0:00 Good morning. If you want to turn to John 13 with me, we'll be looking at Peter in John 0:20 13. We'll start in verse 30. And so after receiving the morsel, he went out immediately, and it was night. And this is Judas. We all are very familiar with this passage. It's in all the Gospels. You probably tell it, if we had to paraphrase it and tell it to someone who never heard of it, we could 0:43 probably all do that without any issues. But there's some things based on what we go through life at different seasons. That's why it's so important to always be in the Word of God, because the Lord speaks to us directly what we need, when we need it. You could have read, I could have read 0:59 this for 25 years, and I have. But to meet the need of my heart, the Lord has helped me. And so I want to share some of those things. But so this is what we call the Last Supper. And it's another hard thing for us is because we know the whole story. We know it so well. We can look back in history and say, oh, 1:17 this happened, then this happened, and then everything was fine. But if you try to put yourself as one of the disciples, try to put yourself as Peter in this, what we call Last Supper, to him it wasn't the Last Supper. It was just another Passover meal. They did this every year growing up as a Jew. 1:33 And then these last three, four years with Jesus, they ate the Passover together. And there had been some things that Jesus said here and there about being crucified or betrayed or arrested, and that never really seemed to sink in with the disciples of what was really going to happen. So if we could put 1:50 ourselves in this place, it's the Passover meal. They just ate with Jesus. They're all relaxed. It's a time of remembrance of the Passover and God's faithfulness and more time with Jesus. It's what they've loved over the last three years, this time with Jesus. It's been so wonderful and life-changing 2:07 for them. And that's all about the change here. But Jesus loves them, and he's constantly revealing himself to them, revealing truth that they need to hear at the time. And so we'll read verse 31. When, therefore, he had gone out, when Judas is gone, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and will glorify him immediately." 2:35 Little children, verse 33. "I am with you a little while longer. You shall seek me, and as I said to the Jews, I now say to you also, where I am going, you cannot come. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." 3:03 So all these three wonderful truths that God, the Son of Man, Jesus, is going to be glorified, that Jesus is going to go away, and this becomes the trouble issue for Peter, but then the new commandment that we're to love one another as he loved us. 3:19 And so this, this is Jesus, one-on-one with the disciples, but here's Simon Peter, and he says, "Lord, where are you going?" And out of all the revelation of Jesus, the Son of Man is going to be glorified. "God's going to be glorified in him. I'm giving you a new commandment. Love one another." All that Peter could hear is, "Did he say he's leaving? Did Jesus say he's going away and that I can't come?" 3:43 And this is what really stood out to me. Peter's reaction isn't about the glory of God, isn't about, "How can I love my brother as you love me?" It was about, "Wait a minute, you're leaving and I can't come?" If you think about the last three, three and a half years, Peter has, Peter and the disciples have been with Jesus constantly, except for maybe short periods when they went out two by two or whatever they did, but for the most part, their entire life was wrapped up in Jesus and being with him. And now Jesus is telling them, "I'm going away and you can't come." And Peter says, "Lord, where are you going?" And he's troubled by this. 3:53 wait a minute, you're leaving and I can't come? If you think about the last three, three and a half years, Peter and the disciples have been with Jesus constantly, except for maybe short periods when they went out two by two or whatever they did. 4:06 But for the most part, their entire life was wrapped up in Jesus and being with him. And now Jesus is telling them, I'm going away and you can't come. And Peter says, Lord, where are you going? And he's troubled by this. 4:21 He can't wrap his head around it. He's trying to figure out, as I see it, from my perspective, if I'm Peter, and I am Peter a lot of the time, the Lord said, you can't come. And when the Lord says no in our life to things that we don't want to hear no to, 4:39 I know for me, a lot of times my wheels start turning. How can I get around this? What's the workaround? What can I do or figure out or scheme that I can still get what I want? And this is not a bad thing, of course, wanting to be with Jesus. 4:53 What better thing is there? He's not trying to get rich or be famous or be the king. He's trying to figure out, how do I stay with Jesus? Jesus is going to change my life here. He's changed my life for the good. It's been so wonderful. 5:05 And now he's going to leave. And he said, I can't come. But maybe if I can figure out where he's going, then maybe somehow I can get there. And Peter, of course, doesn't realize what Jesus is even talking about. He's thinking geography on earth. 5:19 Is he going to Asia Minor? Is he going to Egypt? Where's Jesus going? I can, Jesus said, I can't go, but I'm going to figure this out. And I know for me, when trials come or we get a no, either directly from the Lord or in circumstances are a no. 5:32 You can't or not now or whatever it may be. I know for me, those wheels start turning and I try to figure that out. And that's what Peter's doing. Jesus said in verse 33, he said at the end, where I'm going, you cannot come. 5:48 Peter's response is, where are you going? I want to figure this out. Jesus answered, where I go, you cannot follow me now, but you shall follow later. So Jesus gives a little bit more to Peter. He repeats himself. He said it once. 6:04 He's going to repeat it again. Peter isn't convincing Jesus by his panic that Jesus needs to change what he's doing. And I think a lot of times the Lord sees our panic and I can hear the anxiety in Peter's voice, the quiver in his voice. 6:18 Lord, where are you going? What does this mean? The fear, the trouble. And Jesus knows that in Peter and he knows it in us. And he repeats. He's firm. He's not going to, we can't change God by our insecurity or by our problems or by our fear. 6:34 So he reassures him, where I go, you cannot follow me now, but you shall follow me later. So what encouraged me about this is that it's the encouragement that it may not be now, but it's later. And if you look back in verse, earlier in the chapter, when they have the Passover meal and Jesus changes his clothes and is wearing a towel and he comes and washes the disciples' feet. 7:08 And verse 6, Peter says, Lord, are you washing my feet? And Jesus said, what I'm doing, you don't realize now, but you will understand after, hereafter. You will, you won't get it now, Peter, but you will understand later. 7:24 And to me, that's been such an encouragement over the past while that I'm not going to necessarily understand what's going on in my life now. I don't understand what the Lord is doing, what he's allowing, but I will. I have that promise that I will understand hereafter. 7:37 It may be in the new heaven and new earth when he reveals all that to me. But the encouragement is that I will, I will have it later. And that waiting is hard, that uncertainty is hard. Peter doesn't like it. Verse 36, where are you going? 7:51 Jesus said, you can't come now, you'll come later. Verse 37, Peter says to Jesus, Lord, why can I not follow you right now? And that's, and anything I say is nothing against Peter. I love Peter, I'm so much like him, I can't judge him. 8:08 Lord, why can't I have this right now? Whatever it may be, again, this is a good thing. He wants to be with Jesus. He wants this. He wants a good and right thing. And sometimes in our life, the Lord might say, you can't do this right now. 8:20 And our response is, why can't I right now? We may not have this audible dialogue with the Lord, of course, but it reminds me of little children. You know, if you're a parent or if you're, if you've been a child, you know what it's like. 8:33 Your parents say, you can't have this right now. Why can't I have it right now? It's in all of us. And even in verse 33, he starts out, says little children. And there's multiple facets of that. Little children. We have to become like little children and to the kingdom of God. 8:50 And then on the other hand, sometimes we are acting like little children. But he's patient and loving with us. And his patience is wonderful. But Peter says, Lord, why can I not follow you right now? I will lay down my life for you. 9:04 Peter says, Lord, you don't, you don't understand. This is, you can't change this. The circumstances I have in my life, everything is great. Everything is fine. Everything is good. You're with us. We're with you. We're preaching. 9:16 You're healing. Don't change anything. Just leave it alone. You've made it so wonderful. Don't mess with my life. And the Lord says, will you really lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a cock shall not crow until you deny me three times. 9:33 So Peter, what I see in this, is Peter's desperate for nothing to change. And Jesus is going to change it. Jesus is going to go away. Peter can't come. And Peter's trying to figure out, how can I come? And he's so desperate. 9:46 He says, I'm willing to die for this. Lord, you can't go. I will lay down my life for you. And I think part of what he's saying is there, I'm willing to die over this. Don't go away. Don't leave us. And Jesus knows the truth. 9:59 And he says, Peter, really, you can't see clearly right now. You didn't even hear half of what I said. And you want to argue about this. And he says, you're not going to be able to do that, Peter. You're going to deny me three times. 10:12 And I think of the shock of that. This whole evening, if you just think about the last hour where Jesus washes their feet. And that's confusing. Why would Jesus wash my feet? And Peter is very confused. And he argues with Jesus about it. 10:25 And then Jesus said, I have to do it. And then Peter said, okay, give me a bath. And then Jesus said, no, you don't need that. He doesn't understand. And then Jesus said, one of you is going to betray me. And he doesn't announce it to the whole group of who that's going to be. 10:39 And they're all like, who is it? Is it me? And then now Jesus says, I'm going to leave you and you can't come. If you just put yourself in this position, it's a troubling evening. These are troubling things if we only hear those things. 10:53 There's a lot of other things that can bring comfort. But a lot of those things, when it comes down to it, we only hear what we don't like. We only hear what God's going to change this or God's going to allow this. How could he do this? 11:04 Why would he mess up my life like this? And it's troubling. And so I love what Jesus said. And this could be a standalone verse on your wall. That's fine. But I think it means so much more if you understand why Jesus said this in chapter 14, verse 1. 11:18 He says, don't let your heart be troubled, Peter. You believe in God. Believe also in me. Jesus can see right through Peter's tough guy. I'm going to die for you. Peter can see this is a troubled little child inside. And Peter doesn't know what to do. 11:33 Jesus is going to allow this change. Peter can't have it. He'd rather die than have anything like this happen to him. And Jesus sees right through that. He says, Peter, I know you're troubled. Don't let your heart be troubled. 11:42 Don't let this happen. And he gives a solution. And the solution is almost too basic and too easy that it can become meaningless. The solution is believe in God. Believe in me, Jesus Christ. That's it. Period. That's at the level of a little child. 11:59 That's any little child can answer that. Trusting in Jesus. Trusting in God. But that is the simple solution to our troubled hearts when our life is upended, where there's uncertainty or change or things we would never sign up for or choose. 12:13 Jesus is there. He says, don't let your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe in me. And I can say, honestly, I think I've glossed over that because it just seems too simple. Like, can you just give me something more complicated with 15 steps and I'll try really hard to do those things. 12:28 And he doesn't. It's for a child. We're children. And he says, believe. Believe in God. Believe in me. And as I've meditated on that, I do see there's so much treasure. There's so much comfort in that. It's so simple. When the trouble in our hearts come, believing and meditating on what that means. 12:44 Who is this God that I'm believing? Who is this Jesus that I'm believing? Is he in control of everything? Does he love me? Yes and yes. And so much more. In verse 2, So here's the later, Peter. 13:11 You want to come now? You will be with me later. It can't be right now. Just trust me. You believe in God. Believe also in me. It's going to be okay. It's going to be really hard in between. And these trials that we face are really hard. 13:24 When the Lord allows changes in our life for trials, they're super hard. But what do we do? Don't let our heart get troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in him. Another thing, real quick. Back in Matthew 16, and I don't know if Peter remembered this. 13:39 I'm sure he, maybe not at the moment, he may not have remembered this. But Matthew 16, when Jesus says this, he starts revealing about going to the cross. In verse 21, 16, 21. From that time, Jesus Christ began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and 13:58 suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. And Peter, and I think now, part of this, Peter's angry, I think. That's my opinion. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, God forbid it, Lord. 14:12 This will never happen to you. You're not going to change what we're doing here. This is not part of my plan. Peter's, he doesn't say that. But that's what's going on. And Jesus turned and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan. 14:24 You are a stumbling block to me, for you are not setting your mind on God's interest, but man's. Peter, you are only interested in what you want. And that's the same thing here. And he loves Peter enough to tell it to him straight. 14:36 He's only interested in what he wants. Don't rock the boat, Lord. This is, I like it like this. Don't mess with it. And Jesus isn't having that. That's not how it works. And the same thing back here in John 13, where that's, Peter's just desperate. 14:49 And Jesus gives him the promise, don't let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. So when faced with these trials and changes and losses and whatever it might be, that's our command. That's our promise to believe in him and meditate on that. 15:05 If that's too simple that you don't like it, I understand. But meditate and he will give us life. That's his response. This is what the Son of God says to us. And just the last thing in Acts 1, this really encourages me. 15:17 In Acts 1, when Jesus, after he goes to the cross, buried, raised again, he spends time with the disciples, and I skipped over the part where Peter takes a sword and tries to kill somebody in the garden. That's as part of Peter's resistance to this change. 15:36 He's so desperate. He's willing to take a sword and kill somebody over it. In Acts 1, in verse 6. And so when they came together, they were asking him, Lord, is it now you're restoring the kingdom of Israel? And Jesus said, it's not for you to know right now. 15:52 But what you need to know right now, in verse 8, you need the Holy Spirit. You need the power of the Holy Spirit to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Don't leave Jerusalem yet until you're filled with the Holy Spirit. And after he said these things, he ascends up to be with his father. 16:05 And I just love the fact that Peter doesn't resist this. Peter, this is literally when Jesus goes away. When Peter was so upset 40, 50 days ago in that last supper, he was so upset Jesus was going to go away. And through his fall, he denied Jesus, he's broken, he comes back, believes that Jesus still 16:24 loves him, and follows him, and he's a broken man. And he doesn't question, he doesn't argue. When Jesus is literally going to heaven, he doesn't pull out a sword and try to stop this. He accepts it, and he's submitted. 16:35 And so I see through these trials, we too can follow that path of believing in God, believing in Jesus, not letting our heart be troubled, accepting what the Lord's doing in our life, and he will help us, and he will come back. 16:45 Praise God for us. I would like to share in relation to following in the footstep of Jesus Christ, and to press 17:15 on to become like him. I can follow in his footstep only by the filling of Holy Spirit. In this day and age, I need him more and more than anyone or anything, and the need for me to be filled with this Holy Spirit consistently. 17:38 I believe it's applicable to all of us. During the transition, our elders reinstated the emphasis on strengthening the vertical bar of the cross by deepening our personal walk with the Heavenly Father. 17:59 In other words, as the disciples of Jesus Christ, our focus is to press on to perfection and to become more and more like Jesus Christ. To become like him and for God to accomplish his purpose in our lives, we need the filling of Holy Spirit. 18:22 Not once in the past, not occasionally, but all the time. In other words, the fullness of the Holy Spirit, which would consistently reflect in our lives. In addition, his purpose in our life may not look great in the eyes of men. 18:44 The question is, do I still humbly submit to his leading? And am I faithful in those small things? When I was meditating on this last week, I was led to three men in the New Testament who were full of Holy Spirit and submitted to God's will. 19:08 Yes, they were full of Holy Spirit and submitted to God's will. In all three examples, Holy Spirit shows us three entirely different aspects. When the verses refer to the person as full of Holy Spirit. These are not great things in the eyes of men, as I said, to start with. 19:31 However, these men were faithful and content from the days of small beginnings. The first person, let's go into the first person. There's a man, Jesus Christ. In 1 Timothy 2, verse 5, Paul refers to him as the man, Jesus Christ. 19:55 Let that sink in before we go further. That's important. Otherwise, we'll miss out a lot of things. Now, let's turn to Luke chapter 4. Verse 1 says, Jesus, full of Holy Spirit, was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness. 20:24 Jesus said, Father, just a while back, you told me that you are well pleased in me, your beloved son. 20:44 I thought, Lord, I thought, I'm going to preach the gospel to the poor, heal the sick, and raise the dead. Are you sure we are going to take a tour in the wilderness? Why? How long? I'm already 30 years old. Do you want me to preach the good news to shrubs and snakes in the wilderness? 21:08 Jesus, but Jesus was led by the Spirit, lived moment by moment, leaning on him, simply submitted to the Father's will, and to the leading of the Holy Spirit, without any question. 21:29 When Jesus started the wilderness trip, he didn't know how long it's going to be. He didn't know the purpose of wilderness tourists. Now we know that he was tempted by Satan for 40 days, without having any food. But there were many unknowns when Jesus started that tour. 21:55 We are all going through, we will all going through wilderness-like situations in our lives. If you are not already, be ready for that. The challenge in front of us, are we going to question God when we go through wilderness in our lives? 22:14 When the duration of wilderness is unknown? Or, will we follow Jesus by yielding to the will of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit with immediate obedience, without asking any questions, shall we judge ourselves on this? 22:36 Let's move on to the second person, that's Stephen. Let's turn to Acts chapter 6. What was the context here we are talking about? 23:04 Verse 3 says that it's to take charge of serving of food daily. The twelve apostles were selecting seven disciples who are of good reputation, full of spirit, and of wisdom, 23:27 as given in the verse 3, so that they would take charge of daily serving of food. Verse 8 says, Stephen was full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs. Still, Stephen didn't question apostles. 23:51 I perform great wonders and signs just like you, apostles. Why do you ask me to take charge of serving food? But he simply submitted to apostles. We all know that what God has accomplished later through Stephen, 24:12 but it started with simple submission to authority. What's my attitude when our elders asked me to consider serving in some capacity in the church, church-related matters? Stephen had the attitude of Jesus Christ. 24:35 Do I have the same attitude? Again, shall we all judge ourselves? Acts chapter 7, verse 55 says, Being full of Holy Spirit, Stephen gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, 24:59 and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. That's the key, brothers and sisters, that my focus always be on the heavenly things, and I must always keep the glory of God in everything I do. 25:20 Last, but not the least one, his name is Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth. Do you know him? It's in the Bible. You may easily guess if I say his nickname. It's given in Acts chapter 4, verse 36. 25:44 He's son of encouragement. Yes, it's Barnabas. Verse 24 says, Barnabas was a good man and full of Holy Spirit and faith. In what context Holy Spirit shares this about Barnabas? 26:07 It's given in the context of, it's given in the previous verses, if you go back to verse 19 on, there was a new church in Antioch, and Apostle sent Barnabas to see what's happening over there. 26:30 And it's given in the previous verse that, in which it says, he encouraged everyone in the new church at Antioch. How did he encourage? He encouraged them to remain true to the Lord with resolute heart. 26:56 Barnabas worked with Paul shoulder to shoulder. He didn't write epistles like Paul did. As a man full of Holy Spirit, he was content with the ministry of God, ministry God entrusted him with. That's a ministry of encouragement. 27:17 This ministry of encouragement is mostly a hidden one, but essential for us in our walk with Christ. Paul talks about this ministry in multiple epistles. Ephesians chapter 4, 29, you may read it later. 27:37 and 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, 11, and Hebrews chapter 3, verse 13. I don't know, but it could be by Holy Spirit who would have influenced Paul to write these verses that he witnessed in the ministry Barnabas did. 28:00 Just like the ministry of prophesying, we are all called to be part of this much-needed ministry. Barnabas followed Jesus in this. Shall we also do the same? Jesus, full of Holy Spirit, yielded to God's will 28:20 when he was led to the wilderness. Stephen, full of Holy Spirit, submitted to apostles and took charge of serving food. Barnabas, full of Holy Spirit, content with the hidden ministry of encouragement. May God help us all 28:40 to him who is able to do far more than we ask, think, or imagine to him be all the glory, honor, and praise. amen? 29:21 And he's a little bit alone, if you will. And, you know, sometimes when you're alone, you need some encouragement, you need help. And, you know, you're in a struggle, man, I just need somebody to help me out. So, you know, 29:39 when you're alone, it's pretty challenging. I've been overseas by myself before. You feel isolated. You're tempted with your thoughts, maybe thoughts of despair. Your resistance gets weak. You start to lose faith and lose hope, 29:58 and all of these things can lead to depression if you're not careful. But as we know that we are not left alone. So, in the military, we have what is called the code of conduct. How do we conduct ourselves? 30:18 And after the Korean War, the military saw how difficult it was for those who had been taken prisoner or prisoner of war, if you will. Without a code to live by, they had to hang on to what they had, what they learned on the farm, 30:35 in the factory, something like that. They just didn't have this military code to help them out. Some were able to endure, but others could not. So, to help, President Eisenhower and some other officers worked together to give military members 30:52 a code to live by. To live by if they were ever taken prisoner of war. And now that they have it, you know, or now that we have it, we have something more meaningful to hold on to. We have something to encourage us in our struggle 31:09 to give hope when it seems like there's none to be had. Being taken prisoner is not just a physical battle, it's a spiritual battle. And our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, 31:26 against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places, Ephesians 6.12. So, when our enemies, the devil, the world, our flesh, attack us and try and take us prisoner, 31:44 we need something to fight back with. And so, I want to go through this code of conduct. So, there's six codes that we can go through and apply God's word to each one of them to help us to grow. This code is not just for military members. 32:05 I think that we can all use it in our walk, in our daily walk, whether we come under attack or we're at peace. So, there's six articles. They're meant to be easy to understand. They're not a mantra. They're a code to live by. 32:21 Some military members, depending on their job, will just get a basic understanding of this code. Some others, they may be in a special forces somewhere where they're on the front lines fighting the enemy and they're going to get 32:36 something a little bit more in depth, if you will, in training under this code of conduct. Alright, so first code. Number one, I am an American airman. I... I've got that stuck in my head. So, you know, I was in the Air Force 32:55 and I always said, I'm an American airman. Let's go back. I am an American fighting in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense. So, this reminds me that I must be willing 33:11 to die to myself, to die to my own opinions. That this life is not about me and my selfishness, but it's about the Lord and His will for my life. and everything that I give must come at a cost and this cost may be my life 33:31 so that others may live. In 2 Corinthians 4, 10 through 12, Paul talks about that we are always caring about in the body the dying of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body for we who live 33:51 are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh so death works in us but life in you. Article 2, I will never surrender 34:12 of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist. And I was reminded of resistance here. In James 4, 7, it says, Submit to God, resist the devil, 34:31 and he will flee from you. If I am completely surrendered to the Lord in all matters and don't compromise, he will keep me from falling. Don't resist the Lord, but submit to him. Article 3, If I am captured, 34:51 I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy. And I was reminded in 1 Corinthians 10, 13, we've heard that 35:09 earlier this morning, we learn that when we are tempted, the Lord will provide an escape route for us. And what is that escape route? It's humility. So ask the Lord for help, or ask the Holy Spirit for help in our time of need. 35:25 we read this in Hebrews 4, 16. And encourage my brother to do the same. So encouragement coming from Hebrews 10, 25. Article 4, If I become prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. 35:46 I will give no information or take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and I will back them up in every way. 36:03 If I become a prisoner, I'm reminded to keep the faith. Romans is bookended. In Romans 1, 5, obedience of faith. And in Romans 16, 26, obedience of faith. So there's an obedience to our faith there. 36:25 And we're talking about keeping our faith. And so I also want to keep those. I want to keep the obedience. I want to keep faith in my God. And to keep my faith when I feel I'm a prisoner I also want to remember or remember also 36:42 that we need to hold on to our faith because it's as it says in 1 Peter 1, 7, our faith is more precious than gold which is perishable even though tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation 37:01 of Jesus Christ. And also remember that Jesus doesn't want want our faith to fail. He said that to Peter in Luke 22, 32 Jesus tells Peter I've prayed for you that your faith may not fail. 37:22 And you when once you have returned again strengthen your brothers. So I'll keep the faith and I'll help my brothers to keep their faith. article 5 when questioned should I become prisoner of war I'm required to give name 37:40 rank service number and date of birth. I'll evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause. And Jesus 37:59 says that if we confess him before man he will confess us before the father in Matthew 10, 32. So not giving any oral or written statements that are disloyal. Then article 6 this is our last one. I will never forget 38:20 that I am an American fighting for the freedom responsible for my actions and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and the United States of America. Proverbs 3, 5 says trust in the Lord 38:37 with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. So I don't need to understand everything. I just need to trust him. It's like Jared said. Peter didn't need to understand everything as Jesus told him. In Mark 12, 30 38:55 it says love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. And I hope that I never or I hope that I never forget this in my time of need when I'm in being attacked 39:12 by the enemy. Remember that if I do love him then all things will work out for my good. Hebrews 13, 5 through 6 the Lord says I will never leave you or forsake you. The Lord is my helper. 39:32 I will not be afraid. Might be nervous but I might I'm not going to be afraid. What will man do to me? I must always remember that Jesus was not left alone and he has not left us alone. 39:53 He sent the Holy Spirit here to comfort us and to help us in our time of need and our struggles when we feel lost and alone out there in the wilderness by ourself. So don't lose hope don't lose your or don't let your faith fail 40:10 and remember that the Father loves us just as he loves Jesus. And finally in Acts 111 you know if you feel like nobody's coming after you to help you out it's not true it's a lie Jesus is coming after you. Acts 111 it says 40:29 Jesus is coming for us he's the one that will rescue us soon. May God help us. 40:52 Thank you brother Jared brother Agustin and brother Mike for taking the responsibility given to you when we requested you to share you sought the Lord and you heard him you got the word from him for the church I know this is the 41:12 this word you shared is from the Lord because it encouraged me tremendously I am sure it did to you all it was a great demonstration of a body ministry also how men when they humble themselves and when they seek for the help 41:30 of the Holy Spirit with a burden for the church under the submission of the authority asked when they are asked they go and seek the Lord and bring the word I am extremely thankful and I praise God for what we saw today 41:47 for what we heard through all these brothers I almost felt like those disciples when they were walking with Jesus on the way to Emma they felt something when Jesus was explaining the scriptures their hearts were burning 42:05 when the Holy Spirit speaks you feel something he is working in your heart I sense that today truly God spoke to me not to rehash everything but I just I mean it was so good to start with the life of Peter as Jared took us through 42:25 in the midst of things that we don't know the simple exhortation is believe in God believe also in me let's take that to heart when he was going through a crisis in his life when his master leader is saying you will not 42:43 be able to come where I am going and he was going through a lot of changes and he was resisting the change but this word do not let your hearts be troubled believe in God believe also in me there is a wonderful verse I think we 43:03 teach our children also in Psalms 56 3 what time I am afraid I will trust in you what time I am afraid I will trust in you there is a beautiful song also we may be tempted to be afraid and fearful and trouble when we go through 43:23 various situations in our lives things that we don't understand things that we cannot comprehend we don't understand what God is doing in our lives but we can simply hold on to this believe in God believe also in me because God 43:40 is unchanging we can trust in him he will never leave us nor forsake us we can hold on to that like an anchor and brother Agostin took us through three men starting with our Lord Jesus Christ what a 44:02 beautiful points he was making when Jesus was full of Holy Spirit he was not asked to do something great and miraculous something makes him popular but he was led by the Spirit into wilderness all alone private to be tempted 44:22 to be tested to be broken so that's what happens when we are we are seeing we are all I hope we are all seeking for the filling of the Holy Spirit not to become something popular in the church or popular wherever you go 44:36 with all these gifts and talents but we will be tested first in our private life what happens here on Sunday or Friday is one small percentage of our life but our private life is most important where we fight against sin 44:54 and temptations with the power of the Holy Spirit and from that life God will use us just like God used Jesus after he was tested so after being full of Holy Spirit is very interesting to observe that he was led by the Spirit 45:10 into wilderness so let's take that to heart our private life we must conquer the lions and the bears in the private life first before being not seeking for something honorable in the church or being popular and Stephen wow 45:30 what a wonderful example again man full of faith and the Holy Spirit full of wisdom and when he was already doing miracles and signs and when the apostles asked him to do something very menial not very popular to serve food 45:47 many people want something prominent ministries in the church prominent places but when he was asked to do something very simple job distribute the food and they chose apostles were very wise to just distribute food to make 46:03 sure that there is fairness in the distribution they chose people of these qualities go and meditate in Acts chapter 6 and 7 it's amazing to see how the early church started there and it's also amazing to see how the conflict 46:18 began in the matter of food and and then when he was given the responsibility he took it seriously because he was full of Holy Spirit means he is also man of humility and he did it and later on God used him to the point 46:37 he became the first martyr and to the point where Saul's I think his death was a seed for Saul's conversion when Apostle Paul before he became Apostle Paul he was Saul and he was persecuting the church but when he saw this 46:54 man Stephen he imitated Christ in such a way that when people are throwing stones at him he was praying for them he was praying for them and he looked at the heaven and he saw Jesus standing up and he saw the glory of God 47:12 that's what happens when we are full of Holy Spirit we take whatever responsibility given to us with humility and do God's work and set our mind on things of heaven seek for the glory of God not for glory of men and we see 47:30 Jesus Christ supporting him he's standing up ready to invite ready to receive his son Stephen not sitting standing and Barnabas too a son of encouragement how the hidden ministry of encouragement we often forget many people 47:47 I mean there's a temptation or desire or lust to come up and stand before people and speak and all of that but most important most effective is this hidden encouragement the most effective parts of the body are not seen 48:02 outside you may see the face but the most important organs in the body are hidden for just for example kidneys and liver and heart they're most essential if they stop functioning person is dead and like Barnabas we seeking 48:20 to encourage one another I personally received so much encouragement when I was going through trials people I didn't even tell them what I was going through but they I don't know how they were led they wrote an email or 48:33 sent a text message that strengthened me like anything may we all do that seek for the leading of the Holy Spirit Lord I don't know who is in need or whatever I want to send a text of encouragement pray for them just smile 48:50 at them when they are going through trial just encourage them with a smile not with a long face and pray even without asking any questions we could do so many things in a hidden way to bless the body of Christ as and obey 49:06 the scripture in Hebrews 3 13 encourage one another daily daily and also Mike took us through this code of conduct one thing I took away is we are in the spiritual warfare we are constantly in the spiritual warfare we need 49:25 to be watchful and guarded because we are in the spiritual warfare all the time against the devil against our own flesh against the world that's why God has given us the full armor of God in Ephesians chapter 6 and all the 49:45 things that he reminded us today we need to have that mindset of being in a warfare we cannot relax until the day we die we will be tempted tempted to be discouraged tempted to be to give up tempted to do our own will not 50:02 to surrender tempted to be afraid so he reminded us how to be willing to die to ourselves how to resist the devil by submitting to God and he will flee and how God provides a way of escape in the midst of what we go through 50:19 and keeping the obedience of the faith when the faith is tested like gold and confessing our hope before men before the enemy even though things are not going well we can confess I trust my Lord and he will see me through 50:38 this problem confess before men and also trust in God with all our heart even when things we don't understand fully trusting with a simple child like faith trust in God as in Proverbs 3 5 with all our heart lean not on our 50:57 own understanding and loving the Lord supremely there are so many things I think we could go and listen to that sharing again but praise God for the rich word he has given to us through these brothers let's pray and ask 51:12 God whatever God has impressed on your heart through what we heard today one or two things maybe let's spend say 30 seconds and then I'll close in prayer just let's take that back to the Lord what I heard this word from 51:29 you this word my brother shared it is the word you have given to me help you to obey the obedience of faith it's not just for this word is not given to fill our minds with a little bit more knowledge a word is given for 51:44 us to obey and let's seek for the help of the Holy Spirit whatever truths whatever word that pierced to your hearts 52:22 heavenly father 52:51 thank you for your love for each one of us for this church thank you for the rich word you have given to us from heaven lord help us to obey what we heard today the truths that you have given to us these precious truths 53:06 help us Lord to meditate on them more and to seek to obey not through our flesh but through the power of the Holy Spirit father help us to encourage one another our part being the members of the body of Christ help us to 53:25 believe in you believe in God Lord even the things when we don't understand everything help us Lord to be full of Holy Spirit fighting against our temptations in our private life be willing to serve anything Lord you ask 53:40 us to do and Lord be hidden and Lord and also help us to be constantly be engaged in spiritual warfare and Lord hold on to the promises you have given to us and preserve our faith until the end Lord no matter what and always 53:57 be ready Lord to stand firm and with the full armor of God and be ready to fight Father please help us to be your soldiers to bring those who bring your honor to your name those who glorify you who do not have any desire 54:12 any other plan Lord any other ambition but to please you and to honor you and to glorify you Lord you have called us with such a high calling as we meditated on the memory verse help us to live a life worthy of such calling 54:27 worthy of all that you have done for us worthy of all the resources you have given to us Lord to be holy and blameless and build a pure bride for you Lord in Austin CFC Lord I pray that you fulfill 54:47 all your plans and purposes you have for each and every individual in our church bind us together in your love and bind the forces of darkness Lord I pray that your indwelling presence be in our midst always Lord that you 55:02 continue to send your word from heaven which burns our hearts Lord and exposes sin and challenges us comforts us exhorts us and builds us up again I pray that your Lord continue to be with us even as we continue our fellowship 55:18 help us to go back to our homes Lord having met with you and with a renewed desire to live for you and to reach greater depths of faith and obedience we ask all these things through the mighty and holy name of Lord and our 55:33 Savior Jesus Christ Amen alright that's the end of a formal meeting
1h 19m
14m
