FOOD FOR THOUGHT

FOOD FOR THOUGHT PREACHED ON 2^ND APRIL, 2023. BY APOSTLE TIMOTHY UKPONG AT

Bishop Joe’s Family in Akwa-Ibom Household of God, Nigeria.

Approved and Authorized BY APOSTLE PETER ODOEMENA THE SON OF MAN

Transcribed by Sister Peace Ukpong

INTRODUCTION

When I look at myself, I see reasons to give God the praise for what He is doing in my life. It is not my doing. It is not your doing as well. Look at the testimonies that concern you and how it happens. It is enough reason to give God the praise.
Have you ever come to the realization that it is not by how much a man struggles but by what God has decided to do for him? Neither is it by how much a man has, nor by his ability or power, that decides what God will do for him. At the end of the day, if God has not decided to open the way, He will not open it. And if He has opened it, nobody will close it. That is how it works.
You can toil, you can keep on loafing up and down, but there is nothing that will change your condition. It is not because of who you think you know. Check all those you are running around, those you think you have known that can assist you, contacts you have made, what have you benefited from them all? Bring the evidence.
Just like we have a message that says, if you have been in Christ, show us the evidence. If you have benefited from all those contacts, where is the evidence in your personal life? Any benefit to show? None!
I can easily use relatives as examples. What I am trying to tell you is that these are not the places or people where your blessings come from, for you are an elect of God. Your help comes from God.
Any time you are asked a question, your statement is, you are trying to make ends meet. Where have ends met till now? You have nothing but Christ and Christ is the greatest bond among brotherhood. That is all!
You can be here, not even thinking of yourself, not to talk of another person, but a brother will be somewhere thinking of you for good. Was that not how we were here, our brethren in Zonkwa were thinking of us? But we were not thinking of them. You were not even thinking of yourself, not to talk of them, but people were somewhere thinking about you and wondering. If they have not placed themselves in your shoes, they would not have thought of what to do for you.
The same way somebody is somewhere thinking and placing himself in your shoes, before he can do something for you. You see, if he is not solidly rooted in Christ, do you think that fellow can have that level of love for the brotherhood? How solidly rooted you are in Christ, is what makes you to think of good for yourself and for the people around you.
It is very difficult for somebody to believe that outside Christ, you do not wish yourself good. That is why even those around you cannot feel anything good from you because you are not found in Christ.
It is only in Christ that a man can think good for himself, because the heart of man is desperately wicked. It takes only God in a man, to help a man. That is why Jesus said, no man is good except God.
If God is not in a man; if the spirit of Christ is not in control of a man’s life, there is no way his thoughts and actions can ever express godliness or goodness. It does not happen. So please, see the benefits of being in Christ. You see why your allegiance must be to Christ, both for your physical and spiritual sustenance.
Your aspiration can only be achieved in Christ. Except in Christ, you have no brother, you have no sister, you have no friend. We keep reciting it like a story, but is it yet to be a reality before you by now? Do you not see evidences in your personal life to prove to you that it is a reality? That whatever you have is in Christ?
Check all those people you delight in running around and those that are running around you who are heathens, they are the ones sapping you. They are the ones sapping you. What do you gain? When they come out, you rally around them, you enjoy yourselves together from their means, tomorrow it will be your turn to also bring from your meager resources so that they can also enjoy with you.
Understand where your blessings come from, so that you can know where you pay your gratitude. So that it will not be that your blessings are coming from God and you are still paying gratitude to the idols out there.
I hope you know it is very possible? Your blessings will come from God, but you will still go out there to go and pay gratitude to the idols. That is where your impact will be felt, whereas that is not where your help is coming from. Rather it is where you are getting destroyed.
Bro William, I told you what the mouth of a mule said, just a statement among all the things he said. A neighbor! One word is all that made me know that his enquiry about you was genuine. He was not asking for any evil reason. What was that word; “Tell your brother it is not all about money”. It is not all about money. He entered his house and locked his door; I carried my water and went on my way. One simple statement.
And you will say that it is not the Spirit of God using a mule, one you call a heathen to tell you to settle down in life? A man’s running around has never shown me that it makes a way for him.
The greatest people that run around are not the greatest people that make it, but it is only those who God has decided to shower favour upon. Those are the people that make it, and that is why you should sit down and think.
When God wants to help a man out of his troubles and problems, He starts from somewhere. There is always a starting point. The starting point is not the ending point, and that is what I have been emphasizing till right now.
Make sure, if only you are wise, that you see that help from God as a leverage for safety. Even in the society, if a big man wants to draw you closer to himself, he will first of all start from somewhere. He will give you something to do; an assignment, to watch you and see whether you are catching his message, that he is trying to pull you closer.
If you do it well and faithfully, he will give you another one. Gradually gradually, you notice that you have become his ally, his partner, because you have understood his motive and because you are loyal.
But when he gives you something and you do not value it, you are still there using your old mentality to do things, he will know that this person is not yet serious. He will just shake his head and leave you where you are. Tomorrow you will be saying to others, that man does not like somebody, he does not help somebody. Who pushed him away? Your very own attitude.
That is why you must learn that a man can be the cause of his own stagnation. A planless life is a visionless life.
If a man does not sit down to call himself to order from time to time, he might think that all his ways are right. But you might not know that you are the same person with your own actions that is standing as an impediment to yourself.
So, if you do not from time to time sit down to review your life and tell yourself hard truths; tell yourself that you have been doing so, so and so thing and it is not helping you, it then means that nobody can help you. This is because if another person should come and point it to you, you will defend it. If another person should come and say it, you will defend it because you as the individual has not sat down to accept that that thing is not helping you.
Check your life and see all your movements. Check what you have gained in all your movements. Stop and see all your activities. Check and see what you have gained in all your activities. These are the things a man looks into before he says that it is either moving well for him and he should even put in more effort in those things he is doing or he should have a change of direction because his ways are wrong.
That is why God gave us a message titled; “Time for Change”. He said change is the hardest thing to effect in the life of a man, but it is something that must be constant if progress must be made.
You cannot continue in the same way you have been going expecting a different result. If you use the same recipe you have been using, you do not expect a better taste of the soup. Is it possible?
If I like, let me use ceramic pot, you use earthen pot, so long as you use the same recipe I used to prepare my food, the taste will be the same. It is not about the pot that is used, it is about the recipe that is used in the production.
So if the recipe I am using is not giving me the needed taste, what do I do? I improve my recipe. I look for a better recipe. So look at your life as that soup and tell yourself the truth. What are the ways I am living my life that is not helping me to maintain a good relationship, both with God and my fellow man?
Then when you look into that, you will be able to tell yourself the gospel truth, that this thing has not been favouring you. Then you will be able to change. For it is when you have pointed out your errors, before you can hate that wrong way. When you have hated that way, what do you do? You will begin to pull out and avoid it, then God will give you a helping hand seeing the sincerity of your heart.
But you cannot be saying you want your condition to change; saying, why is it always like this for me, but you are not looking at your lifestyle that you have refused to drop. You do not want to drop the lifestyle, but you want the condition to change. Who then are you deceiving, and who is the cause of your problem? It is the individual himself!
It is time for us to sit down and have a food for thought. I say, a food for thought. For these are the days whereby if you are going to worship God, worship God in spirit and in truth and with all your heart. If you are not going to worship God, you want to worship the idols in your heart that you have placed for yourself, you want to worship the gods that you have raised for yourself, you go ahead and stop troubling yourself.
The gods are nothing but the fashions and evils of this modern times. Nothing but the penchant for materialism. Covetous spirit. The ungodly chase for wealth, money at all cost. These are the gods of this time and age.
So it is high time you know what exactly is your priority and aspirations in life. If you have come to worship God, let us worship God fully. That is what we said in this family.
Even when we started our home worship, we said we want to pay full allegiance to our God. Is that not so? Then we said, as for Bishop Joe Ukpong and his family, we shall worship this one and only true God, Apostle Peter Odoemena (BBHMHN). Let us prove it by our actions.
If we sit down now to say let us take a performance report of what we have vowed and what we have been doing, will your individual life as a component member of this family show that you have payed lip service or you stood by your allegiance? Did anybody compel you? You accepted it in your heart.
So, these are the days when we must tell ourselves the gospel truth. Things that are not helping us to maintain righteous standing with God and man we should identify them. We must tell ourselves the gospel truth if we want to continue along this pathway of life eternal or we simply drop it and move aside.
There is no point in fooling ourselves. Being members of the Bride of Christ ministry, but being absent in the family of God. Is there any sense in it? So, if you see God giving you a helping hand and trying to pull you out of your troubles, please give yourself the greatest advice by accepting His hand of help.
Is that not why we have a song that says; When He reached down his hands for me. When he reached down his hands for me. I was lost and undone, without God nor his love, when he reached down his hands for me.
It takes God to reach down His hands for you before you can be helped. You on your own cannot help yourself. Iam telling you that man has the ability to put himself in all kinds of troubles in this life, but he does not have the ability to help himself out.
Check everything we are suffering today, check the sorrows and pains that have bedeviled us, they are all what we have used our hands to put ourselves into. You can never look for any without attributing it to your foolishness. Either your youthful exuberance, your lack of paying heed to proper advice, your being influenced away by this evil world and those you call associates and friends around you. They are the reasons why you are suffering from whatever you are suffering.
But check it, you still do not have the power to bring yourself out, but you know that you are in problems. You know that many things are bedeviling you, but the way out, you do not know. It still takes God, I mean this Son of Man we worship, to still give you a green light by stretching out a helping hand to pull you out of that situation.
So we put ourselves in trouble that we do not have the strength to come out of, but God in His infinite mercies comes down. The question is; will you be wise to accept the outstretched hand of God when you see it come upon you? Will you be wise enough to accept it and allow Him to lead you through that maze you cannot figure out, so that you can escape from the clutches of the enemy into the embrace of Christ. Will you be wise to accept it?
For God must always motivate a man in one way or the other. Those things that might have been your greatest troubles, God will look for an avenue to motivate you. To tell you that all hope is not lost, He will come your way in a surprising way. He wants to see whether you can catch the message that this is Me (God) trying to render a helping hand and bring you out of your condition.
Can you catch the message? For it is a two-edged sword. It is either you will accept that hand of help from God and come out, or you will prove with your own hands that you have hardened your heart against anything that is good. For when you misuse the privilege God has given to you to help you out of your troubles, you have proved to God that you are a devil’s incarnate.
You have proved that you are a hater of anything that is good. For any man that does not love Christ and the ways of Christ and the people of Christ, is a hater of anything that is good. But if truly you love good but found yourself in a condition you cannot wriggle out of, when you see the light of God’s help coming towards you, you will dive fully into it and allow God to begin the work; I hope you know it is not a one day’s job?
There is no player who has been sidelined by injury, that ever returns back from that injury to immediately begin first team action. It is not possible. You will start personal training. You will be watching your colleagues in the training camp while you will be given your personal exercises by the fitness coach.
They even start you from the gym, to see whether your muscles are free again. They start from the gym to build you up. You will be going to the gym and still seeing the doctor. From there, they will bring you to the pitch side. You will now start personal warm ups. You cannot join your colleagues immediately. From personal warm ups, they will put you among the feeder team to join them in their training to be sure you are really getting back to shape.
Gradually, when they see that you are back, you will now join the team in training. When you join the main team, the coach will still not list you among those that will play in a match for the next one or two fixtures, because he wants to be sure that you have really blended back into the system. Then maybe on the third attempt, you will now be listed among the players to come out for a match.
In that match you might still not be in the first team, he will introduce you as a substitute to the match. So that you can flow back into the pace of the game. After one or two games, you then see that player retain his starting position back in the team once again.
Why the gradual process? To ensure that he is fully back from that injury that bedeviled him. That is how you are as a child of God. When you have soiled your ways for so long, you have been caught in the loophole of the enemy for too long, God will be watching you struggling with your own human strength, thinking you have the ability and means to rectify the error you have placed yourself in.
He knows that you are wasting your time. After He has seen you struggle in vain, He will shine forth His light. If you are a seed of God, you will capture it immediately. From there, you will allow Him by that light, to continue to lead you. You know that despite the fact He has shined the light does not mean you are out of your troubles. But it is a sign that you are about to be liberated. Is that not so?
I was watching a documentary of a young man in Port-harcourt who their vessel got submerged in the high waters, and he remained under the bottom of the sea for 60 good days before rescue came. He was the only one that survived. He was not even a big member of the crew, just a kitchen staff. So, when the vessel capsized, he was under the water for 60 good days before rescue team came.
You know whenever a vessel capsizes, rescue teams go there to see what is left. When the rescue team arrived and scanned the site, they found him trapped in one of the cabins there. He was just about running out of oxygen. When they checked him, they saw that he was already suffering from sea sickness as a result of being under the water for too long.
First of all, before they started rescuing him, you could see the man from the control room talking to him, trying to get his mindset at rest by asking simple questions. “May we know your name? He mentioned his name. If his name was Martin, the man will now respond, Martin please stay calm. Can you hear me? Yes, I can hear you. Are you okay? I am okay. How do you feel? I am fine. Okay Martin, we are about to pick you out from under the sea. Stay calm. I want you to stay calm. I hope you are good? Yes. Can you still get me? Good.
He was interacting with him to put his mind at ease. Then they wrapped him in a rescue jacket and fit him into the instrument, wore him the oxygen mask and then began to pull him up. While pulling him up, they were still communicating with him. “Hold tight Martin, do not let go. I hope you are holding the ropes tight? He said yes. Do not release it. Do not be scared. We are bringing you to the surface. You are going to feel movements now, do not be scared.
They kept communicating with him. Yes, Martin has finally seen the light of rescue, but if Martin does not focus on what is being told to him at this point, he will not come out from under the water.
So, whenever you have been in trouble, and you see God giving you a ray of hope that He is about to come your way again, humble yourself. It is a do or die affair. It is either you take that chance or you lose it forever. For you might not have another chance.
All those who have had the privilege of coming to live in the house of The King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s and misused it, and were chased away, where again do you think they will have another chance?
For if The Almighty Himself will reject you, who is that vessel that is capable of reforming one that has been rejected by the Almighty? Can you tell me who? Is it me? Is it you that are still looking for help from The Almighty? So, where do you think such a rare opportunity can come out from again?
But a wise fellow will know that this is the light of rescue from my condition, once and for all. I either take it or I perish on this planet. Is that not so?
And he will humble himself and allow the light to lead him out of the maze of darkness. You have been in the maze of darkness, I am talking to everyone of us, even though I am using our brother as a case study. Is that not so?
You are in the maze of darkness, which you know you have not been in an acceptable state with God, then God shows you a means of leaving. It can come in any form or shape. God can bring it to you in form of a job. He can bring it to you in form of a healing from sickness. He can come in any form to show you that He wants to see you come out of that condition and He wants to see your response.
Your response will determine whether you are tired of that condition and you are grateful for the help God is giving you, or whether you still want to slumber and remain in your condition because you have decided to be a hater of God, the ways of God and all that profess godliness. God will know and then you will receive your final marking.
So, it is time to have a food for thought. It is time to have a what? Food for thought. Think about it. The help of God coming your way is not yet the finality, until you are out of your condition. True or false?
So do not relax. Do not see it as a regular thing. It is not a regular thing. Do not be among fools. Do you know who I call fools? They are the set of people that say God does not exist, but things happen by luck. When I saw that statement on social media, I felt like I should write a textbook to that individual that replied that person on Twitter on this same case I am talking about.
Somebody was saying thank God. Sixty days under the water is two months. This man was at the brink of loosing it when rescue came his way, and somebody said thank God. Another one said what is thank God, it is luck. Others died because they did not have luck. He is alive because he had luck. You think it is luck that kept that man there? Whether he is a heathen or not, it cannot be luck.
What do you mean by luck? So, I hope you are not among those foolish people that think that things happen to people in life as a result of luck. There is nothing happening in your life that is luck. That is why another writer said, “Luck is God’s own way of remaining anonymous”.
You know what anonymous means? For example, you receive a message on your phone, you cannot see the name of the person that sent it, or you receive help and the person does not want you to know that he is the one helping you, so he hides his identity from being discovered by you. Who is that person to you? That person is anonymous! Is that not so?
If you are asked to talk about the person who helped you, you will say ‘oh! I received a help from an anonymous source. I just thank that person for helping me’. So, the person said, what you call luck is God’s own way of remaining anonymous. He does not want to come out in the open and let you know that it was Me, but He decided to hide at the background to see if by revelation, you can capture it. That is what luck is. So, if you are thinking that it is luck in your life, know that it is God coming in a hidden way if only you can see it.
A child of God knows that nothing happens in his life by chance. Nothing happens in his life as an accident. Everything was well tailored. It is either he has neglected the voice of God to land in trouble or it is a test that is coming from God to try his Faith. So, nothing happens by chance. If you say you are a seed of God, do not see anything that is happening to you as something just coming.
When you have strived by your effort and you have not seen a way out. You have sought the help of heathens, friends and well-wishers, you have not seen a way out. Then God just comes all of a sudden in a way you least expected, something you never prayed for.
You know one funny thing? It is what you desire you pray for. Is that not so? Prayer starts with your desire. But in this scenario I am painting, you did not even desire, not to talk of praying. You did not even know, then all of a sudden you were found out and an offer extended to you. And you want to tell me that it is not something to sit down and think about? I mean, nothing helps us to hold unto God more than our experiences. Is that not?
Our encounters on a daily basis are what help us to draw closest on a daily basis to God. For we know that these things happening in our life can be nothing but the hand of The Almighty God. Yes! That is why we say we are not just holding the letters of the scriptures; we are the scriptures made manifest. For whatever you are reading happens to be our experiences in this flesh today with The Almighty God. We are not just telling stories.
That is why we are a confirmation of the scriptures. Do you believe that? Not that we are waiting for the scriptures to confirm us. No! We are the confirmation. I can believe the scriptures because I also have the same experiences, so I know that what is documented in the scriptures cannot be false. It cannot just be fiction. For what happened there is also what is happening to me in my own day, so I am the confirmation of the reality in the scriptures. Is that not so? We are the scriptures made manifest.
Yes! You must know your experiences. If you worship God today, you must know why you worship God. You must know why you believe God is real. You must know your encounters with God on a daily basis.
You must know why you are giving your all, your total allegiance to God. So that some religious bigot by your side will not use theology to fool you. Some educated theologians will not stand up to use their limited human knowledge to fool you. They do not know that knowledge is limited to the human intellect. Is that not so?
That is why we have what we call advancement in knowledge. You have a model of car today, tomorrow you have another. In other words, the human intellect has risen to see another better vision. Then you have what we call a remodel, a revised edition.
Whatever you call education today is the height in which human intellect has been able to reach. So how can you use your limited human intellect, because you have risen to the highest point, to now question something that is infinite and limitless and beyond the scope of human intelligence, and that is God! It is not possible. To God be the praise.

²⁶So it is best for us to wait in patience — to wait for Him to save us — ²⁷And it is best to learn this patience in our youth. ²⁸When we suffer, we should sit alone in silent patience; ²⁹We should bow in submission, for there may still be hope. ³⁰Though beaten and insulted, we should accept it for the salvation of the Lord.

(Lamentations 3:26 – 30, GNB).

CHRIST CANNOT SUFFER ALONE, WE MUST HAVE OUR OWN FAIR SHARE

Brethren, let us encourage ourselves a little this morning, before we move on to the message for the day. I mean, let us share some food for thought. We just want to share some food for thought from the message, for if not the word of God, what else do we have?

The word of God is all we have that will continue to keep us in the truth. It is the mirror that shows us who we are. That is where we get the food for thought where we ask ourselves certain questions and put ourselves in line with the visions of the hour so that it shall be well with our souls.
Let us read from the message, GET READY FOR THE FINAL CALL. Preached on Sunday 12^th March, 2022 by The Son of Man. Page 65 vs. 71-73.
Begin to think about what is happening before it will come to you. This is because whether you like it or not, you must get your own fair share in your own way. There is no way Christ will suffer and all of us will go free. Never! Never! Christ cannot suffer alone and all of us like that will just get that salvation and go scot-free.
There must be trials and tests. Trials and tests of your faith. Even in the work place, when you come as a graduate for employment, nobody questions your claim of competence by mere words alone. Have you graduated? Yes!
That is why you hear our Lord always saying, you will defend that your certificate. Stop deceiving yourself with miracle centers, claiming the Nigerian slogan, ‘it is all about the paper’. A day must come when you must be called to defend that paper you are holding. You come up with your certificate and say you are a graduate, nobody will argue with you. I am a graduate of accounting. That is beautiful. At such a young age? That is beautiful.
What is your experience? You start saying, I have worked in so, so and so place. Okay, fine. Your experience and your qualification has qualified you for the position, probably with your age as well. You will then be given the job. Every good organization does not confirm you as a staff because of your experience and your certificate. They give you a period of probation. It is even in your appointment letter.
Appointment letter does not mean confirmation yet. It is saying, you are now our staff on a one month, six months or one year probation, under which we have the ability to either terminate your contract or permanent it. Is that not so? That period is to test you to see indeed whether you really are what you say you are, and have the ability to execute that role that has been given to you. True or false?
So, do not think that this eternal life is just going to be gotten on a platter of gold. God is testing us, God will try us, because He said this eternal salvation is only for the qualified. The qualified are the best among the best. Those that have welcomed the teachings and have accepted the message of Christ into their personal life and have manifested it as well.
So it is in every course in academic education. As long as you have met the qualification, you become a student. But there must be teaching, after which there will come the test to see those who have welcomed the teaching and are qualified to receive a pass in that course. Is it all that normally pass? Not all.
Christ cannot suffer alone and all of us like that will just get that salvation and go scot-free. It is a lie! You must get your own fair share of that suffering.
Romans 8 vs. 16-17, Amplified version. The spirit Himself [thus] testifies together with our own spirit, [assuring us] that we are children of God. And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance with Him], ONLY WE MUST SHARE HIS SUFFERING IF WE ARE TO SHARE HIS GLORY.
You must! And this is because that is the time you will finally be purified, for suffering purifies the heart. Sure! Suffering does what? Purifies the heart. To God be the glory.
Page 68 vs. 80-83. Let us watch and pray that we will be able to escape what is about to unfold. This is the time we should commit the keeping of our souls in well doing into the hands of God, trusting Him to be a faithful Creator who will always keep that which is committed into His hands against all these catastrophes.
Otherwise, there is no way of escape. The only way of escape lies in Christ. The only way of escape lies in Christ. I am the One declaring it. Believe it if you can. Throw it away if you cannot admit it.
On this note, I want us to go through this short exhortation which we know we have been handling for some time – HOLDING UNTO THE CERTAINTY OF THE FAITH FOR THEREUNTO I AM BORN.
Holding on to the certainty of the Faith for thereunto I am born. Are you born to this Faith? Are you born to this cause? That is why I said this is the time we will tell ourselves the final truth. If we are paying allegiance to God, let us pay our allegiance fully. If we are not born unto this Faith, then let us part ways in peace.
But we must hold unto the certainty of that which has been committed into our hands, which we have believed, not being lukewarm about it in any way.
I am born to the Faith. You are born to the Faith. Let us re-examine the contents once again. You can be seated.
So, if you are born to the Faith, it should manifest in your life, in your actions. Can you be born unto something and then you forsake it tomorrow? It is not possible. Whatever you are born to is what you will hold on to permanently. Is that not so?
Page 51 vs. 40-51. BUT WE HAVE CHRIST AS OUR IDENTITY. Our identity is Christ. Is Christ your identity? OUR IDENTITY IS CHRIST AND NOTHING MORE. OUR IDENTITY IS NOT NIGERIA. OUR IDENTITY IS NOT EU OR NATO. OUR IDENTITY IS CHRIST.
Now, we can see all of them threatening, flexing their muscles and at the same time, implementing their threats. Let there be nobody here or elsewhere who will think that these are mere empty threats. They are not empty threats. They are realities.
What is expected of us at this dangerous hour is to come together. Come together spiritually because you are a nation that is despised by other nations. Come together. Close ranks with each other. Mend fences immediately with your brothers and sisters.
What do we do? Come together and mend fences. Coming together, is it just a physical statement? Let us mend fences. How do we mend fences? Those things that cause disaffection among brotherhood must be put aside. Those things that are not commonly believed among the brotherhood, must be put aside for those are the things that have made us to stay far away from one another. Because they are foreign lifestyles we are introducing.
They came as a result of influence, that is why they have not allowed us to blend together as one. But now God is crying that it is time for us to come together. Mend fences. In other words, we must put aside all those things, so that we can truly be bound by that which is commonly believed amongst us. Then we will become one in spirit and physically.
Make sure there is nothing that stands between you and God, between you and your fellow human being. If there be any traceable fault, correct it immediately. Do not stay till tomorrow. And do not allow any earthly thing, any material or sensual pleasure to occupy your mind anymore, for whatever you are pursuing here on earth, truly speaking, will jeopardize your journey into Paradise.
Colossians 3 vs. 2-3, Living Bible. Let Heaven fill your thoughts, don’t spend your time worrying about things down here. You should have as little desire for this world as a dead person does. Your real life is in Heaven with Christ and God. This is because I can see nothing but disaster.
There is nothing but disaster ahead. If I go to bed, I see disaster. When I wake up, I see disaster. Nothing is left but disaster. Any moment from now, the entire world will be rendered desolate. And the children of God who will be here will rejoice exceedingly that they never believed God in vain.
And we have never believed in vain. Don’t you want to be among those that will be there to tell the story? But if you do not mend fences today and remain in the bosom of the Lord, how do you expect to be there?
It will happen before your eyes. If it does not happen, know that The Almighty God never sent Me. How can I make such a statement if I am not sure? Who has predicted what will happen and it has come to pass according to His words? He is the Almighty God.
SO BE SURE YOU ARE IN RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. BE SURE YOU ARE IN RIGHT STANDING WITH GOD AND IN RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH ONE ANOTHER, FOR WHERE WE ARE NOW IS VERY VERY DANGEROUS. YOU CAN GO TO BED, BUT YOU MAY NOT WAKE UP. ANY STATE YOU ARE BEFORE YOUGAVE UP THE GHOST DETERMINES YOUR ETERNAL DESTINY. THERE IS NO REPENTANCE IN THE GRAVE.
Our brother who had a problem yesterday never knew that he would be rushed to the hospital. Assuming he died there on the highway yesterday, what do you think would have been his fate?
SO, LET US BE CAREFUL AS WE SEE EVENTS UNFOLD ON A DAILY BASIS. MAY WE DO THE RIGHT THING. MAY WE DO THE NEEDFUL BY RE-EXAMINING OURSELVES…
let us do the right thing by re-examining ourselves as we see the days approaching on a daily basis. This is what I am picking there. This is why we gather on a daily basis. To re-examine ourselves in the light of the truth.
MAY WE DO THE NEEDFUL BY RE-EXAMINING OURSELVES IN LINE WITH THE TEACHINGS WE HAVE RECEIVED… In line with the teachings we have received, not in line with the one we are manufacturing for ourselves.
We have received a teaching. How much of our lives are in conformity with the teachings we have received? How well are we patterning our lives after the teachings? That is why you heard the voice on Sunday which I was pointing you and I to during the morning altar, where God was talking about how young men have not learnt, and are still struggling to pattern after the guide. I mean, the very Son of Man in our midst. Both in outlook, in conduct and in everything.
The angel that appeared before us, His outlook. He said many of us are trying to copy Moses. Are you Moses? There is one standing in front of you. Why is it so difficult for the youths to emulate Him in everything. That is what God was saying. And that is what we are talking about.
We are examining ourselves to see how much we are patterning after this our God. How much are we emulating His ways? How much of the message have we put into practice?
MAY WE DO THE NEEDFUL BY RE-EXAMINING OUR LIVES IN LINE WITH THE TEACHINGS WE HAVE RECEIVED TO KNOW WHETHER WE ARE MEASURING UP TO STANDARD. IF YOU KNOW YOU ARE NOT MEASURING UP TO THE STANDARD, THIS IS YOUR TIME. THIS IS YOUR TIME, FOR EVERYTHING WILL FAIL YOU, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT.
Everything will fail you whether you like it or not. There is nothing that will not fail you. Just like I am talking to our brother here. Which one has really succeeded for you? Even in this scenario we are trying to paint, which one? Is it your self striving? Is the help of well-wishers or relations? Is it not still the help from God? For whatever is done by God’s own people is done by God.
So, everything in this life will fail a human being. The only thing that will not fail you is this God we are talking about. That is why we come to re-examine ourselves from time to time.
Let us tell ourselves the gospel truth. It is time for a food for thought in this hour, to be sure that we are still very much found in our sanctified estates.

¹¹Let Me interpret it. Any day His word becomes passive to you, surely you are lost. He will bypass anything, but He will never bypass His Word. He respects nothing but His Word. He confirms nothing but His Word. ¹²Thus, any day you come to the point when you hear His Voice and you harden your heart, you are lost. You joke with His Word, you are lost. You show signs of unbelief to His Word, you are lost, for He expects nothing from you except total obedience to the truth.

-THE SON OF MAN

ANOTHER DAYPREACHED ON 8^TH APRIL

2012 PG 52:11-12

THE SAFETY DEVICE HAS BEEN PROVIDED

We go to ONCE HISTORY IS FORGOTTEN, THE MISTAKES OF THE PAST MUST BE REPEATED Volume 2. Preached on Sunday 24^th October, 2021 by The Son of Man. Page 124 vs. 18-20. BLESSED AND TO BE ENVIED IS EVERYONE WHO IS IN RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

Blessed, to be envied is anyone that is in what? In right relationship with God. When we heard the testimony concerning our Evangelist Ben Okezue, were you not pleased? Were you not saying ‘may this be my condition as well?’ Do you not desire it, that God will stand and come down in His glory in the defense of His own and every knee will bow.
He told Bishop Obadiah, if you want to be healed of this your sickness, go there, Ben Okezue will pray for you. Just the same way all that came accusing Job, God told them listen to me, for you to obtain forgiveness, you must go and pay your sacrifice to Job. Go back to that man Job. Did you choose him for me? Were you there when I chose him? Were you there when I called him?
Look at what the message is saying, they are to be envied. Do you think these people that are blessed are coming from the sky? It is in this same Faith, this Bride of Christ ministry we are in. There must be those who must have been bestowed with this great privilege of being in right standing with God.
If I am not there, what will be my prayer? ‘Lord, if it is not possible, You will not say it. After all I have even seen examples in my own time, in my own day. What makes me different from them? I want to fall in that category that is covered 100% by the immunity of The Almighty God’. Should that not be your desire? Read it there let us hear it. In this faith, we are not talking of elsewhere.
BLESSED, HAPPY, TO BE ENVIED IS EVERY MAN, EVERY WOMAN, EVERY CHILD WHO IS IN RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AT ALL TIMES WHO HAPPENS TO BE GOD’S DELIGHT,…
Do you see the categories? You can be a child, you can be a youth, you can be a woman, you can be a man, whoever. There is nobody that does not have the opportunity of being in right relationship with God.
The message said they are at all times, not once in a while, but at all times in right relationship with God, and there is nobody who is in right relationship with God that will not be in right relationship with his fellow brethren and with humanity. In that case there is no way that blessings will ever elude him. Why? Because everything in heaven and earth speaks good about the individual for The Almighty God has spoken good concerning him. Yes! That is why he is to be envied.
WHOM THE LORD DOES NOT INPUT SIN, WHOSE SINS ARE COVERED FOR HIS NAMES SAKE,…Whom the Lord does not input sin.
Did you hear it about last two or three Sundays? One that I have decided that I will not input sin upon him for even when others departed, he remained faithful. The person they are talking about is one I know, you know. I have shook his hands, you have shook his hands. You have heard him, you have seen him. You can describe him. Do you not know Evangelist Ben?
So if such an individual exists that can win God’s approval and commendation, what stops you? What stops me? Is the person living in another place? Is the person not facing trials and persecutions? Is he not going through temptations? Is God not testing his Faith? If God had not tested his Faith, will God speak this way concerning him or her?
So if I have not gotten it, I should blame myself. I should blame myself. And I should see that it is possible for somebody to be in right relationship with God always, whom God will not input any iniquity upon him. For that is God’s own decision.
WHOM THE LORD HAS MADE HOLY AND RIGHTEOUS IN HIS OWN EYES,…Did He say in the eyes of the world? If our Evangelist was righteous in the eyes of the world, will even his fellow ministers have petitioned against him? So do you see it? In the eyes of all around, you might see him as the most wicked man.
This short man, devil. How can God be praising this kind of a person? God forbid! But God made him righteous in His own eyes.
What is your desire? Do you desire to be righteous in your own eyes? Or are you desiring to be righteous in the eyes of your family or those around you? Or are you desiring to be righteous in the eyes of The Almighty? Because you have met His own righteous standard.
WHOM THE LORD HAS MADE HOLY AND RIGHTEOUS IN HIS OWN EYES NOT BECAUSE OF THE WORKS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS HE HAS DONE, BUT BY THE GRACE OF GOD. To God be the praise.
This is what we should be desiring at this time. I must be in right standing with God. That is my desire. That is my crave. That is my cry. Let the world see me as evil. Let the world see me as a bad person, but if God has decided not to input iniquity for His Namesake on me, then what am I? that is exactly what I desire. Then I am a favored child. I am amazing grace myself.
Brethren we are still going further, for we still have a message for consideration. Same message page 124 vs. 18. BLESSED AND TO BE ENVIED IS EVERYONE WHO IS IN RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
We go to 2016 NEW YEAR MESSAGE. Preached on the 1^st of January 2016. Page 61 vs. 25-28. So it is; the safety device has been provided and that is obedience to the word of God;
Can you be obedient to the word of God and you will not be in right standing with God? So the safety device is obedience to the word of God. That God, we know who He is.
So it is, the safety device has been provided and that is obedience to the word of God, following God at his word; maintaining close relationship with God and with one another; Not a long-distance relationship.
And remember, He said, following God at His word. It is not at your word. God has His word. But many are following God at their own word, in their own way. The way they feel, not at the word of God.
…running without looking back for eternal life is an individual race, purely personal. It is not a collective one. Purely personal! I can take my decision on my own. You will take your own. If you are not ready to go, I leave you behind. Or if I am not ready to go, you leave me behind.
I said it is purely personal. Personalize your own. If you are dragging your family and there appears one that is not ready to follow you,…
Pay attention to this! If you are dragging your family, as many who want to drag their family. We have reached a point where you cannot drag anyone. If you are dragging your family, hear what God will say. He did not say carry them on your head. Listen to what He says.
If you are dragging your family and there appears one that is not ready to follow you, leave him there; leave her there. Run the race as an individual. Leave him there! Leave her there! Run the race as an individual. He did not say force the person.
If Bishop Joe says he wants to go, and the Apostle is not ready, the message did not say you should force him. Leave him there and run your race. It is an individual matter. Do you see that we are standing as individuals? What is your own stand concerning this spiritual race?
The way you came into this world as an individual, that’s the way you are going back; for every living being is answerable to God concerning himself. I will not answer for you. You will not answer for me.
I won’t give reason why so, so and so didn’t make it. I am only concerned about myself. If I fail to make it, I will know what hindered me. The blame will not go to anybody. If you fail to make it, the blame will not go to anybody. The suffering will not be shared.
The suffering that will follow can never be shared with anybody no matter who that person is. No matter your relationship with that person, he can never share the suffering of hell with you. Amen.
There is no way a father will share in the suffering of his son because his son is in hell, because he refused to listen to instructions. He refused to take advice. Likewise will it not happen if the father is the one in hell and the son has found his way of escape. We will not share it no matter our relationship. Even husband and wife will not share it. The scripture said, one will be taken, one will be left. Will the one taken suffer what the one left will suffer? Not possible!
GET READY FOR THE FINAL CALL Page 43 vs. 23. On this race to Paradise, no friend – no enemy. No Brother – no Sister.
I have no brother except in Christ. I have no sister except in Christ. Not because we came from the same father or the same mother. If you want to be my brother and we came out from the same womb, I must find you in Christ. If I cannot find you in Christ, we only have earthly ties that will terminate one of these days. But I only know those that are my true brethren as those that I can find in Christ.
On this race to Paradise, no friend – no enemy. No Brother – no Sister. You are walking alone with God. You are walking alone with God. I am walking alone with God.
The day I was born, was I not alone? The day you were born, were you not alone? Even those that were born as twins came out one after the other. They never came out together. We are all alone. The day we will be going, we are also going all alone. So see yourself as an individual. That is how God says it is concerning this eternal race.
Take your decisions as an individual. Do not listen to he that is not ready to go.
Look at the circular God had to release to individuals and families. Many deciding to be middle men to the messages. God said there is no middleman, allow everybody. Stop polishing your own words to use to circumvent the truth from God in your homes and in your families. Do not stand on the pathway of another, because you do not know who is willing to go and who is not willing to go.
And that is why if you have any impediment, no matter where it is coming from, please cut it off. If you have any impediment, did He say hold on to it? Cut it off if you know that this race is really what you are ready to run.
If you know that you want to get the crown at the end of this journey, if you know that you have discovered any impediment in your life, you should cut it off. Amen!

⁹BE IT KNOWN TO YOU THAT THE SCRIPTURE SAID THAT GOD IS FAR FROM THE WICKED BUT HE HEARETH THE PRAYERS OF THE RIGHTEOUS. ANOTHER SCRIPTURE SAID THAT THE EAR OF THE LORD IS ALWAYS ATTENTIVE TO THE PRAYERS OF THE RIGHTEOUS. ¹⁰SO, THIS IS THE YEAR GOD IS GOING TO PROVE TO THE WHOLE WORLD THAT WE ARE NOT WORSHIPPING HIM IN VAIN. THIS IS THE YEAR WE SHALL KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE THAT WORSHIP GOD IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH AND THOSE THAT WORSHIP HIM CARNALLY FOR THE DIFFERENCE SHALL BE SEEN AMONG US AS BELIEVERS.

-THE SON OF MAN

2019 NEW YEAR MESSAGE: THE YEAR OF JUDGEMENT OF THE WORLD; Chapter 4 – the white throne judgment – Pg. 48 vs 9-10

WORSHIPPING OF GOD IS A CONTINUUM TO FORM A GENERATION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

ONCE HISTORY IS FORGOTTEN, THE MISTAKES OF THE PAST MUST BE REPEATED Volume 2. Page 104 vs. 50-51. A bad generation. You see how the children of God can perish with the children of the world…

How can a child of God perish with the children of the world? Let us see how. (1)…by neglecting God’s ways of life,…By neglecting God’s way of life, you are endangering yourself to bearing the same fate with the children of the world. (2)…by neglecting his instructions… By neglecting godly counsels and instructions and words of wisdom. (3)…and by joining hands with the wicked, the disobedient and the rejected people.
When you join hands with the wicked, the disobedient and rejected people, who are all around us. Of course, you meet them in the society. Joining hands does not mean that you are holding yourself hand in hand. No! It is when you are also doing the same things they are doing. There is no limitation. You go to the same extent they go, the same length they go. You are even worse than them. Are you not joining hands with the heathens? Yet you are a child of God as you say.
God will destroy all of them together, for He is a God of justice and fairness. In that case you will share the same fate with the world. The God of equity who judges every man by one standard, who judges without partiality, who does not accept bribe. He does not accept any form of bribe.
This is the only way the children of God can be destroyed. By joining hands with the evil ones. How can you join hands with the evil ones? Through influence. Is that not so?
Same message page 109 vs. 9-12. You see how a good tree can produce a bad fruit… Look at how a good tree can produce a bad fruit, how a child of God will be destroyed. You see how a good tree can produce a bad fruit through influence. Through influence! It is influence that causes it.
One that is godly instructed and rightly instructed can be evil tomorrow by mingling with evil people.
By mingling with evil people. They become your delight, your role model. They are the people that you derive your comfort and your joy from. They are your company. There is no way you will mingle with them without gaining wrong spirits through influence. And in that case, one that was well instructed in godliness, one that was raised up properly, one that comes from a good seed will end up being a bad fruit.
Do not say, “I am above it”. God said, do not say “I am above it”. I am a minister; I am above it. Nobody is above influence. You can never befriend a leper and refuse his handshake.
Do not say, “I know myself. I know my stand”. When it will happen, you will not know yourself again. True or false?
Is that not always the statement? I know what I am doing. I know what I am doing. Whenever you are erring and then it is pointed out, whenever you are being told about your associations, the answer is “I know what I am doing”. Am I a foolish person? Don’t I know what I am doing? You do not know what you are doing. You can never know it.
Do not be a self confident fool who will always confront danger before running away.
Can you imagine. He does not see danger and shift. He wants to enter it first and then taste the fire before he runs. Why must you always be caught up in trouble before you learn your lesson? Why can’t you accept godly wisdom that will help you to avoid evil? Why must you always be a victim of evil before you learn?
A WISE FELLOW SEES DANGER AHEAD AND RUNS AWAY FROM IT. A FOOL WILL FALL HEADLONG INTO IT. So do not be a mule who is controlled by a whip. Until I learn my lesson in a very hard way, I will not change my mind. You are a fool! You are a mule. Amen!
You are a fool if you want to learn your lesson in a hard way. One day you will learn that lesson but there will be no way out. For time is no more on our side. There is no more time. You are waiting to learn your lesson in a hard way.
One who learns his lesson in a hard way is a stubborn fellow. I will do it, I will do it. Until you fail, then you now believe it is true. That thing cannot work o! Then you now want to change. Why must you always fall into trouble before you learn your lesson?
Page 90 vs. 7-9. It is just like the Rechabite’s family in Jeremiah 35, who were warned to desist from anything strong drink. God used Jeremiah to test all their generations of their belief, and they resisted drinking.
The LORD used that family as an example of people who are bound in obeying the words of their fathers without a single slip or fault. How our own children owe it as a strong responsibility [obligation] they cannot dodge to obey and live by the instructions they received from their parents who served God acceptably so that they themselves shall be made acceptable by God.
Do you see it? If we have parents that have served God acceptably, parents that are earning the commendation of God, what else do you think will be their greatest desire than that their offspring’s will also partake of the same blessings?
We owe it as a responsibility to accept the godly instructions they are passing unto us, for it is a generational thing. So that the same way they earned God’s commendation, the same way we will earn it. When the children of Israel were instructed, they were told these things are what you will pass on. Teach your children, generation to generation.
Worshipping God is generational. It will not end with you. You teach your offspring’s and pass them on. God said in Malachi that the essence why God allowed you to take a wife, is so that you will raise godly offspring. So that godly off-springs can continue to be produced. So that we will continue to serve God.
We owe it as a responsibility to accept all we are hearing. So that we will not be influenced (blown) away by the winds of time.
Page 51 vs. 16-17. That is why I told you that serving the LORD with purity of heart has always been a continuum. It is a continuum.
Does it stop? For how many families today is it a continuum? You see only the father holding on to the Faith, the whole family, the children are wayward. You see only one person holding on to the Faith there, all the others are wayward. Has the purpose not been defeated?
But God said it is a continuum. Is it not true? A relay race! A will run and give to B, B to C, C to D, D to E, down the line. They will continue to hand over. Then they will form a generation of righteousness.
Is that not what we desire in this family? If I am holding on to the head, I mean, Christ, and Peace is holding on to the head [Christ] and William is holding on to the head [Christ], and Bishop Joe and our mother are holding on to the head [Christ], what is that family? A generation of righteousness. Is that not what we have formed? Is that not what The Son of Man’s family is? Is it not our pattern that we are trying to emulate? A family that is a generation of righteousness. The Son of Man passing it on.
Look at Bishop Chidubem and sister Ijeoma over there.

Look at Bishop Rotimi and sister Onyedika down there. Look at Pastor Chibuzor and sister Bube. A generation of righteousness. Look at our ministers, all in their own sections holding on to the truth. Look at sister Chiamaka and the fiancé, a generation of righteousness. That is what we are establishing here as well. Not a generation of waywardness.

That is why we have a message God titled, “A WASTED GENERATION”. How will a man be happy that his family is declared a wasted generation. In other words, there is not even one single fruit in that family that is an epitome of godliness. Not even one. A whole generation, you cannot even pick one. Why? When God is saying that this is a continuum, we do not take it seriously.
If Bishop Joe leaves the scene today, then the testimony will die down in the family of Bishop Joe No! it is a continuum. Are there no offsprings in the family? Are there no individuals in the family? What is their own record and testimony as individuals?
That is why it is normally said that great men’s children normally live in the shadow of their parents. But why should they always be in the shadow of their parents? If my father is great, I can be great. I will even leverage on the greatness of my father to make a better start than him. Rather than being foolish.
When our director of operations was talking to us at work, he said that when his children are desiring to trek back from school sometimes, he allows them. He said yes, during my days, who was carrying me inside car to school. You trek to school, you trek back home, but our children these days are always inside car. We take them to school, we bring them back. So, it is now a thing of joy to them that they are even trekking back home. They will come and be rejoicing, “daddy we trekked back home today”.
He said the other day he took them to the roadside, see as his children were acting so scared just to cross ordinary road. He shouted in amazement, saying ‘me that was a king of the jungle, crossing road anyhow, look at my children now’. To cross ordinary road, they cannot cross. Why? Always inside the car. Any movement, inside the car. He said no. He was preaching our own message in a way that made some sense. He said, why he is allowing them to trek back on their own is because he is trying to let them know that it cannot always be a bed of roses. It will not always be smooth. And I said in my heart, this is what The Son of Man has taught us. Do not ever make your children feel that it will always be a bed of roses.
What point am I making here? Tell your own testimony. Your own path you are carving out. If your father or mother has earned a godly testimony from God, good and fine that I come from that family, but what is my own testimony before God? Was this not even one of the testimonies we heard from our sister Peace here? She told us here that every time the name of this family is called nobody remembers her. No one even knows that she is a part of this family.
What is God even saying about me. He does not mention my name. We all heard it openly with our two ears here and we were laughing at her words. But today, it is now a textbook about her. Why? Godly desire! It is your desire that will turn out to become action, and then you now see your dreams that you thought was an impossibility, become a reality.
What do you desire for yourself? What are the principles you have emulated from the godly parents you have, that has made you to have your own mindset and vision about life? You believe that they espoused you to the reality; to God. So let me emulate it.
When we pick the testimonies of our patriarchs, we hear of Adam, we hear of Abel, we now hear of Seth. We hear of Mahalalel, we hear of Cain, we heard of Enos. Each of these people were offspring’s one to another. Everybody had his own testimony with God that they can stand up and rehearse. This is what I learnt from my parents. I heard of their encounter with God, and this is my own encounter and testimony with God. Then they passed it on.
That is what God is creating. A generation of righteousness. Not the one that you are sitting down there and watching. Some of us do not even have encouraging parents that have gotten a good testimony with God, and you are also sitting down comfortably in such, family towing the same pathway your parents are towing. If they have decided not to right their record with God, can’t you be the motivation? For parents can motivate children and children can also motivate parents.
If the parents see their children earning good commendations before God, they will sit up. You become the flame that will ignite the fire in them and then they will rise up. It can also happen the other way round. Why can’t we be a generation of righteousness? This is the only way that we can match into Paradise as a group. If not, we stand as individuals.
When you have decided to walk left while I am walking right, well, to God be the glory for we are standing as individuals. We must create our records as individuals. Then when you look at the individual records and put it together, you now see a family of righteousness. The credit, at the end, will come back to God. When God will come down, He will see the father, and He will see the mother of that righteous generation.
Yes! That is what I want to see. When He looks as Bishop Joe, looks at sister Grace, then He will see that these are the parents of a righteous generation. A generation of righteousness. That is what He wants to see. Not godly parents with wayward offsprings that have no vision, no plan, that are a thorn in the flesh of God. That are not blessings to the children of God. Like Hophni and Phinehas, where they a blessing to the children of God? They were causing trouble in the household, bringing cases upon cases, making the elders not to relax. That is not what God is looking for.

Holding the faith that God does not recognize, is it not the greatest disappointment. Has God recognized your faith for one day? Has the Almighty God acknowledged and recognized your own individual faith to the point where He will say, “This is My well-beloved son; This is My well-beloved daughter in whom I am well pleased?”

-THE SON OF MAN

GET READY FOR THE FINAL CALL PREACHED ON

SUNDAY 12^TH MARCH 2022 PG 62:64

HAS GOD RECOGNIZED YOUR FAITH AS A MEMBER OF HIS FAMILY

GET READY FOR THE FINAL CALL, let us round up with that message. Page 57 vs. 53-66. I AM SAYING THAT WE HAVE COME TO A POINT WHERE WE SHOULD NARROW OURSELVES DOWN TO THE AFFAIRS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.

I am saying this morning that we have come to a point in this family, where we should narrow ourselves to the affairs of the kingdom of heaven. That should be our watchword. Wherever I am, wherever you are, whatever actions we are taking in order to survive while we remain in this flesh, our watchword is the affairs of the kingdom of heaven where we are heading to. NO MORE. NO LESS.
IF THERE BE ANY OTHER THING, REGARD IT AS A DISTRACTION, AND BE VERY CAREFUL THE WAY YOU GIVE IT ATTENTION. Regard any other thing as a distraction and be careful the way you give it attention.
For there is a way you can pursue your education and you find yourself out of this Faith. There is a way you can focus on your job and you find yourself out of this Faith. Regard everything as a distraction!He did not say only stealing, or any other evil vices alone.
As long as you are doing anything that does not have eternal value, that is what we mean by a distraction. Does your job have any eternal value? Does your education have any eternal value? Does your marrying a wife have any eternal value? Does your building a house have any eternal value? These are all things we are doing while we remain in this flesh. We must continue pursuing them for the Faith did not stop us. Rather, it encouraged us to do them in a godly way.
We cannot do it like the world, for the world have their pattern. We also have our pattern. So if you are not careful the way you give these things attention, before you know it, you will be cut off from this race. And that is why we have to be careful.
This is the time for us to begin to detach from all those entanglements which I know are not helping us to grow in the Faith and in the knowledge of God.
Are there things that are not helping us grow in the Faith and in the knowledge of God? There are many things. Unnecessary entanglements. Unnecessary associations. Even our android phones.
You know the android phone is now a world of its own. Yes! Do you know that you can sit down within the walls of your bedroom and you do not feel bored because there are too many things you are doing on your phone. There is the good, there is the bad. And if you do not know how to regulate what you use your android phones to do, you can just be wasting your time with the phone. The phone might be your biggest hindrance. Are we together? Please, let us use our phones wisely.
Even during my orientation exercise for my current job, the director of operations was saying the same thing. What do you do with your phone? Why do you people always spend time on it? Must you always sit down with your phone? He said listen to me, I will rather employ one who has a school certificate and certificate he has earned from trainings. It means that his brain is not redundant. That person is on the move. Than having a graduate who graduated four years back and has not made any improvement since then. That simply means the person is stagnated.
He said,” do you not know that we have redundant professors? Do you not know we have redundant doctorate degree holders? You just stopped where you were. With your android phones you can go for courses, you can run programs. Not just to be holding powerful phones in vain. The only thing in your phone from morning till night is movies. From movies, you crossover to social media. You hear all the gist, laugh up and down, watch all the skits and finish. The next thing you have jump into game. You will play game from morning till night. Your phone will run down, you are looking for where to charge.
The next thing, you have run into the casinos. All the betting platforms are now there. You will sit down there. Some people can spend three hours just setting games. You have spent more than twenty four hours o! You have completed the whole day on your android phone. When you check all your activities, there is nothing that can be traced to godliness or anything to improve the individual that he has done. That is what is meant by a dangerous tool in the hand of a fool.
We heard it in the message where God said, the best thing your android phone can do for you, is to help you to serve the Lord. True or false? When I first purchased an android, what was the best thing it was doing for us? Was that not the time of the lockdown? That was the time God first connected us online. The best thing it can do is the message.
Look at that declining android phone which Sis Peace was using then. Who will believe that all the transcribing and transcribing is done on that handset.There is no system that does any work in this house. We were using our android phones to do transcribing of messages from then till date. Nobody is using any system here. So, what can your android phone do for you? Many things!
What can this gadget do for you? Many things. All I have come to realize is that everything around an individual functions based on what that individual is all about. It is not what the gadget will do to the individual, but what the individual will use the gadget to do. If you want to make productive use of your gadgets, you will make productive use of it. If you do not want, you will allow it to lead you astray.
What do you use your android phone to do? God said, that is one of the greatest forms of contact these days. Knowledge you are gaining from there can either be the godly one or the destructive knowledge. So please, regulate what you do. Allow the spirit of God to lead you. Use your phones wisely.
It is a defeat that somebody has an android phone, he is on all the social media platforms and he has various activities he can use it for, he watches all sorts of movies in the phone, but from week to week that individual cannot access the message. That is the greatest blunder for anybody that is in The Bride of Christ Ministry worldwide. It is an excuse that should not be heard. It is a story that should not be told. Not from somebody that is professing this Faith, that is holding on to this Faith. Not from somebody that truly desires salvation.
You cannot give excuse why you can have time for every other thing, social media and all other activities on your android phone, but you cannot take 30 minutes, you cannot even take 10 minutes to listen to the voice of The Son of Man that will minister something to you everyday. It is a defeat.
This is the time for us to begin to detach from all those entanglements which I know are not helping us to grow in the Faith and in the knowledge of God. Your greatest entanglement can be your phone. It is not helping you grow in the Faith and in the knowledge of God.
This is because there is nothing that will save us right now if not the Faith we have established in Christ, which we are maintaining by living the right life. There is nothing that will save us than this Faith we have established in The Son of Man. And we are sustaining or maintaining it by living a right life, not living the wrong life.
You cannot sustain the Faith if you are living the wrong life. The moment you are living a wrong life, you have detached yourself from the Faith and then what will be your salvation? For it is only this Faith that can save us.
It is not professing the Faith with your mouth, answering members of the Bride of Christ Ministry. Instead of being a member of Christ’s Family, you are a member of the Bride of Christ Ministry. Bride of Christ Ministry is going to stop,…It must stop one day. …but the Family of God has no ending. At all!
Take note of what I am saying. I better be a member of God’s own Family – God’s own Household. Sure! I better be a member of God’s own household. On that day, many will come knocking and asking for admission, and the Voice will say, “Who are you and where are you coming from?” and you introduce yourself. That is why I have given you the Message, INTRODUCE YOURSELF BEFORE GOD THE ALMIGHTY [VOLUMES 1 & 2].
Tell God who you are, and listen to his reply. Some will hear a disappointing reply that day, “My friend! I do not know you. That household you say you are coming from, certainly is not Mine. I do not know you neither do I recognize that household. Certainly, that is your own household. It is not Mine!” Is it scriptural? Have we read it in the Holy Bible?
Luke 13:24 – 25, Amplified version. Strive to enter by the narrow door [force yourselves through it], for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house gets up and closes the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door [again and again], saying, Lord, open to us! HE WILL ANSWER YOU, I DO NOT KNOW WHERE [WHAT HOUSEHOLD– CERTAINLY NOT MINE] YOU COME FROM.
If it does not come to pass, know that I am not THE SON OF MAN. That is why I gave you the Message titled, DISAPPOINTED EXPECTATION. And that is when you lavish your time in your membership of the Bride of Christ Ministry without stepping your feet into Christ’s Family, which is the true Church of the Firstborn, registered in Heaven. You were never a member.
You can be one million years in this your earthly arrangement called Bride of Christ Ministry Worldwide. You can even be the Methuselah there without stepping your feet for one second into the Church of the Firstborn – the Family of God – where all the members are registered in Heaven. Holding the faith that God does not recognize, is it not the greatest disappointment.
Has God recognized your faith for one day? Has the Almighty God acknowledged and recognized your own individual faith to the point where He will say, “This is My well-beloved son;
This is food for thought! That is what we are talking about. Has God recognized your Faith for one day? Did He say our collective Faith? Your own individual faith you have expressed in Christ. Has God recognized it to the point where He can say, o! brother, you are My well beloved son. Has God recognized it? Not just claiming. Has God recognized your faith?
Has the Almighty God acknowledged and recognized your own individual faith to the point where He will say, “This is My well-beloved son; This is My well-beloved daughter in whom I am well pleased?”
Let me ask myself, you also ask yourself. Has God recognized your faith to that point? This is My son, I am well pleased with this individual. I am well pleased with this person. And you are relenting? You do not relent till you get there.
Have you come to that point where God can repose such a confidence in you, calling you His own son or His own daughter? Have you come to that point? Is it one that is not taking God seriously or at His word that God will repose such a confidence in? It is not possible. Are you reliable? Somebody God can repose confidence in, one that cannot disappoint Christ.
For these are the only people that will escape the holocaust that is on the way. In other words, the others will not escape it. So, if it is not your desire that God will recognize your own individual faith you have expressed in Him, whereby He can repose confidence in you, calling you His well beloved son, then get ready, you are going to be part of the holocaust.
Only these people that their faith has gotten God’s approval will escape this forthcoming impending doom. So where is your desire? And how are you striving everyday to achieve it?
IT IS GRADUALLY COMING DOWN. WE ARE WATCHING FROM THE TELEVISION AND FROM AFAR, SEEING WHAT IS HAPPENING UP THERE. VERY SOON, SOME OTHER COUNTRIES WILL WATCH OUR OWN. VERY SOON! SOONER THAN YOU THINK, YOU WILL RUN HELTER-SKELTER. YOU WOULD NOT HAVE A HOME WHERE YOU WILL PUT YOUR HEAD ON THE BED FOR EVEN ONE MINUTE.
Page 77 vs. 19-37. If you are here and you are of age, simply because your parents are here, your relations are here, your husbands are here, your wives are here, for that reason, it becomes your family Church, well, I pity you! Sure!!!
I pity you if you are here because your parents are here. Because your father and mother are in this faith, so you are still following and coming so that nobody will talk. If that is why you are here, well, sorry for you. If you are not convinced, you have not expressed your own faith in this God we are worshipping, you are simply just following parents and family, well, sorry for you.
If you do not enquire as an individual and get your own personal conviction about why your parent says it must be this place or never, you are not one of us. You are not one of us if you do not do that. You will be blown about by the wind of time. And it will manifest in your characters for you can never ever have a stand on any matter concerning godliness. You are going to be blown about. Any one that the winds of time blows you to, that is where you will go to. No revelation. No conviction of your own.
You will be blown about by the wind of time. You would not know exactly what we are doing. A SURE SIGN IS THIS: YOUR GOING TO FELLOWSHIP WILL BE THROUGH PERSUASION. IF YOU ARE NOT PERSUADED, YOU WILL NOT GO. …
This is exactly the picture of almost all the families in this Bridal faith. The only exception remains THE SON OF MAN’s nuclear Family where the children took out time to investigate for themselves to find out the truth about their belief. They never believed because their Father is called THE SON OF MAN. They investigated and enquired to know why their Father is THE SON OF MAN and what THE SON OF MAN means.
If these other families had done that type of work, nobody will be crying wolf in our midst. A situation where they have grown to adolescence, and now what they are manifesting shows that only the father is holding the Faith, while the entire family is completely lost. Completely lost from the Kingdom of Heaven.
Your feet cannot be traced into the Family of Faith. What a horrifying situation! A horrifying situation! That is why you can hardly get a reliable fellow – a dependable fellow in the Bridal Faith.
Is that a good statement to the Bride? That God will say in the whole Bride, you can hardly get a dependable fellow. So if the righteous can scarcely be saved, what happens to the ungodly? If in the Bride of Christ where we are supposed to be having righteousness all around us, God is saying that you can hardly find a reliable fellow, should we be proud of ourselves? So most of us are only ready to answer Bride of Christ, that is all! But we are not yet ready to find ourselves in the family of God.
That is why you can hardly get a reliable fellow – a dependable fellow in the Bridal Faith. Why? They take delight in answering members of the Bride of Christ Ministry. They take delight in parading themselves with their offices. They do not know that they are mere earthly arrangements that would have helped them to attain the desired standard God set for all who will be found in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Let us be careful, for the Almighty God did not deceive us from the beginning. The LORD Jesus said, “First seek ye the Kingdom of Heaven and its righteousness. Every other thing shall be added unto you.” But unfortunately, those who call themselves sons and daughters of God will first of all go for every other thing, after which God will be last. And so they introduced it into their families.
I thank God for SON OF MAN whose conscience has remained uncompromised till this day. Hence, we are still alive holding unto the certainty of the Faith, for thereunto, we are born.
A SURE SIGN IS THIS: YOUR GOING TO FELLOWSHIP WILL BE THROUGH PERSUASION. IF YOU ARE NOT PERSUADED, YOU WILL NOT GO.
And because you have no conviction, there will be no interest. You will never show concern. Because you can only show concern when you are convinced. And the moment you are convinced, your faith settles down. Christ becomes your anchor by day and by night. IF YOUR REST IS NOT IN CHRIST, TRULY SPEAKING, YOU ARE LOST. Sure!!! Life is all about Christ. Life is not all about marriage, all about money or wealth, or all about education. No! If you believe it, say Amen!
Life is all about Christ. It is not just to say amen. Do you believe it? It should show in your action. For you cannot say you believe it but you are chasing wealth at all cost without listening to the voice of God. You are chasing other things at all cost without listening to the voice of God. If you believe it, it shows in your action, for you will do everything according to how the voice of God has permitted you. Why because you believe that life is all about Christ.
But life is all about Christ, Because the most pitiable individual on earth, the most pitiable human being on earth, is not one that is poor because he has no money or he has no common sense or he is numbered among the physically challenged people in the society, no. The most pitiable human being on earth is the human being, who, no matter how highly placed or lowly placed, is living a life void of Christ. That is the most pitiable human being on earth.That is it! Sure!!! And no matter the level of education he acquired without Christ, it is absolutely useless because there is no sense of direction. [Sure!!!]
That is why you see too many people that touched the sky in academic attainment, in wealth acquisition and that is the end of it all. Amen!

We do not have two “His majesties.” Remember, I am a jealous God. Nobody is here by merit, not even the Son of Man. We are all here by divine providence which is grace. A privilege that was not given to others.

-THE SON OF MAN

IS YOUR HEART CONVERTED? -THE END-

Preached on 11^th May, 2014 PG 31:1

NOBODY CAN ADD OR FABRICATE HIM /HERSELFINTO CHRIST

Page 96 vs. 22-24. So, if you are born to go to church and celebrate church, that is where you will stop your journey. When that church you call Bride of Christ or whatever you want to call it will be destroyed together with the heathens inside it, you will be among those that will be destroyed.

This is because God made it a gathering point where He will gather all of you and then teach you the way of life which will make you to be ushered into the Kingdom of Heaven. That is when they were baptized, they were added to the church and they continued in Fellowship where they are being taught by the Apostles to believe and to practice all the doctrines of Christ.
Page 98 vs. 26-42. So, you go to church to receive a teaching. Then, you go away and practice it. But today, people go to church to entertain themselves. If they want relaxation, they go to church. It they want entertainment they go to church. That is what is happening. When they want help, they go to church.
That is why, check their status today, all of them are in the church making videos. Somebody is in the church and he is videoing himself. Praises and worship is going on, he is videoing. How can that person tell me that he went to church to worship God. You just went for exhibition. When they finish they stand outside and take all the pictures they want to take and post. They will caption it, “happy Sunday. O! church was lovely today”. What did you gain? You only went there for your own entertainment to admire yourself and to showcase your own outfit. That is all. But there is no spirituality there. How should that spirit now be creeping into the Bride?
Every kind of people are in the church now with different motives. If they are looking for job, they go there. If they are looking for help they go there. So church has become a charitable organization – a motherless babies’ home. A place where the destitute is helped. Go to the church so as to get some help.
It is no longer a situation where people go to church for salvation. No! the church is no longer the place where people receive teaching and doctrines pertaining to life and godliness and then get eternal life.
And there is no way you can adjust favourably. Whatever you will be doing is ordinary human manipulations [Sure!!!] so that people will not be talking about you always. You will be manipulating; you will be fabricating. Everything about your life will be counterfeiting. There is no original life. [Sure!!!]
Original life is inborn. And that is why if you see somebody who is naturally ordained by God for a good cause and for ONE reason or the other, he begins to misbehave, it does not last long. It does not last long. The moment he sees the light of help, he bows down and comes out of that condition. But the one that will remain there is doing so because he is not a seed of God.
It is because he is unguided. The moment he receives the truth, for thereunto he is born, no human being can cage him again. [Sure!!!] There is nothing you can promise that person that will make him to remain there. [Alleluia!!!] He must jump out for he has heard the Voice of his father which he can never resist.
If you are not ordained to be in this Bridal Faith, the last move God is making on earth, there is no way you can feel comfortable with all you are going to hear in this Faith. [Amen!!!] For our teachings, our lifestyle will always be provoking you to anger. [Sure!!!] You will be feeling highly disturbed. A sure sign that you are disturbed, you will be avoiding Brethren, [Sure!!!] avoiding fellowship,…
Instead of coming together, you are avoiding because you are disturbed. A sure sign that you are disturbed, you will be avoiding Brethren, [Sure!!!] avoiding fellowship, avoiding contact with anything doctrine of Christ, message of THE SON OF MAN, you would not like to hear them. They will be making you to feel very much uneasy. Why? It is not a part of you. Alleluia!! Born of the same mother, but not of the same spirit. Begotten of the same earthly father, but not taking their origin from the same God.
Can it happen? Born of the same mother and father, but not taking origin from the same God. In other words, two brothers or two sisters or a brother and a sister. Same father, same mother. But they have not all taken their origin from God.
You are trying to fabricate, to manipulate yourself into it. No! NOBODY CAN ADD HIMSELF INTO CHRIST, BUT YOU ARE BORN INTO CHRIST.
So it is not a surprise if you see in a family one acting wayward and another acting in the right path. One being the delight of God and the other not being the delight of God. Yet having the same father and the same mother. Why? Because they have not all taken their origin from God. One is living the original life, the other is trying to fabricate. May God help us.
NOBODY CAN ADD HIMSELF INTO CHRIST, BUT YOU ARE BORN INTO CHRIST. If you are not born in My family, you are not My biological child. No matter how you try to manipulate it, you cannot fit in. You can never fit in.
NO MATTER HOW LONG YOU HAVE STAYED, YOU CAN STAY IN THIS FAITH, GET MARRIED, HAVE CHILDREN; [YET] YOU ARE STILL A STRANGER TO MY HOUSEHOLD. [Sure!!!] Is it not true? That is pure truth! IF YOU WERE NOT IN GOD BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN, YOU CANNOT BE ADDED TO GOD ALONG THE WAY. [Sure!!!]
YOU CAN BE ADDED TO A GROUP [BUT] YOU CANNOT BE ADDED TO GOD. FOR ALL THAT WERE IN CHRIST WERE IN HIM BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN. SO, THEY WERE BORN INTO CHRIST NOT INTO THE CHURCH. [Sure!!!]
…if you are born into Christ, wherever Christ goes, you are going with Him. [Sure!!!] If Christ moves away from this Bridal Faith, and He is found in another place, even if they called it devil, all that belong to Christ will follow Him to the devil’s congregation, [Sure!!!!!] for thereunto they are born. THEREUNTO, THEY ARE BORN! Whatever you want to call them, call them. Amen!
Page 109 vs. 56-57. Now, there is one particular feature about home which often times we neglect. Your home will flourish depending on how you take care of it. If you take care of your home, your home will take care of you. If you do not take care of your home, your home will not take care of you. Reason along the same line with Me. The home of every true seed of God is Christ.
If you abide in Christ, Christ will abide with you and in you. The home of every true seed of God is Christ. And Christ is the anointed Word of God. Sure! Christ is the anointed word.
Page 120 vs. 34-36. Who then will be saved? How can God save a corrupt person or live eternally with a corrupt person? [Amen!!!] Why are they corrupt? The heart is devoid of truth. THIS IS WHY HEAVEN IS NARROWING DOWN EVERY MINUTE. [Sure!!!] Heaven is narrowing down every minute. Why will you not be saved? The heart is devoid of truth. Why should your heart be corrupted or devoid of truth?
GOD IS LOOKING FOR ONE PERSON, TWO OR THREE WHO WILL TAKE HIM SERIOUSLY, [Sure!!!]… He is not looking for the whole world. Maybe you are waiting for a day that the whole world will now bow down, will take God seriously. You think God is waiting for you? Keep on waiting. You do not know that He is waiting for one or two.
That is why God said, if one has obeyed any message, he remains a condemnation to all those that do not obey. You are standing there thinking that God is waiting for all of us, you do not know that He is just watching His time. The one or two that have taken God seriously in this Bridal Faith are all that is enough for The Son of Man. He is not looking for the whole world.
That is why He told us clearly, if you are not serious, I will take my family home, prepare them and move away. Did He not send us to our homes? Is He not with His family? Has He not told you that His family is not His problem? If God is still crying, He is crying for you and me. And then you are there thinking that you have the whole time in the world. You are there thinking you are doing God. The one or two God will pick that takes Him seriously at His word, are enough for Him. Ezra said, this world was made for many, but where we are aspiring to get to is meant for nothing but a few.
GOD IS LOOKING FOR ONE PERSON, TWO OR THREE WHO WILL TAKE HIM SERIOUSLY, purify their hearts by the entrance of the word of God, vow a vow that they will live a transparent life before God and before man just like all the Apostles who were so transparent that they appeared before all men and said, “Who can accuse us of sin?” Sure!!!
Thus, do not just sit down here and whenever Truth goes out, you confirm it. Yes! It is your responsibility to confirm it, but it is not Truth until it is evidently made manifest in your life. Amen!!! It is not truth until it becomes manifest in your life, in your living.
Page 127 vs. 57&58. To God be the glory. It is not sitting down clapping our hands, dancing and rejoicing. There were people that did it in the days of Noah and in the days of Lot. We are not talking about the attendance to congregational fellowship. I WANT YOU TO ANSWER “PRESENT” ON THAT DAY WHEN SALVATION SHALL BE MADE COMPLETE.
That is why we are talking this hour. That is why we are sharing this food for thought. I want to answer present on the day salvation is complete. I also want to see my father there answering present, my mother there, my brother there and my sister answering present on that day. If we stand up and take things seriously as individuals, it is a possibility. But whereby one or two has decided to sit down, you are left behind.
Our relationship will not make us to share the same fate. The only thing that will make us share the same fate, is if we are moving in the same direction, either for good or for our own destruction. The choice is in our hands as individuals.
We are not talking about the attendance to congregational fellowship. That is not what it is. It is not about coming here every Sunday, just gather here. When we see your face, we know that you are coming, then you say you are in the Faith. No! do not just come and be gathering here. Do not be lukewarm. Do not just come here for attendance. You know there is attendance? Do not come for attendance. Many of us are just coming to this Faith for attendance. When they tick your name they see that you are there. Stop coming here for attendance only. Answer present spiritually.
I WANT YOU TO ANSWER “PRESENT” ON THAT DAY WHEN SALVATION SHALL BE MADE COMPLETE. Do not count on what you can do or what you cannot do. At all! Amen! Answer present on that day.
Page 140 vs. 29-32. But are you in the number? That is what matters. Have you examined your life so much and become so sure that you are able to escape all the holocaust? Are you sure? Food for thought! These questions are for us to answer as individuals.
Read them out. But are you in the number? Have you examined your life so much and become so sure that you are able to escape all the holocaust? Is your life hidden in Christ, which is the only way of escape? THERE IS ONLY BUT ONE ESCAPE ROUTE. AND THAT IS HIDING YOUR LIFE UNDER THE ROCK OF AGES SO THAT HE CAN CLEFT FOR YOU.
NO HUMAN BEING BORN OF A WOMAN CAN MAKE IT BY THE POWER OF HIS HANDS. BY YOUR OWN MIGHT AND BY YOUR OWN POWER, YOU CANNOT MAKE IT. ONLY CHRIST WILL MAKE IT FOR YOU. I AM SAYING THAT IN THESE LAST DAYS, THE REMEDY LIES IN CHRIST WHO HAS MANIFESTED AS A HUMAN BEING ONLY TO GIVE YOU FULL AND COMPLETE SALVATION.That is true! To God be the Praise.
Finally, Page 151 vs. 53-58. As children of God who are expecting the translation of their mortal bodies,…Are we in that category? Good! …what is expected of us, seeing that everything is pointing to the end of the world? That will bring us back to the prophetic Message, THE SUMMER IS GONE [FINISHED]; THE WINTER IS GONE [FINISHED] AND THE CROPS THAT WERE PLANTED ARE NOT YET READY FOR HARVEST. What could be responsible for that?
Summer is gone. Winter is gone, and My people are not yet saved. What could be responsible? Could it be that the Message we received is not powerful enough to save our lives? Or is it that we have blatantly and absolutely refused to receive the Message and practice it in our daily lives so as to meet the required standard for the translation of our mortal bodies.
IF THE LORD WILL CALL IT QUITS TODAY, HOW MANY ARE IN THE ARK? HOW MANY OF US ARE COMFORTABLY SEATED IN THE ARK OF SALVATION? Food for thought! Ask yourself and answer these questions as individuals. HOW MANY CAN STAND ON THEIR FEET AND DECLARE THAT COME WHAT MAY, THEY ARE SURE AND CERTAIN THAT THEY HAVE THE TICKET INTO PARADISE. THESE ARE PERPLEXING QUESTIONS WE HAVE TO ANSWER AS INDIVIDUALS.
To God be the Praise. These are questions we will answer as a team No! As individuals! Food for thought, for we have come to the end. We are here examining ourselves, telling ourselves the last truth so that we know where we really stand. Whether we are just members of the Bride of Christ Ministry, answering roll call or whether we are in the family of God. Whether we are in the few, those whose faith has been confirmed by God, who are set for this flight. Or whether we are still hanging in the balance. It is in your hands and in my hands.
In concluding I read 1 Corinthians 2 vs. 12-15, from the Amplified Bible. Now we have not received the spirit [that belongs to] the world,…We have not received the spirit of this world in any form or shape. …but the [Holy] spirit Who is from God, [given to us] that we might realize and comprehend and appreciate the gifts [of divine favor and blessing so freely and lavishly] bestowed on us by God.
So that we can appreciate these gifts and blessings God is giving us. For what we are receiving is not what a natural man can understand or appreciate. But we were not given the spirit of this world, but the spirit of Christ, so that we can appreciate what God, I mean, The Son of Man is doing in our midst in these last days in our lives. If you are not having the Holy Spirit in you, you cannot appreciate it.
You do not know why everyday we are thanking God that His Holy tabernacle is pitched in our midst. You do not know why we are thanking God for the work He is doing in our lives spiritually, for this salvation mission. It is only for those that have the Holy Spirit within them.
And we are setting these truths forth in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the [Holy] spirit,…What we are sharing, is it the words of human wisdom? Do you see the works of literature at play here? No! we are speaking a spiritual language, believing that we are talking to spiritual people that can catch the message along the line. We are using spiritual words to speak to each other.
And we are setting these truths forth in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the [Holy] spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual truths with spiritual language [to those who possess the Holy Spirit]. That they may understand the time and hour they are living in.
But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God,..He does not admit these teachings, these revelations. Why because he is natural. Are you spiritual or are you natural?
..for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him,.. What we are talking about is not making sense to somebody that is just following us carnally. What is this ‘everyday in the ark’ they are talking about. ‘Ark’ everyday. We are almost there’ everyday. ‘we are at the end’ every time. ‘Prepare yourself, the holocaust is about to sweep everybody that is not in Christ’. What are they talking about.
All these things do not make meaning to the natural man. Only the spiritual man who has the Holy Spirit that understands that these are the words of the Holy spirit, helping us to have a perfect understanding of the hour we are in. Of what is expected of us, the course of action we are to take at a time like this that it shall be well with our soul.
But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him, and he is incapable of knowing them [of progressively recognizing, understanding and becoming better acquainted with them] because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated.
Everything we are talking about is only spiritually discerned, estimated, understood and appreciated by the spiritual man. If you are not spiritual, you cannot understand what we are talking about. If you are not spiritual, you cannot appreciate what we are talking about. If you are not spiritual, you will think we are just playing church. You think we are just coming here to answer a roll call. You do not have the impact of the message in your life because you are a carnal individual.
But the spiritual man tries all things [he examines, investigates, inquires into, questions, and discerns all things], yet is himself to be put on trial and judged by no one [he can read the meaning of everything, but no one can properly discern or appraise or get an insight into him]. That is true!
And on this note my brethren, I say take this food for thought to heart and let it sink into you. Ponder on these questions.
Examine yourself. Let us not deceive ourselves but tell ourselves the gospel truth. So that we can know where we are at an hour and time like this, and where we want to be at the end of this journey and it shall be well with us. To God be the praise.