Transcript: The Wonders of His Glory - Walking in The Manifest Presence of God Part 2 with Apostle Emmanuel Boluwatife

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The world is like a map that sets men on the path of destiny. The word of God transforms. It revives any builds. It builds conviction even in the hearts of men. And just like the woman at the well, when men encounter the spirit and the word of God, there's an exchange and revelation of identity. Weaknesses are exchanged for strength and greatness is made out of ordinary men. I will never be tired of telling you that God has predestined you for greatness. You must believe this. There is a seed of greatness on your inside. You must believe this.

A promise of greatness on your inside. You must believe this. There is no smallness in God's plan for your life as a believer. There's no toiling in God's plan for your life as a believer. There's no suffering in God's plan for your life as a believer. I want to break you out of that spot where you can no longer think small. The presence of God does not just make the difference. The presence of God is the difference. So join us at the experience when men encounter God and lives are transformed. Father, we give you all the glory and all the praise, all the adoration.

We ask that as we proceed in this meeting, you open the eyes of understanding. Speak to each and everyone of us. Open the portals of understanding. Amen. Let us become. Amen. Let these words go beyond the minister. Amen. Let the words become spirit. Amen.

And let the words become life. Amen. And as you hear this word, let it give you life. Amen. Let it become life to your bones. Amen. Light to your part. Amen. Lamp to your feet. In the name of Jesus.

Amen. As many came here boarding, let the burdens be lifted. Amen. Many came here with expectations, let the expectations be met. Many came here expecting an encounter. Let them receive an encounter. In the name of Jesus. Thank you because you've answered our prayers. In Jesus name, we have prayed. Amen.

Please be seated. Let me continue from where we stopped on Sunday. We're going to be looking at the part two of the conversation that we began on Sunday. The wonders of his glory. Working in the manifest presence of God. Part two. In the introductory part, I was able to speak to us as to the wonders of his glory really, what the presence of God does in the life of whoever carries it. We're not quite able to do justice to that. And so very quickly, I'd continue that, then move into how do men work in? Or how do men become carriers?

Of this presence. Because we said that it's a reality that every believer experiences in Christ. So how do men become carriers of this presence? Hearing your presence this is her I'm in your glory I'm in your glory I see your power here just like heaven The presence of God amongst the many beauties and the many wonders of his presence and his glory is that it produces distinction. I said this last Sunday, I want to pick up from there. Because Moses asked the question, how then will it be known that your people and I have found grace in your sight? Except you go with us. What made Israel distinct? I said, wasn't their population. It wasn't their military intelligence.

It wasn't their military strength. What separated them from the surrounding nations of those days was the presence of God. The manifest presence of God that worked with them. Are you with me? Yes sir. Moses understood that without the presence of God, Israel would become another nation just attempting to survive by human strength alone. Human wisdom alone. And I said on Sunday that there ought to be something in the life of a believer that cannot be explained by natural advantages alone. That it doesn't mean that we as believers become irresponsible. It doesn't mean that we as believers become careless.

Right? It means that even after our diligence, even after our wisdom, even after our preparation have been acknowledged, there should still be evidence in our lives that God is involved with us, that God is involved in our life. There should be answers that that that came from communion with God. There should be answers that came from communion with God, fellowship with God. There should be courage that we see, that comes from our communion and our fellowship with God. There should be boldness that we see. There should be miracles that we see. There should be the tangible interventions of God that comes from our fellowship and our communion with God. It was obvious that Daniel was a very diligent human being. Is that not so?

He applied himself in the marketplace. He read and he studied. Alright? He wasn't a careless person. Same thing with Joseph. But when you look at their life, there was still indices in their life that shows that something beyond natural strength was working in their lives. That's what I'm talking about. There's gotta be that thing, that evidence that is upon the life of a believer that something beyond natural intelligence works in you. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? That we know that you are diligent.

We know that you are hardworking. We know that you are a very conspicuous person. You pay attention to details. Is that much so? You are a very careful person. Excellent person. Is that much so? But then that cannot be all there is to your life with respect to your results. Because if you depend only on that, there will be times and there will be moments when that is not sufficient. For instance, diligent as Daniel was, he was still put inside the lion's den.

So the question would be, what would this diligence do for him in the lion's den? What would his excellence do for him in the lion's den? He still accrued enemies. Despite he was a charming guy, despite he was someone that wasn't looking for anybody's trouble. Just in case a man is here thinking, if I don't look for anybody's trouble, nobody will look for my trouble. I'm just on my own in this business. I'm just on my own in this office. I don't really want anybody's attention. So I don't bother preaching to people. I don't bother, you know, doing anything.

Daniel wasn't doing the same thing. In fact, the Bible never records that he was preaching to anybody. Was just focusing on an assignment. Are you with me? And in doing that, he still had enemies. He still had enemies. It means you can be diligent in the marketplace. You can be diligent in your place of work for instance. And just because you are diligent, there are people who don't like you. Who think that your own is too much because you are diligent.

Whereas, it's just your nature. It's just who you are. Are you with me? And then they begin to plan a coup around you. Is there something beyond your diligence that can speak for you? That is the presence of God. Are you with me? Yes, sir. That when you are thrown in the lion's den, there can be something that a man knows that I have. When impossible tasks are given to you, there can be something that a man knows that I have.

The king told Daniel and all other astrologers that were there that have just had a dream. And if you cannot interpret this dream for, if you cannot tell me the dream, I would have everybody slaughtered. That's an impossible task. That's something that your hard work alone cannot deliver. That's something that it would take supernatural advantage. Are you with me? Yes. So I'm saying that there's gotta be something in your life as a believer that is evidence of the presence of God at work in your life. It can be the wisdom with which you speak. It can be the answers you give at every junction in time.

It can be just the manifest presence of God in your life. It can be how God preserves and delivers you. And I said as well that the presence of God produces transformation. And we see this in second Corinthians chapter three and verse 18. That the Bible says we all beholding us in the mirror. We don't remain the same. We are transformed. During the manifest conference, we will do justice to the scripture. We are transformed. We are changed into the same image.

That the purpose of beholding is becoming. That if you spend time around God, but then we see that you are continually becoming proud, arrogant, nonchalant, lustful. Are you with me? If you spend time around the things of God and you are continuously becoming dishonest, immoral, and self centered, then whatever you are calling an encounter must be examined. You remember I told you this last Sunday? You forgotten already? That the presence of God is not supposed to just give you sensations. It is supposed to give Christ greater expression through your life. That all there is to the presence of God is not sensations in your body. It's not that you fell down.

Are you with me brothers and sisters? Yes sir. That if you truly behold the glory and the presence of God, if you truly behold the glory of God, right? There should be transformation in your life. There should be. There should be. As we behold, we become. That is the principle. As we behold, we become. We become.

We are changed into the same image as the one that we are beholding. So if you come to church every single time, every day of the week, and I don't see transformations in your life, it is evident of the fact that this thing is not yet there. Are you with me brothers and sisters? There's got to be transformation. Acts four thirteen, that was the last scripture I read for you last Sunday. The Bible says there, now when they saw the boldness of Peter and of John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men. They marveled and they realized that they had been with Jesus. That's what I'm trying to say. But if you've been with Jesus, there should be transformation. There should be boldness we see.

There should be courage we see. That is not default to you. That the people that used to know you know that my goodness, you've been spending time around Jesus. This is not the you we used to know. Your faith is shining. The weak man should become strong. The abhorrent woman should become fruitful. Is that not so? Your soul should be restored. Psalms 23.

Your soul should be restored. Verse one, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. The Bible says he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. Verse three says he restores my soul. So if he's with me, then my soul should be restored. I shouldn't still be carrying around depression, unforgiveness, anxiety, fear, all kind of torment in my soul, low self esteem, low self image, and all kind of infirmities within my soul. Does that mean I'm not spending time in his presence? Does that mean I've not been with Jesus?

Because the Bible says that these men were uneducated men. They were untrained men. They didn't go to school. They didn't have any formal education. Yet, when they started speaking, when they started speaking, listen to this. It's like you bring someone from the village. You bring someone from the village. Imagine that. The person has never seen the four walls of a nursery school or even the primary school. And you bring them from the village.

And as you bring them to the city, is that not so? You drop them in the house of someone, you come back after three months, and the person is speaking Queen's English. It is in the same way they were marveled because up until this moment, remember Acts chapter two when the holy ghost came upon them? Yeah. Peter was the one that stood up on the day of Pentecost and spoke to 3,000 men were there. Go and read his sermon on that day. Go and study Acts chapter one, Acts chapter two, and go and study his sermon that he gave. You will now understand why they marveled. Look at how many scriptures he was quoting. Look at how he was connecting Joel to Sam, to Jesus.

This was a fisher man. He had not studied the Torah. The Pentateuch, the prophets. He hadn't studied it. He hadn't read it. The Pharisees and the Sadducees had spent years reading the five books of Moses, the Torah, the Pentateuch. Is that not so? The prophets even Peter had not had that kind of education. But when he stood up to speak, he was quoting scriptures like someone who have been trained in scriptures. He spoke with a boldness.

I would not expect a fisherman who is uneducated and untrained should have. And when they try to check, did anybody teach him? They said, ah, they saw... The only thing they could trace it to is that he spent time with Jesus. It means beyond his ability to quote scripture. It means something also happened to his intelligence. Something happened to his intelligence. Something happened to his ability to join things together. To understand complex information. Is that not so?

Yes, sir. So there was boldness, there was courage, but there was also an intellectual transformation. Someone who was uneducated could now make intelligent statement and words that make meaning, that make sense, that Pharisees and Sadducees could listen to him. He could argue with them. He said this same Jesus of Mareth, the same one that you killed. And he was talking to them. Without shame, without fear. They said, Kai, the only thing we can trace it to is that he had been with Jesus. It means if a man continues to behold the glory long enough, something should happen to your brain. It's true.

It's true. It's true. Do you know this reality was so strong in me many many years ago? It has informed my ability to learn anything. Right now. I believe so strongly that there is nothing I cannot learn. I believe so strongly. There is nothing I cannot learn. There is some... Nothing I cannot know.

The bible says the same spirit that dwells that rose Jesus from the dead quickens my mortal body. I remember opening my scripture many years ago, sitting down on a table and opening the word mortal body to understand what is my mortal body. And I found out that my brain is a part of my mortal body. My brain is a part of my mortal body. And if that spirit can quicken my mortal body, then it can quicken my brain to understand. Oh my God. That was the light I needed. If you say you are coming to church and you are beholding Jesus and you've not come to see a man, you've not come to see a well dressed man, you've not come to admire the ambiance and dance to a person, that you came to see Jesus, then we should be seeing certain things in you changing, that we can only attribute to the fact that you came. That if you left home in one way, you left home as an arrogant, foolish individual, rude to your parents, rude to everybody that you meet. And you come and spend time at the feet of Jesus.

The more you spend time there, the more you spend time there, the more you behold, the more you are being changed. That when you go back, they will say ah ah. They'll be observing, is it fake? Is it pretending it? Because truly we have seen something about this one. You are not just a normal Christian again. The same thing applies to your finances. It applies to your finances. The bible says those who know their God. They will be strong.

Get my teaching strong. I'm doing exploits. Please get that teaching. Even if you've heard it before, go and hear it again. Strong, I'm doing exploits. It says they will be strong and they will do exploits. What are we promised believers? Exploits. It means there is exploit at the other hand of knowing God. That the more time a man spends knowing Jesus, if you will just give your life to him, if you will just keep on beholding, keep on looking, keep on learning from his feet.

The glory will start seeping into every area of your life. We will look at your finances and it will soon become evident that no, you have met something. You've collided with something. How many of you? Would you see a man dressed as good looking as the person beside you? And you see him today now and he comes to you after service and says, brother, with the way he is dressed and he tells you, do you know that just yesterday, I was hit by a truck? What's the first thing you would do? You look at his body because you are expecting to find what? Evidences that you were hit by a truck. It means if a truck truly hit you, where is your bandage?

Where is your... Why are you not limping? Why are you not... Do you understand what I'm saying? So how can you tell me you collided with power? You collided with Jesus what an encounter is. You can't then tell me I had an encounter and you came out neat. Uh-uh. It's not possible. Let's check what you meant.

Let's check what you meant. When I... Who did you meet men encounter? Was there an angel? Because you can meet an angel. But it's not Jesus. Because if you've been with Jesus, if you've been... Oh my God. If you've been with Jesus. If you've been with Jesus.

If you've been with Jesus, you are changed into the same image. Jesus does not meet a man and leave him the same. The collision is always, he dent the man. He wounds the man. He fractures his broom. You don't meet him and and remain the same. Nothing remains the same after a man behold his glory. Nothing. So when you hear people say things like, you know, I had an encounter yesterday. Jesus walked into my room.

And then they say it like it's been. Do you know the impact of you saying Jesus walked into your room? It's not with mouth you would tell me. I will be looking at your hand. What... Oh my. Oh my. Oh my. You should get my teaching the staff of Jacob. Very, very old teaching.

That when Jacob left home, he had to run away from his father's house. And due to the circumstance of his living, he didn't live with all his father's money and property and wealth. He left with only a staff. In fact, the Bible says the only thing he took out of that house was a staff. And when you study, you find that that staff is the typology of the empowerment and the enablement of the spirit. Because the Bible offers your rod and your staff. They comfort me. Speaking typologically of the holy spirit who is called the comforter. Is that not so? That stuff is a typology, a type and shadow of the empowerment and the increasing.

That if a man leaves a house of inheritance, where should he inherit all his father's properties, all his father's wealth? And he leaves the house, runs away from the house, and the only thing in his hand is the holy ghost. He has not lost much. Are you with me? So the bible was careful to tell you the only thing he took out was his staff. But guess what? He spent more than twenty years of his life holding that staff but doing nothing with it. Holding that staff but doing absolutely nothing with it. He was still so dependent on his intelligence, on his brain, on his ability to cook his way around matters, to bend his way around matters. And when he met, the Christophany.

When he met the Christophany, he held on and said I will not let you go until you bless me. And what happened was that the angel of the Lord, the Christophany. Go study. I don't have time for that. Looked at his hip. And then broke the bone. And the moment the bone broke, he had no choice but to now rely on the staff. That he had carried with him all along. It tells you that when a man meets with Jesus and that man has lived in self dependence, the proof you meet with Jesus is that he will do something to your will that will make you utterly depend on him. That you would have no choice again.

I know you are smart. I know you are brilliant. But you are moving life by your brilliance. Ah, no. No. No. No. No. If you meet with him, that thing carrying you. Because you are smart.

You can just meet people and then quickly, quickly manipulate your way. Get to the top, get a job. You have sweet mouth. You know how to sweet talk your way into things. And you depend so much on your sweet mouth. That you know even if police arrest you today, you can use sweet mouth and get out of the prison. You've not met people like that. And they just meet and everybody will just start laughing. Will gather people around them and they know that they have that thing. So they find no need to depend on God because they feel as though, see, my charming nature will get me through life.

My ability to supplant and to deceive will get me through life. I know how to find my way. I've seen ladies like that. The girl knows she's fine and pretty. And guys take advantage of that. Often need to work, but then there are people who still send that money. Are you okay? Are you alright? Even then they let me know. What has she done for you?

Nothing. She's just fine. The girl is a Christian, but there's no need to ever depend on God. And she has seen the profit of her lifestyle that is somewhat profitable. I mean, I know how to get what I want. When a man encounters Jesus, that's the hip bone that will be broken. That's the hip bone that will be disjointed. So that at the end of the day, you have no choice but to rely on his spirit. To rely on his grace, and to rely on him and him alone. That people you have illicit relationship with for the sake of financial gain, the only God begins to tell you, delete this one's number.

Block him forever. Block him forever. Block that one forever. Block that one forever. Block... That's how you know you have had an encounter. Something must be broken. It breaks pride, it breaks areas of limitation because he wants to make you into himself. So he begins to look at what is not yet himself. And when he collides with you, when we see you the following day, you will be calmer.

You will take, I met with Jesus many years ago. I took almost 2,000 secular songs on my phone and deleted them. Formatted the entire thing. It was like an emotional attraction I had developed. I didn't know it would be a painful thing. Nobody preached to me. Nobody taught me to this. But if we truly behold him, there are evidences. You will come out with positive scars. Scars of glory.

Paul says, let no man trouble me. He said, I bear in my body. The marks of Christ. There are things called the marks of Christ. Yeah. The marks of Christ. So the truth is that many of us just come to church. We don't actually desire to behold Jesus. We are okay with beholding any other thing but Jesus. We come to church and we are good with beholding the man of God.

We are good with beholding the praise and worship. We are good with beholding angels even. Because many people can have sensations in their body. My body is shaking. My body is shaking. And you are comfortable with the experience of your body shaking, but you did not meet Jesus. How do I know? Your body shook and nothing shook in your life. That's how I know. The foundations you have built your life on is still there.

It didn't shake, but your body shook. That's how I know. That's how I know. Look at that ambition that you have for money. That there is nothing you cannot do for money. You can swing to people, you can do four one nine. The only thing you have not done is what you have not seen. If they bring it your way, me and you know that you don't mind. You truly don't mind. You are still a Christian.

No. It's not going to stop coming to church oh. But you truly don't mind. You truly don't mind. You are willing to compromise on anything. It is proof that you have not really met this Jesus. Ah, you have not. You have not. In the day you meet him, you will come out with scars. You will limp out of that encounter.

He will make demands over your flesh, over your greed, over your lust, over your appetite, over the thing you have found comfort, you have gained comfort from apart from himself. The things you have relied on, the the hip bone might be, might be a job, it might be a man, it might be a woman. And he says, you can't rely on anyone but me. That's how people will know that you met me. Then the day you now rely on me, you now begin to see the wonders of my grace and my mercy in your life. That when you speak, it becomes obvious that what you say is the truth. That's how men men rise in power. That's how men grow in power. That's how men become custodians of the presence. It's not just because we came to pray and we danced in church.

No, no, no, no, no. There is a tangible experience that encounter that I expected to bet in a man. Mary and Martha ran to the tomb of Jesus. They just went there to go and pay homage. And just go there to worship. And upon getting there, maybe even clean the tomb. Went there innocently. And upon getting to the tomb, they found that the tomb was empty. But they are not expecting the tomb to be empty. They are expecting a massive stone to be by the stone.

To be by the tomb. But from getting there, the tomb was empty. The soldiers that should be guarding the tomb were not there. They had scattered. They entered into the tomb, found the stone had been rolled off. There was nothing there. They immediately went to go and call the remaining disciples. And when they called the remaining disciples, what happened to them? They ran and came. I don't know where Thomas was, but he was not there.

When I get to heaven, I will ask him. Brother Thomas, where were you? Maybe he had a business. That he had gone back to or something. But disciples were together. And they went to call all of them. And all of them ran. And the Bible says, John ran ahead of all of them and got to the tomb. And when John got to the tomb, he could not enter inside the tomb. He had to wait for Peter and the remaining elders.

And when they arrived and caught up to him, they all entered into the tomb together. And when they entered into the tomb, they saw that true to what the woman had said, the tomb was empty. And they looked around, they couldn't, where did he go? Have they stolen his body? Nothing. None of them even remembered that he said he will rise. None of them remembered that he said he will rise. None of them remembered that he said, you will break this body. And after three days, he will rise again. None of them remembered what they had been taught.

None of them. Are you with me? They just got there confused as anything and looked at themselves and said, they waited for some while. And said, what's the point I wanna waiting for now? I can imagine the conversation. You go up there, the tomb is empty, of you are looking at yourself. What do we do now? Where should we go? Nothing. Nothing.

Nothing. And one by one, all of them left. Those two women remained. They didn't go. Almost as though they said we came for Jesus. We will not live until we see him. Oh my. 11 disciples, 11 men left. Two women stayed. Many years ago, was studying this, and the holy spirit was using this to teach me the important place of women in the move of God.

And why the devil is so after that gender? I don't have time for that today. When you study the history of a woman, do you think it's a mistake that the greatest holes have befallen that gender? It is because there is an agenda from the kingdom of darkness. A carefully structured agenda. Because the kingdom of darkness has understood what power the woman wields. And so right from a very young age, you would see attacks upon attacks that would never look like an attack. I was raped at eight years old. I was dissed by that. I was molested by this.

And then what the devil is simply doing is drifting that life away from purpose. So that by the time she's 18, the thing has become so normal to her. She does not know she's under attack. Living a life outside of the will of God. Because the devil knows what that one person can do. If they find God. That's not my decision. Stay with me. The two women stayed. They stayed.

I can imagine that they are crying and they're just weeping and sobbing and they stayed. And as they stayed there, the Bible said an angel appeared to them. Whilst they were weeping, whilst they were crying, do you imagine the kind of hunger that would have been provoking them to even stay when all the men have gone? It's not even safe for you to still be there. The folders that run can come back. But they were weeping and they remained. They were crying and they remained. And upon crying, ah, an angel appeared to them. Two angels, in fact, the Bible says, and told them, why are you weeping? Let me see.

Why are you weeping? He said because they have taken away my law. I don't know where they have laid him. And they were weeping. And the angels answered. Now when she has said this, she turned around and saw who? Go back. Yes. Thank you very much. Glory to God.

And the moment she was done explaining why she was weeping and crying to the angels. The next thing she turned is she saw Jesus. She saw Jesus. The question is, why did she have to see the angels before she saw Jesus? Why didn't Jesus just appear to her? And why did Jesus have to appear to It was to show you that she was not comfortable with superficial encounter. That she had seen the angel but it was not the angel she came to see. You were okay the moment you fell, but your fall did not fall anything in your life. The high towers are still there because you've met an angel. But Jesus is still just a mile away and he's saying, can you still journey further?

I'm here. But your hunger became exhausted. The moment you saw an angel. What you were hungry for was not Jesus. It was just anything that resembled Jesus. Anything that looked like an encounter. That's why somebody can say I came to that meeting and I had an encounter. I saw my family. I saw this. I saw that.

Ah, I'm gonna have to start praying. No. But nothing has still changed in your life. Because the Bible says that if you behold Jesus, if you behold Jesus, if you behold Jesus, ah, look at what happened there. The moment they saw Jesus, the bible says they were running to... You know women? They were running to meet Jesus to give him a hug and to just hold him. Jesus stopped them right there. No. Don't do that.

Don't do that. For I have not yet ascended to my father. In other words, what you read in Hebrews nine, how that Jesus ascended to the throne room, are you with me? Yes. To go and complete the altar of sacrifice in the throne room and what he had to do in the throne room was what he was going to do in this place when those women called him back. And it was in the law of the priest in the old testament that when the thieves are on their way to the temple, no one must touch them. So Judah was saying, I've not yet completed my assignment. You can't touch me. I was actually on my way somewhere. It was your hunger that called me back.

And Jesus told them, go and tell the people what you have said. Two women. The gospel was first preached by two women. What you call evangelism started first by two women. Who had seen the risen Christ? It makes me understand that it is possible to come to church and have such superficial encounters. But your hunger stops there. Your hunger stops there. That you came and the only testimony that you came and you witnessed and you saw. But nothing changed in your life.

Nothing happened in your life. That's the reason why someone can keep on coming to the same church for five years, and it's not as though God is not there. It's not that the word of God is not being taught. It's not that the presence of God is not there. But nothing happens within them. How they are is still how they are. As crude and as raw as anything. That you see them outside and there's no difference between them and unbelievers. They live the same way. Yet they claim to meet Jesus on Sunday when they come to church.

The question therefore becomes, who do you come to meet in his temple? Who do you come to meet in his presence? An angel or Jesus? What did you come for? To dance or to meet with Jesus? To get money or to meet with Jesus. When did Jesus stop becoming the emphasis? Because there must be a desire within the heart of the seeker for the seeker to know what he's seeking for. You can't just come to church clueless about what you are looking for. I know what I want.

It is Jesus. It's Jesus. If the worship would help me get closer to him than I would worship. If the Bible says, Lord is enthroned in the praises of his people. I'm not praising for praising sake. It's because I understand that he is that Jesus is enthroned when I praise. And so I'm not praising for dancing sake. I'm not doing dancing competition. When I come and dance in the front here, it's not a competition. I'm not holding my friend and say, yeah, look at this step.

Look at this step. And then both of us are starting to do this step together. And then they look another song. And then you run this way. I run that way. I start doing, that's not why we are praising. There's an understanding that I came to meet Jesus. And this Jesus is enthroned when we praise. Oh God. So if he's enthroned when I praise him, then what do I do?

I praise him with reckless abandon. That's the understanding beside why I would dance, why I would praise, why I won't keep quiet. If the Bible says, the time is coming and now is the time when those that worship him will worship him in spirit and in truth. Then when it's time to worship, I know whom I'm looking for. I'm not just singing a song, you see. There's a desire behind my seeking. I know what I'm seeking after. If I told you, go outside. I dropped a key outside there, and I said go outside. Look for something and bring it.

Something valuable, just look for it and bring it to me. What are the odds that you would find my key outside there? What are the chances you would find my key outside there? Do you understand what I'm saying? But if I told you I lost a key, do you realize that that has changed? You know what you are looking for. If you just go outside, anything can appear valuable. In fact, you can see a pen on the floor and say, maybe this is it. Because you have no idea what is the object of your pursuit. And as long as you don't know what the object of your pursuit is, anything that looks fanciful can catch your attention.

And you can stop pursuing the moment you find the first viral. And say, oh god. Do you understand what I'm saying? But imagine I thought some people, and I told them what I lost is a key. Is that not so? When you find a barrel, another person finds a watch, another one finds... They all say, ah, thank God. I think this this must be it. It does not resemble talking. They say, how about you?

I found... Ah, those ones have not found the key. They keep on looking. Ah, They keep on looking. Those who have found something, look at them and say, do you even... Are you... We found what is... This is a good key here or a good barrel here or a good watch here. And with your understanding that no, it's not just a barrel. Though a barrel might be valuable.

Isn't just a watch. Though a watch can be valuable. What I'm looking for is actually, do you understand what I'm saying? It means if the object of your pursuit is not clear, anything will look relevant to you. Anything will satisfy you. Anything will make you comfortable. Anything will make you... Do you understand what I'm saying? The only problem is that the only thing that can give satisfaction and transformation is Jesus. So it means it does not matter what you have found.

There would still be no transformation. There would still be no real satisfaction. Real, do you understand what I'm saying? Because what you should find, you have not found. Is is why he says, you will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart. So the journey is is designed to be sought after. Oh my God. He has to become the object of your pursuit. Jesus.

Jesus. Is the reason why we come and teach. Jesus. Is the reason why we come and worship Jesus. And when you don't meet him, and when you do start beholding him, when you do have an encounter with the real Jesus, when you collide with him, the impact of that collision will be worse than what happens to your body when you collide with a truck. All your life will show that I met with Jesus. All your life. One of my own men was telling me this. He said, before he came to the Disciples Christian Network and and he became serious with God, he used to be an addict of football. And he was describing just how addicted he was to it.

He wasn't just a thing of watching football. As a game or as a sport. It bothers to the extreme of addiction. In fact, I was playing all this FIFA we were playing together, and I picked a very useless team just to humiliate him. I was amazed because I don't even know the name of the team. I just picked it. And he was telling me, ah, is this player still here? Is that... I said, how do you know these people? Because this is not something that even a football lover would know.

Then he smiled and said, apostle, you don't know who I was. I said, tell me who you were. He said it was so bad. It was so bad that when he went to visit his father... Right, and his father came inside when a particular football match was going on and they met him praying or doing something, that was when they believed that he had found Jesus. That you mean there is anything that can make you not watch football. It was at that point they believed that, ah ah, no. What you found is real. That's what I mean by collision. That's what I mean by collision.

That kind of collision is what you are not embarrassed about. Is the one you come out of it, you are proud to limp. Because it's Jesus you met. Yes, sir. Is this ambition and lust for money locked up within your heart? And he says, son, if you will follow me, you can't follow me like this. This is not how... No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You cannot serve God and serve Mammon. And the moment you meet with him, the first thing that he begins to ask for is the hip bone of money.

The hip bone of money, that idol that is rising within your heart, it begins to make demand of it. This is how people carry the glory of God. See, it looks like an unpleasant message to the years, but it's why we've lost the glory. It's the reason why we've lost it. It's the reason why we've lost it. Paul, formally called Saul, was on his way to Damascus. With only one intention in mind. To go and slaughter people. Do you know that when Stephen was being killed? Saul was the one watching the clothes of those that were stoning Stephen.

Whom you know to be apostle Paul. He was the one watching, they came to come and stone somebody. But they were still concerned about their phone not getting lost. And their property is not getting lost. So they came to Saul. He said help us watch this thing. And father, yes, go and stone him. Go and stone him. Us. When he met Jesus.

And Jesus looked at him and said, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Why do you persecute me? And all of a sudden, they could not move again. Go back to verse three. Verse three. And he journeyed, he came near the mass course, and suddenly, a light shone around him from heaven. Look at the next verse. Then he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Then he asked a question, who are you? Lord.

Then the Lord said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goats. At the end of that encounter, and as a sin, who was on his way to kill people. Was struck blind. He could no longer see. Jesus told him there's a brother who will be waiting for you. Go and meet that brother. Oh God. Moving around helplessly. When somebody ask him, why are you blind?

They will say he met Jesus. Think about this for a moment. He said ah, why are you blind? He said I had an encounter. I met Jesus. Okay, there will be no evidence of collision. It's not true. The blindness is typological by the way. I've explained what the blindness means in a teaching of man. Glory to God.

Amen. So that's not to mean that someone will encounter Jesus and become blind. Because people hear different things. That's not that's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is within you. Is where? Within you. Within you. So if your teeth broke and your will did not break, it is a waste of teeth. I'm sorry to say.

It's a waste of teeth. You wetin that it, your teeth broke. That's the only thing you pick out of. Your will is still as strong than it was. You have wasted a tooth. You are still as hard hearted as you were. And the reason I have found for this, still as arrogant and proud as you were. The reason I've found for this is that we are satisfied with too little. We are satisfied with anything but Jesus. I'm satisfied with the love you've shown me.

I'm satisfied with the love you've shown shown me. Me. I'm satisfied with the That's the ultimate Jesus. That's the ultimate pursuit, Jesus. Some of you have not even defined what you are pursuing. You don't even know that it's worth pursuing. So you come to church, but you don't know why you are coming. You don't know. Coming to church has become a religious thing. You come because you have been coming since you were young.

You were born in church. You've never really had a choice about it. You've been a worker all your life in church. You were from drama to choir from this. So you come to the disciples Christian, and it's the same. The same religion all over again. That's why when you see Muslims and all these ifap priests when they meet with Jesus, the change is more drastic than a Christian who has been a Christian all is years. We have the tendency to take it for granted because we've been around religious things and church things all our life. So when we see someone whose heart truly pant after him, look at how the Bible call it. It has the deer pants after the water.

So my soul will pant. As the deer pants, that's the heart of someone seeking. As the deer pants, as the deer is looking for water. Like a testimony that has not that has not drunk for many days. That is how my soul will test. Because I know whom I am pursuing. I'm not... I don't care what I have found if I've not found you. I don't care what I've seen if I've not seen you. I don't care how many angels appear to me if I've not seen you.

I'm not after angels. I'm after Jesus. I'm not after a man. I'm not after a man. Or a man of God. I'm after Jesus. That's the reason why if we have a meeting like this, an apostle does not come, you are disappointed. That I was looking forward to apostle. Why? Why?

Why not Jesus? Why are you looking forward to apostle? Why not Jesus? Why not Jesus? Because it does not matter who stand on this pulpit. As long as you saw Jesus. As long as you beheld him once again. You beheld him once again. As long as while the truth of the word was being taught. It was Jesus speaking to you.

When you find a man like this and the object of your pursuit truly becomes Jesus, then you can say with all your heart that my desire truly, truly, truly is to see him and to see him alone. Ah, I'm showing you a man that will radiate the glory and the power of God. I'm showing you a man that will become a physical embodiment of his presence. I'm showing you a man whom Jesus has conquered. And listen to me, every point where Jesus conquers you. Is the point where oil flows out of you. Did you understand what I've just said? Transformation will be difficult if you have not seen Jesus. It will be so difficult. You will battle with everything you are battling with again and again.

And you will have no power over it because your will can do nothing. I hear a song in my spirit. Songs like these are always a function of a place we have entered in the spirit. You will think that by just singing. But for someone, it's a well that is being dug deeper and deeper and deeper. For someone you have been satisfied already. In fact, you cannot say you are pursuing anymore because you have been satisfied. Listen. Listen. Do not understand why Moses said, we will not go.

Because this was after their rebellion. It was after they had made for themselves an idol. When Mufit was away forty days getting the 10 commandments for them. And then Mufit was interceding on their behalf. And God had already said, you know what? I'm going to destroy these people and Mufi was interceding for them. And God says, fine. No problem. Go. If your plea is that God brought them out and could not bring them in, then go.

You want to get to the promised land, you will get there. In fact, I would send an angel after you. The angel will go before you. The land flowing with milk and honey, you will touch it. You will arrive safely. You will conquer lands. You will conquer cities. But I will not go with you. Moses said what? No.

No. No. No. I want to get to where I'm going. But not at the expense. Ah, Jesus Christ. Do you know? That's the problem with when we promise people things in church that is not Jesus. That's the problem. Because the moment your hand touches the thing that you were promised, you will stop your journey into Jesus there.

As though the thing is Jesus. That's what makes things and testimonies and miracles become idols in the heart of people. Because whoever brought them to Christ, told them that in Christ, you will find money. In Christ, you will find this. So the person has not even turned it into the Christ, but he has found money. Why then should this thing keep on pursuing? Has tasted riches. He has tasted small small wealth. Small comfort. Small small drinkles.

Somebody that was suffering before. You now brought into that and gave him a job. Because the object of the pursuit was not even Jesus to begin with. It wasn't even Jesus to begin with. So the guy is praying, but he's not praying to know him more. He's not praying to fast. He's not even fasting to know him more. Everything that he's doing is based on the transactional gospel has been told. That if you do this, you will get this. If you do this, you will get this.

And God is saying, can you turn into me such that your reward for seeking me is me. But if somebody ask you, after all these years of seeking Jesus, what have you now, what have, what have you now found? You will say Jesus. Who will say Jesus? I found Jesus. That Jesus that I found is worth more than money than God told me. More things said will not go. In other words, if it means dying in this place and never touching the promised land, we are comfortable with it as long as your presence doesn't go with us. How many believers can speak like that? How many believers can speak like that?

Do not understand why it looks as though the manifest presence and the glory of God seem to be dwindling in a generation. Because we have taught a doctrine that made men consumers and not seekers. The average believer is looking for what he can consume. What he can consume. And that's all. That we can come and weep. And then Jesus is, you are the one we want. I'm telling you, when you find a man like that, he will rise in influence. He will rise in wealth. He will rise in platform.

And you will still see him in church. And he will lie down like this. With tears in his eyes. And he's saying show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. But you wonder why the believer that has nothing is too proud to even worship in his presence.

That we are singing a worship song. And the foolish believer is looking up and down like this. And you call that one to a Christian. What are we raising in church? What are we raising in church? Where did we hear the gospel we believed? The guy is just big boy in his presence. Comb his hair, look sharp. Of what matters to him. When we say praise God, he stands tall like a giraffe.

Looking at everywhere but praising the God, he said praise. Why did you come? I can't understand it. What did you come looking for? What are you seeking for? A girlfriend in church? An husband in church? A wife in church? Do I truly acknowledge that my life is nothing? That my career is nothing.

That it does not matter what I have built, it is nothing. Do I truly believe it? That even if I pass an exam and get first class, if you do not follow me, it is nothing. It is nothing. It is nothing. It is nothing. Let not the rich man glory in his riches. Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. The Bible says, let him that glory it. Glory in this thing.

That they understand and they know me. What's the job if you don't know him? What is there to glory in? What is there to glory in? Is the reason why we have so many believers. Everything we know is in theory. The holy spirit lives in you but does not manifest through you. It's in theory. It's in theory. We know power only in theory.

We know the glory of God only in theory. Everything real and substantial in Christ, we know only from books. And stories we have heard. Babalala did this and that. Did it and that. The patriarchs of faith did this and that. And that's all we know about God. And sometimes, the experience that they described to us looks so far that we have reduced it to an experience only a few can have. After all, I'm not an apostle. I'm not a pastor.

But I've read the Celtic flames. And I saw the story of ordinary men. Ordinary men. I read of a baker who owns a bakery. And in his bakery, he would produce bread and all kind of things. And an accident will happen in front of his bakery. Three people will die immediately. And people will gather shouting and screaming and saying, hey, hey, hey, oh, I'm causing them. People just gather there. Shouting and screaming.

And this young man will step out of his bakery wondering, why are you shouting? Will you stop shouting? Is it only because some people died? And imagine speaking like that when somebody died. They will take their frustration on those who caused the accident and turn it at you. Who spoke? Heartless person. This one, that one. As they turned, he went back inside his bakery. Ask them how many people died.

They said three. He went and brought out three breads. Took it away and said let me pass. Let me pass. He let me pass. And he said arise and eat. And the first one stood up. Arise and eat. The second one stood up. Arise and eat.

The third one stood up. People that came to wail at the dead body. Suddenly became a platform for evangelism to have happened. It wasn't the pastor. It's just a man that carries glory. Ah, God. We read the stories as though it's a fire experience from our own life. As though me, I'm just a Christian. No, all these things you are talking about. What does now mean to be a Christian?

What does now mean to be a Christian? If you can have a few people who would commit themselves and say Jesus, it is you, it is you. And commit to themselves that I now know the object of my pursuit. I thought it was a car, but it's not a car, it's Jesus. It's Jesus. I thought it was a house, but it's not a house, it's Jesus. I might have even started with Jesus, but something happened along the way, and I realized my heart started pursuing other things. So that as the deer pangs for water, my own soul was panting after a job, after a car, after a certificate, after first class. And slowly, I realized my pursuit of Jesus started drifting, started drifting, started drifting until nothing is left. I don't even know how I got here.

But I'm so far from your presence. And when I pray, it looks as though I'm throwing dust. I've come. Just one person that would pray that prayer and say I've come. Just a few people who realize that it is a way men carry his glory. There's a way men carry his presence. There's a way men carry his power. He's not holding his glory. He's not holding his power. He's not holding his presence.

You can be an embodiment of his glory. Can be an embodiment of this power. I realize that I meet with the wrong crowd. I meet with the wrong crowd. And they sift out they sift out your love in my heart. I walked with always like this. I used to be on fire. I used to be passionate. But my love grew cold. My love grew cold.

My passion grew cold. My fire down. Hear me? There's so much your life can be, my brother. There's so much your life can be, my sister. There's so much. There's so much potential that is in you. But I can see that there is, you, you, you, it's not a bad thing to want to prosper. But prosperity has taken the lust and the desire to prosper. It has, it has taken the place of Jesus.

That's the problem. What's the problem? But there's no love anymore. No passion anymore. John 14, let me show you the secret to his glory, his manifest presence. And verse 21 down to verse 23. Look at what the Bible says. 21 it says, he who has my commandments and keep them. It is he who loves me. Watch this.

And he who loves me will be loved by my father. And I will love him. And manifest myself to him, my God. Do you remember it's the same Jesus who said in John three sixteen, stay here, that for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. What did the world do for God to love the world? Did the world do anything? Because the bible not say whilst we were yet sinners, Christ died for. Are you with me? That the the the motivation behind his death, burial, and resurrection is solely the fact that he loves the world. He loved the world.

Now watch this. That same God who the bible says loved the world now says there's another dimension of love that is not for the world. It says, he who loves me, he who loves me will be loved by my father. I thought for God so loved the world. And the Lord, the world did not have to love him for him for him to love the world. So what is this? I show you how men carry the glory of God. How men become embodiment of his glory. How men become embodiment of his power. How he reveals himself to men.

And how men become envoys of his presence. Envoys and carriers of his glory. He says, he says, he who loves me will be loved by my father. And I will love him and manifest myself to him. He who loves me. You see, I listen to a man of God who was speaking, and he says, it is not right for the believer to say I love Jesus. The right thing to say is Jesus loves me. You see, when you have such biases as a man of God, you will need to pretend that scriptures like this don't exist. You will need to go and tear it out of your own Bible. The Bible says we love him because he first loved us.

So for God so loved the world, that is his, that is in drawing near to us. He invited us to himself. We could not come if he were, if we were not invited. The reason we could be saved is because his love covered. Are you with me? Now in response to his love, we now love. He says, if you love me, in response to the love that I have shown, if you love me, then I will love him. And I will manifest myself to him. Look at verse 22. Judas now said, Judas now said, not his chariot.

Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us? And not to the world. This guy is intelligent. Look at Jeutovah's response. He says, if anyone loves me and he will keep my word, my father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him. Is this still not clear? A lot of us love God only during emergencies. When you desperately need employment, I will understand why you attend prayer meetings, why you wake up in the night. But what happens when the job arrives? Do you know that I I have seen people who came to me and they said, oh, they were blessed by the message.

They were blessed by this. And then they would come and say, tell me their problem and say, I just have a problem right now. In fact, this method really transformed my life, but I have a problem right now. I'm just looking for help. Can you please help me? And this... And many a times, I don't even pay attention to such things. But sometimes out, I would oblige them. And I'll ask them, what do you need? And the person will say, I just need 50,000.

In fact, if I see 50,000 right now, all my problem is solved. 50,000. That that that's somewhat small for me. No problem. Take 50,000 naira. That's the last time you will see them in church. The pursuit was never for Jesus. Sometimes we don't even help people by helping them. I was talking to some people in chapel on Friday and I told them the best way to help some, to help people is to point them to Jesus. Because as we were going on outreach, they were telling me about several experiences they were having.

And now that some people would tell them that I don't have transport. I don't have this. I don't have food to eat. I don't have and I don't have any issue with providing and doing all of that. All of that is good. But when that becomes the basis of your saying, I will do this for you. Come to church. You have missed it entirely. They will take you as a gullible believer. And you will build a sense of entitlement in them.

That anytime they have problems henceforth, they have found a gullible person that can always answer to their problem. Now you have become Yeshua. When they call you, you will answer. Yet the Jesus you are meant to point them to. They have not seen. So the guy keeps on hanging around you because he knows I will message this one. I will call him out. Never about Jesus and you never helps them to tell them, see, it is Jesus that changes lives. It's not me. Even if I'm going to help someone in that regard, I will tell them, see, God is Jesus that changes life.

Even me, all of us, we are looking up to Jesus. He's the author and definition of our faith. But one thing I can guarantee you is this, you can't stay with Jesus long enough and your life does not change. Come. Come. Even if I have any money to help you, it is out of the little he has given to me to help me. And I'm seeing transmission in my own life. So come. Okay, let me help you to church. Take.

Let me come and carry you to church. When church finishes, the next thing is ah, if you think what I mean, calm down. Did you meet Jesus today? Otherwise, let's leave this fool alone. You know they take us like as fools in church. And they believe we're just gullible people. And and take advantage of our, and then we made ourselves like that. Because our emphasis no longer became Jesus. It was everything that we could that they could get from Jesus. So we saw ourselves as their helpers.

We thought we were doing them one good. By posing to be what? To be Jesus to their life. No. Come and meet Jesus. Come and meet Jesus. Come have a friend in Jesus. Come and meet Jesus. I'm nothing without his presence. Listen to me.

The Bible calls God a jealous God. He's jealous. And he's not jealous because he's insecure. Exodus 20. He's jealous because he knows that whatever occupies his place in your heart will eventually destroy you. He knows. He may give you something with his hands and later come to confront that thing that he has given to you because he checked and he saw that the thing has taken his place in your heart. The gifts can come from God and still be an idol. Ministry can become an idol. Marriage can become an idol.

Ambition can become an idol. Even the desire for the anointing can become an idol. You want power more than you want God. You want growth more than you want God. So much so, if you cannot find anything remarkable happening in your life. I've seen people like that. They hear testimonies people are are are giving and they hear challenging people are doing and how they are making movements in their life. And they look at their life and surmise that Kai, my life is not moving forward. In other words, I don't consider my pursuit of Jesus forward movement. That if all, if the only thing I found in my pursuit is Jesus, I've not made progress.

Ah. What a terrible way to live. Does not deserve all the glory. Chapter 12. From verse 39 down to verse 30. The Bible says, Jesus answered him, the first of all the commandments is, here, oh Israel, the Lord our God. The Lord is one. Verse 30, I want us to read this together. One, two, three, go. God does not request for the remainder of your heart.

After ambition, after pleasure, after relationships, after your personal plans have taken their own portions, then now give the rest to God. Mm-mm. He says, all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength. Complete love for God does not mean you cannot love people. Does not mean you cannot pursue legitimate responsibilities. No. It means every other love is arranged under your love for God. Your love for yours, you you you love your spouse through your love for God. You pursue your career under the government of your love for God. You use your influence according to what pleases the one you love.

The love for God is not a confession. Jesus only permit us to define love. Simply by how we feel. During worship. No. Love must have evidence. Why do you pursue? What are you sacrificing for? What receives your attention? That is the evidence of love.

What matters to you because it matters to God. That's the evidence of love. When something touches the church of God, are you moved? When something touches its purposes, are you moved? Does anything rise within you? I thought you know you love him. How you know you love him? Second Samuel second Samuel seven. Let me show you something. From verse one to verse two.

The Bible says, now it came to pass. When When the king was dwelling in his house, and the Lord had given him what? The Lord had given him what? Yes. From all his enemies all around. This is a comfortable man. The Bible says finally he could sleep. Finally, he could rest. Watch love and what it does to a man. Look at the next verse.

That the king said to Napham, the prophet, see now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the hack of God still dwell inside tent curtains. That if it matters to God, it will matter to you. That's love. Lord, can I live comfortably? And that which belongs to God. What is that? I was talking to a man of God. And he said to me, he said, he was in the pastor's meeting. And he told the pastors that were there. Because they were complaining about how their churches look like, it's not growing, it's not this, and while he looked, the Lord was showing him the cars they were driving.

Some of them were driving cars of 17,000,000, 23,000,000, yet their keyboard in their church is is $19.80 cashew. Pastor's He said he came and told the pastors that if any of you here is driving a car that is more expensive than the instrument you have in your church, the equipment you have in your church, and you cannot sell your car and actually produce good worship to God. Is all of you are canal? You are not worth being pastors. Said they were offended at him. But it is true. It is true. The king said, how can I live in a house of cedars? And I check what matters to God and I see that the harp of covenant is still kept in curtains. How can my house be clean?

And I come to the house of God and I find that it is it is in disarray. Something in me should be steered. Something in me should move. The house of God should have the best. Not second. Not third. It should have the best. Nobody commanded David to think about building God the house. God did not threaten him. David was sitting down in his own comfort.

When his heart suddenly became burdened by what concerned God. This what love does. It makes what matters to God matter to you. He couldn't enjoy his seeder without thinking about the hack. His love for God had given him a kingdom burden. You cannot love God and be indifferent towards his house. You can't love God and be indifferent towards his people. Towards the name of God. Towards his purposes. Towards his agenda.

You may not be called into pulpit ministry but something about you must advance the kingdom of God. Kingdom advance should move you. Souls should matter to you. You should see souls and your heart breaks. When they don't know God. The bible says Jesus saw them and he has compassion on them because they were like sheep without shepherd. The same thing pant in the heart of a man who the love of God has finally found expression within him. You would go to your class, you would go to your department, you would go to your workplace or business center, you would look around you and see crowd of people who are confused, who are in terrorism. I... There will be burdens in your heart.

So I love Jesus. It's not a song we sing. It's an experience we live. There are evidences to show that I am passionate about this God. I'm passionate. The purity and the health of the church should matter to you. You can't be watching everything that concerns God. Collapse on your left and on your right. Whereas your own passion is reserved for your private life. As long as you are doing well, as long as all is well with you, it doesn't matter what happens to the church, to God's people, to the house of God, to the needs of the church.

Psalms chapter 69 verse nine. The Bible says, because zeal for your house has eaten meal. Give me verse eight. Let's start from verse eight. I have become a stranger to my brothers and an alien to my mother's children. Verse nine, why? Because zeal for your house has eaten me up. Read it again. I want us to read together. Verse eight.

One, two, three, go. Read it again. Let's do it in NLT. Is it NLT of heaven's church? One, two, three, go. Why? Next verse. Boss. That's what I want you to see. That even my brothers and my sisters pretend they don't know me.

And it is because the zeal for your house. Passion for your house has consumed me. So it's not a bad thing. You won't be the first person. The zeal for the out of God so consumed David. It's why many believers have to examine themselves oh. Some of you, you've not stopped attending church. But your love has grown cold. You still know the songs we sing. But your heart no longer reaches for God.

There's no sincere desire for Jesus. You still listen to the preaching. But the word of God no longer bring you to repentance. Your heart has become hard to the word. The word can confront your character and confront your behavior and you will be turned deaf to it. Yet you still come to church. They can spend hours discussing football, entertainment, business, relationships, social media even. But spiritual conversations, no, those ones become burdensome very fast. They have time for everything that they truly want, but they continually explain why they have no time for God. I remember telling a young man like that.

I said, go on a retreat. Something in you has died. The moment you find that your passion for God and the house of God has started dwindling, it's not normal. It's not because you got busier. Your business has nothing to do with it. You will always have time for what you truly care about. It is true. It is true. Revelations 22 verse five, the Bible says, I know your works and your labor, your patience, that you cannot bear those who are evil, and you have tested those who said they are apostles and are not. And have found them liars.

And you have preserved, you have persevered, and have patience, and have labored for my name's sake, and have not become weary. Verse four says, nevertheless, I have this against you that you have left your false love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the false works. You have left your first love. That thought was still working. That thought was still laboring. That thought was still enduring. They were still defending the faith. They were still defending sound doctrine. Yet Jesus said something central had been lost.

And you can continue your Christian activity. Even after your affection for God has been distorted. Your hand can remain busy with the things of God, around the things of God, but your heart has straight far away from God. You can serve in church because people expect you to serve. You preach as a man of God because it's a schedule. You sing because you've been given a microphone to sing, and you cannot say no. And you don't want others to think that you have backlit. Activity can continue through discipline, through reputation, even after love has grown cold. And Jesus tells them to return. Return.

Return. Return. He says remember. Repent and do the first works. Repent and do the first works. Remember the tenderness you once had towards God. Remember when obedience was not an argument. Remember. Remember when the word of God could correct you. When prayer was a privilege, remember.

Remember when pleasing him was all that mattered to you. Even more than protecting your image, remember. Then repent. Remember the awe you used to have in his presence. Remember the awe when he when the power and the presence of God starts manifesting. And you are so in awe. What now happened that made you numb? You are now numb to the holy spirit. You are numb to his speakings. You are numb to his, even as I'm speaking, you are still numb.

Something is attempting to convict you, but you are refusing the conviction. And you know what you are doing. It says remember your first work. Remember and repent. Remember and repent. Remember and repent. Man of God, remember and repent. Woman of God, remember and repent. Businessman and student, remember and repent. Then do the first works.

Don't wait until you feel passionate. No. Remember and repent. Return to prayer. Do the first works. Return to scripture. Return to the obedience that you once had. Return. And in return in your heart begins to awaken. And for some of you, you have so drifted, you can't even remember what the first works look like.

And for some of you, you never even had a first walk. All your life, you were rooted in iniquity. But listen, it's moving in your heart moving in your heart is walking inside you Remember and return. See, that law will produce hunger. You can't deeply love a person and remain content with distance from the person. No. Love always wants nearness. Love always wants knowledge. Love always wants fellowship. Love always wants communion.

So when your love for God is alive, you don't just want information about God. Something within you wants God. Early will I seek you. My soul first for you. My flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory. Because your loving kindness is better than life. My lips shall praise you. David was in the wilderness, yet his greatest test was not for water. His soul and his body longed for God.

It is so I've looked for you in the sanctuary. It means when I come to the sanctuary, I'm not coming looking for any other thing but you. It is I've looked for you in the sanctuary to see your power and to see your glory. And when you when your heart starts to yearn for God in this manner, you realize that he's not holding his presence from you. That's the first thing you discover. That he's not holding himself away from you. You realize that your life can actually carry, ah, oh my God. See, you would see manifestations of his sweet fellowship when you understand what I'm teaching you. I tell you there are times I will be sleeping and praying and fellowshipping. And the encounters.

And it's not because you're a man of God. It's not because you're a man of God. I remember a time I was praying. Woke up, my eyes opened and I physically, I saw a very big head. Looking at me, almost, almost this close to my face. I almost jilted in shock. And then the thing disappeared. And Lord told me, that is how I watch over you. The scripture came, it will keep you in perfect peace. He said your angels, he will give them charge over you.

I I said my goodness, look at the attention. It was as though all this attention was on me and I was sleeping. Is what the communion does. I wasn't praying for. I wasn't asking for it. I wasn't praying for it. Just a sweet fellowship and it makes himself manifest. It may... It reveals himself. I'll be in fellowship, and as I'm fellowshipping, he would come sit down beside my bed.

Not because there's anything particular about impaling down, but I would hear the bread depress. Pow. After someone physically sat down there, yet there was nobody there. That's why it's called the sweet fellowship of the spirit. Sometimes they are in communion. And it begins to make his presence known to you, like a sweet perfume. You begin to smell a fragrance, you cannot explain. Sometimes it's a cold breeze around. It makes you know I'm here. I'm here.

I only, you're not asking, you're not looking, you're not chasing. What you want is just him. But when he comes, he come with all of what he comes with. Ah, God. He come with his presence. He come with his glory. You see the angels, you see the chariots. All around. You see Cherub and Seraphs all around because he has come. Sometimes we are not seeking for the manifestation.

We are seeking for him. But when he comes, the mountains shake. When he comes, when he comes, the trees, they shake. The time I'm on my bed praying and and and I'm my eyes is soaked with tears. I can't even explain why I'm crying. I can't even explain why I'm crying. Just weeping like a baby. I will look as though you you took me to the Hamilias. In severe cold. Chilling all over my body.

And and it's not, he just wants me to know I am here. Just want me to know that he's here. You are here. That love creates hunger. That hunger makes you listen to messages. That hunger makes you read the word of God. That hunger makes you read books. Because spiritual hunger is a only satisfaction with your present measure of knowing and experiencing God. It doesn't at all mean in gratitude for what God has already done. It means that you have not seen enough.

And it means you have seen enough to know that there is more. Morpheus had encountered miracles that an entire generation had not yet seen. Yet he still said, show me your glory. Paul had had revelations and had seen miracles. At some level of apostolic authority already. And he still said that I may know him. Genuine encounters. When they come, they leave you wanting more. They enlarge your capacity to pursue him more. They they come and fill you up and then leave you still empty.

That that's the nature of encounters. And when a man truly makes Jesus is satisfied but hungry at the same time. It's a mystery that only the experience can explain. You can't understand it by words. No matter how much I try to describe it to you, only the experience of the thing can make you understand the thing. That a man can be satisfied yet hungry. That a man can be filled yet empty. That is the nature of encounters. Philippians three ten, that I might know him. That I might know him and the power of his resurrection.

That I might know him and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his suffering. How do you know I do? It was hunger that was making this man speak like this. Look at the next verse. The next verse says, if verse 12 says not that I have attained or I am already perfected, but I press on. Hunger presses. Any kind of desire, any kind of love that does not produce in you pursuit for the one to whom you love, it has to be questioned. If a man loves a woman, he will pursue the woman. The proof of love is pursuit. If a woman loves a man, you will see pursuit there.

Pursuit is that you can't wait to speak to the person that you love. Is that not so? You want to speak, you are checking your phone to see if they've messaged you, you will see some kind of pursuit. Some would even travel long distances to go and see the person that they love. Love always steers within a man pursuit. The pursuit of God is steered by the love for God. Are you with me? Yes. And the Bible says Matthew five six. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

For they shall be filled. Let me stop here. The promise of filling is given to the thirsty. God does not fill people just because they are near hungry people. The fact that you come to church doesn't mean that you are filled. You can attend a church full of passionate believers and still remain empty. Because you have outsourced your own puzzle to the atmosphere. To the intensity of the atmosphere. But inside of you, there is really no pursuit. You can admire the hunger of your pastor.

You can celebrate the prayer life of others. And enjoy being around spiritual people without personally seeking God yourself. See, the ability to remain hungry is one of the greatest graces that God can give a believer. The ability to remain hungry. That's why when you see a gifted man who is no longer hungry for God, is a dangerous thing. Because the person can continue functioning from yesterday's encounters. Knowledge without hunger can produce pride. Because the person knows language for realities that is no longer experiencing. But he can describe it. The same thing ministry without hunger.

It can become just performance. Just activities. Because the private life, the consecration of the man of God has died itself. Brothers and sisters, is there still anybody who has hunger here? Protect your hunger. Don't allow success to kill your hunger. Don't allow don't don't even allow answered prayers to kill your hunger. Don't allow familiarity with spiritual things to kill your hunger. Please don't. I am hungry Jesus.

Fill me, fill me till I overflow. See, there are times that God will allow you to taste a possibility that is beyond your present experience. And the reason for that is so that hunger can be awakened on your insight. So you will realize that the possibility would come. You would experience it, you would test it. It can even be some dimension of favor. It can be on dimension of power. It can be some dimension of the glory of God. And then it will just fold again for a season. And what God is saying is, now that you know that this thing is available, let hunger be stirred up inside of you to pursue.

It can be that you pray for someone and an unusual result follows. The person calls you and tells you, when you prayed for me, this, this, this, this happened. And it blew your mind. You attempted to do it again and then pow. It goes. And you wondering ah, but I did this yesterday. And you... And God is telling you now, you know it is there. Pursue. Seek after.

Now you know that this dimension is available. It can be that you went to a meeting. And the way the presence of God so manifested himself. Whilst you were worshiping, people were in tears and they were crying. Killings were happening all around. And then you say, my goodness. I have this thing. Next time you try to do it again, it's no longer there. And God says, yes. You see, it is there.

It's available. Pursue. Pursue until it becomes a constant experience. That's how you know you have entered it. The taste is an invitation. Taste and see. My prayer is that hungry men will rise in this place. Romans 12 verse 11 says not not not lagging in diligence. Fervent in the spirit. Fervent in the spirit.

Fervent in the spirit. Ferment in the spirit. I want you as you are seated where you are. To bow your heads and to pray. To be fervent is to burn. Is to burn. Fervent in spirit. Fervent in spirit. I don't have to give you a prayer point but pray. In whatever way this teaching has spoken to you, pray.

Passion for God is not noisy. Somebody can shout in church. And appear to be very spiritual in church. And live very carelessly outside. Passion is the ability to keep your devotion even when nobody sees you. Even when nobody applauds you. That you choose obedience to God over convenience, over comfort. You see passion when you protect the time that you give to God. When the advancement of the kingdom of God begins to override your own personal interest, you know that you are passionate. When what moves God begins to move your heart, when you are affected genuinely by what affects God, this is the way of men that carry the glory of God.

This is the way of men that walk in the presence of God. This is the way of men that embody the glory of God personally. I know that this is a message that we no longer hear in the body of Christ. But it's a message we must once again resurrect. Because a generation must awake in today's meeting. That can carry God into every strata of influence. God desires to wear you like a jacket. God desires to manifest himself in and through your life. God desires to reveal himself through you and then so that you... Men can see him through you.

This is the desire of heaven. And there's somebody here who realizes that my life right now is not a picture of this. Then pray. Pray. He's here. He will answer you. He will answer you. He will answer you. Pray. When those two women wept and cried, he answered them.

Even though he was on his way to to the throne room. He still handsome them. He still handsome them. So pray. I want you to pray. Let it be the most sincere you, the most sincere thing you have ever done. Oh man of God, I've prayed. That you have but you are not sincere. Now be sincere. Now be sincere.

The name of Jesus. Interest in business. In leadership seminars. And you were consumed by the desire to be a renowned businessman. That you have even forgotten that you are a man of God. You have forgotten That ah. There's a call of God upon my life oh. Pray. Pray. Pray.

Pray. Come on pray. Come on pray. Pray. To drink a bowl of fire is once our rent is once our rent we are ready to drink upon a fire we are burning wine please pray burning wine we are ready we want to drink your fire. But in wine, ancient wine. We are hungry. You want to drink your fire there's a dimension of wisdom that you are meant to walk in. You are not yet walking in it. The dimension of the glory of God that is meant to be seen in and through your life is his wisdom.

But you are still making foolish decisions. Because you have not started pursuing Jesus. Because you have not yet started seeking for Jesus. Pray now. Pray now. Pray now. Now is that time. Now is that time. Now is that time to pray. Now is that time to pray.

Be sincere. Be sincere. Behold his glory. Behold. Behold Jesus. Behold Jesus. Behold Jesus. Behold Jesus. He makes himself known to you. He makes himself known to you.

Sister beyond Jesus. Let him break your hip bone. Let him break your limitations and your weaknesses. What you have depended on apart from himself. Let him take it away from you. Come on pray. I cannot know you on my own except you take over I cannot know you as you are, except you take over. I cannot know you by myself, except you take over. Spirit drum into yourself. Will you take Jesus take cannot know you by myself except you take over.

I cannot know you as you are except you take over I cannot know if by myself except you take over I cannot know if by myself Nowhere. Nowhere. If you don't help me, where else can I go? Only you can keep me born here only you can set this heart higher to the day you will return only you can satisfy me only you can keep me funny only you can set this heart apart till the day you will return your presence is it is your presence is it it is One more minute to pray. Pray. Pray. Know you are here I you are I know I you you are here I know here know you are here I see you in power I know you are here I see you in signs and wonders you are see you in glory. Know you are here. If all I have is Jesus, I ask something more than gold. I'll tell it to the world.

Name we have prayed. I love you Jesus. I love you. Forever oh. I love you forever oh. I love you. I love you. I love you. Forever oh. I love you forever.

I love you. I love you forever. I love you forever. We love you. We love you. We We love love you you forever. Forever. Love you. Let there be silence forever. We love you.

We love you forever. We love you. We love you forever. We love you. We love you forever. We love you forever we love you forever you. This amazing grace that you've shown so patiently you've shown You may pass my shame. Disamazing breath. The that you show so patient so patient so you you waited for it's it's who I am see see even in this calmness even in this silence what is happening is that collision. Like you have collided with a truck.

That thing, that collision. I see the hearts of some people open. And what I'm saying is that collision. Jesus himself. That collation, someone you, your hip bone will be broken in this meeting. He will make a demand. He will break something. The testimony will be this is not the you we used to know. What happened to you? What happened to you?

The Bible says, when Saul entered the the company of prophets that were prophesying, the Bible says Saul started prophesying. That the people that used to know Saul now started asking, is Saul also amongst the prophets? That something can happen when Jesus meets a man. That those that knew you before will start asking. When did you too become a prophet? When did God started using you as well? When did the glory started manifesting through your life? When did you start working in this kind of wisdom? It's a coalition with destiny. That's what I'm seeing.

Like Paul on his way to Damascus. Even in the silence. Jesus making himself known. Jesus revealing himself. Jesus manifesting himself. Thank you. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. You, Jesus.

Thank you Jesus. Bring your tithe, bring out your offerings as we close. Thank you, Jesus. Even though they are seated, let's give to God. What I see God doing in somebody's heart is just sincerity is is falsehood has taken over that heart a lot that the heart is becoming pure. Your heart is becoming pure. That's what I'm seeing happening with someone. The heart is becoming pure. It's getting rid of falsehood. Falsehood.

And has given you a pure heart. A sincere heart. A sincere heart. Jesus is walking into the lives of so many people here. You will meet things that you have built in that life and you will scatter them. And they will tell you, build your life on me instead. You will meet 40 foundations and he will uproot them. There will be instructions many will start hearing, empty. Obey as you hear. Yield as you hear.

Block, delete. You will start seeing what you must detach yourself from. What is requesting from you. This is how your life carries the glory of God. He will start introducing you to death. You will die. You will die. You will die. Will die. Paul said I die daily.

You have been alive for a long time. You have been alive for a long time. He says hand over your life to me. That's what he's asking for some. He said hand over your life to me. Hand over your life to me. Dishonest gain has gotten you to where you are. Now he says, let go of the dishonesty. Start again with me. That might mean you might have to go to a face me and face you and build your life from there.

But he says, you will be you will be you will be happy to know I am with you. I'm in that life. You will be happy to know I am in that life. What what will bring you pleasure is that God is in that life. It will no longer be there's wealth there, there's influence there. It will be that God is there. I know I'm starting all over again, but at least God is now with me. I've built all of this without him. It's what I see happening to some people. And for some people, it's just hunger that is building in your life again.

For some people, it's returning you back to your first works. It's saying, your love has grown cold. The refiner's fire has come again. That's come again. The refiner's fire has come again. The refiner's fire has come again. Thank you Jesus. The weight of the glory is going to become so strong in the life of some people. I tell you. I tell you.

This is the secret to it. You will realize that you will now speak and your your voice will carry some kind of weight. Is what happens when the glory has sat down on your life. Oh, thank you Jesus. There's a brother and a sister I'm seeing. You will, you will start talking. It look as though there's pepper in your mouth. People will start crying. That's what you will observe. You'll be talking and speaking to people.

Just trying to encourage them, trying to talk to them, trying to know, just not inspiring them, even telling them, take your life seriously and somebody starts to cry. And they can't just explain why. You'll see. You see? Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for listening. We believe you've been blessed. To be a part of this vision, you can connect with us on YouTube at disciples television, on Instagram at dcn nations, and on telegram at dcn media channel. We love you. Stay blessed.