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. We need to continue from where we stopped
on Sunday. I want to thank God for the opportunity
again to bring the word to us. And I also want
to thank the asterisks. Matthew chapter 28. Matthew
chapter 28. Matthew chapter 28 from verse...
18 to 20. We're looking at the supernatural nature
of a Christian gathering. Praise the Lord. The
supernatural nature of a Christian gathering.
What makes this place or this gathering a supernatural
one? What makes it different from other meetings?
What is the uniqueness of this meeting? why are
we meeting like this? Praise the Lord. So that
we can have better understanding, we can have
better knowledge of the things to do and the
things not to do in the house of the Lord. Matthew
28, 18 -20 says, And Jesus came and spoke to
them, saying, All authority has been given me
in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy
Spirit, teaching them to observe all the things
that I have commanded you and lo, I am with you
always, even to the end of the age. Praise the
Lord. So we looked at these scriptures and we
saw that one of the responsibilities that we
have as believers Some of the responsibilities
that we have is that we are called to make disciples.
Praise the Lord. We are called to make disciples.
We are called to bring people to the knowledge
of the truth or to make somebody a student of
the word. Praise the Lord. This is our responsibility.
This is not what the church alone does, but it
is the responsibility of every... individual,
everyone that have believed. Praise the Lord.
So we also looked at that there are signs that
accompany a believer. Praise the Lord. We said
that there are signs that accompany a believer,
that we're not just people that are decent people,
good people. We're not just people that are...
You know, we can handle some things. We're not
easily angered. We're not this or that. Praise
the Lord. There are good representations of what
the Christian faith is, but there were people
that are supernatural. Praise the Lord. That
our salvation is supernatural. Praise the Lord.
That the experience that we have in God is supernatural,
right? And we saw that... Jesus was saying that
to them that believe, that is to he that have
believed in Mark chapter 16, Mark chapter 16,
from verse 15 to 18, he tells us to them that
believe, there are signs that follow them. And
one of the signs that we see that follow a believer
is that he said that they will cast out demons.
Praise the Lord. So when we see people that are
demon oppressed or demon possessed, we cast out.
devils praise the lord and the casting out of
devils is not just something that we do as a
result of a maybe something is happening now
you say okay let me go and pray about it or let
me go and pray first then i will come back praise
the lord it's not something that you say let
me just go out there it's something that is in
you that you see a situation or the oppression
of the enemy we saw that He was talking about
that you will take up serpent. And we said that
he refers to the works of darkness. That is to
confront the work of darkness. So part of the
things that we have or part of the things, qualities
that we have as believers is that we confront
the work of darkness. That you see something
happening. You see something around you happening.
And you know, this is not the will of God or
this is not the purposes of God. You confront
it. Praise the Lord. So it's not something that
you go and say, okay, let me pray first before
I come back. It's something that happens. And
so if you're not walking in that light, right,
it's because maybe you don't have the knowledge
of it. Praise the Lord. Or you are not practicing
or you're not participating in it. It's not because
it is not there in the inside of you. It is not
because it is not present. Praise the Lord. So
part of the things again that we do is that we
heal the sick. The Bible tells us that you lay
your hands on the sick and they shall be healed.
Praise the Lord. So when we find people that
are sick around us, we don't just not do anything.
We pray with them. Praise the Lord. We pray for
them. We lay our hands on them that they might
receive healing. So these are some of the signs
of a believer. Praise the Lord. So don't just
be contented by the fact that, yes, you are,
you know, you're living in a certain way, or
that you have some of the things that you used
to do before, you have stopped doing them by
the grace of God, God has helped you, God has
delivered you for many things, but also that
you walk in the supernatural. Praise the Lord.
That you show forth the quality of He that is
in Christ. Praise the Lord. So we also looked
at also that it is important to note that as
children of God, that part of God's, part of
the things that we must know how to do is to
interpret the scriptures or to be able to teach
the Bible. Praise the Lord. Is to be able to
teach the Bible, is to be able to expound, right?
The scriptures. We saw that in Luke chapter 24,
when Jesus expounded, He said, beginning at Moses,
he began to speak about the things concerning
himself. He opened their understanding. He has
founded the scriptures to them. Praise the Lord.
So part of the things as children of God is that
we're able to teach the scriptures. We're able
to shed light, right? To bring knowledge. Praise
the Lord. To remove ignorance from the lives
of people. So if somebody comes and meets you
and says to you that they don't understand the
scripture, or can you explain this or explain
that, right? Even if you don't know it, or even
if it's not fully clear yet to you, right? You
can explain it tomorrow. Praise the Lord. You
can tell them, come back tomorrow. I will be
able to explain it to you. Praise the Lord. You
can tell them, oh, come to me next week. I'll
be able to explain it to you. Praise the Lord.
So part of the things that we do also is that
we are able to explain the scriptures. It is
important for the believer and it's something
that we must do. It is a part of Christian work
that is not, I said, it's not elective. It's
not something that you choose. It's not something
that you decide whether or not you want to do
it. Praise the Lord. It's not something you decide
whether it is good for you or not good for you
or whether it's important for you or not important
for you. It is important. It is a compulsory
thing that we must do to be able to explain the
scriptures. It is also confronting the works
of darkness. Praise the Lord. To somebody who
is ignorant or somebody who does not know God.
Praise the Lord. By teaching or by preaching
the gospel, you're confronting the works of darkness
or the works of the devil. Praise the Lord. So
we don't say to ourselves that we like a particular
part of the Christian walk, right? I was giving
an example that we don't say that we don't, maybe
you like to sing, right? That is your own department.
Or you like to usher people into the church,
or you like to cook, or you like to do so many
things. We saw that even in Acts, right? We saw
that the disciples were also people just like
us. There were people also who were serving.
There were people who were also serving tables,
but there were people who were full of power.
They were full of the knowledge of the Word of
God, and they are able to teach it. So it is
important that these things are part of our lives.
Praise the Lord. So what makes this gathering,
or what makes this gathering a... supernatural
gathering. What makes this place a supernatural
gathering? It is different from, this meeting
is different from your office meeting. Praise
the Lord. Some of us were in class today. What
you had was a class meeting. Praise the Lord.
Some of your teachers are here. Maybe if you
know them, the interaction that you had with
them there is a teacher to a student interaction
or relation. What is the difference between that
and here? You meet the same person here and you
are here. Praise the Lord. So what is the difference?
Or that some of your lecturers taught you so
many things. Or that you are working in a place
and you have office mates and they are also in
church with you. Are you still in the office
with them? Are you having an office meeting?
Praise the Lord. We saw from Genesis that The
very beginning or the very opening of the chapters
of the Bible was supernatural. Praise the Lord.
Because he said that God in the beginning was
there and the spirit of God was hovering over
the waters. Praise the Lord. We said that your
salvation is supernatural. We believe in angels.
We believe in, we believe there are devils. We
believe there are demons. Praise the Lord. These
things are supernatural things. What makes the
Christian gathering a supernatural gathering?
I also said that they are not experts in the
world. We looked at from John, from Timothy,
how the Bible encourages us to continue. in the
things that we have learned. He tells us to continue
in good works. He tells us to continue in prayers.
He tells us to continue in studies. He tells
us to continue to preach time and time again.
Praise the Lord. And we said that the difference
between somebody who... Let's open to 2 Timothy
4. 2 Timothy 4, verse 2. 2 Timothy. He said,
preach the word, be ready in season and out of
season, convince, rebuke, exalt with all longsuffering
and teaching. Praise the Lord. So he says to
them that, or he said to him that he should teach
in season and out of season. Praise the Lord.
It means that whether he's treating like it,
whether it's cold, whether it's hot. Praise the
Lord. His job is to teach the scriptures. Whether
it is convenient or not, teach the scriptures.
Whether it is a good time for you or not, preach
the scriptures. Whether you are in a good mood
or not, teach the scriptures. So there's no time
for teaching the scriptures. And I said that
the things that makes us look at people or men
of God or people that have given themselves to
the things of the Spirit as experts is because
they have. Their life is very consistent or they
are consistently feeding on the word of God.
They are consistently feeding on prayers. They
are consistently feeding on preaching the word.
Praise the Lord. They are continuing in the things
of God. They are continuing in the things of
God. So, expats are just people that are consistent.
Praise the Lord. What happens? When you decide,
for example, this next year is coming and you
decide to challenge yourself, right? Or you decide
to encourage yourself. You say, in this next
year, maybe what happens when I fast? What will
happen, right? If I decide this next year that
I'm going to study the Word of God like I've
never done, what will happen to my life? Praise
the Lord. So these are the kind of challenge
you should take. Praise the Lord. There are so
many challenges everywhere now, right? Something
comes out, people will challenge this person,
that person, maybe a dance challenge, who can
do it best. Praise the Lord. As children of God,
you should be thinking about these things. What
happens when you pray? Not because your school
fees is not paid. Praise the Lord. Not because
you have one challenge or the other. Not because
you... Your family is in serious problem. What
happens when you pray? What happens when you
come to the presence of God and you have no prayer
point? You have no, okay, God, I want you to
do that for me. I want you to do this for me.
What happens? What is the result of that? What
is the result of if I decide I'm going to study
the scriptures or I'm going to study my Bible
every day for 30 minutes? What happens? You discover
that your life will begin to change. Praise the
Lord. You discover that something different begins
to happen. You discover that I don't want to
give you what will happen. Right? Just take on
the challenge. Praise the Lord. Right? Take on
spiritual challenge and find out what the result
is. People have said, I'm sure you have seen
people online shouting, you know, I fasted for
100 days. I know some of you might look at this
like, who is this person? Why do we need to fast
that long? What is going on? Try something. You
try something and see. Praise the Lord. Instead
of maybe criticizing them and telling them, why
are you doing that Lord? What is going on? Praise
the Lord. What challenge have you done? What
spiritual challenge have you done? How have you
challenged yourself to do spiritual activities?
Praise the Lord. Because if you become consistent
in the things of God, you begin to discover that
understanding will begin to come. So many things
that you have tried by your own strength to stop
will begin to give way. Praise the Lord. Because
it is God who will enable you and strengthen
you. So when you continue in these things, or
when you continue in the things of God as the
Scriptures have encouraged us, When people begin
to see you and maybe you give a word and somebody
sees the accuracy of the word that you gave,
it's because these things have become familiar
and familiar and familiar to you. Praise the
Lord. Because of your continually doing it. I
told us on Sunday that whenever you meet somebody,
praise the Lord, you find out that not everybody
is able to open up to you or open up to somebody
or say something to you about what they are going
through, right? It should not be so. But there
are people like that that don't. Or maybe you
see them, they are smiling. You think everything
is okay. But by the Spirit, you can know that
there's something that we need to pray for. God
can give you a word for them. Praise the Lord.
Of something they have never told anybody. Of
something that they have never shared with anybody.
Praise the Lord. So whenever we gather together,
Whenever we come together, it is an opportunity
for us to edify, for us to bless one another,
for us to encourage one another. Praise the Lord.
So a person who is consistent in the things of
the Spirit, right, is somebody that will not
need a... pastors to come and encourage them
to pray. Example, we're here in church and the
person who just led prayers, leading prayers.
Somebody who is consistent in prayers or consistent
in the things of God will not need that person
to say, you, why are you not praying? Praise
the Lord. Because they know where they are. Praise
the Lord. They know what time it is. Praise the
Lord. They know what to do at this time. They're
very aware of their surroundings. So we need
to have an attitude of hunger and to just challenge
ourselves to do the things of God. We don't see
church services as an event, as something that
we just need to attend because we just need to
be here. Praise the Lord. It is a supernatural
place. Praise the Lord. So I said that we can
come together, right? As believers, we can come
together as teacher and student. But what makes
it different? What makes this setting different
from that of your teachers? What makes this setting
different from that where you are coming from?
Praise the Lord. What makes it different? As
believers, I said we can gather as people who
support the same football team, right? You can
gather as all of you are believers, but you're
Arsenal fans, right? What is that meeting about?
You can gather as a group of accountants who
are believers. You can gather as people who are
lawyers, who are doctors, right? You can even
gather as... Your siblings are children of God
or are believers. You can gather as a family.
But what makes a difference is that when you
gather together like this, or when we gather
together like this, we gather in the name of
the Lord. Praise the Lord. Matthew 18, verse
20. Matthew 18, verse 20. He said, for when two
or three are gathered together in my name, I
am there in the midst of them. Praise the Lord.
So when two or three are gathered in his name,
he's there in the midst of them. Right? I am
here in the midst of them. So when we gather,
we have the consciousness that what we have come
to do is supernatural. which means that God is
in the midst of us. Praise the Lord. So when
we gather like this, we gather with the consciousness
and we know that God is in the midst of us. So
what does that mean that God is in the midst
of us? Right? So we do not come here to meet
God. We don't come to this blue hall to meet
God. Praise the Lord. We come as individuals
who are indwelled by God. Praise the Lord. We
come as individuals who are indwelled by God.
John chapter 14, verses 16 -17. John chapter
14. So we don't gather here to meet God. To meet
God in this place. We gather here because God
is in the inside of us. Praise the Lord. We gather
because God is in the inside of us. John chapter
14, verses 16 to 17. It said, And I will pray
the Father, and he will give you another helper,
that he may abide with you forever. The Spirit
of truth. Whom the world cannot receive because
it neither see him nor know him. But you know
him for he dwells with you and will be in you.
Praise the Lord. So we gather as people who are
indwelt by God. We gather as people who are indwelt
by God. Praise the Lord. So we also see that
Paul writes of the same thing. Right? In 1 Corinthians.
1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians 3, verse
16. He said, Do you not know that you are temples,
the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God
dwells in you? Praise the Lord. So we gather
as people who are indwelled by God. Because why?
The Spirit of God dwells in the inside of us.
We are temple of God. And the Spirit of God dwells
in the inside of us. So, when we come together,
we know that our gathering is a supernatural
gathering. Praise the Lord. Gatherings of people
who God has indwelled in the inside of them.
So, that means that the way we see people, the
way we see believers, also matters. Praise the
Lord. The way we see each other is very important.
So if we're gathering, not because God is here,
right? In terms of that we're coming to meet
him here, but that we're gathering because God
is in the inside of us. And so we come together,
right? It means that we need to see ourselves
differently. So you no longer see that person
as your student. Praise the Lord. You no longer
see that person as your office mates. Praise
the Lord. You're not seeing that person now as
your fellow accountant or your fellow lawyer
or your fellow doctor. Praise the Lord. Because
the way we see these people, right, will determine
how we receive. Praise the Lord. The way we see
each other will determine how we receive from
each other. So if you see somebody as, they will
not bless you. you will not be blessed. Praise
the Lord. If you see somebody as, oh, God cannot
use that person to speak to me, you will not
be spoken to. Praise the Lord. So we gather with
that consciousness that everybody is indwelt
by God and we come to fellowship. So the way
we see people in a Christian meeting is the way
we receive from God and the way we worship Him.
Praise the Lord. So we cannot be careless and
just walk into the place and maybe the usher
say to you, please, can you sit in that place?
And then you ask them, why should I sit there?
Praise the Lord. So if you have this consciousness
that God indwelling all of us and we are gathering
together, if you walk into a service and there's
somebody saying to you, can you do this or can
you do that? You're not beginning to ask questions.
Because you know or you are conscious of the
gathering that you have just walked into. Praise
the Lord. So the moment you begin to do that,
the moment you begin to tell them, no, I cannot
sit there, you are disconnecting from the purpose
of the meeting. Praise the Lord. Or the moment
they're saying, oh, you cannot. I'm sure that
we sometimes have struggled with some people
about the way they should dress. Right? So they're
saying to you, oh no, that is not okay for where
you are. Right? And you're asking yourself, who
are you to tell me that? Right? You are disconnecting
from the purpose of the meeting. Praise the Lord.
You're disconnecting from the purpose of the
meeting because God indwells all of us and we
meet together. Praise the Lord. Maybe you're
just looking for a place to be comfortable. Right?
And they're telling you do this or do that. Praise
the Lord. So the moment we do that, we are disconnecting
ourselves from the purpose of the meeting because
what we say is important. Praise the Lord. What
we say is very important. It carries our consciousness.
Praise the Lord. So the first thing we know about
or we should know about the Christian gathering
is that it's a gathering of spirits. Praise the
Lord. It's a gathering of the spirits. Praise
the Lord. It is not an ordinary gathering because
it says in Matthew chapter 20, 18 verse 20, that
they are my in their midst. Praise the Lord.
It is a gathering of spirits. It's a gathering
of the spirits. So therefore, what should we
do in this gathering? What should we do in this
gathering of the spirits? So the first thing
we do is that we keep the place sacred. Praise
the Lord. We keep the place sacred. Genesis chapter
28. Genesis chapter 28. Genesis chapter 28 from
verse 16 to 19. So this is the story of Jacob
when he was running from verse 16. Genesis 28.
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, Surely
the Lord is in this place, and I do not know
it. Praise the Lord. And he was afraid and said,
How awesome is this place! There is no other
than the house of the Lord, and this is the gate
of heaven. Praise the Lord. Verse 18 said, Then
Jacob rose up early in the morning and took stones
that he had put at his head and set it up as
a pillar. and poured oil on it. And he called
the name of the place Bethel. Praise the Lord.
But the name of the, but that was not the previous
name that was there. Praise the Lord. So we see
here that Jacob woke up, right? Or he came to
the recognition that this is not, this place
I am is not what I thought. Praise the Lord.
that this place is indeed a holy place. Praise
the Lord. He said that God is in this place and
I did not know it. Right? Surely the Lord is
in this place and I did not know it. And he was
afraid and said, so the way he came in or the
way he slept is not the same way he woke up.
Praise the Lord. So the same way that some of
us have come here and the same way that this
knowledge is coming to you, that's... The house
of the Lord is a sacred place, right? And what
makes it sacred is because God is here. And God
is in the inside of us. So he set up stones,
right? And he poured oil on it. He said, oh no,
this is a holy place, right? This is a sacred
place. And so by their tradition, he just poured
oil on it and he called the place Bethel. Praise
the Lord. So what happens when you have come
to recognize that this is the place of God? This
is a sacred place. This is a place of worship.
So a normal place has now become a sacred place
to Jacob. Praise the Lord. Something that was
normal. He slept with the same stones. He's not
calling them or he's not setting it up as pillars
that he called Bethel. Praise the Lord. So a
sacred place has become, right, a noble place
has become a sacred place because of recognition.
He has come to a knowledge. He has come to an
understanding that this place is different. This
is not what I thought it was. So recognition
of what the house of God or what the meeting
of God, of God's children is, is very important.
So it's how he saw it, how he saw the place.
How do you see this place? How do you see the
house of the Lord? So sometimes, again, to workers
and leaders, people who set up the place, sometimes
because of maybe the too much work or the constant
demand on us to ensure that things are set properly,
we begin to lose sight of what we are doing.
of the importance of the place, of the importance
of the gathering. Praise the Lord. Because, you
know, it has become your normal Saturday. Let's
come and rehearse. Let's come and clean. Let's
come and arrange. Let's do this. Let's do that.
I have this responsibility. I have the responsibility.
We begin to lose sight of how important what
we are doing or how important what we are setting
up is. Or maybe you're angry that people are
not following your instructions, people are doing
what they should not do, and all of those things.
Praise the Lord. So one of the ways that you
can help yourself as you come, as you know, as
you're fixing the place, as you're doing, is
to continually to pray. Praise the Lord. Saying
that this place, as I'm setting this up, is a
sacred place. People are going to be blessed.
Praise the Lord. So as you do these things, you
don't let it overwhelm you. You don't let it
make you lose sight of how important the place
is. So you keep yourself in a supernatural consciousness
that this is a gathering of God's children. Praise
the Lord. This is a gathering of God's children.
We pray in the Spirit as we fix the things. So
what makes this place a supernatural gathering
is because God is here. He tells us that. He
said, I am there in their midst. It's because
God is here. Praise the Lord. God is here, not
like God is everywhere. As we know, God is everywhere.
Praise the Lord. God is here, but He's different
from that God is everywhere. God is here because,
He is the head of the meeting. Praise the Lord.
He is the reason of the meeting. Praise the Lord.
God is here, not as He is everywhere, but because
God is here as the head of the meeting. He is
the reason why we are meeting. Praise the Lord.
We know that God is everywhere, but not everywhere
is sacred. Praise the Lord. Not everywhere is
sacred. So we see him as sacred and we know that
he walks through people as I've explained earlier.
So there is a supernatural recognition of the
things of God or the meeting of God. Or you should
have this supernatural recognition of the meeting
of God's children. That God is here with us.
So the fact that other people don't see it as
sacred, right, does not mean that it's not so.
Praise the Lord. Or the fact that somebody else
does not behave that way does not mean it is
not true. So people found it easy to crucify
Christ or to laugh at him and crucify him. And
it's the same Christ who is your Lord and who
is your Savior. Praise the Lord. You see him
in a different light. Praise the Lord. You see
him in a different light. So the object of people's
mockery has become your object of worship. Right?
The thing that people laughed at or to him that
people laughed at has become your object of worship
because you have seen it. You have recognized
it. Your eyes is opened to it. It's the same
way that Paul also mocked christ he arrested
people he put people in prison and so many things
but the moment he recognized who christ was he
surrendered to him praise the lord it was he
that he persecuted before but now he has surrendered
and he's doing the assignment of god because
he has seen it in the way he should be seen praise
the lord so the way you see the house of god
right is very important So recognition is very
important. Praise the Lord. It changes how you
receive. Oh, when you find out that, you know,
there's a lot of people that, I'm going to use
a secular example. Maybe you find that somebody
is, oh, let me use an example that I will say.
Maybe Pastor Manuel is in BAU and You are a new
student and you don't know that he's in your
department. And then maybe you're not as wise.
And then you maybe saw him on the road and you
bumped into him. And then one day you saw him
in your class teaching you. What will happen
when you come out? Right? You have seen something
different. Praise the Lord. So recognition changes
how we received. So even the brothers of Jesus,
they were observing him. What is this man doing?
Praise the Lord. They gave birth to us. They
gave birth to you. Our Mary is looking at Jesus.
And the scripture will say she kept these things
in her mind. Praise the Lord. But the moment
they have come to recognize who he is, they became
disciples. Praise the Lord. They became disciples.
Meaning that they have changed, right? The moment
they change their recognition, things change
for them. Praise the Lord. So the moment we begin
to see or begin to recognize that this meeting
or the believers' meetings is a supernatural
one, that moment we begin to receive. Praise
the Lord. We begin to receive all that we need
to receive. In Acts chapter 2, from verse 1 to
4, it talks about the day of Pentecost, right?
There was fire, there was stones of fire, there
was the supernatural things happening. People
were speaking with new tongues, right? And then
you found some people invested in, they were
having fun. They said, these people are drunk.
What are they doing? Praise the Lord. So the
fact that somebody else is not seeing the meeting
as you're seeing it, does not mean that it changes
what is going on here, what is true about it.
Praise the Lord. So we do not judge a meeting
from what it looks like from others who don't
recognize it. Praise the Lord. We don't judge
a meeting from what it looks like from others
who do not recognize it. So what is supernatural
about the Christian meeting? It is not where
we are. Praise the Lord. What is supernatural
about this meeting is not where we are. We are
in the blue hall. This place in the afternoon
is electrical. Praise the Lord. It is not where
we are. Right? It's not maybe because, you know,
this place was decorated with some things. Maybe
there's a cross in the middle. That's what makes
it. It's not what makes it a supernatural meeting.
Praise the Lord. It is not even the time. It
is not even the time of the meeting. Praise the
Lord. It's not because this exists. We cannot
say this meeting is supernatural because, you
know, we meet at six. And we have been meeting
at six for the past one year. So the consistency
of this time has made it supernatural. No. Praise
the Lord. We can meet early in the morning. We
can meet middle of the day. It is not even the
feeling that it gives you. Praise the Lord. It's
not how you feel when you come to the meeting.
Praise the Lord. It's not whether you came and
then you are feeling happy going or you are feeling
energized going. That's not what makes it a supernatural
meeting. It's not even the way the church is.
Praise the Lord. It's not the background. It's
not the blue lights. Now I don't know why people
put blue lights in the church. and so many different
types of lights in the church setting. But it's
not about those types of lights. It's not about
the way the pulpit is organized. It's not the
altar. Praise the Lord. That's not what makes
it a supernatural meeting. So what makes it a
supernatural meeting? As we have said, Who makes
it a supernatural meeting? And we said that God
is in the midst of them. So it is God who makes
it a supernatural meeting. It is the presence
of God that makes it a supernatural meeting.
He said, I'm in the midst of them. So God is
here. Praise the Lord. God is here. We need to
recognize the significance of that, that God...
is here in us. Praise the Lord. God is here in
us. So that's why we said it's not a place. Praise
the Lord. We can decide to move out now and be
outside. God is there. Praise the Lord, because
we are there. Praise the Lord. It's because God
is here. So if God is here, then How do you see
yourself? Then who are you? Do you see yourself
as a citizen of Namibia? Do you see yourself
as a citizen of Nigeria? Do you see yourself
as a citizen of one country or the other? Or
do you see yourself as a lawyer, a doctor, a
businessman, an entrepreneur? Do you see yourself
as a man or a woman? Yes, you can see yourself
as that, as a man, as a woman, as a business
person, but that's not what we represent here
when we come together. Praise the Lord. So when
we come together, we didn't come to represent
business, something association. Praise the Lord.
That's not what we come to represent. So what
we represent is that we are temples of God. Praise
the Lord. We are temple of God. And our recognition
is important that we are temple of God. So who
is supernatural? God is supernatural, right?
Because God is here. And you are supernatural
because God is in the inside of you. Praise the
Lord. You're supernatural because God is in the
inside of you. Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter
8, verse 1 to 9. There is therefore no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not
walk according to the flesh, but according to
the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law
of sin and death. do in that he was weak through
the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in
the likeness of a sinful flesh on account of
sin. He condemned sin in the flesh, that the
righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled
in us who do not walk according to the flesh,
but according to the Spirit. For those who live
according to the flesh set their minds on the
things of the flesh. For those who live according
to the Spirit, They are the things of the Spirit.
For to be carnally minded is death, but to be
spiritually minded is life and peace, because
the carnally mind is an enmity against God, for
it is not subject to the laws of God, nor indeed
can it be. So then, those who are in the flesh
cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God
dwells in you. Now, if anyone does not have the
Spirit of God, he is not his. Praise the Lord.
Verse 9 tells us that, it said, but you are not
in the flesh. You are in the Spirit. Praise the
Lord. You are in the Spirit. You are supernatural.
Praise the Lord. You are supernatural. So the
church is supernatural. The gathering is a gathering
of supernatural beings. This gathering, is a
gathering of supernatural beings. That recognition
is important for us to be able to receive. It
is a gathering of supernatural beings. It is
important, praise the Lord, that we know who
is here. Praise the Lord. God is here. You are
here. And that God is in the inside of you. It
is a supernatural gathering. Praise the Lord.
It's important that we organize them because
that's how we receive. In John chapter 14, sorry,
John chapter 4, verse 7 to 10, we see the Samaritan
woman asking Jesus, who is he to ask her for
a drink? He being a Jew. Praise the Lord. Who
is he to ask her for drinks? John chapter 4,
verse 7 to 10. In verse 10, Jesus answered and
said, if you knew the gift of God and who is
it who says to you, give me a drink, you would
have asked him and he would give you the living,
he would give you living waters. Praise the Lord.
So she does not know or have not recognized who
is speaking to her. Praise the Lord. So recognition
is important for receiving. Praise the Lord.
Recognition is important for receiving. If you
knew the gift of God and who is he that acts
your drink, praise the Lord, it's a very important
element for blessing to know who is here. God
is here and your fellow believers are here. So
a very important element of being blessed in
a meeting is recognizing who, the person is and
like i said god is here and you are here jacob
recognized who was there and he showed respect
oh he recognized this place i am is not a normal
place basically it's like oh let me build let
me build pillars right and raise up something
there and pour oil on it as an altar and he called
the name of the place Bethel So he showed respect
because he knew what was there. Praise the Lord.
So how do we show respect in the gathering of
God's people? We show respect by not being a
distraction. Praise the Lord. So when you recognize
or when you have come to recognize that God is
here and you are here and the brethren are here,
praise the Lord, you show respect by not being
a distraction. Praise the Lord. By not being
a distraction, by not moving around. There's
some people that they finally have to sit down.
Praise the Lord, especially in church. They are
always moving, moving. Maybe they are, I don't
know, in their head, maybe they wore a fine dress.
I don't know, maybe that is causing them to stand
up and say, look at me. Praise the Lord, right?
It's not to keep moving around, right? To show
up on time. Praise the Lord. To reduce unnecessary
talk. You are in church. You are preaching. You
are talking to your neighbor. Are you here? Did
you see what happened yesterday? Praise the Lord.
To reduce unnecessary talk because you have come
to recognize that this is a gathering of believers
where God is and you are in. Praise the Lord.
So, When I recognize that you are here, it means
that I also recognize that God is here. Praise
the Lord. Because you recognize that this person
has the Spirit of God, right? And it is a supernatural
meeting. So I treat the person as sacred. Praise
the Lord. I treat the person as sacred. We treat
each other as sacred, right? And I think it's
something that we would have to... expounding
teaching in terms of how we treat each other.
How do you see a Christian brother? How do you
see a Christian sister? Praise the Lord. So we
treat each other as sacred. So you don't come
here and the moment you begin to treat this person
as, oh, that guy is my housemate or that person
is my housemate, then you are off. Praise the
Lord. You're not understanding what is going
on. Praise the Lord. You treat the person as
sacred. Like I said, there's nothing special
about the whole, right? What makes it a supernatural
or supernatural or makes this gathering supernatural
is how we see it, how we recognize it. Praise
the Lord. How we recognize it. The same thing
goes for people, right? How we see people. When
you see somebody in Christ, you are able to receive
from them. Praise the Lord. If you're going to
see them as, you know, this person is my classmate
or my housemate, and then how can I receive from
them in the house of God? Then you will not receive.
Praise the Lord. So imagine you see the person
as a man of God. Imagine you see the person as
a woman of God, as somebody who can bless you,
as somebody who will bless you. Praise the Lord.
As somebody who would speak the mind of God to
you, it will reduce your confusion. Praise the
Lord. It will reduce your solution -seeking everywhere.
Praise the Lord. Because your eyes are beginning
to open to the people around you. Praise the
Lord. That God can use them to help your life.
Praise the Lord. That God can speak through them.
That God can give them a counsel concerning your
life. Praise the Lord. You will not be running
around looking for healing while your housemates
can lay hands on you and you'll be well. Because
you have come to recognize or you have not recognized
that this person is somebody that God indwells.
Or that you have not come to recognize that this
person is supernatural. Praise the Lord. So it
will reduce you running around. It will reduce
a lot of the things that will come your direction.
It will reduce those who you will call because
you're trying to find solution for your life.
Praise the Lord. So avoid see finish as much
as you can. Praise the Lord. So when we come
to... A Christian meeting, we come with a consciousness
that God is here. God is here, right? And we
are here and God dwells in the inside of us.
Praise the Lord. God dwells in the inside of
us. Praise the Lord. Can we just open our mouth
and just begin to pray? I just thank God for
the meeting. Thank God for the opportunity to
gather. 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.