2nd Years Term 4 2 Week 1

0:05 Yeah, there we go. Good evening, guys and girls. It looks like it's just girls on tonight. So, good evening, girls. If I can get your cameras on. It's good to be with you guys again. It's been a while. I don't I don't even know. Have I taught you guys this year at all? Not. Wow. So, it's literally been a while. [laughter] It's good to see you guys again. And I'm so happy to see you guys here at the end of your second year. Can you firstly just put your hands together for yourselves? Just give yourself a bit of a tap on the shoulder. Say we're here. It's the final stretch. You made it up until now. There were tons who didn't make it up until this point.

0:50 So, you made it. So, well done. I am very, very proud of all of you. And I know like I just prayed that it's still but only the beginning of what God is going to do in and through your lives. So exciting times ahead, right? Exciting times. So for the la last five weeks, your 7 to8 slot will be with me. We will be doing ministerial excellence together. So let's just quickly go through the syllabus if you have it uh for ministerial excellence. So the purpose of this course is going to be to set forth biblical principles which will assist the man and woman of God in achieving their potential in the realm of their calling to the ministry. So we're going to make sure you reach your potential whatever realm sphere wherever

1:39 it is that God is going to use you wherever that is. It's going to be to the glory of God and you are going to do it in excellence. So the objective would be you're going to obtain a greater understanding of the attitudes, ethics, and integrity that must be operative in the lives of God's servants. The application of these truths will enable one to walk worthy of the calling of God. So there are a bunch of things that you always need to take into consideration when you are being used by God. Our textbooks uh six steps to excellence in ministry. I think teacher already posted that one specifically for you guys on the group. I think she posted it last week. Um that will also be the one you will be reading for your

2:26 reading assignment. Then you can also read uh the gifts and calling of God by Kenneth Ehagen Hagen and the ministry gifts. Oh, sorry. The ministry gifts is the one that she posted on the group for you. That is going to be your reading assignment. Sorry, I had it wrong. Okay. Okay, so the course requirements, become familiar with the syllabus, class handouts, listen carefully, take notes, complete the required reading assignment, and then successfully complete uh your final assessment should be I'm not sure if your is correct. Mine it still says midterm and final exam, but it should say final assessment because you only have a written assessment for this subject. You will not be writing an exam. Um, so your

3:13 grading will then be 15% for your reading assignment and then your typed notes would be 35% and your written final assessment is 50% of your final grade. So your written final assessment is as simple as this. You are going to uh how you're going to answer this question. How will you apply the five keys you learned in this subject into ministry and your life? How will you apply the keys you learned in this subject into ministry and your life, your day-to-day life? So, you are going to be getting five points in the subject. We're going to look at five points. So, those five points need to be mentioned. So, how you going to apply

3:58 these five keys with practical keys? So you have to make it practical how you practically going to apply these five keys in ministry and in your daytoday life. That is your final assessment and that then needs to be submitted. Um I think you have a week after we are done with classes for final assessments to be submitted. So my recommendation to you would be don't wait until the end of the five weeks and then try to do everything all at once. go week by week. So, as we finish a key, go write about that key. There isn't a uh you know, it doesn't have to be a fivepager. If you want to, you can do a five pager, but you will

4:44 see obviously on the website how many words it needs to be. It's not too long, but it's also not too short. So, you need to make sure that you do that. You can do this. It's the last one. >> [laughter] >> Oh, John Michael just posted there. All assessments due the 20th of November. Thank you, John Michael. Uh, so be sure that you get going with this. Make sure that you do it as we go ahead. So, let's get started. Ministerial excellence week one. So when we're looking at excellence in ministry or ministerial excellence, whatever way you want to look at it, we have to keep in mind that whatever price it takes, pay it. Because the dividends

5:31 of paying this price for being used by God, being used in any ministry capacity, the dividends are out of this world. There is nothing in this world that will satisfy you like being used specifically in your calling. So you will know that this is what God has called you for when you do it and you have that complete sense of satisfaction. Nothing in the world will satisfy you like completing the job, the assignment, the calling that God has placed upon your life. Some of you might have experienced it already, right? So as Christians, we demand excellence from our heavenly father, right? We

6:17 expect nothing less from God but total dedication commitment reliability success from this holy righteous God that we serve. So if we expect this level of excellence, this level of reliability, this level of commitment from our God, don't you think that he can expect the same from us? or that we should be willing to give the same. So if we expect it from him, we should be willing to also give that same level of excellence, commitment, reliability, success, not stopping until we finished because God hasn't stopped with you. He hasn't given up with you, has he? So we don't give up. We keep

7:02 going until we make it to the other side. So just as God has called us into Christian ministry and service, he's also called us to reach for perfection in our vocation. So whatever vocation you will be used by God in. So Matthew 5:48 says, "Therefore, be perfect even as your father which is in heaven is perfect." And I know a lot of people say, you know, but you know, I'm not God. I'm not perfect. But we are created in his image and his likeness, right? So we must strive for perfection. Yes, we may falter. Yes, we may make make a mistake. But every time you get up and you try again, you learn something from it. And you get up

7:49 stronger. You get up better. You don't make the same mistakes again. So we strive for perfection. We strive to be like our heavenly father. Ephesians 4:1 says, "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called worthy of it." So we are also therefore required to demand excellence from those that have been placed in our charge. So if you are in any leadership cap capacity, maybe even as a parent, there's also the responsibility on us to demand the same level of excellence from those under us. So we're not just going

8:37 to say, "Ah, it's okay. I understand. You know, just give God just whatever is left over. Give your best to the world, but give God just the scraps." No, we're not going to tolerate that. We're going to teach them the truth. We're going to teach them that they've been called for more. That they've been called to be just like their heavenly father. Which means that they have the capacity on the inside of them to walk in a dimension of excellence just like our heavenly father does. So Romans 1:16 says, "For I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth." So we understand then that the gospel is the power of God. So the gospel is not

9:22 only the power by which we are saved from hell but it is also God's unlimited ability to save, to heal, to deliver, to set free. So it's not just the gospel doesn't just have power for salvation. The gospel has power to set us free. The gospel has power to heal us. The gospel has power to save us from whatever it is we need saving from. Many of us need saving from ourselves. I was that person. I needed saving from myself. When I look back, I say, just look what the Lord has done. If it wasn't for God, where would I have landed myself up?

10:11 Where would I have been if it wasn't for God? [snorts] So as ministers of the gospel, we are entrusted with God's strength and might. So therefore, we are faced with two responsibilities. So he's given us this power. He's given us this strength. He's given us this might. It is in our, you know, it's it's been given unto us. Now we are faced with two responsibilities. Number one, to develop and maintain excellence of ministry. So when we do things, we do it with excellence. We don't do it half-heartedly. We give our full commitment. We don't waver halfway through. And number two, to deal with Satan. Now that you have the power, which you

10:57 learned all about last year, can you still remember? You guys aren't doing it with swag. Come on. You got to go out with swag. I've got the power. So now that you've got the power of God, now that you've got his spirit, his might, now you have two responsibilities. Number one, to develop and maintain excellence of ministry. Number two, to deal with Satan. You need you going to deal with him, but you're not just going to deal with him. You're going to deal with him. You're going to have victory over Satan. You're going to dismantle him. You're going to dismantle his powers and principalities because why?

11:44 It's already been done. You're just reminding Satan who he is and where he is seated. So, excellence in ministry absolutely will not tolerate unbelief, failure, or taking the easy way out. So when people think of excellence, they just think of doing things well. But there's more to the word doing things well. It is and and we're going to take a look at those keys. So I'm not going to go ahead of myself yet. So [snorts] but it doesn't tolerate unbelief, failure, or taking the easy way out. A ministry of excellence will pay whatever the price to get God's job

12:30 done. Whatever the price is we need to pay, we will pay it. Because if God has called you to do it, he's going to see you through it. Having knowledge of the call and the anointing of God upon our lives, we pose a serious, not a little one, a serious. Anybody ever heard that serious? Apostle always says we give the devil diarrhea. We don't give him just diarrhea. We give him serious diarrhea when we know who we are and what we've been called to do and the power that we possess to actually be

13:15 able to fulfill it. So we we we give him serious diarrhea. In his eyes, we have become the most dangerous living thing on the globe. So like I said, our second responsibility is to contend with him. I spoke to we were speaking to a gentleman today and he um mentioned that when he was in the world, things were just so easy. But the moment he got saved, it was like all of hell came against him. And it's the truth. The moment you start doing something for God, the moment you start realizing who you are and what you've been called to do, you are a serious threat to the kingdom of darkness. So do not think that everything is just going to be easy. You

14:02 know, God has called me for this. So everything is just going to fall into place and everything is just going to be easy peasy lemon squeezy. We're just going to go for a easy kite surf, you know, whatever you want to call it. It's just going to be lowflying, easy. No, it's more like getting into um what do you call it? Uh river rafting. Getting into that river rafting boat. That's more like what it's going to be like. But it is so much fun. You know, it's scary and it's holding on for dear life, but it's so much fun and it's so rewarding when you get to the other side. You just hold on to Jesus. You just hold on to his promises. You just hold on to whatever he told you to do. And when you get to the other side,

14:47 you're going to be laughing at the devil just like Danilla is right now. [laughter] [gasps] You're going to say, "You thought you had me. You thought you were going to throw me over in that lifeboat, but guess what? Here I am. I made it to the other side." So, Satan isn't worried about God. He is postponing the inevitable. He knows that he is a forsaken foe. He know he's going to have his confrontation with the Lord. But now that we represent God's divine power on the earth, we are his adversary. So he is going to try everything to stop you from doing what God has called you to do. He will use your family. He will use your career. He will use finances.

15:34 He will use whatever he can to try and stop you. But we are not ignorant of the devices of the enemy. We see him coming from afar. We recognize his plans and we don't give him one moment to play with our thoughts, to play with the calling that God has placed upon our lives. We rebuke him. Say Satan just like Jesus did when he was in the wilderness. Because guess what? Satan tempted him too because guess what? Satan knew something was coming. So if he was tempting Jesus to deny the call to take up whatever promises it was that the enemy was giving him because he, you know, we always say a good idea is not

16:22 always necessarily a god idea. So he will come with good ideas. It looks so good. It's almost too good to be true. Well, if it looks too good to be true, he usually is too good to be true, right? Just a little tip over there. So, he comes with those too good to be true ideas. He comes with those too good to be true doors that open up and and you think that this can only be from God. But he knows something bigger is awaiting you. So now he wants to distract you and get you on the wrong path so that you miss the bigger plan that God has for your life. So we have to always be alert as to the enemy's plans. Always be in

17:08 prayer, always seeking God. So he fears those of us who are alive, who have God's divine nature in our spirits. Only such a person can wield the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. The most destructive weapon that there is in the camp of the enemy. There is no weapon, not even the biggest atomic bomb that they can build can bring as much destruction in the camp of the enemy as the sword of the spirit in the hands of a person who knows how to apply it. how to use it effectively. And I mean that is going back to deliverance conference, maintaining your

17:54 deliverance 101, putting on the armor of God, knowing what each part of the armor of God represents and actually effectively using the sword of the spirit. Remember I I speak about in um the deliverance conference about the the gladius, the small it's it's not this huge sword that we were taught in kids church. It's a small sword that was sharpened on both sides. So it was really an effective weapon that could pierce through even the armory. So you know those steel armors that they wore that weapon could pierce through that and that is how strong how powerful the word of God is. It can pierce through even the hardest

18:40 of hearts but it must be used effectively because that same word I I don't know if any of you have ever experienced it but you know getting in contact the devil also knows the word you know that he knows the word as well. He's been he's been along he's been along for the ride, you know. He's kind of he was there when the apostles wrote the Bible. So, he's kind of been there. So, he knows the word as well. But in the wrong person's hands, the the word can really bring about a lot of destruction. You know, there's you can talk about religious people using the the word to fight battles and actually wounding people more than helping them. Um even people that are in the world can quote scripture, you know, so they can twist it. so that it works for them. So

19:26 that's why the the word in the right people's hands using it effectively is truly a powerful weapon. So when we strap on the full armor of God, we must be prepared and determined to use it. The first thing when we read Ephesians 6 is it talks about standing firm, resisting every temptation to deny or to stand back from wearing the armor of or entering into the battle. We resist every temptation. We stand firm. We are ready to fight. And [snorts] that's the same mentality that you have to have now that you've come to this place. Second year Bible school student. Next year, you're going to step into whatever it is

20:12 that God has called you to do. Maybe you've already stepped into it, but you have to resist that temptation. The evil one will certainly attack us with all the forces of darkness. At the same time, be prepared for victory. Hallelujah. Because why? Victory is already ours. No force of darkness can be stronger than the price that has already been paid for us. The victory is already ours. We are just reminding Satan who he is. 1 John 4 and 1 Corinthians 15:57. 1 John 4:4 and 1 Corinthians 15:57 says, "Greater

20:58 is he that is in you than he that is in the world. And thanks be to God which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. So we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus. More than a conqueror. Nothing can get you down. Whatever the enemy throws your way, it becomes like a grain of sand being blown in the wind. When you realize that victory is your portion, the price has already been paid, you are more than a conqueror, you need to put that up somewhere in your room, somewhere on your mirror, so that whenever you face trials, whenever you f face opposition, whenever the enemy

21:44 comes knocking at your door, you remind yourself, I am more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus. No matter what the storm, I can do this. I will come out stronger on the other side with my God. The the African says it so well. I don't know. Everybody hopefully understands Africans. My in African says, some of you are looking at me like what is that? I'm going to give Andrew the responsibility to go get that scripture and give it to us in English so that the the English people can can understand what I just said.

22:36 I don't I told you guys it was five. Oh, but your assessment needs to be five points minimum that you use. But we're going to have six keys. So the first one, step one is dedication. Dedication. Dedication is your decision. Nobody can make that decision on your behalf. You have to decide that you are going to be dedicated to the call of God upon your life. So that is the first step to excellence in ministry to being successful in ministry. The first step is being dedicated. True dedication simply makes a decision

23:23 based on one's commitment to God, not on feelings or emotions. That I want to almost say is the main point. If you can get that, everything else will fall into place. We are we are the sons of God. We are led by the spirit of God. Right? The Bible says as many as are the sons of God are led by the spirit of God. I believe all of you are the sons of God. You are that sons is the word guos which is a mature son of God. We are not talking about a technon which is still a babe with those that are still on on the milk of God's word. We are talking about mature sons of God. They are led by what? They are not led by their emotions. They

24:10 are not led by their feelings. You know, I've got a feeling that I have to do this today. No, we're not led by feelings or emotions. We are led by the spirit of God. and we have a firm conviction of the calling that has been placed upon our lives. So, we are dedicated to that regardless of the circumstances. You might not be feeling it today. I I mean, let's be truly honest. There have been some Sundays that I really wasn't feeling it. Like, if I didn't have to be at church that Sunday, I wouldn't have been there. But I make a decision because of my dedication to the call of God and to the people that God has called me to to shake off whatever it is that has come upon me to get up and to go do what God

24:57 has called me to do. So we can very easily fall into passivity and fall into the spirit of this age and you know where it's all about me and if I can just have things my way and 10 points to a better you type of vibe. No, you have made a decision to be dedicated to the call of God upon your life. So the difference between operating on a decision for dedication as opposed to operating by your emotions can be illustrated like this. So this is a very easy one. Many people pray and they beg God to give them a burden for souls. God, give me a burden for souls. Give me

25:43 a passion for souls. I want to I want to win souls, God. And and and truly that prayer is is foolish in light of the New Testament because the Bible doesn't say, "Pray unto the Lord of the harvest to give you a passion to reach souls. Pray unto the Lord of the harvest until he gives you a feeling to go after the harvest." It doesn't say that, right? It says to thrust out the laborers into the harvest field. The commandment that the the the last commandment that Jesus gave was to go into all the world. He didn't say when you're ready, when you have a a a heart for it. No, he said go and as you

26:31 go, my power will go with you. My anointing will go with you. So praying such prayers is foolishness. The very fact though that a person prays for a burden is evidence that he already has a heart to win souls. He already has a heart. So all you now have to do is make a decision to obey. Once you make that decision to obey, everything else will fall into place. The Bible says that Jesus was moved by compassion when he saw the multitudes that were without a shepherd. Right? You know that scripture. But then what is compassion? Compassion is love.

27:16 And God is love. Therefore, very easy. We're just putting one and two together, giving us three. If God is love, if compassion is love, then that means God is compassion. So compassion is then a person and if compassion told us to go then we should be moved by compassion, moved by God, moved by his word, moved by what he told us to do. Actually get up and go do it. Moved by obedience and not by our feelings. moved by our dedication to God our father, not by our emotions.

28:02 So the stability of your ministry doesn't depend on your feelings. Some days you're going to feel like it, other days you aren't. But you aren't doing it according to what you feel like. You are doing it in obedience and according to the decision of dedication, commitment that you've made to God. You say, "God, I surrender [singing] all to you, withholding nothing, right? You you all pray that and I know I know you you sang it with me at one stage or another when we did some kind of an activation in Bible school somewhere because I I like using that song." So, I know you sang it somewhere. You've made that commitment to God somewhere. But then, you know,

28:48 just halfway through. Except when I don't feel like it. Except when it's too difficult, right? You guys are laughing at me, but that's what we do. We sing it. We dedicate. We lay our lives down on the altar, God, so that you can use me. Use me whatever way you want to use me, God. And then God says, "Okay, do this." Oh, but God, I'm I'm not feeling it today. I'm a little bit nervous. Right? So, the stability of your ministry does not depend on your feelings. A decision

29:34 for a ministry of excellence is a deep, firm resolution that men cannot alter and circumstances cannot change. The storms of life may come. You might be tossed this way and that way. But your dedication to the call of God remains firm. You stand firm. So a time will come in your life when you will face commitment. How you handle it now may well determine whether you succeed or fail and even whether you live or die. That's a harsh one. Because you can be committed and dedicated and then five years down the

30:21 line it's not it's not what you thought it was going to be or the results aren't what you were expecting the results to be. And whether you made a commitment and stood by your commitment is going to determine whether you're going to be successful or not 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, 25 years, 30 years from now. And I always think of the example of Cladio Frightson sticking it out with those 10 granny's for 10 years. You know, he had how many opportunities to give up. Honestly, I don't know if I would have stuck it through. Some days I get frustrated with where we are now because I'm like, God, I really wanted to be there by now. And it's not,

31:07 we're not even talking about 10 granny's here. We're talking about more than a whole lot more than 10 granny's. But he stuck it out. He stuck he he remained committed to the call of God upon his life. And now he's one of the greatest revivalists, not only in Argentina, but in the world. God is using him powerfully. But if you had to show him a picture back then of what he's doing for God right now, I can almost promise you he wouldn't have believed you. He wouldn't have thought it at all possible. So just remain committed. Philippians 2:13 says that God is at work in you to both will and do his good pleasure.

31:53 Philippians 2:13, he is faithful and he will create in you the power and the desire to make an uncompromised decision. When you finally make that full no quit, no turn back, no giving up, forever commitment to God and fulfilling your calling, you will, it will be the most exciting river rafting ride that you've ever been on in your life. I need to show you guys the pictures of when we went river rafting. It's [laughter] Apostle is like and I'm like [laughter] it's it's actually the other way around when we're looking at at ministry. He's

32:39 the one going and I'm the one like [laughter] but it was so much fun. So don't be afraid to accept the responsibility. Just do it. Just get into the boat. Just trust God. Just know that he's got you. He's not going to fail you. He's going to have you. He's going to hold your hand all the way. He's going to give you everything you need. You not going into this battle without all the tools and the equipment and the weapons that you need fully available to your disposable or to your dispos. Yeah, that word. I think Andrew posted those scriptures. Can you let me just see if I can wrong

33:26 computer? I'm on the wrong. Can you give it to us typed out? Okay. So, never be deceived by thinking that being in the will of God is expensive. The most costly thing on this planet is being out of the will of God. That is something you simply cannot afford. You cannot afford to be outside of the will of God for your life because inside the will of God, there is divine protection. Outside of the will of God, you're kind of a little bit on your own. You know, you've got mercy and grace still to your disposal, but you want to be in the perfect will of

34:12 God where there is protection, where there is provision, where there is guidance. Right? The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He leads me down paths of righteousness for his name's sake. You know, when I pray Psalm 23, I'm always like, "Holy Spirit, lead me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. For his glory, not for me, not for my will, not for what I want, but for what he wants. Lead me down that path. And as I go down that path, you are my shepherd. I shall not lack." We need to go read Psalm 23 again in in a different perspective now. Let's see. Ah, there it is. 2 Samuel 2 Samuel 22:30. For by you I can run

35:01 against a troop. By my God I can leap over a wall. Africans. So it's like everybody's going to remember that scripture after tonight. [laughter] So find your place then in the body. Romans 11:29 says that the callings of God are without repentance. So if you are called whether it be as an apostle, as a prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher, or any other ministry gift within the body of Christ, the Lord will not revoke the assignment given to you. The gifts and the callings are without

35:48 repentance. That's why we see so many a time these mighty men of God that fall into sin. But when you hear that that God is still using them. Um I mean we were talking to a friend of ours two weeks ago and he was telling us of this mighty man of God. He was one of the greatest prophets in our nation and he he fell really hard. He Yeah. He fell really hard and he's basically on the streets. He's like living from, you know one uh I I don't even know like Yeah, he's basically on the street. But then this friend tells us then he he he meets him in in the hotel lobby and then he's like uh the Lord showed me that I need to come here and that there's going to be somebody that's going to come bare feet

36:35 with shorts and a cap on and they're going to pay for my accommodation for the evening. And then this friend of ours is standing there bare feet, shorts, cap on, and he's like, "Okay, this is this is freaky." Like, how is the gift still operating, but this man is like not in ministry? He's a fallen man. So, the the scary part is that the gifts will continue to operate. The gifts are without repentance. It is irrevocable. But remember what we taught you in um I think it was pneumatology we spoke about that that your gift might make room for you but it's your character that will sustain you. So don't just depend on your gifts and think that your gifts are going to make you successful. If your you function in

37:22 the gifts but your character is not ready for it that same gift is what will destroy you in the at the end of the day. And I don't know about you but I mean I I want to make it in ministry. I want to be successful. I want to get before the throne of God and with the judgment seat and and I want to hear those words well done good and faithful servant. I don't want to hear those words um who are you get away from you get away from me I did not know you because the Bible says clearly that there will be those that would have been functioning in the gifts. There would have been those that would have been casting out demons in his name but he will say who are you? I did not know you get away from me. So be very careful when it comes to that. He ordained you before the foundation of

38:08 the world and when you stand before the judgment seat of Christ, it will be in the light of your calling. So God is going to ask you, what did you do with what I gave you? Firstly, the blood of Jesus, then the calling that I placed upon your life. What did you do with it? It's not just about what did you do right and wrong on this earth. Many people have that perception like I'm going to stand before God and I'm going to have to give an account for everything that I did. Uh it's more like you're going to give an account as to everything that you did pertaining to what God called you to do because you could have done all these mighty works. You could have, you know, done these good works and given money to the poor and, you know,

38:54 prayed for the sick and all of that, but God could have called you specifically to do this. But you chose not to follow that path because it was the hard path and you chose this path and you are going to give an account for not following this path. So it is so important that we stay in the perfect will of God that not my will but your will be done in my life and remain committed to it. Remain dedicated to it no matter how hard it's going to get. Nothing in life that is worth it ever comes easy. Anybody's parents ever taught you that nothing in life that is worth it comes easy.

39:40 So this applies not only to the five-fold ministry but to every member of the body of Christ. Every one of us will stand before the judgment seat and we will give an account as to what we did in light of the calling upon our lives. Each one of us is anointed and endued with power to fulfill a specific function in the body of Christ. And we we learned that last year when we did the local church in you that if the little finger isn't working optimally, it has an effect on the whole body. If you take out one organ in the body, it has an effect on the whole body. The whole body suffers when one part of the body isn't doing what it has been created to do.

40:26 God has more respect for us than many of us give him credit for. If you look at how a master craftsman handles his tools, have you ever seen that, let's say, for example, a um somebody that does woodwork, what do you call them? there's a actual work word for them. But you know, somebody that does woodwork, they they take good care of their tools. Their tools are important for them because without their tools, they can't do their job. They can't do it effectively. And you know, they can have uh maybe break something and they might get a less good tool if I can put it that way, but it's going to have an effect on their job. They might take two weeks now where they could have taken one day to finish a task. So, they're

41:12 going to make sure that they take good care of their tools. Um, as a skilled craftsman, he depends upon his instruments for his livelihood. He meticulously uses, cares for, and maintains the tools of his trade. They are extensions of his creativity. He intends for them to last a lifetime and to be handed down to his son maybe after him. You know these good tools going to be handed down. The tools of a man's trade take care of him and he takes care of them. You ever seen that? Some of them get really upset when maybe they've got a 2IB that they training and they teaching and then the 2IB forgets

41:57 the tools or the 2IB throws the tools down. Have you ever seen how they get upset about stuff like that? It's like you can't you can't work with the tools like this. You have to respect the tools. Respect the tools. But then in the redemption of the human race, we are the tools in God's hand. We are the the the tools that God uses to craft this beautiful story of humanity. Jesus is the redeemer, but we are the bearers of good news. He is the vine, but we are the branches that should be bearing the fruit. Right? He will therefore take good care of us. He will polish us. He will put us away neatly where we need

42:43 to be put away. He will sustain us. He will temper us. Sometimes the tools need to be, you know, sometimes we will have to go through a little bit of that. But people have the mistaken idea that to be strengthened by God, a believer has to be beaten down and harassed. But that is not what it takes to temper steel. Oil tempers steel. So therefore, it is the anointing, the oil of the Holy Spirit that will reinforce us. Our strength and power lies in the word of God and his spirit dwelling on the inside of us. His anointing, empowering us to do things outside of our natural

43:29 abilities. So we need the oil, right? Don't forget the oil. A carpenter. Thank you, Edith. That was the word I was looking for. Look at you guys. You're so cute. [snorts] So, devote yourself to pleasing God. We're still under key number one, which is dedication. Dedication. But then under that, devote yourself to pleasing God. A decision for total dedication includes a determination to please God. Go through the New Testament. Go through the word. Look what pleases God. One of the things, for example, that pleases

44:16 God is faith. The Bible says, "Without faith, it is impossible to please God." Therefore, work on increasing your faith. Ask God for more faith. God receives no enjoyment out of our being defeated. So us not walking in victory is offensive to him. So that's something that doesn't please him. Faith pleases him. But walking like you are a forsaken foe is not pleasing to him. It is pleasing to him when you walk in victory. When you know who you are, when you know the strength that you carry, when you know

45:02 that the battle is already won, when you know that you are more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus. In addition to faith, you must also live and walk in the love of God. Getting strife out of your life is part of your dedication to God. 2 Timothy 2:21 it says, "If a man therefore purge himself from these," what is the these that he's referring to in verse 22- 24? He says, "Flee also from youthful lusts, but follow righteousness, faith, love, peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strife, and the servant of the

45:48 Lord must not strive." You know how easy it is for the enemy to bring to to to make us or to to render us powerless as the body of Christ. Because if you look at at at even the nine gifts, you know, he he will have to physically go and attack each gift. But the only thing he has to do to render all the gifts powerless is to bring strife in the body of Christ. Because then all gifts are powerless. We are so busy fighting each other that we forget who our enemy is. So the Bible says the servant of the Lord must not strive. There must not be

46:37 any strife amongst us. [snorts] When you are not walking in love and have strife in your life, the gifts of the spirit are stopped. And 1 Corinthians 13:1- says, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and even of angels and have not love, I have become a sounding brass or a tinkling symbol." So in other words, you are just making a noise. You are just an irritation to those around you. If you have these gifts, but you have not love. If you have these gifts, but you are functioning in strife. James 3:16 says, "Where there is strife, there is confusion and every evil work."

47:24 So there's absolutely no wonder that there's been so much confusion connected with the operation of the gifts of the spirit because we so busy, you know, I don't believe in this, I don't believe in that, and we so attacking each other instead of just focusing on doing what God has called us to do. Just stay in your lane. It's what I I I always say. We just stay in our lane. We just stay focused. We just remain dedicated on what God has called us to do. We don't give a rip as to what anybody else is doing or anybody else's opinion because we have an assignment that we need to accomplish and we're not going to get it done if we keep on looking to this side and to that side and giving heed to this opinion and that opinion. No, we are focused on what God has called us to do.

48:09 So stand on the word of God and take control of your feelings. Strife is born in the emotions. To control your emotions, you must control your tongue. The Bible says that the person who c can control his words can gain mastery over his entire body. That's James 3:2. The person that can control his words can gain mastery over his entire body. So be dedicated. Decide to please the father. Decide to live in victory. Decide to walk in the love of God. And decide to live by faith. those five points under dedication. Be dedicated. Decide to please the father. Decide to live in victory. Decide to walk the life

48:58 of love or to live in the love of God. And decide to live by faith. Dedicated. Please the father. Live in victory. Walk in love. Live by faith. Those are such simple concepts. Sound so easy. But to apply it in your everyday life is the hard part. To also commit yourself to a life of prayer. Prayer is the foundation for success in every Christian life. Jesus is our ultimate example. How many times do we see in the word that he retreated to a solitary place to go pray? He spent more time in prayer than with people.

49:45 more time in prayer than with two people. Jesus was in continual communication with God through prayer. If he had a need for preparation through prayer, how much more do we not? We need prayer. The foundation of any Christian life and especially any ministry is prayer. Much prayer, much power. Little prayer, little power. Prayer builds your spiritual muscles. It strengthens you. Prayer gives you uh that is the space where God downloads ideas where God downloads, you know, go this way, go that way, no left, right, stop what you're doing. How many times have has

50:30 God told you stop what you're doing in prayer where he gives you, he brings correction, he brings alignment. All of that happens in prayer. If you take the time to saturate your heart with the word of God, to the extent that you are single-minded on his word, your thinking will no longer be influenced by fear. It will no longer be influenced by the spirit of this age. It will no longer be influenced by your culture, but it will be influenced by what the word of God says. You will stop wailing and begging God for the power to do the job and realize that you already have everything you need to get the job done. You will realize that the anointing which you have received of him abideth in you. 1

51:16 John 2:27. The anointing which you have received of him abideth in you. All you have to do is open up your mouth. Matthew 12:34. For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. Matthew 12:34. The word which has been saturated in your heart will come out when you open up your mouth. The hours of prayer and in communion with God will be the results or you will see the results from that. The fruit you bear. The Bible says in John 15, if you abide in me, you will bear much fruit. No, no fruit. That means no prayer. A

52:02 big fruit, lots of prayer. So the demonstration of God's power in your ministry is proof of your personal fellowship with him. You cannot have one without the other. Amen. So that brings us to the end of tonight. I just want you to close your eyes and I want you to pray this prayer with me. We're going to make a declaration together tonight as we finish off our key one. So, let's just pray in tongues for a few moments and then as I start praying, I want you to really pray this prayer out of your heart. Lift up your hands as a sign of surrender. Say, I surrender all withholding nothing. [laughter] [gasps]

53:07 Pray with me. Say, "Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, I come before you today to make a quality decision, a no turning back, a no compromise, a no giving up dedication to the call of God upon my life." Lord, I thank you that your word says it is you who works in me both to will and to do for your good pleasure. I healed my will, completely to yours.

53:52 I lay down every distraction, every emotion, every excuse, and I choose obedience over my feelings, emotions, and excuses. Father, I dedicate myself aresh to your ministry, to the ministry you've entrusted to me. I will not shrink back. I will not hold back. I will not waver. I will not walk in fear. And I will not choose the easy way out. But I will choose the way of excellence,

54:39 the way of love, the way of faith, the love of pure, the way of purity, and the way of power. I make the decision to please you in all things, to live in victory, and to walk in love without strife. Lord, cleanse me from every trace of double-mindedness and compromise. Burn away every selfish ambition or fear that would hinder my obedience. Strengthen me by your spirit to be

55:25 steadfast, immovable, and faithful until the very end. So that I might hear those words, well done, good and faithful servant. I declare today my dedication is not based on emotion but on a firm conviction. My commitment is not seasonal but it is eternal and my life belongs to you fully Lord. Do in and through me whatever it is that you want to do. I am your vessel.

56:11 I thank you for fresh anointing that comes upon my life. I receive it right now in the name of Jesus. Now just receive it. Just lift up your hands and just receive a fresh anointing from heaven right now. Father, I thank you that you fill these students with a fresh anointing from heaven that even as they make this firm decision to follow you, to remain dedicated to the call of God upon their lives and to fulfilling that which you have called them to do. I thank you for your anointing that will enable them even until the very end in Jesus mighty name. Hallelujah. Thank you Lord. Amen. Amen.

56:57 Awesome stuff. I see teachers already ready for you guys. So have a wonderful evening. Bless you. See you all next week. Same time, same place. Good night. Thanks so much, Pastor Amanda. Hi seconders. Welcome to your final five weeks. You have made it. And look at how you look now. Right. So I know that I mean 40 weeks sounded a lot. 80 weeks sound even more, but five weeks sounds absolutely amazing. So, please remember, let's get those assignments in. Let's get ready for graduation. Get those fees paid up because the end is very, very near. So, welcome to Prison Epistles. These were letters that Paul wrote. And

57:42 as you've been journeying with me, we start in this term getting to the interesting stuff of Paul's life. We ended off last term where Paul had only now really started stepping into his ministry, but you're going to see a lot more about Paul and his trials and his tribulations. And so that's the beauty of the letters that he wrote to the body of Christ. but very important letters that he actually wrote to the body of Christ that we should stay steadfast that we should be doing certain things that we should be and observing certain things as the church. So prison epistles let me just quickly run through your course syllabus. We are going to be looking at different prison prison epist

58:52 I hope as well as a two page just quickly. Is my Wi-Fi lagging? Is my Wi-Fi lagging? Okay, let me quickly. Can you hear me now? If this one is better.

1:00:18 All right. Let me know. Is my Wi-Fi better now? All right. Okay. So, just let me know if it lags again. I did quickly change Wi-Fi. All right. So, as far as prison epistles are concerned, you need to do the book reports, which is reading the 13 letters. I'll send that to you after class. Then you need to do class notes as well as your twopage written assignment where you need to write on one of the letters. You need to write the introduction to that letter, why you chose that letter, the background, the

1:01:03 purpose of that letter, the key themes from that letter, the important biblical principles, why you chose that letter, and what you personally learned from it while studying that letter. Everybody happy? Great. I can hear my wife is Wi-Fi is sounding better now. All right. Thanks so much. So, as far as prison epistles, I am going to ask you to turn with me in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 1. I'm going to go ahead and share screen with you. I just hope that it's going to work.

1:01:54 As a prisoner in the Lord, then I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, [music] who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. [music] For he chose us in him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in his presence and love. He predestined [music] us for adoption as his sons through Jesus Christ according to [music] the good pleasure of his will to the praise of his glorious grace which he has freely given us in [music] the beloved one. In him we

1:02:40 have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness [music] of our trespasses, according to the of his grace, that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he has made known to us [music] the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he purposed in Christ as a plan for the fullness of TIME TO BRING ALL THINGS in heaven and on earth together in Christ. In him we were also chosen [music] as God's own, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything by the counsel of his will. in order that we who were [music] the first to hope in Christ would be for the praise of his

1:03:27 glory. And in him having heard and believed the word of truth, >> the gospel of your salvation, [music] >> you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, >> who is the pledge of [music] our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession to the praise [music] of his glory. for this reason. Ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and [music] your love and your love for all the saints, I have not [music] stopped giving thanks for you. Remembering you in my prayers that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, [music] the glorious father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in

1:04:14 [music] your knowledge of him. I ask that the eyes of your heart [music] may be enlightened so that you may know [music] the hope of his calling, the riches of his [singing] glorious inheritance in the saints [music] and the surpassing greatness of his [music] power to us who believe. These are in accordance [music] with the working of his [singing] mighty strength which he exerted in Christ [music] when he raised him from the dead. And see him that his right hand in the heavenly

1:04:59 realms far [music] above all rule and authority, power and dominion and every name that is named. not only in the present [music] age but also in the one to come. [music] And God put everything under his feet and made him head over everything for the church which is his body. [music] The fullness of him who fills all and all. A fun way to read the Bible, right? How many of you guys enjoyed that? That was one chapter that was just read to you.

1:05:46 So, tell me something. What stood out for you in Ephesians chapter 1? view were all so stuck in the song that you all forgot to listen to what was actually being said in the song. Right? Caught you out. Caught you out. Right. So very interesting and that's why I'm allowing the songs to play because for me to sit and read the whole book um of Ephesians to you is really just going to be very monotonous. So I let them the gospel singers do it for me. But here is the whole thing. There are promises which are bound up to us. There are promises that Christ has given to us that are far above any of the powers and the principalities. And so

1:06:33 Paul is writing this to the church of Ephesus. And he's saying to them, listen, we have inheritances. You have an inheritance. God has given us inheritance. He has trusted us. because we trusting him. He has trusted us. So, I'm going to play chapter number two and chapter number three, and then we're going to discuss all three of them. So, now you need to not actually just be jamming and tapping your foot there on the other side, but actually listening and not working out the chords, Uncle Charles, just hearing what it's saying. All right, let me go ahead and share with you.

1:07:19 And you were dead in your trespasses [music] and sins in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of [music] this world and of the ruler of the power of the air. The spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience. All of us also lived [music] among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts like [music] the rest. We were by nature children of wrath. [music] But because of his great love for us,

1:08:07 God who is rich in mercy made [music] us alive with Christ. Even when we were dead in our trespasses, [music and singing] it is by grace you have been [music and singing] saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in [music] the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus in order that in the coming [singing] ages [music] he might display the surpassing riches of his grace demonstrated [music] by his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved

1:08:54 [music] through faith and it's not from yourself. It is the gift of God, [music] not by works so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do [music] good works which God prepared in advance as our way [music] of life. Therefore, remember that formerly [music] you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised [music] by the so-called circumcision that done in the body by human hands. Remember that at that time you were separate [music] from Christ,

1:09:41 alienated from the commonwealth of Israel [music] and strangers to the covenants of the promise. without hope and without God in the world, but now in Christ [singing] Jesus [music] you who once were far [singing] away have been brought near [music] through [singing] the blood of Christ, [music] for he himself is our peace,

1:10:26 who has [singing] made the two one [music] and has torn down the [singing] dividing wall of hostility [music] by abolishing in his flesh the law of commandments and [music] decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus [music] making peace and reconciling both of [singing] them to God in one body through the cross by which he put to death their hostility. [music] He came and [singing and music] preached peace to you who were far away

1:11:12 and peace to those [music] who were [singing] near. For through him we both have access to [music] the father by one spirit. Therefore, you are no longer strangers [singing and music] and foreigners, but fellow citizens [singing] with the saints and [music] members of God's household. Built on the foundation [singing] of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus [music] himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole building is fitted together [music and singing] together and grows into a holy temple in [music and singing] the Lord.

1:11:58 And in him you too are being [music] built together [singing] into a dwelling place for God in his spirit. [music] Oh, [music] wow. [music] [music]

1:12:43 For this reason I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles. Surely you have heard about the stewardship [music] of God's grace that was given to me for you. That is the mystery [music] made known to me by Revelation. As I have already written briefly in reading this, then you will be able to understand my insight [music] into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations, as it has now been revealed by the [music] spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel, the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers [music] of the promise in

1:13:29 Christ Jesus. I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me given [music] me through the working of his power. Though I am less than the least of all the saints, [music] this grace was given me to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of [music] Christ and to illuminate for everyone the stewardship of [music] this mystery WHICH FOR AGES PAST was kept hidden in God who created all things. His purpose [music] was that now through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly [music] realms according to the eternal purpose that he

1:14:14 accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord in him and through faith in him we may [music] enter God's presence with boldness and confidence. So I ask you not to be discouraged because of [music] my sufferings for you which are your glory. For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every [music] family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I ask that out of the riches of his [music] glory, he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being, so that [music] Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you being rooted [music] and grounded in love will

1:15:00 have power together with all the saints [music] to comprehend the length and width and height and depth of the love of Christ and to know [music] this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness OF GOD. DOWN TO him who is able to do immeasurably [music] >> more than all we ask >> or imagine according to his power >> that he's at work within us. >> To him be the glory in the church [music] and in Christ Jesus [singing] throughout all generations [snorts] forever [singing] and ever. >> Amen. >> All right, just bow your heads. Just close your eyes. there where you're at

1:15:46 this evening. Father, I thank you right now, Lord, that even as we go through your word this evening, Father, even as we go through the prison epistles, Father, I thank you, Lord, that there would just come truth and revelation. Father, I thank you, Father God, that you would just shine through your word, every single truth that you want each person to see. Father, I thank you, Father God, that we come before you this evening. Father, I thank you Lord that you would just open the eyes of our understanding. Father, we give you all the glory. We give you all the honor in Jesus mighty name. And everybody said, "Amen." And amen. So the beauty of the subject is I'm not doing the subject on my own. Hallelujah. And that you are going to be working

1:16:32 through the subject with me. So I hope that was a bit of a fun way other than me boringly reading 10 minutes of the word to you. Next week we'll do the pirate version. How many of you up for the pirates? I'm serious. There is a pirate version. Do you want female or male pirates? Okay. So, we're doing pirate the pirate tune next week. All right. I thought I'd go easy on you bringing the gospel version today, but there is a pirate one which is also loads of fun. All right. So, I hope that you were following with me um as it was going through that song through the Bible. And I want to ask this question out of chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3. What has stood out for you? And I'm going to ask you each to have a go. So you might as well unmute when you have something. But I want to

1:17:18 know what what immediately jumped out even if it is more than one thing. But I want you to share that with the group. What has stood out for you? >> Um, chapter two. I think you spoke in chapter one there. Uh, chapter two. um our identity. >> Um yeah, I think it's besides being in a season and I think even um the theme, you know, that that we've covered it so much. What broke it open for me was the nine questions from the previous um was it the what subject was it >> that we did? Mark one. Yes, Mark 1 1-13.

1:18:03 Um, there was a lot in there. Um, and your it's it's yeah, it's powerful. I think I even got Ephesians 2 again today in the morning. Um, yeah, your identity is very powerful. It's extremely powerful. Um, so yeah, I Yeah, >> good. Next. >> Okay. Can I go please? >> Go for it. So for me it was the love of God more than anything. No matter how much we sin, no matter how much we condemn ourselves, he's just showing us he's even mentioning the sins, you know, the desires of our flesh, etc. Um, nothing can actually separate us from the love

1:18:50 of God and his mercy. I think that we don't even really understand. That is what stands out for me. >> Absolutely. Well done. Next. >> Um, can I go? >> Yes. >> Oh, okay. Uh, for me it's Ephesians 1. Um, I think it's verse 18 where it says, "The eyes of our understanding may be enlightened that we may know what is the hope of our calling." So here is that we've got physical eyes, but we might not even perceive. So yeah, that's what for me stood up. I'm not really sure but yeah, that for me the eyes of our

1:19:35 understanding being enlightened that we may know what is the hope of our calling. There's no way we can know what is our calling without having God open our eyes so that we can understand and perceive. >> Amen. I like that. I like that. Anybody else want to share? Um, um, Ephesians, where is it now? Let me just go and search for scripture again. >> Okay, you can. You can.

1:20:21 Is there somebody else that wants to go in the meantime? >> Yeah, got it. >> Okay, go for it. >> Um, Ephesians 1 verse three. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Um when you say spiritual blessing it's it's more of a spiritual thing than earthly. So when we listen to blessings our mindset always

1:21:06 go to material things. But this scripture put us first in spirit before it even speaks about material things. So for me that means that we must first align ourselves spiritually and and then whatever God will bless us in the material that will come afterwards. But first we need to be spiritually blessed. >> Amen. >> Grow in it. >> Amen. Good. All right. If you didn't get to share, it's fine. Next week, I'll pick on you. I've made a note. I've taken a look. Next week, we're going to do Revelations. Then you can get No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Um Paul didn't write

1:21:52 Revelations. John did. So, by the way, come back to Bible school next year. I'll teach you who or the writers of which books. All right. So, Ephesians, right? We're picking up in Ephesians. We've looked at chapter 1 to chapter 3. I hope that you were following and I hope that you know just going through it a little bit of a fun way made certain things stand out a little more than my monotone v voice trying to run through all the verses. But let me give you a bit of background. Number one, Paul is the author. We know that this was during Paul's first imprisonment in Rome. It was his very first one. This letter was written Ephesians is written to the church of Ephesus which if you know anything about Ephesus it was a major um it was a major city where a lot of your

1:22:39 your ship crews it was a docking uh a docking area. So a lot of your sailors would come and they had the temple of Diana which they worshiped which was a fertility god. There was a lot of prostitution happening in this town. uh a lot of the Greek and the the Roman godiology and ideology was in this town at that time and the purpose that Paul writes this is to reveal to the believer their position in Christ. It's exactly what all of you have said narrowing it down to without knowing that you are in Christ you will never be able to perceive or see. You will never understand what God has for you or what God has put in store for you or what as

1:23:24 Andrew said, what is the spiritual blessing. As a matter of fact, well done Andrew because the key verse is Ephesians 1:3. Blessed be the God our father Lord Jesus who has blessed us

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