WE ARE AT WAR

Welcome to an Encounter with the Spirit word and prayer through the prolific apostolic and teaching ministry of Apostle Femi Lazarus, Lead Pastor, Sphere of Light Church Global. It is his vision to raise God's end-time armies. God has not called you to prove you are the best.

He has not. As a leader, you are a broker of gifts and talent.

So brace up for an experience.

Romans 8, we'll start the reading from verse 15. Amen. If you dare say a big amen. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba, Father. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be glorified, be also glorified together. Now verse 18 says, for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of creature— of the creature awaits, or wait for the manifestation of who? The sons of God. Verse 20: For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who have subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruit of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not— sorry, but hope that is seen is not hope. For what man sees, why does he yet hope for? Now I'm going to stop in verse 26. But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Verse 26: Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be what? Altered. And he that searches the heart knows what is in the mind of the Spirit, because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. Now we can go on to the issue of predestination there. All right, but pay keen attention to verse 17. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with who? Christ. All right, um, there are two things being said there. The first is that we are heirs of God, all right? It's something entirely different from what it says when it says that we are joint heirs with Christ. So when the Bible calls us heirs, um, your heir is one that has legal right to your inheritance. So in order to buttress the point that we are heirs of God, he now made it even clearer that the same way Christ is an heir, we are joined with him in that order. Now what that means is that we have equal right. Particularly right of access. I don't know how we are going to get there, but tonight is not just Bible study, this is an Holy Ghost meeting. So, you know, we've not been holding Holy Ghost meetings in Abuja, and the way you have responded shows that you don't really need it. We need it, sir. So I'm just going to teach. Now look at this scripture, Hebrews 4. Let's start reading from verse 15. Hebrews 4, let's start reading from verse 16— um, 15, sorry. Um, okay. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like we, or like as we are, yet without sin. Yes, let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain what? Mercy and find grace to help in the times of need. So number one, it— you, you need to be clear about this one reality. As an heir, or as a joint heir with Christ, you have access to the Father boldly. You don't approach the Father as one who wants to kill you. You are God's child. Say it again: I am God's child. My Father is not a tyrant. Say it again: I am God's child. Now, the assumption you have is that God pampers Christ, then make you suffer. You are joint heirs. Amen.

Amen.

We have been accepted in the Beloved. Now I have said the most simple part of this, that what it means to be an heir is to be one who has legal right of access to the inheritance.

True.

Talk to me now.

Huh?

Now let me show you another dimension to it. 1 Samuel chapter number 16. 1 Samuel chapter number 16. If you are there, say amen.

Okay.

If you are there, say amen. All right, now I want to show you something here. Let's start reading from verse 1. Now the Lord said to Samuel, how long will you mourn? All right, if you can give NKJV, for how long will thou mourn for Saul, seeing I've rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided me a king amongst his—

who?

His what?

Sons.

All right, you know the story. Many of them came and God kept saying that the king is not yet there. Now look at verse— let's jump, um, Let's jump to verse 11. And Samuel said to Jesse, verse 11, now 16:11, are here all your children? And he said, there remains yet the youngest, and behold, he keeps the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and fetch him, for we will not sit down till he come here. And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and with a beautiful countenance and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, arise, anoint him, for this is he. Now verse 13, and Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the middle of his brothers. In the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. Powerful scripture. There was a king— please pay attention, we're going somewhere, all right— there was a king that had failed God. His name was Saul, and the king was misbehaving really bad, so God was done with him, okay? He was still on the throne. But the unction for the territory was placed on a young boy. Is that okay now? In the next chapter, 1 Samuel 17, when Goliath came, although Saul was the king, but the real heir was David. At that point, he had to step up and defend his territory. Because one, if you look at the agreement, what Goliath was asking for, he was asking for the kingdom. He said, if I should kill your own champion, you all will become our own servant. Now he was asking for the kingdom, the nation of Israel. At that point, who did the nation belong to?

Huh?

No longer Saul, because God had rejected him, and the anointing that should be on Saul was now on David. So when David stepped up, he was defending his territory. You can't be an heir and not know how to fight. The moment it occurs to you that you are joint heir with Christ, number one, that statement in itself is an offensive statement.

Oh, joint heir.

Once you are a joint heir, you're already polarized. What that means is that you have taken a side. All right, so that introduces us to my first, um, subtopic, and I'm going to take this for a while. All right, even as we start this series, as we start We are at war. Revelations chapter number 12. Revelations chapter number 12. Let's start reading from verse 1. And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head was crown of 12 stars. And she being with a child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold, a great red dragon which had 7 heads and 10 horns and 7 crowns on his head. And he still drew the third part of the stars of heaven and did cast them before the woman— sorry, and did cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man-child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there for a thousand two hundred and, um, two hundred and threescore days. That's 1260 days and 90 days. Verse 7: And there was war in heaven Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not, neither was their place found anymore in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the Devil and Satan, which deceives the whole world. He was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying, saying in heaven, now is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and of— and the power of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers is cast down, which accused them daily before our God, day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto death. Now, two, um, chronological events were merged, and for the sake of balanced theology, you— we need to understand that. Um, the first is that the woman with the man-child that was fleeing into the wilderness, all right, um, that was kept there for 1,390 days— that's 3 and a half years. It describes an event that is still going to take place. All right, so that is a futuristic event. It speaks of the nation of Israel. Is that okay now? Figuratively, that also speaks of the church. Figuratively. All right, that also speaks of the church. But you will observe that the moment the dragon— there is a figurative statement used to illustrate the devil. All right, so it was that dragon, even the devil, Satan, stood up. Now, the moment the devil saw that she was carrying a divine pregnancy, he stood there. And that man-child that was born, the Bible said God caught it up to heaven immediately. Pay attention. That tells us already that it doesn't matter how small what you want to bet is, there will be a contention. There will be a contention, okay? The earlier you understand that we're at war, the earlier you master the craft and the art of war, the better. The devil is not going to fold his arms and watch you do things that is going to bring him and his kingdom down. It's not— he's not going to allow you. He's not going to allow you. As long as you are standing to do something for the kingdom that will affect his kingdom, he's not going— he's going to fight you. But the Bible also went on to show us a bit of the history of this dragon, that there was a time that his tail drew and tore up the stars of heaven. Okay, and the Bible also said there was war where, where in heaven. So the devil began to contend. I've taught this again and again, but you see, one of the skills you must master in teaching is the skill of repetition till it sinks in. Is that okay now? So what was the devil's battle cry? He said, I want to be like the Most High. Let's check our Bibles, because if you don't understand these things, you don't even know what you are doing as an heir. Amen. Are you with me? I want to show you something. Turn your Bibles to the book of, um, Isaiah chapter number 14. We start the reading from verse 12. Isaiah chapter number 14, we start the reading from verse 12. If you are there, say amen. Now there is a question here. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How are you cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations! For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also in the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I will be like the Most High. Yet you shall be brought down into hell, to the sides of the pit. And they that see you shall narrowly look on you, and consider you, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake the nations? That made the world a wilderness and destroyed the cities thereof, and opened not the house of his prisoners? All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, everyone in his own house. But you are cast out of your grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit. As a carcass trodden under feet. Now, this is a very serious one here. The devil got up and he wasn't satisfied with the government of God. He felt God was biased. Why should you have a system of government that doesn't represent us. There are three that bears record in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Spirit. So the devil look at it, we don't want this kind of government, we want to have a say. Let's have, um, government that is inclusive. I want to rise above the stars. Isaiah 14, Revelation 12, and is still due one-third of the stars. In Job 38, when God told Job, prepare yourself like a man, I want to demand of you certain questions, you will answer me. And one of the questions God asked him was Where were you when the stars of God sing together every morning? The stars of God refers to angels. So when he said, I want to rise above the stars, it means when they are talking about angels, I want to be in the forefront. I want the system that is inclusive. So he's saying that I want the angelic part to be represented in the system of the Godhead. There's angels there. And so, how was he able to convince one-third? Just by telling them, we are under a system that doesn't have us included. Our agitations are not heard. I want to stand on your behalf. I want to be there to represent you. I want to bring your own interest so that they can consider certain things It can't just be about them. Vote for me.

Let's have a system of government of the people, by the people, for the people.

Oha! Lord General, the devil in command of the angels. He was going from camp to camp and showing them how unfair God is. You know, every time the devil made people fall in the Bible, he succeeded in showing them that God wasn't good. When he came to Eve, what he made her realize was that God didn't have your best interest at heart. If he did, he would have asked you to eat of this because he knows the day you eat of it, you'll be like him. So the devil seemed to understand quite early that it takes people time to know who they are. What did I say? The devil seemed to understand quite early that it takes people time to know who they are. And that's why many people, many people wait for things to validate them before they know who they are. Many wait for certain selfies on their phone of those they feel are powerful people before they know who they are. Many wait for certain kind of cars before they know who they are. But the Bible said it does not yet appear what we shall become. If you know who you are in Christ, you have reduced the, the wiles of the devil by 50%. Just by knowing who you are. Because he wants to present to you— now look at what the devil told Jesus. I mean, if you look at the temptation, sometimes you feel they are insulting. If you are the Son of God, he showed him the glory of this world in a flash. He said, bow to me. All the beauty you have seen now, I will give you, for it has been handed over to me. So hold on a minute. The devil did not stop at rebelling and falling with angels.

He believed he could recruit part of the Godhead in the fall.

You didn't hear that?

The devil actually believed—

he believed that he could recruit part of the Godhead In the fall, he was checking to see if there was synergy between the Son and the Father. You should have thought about it, coming to die a cruel death. You can have the glory without the price. The devil had the audacity to tell Jesus Pow! Who is this guy? How does he think? Who does he think he was talking to? He was speaking to his earthly limitations. He was speaking to his what? Earthly limitations. I have you here now. You can feel pain here. You can feel pain. While you are here, look for a way to bail out.

Bow.

Whatever the guy is, he so much believes in himself. And if the devil tell Jesus to bow, told Jesus to bow, at some point he's going to bring you the same proposal. You have either received it unawares, you have either bowed, or you don't— you have not yet— you are not yet doing things that is powerful enough for the devil to be interested in you bowing. Let me come again. You have either bowed without knowing, or the time has not come because you are not doing things powerful enough to bow. What does it mean to bow? It means to put his interest as number one. Whatever you bow to takes preeminence in your life. So the devil wanted something so bad.

I— is it a crime to say I want to be like you, the Most High? I want to be like the Most High. I want my seat to be in the side of the Lord.

I want to be like you. If you come and meet me and say, Apostle, I want to be like you, how should that be an offense? The offense here is your jurisdiction is not to be like me. That is reserved for sons. Isaiah 90— um, sorry, Psalms 91 from verse 1 says, he that dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide where? Under the shadows of the Almighty. The Most High is that one that will receive a name higher than every other name. That's the Most High. That talks about the personality of the Son. So the devil said, I want to be like you. What will it take? Name the price. I want to be like you. I remember I went to minister somewhere. And some boys came to meet me. I've never seen that in my life. Already while I was sitting down, a girl already flew, says she want to tap. I don't know what we are tapping, the very useless concept. Say want to tap, injured me. Then some boys came to meet me. I've never gone back there to preach again.

Oh.

Just came to meet me and say, please come, say all these things where they happen for this meeting, Apostle, if not fasting, with the fast, if not prayer, he was touching, with the prayer, what thing you they do again? And like 3 of them were coming, yes, tell us what you— I was shifting back, oga. The way this thing is going, you are going to end up beating somebody's son. I said, just continue, sir, just continue. God's going to strengthen you. I decree receive in the name of Jesus. You must know how to find your way out.

Yes, sir.

To want something without going through the right route is to be a thief. Yes, sir. It is possible that someone desires somewhere higher not because he wants to serve, but because he actually— what the devil wanted. Please sit down. If you read, I need to take you into this. If you read what he was asking from the beginning, it looks so innocent, but we are going to learn over time that he just needed to— he was saying, I want to be like the Most High, as an access.

What he actually wanted was to topple the government. He was not interested in stopping there. Mm-mm. He wanted complete takeover. He felt that God was not smart or wise enough to be in charge. He has his own methods.

There are things he feels that should be happening, and they were not happening. So now look at this. When we now go to Genesis 1:26, look at this. Genesis 1:26. Let's turn our Bibles there quickly. Look at what the Bible says.

And God said, let us make who? Man. In our what? Image. And after our likeness.

Now there was another meeting in heaven. The idea now is that we will not just make a being that is like the Most High. Hey, all of us is going to share properties with us. It is like a rogue general fell despite— do you know what it means to fight a war? The Bible did not say there was a riot in heaven, he said war.

He waged a war for this thing that man was given.

He waged a war for it.

Then God had the audacity, let us make man in our own image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over what, um, the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth. And over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. What he wanted, it was given to a being who didn't pray for it. So the idea, the whole concept of joint heir is insulting to the devil.

How dare you, man? Who is man? The idea of man made from the beginning, yeah, the idea of this guy is a supernatural being. One who is terrestrial but is also celestial.

One who functions on the surface of the earth but the intelligence with which he operates is from above. One who can straddle realms.

Are you with me now?

That's the idea. One that can interact with this earth.

He has his body as the physical license to operate here, but he's spiritual. The idea of that man was to be like— look at it— let us make man in our image and after our what? Likeness.

Wow!

Let them have dominion.

Can you give me this Genesis 1:26 Message Translation? I want us to look at something.

And God spoke, let us make human beings in our image. Make them reflecting our nature so they can be responsible.

Hey, you don't understand that. You can't carry that nature and have no responsibility. The moment you become joint heirs, one of the things you are burdened with is the responsibility of protection of the domain, so that they can be responsible for the fish of the sea, for the birds of the air. For now, look at this, what you should focus here is not the creature but the realms. O, so that they can be responsible for the sea, for the air, for the land. Every domain that anything existing is, put them in charge. I've seen people get offended and angry that if God is real, why is the world the way it is? Why is there chaos? The person whose existence we should debate is yours. What did I say? The person whose existence we should debate is yours, because he's doing what he should do. The question is, are you responsible?

That's the question.

It should not be, where is God? Why is it hot? Where are the people? Is there no bam in Gilead? Where are those that should be responsible for this? So the idea is the very thing he wanted, he sat down in the shadows, lurking in darkness, and watching how God endowed man with it. He watched how God came down and with his own hands did not speak this one into being, but molded him with the dust of the earth into specification. All the nerves, all the veins, all the muscles, all the tissues, all the organs. And God was careful about this craft. And when God was done, although the hand of God had molded him, God did not stop there. Then he released the very life of himself.

Ah!

And the Bible said immediately man became a living soul. That is, there was an intermediary component that can organize the two.

Yes, sir.

Wow.

Do you know that when the Bible said God breathed into his nostrils, biologically what comes to your mind is— but God doesn't breathe oxygen. The Bible made it clear he's not man. That he should lie, neither is the son of man that he should what? Repent. What does God breathe? I think I have an idea. Psalms 18, let's see it. Psalms 18, you want to know what he gave you, huh? You want to know? Okay, Psalms 18. Let me start the reading from verse 3. I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised, so shall I be saved from my enemies. The sorrows of death compassed me, the flood of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about, the snares of death prevented me. Verse 6 now. In my distress I called upon the Lord and cried unto my God. He heard my cry out of his temple, and my cry came before him. Even into his ears. Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations also of the hills were shaken because he was wrought. Then went up what out of his nostrils?

Huh?

What came out of his mouth?

Fire.

He breathed fire. The Bible made it clear that the Lord himself is a what? Consuming fire. The vital force he released into man was more than air. It must be something that makes him who he is. Fire. Say loud and clear, I'm not ordinary. I am not ordinary. Oh, you, you are not saying it like you're aware. Say it again like you know it. I'm not ordinary. There's nothing normal about my life. Femi Lazarus, have you seen sometimes we are praying for the sick or praying for someone and sometimes you blow on the person and the power of God follows? Is that oxygen? The hair only carries something beyond what the eyes can see. The devil saw God molding him. 'Um, what have we not seen before? Keep doing what you're doing.' And he was watching. Adam was standing and God was doing what he was doing, was turning around, fitting the hair, checking, um, the legs, the femur, um, the biceps, the triceps. What do you think the devil must have been saying? It's okay, round up, round up, stop there, stop. Till he saw God stand in front of him and he opened his mouth and he was angry. From that moment, his major goal, his battle cry became whatever he must do to make man lose that breath. That was what he wanted. As long as he carries that vital part of God, the devil won't have free space. Do you notice? Do you, do you know how dangerous that breath was? Because God will only put it in one man. From that moment, anything taken from him has it. Do you know the reason why when he took Eve as a rib, he never breathed into her? Every cell, everything in him carries so much of that.

So he was going to be moving everywhere and distributing that vital force from God. So the question is, how can we make this life become dead?

That was the question. So when he saw that Adam was busy somewhere else and he saw Eve, he saw there was a chance and he came. As God told you that you should not eat of every tree of the garden, Number one, that question is an insult because the question suggests that God has created you and is making you starve. And Eve, in a bid to defend God, said, 'He had give us right to eat of every tree, but the tree in the middle of the garden, he said we should not eat, neither should we touch.' Ah, the devil saw there was an extra. Okay, now, say, don't mind God. He knows that the day you eat it, you'll be like him. You know good, you know evil. Now hold on a minute. What the devil wanted in Genesis 3 was two things. What he achieved was one. What did I say he wanted? How many things?

Two things.

Eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, as bad as it was, it was not going to get the job done. They needed to eat two. Eat the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, be corrupted, then also eat quickly the tree of life. So you are irredeemable.

Why?

When you eat of that, number one, you have entered into a realm that forgiveness doesn't exist. That's the realm of eternity. There's no forgiveness in that realm. When the devil fell, it was not like God could not forgive him, but in the forgiveness— mercy only exists in the terrestrial world. The moment you die, the moment you draw your last breath from here, you can no longer obtain mercy. That's why You see that at the rapture, the Bible said at the sound of the archangel, the dead in Christ will rise first. Even if somebody has died 1,000 years ago, if the fellow is not in Christ, the fellow can't get mercy in the grave. The best time to win souls is now. The best time to serve Jesus is now. The best time to grow in the spirit is now. Whatever state you die in, that's your state.

That's your state.

I have things to say about this, but they are not for the public, so I'm going to find a way to teach that later. Hm. So when the Bible give us the work of the apostle, prophet, evangelist, and all the pastors All those things, they are only to be achieved here, o. Okay, let me say something in code. You know what I don't know? I know we have different generation mix, but while we were growing, these TV stars we know is not all these ones now. The TV stars we know was Jagua. Gen Zs, don't worry. There used to be a man called Jagua. Then there's another man called Baba Sala. Those are the guys we know. My belé, oh my head. Those are the guys we know. I remember I will sit down and I said, when I get to Lagos, I'm going to meet Jagua. I, I've never been to Lagos then. I was in the north all my life. I said, ah, when we go— I felt when you get to Lagos, you just meet Jagua. The same way some people now feel, when I get to heaven, I'll just be talking to David. Okay, okay, I'm just going to sit down with Paul. Remember, he's not omnipresent. Okay, um, let me just say something. It might be a serious theological issue for you, but hope you know, from the moment Jesus came to this world, to— all right, he became a man. When he rose from the grave, he rose as a man. When he showed himself to them 40 days There was no account of them seeing him in two places at once. Okay, I'm just going to be sitting down at the feet of Jesus, talking to Jesus. Um, Will we see Jesus in heaven?

Yes.

But children have— based on their growth, their eyes are open in different levels. When you give birth to a child, they can't see well. As they grow, they start seeing gray images. Like negative, start forming complex eyesight, start developing. Some died before they could see. Let's leave that. So the battle cry of the devil. How can, how can they lose this thing?

How can we take it away?

We must know how people carrying this life roaming the earth.

If we have them, that's trouble.

So the moment man fell, as a matter of fact, I need to take time to show you this scripture. Genesis chapter number 3. Let's, let's, let's see the scripture. Genesis 3. Let's jump a bit. Let's start reading from verse 5. Now look at this. For God doth know that in the day you eat thereof, your eyes shall be what? Open, and you shall be as what? Gods, knowing good and evil. In whose image did he make them? Look at verse 6 now. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. Okay, yes. Verse 7. What would have been the possible implication of Eve eating and Adam refusing to eat? Talk to me. Okay, whatever it would have been, that's to you and your imagination. But we know what happened when Adam ate it. He was the one, he was the target. It was in his loins that all humanity were connected. When he ate it, the Bible said sin entered the world and death through sin. We died in his loins. That is— hold on a minute— that we died in his loins doesn't mean we stopped existing. It means we're existing in a form without that. Ah, we're existing in the form without the bread. Romans 5:12. Romans 5:12, quickly. Can they be faster? Wherefore, as by one man—

what?— sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed on who?

All men, for all have sinned. Look at verse 13 now. For until the law, sin in the world continue. Yes, continue. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned, after the similitude of Adam's transgression. So you don't have to sin to be a sinner. It was a nature. It became the core, the cast you were formed in. You see, let me tell you this. The only human being God came to form was Adam. God only came to form Adam. God is no longer forming. He has formed. Uh, how do I explain this now? And when the Bible said— you see, I, I, apart from ministry and all that, I teach people, leaders of organizations, how to manage their organizations. I teach ministry leaders how to build solid managerial team. And where I really got the knowledge from, apart from books was Genesis. Your organization is not standing if you don't have rest, okay? Ideally, one of the signs that you have good structure is that the bigger the work, the more you rest. If what you are building is getting bigger and you are getting more stressed, you have missed something, because wise people employ structures and then make sure structures get complex to become systems, self-producing, self-replicating. God did it in such a way that he would not have to come down and say, oh, I want to mold a child for Bisola, I want to mold another child for other— everything is in your loins. So you can have a system that What you did not pay attention to was that the devil was intentional about the timing of the fall.

The—

it did not—

listen, are you with me?

He didn't need them to fall 10 years' time, in 20 years' time.

They need to fall before a child was formed in the womb. Because if a child was formed in the womb, there would have been no need for Jesus to come. It would have just been done with Adam and Eve. Now there is someone to carry it on.

What the devil is doing has timing.

Ah, you didn't hear me?

So it was important that the fall is as quickly as it can happen.

What Eve didn't understand is that That pressure you feel is not going to be forever. It, it needs you to fall before something is born. Yes, I'm telling you now. So the pressure is not going to be for 10 years, 20 years, 30 years. No, no, no, it will leave you for a while. There's something you want to bet even when you don't know it, so it's going to put so much pressure just before you bet it. So that you bet corruption. If you bet it, you will have to go back. Do you know that the devil— there are times the devil accept that I have failed over this person, I have failed, I have failed. There are times they will look at you and say, I failed over this generation. He will now go back and wait. For their loophole. Even if he can't afflict them again, but that loophole will affect the next generation. It can be done with these ones, and while these ones are basking in their glory, he's already dealing with the next generation. Okay, um. So Eve, just before you conceive, fall. So she took, she ate. In all honesty, there was absolutely— was Eve in rebellion for eating? Yes. But that rebellion, the consequence was not yet transgenerational. Eve was not what he wanted. Adam was what he wanted. He knew he could not get Adam, but he could get Adam to what Adam love. Do you think the devil will ever fight you with what you have overcome? He's going to fight you with your weakness. He will never serve you food you have no appetite for. If you leave Adam by himself, he won't eat it. But coming from my wife, give it to me. You know, I, I read a story from the man of God John Agee— John, sorry, John Agee, the pronunciation now. Um, the wife, they wrote a book together, all right? So the wife said one day came back from the office, was worried, was disgruntled, just say would not have been in this mess if Adam didn't fall. What nonsense is this? Look at what the fall of man did to us. Say only God knows why he went to eat the apple. Nobody told us it was an apple, whether it's tomatoes, we don't know. While he was complaining, the wife was in the kitchen cooking. So what she did was that she just sliced some fruit and then she came and sat on his laps and gave him. So he was complaining, I hit him. Then she said, you have no right to blame Adam, okay? You have no right to blame Adam. It matters who is giving you, it matters. It matters. It matters who is giving you. Now Eve had— we can't tell for how long she had eaten before Adam came, but look at what the Bible says in verse 6. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, Genesis 3:6, And that it was pleasant to the eyes, a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her, and he did eat. What did the Bible say next? And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and make— and made themselves aprons. This is where religion came in. Religion is human attempt to cover what the presence should cover. It's supposed to be powered by lives— life, not figs. Life. Now, immediately that happened, verse 8: And they heard the voice of the Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, 'Where are you?' And he said, 'I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid.' Oh, so man now knows fear. 'Because I was naked and I hid myself.' And he said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree whereof I command you? God who sees all is asking, have you eaten? From the moment they ate it, they were no longer in their positional place. He knew that they were dead, and that death is not cessation from existence. It is the departure of the nature of God. Eventually nobody is going to cease from existing. As long as you've been created, your spirit is eternal, either in hell or eternity to heaven. Now look at this. And he said, who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the food I say you should not eat? And the man said, the woman whom you gave to be with me. She gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord said to the woman, what is this that you have done? And the woman said, the serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done this, you are cursed above all cattle and above all beasts of the field. On your belly shall you go, and the dust shall you eat all the days of your life. Now you have to pay attention to that verse 14. When God said, 'The dust you will eat all the days of your life,' that's a very serious word. Now look at verse 15. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. Enmity between you and the one who made you fall is not a curse, it is a blessing.

True? Yes.

Do you agree to that? To the woman he said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception. In sorrow shall you bring forth children, and your desire shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you. Now let me explain this. Probably you've not gotten the explanation before. They have sinned. The nature that they now have is dead. They are producing death. Multiplying your sorrow in conception means we have to find a way that is painful to slow down your multiplication. You must not increase with fast pace in this dead state. How do I come now? Listen, listen. If they were giving birth fast, fast, the thing is sweet, give birth, just go there, baby don't come. In that dead state, the purpose of God won't come to pass. It won't, because there will be too many dysfunctional people on the face of the earth.

So we have to find a way to slow it down.

Pain must be made to govern that. You say, why didn't he reverse that? In fact, let me say this to you. At redemption or salvation, everything said from the beginning was not reversed. Ah, yes, not everything was reversed. I'll tell you why. So saying, so you shall bring forth your children. Ah, okay. Verse 17 now. And to Adam he said, because you have hearkened to the voice of who? Your wife. Don't forget that Adam was still carrying you and I in his loins.

Hm.

Look at what he said. And you have eaten of the tree which I command you, saying thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for your— that's the law of substitution. When I look at you, I still see myself. The ground is cursed for your sake. It is like your child has done something and you, you, you hold a belt, you want to spank the child, then you hit the ground. Tons and tons of shoes it will bring for you. So even in the fallen state of Adam, God did not curse him. How can the one who is now in Christ believe he's cursed? It's because you don't know how much you are loved. You are God's child giving birth to in an earthly family. Whether that family is rich or not, I don't know, but don't carry that baggage and use as a yasi to measure your heavenly home. Your father is not broke. You might know what it means to be sent home for school fees here while you were going in secondary school, whatever. Some of us went to schools that they will send you back home from assembly ground. If you have not paid your school fees, remain standing. The rest go back inside. That's not who God is. In fact, in Ephesians 1:3, the Bible said he has blessed us with all spiritual blessings. Oh, say loud and clear, I'm blessed.

I'm blessed.

Say it again one more time. I am blessed.

I am blessed.

Can I say this, that there is no scripture in the epistles that suggests that a new man in Christ can be cursed? The New Testament, hm, The Gospels are the books— Matthew, Mark, Luke, John— that shows us the humanity of Jesus. All right, his humanity, his death, his resurrection. The book of Acts details the journey of the early church, what they did with the Holy Ghost, and how the move began. The epistles explains why he came and shows us what we—

the epistle is what Paul, whoever that guy was, he didn't have the privilege to be among the 12, but he did what they couldn't do. He understood He will explain something.

Sometimes even Peter will say this thing is hard. That guy, don't forget that with all the things he did, they still cut his head to leave. So to think when people are against you, it means you are not powerful. I'm going to teach you about that concept. He explained it. You can't curse the one who is— Christ became cursed for our sake. He became, because it is written, cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree. So in Israel, when they see people hanging on the tree, they are already cursed, they are damned. Do you know what the cross is? The cross is a very serious sign. You are suspended, rejected by men, rejected by He had never been in that state where the father will turn back. And he didn't turn back because he hated this one. He turned back because the road needs to be finished. That is the price for you to be born.

The same way women will go to the labor room and push, ah, because whenever life must be born.

Blood must bear witness. That was the price.

He took that death. You need to understand what we are talking about. Before he died, the devil wanted to do mago-mago. He quickly made sure angels, come, come, go and sleep with daughters of men so that he will redeem men and our kind. So their kind will spread. Now it will be that the devil also will find redemption. Never you think that angels sleeping with men was just an attempt of the devil to just rebel. No! They wanted to be a part of the commonwealth. That's why angels went to sleep with women, to be a part of the commonwealth. They wanted to— if we can't get it there, we'll get it here. So it will be that God will have to save an hybrid. Saving an hybrid means that the devil too has legal rights. God, in a bid to save you, had to make a drastic decision.

He had two options.

Option number one: let them continue and then we have hybrid and man is out. Now we have not God-like but angel-like men— Nephilims.

God either allowed that continue, or the second option: take a massive step, wipe them out.

It took the drastic, painful decision to wipe them out and spare the family.

That was what it took. So the devil saw that I've been shut out now, I've been shut out now. So Jesus had to come to draft man into the Godlike, like it was from the beginning.

Like them.

You have to become one of them. Because man sinned, man could not pay the price. Man must pay the price.

So God became man, stayed in the womb for 9 months. God— Jesus is not junior God. Is God, became man. That's the most humbling thing, to become what you created. Stayed in the womb, was born where they gave birth to sheep, mirroring that he's coming as a sheep.

That's why he was born in the manger. Slaughter lamb has been born. She's going to go through the knife like them, like that's their kind. Grew was killed. He said, if I wanted to save my life, I would tell my Father, he will send legions. He said, no one can take my life, I laid it down. Even here I have authority. Do you know all Jesus needed to do was to signal to an angel? Do you know who angels are? Angels are not—

they are not jokers. These are— they are military. They are military beings. They are built to obey. When God speaks, they move. If he gives them an injunction over a nation, in the twinkle of an eye, one angel can sweep an entire nation clean.

What will it cost them to slap one Roman army?, and the brain will fly out of the skull. What will it cause them? Yes, sir.

He had all those power and put it under.

And the part where he was pained was when he noticed the Father is no longer here. The Father has turned his back, he's rot. And he cried, Father. Father, why have you forsaken me? For you to be born, the Father had to turn his back because he was in the labor room. Blood was flowing, drowning him. And in John chapter number 19 from verse 18, John 19 from verse 18, please sit down. John 19 from verse 18, look at it. Where they crucified him and two others with him on either side, one, and Jesus in the midst.

Yes.

And Pilate wrote a title, put it on the cross, writing Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.

Yes.

And this is— and this title then read many of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city. And it was written in Hebrew and in Greek and in Latin. Yes. And he said, Chief Priest— all right, let's jump to verse 28. After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, said, I thirst.

29.

Now there were set vessels full of vinegar And they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon an eyesop and put it to his mouth.

Yes.

And Jesus therefore— when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, said, 'It is finished.' And he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. The moment this happened, you know what happened? There was earthquake everywhere. The cloud turned dark. Everywhere earthquake. That was the first time that a blood that is sinless was touching the earth. There was a reaction. There was a reaction. The earth has never seen that kind of blood. Ah, sinless, spotless. It's not the blood of Abel. This is the blood that speaks better things than the blood of Abel. The blood of Abel wants vengeance. This is a blood that says, I paid in full. That's the price for you to become joint heirs. That's the price. Oof, you know, when God said that it was not good for Adam to be alone, God came down and caused deep sleep to fall upon him. And God took of his ribs and formed the woman. So the woman was born from the side of the man. When Jesus was on the cross, they wanted to check whether he was dead or alive. They pierced that side, because just as Eve was born, a bride needs to be born. And the Bible said blood And water flowed from the side. It took God taking the measure of becoming man for you to be born, and all you are doing with that life is to think you're ordinary. Do you know who a born-again Christian is? You know the funny thing is, now not even after the first, the order of the first Adam.

The first Adam is a living soul. Was a living soul. This one is a life-giving spirit.

Say it again: The life of God is at work in me. Oh, see, you are not saying like you mean it. The life of God is at work in me. Say it again.

The life of God is at work in me. I am not normal.

Say one more time. The life of God is at work in me. I remember years back, this is, um, well over 11 years ago, we're in a place The facility we found ourselves was a land that we didn't know that was used for idol worshiping before we got there. I— the team had gone ahead of me. I got there last. The moment I stepped my feet to the land, ah, I told the people, I said, wait. There's something about this place. Ah, there's a strange fit here. Now I bent to the ground, touched that place, and said, let the fire of God saturate this land everywhere, from the north to the west, all the sides of this place. And that was just a simple prayer. I went to bed that night. Somewhere in the middle of the night, we started hearing somebody scream.

I will confess, I will confess, I will confess. What are you confessing? I came out, they were trying to keep her shut.

Somebody had smuggled the wife of the native— it's not in Nigeria— had smuggled the wife up to sleep with her.

The woman said, no, no, I will confess. What are you confessing?

She said, they told us that you were coming, so we buried something in the room. So she said, it's here, this is where we put it.

They opened the door, they brought out digger.

That room where they said they buried, that was the room they said, Pastor, this your room. I said, I don't feel like. That was the best room. I said, I don't feel like. Can I choose another one? Say yes. So I went to another room. Those who say, ah, I like you, I like you, they all do like this. And they brought out a pot.

Say we bury this thing here on a concrete floor, under a concrete floor, a pot. They may have the costume.

We don't need pots to transmit power.

We don't need pots.

We don't need black and red cowries and all that.

We are powerful. The greatest power in the universe is at work in us. Hey, we command the envy of angelic beings. They look down on us. What is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you consider him? You make him a little bit lower than Elohim. That's the word, Elohim. Who are these guys? Guess what? We can get into territories with this. I know I am an heir of the kingdom and dislodge powers. Oh yes, scatter principalities, rebuke them, trample them under feet. You get to a place, you want to sing as a musician, you notice what's off with the atmosphere. You stand your ground. I take charge of this atmosphere and I compare everything to the obedience of Christ. You must learn to take charge. Learn to speak the word. Take charge. They say, what was it? Why do we feel demonic things just moving around the house? You have not taken charge. You must announce a son is here.

For the earnest expectation of creation, wait for the manifestation of the sons of God. I love when the Bible says wait for the sons to declare sonship.

When God made us, the very moment he released fire as it breathes into us. Ah, from that moment, it was a declaration of war. From the moment he did that, it was actually what? Declaration of war. Because he knew there was war in heaven. We sent him out of here.

Michael is there, my kind must be here.

And the moment God released that bread, his conclusion is, they are enough.

They are enough. We carry that bread, we move it everywhere we get to.

We, we are not normal. We carry that bread. I am aware when I move on the street, it is the kingdom on two legs. I might be a man, but I'm an heir. It is the kingdom.

Oh yes, it is my reality. It is who I am. That was the design. Can I give you 2 minutes to take charge and just speak into certain situations? And speak into certain things and get into what you should get into and take charge. Come on, you have the next 2 minutes. Oh yes, take charge. Until my Holy Ghost is in you, Spirit, keep brooding over me. Till I look more like you. Until my only gaze is you.

Spirit, keep building over me. Till I look more like you.

Until my only gaze is you. Spirit, keep building over me. Till I look more like you.

Yes, thank you, Lord. In Jesus.

Mighty name we are praying. Say that amen with power. Say it with a sense of consciousness. Now sit down for a moment. I wish somehow we have not started doing that here. I would have loved to show you something with a white marker board, but we will start that some other time. Do you know that what is really complicated, part of the things that was undone or that was done differently? I would have loved— anyways, we are continuing this series, so I'm going to show you what God did differently from the man in Christ. Yeah, there are, there are upgrades. Oh yes, one of the upgrades about the man in in Christ is that he made sure that in Christ his hand was sealed before the beginning— victory. So the man in Christ can't fight for victory, he's fighting from victory, because the end was predetermined. As long as you're in Christ, there's an end. Your biggest battle begins— it's not really even the fight. Your biggest battle is you fighting without knowing the end. Say, Lord, I come in volume of books, as it is written of me, to do your will, O Lord. I know what is written of me. I know What is written about me is settled. What is written is written. I've explained this to you many times. The only way we can explain what is written is like the script of a movie. If I am to participate in a movie, they write the script and they say go through the script. That is, this is your character in the movie, so go through the script. If I go through my script and I know the end of my character, when I go back to acting, I can't be agitated like those who are watching it, because I that am in that character knows what is written. Do you know what is written? Do you know what is settled? Do you know what He finished that according to the script, I didn't fall sick. According to the script, I was pressed on all sides but not perplexed. I might have been laid down but not destroyed. According to the script, I came out of this trouble. I came out.

There is a part 2. My enemy don't rejoice over me. Though I might be falling, I will rise again. According to the script, I did not remain falling. This is the reason why Even as a believer, if you want to help anybody, never do it in a way that they lose themselves. You must let people know, this is where you are going, this is what the script is. It is only a privilege for me to be a part of your journey. I honor you. We don't make conclusions.

In the whole story, there might be people who will rise before the other. But according to the script, I rose too. It may not be at your time, but at my time I rose. So I honor you, I celebrate you. I don't need to famz you because there's somewhere in the script that I myself too rose. Please, your right hand on your head. I know what is written. According to the script written about me, I finished well. Sit down for a moment. Now just imagine, now imagine, um, let's say maybe you, you wrote an exam, pharmacology, and you already saw a result. Then They've now pasted the result, or you have seen your own in your lecturer's office. You are, you are not agitated because you are not in that time with them. You have gone ahead. The devil is not just local, it's global. And it's not just global, it's generational. There are things he wants for a dispensation. But this is the news. We have come to the season that all the prophecies that we have read about in the Bible about the battle of the last days, I can tell you on all authority, this is it. It is the battle and the warfare of systems. And the reason why many of God's children look like they are still slumbering. It's because they are not aware. I understand.

It was also captured in prophecy.

It was captured.

Matthew 25, 10 virgins waiting for the groom, but the Bible says at midnight they all slept.

And that's why Joel 2 began with an instruction: Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, sound an alarm. My Holy Hill. An alarm.

Hmm.

When you want to wake up at certain time, what do you do? You set an alarm. An alarm announces the time for a change of activity. We are raising an alarm for the body of Christ to know there is a change in activity. Start beating your plows into spears. Let everyone that can stand learn the culture of war because the same thing about to happen. That there's a cry in Rama, Rachel weeping for her children, for they are no more. Those who choose to remain babies will become casualties.

The devil is speaking through human vessels, is speaking through people, is speaking through systems, is operating, is fighting now because the coming of Jesus is so close and the cloud of darkness seems thick and many things Many of us might not be seeing it, but we are having many things coming towards us at the same time. Many movements. I can count more than 20 at the same time. So we cannot have believers whose place of strength is just the church. We need to build them in church. Send them back. The media is not toxic.

It is a reflection of Herod. Taking James. Then the church was quiet. When it pleases the Jews, you will go back and take Peter. The media is what it is because you made it so. No platform is toxic. You are either part of the toxicity or it is your silence that empowers it.

It is time for believers to know I have a voice and I must lend it.

It is time for the church to also undo the mistakes of results without proper doctrine. One of the things devil is exploiting to fight the church is that we have plenty people who are hot. There's pain. Hold on a minute. We are fighting the last, the final Warfare. That's the end time battle now with an enemy that's been preparing since the day he fell. What is the strategy of the church? Do we have a plan? We are just fighting ourselves. That's what we are busy doing. We don't have plans. What will be will be. There'll be casualties. We've got to have a plan. Somebody said to me, he said, you are one of the most followed Nigerian pastors. I said, it's not true. On their platform, just one button, they shut us down. We are going to build Goshen. I will recommend my book, The Final Move of God. I'm a very bad— I'm not bad marketer.

I don't even—

I sometimes don't even remember. It's just there. I don't write books for money's sake. I don't do that. I used the Feast to illustrate the move of God. The final feast, that's the Feast of Tabernacles. Now let's get into that. The future of the church— as powerful as auditoriums are, very powerful— but the future is that we now move ourselves again from our big auditoriums out, because the battle will not take place in our churches. Okay, let's leave that. If you are sitting in this auditorium or you can hear me wherever you are listening from, Physically you are seated where you are seated, but in the spirit realm you're in a battlefront. Whether you are fully kitted or not, we don't know, but you're in the battlefront. And like Paul, we must understand that though we walk in the flesh, we don't war after the flesh. It is time for sons to move beyond enjoying the benefit of the kingdom to defending the integrity of the kingdom. As an heir, they help the house as long as he's a child. Bible says, 'Differeth him nothing from a servant, though he be Lord of all, but is made subject to tutors and teachers till he comes of age.' I want you to pray, show me my own part, show me what I must do in these last days. Now pray that prayer, then I want to ask that the Holy Spirit will come upon some of you, and there's empowerment. Are you ready for that tonight? Pray the prayer now. Show me my own part.

Show me.

Set me on fire, Lord. Teach me the pathways of the Spirit. Anoint me with your oil. Fill me till I want no more. Set me on fire, Lord. Teach me the pathways of the Spirit. Anoint me with your oil. Fill me till I want no more. Set me on fire, Lord. Help him, help her. Teach me the pathways of the Spirit. Anoint me with your oil. Fill me till I want no more. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' mighty name we're praying. Now whether you are seated of standing. God doesn't need a posture to fill you with power. Wherever you are, it will meet you there, because it is in his best interest that those he's using for these days and time are equipped. If you want an empowerment of the spirit, stretch out your hands where you are seated. It's going to be a movement of his power across this place. Just stay with her, please. I don't know how big your hunger is. I don't know how serious your desire is. I don't know how hungry you are, but I stretch my hands towards this house, from my right to the middle to the left. Let there be a surge of the power of the Holy Ghost.

Fall find expression upon lives, individuals with different areas of operations. Let your power surge across, fill them again with your glory. Let your hand rest, find expression, find vessels, fill them with your power. Touch their tongues, touch their eyes, touch their heads. Let them receive an empowerment. Let the army rise from this place.

Just help them. From the crown of their heads to the sole of your feet, let the glory of the Lord move across this place. We ask for a new wave of prophetic vessels, men like Daniel, like Deborah, like Esther, who stand in high places, who will speak with kings.

On matters as touching the kingdom. I ask for the spirit of wisdom like that came upon the sons of Issachar to understand times and seasons. Let people be gifted and empowered. Sow your power.

For some of you, you will notice that there is a spirit of boldness from tonight.

That it is impossible for you to be afraid of anything. Help her.

At the hand of the Lord comes song upon his people. Just help them, just help them.

We ask that we have in our midst a wave of strategic men and women, men who understand strategies, individuals raised for such a time as this in marketplace across board, who speak for for kings that they emerge.

They rise from this place. They rise from this place. They rise from this place. They rise from this place. Father, raise intercessors amongst us, men and women of prayer. Raise intercessors amongst us.

And there are people here who used to walk in a level of power before.

Now it is back. It is back.

Those eyes are open again to see. Those ears are open again to hear. Your tongue is touched with fire again. You will speak with the tongue of the Leonard.

It is back. I ask, oh Lord, that you will raise the consciousness of your children to understand this time that we are in. Thank you, blessed Father. Blessed be your holy name. It will no longer be business as usual. Grace is multiplied, strength is released. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Father. We bless your holy name. In Jesus' mighty name we have prayed. We bless you, Father.

Hi there. God is raising for himself an end-time army, and this is the mandate that he has given to us. Truly, the harvest is plenteous, but we need you on board as a laborer. This is a call to partner with what God is doing in this great house. To become a monthly partner with us at Sphere of Light Church and Femi Lazarus Apostolic Ministries Ecumenical, kindly reach us via the number +234 903 095 9735. To give an offering or to sow a seed, kindly make use of these account details being displayed. The Gospel of Jesus is spreading. Thank you for being a part of it.