Transcript: I Will Build My Church — God's Pattern for Growth and Maturity

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God's word is alive and powerful. It is sharper than any double edged sword. His word can cut through our spirits and souls and our joints and marrow until it discovers the desires and thoughts of our hearts. Join apostle Emmanuel as he takes us on a journey into the word of God. It is time to encounter God, be transformed by his word, and empowered by his spirit. Matthew chapter 16 and verse 15. The bible says, but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus answered and said to him, blessed are you, Simon Badrona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven. And I say to you that you are Peter.

And on this rock, I will build my church. And the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Today I'm going to be teaching you something that I've titled I will build my church hyphen, God's pattern for growth and maturity. I will build my church, God's pattern for growth and maturity. The aim of this teaching is to show you God's blueprint for growth, God's blueprint for maturity, God's blueprint for dominion as long as you are in this earth realm. For some of us, this will be an instruction in righteousness. For some, it will be a correction to the hand that there is repentance. And for most of us, it will be both. So whichever the case may be, ensure that you listen, pay attention, give me your ears for you'll be blessed. You don't believe that you'll be blessed?

In the book of Exodus chapter 25, God wanted to dwell amongst the people of Israel. And then he instructs them to build a sanctuary. In verse eight, the Bible says and let them make me a sanctuary that I will dwell amongst them. Now, just any place cannot house a spirit. Not just any place can house a spirit. And so if you're going to build a sanctuary to host God, It has to be a mirror dimension of the throne room in heaven. And so God had to show them exactly how they were going to build that temple. And so in verse nine, the bible says, according to all that I show you, That is the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings. Just so you shall make it. And to see how serious God was about it.

In verse 40, after giving them all the instructions, God tells them again and see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain. See to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain. God repeated twice for emphasis. When God says something once, you pay attention. If he says it twice, there's a reason to pay even more attention. That I want to live amongst you. I want to dwell amongst you. I would require that you build a sanctuary. But understand that in building a sanctuary, you are not given the privilege to be creative. You're not given the privilege to come up with your own design.

If it is a sanctuary that will house me, I must show you the pattern for how the sanctuary that will house me is built. It must be a mirror dimension of my realm. And because of that, only I can show you how to build a house I will live in. Do you understand what I'm saying? Yes, sir. And I want you to see something very powerful here. Exodus chapter 40 and verse 33. The bible says, and he raised up the court all around the tabernacle and the altar. Now this was when from 25 down to chapter 40, the building of tabernacle was happening, following all the instructions that God had given along with several other things. In chapter 40, the building of the tabernacle comes to an end.

And so this is the ending. Is that not so? So the bible says, and hung up the screen of the court gate, so Moses finished the work. There was no prayers made. There was no sacrifice. He just finished building according to pattern. Is that in your Bible? Yes sir. He finished the work. They've not offered any prayers.

They've not sang any song. They've not sang any hymns. They've not ministered to anybody. The Bible just says, he finished the work. Following the pattern that God gave. Moses finished the work. Look at the next verse. The next verse says, then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. There was no prayers yet. There was no worship yet.

There was no... Nothing. They just finished the work. It means that the glory of God is always a response to his pattern followed. The glory of God is a default response, a default response to his patterns followed. They didn't have to offer any special prayers. The moment the temple was built according to the pattern that God gave, the glory of God covered the temple. There are certain things, listen to me, in the journey of a believer and in your work of faith that are governed by already laid down patterns by God. These patterns were laid down by God and cannot be moved. And with respect to these things, you are not given the privilege of creativity.

If your life reflect glory, if your life reflect the authority, the anointing of God's spirit, then it must be that you built according to pattern. The glory of God is the default response to his patterns followed. Are you with me? Yes, sir. Even if you come two thousand years after, if the glory of God and the presence of God is what you are looking for, then you would have to build according to pattern. Do you remember that Solomon was to build or rebuild this tabernacle of Moses, and even him wasn't given the privilege of creativity. He had to revisit how Moses built his own. He studied how the pattern was built or what the pattern was that was given to Moses. And in doing so, he replicated the same thing that Moses built. And the same response happened.

The Bible says... Are you with me? Yes, sir. When Solomon finished the work, the same response. The glory of God filled the the temple. The Bible says the priest could not minister. The same response. No prayers. Nothing. They just finished according to pattern.

This was many years after the first temple was demolished. They were gonna build another one, and it followed the same pattern, and it got the same response. But every time the patterns of God are followed, the glory of God is always the response. It means there is a way a believer's life can so reflect the glory of God cheaply. And that way is not been engaging in numerous fastings and prayers, first of all. It's not in engaging in numerous disciplines out of alignment with God's spirit. It is in understanding the pattern of God as regard whatever it is you are building and submitting yourself to that pattern. The default response of your submission to the pattern of God is glory. Stay with me. You'll be blessed.

It means there are certain areas in your work of faith where you are not allowed to be creative. I've said that. There are laid down patterns, and whatever it is you are building must be according to those pattern. Else, you can build, but the glory and the authority and the presence of God will not be on it. Why am I saying this? I'm saying this because we live in a world where everyone is woke, the woke generation. And we believe that we can begin to redefine and rewrite the bible. We want to use sociological context and political correctness to explain the bible, and everyone feels that based on their own different objectives and orientation, they can read their own meaning into the bible. So you can randomly hear someone say, you don't need a church. You don't need a pastor.

You can knock God all by yourself. That is just educated nonsense at best. You can hear someone say, all this giving and that you give to churches, you don't have to do that. Just help the poor. It sounds intelligent. It sounds reasonable. They say all these pastors are already blessed. They don't need your money. Go on the streets and help the poor. Don't give your authority to the church.

Don't give authority to to to pastors. It sounds intelligent. It sounds okay. But it's creating a different pattern separate from what God has ordained. And we live in a generation where everybody has an opinion. Everybody has an idea. Everybody has their perspective as to what the bible means when it says this. And everybody wants to read their own meaning to it. The bible says the soul that sins shall die. Somebody says, oh, no.

You know, God is love. Even if you don't believe or accept him as lord and savior, as long as you live right. God is... God cannot send anybody to... Everybody to hell just because they don't believe in him. Just live right. It doesn't matter the religion. Everybody will be in heaven at the end of the day. After all, he's a loving father. I mean, it's not fair that somebody has not maybe had the privilege to listen to the gospel or hear the gospel, and you tell when that person would go to hell.

It's not fair. God is not like that. God is a loving father. Even if that person doesn't have the privilege to believe or accept him as lord and savior, if he only lives right, he's still the same god we are serving, and he looks intelligent. He sounds intelligent. You know, if I'm gay or if I'm this or if I'm that, that's how I'm created. You have to love me as I am. After all, the bible says love your neighbor as yourself. Sounds intelligent. You tell someone you tell someone, why are you preaching the gospel?

Why are you evangelizing? You are trying to impose your belief on other people. You shouldn't do that. Everyone's intelligent. Everybody have a right to their opinions. Why are you preaching the gospel? And we live in a generation where there is an obvious rebellion against the patterns of God. Against the clearly defined ordinances of God. And these ordinances cannot be moved. These patterns cannot be moved.

And listen to me. If these patterns are not kept within a generation, if these patterns are not intentionally passed down onto the next generation, let me show you what will happen. Happen. It might look like a joke, but let me show you what will happen. It has happened before in the book of Judges chapter two from verse seven. When you... If you grew up in a in a good home where you are taught courtesy, morals, manners. If you see an elderly person, what do you do? You greet the person. Is that not so?

Sir. Is that not how you were raised? Yes, sir. If you grew up in a good home? Sir. Now you leave the anointing alone. You leave the call of God alone. You see an elderly person, you greet. That's just normal. But you go on social media and you'll find a man of God old enough to be your grandfather coming out of an airport or something, and people are kneeling down to receive it.

Even if he's not a man of God, he's not older than their generation. Is that not enough reason to greet? Yes, sir. Even if you don't believe in the anointing, even if you don't believe in the power of God, at least it's... You were brought up like that. You know what the generation says? This is human worship. But when they were teaching you how to respect your elders, why didn't you call it human worship? Meanwhile, that's a godly principle. But this woke generation feels as though when you put sir behind somebody's name, is you're doing too much.

Because you're addressing someone in authority, you say, hello, sir. You are doing too much. You wanna call the person by his name. And you say, oh, all this thing is culture is culture is culture. The western world does not really believe in all these things. But sir, it's not a Yoruba world. If you understand what I've just said. Our neighbor ward, stay with me. It's not even where I'm going. I'm just showing that there are patterns and ordinances that if not passed down to a generation as pillars that cannot be moved, then what will happen is we'll have a generation that will rise much like this.

The bible says, so the people served the Lord all the days of who now? Joshua. That as long as Joshua was alive, the people served the Lord. And all the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, which he had done for Israel. Next verse. Now Joshua, the son of Noon, the servant of the Lord died. And when he was 110 years old, so he died. What happened after he died in verse 10? The bible says, when all that generation had gathered to their fathers, the generations of Joshua, is that much so? Who served the Lord, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which he had done for Israel.

That is what will happen when the patterns of God are not intentionally passed down to a generation. A generation will arise that will not know the Lord, that will not know the God of Israel or what he has done for Israel. And what would happen at the result of this? Next verse. Then the children of Israel will now do evil in the sight of the Lord. Look at the next verse. They will forsake the Lord God of their fathers who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. You see that? They would forsake god. Look at the next verse.

They would serve the... They will serve baos and astorets. Why? Because the ordinances of God were not passed down to generation. When Joshua and all these people died, the generation after them, nobody taught them the way of God. Nobody taught them the way of the present. Nobody taught them... You see? And it's a painful thing when a generation has to learn god from the beginning. A lot of people in that generation will be lost before some find it accurately enough to present it to that generation.

That has never been the model that God gives. Listen to me. You are not allowed to be creative about your knowing God. There is an already predefined pattern by which men know God. So what you must do is to find out what this pattern is and then work in it. You are also not allowed to be creative about your growth and maturity in this kingdom. Remember the title of my teaching? God's pattern for growth and maturity. That when it comes to growth, when it comes to maturity, when it comes to stability, you are not allowed to create a pattern for yourself. You don't decide how you want to grow.

There is a way men grow. There is a way men mature. There is a way men rise to stature and to stability. And it is important to God that believers grow and mature into the image of Christ. It is important to God that believers mature and grow into what now? The image of Christ. In the book of John chapter three and verse one, the bible says, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. And so this man is complimenting Jesus. He's telling Jesus, we know that you are a teacher come from God.

For nobody can do these signs that you do. You see, if you're saying he's a teacher, what you should complement should be his teachings, not the signs. Do you understand what I'm saying? Not the works, not the miracles, not the healings. It tells you that this man was saying more than the compliments he was giving. And Jesus was able to discern his heart, and Jesus saw that what this man was really interested in is the signs, the works, the miracles. He wanted to do the same thing. He wanted to live the same thing. He wanted to cast out devils. He wanted to walk like a god on earth.

He wanted to do the same thing he saw Jesus doing. Do you understand this now? And Jesus was able to hear his heart cry. Jesus was able to discern his heart to say, Nicodemus, I see what you are saying. And so the bible says, Jesus answered. Not Jesus replied to me, answered. In other words, his heart was asking a question. How? How do I do these same things you do? You'd expect that Jesus says thank you because it's a compliment.

We know you are a teacher sent from God. For no man can do these things you do. Oh, thank you. But that's not the response. Jesus answered, most assuredly I said to you, unless one is born again. How was that the response? To we know you are a teacher sent from God. And then Jesus says, unless one is born again. That means there was something his his heart was asking. How can I do these same things that you are doing?

And Jesus says, unless one is born again. Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. He cannot come into the experience of these realities. He cannot see, live out the experience of the realities of the kingdom except a man be born again. Note that Jesus was not speaking to a small man. Jesus was speaking to a Pharisee. This is who you would call a pastor or general overseer then. This was someone that people looked up to to show them the way of God, to teach them the law, to teach them the Torah. This was a Pharisee, and he was an elderly man. He wasn't a small man.

And Jesus or young boy, Jesus was telling this elderly man, you have to be born again. Got a baby, a grown man. And Jesus tells him, you've got to be born again. It means there is a pattern for seeing and experiencing the kingdom. You cannot formulate yours. Your access into the kingdom of God is on account of your new birth experience. That is the pattern. No other invitation, no other invention, no other innovation will suffice. Are you with me? You have to be born again.

It means that experiencing the kingdom is not only dependent on how well you can study the bible. Is the person studying the bible born again? There are people who go to school to go and study CROS or CRK. That doesn't mean you are seeing the kingdom. Christian religious studies. Is that not so? There are people who study religion, and they major on Christianity as a course. And they study bible history, and they study all of these things. There are people who have PhD on that matter. Doesn't mean that you will experience the kingdom.

But if a man will experience the kingdom, there is a pattern for it. And the pattern is that you must be born again. To be born again means you have you have been born before. Stay with me. And it does not matter what age you are, as long as you are coming into the kingdom, the way in is that you must be born again. There are two types of birthing. The first is the physical or the biological birthing. This is where a man meets a woman and then they conceive. Is that not so? Either a boy or a girl.

The second is the spiritual birthing, and this is what Jesus is talking about. The spiritual birthing, which is called the born again experience. Jesus goes on to explain to that man that except a man be born of water and of the spirit. It's called the spiritual birthing. Except a man be born of water and of the spirit. So if a man knows that if I will experience the kingdom, I must be born again, he must therefore understand that there is also a pattern for being born again. It's the same way there's a pattern for giving birth biologically. A man must meet a woman. Till Jesus comes, that pattern will not change. That is the pattern.

And the western world is trying so hard to go against this pattern. But that is not how God designed it. The pattern will always remain. So the same way as a pattern for physical birthing, there's also a pattern for spiritual birthing. If you must be born again, there is a pattern. And your sincerity will not absorb you the responsibility of following that pattern. You may be sincere thinking you are following God, but not be born again. You're not born again because you were born in a church. You're not born again because your father is a pastor. You're not born again because you grew up around the church.

You may be sincere. You may have been born in a church. You may have been born around church activities. You might have even joined the ushering department growing up. You might have joined the worship team growing up. All of this is not what makes for the new birth experience. Sincere it may be, and there are several people who have been through this route who are not born again, and they have become leaders, some pastors. Let me say with all sincerity and with all respect to the body of Christ that there are pastors who are not born again. The bible says by their fruits, you shall know them. You know from the conduct that this person doesn't know Jesus.

This person might be sincere. He might be doing ministry as he has been taught, as he has been raised, but you see the fruits around his life, his character, his behavior, and you cannot see the track record of the imprint of the holy spirit on his heart. Nothing has changed. His expression has not changed. His behavior has not changed. You know, brother, you might be sincere, but the truth is you have not known Christ. And we have several people like this today in the body of Christ, painfully speaking. Painfully speaking. Are you with me? What is the pattern for being born again?

Romans chapter eight ten and verse eight. But what of it say? The word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart. That is the word of faith which we preach. In other words, the pattern is that the word of faith must be preached. The gospel of salvation must be preached. Number two, the bible then says that if you confess with your mouth that the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you'll be saved. You must confess with your mouth. You must believe in your heart. It means if at any part of your journey, these things have not happened, you are not saved.

You have not openly confessed with your mouth, and you have not actively believed in your heart. It's not one or the other. It must be the two. It is called homologia, the word confess. From the word homologous chromosomes. It means that there are two paired together. Is that not so? Confession and believing as a response to the preaching of the gospel. And what must you believe in? That Jesus came, that he died, and that he was raised from the dead.

He came and died for your sins, took your iniquity away, took your sins away, resurrected on the third day, ascended to heaven. It is upon believing this and confessing it that a man becomes saved. Simple as it is, there are several people who have not subscribed to this. Simple as it is. Who may come to church, who may sit down around church, who may be around to activities, but they have not subscribed to this experience. Are you with me? And if so be the case for you, you must understand that you have not followed the pattern. And so when an alter call is called, you come out very fast and say, let's start this journey right. Do you understand what I've taught you now? This is the pattern for being born again.

This is the pattern for what now? Being born again. You see, the born again experience now gives you access to unfathomable riches and blessings. These blessings are called your inheritances in Christ. Ephesians one and verse three. The first blessing is the blessing of the holy spirit, which you have received if you have been born again. The bible says blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. You see, in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The moment you are born again, this became accessible to you. You are blessed with all spiritual blessings.

Not you will be. You are already blessed. Look at verse 13. Verse 13 says, in him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the holy spirit of promise. So when you believed and when you confessed, when you believe in this message of salvation, what happened is that you were sealed, you were plastered, you were given an authorization, an embowment, the holy spirit of promise. Are you with me? So the believer who is born again has the holy spirit. Let me tell you something. Your foundation in Christ must be the word of God, not your experiences and not your feelings. Because the bible says once you come out and declare that you believe, at any point you did that, even if it was when you were 10 years old, what happened was that you were sealed with the holy spirit of promise whether you feel like it or not.

That is why your experiences must be judged by scripture, not by your feelings. This is not subject to your feelings. You were sealed with the holy spirit of promise. This has nothing to do with speaking in tongues. That is the baptism of the holy spirit, a separate experience entirely. Are you with me, brothers and sisters? Yes. But when a man becomes saved at the instant of salvation, the holy ghost resides in his heart. The holy ghost resides in his heart at the instant of salvation. A powerful blessing.

But that is not the only blessing. Verse 14 says the spirit of God guarantees that he will now give us the inheritance he has promised. So the holy spirit you have received is the guarantee that the inheritances that are yours in Christ will be given to you. Are you with me? Yes, sir. Yes. First Peter chapter one verse three, the bible says, all praise to God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been. Is by his great mercy that we have been born again because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation.

Next verse. Watch this. And we have a priceless inheritance. Remember Ephesians one three, We have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Then this scripture says that we have a priceless inheritance that is kept in heaven for you. Kept in heaven for you does not mean when you get there is when you're experience it. Do you understand what I'm saying? Yes, sir. I've taught you this before. Is that not so?

Yes, Yeah. What I want you to see is that you have received an inheritance. The moment you became born again, you have received an inheritance. Does your bible not say that God has given you all things that are things unto life and godliness? This happened the moment you became born again. You end... You were born into royalty. You were born into riches. You were born into wealth. The bible says that Jesus Christ became poor that you might become rich.

And so when you became born again, you were born into wealth and riches. Is this true? In revelations, the bible says you have been made kings and priests onto our board that you may reign forever. It means dominion is in your bloodstream. Kingship is in your bloodstream. Reigning is in your DNA. All of this happened when you were born again. Stay with me. All of this happened when you were born again. The aim of all these blessings, the aim of all these inheritances, and these riches you have received, this gift that God has given to you is to enable you to reign on earth.

It is to equip you for the assignment that God has given for you on earth. It means that you were not just saved for the sake of being saved. There is a greater mandate of dominion that God demands from your life. And upon your salvation, God gives you access to everything that you will need for dominion. Remember, Adam and Eve were created, and the Bible says God blessed them. What does blessing mean? Empowerment to prosper. God blessed them, and he said, be fruitful, multiply, subdue, replenish, have dominion. All of these things were the demands that he expect from their life, but they could not fulfill that demand without them being blessed. So the first thing that God did was to empower them.

This is the spiritual blessing you have received. So God has also blessed you. You have received all spiritual blessings. And because of the blessings God... You have received, God now says have dominion. God now says be fruitful. God now says, do you understand what I'm saying? And so if God says you will be a kingdom financier, it's not something that will happen. He has already given you all the resources, spiritual needed for that empowerment. Stay with me.

If God tells you that you will be a business tycoon or a business mogul, the enablement is in the blessing. If God tells you that you will be a public speaker and you will be renowned, you will be known and read by all men. The empowerment is in the blessing. If God tells you that you are a man of God and your ministry will cut across the world, the empowerment is in the blessing. If God tells you are a media giant, the empowerment is in the blessing. If there is a promise of greatness on your inside, the empowerment is in the blessing. And that blessing became yours the moment you gave your life to Christ. Understand what I'm saying? It became yours the moment you bet... You gave your life to Christ, the moment you received the life of God more accurately, the moment you became born again.

That blessing became yours. The purpose of the blessing is so that you can rise to dominion. Let's go. Let's go. I'm a child of God. Will do what God has said. I'm a child of God. I will do what God has said. Listen. Do you understand my building?

You are still building. Stay with me. Sir. With me. And so I said that the moment you were born again, you have access to everything. Everything you will ever need was given to you. Jesus Christ. But there's a problem. The problem is that your newborn experience is much like the birthing of a physical baby that is born into a rich family or better put, born into a royal family. When a newborn baby is born into a royal family, do you agree with with me that that baby has been born into riches?

Do you agree with me that all his father's lands and properties are his own by inheritance? Do you agree with me that that baby is rich? A newborn baby but he's rich. Will he be rich? You're not understanding this. A newborn. The queen of England just gives birth. Is that a poor baby? No. No.

That's not a silver spoon. That's a that's a diamond spoon. That's a that's a gold spoon. All the expanse of land that the father owns is his. When that child is one year old, there's a way he walks. When he's two years old, there's a way he walks. That baby is not gonna be rich. That baby is rich by reason of where he was born. That's exactly what we are saying. That by reason of your new birth, you have been born into riches because your father says, the cattle on a thousand hills are mine.

The silver and the gold are mine. The riches is mine. The silver is mine. The gold is mine. And the bible says that is the family from whence you are born. The bible says he that is from above is above all. The bible says we have been born of God. It means if we have been born of God, all that belongs to God belongs to you. So if the bible says the earth is the Lord and the fullness thereof, it now makes sense why the bible now says that the heavens, all the heavens are the Lord. But the earth as he given to the sons of men, it is because the earth he has given, he willed it to us by inheritance.

It is yours by inheritance. Do you understand what I am saying? The bible says that Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. That's the same righteousness that you were given when you believed. Abraham was the one that modeled it. And look at what the bible says of Abraham. The bible says of the false righteous man, blessed be Abraham, possessor of heaven and earth. It means it means it means if you are righteous, you possess the earth. If you are right... Jesus Christ.

Stay with me. All of this because you were born into a royal family. To be born again is to be... Is is dignity. There is no higher honor than to be born again. Sir. Somebody asked me, how do you know you cannot be poor? Because I was born into a royal family. Now now now somebody says, but your father is not a king. I know.

He's the king of kings. That's why Jesus says, be born again. You might be born before your father was a plumber. Be born again. Oh, god. That if you were born before and you had no physical advantage, when you are born again, you are introduced into a family tree. Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen.

Have you have you studied that Matthew 16 very well? When Jesus says, who do men say that I am? And Peter was the only one who got it. Jesus now told Peter, his name is Simon Bar Jonah. That's his name. Simon Bar Jonah. Blessed are you, Simon. So what was his surname? His father's name was what? Ba.

Jesus now says that your name will now be called Peter. The name that Jesus changed was not Simon. It was Ba Jonah. So his name became Simon Peter. It means Jesus was saying I remove you from your family line. You will no longer be known by the physical blessing. You will no longer be identified by your father's name or the limitations that come from your family. If you have been... If you have received this life, then if any man be in Christ, he must be a new creature for all things must pass away. And so every pattern that came with that name by Jonah, every pattern, every limitation, the moment you are born again, you will receive a new name.

The bible says you shall now be named by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. You shall be named Bula. You shall be named Hephzibah, the delight of God. So understand that that born again experience that you have so cheapened is not ordinary. That is the reason why whenever people are coming to give their life to Christ, it's not a pitiable thing that we do. I will tell people, close your eyes now. Now if you wanna give a life to Christ, raise your hands up. With all eyes closed, walk up now. Almost as though it is nothing to be shy about. When a newborn baby is born, do we close our eyes?

We do naming ceremony. We call everybody. The bible says there is joy in heaven. That thing that we are asking, don't let anybody see you. Close your eyes. Close your eyes. Don't worry. Don't be shy. We are not seeing you. Heaven is seeing you and they are rejoicing like this.

It means if we knew what we were doing, as people are coming up, we are dancing, we are celebrating, we are rejoicing because that's a newborn. Do you understand what I am saying? One of my guys was telling me that in the last month, they've gotten over two hundred and eighty three souls saved. That is that is two hundred and eighty three babies born. That's not twins. That's not triplets. Heaven is rejoicing. Are you with me? Yes, sir. Do you understand?

So please value on what you have received. I'm not ordinary. Please value on what you have received. What's the reason why I cannot fail? That's the reason why I'm not... I cannot fail. Look at the kind of father that he is. I don't have time to talk about this. I wish I had time to stay on this, but this is not where I'm going. Stay with me.

Are you still with me? Yes. Be seated. Be seated. Let's proceed. So when a baby is born into a royal family, you agree with me that that baby is rich. And everything that the father owns belongs to the baby by inheritance. Is that much so? Yes, sir. That's exactly what we are saying.

When you become born again, you are a newborn baby in Christ. Doesn't matter whether you became born again at 60. Doesn't matter whether you became born again at 30. When you come to Christ, you... They just give birth to you. You are a newborn baby. Even if it's a 70 year old man, you are a newborn baby. Do you understand what I'm saying now? In the spirit. And you are not an ordinary baby because you are born into wealth.

You are born into royalty. You are born into all spiritual blessings in heaven in Christ. You are born into all things that pertains onto life and godliness. All of those things are yours to reign and to dominate on earth. But here's what the bible says. You have all these inheritances in Christ. True. But you would have to grow up to walk in the experiences of these things. You would have to mature to walk in the experiences of these things. Else, we will rejoice.

Else, we will celebrate, but you would never be able to maintain or command dominion over these things. So the bible puts it this way. Galatians four and verse one, the heir, as long as he is a child differs not from a slave even though he is master of all. In other words, as long as the air is not growing, as long as that baby in Christ, even though he's a royal, is not growing. As long as he remains a child, his experience will not be different from that of a slave. The heir is master of all. That means he owns all his father owns, the cattle on a thousand hills, the gold, the silver, the riches, the blessings, the excellence, the wealth, the prosperity, the good health, the long life, the peace, the joy. The heir is master of all. But if he remains a child, he will never come into the experience of all that he owns despite his master of all. And when you look at the body of Christ today and you look at the experiences of several believers and you juxtapose their experiences with the promises of God in scriptures, you find that majority of believers in the church in Africa and perhaps in the world live separate from what the Bible has promised.

We have this much inheritance. With all that has been given to us, we should walk like gods on earth. But this is not the experience of a lot of believers. We have believers who are terribly confused, terribly confused, oppressed by demons, victims of family patterns, victims of family curses, believers who are poor, some living in habitual poverty while some are struggling to make ends meet, believers who fail, and so on and so forth. These things are not supposed to be the experiences of the believer. The bible said it was a sermon that was declaring. It says since I was young, now I am getting old. I've not seen the righteous forsaken nor a seed beg for bread. But I tell you this is not the experience of several believers. Are you with me?

Yes, sir. And Paul gives us a diagnosis. He said it is possible to have all these blessings in Christ Jesus but remain a child. And the heir, as long as it's a child, will have the same experiences as the slave. So you can come to church and be excited like we were doing a few moments ago. It's exciting when your position in Christ is being revealed to you. Oh, it's excite... It is intoxicating. I tell you, when you think about all that Christ has given to you, you can almost be drunk in it. But a lot of people will shout and rejoice and scream and shout, yes, sir.

And walk out that door and find out that their experiences, the moment they walk out that door is separate from what they've shouted and screamed about. Almost as though the preacher only came to excite them. And this is what we do many times in churches, excitement. And people leave out their lives on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and they cannot find out why the excellence you told me is mine. Pastor, you said the seven spirit of God is mine. That the old testament prophets and saints only had one dimension of these seven spirits at work in them part time, and it even came and went. But that the holy ghost who divided himself into seven dimensions in the Old Testament now lives as a whole inside of you as a believer. It means the spirit of counsel and might is in you. Jesus Christ. It means whatever Samson had, whatever Solomon had, whatever Daniel had, what...

They had it in different portions. That's why Samson's possibilities were not Daniel's responsibilities. Daniel did not enter into the den and be tearing their mouths. Because what was on Samson was not on Daniel. What was on Daniel was not on Esther. But what was on all of them is upon you. And yet we shout and we scream. It's exciting. It's not. Well, how come the believer carries a book to read and it cannot understand what he's reading?

And yet you have told him that he's excellent in Christ Jesus. Paul now reveals to us this diagnosis. He says your problem is that since you have accepted Jesus Christ as lord and savior, you have not grown. It might be painful to realize, but it is the truth. And you can be twenty years in Christ and be twenty years in baby. You might be born in church and give enough to Christ probably when you were five, seven, eight years old and be a baby. Stay with me. And you would find that the experiences that should be yours by reason of your birthing, the bible says the heir. As long as it be mean to child, his experiences will be that of a slave. And the experiences of that child believer will not just be the same as that of a slave with respect to the outcome of his life.

No. It will also be the same with respect to his behavior, his lifestyle. He's gonna live like a slave. He's gonna think like a slave. He's gonna pray like a slave. And ultimately, he will get the results of his slave. His mentality will be that of a slave. That's why the outcome of his life will now be that of a slave because he thinks like a slave. He lives like a slave. The bible says...

You see, when I teach you what should be yours in Christ, many a time I can provoke you to hunger. Do you know what the bible says? Go and study Deuteronomy 28 and watch what should be yours in Christ. Sometimes you'll be hungry. The bible says you will be the head and not the tail. The question is, is that your experience? Because it should be. Is God has said it? Above only and not beneath. It means you should never look for yourself at the bottom.

It's not your place. But there are plenty believers who, if they ever arrive at the top, they will be shocked that they are there because where they start to find themselves from is the bottom. They go bottom up. We arrive. You should only check the top and now find the... Ah. K. Okay. Okay. I'm number two.

Ah. Alright. No problem. See, I can improve next time. Believers know. That's how we go. The bible says you will lend to nations. Wait. Wait. Wait.

How rich must a man be to lend to nations? There are men who are richer than nations. Yes, sir. I'm telling you. Yes, sir. Right now on earth. And the bible said they should be believers. They should be Christians because part of your inheritances is the ability and the inherent blessing to lend to nations. But the believer who will lend to nation is in his quiet time praying, oh lord, send me my rent. Listen.

This tells you. Listen. This tells you that immediately a man becomes born again. There's an urgency in the spirit for growth and maturity. Because that is how you will experience all these things I'm saying. There's an urgency. The bible says the kingdom of heaven is in righteousness. Where is righteousness? In you. The bible says you have become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

In Luke 17 verse 21, the bible says, neither thou shall we say that low here or low there, there is the kingdom. For the kingdom of God is within you. So if the kingdom of God is in righteousness, where is righteousness? Within you. If the kingdom of God is in peace, where is peace? Within you. So why are you troubled? Why are you depressed? Why are you worried? Why are you anxious?

Why are you afraid? If the kingdom of God is in joy, where is joy? So how can a believer be depressed? When you are... You are you are you are a storehouse of joy, people should come to you and just be happy without... With... Because you you... It is it is is is a well. Everybody that comes around you will receive a overdose of it because you carry the thing around. You can fetch people and give them like this.

These are your these are your inheritances in Christ. The bible says that by his stripes, you were healed. But is this the experience of the believer? Will long life will not satisfy you and show you the reward of your salvation? You shall not die but live to declare the glory of the living God. Satisfy us early. Early. It means late accomplishment is not your inheritance. Stay with me. Listen.

This tell... Once you become saved, this is a call to every believer here under the sound of my voice and a call even to the body of Christ that we have remained infant for so long. We we can tell the diagnosis is that we are infant. When we study the symptoms of children, a lot of believers across the body of Christ fall under that category, easily easily vacillating, can be swept away by any wind of doctrine. You have no conviction. Anything anyone tells you you are moved. You can be here tomorrow and be there tomorrow. You have no stature, no stability. It is obvious we are children. Somebody can just come on YouTube tomorrow and say, why are you paying tight?

And then you'll be confused. Do you see that now? Easily confused. No stature. No stamina. No depth of conviction. What... Where does your faith rest on? A man of God can just come or anybody evil can say, God does not prosper. Prosper.

If God prospers, those who are failing, who is not failing them, is it free? Loses. Loses. And you just stand and just say, it's true. It's true. And then you are gone. You can see the debates on social media, the debate on... And it is a reflection that we are not growing. The things that con... The things that we talk about, the things we argue about are reflections of our spiritual state.

It's a plague, a plague of spiritual nursery that a lot of churches, instead of becoming army camps for raving diets, have become nursery schools. Nursing papers and keeping the infants. A challenge even to pastors. Because we don't have believers who can rise and take dominion, rise and take authority as long as this remains the case. Luke chapter two and verse 40, even Jesus. Look at what the bible... Look at the testimony of Jesus. The bible says, and the child grew. Speaking of Jesus, the child grew, and it it then shows you three important expressions of your life where you must grow. The bible says it became strong in spirit.

Your spirit man must grow. Your spirit man has to be strong. So when the bible says, if you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. It is the strength of your spirit that the bible is referring to. It means that you have not built strength in your spirit. It tells you that in your work of faith, in your work of dominion, you will face challenges that will require you to be strong in spirit. There are situations and challenges that you will face that if you collapse, it is a proof that you have not matured in spirit. A testament of the fact that you have not aligned yourself with God's pattern for growth. This same strength is what enables you to dare the impossible. Take on large projects.

It takes a particular strength of heart. Step out to do great things. After you hear a dangerous preaching, you don't just leave and then you begin to... Like like a coward. No. It takes strength to be valiant in battle. It makes you valiant in battle, the strength of the spirit. The strength of the spirit. You are a believer. You are probably also a student or a working class.

You have a business, and then you are doing your masters, and then you are doing something else, and then you just collapse. Yeah. I can't do it again. Where is strength in your spirit? Where is strength in your spirit? Someone is having an exam to write, and they are saying, ah, they want to kill us. Where is strength in your spirit? How how can a believer talk like that? A reflection of immaturity. Don't you know that you can tap strength in your body from an eternal well of strength?

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. If you fail in the day of adversity, doesn't matter what the adversity is, it was your strength that was small. There are people they've lost their loved ones, and they lost themselves as well. They stopped making progress, stopped coming to church, stopped living life. They were plagued if it was a vehicle accident that the lost one, you know, that that took away the lost one. They become afraid of every vehicle. They can't even travel again. They can't even step into a vehicle again. They can't even make any progress.

Your strength is small. Because you failed an exam, you say, ah, God, I don't even know what kind of God. Your strength is small. It means something is wrong with how you were raised. For you to to go through an ordeal that is that is unpleasant and start saying, God, God, your strength is small. People went to preach, and they flocked them for preaching. The bible says when they were done, they were dancing. They they were dancing. They were rejoicing. They slept...

The bible says they counted it joy to partake of the sufferings of Christ. That's not... That... That's a strong spirit. That's a strong spirit. Your responses to circumstances showed you the state of the spirit man. The bible says the child grew. He be... He worked strong in spirit. The next area of growth is wisdom.

The child grew. He was filled with wisdom, applying biblical principles to your everyday life and getting results that are God breathed. Get my teaching, translating promises into realities. You need wisdom. You'll be shocked how many believers have a wisdom problem. And not many of us want to be told we are foolish. God is blessing you. Hear me? Wisdom. And the bible says the grace of God.

That's the third level where a believer must grow. The grace of God was upon him. That is empowerment. That is enablement to function. It's called enabling grace for it is not by might. It is not by power. It is by my spirit, saith the Lord. That is grace. That empowerment that God gives. And the bible says grace can be multiplied, that you can grow in the dimension of grace that is available to you.

And you as a believer must grow in grace. There are things that you function in is solely by grace, and you must grow in it. What we do in this ministry is by grace. Yes, sir. Flesh and blood cannot do this, cannot do this. I tell you. Millions every month, only students, young people who are working. Not many of us are married, probably only one person. Young people. And we are spending millions on the gospel every month.

It is grace. It showed you the capacity of a man who has grown. The bible says that grace can be multiplied. There are exploiting God you cannot do without grace. It's not by might. It's not by power. If grace is not made available, there are things you cannot even attempt. There will be visions in your mind. There's no empowerment to to carry out. Because you have not grown.

Because you have not grown. Oh, sir, I have a ministry. I have a ministry. And all you will keep on saying that I have a ministry. Twenty five years, the ministry will never come out because the guy himself is not growing. And because he's not growing, he's not growing in grace. So the empowerment and the enablement to start out something is not even there because he's not growing. Are you both? That said, it was important that I now tell you that the reason why several believers are not growing is because they are not building according to pattern. They are not building according to pattern.

Lots of believers have already... Or have have constructed their own method, and they think God will honor it. God's glory does not honor your method. God's glory comes as a response to his pattern. It means that... Remember, first Peter chapter two and verse four, the bible says, coming to him as to a living stone rejected indeed by men but chosen by God and precious. Is that not so? Verse five says, you also, as living stones, you also. So what are you as a believer? Living stones.

And what is happening to you? You are being built up a spiritual house. That... Was that not what Moses was doing? He was building up the temple and the tabernacle of God. And the bible calls you as a believer, living stones that are being built up. It means if you are being built up into a... What was the assignment of that temple? To offer up sacrifices so that God can dwell there. What is your assignment here?

A holy priesthood to offer up sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. It means if you are living stones that are being built up, you must also be built according to pattern. In in other words, God's glory upon your life will only be manifested to the degree to which you have subscribed to the pattern of growth. There is God's pattern for growth and maturity. Are you blessed? Yes, sir. There is God's pattern for growth and maturity. No limitation holds me down. I will rise and the glory was weak. Hear me?

God's pattern for the believer's growth and maturity is the church. I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail. God says, I will build. I already have a pattern for it. I'm the one that will build it. It won't be you. You are as living stones being built. You won't build yourself. There's a pattern that I have subscribed, that I have left down for the building of the believer, for the maturing of the believer. It means if a believer must grow into maturity, if a believer must grow into stability, you must align yourself with the pattern that God has established, which is his church.

Let me say it again. God's pattern for your growth and maturity is the church. It is through the church that you are taught. It is through the church that you are nurtured. It is through the church that you are equipped to become more like Christ. Hear me and hear me well. You cannot grow in isolation. The church for a believer is not optional. It is essential for spiritual growth. Let me ask you a question.

When you give birth to a child and you just drop that child in a house, the moment you give birth to the child, you just drop the child and go. What will happen to that child? It means no child grows outside of a family. So how how... What what delusion makes you think that you can know God all by yourself? You can grow all by yourself. You don't need the church. You are the church yourself. Nonsense. Why did you need a woman to breastfeed you?

When you were born, why didn't you say, I don't need you? Because you are now... Because you have brain, and you gave a life to Christ by 60, by 30, and you think your brain is how you process your life in Christ, and you think the knowledge you had in the world is what you now bring into the kingdom and begin to process your life. It is only rebellion that is speaking. Rebellion. A heart that does not want to submit to mentorship and discipleship and the context of having an authority over you. Because if a child cannot grow without a family, a believer cannot grow without the church. Are you with me? What does the word church mean? It come from the Greek compound ekklesia.

It's a compound word. Ekklesia. It means there is the word heart. And is the word to call. And so means those who are called out. So when God says I will build my church, my ecclesia, he's saying the called out ones. I will call them out and nurture them by myself, and the gates of Hades will not prevail. Do you understand what I'm saying? I will call them out, nurture them, school them, teach them, grow them, train them, raise them, send them into the world, and they will dominate the world. Ecclesia.

They called at once. What an honor to be called out. So when I say church, when I say that God's template and God's pattern for your growth is the church, I need you to understand deeper what I mean by that. Because you see, there is the universal church, and there is the local church. And you must know the difference between the two to understand my statement. The universal church is what is called the body of Christ, and it speaks of the collection of every believer around the world regardless of their denominations, regardless of their races, gender, whatever location, wherever they may be, as long as they are believers, we are all one body. We are the church. That is the universal the universal church. Whether it's Redeem or it's winners or it's mountain of fire or it's CAC, as long as they call upon the name of the Lord, as long as they believe that Jesus Christ came, died, was buried, resurrected on the third day. They believe in the trinity, God the father, God the son, God the spirit.

They submit to the leadership of Jesus, and they believe in the ministry of the holy spirit, and they call upon the name of the Lord, then they are a part of the body of Christ. Those are... Are you with me now? Yes, sir. A collection of all of us as believers. Regardless of denominations, regardless of fellowships, ministries, gatherings, we are the church. We are the body of Christ. So in Ephesians five twenty three, the Bible says, for the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church. Not the churches, the church. The church, you see.

And the Bible says that Christ is also the savior of the body, the body of Christ. That's why no man of God should ever come thinking that he's the savior of the body. And then he comes and starts a ministry nobody gives him, starts calling out every other man of God, correcting what they are doing. No. Christ is the savior of the body. Christ is the savior of the body. As apostles, you have an expression. We have an expression usually to the body of Christ because of the functioning of the office. Are you with me? Yes, sir.

Yes. But that assignment is not to save because Christ is the one who saves his body. And as long... And you cannot save more than Christ. And the bible has already said that as long as he's the one that is building his church, the gates of Hades will not prevail. Are you with me? Yes, sir. Yes. I'm gonna teach on the body of Christ sometimes this year. Because the bible says that they may be one.

That was the prayer Jesus prayed. That they may be one. That regardless of our differences, regardless of our beliefs, as long as we are unified as one. But the devil comes and he tries to put all kinds of divisions, all manner of diversities, and all of that that makes us not one. So a teaching must be done on this, and we'll treat it later on in the future. Is that okay? Yes, sir. The universal church is spiritual. It cannot be seen. It is spiritual in context.

It can be seen. But that is not all there is. There is now also the local church. In Romans chapter 16 verse five, the Bible says, likewise, greet the church that is in their house. So this is not greet the body of Christ. This is specific to the church that is in their house. In other plates, Paul arrived and he said the churches in Galatia greet you. That's on the body of Christ. That's a collection of churches. Is that not so?

In a particular region. Stay with me. This is not the universal church. This is the church in their house. The local church is a specific geographically based community of believers who gather together regularly to worship God, to fellowship together, and to grow. The local church is the visible expression of the universal church that is spiritual in a particular location. Do you understand that now? Is the visible expression of the body of Christ that is spiritual. Usually, when we say local church, people think that the church is local. That's why we call it local church.

But the word local is from the word location. And so the term local church refers to a group of believers who are part of the larger body of Christ coming together in a particular place, a particular location to worship, to fellowship, and to serve on a weekly basis to grow. Are you with me? The word local emphasizes this gathering is rooted in a specific community or in a specific location, making it accessible for believers to come and worship. Now when I say God's pattern for your growth and maturity is the church. I'm not talking about the universal church. I'm talking about the local church. The church you belong to, the one you go to, that is God's pattern for your growth, not the body of Christ. So no believer says, you know, I'm just in the body. I can just fellowship at home.

You cannot. It is against the pattern of God. Do you understand this? Yes, sir. When I say God's pattern for your growth and maturity, I'm not talking about the universal church. I'm talking about the local church. And for you listening to me right now, it means that the Disciples Christian Network is your local church. It means that this is God's pattern for your growth and maturity as a believer. If you are listening to me and you are committed elsewhere and say, you're listening to my messages or you follow my messages and you go to a church, that church becomes God's pattern for your growth and maturity, not me. Except you are submitted to me as a father.

Do you understand what I'm saying now? Yes. Because you can be elsewhere, and you're submitted to me as a father, then I feed you God's word. Is that not so? But if you belong to a local assembly, that local assembly becomes God's pattern for your growth and maturity. You listen to me for edification. No problem. But understand that that place you are in is God's primary place where you grow and where you mature. Do you understand this? Every local church is the visible expression of the body of Christ.

Every local church is the visible expression of the body of Christ. In John chapter 15 verse five, the bible says, I am the vine and you are the branches. He who abide in me and high in him bears much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. And remember, the bible compares the church to the body of Christ. The church is the body of Christ. Do you remember that? When Paul was persecuting believers and he had an encounter with Jesus, Jesus did not ask him, Paul, why are you persecuting believers? Jesus said, why do you persecute me? Because the believers you're persecuting, they are my body.

So the church is the body of Christ. Are you with me? Yes, sir. So the bible says, if Jesus then says, I am the vine, it is accurate to compare this vine that he called himself to the body of Christ or to the church. And the bible says that you are the branches. So you as a believer are the branch connected to that vine. And just like branches cannot grow when disconnected from the vine, you also cannot grow when disconnected from the church. The church provides the environment for fruitfulness because the bible says if you abide in me, then you will bear much fruit. So if you abide in the church, it provides the atmosphere for fruitfulness. So when God says be fruitful, one thing it does is that it brings you to a company of believers where you grow and where you mature.

Are you learning something? Yes, sir. Are you getting blessed? Yes, sir. In Ephesians chapter four, I was speaking to a few people and I was teaching them this. And I think I should tell you this before I continue. There are gifts that you have received by reason of the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus. By reason of his death, burial, and resurrection. We call them the redemptive gifts. You receive these gifts because Jesus died and because he rose from the dead.

For example, righteousness. Righteousness is a redemptive gift. Do you understand what I'm saying? Sir. The peace, the joy of the holy ghost, these are redemptive gifts, but these are not the only redemptive gifts you have received. There is one redemptive gift that makes every other thing you have received function. That we never pay attention to. NLT. Verse seven. The bible says, however, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ.

He has given... How many of us? Say I have a special gift. I have a special gift. And the bible says he gave you this special gift according to the generosity of who? According to the canality of yourself? According to what now? It means you know how much God loves you by the gift he has given you. Because the bible says it is according to his generosity that he gave you this special gift. Do you understand what I'm saying?

Yes, sir. So stay with me. Let's study what this is. Next verse. This is why the scripture say... So he wants to explain to us what the special gift you have been given is. And he says, when he ascended to height, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people. So he's emphasizing again that he gave gifts to his people. Are you his people? And so has he given you gifts?

Yes, sir. Let's study what gifts he gave. Notice that he says he ascended. This clearly means that Christ also descended. So it says he died, he was buried, and then he resurrected. And so the gift that he gave to you was on account of his death, burial, and resurrection. Hence, it is a redemptive gift. Yes, sir. Do you understand what I'm saying? Because the same way he gave you righteousness, same process it went through was the same way this one came.

Are you following me? The bible then says, and the same one who descended is the one who ascended that he might fill the entire universe with himself. I love this. In other words in other words, he wants to fill the entire universe with Christ. Christ minded, Christ like believers. And he says, even though you have received all these blessings, it will not be enough if I don't have a special gift to it. Because if I'm gonna fill the entire universe with myself, it won't be on account of the fact that I've given you righteousness. I've given you riches. I've given you blessings. All of that does not mean that I filled the universe with myself.

I must have a special gift to eat that will teach you how to use righteousness, that will teach you how to use everything that I've given to you as a gift to the end that you have dominion and to the end that you are great. Is that okay now? Then it says, I will also add a gift to all that I've given. Next verse, the bible says, now these are the gifts. That special gift we see in verse seven that Christ gave to you, it says the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, the teachers. It means your pastor, your man of God is God's special gift to you. Do you understand what I'm saying? Listen to me. So when you say I have a special gift, understand what you are saying. You are saying that my man of God is my special gift.

My pastor, the person sent to me by God from heaven, that is God's special gift to me. Your man of God is your redemptive gift from God to you. It means the quality of the man of God you have been given reflect the generosity of God to you. Stay with me. You will still understand why I said that. Stay with me. Jeremiah three fifteen, what is the assignment of your man of God? I will give you shepherds after my own heart, not after your canality, after my own heart, who will guide you with knowledge and understanding. The assignment of your man of God is to guide you with knowledge and understanding. How does the church help you grow?

Three, and then we close. Number one, true discipleship and teachings. Well, let me say, true teachings and discipleship. How does the church help you grow? Through teachings and what now? Discipleship. Discipleship. There is this phrase that people throw around, especially people who have found themselves in rebellion to the patterns of God. They say, leave church by yourself. Have you heard it before?

You don't need any man. You can know God by yourself. Let me tell you something. By the authority of scriptures, you cannot know God by yourself. By the authority of scriptures. There is, of course, the place of your personal encounters and experiences with God. There is the place of diligence in prayers, bible study, but all of that without proper discipleship is equal to confusion and instability. History is full of men of God who did not have this track record of being discipled or being pastored, who only appeared into limelight due to their own experiences and encounters with God and began ministry solely of these experiences. And the latter end of their ministry was calamity. They led many into errors, led many built doctrines out of their experiences that have no foundation in scriptures because nobody mentored them.

They built ministries out of their own experiences, built ministries out of their own encounters. You go and study history. You'll find this again and again and again. Ephesians four, the bible says, verse 11, these are the gifts that God gave to the church. NLT, still doing NLT. These are the gifts that God gave to the church, the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, the teachers. What is the purpose of this gift? Next verse. Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work, to build up the church. So we go back to I will build my church.

So what is the pattern through which God builds his church? Is this in your bible? Yes, sir. Their responsibility is to equip God's people. There are many men and there are many people who have this delusion that men of God don't work. Men of God are lazy. Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work, to build up the church, the body of Christ. Doesn't stop there. Even this alone isn't enough work, but doesn't stop there. Next verse.

This will continue until... In other words, they will keep on doing this. They will keep on doing this until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of. So how do you know God's son? This is bible. Give me NKJV. Till we all come to the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the son of God. The knowledge of God. The knowledge of Jesus Christ. That not so?

It means that how you come to the knowledge of the son of God is that a man teaches you. It is arrogance to believe otherwise. This is the pattern of God for growth and maturity. Are you blessed? Yes, sir. You need a man who has been with God, who has also had a track record of being disciple himself to teach you doctrine, to rightly divide the word of truth, to teach you the nature of God so that you don't form an idea of God in your mind that your experiences pains to you. There are people that have a picture of God that their experiences have painted. People cannot pray. People cannot approach God because they feel as though I've made a mistake. It is because you have not been rightly taught.

It is the work of the man of God to now teach you what the nature of God is, the true nature of God. In your teaching, the walls you have built around your mind that places gaps between you and God in terms of relating with God are broken. Do you understand what I'm teaching you now? Yes, sir. This is God's pattern for growth and maturity. A man must teach you, not men, a man. There are people who try to create another pattern for themselves. They have several people that they listen to. Listen. Listen.

In an attempt to know God and learn God, this will ultimately confuse you, especially if you are a young Christian who is just starting to grow. It will confuse you. You do not yet have the maturity to sieve what food you should eat and what food you should not eat. Exposing yourself to a truth when it is not time for that truth to be taught to you can do damage to your growth. It's like feeding a three month old Amala and goat meat, cow tail, and bokoto. It is food, but should it be served at that age? It means even though it is food, there's a sequence to which food must be given. So there is milk as newborn baby desire the sincere milk of God's word, but there is also solid food that belong to them that are of age. And it is your church that knows the sequence of arrangement. Are you with me now?

That is why when you expose yourself to plenty things, you may think you are smart, but you are only foolish because you will have plenty knowledge but not grow. It is against the pattern of God. It is still rebellion. You will know plenty things, but they are not sequentially arranged. So all you do is have plenty knowledge, but you are just puffed up by knowledge. There is no record or evidence of that knowledge in your life because there are truths that are greater than truths. Are you with me? And there's a sequence of arrangement of truth. You might listen to me, and I can tell you that you have authority over demons and powers of hell, and you can go and cast them out. Excite your authority over them.

You can go and hear somebody else who tells you that if you go to a territory and you are not careful, What? When I sent them out, it was not. There's no bouncing effect. What's the name of that team you used to throw that come back to you? Boomerang. Boomerang. So demons somehow are are... They are boomerang demons. You send them out and they roll and come back. Pow.

But you have authority over principalities. So you are hearing me tell you you have authority. You have this. You have that. Then you open YouTube, and you have somebody tell you. Before you know, you are confused. You go and minister and then as you are going, maybe maybe you now eat your legs. Hey. They've come. They've come.

They've... Your mind just starts telling you. I was told of I was told of some of my drama members who came and they were sharing their concerns with their pastor, and they told their pastor that, see, I've always believed that if you're a drama member and you hack the devil, you become the devil. If you hack this, you'll die. If you hack that, you'll become this. That if you if you if you don't take your life seriously, if you don't take your... This... That that thing you have acted, they must now come and meet you, and they will now do this and do that. Stay with me. Stay with me.

Is that a possibility? Yes. But the problem comes when you learn that before you learn your authority in Christ. That is not a lie. Powers of your father's house, generational curses, generational wickedness, these things are not lies. But if you learn this before you learn if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new. If the consequence of that, the negative effect or the side effect of that is that you will tend to exalt powers of your father's house over your newfound reality in Christ Jesus. It is truth, but it has not been sequentially arranged.

It means that a believer can have attacks, and you probably go and sleep, and you see something in your dream. You wake up because you have higher truth. You know what to do at that instance. How to devil in the name of Jesus. And somebody messaged me and told me that, sir, papa, I I can't breathe. I can't breathe well. I can't do this. I can't do that. And I told the individual, just take authority. I told him...

I told her, just take authority. Say I take authority over my body. I rebuke this darkness. Thou spirit of infirmity, leave my body. In the name of Jesus, I breathe in normally, and I breathe out normally. Then do what you are declaring. In less than five minutes, she met with me and told me, Sahid, it gone. Listen. Listen. Listen.

Listen. Listen. You can risk. You can after experience and believe you need five days deliverance. Yes. Yes. Based on whatever it is you have received, and none of them is wrong, but one is higher than the other. The Bible says he made two lights, the lesser light and the greater light. The greater light will rule the day. It means there are greater lights.

The teaching ministry of the church that you belong to is the primary way that God builds you, is the primary way that God matures you through that church. Because the teaching ministry is the primary thing that begins to change your orientation, changes your thinking, changes your mindset, ultimately causing transformation. Are you blessed? That is why one thing that must never be missing in a church is the teaching of the word of God, quality diet. This is where you are fed. The word of God is milk. At some point, you have fed milk, But another point, you expect it to grow, so you are fed solid food. You can mature. The diet is the teaching of God's word that you receive. So every time you come here, understand you are coming to be fed.

This is the posture of the believer. Hey. It's another time to go and eat. This is the food of greatness. This is the food of champions. It is these teachings that cases how timidity. Is these teachings that cases out smallness out of you. The nature of God, the forgiveness of sins, the righteousness of faith, the grace you have received. No more condemnation, pictures of greatness, pillars of dominion. These are timeless teachings that will continue to raise champions.

That is God's pattern for growth. When you... Listen to me. Who you submit to when you give your life to Christ matters. It is possible to be born again and never make progress for many years because the teaching ministry of the world was missing. Every other thing was happening. There was prayer happening. There was praise happening. People were dancing. There was dance drama.

There was talk drama. There was all kind of things, but there was no teaching of the word. Now note that I didn't just say teaching. I said teaching and discipleship. Non teaching or discipleship. They are different. And to grow within the context of the house of God, you must sign up for both of them. Are you with me? Yes, ma'am. Teaching can happen on the pulpit.

Discipleship cannot happen on the pulpit. Discipleship is personal. The crowd can benefit from teachings, but disciples are the ones who become sons. Are you with me, brothers and sisters? Jesus had disciples, but he also had crowd. There were crowd that attended all his conferences. There were crowd that attended all his all his meetings, all his seminars, all his crusades. That's why I always tell you, you are not fans. You you don't belong to the crowd. Crowd don't get blessed.

There's no blessing for the crowd. In the upper room, the holy ghost did not come on the crowd. He came on disciples. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Sir. Teaching can happen on the pulpit like this. Jesus did that on the mouth of transfiguration. He did that in Matthew 13.

Is that not so? But but but after every teaching, the disciples will come to him and ask him. Why do you speak to them in parables? And Jesus will tell them because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom. But unto them, it has not been given. And when they hear these things, they will now ask Jesus. Now explain to us the parable of the sower. Jesus will now tell them, this is the parable of the sower. The sower is the preacher. The the crowd were not a part of the second preaching.

As I'm teaching on the pulpit, you you might have questions in your heart. You can't ask me from there. I don't even have time to answer you. It is true. There is not enough time to even do that on Sundays. Two hours teaching, somebody's already complaining. And I will not reduce it because of you. Because it does not give you pastors after your canality. It gives you pastors after his heart. Yes, sir.

Yes. Yes. Stay with me. Stay with me. Disciples are trained. Teaching now becomes training. Do you hear what I said? Disciples are the one that now sees how what I'm seeing on the pulpit now applies to their daily life. How I can share a principle and then to a disciple, that principle is now broken down to how it affects him at this level. To a disciple.

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God. What does it mean? You who are shooting it now didn't know what it means. Now think of those who don't even have the holy spirit and we're hearing what he was saying. It got to a point. These guys could not take it again. It's like telling them, you will eat my flesh. You will drink my blood. You... One of...

They say, what? Huga. Huga. You already talk all these things. I don't wanna leave you, but which one be this one? And one by one, he started leaving. Then he turned to the disciples. He said, will you also go? You will think he will start begging them. Don't go.

Don't go. Don't go. Jesus. Jesus. Oh. He said, will you also go? The disciples says, to whom shall we go? That is the language of disciples. To whom shall we go? We can't get offended just because pastor rebuked me.

That is a that is a crowd. Yes, sir. They say, you over there. You are sleeping. Stand up. He's angry. It doesn't come again on Sunday. That's a foolish believer who can never become anything because you are a rebel at heart. Yes, sir. Yes, Yes, sir.

Yes, sir. Yes, Yes, If you go to a local church and you do not... Listen to me. You don't belong there just because you attend the church. Being an attendee is different from being a part of the church. You know, we throw these words, I'm a member of this. We just throw church member church member around. I will not even understand what member mean. It has become a cliche. What church do go to a member of?

I'm a member of. The guy who's a member of is in is in club on Friday. He's chilling with girls in the bar house. He's on his... He's he's like, hey. And you meet him on Sunday. Say, what? I'm a member of. Just thrown around. And that's why we have babies everywhere.

Who who are not fit for kingdom assignment, Who are not fit for dominion? Who cannot carry the king's body? Who are not fit for the king's bidding? A lot of people are just attendees. They have not even become members. They don't uphold the value systems of the church. They don't understand the vision of the church and so on. Their lifestyle is different from what the pastor preaches. They are coming to churches only to maintain a form of religion. Not spirituality, Because I was born a Christian, how would it look like if I now come to school or being...

And I know I don't go to any church. Which church is reigning now? We don't have good music, good sound. You know, I haven't got a church that doesn't have good music. You know, good music. Very important to me. And then it's called, like, 10 churches. And he asked him, what is the what is the basis for the? And he said he doesn't know. You don't just...

That thing I'm looking for. And then when he comes and the pastor wears a gold chain and jeans, he says, uh-uh. I think I like this torture. They have not even heard anything. Stay with me. On the first instance of offense, he packs and vomits. When the bible is talking about each of us being a part of the church, it uses part of the human body to describe us. He says he says, can the eyes say to the legs? I'm tired of being the eyes. I'm tired of being the eyes.

Can I be the legs? Can the legs say to the hands? They are... These are members of the body. Is that not so? Yes, sir. That's why every time you read KJV, KJV will say, speak to your members or you will see the bible talking about bringing your members on that subjection. And that's part of your body. Is that not so? That is why you are you are called church members.

It is because you are parts of the body. Not because you attend the church. It is because you have become a part of the church. Now listen. You wear different shirts. Is that not so? Every day, you wear different shirts. Every day, you wear different trousers. Is that not so? But do you wear different hands every day?

Do you wear different legs every day? Do you wear different eyes every day? Why is it easy for you to change your clothes? It is easy for you to change your clothes because they are not a part of your body. Why is it not easy for you to change your hand and your legs? Because they are parts of your body. They are... It's one word. It's called committed. They are attached to your body.

That's the mean of commitment. They are attached to... You can't just remove your hand and say, you bring your own. What many are are just genes. It just came and became the genes. It's not a member. It's a gene. Gene trouser. Because every member has a function. The eyes can see.

The clothes... Are you are you hearing again? I'm saying. The nose can smell. That is what the bible compares us to. Not accessories in the body. That can be easily removed, that can leave it... Easily thrown away. It's the word commitment. It's what it means to be members of a church.

It means you are not a member if you are not committed, if you are not attached. You are barely an attendee drawing the out. You are a fan, but not a member. Are you with me, brothers and sisters? Yeah. He's an unstable believer that changes church anyhow like you are changing clothes because he's not attached to anywhere. He's not a part of the body. Isolated from the body and will soon atrophy. Do you understand what I'm saying? Yes.

How many of you have seen a human leg in the cadaver or a skeleton, a human leg skeleton or something, and it just sit placed down. You know, we did... For those of us who studied medical courses, you would have had this thing... Seen these things before. Just see a human leg or a skull. Just sit there. They even cry this skull. I'll be showing you, and it's not plastic hole. It's a real skull. Real skull.

Cut to radio man bodies. You just chop off the leg. Remember when we're doing our... We we got to a point where we're done with the leg. We just... Somebody just cut it and we just hide this like this. That leg, when not attached to the body, will they have a function? It means the usefulness of every part is as it is connected to the body. So to be in isolation is to be useless, both to yourself and to the body because the leg cannot move without another one. The hand cannot go without the brain.

It is a it is a coordination that happens. It's the principle of interdependence. Nobody is is to be deep... Independent in the body of Christ. We all come to receive. We... The bible says each part is supplying to each other, blessing each other. That is the beauty of the church. Are you with me? And it is attachment, commitment.

Psalm 92 says, the righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, verse 12, and it shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Verse 13 says, those who are planted. You see that? Those who are planted where? In the house of the Lord. The word there is planted, not those who visit. There's a level of commitment it takes to be discipled. It is God that shows you who your man of God is. It is God that takes you to your church, not your emotions. And you would know when the person speaks.

It's as though they are speaking to the core of your being. The moment you find it, be planted. That is why longevity in church does not automatically mean transformation. Because you have spent ten years in a church does not mean you have been transformed that far. Your change is based on your hunger, your commitment to stay and be transformed, and then the quality of the spiritual vessels that feed you God's word and guide you. And let me say this. I said this with all honor to the body of Christ. There are many assemblies, many platforms where the members are hungry, the members are thirsty, but they are not being filled. And the problem is the vessels and the ill prepared meals that they continue to serve. So you find people who are hungry.

They love God. They want to learn, but the spiritual labor you should put in as a man of God is missing. And that is why God is gonna judge us as preachers because you are mandated by God and responsible for the holistic building of your members. So your personal carelessness can stunt the growth of someone for twenty years. The problem now is not the members' hunger. The problem now is that you are serving absolute nonsense. I said this with all due respect. There are believers now who are born again who are malnourished. You can almost tell that they are sick. You know the way you see a man who is malnourished?

Another doctor, you can look at him and tell what nutrient is missing in his body based on the symptoms that you see. And based on what is missing, you can then prescribe what they should use and the nutrient they should supplement. Is that not so? That is how it is spiritually. You can look at an individual, study his life, and you'll find out that based on what I can see in your life, there's an absence of the prayer ministry. That means whoever mentored you did not emphasize the value and the power of prayer as a tool for kingdom dominion. So he may be sincere, but all he knows is just bible study, love Jesus. But when you say pray or he sees you praying or you have to pray and then you are going fifteen minutes, thirty minutes, and you are raising your voice, stretching in the spirit, it becomes the... It becomes uncomfortable because he was not raised that way. Yet, that is the source of his problems.

But the gap in his understanding... And sometimes, like an arrogant believer, he will even argue with you and tell you what is all this shouting. Whereas, his way is because he cannot shout. Because the person who mentored him did not open him up experientially to the value of prayer. Are we still together? Yes, sir. For another man, his problem may be that he has not learned the power and the supremacy of the word of God. So he may pray, but he does not have respect and regard for the word of God because the person who trained him did not emphasize the word of God. When it's time for preaching, the pastor come and tell stories upon stories upon stories. People laugh, then they call a prayer point.

People pray. Then they open a bible verse, read the bible verse, tell stories again. People laugh. They call a prayer point. People pray, and then that is church. We share the grace, and we go home. So when you have to sit him down to a place where the word of God is being taught for two hours, he is as though his flesh is fighting it. Yet all the prayer he's praying, even though he's prayerful, is in ignorance. He's fervent in the spirit when it comes to prayers, when it comes to fasting, but he's terribly ignorant. He's barren of knowledge, but yet he can't commit himself to learn God's word.

In ten minutes, he boils off because he was not exposed. His capacity is not built that way. He wasn't mentored right. Are you with me, brothers and sisters? That means that every member is always a reflection of the level of seriousness and accuracy of the spiritual leaders that train them. That's why when God leads you to a place where the word of God is rightly divided and taught in a way that allows for holistic growth, choose to be planted there. Nowadays, people have itchy ears. You know that this is the place God would have you be. It ticks all the boxes, but it is what I call unholy dissatisfaction that makes you not want to miss out of what members of that other man of God may be experiencing. So you live where God is building you, and then you go and confuse yourself.

People leave churches where God has planted them for the most foolish reasons, and Usher did not greet me well. The prayer was too long. Their praise is not long enough. They don't have worship. I don't like what that pastor preached. The man of God gives an instruction that itches your ego or scratches your ego or confronts the way of life that you live, then you become hungry and you live. None of these are grounds to leave a church. The only reasonable ground is if it is clear that the wine has finished. If it is obvious that the life and the power of God in this church is dead, the spirit of revival is quenched. The word of God is no longer being rightly taught and not growing.

Any other reason other than this, especially emotional nonsense, is not wise. He says he will send you pastors after your heart, not after your own canality. If God has sent you to a church, be planted. There are some of you who have been coming here for months, some of you for years. You have never done DBA. You are not planted. It is for your own good. It is the process of discipleship. You are rooted in the basic foundations of scripture. You get to know what the value system of the ministry is.

There's a particular age range that you must be before you even dream of entering a relationship in the Disciples Christian Network. Because we are aware you have several young people here. Young people are are prone to several misconduct. So there are guidelines that have been put in place to structure your growth. Are you aware of this? Are you aware of this? Or are you a believer who is a member that has three boyfriends? And you claim that this year is your ministry. And even buy a clothes, I'm a DCN night. And then you ask...

You you go to Indy Hall, you see the first guy, go to see see the second guy, would have been DCN night, you are crying up and down. We... Listen. You are loved, though. And you are a this year and night, truly. Yes, sir. Just a cloth, not a part of the body. The challenge therefore is be a part. That's why for some, it will be an instruction. For some, it's a correction.

For all, it will be both an instruction and a correction. When you find believers who want the prayers of a man of God, the prophecies of their man of God, the word of wisdom, word of knowledge of their man of God, but they don't want the instructions, the correction, the discipline, and the rebuke of the man of God. You are just plain rebellious. These are foolish and arrogant believers. As long as your man of God is praying for you, you are okay. As long as he's prophesying over you, you are okay. But you receive an instruction that itches your ego and touches your pride, you become offended. You start getting revelation that you never got before you gave the instruction. So you know there are times when, you know, the seasons change because you were instructed like a fool. You don't wanna start a business.

You think, man, I don't think you start that business. Yeah. I've not been thinking that. No. Even my time is up. You are a foolish person who cannot be instructed, who cannot grow. It is a symptom of a rebel at heart. It's arrogance. It is not the fruit of the spirit. And whatever voice comes to reinforce your conviction, you can be sure it's not God because God will never go against scripture.

I'm not quick to to to just accept anybody who comes to me and says, I'm leaving this place, and they are arrogant about it. I left this place to come here. Why? Because, you know, the pastor said this, and it doesn't hold well with me. Mutual will soon say something that will not hold with you. Then all of us become mister Ugo. Are you with me? If you are planted, then your man of god becomes god's voice over your life. God's voice over your life. Samuel was hearing a voice and could not tell that it was God that was speaking to you.

He went to Hailai. I'm asking Hailai, did you call me? Because God was speaking to him in his father's voice. God will speak to you in the voice of your man of God. There are people here who have almost made terrible mistakes, and they heard my voice loud and clear. There are people here who have seen me in dreams. Tell them don't do this. Yes, sir. Yes. Do that.

And when they tell me I I might be sleeping when they were having a dream. But that when God speaks to you, your man of God becomes God's reflection to you. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And so you come and meet me and I tell you, ah, don't do this. And you say, okay, sir. Let me go and pray about it. You are a fool. If you could pray, it should not have come. Yes, sir.

Yes. Yes. The second way that the church grows you is through accountability and fellowship. Hebrews ten twenty four and twenty five NIV, the bible says, and let us consider how we may spur one another. Let us consider how we may spur one another on. Can you see that? That's what happens in the church. We spur one another on towards love and towards good deeds. Next verse, not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the day approaching. You cannot grow in isolation.

God designed spiritual growth to be enhanced through community Christian living. As you encounter Jesus Christ, you must be introduced to a larger community of believers that now begin to help you. You will meet people who are like minds. It will grant you the courage and the confidence to now begin the process of transformation in fellowship with other believers because transformation is powerful when it is done corporately. For instance, if you came from a life of sin and you became saved, if you isolate yourself, you will be so lonely that you will not have the courage to keep on working in keeping with the truth that makes for your transformation. And chances are you will go back. But when you have believers just like you, you will be encouraged. You'll be strengthened. This is fellowship of the brethren. The bible is high on sharpens high on.

When you come to... When you come in a fellowship, no matter what it is you are struggling with, there are people who have surpassed that realm. They can hold your hand whilst you are rising. Take for instance, you left the company of bad friends and now found Christ. If you are walking alone, the day the people you left see you, they will make you feel stupid for that newfound life of yours, and chances are you will not have the courage in keeping with the things that advance you spiritually. So God surrounds you with like minded people. Now you begin to understand the culture of the kingdom. There are many... Listen. Transformation is based on a reference.

As you see what you are trying to be like in others, it is easy for you to be it. You can't become nothing. You you only become something. So the love you are struggling with, there's someone who has embodied love. No matter what you do for them, they will still keep on loving you. That person, it is your love as you are learning, as you are growing. There's... There are character flaws you may have as you come into that fellowship. You'll find that there are people in who... It's as though these people just love.

And before you know, you are becoming a loving person. You are becoming a more patient person. You are becoming a more... Because you have entered the company of believers. Not everybody there will be good. You also meet people who will show you Pepe. But because you are in that company of believers, you can strengthen yourselves. Ananda will tell you, ah, is it... That what he did? Don't worry about it.

Just forgive. Say, my father knows me. Don't forgive him. Amen. If I owe somebody my mind like this, it will take God to release the person. And then you've come into an assembly of the brethren. And then you are doing a meeting, a subgroup meeting, work out meeting, and then they report you. They say, brother, so and so is hanged. I say, what happened between the two of you? Yeah.

Man, I don't like my mother discussed in public. It's right there they will discuss it. Because the bible says open rebuke is better than secret love. Because you don't like your matter discussed in public, that's why you still have that problem till now. There are times when shame will teach you. Yes. It's the blessing of fellowship. You know, I see what happened. Is it actually... He he he was the one that stole he stole my rice.

As you're not talking, you now find out that, wait, sir. Because because in your mind, it will make so much sense. You have a legitimate reason to be hungry. You... Nobody can convince otherwise. All of a sudden, are among the pendant and everybody looking at you. And then what now happen? You now you now stole you stole my... How did you steal your rice? And I cooked it in the morning.

I'm sorry, sir. I'm sorry, sir. Because some... Listen. It's a level of transformation that does not happen in isolation. I'm telling you. I'm telling you. I'm telling you. Suddenly find You go and sit down, you now start thinking that why did I get hungry? As you are thinking that you will say, my mother must not get here again.

The Holy Ghost is using that thing to now teach you something. That same event happens next time. You want to... You don't remember. Is it? It's a level of transformation, character change. Something is happening inside you. It does not happen in isolation. It's how God has formed it. You learn giving.

You learn love. You learn patience. The fruit of the spirit. No fruit goes... Grows in isolation from the branch. You learn the fruit of the spirit connected to the vine. You can't learn love alone. You can't learn patience alone. You cannot. Are you with me brothers and sisters?

Yes, sir. So a guy was was was was planning a meeting, and he went to go and tell his brothers and sisters what he was planning. And as he told the brother... He he told one of them, only they, why are not thinking like this... Doing it this way? Just just 15. Let's reach 100. His mind just pow because he never even thought he had the capacity to reach a 100. When he went out for that meeting, they reached out to himself and a friend, 500 people, whereas his plan was 15. It's what happens in the company of the brethren.

You sit down with people that don't enlarge your mind. You are talking to someone. The person just tells you, you know, I just give my four, six figures. Say,. You are inspired. Not in competition, just inspired. You come amongst lions and they begin to roar. And and even in as much as you are a young cub, as you watch the majestic nature of these lions roaring, your own roar might not sound like theirs yet, but in moving with the pride. Galatians chapter 12, he says, bear each others. Bear each other's burdens.

You have to be accountable to somebody. Somebody has to know where you went and where you're coming from. You go out, maybe you see that. No. Did you business? You see, listen. Listen. Listen. This is accountability. This happens in the church.

It is important for growth. You need to be submitted to authority. It is important and... Don't don't be a rebel in the church. It is out of the patterns of God. Are you with me? The last thing that happens that makes for growth is service and the deployment of your spiritual gifts. Service is a privilege to serve in church. Service in church is a platform for growth. Service in church is a platform for maturity.

Use your... Not only do you discover your giftings and your skill when you serve, you become... You learn excellence. You learn faithfulness. You learn diligence. There are many things you learn serving in touch that becomes marketable skill. One of my guys here is currently paid in foreign currency every month, working with a large company with a... In The UK branch in Nigeria. He learned that skill in church. It was just in the media department.

They were teaching him video editing. That video editing now is what brings him money every month. In multiple 6 figures and contract opening up. That video editing has taken him to many states in Nigeria going for contract to contract to contract, project upon project. Lent in church. Suddenly, acquired a passion. He said, believe my purpose is in the media world. Learn it in church. It makes you discover your giftings. Discover yourself.

Discover your abilities. And so when you belong to a local church, serve. Volunteer every time you can. Nobody is too busy to serve in the house of God. Nobody is too busy to serve in the house of God. Are you with me? Yes. Yes. Yes. When this when this ministry started, I was working jobs.

I was a student working jobs and doing ministry. I was writing my final year project in 2019 or '20 thereabout. In that same time, I was working jobs, Still preaching with fire without lacking competence in the spirit. No path reducing. What made you think you are busy? How many do you think you are busy? I knew I was not gonna depend on anybody to come and source it to me before I eat, so I labored. So I worked. I was in the marketplace. I built a business.

Was getting contract in 7 figures, marketing myself, marketing my business, building websites and softwares, mobile apps, managing groups of people, whilst preparing teachings, whilst praying every day, whilst coming on Tuesdays, while coming to workers meeting, then we're even having upsurge every Friday. I have meetings on Tuesdays. I have a church where I train their workers every Saturday. Train my workers on Sunday, then preach on Sunday. I was preaching more than five times a week. And I was working a job, and I wasn't preaching the same thing. Reading books, what makes you think you are busy? No man is ever too busy to serve God. Let me say it again. No man is ever too busy to serve God.

Are you blessed? Rise up on your feet. Your sister kingdom, your sister glory. Father, in the name of Jesus. Amen. We bless you for the word you have received. Amen. We thank you for the empowerment. We thank you for the training. We thank you for the teaching.

We thank you for the blessing. I declare in the name of Jesus that this becomes life to your spirit. Yeah. The grace and the empowerment to work on what you have heard, that what you have heard will not just be something you hear for hearing sake. But that you become it, and that you begin to grow into maturity, and that you submit yourself to the pattern of God for your growth and maturity. In the name of Jesus. Thank you because God has answered. In Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen. Celebrate Jesus, oh, church.

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