You don't even
- 39:08need to be a parent. You don't need to be a teacher.
- 39:12You don't need to be... You know when you explain,
- 39:14you have repeated it like 10 times, and then
- 39:16the person says, excuse me, sir. When are we
- 39:20going to have the quiz? And you wrote it on,
- 39:25you published it on UZEM. You said it like five
- 39:28times in the class in the beginning. You said
- 39:30it like five times in the middle, and then you
- 39:32still... In fact, sometimes you just ask a random
- 39:34person, when is it the person tells you another
- 39:37date? And then you know you spoke English. You
- 39:44didn't use Mandarin, you didn't use French, you
- 39:45didn't use Russian. In fact, even if you use
- 39:48the language that the person understands, it's
- 39:50still going to be the same result. But you still
- 39:52choose to still do it regardless, right? Sometimes
- 39:58it really can get to that point where you're
- 40:01wondering, how will I walk or how will I do this?
- 40:04And we see it in an example of Christ because
- 40:07it says they're fruits. It means that these things
- 40:09will find expression. And there's a reward for
- 40:13it. We see it in the life of a believer. And
- 40:16I want you to see, we're not doing something
- 40:18strange. We're doing the things that are in our
- 40:21nature. Remember the passage we started with.
- 40:24It says, be imitators. of God, right? Be imitators
- 40:29of God. So, you are living out your original
- 40:33self when you act in accordance to or you replicate
- 40:38the character of your father. You're living out
- 40:41your original self. You're living out your true
- 40:44nature. You know, sometimes we think that imitations
- 40:48are fake. You know, when they say that's an imitation,
- 40:52in my country, it's from Abba. But sometimes
- 40:55those things are quality because they are made
- 40:58to suit our environment. The ones that are made
- 41:01to suit the environment will break and the ones
- 41:03that you bought, you know, sometimes you wonder
- 41:05the most expensive things might sometimes not
- 41:07be the things, depends on the manufacturing and
- 41:09the quality of what is used to make that. So
- 41:12when you're saying you're copying or you're leaving
- 41:14out, you're leaving out the character that is
- 41:17of the one whom you have received. And in 1 Corinthians
- 41:224 verse 16, 1 Corinthians 4 verse 16 says, therefore
- 41:27I urge you, imitate me. Apostle Paul speaking,
- 41:31therefore I urge you, imitate me. Therefore I
- 41:34urge you, imitate me. And in 1 Corinthians 11
- 41:37verse 1, he goes further to say, imitate me just
- 41:43as I also imitate Christ. Meaning that you're
- 41:46not directly imitating him, you are imitating
- 41:49the character of the one who he is. He's like
- 41:52a person you can see, to meet it, even if you
- 41:55don't have some model to follow. Praise God.
- 42:01And then in 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 6, it says,
- 42:13and you became followers of us. That word, that
- 42:17followers there is still the same Greek word,
- 42:19which is mimetis. followers of us that is m -i
- 42:24-m -e -t -e -s m -i -m -e -t -e -s that's the
- 42:28imitators or followers of us and of the lord
- 42:33having received the word in many affliction with
- 42:37joy of the holy spirit with joy of the holy spirit
- 42:40and we see it again and again and we see even
- 42:45in hebrews it says in hebrews 6 verse 12 In Hebrews
- 42:496 verse 12, this is speaking of Abraham. Hebrews
- 42:536 verse 12 says, that you do not become sluggish.
- 42:57That you do not become sluggish. Hebrews 6 verse
- 43:0012, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate
- 43:03those who through faith and patience inherit
- 43:06the promises. Who through faith and patience
- 43:09inherit the promise. That's speaking of, because
- 43:11in the next verse you see, Abraham's being spoken
- 43:14of. Abraham is spoken of. And I want us to go
- 43:17to, Ephesians 4 .24. Let's look at that and then
- 43:29we'll see some examples with Christ. We'll see
- 43:32some examples with Christ. 4 .24, it says, Then
- 43:35you put on the new man that was created according
- 43:37to God in true righteousness and holiness. So
- 43:42it says put on the new man, meaning that you
- 43:44are actively doing these things. You're actively
- 43:46working in it. Remember, we say the work is a
- 43:49lifestyle. You're choosing to live a certain
- 43:52kind of way. You're choosing to follow. And that
- 43:55is the walk in love. The walk in love is a consistent
- 43:59lifestyle and a behavior. It's not just, it doesn't
- 44:01just stop at doctrine. It's a consistent lifestyle
- 44:04and behavior and it's something that we do independent
- 44:07of the other person's actions. It's not dependent
- 44:11on the other person's actions. It's independent
- 44:13of the other person's actions. And we know what
- 44:15independence means, right? Meaning that if they
- 44:17do it to you, it doesn't change. And for some
- 44:20of us, I think I was reminded whilst I was preparing
- 44:25this, there was some lady that we heard that
- 44:29she doesn't have food to eat. We heard that she
- 44:33doesn't have food to eat. We went, bought foodstuff.
- 44:36We gave it to her. She said, no, she's fine.
- 44:40I said, we heard, we know, and in fact, we can
- 44:43see that she doesn't have. We gave it to her.
- 44:45She said, she's fine. I said, me? I'm giving
- 44:47you something, and I know, and I have full information.
- 44:50I said, take it and give it to anybody that you
- 44:52feel like that has missed it. And I was thinking
- 44:55to myself, I was like, what will make you see
- 44:59what you need and pass? I was, I was, I was,
- 45:07I was like, what, what is going on? We had to
- 45:12force, like, we had to force it. We had to force,
- 45:15it's like, it's like, you need this thing and
- 45:16we're forcing it down. And I was like, And it
- 45:19took a while. I think it's, it's almost like
- 45:21it took the lady a while. I think it took a while
- 45:23before she got to accept, start receiving, start,
- 45:26it was used to. And if you're using the way the
- 45:29person reacted, you will not give them again.
- 45:32Yeah, if you're using the way the person reacted,
- 45:33you will not give the person again. You'll be
- 45:35like, this person always, and the person needs
- 45:37it. So, know that when you, when you love someone,
- 45:40you will, you will, you will do what you do independent
- 45:43of how they respond to you. Because it's necessary,
- 45:47because they need it. And then if you choose,
- 45:50whether they, okay, if you say, I'll give you
- 45:52this thing, when the person just say, good morning,
- 45:54say, they not greet me well, okay, tomorrow,
- 45:56even you have suffered well enough, then I'll
- 45:59come back and you will check whether you are
- 46:02ready to receive the love I have to give to you.
- 46:07Remember what we said, that even whoever yet
- 46:09see this, it is not, we were not put together,
- 46:14even put together, there's no need for him to
- 46:16do it, right? Praise God. So it's independent.
- 46:19So it's our nature and it's not, we don't react.
- 46:23We don't like, we don't, when somebody asks them,
- 46:25we react and then we react. So we just flow with
- 46:29our nature. We flow with our nature. Don't your
- 46:31neighbor and say, I flow in my nature. I flow
- 46:34in my nature. If the person is not answering
- 46:38you, say it, shake them. I flow in my nature.
- 46:42Ask them, do you flow in your nature? See that
- 46:46nature is love. The nature is the nature of God's
- 46:50love. And it's not transactional. Tell the person
- 46:56also it's not transactional. It's not if I do
- 46:59you, if I help you today, you now help me back
- 47:03tomorrow. Because sometimes you can be very angry
- 47:06because you help the person. Remember that time.
- 47:09That time when you had nothing. You had nothing
- 47:12and I showed up for you. Now it's time for you
- 47:15to... To reciprocate. You know. That time you
- 47:20were begging me. I told you you should not bother.
- 47:22Now I'm the one begging you. Please show me love.
- 47:30Please show me love. So turn to your neighbor.
- 47:36Turn to your neighbor. And tell him it's not
- 47:38business. It's not business. We are called to
- 47:44be kind to one another. We are called to love
- 47:46one another. It's not business. So it's only
- 47:48business you do like that. You give them goods
- 47:50and services and they supply you with even money
- 47:52and they supply you with goods and services.
- 47:54Praise God. So when you're doing good, you will
- 47:57really be offended. If you are going about doing
- 48:01yourself, you say, just look at the person. You
- 48:03say, this person, if I give him like this and
- 48:05that, when is time? Will they have it to give
- 48:08me back? Say, no, no, no. Let's find somebody
- 48:09that is in more fertile ground. Because, yeah.
- 48:13There are some people that even if I keep selling,
- 48:15nothing will come out. They always don't have.
- 48:18If there's anything, they don't have. Those kind
- 48:23of persons, when I need, they will not supply.
- 48:25Praise God. So that's not how we live our lives
- 48:28as believers. We give regardless. It's unconditional.
- 48:31We don't have conditions attached to our giving.
- 48:33Right? We don't have conditions. Regardless of
- 48:36how the person responds, we don't still choose.
- 48:39We don't look at their faces and then respond
- 48:41the way they... They respond to us. Praise God.
- 48:44So I want to quickly run through, I think, I
- 48:47don't know how many we'll be able to do, examples
- 48:50in the scripture of how Christ showed compassion.
- 48:54And really, if there's anything, I want you to
- 48:56see the example of the way he moved, the way
- 49:00he, the actions that motivated, like what motivated
- 49:04his action. I want you to see that. I want you
- 49:07to see how compassion was what motivated him
- 49:11to do the things that he did. And the compassion
- 49:14there is the word, just write it down, is sp
- 49:18-l -a -g -c -h -n -i -z -o -m -a -i. If you notice,
- 49:32there are a lot of zomai, zomai. S -P -L -A -G
- 49:38-C -H -N -I -Z -O -M -A -I. So, you can try it.
- 49:47It's experimental. It means to be moved from
- 49:54one's inner depths. You know when somebody says,
- 49:59my liver, inner organs, to be moved in one's
- 50:06inner organs or depth. And it's not pity. It's
- 50:10not just pity. It's not just pity. It's not just
- 50:14pity. It's a profound empathy that leads to action.
- 50:20Because it's from the depth of the person, it
- 50:23will always result in action. It's not just words.
- 50:27It doesn't just stop at words. It will always
- 50:29result. You see... actions that align with the
- 50:33person's, with the compassion, because the word
- 50:35is compassion. And I'll just list a couple of
- 50:38things. Know that we see in scripture, Jesus'
- 50:42compassion towards the lost and the helpless.
- 50:45The first one, Jesus' compassion towards the
- 50:47lost and the helpless. And this is one theme
- 50:50that you will see again and again and again with
- 50:54regards to Jesus Christ. Just write, I'll just
- 50:56give us the scriptures. We can do that because
- 50:58we don't have much time. Let's give us the scriptures.
- 51:00Matthew 9, 35 to 36. Matthew 9, 35 to 36. Mark
- 51:086, 34. Matthew 9, 35 to 36. Mark 6, 34. So I'll
- 51:15just read to us the 35. I think 36, just 36 thereabout.
- 51:19It says, But when he saw the multitudes, he was
- 51:22moved with compassion for them, that they were
- 51:25weary and scattered like sheep with no shepherd.
- 51:29It was scattered like sheep with no shepherd.
- 51:32And in Mark 6 .34, it says, And Jesus, when he
- 51:39came out, he saw the multitude and was moved
- 51:41with compassion for them because they were like
- 51:44sheep without shepherd. So he began to teach
- 51:47them many things. Note that the solution to what,
- 51:50because when you say like sheep without shepherd,
- 51:52note that what he was looking at is the fact
- 51:54that these people lacked care, there's teaching,
- 51:57there's understanding. And then he taught. He
- 52:00taught. He sought an opportunity to teach them.
- 52:03Jesus perceived that there was a need. There
- 52:07was spiritual confusion. There was no direction.
- 52:09There was the exploitation that was happening.
- 52:11The Pharisees, the Sadducees were just exploiting
- 52:13the people because they lacked an understanding.
- 52:16And that's why if you look throughout Jesus'
- 52:18ministry, a lot of teaching was involved in it.
- 52:22A lot of teaching was involved in it because
- 52:25people needed... spiritual guidance people needed.
- 52:29And that's why when he was leaving, he told Peter,
- 52:31feed, teach. They took time. You see that that
- 52:35was very much the solution to this. So it means
- 52:39that when people are in ignorance, you should
- 52:41have compassion towards them. You're actually,
- 52:44this is not, hey, you don't know. You don't know.
- 52:47These are the basic doctrines of the foundation.
- 52:51If you're... If you're doing that, you are not
- 52:55in any way walking in the, because when Jesus
- 52:58Christ saw them, he did not say, ah, you would,
- 53:00you know, you don't understand these things.
- 53:03Okay, I'm here for you. Don't worry. I'm going
- 53:05to teach you. Know that he, there was a love
- 53:07and you see him saying, when you see that without
- 53:09shepherd, well, they are like ships without shepherd.
- 53:11He went ahead and did what was needed. And then
- 53:14going for the, from the Mark six, we'll see that
- 53:16when you read down. From that Mark 6, in the
- 53:2035, 44, you see that there's also his compassion
- 53:23towards the hungry. People that now, besides
- 53:26the spiritual, there's also the physical needs
- 53:28that they had. They were hungry and they needed
- 53:30food. And we see that he was practical. Not that
- 53:33I talked earlier about somebody that was hungry,
- 53:35that needed food. And they received the food
- 53:39because there was no way that food would come
- 53:41about. And we see that he did this when they
- 53:45fed the 5 ,000, right? In Mark 6, we see the
- 53:50feeding of the 5 ,000. And then in Mark 8, we
- 53:55see the feeding of the 4 ,000. We see the feeding
- 53:58of the 4 ,000. In Matthew 14, 13 -21, we see
- 54:05the feeding of the 4 ,000. And in Matthew 15,
- 54:1632 to 38, we see the feeding of the 4 ,000. We
- 54:19see it in both accounts. And I'll just read the
- 54:23Matthew's account. It says, Now Jesus called
- 54:25the disciples to himself and says, I have compassion.
- 54:28I have compassion on the multitude because they
- 54:30have continued with me three days and have nothing
- 54:35to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry,
- 54:39lest they faint on the way. Lest they faint on
- 54:43the way. We see Jesus' desire for them. to be
- 54:46fed physically, not just to go without feeding.
- 54:49And then I'll go to the important part or the
- 54:52one I want us to see very quickly while we close.
- 54:56Jesus' compassion for the sick and those suffering
- 54:59and those grieving. For the sick, suffering,
- 55:03and the grieving. Jesus' compassion for the sick,
- 55:05suffering, and the grieving. this was one thing
- 55:11that was very important to him because Jesus
- 55:13Christ never moved into a place and he finished
- 55:16teaching and then there were people, he will
- 55:18follow it with killing. He'll follow it with
- 55:22healing. If there's anybody that's sick, there
- 55:25will be prayers for the person and you see that,
- 55:27scripture will tell us that all that were sick
- 55:30were healed. All that were sick, they were healed.
- 55:32And we're reading a book on healing. Please read
- 55:36that book. If you read the book, you'll see there's
- 55:39a lot of things that has to do with the mind.
- 55:41There's a lot of things. There's a sense, knowledge.
- 55:44There's a sense, knowledge, and there are different
- 55:46things that will help you to understand what
- 55:49it is or what motivated or why we do things the
- 55:52way we do things. We don't walk with understanding.
- 55:54We don't look at sickness as is the will of God,
- 55:57you know. Jesus Christ, we see his action towards
- 56:01sickness. Everybody that was sick, that was within
- 56:04that perimeter was healed. Let's see Matthew
- 56:0614, 14. Matthew 14, 14. Matthew 14, 14, it says,
- 56:13and when Jesus went out, he saw the great multitude
- 56:17and he was moved with compassion for them and
- 56:20healed their sick. He was moved with compassion
- 56:23for them and healed their sick. Matthew 20, I
- 56:26will just give us Matthew 20, 29 to 34. You see
- 56:30that even the blind, he opened the eyes of the
- 56:32blind. Matthew 20, let's go to 34. Just go to
- 56:3634. Let's go to 34. It says, so Jesus had compassion
- 56:42and touched their eyes and immediately their
- 56:45eyes received sight and they followed him and
- 56:48they followed him. So we see even him healing
- 56:52those with leprosy. And I don't know whether
- 56:54you know, I think those of us that are following
- 56:56in the cell meeting teachings, there's something
- 56:59about when people are deformed, they don't, they
- 57:02will not, And they are not part of the worship.
- 57:05They're not part of the worship because they
- 57:06have defects. And that is the end goal of every
- 57:10of the healing is for people to serve God, right?
- 57:13Every of the things, because spiritual is more
- 57:15important to him, right? Even though the physical
- 57:18is, but in the order of things, we see that he's
- 57:21more moved, there's a teaching. And by the way,
- 57:23once there's teaching, all of those things will
- 57:26flow naturally. Because in the course of teaching,
- 57:29you will receive. Because you have an understanding.
- 57:31Light comes to you. Remember what I started with.
- 57:33The moment where there's light, there's clarity.
- 57:36There's no confusion. You're not mistaking somebody's
- 57:38clothes for a ghost. Praise God. Because there's
- 57:42something that happens when there's light. Understanding
- 57:45comes. You receive. And please, when you receive
- 57:48something, don't go to where it will be stolen
- 57:50from you. Or don't listen to things. Or don't
- 57:53now harbor understanding or teachings that will
- 57:56undo. You know, they have taught you to pray
- 57:59in the spirit and then you go somewhere and they
- 58:00say, I'm sure you're not communicating with spirits.
- 58:06They start telling you things. You're like, eh,
- 58:08it's true. It's true. I noticed that I used to
- 58:13hear voices when I... Then you now start using
- 58:16several other things and then you now scatter
- 58:19everything that you have. That's why you stay
- 58:21grounded and rooted. In Mark, I want us to see
- 58:28the lepers. I'll just give us the scriptures.
- 58:30Mark 1, 40 to 42. Mark 1, 40 to 42. We see, then
- 58:37Jesus moved with compassion. That is, then Jesus
- 58:40moved with compassion. Yeah. Two, yeah. Yeah.
- 58:43Then Jesus moved with compassion, stretched out
- 58:46his hand and touched him and said to him, I'm
- 58:49willing be cleansed. I'm willing be cleansed.
- 58:51Then the... Other one which is grieving is the
- 58:54woman that lost her son and she was weeping.
- 58:59Luke 7, that's for grieving. Luke 7, 11 to 15.
- 59:04The widow of name. 11 to 15. Just take us to
- 59:1013. Let's just go to 13. It says, when the Lord
- 59:14saw her, he had compassion on her and said to
- 59:18her, do not weep. Do not weep. And we're reminded
- 59:22of Lazarus' situation where he wept and then
- 59:25he called him forth. So note that Jesus Christ,
- 59:29every of his action was motivated by love for
- 59:33the individual and compassion that led to action
- 59:36on that particular situation. So one very important
- 59:40thing, and we have parables too that also communicates
- 59:42that, where we see the... Samaritan, where he
- 59:44calls us to do likewise, to go out of our way
- 59:46to show compassion to others. He gave an example
- 59:49with the Levi and all of those people, and then
- 59:51there was a Samaritan. He made the Samaritan
- 59:53a hero in that particular story to just communicate
- 59:56the fact that we go out of our way. Compassion
- 59:58is what led him to stop. He had where he was
- 1:00:00going to, but he stopped. And in some of us,
- 1:00:02we have things that, you know, the money that
- 1:00:05you have in your pocket, you can use it to do
- 1:00:08many things. But there's something about when
- 1:00:11you... You're concerned that this person hasn't
- 1:00:15had something to eat. You know, you can see the
- 1:00:17person. And even though I will tell us that there
- 1:00:20are individuals that will lie to you, right?
- 1:00:23The individuals that we have had instances where
- 1:00:25people will come and they will lie. We know that
- 1:00:28they are lying. We know. We know that they are
- 1:00:32lying. When the person comes, we assess it. We
- 1:00:35know that this person is lying, but we'll just
- 1:00:38do what we can. Praise God. We'll do what we
- 1:00:42can anyways. And for some people, they will just
- 1:00:44call. I was talking to them. You call and then
- 1:00:46you will get the same results every time because
- 1:00:50you're doing things the way you want to do it.
- 1:00:53And know that some people use the opportunity
- 1:00:55of, oh, you're supposed to PR this. There are
- 1:00:59certain things that you will... You know, in
- 1:01:04love, there's correction. And many in this day
- 1:01:08and age, people, when you correct them, they
- 1:01:10feel like, no, there's no love in this place.
- 1:01:11So I had a situation where I was speaking to
- 1:01:15someone. She used to come to church and we had
- 1:01:17talked and we had encouraged her. And then I
- 1:01:20said, we love you. You know when somebody doesn't
- 1:01:23know when they roll their eyes? Because they
- 1:01:26feel like you're not feeling the love and you're
- 1:01:28telling them that you love them. How can you
- 1:01:30say that is love? And for many people, they have
- 1:01:33a wrong understanding of it that when somebody
- 1:01:35is giving them, they can't comprehend it. And
- 1:01:39what happens is that time will tell. Time is
- 1:01:42going to tell because as I said when I was speaking,
- 1:01:45the same person that blocked you because you
- 1:01:47were trying to correct them or tell them or help
- 1:01:50them are the people that when they have sorted
- 1:01:53all the, they have looked for it and they say,
- 1:01:56ah, these people really had loved me. You know,
- 1:01:58there's something that happens when you have
- 1:01:59hit, hit, hit, hit and then you now see, ah,
- 1:02:01there's no other way. You'll come back to base.
- 1:02:05Praise God. So I want us to just open our mouths
- 1:02:07and just thank God. And please, I will close
- 1:02:14with what I started. Following with all that
- 1:02:20has been said, in the course of the week, you
- 1:02:23will have people's names come to your mind. You
- 1:02:26have thoughts of people. Sometimes you just have
- 1:02:29them come again and again. Don't ignore it. Pray
- 1:02:32for that person. Pray for that person. Try to
- 1:02:36reach out to that person. That's another thing.
- 1:02:38One thing is praying for the person. Another
- 1:02:39thing is reaching out to the person. It goes
- 1:02:41a long way in causing the power of God to flow
- 1:02:45through. You will just have a random conversation,
- 1:02:47but because God had brought it to your attention
- 1:02:50for a reason, you will see that reason. I want
- 1:02:53you to open your mouth and just thank God for
- 1:02:55the fact that His love has been poured out. His
- 1:03:02love has been poured out. into our hearts by
- 1:03:04His Spirit, and we walk in that love. We appreciate
- 1:03:10you being here today. We hope you carry this
- 1:03:13word with you throughout your week. Don't forget
- 1:03:16to check the show notes for additional insights.
- 1:03:19Stay connected with us through our website or
- 1:03:21follow us on social media. If you are encouraged,
- 1:03:25share this message with someone you care about.
- 1:03:28Until next time, stay blessed.