Friday, September 13, 2024.
Apostle Billey.
Matthew 16.17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
The church is built on the Rock.
The rock is the revealed Word. Not the one that is heard or read. How do I know it’s revealed?
It’s when it penetrates my heart. It’s not in the mental system, but in the heart. When the Christian listens attentively to the Word, his heart will be touched.
This is what Jesus said to Peter:
Matthew 16.17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
Simon Peter received this in himself, even though they were in a group. The Father looked at everyone’s heart and saw that Peter’s heart was much more willing and attentive. So He filed this revelation.
And when we receive this revealed Word, it will produce faith, assurance, joy, peace…
When you see these things in yourself, you are on the Rock.
When a Christian prays and has faith and peace despite what’s going on around him, it means he’s standing on the rock.
1 Cor 6.20 For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
This Word is a Rock for eternity. The one who knows how to lean on it, will move forward.
You can’t have the Word inside you and worry or fear at the same time. The two can’t work together.
When there’s the Word in the heart, there’s certainty, there’s trust, there’s faith, there’s joy despite what’s going on in the world. For the Rock is Jesus, the Living Word.
This rock is called light:
- This rock becomes light when I let God’s Word direct me.
- He becomes the light when I let this word transform me.
In the Word, there is the nature of God, there is the love of God.
How to have the nature of God? How to love God? How can I get to know Him?
It’s by learning to listen to His Word. And that’s how joy and love grow.
Jesus said that he who loves him keeps his commandments. John 14.15
What connects us to God?
It’s the same Word that unites us to God, as well as to our brothers and sisters.
Spiritually, we’re all one, we’re all on the same rock.
This rock is efficient and powerful.
We have to stand on it permanently, while we live in this world.
So what should our priority be?
1 Corinthians 6:20, Ephesians 5:8-14.
Our priority must be God. From this earth we will go to heaven, if we have the Word within us.
Heaven, earth and hell are realities.
The priority must be clear: to win heaven.
We all need to understand this.
Why? For we are passing through the world.
Others have walked this earth, they have been used with power by God. But despite all God’s love, they left the earth: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, John, Stephen, ….
This means that there is a better place than this earth.
In view of all this, we have to choose our priorities, voluntarily.
Our choice must be clear and easy:
Between praying and not praying,
Between going to work and going to church,
Between fasting or not,
Between returning the insult and forgiving,
Between lies and truth
Developing envy or hatred and love….
We need to take a firm stand.
You mustn’t let the devil steal these things from you.
Acts 26.18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.
When this choice is clear to a Christian, it means his eyes are open. He doesn’t let himself be seduced by evil.
We are the light. On this earth, there’s good and there’s bad; there can be problems, i.e. when things don’t go the way you want them to.
However, this must not be called a problem, I must not let myself be saddened, by anything, because I know where I’m going. Pray and hand the situation over to the Lord, it will pass.
In heaven there’s no problem, there’s only joy, so we have to do everything we can to get there.
A problem on earth is an opportunity to seek God. And what’s more, it’s nothing like the problems of hell.
Consider this testimony: Someone who has committed suicide has gone straight to hell. His Christian mother continued to intercede for him, and the Lord brought him back to life.
And during His visit to hell, He did a few minutes, but it seemed like an eternity.
His entire memory was clear, and he could recall every stage of his life, from his earliest childhood.
He had abandoned the way of God in his youth. His mother took him to church, showed him the way. But when he got to high school, he made bad company and had rejected God’s Word.
This experience in hell changed his life, because he saw it as extreme suffering.
Once a sin has been committed, it is often quickly forgotten. That’s just the way the world works.
For the enemy who pushes things this way so that man forgets his evil, does not ask forgiveness and finds himself one day being judged and condemned for this sin.
The Holy Spirit is there to help us. He convicts us of sin, shows us the state of our hearts.
He asks us to be humble. Indeed, he who is proud, even when the Holy Spirit rebukes him for something, will refuse. That’s the danger.
Beloved, light must not tolerate darkness. As soon as the Christian embraces darkness, the light steps aside.
Humility is a blessing for God’s children. This is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of spiritual strength.
When we are humble, the Holy Spirit has access to our lives, night and day. And He Himself will anticipate things in our lives, things we don’t know, He will teach us and reveal to us the hidden things. He intercedes for us.
A Christian who progresses is not because of his efforts, but because he gives God full access to his life, through his humility.
When we see this Christian being fervent in prayer, it’s the quality of God’s presence in his life.
When he praises God with all his heart, it’s the quality of his perception. Because God is in his place in his life, he gives him priority.
Humility keeps us together as brothers and sisters, and keeps us always in the light.
Beloved, practice humility and thus give God full access in your life in order to progress.
IN THE NAME OF JESUS, Let Us Pray… →
Lord Jesus, I belong to you, you have redeemed me.
On this rock on which I stand,
Help me to make you my priority, to know you deeply.
Grant me the grace to be humble, to listen to your voice.
So that I may obey you in all circumstances.
In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.