A Good Testimony

A GOOD TESTIMONY
Hebrews 11:1-4

Testimony is an attestation to the truth concerning a matter. It’s a statement or declaration (written or spoken) made by a witness. It’s also seen as evidence, testifying to something.
In this context, we want to look at testimony as a spiritual report or witness, given by God, on behalf of mortal beings (Acts 14:3; Hebrews 2:4).

By faith, the elders (patriarchs – ancient, fathers, men who stood for God, even in difficult circumstances) obtained a good testimony/report...

What is Faith?
Faith is seeing from God’s perspective. It’s a positive response/reaction to the Word of God. Faith is a process whereby God’s thoughts are replicated in you. The moment your thoughts are well synchronised with the thoughts of God, faith is released!
Faith comes by revelation. It’s not a mental exercise, it’s a spiritual endeavour.
Faith is not just believing God for the goodies of life, it also involves total obedience to the Word (and commandments) of God.
Faith allows one to have a right standing before God (Romans 4:3; Gen. 15:6).
Through faith we obtain a good testimony from God.

Today, we want to examine the life of Abel

Abel was the second son of Adam.
He was a shepherd by occupation.
The Bible revealed that he was a faithful man.
He was the first martyr in the Bible (killed for the sake of righteousness)
Jesus Christ referred to him as a righteous man (Matt. 23:35)

Hebrews 11:4 revealed that he offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, his brother.
Many people erroneously believe that Abel’s sacrifice was preferred to Cain’s because of the size of what each of them brought. However, God was more interested in their hearts.

Abel’s heart was right towards God (even after the fall of man, his heart was still in proper alignment with that of God), while Cain’s heart had drifted away from God (Gen. 4:4-7).

Brethren, we need to ask ourselves ‘What testimony is God giving about our lives, sacrifice and service unto Him?’
What is God saying about you?

Abel was eventually killed by his brother, but the Bible reveals that he still speaks (or he is still being spoken of – Hebrews 11:4).

What is God saying about you and me?  What will God say about us long after we’re gone?

How can I obtain a good testimony/report from God?

1. Build/Repair the altar (1 Kings 18:30-38, Deut 27:6, 2 Chron. 33:16)
An altar is a platform on which offering/sacrifice is laid.
A broken down altar cannot command an acceptable offering in the sight of God.
The altar is a place of communion with God. It’s a place of prayer and the study of the Word of God.

2. A living sacrifice – the reasonable service (Romans 12:2)
While men look at the outward appearance, God looks at the heart. This involves giving the totality of your life to God to the extent that you no longer live for/by yourself (Galatians 2:20).
The Lord pays a detailed attention to not just the sacrifice, but also the servant who brings the sacrifice (or service) before Him. The sacrifice that will provoke a sweet smelling savour before the Master must be done by a broken spirit and a contrite heart (Psalm 51:17).

 

PST. NATHANIEL SADELA

      Resident  Pastor

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LET GO!

LET GO.

Lesson Text: Matt. 18:21-35, Mark 11:25-26, Matt. 5:22-26, Matthew 5:39-4, Matt. 6:9-12, Luke 17:3-5, 2 Cor. 2: 7-10

As humans there is no way we will live together without offending one another. There are some offences that seem to be so grievous and we think 'I can't forget this one' but this morning Jesus is saying to you 'LET GO'.

What is forgiveness?

Forgiveness is a compassionate feeling that supports a willingness to forgive. It is also an act of excusing a mistake or an offence.

There are three perspectives from which I look at forgiveness:

1. God-to-man

2. Man-to-man

3. Self

Today we will lay emphasis on forgiving others (man-to-man) 

Why should I forgive?

Besides saying that forgiveness is important, I want to mention two practical reasons why forgiveness is important.

First, forgiveness is important because God’s forgiveness of us is dependent on our forgiving others. Look at what the Bible has to say about this concept:

"And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses." (Mk 11:25-26 NKJV)

The second reason forgiveness is important is because our spiritual freedom depends on our forgiving others. Whenever you harbor unforgiveness in your heart you will be in bondage. You will not have freedom when you try to worship. 

"Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." (Mt. 5:22-23 NKJV)

Unforgiveness hinders worship.

Forgiveness doesn’t make the other person right, it makes you free.

OTHER REASONS WHY WE SHOULD FORGIVE:

Forgiveness acknowledges that there was a wrong committed.

Some people are quick to discount the idea of forgiveness because they think it’s a type of pretending that nothing happened - “It’s no big deal,” “Oh, don’t worry about it,” etc.

Actually, that’s not true at all. When you honestly confront the idea of forgiveness, that very act puts you in a place where you are acknowledging that a wrong was done - something that’s bad enough to need forgiveness.

Forgiveness is not acting as if a wrong was not important. Forgiveness is confrontation. Forgiveness requires admitting that a serious wrong was done against you.

Forgiveness changes your status from victim to victor.

When someone does something hurtful to us, we are the victim of their meanness or their thoughtlessness. We sometimes believe that there is nothing we can do about our victim status, but that’s not true.

When we forgive, we are no longer powerless; we are no longer the ones who have merely been acted upon. When we forgive, we boldly stand and say, “You will not dictate the way I respond; you will not dictate who I am.”

See Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:39-41.
"But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil:but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain."

The forgiving nature of those actions takes power away from the one who would dictate our actions.

Forgiveness makes sense for people who have needed, do need, and will need forgiveness.

We like to focus on the immediate situation and dwell on the wrong done to us. We often devise harsh and merciless responses to those who hurt us. But if we look at the bigger picture, we are not the only ones to whom wrong has been done, we also are often the ones who have done wrong to others.

We had best consider the parable that Jesus told in Matt. 18:21-35.

Forgiveness is not Jesus’ suggestion.

Matthew 18:21-35 and numerous other passages make it clear that forgiveness is Jesus’ command.

Consider a couple of biblical examples.

Example: In Genesis chapters 40-50 we find the story of a man named Joseph. Joseph was the eleventh of twelve children. While he was still a boy Joseph was sold as a slave. He was carried away against his will and spent many years living in a foreign land. When that story played itself out Joseph had the last laugh. He turned out to be a powerful political leader and his brothers stood before him seeking his help. When they realized his identity they were stricken with fear. Joseph displayed a God sized character in that situation. He said "Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” (Gen. 50:19-21 NKJV)"
Joseph displayed a remarkable ability to forgive his brothers in spite of years of pain and hurt.

Example: Another example of forgiveness is found in the life of David, who became the king of Israel. At one point David was hunted by Saul, his adversary, as if he were a wild animal. On several occasions David could have secretly killed his adversary but he did not. He chose, rather, to forgive. Listen to what he said
"The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord." (I Sam. 24:6 NKJV

The ultimate example of forgiveness is Jesus Christ. As he hung on the cross he prayed a prayer of forgiveness, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” (Lk. 23:34)

HOW DO I FORGIVE?

Acknowledge that you have been seriously hurt.

The starting point in pursuing forgiveness is to admit that you’ve really been hurt. We like to pretend like what he said didn’t really bother us or what she did didn’t even move us, but until we are willing to admit that we were hurt by them, we’re not in a place where we can begin to pursue forgiveness.

At this point, as we hurt, we are likely to find some hatred in our heart. Hatred, of course, is never a good thing, but we must be careful that we don’t try to get rid of it by covering it up. When we find that hate in our heart, that’s simply a sign that we need to forgive.

Surrender your right to get even.

Few would dispute our right to get even. The rule of the world is ‘do unto others as they’ve done unto you.’

When we choose to forgive, though, we choose to lay aside our right to extract our revenge. In the moment of making that decision, we are doing a couple of things: 1. We are leaving ultimate justice and vengeance to God, and 2. We are deliberately choosing for ourselves the path of forgiveness. 

This is the first step down a different path. 

Acknowledging that we have been hurt gets in the right place to begin, but surrendering our right to get even is the first step down the path.

Some would argue that choosing such a path is inevitably going to make us a patsy - we’re yielding all our power and are going to end up as a doormat. I believe, though, that there is a power that is unleashed in this decision that cannot come from any other source.

Search for the real person beneath the evil mask.

When we have been wronged, we like to caricature our wrongdoer. We emphasize all the bad things about them, we twist anything that looks remotely good, we are quick to impugn their every motive, and we see them only and always in one way.

The process of forgiveness requires that we begin to look for the real person behind the caricature we’ve created in our minds. We begin to see that they have not only hurt, they have been hurt. We begin to see that they are weak, needy, and fallible. We begin to find reasons for our hearts to turn toward mercy instead of malice. 

This doesn’t mean we grant them victim status and excuse all their wrong - we’re forgiving, not excusing. It does mean that we begin to try to treat them as another participant in this messy thing called life.

What is our motivation for doing this? As our passage points out, we are doing for them what God did for us. God could have simply seen our sin and said, “I’ve seen enough, that’s all I need to know about them.” But God looked beyond our sin and saw something worth loving. And that’s what we’ve been called to do as well.

Desire that good things would happen to your wrongdoer.

In the process of forgiveness, we move from dreaming of bad things befalling them towards hoping for good things in their life.

At this point, it might be helpful to address a related question: does forgiving mean there’s no punishment? 

The answer to that is, No, forgiving does not necessarily mean there should not be punishment. 

If possible, enjoy the healed relationship.

Sometimes the other person can’t join you in moving towards reconciliation (for example, in forgiving a parent now passed on).

For reconciliation to happen, they must understand the pain that they’ve caused you and must be sorrowful over it.

But when they are, make sure you enjoy the healing and the renewed relationship that can only come through forgiveness.

DEACON YINKA ANIBABA

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DEALING WITH YOUR SLIPS

DEALING WITH YOUR SLIPS

TEXT: Judges 14:1-3

And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.  And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.  Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.

The path to the fall of Samson was not just a straightforward path as it seems. It was a path of several slips which can also affect anyone who is not careful

Such may include, slips of the feet, slips of the eyes, slips of our thoughts, slips of the tongue and over spirituality to mention the least

It is the bad habit that we innocently do that turns into ready tools in the devil’s hand.

SLIP 1: EASY ATTRACTION TO THE OPPOSITE SEX.

Judges 14:1 And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines

When you find yourself in a new location, what catches your attention first is a function of who you are.

For Samson it was the women.

This was a quiet weakness which he overlooked in his growing years that became a platform for the devil to orchestrate his downfall.

Judges 16:1 (Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her)

SLIP 2: ALWAYS IN A HASTE

Judges 14:2 And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.

When you notice you are always in a haste in taking crucial decisions such as a career choice, frequent changing of jobs, employment, ministry or any other step in life, then know that you are already leaving the lifestyle of Samson

Brother Samson was a “Now! Now!!” Person

 Judges 14:3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.

SLIP 3: DESIRE FOR SELF-PLEASURE

Judges 14:3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father; Get her for me, for she pleaseth me well.

When a man does not set as priority things that pleases God but goes after what is right in his own eyes, he is on his way to destruction.

It is wrong to conclude that what pleases you must please God and that the desires of your heart will be acceptable in God sight.

2^nd Tim 2:3-4 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

 SLIP 4: SLIP OF DESPISING GODLY COUNSEL

Judges 14:6-9 And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.  And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.  And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion.  And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.

Ever since his parents argued against his marrying an ‘uncircumcised Philistine’, he stopped telling them things.

When a man is about to veer off into the bush, the devil makes him to cut away from fathers and elders in the faith who can call him to order.

SLIP 5: EVIDENCE OF THE POWER OF THE ANOINTING IN YOUR BACKSLIDING STAGE

The Bible says ‘The gift and the calling is without repentance’

II Tim 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

The manifestation of a spiritual gift is not a divine authentication of a good behaviour

This means that God’s gifts are gifts; they are not worked for but are imparted upon a man by the mercies of God.

Not because of the holiness of any man

PASTOR LANRE AREOLA

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