Latest / Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons / What To Do After a Believer's Conference pt. 2

Transcript

What To Do After a Believer's Conference pt. 2 · Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons

0:02
Hi there. Welcome to NECF. We're excited to share
0:07
today's message with you. Don't go anywhere.
0:10
Stay with us till the end for some valuable resources
0:14
to enrich your faith. Here's today's sermon.
0:23
Amen. Praise the Lord. Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter
0:31
2. From verse 42 to 47. So they continued steadfastly
0:39
in the apostles' doctrines and in fellowship,
0:42
in breaking of bread and in prayers. Then fear
0:46
came over every soul. Many signs and wonders
0:50
were done through the apostles. Now all who believed
0:53
were together and had all things in common, and
0:57
they sold their possessions. and goose and divided
1:01
them among themselves as anyone had needs. So
1:05
continually daily with one accord in the temple
1:09
and breaking of bread from house to house, they
1:12
ate their food with gladness and simplicity of
1:14
heart, praising God and having favor with all
1:18
the people. And the Lord added to the church
1:21
daily those who were being saved. Praise the
1:24
Lord. And we said that part of the things that
1:27
we do as After the believers' meeting, or even
1:32
after any meeting of God's people, is that we
1:37
continue in the Apostles' doctrines. We continue
1:41
in the things that have been taught to us. We
1:45
make it a part of us. We go back to the things
1:50
again to ensure that we understand them. Praise
1:53
the Lord. There are a lot of people that have
1:55
questions. maybe you've not had this type of
2:00
teaching before, or you didn't understand what
2:03
is going on, that there is need for you to go
2:06
back and to listen again, to continue in the
2:10
Apostle's doctrine, to be steadfast in it, praise
2:14
the Lord, to not stop. Praise the Lord. To continue
2:17
means to not stop, right? To be devoted to it,
2:21
to give yourself to the Apostles' Doctrine. It's
2:23
what we see in Acts chapter 2, that they continue
2:26
in the Apostles' Doctrine. The things that were
2:28
taught, they made it a part of their life. They
2:31
allowed it to change their life, to change the
2:34
things that they were doing. Praise the Lord.
2:37
Part of the teachings or part of the things that
2:39
was being taught to them is how to fellowship
2:42
together, how not to forsake the assemblies of
2:45
themselves. That's why we see that they are together.
2:48
They ate together. They saw the things that they
2:50
have and they ensured that nobody had need. Praise
2:54
the Lord. So these are some of the teachings
2:55
that came to them. And these are some of the
2:58
implications we see from the scriptures that
3:02
these people have no need. among themselves because
3:05
whenever they come together, people had enough.
3:08
Praise the Lord. People had enough. So the pastors
3:16
took time, as I was explaining on Sunday, that
3:19
the pastors took time, five sessions and maybe
3:24
minimum of one hour, 15 minutes each or more
3:27
to teach, to teach us doctrines, to teach us.
3:32
the ways of God to teach us the things that we
3:35
need to learn. So, and for example, Pastor Victor
3:39
was teaching about laying of hands, right? And
3:42
so many other teachings came. He didn't just,
3:45
I remember Pastor Costin was talking and he was
3:47
like, if somebody was teaching that, maybe from
3:50
beginning, he would just start laying hands.
3:53
Praise the Lord. But we see that there was up
3:55
to four or five sessions of teachings concerning
3:58
a thing before the practical started. Praise
4:02
the Lord. Because you cannot act or you cannot
4:04
behave out of knowledge. You cannot just do it
4:07
because somebody says you should do it. You will
4:10
do it when you have the knowledge of it. Praise
4:13
the Lord. That's why when we see that somebody
4:14
is not speaking in tongues, we don't tell you,
4:17
start speaking in tongues because this is the
4:20
Apostles' Doctrine. Praise the Lord. This is
4:23
what you should do. We go through the Scriptures
4:25
to explain to you why... you should speak in
4:29
tongue or why speaking in tongue is part of your
4:32
life, praise the Lord, or part of your makeup.
4:35
So the pastors took time to teach us, praise
4:38
the Lord. So it therefore means that we also
4:40
need to take time to continue in the things that
4:43
we have been taught, praise the Lord, to continue
4:46
in the things that we have been taught, to go
4:49
back to them. If you have questions, to ensure
4:51
that we ask them, praise the Lord. So they took
4:54
time to teach us because knowledge comes before
4:57
you begin to see manifestations. Praise the Lord.
5:00
Or you are able to do manifestation. If you don't
5:03
have knowledge of it, you will not be able to
5:06
do anything. Praise the Lord. So it also tells
5:11
us, it also gives us a pattern that we should
5:15
follow. Praise the Lord. It gives us a pattern
5:18
that we should follow, that doctrines are taught
5:21
to edify us. And when they edify us, then we
5:24
begin to do the practical aspect of it or begin
5:26
to show the manifestation of it. Praise the Lord.
5:30
We should learn from the method that we have
5:32
been taught. So it encourages us to continue
5:36
in the apostles' doctrines, to continue in the
5:39
things that we have been taught. Praise the Lord.
5:42
And the reason why we should continue in those
5:45
things is so that we will know what is original.
5:49
Praise the Lord. We saw it from on Sunday that
5:51
we'll know that which is true. You continue in
5:54
the doctrine so that you're able to distinguish
5:56
between that which is false and that which is
5:59
true. We continue because we want to live in
6:04
victory. Praise the Lord. We continue because
6:08
we want to live in victory. Praise the Lord.
6:14
And then we also learned that man is God's method
6:18
and plan on the earth. Man is God's method and
6:24
plan on the earth. So from that teaching, I don't
6:28
know if you were challenged to understand how
6:32
important you are in the agenda of God. Praise
6:36
the Lord. From that teaching, I don't know if
6:39
it's... Helped you to understand how important
6:42
you are in the agenda of God. That the things
6:45
that God wants to achieve on the earth, it is
6:48
through you. Praise the Lord. It is through you.
7:02
We also see from the teaching that Pastor Kostin
7:05
taught us. about spiritual experiences or some
7:08
of the spiritual experiences that we should have,
7:10
that the believer has utterance to their advantage.
7:15
Praise the Lord. The believer has utterance to
7:18
the advantage. It is there to your advantage.
7:21
It is there for you unconditionally. It is there
7:25
for you to practicalize in it. Praise the Lord.
7:28
To continue in spiritual experience. So the things
7:31
that we do after the believer's meeting is to
7:34
continue in those spiritual experience. If you
7:37
are speaking in tongues just as our sister has
7:38
shared, just as our brother has shared as well.
7:41
They continue in the things that they have been
7:44
taught. This is a spiritual experience. They
7:46
have experienced something. They have experienced
7:48
the ability to pray for that long. So they continue
7:52
in it. Praise the Lord. They don't go on vacation.
7:56
They don't fold their hands. But they continue
8:00
in it. Praise the Lord. Matthew chapter 11. Matthew
8:16
chapter 11. Matthew chapter 11 and from verse
8:37
1. He said, Now he came to pass, when Jesus finished
8:43
commanding him. twelve disciples, that he departed
8:46
from there to teach and to preach in their cities.
8:53
And when John heard in prison about the work
8:56
of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said
9:00
to him, Are you the one coming, or do we look
9:04
for another? And Jesus answered and said to them,
9:07
Go and tell John the things which you hear and
9:11
see. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers
9:14
are cleansed. The deaf hear, the dead are raised
9:18
up, and the poor, the gospel is preached to them.
9:22
And blessed is he who is not offended because
9:25
of me. Praise the Lord. So, as we have been taught
9:30
that God is, that man is God's method on the
9:34
earth. That you are the thing, you are the person
9:38
that God... He hopes to accomplish this plan
9:41
that he has. It is you that he walks through.
9:44
It is you that he walks through to perform miracles,
9:47
to heal the sick. Praise the Lord. The song that
9:51
we are singing, we heal the sick, right? We raise
9:54
the dead. It is things that should be practical
9:57
in our lives. Praise the Lord. It is things that
10:00
should be practical in our lives. So we continue
10:03
in these things. We put ourselves in the position
10:09
and in the place where we begin to learn or we
10:13
begin to align ourselves to these things that
10:16
God uses us to manifest his will and his purposes
10:21
on the earth. Praise the Lord. So we see that
10:24
the disciples of John came to Jesus and they
10:26
asked him a question. He said, are you the coming
10:29
one or do we look for another? Praise the Lord.
10:32
Are you the coming one or do we look for another?
10:37
So John knows what the coming one should be like.
10:43
Praise the Lord. He read it from the prophets,
10:45
right? There is a coming one. He prophesied about
10:48
it. And we said that part of the reason why the
10:51
Bible tells us that John is the greatest in the
10:53
kingdom of God is because he introduced the Christ.
10:57
Praise the Lord. He saw the Christ. He recognized
11:01
the Christ. Praise the Lord. The things that
11:03
the prophet could not see or the things they
11:05
prophesied about, he saw it and he identified
11:08
it and he introduced Christ to the world. Praise
11:12
the Lord. And so he asked Christ the question,
11:14
he said, are you the coming one or do we look
11:17
for another? And it's the same question that
11:22
I want to ask to us. With everything that we
11:24
have learned, with everything that we have learned
11:26
in the cataclysmos, do we need another cataclysmos?
11:31
Or you got what you need? Praise the Lord. Is
11:37
the knowledge, is the doctrine that has been,
11:39
you have learned sufficient for you? Or is it
11:43
enough? Do you still need to sit down and continue
11:47
to receive and not do anything about it? Do you
11:52
still need more teaching so that you are able
11:54
to do the things or you're able to align yourself
11:57
in the will and the purposes of God concerning
12:00
your life? Are you the one? Are you the coming
12:07
one or do we look for another? And so Jesus said
12:11
to him to go and tell him, he said that, tell
12:15
him what you see and what you hear. He said,
12:18
the blind see. And the lame walk, the leopards
12:21
are clean, and the dead is raised up, and the
12:24
poor the gospel is preached to them. Praise the
12:27
Lord. Does this look like the thing that Christ
12:29
said we are going to do? Does it look like what
12:34
Christ said that the believer is going to do?
12:40
Mark chapter 16. Mark chapter 16, verses 15 to
12:46
18. And he said to them, Go into all the world
12:53
and preach the gospel to every creature. He who
12:57
believes and is baptized will be saved. He who
13:00
does not believe will be condemned. And these
13:04
signs will follow those who believe. In my name
13:07
they will cast out demons. They will speak with
13:10
new tongues. They will take up sapient, and if
13:13
they drink anything deadly, it will not by any
13:16
means hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick,
13:19
and they will be recovered. They will recover.
13:25
So we see here that this is what Christ says
13:29
about those who believe. Praise the Lord. The
13:32
same thing that he said to the disciples of John.
13:35
He said, the lame walk and the blind see. The
13:39
gospel is preached to the poor. Praise the Lord.
13:43
So these signs also should follow you or would
13:47
follow you, he says. who follow those who believe.
13:56
So if it's a question of, are you the coming
13:59
one or should we expect another? You say, oh,
14:01
this is what I'm doing. Or this is what I have
14:05
been doing. Praise the Lord. I've been in the
14:09
purpose of God. I've been in the plan of God.
14:13
I've been in alignment to the things of God.
14:16
I speak in new tongues. I heal the sick. I preach
14:20
the gospel. Praise the Lord. So there's no expectation
14:25
for another because I'm already doing that which
14:28
God has destined for me to do. I'm already doing
14:34
that which God has said I am going to do. So
14:39
I say that John knows by the prophet what the
14:42
Christ is or who the Christ should be or what
14:46
he should do. So he speaks about you that you
14:54
would heal the sick, that you would speak with
14:57
new tongues, that you would cast out demons.
15:01
Praise the Lord. So there is no expectation of
15:04
another. 1 Peter tells us that you are a choosing
15:07
generation, you are a royal priesthood. He's
15:12
not just telling you things that will puff you
15:14
off. Oh, you know, some people will tell me,
15:18
you know, they will say, The word is, is it hail
15:23
me or something? You see somebody, you're hyping
15:25
them up. Hype me up, hype me up. Maybe the person
15:28
is wearing a clean dress. You're hyping the person
15:31
up. This is not a hype. Praise the Lord. It's
15:34
not what is said to make you feel good about
15:36
yourself. Oh, I'm a choosing generation. I'm
15:39
a royal priesthood. Praise the Lord. It is a
15:41
reality of your life. It is the reality of your
15:45
life. Like I mentioned on Sunday that If we're
15:50
looking for revival, revival has come to you.
15:53
Something has happened in your life. A shift
15:57
has happened. Praise the Lord. A shift has happened
16:02
to you. A shift has happened to you. Greater
16:10
work will you do. Praise the Lord. So again,
16:17
my sister was saying something during the prayers
16:19
that after what we do is to also pay attention
16:23
to the spiritual things or the prophecies that
16:26
have been said to us. Praise the Lord. The word
16:31
of knowledge, the prophecies, the word that came
16:33
to us, we should pay attention to them. So this
16:37
is what we do after a believers meeting or after
16:40
a gathering of believers is that we pay attention
16:42
to the things that are said. We don't despise
16:45
them. Praise the Lord. 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse
16:51
12 to 16. He said, let no one despise your youth.
16:58
Praise the Lord. Don't let your mind despise
17:06
your youth. You know, there is... Sometimes there's
17:13
a notion in our head that, oh, we are young people,
17:15
you know, there's still time for us to do some
17:18
things. You know, let's not, as a young person
17:22
now, somebody sees you and they say, ah, this
17:24
person is on fire for God. He's going to be like,
17:26
I don't, let me just be, you know, let me be
17:31
somebody who goes to church, but, you know, I
17:33
can have some other accommodation of things.
17:36
Praise the Lord. Let not your mind despise your
17:42
youth. Praise the Lord. Don't despise your youth.
17:48
Before you start showing it and let others despise
17:50
it, you first. Don't despise your youth. Praise
17:54
the Lord. Don't say you are too small for these
17:56
things. Praise the Lord. The word that came to
17:59
you did not come to you and say you are small.
18:03
Praise the Lord. We see in judges, right? We
18:08
see in Judges about Gideon. Judges chapter 6.
18:12
About Gideon. He says, and verse 12 says, The
18:22
angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to
18:24
him, The Lord is with you, you mighty man of
18:26
valor. Praise the Lord. The Lord has called him
18:29
mighty man of valor. He's small among the smallest
18:32
tribe. Praise the Lord. And he's hiding. He's
18:36
showing weakness. By the way. He's hiding. His
18:40
physical state is that he's hiding for his life
18:43
and he's coming out. And the Lord is saying to
18:46
him, you mighty man of valor. So even the Lord
18:53
has not said, oh, you are such a small person.
18:55
You know, I see that you're afraid. No. He said
18:59
to him that you are a mighty man of valor. So
19:03
God sees him. Praise the Lord. So what your definition
19:08
of yourself is from God. We did these studies
19:12
that we get the revelation of ourselves through
19:17
Jesus. Praise the Lord. The revelation of ourselves
19:23
is through Jesus. So don't despise your youth.
19:29
And Gideon said to him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord
19:34
is with us, Why then has all these things happened
19:37
to us? Where are all the miracles which our fathers
19:41
told us, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up
19:45
from Egypt? But now the Lord has forsaken us
19:48
and delivered us to the hands of the Midianites.
19:50
And the Lord said to him, Go in this might of
19:53
yours, and you will save Israel from the hands
19:55
of the Midianites. Have I not sent you? Praise
20:01
the Lord. So even Gideon himself knew the things
20:04
of God. He knew that there's some abnormality
20:07
about our state. Praise the Lord. He knew that
20:11
there's something wrong about where I am. Right?
20:14
In as much as, yes, I'm small. In as much as
20:16
my family is the smallest. In as much as we are
20:19
suffering and we are hiding and we cannot even
20:22
plant. And if we plant, the Midianites will come
20:25
and take it from us. Praise the Lord. They will
20:27
come and destroy our crops and take it. In as
20:29
much as those things are happening to you. Right?
20:32
He's saying that there's something off about
20:34
this. Because what our fathers have told us is
20:37
that God is great in this kingdom. Praise the
20:40
Lord. What our fathers have told us is that God
20:43
has been great in this kingdom. So how is it
20:46
that we are suffering? So in the mind that he's
20:50
going is in the mind that he knows that we are
20:53
not supposed to be there. Praise the Lord. So
20:57
the strength that he's going on is he's going
20:59
in the strength that he knows that something
21:01
is off and we are not supposed to be where we
21:04
are. Praise the Lord. So God sees you for who
21:09
you are. So do not despise your youth. Do not
21:14
say you are too small. Do not say you are the
21:19
firstborn of your family. Maybe they will say
21:21
you have carry Christian things in your head.
21:23
Praise the Lord. Do not say there is nothing
21:29
for me to do. He said, you mighty man of valor,
21:35
a man who is hiding. Let's go back to Timothy,
21:39
1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 12 to 16. He said,
21:48
let no one despise your youth, but be an example
21:51
to the believers in word, in conduct, in love.
21:57
In spirit, in faith. Praise the Lord. He said,
21:59
do not let anyone despise your youth. Right?
22:02
What he's saying is that you should be a believer.
22:05
Be a believer. Praise the Lord. Be my child.
22:09
The list he's giving here is what a believer
22:12
has or what a believer, the traces or what we
22:14
can see in a believer. But be an example in word,
22:19
in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in
22:24
purity. Till I come, give attention to reading
22:28
and exaltation and to doctrine. He said, Do not
22:33
neglect the gift of God that is in you, which
22:36
was given to you by the prophecies with the laying
22:39
of hands of the eldership. Meditate on these
22:45
things. Give yourself entirely to them, that
22:49
your progress may be evident to all. He said,
22:52
Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue
22:55
in them, for in doing this, you will save both
22:58
yourself and to those who hear you. Praise the
23:01
Lord. Let's go to verses 13. 14 run. He said,
23:11
do not neglect the gift of gold that is in you,
23:13
which was given to you by the prophecies with
23:16
the laying of the hands of the eldership. Praise
23:20
the Lord. He said, do not neglect them. So the
23:22
prophecies that came to you, As a result of your
23:26
prayers, as a result of the cathartismus, rather,
23:29
as a result of the prayers that we had here,
23:32
is to do not neglect them. Don't say they are
23:36
too big. How are we supposed to achieve this?
23:38
Or you have received so many words in the past
23:40
before, you know, they said you're going to be
23:42
a pastor. You know, they told me that three years
23:45
ago, four years ago. I'm still here, still struggling.
23:48
Praise the Lord. You say you don't neglect them.
23:52
How do you not neglect these things? How do you
23:55
not neglect these things? How you don't neglect
24:00
them is that you pray about them. Praise the
24:03
Lord. How you don't neglect them is that you
24:06
have it written down. Praise the Lord. You have
24:09
it written down and you pray about them. The
24:17
fact that there is a prophecy that came to your
24:19
life does not mean that it would automatically
24:23
flow. And go and you will start walking in it.
24:27
Praise the Lord. You have to pay attention. You
24:32
have to pay attention to the things that have
24:34
been said concerning your life. The prophecies
24:37
that came upon your life. You have to give attention
24:40
to them. You have to pray about them. You have
24:44
to meditate on them. You have to practice them.
24:53
Praise the Lord. You need to get direction consigning
24:56
some of them. And so you need to pray about them.
25:00
You need to seek the face of God consigning some
25:03
of the things that you have received. If the
25:08
Lord is saying to you that he is going to, or
25:14
somebody, you know, the Lord is saying to somebody
25:17
that you are, you're going to preach or you're
25:20
going to be a preacher. And then where you are
25:24
right now, you don't know any Greek word, for
25:28
example. You don't say, ah, they told me something
25:34
that is too big for me. Praise the Lord. It means
25:37
that you need to seek counsel and get direction
25:39
concerning what you should do. It means that
25:42
you need to start learning. You need to come
25:44
under training. Praise the Lord. You need to
25:47
come under training so that the things that were
25:49
said concerning you will begin to find manifestation.
25:53
Praise the Lord. You need to find, so you don't
25:57
just run off and start. I remember a preacher
26:00
was saying that, God was saying to him that you,
26:02
he's going to, you're going to make friends with
26:06
some people and that is going to be for the kingdom.
26:09
Right? And he just took off and started making
26:12
friends. Praise the Lord. He did not ask for
26:16
which friends should we make or who are the people
26:19
that you are sending me to that we're going to
26:20
be friends, that is going to help us or is going
26:24
to help me, that I'm going to partner with that
26:27
will progress this kingdom. He just took off
26:29
and said, oh, okay, I see that preacher. I see
26:31
this preacher. Okay, let's be friends. Praise
26:34
the Lord. But then he later found out that those
26:36
are not the people that he should be friends
26:38
with because they were going to cause him issues
26:40
and problems. So when the Lord is saying something
26:44
to you or has said something to you, you're confused
26:46
or it's too ambiguous or it's too big, you need
26:49
to start praying about them. You need to start
26:51
seeking counsel about them. What am I supposed
26:53
to do now? Praise the Lord. What am I supposed
26:57
to do now? How do I go about it? Don't leave
27:01
it in the back of your book and maybe somebody
27:04
else again will come and tell you after one year,
27:07
the Lord is saying this thing. You now say, ah,
27:08
they have told me this thing before, but you
27:11
are waiting for it. Praise the Lord. You start
27:13
walking in it. You start finding alignment. You
27:16
start aligning yourself to the things that were
27:19
said. You don't wait for it. Praise the Lord.
27:24
You don't wait for those things to come and meet
27:26
you. Or maybe somebody is You are living the
27:38
way you should not live and they ask you, what
27:40
are you doing like this? Do you not know the
27:41
Lord has said I'll be a preacher? Why are you
27:43
talking to me like this? Praise the Lord. And
27:50
so that's where the church then comes in to help
27:53
us. Praise the Lord. This is where the church
27:57
comes in to help us. I started on Sunday talking
28:01
about the family of God. I was talking about
28:05
Why the Lord has given us the local church. Praise
28:10
the Lord. Why the Lord has given us the local
28:13
church. And I said that the local church is God's
28:16
structure for your spiritual growth. Praise the
28:20
Lord. The local church is God's structure for
28:23
your spiritual growth. It is what God has designed
28:29
that you grow, that you find direction, that
28:31
you find family. It is where you learn how to
28:38
function. Right? In the local church, it's where
28:42
you follow the instructions and the directions
28:45
of the pastors because this is what God has designed
28:48
for you, for your growth. They will guide you.
28:54
And I said to us not to be careful not to join
29:01
those who are saying many bad things about the
29:04
church. That a local church might not be perfect,
29:08
or it might not be as you think it should be,
29:11
but it doesn't mean that you should be speaking
29:13
bad about it. Praise the Lord. Because this is
29:16
God's design for your growth. There are some
29:18
people that have used it for their own benefit.
29:21
Praise the Lord. But it doesn't mean that God
29:23
is not interested again in the local church.
29:27
Praise the Lord. So to give yourself to the local
29:32
church as a place of training. So we must be
29:41
planted again in a local church because that's
29:43
where we learn how to function. Right? We cannot
29:49
grow when we have divided commitment. You are
29:53
in this church. You are in that church. Your
29:56
mom is Anglican. Your father is Catholic. You
30:00
say, okay, let's go to Catholic this Sunday.
30:02
Anglican the next Sunday. You will not grow.
30:04
Praise the Lord. Oh, okay. I'm here in NECF.
30:09
I am somewhere online. That's my church too.
30:12
You know, some Sundays I might not come because,
30:15
you know, my church is holding something online.
30:17
You will not grow. Praise the Lord. There will
30:19
be a lot of confusion in your life because the
30:22
church then has a structure or have a plan for
30:26
your growth. Praise the Lord. The church, the
30:30
local church has a plan for you to grow. They
30:36
don't just say, okay, on Sunday, you know. As
30:39
the Lord is leading, you just preach anything.
30:41
Praise the Lord. At least we don't do that. To
30:44
just say, okay, yeah, just preach anything. Praise
30:48
the Lord. Or just say anything that comes to
30:50
your mind, you know. Or, you know, what studies
30:53
do you think we should do next? Praise the Lord.
30:56
So there's already a plan consigning your growth.
30:59
So when you begin to have those divided commitments,
31:02
you will not be able to grow properly. So to
31:08
hear one thing is how to grow, right? Not many
31:11
things. So you grow by hearing one thing. You
31:18
grow by hearing one thing, not many things, as
31:23
a result of the fact that you have access to
31:25
the social media. We cannot grow like that. We
31:30
cannot have a lot of commitment and grow spiritually.
31:35
Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter
31:44
10 verse 38. Now it happened as they went that
31:59
he entered a certain village and a woman named
32:03
Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had
32:08
a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus'
32:13
feet and had his word. But Martha was distracted
32:17
with many servings, and she approached him and
32:22
said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has
32:26
left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to
32:29
help me. And Jesus said to her, Martha, Martha,
32:34
you're worried? and troubled about many things.
32:38
But one thing indeed, one thing is needed. And
32:42
Mary has chosen the good part, which will not
32:46
be taken away from her. Praise the Lord. Which
32:50
will not be taken away from her. So what Martha
32:54
was doing was very important. Right? What Martha
32:58
was doing was very important. It's a very important
33:00
thing to do, to serve, to... serve in the house
33:05
of God or in the local church, as you say. It
33:08
is a good thing to serve, right? But she was
33:10
worried about many things. She was worried about
33:14
serving, helping. In our case, listening to many
33:21
things or not being committed to a local church
33:24
is the troubles and the worries that you might
33:27
have. Praise the Lord. So in our case, listening
33:31
to many things and not following, not being committed
33:36
to a local church is a thing that will become
33:39
the trouble and the worries that you are having.
33:42
Praise the Lord, or you might have. Praise the
33:44
Lord. And he said, if you sit, he said Mary sat
33:47
in verse 39. He says, and she had a sister called
33:53
Mary who also sat at Jesus' feet and had his
33:56
reward. So sat at Jesus' feet. It's not just
33:59
talking about that what sat at Jesus' feet. It's
34:03
not, it's just merely a geographical location.
34:08
Okay? So it's not, it's not merely that she sat
34:11
on the floor. Praise the Lord. Right? But rather,
34:15
it is that she gave herself to trading. Praise
34:23
the Lord. So, Sat at Jesus' feet that Mary did
34:28
is not just that she's physically sitting at
34:32
Jesus' feet. Just like every person is seated
34:36
in church, but not every person is given to training.
34:40
Praise the Lord. So, sat at Jesus' feet is much
34:44
more than that. That word, sat at Jesus' feet,
34:48
is just more than that. It means to give yourself
34:50
to training. So Mary gave herself to the training
34:56
that Jesus is doing. Praise the Lord. Mary gave
35:02
herself to the training in which Jesus was given.
35:06
So the church is where you give yourself to training.
35:10
The local church is where you give yourself to
35:13
training. We also see in Acts chapter 22 verse
35:18
3. He said, and he said, I indeed am a Jew born
35:39
in Tharsis of Sicilia, no, Silesia, right? But
35:50
I was brought up at the city at the feet of Gamaliel,
35:55
right? So we also see this place. I was brought
35:59
up at the city at the feet of Gamaliel. It's
36:02
also saying that he gave himself to training.
36:06
Right? Taught according to the strictness of
36:09
our father's law and was zealous towards God
36:11
as you all are today. Praise the Lord. So, brought
36:18
up at the city, at the feet of Gamaliel, he's
36:20
saying that he gave himself to training. It's
36:24
the same word that we see in Luke chapter 10,
36:28
verse 38, 39. Right? So, he's giving himself
36:31
to a mentorship. So the church is where you give
36:34
yourself to training. Praise the Lord. You give
36:37
yourself to be trained. So it therefore means
36:43
that you are not the one that designed the curriculum.
36:50
Praise the Lord. So you don't design the curriculum.
36:53
You give yourself to be trained. So the local
36:57
assembly brings structure to your life. Right?
37:03
It brings structure to your life. It's a place
37:05
of mentorship. You should not be just everywhere.
37:10
Praise the Lord. You give yourself to training.
37:15
And so that's why I gave the example of last
37:17
week that if you're thinking about the subject
37:19
of anointing and we are dealing with something
37:23
else, the gospel in Genesis, you might have to
37:26
wait for anointing to reach you. Praise the Lord.
37:29
The teaching of anointing to reach you because
37:31
that's the structure that it is right now. You
37:35
cannot tell your teacher that he's teaching you
37:38
a subject at the beginning of the seventh stanza.
37:43
You want to learn what is before finals. Praise
37:46
the Lord. He should teach you what is beyond
37:47
before finals. So there's a structure that the
37:50
church brings to your life. Praise the Lord.
37:54
You cannot do everything at once. You will not
37:58
just learn everything at once. It comes gradually.
38:00
That's how you get impacted with knowledge. That's
38:03
how you grow. It is that things are done gradually.
38:09
So the church brings order in a systematic way
38:14
to your life. It is not a place of entertainment.
38:17
Praise the Lord. So there's people that will
38:19
say, ah, this is your church service. They're
38:21
not dancing too much or they're not bringing
38:24
comedians. It's not a place, you're not the custodian.
38:29
Praise the Lord. It's not a place of entertainment.
38:35
So it's not, the growth in the church is not
38:40
from human perspective. You don't say, you know,
38:43
as young people. We need some few jokes around,
38:47
some entertainment here and there, some drama
38:49
here and there, some dancing here and there,
38:52
some performance in the stage. We need to bring
38:54
a comedian, you know, something like this. Praise
38:58
the Lord. So it's not, the church is not, the
39:00
growth that happens is not to your own perspective.
39:03
Praise the Lord. That's why it's a place of training.
39:09
It's also not a place where you go. To get pleased.
39:13
The way you go and say, let me please myself.
39:15
Like the way an entertainment place is. Or a
39:18
place where you say you want to go and shine.
39:20
Praise the Lord. A lot of people that came to
39:23
shine, some of them have left. Praise the Lord.
39:27
It's a place of training. So the local church
39:34
provides stability to the believer, stability
39:37
to your prayer life, right? And supernatural
39:40
experiences, just like the way we had catatismus,
39:44
just like the way we had all day prayers. It
39:48
brings stability to your prayer life, to supernatural
39:52
experiences. We organize believers conference.
39:56
We organize a Holy Ghost meeting. Praise the
39:59
Lord. The church brings these things to bring
40:02
stability to your life. Right? We have time for
40:06
prayers. Just like in this service, there was
40:08
50 minutes of prayers. Praise the Lord. So we
40:11
have all these things to ensure that the believer
40:14
is stable and is growing. There's time for evangelism.
40:17
There's time to serve. Praise the Lord. So by
40:21
listening to many people or many things, you
40:25
begin to lack stability. Praise the Lord. Because
40:28
what is said here might be different from what
40:30
is said there. Praise the Lord. And you are getting
40:33
a little from here and there. So when you stick
40:36
to the local church, you will gradually begin
40:38
to grow. Praise the Lord. When you stick to the
40:42
local church, you will gradually begin to grow.
40:45
So you focus more on what is happening in your
40:48
local church, not in the body of Christ. Praise
40:51
the Lord. Focus more on what is happening in
40:54
this local church. not what is happening in the
40:59
body of Christ. If you focus more on what's happening
41:03
in your local church, there will be much more
41:05
growth. Praise the Lord. Because you might see
41:09
somebody that you, you know, according to you,
41:11
the person is misbehaving, but there might be
41:14
somebody in your local church that is showing
41:15
you signs and some symptoms. Praise the Lord.
41:19
If you don't focus on that person, you will grow
41:21
up to become one of those people that will bring
41:23
much more problems. Praise the Lord. So you focus
41:28
more on what is happening in your local church.
41:30
Lord, what are they doing there? They are not
41:32
even praying. They are not even singing. They
41:34
are not even teaching the word. Focus more on
41:36
what is happening in your local church so that
41:39
you grow. 2 Timothy chapter 1, 2 Timothy chapter
41:45
2, verses 1 to 2. He said, You, therefore, my
41:55
son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ
41:58
Jesus, and the things which you have had from
42:02
me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful
42:06
men who will be able to teach others. Praise
42:10
the Lord. Commit these things to faithful men
42:16
who will be able to teach others. So the one
42:20
thing about the local church is that it has people
42:22
that think alike. Praise the Lord. For example,
42:26
they say, let's rejoice. Everybody here understands
42:28
what it means to rejoice. So the local church
42:31
gives you this opportunity to think alike, to
42:35
behave in certain ways. So you share in common
42:39
things. You share the same thing. You share the
42:43
same word. He said, the same thing you should
42:54
commit to faithful men. He said, the things which
42:56
you have heard from me, among many witnesses,
43:02
commit these things to faithful men who will
43:04
be able to teach others. How do you know a faithful
43:06
man? Praise the Lord. You know a faithful man
43:09
from a local church. Praise the Lord. You know
43:13
a faithful man from a local church. And because
43:15
this man is being around, he's in the local church,
43:20
he's able to commit these things to many other
43:25
people because he has had the same thing. He
43:27
has received the same thing. Praise the Lord.
43:31
So because he's been in a place of training,
43:33
he's able to pass these things on to faithful
43:36
men. Praise the Lord. Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter
43:53
1, verse 1 to 4. Inasmuch as many have taken
44:01
in hand to set in order a narrative of the things
44:07
which have been fulfilled among us, just as those
44:11
who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and
44:14
ministers of the Word deliver them to us, it
44:18
seems good to me also Having had perfect understanding
44:22
of all these things, from the very start, to
44:25
write to you an orderly account, most excellent
44:29
Theophilus. Praise the Lord. So he had had the
44:33
same thing. He has been among them. Praise the
44:37
Lord. So he can, he can, he can, we can say that
44:43
he's a faithful man because he has been among
44:46
the same set of people. He's not going to write
44:50
something else to Theophilus. Praise the Lord.
44:53
He's not going to write something else to Theophilus
44:56
because he has been among the happenings that
44:59
are happening around. So he's going to write,
45:02
the thing he's going to write is not going to
45:04
be contradictory to the things that has been
45:06
taught. Praise the Lord. So Luke is a faithful
45:12
man. It's the same thing that Jesus tells us,
45:15
right? In Matthew 28, verse 20. Matthew 28, verse
45:23
20. It's teaching them all the things I've commanded
45:29
you and know I'm with you always to the end,
45:32
even to the end of the age. Amen. It's teaching
45:34
them to observe all the things I've commanded
45:37
you. Praise the Lord. Do you know what Jesus
45:39
is saying to them? I know that you have learned
45:44
everything I've commanded you. Praise the Lord.
45:47
You're not going to water down the things I've
45:50
taught you. Praise the Lord. Because you have
45:53
been in a place of training, because you have
45:55
been with me all this while, because you have
45:58
been in a local church. Praise the Lord. You're
46:01
not going to water down the things that you're
46:03
going to command them. It's all the things I've
46:05
commanded you. So these men are faithful men
46:08
that have received, that have been trained. Praise
46:11
the Lord. So a faithful man is a man who has
46:14
received training, right? Who has received training.
46:18
A man who has received training, who has been
46:21
in the local church. One who is safe, right?
46:25
Who gives himself to the message. And he teaches
46:29
others the same thing that he's been taught.
46:32
Praise the Lord. He's not trying to add some
46:35
spices to it. He's trying to add his own doctrines
46:40
to it. Praise the Lord. He's a man that I received.
46:43
The way he received it is the same way he's going
46:45
to deliver it. Praise the Lord. So these are
46:49
faithful men. Deliver it unto them. So we should
47:01
not be people that have information about many
47:04
things but have no depth about these things.
47:07
That's what the local church comes to. do for
47:11
us. He comes to bring stability to our life.
47:14
He comes to commit the word of truth to us so
47:17
that we're able to commit it to others. Praise
47:20
the Lord. You have two years or one year here.
47:22
Praise the Lord. And when you are done, it is
47:25
expected that you're supposed to commit the same
47:27
thing that you learned. Not a watered down thing.
47:31
Okay? Lord, they say, okay, come and preach laying
47:35
of hands. You now say, if I just lay hands on
47:38
you now, you fall. Praise the Lord. It means
47:42
laying of hands is when you touch somebody's
47:44
forehead, you fall. That's not what you were
47:47
taught. They took four or five sessions to teach
47:51
you and two hours message. And then you just
47:55
came and said, come and receive it. Praise the
47:58
Lord. So, to be faithful men. So, the church
48:02
helps us to be faithful men. Praise the Lord.
48:08
The church gives us the platform to receive the
48:12
word of righteousness so that we are able to
48:14
commit it onto other people, so that we are able
48:17
to teach it to other people. Praise the Lord.
48:21
So that's what we do after Catholicism. Praise
48:25
the Lord. We stay in the local church. So I just
48:30
want us to take some time now. The mic is still
48:33
on. We're just going to pray for this house.
48:35
We're going to pray for this church. Okay? And
48:38
we're going to give word consigning this church.
48:41
Praise the Lord. In the next 10 minutes, we're
48:43
going to pray consigning NECF. And we're going
48:46
to give word consigning NECF. The secretaries
48:50
are very active and available to receive this
48:53
word. And the mics are on for us to receive this
48:57
word. So for the next 10 minutes, I just want
48:59
us to begin to pray for this church. Pray for
49:04
the leaders of this church, especially the lead
49:07
pastor of this church. Praise the Lord. And we're
49:09
going to receive word for this local church.
49:12
Let's just be on our feet. If today's message
49:34
was a blessing, share it with a friend. Till
49:37
next time, be blessed.