Transcript: In Preparation for Increase Part 1

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Just like a soldier, going to battle, Garrett himself with every armor needed for battle and for winning. So believers must guard themselves with the gospel of peace, the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Join apostle Emmanuel as he teaches God's word to equip you for a victorious life on earth. This is believers equipped. Isaiah chapter 54, we read from verses one to verse four. Sing whole barren. You who have not born. Break forth into singing. And cry aloud. You who have not labored with child.

For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman. Says the lord. Enlarge the place of your tent and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings. Do not spare lending your cords. Strengthen your sticks for you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations and make the desolate cities inhabited. Do not fear for you will not be ashamed, neither be disgraced for you will not be put to shame. For you will forget the shame of your youth and will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. Lord bless the reading of his word. Amen. I'm going to be speaking this evening on a sermon entitled in preparation for increase.

In preparation for increase. Thank you Jesus. It's going to apply to your personal lives. It's going to apply to everything that God would be doing in this time. So that we can partake of it, it's going to apply also to the disciples Christian network. To your businesses, your ministries, your careers As long as you are a part of this covenant, then you are part of those we are speaking to. Is this understood? So let's discuss in preparation for increase. I believe that the scripture we just read is very powerful because God is speaking to a woman who is still barren. And God is speaking to that woman as though she's already fruitful.

Let's pray before we start. Father, in the name of Jesus, we declare that even as we continue in your word, you break the bread that our eyes will open. Amen. Thank you because you've given us understanding. Amen. In Jesus name we have prayed. Amen. So God is speaking to a barren woman as though she's already fruitful. God is not speaking to her according to what her present condition is saying. God is speaking to her according to what his intention has already concluded over her life.

A womb is empty in the moment, but God is already talking about children. Attempt is small in the moment, but God is already talking about expansion. Our environment still looks desperate, but God is already talking about nations and cities. That's how God prepares men for increase. He first speaks of a future that is bigger than our present. And then he commands us to adjust our lives to match what he has spoken. One of the first things we must understand is that God does not always begin increase by changing what is around a man. How God begins to increase a man is by making a demand of the man to increase his capacity, to change his capacity. Is that not so? Yes, sir.

That's the charge you see consistent through scriptures when there's going to be increase. God makes a demand of the man to increase his capacity. So before the children arrive, you see God saying, enlarge your tent. Before the expansion happens, you see God saying, lengthen your courts. Before the territory opens up to a man, you see God saying, strengthen the sticks. That means that preparation is not what you do after increase has come. Preparation is the proof that you believe that increase is coming. And many people say that they're expecting God to enlarge them. But their lives remain arranged for smallness. Their thinking is still small.

Their habits are still small. The structure around their life is still small. Their discipline is still small. Their planning is still small. Their financial structure is still small. Their leadership capacity is still small. And yet, you are praying for a future that your present structure cannot carry. So when you read Isaiah chapter 54, it teaches you that God when he wants to enlarge a life, he first confronts the size of the tent. It first makes a demand of that life to expand and to enlarge, to lengthen your cords, and to strengthen your sticks. Are you with me?

We would need to look at the meaning of length in your courts. And we would need to look at the meaning of strengthen your stakes because they mean different things with respect to what God expects of you when increase is coming. Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, that's the canvas of your dwellings. Stretch it out. He then says, do not spare. Will not have enough time to look at every word. But you see this as a pattern in scripture. Do not spare. Do you remember where you've come across something that looked like this before? I see somebody's head shaking, I'm tempted to call the person to tell me.

What you remember. Gather many vessels. Gather not a few. Gather not a few. And then you see God saying now again, do not spare. It means when it comes to the business of increasing capacity, there is always a warning that God gives. Which means when you're building capacity, you have to throw caution to the wings. Do not be careful with respect to your preparation for enlargement. Do not be careful with respect to your preparation for increase. Don't play it safe when increase is coming and you are preparing for that increase.

He says don't spare. Are you with me brothers and sisters? I've taught you before that faith is not just declaration. I've taught you before that faith is not just believing that rain is coming and then declaring that rain is coming. Is that not so? Faith builds an hack before the rain drops. Hebrews 11 verse seven says, thy faith, Noah, being the violent wand of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark. So Noah did not wait until the rain started before he began to build. Imagine that Noah had waited for some kind of visible evidence. That means he would have been too late.

The proof that Noah believed God was not just that he agreed with the prophecy of the rain, the proof was that he built a structure for the season that had not yet arrived. He started the process of the building. The problem many people have is that we wait until it is too late. Many people are waiting for God to show them something before they prepare. But when your man is walking in faith, faith prepares before there is even evidence because faith itself is the evidence. So when a man is working in faith, that man builds with respect to what God has said. The man doesn't build with respect to his current circumstances. He doesn't build with respect to his current situation. That man builds with respect to what God has told him. That man builds with respect to what God has said concerning him.

Are you with me? Yes, sir. That man doesn't build with respect to what life is currently showing him at the moment. He builds with respect to what God has said. And preparation is one of the clearest expressions of faith. Because when a man begins to prepare for what God has said, what you're basically saying is, God, I believe you enough to make room for what you have promised. So if, for instance, you are a business person and you are believing that there will be increase because God has declared that there will be increase, God has said that we are multiplying, God has said what we have seen in this seven years is nothing compared to what is to come. God has said that we are entering a season, a season of the new, a thousand times more, 10,000 times more than what we have seen or experienced in the past. That is increase, and that is multiplication, that is abundance, that is fruitfulness across every strata of influence, across every area of your own life. The question therefore becomes, if you believe it, what space do you begin to create in your life to accommodate that increase?

Do you understand what I'm saying? So when your man begins to prepare, he's saying, God, I believe you enough to make room for what you have promised me. So if a business person, the statement of your heart is, I believe you enough to make room for what you have promised me. And when you see that, it it begins to build systems. It begins to take more record. Be more accountable. Stop doing business like you are doing it for now. Like you're doing it to make ends meet like we'd always say. Is that not so? He starts positioning himself for something great.

He starts positioning himself for something big that is coming. He starts putting structures in place right now even though there might not be need per se for the structure that's putting in place. But he knows that if those structures are not in place, when the need arrives, the need will collapse the business. For a student, for instance, that believes that there is something God wants to do with respect to academics, if you believe, then you begin to make room. And you see the room that that the student is making in the preparation as well, in the diligence as well, in the consistency as well. Are you with me? When a man of God believes that God will bring people and there'll be increase in his ministry, it begins to increase as well. It begins to build capacity as well. It begins to create room as well. Begins to raise leaders for instance, build structures for instance, develop even more capacity for instance.

But if this is not there, then you are just being irresponsible with respect to what God has told you. Expecting something to happen to you passively is not faith. When a man is walking in faith, faith behaves like the future that God has spoken to you about is real enough to prepare for. That's why Isaiah 54 is not just a promise of increase. It's a command to prepare. God did not say you would expand. God first said enlarge. The first thing God did in fact was to paint a picture of the future to let them know that there is increase coming. In verse one, there's increase coming. It's a sing because there's increase coming.

Rejoice because you know that there is increase coming. If you have labored without child, rejoice. Because more will be the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman. Says the Lord. Verse two, then he says, enlarge the place of your tent. So before you get to verse three that speaks of how you will expand. The first thing God does is to paint a picture of what is about to happen, to prophesy, to give you a vision. And in response to that vision, it says rejoice. So if we believe that we are increasing a thousand times more, the first thing we do therefore is to rejoice. Because it says break forth into singing.

Are you with me? Yes, sir. Break forth into singing. Break forth into singing. So now is not the time to be sorrowful, be sad, tell you when things are not properly or going properly well for you. God says, break forth into singing. Break forth into singing. It doesn't matter how many years this solution had existed. Break forth into singing. So my first response as someone who has believed this word is that I cease to be anxious.

I cease to be sorrowful, especially that it concerns my current circumstances and it concerns my current situation. Because to still be sorrowful would mean I've not yet received what God has told me. Do you understand what I'm saying? That's why verse four is very important. Verse four goes on to say that you should not be afraid, you should not be ashamed, and you should not be disgraced because God will not put you to shame. Listen, it says for you will forget the shame of your youth. And you will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. It means when the expansion that God has prophesied comes over you, you will not even remember what you had to go through. And the years without results. Because seasons can fold over a man's life just like that.

A man's years of suffering and affliction can end just like that. A man's years of laboring without results can end just like that. But there's a responsibility that heaven places on you. It says rejoice. Then begin to prepare for the expansion. Enlarge the place of your tent. For the Disciples Christian Network, this one is quite literal, you see. Because the Holy Spirit showed me that we cannot remain here. We need to enlarge. This is very literal for the Disciples Christian Network, which is why a lot of effort is being put into getting the venue that is bigger than this place.

Because what we have barely contains our number, and to remain here would mean that we have limited what God wants to do. You see, because you cannot be expecting a increase and still hold a container that cannot accommodate the increase. You are working against yourself. You are working against what God intends to do over your life. Now this is literal because you can understand it. If we are declaring that a thousand times more and we remain here for instance, then where would a thousand times more stay? You understand what I'm saying? Where would they stay? I hope you know that a thousand times more is not 1,000 of what you currently have. A thousand times more is multiplied by 1,000.

You understand what I'm saying? Yes, Because somebody doesn't know mathematics very well, so I need to... It multiplied by 1,000. That's even the least. Glory to God. That's the least. That's the least. Because you can create more space for 10,000. You can create more space for your 100,000 times more. Are you with me, brothers and sisters?

Yeah. So let me go back to the picture I was trying to paint. We remain here, and we're declaring a thousand times more. That picture is what explains what happens in a man's life practically. When he prophesies an increase and he has not built capacity, structures for the increase for which he's prophesying. So God says, enlarge the place of your tent. So... Are you still with me? Enlarge. So that's the order.

You will expand. Comes toward. You prepare. Make room for more. Make room for more. Make room for more. And there's a protocol for making room because he explains it. When it says enlarge the pillar of your tent, it then tells you how to do the enlargement. It says let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings. I'm gonna get here very soon.

Glory to God. Glory. Thank you, Lord Jesus. We've already considered that story of the woman who had just a little job of oil. And Elijah told her, go and gather many vessels. Gather not a few. The miracle did not begin with the oil, the miracle began with vessels. The oil was God's part of the equation but the vessel were own part of the equation. God was ready to multiply but she had to create capacity, create space, create room for what God wanted to pour down, you see. So as long as they were vessels, the oil continued to flow.

The moment the vessels finished, the oil stopped flowing. The flow did not stop because God was empty. The flow stopped because the capacity was exhausted. I want you to understand this because because these things are invincible in lives of people, people rarely know what is really happening to them. That it is possible to pick at a point not because God is done with you, not because God can no longer lift you. But it's possible to pick at a point and you try everything that you can try for one year, for two year, but you just do not pass the point you have picked at. And the reason is because the oil has stopped flowing because the vessel is exhausted. Not because the oil has lost its ability to flow. Do you remember when the Bible says thou anointed my head with oil? My cup runs over.

There are a lot of people that it might look unfair. The trinkets of blessings that you see in their lives. But the fact of the matter is, it is God still being faithful. Because that's just how much they can handle. There are people who are praying and trusting and believing God for financial abundance in their lives or lifting in their business or, you know, all kinds of prosperity, breakthrough, and all of that. But when you look at the capacity of their lives, in their heart, in their soul, around their lives to handle what they are praying for, it is they are coming to a river with a spoon. And they are asking to have a bucket full. You see the frustration there? You came with a spoon, but you're expecting to go home with a bucket full. And you know that it's not as though the one that you came to cannot supply Because it's a river.

It's a never ending river. It's a waterfall that doesn't end. But it doesn't matter how much you stay under the river, under the waterfall, you would still have a spoonful. It would always be a spoonful. It would always be a spoonful. It doesn't matter what the intention of God over your life is. If the capacity is that of a spoon, you would always still be a spoonful. So God says, I'm taking you to the nations of the world, but the structures in your soul and in your heart can only accommodate some people. That's the way you can have a business or be in career. And you can tell that this person doesn't have what it takes yet to reach the hands of the earth.

In fact, the gaps in knowledge to even know how to reach there is proof that the capacity has not yet been built. Let me explain what I'm saying. Some people come to me and ask me questions like, apostle, I've got this thing that I want to do, but I just don't know how to do it. For every time that I have to tell you how to do it, it shows that there's no capacity in you yet. That's just the minute. So even as you continue to push, that's why that's why you can force people, right, to write a CV. What is your skill? What can you do? They are push yourself and you start forcing them. You start forcing them.

Right? And they would still not be able to rise above a particular level, above a particular peak. You can even open doors for some people and create opportunities for them and take them to a place where they'll be getting paid a high amount of money and they'll lose it in less than a year because capacity is just not there. Do you know what happens when there's absence of capacity? Are you still with me? Yes. So you you shouldn't know that God is gonna increase you and then your preparation towards that increase doesn't show that you believe that God is going to increase you. Don't build a tent that still reflects your burniness. What did I say? Do you understand what I've just said?

Are you sure you do? You sure you do? Think about it well. Because the temptation is to build a tent that reflects your current circumstances. That's the temptation. It's comfortable. It's easier because there's no risk involved. It's not risky. It's safe because you know this is where I am. It only makes sense that if this is where I am, this what I can accommodate, this is the level that that that comes to me at the moment, then this is the level of...

This is the kind of room I should make available. It only makes sense, doesn't it? I've seen a lot of venues in our search to get out of this place. It brings a lot of things to me. And when I... I even saw one recently. And when it when it was sent to me, I just said no. Because I'm not looking at a venue for where we are at the moment. Looking at a venue for where we are going to. You understand what I'm saying?

Because, you see, the easiest thing to do is to get a venue for where we are at the moment. That's what I mean by... Hallelujah God. As the easiest thing to do. But there's certainly and most definitely an increase that is coming. So we cannot still be making room as though this is all that we see. God told Peter in Luke chapter five, God says, launch out into the deep and let down. Can we read it together, everybody? Did you see the plural there? Your what?

Continue reading. Now watch the mentality here. This is the mentality of a man who has thawed all night and caught nothing. And now Jesus is telling that man, don't drop one net. Go and take all your nets. And throw them into the waters. The response of that man is immediately to strip down the instruction to his capacity and say, come on now. We've been toiling all night and we've not seen a single catch. And now you are talking about... We've caught nothing.

That means we've not even had a single catch. Not even a baby fish. Now you're talking about nets because that would speak of capacity. But the man was building a structure around his widowhood, around his current experience, and not around what God has said. So even when he was saying at your word, there... Even when he was saying at your word, he was obeying but with a limited capacity. You see? So it wasn't as though he was obeying, but his obedience could not get him the fullness of what God has even promised to do. Are you still with me? Yes, sir.

At your word, I will let down what? He removed the heirs. The guy removed it. The guy removed it. When he now put the... Jesus did not correct him. Because your capacity shows you how just how much you can accommodate. Just how much you can carry without breaking. Without breaking. Emphasis on without breaking.

That's the reason why the moment they threw the net into the seas, the bible says they cut so much that the net started to break. Pause. Hold on there. Do you remember the example I gave of when we have tent all over this place? And people will start looking at us as irresponsible. And because they look at us as irresponsible, what will happen? They would decide that this... Come on now. We can't cut. This is...

People don't know what they are doing. And then they would leave. What happen when net breaks? The fish escapes. You are not seeing what I'm saying. That a man can lose what he has prepared for because he got more than what he was preparing for. That's the problem with small thinking. That's the problem with the limited imagination. You see, Oh, you won't be so blessed because in this month, this is... We're just preparing for what God is bringing.

Yes, sir. Like I said on Sunday, there's a promise. And we are stretching towards that promise. We're stretching towards that promise. You must prosper. Are you with me? The catch that they were looking for came, but the net started breaking. And when the net started breaking, they had to call people to start helping them. And you know, when the people started helping them, the bible even says their boats began to sink. That means harvest almost cost them their life, called them their property just because a man would not provide nets.

Not because the man would not provide nets. That's what happens to resources when there is no container to hold them. They become wasted. When rain falls, the rain spills everywhere until a man puts a container to hold it. So when God is bringing an increase, a man's life is not a reflection of all that God has given. A man's life is always a reflection of all that he has received. Two different things. So a man cannot at any point blame God for whatever is in his life. Because you don't receive at every point all that God is giving. You receive all that you are receiving, all that you have capacity to receive.

And this issue of capacity is quite deep because I'm gonna go... I'm gonna see if I can go deep into it. As much as possible when people meet with me, they're young. Most of people that meet with me, Helly, are students. And we are making kings out of these people. Yes, I found out that one of the things that being young does to you is that it automatically reduces and limits your capacity. Because a lot of people already define their capacity by their status, by the fact that they are young, by the fact that they are students. And so what happens is that they are not thinking outside of their own scope when they are thinking about prosperity, when they are thinking about money, when they are thinking about influence, when they thinking about anything. They're just thinking within themselves. Never outside of their own scope.

And that already limits whatever they can do. And so even when you tell people like that to start a business because God wants to pour out a blessing. Are you with me? There's a limit to how much they can do until the walls are broken. When you talk to a person, who tells you, oh, apostle, I want to have an NGO, foundation, an organization. I wanna start doing this. If the capacity does not stretch, it would just be doing the barest minimal. And he will be saying trinklets of blessing because it is trinklets he can receive. Somebody still here? You see, this Jesus' story tells me that increase is not just an exciting thing.

Increase is also a heavy thing. Increase is heavy. What did I say? And a lot of people romanticize increase because they only see the glory of it. But every increase comes with a weight. Every type of increase. Do you know that since we've increased as a church? Is a weight, is heavy. Your burdens are different. When you are not plenty.

The moment you have more human beings gathered, it would mean that you have more problems, more diversities, variations of problems. And you cannot imagine the type of problems. That my pastor is here. Praise the God. Amen. I'll try not to hear them. But sometimes it was not escaped me. You can't imagine. It comes with increase. You can't run away from it.

Increase More than quadrupled our weekly budget as a ministry. That's a quadrupled 10 times it. Increase. It means that increase, if financial buckets were not in place, it could collapse the ministry. Are you aware that increase is a weight? Now we are in a venue where we were paying 12,000 naira Per year. Is God not good? Oh Jesus. Why would you want to increase? If your bucket at that point in time can only take that 12,000 naira.

Now you go to a venue that is 10 times that because people have come. There's a problem if buckets have not increased. What did I say? There's a problem if buckets have not increased. It will kill the person increasing. High blood pressure. The boat will begin to sink. The net will begin to break. Let me... Oh my goodness.

You started a small business and you were praying, you were praying, and God now answer your prayer. That your shop now becomes overcrowded. That people now... Customers now have to line up because they want to buy samosa. What what did they say you should go and be selling? Akaran corn from Stay with me. And the people now start lining up. Increase can break the net. You are a final designer with just a few five, seven people who come and make clothes from you. And then you you are trusting God that God, can you not expand me?

I've got to sow seeds in this. Hey. And heaven is saying, are you sure you have kapa shitty? Gather many vessels. You say you will not gather. Now the anointing has broken breakthrough into your life that you are not ready for. So for the first time now, seven clients now became party in one month. What will happen is that the fish will begin to... Because you will not disappoint everybody. You will start...

It will be obvious immediately that there were no bands ready for the harvest. It will be obvious. At the end of the day, you would wish you had stayed where you were. But many people don't know because these things are invincible realities that determine what we see in the outside. So we only admire glory and we don't know there is a cost to it. There's a price to it. Says you want harvest, enlarge. Enlarge. Enlarge. Tell your neighbor, enlarge.

Because increase is heavy. Do you know that you can so increase in greatness that you will die of sorrow and loneliness? You are not aware that greatness too has a price. And not that way. That you are pushing for influence on social media and you are trying to push your business and all of these things. And you saw a few comments. And you were sorrowful for three months. If increase comes to you, you will die. I can promise you. It's true.

You will take your own life Because the boat must sink. It is obvious there is no capacity for the increase that has come. There's no capacity. You want to be great and somebody just told you, ah, why are you looking like monkey like this? And then all your expressions and all everything just go bad and sorrowful and you're walking around like a ghost because somebody said something. Do you know what greatness means? That you look at Adebuye and not care that he's even older than your father. That if Adebuye can be your great grandfather, you don't care. You go on social media and you start calling him names. Who are you?

If a single comment or a single opinion from someone that is meant to be inconsequential can so weary you, have you not seen that you have no capacity for what you are prophesying? Have you not seen you? I not built any vessels? So if God has said that let the oil stop here because, hey, if the oil continues to flow, it will fall on empty ground. You will slip off on it and fall. Because there's no capacity built. See, you can be doing business and God helps you. That your business, you go and get grants and then get one grant, they give you 5,000,000, then they give you 10,000,000 naira. You get another grant again because you are so good at pitching yourself. And you think that business had exploded because they are giving you grant.

And you don't know that grant is not a measure of business success. In fact, your lifetime can change because you want grant. And you'll be deceived to think that your capacity has increased because the lifetime has changed. Not knowing that that is not a measure of business success. The question is, with the grant you have been given now, what becomes liquid flow? Because you can run the business at ground even with grant that is given to you. Some people think that what they need in their life right now is money. Just give me capital. See, let me tell you something. If you feel that the reason you've not started whatever vision God has given to you is the absence of capital, I put it to you that even when the capital comes, it will not prosper.

If a man becomes incredibly incapacitated because he feels that the absence of capital is the reason why he does nothing with his life at the moment and he's just expecting that let money just come. Ah, you have not seen me. You have not seen me. Let money just come. You are joking. You really are joking. When there is capacity in you. And you need to grow capacity because you have to prosper. See the kind of increase that God is bringing is not trinklets. Trinklets cannot do what God wants to do in this ministry.

Trinklets cannot do it. You need to prosper. Tell your neighbor you need to prosper. Don't don't you want to prosper? Are you not interested in this thing? Trinklet cannot do it. He can't he can't do it. 1,000,000, 1,500,000, 2,000,000, I supposed to have gotten this thing. 1.5 per month. That's not what we are talking about here.

It's not what are talking about here. Thank God for where you are, but be building capacity where you are. Be building, be enlarging the place of your tent. Oh my God. Imagine someone who's waiting for platform. He says, I'm I'm I'm a public speaker, but there's no platform yet. Okay. So what is... Are you making room at the moment? But adventure, the platform now comes tomorrow.

What will you do? Can you stand and when you speak and deliver whatever God has placed inside of you, we will feel like licking what you are saying. The words will hold us captive. We'll be captivated by your words. We'll be ensnared by what you're saying. We'll be lost because you are taking us on a journey with your imaginative expressions. Whilst you are speaking, it's like a beautiful melodies of a song being sang. The the rhythms are beautiful. You can tell they are properly thought out. And they are being given expressions with such melodrama that we are captured by it.

We are wrapped in what you're seeing. You've not gotten there yet, but you are looking for a platform. Can't you see that capacity is singing the platform? They're making room in your heart. Making room in your heart. The danger of an unprepared life is that they can turn increase into crisis. Some people don't need money, need foundation. Some people don't need visibility, they need character. Some people don't need expansion, they need strengthening first. Because increase is weight to you, abundance is weight to you.

And see, I know that you have no capacity when small amount of increase now comes to your life and you now lose your senses. I... That already shows that you have no capacity. It's in scriptures. We just test you with little. Do you know what the bible says? The bible says whoever is faithful in little. It doesn't say will be faithful in much. Because the expression should have been whoever is faithful in little will be faithful in much. Almost to mean that if you can handle little like this, then you now will grow.

No, no, no, that's not what happens. God is saying that if we gave you much now, how you handle little is precisely how you will handle much. It's not as though that means the much is not what changed you. So little therefore is the most accurate test of a person's heart, of a person's capacity. Little. So it means if little can change you, little. People have switched allegiances because of little. People have switched loyalty because of little. It shows you don't have capacity for much. It doesn't matter what the little currently is because our littles are different based on our capacities.

Have you forgotten that they gave one five talents and they gave another two And they gave another one based on their abilities. That means even what... Even the little they received was based on their capacity. So our little are different. Somebody can have 1,000,000 naira, another person has 10,000 naira a month. 1,000,000 naira a month. And in heaven, they are on the same plane. You might think that the one who was a millionaire is rich. But in heaven, they are both being tested with little. Are you with me?

Because the five and the two and the one were all being tested with little at the same plane. So much so, when they prospered with the little, they all got the same reward. Because you have been faithful over little, five. Because you have been faithful over little, two. So the numbers were different, but in heaven, they were on the same plane. You understand what I'm saying? So the fact that you are earning 1,500,000, the next person is earning a 100,000 naira doesn't mean that you are anything better than the person. The only difference is that capacity increased. It's still little. That means even your capacity can determine what is little to you.

So when we tell people start small, small is relative based on capacity. Start more is not the same for everybody. I can start small and start with the 5,000,000 naira. Somebody else can start small and start with the 500,000 naira. Both of us have started small. So there's no reason why anybody should feel as though because you are earning more than... You are still on discipline as far as heaven is concerned. Both of you are still being tested. This is not the harvest. This is not the result, and you've already failed.

Our leaders have already shifted. Loyalty has shifted. The verse two says, enlarge the place of your tent. It then tells you what you need to start doing. It says, let them stretch out the canvases of your dwelling. Them stretch out the canvases of your dwellings. Do not spare. Lengthen your court. I want to explain this to you. And to explain it, I have to show you how a tent looks like.

Otherwise, you would not understand this. So the verse two says, enlarge the place of your tent. So everything that is being explained here is actually features of a tent, which is why I wanna show you a tent so that you can have a graphical understanding of what God is saying. Because I wanna pick them one by one. And today, wanna do lengthen your courts. You see, I want you to remember those that Isaiah was speaking to. Because the people Isaiah was speaking to in those days were tent dwelling people. Isaiah's entire history was written on the canvases because Abraham lived on the tents. Moses lived on the tents. The tabernacle where the ark of covenant was in was the tent.

So the Israelite lived in tents. In fact, they lived forty years in the wilderness pitching and and unpitching their tents. So when God speaks about a tent, he's using an architecture that every listener listening to what Isaiah is saying understood, but you might not understand. So because you don't understand it, you might also read it very fast, Thinking that they all mean the same thing. Thinking that enlarge the breadth of your tendons, same as stretch out the cuttings of your dwellings, same as lengthen your cords, same as strengthen your sticks. You need to know what the cords are, what the stakes what the canvas is. Because it's very important to this study. Oh, are you with me? Yes, sir. Now a tent has three parts that matter.

More parts. Yeah. But three parts that matter. There is the canvas itself. Give me the picture now. And the canvas itself is the covering of the tent. You see, that's the the visible dwelling the part everybody sees. That's the canvas. New in verse two again. So when it says, stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, that's the canvas.

Are you with me? Yes. That's the one people see. Give me the picture again. Can you see the courts there in that image? Can you see sticks? Yes, sir. There are sticks. And the sticks are pegs that are driven into the ground that holds everything down, and I'm going to talk about that soon. Now between the canvas and the stick are the cords.

The cords are the ropes that run from the hedges of the covering down to the pegs. Are you with me? Yes, sir. You see, when God now says lengthen your cords, you understand from seeing this that the cords are the ones that determine the spread of the tent. Because the canvas can only stretch as fast the ropes allow. If the cords are short, then they tend to be small. It does not matter how much canvas you owe. That means even if your canvas can cover this entire place that we are in. If your cords are short, you would have to fold your canvas to cover the length of your cords. Do you understand what I'm saying?

Yes, sir. Are you sure you do? Yes, sir. So you can have enough material to cover a compound. But if your ropes are only two feet long, then your dwelling tool will be two feet wide. The cord is the hidden thing that decides the size of the visible thing that you see. And the cords themselves are not invincible. Yeah? But they are simply unnoticed. So when I say they are the hidden thing, I'm not saying that they are hidden because they are not seen.

I'm saying they are hidden because people don't appreciate their importance. Everyone celebrates the size of the tent. Everyone appreciates how magnanimous the tent is, how big the canvas is. And we don't pay attention to the courts that makes it possible to have a tent that is that big. Are you with me? Yes, sir. So it's the same way people notice somebody's large ministry, but they've not paid attention to the courts that had to be stretched to ensure and to guarantee a large ministry. We only focus on what is the canvas. Whereas, there are cords that are to be stretched to have a long canvas or a big canvas. Because you see, the problem usually is not the canvas because it is possible to have a big canvas but shortened cuts.

And so even though your canvas is huge and your canvas can reach the earth and can cover the world, it will still reduce to the length of your courts. Are you with me? So a lot of people celebrate influence. We celebrate greatness. We celebrate impact. We celebrate businesses that are Forbes 25, Forbes 50 creators, 50 top creators, 50 top businesses. We look at these things, we observe them, we record them, we check them, we admire them, we are inspired by them, we wanna be like them. And we simply think that just doing business, just continuing the way you are currently going about your business or going about ministry or going about your finances will inevitably get you there one day. Because that's the expectation. Our expectation as believers is very passive.

So we think, let me just continue and then I'll get there. Or it's possible to continue and remain where you are. So there are invincible things that you might not pay attention to, and these things are attached to your life. And they determine how far your life can spread. The visible thing that you are praying for, that's the canvas. The influence, yeah, that's the canvas. The resources you are praying for, that's the canvas. The ministry, that's the canvas. The finances, abundance, that's the canvas. That's the canvas.

But God does not begin with the canvas. Even though when he says enlarge, stretch forth the canvas, the instruction is lengthen the cords. There are invisible things that you might not see or you might not pay attention to that determine how far and how much that which you see can go. And those invincible things have to be lengthened. The visible cannot enlarge no matter how much material God has folded on your inside. It's one of the most sobering truth in scripture. That the size of your life is not determined by what people see. The size of your life is determined by the parts that people cannot see. You see the pattern all through scripture. Abraham did not become father of many nations the moment God spoke the promise over him.

You agree with me that between the promise and the fulfillment of the promise, there was a long journey that God was dealing with Abraham, that God was shaping Abraham into the kind of man that could carry a covenant that would bless every family on the earth. And by the time Isaac was born, something much greater than fatherhood had happened. Abraham himself had changed. His understanding of God had deepened. His faith had matured. His obedience had been tested. His dependent on God had become stronger. So Abraham thought he was waiting for his son, but God was enlarging the man who would father nations. That delay wasn't an empty delay. God was stretching.

He was lengthening the cords. Two men can carry the same gift. Two men can carry the same anointing. Two men can have the same opportunity. Two men can have the same words spoken over their lives of influence and of greatness. The same canvas. And the one builds something that spreads to the right and spreads to the left, whilst the other one remains just small in a tent. And the difference is not the canvas. It says lengthen your courts. So what are some of these courts?

Because you see a canvas, you see a building, and we are telling you that the building, even though it is magnificent, even though it is wonderful and you admire it, there is something that makes the building magnificent. That one we rarely ever admire because we we don't pay attention to it. We can easily miss it. Are you with me? Yes, sir. You can easily miss it. When you come to the bible and you go to proverbs chapter 24, you see how houses are built. And from seeing how houses are built, you see the cords that must lend him. Because in verse three, it says, through wisdom, a house is built. And by understanding, it is established.

Verse four says, by knowledge, the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. Can you see what actually builds a house? It doesn't say through money, a house is built. Because they expect that you build houses because you have money. But you see, canvases are not stretched because of money. That's why I said if money is your major limitation as to why your canvas has not stretched, it is only showing you a greater limitation that you have, that your cords cannot even erect a small tent. Some might even have canvases but not have any cords. I wish we cannot get to stakes with today because you now realize that the stakes are different. In fact, work of the stake is different from what the court does. Can't get there today.

Three inevitable materials. Not connections, not money, not luck. He says wisdom, understanding, knowledge. And he attributes the entire visible structure to these three. He even attributes the riches that fills the room that you have built. So wisdom is a chord. Understanding is a court. Knowledge is a court. These are ropes tied to your tent, and their length is deciding your spread. It means the length of wisdom a man has, the length of understanding a man has, the length of knowledge a man possesses will eventually determine the spread of his canvas.

Do you understand what I'm saying? These are ropes tied to your tent. That's why two people can enter into the same market with the same capital, and one builds while the other buries what is building. The visible impute was identical, but the invincible cords were not. Ecclesiastes 10 and verse 10. Because Solomon is pressing the same truth here. He says, if the axe is dull and one does not sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength. But wisdom brings success. Now sit down with that verse for a moment and think about it. That is a man with a dull axe.

And what is the solution that the man with a dull axe has? He tells he uses more strength. The axe is dull. He doesn't sharpen the edge. What he can think of to use is to apply more strength to get the result he's looking for. He wants to cut down a tree. He's axe his door. And the best he could think of is let me apply more strength. Please stay with me. Are you with me?

Let me apply more effort. Let me apply more sweat. So you see him sweating. You see him working hard. At the same tree, he's exhausting himself. And the tree that he's exhausting himself in is barely yielding to his effort. He's yielding really, but you can see that, guy, you spent six years on this thing. And you've been flinging the axe. And every time you think you say, maybe I'm not just hardworking enough. Maybe maybe I'm not...

If I can just put more strength, if I can just put more effort on this thing. And the Bible says the strength was never the issue. His hard work was never the issue. The problem was that he never stopped to sharpen the hedge. You know why? Because sharpening the edge feels like delay. It feels like you have to stop what you are doing for a moment to sharpen. It feels as though you are making no progress in that moment because you have to wait and sharpen. So the guy feels as though the wiser thing to do is to continue the hard years process instead of stopping for a brief moment to polish and to sharpen. He feels as though the time he's spending sharpening is wasted time.

And if somebody is telling him to sharpen, it feels as though this time we are wasting now, we could have been cutting. At least we have gotten somewhere. But Solomon says, the man who will not sharpen, has sentenced himself to strain. That's the verdict that he gives. It is wisdom brings success, not effort brings success, not strength brings success, not hard work even brings success. It says wisdom brings success. Hear me? Many of us are not failing for lack of effort. We're just swinging a dull axe with a very strong-arm. We have zeal but with no sharpening.

So we are making moves, but there's no development whatsoever, no understanding. There's a lot of gap in our thinking, a lot of gap in our understanding, messed up thoughts, messed up thinking. Not knowing that the axe head is a cord. Not knowing that your skill is a cord. Your competence is a cord. And a cord that is not lengthened will keep you sweating over a small tent for the rest of your life. You know, two individuals can start ministry. And God has given both of them the same canvases. The question now is, who is lengthening their courts? Who is lengthening their Who is investing in understanding?

Who is investing in wisdom? Who is investing in knowledge? Who is investing? That's why a man of God can be more anointed than another. Yet his ministry is less visible, less pronounced, and not because that is how God will have it. Because the mistake we make is that we look at people's results and we say it's God. We just assume that, see, we can't judge anybody. That's what God will have. If God will have me, if God will have me, Oga, calm down. Do you know the God you are talking about?

Why will he want you to be small? You you you... Think about what you are saying for a moment and leave this responsibility alone. Confront your problem and call it by name. Is it the God that said occupy till I call? But your cord is not long enough to occupy anywhere. You you were trying to lengthen the thing the thing can even break because there's no length. There's no length. I would prefer to speak to some men of God and when I see the gaps in knowledge, the gaps in knowledge about infrastructure, about systems and structures in ministry, about the basic things that makes for the foundations of a ministry, And all that they have is the passion to preach the gospel. I also have...

You understand what I'm saying? Yeah. But along with the passion to preach, we have lengthened our courts. We've lengthened our We've lengthened our courts. Courts. Planting our courts. That's the difference between a business person who has not learned in discourse knowledge wise, wisdom wise, understanding wise. He will struggle a lot in one spot. He will struggle a lot in one spot. Two people can be doing the same type of business, and they are both hardworking.

And one of them just hears that there's one business luncheon that is happening in one resort, and that it's a gadget of small millionaires to connect together and there's a gate fee of a 100,000 naira. And the other one thinks, ah, that 100,000 naira now. Do you know how far it will go in my... Because he's thinking, let me just be swinging this axe. The other one is thinking, if I sharpen the axe, I can get into that room and have a connection that is more than a 100 thousandaire. There's a thinking that is already making the difference between these two people, a pattern of thought. And when one succeeds and the other doesn't, we just attribute it to luck. We just say, it's not connection. How did he find it? How did he get it?

Are you with me brothers and sisters? Again and again, I'm adding lent to my knowledge. Adding lent to my knowledge financially. I want to know about money. How does money operate? What does the rich know about money that the poor does not? That's what makes difference. It is the gap in understanding. It is the gap in understanding. Two passionate believers, what do they know?

What is the extent of their knowledge and their understanding? Two passionate believers. A lady sent me a lot of messages. And as I read through them, I saw a passionate lady. I saw someone passionate. Is that not so? Someone passionate, someone who's zealous for God. But with terrible gaps in understanding. Terrible gaps. See, look at something.

When people come to me and they start telling me visions and encounters and God told me, God told me, and everything in their life is always based on God told me, God told me. And even when they come and tell me things about normal things like their exams and their business and their finances and something they want to start, they tell me, God said I should start this business. God said should go and get this job. God said I should apply. God will do this. God told me I will. I know. I know that there's an extent to which they can never go. Madness is the end of that journey. Oh my God.

See, I know. You don't have to take it. You know Paul said, I speak as as a man. So I speak as a man, so you don't have to take it. You don't have to take it. When people come to me like that, the first thing I tell them is invest... See, drop all these things. Leave it alone. Invest in the word. Stay with the word.

There are gaps in your understanding. When you live your life like that, demons will appear to you. They will say nonsense to you and you have no seed in your spirit to tell the difference. You will run mad eventually. Someone came to me and the person was telling me, Apostle, you won't believe. When I went home, I just knew everything was wrong. I was sensing demonic aura everywhere I turned. There was darkness around me and I just... I was all feeling uncomfortable. I was hearing demons whispering.

I was hearing that one doing this. I was hearing this one doing that. And it begs a question. Don't you realize that leave your house alone. There's darkness in your own soul. There's no light there. There's no light there. Because if there is light there, it wouldn't matter that there is darkness in your house. If you have gained some kind of length in knowledge, you would go in the midst of darkness and sleep. I couldn't sleep.

I had to leave the house. It's proof that you don't know anything. You don't know nothing. And you would think you're the one that is spiritual. Because they're the one with the visions. They're the one God speaks to. They're the one with the dreams. And those people are always proud because you can't tell them that you did not see what they saw. God, I think I'm telling Gada, this thing is not God. He said, but I saw it.

Listen, if such a person starts a ministry, the end of that ministry is clear. It's clear because cords have not been lengthened. Cords have not been lengthened. You are carrying a big canvas that God has given to you with shortened cords. So you know you should be great, but the cords are short. And so the canvas will fold back to the length of the cords. Let me show you one more. Hi. Rise up on your feet. Let's continue later.

Are you blessed? In preparation for increase, brothers and sisters, lengthen your cords. I know that I've been quite vague in my explanations as not to become really specific. But the holy spirit will take what I've said and will show you what areas you need to lengthen your court. Declare that God should help you. And declare that God should open the eyes of your understanding. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

As you leave this place, lengthen your cords. As you leave this place, you prosper. In the name of Jesus. Amen. Do you know that in those days, because the arbitration structure was a tent, that means that it was open to disruptions from the wind. I mean, we had a tent here some... I think last year or so, and it became rainy. And the moment the rain started to fall, it became windy. And it was a huge tent. And instantly, the tent collapsed, the structure came down, and everything fell down.

Because the thing with large tents is that the wider the tents become, the more susceptible the influence of the wind on it. Hence, reason it says strengthen your stakes. Thank you for listening to this message. We trust you have been blessed. You can get more life transforming messages from apostle Emmanuel Boluwatife on our Telegram page at DCN media channel. You can also stream the messages on Spotify, Ocho Mac, and Apple Podcast. Connect with us via our social media platforms on Instagram at dcn underscore nations, on Facebook at disciples christian network, on X at dcn central and on TikTok at disciples christian network. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel at Disciples Television. If you have a testimony from this message, you can mail us at disciplecngmail dot com. God bless you.