Transcript: The Local Church: Understanding God's Design for His People

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The experience is a meeting organized by the Disciples Christian Network. Be a man encounter God, his presence and his power in an atmosphere of worship and the word. Join apostle Emmanuel as he leads us into an experience with God. Something that came pretty much as a burden to me And it's gonna be teaching. My intention today is not really to excite us, it's to teach. So it's gonna be a teaching. Gonna look through scriptures to bring understanding to a particular subject that I believe is greatly underemphasized in the body of Christ. When you hear the word church, what comes to your mind when you hear the word church? Because for many people, church means different things. For some church is a building.

So you can see you are in church because you are in the building. For others, it's a denomination. For some, it's a weekly gathering and so they say they go to church because they attend the weekly gathering. For some, it's a religious organization owned by a man, lorded over by a man. And for many people, church is simply that play that you go to every Sunday morning. And the truth is a lot of believers have never really sat down to ask themselves what exactly is the church from God's perspective? What really is the church? Why does it matter so much? Why is it so central in scripture? Why is it something Jesus speaks about with so much weight?

And that is part of the problem. We gather every week, but many of us have never truly understand our gathering. We come together consistently, but we have not fully understood the idea behind our coming together. We know how to attend church, but we'd not know what church is. We know the culture of it, but not the meaning of it. We know the routine of it, but not the revelation behind it. And for many people, church has become a ritual. It is just something they grew up doing. You were born into a Christian home. Your parents took you to church.

And after a while, just became part of your life. Sunday means church. Midweek means church. Convention means church. Prayer meeting means church. And because you were born into it, you never really stopped to ask why am I here? What am I doing here? What's this thing I've been doing all my life? I mean, I spent quite some time every week in this place. What did it exactly?

Why am I going here? What does God actually mean by the church? And for so many people, church became culture before it became conviction, and it is still not conviction for so many people. For so many people, they are coming to church is only a matter of culture. It is only habitual. It's a ritual that they practice. Are you with me? It became a habit that has not become a revelation yet. And there are others who did not grow up in church. They got saved later in life, gave their hearts to Jesus, and the next thing that they were told was that you have to go to church.

And that is correct. But many times, nobody really sits them down to explain what the church is. Why do they have to go to church? Glory to God. Amen. Why must the believer be a part of it? What is God's purpose for the church? Why is it more than just attending a meeting? So they start coming to church. Yes.

They join the flow. They meet the people. They learn the songs we sing. They understand the language we speak. They start speaking the language themselves. They blend into the environment of it. But many times, they are standing among people who themselves do not fully understand why they are there. And when understanding understanding is absent, value will be absent as well. That's why many people don't really value the church. Sometimes they come, sometimes they do not.

Because they don't understand what the value is. Sometimes they are serious. Sometimes they are not. Sometimes they treat it as sacred. Other times they treat it as optional. Because if you gather many believers and ask them honestly, why are you here? If they are sincere, their answers will reveal a lot to you. Somebody will say, I came to make friends. Somebody else will say, I heard it. People here how to succeed, how to make money.

I've heard the testimonies, and I know I want to learn. How do you make this money? Where can I find the person that will show me the way? Show me the way. Look at the testimonies of young people getting jobs. These are students doing business, delivering business, giving in $67.08 figures. How are you getting these things done? Thank you, Lord Jesus. You would do a new thing before it is formed. You will tell me.

You have done a new thing. Before it is formed, you will tell. A sorrow might as say is your name. For this reason, not a jolt of So many of us are not asked questions that matters. So we have this all kinds of disgruntled beliefs. I came here to learn how to succeed, how to prosper, how to make money. I came here because of the atmosphere, somebody would say. I just like the atmosphere. Somebody will say, come because my friends come. I come because my family comes.

Another person will say, I need help. I need academic help. That's why I came. I heard that they are doing tutorial or mentorship or whatever. Somebody else would say, I come because my friends come. All my friends are here. And I could not stay at home alone, so I started to follow them. That's amazing. It's amazing. All these reasons are amazing.

And all kinds of answers will come out. But the tragedy is that many of those answers never touch the real reason why the church exists. As amazing are the answers themselves. So a lot of people will gather for this reason, and they would never really value the importance of the church because they have not only understood the purpose behind the church. Miles Monroe said, when the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable. Abuse is a function of ignorance of purpose. And every time we do not understand the purpose of a thing, we will inevitably abuse it. And many people abuse the church, not even themselves knowing that they do. Somebody can decide this morning, for instance, that I don't just feel like coming to church. I mean, why?

I'm just feeling weak and tired in my body. Somebody has to go help them and say, oh, come. Come now. And even the person that didn't come doesn't give them any reason for which to come. Because, in the come, you'll be blessed. You will not miss your word and all of these things. And we are... We're we're not wrong. It's true. Or is that all there is to it?

Is that all there is to it? Okay. So if I come and I don't miss my word and I get word, what's to stop me from coming next week again? When I feel weak, when I feel I should not, when I want to wash clothes. I... You know, I've heard so many things. Somebody says, you know, I have clothes to wash, and so I I don't think I will be able to go to church today. And you wonder, what is the church to you? What is it? The reason why many people go to class is because they understand the value of class.

The reason why they go to the office is because they understand the value of the office. They know that if I don't go, my salary will be deducted. They understand the consequence attached to not going. And so they have a full awareness of the value that they get from attending every day, from stepping there every day. They go to their place of business because they have to sell. If I don't make money, I wouldn't have money to spend, to buy, to live, to make ends meet. Is that not so? And so I have to appear. I have to go. And even if the guy is tired, he knows he has to go to work.

Even if the guy is weak, he knows he has to appear. But when it comes to the matter of church, we place our emotions before attendance because I've never really understood what exactly is the value of this thing. That I give my time to eat. Every Sunday, I come. Tuesdays, I come. Why? What am I doing what I'm doing for? For? Because I'm a Christian? Because I was born a Christian?

You know, these are questions that we've not really asked and so because we've not found answers to. What happened for many people is that we were just born into a flow, and we stepped into that flow and continued in that flow without ever questioning the flow. I think one of the ways God helps me, Hailey, was that I ask questions a lot. I ask a lot of questions. It prompted me to read in my bible by myself. Many years ago, I read the bible from Genesis to Revelation, and it was questions that drove me into it. This was in 2015. Think that in three months and stayed on the New Testament alone, I would have read it in that year, Matthew to Revelation, maybe more than 50 times without exaggeration. I just kept on opening. I will start.

I will finish, then continue again, start and finish. At some point, I had no idea what I was looking for. But I was still doing it. Then I started finding answers to questions I never knew I was even asking. I would just come across some portion of scripture and say, ah ah, this is different from what I was told. This is here. This is here. I mean, is it already this part that it is here? I will start studying deeper into it. I will find out, my goodness, I was misled.

Not wickedly, not because those that trade me were wicked, but because that was the extent of their own knowledge. That was as fast their understanding went. And when I began this journey into scriptures, a lot of questions finally found answers. Finally found answers. I'll get there very soon. There are many people that would come here for instance and just look around and see women not wearing head tie, for instance, and their heart begins to judge them and saying things like, you now. You now. And you're also praying. No. And you're also praying.

No. And they will now see the lady praying in tongues and and God is answering this one's prayer like this. And they no idea why they are thinking like that. If you sit them in a conversation, they cannot show you scripture to defend our understanding because we don't ask questions. That's the same thing, the same culture we have taken into the value we have for the church. Are you with me, brothers and sisters? If we are going to understand the church correctly, we must start from Christ, not from ourselves. If you start from yourself, you will never understand the value of the church. You will never understand the purpose of the church. Because the church is not forced about you, neither is it forced about what you are looking for.

Oh, I want to prosper. I want to succeed. All of that is wonderful. All of that is in Christ. It's like saying that the bible has prosperity in it, but the bible is not a book of prosperity. Do you understand what I've just said? The bible has holiness in it, but the bible is not a book of holiness. The bible has success success in it, but the Bible is not a book of success. Do you understand what I'm saying? Yes, sir.

But you would find these things in the Bible. It means if you camp around only one thing because you think that that is all there is to the Bible, your understanding is already flawed. You will be stunted in your growth. You will walk on only one leg. That means you will stunt. Are you with me? You will limp. You won't walk accurately. All these things are in Christ. Well, that is not the reason why the church exists.

It's not forced about you. It is forced about Christ. Are you with me? The church is forced about what Christ is building. The church is not forced about your preferences, your conveniences, or your personal taste. The church is not about the taste you have in music. You know, somebody once told me that I went to that church, and I didn't like it because they didn't have talking drum. And when I came to DCM, I saw they had talking drum, and I said, this is my church. Glory to God that we had talking drum when you came. But if the reason why you stayed for the drum, you are so misaligned.

You are so misaligned, fucking drum. It shows you how shallow our understanding is, how immature we are. That's the reason why believers cannot stay committed to a church. In fact, the idea of commitment right now is so far fetched. I can stay here for three weeks, just test the ground and test the waters and say, oh, yeah. I'm fine. You know. You know. And then let me go and try that one over there. And I go there, and I say, ah.

I think I prefer that first one because the way they dress is giving. Before I go back there, they said there's another one over there. Let me go and check it as well. And then go and check that. Ah, I think this is the place because if you see how many people have cars there, your mind will all shake. That is the kind of place you will be because you will meet several rich people there. Now the reason why he's going to church is to meet rich people there. It's as an instance of connection. He has turned the church into a connection ground. He can't wait for the service to finish with that he can associate himself with people.

He's looking at who owns that GLE over there. And when he find... He just waits at the one corner. Oh, that's him. Hello, sir. How are you doing? My name is Abraham. I'm into graphic design. That's why he came to church. How about those who came for marriage?

Those who came to find the right guy and the right girl. So, you know, you find good girls in church. You'll be surprised. You'll be surprised. We announce when we have meetings. Keep your phones and your properties very well. Why we announce it? You can find the ones who are definitive to in Georgia because they are also there. And you find several reasons, several corrupted mentalities, corrupted motives because we've not understood the church from the perspective of Christ. Are you with me?

Yes, sir. The church is about the mind of God. It's about the purpose of Christ. It is about something that heaven takes seriously even if men has reduced the value of it. Jesus said in Matthew 16 and verse 18, I will build my church, and the gates of Edis will not prevail against it. He said my church, my church, I will build my church, not your church, not man's church, not a cultural institution. My church. That means the church belongs to him. It came from his art. It came from his ownership.

It carries his burden. It carries his purpose. So before the church becomes your routine, it was already the vision of Christ. I will build my church. Before it became a weekly gathering, it was already in the heart of Jesus. I wanna build my church. Before men started building structures and putting signboards outside, Christ had already spoken and said, I will build my church. It is important therefore to know if he said I will build my church, what did he mean by his church? Because he didn't call it your church. It is a man's church.

I will build my church. What did he have in mind when he said it? Are you with me? Yes, sir. Because whatever he means, it means that the church is central to the plan of Christ in the earth. And this is why many believers need their minds corrected. Because you cannot claim to love Christ deeply and treat lightly what Christ himself is building. I will build my church is what Jesus said. So how can you tell me you love Jesus and you'll trip a content what he's building? You cannot say you love Jesus and then have no reverence for his church.

You cannot be serious about the head and be casual about the body. You cannot honor the savior and then dishonor what he gave himself for. So the first thing that must happen in our hearts is that our vision must be corrected. We must stop seeing the church merely from the angle of habit, from the angle of routine or convenience. We must begin to see it from the angle of Christ. Because until you see the church through the eyes of Christ, you will keep angering like something that is common. Many believers have become familiar with the church without ever receiving the revelation about the church. They know the activities, but they don't know the meaning of the church. They know the language, but they don't know the weight of the church. They know how to show up, but they don't yet understand what they are showing up for.

And that is why this matter is very important. Because if the foundation is wrong, everything that is built on that foundation will be weak. If a man does not understand what the church is, he will never value, he will never commit himself to the church. He will never serve in it correctly. He will never relate with it correctly. He will reduce it for it does to him, you know, benefit it gives to him. Instead of sin as something that belongs to Christ and carries purpose in God. Are you with me? Yes, sir. The church, you see, is not something men created to feel spiritual.

The church was that... It was in the heart of Christ in the very beginning. The church is central to his plan on earth. The church is precious to him in a way many believers have not fully understood. And until you see the church the way Christ sees the church, you will keep treating lightly what heaven treats with wit. My assignment today is to hopefully, by the grace of God, through the help of the holy ghost, Open your eyes that you see and place value on what God place value on so that you can draw value from it. Because I found out that whatever you don't place value on, you cannot draw value from. What did I say? Do you know what that means? The bible says, if you receive a prophet in the name of a prophet, you will receive a prophet's reward.

It goes on to say, if you receive a righteous man, in the name of a righteous man, you will receive a righteous man's reward. Do you know what that means? That means that if you receive a prophet in the name of a righteous man, you will not receive a prophet's reward. That means if I am a prophet, but what you receive me has is a righteous man, what you will receive is a righteous man's reward, not my reward based on what I carry. So I can have the anointing upon my life to change your life, to speak a word, and situations change. But then when you see me, what you see is a friend. What you see is a believer. Because that is how you receive me. That is exactly what you will receive. A friend's reward.

A righteous man's reward. Are you with me? That simply means if you do not place value on me and call me what God has called me, you will only receive from me what you call me. If your younger brother is a prophet and you call him your younger younger brother, you will repeat the word of your younger brother. Do you understand what I'm saying? Yes, sir. If he goes to church and ministers to people and their eyes are healed and the lame works and he calls somebody out and says, your mother is doing this. He's healed. She's healed. And she comes back home and he said, phone care, go and wash the plate.

You will receive a neat plate. That's the reward you will have. Do you understand what I'm saying? That's the reward you will have. That's what Jesus is saying. Because if you don't place value on it, you can't draw value from it. It means if you don't learn to place value on the church, to call the church what God calls it, not what it is to you. That's the reason why many people never grow. That's the reason why a lot of people come to church and they spend eighteen years in that church and they are still children. They are still immature.

God will still come and tell them, when you ought to have been teachers, you are still babes because they are hearing the same word. They are being fed every day, but they are not growing. And the reason why they are not growing is because they don't value the church, and so they cannot draw value from the church. They came to the church not to grow but to get their own needs met. So the guy is satisfied if every other thing is happening in his life at the expense of growth. Are you with me? That is certainly your spirit that Jesus came to gather a people onto himself. And that's the first thing that I think should settle your spirit. That Jesus came to gather a people unto himself. He came to form a body.

He came to build a house. He came to prepare a bride. He came to raise a spiritual people that would carry his life, that will carry his truth, that will carry his presence and his witness in the earth. That's why Jesus said, I will build my church. It shows you that the church belongs to him. It comes from him. It carries his ownership. It carries his mandate. It carries his burden. It carries his church is his workmanship upon the earth.

And you see how much he places value on the church. In the book of Acts of Apostles 20 and verse 28, the Bible says, therefore, take heed to yourselves of God which he purchased with his own blood. Do you see how valuable the church is to him? With his own blood. That is one of the most sobering descriptions of the church in the New Testament, that the church is blood bought. The church is blood bought. The church is not cheap. The price that bought the church was not money. The price that brought forth the church was not money. It wasn't silver.

It wasn't gold. It wasn't the conviction of a man. The price was the blood of Jesus. The bible says he purchased the church with his own blood. That means the believer that speaks lightly about the church is speaking lightly about something that heaven paid for with blood. The believer that speaks lightly, that devalues the that has no honor and no regard for the church, is devaluing something that heaven prayed for with blood. Whenever a man mocks the church, whenever a man despises the church, whenever a man reduces the the church to a casual convenience, he's showing that he does not understand the cost by which the church was obtained. There has to be a recovery of holy reverence because the church is not common. The church is a purchased people. A people purchased by his blood.

There has to be a holy reverence. Ephesians five takes it even deeper. In verse 25, when he was speaking about marriage, if a husband love your wives just as Christ loves the church and gave himself for her. Just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for... You know, people people often say, even if you are the only one on earth, Christ will say I've died for you. Have you heard that before? And, yes, I understand the heart behind that statement. And in fact, I I make that statement myself because it is true. We're trying to going able to And do that. The The Bible bible says says he he loved loved the the church and gave himself for her.

So I understand what we mean when we say that even if you're the only one, we must understand that the plan of redemption was about a people. The reason he died and what he had in mind was about a people. It wasn't about a person. So whilst his love reaches the individual. He saves persons. Yes. But he saves them into a people. It redeems men. It is true. But it redeems them into a body.

The cross was not just a personal rescue system. It was about forming a people for his name, a bride for his son, a body for his glory. There is something that is corporate here that matters deeply to him. There's a people that is committed to sanctifying. Sanctifying. There's a pride that is preparing for glory. There's a people that is washing with the washing of water by the world so that he might present her to himself as a glorious church, the bible says, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. Jesus loves the church. He gave himself cleanses the church. He prepares the church.

He will present the church to himself in the day of glory. So the church is not just a place where sermons are preached. The church is a people under the divine love of Jesus who have been prepared for glory. Stay with me. That's why any believer who claims maturity but has no weight for the church is already revealing a serious gap in his understanding. Because Because to know Christ truly is to begin to value what Christ values. To love what he loves, to reverence what he reverence, to carry a burden for what he carries a burden for. And the scripture shows us again and again that Christ is deeply committed to his church, then indifference to the church is not a small attitude problem that you have. It's a sign that something about the heart of Christ has not yet been properly understood to you. Are you with me?

Yes, sir. Now we have to go a little deeper than that. Because when scripture speaks about the church, it doesn't just use one picture to describe the church. He'll be several scriptures that we must understand because this scripture shows us the relationship between the church and Christ. And one of the pictures that he uses to describe the church is his body. The church is called his body. Ephesians chapter one twenty two to 23. The Bible says, God gave him to be heard about all things. He put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body. The fullness of him who fills all in all.

The fullness of him who fills all in all. The church is the body of Christ. And the church being the body of Christ means that the church is the means by which Christ continues his walk in the earth. The church is body. So if Christ is the head, then it means that the church is the means through which the thoughts of the head, the desires of the head, the purposes of the head are manifested on the head. In other words, Christ does not merely want to be admired by the church. He wants to act through the church. He wants to reach the nations through the church. He wants heal through the church. He wants to serve through the church.

He wants to disciple through the church. He wants to reveal the kingdom through the church because because the the church is his body. It means everywhere and everything he wants to do, he has to do through the church. We are his hands on earth to touch lives. It means when he wants to touch lives, he's the head. He wants to touch a life. He will need hands. The church is his body. We are his hands. We are the ones through whom you will use to touch people, to bless people, to lift people, to show people that the kingdom is real, that the power is real, that the gospel is real.

Are you with me brothers and sisters? Yes, sir. Where he's fit to enter into places. When he wants to enter into several straddle of influence, he won't go there by himself as an imaginary figure. He needs feet to walk into the place. You are his feet. You are the legs with which he walks. That is what it means to be the body of Christ. We are yielded vessels through which his reign can become visible to all men. That is why the church is so important.

Because if Christ wants to be revealed in a city, if Christ wants to be revealed in a territory, territory, in a nation, in a generation, he does it through his body. It means that church is the extension of Christ in in in the earth. The church is the visible expression of Christ amongst men. The church is the executor of his counsel in the earth. In Psalm one one zero, the bible says from verse one. The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. Now this is a messianic prophecy. It's a prophecy about Christ that David, the psalmist, is seen. And prophecy about Christ, David is seeing past the incarnation of Christ. He's seeing past the death of Christ.

He's seeing past the resurrection of Christ. He's seeing into the coronation of Christ. That means what David is seeing here is what happened after Christ died, resurrected, went to heaven. What David is seeing here is a post death report that the man in the old testament gained insight into. And he said, I saw the Lord said to my Lord, who is the Lord? God the father saying to God the son, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Does now Ephesians confirm the scripture? Philippians confirm the scripture, the old testament even before it happened. If you understand what I taught you last week Sunday, you would know why a man can see this. Glory to God.

Glory God. So God the father says to God the son, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Until is a very important word there. Sit at my right hand until. What does until mean? Until. Until. What does until mean? Until. Until means that you will not always be sitting here until.

It says sit until. That means a point will come where you will stand. Do you understand what I'm saying? Sit until. So there is a point that will come when you will have the day. Coming of Christ. The It's called the rapture because it will have come again. For That's the until factor. It's coming again. We will see him again.

In case there's somebody here who doubts the reality of heaven, I came to announce to you that heaven is real. And a day will definitely come where the trumpet will sound. The trumpet sounding is not a mystical fictional event that we see in scripture. You know, we've made movies about it. We've had jokes about it. After he was Spider Man in the Marvel Universe, trumpet sounding a vibe. We turned it into comedy, but the time will come when you will not see me again. You will come to talk like this and the microphone will drop. I would have left you alone. Unless you plan to follow me.

There's an end to all the arguments. You see heaven is not there. Is he driven? Is it not real? Is that God? There's an end to all argument. Do we all have the same God? Do we not? There's an end to all the argument. Because Jesus will come again.

But watch this. It says, until. It means before you go back and rapture the church, before you go back, something has to happen. What has to happen? Until I make your enemies your footstool. Pause now. Pause now. What do you mean by enemies? Because what happened up until this moment was the death of Christ. And the Bible records the death of Christ as such an iconic event that toppled principalities and powers and their reign.

The bible says having spoiled principalities and powers, it made a public show of them. And so if he has made a public show of political parties and powers, that means he has rendered them useless. Is that not so? Yes, sir. He has defeated them on the cross, went to hell, and collected the the cross, keys of Hades from Lucifer. The the the ascended to heaven. The holy ghost came down and possessed us. And you wonder, if you have done all this work, how come you still have enemies? Because you have spot principalities and powers. Are you with me?

Sir. Yeah. It is sure that you have spot them. But what is also true is that it still has a mandate upon the earth. Because salvation has a purpose. Salvation was not the end. Salvation was the means to the end. Because when God made Adam and Eve, what Adam lost wasn't just a relationship. The relationship he lost was the key to his assignment. What was the assignment?

Dominion. Let them have dominion. Be fruitful, multiply, subdue, spread. Is that not so? That was the main assignment that God gave to Adam. But you see, Adam could not do that assignment without a relationship with God. I taught you this some two weeks ago or so. Without intimacy, without a relationship with God. So when Adam fell, he lost relationship. Adam lost relationship.

He lost the assignment. Do you understand what I'm saying? What is the assignment? Multiply. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth. That was the assignment. Take the influence of my kingdom and spread it across the earth. Let the earth see my power. Let the earth see my glory.

The bible says, it shall come to pass in later days when the whole world will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters covers the earth, as the waters covers the sea. Are you with me? Yes, sir. That is the original mandate that God gave to Adam. Take my glory and spread it. Take this thing I've given you, this presence I've given you, this access you have to heaven. You can see into what I'm doing. That means whenever God came to earth to fellowship with Adam, God will tell him, do you know that in heaven where you come from, there's no corruption? That means when you are building a kingdom on earth, ensure you build a fair judgment, a fair kingdom. These are the value system of the kingdom you came from.

Adam will write it down and say, okay. Okay. Spread this kingdom. Spread this influence. Adam will note it down. Okay. Okay. But when Adam died, when he fell, he lost that relationship. That means he could no longer even sense the heart of God. He could no longer commune with God enough to know what God wants him to do.

Do understand what I'm saying? Yes, sir. In John chapter three verse three, the Pharisee came to Jesus, and he told Jesus, he said, rabbi, you must be a very great teacher. We know that you're a teacher sent from God. For no one can do these things that you do except God is with him. That was what he said with his mouth. Jesus turned it into his heart and said, what you are saying with your mouth is different from what your heart is saying. In your heart, you are asking a question, but in your mouth, you are giving me a compliment. You are saying in your mouth, we know you are a teacher sent from God because nobody can do these things except God be with him. Isn't that a compliment?

What is it a compliment? Thank you. Thank you. But look at the next verse. Jesus answered. Answered. It means his heart was asking a question. Most assuredly, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. It means what he was really asking in his heart is, I want to do these things too. What's the secret?

What's the secret to do these same things? That was what his heart was really communicating. And Jesus speak what his heart was saying. And then listen to me. Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. But question is this, if he was asking how can I do these things, why was Jesus saying you cannot see the kingdom of God? What is the connection behind seeing and doing? Jesus said, what I see my father do, so I do. It means you must be able to see the father before you can do the works of the father. So when Adam lost connection, he could no longer see the father.

Do you understand what I'm saying? And it means when he could no longer see the father, the works the father does, he cannot longer do. Dominion was lost. Authority was lost. Is it simple enough? Authority was lost. So when Jesus came, what Jesus came to do was to restore relationship so that except a man be born, he can now see. Access to the father has been mended, has been repaired. He now has access to the father. But is that all?

Because access birthed dominion. It means the real reason why he came was dominion. But dominion was not possible without access. Hence, why salvation was necessary. Do you understand what I'm saying? It means salvation is not the end. So even after salvation, there is still a work to be done. What is the work to be done? My kingdom come. My will be done on earth.

But salvation now grants you access to ensure that you can now bring that kingdom on earth. So God wants to go into the mountains of media, government, politics, entertainment, all the seven mountains of influence around the world. God wants to pierce into those systems and erect powers of his kingdom there, towers of righteousness so that when you look inside every mountain, what you would find is the glory of God. The glory of God. The glory of God. When you look at Nigeria's political system right now, do you find the glory of God? When you look at the media space in general, do you find the glory of God? When you look at the margin of family and how many divorces that happen up and down, you look at fathers, living mothers, and children being left to fend for themselves because people are absconding. Do you find the glory of God? When you look at education, where people are now being taught, orientated from school, that gender is not constant.

It's a variable. You can choose whether you wanna be a male or a female or in between. Where there's no absolute truth anymore, truth is relative. It's what you feel like doing you can do. Is that the glory of God? You look around and you find out that there is a problem. Even though Christ has won the victory, the devil has taken over over the mountain of influence. Remember what he told Jesus? He said, bow to me, and I will give you the kingdom of this earth because they were his to give. What is the work kingdom come, thy will be done on earth.

That you become wealthy and your wealth becomes a proof in the mountain of economy and business that it is possible to have God in your heart and gold in your hands. That you will not compromise on kingdom values because you are chasing money. That money will not make you lose God. That you won't pursue money, and then you lose your pursuit of God in your heart. Because right now on the mountain of business and economy, to find gold and find God is a hard thing. It's a hard thing. Believe me, walk on that mountain. I walk on that mountain. I walk on that mountain. If you're not yet there actively, you won't know what is happening there.

I walk on that mountain. Many people compromising their values every day. And yet, it says my kingdom must come on this mountain. There must be values. And you would see somebody come to church and he's sweeping the church, and the guy sweeping the church is the CEO of a multinational. Climb that mountain, reach the top, and chase down demons from there. Say, look, this place belongs to God. And we became living examples. We became references that it is possible to reign and to rule. Let's be righteous.

That's why God comes to men and tells men, I will make your name great. Why... I wonder sometimes, why does God speak like that? Should God not be saying, I will make my name great? You would expect God to be saying I will make my name great. I will be known in all the earth. I will make you a great nation. I will make your name great. Will make your name great. You shall be a blessing.

You would expect that God will be afraid. I don't want to share my glory. You will never share your glory with anybody. Yes. God is saying I will make your name great. A man said, thou has increased my greatness. The Bible speaks of Isaac. The Bible says the demand began to prosper. He continued to prosper until he became very prosperous. That the Philistines envied him.

How can a man be so wealthy that a nation a nation will say, hey, what is this? Because his wealth alone is 90% the GDP of the nation. Do you really think that the politician in that nation is important? You didn't get the question I just asked. There is no policy that they will make in that nation that they will not consign. They will go to him and say, sorry. Want to stop importation of rice. Because there's a wealthy and woe unto the land if that wealthy man represent the kingdom of darkness. Woe unto the land. Woe unto the land.

God knows that the kingdom needs examples in righteousness because demons have entered men and are reigning in place of God. Families are destroyed every day. Are there no munders that can rise? People that will be blessed with a grace and a burden for academia to become lecturers and rise so rise so great. Become professors. Rise to the peak of their career. Dominate that mountain. Collect all the certificate and all the doctorates and all the PMP, PEFCC, everything attached to their name that Christ may be seen. That Christ may be seen. Are there no influencers that will stand on the mountain of influence that Christ may be seen?

They might not be sharing tract on their platform. The girl might be cracking jokes. Jokes. The girl might be talking about fashion, but she is becoming popular and popular and gaining influence. And one day, they will call her. 90,000 people following her. Half a million people following her. Seven of them are teenagers. Looking up to her and saying, my role model. And then they ask her.

So how have you gotten to this place? And she said, I pray in tongues. Yes, sir. I sow my sins. I go to church. I pray. I talk to the holy ghost. He said, holy ghost. Who is the holy ghost? They will listen to her more than they will listen to a pastor.

You hear me? So do you agree with that salvation was only the beginning? It was only the beginning. If salvation was the end, what would happen after you are saved is rapture. The moment we stand on the pulpit and say, come and accept Jesus oh, I heard Jesus. I heard Jesus. That's what we have. Because there's no point being on earth again. If he left us here, there is work to be done. Sir.

Okay, it is not an escape strategy. You are not yet to be looking forward to heaven. He gave you have so busy that you'd not know when time went? I said, hey, Omo, time has gone oh. That's how your life will be when you become busy about his purposes. The reason why we have so many believers who can't wait for rapture is because they're not doing anything. They are doing nothing useful with their lives. Because if you are doing something useful with your life, you will be so busy. You should be so... God, we need more time.

We need more time. You will be looking at the news, and you'll be seeing wars happening in different nations. And you know that guy, the burden God is putting in my spirit is to be a diplomat, to stand in the middle of international relations, to keep believers ignorant. So that the advancement of the purposes of God on earth will not come to pass. And they do so through many many ways. Deception, Marry. Marry. Marry. You have not even started your life. But, sir, I'm 25.

You are still a young boy. Young boy. I'm thinking of scaling my business. I want to move to about five branches in in the coming year, and I'm thinking of going to Ghana to start a... Calm down now. When did you start? Ourselves, avoid the media. Politics is a heavy game. Don't enter politics. Oh, don't go there.

Don't go there. And Chitub is saying, those are the systems you must conquer. Because there an is until factor until your enemies be made your footstool. That means Jesus is not coming back for a defeated church. Rapture is not what we think it is. It's not Every groom comes for a glorious bride. Every groom. Going somewhere until until until His enemies. So his enemies now are the enemies resisting his eternal purpose. The idea of his kingdom come.

There are enemies. So when we say thy kingdom come, we are declaring war. Do you remember why men slept? An enemy came and saw tears. Do you remember the meaning of that parable? Who are the weak? Sons of the kingdom. Who are the tears? Children of the evil one. So the evil one is not the enemy, but he has children.

He has children he has placed on every mountain of influence. You. Lives will not emerge from this nation. There are enemies like that. You say I want to deal with them. Because the destiny of a generation is dependent on my dealing with them. Otherwise, a generation will not rise. So I must deal with them. And when I want to deal with them, how will I deal with them? How will I deal with them?

Next verse, now it says, because my dealing with these enemies is what will determine your coming back to sit down on land on. So how will I deal with them? It says, I will send a rod of my strength out of Zion, and the rod that I'm sending will have a mandate. What is the mandate? Rule down in the midst of your enemies. What is this rod of my strength? Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Another comforter and those paracletters, another of the same kind. He's the one... Do you know?

It's a very strange thing when Jesus said, I have been teaching this year on the holy spirit. Jesus said, it is for you that I go away. Imagine yourself in the shoes of Peter. You don't understand what I'm saying? That you don't have to send something. It's called the rod of my strength. I can't be the only one that have that rod. It must enter you. You must carry that rod to the system of this world. You must carry that rod into mal...

Into politics, into business, into economy, into media. And on the day that it comes with that mandate, what happens next? He says, next verse. Am the holy ghost. In number three, now shows you how we will appear. He say, I will find people who are willing. I'm not I will begin to distribute myself. I will begin to... Oh. I will take possession of them.

I will begin to jump inside young girls and young women. The the of my strength. And when the rod of my strength comes, what he's looking for is, who in this family is willing? Can I find someone? Just one girl, just one boy. Who is willing? Emmanuel is willing. Praise the Galilee peace, we know that a man is willing. There's no land that is too hard for us. We are sent because we are willing.

Can you see? Your people shall be volunteers. So let's go back to where we are coming from. That he is the head. And we are the ordinary. It is through that body. That he will finish his uncompleted assignment on the earth. Do you understand that now? It is through that body and the church is that body. It means when it comes to the church, there is still work to be done through that body.

So the church is not just a place we come to. The church is a system. The church is a strategy. A strategy of recovery. So when we come to church, understand that we are not just coming to dance and sing away our sorrows. No. We have identified They the the ones Christ resurrected, the bible says that are there was found in that grave, his lining that was used to cover him and then that was wrapped upon his head. And when they came to the tomb, what they saw was that the lining that was covering his head was folded neatly and dropped on the tomb. Is that not so? But the one that was covering his body, the bible was careful to mention that it was not folded.

It was just left on the tomb. Do you remember your bible? Oh God. The bible says, and then Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb and he saw the lining clothes lying there and the handkerchief that had been around his head not lying with the lining clothes, but folded together in a place by itself. The handkerchief that was where? On his head. The body was not folded because the body still has a work to do. The anchor tip that covers the head was folded body now begins. So when he said I will build my church, the immediate responsibility that For a long time, we have understood that scripture to mean the church is defending, and the gates of hell are trying to break into the church, and the church is mounting a defense. Even our prayer suggests that we are defending.

Our lifetime suggests that we are defending. Because every time we go and pray, we are always on the defense. We are are always on the defense. We are always the one defending, but that's not what the Bible says. The Bible says that the gates of hell will not prevail. That means the church is the one mounting an offense into eradicating hell, into stopping the assignment of hell on the earth. It is the gate of hell that is mounting a defense. The church is the one on the offensive. The church is the one entering systems and scattering places. It means the kind of prayers we pray in church.

It is unbeliever that should be praying it. The kind of prayers we pray in church. The person contesting with you. For the the same position in that office should be the one praying it. Should be the one going to The second thing the church is is a bride of Christ. I don't have time to go there and study. The third thing the church is is a temple of the law... On the building of the law. I don't have time to teach that as well. But it is clear from scriptures that the church is the temple.

First Corinthians three shows us this. Verse nine, the bible says, for we are God's fellow workers, you are God's field, you are God's building. And he was speaking in context to the church. He was speaking in context to the church. He wasn't speaking to individuals or to an individual. He was speaking to the church. He was writing to the church. The context of the entire first Corinthians study is to the church, and he's speaking to the church and saying that you are God's field. You are God's building. It means the church is God's field.

The church is God's building. It's a gathering of people that carry one spirit, that share fellowship as one, that carries the presence of God. Gathering of people. A gathering of people. The church is God's field. The church is God's building. It was in that same context that verse 16 now says, know ye not that you are a temple of the living God and that the holy ghost dwells in you. The context is the church. Are you with me? It means when we come together, we are God's building.

When we come together, we are God's field because the church is a gathering of people. That's where I started from. That the idea of God, the idea Jesus had for salvation was to gather a people. It was not an individualistic approach to salvation. The world was in his mind, and the thought was in his mind. A people were in his mind. So everywhere is scriptural, Spanish, we're talking about a people set apart. You are a holy nation, a royal priesthood. It's all about a people. So God's plan has always been about a people.

When he was giving us the great commission, what he said was disciple nations, a people, not persons. So the idea has always been a people set apart from the word ecclesia. The word church in the New Testament means ecclesia. In the Greek, ekklesia means... It's from the word ek and then lisia, and it means to set apart. It means a people set apart. A people set apart. So when we gather at the church, we are God's building. The church therefore is not the building. The church is the gathering of the people under one spirit, under one grace, under one covering, under one lord.

The building, the instruments, the equipment, the microphones, and the keyboard, and the air conditions or the lack of it, and the cushion chairs or the lack of it, and the plastic chairs or the lack of it, and the chairs at all or the lack of it, only seeks to serve the church. It is not the church. Do you understand, sir, what I've said? So the church is not the place we come to Sunday. The church is the gathering of the people. So somebody can hear this now and then say, ah, so why do I need to come to church? I can just stay at home and follow online. And we have so many people who believe this thing that, you know, I can just... At least the the service is strength. I can just stay at home and follow online.

But the Bible says that the scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes. Unto him, KJV, unto him shall the gathering of his people be. It doesn't say in your garden of his people. Shiloh speaks of the risen Christ. And the biblical when the Christ is made manifest, when the Christ is made manifest, his people will gather unto him. That is the church. So if it is not a gathering, it's not a church. If it's not a people, it's not a church. That means you cannot say you are in church in your house. You don't understand the concept of the church.

Because when he was saying I will build my church, he wasn't saying I will build you. You are a part of the building in the church. Do you understand what I'm saying? Do you agree with me that this is a building? This building is made with individual blocks. The block is not the building, but the block makes up the beauty. It is the coming together of all the blocks that we have have a building. So a block cannot stay somewhere and say, I'm a building. Do you understand what I'm saying? It is arrogance.

It is ignorance. It is lack of understanding. So when you understand this, you then find out that the church is primarily, therefore, a place of equipping, a place of training so that men can be deployed for assignment, so that men can be deployed for training, so that men can be deployed for purpose. That's what the church is. The pastor, his responsibility is to feed you with knowledge and understanding. Understanding. So the bible says, I will give you shepherds in the book of Jeremiah after my own heart, not to give you money. The responsibility of your man of God is not to give you money. He's not even to buy food for you. Who will feed you with knowledge and understanding?

That's the responsibility of shepherds, to feed with knowledge and understanding. It means if a shepherd is doing any other thing apart from feeding people with knowledge and understanding, and he forgets the assignment of feeding people with knowledge and understanding, it doesn't matter what health he's doing. He has failed in his primary responsibility. Do you understand what I'm saying? Because the church is a body, and that body must be built. Jesus said, will build my church, and he puts pastors in charge to teach people doctrine. So as we begin to teach men doctrine, they are being built. So when I will build my church, he won't say I will build the building. The men build the buildings. So if you're a pastor and you're starting out ministry and your assignment, first of all, is to build a building, you are wrong.

You build men. The men build buildings. You build what? What? Men. Men. And the men build buildings. That is the work of the church. So when you're coming to church, what is happening to you? You are being made in church.

You are being cleaned in church. You are being corrected in church. You are being pruned in church. You are being discipled in church. That is the assignment of the church. I don't have time to show you the difference between the universal church and the local church. I think I've thought on this before. You'll get that teaching. I've thought on this before. The universal church and the local church.

Now we are all members of the universal church called the body of Christ. But that the body of Christ finds expression physically in a local church. A church of a people that gather in a place, fellowshipping with people, presided over by a pastor. Do you understand what I'm saying? And a believer cannot claim to be a member of the universal church whilst in rebellion to a local church. You don't church. It's not possible. Because local church is the visible expression of the universal church. Universal church unifies all of us. It means that it does not matter matter your your denomination.

Denomination. It does not matter what church you're coming from. It does not matter what local assembly you attend. We are all one body in Christ Jesus. We are all what? One body in Christ Jesus. Of That's understanding of the universal church. What it does to you is that it makes you love the body of Christ. It it makes you do what now? Love the body of Christ.

When Jesus Christ was going to die and to resurrect, one of the prayers he prayed in the book of John was that they may be one as I and my father are one. Do you know why that prayer is so important? Because he knew that a day will come when we will have so many these denominations and so many divisions that each one will start seeing each other as superior to the other. And this one will believe that his doctrine is the most superior, and that one will believe that he's the most holy. And if you don't come to my church, you are wrong. And that one will see others who go to this church and say that, aunt, you're not going... You're not being taught well there. You're not being led well there. My church is the most supreme. And Jesus saw this future, and then my prayer that that they may be one.

That they may realize that there is no need for dissension. That they may realize there's no need for fighting. They may realize that we might have different nonessential beliefs. And I call them nonessential because our beliefs about the primary tenets of our salvation must be the same. We must believe in one Jesus. We must believe in the trinity. If your church does not believe in Jesus, you are not going to a church. You are going to a shrine. Doesn't matter what is done there. You are going to a court.

Doesn't matter what is done there. There are things that are most surely believed amongst us. We must believe in Jesus, that he came, that he died, that he was buried, and that he resurrected. We must believe he is the only way, not one of the ways, only way. If we define these beliefs, you are not a church. You are not one of us. That there may be one is not counting you. Do you understand what I'm saying? You must believe in the ministry of the God the father, God the son, and God the spirit. You must believe in the triunity.

God in three persons, yet one. Otherwise, you are not a church. These are fundamental beliefs. Are you with me, brothers and sisters? These are the tenets of salvation. You must believe in the forgiveness of sins. You must believe that our sins have been forgiven. You must believe in the righteousness of faith. And as long as we share this belief, you are a member of this body. It does not matter what else you believe.

Whatever you believe might be to your own detriment. I will not judge you based on your belief. I will still love you because you are one of us. Do you understand what I'm saying? I will not use my platform to tear you down. I will come to church and begin to use my platform to direct another man of God and his ministry based on the mistake or based on a mistake he made. Because you see, there are times as men of God that we make mistakes because we are excited in speaking. And I can be so excited that I say something that if I was calm, I would have worded it properly. But because I was in the state of excitement, I had said something that wasn't properly worded, that doesn't communicate my intention. And somebody who has probably seen how God is lifting me, how God is blessing me, and has been looking for a way to ensure that it disproves what I'm doing despite I believe in Jesus, despite I'm raising the people, despite I'm committed to my assignment, the guy now hears the mistake I made when I'm speaking and now picks up mistake, goes on his own That love.

Is There can be no correction if there's no love. You cannot correct the body of Christ if you do not love the body of Christ. And if you love the body of Christ, there can be no offense in your heart. There can be no bitterness in your heart. There can be no envy in your heart. When God is lifting others, you will be happy for them because you will know we are one together in Christ Jesus. The victory of one is our victory. If a church is owned by fool and herdsmen, I would not be happy because it's not my church. I would pray for them. I would send them relief.

I would give to the church. I would find out who is the man of God who is there. It's not my church, but we are one body in Christ Jesus. These are my brothers. These are my sisters. Do you understand what I'm saying? Yes, sir. I see a church being built around me. I look at my church. We don't have any pressing need at the moment.

And I say, oh, let me commit 2,000,000 naira to the building of this church over here. And I go and meet the pastor, God bless you. I see you are doing a great work here. I don't know you from Adam, but we are one brothers in Christ Jesus. We are one body in Christ Jesus. Might have different opinions based on the different dimension of Christ that is revealed unto us. Doesn't mean either of us is wrong. Somebody can teach deliverance because that was what was included in his training when God was training them. Somebody might teach holiness. Somebody might teach prosperity.

Somebody might teach grace. Somebody might teach faith. Doesn't mean either of all is wrong. That is the dimension of Christ we have seen. We don't look at others who are not teaching what we are teaching and then decide in our hand that we are superior to them. No. Tell that they may be one. That they may be one. That they may be one. Let it not be heard that anybody misplaced called on social media and you are berating a church, berating a man of God, let it not be heard that you dishonor the church.

The church is his body. What you are dishonoring is his body. Not a man of God, not a pastor, that. Did did the service that you carry your mouth and you are also there speaking. Let it not be heard. At a member of this church does that. I wasn't trained by you. By a stranger. Let it not heard. That is not done here.

Here we understand that they may be one. Here we love the body of Christ. When our brother and sisters are doing things and they are making progress, we are happy for them. It doesn't have to be all that God is using. If it is us, we are happy. We are excited. If it is not us, we are equally happy and excited. We support... Wherever we see the move of God moving, we support it. We'll not trust stones only because it's not us.

We're organizing further awakening in UI. UI. You won't imagine the attacks that came from the church. From the church. You won't imagine the attacks that came from presidents or fellowships. You can't imagine. Such things should not be heard. Because if we gather a meeting, it is that not everybody in that crusade will come to our church. It's common sense to know that people have been sent elsewhere. So it it will not hurt to lend the hand of support, to say, man of God, we heard you are doing something great.

Would you need buses to carry people? Would you need instruments for this event? We are donating this for this meeting. We are donating that for this meeting. How beautiful the church would be. How beautiful the church would be. We shouldn't be the ones fighting each other. That's an autoimmune condition where the self of the body are fighting themselves. That's the body rejecting itself. Are you with me, brothers and sisters?

Yes. Your responsibility in a local church when you find yourself in a local church, you have responsibilities there. Maybe I'll talk about it from other times so I can close. Are you blessed? It is the understanding of this that makes you look forward to church because you know I'm coming again to be equipped. I'm coming again to be trained because you know that... So as I am like this, if God wants to touch a life, my hand must be functioning. When God said, whom shall I send? We must be able to say, here I am. Send me.

That's the responsibility of the church. Are you with me? Matthew 13, let's close here. The Bible says, we see there parable of the sower, and the bible used to say of how that there was a sower who went to a field to sow. Now if you're writing, want you to write this down. So the first person we are introduced to in the scripture is a sower. A sower went out to sow. So write down in your note, a sower. Let's go and read it. Next verse.

And as he sowed some seed, now he have been introduced to something else. Seed. So write down your note again. Seed. Just below the sower because we want to compare. Some seed fell by the wayside. Now we see something else there. We see way side. We see thorns. We see stony place, and we see good ground.

So that's right there, soil. Because these are diverse types of soils. Is that not so? Others fell on good ground and yielded a crop. So let's put the next fruit. Fruit. Now let's attempt to define what each of them means. Who is the sower? In this context, Jesus says if anybody hears the word of the kingdom, so a sower therefore is a preacher. A sower is a teacher.

A sower is a preacher. So put there, the sower is the pastor, the preacher, the teacher, whichever one you wanna put. Put it there. Just in front of sower. Put a preacher, a teacher. What's next thing we must define? The seed. If anyone hears the word of the kingdom, verse 19. If anyone hears the word of the kingdom... So what is the seed that is sown?

The word of the word. The word of the kingdom. In fact, Luke eight and verse 11 says the seed is the word. Can you see? The seed is the word. So the seed is the word. We have not defined the field because let's put there the field as well. Because if it's sowing, there must be a field that's sowing inside. And if you have been able to define that the person sowing is the preacher, what is sowing is the word of God. The soil says anyone.

That means the soil is the heart of men. Jesus says, if anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the devil comes and plucks away what he hears from his heart. So the soil is the heart of men. What is there was not defined? So if in this context now, what is the field? Where is it sowing? It's sowing in the church. So the church is the field. So the context of this parable is the church. Can we agree?

Yes, sir. The context of this parable is what? The church. Say it loud and clear. Outside, say it loud and clear. The context of that parable is the church. So in the church, the sower comes and he sows the word of the kingdom. And every time he is sowing, the bible says there are different types of people inside the church who are hearing what he's saying. Some of the people listening, their heart is by the wayside. Some of the people listening, their heart is where?

By tongues. Some of the people listening, their heart is by stones. That means only one quarter of the people inside the church is the word prospering in their heart. So that's the good ground. So if there are 100 people in the church, one quarter is what? That means 25 out of 100 were hearing what the man was saying. The Bible says multitude followed Jesus. Multitude followed Jesus when he was sharing this parable with them. Multitude. But the disciples came to Jesus after he finished sharing that parable, and they asked Jesus, why do you speak to them in parables?

And Jesus says, because unto you it is given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but unto them it has not been given. That means multitudes were hearing but did not understand. Do you understand what I'm saying? The number can be that few. That's why that the church gathered crowd is nothing to celebrate. The question is what is happening inside the people? What is happening inside the people? What kind of people have they gathered? What is the word doing in their hearts? The burden of the man of God, therefore, is not to be happy that the crowd has gathered.

It's to find a way to increase the number of people whose heart is by the good ground. Are you with me? Yes, sir. What is the fruit? We haven't defined the fruit yet. What is the fruit? Now if the seed is the word of the kingdom, and where I'm planting the seed into is the heart of a man, what do you think the fruit will be? If you plant mango as a seed, what should you get back? Mangoes. If you plant, you you get a fruit of mango.

Is that not so? If you plant orange as a seed, what do you get back? A fruit of orange. Is that not so? So if I plant the word of the kingdom as a seed, what should I get back? I should get a man of the kingdom. That means that this parable has succeeded to the extent to which a church is able to produce men of the kingdom, children of the kingdom. That's when this parable succeeds. Have you written this down? In this same chapter, this same chapter, Jesus now says the second parable.

What is the second parable that he shares? He says, another parable he put forth to them saying, the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his feet, my God. You are seeing again. It's looking like the first parable. But this is the second one, and it's looking like the first one. Now you are seeing the same thing, a man who sows. So again, we have a sower. Can we write it down again? A sower. Second parable, a sower who sowed good seed?

Come rather than again. The seed. Now the bible was very specific in the type of seed he was sowing. Good seed. In his field. So we'll say again, the field. Number three. Next, but while men slept, his enemy came. I don't wanna define men. I I don't wanna define men.

Came and saw tears amongst the wheat. So let's define wheat. Put wheat. And went his way. Put wheat. Now who saw the wheat? The thing that I just read. Yes, sir. Except for the fact that this is the second parable, and the premise of the first parable is the church, the body. So let's go and define what this means.

Jesus himself is the one that explains it. Go to the explanation. That should be verse 37. Yeah. One, son of man? Jesus. So put it there. Second parable, sower Jesus. Have you done that? Can we attempt to complete the rest?

Next verse. One, two, three, go. The first line. Because in the first parable, what was the field? In the second parable, what is the field? Who is sowing in the second parable? Jesus. Where is he sowing? Stay with me. You will understand this.

The Who are the good good seed? Seeds? Let's return. Go worry then. Us. So what is the good seed? Write it down. What is the seed that Jesus is sowing? What is the fruit of the first parable? That means that the fruit of the first parable is the seed of the second parable.

Do you see what this means? This means that Jesus does not have a ministry until the church gives him one. That means that Jesus looks at the world, and he said, I want to sow men because he looks at the mountain of media and politics, and he's seen how the enemy is ravaging that territory. People are dying. Corruption is killing the land. People are in pain and sorrow. What is meant for them is not being given to them. Evil warehouses have stored the wealth of the people. And God says, Kai Kai, I need to sow a man here. Do we have a man to sow?

And he looked at the first parable. He said the church, you haven't given us men. Because the seed we sow is the fruit you give us. Do you understand what I'm saying? Yes, sir. That means if the church fails in raising men, if the church fails in raising... If we keep on doing church the way we do church as a regular Sunday service, where I just come to come and do Sunday school and dance to God and go home with a memory verse in my head, Jesus will have nobody to sow. And the consequence is Nigeria. Because it doesn't take God anything to shoot men into margin of influence. It doesn't take God anything to lift you.

God, in fact, his ministry is to lift you. Just so I'm not cut out of context because of the people that is in God's distance. When I said Jesus does not have a ministry, I'm not saying does not have any ministry. He does not have plenty ministry. It's good we balance these things because I just find my devil to tell me that now I said, man of God said Jesus does not have Amen. There's a context to my conversation. Is that okay? Yes, sir. Yes. That means what are doing every day when we come here, Jesus waits for us and he says, have they raised men?

Have they raised men? Have they raised men? After one year of going to church, what have you become? Have you become a man of the kingdom? Did the seed prosper in your not prosper. The sick could not prosper. To So even when Jesus will give men money and say these ones have become a roundhouse of kingdom wealth. The reason is not reason is because they have become kingdom men. Men who have understood that my life is sold out for the kingdom. How many of them have we raised?

Because the reason why that guy is looking for money up and down is to buy Benz. For. That's why when I'm speaking to people, I don't speak to them like students. I have never... I've been doing this for a long time. This is eleven years in ministry. I do not speak to people as though they are students. I speak to them as though we are raising mighty men. That's why at the terribly young age, you would find people sharing testimonies that are strange to the years. Somebody asked the question during the first of week.

If you say, ah, this one, everybody is buying car. Where are you saying this money? Are they distributing money in your church? Lord. Are not not going Amen. We Amen. In church. Amen. God will prosper their endeavors. The works of their hands will be blessed.

If I speak to you as though you are students, I have cheated you of destiny. You come I don't have to. What I will teach you is to put in your hands what will make you great. What will turn you into solid men? What will turn you into strong men? That's why we have ir life is settled for those who have slept. However, when you come on a Sunday, it's a training ground. What you have come to is a training ground. It means what we do in church is dependent on our understanding of this. If I understand that it's a training I'm doing, it will now inform how long I spend in teaching.

It will inform how long I spend in praying. It will inform how I construct the order of program, how I construct the service. We come on Tuesday, we pray for almost two hours. Stretch. Stretching the spirit man. Somebody will come and God. Your discernment must be strong. Man of God, but you are preaching too long. Your capacity is too small. You grow.

You grow. You grow. That's my own responsibility. To expand you. To expand you. That's my own mental moment. To break the boundaries of limitations in your mind. Yes, sir. That's my own responsibility. Responsibility.

Suddenly, will know. Not I can prosper. If you are knowing that you can prosper, that's a level of revelation. It's good, but it's still small light. The to present the idea to a particular commissioner. I wouldn't mention the name. And the people had access to the commissioner. They had a good idea. The guy was listening to it, and they could not muster what happens when you have been taught. Well, that's how you know somebody are supposed to have taught.

In such places, you cannot... You can't join those that are breaking down. You rise like a mighty man. You say, I'm I'm and confident that the commissioner looked at them and say, ah, I like you. I like you. Come to my house. Let's talk about how can make this real. He said, okay, sir. When can we come? Oh, no.

Him. An opportunity to change people's lives. To mold their understanding. And I will shy away from it. I've been taught. I've been taught. When I say mountains, I don't say I'm like a glass of wine. I say I'm well able to to reflect the quality of what I've eaten. I've eaten well. I've eaten well.

I've eaten well. I can't see giants, and I'll think I'm a grasshopper. Yes, sir. In fact, mountains that are bigger than me is where I I've ever made, and you are giving more than you've ever given. And then he went. He started thinking to himself, how will I make more than I've ever made if I'm still doing what I'm currently doing? It's not possible. So I need to do what will make me make worth more than I've ever made. And he looked at his field of influence and saw that that thing that will make him make more was the most difficult sphere that every button that field avoids. When he saw it, he said he pushed for it.

He pushed for it. And after pushing for it, he won it. And as a reward, he was paid in dollars, in multiple five figures. That translated to multiple hate figures in naira. He told me, apostle, I'm giving my first 10,000,000, send $6,000 that are there. Said, you see, you get a word that I'm going going I'm say, to because he saw a the mountain, and he had the boldness in his heart to say, I am well hidden. That means the world will still be there. If he had said, I'm like a glass of wine. I can't take this. It would have fallen flat.

It would still be there. It would still be there. That's why we feed people well and teach them well. That's what the church is for. This is why we value the church. It's not just a sermon as usual. It's food. It's food. It's food. It's the food that makes mighty men.

It's the food that makes great men. There's something you know fear will leave you. You will never be afraid again. There is something you know immediately you start having ideas to jump out into business. And not just have the ideas, but have the heart to implement the idea. Immediately, you start seeing yourself beyond where you currently see yourself now, where you are right now. You start knowing that this is my life and destiny. Their heart? That put things in their heart. One of them told me last week, is is that apostle?

I applied for a con... For for this for this for this for contract. And when I was applying, I saw the companies that were vying for the same contract. I was the only one. I just started my company this year. These were people that have been in the same field of of influence for ten years, twenty years, and they were bringing their status and their weight. And this guy just started this company in January and was bidding for a contract of $7,500 with companies that were heavyweight in the market. He said he remembered the heart of a lion, the visage of a colossus is a seed. This thing is a seed. When he grows in a man's heart, the heart of a lion.

The vicinity of the colossus, the heart of a lion. The audacity of faith. So I went there. I pitched myself. And they reached back to me, and they said, your proposal is exactly the budget we had. So you are the only one can work with. Imagine if he had turned back because he saw people that had more status than he did. That means it has not been Thank properly thought. God for life. Thank God for where he has brought you.

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.