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Faith for Evangelism (part 4) · 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. Alright, today we will continue from
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where we stopped on Sunday. And we will be dealing
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with... Still faith for evangelism, right? Still
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be dealing with faith for evangelism. And we
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will consider some conduct, actually, or some
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pains that causes men to be weak in their faith,
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or some indicators. Let's use the word of the
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researchers. Indicators or factors that we can
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see and... can point to weak in faith or weakness
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in faith. So things that we can see that points
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to weakness in the faith of a believer, things
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that we can see. So it means that when you are
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checking yourself, right, when you're checking
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yourself, these are the things you must always
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check. Or when you see these signs, you should
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begin to seek your faith to be strengthened,
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right? Seek that your faith be strengthened.
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The body of Christ is established by Christ that
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we might strengthen each other. And one of the
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things that people really want to do or that
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we might find ourselves doing in the body of
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Christ is to believe that you can survive alone
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or to believe or see things. uh that are taking
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place in our lives and we we do ignore them or
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take them for granted or just you know uh see
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them as no problem right means that we don't
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check ourselves well or even when we check we
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don't call ourselves to action by seeking us
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our faith to be strengthened so when we see these
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things that we are going to highlight out now
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it means that we should seek our faith to be
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strength we should talk to a brother talk to
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a sister talk to a pastor right and say sir i
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see myself being weakened because of this circumstance
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and therefore i seek your encouragement and you
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know when we come to cathartismus uh believers
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meeting holy ghost meeting one of the things
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that happens there is that we are strengthened
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in faith Right. Your fears are brought before
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your face and the power of God that has taken
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away the worries is made manifest. So let's quickly
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check a few scriptures. So we're talking about
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things that indicate that a believer is actually
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weak in faith or signaling that you need help.
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Right. You need help. So let's put the first
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scriptures. Acts chapter one. Acts chapter one.
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I'm just going to call all of the scriptures
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and I'll be going on. So, chapter 1 actually
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is the beginning of how the apostles began to
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gather. They were together. Acts chapter 1 from
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verse 19. Let's read from verse 19. And as it
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was known unto all dwellers at Jerusalem. In
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so much more as the feud is called in the proper
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tongue, that is to say the feud of blood. For
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it is written in the book of the Psalms that
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let his habitation be desolate and let no man
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dwell therein and his bishopric let another take.
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Therefore of these men which have accompanied
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with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went
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in and out among us, beginning from the baptism
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of John unto the same that he was taken up from
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us, must one... be ordained to be a witness with
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us of his resurrection. And they appointed to
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Joseph called Barsabbas and who was son named
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Justus and Matthias. And they prayed and said,
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Thou Lord, which knowest the heart of all men,
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show whether of these two thou hast chosen that
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he may take part of this ministry and apostleship.
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from which Judas by transgression fell, that
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he might go to his own place. And they gave forth
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their lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and
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he was numbered with the eleven. He was numbered
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with the eleven. So what are we picking here?
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Now you realize that in verse 24, they prayed,
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right? They prayed. And in verse 26, They casted
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lots. Okay? So, more or less, having two combinations,
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right, of things to discern the will of God.
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So, they prayed and they casted lots. Good. Now,
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let's go to Acts 13, verse 1 to 3. Let's see
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the difference in the conduct of the apostles.
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Now they were in the church that was in Antioch,
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certain prophets and teachers, as Barnabas and
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Simeon, that was called Niger, and Lucius of
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Cyrene and Minyan, which had been brought up
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with Herod the Tetrarch and Saul. As the minister
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to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said,
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Separate me, Barnabas and Saul, for the work
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whereunto I have called them. And when they had
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fasted and prayed, they laid hands on them, them
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away now two different scriptures are this one
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talking about someone coming into the work of
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ministry right and this other chapter 13 also
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reveals someone who is also going for the work
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of ministry right so we see these two uh scenarios
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almost very similar more like ushering people
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into the work of ministry and we see that the
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first part in act chapter one they prayed and
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the casted logs. But in Acts chapter 10, they
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just prayed, fasted and prayed, and they sent
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them forth. Right? Now, the first thing we must
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know is that when they said the Holy Ghost said,
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it's not a voice from heaven. Okay? Because from
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the scriptures, we know how the Holy Ghost speaks.
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It's not like a voice from heaven. It's not like
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an angel entered and was, you know, flapping
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the wings and then saying some word. It means
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that someone gave a word. And that giving of
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a word is what is presented as the minister and
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pastor. The Holy Ghost said, it means from one
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of the believers there, the word came and it
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separates me, Barnabas and Saul, from the world
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where I have told them. So someone gave a word,
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a direction for the ministry of Barnabas and
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Saul. Do we see that? so it means only because
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the holy spirit speaks through the believers
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right they were ministering uh in that situation
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and then what we saw there was that they just
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fasted and prayed and they sent them forth without
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casting lots right so casting lots was used as
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the means by which they could discern what god
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was saying right what god was saying so we can
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see that the disciples or the apostles grew from
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that revelation or from that position where prayer
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and something to where prayer and that is it.
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So they grew from where prayer and casting of
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blood to a place where they just prayed and ushered
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people into ministry. And therefore we can see
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that at this point, There's the level of ignorance
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that was exercised. They didn't know that this
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casting of blood was not to be carried out again.
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So there's a level of ignorance that made them
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walk in that. Because the prayer in verse 24
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was sufficient for them to pick someone. It was
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sufficient for them to pick someone. So we can
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say that at the beginning they had some level
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of weak faith. But as they grow in their understanding,
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some of these conducts like casting of law was
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taken away. And as you would bear a testimony
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that this never happened again in the book of
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Acts. This never happened again in the book of
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Acts. And progressively we see that. So we can
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see ignorance is one of those things that can
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actually affect the conduct of a believer. It
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can affect you if you don't have a revelation
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of God's word. And that is why we pay attention
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to every bit of... the scripture like we pay
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attention in this church as much as we can to
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each verse that you don't miss out in any revelation
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of god you don't miss out in any rebel so see
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uh ignorance there as one challenge now let's
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see uh another one we can just write the scriptures
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down because we already discussed them on sunday
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acts 11 act 11 showing the same thing uh From
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Peter's conduct, right? Showing the same thing
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for Peter's conduct. Just write Acts 11. Acts
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11. Then Romans. Romans 14 and 15. We're not
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going to go through those ones again because
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we have taught them and explained them on Sunday.
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What was happening in these two places was, for
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example, in Romans. 14 and 15, is that there
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was no sufficient knowledge among the people
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that says, well, we shouldn't eat food sacrificed
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to idols. So it means that their faith was weak.
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It was explained as weak in faith because they
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didn't have the full knowledge and understanding
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that nothing should be rejected. Nothing should
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be refused, but should be received with thanksgiving.
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So we see that the lack of knowledge in that
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place, and we see that it's ignorance as well.
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in 11 we find that as well in the corner of peter
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and we saw paul correcting right as we read from
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galatians uh paul correcting so scriptures just
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reflects ignorance in the revelation of jesus
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right and then a revelation comes from paul the
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same thing so as a believer what we can see is
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that if we don't understand Right? If we walk
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in ignorance, it will be difficult to be strong
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in faith. So, when we are teaching every part
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of the scripture, line by line, is because we
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don't want to miss anything. Right? We don't
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want to miss anything. That is why we teach and
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we pay attention to the word of God. Now, the
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thing is that sometimes, certain part of the
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scriptures... right certain part of creatures
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might look as if they are not of presence of
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present application let me put it that way that
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is not uh that is not the goal or that's not
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the goal of the bible in terms of trying to make
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that everything that is being taught like is
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now now you have to apply no it is that you grow
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in the knowledge you keep increasing in the knowledge
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the growth and the knowledge is the goal So it's
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not like, oh, we are teaching you now and we
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want you to go out to just go. No, you cannot.
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You can find certain teachings that you would
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apply on the floor and certain teachings that
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you would come to later in the future in your
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life. Do we get it? So the main emphasis of teaching
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the scriptures is that you grow in that knowledge.
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So no knowledge is, no knowledge is, how can
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I put it? No knowledge is insignificant while
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it's being taught to you. Every knowledge is
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significant. So the emphasis is that you pay
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attention, right? You pay attention. So don't
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ask, why are we teaching this? Why are we learning?
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Just go. Just learn it, right? Learn it, note
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it down. Learn it, note it down. Learn it and
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note it. So you are growing in grace. You are
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growing in the knowledge of Jesus. So take away
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every ignorance. Take away every form of conduct
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that reflects that. Now let's go to Matthew 16,
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verse 8. Let's see some scriptures from the Gospels,
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right? 16, verse 8. Now let's start from verse
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5. And when his disciples were come to the other
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side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then
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Jesus said unto them, Take heed. and beware of
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the living of the pharisees and of the services
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and the reason among themselves saying it is
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because we have taken no bread which when jesus
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perceived he said unto them all ye of little
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faiths why reason ye among yourselves because
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ye have brought no bread do you not understand
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yet do you not yet understand neither remember
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the five loaves of the five thousand and how
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many baskets yea took up neither the seven loaves
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of the four thousand and how many baskets yea
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took up how is it that ye do not understand that
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i speak it not to you concerning bread that ye
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should beware of the living of the pharisees
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and of the sadducees then understood they how
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that he had begged them to beware of the living
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of bread uh sorry Then understood they how he
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bid them not beware of the living and dead, but
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of the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
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So you see Jesus also called, you know, their
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lack of understanding little faiths, their lack
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of their ignorance to think that it was about
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physical bread rather than Jesus was referring
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to the teachings and doctrine of the Pharisees
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as bread. Mark 8, verse 17. Similar scripture,
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same rendition. Still talking about ignorance
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when it comes to the teaching of the Pharisees
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that is misinterpreted by the disciples. Verse
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17. He said, and when Jesus knew, he said unto
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them, what reason? You see, why reason ye? Because
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ye have no breath. Perceive ye not. perceive
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ye not yet neither understand have ye your hearts
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yet hardened having eyes see not and having ears
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hear not and do not remember what when i break
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the five loops among five thousand how many basket
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full of fragments took it up they said unto him
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they say unto him twelve and when the seven among
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the four thousand how many baskets full of fragments
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took it up they said seven and he said unto them
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how is it that ye do not understand right you
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do not understand and in matthew he called it
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little faith right he calls it little faith so
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we can see this as one of the things that can
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actually affect believers faith i can affect
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uh believers for example i can give you an example
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uh you probably have gone out and you had preached
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to people and you have seen that although they
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are believers But they hold on to certain things,
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right? Some of you come here, you begin to ask
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questions. Are they really saved? Well, some
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of them are saved, right? For example, people
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who believe in using elements as the presence
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of God, right? Using natural things as the presence
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of God. Or people who believe in taking the Bible
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literally and practicing it literally, right?
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You can see a lot of weakness of faith in that.
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When I mean practice literally means, for example,
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some people believe in taking Holy Communion
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and that is the blood and the body of Christ,
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right? Things like that. Now, those are expressions
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actually of weakness of faith because it does
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not come with the revelation. In the revelation
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of that, we understood that we don't have to
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practice that. So in such practices, you can
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see, okay, these people are weak in faith and
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that's ignorance. And we too, sometimes, we can
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find ourselves in that. Now, let's move to the
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second one. The second one, the first one we
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just dealt with is ignorance, not having sufficient
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knowledge, not working in sufficient knowledge.
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Fear, anxiety, and doubt, right? Fear, anxiety,
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and doubt. Fear, anxiety, and doubt, right? It's
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a signal, it's a pointer to the fact that you're
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weak, right? You're weak at that point in time,
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pertaining that situation. Right? You are weak
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at that point in time pertaining that situation.
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There are situations that comes to you like your
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faith just, you know, you're like, no, this one,
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it doesn't get to you. Right? You're very strong
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like, oh, this situation is going to pass. You're
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holding on to the word of God and you're moving.
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You're moving without doubt. But there are certain
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situations, you know, that when they touch you,
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right, or you find yourself in such situations,
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fear, anxiety, and doubt sets in. Right. Fear,
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anxiety, and doubt. Now we can see Matthew 6
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verse 30. Matthew 6 verse 30. It's a word for
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if God so clothed the grass of the field in which
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today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven,
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shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little
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faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What
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shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal
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shall we be clothed? Now we see that worrying,
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anxiety about what to eat, what to drink, is
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also regarded as little faith here, right, in
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Matthew. 6 verse 13. So things in the natural,
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talking about things in the natural, needs in
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the natural can actually become a circumstance
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by which we are weak in faith. We are little
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in faith. So it means that when those things
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come, you need someone to encourage you. You
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need to talk to someone before it drags you away
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from the doctrine of Christ. We have seen people
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where the needs, the natural needs, let them
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away. Right? And you see that they lost their
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salvation. No, they didn't lose their salvation.
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People who have believed, walked with Christ.
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Right? But because of the natural needs, because
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of needs, they are drawn away. Right? They are
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drawn away. We see Demas, right? We see Demas
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as an example. Right? We see Demas as an example.
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We see John Mark maybe as an example as well.
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Right? As examples of people, of course, them,
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as the Bible says, they loved the world, right?
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They loved things of the world. We saw John Mark,
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of course, left the field where they were working
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together with Paul. And then later, somehow,
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somehow, found his way back to a place where
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he was ready to go out again. So we can see that
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the things are natural can actually cause our
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faith to be weak. And it's because we are on
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this earth and... It can cause our faith. Now
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we go to Matthew 8, 26. Matthew 8, 26. Another
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expression by which Jesus emphasized and called
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the faith of people working with him, little
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faith. From verse 23. And when he was entered
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into a sheep, his disciples followed him. And
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behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea,
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insomuch that the sheep was covered with the
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waves. But he was asleep. And the disciple came
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to him and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us,
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we perish. And he said unto them, Why are ye
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fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose
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and rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was
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a great calm. But the men marveled, saying, What
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manner of man is this, that even the wind and
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the sea obey him? Even the wind and the sea obey
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him. So again, in this scenario, we see fear,
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we see anxiety. we see fear we see anxiety fear
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and anxiety even while jesus was with them so
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this is also regarded as weak in faith regarded
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as you know lead of faith you know it's like
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someone regularly coming to church hearing the
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word but still working in fear and anxiety right
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here in the world but walking in fear and anxiety
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so this is not ignorance in that sense but you
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know right christ is there you know what scripture
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says Yet, emotions, natural emotions, overthrow
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the word of God in your mind. In your mind, right?
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The word of God is overthrown by the natural
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emotions that you give expression to. Matthew
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14, verse 31. So it's also called, we can experience
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those things as we go daily. And when we see
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them, we should know what to do. And immediately,
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Matthew 14, verse 31. And immediately Jesus stretched
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forth his hands and caught him and said unto
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him, O thou of little faith, careful didst thou
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doubt. And when they were come to, okay, so we
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can read from verse 27. But straight away Jesus
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spake unto them, saying, Be of good care, it
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is high, be not afraid. And verse 28, Peter answered
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him and said, Not if it be thou. So, it's talking
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about... peter uh in this case as well seeing
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the kids in the natural i'm beginning to doubt
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beginning to doubt and it's also called little
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faith right it's also called little fear and
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we see fear anxiety we see doubts in that circumstance
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doubt in desert can these things happen to believers
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while they walk on it yes but should a believer
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walk away and say i don't need help when these
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things happen or not admit it no You shouldn't
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say you will not. There's a brother actually
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in church that someone called me, and I'm sure
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I will inform the pastor about it. I don't know
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which of these stages, but I know one of these
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is happening to him, and he's almost going to
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no faith. He's abandoning the gathering of the
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brethren. He's walking away from the meetings
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that we're holding and all of that. And I believe
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that it's a matter of fear, anxiety, and doubt.
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And a solution is for him to stay in his room
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and not go out to meet anybody. That's a solution,
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right? Thanks to the believers that are around
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me, that are around him, that are calling us
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and say, sir, I know you are his pastor. This
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is the circumstance of things. No believer should
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do such a thing. It's because you don't understand.
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At that point, he's weak in faith. But I'm sure
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if you even ask him, he will say he doesn't even
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know what confidence in faith is, right? I hope
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he should be here today, he will be here today
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to listen and be able to diagnose himself. Now,
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the next thing we find is actually confidence
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in self or confidence in self, right? It's also
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an expression that a person is weak in faith,
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actually. Confidence in self, right? In self,
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in your own ability. Confidence in self, in your
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own ability. Luke 22, verse 32 to 33. Luke 22,
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verse 32 to 33. Luke 22, verse 32 to 33. So you
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can just read from verse 30. We can start from
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verse 30. That ye may eat and drink at my table
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in my kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging twelve
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tribes of Israel. And the Lord said, From 31.
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Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have
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you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have
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prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. And
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when thou art converted, printing thy brethren.
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And he said unto the Lord, verse 33. He said
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unto the Lord, Lord, I am ready to go with thee
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both into prison and to death. And he said. I
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tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this
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day before that thou shalt tryst deny that thou
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knowest me. And he said unto him, and he said
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unto them, when I sent you without paws and feet
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and shoes and ye lacked anything, right, lacked
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ye anything, and they said nothing. So what we
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see here, right, while we continue, if you also
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continue, you'll see that in verse 36, he said,
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then said he unto them, go now. He that hath
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pause, let him take it. Okay, I think we don't
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need that part. So it just goes to the point
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where Peter actually had believed that he could
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actually swallow Christ based on his own strengths
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and his own confidence. And although Christ was
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still wanting, he said, well, I'm seeing something
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that certain desire to save you. But he said,
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well, I can go with you anyway. I can put my
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life down on you. Yet Christ was warning, was
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giving that warning, saying, this is what is
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about to come. And did he fall into that? Yes.
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He fell into that because he believed that he
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could have been able to follow Christ, even to
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the point of death, follow him to the prison.
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And we see that that did not take place, and
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he realized it at the end. We see here is more
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of confidence in self, confidence in self. can
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actually point to weakness in faith, confidence
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in self. So we can pay attention to ourselves.
28:09
When we carry out this conduct, when we see ourselves
28:11
working in this, we can caution ourselves and
28:14
say, I think I'm believing so much in self rather
28:17
than in what Christ can do through me, in what
28:21
Christ can do through me. And we talked about
28:25
it, it was read on Sunday when Pastor Victor
28:27
was praying that, I think he talked about it,
28:30
he mentioned it, that, Paul himself had certain
28:35
things he could be confident about when it comes
28:39
to the flesh, right? And he gave a profile of
28:45
himself, yet he understood that all this is garbage
28:50
for the excellences of knowledge of Christ, right?
28:54
So what we see there is that his believing is
28:57
not in self, but much more. So we can say he's
29:00
strong in faith. He's strong in faith, having
29:03
that understanding that he would not have confidence
29:07
in the flesh. Now, let's see again the last one.
29:12
The last one. The last one, then we will check
29:17
a particular example in the Bible. Offenses is
29:25
also a signal of weakness in faith, right? Offenses,
29:29
when you hold on to offenses. When you hold on
29:33
to offenses, it shows that you're weak in faith.
29:36
When you hold on to offenses, it means a brother
29:40
offended you and you refuse to forgive or you
29:45
refuse to fellowship with the brother. Now, Luke
29:49
17, verse 1 to 10. Offenses. Luke 17, verse 1
29:59
to 10. Then Jesus said unto his disciples, unto
30:06
the disciples, it is impossible but that offenses
30:11
will come. But woe unto him to whom they come.
30:17
It were better for him that a milestone were
30:20
hanged around about his neck and cast into the
30:24
sea than that he should offend one of these little
30:27
ones. Take it to yourself. If thy brother trespass
30:30
against thee, rebuke him. And if he repents,
30:35
forgive him. And if he trespass against thee
30:39
seven times in a day, and seven times in a day
30:44
turn again to thee, saying, I repent, thou shalt
30:48
forgive him. And the apostle said unto the Lord,
30:52
increase our faith. And the Lord said, if ye
30:57
had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might
31:01
say unto the sycamore tree, be thou plucked.
31:03
up by the roots and be planted and be planted
31:06
in the sea and it should obey you but which of
31:11
you having a servant uh having a servant or feeding
31:15
a cattle will say unto him i and by when is come
31:19
from the field go and sit down to meet and will
31:22
not rather say unto him make ready where which
31:25
i may stop and get up thyself and serve me till
31:28
i have eaten and drunk in an apple thou shall
31:31
eat and drink Don't he thank the servant because
31:34
he did the things that were commanded him? I
31:37
true not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have
31:42
done all those things which are commanded you,
31:44
say, we are unprofitable servants, and we have
31:48
done that which was our duty to do. We have done
31:54
that which was our duty to do. Now we see that
31:58
Jesus was talking about offenses here. He was
32:01
talking about offenses here. And then they said,
32:05
increase our faith. Increase our faith. So it
32:11
means that when we hold on to offenses, it reflects
32:15
being weak in faith. It reflects so much of our
32:19
weakness in faith. If we find it difficult to
32:22
forgive someone. Now imagine someone who finds
32:25
it difficult to forgive another person. A brother.
32:28
A brother. At what point would they believe that,
32:34
or at what point would they find it necessary
32:37
that forgiveness should be given to outsiders?
32:42
And the second forgiveness I mean is that at
32:44
what point would they find it necessary to preach
32:47
the gospel? Because the preaching of the gospel
32:50
brings forgiveness to men. Do we get it? So if
32:55
your brother who is in the same faith with you,
32:58
you find it difficult to... Forgive the brother.
33:03
How much more or to what extent can you go out
33:05
and preach that people may receive forgiveness?
33:09
So offenses is also one of those areas that we
33:13
see that the believer can actually be weakened.
33:17
So you should be someone who forgives very easily.
33:20
You forgive people. You don't hold on to offenses,
33:24
especially when it has been. It has followed
33:28
the manner at which the Bible says we should
33:30
deal with offenses. It means you have spoken
33:32
to the pastor, you have spoken to the brother,
33:34
right? You have spoken to the pastor, you have
33:36
spoken to the brother, you have spoken to the
33:37
church, you have been called upon. You should
33:41
forgive. You should forgive. It shows that you
33:44
are strong in faith, right? It shows that you
33:48
are strong. So, exercises of forgiveness, right,
33:51
is showing strength in faith. It's showing strength
33:54
in faith. So we can say that we don't need an
34:03
angel to tell us if you are strong or weak in
34:08
faith, but we can see it from your conduct, right?
34:12
So when people approach you, when your pastors
34:13
approach you, when a brother approach you and
34:16
is having a conversation with you, we can know
34:19
whether you're weak in faith or not. We can know
34:22
who you are forgiving, who you have not forgiven.
34:24
We can know if you're agreeing in the word or
34:26
not. We can know. if anxiety is there and the
34:30
job or the responsibility of the believer is
34:33
to seek help right is to seek help and in seeking
34:37
help what do we do we grow in seeking help we
34:42
we grow it therefore means that in our conduct
34:44
we can see that now let's go to a study of a
34:51
man of god right i'll call him man of god that
34:52
was weak in faith right but the bible explained
34:57
the part of his life and told us that he actually
34:59
became strong in faith, right? He actually became
35:03
strong in faith. Now, just the same way we see
35:04
the apostles from Acts chapter 1 across to 11,
35:09
right, or 10 thereabouts, there is increase in
35:13
the revelation. Ignorance taken away. They became
35:15
strong in faith. Their conduct also changed.
35:19
Their conduct changed. The kind of, the way they
35:22
deal with believers changed. The way they understood
35:26
the Bible changed. The way we relate with Gentiles
35:31
changed. The way they seek the direction of God
35:35
also changed. From casting load to much more
35:39
the things of the Spirit, walking in the direction
35:41
of the Spirit. So we see that in the Apostle
35:43
book. Let's check Abraham's life a little bit
35:46
and see some parts of his life. Now, the main
35:51
scripture that we should start with is Romans
35:52
18, verse 22. Romans 4 verse 18 and 22. Romans
36:08
4 verse 18 and 22. so shall thy seed be. And
36:27
being not weak in faith, he considered not his
36:30
own body now dead when he was about a hundred
36:35
years old. Neither yet the deadness of Sarah's
36:39
womb. He started not at the promise of God through
36:43
unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory
36:48
to God and being fully persuaded. that what he
36:55
had promised, he was able also to perform. And
37:01
therefore, it was imputed to him for righteousness.
37:07
Now, it was not written for his sake alone that
37:11
it was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom
37:15
it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that
37:19
raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. who was
37:22
delivered for our offenses and was raised again
37:27
for our justification was delivered from offenses
37:31
and was raised again for justification so up
37:33
until verse 25. so what we saw here is that there's
37:38
something abraham did or there's at a point in
37:42
his life where the bible says and therefore it
37:45
was imputed to him as righteousness right something
37:49
was imputed to him as righteousness now that
37:54
part by which it was imputed to him as righteousness
37:57
is the part that we want to trace that before
38:00
that time right where the times where the promise
38:06
of god that was spoken to him where he thought
38:09
that he himself could fulfill it where the times
38:12
are such right so we can start with genesis 12
38:15
verse 1 to 3. so we're just going to go through
38:18
genesis a little bit and then see. Genesis 12,
38:23
verse 1 to 3, which is the instruction of God
38:27
for him to live and follow, right? For him to
38:31
live and follow. And now, the Lord has said unto
38:35
Abraham, get thee out of thy country and from
38:37
thy kindred and from thy father's house unto
38:40
a land that I will show you. And I will make
38:43
thee a great nation and I will bless thee and
38:46
make thy name great and thou shall be a blessing
38:50
and now bless them that bless thee and cause
38:52
them that cause thee and indeed shall all the
38:54
families of the earth be blessed so abraham departed
38:58
as the lord has spoken unto him and lord went
39:01
with him and abraham was 75 years old when he
39:05
departed right when he departed now this is where
39:11
god began to speak to him and of course this
39:14
is the first time god is speaking to him and
39:17
telling him you become the father of all nations
39:19
so you become the father of uh all through you
39:21
all the families of the earth will be blessed
39:24
right through you all the families of the earth
39:26
will be blessed you will be a great nation and
39:29
i'll bless thee bless uh and make thy name great
39:32
and that shall be a blessing so we see that god's
39:35
plan and its communication to abraham at this
39:38
point in time was clear right it was clear of
39:42
what god wants to do uh through him but let's
39:46
see uh verse 15 let's say verse 15 let's see
39:52
verse 15 and let's see some considerations that
39:56
took place now verse 15 says verse 15 from chapter
40:02
15 sorry genesis chapter 15 from verse 1. this
40:06
is after these things the word of the lord came
40:08
unto abraham genesis 15 verse 1 in a vision saying
40:12
fear not abraham i am thy shield and thy exceeding
40:16
great reward And Abraham said to the Lord, God,
40:21
what will thou give me, seeing that I go childless?
40:26
And the steward of my house is Eliezer of Damascus.
40:32
Now, the first thing we see here, or what we
40:37
see here, or the first option for him was the
40:42
steward of his house. that god might do what
40:45
he wanted to do or what he has spoken through
40:48
his steward so the problem is you have said it
40:51
you will do it but can you use this steward since
40:55
i go childless now we see that in that sense
40:59
and we see that in this place we can say well
41:02
the word of god that he had received in genesis
41:05
chapter 12 right was not what was on his lips
41:09
right he said through you All the nations of
41:13
the earth were blessed. And now, he himself is
41:16
saying, well, can you use Eliezer? I believe
41:19
what you will do, but maybe through him. Or maybe
41:22
through this person. And Abraham said, Behold
41:26
to me, thou hast given no seed. Verse 3. And
41:29
lo, one born in my house is my heir. So, who
41:34
will inherit all his house? His servants. So,
41:37
he's saying, since it is the servants, that is
41:41
there at this stage, at this point in time, can
41:43
you do it through these servants? And we say
41:46
that the word in Genesis 12, verse 1 to 4, or
41:51
3, was not on his lips, right? Was not on his
41:55
lips. Now let's check chapter 16. Just move to
41:58
the next chapter as well. Chapter 16. Now let's
42:08
read from verse 1. I said, now Sarah, Abraham's
42:10
wife, bear him no children. And she had an unmade,
42:14
an Egyptian whose name was Agur. And Sarah said
42:16
unto Abraham, behold, now the Lord restrained
42:20
me from bearing. I pray thee, go in unto my maid.
42:26
It may be that I may obtain children by her.
42:30
And Abraham acting to the voice of Sarah. And
42:33
Sarah, Abraham's wife, took her girl and made.
42:37
Amid, right? The Egyptian after Abraham and dwelt
42:40
10 years in the land of Canaan and gave her to
42:44
her husband Abraham to be his wife. And he went
42:47
in unto Agur and she conceived. And when she
42:51
saw that she had conceived, her mistress was
42:56
despised. I got to read that again. And when
43:00
she saw that she had conceived, her mistress
43:02
was despised in a heist. And so I said unto Abraham,
43:05
my wrong. Be upon me. I have given my maid into
43:10
thy bosom. And when she saw that she had conceived,
43:15
I was despised in her eyes. And the Lord judged
43:18
between me and thee. But Abraham said unto Sarah,
43:21
Behold, thy maid is in thy hand. Do to her as
43:25
it pleaseth thee. And when Sarah dealt hardly
43:28
with her, she fled from her face. She fled from
43:32
her face. Now again, another... alternative,
43:37
right? The word of God, not in the mouth of the
43:39
husband, not in the mouth of the wife. And we
43:41
see that in this case, right? The word of Genesis
43:44
1 to 3 or 1 to 4 was also not in their mouth
43:49
and they were working in a way by which they
43:53
seek to fulfill what God wants to do. And this
43:55
became an example in Galatians, right? An example
43:59
in Galatians while Paul was talking about and
44:02
talking to believers who had started in the spirit,
44:06
believing the scriptures, and people bringing
44:09
circumcision onto them. And this was used as
44:12
an example of, you know, of works that is away
44:17
from faith. So, but let's see what happened from
44:20
chapter 17. Right, from chapter 17. From chapter
44:31
17, verse 1. From chapter 17, verse 1. What happened
44:40
in chapter 17? God again appeared and revealed
44:43
himself and spoke his word, right? Spoke his
44:47
word to Abraham. And when Abraham was 99 years
44:52
old, sorry, 90 years old and nine, the Lord appeared
44:57
to Abraham and said unto him, I am the Lord,
44:59
I am the almighty God. Walk before me and be
45:02
that prophet. Now make a covenant between me
45:05
and thee. He will multiply thee exceedingly.
45:07
And Abraham fell to his face, and God talked
45:10
with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant
45:12
is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many
45:15
nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called
45:18
Abraham, but thy name shall be Abraham. For a
45:23
father of many nations I have made thee. Now,
45:26
this is exactly what was spoken in Genesis 12,
45:29
verse 1 to 5. And I'll make thee exceedingly
45:33
fruitful, and I'll make nations of thee. and
45:36
kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish
45:38
my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed
45:41
after thee in their generation, for an everlasting
45:44
covenant to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed
45:48
after thee. And I will give unto thee, to thy
45:52
seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a
45:54
stranger, the land of Canaan, for an everlasting
45:57
possession, and I will be their God. And God
46:01
said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my commandments.
46:04
thou shalt keep my covenant therefore thou and
46:07
thy seed after thee in their generations this
46:10
is my covenant which ye shall keep between me
46:13
and i see now what we see here right what we
46:17
see here is that god started reiterating what
46:21
he has said right god started reiterating what
46:24
he has said in genesis chapter 12 verse 1 to
46:28
2 to abraham again right he started reiterating
46:32
genesis chapter 12 to him meaning that restating
46:35
now was it the first time that god is stating
46:38
this no right so it means that when the word
46:43
of god comes to someone and there is doubt or
46:46
anxiety there is need to treat it with the same
46:51
word of god that has been spoken so there is
46:55
no new any new revelation that would treat the
46:59
weakness of faith than that which is already
47:01
revealed There is no new revelation that will
47:05
treat the weakness of faith than that which is
47:10
already revealed. There is no new revelation
47:13
that will treat the weakness of faith than that
47:16
which is already revealed. So God began to explain
47:22
to him and explain and teach him once again.
47:39
All right. So this reiteration of God's statement
47:43
is what Abraham started believing and changed,
47:49
right? Changed his pattern of bringing alternatives
47:54
to what God wants to do. Do we get that? So when
47:59
the revelation of God increases in a man's life,
48:02
right? When God reiterates what he's about to
48:06
do, when we return back to the word of God, it
48:09
strengthens us and takes us away from what our
48:13
alternatives are so from here we saw that there
48:17
was actually no point in time where he began
48:20
to think of an alternative again and if you read
48:23
romans romans says at 100 so if you go back to
48:27
romans 4 romans says ads we can check right we
48:30
can go back to romans 4 because in chapter 90
48:34
chapter 17 he says he was 99 years old right
48:38
chapter 17 he was 99 years old and if you go
48:41
to romans 4 again romans 4 from that verse we
48:57
will see conversation he said who against or
49:02
believe in him that he might become the father
49:05
of many nations According to that which was spoken
49:07
to all the saints. Now verse 19 says, And being
49:10
not weak in faith, he considered not his own
49:16
body dead. When he was about a hundred years
49:19
old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb,
49:23
he staggered not at the promise of God, full
49:27
unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory
49:33
to God. So Paul writing, picking Genesis 17,
49:39
and the conduct of Abraham from that moment,
49:44
he called it being strong in faith. He called
49:51
it being strong in faith. Verse 17 says it was
49:54
about 99, and Romans 4 says it's about 100. It
50:00
means within that same period, which we can point
50:03
to chapter 17, that from then henceforth being
50:07
strong in faith he glorified god right and being
50:11
fully persuaded means that something was spoken
50:15
to him verse 21 of romans was said something
50:18
was spoken said being fully persuaded that's
50:23
what he had promised he was able to perform away
50:29
from what abraham himself would do so it means
50:34
that when we observe his life at this point we
50:36
can say he's now fully persuaded of what god
50:41
wants to do that he himself god will do it so
50:47
we can say he's an expression of a weakness of
50:49
faith when he considered eliza it was a as a
50:53
weakness of faith when he considered ishmael
50:55
right to see uh to be the hair of what god will
51:01
do So, it means that we ourselves must pay attention,
51:09
right, to how we walk. Now, when we come to Galatians,
51:14
Galatians actually now explains it, right? Galatians
51:18
now explains it and use that example, use Acts'
51:23
example as someone of the bond or someone of
51:27
the flesh. So, Galatians 4, Galatians 4, 21.
51:35
Galatians 4, 21 to 31, actually, writes, was
52:03
one of the promise, right? So stating that which
52:07
God himself will do. And in Romans 4, it was
52:13
regarded as strong in faith from that point where
52:17
he believed God. And which, verse 24, which things
52:20
are allegory for these are the two covenants,
52:23
the one that was from Sinai and which generates
52:26
to the bond, which is Agar. For the Agar is Mount
52:30
Sinai in Arabia. and answer it to Jerusalem,
52:32
which now is and is in bondage with her children.
52:38
So in this place, if you continue reading, what
52:40
we see there is that that was not God's plan.
52:44
Ishmael was not God's plan. Ishmael was a man's
52:48
plan, was a man's effort. But Isaac was who God
52:53
was pointing to. And we know that also beyond
52:57
Isaac is Christ. Beyond Isaac is Christ himself.
53:04
So we can see these as weaknesses of faith. We
53:08
can check the scripture across the scripture.
53:10
One thing that is consistent among such examples
53:14
as such is that they do not stay in that weakness
53:19
of faith. They do not stay. Now we have Gideon
53:22
as well making a statement, if God be for us,
53:26
what if these things happen to us? We have such
53:29
examples. So many examples are such. One thing
53:33
that is consistent is that they do not stay in
53:36
the place of the witness of the God. They move
53:38
on to believe and fully persuaded. So the key
53:42
word is that to be fully persuaded that what
53:45
God has promised, He will do in your life, in
53:50
the ministry that He has called you to do. That's
53:52
not about to say, faithfully is He who has promised,
53:55
who also will do it. Right? Faith is he who has
53:59
promised, who also will fulfill it, who also
54:02
will bring it to pass. Now, the one thing that
54:06
we can just conclude with today is that also,
54:10
when we go for evangelism, okay, to preach the
54:16
good news of Christ, it is not you that will
54:21
save the man, but it is through you that the
54:26
man will be saved do we get it it is not you
54:31
that will say so most of the time it's we are
54:35
so we can be so full of uh how do i want to say
54:39
it's prepare all the words what what should i
54:42
say yes it's good but in that you must know that
54:46
your communication would be the spirit working
54:54
in the person not in the eloquence of your word.
54:58
So when we go for evangelism, it's not all about
55:00
you trying to save, trying to convince. Yes,
55:03
you have to persuade them, you have to explain
55:05
the scripture to them, but it is not you who
55:07
is saving. So it makes the work easier as you
55:11
go to preach. So if you know that this preaching
55:14
I'm doing, the Holy Spirit is going to walk through
55:16
my teaching, through my explanation of the scripture
55:20
to fulfill what he has said. Right? So we're
55:25
going to, 1 Timothy 2 verse 4. Let's go to 1
55:28
Timothy 2 verse 4 and just wrap it up on that.
55:34
It says, go from verse 1. Let's go from verse
55:37
1. I exhort thee that, first of all, supplications,
55:43
prayer, intercessions, and giving of thanks be
55:46
made for all men, for kings and for all that
55:49
are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and
55:52
peaceable life in all godliness. and honesty
55:55
for this is good and acceptable in the sight
55:57
of god our savior who will have all men to be
56:01
saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth
56:05
and come unto the knowledge of the truth so god's
56:09
promise is that he wants men to come to the knowledge
56:13
of the truth and he wants all men to come to
56:15
the knowledge of the truth and it is taking place
56:18
through you so first when you know that this
56:20
is what god said this is his desire this is what
56:23
it will do your preaching is easy your evangelism
56:27
is easy as you go so as you go you are depending
56:31
on god's promise to save man not on your promise
56:34
to save man okay as you go you are depending
56:38
on god's promise to save man and not on your
56:42
promise to save man so when we tell you to go
56:46
for evangelism we are not telling you promise
56:48
us that you would save somebody Or promise us
56:52
that someone will be saved through you. There's
56:55
nothing like that. But you can be rest assured
57:00
that God will save someone through the preaching
57:03
of the God. So what we tell you to do is to preach.
57:07
Do we get it? So what we tell you to do is to
57:11
preach. So there should be no anxiety, worry,
57:13
or doubt that someone... What if the person is
57:16
not saved? No. What if the person... you know,
57:21
does not understand what I'm saying. What if,
57:24
what if, there should be none of that? Because
57:27
God's promise is that it would save man. Right?
57:31
It would save all men. So, when we go out, we
57:34
should have this boldness and have this faith
57:38
and have this confidence that as I teach, as
57:42
I explain the gospel, the Holy Spirit would save
57:47
this person. Right? That this person will come
57:51
to the knowledge of Christ. So we'll stop here
57:55
for now. Can we be on our feet and just give
57:58
thanks? We appreciate you being here today. We
58:03
hope you carry this word with you throughout
58:05
your week. Don't forget to check the show notes
58:08
for additional insights. Stay connected with
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us through our website or follow us on social
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media. If you were encouraged, share this message
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with someone you care about. Until next time,
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stay blessed.