THE ERRORS OF THE CHURCH AROUND PROPHECIES

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Thank you, Lord. Turn your Bibles quickly, 2 Timothy chapter number 3. 2 Timothy chapter number 3. So this is more like a submission or a presentation in a sense, and I need you to follow me attentively and pay very keen attention as we discuss. So let's say it's a discourse. Are you ready? 2 Timothy chapter number 3, we'll start reading from verse 1. Pay attention to this. This— know also that in the last days perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, eddy, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having the form of godliness. When you see the Bible use the word having the form of godliness but denying the power thereof, it is only addressing one thing. What has the form of godliness but lacks the power is religious spirit. That's, that's religious spirit. It looks like it, but it is not. Okay, but go back to verse 1. Can we read verse 1 together? 1, 2, 3, go. This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. Look at the way, um, Amplified puts this: But understand this, in the last days will come perilous times of great stress and trouble, hard to deal with and hard to bear. Now there's a way— there are different scriptures here and there that point at, um, the last days. Let's read Isaiah chapter number 60. So you— we, we look at it again. Let's start from verse 1. Isaiah 60 from verse 1. Go back to King James. Thank you. Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is what? Risen upon you. Now went on to say, for behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people. Now imagine this, and this is one of those rare moments, and I'm going to show you why it's rare in scripture, that the Bible is putting side by side something that is imminent, that is coming upon the face of the earth, and also right beside it what you must do. And the— this is the trick. The trick is whenever you see scriptures that point at futuristic event, or what you call prophetic event, that are coming, and what you're to do is not placed by the side. The assumption of the church is that our posture towards prophecy is that we are doomed to watch it happen. Hey, hello! Ah, ah, do you understand what I'm saying? We always assume that once it's a biblical prophecy, we, we can do nothing about it. We are doomed, it just have to happen. So because if you read Isaiah 60:2 alone, it says, for behold, darkness will cover the earth and gross darkness the people. If the— if what the punctuation mark after that was full stop, it will look like the darkness that is coming is a kind of darkness that we can't do anything about. But the Bible didn't stop there. It now said, but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. The darkness that will cover the earth that is mentioned here is not different from what was mentioned in 2 Timothy chapter number 3. That darkness is perilous times. There are no two darkness. It's the same thing. And that's why if you look at the Message translation of that 2 Timothy 3, it, it refers to, um, difficult times ahead. Difficult times. It's difficult when it is dark. I'm trying to show you something now. But I need you to be at home with me. Are we here?

Yes, sir.

Say, don't be naive. There are difficult times ahead. But we go back to Isaiah. Isaiah also made it clear. Oh, we will see perilous times. Oh, we'll see darkness covering the earth and gross darkness, people. But, but he didn't stop there. The Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. So what that means is that you are not doomed to watch it happen. While I was taking Bible study in Port Harcourt, for those of you who were able to follow, I was able to point that out, that listen, God is not insecure. It is only an insecure person that once he prophesies will only get a sense of fulfillment in the fact that it must happen for you to know I am God. Let me explain. If you are— if you function in the prophetic, which I'm going to address those who function in the prophetic well enough tonight, if you function in the prophetic and you give a word of prophecy and at the time you give that word of prophecy it was not acknowledged or received, there is a big tendency that you want them to know that the prophet has risen about among them, and you will want that to happen by all means. If God, for instance, shows you that there is a disaster coming upon the land, and at the time you said it, they say he's a false prophet or a liar and all that, if care is not taken, the prophet will move from intercession to abort that thing, to having the need to prove that God has spoken. I'm telling you that God is not that insecure. When he speaks, even though it is written, he wants you to do something about it. So you have become a mouthpiece of God when you know that it is not everything you say that must come to pass. Even if you say it and they drag you with it, you can still maintain the place of prayer. Lord, let them be correct just so that this evil can be averted. Do you understand that? Yes, sir. So the prophetic office, people who have esteem issues don't do well around it and they don't last. Because they move from being mouthpiece to fighting the agenda. What that means is that you are never to use your spiritual authority to prove to anybody you are a man of God. My God, hey, have I lost you? Are we still here? We're going somewhere. I'm going somewhere. All right, so look at scriptures like Micah Is it Micah chapter number 2? Now turn the Bibles there with me. I want to show you some things. Oh, thank you, Lord. Micah chapter number 4, we start reading from verse 1. Micah chapter number 4, look at it. But in the last days shall come to pass that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above all hills. This is another scripture about the last day. What I want you to understand is that stop perceiving the last day as the day that evil things are supposed to happen by force. There are also scriptures that shows you what God is doing. But you see, by our psychological wiring, we tend to be more attuned towards negativity than positivity. So what that means is that if a news is not bad, it doesn't get your attention. It doesn't get your attention. And that— if you feel the media space, they target you with evil news, it's because they know you have an evil mind. Everything is weapon fashioned for you. It is— they studied you to do it, and it's working. Bad things trend. That's the nature of man. It's not them making it trend. It— that's— you are more— are you following what I'm saying here? If I look at you now and say, be blessed, you say, amen, and forget it. If I say, be cursed, for the next 10 years you will never forget the pastor who said that, but all the memories of be blessed is gone. The reason why it looks like curses manifest is because that's the one that is imprinted in your heart. The one you are conscious of is the one you manifest. The first thing God said to man before man ever knew anything generational curse exists was the blessing. So why are you not conscious of it? Your mind, the negative neural pathways are accustomed towards bad things. That's what is happening. And that's why you see that when God is doing amazing things in the body of Christ, it doesn't catch attention. Let one bad thing happen, everywhere, every blog. Why? The nature of man. True. So I'm showing you now, this is also a scripture about the last days. The mountain of the house of the Lord shall be exalted above all hills. It means that there are other mountains. But we are going to see superior wisdom. When the Bible talks about darkness of the last days, or darkness in the last days, it is actually not a problem for the church. It is an opportunity. It's our opportunity. Don't you know that problem reveals leaders? Ah, yes, sir. Problem reveals leaders. It's our opportunity. The more the intensity of darkness, the more the opportunity for light. You'll be amazed. The mountain of the house of the Lord will be exalted. These are scriptures about the last days. Look at Obadiah, just one chapter, the last verse. In fact, you can start reading from verse 17. Obadiah 1:17, popular scripture. Quickly, I, I need to be fast, we're going somewhere. But upon Mount Zion there shall be deliverance and holiness, and the house of Jacob will possess their possession. Then went on to say, the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau is stubble, and they shall kindle in them. And I can teach a whole series in verse 18, it's a lot. Now go to the last verse, is it verse 21? Now let's read this together, 1, 2, 3, go. And saviors shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau, and the kingdom shall be—

whoa—

the Lord's. But how will the kingdom be the Lord's? Saviors will come up. Prophecies don't self-fulfill, sons fulfill them. Amen. Are you learning something? Saviors shall come up on what? Mount Zion. They will come. So I, I want to say this to you because so you can understand. The last day church is not necessarily a church of doom. We are not doomed to fail. Say it loud and clear: we are not doomed to fail. We are not doomed to fail. Every prophecy in scripture is an opportunity for sons to do something about it. If it's a negative prophecy, refute it. If it's a good prophecy, enforce it. That's what you should do. Your posture towards prophecy should never be neutrality. Don't be neutral. When God sent his word to Ezekiel, he would have thought that God wanted him to die, but he did something. He raised the cry. He began to call certain things to remembrance. And then God sent the same prophet at the same time, go tell him I've changed my mind. And that's why I told you that the proof of a correct prophecy is not fulfillment, is the fruit it bears. Once sometimes it bears the fruit of repentance, it has done the work. Are you still there?

Yes, sir.

Are you still there? Good. And there's a reason why what I'm saying is important, because if care is not taken, the end-time Christians will sit down and relax and say, after all, the world is ending, so there's nothing we can do, and then we're just supposed to see everything and all that. No, that's not scripture. The church that Jesus is coming for is not a defeated church. It is a triumphant church. It is a triumphant church. I say it is a triumphant church, not a church with escapist mentality. It A church that understands dominion. That's the church. And that's why in Matthew 16, when he said, I will build my church, it's the house of synod. That's the ecclesia. It's the house of synod. We are not some bunch of religious fanatics who just do some rituals week in and week out and have no relevance beyond sitting and warming the chair. We come here to be equipped and get there to be deployed. Yes, sir. Are you following what I'm saying here? We are God's agency here on earth. Yes. Can I show you quickly common errors of the church around prophecies? Common errors. There are common errors you see, and you can even see this, of course, even in Bible days. You'll be amazed. I want to say this. Please look up so you can have this as a foundation. The fact that God spoke accurately through a person doesn't mean the person knows what he's saying. You can be a mouthpiece for what you have no clue about. The alignment to be a mouthpiece is one. The alignment to recognize what you have said requires humility. So you can prophesy it and fight it. Ah, you must understand that. So God can use someone. Let me say this to you. Have you seen cases where parents look at their children and prophesy that you will serve God, then the child will now start putting church on the head? And the parent will say, eh, who will take care of us? They will fight what they prophesied. Respect people for the words they give, but understand they may not recognize the manifestation. There are two different things now. The error of the prophet is the assumption that because God has used you as a mouthpiece for something he's about to do means you are a custodian of his method. It's a big error. He tells you what he wants to do, but the method is beyond you. So when God is busy— and listen to this— never be the one in the way. Of God's agenda. Never be the one, okay? You— I will show you how religious spirit manifests. Religious spirit is bold. Religious spirit is loud. Religious spirit has scripture. What it doesn't have is alignment. Are you following what I'm saying here? The Pharisees and the Sadducees can have Torah, oh, that the Messiah will be born. And be the one to say crucify the Messiah. Let me show you a scripture to show you that one of the most dangerous things you will ever confront is religious spirit. The government is small compared to religious spirit. I'll show you. Oh yes, Matthew 27:11-12. Look at the way Jesus handled religious spirit. Look, look, stop writing. Let's read this together. Let me read. And Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, saying, art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus did what? He said unto him, thou sayest. Look at the next verse. And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Answer political authorities when a religious spirit is speaking. Keep quiet. You know why?

They kill.

No one can assassinate the agenda of God like religious spirit. You feel what I'm saying here? You can reason with— I'll show you some things. Are you still here? So don't ever make the mistake that because people were loud about something they prophesied, it means they know it. No. And that's why the Bible is not an academic material, it's a prophetic book. There are things written in the document that the men who spoke it at the time that they said it didn't know the intensity of what they were saying, but they were useful to be a mouthpiece. If you function in the prophetic, understand your limitation. Recognize that you can be saying what you know nothing about. You can prophesy to a person and fight the manifestation of your word. What that also means is that the church can have product and kill the product. Do you recognize the product of your anointing? It may not look like you. Wow, wow, that's it. May not look like you. There is a tendency for you to want to clone. What did I say? The product of your anointing may not what? Look like you. It takes humility to recognize that it is God. Every time the church is about moving to another phase, the last enemy that will be confronted at the gate is religious spirit. Why? Religious spirit insists on the old at the expense of the new. My God, it insists on what he said at the expense of what he's saying. He said kill Isaac, now he's saying use a ram. Same God. Ah, so religious spirit kills the Isaac because he said and miss what he's saying. Are you— I'm saying, never get into arguments When you see religious spirit at work, move on. You must discern the difference. A religious spirit can abort your assignment because the devil uses— listen, let me— we are seated in Christ far above principalities, far above powers. If the devil wants to destroy the one who is seated in Christ, he needs another person who is also seated in Christ but blind. He can't get there. I'm saying you can be in church and be doing the devil's job for him, and you are, you are doing it well. You are employed but no salary. One of the things I remind myself of all the time: number one, I am not a custodian of God's move, I'm a privileged beneficiary of it. So there are things God will do without consulting me. Sela. There is no ministry that will be everything. It's just a part. Humble yourself, sir. Humble yourself. You know in part. It doesn't matter. See, see, stop. God is the only authority. Stop speaking like him. He's the only authority. Humble yourself. Because there is a way you feel you are so anointed that you cross paths with God's agenda. Listen to what I'm saying. If you cross paths with God's agenda, God will choose his agenda over any covenant he has with you. Yes, he told Moses, said, let me wipe out all these guys. Why? His agenda. You can say God said, you can die and not fulfill it. Be humble, sir. Are you feeling what I'm saying? Yes, sir. Uh-huh. You, you, you are married to a woman.

She—

God, God is doing some things in her life. You say, I paid your bride price. God will show you who the father is. You want to fight God's agenda in people's life? You must be bigger than the one who is calling them. You must be bigger. Sometimes even parents, you can switch off for not recognizing the grace on your own child. See, listen, at best you are a steward. You don't own anything. You don't own your child. If you die today, all of you, 100 years, everybody is gone, that child is not your child in heaven. You can see yourself and say, bro, parenting is here, marriage is what?

Here.

Everything ends. Don't you see when they are doing wedding vows, they say till death do us part? What does that tell you? Once somebody close their eyes, marriage is over. I've seen people that their life were cut short. Powerful ministers in ministry because they didn't recognize God. They didn't recognize God. They didn't recognize what God is doing. Um, this is a word of caution. Is that okay now? Yes, sir. So the alignment to speak is one. The recognition of what you are saying is another thing. They require different level of concentration. Yeah, you can prophesy something excitedly and God will not use you for it, and he will use somebody you don't like. You can be in the meeting and be prophesying, so God is saying something, he's sweetening you because you think you are the one he will use for it, but that minister of God that you don't like, that's the person— listen now, ah. Who did they arrest? Who did they sell to slavery? Joseph. Who did they almost kill? Joseph. Who did God bring the Messiah from? Judah. So Joseph, you suffered, but it's not about you, sir. I'm saying this because— are you following what I'm saying here? Yes, sir. Listen, listen. In the loyalty of God towards his assignment and his agenda on earth, if you are a very strong, prayerful person but too rigid when God is moving, he can use somebody you will have to intercede for but is flexible to move. Say la. You'll be the one— you will have to intercede for that person, but the agenda is that this person is flexible to move. Are you still there? So I'll show you quickly some of the common errors we have around prophecy. Number 1, the error of thinking that God doesn't want us to do something about the prophecies. That's, that's a big mistake. Look at it. I remember a story that I heard from Daddy Umar, but I won't share that today. When God told Abraham that his descendants will serve in a strange land. It was not an automatic statement. They will have to go and look for bread for that prophecy to come to pass. But they will have to go look for bread because something that belongs to Abraham is there that has produced the bread, but rejected by Abraham's household. That's why— why is that scripture not scary? That they came to— Jacob had to send his children go and buy food in Egypt, the house of Abraham. Abraham that God told, I will bless you, I will give you a great name. Then what did he tell Isaac? I will bless you with the dew from above and the fatness of the earth and plenty of corn and wine. That grace was in the lineage, but for that generation, the manifestation was on Joseph. If you despise the one carrying the manifestation, anywhere he takes it to, you will have to look up to that place to get it. That's it. Grace doesn't rest on territories, it rests on men, then flows from men to territories. So I'm saying that they didn't get into slavery automatically. It began with envy and strife. And by the way, envy and strife is one of the most difficult things to diagnose. When envy starts in your heart, it begins as a concern. I'm not envious, I'm just concerned for you. The way you are going now, just be careful. You are envious. No, I've not seen anybody agree that they're envious. All these people of nowadays now, oh God, if God should do that thing for you, you'll be happy. Why is it when God is doing for other people that you're always concerned? That's when you become— yeah, you know, it's not like, yeah, but let's just, let's just mind, you know, This thing now, you can't just be having speed, speed like that sometimes. Oh God, you're envious. True, envious. It's very important. So we have that mistake. God tells you You are going to one day become a renowned voice in this continent. I guarantee you. You know, when God speaks, it comes with excitement. You may rejoice, it may be loud, but when it moves on, it is silent. God changes his mind. They say, ah, you say, I am the Lord, I change not. You didn't read your Bible. Did you see when he sent message to Eli? He said, I've said before, I said before, he said, I said it, that you and your household will be priests before me forever. Say, but now I've changed my mind. Far be it from me. Why? For they that honor me, I will honor. They that despise me, I will lightly esteem. God moves on, sir. He moves on. What I'm saying is that You believe that favor is God routing it to you by all means. No, favor is not robbing Peter to pay Paul. It can't be favor on your part that you married her, then you are now a burden to her. It must be favor in both ways. You can't be— you know what I'm saying? You can't be the only one that is favored in the marriage. You are favored but she's burdened. That's not the way favor works. It's two-way. I'm saying that God is not about to favor you at the expense of anybody. If you don't rise to the occasion, he will move on. You're welcome. And you can wait forever for a ship at the airport, it won't come. You know, the most dangerous thing is that the things God is moving on from You can think he's teaching you patience and he's moving on. You, you know, you know what I'm saying? I say, ah, he's teaching me patience and he's moving on. Sir, when God speaks, build capacity in that direction. If not, it will no longer be for you. Build capacity. There are many presidents that didn't become, many prophets that didn't emerge, many senators that never arrived. If you vanish on the way like smoke, you won't be the first and you won't be the last. Do you understand what I'm saying here? There are plenty of you. Are you aware? It's a wake-up call. Are you aware? I'm saying there are many of you. Are you aware? The day God showed me somebody, I don't want to get into this story. I said, this person, if you don't sit tight, that's your replacement. It's, it's a different ball game when God shows you the person. For you to know, our birthday is the same date. The, the day I put my two hands on my head was when I told him the date I'm getting married. He said that's the same date he's getting married. We married the same day. I knew if you are messing up, your replacement is warming up. I saw it. As powerful as David was, hope you know he was an afterthought. Samuel told Saul, today God will have established your kingdom forever, but now it's been taken from you and given it to your neighbor. See how powerful an afterthought became. I pray for you that you will never— listen, may you not meet what you could have become. Do you know the meaning of that prayer? It's one of the most painful things that at the tail end of your life you meet the person you could have been. It's painful, and many don't get there because of sentiment or people will say— that's religious spirit. Sit for a moment. Mistake number 2 around prophecy: the assumption that you are a custodian of God's approach to his agenda. He's told you what he wants to do, but to assume you know how he must do it is pride. You may hear it and say it and still fight it. You may not have problem with the prophecy but have problem with the vessel, or have prophecy problem with the method. The Pharisees knew that the Messiah was coming, but they had prophecy with the place he came from. Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Sometimes God hides things in plain sight. Yes, yes. Do you understand what I'm saying here? He hides things. So if God used you to prophesy, prophesy and move on, and go back and humble yourself that, Lord, if I have the privilege of being considered for this, to your name alone be the glory. But if I see someone you use for this, empower me to be a blessing. I have my friend here, Pastor Godwin Musa. Femi Lazarus, please stand for recognition. Now, the story I shared about going somewhere to preach where I expect them to kill me, we were together. This is the guy. But thank you. But I will tell you something about him. Years ago— please sit down, sir. Years ago, and this is many years ago, he was living and walking close to our house in Kano. And I just have a heart to give. And you know, I want to be a blessing to him, and sometimes I don't have. That's, that's probably the only prayer I prayed about ministry. I told God, I may not be your Elijah, but at least equip me to be the bed that will take care of your Elijah. Just put resources in my hands. So that none of your servants will be stranded around me. That's the prayer I prayed, and I think he's answering that prayer. As much more, sir, it's not about you. The agenda of God is bigger than you. Let's be humble. Stop all this nonsense. Do you think God will ever put any man in the position where you are larger than life. He will never put you in the position where— oh, many of these names you call as a— we are joking. Nobody is the custodian of the body of Christ. Know your ministry and stay there. As simple— if you die today, others will take your place. True? Aha. Know your ministry and what? Stay there humbly. Stay there with humility. Stay there with recognition that this is a privilege. You may not know the method, but you can hear it. If it pleases him, he shares with you the method. If it doesn't please him, he moves on with— but you have become a vessel to say it. If that's the part you play in the jigsaw prophecy Be contented. Praise God. Hallelujah! Are you still here?

Yes, sir.

Error number 3: the church always make the mistake of relinquishing The outcomes of prophecy to the enemy. There's nothing we can do, but the devil is busy doing something. I can give you instances. You read Genesis chapter number 3. A word came when man fell God spoke expressly and said, look at it, the seed of the woman will bruise the head of the serpent, and the serpent will bruise the heel of the seed of the woman. Did the devil hear that and just move on? For generations, he kept looking for the seed of the woman. He kept looking for anyone that has the sign of God's acceptance. The moment it looks like God accepted the sacrifice of Abel, he moved Cain to kill him. And by the way, the devil has a method that the same womb that bore Abel must bear Cain. The same womb that bear Isaac must bear Ishmael. The same womb that bear the promise must bear what will fight it. It's a very scary pattern. Little wonder Moses was born, they were trying to kill all the males. Jesus was born, trying to kill all the males. What's that? That's the devil fighting. True? That's the devil fighting. You know, we say so many— I'm sorry, we say so many big things, we just speak many, we don't even know what we're saying. You look at scriptures. Isaac dug a well, they took the well. Do you, do you know the meaning of collecting lost wells? Oh, the end time armies will rebuild, will rebuild ancient ruins, will, eh, who take back lost wells, redigging ancient wells. What are you talking about? You, I gave you an illustration, huh? Which, okay, you are wearing, yeah. Now imagine this amazing dressing. Let's say this suit costs, for instance, $1,000, and you bought it, $1,000. Then you're moving on the street Then you see an Agbero wear the same thing, same thing, same design, same Fela leg like this. Listen to what I'm saying. The attack is on your consciousness of what you are wearing. This is how the devil steals wells. He pollutes it, then you drop it. Can I give example of stolen wells? Rainbow sign. It's a stolen well. Yes, sir. You know the most recent stolen well? Awakening. It's been hijacked by those who are awakened outside scriptures. Now when you begin to show them prophetic insight— this is the word— those who feel you're on their side and say, because I've seen that lately, is awakened. Christian say, ah, Isa, what are you talking about? You are living that thing. It's like you are eating a food, somebody wants it, you didn't give, it's part inside, you drop everything. That's not emotional intelligence. To collect a well that the enemy has stolen, he has defiled it. We will have to rebrand it. It means first we have to contend for it. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Well, we will not let you steal this. You will not steal this name. You will not steal this symbol. You will not steal this logo. It's our own. We must insist it's our own. It works because once you are insisting, religious spirit comes for you. He does it well through the help of religious spirit. He does it well. It looks like the devil can just come for any reality in the church and they hijack the name and you say, well, no, no, no, I'm not like— what are you talking about? You see, if you are a man pleaser, you can't be prophetic. You've got to be dogged. You've got to be. Why are Christians afraid of being irrelevant? That I don't want them to look at me like this so that they That's the reason why everything you do and say is only relevant for now. Look at the way they are playing games with you. Playing games. Are you still here? You will leave many things to them. They keep— and they are using those things to win your children over. For 3 years we've been the most streamed podcast in Nigeria, in South Africa, in Kenya, and some other places. Sir, I know his grace is also costly. It takes some things. Christians, religious spirit will look at something God has given you and will use it to insult you like that thing is bad. Prosperity gospel. 3 John verse 2: Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as your soul prospereth. The person attacking— see, prosperity is not materialism. Do you understand what I'm saying? See, don't let anybody bubble you. Go to the mission field. You see, by the way, insult finance, then come back online to beg. Ah, insult it now. The people you are begging to contribute for that church project online, if they don't understand blessing, would they give you? Hey, your approach is you demonize something from God, then wait for somebody else to get it, and I'll say when they give you, that one is clean. You're a liar. You just don't have— and don't make a doctrine out of your lack. If you don't have, trust God to have. You can be proud about lack and say the lack is a proof that you are doing something right. Liar! Do you understand what I'm saying? God is looking for ways to bless us.

Yes, sir.

To— ah, I can tell you a lot about this city. He said, we were passing now, saw a major church built somewhere. In front of it, they put a mosque there, just by the side. It will shock you, the billions, the people, the people who put that, they are putting it there to make a statement. We are contending for the land. Do you know, religious spirit would take something that God has Look at it now, it's in your Bible. Deuteronomy chapter number 8. Deuteronomy chapter number 8. Now look at it, let's read verse 18. In fact, before we read verse 18, let's journey. Is that okay? Let's journey. So you can see the balance, the balance of scriptures. Glory to God. Hope I'm not boring you. Deuteronomy chapter number 8, let's start the reading from verse 7. See, I'm teaching you how to be bold in the light of what God has given you. Don't let anybody spoil it in your hands. Do you understand what I'm saying? Hello, are you here? Let's start the reading from verse 7. Look at it. For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths springing out of the valleys and what hills, a land of wheat and what barley and vines and fig trees and what pomegranates, a land of oil olive and what honey. So before we even continue the scripture, look at the joy Baba had yesterday. Was that true saying? Eh, ya. If God didn't put something in your hand, can you do something about it? Stop that. Don't demonize God's blessing. Resource or money is neutral. It is the hands that holds it that can be corrupt or good. If you like, they there. You know, the reason why many of you follow bandwagon is low self-esteem. If they are— you, you don't have the stamina to stand on your own. That's your problem. And when you have bandwagon of fools, they can even compromise the wise that is not bold. And before you know it, that ignorance becomes the culture. But not in my lifetime. If you have to be many to say it, to establish it, you are not relevant.

Hey!

A land where you shall eat bread without what? Scarcity. Have you fasted and have nothing to break with? Look at you, look at it. Thou shalt not lack anything in it. A land whose stones are iron, out of whose hills you may dig brass. When you have eaten and you are full— so he's giving us, he's letting you understand how the righteous should wield wealth. When you have eaten and you are full, then you shall bless the Lord thy God, eh, for the good land which you don't go back and start bragging. It is God who gives you that land. You saw Psalms 43, I say, for we got not the land by our own sword. It's the Lord who gives the land. Beware now, he's warning because there is something about wealth and amnesia. Now he's warning you. He said, beware that you forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his commandment and his judgment and his statutes which I command thee this day. He said, when you have eaten and you are full and you have built godly houses and dwelt therein— what's the next verse— and your herds and your flocks multiply and your silver and your gold is multiplied and all that you have is what? Multiplied. Then your heart's been lifted up. That's pride. Don't give a formula for what favor brought. Eh, it's favor now. There are some things that you did something right, good, but the ones you can't explain, tell the next generation, I can't explain it. It's simple as that. You always feel you must be in charge. Now, now, you say carry your notes. I want to tell you something. Two dimensions. Are you following what I'm saying here? There are two. There are. Yeah. What are you talking about? Is it the grace of my life? There are two things involved. Amen. Glory to God. Am I still in the right place? Oh, thank you, Lord. Look at it. He said, then your heart be lifted up, then, and thou forget the Lord thy God which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt. It's connected to slavery. Remember when you were suffering. Sir, I recommend that the things you were using in the days your life has not changed, keep some of them around so they can always humble you. It's not every phone you dash out. Keep some. The day you'll have to knock this to call, remember. And I have things to remember. There was a chair that I had in my house that a sister that, yeah, we're trusting God for. You know what I'm saying? Where's Timmy? Yeah, you were the one that cooked jollof rice that day. Timmy is always doing the job. Cooked jollof rice were ready. I think some of them— Pastor Maiowa was also around that season, Bishop Shai and all the rest— they're staying with me. And the sister came, we served that jollof rice. You know, as he sat down, I started praying, ah, something is not right with— in less than 3 minutes, you obeyed gravity. She sank into the chair. Guess what? That chair followed me to Abuja. It did. Just so you can remember, you are very— see, all these things you think you are suffering, Bible calls it light affliction. Light I don't know what you need, but there is a way a million dollars can make you forget that you have once suffered. A million dollars, you just say, ah, Pastor Asaemota, what are you doing? Ah, you're my boy now. Come on, clean this shoe, clean this shoe. Yeah, take, take $1,000 there. Yeah. You have forgotten. And once you forget where God is taking you, where God took you from, you're on your way back there. Ah, you're on your way back. Yeah, it may look long, but you're actually going back. I'm telling you. He said, then your heart was lifted up and what? You forget the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt. He showed you the days you were in bondage. Who led you through the great and terrible wilderness wherein there were fiery serpents, scorpions, and drought, where there was no water? Who brought you forth water Heart of the Hind, rock of the flint, who fed you in the wilderness with manna which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, that he might prove thee, to do you good at the latter end. It means he knew you won't die in it. He said, then you now say in your heart, my power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth. Say, but thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant, which is what your fathers till this day— meaning that he didn't give you power to get wealth because of something about you. There is something older than you that you are now— is positioning you for, and that's the covenant with your fathers, meaning that wealth must always be for continuity. That's, that's scripture. I am all against people trying to flaunt affluence. I know, but, but you get what I'm saying? But there's a way God will bless you. Honestly, you look like it. Ah, no. Yeah, so that you don't go and kill your own self because you look like it. Look at you now, your stature. What do you, do you want to shrink? God has blessed this man. And you look like it.

True?

That's one of my mentors. Praise God. Oh, glory to God. There should be humility, but don't kill yourself to prove it. Don't do that. Don't do that. Oh, glory to God! Am I speaking with the right audience here? Don't let the enemy steal wells from the church. The devil doesn't steal well by coming. He uses people who don't understand scripture. Go and check everyone that fought the agenda of God in the Bible. They fought it with the word. You'll be fighting Jesus in his name. You don't understand. Once religious spirit, once it sit on you, ah, it will take help. Once a Pharisee, you just keep building that direction because you belong to a sect. Yeah, you just keep building in that direction. Now, so oftentimes we— so you read scriptures, Micah chapter number 4, it will come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be exalted above all hills. The devil wants to do something about that. He wants to, and he's doing something about it, influencing systems with his own resources. Have you seen recently that most of the movies they are admitting on Netflix must contain either nudity or homosexuality, which also is lesbianism in a way? Why? He that pays the piper. Dictates the tune. Think about it. Why is it that those on the other side pay so much money to fund their agenda while at the same time they are making Christians look like if you give in church you're a fool? Many of you know you are— your heart has become so offended you don't even know how you got here. Some of you can't tell the last time you gave. But they are giving. Go and check how agendas get funded. Go and check how agendas get funded globally. Even in research, even in research, something they want to see, they fund it years ahead. If all of God's children are broke How can you catch up? Wake up, sir. Don't let anybody bubble you. Wake up. How can you catch up? Look at how the chief priest, the high priest, went to pay people to lie that Jesus didn't rise. Well, thank God he had that private, that secret disciple, Joseph Arimathea, who was able to negotiate with, um, what's his name now, and say, can you give me his body? That's influence. That's influence. It's a leverage.

True.

We were going to hold a meeting in a state, and then I have one of my spiritual daughters who is an SA. To the governor there. We had to fly back, so that morning session needs to hold. And there was public holiday, but we could get a letter from the governor to suspend that public holiday because this meeting was old. And it blessed lives. People gave their life to Christ. He didn't design us to be rats. We are lions in our own ways. Look at what is taking us to teach you to believe in the goodness of God. You, you can hate it because of the way somebody abused it, but the problem is not that thing, it's the person that what abused it. Praise God! Hallelujah! Now look at this. The biggest threat to God's activity on earth is not the unbeliever, it's not the atheist, it is religious spirit, because it claims to be on the same side but saying different things. When we understand this You, you'll be able to understand what I was teaching you when I showed you, um, Psalms 89:14. Can we read this together? 1, 2, 3, go. Justice and judgment are the habitation. Mercy and truth shall go before thy face. Now, Psalms 82: from verse 1 to 3. Psalms 82 from verse 1 to 3. Look at this quickly. God standeth in the congregation of the mighty, he judgeth among the gods. Yes. Verse 2 now. How long will you judge unjustly and accept the person of the wicked? Verse 3 now. Defend the poor and the fatherless, do justice to the affli— So God says that poverty is injustice, but he also mentioned fatherlessness.

Ah.

You know, some of these things, um, I give you an illustration. Look up, I will say it in parable. At the highest level of authorities around the world, the most powerful tool of trade is not money, is information. Most powerful nations build their strength around surveillance. If I can have things on you— it is people at the lowest level that speak anyhow and get angry. Up there, no. Anything I have on you is an opportunity to bargain. I have an information that you are a thief. I won't expose you. I will need to do something. Then show you that I know you are a thief, so let me do my thing. Or inspire you to have to make a war that will make children fatherless. So he said, do justice, eh, defend the poor and the fatherless. People can think they are fighting for a cause, but they are fighting for a man's greed. That's power. It's power dynamics. How many of you are following Public School? Follow it, oh. Do what? Follow it. I'm telling you, it's not showing this weekend because it's already a loaded weekend for Festival of Life and everything. I spoke so much and thought about what it means to be part of the crowd. You'll be afraid. Defend the poor and the needy. So God is looking at that the root cause of poverty in a land is systemic. This is the intelligence of the Bible. How do you look at this and say there's no God? It's showing you it's systemic. Why is there— go check, look at the map of Nigeria, break it down. Check the land where children are highest out of school. That's where you see insurgency the most. So you want to solve insurgency in the next 20 years? Get all the children back to school and stop the program that takes them out of school and put them on the street. If you can make people poor, you can weaponize them. Are you following what I'm saying here? Defend the poor, do justice. It is strange how we think that the God of the Bible is not concerned with justice. Are you aware that bulk of the reasons why many people have become atheists and now they are going back to African traditional religion is because they feel the God of the Bible is an unjust God and they feel their ancestors are just? And sometimes, listen, listen to what I'm saying, I have interrogated them. I know the gist. Sometimes they believe so because people actually came. History has it in record. They came carrying Bible, but they did something else. The Bible— are you what I'm saying? It's like carrying a knife. It can cut vegetables, but it can also kill. The knife is not the problem, it's the wielder. But the God of the Bible is a God of justice. Righteousness and justice are the habitation of his throne. He loves justice. He hates injustice. He hates killing. Eh, so why, why is he not doing anything about it? Because this world he has given to you and your children. It's the world of men now, and he's expecting sons to rise. If heaven will come to earth, it will be because you did something about it. Yes, sir. That's what it will mean. Not just that you sit down and fold your hands and say, anyways, the Bible has said bad things will happen, so we just have to wait. That's not scriptures. Hey, am I speaking to the right people? I said that's not scriptures. He loves justice. At some point he said, he that gives to the poor lends to the Lord. Oh, he hates, he hates to leave people in poverty. He wants to— because when people are in lack, everything about them is under attack. The children can't do the quality of things they want to do, can't become the quality of things they should become, and everything is being fired right and left. Lack comes with torment. God doesn't like it. Some people have houses they've not even visited in 10 years. Some people are homeless. God is looking and say, this is not Martin. And that's why, as a believer, as God begins to lift you, look for somebody to lift. That's kingdom. Hey, all this me, me, me, you don't understand kingdom. Look for someone. Whose arms can I pull up? That's kingdom mindset. I said, that's kingdom mindset. Look at that next scripture, the Book of Psalms. Quickly turn your Bibles there with me. Psalms 97. Psalms 97:2. Clouds and darkness around about him. Righteousness. I, I taught few days ago, righteousness exalt a nation, and it's true. Again, boils down to information. If the prince of this world comes to you and find nothing on you, you are too powerful. So You won't have to bargain for too many things. Uh, you can become this, but let this slide. If not, we bring out the fires. Do you understand? Look at it. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. Anywhere the kingdom of God is expressed, there's justice. And that's why you see the early church got this right. There was none amongst them that have need of anything. They understand the power of togetherness. That's the kingdom. That's the kind of heaven that if somebody comes to church not dressing well, God doesn't have to come down. The person seated beside that person is the answer to the prayer. You must always set out looking for how God can use you for somebody, not just what you can get.

Always.

That's kingdom mindset. Now, if you begin to trust God for resources on this account, then you have become a person that God can trust with wealth and can trust with resources. Glory to God.

The word of God is the ultimate agent of transformation. It breaks barriers, renews minds, awakens destinies. It reshapes, realigns, rebuilds. Apostle Femi Lazarus has been given a divine mandate to raise a generation of kingdom-minded culture shapers, leaders equipped to infiltrate every sphere of influence, to inspire to transform societies and to leave a lasting mark on generations to come.

The word of God dominates my spirit. His life is at work in me. My body is not susceptible to sickness.

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