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Eric Aboadwe
November 18 ·

SUNDAY SERMONS (by Brother Eric)

DATE: 18th November 2018

TOPIC: WALKING IN THE LOVE OF GOD.

First of all before we look at how we can WALK in God’s “LOVE,” we must understand that the “LOVE” that God has for us is unconditional and everlasting (Jeremiah 31:3). This AGAPE “LOVE” of God is not like the conditional and temporal love of humans which are:

EROS – Love that exist between married couples (husband and wife)

STORGE – Love that exist between family members (parent and children, brothers and sisters.)

PHILIA – Love that exist between friends which manifest itself by the care, respect and compassion that people have for their fellow human beings.

Secondly, we must understand that there is absolutely nothing which can separate us from the AGAPE “LOVE” of God which is in CHRIST JESUS our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).

So before we look at how we can WALK in God’s “LOVE,” we must know what His “LOVE” did for us. So what did God’s “LOVE” do for us?

THE ACTS OF GOD’S LOVE:

1. It saved us from sin, condemnation, and judgement (John 3:16-17). This shows that if we do not WALK in God’s “LOVE,” we will be walking in “JUDGMENT.”

2. It made us holy and blameless before Him (Ephesians 1:4).

3. It qualified us to become the children of God (1 John 3:1-3).

NOTE: All the above occurs and are made possible through the baptism that JESUS received in the Jordan River, His blood and His resurrection.

HOW CAN WE WALK IN THIS LOVE?

1. We must not LOVE our life in this world, but rather, we must HATE it (John 12:25) (Revelation 12:11).

2. We must not LOVE the world or the LUST of it (1 John 2:15-17).

NOTE: Those who LOVE their life in this world and who LOVE the world are the ones who do not receive the “LOVE of the TRUTH” that they might be saved, but they have pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12).

3. We must always rejoice in CHRIST JESUS and have no confidence in the outward man of the flesh (Philippians 3:3) (2 Corinthians 4:16).

4. We must place our HOPE in our citizenship which is in Heaven (Philippians 3:20-21) (2 Peter 3:13) (2 Corinthians 5:1-8).

NOTE: The Word of God tells us clearly that such a “HOPE” which we received through God’s “LOVE” poured in our hearts by the Holy Spirit does not disappoints (Romans 5:5).
5. We must set our minds on the things above and not on the things of this earth (Colossians 3:1-4).

It is on the bases of these that the Word of God tells us to be “rooted” and “grounded” in God’s “LOVE” (Ephesians 3:14-19).

PRAYER 1: Let us PRAY for all Christians and people across the word who still remain SINNERS due to their lack of understanding and knowledge about this “LOVE” of God which has made us RIGHTEOUS through the baptism and the blood of JESUS manifested by the gospel of the water and the Spirit.

PRAYER 2: Let us PRAY for all the truly born again Saints across the glove that God will strengthen them to live and walk in His “LOVE” until the appearing of our blessed Lord and Savior JESUS, and that they will share this “LOVE” to others through the preaching of the gospel by word of mouth and distribution of the Mission Books.

AMEN!

God bless you all in abundance!

AMEN!


Eric Aboadwe
December 2 at 2:46 AM ·

SUNDAY SERMON

DATE: 2nd December 2018

TOPIC: LIVING IN THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Scripture Reading 1:

“I say then, “WALK IN THE SPIRIT, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the FLESH. For the FLESH lust against the SPIRIT, and the SPIRIT against the FLESH; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things you wish” (Galatians 5:16-18).

Scripture Reading 2:

“If we LIVE in the SPIRIT, let us also WALK in the SPIRIT” (Galatians 5:25).

We thank God for another wonderful Sunday, and for protecting our lives to see this day in order to hear His “Word” of life without which we cannot live; and to have fellowship with one another as His people who have been CHOSE out of the world (John 17:6,14). Our fellowship is not only with those of us who are gathered here, but also with our Brothers and Sisters who even though are far away from us physically, are with us spiritually. May the LORD’S name be “PRAISED” forever.

As we all know, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Almighty God and the third Person of the TRINITY. From both our Scripture reading above, we can see that LIVING IN THE SPIRIT and WALKING IN THE SPIRIT are two entities which the Word of God is drawing our minds to. So what does these two spiritual entities mean? Let us look at the former for now, and we will look the later next week if God permits.

LIVING in the Spirit is possible when a person BELIEVES in the following about the Spirit:

1. That the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:4).

2. That He was involved in the creation of the universe (Genesis 1:1-2).

3. And that He participated in the SALVATION work of mankind when Mary conceived the glorious baby JESUS by His “POWER” (Matthew 1:18; Luke 1:35).

4. He testifies (witness) that JESUS came to save us perfectly from our SINS through His “WATER” (baptism) which He received from John the Baptist and the “BLOOD” that He shed to death (crucifixion) on the Cross (1 John 5:6).

5. That He is the One who “RESURRECTED” our Lord JESUS from the death (Romans 8:11).

6. And that we have also “died” with CHRIST (Colossians 3:3; Romans 6:6), and we were “RESURRECTED” together with Him (Ephesians 2:4-6).

NOTE 1: It is our FAITH in the above which makes the Holy Spirit convict us about the fact that we are “RIGHTEOUS” as our Lord JESUS told us (John 16:8,10)

NOTE 2: Nobody can “LIVE” in the Spirit if He does not believe in the points above concerning our SALVATION which involved the work of the Spirit and which also constitute the “RIGHTEOUSNESS” of God. But when a person believes, God “seals” him/her with the Spirit as guarantee (Ephesians 1:13). This is what LIVING in the Spirit is all about.

NOTE 3: It is also important for us to recognize the fact that our “FLESH” cannot “LIVE” in the Spirit. What are the reasons for this?.

WHY OUR FLESH CANNOT LIVE IN THE SPIRIT

1. It is because nothing good dwells in our “FLESH” even after we are born again (Romans 7:18). This means that our “FLESH” is corrupted with SIN, and so it commit SIN until death (Isaiah 64:5 and Ecclesiastes 7:20).

2. The CARNAL (fleshly) mind is an enmity against God, and it is not subject to the “LAW” of God (Romans 8:7). So how can the “FLESH” walk in the Spirit? It is utterly impossible. This is the reason why our first Scripture reading is telling us that our “FLESH” cannot even fail to “do the things” that we “wish.”

3. The natural man (the FLESH) does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are FOOLISHNESS to him; and neither can he know them because they are spiritually discern (1 Corinthians 2:14).

4. FLESH and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God (I Corinthians 15:50).

5. The “FLESH” is already condemned by God to die once (Hebrews 9:27), and this “JUDGMENT” which God pronounced to the “FLESH” cannot change (Genesis 2:17; 3:19).

It is the misunderstandings about the points above which has made many Christians to recite “The Prayers of Repentance” in the morning, afternoon, evening, and from Monday to Sunday at every prayer meeting and during a church service. It is because they don’t understand that if God’s “LAW” is spiritual, then their “FLESH” which is actually sold under SIN (Romans 7:14), is incompatible with God and His Law.

If a believer continues in asking and begging God to forgive him of his SINS every day, then it is enough proof that he is not LIVING in the Spirit, but he is LIVING in the flesh. Such a person can neither WALK in the Spirit, but only in the flesh.

It is a true fact that a person whose “soul” and “spirit” dwells in the Holy Spirit cannot “LIVE” in SIN because there is no SIN in the Spirit. In other words, those who “LIVE” in the Spirit live by FAITH in a glorious and righteous World whose builder, maker, and ruler is God (Hebrews 11:10). But the “FLESH” commits SIN everyday because it LIVES in a SINFUL world that is ruled by Satan (John 14:30). So “FAITH” is what actually makes the difference between the status of a believer and the unbeliever.

Therefore because the Holy Spirit is “holy” as His name implies, any believer who “LIVES” in Him is also “holy,” and there is no longer any need for him to offer every day “Prayers of Repentance” because he is a child born by the nature of the Spirit and not by fleshly parents who give birth to people by the will of the “FLESH and of man” (John 1:13).

In conclusion, LIVING in the Spirit is a “Positional TRUTH” whereby God positions us and placed us in His Spirit based on our solid “FAITH” in the “RIGHTEOUS” work which was accomplished in CHRIST JESUS by the Trinity.

If God permit, next week we will look at “WALKING IN THE HOLY SPIRIT” in our next Sunday Sermon.

Remain BLESSED in the Lord JESUS and in His RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Amen!

Eric Aboadwe
ericaboadwe@hotmail.com
www.nlmghana.com


SUNDAY SERMON

DATE: 23rd December 2018

TOPIC: WALKING IN THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Scripture Reading 1:

“I say then, “WALK IN THE SPIRIT, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the FLESH. For the FLESH lust against the SPIRIT, and the SPIRIT against the FLESH; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things you wish” (Galatians 5:16-18).

Scripture Reading 2:
“If we LIVE in the SPIRIT, let us also WALK in the SPIRIT” (Galatians 5:25).

Greetings to you all Saints of God. The Christmas is just around the corner on next week Tuesday. I believe that some of you may have thought that today the Sermon will center on the “BIRTH” of CHRIST. In fact commemorating the “BIRTH” of our Savior is not WRONG per se as some section of people think. But what we are supposed to do is to remember His “BIRTH” every day. The same applies to His baptism, death and resurrection.

The reason why I am saying this is because for example, if a person is waiting until 25th December before he commemorates the “BIRTH” of our Lord JESUS, then it means that from January to November he did not remember the “BIRTH” of CHRIST for almost a year. This is really bad, and it is the reason why I am saying we must do it every day.
Secondly, what about if the person “DIES” (a term for those who are NOT born again or people of the world) or the person “SLEEPS” (a term for the born again Saints) before December 25th? What I am saying is that if a person is waiting for December to come and “DIES” or “SLEEPS” in November, then it means that his aim of commemorating the “BIRTH” of JESUS on December has failed.

Therefore let us understand that it is not only on 25th December that we must preach or learn about the “BIRTH” of our Savior, but it can be any other day. However, because millions of Christians and people of the world pay close attention to Christmas, we can use that OPPORTUNITY to preach the true gospel of the water and the Spirit to them by making them aware that CHRIST was not born just for the occasion of just eating and drinking parties, but to “SAVE” us from our SINS once and for all (Matthew 1:21).

Also on Christmas occasions, we can distribute our Mission Book titled, “FOR WHOM WAS JESUS BORN” (which is English 44) to Christians and people so that they will understand the “POWER” of the “BIRTH” of our Savior in addition to His death and resurrection.

Therefore for those of us here in Anyaa (in Accra), when we close our Service at 10:30 am (for we begin our service at 8:00 and close at 10:30), we will take some Mission Books on this particular title, and we will “Go into the highways and hedges” (Matthew 14:23) to distribute the books and share them to people. I actually brought some when I was coming from Kumasi because I had this intention in mind. I know that we are “few,” but God is with us, and He is pleased to see us do this work irrespective of our number (Matthew 18:20).

So going back to our main topic, In our Sunday Sermon dated 2nd December 2018, we learnt about the fact that “LIVING in the Spirit” and “WALKING in the Spirit” are two entities. And so our attention was on the former which spelled out how we can “LIVE in the Spirit.” We also learnt about the five (5) reasons why our FLESH cannot “LIVE” in the Spirit.

But now that we know how to “LIVE” in the Spirit according to our previous lesson, I now want us to look at how we can “WALK” in the Spirit. But before we go into that, the following points must be noted very well:

1. WALKING in the Spirit is only possible when a person is LIVING in the Spirit. In other words, no one can “WALK” in the Spirit unless he LIVES in the Spirit. We must therefore know that it was not a coincidence when the Apostle Paul says, “If we LIVE in the SPIRIT, let us also WALK in the SPIRIT.” This tells us that the former must take place before the later can occur.

2. It is possible for believer to “LIVE” in the Spirit whiles he is not WALKING in the Spirit. This is because WALKING in the Spirit is something that a believer may choose to do or he may choose not to do depending on whether he is under the control of the “FLESH” or the “SPIRIT.” This is why the Apostle Paul said in our first Scripture Reading that, “the FLESH lust against the SPIRIT, and the SPIRIT against the FLESH.”

HOW CAN WE WALK IN THE SPIRIT?

We can truly “WALK” in the Spirit when we do the following:

1. Setting our minds on the “things” of the Spirit and not on the “things” of the flesh (Romans 8:5).
NOTE: These “things” of the Spirit refers to those “things” which promote the Kingdom of God such as witnessing or preaching the gospel as JESUS told the disciples (Acts 1:8). And preaching the gospel can be done in so many ways. We can do it by any of the following:

i) Word of mouth,

ii) Distributing or sharing of Mission Books, leaflets, flyers etc to churches, organisations, institutions, individuals, etc

iii) Posting of gospel messages on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, etc

iv) Supporting it financially with our money or any property. For example, about few months ago a Brother gave us a projector and speakers for the preaching of the gospel. He has also promised to give us a generator. But we don’t want to depend on him alone, but we are praying that all of us in Ghana will make some contributions no matter how small it is for this.

Therefore let us understand that when a person supports the Church in general for Mission activities or he/she supports any preacher of the TRUE GOSPEL of being “Born again of the water and the Spirit” (John 3:5), then he or she is also preaching the gospel indirectly by using his or her finance to push it forward.

2. We can also “WALK” in the Spirit when we “PRAY” in the Holy Spirit (Jude 1:20). Put differently, we cannot “WALK” in the Spirit if we do not “PRAY.” And whiles the “weaknesses” of our flesh may sometimes make it difficult for us to “PRAY,” the Word of God tells us that the Holy Spirit Himself “helps” us by making “intercession” for us (Romans 8:26). This is a wonderful BLESSING from God.

NOTE: First of all, the Spirit of God leads us to “PRAY” to give praise and thanks to God in all things for His free gift of SALVATION given to us (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18). Secondly, He makes us “PRAY” for the for the spiritually “Blind Christians” who are not truly born again but “Church Goers.” Thirdly, He makes us “PRAY” for all peoples including those in authority so that they may come to “the knowledge of the Truth (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

3. We can also “WALK” in the Spirit when we do not forsake the “assembling” or the gathering of ourselves as God’s own children (Hebrews 10:25).

NOTE: This does not mean that when a Brother or Sister does not have any born again Saints Church or gathering in his country, city or village, it means he or she is not WALKING in the Spirit. That is not the case. Such a person can still “assemble” himself with other born again Saints by getting connected with them through mobile phone or on other social media platforms.

4. Again we can “WALK” in the Spirit when we serve God and minister before Him with the spiritual gifts which He has given to us (Romans 12:6-8; Ephesians 4:11-13; 1 Corinthians 12:1-28; 1 Corinthians 14:26; 1 Peter 4:10).

CONCLUSION: We must know that WALKING in the Spirit is very important, and we must take it very seriously. This is because the Word of God says that, “For as many as are LED by the Spirit of God, these are the SONS of God” (Romans 8:14).

PRAYER: May the merciful and gracious LORD enable all of us to “WALK” in the Spirit through His “Spirit of Grace” even as we “WALK by FAITH and not by sight” in His RIGHTEOUSNESS.


SUNDAY SERMON

DATE: 30th December 2018

TOPIC: LIVING & WALKING BY FAITH

Scripture Reading 1:

“Now the just shall LIVE by FAITH; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in Him” (Hebrews 38).

Scripture Reading 2:

“For we WALK by FAITH, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).

In our two previous Sunday Sermons, we learnt about LIVING in the Spirit and WALKING in the Spirit, and we also looked at the difference between the two. And in today’s Sunday Sermon too, our two (2) Scripture readings are both revealing to us that we must “LIVE by FAITH” and “WALK by FAITH.”

DEFINITION OF FAITH

According to the Word of God in Hebrews, “FAITH is the substance of things hoped for,” and the “evidence of things not SEEN” (Hebrews 11:1).

And to understand this definition more better, the Apostle Paul clarified it when he said, “By FAITH we understand that the worlds were framed by the WORD, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11:3).

So when FAITH is defined in relation to what JESUS did for us, then we must know that Adam and his descendants such as Abel, Enoch, Set, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, David, Ezekiel, Daniel, etc were “hoping for” that day when the Son of God will come on this earth to deliver them from SIN and make them RIGHTEOUS. And they actually believed that He did saved them with “the evidence of things not SEEN” with their eyes.

THE SUBSTANCE OF FAITH

When FAITH is defined in Hebrews as the “substance of things hoped for,” this “substance” refers to nothing else but the “WORD” of God; and the “things” refers to everything which God spoke and wrote about; and this “WORD” refers to JESUS CHRIST according to John 1:1.

In other words, “FAITH” is something that is based on the “WORD” of God (JESUS CHRIST) with the hope that the “things” which God spoke about JESUS will all be fulfilled even though the “evidence” cannot be “ SEEN” with our eyes.

HOW TO LIVE BY FAITH

LIVING by “FAITH” is very simple, and it is not hard at all. But how do we “LIVE” by it?

We live by “FAITH” when we believe that even though our FLESH (physical bodies) commit SINS daily, still we don’t have any SIN in our hearts and we cannot become SINNERS again because CHRIST bore all our SINS in the waters of Jordan and paid for them by shedding His blood on the Cross to sanctify us in perfection once for all (Hebrews 10:14).

The reason why this is of “FAITH” is because when JESUS was taking away the SINS of the world, we didn’t see our SINS moving over to Him with our eyes when He was baptized. This fulfils the definition of “FAITH” when it says that it is “the evidence of things not SEEN.”

Due to this, it is foolish for people to ask, “What is the evidence that our SINS were transferred over to JESUS when He was baptized by John the Baptist?” Of course “the evidence” is there, but according to our Scripture reading, it is an “evidence” that is “not SEEN” with our eyes (Hebrews 11:1), and which we must “believe” with our hearts according to Romans 10:9.

By knowing this, we come to the realization that there is nothing like “I don’t feel like my SINS were moved over to JESUS when He was baptized,” or “I don’t feel like I am saved.” This is because it is something which actually happened in a supernatural unseen occurrence, and the only thing we can do is to “believe.”

NOTE: Living by “FAITH” is impossible if we do not ruminate continuously and constantly by reaffirming the “ETERNAL PURPOSE” (Ephesians 3:11) which God accomplished in CHRIST JESUS through His water, blood, and the Spirit.
HOW TO WALK BY FAITH

We WALK by FAITH when in our everyday life we do not allow any situation or circumstance to shake us by making us lose our “CONFIDENCE” in God and measuring His goodness and faithfulness based on those situations and circumstances mingled with emotions.

In other words, WALKING by FAITH teaches us that whether things goes on well for us or not, we must still count God as good and faithful no matter come what may (irrespective of anything that might happened to us). This is the reason why our second Scripture reading says, “For we WALK by FAITH, not by sight.”

For this reason, whiles LIVING by FAITH is simple, WALKING by FAITH is not that simple or easy. This is because it involves two challenges which may come on our way. They are:

i) Being “TEMPTED” by the Devil and

ii) Being “TESTED” by God.

The two things above which we sometimes encounter in our lives and walk of “FAITH” are not enjoyable, but afterwards when we overcome them by “FAITH,” we will gain the following spiritual benefits:

i) We become more JOYOUS

ii) Our FAITH is strengthened

iii) We gain spiritual MATURITY

vi) Our hearts is filled with PRAISE to God in gratitude and adoration

NOTE 1: We must know that preaching and spreading the gospel is part of WALKING by FAITH. This is because without “FAITH,” when God sends us to go and preach the gospel to somebody, some people or to go to some place, then we will not go.

EXAMPLES OF THOSE WHO LIVED & WALKED BY FAITH

1. The Bible tells us that even though we weren’t there when God was creating the heavens and the Earth and all that is in it, is by “FAITH” that we believe that the Worlds were framed by the Word of God (Hebrews 11:3).

2. When Noah was instructed to build an Ark for the salvation of himself and his household, He did it by “FAITH” even though in the human perspective it was impossible for “rain” to cover the whole earth with water (Hebrews 11:7).

3. When God told Abraham to leave his father’s house and to go to the Land which He will show him, Abraham obeyed by “FAITH” even though he did not know where he was going (Genesis 12:1-4; Hebrews 11:8-10).

This list goes on and on, and for time sake you can read Hebrews 11:11-40 for more details.

THE CONSEQUENCE OF NOT LIVING & WALKING BY FAITH

1. JESUS cannot “dwell” in our hearts. This is because the Scripture tells us that CHRIST dwells in our heart through FAITH (Ephesians 3:17)

2. We cannot be “justified” by God and we can never live in “PEACE.” This is also because God justifies us by our FAITH so that we can live in PEACE (Romans 5:1).

3. We cannot “please” God (Hebrews 11:6). That’s why God said in our first Scripture reading that if anyone draws back from the FAITH, His soul has “no pleasure” in that person.

4. We will suffer “shipwreck” by sinking in SIN and getting destroyed (1 Timothy 1:19).

5. We will drift away from God (strayed) when circumstances and situations plunge us into greediness and love of money due to lack of FAITH (1 Timothy 6:10).

6. We will draw back to “perdition” (Hebrews 10:39).

7. We will LIVE with an illusion (deception) in the Church by thinking that we are still the born again Saints, but in the sight of God we “are not” as it happened to some believers in the Church of Smyrna who were not true Jewish believers (Revelation 2:9).

NOTE 1: The reason why JESUS said that some believers in the Church of Smyrna were not the TRUE Jews is because they did not live by FAITH in His RIGHTEOUSNESS nor WALK in it.

NOTE 2: Those of us who believe in the circumcision of RIGHTEOUSNESS by the baptism of JESUS in our hearts have become the spiritual Jews inwardly (Romans 2:28-29).

CONCLUSION: If God says “The just shall LIVE by FAITH,” then it means that without “FAITH” we will “DIE” spiritually. In order words, “FAITH” is just like a breath to us, and so the moment we stop breathing, we will “DIE.”

PRAYER: Let us PRAY like the Apostles did when they told Lord JESUS, “Increase our FAITH” (Luke 17:5).


SUNDAY SERMON

DATE: 20th January 2019

TOPIC: GROWING IN GRACE (Part 1)

Scripture Reading 1:

“But GROW in the GRACE and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

Scripture Reading 2:

“But He gives more GRACE. Therefore He says: “God resist the PROUD, but gives GRACE to the HUMBLE” (James 4:6).

Peace and the “GRACE” which we are about hear be multiply to all the sons of God who are gathered here, to those on the platform, and to all our fellow Brothers and Sisters who are scattered abroad being partakers with us of the same “GRACE,” and who also stands firm in defense and confirmation of the GOSPEL of our Lord JESUS CHRIST (Philippians 1:7).

Last week, our Sermon title was “GROWING IN FAITH & GRACE,” but because we were able to look extensively on the first part of it which is “GROWING IN FAITH,” today our concentration and attention will centre entirely on “GROWING IN GRACE.” However, because “GRACE” is also a broad topic, it will be divided into Part 1 & 2. So hopefully by next week Sunday if God permits, we shall complete this Sermon title.

DEFINITION & EXPLANATION GRACE

What then is “GRACE?”

Almost everybody knows that “GRACE” is an undeserved favor or unmerited favor. This is true and right, but in defining it, we shouldn't miss out the very attributes of God which goes hand in hand with it. So on a broader scope, I would like us to define “GRACE” as the unmerited favor towards the SINFUL mankind in the “kindness” and “mercy” of God through the “compassionate” acts of JESUS CHRIST.

In order words, our minds should be drawn to the fact that when God’s kindness, mercy and compassion is not at work, then He cannot give His “GRACE” to us. These attributes of God is the catalyst which initiates or accelerate His “GRACE.” Therefore when the Scripture says that, “And of His fullness we have all received, and GRACE for GRACE” (John 1:16), it is because God’s compassion, mercy, kindness, and love were all “stirred” to give us this “GRACE for GRACE.”

That’s why in the Gospel of Matthew, it says that when JESUS “saw the multitudes, He was moved with COMPASSION for them, because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). So it is such a sinful human beings as depicted in this passage whom JESUS gives His “GRACE.” But let us not forget that it is the “stirring” of His “COMPASSION” and “mercy” which manifest for Him to give us the “GRACE.”

We can witness this in Hosea when God said, “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboim? My heart churns within Me; My SYMPATHY is stirred. I will not execute the fierceness of My anger; I will NOT again destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and no man, the Holy One in your midst; And I will not come with terror” (Hosea 11:8-9).

When you sit down quietly to ponder about this passage deeply, you will see that God was speaking in His mercy, compassion, love, and kindness. And it is this very NATURE of God which comes first or manifest before He gives the “GRACE.” Therefore when God says, “My SYMPATHY is stirred,” it is because His love, compassion, and mercy has manifested. And because these attributes are at work, that’s why He said, I will not execute the fierceness of My anger; I will NOT again destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and no man, the Holy One in your midst; And I will not come with terror.” This is what we call an undeserved or unmerited favor (GRACE).

NOTE: Even though Ephraim was supposed to be destroyed, God said, “I will NOT again destroy Ephraim.” In much the same way, even though we were also supposed to be destroyed for our SINS, God said He will not destroy us for the sake of the WATER, BLOOD, and the RESURRECTION of JESUS CHRIST which compensated for our SINS. That why the Saviour said that, “For God did not send His Son into the world to CONDEMN the world, but that the world through Him might be SAVED” (John 3:17).

HOW DO WE GROW IN GRACE?
If we want to GROW in “GRACE” and in the “knowledge” of our Lord JESUS, then we must take note of the following DO’S and DON’TS:

THE DO’S

1. We must walk in HUMILITY. That’s why our second Scripture reading says that God gives “more GRACE to the HUMBLE,” but He “resist the PROUD.” And it was for this reason the Apostle Paul also told us to have the same HUMBLE “mind” which was in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5-11).

NOTE 1: The word “HUMBLE” means that we accept the fact that:

(i) there is nothing good in our flesh (Romans 7:18).

(ii) none of us can keep the LAW (John 7:19).

(iii) whether we have become righteous or not, our flesh continue to SIN until we die (Isaiah 64:5b; Ecclesiastes 7:20).

NOTE 2: The word “PROUD” as mentioned in the Book of James refers to those who do not accept any of the above.

2. Whenever our flesh commits SIN, we must admit them and confirm that JESUS already took them all away when He was baptized by John the Baptist, and that He already paid for them by shedding His blood on the cross. This is how we “walk in the LIGHT” (1 John 1:6-7).

NOTE 1: This does not mean we must beg God and ask for the forgiveness of SINS every day. If our SINS were not already forgiven, then how can we be sure that our names have been written in the “LAMB’S” Book of Life? Many Christians have misapplied 1 John 1:9, and so they twist the Scriptures to their own destruction, and the Apostle Peter told us that the reason for this is because they are “untaught” and “unstable” in their Christian life (2 Peter 3: 16).

NOTE 2: We must therefore understand that there is a DIFFERENCE between the confession of the RIGHTEOUS and the confession of a SINNER. Not knowing the DIFFERENCE is very dangerous. But those who have received the true and genuine “GRACE” knows the difference.

The DONT’S

1. We must never mix the LAW and the “GRACE” together. This is because each of these are of two different paths. That’s why the Word of God says that, “The LAW was giving through Moses, but GRACE and truth came through JESUS CHRIST” (John 1:17)

2. We don’t have to seek to be justified by the LAW. This is because if we do so, then the Scripture tells us clearly that instead of GROWING in “GRACE,” we will rather end up “FALLEN from GRACE,” and the danger part of it is that we will become “estranged” from CHRIST (Galatians 5:4).

3. We should never exhibit “Self-Righteous” character like the Pharisee who went to the temple to pray in order to justify themselves (Luke 18:10-14).

4. We must not be like the Jews who did not “submit” themselves to God’s “righteousness” (Romans 10:1-3).

5. We must not give a FALSE claim with FALSE pretence like the lawyer who told JESUS that he has been able to obey all the Law of God from his childhood (Luke 18:18-21).

NOTE: All the points above are the IMPEDIMENTS or OBSTACLES which does not only prevent us from growing in “GRACE,” but it also makes us fall from it.

CONCLUSION: All our Scripture readings throughout this Sermon shows clearly that we must never make a mistake to mix the “LAW” and the “GRACE” together.

PRAYER: May the GRACE of the Lord JESUS CHRIST, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen! (2 Corinthians 13:14).


SUNDAY SERMON

DATE: 27th January 2019

TOPIC: GROWING IN GRACE (Part 2)

Scripture Reading 1:

“But GROW in the GRACE and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

Scripture Reading 2:

“But He gives more GRACE. Therefore He says: “God resist the PROUD, but gives GRACE to the HUMBLE” (James 4:6).

In the previous Sunday Sermon, the definition and explanation of “GRACE” was given to us. In addition, we were also taught about the do’s and the don’t if we want to “GROW” in “GRACE” and in the knowledge of our Lord JESUS. So today we are going to look at the following:

1. “GRACE” is God’s Nature,

2. The “GRACE” of God Has Appeared to All Men,

3. Those Who Resist The “GRACE,”

4. Those Who Receive The “GRACE,” and

5. Misunderstanding and Misapplication of the "GRACE.”

So let us take them one by one and look into them.

1.THE LORD IS GRACIOUS

"GRACE” is not just something which God exercise out of His free will towards us, but it is His very NATURE. King David spoke about this nature of God when he said, “The Lord is GRACIOUS and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy” (Psalm 145:8).

NOTE: Here David confirms what we learnt in the previous Sunday Sermon, that God’s attributes such as His “compassion” and “mercy” move together with His “GRACE.” And without such attributes, we cannot receive the “GRACE” because they are the catalyst which propel God to give us the “GRACE.”

The Apostle Peter who told us in our 1st Scripture Reading to grow in “GRACE” and in the knowledge of the Lord JESUS also understood God’s “GRACIOUS” nature. That’s why he told us in the same epistle, saying, “...the Lord is GRACIOUS” (1 Peter 2:3). Apostle John also confirmed this when he said that JESUS our Lord is, “full of GRACE and truth” (John 1:14).

Therefore when we understand “GRACE” as God’s nature, and He also says to us, “For I am the LORD, I do not change” (Malachi 3:6), and His Word also tells us that, “For by GRACE you have been saved...” (Ephesians 2:8), then it is pointing to the fact that the “GRACE” of God that has saved us will also not “change.” It will never happen!

NOTE: If we lack this understanding, we will be living in INSECURITY concerning our salvation, and we may even end up thinking that we can LOSE this free gift of salvation.

2. THE GRACE OF GOD HAS APPEARED TO ALL MEN

In Genesis Chapter 6, before God destroyed the world, it is written, “But Noah found GRACE in the eyes of the LORD” (Genesis 6:8). But do you think that is was because God wanted to save Noah and his family alone? That is not the case at all, but it is because Noah believed in God’s “GRACE.” In fact the “GRACE” of God “appeared to all men” who were living in that era. That’s why the LORD told them to enter the “ARK” in order to obtain salvation, but they refused through unbelief.

Therefore if there is any human who is not saved, then it is because such a person has refused to “RECEIVE” the “GRACE,” and therefore he has himself to be blamed to face God’s judgment. This is because the Scripture tells us clearly that, “For the GRACE of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age” (Titus 2:11-12).

But in order to understand what the Apostle Paul is saying above, the following three points must be understood:

First of all, we must know that the “Holy Spirit” is also called “The Spirit of GRACE” (Zechariah 12:10). That is why Paul also spoke about the judgement of those who have “...insulted the Spirit of GRACE” (Hebrews 10:29).

Secondly, when the Scripture says that “the GRACE” of God has “appeared to all men,” and we know that the Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of GRACE,” then it means that the “Spirit of GRACE” works towards all human beings in order to give them the free gift of salvation which is by “GRACE.” However, the problem is that among humans, there are those who “RESIST” Him and those who “RECEIVE” Him.

Thirdly, when Paul says in Titus 2:11-12 that the “GRACE of God” which has “appeared to all men” is teaching us to deny “ungodliness” and “worldly lust” and to live soberly and “righteously,” we must not misinterpret it to the “LAW.” Rather, what it means is that we must accept our sinful nature and believe in the “RIGHTEOUSNESS” of God fulfilled by the water and the blood of JESUS. This is how we deny “ungodliness” and “worldly lust.” Don't forget that there is no righteous man who does good and does not sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20).

3. THOSE WHO RESIST THE GRACE

In John 16:8-9, JESUS also told us that when the “Spirit of GRACE” comes, He will convict the people of the world “of SIN.” And He said it is because, “they do not believe in Me” (John 16:9). This shows clearly that the “GRACE” of God has actually “appeared to all men,” but they reject the “GRACE” by refusing to believe that Jesus “came by WATER and BLOOD” (John 5:6) to redeem them.

Such people include religious Christians who have overlooked and rejected the “WATER” baptism of JESUS CHRIST by which He took away all the SIN of the world before shedding His “BLOOD” on the Cross. Such people are interested in their own formulated “Christian Religion” than “True Christianity” itself. That’s why they render the “WATER” baptism of JESUS as meaningless and unnecessary to their salvation.

In the Early Church, Stephen preached to such religious people and told them, “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always RESIST the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you” (Acts 7:51). Isaiah also spoke about such people when he said, “But they REBELLED and grieved His Holy Spirit; So He turned against them as an enemy, and He fought against them” (Isaiah 63:10).

Therefore the Holy Spirit is warning everybody including Christians to repent. That’s why it is written in Hebrews, “Therefore as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the REBELLION, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My WORKS for forty years. Therefore I was ANGRY with that generation, and said, “They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.” So I swore in My WRATH, “They shall not enter My REST’” (Hebrews 3:7-11).

The passage above is telling us that those who reject and rebel against the “Spirit of GRACE” will never enter into the “REST” of God, but they will live in turbulence, confusion, and chaos in this world, and they will be thrown into hell in the end.

“A word to a wise,” they say, “is enough.”

4. THOSE WHO RECEIVE THE GRACE

These are the believers that JESUS spoke about in John 16:8,10 when He said that the “Spirit of GRACE” will convict them of “RIGHTEOUSNESS.” This is because such people do no lay any emphasis on “human righteousness,” but they believe strongly that JESUS came by both water and the blood to make them "RIGHTEOUS” by His "GRACE.”

The Word of God speak about these true believers, saying, “...those who RECEIVE abundance of GRACE and of the gift of RIGHTEOUSNESS will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17). What a blessing!

5. MISUNDERSTANDING & MISAPPLICATION OF THE GRACE

GRACE has actually become a common word that proceeds from the mouth of every Christian and even among Unbelievers. Therefore when you ask a Christian or an Unbeliever, “How are you doing?” he or she will reply and say, “By the GRACE of God everything is fine.” But as to whether they understand the “GRACE” that they are talking about is something that we really have to consider.

This is because whiles most of them say that "By the GRACE of God everything is fine,” the truth is that t is not fine with their “soul” and with their “faith” in JESUS CHRIST. They love singing the hymn, “It is WELL with my soul.” However, it is not “WELL” with their “soul” as they claim. This is because they do not understand the “GRACE” very “WELL” in order for it to be “WELL” with their “soul.”

How can it be “WELL” with one’s "soul” when he or she is still a SINNER who has been begging God to forgive and sanctify him on daily basis by misquoting 1 John 1:9? When you ask them, “If JESUS comes today will you go to Heaven?” they normally pause for a while before giving you an answer, and when they do, they are uncertain and unconvinced about what they are saying.

There is another lovely hymn which they like to sing a lot. It goes like this:

"Amazing GRACE how sweet the sound
That SAVED a wretched like me!
Ionce was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.”

When a Christian sings a hymn like this, and he still thinks that JESUS has not yet completed his salvation, and therefore God should sanctify and forgive him every day because He is so "merciful” and "gracious,” then this is nothing but MISUNDERSTANDING and MISAPPLICATION of the “GRACE” of God.

Such people also say that if we believe that JESUS has already forgiven and sanctified us, then people will commit more SINS by misquoting Romans 6:1. That's why if you will remember, two years ago I posted a message on this platform titled, "GRACE DOES NOT LEAD TO SIN."

CONCLUSION: The “GRACE” of God can only serve its purpose in our Christian life when we humble our hearts to accept His correction about our wrong Christian beliefs and we understand the _GRACE” as He intended, and we receive it, stand in it, and being thankful to Him for this “GRACE.”

Amen!


‎Eric Aboadwe‎
to
 Coworkers of The New Life Mission
February 3 at 5:09 AM ·

SUNDAY SERMON

DATE: 3rd February 2019

TOPIC: GROWING IN GRACE (Part 3)
Scripture Reading 1:

“But GROW in the GRACE and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).
Scripture Reading 2:

“But He gives more GRACE. Therefore He says: “God resist the PROUD, but gives GRACE to the HUMBLE” (James 4:6).

We thank God for another beautiful Sunday morning. Last week we were able to look at: (1) “GRACE” is God’s Nature, (2) The “GRACE” of God Has Appeared to All Men, (3) Those Who Resist The “GRACE,” (4) Those Who Receive The “GRACE,” and (5) Misunderstanding and Misapplication of the “GRACE.” We will therefore continue from here and possibly bring our study on this important topic about “GRACE” to completion today.

So today, our Sermon comprises of the following topics:

6. Understanding the “GRACE”

7. We Are Justified by “GRACE.”

8. Living in The Wisdom of “GRACE.”

9. Our Hearts Must be Established by “GRACE”

10. We Don’t Have Receive The “GRACE” in Vain

Let us look at the details of each of them.

6. UNDERSTANDING THE GRACE

When a Christian fails to understand the fact that it is the “GRACE” of God that has made him or her “righteous,” then even after believing in JESUS for many years, he will still be chanting “Forgive me Lord, Forgive me Lord” in a monotonous and repetitive manner until he or she is destroyed by God in His fierce “WRATH” to be thrown in the everlasting fire which is the home of sinners (Revelation 21:8).

That’s why the Apostle Paul said, “I do not set aside the GRACE of God, for if righteousness comes through the LAW, then CHRIST died in vain” (Galatians 2:21). When you ponder about this passage very well, you will come to the conclusion that the reason why many Christians are “sinners” is all because they have “set aside” the “GRACE” of God which makes them “righteous,” and they are trying to become “righteous” by their own meritorious deeds of the “LAW.”

Therefore when they fail to obey the “LAW” or they break any of the “COMMANDMENTS,” they go before God by telling Him, “Please forgive me, I will never do that again.” But is it true that they will never do that again? This kind of prayer is an illusion because human beings continue to sin until death (Isaiah 64:5).

But the Old Serpent has deceived many people to think that when they offer the prayers of repentance, it means they are “HUMBLE.” Therefore when our Second Scripture reading says that “He gives more GRACE to the HUMBLE,” they think it is referring to them. However, this is far from the truth. But such prayers reveal two (2) things:

i) It shows their stubbornness and ARROGANCE to obey the “LAW.”

ii) It reveals how they try to deceive God with such prayers.

The Prayers of Repentance has therefore become a devastating tool which the Devil is using to destroy millions of Christians.

Christians who fail to understand that it is God’s “GRACE” which has made them “righteous” are the ones who think that they are still “sinners.” But God’s “WRATH” will be unleashed upon such people because the Holy Scriptures tells us clearly that “the LAW brings about WRATH...” (Romans 4:15). Therefore the only way for us to escape from God’s “WRATH” is by His “GRACE.”

7. WE ARE JUSTIFIED BY GRACE

In fact God’s “GRACE” has done a lot for us, and one of such blessings is that it justifies us. That’s why it is written, “Being justified freely by His GRACE through the redemption that is in CHRIST JESUS” (Romans 3:24).

But unfortunately, many Christians do not understand justification because they believe in human thoughts and man-made theology. To be “justified” by God means to be declared “righteous” and “blameless.” Even in our worldly Law Courts, have you ever seen a person who is justified and who comes back again to see the judge to beg for the forgiveness of the atrocities which he committed?

If the culprit have something to say to the judge, then all that he has to do is to say, “THANK you my lord. If it had not been you, will suffer punishment.” But if he goes to the judge to apologize to him or to beg him for forgiveness, then the judge will tell him, “You are a fool! I will send you to the cell to be locked.”

Many Christians are like that. Even though God told them, “But you have burdened Me with your SINS, you have wearied Me with your iniquities. I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your SINS” (Isaiah 43:24-25), they are very stubborn, and they still go before Him to incur His wrath by asking for forgiveness. This is all because they don’t believe in His “GRACE” of forgiveness, and yet they call themselves “believers.”

However, God is waiting patiently for the JUDGMENT DAY to come so that He will throw all of them into the burning place where they will not worry about fuel (fire). This is because it is abundant over there.

8 LIVING IN THE WISDOM OF GRACE

While the Apostle Paul was ministering the gospel of JESUS CHRIST, it was never his intention to speak harsh words to any believer. But some believers were FOOLING themselves in Galatia. Instead of them to live in the WISDOM of God’s “GRACE” by “FAITH,” they were FOOLING themselves in attempt to become righteous by the “LAW.”

Therefore the Apostle Paul had no other option than to call a spade a spade. That’s why he told them, “Are you so FOOLISH? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3). Here, instead of the Galatians to live by “FAITH” in the “GRACE” of JESUS CHRIST which made them righteous, they were looking at how their flesh will perform well in obeying the “LAW” of Moses.

This is the reason why the Apostle Paul told them, “Are you so FOOLISH?” Therefore whether a Christian is WISE or FOOLISH will depend on whether he is living in the WISDOM of the “GRACE” or he is living in the FOOLISHNESS of trying to become righteous by the “LAW.”

9. OUR HEART MUST BE ESTABLISHED BY GRACE

We must know that whether we are saved or not, and whether we are righteous or not, whether the Spirit of God dwells in us or not, and whether we will go to Heaven or not depends on the kind of “DOCTRINE” which we adhere to or listen to. It is either the “DOCTRINE of GRACE” which we adhere to or it is the “DOCTRINE of the LAW.”

And since “FAITH” is established on the principle of what we have heard and believed, we need to be careful about “strange DOCTRINES.” That’s why the Apostle Paul admonished the Hebrew believers, “Do not be carried about with various and strange DOCTRINES. For it is good that the HEART be established by GRACE, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them” (Hebrews 13:9).

NOTE: The reason why the Apostle Paul said this is because in the Early Church period, there were some believers like the Colossians who were still trying to live by the “LAW” concerning food. That’s why Paul told them, “So let no one judge you in food or drink, or regarding a festival or new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of CHRIST” (Colossians 2:16).

That’s why in addition, he told them, “Therefore if you DIED with CHRIST from the basic principles of the world, why as though living in this world do you subject yourselves to REGULATIONS – “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using – according to the COMMANDMENTS and doctrines of men” (Colossians 2:20-22).

When the Word of God tells us that “For it is good that the HEART be established by GRACE,” He wants us to know that when our “HEART” is established by the “GRACE,” then all the twelve kinds of SINS in the human “HEART” listed in Mark 7:21-23 will be erased by the “GRACE” of the water and the blood of JESUS.

WE DON’T HAVE TO RECEIVE THE GRACE IN VAIN
Brothers and Sisters, what does it profit when somebody says, “By the GRACE of God I am fine,” but at the same time he is still a “sinner?” This is how the “GRACE” becomes “VAIN” to people who do not really know or understand it.

Therefore the Apostle Paul told the Corinthians, “We then as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the GRACE of God in vain. For He says: In acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of SALVATION I have helped you” (2 Corinthians 1-2). Here God is telling us that He did not only save us from our SINS by His “GRACE,” but even as we live in this word, we must live by His “GRACE” and seek for His assistance and help depending on Him.

But how can somebody who does not believe in the “GRACE of SALVATION” and who is still a “sinner” seek “help” from God? Does God hear the prayers of “sinners?” Obviously not! He told us clearly that He does not hear their prayers (Isaiah 59:1-2). This is the reason why “sinners” must first receive the “GRACE” in order to be redeemed from SIN, and then live by the same “GRACE” afterwards.

What then should those of us who have been saved already by the “GRACE” do? All that we have to do in order for the “GRACE” not to be in “VAIN” is to hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. That’s why our LORD told us, “But he who endures to the END shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13). It means that even though we are “saved by GRACE” (Ephesians 2:8), we must live by it and endure in it to the “END.”

PRAYER: May the Lord grant each of us the perseverance to live by “FAITH,” to grow in His “GRACE,” and to endure all things until the appearing of our blessed LORD and Savior JESUS CHRIST.