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Standing Fast in the Faith (part 5) · Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons

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Welcome to NECF sermons. Each message here is
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designed to uplift and strengthen you in your
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walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until
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the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive
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right in. And we're welcome to church. We're
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welcome to church. It's always a blessing to
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have us around and we are going to continue.
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with the teaching that we have been on which
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is standing fast on the faith and the scripture
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is first corinthians 16 13 i'll read it to us
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again first corinthians 16 13 from new king james
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version it says watch stand fast in faith be
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brave be strong watch stand fast in faith be
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brave be strong this is supposed to pose words
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to the church and current in the church and current
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And this word is very relevant to us. This word
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is timeless, this word is very relevant to us
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today and always. And in the series we started
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to teach, I think I started with that whole paying
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attention, being aware, being conscious, paying
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attention to God's word, paying attention to
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the disciplines. And we talked about learning
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and how learning is important for our group.
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If you don't learn, grow and in this kingdom
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learning is very important learning is a priority
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and then it has to be a priority to you if you
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want to grow and apostle paul says watch watch
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watch watch and then he continues by saying stand
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fast in the faith so what i want us to what i
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want us to see is that apostle paul here makes
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use of military terms and it's no surprise to
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us that he will use that on the basis of his
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surroundings, right? He's surrounded by military
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personnel and it's a very interesting situation.
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It just communicates to us that we can learn
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from what is around us. We can learn some form
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of learning that happens when you look around
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you, when you observe. Some of us don't take
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time to observe our environment. Some of us don't
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take time to understand what is going on. On
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Wednesday, We're encouraged by our lead pastor
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from the world from i think that was second corinthians
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13 Five examine yourself There's an examination
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that you have to do. There's an examination you
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have to do of yourself There's an examination
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you do of your surrounding. There's an examination
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you have to do of what is going on. Praise god
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and apostle paul Is someone that you will see
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He talks he's very much around the prison or
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very much around situations where he's around
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soldiers, right? is around soldiers and and he
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he looks at the way the soldiers behave and that
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word watch is the military term that word which
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is a military term and the Greek word means to
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be a lot to be awake to be vigilant and when
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i say awake this is not the time that you want
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to sleep praise god to be a lot and and he sees
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that in the way the soldiers take They are always
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alert. They're always alert. And I want us to
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see a couple of instances, because what has happened
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is that he's either guarded by the soldiers,
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or being escorted by the soldiers, or even rescued
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by the soldiers, or even he travels along with
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them. And in all of these encounters with them,
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he's observing certain things. And in fact, the
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four different phrases he uses here are military.
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very military term and I want us to see it and
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some of us in I think even here on the island
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you know the you know the kingdom is a kingdom
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right and with kingdom there are terms and terminologies
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you know we have to learn to understand that
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people outside don't understand the language
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here you know you will do things like general
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we we we call men we call them generals we in
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fact on this island you use Invasion. You use
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different things that are military terms and
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terminologies that are not literal, right? Because
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they're not physical or literal in that sense.
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And Apostle Paul uses the different military
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terms and he says like a good soldier. In Timothy,
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he says like a good soldier. He uses all of that
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because he picks that. In Ephesians, you see
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him talking about the armor. Praise God. Talking
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about an armor. And he gets that whole inspiration,
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he communicates what he's communicating through
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the lens of what he sees, through the lens of
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the observation from around himself. And we see
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in Acts, in Acts 27, when does it go to Acts
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27? Acts 27 verse one, we see that it says, and
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when, It was decided that we should sail to Italy.
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They delivered Paul and some other prisoners
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to one named Julius, a centurion of the Augustan
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Regiment. That is a soldier here. That's the
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centurion Julius. We see him being delivered
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and they were traveling along and you can get
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a sense of his looking at the soldier, observing
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the soldier. Even in Acts 16, we see him being
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guarded. we see the story of him and Silas in
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the prison being guarded by a soldier that ended
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up getting saved we talked about this in the
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previous teaching and then even in Philippians
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1 verse 13 we get a sense of in Philippians 1
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13 let's go to Philippians 1 13 we'll see another
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instance where we will see him it says so it
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became evident to the whole palace guard and
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to all the rest that my chains are in Christ.
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That my chains are in Christ. So it means that
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he will have encounter with the palace guards,
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and he will be able to draw some form of inspiration.
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There are instances, even in Acts 21, where the
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mob was coming at him. He was rescued by the
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mob. Acts 21, 35. He was rescued by the mob.
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Acts 23, 24. We see a situation where he was
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escorted when he got an information that he was
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going to be killed. He was escorted. So he has
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so many encounters or so many interactions with
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soldiers. And he, even in the one that we just
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looked at in Philippians 1 .13, we understand
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that these soldiers were keeping watch over him.
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They were keeping watch over him. They were looking
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at him and he had the opportunity to preach the
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gospel to them since there was no other thing
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to do. They are coming around. He had a free
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opportunity to preach to them. Praise God. And
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he says watch. And a soldier, I think the last
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time I was speaking I talked about a security
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guard. The role of a security guard is to keep
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watch. A security guard sleeping on duty will
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mean that a lot of things can go wrong. Will
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mean that certain things will happen in their
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sleep or happen without their watch. And we say
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that that word speaks about being alert, speaks
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about being awake, speaks about being vigilant.
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And vigilant in one sense. So what is the danger?
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Because you have to if there would have to be
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a danger for you to be alert, right? If there
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is nothing, you sleep peacefully, right? And
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for some of us, we have a, we're in a place where
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it is secure. We don't sleep locking and, you
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know, but locking and locking things to keep,
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to ensure that nobody comes in and then you're
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safe inside. Praise God. And then the point is,
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for him to make this statement, it means that
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there's a reason why you're watching. There's
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a danger you're trying to avoid. There's a danger
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you're trying to protect. And he says, the next
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phrase is, stand fast in the faith. And it means
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that that is a way that you can be able to watch.
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That is the way that you can be able to watch.
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Stand fast in the faith. And we have been learning
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and we're being taught that anywhere we see the
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word faith, you don't jump into conclusions.
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You want to look at the context and understand
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what that faith will be speaking of what the
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faith is and we've learned that faith first and
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foremost is what can be speaking of what salvation
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right faith can be speaking of salvation it means
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the means by which a person is saved that can
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be what it will be talking about when you have
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to read it in context and we see in Ephesians
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2 verse 8 it says for by grace we have been saved
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through faith so that faith there will not be
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speaking of that's faith they will be speaking
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of salvation being saved same or similar in Galatians
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3 26 where it says, for you are all sons of God
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through faith in Christ Jesus. The faith there
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will be speaking or the faith there will be,
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that's Galatians 3 verse 26, that faith there
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will be speaking of salvation, that's an individual
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being saved. And then faith can also be speaking
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of doctrine or teaching. We have been taught
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that. I'm just recapping so that we will see
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what is implied in this particular text when
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you see stand fast and faith. Is it doctrine
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or teaching? And that will be the content of
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what is believed. And the faith will mean a body
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of doctrine. And we see that in the passage that
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we're asked to read in Jude 3. We'll see an example
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in Jude 3 where there's an instruction to contend
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endlessly for the faith. You can be contending
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for something that you have already received.
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So you can be contented for salvation. Salvation
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has already been contented for and received.
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The victory has been won. The contenting there
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is for the doctrine and the teaching, the doctrine
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or the teaching that you have been taught. Praise
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God. The doctrine or the teaching you have been
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taught. And we'll see that again. And there's
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also the thought bit, which is the response of
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a believer, right? The thought bit is the response
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of a believer. And that response will be that
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of trust. to God's command or trust to God's
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instruction or trust to God's promise in the
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case of Abraham and in Romans 10 verse 8 Romans
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10 verse 8 it says but what does it say the word
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is near you in your mouth and in your heart that
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is the word of faith which we preach means that
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he has received it and the response to it is
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preaching right is the word of God or the word
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of faith that is being preached that faith there
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will not be that faith there will not be it's
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the response that faith will be an action or
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response to what god has done and then the last
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bit is the believers conduct the believers conduct
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faith will be expressed in how a believer conducts
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himself and sometimes in some passages we'll
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see in galatians five or six i will want to read
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from the nlt galatians five verse 6 because he
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words it Galatians 5 verse 6. So it says, it
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says for we have our faith in Christ There is
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no benefit of being circumcised or being uncircumcised.
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What is important? What is important is faith
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expressing itself in law. Praise God. What is
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important is faith Expressing itself in law meaning
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that it's not just I have faith. There's an expression
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of that faith. Praise God There's an expression
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of that faith in how the believer conducts themselves,
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and it's very important. So it means that when
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we see faith, we want to look at the context
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and understand what does that mean. Will it be
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speaking of salvation? Will it be speaking of
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doctrine or teaching? Will it be speaking of
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the believer's response or will it be speaking
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of the believer's conduct? And in our passage,
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in our passage, we'll see it because it says,
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Stand fast in faith. Stand fast in faith, very
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kind of similar to the part where you're contending,
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right? Stand fast in faith, contend, and we'll
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see that that is what has been said. When we
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go back to the 1 Corinthians 15, not the 16 now,
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1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15, it says,
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moreover, brethren, I declare to you, the gospel
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which I preach to you which also you received
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and in which you stand praise God in which you
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stand means that they are standing on something
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right they're standing on the gospel which they
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have received right the gospel which says I preach
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to you and which you have received says and you
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see the instruction is to stand in it The instruction
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is to stand in it. And when we go down in the
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passage, you'll see more reasons why the instruction
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to stand in it, because there is an eminent danger.
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Praise God. There's an eminent danger, and it
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requires us to be alert. Because if you're not
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alert, if you're not awake, if you're not vigilant,
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you will have other things coming. Praise God.
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You have other things coming. And know that He's
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not asking them to stand fast in the salvation,
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right? is asking them to stand fast in the doctrine
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that they have received. Praise God. Going back
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to Jude 1 verse 3, in the four, just the four
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part, it says, for certain men have creeped in
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on notice. Praise God. The four. The first line
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of the four. It says, for certain men have creeped
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in on notice. And we understand that if you are
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not alert, some things will Some group of people
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will enter, some people will creep in. You see
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for certain men have creeped in on notice. Remember
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we said that contending there is contending for
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the doctrine because some people will creep in
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and teach you something else or creep in and
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communicate something else other than the truth.
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Praise God. Something else other than the truth
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and that's why it's important for us to realize
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there's a danger when you don't even know what
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the truth is. Right? There's a danger when you're
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not learning. There's a danger when you're not
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growing, you'll be very, you'll not have any
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immunity against a lie. Praise God, you'll not
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have any immunity against a lie. And what we'll
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see is the first danger, which is he's warning
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against false doctrine. He's warning against
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false doctrine. And we'll see a couple of reasons
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why he's warning, he's passing that warning.
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We'll see, we'll delve into it even. more. It's
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one and against false doctrine. But first and
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foremost, we want to understand what doctrine
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is. What is sound doctrine? What is sound doctrine?
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What is the word doctrine or teaching? We'll
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see that a lot in the New Testament. We'll see
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that a lot in the Gospels. We'll see that a lot
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in the Epistles. We'll see that a lot. And when
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you see that word in your Bible in English, that
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word can mean or Yeah, can be different, can
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be three different words in the Greek. It can
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be three different words in the Greek. That's
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why we go to the Greek, not because we want to,
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but going to the Greek will help us establish
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or clarify what the word is. The same way you
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have the word faith, and we say the faith is
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pistes. It's a Greek word, pistes, but it can
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mean different things. But this one is one word
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that can be any of these three. The first...
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The first word we will be looking at is dida,
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he. D -I -D -A -C -H -E. D -I -D -A -C -H -E.
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And this will be speaking of the context of the
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teaching or what is being taught. Or the truth
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that is being passed down. The content of the
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teaching or what is being taught. or the truth
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that is being passed down. And this Greek word
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appears 30 times in 29 verses. It appears 30
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times in 29 verses. It appears 30 times in 29
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verses in the New King James Version. And I will
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just go through some of the instances. I will
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review myself again. It speaks about the content
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of a teaching. what is being taught or the truth
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being passed down or the truth being passed down
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and and we'll see a couple of times or we'll
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see most of it in the gospels we'll see a good
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amount of it in the gospels we'll see instances
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where it describes the content of jesus's message
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it describes the content of jesus's message and
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and you will see instances where the listeners
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were amazed because of the authority by which
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Jesus spoke. The listeners were amazed because
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of the authority by which Jesus spoke. That is,
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there was something, there's a truth that was
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being passed down that results in them being
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amazed. Praise God. And we'll see the first in
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Matthew 7 verse 28. Matthew 7 verse 28. Matthew
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7 verse 28, it says, And so it was when Jesus
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had ended the saints. that the people were astonished
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at his teaching. That teaching there is the word
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didahé. That teaching there is the word didahé,
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it's pronounced that way. And it means the truth
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has been passed down, what was being taught.
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They were astonished at that teaching. And also
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in Matthew 22, 33, Matthew 22, 33, we'll come
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back to this passage and see, we'll come back
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to this passage again. He says, and when the
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multitude heard this, they were astonished at
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his teaching. We see them being astonished at
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the teaching. And then Mark 1, 22, and then 27.
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Mark 1, 22, and 27. He says, and they were astonished
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at his teaching, for he taught them as one having
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authority and not as the scribes. 27, he says,
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then they were all amazed so that they questioned
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amongst themselves saying what is this what new
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doctrine is this for with authority he commands
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even the unclean spirit and they obey him with
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authority commands the unclean spirits and they
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obey him and then we look at look 432 look 432
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says and they were astonished as his teaching
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for his word was with authority who has done
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it as his teaching, for his word was with authority."
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And then lastly, let's look at John 7 16. John
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7 16. It says, Jesus answered them and said,
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my doctrine is not mine, but his who sent me.
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My doctrine is not mine, but his who sent me.
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And we see that he, There was something about
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the content or something about what he taught
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and communicated that amazed or captivated or
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astonished The congregation who was all the people
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he was speaking on people that were listening
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to him praise God was something about the content
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things he taught and Note that it was truth Right?
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Not that it was truth. The way the truth was
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communicating, praise God. It was truth it was
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communicating. And we'll also see in Acts of
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Apostles, we'll see where the early church devoted
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themselves in Acts 2 .42. Let's resize the Gospels
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now. We'll see an instant where the apostles
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themselves. It says, and they continued steadfastly
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in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, in the
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breaking of bread and in prayers. And we know
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that the apostles doctrine, as we understand,
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we know that the doctrine that it was what was
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handed to them, right, is a doctrine of Christ
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that was what they communicate, that what they
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were teaching, what they were teaching was a
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doctrine of, and we see that in the NLT we refer
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to it as teaching. In the New King James we say
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this doctrine. So that word, you can see it interchangeably,
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doctrine, teaching, and so on. And then we'll
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now see false teaching. We'll now see false teaching,
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and we'll see that in Revelation 14 -15. It says,
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but I have a few words against you, because you
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have there those who hold the doctrine of Balak
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who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before
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the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed
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to idols and to commit sexual immorality and
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we see we can see all of this in Numbers 22 to
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25 and then 31 this is toss you also have those
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who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans which
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thing I hate, which thing I hate. So we see two
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doctrines here, and we know that these doctrines
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are not of Christ, right? We see these two doctrines,
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and it says the doctrine of Balam, and it clarifies
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what the doctrine was, right? Means that there
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was a teaching, right? And it says, who taught
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Balak to put a stumbling block before the children
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of Israel? So there's a, somebody would have
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had, somebody had to do it, right? And we know
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that the story was that Balak, Balam was summoned
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to cause them and he had a hard time doing that,
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right? And then he had to now, since he couldn't
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do it, he had to now give, he had to teach Balak
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on what he will do that will result in what he
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desired, praise God. And we see that this was
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the, when we were reading numbers, we read and
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then all of a sudden, it changed and then in
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31 numbers 31 that's when we see who was responsible
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for what had happened because something had happened
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and then you're wondering what had happened and
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when you read further in that numbers 31 16 you
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will see that it says in number 31 16 says look
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those women caused the children of israel through
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the council of balam to trespass against the
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lord and incident of paul and there was a plague
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among the congregation the Lord there was a plague
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among the congregation of the Lord and we see
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that is Balam's own and we can clarify what Balam's
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own is and we see that there are doctrines so
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we'll have false doctrines that are not the doctrine
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of Christ and you want to be able to be alert
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right you want to be on the watch you want to
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be vigilant so that you can be able to and if
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you know what the doctrine of Christ is when
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you see something foreign you can be able to
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spot it right you can be able to spot it you
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come be able to say this is not of the Lord and
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if there is anything we'll see how God still
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and in that same revelation 2 verse 6 you see
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that that doctrine you see that the doctrine
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will result in actions means that the deeds of
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these people is what they taught and remember
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I was saying something about just looking at
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the way people behave around you you can learn
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and that's why you want to be careful of what
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you surround you or who you surround yourself
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with Because if you surround yourself with the
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same subconsciously, you are picking on things,
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you are seeing things that your brain is not
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necessarily processed. You don't even understand
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it, but you would find yourself acting along
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that lines. Asides the fact that somebody teaches
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you is the unconscious learning that happens
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when you watch. Certain things happen and for
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many of us, we grew up in environments and certain
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things are norm, but they are not, they are norm
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in those environments, but they're not the normal.
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Praise God and that is why teaching learning
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is very important learning and teaching is very
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important because you get to you get to Break
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away from what you have always known as normal
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to what really is truth. Praise God You get to
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break away from it and in this day and age we
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have many false doctrines available You don't
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you just need to be alive to be able to to see
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And in fact, you think that it's not over, new
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ones are being cooked. Praise God, and it's not
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new in a sense because it's still old stuff because
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you just bring it back and then it trends again
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and then we see. So the main thing that Apostle
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Paul will be communicating or is communicating
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to the church in current is to be alert, to watch,
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to be vigilant. And the worst form, and I know
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that all of these things are all inspired. Yes,
26:16
they can call it the doctrine of Balaam, the
26:18
doctrine of the Likudai, but we know where the
26:20
source is. We know the source or the origin of
26:24
it. The source of the origin of it is from the
26:27
devil. And in 2 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 4
26:30
verse 1, this will lead us to the other news.
26:37
It says, now the Spirit especially says that
26:41
in the later times, some will depart from the
26:45
faith giving heed to deceiving spirit and doctrines
26:50
of demons and doctrine of demons the doctrine
26:54
there is the second use of the word that is didascalia
26:58
that's the second use that's didascalia i want
27:01
you to write the second one now which is d i
27:04
d a s k a l i a d i d a s k And this is the activity
27:18
of teaching or learning. It's a process of instruction.
27:23
It's all a process of instruction. This activity
27:25
of teaching or learning is a process of instruction.
27:32
And it can sometimes, because it's a process,
27:34
so it can sometimes be used for the first one,
27:37
which is didahe. because sometimes we use for
27:42
it. And you know, teaching is a, learning is
27:48
a process, right? Teaching is a process of being
27:52
instructed, and the first time you don't get
27:55
it, the second time you hear it again, it makes
27:58
sense, it doesn't make sense, but it's continuous,
28:01
it has to be continuous for it to be effective.
28:03
It has to be continuous for there to be good.
28:07
And then let me go back a bit. Most dangerous
28:11
forms of errors are the ones that are laced.
28:15
They are subtle distortions. They don't come
28:20
in. Most of us are trained to see error because
28:25
we have seen and we know, okay, this is bad,
28:29
this is good. But the worst forms of errors are
28:33
the ones that come in with a bit of truth laced
28:37
with the error on the inside. when something
28:39
is sugar coated or when something is coated with
28:42
something that is nice but inside it you have
28:45
the error right in and you have to taste of it
28:48
to be able to know or to and when you taste of
28:51
it it's already in except if you're a lot enough
28:53
to spit it out praise god and it's very subtle
28:57
distortions from sound what is what is sound
29:00
just subtle distortions that happens and that
29:03
is why the process that's why we commit to a
29:05
process praise god that's why we commit to a
29:08
process and we don't even we we do we do we do
29:11
the learning with others praise god we do the
29:13
learning with others we have and as a church
29:16
we have different times where we are engaged
29:18
in learning so that we get used to the process
29:20
of hearing and hearing and hearing and hearing
29:24
again because we forget because we have a tendency
29:27
to forget and an apostle paul uses this one a
29:31
lot he uses this particular one a lot. This didaskalia,
29:36
he uses it a lot. He uses it out of the 21 times
29:39
where it appears, he uses it 19 times. He uses
29:43
it 19 times, out of the 21 times. I just want
29:45
to help us see something. He uses it 19 times
29:49
out of the 21 times it appears and it's no surprise
29:53
because he emphasizes on sound doctrine and you
29:57
don't get sound doctrine from just a session
30:02
of teaching. You can get it, but it doesn't sink
30:05
in. It requires coming into it again, and even
30:10
in the passage that we're looking at, it highlights
30:13
the need for vigilance, discernment in teaching,
30:16
and also what leadership you're under. Because
30:19
if you're under a leadership where you are not
30:22
taught again and again what is true, what is
30:28
true, you are seeing error as normal. And we
30:35
remember we say that it will just result in erroneous
30:39
actions, praise God. It will result in actions
30:41
that are erroneous. And I want us to see this
30:45
because it's very much dependent on the leadership.
30:48
1 Timothy 5 .17, it says, let elders who rule
30:54
well be counted worthy of double honor, especially
30:57
those who label in the word and doctrine, that
31:01
doctrine there. is didascalia so label in the
31:04
word and doctrine and then in second Timothy
31:07
4 2 to 5 it says preach the word for second Timothy
31:12
4 2 to 5 it's a preach the word be ready in season
31:15
and out of season convince rebuke exalt with
31:19
all long suffering and teaching note that the
31:22
teaching here the teaching here is didache it's
31:25
not the didascalia it says in all the teaching
31:30
for a time will come when they will not endure
31:35
sound doctrine, when they will not endure sound
31:38
doctrine. That doctrine there, at the sound doctrine
31:42
together is Yizaskalya. But according to their
31:46
own desires, because of their itching ears, they
31:49
will heap up for themselves teachers, meaning
31:52
that if you are someone that want to hear what
31:55
you want to hear, other than what you need to
31:58
hear, You will find a way or you'll gravitate
32:01
towards those that will tell you what you want
32:03
to hear and you will not grow. You will just
32:05
be, you will just be pacified with something
32:08
that is erroneous. You'll just be, it's going
32:12
to be convenient, but it will not be fruitful.
32:15
It will be convenient, but it will not be fruitful.
32:17
It says, verse four says, and they will turn
32:21
their ears away from the truth. Meaning that
32:24
you have to desire, you have to want to listen
32:27
to and because that action itself means that
32:30
you will not be listening to any other thing
32:31
other than what you want to hear and be turned
32:35
asides to fables five now says but be but you
32:40
be watchful in all things praise god but you
32:44
be watchful in all things remember that whole
32:47
idea of being a lapse be watchful in all things
32:50
endure afflictions do the work of an evangelist
32:55
Fulfill your ministry. It says endure afflictions,
32:59
you know, sometimes I you know in church, right
33:03
That is nowhere the soundness of what you have
33:07
received will be challenged, you know, you know
33:09
when you're in church Nobody is going to ask
33:11
you. What do you believe? It can happen sometimes
33:14
right just to check but when you go outside that
33:18
is when you will be able to that that's when
33:20
it will be exercise right as when you have to
33:23
Be sure of what exactly it is that you believe
33:25
in. And for many of us, we don't, we learn and
33:30
forget that there's going to be exams. Right?
33:33
We learn and we forget that it's going to be
33:35
that time where what you think you know will
33:37
be put to a test. Or you're surprised when you
33:41
have an exam. But like I told you, we're just
33:44
meant to just do it. Praise God. It says, do
33:50
the work and And difficult, like if you're, learning
33:56
is not a enjoyable process, I don't know. If
33:59
you are in that place where you are learning,
34:01
it's not fun. It's difficult, it's hard. Sometimes
34:08
you have to, you will not believe the things
34:12
you do because you really want to learn. The
34:16
lens you will go. because you really want to
34:17
learn. And sometimes you are in a school situation
34:20
where you are taking courses that you don't necessarily,
34:22
you're not the one that chose the courses. The
34:24
curriculum was set already before you came. You
34:27
can now sit down and be discussing with your
34:29
advisor. Can we remove this? I don't like this.
34:32
You can only do that with courses that are electives,
34:34
right? You can select that one because they are
34:37
electives. They are core courses that you have
34:40
no choice. It's handed to you. Praise God. And
34:45
so is the saying that things that you are handed
34:48
and there are learnings that you have to do whether
34:51
you like it or not because those are the things
34:54
that will help you succeed in the work and he
34:57
says do the work of an evangelist means that
35:01
that work that work has to be done and the way
35:05
you can do it is when you are watching in all
35:09
things when you are able to endure because it's
35:12
how you can feel down that the work will suffer
35:15
praise god is how you can be down and then the
35:18
work will not make any progress in the work.
35:22
And we don't allow the things that we go through
35:26
affect the work, praise God. The things that
35:29
we're experiencing shouldn't affect the work
35:31
because the work is priority, praise God. Romans
35:35
15, four. Romans 15, four, it says, for whatever
35:40
things were written before were written for our
35:44
learning. that we, through the patience and comfort
35:48
of the scripture, may have hope. It says, we're
35:51
written through patience and comfort. Patience
35:54
and comfort, they say, that we, through patience
35:59
and comfort of the scripture, may have hope.
36:03
And I think, let me just talk about the word
36:05
patience. Patience, you know, Lenin, you know,
36:13
A whole four years to arrive at a destination
36:16
doesn't look like, is a lot of time. But if you're
36:20
not patient, you will not see that finish line
36:23
for any journey at all. Means that the learning
36:26
will take time, but you have to be patient with
36:29
it. You have to trust that you will get there.
36:32
And even for us, the learning doesn't end, praise
36:35
God. The learning doesn't end, it continues.
36:38
And you will need to be comforted all through.
36:41
Praise God. You need to be comforted all through.
36:44
And there's hope, there's great hope, there's
36:47
great encouragement that comes when we do the
36:49
work. And you know, all of this will not be beautiful.
36:52
All of this, what makes all of this beautiful
36:54
is that you're not doing it alone. You're doing
36:57
it with others. And when you're down, and when
37:00
you're down, you have somebody that will be there
37:04
for you. And we're not doing the work of God
37:07
in isolation. We're doing the work of God together.
37:10
and that should encourage us that should stir
37:12
us up and that should help us the word the word
37:16
the word is learning like the word the didascale
37:20
here in this passage is is learning that our
37:24
learning and i told us that the word can be teaching
37:27
there's also learning for didascale too there's
37:30
another word that that comes in then the third
37:33
one or the last one is hetero didascale is H
37:39
-E -T -E -R -O -D -I -D -A -S -K -A -L -E -O.
37:49
Hetero and then the Dascaleo. H -E -T -E -O -T
37:56
-E -R -O, sorry, D -I -D -A -S -K -A -L -E -O.
38:03
And this is to teach something other than what
38:08
is correct. This is to teach something other
38:10
than what is correct. The hetero there, if you're
38:14
familiar, it means different, contrary, or other.
38:18
And then you will notice that it's similar to
38:21
the Daskalia, which is to teach. So it means
38:24
that you are teaching something that is other
38:27
than what is correct. You're teaching something
38:29
that is other than what is going to be, that's
38:31
contrary to the truth. And this one appears just
38:36
twice. This one appears just twice and you can
38:39
guess who would have used it is Apostle Paul.
38:45
So on the two occasions where this appears is
38:49
Apostle Paul. Remember we said he's very big
38:52
on the soundness of the teaching, the soundness
38:56
of when he had written a good amount of the epistles.
38:59
So it appears in 1 Timothy 1 .3 and 1 Timothy
39:04
6 .3. 1 Timothy 1 .3 and 1 Timothy 6 .3. 1 .3
39:10
and 6 .3 of 1 Timothy says, as I told you, when
39:16
I went to Macedonia, remain in Ephesus that you
39:21
may charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
39:26
that they teach no other doctrine is the word
39:30
hetero didascale, that they teach no other. doctrine.
39:36
Then 1 Timothy 1 .6, it says, if anyone teaches
39:40
otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words,
39:46
even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
39:49
to the doctrine which accords with godliness.
39:54
The doctrine there is the Dyskalia, the teach
39:57
otherwise is the hetero -dyskalia. So we see
40:02
that there's continuous warnings against false
40:05
doctrines that are taught by false teachers.
40:08
Praise God. These false doctrines don't just
40:10
appear. The false doctrines are taught by false
40:13
teachers and they are contrary to the doctrine
40:16
of Christ. They are contrary to the doctrine
40:19
of Christ. And I want us to see, even Peter highlights
40:23
the same thing. Apostle Peter highlights the
40:26
same thing in, he gives a whole chapter. A whole
40:31
chapter to tell you how possible does the same
40:33
thing. But Peter gives a whole chapter. That's
40:35
2 Peter 2 verse 1 downwards, but we'll just look
40:38
at verse 1. 2 Peter 2 verse 1, it says, but there
40:43
were also false prophets. There were also false
40:48
prophets as the teachers that are running the
40:50
false doctrine, false prophets. Yeah, it's pseudo.
40:54
You see the word pseudo. Pseudo means false.
40:56
Even in English language, when you use pseudo,
40:59
it's very much adopted. When you use anything
41:02
pseudo, it just means false, anything false.
41:05
So they are false prophets amongst the people.
41:08
So know that these people are not outside, right?
41:11
Yeah, you can have them inside teaching false.
41:15
They say even as they will be false teachers,
41:18
so they are false prophets. false teachers the
41:21
false teachers are pseudo didascalios even among
41:25
you it says who will secretly bring in destructive
41:30
heresies secretly bring in destructive heresies
41:34
even denying the lord who brought them and it
41:39
says who brought them and bring on themselves
41:42
swift destruction so these people are bringing
41:45
in destructive heresies and then the worst of
41:49
is they're denying the Lord, right? They're denying
41:52
the Lord to just cap it up. So he gives a whole
41:56
entire chapter to warn, to strongly warn against
42:00
false teachers and their destructive heresies
42:03
and how they come in to exploit believers for
42:09
their own gain. They're exploiting believers
42:11
for their own gain. So we see, even in that same
42:16
2nd Peter, we see him make reference to Balam,
42:21
right? We see him make reference to Balam. Let's
42:24
go to the 15 and 16, just to see. 15 and 16,
42:32
it says, they have forsaken the right way and
42:36
gone astray, in order to move away from, gone
42:39
astray, following the way of Balam, the son of...
42:41
Note that this... There's, you know, if you,
42:45
I think we were reading our canonical, you see
42:47
that Jehovah, the son of Nibbeth, is the standard
42:50
for when people, you would say they say according
42:53
to, when you have done so much evil that they
42:57
are, you set the standard for, when we are saying
43:01
evil, we say according to, like, in the simi,
43:04
in fact, some people will go higher than, but
43:06
we see that they use, that is being used in this
43:10
case you say following the way and because it's
43:12
now it's now a part that you choose to follow
43:14
not that we say that yes he did that but there's
43:17
a source of it right there's a source of it so
43:20
it says who loved the wages of unrighteousness
43:22
so his own what the drive for it was the resource
43:25
he was going to get and the 16 is an interesting
43:27
process but he was rebuked for his iniquity a
43:32
dumb is it a dumb donkey speaking with a man's
43:36
voice, restrained the madness of the prophet.
43:39
So it had to take a donkey speaking to him, it
43:45
didn't even restrain him, it still went ahead
43:47
because we saw that he had to, it gave the counsel
43:50
that resulted in what befell the children of
43:52
Israel, praise God. And sometimes when people
43:54
want to do evil or when people want to for the
43:58
benefits or the gains they will do, you find
44:01
yourself doing, because it's madness, right?
44:04
It's madness. You know that this is error. In
44:09
fact, you couldn't even do the thing that you
44:11
went for. You failed several times. The man had
44:14
to take you to different points. You failed several
44:16
times, but you still went ahead and told him
44:19
what he was going to do. So we see it here as
44:23
a way and then it later becomes a doctrine because
44:25
people now, that's what people look at it and
44:29
then they learn. So the question is, what are
44:31
you learning or who are you learning from? Praise
44:34
God. What are you learning or who are you learning
44:37
from? When you open your Bible and nowadays people,
44:41
you do a lot of learning online. You do a lot
44:45
of learning online and when I mean online, I
44:47
don't mean you taking courses online. I mean
44:49
you watching all manner or all forms of content
44:53
and you learn and you learn and you learn and
44:55
you are surprised when you manifest. You're surprised
44:59
when you manifest know that it's a product of
45:02
what you have bombarded or what you have received
45:05
that you Given off and that's why you scripted
45:09
time and time again will warn us to guard There's
45:12
a guard that there's a garden that you do to
45:15
ensure that you don't go off You don't you don't
45:18
enter into error. Praise God and we see In in
45:23
Galatians 1 69 I want to read this very quickly
45:27
says Galatians 1 .69, it says, I marvel that
45:31
you are turning away so soon from Him who called
45:35
you in the grace of Christ to a different, that
45:41
different there is, heteros, gospel, that is
45:45
Eugelion. It says, which is not another, but
45:52
there are some who trouble you. and want to pervert
45:56
the gospel of Christ. They want to pervert it.
46:01
He says, but even if we, see what he says, even
46:06
if we or an angel from heaven preach any other
46:12
gospel to you than what we have preached to you,
46:17
let him be accursed. Now he says, as we have
46:22
said before, so now I say again he has said it
46:27
before he's repeating himself again because it's
46:29
very important that is said again if anyone preaches
46:34
any other gospel to you other than what you have
46:37
received let him be uh cursed and it means that
46:42
there are people that will pervert if you want
46:44
to get other words the nlt says they are deliberately
46:47
twisting the truth concerning christ they're
46:50
deliberately they know what the truth is but
46:52
they are twisting it. Remember we say they are
46:54
doing it for their own gain. There's a benefit
46:57
and they are gain. The ESV will say they are
46:59
distorting the gospel. They are distorting the
47:02
gospel. And we see that Apostle Paul's emphasis
47:05
continually is on the purity or the soundness
47:09
of what is being communicated. Praise God. The
47:11
purity and the soundness of what is being communicated.
47:13
And in Hebrews, I want us to see Hebrews first
47:15
before we go back to where we close in what we
47:19
are. Hebrews 6 verse 2. Hebrews 6 verse 2, you
47:24
see a list, you see that there's a doctrine of
47:27
baptisms, the laying on of hands, there's a resurrection
47:30
of the dead, and there's the internal judgment.
47:33
And we'll see that in 1 Corinthians 15, the focus
47:37
is on that resurrection of the dead. The focus
47:40
is on doctrine on the resurrection of the dead.
47:42
That's what we'll see in that 1 Corinthians 15.
47:46
Just go to 1 Corinthians 15, 12, to 14. 1 Corinthians
47:51
15 12 to 14 says, now if Christ is preached,
47:55
if Christ is preached that he has raised from
47:58
the dead, how do some among you say that there
48:02
is no resurrection of the dead? Notice that there
48:05
are some that are saying now that there's no
48:06
resurrection of the dead. Note that there's an
48:08
implication to that statement. When somebody
48:10
says there's no resurrection of the dead, it
48:11
means that Christ didn't, so, but if there is
48:14
no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not
48:16
risen. Remember when we, the previous teaching
48:20
where I, in Matthew 28, where we talked about
48:22
how the soldiers were lying that he never resurrected,
48:26
his body was stolen. You know that his body being
48:28
stolen means that he did not resurrect, that
48:30
he took it physically. So now you have people
48:32
saying that he never resurrected and then, yeah,
48:36
and if Christ was not risen, then the preaching,
48:40
is empty and your faith is also empty. So the
48:43
preaching is empty. There's no need to preach.
48:45
Why are you preaching? Why are you going about
48:48
and telling people that they should surrender
48:50
to this, to Him, to believe in Him? Because the
48:53
whole thing is anchored. They say, yes, we have
48:56
found false witnesses of God. So we that are
49:00
saying it are in error. Like we are the ones
49:03
now in error, they are the ones in the truth.
49:04
That's basically how he's trying to, he says,
49:07
because we have testified of God that he raised
49:11
up Christ whom he did not raise up, if in fact
49:17
the dead do not rise. And we see that all of
49:23
this, let's just stop there. So it's a very interesting
49:27
matter. It's something that shakes the core of
49:32
our faith, something that affects the core of
49:34
our faith. And we know that the people that hold
49:36
on to this are the Sadducees. The people that
49:40
hold on to this belief system are the Sadducees.
49:42
And you understand that because they have believed,
49:46
there are some people that are still holding
49:48
on to the belief of the Sadducees, right? And
49:51
they're the ones that doing this back and front.
49:54
And we'll see that this whole matter that our
49:57
support is trying to address did not start today.
50:00
Let's go back to the Matthew 22, where Jesus
50:03
Christ was dealing with the same situation. Start
50:07
from 22, 23. Just to give us a bit of context,
50:12
Jesus Christ had just finished dealing with the
50:14
Pharisees. The Pharisees came with their own
50:17
issue with regards to tax, their own government
50:19
issue. So they finished dealing with him, and
50:21
their own was a failed attempt. They did not
50:24
succeed in trying to trap him or trying to trick
50:27
him. their own was a failed attempt. Then the
50:29
Sadducees now come with theirs. That is a bit
50:31
of a spiritual, it's a bit of religious issue.
50:35
And then they said in the 23, it says, the same
50:38
day the Sadducees went and they say that there
50:41
is no, they say the Sadducees, who say? Not that
50:44
they are on the core of, and these people are
50:46
no longer in it. They're no longer there because,
50:49
you know, when, when everybody, when a good amount
50:52
of people believe that Jesus Christ resurrected
50:54
your entire, the core of your whole belief, is
50:57
useless. They are no longer there. So they say
51:02
that there is no resurrection, right? They came
51:04
to him and then they asked, saying, that's in
51:08
24 now, saying, teacher, Moses said, they now
51:12
anchor it on what Moses has said. They start
51:14
from the premise of Moses trying to make their
51:17
case. Because if you want to anchor it on some
51:21
authority so that you can move from there and
51:23
then make your point. So if a man dies, having
51:26
no children his brother shall marry his wife
51:28
and raise up offspring for his brother he says
51:30
now they are they see they were there was there
51:35
were they were with us seven brothers the first
51:39
died after he married and having no offsprings
51:45
left his wife left his wife to his brother then
51:49
26 likewise the second also and the third even
51:54
the seven, so it kept happening till the seven.
51:56
So it's like seven, it was where it stopped.
51:59
The last of all, the woman, they say last of
52:01
all, the woman died also. So the woman now concludes
52:04
it. It says, therefore in the resurrection, whose
52:07
wife, whose wife of the seven shall, will she
52:12
be? And the all, it says that for the all had
52:16
her, right? For the all had her. So we see that
52:19
they bring up a hypothetical. bring up something
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hypothetical, right? I said, okay, this person
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is married to this person that has seven brothers,
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and then you have, you know that this is practically,
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it doesn't even make sense, right? So Jesus Christ
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now answers them saying, Jesus answered and said
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to them, said, you are mistaken. And that word
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mistaken is, as I explained now, means you're
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deceived. it says not knowing the scriptures
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nor the power of god not knowing the scriptures
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nor the power of god see for in the resurrection
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they neither marry or are given in marriage but
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i like the angels of god in heaven 31 now says
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but concerning the resurrection of the dead have
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you not read anaginousko have you not read what
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was spoken to you by god saying I am the God
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of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
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Jacob. God is not a God of the dead, but of the
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living. Praise God. God is a God of the living.
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It says, and when the multitudes heard this,
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which is what we read earlier, they were astonished
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at his teaching because he demolishes the entire
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belief system of, because he says like, look,
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he's not God of the dead. It's God of the living.
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And in case you're wondering, you serve a living
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God, a God that death could not hold, a God that
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came out of the grave, he conquered death. And
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on the basis of him conquering death, we will
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do likewise, praise God. Scripture says it's
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the first foot, right? So meaning that we are
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not just, when we don't, in fact, all through
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scriptures, you see the word used as sleep. And
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that has turned it as his teaching. Remember,
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he said that that teaching there is the dida
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key, meaning that he corrected something. And
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you would think that that was where he started.
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These people have been at it before 2022. They
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have been at it since 16. They have been at it
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since 16. They come from time to time to test
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him. And Jesus Christ has even warned his disciples
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to go back to that whole warning them to be alert.
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Just write Matthew 16, 1 to 12. We'll just read
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1 and then we'll read 12 for the sake of time.
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Just read 1 and read 12. So what is going to
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happen is that in the subsequent teaching, I'll
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give us examples of individuals, even in the
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Old Testament, that didn't bow down. They knew
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the truth and they held on to the truth. They
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were persecuted for it, but God delivered them.
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You know, one thing that we fail to, or one thing
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that sometimes we can fail to realize is that
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When we're standing for the truth, because of
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whose truth we're standing for, God will always
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deliver. And the way He's going to deliver might
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not be the way you want to be delivered, right?
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You might not even know how you'll be delivered,
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praise God. You're going through stuff, you're
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going through situations, you don't know how
55:26
God is going, you have been praying, you don't
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know how God is going to deliver you. You want
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to just trust that He is going to deliver you
55:32
because you are His property, praise God. You
55:34
are His own, you are His child. So Matthew 16,
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Verse 1, it says, then the Pharisees and the
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Sadducees came and testing him, asked that he
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would show them a sign from heaven. He will show
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them a sign from heaven. And he goes on and on
55:52
and on about, he points them to the sign of Jonah,
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right? The sign of Prophet Jonah in 5. It says
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now the disciples are, he points them to the
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sign of Prophet Jonah. And then now he now wants,
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he now tells the disciples, that they should
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take heed. In verse 6 Jesus said to them, take
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heed and beware of the living of the Pharisees
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and the Sadducees. The disciples were confused.
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They were like, is he talking about bread? Is
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he talking about bread? Because prior to that
56:20
there was a situation that happened where people
56:23
were fed, multitudes were fed. But in 12 now
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we see, it says, then they understood that he
56:29
did not tell them to beware of the living of
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bread but of the doctrine of the Pharisees. and
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the Sadducees. Praise God. He was calling the
56:39
attention to beware of the doctrines of the Sadducees
56:42
and the Pharisees. And even Jesus himself warns
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his disciples. Jesus is warning us through Apostle
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Paul in the letter that we should watch. We should
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watch. We should stand fast in the doctrine of
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faith that we have received. We should be strong
56:59
about it. We'll look at that even further. The
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other translation we see, we should act like
57:03
men, right? we should act, we should be able
57:06
to take on on it, we should be brave, we should
57:08
be strong. And the strength that we exhibit is
57:11
not the strength that, it's not solely the strength
57:14
that comes, it's the strength that comes from
57:16
God, praise God. The strength that is being exercised
57:20
is the strength that comes from abundance of
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strength that relies in God, that comes from
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that relies in God, praise God. It's not the
57:29
strength that we, because most of the times we
57:30
have... We appreciate you being here today. We
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hope you carried this word with you throughout
57:51
your week. Don't forget to check the show notes
57:54
for additional insights. Stay connected with
57:57
us through our website or follow us on social
57:59
media. If you were encouraged, share this message
58:03
with someone you care about. Until next time,
58:07
stay blessed.