FOUNDATIONS 2

We give you worship. Blessed be your holy name. Blessed be your holy name. Blessed be your holy name. Give him praise. Give him worship. Give him honor that is due to his name. Give him adoration that is due to his name. Thank you. He deserves the lifting up of our hands. Give him praise. There's none like you, Lord, in all the earth. We give you praise. I want to give you one more minute to lift your voice and thank you. We bless your holy name. We bless your holy name. We bless your holy name. In Jesus' mighty name. We are praying. So we commence properly, um, the new series, which is, I believe— so for the sake of use of language, I will say one of the most most important series I've ever taught. Amen. So I want us to pay very important attention, particularly as this involves the opportunity for us to re-dig around our foundations. As Christians, or let me use the word the foundation of our faith. If you look properly, and that's the scripture I'm going to start with, the book of Psalms chapter number 11, verse 3. Psalms 11:3. Now the word there is, if the foundation be destroyed, what can the righteous do? Is that in your Bible? Are you sure? That's the word. If the foundation be destroyed, what can the righteous do? And that, that tells us that there is a need for us to be built on a framework because— and I want to say this— um, that this series in itself is offensive towards wrong building. It's a long overdue series, so it is God bringing us back to order to see what the foundation of the proper Christian faith looks like. Is that simple enough? Now let's pay attention to the word of Paul, Paul, in the— his first epistle to the Corinthians. And I want us to be very attentive to what Paul said. 1 Corinthians chapter number 3, and we're going to start the reading from verse 1. 1 Corinthians chapter number 3, we'll start reading from verse 1, and I want us to be very attentive. Now Paul speaking said, and I, brethren, as to you now, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. The word babes there is not the same word for babes as in what you call your babe. You understand that? It's not a romantic language. If you are referred to as a babe in respect to Christian faith, the root word for that is the word nepios. That means sucklings. Do you understand that? So turn to your babe and say, hi babe. Amen. Now look at what he said. He said, I have fed you with milk and not with meat. For either though you were not able to bear it, neither yet now are you able. So it's making reference to different kinds of diet, that there is the diet for babes and refer to that diet as milk. Then there is the diet for those who are mature and refer to that as what? Meat. But he said, you, you are getting addicted and hooked on milk, milk, so much so that you are not able to bear the strong meat. Say, for you are yet carnal, and whereas there is amongst you envying and strife And the visions, are you not carnal and walk as men? So you look at it, look at, look at the blueprint of the early church. Things that have now become so normal as envy were bases for which people were referred to as babies. You know, sometimes you just want to imagine if Paul will stare down at the church today. And look at some of the things that believers find convenient to do, they will not be referred to as babes but as non-Christians, because we are so far from the landmark.

If Paul— if the apostles of old will look down and look at how far away we are from the foundation, it will be amazing.

You know, recently I was watching the pastor in America You know, sometimes I don't even know whether to say pastor or not a pastor. And then he's a male, and he had on his face makeup, blush, eyelash, and all those stuff. I said, he's a drag queen.

And in church they say, oh yeah, that's graceful.

I said, but you know, I don't know what my— not my, his What his own stage name will be. There's a drag queen, you'll be amazed. This is not the faith that was handed to us. Something is wrong. Something is wrong. So what we will now refer to as trivial matters like envying and strife were the basis for which Paul will look at an entire church and say, you are carnal, to show us the solidity of the work. Who is a carnal Christian? A carnal Christian is a Christian but is ruled by senses, is ruled by emotions, is ruled by feelings. As a Christian without a standard, is not ruled by the Spirit, is not learned to be submitted to the dictates and the impulse of the Spirit. Now, the crux of my teaching today is that it is not even enough that some Christians are carnal. Unfortunately, many don't even know the basics of the Christian faith. That is, now it is possible to be in church for 20 years and you've never heard the gospel. What did I say? It is possible to be in church for 20 years and the person has never heard the gospel. So it's becoming so unfortunate that churches are now mission fields, that the same way it is important to go out there and preach, it is important to go to some churches and preach because they are in church but they've never heard the gospel. They don't know the person of Christ, his works, what he came for. They cannot explain what Jesus came for.

It is not a it. What I'm telling you is happening in many churches. The average Christian can't tell the difference between Jesus and other gods, can't explain in simple context a sacrificial work. And you see, you must understand that if they can't wake you up now and say, tell us about Jesus, what he came to do, what's the purpose of Jesus coming to this earth, And what's the difference between Jesus and Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad, and Jesus and all that? They can't tell. Why?

No foundation. What's the gospel? What's the message of the Christian faith? What's the gospel? What's our message? Can anyone— you see, and I will tell you this, and the reason why this is so important: I have come to the opinion and to the full realization that help is not coming from the church for the church anywhere. The church must rise, and there must be dividing line between those who are preaching the truth and charlatans. I am not one who want to speak to many matters, but for the sake of the gospel, we should, and not in a condescending manner. But so that believers should know the truth. I saw something recently. An ordination was being performed, and a male pastor tongue-to-tongue to another male. That's demonic. That's not the gospel. Jesus never used tongues to ordain anybody. You lay hands, you speak words. That's it. Because if you don't know what the truth is, you will not know what is not. So the church must rise. The influx of charlatans and liars and deceivers and those who have no credentials to preach— for instance, how can you be a preacher of the gospel and you don't have record of when you got saved? These are issues. You can be in church for 10 years but you don't even know the message of the church. You can't tell why Jesus came. You can't tell. So it's important that there is a dividing line. Some were saying, I'm of Paul. Some said, I'm of Apollos. Said, are you not carnal? Say, who then is Paul and who is Apollos but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? You see, there Let me— ah, look up. You see, if we practice the Christian faith the way the Bible says it should be practiced, there should be And there must be a common ground in every church, and that ground is Christ. Just like in the political arena, only one person benefits from the division of the people— those in power. When ministers begin to benefit from the division of believers, we have become politicians. That it can be that I follow Apostle Femi Lazarus, and anybody who follows Apostle so-and-so, they are demonic, they are this and they are that. If that minister— this is what I'm saying, get the balance now— is a true servant of God, do you think Jesus is really excited that you as a pastor is dividing his body? If you have a family and you're getting old One of the very important things to you is that your children are united. As you study the Gospels, you read— when you have time, take your time to read that scripture, the prayer that Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. You see real burden that they may be one even as you and I are one. I pray not just for these ones, but for those who believe in the message after. It's the burden of God. So some are saying, you know, we are Paul. And Paul was saying, hey, who died for you? Is it Paul?

Is it Apollos?

I believe that before the body of Christ— and I speak globally— will experience what we refer to as end-time revival. There's going to first be a wind that will blow, that everything that is not established on Christ the solid rock will be blown off like chaff. Our loyalty is to Christ. And to the message of the gospel.

That's it.

There's power in his name because not only did he die, he rose from the dead, and God has given him a name that is above all names. That's as far as it gets. You get what I'm saying in context? So there's nothing like a picture of Jesus that gives you protection. Which Jesus? That's a white man. Okay, let me tell you the one that might hurt you now. There's nothing like the picture of your pastor that gives you protection, that gives you a sense of safety. That's idolatry. What's the focus? What's the focus? What was— what's the message?

Jesus!

Is it the focus or the message? I said he's the focus. I say he's the message. I said he's the focus. He's the message.

Yes sir!

Now let me jump to verse 10 now of that scripture. Now Paul, still speaking, says, according to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereupon.

If you look at the way the Amplified rendition puts it, he said, according to the grace, the special endowment for my task of God bestowed on me like a skillful architect. The same way where you want to build a house, you have structural drawing that everyone, every block that will be laid in that building must be in alignment with what is on paper. The foundation of a believer is the blueprint of his life, that if the foundation is gotten right, we can build superstructures there. So Paul said it requires wisdom, it requires wise builder, not fast builders.

Wise builders. It is not about what is fast, but what is wise. He said as a wise master builder— you see credence to that in Proverbs chapter number 24 from verse 2, says Through wisdom is a house built, by understanding it's established. Through knowledge the chambers are filled with precious riches. That is so important, and I need to listen.

As a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation. So it is important that if we have the privilege to pastor people, we must be able to say their foundation is laid. And how can that be sure? And if people are pastors and they get to another country or get to somewhere else and they become something else, it's because there's no blueprint. When you have a blueprint, you have a foundation.

Foundation is right, you cannot change.

When your foundation is correct, you cannot change. You are conformed to the foundation. It holds you down. When it is gotten— I'm saying it again— you cannot change because it is built, it is solid. If you notice back and forth, back and forth, here and there, not sure, here and there, it's because there's no foundation. When you are established unrooted in sound doctrine, you can't change.

I remember years ago, we have some things to do in the country of Ghana. This is about how many years ago? 13 years ago.

And I saw people, young girls that I used to know in Nigeria, they got there and they start looking for boys. You see, people would travel from Accra and come from Kumasi and, and then put them in buses and then cars, and then they go enjoy clubs and all And I said, but you haven't been doing all these things while you were in Nigeria. Why?

You can be in church, but you are floating. You were never established. You were not—

they didn't dig deep.

Listen to what I'm saying. A believer whose foundation is well laid is not just taught, is discipled. You see, there is a difference between teaching and being discipled.

To be discipled is to be cultured to be built for a certain pattern. To be discipled is to be trained. So it is not— it is not enough that the believer is taught. It is important that the believer is discipled. When you are discipled, you are not taught by your old opinions. You are shown the scripture and you are taught and trained, which is not convenient. It's discipleship, and we must get that. He said, look at it, according to the grace— put on the screen— the special endowment for my task.

And that, that's a message for another day, of God bestowed on me.

Like a skillful architect and master builder, I laid the foundation, and now another man is building on it.

But let each man be careful how he builds upon it. Oh, praise God! Now look at it. Let me show you that same scripture, 1 Corinthians 3:10, in Message translation. I want the media to project that Message translation. Look at it. Using the gifts God gave me as a good architect, I designed— what?— blueprints. I designed blueprints. Apollos is putting up the walls. Let each carpenter who comes on the job take care to build on the foundation. Let each one— I designed blueprints. What's a blueprint? It's a pattern that must be followed. When someone says, I want to do this work, I want that, and I say, this is the blueprint for the design. It means that when it comes to this, skillfulness is not required. Adherence is the key. There's no creativity around the foundation. It's Christ.

Huh?

No, there's no creativity needed. It's enough Christ. There's no creativity. It's not entrepreneurship. Is Christ. It's a blueprint. Every believer who is truly a believer must be established on who?

Christ. That's the blueprint. That's the, that's the blueprint. That's the message.

And let me tell you, you see, I believe that there are things that the Christian faith of the 21st century— let me use that word— might suffer from, from the moment we have removed the idea of Sunday schools. And we now have the idea of helping people manage time, and service can be 45 minutes. There will be repercussions because an average Christian can come to church and what's the message for the week is what ought to be summary or what ought to be introduction. I've been to places that the pastor stepped on the altar and I thought he was still introducing, but he was already rounding up. The music good, and you'll be amazed to look at the attention given to music. You'll be amazed to look at the attention given to sounds, but no attention given to the word. The reason why you are in church is to be groomed by the word.

That's the most important. Thank God for the music, but that's not the message. Powerful. It's good.

Send a message to the choir. They are ever here from here. Are you dancing or what? Enough is enough. Enough is enough. They're fantastic, they're anointed guys. Sing a new song, create your own music before you come here and you are hearing strange things. It won't happen here because the goalpost is widening and we don't know how far it will go. If care is not taken, a generation may come that the portrait of real Christianity might be what we would go and see in museums. So it is important now that believers need to know that the faith is under threat, and we must rise. It doesn't have to be convenient. And when they are praising and worshiping God, you don't have to like it. It's not for you, it's for God.

No, you, you know, no, you don't have to like the song.

The song was already not for you.

In fact, you are part of those to give it to God. They are not giving it to you. You are part of those to give it to God. So you don't have to like it. No, listen, it's It's not your song, it's not your sound, it's not yours. You are compelled to join us. It is us giving it to God. So there's no Femi Lazarus song, it's His song. It's that simple. Now we must listen. What I'm telling you is an emergency. The church must wake up. The idea of introducing a bit of creativity and—

because let me say this publicly. Just so that you can know where I stand, because I need to be clear about where I stand. I've called some people, some stakeholders in the body of Christ in Nigeria. I said, see, I don't have an issue with young generation understanding, oh, music, this, that, this version, this genre. I don't have an issue. But if we come for Christian concert and those who are coming for the concert, they are half-breasted, We are seeing laps outside, then there's problem. If you say you are a Christian content creator and your breast is always outside and your laps always outside, there's problem.

No, there is problem. And by ourselves we must divide the line. You, you are not a part of us, or you are a part of us. It must be clear. Listen, listen, it must be clear what a Christian looks like. And what a Christian is not. We must understand that. It must be clear. So if someone comes to church and the breast is outside, we know you are not saved, and we help you, we accept you the way you are, but you can't come mess us up with the way you are. So we need help too, so we have to get you covered up. There is what a Christian looks like, and there is what a Christian doesn't look like. And guess what?

Appearance matters.

It does.

Appearance matters. By their fruit we shall know them. It matters. It matters. Let me tell you the reason why we must take what I'm showing you as a matter of urgency. It's a very, very urgent matter in the body of Christ. Are you still there? Look at it. Jude chapter number 1. Jude chapter number 1. We start the reading from— let's start reading from verse 1. To verse 4. Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called, mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. Beloved, when I gave diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, It was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints. So the faith, that's, that's the word. We, we must as believers earnestly keep— continue that scripture— contend for the faith which was once delivered. Look at it, say, for there are certain men crept in unawares Who were before old—

sorry, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness.

And, and that's, that's, that's one of the things we don't understand. Um, the message of grace is lavish. But the message of grace is more scary. Grace means you have been empowered to live right. That's what it means. Grace means unmerited favor. Grace is not mess up, I'm available. That's not grace. If you look at Please, when we read the Bible, let's read line upon lines. Let's pay attention. Look at what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:1, says, seeing therefore we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not. So mercy here is not just about pardon. Mercy is what keeps you from fainting.

Powerful.

So you now understand in context what, um, the Hebrew book of Hebrews was saying. Hebrews 4:16, from verse 15. And you see, let's read in context. Look at verse 15, says, for we have not a high priest— from verse 15 now— that cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, seeing that he was in all points—

look at it— but in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

That's what he's introducing us to. And when you get to verse 16, look at what he now says: Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, the same grace that kept him without sin, that we may obtain mercy that keeps us from fainting and find grace to help in times of need.

What's the time of need?

The time when there seems to be a crushing of your soul, the time where there seems to be an advancement of the gate of hell against your mind. And all that, we find grace to help us. So we contend for the faith. It means if the faith is not contended for, it can slip off. That a time may come you don't even know what's the faith and what's not the faith anymore.

You don't even know. And, and, and, and it's appalling.

Go on Christian cable TV, at cable, um, whatever, that has Christian platforms, huh? Before you see Christ, you search 10 stations, you see plenty drama. One time is a pastor saying people should bring their underwear to church, and you're wondering how Because when you are on the Christianity where anything goes as long as somebody is feeling, huh, I feel— every one of you, when you are coming next week Sunday, pack the sand of your house. There are some spiritual battles you want to fight.

Ow! Well, you don't know the original, you can't know what fake is. And that's why you must, you must know the word of God.

It is your ignorance that empowers falsehood.

It's your ignorance.

Do you know the word of God? Do you know what the Bible says? And that's where we are going now. It's your ignorance. Someone meets a Christian and say, go and buy egg.

You be—

go online, you see psychics, you see psychics, they are, they are recommending. You read this psalm inside water. Then you pour salt and then turn to the west and then you pronounce this one. Then you buy alligator pepper and then you do this one. Because it is Psalm doesn't make it Christian, you understand that? Because it is Psalm doesn't make it— there's no additional materials, the name is enough. Listen, listen, listen, it is as powerful that in the days of the apostles, ankis and aprons were taken from them and then listen As powerful as that is, it must not become an idol. Where you keep an handkerchief in the house for 20 years because somebody touched it, but you have no revelation in your mind, that's idol worshiping. Some of you have oils that already has fungi. Molds are growing on the oil. Molds, they are growing on the oil. Molds, they are growing on the oil already. It's powerful. But the word of God on your lips is not powerful. Maybe somebody touched you and you went to go and laminate it. Idolatry. Sometimes I'm shocked. You finish ministering the meeting, you pointed men to Jesus. Then they are still running after you after the service and say, just, just, just, just touch your hand. I, I don't deny the fact that I'm anointed, but the same spirit is in you. Is in you. When you enjoy that kind of stardom as a man of God, you are cheating on Christ. To do that. That's God's child. In Christ, we are siblings. So that's my brother. Why should he be rolling in the gutter? Because he wants to feel my shadow. He needs the word. He needs to know that the same Christ is rich to all. He needs to know. He needs to go. You are taught by us as men of God, but we are not your idols. We are co-laborers. That must be clear. If I give you my shoe, you believe it is anointed. But if you give me yours, it's not anointed because you are not anointed.

Who told you?

You must understand that what Christ did, as long as you are in him, you are a new creature. And the fact that you are new means you are anointed. The Holy Ghost is at work in you. He lives in you. He's helping us. The Bible called him Parakletos, the one who helps us as we go on the way. He's at work in us, working in us both to will and to do of his good pleasures. We are no longer lost in the sins of our past and the, um, the traditions of our fathers. You don't understand that there's a form of anger out there that the gospel is a threat to our tradition. What tradition? It's a message. It overhauls everything. It's not a white man's culture, it's kingdom. It's heaven coming to the earth. Listen, don't let anybody poison your mind.

The gospel, the message, the practice of the kingdom is not the white man's culture, it's kingdom So sometimes you say, you know, it's part of what they use for colonialism. Well, there might be a trace of certain things that were around the same time in history, but don't you believe that there are divinely orchestrated coincidences? It's not a white man's culture, it's Kingdom.

Some of you still believe that in our family tradition, when you have a male child, or when you have a— the mother must eat okra for so-and-so number of days, because if you don't eat okra for this number of days, then it's going to happen. Then if somebody dies, and if you're going to do this, and they are going to do that. And then women, this is a tradition, they will put some things on the ground, you have to pass over it. When you are done doing that, you now come to name the child in Jesus' name.

Because you're confused. You're not taught.

You're confused. Why do we still circumcise male children? Hope you know that's not a criteria for salvation. Now that's— it's not Abrahamic anymore. It's been perfected in Christ. If there are reasons you do it, you do it for those reasons, but not traditions. Some people are in church in different places, but they still send money to the village for festivals. They must do it. As the firstborn in the house, it is his duty to carry the masquerade. Now he will do that in the village and come back to church and shout Jesus.

He's confused.

He's confused. People patronize morning prayers and abalis with full chest. Full chest. No, they are not even feeling guilty, not even because their conscience is bad, but because they don't even know there's a difference. The kind of what they receive is that everything is the same thing. Everything is same. Say you call God here is God, you call God there is God. In fact, you will hear the supposed gospel musicians saying there's no difference. That's not a Christian, that's a singer.

As simple as—

see, dividing line. The moment you don't know there's a difference, you are not a Christian. Your salvation can now be questioned. There must be, because unfortunately people can have volume without content, and you can believe anything that is loud. It must be.

Say it again, it's Jesus alone. Say it again, it's Jesus alone. Say it again, it's Jesus alone. Now you must understand this. When Paul said, as a wise master builder, I have laid well the foundation, what that means is that every other thing follows that— what?

Blueprint. Now you must understand this. The only material sufficient enough to preach Sufficient for establishment of doctrine is the Bible. There is nothing like lost books of the Bible.

If it is not gathered in the Torah, forget it.

There's nothing like, oh, one Bible, um, written, and then this was found in a cave in Ethiopia, and then this is another kind, and then this, this is Look at what the Bible says in the book of 1st— 2nd Timothy chapter number 3. 2nd Timothy chapter number 3. Let's look at what the Bible says in from verse 15. 2nd Timothy 3 from verse 15. Look at what the Bible says, very clear. Give us in King James translation, 2 Timothy 3 from verse 15. And that from a child you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto what? Salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Yes, all scripture, all is given by the inspiration of God. And it's profitable for what? Doctrine. That's the word teaching. For reproof, for correction, for instruction in what? Righteousness. So the Bible in itself is— listen, it's a book, but it's an inspired book, inspired by the breath of the Holy Ghost. From Genesis to Revelation is inspired. But you say men spoke. Yes, inspired words. But the devil also spoke for your learning also.

Now listen to this.

The fact that the Bible that you have is written in English doesn't mean that you can interpret it until you are taught.

And that's why we have what is called biblical hermeneutics. It's the science of interpretation of scriptures.

There is the science that what you have in the Old Testament before the sacrificial works of Christ is not a tool for establishing doctrine.

You don't know what that means.

It can't be a practice because you saw it in Leviticus.

There must be a confirmation in the epistles.

The gospel is what reveals what Jesus did, that is humanity. The epistle is the interpretation of why he came. So you can't sufficiently get a doctrine if it is not in the epistles. The apostle must teach it and practice it. And it is not even enough that it is there.

Listen, listen. For instance, you will never see Paul talk much about healing. Epaphroditus was sick unto death, say, but God had mercy on him.

But that doesn't mean healing is not doctrinal. There is something called the corroborative effort of scripture to establish a thing. It is not enough that I see this in the epistles.

When we look at the flow of thought of the entire Bible it doesn't contradict it. Until then, it is not a doctrine.

So there is the science of interpreting scriptures. So I've seen things that—

there are statements I hear and I, I'm like, oh yes, I get you, I know what you are trying to say, but it can be dangerous. Statement like, know God for yourself.

I get you. How shall they know until they are taught? How shall they learn until there's a teacher?

The problem, the reason why it's an emergency import, because teachers are failing at their duty. The duty of the teachers is to teach the believer. I get them, I understand those statements. You should know God actually for yourself, but put it in context. That doesn't mean you are now become too big to be taught. Do you understand that? All scripture The Bible is the only approved material for establishing doctrine, not a book anybody wrote. If you read anything in my book that is not in the Bible, tear it.

That's, that's idolatry.

My book cannot carry the same authority to establish doctrine like the Bible.

The Bible is the only authority. Are you following what I'm saying here?

You can read Christian literature, but don't read them more than you read your Bible. So you can be able to detect what is wrong.

So you must have the culture, you must have the culture to understand, to read, to learn.

You read in different translations for clarity, then you also read the root words. The original context of the Old Testament is Hebrew, so you go to the Hebrew meaning. The original context of the New Testament is Greek. That's the civilization of that time. So you want to understand. So the reason why we do Hebrew and Greek is not to sound knowledgeable, is to be closer or to be closest to the original intent. Listen, because you cannot make the Bible mean what it never meant when it was spoken.

You can't make the Bible mean what you mean.

That's witchcraft.

You can't establish your own way and look for scriptures to justify it. We come to the level of the authority of the scripture. We submit— are you following me? We submit our thoughts, our opinion, our life to the authority of what? Scriptures. So you can have your premonitions, your conclusions, your—

and all that, or you either care less about what the Bible says, or you try to get and twist the message. Have you heard people say things like, after all, the Bible say heaven help those who help themselves?

Where?

Where? Show me. Show me in the Bible. I said show me in the Bible. I said show me in the Bible. Heaven doesn't help those who help themselves. It gives grace to those who need it. If you can help yourself, why could heaven help you? Why should I wonder? Even the Bible says what shall be, what will be, you will saw. Oh, thank you, Lord Jesus. So there is a foundation. Now let's begin. What's the entry— before you got into our institution, the entry exam you have to— in Nigeria, you wrote WAEC. Am I correct? If you're a Nigerian, even a Ghanaian, you write WAEC. It's West African Exam. Am I correct? And there is a curriculum for the WAEC. Then to get into higher education in Nigeria, you have to write JAMB. Am I correct? Then there is a curriculum for the JAMB. What's the entry message for the believer? Or do you just wake up and assume you're a Christian? What's the entry message? What's the laydown blueprint? How do you even become a Christian? How did you get saved? Are you even saved, or you were just born into the church and it was a perpetual continue and you don't even know that maybe you are not even saved? So what's the entry message? Let's look at what the Bible says. Turn your Bibles there. 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter number 15. We start reading from verse 1. 1 Corinthians chapter number 15. We start reading from verse 1. Now pay attention to this. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you what the gospel— listen, what did I deliver unto you? The gospel. That's, that's, that's the message. The gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have what? Received, and wherein you stand. So I preached it, you receive it, which means you believe it, and now you are established in it. Look at verse 2. What's the first statement? Come on, come on, loud and clear, loud and clear, come on, loud and clear.

What did you hear? By which also you are what?

Saved. So please listen, though. It is not like I come to church and I'm teaching you about principles of taxation, then I now said after, if anybody wants to give his life to Christ, raise your hand. No, there must be a message that did the work of conviction. You receive it, you believe it, because I'm going to show you what Paul said to Timothy about that. It is believing it that is unto righteousness.

So you—

it must be the message. We're going to see the content of the message. You know, in mathematics there's something they call, um, we will move to the answer when there is a work that has an actual formula. Hope you know in mathematics your steps are more important than the answer.

Oh yes.

Ah. We didn't used to know. We think it's about the answer. So we ask someone, "Afa, what's the answer?" The formula is wrong, the method is wrong, the steps are wrong, or you arrive at the answer? That's not Christianity.

The end doesn't justify the means.

No, the means is more important than the end. You must understand that. So you don't squeeze it. There's a message. There's a message. So when you go out to preach, what do you preach? You don't preach church, you preach the gospel. Inviting people to your church is publicity. Inviting them to Christ is evangelism. There are two different things. So you might be on a— you might be in evangelism department but actually what you're doing is publicity. Our church, in evangelism department, the most important thing is the number of souls saved. Not the number— that's the most important. Hey, number of souls saved, that's the most important. Salvation. So you preach the gospel. Let's continue and look at what he said. Oh, thank you. Have you been blessed?

Yes, sir.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received. So he's saying, see, this is my own entry message to you. This is how I got saved. How that Christ died for our sins.

Wow!

We had sin problem that predates our birth. We were born into it. Now, to be able to explain the sin problem, because this teaching, not preaching, I want the media project Romans chapter number 3. Let's start reading from verse 1 quickly. Now you have to learn and understand, we— you must master how to enjoy long reading. Is that clear? So I'm going to be showing you Romans chapter number 3, and we're going to be reading. What advantage then are the Jew, or what profit is the day of circumcision. Much every way, chiefly because unto them were committed the oracles of God. For what if some— so what— sorry, what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid! Let God be true and every man a liar. For it is written that thou mayest be justified. Let me just jump a bit so you can— so we can begin to see what our problem was. Now look at from verse 9. What then? Are we better than they? In no wise. For we have proved both Jews and Gentiles that they are all under sin. As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that hath understanding, there is none that seeketh after God.

They are all gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good.

Their throat is an open sepulcher. With their tongue they have used deceit. The poison of asp is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet is swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways. The way of peace have they not known? There is no fear of God before their eyes. This is describing our state outside Christ. It is describing our state before we knew Christ. Look at this. Now we know that whatsoever thing the Lord said, he said to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be saved, be justified. So it's not your morals, it's not your good morals, that you were born in a family that you don't lie, you are still a virgin— that's not your certificate to heaven. You buy now error. Do you understand? Yeah, nothing else can match with the blood. Nothing else. You see, when you understand this message, walking in healing becomes possibility because everything is paid for. Oh, praise God, praise God, praise God. Now look at this. Let me go to— okay, verse 20. Now therefore, by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without sin, without the law, is manifested, being witnessed by the law and prophets. Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith— this righteousness is by faith, this righteousness is by faith.

Which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. For there is no difference. It doesn't matter whether you are Iberia or you are Yoruba, Calabar, or Hausa, whether you are a Ghanaian or you are from Lesotho or you are from Kenya. This unifies all of us. We become brothers and united by the blood wherever we are across the world.

So I have my brother in China, Not because I'm Chinese, because I'm a Christian. Oh, praise God! Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference. Look at verse 23, read together loud and clear. 1, 2, 3, go! For all have sinned. How many sinned? All sinned. All sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. So what does it mean to be justified? It means we were discharged and acquitted. In fact, justification is not to be discharged and acquitted. That's, that's below. When you are discharged and acquitted All right, um, it's a level. There was an accusation against you, but you have surpassing evidence, and they are not able to establish their own. So the court cannot bring you to book because their evidence against you is not strong. So you are discharged and acquitted. That's not what Christ did. What Christ did was to blot out the ordinances of sin. It is not discharged and acquitted. It is that you never did it. You just never did it. If any man be in Christ, he is new. What is justification? Is the state of clearance from sin and guilt, an absolute right stand before God. Meaning that— listen, listen, listen— the next, the last moment the devil had something against you This moment you are standing before God as one who never did. That's the power of the blood. It blots out every ordinances written against us. It nails them out. Praise God! All have sinned, come short of the glory of God. So anyone who is not in Christ is a sinner. So in case you meet people and they're telling you, no, I was born in a Christian family, the question is, are Are you saved? Are you saved? It's not about, you know, I was making jokes recently talking about my daughter that she prays in tongues, but I say she's not born again. So I just kind of make the joke, young lady, you're not born again, you're young. So as you begin to understand, it is important that the first understanding will bring you into is Christ, so that you can be— you are mature enough to believe in him. So, so what then happen if Jesus comes now and then the children who are not— where are they going? They are not at the age of accountability. Just simple things. Praise God. Do you understand? Look at what is Romans 3:24. Look at it. Verse 20— put verse 23 and 24 on the screen. Romans 3:23: For all have sinned and what? Come short.

Look at verse 24, read together loud and clear: Being justified how? Freely. Say it again, freely. Say it again, freely. By his grace through the redemption. What does redeem mean? It means to buy back. The redemption that is in Christ, he brought us back.

You know, sometimes you want to wonder why redemption. Redemption simply suggests that there was a time we were there, but we missed the mark. So if you're going to build the message of salvation, you begin from how through one man sin entered the world, and then death through sin. Then by one man's obedience also the gift of righteousness came upon all those who believe. That's the message. Christ came into this world, he lived as a man because man sinned, man couldn't pay. God became man, paid the price, died the death of shame on the cross, was buried for 3 days, and he rose on the third day by the glory of the Father. He blotted out all ordinances of sin against us. Glory to God! He spoiled principalities, he spoiled powers, he nailed away every ordinance written against us. If this same Spirit that raised Christ from the grave be in us, this same Spirit will quicken our mortal bodies. I'm redeemed. So from the moment I believe in the sacrificial works of Christ, It means I put myself as one of the beneficiaries of the price he paid. He paid the price for all of us, but we have to believe, confess him to be a beneficiary. Is that okay? And I'm going to show you that what Paul wrote to Timothy. Are you learning something? Oh, say it again: I'm redeemed. But hope you know that redemption consciousness is elementary knowledge.

Oh yes, that's milk.

Redemption consciousness is milk. I've been bought back, but there's a place of now coming onto maturity. You see, as the redeemed, you are the heir of the house, but as long as you're a child, differeth you nothing from a servant, though you be Lord of all. If you stay at the level of I'm redeemed unto what? Good works. Then you now begin to mature. That I'm redeemed, I'm a newborn babe still on milk, but there's a place of growth. Oh boy, there's a point where you now say, as he is, so are we. So you are not just saying I'm a Christian, Christ-like. You know, there was a time— I just want to give you an historical perspective to this— there was a time that what sparked worldwide revolution was the what Martin Luther found. That's just, just simple words brought worldwide. So the world, the world then were living on anything the Pope says, the Bible said. People were paying money to buy spots in Paradise. They were getting letters that will be sent to God on their behalf. So if you look at the history of the church, we have been open to new layers of revelation with time. What you know now is not all there is. Oh, are you learning something? Well, it's not all there is. Look at it: being justified freely by his grace through redemption that is in Christ Jesus. So there is no redemption in any other name. There is no another door. Christ is the only way. Now you must understand, this is fundamental. He's made a way, and Christ is. And that's why this message must be preached, to be a witness to all nations. Say it again: Christ is the only way. Say it loud and clear: Christ is the only way. And there's no subsidiary list. You must be enlisted now. Praise God. Being justified freely by his grace through redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be what? Propitiation through faith. Look at this, look at the way the Amplified puts it: whom God put forward before the eyes of all as a mercy seat and propitiation by his blood, the cleansing and life-giving sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation, to be received through faith. Now it will wow you when I show you Romans 3:25 in the Passion Translation. If the media can have it, look at it. Romans chapter number 3, verse 25, the Passion Translation. Glory to God! Somebody say glory! Can the media give us— yeah, thank you. Jesus' God-given destiny— Jesus' God-given destiny, sorry, was to be the sacrifice to take away sin.

That's why he came.

That's why he came. That's why he came. Let me leave it there. And now he is our mercy seat because of his death on the cross. We come to him for mercy, for God has made a provision for us to be forgiven by faith in the sacred blood of Jesus. This is the perfect demonstration of God's justice. Because until now he's been so patient, holding back his justice out of his tolerance for us.

So he covered it over, the sin of those who live prior to Jesus' sacrifice.

Look at verse 26.

And when the season of tolerance came to an end, there was only one possible way for God to give away his righteousness and still be true to both is justice and mercy. Wow! Only one way for God to give away his righteousness and yet he's still true God, who is the God of justice and still a God of mercy.

The only one way was for all the sufferings to be lashed and exhausted on Christ.

It took all the suffering, it took all the pain. There was a momentary separation between him and the Father because he became sin.

He became everything God cannot do because he became man.

Look at it, give us the scripture. Oh, glory to God.

And when the season of tolerance came to an end, there was only one possible way for God to give away his righteousness and still be true to both his justice and mercy: to offer up his own Son. Now you must understand the context of the Son of God. There was no context of the Son of God until it was necessitated for Christ to come. All right, there are three that bears witness in heaven: the Father, not the Son, the Word. Jesus is the Word. The Word only became Son because he has to come and be born by the Father. And as a matter of fact, the one who overshadowed Mary was not the Father but the Holy Ghost. Give us that scripture. So now we stand on the faithfulness of Jesus. God declares us righteous in his eyes. Look at this. Where then is there room for boasting? Do our works bring God's acceptance?

Not at all. It was not our works of keeping the law, but our faith in his finished work. Work that makes us right with God.

I, I don't lie, I don't sin, I don't do all that. My family is a very moral family. Your faith is not standing in your works. It can only stand in the what? Finished works of Christ. So what that simply means is— listen to what I'm saying now, because this is what may affect you. If you meet someone who has lived all his life or her life in sin and mention all the big, big sins that you know, and now God has saved the person, before God you are the same.

Why?

Sin is sin. Sin is not a verb. It's a noun. It's a nature that produces an act. A dog barks because the dog is a dog. So when you see somebody who is smoking, the message is not put away your cigarette. The message is receive Christ. The cigarette will drop. They grow to that point. They mature till that point. Because you see, you can have the elder brother syndrome and begin to boast in your self-righteousness. Uh, you can have that. And someone somewhere is still playing the devil's advocate by saying, well, if people have misused their body, they are going to suffer for it. Well, the mercy of God is able to cleanse people thoroughly. You must understand. So that you are not going to become the devil that will be waiting down. Okay, I know you are saved, I know we are one for God, but I'm waiting to see you suffer. You can't tell how bad your heart can get because you feel, well, I can't be cheated, I can't just stand for God like that, and I didn't do anything this person has done, and now that I have done that, you should suffer some things. Did I catch someone there? I tell you I did.

I tell you.

So your joy is to see people come to Christ. Oh, glory to God! Let's finish that scripture that we are reading. Are you being blessed tonight? Is there anyone here who is excited about salvation? I'm saved, washed in the precious blood of Jesus, redeemed, justified, righteous. I'm the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. I'm not a sinner. All things have passed, all things have become new. I am righteous. I am God's righteousness in Christ Jesus. I am not I am not a sinner. There's no consequence hanging over my head.

There's no verdict hanging over my head. I am redeemed. Glory! Hallelujah! I'm a new man in Christ Jesus.

All things are passed away, and because of this, I can therefore come boldly. I can come boldly. We follow the throne of grace. You know, sometimes our daughter just bangs into our room and we're like, hey young lady, knock. Say okay, goes back, knock. Comes back 5 minutes later, banging in. Young lady, knock. Goes back, okay, I'll knock. Come back some other moment, banging in. Because when it is Daddy, it's your door. The problem is your spiritual growth takes you away from Daddy consciousness. You must grow to the point that you still retain the idea of Daddy and the idea of Lord. Not Lord without Daddy. The idea of Daddy and the idea of Lord, that's the balanced way to grow. That you cannot doubt the fact that you are accepted in the Beloved.

You are loved.

See, see, hold on. Nobody does Daddy like him.

No, nobody. No, no, no, no, that's the truth. Nobody.

You see, but, but, but you are traumatized by the idea of daddy you are exposed to. Oh yes, this is not some daddy who is waiting for you to sin then break your head. This is not a daddy who is saying, I'll catch you, you think you've gone. At the junction of marriage, I'm gonna get you. You see the life you've lived, I will give you a bad boy, I will give you a bad girl. This is not some of those daddies. This is Daddy who gives good and precious gifts to his children.

Oh glory! Say it again, he's my daddy!

You ought to wrap your hands around your chest now.

Feeling loved. Don't ever mature to the point that you drop out of his daddy status. He's our daddy, he's my daddy. Glory to God! We can come boldly before the throne of grace. We can come boldly because we are not previous offenders. We never offended. We are new, we are new, we are new, we are new. Accepted. Loved, joint heirs with Christ. Oh, glory to God in the highest.

Hold on a minute, sit down. Hope you know that our redemption status means we are joint heirs with Christ. But, but you don't think about the idea of joint heirs. What that simply means is that Jesus' status now is the status of our elder brother. He is the firstborn, the first begotten. Listen, in John 3:16, he was the only begotten. After resurrection, he's the first begotten. Why? Because we are begotten. So it's the first, is the prototype. The kind of son Jesus is, is the kind of son you are. Selah. Ah, just think about that. God doesn't accept Jesus more than he accepts you. Think about that. God doesn't accept Jesus more than he accepts me. You saw what Paul said to Timothy when he wrote the letter. He said it's good for us to pray for kings, for those in authority, and I said, Femi Lazarus, there's one God. And one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus. The man. See, what God did was to— you know, if you're going to teach about sonship, a religious mind can't comprehend it, because when you have a religious mind, you say it's too much. But before— when you read Genesis 1, you need to pay attention. Before God made man in his own image, in Genesis 1 from verse 24, see what the Bible says so you can understand patterns. Genesis 1:24, look at it. And God said, let the earth bring forth living creature. After his kind. Cattle and kriptitan, the beasts of the earth, after his kind. And it was so. So God made the beasts of the earth after his kind, the cattle after their kind, and everything that crept upon the earth after his kind. And God saw that it was good. And God said, let us make man after our Everything should not have their kind, and God doesn't have his kind. You are not mankind, you are God kind. That's the Bible. You're God kind. Oh glory! How can God kind