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Contend 1

47m 16s

Contend 1

The speaker emphasizes that spiritual growth is not automatic after salvation; it requires intentional partnership with ministry gifts, as Paul modeled in Philippians 1:23-25. God’s design is to use men—apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers—to equip believers for ministry and build up the church (Ephesians 4:11-12). This discipleship focuses on advancing in faith and joy, moving beyond mere salvation to revelation knowledge of one’s inheritance, calling, and power in Christ (Ephesians 1:17-19). Jude 1:3 urges believers to contend earnestly for the faith against perversions of grace, while 1 Peter 3:15 commands readiness to give a reasoned defense for their hope. The speaker stresses that Christianity is not blind faith; it can be logically examined and defended. This branch of theology, apologetics (from Greek *apologia*, meaning defense), provides rational justification for Christian truth claims. Many believers, raised in environments where asking “why” is discouraged, are vulnerable to having their faith shaken by simple questions about Bible translation, suffering, or historical accuracy. Apologetics equips them to respond with clarity and confidence, strengthening their faith against doubt and false teachings. The message concludes that faith and reason coexist, and believers must be prepared to communicate why they believe what they believe.

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English
Welcome to the Starman's and Teachings from the Catholic Fellowship with Ipaii Micah. We hope the message you are about to listen to or edify while I'm causing to experience exponential growth and now the message. Alright, so content, introduction to the defense of the fee. Alright, open your Bible to Philippians chapter 1 and verse 23. Philippians chapter 1 and verse 23. He says, "For I mean straight, bitwicks too, now I'm going to explain as I read. I mean straight that is impressed between two options. He says, "Having a desire to be with Christ which is far better is nevertheless to abide with you in the flesh is more needful for you." Now this is our possible speaking here and he's talking to the church at Philippi. He says, "I mean straight, bitwicks too. I have two decisions to make. I have a desire to be with Christ and this is far better." He says, "Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you so he can be with Christ which is great. And if he's going to abide in the flesh he says it's needful for all. For the disciples the people who is touching is this and having this confidence. I know that I shall abide and continue with you for your veterans and joy in the faith. He says, "Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you." He says, "Having this confidence I know that I shall abide and continue with you for your progress. Enjoy of faith." And I started his worship of many of you leading this part of scripture to you. And my goal when I read this part of scripture to you was to show you the importance of having someone to partner with you for your spiritual growth. And just like the apostle Paul is presenting this matter, he's saying, "Guys I could go be with Christ now. It's a good thing. It's preferable. It is but if I remain it's important for you. It's needful for you." And I'm confident that if I stay with you you would experience progress. It is a squadron's end what and joy of faith which means that the partnership of ministry gifts benefits you. It is you would experience fadrants. The great word for fadrants there is "procopy". Procopy means advancement, progress, profiting. So apostle Paul is saying he is confident that him staying with them would cost them to experience fadrants progress. To grow and this is the ultimate goal of every church, of every fellowship, of every gathering of believers. Fadrants, advancements, profiting, there has to be a growth consciousness in whatever gathering you are in. So you see the mindset that the apostle Paul has. You can almost say he had a corbicula mindset because there were certain things he believed that when they are done you would see certain results. Are you getting what I'm saying? So it is needful for it to remain with you. It's needful for you. And when this happens from the experiences you would have by me remaining with you, from the teachings, from everything there is an expected outcome. That is what fadrants. Almost like when you are in school there is a corbicula and there is an expectation that if you've been taught this, this, this and this, this is the expected outcome. So you can see that your apostle Paul sort of had a mindset. There is what you must know. And I can give that to you. I can partner with you and there will be this expected result. Progress and joy in the faith. And this is the structure that God operates sweet. He uses men to bless men. That by the partnership of ministry gifts, God will bless you and cost you to grow. And this was how I started discipleship with many of you. Can I partner with you for your group? It's a partnership like the word he said. God bless his men. With men. That's the structure God operates with. Look through scriptures. When God is going to bless men, he sends men to them. And so you see in the official chapter 4, verse 11, "A apostle Paul speaking again to the church of Ephesus, he says that he gave apostles and so prophets and so evangelists and so pastors and teachers. So he gave men as gifts." For what reason he says for the equipping of the sins, for the work of ministry, for the identifying of the body of Christ. So God wanted to equip the church. He gave men for the work of ministry. He gave men for the identifying of the body of Christ. He gave men to you understand what I'm saying. He gave men. He gave ministry gifts for your equipping. So partner with you for your group. It's a for the identification of the body of Christ. The Greek word for identifying the earth is "O'icodomio". O'icodomio is the construction term that is used to refer to the "Layn of of Greeks" upon Greeks. It means to build up. So God wanted to build up the church. He gave men. God wanted to build you up. He gave you a man. So partner with you. He gave you men. So partner with you. So God's plan for your spiritual growth is in the hand of a man. Hallelujah. This is the foundation of discipleship like we see in the early church. And this is what the Catholic fellowship has been focused on all through this year. So partner with you for your progress. To teach you how you need to know, so grow. Yes you are saved. But the next most important thing is growth. We see that God has a growth mindset from sin that the apostles also had a growth mindset. If God was not important in building you up, you will not give ministry gifts. If God is not interested in building you up, you will not give ministry gifts. So God wants you to grow. And He has given you the methods that switched our growth will happen. He has given men as gifts to help you grow. This is discipleship for you to gain revelation knowledge. So partner speaking in Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 15, "Is there a way for us also after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love also all the same." So this gives you a sense of the people he is talking to. He says he has heard of the faith in Jesus and is the saved and they are love unto all saints. Do you understand? These are saved people. "I see not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayer. What is he praying for? He is not praying for their financial prosperity. He is not praying for them to get the contract that the office. He says he is mentioning them in his prayer. He is not praying for them to get healed. He is not praying for healing even though healing is good. Not that all of these things are bad, but his chief aim. What he is focusing on to pray for them about is that don't love Jesus Christ the Father of glory. We will give unto them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. Also you see the apostle Paul praying for them. But his prayer point is wisdom and revelation that the spirit gives. Remember that when he says the spirit of wisdom and revelation is not talking about the new spirit. The spirit that comes inside the spirit is the only spirit. No other spirit comes inside of you. What he meant is that you would receive wisdom and revelation by the spirit that is already on your inside. Hallelujah. So now the apostle Paul is praying for them that they would have wisdom and revelation that is priority for them. You are saved. But it's not enough that you are saved. You have to grow. You have to have wisdom and revelation by the spirit. Verses it says the eyes of your understanding being enlightened. Oh, that the eyes of your understanding is what will be flooded with light. That there will be an elimination for you. That there will be clarity. There will be sight for you so that you may know the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. So there's a rich inheritance. There's a glorious inheritance for you. You are saved. But the apostle Paul is praying for them that I know you are saved. But I want you to receive revelation of this inheritance you have. He says of the hope of your calling. He says of the exited greatness of his power so our sword will believe. Oh, now this has to change your mindset. So yes, you are saved. But there is revelation. knowledge of the glorious inheritance you have, knowledge of what the hope of your calling is, why you were called, who called you, and also knowledge of the power that is inside of you which was what in Christ Jesus when it was raised from the dead as well. This would give you and show you the mindset that God has for you, that now that you are saved, you have to work, grow in revelation knowledge. Hallelujah. This is important and this is what we have been teaching you from the beginning of this year, from understanding the gospel and the grace message down to believe as authority, down to the Holy Ghost, down to every single thing we have taught you, down to your new life in Christ Jesus, and the rest possibility that has come upon you because of this official revelation knowledge. For can I tell you something, your discipleship experience will not be complete if there is no grounding in this subject matter we are about to discuss today. Are you with me? Your discipleship experience will not be complete if you are not grounded in this subject matter we are about to talk about today. Open your Bible to June 31 and verse 3, June 3 because it's only one chapter. So, June 3 and you all there. So, Julie is saying, be loved when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation. So, Julie is saying, I gave diligence to write to you of the common salvation. It says, he was needful for me to write unto you and exalt you to content endlessly for the faith which was once for all the divinity sins. So, he is saying, listen, I wanted to write to you about the common salvation and many say, "Come on salvation, the stone means salvation is common." Sorry, I just, I can only remember. But because they are saying that, of the shared salvation that we have, Hallelujah, the shared salvation we have, I gave diligence to write to you about our salvation. Then he goes on to say, "He was needful for me to write to you and exalt you to content." The Greek word content there is a pendant of mine. A pendant of mine is spelled "E-P-A-G-O-N-I-Z-O-O-Z-O-M-E-I-I-P-Goni-Zo-I." He says, "I saw it necessary to emphasize that you should content." The word a pendant of mine literally means to struggle. To struggle, almost like somebody entering into a gymnastics contest. That's what it means. It literally means to fight favorably for something or to endeavour with Strenios' zeal to obtain something. That's what the pregnant of mine means. To Strenios' zeal, and Zellios' zeal tried to obtain something. So he is saying, "I was to write to you about salvation but it's more needful now for me to emphasize and exalt you to try endlessly which was once delivered unto the saints." So now he is saying, "Yes, you are saved." "I was going to write to you about that but it's important now to emphasize something beyond that." Which is to get yourself to be able to contain for the faith which was what's been available to you. If you read the post-taste, that is the vases after. You see why he is saying that because of perversion and this is more important now more than ever in the generation believing. He addresses an example of such perversion. He says, "Because of certain people who have begun to turn the grace of God into the seriousness and denying the only Lord God and have not Jesus Christ." So it becomes your responsibility to strive to establish the truth of your faith before those who try to prevent it. Do you understand what I'm saying? Your discipleship experience will not be complete if we've not discussed this as at length and you've not understood how to do this. There's a responsibility that has to follow you now that yes, you are saved. But beyond that, there is a responsibility to contend, to strive endlessly. It's your responsibility because perversion is happening all around you to strive endlessly. Let's see another scripture. 1 Peter 3 and 1 verse 15. Are you following everybody? Yes, yes. It says, "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with weakness and fear." So now Peter is saying, "Santify the Lord not in your heart but be ready always to give a defense to anyone who is asking you for why you have such hope, why you believe what you believe with weakness and fear." So be ready to give an answer to anyone who is asking you. Be ready to respond. Be ready to say, "This is what I believe. This is why I believe what I believe." Be ready to communicate it to anybody who needs to hear it. This is so crucial. Many of us are not used to being asked why. We have grew up in societies where it's almost like an abomination to ask why. If you ask why in church, that's a sign of bad sliding. Ladies must come up here and have a head in church. If you mistakenly say, "Why?" We ask you to communicate it to you. You have bad sliding. They will deliver you. That's disturbing you. When you used to be asked why? We grew up in societies and communities where asking why is a problem? Propita is saying, "Be ready to give an answer." This is an instruction in the word, "Be ready to give an answer." You would say, "Content." Strive endlessly. Content. This gives you a different perspective to Christianity. That is beyond blind faith and ignorance. Like many meetings it is. Content. So this also is in the Bible. Be ready to give an answer. Oh, so they can even ask. Is faith is crucial when it comes to Christianity. But even with faith, you can examine, logically, the truth claims of Christianity and find them true. Do you get what I'm saying? Faith is a crucial part of Christianity. But even with faith, you can examine the truth claims in Christianity and find them true. Many people believe that faith and reason must be in contention. But that's not true at all. Richard J. Bursting, an American philosopher, many statements that I found very profound in I want to share with you. He says, or he said, "Faith is not opposed to reason. Rather, it requires the full development of reason. It is an reason itself requires faith in order to strengthen our guide." Are you it mean? So faith and reason must not always be in contention. Like I said earlier, faith is crucial to Christianity. But still, you can examine logically the truth claims of Christianity and find them true. So are you a Christian because you are born in a Christian home? Or because you examine the truth claim of Christianity and you found them true? And this is why many times, many of us, that think that being a Christian is by naturalization, by birth, you know, when you then go out there and you meet somebody who is just a little bit fast about reason, they bring down your theology and everything comes strongly. Simple questions. So I can just see you and just ask you a random question and just say, "Who did Ken Murray?" Can you see that your Bible has no roots? It is a very dark. They who did Ken Murray? How did it come to the progression of Christianity come today? And you are like, "Hey, way, oh my God, I've never seen this before. Wow! And then there's an awful lot of talk with, you know, your Bible is not actually the true Bible. You know, and the white people brought things and they changed some things in it, you know, and they've used that to drive slavery. And that's how they put people in slavery. And you're like, "Wow! What the regulation on?" "Wow!" And then they tell you, "Don't you see it? It is your Bible?" You know, your Bible has been translated. This is where we would catch you, that you thought KJV was the way they wrote the Bible. But this was also a speaking KJV, downstairs. So, where did they tell you that? And just little questions. Like, if God is good, why do bad things happen? Your whole theology will come from the link. Very little questions. Little things, like, "Do you know how many times the Bible has been translated? Why then do you think it is accurate?" And then you're thinking about it, that it's true. The Bible has, they don't, you know, human's kind of being trusted. They have changed some things to suit their personal opinion. And I'm like, "Wow!" If you remember, that's been translated. "Who can really cook in last night?" "My God, before I go to the English." The minimum that has been lost. Wow! So that means I can't even trust my Bible. And your whole theology goes crumbling. Or someone says, "Your prayer to God, God is good." "Why is he allowing bad things happen?" This is the problem when you think it is presented by naturalization. I leave you here. Listen to me. Some people can have the encounters that point them to Jesus. But like, "For when you meet Jesus, or just a servant to the nannyas." "And you meet me." "Yes, sir." And count as a new post to preach the gospel to you. So, what's the message? And you'll not be able to say it. Kepti, "I'm trying to do it here, it's for you to see that yes, they are supernatural experiences that are constructing your faith and make you believe in the Christ. But what you need to believe in is a message that you need to hear and it is logically processed." Are you guessing what I'm saying? This does not take away the faith part of it and this is what Peter is saying. Now what you believe and why you believe what you believe, be able to communicate it, Christianity is the fanaticism, it's beyond that. It's all kids to ask why the presence of the divine does not totally eradicate the reason. That's why we are doing this teaching. If Jesus expected the communication of reason to be done by the supernatural, you are certain that nobody wanted them to know. Hallelujah! For listening, what we are doing here is to help you strengthen your knowledge of what you believe and why you believe it. Like June said, "To help you understand the importance of contenting for your faith also, from song that seeks to prevent it, Hallelujah!" Can I be honest with you? If you have not already, you are bound to meet people who are sentenced to pull down all the theological blocks that you've built together. And if you have not carefully examined it, you might come crumbling. Everything you start talking together seems bad, might come crumbling. If you have not carefully examined it. If you have not already again, you are bound to meet people who are spreading wrong theology about your God, about faith, about the grace message, about the character of God and the characteristics of God. If you have not carefully examined your faith, if you are not ready, you might not be able to contain it. You might be found the helpless. Hallelujah! There is a branch of theology that deals with this and it is called apologetics. Remember, this is an introduction to the defense of the thing. It's literally a cost that is studied in school on its own. So what I'm just doing is an introduction. It's called Apologetics, APOLGETICS. It's a branch of theology that seeks to provide a rational justification for the truth claims of Christend Faith. And the one apologetics comes from the Greek one Apologia, APOLGIA. Apologia means defense or simply to give an answer to give an answer. In better way to view it is in a judicial system where you have a cut proceeding and there's an opening statement and then the judge asks for the defense to give a statement. That defense is Apologia. Are you with me? It's a defense. Are you going to be able to respond when your faith is on the line? When what you believe is on the line? Are you going to be able to respond? There are several responses people have to Apologetics. And I'm just going to highlight the field because it's an introduction. I'm just going to highlight some of the responses people have and then after that, just share a few things and we'll call it a night. Number one, there are those who reject Apologetics because they believe that their beliefs are solely mystical. They believe in the mystical. They believe that Christianity has to do with experiences and inner witnessing. So for these people, if you are going to truly be saved, you have to suspend reason and accept God holy. Or like we say, faith is not in contentious with reason. For them, they believe that to truly have faith, you have to be anti-intellectual and that statement itself has a problem, contemplating of it. Because people actually have faith in science and science is filled with reason. You don't get. What does faith mean? It means to believe in something. So it means that at whatever level you believe something else, they can literally be reason and development of knowledge before you have faith. So faith is not in contentious with reason. People who scientists have a faith in science because they believe it. It simply believes. They believe it. I get what I'm saying. So you have faith in science. The only thing is the difference in the development of reason. Some people have faith in the presumed development of reason. Some people, there's a development of reason before they have faith. Genes are not saying. So for them, they say, you have to be anti-intellectual. But in my experience, I've seen that you actually have to be intellectual to follow God. To understand the gospel. There's reason there to see what God did for you and to believe it. For them to follow God is to be blind, to be ignorant. Ask no questions. For here's the thing. We don't base our faith in God or logic, but make more mistakes in mixes if you examine it logically. Are you seeing the balance? We don't base our faith in God. On logic, but if you examine it, it's a mythological sense. In my sense, the faith we have does not mean there is reason to it as I earlier mentioned. So this set of people finally the answer, except anything that has to do with reason. It's just blind faith. Just take it like that. There's a second set of people. And these are those people who reject apologetics because they don't entertain anything controversial or even any simple opposition to what you're already into. A few men's people like that. Even when it comes to normal things in this life, anything that is in opposition to what you already know, they do as it is. Before you start, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, I'm going to go to the gym with the Jewish witness leading the office." And from the beginning of the conversation, even though I. My approach wasn't as good as I'd expected it to be because she already, because when she got there at the time, I was already. So I was already on the offensive, putting out my points before this mean to all she has to say. And I like to use that method where I listen to what people have to say and then help them see the errors and what they are saying. So, but that day she made some of the statements at the beginning of the conversation. And she's like, "There's nothing you are going to say that is going to change my mind." And I'm like, "Wow, we have a disability." So there are certain people and that's even different. What I'm even talking about is for this one, once it comes to anything controversial or anything in opposition to the straight way they already believed in, it becomes a problem. Some of us experienced the tiny bit of this one where we're growing up. You can't ask questions about head covering. The moment you ask and see, "Is the head covering going to allow the blessing on the women, different from the blessing on the other?" "Hey, that's all you see for starting." They don't entertain anything controversial, it becomes a problem. And I used to think that it's more common now, but I've come to realize that it has always existed in the church. Certain topics about God cannot be discussed. I've come to see that sometimes because they don't have answers to those questions. So there's an argument in this God's name. They say, "About right thing, you're already working with the world." That's why you ask, "You are questioning God of God, King of King. How can you say God is good at it?" You take it and you give it, even that's wrong. If you ever train the child, you will know that when a child is curious about something and is asking questions, the wrong guest approach is to ignore the child. So anyway, because the child will find the answer by all means. And so it's better when the answer comes from his sixth space, than when he comes from the brothers on the road that won't take advantage. "Gee or nothing." And so this is something that has to change, even in our generation. It's okay to ask why. It's also okay to just say, "I don't know the answer, can we ask somebody else?" Because the fact that we don't have the answers right now, those non-Mindy are no answers. You have to get this right now. The fact that we don't have the answers, those non-Mindy are no answers. "Gee or nothing is now what I'm saying." So many times, you see people, anything controversial, they turn it down. If you begin to discuss it, you are rejected from that community. It should be okay to discuss this subject matters unless when the person is asking, "has a material motive?" You know, some people just ask questions to cause trouble. "How is it going to affect your salvation?" "How does it affect you?" So this is important. This is agreeing with others on theological matters, this is not a problem. As long as the goal is clarity and unity of the faith. A human standing, people can pull the whole locust on you. And yes, the Lord, the Lord, the Lord, the Lord, the Lord, the Lord, the Lord, the Lord, the truth has changed. So they are trying to correct our past, I'm sorry, I respect the authority on. Some people, when you try to correct them or setting some objectives, they are not listening to you, it's not because they are angry with you, because they are angry that by that answer you are disrespecting your past or your daddy. Many of you would have fight with you and not fighting their own, but they are fighting for the people that talk to them. So there are people who push away controversial matters. The poor, the whole locust on you. You have no honor, I remember speaking with a girl, but one of us has been trying to speak to for a long time and has given her all the proof. So I got on the phone with her and she was like, she doesn't want to talk to me, you know, and I'm like, who gave me a number, I'm like calling her, you know, I'm like, I'm sorry, you came for fellowship and you came for fellowship, so I wanted to follow up on all your things. I was like, okay, and I'm like, I had this, this, this, I just wanted to understand, you know why you upset what's going on. Ayikito,anto姑 embug expanding 'Ay stream' Glas p 또령 N weiß nile n kosten Nile n kosten Nile n kosten Nile n kosten Nile n kosten Nile n kosten Nile n kosten Nile n kosten "Defend what you had to be defend the faith." "Defend the faith." "You need to see that a power of ethics is about souls." And this is where I was going to all along. Right a power of ethics has souls and the center of it. Hallelujah. The reason Jew said to content was because people were paying attention to the world. And there were repercussions which he listed below. So when the message of the gospel is being promoted and prevented putting, you know, you need to give your power distinct. I think like again. So when the truth of the gospel is being polluted and prevented, what we need to do is to contain. When it is being prevented, it is putting the lives of those who hear it at risk we have to be apologies. That's fair. That's fair. Are you with me? We have to be what apologies. When you hear somebody saying God does not exist and it's creating a clan of atheists, you have to be an apologies. And present the message of truth and present it with a love backing. Be skilled enough to defend it. When you hear atheists coming down to begin to change people's hearts, breaking Christians everywhere, they find them or in quote-crisis, everywhere they find them, you have to be an apologies. Giving a defense for the faith. Apologetics is not just about philosophical arguments, they're about souls. Is that fair? Are you getting this? It's not just about philosophical arguments, it's about souls. So I'm going to correct the error about God that you have, because I care about souls. If you truly believe that Jesus is the way and through Jesus' salvation comes, you must be able to defend it before people. You must be able to tell them why? Why should I believe in Jesus? I was doing fine on my own. Why do I need Him? You must be able to show true scriptures and outside scriptures the depravity in the heart of men. You must be able to show that man was helpless before God. You must be able to defend these things. And then they're going to ask you, is there really a God? You must be able to tell them why you think there's even a God. And then they say, why should I be accountable to Him? You must be able to let them know why they should be accountable to Him. These are questions people are going to ask you. And you must be ready to give a defense. I'm a judge, I have to have a hundred philosophical arguments of reason and existence. But it has to ultimately lead to the work of Christ for me to matter. Because you can't believe that God made the world. But if you don't believe that Jesus Christ came and died for your sins, you are not still saved. Do you get what I've just said? It has to ultimately lead to the salvation of souls. People believe in God. That's one matter. The word of Islam has certain characteristics that are different. You have to be able to point this out. You have to be able to properly put out his statement. And say, this is the God of the Bible. The God who comes in the incognition to die for my sin. Because he loved me. He came as Jesus Christ. As long as you have that possible, you have to be able to defend it. Why was it necessary? You have to be able to say, the God, you know, everybody will say, "Christens and Muslims will be saved." You are going to have to be able to put forward and explain why you don't think so. Because the Christian God does not wait for you to live salvation before you provide salvation. Even before you leave me in this salvation, you die for you. But in the current Tariq, we see an ally. It's almost like an ally is responding to what you do to him. And they have many more. We are going to go into some of those later on. But like I said, this is an introductory teaching. It's an introductory teaching to help you realize the importance of apologetics. And there you are. In the two forms of apologetics. Two ways apologetics can happen. And I'm just going to use this structure through my teaching series. I'm not going to go in depth in 20 years. So, back then, as I said, it's an introduction to help you know the importance of it. Everything I'm going to do throughout this teaching series is an introduction. I'm not going to even step into the tip of what you're going to have to study. You're going to have to find materials. I will help you with materials as well. The different branches of apologetics as apologetics was. East Lounds was A.P. East was different people. But there are two forms that apologetics can take generally that I would also teach with. And the first is offensive. And offensive is not in a bad way. And the second is defensive. And I don't know what I mean. Offensive has to do with presenting a positive case for the Christian truth claims. So it means that you're presenting is still a defense. So when I say offensive and defensive does not mean that one is not a defense. They are both talking about a defense of the field. But a offensive means that you're presenting a positive case for the truth claims of Christianity. But when it comes to defensive, it means that you are making a claim to defend the truth claims in defense of objections to this claim. So first of all, you're presenting a case for somebody to believe that God exists and that Jesus has died for their sins. But in defense, if somebody has brought up a question, so counter what you said and said, "If God is good, why do bad things happen?" And now you have to defend with the respond as defensive juguets. And so in the next teaching, we're going to go deeply into it. We're going to start with the offensive side of it. And then we go as the wind takes us. Have you been blessed? Have you learned something? Yes. Alright. When it comes to addressing a matter like this, we have to be very objective. I told someone, I said, "I'm not in Christen because I was born in a Christian womb. I'm in Christen because of examining the truth claims of Christianity. I mean, a place where if you prove to me that Islam is the way to God, I'll become a Muslim, until you can come to this place, you're not objective enough when it comes to this teaching. Are you with me? This is important. If you're going to engage in some conversations with people, they have to realize that there's no bias. That you've truly and truly examined these things. And you know, the problem many times is not that there is no answer. The problem is that the structure has reached the church, especially in Nigeria, has grown. It has not grown to be able to give people solid answers, solid reasoning to believe what they believe. Over here, we see a lot of mystical stuff, so it's not very hard to believe in the supernatural. So many people don't find, don't go the extra mile to find good reasons as to why they should believe. Most of these supernatural manifestations are like humans, and we've seen many of that here. A lot of people believe. But it goes beyond that. Genes are on the same. It goes beyond that. There is more. And we're going to be examining it.

Podcast Summary

Key Points:

  1. Paul’s mindset in Philippians 1
  2. God uses men as gifts (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers) to equip and build up the church (Ephesians 4:11-12), making discipleship essential for growth.
  3. Beyond salvation, believers must pursue revelation knowledge (Ephesians 1
  4. 1 Peter 3
  5. Apologetics is the rational justification of Christian truth claims, helping believers withstand challenges to their faith from skeptics or false teachings.

Summary:

The speaker emphasizes that spiritual growth is not automatic after salvation; it requires intentional partnership with ministry gifts, as Paul modeled in Philippians 1:23-25. God’s design is to use men—apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers—to equip believers for ministry and build up the church (Ephesians 4:11-12). This discipleship focuses on advancing in faith and joy, moving beyond mere salvation to revelation knowledge of one’s inheritance, calling, and power in Christ (Ephesians 1:17-19).

Jude 1:3 urges believers to contend earnestly for the faith against perversions of grace, while 1 Peter 3:15 commands readiness to give a reasoned defense for their hope. The speaker stresses that Christianity is not blind faith; it can be logically examined and defended. This branch of theology, apologetics (from Greek *apologia*, meaning defense), provides rational justification for Christian truth claims.

Many believers, raised in environments where asking “why” is discouraged, are vulnerable to having their faith shaken by simple questions about Bible translation, suffering, or historical accuracy. Apologetics equips them to respond with clarity and confidence, strengthening their faith against doubt and false teachings. The message concludes that faith and reason coexist, and believers must be prepared to communicate why they believe what they believe.

FAQs

The teaching focuses on the importance of spiritual growth through partnership with ministry gifts and the need to defend one's faith using reason and apologetics, as seen in Philippians 1:23 and Jude 1:3.

'Fadrants' is derived from the Greek word 'prokope,' meaning advancement, progress, or profiting, referring to spiritual growth expected from discipleship.

The speaker explains that God's structure for blessing involves sending men as gifts, as in Ephesians 4:11, to equip and build up believers for spiritual growth.

Apologetics is a branch of theology that provides rational justification for Christian truth claims, derived from the Greek 'apologia' meaning defense, helping believers respond to questions about their faith.

The speaker argues that faith and reason are not opposed; faith requires reason for full development, and Christians can logically examine truth claims to strengthen their belief.

Jude 1:3 urges believers to 'contend earnestly' for the faith, meaning to struggle with zeal to defend it against perversions, as a key part of discipleship beyond initial salvation.

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