The Fruit of the life in the Spirit

Hi there, welcome to NECF. We're excited to share today's message with you. Don't

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Here's today's sermon.

I want to thank God for this opportunity to stand before you. I don't take it for granted

and I want to thank God for the wonderful privilege I have to be part and parcel of

this great church, the NECF, and thank you to the leadership for this opportunity. I

think this week I was, until this week or last week or so, I was looking at the news

and then I think it was very funny because I was thinking to myself, like they say it's

on parts of the world that people are lonely, that the government is trying to create systems

to help people that are suffering from loneliness. And then I was thinking to myself, I was like,

thank God for the life that we have in Christ, thank God for the fellowship and I really

want to thank God for the gift of brethren and also thank God for, I think this morning

as I was looking at the canonical, I think we're reading, we read John 16, 17 and 18.

And then I was looking at John, I think something just jumped out to me when we got to 32, John

16, 32. I want us to just see it there. And this is Jesus Christ speaking. He says, indeed

the hour is coming, yes, the hour has come, but you will be scattered each to his own

and I will and will leave me alone, praise God. Then the last part, the part that I want

you to look at and look very keenly is the fact that he says, and yet I am not alone

because the father is with me, praise God. And this is our Lord Jesus Christ looking

at the fact that his disciples who desert him, but yet he doesn't have physical persons

around him. And I want to say this to someone that is here that, you know, we can, we're

in a world where people can be around people and still be lonely, praise God. We can be

in a world where people can have housemates, but they are still strangers and they are

very lonely. But that is not the life you're called into, right? The life they were called

into is the life of Christ, the life of Christ. I mean that you can be physically without

anyone around you. And this was a time where he was going to go into the sufferings that

he had to take on for us, praise God. But he still knew the presence, the company of

his father. And I want you to know that same presence even right here and right now. I

want that to be more, I want you to be more confident of that reality, praise God. So

the topic is the fruit of the life in the spirit, the fruit of the life in the spirit,

the fruit of the life in the spirit is an outfood, but it's the fruit of the life in

the spirit. And we're going to be reading 2 Corinthians, our key texts, 2 Corinthians

5, 16, 17, and Galatians 5, 22, 225. 2 Corinthians 5, 16, 17, and Galatians 5, 22, 25, those

are our key texts. And I'll just read 2 Corinthians to us, yeah, making things good. 16, it says,

therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ

according to the flesh, yet now we know him tossed no longer. Therefore, if anyone is

in Christ, he is a new creation, all things are passed away. Behold, all things have become

new. Behold, all things have become new. And he started off by saying, we regard no man,

no one according to the flesh. And when I was meditating, thinking about it, I said,

it's not just we regarding others, we too can regard ourselves, praise God. We can regard

ourselves. And I love the fact that when you move to the 17, it says you are, we are a

new creation, praise God. We're a new creation. And the old can be conflicting with the new,

because it's still, it's almost like you're still in this physical body, but something

supernatural has happened to you, praise God. And I want you to be confident in what Christ

has done, praise God, be confident in what Christ has done. And all that we are seeing

or all that is, that all that makes us a new creation is what Christ has done in his death,

burial and resurrection. And all of these things is encapsulated in that one word, the

Spirit, praise God. In that one word, the Spirit. What is summarizing is in that one

word, the Spirit means that at salvation, we receive his life, at salvation, we receive

his Spirit, praise God. And when he says new creation, it means brand new, praise God.

And sometimes it might not feel like the life that you have is brand new, praise God. It

doesn't feel like that because you're still dealing with the same old stuff, you're still

dealing with the same realities that are around you, praise God. But know that you're not

looking at it physically, praise God. You're looking at it through the lenses of his word,

what the word of God says we, you are, what the word of God says we are. And it's very

important that we note this. I think I was sharing at the cell that I was, I was, I had

to rethink, like, my students, on Friday, we had our last class before the exams that

started yesterday. And when the class was teaching, and then the students said, Sarah,

that I've learned so many things, and I'm able to, if there's an insurgent, now I'm

able to take out the insurgent. And then I was thinking, oh, wow, I have somebody in

the class that has like paramilitary or military training, and everything. And in my horror,

he was like, I've watched several movies. And I was like, movies, movies is what, that

is what you're going to, that's the premise of you taking out the insurgent is from movies,

you are able to take out the insurgent. And I'm running, what is running quickly through

my head is how many movies had he watched that gave him the confidence to say, Sarah,

right now he was looking at the door. So if anybody comes through that door now, I'm able

to, I was like, then when he now entered movies, I was like, is basing off his ability on the

things, maybe movies, if you add video games, all of those things, then you now feel that

physically you can take down. So I was like, that's so much confidence on something that

I, you know, you can, you can, you know, when theory is very beautiful, people talk about

a lot of things that they can do. And then when you, when it's time to walk, there's

no show, praise God. What it means is that a person can program themselves because they're

taking a lot of information about stuff that they think that in the face of when it's time

to act, it will just come upon them. And when a world where movies can, when you watch a

lot of movies where people fight, kill people, you can't think that this is very easy. One

man goes, he takes down a whole building of people. And then you think that, yeah, they

just don't know how to do it. Well, if I step in there, I will do it right. We can make

have those. That's because something has conditioned you to think that after you have done this

and this and this, and let's bring it down, let's bring it home for you for something

to be so real to you means that you have engrossed yourself in that thing to the point where

you believe so much in that thing. There are people that believe in things that are false.

There are people around the world. They believe that this thing is like this. This is like,

and it's all based or anchored on something that is error. But we have something that

is true. We have the word of God that is true and we don't engross ourselves to the point

where we can see a difficult situation and believe God over the situation that we that

has faced before us. Praise God. When he says we are a new creation, it means brand new.

It's not based off how you feel because we're in a world where if you don't feel it, it's

not it. And if we're doing most of our things or the things that we do based on feeling,

some of us will not even be here for short service. Praise God. Because the way the weather

is what you feel more to sleep back to extend your sleep hours. You just look at the time

and the alarm rings and rings and rings. You snooze it, snooze it and get tired of snoozing

just off the phone. There are some phones that can come back on because it's Sunday. Praise

God. So if it's if you're living your Christian work, anything based on feeling, you will

not go anywhere. Praise God. And for most of us, it has to be easy for us to follow

through with it. But when he says new creation, the word there in the Greek means brand new

and means entirely transformed. Praise God means entirely transformed. And what this

means is that what Christ has done takes us from that place to the place where he has

placed us. And the word there is where we have a new nature. Praise God. What it means

is that we have a new nature. When he says new creation, it means that this individual

has a new nature. And that new nature is not a physical nature. Praise God. It's not physical.

It is spiritual. It means for you to come to a place where you believe that something

that happens supernaturally is real. It means that communication had happened to the point

where you believe that thing. Praise God. Serious and series of communication will happen.

That's why in the church, we come back to God's word on our daily work, we come back

to God's word to remind ourselves to encourage ourselves. In the book of Luke, when Luke

was writing the Theophilus, he says that he will be established, that he will be confident

in the things that he already knows. For some of us, we know. But sometimes we are faced

with difficulty and we doubt. Going back to the scripture in John 16, Jesus Christ was

very confident in the fact that even though people will not be around him, he's confident

that his father will not leave nor forsake him. Praise God. And we should have that same

confidence. Praise God. And that word, because we say this, is the fruit of your life in

the Spirit. And what we're going to be taking our time to look at for the introduction is

the life in the Spirit. Your life in the Spirit. And we say this is a new creation, right?

And you are born of the Spirit. Born of the Spirit. And Jesus Christ teaches this concept

of being born of the Spirit in John 3. I want us to go there. It's still in the book of

John. If we're there, just go to John 3. He was speaking to Nicodemus and it's John 3,

3 to 8. But what our focus will be on is, let's just do 5 and 6. Let's see. 5 and 6.

So Jesus answered, Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of water, which is

the Spirit, which is the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6. He says, that

which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. That

word born of the Spirit. And in John, you see him write born of the Spirit, born of

the Spirit, born of the Spirit. And in 1 John, we see him talks about the same thing. What

he says is born of God. 1 John 5. It's scattered around John, but we'll just look at 1 John

5.1. The same idea. He says, whoever believes that Jesus is Christ is born of God. And everyone

who loves him, who begots also loves him who is begotten of him. 2. He says, by this we

know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments. That's

3. Let's pay attention to 3. He says, for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments

and his commandments are not burdened some. His commandments are not burdened some. Then

4. This is where we're going to be stopping. He says, for whatever is born, whoever is

born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world.

Our faith introduces the element of faith. And what is that faith based off? That faith

is based on Christ. That faith is based on Christ. So we have born of the Spirit, which

is the same as born of God. So when you see the same, when you see that across, it's meaning

the same thing. It means that we have a new creation and the Spirit resides within us.

Praise God. The Spirit, the Spirit resides within us. And it's very important that we

remind ourselves that the old is gone. The old is gone. And I know we still have memories

of our past and that is the problem. We have memories of the things that we used to do,

the way that we used to live our lives. And we feel like, no, there's no way. There's

no way. We don't sometimes remind ourselves all the things I've done. There's no way.

There's no way. Know that you are not the one that saved yourself. Praise God. The one

who saves you tells you that you are a new creation and you want to take what he says

seriously because he's the one that has done what he has done in your life. Praise God.

He says we are a new creation. We have God's Spirit reside in us. And that will be something

that changes the way we live our lives going forward. In case that reality has not sinked

in, you want to know that you have a new identity. You have a new identity. What is in the past

is in the past. And what you have right now in Christ is something new. Praise God. I

want us to look at Ephesians 4.24. It speaks about being a new man. It says, and yeah,

thank you. And that you put on the new man, which was created, look at the word, which

was created, according to God, in truth, in true righteousness and holiness, which was

created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. Okay, let's just just go back.

Let's go back. Let's stay there for a bit. It says the new man, new man was created.

It means that we're no longer defining ourselves on our past. What I said earlier, we're no

longer defining ourselves on our past sins, past weaknesses, past failures. You don't

define yourself based off that because it's now in the past. What you're doing now, according

to what we read in first, first John, in first John five, we're now empowered to live a life

of victory. We're empowered to live a life of victory. And what we're doing now is that

we're reflecting the nature that we now have. Praise God. We're reflecting the nature that

we now have and we're reflecting the glories that follows that nature. Praise God. We're

no longer doing things like we do them in the past. Now there's a, there's a, there's

a new operating system. If I will use that, there's a new operating system that you're

running with that influences how you move. There's the indwelling of a spirit that produces

a character that is identical to the one which you have received. Praise God. And the spirit

within us is the source of that new identity. It's not ourselves that generate the new identity.

It's the spirit, the life that we have that gives us that new identity. And in case you

are vacillating between what was and what is, I want you to remember that what is is

true, what is is founded in something much, much solid than what was the past, what was

in the past. Praise God. I want us to see the same or something similar in Colossians

3 10. Colossians 3 10. Yeah. Thank you. Colossians 3 10. And it says, and have put on the new

man who is renewed in knowledge. It adds something to buttress what I've been saying. Renewed

in knowledge according to the image of him, who, him who created him. Praise God. Maybe

a couple of him. So it says renewed in knowledge. Remember what I said about the student that

as like, you know, you know, he wasn't like that until he did what he did to the point

where he is confident and you need to see I can't dramatize how he said it that I first

thought, Oh, because he's a, he's a, he's a old student. So he has been out of school

for like seven years. I felt maybe had some during that course of the time, some paramilitary

training and all of that until he said movies. And then I was like, no, I had to now start

counseling explaining how movies like really is a movie. They act those things. They have

cast. In fact, they have stunt men that do certain parts of the thing that the real actor

cannot do. So if you want to go for it and show that you have proper training, physical

training, not virtual training. That's why we say you cannot take a course virtually

and assume that you can do it. And you wouldn't even trust someone to do something practical

that got the training virtually. Praise God. But some of us speak if it's cheap and it's

good, we can go for it. But if it's life threatened, if it has to do with life, like, yeah, you

don't want to do that. Praise God, because it's very important. And knowledge is very

important. So, so as believers, what believers what should tell us how we live our lives

is the knowledge that we have that is founded on the truth that is given to us. Praise God.

And we say these things to say that the spirit that we have, praise God, the spirit that

we have is not a spirit that is, you know, you know, when you are, you are processing

something and then there's a person, you know, some of us, those of us that are doing our

student permit, you know, at some point in time is 10%. And then yes, at least you're

on your way to the end. What is rendering when you do a couple of things, you pay tax

or you do medicals, it will move. It should just be moving till it gets to 100%. Then

you now have it. Know that salvation is not like that. It doesn't render and then render

20%. The next minute it renders 40%. Then it finally renders 100. Then you now know

you have it. Praise God. It's not what you do that is what Christ has done and he did

it complete. Praise God. Because sometimes we can convince ourselves just came to is

I just said yes and I believe that and then then doesn't like I need to work for it. I

need to add more. You know, it doesn't feel real. If you know, some people will give them

give this just like that. It's almost like you want the okay. Okay. Yes, you give it.

Okay, work for it. Just work for it. They just do a bit of claiming and everything to

be fully yours. No, no, no, no, no. God is not like that. You shouldn't put God in the

same WhatsApp group with those people that have done that. Praise God. Praise God. Even

if he shows up in the WhatsApp group, it will change the whole WhatsApp group. Praise God.

Praise the God that we serve. Praise God. So in this we know that is the spirit because

of the presence of the Spirit of God, we that that comes and we know that what needs renewing

is our mind is our minds that needs to catch up with what our spirit, what the spirit that

we have. I think it's very important that we understand that what God deposited in us

doesn't like we have it. We have it. We're not walking to it. Praise God. The work that

we do is that we catch up here, we able to understand what has happened because your

understanding shapes the way you do things. If you don't understand, you don't understand.

Somebody will try and the moment you get it, it's like, it's like every light comes on

and you feel foolish because you just think about all the things misunderstood. And now

that you understand, like what exactly was informing you that it was ignorance. Praise

God. And that is why we engage the word we grow, we come around, we make sitting on his

word a priority. Praise God. And that understanding shapes our identity. Praise God. That understanding

shapes our identity. And that transformation keeps going on going on. And we call that

thing one thing, it is spiritual maturity. Because in your mind being renewed and renewed

and renewed and renewed, people start seeing the real you that has always been there from

the beginning. Praise God. The real you that has always been there from the beginning.

And it takes you obey because you saw it, you believe it. When we sang the song, I can

see and I know is you see and you know that in itself should demand a response to work

in what you have seen and what you know. Praise God. And then we have that fellowship that

ensures that we keep growing. That's why we're in church, we fellowship together. You cannot

you cannot fellowship in your house. Praise God. You cannot as bedside or bedside a minister,

you can't grow in that there's no pressure. You are sleeping, you are just chilling. And

some people say and they say it confidently like like I worship online. Like I don't miss

a service. I don't I never miss a service. At the click of a button now, there's no stress.

You don't you don't do anything you just and it's the same laptop you watch movies, you

do all of those the same same device and your brain will not be telling you this is one

of those and then you just boring can skip and and you even have so much flexibility

you know you can't skip this one. You can't skip like I don't like this I want something

more so that I will shout I'll sweat. Praise God. You don't grow like that. For a believer

to be spiritually matured, he had gone through process. Praise God. You don't skip classes.

You have to show up every time. No matter the number of Sundays you attended church,

there's still another Sunday. Praise God. There's still another Sunday. And if you're

not growing, someone can come and lie to you and tell you that you pay for something that

you have for free. Praise God. And that's one very important thing that what we have

in Christ was freely given. There was no you paid. God brought 50%. You brought 50% and

then you put the 50% to become 100 and then transaction complete. Praise God. That was

not how that was not how it happened. Let's see that some scripture. Romans 832. Romans

832. New King James the Roman. Yeah, thank you. He says, he who did not spare his only

son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not give also freely us all things?

How shall he not give us freely all things? It means that he didn't hold back. God did

not hold back his son for us to have what we have in him. I mean, the gift that we have

was freely given. And, and it's free that even in scripture when you have an incident

when Simon the sorcerer was trying to buy it with money, Peter was like, What are you

trying to do? He says your money perish with you. I want us to see that. Let's see that

in Romans 8. Thank you. Romans 8. I want us to go to Roman. Sorry, Acts, Acts 8, Acts

8, 18. Acts 8, 18 is still 8. Acts 8, 18. We'll just read 18, 19 and 20. So, and when Simon

saw that through the laying of hands, the apostles, through the laying on of the apostles'

hands, the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money. 19 saying, Give me this power

also that anyone on whom I lay my hands will receive the Holy Spirit. 20. Peter's response.

He said to him, Your money perish with you because you thought that the gift of God could

be purchased with money. Note that you, even now we have people peddling what they have

received freely for money and ignorance will, as man of God will say, will make you a candidate,

a strong candidate for deception because you don't know. Somebody else capitalizes on the

things and there are many things in life that you paid for and then when you now discover

how they did the thing, you will now be feeling, because I did not know, I paid this money

and when I saw how they now do it, I'll be like, why did I even pay him? I will just

sit down and take like one hour, two hours of my time and I will feel done the same thing.

Praise God. And it's the gift of God. Praise God. It's the gift of God. The key word there

is that it's the gift of God and it's given freely because if we were to pay for it, if

we were to pay for it, your dollars, pounds, euros, tele, mixed with whatever, whatever

your local currencies will not be able to afford it. Let's see that also in Efficience.

Efficience 2.8. It says, for by grace you have been saved through faith. That is not

of your works. It is a gift of God. It is not of your works, but the gift of God and

what made that possible is the faith. What we use to purchase it is just placing our

faith and believing in what has been done and then we receive. Praise God. Because it's

freely given. What we do is that we don't attach any cost to it. We just freely receive

that which has been given to us. And it means that everything that we have, everything we

have, the spirit also which has been promised, we receive freely. We receive freely. Let's

look at Galatians 2, establishing that by the hearing of faith, not by works that we

receive. Galatians 3. Galatians 3. We look at Galatians 3.2. 2, 3, 2, 3. Yeah. So this

only I want to learn from you. Did you receive the spirit by the works of the law or by the

hearing of faith? This is a question. Did you receive, this is a possible accent, did

you receive the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? 2 and 3. It

says, are you foolish? Are you so foolish? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the spirit,

are you now being made perfect by the flesh? 5. Just jump to 5. Yeah. So it says, therefore,

he also supplies the spirit to you and works miracles among you. Does he do it by the works

of the law or by the hearing of faith? Then let's jump to 14. Okay. It says, but that

the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive

the promise of the spirit through faith. Note that the premise by which we do it is through

faith, through faith. You see the hearing of faith, we hear it and faith is that currency

that plugs us into the identity that we now have in Christ Jesus. It is not what, it's

not the things that you are able to do. And mind you, how much can you do in your own

physical strength and ability? Note that it's by his help, we're able to do and do well.

Praise God. It's not by our own and we can be very, we can plot, craft, compute. Note

that it's not by works we receive, what we receive is by the hearing of faith. And Paul

greatly emphasizes that the spirit is a gift and the result of all of that is what Christ

has fulfilled by the law or of the law. Praise God. And he establishes that and note that

he says, every one of us is included. It's not to a certain group of people. So it means

that it's not, there's no, Romans talks about, there's no class, there's no gender, there's

no class. Everybody is able to receive that thing that is given freely to all of them.

And speaking about the promise fulfilled means that there was a promise and there's a fulfillment

of the promise and Christ is the one that fulfills it. Let's see Ephesians 1, Ephesians

1, let's see, let's see that 1.13. It says, in him, and you'll notice that he keeps using

in him, in him, in him, in him. There's nowhere else but in him. It says, in him, you also

trusted after you've heard the word of truth. Praise God. After you've heard the word of

truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also you have believed, you are sealed with

the Holy Spirit of promise. Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of

the purchase possession to the praise of his glory? Praise God. It says the guarantee.

Who is the guarantee? And we say it is the Holy Spirit of promise. We're sealed with

the Holy Spirit of promise. It says the guarantee and that word guarantee is a word that we're

kind of familiar with because the Greek word there in English, in the word there means

deposit, down payment, N.S. They call it N.S. money. Praise God. They call it N.S. money.

And most of us, if you've been around here, I think for most of us, you know, back in

our countries, we don't even know what deposit is because our parents, if you stay in your

parents' houses, they're not dealing with deposit. But when you come to the island,

when we came to the island, newly, I think it was the house I got, the guy just took

me to the place and I was the one that said, for your troubles, take 50 tele, for your

troubles. And 50 tele was a big money back then. Back then, in 2013, it was, it was,

in those years, 50 tele was a big money. So I said, for your troubles, take 50 tele. That

was then. But now, you don't, it doesn't work that way. It doesn't work that way. It's

almost like the money, the house rent. And I don't want to talk too much because people

are looking at me like, what are you talking about? Yeah, you came in the time where things

have changed. This is the new. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. But what it means

here is that, you know, when you go and you see a house, because everybody's looking for

that house, I think the people that do real estate or the agents will know this very well.

Because there are a lot of people that can come and then you will not find the house.

So you have to give something to show the landlord that you are serious about it. Because

some people is all talk and no show. Praise God. So let it not be like you are like one

of those people that came around and they are, you keep a house and then later on the

person says, sorry, sorry, I, I got something better. Or they will never even tell you like

that. They'll say, sorry, we don't want the house anymore. Meanwhile, they have gotten

somewhere else. Praise God. So to show that the person is serious, the person that's wanting

the house or the place is serious, you give a certain amount of money and we're familiar

with that. The same way you do that is the same way God himself gives us a spirit as

a down payment. Praise God. The spirit that we have is a down payment. And that is not,

it makes us confident that if he has something of his with you, he's not going to leave

you. He's not leaving. In fact, he has not left you. Praise God. Because he has something,

you know, the way you give, you know, your money is with the landlord. You cannot run

away. You cannot decide to change your mind. And some landlords, even when you change your

mind, they will take part of the money for making them think that you are serious when

you are not serious. And some landlords, if they get a better deal, maybe your own was

three 50, they found 400 or 450. They will keep your money for you and tell you, sorry,

my friend, my friend, sorry. And then you have to now, the set still continues for you.

Praise God. We know that that's what, at the human level, that's what we do. We're not

truthful. We're not honest. That's the nature. But in Christ, it's very different. With God,

it's very different. Because he bought us with a price, he secures his investment. He's

not thinking he doesn't run losses. Praise God. And the same way he does his own bargain,

and he makes sure that he sets it up in such a way that you must just be mindless to lose.

Praise God. You must you must not be paying you will not pay attention to miss out on

what exactly he has done. Reminding us that what he has done is fool and need another

we talk about the house down payment, you're given part of the actual payment, right? Note,

but for him, he gave us the full thing. So it's not as you can't compare what we do to

what he has done. Praise God. Because when he does something, he does it in full. I said,

it's not rendering your salvation is no rendering rendering. Then when you now get it completely,

it's now 100%. Then you now see you have it. Because it's not even something physical that

you can see. Some of us we wish it was like that on your forehead, you'll be seeing yourself

to check. Let me check. I think I did something that's gone back 20%. You know, we can we

can be we can we can actually, sometimes we think things funny in our mind that is inconsistent

with what the Word of God says. Because you you just need to converse with somebody that

is a believer and then you'll be wondering what are they reading? We have been there.

You know, when you when you come and then you are now reading, you now look stupid.

Like how on earth did I read this thing wrong? That's because of that's because most of the

times we just superimpose, we just infuse what we thought was what it was. Praise God.

And that's why teaching helps us to recalibrate. Understand, because it really will affect

the way we do things. If we thought wrongly, our lives will be moving in the wrong direction.

So what Christ has done for us and what the the Spirit of God that we have guarantees

both on the part of the fact that what he has promised he will deliver and what he promised

he has already delivered. Because if somebody delivers on his promise, you don't doubt whatever

other promises that they will make to you. Praise God. Because you know that this person

has a track record to the song. He has a track record of keeping his word. Means that his

commitment to us is on is not hinged on any he stays committed and he stays true to us.

So his spirit is not temporal. His spirit doesn't come and go. And then the Old Testament

where it can come upon you then later on you'll be looking for it. Like you got lost. So you

don't you don't even say things like take not your spirit from me. Because that's not

where we are. Praise God. That was sometime in the past. But you want to be working in

what we have right here and right now. So it means that his intention for us is solid.

He's not changing. He's not going back on his word because he keeps his true to his

word. So the spirit doesn't just dwell in us. Because yes some of us will say yeah spirit

dwells in us. But note that the spirit has a work that he does in us. The spirit has

a work that he does in us. And that work as I've said earlier is a work of transformation.

Is a work of transformation. Is a work of equipping. And it's to the end that we are

manifesting the character of Christ. It's to the end that we are living like our father

because he has given us the person to empower us to do that which he has said that that

which he wants to see may manifest here on earth. Praise God. So let's look at 2 Corinthians

1 19 to 22. 2 Corinthians 1 19. It says for the son of God. Okay thank you. For the son

of God Jesus Christ who was preached among you by us by me Silvanus and Timothy was not

yes and no. But in him look at the in him was yes 20 for all the promises of God in

him are yes and in him amen. To the glory of God through us. 21. Now he who establishes

us with you in Christ has anointed us as anointed now him who establishes us with you in Christ

and has anointed us as God. 22. Who also has sealed us the word that we sealed us and given

us the spirit the spirit in our hearts as a guarantee we see the same word as before

given as a seal as a guarantee. I want you to go back to day 21. Using the word establish

establishes that word we'll see it again in in Romans 15 8 that word also means to confirm

that word also means to bring to pass that word also means to make true we'll see that

we'll see that very shortly I've explained that before so it means that what he has guaranteed

what he has stamped what he has confirmed he's going to do means that we're not in doubt

of what he's going to do let's look at Romans 15 verse 8 I'll just read very quickly says

Romans 15:8

now I see that Jesus Christ has become a servant of the circumcision for the truth of God to

confirm that word confirm establish to bring to pass to make true the promises made to

the fathers promises made to the fathers mean that this was promised to the father and it

was fulfilled remember we said Christ is a fulfillment of that which was that was promised

his burial his death his resurrection so means that Christ embodies all of that promise and

then he's the one that is confirming it and confirming them and he had confirmed them

through what he had done in the physical that is death barrier and his resurrection and

I want us to see where I was setting parts of the scripture where that promise was made

and I just want us to do just two so we'll see Ezekiel 36 yes I just want us to this

Ezekiel 36 there's 24 to 28 and then jewel to 28 32 but that's for us to read let's

just write it down for us to read but we'll just focus on Ezekiel 26 and 27 but I'll read

I'll come I'll come again Ezekiel 36 24 to 28 and jewel to 28 to 32 so I'll just read

Ezekiel 36 26 to 27 it says I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you

I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh 27 I will

put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my status and you will keep my commandments

and do them praise God and remember when we read that was first John five verse three

he says his instructions are not boredom some right instruction is not not again why now

again are we doing this today his instructions are not boredom some but that's because there's

a change he says a heart of stone a heart of stone would be a heart that is not responsive

praise God and a heart of flesh know that I mean we know that your heart is not stone

the one the physical one that you have you know if it's stone there will be a problem

because you know the main responsibility of it is to spread for blood move and then if

it's now you know stone means that is rigid you know some people no matter what you do

they can't move when they say you they are not they don't move and when they are not

God do praise God so means that the new heart and new spirit will chain the responsive will

make the person responsive because he's the one that is doing the work he says I will

I will I will not not it's not we that is doing it is him that is doing it praise God

and this is Ezekiel saying something that wasn't a norm in his day and his age you know the

example I just gave about how back then you know when I was giving the guy 50 TL and telling

him thank you I didn't know that there will be a time where the whole rent is what you

give to the agent I didn't I didn't if someone had told me I'll say come on how can we get

there somebody that I even it was out of my own this and I even told you the guy did not

even ask for it I just but who knew that there was going to be a system in fact yeah yeah

actually that was back then actually what will happen is that the landlord will tell

you thank you for bringing the person because houses were there and people are not even

looking in fact how would they know if the agent didn't say that there's a house but

now there's connection on whatsapp group everything you can some people even get and the other

person will get what they get like several ten people will get one house and then they

will not be cutting it into bits and things have really moved things are really so know

that you know when when you are in the past and somebody is telling you of something that

will be happening you know you you can be in denial because if you are if you can't

see it you can't believe it praise god if someone like to explain to you say this is

the system they're going to use and then be collecting it you'll be like let them stop

that thing that is it will not work in fact you because you know what is working you know

that that one will not work but same way Joe was talking about something that the people

of his time and his age it wasn't a reality to them praise god it wasn't a reality to

them so it means that people will just be hearing that say okay we're looking forward

to the looking forward to the time when this will be a possibility praise god and know

that Ezekiel was saying these things not of his own you know if you if you think like

if i sit down at my house and think about okay there will be a time you know everybody

is waiting for me or waiting for when i say to happen because if i put a timeline to it

it will be when it passes and then nothing happens we now know that it was just i was

just pulling but Ezekiel makes a statement because it's not him or the prophet is prophesying

praise god the prophet is prophesying of what god is going to do praise god and it's not

just Ezekiel Joel makes the same prophecy but not with the depth that Ezekiel's prophecy

comes and and jewels on i will just read jewel 228 it says and it shall come to pass therefore

that i will pour out my spirit on all flesh Ezekiel's own is i will put within i'll put

my spirit within you when you pour something and when you put you know they are two different

when you drink water you pour water not the same it's not the same thing praise god not

the same thing so and we see that even is and by the way understand that the first is

there and the second because we know that there's the indwelling i think those of us

that are familiar or those of us have been around any say this has been taught but i'm

doing this and explaining so that we will follow know that there's the indwelling that

we experience as a result of what christ has done before christ had died buried and what

usually will happen is that it comes upon and people prophesy praise god people prophesy

for it to be that we now have a time where his spirit now resides in us certain things

have to have been done and that is what that's the promise that christ came to fulfill praise

god that's the promise that's what he came to accomplish because in his accompli in him

accomplishing those things we now have we're not now like them in the past we are now in

a time and in the season where you believe and you receive his life and it resides in

you and then out of that you are able to birth forth you are able to prophesy you're able

to do the activities of the spirit and and acts two we know that on the day of pentagos

we see peter also clarifies and makes reference to the fulfillment of the prophecy that we

see in joe so acts two the whole thing is acts two sixteen to twenty one acts two sixteen

to twenty one i want you to read that all right we will not take the long i just want

us to start from just 16 we'll do 16 and 17 and then 33 so 16 says but this is what was

spoken by the prophet jewel that is what we read that's what we read prophet and please

sometime when you read your bible you think that you know one prophet said it this year

and then the other prophet now sees it happen next year that's not how it is if you in fact

if you look at the space between jewel the book of jewel and then the book of acts it

will give you an idea but it's not even it's not even accurate to give you an idea that

a lot of things that happened before we got to that part so 17 says and it shall come

to pass in the last day says god that i will pour out my spirit on all flesh your sons

and daughters shall prophesy and your children your young men shall see visions and your

old men shall dream dreams so just just go to 33 33 and this is peter speaking says therefore

be exalted to the right hand of god and having received from the father the promise of the

spirit he poured out this which you now see and hear and this speaking about what happened

on the day of pentacles praise god so it means that what the people what they they saw and

they heard is a fulfillment of the prophecy of jewel praise god the fulfillment of the

prophecy of jewel and we know that before that one is fulfilled there's also the promise

of the spirit of god in dwelling the believer praise god so that that had been fulfilled

for this to have been fulfilled praise god that had to have been fulfilled for this to

have been fulfilled so know that the prophecy in jewel is not external praise god the prophecy

in jewel i'm sorry ezekiel is not external the prophecy in ezekiel is not external because

it's not the and when we say external it's not the external outpouring that that results

in manifestations that you can see but the root of it is the indwelling right of the

spirit indwelling of christ and the believer praise god and that's that was what ezekiel's

prophecy was anchored on that now the spirit of man god's spirit will be one with man praise

god that god's spirit will be one with man and as we said god promised and he kept his

word and we now can say that we are the permanent dwelling place of a spirit praise god we are

the permanent dwelling place of the spirit and and that truth in itself should shape

the way we carry ourselves the way we look at ourselves the way we think of ourselves

the way we identify ourselves the way we the nature that understanding of his nature and

it will enable us to actually live a life that is consistent with our identity as believers

praise god because if if you if you doubt this you will have struggle if you doubt this

you will struggle to leave out the reality that you have already if you doubt this you

will just be outside the door and watching what is going on here praise god i know that

as i said it is free it doesn't cost you anything what it will cost you is your ego your pride

those things that yeah you just let it go and then you have you receive the life of

god praise god and i i when we started this and i was talking about lonely i just remembered

it and then i remember that in john 16 god himself was saying jesus himself was saying

that that yes he will not be without anybody but he knows that he's not alone and if you

are here and you are not sure or you know that you feel this sense of loneliness feel

the sense of yeah i have friends but they are still strangers to me or i have family

and by the way i'm imagining how someone will have a physical family but it happens but

you have a physical family but you're still distant from them but the good thing about

what god calls us to is that we have a spiritual family a family that transcends the physical

praise god a family that you can leave your country and you're somewhere in another part

of the world and you can look at someone and call them brother look at someone and call

them sister and it's true it's not you know just the typical one way people say bro bro

bro that's not that's not it you you you know when you say something and it's not a cliche

you see something you call the person my brother my sister and you mean it because you have

something in common you have the same spirit that resides in them in you praise god that

is something powerful and that should shift or that should make you see yourself differently

and if you are feeling lonely the very quick cure for that will spend time with god's word

just read god's word as his communication to you read it and see parts of it where he

tells you that he will never leave you in a forsaken and even as we said spend time

to do what his will is which is give thanks for the things that you know you do have praise

god and let the things that you don't have sort themselves out on the way praise god

because whether you like it or not there's going to be something you don't have that

will get you worried but what you want to do is because you have control of what to

say put your mind on what to fix your heart on what to fix your thought on what to fix

your gaze on and we fix our gazes on things that the songwriter says slowly shape and

and he says the things of this world grow strangely deep in the light of his glory and

grace means that when you're looking at him when your faith because you're you're looking

at him in faith in the wilderness when he did when moses did the bronson sapin what

they needed to do was to look and leave praise god they looked and they were here and the

same way the same imagery the same is what you want to do look to him that gives you

that life eternal that life that is abundant that life that is not just the bios they're

living every day you know some people are just leaving they're living like they're

just living from today tomorrow they're just waiting for what life is going to do to them

praise god but as believers we're leaving in excitement we're leaving rejoicing we're

living with the joy that we can't explain i do you see christ is my firm foundation

says he says he says i've got peace it doesn't make sense but you have something that is

regardless of your external circumstances it just comes from within that is because

there's something in you that produces that peace that you cannot explain you can't even

tell someone the person is like you know some people see people see see your smiling

let me see don't you have problems actually like don't you have problems like like what

they are going through like are you not in the same like this economy like are you not

feeling the heat of the economy praise god we are feeling the heat of economy but we

choose to channel our attention to what we know will change us praise god what we know

because the economy will keep going the way it is praise god but we know that regardless

of what is happening to the economy our faith should be rock solid on the one whose economy

stays stand sure praise god so that should give you confidence that should not allow

you to be somebody you know it's we have a victory in him we don't look we don't move

around like people that beat down people that life has done them over and then there's nothing

there's nothing you don't there's there's no hope there's no you we have a hope because

we have something that money cannot buy we have something that was freely given to us

and we freely receive that thing and we're working in the light of what we have received

we're working in that identity we're working in that reality and i want you to just rise

up and just open your mouth and thank god just say father i thank you for what it is you've done

i walk i walk i walk in the reality of my identity just open your mouth and say father thank you

thank you for listening to today's sermon your journey matters to us let's keep walking together

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