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Welcome to Global Harvest Calgary's podcast, where faith becomes real and purpose comes alive. We pray that today's message helps you recognize the hand of God in your everyday life and discover the unique purpose He has placed inside you. Our heart is that you don't just hear a sermon, but truly experience his presence, his guidance, and his love in a personal way. Whether you're in a season of searching, rebuilding, or stepping into something new, you're not here by accident. God is closer than you think, and your purpose is greater than you imagine. Enjoy the message.

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And let me start off with this one.

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Amen.

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Second layer I want to lay is this Jesus made all of us priests in the New Testament. And the idea behind that is that now we have access to God directly. So you don't need to go through anyone because through Jesus you have access to God. And now you can speak to God for yourself, you can understand things for yourself with regards to the kingdom of God. Um, in Mark chapter 4, Jesus told the disciples a parable of the sower. That's that part um popular parable of the sower. And after he had told them how the sower went out to so um the Bible says, I think somewhere around verse 10 that they came back to him to say, please, what is the meaning of that parable? What exactly were you talking about? And then Jesus said to them, It is given to you to know the mysteries. Some say mysteries, he says, It is given to you to know the mysteries. God wants you to know those things that are mysterious and and and tough for other people to understand. He said, It is given to you to know it. He says, But for others, okay, they're gonna be that those that are outside things are gonna be in parables, and then Jesus took the time to explain those things to them. And as you go through scriptures, you find out that that God would answer questions as people ask God questions. So I want to say, God is not averse to questions, God is not averse to investigations, he wants us to know, he wants us to understand so that we can give the right response, even though it then talks about our attitude and responding that our attitude must be right, we must we must be humble about it and not arrogant and all of that. But God wants us to know. Someone say, God wants me to know, so that you can give a defense for the faith that you have. And so this morning, I'm challenging us on that journey. I'm challenging us to find out why you do what you do and to ask the questions. Why are you in church this morning? I hope it's more than the fact that it is Sunday, and I hope it's more than the fact that, well, the entire family is going to have to go, okay, because you understand you have a personal relationship with God, and it's an opportunity for you to worship, and and and because God expects us to come together as congregations, praise God, and worship together as a people. You must have the understanding. Why do you give to God? Why do you pray? Why do you fast? You must understand why, and and and why should you live a holy life? You should understand why. So, you you want to also personally ask yourself, do I know why I'm doing what I'm doing? And if you're not sure you have the answer, dig it out, seek it out, find out so that you can be established in the truth. Does that make sense? All right, good, good, good, good. Let me try some four questions and see if you have any extra question here. One of the most critical questions people always ask is, How do we know God exists? Does God really exist? I mean, that's one of the first questions people throw out, especially as you as you come into um the Europe and North America, it's become more predominant. Somewhere in Africa and Asia, um, you still have this basic understanding that there is God. Because people were born more into the religious environments, and and we cannot grew up having the deep understanding that there is God. So, how do we know God is real? You know, this thing is not all cooked up. Well, I think it's proper to say that the fact that there's creation, the creation itself is evidence of a creator. Okay, that there cannot be creation without a creator. All right, for things to be the way it is today, then clearly there must be a creator. Psalm 19 verse 1 to 4. Psalm 19 and verse 1 to 4 speaks beautifully about how creation reveals the creator. Oh, Psalm 19, verse 1 to 4. Thank you, Jesus. It says the heavens, are you there? Good. It says the heavens, someone said the heavens declare the glory of God. Okay, it says, and the former man shows his handiwork. It says, Day unto day utter speech, night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard, their line has gone out through all the earth and their words to the ends of the world. In them has in them he has set a tabernacle for the sun. Glory to God. And and and I just look at that. It says the the the heavens declare the glory of God. The farmer shows his handiwork, and it's just beautiful as you look through creation, reveals the majesty of a creator, that this thing is so beautiful, it is so wonderful. Um, and you know, I I've I've often I've often okay. Let me jump ahead of myself because I just want to walk this a little. And and just as you look at the magnificence of this creation, the beautiful things around us, the wonders of the world, including the human beings, praise God. All right, you just you you can't but understand that there is a creator, and God took time to declare this and to record these things for us. The Bible is the second proof that there is a cre that God exists because it documents all the things that have been even in time past that you haven't seen before, and that God told us how these things came to be. Number three, you've experienced Him for yourself. How do you know God is real? You it's not just something you were taught about, you were taught about, it's something you've come to know for yourself, it's something you've come to experience for yourself, this being. Now, the fact that he's invisible does not mean he does not exist. Is that right? Because God is a spirit. So though we can't say him, we know he exists. And let me come a bit around the world of science because this is very interesting. I had to say to myself, it takes more faith. Look at that word again, faith, right? It takes more faith to believe that this world came about as a result of a big bang than to believe there's an intelligent creator behind it. Should I say that again? It takes more faith to believe that there was an explosion that started this entire beautiful masterpiece. I mean, and I've seen some explosions in my little lifetime. I don't know if you've seen any explosion. Okay, explosion creates beauty, right? No, no, there's complete disorderliness, there's complete chaos. Explosions don't bring. Ask them in Iran right now, they'll tell you. Okay, there is nothing, nothing explodes and and it's all. I mean, think about that's why I said it takes more faith to believe in explosion. It takes more faith to believe in evolution than to believe God created all. I mean, you have to, it takes more faith for you to believe that you start not you, that somebody started as a cell that evolved into a certain tadpole, and from tadpole became you know something and then moved from there and became a chimpanzee, and from chimpanzee you became you became a human being. I mean, does that not take more faith? Guys talk to me. How many of them saw a chimpanzee become a human being? But they believe it anyways. I'm just saying it takes more to really believe something that outlandish. You know, a mother was talking to her son sometime ago, and and in school, they taught the boy that we are descendants of that monkeys are our greater ancestors and all than apes. And and so the mom was telling the boy, no, God created all things. We said, No, mom, that's what they taught us in church and in school. And afterwards, it says, Well, maybe your dad's side of the family came from apes. But you see, for for us, you know, for us, we we came from God. So, because you must understand that it takes a lot more to believe that there is no God. That's why Psalm 14, verse 1, Psalm 14, verse 1, after considering everything around us, it said the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Okay, he says, because it's only foolishness after all of these things for you to believe that God does not exist. So you you you're in that place where the creation speaks of it, the Bible makes it clear to us, and you've experienced God for yourself, so you know He's real. The fact that it's invisible does not mean it doesn't exist. Now, everybody's come to realize that there's a whole lot more in our world that's invisible that yet exists, right? So the radio waves that through which this microphone is stalking right now, you can't see it, but but but it's working. Electricity, you can see it, right? Even if if even if you say, Well, before it got into the bulb, you can't see it. And if you doubt it, put their well, not you, let the person put their hands in the socket, but they they will feel it that he exists, okay? So the same way it is, God is God. Can I get an amen? All right, just wanted to put that out there. Second question that often comes out is how do we know the Bible is God's word? How do we know the Bible is real? How do we know this Bible is authentic? Well, third second Timothy uh 3, 16 and 17 tells us. 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17 tells us. It says, All scripture is given, somebody help me. One, two, go. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Look at that. All scripture, someone say all scripture. He said all scripture is is is given by inspiration of God. What transition says is God breathed? It's it's by the breath of God that the scriptures were put together. All right, and and the Bible, as you have it today, 66 books, 20 that's uh 39 books of the old testament, 27 books of the new testament were written by over 40 people, but 40 authors. This included kings, everyday farmers, disciples, all of them putting all of these things together. And guess what? The Bible, as you have it, was written for a period of between 1,000, or you call it 1500 or 1600 years, 1500 to 1,600 years it took for them to write these things. And do you know for a fact, some of them, a lot of them never met each other, yet there was complete consistency and accuracy of events that were documented. I mean, listen, no other piece of literature exists that's like the Bible, it is one of a kind. In fact, it's the only book in history that lay claims to the direct words of God written down and that that that says it is the word of God because no one else can survive it. And and part of what led to it being 66 was because I mean, throughout history, people have been writing and people have been saying different things and claiming to speak on God's behalf. So they they measured the different doctrines and the different teachings and the accuracy of events, and they streamlined one of the the one that nobody could contest at this 66 that canonized. Now, there's some extension, for example, maybe the Kali Bible will have like 73, and then and and some of the Bibles will have more, but the one that everybody kind of came together, agreed, sat down, checked evidences, they came together and said, Okay, you know what? 66 satisfied, and that's why we have it as a Bible today. And I do believe it's a gift to our generation because the early church didn't have this. What they had was the books of Moses and some of the writings of the prophets, okay, and then and then and then the the writings of the kings of Solomon and David and all of them together. But now in the New Testament, we have the benefit of having everything together. I think you should give God praise and glory for that. And and and and the truth about it is that this book by itself changed lives, the book by itself turns people's lives around, the book by itself turned and and moved civilizations forward. Glory to God. It is so beautiful, it is so beautiful, and some people have said, Oh, well, Pastor, there are contradictions in the Bible. Not quite. What you have is the idea of people writing from the percept from the perception and God making sure that they put out the way they saw it to make it authentic. You know, after all, if if if I wanted to ask you guys a question, if you're ever familiar with a situation where they said there was mass cheating in an exam or usually what happens is people write exactly the same things. As they copy each other in exams, they write similar words, isn't it? The the oh, you do you know what I'm talking about? Yeah, because they said no, something is going on here because they know if three of us were to sit down. In fact, this this this experiment will be carried out several times. If I were to whisper a sentence into your ears, into your ears, into the three of them right now, and I give them a microphone to repeat what I said, you will hear variations. I spoke directly to the three of them, but by the time they were gonna speak out, you will hear variations. It's even more dramatic if I were to speak to her and tell her to tell her the next thing, and then she's I mean, some of you have seen those experiments before. I mean, it's mind-blowing. And they they've they've said that to talk about how we hear and what we hear, and and and what you hear and what you think you heard. It's very funny. I mean, have you been so now it really did help? Who among us have been in those classrooms where those kind of experiments are taking? I mean, you were shocked, like what? Because you knew what the first person saw at the end of the day. You said the first person who spoke should tell us what he said. Maybe he started by saying the sun is really bright today, and then the last person, the 20th person, came and said, The sun will kill somebody today. You're like, wait, what that how does somewhere in the middle, somebody thought brightness means somebody's gonna go blind, somebody else thought brightness means it's gonna scotch somebody, and then you hear the last version there. Are you listening to me? So God allowed human the human the humanness of the vessels to be recorded, but at the end of the centrality of the truth is the same, absolutely the same.

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Glory to God, and this book is powerful, it's just powerful. Praise God.

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All right, number three, people ask, did Jesus really resurrect? Yeah, we just celebrate celebrated Easter. Did he really resurrect? And that statement itself is full because it means you at least you are acknowledged that Jesus lived and died. Is that fair enough? Okay, did he resurrect? Inherent in that is the fact that you believe he actually came to this world, okay, and that he lived and that he died. The only thing we're concerning now is his resurrection. Okay, good place to start. Is resurrection. Now, if God is God and that's yes, isn't he? If the Bible is true and that's yes, isn't it? Well, the Bible already told us he will die and he will rise again. And if it is true, that means it happened. I'm just working that out to go somewhere with this. In Matthew's account of Jesus' death and resurrection, the Bible told us that um the the let me just take it to Matthew 28. So by the time he rose up, there were soldiers that were guarding the tomb where Jesus was buried. And by the time the earthquake took place and the stone was rolled away, these soldiers saw everything firsthand. So the Bible told us from verse 8, from verse 11, uh, Matthew 28 from verse 11. I'm missing somebody today. It says, Now, while they were going, behold, some of the god came into the city and reported to the chief priest all the things that what had happened. So they reported all that had happened. All right, next verse. It says, When they were okay, when they were when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, verse 13, saying, Tell them his disciples came to uh at night and stole him away while we verse 14. And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will appease him and make you secure. Verse 15. So they took the money and did as they were instructed, and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until when? Even till today. So you see that the guys that had the first hand experience of his resurrection were butt off. So you see, money has always been a very good tool. Human beings have always been had their potentials of being unreliable, just in the face of heavy sums of money. And so they perverted the truth, and from that point on till now, people still believe his disciples came and stole him. But come on, think about it. Disciples came and stole him, and and just think of that for a minute. Is that disciples came and stole him? And they stole him and buried him somewhere else. So they believed in their own lie, so much so that Peter went to the gate, Peter and John at the at the beautiful gate, in the name of the one that they stole, raised somebody that was limbing in his feet up. Think about that. I don't know if you're following. I'm just twisting something out, I'm just playing with it. I'm trying to get you to think along with me. If they created this story, where did they get the boldness to heal people? If they made up the story, where did they get the boldness to preach even when they were threatened? If they created the story, how come all of them died for the sake of the one that they believed in in hope that he will raise them up? If he couldn't raise himself up, why would they die in hope that he will raise them up? Do you understand what I'm saying? Look, we we have. Some of us have had kids who connive to do things and said, No, nobody's gonna tell mommy, nobody's gonna tell daddy, yes. And until daddy comes and the little one shouts first, Daddy, when you were not around. So and so thing happened. Does that happen in your family before? We know the snishes. I won't say the last bones, but usually it's it's it's it's uh oh, all the last ones in the building. I'm sorry. You know that daddy, this we had we had somebody was planning a little surprise for his wife, and he'd gone shopping with two little angels and said, Okay, so it's gonna be a surprise for for mommy, okay, on her birthday. And the moment they go home, I say, King, Mom, we have a surprise for you on your birthday. See, because they just it's just the way it is. So, what are the chances that 120 people will gather together and plan something and not one of them broke? Woo! It's absolutely impossible. It's only those who've experienced them who hold on to those kind of convictions, and we talked about they're laying down their lives to sacrifice themselves for the sake of what they believed in. And and you know the the good thing about this is like I said, God is not afraid of investigations, He invites it. When we're reading Mark's account of this resurrection, Mark chapter 16 and verse 6, Mark 16, verse 6, something significant happened there. And and as I read that text, I saw it and I was just excited about what God's attitude is to men investigating him. Mark 16, verse 6. It says, But he said to them, the angel, take it back to verse 5 so that we can comprehend what we're reading here. It says, and entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in uh clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. Verse 6 it says, But he said to them, Do not be alarmed. Do you seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified? He is what is reason, he's not here. So, what did he say they should do? See the place where the lady is not afraid of you seeing. He said, Come, come and see. God is always inviting people, come, come and see, come and find out if this thing is true. Glory to God. You know, Jesus appeared to his disciples, John's account of Jesus' resurrection and appearance. He said that uh Thomas was not there. And Thomas, after Jesus appeared, Thomas said, Well, I wasn't there, and I'm not gonna believe it. I'm not gonna believe it until I put my hands in that side where he was pierced, until I filled the holes in his hands. I'm not going to believe. Isn't that what he said? Yeah, that's what he said. Jesus showed up, John 20, verse 27, and Jesus said to Thomas, He said to Thomas, reach out your reach your finger here and look at my hands and reach your hand here and put it into my side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing. You want to feel it? Come and check it out. All right. And God invites people to come in and come and find out these things are true. And you should, if you're in doubt, pursue the truth. Oh, but I can tell you for free that that it's on record right now. There was a man who did the the book Um Um In Defense of Christ. What's baby? What's the title of that book? Um A Case for Christ. Thanks, thanks, Pastor Kedio. A case for Christ. It was somebody who was atheist and didn't believe in God. And what went out there was a journalist who went in. In fact, he he he took a stance to disprove Christians that this Christ did not resurrect. Only at the end of the day, now he's one making a case for Christ that he resurrected. Because along the journey, he encountered God for himself. Praise God. That's beautiful. Beautiful. We went on evangelism sometime last year, and I think I shared the story in church. And and I think I think Pastor Ade was with me. Um yeah, I think we were together. And we met this guy who said, Oh, so we were talking to him about Jesus and oh, you know, nobody knows what to believe these days, and I'm gonna come to that in a bit. Nobody knows what to believe these days, you know. These people claim to be this, and those does claim to be that, and all of that. It said, and and then we said to himself, okay, why don't you so we give him this stance? We said, then why don't you ask God to reveal himself to you if you really want to know him? Ask him to reveal himself and say, Lord, I want to know if you're real and go on that journey. And then he said to us, Oh, he prayed that prayer some years ago, and then there was a light bulb in my head. I'm like, I'm saying, Oh, yeah, no wonder we're at your door today. He said, Oh, but that was a long time ago. That prayer said, Yes. I said, At that time, we were all over in Africa. It took us a while to get here. Praise God. You know, you know, when Jesus was born, it took a while for the wise men to get to him. Global adversary, you know, the wise men did not get to him the night that he was born. You know, it was shepherds that watched their flocks at night. Those were the ones that saw him the night that he was born. By the time the wise man came, he had become a little child, and somewhere between two and three, and and they met him in the house. That's why Herod killed all those children two years and below. You get it, because it was not the night. Amen. Okay, so so it took a while. Praise God. So we told him, Oh, yeah, we were all in different parts of the world. It took a while for us to get to you in Calgary, so that's why we're here now. Okay, so so God answers prayers, amen. All right, so if people's hearts will be open enough, God wants them to come and find out.

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Don't be afraid, find out.

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By the way, somebody said the word atheist is a very lame uh label for those who don't want to find out. Because someone says, I don't believe in God. So it's because you can't claim to be an atheist until you've proven an atheist, is somebody who's gone for you to be satisfied as an atheist, you should must have gone on the journey of seeking out the truth, and then you come to the conclusion. So if you say you're an atheist and say, What have you researched? I say, No, I just don't believe it's that's lame, it's uh it's it's it's not diligent, okay? Just saying is somebody getting something this morning, all right. So he's alive, right? And he's alive in our hearts, and and that's why he told us to be witnesses, we are witnesses that he's alive because his power is changing our lives, it's transforming us. All right, let me pick up on my final question and my final thoughts for today, and then I'll take any questions if we have any. Can I move forward? In the midst of all the people speaking and all the voices, how can you tell the truth today? Now, that split in several levels people disproving the existence of God, people disproving the truth as we have it in the Bible, people who stand up and claim to speak in the name of the Lord and create all kinds of heresies and funny things. Today, um, back let me let me take it back some um some some 20-30 years ago. If you have a revelation 30 years ago, for it to hit the world, you would have had to start out from a press, maybe write a book, maybe write do a recording on a CD, on a cassette, or and then you would have to duplicate and duplicate and duplicate, and then you have to find your way to a TV station, and then they have to give you prime time, and then you have to go, and then even after you spent all you can, well, maybe your community will hear it, maybe your state will hear it, your province will hear it, maybe your country will hear it, but for it to hit the entire world, it will be quite some work. But today, all you need is some kind of recording device, any kind, and internet to put it up in the cloud, and it can hit the corners of the world at the same time. Is that right? So, we are a generation that is confronted with more nonsense, like unlike any other generation. All kinds of voices, all kinds of people speaking, claiming to have heard. Now, let me I want to give you a little background to this as well. During COVID, I don't know how many people you heard or knew who claimed to be working with UN or UN affiliate or somebody who was there in the center of something, that all of a sudden everybody became an expert on COVID. And that they knew. In fact, I'm I've worked with the UN. This broadcast is to let you know that this kind of things that you you should put. There was one, babe. Okay, there was first of all that it was about 5G. That this 5G network, if it comes into effect, oh my god, people said are gonna be bursting everywhere, all kinds of things are gonna be happening. Someone said you have to put uh babe, what's that thing that you Michael uh um there's this thing that you have to put on the window for COVID for foil, yes, that you've got to put foil across it. Sounds like you have to put the blood of Jesus on the lintel of your house, then you put foil on your window, and then that COVID will not be able to enter all kinds of things. Some people said they just oh I can't, I can't even get into it. But essentially, once people could press record on their I have a cousin who works with UN, my auntie works with UNICEF, my somebody, everybody was dropping all kinds of nonsense, and and and so we call it disinformation, misinformation, all of those kind of things going on. So, with regards to your faith, how do you know the truth? How do you tell, how can you tell what you're hearing is right? All that Pastor Femi is even saying this morning, how can you authenticate these things that he's been talking about? I'm glad you asked. Let me tell you what the Bible says about people who should know. It says in Acts chapter 17, the Bible told us in Acts chapter 17, verses 10 and 11, Paul. We have an account of Paul's journey with the Berians. And it says Acts 17, 10 and 11. It says, Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Everybody help me with verse 11. One to go. These were minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness and searched the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were. He said, these guys, give me the new living translation if you if you could, please. He said that these people, he was comparing those in Berea to those in Thessalonica. And he said, those in Beria, he said they were more word open-minded than those in Thessalonica. Isn't that a good thing? He says, and they listened eagerly to Paul's message. And what did they do afterwards? They searched the scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas. This is interesting. It means you have a responsibility to establish the truth from the scriptures. Whatever you hear, whatever anybody teaches, you have a responsibility to find out for yourself if it is true or not, from where the scriptures. So the word of God, the Bible, becomes the final authority on truth, no matter who says it. So Paul, Paul even said to the Galatians, he said, if I Galatians 1, verse 8 and 9, he said, but even if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than what you that what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. It says again in verse 9, as we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what we have what you have received, let this because some people will come and preach all kinds of things to you, tell you all kinds of stories, cook up all kinds of philosophies, and um and model things up. I've asked church, I said, Do you know if I'd come in last week Sunday to say, um, this coming Sunday is gonna be the Passover Sunday, and so every member of the church must wear a touch of red as you are coming, because that red is symbolic of the blood of Jesus. It sounds very deep.

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Passover Sunday. Everybody must wear a touch of red. Amen. I almost if somebody says, Pastor, are you for real or not?

SPEAKER_02 35:13

Yeah, I'm saying somebody says that it's Passover Sunday with the touch of red. Now, we do a touch of red if it's Valentine's Day, and we say red is just for love, isn't it? So we can say, Okay, everybody, let's do a touch of red. And we all know we're just we're just loving, okay? But to tell you that red on your dress, it means if devils are coming, they will just fly over you because of the red. Honestly, if you wear red, only Lulu, I think Lulu is the only one that uh that that is that is properly dressed right now. Praise God. See, you I mean, to praise God. Do demons really leave people alone because of the color of their dresses? They don't. What they said he could even the only victory we have against demons is in the name, it's the authority in the name of Jesus. It is the name of Jesus. I said it's the name of Jesus. So the fact that it sounds deep doesn't mean it is right. If you can't find it in the word of God, then throw it away. That's why it was apostle Paul who was preaching. These guys have the audacity to go and be checking scripture if Paul is correct. Yes, and Paul would not have a problem with it. That's why the Bible recorded it because that's how it ought to be. Anybody who will teach you something and tell you, if I told you that's final, if you if you are if you're if you doubt me, you are doubting God is a funny person. The person is a liar. Yeah, because God told us in the matter of two or three, see, in in 1 Corinthians 14, he said, if there are prophets around among you, he said, let two or three of them prophesy. And guess what he said? He said, Let the others judge if what they are saying is true, that you should check out if what you're hearing is correct. Do you know? Even when God appeared to people physically and they had an encounter and they said to God, God, just to be sure you are the one talking, can you do this? You know, God did not say to them, uh-uh, how how do you how do you what do you mean? Do you know now that me? I'm talking to you and you're asking me to prove it. He said, God, if I'm sure you send me to these people, show me a sign. Then God will do something to prove. Of all those experiences, the one that I couldn't believe is Ezekiah. Because Ezekiah, God said the prophet should go tell him he was, he should put it house in order, he was going to die. And then Isaiah came and told him. And then Ezekiel Bible says he turned his face to the wall, and God and he prayed that God, why can't how can you do this to me? Then God says, Okay, okay, Isaiah should go back. Isaiah, go and tell him, now I've heard you, you will know that you will leave. Now, does that sound like prayer answered?

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Yes.

SPEAKER_02 38:02

Talk to me now. And he now had the effort to tell God that okay, how will I know I will live? Can you make and hear what I'm about to say to you? Please let me. I'm not sure some of you got what I just said. Somebody was sick, and God said, Go and tell him he's going to die. And then, as the prophet left, he turned to the wall and said, God, you can you can you can spare my life. And then God told the prophet, go back and tell him, okay, okay. All right, God said I should tell you, I've heard you praying. How did I say I know he was praying? I heard you, and now you're gonna live, you're not gonna die. I thought that would have been a nice conversation. They said, God, how will I know I will not die? Then he says, Okay, God, can you make time go forward? And then to prove that he will. That's what I'm saying. Do you care? God wants to prove to somebody. I mean, that's why God is no man. Because if it was me, I say, uh okay. If you know you want to die, that's okay. But I mean, then he says, God, can you make time go forward? God says, No problem. So God moved the clock forward to prove to him he wasn't going to die. Then I said, God, God, wait, wait, wait, wait. That one is easy. Anybody can fast-forward something. He says, Can you reverse it? And then God reversed. And I'm saying, what's the subject of this debate? You will live and not die. I mean, and God has the time to give that much attention.

SPEAKER_01 39:36

Whoever told you God does not hear you. That much attention to prove that somebody will not die. So somebody now stands and tells you, if I be a man of God, once I tell you something, don't even, don't even know.

SPEAKER_02 39:51

Check it out. Real prophets will tell you, and let me know if I made a mistake. I'm perceiving the Lord is saying something. Is that right? Because we could make mistakes. Could make mistakes. So you understand you have a responsibility of finding things out for yourself. If anybody comes here to tell you, oh, you know, Adam and this, this, this, God did this, where is it written? If I can't find it, throw it away. I've told people one of the reasons I've never been bothered about the lost books of the Bible, like they call it, is that I said, the 66 that you have, what have you done with it? The 66 has changed my life. I don't need extra. Do you understand what I'm saying? Yeah. So we find it. So if somebody comes and tell you, well, there's a missing book of the Bible, they just didn't record it, that this and that happened. That when Moses got on the mountain, what happened was that three dragons appeared to him, and then he did where that's just fantasy. It's it's like Marvel, it's a superhero story. That's not, in fact, it's a super story. It is not the Bible, it is not the Bible. So it becomes the filter, and and and we take it and take it through. Oh, glory to God. So let the Bible be the final thing, and whatever you're hearing, however, you're hearing it, take heed how you hear. Test all spirits and find out which one is representing God. The fact that somebody and the fact that it comes with signs and wonders does not mean it is God because they are lying wonders, they are they're familiar spirits. We can pick things up. No, it doesn't, it doesn't matter. Oh, hallelujah. And let me let me drop this here. I want to wrap, I want to wrap my thought up this way. Let's go back to 1 Peter chapter 3 because that's where we started. I want to show you the attitude of somebody who's truly representing God. It says uh verse 15. It says, But sanctify the Lord within in your heart, and always be ready, be ready to give a defense. So any everyone who asks you a reason for or hope that's in you, and it says we should do it how with meekness and fear. Verse 16, I say, having a uh having a good conscience. Okay, take it, take, give me, give me the new living translation, 15 and 16. I want to I want to just bring something out because I want to just show us something. It says, Okay, good. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, whoo, always be ready to explain it. Verse 16, it now says, But do this how in a gentle and respectful way, keep your conscience clear. So, you did you see? So, anybody who is trying to tell you something and calls you stupid for not believing what he's saying, come on, help me. Do you notice something is wrong? If somebody tells you, oh, you know, all somebody was trying to correct, he said he was trying to bring a revelation that we should not give God tithes and offering, and he abused, he said, Christians are goats for for Christians are goats for tithing. And I'm saying, okay, what does this say? So is the person right or wrong? Do you get what I'm I'm trying to show you something that the spirit of Christ is not abusive, it's respectful. The Holy Ghost is like a dove when it descended on Christ, it's gentle, it's the fruit of the spirit. Gentleness is the fruit of the spirit. You can be persuasive, you can be strong, you can stand strong on your conviction, and you should you shouldn't be disrespectful. So, when a generation goes on the internet, on Twitter, on Instagram, and abuse and lampoon elderly people, they are not speaking by the spirit of Christ. No, nobody speaking by the spirit of Christ will have. Abuse an elder. That's contrary to scriptures. Even if the elder is wrong, that's not what the Bible says we should do. Alright. So you understand, even when you disagree with someone. So even all the guys that would come on social media and say nonsense. I'm not gonna go there and say you are just a no, we're not gonna do that. We're not gonna do that. We we we carry the spirit of the Lord, we represent him, and at the end of the day, we speak by his spirit. And and I'm also mindful because before I got saved, I thought Christians were losers, I thought Christians were dumb. I I also I mean, I I was there. I I abused those that were born again. I thought they were on serious, I thought, I thought they were missing out on life. So I thought my 16, my 14, 15, 16-year-old arrogant self. Okay, but thank God I came to the truth. All right. So I understand if somebody feels that way. I I get I get it. But now that I'm in Christ, I'm a new creation. All things have passed away, all things have become new. So we speak to represent God and we listen for not just the words that are spoken, the attitude with which it's spoken also. Praise God. I hope with these few words of mine I've been able to submit to you this morning that you can find out the truth about what God has said for yourself, and you should, and you should own it, and you should hold it there to your heart. We should contend earnestly for the faith that was once delivered to the saints. We should be people that are able to speak. Now, the idea the idea is not because there's sometimes somebody perhaps says, Don't answer a fool according to his foolishness. Sometimes people are blabbing, you know, they're not ready to listen, they're just in for an argument. No, don't bother. But when somebody really puts you on the spot and asks you, someone says, Do you really believe in heaven or hell? I mean, that that's some some church got on a pastor's case sometime ago. It was on it was live with with uh this guy CNN and Larry King live, and they said, Do you are you saying anybody who doesn't believe in Jesus will go to hell? I thought I thought that there was no there's no that there's no corner to that question. It is just say what the Bible said, yeah. If you say what God said, you can't go wrong. And you know, it says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. Verse 16 says, look, those who don't believe, they're they're in trouble already. Christ came, so everyone is in trouble, so they are everybody is on the way to hell. Christ just came to save those that believe in him. It's it's it's not you, you're not, you it's just the way it is, it's the truth. And then he was parrying it and parrying it, and then church, ah, the people were saying, they say, No, this guy, we've been thinking about it. He's just a prosperity preacher, he is this, this, this, this. I felt for him. I I know he was just trying to help, but he missed an opportunity. He missed it because after all is said and done, these truths are still the truth. And if we're true messengers, let's say what God said. To be where his representatives are and where his ambassadors. I mean, imagine that the ambassador of a country got to in a press conference and it was they asked him, What did your government say? And say, Well, who knows what my government is saying? Sometimes they're saying A, so sometimes they're saying B. What do you think happens to the ambassador? He's fired. Woo! Glory to God. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 47:49

Come on, let's give God praise in the house. Praise God. Thank you for joining us today. We pray this message didn't just speak to your mind but truly ministered to your heart. May the word take root in your life, producing faith, clarity, and boldness as you walk out the purpose God has for you. If this message encouraged you, be sure to share it with someone who might need it. And we'd love to connect with you, join us in person, and become part of what God is doing here at Global Harvest Calgary. Until next time, keep experiencing God and walking confidently in your purpose.