Sermon

The Will of God for Believers

Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons

Open publisher episode ↗

Publisher transcript

Transcript

View source ↗
  1. Hi there, welcome to NECF. We're excited to share

  2. today's message with you. Don't go anywhere,

  3. stay with us till the end for some valuable resources

  4. to enrich your faith. Here's today's sermon.

  5. Colossians chapter 1, I'll be teaching on the

    Colossians 1 chapter mention

  6. will of God for the believers. The will of God

  7. for believers. We are writing the will of God

  8. for believers. Colossians chapter 1. The letter

    Colossians 1 chapter mention

  9. of Paul to the church in Colossae. Colossians

    Colossians 1 chapter mention

  10. chapter 1. From verse 1 to 15. Please be sensitive

  11. to what God is doing. He is speaking to us. And

  12. he is edifying us. Paul, an apostle of Jesus

  13. Christ. By the will of God and Timothy, our brother,

  14. to the saints and the faithful brethren in Christ

  15. who are in Colossae. Verse 3. We give thanks

  16. to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

  17. praying always for you, since we heard of your

  18. faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all

  19. the saints. Because of the hope which is laid

  20. up for you in heaven, of which you heard before

  21. in the word of the truth of the gospel, which

  22. has come to you as it has also in all the world,

  23. and is bringing forth truth as it is also among

  24. you since the day you heard and knew the grace

  25. of God in truth. Verse 7. As we also learn from

  26. Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful

  27. minister of Christ on our behalf, who also declared

  28. to us your love in the Spirit. Your love in the

  29. Spirit. So for this reason, we also, since the

  30. day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you

  31. and to ask that you may be filled. with the knowledge

  32. of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,

  33. that you may work worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing

  34. to him, pleasing him rather, being fruitful in

  35. every good work and increasing in the knowledge

  36. of God. Strengthen with all mind according to

  37. his glorious power for all patience and longsuffering

  38. with joy. Giving thanks to the Father who has

  39. qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance

  40. of the saints in light. He has delivered us from

  41. the power of darkness, has conveyed us into the

  42. kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have

  43. redemption through His blood, the forgiveness

  44. of sins. The last verse from here, verse 15,

  45. it says, He is the image. of the invisible God,

  46. the firstborn of all creation. Hallelujah. The

  47. will of God for believers. Now, thanks to not

  48. from this passage, the Paul here is writing to

  49. who? To a church. He says to faithful Christians,

  50. Christians that are faithful and committed in

  51. their work with God. Faithful Christians whom

  52. he has received a good report of their faith

  53. in Christ Jesus and love which they show for

  54. themselves, for their brethren. And of course,

  55. Paul received this good report from Epaphras,

  56. a faithful minister of Christ. He's one of them.

  57. He's their pastor. He's their minister. And he's

  58. given a good report of the people of God to Paul

  59. of their faithfulness, of their love. Of their

  60. growth. Of their commitment to the things of

  61. God. Of their indulgence in the spiritual things.

  62. Verse 9 and verse 10. It's a place of our focus.

  63. It says for this reason. Which reason? For the

  64. good report I've had of you. For the love I've

  65. had. That you have in the spirit. Verse 8. Who

  66. also declared to us your love in the spirit.

  67. For this reason. We also, since the day we had

  68. it, we do not cease to pray for you. We do not

  69. cease to pray for you. And what is our prayer?

  70. Our prayer is that we ask that you, that is the

  71. church, that is the people of God, that is the

  72. faithful Christians, the faithful men and women

  73. of God, that you may be filled with what? With

  74. the knowledge. The knowledge of his will. Whose

  75. will? The knowledge of the will of God. The knowledge

  76. of the will of God in all wisdom, which is spiritual

  77. understanding. This wisdom is spiritual understanding.

  78. So the desire of Paul is that these people will

  79. know, will have a grasp, will fully comprehend,

  80. will have a perfect knowledge. Of what God desires.

  81. Of what God desires. So poor prayer is that they

  82. may be filled with what? With the knowledge.

  83. If the Bible is yours, underline that knowledge.

  84. That they may be filled with the knowledge. That

  85. they may be filled with what? With knowledge.

  86. The knowledge of what? The knowledge not of physics.

  87. The knowledge not of chemistry or politics. or

  88. commerce, or government, not of even history,

  89. but a knowledge of what? Of the will of God.

  90. So what is that knowledge? The word knowledge

  91. in that text. The word knowledge is translated

  92. into the English language from the Greek word

  93. epignosis. E -P -I -G -N -O -S -I -S. Epignosis.

  94. E... P -E -P -I -G -N -O -S -I -S. Epignosis.

  95. And this epignosis means precise. It means a

  96. precise and accurate knowledge. A precise and

  97. correct knowledge of the will of God. Which means

  98. that... There could be a knowledge of God that

  99. is not precise. There could be the knowledge

  100. of the will of God that is not accurate. There

  101. could be the knowledge of the will of God that

  102. is not correct. And you know, the funny thing

  103. is that some people's entire Christian life is

  104. built upon a distorted knowledge of the will

  105. of God. Some people's entire Christianity is

  106. built upon false doctrine, a distorted knowledge

  107. of what God demands. A distorted knowledge of

  108. what God has in plan for humanity. A distorted

  109. knowledge of what God wants of us who are his

  110. people. Now the precise knowledge of God's will

  111. is essential to fulfilling God's will. The precise

  112. knowledge of God's will is very vital, is important

  113. if you and I that are believers will do what

  114. God wants us to do because it is God's desire

  115. that we do his will. Without knowing what is

  116. expected of you, it is impossible to do that

  117. which you have been instructed to do accurately.

  118. Imagine you enter an exam hall and then the professor

  119. gives an instruction. Some of us actually, unfortunately,

  120. don't read exam instructions. I remember ever

  121. entering an exam back in high school and the

  122. teacher wrote almost 20 questions in the paper.

  123. And they write instructions so tiny. And the

  124. instruction is write your name and submit. Nobody

  125. read the instruction. There was time and everything.

  126. But there's an instruction, write your name and

  127. submit. Just a test to see whether we listen

  128. to instructions, we understand instructions.

  129. And everybody was busy answering questions. Writing,

  130. writing, and writing. Which means that everybody

  131. failed the exams. If you don't understand instruction,

  132. it is impossible for you to do what God demands.

  133. If you don't understand the will of God, it is

  134. impossible for you to do the will of God. And

  135. if you have a distorted knowledge of the will

  136. of God, definitely we will have a distorted result

  137. in our lives. What is that word will in verse

  138. 9? The word will in verse 9. The word will is

  139. also translated from another Greek word, thilema.

  140. T -H -E -L -E -M -A. T -H -E -L -E -M -A. Which

  141. means, what one wishes or desires. No, no. What

  142. one wishes or has determined shall be done. What

  143. one wishes or has determined. That shall be done.

  144. It also means, it means the person's will, right?

  145. It means the person's choice. The word means

  146. the person's choice. The person's inclination,

  147. his desire, his pleasure. What gives him pleasure?

  148. Do you know what God wants of you as a believer?

  149. Do you know what demands of you as a believer?

  150. Do you know what gives God pleasure as a believer?

  151. We can see the usage of the word will, the lima,

  152. in other places in scriptures. Matthew 6, verse

    Matthew 6:10

  153. 10, quickly. Matthew 6, verse 10, where we usually

    Matthew 6:10

  154. refer to as the Lord's Prayer. It says, your

  155. kingdom, what? Your kingdom come. Your will,

  156. what? Be done on earth as it is in heaven. What

  157. is done in heaven, the culture of heaven where

  158. God lives. should be established where? On the

  159. earth. Of course, we know this is before Jesus

  160. died and he rose again. Chapter 7, verse 21.

  161. Chapter 7, verse 21. It says, Not everyone who

  162. says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom

  163. of heaven. But he who does the will of my Father,

  164. where? In heaven. So how does one get into the

  165. kingdom of heaven? How? Huh? By what? Huh? Believers,

  166. how do we enter the kingdom of heaven? By believing.

  167. Right? By faith. You see, we don't enter by works.

  168. If you are entering by works, it means that you

  169. don't know what the will of God is. The will

  170. of God is that you believe, that you have faith

  171. in what Jesus has done. So not everyone who says

  172. to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of

  173. heaven, but he who does what? Who does the pleasure

  174. of God? Who does what God desires? Who does what

  175. God demands of us? The will of God. Chapter 12,

  176. verse 50. We'll see another place where the word...

  177. Wheel is used. 12 verse 50. For whosoever does

  178. the wheel of my Father in heaven is what? Is

  179. my brother and my sister and my mother. This

  180. is Jesus speaking. Whoever does the wheel of

  181. God is my father. Who does the wheel of my Father

  182. in heaven is my brother, is my sister, and is

  183. my mother. That is to say, when you do the will

  184. of God, you come into fellowship with Jesus.

  185. You come into the family of God by doing the

  186. will of God. Chapter 18, verse 14. The word will.

  187. Even so, it is not the will. Now, this is opposite.

  188. This is in the negative. Even so, it is not the

  189. will. It is not the desire. It is not the demand.

  190. It is not the pleasure of your father. Who is

  191. in heaven that one of these little ones should

  192. perish? So God does not desire, God does not

  193. have pleasure for people to be perished. Amen?

  194. Luke chapter 22, verse 42. Luke 22, verse 42.

    Luke 22:42 Luke 22:42

  195. Saying, Father, this is Jesus here, praying,

  196. if it is your will, take this cup. away from

  197. me. Nevertheless, not my will, but what? But

  198. yours be done. This is Jesus submitting to what?

  199. To the will of the Father. What we do to the

  200. will of the Father is that we submit to the will

  201. of the Father. We embrace the will of the Father

  202. even if it is comfortable. We embrace the will

  203. of the Father even when we don't understand.

  204. We submit to what gives God pleasure at all times,

  205. at all seasons. And all circumstances, because

  206. that is what God desires. Luke 23, verse 25.

    Luke 23:25

  207. And he released them, the one who they requested.

  208. Now this is the Jewish, the Jewish people. Who

  209. for rebellion and murder had been thrown into

  210. prison. Who are they? Who are we talking about

  211. here? Barabbas, right? But he delivered Jesus

  212. to their will. So what is it? The word will here

  213. is a desire of the people. What the people wants

  214. to happen. What do people plan to happen? What

  215. do people desire to see manifested? They desire

  216. to see Jesus crucified. The word will. John chapter

    John 1:13

  217. 1 verse 13. John chapter 1 verse 13. Our salvation

    John 1:13

  218. here. Look at our salvation. Who were born not

  219. of the blood nor of the will of what? Of the

  220. flesh. Which means that you being born again

  221. is not the works of, is not an orchestration

  222. of man. Alright? It's not a plan. Your salvation

  223. is not designed by you or your economic council

  224. in your country or your pastor or your church

  225. elders. Your salvation is the will of who? Of

  226. God. God planned, God orchestrated, God desire.

  227. and executed your salvation. It is all about

  228. him, what he desires and what he manifested in

  229. Christ Jesus. Chapter 4, John chapter 4, verse

    John 4:34

  230. 34. John chapter 4, verse 34. Jesus said to them,

    John 4:34

  231. my food is what? Is to do the desire. Is to do

  232. the wishes. Is to do what God has determined.

  233. Is to do the pleasure. Of him who sent me. And

  234. to do what? And to finish whose work? His work.

  235. God's work. So Jesus was committed to one thing.

  236. The commitment of Jesus Christ. Must be the commitment

  237. of the believer. The will of the father. The

  238. will of the father. And of course we have the

  239. ability to do the will of the father. What that

  240. takes. You can read also John chapter 5 verse

    John 5:30

  241. 30, John chapter 6 verse 38 to 40. You can write

    John 6:38–40

  242. it down, John chapter 5 verse 30, John chapter

    John 5:30 John 6:38–40

  243. 6 verse 38 to 40. Ephesians chapter 1 from verse

    Ephesians 1 chapter mention

  244. 1 down to 11 is the will of God, the will of

  245. God, by the will of God. So we see that Paul's

  246. prayer is for the saints, the believers, the

  247. Christians, to have a correct... precise knowledge

  248. of what God wishes or has determined shall be

  249. done or should be done, God's choice, God's plan,

  250. His desire, and His pleasure for humanity. Hallelujah.

  251. Now, the understanding of this, of God's will,

  252. will result in what we see in the next verse,

  253. Colossians. chapter 1, verse 10. With the understanding

    Colossians 1:10

  254. of the precise knowledge, the accurate knowledge

  255. of the will of the Father, that you may walk

  256. worthy of the Lord to fully pleasing Him. In

  257. pleasing Him, you are being fruitful, Lord, in

  258. every good work and increasing in the knowledge

  259. of God. Being fruitful, In every good work is

  260. a product of understanding what God wants of

  261. you and then you do it. Without understanding

  262. precisely, without understanding accurately,

  263. it is impossible to become what's fruitful in

  264. every good work. So the knowledge of God's will

  265. results in working in alignment with God. It

  266. results in doing what pleases God. It results

  267. to being fruitful in every good work. Now, abounding

  268. or fruitfulness in every good work refers to

  269. what? Ministry. Amen? It refers to what? It refers

  270. to ministry. It refers to ministry. And it's

  271. to the saints, to every saint, to every believer.

  272. to every Christian, every man that is born again,

  273. it's called to ministry. You must know that that

  274. is the will of God for you. That is the plan

  275. of God for you. That is the desire of God for

  276. you. So your effectiveness and precision in ministry

  277. are a product of knowing what exactly God's plan

  278. is. You must know what God's plan is for you,

  279. the believer. You must know what the will of

  280. God is for you, the believer. And there's no

  281. way you can find the will of God. Then what?

  282. That in the word of God. Because the word of

  283. God is a written word of God for the believer

  284. to know God's plan, to know God's purpose, to

  285. know God's desire for you, to know God's desire

  286. for the church, to know the hope to which you

  287. were called without an explanation. Without an

  288. accurate teaching of the word of God, it is impossible

  289. for you to know what God demands of you. Because

  290. it is all about the will of God and less of us.

  291. Hallelujah. Now let's look at the believer's

  292. identity. Who we are. It is important to note

  293. that the believer's identity comes with... a

  294. responsibility, or let me say the responsibility.

  295. The knowledge of the believer's identity comes

  296. with a responsibility to fulfill God's eternal

  297. plan on earth. The knowledge of your identity

  298. comes with a responsibility upon you to do the

  299. will of God. 1 Peter chapter 1. Let's read 1

    1 Peter 1 chapter mention 1 Peter 1 chapter mention

  300. Peter chapter 1 from verse 22. Down to chapter

  301. 2, verse 1 to 10. 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter

    1 Peter 1 chapter mention 1 Peter 1 chapter mention

  302. chapter 1 from verse 22. but incorruptible through

  303. the word of God, which lives and abides forever.

  304. Because all flesh is as grass, and all the glory

  305. of man as the flowers of the grass. The grass

  306. withers, and its flowers fall away. But the word

  307. of the Lord endures forever. Now this is the

  308. word which by the gospel was preached to you.

  309. Chapter 2. Therefore laying aside all malice,

  310. all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,

  311. as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the

  312. word, that you who may grow, if indeed you have

  313. tested that the Lord is gracious. Coming to him

  314. as to a living stone. We're singing about the

  315. rock Elaron. And who or what do we say is a rock?

  316. Huh? The Lord is a rock, right? Or the rock is

  317. the Lord. Hallelujah. Coming to him as to a living

  318. stone rejected indeed by men but chosen by God

  319. and precious. You also as living stones are being

  320. Let me say, I built up a spiritual house, a holy

  321. priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable

  322. to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is

  323. also contained in Scripture. Behold, I lay Zion

  324. a chief cornerstone, elect precious. And he who

  325. believes on him will by no means be put to shame.

  326. Therefore to whom believe, he is precious. But

  327. to those who are disobedient, the stone which

  328. the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone

  329. and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.

  330. So when you believe, this rock is not a stumbling

  331. block. It's not a rock of offense. It says they

  332. stumble, being disobedient. What is that disobedience?

  333. They refuse to believe that rock. Amen? They

  334. refuse to believe that rock. So we are built

  335. on him. That was our song. The Lord is a rock

  336. of which we are built on him. When you don't

  337. believe in a rock, you are like that foolish

  338. man that builds his life on what? On the sun.

  339. And we know what happened to that house. We know

  340. what happened to that life. So they stumbled

  341. being disobedient to the word to which they also

  342. were appointed. But you, say but I, but you are

  343. a chosen generation, a royal pursuit, a holy

  344. nation, His own special people, that you May

  345. proclaim the praises of him who called you out

  346. of darkness into his marvelous light. Who once

  347. were not a people, but now the people of God.

  348. Who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained

  349. mercy. Hallelujah. So in chapter 2, verse 4 and

  350. 5, we see the identity of the believers. We see

  351. the identity of the church. The identity of the

  352. believers. The identity of. We believers. It's

  353. coming to him as a living stone. Rejected indeed

  354. by men. But chosen by God. And precious. You

  355. also. It called Jesus the living stone. And also

  356. called us. The believers. You also a living stone.

  357. As living stones. See the living stones is in

  358. plural. Meaning everybody. That believes is also

  359. what? It's a living stone. That is the identity

  360. of every believer. I built up a what? A spiritual

  361. house. A habitation. A spiritual house. A holy

  362. priesthood. Holy means set apart. A priesthood.

  363. A priest. A priesthood. You know, we used to

  364. say every Sunday that we are priests. Isn't it?

  365. We are priests. We are what? We are kings. We

  366. are what? And prophets. Hallelujah. So we are

  367. a holy priesthood to offer what? We offer up

  368. spiritual sacrifices acceptable to go through

  369. Jesus Christ. So we see in verse 4, Jesus is

  370. a living stone. And we see believers also referred

  371. to as living stones. This is what we call identification.

  372. Amen? We identified with him. Because of who

  373. he is, we become. Because of who he is and what

  374. he has done, we become. So we identify with his

  375. nature because we believe. This is identification.

  376. The phrase as living stones identifies us with

  377. Christ. He is the living stone and we are also

  378. living stones. We live. Because we share in his

  379. resurrection, in his resurrection life, by believing

  380. in what he has done. Hallelujah. How many of

  381. us know that this living stone is a figure of

  382. speech? We know, right? Are you a stone? Are

  383. you a rock? You are a human being. So, it's a

  384. way of communication. Right? In English, what

  385. do we call it? Simile? Or metaphor? Okay, what

  386. if we carry the characteristics of a living thing

  387. and give to a non -living thing? So, let's join

  388. the two together. Of course, it's metaphorical,

  389. right? But we are seen as what? As living stones.

  390. Okay? And what is our function? We have been

  391. built up into a spiritual house. That is also

  392. metaphoric. Right? To us, it is a metaphor. But

  393. spiritually, it is a reality. It is not a metaphor

  394. spiritually. Do you understand what I just said

  395. now? It is a spiritual reality. We must define

  396. what stone is. Stone is a Bible language. So

  397. stone is equal to stone in Bible language. And

  398. you are a house. Conglomerately, we are the house

  399. of God. We are the church of God. We are the

  400. habitation where God dwells. Hallelujah. We are

  401. the house of God. So we've been built up into

  402. a spiritual house. We are not only a spiritual

  403. house, but we are a holy priesthood. So what

  404. is our identity? We are identified in Christ.

  405. Our identity is in Christ. We are who Christ

  406. is. Amen? We are identified with him. We are

  407. a holy priesthood. What does a priest do? A priest

  408. offers spiritual sacrifice to God. So from this,

  409. we can know that the believers, collective and

  410. individual, Collectively and individually, we

  411. are spiritual, right? We are heavenly. Spiritual

  412. simply means that we are heavenly. Spiritual

  413. simply means that we are not only physical, but

  414. we are spiritual by nature. Our nature, our identity

  415. first is that we are spiritual men. We are heavenly.

  416. And we are a dwelling place of God. We are God's

  417. house. God's temple. I want us to note also that

  418. this conversation is about a union. The union,

  419. if you look through all scripture, right? We

  420. are in God and God is in us. It's a union. Hallelujah.

  421. It's a union. So the believers collectively are

  422. the priesthood who offer spiritual sacrifices

  423. to God. The priest under the law, the priest

  424. under the law, the law of Moses, performs activities

  425. where? Where does he perform his activities?

  426. Inside the temple, the physical temple. So what

  427. we see Moses did, Moses created what? A shadow

  428. of the reality. Moses created a type of what

  429. he saw in the heavenly. So the temple... It's

  430. a physical representation, a pointer to the real,

  431. which is our reality today. So the priest under

  432. the law performs activities in the temple. He

  433. goes into the Holy of Holies, the dwelling of

  434. God, and offers sacrifice. He offers blood on

  435. the altar. The priest is a typology of what Christ

  436. has done. Number one, it's a typology of what...

  437. Of what Christ has done. Alright. His activity

  438. in the temple. Is an expression. Whose activity?

  439. The activity of the priest under the law. Is

  440. an expression. Of what Christ did. In other words.

  441. The priest. Is proclaiming. The work of Christ.

  442. The priest. Is demonstrating. What Christ has

  443. done. The priest is showing, I would say, the

  444. priest is teaching what Christ will do. Which

  445. our reality, Christ has already done it. Hallelujah.

  446. So we are a holy priesthood. And what we do also

  447. is offer a spiritual sacrifice acceptable to

  448. God. What is this spiritual sacrifice that is

  449. acceptable to God? What is this spiritual sacrifice

  450. that is acceptable to God? What is this spiritual?

  451. We didn't say it's a fiscal sacrifice. We're

  452. not saying give $10 ,000 as a sacrifice. That's

  453. not what we're talking about here. We're not

  454. saying bring ram and bull to be slaughtered for

  455. sacrifice. No. The sacrifice is a spiritual sacrifice.

  456. So what spiritual sacrifice do we offer? The

  457. proclamation of his praises. Amen. The proclamation

  458. of his praises. Look at verse 9. 1 Peter 2 verse

    1 Peter 2:9

  459. 9. Let's read verse 5 and then we read verse

  460. 9. It says, you also as living stones are being

  461. built up a spiritual house. A holy priesthood.

  462. So a priest has a function. You are a holy priesthood.

  463. To do what? To offer up spiritual sacrifices

  464. that is acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

  465. And we see it emphasized again in verse 9. Verse

  466. 9 says, But you are a chosen generation, a royal

  467. priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people,

  468. that you may what? What does a priest do? He

  469. offers sacrifices, right? Spiritual sacrifices.

  470. And we see emphasis here. A priesthood to do

  471. what? To proclaim. Hallelujah. To proclaim the

  472. praises of him who called you out of darkness

  473. into his marvelous light. Which means that what

  474. the priest in all order honored the Lord of Moses

  475. as he goes into the temple and is doing those

  476. activities. What is he doing? He's pointing at

  477. what? What Jesus will do. In Christ. In his death

  478. and his burial and his resurrection. So also

  479. are we. As priests under the new order. In Christ

  480. Jesus. We offer. What? A spiritual sacrifice.

  481. And I say that this sacrifice we see in verse

  482. 9. That you may proclaim the praises of him.

  483. Who called you out of darkness. Into his marvelous

  484. light. So our identity as living stones. That

  485. is, spiritual people that are built up into a

  486. spiritual house comes with a priestly responsibility

  487. of the proclamation of the works of God. Let

  488. me repeat that. Our identity as living stones,

  489. as spiritual people that are built up into a

  490. spiritual house comes alongside with our priestly

  491. responsibility. Of the proclamation of the works

  492. of God. So you are a priest unto God. Because

  493. you believe in Jesus Christ. In other words.

  494. You are a minister of God unto good works. Amen.

  495. You are a minister of God unto good works. Ephesians

    Ephesians 2:10

  496. chapter 2 verse 10. It says for we are God's

  497. masterpiece. Ephesians 2 verse 10 NLT. It says

    Ephesians 2:10

  498. for we are God's masterpiece. He has created

  499. us anew in Christ Jesus so that we can do good

  500. things he planned for us long ago. What good

  501. things has he planned long ago? That is his will,

  502. that is his purpose for the believer. These good

  503. things he has planned for us are the work of

  504. ministry, the proclamation of his good works.

  505. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 18 to 19, NLT says, and

    2 Corinthians 5:18–19

  506. all of this is a gift from God. Your selection

  507. and your being chosen by God is a product of

  508. God's grace. It's a gift from God who brought

  509. us back to himself through Christ. And God has

  510. given us his tax of what? Of reconciling people

  511. to him. For God was in Christ. Reconciling the

  512. world to himself. No longer counting people's

  513. sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful

  514. message of reconciliation. So the believers have

  515. a responsibility. The reconciliation of men to

  516. God. By the proclamation of his good works. So.

  517. What does it mean to proclaim? What does it mean

  518. to proclaim? When we say proclaim His excellencies,

  519. as the Amplifier will put it, what do we mean?

  520. 1 Peter 2 verse 9, in the Orchid Gem, it says,

    1 Peter 2:9

  521. But ye are a choosing generation, a royal priesthood,

  522. an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should

  523. shew forth the praises of Him who hath called

  524. you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

  525. She forth. She forth. The phrase she forth, which

  526. is not a common English in our day today, is

  527. translated into a modern English as set forth

  528. in the Amplified translation. It's also translated

  529. as declare in the NIV. Of course, in the New

  530. King James, we see the word proclaim. And then

  531. in a tippity, which is paraphrase, he uses the

  532. word broadcast. Broadcast. To broadcast something.

  533. What do you broadcast? What do you proclaim?

  534. What do you show forth? What do you declare?

  535. You utter. You manifest. You declare. And all

  536. these are translated into English from a great

  537. word, exangelo. E -X -A -N -G. E -L -O, which

  538. means to tell out or forth, to declare abroad,

  539. to publish, or to make known by praising or proclaiming.

  540. Exangelo, which means to tell forth or forth,

  541. tell out or forth, to declare abroad, to publish,

  542. to make known by praising or proclaiming. This

  543. word exangelo, gelo rather, is from two root

  544. words, ek, e -k, which is a preposition. The

  545. preposition, it explains origin. And angelos,

  546. two words, are brought together to form exangelo.

  547. Ek and angelos, which refers to, angelos refers

  548. to... It refers to a messenger. It is from the

  549. word we get angel from in English, angelos, which

  550. is refers to a messenger, an envoy, you know,

  551. an envoy that is sent out to deliver a responsibility.

  552. One who is sent a messenger, especially from

  553. God. Hallelujah. So tell yourself, am I a messenger

  554. from God? So to shift of all, in other words,

  555. to declare or proclaim his praises, one has to

  556. be sent. You are sent with a definite message.

  557. And that must not be altered. So there's a specific

  558. message. If you are sent on error, you don't

  559. remix the message on the way. Amen? You don't

  560. alter the content of the message. You deliver

  561. as you are given. It's not what I order versus

  562. what I receive. As a deliverer of the message,

  563. you deliver as you receive. That brings us back

  564. to understanding the message. That brings us

  565. back to understanding who sent us. That brings

  566. us back to understanding the modalities of the

  567. delivery. That brings us back to understanding

  568. what the will of God is for the believer. Hallelujah.

  569. The messenger is one from God to declare the

  570. praises of him who was called out of darkness

  571. into his marvelous light. What are the praises

  572. of God? What are the praises of God? The Amplified

  573. Classic says, the wonderful deeds and display

  574. the virtues and perfection of him. Give me amplified

  575. 1 Peter 2 verse 9. Yes, it says, so that you

    1 Peter 2:9

  576. may proclaim the excellencies and he explains

  577. these excellencies as the wonderful deeds and

  578. the virtue and the perfections of who? Of him.

  579. Who is that him there? Of God. Hallelujah. And

  580. we say that that proclaim is what? Is to broadcast.

  581. Is to speak out. Is to announce the wonderful

  582. deeds. And how, what has God done for us? How

  583. did he do what he did for us? The good news translation

  584. use the word wonderful acts of God. How do we

  585. see the wonderful acts of God? Where do we see

  586. the wonderful acts of God? Where? In Christ.

  587. Hallelujah. In Christ, you know the word praises

  588. is arete, A -R -E -T -E, which refers to virtues

  589. or the goodness, that is the quality, the characteristics

  590. of God, who God is. And we see who God is in

  591. what he has done. Hallelujah. We know who God

  592. is by what he has done. And what has God done?

  593. He gave us Christ. So we are to declare the character

  594. of God. Who is who he is. His goodness. His virtue.

  595. And wonderful acts. We see all this in Christ

  596. and what he has accomplished. Colossians 1 .15.

  597. Colossians 1 .15. We see it. We see the goodness

  598. of God. We know God through Christ. He is the

  599. exact living image. the essential manifestation

  600. of the unseen God, the visible representation

  601. of the invisible, the firstborn, the preeminent

  602. one, the sovereign and the originator of all

  603. creation. Hebrews 1 .3 The Son is a radiance,

  604. the only registered, patented, qualified, approved

  605. modality. In which you know God. I just paraphrase.

  606. This verse. The sun is a radiance. And the only

  607. expression of the glory of our awesome God. Reflecting

  608. God's kind of glory. The light being. The brilliant

  609. light of the divine. And the exact representation.

  610. And the perfect imprint of his father. Of his

  611. father. His father's essence. So believers. Our

  612. identity as a choosing people, as royal priesthood,

  613. and a holy nation is to preach and to teach the

  614. wonderful works of God which he has accomplished

  615. in Christ Jesus. This is our life. This is our

  616. song. And this is our reality. Glory to God.

  617. We'll continue from here next time. Let's just

  618. close our eyes and begin to pray. If today's

  619. message was a blessing, share it with a friend.

  620. Till next time, be blessed.