WEBVTT 00:00:01.159 --> 00:00:06.639 Welcome to NECF Sermons. Each message here is 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:09.660 designed to uplift and strengthen you in your 00:00:09.660 --> 00:00:13.939 walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until 00:00:13.939 --> 00:00:17.879 the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive 00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:26.039 right in. We need to continue from where we stopped 00:00:26.039 --> 00:00:30.210 on Sunday. I want to thank God for the opportunity 00:00:30.210 --> 00:00:33.450 again to bring the word to us. And I also want 00:00:33.450 --> 00:00:42.789 to thank the asterisks. Matthew chapter 28. Matthew 00:00:42.789 --> 00:00:55.549 chapter 28. Matthew chapter 28 from verse... 00:00:56.780 --> 00:01:03.500 18 to 20. We're looking at the supernatural nature 00:01:03.500 --> 00:01:08.620 of a Christian gathering. Praise the Lord. The 00:01:08.620 --> 00:01:12.900 supernatural nature of a Christian gathering. 00:01:13.099 --> 00:01:17.519 What makes this place or this gathering a supernatural 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:21.939 one? What makes it different from other meetings? 00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:27.340 What is the uniqueness of this meeting? why are 00:01:27.340 --> 00:01:32.959 we meeting like this? Praise the Lord. So that 00:01:32.959 --> 00:01:36.120 we can have better understanding, we can have 00:01:36.120 --> 00:01:38.819 better knowledge of the things to do and the 00:01:38.819 --> 00:01:42.219 things not to do in the house of the Lord. Matthew 00:01:42.219 --> 00:01:47.719 28, 18 -20 says, And Jesus came and spoke to 00:01:47.719 --> 00:01:51.319 them, saying, All authority has been given me 00:01:51.319 --> 00:01:55.099 in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make 00:01:55.099 --> 00:02:00.620 disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the 00:02:00.620 --> 00:02:03.040 name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:06.159 Spirit, teaching them to observe all the things 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:08.840 that I have commanded you and lo, I am with you 00:02:08.840 --> 00:02:12.620 always, even to the end of the age. Praise the 00:02:12.620 --> 00:02:17.180 Lord. So we looked at these scriptures and we 00:02:17.180 --> 00:02:21.020 saw that one of the responsibilities that we 00:02:21.020 --> 00:02:24.620 have as believers Some of the responsibilities 00:02:24.620 --> 00:02:29.219 that we have is that we are called to make disciples. 00:02:29.580 --> 00:02:33.300 Praise the Lord. We are called to make disciples. 00:02:33.539 --> 00:02:37.199 We are called to bring people to the knowledge 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:41.259 of the truth or to make somebody a student of 00:02:41.259 --> 00:02:44.280 the word. Praise the Lord. This is our responsibility. 00:02:44.340 --> 00:02:47.840 This is not what the church alone does, but it 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:51.539 is the responsibility of every... individual, 00:02:51.659 --> 00:02:54.659 everyone that have believed. Praise the Lord. 00:02:55.639 --> 00:03:00.139 So we also looked at that there are signs that 00:03:00.139 --> 00:03:04.479 accompany a believer. Praise the Lord. We said 00:03:04.479 --> 00:03:07.099 that there are signs that accompany a believer, 00:03:07.219 --> 00:03:11.900 that we're not just people that are decent people, 00:03:12.340 --> 00:03:15.740 good people. We're not just people that are... 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:19.460 You know, we can handle some things. We're not 00:03:19.460 --> 00:03:24.240 easily angered. We're not this or that. Praise 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:28.520 the Lord. There are good representations of what 00:03:28.520 --> 00:03:30.219 the Christian faith is, but there were people 00:03:30.219 --> 00:03:33.879 that are supernatural. Praise the Lord. That 00:03:33.879 --> 00:03:36.960 our salvation is supernatural. Praise the Lord. 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:40.340 That the experience that we have in God is supernatural, 00:03:40.759 --> 00:03:46.289 right? And we saw that... Jesus was saying that 00:03:46.289 --> 00:03:49.150 to them that believe, that is to he that have 00:03:49.150 --> 00:03:52.849 believed in Mark chapter 16, Mark chapter 16, 00:03:53.229 --> 00:03:57.830 from verse 15 to 18, he tells us to them that 00:03:57.830 --> 00:04:00.889 believe, there are signs that follow them. And 00:04:00.889 --> 00:04:02.870 one of the signs that we see that follow a believer 00:04:02.870 --> 00:04:05.729 is that he said that they will cast out demons. 00:04:06.009 --> 00:04:09.409 Praise the Lord. So when we see people that are 00:04:09.409 --> 00:04:12.490 demon oppressed or demon possessed, we cast out. 00:04:13.009 --> 00:04:16.649 devils praise the lord and the casting out of 00:04:16.649 --> 00:04:19.910 devils is not just something that we do as a 00:04:19.910 --> 00:04:24.250 result of a maybe something is happening now 00:04:24.250 --> 00:04:27.189 you say okay let me go and pray about it or let 00:04:27.189 --> 00:04:29.790 me go and pray first then i will come back praise 00:04:29.790 --> 00:04:32.170 the lord it's not something that you say let 00:04:32.170 --> 00:04:34.329 me just go out there it's something that is in 00:04:34.329 --> 00:04:37.250 you that you see a situation or the oppression 00:04:37.250 --> 00:04:39.670 of the enemy we saw that He was talking about 00:04:39.670 --> 00:04:42.370 that you will take up serpent. And we said that 00:04:42.370 --> 00:04:45.949 he refers to the works of darkness. That is to 00:04:45.949 --> 00:04:48.870 confront the work of darkness. So part of the 00:04:48.870 --> 00:04:50.870 things that we have or part of the things, qualities 00:04:50.870 --> 00:04:54.170 that we have as believers is that we confront 00:04:54.170 --> 00:04:57.009 the work of darkness. That you see something 00:04:57.009 --> 00:04:59.550 happening. You see something around you happening. 00:04:59.730 --> 00:05:01.850 And you know, this is not the will of God or 00:05:01.850 --> 00:05:04.250 this is not the purposes of God. You confront 00:05:04.250 --> 00:05:07.680 it. Praise the Lord. So it's not something that 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:09.500 you go and say, okay, let me pray first before 00:05:09.500 --> 00:05:14.579 I come back. It's something that happens. And 00:05:14.579 --> 00:05:17.040 so if you're not walking in that light, right, 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:19.500 it's because maybe you don't have the knowledge 00:05:19.500 --> 00:05:22.180 of it. Praise the Lord. Or you are not practicing 00:05:22.180 --> 00:05:26.000 or you're not participating in it. It's not because 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:28.620 it is not there in the inside of you. It is not 00:05:28.620 --> 00:05:32.319 because it is not present. Praise the Lord. So 00:05:32.319 --> 00:05:34.199 part of the things again that we do is that we 00:05:34.199 --> 00:05:36.939 heal the sick. The Bible tells us that you lay 00:05:36.939 --> 00:05:39.120 your hands on the sick and they shall be healed. 00:05:39.399 --> 00:05:41.759 Praise the Lord. So when we find people that 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:45.459 are sick around us, we don't just not do anything. 00:05:45.579 --> 00:05:48.439 We pray with them. Praise the Lord. We pray for 00:05:48.439 --> 00:05:51.480 them. We lay our hands on them that they might 00:05:51.480 --> 00:05:55.839 receive healing. So these are some of the signs 00:05:55.839 --> 00:05:59.920 of a believer. Praise the Lord. So don't just 00:05:59.920 --> 00:06:05.850 be contented by the fact that, yes, you are, 00:06:05.970 --> 00:06:10.889 you know, you're living in a certain way, or 00:06:10.889 --> 00:06:14.529 that you have some of the things that you used 00:06:14.529 --> 00:06:17.029 to do before, you have stopped doing them by 00:06:17.029 --> 00:06:19.509 the grace of God, God has helped you, God has 00:06:19.509 --> 00:06:24.310 delivered you for many things, but also that 00:06:24.310 --> 00:06:27.589 you walk in the supernatural. Praise the Lord. 00:06:27.709 --> 00:06:32.089 That you show forth the quality of He that is 00:06:32.089 --> 00:06:49.610 in Christ. Praise the Lord. So we also looked 00:06:49.610 --> 00:06:53.290 at also that it is important to note that as 00:06:53.290 --> 00:06:58.889 children of God, that part of God's, part of 00:06:58.889 --> 00:07:03.050 the things that we must know how to do is to 00:07:03.050 --> 00:07:06.189 interpret the scriptures or to be able to teach 00:07:06.189 --> 00:07:09.230 the Bible. Praise the Lord. Is to be able to 00:07:09.230 --> 00:07:12.269 teach the Bible, is to be able to expound, right? 00:07:12.350 --> 00:07:15.050 The scriptures. We saw that in Luke chapter 24, 00:07:15.290 --> 00:07:18.660 when Jesus expounded, He said, beginning at Moses, 00:07:18.920 --> 00:07:21.620 he began to speak about the things concerning 00:07:21.620 --> 00:07:25.060 himself. He opened their understanding. He has 00:07:25.060 --> 00:07:27.819 founded the scriptures to them. Praise the Lord. 00:07:27.980 --> 00:07:30.319 So part of the things as children of God is that 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:33.519 we're able to teach the scriptures. We're able 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:38.319 to shed light, right? To bring knowledge. Praise 00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:41.920 the Lord. To remove ignorance from the lives 00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:44.269 of people. So if somebody comes and meets you 00:07:44.269 --> 00:07:46.910 and says to you that they don't understand the 00:07:46.910 --> 00:07:49.290 scripture, or can you explain this or explain 00:07:49.290 --> 00:07:53.470 that, right? Even if you don't know it, or even 00:07:53.470 --> 00:07:56.449 if it's not fully clear yet to you, right? You 00:07:56.449 --> 00:07:58.850 can explain it tomorrow. Praise the Lord. You 00:07:58.850 --> 00:08:01.089 can tell them, come back tomorrow. I will be 00:08:01.089 --> 00:08:03.589 able to explain it to you. Praise the Lord. You 00:08:03.589 --> 00:08:05.670 can tell them, oh, come to me next week. I'll 00:08:05.670 --> 00:08:07.769 be able to explain it to you. Praise the Lord. 00:08:07.850 --> 00:08:10.329 So part of the things that we do also is that 00:08:10.329 --> 00:08:14.790 we are able to explain the scriptures. It is 00:08:14.790 --> 00:08:17.730 important for the believer and it's something 00:08:17.730 --> 00:08:20.750 that we must do. It is a part of Christian work 00:08:20.750 --> 00:08:24.670 that is not, I said, it's not elective. It's 00:08:24.670 --> 00:08:26.550 not something that you choose. It's not something 00:08:26.550 --> 00:08:29.790 that you decide whether or not you want to do 00:08:29.790 --> 00:08:32.590 it. Praise the Lord. It's not something you decide 00:08:32.590 --> 00:08:35.070 whether it is good for you or not good for you 00:08:35.070 --> 00:08:37.490 or whether it's important for you or not important 00:08:37.490 --> 00:08:40.519 for you. It is important. It is a compulsory 00:08:40.519 --> 00:08:44.940 thing that we must do to be able to explain the 00:08:44.940 --> 00:08:49.620 scriptures. It is also confronting the works 00:08:49.620 --> 00:08:51.919 of darkness. Praise the Lord. To somebody who 00:08:51.919 --> 00:08:54.379 is ignorant or somebody who does not know God. 00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:56.740 Praise the Lord. By teaching or by preaching 00:08:56.740 --> 00:09:00.500 the gospel, you're confronting the works of darkness 00:09:00.500 --> 00:09:05.279 or the works of the devil. Praise the Lord. So 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:08.639 we don't say to ourselves that we like a particular 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:14.600 part of the Christian walk, right? I was giving 00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:17.720 an example that we don't say that we don't, maybe 00:09:17.720 --> 00:09:20.860 you like to sing, right? That is your own department. 00:09:21.240 --> 00:09:24.120 Or you like to usher people into the church, 00:09:24.279 --> 00:09:27.679 or you like to cook, or you like to do so many 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:32.559 things. We saw that even in Acts, right? We saw 00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:36.940 that the disciples were also people just like 00:09:36.940 --> 00:09:39.580 us. There were people also who were serving. 00:09:39.779 --> 00:09:42.179 There were people who were also serving tables, 00:09:42.440 --> 00:09:44.500 but there were people who were full of power. 00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:47.419 They were full of the knowledge of the Word of 00:09:47.419 --> 00:09:50.440 God, and they are able to teach it. So it is 00:09:50.440 --> 00:09:53.980 important that these things are part of our lives. 00:09:54.179 --> 00:10:01.259 Praise the Lord. So what makes this gathering, 00:10:01.419 --> 00:10:05.820 or what makes this gathering a... supernatural 00:10:05.820 --> 00:10:10.419 gathering. What makes this place a supernatural 00:10:10.419 --> 00:10:15.779 gathering? It is different from, this meeting 00:10:15.779 --> 00:10:18.820 is different from your office meeting. Praise 00:10:18.820 --> 00:10:22.340 the Lord. Some of us were in class today. What 00:10:22.340 --> 00:10:24.679 you had was a class meeting. Praise the Lord. 00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:27.100 Some of your teachers are here. Maybe if you 00:10:27.100 --> 00:10:29.259 know them, the interaction that you had with 00:10:29.259 --> 00:10:33.779 them there is a teacher to a student interaction 00:10:33.779 --> 00:10:37.200 or relation. What is the difference between that 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:39.639 and here? You meet the same person here and you 00:10:39.639 --> 00:10:41.759 are here. Praise the Lord. So what is the difference? 00:10:42.120 --> 00:10:46.700 Or that some of your lecturers taught you so 00:10:46.700 --> 00:10:50.059 many things. Or that you are working in a place 00:10:50.059 --> 00:10:52.340 and you have office mates and they are also in 00:10:52.340 --> 00:10:55.080 church with you. Are you still in the office 00:10:55.080 --> 00:10:57.779 with them? Are you having an office meeting? 00:10:58.460 --> 00:11:01.549 Praise the Lord. We saw from Genesis that The 00:11:01.549 --> 00:11:04.570 very beginning or the very opening of the chapters 00:11:04.570 --> 00:11:07.629 of the Bible was supernatural. Praise the Lord. 00:11:07.649 --> 00:11:10.730 Because he said that God in the beginning was 00:11:10.730 --> 00:11:13.470 there and the spirit of God was hovering over 00:11:13.470 --> 00:11:15.649 the waters. Praise the Lord. We said that your 00:11:15.649 --> 00:11:19.090 salvation is supernatural. We believe in angels. 00:11:19.429 --> 00:11:23.009 We believe in, we believe there are devils. We 00:11:23.009 --> 00:11:25.210 believe there are demons. Praise the Lord. These 00:11:25.210 --> 00:11:30.340 things are supernatural things. What makes the 00:11:30.340 --> 00:11:34.080 Christian gathering a supernatural gathering? 00:11:48.440 --> 00:11:51.360 I also said that they are not experts in the 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:54.399 world. We looked at from John, from Timothy, 00:11:54.559 --> 00:11:58.980 how the Bible encourages us to continue. in the 00:11:58.980 --> 00:12:01.840 things that we have learned. He tells us to continue 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:05.279 in good works. He tells us to continue in prayers. 00:12:05.580 --> 00:12:08.519 He tells us to continue in studies. He tells 00:12:08.519 --> 00:12:11.759 us to continue to preach time and time again. 00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:14.000 Praise the Lord. And we said that the difference 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:17.720 between somebody who... Let's open to 2 Timothy 00:12:17.720 --> 00:12:33.730 4. 2 Timothy 4, verse 2. 2 Timothy. He said, 00:12:33.750 --> 00:12:38.169 preach the word, be ready in season and out of 00:12:38.169 --> 00:12:41.769 season, convince, rebuke, exalt with all longsuffering 00:12:41.769 --> 00:12:46.590 and teaching. Praise the Lord. So he says to 00:12:46.590 --> 00:12:48.970 them that, or he said to him that he should teach 00:12:48.970 --> 00:12:52.950 in season and out of season. Praise the Lord. 00:12:53.049 --> 00:12:56.830 It means that whether he's treating like it, 00:12:56.950 --> 00:12:59.730 whether it's cold, whether it's hot. Praise the 00:12:59.730 --> 00:13:02.679 Lord. His job is to teach the scriptures. Whether 00:13:02.679 --> 00:13:05.580 it is convenient or not, teach the scriptures. 00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:08.860 Whether it is a good time for you or not, preach 00:13:08.860 --> 00:13:10.879 the scriptures. Whether you are in a good mood 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:14.120 or not, teach the scriptures. So there's no time 00:13:14.120 --> 00:13:16.740 for teaching the scriptures. And I said that 00:13:16.740 --> 00:13:19.759 the things that makes us look at people or men 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:22.080 of God or people that have given themselves to 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:25.600 the things of the Spirit as experts is because 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:29.870 they have. Their life is very consistent or they 00:13:29.870 --> 00:13:32.570 are consistently feeding on the word of God. 00:13:32.690 --> 00:13:35.629 They are consistently feeding on prayers. They 00:13:35.629 --> 00:13:40.669 are consistently feeding on preaching the word. 00:13:40.789 --> 00:13:44.090 Praise the Lord. They are continuing in the things 00:13:44.090 --> 00:13:48.090 of God. They are continuing in the things of 00:13:48.090 --> 00:13:52.929 God. So, expats are just people that are consistent. 00:13:53.309 --> 00:13:57.059 Praise the Lord. What happens? When you decide, 00:13:57.259 --> 00:14:00.240 for example, this next year is coming and you 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:03.259 decide to challenge yourself, right? Or you decide 00:14:03.259 --> 00:14:05.100 to encourage yourself. You say, in this next 00:14:05.100 --> 00:14:10.580 year, maybe what happens when I fast? What will 00:14:10.580 --> 00:14:14.159 happen, right? If I decide this next year that 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:16.840 I'm going to study the Word of God like I've 00:14:16.840 --> 00:14:20.860 never done, what will happen to my life? Praise 00:14:20.860 --> 00:14:23.559 the Lord. So these are the kind of challenge 00:14:23.559 --> 00:14:27.519 you should take. Praise the Lord. There are so 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:30.139 many challenges everywhere now, right? Something 00:14:30.139 --> 00:14:32.700 comes out, people will challenge this person, 00:14:32.779 --> 00:14:35.120 that person, maybe a dance challenge, who can 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:37.980 do it best. Praise the Lord. As children of God, 00:14:38.059 --> 00:14:39.899 you should be thinking about these things. What 00:14:39.899 --> 00:14:45.960 happens when you pray? Not because your school 00:14:45.960 --> 00:14:48.919 fees is not paid. Praise the Lord. Not because 00:14:48.919 --> 00:14:52.120 you have one challenge or the other. Not because 00:14:52.120 --> 00:14:57.179 you... Your family is in serious problem. What 00:14:57.179 --> 00:15:02.259 happens when you pray? What happens when you 00:15:02.259 --> 00:15:04.960 come to the presence of God and you have no prayer 00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:09.360 point? You have no, okay, God, I want you to 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:11.320 do that for me. I want you to do this for me. 00:15:11.419 --> 00:15:14.120 What happens? What is the result of that? What 00:15:14.120 --> 00:15:17.299 is the result of if I decide I'm going to study 00:15:17.299 --> 00:15:19.539 the scriptures or I'm going to study my Bible 00:15:19.539 --> 00:15:26.000 every day for 30 minutes? What happens? You discover 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:29.360 that your life will begin to change. Praise the 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:32.200 Lord. You discover that something different begins 00:15:32.200 --> 00:15:35.559 to happen. You discover that I don't want to 00:15:35.559 --> 00:15:37.620 give you what will happen. Right? Just take on 00:15:37.620 --> 00:15:40.399 the challenge. Praise the Lord. Right? Take on 00:15:40.399 --> 00:15:43.100 spiritual challenge and find out what the result 00:15:43.100 --> 00:15:46.320 is. People have said, I'm sure you have seen 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:48.539 people online shouting, you know, I fasted for 00:15:48.539 --> 00:15:51.700 100 days. I know some of you might look at this 00:15:51.700 --> 00:15:53.519 like, who is this person? Why do we need to fast 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:55.580 that long? What is going on? Try something. You 00:15:55.580 --> 00:15:59.139 try something and see. Praise the Lord. Instead 00:15:59.139 --> 00:16:01.379 of maybe criticizing them and telling them, why 00:16:01.379 --> 00:16:03.820 are you doing that Lord? What is going on? Praise 00:16:03.820 --> 00:16:06.960 the Lord. What challenge have you done? What 00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:10.799 spiritual challenge have you done? How have you 00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:13.340 challenged yourself to do spiritual activities? 00:16:13.940 --> 00:16:18.059 Praise the Lord. Because if you become consistent 00:16:18.059 --> 00:16:21.740 in the things of God, you begin to discover that 00:16:21.740 --> 00:16:25.169 understanding will begin to come. So many things 00:16:25.169 --> 00:16:30.129 that you have tried by your own strength to stop 00:16:30.129 --> 00:16:34.809 will begin to give way. Praise the Lord. Because 00:16:34.809 --> 00:16:38.730 it is God who will enable you and strengthen 00:16:38.730 --> 00:16:45.450 you. So when you continue in these things, or 00:16:45.450 --> 00:16:47.889 when you continue in the things of God as the 00:16:47.889 --> 00:16:50.899 Scriptures have encouraged us, When people begin 00:16:50.899 --> 00:16:54.419 to see you and maybe you give a word and somebody 00:16:54.419 --> 00:16:56.919 sees the accuracy of the word that you gave, 00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:00.720 it's because these things have become familiar 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:03.620 and familiar and familiar to you. Praise the 00:17:03.620 --> 00:17:07.920 Lord. Because of your continually doing it. I 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:10.519 told us on Sunday that whenever you meet somebody, 00:17:10.740 --> 00:17:15.119 praise the Lord, you find out that not everybody 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:19.390 is able to open up to you or open up to somebody 00:17:19.390 --> 00:17:21.710 or say something to you about what they are going 00:17:21.710 --> 00:17:24.829 through, right? It should not be so. But there 00:17:24.829 --> 00:17:27.529 are people like that that don't. Or maybe you 00:17:27.529 --> 00:17:28.990 see them, they are smiling. You think everything 00:17:28.990 --> 00:17:31.930 is okay. But by the Spirit, you can know that 00:17:31.930 --> 00:17:34.789 there's something that we need to pray for. God 00:17:34.789 --> 00:17:37.450 can give you a word for them. Praise the Lord. 00:17:37.670 --> 00:17:40.329 Of something they have never told anybody. Of 00:17:40.329 --> 00:17:42.650 something that they have never shared with anybody. 00:17:43.130 --> 00:17:45.410 Praise the Lord. So whenever we gather together, 00:17:45.950 --> 00:17:48.509 Whenever we come together, it is an opportunity 00:17:48.509 --> 00:17:52.250 for us to edify, for us to bless one another, 00:17:52.450 --> 00:17:57.470 for us to encourage one another. Praise the Lord. 00:18:05.869 --> 00:18:08.490 So a person who is consistent in the things of 00:18:08.490 --> 00:18:11.069 the Spirit, right, is somebody that will not 00:18:11.069 --> 00:18:15.210 need a... pastors to come and encourage them 00:18:15.210 --> 00:18:18.269 to pray. Example, we're here in church and the 00:18:18.269 --> 00:18:20.529 person who just led prayers, leading prayers. 00:18:21.250 --> 00:18:23.990 Somebody who is consistent in prayers or consistent 00:18:23.990 --> 00:18:26.869 in the things of God will not need that person 00:18:26.869 --> 00:18:28.950 to say, you, why are you not praying? Praise 00:18:28.950 --> 00:18:31.529 the Lord. Because they know where they are. Praise 00:18:31.529 --> 00:18:34.869 the Lord. They know what time it is. Praise the 00:18:34.869 --> 00:18:39.650 Lord. They know what to do at this time. They're 00:18:39.650 --> 00:18:45.549 very aware of their surroundings. So we need 00:18:45.549 --> 00:18:50.630 to have an attitude of hunger and to just challenge 00:18:50.630 --> 00:18:54.549 ourselves to do the things of God. We don't see 00:18:54.549 --> 00:18:57.869 church services as an event, as something that 00:18:57.869 --> 00:19:00.750 we just need to attend because we just need to 00:19:00.750 --> 00:19:03.869 be here. Praise the Lord. It is a supernatural 00:19:03.869 --> 00:19:12.009 place. Praise the Lord. So I said that we can 00:19:12.009 --> 00:19:15.799 come together, right? As believers, we can come 00:19:15.799 --> 00:19:22.259 together as teacher and student. But what makes 00:19:22.259 --> 00:19:26.480 it different? What makes this setting different 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:30.519 from that of your teachers? What makes this setting 00:19:30.519 --> 00:19:33.480 different from that where you are coming from? 00:19:33.700 --> 00:19:43.660 Praise the Lord. What makes it different? As 00:19:43.660 --> 00:19:46.700 believers, I said we can gather as people who 00:19:46.700 --> 00:19:52.380 support the same football team, right? You can 00:19:52.380 --> 00:19:54.099 gather as all of you are believers, but you're 00:19:54.099 --> 00:19:58.380 Arsenal fans, right? What is that meeting about? 00:19:58.599 --> 00:20:01.599 You can gather as a group of accountants who 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:03.420 are believers. You can gather as people who are 00:20:03.420 --> 00:20:06.660 lawyers, who are doctors, right? You can even 00:20:06.660 --> 00:20:10.630 gather as... Your siblings are children of God 00:20:10.630 --> 00:20:13.589 or are believers. You can gather as a family. 00:20:15.190 --> 00:20:17.309 But what makes a difference is that when you 00:20:17.309 --> 00:20:19.789 gather together like this, or when we gather 00:20:19.789 --> 00:20:22.509 together like this, we gather in the name of 00:20:22.509 --> 00:20:25.710 the Lord. Praise the Lord. Matthew 18, verse 00:20:25.710 --> 00:20:46.920 20. Matthew 18, verse 20. He said, for when two 00:20:46.920 --> 00:20:50.160 or three are gathered together in my name, I 00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:53.460 am there in the midst of them. Praise the Lord. 00:20:53.700 --> 00:20:56.539 So when two or three are gathered in his name, 00:20:56.720 --> 00:21:01.099 he's there in the midst of them. Right? I am 00:21:01.099 --> 00:21:04.279 here in the midst of them. So when we gather, 00:21:04.440 --> 00:21:08.039 we have the consciousness that what we have come 00:21:08.039 --> 00:21:14.910 to do is supernatural. which means that God is 00:21:14.910 --> 00:21:17.910 in the midst of us. Praise the Lord. So when 00:21:17.910 --> 00:21:19.730 we gather like this, we gather with the consciousness 00:21:19.730 --> 00:21:26.289 and we know that God is in the midst of us. So 00:21:26.289 --> 00:21:27.890 what does that mean that God is in the midst 00:21:27.890 --> 00:21:31.950 of us? Right? So we do not come here to meet 00:21:31.950 --> 00:21:39.230 God. We don't come to this blue hall to meet 00:21:39.230 --> 00:21:43.400 God. Praise the Lord. We come as individuals 00:21:43.400 --> 00:21:50.380 who are indwelled by God. Praise the Lord. We 00:21:50.380 --> 00:21:53.779 come as individuals who are indwelled by God. 00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:59.819 John chapter 14, verses 16 -17. John chapter 00:21:59.819 --> 00:22:07.200 14. So we don't gather here to meet God. To meet 00:22:07.200 --> 00:22:11.420 God in this place. We gather here because God 00:22:11.420 --> 00:22:15.599 is in the inside of us. Praise the Lord. We gather 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:18.000 because God is in the inside of us. John chapter 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:29.240 14, verses 16 to 17. It said, And I will pray 00:22:29.240 --> 00:22:32.279 the Father, and he will give you another helper, 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:36.279 that he may abide with you forever. The Spirit 00:22:36.279 --> 00:22:39.720 of truth. Whom the world cannot receive because 00:22:39.720 --> 00:22:43.519 it neither see him nor know him. But you know 00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:47.960 him for he dwells with you and will be in you. 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:51.000 Praise the Lord. So we gather as people who are 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:55.799 indwelt by God. We gather as people who are indwelt 00:22:55.799 --> 00:22:59.220 by God. Praise the Lord. So we also see that 00:22:59.220 --> 00:23:02.420 Paul writes of the same thing. Right? In 1 Corinthians. 00:23:03.880 --> 00:23:09.000 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:17.880 16. He said, Do you not know that you are temples, 00:23:18.099 --> 00:23:20.980 the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God 00:23:20.980 --> 00:23:24.400 dwells in you? Praise the Lord. So we gather 00:23:24.400 --> 00:23:28.539 as people who are indwelled by God. Because why? 00:23:28.660 --> 00:23:31.720 The Spirit of God dwells in the inside of us. 00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:36.809 We are temple of God. And the Spirit of God dwells 00:23:36.809 --> 00:23:40.589 in the inside of us. So, when we come together, 00:23:40.730 --> 00:23:43.569 we know that our gathering is a supernatural 00:23:43.569 --> 00:23:47.789 gathering. Praise the Lord. Gatherings of people 00:23:47.789 --> 00:23:50.990 who God has indwelled in the inside of them. 00:23:58.190 --> 00:24:02.190 So, that means that the way we see people, the 00:24:02.190 --> 00:24:07.880 way we see believers, also matters. Praise the 00:24:07.880 --> 00:24:10.980 Lord. The way we see each other is very important. 00:24:11.799 --> 00:24:14.819 So if we're gathering, not because God is here, 00:24:15.019 --> 00:24:17.960 right? In terms of that we're coming to meet 00:24:17.960 --> 00:24:20.539 him here, but that we're gathering because God 00:24:20.539 --> 00:24:22.940 is in the inside of us. And so we come together, 00:24:23.079 --> 00:24:25.839 right? It means that we need to see ourselves 00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:29.359 differently. So you no longer see that person 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:33.029 as your student. Praise the Lord. You no longer 00:24:33.029 --> 00:24:35.970 see that person as your office mates. Praise 00:24:35.970 --> 00:24:38.529 the Lord. You're not seeing that person now as 00:24:38.529 --> 00:24:41.950 your fellow accountant or your fellow lawyer 00:24:41.950 --> 00:24:46.029 or your fellow doctor. Praise the Lord. Because 00:24:46.029 --> 00:24:49.089 the way we see these people, right, will determine 00:24:49.089 --> 00:24:53.549 how we receive. Praise the Lord. The way we see 00:24:53.549 --> 00:24:56.490 each other will determine how we receive from 00:24:56.490 --> 00:25:00.349 each other. So if you see somebody as, they will 00:25:00.349 --> 00:25:03.029 not bless you. you will not be blessed. Praise 00:25:03.029 --> 00:25:06.369 the Lord. If you see somebody as, oh, God cannot 00:25:06.369 --> 00:25:09.089 use that person to speak to me, you will not 00:25:09.089 --> 00:25:13.170 be spoken to. Praise the Lord. So we gather with 00:25:13.170 --> 00:25:19.130 that consciousness that everybody is indwelt 00:25:19.130 --> 00:25:24.130 by God and we come to fellowship. So the way 00:25:24.130 --> 00:25:27.130 we see people in a Christian meeting is the way 00:25:27.130 --> 00:25:30.710 we receive from God and the way we worship Him. 00:25:31.560 --> 00:25:35.119 Praise the Lord. So we cannot be careless and 00:25:35.119 --> 00:25:38.599 just walk into the place and maybe the usher 00:25:38.599 --> 00:25:40.420 say to you, please, can you sit in that place? 00:25:41.180 --> 00:25:42.779 And then you ask them, why should I sit there? 00:25:44.559 --> 00:25:50.900 Praise the Lord. So if you have this consciousness 00:25:50.900 --> 00:25:54.839 that God indwelling all of us and we are gathering 00:25:54.839 --> 00:25:57.279 together, if you walk into a service and there's 00:25:57.279 --> 00:25:58.920 somebody saying to you, can you do this or can 00:25:58.920 --> 00:26:00.740 you do that? You're not beginning to ask questions. 00:26:01.359 --> 00:26:04.900 Because you know or you are conscious of the 00:26:04.900 --> 00:26:07.779 gathering that you have just walked into. Praise 00:26:07.779 --> 00:26:11.140 the Lord. So the moment you begin to do that, 00:26:11.180 --> 00:26:12.759 the moment you begin to tell them, no, I cannot 00:26:12.759 --> 00:26:15.059 sit there, you are disconnecting from the purpose 00:26:15.059 --> 00:26:19.480 of the meeting. Praise the Lord. Or the moment 00:26:19.480 --> 00:26:22.059 they're saying, oh, you cannot. I'm sure that 00:26:22.059 --> 00:26:24.440 we sometimes have struggled with some people 00:26:24.440 --> 00:26:27.910 about the way they should dress. Right? So they're 00:26:27.910 --> 00:26:30.829 saying to you, oh no, that is not okay for where 00:26:30.829 --> 00:26:32.930 you are. Right? And you're asking yourself, who 00:26:32.930 --> 00:26:35.829 are you to tell me that? Right? You are disconnecting 00:26:35.829 --> 00:26:38.809 from the purpose of the meeting. Praise the Lord. 00:26:39.250 --> 00:26:41.390 You're disconnecting from the purpose of the 00:26:41.390 --> 00:26:46.190 meeting because God indwells all of us and we 00:26:46.190 --> 00:26:48.210 meet together. Praise the Lord. Maybe you're 00:26:48.210 --> 00:26:50.569 just looking for a place to be comfortable. Right? 00:26:50.650 --> 00:26:52.910 And they're telling you do this or do that. Praise 00:26:52.910 --> 00:26:58.119 the Lord. So the moment we do that, we are disconnecting 00:26:58.119 --> 00:27:00.019 ourselves from the purpose of the meeting because 00:27:00.019 --> 00:27:04.000 what we say is important. Praise the Lord. What 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:06.980 we say is very important. It carries our consciousness. 00:27:07.339 --> 00:27:12.279 Praise the Lord. So the first thing we know about 00:27:12.279 --> 00:27:14.319 or we should know about the Christian gathering 00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:17.160 is that it's a gathering of spirits. Praise the 00:27:17.160 --> 00:27:20.759 Lord. It's a gathering of the spirits. Praise 00:27:20.759 --> 00:27:23.319 the Lord. It is not an ordinary gathering because 00:27:23.319 --> 00:27:27.369 it says in Matthew chapter 20, 18 verse 20, that 00:27:27.369 --> 00:27:30.410 they are my in their midst. Praise the Lord. 00:27:30.490 --> 00:27:34.910 It is a gathering of spirits. It's a gathering 00:27:34.910 --> 00:27:38.910 of the spirits. So therefore, what should we 00:27:38.910 --> 00:27:42.609 do in this gathering? What should we do in this 00:27:42.609 --> 00:27:46.809 gathering of the spirits? So the first thing 00:27:46.809 --> 00:27:51.130 we do is that we keep the place sacred. Praise 00:27:51.130 --> 00:27:55.279 the Lord. We keep the place sacred. Genesis chapter 00:27:55.279 --> 00:28:06.859 28. Genesis chapter 28. Genesis chapter 28 from 00:28:06.859 --> 00:28:17.839 verse 16 to 19. So this is the story of Jacob 00:28:17.839 --> 00:28:22.839 when he was running from verse 16. Genesis 28. 00:28:23.500 --> 00:28:25.980 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, Surely 00:28:25.980 --> 00:28:29.160 the Lord is in this place, and I do not know 00:28:29.160 --> 00:28:32.579 it. Praise the Lord. And he was afraid and said, 00:28:32.740 --> 00:28:35.839 How awesome is this place! There is no other 00:28:35.839 --> 00:28:39.079 than the house of the Lord, and this is the gate 00:28:39.079 --> 00:28:44.640 of heaven. Praise the Lord. Verse 18 said, Then 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:46.900 Jacob rose up early in the morning and took stones 00:28:46.900 --> 00:28:50.779 that he had put at his head and set it up as 00:28:50.779 --> 00:28:53.819 a pillar. and poured oil on it. And he called 00:28:53.819 --> 00:28:55.859 the name of the place Bethel. Praise the Lord. 00:28:56.700 --> 00:29:00.660 But the name of the, but that was not the previous 00:29:00.660 --> 00:29:06.079 name that was there. Praise the Lord. So we see 00:29:06.079 --> 00:29:11.559 here that Jacob woke up, right? Or he came to 00:29:11.559 --> 00:29:16.859 the recognition that this is not, this place 00:29:16.859 --> 00:29:19.920 I am is not what I thought. Praise the Lord. 00:29:20.299 --> 00:29:25.660 that this place is indeed a holy place. Praise 00:29:25.660 --> 00:29:28.019 the Lord. He said that God is in this place and 00:29:28.019 --> 00:29:32.700 I did not know it. Right? Surely the Lord is 00:29:32.700 --> 00:29:34.960 in this place and I did not know it. And he was 00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:37.539 afraid and said, so the way he came in or the 00:29:37.539 --> 00:29:40.420 way he slept is not the same way he woke up. 00:29:40.880 --> 00:29:44.099 Praise the Lord. So the same way that some of 00:29:44.099 --> 00:29:46.619 us have come here and the same way that this 00:29:46.619 --> 00:29:49.640 knowledge is coming to you, that's... The house 00:29:49.640 --> 00:29:53.660 of the Lord is a sacred place, right? And what 00:29:53.660 --> 00:29:58.140 makes it sacred is because God is here. And God 00:29:58.140 --> 00:30:03.240 is in the inside of us. So he set up stones, 00:30:03.420 --> 00:30:07.500 right? And he poured oil on it. He said, oh no, 00:30:07.559 --> 00:30:11.240 this is a holy place, right? This is a sacred 00:30:11.240 --> 00:30:15.099 place. And so by their tradition, he just poured 00:30:15.099 --> 00:30:17.859 oil on it and he called the place Bethel. Praise 00:30:17.859 --> 00:30:21.609 the Lord. So what happens when you have come 00:30:21.609 --> 00:30:24.829 to recognize that this is the place of God? This 00:30:24.829 --> 00:30:28.809 is a sacred place. This is a place of worship. 00:30:30.049 --> 00:30:33.589 So a normal place has now become a sacred place 00:30:33.589 --> 00:30:36.589 to Jacob. Praise the Lord. Something that was 00:30:36.589 --> 00:30:39.769 normal. He slept with the same stones. He's not 00:30:39.769 --> 00:30:43.009 calling them or he's not setting it up as pillars 00:30:43.009 --> 00:30:52.660 that he called Bethel. Praise the Lord. So a 00:30:52.660 --> 00:30:55.740 sacred place has become, right, a noble place 00:30:55.740 --> 00:30:59.000 has become a sacred place because of recognition. 00:30:59.720 --> 00:31:03.019 He has come to a knowledge. He has come to an 00:31:03.019 --> 00:31:05.420 understanding that this place is different. This 00:31:05.420 --> 00:31:08.700 is not what I thought it was. So recognition 00:31:08.700 --> 00:31:11.359 of what the house of God or what the meeting 00:31:11.359 --> 00:31:15.000 of God, of God's children is, is very important. 00:31:17.500 --> 00:31:20.980 So it's how he saw it, how he saw the place. 00:31:21.470 --> 00:31:24.509 How do you see this place? How do you see the 00:31:24.509 --> 00:31:31.349 house of the Lord? So sometimes, again, to workers 00:31:31.349 --> 00:31:35.190 and leaders, people who set up the place, sometimes 00:31:35.190 --> 00:31:39.890 because of maybe the too much work or the constant 00:31:39.890 --> 00:31:44.609 demand on us to ensure that things are set properly, 00:31:44.869 --> 00:31:49.190 we begin to lose sight of what we are doing. 00:31:49.769 --> 00:31:52.769 of the importance of the place, of the importance 00:31:52.769 --> 00:31:56.609 of the gathering. Praise the Lord. Because, you 00:31:56.609 --> 00:31:59.529 know, it has become your normal Saturday. Let's 00:31:59.529 --> 00:32:01.769 come and rehearse. Let's come and clean. Let's 00:32:01.769 --> 00:32:04.009 come and arrange. Let's do this. Let's do that. 00:32:04.150 --> 00:32:06.589 I have this responsibility. I have the responsibility. 00:32:07.190 --> 00:32:11.490 We begin to lose sight of how important what 00:32:11.490 --> 00:32:13.990 we are doing or how important what we are setting 00:32:13.990 --> 00:32:18.240 up is. Or maybe you're angry that people are 00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:21.279 not following your instructions, people are doing 00:32:21.279 --> 00:32:23.480 what they should not do, and all of those things. 00:32:23.559 --> 00:32:25.380 Praise the Lord. So one of the ways that you 00:32:25.380 --> 00:32:28.660 can help yourself as you come, as you know, as 00:32:28.660 --> 00:32:30.880 you're fixing the place, as you're doing, is 00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:34.799 to continually to pray. Praise the Lord. Saying 00:32:34.799 --> 00:32:38.079 that this place, as I'm setting this up, is a 00:32:38.079 --> 00:32:40.180 sacred place. People are going to be blessed. 00:32:40.599 --> 00:32:44.470 Praise the Lord. So as you do these things, you 00:32:44.470 --> 00:32:47.809 don't let it overwhelm you. You don't let it 00:32:47.809 --> 00:32:51.130 make you lose sight of how important the place 00:32:51.130 --> 00:32:56.769 is. So you keep yourself in a supernatural consciousness 00:32:56.769 --> 00:33:00.710 that this is a gathering of God's children. Praise 00:33:00.710 --> 00:33:03.869 the Lord. This is a gathering of God's children. 00:33:03.950 --> 00:33:11.269 We pray in the Spirit as we fix the things. So 00:33:11.269 --> 00:33:13.369 what makes this place a supernatural gathering 00:33:13.369 --> 00:33:18.210 is because God is here. He tells us that. He 00:33:18.210 --> 00:33:22.630 said, I am there in their midst. It's because 00:33:22.630 --> 00:33:28.410 God is here. Praise the Lord. God is here, not 00:33:28.410 --> 00:33:31.809 like God is everywhere. As we know, God is everywhere. 00:33:32.009 --> 00:33:35.750 Praise the Lord. God is here, but He's different 00:33:35.750 --> 00:33:40.150 from that God is everywhere. God is here because, 00:33:40.890 --> 00:33:43.750 He is the head of the meeting. Praise the Lord. 00:33:44.069 --> 00:33:48.990 He is the reason of the meeting. Praise the Lord. 00:33:49.890 --> 00:33:53.890 God is here, not as He is everywhere, but because 00:33:53.890 --> 00:33:57.450 God is here as the head of the meeting. He is 00:33:57.450 --> 00:33:59.990 the reason why we are meeting. Praise the Lord. 00:34:01.849 --> 00:34:04.210 We know that God is everywhere, but not everywhere 00:34:04.210 --> 00:34:08.110 is sacred. Praise the Lord. Not everywhere is 00:34:08.110 --> 00:34:13.550 sacred. So we see him as sacred and we know that 00:34:13.550 --> 00:34:16.849 he walks through people as I've explained earlier. 00:34:19.210 --> 00:34:27.010 So there is a supernatural recognition of the 00:34:27.010 --> 00:34:30.869 things of God or the meeting of God. Or you should 00:34:30.869 --> 00:34:34.250 have this supernatural recognition of the meeting 00:34:34.250 --> 00:34:39.230 of God's children. That God is here with us. 00:34:41.670 --> 00:34:44.030 So the fact that other people don't see it as 00:34:44.030 --> 00:34:47.110 sacred, right, does not mean that it's not so. 00:34:47.849 --> 00:34:50.570 Praise the Lord. Or the fact that somebody else 00:34:50.570 --> 00:34:54.789 does not behave that way does not mean it is 00:34:54.789 --> 00:35:00.630 not true. So people found it easy to crucify 00:35:00.630 --> 00:35:04.630 Christ or to laugh at him and crucify him. And 00:35:04.630 --> 00:35:07.409 it's the same Christ who is your Lord and who 00:35:07.409 --> 00:35:10.159 is your Savior. Praise the Lord. You see him 00:35:10.159 --> 00:35:13.360 in a different light. Praise the Lord. You see 00:35:13.360 --> 00:35:17.940 him in a different light. So the object of people's 00:35:17.940 --> 00:35:21.900 mockery has become your object of worship. Right? 00:35:23.719 --> 00:35:26.380 The thing that people laughed at or to him that 00:35:26.380 --> 00:35:29.559 people laughed at has become your object of worship 00:35:29.559 --> 00:35:32.380 because you have seen it. You have recognized 00:35:32.380 --> 00:35:37.360 it. Your eyes is opened to it. It's the same 00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:40.030 way that Paul also mocked christ he arrested 00:35:40.030 --> 00:35:43.030 people he put people in prison and so many things 00:35:43.030 --> 00:35:46.769 but the moment he recognized who christ was he 00:35:46.769 --> 00:35:50.610 surrendered to him praise the lord it was he 00:35:50.610 --> 00:35:53.489 that he persecuted before but now he has surrendered 00:35:53.489 --> 00:35:56.030 and he's doing the assignment of god because 00:35:56.030 --> 00:35:59.969 he has seen it in the way he should be seen praise 00:35:59.969 --> 00:36:03.610 the lord so the way you see the house of god 00:36:03.610 --> 00:36:09.340 right is very important So recognition is very 00:36:09.340 --> 00:36:16.900 important. Praise the Lord. It changes how you 00:36:16.900 --> 00:36:21.480 receive. Oh, when you find out that, you know, 00:36:21.480 --> 00:36:24.500 there's a lot of people that, I'm going to use 00:36:24.500 --> 00:36:27.420 a secular example. Maybe you find that somebody 00:36:27.420 --> 00:36:30.300 is, oh, let me use an example that I will say. 00:36:30.400 --> 00:36:36.340 Maybe Pastor Manuel is in BAU and You are a new 00:36:36.340 --> 00:36:39.579 student and you don't know that he's in your 00:36:39.579 --> 00:36:42.840 department. And then maybe you're not as wise. 00:36:43.239 --> 00:36:46.760 And then you maybe saw him on the road and you 00:36:46.760 --> 00:36:49.199 bumped into him. And then one day you saw him 00:36:49.199 --> 00:36:51.820 in your class teaching you. What will happen 00:36:51.820 --> 00:36:56.820 when you come out? Right? You have seen something 00:36:56.820 --> 00:37:01.519 different. Praise the Lord. So recognition changes 00:37:01.519 --> 00:37:07.400 how we received. So even the brothers of Jesus, 00:37:07.639 --> 00:37:11.420 they were observing him. What is this man doing? 00:37:11.880 --> 00:37:13.699 Praise the Lord. They gave birth to us. They 00:37:13.699 --> 00:37:16.559 gave birth to you. Our Mary is looking at Jesus. 00:37:18.340 --> 00:37:21.179 And the scripture will say she kept these things 00:37:21.179 --> 00:37:24.320 in her mind. Praise the Lord. But the moment 00:37:24.320 --> 00:37:27.239 they have come to recognize who he is, they became 00:37:27.239 --> 00:37:31.300 disciples. Praise the Lord. They became disciples. 00:37:32.880 --> 00:37:36.619 Meaning that they have changed, right? The moment 00:37:36.619 --> 00:37:38.699 they change their recognition, things change 00:37:38.699 --> 00:37:42.320 for them. Praise the Lord. So the moment we begin 00:37:42.320 --> 00:37:48.300 to see or begin to recognize that this meeting 00:37:48.300 --> 00:37:51.079 or the believers' meetings is a supernatural 00:37:51.079 --> 00:37:56.179 one, that moment we begin to receive. Praise 00:37:56.179 --> 00:37:59.019 the Lord. We begin to receive all that we need 00:37:59.019 --> 00:38:02.000 to receive. In Acts chapter 2, from verse 1 to 00:38:02.000 --> 00:38:05.260 4, it talks about the day of Pentecost, right? 00:38:05.579 --> 00:38:08.719 There was fire, there was stones of fire, there 00:38:08.719 --> 00:38:11.320 was the supernatural things happening. People 00:38:11.320 --> 00:38:13.519 were speaking with new tongues, right? And then 00:38:13.519 --> 00:38:15.739 you found some people invested in, they were 00:38:15.739 --> 00:38:17.019 having fun. They said, these people are drunk. 00:38:17.340 --> 00:38:20.639 What are they doing? Praise the Lord. So the 00:38:20.639 --> 00:38:22.920 fact that somebody else is not seeing the meeting 00:38:22.920 --> 00:38:26.000 as you're seeing it, does not mean that it changes 00:38:26.000 --> 00:38:28.380 what is going on here, what is true about it. 00:38:28.969 --> 00:38:33.510 Praise the Lord. So we do not judge a meeting 00:38:33.510 --> 00:38:36.269 from what it looks like from others who don't 00:38:36.269 --> 00:38:39.489 recognize it. Praise the Lord. We don't judge 00:38:39.489 --> 00:38:43.730 a meeting from what it looks like from others 00:38:43.730 --> 00:38:48.429 who do not recognize it. So what is supernatural 00:38:48.429 --> 00:38:57.630 about the Christian meeting? It is not where 00:38:57.630 --> 00:39:01.820 we are. Praise the Lord. What is supernatural 00:39:01.820 --> 00:39:04.599 about this meeting is not where we are. We are 00:39:04.599 --> 00:39:07.619 in the blue hall. This place in the afternoon 00:39:07.619 --> 00:39:11.880 is electrical. Praise the Lord. It is not where 00:39:11.880 --> 00:39:18.059 we are. Right? It's not maybe because, you know, 00:39:18.139 --> 00:39:21.960 this place was decorated with some things. Maybe 00:39:21.960 --> 00:39:23.940 there's a cross in the middle. That's what makes 00:39:23.940 --> 00:39:26.000 it. It's not what makes it a supernatural meeting. 00:39:26.460 --> 00:39:32.329 Praise the Lord. It is not even the time. It 00:39:32.329 --> 00:39:35.090 is not even the time of the meeting. Praise the 00:39:35.090 --> 00:39:38.170 Lord. It's not because this exists. We cannot 00:39:38.170 --> 00:39:40.570 say this meeting is supernatural because, you 00:39:40.570 --> 00:39:42.710 know, we meet at six. And we have been meeting 00:39:42.710 --> 00:39:46.110 at six for the past one year. So the consistency 00:39:46.110 --> 00:39:49.769 of this time has made it supernatural. No. Praise 00:39:49.769 --> 00:39:53.690 the Lord. We can meet early in the morning. We 00:39:53.690 --> 00:40:00.320 can meet middle of the day. It is not even the 00:40:00.320 --> 00:40:04.039 feeling that it gives you. Praise the Lord. It's 00:40:04.039 --> 00:40:06.059 not how you feel when you come to the meeting. 00:40:07.219 --> 00:40:10.219 Praise the Lord. It's not whether you came and 00:40:10.219 --> 00:40:13.119 then you are feeling happy going or you are feeling 00:40:13.119 --> 00:40:15.460 energized going. That's not what makes it a supernatural 00:40:15.460 --> 00:40:19.440 meeting. It's not even the way the church is. 00:40:21.119 --> 00:40:23.980 Praise the Lord. It's not the background. It's 00:40:23.980 --> 00:40:26.460 not the blue lights. Now I don't know why people 00:40:26.460 --> 00:40:30.389 put blue lights in the church. and so many different 00:40:30.389 --> 00:40:35.610 types of lights in the church setting. But it's 00:40:35.610 --> 00:40:38.110 not about those types of lights. It's not about 00:40:38.110 --> 00:40:44.150 the way the pulpit is organized. It's not the 00:40:44.150 --> 00:40:48.289 altar. Praise the Lord. That's not what makes 00:40:48.289 --> 00:40:54.230 it a supernatural meeting. So what makes it a 00:40:54.230 --> 00:40:59.380 supernatural meeting? As we have said, Who makes 00:40:59.380 --> 00:41:02.519 it a supernatural meeting? And we said that God 00:41:02.519 --> 00:41:06.639 is in the midst of them. So it is God who makes 00:41:06.639 --> 00:41:10.059 it a supernatural meeting. It is the presence 00:41:10.059 --> 00:41:13.019 of God that makes it a supernatural meeting. 00:41:15.320 --> 00:41:19.300 He said, I'm in the midst of them. So God is 00:41:19.300 --> 00:41:25.179 here. Praise the Lord. God is here. We need to 00:41:25.179 --> 00:41:27.840 recognize the significance of that, that God... 00:41:28.219 --> 00:41:32.780 is here in us. Praise the Lord. God is here in 00:41:32.780 --> 00:41:38.219 us. So that's why we said it's not a place. Praise 00:41:38.219 --> 00:41:41.840 the Lord. We can decide to move out now and be 00:41:41.840 --> 00:41:45.119 outside. God is there. Praise the Lord, because 00:41:45.119 --> 00:41:49.519 we are there. Praise the Lord. It's because God 00:41:49.519 --> 00:41:57.070 is here. So if God is here, then How do you see 00:41:57.070 --> 00:42:01.190 yourself? Then who are you? Do you see yourself 00:42:01.190 --> 00:42:06.230 as a citizen of Namibia? Do you see yourself 00:42:06.230 --> 00:42:10.130 as a citizen of Nigeria? Do you see yourself 00:42:10.130 --> 00:42:13.809 as a citizen of one country or the other? Or 00:42:13.809 --> 00:42:17.409 do you see yourself as a lawyer, a doctor, a 00:42:17.409 --> 00:42:22.110 businessman, an entrepreneur? Do you see yourself 00:42:22.110 --> 00:42:29.579 as a man or a woman? Yes, you can see yourself 00:42:29.579 --> 00:42:32.679 as that, as a man, as a woman, as a business 00:42:32.679 --> 00:42:35.159 person, but that's not what we represent here 00:42:35.159 --> 00:42:38.139 when we come together. Praise the Lord. So when 00:42:38.139 --> 00:42:40.239 we come together, we didn't come to represent 00:42:40.239 --> 00:42:45.840 business, something association. Praise the Lord. 00:42:47.079 --> 00:42:54.199 That's not what we come to represent. So what 00:42:54.199 --> 00:42:57.739 we represent is that we are temples of God. Praise 00:42:57.739 --> 00:43:02.460 the Lord. We are temple of God. And our recognition 00:43:02.460 --> 00:43:07.420 is important that we are temple of God. So who 00:43:07.420 --> 00:43:10.940 is supernatural? God is supernatural, right? 00:43:11.019 --> 00:43:13.760 Because God is here. And you are supernatural 00:43:13.760 --> 00:43:17.519 because God is in the inside of you. Praise the 00:43:17.519 --> 00:43:22.539 Lord. You're supernatural because God is in the 00:43:22.539 --> 00:43:35.019 inside of you. Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 00:43:35.019 --> 00:43:48.440 8, verse 1 to 9. There is therefore no condemnation 00:43:48.440 --> 00:43:51.920 to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not 00:43:51.920 --> 00:43:54.960 walk according to the flesh, but according to 00:43:54.960 --> 00:43:57.400 the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life 00:43:57.400 --> 00:44:00.500 in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law 00:44:00.500 --> 00:44:05.889 of sin and death. do in that he was weak through 00:44:05.889 --> 00:44:09.110 the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in 00:44:09.110 --> 00:44:12.909 the likeness of a sinful flesh on account of 00:44:12.909 --> 00:44:16.590 sin. He condemned sin in the flesh, that the 00:44:16.590 --> 00:44:19.809 righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled 00:44:19.809 --> 00:44:22.710 in us who do not walk according to the flesh, 00:44:22.730 --> 00:44:25.570 but according to the Spirit. For those who live 00:44:25.570 --> 00:44:28.250 according to the flesh set their minds on the 00:44:28.250 --> 00:44:31.050 things of the flesh. For those who live according 00:44:31.050 --> 00:44:35.710 to the Spirit, They are the things of the Spirit. 00:44:36.570 --> 00:44:40.929 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be 00:44:40.929 --> 00:44:44.289 spiritually minded is life and peace, because 00:44:44.289 --> 00:44:47.469 the carnally mind is an enmity against God, for 00:44:47.469 --> 00:44:51.949 it is not subject to the laws of God, nor indeed 00:44:51.949 --> 00:44:54.570 can it be. So then, those who are in the flesh 00:44:54.570 --> 00:44:58.989 cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, 00:44:58.989 --> 00:45:01.690 but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God 00:45:01.690 --> 00:45:04.599 dwells in you. Now, if anyone does not have the 00:45:04.599 --> 00:45:09.280 Spirit of God, he is not his. Praise the Lord. 00:45:09.639 --> 00:45:12.880 Verse 9 tells us that, it said, but you are not 00:45:12.880 --> 00:45:16.820 in the flesh. You are in the Spirit. Praise the 00:45:16.820 --> 00:45:19.920 Lord. You are in the Spirit. You are supernatural. 00:45:20.739 --> 00:45:24.500 Praise the Lord. You are supernatural. So the 00:45:24.500 --> 00:45:29.460 church is supernatural. The gathering is a gathering 00:45:29.460 --> 00:45:32.630 of supernatural beings. This gathering, is a 00:45:32.630 --> 00:45:35.889 gathering of supernatural beings. That recognition 00:45:35.889 --> 00:45:41.110 is important for us to be able to receive. It 00:45:41.110 --> 00:45:44.730 is a gathering of supernatural beings. It is 00:45:44.730 --> 00:45:48.710 important, praise the Lord, that we know who 00:45:48.710 --> 00:45:53.210 is here. Praise the Lord. God is here. You are 00:45:53.210 --> 00:45:57.030 here. And that God is in the inside of you. It 00:45:57.030 --> 00:46:00.309 is a supernatural gathering. Praise the Lord. 00:46:04.019 --> 00:46:06.019 It's important that we organize them because 00:46:06.019 --> 00:46:10.280 that's how we receive. In John chapter 14, sorry, 00:46:10.320 --> 00:46:13.840 John chapter 4, verse 7 to 10, we see the Samaritan 00:46:13.840 --> 00:46:16.880 woman asking Jesus, who is he to ask her for 00:46:16.880 --> 00:46:23.840 a drink? He being a Jew. Praise the Lord. Who 00:46:23.840 --> 00:46:26.320 is he to ask her for drinks? John chapter 4, 00:46:26.400 --> 00:46:32.610 verse 7 to 10. In verse 10, Jesus answered and 00:46:32.610 --> 00:46:35.909 said, if you knew the gift of God and who is 00:46:35.909 --> 00:46:38.710 it who says to you, give me a drink, you would 00:46:38.710 --> 00:46:41.550 have asked him and he would give you the living, 00:46:41.690 --> 00:46:43.849 he would give you living waters. Praise the Lord. 00:46:45.329 --> 00:46:49.510 So she does not know or have not recognized who 00:46:49.510 --> 00:46:52.610 is speaking to her. Praise the Lord. So recognition 00:46:52.610 --> 00:46:56.829 is important for receiving. Praise the Lord. 00:46:58.269 --> 00:47:01.760 Recognition is important for receiving. If you 00:47:01.760 --> 00:47:06.179 knew the gift of God and who is he that acts 00:47:06.179 --> 00:47:09.780 your drink, praise the Lord, it's a very important 00:47:09.780 --> 00:47:15.119 element for blessing to know who is here. God 00:47:15.119 --> 00:47:25.340 is here and your fellow believers are here. So 00:47:25.340 --> 00:47:28.300 a very important element of being blessed in 00:47:28.300 --> 00:47:32.320 a meeting is recognizing who, the person is and 00:47:32.320 --> 00:47:35.019 like i said god is here and you are here jacob 00:47:35.019 --> 00:47:38.579 recognized who was there and he showed respect 00:47:38.579 --> 00:47:42.320 oh he recognized this place i am is not a normal 00:47:42.320 --> 00:47:45.559 place basically it's like oh let me build let 00:47:45.559 --> 00:47:49.980 me build pillars right and raise up something 00:47:49.980 --> 00:47:54.719 there and pour oil on it as an altar and he called 00:47:54.719 --> 00:47:59.869 the name of the place Bethel So he showed respect 00:47:59.869 --> 00:48:02.469 because he knew what was there. Praise the Lord. 00:48:04.909 --> 00:48:08.969 So how do we show respect in the gathering of 00:48:08.969 --> 00:48:13.710 God's people? We show respect by not being a 00:48:13.710 --> 00:48:18.610 distraction. Praise the Lord. So when you recognize 00:48:18.610 --> 00:48:20.750 or when you have come to recognize that God is 00:48:20.750 --> 00:48:24.170 here and you are here and the brethren are here, 00:48:24.250 --> 00:48:26.610 praise the Lord, you show respect by not being 00:48:26.610 --> 00:48:29.909 a distraction. Praise the Lord. By not being 00:48:29.909 --> 00:48:33.210 a distraction, by not moving around. There's 00:48:33.210 --> 00:48:35.409 some people that they finally have to sit down. 00:48:35.989 --> 00:48:38.710 Praise the Lord, especially in church. They are 00:48:38.710 --> 00:48:42.510 always moving, moving. Maybe they are, I don't 00:48:42.510 --> 00:48:44.610 know, in their head, maybe they wore a fine dress. 00:48:45.030 --> 00:48:48.070 I don't know, maybe that is causing them to stand 00:48:48.070 --> 00:48:51.329 up and say, look at me. Praise the Lord, right? 00:48:52.250 --> 00:48:56.530 It's not to keep moving around, right? To show 00:48:56.530 --> 00:49:01.150 up on time. Praise the Lord. To reduce unnecessary 00:49:01.150 --> 00:49:04.849 talk. You are in church. You are preaching. You 00:49:04.849 --> 00:49:07.389 are talking to your neighbor. Are you here? Did 00:49:07.389 --> 00:49:09.570 you see what happened yesterday? Praise the Lord. 00:49:09.949 --> 00:49:13.150 To reduce unnecessary talk because you have come 00:49:13.150 --> 00:49:18.429 to recognize that this is a gathering of believers 00:49:18.429 --> 00:49:21.710 where God is and you are in. Praise the Lord. 00:49:24.750 --> 00:49:28.389 So, When I recognize that you are here, it means 00:49:28.389 --> 00:49:31.550 that I also recognize that God is here. Praise 00:49:31.550 --> 00:49:35.449 the Lord. Because you recognize that this person 00:49:35.449 --> 00:49:38.570 has the Spirit of God, right? And it is a supernatural 00:49:38.570 --> 00:49:44.230 meeting. So I treat the person as sacred. Praise 00:49:44.230 --> 00:49:48.769 the Lord. I treat the person as sacred. We treat 00:49:48.769 --> 00:49:52.250 each other as sacred, right? And I think it's 00:49:52.250 --> 00:49:55.739 something that we would have to... expounding 00:49:55.739 --> 00:49:58.940 teaching in terms of how we treat each other. 00:49:59.360 --> 00:50:02.579 How do you see a Christian brother? How do you 00:50:02.579 --> 00:50:05.639 see a Christian sister? Praise the Lord. So we 00:50:05.639 --> 00:50:09.480 treat each other as sacred. So you don't come 00:50:09.480 --> 00:50:12.039 here and the moment you begin to treat this person 00:50:12.039 --> 00:50:15.179 as, oh, that guy is my housemate or that person 00:50:15.179 --> 00:50:18.000 is my housemate, then you are off. Praise the 00:50:18.000 --> 00:50:20.780 Lord. You're not understanding what is going 00:50:20.780 --> 00:50:23.579 on. Praise the Lord. You treat the person as 00:50:23.579 --> 00:50:26.699 sacred. Like I said, there's nothing special 00:50:26.699 --> 00:50:30.699 about the whole, right? What makes it a supernatural 00:50:30.699 --> 00:50:34.039 or supernatural or makes this gathering supernatural 00:50:34.039 --> 00:50:38.599 is how we see it, how we recognize it. Praise 00:50:38.599 --> 00:50:42.519 the Lord. How we recognize it. The same thing 00:50:42.519 --> 00:50:46.679 goes for people, right? How we see people. When 00:50:46.679 --> 00:50:49.300 you see somebody in Christ, you are able to receive 00:50:49.300 --> 00:50:52.349 from them. Praise the Lord. If you're going to 00:50:52.349 --> 00:50:58.070 see them as, you know, this person is my classmate 00:50:58.070 --> 00:51:01.809 or my housemate, and then how can I receive from 00:51:01.809 --> 00:51:05.530 them in the house of God? Then you will not receive. 00:51:06.949 --> 00:51:11.269 Praise the Lord. So imagine you see the person 00:51:11.269 --> 00:51:14.690 as a man of God. Imagine you see the person as 00:51:14.690 --> 00:51:18.010 a woman of God, as somebody who can bless you, 00:51:18.030 --> 00:51:20.730 as somebody who will bless you. Praise the Lord. 00:51:21.769 --> 00:51:24.670 As somebody who would speak the mind of God to 00:51:24.670 --> 00:51:32.809 you, it will reduce your confusion. Praise the 00:51:32.809 --> 00:51:37.090 Lord. It will reduce your solution -seeking everywhere. 00:51:37.929 --> 00:51:42.130 Praise the Lord. Because your eyes are beginning 00:51:42.130 --> 00:51:45.929 to open to the people around you. Praise the 00:51:45.929 --> 00:51:48.469 Lord. That God can use them to help your life. 00:51:49.050 --> 00:51:50.989 Praise the Lord. That God can speak through them. 00:51:51.250 --> 00:51:54.030 That God can give them a counsel concerning your 00:51:54.030 --> 00:51:56.349 life. Praise the Lord. You will not be running 00:51:56.349 --> 00:51:59.429 around looking for healing while your housemates 00:51:59.429 --> 00:52:03.570 can lay hands on you and you'll be well. Because 00:52:03.570 --> 00:52:06.409 you have come to recognize or you have not recognized 00:52:06.409 --> 00:52:10.750 that this person is somebody that God indwells. 00:52:11.630 --> 00:52:13.789 Or that you have not come to recognize that this 00:52:13.789 --> 00:52:17.570 person is supernatural. Praise the Lord. So it 00:52:17.570 --> 00:52:20.510 will reduce you running around. It will reduce 00:52:20.510 --> 00:52:22.710 a lot of the things that will come your direction. 00:52:23.670 --> 00:52:26.070 It will reduce those who you will call because 00:52:26.070 --> 00:52:29.170 you're trying to find solution for your life. 00:52:29.610 --> 00:52:41.070 Praise the Lord. So avoid see finish as much 00:52:41.070 --> 00:52:45.130 as you can. Praise the Lord. So when we come 00:52:45.130 --> 00:52:49.289 to... A Christian meeting, we come with a consciousness 00:52:49.289 --> 00:52:56.469 that God is here. God is here, right? And we 00:52:56.469 --> 00:52:59.090 are here and God dwells in the inside of us. 00:52:59.389 --> 00:53:03.110 Praise the Lord. God dwells in the inside of 00:53:03.110 --> 00:53:05.750 us. Praise the Lord. Can we just open our mouth 00:53:05.750 --> 00:53:08.230 and just begin to pray? I just thank God for 00:53:08.230 --> 00:53:12.929 the meeting. Thank God for the opportunity to 00:53:12.929 --> 00:53:18.059 gather. We appreciate you being here today. We 00:53:18.059 --> 00:53:19.960 hope you carry this word with you throughout 00:53:19.960 --> 00:53:22.840 your week. Don't forget to check the show notes 00:53:22.840 --> 00:53:25.599 for additional insights. Stay connected with 00:53:25.599 --> 00:53:28.300 us through our website or follow us on social 00:53:28.300 --> 00:53:31.960 media. If you are encouraged, share this message 00:53:31.960 --> 00:53:34.960 with someone you care about. Until next time, 00:53:35.019 --> 00:53:35.960 stay blessed.