Welcome to NECF Sermons. Each message here is
designed to uplift and strengthen you in your
walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until
the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive
right in. Acts chapter 1. It says, but you. shall
receive power, chapter 1, verse 8, when the Holy
Spirit has come upon you. And you shall be witnesses
to me in Jerusalem. Hallelujah. And in all Judea
and unto the ends of the earth. Hallelujah. This
is our reality, that we have access to the fullness
of the Spirit of God and we move and live our
life by the influence of this Spirit. Matthew
16, verse 19, Jesus was speaking particularly
to Peter. He says, I will give you the access.
And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of
heaven. And these keys refer to access. And we
concluded that this access is what? It's the
spirit of God. Hallelujah. And I will give you
the access into the kingdom of heaven. And this
access comes with authority. And the authority
enables the believer to bind and to lose. And
whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven.
And whatever you lose on earth will be lost in
heaven. Hallelujah. And then from the previous
teaching, we saw and examined some practical
examples from the book of Acts of men who leave
the earth and exemplify these realities. We saw
the life of Stephen. Stephen was a man of like
passion as ours. He was a man full of the spirit.
We saw the story of Philip and also Ananias,
who by the power of the Holy Spirit manifested
this reality. They manifested the kingdom of
God by the preaching of the gospel accompanied
by signs and wonders. Hallelujah. And we say
that this is also our own reality. Amen. In our
own day, in our own time, there is a demand of
heaven upon us that we also demonstrate same
power. As we see in scriptures, these are not
just fairy tales. Hallelujah. These are not just
stories for men that have lived and have died.
But it is your reality. It is my reality. It
is our reality that will bring heaven on earth.
That will bring about the realities of the kingdom
of heaven on earth. That by the preaching of
the gospel, healing takes place. By the preaching
of the gospel, chains are broken. By the preaching
of the gospel, We perform miraculous signs and
wonders. And this is not for some specific set
of people. But it is the reality of every believer.
Hallelujah. So long as you believe. The Bible
says in Mark chapter 16. Mark chapter 16. Mark
chapter 16. Says he who believes and is baptized
will be saved. But he who does not believe will
be condemned. Verse 17. And these signs, what
signs? The signs of all the things we see. So
these signs will follow him that believe. In
my name, they will cast out devils. They will
speak with new tongues. And they will take up
servants. And they drink anything deadly. It
will by no means hurt them. They will lay hands
on the sick. And what will happen to the sick?
the sick will recover. Hallelujah. Now let's
see another example. In Acts chapter 9. Acts
chapter 9, verse 31. Example of a man of like
passion as ours. This is not an angel, but it's
for men. Acts chapter 9, verse 31 to 35. When
the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee and
Samaria, had peace and were edified. And walking
in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the
Holy Spirit, they multiplied. Now it came to
pass, as Peter went through all the parts of
the country, that he also came down to the saints
who dwelt in Lydda, where he found a certain
man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight
years and was paralyzed. And Peter said to him,
Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you. Arise and
make your bed. Then what happened immediately?
The Bible says he arose, right? Arise and make
your bed. Then he arose immediately. So all who
dwell at Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned
to the Lord. This is the effect of what? was
done. Hallelujah. The pointer to this sign is
the redemption of the souls of men. Amen? Further
on. At Joppa, there was a certain disciple named
Thabitha, which is translated Dokas. This woman
was full of good works and charitable deeds which
she did. But it happened in those days that she
became sick and died. When they had washed her,
They laid her in an upper room, and since Leda
was near Joppa, and the disciples heard, hallelujah,
they heard that Peter was there, they sent two
men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming
to them. Then Peter arose and went with them.
And when he had come, they brought him to the
upper room, and all the widows stood by him,
weeping, showing the tonics. and the garments
which Doca has made while she was with them.
But Peter put them all down and knelt down and
prayed, and turning to the body, he said, Tabitha,
arise. He spoke a word. He said, arise. And she
opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she
sat up. Then he gave her his hand and lifted
her up, and when he had called the saints and
widows, he presented her alive. Verse 42. And
it became known throughout all Joppa. And many
what? And many believed. Hallelujah. That is
the essence of the signs and wonders. That men
will believe. And many believed on the Lord.
So it was that he stayed. It was that he stayed
many days in Joppa with Simon Etana. Hallelujah.
So Peter here is another example of God walking
through ordinary men. Hallelujah. God walking
through ordinary men, men like you and I, God
walking through ordinary men to do extraordinary,
supernatural work on the face of the earth. And
I want to bring to our remembrance as well as
we've sung and we've prayed that this is your
heritage. Hallelujah. This is your heritage.
This is your heritage. This is all that you have
received by the Spirit when you believed. The
same Peter. A man of, a frail man. If you look
through the story of Peter, you will see that
Peter was a weak man. Amen? But at the receiving
of the Holy Spirit, there was a new man. Let's
look at instances. Luke 22, verse 54. Where he
denied Jesus. Luke 22. Yes. Having arrested him
when Jesus was arrested, they laid him and brought
him into the high priest's house. But Peter followed
at a distance. Now when they had kindled a fire
in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together,
Peter sat among them. And a certain girl, seeing
him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at
him and said, This man was also with him. But
he denied, saying, Woman, I do not know him.
He denied knowing Jesus. And after a little while,
another saw him and said, You also are of them.
But Peter saw, Man, I am not. Then after about
an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed,
saying, Surely this fellow was with him, for
he is a Galilean. But Peter said, man, I do not
know what you are saying. Immediately while he
was still speaking, the rooster crowed. Hallelujah.
Not only after that, Jesus died and Jesus rose
again. And we see another instance where Peter
gave up. In John chapter 21, verse 1 to 5. After
the resurrection, Peter said, I go out fishing.
John chapter... Chapter 21 from verse 1 to 5.
I'm just trying to show you a level of inconsistency
in a man. After these things, Jesus showed himself
again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.
And in this way, he showed himself. Simon Peter,
Thomas, Carl the Twin, Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee,
the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples
were together. Simon Peter said to them, I am
going fishing. They said to him, we are going
with you also. They went out and immediately
got into the boat. That night they caught nothing.
But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood
on the shore, yet the disciples did not know
that it was Jesus. Then Jesus said to them, children,
have you any food? They answered him, no. And
then we read on, we read on, we see where Jesus,
you know, correcting Peter and bringing him back
to his senses and reintroducing to him the purpose
to which he has called him out. Hallelujah. Now,
I want you to understand that this is a Peter
that was weak, frail, all right? When we look
through history in scriptures, we discover that
all the men that did extraordinary things on
the earth are ordinary men ordinary lives. Hallelujah.
But when the Spirit of God had come upon Peter,
when we read Acts chapter 2, after the Pentecost,
we see the power that began to operate in Peter.
Hallelujah. The Bible says in Acts that we read
verse 1, verse 8 talks about power, alright?
Power coming into a man when the Holy Ghost arrives.
Amen? And this is the same Peter that we see
moving from place to place. operating in the
supernatural because the Holy Spirit has induced
such a man. Hallelujah. So also is the reality
of a man, regardless of your experience in life,
regardless of your shortcoming, the moment you
believe in the Word of God, the moment you come
into relationship with God and His Spirit indwells
you, it comes with power. Hallelujah. And that
power is not only for you to live, above sin,
but it's also to manifest the power of the Holy
Spirit in signs and wonders. Hallelujah. So in
Acts chapter 9, we see the essence of the miraculous
signs. It's not only to meet the needs of the
saints, but most importantly, to lead men to
Christ. Most importantly, to lead men to Christ.
And for us to effectively do that in our generation,
we cannot neglect The supernatural. Hallelujah.
We cannot attempt to neglect the supernatural.
We cannot deny the operations of the supernatural.
I said this the last time. I said you're born
again is a supernatural experience. You didn't
become born again by any human calculation. But
it is the will of the spirit. It is the workings
of the spirit in the man that regenerates him
into who he is. Then we'll begin to see the power
afloat in your life, the transformation of your
character, the transformation of your ways. We
begin to see boldness in you. This is a supernatural
experience. And for you to deny the supernatural
in signs and wonders is equally to deny the salvation
that is a supernatural activity. Hallelujah.
So to attest to the supernatural work in you,
We expect, God expects upon us that we go out
there and manifest the fullness of His Spirit
as we go about preaching the gospel in our daily
lives. Hallelujah. So, several scriptures will
see records. And why do we have these records?
Romans chapter 15, verse 4. Romans chapter 15,
verse 4. I'll read from the Amplified. It says,
for whatever was written in the earlier times,
was written for what? For our instructions. Instructions
here means for our teaching, for teaching. So
that through endurance and the encouragement
of scripture, we might have hope and do what?
And overflow with confidence in his promises.
Hallelujah. So all the records of the things
we see in scriptures is not just to give us a
theological knowledge in our head. But the essence
is for our instructions. The essence of the practicals
we see in scriptures is that we will believe
in the gospel message, is that we also will be
empowered with faith to do equally the same.
So that through endurance and encouragement of
scripture, we might have hope and overflow with
confidence in his promise. It therefore means
that those historical facts recorded for us in
the Bible are not just for fun. Hallelujah. They
are not just for fun. They are for us to learn
from them. They are for us to see what God is
doing and also partake in what God has been doing.
Hallelujah. It's for us to learn. It's for us
to believe. And it is for us to practice. Because
God has not changed his ways. He has not changed
his plan. God is the same yesterday. He is the
same today. And forever he will be. Hebrews 13
verse 8 talks about the consistency of who God
is. In Jesus Christ, he is the same. Yesterday,
today, and forever. So since we equally have
the same access. Because these men we read in
scriptures are men that have access to the authority
that is in God. These are men that have access
to all the resources that is in Christ. So since
we equally have the access to the kingdom of
God and all the resources that has been made
available to believers, as seen in the examples
we've read, why don't we also experience these
tremendous manifestations in our daily lives?
Why don't you, the believer, manifest tremendously
the works of the Spirit in our individual lives.
We've looked at the life of Peter or the life
of Stephen and we say that Stephen was not among
the apostles. Stephen was what we call a church
member. And then we see tremendously how he was
full of the Spirit and then he operated in the
fullness of the Spirit. We saw the life of Philip
as well, who was not part of the apostles. He
was what we would call a church member, but we
see tremendously the walkings of the Spirit of
God in him. We see Ananias, who was not even
part of the apostles, but we see how powerfully
he walked in the dimension of the Spirit. And
all the promises of God in Christ are yes and
they are amen. That is 2 Corinthians 1 verse
20. That is they find their fulfillment in Christ.
All the promises are encapsulated in Christ.
For all the promises of God in him are yes and
in him amen to the glory of God through who?
Through us. Meaning that we find the fulfillment
of all of God's promises in Christ. And we have
Christ in us. Hallelujah. We have the totality
of God in us. The same God that was in them is
the same God that lives in you, the believer,
today. So what do we expect? We expect to see
the fulfillment of all that the scripture has
said about the believer. In Mark chapter 16,
verse 15 to 20, that we read earlier on, it says
that signs are to follow those who believe. As
they go about preaching the gospel, signs and
wonders will follow. All these signs will follow
those who believe in my name. They will cast
out devils. They will speak with new tongues.
Verse 18, they will take up serpents and if they
think any deadly thing, it will by no means hurt
them. They will lay their hands on the sick and
they will recover. Verse 19. So then after the
Lord had spoken to them, he was received up into
heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
Verse 20. And they went out. Hallelujah. They
went out what? They went out to preach. And we
see that they went out to preach everywhere as
instructed. And the Lord walking with them. Confirming
the word. They spoke. Through what? Accompanying
signs. Hallelujah. Do we experience this supernatural
in our daily lives? Probably we are living. Contrary
to the instruction of going out. Therefore it
is difficult. To live and experience this in
our daily lives. Because this is an empowerment.
In Acts chapter 1 verse 86. You shall do witnesses.
Hallelujah. So if you are not a man and a woman
that is going out at all times, looking for opportunities
to preach the gospel, it means that you're going
to limit the flow of this power that is resident
in you. So we ask ourselves, why do we often
not see much of this manifestation in our lives?
And on Wednesday, we say that because there is
what we call the flesh. Hallelujah. Often are
carnally minded and do not walk in our nature.
Because we are often carnally minded and not
walking in our nature. That is walking in the
spirit. Galatians chapter 5 verse 16 to 18. Galatians
chapter 5 verse 16 to 18. I say then walk in
the spirit. And you shall not fulfill the lust
of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And
these are contrary to one another, so that you
do not do the things that you wish. Verse 18.
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not
under the law. Hallelujah. So verse 16 and 17,
we will see, two contradicting influences over
a man's life. Now, we're not saying that the
spirit and the flesh coexist. Amen? The spirit
and the flesh cannot coexist in a man. But there
is two, there are rather two contradicting influences
in a man. Hallelujah. We established last time
that all of us are a product of influences. No
man is neutral on earth. All of us are a product
of influence. And we choose what influences us.
So what did we see was the flesh. We said in
the Greek, the word is translated from a Greek
word, I don't know whether I pronounced it correctly.
And in our study, we saw that this word could
mean two things. First of all, It means, it can
mean the physical body, the physical flesh, the
physical body, flesh, flesh and blood, flesh.
And it could also mean a nature, a spiritual
nature. And the context of his usage in this
passage, the flesh does not mean physical body.
Hallelujah. So what the Galatians... 5 verse
16 is talking about is not a struggle between
the physical body and the spirit. Your physical
body is not in struggle with the spirit of God.
Because your physical body is actually the temple
of the spirit of God. It is God's desire to dwell
in your physical body. So your physical body
is not a crime. Hallelujah. It's not anti -God.
So sometimes we want to mutilate our bodies because
we think that the body is not behaving the way
it ought to behave. No. There is an influence
that influences the body. Hallelujah. So when
we don't see the things we ought to see, it means
that there is an influence. And that influence
is what we call the flesh. A spiritual nature.
It is that nature without the influence of God.
It is also called what? The world or worldliness.
It is also called in our translation, the carnal
nature, the sinful nature, the old nature, the
sinful mind. It is also called the evil nature
and many other words used in describing this
nature. We say that flesh refers to a thinking
pattern. It influences the thinking pattern of
a man. A thinking pattern that is different from
what is of God. It is actually independent of
God. And this nature is against God. This flesh,
or what we call the carnal nature, is against
God, is in opposition to God and all the things
of God. This nature will not prompt you to pray.
Hallelujah. This nature will not influence you
to do the works of evangelism, to go to preach
the gospel. Even if we attempt to preach the
gospel, this nature will corrupt it. The focus
of flesh itself, it doesn't bring glory to God.
And sometimes the flesh can parrot itself in
seemingly, you know, godly way. Hallelujah. It
can be in form of pride. It can be in silent
activities of men that can easily be contradicted.
to the workings of the spirit. Flesh can actually
preach, but the ends is not for the glory of
God, but is for self -aggrandizement. Hallelujah.
So flesh is an influence that operate in men.
And we saw the manifestation of this flesh. We
saw that it is obvious in verse 19 of that Galatians.
He says the manifestation of the flesh are obvious.
Now the works of the flesh are what? Are evident.
Which are what? Sexual immorality, adultery,
fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry,
sorcery, hatred, contentious, jealousies, outbursts
of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
envy, murders, drunkenness, rivalries, and the
like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as
I told you also, that those who practice such
things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Hallelujah.
So the believer has no sinful nature in him.
That's one thing that we need to establish. That
in the believer, alright, in the believer, the
carnal nature does not exist. In the believer,
the sinful nature does not exist. The flesh cannot
be found in the believer. Because at salvation,
the believer has crucified the flesh. It is not
your nature. The believer does not carry in him
the nature of the flesh. Because the flesh and
the spirit cannot coexist in a body. Amen. 2
Corinthians 5 verse 17 in the Amplified. 2 Corinthians
5 verse 17. He says, therefore, if any man is
in Christ, that is, he is grafted, he has come
into union with Christ. He is joined to him by
faith and in him as Savior. He is what? He is
a new creature. He is reborn, renewed by the
Holy Spirit. The all things, now these all things,
It's referring to that nature. It's referring
to that carnal nature. It's referring to that
sinful nature. Old things. Not A -L -L, but O
-L -D. Old things, right? Old things. The previous
moral and spiritual condition. Any man that is
not born again is in that moral and spiritual
condition. But a man that is born again, the
old things have what? Have passed away. The old
things or the old man or the old nature has died.
He has passed away. Behold, new things have what?
Have come. Why? Because the spiritual awakening
brings in what? A new life in the man. Hallelujah.
So the believer has a new man in him. All things
and their manifestations, as we see listed in
Galatians 5, that nature, the nature that produces
these activities that is obvious to the eyes
to see, have what? Have passed away. So what
does it mean to a believer? If you see this manifestation
happening in your life, it is illegitimate. It
means that you are acting beyond yourself. It
means that you are not living commensurately
to your nature as the new creature. Galatians
5 verse 24 further emphasizes the reality of
a man in Christ. It says, and those who belong
to Christ Jesus have what? They have crucified
what? Is it that they were crucified or they
have crucified? It's a past tense. It is a reality
of the believer now that a man in Christ has
crucified that sinful nature, that nature we
refer to as flesh, that source of influence that
is anti -God has been crucified together with
their passions and their appetites. So the desires
of that nature has been crucified to the cross
of Christ. And there's a new nature in the believer.
So it becomes unnatural for man that is in Christ
to behave beyond his nature that is a new creature.
Romans chapter 6, verse 1. Father emphasizes
the reality, your reality and my reality in Christ.
What shall we say to all this? Should we continue
in sin and practice sin as a habit so that God's
gift of grace may increase and overflow? Certainly
not. How can we, the very ones who die to sin,
who died to that nature, that sin nature, how
can we, the very ones who died to sin, continue
to live in it any longer? Oh, are you ignorant
of the fact that all of us who have been baptized
into Christ Jesus, now this baptized into Christ
Jesus is not referring to water baptism. It refers
to all of us who have believed in Jesus Christ.
who have participated in his death. Verse 4.
We have therefore been what? Been buried with
him through baptism into his death, so that just
as Christ was raised from the dead through the
glory and the power of the Father, we too might
walk how? What should be our habit? That we might
habitually walk in a newness of life, abounding
in what? The old man and his practices and his
ways. For if we have become one with him and
this union is a permanent union. Hallelujah.
If we have become one with him, permanently united
in the likeness of his death, we also certainly
be. One with him and share fully in his likeness.
We share fully in the likeness of his resurrection.
Verse 6. We know by knowledge that our old self.
Which old self are we talking about? The carnal
nature. The old nature. The sinful nature. The
carnal mind. The sinful evil nature. Our human
nature. That nature. Without the spirit of God.
Was what? Was nailed to the cross with him. In
order that our body of sin might be done away.
So that we will no longer be slaves to sin. So
our influence, our source of influence is not
to that old nature any longer. This information
is important for the believer. If you will walk
in the fullness of the dimension of the spirit
of God. We know that our old nature has what?
Has been nailed to the cross with him. In order
that our body. of sin might be done away with
so that we will no longer be slaves to sin, verse
7. For the person who has died with Christ has
been freed from the power of sin. We have been
freed from this nature, from this rebellious
nature. Now, if we have died with Christ, we
believe that we will also live together with
him. If we've died with him, It means that we
are alive with him because Jesus is alive. Hallelujah.
Because we know the self -evident truth that
Christ, having been raised from the dead, will
never die again. Death no longer has power over
him. For the death that he died, he died to walk
to sin. Ending is power. That is why when you
receive the Spirit, you receive power. Because
Jesus has died to sin, ending his power and paying
the sinner's debt once and for all. Hallelujah.
And the life that he lives, he lives, that is
Jesus, to glorify God in unbroken fellowship
with him. Verse 11. Even so, because Jesus lives
in you, even so, consider yourself to be dead
to sin. and your relationship to the all nature
broken. Consider yourself disassociated and disconnected
to that all nature that is a limitation to the
flow of the power of God in your life. But alive
to God in unbroken fellowship with him in Christ
Jesus, because we've come into union with him.
Therefore do not let sin, this comes with the
will of a man, by the power of the Spirit of
God, in relationship with the Spirit of God.
Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal
body. Now, this body now is a physical body.
We don't give room for our physical body to conduct
itself, to obey the passions of its lust. Do
not go on offering the members of your body to
sin as instruments of wickedness. But offer yourselves
to God in a decisive act, as those alive who
have been raised from the dead to a new life.
And your members, all of your abilities, sanctified
and set apart as instruments of righteousness,
yielded to God. Verse 14. For sin, hallelujah,
this is your reality. Amen? This is the truth
that concerns you. It says, for sin will no longer
be a master over you, since you are not under
law as slaves, but under what? The unmerited
grace as recipients of God's mercy, favor and
mercy. Hallelujah. We are not under the flesh.
We are not under the control of the nature of
sin. But we are under the control of the Spirit
of God. Therefore, it is illegal for sin to have
power and control over us. Romans 8, verse 1.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation. No guilty
verdict to punishment, no punishment for those
who are in Christ Jesus, who believe in him as
a personal Lord and Savior. Well, Jesus is a
Savior of the world. I don't know how personal
the salvation is anyway. For the law of sin of
life, which is in Christ Jesus, the law of a
new being has set you free from the law of sin
and death. That is, you are no longer under the
influence of sin, the nature of sin. Hallelujah.
For what the law could not do, that is, overcome
sin and remove its penalty, its power, being
weakened by the flesh. What is the flesh? Man's
nature without Holy Spirit. God did. He sent
his son in the likeness of sinful man. As an
offering for sin. And he condemned sin in the
flesh. He subdued and overcome it in the person
of his own son. So that the righteousness. So
that the righteous and just requirement of the
law might be fulfilled in us. Who do not live
our lives in the ways of the flesh. Guided by
holiness. And our sinful nature. I prefer that
it should be the sinful nature. Because the sinful
nature is no longer the reality of the believer.
Hallelujah. So we are no longer guided by worldliness
and the sinful nature, but live our lives in
the ways of the Spirit, guided by His power.
For those who are living according to the flesh,
what do they do? They set their thinking pattern,
their mind on the things of the flesh, which
gratify the physical body. But those who are
living according to the Spirit, what do they
do? They set their mind on the things of the
Spirit, His will and His purpose. Now the mind
of the flesh is death, now and forever, because
it pursues sin. But the mind of the Spirit, which
is in you, which is in me, is a life and peace
of God, the spiritual well -being that comes
from working with God, both now and forever.
The man of the flesh is actively hostile to God.
It is not in agreement to the things of God.
It is not in agreement to everything that the
Spirit of God will do. It does not submit itself
to the instructions of God. It does not submit
itself to the guiding principles of God's love,
of God's word, since it doesn't have the ability
to do that. Verse 8. And those who are in the
flesh, those who are not born again, those who
are in the flesh, living a life that caters to
sinful appetites and impulses, they cannot please
God. Hallelujah. They don't have the ability
to bring glory to God. They don't have the ability
to bring honor to God. Verse 9. However, you
and I are what? Are not living in the flesh.
Hallelujah. The believer is what? He's not in
the flesh. He's not controlled by the sinful
nature. But by what? By the Spirit. If in fact
the Spirit of God lives in you, though the Spirit
of God lives in you, He lives in the believer,
directing and guiding him. But if anyone does
not have the Spirit of Christ in him, he does
not belong to Christ. He's not a child of God.
Verse 11, verse 10. In Christ, if Christ lives
in you, though your natural body is dead because
of sin, your spirit is alive because of righteousness,
which he provides. Verse 11, the last verse here.
And if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from
the dead lives in you, he who raised Jesus Christ
from the dead will also give life to your mortal
bodies through his spirit. Who what? Who lives
outside you? Where does he live? He lives where?
In you, how? Permanently. Hallelujah. So, your
nature is a new creature. Your nature is the
nature of the Spirit of God. You have the ability
to live in accordance to the Spirit of God. You
have the capacity in you to obey God. You have
the ability in you to live above the activities
of a nature that is not yours. Because there
is An ability in you, the Spirit of God, to live
that out. Nevertheless, nevertheless, this is
our nature. Nevertheless, the believer can be
influenced externally to act beyond himself.
The believer can be influenced externally to
live a life that is not his nature. When your
focus and your meditation is not in the spirit,
you will act in nature that is not you. And this
is the foundation. This is the cause of the problem
of the believer of today. It is possible for
you, a believer, to see the manifestation of
the self -life in your conduct. This way, You
cannot effectively manifest the kingdom of God
while under the influence of the flesh. I said
it last time. I said it is impossible. It is
impossible to manifest under the influence of
the flesh. And we saw the example of the Corinthian
church that are full of the spirit. They lack
no good thing. They lack no manifestation. But
we had horrendous activities happening in the
church. That a man sleeps with his father's wife.
They take each other to court arbitrarily. They
are not living in love. This church is alive.
Paul called them carnal. He called them carnal
men. Are they not living as carnal men? Even
though they are not carnal, but he used the word
carnal. This flesh that is their natural men.
They're living as natural men. Even though they
are supernatural men. Because they allow an influence
that is not them, their nature, to guide and
conduct their lives. So the believer can be influenced
by the world. The believer can be influenced
by the world and the men of the world. When we
talk about the world, we talk about a system
of the world. And this system of the world is
made up of men. Nobody is above influence. All
of us are a product of influence. And the believer
can be influenced by the world and the men of
the world. Through his association with them.
Through your association with the world, you
can be influenced by the world. By what they
say, they can influence you by what they say.
By what they do, they can influence you by what
they do. How do we have access and associate
with ourselves in the world? Through the media.
And in our direct relationships. 1 John 2 verse
15 talks about Loving the world. 1 John 2, verse
15. Do not love the world of sin that opposes
God and his precepts, nor the things that are
in the world. If anyone loves the world, the
love of the Father, It's not in him. For all
that is in the world, the lust and essential
cravings of the flesh and the lust and the longings
of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, pretentious
confidence in one's resources or in his stability
of earthly things. The Bible says that these
do not come from the Father. But they are from
where? They are from the world. Verse 17. The
world is passing away and with its lust, the
shameful pursuit and ungodly longings, but the
one who does the will of God and carries out
his purpose, he lives forever. Hallelujah. So
we must examine our relationship with the world.
We must examine Our contact with the world. Because
we are in the world. Amen. But we are not of
the world. And our contact with the world can
determine the level of influence we have. And
the world system has a way of meeting us at every
point in time. Through the things we see. Through
the things we hear. Through the things we take
in. Through the desires that we can allow it
rise up from our heart. Hallelujah. You see,
Jesus was tempted because he was hungry, right?
If Jesus was not hungry, do you think the temptation
of hunger will be effective? Do you think the
devil will have a place to tempt him? If you
didn't eat rice, no matter how they press your
stomach, We will not see our father rise. Amen.
So, it means that the world can influence us
and create desires even in our hearts. And these
desires become the foundation by which we become
receptive to the leading of the world. Hallelujah.
Nobody is above influence. 1 Corinthians 15,
verse 33. 1 Corinthians 15, 33, 34. He says what?
Do not be deceived. Bad relationships. What does
it do? It corrupts. It corrupts, right? Verse
34. Be sober -minded, be sensitive, wake up from
your spiritual stupor as you ought to and stop
sinning. For some of you have no knowledge of
God. You are disgracefully ignorant of Him and
ignore His truth. I say it to your shame. Hallelujah.
So we say that a believer It's walking in the
flesh when we see him conducting himself in a
nature that is not the nature of God. It means
his imaginations. It means his thoughts. It means
his words. And his philosophy are independent
of the spirit of God that lives within him. We
see in church, suddenly we begin to see that
even your dressing changes. we begin to see that
even the words you speak are no longer full of
grace. We begin to see that even in your dealings
with people around you has changed. It means
that you have allowed an influence that is not
your nature. Hallelujah. So to see the kingdom
of God in full manifestation in our lives and
ministry, we must allow the spirit of God to
influence our lives and not the flesh. Galatians
5 verse 16 says, but I say, I'm ready to amplify
it. It says, I say, walk and live habitually.
Walk and live habitually in the Holy Spirit,
responsive to and controlled and guided by the
Spirit. I love this emphasis. Then what will
happen to you? You will certainly not gratify
the cravings and the desires. of the flesh, of
that human nature without God. And this human
nature without God lives in men of this world
that are without God. And if you associate with
these men that live in the world without God,
they have the tendency of influencing your conduct
in the natural. Therefore, we see you not doing
the things that God wants you to do. Suddenly
you cease to come to church because you have
accompanied yourself with people that don't honor
and dignify the things of God. Suddenly we see
you, you no longer speak in tongues because you've
been around people that they turn the things
of the spirit into joke and comedy. Suddenly
you begin to downgrade and devalue the people
of God. Then we see you cease to be blessed by
men of God. Suddenly we begin to see you running
away from the men that used to be your company.
Suddenly you cease to have desire for prayers.
You no longer have passion for the world. We
no longer have desire to see that men and lives
are won for Christ. This in itself is a litmus
test to the influence that you've exposed yourself
to. And sometimes this influence is not far from
you. This influence is in your hand and it's
in your pocket. When you enter your blanket,
it hawks you. Some of us, we sleep with our phones
on our chest. Do you know that you can easily,
you can easily be scrolling unnecessarily on
statuses and on the media, social media, for
hours. You don't know that you've done three
hours. And the moment you just kneel down to
pray, you go into the spirit. Listen, let me
tell you, right? It's not natural. It's not natural.
It means that you need a brother to lay hand
on you. To hold you. To pray with you. to come
out of that, that you will walk in your nature.
That is why you need brethren around you to encourage
you, to strengthen you, to encourage you. Hallelujah.
We walk by the Spirit, by being obedient to the
written word. 2 Timothy 3, verse 16. 2 Timothy
3, verse 16. You see, the written word is inspired
by the Spirit of God. The spirit of God will
always lead us to the written word. All scripture
is God breath. That is, it's given by divine
inspiration. It's profitable for teaching, for
instruction, for conviction, for correction of
error and restoration to obedience, for training
in righteousness, learning to live in conformity
to God's will, both publicly and privately, behaving
yourself how? Honorably with personal integrity.
and moral courage. We get led by the Spirit of
God when we exalt the written word, when we read
the written word, when we study the written word,
when we are taught the written word. We will
become familiar with the mind of God and easily
know when He gives us instructions. We become
familiar with the leading of the Spirit of God
when we give ourselves to the Word of God. We
cannot walk in the Spirit unconsciously. See,
walking and being influenced by the Spirit does
not happen. It's not magic. It's not witchcraft.
We walk in the Spirit consciously by deliberately
giving ourselves to the written word. The Spirit
of God cannot walk in a man effectively that
has not known the pattern of the mind of the
Spirit of God, which is the written word. And
sometimes we think that the habits we see in
our lives, we can break off habits, bad habits,
ungodly habits, by strong will and determination.
It's not by strong will and determination. It
is by the Spirit of God, by the Word of God and
by prayer. Strong will and determination cannot
deal with the activities of the flesh. It is
only the spirit of God that does that work. The
word and prayer. So the believer must prioritize
his fellowship with God in the word and prayer.
This is the foundation for manifesting or the
foundation for the believer to manifest the spirit
of God in his daily living. Hallelujah. This
becomes The foundation to seeing in every single
moment, in every single day. You are walking
in the fullness of the Spirit of God. I want
you to just close your eyes and speak to God
at this moment. We appreciate you being here
today. We hope you carry this word with you throughout
your week. Don't forget to check the show notes
for additional insights. Stay connected with
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with someone you care about. Until next time,
stay blessed.