Sermon

Day 4: The Defense of the Gospel (Part 2)

Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons

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  1. Welcome to NECF Sermons. Each message here is

  2. designed to uplift and strengthen you in your

  3. walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until

  4. the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive

  5. right in. teachings like this is that we will

  6. be equipped enough, okay, we will be equipped

  7. enough, right, to teach Jesus all over the world

  8. without fear, without doubt, without worry, with

  9. full confidence that we know that people will

  10. be saved. So yesterday we started, you know,

  11. to talk about apologia, which is an answer and

  12. the logos, which means an all trans is like,

  13. it's like a statement, an all trans, an explanation,

  14. right? About why we believe what we believe.

  15. And we say that this thing is common. It's common.

  16. It's something that you should expect as a believer,

  17. right? Don't dodge it. don't avoid it is something

  18. that should come on a regular basis, right? It's

  19. something that should come on a regular basis

  20. that you are able to consistently give an account.

  21. All right. So there are three commitments that

  22. we must put upon, right? This morning, right?

  23. So our commitments to apologia, our commitments

  24. to apologia, right? If I say I'm committed, I'm

  25. committed to apologetics. I'm committed to be

  26. giving an explanation. There are commitments

  27. that we need to specifically identify this morning

  28. as we go. Before we begin to talk about the different

  29. sects and the different beliefs and why those

  30. beliefs are actually not the faith of Jesus and

  31. how you can correct those beliefs. So, we first

  32. of all see our commitments. Our commitments.

  33. Let's go to our scripture again. 1 Peter 3. The

  34. key scripture, right? Let's go to 1 Peter 3,

    1 Peter 3:15

  35. verse 15. Let's read it again. 1 Peter 3. Sanctify

  36. the Lord God in your heart and always be ready

  37. to give a defense to everyone who asks you a

  38. reason for the hope that is in you. with meekness

  39. and fear. Having a good conscience that when

  40. they defame you as evildoers. Now, we saw this

  41. yesterday. When they defame you as evildoers,

  42. those who revile your good conduct in Christ

  43. may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the

  44. will of God, to suffer for doing good than for

  45. doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins,

  46. the just for the unjust, that he might bring

  47. us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but

  48. made alive in the spirit. Made alive in the spirit.

  49. Now, the verse 18 is fine, right? So what we

  50. see here is that we saw sanctification, right?

  51. Yesterday, from yesterday, so let's go back to

  52. verse 15. We saw sanctification that... So apologia

  53. is actually setting ourselves aside, right? Consecration.

  54. It means I'm different for Jesus because I'm

  55. ready to give an account. We see the answer there,

  56. to give a defense, right? I think in this, what

  57. did they call it? In this translation is the

  58. word defense, which is to give an answer, right?

  59. And to give an answer, an answer which relates

  60. to all trances, which relates to a reason why

  61. we believe what we believe. And we said that

  62. verse 17, let's see. Okay, go to 16, go to 16.

  63. Yeah, it says, so that those who revile your

  64. good conducts may be ashamed. And we also say

  65. that the ashamed there is not to put them to

  66. shame, okay? It's not like to make them feel

  67. bad because that is not part of the power of

  68. the gospel, right? God does not make someone

  69. to feel, to see shame. Let's put it that way,

  70. right? But the evidence, the explanation of this

  71. shame is that when evidence is presented, right,

  72. your evidence is sufficient enough, right, for

  73. them to put their evidences aside and accept

  74. your own, right? So to put their evidences aside,

  75. and we check scriptures where that actual word,

  76. right, I think we checked it yesterday, where

  77. that actual word popped out. So today we have

  78. to have a foundation upon which our commitment

  79. to apologetics, right? Our commitment to apologetics.

  80. So go to the same first bit that, is it having

  81. a good, go to 15, let's see, something I'm looking

  82. for. Always be ready and answer to give a reason,

  83. right? For the hope that is in you, right? That

  84. is in you. Now, the first thing that we must

  85. do, right? Or the first commitment is, the first

  86. thing is that, To know what we believe first.

  87. That's our first commitment. That's why verse

  88. 15 says, A reason for the hope that is in you.

  89. So the first thing is, you must know the hope

  90. that is in you. You must know the hope that is

  91. in you. So we must know what we believe. So when

  92. there are teachings, when there are things concerning

  93. the faith, and you realize that you are lacking

  94. in knowledge, you should investigate it. You

  95. should pay attention to study it until you find

  96. an answer from the scriptures. You should have

  97. a note. This particular part, I need to study

  98. it. This particular part, I need to study it.

  99. If you are trying, you can tell the pastors,

  100. you can tell people around you, right? And the

  101. church, over time, can go in that direction,

  102. right, based on the decision of the leadership.

  103. So what we are saying is that we must know the

  104. hope that we believe in. We must know what we

  105. believe. We must know what we believe because

  106. we cannot defend what we don't understand. Now,

  107. this is the difference between other people who

  108. call themselves probably some organizations or

  109. some sets and... The true Christian faith, which,

  110. of course, there's no other true Christian faith.

  111. It's just the Christian faith. But the committed

  112. Christian faith. The difference is that you must

  113. understand what you believe. The ones we are

  114. going to check today, you don't need to understand.

  115. Just follow. In fact, you just have to follow

  116. the organization. Right? You just have to follow

  117. the organization. You don't ask questions. But

  118. in the faith, you must be ready to give an answer.

  119. It therefore means that you must know. Ephesians

  120. 1. Ephesians 1. Someone says, to know the hope

  121. that is in you. Ephesians 1 explains it very

  122. well, or opens it up a little bit. And it became

  123. Paul's prayer. From verse 15. Wherefore, I also,

  124. after I have heard of your faith in the Lord

  125. Jesus, and the love unto all the saints, I say

  126. this not to give thanks for you, making mention

  127. of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord

  128. Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you

  129. wisdom of the Spirit, right? And revelation in

  130. the knowledge of him. The eyes of your understanding,

  131. being enlightened, that you may what? Know. Okay?

  132. That you may know. What will you know? The hope.

  133. What is the hope of his calling? You must know

  134. the hope of his calling. You must know what you

  135. believe. It's not, the Christian faith is not

  136. without understanding. Okay? The Christian faith

  137. is not without understanding, right? There's

  138. understanding that must go. You must know what

  139. you believe. And in essence, the reason is that

  140. we can be able to give sufficient defense, sufficient

  141. answer, right? The defense of the gospel is the

  142. title, right? So sufficient defense, sufficient

  143. answer to those who ask us. And note that...

  144. He says, you may be able to give to those who

  145. ask you. And now see, some people will revile

  146. you. So among those who ask you, do we need to,

  147. okay, all right. So among those who ask you are

  148. actually people who will revile you. So not everybody

  149. that asks you is actually coming to revile you.

  150. And we saw that yesterday, right? We saw that

  151. there will be people, what's the first group

  152. of people that we might encounter? New generation,

  153. right? So the new generation might not ready,

  154. they are not coming to revile you. They just

  155. want to know. Purity everywhere, right? Now,

  156. the false prophets too, they are not coming to,

  157. I'm sorry, not the false prophets, the sincere

  158. preachers, right? Sincere teachers. They are

  159. not coming to revile you, right? They are coming

  160. actually, they don't know. When Apollos was taken

  161. into the house of Priscilla and Aquila, right?

  162. It was not to revile him or he was also not reviling

  163. them, right? It was actually for him to be taught.

  164. So we see that. However, we know that false prophets,

  165. mockers and scoffers, they want to revile you,

  166. right? So you must be ready to provide an evidence.

  167. So the first thing is that we must be committed.

  168. These are our commitments in this meeting as

  169. we go, as we, you know, after this meeting, that

  170. I'm committed to know everything pertaining to

  171. the scriptures. You know, one time I used to

  172. tell people, I tell someone, okay, preach John

  173. 3, 6, preach about salvation for me. The people,

  174. they prepare the teachings and it goes only across

  175. the New Testament or maybe only in the book of

  176. John or maybe just a few scriptures. And I said,

  177. you see this thing that you do now, it's good,

  178. but it is insufficient. Just like we say, if

  179. we stay only in the New Testament, we will miss

  180. the foundation, which is the Old Testament upon

  181. which the New Testament is built upon. So in

  182. such. Right? It means that in our explanation,

  183. we will do like Jesus. Right? In our explanation,

  184. we'll do like Jesus. In Luke chapter 24. Right?

    Luke 24 chapter mention

  185. Let's go there. Add that scripture. Luke chapter

    Luke 24 chapter mention

  186. 24. We will do like Jesus. So, we must know.

  187. Right? We must know. Luke chapter 24. From verse

    Luke 24 chapter mention

  188. 44. Right? From verse 44. We have verse 44. He

  189. said, these are the words which I speak unto

  190. you while I was yet with you. That. All things

  191. must be fulfilled, which are written in the law

  192. of Moses, in the prophets, in the Psalms concerning

  193. me. And I said, he opened their understanding.

  194. So when we need to learn about the faith, we

  195. must go to the scriptures. So you will not just

  196. stay in the Psalms. You will not just stay in

  197. the New Testament, but you will go across scriptures

  198. to be able to teach what you know. Right? So

  199. we must go. We can put 2 Peter 3 verse 18. 2

    2 Peter 3:18 2 Peter 3:18

  200. Peter 3 verse 18. Grow in grace and in the knowledge

  201. of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Grow in

  202. grace. So, spiritual growth as a believer is

  203. to grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

  204. Okay, the spiritual growth is to grow in the

  205. knowledge. So if we say more grace unto you,

  206. we are saying more knowledge, more revelation,

  207. right? So if I greet someone, more grace unto

  208. you, I'm telling you more knowledge, more revelation

  209. on the basis of this verse, right? So I'm saying

  210. more knowledge to you, more revelation as you

  211. press on, right? That you may know, you may know.

  212. So when we talk about grace in this context,

  213. it's talking about the increase in the knowledge,

  214. which is the same thing, again, back to Ephesians.

  215. Back to Ephesians, telling us that there will

  216. be revelation, the knowledge, in the knowledge

  217. of Christ. So we must be zealous to actually

  218. know more, right? There should not be any question,

  219. like Pastor Fred used to say, he used to say,

  220. tell me something. He said, you see, you have

  221. to follow the conversation. The reason is because

  222. people under us are listening to these same conversations.

  223. Right? So, when you listen to that combat, maybe

  224. some people giving some explanations, because

  225. people listen to them, you listen to them so

  226. that you can know how to teach them from Genesis

  227. to Revelation on that matter when the question

  228. comes. Do we get it? So, it means that we have

  229. to grow in the knowledge of Christ, having eyes

  230. of our understanding enlightened. Let's progress.

  231. Colossians 3, 16. Colossians 3, 16. Let the word

  232. of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.

  233. Now, teaching and admonishing one another in

  234. psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, singing with

  235. grace in your hearts to the Lord. You see, again,

  236. the word of Christ dwelling in us richly, in

  237. abundance, in surplus, like you have the wealth

  238. of the word of God in you. You have the wealth

  239. of the word of God in you. The second thing which

  240. we saw is... It's still connected to knowing

  241. what we believe. It's majorly to say that we

  242. should know why we believe what we believe. So

  243. it's still connected to what I just said. You

  244. must know the why, right? You must know the why.

  245. You will know what you believe, right? You must

  246. know what you believe. Then we must know why,

  247. the reason behind it, right? We must know why,

  248. which is the reason behind it. The reason behind

  249. what we believe has historical foundation and

  250. revelational foundation, okay? The reason behind

  251. the Christian faith, why, has historical foundation

  252. and revelational foundation. Why? Because it

  253. is God working with and within a culture of a

  254. people to communicate to the entire world. Some

  255. say, why do you believe it? It's an Englishman's

  256. religion. Oh, why do you believe it? It's an

  257. imported. Why do you believe it? It's just something

  258. to control the masses. No. Right? The Christian

  259. faith, across history, He has a historical foundation.

  260. He has a revelational foundation. He has apostolic

  261. foundation. Right? So, those are the reasons

  262. why we believe what we believe. It's not just

  263. that we read it, we know it. We know the reason

  264. why we know it. We know the reason why. Right?

  265. We know the reason why. Now, like I said, the

  266. ones we are going to discuss today, I will ask

  267. you a question. Whether they have historical

  268. foundation or they have revelational foundation.

  269. Right? We're going to see. Because Pastor Victor

  270. is the one that used the word archaeological

  271. evidences, you know, all the time. When I started

  272. studying, I started seeing that actually, Christian

  273. faith is so solidly founded on realities that

  274. happened on these earths that God fulfilled.

  275. Right? And in those realities, which we call

  276. the eyewitnesses accounts, there is what? Revelation.

  277. Right? There is revelation. But in most cases,

  278. you barely find... any archaeological or any

  279. pointer to the fact that some people existed

  280. somewhere. Where's Brother Prince? Ah, okay,

  281. he's outside. If someone can replace him, it

  282. would be nice. Yes, so, Victor, if you can replace

  283. him, if he's not in anything, he should come

  284. inside. So, there's archaeological evidences,

  285. right, evidences on this faith and there's revelational,

  286. there's eyewitness evidence, to solidify the

  287. Christian faith, which in most cases is difficult

  288. for other faiths to establish. So we must know

  289. why. Now, the third one is you must know how

  290. to communicate the faith. Ah, you must know how

  291. to communicate the faith. You must know how to

  292. communicate the faith. You must know how to communicate

  293. the faith. One of the things I really, you know,

  294. honor pastors for is Not just that they know

  295. it, but they are apt to teach. See, teaching

  296. is something that every day you must trust God

  297. that it gives you understanding on how to present

  298. the message of the gospel. This teaching is one

  299. of the most, I mean, one of the challenging for

  300. me to teach. Reason because I'm torn between

  301. I don't want to teach someone's doctrine and

  302. trying to correct doctrine. Yes, I need to teach

  303. the church. So our job is to teach the church.

  304. It's not to teach someone's error. But in teaching

  305. the church, we would correct someone's error.

  306. Do we get it? So our job is not to pick, we don't

  307. need to pick all the errors, right? No, not at

  308. all. We want to teach the church. Now, in our

  309. teaching the church, many errors out there will

  310. be corrected. So I was torn in between, right?

  311. Where do I start from? Where do I organize this?

  312. and trusting the Spirit to flow with us even

  313. as we teach. So you must learn how to communicate

  314. it. You must learn how to communicate it. 2 Timothy

    2 Timothy 2:15

  315. 2 verse 15. 2 Timothy 2 verse 15. Be diligent

    2 Timothy 2:15

  316. to present yourself approved to God, a worker

  317. who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing

  318. the word of truth. Say that word ashamed again.

  319. So it's not shaming, it's actually to shrink.

  320. Like, oh, I don't have sufficient evidence to

  321. present. Right? So, you will not shrink that

  322. you don't have sufficient evidence when you rightly

  323. divide the word of truth. That is what it means.

  324. It means to withdraw. I withdraw my case from

  325. this discussion because I don't have sufficient

  326. evidence. When you rightly divide the word of

  327. truth, you wouldn't shrink. So, it means that

  328. there's a pattern that we need to use to communicate,

  329. to communicate the gospel. 2 Peter 1, 20 -21

  330. will rightly divide the word of truth. So, rightly

  331. divide simply means to cut across the scripture

  332. to give an explanation, right? Cut across the

  333. scripture to give An explanation. To what? Now,

  334. some people are wondering, knowing first, above

  335. all, that no prophecy is of private interpretation.

  336. And we have explained this, right? That it's

  337. not necessarily meaning someone has a revelation,

  338. right? That's not what it means. That means like,

  339. oh, this is my interpretation. That is your interpretation.

  340. But what it's explaining is that no scripture

  341. should be taken alone. No scripture is independent

  342. of the order. Right? So, if I read Genesis, it's

  343. not independent of Exodus. It's not independent

  344. of Malachi. For the prophecy never came by the

  345. will of man. But see, holy men, stay on this

  346. one, holy men of God spoke as they were moved.

  347. So, Moses spoke as he was moved. So, if he was

  348. moved by the spirits, right? It means that when

  349. Isaiah was moved by the Spirit, Moses and Isaiah

  350. would be communicating the same thing. Do we

  351. get it? So, holy men, they move. They will move,

  352. right? They spoke as they will move. So, it means

  353. that because it is of the same origin, right?

  354. No single scripture has a separate message from

  355. the other. Because it is inspired by God, by

  356. the same Holy Spirit, No single, that is what

  357. we call the, what the pastor Victor call it,

  358. thematic context, right? The entire context of

  359. the Bible, right? This is thematic, those places,

  360. those concepts, I was supposed to write them

  361. down there in my book. I probably will bring

  362. that, right? We need them because that is the

  363. thematic context of the Bible, the overall message

  364. of the Bible, saying that no book is independent,

  365. but these books brought together. By men in different

  366. generations and across different times, they

  367. were moved by the Holy Spirit. And does the Holy

  368. Spirit have two messages? No. Just that one message

  369. of what God will do in us. What God will do.

  370. So, how do I, right, communicate the gospel,

  371. right? I communicate it across scriptures, holding

  372. on to the messages of the scripture. Holding

  373. on to... the messages of the scripture. So there's

  374. no one scripture that stands alone, but you bring

  375. them together and they spoke as they were moved

  376. by the Holy Ghost. Let's go to Philemon 6. Philemon

  377. 6. Philemon 6. The communication of our faith.

  378. Right. The communication of our faith. Philemon

  379. 6. Okay. Media, help us. So Philemon sees. 6

  380. says, the communication of our faith would become,

  381. he said, that the sharing of your faith may become

  382. effective by acknowledgement of every good thing

  383. which is in you in Christ. That as we acknowledge

  384. all that is ours in Christ, means that you will

  385. cut across, to acknowledge what is yours in Christ,

  386. it means that you will cut across all scriptures

  387. to know all that is yours in Christ. Living no

  388. matter untouched. We will cut across all scriptures

  389. knowing what is ours in Christ. Then the communication

  390. of our faith, the sharing of our faith becomes

  391. very effective. Right? It becomes very effective.

  392. It becomes very effective. So this three commitment

  393. is something that should go with us every day

  394. as we go. Every day as we go. I need to know

  395. more. I need to know more. Right? I need to know

  396. why. And I need to communicate. That is why when

  397. you learn, you communicate it. You teach people,

  398. right? The reason why we have us here is not

  399. for us to just teach you, teach you, teach you,

  400. but that you will go and teach others. So if

  401. you don't practice how to teach others, how would

  402. you be able to be effective in the communication

  403. of your faith? To give a defense, you must learn

  404. how to communicate the defense. You must learn

  405. how to communicate. And it doesn't come in one

  406. day. It's not something that you will just wake

  407. up one day and you know how to communicate of

  408. it. No, it's practice. Practice after practice,

  409. after practice, after practice. It's like people

  410. who are going for evangelism, the more you do

  411. it, the more you know how to do it. So the first

  412. time you went to speak with someone, you realize

  413. that the scripture you started with or the way

  414. the conversation started, you could have taken

  415. it through these other parts. Or started with

  416. this scripture and moved towards this scripture?

  417. Or asked this question? So, in that, you are

  418. practicing how to communicate your faith. Right?

  419. You are practicing how to communicate your faith.

  420. So, it is not just mere eloquence. It is not

  421. mere eloquence. It is not in the wisdom of men.

  422. It is not eloquence. It is not in the wisdom

  423. of men. It is also not quoting scriptures. Okay?

  424. So we've warned each other about quoting scriptures

  425. randomly and using them haphazardly, right? In

  426. this place, right? This is not just me quoting

  427. scriptures, but staying on it. Because we have

  428. people who have quoted scriptures across all

  429. times. In fact, in their quoting of scriptures,

  430. they did terrible damage to people who were looking

  431. for what to believe in. They had to follow them.

  432. So it is not quoting scriptures. Like some said,

  433. right, to confuse people. Just quote randomly,

  434. quote randomly. In fact, like Pastor Victor also

  435. said, he said, the people that have done damage

  436. the most to the faith, I mean, unfortunately,

  437. are people who use the same material. People

  438. who hold the Bible across history and even people

  439. who try to create organizations. Why? Because

  440. they are using the same book. Now, I tell you

  441. that if someone was using another book, right?

  442. You remember what happened in Ephesus? What did

  443. they do? Right? They will bring out their books

  444. and they will burn it. Right? They will bring

  445. out their magic books. Right? And they will burn

  446. it. Because they have believed in the message

  447. of Christ. Now, somebody that is using the same

  448. book with you. First, he does not need to burn

  449. the book. We don't want to burn the book. But

  450. the person is communicating and keeping people

  451. in darkness, right? In the name of using the

  452. same book. So people who really give the most

  453. challenge when it comes to apologetics, people

  454. who give the most challenge is the people who

  455. actually carry the same book or claim to teach

  456. from the same book. So we must pay attention,

  457. right? We must pay attention to how to communicate

  458. this message. So we will teach it instruction

  459. by instruction, conviction by conviction, evidence

  460. by evidence. Okay, we will teach it instruction

  461. by instruction, conviction by conviction, evidence

  462. by evidence, correction by correction, precepts

  463. by precepts. It means that we will be detailed.

  464. We will be detailed in our communication of the

  465. gospel. We will be detailed in our communication.

  466. of the gospel. Alright. The next thing is to

  467. know what is the state of heart of someone who

  468. is giving a defense of the gospel. The state

  469. of our state of heart. Now, one of the challenges,

  470. so the next thing is our state of heart in giving

  471. a defense. Right? We can say it that way. Our

  472. state of heart in giving a defense. There's a

  473. challenge. I think I was saying it one day that

  474. one of the reasons why people don't go for evangelism

  475. is because they don't know what the person will

  476. say. One. Secondly, sometimes they think that

  477. they are coming apprehensively to attack somebody.

  478. No. Sometimes they think, okay, someone I've

  479. never met before. It's because you have not conditioned

  480. your heart to know what you're about to go and

  481. do. So if you condition your heart that, okay,

  482. I'm going to save souls. I'm not going to attack

  483. anybody. I'm going to have a communication with

  484. this person. I'm going to discuss and explain

  485. the scriptures, right? And it's not like you're

  486. coming to, you know, hold the person, force the

  487. person. Is it that you believe or not? You know,

  488. some people will use the wrong scripture, the

  489. kingdom of God, suffering violence, right? You

  490. must take it. But no, no, no. That's the very

  491. wrong explanation of that. We've seen people

  492. do very funny things with scriptures. So our

  493. hearts has a position. Believe me, this will

  494. help you. when you are going. It will help you

  495. when we are going. You see this one, this is

  496. the foundation of the next thing we are going

  497. to teach. So that when we begin to talk about

  498. doctrines that don't align with the faith of

  499. Jesus and why a faith cannot be called salvation.

  500. I said that. Why a faith cannot be called salvation

  501. or a belief cannot be called salvation. You will

  502. know that we are coming from a state of hearts

  503. that is appropriate, that is consecrated. Let

  504. me use that word, right? A state of heart that

  505. is consecrated, right? We are coming from a state

  506. of heart that is consecrated. So the first thing

  507. that we must know, right? I know many of us might

  508. not like it. Some of us are so cool. Some of

  509. us, we are very reserved, right? But the first

  510. thing you must know when you are going out for

  511. an apology is that you are confronting ideologies.

  512. So many people don't like confrontation. Many

  513. people don't like confrontation, right? You don't

  514. want confrontation, right? To discuss, to argue,

  515. to explain, no. So, first, the state of our heart

  516. must be that we are going to confront ideologies.

  517. We are going to confront ideologies, strongholds,

  518. and arguments. Ideologies, strongholds, and arguments.

  519. Ideologies, strongholds, and arguments. That

  520. exalts themselves against the knowledge of God.

  521. That exalts themselves against... So you must

  522. know, this one you must know. You will not get

  523. there and tell the person A is B. And the person

  524. will say, oh, glory to God, I believe. Right?

  525. No, it's not going to happen like that. So you

  526. must know that we are going to confront ideologies.

  527. People are not born tabula rasa. Tabula rasa

  528. means a plain head. People are not plain head.

  529. Right? They are not a white board where nothing

  530. is written on. Something has been written in

  531. their mind. before they met you, right? Even

  532. if they have no faith, something has been written

  533. in their mind. For example, you are going to

  534. preach even to a new generation person. The person

  535. will ask you, why does God allow a child in Gaza

  536. or somewhere to die? Why does he not stop that

  537. bomb at that last minute before it exploded?

  538. Right? Someone will ask you such a question.

  539. You are preaching the love of God. The person

  540. is telling you, If truly God controls all men,

  541. if God is truly ultimate, why can't he not just

  542. kick that bomb away and that child will survive?

  543. These are questions they will ask you. Now, this

  544. one is not coming from anything. This one is

  545. coming from a moral mind. It's coming from a

  546. humanity mind. If you meet people who believe

  547. in humanity and they follow those, this is a

  548. question they will ask you. Why didn't God stop

  549. it? And you have to explain. So, that is an ideology.

  550. That it is, God is contributing to that thing

  551. that is happening by not doing anything. Have

  552. we seen that in the Old Testament before? Are

  553. we together? Have we seen that in the Old Testament?

  554. Leaders, we have seen that. Where they will say

  555. that God is contributing to an evil that is taking

  556. place because of his absence. His absence in

  557. those cases. So the same way today. Today you

  558. will see it practically. Why is God not stopping?

  559. So we must know, you must have this in your mind.

  560. Have it settled. You are going to confront ideologies,

  561. arguments that exalt themselves against the knowledge

  562. of God. 2 Corinthians 10, 4, verse 5. 2 Corinthians

  563. 10, 4, verse 5. Romans 1, verse 16. Put them

    Romans 1:16

  564. together. Romans 1, verse 16. For the weapons

    Romans 1:16

  565. of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in

  566. God, to the pulling down strongholds, casting

  567. down arguments and every high thing that exalts

  568. itself against the knowledge of God and bringing

  569. every thought into captivity to the obedience

  570. of Christ. So, go back. So, he says, go back

  571. to the first one, right? Where are you? 2 Corinthians.

  572. I'm still in 2 Corinthians. I'm not in... Yes.

  573. It's like the weapon of our warfare. So, you

  574. must know that you are not going for a physical

  575. fight, okay? The confrontation is not physical

  576. fight. So, you must know this, right? So when

  577. the person becomes physical, you move. That's

  578. the truth. You move. Okay? Because what we are

  579. doing, it's an argument. I mean, a debate, yes.

  580. A conversation. That is why when Festus and Agrippa,

  581. when they questioned Paul, they said, what are

  582. you guys? This guy does not deserve this. He

  583. has not done, there's nothing physical. It's

  584. not a physical warfare. It's just to them. It's

  585. just ideological. So why should you say he's

  586. condemned to death? Of course, over history,

  587. we have seen people that because of their ideology,

  588. they were condemned to death as well, right?

  589. So he was saying, let's think. Let's think together,

  590. right? He doesn't deserve death. But Paul knew,

  591. right? Paul knew that the weapons of his warfare

  592. are not carnal. Paul knew what he was doing.

  593. Apostle Paul was certain that he was bringing

  594. down the argument. And because they could not

  595. stand, so people might not be able to stand and

  596. they turn into fights. Then you just withdraw,

  597. right? So if you have this mindset, I'm going

  598. out to have a conversation over the ideologies,

  599. over the strongholds that are in the minds of

  600. people. I'm going out to answer questions that

  601. are in the mind of people, random people who

  602. haven't been able to understand the love of Christ.

  603. So this will help us a lot. Now go to Romans

    Romans 1:16

  604. 1 verse 16. Romans 1 verse 16. by faith. So it

    Romans 1:16

  605. is the power of God. So your communication of

  606. the gospel, right? The power of God is in it.

  607. So don't think that you're just going to just

  608. have a debate, have an argument, have a discussion,

  609. explain. No. When you are saying that Jesus is

  610. son of God, the power of God is in that communication.

  611. When you are saying that when God created man,

  612. he has the intention to fill all men, the power

  613. of God is in that communication. When you say

  614. that to be filled, You need to believe in the

  615. suffering of Christ and the glory that follows.

  616. The power of God is in that communication. So

  617. don't let it look like you are going out to just

  618. say mere words. No, you are not going to say

  619. mere words. You are going to communicate the

  620. power of God. So be bold to enjoy confrontation.

  621. Right? Be bold to enjoy confrontation. Be bold

  622. to enjoy confrontation. One of the means by which...

  623. maybe early days, right, before, you know, I

  624. got very, I mean, it's not something that also

  625. I just jumped into being able to have a confrontation

  626. about the gospel. No, it didn't happen all of

  627. a sudden, right? I just realized that when someone

  628. asks a question, right, I just smile, right?

  629. So if you smile, it calms you down. Then they

  630. arrange your mind together. Then you know, okay,

  631. we are not fighting, right? It is that we want

  632. to communicate, we want to have a conversation.

  633. So me, that is, first thing, someone comes to

  634. me, in fact, these days when I smile is because

  635. I know that, okay, This person, this is another

  636. opportunity to win someone, right? This is another

  637. opportunity to win someone. So, we are going

  638. for confrontation. It's not a fight. We put on

  639. a smile. You approach the person. You have your

  640. scriptures. And again, right? Again, this is

  641. one of the things. Let's put a second one. Let's

  642. put a second one. So, now it's confrontation,

  643. right? Confrontation. Let's take a few scriptures.

  644. 1 Timothy 1 verse 3. 1 Timothy 1 verse 3. I think

    1 Timothy 1:3 1 Timothy 1:3

  645. Pastor Victor read this. And I urge you when

  646. I went into Macedonia, so we are still on confrontation,

  647. please. We have about a number of scriptures

  648. here. Yes, a number of scriptures here to deal

  649. with. As I urge you when I went to Macedonia,

  650. remain in emphasis that you may church some that

  651. they teach no other doctrine, neither give heed

  652. to fables and endless genealogies, which minister

  653. questions rather than godly edification. which

  654. is in faith. Sorry, which is in faith, yes. So,

  655. he says he besought Timothy, right, to abide

  656. still at Ephesus, right, so that he might do

  657. what? He might charge people to teach no other

  658. doctrine. Now, to charge people to teach no other

  659. doctrine would not be very easy, would not just

  660. be stop teaching this doctrine, right? If you

  661. tell people stop teaching this doctrine, the

  662. next question is why? So, what? Timothy is going

  663. to do is not to say, nobody should teach fables

  664. here. Nobody should teach, I am from David, I

  665. am from whatever tribe. No, no, no, he's not

  666. going to do that. He's going to show from the

  667. scripture that it is from one Lord, one baptism,

  668. one faith, so that you would not have an attachment

  669. to anything you have traced. Endless genealogies

  670. that is not for profiting. Fables. Right? So,

  671. these NDS genealogists and these fables are not

  672. just something we say stop. No, he has to use

  673. the scripture, right, to stop them. So, it is

  674. the teaching of the scripture that will stop

  675. it. So, he's going to go and confront people

  676. to tell them to stop and to show them from the

  677. scriptures that we are all the children of God.

  678. So, this is how he confronts it. Acts 13 verse

    Acts 13:14–16

  679. 14 to 16, let's add that. Still on confrontation,

  680. Acts 13, verse 14 to 16. Acts 13, verse 14 to

    Acts 13:14–16 Acts 13:14–16

  681. 16. But when they departed from Pega, they came

  682. to Antioch in Pidicia and went into the synagogue

  683. on the Sabbath day and sat down. And after the

  684. reading of the law and the prophet, the ruler

  685. of the synagogue sent to them, saying, Men and

  686. brethren, if you have any word of exhortation

  687. for the people, do what? Say on. Then Paul stood

  688. stuck here. Now, this is the one I was talking

  689. about yesterday. That Paul intentionally would

  690. put himself in a circumstance where people would

  691. ask him and say, tell us more. Right? Where people

  692. would say, give us a defense of the scriptures.

  693. Right? Give us a defense. Now, these people are

  694. also very interesting people. Right? They realize

  695. that the reading of the scripture is not enough.

  696. But the explanation of the scripture. is where

  697. the revelation is. Okay? The explanation. Don't

  698. forget, the Ethiopian eunuch also was reading.

  699. Right? And Philip had to do what? Explain the

  700. scriptures. So Paul put himself in a circumstance.

  701. So there's nothing wrong where you find people

  702. talking. Right? When you find people talking

  703. and you go and join them. Right? Because you

  704. want them to ask you questions. Right? I think

  705. you want them to ask you questions. I think my

  706. wife always says something that, you know, she

  707. goes to lunch. with some people because she knows

  708. that they will ask her questions. Right? They

  709. will ask her questions about your faith. So,

  710. she goes, I mean, there are, what I call them,

  711. some of them are Christians, right? And people

  712. who are yet to believe are among them. So, you

  713. go in that midst and because you know the state

  714. of mind that they are going to ask a question,

  715. you want to keep that. Why? Because you want

  716. to be able to give an answer. Right? So, this

  717. is what Paul is doing here. Similar to what Paul

  718. is doing. Putting himself, getting into a synagogue,

  719. reading the scriptures, And then they said, now

  720. speak. You know, now speak. Then Paul stood up

  721. and motioning his hand said, men of Israel and

  722. you who fear God, listen. The God of his people,

  723. Israel, choose our father and exalted people

  724. when they dwell as strangers in the land of Egypt.

  725. And with an uplifted hand, he brought them out.

  726. This alone is the message of salvation. A picture

  727. of salvation is already painted there. Next.

  728. Now for a time, for about 40 years. He put up

  729. with their ways in the wilderness. So here we

  730. see that Paul actually went to confront people.

  731. He put himself in a circumstance where they would

  732. say, speak. You remember the same thing. What

  733. did they tell Stephen? Speak. Are these things

  734. so? Confirm that this is true. Speak. What did

  735. they tell Paul? Now you can answer for yourself.

  736. That's what they told Paul. They asked Stephen,

  737. are these things so? Paul, they asked him, you

  738. can answer for yourself. And here they told Peter,

  739. right? Right? Is it Peter or Paul? They say stand

  740. up, Paul. They say stand up and what? And speak.

  741. Right? Paul put himself in this circumstance

  742. again. So this is what we see. So it's not bad

  743. to find yourself in such circumstances. Now go

  744. to 42 to 46. Verse 42 to 46. Of this same chapter,

  745. please. 42 to 46 of this same chapter of Acts.

  746. So when the Jews went out of synagogue, the Gentiles

  747. begged that this word might be preached to them.

  748. the next Sabbath. So the Jews were angry about

  749. the message that was preached. Yet, some people

  750. wanted the message to be preached to them again

  751. the next Sabbath. So in your apologia, as much

  752. as you'll find people who would confront and

  753. they will say no, you must also be having a mind

  754. and a heart that somebody will hear. Okay? Somebody

  755. will believe. Don't have this mind that nobody

  756. will believe. No. Somebody will believe. Somebody

  757. will hear. Somebody will say yes. Somebody would

  758. follow. The more you do it, right? So we had

  759. some people say, let them preach this word to

  760. us again in the next Sabbath, 43. Now, when the

  761. congregation had broken up, many of the Jews

  762. and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas,

  763. who speaking to them, persuaded them to continue

  764. in the grace of God. So some Jews, right? And

  765. some converts, right? They followed Paul. and

  766. persuaded them to continue the worldview. So

  767. those ones received the word. On the next Sabbath,

  768. almost the whole city came together to do what?

  769. To hear the word of God. Right? People would

  770. hear. This is a result of putting yourself in

  771. a place where you begin to teach. Verse 45. But

  772. when the Jews, again, these same Jews, saw the

  773. multitudes, they were filled with envy and contradicting

  774. and blaspheming. They opposed the things spoken

  775. by Paul. So you can see it's a very great confrontation.

  776. Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold. Say, I grew

  777. bold. Say, I grow bold every day. Yeah. They

  778. grew bold and said, it is necessary that the

  779. word of God should be spoken first to you. Now,

  780. it is necessary. That word is historical. That

  781. word is entire Genesis and the law. It is necessary

  782. that it be spoken to you first. Because you are

  783. people in... Abraham, of course, a father in

  784. your lineage that believed in God. So by the

  785. promises of God and by the election of God, right?

  786. You were the ones that will carry this message

  787. and share, right? That's by God's election. It's

  788. Israel that would carry this message and share.

  789. So he said, it is necessary that he be spoken

  790. to you first. However, you did what? You reject

  791. it. Now, judge for yourself. and judge yourselves

  792. rather on worthy of everlasting life. Behold,

  793. we do what? We turn to the Gentiles. We turn

  794. to the Gentiles. For the Lord has commanded that

  795. I have said to you as a lie to the Gentiles that

  796. you should be salvation to the world, to the

  797. ends of the earth. So it's not just Gentiles,

  798. right? No, no, just stay under scriptures. It's

  799. not just Gentiles, right? But Paul had a heavy

  800. labor. Paul had heavy labor for the Gentiles.

  801. But it's not just apostles to the Gentiles. You're

  802. restraining me a whole lot. Otherwise, we would

  803. remove the epistles, give the Gentiles only the

  804. epistles, and we would stay with the gospels

  805. and maybe Peter, John. So Paul is also an apostle

  806. to us, right? He's an apostle to us. We're going

  807. to see that in laying the foundation, right?

  808. Why nobody can build anything apart from that

  809. which is already established. So verse 47. We'll

  810. just stay on verse 7. Right. So, he said, I've

  811. said it. So, he's an apostle to the ends of the

  812. earth. Right. To the ends of the earth. For salvation

  813. to the ends of the earth. So, let's go to another

  814. scripture. Acts 19, verse 3. Acts 19, verse 3.

    Acts 19:3 Acts 19:3

  815. And he said to them, into what then were you

  816. baptized? So, they said, into John's baptism.

  817. Again, he met people who were already saved.

  818. I mean, people who had received the message.

  819. Which is the message of? John the Baptist. I'm

  820. saying there's no problem about that message,

  821. but the way it's communicated, it's communicated

  822. in a coded form, in a hidden form of what is

  823. to come. But in our communication, we communicate

  824. what is already done. The finished work of Christ

  825. is what we communicate. This one is telling them

  826. somebody will come and do some finished work.

  827. There's somebody that is going to fulfill it,

  828. right? So, he confronted these people and said,

  829. well, this is it, right? And he taught them appropriately.

  830. Verse 9 and 10. Verse 9 and 10 of the same scripture.

  831. But when some were hardened and did not believe,

  832. I'll go to verse 8, take it a little bit back.

  833. And again, he went into the synagogue and spoke

  834. boldly for three months. You see, always going

  835. to, in the synagogue, looking for places where

  836. people would have questions and explain the scriptures

  837. to them. So, spoke boldly for three months. Reasoning,

  838. did you see? Reasoning. It means giving explanation.

  839. The Logos, giving explanation and persuading

  840. concerning the things of the kingdom of God.

  841. Right? He was going about meeting people and

  842. giving explanation regarding things concerning

  843. the kingdom of God. So Paul did not shy away

  844. from confrontation. Right? And we cannot shy

  845. away. Go to verse 10. But when some were... Okay,

  846. go to verse 9. Stay on 9. Let me see. But when

  847. some were hardened... and did not believe, but

  848. spoke evil of the way, which is the message,

  849. before the multitude, he departed from them and

  850. withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the

  851. school of Tyrannus. Now, look at, did he reason

  852. in the synagogue with them? Did he reason in

  853. the synagogue with them? Yes, he did. Now, when

  854. he realized that one, two, three, four people,

  855. they are getting it, right? He took them aside.

  856. and train those ones very well, right? Train

  857. those ones so that those ones will go and do

  858. what? Will do the same work. So as much as you

  859. are seeing confrontations, right? You'll meet

  860. people who will believe. In fact, sometimes you

  861. can go and teach somewhere or you're talking

  862. to two friends and you realize that in that evangelism,

  863. one is more receptive, the other one is not receptive,

  864. right? One is more receptive, the other one is

  865. very... It's not receptive. Now, it would be

  866. good that that one that is receptive, you put

  867. more energy, get person number, you follow up

  868. such kind of people. Let me put it this way.

  869. They are closer to the kingdom of God. Okay?

  870. Such kind of people, they are closer to the kingdom

  871. of God. It means that they are ready to hear

  872. your reasoning. So, reasoning is something that

  873. we must do. So, he took them aside. So, specifically,

  874. he continued with those ones. The question is,

  875. do you think those ones will not have questions?

  876. They have questions. The disciples of Jesus had

  877. questions. These disciples had questions and

  878. then he answered their questions. So we see that

  879. in general, you can have confrontation with a

  880. group. You can have people specifically also

  881. being separated for discipleship while you are

  882. confronting the ideologies in our mind. So again,

  883. just put this as a note that you cannot control

  884. how people respond, right? But you must be faithful

  885. to the teaching of the word. You cannot control

  886. how people respond. But you must be faithful

  887. to the teaching of the word. You must be faithful

  888. to the teaching of the word. So, some people

  889. will be receptive at some point, some people

  890. will not. So, you must be faithful to the teaching

  891. of the word. Now, observe that James, the brothers

  892. of Jesus, did not believe him at some point in

  893. time. Right? They did not. But when... Peter

  894. would hand over church. It was James, the brother

  895. of our Lord, that he handed over to. So there

  896. are some people that the current confrontation,

  897. they might not be able to receive it. I say it

  898. again. The brothers of Jesus never believed them.

  899. We've taught that before. After resurrection,

  900. they believed, right? And when James, the apostle,

  901. was killed, James, the brother of Jesus, took

  902. over the church from Peter. So Jerusalem became

  903. where James, the brother of our Lord, was. In

  904. Galatians, we see... Paul, Peter emphasizing

  905. that because they set the lead arms to kill James

  906. and all of that. And there was another James.

  907. So we see that people, we don't control the response.

  908. Jesus could not control his brother's response,

  909. right? But after resurrection, sufficient evidence,

  910. they believe the message of the gospel. Now,

  911. the second thing is we are fighting a good fight.

  912. Okay, we are fighting a good fight. 2 Timothy

  913. 6 verse 12. We are fighting a good fight. We

  914. are fighting a good fight. Sorry, 1 Timothy 6

  915. .12. Sorry, I think it should be 1 Timothy 6

  916. .12. It should be 2 Timothy 4 .1. 1 Timothy,

  917. yes, 6 .12. Fight a good fight of faith, lay

  918. hold of eternal life, to which you were also

  919. called, and have confessed the good confession

  920. in the presence of many witnesses. I urge you

  921. in the sight of God, who gives life to all things,

  922. and before Christ, who witnessed the good confession.

  923. Now, go back to verse 14. Let me explain something

  924. in verse 14. Now, verse 12, sorry. Verse 12,

  925. go to verse 12. Now, fight a good fight of it.

  926. Lay hold of eternal life is not talking about

  927. that Timothy does not have eternal life, okay?

  928. It's not saying Timothy does not have eternal

  929. life, right? It is that fight of faith, right,

  930. that is the work of eternal life, okay? It's

  931. not saying that, oh, now, fight a good fight

  932. of it, then hold eternal life, right, to which

  933. you have been called. Now, look at it. Take hold

  934. of eternal life. Eternal life to which you have

  935. been called and have made a good confession.

  936. So, he's talking about the message and the ministry.

  937. That's what he's saying. He's talking about fight

  938. a good fight, but do the work of ministry, right?

  939. And that is eternal life itself. So, eternal

  940. life is not something that we have alone. It's

  941. something that we do. Okay? Eternal life is something

  942. that we do. It's something that we do. That fight

  943. of faith is eternal life. It's something that

  944. we do. It's not just something that we have.

  945. Right? So it's something that we do. So we would

  946. fight a good fight. It means we are taking hold

  947. of eternal life. It means we are preaching the

  948. gospel. We are doing that which we are called

  949. to do. That which we have confessed and we have

  950. confessed before many witnesses. So taking hold

  951. of eternal life is you fighting a good fight

  952. of faith. It's you giving a defense. So we must

  953. know that it's a fight. Right. We must definitely

  954. know that it's a fight. So it means that not

  955. everybody will celebrate you. People will reject

  956. you. Right. People would, people would even give

  957. you a new reputation. Right. Pastor Victor was

  958. saying that if you, if your reputation is at

  959. stake, right, then you are not ready for a defense

  960. of the gospel. Right. He said something like

  961. that. You know, you should void yourself of any

  962. reputation. If you would teach the word correctly,

  963. if you would teach the word accurately. because

  964. people would give you names, they'd give you

  965. reputations, people would, you know, come against

  966. you. So it's a fight, right? It's a fight. So

  967. it means that we have to contend, that word contend

  968. there in James that we saw, he says we should

  969. contend for the faith. It's the same thing here,

  970. fight a good fight of faith, contend for the

  971. faith, right? So we see that in that. Now let's

  972. see 1 Peter 3 .15. The third thing, Peter said,

  973. we should do it with meekness and fear, right?

  974. Meekness and fear. So in this confrontation,

  975. in this fighting, right? Fighting means, you

  976. know, arguments, debates, ideologies, you know,

  977. having this conversation. We should do it with

  978. meekness and fear. He says, but sanctify the

  979. Lord, be ready to give a reason. He said, do

  980. it with meekness and fear, right? So you are

  981. not doing it. you're not doing it arrogantly,

  982. right? You're not doing it to say, oh, you guys

  983. don't know. No, it's not about they don't know.

  984. It's about that you want to have their life,

  985. right? You want to have the life of God rather

  986. in them. So you are doing it with meekness, knowing

  987. fully well that you too, you were once like them.

  988. So in meekness and fear. So when you're going

  989. out, you should have this in your mind that,

  990. oh, I'm going to do this with meekness and fear.

  991. He's talking about reverence to God, right? Meekness

  992. and fear. You're doing it with gentleness. 2

  993. Timothy 2, 2 Timothy 2, 14 and 19. 2 Timothy

  994. 2, 14 and 19. Remind them that these things,

  995. charging them before the Lord, not to strive

  996. aboutwards to no profit to their runes of their

  997. heralds. The next one. But be diligent to present

  998. yourself a proof of God, right? A worker who

  999. does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing.

  1000. the word of truth. The next. But some profane

  1001. and idle babbling for they will increase to more

  1002. ungodliness and their message will spread like

  1003. cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort

  1004. who have strayed concerning the truth saying

  1005. that the resurrection right is already past and

  1006. they overthrow the fate of some. Nevertheless,

  1007. the solid foundation of God stands. The solid

  1008. foundation of God stands. Having this seal, the

  1009. Lord knows those who are his. Let everyone who

  1010. names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

  1011. Go to 24 and 25. And the servant of the Lord

  1012. must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able

  1013. to teach patience in humility, correcting those

  1014. who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant

  1015. them repentance so that they may know the truth.

  1016. Right? so that they may know the truth. So you

  1017. can see cautions on gentleness, meekness, carefulness

  1018. in the teaching, carefulness in the explanation

  1019. of the gospel, apt to teach, able to teach. You

  1020. see that word, able to teach? We already discussed

  1021. that. We already talked about that this morning.

  1022. Now, the next thing is boldness, not harshness,

  1023. right? This is also related to this. You have

  1024. to go in boldness, not in harshness. Boldness,

  1025. not in harshness. We're still connected to this.

  1026. We must go in boldness. You can put Acts 4, 29

  1027. to 30, which gives us the context of that. Boldness,

  1028. not doing it harshly. Now, what happened in Acts,

  1029. for them to walk in this boat, it's not that

  1030. the boldness was not there, right? But circumstances

  1031. happened. Okay? So, when you are doing your apologia,

  1032. you might meet someone, right, that's at... So

  1033. many philosophies, right? And you were not able

  1034. to bring down their stronghold on that day, right?

  1035. You might not be able to bring that. Or there

  1036. were just a lot of arguments and all of that,

  1037. you know? There's always a time that, I think

  1038. it's part of the ask, that we will speak to you

  1039. on this matter again after a matter was discussed.

  1040. So there's always that time to speak to the person

  1041. again, right? So you will not say, because I

  1042. went out today, I'm trying to explain, I'm trying

  1043. to give a defense today. You know, it seems like

  1044. I couldn't answer a few questions, right? Answering,

  1045. not being able to answer a few questions does

  1046. not mean that you should withdraw. Are we together?

  1047. So if you have questions, it doesn't mean that

  1048. you will withdraw. I have people who would go,

  1049. they would send me message, sir, someone asked

  1050. me this question during evangelism. I don't have

  1051. an answer, but we plan to meet again. That is

  1052. the way it should be, right? So you also notice

  1053. that. When something happened, the context of

  1054. this is after they had probably disciplined the

  1055. disciples, right? And the Jews, they said they

  1056. went to their own company. You see, they went

  1057. to their own company, right? And in that company,

  1058. this is where prayer was said for them to walk

  1059. in boldness. So we must know that we must walk

  1060. in boldness. And that comes through a prayer

  1061. life. So you can put it down. Prayer life helps

  1062. us. To give a good defense. Prayer life helps

  1063. us to give a good defense. So as much as you

  1064. study, you study, you study, you must pray. The

  1065. prayer life helps you to give a good defense.

  1066. The prayer life helps you to be bold. To be bold.

  1067. Prayer life helps you to be bold. Now, just a

  1068. few counsel here, right? This one's a counsel

  1069. before we move to the next thing, right? Just

  1070. a few counsel here. Now, when we are up... Approaching

  1071. Apologia, which we are going to do now in the

  1072. next five minutes, right? We are going to enter

  1073. into some teachings and see. Now, if you are

  1074. approaching Apologia, the first thing we must

  1075. know is that it is not a personal... How do I

  1076. put it? We must draw a line between the personality

  1077. and the theology. Okay? We must draw a line between...

  1078. The personality and the theology. If we are able

  1079. to address the theology, the personality will

  1080. be transformed to the personality of Christ.

  1081. Hallelujah. So, when you are giving a defense

  1082. of the scripture or you are approaching someone,

  1083. you must draw a line between the personality

  1084. and the theology. Because the teaching and the

  1085. ideologies of that person is what you want to

  1086. address. This is also preparing our minds, getting

  1087. our minds ready. What you want to address is

  1088. not the person. It's not you are taking only

  1089. communion. It's not you are not celebrating Christmas

  1090. or all of that. No, those are not the ideologies

  1091. that you want. It's why is the person. What do

  1092. you believe? So it's not the personality. It's

  1093. not the individual that you are attacking. Don't

  1094. forget, our warfare is not carnal. We are bringing

  1095. down strongholds, ideologies. thoughts, arguments

  1096. that exalt themselves, right? Did you see a person

  1097. there? No. It's these arguments, right? These

  1098. arguments. So, we are not attacking people. The

  1099. personality. Our focus is on what is your theology.

  1100. Then the person explains their theology. If we

  1101. teach you right, you will practice right. Okay?

  1102. If we teach you right, we will practice right.

  1103. Galatians 2 verse 11 to... I think we used the

    Galatians 2:11

  1104. scripture yesterday. Now, when Peter had come

  1105. to Antioch, I withstood him to his face because

  1106. he was too be blamed. For before certain men

  1107. came from James, he would eat with Gentiles.

  1108. But when they came, right, he withstood and separated

  1109. himself. Watch. Separated himself, fearing those

  1110. who were of the circumcision. This is what he

  1111. practiced. Now watch. The rest of the Jews also

  1112. played the hypocrite with him. So they played

  1113. the hypocrite. so that even Barnabas was carried

  1114. away with their hypocrisy. Continue. But when

  1115. I saw that they were not straightforward, did

  1116. you see that he did not just jump on them and

  1117. say, oh, you are not eating with the Jews. No,

  1118. no, no. The argument is that they were not what?

  1119. Straightforward about the truth of the gospel.

  1120. So their conduct or their practice was a result

  1121. of a theology. And what Paul addressed, Was that

  1122. not being straightforward? And that not being

  1123. straightforward, being addressed, Peter changed,

  1124. right? He became a better person. Even him began

  1125. to give a defense, right? Do you want to put

  1126. a stone on people's neck after God has saved

  1127. them, right? He used the word, do you want to

  1128. tempt God, right? By putting this circumcision

  1129. on them. Now, that was Peter giving a defense.

  1130. But here, what Paul was doing was addressing.

  1131. He said to Peter before them all, if you're being

  1132. a Jew, living a manner of a Jew and not as Jew,

  1133. why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews? The

  1134. next one, who we, who were Jews by nature and

  1135. Gentiles and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing

  1136. that a man is what is not justified by the works

  1137. of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. Even

  1138. we have believed in Jesus Christ, in Christ Jesus,

  1139. that we might be justified by faith. and not

  1140. by works of the law. For by works of the law,

  1141. no flesh shall be justified. This is the explanation,

  1142. right? This is the explanation. And when they

  1143. went to Jerusalem to talk about this matter of

  1144. circumcision, right? When they went to the council

  1145. in Jerusalem to talk about this matter of circumcision,

  1146. they did not talk about that Peter was eating.

  1147. with the gentiles they didn't have this conversation

  1148. right let's check let's check the scriptures

  1149. go to acts 15 uh let me see go to acts 15 verse

    Acts 15:1

  1150. 1 and certain men which came down from judea

  1151. taught the brethren and said except ye be circumcised

  1152. after the words the manner of moses ye cannot

  1153. be saved right they cannot be saved now Look

  1154. at how it was answered here. Go to verse 7. And

  1155. when there had been much disputing, Peter rose

  1156. up and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know

  1157. that a good while ago God made choice amongst

  1158. us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear

  1159. the word of gospel. Right? You see, so the Gentiles

  1160. also heard from Peter, not just Paul, right?

  1161. They heard from Peter as well, right? I mean,

  1162. that was Cornelius heard from him and believed.

  1163. And God, which knoweth the heart, bear them witness,

  1164. giving them the Holy Ghost, even as it did unto

  1165. us, and put no difference between us and them,

  1166. purifying their hearts by faith. Now, therefore,

  1167. why tempt ye the Lord to put a yoke upon the

  1168. neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers

  1169. nor... Our fathers know we were able to bear,

  1170. but believe that through the grace of God, Jesus

  1171. Christ, we shall be saved even day. So it is

  1172. the doctrine. Look at the teaching he explained.

  1173. God put no difference, right? Put no difference

  1174. between them and us that we all will be saved

  1175. by grace, not by circumcision. What is addressed

  1176. is not the practice, right? But much more. The

  1177. doctrine, therefore the practice is corrected.

  1178. The theology, right? Good. So again, another

  1179. concern is that we would notice that most teachings

  1180. that we would examine, right? These teachings

  1181. are actually, how do I put them? These teachings

  1182. are actually individual centered, right? The

  1183. things we are going to check in a few minutes.

  1184. They actually go to capture the individual. Right?

  1185. With an unquestionable theology. So let's start

  1186. a new section. Right? Let's start a new section.

  1187. Let's start a new section. Just one minute. Can

  1188. we just pray in the Holy Ghost? Can we just pray

  1189. in the Holy Ghost? Can we just pray in the Holy

  1190. Ghost? We want to talk about things pertaining

  1191. people's belief now. Why they believe what they

  1192. believe and how that is not correct. Can we just

  1193. pray? The Lord, we do it in the right spirit.

  1194. We do it in the right spirit, even as we come.

  1195. We have wisdom in the name of Jesus. Can we pray

  1196. in the Holy Ghost? There's abundance of revelation.

  1197. There's abundance. Oh, we do this in the right

  1198. spirit. We do this in the spirit of Christ. Even

  1199. as we teach, even as we open up. These issues

  1200. we teach in the Spirit of Christ in the name

  1201. of Jesus. We have boldness. We have boldness

  1202. in the name of Jesus. We have boldness to give

  1203. a defense of the gospel. We have a boldness to

  1204. give a reason why we believe what we believe.

  1205. We have boldness. We commit ourselves to study.

  1206. We commit ourselves to pray much more. We commit

  1207. ourselves, oh, to give an answer. Or to those

  1208. who come around, this is our consecration. Can

  1209. we pray? Can we just pray? Can you pray for yourself

  1210. that you are ready, ever ready, to give a defense

  1211. of the gospel? You are ever ready to give a defense

  1212. of the gospel? You are not weak. In your mind,

  1213. your mind is strengthened. In the name of Jesus,

  1214. my mind is strengthened to always give an account.

  1215. My mind is strengthened. Can you pray for yourself?

  1216. I'm an able teacher. Oh, I am an able teacher

  1217. of the gospel. I'm unable to teach all of the

  1218. gospel. I'm apt to teach. I'm unable to teach

  1219. all of the gospel. See, I answer all questions.

  1220. I answer all questions by the Spirit of God.

  1221. I answer all questions by the Spirit of God.

  1222. Oh, I search the scriptures. We bring down every

  1223. argument. We bring down every ideology. We bring

  1224. down every word that exalts themselves against

  1225. the knowledge of God. We bring down every thought

  1226. that exalts themselves against the knowledge

  1227. of God as we speak, as we confront people, as

  1228. we tell them about the message of Christ, as

  1229. we explain to them in detail. Oh, starting from

  1230. the prophets, the Lord, the Psalms. Oh, why in

  1231. the name of Jesus, they are transformed. They

  1232. are transformed. They come to the knowledge of

  1233. Christ. Can we pray? Can we pray? Let me hear

  1234. us praying. Say, the gospel is powerful in my

  1235. mouth. The gospel is powerful in my mouth. The

  1236. gospel is powerful in my mouth. The gospel is

  1237. powerful in my mouth. When I say it, it comes

  1238. forth with power. He comes forth with demonstration.

  1239. He comes forth with power. He comes forth with

  1240. demonstration. He comes forth with power. He

  1241. comes forth with demonstration. In Jesus' name

  1242. we pray. Amen. So this is actually the greater

  1243. works that we are doing, right? Giving an apology

  1244. is part of greater works. It's part of greater

  1245. works. And if you give... an apology or an explanation,

  1246. an answer to people, right? And they believe

  1247. they are able to walk in greater works. Now let's

  1248. start. First, because we're going to check two

  1249. sects and I'm going to tell us, we're going to

  1250. check the Mormon doctrine and the Jehovah Witness

  1251. doctrine. The question is, are they believers?

  1252. I think Sister Christy disturbed me about this

  1253. a lot. She disturbed me a lot on this matter.

  1254. Are they believers? Did they believe? Wait, relax.

  1255. The answer will come. By the time we unleash

  1256. some of the things that they pertain to, you

  1257. will know what they are. Right? You will know

  1258. what they are. Now, 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians.

  1259. The first thing is no other foundation except

  1260. Christ. That's the heading now. After that, then

  1261. we begin to go layer by layer into what they

  1262. teach. Now, no other foundation except Christ.

  1263. 1 Corinthians 3. 9 to 13. Can I have that scriptures?

  1264. For we are God's fellow co -workers. So note

  1265. that word, fellow co -workers. We are not the

  1266. master, but God's fellow co -workers. I'm sorry,

  1267. God's fellow workers. We are co -workers with

  1268. the apostles, but we are God's workers. Okay?

  1269. So we are God's workers, but we are co -workers

  1270. with the apostles. We're going to see that. So

  1271. we are God's fellow workers, right? We are...

  1272. God's field. You are what? The building. According

  1273. to the grace of God, which was given to me, right?

  1274. Paul, as a wise master builder, I did what? I

  1275. have laid the foundation and another builds on

  1276. it. But let each one take heed how he works,

  1277. how he builds. For no other foundation. You see,

  1278. he said, I've laid the foundation. The next verse

  1279. says, for no other foundation. Can anyone lay

  1280. than that which is laid? And that which is what?

  1281. Christ. So Christ is who? The foundation. Now,

  1282. if anyone builds on this foundation with gold,

  1283. precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each work

  1284. will become clay for the day we declare it. Now,

  1285. he's talking about the work of ministry. Okay?

  1286. Paul is talking about the work of ministry here.

  1287. Because in that church, they were saying, I'm

  1288. from Apollos, I'm from Paul. I'm from Apollos,

  1289. I'm from Paul. So Paul begins to tell them that,

  1290. We are God's workers together, right? And I've

  1291. laid a foundation upon which I expect the leaders

  1292. of this church to build. Not that I have also

  1293. laid the foundation, but the foundation itself

  1294. is Christ. So Paul is saying that what he is

  1295. teaching that church is not anything that is

  1296. separate from things concerning the kingdom of

  1297. God that Jesus taught. Do we get it? Paul is

  1298. saying, what I have presented to you that I want

  1299. you to work on is nothing out of what Jesus said

  1300. was prophesied, spoken regarding him from the

  1301. prophets, the Lord, the prophets, the Psalms.

  1302. So it therefore means that Paul's constraint

  1303. is within the scriptures, within the scriptures,

  1304. Christ himself. Good. I've forgotten verse 13.

  1305. Okay, no. Now, Ephesians 2 verse 19 to 20. On

    Ephesians 2:19–20

  1306. the foundation of the apostles. Now, verse 19.

  1307. Okay, yes, good. Now, therefore, you are no longer

  1308. strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens

  1309. with the saints and the members of the household

  1310. of God. The next. Having been built on the foundation

  1311. of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself

  1312. being what? Being the cornerstone. So, the teachings

  1313. of the apostles. which are the prophets, right?

  1314. The messengers of those who carry the message

  1315. of God, right? The teachings of the apostles,

  1316. which are the prophet and his sky. No, no, no.

  1317. Stay there. Stay in the previous one. He is the

  1318. foundation. And he says Christ himself is the

  1319. cornerstone. It means that the cornerstone of

  1320. the teaching of the apostles is Christ. Okay?

  1321. The cornerstone of the teachings of the apostles

  1322. is Christ. It means that not just Paul, right?

  1323. But the apostles. did not teach anything outside

  1324. that which Christ taught from. And Christ did

  1325. not teach anything outside that which the scriptures

  1326. have said. Can you see? So, the gospel is self

  1327. -confirmatory. The gospel is self -confirmatory.

  1328. The message of God is self -confirmatory. It

  1329. reveals in itself what the message is. So, we

  1330. see that the foundation here, is Christ. The

  1331. foundation here is Christ. So we can say, right,

  1332. we can say that the interpretation of the scriptures

  1333. is already set by the apostles. The interpretation

  1334. of the scriptures, right, is set by the apostles.

  1335. Means that I should not go out of what the apostles

  1336. have taught, which they did not go out of what

  1337. Christ has taught. Again, I should not go out

  1338. of what the apostles have explained because we

  1339. said the epistles explained the Old Testament,

  1340. right? Gives us the light and clarity of the

  1341. Old Testament. So I should not go out of what

  1342. the apostles have teach because the apostles

  1343. did not go out of what Jesus taught. So we can

  1344. say that interpretation of scriptures is also

  1345. within the scriptures. It means that no creed.

  1346. So we are writing no creed, no organization.

  1347. can put a new interpretation of the scripture

  1348. for us. No creed, no organization can put forward

  1349. a new interpretation of the gospel. This will

  1350. hinder they themselves from doing the greater

  1351. works. It will hinder those who will believe

  1352. them from doing greater works. No creed, no organization.

  1353. Let's go to Acts 17 verse 11. Acts 17 verse 11.

    Acts 17:11 Acts 17:11

  1354. These were more fair -minded than those in Thessalonica

  1355. in that they received the word with all readiness

  1356. and searched the scriptures daily to find out

  1357. whether these things were so. The teachings of

  1358. the apostles can be searched. Right? The teachings

  1359. of the apostles can be searched. The scriptures

  1360. can be searched and the teachings of the apostles

  1361. can be searched. It means that we can check it

  1362. and examine it if it were so. We can check it

  1363. and examine it if it were so. So Paul's teachings

  1364. can be examined. Peter's teaching can be examined.

  1365. You can put 1 Thessalonians 5 .21. 1 Thessalonians

  1366. 5 .21. 1 John 4 .1. 1 Thessalonians 5 .21. 1

  1367. John 4 .1. 2 Corinthians 1 .24. So I'll read

  1368. it again. 1 Thessalonians 5, 21, which says,

  1369. prove all things, right? He said, test all things.

  1370. Hold fast what is good. 1 John 4, verse 1. It

    1 John 4:1

  1371. says, beloved, do not believe every spirit, but

  1372. test every spirit, whether they are of God. Because

  1373. many false prophets have gone out into the world.

  1374. Now, here, he's not talking about discerning

  1375. or discerning, right? He's saying false prophets.

  1376. He's talking about teachings here. Right? You

  1377. are not trying to differentiate between spirits,

  1378. right? But it's actually talking about the teachings

  1379. of these false prophets. So these prophets are

  1380. the false spirits, right, that have gone out.

  1381. So we see that in this place. 2 Corinthians 1,

  1382. 24. 2 Corinthians 1, 24. Now that we have dominion

  1383. over your faith, but we, not that we have dominion

  1384. over your faith, but we are fellow workers for

  1385. your joy. For by faith you stand, right? For

  1386. by faith you stand. So you are standing in the

  1387. faith of Christ, right? So the faith is not oppressing,

  1388. is not forcing, is not oppressive. He says, we

  1389. are fellow workers for your joy. For by faith

  1390. you stand. So the faith that makes you stand

  1391. is what is making me stand. Amen. Good. Now let's

  1392. check. Now we have established that no other

  1393. creed, no other organization can establish any

  1394. doctrine that is not found in there. In fact,

  1395. they cannot establish any doctrine except that

  1396. which is already established. So now let's start

  1397. with the Jehovah Witness faith, right? The first

  1398. thing is that, again, note that what is our rule?

  1399. We don't attack the personality, okay? We don't

  1400. go after the personality. When you want to approach

  1401. them in their communication is not in the personality

  1402. of the founder. Though we're going to give you

  1403. a little bit of information on that because this

  1404. is training, right? This is training. We're going

  1405. to give you foundation that will let you know

  1406. why they believe what they believe, right? All

  1407. of them, both the founder of the Jehovah Witness

  1408. faith and the Mormon faith, they had similar

  1409. thing. One thing is common is that in both, okay,

  1410. In both, the childhood experience becomes a faith,

  1411. becomes part of their contribution to faith.

  1412. Their childhood is a both faith, their childhood

  1413. experience becomes part. So it therefore means

  1414. that their experience is presented forth as part

  1415. of what should be the faith that people would

  1416. follow. And that means that they are creating

  1417. what? A new foundation. And scripture says no

  1418. other foundation. No other foundation can be

  1419. established. So I've given us just a general

  1420. view of both persons, the childhood experience.

  1421. Now we don't attack the childhood experience,

  1422. right? We don't say, oh, this is, but rather

  1423. when we meet the followers, we address what they

  1424. believe. What do you believe about the scripture?

  1425. So for the Jehovah Witness, the person's name

  1426. is Charles Taze Russell, right? So you can write

  1427. it down, Charles Taze Russell. Charles Taze,

  1428. Charles T -A -Z -E -R -U -S -S -E -L -L, right?

  1429. This is the founder of that organization. And

  1430. this organization was established 800, almost

  1431. 700 years after the church, 700 years. So he

  1432. was born in 18 something and therefore the organization

  1433. was established 700 years. to establish a new

  1434. foundation. Now, the timeline is enough to debunk

  1435. whatsoever new revelation would come. So, he

  1436. was born in this period. Now, he was raised in

  1437. a religious environment, but he rejected the

  1438. doctrine of eternal judgments. So, he was born

  1439. in a religious environment, means he was born

  1440. in a Christian environment where the eternal

  1441. punishment is taught. That is why one of their

  1442. teachings is that there's no eternal punishments.

  1443. So he rejected the doctrine of eternal punishments.

  1444. Right? He rejected the doctrine of eternal punishment.

  1445. He handed over to someone called Rutherford.

  1446. Right? He handed over to someone called Rutherford.

  1447. And we are going to touch upon that. So these

  1448. are just the personalities of someone called

  1449. Rutherford. And as a result of the controversies

  1450. with the so -called Jehovah's Witness doctrine,

  1451. Rutherford changed the name to actually become

  1452. Jehovah's Witness. So it was not the founder

  1453. that gave the name. So Charles Taze Russell established

  1454. what we call the Watchtower Society, right? The

  1455. Watchtower Society. So it wasn't the name. It

  1456. wasn't the name Jehovah. It wasn't the first

  1457. person who founded it that gave it that name.

  1458. It was the Watchtower Society. It was an organization.

  1459. It was an organization. Then Joseph Franklin

  1460. Rutherford. gave the name Jehovah Witness to

  1461. the people, to that organization, after Charles

  1462. died. The reason was because of too much controversies

  1463. in what Russell has established. So too much

  1464. controversies, less was rebranded. So the name

  1465. itself is not what they started with. The name

  1466. is a rebranding to avoid controversies of the

  1467. person who established that organization. See,

  1468. I'm calling it an organization, not a church.

  1469. So pay attention. So in these establishments,

  1470. right, we will take their doctrine. For him,

  1471. there are not so much what we call scandals and

  1472. stuff around in the case of these people, but

  1473. they are doctrines. And over time, the two, Watchtower

  1474. Society and Jehovah Witness, separated. Till

  1475. today, they are still separated, right? Some

  1476. people still believe they stay on the founder's

  1477. teaching. And some people believe they have moved

  1478. on. But there is no single difference in both

  1479. of them. So what are their teachings? Because

  1480. that's what we want to address. I just gave us

  1481. that background and I intentionally said he did

  1482. not like the eternal punishment. It's like you

  1483. grew up in a Christian family and they are always

  1484. teaching you about hell, hell, hell, hell. So

  1485. when you started your own organization, you said

  1486. there's no hell. We're not even going to teach

  1487. about hell because they have a lot of teachings

  1488. about hell. But the cell meeting teaching is

  1489. already sufficient on hell. Now, what is their

  1490. belief? They don't believe in the Trinity at

  1491. all. At all. They don't believe. Both of them

  1492. don't believe in the Trinity. So, this is fundamental.

  1493. If you don't believe in the Trinity, it's a big

  1494. challenge. Now, we are going to see and give

  1495. them credits for where they deserve credits.

  1496. Right? Now, the argument is that, first of all,

  1497. we all know that there's no place in the Scripture

  1498. where the word Trinity is established. Right?

  1499. Are we together? There's no place in the scripture

  1500. where the word Trinity is written as a word,

  1501. right? Do we get it? Just the same way, all the

  1502. words that we find and we say it's a metaphor,

  1503. this is a simile, right? They are not written

  1504. there in the scriptures like that. But because

  1505. we understand it, that this is the understanding

  1506. of this, we call it Trinity. Now, it's the same

  1507. way in my house. For now, we are Trinity. We

  1508. can say we are Trinity. We are three, right?

  1509. Are we not three? We three, we function together.

  1510. We do things together, right? Now, we have made

  1511. it a word of divinity. It's an English word,

  1512. right? Trinity is an English word, right? But

  1513. we have made it a word. We have put it within

  1514. the context of Christianity alone, right? Which

  1515. is triune, right? Triune, trinity, and all of

  1516. that. Now, they argue that it is unscriptural

  1517. and it is satanic. Not the word, the teaching.

  1518. about God in three essence, they said it is not

  1519. doctrinal, it is satanic. Now let's check the

  1520. scriptures and see if truly God has manifested

  1521. himself, right, in three essence, if God has

  1522. manifested himself. So they said this is pagan

  1523. and they said it teaches that there is one God

  1524. who eternally exists, right, and Father, Son,

  1525. and Holy Spirit. So they believe that when we

  1526. say God is one, And the Father, the Son, and

  1527. the Holy Spirit are all in one. They don't agree

  1528. with that, right? So let's see. Let's go to Deuteronomy.

  1529. Deuteronomy 6, verse 4. Now, they don't have

    Deuteronomy 6:4

  1530. much scriptures on all of these, but we'll go

  1531. to some scriptures that they touch upon. It says,

  1532. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one. Hear,

  1533. O Israel, the Lord our God is one. This is from

  1534. the... People that God communicated the same

  1535. message to, that we are carrying, and they claim

  1536. to be carrying. So, we see that, it says, the

  1537. Lord our God is one. Isaiah 45, verse 5. It says,

    Isaiah 45:5

  1538. I am the Lord, right? And there is no one. There

  1539. is no God beside me. I will guide you, though

  1540. you have not known me. And this was actually

  1541. talking about Cyrus. We are talking about a man

  1542. that God intends to use. Now, on the basis of

  1543. this foundation, they agree with this. They agree

  1544. with this, the Lord God is one and there's no

  1545. other God. However, the problem is in the person

  1546. of Christ and the Holy Spirit. So I think I wrote

  1547. something here. I say, acknowledgement of the

  1548. Father is not a problem. We will come to the

  1549. misrepresentation of the Father. However, how

  1550. the Father will do what he will do, writing on

  1551. that, how God intends to do what he will do was

  1552. rejected by them. And that is why it is impossible.

  1553. to call them Christians. Right? It's impossible

  1554. to call them Christians because what God will

  1555. do, they rejected how God will do it. And it

  1556. is saying that God chooses a path to save man

  1557. and man chooses the other path. Is that scriptures

  1558. in Romans that says that the potter can choose

  1559. to make one unto this and choose to make this

  1560. other path unto this. So you cannot question

  1561. the potter. Are we together? You cannot question

  1562. the Father. You can write it down. That God said,

  1563. I am. Right? I think Pastor Fred talked about

  1564. the I am, right? God said, I am. And is that

  1565. he will do what he will do. It means that the

  1566. salvation of men will come from God himself.

  1567. So write it down. That they reject the fact that

  1568. the salvation of men will come from God himself.

  1569. I will tell you how that happens. They rejected.

  1570. The fact that the salvation of man will come

  1571. from God himself. They rejected the fact that

  1572. the salvation of man will come from God himself.

  1573. Rather stating that God will use another creation

  1574. of his. Okay? They rejected that God will do

  1575. what he will do by himself. But rather, they

  1576. stated that God will use another creation of

  1577. his. To do what he will do. Now let's go to.

  1578. Let's go to first John. John chapter 1 verse

    John 1:1

  1579. 1. Which is the first key scripture. John chapter

    John 1:1

  1580. 1 verse 1. Now if you read it in the original.

  1581. This is the fundamental. Which means. That they

  1582. missed something here. Now in the beginning was

  1583. the word. And the word was with God. And the

  1584. word was God. Now in the original. There is nothing.

  1585. Like the word was a God. So the last, the word

  1586. was God. In their new word translation, please

  1587. don't use that translation, right? It's not for

  1588. you. They added that it is a God, right? Now,

  1589. it simply means that before any creation that

  1590. God created, God had to create Jesus first. Do

  1591. we get it? So the argument is that before God

  1592. created anything, the first creation of Jesus,

  1593. the first creation of God, was Jesus. Because

  1594. in here, we could not argue less that the person

  1595. that was being spoken about here is who? Is Christ.

  1596. So how can they say that this is God? They are

  1597. saying no. This was actually talking about the

  1598. first creation of God, which is Jesus. So they

  1599. argue here that through Jesus, all things were

  1600. made, but God had to make him first. So they

  1601. put an intermission, right? Or they put something

  1602. in the middle there. And what is the teaching

  1603. of the scripture? The teaching of the scripture

  1604. is that there was nothing that was made. Can

  1605. we go to next? The next verse. The next verse.

  1606. Verse 2. Stay here. He was in the beginning with

  1607. God. All things were made through him. Without

  1608. him, nothing was made that was made. Right? Nothing.

  1609. It means that there was no creation before him.

  1610. This is what he said. So it's not like he said

  1611. that he was made to make other things. He said

  1612. there was nothing that was made. So no, nothing

  1613. existed, right, from the beginning. So we can

  1614. see that the Bible is clear. The Bible is clear

  1615. that there was no creation before Christ. Christ

  1616. himself is the one who created all things. So

  1617. we can therefore say that Christ is God. Okay,

  1618. this is the main argument. If Christ is God or

  1619. not. We can therefore say that Christ is God.

  1620. Now, if you go to, you know, some of their meetings,

  1621. you will see them celebrating Jesus a lot. They

  1622. literally thank Jesus for what he does. Like

  1623. they thank him, like, thank you for accepting

  1624. to do this mission. But if you're not careful,

  1625. right? If you're not careful, you will assume

  1626. we are saying the same thing. But we are not

  1627. saying the same thing. We use the same words,

  1628. salvation, atonement, but we don't mean. The

  1629. same thing. When they say they thank Jesus, they

  1630. thank him as an agent of God. So Christ is not

  1631. an agent. Christ is God himself. Christ is God

  1632. himself. So there was no A there. It was added

  1633. by these translators. Let's go to Colossians

  1634. 1, 16 -17. Colossians 1, 16 -17. The same scriptures,

  1635. nothing that was made. For by him, All things

  1636. were created that in heaven and on earth, visible

  1637. and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or

  1638. principalities of power, all things were created.

  1639. All things means all things, right? Were created

  1640. through him and for him. Through him and for

  1641. him. Now, the question is, when scripture says,

  1642. go to verse 15 of this Colossians. For he is

  1643. the image of the invisible God. The firstborn

  1644. of all creation. This is the scripture they use.

  1645. That he is the firstborn. That him is the number

  1646. one. And every other thing takes number. So this

  1647. is the scripture that is being injured. Injurious

  1648. acts. So this scripture. So let's go to that

  1649. Colossians and see. So this is their main scripture

  1650. to say, Oh, Jesus is the one that was the firstborn.

  1651. Then other borns came in. You know. including

  1652. animals. That would be what he means, right?

  1653. Including animals, including birds, including

  1654. everything that has been made. Now, go to Colossians

  1655. 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, the will

  1656. of God, by the will of God, and Timotheus, our

  1657. brother, to the saints and faithful brethren

  1658. in Christ, which are in Colossae, grace be unto

  1659. you, peace from our God, right? Our Father, peace,

  1660. grace be unto you, and peace from God, our Father,

  1661. and the Lord Jesus Christ. So, he's writing definitely

  1662. to believers, right? He's writing to believers

  1663. here. Now, if you move to verse 16, if we move

  1664. to verse 16, or probably, let's move a little

  1665. bit, verse 10, that we might walk, go to verse

  1666. 10, sorry, that we might walk worthy of the Lord

  1667. in all pleasing, being fruitful in every good

  1668. work, increasing in the knowledge of Christ,

  1669. strengthening with all mind according to the

  1670. glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering

  1671. with joyfulness, giving thanks to, unto, Giving

  1672. thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet

  1673. to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints

  1674. in light, who hath delivered us from the power

  1675. of darkness and translated us into the kingdom

  1676. of his dear Son. Right? In him we have redemption

  1677. through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.

  1678. Who is the image? Now, pay attention now. Who

  1679. is the image of the invisible God? Image of the

  1680. invisible God and the firstborn of every... Okay?

  1681. Don't forget we are coming from talking about

  1682. the realities of the believer in this context.

  1683. Okay? The forgiveness of sins translated us to

  1684. the sons. We talk about redemption. We talk about

  1685. forgiveness of sins. We talk about translation.

  1686. Now, the image of the invisible God talking about

  1687. the firstborn of every creature is not talking

  1688. about every creature. Right? So, invisible image.

  1689. The image of the invisible God means that God

  1690. is Christ, right? Because it's talking about

  1691. Christ here. The Lord Jesus Christ is talking

  1692. about Christ is the God that is invisible, right?

  1693. But is the image, is the one that we see to know

  1694. God. Do we get it? So Christ is the one that

  1695. we see when we no matter seen God, but when we

  1696. saw Christ, we knew that we have seen God. Do

  1697. we get it? Now, the word, the firstborn of every

  1698. creature, that word firstborn, right, is the

  1699. word prototokos. Okay? You can write it down.

  1700. It's the word prototokos. Prototokos. It refers

  1701. to those, it refers to one that others take after.

  1702. It's not just, they created me, then they now

  1703. created she, then they now created them. No.

  1704. Everyone, every other pattern that came, took

  1705. after my pattern. That is what you call prototype.

  1706. It's the word, I mean, you know the word prototype,

  1707. right? So this is a prototype. Every other thing

  1708. will follow in the same pattern. You will not

  1709. create an architecture, you will not, let me

  1710. just do this very clear, physical understanding.

  1711. You will not create the prototype of something.

  1712. And we now see the building. It's three -story

  1713. building, the prototype. In what was produced

  1714. is bungalow. That is not prototocusing, right?

  1715. It's not doing the job. That is not a prototype.

  1716. So, What a prototokos means is that when we see

  1717. the others that will follow, they will follow

  1718. the same what? The same pattern, the same character,

  1719. the same nature. Do we get it? The same pattern,

  1720. the same character, the same nature. So it's

  1721. prototokos. It means that every other one comes

  1722. after this in this manner. In this manner. So

  1723. therefore, that firstborn cannot mean everything

  1724. God created took after Christ. So that firstborn

  1725. cannot mean that everything God created, including

  1726. everything that you see in nature, right? It's

  1727. not all nature. He's not talking about nature

  1728. here. He's not talking about creation. Because

  1729. they say God created him, then through him, everything

  1730. was created. It will include animals because

  1731. in their teachings, it included that. So we see

  1732. here that it means that Christ is a pattern that

  1733. others... Now, the word prototokos... writes,

  1734. we can find it also in Hebrews 1 verse 6, Hebrews

    Hebrews 1:6 Hebrews 11:28

  1735. 11 verse 28, the firstborn, 12 verse 23. Hebrews

    Hebrews 1:6

  1736. 1 verse 6, Hebrews 11 verse 28, Hebrews 12 verse

    Hebrews 11:28 Hebrews 12:23

  1737. 23. But again, when he again brings the firstborn

  1738. into the world, he say, let all the angels worship

  1739. him. The next one. By faith, he kept the Passover

  1740. and the sprinkler of the blood, lest he who destroyed

  1741. the firstborn should touch. So the same word

  1742. happening here, to the general assembly and to

  1743. the church of the firstborn who are registered

  1744. in heaven, to the God of all joy, the spirit

  1745. of the just man made perfect. Stop here. Now,

  1746. we see that Israel actually was the first, you

  1747. know, they use this word, not prodigal cause,

  1748. but in the Greek, the word firstborn was also

  1749. used for Israel to picture a people that God

  1750. would establish. to carry his message. So the

  1751. word firstborn and son was used for Israel to

  1752. picture a people that God will use to carry his

  1753. message. So again, when they used firstborn and

  1754. son for Israel, it was not meaning trees, animals,

  1755. anything. No, it was referring to the same pattern

  1756. of Israel. To carry my message, I will create

  1757. the church, the church of the firstborn, the

  1758. church in the wilderness. The firstborn and the

  1759. son. You see, tell Pharaoh, Israel is my firstborn

  1760. and my son. Right? So, the word firstborn and

  1761. son refers to creating the same pattern. Right?

  1762. Following the same pattern. Now, here we see

  1763. that it says to the general assembly and the

  1764. church of the firstborn who are registered in

  1765. heaven. Now, this was not possible. Prototokos

  1766. is not possible. in Christ without resurrection.

  1767. You can write it down. That the reality of Christ

  1768. being the firstborn was not possible except through

  1769. the resurrection. The reality of Christ being

  1770. the firstborn was not possible except through

  1771. the resurrection. I think we need to read Hebrews

  1772. 2 here. Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2

    Hebrews 2 chapter mention Hebrews 2 chapter mention

  1773. from verse 13. And again, I'll put my trust in

  1774. him and behold. And again, behold, I and the

  1775. children which God hath given me. For as much

  1776. as the children are partakers of flesh and blood,

  1777. also him likewise partook of the same, that through

  1778. death he might destroy him that hath the power

  1779. of death, that is the devil, and deliver them

  1780. who through fear of death were all their lives

  1781. subject to bondage. I think we need to take it

  1782. a little bit higher. Let's go to some earlier

  1783. verses there. Verse 9. Verse 9. But we see Jesus

  1784. who was made a little lower than the angels for

  1785. the suffering of death, crowned with glory and

  1786. honor, that he by grace of God should taste death

  1787. for every man. For it became him for whom all

  1788. things and by whom all things in bringing many

  1789. sons unto glory, to make the captain of their

  1790. salvation perfect through what? Through suffering.

  1791. So Jesus will suffer to bring many sons to glory.

  1792. Right? So if Jesus suffers and brings many sons

  1793. to glory, he himself coming into glory, resurrection,

  1794. becomes the firstborn. Not that he's created

  1795. in the beginning to create everything. No. The

  1796. firstborn is that he, through the power of resurrection,

  1797. after suffering, he will bring many sons into

  1798. his glory. He will bring many sons into his glory.

  1799. And this takes place through suffering and the

  1800. glory that followed. through suffering and the

  1801. glory that followed. The other word is monogenes.

  1802. Let's write it down. Only begotten. I think we've

  1803. had this teaching before, but we shall have it

  1804. again. Only begotten. Because this is the teaching

  1805. that will address that issue of the first begotten

  1806. of the creations. Only begotten. The word only

  1807. begotten can be found in John 1, 14, which is

  1808. monogenes. Right? monogenes monogenes g -e -n

  1809. -e -s the word became flesh and dwell among us

  1810. and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only

  1811. begotten of the father full of grace and truth

  1812. now this monogenes is talking about the unique

  1813. appearance of god on earth that no man ever walked

  1814. in except christ What we walked in is after resurrection.

  1815. So it's the unique appearance of God on earth

  1816. that no man walking except Christ. We joined

  1817. that identification after resurrection. So there

  1818. was no begotten. Only begotten is the only begotten

  1819. at this time. So when God came to earth, which

  1820. again is what they rejected, the incarnation.

  1821. When God came to earth and he became the unique

  1822. appearance on earth. They said that is not God.

  1823. That is just one God. Okay? They said that is

  1824. not God, but said that is one God. That is a

  1825. God, not God himself. So they deny the incarnation

  1826. to say that Christ is not God. Now, the argument

  1827. is that when we say that we are having Holy Spirit,

  1828. the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, that we

  1829. are actually practicing. actually is a contradiction

  1830. on their side because when you say that Christ

  1831. is a God, it means that the Father is a separate

  1832. God, the Son is a separate God, then the Holy

  1833. Spirit is not a God. This is the argument. So

  1834. it's actually the, you know, you try to debate

  1835. something but you put yourself in the trouble.

  1836. So by saying that Christ is a God, it means that

  1837. in their own religion there are two gods and

  1838. one wind. Right? Two gods and one wind. So, but

  1839. what we see here is that he's saying that I appeared

  1840. on earth to come and do what I will do for men.

  1841. There is no other person that is called the only

  1842. begotten, but there are many people who follow.

  1843. There are many begotten after, there are many

  1844. sons after resurrection, right? But nobody is

  1845. the same way that our God anointed Christ. That

  1846. office of the anointed Christ is the only begotten,

  1847. right? So we can see that John 1, 18, You can

  1848. go John 1, 18. John 3, 16. John 1, 18. John 3,

  1849. 16. 1 John 4, verse 9. 1 John 4, verse 9. I will

    1 John 4:9 1 John 4:9

  1850. do one more. Then we'll come back to the second

  1851. half. I'll do one more. Come back to the second

  1852. half. Another argument that they rejected. Many

  1853. arguments. If we are going to create, you know,

  1854. something to help us. So we can just write those

  1855. scriptures. I already explained monogenes. Now,

  1856. the second claim is that Christ, is Archangel

  1857. Michael. You should say hmm to that one without

  1858. me presenting an evidence. You should just say

  1859. hmm. The argument, how can you say Christ is

  1860. Archangel Michael? What scripture do they use?

  1861. Revelations 12, 7 -9. This is their scriptures.

  1862. Without already doing scriptures together, we

  1863. will fall into trouble. Revelations 12, 7 -9.

  1864. So they claim again that we are done with Christ.

  1865. the son and the mother Jesus and the firstborn.

  1866. Now we are going to Christ, the claim that Christ

  1867. is archangel Michael. Right? Where's Revelation?

  1868. Oh, okay. We don't have it yet. Revelations 12,

  1869. 7 to 9. Now it says, and there was war in heaven.

  1870. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon

  1871. and the dragon fought and his angels and he prevailed

  1872. not. Neither was there place found anymore in

  1873. heaven. And the great dragon was cast out. The

  1874. old serpent called the devil, the Satan, that

  1875. deceived the whole world. He was cast out in

  1876. the earth and his angels were cast out with him.

  1877. Because they said he led the world. There was

  1878. one in heaven and Michael and his angels. Meaning

  1879. an archangel, right? That is the word. An archangel

  1880. means one that leads other angels. Right? They

  1881. said one that did what? That leads other angels.

  1882. And they said, well, this is also Christ, right?

  1883. Because their doctrine is more related to Revelation

  1884. somewhat. This is the major reference. And it's

  1885. quite very easy to debunk with this one. The

  1886. first place that we'll find this, right, is,

  1887. let's open Revelation 22, verse 8 to 9. They

    Revelation 22:8–9

  1888. identified Jesus with angel Michael. Now, I saw,

  1889. now, I, John. Did you see? So angel put himself,

  1890. say, meal. And Moses, we can say, angel said,

  1891. the people who have believed, Moses, the people

  1892. who are in faith, those who believe the words

  1893. of this book, right? Those who believe the word

  1894. of this book, we are all what? Servants. That's

  1895. the explanation. We are all servants. You see,

  1896. for I am your fellow servants, you and I, fellow

  1897. servants, you are functioning as human, I'm functioning

  1898. as angel. So angel did not receive his worship.

  1899. So fellow servant did not receive. Another servant

  1900. worshiped. Do we get it? He says, worship who?

  1901. God. Now open to Matthew 14, 33. Matthew 14,

  1902. 33. Matthew 28, verse 9. Matthew 14, 33. Matthew

    Matthew 28:9 Matthew 28:9

  1903. 28, verse 9. To distinguish between an angel,

  1904. the conduct of an angel, and the conduct of Christ.

  1905. Then those who were in the boat came and worshipped

  1906. him, saying, truly you are the son of God. Truly

  1907. you are the son of God. 28, 9. And as they went

  1908. to tell his disciples, Behold, Jesus met them.

  1909. This is post -resurrection. Saying, rejoice.

  1910. So they came and held him by his feet. And they

  1911. did what? They worshipped him. The next one.

  1912. John 9, 38. John 9, 38. Hebrews 1, 6. And then

  1913. he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.

  1914. Now, Hebrews 1, 6. But when he again brings the

  1915. firstborn into the world, he says what? Let all

  1916. what? Angels. Now stop it. This one is one that

  1917. should scatter it very easily. When he brings

  1918. the firstborn into the world. Firstborn Christ.

  1919. They agree that firstborn is Christ. Right? Yet

  1920. is archangel. That's a contradiction based on

  1921. the scripture. So the office of the firstborn

  1922. is occupied by someone here who is Christ. And

  1923. then he said, let all angels do what? Worship

  1924. him. So, they warned, did Jesus receive worship?

  1925. Yes. But angels did not receive worship. You

  1926. will observe their cautious conduct when they

  1927. come to deal with men. When they come to give

  1928. a message, they will say, I am a messenger. Some

  1929. of them say, I stood by the presence of God.

  1930. So, they honor their servitude position and refuse

  1931. to take worship. But what we see is that people

  1932. worship Christ. And he never said stop because

  1933. he is God, right? They said he is the son of

  1934. God. So this is also correct. Now, another pattern

  1935. that we will see is that, okay, we have one minute

  1936. more, is that when there was war in heaven, there

  1937. was a scripture, we're going to see that after

  1938. we come back. He said, the angel Michael said,

  1939. the Lord rebuke you, right? But when Jesus would

  1940. talk to the devil himself, he said, I rebuke

  1941. you, right? It was rebuked. It was a direct,

  1942. it was not, it says, get deep behind me, right?

  1943. And that system shows the authority of Christ

  1944. above angel, right? Not to now talk of, when

  1945. we begin to read Hebrews, right? Hebrews 1 established

  1946. clearly the difference between Christ and any

  1947. angel and was not classified as an angel. So

  1948. in such a doctrine that classified Christ as

  1949. an agent, as a God, at the same time as an angel,

  1950. right? Definitely states that God is not the

  1951. one that came to do what he did. He created an

  1952. agent to go and do the job. And therefore, we

  1953. cannot in any way hold on to such faith. Now,

  1954. the reason why we are giving such amount of scriptures

  1955. is that you can go back and read and study that

  1956. when you are confronted with such ideologies,

  1957. you will pull them down to the obedience of what?

  1958. Christ. We must bring all this argument. together

  1959. to the obedience of Christ we must gather them

  1960. and say these arguments they are not in alignment

  1961. with Christ glory to God we appreciate you being

  1962. here today we hope you carry this word with you

  1963. throughout your week don't forget to check the

  1964. show notes for additional insights stay connected

  1965. with us through our website or follow us on social

  1966. media if you were encouraged share this message

  1967. with someone you care about until next time stay

  1968. blessed