Standing Fast in the Faith pt. 2

Welcome to NECF Sermons. Each message here is

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

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right in. Father, we thank you because as your

word comes forth, there is light and there is

understanding. We receive, we receive. We receive

your word. We receive your word. We receive your

word and we posture ourselves to act on what

we are receiving. We thank you for how you're

opening our eyes to see the things that you are

showing us. Thank you for how you're posturing

us to act on the things that we're receiving.

Thank you because we are people that pay attention.

Thank you because we're people that are grateful

for what we have received. And in that act of

gratitude, we are able to share. And as an expression

of our gratitude, we're able to share. We're

able to teach others. We're able to pass it on.

We're able to hold fast. We're able to stand

fast in the faith and pass on that which we have

received as faithful men and women in the mighty

name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. So 1 Corinthians 6,

13, it says, watch, stand fast in the faith,

be brave, be strong. The faith there is pistis.

That is P -I -S -T -I -S. Stand fast in the faith.

Be strong. Be brave. Be strong. Be brave. Be

strong. And in this year, we're going to be marching

forward brave and strong. We are soldiers. We

are believers. We are God's children. We are

God's army. We are God's men and women. for the

work that he has called us to do. And we need

all of that to be able to do it. And we're doing

it in the strength that he supplies in the name

of Jesus. And the first thing we discussed on

Sunday is that we focused on paying attention,

giving attention, paying attention. It's a very

important currency in the work. To do the work,

to understand, to do the work, it's very foundational

to our understanding. It's very foundational

to our growing. It's very foundational to our

doing the work. And we saw how important is it.

We look at some of the passages that, thank you

so much prayer team for working us through it

again, just reminding us and praying on it. We

saw that if we give attention to know, we give

attention to understand. And if we don't give

attention. We will be stunted or we'll be lacking

in understanding or we'll be lacking the ability

to act or to do. And this season, we're going

to be seeing how we take heed. We're going to

be seeing ourselves take heed more. We saw 1

1 Timothy 4:13

Timothy 4, verse 13. I'm just skimming, bringing

us back to a place where we can do. It says,

until I come, give attention to reading, to exaltation,

and to doctrine. To doctrine. And we're giving

attention to doctrine. We're holding what we're

holding on to. What we're paying attention to

is sound doctrine. We saw, I think, in the earlier

verses on 2 Timothy, where it says, preach the

word. We're to preach the word. We're to preach

the word. 2 Timothy 4. Let me just read that

to us. 2 Timothy 4. We prayed from there. 2 Timothy

4. Preach the word in season and out of season.

Convince, rebuke, exalt. with all longsuffering

and teaching. And then 3 now says, for a time

will come when they will not endure sound doctrine,

but according to their own desires, they will

have itching ears. They will heap up for themselves

teachers. So how we stand fast in faith is holding

on to and giving attention to. The reading of

God's word to exaltation and to exaltation to

doctrine. Praise God. And we had done all of

that and we saw an example. We came to the Apostle

Paul. We saw how he was able to make a defense.

And we said all of that is anchored on the fact

that this is paying attention and brings us to

that place of understanding. And in that place

of understanding, we are able to, when asked,

make a defense, make a defense. We saw 1 Peter

3 .15 where it says, He says, always be ready.

I'm just going to that point. Always be ready

to give a defense to everyone who asks you a

reason for the hope that is in you. And we are

doing it with meekness and fear. We saw a couple

of examples. We saw Acts 22 .1. We saw Acts 26

.24 -32. And I will... And we saw that the word

there, in Acts 22, verse 28, I want us to go

Acts 22:28

to 28. Acts 26, 28. Acts 26, 28. Agrippa said

to Paul, then Agrippa said to Paul, you almost

persuaded me to become a Christian. You almost

persuaded me to become a Christian. And Paul

said, I would to God that not only you, but also

all who hear me today might become almost and

altogether sort as I am, except for this change.

You can see the desire, desire of Paul that every,

not just King Agrippa, not just Governor Felix,

not just Bernice, but everyone that is listening

to him, he wants them to be convinced. and to

be persuaded of the truth of the gospel, persuaded

and convinced of the gospel. And I just bring

attention to that word persuade. The word persuade

is P -E -I -T -H -O. P -E -I -T -H -O is a verb.

The Greek word is P -E -I -T -H -O. It also means

to convince. The word is used as to persuade.

It also means to convince. to win over. And it's

often implying an active influence, often implying

an active influence through reasoning or appeal.

Often implying an active influence through reasoning

or an appeal. And it also carries that connotation

of yielding or obedience. yielding obedience.

And this is agreeing to someone after the persuasion,

after the communication, after the person has

communicated. And I want you to not see it as

something that is mechanical. I want you to see

it as something that the Spirit of God does through

the communication of His Word. Something that

the Spirit of God does in the hearts of the individual

through the communication of His Word. And I

want us to see it again in Acts 28. We see the

same word in Acts 28. Acts 28. 23. Acts 28, 23.

It says, both the law of Moses and the prophets

from morning till evening. I want you to notice

from morning till evening. 24 now says, and some

were persuaded by the things which were spoken

and some disbelieved. Some were persuaded, some

disbelieved. I want you to see the fact that

he had spent this much time from morning till

evening. persuading and convincing. And for some

of us, we go out to evangelize and we just spend

a couple of minutes and then we are somewhat

offended when the person doesn't believe. After

we've invested a certain amount of time and you

leave, it's like these people, they are just,

the devil is walking in their hearts. And you

want to understand that the label, you are not

the one at the other end regulating whether the

person receives or doesn't. The person that you're

speaking to first and foremost has given you

audience and listening to you. You want to understand

that it is the individual's responsibility to

respond. And if they don't respond, it's your

responsibility to persist. And you can persist

there, continue in the convincing or continue

in the preaching and the teaching. But you must

also understand that there's a part where once

you have a responsibility, It's Sister Christy

when she was leading us in prayer to take that

person to God continually in the place of prayer

because the word that you have sown, the seed

of God's word that you have sown is active, is

living. And even when you're not having that

conversation, God will bring to their attention

that which you have spoken to them and there

will be a convincing that will happen as a result

of that. And for some of us, you have interacted

with someone the first time, someone else will

do the, But what will happen is that on the second

of the thought, that person is convinced on the

premise of all that has happened, the build up

to it. There's a build up to it. And we want

to really, really hold on to this because sometimes

you can be disappointed when we go out and we

do these things. And sometimes our feet can be

shaking when you feel like this thing. I don't

know how other people are doing it, but I'm struggling

to. to convince. I'm struggling to communicate

it. But we are encouraging God's Word to stand

fast. We are encouraging God's Word to keep at

it. Praise God. To keep at it. To keep at it.

Because we see, even in Apostle Paul's situation,

when he was talking with Agrippa, when he was

shouting, he said, Agrippa said to Paul, he said,

you almost persuaded me. You almost persuaded

me. You were wondering how many percent was it?

Was it 99 .9? like where exactly it is. You can

tell what the almost is for the individual. And

some people will not even be, they will not tell

you, just leave this thing some other time. Or

some people will be looking at their watch. But

it doesn't still stop you from engaging. It doesn't

stop you from keeping at it because it's the

work that you're doing. It's the work that you're

doing. The results should not deter you. The

immediate results should not deter you. Praise

God. So we see we're persuaded and it's all,

what he kept on doing. And as opposed to Paul,

did that from morning till evening. From morning

till evening, he was laboring. You see, some

were persuaded of the things which were spoken,

that is 24, 28, 24, and some still disbelieved.

Some disbelieved. 25 now say, so when they did

not agree amongst themselves, they departed after

Paul, had said one word. Paul had taken them

to Isaiah. Paul had said one word. The Holy Spirit

spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet of our

fathers. 26 saying, Go to these people and say,

Hearing you will hear and shall not understand.

Seeing you will see and not perceive. For the

hearts of these people have grown dull. Their

ears are hard of hearing and their eyes have

been closed. Lest they should see with their

eyes and hear with their ears. Lest they should

understand with their hearts and turn so that

I should heal them. And this is a quote from

Isaiah 6, verse 9 and 10. 28 now says, therefore,

Isaiah 6:9

let it be known to you. that the salvation of

God has been sent to the Gentiles and they will

hear it. Praise God. He says the salvation of

God, they will hear it. So even if you are choosing

not to, there are people that are going to listen

and receive. Praise God. 29 now says, when he

had said these words, the Jews departed and had

a great dispute amongst themselves because this

is offered to you. You're turning it down. He

brings it to their attention and says, so if

you're turning down the general house, which

I'm called to, we'll receive it. I want us to

see 30 now to see what Paul continues to do.

Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented

house and received all that came to him. He didn't

stop him, right? He didn't stop him. And I'm

bringing this to attention that regardless of

how much challenges, some difficulties, people

not receiving what you're saying, he shouldn't

stop you from persisting in the walk. He shouldn't

stop you from persisting in the walk. And he

says, and receive all that came to him. Preaching

the kingdom of God and teaching the things which

concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence.

No one forbidding him. With all confidence. Mark

the word, with all confidence. You know, there's

something that happens when you speak to someone,

You don't hear you. It makes sense for your confidence

to drop. Like, are you sure I'm doing it correctly?

Are you sure I'm saying it? I think I'm doing

something. I think I'm not putting it together.

It will just be dropping. But regardless of the

numbers and the amount of times, what keeps building

is the confidence. With all confidence, he continues

to do the work that he has called. where he was

instructed or was called to or was commissioned

to do. And my challenge is that we continue to

stay in that place of doing the work that we're

commissioned to do. Nothing should cause our

faith to dwindle. Not even the, I don't believe

you, I don't agree with you. And I think I was

listening to, I think it was yesterday or the

first day, we were listening to a testimony of

a person who used to be converted to the faith.

and he was talking about how it was difficult,

that there was so much, like choosing to believe

in what Christ has done had a lot of consequences,

that just thinking about it, he knows, he's looking

at the facts, he agrees, he sees it, he has taken

time, he has studied it for even about four years.

But anytime he comes to make the decision, he

thinks about his family, thinks about how the

family would, he will lose his family, he will

lose his, his friends, his longtime friends.

And that brings him to that place where he had

to, he was battling and battling and battling.

And the funny thing is that when he goes to God's

word and opens God's word, he's more and more

convinced that this is the right thing to do.

But he said, one time he had cried all night.

He had cried all night and he was like, Lord,

you have to, you have to show me more because

I know that there's a lot I have, I will deal

with. I'm facing my Parents disowning me. I think

I'm even facing debt. That debt is what I'm going

to face once I decide to take this stand. And

he cried and cried and cried and cried, came

to the parents, told them that this is what it

is. And he ended up, the parents were like disappointed.

He said they had never seen his mom look the

way she looked at him in his life. But he cried

and he was like. In fact, he was even screaming,

Lord, kill me, and all of that until when he

heard God say a couple of words to him that encouraged

him to go on from there. And this person went

on to do a lot because he was faced with the

truth. And for some people, and this is one thing

I think he mentioned, which blessed me, was the

fact that he was very critical when he came to

scrutinize the Bible. He was very critical. He

was like... where's this? What is this? He was

very critical. But when he goes back to his own

religion, he's not as critical. And I remember

when I was talking to some people and they were

like, oh, people just want us to be this good.

People want us to be this good. And it occurred

to me, which is what I said. I said, when excellence

is demanded of us, we tend to, when it's demanded

of someone else, we tend to raise the bar. But

when it's demanded of us, we tend to lower the

bar. Because the focus is us. Because when you

want to go and buy something, you want the best.

When you want to go and get something, you go

to the market. You don't go substandard. You

go excellent. You go, I want the best because

you're paying for it. But when it's now demanded

of you, you're like, we can manage. It's not

that serious. We can just... It's not... We can

just do it like this. We shouldn't stress ourselves

too much. Because it's now, the focus is us.

And we're not being fair. Because the same thing

applies when he was like, he was scrutiny. And

the same standard he puts the Bible on, when

he puts, he was like, he sort of, man, the Bible

wins all the time. Because the word of God is

true. Because once you're face to face with truth,

you can only deny it. You can only deny it. But

it's very evident and it's very, the proof is

very, it's clear. Praise God. And I want us to

go back to the text in John. John 14. John 14.

John 14 verse 12. Jesus Christ speaking says,

John 14:12

most assuredly I say to you, and I think I brought

it to attention that the Greek, the phrase most

assuredly I say to you is amen, amen, lago, alego,

yamen. It's not, in English, which in the New

King James, in the Old King James, you see it

as verily, verily, or truly, truly. It's most

assuredly I say to you. And it's translated that

way. It's used mostly. And John is the one that

you see. You don't see most assuredly. All of

the places in Scripture where you see it is that.

And I want to walk quickly through it for us

to see something. To see how in the places it's

used, what Jesus points to. In John 1 .51, he

said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, Hereafter

shall you see heaven open and the angels of God

ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.

I want you to see that you will see in this communication

that it's communicating something very important,

which is the humanity. It's communicating to

humanity because the use of the word son of man

is descriptive of Jesus' humanity. His sufferings

and the work because he has to be human for him

to do the work. He has to be human for him to

do the work. One thing you will see there is

you will see the identity and you will see the

mission. What this particular passage is or we're

going to be looking at that uses that most assuredly.

You will see that it's communicating something

that you should pay attention to. Something very

important. And he says, Moses surely, and he

says, the angels ascending and ascending upon

him points to that connection between heaven

and earth. That connection between heaven and

earth. That connection between heaven and earth.

And we'll see in John 5 .19 now. John 5 .19,

I want you to see, we just saw John 1 .51, where

Moses surely is used. We'll see John 5 .19. Then

Jesus answered and said to them, Moses surely,

I say to you, The son of man, the son can do

nothing of himself, but what he sees the father

do. For whatever he does, the son also does in

like manner. So we see something very important.

That is a perfect unity and dependence of the

son on the father, the father on the son. Praise

God. And that is communicating mission because

he didn't just come and did things by himself.

And this also, all of the things very much translates

to us. We don't even act on our own accord. The

work we're doing is the work he has instructed

us to do. Praise God. The work we're doing is

the work he has instructed us to do. We see that

perfect unity, the Father, the Son. John 6, 32.

John 6, 32. Jesus said to them, Most assuredly,

I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread.

For you see, Moses did not give you the bread

from heaven, but my Father gives you the true

bread from heaven. My Father gives you the true

bread from heaven. We see that Jesus, in this

communication here, is speaking about the true

bread, which is himself. Praise God. The true

bread, which is himself. With the true bread,

which is himself. Speaking about his identity,

speaking about tying it to his mission. The identity

tied to his mission. And I want us to go to the

interesting part in... John 8. John 8, 58. John

8, 58. Jesus said to them, most assuredly I say

to you, before Abraham was, I am. Before Abraham

was, I am. That was the statement that broke

it up for them. It was like, ah, what did you

just say? Before Abraham was, I am. You see him

communicating his eternal pre -existence. And

you might not understand if you don't understand.

They understood the magnitude of the statement

being made. Because if you go to Exodus, I think

those of us that read on Sunday, I think we read

Exodus 3, verse 14. And God said to Moses, I

Exodus 3:14

am who I am. He said, thus you shall say to the

children of Israel, I am has sent me to you.

I am has sent me to you. I am has sent me to

you. So when the use of the phrase, when he says

before Abraham was, I am, you know, you write

that in there. I think that's one of the scriptures

I saw this morning again as well. Somebody else

says, I am. It's like, I exist. It's not just,

in fact, when you, I think I've heard a Jew talk

about how we take for granted the use of the

word, because when you say, I am this, I am this,

to a Jew, the use of the word I am, in fact,

is like the... The rabbi was saying, before you,

God is so important, before you even call your

name, you call his name first. When you say,

I am this, that's how they regard the use of

the, for us, I am, is you're trying to point

out to identify, you're trying to identify yourself

because when you say, I am this, you're identifying

yourself. But in his case, he's not just, he's

telling them who he is, not without, you see,

before Abraham was, I am. And for them, that's

like, who are you to like, equate yourself to.

But that was him clearly communicating to them

something very important that they shouldn't

miss. That they shouldn't miss. In John 10, 1

and 7. John 10, 1 and 7. See, the same most assuredly

I say to you. He who does not enter the sheepfold

by the door, but climbs up some other way. The

same is a thief and a robber. 7 now says, and

Jesus said to them again, most assuredly I say

to you, I am the door of the sheep. I am the

door of the sheep. And Jesus is telling them

that, look, there is no other legitimate way

to salvation. There is no other legitimate way

to salvation. And he emphasized this in the 14,

in the John 14 that we're looking at. John 14,

that we're looking at verse 6, where Jesus said

to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one

comes to the Father except through me. So you

see that Jesus Christ is telling, is establishing

something very important, which is that he is

the only, there's no, there are no, you know,

I was speaking to someone and we're evangelizing

to this person and then he was like, We asked

a simple question. I was like, so are there several

ways, because it was talking about how some people

are good, all of that. Are there several ways

to get to God? And you can be tempted sometimes

to think that some people are good so they have

a relationship with God because they are doing

good works. You can be tempted because you feel

like, oh, I don't think, no, this person will

not. But when you see statements like this, and

that's why you want to pay attention to the word

of God very carefully. Because if you don't be

attentive to the word of God, you can just assume

that because this person is doing this and this

and this, on the strength of that, this person

has a relationship with God and this person will

make him. We've said this time and time again,

the basis by which we'll see as the passage progresses,

the basis by which we come into a relationship

with God is by believing in what he has done.

There's no other way. Because he says, I am the

way, the truth, and the life. If you go any other

way, what you have is not the result. You don't

get that result. Praise God. And he says it very

emphatically that he is the only that is made

way to salvation. Then I'd like us to see the

other bit in John 13, 20. John 13, 20. He says,

Most assuredly I say to you, he who receives

whomever I send receives me. And he who receives

me receives him who sends him. Going tiny to

the previous way, you're receiving. So there's

a chain of authority. Receiving the messenger

of Christ means receiving Jesus and also means

receiving the Father. It's communicating to the

mission, communicating to the identity, communicating

to how it's all connected. So there's a chain

of authority. And I'll continue to... Bring us

to the other segment where they use, or the section

where this is used in the passage to communicate

also what the conditions for salvation. We see

this in John 3, where he says, Most assuredly,

I say to you, John 3, verse 3 and 5. Jesus answered

John 3:3

to him and said, Most assuredly, I say to you,

unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom

of God. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless

one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom.

Then five now says, most assuredly, and Jesus

answered. In the end, most assuredly, I say to

you, unless one is born of water and spirit,

he cannot enter the kingdom of God. And you see

here from the get good in the necessity of being

born again, of being born from above to be part

of the kingdom. Praise God. For you to be born

again, for you to be born from above to be part

of the kingdom. Very important. Remember, we

talked about how the salvation happens by him.

And once you're born again, you're born into

the family. Praise God. Then five now. John 5,

24. I want you to see how the different, most

assuredly, ties to very, very important things

that we all have to pay attention to and it's

going to make the passage make more sense. John

5, 24 says, Most assuredly, I say to you, he

who hears my word, and believes in him who sent

me has everlasting life. He who hears my word

and believes in him who sent me, he shall not

come into judgment, but has passed from death

to life. Very important. This is a condition

for the eternal life. So, hearing God's word,

believing in the Father who sent him. Praise

God. Hearing God's word, believing in the Father

who sent him. I want us to see John 6, 47. John

6, 47. John 6, 47 says, Most assuredly, I say

to you, he who believes in me has everlasting

life. So we see that believes, believe in him,

believe in me. So believe in Jesus is the source

of everlasting life. That passage just establishes

and it repeats itself again and again. It says

then in the same John 6, 53. St. John 6, 53.

Then Jesus said to them, most assuredly I say

to you, unless you eat my flesh or eat the flesh

of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have

no life in you. Unless you eat the flesh of the

Son of Man, and I think we've taught this time

again, our list pastor has taught us, he was

not speaking physically, right? He was not speaking

physically. He says, unless we, We partake in

this spiritually by believing in that sacrifice,

in the sacrifice that has been made for us. That's

basically, we partake in it by believing in that

sacrifice. In also John 8, 34, and you will notice

that all the passages that we're reading, what

he has in common is Jesus speaking and he's saying,

most assuredly, Jesus answered them, most assuredly

I say to you, whoever... commits sin is a slave

of sin. Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.

Stating that there's that enslavement to sin

that makes it a necessity or makes the requirement

for salvation very important. Praise God. Because

it's presenting to you that okay, people have

been enslaved to sin and then keening to what

he has done takes that away. takes that enslavement.

Now there's freedom in him. There's a salvation

that we find in him. It means that it's void

of being enslaved. To escape slavery, you key

into what he has done, salvation. So in John

8, 51, also we see Jesus still speaking. He says,

Most surely I say to you, if anyone keeps my

word, you shall. He shall never see debt. If

anyone keeps my word, he shall never see debt.

And we see that he's establishing the fact that

as a result of you believing, and when you say

keep my word, you will not think of it as do's

and don'ts. No, you're believing in what he has

done. You're believing in where we are now. You're

believing in what he has done. And as a result

of that, you are saved. And as a result of that

salvation, you will not taste death. It says,

the word is, you will never, there's no death

for you. You are saved and you're saved in him.

Praise God. Then that 14, the 14, 12 now, which

is what we're going to look at and we'll stop,

we'll stop at this point where it says, where

14, verse 12, it says, most assuredly I say to

you, he who believes in me, The works that I

do, He will do also. And greater works than this,

He will do. Because I go to my Father. And I

want you to see now. Where we started from all

the different things that Jesus Christ established

and how salvation is found in him and how it's

based on believing in what he has done that brings

us into that reality. And then we see here, he

who believes in me, he who believes in me, the

works I do, he will do also. And greater works

than this he will do because I go to my father.

And I think we've taught this previously. We're

going to look at it. Again, even this particular

season, we know that all of this is anchored

on what Christ has done because of what he has,

I think, and I want us to know that when he was

speaking this to the disciples, he has not yet

done it, right? He has not yet done it. So you

want to, sometimes, you know, sometimes you can,

we can say these things and then we say it from

the premise of it has happened, but to them,

that are recipients of this word that nothing

happened. So he says, I say to you, he who believes

in me. And we said, and the believing is in what

he is said to do. And the receiving happens after

he goes to his father, right? And that is at

his resurrection. Praise God. That is at his

resurrection. That's when all of this will be,

because in that same passage, when we go further

down, we see that he was talking about the promise.

I was talking about a promise. So believing in

that walk, he's you into the promise. So that

promise that anyone who believes will not just

do the things he has done, but he won't do greater.

So I want us to, because there are a couple of

more passages, I just want us to skip that a

couple of, okay, I'll just read it through, so

I will just take notes. I'll just read through,

just go through the passages, so I'll take notes.

So we see even, him also in the book of John,

because all of this is in John. We see him also

making reference to promises or prophecies as

well. We see him making reference to promises

and prophecies. In John 5 .25, we see him making

reference to prophecy, John 5 .25. In John 13

.21, where he prophesies his betrayal, John 13

.21, and John 13 .38, where he prophesies Peter's

denial. John 16, 20. So he prophesies so to his

disciples. John 16, also 23. So I'll start from

the top. John 5, 25. John 13, 21. John 13, 38.

John 16, 20. John 16, 23. John 16, 23. John 21,

18. John 21, 18. Then the other last four is

him also communicating spiritual realities, profound

spiritual realities. We see it in John 11, John

3, 11. John 3, 11. John 3, 11. John 6, 26. John

6, 26. John 12, 24. And then John 16, M13, 16.

John 13, 16. So let's, Now focus on he who believes

in me. And that believe there is the word pistou.

P -I -S -T -E -U -O. P -I -S -T -E -U -O. And

this implies trust that arises from hearing and

understanding. Trust that arises from hearing

and understanding. And we see it is a verb. It's

a verb means to believe, to have faith, to trust.

I think even the... The first, the verse, we'll

see that in the 14 verse 1. That same 14 verse

1, it says, let not your heart be troubled. Believe

in God, believe also in me. I think the NLT uses

trust. The NLT uses, let your heart, it said,

don't let your heart be troubled. Trust in God

and trust also in me. So it uses that word, trust,

and it also emphasizes entrusting ones. You have

to entrust it to someone. And in this case, it

says, trust in God, trust in me, that's Christ.

And it emphasizes that decision to rely beyond

an intellectual assent, right? To rely beyond

an intellectual assent. And the result, when

you are relying beyond intellectual assent, you

are... trusting wholly in that individual. And

for some of us, we better understand this when

everyone of us seated here, you're seated on

a chair. You are putting your entire weight on

the chair, regardless of knowing who made it,

who cleaned it, who has sat there before you,

who is sitting there. You just put your full

weight on the chair. You're just putting that

trust because you know that chairs carry... carries

our weight. You just put your full weight on

it. And we see that in the passage, it says,

believe in God, believe, and believe in God,

believe also in me. Like in that book where we

read, it said, believe in God, believe also in

me. Meaning that our belief in God translates

to our belief in Christ. And it uses that intention.

But some of the passages we read, we see where

Jesus Christ is calling, because he's not doing

things independent of himself. He's doing things.

dependent on the father. So that belief in God

translates to a belief in him and it's synonymous,

praise God. And in John's gospel, we see, if

you, I think when you do a search, just type

belief, you see that John uses a lot, he uses

a lot of the word. If you just go back home or

do your studies, you see that that word believe

appears a lot of times in the book of John. And

as much as that, word appears a lot of times

in the book of John, you will not see the word

repent in the book of John. It's funny. You will

not see the word repent in the book of John.

And it's funny because in other passages of the

scripture, you will see a very classic example

is Mark 1, 15. Mark 1, 15, I'll read to us. It

says, and saying, the time is fulfilled and the

kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe

in the gospel. You see that most of the times

when they use the word repent, that repent is

the word metanoeo. That's M -E -T -A -N -O -E

-O. M -E -T -A -N -O -E -O. That word means,

we understand it as turn away from, and we know

that the turn is not just turning away from,

you're turning to, right? You're turning to God.

And it says, and believe in the gospel. So he

uses a lot of the word believe. He uses believe

so many times, but not with the word. So he communicates

that. He communicates whatever it is he's communicating

or different things he's communicating using

believe. And when he uses in this passage believe,

when he says believe, that is in. because we

know that believers believe in the gospel. And

as at the time when Jesus Christ is speaking,

we know that he's talking about the things he

was going to do and what the things he was going

to do will make available for us. Praise God.

What the things he was going to do will make

available for us. And that in itself demands

the trust, demands the belief of the individuals

that are listening to him, right? Demands an

active trust and belief for them to be able to

expect it. And know that it's not just believe

in the words he was saying, right? Remember from

what we explained, it's not just believing in

the words, you are believing in the person and

what that person, what identity, what that mission

of that person is. Remember we said when we started

that most assuredly I said to you, we see that

there was the initial part that's in John 1,

51. It was speaking about... his humanity, what

he had come to do. And what he had come to do,

the high point of it was his death and later

on his resurrection. And later on what that his

resurrection will mean for us, praise God. Because

it's very important that we understand that the

end goal of all he had done is for us to have

his spirit, right? That's why that promise, that's

why that promise kept on coming. You see how

it's... It continues itself. When you look at

John 14, you see John 15, you see John 16. All

of it is pointing us to or bringing attention

or holding on to what he had come or his establishment.

I want us to see Titus 3 verse 8. Titus 3 verse

Titus 3:8 Titus 3:8

8. Titus 3 verse 8 says, this is a faithful saying.

Titus 3:8

This is a faithful saying. The faithful there

is pistos. So it's P -I -S -T -O -S, which is

different from pistis. Faithful sin, that's logos.

And these things I want you to affirm constantly.

These things I want you to affirm constantly,

that those who have believed in God, that believed

in God is the pastor that we just looked at,

should be careful to maintain good works. These

things are good and profitable too. men. These

things are good and profited to men. I just want

to help us to define and just see the slight

nuance with the pistis and the pistos. The pistos

there, that faithful saying, the faithful there

is pistos. It means faithful, believing, trustworthy,

reliable. Faithful, believing, trustworthy, reliable.

So it describes a person or a thing that embodies

faith. of fidelity. So we have faithful saying,

we have faithful servant, a trustworthy servant,

a reliable servant, a servant worthy of belief.

So it says, those who, and I want you to notice

that he didn't say believes now. It says, those

who have believed. Those who have what? Believed.

Those who have believed in who? In God. And we

say that believing in God means that you're believing

in what? Christ, right? Jesus Christ, what he

has done. He says, should be careful to me. Now

that you have believed, there is a lifestyle

that follows, right? There's a lifestyle that

follows that is consistent with what you have

believed in. Right? It's a lifestyle that is,

and that lifestyle is the lifestyle of someone

who is faithful to what they have received. Praise

God. Because if you say you believe and there

is no, there has to be a distinction. Even when

the children of Israel, there was something that

distinguishes the children of Israel from every

other nation around them. And when all of the

things that are being given, they're given to

see you are my people. When you use the word

holy, you are set apart. There's a clear distinction.

And it all starts off from the premise of what

you have received, you believe in Christ, and

then what now happens is the result is that you

act very differently from what used to be. Praise

God, what used to be. And please note that. As

we see, as Titus is encouraging, so this is a

faithful saying, that these things I want you

to affirm constantly. affirm constantly. When

somebody tells you to affirm something constantly,

what are they trying to get you not to do? When

I say, when we do affirmations, what are we doing?

What are we trying to bring to our consciousness?

Right? When we do it, when we affirm, when we

affirm the things that we affirm, what are we

trying to Tell ourselves. Huh? Identity, right?

Identity. And remind, and not, you know, it doesn't

stop at your identity. There's also the responsibility,

right? There's also the responsibility because

identity is very good. Remind yourself that you

have this, you have that, but once you're not

responsible, it almost makes your identity invalid,

right? And responsibility is, it's on the strength

of responsibility you act. So on the strength

of our responsibility, we act. So when we say,

as Apostle Paul was persuading people, he knows

and he boldly would declare it. And he was very

responsive to the instruction, because that was

his mission. Because his mission was to the Gentiles

in Acts 9, where he was given that mission to

do so. And he ensures that no matter what, he

takes that responsibility every time to do so.

Praise God. And if we note this for ourselves

and we see it as something, we will not allow

anything be a distraction to us. Nothing will

have to be sacrificed for this one, which is

our mission. And that is staying faithful. That

is you taking the faithful saying to heart and

staying faithful and true to that. Praise God.

Taking the faithful saying to heart and staying

faithful and true to that. And he says, should

be careful. Careful. Careful. Careful brings

us back to that idea of paying attention. Right?

That idea of paying attention. That idea of not

just allowing anything to go. Right? Not allowing

anything to go. Be very critical. You know, I

think when I shared earlier of... Someone that

was conversing, you know, it's very subtle where

the person just says, I feel everybody, you know,

has their own way. We have our own way. You know,

it just comes to, it brings to bear that you

don't really know what you believe in, right?

You don't really know that Christ is the only

way. Any other way is not the way. And there

are little things and that is foundational. There

are other things that are very subtle that you

don't necessarily, you have to, God's word has

to bring it to attention. And that's why we say,

pay attention to sound doctrine because there

are things that will appeal to you, but it's

not sound. It will appeal to you, it will sound

good, but it's not sound. And for many of us,

it's that thing that we like, you know, it's

even, They take, okay, who do I listen to? Right?

See, in time, I just feel my spirit. I'm like,

there's something I just want to... Sometimes,

you know, the thing... How do you put it? The

thing that is good to you might not be good for

you. Right? It sounds like it's good, it appeals

to you, but you... You want to, as that person,

you want to, it's God's word that is a standard,

right? And how many of you have found anything

in this, like, is there any discipline that is

easy? I think people that, people that respect

discipline, like, they have to, no, no, I can't

find any, very quick, I can't find it. No disciplines.

And so, when someone comes and motivates you,

and tells you, like, this thing is easy. You

just need to believe. You just need to... That's

all the motivational talk. Because once it comes

to you, you know, there's a lot of things that

you can talk about, but when it comes to acting

on that thing, you discover it's difficult. You're

almost like, nobody told me this part of the...

You know, they say, pray, you know, when you

wake up in the morning, the first thing you do,

and then the cold just comes, and then you're

like, ha! you'll be like, hi, this is good. And

then when you, listen, you now do this, you do

this a couple of times and then you just say,

okay, I will walk around. And you see this cold

again. See, that would be the best place to pray

for. And then you find yourself in the morning

when the day, when you come out of it, there's

nothing. And you just have to desire. to grow,

desire to do more of it. The same way Apostle

Paul would have done this so many, and he just

gets through with it. Where you speak to someone,

the person doesn't, you pray for the person,

you go on to the next person because the more

times you do it, the more opportunities you have

for someone to say yes, right? But once you do

once, you lose momentum. And that's why we have

the family. We're encouraging ourselves to go

out and do it. Once you do it together, wherever

it is, you're carried along. And we go out in

twos and we walk and we do it faithfully. Praise

God, we do it faithfully. And what I'm just doing

to us is just to bring to attention the fact

that there are many things that we have to give

attention to to get better at. And the more we

are distracted, the less likely we are to. build

ourselves, to intensify, to build capacity, to

see how God is going to do more in and through

us. And the earlier we start, the better for

us. There's no perfect time to accomplish all

that. Sometimes I say, I'll wait until the beginning

of next year. Some people are just very wonderful

at how they... We have 24 hours every day that

you can decide to make it. Make a decision today

to start something. But you want to relegate

it to some other time in the future where we

don't even know what is going to happen. We don't,

we don't know about, you know, I think I heard

this said by someone like, you want to, instead

of you to defer worry, like, you know, people

hold on to worry instead of deferring. Like,

just push it. Scripture says, don't worry about,

don't worry about this. You like, you want to

do it now. And then the one that they say you

should do, you will not do it. You want to now

pick the one that they say you should not do.

Just to tell you how very interesting we, sometimes

we, and this scripture tells you to do it that

way. It has lived longer than yourself. Praise

God. There's been, there are the people that

we're looking at and say these people are faithful.

They had lived by it. Praise God. So you are

not the first person to be given the instruction

or to be given sound doctrine. Right? You know,

sometimes we think that we're the first people.

This thing is hard. Like we're the first. Is

it that they just carry us and put us inside

this thing? Like how are they doing it? But you

see people, we see examples and that's the beautiful

thing about God's word. We have examples to live

by. We have examples to follow. We have examples

to anchor. our faith on. And the ultimate of

those examples is the example of Christ. Right?

It's the example of Christ. He is the one that

regardless of the difficulties, regardless, he

still carried out the will of the Father. He

still carried out the will of the Father. He

still carried out the will of the Father. And

I will repeat and repeat the whole idea of the

fact that it's not easy. It's difficult, but

the desire to see God walk mightily through you

should be your motivation. You want to see God

do more with you, and that keeps you grounded.

That keeps you desiring more. That keeps you

in the place of study of God's Word. That keeps

you in the place of preaching the Word. And I

want you to note this, that once you do the...

That thing that is very uncomfortable for you

to do, you do it and keep at it. Before you know

it, it becomes a habit. It becomes a lifestyle,

which is what every one of us should do by default.

Because we're encouraging us to do so, but we

will experience some resistance here and there,

but you want to make it a lifestyle, make it

a habit, make it not something that when we gather

around and say, you have to do this, you have

to do that, then it now calls to you. You now

say, okay, I have to do this. The ultimate example

is Christ Jesus and he was faithful to endure

all, to accomplish that which we now have. And

he demands the same from us. He demands the same

from us. He demands that we take responsibility.

He demands that we do more. He demands that we

testify of what he has done to others. He demands

that we walk in the supernatural. He demands

that the power gifts find expression to us. He

demands that the relational gift finds expression

to us. He demands that the ultra gifts find expression

to us. He demands that no matter where we find

ourselves, our focus or our priority should always

be his work. He demands that regardless of all

the things that we're pursuing, he should take

the center stage of our lives. He demands all

of that from us. And that is what Apostle Paul

in 1 Corinthians 4. 1 Corinthians 4, 1 to 2.

1 Corinthians 4, 1 to 2, it says, Let a man so

consider us as servants of Christ and stewards

of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required

in stewards that one be found faithful. It's

required in stewards that one be found faithful.

So we're servants and stewards of the mysteries

of God. We're faithful stewards. We're not just

stewards. We're stewards that are faithful. And

we constantly prioritize that walk of ministry.

We constantly prioritize it. And it's in little

things that we see these priorities. The things

that you tend to forego for the other one will

tell you which one is more of a priority than

the other. The things that you tend to forego

for the other. The things that you tend to consistently

engage rather than the others. You know, it's

very easy for someone to tell what you like with

what you don't like. just by how much times you

show up for the things that you do like as against

the things that you don't like. And as I said

earlier, there are things that you don't necessarily

love them, but you are here. You have to. Praise

God. You are here. You have to. And your refusal

to do so will only elongate the process which

you have to attain, which is the growth. Because

if you're in an environment, whether you like

it or not, you have to move the next step. It

might take you a while, but if you want to come

out at the other end, you have to keep moving.

Even if it's two steps, one step, but you have

to just keep moving. Some people are running,

but some people are just taking one step. So

it's not, it's at whatever pace you are moving.

The idea is just keep moving. Praise God. Just

keep moving. This is another year. Keep moving.

Keep being, be persistent, be persistent. And

if there's anything I want to drop is for us

to desire, to see more of God mightily in and

through our lives, to see more of God, find expression

in and through our lives. And it will show first

and foremost from our families, right? There

are many of us that we want to see God do something

supernatural in our families. We want to see

God do that thing supernatural. And if that is

not what is before you every now and then that

motivates you to, you know, there's something

about when, Things are not going well and then

you always have this, you know, and you have

faith and you're standing fast in faith for God

to do something. And then you know that there's

no other way that this will happen if God doesn't

intervene. You know, anytime you are relenting

in the place of prayer, you will be encouraged

to do so because you know that, see, there's

no other way and this will happen than me trusting

God or believing God for it to happen. Praise

God. So that should stir us up. That should encourage

us. I want us to rise up to our feet. 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.