Date: Friday, 13th August, 2021
Ministering: Pastor Uzo Nwoke
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). The begotten Son is of a higher stature than Christ. This is why we can only have access into Everlasting Life by believing in this begotten Son. Believing is the key that unlocks Everlasting Life.
“He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18). There are two kinds of believing: believing ‘on’ Him and believing ‘in’ Him. To believe on Him speaks about His person, while to believe in Him speaks of the content of His person. We should not merely believe the person without believing in the content of the person. For us to have Everlasting Life, we must believe both the person and the content of the person.
Many people believe in the concept of seeing before believing. However, you have to believe before you can see anything in the Kingdom. This is why one who does not believe in the Son will not see Everlasting Life (John 3:18). We cannot see if we have not been preached to. Preaching is different from teaching; preaching prepares the ground for teaching. Preaching does not give knowledge; it only prepares the way for teaching which gives knowledge (Isa. 28:9).
Preaching opens the door for faith in the soul, which then enables the soul to receive knowledge. Preaching opens us up to believe the things that are to be taught afterwards. We cannot be New Testament ministers without understanding the precepts of the Tabernacle. Also, the understanding of the Tabernacle is not just a knowledge that we must have, it should also be wrought within us.
If we can believe these words when they are being preached, even when we do not understand, we should be rest assured that the teachings will eventually open; and understanding will definitely dawn on us. The journey to God is in us moving from one level of faith to the other (Rom. 1:17). The Red Sea was parted through believing and the Israelites were led out of Egypt; it was also through believing that manna was brought down to the Israelites. In every junction of their journey, the Israelites continued believing until they got to the Promised Land.
“And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” (Gen. 22:2). The climax of Abraham’s journey in believing was when his son was required of him. It was at this point that God realised that Abraham feared Him, which made Him swear an oath concerning Abraham (Gen. 22:12-18).
If we did not believe the teachings of the previous allocation (Christ) over us as a company, God would not be opening the present allocation of the things of Everlasting Life to us. Just as we have believed Christ, we will also believe Everlasting Life. To believe is to stand on that which the Lord has spoken until it is fulfilled. God has spoken things concerning Everlasting Life to us and they must come to pass.
“Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. [30] And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: [31] But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” (John 20:29-31). There is a blessing attached to believing before seeing. We are presently not seeing the things that are currently being spoken, but we must believe them. Without believing in these sayings, we cannot come into Life (John 20:31).
“From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. [67] Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? [68] Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. [69] And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.” (John 6:66-69). We must believe all the way through. If any of us still has doubts, we should put such doubts behind us and begin to believe.
These sayings might not make sense to us now, but things will be made clearer in the end; thus, bringing joy to us. Christianity is not in the show of power through spectacular activities, especially those which can also be replicated by the world through diabolic means. True power is the gospel called the power of God (Rom. 1:16).
Message Ends