Transcript: Trusting God in the Hardest Times

Listen to this message

Prepared from the audio, so small errors are possible.

At believers equipped, the word of the kingdom is preached, and kingdom men are raised to take territories for God. Fasting a seat belt and hold tight as God servant, apostle Emmanuel Boluatife of the Cyprus Christian Network dispenses God's word with simplicity and accuracy. Deuteronomy 29 and verse nine. Today again will be a meeting of instructions. The bible says in Deuteronomy chapter 29 and verse nine, therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them that you may prosper in all that you do. Last week, I began with establishing that God is a God of covenant. And how he chooses to relate with men is on the basis of covenant. Perhaps a good scripture to have begun from would have been Psalms chapter 50 and verse five. The Bible says, gather unto me my saints. Just in case you think that he's referring to everybody that is a believer, he brings about a distinction.

He says those, not everybody, just those whom I have made a covenant with by sacrifice. God relates with saints. God relates with believers based on covenants and the more a man understands covenants, the terms of the covenant and how he positions and postures himself to fulfill the terms of that covenant, the more he prospers in his relationship with god and the more the benefits and the dividends of that covenant becomes ease. He can lay hold on the dividends of the covenant. So in Deuteronomy, god is now saying that I intend to prosper, but you see prosperity is covenantal. And so he tells them, keep the words of this covenant. Keep the terms of this covenant. And if you do them, you will prosper in all that you do. You see? So he's telling them inevitably that prosperity is a covenant thing.

Keep the terms of this covenant. If you keep the terms of this covenant, then prosperity is yours. Keep the words of this covenant. And peradventure you do so, prosperity is yours. God is a god of covenant, and prosperity is a covenant. And so in the book of Deuteronomy also, he says in chapter eight, Lord gives the power to get wealth. And the reason why he gives the power to get wealth is so that he can establish his covenant. So it is said several in scripture. It is established several in scripture that prosperity is a thing of covenant. It is therefore important for a believer to understand the terms of the agreement of this covenant with respect to prosperity.

Is that okay? Yes. The reason why this is a very important teaching right now in the body of Christ, how to prosper. The subject of prosperity, the subject of supply, the subject of provision is because of the times that the nations of the world are entering into. I see that there is a global economic crisis coming. Glory to god. And the time for that approaches. The time for that draws draws near. So if there's a time to know the terms of the covenant of prosperity, now is that time. If there's a time to know that God is provider, if there's a time to know that God is a supplier, that time is now.

If there's a time to know that a believer can prosper in difficult moments, a believer can prosper in the midst of famine as exemplified by several actors in scripture. Now is that time. You've got to lay hold on this truth as as though it is yours, and now is the time to do so. It is not wise for a believer to prepare for war in the time of war. It's not wise for anybody really to prepare for war in the time of war. You don't sharpen your axes when the enemy is at the forefront. That is not the time to sharpen the axe. That is not the time to prepare the men for war. When war comes, war should find you ready. When the battles and the challenges of life comes, it should find you ready.

Are you with me? Yes, sir. So there are several teachings that we do that are basically for fortification. You add them as weapons in your arsenal so that in times of trouble, you have something to bring out. You have something like an ammunition that has been supplied to you that you can bring forth from out of you to the purpose that you defeat the enemy. Such is this teaching. So that you begin to practice and apply even now because I see a time coming. Two things that must be emphasized is the subject of supply like I'm doing right now. It's the last meeting of the year, so we might not be able to emphasize the following the second, but we've done that before. You can go back to the previous teachings we've done on the second.

The second is the method of healing. Healing. Healing. Healing. Or divine health or eternal life, whichever one you choose, everything as long as it deals with the health of the believer. I believe right now, you also have to have a strong revelation of the healing message or the message of divine health, eternal life as it concerns your health. I saw innovation, hospitals. You know how people queue to go to events in stadiums as hospitals filled. And I saw queues outside of people waiting in hospitals, of people forcing doors open, trying to get a space, trying to secure a space. I saw in a vision that this will happen.

I'm not a prophet of doom. But prophecy, like I said, it's not just saying what we want. If it's all about what we want, it's good things we want. Or we are... If we come here and say what we want, if god permits us, everybody will be a billionaire tomorrow. Is that not what we want? Yes. It's also what I want. Yes. I was just hold someone's hand and, you know, One man of God who I love so much was sharing a story.

He he stays here in Ibadan, a father in the faith, and he was sharing a story of how that he carried a seed. He wanted to sow a a a a very heavy seed, so he saved up for it. And so he was gonna sow a a seed in seven digits. One that he just stretched himself because he wanted to cross to the next season of his life, and so he said, how I'm gonna do it is I'm gonna sow a seed. Very practical principle, agreeable by scriptures. And so he carried the seed and went to another father of the faith also in Ibadan, the elderly man of god, graced in the prophetic. He knelt down, let... Give the man the seat, every seat. He didn't do a transfer. He wanted it to be heavy.

So he wanted the man to see that it is heavy. So he went there with the seat. And in those days, you can't even do a transfer because there were no mobile phones. They were mobile phones, but not as sophisticated as you have it right now with applications on every phone that that makes life easy for you. When this... He brought the seat there, the man looked at him, placed his hand on his head. And the first thing that came from his mouth was the brooks will dry up. Your sauces will run dry, and calamity will befall you. He said the man said three things. He said, when all of this has happened, god will then begin to purify your environment because there are enemies that you have caught friends.

There are foes that you have drawn near. The absence of the brook will chase them out. There will be a refining moment. And when this season is complete, then you will dance for joy. Thus, saith the lord. That was what followed a seven digit seat. Now if you are the one who they prophesied such to after saving up, they're not careful there can be offense in your heart. Yes. Especially if you're immature, if you're an immature believer. That's why immature believers many a times not understand the ways of God, especially in difficult moments.

There are there are times in scripture where even the actors in scripture did not understand the ways of God in difficult moments. Now imagine that you are the one in that time. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were siblings. The bible reveals that there might be more of them, but we know those three for sure. And the bible calls Lazarus... Jesus Christ loved that family so much that he had a relationship with all the siblings. There's something there. I'll show you next time. That whole family had experienced salvation because they all knew Jesus. You will think Mary was so particular about Jesus, but when they came to Jesus, they said, Lazarus, whom you love?

So the kind of relationship that existed between Lazarus and Jesus was a was a very deep one, was a very strong one. It was a very deep one. The bible is written in summaries. So everything that happened in bible days wasn't captured in scripture. Just summaries. You know how if you read in English, you'll be told to summarize entire packages, entire books even. That is how the bible is written. So even when Jesus is speaking, all that he thought wasn't revealed in in in scriptures. All that he did, all that he acted. The bible says if the words of the miracles that Jesus did were to be written in scripture, no amount of books can capture that which would be written.

So everything that was written in scripture in some reason. So if the bible says that Jesus Jesus, they said, Lazarus whom you love, there is no particular event in scripture captured that revealed how Jesus expressed love to Lazarus that made men come to that conclusion that Jesus loved Lazarus. It was just summarized. Do you understand what I'm saying? Yes, sir. Lazarus, the one whom you love. So there must be some things or several things that might have happened that the that the actors must have seen that gives you an idea of what must have taken place for them to have come to the conclusion that Jesus loved Lazarus. Imagine that they had together. Imagine that they probably even grew together. Imagine that they knew themselves because they were so convinced the one whom you love is sick.

And when you have that depth of relationship with someone who now calls himself Jesus, the son of God, who now goes about healing the sick and raising the dead, you sure know that, come on now. I I must have free access or free entry to some extent. There must be benefit in the fact that I know you by relationship. There must be something I get from this access. And you'd expect that one of those dividends of of the relationship is that when I'm sick, you will answer me when I call because at least I'm not like every other person who comes to your crusade. We've been together a long time. Lazarus is the one whom you love. That was why they came to you and and started that way. Just in case you think there's another person, it's the one whom you love. And guess what?

Lazarus said, have you have you gone there? He said, we've gone. He told him I'm the one. He said, did. That I'm very sick. He said, we did. He told him the one he loves. He said, we did. Where is he? He just said he's...

He has head. Why he's not here? I don't know. Mary, maybe you will talk to him. He said I've also done that. He said he has head. Martha, how about you? You used to cook nice meals for him. You know the way the man sat. Maybe you consider one of the dishes you have made and say, ah, the cause of Martha Who gave me Venice?

Martha said, I tried my own to eat. Knock on. He say, I said, what is he doing? He said, he's talking. He's teaching the disciples. He's in a conference. He told him I was sick. So we told him, and he did not show up day one. He did not show up day two. Imagine that that was you and Jesus, the resurrection and the life, and you knew that if only comes that sickness is gone, And then he refused to come.

And you served with him on crusade grounds, brought several venison for him. In fact, there was even a time where you... He was so stressed that when he came to your house, you thought this man must need food. You went and started cooking for him only for you to be rebooked. And he came and said, Martha, Martha, Martha, you are busy about too many things. Only one thing is needful. And the guy said, but master, it's your stomach. I thought you were hungry. He said, come and sit down here. And in humility, you still came to sit down.

And he didn't consider all of that to say, let me come. He went about his own doings. Mary was with him in every crusade. They were all joining together. And you would think it would be because of this, appear first at your doorstep the moment you called him that you were sick. He did not. Third day, he did not. Lazarus gave in to the sickness and he went. After the man died, think a moment about even the reaction of people who knew that Jesus loved this person. Think about think about all of these indices because you see, it is very possible for believers to find themselves in this situation where And you think that based on the level of commitment or relationship or whatever that you have with Jesus, the moment you call in times of trouble, he just answers.

Then he waits a day. He doesn't show. And you start wondering, is everything good? Is everything okay? Oh, perhaps you didn't catch the scoop. Let me show you another one. An angel comes and declares that this child in your womb will be a voice crying in the wilderness saying, prepare ye the will of the Lord. He will come in the spirit and the power of Elias, and he will prepare people for the savior. He will be a foreigner, and the child grows and begins his ministry. And his name is John the Baptist.

And even while he's starting his ministry, even while he's preaching, people say the signs and wonders that follows his ministry, the strong eloquent, the strong way in which he rebukes. Okay? But this boldness is important to the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Repent. Vipers, serpents, calls them all kinds of name, brood of vipers. And he rebukes them, calling out their sin, calling out their... Different undoings and misdoings. And the guy is getting quite the popularity for himself. And even while he's getting quite the popularity, he tells them that there is one coming after me, a greater than I am. The mandate is that I should increase, It should decrease.

Again, imagine that that was you. I have been preparing all your life for the coming of one. But even in every sermon that you do, you ensure you don't see that sermon until you say there's one coming after me. I baptize you with water right now, but when he comes, he will come and baptize you with fire, with the holy ghost and with fire. Every sermon and you continue, you continue. We have no idea how long John the Baptist have been doing the ministry before Jesus came to the picture. But he had realized for himself a crowd. The moment Jesus appears, John the Baptist shouts, this is he that I spoke of in the presence of everybody. Imagine a popular man of God coming to... Then coming to Ibadan right now, and then that has a crowd of a million people.

And in the presence of all the crowd, he picks you out, and he says, this one is greater than me, more anointed than me. I know I baptize you with water, but he will baptize... It's the real deal. That's basically what John the Baptist did. He had more influence, had more fame, had more popularity, had more everything because he started earlier than he did or even knew that his assignment is to decrease, that he might increase. Right there, baptizes him. He even says, I'm not I'm not worthy to to even untie the stature of your shoes. Just let's do it to fulfill your righteousness. And in that, everybody knows who is this new guy. Who is this new guy?

Do you know that even the disciples of John started saying, Jesus came out and then the sick is healed. The oppressed is delivered. Started rebuking demons on people. He had an authority that John did not have. They knew that this this man must have known what he was saying truly. Are you with me? Yes, sir. And you'll think someone who has labored that much for the sake of another. That when he calls, when he was in trouble, the one to whom he labored will be the first person to come and deliver him. So he he thought so.

He thought so too. So when he was in the prison, he took his disciples. He said, go and tell him that John, John know that baptizing is in the prison. Let's see what he will do. He said we told him, you mean he knows I'm in the prison? He knows. Ah. That's why he knows? He said he knows. Go and then ask him.

Are you the one, or should we expect another? Are you the one, or did I make a mistake showing you to the world? That's what he was... He's saying, should I be regretting what I did? Shouldn't my action warrant me a little bit of favor so that now that I'm in trouble, you would at least send someone, use your influence, use your authority, speak a word as the savior that you are. Are you the one? Or should we expect another? The disciples came. And you would think Jesus upon hearing that will... He will be touched.

He will say, John. John. John. Oh my god. Let's go. Jesus said, oh, he's... He wants to leave. I'm the one. Bring the lane. Up.

Rise up. Take off your bed. You walk. Are they all? Is there more? He said, that's awesome. Are there no more broken legs? Alright. Bring the blind, and you'll see. Eyes open.

Out of him. Get out. And all of them were going, is that all? Say, yes, sir. Then bring to death. You can't hear? Mm-mm. Let your ears open. And they were watching. When was going to say, do you know I'm the one now?

He said, yes, sir. Now go and tell him. I imagine John in the prison saying, so what did you say? He said, ah, sir. He's the one. Did you say anything about my being here? He just said that you are the greatest of all the prophets, but that now, even the least in the kingdom will now be greater than you. Now you need to sit down and ask because this guy is called the express image of God. It gives you an idea of how God operates. Because as immature believers, you might be quick to misunderstand the ways of God.

As a believer, it must be taught to trust God in difficult circumstances, in hard situations. That was the theology or the sermon that John did not receive Because even even as even as Jesus did not show up for Lazarus, when he showed up after his death, there was no resentment in the heart of Mary or Martha. He walked up to them and told them that you will see his brother of yours again. And they said, of course, we know. We know. After the great resurrection that you spoke about, you've taught us about that there will be life after death. You've thought that we will see each other again. We know. That's our encouragement. That's our hope.

They never for once asked him why he did not come. They never asked him why he didn't too show up. The moment they saw him, you expect the first thing to ask him is, well, we needed you the most. Where were you? Guards, take this man out of my house. They went back to their position of service immediately. Immediately. So much so he tells them, roll away the stone. And then look, what what authority do you think you have here? When he was alive, he did nothing.

He's three days dead. He didn't even wait. Maybe when... Maybe maybe maybe if he came the moment he died, we can say maybe something happened. He waited three days. That means he waited them... For them to embalm him. Do you know how they embalm? I wanna show you the impossibility of that case. He waited until the embalming was done, waited until he was buried amongst other dead people.

Stone has been covered, and people were mourning. That means this guy was loved by all. People were crying. People were weeping. Jesus came there, and the bible said he saw their unbelief and he wept. And he started wondering, but sir, why shouldn't they weep? They called you. It was not that they are faithful. They are faithful not to call him. See if only he kill...

He comes. We know we know that he will be healed, but he did not come, so he died. So they started crying when he died, and he interpreted their crying as unbelief. The bible calls him the express image of God. Does it mean that... What do people do when they lose a loved one? He says unbelief. Say he wept when he saw their unbelief. And when you think about it, really, it is unbelief. When you think about it with respect to what you now know of Jesus, really it is unbelief.

He showed up in that place. Told them, roll away this stone. They rolled away this stone. And as they rolled away the stone, he said, Lazarus, comfort. Lazarus embalmed. The first question is how did he move? How did he walk? Because when you are embalmed, they're embalmed in such a way that the latchet of the embalming ropes or rope rather covers the entirety of your body. They're not embalmed, legs separate. The legs are are tied together.

The hands together. The body at this point was stiff and cold. Are you with me? Yes, sir. So how did he come forth? Even if he wakes up, he'd not forget because his face was embalmed. Understand that the depth of the miracle went beyond just life being introduced. It affected even the robes. Loosened the ropes completely, loosened the ropes out of his body. My god.

And that much power that much power that is able to do that at the mention of a word says, it's not yet time for me to come. When they asked, he said, it is for the glory of God. It means there are moment in a man's life where God wants to use that man's life to show forth his glory. And so there are things that will continue. You know why? Because the man's faith in those circumstances or in those situations, enough for the situations not to crumble him, not to cripple him, enough to come out of that circumstance, a walking miracle would be something that would be of glory to God when people say, you mean you went through this? So when the bible says it is by your grace, we are not consumed. You now understand that it is to the glory of God when a man goes through what should consume him, and God doesn't deliver him. Because there is something in the believer that God himself has infused there to ensure you are not consumed. That is what brings God glory.

Do you know that knowing what you know about God, he could have walked several means of deliverance for the three Hebrew men? They could have done several things that would have that would have led to deliverance all the same. Are you with me? Is it the first time that God is throwing confusion into the camp of the enemy? Was that not a strategy? Throw confusion to their camp and let everybody be confused and those boys escape. We do not give testimony in church. It remains small like this. Like this. I don't know what...

Out of nowhere. They just started fighting. The the one that was holding me stabbed the one that was holding him. The one that was holding him escaped for his life. Even the king. By the time we saw, everywhere was pandemonium. Guy, we picked. Everybody, ah, we have gathering together. Jesus said... God said no.

Let's see what they would do. And heaven was looking. The king said, increase the flame. Do you know that whether or not the flame was increased, they were still born? So the question... Do do you know that if fire was increased such that the flame in itself consumed even those who attempted to push them in and those who increased the flame. Not the fire. The flame were what killed them. In other words, the fire must have been burned. How hot was it?

So whether or not it was increased, they would have died. Why was it increased? Why did the king say increase the flame? It was an intimidation strategy to see whether or not they would change their minds. Increase the flames. You you have to do according to what the king has ordered. Even if you know that your life is on the line because they are not fools. The one who are going to increase know that they will die because it... The heat in itself. But it's the king that say increase.

I imagine the authority of... You could be bold to say, we will not bow. Regardless of the consequence, we will not bow. You sure? You'll be thrown into the fire, we will not bow. Increase the flame. And then before your eyes, the king makes an example, yeah, an indirect example out of even those who bowed. And before etching the fire, they died. And seeing that, wait, it is real. And fear did not creep into your heart.

To say, wait, I'm I'm sorry. I think... Let's let's refelagize. Let's recheck. We didn't know what we... I think we drank yesterday. What what we should bow to? Is it this one? How should we bow? Is it the head, the nose, or the body?

And God was looking. If pandemonium had happened and concern had happened and the king had changed his mind, would that have brought glory to the Lord? But when they entered the fire, and the fire could not consume them, and they came out of the fire, then what did the king say? Let's read what the king said. Where where is it? Next. Look. He answered. I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hot. And the form of the fourth is like the son of God.

Next verse. Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mount with burning fiery furnace and said, Sidra, Mishal, Abednego, servant of the most high god, come out. Come here. Then they came forth out of the midst of the fire. Next verse. And the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the king's counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose body the fire had no power. The air of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them. Next verse, Nebuchadnezzar spoke saying, blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. That is how God gets glory. So you see a woman who got married and the husband died, and now she has to take care of two children, and then she remarries, probably even out of pressure.

And then there were all kinds of emotional abuse, physical abuse in that marriage. She had to break out and get a divorce. And after getting the divorce, she's left with two kids to take care of, and she's struggling to take care of them as a single mother. And in all of this, she comes to church and say, let your name be lifted, God. The glory is that we were persecuted, but we're not consumed. Are you with me? But the enemy came and he tried. Oh, and he tried hard. But even all the trials of the enemy, I never bowed to the pressure of the affliction. I stood my ground, and I said I know God can save me.

I know God will deliver me. Do you know what they said? That even if he doesn't deliver us, the foundation of our faith will still remain unshaken. At what point did you stop believing? At what point did you bow to the circumstances? It is at that point unbelief crepting. You see, that was what Jesus interpreted as unbelief. At the point where you thought that all hope is lost. You see, you've lost it. You've lost it.

Because Lazarus dying was like the flames being increased. The difference was that you bowed. And Jesus says, no. That's unbelief. Believers must be taught to realize that... You see, if you don't understand this about God, you will misunderstand the intentions of God. And as an as an immature believer, that is what has caused several people to bow hounds of the Christian faith because they are immature believers. How many of you did your parents? There are impartitions that are delivered or done rather by slaps. A rod, slippers, hanger, Wire.

Belt. I hope you know that these are agents of deliverance. You you have not read your bible. You don't know how madness is casted out of a child. It's by a rogue. It's it's a deliverance strategy. There are deliverances that will not happen unless you administer a rod. Can you get me that scripture? There are times when rods must be applied, when rods must be administered. And in such moments when rods were used, some of you would doubt the potency of...

Or should that be the status of your sonship? I don't know if that has ever happened to you where you you were con... You were in the deliverance session, and you started doubting whether or not this man is my father. You you don't know. Some of us know. The Bible says foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child. The rod of correction will drive it far from... Hey. Means you can use other strategies, but you'll be still close to him. He he can befriend them when he goes out the next day.

I know you try to use your words, but you see the fruit never is still hanging around. He can still he can still make friends with folly when he goes to school the following day, but he must be driven far. Now we drive it far. It's by a rod. It is a bible approved strategy. That's why fall is in the heart of several people in The US. It's because the rod can no longer administer. What... You don't know... An agent of deliverance was kept away.

They they made a law against an agent of deliverance. It was... Is an... Is... The rod is a messenger of God. It is one of the ways that folly is kept out of a child. And when laws are made to keep the rod out of a nation, then folly will be hung up in the heart of the child. A child can come home and say, I am in love with Shalewa. The one who is talking is a five year old girl. He said, I think I like girls.

Folly. Folly. Folly. Folly is bound in the heart of a child. You agree with me that America needs this message? Hear me. Yep. When we got to a point where the child can now call the police and your father can end up in jail for administering the rod. And parents became scared of using this agent of God. What happened was Foley was not only closed.

Foley was bounded in the heart. That's a deviation. Let's go back to what I was saying. Now if if for places like here, where the rod is commonplace, and it's not only commonplace, anything can become a rod. You know, is there anything that is near? You can begin to wonder. Are you sure that you carried me for nine months? And depending on the kind of home you come from, if you have the boldness to sit. And your mother will reply, first with the rod. Second, he will now tell you, even me, I'm not sure if you are the one I carried.

No child of mine can be this foolish. I didn't give birth to Belia. Anna, come on. Some people don't have an experience of what I'm saying. Some people are not looking at me and saying, what what is this man talking about? We need to check your heart for falling. Stay with me. Stay with me. Stay with you know that it's one of the accurate ways of guardianship? It's one of the accurate ways of fatherhood to see wrong in a child and to realize that that which this child is doing can bring calamity.

And the child might many understand... Might many times misunderstand the intention of the correction, might focus on the situation more than the intention, and so misunderstand what the father is trying to How many times have you gone to your father and you've asked your father for money, and you say, wanna buy sweet. I wanna buy sugar. I wanna buy this. And your father says, I'm not giving that money. And you can see that your father has money because you saw him when he was putting money in his socks. Or you were taking care of the room one day and you found money under the pillow. But as a good child you were, you said, let me ask him first. And now you said, don't have money. I'm not giving you.

And the devil come in and say, remember when you saw the last one? That that thing that that thing that came. That's the kind of folly we are talking about. So when you act on it, you have been bounded up a folly. You will need to be, you see. Glory to god. I've seen parents who have refused to correct their children. I'm... Hear me. It is evil.

Because one of the responsibilities of a father is knowing what a child does not need. I've seen I've seen children. I've seen five year old who are so big that they cannot walk. And in the hand of that child is bugger. The guy is struggling to breathe, struggling to walk, is to give him. You are a sinner. It is evil. God will ask of it for you. It is true. Some...

It is true. It is evil. It is evil. It's a sin. You are a guardian over that soul. You have a responsibility to show that soul that not everything that it desires is healthy. Not everything that he desire is good. Some parents because they they suffered so much and then they they they now made a oath that whatever my child wants, I will give to him. And so you give birth to a child and you turn him into a rebel. You call it care.

It is not. Part of guardianship is knowing what to withdraw. Part of part of parenting is knowing what to say no to. Now many of you when you were young, we... You will, because of immaturity, misunderstand this intent. When you grow and understanding comes, you begin to realize that many of the things that were done were done even for your good. Some might not even know it now. Some is when you have children of your own, you didn't appreciate your own mother. You say, ah, God bless my mother. Some of them people might be too late to realize that everything she did was because she loved you.

When you have children and you you have been trying to correct a child for three months, and you are laboring to take care of the child to ensure that he goes to school, to ensure that he hits, to ensure that... Do you know that your child does not care whether you have a job or not? All he cares about is that he that he wants food. He wants an allowance. He wants... And then the the... That's the burden of the father. That's the burden of the parent. And with that burden in the heart, the child will come and say, hey. You're you're foolish.

I hate you. You're not my mother. Now you have your own child, and you see how you are laboring to ensure that the child heats, to ensure that the child... You see what I'm saying? Yes, sir. Maturity makes you understand intention. And the the reason is because when you mature, the perspective, the lens through which you view life has changed. When you are a child, the length of years you have spent on the earth doesn't give you enough. The perspective is not broad enough, and so your your your your perception of life is streamlined. Your viewpoint is streamlined.

Many things you think you know is is is nothing really. As you grow, your perception starts widening. Your per se... Your percept... Your your perspective starts widening a bit. You begin to understand that all that matter is not action. There are times when intentions matter. You can't understand the words alone. As a child, somebody can come to you and tell you, I love you. And you just...

By a child, I don't mean you are four years old. You can be a 17 year old child. You can be a 20 year old child. When I was a child, I thought as a child. So the first thing that makes him a child is how he thinks. I spoke as a child, how he speaks. I understood as a child how he understands. He never made reference to what age he was. It is when I'm with a child, was five years old. No.

My thinking... It means you can be a 40 year old child. If your thinking is still as a child, if your understanding is still as a... If you are if you are so naive that a boy comes to you and tells you, you're just my world. You just... I just love you. I just... You're just you're just you're just so beautiful. Mean your hair is like spaghetti and and all kinds of things. And you can't just sleep in the night.

You know how you do that. We're just thinking, my hair like spaghetti. I'm not to fill your head. But you'll find that with your age. So that's a child. When somebody comes and says, this thing is not good for you, you can almost die to say he loves you. He said, no. He said he loves me. That's a child. Now someone who has a wider perspective, a friend who has who has been through can now judge not only action, can judge intention to say, why did he say he love you?

What does he want? At that point, your perspective is not wide enough to reason like that. All you are judging is action, speech. Do you know that... So that's why the rod must be administered because you can't explain it. Do you understand? The intention is to drive fully far. You don't you don't need to learn. You don't need to learn by experience. Now the first one will now come, dispersing her.

Waist her. Second one will come. Waist her. Menards come. No. You never had someone to administer a rod. You you you you escaped the rod. You escaped the rod. There are people I speak to, and I'm counseling them. I wish I was close to a rod.

There are times counseling must be done by a rod. How did you get here, Dwight? I I see this a lot. But the holy spirit within. So I will not appear on a Facebook or on Instagram blog. Man of God. Holy spirit within. You just listen. You just listen. And inside you as you listening, you say one day you will be my spiritual son.

One day we'll be closed. And when we are now closed, The level of relationship we have does not allow for such correction. So even I'm speaking and correct, I know that he can still go and do what he wants to do because fool is still near. I gave somebody an instruction. The person the person cut out the instruction in my presence. One day after the person undid the instruction. The very funny thing is that I told my friends, I said, listen. I'm not this person. Thirty hours. You know what?

Because fall is still near. But for the spiritual fatherhood is provident. He's one... He's he's he's a... Who the father loves? There are six things the father administers. This is not my teaching. Amplify. Give me verse one verse five. One, two, three.

Go. And can we read it together? So the first thing we did was to reason. We addressed you as sons. When we now saw that our dressing was not going the way we expect, we started introducing some things. Now Paul is writing this thing because what we were introducing, you were misunderstanding. You thought it was because we hated you. So Paul now has to say, can you continue with it? My son. My who?

My son. He's not my member. It's not my friend. It's not even my worker. It's my son. Go already. Do not think lightly. Go on. And the first question you need to ask is, what kind of correction will make you want to give up? How can a man be corrected if he wants to faint?

Sorry. It's it's... I'm not the one who said it. Paul was the one who said my son. First of all, the fact... The first revelation to see there is that the Lord is the one correcting. He's just using me. Because he says my son. It isn't God's son. My son, don't scorn when you are corrected by the Lord.

Does the Bible not say children are heritage of the Lord? So it's of... The collection is of the Lord. Are you with me? Yes, sir. It's... It it just comes through a vessel. That's why the bible does not say raise up a child. It says train up a child. Children are not only raised, they are also trained.

Are you with me? Yes, sir. Look at the next verse. It says for the Lord does what? Go to verse five. So there is discipline. There are five. Sorry. Discipline. Next one.

Next verse. There is punishment. There is scourging. Are you with me? Yes, sir. Yes. There's correction. All of these things he does to a one to one whom he loves. I am muddy. In the heart of a child, there is intense madness.

Are you with me? Yes, sir. Yes. There are times when what is administered is not a rod. There are several agents to drive away madness, to drive away foolishness. You check and you realize that you have corrected this person severally. That's not list. You have even administered the rod. The bible now recommends another one. It says open rebuke is better than secret love.

There are times when we see that, oh, to drive this folly away, the rebuke must be done opened. Those those are the kind of things you want to faint. He said don't scorn the correction that... He makes you want to faint but love it. It's it's an agent of preservation. An agent of preservation. As your perspective widens, you don't understand that intention sometimes are greater than action. Not even sometimes, many times, all the times, are greater than action. So the question is, why, how, all of these things that you want a fast, you want a fast method miracle, you want something that should... That that will just happen immediately, you want something that God will just do right now, you want something just like like like like a wind just swipe through.

Pow. And the moment the wind swipes through, God moves. A miracle has happened. God said, no. No. It's not everything. That you are delivered from. There are things you are like... There are things you conquer. There are two different things.

There's testimony in deliverance. There's also testimony in being a conqueror. It means we went through and we conquered. We went through and we deli... And we deliver is also a testimony. We went through and we overcame. Santos. Say to the sickness, I overcame. Listen. Listen.

So there are circumstances and situations that we are designed to overcome. I'm saying this. I have a teaching for next year. The title is the overcomer. We'll do it. Because one of the things that God calls us is that we are more than conquerors. We are more than conquerors. And God tells us we are more than conquerors, it means there are several situations that we will we will we will need to conquer. Are you with me? Yes, sir.

I know you look at your life right now, and you see anger no money. I can buy food. There's no water. There's no food. No food to drink. I call my father for money. My father tells me because I asked for money. We launched into a one hour conversation about the state of things in the family. And he tells me, do you know that just yesterday just yesterday, I collected community loan to pay for your first brother's school fees? Community loan.

Now the state loan we took two months ago, we have not paid for it. The country loan, we took last year. That one is still there. Right now, they crashed at home. They asked engine failure. We took it to the mechanic. They say it's $350,000. That one is there. Your mother came to me yesterday now. She was hungry.

At the end of the conversation, you are the one that will say sorry, sir. And you cannot hide the fact that I'm starving. I'm hungry. You can't hide the fact that almost everybody around you are doing better than you are doing. Are you you one you keep on crying to God? Are you so good? Deliver me from trouble. God says you are more. You are more than conquerors. Inside that situation, you must learn to trust.

You must learn to believe. What God supplies is not only a miracle. What God supplies is intelligence. Principles. Do you know that there are two things? In Deuteronomy eight, God says it is logic. God will give you the power to make wealth. In the same Deuteronomy, he says if you keep to the terms of this covenant, then shall you prosper. It means there is the power to make wealth. Is the principle to make wealth.

And so you want you want by a power. You want power to burst you out of poverty. And God says, oh, no. I've introduced power. Now I'm giving you the wisdom. Now I'm giving you the strategy. How you will... The the testimony would be that even in this, you started from nothing. You learned a skill. Whilst trusting God, you build a business and then build a.

And now you have 10 people that you have employed. Now you have 20 people that are working with you. You you you got a job. You are working somewhere, and then you are able to shuttle your being a student and then working somewhere, and then you go after school on on Friday by 1PM. You appear before another school in a private university, right from... In a in a private school rather, and you are teaching. On Monday, you are there. On Tuesday, you are there. Now you have to study the night for your exams because you don't have as much time to play as your colleagues because you are short in two days. Because you know if you don't do it, there's no money that will come from anywhere.

On Sunday, you are in church. On Tuesday, you are in church. You have to read and study. Others are going out to play and to relax. The time you have to play, time you have to read. Because your schedule is so great. And God says, let's look at what we are making there. A conqueror, one who is more, a victor. Paul says, who were persecuted, We were afflicted. We were we were we were...

Oh, but we're not in despair. Give me that scripture. He listed out several things that they had to go through, but they did not bow to. I pressed on every side, yet we're not crushed. The question is, how do you press a thing on every side? And that thing you are pressing is not crushed. Can we think logically for a moment? If you pick a ball, plastic ball, and you press it on every side, what happens to it? It is crushed. So if you don't only press it, you now hard press it.

Have you seen those videos at Facebook sometime recommend to me that I don't ask for? Where the... Where they show a hydraulic machine, just pressing some things. That's hard press. Are you with me? And Paul says that thing was happening to us on every side, yet we're not crushed. This shows you that the reason for which they were not crushed was because of the material for whence they were made. It means the... It was not as though there was no attempt to crush us. It was that we have become as hard as steel.

We've gotten to a point we could no longer be crushed. You you attempt to throw anything at me and you... And I look at you and say, what is that? Do you know what I've been through? There are times when that is what God works in you, and so he allows you to be pressed. Question is, why were they not delivered from the hard pressing? There are times you'll be hard pressed. You'll be hard pressed on every side. The testimony is we were not crushed. So when a man who is also in the same circumstance and has been praying and trusting God for deliverance and he is not hearing an answer, yes, a man say, I went through worse than you did, but I was not crushed.

Your testimony serves as hope. It says, my goodness, there's glory in this. I know there's an encouragement. Because we had prayers on every side. Things that would have crumbled or came at us, Everything. There was nothing that was working. We tried. We tried. We tried. But in it, thrived.

In it, we thrived. Now your life becomes a testimony. You mean a single mother who is struggling, who is struggling. She she she she she's a master student. As one children... One child she's she's she's she's raising, at the place she's working, and is there doing masters again, and she comes to you and says, what what what happened? Why are you bothered? Why are you this? And you say, my god. I'm just coming from class.

I have to go and pick my child up in school. I have work tomorrow by 8AM. I have to travel to Lagos for conference in work. I an exam starting next week. And the moment she's speaking, you say, ma, I know I don't understand what you are saying, but I'm I'm in 300 level currently. I'm a student. I only have one mother. My father ran to me when I was two. I never met my father. My mother has been there to just take care of us.

Even at that, there were many times I had to struggle for food and I had nothing to eat. Yet I'm on first class. I work two businesses and yet I still work in another place. And the woman is saying, what what are you? Are you a human being? Yes, ma'am. Hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed. And suddenly, there's glory in hardship. There are no... There are there are some of you that when you tell people how you went to school, how that your parent never sent you school fees.

There are some of you like that listening to me even online. I have a young girl in Canada studying mechanical engineering. When she explained to me what she has to do in school, so so so so so so tough. And the parents pulled every string to ensure that she gets there. Now she's there. There's no accommodation within the school premises. She has to get accommodation outside. Accommodation outside is over $500 in a month. Per month, $500. She's a student.

She has to go to school, write test, write exams, and there's pressure because she's Nigerian. She's black. The reality is that unlike most people who are blessed enough to have parents who can send them that amount of money every month to secure most of the things that is needed, even more than that every month. She is not that advantaged. That means that she would have to do something which is what everybody expects of her. When you get there, you have to do something. And she will call me sometimes and tell me, oh, I'm this. Oh, I'm this. I'm that. In such situations, you realize that you are calling Jesus.

And like Lazarus, he might keep quiet. He might not answer. The reason is because there is glory that is hidden in that circumstance. Your story has become an excuse for God to receive glory. And God will say, young woman, do not lose your strength. Can you keep your faith? Can you keep your prayer life? Can you keep your altar? Can you not compromise? Can you get that job and work that job and still work as a student and still pass your exams and not have receipts?

And now show people that there's a testimony or there's a dimension that is hidden in me called the strength of God. The wisdom of God. So that people will come to you at every moment in time to now ask you how are you doing it. And in every how that men ask you is a hidden story of a testimony. A testimony of God's graciousness, a testimony of God's goodness. At such a moment, only foolish people will accredit their results to their strength. That is a time to convert a soul. That's a time to preach a message. In your stories are testimonies of God's goodness, of God's faithfulness, of God's mightiness, of God's kindness. Now when you tell people, you attribute everything that you are getting right now, even results to God.

You say, if not for God. Oh, the strength that I received to study. There are times when I'm tired, when I'm when I'm very stressed, and I say I can't even do this, but I know I still have to pray. And even in tiredness, I lie down sometimes and I begin to pray. There are times I even fall asleep, but I wake up and I'll just continue fellowshipping with God and I'll say, God, I love you. Jesus, I love you. I love you. And there are times I just tell the holy spirit, please wake me up. I know I'm stressed right now, and I find out that even as I'm stressed, by 4AM, I wake up and I wake up rejuvenized. I wake up revitalized.

I don't know where the strength comes from, but I'm able to read and study from four sometimes even till 08:00 or to 6AM, 7AM. I study my bible and how to work. All of this would not be possible not for the grace of God. To attempt to do what I'm doing in your strength, you might collapse, but for the grace of God. There is a testimony, a glory that is hidden in your circumstance. And God will not jeopardize that glory for your immediate gratification. God will not jeopardize that glory. I know that you have been trying to get admission for three years, for four years, and you have tried and you have prayed. There's no problem. There's a glory that is to be revealed.

You must learn to trust that God has... You see, you want an immediate action. It is obvious you are still child. When you grow, you will start looking at your circumstances and your interpretation would now be as God views them. There are times you will look at your life and you will see the fiery attacks of the enemy around you. And because you are mature, God grant you access into the vistas or into the corner of heaven to see the back end of the attack. And what you would say is my goodness. Look at this glory. As the enemy is trying to attack you, what you are seeing is glory. Yes, sir.

Because you know the enemy does not come for empty cargoes. So you you you don't focus on the action. You view that there is an intention. Oh, no. No. God, listen to me, devil. You are filled. Over this life, you are filled. I will not be distressed. I will not be in despair.

I will not be perplexed. He says, we are crushed on every side, yet... We are at rest rather on every side yet not crushed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. Give me NLT. NLT says... No. No. M... MSG.

Sorry. MSG. It says it says, as it is, there's not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we are not much to look at. We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we are not demoralized. Are you with me? We are not sure what to do. That's not all there is to it. But we know that God knows what to do. We're not sure what to do.

So don't don't look at my life and think, ah, you just have it altogether. Oh, no. It looks like I have it altogether because God has it altogether. I can promise you there are times I don't even know what I'm doing. There are times I'm just killing on the air hoping that it will work. He says, we're not sure what to do, but God knows what to do. It means our hope is in is in the fact that God knows what to do. That is what our trust is in. That is what our faith is in. We know we have a God that always knows.

So I might be confused, but I'm not I'm not I'm not... My my hope is not in my confusion. I'm not bothered that... Or I might not know what to do, but I'll not allow myself to be confused because I know that even as much as I don't know what to do, God knows. So I just need to pray. And when you are done praying, you will now find out that you will think you will hear a voice behind you saying this is the way. Walk in it. And you will pray like that there will be no voice you will hear. But you have to take a step. Do not take that step.

Are you with me? Sir. Believe in that God is with you. It's not as though you heard any voice say, go ahead and do this. But you have to take a decision. You have to do something. You have not heard anything really. But I'm just gonna do it. I've prayed. I know I've prayed.

I know I've this. I know I've done that. It inflicts a constant. It look as though you're just, God, you are... In your hand, now you'll hand that deal, but will not allow for despair. It is possible to be perplexed, to not know what to do, but will not allow for despair. Our hope is in the fact that God knows what to do. So even that I'm moving, I've prayed I've not really heard anything, but time form is about to close. It's about to close. I'm just choosing this school.

I'm just choosing this place. God is with me. All is working out for my good. When you study the communications of God, when you study the communications of God, you must know that God sometimes speaks in pictures. God speaks in metaphors. There are several metaphors in scripture, Several images and pictures that are painted in scriptures that are... Their idea is to use something to communicate another. Like direct parallels. Are you with me? Yes, sir.

Like living waters flowing out of you. You don't literally expect that to happen, but you understand what is God is trying to communicate. There are times when how God speaks would be through such images, through such pictures, through such names, through such communications, and you must maintain the wisdom to know that this thing that God is saying is not directly intended to mean it's either this or nothing. It is intended to mean or to explain a larger concept using something that is easy or simple enough for you to understand. Do you understand what I'm saying? You must you must maintain that act of flexibility when you are dealing with God. Because in your human understanding, there are times you try to interpret what you think you must have heard. Are you with me? And your interpretation might many a times not be the intention of the communication. That's number one.

Number two is that God who spoke. God who said to you, this is what I've told you to do, that same God can unspeak. That's why flexibility... For those two reasons, it is important for a believer to be flexible in dealing with God. You cannot be rigid as a believer because it was God who told Abraham, take your son, your only son, whom thou loveth and go and kill him. If it is some of you with the way you flow with God, you'd have killed him. God, the angel said, stop. No. God has spoken. And you chucked the thing.

And when you now have a negative repercussion, when nothing comes out of it, God says no. You acted in disobedience. But you said, know God. But I heard you. But I later spoke that I shouldn't do it. Do not get what I'm saying? For those two reasons, a believer must be flexible enough to understand what God is saying and to not be rigid to a fault so that you don't you don't... There are people that have gotten admission and did not go because they believe God has shown them a school. You did hear what I just said? Yes, Some other people is a cause.

I would take nothing if not this. Don't don't... You be wise. And don't put yourself in a ditch nobody has put you in. One of my sons came to me and told me, God has sent me to a particular state, and the state is an Emmanuel state. And then I perceive that during my service, yeah, that's where I will go. I said, what? They don't send you there. Then it doesn't mean God did not speak to you? What if God speaking to you means the North?

And he used a state in the North to typify the North. And here you are addicted to... It's like it's like it's like craving after water and saying water. God say I will never test again, so I will not drink water again in my life. If I've received Jesus, I will never test. Jesus said whoever received me will never test. I will not drink water again. What's revelation saying I will not drink water? Why? See, God has said the Bible.

Say Jesus, I will never test. You will die. Because God is using something as a metaphor Yes. To to speak about another or to describe another for this reason for this reason. Allow for flexibility. There's wisdom in this. Wisdom. One of my daughters came to me and told me, understand the desire as a woman or as a man even. Well, it's just wisdom really to wanna marry from the tribe you're in. When you get to that stage...

Understand it. It's wisdom, really. It's it's wisdom. Now when she came to me, she told me that God has told me that I will marry from this year. I said, pause. Pause right there. There are some people we can speak to like that. If someone else comes to mind and tells me that, I'll say, The show is God? Yes, sir. Alright.

God will help you. That's the level of relationship we have. At this one, I suppose right there. You will marry who God should... Who... Whoever comes that is in the will of God is who you will marry. Because I looked at the age of the person that was talking to me. I looked at the average age of those in this year. You will marry for... You will wait for five years.

If you don't have that flexibility, that's how you will say, it's this year. Usband will now come. You say, is this in here that God has shown you? It's this year. God has shown you. God God God has The time the decisions you make are based on scripture. What is the will of God as revealed in scripture? Then you move. The time is not is not is not everything you wait until you hear a voice. The the voice is already in scripture written in KJV and LLT.

The voice is right there. Very clear. Yes. Are you with me? Yes, sir. I thought you missed the meeting of instruction. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. So be wise. Be wise.

Be wise. Don't fix it over things that might just be expressions of another. They receive the flexibility to move with wisdom. It's like somebody saying, God has shown me that this is the business I would do. That's great. Not imagine that. The greatness that God has shown him he will do requires 30,000,000 as capital. Now tell him, why don't you go and see God show me? Say you are a fool. Shut up.

That's amazing. Where with the 30,000,000, I just trust God. I just really... I just know. I just believe that God is going to do something. I just know that. That's why I say believers are most times really foolish. And we just use our faith as an excuse for fooling. And we just believe everything will happen by some mysticism. That money will just every every day ravens will come and feed you.

That is the people fight all these miracles of a thing. It's really financial miracles because we we objectify those things to mean that that is how God does. But that's how God moves. Someone needs to tell the young man that it is not against the will of God going through scriptures for you to do something that is within your scope of finances right now while you build to what God says you should do. So I know that God said you start a school. Do you have money to start one? Go and learn to learn and go and go and go and get money and go and start this school. Yes, Are you with me? What are we trying to say? A believer must know how to thrive in hardship.

A believer must know how to trust god in difficult situations because there are scriptures that makes it obvious that challenging times will come when you walk through fire. Go back to that scripture. I pressed on every side in MSG. Next verse. But we know that God knows what to do. We've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side. We've been thrown down, but we have not broken. Next verse. What they did to Jesus, they do to us, trial and torture, mockery, and murder. What did...

What Jesus did among them, he does in us, He lives. He lives. Are you seeing that the testimony is that he lives? The reason why we've been hard pressed is because Jesus lives in us, And the reason why we are not crushed is because he lives in us. Can you determine today that that will be your testimony every time? My life will be a testimony. I will not faint. I will not give up. I will not lose hope. Can you pray that as God supplies strength, will not give up.

As God supplies strength, I will not lose hope. I may be adressed on every side, but I'll not be crushed. Can you pray? Amen. Next year. By God's grace, is the next time we are meeting. We may continue because we were only able to consider one bible verse. So we may continue along these lines next year if the emphasis of the spirit hasn't changed. But please work on the two things I've said, health and finances. I see an attack.

I also see an attack in the church, but this is not for now. Maybe by January when we come for the prophetic insight, I will tell you the things I'm seeing. I see an attack against the church, an attack like never before. What I'm seeing, what this fight... This financial, this health, and all of these things I'm seeing is in a scale and in a magnitude like never before seen. I told you I saw the vision of hospitals filled up with overflow. It is in a scale. I don't know what will lead to this, but I know it will not be a portion. I know it will not be a portion. This is why you defend yourself in these times.

Don't be careless. I told those... I told some of my guys, give in this season. Give in this season. Intentionally give. Give as a way of securing a covenant with God because times are coming. I speak as a vessel. I speak as an oracle of God. Times are coming. So giving is not something you would do because you give.

Giving is something you would do to secure a covenant, to secure a space for yourself, to prosper even financially. Number two, be frugal. Be frugal. Don't spend carelessly because we are in an holiday season. Be frugal. Be careful in spending. You might want to communicate this to those whom you love. Be frugal. If they ask you why, tell them you don't know. But he that hath here, let him hear.

He that hath here, let him hear. Can you say thank you Jesus for what he has done? Thank you Jesus. Father, we thank you. Precious Holy Spirit, we love you. We bless you. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, Lord Jesus. For the word we have received and the impartation of the spirit.

I see a lot of things though. I tell you. But we'll talk about it next year. Thank you, Jesus. I wanna say merry Christmas in advance. Happy New Year in advance to you. For those of you who are traveling, have a safe trip. In the name of Jesus. We'll meet next year. Let's share the grace and fellowship.

We believe you've been transformed to connect to the ministry. Follow us on Facebook at Disciple CN. Connect with us on Instagram at DCN underscore Global. Also, you can join our Telegram channel at t.me/dcnmedia. If you wanna have access to truckload of resources that will shift you up and to download our sermons and get updated about our service schedule, visit our website at www.disciplecn.org. We love and celebrate.