Latest / Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons / Standing Fast in the Faith pt. 2

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Standing Fast in the Faith pt. 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. Father, we thank you because as your
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word comes forth, there is light and there is
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understanding. We receive, we receive. We receive
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your word. We receive your word. We receive your
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word and we posture ourselves to act on what
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we are receiving. We thank you for how you're
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opening our eyes to see the things that you are
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showing us. Thank you for how you're posturing
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us to act on the things that we're receiving.
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Thank you because we are people that pay attention.
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Thank you because we're people that are grateful
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for what we have received. And in that act of
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gratitude, we are able to share. And as an expression
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of our gratitude, we're able to share. We're
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able to teach others. We're able to pass it on.
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We're able to hold fast. We're able to stand
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fast in the faith and pass on that which we have
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received as faithful men and women in the mighty
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name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. So 1 Corinthians 6,
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13, it says, watch, stand fast in the faith,
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be brave, be strong. The faith there is pistis.
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That is P -I -S -T -I -S. Stand fast in the faith.
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Be strong. Be brave. Be strong. Be brave. Be
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strong. And in this year, we're going to be marching
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forward brave and strong. We are soldiers. We
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are believers. We are God's children. We are
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God's army. We are God's men and women. for the
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work that he has called us to do. And we need
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all of that to be able to do it. And we're doing
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it in the strength that he supplies in the name
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of Jesus. And the first thing we discussed on
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Sunday is that we focused on paying attention,
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giving attention, paying attention. It's a very
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important currency in the work. To do the work,
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to understand, to do the work, it's very foundational
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to our understanding. It's very foundational
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to our growing. It's very foundational to our
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doing the work. And we saw how important is it.
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We look at some of the passages that, thank you
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so much prayer team for working us through it
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again, just reminding us and praying on it. We
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saw that if we give attention to know, we give
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attention to understand. And if we don't give
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attention. We will be stunted or we'll be lacking
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in understanding or we'll be lacking the ability
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to act or to do. And this season, we're going
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to be seeing how we take heed. We're going to
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be seeing ourselves take heed more. We saw 1
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Timothy 4, verse 13. I'm just skimming, bringing
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us back to a place where we can do. It says,
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until I come, give attention to reading, to exaltation,
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and to doctrine. To doctrine. And we're giving
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attention to doctrine. We're holding what we're
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holding on to. What we're paying attention to
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is sound doctrine. We saw, I think, in the earlier
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verses on 2 Timothy, where it says, preach the
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word. We're to preach the word. We're to preach
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the word. 2 Timothy 4. Let me just read that
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to us. 2 Timothy 4. We prayed from there. 2 Timothy
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4. Preach the word in season and out of season.
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Convince, rebuke, exalt. with all longsuffering
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and teaching. And then 3 now says, for a time
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will come when they will not endure sound doctrine,
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but according to their own desires, they will
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have itching ears. They will heap up for themselves
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teachers. So how we stand fast in faith is holding
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on to and giving attention to. The reading of
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God's word to exaltation and to exaltation to
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doctrine. Praise God. And we had done all of
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that and we saw an example. We came to the Apostle
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Paul. We saw how he was able to make a defense.
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And we said all of that is anchored on the fact
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that this is paying attention and brings us to
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that place of understanding. And in that place
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of understanding, we are able to, when asked,
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make a defense, make a defense. We saw 1 Peter
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3 .15 where it says, He says, always be ready.
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I'm just going to that point. Always be ready
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to give a defense to everyone who asks you a
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reason for the hope that is in you. And we are
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doing it with meekness and fear. We saw a couple
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of examples. We saw Acts 22 .1. We saw Acts 26
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.24 -32. And I will... And we saw that the word
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there, in Acts 22, verse 28, I want us to go
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to 28. Acts 26, 28. Acts 26, 28. Agrippa said
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to Paul, then Agrippa said to Paul, you almost
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persuaded me to become a Christian. You almost
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persuaded me to become a Christian. And Paul
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said, I would to God that not only you, but also
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all who hear me today might become almost and
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altogether sort as I am, except for this change.
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You can see the desire, desire of Paul that every,
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not just King Agrippa, not just Governor Felix,
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not just Bernice, but everyone that is listening
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to him, he wants them to be convinced. and to
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be persuaded of the truth of the gospel, persuaded
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and convinced of the gospel. And I just bring
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attention to that word persuade. The word persuade
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is P -E -I -T -H -O. P -E -I -T -H -O is a verb.
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The Greek word is P -E -I -T -H -O. It also means
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to convince. The word is used as to persuade.
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It also means to convince. to win over. And it's
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often implying an active influence, often implying
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an active influence through reasoning or appeal.
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Often implying an active influence through reasoning
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or an appeal. And it also carries that connotation
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of yielding or obedience. yielding obedience.
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And this is agreeing to someone after the persuasion,
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after the communication, after the person has
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communicated. And I want you to not see it as
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something that is mechanical. I want you to see
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it as something that the Spirit of God does through
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the communication of His Word. Something that
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the Spirit of God does in the hearts of the individual
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through the communication of His Word. And I
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want us to see it again in Acts 28. We see the
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same word in Acts 28. Acts 28. 23. Acts 28, 23.
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It says, both the law of Moses and the prophets
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from morning till evening. I want you to notice
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from morning till evening. 24 now says, and some
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were persuaded by the things which were spoken
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and some disbelieved. Some were persuaded, some
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disbelieved. I want you to see the fact that
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he had spent this much time from morning till
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evening. persuading and convincing. And for some
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of us, we go out to evangelize and we just spend
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a couple of minutes and then we are somewhat
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offended when the person doesn't believe. After
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we've invested a certain amount of time and you
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leave, it's like these people, they are just,
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the devil is walking in their hearts. And you
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want to understand that the label, you are not
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the one at the other end regulating whether the
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person receives or doesn't. The person that you're
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speaking to first and foremost has given you
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audience and listening to you. You want to understand
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that it is the individual's responsibility to
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respond. And if they don't respond, it's your
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responsibility to persist. And you can persist
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there, continue in the convincing or continue
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in the preaching and the teaching. But you must
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also understand that there's a part where once
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you have a responsibility, It's Sister Christy
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when she was leading us in prayer to take that
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person to God continually in the place of prayer
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because the word that you have sown, the seed
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of God's word that you have sown is active, is
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living. And even when you're not having that
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conversation, God will bring to their attention
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that which you have spoken to them and there
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will be a convincing that will happen as a result
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of that. And for some of us, you have interacted
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with someone the first time, someone else will
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do the, But what will happen is that on the second
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of the thought, that person is convinced on the
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premise of all that has happened, the build up
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to it. There's a build up to it. And we want
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to really, really hold on to this because sometimes
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you can be disappointed when we go out and we
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do these things. And sometimes our feet can be
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shaking when you feel like this thing. I don't
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know how other people are doing it, but I'm struggling
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to. to convince. I'm struggling to communicate
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it. But we are encouraging God's Word to stand
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fast. We are encouraging God's Word to keep at
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it. Praise God. To keep at it. To keep at it.
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Because we see, even in Apostle Paul's situation,
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when he was talking with Agrippa, when he was
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shouting, he said, Agrippa said to Paul, he said,
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you almost persuaded me. You almost persuaded
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me. You were wondering how many percent was it?
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Was it 99 .9? like where exactly it is. You can
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tell what the almost is for the individual. And
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some people will not even be, they will not tell
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you, just leave this thing some other time. Or
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some people will be looking at their watch. But
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it doesn't still stop you from engaging. It doesn't
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stop you from keeping at it because it's the
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work that you're doing. It's the work that you're
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doing. The results should not deter you. The
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immediate results should not deter you. Praise
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God. So we see we're persuaded and it's all,
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what he kept on doing. And as opposed to Paul,
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did that from morning till evening. From morning
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till evening, he was laboring. You see, some
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were persuaded of the things which were spoken,
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that is 24, 28, 24, and some still disbelieved.
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Some disbelieved. 25 now say, so when they did
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not agree amongst themselves, they departed after
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Paul, had said one word. Paul had taken them
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to Isaiah. Paul had said one word. The Holy Spirit
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spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet of our
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fathers. 26 saying, Go to these people and say,
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Hearing you will hear and shall not understand.
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Seeing you will see and not perceive. For the
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hearts of these people have grown dull. Their
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ears are hard of hearing and their eyes have
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been closed. Lest they should see with their
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eyes and hear with their ears. Lest they should
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understand with their hearts and turn so that
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I should heal them. And this is a quote from
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Isaiah 6, verse 9 and 10. 28 now says, therefore,
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let it be known to you. that the salvation of
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God has been sent to the Gentiles and they will
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hear it. Praise God. He says the salvation of
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God, they will hear it. So even if you are choosing
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not to, there are people that are going to listen
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and receive. Praise God. 29 now says, when he
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had said these words, the Jews departed and had
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a great dispute amongst themselves because this
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is offered to you. You're turning it down. He
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brings it to their attention and says, so if
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you're turning down the general house, which
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I'm called to, we'll receive it. I want us to
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see 30 now to see what Paul continues to do.
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Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented
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house and received all that came to him. He didn't
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stop him, right? He didn't stop him. And I'm
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bringing this to attention that regardless of
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how much challenges, some difficulties, people
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not receiving what you're saying, he shouldn't
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stop you from persisting in the walk. He shouldn't
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stop you from persisting in the walk. And he
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says, and receive all that came to him. Preaching
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the kingdom of God and teaching the things which
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concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence.
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No one forbidding him. With all confidence. Mark
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the word, with all confidence. You know, there's
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something that happens when you speak to someone,
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You don't hear you. It makes sense for your confidence
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to drop. Like, are you sure I'm doing it correctly?
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Are you sure I'm saying it? I think I'm doing
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something. I think I'm not putting it together.
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It will just be dropping. But regardless of the
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numbers and the amount of times, what keeps building
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is the confidence. With all confidence, he continues
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to do the work that he has called. where he was
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instructed or was called to or was commissioned
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to do. And my challenge is that we continue to
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stay in that place of doing the work that we're
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commissioned to do. Nothing should cause our
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faith to dwindle. Not even the, I don't believe
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you, I don't agree with you. And I think I was
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listening to, I think it was yesterday or the
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first day, we were listening to a testimony of
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a person who used to be converted to the faith.
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and he was talking about how it was difficult,
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that there was so much, like choosing to believe
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in what Christ has done had a lot of consequences,
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that just thinking about it, he knows, he's looking
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at the facts, he agrees, he sees it, he has taken
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time, he has studied it for even about four years.
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But anytime he comes to make the decision, he
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thinks about his family, thinks about how the
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family would, he will lose his family, he will
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lose his, his friends, his longtime friends.
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And that brings him to that place where he had
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to, he was battling and battling and battling.
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And the funny thing is that when he goes to God's
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word and opens God's word, he's more and more
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convinced that this is the right thing to do.
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But he said, one time he had cried all night.
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He had cried all night and he was like, Lord,
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you have to, you have to show me more because
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I know that there's a lot I have, I will deal
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with. I'm facing my Parents disowning me. I think
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I'm even facing debt. That debt is what I'm going
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to face once I decide to take this stand. And
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he cried and cried and cried and cried, came
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to the parents, told them that this is what it
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is. And he ended up, the parents were like disappointed.
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He said they had never seen his mom look the
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way she looked at him in his life. But he cried
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and he was like. In fact, he was even screaming,
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Lord, kill me, and all of that until when he
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heard God say a couple of words to him that encouraged
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him to go on from there. And this person went
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on to do a lot because he was faced with the
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truth. And for some people, and this is one thing
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I think he mentioned, which blessed me, was the
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fact that he was very critical when he came to
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scrutinize the Bible. He was very critical. He
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was like... where's this? What is this? He was
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very critical. But when he goes back to his own
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religion, he's not as critical. And I remember
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when I was talking to some people and they were
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like, oh, people just want us to be this good.
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People want us to be this good. And it occurred
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to me, which is what I said. I said, when excellence
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is demanded of us, we tend to, when it's demanded
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of someone else, we tend to raise the bar. But
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when it's demanded of us, we tend to lower the
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bar. Because the focus is us. Because when you
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want to go and buy something, you want the best.
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When you want to go and get something, you go
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to the market. You don't go substandard. You
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go excellent. You go, I want the best because
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you're paying for it. But when it's now demanded
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of you, you're like, we can manage. It's not
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that serious. We can just... It's not... We can
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just do it like this. We shouldn't stress ourselves
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too much. Because it's now, the focus is us.
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And we're not being fair. Because the same thing
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applies when he was like, he was scrutiny. And
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the same standard he puts the Bible on, when
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he puts, he was like, he sort of, man, the Bible
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wins all the time. Because the word of God is
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true. Because once you're face to face with truth,
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you can only deny it. You can only deny it. But
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it's very evident and it's very, the proof is
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very, it's clear. Praise God. And I want us to
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go back to the text in John. John 14. John 14.
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John 14 verse 12. Jesus Christ speaking says,
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most assuredly I say to you, and I think I brought
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it to attention that the Greek, the phrase most
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assuredly I say to you is amen, amen, lago, alego,
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yamen. It's not, in English, which in the New
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King James, in the Old King James, you see it
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as verily, verily, or truly, truly. It's most
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assuredly I say to you. And it's translated that
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way. It's used mostly. And John is the one that
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you see. You don't see most assuredly. All of
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the places in Scripture where you see it is that.
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And I want to walk quickly through it for us
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to see something. To see how in the places it's
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used, what Jesus points to. In John 1 .51, he
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said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, Hereafter
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shall you see heaven open and the angels of God
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ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.
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I want you to see that you will see in this communication
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that it's communicating something very important,
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which is the humanity. It's communicating to
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humanity because the use of the word son of man
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is descriptive of Jesus' humanity. His sufferings
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and the work because he has to be human for him
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to do the work. He has to be human for him to
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do the work. One thing you will see there is
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you will see the identity and you will see the
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mission. What this particular passage is or we're
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going to be looking at that uses that most assuredly.
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You will see that it's communicating something
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that you should pay attention to. Something very
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important. And he says, Moses surely, and he
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says, the angels ascending and ascending upon
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him points to that connection between heaven
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and earth. That connection between heaven and
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earth. That connection between heaven and earth.
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And we'll see in John 5 .19 now. John 5 .19,
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I want you to see, we just saw John 1 .51, where
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Moses surely is used. We'll see John 5 .19. Then
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Jesus answered and said to them, Moses surely,
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I say to you, The son of man, the son can do
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nothing of himself, but what he sees the father
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do. For whatever he does, the son also does in
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like manner. So we see something very important.
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That is a perfect unity and dependence of the
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son on the father, the father on the son. Praise
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God. And that is communicating mission because
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he didn't just come and did things by himself.
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And this also, all of the things very much translates
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to us. We don't even act on our own accord. The
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work we're doing is the work he has instructed
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us to do. Praise God. The work we're doing is
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the work he has instructed us to do. We see that
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perfect unity, the Father, the Son. John 6, 32.
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John 6, 32. Jesus said to them, Most assuredly,
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I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread.
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For you see, Moses did not give you the bread
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from heaven, but my Father gives you the true
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bread from heaven. My Father gives you the true
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bread from heaven. We see that Jesus, in this
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communication here, is speaking about the true
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bread, which is himself. Praise God. The true
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bread, which is himself. With the true bread,
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which is himself. Speaking about his identity,
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speaking about tying it to his mission. The identity
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tied to his mission. And I want us to go to the
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interesting part in... John 8. John 8, 58. John
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8, 58. Jesus said to them, most assuredly I say
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to you, before Abraham was, I am. Before Abraham
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was, I am. That was the statement that broke
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it up for them. It was like, ah, what did you
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just say? Before Abraham was, I am. You see him
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communicating his eternal pre -existence. And
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you might not understand if you don't understand.
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They understood the magnitude of the statement
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being made. Because if you go to Exodus, I think
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those of us that read on Sunday, I think we read
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Exodus 3, verse 14. And God said to Moses, I
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am who I am. He said, thus you shall say to the
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children of Israel, I am has sent me to you.
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I am has sent me to you. I am has sent me to
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you. So when the use of the phrase, when he says
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before Abraham was, I am, you know, you write
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that in there. I think that's one of the scriptures
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I saw this morning again as well. Somebody else
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says, I am. It's like, I exist. It's not just,
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in fact, when you, I think I've heard a Jew talk
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about how we take for granted the use of the
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word, because when you say, I am this, I am this,
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to a Jew, the use of the word I am, in fact,
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is like the... The rabbi was saying, before you,
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God is so important, before you even call your
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name, you call his name first. When you say,
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I am this, that's how they regard the use of
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the, for us, I am, is you're trying to point
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out to identify, you're trying to identify yourself
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because when you say, I am this, you're identifying
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yourself. But in his case, he's not just, he's
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telling them who he is, not without, you see,
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before Abraham was, I am. And for them, that's
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like, who are you to like, equate yourself to.
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But that was him clearly communicating to them
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something very important that they shouldn't
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miss. That they shouldn't miss. In John 10, 1
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and 7. John 10, 1 and 7. See, the same most assuredly
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I say to you. He who does not enter the sheepfold
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by the door, but climbs up some other way. The
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same is a thief and a robber. 7 now says, and
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Jesus said to them again, most assuredly I say
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to you, I am the door of the sheep. I am the
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door of the sheep. And Jesus is telling them
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that, look, there is no other legitimate way
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to salvation. There is no other legitimate way
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to salvation. And he emphasized this in the 14,
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in the John 14 that we're looking at. John 14,
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that we're looking at verse 6, where Jesus said
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to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
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I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one
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comes to the Father except through me. So you
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see that Jesus Christ is telling, is establishing
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something very important, which is that he is
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the only, there's no, there are no, you know,
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I was speaking to someone and we're evangelizing
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to this person and then he was like, We asked
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a simple question. I was like, so are there several
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ways, because it was talking about how some people
25:58
are good, all of that. Are there several ways
26:00
to get to God? And you can be tempted sometimes
26:02
to think that some people are good so they have
26:05
a relationship with God because they are doing
26:08
good works. You can be tempted because you feel
26:11
like, oh, I don't think, no, this person will
26:14
not. But when you see statements like this, and
26:17
that's why you want to pay attention to the word
26:19
of God very carefully. Because if you don't be
26:22
attentive to the word of God, you can just assume
26:24
that because this person is doing this and this
26:25
and this, on the strength of that, this person
26:28
has a relationship with God and this person will
26:29
make him. We've said this time and time again,
26:32
the basis by which we'll see as the passage progresses,
26:36
the basis by which we come into a relationship
26:38
with God is by believing in what he has done.
26:42
There's no other way. Because he says, I am the
26:44
way, the truth, and the life. If you go any other
26:47
way, what you have is not the result. You don't
26:50
get that result. Praise God. And he says it very
26:53
emphatically that he is the only that is made
26:55
way to salvation. Then I'd like us to see the
26:58
other bit in John 13, 20. John 13, 20. He says,
27:05
Most assuredly I say to you, he who receives
27:09
whomever I send receives me. And he who receives
27:15
me receives him who sends him. Going tiny to
27:20
the previous way, you're receiving. So there's
27:23
a chain of authority. Receiving the messenger
27:26
of Christ means receiving Jesus and also means
27:28
receiving the Father. It's communicating to the
27:32
mission, communicating to the identity, communicating
27:34
to how it's all connected. So there's a chain
27:36
of authority. And I'll continue to... Bring us
27:41
to the other segment where they use, or the section
27:44
where this is used in the passage to communicate
27:47
also what the conditions for salvation. We see
27:51
this in John 3, where he says, Most assuredly,
27:54
I say to you, John 3, verse 3 and 5. Jesus answered
27:58
to him and said, Most assuredly, I say to you,
28:01
unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom
28:07
of God. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless
28:10
one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom.
28:12
Then five now says, most assuredly, and Jesus
28:14
answered. In the end, most assuredly, I say to
28:17
you, unless one is born of water and spirit,
28:20
he cannot enter the kingdom of God. And you see
28:22
here from the get good in the necessity of being
28:25
born again, of being born from above to be part
28:27
of the kingdom. Praise God. For you to be born
28:30
again, for you to be born from above to be part
28:33
of the kingdom. Very important. Remember, we
28:35
talked about how the salvation happens by him.
28:38
And once you're born again, you're born into
28:40
the family. Praise God. Then five now. John 5,
28:44
24. I want you to see how the different, most
28:49
assuredly, ties to very, very important things
28:53
that we all have to pay attention to and it's
28:56
going to make the passage make more sense. John
29:03
5, 24 says, Most assuredly, I say to you, he
29:06
who hears my word, and believes in him who sent
29:11
me has everlasting life. He who hears my word
29:15
and believes in him who sent me, he shall not
29:18
come into judgment, but has passed from death
29:21
to life. Very important. This is a condition
29:24
for the eternal life. So, hearing God's word,
29:27
believing in the Father who sent him. Praise
29:29
God. Hearing God's word, believing in the Father
29:32
who sent him. I want us to see John 6, 47. John
29:36
6, 47. John 6, 47 says, Most assuredly, I say
29:41
to you, he who believes in me has everlasting
29:46
life. So we see that believes, believe in him,
29:50
believe in me. So believe in Jesus is the source
29:54
of everlasting life. That passage just establishes
29:57
and it repeats itself again and again. It says
30:01
then in the same John 6, 53. St. John 6, 53.
30:10
Then Jesus said to them, most assuredly I say
30:13
to you, unless you eat my flesh or eat the flesh
30:18
of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have
30:23
no life in you. Unless you eat the flesh of the
30:26
Son of Man, and I think we've taught this time
30:28
again, our list pastor has taught us, he was
30:31
not speaking physically, right? He was not speaking
30:35
physically. He says, unless we, We partake in
30:38
this spiritually by believing in that sacrifice,
30:41
in the sacrifice that has been made for us. That's
30:45
basically, we partake in it by believing in that
30:48
sacrifice. In also John 8, 34, and you will notice
30:53
that all the passages that we're reading, what
30:55
he has in common is Jesus speaking and he's saying,
30:58
most assuredly, Jesus answered them, most assuredly
31:02
I say to you, whoever... commits sin is a slave
31:06
of sin. Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.
31:10
Stating that there's that enslavement to sin
31:13
that makes it a necessity or makes the requirement
31:17
for salvation very important. Praise God. Because
31:20
it's presenting to you that okay, people have
31:24
been enslaved to sin and then keening to what
31:27
he has done takes that away. takes that enslavement.
31:32
Now there's freedom in him. There's a salvation
31:34
that we find in him. It means that it's void
31:36
of being enslaved. To escape slavery, you key
31:42
into what he has done, salvation. So in John
31:46
8, 51, also we see Jesus still speaking. He says,
31:52
Most surely I say to you, if anyone keeps my
31:55
word, you shall. He shall never see debt. If
32:00
anyone keeps my word, he shall never see debt.
32:02
And we see that he's establishing the fact that
32:06
as a result of you believing, and when you say
32:10
keep my word, you will not think of it as do's
32:14
and don'ts. No, you're believing in what he has
32:17
done. You're believing in where we are now. You're
32:21
believing in what he has done. And as a result
32:23
of that, you are saved. And as a result of that
32:26
salvation, you will not taste death. It says,
32:30
the word is, you will never, there's no death
32:33
for you. You are saved and you're saved in him.
32:37
Praise God. Then that 14, the 14, 12 now, which
32:42
is what we're going to look at and we'll stop,
32:44
we'll stop at this point where it says, where
32:48
14, verse 12, it says, most assuredly I say to
32:50
you, he who believes in me, The works that I
32:55
do, He will do also. And greater works than this,
33:01
He will do. Because I go to my Father. And I
33:07
want you to see now. Where we started from all
33:11
the different things that Jesus Christ established
33:12
and how salvation is found in him and how it's
33:16
based on believing in what he has done that brings
33:18
us into that reality. And then we see here, he
33:21
who believes in me, he who believes in me, the
33:26
works I do, he will do also. And greater works
33:30
than this he will do because I go to my father.
33:35
And I think we've taught this previously. We're
33:37
going to look at it. Again, even this particular
33:40
season, we know that all of this is anchored
33:43
on what Christ has done because of what he has,
33:46
I think, and I want us to know that when he was
33:49
speaking this to the disciples, he has not yet
33:53
done it, right? He has not yet done it. So you
33:55
want to, sometimes, you know, sometimes you can,
33:57
we can say these things and then we say it from
34:00
the premise of it has happened, but to them,
34:03
that are recipients of this word that nothing
34:07
happened. So he says, I say to you, he who believes
34:10
in me. And we said, and the believing is in what
34:15
he is said to do. And the receiving happens after
34:19
he goes to his father, right? And that is at
34:21
his resurrection. Praise God. That is at his
34:24
resurrection. That's when all of this will be,
34:27
because in that same passage, when we go further
34:30
down, we see that he was talking about the promise.
34:33
I was talking about a promise. So believing in
34:37
that walk, he's you into the promise. So that
34:40
promise that anyone who believes will not just
34:44
do the things he has done, but he won't do greater.
34:47
So I want us to, because there are a couple of
34:49
more passages, I just want us to skip that a
34:51
couple of, okay, I'll just read it through, so
34:54
I will just take notes. I'll just read through,
34:56
just go through the passages, so I'll take notes.
34:59
So we see even, him also in the book of John,
35:03
because all of this is in John. We see him also
35:05
making reference to promises or prophecies as
35:08
well. We see him making reference to promises
35:10
and prophecies. In John 5 .25, we see him making
35:14
reference to prophecy, John 5 .25. In John 13
35:20
.21, where he prophesies his betrayal, John 13
35:26
.21, and John 13 .38, where he prophesies Peter's
35:32
denial. John 16, 20. So he prophesies so to his
35:39
disciples. John 16, also 23. So I'll start from
35:43
the top. John 5, 25. John 13, 21. John 13, 38.
35:49
John 16, 20. John 16, 23. John 16, 23. John 21,
35:58
18. John 21, 18. Then the other last four is
36:03
him also communicating spiritual realities, profound
36:07
spiritual realities. We see it in John 11, John
36:10
3, 11. John 3, 11. John 3, 11. John 6, 26. John
36:19
6, 26. John 12, 24. And then John 16, M13, 16.
36:26
John 13, 16. So let's, Now focus on he who believes
36:31
in me. And that believe there is the word pistou.
36:36
P -I -S -T -E -U -O. P -I -S -T -E -U -O. And
36:43
this implies trust that arises from hearing and
36:46
understanding. Trust that arises from hearing
36:49
and understanding. And we see it is a verb. It's
36:53
a verb means to believe, to have faith, to trust.
36:56
I think even the... The first, the verse, we'll
37:01
see that in the 14 verse 1. That same 14 verse
37:04
1, it says, let not your heart be troubled. Believe
37:08
in God, believe also in me. I think the NLT uses
37:12
trust. The NLT uses, let your heart, it said,
37:18
don't let your heart be troubled. Trust in God
37:21
and trust also in me. So it uses that word, trust,
37:25
and it also emphasizes entrusting ones. You have
37:29
to entrust it to someone. And in this case, it
37:34
says, trust in God, trust in me, that's Christ.
37:38
And it emphasizes that decision to rely beyond
37:41
an intellectual assent, right? To rely beyond
37:45
an intellectual assent. And the result, when
37:48
you are relying beyond intellectual assent, you
37:50
are... trusting wholly in that individual. And
37:55
for some of us, we better understand this when
37:57
everyone of us seated here, you're seated on
38:01
a chair. You are putting your entire weight on
38:05
the chair, regardless of knowing who made it,
38:08
who cleaned it, who has sat there before you,
38:11
who is sitting there. You just put your full
38:13
weight on the chair. You're just putting that
38:16
trust because you know that chairs carry... carries
38:19
our weight. You just put your full weight on
38:22
it. And we see that in the passage, it says,
38:24
believe in God, believe, and believe in God,
38:28
believe also in me. Like in that book where we
38:30
read, it said, believe in God, believe also in
38:32
me. Meaning that our belief in God translates
38:35
to our belief in Christ. And it uses that intention.
38:38
But some of the passages we read, we see where
38:39
Jesus Christ is calling, because he's not doing
38:43
things independent of himself. He's doing things.
38:46
dependent on the father. So that belief in God
38:50
translates to a belief in him and it's synonymous,
38:53
praise God. And in John's gospel, we see, if
38:58
you, I think when you do a search, just type
38:59
belief, you see that John uses a lot, he uses
39:03
a lot of the word. If you just go back home or
39:08
do your studies, you see that that word believe
39:10
appears a lot of times in the book of John. And
39:14
as much as that, word appears a lot of times
39:16
in the book of John, you will not see the word
39:18
repent in the book of John. It's funny. You will
39:22
not see the word repent in the book of John.
39:24
And it's funny because in other passages of the
39:27
scripture, you will see a very classic example
39:30
is Mark 1, 15. Mark 1, 15, I'll read to us. It
39:35
says, and saying, the time is fulfilled and the
39:39
kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe
39:42
in the gospel. You see that most of the times
39:45
when they use the word repent, that repent is
39:49
the word metanoeo. That's M -E -T -A -N -O -E
39:55
-O. M -E -T -A -N -O -E -O. That word means,
40:01
we understand it as turn away from, and we know
40:04
that the turn is not just turning away from,
40:06
you're turning to, right? You're turning to God.
40:09
And it says, and believe in the gospel. So he
40:13
uses a lot of the word believe. He uses believe
40:17
so many times, but not with the word. So he communicates
40:21
that. He communicates whatever it is he's communicating
40:23
or different things he's communicating using
40:25
believe. And when he uses in this passage believe,
40:30
when he says believe, that is in. because we
40:33
know that believers believe in the gospel. And
40:36
as at the time when Jesus Christ is speaking,
40:38
we know that he's talking about the things he
40:40
was going to do and what the things he was going
40:43
to do will make available for us. Praise God.
40:46
What the things he was going to do will make
40:48
available for us. And that in itself demands
40:52
the trust, demands the belief of the individuals
40:56
that are listening to him, right? Demands an
40:59
active trust and belief for them to be able to
41:01
expect it. And know that it's not just believe
41:08
in the words he was saying, right? Remember from
41:11
what we explained, it's not just believing in
41:13
the words, you are believing in the person and
41:16
what that person, what identity, what that mission
41:18
of that person is. Remember we said when we started
41:20
that most assuredly I said to you, we see that
41:22
there was the initial part that's in John 1,
41:25
51. It was speaking about... his humanity, what
41:27
he had come to do. And what he had come to do,
41:30
the high point of it was his death and later
41:34
on his resurrection. And later on what that his
41:38
resurrection will mean for us, praise God. Because
41:41
it's very important that we understand that the
41:43
end goal of all he had done is for us to have
41:47
his spirit, right? That's why that promise, that's
41:50
why that promise kept on coming. You see how
41:53
it's... It continues itself. When you look at
41:55
John 14, you see John 15, you see John 16. All
41:59
of it is pointing us to or bringing attention
42:01
or holding on to what he had come or his establishment.
42:05
I want us to see Titus 3 verse 8. Titus 3 verse
42:10
8. Titus 3 verse 8 says, this is a faithful saying.
42:16
This is a faithful saying. The faithful there
42:19
is pistos. So it's P -I -S -T -O -S, which is
42:25
different from pistis. Faithful sin, that's logos.
42:29
And these things I want you to affirm constantly.
42:35
These things I want you to affirm constantly,
42:37
that those who have believed in God, that believed
42:41
in God is the pastor that we just looked at,
42:44
should be careful to maintain good works. These
42:48
things are good and profitable too. men. These
42:51
things are good and profited to men. I just want
42:53
to help us to define and just see the slight
42:58
nuance with the pistis and the pistos. The pistos
43:02
there, that faithful saying, the faithful there
43:05
is pistos. It means faithful, believing, trustworthy,
43:12
reliable. Faithful, believing, trustworthy, reliable.
43:16
So it describes a person or a thing that embodies
43:19
faith. of fidelity. So we have faithful saying,
43:25
we have faithful servant, a trustworthy servant,
43:28
a reliable servant, a servant worthy of belief.
43:41
So it says, those who, and I want you to notice
43:44
that he didn't say believes now. It says, those
43:47
who have believed. Those who have what? Believed.
43:54
Those who have believed in who? In God. And we
43:58
say that believing in God means that you're believing
44:00
in what? Christ, right? Jesus Christ, what he
44:04
has done. He says, should be careful to me. Now
44:06
that you have believed, there is a lifestyle
44:10
that follows, right? There's a lifestyle that
44:12
follows that is consistent with what you have
44:14
believed in. Right? It's a lifestyle that is,
44:18
and that lifestyle is the lifestyle of someone
44:20
who is faithful to what they have received. Praise
44:25
God. Because if you say you believe and there
44:29
is no, there has to be a distinction. Even when
44:32
the children of Israel, there was something that
44:34
distinguishes the children of Israel from every
44:37
other nation around them. And when all of the
44:41
things that are being given, they're given to
44:43
see you are my people. When you use the word
44:45
holy, you are set apart. There's a clear distinction.
44:49
And it all starts off from the premise of what
44:53
you have received, you believe in Christ, and
44:55
then what now happens is the result is that you
44:59
act very differently from what used to be. Praise
45:02
God, what used to be. And please note that. As
45:09
we see, as Titus is encouraging, so this is a
45:10
faithful saying, that these things I want you
45:13
to affirm constantly. affirm constantly. When
45:18
somebody tells you to affirm something constantly,
45:20
what are they trying to get you not to do? When
45:26
I say, when we do affirmations, what are we doing?
45:30
What are we trying to bring to our consciousness?
45:34
Right? When we do it, when we affirm, when we
45:42
affirm the things that we affirm, what are we
45:44
trying to Tell ourselves. Huh? Identity, right?
45:50
Identity. And remind, and not, you know, it doesn't
45:53
stop at your identity. There's also the responsibility,
45:56
right? There's also the responsibility because
45:58
identity is very good. Remind yourself that you
46:01
have this, you have that, but once you're not
46:03
responsible, it almost makes your identity invalid,
46:06
right? And responsibility is, it's on the strength
46:10
of responsibility you act. So on the strength
46:14
of our responsibility, we act. So when we say,
46:17
as Apostle Paul was persuading people, he knows
46:23
and he boldly would declare it. And he was very
46:27
responsive to the instruction, because that was
46:31
his mission. Because his mission was to the Gentiles
46:33
in Acts 9, where he was given that mission to
46:36
do so. And he ensures that no matter what, he
46:40
takes that responsibility every time to do so.
46:43
Praise God. And if we note this for ourselves
46:49
and we see it as something, we will not allow
46:52
anything be a distraction to us. Nothing will
46:56
have to be sacrificed for this one, which is
46:58
our mission. And that is staying faithful. That
47:02
is you taking the faithful saying to heart and
47:09
staying faithful and true to that. Praise God.
47:13
Taking the faithful saying to heart and staying
47:14
faithful and true to that. And he says, should
47:17
be careful. Careful. Careful. Careful brings
47:22
us back to that idea of paying attention. Right?
47:27
That idea of paying attention. That idea of not
47:29
just allowing anything to go. Right? Not allowing
47:34
anything to go. Be very critical. You know, I
47:36
think when I shared earlier of... Someone that
47:41
was conversing, you know, it's very subtle where
47:43
the person just says, I feel everybody, you know,
47:45
has their own way. We have our own way. You know,
47:49
it just comes to, it brings to bear that you
47:52
don't really know what you believe in, right?
47:56
You don't really know that Christ is the only
47:58
way. Any other way is not the way. And there
48:04
are little things and that is foundational. There
48:06
are other things that are very subtle that you
48:09
don't necessarily, you have to, God's word has
48:11
to bring it to attention. And that's why we say,
48:13
pay attention to sound doctrine because there
48:17
are things that will appeal to you, but it's
48:21
not sound. It will appeal to you, it will sound
48:25
good, but it's not sound. And for many of us,
48:29
it's that thing that we like, you know, it's
48:32
even, They take, okay, who do I listen to? Right?
48:37
See, in time, I just feel my spirit. I'm like,
48:42
there's something I just want to... Sometimes,
48:48
you know, the thing... How do you put it? The
48:52
thing that is good to you might not be good for
48:54
you. Right? It sounds like it's good, it appeals
48:59
to you, but you... You want to, as that person,
49:04
you want to, it's God's word that is a standard,
49:06
right? And how many of you have found anything
49:11
in this, like, is there any discipline that is
49:14
easy? I think people that, people that respect
49:20
discipline, like, they have to, no, no, I can't
49:24
find any, very quick, I can't find it. No disciplines.
49:27
And so, when someone comes and motivates you,
49:33
and tells you, like, this thing is easy. You
49:37
just need to believe. You just need to... That's
49:42
all the motivational talk. Because once it comes
49:45
to you, you know, there's a lot of things that
49:47
you can talk about, but when it comes to acting
49:49
on that thing, you discover it's difficult. You're
49:52
almost like, nobody told me this part of the...
49:55
You know, they say, pray, you know, when you
49:56
wake up in the morning, the first thing you do,
49:57
and then the cold just comes, and then you're
49:59
like, ha! you'll be like, hi, this is good. And
50:05
then when you, listen, you now do this, you do
50:07
this a couple of times and then you just say,
50:08
okay, I will walk around. And you see this cold
50:10
again. See, that would be the best place to pray
50:14
for. And then you find yourself in the morning
50:17
when the day, when you come out of it, there's
50:21
nothing. And you just have to desire. to grow,
50:26
desire to do more of it. The same way Apostle
50:28
Paul would have done this so many, and he just
50:30
gets through with it. Where you speak to someone,
50:33
the person doesn't, you pray for the person,
50:35
you go on to the next person because the more
50:38
times you do it, the more opportunities you have
50:41
for someone to say yes, right? But once you do
50:44
once, you lose momentum. And that's why we have
50:49
the family. We're encouraging ourselves to go
50:53
out and do it. Once you do it together, wherever
50:55
it is, you're carried along. And we go out in
50:59
twos and we walk and we do it faithfully. Praise
51:02
God, we do it faithfully. And what I'm just doing
51:05
to us is just to bring to attention the fact
51:07
that there are many things that we have to give
51:12
attention to to get better at. And the more we
51:16
are distracted, the less likely we are to. build
51:19
ourselves, to intensify, to build capacity, to
51:23
see how God is going to do more in and through
51:25
us. And the earlier we start, the better for
51:28
us. There's no perfect time to accomplish all
51:34
that. Sometimes I say, I'll wait until the beginning
51:37
of next year. Some people are just very wonderful
51:40
at how they... We have 24 hours every day that
51:46
you can decide to make it. Make a decision today
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to start something. But you want to relegate
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it to some other time in the future where we
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don't even know what is going to happen. We don't,
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we don't know about, you know, I think I heard
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this said by someone like, you want to, instead
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of you to defer worry, like, you know, people
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hold on to worry instead of deferring. Like,
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just push it. Scripture says, don't worry about,
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don't worry about this. You like, you want to
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do it now. And then the one that they say you
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should do, you will not do it. You want to now
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pick the one that they say you should not do.
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Just to tell you how very interesting we, sometimes
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we, and this scripture tells you to do it that
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way. It has lived longer than yourself. Praise
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God. There's been, there are the people that
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we're looking at and say these people are faithful.
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They had lived by it. Praise God. So you are
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not the first person to be given the instruction
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or to be given sound doctrine. Right? You know,
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sometimes we think that we're the first people.
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This thing is hard. Like we're the first. Is
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it that they just carry us and put us inside
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this thing? Like how are they doing it? But you
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see people, we see examples and that's the beautiful
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thing about God's word. We have examples to live
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by. We have examples to follow. We have examples
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to anchor. our faith on. And the ultimate of
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those examples is the example of Christ. Right?
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It's the example of Christ. He is the one that
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regardless of the difficulties, regardless, he
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still carried out the will of the Father. He
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still carried out the will of the Father. He
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still carried out the will of the Father. And
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I will repeat and repeat the whole idea of the
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fact that it's not easy. It's difficult, but
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the desire to see God walk mightily through you
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should be your motivation. You want to see God
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do more with you, and that keeps you grounded.
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That keeps you desiring more. That keeps you
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in the place of study of God's Word. That keeps
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you in the place of preaching the Word. And I
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want you to note this, that once you do the...
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That thing that is very uncomfortable for you
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to do, you do it and keep at it. Before you know
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it, it becomes a habit. It becomes a lifestyle,
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which is what every one of us should do by default.
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Because we're encouraging us to do so, but we
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will experience some resistance here and there,
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but you want to make it a lifestyle, make it
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a habit, make it not something that when we gather
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around and say, you have to do this, you have
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to do that, then it now calls to you. You now
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say, okay, I have to do this. The ultimate example
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is Christ Jesus and he was faithful to endure
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all, to accomplish that which we now have. And
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he demands the same from us. He demands the same
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from us. He demands that we take responsibility.
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He demands that we do more. He demands that we
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testify of what he has done to others. He demands
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that we walk in the supernatural. He demands
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that the power gifts find expression to us. He
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demands that the relational gift finds expression
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to us. He demands that the ultra gifts find expression
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to us. He demands that no matter where we find
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ourselves, our focus or our priority should always
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be his work. He demands that regardless of all
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the things that we're pursuing, he should take
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the center stage of our lives. He demands all
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of that from us. And that is what Apostle Paul
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in 1 Corinthians 4. 1 Corinthians 4, 1 to 2.
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1 Corinthians 4, 1 to 2, it says, Let a man so
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consider us as servants of Christ and stewards
55:42
of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required
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in stewards that one be found faithful. It's
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required in stewards that one be found faithful.
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So we're servants and stewards of the mysteries
55:55
of God. We're faithful stewards. We're not just
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stewards. We're stewards that are faithful. And
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we constantly prioritize that walk of ministry.
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We constantly prioritize it. And it's in little
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things that we see these priorities. The things
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that you tend to forego for the other one will
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tell you which one is more of a priority than
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the other. The things that you tend to forego
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for the other. The things that you tend to consistently
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engage rather than the others. You know, it's
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very easy for someone to tell what you like with
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what you don't like. just by how much times you
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show up for the things that you do like as against
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the things that you don't like. And as I said
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earlier, there are things that you don't necessarily
56:36
love them, but you are here. You have to. Praise
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God. You are here. You have to. And your refusal
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to do so will only elongate the process which
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you have to attain, which is the growth. Because
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if you're in an environment, whether you like
56:53
it or not, you have to move the next step. It
56:56
might take you a while, but if you want to come
56:59
out at the other end, you have to keep moving.
57:01
Even if it's two steps, one step, but you have
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to just keep moving. Some people are running,
57:05
but some people are just taking one step. So
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it's not, it's at whatever pace you are moving.
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The idea is just keep moving. Praise God. Just
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keep moving. This is another year. Keep moving.
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Keep being, be persistent, be persistent. And
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if there's anything I want to drop is for us
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to desire, to see more of God mightily in and
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through our lives, to see more of God, find expression
57:33
in and through our lives. And it will show first
57:36
and foremost from our families, right? There
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are many of us that we want to see God do something
57:42
supernatural in our families. We want to see
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God do that thing supernatural. And if that is
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not what is before you every now and then that
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motivates you to, you know, there's something
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about when, Things are not going well and then
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you always have this, you know, and you have
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faith and you're standing fast in faith for God
58:03
to do something. And then you know that there's
58:06
no other way that this will happen if God doesn't
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intervene. You know, anytime you are relenting
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in the place of prayer, you will be encouraged
58:15
to do so because you know that, see, there's
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no other way and this will happen than me trusting
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God or believing God for it to happen. Praise
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God. So that should stir us up. That should encourage
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us. I want us to rise up to our feet. We appreciate
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you being here today. We hope you carry this
58:34
word with you throughout your week. Don't forget
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to check the show notes for additional insights.
58:39
Stay connected with us through our website or
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follow us on social media. If you were encouraged,
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share this message with someone you care about.
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Until next time, stay blessed.