Sermon

The Supernatural Nature of the Christian Gathering (Part 4)

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. Well, welcome to today's service. And

  6. I pray that we'll bless even as we listen to

  7. the word. And we're going to continue where we

  8. started on Sunday. The supernatural nature of

  9. the Christian gathering. What makes this gathering

  10. a supernatural gathering? Praise the Lord. And

  11. we're going to continue from where we stopped.

  12. Matthew chapter 28. Matthew chapter 28. And Jesus

    Matthew 28 chapter mention Matthew 28 chapter mention

  13. came and spoke to them, saying, All authority

  14. has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

  15. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the

  16. nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,

  17. of the Son, of the Holy Spirit. teaching them

  18. to observe all the things I've commanded you,

  19. and lo, I'm with you always, even to the end

  20. of the age. Amen. So, for Sunday, we started

  21. by saying that this is the mandate that God has

  22. given to every believer. This is what God has

  23. called us to, right? This is the purpose that

  24. we have, praise the Lord, to do His will. We

  25. don't find We don't find purpose anywhere else.

  26. Praise the Lord. We don't find it anywhere else.

  27. We find this in doing the mandate of God. Praise

  28. the Lord. And we said that from verse 19, that

  29. starts to talk that you should go and make disciples

  30. of all nations. That the word to make disciples

  31. is a Greek word, which means to train. Praise

  32. the Lord. To train, which means to... instruct,

  33. which means it's deeper than just receiving the

  34. word. It's deeper than just sitting down and

  35. somebody telling you or teaching you something.

  36. Praise the Lord. It's way beyond that. It's the

  37. word to train, right? And it's very practical.

  38. It's a very practical way of training, right?

  39. To model something by example. Praise the Lord.

  40. And we also said that God wants disciples that

  41. are trained, that is believers, who would also

  42. train others. Praise the Lord. That the intention

  43. and the desires of God is to have people that

  44. are trained so that they can train others. He

  45. doesn't want people or his desire is not that

  46. you should just go like that or you should just

  47. hear the word and believe and just go like that.

  48. He wants you to be trained. He wants you to receive

  49. training so that you are able to train others.

  50. Praise the Lord. And we also said that the church

  51. is an ongoing training. So every time that we

  52. come to church, What we are doing is that we

  53. are receiving training. We continue in training.

  54. Praise the Lord. And so that's why we have so

  55. many instructions in regards to the things you

  56. can do and cannot do when we come to the house

  57. of God, because it is a place of training. We

  58. also saw that word to instruct, right? In Matthew

  59. 13, 52. And we said that the training has no

  60. regard for age. It has no regard for physical

  61. or earthly possession. Praise the Lord. It's

  62. not a respect of how old you are, how young you

  63. are, maybe to what we are doing here. You're

  64. very young, so these things are... I'm not there

  65. yet. Praise the Lord. It's not a respectful of

  66. that. It doesn't think of you as you're too small.

  67. Praise the Lord. The training does not consider

  68. that you're too young. Praise the Lord. It is

  69. a training that every age should receive, irrespective

  70. of your background. Praise the Lord. It does

  71. not respect how wealthy you are. Praise the Lord.

  72. He does not respect that you do not have money.

  73. He does not respect that you do have money. He

  74. does not respect that you have this or have that.

  75. Praise the Lord. It is a training that everyone,

  76. irrespective of your background, should receive.

  77. Praise the Lord. Whether you have influence or

  78. not. And so I encourage those to, whenever we

  79. have people around us, whenever you have people

  80. around you that maybe consider themselves as

  81. too young or consider themselves as too old,

  82. or consider themselves as wealthy, or you can

  83. see that they have material possessions, or do

  84. not have material possessions that much, it does

  85. not affect you, praise the Lord. It does not

  86. affect the mandate of God that you have. So you

  87. go on to preach the gospel, to train, praise

  88. the Lord, consigning the things of God. So in

  89. verse 20, we now said, how is this training received?

  90. How is this training received? In verse 20, he

  91. said what? Teaching them to observe all the things

  92. I've commanded you and lo, I'm with you always,

  93. even to the end of the age. How is the training

  94. done? The training is done by teaching. Praise

  95. the Lord. The training is done by teaching. Our

  96. teaching is the Greek word didasko, which means

  97. that discipleship involves training, it involves

  98. instruction, it involves being educated, praise

  99. the Lord, or to educate someone. So we also said

  100. that it means that we can call the church a Bible

  101. school, praise the Lord. We can call the church

  102. a Bible school, or the church ought to be a place

  103. that is regarded as a Bible school because it

  104. should be a place of training, a place where

  105. people are educated in regards to the things

  106. of God. Praise the Lord. And that is because

  107. the Bible is our primary source of information,

  108. wisdom, and instructions. So we're going to continue.

  109. When he says to teach them all the things I've

  110. commanded you, right? It tells us that there

  111. is something that Christ is telling us to teach

  112. from. There is somewhere that he's telling us

  113. to teach from. Praise the Lord. So when he's

  114. saying educate them, when he's saying instruct

  115. them, he's not just saying instruct them as you

  116. will. Instruct them as you so desire or instruct

  117. them as it comes to you. Or you would say, as

  118. the Spirit leads you. Praise the Lord. Right?

  119. He said, for teaching them to observe all the

  120. things I've commanded you. Praise the Lord. There

  121. is things that Christ has commanded. There are

  122. things that Christ has commanded. So we cannot

  123. now develop our own body of knowledge. Praise

  124. the Lord. We cannot now say, okay, yes, these

  125. people are here for training. Let me develop

  126. my curriculum based upon how I feel. or how I

  127. think about their needs or what is going on amongst

  128. them, or maybe they are too young. Let me try

  129. to do some things. Praise the Lord. He's saying

  130. you should teach from that which he has commanded,

  131. right? That they would observe all the things

  132. that he has commanded. So how do we replicate

  133. that which Christ has done? We said that in Luke

    Luke 24:44–45

  134. chapter 24, verse 44 to 45. Luke 24, verse 44

    Luke 24:44–45

  135. to 45. Then he said to them, These are the words

  136. which I speak to you while I was still with you,

  137. that all things must be fulfilled which were

  138. written in the law of Moses, in the prophet,

  139. and in the Psalms concerning me. Verse 45. and

  140. he opened their understanding that they may comprehend

  141. the Scriptures. Praise the Lord. So, Jesus taught

  142. from the Scriptures. Praise the Lord. So when

  143. he says, teaching them to observe all the things

  144. I've commanded you, he's saying you should teach

  145. them from the Scriptures. Praise the Lord. You

  146. should teach them from the Scriptures. Right?

  147. He taught them from the Scriptures. And we said

  148. that the Scriptures that Jesus had, Was Genesis

  149. to what? To Malachi. Praise the Lord. Jesus did

  150. not have Revelation. He did not have John. He

  151. didn't have any of those. He taught them from

  152. the Scriptures. He taught them Genesis to Malachi.

  153. So in John 5, verse 39. John 5, verse 39. He

    John 5:39 John 5:39

  154. said, you search the scriptures, for in them

  155. you think you have eternal life. And these are

  156. they which testify about me. Praise the Lord.

  157. These are they which testify about me. Verse

  158. 45 to 46. Do not think that I have, I shall accuse

  159. you. Sorry. Do not think I shall accuse you to

  160. the Father. One who accused you, Moses, even

  161. whom you trust. Verse 46. For if you believe

  162. Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about

  163. me. Praise the Lord. So if they believed Moses,

  164. if they believed the scriptures, Jesus is saying

  165. that he's saying nothing different from that

  166. which was written. Praise the Lord. He's saying

  167. nothing different from that which is in the scriptures

  168. because the scriptures were writing. consigning

  169. him. Praise the Lord. The scriptures wrote consigning

  170. him. Praise the Lord. So he taught also from

  171. the scriptures. So Jesus himself was also confined

  172. by that which was written consigning him. Praise

  173. the Lord. He didn't come and start telling them

  174. something new. Praise the Lord. He opened the

  175. scriptures and he taught them consigning himself.

  176. Praise the Lord. From the scriptures. So he himself

  177. did not develop his own body of knowledge praise

  178. the lord he himself did not develop his body

  179. of knowledge but he went to the scriptures to

  180. teach them so when he says teaching them to observe

  181. all the things i've commanded you he's saying

  182. that you should teach from the scriptures matthew

    Matthew 7 chapter mention

  183. chapter 7 from verse 28 to 29 And so it was when

  184. Jesus had ended this saying that the people were

  185. astonished at his teaching. And he taught them,

  186. for he taught them as one having authority, not

  187. as the scribes. So they were astonished at his

  188. teaching. Remember, he was teaching them from

  189. the scriptures. Praise the Lord. And so when

  190. he says he didn't teach them as one of the scribes,

  191. right? They were also teaching from the same

  192. place. Praise the Lord. So Jesus was teaching

  193. from the scriptures, right? And equally, he taught

  194. them in a particular way from the scriptures.

  195. He taught them in a particular way. He said that

  196. he had, he was speaking, he taught them as one

  197. having authority. Praise the Lord. Meaning that

  198. he knows what he's saying, right? They could

  199. understand what he's saying. Praise the Lord.

  200. He understood the scriptures. He could break

  201. it down for them to understand. Praise the Lord.

  202. So when we are teaching the scriptures, we also

  203. have to teach it in a way that can be understood.

  204. So when we have didasko, where we saw in Matthew

    Matthew 28:20

  205. 28, verse 20, which means that we teach from

  206. the scriptures because Jesus taught from the

  207. scriptures. Like I mentioned on Sunday, he was

  208. not teaching them how to increase their salary.

  209. Praise the Lord. He's not teaching them how to

  210. do something else. Praise the Lord. He was not

  211. using the platform where he was not using the

  212. scriptures to teach them any other thing, but

  213. to teach them the things of God. Praise the Lord.

  214. You might be somebody who is maybe an expert

  215. in a field. A lot of us are, right? And you have

  216. somebody, or as a result of what you are doing,

  217. you have the opportunity to teach, right? What

  218. you are teaching is not, you're not trying to

  219. teach somebody how to increase their salary.

  220. There are places for that. There are opportunities

  221. for that, right? Don't let me go and ask you,

  222. how do I do this? How do I do that? You can advise

  223. them on that. but not to use the platform where

  224. you're supposed to be teaching for something

  225. else. So he was not teaching them other things.

  226. He was teaching them the scriptures. They were

  227. astonished at his teaching. Praise the Lord.

  228. And we said that your level of training as a

  229. believer is your level of understanding and practice

  230. of the scriptures. Praise the Lord. Your level

  231. of training as a believer is your level. So if

  232. you don't receive, proper training, you are not

  233. going to understand or practice the scriptures

  234. properly. Praise the Lord. You will see a particular

  235. verse and maybe you will apply it to something

  236. that is not supposed to be because you do not

  237. have the training that is required for you to

  238. be able to know exactly what to do with that

  239. scripture. Praise the Lord. So your level of

  240. understanding what you know or your level of

  241. training as a believer is your level of understanding

  242. and practice of the Scriptures. Mark chapter

    Mark 16 chapter mention

  243. 16, from verse 15 to 20. Mark chapter 15, 16.

    Mark 15 chapter mention

  244. It says, And he said to them, Go into all the

  245. world and preach the gospel to every creature.

  246. He who believes and is baptized will be saved.

  247. He who does not believe will be condemned. And

  248. this sign will follow those who believe. In my

  249. name they shall cast out demons, they shall speak

  250. with new tongues. They will take up sapient,

  251. and if they drink anything deadly, it will not

  252. by any means hurt them. They will lay hands on

  253. the sick, and they will recover. So then, after

  254. the Lord has spoken to them, it was received

  255. up to heaven, and they sat down at the right

  256. hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere,

  257. the Lord walking with them, confirming their

  258. words through the accompanying of signs. Amen.

  259. Praise the Lord. So, we see here that two things

  260. are very clear. to again what i said about tying

  261. into what i said about the local church right

  262. or the church in general that it is a place where

  263. you are taught trained and taught to preach the

  264. gospel to the world praise the lord so the church

  265. is a place where you are taught trained and trained

  266. also to preach the gospel to the world in a local

  267. church we do not have those right we do not have

  268. those who are in ministry and those who are not

  269. in ministry. Praise the Lord. Because this is

  270. an instruction that Christ gives to all believers,

  271. all that believe in Him. Praise the Lord. This

  272. is an instruction that He gives to everyone that

  273. believes in Him. This is a walk of everybody

  274. that believed in Christ. So we don't have in

  275. the church, maybe they say, okay, holiday is

  276. into the walk of ministry. And me, I'm not. Praise

  277. the Lord. Somebody else is doing the Lord's work

  278. and me, I'm not doing the Lord's work. Praise

  279. the Lord. This is an instruction to every believer.

  280. Every believer is called into ministry. We have

  281. been taught that. Praise the Lord. Every believer

  282. is called into ministry. So, not every believer

  283. does respond to it, right? But every believer

  284. is called into ministry. Praise the Lord. So,

  285. you not responding to it does not mean you are

  286. not called. or you not doing what you're supposed

  287. to do, does not mean that the calling is not

  288. on you. Because as a result of believing in Christ,

  289. praise the Lord, as a result of salvation, you

  290. are being called into ministry. So don't say

  291. because you're not doing the work, you can categorize

  292. yourself as somebody who is not in ministry.

  293. You're just in ministry, but you're not working.

  294. Praise the Lord. You're not doing the work. Praise

  295. the Lord. You took your one talent and you hid

  296. it in the earth. Praise the Lord. You close it

  297. under the distance and it's not functional. Praise

  298. the Lord. It doesn't mean it's not there. Praise

  299. the Lord. So everybody that is a believer is

  300. called into ministry. So everybody is called

  301. into ministry. So we can say that it's an instruction.

  302. This is one of the instructions that Christ gives

  303. to believers. Praise the Lord. The things to

  304. do. Right? We saw the scripture. These are one

  305. of the few things that Christ has said to the

  306. believer. Do these things. Praise the Lord. To

  307. go and preach the gospel. Praise the Lord. To

  308. go and make disciples. This is an instruction

  309. he gives. Specifically saying, oh, this is what

  310. you should continue to do. This is what you should

  311. do. Praise the Lord. So this is a command of

  312. Christ to every believer. He gives it to every

  313. believer. This is the will of God for your life,

  314. for every one of us. Every believer is called

  315. to participate in the walk or in this walk. Praise

  316. the Lord. And he says that these signs shall

  317. follow them. Praise the Lord. He didn't say that

  318. these signs would follow your pastors or your

  319. teachers or would follow your... apostles or

  320. different type of people. See, these signs will

  321. follow them that believe. Praise the Lord. These

  322. signs shall follow them that believe. Everybody

  323. is included. Everybody is included. Praise the

  324. Lord. That they will lay hands on the sick and

  325. the sick will recover. Praise the Lord. That

  326. they would pray for those who are demon possessed

  327. and they will cast out demons. Praise the Lord.

  328. They will bring liberation to those who are bound.

  329. So this is the work that God has called every

  330. believer to participate in. John chapter 20.

    John 20 chapter mention

  331. John chapter 20, verse 21 to 23. John chapter

    John 20:21–23 John 20 chapter mention

  332. 20. So Jesus said to them again, Peace be with

  333. you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.

  334. And when he had said this, he breathed on them

  335. and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. If

  336. you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiving

  337. them. If you retain the sin of any, they are

  338. retained. Praise the Lord. Pastor Fred taught

  339. us about these scriptures. Praise the Lord. So,

  340. as a result of preaching the gospel, praise the

  341. Lord, as a result of preaching the gospel, forgiveness

  342. is given or forgiveness is repaid. Praise the

  343. Lord. Forgiveness is given and forgiveness is

  344. also retained if the person does not believe.

  345. So we have the mandate to continue the ministry

  346. of Jesus on the earth. Praise the Lord. He gives

  347. an instruction to go and preach the gospel, to

  348. go and preach it. So it therefore means that

  349. we have the mandate to continue the work of Christ,

  350. to continue that which he has begun to do. Because

  351. what? He gave us a spirit. Praise the Lord. Can

  352. we go back a little bit? Is it 22? He said, and

  353. he breathed on them and he said to them, receive

  354. a Holy Spirit. Praise the Lord. So he gave us

  355. his spirit so that we can preach the gospel.

  356. Praise the Lord. More like he gave you a mandate

  357. to continue that which he had started. So you're

  358. acting on God's behalf when you go and preach

  359. the gospel. Praise the Lord. And the person believes

  360. they are forgiven. If the person does not believe,

  361. they are not forgiven. Praise the Lord. Because

  362. you have the Spirit of God in the inside of you.

  363. So you are acting in the place of God, and God

  364. is acting in your place through His Spirit. Because

  365. it is God who forgives the sin. Praise the Lord.

  366. So when you preach the gospel, as Jesus has said,

  367. preach the gospel, when a person believes, their

  368. sins are forgiven. Praise the Lord. So you're

  369. acting in God's capacity or you are acting in

  370. Christ's capacity, right? He's walking through

  371. you by His Spirit. The Holy Spirit within you

  372. is God's partnership with you. And your partnership

  373. with God is to carry His will or to carry on

  374. doing His will on the earth. The Holy Spirit

  375. within you is God's partnership with you. And

  376. your partnership with God is to carry out His

  377. will on earth. Praise the Lord. So God gives

  378. us His Spirit and it's a partnership that we

  379. have with Him. Alright? And we partner with Him

  380. by carrying out His will on earth. And that is

  381. to preach the gospel. So, for you to be indwelled

  382. by the Spirit of God. And it means that you are

  383. supposed to do the work that God has called you

  384. to do. Praise the Lord. So the indwelling of

  385. the Spirit and the walking of the Spirit is meant

  386. to carry out the will of God on the earth. And

  387. that is supposed to be through you. Praise the

  388. Lord. It's supposed to be through you. Luke chapter

    Luke 24 chapter mention

  389. 24. Luke chapter 24. Luke chapter 24 from verse

    Luke 24 chapter mention Luke 24 chapter mention

  390. 25 to 27. Then he said to them, O foolish ones,

  391. slow of heart and slow of heart to believe in

  392. all that the prophet has spoken. Ought not the

  393. Christ to have suffered these things and to enter

  394. his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the

  395. prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures

  396. the things consigning himself. Praise the Lord.

  397. Still on what Christ has done or where the teachings

  398. that Christ has done. So he expounded to them.

  399. So that word expounded is the word dimenio. It's

  400. D -I -R. M -E -N -E -U -O. It means to interpret

  401. or to explain. Praise the Lord. It means to interpret

  402. or to explain. So he expounded to them the scriptures.

  403. Praise the Lord. He made them understand the

  404. scriptures by reason of explanation or by reason

  405. of clarity or by reason of teaching so also as

  406. we represent god one good example that we ought

  407. to have one skill we ought to have is the ability

  408. to explain the scriptures praise the lord as

  409. believers one skill that we should desire and

  410. walk towards and continue to strive towards is

  411. to be able to explain the Scriptures. Praise

  412. the Lord. It's to be able to explain the Scriptures,

  413. to be able to expound it, to be able to explain

  414. it to somebody who is confused, who does not

  415. know anything about the Gospel. So one good example

  416. of a disciple of Jesus is that he is able to

  417. interpret the Scriptures. So to be able to understand

  418. the scriptures or to be able to explain the scriptures,

  419. one of the things that Pastor Victor has taught

  420. us is that we need to understand the grammar

  421. of the scriptures. We need to understand the

  422. setting of the scriptures or the context of the

  423. scriptures. These are one of the tools that we

  424. need to be able to explain or interpret the scriptures.

  425. Praise the Lord. Like I said, when I started

  426. on Sunday, I said to us that the reason why we

  427. use Greek word is because the Bible was never

  428. written in English. Praise the Lord. And we use

  429. those things because we want to, it helps us

  430. understand the intention of the writer. Praise

  431. the Lord. So the Bible of Jesus, sorry, like

  432. I mentioned earlier again, the Bible that Jesus

  433. preached or what he was using was not a romance

  434. to revelations. He didn't have those scriptures.

  435. They were not available. Matthew was not available.

  436. Matthew was there, but the scriptures were not

  437. available. Praise the Lord. He never saw them.

  438. He never saw them, scriptures. They were not

  439. even available at the time. So the scripture

  440. that Jesus was teaching from, or he was expounding

  441. from, or he was bringing knowledge and understanding

  442. from, was what? Genesis to Malachi. In that same

  443. Luke, verse 44 to 45, again, he said something.

  444. Luke 24, 44 to 45. Then he said to them, these

  445. are the words which I spoke to you while I was

  446. still with you, that all things must be fulfilled

  447. which were written in the law of Moses and in

  448. the prophet and in the Psalms concerning me.

  449. And he opened their understanding that they might

  450. comprehend the scriptures. He opened their understanding

  451. that they may understand the scriptures. When

  452. he says he opened, what was he doing? As also

  453. we have learned from a lot of Pastor Victor's

  454. teaching about exegesis. E -X -E -G -E -S -I

  455. -S. So what Jesus was doing here was exegesis.

  456. Praise the Lord. What he was doing was exegesis.

  457. What is exegesis? If you don't remember, right?

  458. So it is a skill, right? It's not just a, it's

  459. not just something that you do once and it's

  460. not something that you are, it's off and on,

  461. right? It's a skill that you have. If you think

  462. of, somebody who plays football very well, right?

  463. You know that they are very skillful. They have

  464. control. They know how to decompose and so many

  465. things like that. There are some people that

  466. go and once you give them the ball, their touch

  467. is off. They don't know how to hold it well.

  468. So they're not skillful. Praise the Lord. Right?

  469. So it's a skill. Exegesis is a skill. Right?

  470. And it's something that Somebody is trained with.

  471. The training that you get is by training, praise

  472. the Lord, that you are able to explain the Scriptures.

  473. So, exegesis is a skill of asking good questions

  474. about what you're reading. It's a skill of asking

  475. good questions about what you're reading. If

  476. you don't ask proper questions about what you're

  477. reading, You're not able to interpret. You're

  478. not able to understand what you're reading or

  479. the subject that you're reading. So a good reader

  480. of the scripture is one that is always asking

  481. questions. As he reads, he's asking questions.

  482. He's asking questions and the questions he's

  483. asking is so that he can interpret. Praise the

  484. Lord. The question that the person is asking

  485. is so that the person is able to interpret. So

  486. questions like, who was saying that? Or who is

  487. saying this? Questions about, why did he say

  488. that? Praise the Lord. Questions as, who was

  489. he talking to? Praise the Lord. So this is what

  490. exegesis is, right? You ask good questions so

  491. that you are able to interpret. So you're asking

  492. questions because you want to interpret. It's

  493. like a questionnaire, right? So that you're able

  494. to interpret something. You cannot have good

  495. Bible understanding without asking proper questions.

  496. Praise the Lord. So Christ doesn't want us to

  497. be, he doesn't want us to read something and

  498. say, okay, this is what he says. And we just

  499. go and then we are. Maybe he's telling somebody,

  500. this is what the Christ has said. You're asking

  501. a question, who is he speaking to? How does this

  502. apply? What is the interpretation of these things?

  503. So there's some questions that maybe as you read

  504. the scriptures, something is said, something

  505. you read somewhere and you're confused. And instead

  506. of asking questions or, or asking questions and

  507. doing research or talking to somebody, you will

  508. just go with it and say, okay, this is what the

  509. scripture says. Let's run with it like that.

  510. That's why, for example, a lot of our teachings,

  511. a lot of the teachings we are doing is trying

  512. almost to correct something, right? Some type

  513. of knowledge that you probably have hanged on

  514. to for a very long time. Praise the Lord. Maybe

  515. somebody has formed a doctrine around one verse

  516. of the Scriptures, and a lot of people have followed

  517. it for a very long time, and it's wrong. And

  518. maybe there's nowhere else in the Scripture that

  519. says so -so and so -thing, or it does contradict

  520. some other place of the Scriptures. Praise the

  521. Lord. So you're asking a question in order to...

  522. interprets. So you're not asking questions as

  523. a Pharisee, right? When you're doing a suggestive.

  524. You're not asking questions as a Pharisee. What

  525. were the Pharisees doing? They were asking Jesus

  526. tempting questions. They were asking him questions

  527. so that they would trap him. Oh, this is what

  528. it is. Do you see what he said about this? Or

  529. maybe what he said was blaspheming. You're asking

  530. questions not tempting Christians. So when we

  531. see the difference between how the Pharisees

  532. will ask Jesus questions and how the disciples

  533. will ask them, is that the disciples, they came

  534. and they asked him questions because they lack

  535. understanding. They didn't understand it. So

  536. they're trying to get clarity. They're trying

  537. to inquire of him what he meant by what he said.

  538. Praise the Lord. So they come with... That humbleness

  539. to learn from him. So they ask questions and

  540. their intention is learning. So when you're reading

  541. the scriptures and you're asking questions, you're

  542. asking questions to learn, to be able to interpret.

  543. Praise the Lord. So you can ask a question and

  544. it's not a honest question. You're asking to

  545. test somebody. You know, sometimes you just say,

  546. okay, let me just, Let me ask my pastor this

  547. question. And you're asking him, you're not trying

  548. to learn. You just want to see, is the person

  549. knowledgeable enough to give you this answer?

  550. Or maybe because maybe there are a lot of people

  551. there, you're trying to shame the person by the

  552. questions that you're asking. This is not the

  553. exegesis. Okay? You're not asking questions to

  554. tempt. You're not asking questions to shame somebody.

  555. You're not asking... you're asking positive questions

  556. and not negative questions. Right? You're not

  557. asking questions to prove that the person that

  558. is speaking is ignorant. Right? Or to shame them

  559. by your questions when you're asking to learn.

  560. So first thing that a good student of the Bible

  561. would do is to be able to have the ability to

  562. ask. good questions in order to seek interpretation.

  563. So the ability to ask questions about what the

  564. person is reading so that he can interpret, so

  565. that the person is not in doubt. So you're asking

  566. questions like, what does this word mean? Or

  567. what does love mean? You see a scripture and

  568. it's talking about love. You're trying to find

  569. out, okay, what does love mean here? What does

  570. apostle mean? What does anointing mean? Maybe

  571. you read something and it's talking about how

  572. Jesus was anointed and you're asking, what does

  573. anointing mean? You're asking questions because

  574. you're trying to interpret. Is it anointing oil?

  575. Praise the Lord. So you have this bunch of questions

  576. that you have aside. Is it anointing oil? He

  577. said how he anointed Jesus. He said that he came

  578. and poured oil on him and that was the significance

  579. to show that he was anointed. So you're asking

  580. all these questions so that you are able to interpret.

  581. Praise the Lord. So that you're not fooled by

  582. somebody else. So when he says speaking in tongues,

  583. what does that mean? Praise the Lord. So this

  584. is a good thing for believers to have. It's a

  585. good skill for us to have because it helps us

  586. better interpret the scriptures. It helps us

  587. not to get deceived. It helps us to be curious,

  588. right? God does not want you to be somebody who,

  589. okay, this is what they said, and then you are

  590. going. Praise the Lord. You don't understand

  591. it, but you say, okay, since they said it, let

  592. us go with it. Praise the Lord. He wants you

  593. to understand. Because when he says he opened

  594. their understanding that they may comprehend

  595. the scriptures, right? Jesus did not touch their

  596. head. Do you know what I mean by touch their

  597. head? You need to come and say, okay, since your

  598. understanding is closed, come, let me lay hands

  599. on you. Praise the Lord. So that, you know, like

  600. I'll say something, your head will open. No,

  601. that's not what he means. Right? He waits. He

  602. said what? They're studying from what? From Moses

  603. and the prophets. So he took time, he was diligent,

  604. and he was explaining the scriptures until what

  605. they understood. So when he said he opened their

  606. understanding, it's not by laying hands. It is

  607. by work. It is by explanation of the scriptures.

  608. Praise the Lord. So as students, as believers,

  609. of the scriptures, or sorry, as believers, we

  610. all too have this skill to be able to interpret.

  611. Praise the Lord. To be able to explain the scriptures.

  612. When somebody asks you a question and you try

  613. to explain it, the person says, I still don't

  614. understand. You say, ah, it's because you're

  615. a dog. You don't understand. There's no hope

  616. for you. You know, this one, I don't know how

  617. long. How long we keep telling you, praise the

  618. Lord, is that you keep explaining. Praise the

  619. Lord. You explain and explain through the scriptures.

  620. I remember, personally, I remember when people,

  621. at the time when they were talking about speaking

  622. in tongues, and I didn't understand it. Praise

  623. the Lord. I didn't understand what they were

  624. doing, right? But one thing I know is that I

  625. shall believe God, right? And I'm saved. So this

  626. thing they are doing, I don't get it. Until somebody

  627. explained to me from the scriptures, there was

  628. no way I was doing anything. Praise the Lord.

  629. So by explanation, it's not just, okay, just

  630. speak. Somebody say, what are you people doing?

  631. People are speaking in tongues. Say, just speak,

  632. just keep speaking. He does not understand it.

  633. You have not, from the scriptures, explained

  634. to them. I remember Pastor Emma used to, When

  635. we have somebody in our midst that is not speaking

  636. in tongues, they will call them aside and open

  637. the scriptures and start telling them this, this,

  638. this, this, this, this, and the person gets it

  639. and the person begins to speak in tongues. Praise

  640. the Lord. Because, one, there is an explanation.

  641. Praise the Lord. Of the things that the believers

  642. have in Christ. Praise the Lord. So this is a

  643. skill that we all to have. So in Esediasis, it

  644. goes into the context also. Like I said, it goes

  645. into the context of the scriptures. Right? So

  646. the entire thing for Jesus is to convey understanding.

  647. So what he was doing here is that he's trying

  648. to convey understanding. He's trying to ensure

  649. that the people understand. Praise the Lord.

  650. He's trying to ensure that there is understanding.

  651. Like I said, If you read this, there's a way

  652. you read this, you think he laid hands on them.

  653. Praise the Lord. Because when he said, beginning

  654. at Moses, and you read it very fast, you think,

  655. ah, he opened the understudies. How do you open

  656. something? You just, you open the door. Praise

  657. the Lord. Maybe he just did something and their

  658. head opened. No, it is by explanation. It is

  659. by interpretation of the scriptures. So, It's

  660. important that we do exegesis. So in exegesis,

  661. we read properly. Do you know what I mean by

  662. we read properly? You're not rushing to finish.

  663. You're not saying, okay, starting from Genesis,

  664. starting from Moses and the prophets and the

  665. Psalms, the things concerning him, you open the

  666. understanding. You read properly. Praise the

  667. Lord. And we can assess that sometimes we don't

  668. read things properly. Like two times now, this

  669. week, I myself and someone has read something

  670. wrongly and we almost went to places where we

  671. should not go, right? Remember when mommy came,

  672. they wrote in our group that we need to pick

  673. mommy by 2 a .m. I saw 2 p .m. It was there,

  674. right? I saw 2 p .m. I started calling in the

  675. afternoon. It's like, are we going? When are

  676. we going to the airport? When are we going to

  677. the airport? But the text message was 2 a .m.

  678. So it's like you saw it, but your head is telling

  679. you something else. Right? We're supposed to

  680. have a meeting somewhere on Monday evening. It

  681. was written three times, but the first one was

  682. sitting here on Thursday. Praise the Lord. Right?

  683. So you can, some things can be there, or you

  684. can see something, it is clear. And you have

  685. read it, but then your head is thinking something

  686. else. Praise the Lord. So sometimes we can come

  687. to the scriptures and we are not reading properly.

  688. Praise the Lord. We read and you assume what

  689. you read. You read something, okay, this is what

  690. he said, but then your head already, maybe because

  691. of the information that you have previously,

  692. you just say, okay, this is what it means. Praise

  693. the Lord. Let me give you an example. I remember

  694. reading this year, one of the things I saw from

  695. the Canaanites was in Exodus chapter 1. Exodus

    Exodus 1 chapter mention Exodus 1 chapter mention

  696. chapter 1 from verse 16 to 22. And he said, When

  697. you do the duties of the midwife of the Hebrew

  698. woman, see them on the bedstool. If it is a son,

  699. then you shall kill him. But if it is a daughter,

  700. then she shall leave. But the midwives feared

  701. God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded

  702. them, but saved the male children alive. So the

  703. king of Egypt called for the midwives and said

  704. to them, Why have you done these things and saved

  705. the male children alive? And the midwives said

  706. to Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women were not

  707. like the Egyptian women, for they are lively

  708. and give birth before the midwives come to them.

  709. Therefore God dealt with the midwives, and the

  710. people multiplied and grew mightily. And so it

  711. was because the midwives feared God and that

  712. he provided household for them. So Pharaoh commanded

  713. all the people saying, every son who is born,

  714. you shall cast into the river and every daughter

  715. you shall save. Praise the Lord. Now, I came

  716. across this and I know that there is a song when

  717. I was growing up that talks about how, how, or

  718. there's even a prayer about how you will give

  719. birth as a Hebrew woman. Am I correct? Right?

  720. There is this thing that, okay, you will give

  721. birth as a Hebrew woman, right? There are prayers

  722. like that. But if you read that, you know they

  723. told a lie. Right? It was not that a They gave

  724. birth fast or anything. Right? It was because

  725. the people feared God. And so when Pharaoh asked

  726. them, they told him a story. Or they told him

  727. something. Praise the Lord. It was not that they

  728. didn't have opportunity to kill the children.

  729. It's because they feared God. So how can we explain

  730. to Pharaoh? We can explain to Pharaoh that they

  731. are lively and they give birth before we come

  732. there. Praise the Lord. Is it because God blessed

  733. the people? for doing that. Praise the Lord.

  734. So, there is that where you can read all of this

  735. and just see that the women are lively, which

  736. most women that give birth want to be lively.

  737. They want to give birth very, you know, I'm not

  738. saying that, but how do we, how do we, how do

  739. we measure lively and give birth on time? because

  740. there are some women that two, three days, they

  741. are still in labor. What would he say about that?

  742. Right? There's some that maybe, as for my wife,

  743. she gave birth like 45 minutes. Okay? So, can

  744. I say, can I go and use that scriptures? Can

  745. I go and use that scriptures? And, can I go and

  746. use that scriptures and say, oh, this is why

  747. that happened, because she's a Hebrew woman.

  748. No. So when you read it properly, you will know

  749. that, one, the things are very clear. It's that

  750. the midwives, they feared God, and they didn't

  751. carry out the instruction of Pharaoh. Now, the

  752. stories they told, you can discuss it however

  753. you want, but you know that they told the story

  754. not because of what is going on, but because

  755. they feared God. Praise the Lord. So you can

  756. read something and interpret it however you want,

  757. based upon the circumstance. Maybe your wife

  758. is pregnant or somebody's pregnant. You now find

  759. that scripture. You say, ah, no, we must pray

  760. these scriptures. Praise the Lord. Right? There

  761. are so many scriptures that we can pray for giving

  762. birth and so many things like that. Right? Because

  763. there is fear. There is so many things that is

  764. going on. with the woman at the time, right?

  765. And also God has encouraged us to pray whatever

  766. sin we ask of him. Praise the Lord. He has also

  767. given us a blank check to ask him. So if you

  768. want, if you want your wife or somebody to deliver

  769. on time without stress, you can pray that to

  770. God. You don't need to go and carry. You are

  771. lively. Praise the Lord. So it is important that

  772. we do Exegesis. Matthew chapter 19. Matthew chapter

    Matthew 19 chapter mention Matthew 19 chapter mention

  773. 19. Seeing how the Pharisees were asking Jesus

  774. Christ. Matthew chapter 19 from verse 3 to 4.

    Matthew 19 chapter mention

  775. And the Pharisees came to him, testing him, saying,

  776. Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? For

  777. just any reason. Verse 4. And Jesus answered

  778. and said to them, Have you not read that he who

  779. made them at the beginning made them male and

  780. female? Praise the Lord. Just keep that verse

  781. 4 there. So they were asking him to tempt him.

  782. They were not asking for clarity. Praise the

  783. Lord. So when we interpret or when we are studying

  784. the scriptures, we are asking questions so that

  785. we can get clarity. Praise the Lord. So when

  786. Jesus said to them, have you not read? Right?

  787. Have you not read? It's the word, it's a Greek

  788. word, anagnosko. Right? A -N -A -G -I -N -O -S

  789. -K -O. Anagnosko. Right? Means to read properly,

  790. to know accurately. So when he says to them,

  791. have you not read? Have you not read? Jesus was

  792. saying to them that the Pharisees, the Pharisees

  793. should know the scriptures. Do you understand?

  794. He means that they should know the scriptures.

  795. So he was not. He was asking them a question

  796. of, have you not read as people that don't know

  797. the scriptures? He's asking them as people that

  798. know the scriptures. So when he says, have you

  799. not read? He's saying that, do you not read it

  800. properly? Or do you not know these things accurately?

  801. So they can readily quote the scriptures, but

  802. they misinterpret it. Praise the Lord. So somebody

  803. can quote the scriptures, right? Or the Pharisees

  804. quote the scriptures. Yes, Jesus was asking them,

  805. have you not read? He quoted the scriptures and

  806. he's asking them the question again, have you

  807. not read? Means that someone can quote the scriptures

  808. and not understand it. You can quote here, quote

  809. here, quote here. Say, ah, this person is...

  810. The things we do in secondary school, if you

  811. go to Christian school, they will do like sword

  812. in, right? And sword out. Who is the fastest

  813. to open the scriptures? Or we play games of how

  814. many scriptures can you quote? How fast can you

  815. quote them? Praise the Lord. Or we call the scriptures

  816. and you quote them. Praise the Lord. It doesn't

  817. mean that those people quoting that team really

  818. understood what they are quoting. Praise the

  819. Lord. So for somebody to be, for you to say,

  820. okay, somebody is probably have proper understanding

  821. of the scripture. It's not by how many they can

  822. quote. To quote is very important, right? It's

  823. a thing that we should exercise ourselves in.

  824. But it doesn't mean that the person necessarily

  825. understand everything that they're quoting or

  826. what they're quoting. Because Jesus asked them

  827. that, have you not read the scriptures? So they

  828. can quote the scriptures and they're not, and

  829. still did not read it properly. So, Anaginosko

  830. means you should read in detail. Right? You should

  831. read in detail. He said, have you not read? So,

  832. the question they were asking Jesus was from

  833. Deuteronomy chapter 24 verse 1. Right? But the

    Deuteronomy 24:1

  834. book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the

  835. Bible. Right? The answer that Jesus gave them

  836. when he says, have you not read that he made

  837. them male and female? He's in Genesis. They asked

  838. him a question in Deuteronomy, right? He's answering

  839. them in Genesis, meaning that they were supposed

  840. to read it together, that they were not supposed

  841. to say, okay, let's, since he said in Deuteronomy,

  842. what's wrong with Deuteronomy? Praise the Lord.

  843. They're supposed to know, okay, what is Genesis

  844. saying to Deuteronomy? And they are able to interpret

  845. or they are able to explain properly. Praise

  846. the Lord. So that's how to read properly is that

  847. Jesus gave them the clue that, look, go from

  848. the beginning. You will understand this question

  849. that you're asking, although they were asking

  850. a tempting question. So it means that a proper

  851. Bible exegesis is that you read the Bible systematically.

  852. You don't take one thing and then you run with

  853. it. You're also trying to find out what was said

  854. from the beginning and what is being said now.

  855. So it's like somebody trying to, for those who

  856. did engineering, they're teaching you, you're

  857. doing Maths 102 or Linear Algebra, but you have

  858. no idea of what Maths 101 is. You'll suffer.

  859. Praise the Lord. Because everything they're teaching

  860. in Math 102 and linear algebra, the basis of

  861. it is in 101. If you don't know it, sorry, there's

  862. nothing that, there's no cramming you can cram

  863. to go and write it. You understand? Except somebody

  864. pass you the answer in the exam hall, then you

  865. just copy. But if it's based upon, let me just

  866. understand it, maybe you'll just be in one topic

  867. or one of the topics of the semester throughout.

  868. Because you need to understand what one -on -one

  869. says because it's the basis of what is it. So

  870. if you don't know what is being said from beginning,

  871. you're not able to read properly. So they were

  872. supposed to read the books together, not separately.

  873. So have you not read, have you not, have you

  874. not read Anna Ginosko? As believers, exegesis

  875. means to read properly, to read from the beginning,

  876. to read systematically. So the reading of the

  877. scriptures, for us to be able to teach, for us

  878. to be able to interpret, for us to be able to

  879. make disciples or train, demands that you put

  880. as much effort, if not much more, than what you

  881. are doing in your academics. Praise the Lord.

  882. It requires a lot of effort. So when Jesus was

  883. saying to them, when he said that, starting from

  884. Moses and the prophets, it was not a small work

  885. that he was doing. or for him to be able to have

  886. explained that. Praise the Lord. So for somebody

  887. to be able to have explained the scriptures to

  888. you, it was not because, you know, they were

  889. just, you know, they read it and then they moved

  890. on. Praise the Lord. They need to do a study,

  891. a proper study. Praise the Lord. So in a place,

  892. I'm going to close the date. We still have a

  893. lot to discuss. As in a place, or if the church

  894. takes his responsibility as a Bible school, when

  895. you come to, the house of God, you're supposed

  896. to be fed properly. You're supposed to receive

  897. from God. Not you come and then somebody have

  898. at least 10 ways to see the hand of God. One,

  899. favor. You will not learn anything. You just

  900. go home the same way that you came. But for somebody

  901. to be able to explain the scriptures for you,

  902. that you understand, that you have understanding,

  903. that you... your eyes is open to it or your mind

  904. is open to you, they need to do a lot of work.

  905. Praise the Lord. There is a lot of work that

  906. is involved. So you can choose, right? Like I

  907. said, that God has called us to be ministers.

  908. You can choose. One of the ways we respond properly

  909. is that we do exegesis, that we study properly.

  910. We respond properly. We don't say, okay, yes,

  911. I respond, but, you know, I'll be preaching.

  912. One light here, one light there, one light here.

  913. Praise the Lord. So God has given us a mandate

  914. to preach the gospel, to go and train. Praise

  915. the Lord. To go and train. He just opened our

  916. mouth and just began to bless the name of the

  917. Lord. We appreciate you being here today. We

  918. hope you carry this word with you throughout

  919. your week. Don't forget to check the show notes

  920. for additional insights. Stay connected with

  921. us through our website or follow us on social

  922. media. If you were encouraged, share this message

  923. with someone you care about. Until next time,

  924. stay blessed.