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Who Are The 144000?
Daniel read the prophecy of Jeremiah, concerning the intending captivity of the Jewish nation for 70yrs. As at the time the prophecy was given, another prophet by the name Hananiah rose up, and speaking against the prophecy of Jeremiah, claiming that 70yrs wouldn’t be spent in captivity, only 2yrs (Jeremiah 28:2 – 6). That was the seventy years Daniel was praying about, saying that the 70yrs was/should have been over…
Text: Revelation 7:1, Daniel 9:24, Jeremiah 29:10, Acts 13:45, Genesis 29:27, Romans 11:7 , Micah 4:1,Revelation 1:11, 19 – 20, Luke 21:24, Daniel 11:20, Revelation 11: 1 – 7, Revelation 14:1, Revelation 7:1
Hananiah types the Pentecostal church of today, telling you all sorts about the possibility of a near utopic state of the world, while William Marrion Branham is a type of Jeremiah in this present age. The whole crowd in the days of Jeremiah accepted the prophecy of Hananiah, perhaps, cheering him on, as he was saying just the things they wanted to hear, but hat was contrary to the word of the Lord through His true prophet, Jeremiah.
… It was then God sent the angel Gabriel to him, that came to give him skill and understandingof the will of God, just so he wouldn’t be praying amiss. Daniel was praying about the 70yrs God already concluded.
That you spend hours praying doesn’t mean God will answer. It has to be according to His word, and His will for your life.
What made Daniel to be greatly beloved as stated by the angel was his devotion to God, his humility, character, quality of God’s nature in his life (evidenced by his refusal to eat of the king’s meal).
The angel didn’t use the word “years” as used by the prophet Jeremiah many years back, rather “weeks”.
After 69wks, God turned to the gentiles (Acts 13:45, Romans 11:11), after the Jews had turned down Christ. This leaves the Jewish world with one week.
When Jacob was to marry the daughter of Laban, he was asked to serve for 7yrs, to get Rachael. But Laban instead gave him Leah, and was instructed to “… fulfill her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years” (Genesis 29:26).
At the beginning of the last week of Daniel, the temple would have been built.
The 144,000 didn’t defile themselves with women spoke of spiritual defilement.
Is Your Life Worthy of The Gospel?
What is The Gospel, and what are its works?
The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is the good news (Luke 2:10). It is the light and life of God, it is eternal life. So, is your life worthy of it? The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ doesn’t change. It remains the same.
Text: Luke 6:39 – 49, Luke 2:10, Luke 1:67, Ephesians 4:17, Matthew 5:14, Matthew 7:15, Matthew 21:18, 2nd Corinthians 5:15, 1st Corinthians 6:9
When you believe the gospel, the first evidence of it is the change in the life you live. You step out as a sinner, and you come back as a child of God, under the influence of the life-transforming gospel of Christ. It suffices to say that this metamorphosis isn’t instantaneous, it is a gradual process. Removal of earrings doesn’t connote a thing, as the initial change is from inwards, not outwards. On affecting the internal milieu, it begins to manifest on the outside.
Your life may be worthy of the church, your family, or even the community where you live, however, is it worthy of the gospel?
At this point, you need to examine yourself. Why? Because if you claim to believe this gospel, and your life is still the same since you believed, then you might probably be on your way to hell. Because the gospel of Christ will definitely take something from you.
In broader terms, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ will change your attitude, thinking, dressing, and association. Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:17 clearly explains the effect of the gospel on your association as a believer. You cannot claim to believe the gospel and have unbelievers as friends, or go to the same place as a smoker or drunkard. If you do this, you are still in denial of the gospel.
The gospel of Christ, when heard, penetrates the heart (first), the state of your heart (open or locked) goes on to determine its operation (transformation or not). The heart on being transformed goes on to bring about the outward transformation. It will make you shed (put away) your former way of life, and put on a new way of life, which is in Christ. Your former self will always come back to test you, but the gospel will form a wall of defense against your old nature. The gospel renews the mind, and renewal is necessary in order to overcome the old self (Ephesians 4:23).
The Mad man of Gadara had a strange spirit disturbing him, probably multiple demons, so strong that he could break chains with bare hands. But when the gospel (Christ) met him, it transformed Him and put him back to his right senses while he sat at the feet of Jesus.
God will not open the door to your heart for you, you need to open it yourself. Then He will come in to bring about the desired change (Rev 3:20).
Are you a Christian only when you are within the walls of the church? Do you eschew the virtues of a child of God? Apart from the fact that you don’t smoke or fornicate, what exactly are you known for in your community, or at your place of work? Note that you can’t hide this gospel, it is a light, that can’t be covered. So if you claim to have received this gospel, let its light shine to the people of the world through you.
When you don’t believe the Acts of the Apostles, you are not believing the true gospel.
Apart from taking the bad from you, the gospel of Jesus also adds to you. After taking off the old man, we are to put on the new man. Fill your heart with the word of God, only then can you have revival. God doesn’t want us to remain the same even after accepting the gospel of Christ. He wants us to bear fruits. He wants us to stand for him in all of our dealings. He doesn’t want us to compromise.
In conclusion, by your fruits shall you be known. What examples are you laying for your children at home? Do they see Christ in you? What is your relationship with people in the household of faith like? Do you demonstrate tribalism, do you relate with people from your tribe alone? There is no such thing as Hausa gospel, or the English gospel. God is one, and His gospel is one. He isn’t African or European. He is Spirit. Simple!
God bless you.
If Only in This World We Have Hope in Christ
We bless the name of the Lord who again has reminded us of our priceless hope in Christ Jesus by his word. Today, we initiated a new topic titled “If Only in this world we have hope in Christ” and as you read through I pray God expound this teaching in your heart (Amen).
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Text: 1Corinthians 15:12 – 19, Psalms 42:1, 1Corinthians 9:24, Colossians 3:1, Mark 12:18, Luke 16:19, 1peter 1:3, Genesis 25:8, Genesis 35:29, Daniel 12:2, John 5:28, Isaiah 26:9, Revelation 20:12. John 3:13 – 14, 1Corinthians 2:9, Hebrews 11:1, Genesis 35:16, Revelation 11:4, Matthew 17:1, Revelation 21:1
Brethren, this time we are in is not a time to come to fellowship at our convenience, if this is your specialty, it shows that the thirst for God is not in you; we’re in a time where every true believer is to soak him/herself in the word of God, because that is our own armour to fight every works of the flesh. As a background to today’s sermon, below are the questions we answered by the scripture.
Is There Resurrection? Is There Life After Death?
The rhetorical question to ask ourselves in order to answer the above questions is – “why are we really serving God?, Are we serving God because of what we want to gain in this world”? Saints of God,if why we do the things we do for the gospel is for its worldly gain, then, we are people without spiritual sight and we are the most miserable set of people on earth (1Corinthians 15:19). It is necessary for us to know that there is life after death; and what the Lord has prepared for them that love him, eyes has not seen it neither has ear heard of it and no mind has conceived it, more reasons why apostle Paul in Philippians 1:21 said for him to die is gain, he understood the reward that awaits his life after death; it simply depicts that there is a life after passing out time on this earth. Believers are likened to sport men who deny themselves of so many things to project for success, even down to what they eat, they are well disciplined to watch their physical weight; and all these are for them to obtain a corruptible crown (1Corinthians 9: 24), but for a believer, it’s vice-versa, we have an incorruptible crown to possess if we run this spiritual race successfully.
Today, we have people question resurrection, even asking if there is life after death; but praise be to God who gave us his word (bible) to answer all biblical questions. In Mark 12:25, Jesus assured us of resurrection, giving us a foretaste of what to expect; there won’t be marriages and resurrected saints shall be like angels in heaven (What a hope!!!).
God is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Mark 24:27). A picture of resurrection and life after death is what we can see with Lazarus, the Rich man and Abraham (Luke 16:20), a deeper look into this scenario; we can see how Lazarus connects with Abraham (who he only heard of but had not seen) and the rich man. And this gives a clear understanding of positioning after death, one was at rest and the other was been tormented. By revelation, this should minister a push for us not to just clap when we hear resurrection, but a question should drop into your heart asking you where will you be when you resurrect? A good positioning just like that of Lazarus is determined for you if you have fed your soul with the word of God. How do you take care of your soul?
CLICK HERE FOR OUR PREVIOUS SERMON REVIEWS
1Peter 1:3-4 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you
Brethren, we have a lively hope, and hope is referring to something to come, and what is to come for us believer is beyond what we experience here on earth, it’s more than the good life you think you have, it’s a hope to reward our earthly sacrifices for Christ and that’s why we must live a life that can be resurrected unto this lively hope. We ought to know that there are two types of resurrection; resurrection unto Eternal life and resurrection unto damnation (John 5:28, Revelation 20:12) accompanied with two kind of books for eternal positioning; The book of life and the books, the book of life holds the names of faithful stewards who believed in the name of Jesus Christ and have served here on earth giving their all, while the other books hold the names of those who have chosen religion over the word of God and are to be judged – What type of resurrection would you want for yourself, a resurrection unto eternal life or unto damnation?.
Where will you surface after death? Mind you, your destination is not determined by any man but Jesus Christ (John 3:13), so if you are there deceiving yourself, no one can create a slot for you, your life must earn a resurrection unto eternal life.
Heroes of Faith that kept the Hope of Resurrection
Hebrews 11 gave account of men who understood the hope of what is to come, because they knew there was more to life after death; they refused selling off their birthright. They suffered torture, refused to accept deliverance, stoned, sawn asunder, tempted, slayed with the sword, wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins in the deserts, destitute, afflicted, tormented, all these they endured so that they can obtain a better resurrection – What have you really done to earn this same hope?
We have these men sacrificed all they had to pursue an eternal reward; brethren, our reward is not in this world. We have a glorious hope, don’t mind the trial you are going through even after you have tried everything needed, God has a better reward amidst your trouble.
Believers ought to see beyond this Pentecostal preaching of breakthrough, your physical breakthrough is temporary compared to the reward God has in store for you.
The reward of the Gospel is not material things, it’s not that good marriage or good job you think you have, if all we live for is on that, it means we are the most miserable – The reward of the gospel cannot be materialistic in nature (At all!), if it was, then men like Moses, Abraham, Paul, and others must have wasted their time giving their lives to God. But I tell you today that our reward is beyond this world.
Don’t trade away your hope living your life outside the constraint of the word of God.
Brethren, there is a new heaven prepared for us (Revelation 21:1 – 8), it’s a lively hope. – Make sure you are deliberately checking yourself everyday by the word of God and also working for God, because our reward is not only in this world.
Let us keep pushing forward for our eternal position by our sincere service unto the lord.
Shalom
SEE ALSO: BALANCED FAITH
Balanced Faith
Today we continue with the sermon titled, “the three powerful weapons the devil uses to bring you down”, with emphasis on a very potent weapon God has given us to overcome, which is “Faith”. But as believers, we need to exercise balanced faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for… “Faith” is invisible, while “substance” is something tangible, can be seen.
Text: Hebrews 11:1, Job 13:15, Daniel 3:16, Matthew 26:38, Matthew 16:21, Acts 21:11, Luke 22:31, Romans 8:35, Psalm 42:1
Faith is not forcing God to do what is not His will. It is thus expedient to know what is God’s will. It is wrong for you as a child of God to say, “God, if you don’t do this, it means you are not God”. That is an act of unbelief, and blasphemous. Rather, Faith is you doing contrary to your will, and doing the will of God in the process. So when you pray, pray in the will of God, then He will answer your prayers according to His will.
The three Hebrew brothers exercised this faith when faced with the threat of the King Nebuchadnezzar. With their summation being one of staying true to God regardless of whether he would save them or not, even though they knew God was able to save them. But the crux of the matter was for the will of God to be done in the situation they found themselves.
The word of God is the treasure house of a believer, it is there you find faith (which is the most effective weapon) required to defeat the devil’s armory (evil thoughts, doubt, fear). Your confession and profession as a christian will not deter the devil from launching his brutal attacks. Your faith Is the only defense capable of repelling these attacks (Luke 22:32).Your weakness is known to the devil, and as such, only a balanced faith sic the will of God will make you a trepidation to the devil. So, let your faith be rooted in the word of God.
There are things that God will not deny His children, because they are His unfailing promises (an example is the fruit of the womb).
When Jesus prayed, he prayed for God to take the cup away from Him, because it isn’t a sweet thing to die. That was His own will. But he went on, saying, “…nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt let your will be done”. That will of God was for him to die, so that God through His death would have children to Himself. Which was just what happened.
Jesus Christ quickly rebuked Peter, when he suggested something contrary to what was the will of God for Him. He said, “Get thee behind me, satan: thou savourest not the things of God, but those that be of men”. He wasn’t referring to Peter as satan, rather, it was the spirit that spoke through peter.
It is when you have this kind of faith, resolute in the face of death, that is when the devil will fear you. Anything can change, but do not allow your faith to change. For that is your treasure.
Conclusion: Psalms 42:1 should describe the spiritual state of a believer. The scripture clearly states that a believer ought always to set his heart to the things above by thirsting for God. A Christian should be like a deer. A deer always stays close to the water, because water neutralizes the dart from a hunter. In similar vein, as a believer, don’t stay away from fellowship (the house of God), that is where you find the word of God, which will neutralize the darts from the devil.
Shalom!
The 3 Powerful Weapons The Devil is Using to Bring You Down II.
We bless the name of the lord who has gathered us once again to feed us extensively with his word that gives life, today we expounded on the topic, “The 3 powerful weapons the devil is using to bring you down”, which we started last week and we believe today’s conclusion on the expository topic will enlighten you more on how you can live a victorious christian life over the devil and his tactics.
Text: EPHESIANS 6:12, MATTHEW 9:17, I CORINTHIANS 9:7, MATTHEW 15:18, GENESIS 3:1, 2TIMOTHY 2:26, ROMANS 7:22, JAMES 1:5, MATTHEW 14:27, MARK 11:23, 2TIMOTHY 1:7, ROMANS 8:14- 15, HEBREWS 10:23, 2CORINTHIANS 10:4,
Every promised word of God belong to His children (Acts2:39), the devil on the other hand will not stop until this purpose is defeated in the lives of believers. Evil thoughts, doubt and fear are the three major weapons the devil deploy for this purpose.
Nothing can transform a man except the word of God, the revelation to believe this word is the surest and greatest victory to any warfare of the devil (matthew 15:27- 28). The bible in Matthew 9:17 gave a hint on how this revelation can be obtained, which is by putting new wine into a new bottle, and not a new wine into an old bottle. The latter describes a typical denominational setting, where every word written in the bible is solely for merchandize, and the former describes a believer who should increase in the knowledge of God’s word assiduously.
This review is aimed at exposing the devil’s greatest weaponry and the counter weapon needed by Christians to always defeat him at his game.
EVIL THOUGHT
The devil must come to you as Christian, irrespective of your level of relationship with God, he does this through your thought (mind). As a child of a God, you are soldier recruited by God and equipped with a weapon both for combat and defense (Ephesians 6:12-13). That old serpent deceived our mother eve by questioning the promise of God (Genesis 3:1), he is the same old devil and has not changed his claws. Sometimes, you wonder how a sane human being would walk into a mall or school and shoot his fellow human dead, why? This is because he is short of God’s weapon of defense (His word) to reject the devil’s suggestion in the first place. Fellow believers, the bible rightly said that” we should guide our heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life” (proverbs 4:23)—– you do this by professing the promise of God (spoken word), and rebuking the devil at every turn, like our savior, the Lord Jesus Christ did in Matthew 4:1- 10
Further reading: Ecclesiastes 8:4, 1 corinthians 9:7, 2 timothy 2:4
FEAR
Fear is a powerful tool in the hand of the devil to cheat us, it’s not a weapon for believers to defeat the devil. Fear comes when you doubt the word of God. The moment you are captivated with fear you cannot be progressive spiritually, it makes a spirit man choked fruitlessl, but we have a powerful declaration by the scripture (II Timothy 1:7) – For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. How do we inherit a sound mind? – This is done by the word of God. So brethren, let us give our all to the word of God, it’s our spiritual weapon to defeat the devil.
Brethren, you are encouraged to live a victorious life, even if things don’t look smooth just stay positive and profess good things into your life, hold fast to your confession because God who has promised us is faithful to make things work out for us.
Go on conquering by the word of God.
DOUBT
Every action is a product of your thought (Matthew 15:19), so is doubt. The moment you allow the devil to question the promise of God in His word, you are creating a room to receive the dart of doubt—in bible parlance, doubt represents defilement, and a doubtful mind can never receive anything from the Lord (James 1:6- 8). When you let the devil talk to you, he is deceiving you, don’t let him! instead, delight yourself in the law of Lord, and keep trusting in Him to accomplish what He has promised(Romans 7:22)—herein lies your victory!
In summary, the word of God is/have/will always be the most effective, time-tested weapon to combat and defend yourself as a Christian against every warfare and gimmicks of the devil. Every believer in the bible who applied these principles emerged victorious against the devil and were crowned champions (our savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Joshua, The Israelites, to mention but a few). The unbelievers will see you as a joke, but keep trusting in the Lord, don’t give up, it will pay off in the end.
God bless you!
The 3 Powerful weapon The Devil is Using To Bring You Down
Thoughts, Doubt, Fear.
It is another beautiful time to discuss a very vital topic, one that has incapacitated a lot of us. Please, allow the spirit of God speak to you as we dissect this topic.
TEXT: Proverbs 23:7, Acts 19:14, Hebrews 13:20, Psalms 50:8, Ephesians 4:17, Hebrews 4:12, 2Corinthians 10:3, Ephesians 6:12, Numbers 13:33, Joshua 1:8
Nothing will change for you until you change your thought process. Little wonder the bible says in Proverbs 23:7, “As a man thinks, so he is”. Negative thoughts birth a lot of things that bring you down progressively, making you a failure in the process. Do you not know that you are led by your thoughts?
David said to Goliath, you come to me in the name of your gods, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Host’s army, whom you have defiled. You know the result he got. Because he had a right thought, his thoughts were in synchrony with what was in God’s mind. Even as a child of God, you have to be right in your thoughts before God can grant your requests.
Obviously, we all have drifted in our thoughts, thinking contrary, being blasphemous. And we expect to move mountains with our prayers. It will not happen! The evil thoughts that you think have no effect on you have already defiled you. If evil thoughts can pollute a man, how much more good thoughts.
Every thought don’t always materialize. Thoughts have a tendency to grow till it is made an action. Henceforth, let your thoughts be in synchrony with the word of God, only then will you have positive results.
Every action or step taken by you stem from your mind. From your dressing, to life-making decisions. So there is no room for making excuses as touching your actions. Before a man will commit fornication, it doesn’t come spontaneously. It is premeditated. How about you kill the thought by the word of God.
In all of this, the word of God is key. When the devil comes with his tactics, the only thing that can overcome him is the word of God. Take for example, when the devil came to Eve, he brought something contrary to the instruction of God. The moment Eve accepted the thought, which was contrary to the word of God, she lost it. Likewise, when you accept what the devil brings to the table, you become a slave to him, and he thus takes peace away from the family. Because you accepted the words of the devil, and drove out the God of peace.
Animals don’t think. They do things based on nature, which is in-built. They don’t have the word of God in them. But human beings are different. God has given us a mind of our own. We have the liberty to choose what we want to believe or do. And God has given us His word to guide our thoughts. And so, we can think by the word of God, thereby propelling us to another level. You don’t join others to say “I lose”, you rather speak the word of God, and say, “I am not a loser”.
If you don’t study the scriptures, you can’t operate in another level different from the baseline. Because you can’t give what you don’t have. What you don’t have embedded in you can never be recalled in the days of adversity. When the devil came to tempt Jesus, what would have happened if he didn’t have the word of God in Him? When the devil comes at us (which he will always do), what weapon has God given us to face him? That weapon is what the devil will come to attack, to take it from us. Now once he takes our God-given weapon from us, what we have left is his weapon. But can we use the weapon of the devil to fight him? NO! The only weapon we can use to overcome him is the word of God.
“…pulling down the strongholds of the devil….”, the strongholds of the devil are his suggestions, the thoughts that come from him, especially when we find ourselves in hard situations. But when you begin to operate by the word of God, it will pull down these strongholds.
When your thought is not changed, your faith can not be changed. But once you permit a negative change in your thought process, you lose your faith, and subsequently the battle. We are meant to be representatives of Christ in this world, and as such, we can calm storms, just as Jesus did.
In summary, always study, and live by the word of God, proclaiming it in any situation we find ourselves. Therein lies our success and victory over the devil.
Prayer: God, grant me the grace to always think by your word regardless of circumstances, let me see myself the way you are seeing me.
Shalom!
SEE ALSO: LEADERSHIP