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Faith for Evangelism (part 2) · 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. All right, so we'll continue from where
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we started on Sunday and I'll just put a little
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bit of things. aligning them well for today's
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teaching. So John chapter one, verse 12. It's
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one of the scriptures that we talked about believing
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in Christ as the resurrected Christ, right? Believing
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in Jesus as the resurrected Christ. John chapter
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one, verse two. As many as are resurrected. Can
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you go to verse 10? Can we start from verse 10,
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please? It was in the word, and the word was
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made by him, and the word knew him not. 11. He
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came to his own, and his own received him not.
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But as many as received him, to them he gave,
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to them gave he power to become the sons of God,
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even to them that believe on his name. Even to
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them that believe on his name. In this context,
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what we see is that John was actually writing
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about what happened in the lifetime of Jesus,
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right? He was in the world, the world was made
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by him, and that he came to his own, right? He
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came to his own would be that scripture that
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we read, and the James, the brothers of Jesus
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were telling him, go and show yourself to the
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world. That's one of it, right? Also, he's a
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Jew, and he came to the Jewish people as well.
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We can see that their rejection is also found
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in that right is also included in that so it
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came to his own his own people rejected him and
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said well as many as received him to them he
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gave the power to become the sons of god even
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to them that believe on his name so here he was
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talking about uh i know yes most of time we are
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prudent to ourselves as well uh but most of that
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was actually talking about the context of the
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people that received Christ right the people
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that receive him uh we can say that the people
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that believe him as the messiah the people that
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believe him as the one that has come not his
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brother at that time but people that followed
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him we can say his disciples give them the rights
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to become the sons of god as many as believe
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that this is the messiah that was prophesied
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right we can put that in that context and say
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they received him right as many as receive him
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give them power to become give them the rights
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to become the sons of God. And the reason is
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that because if you check 1 John chapter 1 verse
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3, 1 John chapter 1 verse 3, state it in another
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way, right? State it in another way by saying
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that now are we the sons of God, right? 1 John
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chapter 1 verse 3. Say now are we the sons of
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God. Now, that shows right a little bit of a
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contrast not so much of a contrast but something
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uh that has taken place right something that
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has taken place so first John chapter i said
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that three verse one okay so first John chapter
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three verse one said behold what manner of love
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the Father has bestowed on to us that we should
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be called the sons of God therefore the world
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knoweth us not because it's Know him not. Beloved,
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now are we the sons of God. And if they not yet
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appear, what we shall be, we, but we know that
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when he shall appear, we shall be like him. For
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we shall see him as he is." Right? So one says,
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as many as receive him, given the power to become
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the sons of God, right? They will become the
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sons of God. As many as believe him, they will
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become the sons of God. So it means that as many
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as believe, While Jesus was alive, as many as
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received his word, he gave them the right to
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say, these ones will come to me. These ones are
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the ones that will come to me. These ones will
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believe they will be where I am, they will be.
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So now at resurrection, they are now the sons
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of God. They are now the sons of God, even those
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that believe in his name. Just to clarify that,
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but he's still in line with the resurrection,
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believe in Christ as the Messiah and as the resurrected.
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Christ. So we see a little bit of goodness. So
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we can say that now we are the sons of God. Now
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we are the sons of God. Good. Now the next thing
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we need to also do point out a little bit is
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that on Sunday, we classify people into groups,
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right? And we mentioned those who believe in
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Jesus as the prophets, right? People believe
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in Jesus as a prophet and they save people who
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also believe in him as agents or believe in Him
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as an agent, but Himself not being God. The question
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we want to try to answer is, are they saved?
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Right? Are they saved? Now, to answer such questions,
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it is difficult to just say, oh, because they
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said Jesus is just an agent and is not God, they
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are not saved. If you do that, it will be too
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short to give a proper way to address the issue.
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But we have to check one or two things in their
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beliefs. Okay? So we have to check one or two
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things that align or shift away from what we
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understand from the scripture. Okay? To be able
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to establish that. Now the first thing that is
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crucial in the statements that Jesus is just
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one of those persons that God sent right, is
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that first they deny the Son of God. That unique
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sonship of Jesus, they deny it. That is the first
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thing. Do you remember when Jesus told them that
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it came from above, right? Even the Pharisees
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understood better. They said you commit like
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you just equate yourself to God. So when Jesus
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described himself that is from the Father and
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is the expression of the Father expressing that
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the Father has understood clearly that the man
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Jesus was saying is God in the body. So the first
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thing we will see is that these people who say
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he's just a person and he's a prophet is that
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they deny the sonship. Now let's see if the sonship
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of Jesus is part of the gospel. Let's see Matthew
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16, 16 which is one of the things that we know.
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Matthew 16, 16, which is very common when Peter's
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answering Jesus, right? He said, and Simon Peter
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answered and said, thou art the Christ, the son
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of the living God, right? Thou art the Christ,
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the son of the living God. So he did not just
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acknowledge and say, well, you are the one who
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will save Israel. Okay? He said, you are. the
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Son of the Living God. Right. Now from history
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you will understand that there were many typologies
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of the Messiah who saved Israel. Okay. There
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were many typologies of the Messiah who saved
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Israel. Right. Moses was one of them. Right.
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Moses was one of them. Now let's see one in Hebrews
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chapter 4. If I get that very right, Hebrews
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chapter 4, we will see that one of the persons,
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Hebrews chapter 4 verse 8, is for if Jesus had
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given them rest, then should he not afterward
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have spoken of what? Another day. Right spoken
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of another day now in some translation. You will
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see that that Jesus is actually what? What is
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it was the name of the person that we expect
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to be there? Joshua right so Joshua therefore
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was one of those people that tried to give Israel
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rests Right now try to give it is it but if you
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are truly giving them rests right there would
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not be another day to talk about another day
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of rest which is we can say today because today
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is a day of salvation right as scriptures will
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say right so it would not have talked about another
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person who would come to give Israel rests or
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another day where God would deliver them from
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their enemies right so we see that very specifically
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this one was almost I mean put in parallel to
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the Messiah the son of the living God so there
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were many people across history that were living
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so they were not just but the Son of the Living
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God reflects much more what God Himself will
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do okay it reflects what God Himself will do
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which is the unique appearance of God salvation
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will come from God right despite all this men
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across history it will come from now again Romans
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1 verse 1 to 3 also adds from layer of this to
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today so from verse one as a poor observant of
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jesus christ called to be an apostle called unto
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the gospel of god which he had promised afore
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by his prophets in the holy scriptures concerning
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his son jesus christ our lord which was made
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of the seed of david according to the flesh and
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declared to be the son of God with power according
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to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection
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from the dead right by whom we receive grace
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and apostleship for obedience to the faiths among
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all nations for his name so we see a lot of emphasis
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of course also on whom being the son of God Being
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the son of God concerning his son and if you
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have been following we explain much more that
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that son Right that son is not procreation Means
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Jesus, I mean God given births biologically,
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but we said is God's appearance in the body,
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which is incarnation in the body Right is unique
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appearance in the body. So it therefore means
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that if we if they say that he's not god right
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they have denied his sonship they have denied
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that it is god himself who saved man okay that
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is the first thing uh we see that they deny the
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fact that if they call him a prophet because
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you remember matthew 16 right so some called
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him John the Baptist, some called him Elias,
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right? It's like calling him an agent or calling
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him a prophet. So what do you call, I mean, what
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do you say? What is your revelation? And he said,
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you are the Messiah, the son of the living God.
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That distinguished Jesus away from anybody who
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has come to save Israel across history. So denying
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the son of God is one of the sonship of Jesus
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is one thing that we see in their context. Now
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let's see the second parts denying the pressing
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of the holy spirit denying the pressing of the
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holy spirit now in most of these uh phases or
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groups of uh explanations Right? They claim,
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right, that the Holy Spirit is not a person.
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They claim that the Holy Spirit is just God using
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some wind and forces and things to make things
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happen. So again, they deny God in that. Right?
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They deny God in that, saying the Holy Spirit.
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So they deny the person of the Holy Spirit, saying
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it's not a person, but God walking through agent.
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So another way is, To put it is that they also
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classify the Holy Spirit as another agent of
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God Right, so they classify the Holy Spirit as
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another agent of God, but let's see who the Holy
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Spirit is, which is who? It means he is a person
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right Ephesians 1 3 Ephesians 1 13 and 14 Ephesians
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1 gives that Ephesians 1 chapter 13 and verse
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13 and 14. purchase possession unto the praise
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of His glory. Now let's take this gradually right
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it says verse 14 which is the earnest soul being
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sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise which
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is the earnest of our inheritance unto the redemption
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of the purchase possession unto the praise of
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His glory. So what does this reflect? This means
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that at the resurrection of the body writes,
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the Holy Spirit plays a role. The same spirits
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that raise Christ from the plays a role in the
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resurrection of the body. It means that at Christ
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appearing, right, the Holy Spirit is the seal,
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right, said is the ennest of our inheritance
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until the redemption of the participants. So
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it means that in that translation, as some people
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say, we, the Holy Spirit plays a role, right,
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the Holy Spirit in the believer Please let's
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go to visuals for 30 as well This is a group
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not the Holy Spirit by which you were sealed
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onto the day of redemption so it's talking to
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believers and we know that is not talking about
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our Salvation in terms of believing in his name,
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but talking about a time of redemption, right
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a time of redemption Do we get it? So it's talking
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about a time of, for example, a time where the
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body would take up, I mean, immortality as 1
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Corinthians 15 would say. So the role of the
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Holy Spirit at Jesus appearing, right, is also
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denied when they deny that the Holy Spirit is
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a person. Do we get it? So the role of the Holy
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Spirit is also denied. It means that They remove
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the Holy Spirit from the context of what will
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happen at the redemption of the body. Right?
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That is just God's agent and is just God's force.
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So while some of them preach the dead burial
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resurrection, they don't preach the ascension,
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which is what we'll talk about. Right? So they
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say, oh, we believe in the dead burial resurrection.
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We believe in the suffering of Christ. But in
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their teaching, in the encompassing things in
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their teaching, they take away, right, they take
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away the significant person of the Holy Spirit,
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right, in the life of the believer. And therefore,
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when it comes to the redemption of the body,
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the question you would ask is, so what will happen
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to them, right? If they don't believe that the
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Holy Spirit is the promised seal, right? unto
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salvation unto redemption what will happen to
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them so these two things right denying the sonship
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of christ which is jesus and denying the person
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of the holy spirit as a person right reflects
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that they do not actually believe right it reflects
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that they do not believe right in christ because
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he promised the spirit in in john chapter 14
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Right? John 14, verse 14, 15, John chapter 16,
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explained about the Comforter. Right? It talks
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about another spirit, which is Alus Paracletus,
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right? Another spirit. So it means that the entirety
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of that teaching about how Jesus will abide with
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them forever is not found in them. Right? Is
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not found. in their teaching therefore we can
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see we have the Holy Spirit right and therefore
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they can't be saved because they didn't believe
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in such people now we can go uh we can go further
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let's see in John 1st John chapter 2 verse 19
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let's start with 1st John chapter 2 verse 19
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No doubt I've continued with us, but I went out
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that they might be made manifest that they were
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not all. They were not all of us, that they were
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not all of us. Now go to Hebrews 10, 39. This
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one is talking about people who are in the gathering,
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right, and seem to be as if they were part of
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the body of Christ, right? It said they left.
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as a proof. So they are living, right, as a proof.
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It means that there can be people that seemingly
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look like the part of the Christian body, but
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they are not part of the Christian body. Okay?
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They are not part of the Christian body. They
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might, they might seemingly look like Christian
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body. They might even use similar books. Now,
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Hebrews 10, there's a lesson of, I think we read
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this, of whom natural appellation means support.
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See, support, suppose ye, again of our most sure
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punishment supposing shall he be taught worthy
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who are trodden on the foot the Son of God and
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counted the blood of his covenant wherewith he
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has sanctified an unholy thing and had done this
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right unto the spirit of grace right unto the
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spirit of grace talking about the Son of God
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again God himself is sacrificed and the spirit
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of grace so all of this is together that's why
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when we teach salvation we teach all of this
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in encompassing right when we teach about salvation
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we teach all of this in a comparison uh talking
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about christ means son of god a sacrifice and
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a spirit that is why we teach about his ascension
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his presence his indwelling right christ indwelling
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so in those teachings you will never find them
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say christ spirit is the holy spirit Right, so
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the moment they cannot say Christ spirit is the
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Holy Spirit Then there's a challenge there because
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the Holy Spirit which is Christ himself indwelling
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so the The evidence of salvation is the indwelling
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Right the evidence of salvation is the indwelling
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but all that Christ Sacrifice was not for you
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to be empty What's that you will be found in
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him? So the indwelling is the evidence of salvation.
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So the question is do they have the indwelling,
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do they believe in it, do they have it? And therefore
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if they don't then they can't in essence do greater
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works. It will be difficult or impossible for
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them to do greater. So what he was talking here
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is about people who have not believed. Hebrews
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10 verse 10, right? Talking about people who
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have not believed, and emphasizing that they
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probably, they had this information, but they
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looked away from it. So if you read from verse
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26, it said, for if we say willfully that after
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that we have received knowledge of the truth,
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there remain no more sacrifice for sins, but
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a sudden fearful looking of judgment and fear,
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indignation, and all of that. So it means that
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in this assembly, the Word was preached. The
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knowledge of God of Christ was preached, right?
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In this assembly. It was preached. The truth
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of the knowledge was preached. The sacrifice
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of Christ was explained to them. The sonship
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of God was explained to them. The sonship of
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Christ, rather, was explained to them. The spirit
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of race was also explained. But in denying the
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existence of all that, right, there's no salvation.
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So there's no more sacrifice for sin. So we can
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see that the people that were they were talking
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about fear are similar to the people that we
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talked about that they don't believe in the spirit
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of grace and in what Christ uh has his final
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walk in us his final walk in us so most of the
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time what we find them doing is kind of appreciating
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Jesus for doing what God sent him to do right
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so they will say Oh, we are thanking Jesus because
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He really did well. Right? He did well. That
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is the kind of teaching we get. Oh, we need to
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find a day to celebrate Him because He did well.
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Right? Not that God saved man. Right? Because
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they don't equate that together. So we add this
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as part of the teaching. Now, we will notice
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that this is different. These people are different
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from people like John Mark. Right? Here, they're
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talking about someone who has just believed the
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gospel right not someone who has believed now
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let's go to Acts chapter 13 or Acts chapter 12
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let's start from Act 12 let's show you someone
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who actually believed the gospel and uh maybe
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drew back in ministry right someone who has believed
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the gospel but drew back in ministry we can see
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that very clearly in the case of uh the person
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named John Mark chapter 12 verse 25. He said,
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and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem,
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when they had fulfilled their ministry, they
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took with them John, whose son name was Mark.
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Right? So they came back to Jerusalem, right?
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North Jerusalem, of course, where the apostles
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are, where the teachings are being done, and
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they took John Mark alongside for their walk.
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Now in Acts 13 -13, John Mark left them and returned
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back to Jerusalem where they took him from. Right,
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so he said, and when Paul and his company moved
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from Paphos, right, they came to Pagia and Pamphylia,
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and John Mark departed from them, returned to
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Jerusalem. Right, he returned to Jerusalem. Now,
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what was happening here is he drawing back from
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a particular ministry, right? He left the field,
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right? They were going together and he just left
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the field. He went back to, probably he wanted
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no comfort, you know, because what Paul and his
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company were facing and Barabas is not something
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for the weak. You know, maybe we can say his
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fate is weak in this context. We don't know the
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reason, but it just shows clearly that he went
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back, he left them and returned to Jerusalem.
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Of course, we know Jerusalem is much easier for
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him. There is no problem in leadership role for
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him. You just need to receive a lot of that.
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So, those are my speculations, but we can check
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that in Acts 15 verse 36, there was an issue
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between Paul and Barnabas. And some days after
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Paul said unto Barnabas, let us go again and
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visit our brethren in every city where we have
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preached the word of God. And see, to take them,
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John, whose name was Mark, but Paul thought not
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good to take him with them, who departed from
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them, from Parthelia, and went not with them
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to the walk." You see? He did not continue in
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the walk with them. So this is not a loss of
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salvation. It's actually someone drawing back.
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So this person is saved. Okay? This person is
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saved, was under the teaching in Jerusalem, was
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under the apostle's teaching. He followed Paul
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and we see that's clearly in the scripture. So
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we can say he's saved, but he drew back from
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the war. Now let's see another person that sometimes
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we wonder clearly if he was saved, or we've thought
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previously probably he was not saved. But let's
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check the scripture and see. Let's check Apollos.
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Right, let's check Brother Apollos. Acts. Right,
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we move to Acts chapter 18. Right, we move to
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Acts chapter 18. Let's pay a little bit of extra
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attention to what we are reading. From verse
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24. knowing only the baptism of John. Right,
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knowing only the baptism of John. And he began
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to speak boldly in the synagogue when Aquila
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and Priscilla had heard, right, they took him
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into, they took him unto them and expel unto
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him the way of God more perfectly. And when he
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was disposed to pass into a care, the brethren
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wrote, exalting the disciples to receive him.
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Now, it's quite a little bit of a task to check
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this, but the first thing we would see is that
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it was going about teaching in the synagogue.
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Right? The first thing we would see, there is
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someone that is going out teaching in the synagogue.
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So that's the first thing we can pick there.
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There is an eloquent man, mighting the scriptures,
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referring to, he knows the scriptures very well,
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maybe not the interpretation, maybe not the correct
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interpretation, right? But he knows the scriptures,
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right? He could tell you, you know, as much scriptures,
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we can say he knows so much. of the scriptures
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where the scriptures are how the scriptures are
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written and all of that but the revelation of
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the scripture is needed right so he came to Ephesus
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and he was instructed again he was instructed
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in the way of the Lord that's another thing right
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he said he was instructed in the way of the Lord
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fathomed in spirit and thought diligently the
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things of the Lord learned only the baptism of
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John so most times not only the baptism of John
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is where we get stuck right is where we get stuck
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because uh the baptism of John sometimes we take
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some parts of John's baptism or some parts of
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John's teaching the baptism of John referring
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to John's teaching okay he wasn't talking about
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that Apollo's uh Paul John dipped him into water
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probably and probably they never even met right
29:54
but Simon taught him about the teachings of John
29:56
so in the teachings of John sometimes we pick
29:59
some parts and leave some part. So if you pick
30:01
some part of John's teaching, right, you would
30:05
actually say, ah, it was not saved, right? You
30:07
would say it was not saved. But if you pick the
30:09
entirety of what John taught, right, you would
30:14
know that he said, but does not have a clarity
30:16
on what he should be preaching, right? It does
30:19
not have place on what he should be preaching,
30:21
but it was saved. Now, how would we say that
30:24
if you check John's teaching? While he tries
30:27
to point to the Christ, it does not end there.
30:32
In John's teaching, he tries to point to Jesus,
30:35
but it does not end there. He told them that
30:40
he will baptize them with what? The spirit and
30:43
fire. So he already taught all of that about
30:48
what Christ would do, about a salvation that
30:52
will come through Christ. So it was not just
30:55
trying to identify, we're trying to tell them
30:57
that this is the person you should follow. So
30:59
he already preached Christ. Right? He already
31:02
preached Christ to them. So he talked about the
31:05
Spirit of God. So we can say John denied the
31:08
Holy Spirit. No. In John's teaching there is
31:12
no denial of the Spirit. There is no denial of
31:17
the Spirit and therefore we know that his teaching
31:21
is definitely complete. Right? complete. So it
31:24
means that there are certain ways that appellers
31:27
were teaching, right, that needed to be corrected
31:31
by those people who spoke to him. So Aquila and
31:35
Priscilla saw the way he taught and took him
31:38
in for what we can call a teaching meeting. Okay,
31:44
Aquila and Priscilla took him in for a teaching
31:46
meeting. It is different from when you see, when
31:50
Paul see people and we see other people and they
31:52
have not believed. and they pray for them and
31:54
they teach them about the salvation of Christ
31:59
rather it was a teaching about the teachings
32:04
it was already teaching so it wasn't anything
32:07
new but from the teaching from the scriptures
32:10
it knew there were explanations onto him so we
32:13
can continue to check this so we can say this
32:16
person to some extent is uh we can say that he's
32:19
saved using all all of this so He's not someone
32:22
who is uh, what can we say? He's not someone
32:26
who is throwing down the son of god. It doesn't
32:29
fit in into what ibris 10 verse 29 would say
32:33
it doesn't fit in into that doesn't also fit
32:35
in into into john all right, so We can say that
32:40
this is different and therefore you can't categorize
32:42
them as people who don't believe Right in the
32:44
spirit of god and in christ as being the son
32:47
of god, right in the spirit of god and in christ
32:50
as being the Son of God. All right, so therefore
32:56
we can say that these people, they are fates.
32:58
They are fates in God. We can't think that. We
33:01
can definitely say Apollos had faith in God.
33:04
We can definitely say John Mark also had faith
33:08
in God, okay? He had faith in God. Now, that
33:12
will take us to what faith is, right? That will
33:15
take us to what faith is to, because Pastor already
33:18
started teaching on that. I think Pastor Chidi,
33:20
also opened us up to that. But I just put it
33:25
in same thing putting it in just some facets
33:29
to help us see how faith is used. So I said they
33:34
have faith. They have faith in God, right? They
33:37
have faith in God. They've expressed their faith
33:38
in God. So first we can see that faith, the word
33:42
faith, right? The word faith is used to explain
33:47
salvation, to refer to salvation. Like salvation
33:51
directly right is used to refer to salvation
33:56
Faith is used to refer to salvation And we can
34:06
see Galatians 3 26 speak of your scriptures Galatians
34:10
3 26 Version 5 verse 4 1st John 5 verse 4, let's
34:20
write it down then 2 Colossians 3 verse 6, 1st
34:27
John 5 verse 4 we can pick 1st Corinthians 6
34:42
verse 12 Second second Corinthians, sorry, it
34:48
should be second Corinthians 6 verse 12. We pick
34:51
second Corinthians 6 verse 12 That should be
34:58
Let's start with Galatians. I'm gonna correct
35:07
part of scripture. Let's start with Galatians
35:08
3 verse 26 Galatians 3 verse 26. Can you put
35:12
it up? by faith in Christ Jesus, right? So, they
35:19
are all the children of God by faith of Christ
35:21
Jesus. Talking about, we are children of God
35:24
by salvation in Christ Jesus. Talking about salvation
35:28
here, right? What brings a man into, right, into
35:32
Christ, talking about salvation. The next scripture,
35:37
1 John 5 verse 4. For whatever is born of God,
35:46
overcomes the world. And this is the victory
35:48
that overcomes the world, even our faith, right?
35:52
It's talking about the salvation of man here
35:55
that overcomes the world. Now, the scripture
35:57
I was looking for is in 2 Corinthians 13 verse
36:01
5. That should be the scripture. I think there's
36:10
a typo here. Hi Jack first first Corinthians
36:18
Was a typographical in my studies That's inverse
36:26
five Okay, so that's inverse five second Corinthians,
36:35
yes second Corinthians 13 verse five examines
36:39
yourself whether you be in fluid right prove
36:42
yourselves prove your own selves, know that your
36:45
own selves are that Jesus Christ is in you, except
36:49
ye be republished. Now, this is kind of a, what
36:52
I say, a rhetorical question, right? It's not
36:54
saying that they should actually take themselves,
36:59
whether they are saved, because in the next line,
37:03
it says Christ is in you, right? In the next
37:06
line, it says Christ is in you. It says except
37:09
ye be republished, right? So, in this context,
37:12
we can see in a little way right uh pointing
37:15
to salvation right pointing to salvation that
37:19
they are in the faith in the faith now he's not
37:22
using working here he's not using uh some action
37:25
word that would make us think uh that is faith
37:28
in terms of lifestyle but he's saying so examine
37:31
yourself that you're in the faith and he says
37:33
christ is in you so that's salvation right that's
37:38
uh clint salvation in that context So again,
37:42
we can see faith in that essence as salvation.
37:46
Let's see, faith is used also for teaching, which
37:48
we can write down. Faith is also used for teaching.
37:55
It's also used for teaching to explain the doctrine
37:58
of Christ, the word that we receive. 1 Timothy
38:04
6 verse 12, 1 Timothy 6 verse 12. I'll just write
38:10
the scriptures down there. We'll read it again.
38:12
1st Timothy 6 verse 12. Then 1st Timothy 4 verse
38:19
6. And Jude chapter 3. Jude verse 3. Now here
38:36
saying fight the good fight of faith they hold
38:38
of an eternal life way unto doubt also be called
38:41
Maybe we can read from verse 11, right? If you
38:45
can just take it back a little bit All right,
38:52
let's get the first Timothy Six but that one
38:58
man of God free these things and follow after
39:00
righteousness godliness faith love uh patience
39:06
next then it's a fight a good fight of faith
39:10
now in this chapter right it's actually emphasizing
39:13
on the doctrine right fighting for the faith
39:16
right a good fight of faith is talking about
39:19
fighting for the doctrine right uh staying stable
39:23
for the doctrine contending for the doctrine
39:26
right contending for the faith similar words
39:28
you say you contend for the faith for what is
39:32
being thought about Christ, right? Containing
39:34
for the faith, fighting for the faith. Jude 3
39:38
is the one that says, content for the faith,
39:40
right? We're going to go to Jude 3. It says,
39:42
content for the faith. Jude 3, right. It says,
39:50
beloved, when I give all diligence to write to
39:55
you of the common salvation, right, as it was
39:57
needful for me to write to you and exhort you
40:00
that you should earnestly content for the faith,
40:02
which was when delivered unto the saints. So
40:05
what is delivered unto the saints is the doctrine
40:07
of Christ, right? The teachings of Christ reflect
40:10
that the doctrine of Christ is faith as well.
40:14
It's faith. And 1st Timothy 4 verse 6 uses the
40:17
word of faith, the word of faith that is being
40:20
preached to us, right? The word of faith that
40:21
we receive, the word of faith that is explained
40:24
to us. So we can see also that it's also used
40:28
as the same word, faith. 1 Timothy 4 verse 6.
40:36
If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these
40:39
things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus
40:42
Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and
40:44
of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.
40:48
So again, doctrine explains here in faith. So
40:52
again, faith, the third one, faith is also used
40:57
in the scripture to explain the response to the
41:02
word of faith. Faith is also used to explain
41:08
the believer's response to the word of faith.
41:14
Response to the word of faith. Romans 10 verse
41:20
8 explains this. Romans 10 verse 8. Romans 10
41:30
verse 8. It's about what's in it. The word is
41:33
in... is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, in thy
41:36
heart. That is the word of faith which we preach.
41:40
Now, verse 17. Can I go to verse 17 of that same
41:45
chapter? Verse 17 of that romance. So then faith
41:50
comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
41:55
Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of
41:57
God. So here it talks about the response, right?
42:04
The response of the believer. There are other
42:06
scriptures that also talk about this. It talks
42:08
about the response of the believer. Now, let's
42:10
go to the fourth one. Then I would explain some
42:13
further things to us. Faith is also used to explain
42:16
the lifestyle of the believer. Faith is also
42:24
used to explain the lifestyle of the believer.
42:29
It means what the believer does like what's the
42:33
believer does like what the believer what a believer
42:36
does So second Corinthians 5 verse 7 second Corinthians
42:48
5 verse 7 Second Corinthians 5 verse 7 Ephesians
43:00
6 verse 16 Ephesians 6 verse 16 Ephesians 6 verse
43:09
16 James 1 verse 6 to 8 James 1 verse 6 to 8
43:18
James 1 verse 6 to 8 James 5 James 5 verse 16
43:38
James 5 verse 16. Then add this filament chapter
43:46
1 verse 6 and we can start with that. Filament
43:49
chapter 1 verse 6. So let's start with that.
43:53
Let's start with that. Let's start with filament
43:55
chapter 1 verses. We'll just take it back with
43:56
him. We'll go up there again. Okay. So what this
44:01
is saying is that the believers light is a life
44:05
of faith. The Big Bangs lifestyle is also called
44:08
faith. That the communication of thy faith may
44:10
be factual by acknowledging every good thing
44:13
which is in you, right? In Christ Jesus. This
44:16
can refer to first acknowledging is the first.
44:21
So we can say that by acknowledging every good
44:24
thing that is in you, the communication of your
44:26
faith will be effective. We can say that, right?
44:30
So acknowledging all that is yours in Christ.
44:35
makes the communication of your faith effective,
44:39
right? It makes the communication of your faith
44:41
effective. And communication there would also
44:45
mean what you do as a believer, right? What you
44:48
do as a believer effective because you acknowledge
44:52
all that is yours in Christ, right? What you
44:54
do as a believer, the communication of your faith
44:59
because your lifestyle is faith. Now let's go
45:01
to the next one, James 5. James 5, verse 16,
45:05
which talks about the prayer of faith, right?
45:09
The prayer of faith. Confess of what's one another
45:14
and pray for one another, that give me the effect
45:16
of having prayer of the righteous man abelitmo.
45:18
So we just use the prayer of faith, right? Abelitmo.
45:22
So it's talking about the life of the believer,
45:24
what the believer does, right? What the believer,
45:28
the lifestyle of the believer, an activity that
45:30
is found within the believer is faith. So prayer
45:34
can be referred to as faith in this context.
45:38
Now the next one is James chapter 1 verse 6 to
45:41
8. So Balani Maxin we find is Ephesians 6 verse
45:51
16, Ephesians 6 verse 16. Above all, taking the
45:59
shield of faith wherein ye shall be able to quench
46:03
of the fairy are that of the enemy right so taking
46:07
up the shield of faith right referring to what
46:10
the believer right engages in what the believer
46:13
engages we're talking about an activity that
46:15
a believer is not talking about salvation or
46:18
talking about fight here in terms of fighting
46:21
we're talking about what a believer engages in
46:23
an activity found within the space of the believer
46:25
the next one please and second Corinthians 5
46:30
7 Because what we want to establish is actually
46:34
to say that what we do, right, should be regarded
46:39
as faith, is faith, not should be regarded, is
46:42
faith. For we work by faith and not by sight.
46:44
Now, where are we going with all of this is to
46:48
bring all the scriptures together to explain,
46:52
right, to explain that your inactivity in the
46:57
areas of your life that the scripture says, right,
47:00
is reflecting a weakness of your faith. But the
47:06
more you do it, it's showing you are strong in
47:09
faith and it strengthens your faith. Do we get
47:13
it? So that's where we're going, that the lifestyle
47:15
of a believer is faith itself. Then when we don't
47:21
see you walk in those things, we can begin to
47:23
ask you, where is your walk of faith? We can
47:28
question, what is your walk of faith? Means the
47:31
things that we see in you that makes us, we don't
47:36
need to tell you to explain Matthew 16 verse
47:39
16 for us. We know that you are in faith. The
47:44
lifestyle that moves. So it means that, it therefore
47:50
means that in addition to, Knowing how to interpret
47:59
the scriptures and following the Bible and all
48:04
of that, every aspect of your life you must check
48:07
to ensure that you are engaging in them. Do you
48:11
get it? So it's not like a substitution like,
48:14
okay, I'll do evangelism, I want to read my Bible.
48:16
Or like me, I'm a prayer person. I only do prayer,
48:21
I don't do Bible study. Right? Or you say, well,
48:24
me, What the gift of God for me is my voice and
48:31
that is my point of meeting God, right? There
48:35
is nothing as such. You are weak in everything.
48:39
You are hiding under voice. That is what you're
48:44
doing. You are hiding under voice or you say
48:47
this is the aspect that me I think I can function.
48:50
I only stay on the engine. You don't study the
48:53
Bible. You don't pray. It shows that You are
48:56
working in faith in those areas. You are not
48:59
working in faith in those areas. Right? So you
49:04
know that regularly it is necessary for the believer
49:07
to sit down and take a stock, take an account
49:11
of yourself. Right? So regularly you need to
49:14
say that, okay, prayer, how is it going? Evangelism,
49:18
how is it going? Studying the word, how is it
49:20
going? You need to regularly take stock of every
49:24
part of your life. to ensure that you are working
49:27
the work of faith. And last week I said, on Sunday
49:31
I said, most of the things that you will discover
49:34
in that accounting is that there is anxiety somewhere,
49:39
especially when it comes to evangelism, right?
49:43
There's lack of commitment somewhere, right?
49:45
There's lack of, you would find out many things
49:48
and by that you are able to make corrections.
49:55
So, what we are saying is that every part of
49:57
the believer's life is a walk of faith and is
50:00
exercised in faith. That's another thing. It
50:02
is exercised in faith. So it's not like after
50:06
you take those talks, you now say, well, this
50:09
is my strategy. Yes, you can have, you know,
50:11
a good strategy and all of that, but you must
50:14
know that this thing is by faith. Sometimes you
50:16
don't feel like, but you must do it. Sometimes
50:20
it doesn't make any sense. Sometimes you just
50:23
go out because you have set that time that you
50:27
will go out. But your mind and your body is not
50:30
feeling it. Just go. There are many times that
50:35
we've gone through evangelism that you just go
50:37
out and you're not planning to meet this particular
50:45
guy who is in the second category that we'll
50:48
talk about. Some of you know the second category.
50:50
There are so many words in their head. They've
50:52
received many doctrine about Jesus, but they
50:57
are unbelievers. And they are ready to argue
50:59
with you, right? Sometimes you just go, but I
51:02
mean, I won't say it's the wrong thing, but fortunately,
51:05
not unfortunately, that's the person that you
51:06
met, right? And you are able to convince them
51:11
about the person of Christ. That shows that it
51:15
is not by your own strength, right? There was
51:18
one day, I think we were doing a evangelism on
51:20
campus and I was supposed to be the second man,
51:24
not the front line person. You know what I mean,
51:26
right? The person that would talk and the other
51:28
person is the... So, we went and the person was
51:31
talking and I wasn't necessarily plan to talk.
51:35
And after the guy had gotten to some points,
51:38
I asked him, brother, come and be the second
51:40
man. Let me be the first man so that this person
51:44
will not think that we don't know what we came
51:46
here to do. So, I didn't really plan to talk
51:50
on that day, but when I got there, from where
51:54
the conversation dropped, I just picked it. And
51:57
the Holy Spirit just flowed, right? And the guy,
52:01
what the guy said was, they've not taught us
52:03
like this. Sincerely, he said, they've not taught
52:08
us like this. This is not what we think. It was
52:10
about Jesus, it was about Jesus being the procreation
52:14
of God. And after I explained, they said they've
52:18
never taught us like this. You know, he was in
52:21
the other boys department, so I tell him, he's
52:22
in your department, please go and read. And that's
52:25
another thing. We need a whole lot of knowledge
52:28
to help us to grow. So sometimes you just go
52:30
out and you just jam it. And you have to really
52:36
trust the strength of God, the wisdom of God.
52:39
Sometimes in my office, I'm not interested in
52:42
doing evangelism at that time. I'm just trying
52:43
to finish the work. and this professor just coming,
52:46
Emmanuel, what do you think about heaven? He
52:50
brings himself all the time. And even if that
52:54
work is very important, sincerely, I drop it
52:57
and I just sit down and we start talking. He
53:01
calls me my pastor. He says, my pastor, I like
53:04
your view. But you know, the end point is not
53:08
my view, right? The end point is to get him saved.
53:11
So sometimes we can go on paper boat... You must
53:13
always trust in the strength of the Holy Spirit,
53:16
right? You must always trust. Sometimes even
53:18
when you want to approach people, you are thinking,
53:21
you are contemplating, but when you trust in
53:24
the strength of the Holy Spirit, right, it just
53:26
flows. It just flows. So, while it is a work
53:29
that we do by faith and we take stuff of our
53:31
life, what we must know is that we depend on
53:35
the strength of the Spirit. Praise God! Can we
53:38
just pray that we are strengthened by the Spirit
53:41
of God in our inner man. We appreciate you being
53:46
here today. We hope you carried this word with
53:49
you throughout your week. Don't forget to check
53:52
the show notes for additional insights. Stay
53:54
connected with us through our website or follow
53:57
us on social media. If you were encouraged, share
54:01
this message with someone you care about. Until
54:04
next time, stay blessed.