Bishop Mosa Sono

00:00 Look at your name and say, we welcome you in the name of the Lord. 00:04 Amen, amen, amen, amen. But now we bring greetings from your sisters and brothers from Zimbabwe. I was in Zim, left on Thursday. We're preaching there at a place called Masava, which is like a 45-minute drive from Maswingo. So we flew to Maswingo. We flew to Harare, actually, Thursday night. And then in the morning, drove to Masuyungo, about five hours drive. And the Assemblies of God had a national conference of youth. 00:36 And I wonder, bam, bam, bam, bam. 00:39 Because I'm not a youth either. And I was speaking to the young people. But the young people were kind. They said a few amens here and there. And I hope you will be more kind than them. God is doing something really amazing. 00:53 The Assemblies of God are building a big, big campus. Yabona out in Masava. and they bought a farm there, 80 hectares they have, and they're building this massive structure, and they've got a place for the youth, for the pastors, for whatever. The thing is still under construction, and it was so great to be with them and to minister the word there. So we came back yesterday evening, and I was saying to somebody that if there's a people in our world who should really, really be in the forefront, of leading the reality of us being all God's people is the church of Jesus Christ. 01:33 That in spite of all the tensions that are there, that come because of some activities, the body of Christ still meets together. And I don't think we should only meet by ourselves. We should find a way to lead our people. 01:50 in these very difficult things that we all have to navigate, which are real, and there are real problems that are there. But we should be peacemakers, but not just peacemakers. We should be able to make sure that things are attended to and things are addressed by our leaders. And it was so good to be there because nobody ever raised anything about the situation that's there, even though we talked about it with each other. And I think the church must really play a leading role. We don't do it sometimes. 02:21 We don't do it as we should, but I think we should do it. 02:25 Amen. Our theme this year is breaking out of limitations. Tell your neighbor, I hope you're breaking out of some limitations. 02:33 Tell them at least the first limitation, you've come to church when it's cold. I know you don't come to church when it's cold. At least that's the first one. All right. 02:41 And so this month, we are talking about a never give up attitude. 02:48 And our main text is Galatians 6.9. We introduced this last week. We won't go into the details. Those of you who are not with us, you can catch up with us on YouTube. And you can sort of get what we talked about last week. I'll just touch on it briefly. We are reading the English Standard Version. It reads as follows. Let us not grow weary in doing good. 03:14 For in due season we shall reap. 03:18 If we do not lose heart. Can I hear an amen? 03:23 Paul wrote this to the Christians in Galatia who are a people that he had worked with for a long time. He had planted the gospel among them. 03:34 He had formed several churches among them. 03:37 At the onset of his ministry, the people in Galatia were very, very zealous. Could see the fruit of the ministry and how they lived for God. 03:48 But in the process of time, these people somehow defected from the faith simply because they started receiving other teachings contrary to what Paul had taught them. 04:00 And Paul writes to them and says, I don't understand. 04:04 You're receiving another gospel now and I don't get it. 04:08 And he says to them, even if an angel was to come to you preaching another gospel, let him be called accursed. But these people had begun to get discouraged. Paul writes to them in Galatians 4.19 and says, my little children of whom I travail for in Beth again, that Christ be formed in you. What he's saying there is I'm praying for you to walk out the fullness of your salvation. That expression that Christ performed in you actually means that I want to see your outward lives conform to the change that has happened on the inside of you. 04:46 And so the Christians in Galatia, somehow they had started well, but in the process they grew tired. And he writes in Galatians 5, 7, he says, you are running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 05:01 But Paul in writing, he's not pointing a finger at them. 05:05 He's not saying you are getting weary. He says, let us not grow weary. He includes himself in what he's saying. To almost say to them what you're going through, I understand. I feel you. I get it. I also get tempted to be weary. I've reached those times in my life when I wanted to give up. But I want to say to us all, let us not be weary in well doing. Paul tells them, remember in my journey, I've experienced a lot of problems. 05:38 In 2 Corinthians 11, 27, he says, you know, I preach the gospel in weariness, in faithfulness, in watching so often I was left for dead. I feel you, I understand. 05:51 There are times in our walk with God where we experience physical fatigue. There are times when we experience mental fatigue, spiritual fatigue. And even as a people who are eager to serve the Lord, you may fall into depression and be tired. I understand, I feel you, but let us not grow weary in well-doing. He says, for if we grow weary in well-doing, we will be like a people walking up a hill who get tired. We will be like soldiers who are giving in to the enemy. 06:25 Let's not portray cowardice. Let's not whip up a flag of surrender. Let's not faint. Let's not tire. Let's not allow our soul to cave in. Be not weary in well-doing. Tell your neighbor, be not weary in well-doing. Tell them. 06:41 Tell them, in due season you will reap if you faint not. 06:46 So when we understand this principle that Paul is outlining, he's simply using this picture language to use the language of farming and put side by side our walk with God. In short, he's saying, I want you to understand that life is a journey. Amen. 07:06 Life is a journey of sowing and reaping. Everything we do is around this principle of sowing and reaping. And so this morning, I want us to look at four laws which I want to call the laws of harvest. The laws of harvest. The laws of harvest, even if they are natural laws, they also have spiritual application. And when we look and examine these laws, we can be able to draw lessons from those laws about our own journey. Everything about us by Jesus is a life or a journey of sowing and reaping. 07:42 The words we use, the thoughts we think, what we read, the company we keep, words that we speak. 07:51 Things that we do, what we do with our money, what we do with our health, what we do with our time, all of that is sowing and reaping. All right? So let's look at these laws quickly. The first one is you reap only what you sow. 08:08 In other words, you cannot harvest a crop you did not plant. It's very strange sometimes. We want to see God work for us. We want to see things happen in our lives, but we don't plant anything. 08:20 We want to experience love, but we don't plant love. 08:25 You see, your neighbor is not saying anything right now. 08:28 We want to experience joy, financial blessing, but we are not intentional to sow seeds. 08:36 You cannot reap if you don't sow. 08:41 In other words, God cannot multiply a harvest from an empty field. Amen. 08:49 it means therefore we need to be intentional last week i think our brother and i was talking about triggering what i wanted to call we've got to trigger the harvest by sowing we can't be passive and wait for things to work out we can't just put our life on pause and wonder when things are not working how are you going to reap if you don't sow How is this going to happen if you don't put seeds in the ground? Just imagine a farmer sitting with a whole pile of seeds, sitting there complaining every day that, God, you don't love me. 09:25 Nothing is happening on my farm. You know what God will say? God will say, it's got nothing to do with me. 09:32 It's got something to do with you. 09:35 You cannot reap if you don't sow. 09:40 In life, this is why we have choices. 09:44 Choices we make are seeds we sow in our lives. 09:49 Our choices therefore affect us on an everyday basis. 09:54 And everything we do means that our everyday choices are not without significance. 10:02 So how we spend our time, how we spend our money, what we do with our thoughts, what we saw in our thinking, the words we use, company we keep, friends we have, places we go to, how we use our youthfulness or our elderliness, if there's any word like that. Whatever we do, we are planting. 10:28 So our choices affect us. 10:31 And they even affect others in more dramatic ways that we are willing to accept. 10:38 And the thing is, oftentimes it doesn't affect us immediately. The immediately of immediately. No, not the gradual immediately. The immediately of immediately. 10:49 And this is why the Bible says, while the earth remains, there will be seed time and harvest. And no man will mock God by changing God. 10:58 The laws of harvest. Look what Paul says in Ephesians chapter 5. Let's have it up in the Amplified Bible, please. 11:05 Note what it says. It says, therefore, see that you walk carefully. When it says walk carefully, it's talking about our lifestyle. 11:13 See that you walk carefully. Let's read it together. See that you do what? 11:20 Continue living life with what? Honor, purpose, and purpose. 11:26 Do you know that? 11:28 Shunning those who do what? Who tolerate and enable evil. 11:34 Not as the unwise. In other words, don't live as the unwise. But live as what? Live as the wise, sensible, intelligent, discerning people. Tell your neighbor you are sitting next to a wise, sensible, let's have that verse. A wise, sensible, intelligent, intelligent, discerning person tell them even if you don't believe it you are sitting next to a wise sensible intelligent discerning person the bible says we must live it has an intentionality in this all right note the next verse note the next verse it says making the very most of your time On earth, recognizing and taking advantage of each opportunity and using it with wisdom and diligence. 12:31 Because the days are filled with evil. In other words, instead of going with the flow, instead of following the ways of the world, instead of doing what everybody is doing, you make the choice to go the other way. 12:48 Oh, I'm not hearing the amens in the place. 12:50 Know the next verse, verse 17. Therefore, do not be what? 12:56 And? 12:58 But do what? But understand and firmly grasp what the will of the Lord is. God's will for us is to make the right decision. 13:08 Now when it says in the book of Deuteronomy, I call heaven and earth to record again to this day that I said before you, life and death, blessing and cursing. 13:18 And then God doesn't end there. He says, choose life. 13:24 Yeah, choose life. 13:26 Make the right choices. 13:29 Because every choice is a seed planted. 13:34 Every choice is a seed planted. 13:38 You can choose in secret. You can do it without people knowing about it. 13:43 But every choice. 13:45 And so how we live our lives on a daily basis becomes very crucial. 13:50 David talks about it in Psalms chapter 90, verse 12. 13:55 Wow. 13:56 He says, so teach us. 13:59 Teach us. 14:01 Teach us. Give me that wisdom. 14:06 Teach us to number our days. 14:11 That we may apply our hearts to wisdom. Let's have it in the Amplified Bible. I don't know what the Amplified Bible will say. I know other translations. 14:19 So teach us to number our days that we might cultivate and bring to you a heart of wisdom. 14:27 Numbering our days means being very intentional about how you live your life. 14:34 Don't live your life as a passenger. 14:37 And don't live your life as a victim. 14:40 We're not in any way discounting the reality of the fact that we may be born into circumstances that are less than the best. 14:49 We're not in any way suggesting that life is smooth. 14:53 Even if things are difficult, rather defect we're now on the right side of it all and make the right choices. Can I hear amen? 15:04 You reap only what you sow. Now that leads us to a second point, very similar to this one. 15:10 Number two, you reap the same in kind as you sow. 15:17 We call it the law of identification. 15:22 There's a biological law. It's a spiritual absolute. 15:27 If you sow seeds, they don't produce something different to what you sow. 15:33 You don't plant oranges and reap bananas. Doesn't happen. 15:41 So you can't expect to sow criticism. 15:47 I knew you wouldn't say amen. 15:51 And reap something else. 15:54 If you sow seeds of encouragement and kindness, you'll reap goodwill and favor. 16:01 Meaning, if you are unhappy with your current harvest, it might be advisable to examine the seed that you've been planting. 16:09 Now, we are aware there are times when Satan attacks us. 16:13 That what comes back to us is not consistent with what we have been sowing. We get that. We get that. But all things been equal, oftentimes we should be very, very intentional in what we sow. 16:29 Paul goes further. He says in that verse, verse 6, he says, God is not mocked. 16:36 Yeah, God is not mocked. Look at it. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. 16:40 Know what it says? It says what? Can you read the next word? 16:43 For what? 16:45 Whatsoever. Everyone say whatsoever. 16:48 Say it again. Whatsoever. 16:51 You know, that word is very suggestive. It's a loaded word. Whatsoever. Whatsoever. Whatsoever. Whatsoever. Whatsoever. Whatsoever. Whatsoever. Whatsoever. So it means. Yes. 17:04 We are sowing. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap. You can't expect to reap something different from what you are sowing. 17:19 And remember, the sowing is in there whatsoever. 17:25 So whatever, the words you sow, you're going to rip those words. Thoughts you sow, you're going to rip those thoughts. Anything you sow, you sow finances, that's what you're going to rip. You sow your time. Whatsoever and then soweth, that shall you also rip. But when it says God is not mocked, what it means is to turn up your nose to God or to treat God with contempt and ridicule. 17:50 Let's put it in the context. Don't think you're going to get away with it. you're going to end up at the Matlanga, I mean, I must just focus on preaching. 18:04 You know, it's a strange thing how as human beings we think we can get away with stuff. 18:13 And the Bible says, no, you can't mock God. 18:17 Can't ridicule him. You can't turn your nose at him and tell him your principles don't work. 18:24 And sometimes things catch up with us later in life. 18:32 Imagine. When you are in your late 60s. 18:38 And then they throw you in jail for another 10 years. I mean, what a way. 18:44 What a way to get into your old age. 18:50 Man cannot ignore and treat with contempt God's truth. 18:55 or God's laws by attempting to live by his own wisdom and tactics that are without serious consequences. 19:04 So that expression, whatever, makes this law all-inclusive. Everything we sow, it makes the connection in the kind of what we reap. 19:15 So, since everything reproduces after his kind, God can never be more. 19:21 Just as one cannot sow peas and produce watermelon. 19:26 Or you can't breed donkeys and produce thoroughbred horses. We cannot, as a result, sow discord and produce unity. Sow lies and produce truth. Sow sin and produce holiness. Amen. 19:42 But you know the opposite is also true. 19:44 You sow what is good. 19:47 It will produce. 19:50 And that leads me to my next point. 19:52 Number three. 19:55 You reap more than you sow. 20:01 That's the principle. 20:02 We call it the law of multiplication. 20:07 You reap more than what you sow. 20:10 You know, in the morning I was telling them, this is where the concept... ... 20:39 All right. 21:10 You know, when we talk about people, the problem is . I was talking about you in the first service. 21:21 They start panic. 21:33 Before . 21:42 And that's the problem, you know, whatever we saw multiplies in return. 21:52 Good and evil alike. 21:55 So it starts very small. 21:58 But the thing is, on the positive side, oftentimes when people have started something good, they don't understand this principle. 22:09 They want to see themselves operating at a certain level. 22:14 And it doesn't happen. 22:17 It will multiply eventually. 22:20 But not now. 22:23 A single apple contains dozens of seeds. 22:26 And a single seed has the potential to become an entire orchard. 22:33 For that reason, when we invest our time, resources, or compassion, God multiplies that seed. Lona in the financial sector, he multiplies it exponentially. 22:48 See, the harvest is always disproportionately larger than the initial investment. That's how we get to more. 22:58 Unfortunately, many people... 23:02 Very much in a hurry. They just want to see it happen. 23:04 No, that's not how it happens. 23:06 You start very small. 23:09 And you are selective as to what you planned. 23:13 Planned in the direction of where you want to see results. 23:19 Oh. 23:20 Planned in line with what you are desiring in your life. And that's what I like. You know, oftentimes, how do we work out this law of sowing and reaping? We only talk about the negative, you know. You know, we only talk about the negative, but the same law works in the positive. 23:34 So instead of just sitting down and being passive, plant something. Do something. Look at your neighbor and say, do something, especially you. Do something. Stop complaining. Do something. 23:43 Do something. Yeah, plant. Do something. 23:46 Start somewhere. Remember, because it's going to multiply. Don't look down upon your little effort. 23:56 And your small effort. Don't look down upon it. 23:59 Remember it says. God is the one who ensures and guarantees. It is him who put this law. In Genesis 8.22. He says for as long as the earth remains. There will be seed time and harvest time. God is guaranteeing. 24:16 God is guaranteeing. And in Isaiah chapter 8 verse 7. Know the principle. Just the first part. For they have sown the wind. 24:24 And they shall reap the whirlwind. 24:27 You sow a little, you reap a lot. I know this is in the negative, but this also applies in the positive. 24:34 You reap more than what you sow. It is the law of multiplication. Look at your neighbor and say, I see God multiplying in your life, my friend. 24:43 I prophesy to them, tell them, I see God multiplying, multiplying, multiplying. 24:51 But there's no major enterprise anywhere in the world that started big. 24:58 Most things, if not all things that you see that are mega, start at small. 25:04 Yeah. 25:05 In fact, that's the way God has designed things. Look at us. We were not this big when we were conceived. 25:12 In fact, we were invisible to the naked eye, you know, when we were conceived. 25:16 Just a little bit. 25:17 But look how much we have added to that small. 25:21 Look how much we have added to that small. Isn't that amazing? 25:27 And that leads me to my fourth point. 25:31 You rip in a different season. 25:35 Wow. 25:39 You don't rip in the same season. 25:42 You rip in a different season. 25:45 This is such a critical thing to realize because people say, but I've been praying, nothing's happening. 25:54 I've been giving, nothing's happening I haven't read the word. 26:01 Nothing's happening. 26:02 Now, you know, when I used to go to school, and I think at least I've got lots of people who are within the same range, so I don't have to worry. 26:12 We used to do an experiment in higher primary school where we would get a container at last. Preferably, it was this black cat. You know, you remove the container and it's transparent, and then And then you would put soil in it and then plant a seed here, a bean. But plant it such that you can, it's on the side of the, inside the jar, you can see it on the side. And then you, it was an experiment just to show us what happened. 26:45 So you put the seed in there and you water it. 26:51 And then for the first six days, it's just there. 26:55 When you look at it, it's, 26:59 But you see, there's something very powerful what God has done with this concept of seeds. 27:05 Locked inside a seed is a potential. 27:13 Locked inside a seed, it's a future that's waiting to be triggered. 27:22 The seed has the ability and the capacity to grow in its own because that's exactly how God created it. All it needs, in these different sectors, is an enabling environment. That's all it needs. 27:42 All it needs. So this being, after seven days, you'd see a little bit of a root. That's the main root. 27:52 If it's on that root, tap root, and that's the main root. You see, just a bit of a root coming out. And funny enough, the root is under the ground. The only reason you can see it is because you planted it in this bottle and you can see. But if it was underground, you would say, it means true, all you got, nothing is happening here. 28:15 That's what you'd say. But the reality, the minute you put it, in the proper environment, something began to happen. 28:28 That genetic coding that comes from heaven was triggered by you putting it in the right environment. 28:36 The taproot comes, then starts growing. And then after, on the 14th day, just about, a little bit of a seedling comes out of the ground. 28:49 I think that was such an important lesson. 28:52 Think about it. Some of you, you've prayed, and on the 10th day, you say, God's not answering. 29:01 But if God was to give you a vision of the spiritual world, and you sow the seeds of prayer that you sowed, You'd realize that it's not that nothing is happening. Something is starting to happen. Am I talking to people here in the house? Are you understanding what I'm saying? 29:24 Why? Because you don't reap in the same season. 29:28 Even with that seed coming out, it's still a long way from reaping the harvest. 29:37 It's going to take a long time. 29:39 And the harvest is going to be determined. The reaping of the harvest is going to be determined by how much you look after the seed. 29:49 Now note, note, note. 29:51 When a farmer plants seeds, he doesn't plant weeds. 30:01 Right? 30:05 The weeds are potentially there. 30:10 The weeds will come. 30:13 What the farmer must do is to just make sure you get rid of the weeds. 30:20 And remember the weeds are like parasites. They thrive on what you are feeding the seeds. 30:27 Yours is to get rid of the weeds. And the farmer doesn't get surprised when weeds come. 30:33 In the same way, when you have sowed in the things of God, weeds are going to come. Problems are going to come. Resistant forces are going to come. 30:44 Why are you saying, if God was working, I wouldn't be having problems. Hey, it's the weeds. 30:50 And when you see the weeds, it doesn't mean the seed is not there. It doesn't mean the seed cannot produce. The seed is waiting for you to get rid of the weeds. Get rid of the weeds. Get out of certain environments. Move away from certain things so that your seeds can thrive. Can I hear an amen? 31:08 So you don't reap in the same season. 31:14 The harvest does not appear the moment the seed goes into the ground. What does it require? Patience. 31:23 Persistence. 31:25 In our case, trust in God's timing. It says you will reap in due season. 31:34 There's a thing called due season. 31:37 There's a thing called harvest time. 31:41 My harvest time is not on day one. 31:45 In harvest time, you can't try to time code it. 31:49 Harvest time, when it is ready for harvest time. 31:54 What you must concern yourself is to just make sure that the environment remains what it should be. 32:02 Unfortunately, many believers get discouraged. 32:06 They give up right before the harvest season arrives. 32:10 And they get tired. So he says, don't be weary. 32:13 Some of you, you may have been doing all the right things. 32:17 Yeah. 32:18 Applying yourselves. 32:20 Doing all the right things. Staying away from things that are not godly. 32:26 But it looks like nothing is happening. 32:29 Whisper to your neighbor, the harvest is coming. 32:35 Even when the harvest comes, it comes in different proportions. 32:40 In Mark chapter 4... 32:42 Jesus introduces what we call the law of progression. 32:47 First the blade. 32:50 Then the ear. 32:52 After that the full corn in the ear. 32:55 Then the farmer comes in and reaps the harvest. 33:02 Green what? 33:04 Green shoots. 33:07 There are times when your prayers are working. 33:13 But remember, when you see that blossoming, you don't try to harvest. Kill a bloom or fail. 33:20 No, you're not hearing what I'm saying. 33:22 See, sometimes we get too excited when we see the first results and we rush to do major things. 33:29 Prematurely. 33:31 We reap the full harvest of God only if we persevere. 33:37 We see this in scripture and in experience that we learn. 33:42 That the harvest of God comes only when we persevere. 33:48 Unfortunately, evil naturally comes to the harvest on its own. 33:54 And evil doesn't need our help. 34:00 Evil is there. 34:02 So when Paul talks even about the open door, he says, no, there's an open door and there are many adversaries. You know, if he had said there's an adversary, I would understand. He says, no, there are many. 34:14 So sometimes you deal with one adversary just out for molar, another one comes up. 34:20 But you have to be able to last forever. 34:32 and outlast that period. 34:34 Can I hear an amen? 34:37 Note, if you don't take care of the weeds, they will grow and take over your garden. 34:45 If you stay in a negative environment, when you're trying to move forward in your life, you stand the chance of killing everything that you've done. 34:56 A good environment, positive environment is an environment of prayer, an environment of the word, an environment of people who believe in what you're doing. 35:05 But you have to take up the responsibility to be the farmer of your own garden and don't leave it to other workers. 35:15 And you need to be extremely intentional about applying and putting on the fertilizer. You know, I found this very interesting. 35:23 Paul says when he writes to the Church in Ephesus, in Ephesians 5, husbands love your wives, even as Christ loved the church, and he gave himself for it, that he might sanctify it and cleanse it with the washing of the water of the word. 35:40 The word of God is, many symbols are used for it. 35:44 Okay? The word of God is like a seed. 35:47 The word of God is like a hammer. The word of God is like fire. But in this instance, he says the word of God is like water. This is important. 35:57 So if the word of God is water, how does that apply to my seed? 36:04 The same word is a seed, but the same word is water. Note this. 36:08 After you have planted the seed of God's word, water it through the words of your mouth. 36:16 By speaking God's word in line with the decision that you have made. 36:23 Why? Because Satan will bring in the weeds of doubt and unbelief. 36:29 And make you doubt. 36:30 Just after you've prayed for healing, and you are standing in faith for healing, Satan will say, Amen. 36:42 Now, if you agree with him, it's like going back to the soil and digging up your seed. 36:48 Now, instead of doing that, you must say, but the word of God says, I believe what God's word says, they will lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. 36:58 It could be that my healing has not manifested yet, but God is not a man to lie. God is not the son of man to change his mind. Mudimu hasimu tu. 37:12 And when you do that and when you say that, you are watering that seed in your life. 37:21 Note that the weeds will take over on their own. 37:25 And they don't need a single thing. 37:28 But if you stay consistent, if you don't become weary, if you don't get tired, if you don't throw in the towel, then victory is yours in the name of Jesus. 37:42 If you refuse to be weary in well-doing, it says in due season. Somebody say in due season. 37:48 Say it again. 37:50 Say it again. 37:52 It says in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 37:56 We'll talk more about the due season in the coming weeks. But let me talk about it briefly. That word due season in the Bible is a very, very important expression. 38:09 It's almost likened to, in our natural life, to the seasons that we go through. 38:16 We go through summer, winter, autumn, and spring. I didn't put them in any particular order. Those seasons come on their own, right? 38:25 And when those seasons come, they dictate what we must do, the dress code we must have, and those seasons also affect vegetation around us. 38:37 Not just vegetation. Even animals function on that cycle. There's times when in the animal kingdom it's mating season. It coincides with certain seasons. The reason it coincides with certain seasons is because the animals that get conceived at that time need a certain environment when they are born. 38:59 So everything works together. So God has this heavenly calendar. Amen. 39:04 Where God is orchestrating things and moving things around, you know. 39:08 And sometimes it's kind of hard to really know the way God works. But God has seasons. 39:16 Many of the promises that God has made. For instance, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, him coming into the world. 39:24 The first prophecy that came was in the Garden of Eden when God spoke to the serpent and said, the seed of the woman will come and crush the head of the serpent. That was a prophetic utterance about the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Somebody would come. 39:42 who is the seed of the woman, born of a woman, without the aid of a man, and it is this one who would come in and crush, destroy, immobilize the power of Satan. So already God had already said it, that there's one who's coming who is going to break the power of the enemy. Now when you read scripture, you'll find God needed a family lineage through which this particular seed of the woman would be born. 40:11 And God had to preserve a people who would obey his law, walk in obedience to him, so that this seed of the woman will come and be born through. God had to make sure he gets the right environment. 40:24 Are you understanding? So that this seed can come, can be born. 40:30 But as you read, you note, it took thousands of years. I mean, from the book of Genesis till the birth of Jesus Christ, it took thousands of years. And every family lineage through which God wanted the seed of the woman to come through, Satan infiltrated them, corrupted them, and tried to stop it. But you know what? God is always several steps ahead of the devil. Amen. In the same way, God is several steps ahead of the devil in what Satan tries to do in your life. 41:01 And anytime Satan infiltrated a people, God had already taken away from those people what we call a remnant. 41:09 that God had kept. A people that God had protected. It's a people in the words of Elijah that hadn't bowed their knees to Baal. It's a people who were not considered to evil. It's a people who were following God. It's a people that God kept as the one through whom Jesus would be born. 41:27 Then you go all the way and you read the Old Testament and you come to the time of the prophets and then we go into what theologians call the Dark Ages. 41:36 where there was no voice of prophets in the land. 41:40 It didn't look like God is working. Everything went dark. 41:44 And let me tell you, when things are going dark, that's when God is working the most. 41:51 Because God develops things even when everything is dark. 41:55 Yeah. And just when the devil thought everything is done, everything is gone, it's all quiet, no prophet is speaking. No one is saying anything. No family is doing anything. The book of Galatians chapter 4 says, and when the fullness of time had come. 42:11 Yeah, God brought forth his son, born of a woman. 42:15 And Jesus gets born when the enemy thought it's all done. I want to say this as I close. In the same way God works in your life. 42:26 The seed that you've planted in your life that lines out with his will and his purpose will never be destroyed. 42:33 You may have many disappointments in your projects. You may have many starts in your project. You may have many evaluations in your project. You may have many comebacks in your project. But when the fullness of time has come, it has come. 42:49 And there is nobody who's going to stop the fullness of time. 42:54 Ours is never to give up on the promise of God. Ours is never to turn coward. Ours is not to be weary in well-doing because in due season we will reap if we faint not. I want to encourage some of you who are in that space right now where it looks like the journey is a long one. 43:13 Looks like things will never happen. 43:15 Allow the word of the Lord to speak to you today. 43:19 Allow the spirit of God to speak to you. Allow this word to incubate in your heart. 43:25 Because you see, you're not going to wait forever. 43:29 One day is one day. 43:31 And you know what I like? Oftentimes, just like in the time of Christ, when Jesus was born, it was at a time when the world was least expecting anything to happen. 43:42 Even in your life, things start happening. 43:46 You've been so used to problems and struggle that when things begin to change, you don't even realize that the season is a different season. You've gotten in a mode of negativity so long, you've had to deal with so many resistant forces. You had to bind and cast. You had to stand and do spiritual warfare. But I tell you, when the fullness of time comes, no one and no situation and no devil will be able to stop what God is going to do in your life. Do I have a people who agree to that? 44:17 When God is ready to work, it doesn't matter. 44:23 You know, I always make that example of the floods that happened in Mozambique a few years ago. 44:29 Terrible floods. 44:32 Everything was flooded. People had to get up on top of trees to just be safe. 44:38 And the story goes, this woman got up on top of a tree she was expected. 44:46 And right on top of the tree, baby said, the fullness of time has come. 44:51 How many of you know when the fullness of time has come? It doesn't matter everything that surrounds you. 44:57 Your surrounding might be telling you something different. But the fullness of time is preaching a different story. I said I see the fullness of time coming in your life. 45:07 But it comes because you refuse to give up. 45:12 Let's stand on our feet. Let us not be weary in well doing. 45:16 For in due season we will rip. 45:18 If we faint not. 45:20 Father, we thank you. Let's raise our hands to the Lord together and just join me in prayer today. 45:25 We thank you that we will not be weary in well-doing. 45:32 We thank you that we decide today to stand fast, to not cast away our confidence. 45:46 It has great recompense of reward. 45:49 The word says we have need of patience. 45:53 That after we have done the will of God, we might receive the promise. 45:58 As you stand right now, just talk to the Lord about whatever area in your life that is going through this particular time in your life. Any area wherein God I've been standing in faith. 46:13 I'm doing all the right things, but it doesn't look like there's any breakthrough. 46:18 But I commit myself today to stay the course. 46:26 I commit myself to never get tired. 46:31 I commit myself to your word, oh God. 46:36 Because I know you are not a man to lie. Just talk to the Lord about your situation. 46:44 You're a faithful God. 46:48 You are a faithful God. 46:56 Great is the faithfulness. 47:03 Great is the faithfulness. 47:11 Morning by morning you I see all Thy hands have provided grace Summer and winter, sea time and harvest. 48:03 Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. 48:23 Thank you, Jesus. 48:33 To thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. 48:44 Declare it now. 48:46 Great is thy faithfulness. 48:54 Praise thy faithfulness. Morning by morning, new mercies I see. Amen. 49:35 We thank you that you're a faithful God. 49:45 We thank you that your word will never fall to the ground. 49:49 We thank you that you are not a man to lie. You are not a son of man to change your mind. 49:55 That your promises are yes and amen. 49:58 I pray that you strengthen those who may be feeling discouraged right now. I pray that you strengthen those who may feel like the journey has been a long one. 50:09 Pray that you'll renew them and revive them. That they will not cast away their confidence. I pray that they will not be weary in well doing. 50:20 For in due season they will reap if they faint not. 50:26 Thank you for your faithfulness. 50:29 That you don't turn on your word. 50:31 Thank you. 50:32 That your word is your bond. You've exalted your word even above your own name. Thank you. 50:40 That every word and every promise will come to pass. Heaven and earth can pass away. But your word and your promise will stand forever. Just hold your neighbor's hand. Hold your neighbor's hand. Father, I hold the hand of my brother and my sister. I pray for them now. 50:58 I thank you for what you're about to do in their lives. I thank you that as they've been standing on your promise, the manifestation of all the things they've done, the decisions they've made is around the corner. Thank you for your blessing. Thank you for who you are. Just raise your hands with me as we say. Say it with me. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. 51:22 Thank you for your promise. 51:25 I give you all the honor and the praise. Let's sing the chorus together. Great is your faithfulness. Raise those hands as we sing to the Lord. Everybody. 52:25 Lord unto me. 52:28 Please remain standing with your hands bowed. 52:31 Your eyes closed please if you don't mind. 52:35 Where it starts is in us knowing Christ as our Savior and our Lord. I want to give an invitation now to you my sister, my brother, mother and father, to you young person. You are here today. 52:52 It might be your first time. It might not be your first time. 52:56 But you don't ever remember inviting Jesus Christ into your heart to be the savior of your life. 53:04 You'll never remember asking him to come change you and make you a child of God. Much as you love God, much as you enjoy church, you may even sing some praise songs, worship, but you don't remember making a personal commitment to Christ. And today as you set in this service, In your heart of hearts, you felt, you know, I want God to change my life. 53:28 I don't want to go on living the way I've been living. I want to have that assurance that Jesus is my savior and he's my Lord. Heads bowed, eyes closed. If you're here today and you say, please pray for me. I want to invite Jesus Christ into my life. I want to be a child of God. 53:46 I want God to forgive me of all my wrongs, all my sins and make me his child. Please pray for me. Heads bowed, eyes closed. If that's you and you need the prayer, would you please just raise your hand right where you are. I want to pray for you. Just raise your hand. Let me sit. 54:02 Thank you for those hands all over the place. Thank you. 54:07 Thank you so much. 54:09 Just raise that hand. 54:11 Thank you Lord. May I ask the people who raise their hands. I want to pray for you. Can I invite you please just to come from where you are. Where you are standing. Take all your belongings and just make your way to the front. The ushers will help you. We want to pray for you. Just come right now. 54:27 Thank you Lord.