Welcome to NECF. We're thrilled you're here.
Make sure to stay with us till the end, where
we'll share some great resources to deepen your
faith. Now, let's dive into this week's sermon.
We'll just be continuing from where we have been
teaching since Wednesday, then Sunday. than Wednesday
again. So just continue from there and build
up. So still relating to the authority of a believer
and immediately manifesting the supernatural,
right? Manifesting the supernatural. The main
thing is, like I said, to charge us more, right?
To charge us more to have... expectations towards
these things, the things of the supernatural,
to know how it functions, to believe it, to see
it across the scripture that beyond reasonable
doubt, we will be able to participate, give ourselves
to the things of the spirit much more. So that
is why we are teaching this, so that we can be
able to engage in... expressing healing, right?
Many administering healing to people through
our preaching. Then we carry out signs and wonders,
miracles, and all the operations of things of
spirit through us functioning effectively, right?
So that we can have expectations through it.
We can know that these things are real, like
the word I use all the time, that these are actually
real. And that's the call of God is able to walk
all of these through us. Amen. So what we've
done so far, right, what we've done so far is
actually to understand the believer's authority,
right, to understand the believer's authority,
especially with regards to things in the natural,
how the believer can influence the natural, which
is supernatural, bringing forth the supernatural
into the natural, letting the supernatural overpower
or oversee the natural. So we started and we
went through Moses, right? What Moses did and
his work with the children of Israel in the wilderness.
We moved through that and we came to the prophets
and we touched upon Elijah a little bit, right?
Showing with evidence, right? Showing with evidence
and proof, right? Showing with evidence and proof,
right? realities of these things, right, of the
manifestation of the supernatural, right? So
we see divine provision, we see divine preservation,
and we see across many things where they intervened
in both situations. So we see that these men
of God, the prophets, right, Moses and Elijah,
they expressed the supernatural in their walk
with the people they were walking with. So the
last time we... talk, right, on Sunday, we move
towards Matthew, and we try to stay a little
bit there, right, stay a little bit there to
see how Jesus, right, functioned or exercised
the supernatural in healing people, people who
were lame, people who were possessed by demons,
people who were not, right, in their right mind,
Jesus restoring them, people who were sick, right,
see a lot of miraculous things taking place.
So now what we're able to get there is that we
can receive this miraculous or this supernatural
by seeking it. That is not wrong to seek it.
So it's not wrong. You can seek to be prayed
for and to be healed. You can seek to lay hands
on. When we minister to each other, when we hold
each other's hand, we are actually seeking to
be ministered upon. We are seeking the supernatural,
true. the other believers around us. So we find
that and we see that in Matthew 8, verse 1 to
4, we see how that context, right, was actually
someone requesting to be healed. And we see many
people that come to Jesus, right, they will say,
I know you can heal me if thou be willing, right,
heal me. And Jesus will say, yes, I'm willing.
And we see that he heals them. So we see seeking,
right, asking as something very accepted according
to the scriptures. We also see, right, that faith,
even without asking. can actually bet for the
supernatural, right? Faith without asking can
actually bet for the supernatural. And we see
the case of the centurion, right? Matthew 8 scriptures.
We see the case of the centurion who just believed
that Jesus would say a word, right? Just say
a word and healing would take place. And Jesus
was really amazed and wondering, you know, what
manner of faith in his healing power, right?
As such a man expressed at this time. Seeking.
We see faith, which is believing, right? We also
see the woman who touched the hem of his garment.
If I would just touch the hem of his garment.
So we also saw our faith too, right? We saw our
faith in the context of that. And we see touching,
touching in line with that too. So faith in the
healing ministry of Christ. And she said, if
I only touch, right? She could have been like
the centurion and say, okay, Jesus would just.
say a word, right? Or just by belief. But she
said nothing about thought. So we see seeking,
we see believing, right? Having faith in what?
Healing ministry of Christ. And we also see touching,
right? So touching. So sometimes we see Jesus
lay hands on them. He put his hands on their
eyes and their eyes are open and all of that.
So we see touching, right? Touching takes place.
Laying of hands can also take place, which is
connected to touch. Now, also we can see that
people can also bring you, right? People can
have faith for someone who is sick, right? They
can have faith for someone who is sick and they
can bring the person. They can bring the person.
Matthew 8, 16. Matthew 8, verse 16. Matthew 8,
verse 16. This one is people bringing others,
right? Bringing others, having faith for other
people. And when Jesus entered Peter's house,
from verse 14, he saw his mother -in -law lying
sick with fever. He touched her and her fever
left. So touching again, Jesus lay hands on Peter's
mother -in -law and she was healed. Now verse
16 says, that evening they brought to him many
who were oppressed by demons and he cast out
the spirits of the world. and they healed all
who were sick. Healed all who were sick. So we
see that people had faith, right, for other people,
and they had faith that someone can be healed
by Christ, right? There are people who were sick,
and, you know, they had this faith, and it brought
them to meet Christ. So they were exercising
faith on behalf of their family members, on behalf
of people that were sick, and it brought them,
and by their faith, Jesus healed them. I see
that we can bring someone, we can exercise faith
for healing, right? So, again, there's another
scripture that we're going to check. Luke 5,
Luke 5, 17. Luke 5, verse 17. Just to add to
this one of people bringing others to Christ,
right? Luke 5. So, one of those, on one of...
Those days, as I was teaching, Pharisees and
teachers of the Lord were sitting there who had
come from every village of Galilee and Judea
and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord
was with him to heal. And behold, some men were
bringing on a bed, a man who was paralyzed. And
they were seeking to bring him in and lay him
before Jesus. But finding no way to bring him
in because of the crowd, they went up on the
roof and let him down with his bed, threw the
tiles into the mist before Jesus. And when he
saw their fates, right, he saw their fates, he
said, man, your sins are forgiven. And the scribes
and Pharisees began to question, saying, Who
is this who speak blasphemies? Who can forgive
sins but God? When Jesus perceived their thoughts,
right, he answered them. Why do you question
in your hearts? Which is easier to say, your
sins are forgiven, or to say, rise and walk?
But that you may know that the Son of Man has
authority on earth to forgive sins. He said to
the man who was paralyzed, I say to you, rise.
pick up your bed and go home. So in this context,
we see that people had faith in Christ for their
friend, right? People had faith in Christ, right,
for their friend. And that faith that they had
in Christ, right, was shown in their action as
well. So when they saw that the place was crowded,
right, they couldn't find a means. They could
have said, oh, we just need to go back, right?
What is the effort for? Or because they need.
that Christ could heal. They went through the
roof and they brought the man down. And Jesus
saw their faith. So it was not just the faith
of the man who is to be healed. He saw the faith
of this group of people who brought the man down.
So people can actually have faith for others
to heal. So when we come to church and we talk
about people who want to be healed, we pray for
your... your parents, like we pray for our mothers,
our fathers, our siblings that are sick, we are
exercising faith in Christ for them. We are exercising
faith in Christ for them. Therefore, through
that, the supernatural can also take place, right?
Of course, we've been talking about healing so
much in this context of supernatural, but we'll
stay there for now. So we can see that we can
exercise faith, right? And so on can come into
healing. Bye. our faith so this shows that the
faith of men so therefore it corroborates matthew
8 that says that many were brought to him right
many were brought to him and as they were possessed
by demons he cast them out with the word and
healed them so people had faith and their faith
uh yeah people now um We're saying two scriptures
in the line of receiving for people, right? Receiving,
healing for people. Of course, you know that
salvation cannot be received for someone, right?
Salvation cannot be received for someone. What
can be received, right? Is this kind of ministrations
as such as healing, right? Because you believe,
right? And you are interceding, you are praying
for the person, but the person can receive. And
don't forget, we also establish across most of
these scriptures and time of Christ, we saw that
most of these people did not believe in the message
of salvation itself, but they believed that Christ
can heal them. And they were just receiving,
right? They were just receiving the healing.
They were receiving the healing. So this is what
we see in this context, that faith can bring
about healing for someone, but of course we can't
have faith for them in terms of salvation in
that context. Because some of them are unbelievers,
we still see that they receive. Healing supernatural
express through the faith of others. Now, we
can also go to Matthew 8, 23 to 27 and find something
there as well. We've seen seeking, we've seen
believing, we've seen administered touching.
we've seen believing for others by bringing them,
right? When you bring people, you are showing
expression of being believed. If you also come
out, right, someone needs, your mom needs to
be healed, your dad needs to be healed, a brother,
a sibling has been on impact. When you come out
for that person also, you are, in essence, bringing
yourself, right, representing the person and
then we can agree together in prayer to the brother.
Now, Matthew 8, 23 and 27. And when it got...
into the boat. His disciples followed him, and
behold, there arose a great storm on the sea,
so that the boat was being swarmed by the waves.
But he was asleep, and they went and woke him,
saying, Save us, Lord, we are perishing. And
he said to them, Why are you afraid, O you of
little faith? Then he rose and rebuked the wind,
and the sea. And there was a great calm. And
when the men, and the men marveled, saying, what
sort of man is this that even winds and sea obey
him? Even wind and sea obey him. So what do we
see here? We see rebuking, actually. That's what
we see here. And I'm going to show us some other
scriptures that also talk about rebuking. So
we can rebuke. We can rebuke, actually, circumstances
in the natural. We can rebuke circumstances that
are natural to bring them into order, to bring
order into place, to stop a chaos, to stop a
problem, to intervene in an unpalatable situation
where people are engaged in. We can rebuke accidents.
There's nothing like we cannot pray against those
things. We can rebuke them, rebuke those things
that there will not be accidents, there will
not be theft. We can rebuke those things. So,
rebuking is another way that we put... our authority
into practice or we put our authority into action
when it comes to the supernatural so we can rebuke
secretion now if you just take a walk back to
uh verse 16 verse 16 that evening they brought
to him many who were oppressed by demons and
he cast out the spirits right with a word and
he healed all those who were sick. So this is
also similar, right? Rebuke, cast out, right?
They are direct expression of the believer's
authority, right? They are direct, direct expression
of the believer's authority, right? These are
direct expression of the believer's authority.
Therefore means that the believer, right? Should
primarily directly administer. Healing, directly
administer, casting out demons, directly rebuking
unpalatable situations. So this is the direct
expression of the authority of the believer.
So what I'm saying is that while people can seek,
while you can seek, while you can have faith
for something to take place, right, why you can
be administered upon, you can touch, you can
be touched, your hands can be laid, and so you
can lay hands as well. But there are circumstances
where the believer must rebuke, right, must rebuke
those situations. We see here that he was casting
out demons, he was rebuking. He was casting out
demons, and he was rebuking, he rebuked a situation,
right, he rebuked a situation. So this is, this
pattern is actually the direct expression, of
the believer, which we always talk about, right?
You can cast out demons. We don't negotiate with
demons. We don't have conversations with demons.
We don't have conversations with circumstances,
right? We don't have conversations with circumstances.
Is it important? We don't have such kind of conversations,
right? So what we do to unpalatable situations
is that we rebuke them. What we do to demons,
right, is that we cast them out. This is direct
expression. And this is where the believer should
regularly be. This is where the believer should
regularly be, right? So it's intentional that
we took us through all those other ones and up
until coming to this one now. This is where the,
what would I say? Would I say the magnitude of
the believer's authority. is put into action.
The magnitude of liberalism is put into action.
When we rebuke circumstances, when we cast out
demons, this is the magnitude of the believer's
authority. And this is where the believer should
regularly be. Regularly be as a believer. Now,
let's see. Let's see from Acts of Apostles. A
little bit. Acts of Apostles. Acts of Apostles,
chapter 3 as well. Acts of Apostles, chapter
3. I think we read that on Sunday. I'll show
you another form in which the magnitude of the
believer's authority is expressed, right? Another
form in which the magnitude of the believer's
authority is expressed. Now, Acts chapter 3,
it says, Now, Peter and John were going up to
the temple at the hour of prayer, the night hour,
and a lame man from birth was carried, whom they
laid daily at the gate of the temple that is
called the beautiful gate. to ask hands of those
entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about
to go into the temple, he asked to receive them.
And Peter directed his gate as him and as did
John and said, look at us. And he fixed his attention
on them, expecting to receive something from
them. But Peter said, I have no silver and gold,
but what I do have, I give to you in the name
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.
Rise up and walk. So this is a situation taking
place in the life of a man, right? Asking from
him, right? This man was lame. He was a lame
beggar. And what did the apostles did? They didn't
seek, right? They didn't seek. They didn't, you
know, lay hands. They didn't do anything. They
instructed the man out of the situation, right?
So they instructed the man out of the situation.
So what we can also do. As believers, expressing
our authority is that we can instruct people
to come out of unpalatable circumstances. We
can express our authority by commanding, actually,
that is it, commanding people to come out of
unpalatable circumstances, to give expression.
to what we want to see. That's another word to
say it. To give expression to what we want to
see. So you can instruct people to come out of
unparalleled situation. We can instruct or command
people to give expression to what we want to
see, right? So when you see the blind eyes, you
can say, I command that eyes to be opened. Let
your eyes be opened. So you are bringing the
person out of that circumstance, right? You are
bringing the person out of that circumstance.
Here they said, arise and walk. right that would
have sounded uh ridiculous if anyone who had
known that man for a long time that has been
sitting there right what what is this saying
can't you see that this guy has been here for
a long time in fact he's not even willing to
be healed he's actually looking for alms from
you right so people say what is he saying but
what did uh the apostles say and what So we can
command people out of circumstances. We can command
people out of chaos. We can command people who
are possessed out of those circumstances. So
we see rebuke as excess direct exercise of the
believer's authority, right? We see, what do
you call it? We see casting out demons as well
as direct, I mean, very impactful authority expressed
there. We also see here in this context, calling,
the man out of his circumstance. Right? Calling
the man out of his circumstance. So we see this
as the place where the believer should regularly
be. Right? The place where the believer should
dwell. We're not saying that the believer cannot
ask to be prayed for. Right? You can't be asked
to be prayed for. We can't say, we are not saying
that people cannot express faith for you. I've
expressed faithful faith on circumstances regarding
people's life and we see it come to pass. Right?
When we come together as a church and pray together,
we exercise faith on certain circumstances. That
is us. Right? But that is not the only way, and
that is not the only way we can receive. The
believer itself carries an authority, right?
The believer himself carries an authority that
can bring to bear the circumstances that we want
to see. So whatever we desire to see in a situation
where there's chaos, we can call it forth. We
can call it forth and command it to be as we
have seen. So rebuking, casting out demons, and
all of that are regularly where we should be.
Now, so we're done with these areas about receiving.
So the next thing we'll just discuss, which I'm
going to explain through the scripture, is actually
with regards to the preaching of the gospel.
With regards to the preaching of the gospel.
Also, still related to the supernatural. So people
believe that, not people believe, but across
the scripture, one... pattern or the order that
we have seen is that the supernatural can give
expression when the gospel is preached or rather
let me say the supernatural can give expression
after the gospel is being preached and also the
supernatural can be expressed before the gospel
is preached right before because there's a reason
why i'm saying this because we are not magicians
we are not showmen We are not showmen. We are
the power of God. We give expression to manifestation
of the things of God. We give expression to healing.
We command, we instruct circumstances to come
alive. We instruct the eyes of the blind to open,
the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, the lame
to walk, those who are sick to be healed. We
have the capacity to do this because the Spirit
of God is in us. However, we are not showmen.
We are not showmen. to just engage in those things.
So what pattern did we see in the scripture,
right? Because, you know, over the years, this
is one of the areas I've questioned, right? Because
I see people, they give expression to healing
and they just let people go, right? So they just
laid their hands and they just let them go and
all of that. So what we see, right? What we see...
in this, in the scriptures, what we see in the
scriptures is that the preaching of the gospel
moves with signs and wonders. And signs and wonders
and miracles and the workings of the power of
God can also take place and the preaching of
the gospel follows. Right? This is the most,
I mean, this consistent pattern of Christ's teachings
and what we see in the scriptures. So let's go
to Matthew. Let's go to Matthew to first establish
this. First of all, the emphasis that we are
not magicians, we are not showmen, right? The
miracles, signs, and wonders should be followed
by the preaching of the gospel or when we preach
and we can give expression to it. So either ways,
both of them are patterns that are scriptural,
right? But to heal and just, you know, let them
just go and all of that, most of the time, is
not what we think. From Matthew 5, okay? From
Matthew 5, Jesus started a teaching. He began
to teach and give, expressing things regarding
the kingdom of God, expressing the law, things
relating to the law, teaching about divorce,
retaliation. You move to chapter 6, you see Jesus
teaching about giving, right? Teaching about
giving, teaching the disciples, right? What is
written there as the Lord's Prayer, right? Explaining
to them, right, the realities of the kingdom
of God. in that prayer, you move downward, you
see fasting and all of that. And this prayer
extended up to chapter 7 and ended in chapter,
verse 28. Verse 28 of chapter 7 says, when Jesus
has finished these sayings, which is teachings,
right? You know, called the Sermon on the Mount.
I think these teachings, the crowd were astonished
at his teaching, for he was teaching them as
one who had authority, not as the scribe. So
we see that teaching. That kind of a long, extensive
teaching. Then it is on conduct that we begin
to see. Verse 8. Because verse 5, if you read
chapter 5, first of all, if you read chapter
5, verse 1. Chapter 5, verse 1 says, Seeing the
crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when
he sat down, his disciples came to him. So chapter
5, he climbed up the mountain. Then chapter 8,
right? It says, chapter 8 verse 1 when he came
down from the mountain great crowds followed
him and behold a leper was lame a leper came
to him and he knelt before him saying lord if
you will make me clean and from there we see
the entire chapter 8 right even into chapter
9 Christ manifesting the supernatural, right?
Among the people that have followed him, that
have listened to the sermon, right? He came down,
they followed him and he continued to. So after
teachings, right? We should expect the supernatural.
After teachings, we should expect the supernatural.
After the preaching of the gospel, we should
expect the supernatural. We should give room
also for the supernatural. So while people are
teaching, pastors are teaching, we should set
our hearts that as this teaching is going on,
you can receive during the teaching. And after
the teaching, we can give expression and open
the opportunity for people to receive more. So
the preaching and the supernatural expression,
the manifestation of healing, deliverance, the
casting out demons, exercising the authority
that we have, bringing in order in people's lives.
comes together preaching and the supernatural
manifestations work together we see that they
work together in this so first the pattern we
see is preaching and afterwards we see jesus
expressing this now if we go to max 16 as well
go to max 16 right which is the scripture that
we regularly read from verse 14 they said after
he had appeared to the 11 themselves as they
were reclining at the table. He rebuked them
for their unbelief and hardness of hearts because
they had not believed those who saw him after
he had risen. And he said to them, go into the
world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
Whosoever believes is baptized. Whosoever believes
will be baptized. But whosoever does not believe
will be condemned. And these signs, right, will
accompany those who believe. In my name, they
will cast out demons. They will speak. Whosoever
believes is baptized. Whosoever believes will
be baptized. But whosoever does not believe will
be condemned. And these signs, right, will accompany
those who believe. In my name, they will cast
out demons. They will speak in new tongues. They
will pick up serpents with their hands. And if
they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt
them. They will lay their hands on the sick and
they will die. recover, right? So he said these
signs, right? So first, what we see there is
go and proclaim the gospel. This is not a, I
mean, the first time he's saying it, he's going
to check that also in Matthew, we'll find it
there. So he said, go and preach the gospel,
right? As you preach, these signs will accompany
those who believe, right? These signs will follow
their, you know, their preaching, right? In my
name, they will cast out demons. These people
that I'm sending now, as they are preaching the
gospel, These signs will be following. So what
are signs, right? What signs are they talking
about here, right? It's not, it's actually referring
to something that shows, right? Something that
shows with evidence, with proof, the presence
of the one who has sent them, right? So that
sign is something, things, right? Things that
show the presence, the proof. The evidence of
the one who ascended. So when they preach, the
evidence of him who ascended, which is manifestation
of peace of God by the supernatural, follow them
evidently. So we see it here as another pattern.
So the preaching of the gospel and the supernatural,
they work together. See it there. That Jesus
doesn't just go and preach the gospel, but these
signs will follow them. That belief, right? In
his authority, in his authority. So you see that
it is about evidence and proof of him who has
sent them. Evidence and proof of the authority
of Christ. So in my name, they will do what?
They will cast out demons. My reputation in all
that I've achieved in my name, in my authority,
right? In my office, they will do these things.
Right? They will give expressions of supernatural
as they are preaching. These signs will follow
them. So we also go to Matthew 10. Matthew 10.
So I took us to Matthew 10. Just to establish
significantly that we are not showmen. Right?
We are not showmen. We are not people who are
just on the street. We are not just looking for
people. In fact, the essence of this is... is
attached to the gospel. The essence of the manifestation
of the supernatural, right, in many ways, especially
when it regards to people who don't believe,
is attached to the gospel. The essence of it
is attached to the gospel, right, so that people
can hear and they can believe, right, they can
believe. Matthew 10, verse 5. And the twelve
disciples sent out, and these twelve Jesus sent
out, instructing them, go nowhere among the Gentiles,
and enter... no town of the Samaritan, but go
to the lost house of Israel and proclaim as you
go, saying, the kingdom of God is at end. That's
the gospel, right? Preaching the kingdom of God
is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse
the leper, cast out demons. You receive without
paying, give also without paying. We see that
he said that. Preach the kingdom. As you preach
the kingdom, let the signs of the kingdom follow.
The manifestations of this kingdom in the supernatural,
let it follow. So preaching again, being followed
by the manifestations of the power of God. So
when you are preaching, as you go for evangelism,
you should expect... You should expect that you
give expression to these things. You can give
a word to the person. You can heal them. You
can tell them about someone the spirit is leading
you to instruct. You can give them instructions.
You can heal them. You can heal someone they
know. That's another one. You can have a word
for them regarding someone they know that is
sick and you can heal them. You can also cleanse
the confusion in their life. It means that you
can give them direction. You can give them word
of wisdom, word of knowledge, explaining and
clearing every confusion in their life as you
go to preach. So the supernatural is something
we should expect. In fact, after you have preached,
whether the person even hear or believe or do
not believe, it is necessary, right? Or it is
helpful that you allow yourself to give expression
to the power of God. So whether the person has
believed or not, just... Take some time out before
you leave the person, right? Before you leave
the person, you take some time out and you give
expression. You give a word of encouragement.
You give a word of wisdom. You heal. You speak
things that the scripture calls signs that should
follow those that are believed, right? So you
give a sign. Because we have established that
they can receive whether they believe or they
are unbelievers, right? It is about you who is
giving the supernatural out. So there's nothing
wrong in saying, okay, you have my belief, but
I still keep you the supernatural. And that can
just be what will just make the message, you
know, come alive. Because both the message and
the supernatural are the power of God. Hallelujah.
Both the message and the supernatural are the
power of God. Both the message and the supernatural.
We see it here as... So for three scriptures
now, we've seen how the preaching of the gospel
is accompanied by signs and wonders. It is not
for sure, right? It's not... For sure. Now, let's
go to Acts. Let's go to Acts. Especially in the
life of the apostles. Or in the life of the apostles.
Let's go to Acts. And let's see how they were
explaining. When things happen, they have to
explain. They were explaining because... Alright.
So, let's look at this same chapter 3. This same
chapter 3. Something happened there. Chapter
3. Now, after they had healed the man in verse
6. Verse 7. He took him by the right hand and
raised him up. right? He took him by the right
hand and raised him up. I'm trusting that when
there's more time that we are teaching about
the gift of the Spirit, the supernatural, the
expression and emancipation of the Spirit, the
workings of miracles, right? As we, you know,
time goes on, we'll have time to talk about that
much more and to see how people can manifest
or operate or work the miracles of God out. So,
look at what he says. He, took his hand, for
example, in this case, he took him and raised
him up. So he helped him up, right? He took him
by the right hand and raised him up. I mean,
immediately his feet and his ankles were made
strong. And limping up, he stood and began to
walk. So we see how gradually he received healing
and the apostles walked it out with him. Right?
Walked it out with. So we'll see this hopefully
in the future. Now, as he was leaping, he began
to walk and enter the temple with them. Walking
and leaping and praising God. Right? And all
the people saw him walking and praising God and
recognizing him as the one who sat at the beautiful
gates of the temple asking for hands. And they
were filled with wonder and amazement at what
had happened to him. Now look at what happened.
While he clung to Peter and John, right? He clung
to Peter and John. All the people utterly astounded.
So he held them, right? So he was still limping.
He was still trying to get his balance, right?
For someone who has not worked for a long time,
right? Receiving healing. So he's trying to get
a balance and he held on to Peter and John, right?
More like an, I don't know, would I say implicating
them? Ran together to them in the... particle
called solomon and when peter saw it right he
watched all the people outlier standard run together
to them in the particle called solomon and when
people saw it uh sorry when peter saw it he addressed
the people so people came around right they saw
the miracles the man holding peter and john then
they came around and when peter saw that these
people had come around he has to explain something
to them so miracles can bring people right can
bring people come around. Miracles can bring
people to come around. And their coming around
is for the preaching of the gospel. So Peter
began to explain, men of Israel, why do you wonder
at this? So signs and wonders are taking place,
right? And it was beginning to wonder why they
were wondering. But of course they were wondering
because they were filled with unbelief. So the
people who gather when there is signs and wonders
and begin to look and they are wondering and
they are amazed. They are working in unbelief.
When signs and wonders happen, a believer sees
it, he glorifies God. He does not run to the
man and say, what have you done? Or go there
and begin to watch as if it's a movie. You know,
it's not supposed to be a movie. It's not supposed
to be, a believer cannot respond to signs and
wonders as a movie, right? A believer cannot
respond to signs and wonders as a movie. It's
not. But you glorify God and say, this is God's
doing, right? You know, remember that Simon the
Sorcerer too. When he saw signs and wonders,
he too ran, right? He ran to go and collect power.
It's also not to collect power. So when you see
signs and wonders, you want to go and catch the
person's leg. It's unreasonable, right? It's
unreasonable. That's not the way a believer responds.
The signs and wonders and the workings of America
and all of this are not a surprise to you as
a believer. It's not a surprise to me as a believer.
I glorify God because it's the power of God.
But look at, right, all the people utterly astounded.
They ran together to them in the portico called
Solomon. When Peter saw all those people gathering,
so he raised a crowd, raised the people coming
together. What did he use? He used the opportunity
to preach to them, right? He used the opportunity
to preach to them. Men of Israel, why do you
wonder at this? Or why do you stare at us as
though by our own power or piety? We have made
him walk. You see, first, explaining the power
of God is not by our power. Now, look at what
he used. The God of Abraham and the God of Isaac,
the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers glorified
his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and
denied in the presence of fire. Now, if you start
to use what they could relate to it, right? What
they could relate to this God of Abraham, God
of Isaac, God of Jacob. talking about the promise
of God, right? So he used what they could relate
with and began to preach to them, right? He preached
to them up until verse 22. He continued preaching
to them and said, Moses said, the Lord God will
raise for you a prophet like me from your brothers.
You shall listen to him in whatever he tells
you. And it shall be that every soul who does
not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed
from the people. And all the prophets whom spoken
from Samuel and those who came after him also
proclaim these days. You are the sons of the
prophet and of the covenant that God made with
your fathers, saying to Abraham, and in your
office shall all the families of the earth be
blessed. God hath raised up his servant sent
unto you first to bless you by turning everyone
from your wickedness. Right? So, he preached
the gospel. He preached to them. He explained.
He connected everything together and explained
to them. Praise God. Now, that's why we have
so many of these, so many of this pattern. So
many of this pattern, we have them. Now, let's
see. Let's see a couple of other scriptures that
we are going to see. Now, let's look at Acts.
Let's look at Acts. I'm just going to pick up
another explanation, right? Let's look at Acts.
Acts chapter 10. Chapter 10. Acts chapter 10.
Now, this was another situation where an explanation
had to be given. Something happened, right? And
an explanation had to be given. And it gave a
chance, right, for the preaching of the gospel.
So, Acts chapter 10, verse 9. Acts chapter 10,
verse 9. I don't think we'll have more time to
read everything. But this is actually Peter's
vision. Peter saw a vision, right? And in verse
13, it said, there came a voice to him saying,
rise, Peter, and kill and eat. But Peter said,
by no means, Lord, I have never eaten anything
called unclean. Now we know the story that is
referring to the case of Cornelius, right? Someone
who is not within. the confinement of Israel,
right? He said, at Caesarea, there was a man
named Cornelius, a centurion, who was known as
the Italian cohort. So it was not like any Jewish
person, right? So the context of this is that
there was a vision that was seen. So Peter saw
a revelation of what God will do, right, in a
people's life. I'll say a people's life because
it's not just Cornelius alone, right? But Cornelius
was the pointer to... That part, that God will
also bring, right, others into what he is doing.
And there will be no segregation among the people
of God, right? Within the church, within the
household of God, there will be no segregation.
So we see there that Peter was saying, I want
to eat something that is uncommon. And we saw
that up until verse 30, Cornelius explained the
story to Peter and Peter also explained the vision.
right that he saw so from verse 34 you see so
peter opened his mouth and said truly i understand
that god shows no partiality okay but in every
nation anyone who fears him and does what is
right is acceptable to him and as for the word
that is sent to israel preaching good news of
peace through jesus christ and he explained all
of that He explained the gospel in verse 44.
He said, while Peter was still saying this thing,
the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.
So he had a vision, which is something supernatural,
spiritual, how you call it. He had a vision.
And in the natural, he had a convert, which is
preaching to someone, Cornelius. believing and
we see the supernatural uh taking place the holy
spirit falling on them that we are listening
to the scriptures or to what uh peter was teaching
so what we see here first is that he had a vision
which is a supernatural uh revelation right which
had an interpretation. And through that, the
preaching of the gospel took place, right? After
understanding everything, the preaching of the
gospel took place. And then many others, right?
Upon many others, the Holy Spirit fell. The Holy
Spirit fell. So in this case, we see that it's
not directly healing, but we see also that it's
a supernatural revelation, right? That led to
the preaching of the gospel and people receive,
people receive the Holy Ghost and they believe.
On every account, right, on every account that
we have a supernatural encounter, whether we
heal people, whether we cast out demons, whether
we see a vision and a clarity and an understanding
of what God is doing, the end point is not for
sure, right? The end point is not for sure. So
you see something, right? Because true, there
are visions and there are visions that God still
communicates with us. And we know that we vet
these visions, right, by the message of God.
There are also supernatural encounters, right?
We can, you know, we can have different supernatural
encounters and we can vet them by the scriptures
and we can hold on to the truth of the message
that we find in them. The end point of every
supernatural encounter is not for a show. It's
that the message of God will be preached and
many will come to believe. Right? That the message
of God. So as we desire this much more, as we
expect it in our meetings, as we look forward
to the manifestation of it, the end point, right?
Especially when we are ministering to unbelievers,
is that they will come to believe. They will
come to believe. Right? They will come to the
knowledge of Christ. They will come to know the
message of the gospel. So the emphasis, right?
would not be the supernatural. The embassy would
not just be, oh, we want to do the science. That's
part of what comes with the preaching, right?
So the embassy is both together, right? Both
together, the teaching and the manifestation
of the gospel. So as we go to preach, as we see
revelations, these are the things that we must
pay attention to. We must pay attention to this,
right? So just finish with Matthew 28, right?
Just go with Matthew 28. Verse 28. Matthew 28,
verse 18. And behold, I am with you always to
the end of the age. I am with you always till
the end of the age. And we see that the instruction
is go to go and preach, to go and make disciples
from all nations. And Christ says that I am with
you always. And just like I said last night,
because Christ is with you, while the preaching
of the gospel is taking place, all that is in
Christ can find expression. So as you are preaching,
as you have received authority to go and preach,
Christ says, I am with you till the end of the
age. So all that is found in Christ can find
expression with you. All that Christ did can
find expression with you. The healing can find
expression with you. The revelation, the teaching
with power, teaching as one with authority can
find expression in you. So therefore, we preach
signs and wonders following. Miracles following
because we have the authority through Christ.
We have Christ ever present with us to be able
to make us manifest. So we don't have any reason
to doubt it, right? We don't have any reason
to doubt it. Also, another thing is that when
we preach, right, when we preach, it helps us
to, it solidifies us, actually, right? Sometimes
when you're going for a baptism and you're preaching,
it solidifies you. In a way, it kind of prepares
you. to expect the supernatural. It so much prepares
you. When you have preaching at the core of your
mind, you have that this soul would believe at
the core of your mind. It helps you to believe
the supernatural because you have a goal. The
goal is not just to heal, but also that these
people might come to the knowledge of Christ.
Praise God. I will just give thanks this evening
and say thank you, Jesus, that as we go, as we
preach, we see the manifestation of the supernatural.
We see healing taking place. We see deliverance
taking place. We see casting out demons taking
place. We see opening the eyes of people. We
give word to people. They understand as we preach,
we have the boldness to give expression to this
thing. As we preach, we are intentional. giving
time to open the eyes of people to see and partake
in this supernatural power of God. Through us,
as we also manifest the supernatural, can we
pray that as we manifest the supernatural, even
spontaneously, in the name of Jesus, we give
ourselves to the preaching. We will not forget
the preaching. As we manifest, as we heal, as
we lay hands on people, oh, in the name of Jesus,
as we say, let me pray with you, as we hold on
to faith and encourage people, can we pray in
the name of Jesus? that we do not forget the
message. We run with the message. We teach the
message. As we are healing, we are teaching the
message. We are pointing them. And Peter and
John will say, why do you think that we have
done this through our own power? It is not by
our own power we have done this, but by the power
of God. That as we manifest the power of God,
we point them to the one. whose power is at work
in us. We point them to the one whose power is
resident in us. We point them to the one through
whom we are doing all things. Can we pray in
the name of Jesus? God bless.