Transcript: The Pathway Of Encounters

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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. In Jesus name we have prayed. Today, I'm gonna share with you. I I I I really want to finish it today if I'm able to. I don't want it to extend to a series because the syllabus is huge, but we see as God helps us. I'm gonna be sharing with us something that I have titled the pathway of encounters. The pathway of encounters. You see, the quality of your Christian experience will depend on the kinds of encounters that you have with God. If you observe, we have been examining a series of teachings that are programming us to become victorious believers in Christ.

We have looked at the pattern of God for your growth and your maturity. I've looked at what it means to know God as a believer. And today, we'll be looking at the pathway of encounters. All of these teachings are building upon one another to the intent that we become believers with understanding, believers with power, believers with stature. So I said the quality of your Christian experience, the quality of your faith work depend on the kinds of encounters that you have. The bible is full of men and women who had various encounters with God alongside the corresponding empowerment that came as a result of those encounters. Abraham had an encounter with God of the... With God, and that encounter produced faith so much so he was willing to give up his only begotten son. Because of that encounter, he's referred to as the father of faith. Jacob had an encounter with God, and that encounter solidified a particular path in God or should I say revealed a dimension of God to men.

So much so when any man seeks God, way a man must seek God to find God, and that way is patterned after Jacob. So in the book of Psalms, the bible says this is the generation of them that seek you, oh Jacob. In other words, Jacob so sought after God and God revealed himself to him that any man who wants to seek God and reveal and also trap the dimension of God must study how Jacob trapped God or sought God or encountered God. Are you with me? Moses also had an encounter with God. That encounter gave him authority over Pharaoh. Do you remember how he ran away from Egypt? He ran in May. He ran away weak. He ran away scared.

He ran away afraid. Afraid of the repercussion of the crimes he had committed. He had just killed someone. But he didn't just kill someone. He killed an Egyptian. I remember he had been raised an Egyptian all his life. So what would happen if he was caught? This man was afraid for his dear life, and this was meant to be the savior of a people. How do you save a people when you are afraid? How do you save a people when there is fear in your heart?

Remember that the people he's afraid of are the same people he's meant to deliver Israel from. So how do you deliver Israel from those you are afraid of? And yet God has called you a savior. How do you do that? You cannot without an encounter. And so God had to route his way to meet a burning bush, and God sent him back to Pharaoh, back to where he ran from. But this time something was different. This time he had met with God. It is a foolish errand to appear before pharaoh without having met with God, without having had a definite encounter that becomes the source of your confidence. It means when Moses ran, there was something that was missing in his understanding.

And when he came back, there was something that came. We need to now study what it was because if you attempt to do what Moses did without having the encounter he had, you will fail miserably. That encounter came and God told him I've made you a God to Pharaoh. There was a way he now started looking at himself based on the encounter he now had. The exploits of men in scripture were based off the encounter he had. Yes, sir. The exploits of men in scripture were based on the strength of the encounters. On the strength of the encounters. We see men in scriptures who were weak but met God. And you see what came out of them after they met God.

You see men in scriptures who were afraid but met God. Moses was carrying a rod, had no idea that that rod could become such a powerful item until he met God. It means that the things that you are doing, even the work that you have, even the ministry you have is only as weak or powerful as the encounter you have had with God. You can hold a powerless rod or you can hold a powerful rod. The difference is an encounter. It was the same rod. There was no change of rod. It can be the same work you do. It can be the same business you do. But when that thing meets God, there must be a difference.

There must be a difference. Nothing remains the same when he meets God. Nothing remains the same. Remember Gideon. Gideon was a man that was running away from the Midianites. This guy was afraid. This guy was what you would call a coward. Really, he was. How do I know? Because you don't thresh wheat at the winepress.

You thresh wheat at the tribulon. But the tribulon was close to the encampment of the Midianite. So he was afraid that if I should go to the Tribulon, at least I might meet them on the way, they might kill me, they might hold me a slave, they might hold me captive instead. Let me go to where it was safe. What what led Gideon there was fear. What led Gideon there was fear. Guess what? The angel was waiting for him at the winepress even before he arrived there. It means that even your weaknesses are factored into the encounter. This was a choice he was going to make out of fear.

Yet God was waiting for him there. Make it. And see what would come out of it. Jesus Christ. And that guy met God finish. He came there a weak man. He came there afraid. He came there running away. And God told him, thou mighty man of valor. Thou mighty man of valor.

How do you call him? How do you call... Nobody would have looked at him in the flesh that moment and called him mighty. His experience not look mighty. That is the purpose of encounters. It will change nothing if men call you mighty, but if God calls you mighty. That is the purpose of encounters. It matters who calls you what. The energy to believe when God serve it comes with God calling you himself. A man might look at you and say, ah, didn't know you're a pastor, yet you will still be afraid and come with that.

I'm even afraid. I don't want... I don't know. Say, a prophet told me that I'll start ministry. I don't even know. I'm looking at that. Just fear. I'm not afraid. All of those things are because he's a man that told you. You have not had an encounter.

There's an... There's a there's a there's a there's an energy that comes when you hear the same thing but spirit inspired. The same thing. Thou mighty man of valor. Thou mighty man of valor. And the men went and and and got... Blew the trumpet. The entire city gathered to him, and he made men out of it. Have you read the story of Abraham? The Bible says that Abraham had an encounter with God.

In that encounter, God told him that in you shall the families of the earth be blessed. So he knew that the whole earth had been willed to him. It came from an encounter. How else would you explain that four kingdoms came against Sodom and Gomorrah and overtook Sodom and Gomorrah and took men in Sodom and Gomorrah captive? And Lot and his family were part of those he took captive. And Abraham took 318 servants, not soldiers, servants, people who have never been trained in the heart of warfare, people who have never experienced battle, people whose only responsibility is to headship. And he took 318 servants and took to go and fight four kingdoms. Do you know what it means to fight four kingdoms? These were not armies. These were not soldiers that were ill prepared.

They came prepared for battle. It was not as though they were sleeping, and then you went to go and meet them by surprise. No. I hope you know that in the holding days, soldiers in in their days, there were soldiers that were born soldiers, and there were soldiers that were made soldiers. So you can enlist to be part of the army, and then they train you. Is that not so? But there was a selection process that when a child is born, based on the genetics of that child, they take that child, and when he's two, they observe him, and they say, this one has the requirement of being a soldier. And from age one two, he's harvested and raised up a soldier. The only thing that one knows is death. He finds joy in killing.

It is... The only time that they are excited is when they invade other nations, and they are counting the spoils of war. They kill for a living. These were the kind of soldiers that this kingdoms had, and this man picked 318 men. Servants whose only responsibility was heading ships. And they said, my nephew has been captured. Let's go and rescue him. And they travel there, and they defeated four kingdoms. Servants Servants. Defeated them.

Spot... Took away everything that they had taken. Because a man knew that the earth has been wheeled unto me. Those actions are spot out of revelation. I'm telling telling you that there is something you must know about God that gives you confidence to their exploits. Else would not even try. Hey. Yes, sir. What what what gives a man that consciousness that can take this amount of soldiers and go on? Gideon took 10,000 plus soldiers, and God told him, he said, these people are too much.

Let's eliminate them. And 10,000 reduced to 300. How do you take 300 men to go and face armies? 100 of thousands, armies, encounters. How do you even have the confidence to do so? Encounters. Because God had told him, I will give you the Midianites as one man. In other words, I will compress the entire Midianite soldier together. You will strike them as one man. It means it does not matter how...

It means even 300 is too much. It doesn't matter how many you take. In the realm of the spirit. In the physical realm, you might be seeing 100,000 soldiers. But in the spirit realm, all of them are one. And when you go there, you you just caught their head. It means only Gideon could afford that battle. Because realities in the physical realm only bend to the strength of your encounters. A man is only as weak as the encounter he has not had. A man is only as frail as the encounter he has not had.

Even your calling is defined by your encounters. You will struggle to be like other men if God has not defined who you had to you by encounters. You will think that your calling is like is like this person's calling and will only become an echo eventually. Your boldness and the strength of your utterance is only as defined by your encounters. If God has not revealed anything to you and you have not seen anything in God, to make sudden pronouncement because a man of God said it is to be foolish. You might pay the price daily. There are things I will never try because God has not showed me. I won't go and buy a land in the wilderness, in the desert, and say people come and meet me there. God not tell me. Somebody here, we went into the wilderness, and we bought the land, and I saw.

Okay. And you're not going back. You you you will stay there yourself and your family. Nobody else will come there. Bishop Oedipu went abroad, and then he was hacked. It was by a white man in The US some years ago, many years ago. I'm sure it must have been many years ago. Didn't specify the year. He was in The US, and then he met the white man who told him that he wants to sign for the ministry a blank check. Tell me what your ministry need.

Bishop said I laughed, I said, the ministry has no need. I can't say that. You don't understand what I'm saying. The kind of things you say is on the strength of your encounters. To go and repeat what a man said and you have not seen what he saw, you will be defeated. You will only be an echo. There are things I can say. There are things I I have seen. Yes, sir. Yes, And I can say with all boldness.

Somebody else hears it and go and goes to try it, you'll be defeated. You'll be unashamed. I can come and announce that this ministry is not subject to anybody's help. Give or you don't give, what we do here will remain the same. I say that by a reasonable encounter. It's not what men of God say. You go and try it. That day your destiny ever will come. He wants to give you 10,000,000 naira. The moment you are saying is you say, man of God.

I would rather give an NGO this morning because there's no grace upon you. You have not had any encounter. You're only an echo. You are trying to sound like a man of God. Men don't speak because it sounds nice. Men speak from encounters. When I stand and I say nobody, no demon can try this. No this can try. There is something I have seen. I can go into territories and go and command or should I say go and unseat princes, unseat municipalities, and go back home with the full assurance that nothing can happen to me.

And I will declare before the princess, you can't... There's an encounter I have had. A man of God will try the same thing, and they will say, I speak to the prince of the hare in this place. Begone. And they will see manifestations. He will see power everywhere, physical signs. As he's going home, accident was waiting for him. His vehicle will somersault, and he will come with the story to come and create a doctrine out of his experience to say he don't try because he has had no encounter. The realm of the spirit don't respect echoes. Every man carry the signature based on the encounter he has had.

The bible says the seven came to the man that was possessed by demons, and then they told him, get out. We adore you by the name of Jesus whom Paul preached. And the seven son of Kiva looked at him and said, Paul, I know. Paul, I know. It means the realm of the spirit can know you. The question is what have you seen? Did Paul not see the Lord? Did he not appear to him and say, Paul, Paul, why persecutors thou me? Who are you, Lord? And God personally introduced himself to a man.

His ministry came out of an encounter, and it was so strong he bore a mark in the realm of the spirit. So much so, even after his departure, men, demons still said Paul that you mentioned, we know. Jesus, whose name you are using, we know. But you have no identity. Because even your identity is based on your encounters. The bible says that in... He ordained the 12. In Mark three and verse 14, he ordained the 12. He appointed them that they might be with him. Many have not passed the test of being with him.

They sent themselves out. The reason why you must first be with him is so that it can solidify encounters with you in your heart. You must go out on the strength of the God you have seen because it is the God that you see that you reveal to your generation. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. It is the God that you see that you reveal to your world. It is the God that you see that you reveal to your generation. So if your experience as a believer is powerless, then all that you will be able to reveal to your generation is a powerless God. You cannot reveal to a people a God you have not met. That is why God begins with every man with an encounter.

This is not for men of God. This is not for pastors. This is for every man that wants to rise to become anything in this kingdom. The strength of your exploits is dependent on the encounter you have. Please stay with me. The encounter of Gideon meeting such a mighty man. And you will see the empowerment that came from those encounters. The voices of men amplified by reason of the encounters they had. You will hear a man say that my voice is like fire. When I speak to you, your heart will burn, and you will hear the same thing, and you will think it's only insane.

And you come and repeat the same thing just because a man said it. At best, you are an echo. That man said that thing out of an experience he has had with God. And truly when he speaks, the hearts of men begins to burn. But you are saying the same thing yet nothing is happening. It is probably because you are speaking... You are just copying an... You are copying a reality of which experience you have not had. You are copying the reality of which experience you have not had. A reality of whose experience you have not had.

And so many people do this. There is something God will show you that in your business, you will start flying and no harm will ever bring you down. This is the secret to the immutability of men. That when you see men walk in certain dimensions in this earth realm, there is something they know. Listen to me. A man of God can have an evangelistic ministry, and God reveals a dimension of himself to you that powers that ministry. Subconsciously, men will give to that ministry. He will be holding crusades so easily. The finances for it, even men he doesn't know. They will be rushing to give because there is a grace that has come upon that work based on the strength of the encounter he has had.

Now a man of God who God is just helping, we now see that person and say, my goodness. I I I also have an evangelistic ministry. I also have this and that and that. And you don't know that this man, what is powering what he's doing is an encounter. You will now dump and say, oh, you know what? Let's go and start organizing crusades. The first two crusades you organized, they put you in prison. You are owing the sound person. You are owing the chair people. You are owing the tent people.

No money for crusade. You borrow money from loan harp. You were expecting that tithe and offering to cover it. There's no money anywhere. And you are wondering, is this how hard ministry is? Is this how hard life is? I thought you are saving souls. But who sent you? That's the question. Who sent you?

Who sent you? That was what Moses asked God. Who will I tell them sent me? Who will I tell them sent me? Jesus. There's a grace and an empowerment. Listen. You must place value on encounters. I'm saying all of these things so that you appreciate what I want to teach you. This is not my teaching.

I'm still introducing. Yes, sir. So you come to appreciate the value of this thing. A lot of believers don't value encounters. Don't even know the the place and the excellence of encounters. We do not. And so many people have encountered what they let it pass them by. That is why the bible says this is the generation of them that seek you, oh Jacob. Because we see the error of encounters and the blessing of encounters in Jacob. Both of them are seen in one man.

How that a man can miss God and a man can find God in one man. So it shows you a pattern on how not to seek him, and it shows you how to seek him. In one man. So it became a pattern. Because the bible says as he was going, he slept and he had a revelation. God came to him, but he was unaware. He was unconscious. The encounter had no value to him despite the fact that it was very real. It means a man can have a real encounter but have no profit from it. We see it in the life of Jacob.

This man wasted twenty four years of his life, twenty four years of his life because he could not discern when God visited him. He said, God was here, and I knew it not. That God can visit a man, and a man would not know. That God can visit a man, and a man would not know. And we see again that when God visited him, a man can insist that this is the day that my life must change. The same thing we see again in Jacob. No wonder he says, this is the generation that seek him. It means if you will seek God, there are lessons you must learn from Jacob. So that you don't say like Jacob said, that God was here, and I knew it not. It means your word can come and it missed you.

The pathway of encounter. Stay with me. God was here, and I knew it not, Jacob said. Believers must learn to place such value on encounters. Encounters are spiritual capital. You can build businesses, organizations, industries, ministries on encounters. People will look at you and say, do you have a capital? And you will say yes. And they will look at you and they will find no money in your account. But truly, you know what you are saying.

Jesus Christ. Do you believe what I'm telling you? This is why I taught you on Sunday. God is spirit. If you know that God is spirit, then you will know that what God gives you can be capital, those spiritual. I've not read of the of the... I've not read the book of the book of of kings, second kings and first kings, how that God met with a man called Solomon, and it was in a dream of a night. And God came and asked that man, what do you want? And Solomon said, just give me wisdom. God said, goodness.

You have asked for wisdom. I'm not the life of your enemy. More than wisdom, I will give you wealth. I will give you my goodness. Do you see? This was spiritual. It was not as though the moment he finished, heaven supplied gold and silver to him. What he was receiving was spiritual capital. You can draw a business plan and prevent your business plan to someone who is probably able to help you, give you a grant or give you an investment. Is that not so?

Yes, sir. And the person looks and observes the plan you have drawn and says, okay. No problem. Take this amount of money, and the person gives you 10,000,000 naira, 50,000,000 naira, whatever amount of money is needed to start business. And you are happy, you are excited, not because the business have begun, but you know that everything that will bring that business to reality have just arrived. In other words, the business now has a foundation upon which I can begin to build on. If I need to get pan, the pan can come from this thing. If I need to get point now. That's exactly what I mean when I say encounters are spiritual capital. It means even the 10,000,000 can come from the encounter.

It is a more powerful capital. Because it it it calls every other thing that is physical to itself. Yes, sir. You can spend encounters, the women, the... To build a ministry, to build a vision. And the only thing you can say is, God sent me. God sent me. I have seen God. Yes, sir. When God was telling Moses, go and let my people go.

God never told him, I will kill the firstborn. God never told him I will turn the river to the blood. God never told him, I will infect those with frogs. I will waste their products and allow crickets and grasshoppers to chew on their harvest. God never told him all of that, but it wasn't the encounter. Everything that he would need to fulfill that mandate was in the encounter. He never need to see another burning bush. All of that. So if it's time before pharaoh and pharaoh said, no. I won't let them go.

Alright. No problem. See the signs. And if after seeing the signs, pharaoh still says, no. I won't let them go, then the first plague can come. That one was in the encounter. Second plague can come. Fourth plague can come until the tenth one. If Pharaoh had still not let them go, 11 will come. 12 will come.

13 will come. 14 will come because because the the results of the encounter are are eternal. You can't exhaust it. It means one encounter you have can sustain your ministry for hundred years. It is true. You you you can't exhaust it. The reason why I'm saying we will be great. It's the only reason why I'm saying it why I said it in 2016. Yes, sir. You don't understand what I'm saying?

Sir. It is it is such value you can place on it. Go and check Paul's ministry. Paul's writing. He was shame that one encounter. That one encounter. When they appeared before the kings, when they appeared before the Greeks, when I when I appeared before the Jews, the same encounter, I was on my way to Damascus. I was on my way to Damascus. I was... One encounter.

Look at what it came. Look at what look at what it bettered. Look at what it bettered. It is capital. Industries can come out of it. Yes, sir. Businesses can come out of it. Yes, sir. Illustrious careers can come out of it. Yes, It is true.

It is true. So whilst you are busy chasing for money, why not chase God? Because you will find God and realize that it is all it is all the value you may ever need. This is the reason why we say it is never a waste spending time with God. Because one one encounter that a man receives one encounter that a man receives can make up for ten years of his life, can bring twenty years into two months. Bishop was inside a three days retreat. A three days retreat. And all of a sudden, shouted, I will never be poor again. Go and shout it. And see if it will...

If if it is in the power of shout. What did he see? Because whatever he saw is what covenant university came out of. There was no covenant when they saw it. There was no landmark when they saw it. There was no tabernacle when they saw it. There was no... What's the name of the one they are building now when they saw it. Yet everything came out of one encounter. I will never be poor again.

In that day, all the wealth and the abundance that that ministry will need till Jesus returns was in that encounter. So any project that will come out of that vision is already eternally funded by an encounter. A lot of people have sent themselves ahead of God. They have not... They are... There there is nothing tangible you are holding on to as per what God has told you or or as per the dimension of God you have seen. That kind of a life leads to frustration. You will keep on trying multiple things that will not work out. Your ministry will be... Or your business or your life will be based off trial and error, especially multiple trial and errors.

Multiple trial and errors. You will try and copy everybody you know. How is this person doing it? How is that person doing it? Okay. They are doing this now. Okay. They are doing that now. Because even the structure of your ministry or your business will come with encounters. Yes, sir.

Yes, sir. Every ministry must grow in structure. As you grow, there is structure that preserves what God has given to you. If you have not have defined encounters by God, you can create structures that will choke your calling based on what you saw somebody else doing because you want to copy what is trending. Whereas, your ordination has nothing to do with what is trending. Your call has nothing to do with what is trending. But you were not careful enough to allow God reveal himself to you, especially in the dimension that he has called to represent. You jumped off because you saw people doing this thing. Let me go and do the same thing too. And you did not allow yourself to be instructed.

You think because a man said I started this ministry in five years, it has reached the entire world. Means your own tools are in five years. No. The speakings and the experiences of men come from the encounters with God. Come from the encounters with God. Yours... The script of your life. When you have encounters, comparison stops. Competition stops. Because all of a sudden, you'll see that the the the path that has not been for you can only be fulfilled by you.

Comparison stops. You may never hold a microphone, but you'll be fulfilled. You might celebrate the evangelist because he has 10,000 people following him trying to touch his clothes, but God has called you to be an intercessor. And your destiny, your ministry is to intercede for what the evangelist is doing, intercede for what the apostle is doing. And you will be deceived to think that yours has no relevance because nobody celebrates you, because nobody knows you. Our popularity is not before men. It's before God. Yes. To be popular before men is vain. To be popular before God is influence.

This is the difference between fame and influence. A man can just be popular but holds no influence over a generation. He speaks and he's... You... We might like to hear what he's saying, but the truth is that what he's saying has no power to change our hearts. We will still do what we want to do. That's not influence. That's popularity. Sir. Lord, what I want to say.

We we can like to hear what you are saying because you make sense. You have read so many books, and you've applied so many strategies. And based off the strategies you have applied, you have been able to grow your social media following and your ministry page and all of that, and you have gathered a large foil amongst you, doesn't mean that you have influence. When you have influence, it means you have the years and the heart of a generation. When Jesus spoke, he said that our heart not born whilst he spoke to us. Your words are beyond just mere advice to a people. Your words are commands to a generation. Yes, sir. This is what some of us are here for. This is why our model cannot be as the world practices it.

Because the outcome of our ministry cannot be as the world... As as we have seen in the world. I'll try as much as possible to be simple so you understand what I'm saying. There are certain heights in the spirit that you only get to by encounters. For someone here, it might be the reason why you have been pegged at the spot for long. Be it as a man of God, as a student, a business person, a career person. Because your life is barren of genuine encounters. There are certain heights in the spirit that you only get to by encounters. Encounters are ladders in the spirit. Encounters enable you to ascend heights and realms in the spirit.

There are graces and mantles that you would need encounters to receive. So you must place value on spiritual encounters. And if you truly hunger after God and the things of God, if you desire that your life becomes a tool that God will use to show forth his multifaceted wisdom and power, then you must pray for spiritual encounters. God kind of encounters. An encounter is an experience you have with God that makes God real to you. This has been my definition for many years. It is any experience that makes God real to you. Any spiritual experience that crystallizes the reality of God into you in a personal way. Any experience that crystallizes the reality of God to you in a personal way. You don't decide the experience, but you have them.

The God that you experience is the God that you reveal to your generation. The God that you experience is the God that you reveal to generation. The dimension of God that you encounter, that is the dimension that you reveal to generation. If you encounter the dimension of God that is mighty, it is that might of God that you will reveal to your word. If you are... If your if your experience as a believer is is barren of ever increasing testimony of the hand of God. It only goes to show that there is a serious bankruptcy of encounters. Daniel 11 verse 32, the people that know their God, they shall be strong, they shall do exploits. According to Exodus chapter six from verse one to verse three, we see something powerful there. God reveals himself to people dimensionally.

In verse one, the bible says, the Lord said to Moses, now you shall see what I will do to pharaoh. For with a strong hand, he will let them go and with a strong hand, he will drive them out of this land. So what is the outcome? The outcome is that God will do something to pharaoh that will allow pharaoh to release the people of Israel with a strong hand. In other words, pharaoh wasn't just gonna allow them go if he does not see a demonstration of the strong hand of God. Are you with me? Yes, sir. But he will let them go. And not only will he let them go, he will drive them out of his land. That was the outcome.

Verse two, and God spoke to Moses and said to him, I harm the Lord. Do you have the amplified version? NLT, wanna say something. Yes. NKJV, back to NKJV. I am the Lord. I am the Lord. This is an encounter. God is revealing a dimension of himself to Moses. But what is powerful here is what goes on, what he goes on to say in verse three.

Verse three says, I appear... This is God still speaking. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God almighty. But by my name, Lord, I was not known to them. God says, I am the Lord. So this dimension that I have revealed unto you, Abraham did not see it. Isaac did not see it. Jacob did not see it. What is necessitating this dimension I'm revealing to you? Because by a strong hand, pharaoh will drive the people of Israel out of his land.

And if this will happen, then you must know the Lord. In other words, the outcome of your ministry determines the encounter you will have. Oh. Oh. This is what God wants to do through my ministry. And to do this, he must reveal to me the dimension of himself that carries that possibility. It is on the strength of that dimension that I have seen, that the grace and the empowerment and the message and everything that will that will... That it will bring will come. Do you understand what I am saying? I am the Lord.

The word Lord there means the owner. I've taught this before. It means the owner. So what God is saying is I am the owner. So when he starts in verse one, verse one says, verse one says, Pharaoh will let them go with a strong hand. With a strong hand, he will drive them out of his hand because I am the owner. In other words, I am the owner of these people. Pharaoh has laid possession to what is not his own. And you are going to go and deliver my property. So don't see...

It means it means the mentality Moses is carrying to Pharaoh's house or Pharaoh's palace is God's property must be delivered. Not not not not not these are my kingsmen. These are my family members. What Moses is seeing is this is God's people. And if you don't let them go, then face the wrath of God. The one that owns them came to collect them. That is the man of Jesus. That's why Moses can stand before Pharaoh and say, God said, let my people go. Even that that that statement came from the revelation of the owner. Yes.

Hey. Because God has told him, I own these people. Remember. Remember. God almighty, Abraham knew. God almighty, Isaac knew. God almighty, Jacob knew. God almighty is the word all sufficient. That explains the wealth they experience. That explains the provision they experience.

The bible says Isaac sold in that land and he... In the same year, he got a hundredfold because the God he knew was all sufficient. You can't exhaust him in resources and provisions. You can't exhaust him. That was the dimension that was revealed unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob. So when Jacob met Esau, Esau said I have enough. Jacob said I have more than enough because the God I know is all sufficient. Are you with me? But by my name, Honah, I was not known to them. Honah, that is the reason why Abraham can think that Sarah will be stolen because he did not know the Honah.

He didn't know that there is another force that protects what I have. So so I I I I can think that I will lose it because I don't know God owns it. In other words, I know God has given me all these things, but I don't know the one that gave me owns it. It means if anybody ever contends with it for me, it's not me you contend with. You contend with the one that owns it. And guess what? Abraham did not have that knowledge. Isaac did not have that knowledge. Jacob did not have that knowledge. As a matter of fact, for Isaac, Isaac will will go and dig wells.

They will... The well that he that he struggled and labored to dig, they will come and collect the well from him. He will go and dig another. They will come and collect it from him. Finally, when he got to the last place, he said, this is real both for God has made a place for me finally. But how about the first one? Did you know the owner? That's the question. In other words, the dimension of God that is absent in your dealings with God will be reflected in the limitations you passed your generation. That means that if in my walk with God, there are certain dimensions I did not content to receive or content to see.

My children will bear the consequences because they will only know God as far as I have known. This is why I said, dimension of God we encounter is the one you can reveal to your world. If you encounter a healing God, that becomes the direction of your exploits. Your exploits in this kingdom is limited to the dimension of God that you encounter. The dimension of God that you encounter becomes the direction of your exploits. If you encounter a healing God, prosperity will not suddenly find its way to your life. You will have to know the God that makes men prosper. It is the reason why in spite of our knowledge of God, there might still be areas in our lives where it look as though we'd not even know God at all. Look at what Paul says in Philippians at the zenith of his apostolic ministry. Philippians three and verse 10, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformed into his death.

Do you know that till today, we continue to contemplate the writings of Paul? That man single handedly wrote two third of the epistles. What you call the epistles of Paul is actually the documentation of a man's contemplations. His writings to different churches and his different predator children in an attempt to teach and mentor them. This is where we draw a larger portion of our understanding of doctrine from. In other words, what we know today to be doctrine is a man's letter to his spiritual son. It's like I compose a method on WhatsApp and I send to you, and that becomes doctrine. It was the instruction... The book of first Timothy and second Timothy were Paul's writing to Timothy. The book of Philemon were Paul's writing to Philemon.

The book of Corinthians were Paul's writing to the Corinthian church. And this became go and read the content of those epistles. The Bible says that in the gospels, Jesus was speaking to his disciples. He says he says he says, there are things I want to teach you. There are things I want to reveal to you, but you cannot bear them now. But low, when the spirit of truth is come, he will teach you all things. In other words, you cannot know all things if you study the gospels alone because it was not revealed to the disciples. Because they did not have the ability. It means to know Jesus and to understand the image of God, to understand the nature and the character of God as seen in the gospels, you study the gospel or you... As seen in Jesus rather, you study the gospels.

But to mature as a Christian, to mature as a believer, to understand the basic and the fundamental the fundamental tenets of the Christian faith, you don't read the gospels. You start on Romans. Because in the gospels, you have no idea that there are warfares against principalities and powers. It is the book of Corinthians that shows us. It's the book of Ephesians that shows us. The bibles... In in the gospels, we have no idea that even your imagination can be a stronghold. It's the book of Corinthians that shows us this way. We we have no idea that there are hierarchies to demonic spirits. Jesus not teach his disciples that.

It was Paul who told us that there are principalities, there are powers, spiritual wickedness in high places. We have no idea that peace can be weapon of war. We have no idea that there is a way believer appears like a soldier in the realm of the spirit. He wear the breastplate of righteousness. He hold the shield of faith. He hold the sword of the spirit. We have no This is not revealed in the gospels. The gospel was not revealed to us that we have become the right churches of God in Christ Jesus. The gospel does not reveal to us the consequence of the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus, but it only shows all that Jesus died. But what happened as a result of his death wasn't shown?

In other words, we don't know that he went to hell from the gospels. All of this from the writings of a man. What has become the foundation of the Christian faith from the writings of a man? At the zenith of his ministry, the man then says that I may know him. What else do you want to know? But there are still other dimensions of God that even himself did not know. So he says that I might know him, the fellowship of his sufferings, the confirmation of his death. These were all the dimension that Paul was saying, even I am yet to explore this. We live in a world where a lot of people pride themselves over having known God as though we know all there is about God. This is the reason you must always humble yourself regardless of whatever height you might have attained in doctrine.

There is always still something you have not known. In fact, it is even possible to know a healing God. But there are very elementary aspects of healing that you may know and even experience. And you see, that healing ministry in its fullness does not speak in your life yet because there are still virgin dimensions of healing that you can learn. Even with respect to prosperity, with respect to increase, with respect to the anointing. When you look at the results that certain men are having in the body of Christ, it might look like we have been able to capture all there is to God. But listen to me, based on the curriculum that God has preordained and predestined for our generation, as far as learning him is concerned, we are still a long way to go. Let us not look at the exploit of some men and believe that is all there is to God. Oh, no. There are certain levels of revival that depends on us exhausting this curriculum in a hurry.

There are certain dimensions of revival that the world has not seen. There are certain ways that the river can start that the world has not seen. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. One of my sons messaged me yesterday and was telling me how that he was just in his room. He was just in his room. And as he was in his room, Muslim neighbor started crying and weeping and came to his room. It was he was messaging me as it was happening. Came to his room crying and weeping saying, save me. Save me.

I'm tired of this life of sin. You you think it's your anointing as a minister? It's not your anointing. Are virgin dimensions that there's a way revivals can break out in territories that we have not even seen. Yes, sir. He held the Muslim man that he he he went out flat under the power. Muslim. Flat under the power, screaming on top of his voice. Lord, save me. Lord, save me.

Lord, save me. Save me. He's supposed to... He's ready to be saved. What do I do? I didn't lead him to Christ. Preach the gospel to him. Just the fact that he's shouting doesn't mean he's saved. The principle is you believe in your heart and you confect with your mouth. Yes, sir.

I'm doing that now, sir. It was in his in his room. A Muslim boy was being saved. That is what the holy spirit alone can do. No no man preached to him. He just started weeping and crying all of a sudden. There are dimensions we have not seen. You you can go to a classroom, and you're just teaching, and people start breaking into tears. They they start crying for no reason. They can't hold you responsible.

It's not your fault. These are virgin dimensions. And they are holding a a meeting to sanction you, and they are saying, why would you in this school, we don't halal? They break into tears even at their thought. Now you stand there. The only thing you can do is manage the situation because you're not the one causing it, but you have seen God. And by the emotion of God you have seen, it's starting to become an outflow in your heart. Jesus Christ. Then the dimension of God a man can see that all you will ever know is favor. Favor.

Favor. That is not just in confessions. This thing resonates with encounters. You you see the emotion of God that no man that sees you can ever reject you. Even when you are the least qualified for a thing, they will still want to walk with you because you have seen God. That is that is a a a a portrait that you reveal to your generation. How about a man who is the least qualified? The least qualified. A lady was employed to work as a secretary just to, you know, being paid a ridiculous amount of money in terms of its smallness to a to a big man. And he was walking faithfully.

And one day, the man just came. He was traveling in his private jet. And told the lady that the manifest of those who is following him, the lady should be the one to put the names together of those that will follow him because they had a conference in another country. So whoever name is not there will follow the general plane because it's under country. So follow... It was still a plane, but commercial. And then he was with the man. The man was walking out and stopped. Say, where is it? Give it to him.

Thank you. Where's your name? He said, oh, I didn't put... Put your name there. The lady said,. It's already complete. We already have the head of this, head of them, head of this. What's concluding there? Yes, sir. Sir.

What was the... That was our first experience in a private jet. From then ends, but wherever the man was flying, the man said, you are following me. You are following me. You are following me. He now became... She she became the one that selects who is not allowed in personal meetings, in private meetings. Door was open for her to meet kings and princes. It's a dimension of favor. You see, you've not seen all the risk to the favor of God.

There are still virgin dimensions even in this. Even in this. That's what I'm telling you. Even in this. And your life can be an example of that. But in respect to the encounter that you have, this is what determines the result you have. I really hope I'm able to challenge us to a place where we sincerely hunger and thirst for this. Sincerely. Sincerely. I wanna teach you something about the encounters tonight that will change your life and to put you in a position where your Christian experience begin to produce extraordinary results.

Because without encounters, your life remain ordinary. It takes genuine encounters to rise. It takes genuine encounters to access power both with men and with God. There are men that you see, and it looks as though they are not afraid of anything. And you wonder, is it they are not afraid of life? Because they dare life with such a level of confidence that is almost disturbing. Actually, almost tell them be careful. Oh, be careful. That confidence is not intrinsic. They were not born with it.

It was outsourced and derived from the excellency of their encounters with God. How dare you stand before Goliath without any military training and tell him I will cut off your head? Who are you? A young boy from nowhere? A young boy from nowhere? When you see people dare life like this, they have met God. It is based on an encounter. Else, life will show you that what you are saying is a joke. Moses said, who should I say sent me? It's a question that life will always ask you.

Who sent you? The realm of the spirit will always ask you, who sent you? You are asking for favor. Who sent you? You are asking to to to get this job in this position. Who sent you? These doors only open to a certain type of persons. Who sent you? How dare you come without any connection to any chief to any chief justice and just think the door will open to you? Who are you?

And you must be able to give a reply. A reply based on the God you have met. Lift up your heads, oh, gates. Be lifted up, you everlasting doors, that the king of glory might come in. Even the gates asked, who is that king of glory? So how dare you think that gate will open to you without asking you, who are you? They ask the king of glory. Who is that king of glory? And a man thinks that it is it is the law of life. You just get to a place and everything start falling together.

No. No. No. No. No. When the bible says that since I was born and now I am getting hold, I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed beg for bread. Understand that this was a man's experience he was detailing. It's not the experience of all believers because there are several righteous people who are begging for bread. Your experiences are defined by your encounters. Several righteous people who are begging for bread.

A man can go on quoting that scripture. I've never seen directors forsake. We even we even sing it as songs. People sing it as songs, and yet it is not the experience of people. If you will contend for encounters, you would see how your life will change because these things are capitals. You can build your life on encounters. You can build your ministry. You can build your marriage. The Bible says, Jesus asked Peter and the disciples, who do men say that I am? And all of them could say something based on what they have heard others say.

They said, some said that you are Elias. Some said that you are Jeremiah. Some said that you are one of the prophets. Who who who exactly do men say that I am? And they had something to say, but he now asked them based on your own dealing with me. These men that have opinions about me have not dined with me. I've not taught them personally. I have taught you personally. Who do you say that I am? Or have you just been following me?

And guess what? There was silence. None of them could speak save a man called Peter. All of a sudden, lifted his voice and he said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. The moment he finished speaking, do you know that... It's not amazing that that a revelation or as basic as thou art the Christ. They didn't know it. So the question is, who are you following? Elijah, Jeremiah, who are you following? I told you that you can believe a man but not know him.

Based on the signs that you see. Based on the signs that you see. And a man spoke. He said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. And the moment he was done speaking, see what God said. He said, Simon, Peter, by Jonah, flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who was in heaven, this is an encounter. What he has had here is an encounter. Flesh and blood cannot reveal it to you. It is my father who was in heaven. Basic as it is, it's an encounter.

And Jesus told him upon this rock, I will build. He wasn't saying upon this Peter. Peter was not the rock that God will build his church on. Peter is too small an entity for him to be the one that God will build the the entirety of the universal church on. It was upon this revelation, upon this thing you have said. In other words, upon the revelation of the fact that I am the Christ, the son of the living God. That's what Paul now says when he says, on this rock, no man can build any other thing that is different from what we have built. On this rock is called a chief cornerstone. Every other stone is built upon him. That is the rock on wings on...

Upon which the the church is built. Are you with me? So what God is saying is it is on this revelation you have seen that I will build my church. Which revelation is holding your business? Because if the gates of Edith not prevail, it is because it is built on a revelation. If the gates of Eden will not prevail, it is because it is built on a revelation. There must be a revelation that sponsors your academics. There must be a revelation that sponsors your ministry, your business. Every part of your life must be governed by revelation. If it's not built on one, then the gates of Eden will fight it and it will prevail.

It will prevail upon this rock. In other words, every revelation or or encounter that you have becomes a rock, a rock from whence you can build your life, a spiritual capital. Many of us are not aware of the kind of giants we will meet on our mountains. There's no mountain that is empty. Every mountain has giants. When the children of Israel faced their giants, they said we were like grasshoppers. Only two men in that generation entered the promised land. Only two men. You need an encounter with God. You want to do ministry?

Do you know the kinds of challenges that have been programmed by the enemy that are waiting for you? You need an encounter with God to embolden you, to give you audacity that it takes to do what you have to do. When you see people share their pains in ministry as to how principalities and demons oppress them and they try to, you know... These things happen. These stories, I have seen men of God whom I know fall down on the pulpit and die. Slum and die. Some of you have had experiences. Some men of God whom you know go for meetings and never come back. I've had stories told me from when we were growing up even. I've had people who who believe they had callings, but when the battles rose, the thought will rise to 100, sometimes 50, and crash back to five.

And there will always be one one issue, one fight, one problem that causes it. Sometimes it can be so useless. And everybody will start fighting. Before you know, that one goes, that one goes, that one goes, until they drop back to five. And it goes on for twenty years, thirty years. That's that's not... That's a principality. You don't cast out principalities. You cast out demons. Demons are not principalities.

The reason why you cast out demons is because they are disembodied spirits, and they they they they occupy occupy human host or living host. Principalities are not disembodied. They have their own bodies. They came from heaven with their own bodies. They can even change and wear another person's body. The bible says the devil can change himself from angel of light. So the reason why you can cast out a demon demons is is because because he's where he's not meant to be. He's in a host that is not meant to occupy. Do you understand what saying? Yes, sir.

Principalities are not like that. They are called dominions. They rule over territories. It is revelation that unset them. It is the strength of your encounter with God. So when you hear people say stories, it is true. The reason why it is different for us because we have seen something. The fathers of faith went into into literal forbidden forests. The story is told of how he went to a village to go and study church, and they told him the only land we can give you is in the forbidden forest where sacrifices are made to the idols. Nobody ever enter and comes back.

The man of God said that's where we are going. I love that land. And he went there, cleared the land and started church. Not a single record of attack once. Somebody else can go there and say, wow. When we got there, as we were sleeping, snake bit us. It took the power of God. It was small. I would have died. The difference is in the depth of the encounters we have had.

It is in the depth of the encounters we have had, and every mountain of influence that God is sending you to, be it the media, be it politics, be it business, has principalities, has giants, the sons of Hanak, the Nephilims. The Nephilims, the Sussamines, they are there sitting on every mountain of influence. You will find them there. You better know now that you will find them there, and God must make you a God to them. That is the purpose of encounters. You don't just match there with your certificate and your CV and say I I rise to aspire to greatness. And you say, oh, I'll be allowed to sit in the in the UN, celebrating with kings just like that. Come on now. You think life is a joke? If it were, everybody will be there.

Yes, sir. They say if wishes were horses, beggars were right. It is true. A lot of desires many of us have in our minds, and we don't understand that there is a price to pay to get there. It's not wishes that get you there. There's an encounter you must have with God. And even as you march into, you will make rejections from principalities. What will make you stand before them and say never and not be afraid of what they will do because they have the power to close all doors to you. Ah, if I've not seen God. If I've not seen God, where somebody tells you if you don't do this, we will do this, and they give you a threat you know they are more than capable of doing.

Giants. Giants. You probably enter into a position where you are capable of giving contract to people in a government level, in a federal level, in state level, and you have 1,000,000,000, 1,500,000,000 to repair a road that lives from one local government to the other. And you have someone who is God fearing you wanna do that project to. Then one baba from somewhere says, we know someone who will give it to. This is the person you must give. And you wanna ask around. This is the person they have been giving for the past ten years, they have done nothing about that land. It means 1,500,000,000 every year for ten years. This guy has pocketed.

And now he stands before you again saying, oh god, send me. And you know you're about to tell him no. The detriment of your... Even your life. Do you know the kinds of politics that happen in in places of power? Some of you don't think that just think because we are young. We are not a small... A small boy. The hell you wake up, the better. So that you will not sleep the sleep of death.

I don't know who came up with the proverb that says a fool at 40 is a fool forever. A fool at 15 is a fool forever. Why in the world will you be foolish at 15? You can read and write. Jeremiah was already a prophet to nations. Josiah was already a king. Jesus was in the temple learning. And you are just foolish opening your tongue on social media. Don't be a fool. They are still young.

Why are you disturbing? They are still young. Let them grow. Let them grow. This is how they grow. It is good for a man. It is good for a man. Oh, bear his yoke when he is... It it means this is the time. You need an encounter with God.

Some of you some of you, there will be forces that will stand in your way just because you are trying to do something that has never been done in your family or even in your ancestry or even your generation. Some of you are not battling demons. You are battling powers that are older than your ancestors. And their mandate is to ensure that nobody from this family, and there you are having dreams, that you are the one that will put your family's surname on Google. That whenever they search for Adigu, it is only one person that will come out. And and this is the vision God is showing to you. And you think that you just say, you say, howdy. Howdy. You are joking. You really are joking.

Do you know do you know how wicked the devil is? Do you do you know how wicked the devil is? The devil... Have you read your bible? This guy was willing to lay waste to an entire generation just to kill one man. He said every male child, not without exception, he ended a generation. Go and read your bible. He ended a generation. Age two and above, no... None of them existed.

To kill one man. That's how much he's willing to go. So that the seed will not manifest. That's how much he's willing to go. That's how much he's willing to go. So that the seed will not manifest, and God has put a seed in your heart. And you think it is true wishes that you will get there? Never. Never. Especially if you came from from ancestries or from family that you know there is intense warfare.

Intense warfare. Please don't listen to me. If you come from these kinds of ancestry, do not compare yourself. Take your life seriously and your destiny by the horns. It is folly to not have an advantage and still be unserious. It is folly. If a man is unserious, probably he has a plan b. If you have no plan b anywhere, and you still treat your life like a joke, what is funny? What is funny? This has nothing to do with being a man of God.

You know that over five people in your family has cancer. And it never happens when they are young. It is always at the prime of their life. Age 50, age 40, age 60, and you're in that same family. Can God not show you something that puts an end not only to your own pain, but to the pain of your ancestry? That because of you, a light shines in the generation, that you become a builder of a city, that you become a strong man becau... Of a family, That the father's house knows that a strong man has arisen. That you put an end to altars that might have been built. And priest who might have been appointed to find demonic altars because a priest arose in righteousness. It will take encounters with God.

Listen to me. Listen to me. It will take encounters with God. I know the kind of family I come out of. I know. I know. So I know I I cannot be foolish. I don't have the... I don't have the privilege to be foolish. I don't have the privilege of folly.

Some people do. I don't. Because there are advantages that are not available to some of us. Yes. There are advantages that are not available to some of us. And if some of us will reach where God has said we should reach, we will not reach dead just smiling as though we are catwalking. No. No. Some of us, when we arrive at the palace, our foot will be dirty. There will be blood on our forehead, blood dripping down.

Because we've not arrived there because our father was a king. We arrived there fighting our way into the palace. There were demons you have to fight out of the way. There were principality you have to fight out of the throne. When they put the crown on our head, it it is with blood bleeding. And we say, yes. We we we we... Jesus Christ. Hear me. Hear me.

Hear me. There is something you will see that the stronghold in your family will be like nothing to you. I'm telling you. Telling you. You you will never be afraid of anything again. It is it is based on a revelation. Somebody will speak and threaten you and you will be afraid for them. You will say, ah, what have you said? I'm telling you, it is based on an encounter. Based on an encounter.

Listen, this is not the experience of everybody. It is not. Sadly, it is not. It is meant to be, but it is not. Listen, sit down. Have your seat. Listen. I'll give us time to pray. Just just pay attention. I really wanna teach.

I really wanna teach. There are three kinds of encounters that I intend to show us, but because of time, I'm gonna show us one today, and I pray that we would have the time to talk about the remaining next week, Tuesday. I pray. I really hope that I have the chance to do that. But today, I wanna speak three kinds of encounters. Two, three levels of encounters for the believer to press into, to access wisdom, to access grace that is needed to live an effective life and to dominate. The first dimension or the first level of encounter that you need, which is... Which I consider to be the most important that you must press into this evening and all the days of your life till you go and be with God. The most important dimension of encounter that a believer must always have is what I call divine illumination. Encounter by the word or light from scriptures.

Divine illumination. Encounter by the word or light from scriptures. It is not the only encounter you must have, but it's the most important. It is the foundational. Every other thing builds on this. Is that okay? This is the first kind of encounter you must have if you will do exploits with God. Listen. And this encounter that comes by the word is not a one time experience. This is the most superior of all the kinds of encounters you will have and desire as a believer, and this kind of encounter can be a daily experience of the believer depending on your press, depending on your hunger, depending on your passion.

You can have this encounter every day. Not... I'm not saying that you read your bible. I'm not saying that an encounter that... No. No. No. No. No. It's an...

It's divine illumination. I will explain what I'm saying. Of course, you have to read your bible to even have this. Stay with me. Yes, sir. But it goes beyond just the knowledge that comes from reading. It is light from scriptures. First Samuel... Oh, you'll be so blessed. First Samuel chapter three and verse 21.

The bible says then the Lord appeared again in Shiloh for the lord. Can we read this second line together or even everything? One, two, three. Go. Note, the Lord revealed himself. Jesus. Lord revealed himself, but he used the word to reveal himself. Yes, sir. Yes, Yes, sir. He revealed himself, but the medium through which the revelation came was the word.

Are you with me, brothers and sisters? He revealed himself. Himself here means his favor. Himself here means his power. Himself here means his wisdom. Himself here means his anointing. Himself here means your prophetic blueprint in himself. Everything that is contained in God can be revealed to the believer through an encounter with the word. Everything that is contained in God can be revealed to the believer. The wisdom of God revealed to the believer.

The power of God revealed to the believer. The multifaceted expressions of God revealed to the believer. Everything in God can be revealed to the believer through the word. Listen, scriptures on its own does not give you revelation. You can open the bible. You can read the bible. A Christian book or some kind of novel or an historical document and not get anything from it until light comes. There is light that is hidden in the parables of scripture. There is light that is hidden in the stories of scripture. There is light that is hidden in the verses of scripture.

And in every story you read, there is light there. It means these things are there, but hidden. The bible says the hidden things belong to the Lord, but the things that are revealed belong to us and belong to our children. Stay with me. There is light hidden until that light leaps out of scripture. You have not had an encounter. You have only read, but you have not had an encounter. What you call bible study is your exploring scripture until an encounter is as... Is established. Remember, the bible says, you air not knowing the scriptures and the power of God.

The bible then says that you read the scriptures thinking you will find life, not knowing that these are they that testified of me. In other words, if your written of scripture has not brought you an encounter with him, you have not begun. These are the he says that testify of me. You think that the written alone will bring you life, but the written itself is not the end. It's only a part of the journey. Are you with brothers and sisters? Can we read this together, everybody? Pause. So it's not saying don't search. It said search.

But if you think that those in the searching you have eternal life, you have missed it. Hey, that testify of me. When Jesus came in Luke four, the bible says, he found the place where it was written about him. Oh, Jesus. You don't find until you have searched. That means Jesus himself was searching. At age 12, he was in the synagogue, and you would wonder what he was doing there. This partner reveals to what he was doing that he found. It means when he was 12 years old, he was searching. He was searching.

Tell me what was said about the messiah that is to come. Tell me what was said. What did Isaiah say? What did Ezekiel say? What did Moses say? And they were teaching him. Him. The messiah that is to come. The messiah that is to come. And like a student, he was listening.

The Bible says he was as his custom was. He found it. The bible says he found the place where it was written concerning him. That means there is a place in scripture that is written concerning you. It is not your name that is written there, but the code of your destiny is hiding there. You might not find, you might not find, might find, you might find, but the code of your destiny inside the stories, inside the prophecies, inside the parables are hidden light. Mysteries that must come out of scriptures and tap into your heart. A day will come, you will open the Bible, and you will know this is me. Light will jump from the pages of scripture right into your heart. There are things the prophet wrote that is about you.

There are things the prophet wrote that's about your destiny, about your ministry, about your purpose, about your business, about your marriage, about your children. You won't find it as your name. You won't find it as DCN, but it is there. This is the mysterious thing about scriptures. Encounters open you up to your portion, then you will see. Isaiah 39 verse 11, the bible says the old vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. It is sealed. It was delivered to one that is illiterate saying, read this, and he says, I cannot read it for it is sealed. Then the verse 12 says, then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate saying, read this. And he says, I am not literate.

I cannot read it. It means when it comes to light and revelation, even the literate and the illiterate are airless. It it goes beyond the letters of scripture. The bible says the letters kill it, but the spirit giveth life. It means a man can study, and all he sees is letters. There are treasures in the book, but it needs to be revealed to you. The daylight from scripture comes to you out of a sentence, only three words may jump at you. They are not even connected to that verse, but will make sense only you can understand. Jesus. Listen.

There is the doctrinal composition of scriptures, and there is the prophetic composition of scriptures. The bible from a historical standpoint is a book of archaeology, is a book of history, is a book of poetry, a documentation of events past. Is that not so? Only valid is religious and spiritual in context. To the believer in Christ, there is a doctrinal composition of scriptures. That means contained within scriptures is a methodical arrangement of doctrine, a body of truth that empowers a disciple to resemble his master, to look like his master, doctrine. But there is also the prophetic composition of scripture. This is where you can read a scripture like, for this course, many are sick. For this course, many are weak. For this course, many sleep, not discerning the Lord's body.

Contextually, it is talking about holy communion. But when light floods your spirit, when the holy spirit breaks life into it, then your eyes will open, and you will see a meaning that only applies to you. That beyond holy communion, the bible is saying that the reason why I am in this condition, weak as I am, sick as I am, is because I have not discerned the body of Christ. There is a grace in the body that is sent to me that I have not seen. My goodness. You you you see beyond holy communion, and you see the body of Christ, a representation of Christ to you. A man is carrying a grace. He only needs to speak a word. I need to discern the body. Discern the man carrying my answer.

Discern the man carrying my grace. Discern the man. It might not make sense to any other person, but you are reading a light from scripture. Jesus Christ. Light from scripture all of a sudden. In Galatians two and verse one, you might be reading. It was just Paul's story. Paul was just given an account of his missionary journey. And he says after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and also took tithes with me. Is that not so?

Verse two, this is only a story that Paul is hearing about his experience. I went up by revelation and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of repudition, lest by any means I might run or had run-in vain. He was only given a report of his missionary experience, and you can read this as that. All of a sudden, light from scriptures that you are reading. And as you are reading, the holy spirit shines a light on that verse two, and you see the first six words there, I went up by revelation. And God tells you that it is possible for men in this kingdom to rise by light. And then all of a sudden, you remember in Isaiah 60 and verse one, arise, shine for your light has come. You remember, revelations come up either. And all that is there is I went up by revelation. It has nothing to do with that.

But prophetically speaking, life is perfect to you from the scriptures. Then you'll see the reason why I'm this in spot is because there's a light I've not seen. A revelation I've not received is why I'm still here. Light from scriptures. On the strength of that light, a dimension of exploit is opened up to you. And when you tell people the spiritual basis, they will read it and sometimes they will be hungry with you. They will say I read what you read, but they didn't see what you have seen. Light from scriptures. So you may see someone that is teaching, and he will bring the scriptures that may not make sense to you. But wait until you see the results that come from it that come from it.

There are some of you, the kind of hunger that God is putting in your heart as I'm speaking right now. You will go and you will open your bible and you are searching. There is something here for me. There is a word here for me. There is something here for my life. There is something here for my ministry. There is something here for my business. There's something here for my academics even. Beyond the pages, beyond the letters. There are some of you, it will be in the place of prayer.

Certain words will just come to you. A word like peace. You may think you understand what was said. Until you go and study. You will think peace just means nothing is happening. I am okay. But when you go and study, then your eyes will open. How that the bible says, it shall keep you in perfect peace whose mind, whose trust is stayed on him. And God is telling you, the reason why your life lacks peace is because even though men promise you, your trust would not be on men. If your trust is on men, you will lack peace.

By default, you will lack peace. But the Bible says, it will keep you in perfect peace. A life chimes to you. But no matter what promised me anything, I must... My trust must be on Jesus. That is the secret to my own peace. No matter what is happening in my life, my trust must be on Jesus. Not even in what I have written down. Jesus. Not in my qualifications.

Jesus. Light that floods your heart. Light that floods your heart. Listen. The fact that I can keep on giving you examples upon examples, examples upon examples that God has shown me, that God has shown me from scriptures, things encounter I have received from scriptures that have stood out to me. The diff... You see, the problem with many of you is that you don't place value on them. So like Jacob, God was here, and they knew it not. Your word came, and you knew it not. You thought it was only an advice that came.

Some... You see, and there are times when the word will come so strong and so powerful that it will hit you. You won't be able to stand. Your entire body will tremble. You will go up by the power and you will lose your balance. There are other times it will come so silently. You will feel nothing. Nothing will happen, and yet the God God is speaking to you. An encounter, a divine a divine encounter without any any any peculiarity, without any spectacular experience, but you are you are undiscerning, so you miss it. You might be reading scriptures, and you would see that God wrote mighty miracles by the hands of Paul.

And all of a sudden, Paul disappears, and you see your hands. In your mind, you are seeing your hands, and you are seeing fire in your hands. You are seeing you are seeing power in your hands and you are seeing what is this? That is an encounter. Whether whether you can feel fire or not, whether you can feel anything or not, that is an encounter. God appeared to Samuel. God revealed himself by his word. Revealed his power by his word. Revealed his wisdom by his word. Listen.

Listen. Listen. God can tell you I've made you a beacon of light. I've made you a beacon of light. That's an encounter. It might even come whilst you are walking on the road, and it drops in your heart. If I'm not conscious that this is God speaking to me, you would have missed an encounter. And like Jacob, God came, and you knew it not. That is why the Bible says, this is the generation of them that seek you. Oh, Jacob.

Now when it comes to seeking God, there is so much to learn from Jacob. You you must be sensitive when encounters come, else you will miss it. Listen to me. Just because you have knowledge does not mean you have light. Let me say it again. Just because you have knowledge does not mean you have light. Revelation comes or should I say light is the revelation that comes from knowledge. Knowledge in itself is not light. However, light needs the raw material of knowledge to come. So the fact that you can recite scriptures does not mean you have light.

That you can say by his stripes, I am healed does not mean it is light to you. It can just be knowledge. The fact that you can say, oh, there is surplus supply. My God will supply all my needs according to... Does not mean it is lies to you. Anybody can clam it, including the babalawo. I've not seen people who recite Psalm one one nine from head to toe, the longest chapter in this bible, and they can recite it from left home, head to toe, yet their life is not a reflection of their retentations because the power is not in just the knowing or the cramming. It is in the light that comes out of it. In that entire scripture, you may only see one verse that comes to you as light. As light.

So the journey is to continue and to never stop until what you know. Out of it, light now comes. Let me show you something. Ephesians one verse 17. I saw this, and it so much blessed me. Ephesians one verse 17. Let's start from verse 16. It says, I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. So this thing that you're about to read now happens in prayers. Is that not so?

Yes, sir. Uh-huh. Stay with me. It happens in prayers. Stay with me. Next verse. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, may give to you. Can we read it together? One, three, go. Where?

Did you see that? Yes. Wisdom and revelation in the knowledge. So where is wisdom found? Where is revelation found? Inside knowledge. So it means you can open up that knowledge and you find wisdom there. You can open up that knowledge and you find revelation there, and you can close it and find nothing, and all you will carry is knowledge. Jesus Christ of God. You can carry knowledge and never open what is inside.

It's like going to buy a laptop, and laptop comes in a pack. Is that not so? In that pack is charger. In that pack is laptop. In that pack is manual. In that pack is... That come with laptop. Is that not so? Yes, sir. And you can hold laptop in your hand.

What you are holding is pack. But when people ask you what is that, what do you say? Laptop. But in reality, what are you holding? A pack. How do you access laptop? You must open the pack, then you will find the laptop. You will find the tajar. If the pack is all you carry for five years saying I hold a laptop, you have deceived yourself. You are lying.

You are not wrong, but you are not right. Because you have the pack, but you have not accessed laptop. Do you understand what I'm saying? So Paul says, in that knowledge that you have, there is wisdom in it. In that knowledge that you have, there is revelation in it. So he says, I pray for you that you don't just keep the knowledge. The first thing you need is knowledge, but you don't stop there. Where is the wisdom? Where is the revelation? So for instance, you read a story in scripture.

That is the knowledge. The knowledge is the story, but there is wisdom in the knowledge. There is revelation in the knowledge. So you can you can read, and all you have gotten is the knowledge. That is not disadvantageous in itself. It has a benefit. And the benefit it has is that it put you on a at a vantage point to now receive wisdom, to now receive revelation. Is that not so? Yes, sir. Yes.

But you can stay there and not see anything. It is what comes out of money that is light. Yes, sir. So you can know all of scriptures but not have light. This is the difference between a a CRK teacher who knows scripture to teach but doesn't know him by experience. The bible says that the scribes and the Pharisees... Do you know these people... For you to be a Pharisee, you have to know the law. You have to know the law, the five books of Moses, and be able to reflect it by heart. But guess what?

The law and the prophets, the prophets have declared that a messiah is coming. All of the scribe... The scribe, sorry, and the Pharisees are expecting the Messiah. When John the Baptist came, they thought he was the Messiah because prophecy has said that Elijah will come, then the Messiah will come. So when they saw John the Baptist, they thought he was Elijah. So if John the Baptist confirmed for them that he's Elijah, then they would now know that that it means that very soon the savior will come. Because that is what Malachi says. Before the coming of the great and dreadful of Lord, Elijah will come. So these people knew this. So they came to John the Baptist and they asked him, are you a liar?

That one did not know their entity. He told them no. Whereas he was. Are you with me? But these people so much knew this. They knew. They knew the prophet. They had studied it, so they just left him alone. The bible says, then there were some Hebrew men that were walking, And all of a sudden, they saw a light, and they knew from the light that they saw that the king of kings, the monarch of Zion, the savior of Israel has been born. And the bible says they followed the light, king of the Jews who had been born.

Herod said a king has been born. Who did they call? The Pharisees who had studied the prophets, who had studied the law, who had knowledge. In fact, he asked them, where is the king of the Jews meant to be born? The Bible did not say they want to go and search. They gave him a reply immediately as to where they knew it. They knew it, but did not know he had been born. They they knew the letters. They had the knowledge. Yet, they did not have the experience.

They didn't know that the king of the Jews they had been waiting for had been done. It is possible to know scriptures but not have light. Two different things. And a man can pride himself over knowing scriptures but no light. That is the knowledge that pops up. Are you with me? Yes, sir. Look at the next verse. The next verse now says the highs of your understanding, being enlightened. Not to know knowledge.

You already have the knowledge. It is being enlightened for wisdom and revelation to break open in your heart. And when this happens, then watch how many things will you now begin to know from the knowledge. He says the hope of his calling. It means your calling is there. What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance and the saints? Your inheritance is there. Next verse. Exceeding greatness of his power is there. Everything a believer will ever need is there.

So Paul says, I pray I pray that the eyes of your understanding be enlightened because you may have the knowledge, but see nothing inside of it. Having eyes, yet they see not. Having ears, yet they hear not, the bible says. Are you with me? Yes. The greatest in evangelist in the world and the least are all using the same scripture. They all believe in the same John three sixteen. It is the same holy spirit that is working. So what is the difference? There is hardly any scripture shared by this great man of God that will be your first time hearing it.

Some of us can be masters in the area of knowledge that the man of God is preaching about. And you can sit... You you can sit down when the man of God is preaching or teaching. And when they quote the scripture, you complete it for them. Yet you cannot command the reward they get from it. The difference is an encounter. The difference is light that comes from scripture. So whereas you know the letters, wisdom has come from that scripture to them. Ezekiel two verse one, the Bible says, and he said to me, son of man, stand on your feet and I will speak to you. Then the spirit entered me as he spoke.

The spirit entered me. The spirit entered me. This is how light comes. Something enters you. Psalm one one nine verse one three zero. The bible says the entrance of your word gives light, not the reading. The entrance is what gives light. So the word of God can be personified. The Bible says it can enter a man, the entrance. So God's word, it it can enter a man like a man.

The reading of the word prepares you to receive light. It is the entrance that gives light. From a doctrinal standpoint, when you read the bible, you read contextually, and you draw lessons as revealed in scriptures. Is that not so? And when you study systematic theology, you are taught to compare scriptures with scriptures. You allow the bible to interpret itself. But when you get to the prophetic dimension, it may not be wise to think and believe that all that is contained in scriptures is just doctrinal composition. The Bible is a spiritual book as much as it is an historical book, as much as it is theological material. Having a theological basis and a contextual understanding of scripture from a doctrinal standpoint gives you an edge. It prepares your mind to even be able to derive the prophetic meaning.

But listen to me, there are scriptures written to believers, but there is a light from scriptures written to you that will not apply to any other person. And a day will come, you will be reading the book of Hester, and you will stop seeing the queen. You will see yourself, Jesus. You will study how that Hester had no advantage. Father and mother died. Father and mother died. She had to grow up with her uncle, and yet she refused to be defeated. When it was time to apply for the position of the queen, she still marched there expecting victory. You watch how she gained favor before the king's dresser. And as you study these things, light is edging in your heart.

You refuse and you say, like Esther did, I refuse. I will not die until I hedge my influence in time. How can a woman that has no advantage, lost father, lost mother, can rise and become a queen and even save Israel? That means that there is something about my life. God is not yet done with me. The fact that I lost my loved one, the fact that I love this person. Now you see, it is going beyond knowledge. It is becoming light that is speaking to you. You are now seeing yourself in the pages of scripture. You read the story of Gideon.

You read the story of Jephthah, of Japheth, and you see men that were rejected by their own family members, thought to be nothing. The bible says, but it was honorable in the sight of his brethren because God honored him. Then you see, I can start like nothing, but God can honor me. Light from scriptures. You read Joseph, and all of a sudden, you don't see Joseph anymore. You see yourself exemplified in that scripture in a way and manner that only makes sense to you. I've seen myself in scripture over over and over and over and over again. I have seen I've seen everything I'm doing right now. All the expressions of my ministry, my singing, my teaching, the prophetic, the deliverance ministry, the evangelistic ministry, the pastoral ministry. I've seen everything in scriptures.

Almost as though it was describing only me. The Lord has pleasure in me. I saw it in scriptures. I didn't see it for everybody. I saw it for me. The Lord has pleasure in his servant. I didn't see servant there. I saw Emmanuel. The Lord has made a covenant with him and has handed him as a treasure to his people. I'm a gift to a people.

I saw it in scriptures. A broken reed, it will not break. A broken flax, it will not reject. I saw it in scriptures. They will stand on the mountains and they will judge my people. I've put my words in his mouth. My words in his mouth will be fire, and I've made the people chaff. The words that I've given to you will burn their heart even as you speak. I've seen this in scripture. It's not as text.

It's as God's word to Emmanuel Godwatavir. And such is the experience I have when I speak. It is beyond the speakings of a man. It's beyond repeating what the man of God says. You will only become an echo. All of a sudden, you will see, I'm the Lord working with them confirming their words. And and in your mind, you just say Jesus appear and hold your hands and he's working with you. As you read, I'm the Lord working with them. All of a sudden, you know this is an encounter. It doesn't have to come with any spectacular experience.

The Lord working with them has not become the Lord working with me. So I know my words cannot fall to the ground because the Lord works with me. My words cannot fall to the ground. When people meet you and they say, sir, how come whenever you speak, everything you say happen and you say the Lord works with me? And they would wonder how how... What is the relationship between God working with you and you speaking a word? And they might not know. And the Lord working with them confirming the words confirming their words. To read the story of David and all of a sudden, to see as he as he was blowing the trumpet and demons are listening to what he was saying, what he was singing through the trumpet. And demons will leave a man they came to oppress.

The same way the anointing cast out demons. A man can play the harp, and demons will be casted out from his playing, and the demon can just stand out to you. You start asking questions. What did they hear? Are you telling me that the same way you can say howt, the harp too can say howt? What is that? What is happening here? Then you will read... Then you will study psalms, and you will see David saying, I will reveal my dark sayings upon the harp. Oh my goodness.

So when I'm playing the harp, there is something the harp is saying. The same way my mouth is speaking. So when I'm playing the instrument, I'm not just playing something. Something... There there are words that are being communicated. Even though what you can hear in your ear is melody, the realm of the spirit can hear words. Jesus Christ, light. Light. As you see this thing, it doesn't matter what you play. The next time you get there, you will now see an anointing that comes from it.

You will play like normal, but you have seen something. Everybody will come a million. They will say, ah, what what did you do? There is something different about what you are doing. You have seen light, light that came from God to you. You are studying your bible, and you suddenly see it, and Daniel was 10 times better. How did he become 10 times better to study? And all of a sudden, light from scriptures jump into your spirit. Daniel Erevis, and you see yourself there standing gallant, and you say like, with all boldness, I am 10 times better. The proof that an encounter has come and that you have caught it is that the the the emotion of that encounter, the spiritual reality, and the physical reality will will compress into one.

It means if you were always afraid because of the academics before, when an encounter comes, fear leaves automatically. You you you don't send it away. It just leaves. You just know I cannot fail again. You start laughing like a madman. Everybody looks and says, what what is going on? You have seen something. Listen. It does not have to apply to everybody. What God can show you about prosperity might be in John three sixteen.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him and you prosper, you begin to give like a mad man. And they ask you, why why are you so prosperous? You said John three sixteen. It doesn't make sense. The evangelist will fight you. They will say, been an evangelist for many years. I've never seen this like that before. You are wrong. They are. But marriages cannot lie.

Married God cannot lie. It's not enough to hear a preaching about giving. You must have an encounter with God that solidifies his experience in your heart. It makes you do it without fear. People will think you are insane. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. You give... You you can almost give your clothes and walk back home naked. And they look at us say, are you mad?

What is wrong with you? And you will you will speak to them in a way they will not understand. You will quote the scripture that will be a quote in a scripture. Like like like a puzzle. Let me end here. I wanted to show you how to access life in scriptures. We'll do it. I pray God gives us the privilege to do so next week. There's a way to access this light in scriptures. There's a way.

Rise up on your feet. I cannot lack a thing. I cannot lack a thing. This is... It's beyond a confession of faith. I'm saying I'm saying what I have seen. I cannot lack. This is why even when there is no money in my account, I I don't see myself as lacking a thing. It's not it's not a way I can picture myself again. I will talk.

I will make some kind of a... Some kind of some kind of... I will tell people I'm doing this next week almost as though I have the money in my account. It's an encounter. An encounter. An encounter. I was studying scriptures, and it jumped out as light to me that as you are thinking it, I'm supplying it. I will... It's a matter of the men, really. I saw it that I will never have to say, God, I need this.

That was the last time I've ever had to pray any personal prayer for myself. Yet my needs are met. It's an encounter. It's an encounter. It's an encounter. I was taught in scriptures, and I saw in scriptures, scriptures, give us this day our daily bread. I saw sons don't beg for bread. They demand for bread. Give us this day. I said, I will not be a beggar.

I will not be a beggar. My petitions are not begans. These are encounters you see in scriptures as you study. Light from scriptures. Pierces your spirit. Can you pray in one minute and say open the eyes of my understanding. Open the eyes of my understanding. Open the eyes of my understanding. Open the eyes of my understanding. There is something I have seen that makes me know I can never die young.

There is something I have seen that makes me know I will live long. There is something I have seen. Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen. Do you know that your own encounter to longevity might not be in, I shall not die but live. You might just be reading scriptures, and God is showing you, you are just reading the genealogies that are in scripture and set begat this person, and that one begat this person, and you will see it. He lived five hundred and twenty years. He lived two hundred and twenty years.

He lived and all of a sudden, you see that people who worked in righteousness lived long. And from that technology, you know I cannot buy anyhow. You just seek from them. This is how light come from scriptures. There are many times I'm studying and I see something I pause, I pause, I say Kai, Kai, Kai. Listen. Listen. I remember I was studying the bible verse some time ago, and I saw it in scriptures. It was one of those days when my bible flipped open by itself. And the first thing I saw...

The funny thing was I had read it before because I... It was underlined. It was underlined in my bible, but I never saw it. I sat down about to read, and the pages flipped open by itself, including the hardcover page. If it opens in Genesis, you'll say it is breeze. The scripture was no seer. The Lord will roar, and when he roars, his his songs will come from the West. His songs will come from the West and will come from the East and will come from the North. When I saw it, I said, my goodness. God is roaring in BCN.

He's roaring in BCN. I saw a lion roaring. And as he roared, I saw a pulling force, a pulling force bringing all sorts of people from the East, North, West, and South, bringing everybody. I saw it. I saw it. And so every time I pray, I say, Lord. Lord. Lord. Was eating I was eating in a restaurant. I was eating in a restaurant in the day that I got this scripture.

I was on a bike with my fiancee going to a restaurant. I had just finished reading the bible. And while we're on the bike, I was reading the song. Listen. This song... That song came from a revelation. There is something I had seen. So every time I sing the song... Listen. Some...

Someone might be seeing something else. Someone might be seeing the righteous is as bold as lion. That's not what I am seeing. The Lord will roar. He will roar. He will roar. He will roar. Yes. Osiyah. He will roar like a lion.

And when he roars, his songs shall come trembling. This is the picture I get whenever I'm singing the song. I see people coming trembling, coming trembling from the North, from the East, from the West, from the South. It has become an encounter to me. An encounter to me. Listen. Listen. Any experience that makes God real to you, there are times that even as the word of God is being preached, your heart is just burning. That's an encounter. Place value on it.

You're an experience. Any spiritual experience, there are times you feel vibrations all over body. It's an encounter. It doesn't have to be spectacular. There are times the word of God... You just hear a still small voice. I am with you. If if you place value on that alone. Listen. I was to go for an interview to meet a client who would give me a job in heavy 6 figures.

About 800,000 naira at the end. And as I was going to go and meet the client, I just checked the brief of what the job description was, and I realized that it's a branch of software development that I've never ever opened before. I knew on my way there. I closed my eyes. I said, mercy, Lord. Mercy. Help me, Jesus. And I heard it in my spirit. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. Compassion on whom I will have compassion.

At that point, that is not a sinner's prayer. At that point, that is that is despite the fact that you are healed, prepared for this. It is yours. So I knew. I I I wasn't speaking as though it's not my home. I wasn't speak... No. I went there. I said, listen. We can do this thing for you.

If you want it done, we are the ones you should give. And the client wanted to start asking questions. I said, listen. You can either ask me questions or I deliver results. The person just said, him. Him. Him. Listen. He said, listen. He said, I like your confidence.

He never interviewed any other person again. I like your confidence. Confidence. It is I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. It is why I'm telling you, listen, even though it was on a bike, that was an encounter, a powerful one at that. Anytime I find myself in any situation where I feel as though I'm ill prepared for this, I remember where he told me, not where he wrote it in scriptures. Where he told me, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. It is people like this that can say, God told me, And you will quote the scripture. And then you now wonder, ah, but this is scripture now. Why you saying God told you?

Because he told me. Let's share the grace together in fellowship. 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 official Disciples CN. You can follow us on Facebook at disciples christian network. You can also join our telegram page at d c n media for more messages by apostle Emmanuel. If you have a testimony from this message, you can mail us at disciplescn@gmail.com. God bless you.