Following Jesus Gospel Series | It Is Written| Pastor I. Michael Oluikpe | February 27, 2022

good evening everyone we are here for the second installment of the following jesus gospel series we are about to start with our praise and worship but before we do let's just invite god to join us let us pray or god you are great lord we thank you for the wonderful opportunity that we have to be here and let me thank you that we're able to sing songs of praises to you lord i pray that as we do so let your name be glorified and self be denied and lord i pray that you'll forgive us of all our many sins and cover us under your blood lord jesus keep us known forevermore and lord help us to write these songs in our hearts and that we thank you for what you've done and what you'll continue to do bless this service now in your name i pray amen amen we invite you to join your voice and sing with us him 249 praise him praise him jesus our blessed redeemer [Music] praise him praise him jesus our blessed redeemer sing o earth is wonderful love proclaim helen hayden highest archangels and glory strengthened on her gift to his holy name like a shepherd jesus who guarded children in his arms he carries them all day long praise him praise himself his excellent greatness praising praise him every joyful song praise him praise him jesus our blessed redeemer for our sins jesus praise him praise him jesus our blessed redeemer heavenly forces love jesus save christ is coming over the world before us unto the lord be long praise him praise him instead of his excellent greatness praising praising every joyful song and as we've lifted up our voices in praise we're going to magnify the lord no sing praises on to god saying praises first before we magnify the lord [Music] sing friends is one so god speak praises sing praises on god sing praises sing praises unto god sing praises for hallelujah is our king over all the earth [Applause] lives sing phrases when troubles in your life sing praises hallelujah when troubles in your life sing phrases when troubles in your life sing praises we've understood [Applause] for he is with understanding [Applause] to be praised for he is to be praised to be praised for he is to be blessed come let's magnify the lord for he is worthy to be praised [Music] calmly magnify the lord for he is worthy to be praised magnify the lord for he is worthy to be praised [Music] for he is [Music] of my salvation [Music] sure [Music] my salvation blessed be the rock of my salvation and our final song for praise and worship tonight is here i am to worship light of the world we step down you step down into darkness [Music] you step into darkness opened my eyes let me see beauty that made [Music] spent with you here i am true worship here i am to bow down here i am to say that you're my all god lovely all together worthy all together wonderful to me [Music] glorious in heaven above all for love's sake he came here i am to say that you're my god you're all together lovely all together worthy all together wonderful to me i'll never know how much it cost [Music] i'll never know how much it costs [Music] here i am to worship here i am to bow down here i am to say that you're my god you're all together lovely here i am to worship [Music] here i am to say that you're my god you're all together lovely worthy [Music] thank you for singing with us for praise and worship [Music] good evening good evening good evening everyone we welcome you to this our second episode of the following jesus gospel series we're delighted that you have joined us beat in our physical space or on our virtual platform yesterday was gordon's the message was amazing oh yes it was it was indeed a blessing message and you know the speaker he spoke passionately about following jesus you know he challenged us that we are to be committed followers of jesus christ that we are to deny ourselves you know and this is something that is possible you know by the power of the holy spirit and so i am looking forward on another exciting night as a speaker speaks tonight you know uh la fern as i think about jesus when he was here on earth and he was tempted by the leaders and not only that but also when he was teaching his listeners you know he would direct them to certain realities and he will use a certain phrase not only that he used his phrase as well when he was tempted by the devil and this phrase la fern you know there are three words in this phrase three words can you guess what this phrase is [Music] three i said three it is written you got that correct it is written and it sounds like a topic that we will be looking at tonight yes something to be familiar you know and as we are on that topic friends you know did you know that in the 18th century there was a man by the name of volteer a french infidel he wrote many anti-bible books you know where the intention to destroy the bible all together but not only that he predicted in 100 years the bible would be extinct that's crazy what a prediction well friends can i tell you that within 100 years something happened what is it you may be asking within 100 years volunteers printing press become the press that prints bible amen not only that his house was a storeroom for bible amen what an amazing god and amazing god and indeed we are encouraging the viewers to join us in our physical space but most importantly to share the link with your friends on our social media platform that you may use whether it be whatsapp whether it be facebook whether it be instagram whether it be twitter whether it be snapchat i don't know what you may use but we're asking you to share the link share the flyers and to share jesus as we follow him let us only share jesus we are also encouraging you to join our prayer room that will be on sunday to wednesdays between the hour of 6 30 and 7 30. we i'm sure that we all have our different burdens that we'd like to take to the lord in prayer let us take your burdens to the lord in prayer so join us on our prayer platform on the zoom link 7 6 30 rather to 7 30 sunday to wednesday and and before you go so at this time before we run all right we'll be having the praise team who will be doing the theme song and right after that we'll be having a special prayer session by elder richard robinson amen all right and so at this time we say do enjoy the rest of the program [Music] [Music] [Applause] eight times like these you need us take your entire you need the solid rock this rock is jesus yes he's the one this rock is jesus the only one be very sure [Music] be very sure [Music] [Music] i'm very sure i'm very [Music] is jesus [Music] a rock this rock is jesus yes he's a one this rock is jesus the only one be very sure be very sure very oh [Music] bro dear god and heavenly father we give you thanks oh lord for the series we give you thanks dear lord for every evangelistic opportunity that the holy spirit would have led us into and so tonight lord we give you thanks for the following jesus campaign father we know that it is not of us it is not of anything that we would have done or anything that we can prepare but it's by your work your power and your spirit o god that will reap the success of the campaign and so tonight lord we also bring to you the individuals whom the holy spirit will have begun to prepare he would have begun to speak with their hearts opening their minds to making them more receptive of the word to be shared we bring each and every one to you tonight oh god and ask that as the word is shared that a blessing would come upon them may you help to influence each and every decision to serve you to the end of their days we also ask our lord tonight that you will be with the speaker that you will touch him lord with a special touch one that will part his lips not with his words but the words that you would have prepared for him and that as he speaks lord he will speak into the heart of every hearer of the word whether it be the persons on the platform listening will it be individuals who are here in the sanctuary even the individuals lord who are supporting the campaign because there is always a word for each and every one of us we place ourselves into your hands tonight lord and we ask that you will remove from us each and everything that is unlike you and fill us with your holy spirit father may that same spirit come now with us tabernacle with us and help us to worship you in spirit and in truth in jesus name we pray amen good evening everyone today's nugget is on family worship family worship is important if ever there was a time when every house should be a house of prayer it is now and yet in this time of fearful peril some who profess to be christians have no family prayer deuteronomy 6 49 instructs us to teach god's word to our children it is the greatest legacy parents can leave their offspring our little ones will learn how to worship god and learn that he is their source of strength power wisdom and joy god deserves to be worshiped in every christian home and a family that prays together stays together the idea that family prayer and worship is not essential is one of satan's most successful devices to ruin souls prayer is communion with god the fountain of wisdom the source of strength and peace and happiness there is no substitute for family prayer worship is a necessity in every christian home morning and evening all family members should unite in reverent worship how good it is for parents to gather their children to thank the heavenly father for his protection during the night and to ask for his help guidance and watchful care during the day how fitting it is when evening comes for parents and children to gather once more to give god thanks for the blessings of the day that is passed the homes of christians should be allies in the world fathers and mothers each morning and evening gather their children and in humble supplication lift their hearts to god for help your dear ones are exposed to temptation and trial daily annoyances beset the path of young and old those who would live patient loving cheerful lives must pray what are some tips for family worship number one set aside time whereby everybody can be together two keep worship short leaving them wanting more three keep your worship spirited and interesting do some fun things number four make it relevant so talk about what's going on in your family right now and number five keep it interactive involve everyone whenever possible even let the children lead sometimes what are some essential components of family worship singing sharing god's word and praying we can sing choruses like jesus love is bobbing over we can sing hymns like i'm pressing on the awkward way we can also play musical instruments like the piano guitar violin and recorder you can download the adventist hypno app and sing along with the music what about sharing god's word we can read god's word and apply it to family members we can read a devotional thought and apply that to the family members what about studying a passage of scripture and then doing a quiz there is also object lessons we can use a familiar object like a broom to illustrate a biblical truth and there is dramatization the family members can role play a bible story we can also use video clippings and powerpoints to enhance our worship experience then there's praying to god we can have one person pray two persons pray or everyone pray we can do sentence prayers so each family member prays one sentence at a time we can pray for self and for each other we can pray for other families the church and the nation we can also recite the lord's prayer that's a beautiful prayer we can cite the 23rd psalm or we can even read a prayer from a devotional book one thing be aware of long prayers our children may fall asleep or their minds might drift and so remember if there ever was a time when a house should be a house of prayer it is now keep family worship short interesting and relevant keep family worship daily both morning and evening a family that prays together stays together and so may god help us to raise godly men and women in these last days be alight in your community by having daily family worship make your house a house of prayer today [Music] my savior [Music] head for someone such as i at the cross at the cross where i first saw the light and the burdens of my heart it rolled away it was there by faith i received my sight and now i am the way oh there is room at the cross [Music] there is [Music] christ will lead you there come [Music] leave every career [Music] jesus who me too there [Music] jesus [Music] there is room for all [Music] there is [Music] amen so at this time i'm going to share my conversion testimony so i was born into an adventist home and for the most part of my early childhood years we were going to church so the last i remember of church was at age seven and so for a good period of my pre-teen teenage years we weren't practicing seventh-day adventists and i remember at age 14 there was a evangelistic series held in my community and my dad at that time got baptized at that evangelistic series and the bible worker came to me and he was like you should give your life to god you know and i said not no not yet and after a year there was another evangelistic series and i attended that evangelistic series and the lord spoke to me and i said to myself you know my mom would always say you know we need to go back to church we need to get serious with god we need to settle down but nobody ever made the move my dad got baptized but he never hold the fault so i decided you know what i'm going to take that step and i'm going to get baptized and i remember going home and saying to my mom you know i'm going to get baptized you know and she was like you know you're sure what you're sure you know what you're doing you're sure you're serious you're sure you're ready and it's like yeah i think i'm ready and so i went to church i got baptized none of my family members were there but there were a few young persons i made friends with that church and they came and supported me and after getting baptized i went home and you know how god told abraham to set his house in order so i went home with the intention to set my house in order and so i implemented morning and evening devotions and we continued having that and then my younger brother got baptized as a result my younger siblings got baptized as a result and my mom and my older brother who my older brother who wasn't in church he smoked marijuana drank alcohol you know very intelligent had a good job he said he caught he messaged me one day and he said you know what sis i think i want to give my life to god and that was the best um you know message i ever got in my life and so he decided to give his life to god so that's my conversion story and the conversion story of my entire family amen even though the world is constantly changing the word of god is still the same and it continues to change the lives of those ministers the seventh-day adventist church here at 13 california board mandeville manchester united continues to spread the good news of salvation to every nation injured and people responding to the needs of those around us and adding to the well-being of life within our communities coffee 19 had no negative effect on the team of or outstanding men and women of the community services and other departments who answered the call to serve our church and communities meals clothing a well-needed show food and other amenities are provided these reassure the less fortunate of the love of christ for them and assist in spreading the advent message to the world we work as seriously to make sure that you are blessed through our children youth music media community and health services ministries along with souls stirring teaching and preaching since the year 2019 over 200 precious souls took their stand for christ and were baptized for two weeks beginning february 26 2022 we'd embark upon the following jesus gospel series and right on its heels beginning march 19 2022 will be our youth praise aton and week of pearl these ventures require funding so your general support is solicited [Music] as we anticipate the coming of christ with your purse and generous support we will also be able to create more online content to reach more communities with the good news of salvation and cover the overall expense that is associated with providing a meaningful and life-changing virtual worship experience please note the various ways by which you can faithfully return your tithe offering and give your generous gains you can give in person by visiting our church office on monday tuesday and thursday between the hours of 9 00 am and 5 pm or visit us online at mandevillesda.org and click on resources or you may just click on the donate button at the bottom of any page on our website and remember when we choose to be god's opportunity to help and love others in meaningful and life-changing service we place ourselves in god's desire [Music] it's my privilege this evening to introduce to you the man whom god has appointed to speak to our hearts for the next two weeks this following jesus gospel series was planned with you in mind it was planned to ensure that you begin to follow jesus and for those who are following jesus to be strengthened in their relationship with jesus the lord has placed his mantle upon one a professor at the northern caribbean university he is a seventh adventist christian from nigeria he has a phd in religion concentration in biblical studies emphasis in new testament studies he currently serves as an associate professor in the school of religion and theology at northern caribbean university he's also happily married to maria criselda and they have two daughters jemima and johanna he loves the lord and he enjoys ministry through teaching preaching singing and other ways that god enables him to serve i speak to you of the one iketuku michael olupe today my brothers and sisters i invite you to whisper word of prayer for him but before he comes to share the word our singing evangelists will come to minister to our hearts through song and then the next voice you will hear will be that of our man's servant to share the word of god please share this beautiful link with all those you know so that they will be blessed [Music] have you ever heard a long song that sets your spirit free have you ever watched the sun rise and felt you could not breathe what if it's him what if he's got speaking [Music] have you ever cried a tear that you could not explain have you ever met a stranger who already knew your name what if it's here [Music] what if is god speaking [Music] who knows how he'll get a hold of us get our attention to prove his enough he'll do and he'll use whatever he wants to tell us i love you [Music] have you ever lost a loved one who you thought you'd still be here do you know what it feels like to be tangled up in fear what if you somehow involved [Music] of us get our attention to prove it is enough he'll do and he'll use whatever he wants to tell us i love you his ways are higher his ways are bad [Music] though sometimes [Music] could be stranger than god [Music] yes who knows how you'll get [Music] is get your attention to prove it [Music] and use whatever you want [Music] to tell us i love you god is speaking i love you [Music] amen god is good and all the time i praise god for that song sister curly and i was personally blessed greetings and welcome everyone to the second day of the following jesus gospel series it's good to see those who are here face to face and those who are online thank you for joining us i i just learned from pastor there about 72 and counting and we know there's more because there are families uh gathered around those cameras those uh the the zoom platform yesterday we looked at the question who do you follow we looked at the fact that it makes sense to follow jesus as a disciple because he has made the world a better place through transforming positively transforming people's lives and society at large tonight the subject is it is written and we're going to be looking at what it means in relation to following jesus but as is my custom i'm going to ask that you pray for those two things one that you pray that the lord will give you a heart that is open to receive what he has to say and that two you would pray for me to say what the lord will have me say in the way he would have me say it and so we're going to bow and pray silently and when you hear me sing wrap up the prayer i'll pray and i'll share the word that the lord has laid in our heart for tonight let's bow as we talk to the lord i need thee every gracious lord no tender voice like thine [Music] [Music] thee [Music] thee oh bless me now my savior i come to thee one more time i need thee oh i need thee [Music] thee oh bless me now my savior [Music] [Music] yes lord we need you now to give us the word that we need to hear from you today as we seek to understand what it really means to follow jesus i asked lord that you would fulfill your promise that you would teach me in this hour what you want me to say that you will cause me to speak as the oracles of god for the glory and the honor of your name and by the power you provide i ask lord that somebody may see jesus high and lifted up and may come to know him of whom to know is life eternal holy spirit take control of the platform take control of this environment this atmosphere convict and convert and bring souls to a saving knowledge of jesus and pray with thanksgiving in jesus name amen let the church say amen amen christianity is still the largest world religion and just like all other religions have holy books the holy book of christians is the bible so just like many books have influenced the history of the world the bible remains one of the world's best sellers because through it people learn of jesus as they apply his principles to their lives as they become his disciples and their lives are positively transformed and made better as i shared in yesterday's message can we trust the bible how do we know that the bible is truly the word of god as christians claim let me share a few reasons why number one is that different men wrote at different times in different places and yet they have a unity of message now that is rare i forgot to mention that these 40 to 44 different men wrote through a period of a thousand five hundred years and yet their message remains the same now that is amazing the second is that the people and the places mentioned in the bible are actually mentioned in history and confirmed by archaeology i remember reading the bible as a kid and thinking it was a fairy tale you know i had grown up reading beauty and the beast snow white and the seven dwarfs and all those fairy tale stories until one day i looked in a map and i saw jerusalem i saw rome i saw all the places mentioned the bible and i said wow this these places actually exist and interestingly if you have enough money you can still go there today to visit those places the bible is real another reason is that people and powers have tried to destroy the bible during the french revolution 1793 just before that the roman catholic church through the papacy had suppressed the bible only the priests could read the bible commonly people like you and i could not read the bible and that led to a rejection of religion in the french revolution bibles were banned and were burnt publicly and reason became the god as a result the society was in chaos and uh the great controversy chapter 15 titled the bible and the french revolution covers very clearly what happened during that period it was a terrible time a lot of people were killed see because the bible was rejected chaos came into the society a man by the name of voltaire says 100 years from my day there will not be a bible in the earth except one that is looked upon by antiquarian curiosity in other words voltaire says the bible will be destroyed so that the only one left would be one in a museum so that you could see what the bible actually looked like but today voltaire is dead and on his grave is a bible house the bible has outlived this man who declared that there would be no bible there's something about the bible something powerful about the bible and at the end of the french revolution in 1804 bible societies sprang up the very powers that tried to destroy the bible were outlived by it what do you say church amen another reason why we can trust the bible is because of the prophecies that it contains about 30 of the bible is prophecy and on the screen is one of them that jesus himself prophesied in matthew 24 mark 13 and luke 21 he says a time will come when the sun will be darkened and the moon will turn blood red it actually happened in history and it's known as the dark day may 19 17 80. it began as a normal day people went out but at noon time the animals began to come back to roost the the place became dark and human beings knew that something was wrong and that same night the blood the the moon turned red as blood fulfilling the very words that jesus himself declared the bible contains prophecies that have been fulfilled and continue to be fulfilled you know it's possible to make an intelligent guess but bible prophecy is not an intelligent guest bible prophecy is accurate what do you say and so we can trust the bible because of these things my last point on that is that the bible reveals jesus and when we follow him as disciples and obey his word he transforms lives and communities and here is one example i found in a book titled your bible and you written by the great author s maxwell he quotes from another book called the bible speaks and he speaks of this island called kusai and in this island in in 1852 a missionary went to that island that island was known for horrible things terrible things but this missionary translated the bible and he spread the bible in that in that island and years later dr stifler went back to that island and did an interview and i don't know if you can see this but i'm going to try uh to read it he interviewed the chief of the island by the name john sigra and he said he began to ask questions how many murders have happened this year the the chief says there has been no murder on the island he says well um how many minor offenses are there any prisons and he says there there is no such thing as a prison on this island because everyone is law abiding and he says well there must be a place for some tipsy ones and he says there's no such thing and says what about divorce he says there's no such thing because marriage is holy on this island what brought about such a transformation i mean the place sounds like heaven already no prisons no jail no divorce that's the power of the word of god the bible is able to transform lives and whole communities and i spoke about that yesterday today we are able to enjoy peace because of the power of the word of god as we live by its principles the bible contains the most comprehensive historical information about jesus especially in the gospels and through the gospels we learn how to be disciples of jesus following his way of life in the gospel of john it says jesus was god the word in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god he was in the beginning with god all things were made by him without him was not anything made that was made the word jesus christ became flesh and he dwelt among us jesus who was god became human in order to give us an example of how to live a very important part of jesus's life as a human being was that he lived according to the words of scripture he lived by the words of hebrew scripture what we call today the old testament we know this because when jesus spoke or answered questions he always quoted from what we called what we call rather the old testament scriptures when he was asked about divorce in mark chapter 10 he went back all the way back to creation and you can turn your bibles there with me quickly to mark chapter 10 and from verse 2 the pharisees came and they asked him is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife and they were testing him and and jesus says in verse six but from the beginning of creation god made them male and female for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh so then they are no longer two but one flesh therefore what god has joined together let not man separate or put asunder praise god jesus quoted from genesis chapter 1 verse 27 and genesis 2 verse 24 and it's good to know that we can still trust the bible because the one who created marriage says male and female you know where i'm going with that but i'm not going to spend too much time there but that's what god ordained and jesus went back to refer to it when jesus was asked what was the most important law he went to deuteronomy 6 4 you shall love the lord your god with all your heart and all your soul and all your might and leviticus 19 18 love your neighbor as yourself jesus summarize the essence of god's law in those by going back to scripture and when jesus spoke about judgment he referred to the flood in noah's days as it was in the days of noah and he referred to the destruction of sodom and gomorrah both in genesis in his interaction with the jews and religious leaders jesus said to them you study the scriptures because you think that you have eternal life in them but those scriptures testify of me that's john 5 39 in other words everything that scripture talks about points to jesus christ after his resurrection jesus gave the disciples a detailed bible study that is found in luke 24 verse 44. it says he said to them these are the words which i spoke to you while i was still with you that all things must be fulfilled which are written in the law of moses and the prophets and in the psalms concerning me i want you to take note of those three divisions the law of moses the prophets and the psalms i want you to say them with me the law of moses the prophets and the psalms yes that was the bible jesus read in his time now why is that so unique you see the those were the three divisions and still are the three divisions of hebrew scripture today many jews do not believe that jesus is the savior of the world many jews are still waiting for the messiah to come and so this is their bible the hebrew bible that's what it's like i don't know if you can see it but that's what it's like the torah genesis exodus leviticus numbers deuteronomy makes up the law of moses the first part and then the prophets would be from joshua all the way to malachi and then the the psalms writings would be all the others and jesus said to his disciples when you study all of that it points to me jesus knew these things because he had studied them himself the desire of ages page 84 verse 1 says the scriptures of the old testament were his constant study jesus studied the word and and i was so amazed as i prepared this message reading that chapter the desire of ages by ellen g white chapter nine days of conflict she says that when jesus was a young man growing up every word he gave had scripture in it everything he did was based on scripture and when i looked at when i look at my life i asked myself the question if i was asked to give a biblical reason for everything i did would i be able to think about that for a second uh the chapter says that even when friends came to tempt jesus to do the wrong thing i remember one of my favorite preachers using that my favorite preacher barry black says as a young man he memorized scripture his mother made him memorize scripture and it saved his life he saved him from gangsta life and from death and one of his favorite texts was proverbs 1 verse 10 my son if sinners entice you do not consent i'm sure that's one of the texts jesus memorized as he grew up as a young man the old testament was the bible that jesus read and if he took it seriously then those who claim to follow jesus must do the same i'm going to repeat that point one more time because the center is a is a one central part of the message if jesus took the old testament seriously then those who claim to follow him must do the same there are many christians today who believe that jesus did away with the old testament that jesus nailed it to the cross and and so you know i have seen christians who carry new testament bibles but that's not the bible you see the old testament is 75 of the bible that's three-quarter of the bible and the new testament is filled with old testament texts so if you take all the old testament out of the bible including out of the new testament what do you have left mercy this is because the old testament is the foundation of and the introduction to the new testament bible scholars have realized that if you take away the first 11 chapters of the bible think about that for a second genesis 1-11 if you took it away the rest of the bible would not make sense the rest of the bible would not make sense for the old testament answers life's basic questions how did life begin the old testament answers in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth now some people believe that we evolved from a single cell some big bang about but the bible answers the question in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth and god made everything good the bible tells us in in genesis that everything was beautiful but the bible also tells us that a beautifully created angel rebelled against god and chose to become the devil and deceived our first parents and caused them to sin and brought evil upon the world the devil called satan the enemy of god and all that is good the one who is the cause of all evil in the world today so in case you're wondering why there's evil in the world today the bible tells us why the old testament tells us in the book of job how satan attacked and and brought evil upon job and so there is a war between good and evil and whether you believe it or not or or accept it or not you and i are part of that battle and we have to choose what side we belong to but the bible also contains the good news that god had a plan to save god sent pictures and symbols to represent his great rescue plan to save humankind from sin so both the old testament and the new testament all scripture is inspired by god how much scripture church all scripture old testament and new testament together those who follow jesus must study all scripture must not reject the old testament but must receive both as a human being on this earth encountered the devil as is recorded in the gospels jesus was tempted and we must learn how to win in this battle between good and evil we must look to jesus as his disciples to learn how to overcome matthew chapter 4 tells us and my bible is already there matthew chapter 4 verse 1 says then jesus was led oh by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil and when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights afterward he was hungry verse 3 said now when the tempter came to him he said if you are the son of god command that these stones become bread help me holy ghost as i presented this point what did the devil say if you are the son of god trace go back a little bit for me to to matthew chapter 3 from verse 16 and 17 it says when he had been baptized jesus came up immediately from the water and behold the heavens were opened to him and he saw the spirit of god descending like a dove and a lighting upon him verse 17 and suddenly a voice came from heaven saying this is my beloved son in whom i am well pleased uh did you catch it uh the voice said this is my beloved son jesus goes to the wilderness and satan says if you are the son of god praise god jesus was listening when his father spoke and jesus remembered one of my professors says it's important to stay awake when a sermon is going on because god has a word that will save you from temptation one day if you're listening that word will save you from temptation and so brothers and sisters it's important to stay awake and listen to what god has to say it doesn't matter who is saying it anyone who is preaching the word of god has a message from god and if you listen god will give you a word that will give you victory one day you see jesus promised that the spirit of god will bring back to our remembrance his word when we need it but you see the holy spirit cannot remind you of what is not there the holy spirit cannot remind you of what is not there see because jesus was listening when his father said you are my beloved son when the devil came and says if you are the son of god jesus smiled because he already knew who he was at the word of his father you see many of us i'm happy my young people are here and i'm sure are watching many times we sin because we forget who we are we forget what god's word says we are and so we try to compromise we try to blend in you try to get pierced or you try to tattoo yourself or wear your pants at the bottom of your buttocks to prove to be accepted but you are already fearfully and wonderfully made that's what the word of god says you are so you don't need to smoke weed or marijuana or sleep with anybody because god says already in his word that you are special and on the cross he died something your boyfriend or girlfriend or husband cannot do for you to prove that they love you god's word says i have loved you with an everlasting love what more do you want and so jesus was able to overcome with the it is written of matthew 4 verse 4 but he answered and said it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of god you see the first temptation was the temptation of food and jesus was saying more important than food is what god's word says food is not all that we need to truly live what we truly need to live is the word of god and those who are followers of jesus as disciples recognize that the it is written is the basis of life and so in the temptation of jesus three times he quotes the it is written from the old testament he quotes deuteronomy 8 verse 3 in in matthew 4 verse 4 he quotes deuteronomy 6 16 and the second temptation he quotes deuteronomy 6 13 for the third temptation three times he quotes from the old testament and he defeats the devil's temptation what do you say church if we are going to overcome in this war we must also hide god's word in our hearts jesus was able to overcome because it is written was his reason for every act jesus shows us by example that in order to overcome sin and satan in our lives we must live by the it is written of the word of god so if you want to truly follow jesus as his disciple you must live your life by the it is written of the word of god today many people who claim to be christians actually follow culture more than scripture there is a lot of biblical illiteracy in the society today a lot of people who call themselves christians but don't know their bibles and will tell you that quotes like heaven helps those who help themselves is found in the bible i haven't found that bible text yet or that cleanliness is next to godliness there is no such bible verse or that that epistles are the wives of apostles or that john of ark was the name of the wife of noah who built the ark you see those things are not found in the bible but many christians believe because they have no time to read the word of god and so many who claim to follow jesus are biblically illiterate because we don't have time to read god's word and as a result we follow culture more than scripture and as we spend more time watching the movies and listening to the music and we allow the world to shape our minds and the way we think we become desensitized to sin i remember as a young man watching wrestling i love to watch the wwf as it was called then and my mother would come sometimes and look at what i was watching and she would get so emotional i seen these men being punched and slammed and clothed lined and all of that and i was like mommy you don't need to worry that's what they paid for but now i understand how my mother felt my mother was still sensitive to the to the word of god that was against the violence that i was watching i remember watching a lot of karate and kung fu and martial arts and at the end i would want to come outside and do some practicing ah those things shaped my mind as a kid explosions and shooting and killing and blood and gradually watching those things become desensitized to death and violence and sex outside of marriage and cheating we praise cheating we laugh and say yeah that's a good guy that's a smart guy sin makes us laugh the word of god helps us see those things but it's very sad to know that a lot of us christians are more shaped by the world than we are shaped by the word of god the bible says of christians that we are in the world but we are not of the world some of the principles of the world are that money is the best thing you can ever have so people do everything they can to get money and you know there's another bible text that a lot of people quote but but they quote incorrectly they say money is the root of all evil that's not what the bible says the bible says the love of money is the root of all evil if money was bad god wouldn't send you money for your school fees uh if money was bad he wouldn't send someone to put some money in your account so you could get some food to eat money is a good thing a blessing from the lord but the bible says do not make it your god matthew 6 24 says you cannot serve god and money and so why the world makes us think that the more money you have money is the most important thing in life the bible says that we must not make money our god in the world another teaching is that the more things you have the happier you are the kids with the most toys wins more houses more bank accounts there's great in the world today there that people already have enough and they want more the bible rebukes that in the words of jesus luke 12 15 beware of greed of convictiousness for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions and what about trust your heart follow your heart [Laughter] follow your heart the bible says in jeremiah 17 verse 9 the heart is deceitful above all things who can know it your own heart can deceive you the bible reveals it takes off the mask it takes off the disguise it takes off the covering uh my brothers and sisters watching me claiming to follow jesus let us live our lives by the word of god in order to live by the word of god we must spend time in the word of god we must make it a very vital part of our lives satan's plan is to keep us so busy that we get distracted from the word of god and our minds are deceived in the great controversy it says satan employs every possible device to prevent men from obtaining a knowledge of the bible for its plain utterances reveal his deceptions and all the stuff i just said now is from the word of god that helps make clear but but i don't know if you can see the picture there or we our minds are so cluttered with the things of the world with the with the social media and with the youtube and with the this and with the that and we the devil's plan is to disconnect us from the word of god keep us too busy to be connected so many voices calling for attention that we are not able to recognize the voice of god through his word and as a result we fall into temptation i've learned in my journey with the lord that many of us are easily tempted and defeated because we place ourselves on enemy ground we place ourselves on enemy ground we leave our minds open and unprotected and we watch and listen to all kinds of things uncritically we do not allow the word of god to guide what we watch and what we listen to and where we go and who we hang out with the word of god must be the standard of our lives as we choose to follow jesus as his disciples and so like jesus we must hide god's word in our hearts we must take time to read the word of god psalm 119 verse 11 says i have hidden your word in my heart so that i may not sin against you and many times we miss the two two verses before that psalm 119 verse nine how can a young man keep his way by heeding the word of god there's so many young people so many people out there who are living anyhow but the bible says if you want to keep your way pure if you want to be successful spend time in the world and let your life be guided by the word of god like jesus we must study god's word for ourselves we must not take anybody's word for for it acts 17 verse 11 talks about the bereans who studied the word for themselves even though they heard paul the great paul preached they still went home to check if what paul was saying was true and as we continue in the following jesus series i invite you to check me out as i preach the word find out if what i'm saying is true read the bible for yourself don't take your pastor's word for it read it for yourself for another way the devil deceives many christians is to allow the pastor to do their bible study for them many christians says no i cannot do this because my pastor said so the word of god is not just for your pastor the word of god is for you to study and recently we had the experience with with the late pastor kevin smith and that's what happens brothers and sisters when we do not take time to know god for ourselves we become vulnerable we become open to deception and death and therefore our lives must be based on the it is written of god's word we must test every belief by the word of god isaiah 8 20 to the law and to the testimony if they speak not according to these things it is because there is no light in them we must seek the truth for ourselves uh we must be desirous to seek the truth john 7 17 says that that that if you want to know anyone who is willing will know seek the truth if you want to know the truth god will reveal the truth to you study it seek for it diligently my bible says also in second thessalonians 2 9 and 10 that those who do not have the love of the truth will be deceived in the end and here's something as i try to wrap this message up tonight it is possible to read the bible selectively it is possible to choose only those verses that you want to hear yesterday i spoke about self if you want to follow jesus you have to deny self because you see you can read the bible and read what self wants to hear a drunkard can say i can drink because the bible says jesus turned water to wine i i i heard from my professor and it it it shocked me but i have never forgotten it he says homosexuals gays use david and jonathan as an example of of homosexuals in the bible they use ruth and naomi as an example of lesbians who promise made marriage vows to each other you can use the bible to prove anything you want to prove but i want to tell you tonight on the authority of god's word that if you do that then you're doing exactly what the devil did to jesus in the second temptation because you see the devil quoted the scriptures too when jesus answered the first time it is written man shall not live by brother alone the devil says i can play that game too he said it is written the angels god will give his angels charge to catch you so that you don't strike your foot against the stone but if you go back to the original passage in psalm 91 verse 10 and 11 the devil left out one line to keep you in all your ways the same thing happened to the disciples when they selected the prophecies about the messiah that they wanted the prophecies that said the messiah was going to defeat their enemies they left out the part of the prophecy that said the messiah was going to die isaiah 53 the suffering servant was going to carry the transgressions of humankind they left that prophecy out then they focused on all the other kingly prophecies and so every time jesus said i am going to jerusalem i'm going to be killed and on the third day i'm going to rise again they refuse to believe it because it did not match what they wanted to believe and when it actually happened they were shocked it amazed me as a student of the bible jesus repeated it so many times in the gospels i am going to jerusalem evil men are going to kill me but on the third day oh lord have mercy you see the enemies of jesus were listening and when it actually happened they went to pilate and said you know this guy said you know the disciples who were supposed to know forgot all about it they were knocked out brothers and sisters you and i can choose what we want to listen to from the bible the prosperity gospel tells you you know return your tithe that's that's not bad yes whatever you say and there are elements of truth to those things but you see god calls us as disciples not to follow some truth but to follow all truth as it is revealed in the scripture all the counsel of god as it is revealed in the word of god and so there is need my brothers and sisters to be careful even as we read the bible so that we don't use the bible for our own ends to please self our second timothy 4 verse 3 and 4 says in the end time just before jesus comes people will not endure sound doctrine but they will gather to themselves teachers who will tell them what they want to hear if you're watching tonight i call on you i challenge you in the name of jesus to stop living for yourself stop reading scriptures just for self to satisfy self but as a disciple of jesus to be willing to follow all the counsel of god in order for us to follow jesus we must live by sola scriptura scripture alone the bible alone as the ultimate standard of our faith those latin words came from a monk called martin luther in germany protested against the most popular christianity at the time which did not follow scripture but human traditions you see at that time popular christianity says it's okay to pray to an image but the bible clearly says in exodus 20 verse 4 and 5 thou shalt not make any graven image a popular christianity at that time says it's okay to pray to mary and to pray to the saints because they are mediators between us and god and but the bible says in first timothy two verse five there is one mediator between god and man and he's the man jesus christ and i could go on and on and martin luther protested and stood on the authority of god's word and in case you don't know that's why some christians today are called protestants for they protested against popular christianity that was not based on the word of god all who choose to follow jesus must live by sola scriptura by the word and by the word alone in matthew's gospel jesus ends the sermon on amount with an illustration that shows the importance of living by the word of god and and if your bibles are still there matthew 7 verse 24 27 therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them i would liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock and the rain descended and the wind the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house and it did not fall for it was founded on the rock uh verse 26 but everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house and it fell and great was its fall brothers and sisters is not enough to know the word of god it's not enough to read the word of god it is not enough to hear the word of god jesus says we must do the word of god we must live by the principles of god's word and when we do our lives will be grounded would be founded on solid ground and we will be able to to face the storms of life i love this illustration because you see both houses had to go through the floods there's a message there everybody goes through the floods of life everybody goes through the storms of life but the reactions are different some will stand and some will fall the kovid 19 pandemic has shaken our faith has shown uh whether we have been playing church or whether we have truly been christians storms have come and are coming and jesus already tells us how to go through the storms our lives must be grounded on the word i must say that for myself when the pandemic began it was very depressing a lot of things began to go down a lot of anxiety came but the word of god kept me and i can tell you a few passages that kept me one of them was isaiah 26 3 and you will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on god because you trust in him philippians 4 6 and 7 be anxious for nothing but in everything by praying supplication with thanksgiving make your request known to god and the peace of god surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your mind in christ jesus and dear brothers and sisters those verses kept me there's a lot more psalm 46 one the lord is my refuge and my strength he is my present help in trouble and friends because i placed my faith in god's word i'm still here today in my right mind i don't know what you're going through but i know you know what i'm talking about storms will come but jesus says the only way you will make it through the storms is if you hide the word in your heart believe it and live it brothers and sisters is it's time to stop playing church it's time to stop pretending to be what we are not and ask the lord to help us to be authentic disciples of jesus christ follow him by following the it is written of the word of god in december 2004 a tsunami hit many cities and villages along the indian ocean however the port city of pondicherry in india and its three thousand three hundred thousand inhabitants were spared from the tsunami what was the secret why did the city of pondicherry withstand the tsunami a long time ago when the french colonized the city they built a massive stone sea wall around the city year after year they continued to strengthen the wall piling huge boulders along its length and in 1957 they stopped building it tsunami hit 2004 stopped building the the wall 1957. they stopped building but the work had prepared the city for a disaster five decades later the city was prepared because it was on solid ground it was built on the rock brothers and sisters that's what the lord wants from us to live by the it is written of the word we must know the word we must believe the word we must do the word we must hide it in our hearts we must speak the words in our words we must live by them in our actions and when we do so we will be on solid ground and we'll be able to withstand the storms of life and it doesn't matter who you are young or old we are called to build on jesus christ finally the hero of hacksaw ridge desmondos was enlisted as a member of the us army during world war ii because of his faith in god and the bible he refused to carry arms or kill anyone as a soldier because he read his bible and he prayed and he kept the sabbath on the seventh day saturday he was bullied and mocked by his peers and colleagues however because he had faithfully lived his life based on the word of god he became a hero when he saved about 75 of his colleagues under enemy fire at hacksaw ridge records have it that in his chest pocket he had the bible that his wife had given to him that he read every time he had a break while he was on the battlefield you see desmond dost's life was built on the it is written of the word of god and friends i imagine that some of the same guys who bullied him think about that for a moment some of the same guys who bullied him and laughed at him and threw boots at him and all of that we're saved by this gentleman the power of the gospel to transform and to save follow jesus today i invite you to follow jesus today and always by living on the it is written of god's word the bible so do you want to follow jesus by following the it is written of his word i want to appeal to you today and i want to ask my brothers and sisters in the house to stand as you as we commit ourselves to the it is written of the word of god i know that there are links out there they are being posted right now they are links for prayer you're saying i have not spent time reading the word of god i struggle to read i feel i've been too busy the enemy has distracted me from the world please pray for me there is a link for prayer to ask that the lord will help you because it is not a battle against flesh and blood it is it is a cosmic war that all of us are part of we have an enemy who does not want us to be connected to christ and to follow his word but you can be prayed for tonight all you have to do is click the link jesus and choose to follow jesus by following his word i'm asking my brothers and sisters who are already standing with me here to bow and to just pray for somebody who needs to make a decision for the lord i don't know who you are but the lord has brought me here this week to share to to challenge you to live your life by the it is written of the word of god to stop faking the following of jesus stop claiming to follow jesus and actually follow him by living your life based on the it is written of the word of god the lord is speaking to you today you've noticed that you've used god's word to satisfy yourself to read only what you want to read from the word but jesus calls you to deny self and choose to follow him follow not some of the truth but all of the truth that is is revealed in the word of god i'll be sharing some of those truths this week some of those truths are going to challenge you are going to challenge you to live the way you've always lived and choose to follow jesus like matthew and and like peter and james and john as i shared yesterday when that call comes to you will you follow jesus will you follow jesus based on the it is written of his word will you live your life based on the solar scripture of the word of god there are decision links as well you want prayers click the link for prayers you want to make a decision and say i have decided to follow jesus i want to follow him by studying the word click the link as well do not delay jesus wants to make your life better than it is now [Music] and all you have to do is make that decision make that commitment to follow jesus [Music] the one stanza says will you decide now to follow jesus will you decide now to follow jesus will you decide now to follow jesus no turning back [Music] let us pray dear jesus we choose to follow you tonight by living our lives based on the it is written of the word of god the bible lord forgive us for the many times we have read the bible to satisfy ourselves forgive us for the many times we've been too busy to read your word forgive us for the many times that we have spent watching destructive things that have placed us on enemy ground forgive us lord and tonight my brothers and sisters standing here and those online who have clicked the link and who are watching we commit by your grace to follow you jesus by [Music] living based on the it is written of your word the bible continue to lead us in this journey as we seek to understand what it means to follow jesus help us to deny self take up the cross and follow you all the way for your way leads to life and life eternal thank you lord for those who have made that decision today in jesus name amen god bless you [Music] amen and amen we have listened to what is written you know we have once again tasted from the bakery of heaven the lord has provided who is one servant to us tonight fresh bread what do you say celebrate definitely and we praise god for the word you know the preacher shared with us that jesus the one whom we are called to follow frequently quoted the old testament you know and so it is interesting that to know that there are some who believe in the new testament only but if we are following jesus we must embrace the it is written the old and new testament love friend what is your highlight what do you take away from tonight's message well man is similar to yours mine is if you truly follow jesus you must live your life but it is written word of god amen amen i mean i don't know one of the the statements that i would say really stood out for me tonight is that the holy spirit cannot bring back what was not there amen you know that's very profound you know and it's really encouraging us and challenge us as well that we are to spend time in god's word so that the holy spirit can bring back god's word to us when we are in need any closing thoughts well i just want to encourage each and every one of us to not only hear the word but to do the word and we're just encouraging you are reminding you to continue to share the link to continue to you know support our channel by subscribing and to share the flyer on your statuses on your whatsappdp wherever you choose we're just asking you to continue to support our program as we have decided oh yes to follow you follow jesus so we see it tomorrow same time same place and don't be late you

Channel: Mandeville SDA Church

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Length: 117min 57sec (7077 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 27 2022