Standing Fast in the Faith (Part 8)

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right in. Good evening everyone. So welcome to

our midweek service. We're going to continue.

We're going to continue with the teaching. On

Sunday, I think we were about closing and then

we looked at Joshua. And I want us to see, let's

just start, let's just pick it up from there.

And I want us to be reminded that there are times

when the word comes and because we are still

trying to grasp or understand because we can

only act on the word. when we trust and we're

persuaded that this is what the Lord is instructing

us to do. And this is where we're convinced.

And we know that this is what the Lord is instructing

us to do. And it's one thing for us to have something.

And it's another thing for us to exercise that

which we have. And God is helping us. And we're

seeing an example in Joshua's case. And we said,

Joshua 9, we're looking at Joshua 1, 9. Joshua

1, 9, it says, have I not commanded you? Have

I not commanded you? be strong and of good courage.

I have highly commanded you. And I want you to

see that in Deuteronomy 3, in Deuteronomy 31

Deuteronomy 31:6

verse 6, Deuteronomy 31 verse 6, we see Moses

Deuteronomy 31:6

passing the baton to the young man Joshua. He

says, be strong and of good courage. Do not fear,

nor be afraid of them. For the Lord your God,

he is the one who goes with you. He will not

leave you nor forsake you. I want you to just

continue to see how there's a reason why he says

he's the one who goes with you. He's the one

who goes with you. He will not leave you nor

forsake you. And you will see all through scripture

that that is the encouragement that comes to

us when we are instructed not to fear. We're

instructed to be strong. We're instructed to

be of courage. And even in 23, when in 23, we'll

see in 23, that's 31, 23. 31 verse 23. I would

like to read it from the NLT. It says, Then the

Lord commissioned Joshua, son of Nun, with these

words, be strong and courageous. for you must

bring the people of Israel into the land I swore

to give them. I will be with you. He says, you

must bring the children, the people of Israel,

you must bring the people of Israel into the

land I have sworn to give you. And there is a

reason why he must be strong and courageous.

Remember, I told us that it's not something because

there's oppositions that we're going to face.

That is why courage is necessary. Courage is

not an add -on. Courage is not optional. Courage

is necessary for the work. There are people that

need to be saved and you cannot take on that

task without ensuring that being courageous and

being confident and placing your trust in God

to get the work done. That is a necessity for

us to be able to get the work done. And he says,

the people of Israel, he says, the people of

Israel, the land is already theirs. The action

that is needed is Joshua has to take on that

tax and responsibility. He has to be conscious

of the fact that God, as he ends this verse,

I will be, he says, I will, he says, I will be

with you. I will be with you. I will be with

you. And that is the, upon this, he's able to

move. And we go back to the Joshua one. I want

us to see the nine and then see 10. And in that

Joshua 1, I told us that we see it in six, we

see it in seven. Let's just read, let's start

from six, seven, and then we go to six, seven,

and then nine and 10. Six, it says, be strong

and of good courage. For to these people, for

this, to these people, you should, yeah, okay.

For to these people. You shall divide as an inheritance

the land which I swore to their fathers to give

them. 7. Only be strong and very courageous,

that you may observe to do according to all the

law which Moses my servant commanded you. Do

not turn from it to the right hand or to the

left, that you may prosper wherever you go. Just

jump to 9 and then let's do 9 and 10. And then

we said, have I not commanded you? Be strong

and be of good courage. Do not be afraid, nor

be dismayed. For the Lord your God is with you

wherever you go. Then 10, now we see him acting.

It says, then Joshua commanded the officers of

the people saying, 11. That's just the 11. It

says, pass through the camp, command the people

saying, prepare provisions for ourselves. For

within three days you will cross over this Jordan

to go in to possess the land which the Lord your

God has given you to possess. Praise God. We

see him not just hearing the word had come again

and again. And the result is that he acts on

the word. The result of the word, the action

that we see from Joshua is that he takes on that

stance of let's do this. And then they go and

act on the word. God's word has to have a result

in our lives. This has to be a tangible effect.

It doesn't keep us in one place. It gets us to

that place of action. And bravery is a result

of reliance on God's strength because we see

that the reliance on God's strength is what causes

Joshua to say, we can do this because the word

has come again and again. And note that God demands

men to rise up. God demands men to rise up. God

demands you to rise up. God demands me to rise

up. He will keep bringing his word to us. Keep

bringing his word to us. Keep bringing his word

to us. And one very key thing we'll see again

and again as we progress is that God's word comes

to us to encourage us. God's word comes to us

to encourage us. God's word comes to us to dispel

doubt. God's word comes to us to dispel fear.

God's word comes to us for us to rely on him

to get the work done. Joshua is already doing

something that has been instructed because it

is already done. And if you remember, there were

times like in Numbers, back in Numbers, where

they were instructed, the spies, 12 of them were

instructed to go. Notice that 10 of them came

with their own report. Joshua and Caleb came

with a positive report. And it is... You know,

when one, two, three persons have said something,

you know, you might just fall in line because

that's like, who am I? What do I know? If all

these people, 10 of them, have already said,

you just respect yourself and say, yeah, these

people, we cannot take it. But we see that there

was something, we see if God has said it, we

are going for it. Praise God. They are not taking

on what those people are saying, how they see

themselves. And that is what we should always

look to. We should always count on. We should

count on. I said the word strong there means

you're firm. The word strong there means you're

firm. And the word courage, the Hebrew word there

means that you do not yield. You do not yield.

Meaning that no matter what happens, you don't

yield to anything other than the word of God.

The word of God is what we yield to. The word

of God is what we stand by. regardless of what

happens. And the command will keep coming. The

instruction will keep coming. And our response

is that we yield to the word. We yield to the

instruction. Why are we yielding? Because he

has promised, right? Because he says he's there.

He says he's going to be there with us. And we

know that for us now, we know that he is there.

We are not in doubt of God's power, God's presence

in and through our life. And we say that courage

is not detached from God. God's presence with

us is what encourages us. God being with us is

what encourages us. That's what we see every

time he says, I am with you. I am with you. I

am with you. I am with you. That is what stares

away. It's not about your willpower. It's not

about you saying, oh, I can do this. It's not

motivational talk. It's not motivational talk.

It's not about willpower. It's that God has said

it. His presence is with us. And that is why

everywhere we go, we know that he is with us.

And it is his will that is at the forefront.

His will is not at the back. is at the forefront

of our minds. Meaning that we are in that particular

place and we know that I am an ambassador. I

am an ambassador. I am God's instrument in this

place. I am the one that God is going to use

to minister to that person. I'm the one that

God is going to use to minister to him, to minister

to her. I'm the one that God is going to use

in my family to minister to my father, to minister

to my mother. I'm the one that God is going to

use. I'm not waiting for someone else to do it.

Praise God. I'm not waiting for someone else.

Because Joshua can say, Maybe Caleb will do it.

Right? We have instances, and many men will just

resign and say, okay, somebody else will do it.

If I don't do it, God will raise up somebody.

But that is not the stance of someone who knows

that God has placed us in ecstasies for such

a time as this. Praise God. In the book of Esther,

I say for such a time as this, because... Monica

had to tell her that, look, deliverance will

come from somewhere else if you don't rise up.

But she knows that it was not an accident that

she found herself in the palace. So we should

not undermine the fact that God has placed us

strategically in the different places where we

find ourselves. We should just be courageous.

I told us on Sunday that fear is always the cause

for people turning down or going back on the

word. Fear is the threat. to everything, every

instruction of the Lord. And that's why you see

that many times it comes, the word comes, the

word encourages us not to be afraid. The word

encourages us not to be afraid. Praise God. When

the word of the Lord comes, it ensures that fear

is out of the window. Fear is out of the window.

And what happens is that our courage grows from

our confidence in God's word. Our courage grows

from our confidence in God's word. Anytime that

you are feeling like. or you are entertaining

all manner of fears, just know that what is happening

there is your word, your prayer, something is

happening around that department that will result

in that. Anytime you check yourself and you are

seeing that, oh, I'm very fearful, I'm scared,

I'm too scared, I'm always scared, I'm panicking,

I'm all of that, just ask yourself this question,

what are you feeding yourself on? What are you

entertaining? Because there is no way you'll

be entertaining the word of God and the entertaining

fear at the same time. Because God's word comes

to dispel fear. The two cannot be compatible.

And even when you say, okay, sir, I am reading

the word, I'm reading the word, I'm reading the

word. What are you trusting on? Is it the word

or the circumstances around you? Praise God.

Because it's easy for us to look around us and

say, Joshua should look at the people and say,

Kai, these people, they will finish us. Praise

God. It's easy for him to say that. But he chooses

not to because he is trusting, he's relying on

the word of the Lord. I said, we looked at Psalms

a bit, Psalm 27. That Psalm is the Psalm of David.

And David says, the Lord is my light and my salvation.

You know, for you to come to a point where you

say, the Lord is my light and my salvation, you

know him to be your light and salvation. Praise

God. And David is a man that, when you read through,

Kings, Chronicles, you see that he took every

action. He goes to seek God's guidance for every

step and every action he does. That is almost

like his go -to. His default setting is, what

is the Lord saying? What does the Lord want us

to do? What does the Lord want me to do? What

is our stance? He says, the Lord is my light

and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? That's the

question. Whom shall I fear? If the Lord is my

light and salvation, what then am I? Why should

I be scared? He says, the Lord is the strength

of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? Praise

God. He says, the Lord is the strength of my

life. Of whom shall I be afraid? You will say,

oh, if the Lord is the strength of your life,

then you will not be weak, right? But it means

that there is the strength that dispels fear.

There is the strength in the Lord. Note that

there is the strength in the Lord that dispels

fear. Because you can be strong physically. but

weak in the face of fear. Praise God. You can

be strong physically and still weak in the face

of fear. And as I said on Sunday again, in the

end of that chapter, he says, wait on the Lord.

He says, wait on the Lord, be of good courage,

and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait on the

Lord. Wait, I say, on the Lord. He says, and

he shall strengthen your heart. He said, wait

on the Lord. And I encouraged us and I told us,

I said, waiting on the Lord doesn't mean doing

nothing. Waiting on the Lord doesn't mean doing

nothing. Waiting on the Lord means that there

is a posture in this. Waiting on the Lord will

include you putting your trust in him. And putting

your trust in him will mean that you are praying.

Putting your trust in him will mean that you're

reflecting on this word. Putting your trust in

him will mean that you are posting yourself for...

to obey every instruction that he gives. Because

in your waiting, it's not a period of idleness.

It's not the season of, okay, it's not the season

of dryness or just doing nothing. But it's a

season of where you are refined because you are

in the place of praying. And that is the default

setting. And I told us, I said, you're waiting

for something to happen or you're waiting for

graduation. As a student, it doesn't mean that

you're doing nothing. At every step of the way,

there's something that we need to do. And being

courageous demands that you go ahead. You move

forward. You don't stand in one place. You move

forward. You're taking little steps. You are

making the progress. Because even in Trinidad

and Tobago, when they were asked to scout the

land, scouting the land is, they're not yet taking

the land, but they're just doing the scout. Scouting

required work. And even in that, you had some

people saying, we cannot take it. You have some

people saying, we can take it. Praise God. So

it means that at every point in time, you don't

want to entertain any form of fear. You want

to just go into it. You want to do it in the

strength that the Lord supplies. Praise God.

We say bravery. When we see a soldier, we say

this is a brave soldier. This is a valiant soldier.

But when we talk about bravery in our own sense,

it's spiritual. Praise God. It's spiritual because

the... Being brave is a function of our union

with God. It's very different from that kind

of bravery. And we'll get to the point where

we give examples, see the example in our nature.

And it's what God enables us to do. And that

is, it's bravery that will make a person say,

I will not bow down, like the Hebrew boys. It's

bravery that will, that bravery that comes only

from God, that will make them see. the phone

has been hit seven times and not go back on their

word. Because, you know, I was thinking about

it. When somebody has nothing to lose, that person

becomes very dangerous because you don't want

to, you know, there's how, when athletes are

looking, they're trying to gauge, is this person

afraid of something? What is it exactly? And

the moment they find weakness, that's where,

That's where they attack. Right? The moment they

find weakness, that's where they attack. But

we see that these people were not, they were,

there's no threats that could shift their stance.

Praise God. There's no form of threat that could

make them say, oh, let's just change our mind.

As the furnace was being heated, they would see

the furnace and they, you know, you could at

this point say, hmm, self -preservation. Let's

preserve ourselves. is we can fight. But they

were very confident in the fact that, see, look,

even if God doesn't show up, and that is the

mindset we should have as believers. Whatever

thing, whatever idol, whatever form of cultural

pressure, what should be at the forefront of

our minds is, how do I still honor God in the

light of what is going on around me? How do I

still glorify God in the light of what is going

on around me? And we say true bravery is trust.

True bravery is trust. True bravery is trusting

in God, trusting in the one who declares, I am

with you. Trusting in the one who declares, I

am with you. Trusting in the one who declares,

I am with you. And you should have no other one

that you're trusting except this one who declares,

I am with you. And we say being bold, bold obedience

actually flows from, a steady heart that is anchored

on God's character, notice that we always want

to bring attention to the fact that if you have

a wrong understanding of the character of this

God, it will be shaky. Your confidence in him

will be shaky. If you read your Bible and you

still think that God is out to get you, anytime

you're going through a difficult situation, you

think it's him. You will start looking for the

things that you've done wrong that is out to

get you. You start looking for the things that...

But once you know that he says he's with you,

he's not going to turn his back on you because

you did something that you shouldn't have done.

And we say that you are doing it because you

know that this God is faithful. This God is a

God that keeps his words. This is a God that

continues to stand by his word regardless of...

the missteps that we make, regardless of the

challenges that we do have. He stands on his

word. And I want you all to see another example

in Daniel, since we're still in Daniel. I want

us to see Daniel 6. This is Daniel himself. Daniel

6, I want us to look at 10. We look at 10. Daniel

Daniel 6:10

6 verse 10. Daniel 6 verse 10. It says, now when

Daniel 6:10

Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went

home and in his upper room, with his windows

open toward Jerusalem. He knelt down on his knees

three times that day and prayed and gave thanks

before his God, as was his custom since early

days. As was his custom since early days. I want

us to underline as was his custom since early

days. It means that this Daniel had a custom

of praying, giving thanks. That doesn't shift.

It doesn't shift. That was his custom since early

days. That was his custom since early days. What

I want us to understand is that challenging times

and difficult times is not when you start doing

the disciplines that you should have done way

before. Difficult times or challenging times

is not when you start saying, I'm going to pray

now because I'm going through this. I'm going

to study my Bible more because I think I really

need the Word. now than before. Meaning that

we have to have a routine. We have to have a

lifestyle. We have to have something that is

customary. And this is not just unique to Daniel.

We see it all through scriptures. We see it was

customary for Apostle Paul, customary for Jesus

himself to have a regular time of prayers. And

I know that we say three times that day. So we

don't prepare when it's in the face of danger.

We are prepared. in the face of danger, praise

God. But we don't prepare in the face of danger.

So Daniel did not simply, what Daniel was doing

when he went on to do, by the way, just the background,

these people were trying to get something on

Daniel. They looked for everything that they

could. The only thing they could get on him was

just his prayer. That's the only thing they could

use, they could place their hands on. And that

was why they capitalized on it. And Daniel actually

echoed something that we see in 1 Kings 8. Daniel

actually echoed something we see in 1 Kings 8

because you'll be thinking, why is it important

for him to pray towards Jerusalem? Or why is

it important for him to open the window? He would

have just closed the window and nobody knows

he's praying, right? But we see that because

it's customary, customary means that is something

he does usually. And that is how he did it. And

he didn't want to change it for anything because

that is basically what he does regularly. And

I want us to see 1 Kings 8, 35. What he was doing

here was echoing something that King Solomon

would see in his prayer at the delegation of

the temple. In 35, he says, And when the heavens

are shut up and there is no rain because they

have sinned against you, When they pray towards

this place, and this place is the temple, the

place that they were dedicated temple, and confess

your name and turn from their sin because you

afflict them in 47. Let's jump to 47. 47. I want

us to see why Daniel, so yet when they come to

themselves in the land where they were carried

captive, and we know that Daniel, was a captive

in Babylon at that time, and repent and make

supplications to you in the land of those who

took them captive, saying, We have sinned and

done wrong. We have committed wickedness. 48.

And when they turn to you with all their heart

and with all their soul in the land of their

enemies, who led them away captive? and pray

to you towards the land which you gave to their

fathers, the city which you have chosen, and

the temple which I have built for your name.

So notice that Solomon here is praying and then

is saying that there be a prayer, that there

be a repentance and a prayer, and praying towards

the temple is... how they are able to, that's

the posture, that's the stance, that's what will

ensure that they are able to, and that's basically

what he's going by. That Daniel is going by this

prayer of Solomon, he's going by this. And we

see other instances, even with David. David in

Psalms 55 verse 17, David in Psalms 55 verse

Psalms 55:17 Psalms 55:17

17, talks about evening and morning and noon,

he will pray and cry to the Lord and he will

hear his cry. And notice that he says morning,

evening. morning and at noon. And all of this

will just be, all of this at times of the day

is not like three times a day. It's just pointing

to the importance of prayer and the discipline

of prayer and then also suggesting, most importantly,

the fact that you can wholly depend on God to

hear you when you cry. You can wholly depend

on God to hear you when you cry. And that's basically

what Daniel is illustrating in that his posture.

And it means that what, A consistent life of

prayer naturally will cause us to express or

manifest supernatural boldness. A consistent

life of prayer will cause us to always naturally

express that supernatural life of boldness. Because

once a person is confident, he's wholly dependent

on God, because your prayer is a function of

your dependence on God. You going to pray is

you saying, Lord, I depend on you. I'm giving

thanks. I'm giving thanks to you because I know

that everything I have, everything I am, everything

I own is you, is your doing, is of your doing.

And the encouragement of the scripture on death

is the person is honoring God's word by placing

themselves in that posture or placing themselves

in that stance. And we see Daniel not regarding

man, but rather honoring God in his stance to

pray. Not regarding man, but honoring God in

his stance to pray. And we see time and time

again when men honor God in their stance. There

is always deliverance. We see it as a pattern.

When men honor God, take their stance and say,

I choose to trust you. I choose to walk in your

ways. We see that what happens is deliverance.

And for Daniel, we saw that in lions, then the

lions could not, God shut them out of the lions

on his regard. And I want us to still see that

this courage or this boldness we're talking about,

we said, and we'll repeat again, is supernatural.

It's supernatural. It doesn't come by a... natural

means. It's not a function of your temperament.

It's not a function of your temperament. You

just say, I'm naturally a courageous person.

I'm a courageous person, so I'm always courageous.

It's not a function of our temperament. It's

not a function if somebody says, I'm not that

courageous. I'm just a very shy person. I can't

do this. And I want us to see an example in the

life of Peter. I want us to start from his low

point. I want us to start from his low point

and then build up to it because we'll later see

him addressing the children of Israel. We'll

see him addressing the people with Sahandrin.

We'll see him addressing all of this. But let's

start at his low point. Let's look at Luke 22,

54 to 62. Let's see if we can run through. We

just see Peter at the fire. So Luke 22, 54. Having

arrested him, they led him and brought him into

the high priest's house. But Peter followed at

a distance. 55. Now when they had kindled a fire

in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together,

Peter sat among them. And a certain servant girl,

seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently

at him and said, this man was also with him.

And he denied, but he denied, but he denied him

saying, that's he denied Jesus saying, woman,

I don't know him. I do not know him. And after

a little while, another saw him and said, you

also, you also are of them. But Peter said, man,

I am not. 59. Then after about an hour had passed,

another confidently affirmed, saying, Surely

this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.

60. Says, But Peter said, Man, I do not know

what you are saying. Immediately, while he was

still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord

turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered

the word of the Lord, how he had said to him,

before the rooster crows, he will deny me three

times. 62. So Peter went out and wept bitterly.

63. Okay. So 62, that's where we stop. So we

see that Peter had denied and we said, All this

had happened afterwards while back in the garden,

Peter had pulled out a sword. Peter has pulled

out a sword, boldly pulled out, because for you

to pull out a sword against someone, slice off

somebody's ears, that requires a bit of bravery.

But we say that that's of a physical sort, right?

That's the one that comes naturally. But we see

that in the face of just, okay, because you're

like... See, I don't know the man. First time

would have been a mistake. Second time, maybe

somebody else was pointed at. Third time. And

I want us to even look at it in Matthew. Matthew's

account. Matthew 26. Matthew 26, 72. From the

NLT. Matthew 26, 72. Matthew 26, 72 from the

NLT. Again. Peter denied it, this time with an

oath. I don't even know the man, he said. 73.

A little later, some of the other bystanders

came over to Peter and said, you must be one

of them. We can tell by your Galilean accent.

So something was giving him off. Peter swore

a curse on me if I'm lying. I don't know the

man. And immediately the rooster crowed, I can

imagine. Immediately the rooster crowed 75. Suddenly

Jesus' words flashed through Peter's mind. Before

the rooster crows, you will deny three times

that you even know me. And he went away weeping

bitterly. So this one, Matthew tells us that

it was just to just... sound to just make the

person believe that he doesn't really know. He

had to add a bit of swearing to it to just confirm

that, see, I'm not the person. If I'm swearing

like this, I'm not the person. And you can look

at it and think to yourself, when you are depending

on your strength, you're depending on your ability

to be able to do God's work, you will get to

points like this. Notice that when Jesus Christ

speaking to Peter told him that he would deny

him. You know, when you're thinking, oh, how

can I? How can I? You're not thinking of the

fact that there is a possibility for that to

happen. You're thinking that, no, there's no

way. Because in your mind, things will always

be like this. Things will always be like when

we gather like this. There's going to be a time

where you go out. And then you are in a place

where you're like, what do you believe in? Right?

And you have instance, you know, the Lord loves

everybody. He loves everybody. Like you can come

to him, like any way, any path is a path that

leads to him. Just to make everybody, just to

accommodate everybody. But that will not be the

truth because you know better than that, that

Christ is the way, Christ is the only way, right?

Christ is the only way to the Father. And we

see that in, In John, like John 18 verse 10,

John 18:10

John 18 verse 10, where John 18 verse 10, it

John 18:10 John 18:10

says, and Simon Peter drew a sword and sliced

off, if you can, then Peter said, having a sword,

he drew it and struck the high priest's servants

and cut off his ear. And the servant's name was

Malchus. And I want you to see that I think John

just gives us details. John just gives us details.

Every other person that wrote this account just

didn't disclose that Peter was the person that

did it. And it's important for us to see that

in that height, in the height of what was going

on, his action, his willingness to defend and

his willingness to, he just did the first thing

that he could do. It is, okay, we had a sword.

Initially when Jesus Christ was telling him,

okay, go, he got the sword and then he put the

sword to use. What we see, Jesus' action, even

in that light, it was, he picked the ear of the

person and there was healing. But what is most

importantly is we contrast the character of Peter

at this point and Peter next to the fire. You're

looking at the person here and looking at the

person there, you think it should be two different

persons because one person is denying him, the

other person is willing to defend him. Praise

God. The other person is willing to defend him

and you might say, okay, it was in the garden,

it was dark. There was fire there. You could

see him. So note that physical bravery is not

what we're talking about when we're talking about

supernatural bravery. Physical bravery, physical

being, physically brave, pulling out a sword

is not what we're talking about. Because you

can have the spiritual and you can have the physical.

Because your physical translated. Remember we

said that. Once there's supernatural bravery

or supernatural boldness, you are able to speak

up. You are able to speak up. You're not silent.

Supernatural bravery or supernatural boldness,

you don't keep silent. And we'll see that as

we progress. We'll see that Peter was able to

stand before the Sanhedrin. Peter was able to

stand before the children of Israel and boldly

declare the word. We'll see that in Acts 2 .14.

We see that in Acts 2 .14. I want us to read

this from the NLT. Acts 2 .14. Then Peter, stepping

forward with the 11 other apostles, shouted to

the crowd, Listen carefully, all of you, fellow

Jews and residents of Jerusalem. Make no mistake

about this. Make no mistake about this. You can

hear from his words. You can hear from his words

that this person is persuaded. about what they

are communicating. And note that it's the same

person he denied his defending here to the Jews.

Praise God. The same person he denied his defending

here to the Jews. And what the result of all

of this is 3 ,000 persons and more believed.

Praise God. About 3 ,000 persons believed. And

we see in Acts 3 .12, Acts 3 .12, Acts 3 .12,

Peter saw this opportunity and addressed. the

crowd, that was just after the man that was at

the beautiful gate. People of Israel, he said,

what is so surprising about this? And why stare

at us as do we have made this man walk by our

own power or godliness? And we will see as we

progress that in Acts 4 .4, that about... 5 ,000

also believed at the teaching or the preaching.

But many of the people who heard the message

believed it. So the number of believers now totaled

about 5 ,000, not counting women and children.

Praise God. So there's something about not looking

at ourselves or thinking about, okay, we're convincing

ourselves, okay, I can do it. Many of us, when

we are faced with a situation where we are, to

open our mouth and be bold. We look at ourselves,

we say, I don't think I'm cut out for this. I

don't think I can do this. I see how the sister

does it graciously. I see how this brother does

it graciously. I don't think I'm able to do it

because we are looking at ourselves. We're looking

at our ability. We're looking, we're trying to,

and we're not really convinced that we're able

to do it. And that's where there's a thing, there's

a place of where you are confident in God's word.

There's a place of where... You're trained. There's

a place of where you understand what you're doing.

There's a place of even where people don't necessarily,

the woman or the whale, there's a place where

you don't need to have it together or it's good.

You just need to be persuaded that the person

you saw is the Messiah or the person that you

have a relationship with is the Messiah. So the

challenge is stop looking at yourself, right?

Stop looking at yourself. Stop looking at what

you know. Stop looking at yourself. Stop looking

at what you know. But look at the one who is

with you, right? Look at the one who is with

you, the one who has promised. So boldness is

an expression of supernatural bravery and it

comes out in words, through our speakings. It

comes out in words. It's an expression of supernatural

bravery in words and through our speaking. It

comes out in words. And we say the outward working

of faith in our lives is boldness. how you know

or how you can see faith at work in your life

is in your speaking. Because if you have faith,

you will speak. Praise God. If you have faith,

you will speak. We've been taught that again

and again. And we see in Ephesians 6, verse 19

Ephesians 6:19–20

to 20, as Apostle Paul was reminding us, he says,

for me, he says, pray for me, that all trans

may be given to me. All trans may be given to

me that... I may open my mouth boldly to make

known the mystery of the gospel, for which I

am an ambassador in chains, that in it I may

speak boldly as I ought to speak. I may speak

boldly as I ought to speak. So we see here, utterance

may be given to me, that I may open my mouth

boldly, boldly, boldly to make known. Notice

that the boldness there is to make known. To

make known what? The mystery of the gospel. And

he says, he continues, an ambassador in chains,

telling it that I may speak boldly as I ought

to speak. I may speak boldly as I ought to speak.

The Greek word there is P -A -R -R -E -S -I -A.

P -A -R -R -E -S -I -A. It means speaking plainly

without reservation, public declaration, speaking

boldly without reservation, public declaration.

And even the other boldly there is perissia somae.

It's similar, but it has the somae, which means

to speak freely, to grow confident with boldness,

to speak freely, to grow confident with boldness.

Second boldly there. It's the same spelling.

P -A -R -R -E -S -I -A. Then Z -O -M -A -I. Z

-O -M -A -I. The first one without the Z -O -M

-A -I. The second one is with the Z -O -M -A

-I at the end. So it means that believers, boldness

is supernatural and is in words. And Apostle

Paul clearly... He's demanding that he's able

to, because that is necessary for the work, that

the utterance that he has is for declaring the

gospel. The utterance that he has is for declaring

the gospel. And even in our lives, we want to

boldly declare the things that we are. Praise

God. We want to boldly declare the things that

we are. As David says, the Lord is my light and

my salvation. You are to declare with confidence

and with persuasion that I am a child of God,

that I cannot be moved. I'm not afraid. I trust

the Lord. The word of the Lord through me is

mighty. The word of the Lord through me is mighty.

I am alive and well. I am not sick. I will heal

the sick. I will raise the dead. You want to

be able to declare God's word with that level

of persuasion. And basically what we do when

we do affirmations is that we affirm God's word.

Praise God. We affirm God's word. And we're affirming

God's word and saying, through me, the Lord is

winning billions of souls. Through me. And how

would that happen? It's by me opening my mouth

with boldness and declaring the gospel. Praise

God. And declaring the gospel. And we see men

and women doing the same. And all of them are

an example to us. If these men and women are

able to take a stand for this same thing that

we're taking a stand for, and we can see the

result. How much more? We. Praise God. In this

day and age, we look around us, there are people

that need to hear the gospel. Praise God. And

our challenge is to be bold enough, to be brave

enough, to be courageous enough to declare it

without fear. Praise God. Declare without fear

because you are God's hands and feet. You are

his mouthpiece. You are opening your mouth and

being an instrument through which God will use

to deliver that person. Praise God. And in Acts

2, In Acts 2 .29, we'll see examples of boldness.

In Acts 2 .29, it says, Men and brethren, let

me speak freely. The freely there is the parousia.

Freely. To you of the Petrarch David, that he

is both dead and buried, and in his tomb with

us to this day. He says, let me speak freely.

And he goes on and on and on and on. And Peter's

confidence isn't in his, it's not his personality.

He's confident that his spirit empowered and

is anchored on his certainty because he's certain

of what he's saying. He says, let me speak freely.

Let me speak boldly. Let me speak to you of the

patriarch David. Let me speak to you of this

man. Let me speak to you of this man. And we

see in Acts 4, 13. I love the example in Acts

4, 13. It says, now when they saw the boldness

of Peter and John, and perceived that they were

uneducated and untrained men. They marveled.

And they realized that they had been with Jesus.

Praise God. They say they saw the boldness, that

is the paresia, of Peter and John and perceived

that they were uneducated. So it's not even a

function of the normal education that you have.

It's a function of the fact that you have. You

have an encounter, you are saved, you have a

union with him and you are grounded on the word

because you have been hearing God's word. All

the things that you've been hearing, what you're

doing is that you are allowing God to use what

you've learned to bless the other person. Praise

God. You are doing it. And for many of us, we

feel that we have not gotten enough. Same as

Joshua. Joshua felt that, okay, I still have

a lot of training to do. I still feel like I'm

not ready to. And in fact, we even see, Instance

that I think can just bring us back to Corinthians.

In the first Corinthians 16 verse 10. First Corinthians

1 Corinthians 16:10 1 Corinthians 16:10

16 verse 10. It says, when Timothy comes, don't

intimidate him. I'm reading from the NLT. When

Timothy comes, don't intimidate him. He's doing

the Lord's work, just as I am. It says, don't

let anyone treat him with contempt. Send him

on his way with your blessings when he returns.

to me. I expect him to come with the other believers,

praise God. Meaning that he's charging the Corinthian

church, don't intimidate the young man. Don't

intimidate the young man. Don't, don't, like

he's doing the Lord's work, praise God, just

as Apostle Paul. And Apostle Paul is pushing

him forward. Meaning that he's cheering him on,

he's trying to, because you can have instances

where you, people play, like, Things can come

at you, right? People can intimidate you, praise

God. But you don't get intimidated. You don't

get intimidated. You don't allow anyone to intimidate

you. He says, you are uneducated and untrained,

and they marveled. And then they realized this

one thing, that they had been with Jesus. 29

now says, now look on their threatens. That is

Acts 4, 29. Acts 4 .29. Say, Now, Lord, look

on their threats and grant your servant that

with all boldness that they may speak your word.

With all boldness. That boldness there is the

same word. And then 31. It says, And when they

prayed, the place where they assembled together

was shaken, and they were all filled with the

Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with

boldness. Praise God. They were threatened not

to. And these people prayed and the place was

shaken and they continued. Praise God. They continued

to preach the word, meaning that no matter what

threats, no matter what exactly it is that comes

at you, you should not allow it to put you down.

Praise God. You should not allow it to put you

down. You should continue to do the work of the

one who has called you because the one who has

called you is greater. Praise God. The one who

has called you is greater. Then Acts 28 .31.

Acts 28 .31. It says, Preaching the kingdom of

God and teaching the things which concerns the

Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence. No one

forbidding him. That's Apostle Paul. No one forbidding

him with all confidence. Confidence there is

heresia. No one forbidding him. So he kept on

doing that. That's the end of the 28th. He kept

on doing that. Preaching the kingdom of God.

Teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus

Christ. No one forbidding him. And then. Lastly,

Ephesians 3 verse 12. That's Ephesians 3 verse

Ephesians 3:12 Ephesians 3:12

12. It says, In whom we have boldness and access

with confidence through faith in him. In whom.

That's Christ Jesus. In whom we have boldness.

In whom we have boldness. It's in him that we

have boldness, access, and confidence in faith.

Our boldness is not in our strength. It's not

in our might. Our boldness and our confidence

is in what? It's the word and the strength that

the Lord supplies. Praise God. And as I said

on Sunday in passing, our confidence is contagious.

Our confidence is contagious. And I want to read

to us the quote. It says, courage is contagious.

When a brave man or woman takes a stand, the

spines of others are often stiffened. The spines

of others are often stiffened. Stephen. And we

see this in the life of Apostle Paul in Philippians

Philippians 1:14

1 verse 14, as we read during the time of prayer.

I said that on Sunday, that people saw what Apostle

Paul was going through. And the scripture says,

and most of the brethren in the Lord, having

become confident by my change, are more I'm much

more bold to speak the word without fear. That

without fear there is boldly. That without fear

there is boldly. Without fear is aphobos. It's

not fear, no fear. And then no fear means that

you are bold. Because once you remove fear from

the equation, boldness is basically what is expressed.

So they are able to speak boldly. They're able

to speak. boldly and i want us to see matthew

i want us to see peter again i want to see matthew

14 27 and i want us to read it from the amplified

matthew matthew 14 27 and he says but immediately

he spoke to them saying take courage it is i

do not be afraid take courage this i Do not be

afraid. And just a background. The disciples

were in the boat and then Jesus Christ was walking

on water and they thought it was a ghost. And

immediately he spoke to them, he says, but immediately

he spoke to them saying, take courage. It is

I, do not be afraid. Take courage, it is I, do

not be afraid. That take courage there, you'll

see it as in some translation as take heart.

You see it as in some translation, take heart,

be of good cheer. And we have several passages

of scripture that has the same. Take courage

is a word to mean be of good courage or be of

good cheer. The word is be of good courage, be

of good cheer. And he says it is I. Remember

when we talk about when he says, be strong, be

courageous, and then tells you I am with you,

right? And then he says, do not be afraid. We

see that it's the same pattern where you are

reminded of the fact that God is with you, and

that's the reason why you should not be afraid.

Praise God. Because God is with you, that's the

reason why we're afraid. And that word in a sense

means that you should radiate confidence. You

should be confident. You should be confident.

Remember when we said be confident means that

you are expressing or you're manifesting that

which you have by virtue of your union with God.

Because you have a relationship with him, because

he is with you, you are confident. You're not

manufacturing it, praise God. You're just manifesting

that which you have. And it goes beyond human

bravery. It's an assurance that you have and

a peace that you have because of your faith in

God. Because you have faith in God, you have

that assurance that you are safe. Praise God.

You have that assurance that you are safe. And

the moment that kicks in, we see an action in

the life of Peter. The moment, you know, all

of them are in the boat. And that's the thing

of how we can be here, but there can be a situation

that demands people's... to act. And what happens

is that somebody will, without thinking, and

I can imagine, I can imagine what would have

happened because going by how Peter is, he will

act and then it's almost like he thinks about

it later. And notice that he makes a request

in 28. He makes a request in 28. Peter answered

and said, just put it in New King James, in 28.

Peter answered him saying, and said, Lord, if

it is you, command me to come to you on the water.

If it is you, command me to come to you on the

water. And you will just be thinking to yourself,

like, it's scary enough that you thought it was

a ghost, right? It's scary enough that you thought

it was a ghost. And then now, because now you

believe it is him, your next response is, yeah.

I would like to walk with you on the water. I

would like to experience. I want to see what

the view is. Praise God. I'd like to see what

the view is. And that takes a level of confidence.

Like you are persuaded. I see because it is him.

I can do likewise. Praise God. And I want you

to see it like this. Because God's word says

so. I want to see it. in my life. Praise God.

Because God's word says so, I want to see that

same thing manifested through me. I'm not okay

with me seeing it around me, right? I'm not okay

with me seeing, just looking at him walk on water.

I want to see that I'm able to do likewise. Praise

God. And that is the boldness, that is the confidence,

that's the courage in action. That's the courage

in action. So it's not just Peter looking at

it and admiring it, but it took him a lot to

go ahead and say it. And I can imagine that when

he has said, okay, Jesus Christ bids him come,

and then he starts walking, and then the storms

come, right? The storms come, and then you see

fear being entertained, and then you see all

of that happening. But I want you to pick on

something very beautiful, There's no limit to

what you can do once you rely on, you trust God.

There's no limit to what you can do when your

confidence is in his instruction. Because he's

given that instruction. You say, if it is you,

bid me to come. Praise God. And God's word is

saying that without, from where we started, because

he heard the word, because he believed that it

was him, because he had put the full weight on

God, he now says, and then God instructs him,

he didn't stay in the boat. He still acted on

the word and he came out of the boat. And he

was able to walk. Praise God. He was able to

walk. And you can just think of it like, how

am I going to do this? How am I going to do this?

how will God help me get this done? There are

two things, two different things. How am I going

to do this? And how will God help me do this?

There are two different mindsets. There are two

different, there are two different approach to

the same challenge. You want to get this thing

done. You want, one person wants to do it by

their self. The other person wants to do it.

And sometimes we can even say it spiritually,

just spiritualize and say, how am I going to

do this with God's help? But what you're... saying

in essence is, how am I going to do this by my

own strength? Praise God. But we see Peter walking

on that water and even when he was sinking, he

still cried out, save me. Praise God. He still

cried out, save me. So I want to challenge you

in closing. What is that fear that is holding

you back from sharing the gospel? What is that

fear that is denying someone an opportunity of

being saved? What is that fear that you have?

that's denying someone an opportunity of being

saved? What's that fear that keeps you silent

when you should be speaking? What is that fear

that keeps you silent when you should be speaking?

What is that fear? Because you, and then you

just keep, you reject. You know, like Peter,

you might just be, because you just, because

you're scared. of what can happen, what people

will do to you. You can just be silent or you

can deny him. You can just keep running. Some

people, they just know how to run. When there's

anything that they don't understand, they just

keep running, just keep running. I want you to

understand that you can genuinely cry out to

the Lord for boldness. You can genuinely cry

out to the Lord for boldness and boldness will

find expression in and through you. Boldness

will find expression in you. So I want us to

pray because in Acts we see that the people wanted

to honor God rather than men. They wanted to

honor God rather than men. And what they decided

to do is that rather than we be cowards, rather

than we be cowards, we would rather pray and

then continue doing. I can imagine how they were

supernaturally delivered from prison and they

went back to what they were. arrested for. They

went back to what they were arrested for. And

whatever it is that is that fear, you want to

pray that courage will continue to find expression

in and through your life, courage will continue

to find expression in and through my life, courage

will continue to be my stance with regards to

what God's will is for my life. And that courage

is able to make ordinary men and women be, regardless

of what the challenging situation is, where they

put no fear. above the work of God. They put

no fear above what God's responsibility, what

the responsibility God has called them to. They

put no fear. They put no fear. And they continue

to declare that we'll continue to work. We'll

continue to stand fast in faith. We'll continue

to be brave for the work. We'll continue to be

strong in the Lord. We'll continue to be steadfast.

We'll continue to be immovable. We'll continue

to abound in the work. We'll continue to abound

in the work. We'll let nothing. We will let nothing

stop us. We will let nothing hold us back. We

will let nothing deny us the great privilege

of the work that God has called us to. Because

what he has called us to is great and requires

great faith, great confidence, great boldness

to do the work. And we will continue. We will

not cower. We will not say no. We will continue

to stand. We will continue to stand. We will

continue to stand. We will continue to stand.

And it's not about how we feel. It's about what

he has said. And fear can be crippling. But we

will continue to trust in the Lord. We will continue

to trust in the Lord. We will be the ones who

dare. Who dare to say, I will walk on the water.

I will walk on the water. Because you have said

so, I will do it. Because you said I can heal

the sick, I will. put myself in that position.

I will not pass out on an opportunity to do so.

Even if it scares me, even if I'm afraid, even

if I'm afraid, but I choose to, I will choose

to trust you and allow the light of your word

dispel every fear and any fear in me. I will

not let anything hold me back. We appreciate

you being here today. We hope you carry this

word with you throughout your week. Don't forget

to check the show notes for additional insights.

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Until next time, stay blessed.