Welcome to NECF. We're thrilled you're here.
Make sure to stay with us till the end, where
we will share some great resources to deepen
your faith. Now, let's dive into this week's
sermon. Good evening, everybody. We're just quickly
going through the teaching. And the title is
still The Believer's Authority in Christ. And
it should be the third one, if I'm not mistaken.
The believer's authority in Christ. The believer's
authority in Christ. And, you know, the emphasis,
right, this evening, right, is actually to, what
I say, to give us as much evidence as possible,
right, from the Old Testament text, right, across
to the time of Christ and beyond to see. That
the supernatural is real through the power of
God. That the supernatural is evident through
the power of God. That we might be able to walk
in it. We might be able to walk in it. The whole
purpose of this teaching is to really fill us
up. So that we can understand and see the supernatural
across scripture. We can see the supernatural
across scripture. And by that, we come to the
epignosis of things regarding the supernatural
manifestation of the kingdom of God. We come
to the precise and correct knowledge of it. That
there will be no doubts at any point in time.
That there will be no doubts even while you are
out there preaching. while you are out there
laying hands, while you are out there walking
and seeing the kingdom of darkness and asserting
your authority, that there will be no doubt that
you will see it evidently, right, through the
scripture and in your life, in my life, in our
lives, in our meetings. Amen. So first of all,
in my last teaching, I explained something that
actually we do not have, we do not exert authority.
over a believer or over a person. We don't assert
authority as such as we assert over the kingdom
of darkness. What we need to understand, the
balance of it, of that we don't assert authority
over another person, right? I said that in my
previous teaching, that we don't assert authority
over another person, right? But the balance of
it, right, means that, you know, as Fred would
say, that teaching is standing on one leg, right?
This is the second leg that balances it, is that...
In the functioning of life, so you can write
it down, that in the functioning of life, in
the functioning of life, things in the natural,
the believer has an influence. The believer has
an impact. The believer has an impact. Therefore,
we would say that in the functioning, how people
function, how circumstances happen around people,
the believer can assert the authority. I can
assert authority upon the circumstances surrounding
someone's life. I can assert my authority as
a child of God. I can see someone that is healed,
that is sick, and I can rebuke the sickness.
That's the circumstance. And the person is healed.
So I can also see the person, right, under the
oppression of the devil. The person might even
be ignorant. And I can assert the power of God
in that circumstance and the person will be delivered.
The person will be delivered. Because circumstances
of life, right, circumstances of life and this,
you know, natural things, they also respond.
They respond to the supernatural power in the
believer. And this is the truth. The circumstances
of life, the things in the natural respond to
the supernatural power of God that is in the
believer. That is in the believer. So while the
believer, while we cannot push, I mean, while
we cannot, how do I say it? Push someone's will
to believe, right? We influence someone's will
by preaching the gospel. Luke chapter 24. We
influence someone's will by preaching the gospel.
Then the person exercises their will in believing.
So while we cannot affect that, circumstances,
natural circumstances surrounding people's life,
the believer, the supernatural power of God in
the life of the believer, right, can make significant
impacts. So we can go to Luke 24, Luke 24, Luke
24, verse 26. Let's start with this. It is written.
that Christ should suffer and on the third day
rise from the dead and that repentance and forgiveness
of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all
nations. And from Jerusalem, you are witness
of these things and behold, I'm sending the promise
of the father upon you, but stay in the city
until you are clothed with power from on high.
So he said, repentance and forgiveness of sin.
will be proclaimed in his name, right? Will be
proclaimed in his name. And Romans 10, right?
Romans 10 would give more clarity on that. Romans
10 would give more clarity on that. And it will
further and say, Romans 10 from verse 8, right?
From verse 8. But what does it say? The word
is near you in your mouth and in your heart.
That is the word of faith that we proclaim. So
you see there in Luke 24, forgiveness of sin,
repentance and forgiveness of sin should be proclaimed
in his name to all nations. And here he says
that that's a word that we, that word of faith
that we proclaim. Because if you confess with
your heart that Jesus is Lord and believe in
your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved. So he's talking about believing.
the repentance and forgiveness of sin through
Christ, right? So it's bringing us together that
a man is only saved, right? By believing in the
message that we proclaim to you, which is repentance
and forgiveness of sin that is proclaimed in
the name of Christ. So we see that, that we cannot
influence anyone except through the part of the
gospel. So through the gospel that how we influence
men and they have to believe, they have to take
a position. of believing in the message that
they have received. While that is true, right?
Circumstances surrounding people's life, the
believer has a lot of influences. So we can actually
supernaturally affect what happens in the natural.
Let's go to 1 Corinthians 12. 1 Corinthians 12.
So 1 Corinthians 12, when we start talking about
the gifts, right? You will see that in that first
few paragraphs, In those first few verses, the
emphasis was actually on these gifts and for
the common good. For edification, for the common
good, for the good of the church. 1 Corinthians
12, from verse 4. Now there are varieties of
gifts, but the same spirits, and there are varieties
of service, but the same Lord. And there are
varieties of activities, but it is the same God.
who empowers them all in everyone. To each is
given the manifestation of the spirits for common
good, right? As we say, for common good. So Jesus
said for, you know, everybody's profiting, right?
For the benefit of the church, for the benefit
of everybody. For to one is given through the
spirit all trends of wisdom and to another all
trends of knowledge according to the same spirit.
And it continues in verse 11 says, All these
are empowered by one and the same spirit who
apportions to each one individually as he wills.
So as we come together in our meetings, right?
As we come together in our meetings, as people
desire these gifts, right? They walk in them,
right? You desire to prophesy, you walk in prophecy.
You desire to walk in the gift of faith, you
walk in it. You desire to walk in the sermon
of spirit, word of wisdom, word of knowledge,
you walk in it because it says as each of them
will. But one thing is certain there, or one
thing is emphasized there, is that for the common
good, right? For the common good, it means for
us, for the benefit of us, or that we are edified,
right? Now, when we come to chapter 14, let's
come to chapter 14 of the same 1 Corinthians.
Do we observe that when they start teaching about
prophecy and tongues, When we start teaching
about prophecy and tongues, towards the end,
Apostle Paul introduced something which included
the unbeliever as a beneficiary in prophecy and
tongues. So if you read from verse 20. of chapter
14 of 1 Corinthians. So brothers, do not be children
in your thinking, right? Be infants in evil,
but in your thinking, be matured. In the law,
it is written, by people of strange tongues and
by lips of foreigners will I speak to these people.
And even when they will not listen to me, says
the Lord. Those songs, those tongues are not
a sign for believers, but for unbelievers. While
prophecy is a sign, not for unbelievers, but
for believers. If therefore the whole church,
you see, from verse 23, pay attention. I say,
if therefore the whole church comes together
and all speak in tongues and an outsider or unbeliever
enters, will they not say that you are out of
your minds? But if all prophesy, and there's
an unbeliever in church, right? If all prophesy
and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted
by all. He is called to account by all. the secret
of his heart are disclosed. And so falling on
his face, he will worship God and declare that
God is really among you, right? He will worship
God and say, God is really among you. So he painted
this picture of the fact that when we are together
and we have supernatural outrances, right? When
there's supernatural outrance and there is prophecy,
right? An unbeliever, right, can receive a word
from prophecy. So in the supernatural expression
of the believer, right, an outsider, when it
comes as prophecy, an outsider can receive a
word, can receive instruction, can receive direction,
can have an understanding and say truly, right,
just to say truly God is really among you. So
here we see that when it comes to the supernatural,
is something that will benefit the church. And
when we prophesy, someone from outside can also
benefit from it. So we can therefore say the
supernatural gifts and supernatural utterances
are both for believers and a believer can receive
instructions from it. We can instruct an unbeliever,
an outsider, because we have received a word.
Right. By the spirit. This is what happens when
we go for evangelism. And then we meet people
on the street and we receive a word for them.
Right. And when they receive this word, they
are edified, they are blessed. They confirm and
say, truly, truly, I know that you have come
from God. Of course, sometimes some of them don't
still believe after they receive this supernatural
word of instruction, clarity, the secret of their
hearts made known to them and their directions
are given unto them. Sometimes, I mean, sadly,
they still walk away. They still walk away, but
they can also benefit in this supernatural manifestation
that comes from. the believer, right? They can
benefit from that. So what we are seeing here
is that both the believer and unbeliever, right?
They can benefit from it, but it's giving expression
only through the believer. Supernatural expressions
only comes through the believer. Please note
this thing that I said here about the outsiders,
about the unbeliever who receives a word from
the supernatural expression of a church. Please
note it. Because when we begin to see from the
scriptures I'm going to go through, we would
notice, right? We will notice that just like
I said, that in the functioning of life and things
around us and circumstances around people's life,
because the believer has an authority, right?
We can impact and assert influence on those circumstances,
right? We can impact and assert influence on
those circumstances. unbelievers are within those
contexts. So it's about the authority in the
believer. It's not about the situation. And it's
not about the unbeliever. It's about the authority,
the power of God that is in the believer. The
focus is the power of God that is resident, that
is indwelling in the believer. So therefore,
sometimes, right, we can find circumstances where
we are sat the supernatural power of God and
unbelievers can be. partakers you know of the
result of it or the benefits so this is authority
this is how authority works okay it works responding
to the one who carries the authority responding
to the one who carries the authority so right
now i will begin to check scriptures begin to
check scriptures um we can check scriptures now
let's let's go to hebrews 11 12 to 14 hebrews
11 Let's start from Hebrews 11. Of course, that
was nowhere I intend to start from, but we start
from Hebrews 11, right? Hebrews 11, 12 to 14.
It's a death for from one man and him as good
as dead. We are born descendants, right? As many
as the stars of the heaven, as many, right? As
innumerable grains of the sun of the sea. So
we can see. If you read from verse 10, it says,
of sand, right, by the seashore. Now, this is
actually referring to, in a way, referring to
Abraham's situation, right, situation in the
natural, right, reflecting to his situation in
the natural as good as dead, right, as good as
dead, as someone in the natural that we do not
expect, right, that we do not expect to give
birth. But when we go back, we will see that
despite the natural situation, right? There's
a supernatural power of God that function in
Sarah, right? The supernatural power of God that
function in Sarah and Abraham. And then they
give birth to Isaac, right? They give birth to
Isaac. Now, this is what I'm saying, that circumstances
surrounding, right? The believer circumstances
surrounding. because the supernatural power of
God actually can function. Of course, we interpret
this and it leads us to Christ. All this, Hebrews
11, points us to Christ. But we see that the
man that is as good as dead, like non -functioning,
became functional, right? The woman became functional,
even when in the natural is not expected. So
we see that these things are actually supernatural
impact of God through the believer. So let's
check, right, and trace much more. how these
supernatural activities, right? Do we have them
in the Old Testament? Do we still have them today,
right? So that's the main focus of this teaching
because sometimes we overlook them and that's
the truth, right? Sometimes we overlook them.
We overlook probably miracles. We overlook the
supernatural taking place. Our focus sometimes
is mostly in the natural and how natural things
function. But the emphasis here is to raise up
our faith and direct us much more to see and
focus more on the supernatural and then expect
it. That's another thing, that we might expect
it. So we are so focused on the natural that
when even we say the supernatural is about to
take place, we don't expect it. We don't even
break through from the natural. So, from the
scriptures, we will see that from the Old Testament
text, there are a lot of supernatural events
that happen. And in the, you know, what we call
the New Testament text, they are still happening.
And they can happen in our lives. Right? That's
true. They can happen in our lives. And we can
see that. So, we can start with Exodus. Right?
So, let's start our journey gradually with Exodus
14. Right? With Exodus 14. With Exodus 14. Now,
we'll go to verse... Verse 15, Exodus 14 from
verse 15, actually from verse one to 31, but
we'll go to verse 15. And the Lord said to Moses,
why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel
to go forward, lift up your staff and stretch
out your hand over the sea and divide it. And
the people of Israel may go through the dry ground
and I'll harden the hearts of the Egyptians so
that they shall go in after them and I'll glory
over Pharaoh. and all the hosts of his chariots
and his horsemen. And the Egyptian shall know
that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory
over Pharaoh and his chariots and his horsemen.
Then the angel of God, who was going before the
hosts of Israel, moved and went behind them,
and the pillar of cloud moved before them and
stood behind them, coming between the hosts of
Egypt and the hosts of Israel. And there was
a cloud and darkness. and it lit up the night
without one coming near the other. Then Moses
stretched out his hand over the sea, and the
Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind
all night and made the sea dry, and the waters
were divided. And the people of Israel went into
the midst of the sea on dry ground, and the waters
being a wall to them on their right hand and
on their left. Right. So we see that they walked
on dry ground and the water was like a wall on
both sides to them. So what we see here is actually
the supernatural power of God taking place and
functioning in the circumstances of a people.
Right. Of a people. So we see all those descriptions
that the angel of God following them. We see
the cloud. We see the pillar of fire. Then we
see Moses, a certain authority through the staff
in his hand and dividing. the sea. Now, this
happened real. This is not something that we
say, of course, it points to something, a salvation
that is to come, but it happened in real life,
right? I think that's the way I can say it. So
it happened real. It means a part of God is functional
through the man of God. And this is supernatural
events, right? Taking place in the Old Testament
text, right? Taking place in the Old Testament
text. Now we see that this took place for the
preservation of the people. So this took place
for the preservation of the people. The exercise
of the supernatural and then someone is preserved
from trouble. The exercise of the supernatural
can take place through you and someone is preserved
from trouble. So we must pay attention as we
daily live. To know that the supernatural can
take place through you and someone will be preserved
from trouble. A people will be preserved from
trouble. Let's go to Exodus 16. Let's move to
Exodus 16, just the next page. So this one, they
are preserved from an enemy. That's what we see,
right? They are preserved from destruction. They
are preserved from an enemy. Exodus 16 gives
another, not another perspective, but another
deliverance of God. Exodus 16, we can go to verse,
We can go to verse 9. Then Moses said to Aaron,
said to the whole congregation of the people
of Israel, Come near before the Lord, for he
has heard your grumbling. And as soon as Aaron
spoke to the congregation of the people, they
looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the
glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. And
the Lord said to Moses, I have heard the grumbling
of the people of Israel. Say to them, As three
lights you shall eat meat in the morning, and
you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall
know that I am God. And in the evening, right,
Quill came up and covered the camp in the morning
dew, in the morning dew, right, in the morning
dew lay around the camp. And when the dew had
gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness
a fine flakes like a thin, right, fine as the
frost of the ground. When the people of Israel
saw it, they said to another, what is this? For
they did not know what it was. And Moses said
to them, right, Moses said to them, it is the
bread that the Lord. has given you to eat. This
is what the Lord has commanded. Gather of each
one of you as you eat. You shall eat and take
your own man. And those instructions go like
that. Now, what we see here, right, is also supernatural
provision. Okay? Supernatural provision. Why
so many times we try to shift away from it, right?
We try to shift away from it because there are
excesses. It does not mean. that there are no
supernatural provisions, okay? Because there
are excesses of people saying, oh, all your life
from January to December, you have to depend
on supernatural provision. And then people become
lazy. It does not mean that there are no supernatural
provisions. And this is one of the things that
we need to bring back to our knowledge, right?
When we study the scriptures, that because there
are extremes to it. that makes people lazy and
makes people misinterpret the scripture does
not mean that supernatural provisions does not
exist. It does exist. Why? For the preservation
of the people again. So supernatural provisions
can be made available for the preservation of
the people. Of course, you know that Israel did
not eat manna all through their life. They only
ate it for a period of time. That is what's paying
attention to, that this supernatural provision
was provided. Now, if you read from verse 16,
it said they left a place called Elim, which
had 12 springs of water and 70 palm trees. That
is Exodus 15, 27. They left a place. They moved
from Elim and they moved to the wilderness of
Sin, right? And there was no water. So they were
found in a situation. where they couldn't find,
when they were in a limb, there was no record
that they said they cried for water. But when
there was a need, right, there was provision
made for them. So they ate that, right, and they
drank that. Don't forget, we'll come to 1 Corinthians
10 that also later refers to this. So supernatural
provisions for feeding, it happens, it takes
place. It takes place. All right, so verse 17,
chapter 17, let's just go to chapter 17 and see
the other one. chapter 17 from verse 1 to 6.
So after they had eaten all of this manna and
this quail, right, all the congregation of the
people of Israel moved from the wilderness of
sin, you see, by stages, according to the commandment
of the Lord. So in their movements, problems
arise and supernatural provisions were made in
their movement as they were moving. So you will
see that by stages, according to the commandment
of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim. but there
was no water for the people to drink. Therefore,
the people quarreled with Moses and said, give
us water to drink, right? After they've eaten.
And Moses said to them, why do you quarrel with
me? Why do you test the Lord? But the people
tested there for water and the people grumbled.
And why did you bring us? And they made all complaints.
Now, what happened? Behold, let's read from verse
five. And the Lord said to Moses, pass on before
the people take in with you some of the elders
and take. In your end, the staff with which you
struck the nail and go. Behold, I will stand
before you there on the rock at Horeb. And you
shall strike the rock. And water shall come out
of it. And the people will drink. And Moses did
so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And
he called the name of the place Masa and Meribah
because of the quarreling of the people of Israel.
And because they tested the Lord by saying, is
the Lord. amongst us or not. I'll come back to
that statement. But what we see here is that
within two chapters, the supernatural provision
of food, the supernatural provision of water
within their circumstances, right? Within the
circumstances of them. So these supernatural
provisions take place. The supernatural power
of God walks through the man of God, Moses, to
make things available for the people of God.
In quotes, right? So we see that here. And of
course, when we go to 1 Corinthians, I think
we should go to John 6, 49 first. Let's go to
John 6, 49. To corroborate Exodus 16, we'll just
go to John 6, 49. John 6, 49. Say, your fathers
ate the manna in the wilderness and they died.
right? They died. We'll come to that. But first,
they ate the manna in the wilderness. It means
there was a provision, right? So Jesus acknowledged
that, that there was a divine provision and they
ate this manna in the wilderness. 1 Corinthians
10 verse 1 to 4 would also tell us that they
ate and they drank, right? Of course, symbolizing
many things there. Well, let's see. So for I
do not want you to be unaware, brothers. 1 Corinthians
10 from verse 1. That our fathers were all under
the cloud and all passed through the sea and
were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and
in the sea. And they all ate the same spiritual
food and all drank the same spiritual drink.
For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed
them. And that rock was Christ. God said, I will
be in front of you and you will hit the rock.
So that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most
of them, God was not pleased. for they were overthrown
in the wilderness. So another evidence to show
that the earth's spiritual food, right, the earth
is divinely provided food, and the drunk are
divinely provided water in the wilderness. In
the wilderness, the earth and they were delivered,
the earth and the drunk. Now one more, one more.
So supernatural preservation, we see supernatural
food made available, drink. Then we see one more,
Numbers 21, verse 9. Because the believer actually
can walk in these things, right? We can intervene
in circumstances like this. Numbers 21, verse
9. Numbers 21, verse 9. Thank you, Jesus. It
says, so Moses made a bronze, a bronze serpent,
and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bites
anyone, He would look at the bronze serpents
and leave, right? He would look at the bronze
serpents and leave. So we see this also as a
means by which people are being healed, right?
Divine healing taking place in this place. And
we will see it also in John 3, 14, right? John
3, 14 gave the scriptures that as Moses, right?
As Moses raised, that was now... interpreted
as a pattern and as a message, right? The message
was explained from that event that happened,
right? The message was explained from Moses raising
the snake. Let's see. John 3, verse 14. It said,
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
so was the Son of Man lifted up, that whosoever
believes in him may have eternal life. So, what
Moses did there, right, was physical healing,
right, was physical healing. And Jesus interpreted
this and said about eternal life. So, here, natural
life was preserved in John. So we see all, all
of these. Sorry about the breaking transmission.
I really know how that opens. I hope we are back
now. I hope we're able to get Numbers 21, verse
9. Right? Did we get Numbers 21, verse 9? And
John 3, verse 14. Yes. Thank you, sir. So, we
got it. So, now, Jesus explained that in the
light of eternal life, that if you look at Christ,
if you believe in Christ, you will be saved.
So, these supernatural events are taking place.
Now, before we go further, the question I would
like to ask, was Israel saved? in these situations?
The answer is Israel was not saved. Most of them
were in unbelief, right? Most of them were in
unbelief in their movement and their walk with
God. They were in high level of unbelief, what
I can call high level, right? Because after every
deliverance and supernatural manifestation of
God, right? Plus the message of Moses revealing
Christ to them. They still walk in unbelief.
So why is the supernatural functioning among
them? That's the question we would ask. Why is
the supernatural? functioning among. Do you remember
that question? They said, is God even amongst
us, right? God was among them. They were asking
if God was among them, right? So Israel was working
in series of unbelief. So we need to know where,
why is all this taking place? It is because there's
a man of God there called Moses that is leading
them and under the authority granted to him by
God, those things were taken. For their preservation,
for their healing, despite their unbelief. So
it's just an authority that the circumstances
around respond to the authority of the man of
God, Moses. As he receives instruction from God,
when Moses receives instruction from God, he
executes those instructions and the circumstances
surrounding that respond to him. If it is by
Israel's fate, nothing will happen. If it is
by Israel's fate, nothing. will happen. But by
Moses, right, having the authority, being appointed
by God to lead them, the supernatural took place.
So the same way, right, I'm going to continue
with other scriptures. In the same way, when
the believer, right, is in certain circumstances,
the believer can assert his authority, right,
to put things in place. And unbelievers can benefit
from it. I mean, it's not unfortunately, but
it's just the way things are. It's just because
the circumstances would respond, would respect
the authority of God in the believer. And this
is what we must know. Do you remember what I
was going to do? Let me give us an example in
the New Testament. Acts chapter 27. I will still
refer to it again when we continue the teaching.
Acts chapter 27. It tells you that The unbeliever
has the authority, right? From God has the authority,
the power within working in him to put things
in place for preservation of many, for healing
of many, for provisions for many. Now let's see
what, what happened to Paul, right? Paul was
in the midst of a storm and many were preserved
through that. Let's see. Verse nine, Acts chapter
seven, verse nine. Since much time had passed
and the voyage was not dangerous because, The
event fast was already over. Paul advised them,
saying, Sir, I perceive that this voyage will
be with injury and much loss, not only of the
cargo and the ship, but also of our lives. You
see? But the centurion paid more attention to
the pilot, to the owner of the ship, than to
what Paul said. And because... The harbour was
not suitable to spend the night in. The majority
decided to put out to the sea from there. On
the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix,
a harbour in Crete, facing the southwest and
the northwest, and spend the winter there. Now,
when the south wind blew gently, supposing they
had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchors
and sailed along Crete, close to the shore. But
soon as the tempestuous wind called the northeaster
struck down the land, And when the ship was caught
and could not face the wind, they gave way to
it and were all driven along, running under the
lee of a small island called Kauda. We managed
with difficulty to secure the ship's boat. After
hoisting it up, they used support and unguarded
the ship. Then, fearing that they would run on
the cities, they lowered the gear. Since we were
violently stormed, they began the next day to
jettison. the cargo. Now, if you go to verse
21, it says, since they had been without food
for a long time, Paul stood up among them and
said, men, you should have listened to me and
not have sailed from Crete and incurred this
injury and loss. Yet now I urge you to take heart,
for there will be no loss of life among you,
but only of the sheep. For this very night, there
stood before me an angel of God to whom I belong
and whom I worship. And he said, do not be afraid.
Paul, you must stand before Caesar and behold,
God has granted you all those who sail with you.
God has granted you all you, right? God has granted
you all those who sail with you. So take heart,
men, for I have faith in God that it will be
exactly as I have been told. but we must run
aground on some highlands. So in the circumstances
of Paul, right, that's a deliverance. That's
a supernatural deliverance. People who have not
even believed are part of that deliverance because
Paul was in that circumstances or rather in that
circumstance. So because Paul was in that situation,
right, they gave a revelation. They did not yield.
Despite their disobedience, There was assurance.
God has granted you. How did he put it? God has
granted you. All those who say with you. They
are preserved with you. They are preserved with
you. No life will be lost. The believer actually
carries. The supernatural power of God. That's
true. Our presence. Circumstances can change.
True. Our words. Asserting our authority. Circumstances.
Can change for good. And unbelievers can partake
in it. That is what we see. People who have not
even believed. In fact some people probably you
have preached to. They can benefit from the supernatural
power of God. Because he is not responding to
their faith. He is responding to your faith.
He is responding to your word. And Paul would
say. Because I have faith. He emphasized on this.
I have faith. So take at men, for I have faith
in God. Circumstances of life respond to the
faith of the believer, responds to the authority
of the believer. So in the case of Israel, it's
a similar situation where we see, right, where
we see that people are preserved, right, because
there's a leader, there is a man of God that's
leading them, that's giving instructions, and
by the authority, We see many signs and wonders
taking place. Many signs and wonders taking place.
Let's check more scriptures. Let's check more
scriptures and see. And see how people also believe.
In fact, some people wouldn't even believe in
your message, but they believe in the fact that
you're a man of God and you can heal. Or you're
a son of God, you're a child of God, and you
can pray for them and they can receive healing.
So let's go to 1 Kings. 1 Kings 17, verse 7 to
16. And just push through a little bit forward
to 1 Kings. 1 Kings 7 to 16. From verse 8, right?
We can say, The word of God, the word of the
Lord came to him. Arise, go to Zarephath, which
belongs to Sidon. And dwell there. Behold, I
have commanded a widow there to feed you. So
he rose and went to Zarephath. And when he came
to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was
there guarding stakes. And he called to her and
said, bring me a little vessel that I may drink.
And as she was going to bring it, he called to
her and said, bring me a muzzle of bread in your
hand. And she said, as the Lord your God lives,
I have nothing baked, only a handful of a jar,
only a handful of flour in a jar and a little
oil in a jar. And now I'm gathering a couple
of things that I may go in and prepare for myself
and son and that we can eat and die. Right. We're
not sustenance again. And Elijah said to her,
do not fear. Go and do as you have said. But
first make a little cake for me and bring it
to me. And after I would make something for yourself
and your son. But thus is the Lord God of Israel.
The jar of oil shall not be spent. The jug of
oil shall not be empty until the day the Lord
sends rain upon the earth. And the house hold
air for many days and the jar of flour was not
spent. Neither did the jug of oil become empty.
According to what the word of the Lord. According
to the word of the Lord that is put by Elijah.
Now, I know that these scriptures have actually
been used very well. And many things have been
done to the scripture. Many challenges and disasters
have been done to the scripture. And sometimes
it makes us, it makes us to miss the blessing.
See, the problem is when a part of the scripture
is not explained or there's an overemphasis on
something, it makes us miss the blessing that
is founded, right? It makes us to miss the blessing.
So is it that now that, you know, it has been
bastardized, we can just cut that part out and
say, we don't know. We have to pay attention
to it. We have to read it. We have to explain
it. We have to check it, right? We have to check
it. We have to pay attention to it. Now, the
emphasis I'm just going to make for today. The
emphasis is, he said the jar of the floor was
not spent, neither did the jug of oil become
empty, according to the word of the Lord that
he spoke, right? That was spoken by Elijah, right?
And this is not the first time he's doing something
supernatural. So we also see supernatural provisions
here. In fact, she said, as the Lord your God
lives. So it means that she understood this is
a prophet, understood that this is a man of God,
and for her to make the statement. But the man
of God had made a statement and said, according
to his word, nothing. There was a divine provision.
That's what we can see here. And preservation.
There was divine provision and preservation.
You can see that subsequently, even when the
widow's child died, Elijah raised him up. Right?
He raised them up again. So these are supernatural
events that we must still believe God that takes
place in time and seasons. Right? In this time
now. Right? In this time now. So we see that
the man of God spoke a word. By the authority
of the man of God, there was provision. Right?
By the authority of the man of God, there was
provision. So we see supernatural things still
taking place. And we also see it. We can write
the scriptures down. These are the scriptures.
1 Kings 18, verse 14. 1 Kings 18, verse 14. We'll
pay more attention to it when we come together
much on Sunday. 1 Kings 18, verse 41, sorry.
1 Kings 18, verse 41. 1 Kings 19, verse 8. 1
Kings 18, verse 41. 1 Kings 19, verse 8. And
you can put in brackets James 5, verse 19 to
18. James 5, verse 19. James 5, verse 19 to 18.
You can also put this other scripture, 2 Kings
2, 14. Let's write all of them down and we will
get them on Sunday. 2 Kings 2, 14. 2 Kings 2,
21. 2 Kings 2, 14. 2 Kings 2, 21. And 2 Kings
3, verse 17. 2 Kings 3, verse 17. Now, these
are events where people who are the authority.
To function in the office of a prophet, exercise
their authority. And we see what happened in
those situations. And we say we are kings, we
are priests, we are prophets. And therefore,
we must believe that the supernatural can function
amongst us. We can heal the sick. We can raise
the dead. We can make the lame to walk. We can
make the deaf to speak, the dumb to speak, the
deaf to hear. This is the power of God in us.
And it will be evident. So it just shows much
more that the believer has so much authority
that needs to be exercised. So much authority
that we must pay attention to in our daily life.
So much authority that we must make sure that
our faiths Let me say this, our faith must be
in God first, right? In God first, then other
what we call probably drugs and natural things
and all other circumstances, right? So it's not,
sometimes, for example, someone is first sick,
the first thing is drugs. Yes, drug is fine.
And of course, we know that in this church, we
don't say you shouldn't take drugs. You have
to take drugs, you have to follow the medication.
I was sometime not feeling well. We prayed, I
received healing and I still went to Astenem.
and the doctor did what he wanted to do, and
I'm fine. And I still believe that it's not just
what about the doctor did, it's about the fact
that I've been prayed for, right? And the doctor
had to just make that manifest. So it works together.
So primarily, right, we must set our hearts,
right, we must set our hearts to believe that
as believers, right, supernatural power of God
is at work in us. When we see circumstances,
we are first of all... to say, okay, God, we
believe in your intervention by the power at
work in us in this circumstance first. And that
helps us to grow in faith in God. In fact, sometimes
you will see the manifestation immediately. So
this is what we must set our heart to do, that
the supernatural is a reality, is a reality in
our midst. I know many people that have been
sick. We have prayed for, we have seen healing
come to place in this church. You know, one of
the things we will do. right maybe when we continue
this teaching there's a part that we're testimony
the raw testimony of people play in healing you
know we've not really paid attention to that
i'm sure with time we'll pay attention to that
where people would have to share their testimonies
of healing and from there people can begin to
heal can begin to receive healing others that
have been trusting god So what we'll do is to
pay attention to these things and trust God.
But this evening, we want to conclude, I want
to conclude with this, that you say to yourself
that I'm a believer and the supernatural power
of God is at work in me. I put circumstances
into order. I put things into order. I put chaos.
I put chaos into order. I take away... darkness,
and I bring light to every situation I find myself.
Oh, many people around me benefit because of
the supernatural power of God in me. Many people
around me are preserved because of the supernatural
power of God in me. I see it evidently. Oh, as
I also go to preach, I preach, the supernatural
takes place. The supernatural takes place, then
I preach. Oh, all working together to bring,
oh, to bring the manifestation, of the kingdom
of God in our midst, to bring the manifestation
of the kingdom of God through us. Father, we
thank you for the supernatural. It is evident
in our midst. We believe it. We walk in it. We
have faith. Oh, thank you for supernatural provision,
supernatural preservation. Oh, thank you, Jesus,
for supernatural healing. We're thankful you
joined us today. Don't forget to subscribe so
you're always connected to our latest sermons.
You can also explore more about NECF on our website
or follow us online. We look forward to having
you with us next time. God bless.