Diligence - A Requirement For Godly Success
Pastor W. Samuel "Sammy" Stewart Preached on 3/9/2025
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Summary
Pastor Sammy Stewart explores the biblical necessity of diligence, teaching that Godly success requires a zealous, persistent pursuit of God's presence through faith, prayer, and the Word.
Key points
- •Faith is a non-negotiable requirement to please God; one must believe both in His existence and His character as a rewarder.
- •Diligence (from the Greek 'ekzeteo') implies seeking God zealously, passionately, and persistently until one's own strength is exhausted.
- •Seeking God is not about finding someone who is lost, but about consciously fixing the mind's attention and heart's affection on Him through Word, prayer, and worship.
- •Godly success is marked by specific rewards: internal peace, unspeakable joy, enduring stability, and spiritual strength for the journey.
- •The ultimate reward of a diligent life is the 'well done' from Christ and our final arrival in Heaven at His return.
Scripture
Faith
Spiritual Growth
Purpose
Perseverance
Life application
Conduct a personal 'diligence audit' this week by identifying one area of your spiritual life (prayer, scripture, or service) that has become casual, and create a specific plan to pursue it with renewed zeal over the next 30 days.
Reflection questions
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your current desire to hear the Lord say 'Well done' at the end of your life?
- What 'adverse conditions' are currently acting as hurdles that prevent you from clearly seeing God's face?
- Are you seeking God with your own leftover energy, or are you 'wrapping yourself around the steel pole' of His strength?
- In what ways can you move from just talking about Christ to actively showing Him to others in your daily life?
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Full transcript
0:00sacrifice we do not take that for
0:00granted amen all right without any
0:01further delay it is my distinct
0:07honor I I haven't even started reading
0:09your bio
0:11yet to introduce to this bit Pastor Samy
0:15Stewart make you welcome welcome in
0:17Jesus's
0:19[Music]
0:19[Applause]
0:23name uh thank you Pastor and I greet you
0:26and your precious family our assister
0:29pastor and all the elders and leaders
0:31and singers and musicians I greet my
0:34precious dear
0:38sister sister Jennifer and all of the
0:41precious people of God
0:44musicians glad to see you again and
0:47everybody it's great to see
0:50you all
0:53right so at the age of seven I was
0:56baptized in the name of
0:59Jesus and at the age of
1:0212 I received the Holy
1:05Spirit with the initial sign of speaking
1:08with other
1:09tongues as a spirit gave the
1:14utterance and um I have arrived
1:19at a point in history
1:23that I would
1:27say is filled with
1:31challenges but God Is
1:34Bigger yes
1:37so last year I celebrated my 80th
1:40birthday
1:47and
1:49um um I am
1:52happy and um I'm learning the
1:57moves learning the moves Lord willing
2:02I'm been share with you just for a short
2:05time I was going to tell you that I miss
2:07my
2:08brother so I and then I said no I won't
2:11tell
2:13you but then I said I'll tell you
2:17[Music]
2:19yeah I really do all right so Hebrews
2:21chapter
2:2211 and to all the young people who are
2:25here I have a special there just
2:28something special in me that reaches out
2:31to you and I ask for some of you I don't
2:35know all the names but I know some and I
2:38make checks as to how you're getting
2:41along and sometimes I send hello for you
2:45and to see all the those who
2:47are in in my neck of the woods age
2:51wise
2:53greetings Hebrews chap
2:5511 and verse
3:016oo glad to see my pastor here Pastor
3:05Devon
3:07Dawson but without faith Hebrews chapter
3:1011 and verse 6 and all of us should be
3:13able to quote that but without faith
3:16faith it is impossible to please him for
3:19he that cometh to
3:21God must believe that he
3:25is and that he's a rewarder of them that
3:28diligently seek him Lord we thank you
3:31for the help that you give us to just
3:33convey this short but important message
3:37to your people on a day that is
3:41special at an hour that demands
3:46that
3:47we
3:49respond in the context of the fierce
3:53urgency of
3:56now Breath of God breathe upon us I pray
4:02We Praise You In Jesus Name praise God
4:06you may sit
4:07please uh this is a special
4:13day it is it is special because it's the
4:17day that the Lord has
4:19made and whatever the Lord makes it is
4:23absolutely
4:27special
4:30also it is one of several days that as a
4:35church we're engaged in the process of
4:38reflection and
4:41devaluation in respect of how we have
4:47pursued the biblical purpose that the
4:50lord gave
4:52us at the same time and very
4:56importantly there will be a vision
4:59casting
5:01exercise covering this new
5:05year so I believe it is right for us to
5:08be engaged in the
5:10process at the personal
5:13level each of us
5:18taking the time to check on
5:21ourselves examine
5:24ourselves evaluate Our
5:26Lives to see whether we are living
5:33consistent with the will of
5:36God which is the most important reason
5:40that a human being could have to
5:42live the will of God Amen
5:47the text before us contains some
5:50important
5:51requirements the text States clearly
5:53that faith is required in order to
5:56please God you and I cannot please God
5:59without
6:01faith furthermore the text tells us that
6:05those who come to
6:07God or seek to draw near to
6:11God are required to do two things
6:16they must they must they must believe
6:20that God
6:22is or that God
6:25exists that God is real that God is
6:29everywhere present that God is
6:32omnipotent that God is faithful that God
6:36is omnicient that God is love must
6:41believe that God
6:43is and they must believe that God
6:46God is a rewarder of them that
6:51diligently seek
6:54him it is fairly well known that word
6:57usage is an important
7:00instrument in the pursuit of biblical
7:05interpretation the text says that God is
7:08a
7:09rewarder of them that diligently seek
7:12Him the phrase diligently
7:16seek is derived from a Greek word which
7:20carries an entire range of power pack
7:28meanings first of all it means to
7:31zealously seek not to seek anyhow but to
7:36seek
7:39zealously for something or
7:42someone with all one 's
7:47heart with all one's
7:51strength with all one's
7:54might it presents the picture of one who
7:57seeks something or someone so
8:01passionately and so
8:04determined that he literally exhausts
8:07all his power in his
8:12search because the Greek word portrays
8:15such an Earnest effort the idea of
8:20hardworking
8:21attentive busy constant and persistent
8:25in one's Devotion to what he or she is
8:28doing is also
8:31included so let me just try to put this
8:34together the entire range of power pack
8:38meetings let me just try to put this
8:41together and this blessed me and I hope
8:43it will bless you God
8:47is a rewarder of those who zealously
8:50seek
8:51him putting into the process all their
8:57heart all their
9:00strength all their
9:02might their intense commitment causes
9:06them to act so
9:10passionately so
9:13relentlessly that they exhaust all all
9:16their
9:17powers they're
9:19hardworking they're
9:21attentive they're
9:24busy they're
9:26constant they're persistent in their
9:30Devotion to the
9:32process oh Lord help
9:35me oh Lord help me now what does it mean
9:39to seek the Lord seeking the Lord means
9:42seeking his
9:44presence presence is a common
9:48translation of the Hebrew word for fa F
9:52A CE e we're
9:56called to seek God's
10:01face Psalm 105 ver4 seek the Lord and
10:05his strength seek his
10:07face
10:09ever
10:12every every day
10:16in in a practical sense seeking the Lord
10:19is the conscious fixing or focusing our
10:25mind's attention and our heart's
10:29affection on the
10:32Lord oh my Lord so the writer to the
10:37Colossians wrote If he then be risen
10:40with Christ seek those things which are
10:43above where Christ sth at the right hand
10:45hand of God set your affection on things
10:50above not on things on the
10:54earth then
10:56thirdly now that we make this conscious
10:59effort to seek the Lord we must
11:02understand that we're not seeking him
11:03because he's
11:06lost because my God is not lost nor can
11:11he be
11:14lost oh my oh my
11:18however there are always adverse
11:23conditions that we
11:25face which can cause us to not really
11:29see
11:31him so that we don't trust him and We
11:36complain and murmur and
11:42crumble so we have to try by God God's
11:46help to go
11:47around and to
11:49hurdle and to Tunnel
11:52through these adverse conditions so that
11:56we can see his
12:03face let let me share with you some of
12:06the specific elements that are relevant
12:09to seek of the Lord seek him through his
12:13word the Lord reveals heals himself in
12:16his word so we can seek him through his
12:20word that word have
12:23I hid in my heart that I might not sin
12:28against
12:29thee one of the pleasure remembrance I
12:32have is that very early in my life I was
12:37exposed to the word of the Lord
12:40and to memorizing the word of the Lord
12:44what a blessing am what a blessing
12:48number two seek him through
12:50prayer prayer provides conscious
12:52communication with the
12:54Lord so we can seek him through prayer
12:59the effectual frent
13:01prayer of a righteous
13:04man veth
13:06much number three seek him through
13:09attendance at and participation in
13:12public praise and worship text in
13:16Hebrews 10:2
13:1824-2 let us consider one another to
13:20provoke unto love unto good works not
13:24forsaking the assembling of ourselves
13:26together as the manner of some is but
13:29exhorting one
13:31another and so much the
13:33more as he see the day approaching I
13:37still believe the Lord is
13:42coming I was told that he should have
13:44come 19
13:4748 it's a long time
13:51ago but oh I still believe he's
13:55coming and to tell you the truth I'm
13:58longing to see the one whom I've never
14:03seen
14:05woo yes come to church
14:09early yes come to church early you go to
14:13work early you take your children to
14:16school early come to church early when
14:19you come in sing with all of your might
14:23don't leave your worship the praise
14:25singers they can't drink water for you
14:28and they can't worship for you number
14:31four seek him through effectively
14:33working for and working your partnership
14:37with the Lord thank God we're labors
14:40together with God so in that partnership
14:43we give generously in respect of our
14:46financial resources to the cause of
14:49evangelism and to the total work of God
14:52it's still right to bring all the ties
14:54into the
14:56storehouse it's still right to give
14:59[Music]
15:03generously it's still right to share
15:05Jesus with others when last have you
15:08spoken to somebody about
15:10Jesus when last of you testified to
15:14somebody about the saving power of Jesus
15:17Christ when last have you showed
15:20somebody the Christ that you so
15:23willingly talk about because some people
15:26only talk about him but can't show
15:30him by
15:33right now let's just go to what would be
15:37the end of this let's look at the
15:39elements of the
15:42rewards that the Lord is going to give
15:45us
15:46number one
15:51peace peace with
15:54God therefore being justified by faith
15:59we have peace with God so yes we need
16:03the peace of God we need peace with God
16:06but we also need the peace of God how do
16:10we get to that rejoice in the lord
16:14always and again I say rejoice let your
16:18moderation be known unto all men the
16:20Lord is at hand be careful for nothing
16:23but in everything by prayer and
16:25supplication with Thanksgiving let your
16:28request be made known unto God and the
16:31peace of God which pass at
16:35all understanding shall keep your hearts
16:38and your minds in Christ
16:42Jesus oh my God the peace of
16:46God the peace of God I could tell you
16:50some stories but we don't have time for
16:52that
16:56Joy you know when I walk into a
16:59Pentecostal church and I look at
17:00people's faces even in North America I'm
17:03so sorry for
17:06them because they look so sad generally
17:10speaking generally speaking they sing
17:14glad songs with sad
17:17faces but I like I like to see a people
17:20who are so joyful on the inside that it
17:23comes on the
17:25outside joy joy joy joy joy that you
17:30have evening sorrow even in
17:34pain whom having not seen ye love in
17:38whom though now he have him not yet
17:41believing he Rejoice with joy
17:46unspeakable full of glory and then the
17:51reward of enduring
17:53[Music]
17:55stability I could tell you some stories
17:57about that but maybe when I see you in
18:04private they that trust in the
18:07Lord finish it for
18:13me what you don't know it
18:17so why you saying it like that that's
18:20not how you supposed to say say it
18:29they all right it's all right all right
18:31s s it's all
18:34right you telling me you're telling me I
18:36can't about to do that no
18:39man as Mount Zion which cannot be
18:43removed but abided forever
18:47stable
18:49stable number
18:54five no that's number four strength for
18:58the Christian
19:00Journey you know what
19:0280 I've never found it at no point in my
19:07life have I found it
19:10easy to do what's
19:12right especially when nobody
19:16you see this thing we talk about
19:18integrity it's a serious
19:21thing and I find that even at this
19:26age almost every day when I get up my
19:30prayer Lord please help me I want to be
19:35saved because in my experience I've seen
19:39people who preached to me when I was a
19:42boy and they preach with such a
19:45enthusiasm and vigor and they were
19:48viewed as theologians and what they used
19:52to tell me they're now telling me they
19:55don't believe it
20:02anymore do you think you can't be lost
20:04because you're 80 do you think you can't
20:07be lost because you're Elder no you got
20:10to you got to shape
20:13up but the text says in Isaiah he giveth
20:16power to the faint and to them who have
20:19no Mighty increaseth strength even the
20:22you shall faint and be weary and the
20:26young men shall utterly fall but they
20:29that wait upon the Lord shall renew
20:32their strength they shall Mount up with
20:36wings as eagles they shall run and not
20:40be wary it shall walk and not let me me
20:45just take a few minutes to illustrate
20:47this
20:49text visualize with me are you hearing
20:52visualize with me a cord piece of cord
20:56you see
20:57it take that piece of cord and hold it
21:00with both hands and break it you can
21:04yeah you can break a piece of
21:06cord at some point you can break if you
21:08can't break it again cut
21:11it let let's go there cut it cut it with
21:13your scissors can you cut it
21:15all right take that same piece of cord
21:18that you can cut with your scissors wrap
21:20it around a steel
21:23pole and then cut
21:36it you can't cut it the cord is is the
21:40same you know but it's
21:43location it's Lo
21:45location it's location when you are
21:49wrapped around the Lord nobody can cut
21:52you nobody can destroy you nobody can
21:56really push you aside because you take
21:58on the strength of that which you rap
22:03around they shall
22:06run and not be
22:08weary they shall walk and not Fain and
22:12finally and finally
22:15the ultimate the ultimate point of
22:19success and I still believe this is our
22:22arrival in
22:24heaven oh my
22:27God for the Lord himself shall descend
22:30from heaven with a shout with the voice
22:33of the archangels and with the Trump of
22:35God and the dead dead in Christ shall
22:39rise first then we which are alive and
22:42remain shall be caught up together
22:45in the clouds to meet the Lord in the
22:47air and so shall we ever be with the
22:52Lord heaven the ultimate
22:57reward so please
23:02stand also this Ser all I was preaching
23:05I was hearing my brother it's a funny
23:07thing I was hearing his voice all the
23:10time I was preaching I said what that
23:12sound like Bobby
23:15it's
23:17funny at the start of this
23:20message I express the desire
23:23that it would facilitate the process of
23:27personal
23:29evaluation covering the extent to which
23:32you and I are diligently seeking the
23:37Lord here are some relevant points I'd
23:40like you to consider young people write
23:43this down on your phone in your phone
23:46number one do you believe that you are
23:49diligently seeking the Lord now at this
23:52point in your relationship with God do
23:56you believe
23:58that wow do you believe that you're
24:02diligently seeking
24:05him what eras in your life
24:09need more
24:13diligence write them down
24:15down then develop a plan that would
24:18change the
24:20situation and work that plan within a
24:22stated time
24:24frame from the
24:26information given to you covering the
24:29meaning of diligently seeking the
24:33Lord write out a
24:37prayer that will be
24:40applicable and use it in
24:43your day da
24:46devotion and
24:48finally how
24:50strong is your desire to receiving the
24:54Lord's
24:57rewards for diligently seeking him on a
25:02scale 1 to 10 10 being the highest how
25:07strong is your desire to hear him say
25:11Well
25:13done my God
25:16wow and
25:18So within the context of what the late
25:21Dr Martin Luther King Junior
25:25described as the fierce urgency of
25:30now I can't get away from this the
25:34fierce urgency of
25:38now I want to ask you to work on this
25:44it's it's a good
25:46time cuz the Bible ex exhorts us to
25:52examine
25:54ourself
25:56to find out whether we are in the
26:02faith
26:04faith the little song
26:07I
26:09surrender
26:13all oh
26:16I
26:17[Music]
26:22Surrender
26:26[Music]
26:43oh I surrender
26:45[Music]
26:53Aller we
26:55have we have about 10
26:58minutes to bring this to his
27:01conclusion having listened to the word
27:03of the Lord this morning Hebrews
27:06chapter 11 and verse
27:106 that challenges us to exercise faith
27:14in the Lord
27:15Lord I believe God is a
27:17very present
27:20God and uh when faith is in action God
27:26steps
27:28in
27:29amen Faith always finds a
27:34way to get the
27:37answer and so everybody for this next 10
27:40minutes who do have something that you
27:43want to get from the Lord you can get it
27:46in this 10 minutes right
27:48now what is absolutely
27:52necessary Luke 5 and verse 17- 20 you
27:57can write that down and check that
27:59reference later on as Jesus was teaching
28:04ministering there were all
28:08different levels of people in that
28:10congregation lawyers and doctors and
28:13Pharisees and everybody
28:15and there were some folks who got a hold
28:18of what Jesus could do the room was
28:23jam-packed and there was no place for
28:25them to even get close to Jesus sister
28:29Jen what they did they climbed to the
28:31roof open the roof get a couch really
28:35and let him down and what is important
28:38in that text is when they did that the
28:42Bible said when he saw saw their faith
28:46is there anybody want to show Jesus your
28:48faith right
28:49now let's let's have a 10 minutes around
28:52the altar just showing Jesus your faith
28:55come everybody who want to show Jesus
28:57your faith you come lift your hands
29:01Hall not your brother's
29:04fate when he saw their fate I want to
29:07lift my hands in faith I want to open my
29:11mouth and speak the word of faith
29:14that word that is going to bring me in
29:17this next 10 minutes if you need the
29:20Holy Ghost you'll be speaking in tongues
29:22as the spirit of God give utterance as
29:24you lift your hands and open your mouth
29:27if there's a condition in your
29:30body you don't need somebody to anoint
29:33you with oil right now just lift your
29:35hand and speak the word of faith hallah
29:38if there's a door that need to be open
29:41surrender all everybody musicians s
29:44singers preachers everybody let's do it
29:48together come on let's wrap ourselves
29:50around him give somebody else a room
29:53right here we've got to let I am so
29:58impressed with the words when he saw
30:03their
30:04faith his eyes are focused right now
30:08looking on faith in this
30:10room and anywhere or anyone that shows
30:14him
30:17faith is going to respond to you let's
30:20let's make this a very positive moment
30:22lift your hands close your
30:24eyes come on in the name of
30:30Jesus move up a little closer if you can
30:33come
30:34on remember we only have about 10
30:36minutes to do that it's not even 10 or 5
30:3910 five more minutes of really pressing
30:43my press in my
30:48case to the
30:50gates in Jesus
30:57nameus name
31:02hallu Faith does not
31:04debate Faith does not
31:07negotiate come on now Faith is not in
31:10that business of
31:12Bing come on now Faith
31:16Works in Jesus
31:19name in Jesus
31:22name maybe those of you are kneeling you
31:25ought to stand up and express those
31:27Faith to the Lord come on in the name of
31:29the Lord open your mouth real hard real
31:33strong in Jesus name glory to God glory
31:37to
31:38God Jesus said to the woman your faith
31:43has made you whole
31:45that's what you're going to hear your
31:48faith your faith has made you whole your
31:52faith brings you the victory your faith
31:54opens the door your faith gives you the
31:58baptism of the Holy Ghost your faith
32:01breaks down every barrier your faith
32:04release the power of God in the name of
32:08Jesus hallelujah hallelujah in the name
32:11of
32:12Jesus by faith in Jesus
32:16name in Jesus
32:19name in Jesus name everybody two more
32:24minutes come on two more minutes of
32:27Declaration of Faith let him see your
32:32faith in Jesus
32:35name in Jesus
32:37name in Jesus
32:41name in Jesus name Jesus
32:45now for the next minute or so let's just
32:48lift our hands with praise come on now
32:51Faith cause you to praise Hallelujah
32:55come on faith CS you to
32:57praise Faith CS you to praise Faith make
33:01you praise come on now Faith break out
33:05in real
33:06Praise In The Name of Jesus Hallelujah
33:10somebody shout it
33:12hallelujah hallelujah
33:14come on hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah
33:18oh glory to God
33:21hallelujah
33:23hallelujah hallelujah come on that's a
33:25victory
33:26praise
33:28Hallelujah don't make your faes up don't
33:31go on as though God is not hearing you
33:32rejoice in the Lord
33:37hallelujah
33:41hallelujah hallelujah
33:46Hallelujah
33:48Hallelujah
33:50Hallelujah Hallelujah
33:54Hallelujah
33:56Hallelujah on
33:58Hallelujah
34:02Hallelujah
34:04Hallelujah
34:06Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah
34:10Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah come on
34:13Hallelujah the holy ghost is on you
34:15right now
34:18hallelujah
34:20hallelujah hallu come on come on that's
34:24the Holy Ghost come on
34:27hallelujah
34:29hallelujah come on come on come on
34:31Hallelujah Hallelujah
34:33Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah
34:36Hallelujah that victory that victory
34:38that victory that Victory
34:40Hallelujah that Victory Hallelujah
34:44H Hallelujah
34:46Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah
34:51Hallelujah glory to God glory to God
34:55come on in the name of
34:57Jesus everybody be rejoicing right now
35:00come on give him praise let's not be
35:02let's not be stingy with our praise
35:04let's release High Praise let's release
35:06great praise
35:08Hallelujah my my my my my my hallelujah
35:12hallelujah hallelujah
35:22huah
35:23[Music]
35:25hallu Mighty God come on
35:30Hallelujah H come on Holy
35:33Ghost
35:35Glory
35:37Glory Holy Ghost glory to God Mighty God
35:42come on the
35:44[Applause]
35:45hlyh somebody just receive a holy ghost
35:48want to Rejoice for that right now come
35:50on
35:51hallelujah
35:53hallelujah
35:55hallelujah
35:57Glory
35:59Glory Hallelujah Hallelujah
36:04Jesus Hallelujah everybody rej
36:09hallelujah hallelujah