203 ~ SET APART ~ PART 3

Hi and welcome to the Via Zion Sermon podcast.

We are a local church based here in Chennai, India.

We are so glad you are with us and hope that this will

encourage, inspire and instill fresh faith in you.

We begin our new year with the theme for the year 2024, which

is set apart. We look at how each of us who

follow Jesus can live lives that are consecrated and separated

for Him, both privately and publicly, with His help and

leading. We pray that as you listen, you

would be challenged to live such a life of victory and peace.

Hi church. It's such a joy and a privilege.

We're bringing God's word to you today, even as we've stepped

into 2024 here in the second Sunday of the year.

I believe you started your new year with God at the centre,

even as we heard in the new Year Eve service of the entire team

for this year, for our churches set apart, and even for those of

you who are listening right now, even as we heard last week that

we are set apart by God. Today we're going to go on to

the third part of this entire series and it's called Set Apart

by Jesus. And I wanted us to realise that

Jesus came into this world, he was set apart exclusively to

fulfil God's plan and purpose for us.

And today you and me as followers of Jesus have a unique

plan that we have to fulfil here on this earth.

Yes, we are called to live in this world.

We've heard those verses, we've called to be the salt and light.

We are called to go ahead in this pathway of accomplishing

all that he sets out to do it in and through us.

But he has a unique plan and purpose for us.

You know, we can either be, as we saw in the New Year Eve, some

of those Christians who are lukewarm where we just come for

the sake of being called a Christian, or probably we enjoy

certain perks of being a Christian, but he wants us to

fulfill the ultimate call and purpose that he has in store for

us as followers of Jesus. And so today, even as we move

through this entire third part, I want us to have our hearts

open. Because many a times us being

set apart is not what even as I preach, even as I have bringing

out certain scriptures that I've meditated on, it's something

that he does in and through us. And we need to come to that

realization. Oftentimes, God uses the spoken

word of God from a sermon. God uses people to speak in and

through us. But many a times the real

Christian work that happens in and through our life, the one

that God really is getting his hands in and through us, is when

we meditate on His word day and night, when we allow room in our

life for more of him. And so today I just want us to

go back to this familiar scripture that we've read from

John, Chapter 3, verse 16. Lot of us by heart that was.

John 3:16

But the intensity and the weight of that verse is so heavy and I

want to read it from the message version and this is what it

says. This is how much God loved the

world. He gave his son, His one and

only son, and This is why. So that no one need be destroyed

by believing in him. Anyone can have a whole and

lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble

of sending his son merely to point an accusing finger,

telling the world how bad it was He came to help to put the world

right again. Anyone who trusts him is

acquitted. Anyone who refuses to trust him

has long since been under the death sentence without knowing

it. And why?

Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind

son of God when introduced to him, one-of-a-kind son of God.

So when Jesus came into this world, He walked the very earth,

and you and I are walking. She lived in the very

circumstances that you and I are living in.

He was judged by the very humans that we are surrounded by.

He was a Carpenter. He was a carpenter's son.

He had a trade in his hand, yet he chose to do the will of the

Father. His parents knew why He had come

down to earth. And today the reason why He came

down to earth was for you and me.

He died for you, and he was sent down by God so that he can

fulfil and bridge that gap for us so that God wouldn't accuse

us. God saw the entirety of the Old

Testament. We see time and again.

He set apart a nation, but the nation didn't want him.

He set apart a few remnant from that, but time and again they

kept faltering. They went into slavery.

They went into captivity. He brought them back to the

promised land. He held them, but he knew he the

world. Reader, edema, for entirety of

mankind, He just didn't come for one group of people.

He came for the entirety of mankind.

And So what does it look to be set apart by Jesus?

There's something unique about Jesus walking this earth.

He walked where you and I walked, but he touched the

people that came in his lane. Everyone who came in his path,

he touched. He called a few, he walked

alongside them for 3 1/2 years. And at the end of the day, when

they get commissioned to go fulfill the Great Commission,

they just didn't go empty handed.

They went knowing that God was with them.

And so today, when he sets us apart, there's a clear marking

that happens if you and I have to come to the baseline of our

Christian faith. We acknowledge that we are

sinners, that we are sin by birth because Adam who sinned,

we all are sinners. So there is dirt.

No shirt is clean if you wear it.

There is markings of sin. We all have woundings of sin.

We've carried it through so many aspects of life, but God here is

saying here I'm mocking you. Jesus, when he meets with us,

marks us. Every Christian who's

encountered Jesus, who's accepted Jesus as your Lord and

personal Saviour, came across an exchange that happened the day

they invited Jesus into their heart.

And even as I was preparing, I was reminded of what his stencil

looked like. The stencil is basically a set

pattern that's cut out and then you mark around it.

You colour it, you do it. But the end result?

The paper has a marking when you are marked.

When Jesus came, he marked us out.

He no longer gave sin the final world, even though our entire

creation is one of sin. When we enter into this world

because we've accepted Jesus, he starts mocking us and the longer

we journey with him, the more markings we get all over.

So much that till we meet him face to face, we are clothed

with a new role. And so one of the things which I

as I was reading up on stencil and the history of how it

originated, I came across through this entire method

through which print is done. It's called screen printing

where they have an entire silk cloth and it's and it's cut out

to the impression that's needed and then later add ink and then

they rub through it and then there's an impression where they

beat on paper. Whatever surface we lay

underneath gets that impression. This is what it says.

The greater the number of threads, the more more detailed

the print will be. The mesh is formed by interwoven

threads that can vary in number. And I believe as we journey with

Jesus in a closer walk with him each and every day, as we live

out the life that Jesus has called for us, He's interwoven

into us and our design becomes more intricate, more intricate

because of him. So today, as you and I are being

set apart by Jesus, there are few things that we are called,

that we are stenciled, that we are screen printed by Jesus.

And I wanted to leave three things with you.

The first thing is we are set apart because of Jesus, because

of Jesus. Hebrews chapter 10 talks about

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

this as how the High Priest laid himself down for us under the

Old covenant. The priest stands and ministers

before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices

again and again, which can never take away sins.

But our high priest offered himself to God as a single

sacrifice for sins good for all time.

Then he sat down in the place of honor at God's right hand that

he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool

under his feet, for and by that one offering he forever made

perfect those who are being made holy.

And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so far.

He says, This is the new covenant I will make with my

people. On that he says a lot.

I put my laws in their hearts and I will write them on their

minds. Then he says, I will never again

remember their sins and lawless deeds.

And when the sins have been forgiven, there is no need to

offer any more sacrifices. Jesus, once and for all wanted

to put an end to sacrifices. He wanted to put an end to

bloodshed. He wanted.

He said, You know what? I'm sacrificing my one and only

son, and that's it. That's the done deal.

So today if it was not for Jesus, there is no hope.

So which means I need to invite Jesus into every area of my

life. Jesus sacrifice cleanses us from

all sin. Jesus sacrifice stood in my

behalf and substituted. He substituted himself for me,

which means everything I go through.

She's willing to stencil. He's willing to just allow

himself to be on top and say I have covered it all.

And so today I want us to come. As I said in the New Year

service, I said that was for the church.

But today, as we look at it individually, can we allow Jesus

into every area of our lives? We are set apart because of

Jesus once and for all. He's paid the price, which means

I need to come in acceptance and say Jesus, because you've paid

the price. I'm willing to take a step and

allow you to set me apart in this.

Today I want us to take it much deeper.

What area of my life does Jesus need to come in and set me

apart? Today it can be in the area of

man belief. Today it can be in the area of

me being skeptic, being questioning Jesus.

Would you would it? Was it possible for you to heal

something? As emotional as this is, I've

been carrying this emotional baggage far too long.

I've been beating myself up because people have hurt me,

because people have spoken this over me, because circumstances

caused this. I shouldn't have been in that

room and that bad touch happened.

I am struggling. Jesus, he's saying, I understand

your pain. That sin does not have to mark

you. You do not have to be defined by

what those terms say. You are my child.

And the beautiful thing is Jesus took that place, which means,

you know, we, we, we today have termed every, every action that

we can think of has been termed with a particular term,

compulsive disorder, that disorder, that disorder.

He's saying, can I step in? Because when I step in, every

disorder will become an orderly thing.

And today a lot of us are struggling with so many closed

doors because we've not allowed Jesus to step into that.

And he's saying, I came to set apart.

I came so that there'll be a clear demarcation.

He will not have the final word. Satan will not have the final

word I offered myself as the sacrifice that day.

Stop beating yourself. A lot of us are living the

consequences of our sin. When we're seeing a living,

we're living because we've done something wrong.

We are have to live out the consequences of that.

But we don't have to live under the bondage of it.

Which means that does not mark. If he go to Jesus for

forgiveness, he's saying I will forgive you.

Verse 17 it says I will never again remember it.

He will give you hope. He will allow you to stand on

the promises. We won't.

You need to be bogged down. God saying I will liberate you.

You don't have to go around saying you know what, I'm set

free because of that medicine, because of that counselor,

because of that thing. All that is add-ons.

You need to first say I am set apart because of Jesus.

When he sets you apart, there's something that marks you inside

out and there's something that marks you inside out.

Even as I mentioned earlier on when I said the screen printing,

we see it happen internally. That's just a reference.

But what I see Jesus doing is he first works in us before it's

revealed out of us. And today what he wants to set

us apart. We need to open our mouth and

confess and say, Jesus, I'm set apart because of you.

I'm not set apart because of my family.

I'm not set apart because my family name.

I'm not set apart because I'm so and so's granddaughter.

You know, I'm so and so's minister's son or I'm so and so

pastor's son or I'm so and so. No, I'm set apart because of

Jesus because I personally had that encounter with him.

I need to go to Jesus and say God, I want to have that

encounter again. God, the sin is creeping up time

and again. But I want you to come and set

me apart. We will be set apart only

because of Jesus. Remember his love was too much

that he said I will give my son. He'll walk on this earth.

The sinless man walked on this earth.

He who knew no sin died on our behalf and he's setting us free

because of Jesus. We have a healthy understanding

of the fear of God. We see through Jesus life and

his teaching. In Matthew 7 He talks about the

narrow road and the broad road, and this is what it says.

You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate.

The highway of hell is broad and its gate is wide for many who

choose the way. But the gateway of life is very

narrow and the road is difficult and only a few ever find it.

One of the beautiful things when you set apart because of Jesus

is you identify the narrow gate. You identify the narrow gate and

you realize that there are many who are also following Jesus and

the attraction of the broad limits you Yeah, there are areas

which you feel like God. If I'm in that, I can enjoy

certain benefits, but you start understanding because of Jesus,

there is far more bigger things that he's calling me to do.

God will start speaking to you specifically of what he wants

you to be set apart. Decisions would not just come

randomly. It won't just happen because of

the spur of the moment. He'll come intentionally because

of the word of God. He'll come because of the prayer

that you've been praying. It probably will come because of

a deep conviction. So today, if anyone asks you,

you should be bold enough to stand by that conviction and say

I'm set apart because my God has set me apart.

Daniel and his three friends didn't give a big explanation.

They didn't give their agenda of why they were set apart when the

food was off. But they just said, you know

what? This is not the food that we can

eat. Just give us this.

It's God who blesses everything. So today, what is it that God's

calling you to be set apart because it will not be by your

own strength. Jesus relied on the Father when

he was on this earth. We rely on the Father to through

Jesus his Son. We are set apart because of

Jesus. I pray that we will be

conscious. We will allow his words to see

right into our hearts that that narrowly we wouldn't just look

at the space that we don't have to operate, but we look at the

one who's calling in front of us.

A lot of us love our spaces, so the Broad Rd. seems comfortable.

But I believe the narrow way is where we do community.

The narrow way is where we understand what suffering is.

The narrow way is where we seek provision and the lack.

The narrow way is where we see the supernatural work of God.

The narrow way is where we see gratitude move things mightily,

so much that it becomes a testimony.

So can we be set apart because of Jesus?

The second thing is we are set apart through Jesus, so no

longer do we have to go and offer sacrifices because the

high priest himself came down and lead his life for us.

We now are set apart through Jesus.

The fundamentals of Christian faith are in 2 aspects.

Let's read from Galatians chapter 2 verses 19 to 21.

Galatians 2:19–21

This is what it says. What actually took place is

this. I tried keeping rules and

working my head off to please God, and it didn't work.

So I quit being a lawman so that I could be God's man.

Christ's life showed me how and enabled me to do it, identified

myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified

with Christ. My ego is no longer central.

It's no longer important that I appear righteous before you or

have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God.

Christ lives in me. The life you'll see me living is

not mine, but it is lived by faith in the Son of God who

loved me and gave himself for me.

I'm not going to go back on that.

And the reason why I've chosen this passage are two things.

It says Christ lives in me. Christ showed me how and enabled

me to do it. So when you allow Jesus to work

in and through you and he sets it, we are set apart through

Jesus, we realize there's a cost involved.

It's not, you know, it's not a no cost thing that we get from

Jesus. There is a cost involved.

What does that cost? We see two things, two

fundamental things of our Christian faith as I mentioned

earlier, one His blood, The 2nd is resurrection His blood.

We understand that we are set apart through his blood.

So which means every time God causes us to set something

apart, it costs us. It costs God to lay down His

life. And so today when we set apart,

when we say God because of you, because of you working in

through me, because my ego is not in prayer and I'm wanting to

do what satisfies you and what you pleases you, it will cost

you. The second thing as a thing we

see is Jesus. Resurrection part is what we

see, one of the fundamentals of our Christian faith.

His resurrection part will work in and through us areas where we

thought we were weak. His resurrection power will come

and make us strong. Areas which we were struggling

to overcome. We will see His resurrection

power come and we will overcome that we will be dead to sin,

will be made alive in Christ. So no longer will be gratified.

Things that that we need, that I want that you know that works

well for me. No, we will start working and

doing things that will work well for Him.

And what will work well for Him is the The passage which Jesus

talks in the New Testament when He's here is if you love God,

you will love people. If you love God, you will love

His community. If you love Him, you will do

what He wants in the midst of the people that He's placed you.

A lot of times we come to a place of wanting everything done

for ourselves. But when we allow Jesus to be to

be working in and through us, one of the beautiful things

about working through us is he comes into us and he finds

another way to exit out, which means the word we received from

him walks in and it departs out of us so that it can bless

someone else. I believe That's how for me,

when I was writing this point, I was this reminded of the Marvel

character vision where he walks through doors, He doesn't break

the door, he just walks through it.

And I believe when we allow, when we set apart through

Christ, his word will work in US and it will go through us out so

that it blesses someone else. Because the evidence of that

will be seen in other people's life, the ego that Jesus Christ

is killing. And then through us, we the

people will start seeing it as His characteristics through our

lives. So today it will be no longer

that we live out of our old selfish needs, but will be

Christ who lives in US. Romans talks about this and it

says my old self has been crucified with Christ in verse

20. It's no longer I who live, but

Christ lives in me. I live in this earthly body by

trusting in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for

me. Verse 21.

I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless, for keeping the

law could make us right with God.

Then there was no need for Christ to die.

One of the beautiful examples we see of Jesus talking about the

standards that he came outside of the law.

When he started talking, he said, you know what?

You don't have to commit. Even if you look at a woman in a

lustful way, you've committed adultery.

He stepped up everything what the Lord demanded of us to a

place where we can't do it and we need him.

That's what we need to allow Jesus to work in and through us.

When we are set apart. He's working in and through us.

Our ego is getting killed. Our our our physical wants are

killing killed. We we start realizing God, I

have so many selfish motives. Everything gets killed and we

come and we are made alive in Christ.

In Romans we read it was his chapter 6 and it says in verse

10 when he died, he died once to break the power of sin, but now

that he lives, he lives for the glory of God.

So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the

power of sin and alive to God through Jesus Christ.

A lot of times we give sin extra power by declaring that it's

tough, by declaring that we are struggling.

It's difficult to give up. No, sin does not have the power

over us. Jesus has if we want to be set

apart by Jesus. So today I don't know what sin

that we all are going through. But will we come to Jesus and

say Jesus, you for once because of your precious blood defeated

sin, would you give me the power to overcome and he will come

through if we are set apart through him, we'll be dead to

sin. We'll be made alive through

Christ. We won't strive to bear his

fruit. We won't strive.

It'll be in our being, in us being who he's called us to be.

We will start bearing the fruit. That's what I said.

When he works through us, there are things that he kills that we

kind of like have made as idols in our life.

Oh, this is this the way I needed done my way.

He'd start making us look through his eyes when we read

people who encountered Jesus. They came for a miracle, but

they left back with salvation. They came and he often told them

sin no more because the healing that they received shouldn't

cause them to go and sin. The healing that they received

should be able to go back and say God saved me, so maybe not

take his grace for granted. His grace is sufficient.

His grace causes me to see another day.

His grace causes me to live in the purposes that he's called

me, to live out, but maybe not take it for granted.

I want to pray specifically for those who are struggling in sin,

who are like, you know what? I come to church on a Sunday,

but on a Monday, I'm back to just doing what sin requires me

to do. I pray for those of us who are

married. We'll keep our marriage beds

holy for those of us who are married, We'll keep our texts

holy for those of us who are married, we'll keep our eyes and

our hands holy. I pray for those who are single

that you will live out the lives that God's called you.

You don't have to test the surroundings and see if you know

which will work best for you. I love God to choose and He'll

bring the right person in. You are set apart through Jesus.

It's a daily submission issue. It's a daily submissive act of

going to Jesus and saying, Lord, I'm submitted to your will and

plan and purpose. I'm set apart for you, Lord, I

don't want to give my carnal my, my physical needs, my my earthly

desires, my selfishness. I don't want to feed that, but I

want to feed on you so that you can change me inside out.

The third thing is so we're set apart because of Jesus.

We're set apart through Jesus and we're set apart to remain in

Jesus. And so one of the things that

when we God sets us apart is so that we will remain in Him, We

read. In John chapter 15 verses 1 to

John 15:1–8

8, we read and there's this beautiful passage about Jesus

talking about the wine and we see how he talks that we have to

remain in him. The thing about remaining means

you stay over a period of time. And I wanted to read verse 5 and

this is what it says from 5 onwards.

Yes, I am the wine, you are the branches.

Those who remain in me and I in them will produce much fruit,

for apart from me you can do nothing.

Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless

branch and Withers. Such branches are gathered into

a pile to be burnt. But if you remain in Me and my

words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want and it

will be granted when you produce much fruit.

You are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my

Father. It's because we remain in Him,

we are able to bear much fruits. And mind you, remaining in Him

is a much longer time, and us bearing fruits is very seasonal.

We will need to remain in Him for the longest of our life so

that in seasons we are able to bear fruit.

We claim that we are set apart. How?

We probably have the band that you're wearing, or you've

probably got the tag that we have, or we have the calendar,

or we wear only Christian T-shirts, or we only buy from

Christian stores. No, you're set apart inside.

Are you remaining in him? A lot of us are remaining in

other things. A lot of us are remaining in the

company of our spouse so much. A lot of us are remaining in the

family name that we've inherited so much.

A lot of us are remaining in the bank balances and the things

that we need to pursue on. Jesus clearly says if you're

going to be set apart from by me, you can only serve two.

You can only, You can't serve 2 masters.

You can only serve one master. You soon have to make a decision

who you're going to serve today. Are you serving Jesus or are you

serving money? Because money will cause you to

make compromise on areas so that Jesus becomes secondary things

which are important you will diminishing you know what I

don't know? The time you will justify

yourselves, and sooner or later you'll start believing that when

we remain in Him, he wants us to be an extension of His hands and

feet. And I don't know why, but from

the from December of last year, God's been emphasizing this

Word, His extension of His hands and feet.

Today the world needs His extension of His hands and feet.

And we as a church are very limited.

You as individuals are an extension in every area.

It might be like you're the only Christian in your apartment or

the only Christian in your Bay at the office cubicle.

B is extension that bring hope, bring joy.

When you set apart and you're called to remain in Jesus.

Even if that increment doesn't come, your joy is complete

because you know Jesus takes care of my tomorrow.

Jesus will meet all my need. My boss is not the one who

actually determines it. Jesus allows my heart to be

filled with gratitude. Today a lot of us are pursuing

but when we pursue, let's remember Jesus has the final

say. He can either allow me to have

it or he'll allow make sure that I don't have it.

Matthew 10 verse one it says Jesus called his 12 disciples

together and he gave them authority to cast out evil

spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness.

And the reason I have taken that is when he called the 12, he

gave them authority. It says when we remain in Him,

we have authority. When we remain in Him, we have

His power. When we remain in Him, we are

able to claim His promises. When we remain in Him, we

realize our hands and feet are anointed.

So when we pray, it says that two or three are gathered.

He's there. And that's why prayer is

important. That's why the prayer of the

Saints is important, and I am believing that this year will be

a year of supernatural miracles. When we are set apart, when we

we remain in Him, it won't happen in like how we feel like

with all the fanfare. Know it'll happen in the

quietness when someone is next to you and being vulnerable and

is saying you know what? This is what I'm going through

and you don't have words. You don't have a life experience

to you, but you have only Jesus because you're remaining in Him.

When you start praying, you will see miracles happen.

They will go up with the confidence of Jesus.

They will operate with the joy of the Lord.

They will see the breakthrough happen because of Jesus.

Are we in it for the long haul? Because to remain in Him is the

most important thing. You know, you can't dilute.

You can't have a section. The one thing about Christian

life is you can't compartmentalize.

Your work, your family, my faith.

No, everything is intertwined. Your faith has to go in

alignment with your work. Your faith has to go in

alignment with your family. Lot of times we feel you know

what? We can compartmentalize it.

I can tell a couple of white lies.

You know, I can fight something here.

No one. It's not going to happen.

Because anyway I'm giving my tithes to God.

No, you're dishonouring God. Take your faith in stand up for

what is right. Choose.

A lot of times we compromise because of the position that's

been offered, because of the package that we have.

God's calling us to sneeze, set apart so we can remain in Him as

much as we remain in the world. We are called not to be of the

world. So even as I said these three

things, there's a call for us. A call for us is to take put

things into action. What is a call for us?

A call for us. The first thing is to build deep

foundations. One of the things that following

Jesus is you have to build deep foundations.

If you come only on a Christmas, New Year and Easter, you're a

shallow Christian. There's nothing that's going to

set you apart. There's nothing that's going on.

Keep you in the center of his bill.

It's only when you allow Jesus to be part and parcel of your

life every day, every hour, every minute, is when you will

be able to build deep foundations.

And a lot of us are in this foundation stage.

We are wanting to build a structure so that we'll be seen

as established, We'll be seen as doing well.

We'll be seen as, you know what, We've got it all together.

We'll be seen as, oh, OK, they're a happy couple or we'll

be seen as, oh, they're good people.

God doesn't care if you're good. God doesn't care if you're

happy. God wants us to have deep

foundations. He wants us to enjoy His joy,

the joy that comes only from him.

The more I talk about that, I realize that's the strength that

God gives, the strength that God gives to wake up every day and

to say the joy of the Lord is my strength.

So let's see from Matthew, chapter 6.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

A lot of us know this story. For those of us who've been in

Sunday school, anyone listens to my teaching and follows.

It is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock,

Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters

rise and the winds beat against the house.

It won't collapse because it's built on the bedrock.

But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish.

Like a person who builds a house on sand.

When the rain and the floods come and the winds beat against

that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.

Whatever storms come away, if you're not set apart because of

Jesus, if you're not set apart through Jesus, and if we do not

set apart and if you're not remaining in Jesus, what will

happen is when storms come, storms will come for everyone.

No one is devoid of storms. Sickness will come.

Financial crunches will come. Relationship issues will come.

Family struggles will come. Marital, You know, Ego clashes

will come. But if our anchor, if our

foundation isn't Jesus, if our foundation is in his word, if

we've developed this constant communication with Him, of

listening to Him, to waiting on him, we will realize that those

storms will go past. A lot of us are happy when

things are, you know, normal. But God's saying that's not

life, that's not life. And the disciples had to be in

the midst of a soft to know that only Jesus can calm the storm.

One of my friends who I studied along was a worship leader.

Name is Sarah says this, she says this.

To see a miracle you need to be in a place where you're in need

of a miracle. That's why I said the joy of the

Lord has to be us. 10 So when the Pharisees constantly

bombarded Jesus, he pushed them saying you are in the outwardly

trying to please people in the giving.

He came and put a bag of offering, whereas there was a

person, a widow, who just came and put the two last coins that

she had. When you fast, Jesus said you go

and fast how? Where you make a big show of it.

But when a personal sin comes, he says, God, I'm not worthy to

be here. Deep foundations go and allow us

to have deeper, intimate relationship with Jesus.

God wants us to have those deep foundations so that when trouble

comes, when when hardships come, we don't, we don't shake.

You know, this December with the floods happening in our city,

water came into our ground floor and you know, I met a person and

he said, you know what, I don't, I can't believe you know how

you, how you guys manage this. Honestly, for me, at the end of

it, when I looked at that entire situation, more than the house,

I had to be there for the community, with the community

people because we had to make sure certain things were done.

Self preservation does not really help, and many a times

that's where the goodness of people is.

You don't have to actually be a Christ follower to talk about to

help people around. People who do not even follow

Christ are helping each other out.

But today what happens when the lives biggest storms come?

When you're When your wife gets rolled in and you're thinking,

God, what is my future going to be?

When you suddenly are sitting with a report and you don't know

what to do. When suddenly you've brought up

your kids so well. But then when they go out, they

see the world and they are enticed by the world and they

fall for it and they are stuck in in a cycle of addiction.

Your foundations have to be strong because you cannot

crumble. You have to withstand the storm.

And that happens when we're set apart by Jesus.

He works in our deep foundations.

When I serve, am I looking so that I'll get some praise?

Or am I doing it because Jesus asks for me to do it and I love

serving Him? Let's not live for the crowd.

Let's not live for the superficial.

Let's not live for watchful eyes.

But a call to live is for Jesus alone, with deep foundations in

His word, in His presence in Him.

The second thing the call for us to live in the wholeness of his

word. A lot of us today as Christians,

when you're set apart by Jesus, are trying to live in the

technicality of his scripture. Oh, Jesus won't mind if I if I

do this because this is what the Scripture says, you know.

And for that they're willing to go and do a deeper study.

Trust the world in its, trust the world in its entirety.

One of the beautiful things that Paul goes on to tell is that

don't be a stumbling block. And what he means is he says is

your love for your brother far bigger that you're willing to

give up certain comfort for yourself.

I constantly tell people around me, will we be OK to order veg

food because two people are there veg And can we sacrifice a

meal of not eating non veg just for the sake of them?

It starts with small things like that, it starts with small

things like that, and it moves on to bigger decisions that we

take, bigger decisions that we think.

You know what, culturally it's accepted there and this week we

can justify. But what is God calling you to

be set apart it Because when he called you to be set apart, you

will not rely on the technicality of the scripture.

You'll rely on the wholeness of His word.

A lot of false teachers today are going in the technicality of

His word. They're going in the

technicality of His word and are making sure that they take

along. Many people read the scripture

for what it is read for its intended meaning.

When you read a scripture, even if you don't agree with what the

scripture says, that's where you're allowing Jesus to set you

apart through His word. His word will move through you.

It will bombard the very thing that you think you have to be.

Because culturally that what demands today we see what is it

that he's asking you to live in the wholeness of the Scripture

he's saying. It has to produce faith.

When we live in the wholeness of Jesus, what it has to produce

faith. We are not here for just the

prosperity gospel. We're just not here to say you

know what, the Bible causes us to be prosperous.

So I'll do the Jabis Prayer. I'll do that.

All that is good. But there's also a point when we

are called to see that our Christian life will be entailed

with suffering, will be entailed with hardships, because that's

where our foundations matter. That's where we will.

When we are seeing the wholeness, we see a God is a God

of wholeness, not part. So don't believe in a part

scripture. A lot of them are like, you know

what we are? We want to experience the gold

dust. But the truth is, Christian life

is going to be marked with persecution.

A lot of us are thinking, you know what We Because we are

following Jesus, we shouldn't fall sick.

We shouldn't do that. We will fall sick and our trust

will be in Jesus. When we close eyes here on

earth, we will open and we will see him face to face.

Don't believe part scripture. Believe the whole of Scripture.

In James, chapter one verses 5 we read Let anyone who asks

wisdom, let him ask. But in verse six and eight it

gives caution. This is what it says when you

ask him. Be sure that your faith is in

God alone. Do not waver for a person who

with divided loyalties, as unsettled as a wave of sea that

is blown and crossed by the wind.

Such people should not expect to receive anything from the world.

Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are

unstable and everything that they do.

The more I see a lot of people who are misleading other people

in these technicalities, they're doing it for their own ego.

They're doing it so that they alone will be made famous.

They're knowing it because if they do something like that is

when people will talk about it. There'll be a hype around them.

Move away from that and believe the whole scripture as it is.

The whole scripture causes us to have a faith in God alone and no

one else. And you might say, you know

what? They're doing miracles.

They're doing signs, wonders. The Bible clearly says Even the

false prophets and the people who don't who worship other

things, can do those things. Read His word.

We are living in the last days. This year is going to be a year

where we are going to go deeper into seeing who Jesus wants us

to be in this world. We are going to be real

Christians. What does that mean?

That we believe the whole scripture where we just don't

live as meek Christians. We live in the authority that

He's given us. Wherein when I come to church on

a Sunday, I've been meditating this entire week.

And when I hear Thy worship, when I hear the word, it's a

confirmation of what I've been hearing from God.

That is how we should be living. We come expectant into the House

of God. We don't come absent minded into

the House of God. We come expectant into the House

of God so that we'll have a confirmation that this is what

God is doing. In and through my life, we live

under the authority of Jesus. The evidence of our faith comes

because we know that Jesus operated out of authority here

on this earth. He operated under authority.

He was under the authority of the Father, and that's why

miracles after miracles happened.

And we have to experience that in our own lives.

We need to be under his authority.

A lot of us are wanting to be under that authority of a pastor

or of a prophet, of an evangelist, be under the

authority of Jesus in his right time.

It'll work, you know. And even as I was talking to our

team, I was challenging them, saying that you know what the

century lived knowing the authority of Jesus, so that when

he came to him, he didn't expect him to come home.

He just said, Jesus say the word, we will move into that

supernatural where we'll be able to say Jesus.

The authority that you've placed over my life is because I am in

submission to your will. And if this is under your will,

may we see it happen. Lord, may we see healings happen

because we believe in the wholeness of the Scripture.

And even if we don't see it, and if you marked it for us to go

through this, we will go through it joyfully, because you will

give us the strength. That is what it is to live under

the authority. Under authority means we live in

a way of submission where we say, God, let not my will, but

your will be done. Lord, let not my plans, but your

plans be fulfilled through my life.

Lord, let not my ambition but your purposes be made complete.

Lord, let not my Kingdom, but your Kingdom be established here

on this earth. The third thing which I want us

to talk about is the call is to bear fruit and flourish as it

I've been reading this particular Psalm time and again,

and this is what it says. Psalm 92 versus 12 to 15.

But the godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like

the Cedars of Lebanon, for they are transplanted to the Lord's

own house. They flourish in the courts of

our God. Even in old days they will still

produce fruit. They will remain whiteland

green. They will declare the Lord is

just. He is my rock.

There is no evil in him. When Jesus is Lord and Saviour

of our life, He sets us apart inside and the evidence of it is

seen in the outside. A lot of us want to see the

evidence in the outside without allowing him to do the work in

the inside. What does?

What does that look like? What does that look like?

It looks like they've lasted through seasons.

It looks like they've lasted through different life, stages

of life. You know even as you see this

picture, you will see this picture of a dear uncle who

happens to be visiting our home for the last 16 years.

His name is Jason uncle and I don't know that uncle.

I got to know that uncle through my wife's family and through my

wife. And she told me stories after

stories of how he in fact came to our wedding and he was one of

the pastors was seated there during the solemnization.

And one of the beautiful things that we've I personally that we

have seen. And so this pastor happens to be

Tina's grandfather's friend. And so he's continued to just

come into our life for the last 16 years, every birthday of

every one of us, in the five in the five of us.

And in our wedding anniversary comes so many prays.

And one of the things that I've seen that's so evident in his

life is the fact that he's set apart inside and it's evident in

the outside. You know, one of the ways in

which he goes around is wearing the the dress of a priest.

But when he talks in the last 16 years, he shared so many things

with us. He encouraged us when we had to

start the church. He prayed with us when we had to

find a place for a church and two years back he lost his wife.

I remember when he came to pray for our wedding anniversary, he

was seated and he was crying that he was missing his wife.

That is what it means to bear fruit and flourish as a tree.

That is what it means to have a visible sign of God leading you

into old days in fullness. That is what he you know, it was

beautiful. He, he he talked of how they

both have been married, at least probably over like 50 years of

marriage. And he talks of how his wife

prepared him for her death. He talked of how he constantly

encourages us of how to run things as a family.

He encourages us of how to lead our home, of how to deal with

our kids, of how to pray for our kids, of how to pace ourselves

in ministry. And the beautiful thing that

I've seen is that he's been through different seasons and

he's lasted. And so today, as I finish this,

God wants us to last through every season.

He doesn't want us to have a premature death.

He sin will causes us to have that with with us, not willing

to live the life that we've called and taking on more than

what we can. We won't enjoy the life that God

wants us to enjoy. So today, even as I close, I

just want to come back to those points as we talked about, will

we be set apart first because of Jesus?

Will we be set apart through Jesus?

Because that is a very painful process and we choose to be set

apart and remain in Jesus. The call is to build deep

foundations so that we will last whatever comes in our life for

His glory. The call is to live the

wholeness of His word, that we won't just live for the watchful

eyes of this world, but we will live to please our audience of

one. And the call is to bear fruit

and flourish as a tree. One of the things it says in

this verse is you can be cross planted and you will survive, he

says You'll be planted across different places and it says

that you will still bear fruit. They'll be transplanted to the

Lord's own house. They will flourish in the court

of our God, which requires us to stay.

A lot of us today are struggling to be planted.

I would encourage you, for those of you listening, be planted in

one church, be planted in a group of believers, Be planted

in His Word. Be planted in Jesus every day so

that you will last. You will run the race and you

will finish well. God's calling us to be faithful

people of His Kingdom. He doesn't want us to be famous

people. He's saying good and faithful

stewards, good and faithful servants.

And so today, Church, I want to encourage you that this journey

that you're called to live is one of set being set apart for

Jesus. And in that, may we be

intentional. May we not take His grace for

granted. And may we live the life that is

called to its fullest, flourishing remaining so that

we'll be a blessing wherever He's taking us.

So can we just commit this word into God's hand, that it will

bear much fruit in our own lives?

Our loving Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you, Lord, for

this time, even as we heard your word.

Lord Jesus, I just want to give you the glory and honor.

Lord, we pray that Lord, we thank you that you came down to

this world. You obeyed the Father.

You died for us, Lord Jesus, and because of you we can see

another day. Because of you, we can live to

see your goodness. Because of you, we can see you

clearly. Lord Jesus, in our lives.

And I pray, Lord, we wouldn't take the day that we accepted

you into our heart for granted. I pray, Lord, we are sorry if

you've cheapened your grace lot, but I pray, would you work in

and through our hearts? Would you work in and through

our lives? Lord, we want you to be Lord and

Savior of our lives. I pray we set apart because of

you, Lord, because of you. Jesus Christ was the true and

living God. We'll be set apart because we

want you to work in and through US.

Lord, only you can work, Lord no one else.

You say, Behold, I'm standing at the door and knocking me.

Allow you to come in but and help us to remain in You, Lord,

that we won't have our eyes in other people's, in other areas

and other things, but you'll have our eyes and you will be

content remaining in you. Lord Jesus, go before us.

Take charge. I pray you will strengthen each

and every one of us. Lord.

I pray especially as we step out this week, that Lord, we will

learn to enjoy your presence. The joy of the Lord will become

our strength for those who need new mercy every morning, all of

us needed. I pray specifically for those

who are not asking for it. Would you come down and give

them that new mercy? Lord Jesus, go before us.

Bless the food and water of our home.

I pray we will be your salt and your light in this world.

We will lead many to follow you. Lord, go before us and

strengthen us. In your most holy name we pray.

Amen. Amen.

I pray and charge you that even as you go out, you will live the

call that God's called us to do. The call is simple.

The call is to bear fruit and flourish as a tree.

The call is to build deep foundations, and the call is to

believe and live out the wholeness of His word.

I pray that we will always look for Jesus to mould us and shape

us wholly and not partly. I pray that you have a blessed

week. I pray especially that even as

you step out, you will be marked by him once and for all, that

you won't allow sin to have power for you, but you allow

Jesus to have the final say in real life.

God bless you all. Thanks for listening to this

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Remember, whoever finds Jesus finds life.