Transcript: The Keys of the Kingdom
Prepared from the audio, so small errors are possible.
This message is from believers equipped, a meeting organized by the Disciples Christian Network where the word of God is taught with practicality and believers are raised to reign in life. Join apostle Emmanuel as he walks us through the word of God. Our mandate as a ministry is threefold. I would like you to pay attention, please. Our mandate as a ministry is threefold. Number one, to reveal Christ to the world. We believe in the mandate of Jesus of world evangelization, and we have a role to play in seeing lost souls come to the knowledge of Christ. For this reason, we deploy various strategies as inspired by the holy spirit to evangelize to the world. Outreaches, conferences, crusades, and any other thing that seeks to contribute to getting the gospel of Christ out there. We are open to such things because we believe in revealing Christ to the world through every channel that is possible, through every means, every platform that we are able to go to the ends of the earth to ensure that Christ is revealed to the world.
We also reveal Christ to the world by extending an harm of love and fellowship with the poor, the needy, letting people know that Jesus loves them by taking care of their needs, feeding the poor, helping the needy. We also receive... We also reveal Christ to the world by developing... By deploying, sorry, the resurrection power of God to solve the problems people may have and to answer the deepest questions in their heart. We believe in signs, we believe in wonders, we believe in miracles as channels through which Christ is revealed to the world. So in revealing Christ to the world, we will preach the gospel, we will extend arm and arm of love in taking care of the needs of the poor, the needy, widows, orphans amongst us, and as God blesses us really and thought by solving the needs of people by introducing the power of God through these three ways, we reveal that Christ is Lord. Is that okay? The second mandate of this ministry is the discipling of nations. Of course, by propagating the gospel of the kingdom, we believe salvation is only the beginning of the journey. We believe in the growth and the maturity of the saints in the things of God.
Believers entering into the fullness of the blessings that God has prepared for them, rising in greatness, rising in influence, rising in prosperity. I believe in these things strongly. Hence, we have a very strong teaching ministry, and we believe we have a message to the world. We ground people in the knowledge of the kingdom in doctrine, raising kingdom minded believers who are equipped with the knowledge of the principles and the value systems of the kingdom. This is to the end that they are they are they are they are prepared men that are raised for the extension and the advancement of God's kingdom on earth to serve God in any capacity. The third mandate of this ministry is to deploy men into kingdom service. In other words, after men have been prayed... After men have been saved, they are discipled, they are deployed. I call it the three d's of the disciples Christian network. Delivered, discipled, deployed.
So we deliver people from sins and oppression, revealing Christ to them, disciple them in training and teaching, and we deploy them for kingdom service. I believe that salvation is only the beginning, and so people must be discipled. Here ends the word discipled Christian network. Go into the world and disciple all nations, that is a great commission. And then deploying men into kingdom service. I believe the strength of any minister is not... Any ministry is not in its sitting capacity. It is an ascending capacity. Equipped men, prepared men are then deployed for kingdom service in various capacities for the advancement of the kingdom to bring to pass Jesus' proclamation when he said thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth. This threefold mandate captures the full scope of our assignment as a ministry, and everything that we do is to descend.
Salvation of souls, revealing Christ to the world, preaching gospels, conferences, crusades. So if I honor if I honor any invitation, if we send our guys to any place to minister, if we hold any conference, any crusade, it is to this end. Are you with me? It must be fulfilling either of these three mandate. And so when we go for outreaches, when we go for evangelisms, when we go for all of these things, it is to the end that we reveal Christ to the world. When we give relief materials to those that need it, it is to the end that we re... We reveal Christ to the world. When we introduce the power of God in miracles, healings, signs, wonders, it is to the end that we reveal Christ to the world. Are you with me? For it doesn't stop there.
He says, the prayer is that we bear fruit, but not only that we bear fruit, but that our fruit may abide. And that is why the discipling must happen. If we bear fruit and we don't plant the seeds that we have born, the the fruit we have born becomes useless. Are you with me? So when we reveal Christ to people and souls are saved, those souls that are saved must be discipled. And how discipling happens is through teaching, the teaching of God's word, the teaching of kingdom principles, teachings that make you understand your place in God's kingdom, teaching that first establishes doctrine, the tenets of salvation. Right? And they make you understand your place in Christ and then your responsibilities, what Christ has done for you, and then your responsibilities as a kingdom citizen. Also, teachings that brings you into the knowledge of the principles of the kingdom. You see, the kingdom that we are in is laddened by principles, governed by principles.
In Job chapter 38, when God appeared unto Job, and God started interviewing Job. Well, it wasn't really an interview. It was more of a confrontation because Job had felt as though he was intelligent, and he had a right to question God. And in Job chapter 38, God answered him. The Bible says God answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, who is this that duckens counsel by words without knowledge? Are you with me? By that ducking's counsel, by words without knowledge. Fast forward to where I'm going. God now said, where do you know the ordinances of heaven? Part of the question that God you was, do you know the ordinances of heaven?
Can you command the dominion thereof? That question makes us understand that to command and to walk in dominion in the realm of the spirit, there are certain ordinances a man must know. Do you understand what I'm saying? Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth? So if a man will set dominion on earth, that man must know the ordinances of heaven. It is on account of the ordinances of heaven that you know that you walk in dominion on earth. Are you with me? Hence, we have a responsibility as believers to make people know, to teach rather, as as equip us, really, to teach believers these ordinances. You see, the principles of the kingdom.
The principles of the kingdom. If you know the principles of the kingdom, you realize that it is possible for your life on earth to be as God has ordained it as God has planned it. It is possible for you to live the fullness of God's desire for you whilst you're on earth. It is possible for you to live the God kind of life even on earth, to live above sicknesses, to live above diseases, to live above poverty, to live above lack. You must understand what the principles of God's kingdom are. Are you with me? This is part of the discipleship lessons. There is a principle that leads to favor. There's a principle that leads to breakthrough. There's a principle that leads to even the healing of the saints, liftings, prosperity.
Are you with me? Wealth, affluence, influence, greatness. All of these things are regulated and controlled by principles, principles that men must know. And so when you come here, what we are doing is systematically and strategically opening you up to the principles of the kingdom that makes for effective living. So that if you live your life by those principles, an adventure you live your life by those principles, you will be amazed at what your life will become. The principles of the kingdom are like keys. This was what God handed over to Peter, what Jesus handed over to Peter. I have given you the keys of the kingdom. What are keys used for? Keys are used to open doors.
It means if you do not have the keys that open any door you are looking to open, are you with me? That door will remain closed no matter what else you know. Prayer is one key many believers know, but the bible does not say I will give you the key of the kingdom. It says keys. It means there are several of them. Imagine you have a bunch of keys in your hand that opens several doors in your house. There's a key that opens the living room, a key that opens the toilet, a key that opens the kitchen. Is that not so? Imagine with me that you want to cook. What key would you need?
You would need the key that opens the kitchen. Is that not so? So what if you have all the keys, but that is missing? No matter how sincere you are, no matter how many keys you have, if that key is missing, it means that whatever the kitchen has to provide is missing from your experience. Do you understand what I'm saying? It means that your your your effectiveness, your greatness in this kingdom is dependent on how many doors can open for you. Do you realize that prophecies open doors. It shows you that that's also a key. There are doors you stand in front of. The keys designed to open them is a prophetic word.
Are you with me? And so you are top the value of the prophetic. So Paul had to tell Timothy, despise not prophesying. Are you with me? By a prophet. The people of Israel, the children of Israel were delivered by a prophet. They were preserved. The elders of the Jews built and prospered by the prophesying. Believe in God, you'll be established. Believe in his prophet, you will prosper.
God wrote these mighty signs amongst the children of Israel, and the children of Israel believed in God and believed in Moses, his prophet. There are several scriptures that shows you the value of the prophetic word. There are several instances in scripture that makes you see where prophets comes to open doors, where doors are closed, where doors are shut. Are you with me? There's a key for intercessory prayer. Even that is a key. There are doors it opens. Have you forgotten when Peter was in the prison? Peter was not the first person in the prison. Peter was not the first person that was captured.
James was the first person that was captured. Remember James. He was the first person that was captured. That mighty apostle. That mighty apostle could even have deployed every key that God... Jesus handed over to them while he was teaching them, but he remained there in the prison until his head was chopped off. The moment Peter was captured, then the key to the deliverance was revealed, the intercession of the church, the intercession of the saints. And whilst the saints were praying, the bible says an angel came down, opened the doors, opened the gates. In other words, there are times when the intercession of the saints over you is what opens certain doors. There are times when we gather ourselves together.
You say, mommy, daddy, you know what? Let's come together for three days night vigil, and that in itself is enough to silence that problem. A believer must have an understanding of the keys that opens the doors. A believer must know when this is not intercession. Let's go and sow a seed. The prophet must speak a word. I understand we've prayed, but can we make a sacrifice? Can we give something that will cost us? We understand that God is opening a new season, and the the the prophetic has gone forth. You see, a key has gone forth.
But I'm not seeing the fullness of the key manifesting. Because you see, when a new season comes forth, a sacrifice manifested. Are you with me? So in as much as the prophetic has been used, a sacrifice must still be the key that unlocks that door. I I understand these things. Are you with me? I understand these things. Remember when Paul was in the prison, Paul did not wait for the church to intercede. Another key was revealed that it's possible to be in the dungeon, and whilst you are there, you are dancing, and you are singing, and you are worshiping my God. A key being revealed that men can be in the darkest place, the deepest place, the lowest place they can ever be.
Do you know how those dungeons were? They were deep in the ground. Do you know what that means? It means that there's a key revealed for when you are at your lowest point in life. Yeah. They sang. It means at the lowest point in life, what we do is sing. We break up. We break off into singing. We break off into dancing.
We break off into re... Rejoicing. And the moment we do this, the Bible says, the chains fell down. The doors flung open. The same thing that happened with Peter, but different keys opening the doors. Are you with me? I will give you the keys of the kingdom. The keys of the kingdom. A believer must know. They are like weapons in your arsenal.
You are standing in front of a boss, and the boss look at you and says, I said you sleep with me. I am not sleeping with me. Don't worry. Let's see if you will last one month in this office. Do you know the key that can silence him? Would you go home and start crying and start weeping and start saying, my God, my own is finished? Or do you know the key that you you you you... As he's speaking, you are smiling, you say, me? Let us see. Do you know that if that door were locked, everybody that came for this meeting will stand outside?
And the the bangings, the screamings, you might be disappointed. You might be in pain. You might be crying. You might be wondering why is the door not opened. And everybody might be frustrated. Before another person gets there, say, there's a queue there. If someone else is coming, you will ask everybody, why is that door locked? Why are you people not inside to say the door is locked? You know, you might not even get to the door. It will just join the frustration and say, ah, why?
You might not even check it to see whether it's locked or not. But the fact that there are people there who are disappointed, it just joins the queue and also be disappointed. Some might give up. Some might go back. Some might go back to their houses. Some might wait there and say, okay. Let's just wait. Let's see what happens. Now imagine that the owner of the key or the person who owns the key is coming. After he's coming, somebody tells him, ah, don't bother yourself or the door is locked.
Will this sustain the same disappointment everybody sustains? Why? If million people complain, there's a reason to smile. When people say there's a casting down, we want to say that they're lifting up by positive conversion. It's because we have the key. You're not guessing what I'm saying. Oh, Nigeria is is a failure. Nigeria is bad. Nigeria is so. They did...
They... You can't prosper in this nation. Even a newborn baby is born into the confusion, into the corruption, into the suffering, into the lack. And as he grows, this is what he keeps on hearing, and his mind is conditioned to think that nobody can prosper in this nation. But one who has the key, as people are saying these things, expressing faces of disappointment, he comes smiling. He says, can you just excuse me? Guy, how far... We've been here. What does he think he knows? You think you are better than everybody in this place?
Some of us have been here for ten years, some five years, some three years, and you just think you just come like that. Have you forgotten that your father tried to do it? And he got to this junction and the door did not open as well? And you are coming, you're just smiling, you're not even humble. You're just smiling. No. No. No. No. No.
There's no need to be... What kind of humility will I be you... Will I be humble when I have the key that opens the door? Do I stand in front of the door with the key and start praying and saying, God, let this door open. In the name of Jesus, I decree, I declare, door open. Do you know that there might be interpersonals that might gather outside because the door is closed and say, God, open this door. God, open this door. And they would be for ten years and the door would remain shut. So God tells... Jesus tells Peter, I will give you the keys of the kingdom.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom. Remember, because the same Peter that God... That Jesus told, lovest thou me above these things? Yes, I do. Lovest thou me above these things? Yes, I do. Lovest thou me above only thou knowest. If you love me above these things, feed my sheep. In other words, communicate the things I've handed over to you, to my sheep. My sheep must also understand the keys of the kingdom.
They must also know the keys of the kingdom. So that by the time they stand in front of any door, there is a key to open. Do you know the mystery of exemption? It's a key. Now when darkness plagues a city, believers can be exempted. When the disease plagues a city, when people are told, oh, there's a... They they are doing mass layovers and mass layoffs, and they're sacking people because of economic meltdown. Must you be the one they sack? Won't there be those they retain? Do you know the mystery of exemption?
They come and they say, oh, there's mass failure. Everybody failed, and then you join them crying. You've not even seen your result. It means that you don't know the mystery of exemption. It means you are amongst those who are outside who who don't have the key. There are some of us who would hear fortunate who just laugh. Everybody can feel, but we have been called out. We have been called out. They say, oh, there's a season where your finances just goes down. You see, the business does not prosper in this season, so you must be very careful, Lord.
He said, no. Act of apostle says he gives us fruitful seasons. Fruitful seasons. Not some fruitful someone fruit... Fruitful seasons. Are you with me? We have the keys that makes it... That that that makes things work. You understand the law of confession? These are keys.
That what my mouth says matters. There's power in my words. There's power in the things I say. So when I say that my ministry is blessed, there's a mighty supply. Money comes to me. I... These things carry power. I'm releasing life. I'm releasing spirit. We understand that the words we we speak are not jokes in the realm of the spirit.
We understand the bible says say not to an angel. I was not serious. I was joking. I was only joking. No. Our words carry power. Our words have implication. Are you with me? I can lay my hands on my business and say even whilst I'm selling, I make all sales. I...
As people buy, they come again. It's a key that I'm working. But I understand also that if I will have access to the palace, if I will serve kings, I must be excellent in all that I do, a key, the law of excellence. So I won't only speak over my products, a key. I will also be excellent, another key, The keys of the kingdom. Whilst I'm excellent, I'm sowing a seed on behalf of my business to say, pastor, prophesy. Hey. Look at that kind of believer who understands His life will be a mystery. You will look at him. You will not understand why he's just going up.
Why doesn't why doesn't he seem to come down? Why is that nothing he ever does crashes? Whenever that person is is is complaining, his own testimony is different. There are things he knows. His life is saddled by many mysteries as I was in the days of my youth when the secrets of the Lord was upon my tabernacles. This was what Job said. Job was the greatest man in his time. The Bible says that he he was... As he was in the days of his youth, Job 29, when the secret of the Lord was upon his tabernacles. It means the greatness of Job was lacking on secrets.
There were things he knew that only he knew. There were things he knew only he knew. I call them keys of the kingdom, the principles of the kingdom. The principles of the kingdom. What did men like David know? David had superior military strength. Have you read the exploits of the men that he raised? Those guys were terrible. Eliazar, the son of Dotho. Those guys did mighty exploits.
There was one that fought and fought until the sword clipped to his hand. There was another that fought, and then all the Israelites army left him to face the Philistine soldiers, and he stood his ground and wandered back to only him against a host of a host of army. Are you with me, brothers and sisters? These were the kinds of men that David raised, and there were 400 of them. If one man fought over 800 people and killed all of them, you only need a thousand people to fight a battle. Do you understand what I'm saying? So why will David come back from a battle and be told that these people came while you were gone and robbed robbed us, stole from us, raped our women, and they escaped all our goods and properties? With your ministry strength, with your track record, you'll get on your horses. And you say, who you didn't think they are? Let's pursue.
He says, no. We might have the strength, but what is God saying? Another key, The mystery of divine instruction, the mystery of divine direction that I can does not mean I should. What is God saying? God, should we pursue, and God says wait. When you hear the sound in the mulberry trees, you have the power to pursue, but my power is under control. If God says don't go, it doesn't matter how many power I have. I remain in my house. A principle ace. The keys of the kingdom, and guess what?
They are finite. It means a man can know them and know them all. What is infinite is your knowledge of God and your posture of God. With respect to the principles of the kingdom that make for effective living, a man can study and understand them and live his life by them and practice them. That man will live immune to the devil. He will live as though the devil does not exist. The devil will have no no no legal foothold in his life. Men like, mister Boedepo will say, forty year, I've not had malaria. You know, in in Nigeria, malaria is common. It's it's not even common.
It's normal. Normal. It's normal. Imagine that's the most common flu that many people are predisposed to. I don't have it. I was hearing bishop Ouedego speak. The bishop said, when they were still constructing the faith tabernacle, he went there in his car, and because the roads were very dusty, when he got back, he had cutter, and he was... His nose were... His nose was watery, coughing, and all of that. And it...
Well, is that not logical? The road is dusty. Is is that not logical? He had a preaching, a message to go for, and he still had cattle, and he was coughing. And he said to himself, how will I be coughing? And I have a message. His his his his his analytical man told him it's because the road is dusty. He said, no. Get out you devil. Out you devil.
The man said he rebuked the devil. The cattle left immediately. What does a man know? What does a man know? You understand what I'm saying? Yes, sir. So what we do when we come is to expose you to these keys. So that if any man will live by them, by the time you get to the junction point where that key is needed, you will look at your arsenal and remember believers equip our postul taught us the evidence of things not seen. Money comes to me, money comes to me, I'm prosperous. All that.
You still were asleep. Whilst your soul is about to go down, because you see that's a door right there. If your soul goes down because somebody spoke a word onto you, the devil will introduce a spirit. That negative emotion becomes an entry point for a demon. And it... You've not read the bible where it says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. It's because you know this, you realize that what the devil is only doing is trying to get access into your heart by the words of this innocent man. This man does not know that he has submitted himself as a volunteer for demons. I don't need to be angry with the man. He's just an innocent volunteer.
There's a spirit behind the scene that is influencing what he's saying. So if man look as though what he's saying is trying to annoy me, I must understand that this is only a volunteer. He is only a puppet. The real thing is behind. And because I know this, I will not respond in the flesh. I know there is a key as well, the evidence of things not seen. So I will look at him and say, oh, don't worry. You are speaking like this because you are limited in view. You only judge life by the things that you see, but I live from a superior realm. There are things I've received in Christ.
They are manifesting, so you have not seen them. But I've seen them and we've held them. The evidence of things not seen. We live our lives by faith. We walk by faith, the bible says, and not by sight. This is a key. I go and sleep and then I have a dream. And in that dream, I see three masked men with big heads. And their bodies are like cows. And their ears are like serpent, and they are holding matchets, and they are three hands.
One holding matchets, the other holding potlucks, another holding a spear, and they are pursuing you. Did I get it? Is that not the weird dreams people have? At the time, someone was talking to me, and I just sat down. I said, but why don't these people come to me? Why don't they... At least, let me be able to conceptualize and relate with what these people are saying. At least when I have my own experience, say, okay. I understand what you are saying. But they don't just come.
Hey. And they are hearing me. So in case they wanna do revenge tonight, I'm ready for them. Glory to God. So even when you have such an experience and you come alive, your response can either be that of fear and you're looking for a man of God to call. You see, you are at the entrance of a door and you don't know the key. That's what it means. The key... You don't know the key. Some of us who know the key will stand up depending on how upgraded your keys, your response will differ.
But if your key is just entry level, you see, if you are still interning, you are still interning, then you will stand up and start praying. I come against. I rebuke. It is a key. You are making power available. You are engaging in warfare, and you are staying the hand of demons. It's a good one. When you become a senior, a senior, and you wake up from that thing, you you just smile, and then you sleep again. It's it's it's... At that...
You are a sit... You're... Oh. You are not entry level. You are a senior. You are a senior. So you have a dream in the night, and then you saw them. You saw them. What what are those food? They say you should not.
You you you saw them feeding you with pounded yam. You... And there was a goosey cowpale chicken. And you saw that the person that was feeding you did not have a head. And you wake up. Entry level, you see every evil poisoning in my system. Out by fire In the name of Jesus. Power is made available. You are you are doing well. You understand my partner?
Yes. You understand the key. You you know what you are doing. You are better than the believer who does not know the key. Yes. You know that this is warfare. You know you stand up. You engage warfare. You challenge principalities and powers. What what makes you have access to my dream space and come?
You you do warfare. Senior level. You wake up from that dream and you realize there was no water there. I know. I'm in a. You you go out... You go to the kitchen, look for water, and drink. You'll find a... You you lay the bed well, you'll sleep again. Both of us know the keys.
You see. You see, a believer will only walk in dominion on earth to the degree to which he has keys. This is why we say we reign on earth on the strength of light. We reign on earth. You must know what to do at every point. If you are fired at your place of work, it's not a surprise. Do you know what to do? You know, told you it's only an event. It is not a problem, really. It is only an event.
Do you know what to do? I saw a result I didn't really like. There's no problem. Do you know what to do? Are you with me brothers and sisters? Or do you collapse into nothingness because you reached a junction and you didn't know what to do? Your understanding of your righteousness in Christ is one of the most powerful keys you can ever hold. What did I say? Yes. The fact that your sins have been forgiven and there's no more condemnation against those or for those who are in Christ Jesus who work not according to the flesh but according to the spirit.
Understanding righteousness is one of the most powerful keys you might... You may ever need. I was speaking to one of my guys, and she was telling me about when she was reading for our papers in school, and the papers she was reading for had the description of the reproductive system in details because that was what the exam was for. And she had had a past that was quite rough that God had to heal her from. Are you with me? And she found that when she opened the textbook and started reading, thoughts of the events of the past flooded her imagination because of how detailed the anatomy was. So for every time she read a line, she remembers... You see, her mind, her eyes her eyes has already seen an extremely graphical image of what the textbook is trying to typify or illustrate. Are you with me? And so because this is the case, their mind cannot help but bring into reality what the textbook is trying to describe.
And she found that this thing just keeps on coming and it just keeps on dominating the mind. And she felt so bad and felt so bad and felt so bad and said, why? How can this thing be coming to somebody like me, a Christian? How can I be having thoughts like this? And she closed the book and said, you know what? I'm not gonna read this book. I'm gonna be holy. I'm just gonna be holy. I can't afford to. I'd rather not do this than do this.
You see what is missing is righteousness. The key that is missing. It doesn't matter how much prayer you can pray. If righteousness, the revelation of righteousness is not there, the devil will mock you. The devil will show you snapshots from your past and he will tell you, are you sure you are worthy? Are you sure you are worthy? He will show you snapshots. And those snapshots will come when you are trying to do great things or when you are in the verge of doing great things, when you're on the verge of accomplishing great things. What he would do is just bring snapshots, just feed it to you. So she wants to minister, right, for example, and the thoughts just come.
The presence of God is here. It just... It just comes. Says, presence. And I I I might... She feels like a hypocrite on the altar. She feels like a, how can somebody like me be? And she's feeling uncomfortable. She just... And she can't tell whoever you sent her to come and leave that, sorry, oh, I can't leave though.
But she just does what she does, what she wants to do, and just steps down the pulpit. What you don't know is that that event was to be an avenue for the power and the presence of God to flow through our ministry, to heal his soul, to touch a life. And the devil wanted to serve as an impediment to that flow. So what it does is that it looks for snapshots and it presents it to that person as ideas. He doesn't really know how you respond. He doesn't really know the extent of light you have. How do you know he doesn't really know? The devil is not all know you know. So that's why it's called temptation. That's the idea behind temptation.
It means I don't know if it will get you or if it would... Or if it won't. That's why it's temptation. So I just flash the offer before you and see if it will. Do you understand my point? That's why I told Jesus, if you are the son of God, command these stones. He was expecting, hoping that Jesus would. Then light came, and light spoke. Are you with me? And so when you stand there and those thoughts are coming, what the devil is trying to do is to see.
Does he have the key? And the moment he realizes that condemnation are certain and feelings of guilt and unworthiness are certain, he never knows he does not have the key. What he does immediately is increase the flame. Let... See any picture you... Even if it's the one of our grandfather, just harvest everything. Wastard, dear. You know what now happens? And the devil now starts... Any...
Demons, check the archives. Can you find anything? Then they come and say, sir, actually, he sat down for a project work or a contract or a job offer last week, and she didn't get it. She said, she didn't get it. Oh, yeah. You go and tell her that. That past we showed her is the reason she didn't get it. So she came. It is because you did this so. So maybe God is not punishing you, but this is not the result of your this.
She said, ah, it pains her again. Yes. Find find more. Find more. Can we can we harvest more? And the more she's weary, the more they are looking for more more more archives. What is missing is the understanding of righteousness. Your sins and your iniquities, I, God, will remember no more. It is I will remember for some time. When you're now offended, I will remind you.
You know that's what we do as human beings so that people will remain humble. We say, don't forget where you are coming from. Or, you know, you know, was the one that used to feed you, and we think that's what God does. So, like, in the days you are feeling comfortable, God will say, remember. Remember. Remember how you were. That's not what God does. God does not remind you of past. God only reminds you of future. It's why the bible says the path of the righteous is as a shining light.
It's not the shining light and at the shining moon. It can only be as one. It shines ever bright down to the perfect day. You know what Isaiah says, remember ye not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Then Paul now came to say, this one thing I do, forgetting the things of the past, because even the socks of the past can hold a man down. The failures of the past can cripple a man. Do you know that the success of the past can hold a man down? There are two ways to it. The two ways... The the first way is the thrill of the success.
You can want to stay in the euphoria that the success brings, and you don't want to quickly escape it. And so you want to just stay there and enjoy the applause, enjoy the excitement, and you are there for five years. And so you keep on remembering everybody when we held our first crusade because it was successful. You put a... You print a large picture. You frame it. And in your sermons, when we held our first crusade, you see, that our first crusade. You you just want... You wanna stay. You didn't...
You don't want to let go of the memory so soon. And so it prevents you from doing any other thing big. That's one way that success can weigh the man down. You know the other way? The other way is the pain and the trauma that it took to succeed. How many of you watch kickboxing or boxing or any fight that is real? Not the one that they act. Glory to God. So if it's if it's Okagun that you are... Is is...
You are a baby, the real one. Imagine two fighters in the cage and they just fight. And it's... It has become a bloody experience. Round one, the first guy won. Round two, the second guy won. Round three, the first the first guy won again. Round four, the second guy won again. And there's blood on their face. They have one thing they used to put in their teeth.
They have knocked it out of his teeth. Blood is dripping everywhere. And they say, will you tap out? There's no tapping out. It's coming like this. The other one is coming. And they say, round seven. And with his last strength, he just must as a hit and he just give him. And the other guy becomes knocked out and declare and they declare him the winner. And you...
He wins. But he win. He won three. There was... It was a painful experience that the knowledge of that pain can make him avoid any such battle again. I'm not getting what I'm saying. You just sit down and say, this person is challenging. He said, I'm not challenging anybody. You you you got your first contract, but you remember what it took to get there, and you say, ah. You delivered your first good abroad.
And because it was the first experience, you were still an immature. You had to go through many processes that you did not go... That you did not know. And you called a price for the client. You said it was 500,000 naira and the client paid at once. And you don't anticipated that the money will be enough. And then as you started doing the project, you realized that a lot of things were involved more than you knew. And the money was now going into 800,000 naira. You can't tell the client that it has increased because you want to maintain your credibility and integrity. Now you've spent 1,200,000, and the money is coming from your pocket and the client is telling you where is that thing?
And you deliver it, and the client is happy, and they say you did a good job, but you want to avoid that pain any longer. And so you know what? You know what? Anything that comes from this place, I'm not doing it again. Success can beg a man. It's the second way success begs men. If you had to if you had to work a laborious work, you'll get it. You will get it and feel as though, see, this... Let this just be the peak. Let's not struggle anymore.
Can we just camp here? If a man does not have a knowledge of righteousness, hey, the devil will mess you up. Devil will mess you up. The righteousness is not one that you labored for. The bible called it imputed righteousness. Do you know what do you know what it means to impute something? It was infused in you. It was imputed in you by God himself. By raising of Jesus' satisfaction of the divine claims of justice, You were declared not innocent, righteous. It means there is no crime against you anymore.
There is no legal basis for the devil to bring an accusation. Because when they check your matter in the court of law, the spiritual court of law, they realize that your past has been erased almost as though it never existed. It has been filed off, and so there's no clear... There's no basis. You don't understand what I'm saying? It has been blotted clean. The blood is now what is speaking for you and no longer your effort. You are... You you you you you have pleased God eternally. God is pleased with you not by what you do, but by the sacrifices of Christ.
Hey. This is an understanding of what righteousness is. And so I'm the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. God cannot be angry with me. God is at peace with me. I'm high with God. What a strong key. What a strong key. That key will make you know that there is nothing that is too big for you. To be righteous, one of the definitions means to be...
To have right standing with God. It means that the relationship you have with God has been mended. That severe relationship has been mended. You are now... You now have right standing with God. God is now pleased with you. God is no longer hungry with you. To be right, it also means to have the very nature of God. You see that? It means what God can do by by raising of his nature being in you, you can do.
It means if God owns the world, the world is mine. There's nothing, no amount of money that is too big for my account to receive. Nighteousness makes you talk big. I don't feel as though you are proud because you know Christ died for it. You're not getting what I'm saying. Welcome to the largest gathering of young people in Nigeria. Somebody says, ah ah, look at that proud man. Oh, no. He's a righteous man. Yes.
I'm gonna be the biggest speaker Nigeria has ever known. And somebody says, calm down now. Do you even know what... Hey. Why was that talking like this? And people will say, nobody knows tomorrow. Some of us grace tomorrow. Some of us are speaking tomorrow. We are speaking it. Yes, Psalm says Psalm says give us the wisdom to appoint our days.
Some of us are appointing our days. We are we are telling our days what the day should bring for us. Hey. So if you say nobody knows tomorrow in that you don't know how the success will come exactly, I know problem. But that it will come, that I know. Some I I will live and not die. Long life is my portion. They say, calm down. You see, it's not you... It's not humility to speak like that.
Are you hearing what I'm saying? Righteousness makes us speak boldly because we know we know what we are worth in the mind of God. We know that we have the very nature of God as we can speak as gods. The bible says the the prayer of the righteous make a tremendous power available. It's not prayer that makes power available. It's the person praying. The prayer of the righteous. Sir. It means if a man who is not righteous prays, there's a there's a there's a limitation even in what he's doing. What makes power available is the prayer of the righteous.
So do you know you are righteous? Before you begin the engagement of prayer, do you know you are righteous? I know. So I know when I speak, my father listens to what I say. So I can stand before the people and say, eyes open and deaf ears hear, and let the sick be healed and the oppressed delivered. And I expect that by reason of my righteousness, I can speak as the father speaks. Do you know that it's not every time that our works qualifies us? If we consider our works, we'll be disqualified many times. Oh, are many preachings and sermons we'll not have the time to pray for, and we... If it were on the strength of prayer, God will not move.
I remember I had a meeting while I was when I was a student. And it was during the period of exams. And I couldn't prepare for the meeting because I was reading for exams. And I thought that after I finished reading and preparing for the exam, around 4AM, I will start preparing for the meeting and praying and waiting to hear God will have me preach. But I said, thank you, Jesus. I finished praying. I closed my eyes. I woke up by 8AM. It was time for the exam. I just dressed up, went for the exam, and we finished by 4PM.
Several... I think there were two exams or so. In the middle of the exam, we had to revise for the second one. The meeting I'm going in was to start by 04:30. I picked the bike at UI Gate. It was on the bike. I said, God, mercy. Mercy. Mercy. Mercy.
Mercy. In that meeting, Thomas disappeared. In that meeting, the power of God wrecked the place like I've never seen. I I was speaking, and the power of God was speaking people out. Asthma was dying. Asthma was decimated. Somebody came to meet me and said, sir, how did you prepare? Now how do you tell that man that I prepared on a bike? Because you know why he's asking. He's expecting me to give you formulas.
But when I tell him that, you see, I I did I did two hours in prayers. See, I've been fasting for seven days, and you see, God God has just been doing a work in me, and I've been having these burdens. By by three 03:05, I wake up. And when I wake up like that, I just know the holy spirit is just putting something in me to just start praying. And then she said, there's nothing wrong in that. Except for the fact that if you think that that is the reason for which results are good, you will have no power on it. You know why? Because you will never feel good enough. You will never feel as though you have qualified. You will never feel as though you have prayed enough.
You will never feel as though you have fasted enough. You will never feel as though... You will always feel there is something you have not done. You always feel as though... So when you are given the mic to to... You will say, ah, I've not invested ten hours. I've not invested these hours. I've... You always feel as though you are not good enough when you attribute results to works. Am I speaking against the place of works?
Oh, no. Get my teaching, a covenant by sacrifice. You will know that there are works. You will know that there are things that men do. But if that we attribute these things on things that we do, we have failed before we began. The reason why I will prosper is not because I'm hardworking. I will prosper first because I'm righteous. Do you understand what I'm saying? The reason why ministry will prosper is not because I'm hardworking. It's because it is fast because I'm righteous.
Do you know... I... Many people don't know the ways of the spirit. So you don't know that if you labor from today till tomorrow for something grace has not been made available for, you will not have it. Labor only makes sense when grace makes it available. In fact, that's the first point of labor. You start laboring for something in God when you know that it has been made available for you. Let me give an example. In ministry, if certain dimensions of the spirit have not been made available, your labor will not press you into them. It's one thing to declare over you that you'll be great.
It's another thing to show you how it happens. The keys and the knowledge of the principles is how it happens. Giving yourself to them. Are you with me? Yes. We believe you were blessed by this message to connect with the Disciples Christian Network and get more from Apostle Emmanuel. Follow us on our social media platforms. You can follow us on Instagram at OfficialDiscipleCN. You can follow us on Facebook at Disciples Christian Network. You can also join our Telegram page at DCN Media for more messages by Apostle Emmanuel.
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