GBC Winter Bible Seminar
Day 1 - Monday 04 July 2022
Bishop Mosa Sono
~ Exercise yourself in Godliness
1 Timothy 4:7-8 NIV
You can be Godly in everything you do, you must train yourself
Godliness spills over to everything you do in life
Godliness infiltrates everything in your life
There’s things you need to do in order for you to get there in life
God preserves you when you live Godly lives
Godliness pays all the time, it might be delayed
When you walk the godliness path it sometimes can be very lonely
Godly living is costly but the cost is insignificant to the rewards
1 Timothy 4:7-8 NLT
Godliness is attractive from the inside out
What sustains life is the building up of the inner man, we must move in the Spirit
Timothy had felt that he was inadequate for the demands of the large church he was leading in Ephesus
This prominent church was becoming a burden on Timothy
Old wives fables sounds as though there were those who were lying to him saying things were going to be simple in leading the church
Paul is telling him to reject those lie because things are actually going to get harder and harder for you in leading the church
He’s saying embrace these challenges and use that time to train yourself in godliness
Exercise = Gumnadzo
Strong's Definition
From G1131; to practise naked (in the games) that is train (figuratively): - exercise.
Thayer's Definition
to exercise naked (in a palaestra or school of athletics)
to exercise vigorously, in any way, either the body or the mind
Gumnadzo is where we derive the word gymnasium
Fighting without clothing helped them avoid being strangled with their clothing and get killed
They would be trained so vigorously and then anoint them with oil
To get the anointing of the oil of the Holy Spirit you have to get rid of some sins that are holding you back
Stop listening to people telling you that godliness is simple, it’s very difficult, you need to train yourself in it
John 14:26 NKJV
The comforter
An intercessor consoler: - advocate comforter.
Thayer's Definition
summoned, called to one's side, esp. called to one's aid
one who pleads another's cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal assistant, an advocate
one who pleads another's cause with one, an intercessor
of Christ in his exaltation at God's right hand, pleading with God the Father for the pardon of our sins
in the widest sense, a helper, succourer, aider, assistant
of the Holy Spirit destined to take the place of Christ with the apostles (after his ascension to the Father), to lead them to a deeper knowledge of the gospel truth, and give them divine strength needed to enable them to undergo trials and persecutions on behalf of the divine kingdom
Coach, trainer, one who comes close to another in order to speak to them, meaning wherever you go the Holy Spirit is there to coach and guide you
The Holy Spirit speaks in a still small voice, when you keep ignoring Him you get out of range and reach
Your spiritual ears become hardened, you will only hear God when you are in trouble already
When you’re not comfortable about something leave it alone
Children are like a book that is blank, that gets written on
When you are a baby Christians your conscience levels are still up there until you learn the bad habits of other Christians
~ God has a way of recalibrating a seared spirit
A helper or assistant who was always on standby to help you
You don’t have to even come to church in order to experience Him
The Holy Spirit is with you all the time
A trainer or coach that shows how to hit the ball, he doesn’t hit it for you, he teaches you how and lets you hit it yourself
It is in constant training that you become acclimatised with operating in power of the Holy Spirit
- When you are hungry:
•God creates a desire in your heart through people who are more advanced in His things
He creates a Holy discomfort on the inside of us to make us go after His things
Our experience of the world will much more if we follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit
•Hunger and Thirst
When you act on that desire He starts preparing you for the next level
When you start following the Holy Spirit, God will guide you
•God will meet you at your level of faith
God looks at the desires of our hearts
•God pushes you to a new level of capacity
•God will meet you at the level of your hunger
•God will fill you to an extent that you stay in the Spirit for longer
•What started as a small stream ended up being a great river, but remember that this all started with a still small voice
It’s the ability to listen to the small whisper that leads to major works and a great move of God
We should learn to start yielding to the promptings of the Holy Spirit
•If you can’t listen to small and mundane things that God speaks to you about, He can’t lead you to greater things