Ambassadors for Christ (Part 1)

Welcome to NECF sermons. Each message here is

designed to uplift and strengthen you in your

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

the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive

right in. Thank you so much, choir. I think this...

There's a line that is worth mentioning or worth

repeating. I know someone needs to hear this.

The line of the song that's stuck says, But no

evil can stand the power of God. No evil can

stand the power of God. No evil can stand the

power of God. There is no mountain too high.

There's no challenge too difficult. Sickness

can be evil. And the power of God is able to

bring about healing, bring about restoration.

The power of God is available to do. The power

of God is available to restore. The power of

God is available to heal. I know that someone

needs to hear this. Someone needs to be reminded

of this singular fact. That no one can stand

against the power. No evil can stand against

the power of God. Father, we thank you. We thank

you for your power. We thank you for your power

to save. We thank you for your power to heal.

We thank you for your power to deliver. We thank

you for your power to restore. We thank you for

your power to result in fruitfulness and increase

and growth. Your power that is able to cause

us to understand your word. We thank you for

your power that is able to transform our lives.

transform our lives, transform our lives, that

people will behold the glory. People will behold

the lifter of our head. People will behold the

one who was and who is to come, made manifest

in our lives. People will see the manifestation.

People will see the greater. People will see

the greater. People will see the greater. People

will see the greater. Father, we thank you. In

the mighty name of Jesus, amen and amen. So we're

going to be looking at something. We're going

to be starting off something new today and then

we'll pause on Wednesday. So we're going to be

looking at ambassadors for Christ, ambassadors

for Christ or Christ ambassadors, ambassadors

for Christ. And one very key thing that we want

to... What this will be bringing to our attention

is our identity. And many a times God's word

communicates to us our identity as believers.

And because we have other things that seems to

be louder, we tend to get distracted or tend

to lose sight of our identity. And what this

will be doing to us will be reminding us so that

we go through life. Anywhere we find ourselves,

we are reminded of who we are in Christ, what

we carry, what we have. And we have a lot to

give. We have a lot to give. We have a lot to

give. And what this is going to bring into our

attention is just a reminder and to help us.

And we're going to go to the place where we will

see our responsibility. Because with every identity,

there is a responsibility. Because every one

of us here is identified by something. And that

communicates the function, that communicates

the responsibility that we have. So I want us

to just look at Corinthians. Let's just start

with Corinthians, where we take this from. 2

Corinthians 5 .20. I want to first read it to

us from the NLT. 2 Corinthians 5 .20. It says,

so we are Christ's ambassadors. God is making

his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when

we plead, come back to God. I want us to read

it also in the New King James. It says, now then,

we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God

were pleading through us. We implore you, on

Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. Be reconciled

to God. And Apostle Paul writes in this, and

I want us to note in starting that that word,

ambassador, appears twice. Apostle Paul uses

it here, and also uses it in his letter to the

church in Ephesus, that is in Ephesians 6 .20.

And he says in Ephesians 6 .24, which I am an

ambassador in chains, that in it I may speak

boldly as I ought to speak, that I may speak

boldly as I ought to speak. And just very recently,

our lead pastor had taught us on the words of

faith. And the takeaway, if you can't remember

anything, is the encouragement to speak, to speak.

to speak to circumstances, to speak to situations,

and to speak your identity as well. Praise God.

Speak your identity because sometimes we forget.

So we need to be reminded and speak our identity.

And we see Apostle Paul here saying, I am an

ambassador. I am an ambassador. Yes, in change,

but I'm still an ambassador. This is why I was

saying, you see, there are chains, right? There

are curses. But no evil can stand the power of

God. He knows that the power of God that saved

him is the power of God that has made him what

he is that cannot be taken away from him. He

reminds or he proclaims this. He speaks it. He

doesn't keep it in his mind. He opens his mouth

and speaks and he says he wants to always be

bold about that which he's called to proclaim.

Praise God. And we want to look at the privilege

because notice that when Apostle Paul is writing

in Corinthians, right? In Corinthians 5 .20.

He's using that word ambassador, which is a position.

And it's a position that we know to be earthly.

Right? He uses that to illustrate something.

He uses it to illustrate the importance, the

privilege. Because it's an immense privilege

to be an ambassador of your country in another

country. Praise God. It's a privilege. I don't

know whether there is anyone that is a government

ambassador in the house, but I know that it's

also a divine privilege for us to be ambassadors

for Christ. Praise God. And I want you to imagine,

you know, most of the times when we imagine ourselves

in situation, it paints a better picture. I want

us to imagine yourself being appointed because...

The position of an ambassador is an appointment,

right? The government, you're representing the

president of the country, you're representing

the country in a different country, praise God.

And it's an appointment that is given to you,

and it's an appointment that you know that it's

of high importance, praise God. It's of high

importance because what you're doing there is

that you're not representing yourself, you're

representing the country in... the foreign country.

You represent your country in a foreign country.

And you want to understand that there's a unique

tax. It comes with a responsibility. It comes

with a great responsibility because you're not

standing in for yourself. You have every wonderful

ideas. You have all the thoughts. All the different

things can run to your mind. But you know that

the one thing before you is the country that

you represent. The nation that you are representing

in that country. And we have other... Forms of

ambassadors, like a brand ambassador, someone

that will say, okay, I'm representing this brand.

And we know that it's not a small, it's not something

that everybody has. It's something that is select.

You get recognized because of some things you

have done, and then you are appointed to represent

in that sense, represent companies, represent

a nation. So there are different forms, but we

understand that this position, to repeat myself

again, comes with a lot of responsibility. You

don't appoint a lazy person as an ambassador

to represent the country. What you are going

to have is someone that is not functional. Someone

that's not functional, someone that's not carrying

out their responsibilities effectively. And as

I said earlier, we said an ambassador is a political

appointment by the government. And the president,

and he can represent the king as well, if it

depends on the nation. And this representation

happens in a foreign land. This representation

happens in a foreign land. And the ambassador

is referred to as a minister of a highest rank.

Because in that particular country, that foreign

country where he's representing, he owns the

highest rank amongst the people from that nation.

He's like a president. He has that level of,

because it's no small feat to be an ambassador.

And as I said earlier, Apostle Paul uses this

very important position or this well -known or

well -respected position to communicate something.

And in this case, he's communicating the calling

from God. He's communicating our calling from

God. He says, we are, praise God. He didn't,

like in Ephesians, he didn't say, I am. Right?

He's talking to people. He says, we are. I want

you to say this. Say, I am an ambassador. I can't

hear us. I am an ambassador for Christ. Say it

again. I am an ambassador for Christ. And the

ambassador, the word ambassador is translated,

it has a root word. In the Greek, it's called

presbyter. That's P -E -S -B -Y -T -E -R. That's

not the word for ambassador. The word for ambassador

is P -E -S -B -E -U -O. Presbyter. And then the

presbyter. And the root word... itself is used

to describe church leaders and elder church leader

is used to describe an elder church leader but

we know that it's actually whether it represents

or it recognizes a leadership role in a church

or not but one very key thing that we see from

the original word itself is the fact that every

one of us here might not be a church leader but

we are ambassadors for christ Praise God. We

might not be a church leader yet, but we are

ambassadors for Christ, and it's an extraordinary

privilege. It's an extraordinary privilege that

comes with the responsibility of representing

Christ, of representing God, and we're doing

it to the world. We're doing it to the earth

that we are part of. Praise God. We're doing

it to the earth that we belong. Jesus communicates

that the way the world runs their own ambassadorship

is different from the way the kingdom of God

runs its own ambassadorship. And Jesus Christ

does this very beautifully in something we're

going to look at in Matthew 20. I want us to

look at Matthew 20, and we might dwell here for

a while, because I want us to see the principles

that Jesus Christ communicates in a way to explain

to his disciples how... The worldly system is

different from the system of the kingdom. Praise

God. We're going to look at 25. Matthew 20, 25.

I'll just read it to us. And I will use, I love

the NLT. It says, but Jesus called them together

and said, and let me just give us a background

to what has happened so that we can better flow

with our understanding of what is happening here.

The context of this conversation or the context

of what he's about to say to his disciples was

in the light of a mother coming to make a request

for two of her sons that happens to be the disciples

of Jesus Christ. And the mother's plea is that

her children be granted a position, a great position,

a position better than the rest of the other

disciples. In other words, to be placed in a

position of greater power and authority. And

if you were to look at it in a school setting,

I don't know what it would be like. You're coming

and saying, telling the principal of the school,

can my child be the head boy and my other child

be the labor prefect? You know, labor prefect

is, you know, you exercise a little bit more

when you're a labor prefect, if you're from where

I'm from. Labor prefect commands and controls

certain things. He has more, I don't know, but

they are boys, so head boy and then labor prefect.

Or, in a sense, if it was a political position,

if one can be the vice president, the other person

be the senate president, it would be a good thing

because it's a position and it's a position that

every... parent will want their children to attain.

Every parent wants the best for their children.

And in a bid to want the best for their children,

they'll go out of their way, regardless of what

it will cost them, to show up and make a plea.

If it will help advance their children in a bid.

So, and this did not sit well with the ten others.

Because I can imagine that they heard about it

and they were concerned. So these boys want to

go, they went behind our back. And then they

went and invited their mother to come and make

a plea on their behalf. They couldn't say it

themselves or they wanted it to carry some weight

coming from their mom. And it didn't sit well.

And I want us to see something because this situation

was about to or was going to cause a bit of division

amongst the disciples. And it's a very important

situation that needs addressing. the light of

all of this, I want us to see certain things.

We're going to look at the motivation, right?

The motivation, we're going to look at the message

that Jesus communicates, and we're going to look

at the means by which he communicates that message.

I want you to remember or write down these three

things. The motivation, which is, we all know

the selfish ambition of the two of them wanting

to be ahead. So we're going to look at the motivation,

and we're going to see. Why? What is the motivation?

The motivation basically is the why around it.

We're going to now look at the second thing,

which is what? Huh? The message, right? We're

going to look at the message, which is the what?

Because what is being communicated? What is the

message? What is the message? And then the last

one, which is the what? Are we following? It

looks like the people that are following me are

here. The people in the middle are somewhere.

Are we sleeping? Praise God. What is it? The

means, right? The means. And the means is the

how. Means is the how. And Jesus did not just

leave them with the means. He models that means.

I'm just giving us a bit of a taste to see what

Jesus Christ actually is doing here. It says

in 25, it says, but Jesus called them together

and said, you know that the rulers in this world

lorded over their people. How many of us can

see the way the world does this? The way the

world does their own is that they lord it over.

They lord it over. They use the position, the

privilege, the responsibility that they have

to lead the people, but they take advantage of

it and lord it over the people. And officials

flaunt their authority over those under them.

So they show. because they have attained the

high that other people are not privileged to

attain, rather than use it for the good of the

people, they use it to show, they use it to oppress

other people. And he says, this is what the world

does. This is why some people might be motivated

to get certain position. You know, if you've

been in, if you finished, I think college, secondary

school, you know, The preferred position or the

position of authority makes some people show

themselves in ways that you never knew. The boy

was quiet, but all of a sudden, he wants to be

screaming and commanding everybody to come. You

know, in our, I think people from around, do

you understand what I mean? Say, one boy, then

you just see like everybody's running, running

to come because you know, if you're the last

person, you'll get some whippings. And it's almost

like an individual that was very calm, like you're

getting, all of a sudden changes. Because power

position has a way of revealing the true nature

or character of people. Praise God. So Jesus

Christ is saying this is very different. The

way the kingdom of God runs is very different

from the kingdom of this world. 26 now says,

he says, but among you, it will be different.

Say, amongst us, it's different. Amongst us,

it is different. So Jesus says, but, and but

is a contrast. We saw that in the song. Say,

there are chains, there are curses, but no evil

can stand the power of God. When you say but,

it's contrasting word, the worldly system, and

the system of the kingdom. He now says something

very important. Please, let's pay close attention

to what he says after the difference. He says,

whoever wants to be a leader, NLT uses a leader.

New King James uses great. Praise God. Great.

So remember, the mother is looking for a great

position, a position that is above. the rest

for her children. It says, whoever wants to be

a leader or wants to be great among you must

be a servant. Must be a servant. And that should

be like, you know, if you are thinking that this

is going to, this is what is in it for me. You're

already calculating your benefits and then all

of a sudden you realize that, ah, servant. The

new King James uses the word, not the new King

James, now the King James. uses the word for

servant, minister. Use the word minister. I think

we can put it here. Thank you. Use the word minister.

Use the word minister. Use the word minister

at the end. Like where it uses servants, they

use the word minister. Whoever wants to be a

minister among you. So it says, and whoever,

go back to the NLT, it says, and whoever wants

to be first among you must become. Your slave.

Must become your slave. 28 now says, For even

the Son of Man came not to be served, but to

serve others and to give his life as a ransom

for many. Very important. Even the Son of Man,

that is the one speaking, says, came not to be

served, but to serve others and give his life

as a ransom for many. So I want us to look at

this even further. Watch how Jesus diffuses the

situation. He shifts their mind from what it

entails. to be what it is in the world and brings

the attention to what it entails in the kingdom

of God. And for many of us, there are many things

that you think, or there are many positions that

we're aspiring to. But when it comes, when you

bring that thing in the light of what God's word

says, which is what I was communicating when

I said, your identity in the light of God's word

causes a shift in perspective. You see things

very differently when you look at it through

the lens of God's word. Because if you have been

paying attention to what is going around the

world, you will know that the word of God is

very much anti the ideas, ideologies, and systems

that the world has around us. So he tells them

that in this kingdom, the way it works is very

different from the way it works. When you decide

to take a position there, praise God. And it's

humbling because you're expecting to be a leader,

but also you're reminded that you're a servant,

that you're going to be a servant. I actually,

preparing this, I actually read this in Pidgin

English. I think there's a Nigerian Pidgin Bible.

How many of us have... have seen or read the

Nigerian Pigeon Bible. None. You can go read

this passage in the Nigerian Pigeon Bible. And

it's, it's, it, it was, it's, it, you know, if

you know pigeon, it gives, it hits differently.

Even though when I was growing up, I think I

was sharing, I think very recently, I said, when

I was growing up, my, we grew up in like a setting

where you have kids in a compound and growing

up, you know, kids just speak everything everybody

speaks. So one time my father got back home and

then we spoke pidgin. We just said to ourselves,

daddy don't come, daddy don't come, may we go

welcome him. My dad heard and came and said,

what was that? We don't know the difference between

clear English and pidgin. We repeated ourselves

a lot slower. Daddy don't come, daddy don't come,

may we go welcome him. And then he says, none

of you should speak pidgin in this house. So

after that day, we said, what? why are we then

going to speak Pidgin? So now I want to say words

because it contains English and then you have

to say it. So you have to say it in such a way.

Instead of I day, you have to say I am. You have

to correct yourself so that you don't sound Pidgin

to the hearing of your dad. So it was very funny

because I didn't speak Pidgin growing up. And

then when I went to the university, it was very

different because now in university, people will

be speaking Pidgin and then you come and be speaking

English. They'll say, who are you? We're in a

university for crying out loud. We understand

English. Can you please not ruin this conversation

that is going on now by returning back to the

language that we're trying to communicate in?

So in Pidgin, I rephrase it, not exactly as it

is in the Nigerian Pidgin Bible. I rephrase it

that that statement Jesus made of, if you want

to be a leader, if you want to be a leader amongst

you, you must, You must be a servant, right?

You must be a servant. I rephrase it in something

that goes like this in Pigeon. If you want to

lead people, you want to lead people, you guys

walk. Means that you have to walk. You have to

put in mind that there's going to be work if

you really want to lead. If that is what is at

the back of your mind, there will not be any

issues. There will not be any problem. There

will not be any misplacement of priorities. Everything

is going to be in order. Because everyone that

is leading is leading with this mentality that

I'm a leader, but I'm a leader that is, I'm a

servant, servant leader. I'm someone that understands

that first and foremost, my service is to the

people, right? My service is to God first and

foremost, because you're in the kingdom of God.

Your ultimate goal is to please God and then

his people. Praise God. And then his people.

And your actions. or the way you go about it

will reflect who you truly are serving. Because

some of us will say, yeah, I'm serving the Lord,

but your actions betray you. Your actions are

not consistent, or as that Pasadena, the word

that the Pasadena Corinthians will use is, your

actions don't reconcile with your words. Your

actions don't reconcile with your words. So most

people will fight for that position. And I can

imagine that the fight will lessen when you understand

that it's going to be work all the way. And when

someone is fighting for something, that they

know that the responsibility that comes with

it is a lot. It changes everything. Praise God.

And I want to bring our attention to the importance

of this responsibility. And that's what Jesus

does. And as I said earlier, you want to pay

attention to... The motivation. As I said, the

motivation for them will have come from a place

of selfish ambition. Wanting to have something

for themselves. Wanting to make a name for themselves.

Wanting to be the ones that look at us. We are

the brothers and we are the top. And that will

be the motivation. And then we see how Jesus

uses the message of the fact that a leader will

have to be a servant. If he wants to lead, He

knows that he has to serve. He knows that it's

the responsibility that comes with the leadership.

And in the kingdom, with every ability, with

every power, all of those things that were given,

every God -given ability, every ability scattered

all through scripture, every ability God gives

you is for service. Every ability that God gives

you is for service. Spiritual gifts is for all

the benefit of all. When he says, oh, you have

the power, you receive power, you are weaknesses,

you are receiving anything you're receiving is

for service to others. It's for service to others.

And that is humbling. That keeps you at a place

that reminds you, that brings your attention

to the fact that it's not about the title. It's

not about the position. It's about the function.

It's about the responsibility that you have in

God to do the work. And we do the work with joy.

We do the work with joy. And Jesus doesn't tell

them about it. He shows them. He models to them.

He shows them the means by which this happens.

He showed them the means by which. He looks at

them and he tells them, say, for even the Son

of Man, speaking to them, came not to be served,

but to serve others and to give his life as a

ransom for many. We see a sacrificial service.

He models sacrifice to them. He models sacrifice

to them. The reason for this is for many. We

say that service is for others. The service is

for the benefits of others. And in this season,

where we're looking at greater works, greater

works will happen when every one of us takes

on the mindset of selfless service. Not selfish

service. Selfless service. When everyone of us

is conscious that our service is for the betterment

of the next person. Our service is for the betterment

of my brother. The service is for the betterment

of my sister. The service is for the betterment

of the church. The service is for the betterment

of anyone or anywhere I find myself. So even

the service, as we're going to see later on as

we go, when we are preaching the gospel, because

basically that is what is... Where's the word

of service? When we're preaching the gospel,

you're preaching the gospel so that the other

person will be saved, right? For their betterment.

For their betterment. And Jesus Christ in this

passage presents to us a master class in diffusing

a situation that can be or that can result in

some form of division, right? Because now everybody

knows that this thing that you're fighting is

work you're going to end up doing. And then now

if you're not interested, you're not interested.

But if you're interested, you have your motivation

in check. Your motivation will be in the right

place. Your motivation will not be selfish. Your

motivation now will be selfless. Praise God.

You will see a shift. And I want us to please

not forget the three things I mentioned because

we'll see them again as regards to 2 Corinthians

5. We'll see them again as regards to 2 Corinthians

5. And notice something. We said, We'll see that

the word minister, and that is scattered through

scripture. The word minister, which appears there

as well. The word minister is the Greek word

diakonos. The word minister is the Greek word

diakonos, which implies a servant or someone

who serves or to serve with another. It implies

a servant or someone, diakonos, let me spell

it to us, is D -I -A. K -O -N -O -S. D -I -A

-K -O -N -O -S. So, it implies a servant or someone

who serves or to serve with another. So, and

this word is also used for deacon. It's also

the word used for the word deacon. When you look

at your, I think for some of us, if you're not

familiar with the Blue Letter Bible. The Blue

Letter Bible is an application that helps you

to be able to have access to the interlinear

and see the words in either Hebrew or Greek.

So, and it's an app. When we say Blue Letter

Bible, it's not a hard to copy Bible. It's mostly

soft and it's online. It's an online application

that helps you do that. And you have other applications

such as the Bible Hub and even the paid version,

which is Logos. So, why? does this? Or the second

piece we're going to be looking at is, why do

we have an important, why is this an important

job? Why is the job of an ambassador an important

job? We're going to be looking at that for the

rest of the time. Why is it an important job?

Remember, we have first established that it's

not as the world does it. It's as it is in the

Word of God. And it is exemplified and communicated

practically by the life Christ himself, that

is the subject or the main character of it all,

or the word, has presented it to us. Just to

remind us of the passage again in 2 Corinthians

5 .20. Please, let's go there. Thank you. It

says, So we are Christ's ambassadors. God is

making his appeal through us. Praise God. He's

making his appeal through us. It's as though

you are here and through you, God is making an

appeal. That uses the word making an appeal.

Other translators would say it's pleading. Making

a plea. Through us. They say we speak for Christ

when we plead, come back to God. So we are...

We're representing him. We're representing him.

We're representing him and we want to carry that

consciousness. Every time we stand in front of

people, we're not representing ourselves. You

know, that takes a bit of weight. You know, it

takes a bit of weight off you when you know that

you're not standing by yourself because you know

that you don't carry any weight yourself, right?

The same way the individual knows that they don't

carry any weight. until when they say, I am representing

so -so -so country. The moment that comes in,

every weight of responsibility of having to,

they just need to do everything in keeping with

the country that has sent them. So we are saying,

we have a very important job and we carry an

urgent message. This is a very important job

that comes with an urgent message. Very important

job that comes with an urgent message. And we

say, we're ambassadors and this ambassadorship

is that of Christ. We're Christ's ambassadors.

And we seek now to persuade people. We seek to

persuade people and we're persuading them about

what? What are we persuading them about? We're

persuading them about the truth of the gospel.

We're persuading them about the truth of the

gospel. One time, we're ministering to someone

and... I think we just ask the question, what

is the gospel? And I think I've never heard that

before, but it's understandably so because it's

true, but it's not true to what we're communicating.

So when we say, okay, what do you think of the

gospel? Let's say, oh, gospel music. I say gospel

music. Gospel music is a class or genre of music,

but that is not the gospel. It's just a music

that carries that, and it's not even a book,

right? Because the book contains that, but it's

not it. But we know that it's about the truth

of the gospel, right? That's what has been communicated.

And it's a big responsibility when you think

about it. The same way the responsibility of

representing a country is a big one, but it doesn't

rest entirely upon you. Praise God. It doesn't

rest entirely upon you. It rests on God who has

instructed you to do it. But you have the responsibility

to do your own part, right? To do your own bidding.

And we all have the responsibility of taking

it seriously, right? Because if something has

been given to you and you're not doing your part,

it means that there's going to be some form of

ineffectiveness. And I'm going somewhere. Because

everyone of us seated here, whether we like it

or not, we carry that title. of being an ambassador

for Christ. But as it is, if you think of yourself

and think of the responsibility it entails, you'll

find that you're falling short. Right? You'll

find that you're falling short. But what the

Word comes to do is to remind you and help you

to take action. To take action. If there's anything,

it will bring to your attention the seriousness

of this tax and make you... as this semester,

because what is going to be happening is that

in this semester, we're believing God for more,

right? We're believing God for numerical. We're

believing God for spiritual growth. We're believing

God for numerical growth. And how that can happen

is when every one of us here in our various quarters

are truly representing him. And we say that you're

not representing him just by a badge on your

forehead. You're presenting him by opening your

mouth and speaking. Open your mouth and declaring.

Because that's how we know you're an ambassador.

Right? By your speaking. What are you communicating?

And of what kingdom is your ambassadorship? And

it has to be. There has to be commitment, right?

There has to be commitment. There has to be commitment.

And there's a reason for the commitment. The

reason for the commitment is because you, at

some point in time, received it the same way.

You are giving it to the person that you are

speaking to. Praise God. You received it the

same way. And in 2 Corinthians 5, 17 -19. 2 Corinthians

5, 17 -19. I want to see something. It says,

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ. And this is

not a maybe. Says, therefore, if anyone is in

Christ, he is a new creation. All things have

passed away. Behold, all things have become new.

18 now says, now all things are of God, who has

reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ

and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

19 now says, that is, that God... was in Christ

reconciling the world to himself, not imputing

their trespasses to them, and has committed to

us the word of reconciliation. Has committed

to us the word of reconciliation because he has

done it and he has committed to us that we have

been reconciled to God. Now we are carrying out

the urgent task with the urgent message of reconciliation

to people around us. who have not been reconciled

to God. Praise God. Who have not been reconciled

to God. And this message is very straight to

the point. It speaks that the gospel is a message

of reconciliation. The gospel is a message of

reconciliation. In NLT, he says, you're beating

the people to come back to God. You're beating

the people to come back to God. And this is God

doing it through us, right? Because God is the

one that makes it possible. God is the one that

makes it possible. See, God comes to man. God

is the one that is doing it through his son,

has done it through his son. And now he has offered

us that help and offered us a relationship that

now he wants us to extend to the very people

that don't have that relationship. And he is

seeking us to do that so that others, so that

the family can be bigger. So that the family

can be bigger. So that the family can be bigger.

And that is basically why this message is core

to the church. Because the church is not meant

to just be there. We're okay with whatever we

have. The Lord will lead who he will lead. That's

not how it works. The Lord will lead you to lead

others to him. Praise God. The Lord is able to

do that. And that is the very heartbeat of the

gospel. The gospel is such that... People come

to reconcile to God, and they reconcile to God

on the basis of what Christ has done. We'll see

that in the passage. Because Christ had died,

Christ had died to bear the sins of the world,

and he didn't stay dead, he resurrected. And

on the basis of his resurrection, we are able

to have that reconciliation made available to

all. He says in the passage that we looked at,

he says he gave his life as a ransom for many.

He gave his life as a ransom for many. Meaning

that if you see the word many, does many communicate

to you few? Does many communicate few? No, many

communicates many. When we say there are many

people in this place, you know that the number

is not something you can count easily. Yes, you

can count, but it's not something you can count

easily. And when we use other words like multitude,

we use other words like a lot. We use other words

to quantify that. And I don't know. Just to give

us something practical to do. If you look around

the church, are there many people? And I ask

this trick question. Are there many people? Are

there many people? Not that if you say yes, it's

perspective. Because to you, you see many. To

us, we see few. When you see empty chairs, it

means that there is what? There is room for?

Praise God. When we see empty chairs, it means

that there is room for something that Pastor

Ephraim said when he was teaching. And I paraphrased

and adopted it to mean that a chair beside you

means that it has a potential to be filled by

someone, right? Not something, someone. because

some of us, our chairs are occupied by something

that is inanimate, which is our bags in some

cases, right? But the chair is meant to be occupied

by a human being. And we see and we perceive

as a church, as a pastorate, we perceive that

there is going to be an increase, right? That

God is going to do something in the church of

NACF and it will result... in many coming here,

right? And that many coming here will happen,

will be enabled, or will be fast -tracked by

us taking the responsibilities of ambassadors

to do the work that He has called us to do. Praise

God. And I want us to see something in a different

translation. In a different translation. That's

just that verse 19. Just that verse 19. I will

just read. from the Amplified Classic. It says,

it is God personally present in Christ, reconciling

and restoring the world to favor with himself,

not counting up or holding against men their

trespasses, but canceling them. I want you to

say canceling them. Canceling them and committing

to us the message of reconciliation. Of restoration

to favor. Of restoration to favor. The common

English also says, in other words, God is reconciling

the world to himself through Christ by not counting

people's sins against them. He has trusted us.

Say, trusted me. I want you to say, trusted me.

Has entrusted to me the message of reconciliation.

And he says he will not keep the record of our

sins against us. And the easy to read says, I

mean that God was in Christ. And I want you to

note how it was said, that God was in Christ,

making peace between the world and himself. In

Christ, God did not hold people guilty for their

sins. He gave us this message of peace to tell

people. Praise God. Note that the urgency. means

that it requires speaking. Because people have

been reconciled or people need to be reconciled

and the means by which that will happen is by

the message being proclaimed to others. Praise

God. And it's a beautiful message, isn't it?

It's a beautiful message. Scripture tells us

beautiful are the feats of those that bear this

message. And it says we are not meant to hold

back. We are meant to intensify, be committed.

We are meant to not give up. And I was thinking

about it. I said, if you speak to 10 people,

speak to 10 people and only two respond, is that

something worth celebrating? Is that something

worth rejoicing? You speak to 10 people and only

two respond. At least you now have a number to

walk around. So if you add more 10 people, you

know that at least two more will come on. So

you keep doing that because it's something that

is important. It's something that is a beautiful

thing for people to be saved, for people to be

reconciled to God. And people need to hear that

God is not counting their sins to them. And even

some believers need to be reminded that God is

not counting their sins to them. Praise God.

God is not counting. He is not counting that.

And that is the crux of the message. That is

the main theme. That's the important part of

the message because God makes his appeal through

you. He makes his appeal through me. See, God

would have made the appeal himself. Praise God.

I leave pastors and call it just that. He would

have made the appeal through angels. But because

we are his ambassadors. How else? What better

way can he make this appeal except through us?

Praise God. And he makes this appeal. And he

says, instead he chose you and I to make this

appeal. God has given us this tax of telling

people what he has done. Telling people what

he is doing. Right? Because he's still doing.

He's still doing it. And he employs us on Christ's

behalf. employing them on Christ's behalf to

be reconciled to God. Very important, employing

them on Christ's behalf to be reconciled to God.

Very quickly, I want us to look at what was the

first thing? The motivation, right? The motivation.

And the motivation is the reason why. Because

if you don't have a motivation, you are less

likely to do. The tax. If there's no form of

motivation. You know, some people's motivation

to brush their teeth in the morning is that they

don't want their mouth to smell when they open

their mouth to speak. Praise God. So that is

the motivation. And it's not a bad motivation.

It's a good motivation because at least you are

thinking of others. You are thinking of others

while you are trying to do that. So I want us

to know that our motivation to do it is love.

Praise God. Our motivation to do it. is love.

And you can see that you have love for that person.

You can see that you have love for that person

and it cannot compel you to tell them of what

Christ has done for them. Praise God. You can

see you have love for that person and you're

stopped in your tracks to tell them about what

God has done for them. You know, some people

don't know what God has done for them in Christ.

Many people don't know what God has done for

them in Christ. And you have a wonderful opportunity

to be the first to present it to them. Even if

they say no, at least you have presented it to

them. Praise God. And you keep at it. You keep

at it. In verse 14 of that particular passage,

Verse 14. Yeah, it says, for the love of Christ

compels us. The love of Christ compels us. His

love has the first word and the last word in

everything we do. His love compels us. You're

called to live a life of love. We're called to

live a life that doesn't talk love, but express

love. And how we express love to that individual

is by communicating what Christ has done. Right?

Right now, how you express love to your neighbor

is by tapping them if they are sleeping. Praise

God. By tapping them if they are sleeping. Say

for Christ, love for us. It's seen in a practical

way that he expressed it by dying for us, by

laying his life for us to have life in him. Praise

God. So it's very practical. So we are no longer

living for ourselves. We're no longer living

for ourselves because that same love compels

us to even follow. That same love compels us

to carry out the task. that instructs us to do

in love and in humility. Because the love that

we express is not a love of the world. It's not

a love that is strange. This is his kind of love,

this selfless kind of love. And we express that

love because we're convinced of his love. We're

convinced of his love, so we express and we communicate

that love to others. Because you can't be confident

about something you're not sure of. You can't

be confident about something you're not sure

of. And Christ died so that many will come to

him. And then the second, which is what? The

message, right? The message. We said even the

message is the message of love, right? Even the

message that we preach. The message that is what

we preach, right? Because the first one is why

we do it. What's the reason why we do it? And

then what we preach is the message. And what

in essence you're telling the person is that

they are loved by God. And you know, in this

day and age, the word love is used, and when

you say it, it just sounds very cliche. Because

even when I say I love you, you're wondering

how now. So, but we see that the love that we're

communicating is a very practical and... Because

what you're doing is, because you know the end

without God. You know the end of that person

without God. And that is your motivation. And

that in itself is the message that you bring

to the person. So because Christ died for us,

we are part of a family. And that love is what

will motivate you to want to bring that person

into that family. Right? It will be what will

cause you to want them to be reconciled. And

in fact, that love will cause you to be bold

about it. It will cause you to be confident about

it. It will cause you to choose to speak and

choose not to be silent. Praise God. And note

that we say this message of reconciliation is

for everybody, meaning that this message is for

everyone. So the message itself is not selective.

It doesn't go over a person. And the message

is you making a plea for them to come into a

love relationship with God. Praise God. You're

making a plea for them to come into a love relationship

with God. And this is all seen in the text. This

is all seen in the text. That we're coming into

a relationship with God. We're reconciled to

him in love. And he carries this. Love is what

is able to restore relationship. And note that

going back to the example I gave in Matthew,

Matthew, the example that we see of Jesus Christ

wanting to bring the disciples' attention. Because

service, when we serve others, if you're looking

at the individual serving them, you know, some

people make it difficult for you to serve them,

right? But when love is your motivation, regardless

of the person's attitude, you will serve anyways.

You will serve anyways because you love the person

in spite of how they might treat you. In fact,

when you're preaching to the person, the person

is talking or even blowing at you. Your love,

the love of God is what keeps you still talking

or keeps you following up with the person. Praise

God. Keeps you following up with the person.

And it's very important that we see. And you

know, sometimes we... Even look at it and somebody

will tell you, how can? Because when you're looking

at the message, you know, and you're trying to

communicate the message, somebody will tell you,

like, why would God kill his son? How is that

a message that communicates love? How will he

do that? It will make a caricature of it, like,

how can you say that he's doing that? But we

see that the passage that we read, that is God

in Christ. God in Christ. God in Christ made

that possible. He didn't abandon His Son to it.

Rather, He gave the go -ahead and He was there

in Christ ensuring that that happens. And the

result is what we see in the life that we have

and the relationship that we have with this God

and the relationship that we have with this God.

And that is what ensures that there's an extension

of that invitation to others. Then thirdly is,

The means, right? The means. So love is a means.

And that is how we go about our responsibility.

I've communicated it in several ways, but I'm

just repeating it. Because the way we go about

our responsibility is we are persuading them.

We're not pressurizing them. You know, when you're

trying to convince someone, it's different from

when you are saying you don't have any choice.

There's a bit of pressure that you are mounting

on the individual. That even makes them say yes.

When they don't really mean it. Praise God. They

say yes when they don't really mean it. But when

somebody is persuaded about something. They can

go on to persuade others. Because they are convinced.

From the words that you said. By the Spirit of

God. They are convinced about it. And then we

see that. That is where the responsibility is.

Because you understand your responsibility. And

you are carrying that out. In the means. which

is love. The agency by which we execute our responsibility

is love. And love is what empowers us. Love is

what strengthens us. Love is what compels us.

Love is what controls and motivates us to do

the things that we do for God. And it's very

important that we always keep love at the center

of our actions, keep love at the center of our

motivations, keep love at the center of the message.

You know, when you are speaking to someone, with

some form of violence, and you're telling them

that it is love. People can discern when something

is not, because you cannot say one thing and

do another thing and tell us that what you are

saying is what you are doing when we can spot

it. Praise God. I want us to understand that

the walk itself is a sacred walk, is something

that we are entrusted with. We are entrusted

with this message. In 1 Thessalonians 2 verse

1 Thessalonians 2:4

4, it says, But we have been approved by God

to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak,

not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.

So we speak, not pleasing men. We are entrusted

with the gospel, so we speak, not pleasing men.

You know, left to some people. They want you

to keep quiet. But what you are saying is good

for them. Right? It's good for them to listen.

It might not look like they are good to you,

but it's good for them. And you speak it regardless.

You speak it anyways. You speak it anyways. It

means that that thing you are entrusted with

will lead to the salvation of that individual.

And it means that you have to go out of your

way to speak to. Because the only way... We can

have people come to the Lord of the truth if

they have been communicated the truth. So we

are entrusted with the truth and we take the

step of opening our mouth. We take charge of

it. We're in charge of it and we do it. And I

want to leave us with this. Because we're entrusted

with something, we have to take responsibility

and take charge of it and do the work. And don't

think of yourself as not being because you're

a minister. Of the gospel. You are a minister.

Of Christ. You are a minister. That ministers

and administers Christ. And administers the truth.

To people. And you might not have it figured

out. Like the woman. In John 4. The woman didn't

have. A lot of. Training. But with the little

she had. She was able to communicate. And bring

people. To hear. Or to meet. The one who is the

way, the truth, and the life. Praise God. And

we are settled with this little text. And I want

to charge us that when we go out today, or when

we leave this place, let's live with a consciousness

of identity. Let's see what God's word says we

are in him. And move around knowing that I represent

Christ on this campus. I represent Christ on

this island. I represent Christ in my house,

in my apartment. And I will speak him that I

represent. to everyone around me. I want us to

open our mouths and just give thanks to God for

this unique privilege of being his ambassadors.

We appreciate you being here today. We hope you

carry this word with you throughout your week.

Don't forget to check the show notes for additional

insights. Stay connected with us through our

website or follow us on social media. If you

are encouraged, share this message with someone

you care about. Until next time, stay blessed.