HIS KINGDOM COME || THE CALLED OUT ASSEMBLY FORT MCMURRAY (TCOA) CANADA

Yesterday, Pastor, like, he was flipping through my notes. I was saying many things which are foundationally important to deal with a subject like this, but I want us to look at the scripture. Matthew chapter number 6. Matthew chapter number 6. We're going to start reading from verse 9. Now Jesus was teaching his disciples how to pray. And in teaching how to pray, you're not just teaching mannerism, you're teaching content of prayer. The prayer, or the prayer that gets God's attention fast. Now, we ask and receive not many times because we ask amiss. I'm going to show you that. All right, so this is what Jesus said in Matthew 6, and we start the Reading from verse 9, he said, after this manner therefore pray, our Father. Now everything there is significant. Now the reason why we are different is because we are not calling to an unknown God. I have the full assurance of faith to go to God as my Father, not the one who is waiting for me to make mistakes and destroy me. You know, um, and just to jump a bit, in Matthew 16, Jesus began to ask his disciples— and you know, Pastor already touched on this yesterday. Like I said, I spent like 7 minutes and I'm like, this man is going to preach everything I have to preach. Jesus began to ask disciples and say, who do men say that I am? Some said you're Elijah. Some said you are, um, Isaiah. Some said you're John the Baptist, and some said you're one of the prophets. Then he asked them, who do you say that I am? It was Peter who said, you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And it was a good foundation for the church to be built on, built on the foundation of the Christ as the Son of the Living God. That's the foundation of the church. Our interpretation of who he is determines how we go about life. Some see God as a vindictive monster. Many false religion or false movement is built on wrong perception, sometimes wrong interpretation of who God is. Some— have you heard people ask questions that if God is If there's God, why does he hurt so much? Why do we have wars? Why do we have people dying? You know, almost every time— I don't know what happens in this part of the world, but almost every time you pick the newspaper to read, it's bad news. And when people ask, where is God when all these things is happening, is because all of a defect in their teaching life. They have not been taught to understand who God is and who man is and why things are the way they are. So first thing first, before you call on God, understand he's your father. Jesus said, I go to my father and your father. The title, the only begotten son, was lost when he came. Now we are all begotten of the Father. Praise God. Wrap your hands around your chest and say, God is my Father. And that also still dovetails into what Pastor Uche was saying, and that's a very profound statement. Hebrews 11:6, without faith it is impossible to please God, for they that come to him must first believe. That he is, then he is the rewarder of them that what diligently seek him. Let me give you a big illustration. Um, I think Hebrews chapter number 4, from verse 15 to 16, says, for we have not an high priest that cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, seeing that he was in all points tempted like we are, but yet what? Have you seen people speak And you understand they are not speaking the counsel of God. They are speaking from privilege. They look at people and judge them and criticize them and say, look at you, oh no. And they are talking because they found mercy. God doesn't talk to us from that standpoint. He can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. And the Bible said he was in all points tempted, all right, and yet without sin. In verse 16, he now said, let us therefore come, what? Boldly. You can't go to God boldly if you have the consciousness of sin. You can't come to him boldly. In Romans 8 from verse 1, there is now therefore no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. Say it loud and clear, I'm not condemned. All right, do you guys use Google Maps here? Huh? All right, let me ask you a question. If you're moving from here to the airport, it takes how many minutes? Let's say 10 minutes, 15 minutes. All right, and then on the Google Maps you have laid out maps, direction to take. Am I correct? If you miss a turn, what happens? You're out. Talk to me now. Have you ever experienced this, that you miss the turn and the map screamed your name, Julius, you're an idiot? Talk to me now. Turn back, turn back! It reroutes. If a map can reroute, it means the map has one purpose: getting to destination. Why do you think When you miss a mark, God wants to break your head. He has one plan: get him to destination. When David was driving, at some point he missed the turn. He killed Uriah and took his wife, and somehow God still rerouted Solomon out of that lineage. Maybe it was in God's sovereign plan that Solomon will come from Bathsheba. Maybe Uriah was going to die anyway. But sometimes, in our lack of understanding and ability to trust God, in fast-tracking things for ourselves, we get into trouble. God is not looking for an opportunity to discard you. And you know the funny thing? Our Earthly father is our first interpretation of the idea of fatherhood, but even if your earthly father is not present, God is better than your father. Praise God. Say it again. Our Father. Okay, that might be easier. Say, my Father who is in heaven. You know what that means? I'm not an orphan. Glory to God! When I ask my daughter, what's your name? I like the way she says it. My name is Abigail Femi Lazarus, with so much boldness. She's so proud of it. Well, you know, our son's name is Christ. Glory to God! He has named his name upon us. Amen. Now look at it. He said, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. That is, we give honor to your name. Then what's the next prayer? Thy kingdom come. And he went ahead to interpret that, your will be done in earth as it is where in heaven. So it means We can only conclude that the kingdom of God has come to a place once what is represented here is the exact thing represented in the intentions of God. So anywhere we see anything that is not God's will, the kingdom has not come. And let me give a bit of breakdown so you can understand. That's why I said I have to do some foundational treatment. In Genesis chapter number 1 from verse 1, let's start from the beginning now. Genesis 1:1, in the beginning God created world, heaven and what? The earth. Please pay attention. I like to get close to people. Let me break it down. What are the two things God made from the beginning? The heaven and what? The earth. What's the next statement now? And the earth was without what? Form and what? Void. And darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of— How many things did God create from the beginning? Two. He lives in one. He gave the sons of men one. And the Bible is saying just simply like that, oh, Heaven is intact, but the earth was without form and void. The Bible did not say in the beginning God is creating. He said he created, meaning that he finished the heaven and the earth. Do you understand that? Is it simple enough? Good. And in verse 2, the earth was without what? Form and void. That is, something happened to the earth, even if it was not mentioned here. As we go on to read later the book of Revelation, we'll see that there was a statement that Bible says something very, very Funny that there was war in heaven and Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought back, and then he was sent out of heaven. The Bible says that he still drew one-third of the stars and his place was not found there in heaven again. Where was he sent to? The earth. Hence, we understand the consequence of that was that the earth became formless. Why? Because of the invasion of a person, his will, his desire, and his army. And the head was darkened. And then the Bible now said, and what? And darkness. This is not atmospheric darkness. You can't have atmospheric darkness until you have atmospheric light. So here we are seeing— maybe to understand this better, let's look at Isaiah chapter number 60. I come back here quickly. Isaiah chapter number 60, let's start from verse 1 quickly. Isaiah chapter number 60. Let's start from bottom. Let's read together. 1, 2, 3, go. Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. Yes. What's next, Femi Lazarus? For behold, what? The darkness will cover the earth. And what? Gross darkness the people. It means the first entity that was seen in the beginning upon the earth, and we saw the result of that entity was that the earth became shapeless, formless, and empty. The same entity is making an attempt to cover the earth again. And until you rise and shine, it will. And what will be the result? The same thing that happened from the beginning. So all that the devil is attempting to do now was what he did before. You understand that? Now let's go back to Genesis chapter number 1 also. So we go continue from verse 2 now quickly. So you see that the word used in Isaiah 60:2 is not darkness will cover the earth, it is the darkness. That's a definite article, means this darkness ought to be a darkness you are familiar with. Look at it. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And this is very tricky, and that's what believers need to understand. God is everywhere. What did I say? God is everywhere. He's omnipresent. As I speak now, they are killing people in Syria. As I speak now, there are people in Iraq, even in America, even in Canada. Somebody is dying now unjustly through Is God not there? Have you seen cases where somebody just gets depressed and the next thing he does is that looks for a gun and enters into his school and then starts shooting people? Is God not there? The presence of God in places does not avert disaster. You must understand that. And that's why in being a student of the Bible, you will see that every scripture where they use the Spirit of God, and you now compare it with scriptures where they use the Spirit of the Lord, there are different results. The Spirit of God talks about the dimension— that's the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost, his presence. The Spirit of the Lord— and I'm going to show you and break it down across scriptures— talk about the fusion, or what you have as the dimension of the Spirit of God that is operating on a man. Ezekiel 37, from verse 1. Look at the difference quickly. Ezekiel chapter number— do you have stomach for the word, or should I reduce it to conflicts? Talk to me now. You take biscuit? All right, you want to take strong meat? Are you ready? So you must know how to respond. Now let's read this together. 1, 2, 3, go. And the hand of the Lord was upon me and carried me out in what? The spirit of who? The Lord. The Lord. And set me down in the midst of the valley, which was what? Full of bones. Verse 2 now. And caused me to pass by them round about, and behold, there were very many in an open— in the open valley. And lo, there were what? Very dry. What's his next statement? And he said to me, Son of Man, can these bones live? God was there when they died. God was there when they decayed. God was there when they were rotten. God was there when the bone dried up. Once he found a man he could restore— so there are many things that will go around even though God is there. So when you talk about the kingdom of God, you are talking about the fusion, the operation of the Holy Ghost permitted by a man to imbreathe the earth. Until there is a man, you can't talk kingdom, because every kingdom needs bona fide representatives. Look at this now. Can these bones live? And I answered. And God could now do everything he needed to do once he found a man, meaning that And you know, the wounds in the book of Ezekiel was representing the nation of Israel. And, um, so it means that when that great army died, it wasn't the will of God. It is not true that everything that happens on the earth is the will of God. A guy was born blind. And Jesus saw him. He said, who saw him? And they said, who sinned, this guy or his parents? Jesus said, no one sinned. This one is so that the glory of God might be made manifest. What's the manifestation of the glory there? That he will receive his sight. The guy had been born blind. So before Jesus started his ministry, there's somebody who is still sick hoping you will get it right. There's somebody whose deliverance is waiting for your maturity. So the earnest expectation of creation waits for the manifestation of the sons of God. It's not waiting for God. God is always on ground. Things can go wrong. It is waiting for sons to show us who their Father is. So when people get offended at God and asking questions, when is God, when is this, when is God, they are asking the wrong question. The right question is Where is his son? Where are his children? God has done all that he will do. It's your business to now effect that. Where? In the head realm. Let's go back to that, Isaiah— that same Genesis 1, verse 2. Go to verse 3 now, quickly. Are you getting something? What is the next statement God said here? And the first response of God towards chaos was what? Let there be light. That's God's first response. The first response towards chaos is not panic, it's not fear, it's not let's call home, let's, let's, let's, let's look for something. Light. Years ago, I used to think that this light was the sun. The light so that it will make the sun much versus later. So what is this light? Until Jesus came in Matthew chapter number 5, I think it was 14 or thereabout. Matthew 5, can they give me that scripture? Matthew 5, quickly. Um, no, verse 14. Matthew 5, verse 14. Oh, thank you, Lord Jesus. Let's read this loud and clear. 1, 2, 3, go! We are the light of the world, a city that is set on the hill. Who is the light of the world? When Jesus said, let there be light, what was he prophesying? Sons. The first response of God towards chaos is to look for someone that can adequately represent and communicate his intentions. When there was problem in Egypt, what was God's response to the problem of slavery in Egypt? Moses. God came to Moses and said, I've heard the cry of my children and their tears by the reason of their taskmasters. God was not trying to— every time there's problem anywhere, that what God checks for is who is the closest son around. And you know the problem? You can be available and not usable. At least you are in a territory and God is still saying, I don't have a man. It's possible. Have you seen people sometimes that keep— they hate their family and they're wondering, I wish I wasn't given back to in this family, I wish, I wish I was given back to in a better place, I, I wish I had a dad who understood me, I wish my mom did, I wish, I wish, I wish that. The fact that you were given birth to in a chaotic place means God has solved their problem by sending you. You either rise up to responsibility or that generation is grounded. The response of God to chaos is man. The question is, whose tears has God sent you here to wipe? Definitely your life can't be to get married and give birth. A very funny life. Have you seen when Bible is talking about genealogies and say, and this begat, and this begat, and this begat? You can exist only to begat. In fact, the subject of Methuselah is even a different subject entirely, because Methuselah is actually a prophecy. It's the typology of how far, how wide, how deep, how long the mercy of God is. Methuselah means when this one dies, the earth will be judged. So his length of his days is not actually useless. It shows us the length of God's mercy. So he was around as a prophecy. In the year that this one dies, there will be flood. That's what it means. And that's why when Methuselah was taken off, they understood it was not just old for nothing, it was the length of God's mercy. You understand what I'm saying? There are people— listen to what I'm saying. I'm going to show you, I'm going to show you the reason why many believers struggle. There are people that their kingdom economic importance is of no consequence. You know why? They are not preparing themselves for anything else and for themselves. The entire focus, the entire burden, the entire desire is how I can have money, how I can get this. Can I show you the Bible mentions such people? Should I show you what the Bible says about such people? Did I show you? Oh yeah, look at Ezekiel 33, verse— from verse 30, Message translation. I hope the media team has Message. Wave if you have Message translation. Do you have— and give us in black, please. So this is okay. Good. Thank you. Look, look at what the Bible says about this. Okay, sound check. This one is dead. Sound check. I'm a sound person, so two-factor authentication. Sound check. I keep managing. Look at what the Bible says. Okay, is it better now? Okay, all right, thank you. Sound check. Now look at this. Oh boy, I hope this is not your life. As for you, oh son of man, you become quite the talk of the town. Your people meet on the street corners and in front of their houses and say, let's go hear the latest news from God. That's how some people attend church. Let's go hear the latest gist. What was he saying? It's not like they want to be transformed. They are not interested in his project. Let's go get the latest news from God. They show up, as people tend to do. They sit in your company, they listen to you speak, but don't do a thing you say. They flatter you, compliment— oh my God, deep— but there's no transformation. Look at it. All they care about is what? Making— what's the next verse? Quickly. Money and getting ahead. That's all they care about. That's what catches their attention. That's what, that's, that's, that's what spikes their interest. Just want to make more money. You know why? Low self-esteem. We compare ourselves to ourselves, became fools. Let me tell you something, money doesn't change your maturity. There was a man called the Rich Fool. If you give a fool money, he doesn't become wise. You just upgraded his foolishness status. Anybody can make money. Anybody. And that's why more money is not a sign of God's validation. Do you understand what I'm saying? To them, you are merely entertainment, a country singer of sad love songs. Playing a guitar. They love to hear you talk, but nothing comes out of it. Sometimes my question is, the crop of Christians we have around, what, what do they need for their minds to be quickened to the fact that we are here for a purpose? And that purpose is beyond you, beyond your marriage certificate, beyond your children. Because it is even possible not to have a child and yet have a purpose to fulfill. Do you understand that? You're merely entertainment, a country singer of sad love songs. So you look at it, people come to church. Sometimes I've asked myself, I don't think it happens in this part of the world, not because people don't like it, but because there are laws that will not let it happen. People can go to church and after Sunday and still beat their wife in Jesus' name. I'm saying, people can go to church and still be wicked. Who can go to church and lack compassion? They can go to church and lack empathy. They can go to church and, and, and lack common human feelings. They have the loudest tongues in church. There are people that they are the reasons why some have not given their life to Christ. They say, if this is what Jesus looks like, I prefer to be an atheist. The devil is actually shocked with the way some people are praying in church. As a sappi, moko monde, the devil say, Jesus. Even the devil says Jesus. I'll call all that demons and say, 'Chimu, Chimu, come and see.' Ah, the other demon will say, 'It shocked you?' Say, 'It shocked me.' Praise God. Our duty is to show people what Jesus looks like through our life, through our character. You see, it is very easy to demonstrate what is not engrafted in you. You can copy someone's, but it has to be formed in you to manifest the character. And that's why it is by our fruit that we are known. The fruit is not a— fruit is not gift. There is the gift of the Spirit, that one is an impartation. You don't have to mature to wield it. Fruit is an evidence of maturity. Only mature trees bear fruit, and that's why the evidence of the fruit of the Spirit is love. Are you following what I'm saying here? Now let's go back. Let's just finish what we're doing in Genesis 1, verse 3. Now, okay, go back to King James. Oh, thank you, Lord Jesus. KJV, quickly, verse 3, please. And God said, let there be what? Light. Can you say loud and clear where you are? Let there be light. Come on, say it again. So you are the light of this world. A city that is set on the hill cannot be hid. So it means the world will be in perpetual darkness if the light refused to shine. There are, there are things that should not make it to our prayer point if we understand our placement. Can I have a bottle of water, sir? Thank you, sir. Let's assume this is Bob. If someone tells me, Femi, go fix the bulb in the hall, automatically, if this is to illuminate, I'm not supposed to be looking at the ground, I'm supposed to be looking up. Because if it is going to bring light, it has to be up. It means if you understand the concept of you being light, your position in life ought not to be debated. Set you up. Why? It puts you where you can have the advantage to illuminate. The reason we struggle is because our life is for ourselves, and I can show you from the Bible. That's the reason we struggle. Thank you, sir. We can look at many instances. Abraham— I can start with Anna. In Genesis— I'm sorry, 1 Samuel chapter number 1, Hannah, Peninnah, Elkanah, a triangle, amazing triangle. Every time they go to Shiloh, the husband eat with the wife and their children, and she will mock Hannah and say, look at you, you don't have a child. And Anna will cry and say, God, can you just answer my prayer and prove to them that you're God? I don't know if I ever prayed that kind of prayer before. Show my enemy that you're God. Let me announce to you, God is not on any journey to prove any point to any enemy. He's about doing his own plan and his own will. You align or you align. God is not about to join league with you to pepper anybody. 'Oh, my stepmother did that thing, I can't make it.' Show them now. In fact, that's when they will now know you couldn't make it. Just understand, God is not on the journey of retaliation with you. He is God. He doesn't come to your level, you come to his level. Now I keep saying, 'Oh God, they are mocking me. Every time there's no child.' She remained barren till one day. Probably she had observed— think about it— that Ophni and Phinehas had become rascals, and she had seen a void in the temple that requires a man-child. And she went for the first time and said, Lord, you know what, if you give me this child I put him back here. The moment her desires aligned to his purpose, bam, heaven opened. Not only did she have Samuel, she had many more after without prayer. Sometimes you are asking for a child, God is looking at you, saying, I'm too big for that. It's too big for what you're asking for. Abraham was asking for just a child. God was thinking about Christ. Are you aware? Are you aware that the purpose of the journey of Abraham was the Christ? He was actually separating a man out, then a lineage, then a nation, then back to a man, then back to the whole earth. That was, that was That was the mathematics. So look at it, all the time Abraham must have been thinking, maybe I'm just going to die like this without a child. It's as powerful as you say, maybe the Christ will not come. If you know what God wants to birth through your loins, you will understand that there is no clause for what if. There is no panic in heaven. Everything he wants to do is sealed before the foundation of the earth. Let me explain something just so you understand. Um, are you here? Okay, okay, look at this. How many of you watch movies? Come on. Okay, how many of you love suspenseful movies that keeps you like so suspenseful? Yeah, okay, good. Let me tell you how God works. You can't have a movie without a script. A movie can't start if the script did not end. The fact that you are watching a movie means that the existence of this means something finished before this started. The only one who is in time in a movie is the one watching it. The one who produced this know the end from the beginning. I used to be in grammar department years ago. Esther from drama. I climb my church and bring chairs, and usually you off the light on the stage, and once it's time for the drama to start, light. Did you see that in the Bible? Let there be light. A big drama was starting now. That's where you come in. The one who is behind the scene is functioning like that because the script ended. Before you began. So you can have suspense, he doesn't, because he knows the end before the beginning began, and your future is past for him. So Jesus said, 'Lo, I come in volume of books, as it is written of me.' So there is something that is written. So that's why it is important you know his script concerning— it's called scriptures. It's the script for creature. The script, what is written. According to God's script for my life, I didn't die young. If you don't know it, you fulfill your own character. You must understand your script. According to his script for my life, I didn't have diabetes. I didn't die of cancer. According to his script, you have to know your script and insist on it and act it out. Sometimes you're asking, maybe, maybe, maybe God is not going to do this in my life. Just know the script and keep quiet. Amen. Amen. Sometimes, like, when I came from Nigeria, I'm going back to Nigeria. Yeah, it's not like— what? No way. Sometimes I sit down I'm like, could there ever be a change? Whenever you're asking questions like that, understand that there are clues, and the clues are the prophecies that have gone ahead of you, either as a person or as a nation. The prophecies are big snippets of what the future holds. Don't you understand? You've not gotten there, but someone who is there spoke from that place. And say, expect this. And then you can have that word of prophecy for comfort, for edification, and for strengthening. According to God's script for my life, I didn't die young. Now you watch those American movies where they are shooting someone and your favorite guy is about to be shot. You say, please don't kill him. Well, your emotions cannot alter the script. What is written is written. You either know the script or panic. And that's why faith comes through hearing, that's revelation of the script. Once you function in that regard, you're not panicking. I may not know the end, but I know him who holds it, and I know that his thoughts concerning me are thoughts of peace, not of evil. To give me hope and a future. Even when it looks like you are about to fail, it is so that it can be adventurous. What's a good movie without suspense? And Abraham said, Lord, will you give me a child? Will you please be— say, I go childless. Wow. God was just looking at him. Abraham, do you understand that what I want to do with you It's not just about a child. Hope you know Abraham didn't have child problem. He did Hagar once. That guy was fertile and he knew. So faith is not about getting result alone. Is about getting it God way. So faith for Abraham— listen, this is it— you can't get it outside God and make it about God. Faith is God's ways, God's method. God's things go done in his ways. So in walking with God, the end doesn't justify the means. The means is more important than the end. And that's why through faith, the elders did not obtain— they didn't obtain a good result, but a good report. Result is a thing, report is different. Let me explain what that means. I know some of you here may not be able to relate, but let me tell you from my African perspective. I was in JSS 1. We were 34 in a class, and my position that year was 33. That's second from the back. You know what that means? Okay, it was bad. I sat down And I said, this, this is— that's not your report, okay? That's your report card, but the position is your result. I'll tell you the difference. I said, how do I take this thing to my father who has worked so hard to pay for this kind of school? So this is the way my teacher wrote, it was 30 tot. So I got an inspiration. And this was very simple, a risky one, but if I got it right, something was going to come out of it. So I got something to cancel one thing, and I was left with a third. So I took the report to my dad, and he actually took it. I said, you can't talk. I said, yes. All he had to do was to turn it the other way around, and the 33rd was obvious. The reason why he knew I had changed my result was because of the report. I'll tell you different. How do you have F in mathematics, F in English, F in this quantitative reasoning, F in verbal reasoning, F in this. And I have third, in the same manner. How do you wait on God for years, get the results, but you have F in character, F in love work, F in patience, F in prayer? Through faith, the elders didn't get a good result but a good report. The report is more important than the result. Sometimes the process is not God giving you a thing but making you a man. I can tell you stories. Years back, we're going to have a meeting, we call it the Berea Generation Conference. I've not had the boldness to have that meeting again after then. We're praying on our own, just praying. God himself now said What I'm going to do in this meeting— to be— when you hear things, please be patient, be patient. Don't be quick to jump when God speaks. Say, what I want to do in this meeting, I've never done it anywhere else before. I told my people, I said, God is about to move. When we're close to the door of the meeting, I said, with the kind of promise God has made in this meeting, I did 9 days dry fasting. Just water, no food. I said, God is going to move. I looked at myself, I said, ah, I remember Benny Hinn, the way he will enter a meeting with white suits. And I said, this kind of thing God wants to do, I need to go and get the white clothes. So I went to a fashion designer and said, I want to make something white. I emptied my account to do that. Hey, then I didn't have a car, so the day of the meeting they went to go and collect a car to pick me. I came out of my house like this, I came out and enter like God is about to do something. Hey, then rain started falling. We didn't have musical equipment, we didn't have speakers, we didn't have keyboard, we didn't have anything. We used to go in the rain, so rain was beating everything. And as I approached the venue, I was saying, God, is this what you said you're going to do? Then to make matters worse, as we got the venue that could sit over 1,000 people, when I got to the venue, we have about 18 people. People didn't come. I said, what is this? I became angry. We invited a music minister to come and sing. They couldn't sing because rain was falling as they hold the mic. It was shocking them, putting their mouth to shock them. See, God said he's going to do something that he has not done before. So I became angry. I was pained that— what nonsense is this? So when it was time for me to go and preach, I was preaching, but I was angry. I was saying, God, after this meeting, we should not meet again. Just once you see me— yeah, I'll say, once you see me coming to the right, you go to the left. And as I was saying all those in my mind, so guess where I was standing? Where the drop of rain was falling on my head, it was falling like ad hoc. That day I called for altar call with anger. You come out and give your life to Christ. Just die away if you don't give your life. Just die. People came out for altar call and I was surprised that I said, you came, you brood of vipers. How do you come for altar call? Kneel down, kneel down, kneel down. Say after me, Jesus. I'm sure when I see those people in heaven, they will say the way you led us to Christ was cruel. So after that meeting, my prayer life died. I didn't pray anymore. I was not interested. I said, it's rubbish. That God is a scam. I don't want to talk to God anymore. People didn't know. I stopped going to preach. They were still calling me pastor, but I stopped praying. And I did that for like 2 weeks. Didn't say a word, didn't call him Father, didn't pray, didn't have morning devotion. I wake up in the morning and on the film to watch. I just start a movie. Pastor, are you fine? I said, please, can you stop calling pastor? Just let's, let's respect ourselves, okay? So one morning, as I was doing all those, I just stood, something just felt like you two calm down now. I just said, all right, God, are you there? Afwa. I thought God was going to say, you idiot. He said, I'm always here. And I saw that he was just waiting to help me. Then I broke down in tears. I said, I would not have— what pained me the most was not even what happened, but the fact that I went to make a white cloth. I wanted to look like Benny Hinn and just come there, you just come like that. So don't allow me fool myself, you understand? Just leave me at my level. So he now said, I wasn't talking about the meeting, I was talking about you. So you are expecting me to make a meeting when I'm still making a man? So I apologized. Now, in that same place where we had that meeting that 18 people showed up, the last time I held meeting there, as I was about to go at the time of the meeting, the protocol came and said, you can't go. I said, why? They said, there's a big problem. What's going on? We took a hall that would take 3,000, 5,000, over 7,000 showed up. I said, everywhere is packed, there's no— so I organized the meeting and I couldn't enter the hall of the meeting because everywhere was packed. Life is in phases. It is a report before result. Let me give you another instance. Some things in the Bible are written in quotes. Did you see what the Psalmist said in Psalm 23? I wanted to give an example. He said, 'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil.' For what? What's the next? You know, when we read that statement, your rod and your staff, they comfort— have you ever patiently tried to understand what they were saying? When Moses and the Israelites in Exodus 14 before the Red Sea, and Moses was crying to God, God said, why are you making noise? Tell them that they go forward. He said, but you stretch your rod over the sea and divide it. The rod is that which brings instant miracle. You lean on staff. Staff is a product of age. There are things that will not be done through declarations. They'll be solved through maturity. So the rod— take it now, it happens. Staff grow, it will fall off. So as you mature, you don't wield staff for fun, you wield it because of age. So there are many things in God you enter through maturity. And that's what he was saying in Isaiah 10:27. He says, it will come to pass after us that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed by the reason of the anointing. Yeah, look at it, the burden taken off your shoulders. Look at it. Do you have the translation that says the yoke shall be destroyed because of fatness? What? There's the word 'rimmon.' It's not anointing like the Holy Ghost anointing. It's why, because you mature, you grew. You see, Christians say things like, ah, when I sleep at night, I used to see some spirit press me in my sleep. That's not a problem, that's a symptom. There are two different things. That's a sign that you are pressable. Did the Bible not say that he makes his angels spirit and his ministers flame of fire? Who goes to press fire? Lift your hands, everyone, and say, the kingdom of God is at work in me. Say it again loud and clear: the kingdom of God is at work in me. God is doing something amazing. Glory to God. I am— you are the response of God to chaos. If the earth stands a chance It stands that chance because of sons. When you say thy kingdom come, we're saying send in laborers, send in sons. That was the cry of Jesus. Luke chapter number 10, from verse 1. Luke 10:1. Luke 10:1. After these things, the Lord appointed what? Other 70 also. And send them two and two before his face into every city and place whither himself would come. Yes, therefore he said unto them, the harvest is truly great, but the laborers are what? Few. This is the concept of the kingdom. What he says you do next— no, go back to verse 2. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he will send what? Laborers. Into his own. God wants to send sons. You know, sometimes I hear people say things like, you know, the environment we stay, there's no revival, things are not happening. That's funny. If you don't see fire, create one. We are fire starters. How many more minutes do I have? Then just 10 minutes or just— let me share a story with you. Years back, and what I want to share with you is not an African concept. Warfare is warfare regardless of where you are from. And he's even— let me tell you something. In one of the churches, he just sent letter to— he said, you have your seat where Satan's seat is. Let me tell you this, those of you in the Western world, you are in deeper warfare than we in Africa. Your own warfare is in government legislations. I was at the airport yesterday in Calgary and I saw Pride something something with rainbow That's your warfare. In Nigeria, if a man just come to me and say hello, I slap him. A man like me say, I am Femi Lazarus, I slap you and the government will back me up. Oh yes, but here Somebody used to know as a man, now, hello, hi. If you don't call him a Mrs., you might even be sacked. Oh yes, so your ex-husband can become somebody else's wife. Hey, you are in big trouble. So you guys have a lot to pray. Is that okay? I go back and face my Tinubu. At the end of the day, we are facing our own. Is that okay? So relax. Oh, pity me. But see, years back, I was in Ghana. We have been trusting God. See, years back I was in Ghana. We have been trusting God for a revival in that environment. That's why I went, and, um, they gave us a place for myself and my team. When I got down from Nigeria and got there, I sensed in my spirit that there was There's something demonic about that place. So I got down from the car and laid my hands on the ground. I said, let the fire of God's presence be soaked here. I left, and they gave me a very good room. I said, is your room? And as I entered, my spirit repelled it. So I said, I don't want. Can you give me a smaller one? And they took me to a smaller one, and somebody was so excited. Pastor doesn't want that. Pastor doesn't want. I won't, I won't. But it's not my business. And I was resting at night when I began to hear someone crying and shouting. You know what happened? A woman came, and as she sat down, an indigene began to shout fire, began to shout fire, and said they told them months ago that the pastor was coming from Nigeria and she had buried something in his room. So she took them to the room I was supposed to be staying and opened a part there and brought out a pot. Now the boy who said it's a very nice room will say, Jesus, Jesus. And later we found out that the land will be given Over, over 50 acres of land was actually a forbidden forest where they have lots of rituals. I'm telling you real warfare now because you need to understand, and that's why you don't prepare in the battle, you prepare for it. That place was so demonic that at night people will come out to ease themselves and be seeing visible manifestation of spirits. Let me tell you something, once it is 7 PM, you come out with your lanterns and torchlights and then with fire because you see scorpions marching towards the building in droves. I'm not telling you a movie, I'm telling you the life I lived. And everywhere you hear people screaming, so much demonic— ah, this is— I saw a spirit, I saw this and all that. Thick atmosphere. I wasn't responding till the day one of the guys that was staying with me went out and ran back inside and slammed the door and covered his head. So because he saw something, I said, okay, enough is enough. I didn't go out as a Superman, as I said, oh you, where are you, devil? Sometimes don't waste your time. All I did every night was I decided from 12 AM till 3 AM I'll be outside and I'll plug my earphone and play worship songs. So when people come out in the middle of the night, just see me dancing. Owigi. I never for once say, Satan, I rebuke you. I just feel the atmosphere with his glory. That was all. Not for once, Satan, get out of this place. No. When his glory comes, it becomes his protocol. And that place became so charged and so filled with his presence, so filled with his awe, so filled with his blessings. That one by one people start coming out at night just to dance and worship God. Oh, the atmosphere! That's how we invade, we bring in his glory. Before I left that place, we had one night that over 3,000 people responded to altar call in one night. In one night, one night, thousands gathered. That's a story for another day. God's kingdom cannot be felt until laborers are sent. We are co-laborers, we are partners with him to enforce his will on the earth. That anytime I see a sick person and I leave the person going back sick, I have not correctly represented the kingdom. If I see somebody who is down and I leave the person down I have not represented the kingdom. Once I represent the kingdom, I always leave people with the will of God done in their lives. Lift your hands where you sit. Stay on the key for me, my friend. Strings B, if you know how to play B. And ask God, from today you want to really ask him to empower you to represent his kingdom. The best way possible. Ask him to empower you to be a worthy ambassador of his intentions, of his wills, his plans, his intents on the face of the earth. Ask him quickly. You have 30 seconds. Ask him, ask him, ask him. Lift your hands. Oh Lord, will you empower me? Will you anoint me to represent you? Ask him, ask him to help you. Oh Jesus, that you will anoint us tonight and fill us with your glory, that you broaden our visions beyond what we've seen, what we've confessed. We will see more to life than just our needs, our homes, our money, our influence, our friends, everything we want humanly. That you will use me for your glory, Lord Jesus. You manifest your glory through me. You reveal your plans. We will stand in the golden city. In the New Jerusalem, all our fields and all our tears will be no more. We will stand with the host of heaven and cry, "Holy is the Lamb! Holy, holy, holy!" is the Lamb. We will stand in the Golden City in the New Jerusalem. All our fields and all our tears will be no more. We will stand with the host of heaven and cry holy is the Lamb. Holy, holy, holy is the Lamb. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen. Lord, I ask that you will empower your children and manifest your will through our lives. We'll be revived with more noble purpose beyond our human endeavors and competitions. We'll rise and see your need as our purpose, in the name of Jesus. And through your manifestation in our lives, problems will be solved all across. Help us, Lord, in the name of Jesus. I ask that you will raise kingdom ambassadors from here. Giants that will touch the nations of the world with your plans and your anointing. We give you all the praise in Jesus' mighty name. Hallelujah.