Cdc 4th May 2020 Kept Through Faith 1

[Speaker 1] Bringing to you the word of God as we study scriptures together again today. Last week, it was a blessed time in the presence of the Lord, looking at and considering the topic "The Implications of Our Upward Calling." I believe it was a time of refreshment and edification for you. We were able to gather last week the need for us to be sons and daughters of the hour—men who are so connected to God, who have power with God, men who know and can understand time, men who can tell Israel what they ought to do, like the children of Issachar (1 Chronicles 12:32). We should be men of His presence. We should be women of His presence because the world is awaiting our manifestation. The world is awaiting that person, that brother, that sister, that individual that will bring to bear the power of God to relate to the present situations that we are in. I believe it was an eye-opener for all of us last week, and the need for us as Christians not just to sit down, but to be diligent with our lives, to be deliberate with our pursuit of God, to seek Him diligently so that we can be relevant to our generation. I pray that myself and yourself, just like we saw last week, will be a burning and a shining light in this generation in the name of Jesus Christ. Today, we are moving on to consider another very important issue in scripture. Our topic for today is "Kept Through Faith." I want you to go with me to the book of 1 Peter 1. That is where we got the topic from. I will be reading between verse 1 and verse 12. [Speaker 2] To the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus: Grace and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, [audio interference] that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into. [Speaker 1] Let us have a word of prayer. Precious Father, we are grateful unto You. We commit ourselves into Your hand again as we look into scripture this evening. Our Father, we are praying that You will grant unto us entrance into scriptures by the power of the Holy Ghost in the name of Jesus Christ. Our Lord, our God, we are praying, for the scripture says Paul plants, Apollos waters, but it is God that gives increase. Lord, we are praying, give increase to Your word this evening. Give increase to the speaker. Give increase to the hearers. Let there be seed for the sower and bread for the eaters in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, our eyes are on You again. We stand against everything that is contrary to You and opposed to Your purpose and Your kingdom. We say concerning this fellowship, in this ministration, they shall not prosper. We say, Lord, Your purpose in our life by the reason of Your word will be further established in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank You, eternal Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We are looking at the topic "Kept Through Faith." Our topic for today is taken from the verse 5 of the scripture we just read now, where the Bible says, "who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." Who are those that are kept by this power? The Bible makes that clear in that same scripture. In the verse 2 of the same chapter, it says, "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus." Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. So we are talking of the "who" there, referring to the elect. The "who" there refers to the believers. The "who" there refers to what the Bible amplified further in the verse 3, where the Bible says "God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope." So we are talking of those who through the mercy of God came alive, were begotten by God to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So it is referring to those that God in His mercy had saved through Jesus Christ—individuals who have experienced the mercy of God unto salvation, individuals who have been begotten again. You have become born again into the kingdom of God to a lively hope. Jesus is the hope of your glory. You have become born again by the reason of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You have encountered Jesus. Your salvation is rested on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You have encountered Jesus and there is that living hope in you that, "Oh, thank God for His mercy. The mercy that has brought me into sonship, that has made me a child of God." You can confidently say, "I am a son of God" or "I am a daughter of God. I have encountered the Spirit of Christ. I can cry Abba, Father. I have been begotten of the Lord. I have an encounter with Jesus Christ. I have a walking relationship with Him." You are that person the Bible is referring to. Now, the Bible says according to His abundant mercy He has begotten us again to a lively hope through resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Now, these category of people, if you belong to that category, it says our being begotten was something that was done unto an inheritance. There is an inheritance. There is an inheritance for us. That inheritance has four important characteristics. The first thing about this inheritance is that it is incorruptible. The inheritance that you have been begotten to, the inheritance that God has brought you into, that thing that God has packaged, has put in place for you, it is incorruptible number one. Number two, that inheritance is undefiled. Nothing can defile it. Nothing can spoil it. The reason why these things are coming up is that we are looking at it vis-à-vis the inheritance that is here. You remember in Matthew chapter 6 (Matthew 6:19-20), the Bible says, "do not lay your treasures on earth where the thief steals" and all of that. He said the treasures on earth, they are corruptible. They can be stolen. Something can happen to them that can suddenly change their value. Look at the case of COVID-19. So many things today, just by the reason of this virus, seem to have lost their value. For example, the big cathedrals that were built for gathering, nobody could gather inside for now. Nobody can gather. So many things—the convenience of going to office, coming back, going to work—so many things, so many conveniences. Some people that have three, four cars, three, four, five cars now could not drive any of them because of the lockdown. "Stay at home." Just by one virus, a sudden change just came and so many things just lost their immediate value suddenly. But this inheritance that we are going to inherit, it is something that is not corruptible. It is something that is incorruptible. It is something that cannot be corrupted. Number two, it is undefiled. Nothing can defile it. Nothing can spoil it. Nothing can reduce the value. Nothing can change it. Inflation cannot affect it. COVID-19 or if you raise the digital to COVID-20, COVID-30, COVID whatever, cannot affect it. It is undefiled. Number three, it does not fade away. It does not fade away. It is not temporal. It is lasting. It is eternal. Number four—hallelujah!—it is not even kept in the central bank, not even in the World Bank. You know where it is kept? It is reserved in heaven for you. Hallelujah! This inheritance is reserved in heaven. I am trying to make you understand something. If by the mercy of God you have experienced salvation that is in Jesus, if by the mercy of God, God has caused you to come into sonship through Jesus, that sonship that you came into, your entering into the kingdom, God also did something. He had prepared something for you. There is this inheritance. There is an inheritance. What I am trying to make you see is that the actual thing that is prepared for you on your account of being saved is not something material. It is not something in this world. That was when Jesus was speaking to His disciples. He said unto them, "You believe in God, believe also in Me. Let not your heart be troubled. In My Father's house there are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you." He said, "I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:1-3). So the place that is being prepared is not something that is here. If you are thinking that what God is preparing for those who love Him is something here, you are wasting your time. It is not here. But you will be telling me, does that mean that God will not give us money? God will not give us food? God will not give us clothes? No, no, no. God will give us all of that. He said these things the Gentiles seek, and your Father knows that you have need of them because you still have this physical body. You will still need food, you will need clothes, you will need all of that. Because of this body you will need that. But please don't think that that is what God is preparing for you. That is not what is prepared. What is being prepared is something—is an inheritance—that is incorruptible, that cannot be defiled, that cannot fade away, and it is reserved in heaven. It is not on earth. It is reserved in heaven. Now, please don't forget our topic: "Kept By Faith." That is what we are looking at. Kept by faith. You will find that in the verse 5. Having said in the verse 4 that God has begotten us again to a living hope through resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is incorruptible, to an inheritance that is undefiled, to an inheritance that cannot fade away, to an inheritance that is reserved in heaven, He now introduced our topic for today: "who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed on the last day." Are you getting something? Are you following the trend of the discussion? Are you seeing what the Holy Ghost is trying to make us to see in this place? Is it coming out gradually to you? I am showing you something very, very important. What I am trying to make you see is this: in bringing you into the kingdom, God has a plan. That plan includes giving you an inheritance. You will notice that every successful father normally has something to pass to the children. That is why we talk about will. And every child of that man—that successful man, that father—everyone who is born of that man will be called an heir, somebody who can inherit, somebody who has right to inherit. The servant in the house cannot inherit anything. They may work and work and serve, they could be given things, but they don't have right to inherit. So you don't call servant heir. But the sons and the daughters of that man, they have right to inherit, so they are heirs. Now, in making us sons and daughters, God knows that we need to inherit. There is a will. Something is written for you. So there is something prepared for you. That something that is prepared for you has four characteristics that we have earlier mentioned. Now, because of the last characteristic, the last characteristic says that that inheritance is reserved. So when you say something is reserved, it means it is kept somewhere. You are to later come into it. That thing that is not corruptible, that thing that is incorruptible, that thing that cannot be defiled, that thing that cannot fade away, is actually reserved for you. So because it is reserved for you and it is reserved in heaven—mind you, you, you are on earth. Your being born again, you are here on earth. Now, your inheritance is reserved in heaven. Now, if God by His mercy has given birth to us and we become His sons and daughters, and in doing that He also went ahead to prepare a will, to reserve something for us—a thing that is incorruptible, a thing that cannot be defiled, a thing that does not fade away, and that thing is reserved, it is reserved in heaven. You are here on earth. What God now puts in place is an arrangement to keep you, to preserve you so that you can enter into that inheritance. Are you understanding me? Since there is something prepared for you, since there is something Baba has put in place, and that something is something so crucial to Him, it is something so precious to Him—so precious—He made that thing to be something that is incorruptible, incorruptible, something that cannot fade, nothing can defile it. He took time to reserve it in heaven. So while you are here on earth and there is something reserved for you, God wanting to make sure that you enter into that inheritance decided that, "No, something must be done or else this My son and My daughter may not come into what is reserved for him. And we have reserved it for him. So we need to do something for him or her. We need to do something. We need to protect them. We need to guard them. We need to guide them. We need to be around them. We need to keep them to make sure that they enter into that inheritance." Oh, hallelujah! Hallelujah! I am showing you something very, very important. That if you are a child of God, if you have been born again by the mercy of God through Jesus Christ, you are not just anybody on earth here. You are somebody that is kept. Kept. Somebody that someone is watching over. There is somebody—there is something put in place to make sure that heaven don't lose you, to make sure that you don't fall away, to make sure that you are not wasted, to make sure that what is reserved for you, you come into it. What I am trying to say is that you are not just anybody here. You are somebody that heaven is watching over. You are somebody that heaven has plan for, and the plan is already prepared. It is not something that would be prepared. It has been prepared. In fact, it is reserved. Reserved for you. Reserved for anybody that is an elect of God. There is something reserved. And this thing that is reserved, God want to make sure—that is why if you look at the book of Hebrews, He said "by two things in which it is impossible for God to lie" (Hebrews 6:18). God wanting to show the elect that His plan and His purpose for their life cannot be altered. God made a promise and He also went ahead to seal it with an oath that what He has promised for them He will do it. So God is making sure—God has put an arrangement in place. There is this arrangement. It is that arrangement we want to discuss. The arrangement that is put in place. That is what we want to look into. We want to examine a little this evening and then come to a point where we can pray. The Bible says having talked about the inheritance, the Bible says "who are kept by the power of God." Now, let me explain this "kept" that is in this place. If you look at the original word that is used to write this word "kept," it is—take your mind back to what normally happened in the Old Testament. You know when they want to protect certain city from the onslaught of enemies, or maybe a particular town is a treasure, and the king of that kingdom want that place to be protected. What he will do is that he will get certain number of his soldiers. They will surround that city. Or if it is a house or a town, whatever it is, they will surround it. They will be all around it. If you take your mind back to Psalm 125, where the Bible says, "As the mountains surround Jerusalem" (Psalm 125:2). It is something like that. They will place soldiers. They will surround that town. So that town is under what you call full security. Security. Properly kept because the soldiers will be doing that with watches. There will always be people all around it. Soldiers all around it, surrounding it. Not just one or two, but the thing—that town will be fully surrounded. That is the word that is used for this "kept" here. "Who are kept by the power of God." That is, the elect, the believer, that person who have received the mercy of God, that person who have been born again by God on account of His mercy through the Lord Jesus Christ, that individual is surrounded. Kept. Fully surrounded by the power of God. I don't know whether you are understanding me. It is not—God did not use angel. I don't know whether you are understanding me. It is the power—the Bible says they are "who are kept by the power of God." So what is keeping, what is securing these people is the power of God. God is preserving, is protecting, is watching over them by His power. He wants to make sure that the arrangement for their life does not fail. Because that arrangement is nothing compared to what is here. What is here, no matter how much you gather them, you cannot go with them. What is here, they can be defiled. They can be stolen. Inflation can change their value. They cannot last. Even look at even the age factor. Just ordinary age factor. You discover that no matter how much you like eating meat, when you eat and eat and eat, by the time you get to certain age, if they bring meat, you will say "I don't have teeth again to eat. That please give me fish." Are you understanding me? Even ordinary age that we are aging makes what is here not to be lasting. So temporal. So temporal. Look at some things you used to enjoy when you were a child. Then, there are some things you will jump around and jump around. By the time you grew a little older, what happened? Those things just faded away. They just faded away. By the time you grew when you became an adolescent again, there are some things again you were enjoying. By the time you advance in age again, you notice what will happen? Those things you normally enjoy when you were a teenager or adolescent, what will happen to them? They will just fade away. You become a young adult. Some things again you will enjoy them—I am showing you that even ordinary the fact that you are aging is making some things to fade away. No matter how much you look at them, as at you age a little, they will fade away. The things here, they are so temporal. The things here, they are so transitory. No wonder the Yoruba says "Afo-woba-fisi-le," something you just touch and then you leave. Never lasting, so temporal. So what God prepared is so different from all that is here. And God intend, God's plan is that look, these people must get there. This inheritance, they must get there. Go and check the word of Jesus in the book of John. He said, "This is the will of My Father, that of all that He has given Me, I should raise them again on the last day" (John 6:39). There is a plan of God. There is a plan of God. There is a deep, secret counsel of God to make sure that as you come to God through Jesus, you are also kept by the power of God unto that thing that God have reserved for you. It is a plan of God. And one thing I know, "Ise Oluwa ko le baje o"—that is, whatsoever God is doing, whatsoever God is planning, whatsoever God is intending to bring to pass, ah, it can't be frustrated. It cannot be frustrated. But I am going to show you something very crucial for your own life. Very crucial for my own life. I am showing you a plan that there is a reservation for your life, and God—God want to make sure that look, He is not taking any—no, there will be no—no chances at all. Let's make sure that this person gets to his inheritance. I need to keep this person by My power. I will keep him, I will keep her because I want her to come into this inheritance. I have reserved it for her. I have reserved it for him. I have reserved it for My elect. And they must—they must come into this thing. And so God, wanting to make sure that we get there, He did not leave anything at all to probability. He did not leave it to a maybe or maybe not. No. He is like, "No, I must keep them. I must keep them and preserve them unto that inheritance." And I pray for you, you will get there. Look at the word of God. It says "who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last day." So they are kept for a salvation—are you understanding it?—that is ready to be revealed. So the thing is to come and God is keeping us. He is keeping us. He is preserving us. God is making sure. And that is why anytime you read—anytime I read this Psalm 121, "Lift up my head unto the hills, from where my help comes. My help comes from the Lord, who is the maker of heaven and earth." And on and on it went. He says He will not suffer my feet to be moved. Go and read that scripture. This is something that you need to understand, that there is a keeping. That is what we are looking at. There is a keeping. The first part of it is to understand that God is doing—there is a plan of God to keep you. Don't just think you are alone. Don't just think "I am just here. Oh, what will happen? COVID-19 and this and that. What will happen to my life? What will happen to me? Will I die of this? Will I die of that?" Please, while all that is going on, look beyond that. Look to the power of God. Look to the fact that there is a God in heaven that is set to keep you until your inheritance. Look beyond all of that. Look beyond your fears. Look beyond your anxiety. Look beyond inheritance in this life. Look beyond money. Look beyond all those things that you are looking at. Even look beyond this life. What can the virus do? The virus can only kill the body, it cannot kill the soul (Matthew 10:28). So why are you living in fear? If after it killed the body and what else can it do? It cannot do anything again. And that is if God want it to kill the body. Because if you check the word of the Lord, our salvation is something very, very comprehensive. He said, "He was wounded for our transgression. He was bruised for our iniquity. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we were healed" (Isaiah 53:5). So even our healing and our health is sustained in that salvation. It is sustained in it. Look beyond all of these things that people are running about and living in fear. Look beyond all of this. Look to the power of God. Look to your Maker. Look to your Savior. Look to your Redeemer. Tell yourself again, "I am kept." I am constantly watched over. I am a defended city. I am defended. Surrounded. Kept. Secured. I am talking about the plant of God. I will show you the part of your own responsibility in this matter. But let me first be true with this first part—this plan of God. I want you to read Psalm 121. A Psalm I love so much. Psalm 121. That was the Psalmist saying something very wonderful for us there to learn from. Psalm 121. The Bible says in Psalm 121, "I will lift up my eyes to the hills, from whence comes my help. My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your feet to be moved." Can you tell yourself that? Instead of living in fear, instead of shaking and running helter-skelter. You know what the Bible says in the book of Isaiah? It says, "Do not call conspiracy what they call conspiracy. Neither fear what they fear" (Isaiah 8:12). Do not fear what they fear. Why is that very important? I will soon show you. Why is it important to have this mindset? Why is it important to think like this and act like this? Why is it important to have this kind of mindset? I am going to show you as we go on. Don't call conspiracy what they call conspiracy. Neither fear what they fear, but sanctify the Lord in your heart. Can you tell yourself? Can you speak to yourself? "My help comes from the Lord, who made the heaven and the earth. He will not allow my feet to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber." Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is my keeper. Hallelujah! The Lord is my keeper. The Lord is your keeper. He says, "The Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun will not strike you by day, nor the moon by night." Do you know the way we feel the effect of the sun? The sun is everywhere, shining everywhere, everywhere. The rays of the sun, the heat that is transmitted, everything that comes from the sun we feel it. He says God can—God is able to keep us that whatsoever, whatsoever, whatsoever will work against us in that will not work. So there is one flying in the air, they say COVID-19 is airborne, and you are living in fear and you are shaking. What I am trying to say is that as you take these measures, beyond these measures, what is the state of your heart? That's what I am talking about. I'm not saying throw away the measures. I have said that before in my earlier message, in my earlier teaching. We must do what the government wants us to do. We must obey authorities. We must obey what the health expert—the health sector practitioners—what they are telling us. Ah, it is just like you don't say because God is able to keep you, when you want to drive you close your eyes. You don't do that when you want to drive. So you keep—you open your eyes to also drive. So I don't say throw away the measure. I'm talking about the state of your heart. Talking about the fear. By the time you hear, "Another case detected!" and then your heart begin to beat "bim bim bim bim." By the time you hear, "They said one entered our Lagos!" "Hey, maybe I'll be the next person to die." I hope fear won't kill you before your death comes. He said the sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil. The Lord shall preserve me from all evil. The Lord shall preserve His people from all evil. The Lord is able to preserve us. The Lord will preserve you from all evil—whatever type of evil, whatever type of manipulation, whatever type of enchantment, whatever thing may be going on around us. The Lord can preserve you from all kinds of evil. Because I know for some of us it may not be COVID-19. It may be fear of this, fear of that, fear of one thing that fly in the night, for one thing that is walking in the day, fear of one herbalist who did that, fear of one cultist who did this, fear of one—I don't know what you fear—uncertain about tomorrow, living in fear, living in doubt. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil. He shall preserve your soul. He shall preserve my soul. He shall preserve—He says the Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in. As you go out, where is the Lord? He is preserving you. As you are coming in, where is the Lord? He is preserving you. He says "from this time and even forevermore." From this time and even forevermore. That is the Lord. The Lord is your keeper. And that is what we are looking at in that 1 Peter. It says "who are kept." Kept through faith. They are kept. "Who are kept by the power of God." Kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Now, look closely at that scripture. It says we are kept by the power of God and then something is added. Something is there further. It says they are "kept through faith." They are "kept through faith." Let me read something in the Old Testament that will make you to understand this scripture very well. It says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro the earth"—that is 2 Chronicles 16:9—"The eyes of the Lord run to and fro the earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are loyal to Him." Are you seeing something? The eyes of the Lord run to and fro the earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are loyal to Him. When we look at this scripture, it says "who are kept by the power of God through faith." They are kept by the power of God and they are kept through faith. You see two things working here. Two things are working here. There is the power of God. There is faith. There is power of God and there is faith. They are kept by the power of God through faith unto the salvation that is ready to be revealed. Now, if you look down to the verse 6—I'm coming back to that verse 5 to discuss the matter of through faith—but go down to the verse 6. It says "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be"—in this you greatly rejoice. Some of us are not rejoicing in this great plan of God. We are so dull, we are so morose, your mind, your everything about you is about what is here, what is on earth. You are not thinking of your inheritance. Not thinking of what God is doing with your life. Thinking of His plan and His purpose. So you are not even rejoicing. You are not finding joy. When He says rejoice in the Lord again and as again I say rejoice. Always rejoice evermore. Joy is not in your heart—the joy of salvation. You are so full of sorrow. When the Bible says He has come to exchange—He has come to give them joy for sorrow. He has come to take away from them heaviness, to give them praise. He says the kingdom of God is not in meat and drink but in righteousness, in peace, and in joy of the Holy Ghost. There is this joy. There is this rejoicing. There is this joy—what makes this joy, what brings this joy, is the understanding of this great plan. This plan. This wonderful plan of God for my life. This makes us so much joy, that beyond all of the earthly treasures, beyond all of these things, beyond all of these troubles, all of these things that we call treasures on earth that every time you have them, they bring one anxiety. I remember one of my minister friends who said for the first time in his life that he got a gift from someone, and that was a gift of a car. He said through that night he could not sleep. I said, "What happened?" He said he was always going out to look through the window whether the car has not been stolen. When these treasures increase, they increase with anxiety. That's why the Father—it is the rich that do everything to protect themselves because of fear of being attacked by those who don't have. The treasure increase, it increase with anxieties and care. If you don't have a car, you won't be thinking of the problem of mechanic. The day you buy one, then the problem start. "Oh, this foolish mechanic. Oh, this, this, that, this, that." You found that the more these things increase, they increase with the anxiety. That's why I agree with one of my friends who said, "Worldly increase without care brings spiritual decrease." Worldly increase without care brings spiritual decrease. In other words, if you are not careful, it is difficult to manage prosperity. If you are not very careful, prosperity is so difficult to manage by man. It bring arrogance, it bring anxiety, it bring cares. Sometimes the cares of life, the riches and the cares can take your heart away from God. Look at the fruit that does not produce in the parable of the sower. He says the cares of this life, the cares for riches, the cares for this, "Ah, my car, my this, my that, my estate, my this," have made many people to lose the kingdom, to compromise their faith. As we increase in this one—I'm trying to make you understand that there is a joy knowing that there is something reserved that does not have all of these anxieties with it. The Bible says, "In this you greatly rejoice." Some are not rejoicing because they don't understand this plan. They are not dancing, they are not—they are not rejoicing in God. They are like, "Wow, thank God for bringing me into this kingdom, for bringing me to this inheritance." Something that is incorruptible, something that cannot be defiled, something that cannot fade away, that is reserved for me, and God is keeping me for that. Oh, what a glory! What a joy! What a rejoicing! And I am going to that and I am heading for it because every day as I move on in time, I am moving towards eternity. It is a great joy that as every day goes, I am moving towards that inheritance. It is a joy. Although some people are so scared, "Hey, I'm moving towards death. If I die what will happen?" because you cannot see beyond death. If you can see beyond death there is a joy. That is why Apostle Paul could say, "Oh, I wish to come out of this body to be with the Lord. Oh, but again I want to be here so I can labor for His church." He said, "Oh, I am in between two labor. I desire to go for my own sake, but I am also thinking of the church of God, the labor that I have." You can see men who could see this treasure, who could see what have been reserved for them. They understood that look, there is a greater thing to rejoice about than the worldly treasures. I don't know where your joy is. But I am telling you, if the climax of your joy is in something material, then you must be spiritually blind. If the climax of your joy is in something material, then you are spiritually blind. Because there is something beyond all of that. If a man is rejoicing that he has Naira, when dollar is reserved for him, then there is a problem with that man. A man is dancing, dancing, dancing over Naira, and they talk about the dollar that is kept for him, "Oh, I don't even want to go to the dollar. I don't want to—" There is something wrong with the man. I am just giving a figurative example of what I am trying to say. If you are not spiritually dull, if you are not spiritually blind, if you are not spiritually insensitive, there is a rejoicing that keeps in your heart about something reserved for you, and you are kept by the power of God for that treasure. It says, "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be"—of course there will always be need for that—"if need be, you have been grieved by various trials." Of course we have been grieved by various trials. Trials. That is why God—He put that arrangement in place to keep us because there are so many trials—trials to take our eyes off the Lord, to take our eyes off this treasure. So many things to take us off. So that is why God have to make arrangement to keep us. Because if He does not do that, none of us will get to that inheritance. There are so many trials here. So many things that grieves us, so many things that blind our eyes. So many things that want to take us off. He says you are grieved by various trials. But look at what He said because this is what I want to relate back to that verse 5. The Bible says, "grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it be tested by fire, may be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ." What I am trying to make you understand: once you notice that a faith—I'm talking about faith, this faith by which we are kept—if that faith in you is wasted or broken, shattered, displaced, cannot be found again, and you begin to live like unbeliever, the truth is that that your faith was not a genuine one. Genuine faith, when it is tested by fire, becomes purer. I now want to go back to that verse 5. I want to talk a little about this faith. "Kept through faith." They are kept "through faith." Let me read something in the Old Testament—let me quote a scripture in the Old Testament that will make you to understand this scripture very well. It says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro the earth"—that is 2 Chronicles 16:9—"The eyes of the Lord runs to and fro the earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are loyal to Him." Are you seeing something? "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro the earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are loyal to Him." When we look at this scripture, it says, "who are kept by the power of God through faith." They are kept by the power of God and they are kept through faith. You see two things working here. Two things are working here. There is the power of God. There is faith. There is power of God and there is faith. They are kept by the power of God through faith unto the salvation that's ready to be revealed. Now, if you look down to the verse 6—I'm coming back to that verse 5 to discuss the matter of through faith—but go down to the verse 6. It says, "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it be tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your soul." I'm talking about this faith. The Bible says this faith, although right now it may be subject to several trials, it may be subject to several things, but those trials only make the faith to be purer. In other words, the genuineness of the faith—the trial only helps—only proves, it only purifies, it removes the dross. It's like removing dross from silver. It removes the oil from the iron. It makes it to be purer. It brings it out more and more. The trial only helps in removing the other materials that should not be attached to the faith, things that is not part of that faith, to make it to be that faith and that faith alone. And which faith am I talking about? If you look at Hebrews chapter 12, the Bible says "looking unto Jesus, who is the author and finisher of your faith" (Hebrews 12:2). I'm talking about this faith that is authored by Christ. This faith that is also being finished by Christ. I am showing you that we are complete in Him. I am showing you that we are complete in Him. I am trying to make you understand something about this kingdom, that the government of this kingdom is upon His shoulder. It is not upon any man. This faith that we are talking about, even though we come to God believing by faith, the Bible is making us to understand something clearly: that the faith that we are talking about is also a faith that Christ is the author of the faith, and Christ is also the finisher, He is the perfecter of that faith. I am trying to make you see our completeness in Jesus. Our completeness in Christ. That faith that Christ authored, that faith that Christ is the one that authored it, when trials, when tribulation, when circumstances prevails against it—what only comes against it, comes across it, challenges it—what happened is that when these challenge—challenges, when they come, what happened to that faith is that the faith gets purer. Because Christ did not only author it, He is also perfecting it. That is why Paul could say, confident of this very thing, that He who has begun this good work in me is also able to finish it (Philippians 1:6). It says, "we are kept by faith." We are kept by faith. A faith that is authored by Christ. A faith that Christ is the author and also the finisher of that faith. This faith is the operation of God. And I want to show you—what I want us to talk about is how does this faith operate? The operation of this faith. How does this faith operate? You need to understand the operation of this faith. How does this faith operate? If you look at the book of Timothy, it said "God has—God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). I'll show you—I'll take you to some—to some scriptures now to make you understand this faith. Why is faith authored in us? Why is it that Jesus also went ahead in saving us to author this faith in us and He is perfecting this faith in us? Why? Because this—the operation of this faith—the operation of the power of God is through faith. This faith is a faith we must exercise. It's a faith we must put in place. Please look at something in the book of Luke. As we try to close the meeting for today. Why is this faith authored in us? And why—why are we not left alone? It is because God want to make sure you get to your treasure. Please don't forget that. Why is it that He authored the faith and He is perfecting the faith? It is because God want to make sure you get to your treasure. I am trying to first make you see that in all of this, the plan, the purpose of God for your life is that you get to your treasure. And I pray in the name of Jesus, I will get there, you will get there in the name of Jesus. But why is this faith authored? Why—why must there be an operation of faith? What are the elements of this faith? I first quote a scripture just to tell you that there is no fear in this faith. There is no fear in it. There is boldness. Bible says "the righteous is as bold as lion" (Proverbs 28:1). I want to show you why is it authored. Let's quickly look at the book of Luke chapter 8. Let's quickly look at something there. Luke chapter 8. Let's just look at chapter 8 because in that place we have two incidents, two episodes there of this—of that faith being displayed. It's just a very familiar story, and I know and I believe we'll just quickly look at them and then we'll get to the point where we can quickly pray. It says—I'm reading Luke chapter 8, I'm reading from verse 40—a very familiar story. So it was when Jesus returned that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him. And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell at Jesus' feet and begged Him to come to his house, for he had only an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying—the dying girl, the dying girl. But as He went, the multitude thronged Him, you know, pushing him here and there, you know, all of that was going on. Now, He was going to meet that man. There's already an agenda to save that man's daughter. Immediately Jesus consented to go, you know that definitely He has made up His mind to save that daughter. Just like in the case of Lazarus, when He said it was not unto death, but unto the glory of God. But in between there were trials. Lazarus died, the sickness moved on, the thing got more complicated. The thing got complicated and he died. But Jesus still showed up. So when He came, He was not late at all. He came at the right time. The right time was that he must die first. But from that beginning when He said it's not unto death, there was already a plan. So that things get complicated sometimes doesn't mean that God is not working. Let your mind be at rest. That God is working sometimes may be why things may get more complicated. I'm talking about the operation of this faith. I want to show you something about the operation of this faith. I want to show you how Jesus—because He's the author of this faith. This faith we are talking about, He is the author and the perfecter of the faith. So you need to understand the operation of this faith. Jesus told—when the man came to Jesus, the Bible says he begged Him, for he had only a girl, and Jesus made up His mind that "I will go, I will heal the girl." So there was already a plan. So don't begin to think that because God have plan for us, there will not be challenges, there will not be press here and there. Is God really planning? God plan is intact! I'm showing you the operation of this faith. There was already a plan. Something is—something is already reserved for Jairus. The daughter will definitely be brought to life. That has been reserved for him. Yet there seems to be some trials, some things came in between. It looks like "Ah, is Jesus still in this plan?" I'm trying to make you understand the operation of this faith so that you can rise up. You don't call conspiracy what they call conspiracy. You don't fear what people fear. You can declare that God said, I believe it, that settles it. It also tells you the need to daily be in His presence to hear from Him. You can't—you can't play truant in God's presence and want to be a man of boldness. It's impossible. You must—you must not play truant there. You must be present in His presence because everything is of Him. In Him we live, in Him we move, in Him we have our being. The government is upon His shoulder. It is not anywhere else. So once you don't stay connected—if the branch detach itself from the tree, the problem is with the branch. The branch will be drying but the tree is still fresh. Just stay connected. Just stay attached. You don't need to struggle for how fruit will come. Just stay attached. Branches don't struggle to produce fruit. All they need to do is just to attach themselves to the vine. They will be producing the fruit. All you need to do is just be attached. How—how other things work, leave it to God. He's the author and He's the finisher. I'm showing you how it operates so that you can rise above your fear, you can rise above your doubt, you can rise above your shakings. Understand your God, understand your faith, understand His plan, understand His purpose, understand that "Yay, there may be crisis in my future, but there are futures in my crisis." No matter the crisis, there is a future in that crisis. What did I say? There is a future. There is a future in it and that's what I'm showing you, the operation of this faith. Jesus said, "I am going with you." Bible says and the people were—were pushing Him here and there, thronging on Him here and there. So as He was going to—to Jairus' house, for He had only a daughter of about twelve years old and he was—the girl was dying. I don't know what is dying. So many things may be dying around you. But look at what's happened here. But as they went, the multitude thronged Him. Now a woman having an—having an issue of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment, and immediately her flow of blood stopped. And Jesus said, "Who touched Me?" When all denied it, Peter—Peter and those with him said, "Master, the multitude throng and press You, and You say 'Who touched Me?'" But Jesus said, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceive power going"—please note the word of Jesus—"I perceive power going out of Me." What took power out of Jesus was faith. You are kept by the power of God. You are kept by the power of God through faith. You can see why faith is added there. Because the power of God operates by faith. So He has to author faith in you. Jesus is the author of that faith. He has to author faith in you. How does that faith come? It comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. That is why one thing—one thing—one thing that the enemy will do to you to waste you is to take you away from the word of God. Bury your life, meditating on scriptures, seeking for the spirit, praying for revelation, for insight. Because that is what—that is where your faith comes from. For Jesus is the living word of God. You must bury your life into Him. He is the word of God. As you sink yourself into the word of God, as you hide that word in your heart, it will become a light to your feet, a lamp to your feet, a light to your path. Stay on that word. Stay on the word. Stay in the word. Meditate on it. Pray over it. Stay with it and see whether your faith will not rise. "Somebody touched Me, for I perceive power going out of Me." And do you know that anytime faith is operating, power is there? The power of God will be going forth once faith is in operation. The power of God comes forth. Say "I see power going." Power began to move. Power came into operation. Because there was faith. The power was resident in Jesus. But the power gained speed. It—it became—it became—it became—what they say in physics—in physics, talk about the kinetic power, talk about—talk about, you know, the kinetic and the potential power. The power was potential in Jesus. It was resident there. But it became kinetic power, an operational power when faith came into action. The power of God that you are kept by, eh, comes—becomes kinetic. The power is there resident. It's resident around you. I'm telling you, you need to believe that. You need to know that. You are kept by that power. You are—you are garrisoned. You are there. You are inside that place by that power. But that power will just be potential. It may not be kinetic if faith don't come into operation. The power of God flows! It flows! It was no more stationary. Jesus said, "I perceive power going." Power went into action. The power that made the heaven and the earth, the power of resurrection, the power of God came into action because faith was in operation. Before that faith came into operation, people were touching Jesus. But the power was—the power was still potential. Was the power not there? The power was there! But the power did not go into operation. The power was there resident. I'm telling you as a child of God, surrounding you is the power of God. Around you is the power of God. Within you is the power of God. On you is the power of God. About you is the power of God. But you must make that power kinetic. God did not produce mediocrities and failures. God produced men that can subdue kingdoms, subdue nations, stop the mouth of the lion, quench fires. That is the kind of people that God produced. And that is what you are. Because at the point of your being born again, faith was authored in you and Jesus is ever there, perfecting that faith. That is why the Bible says, "Oh, He is able to save to the uttermost those who came to God through Him because He ever lives to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25). Jesus is busy interceding to make sure that your faith is perfected. Operate in that faith. Operate that faith. We are kept by God's power, but it is through faith. This faith is not your own. It was authored in you. It is in you! It is in you! You need to know that it is in you! Yes, it is in you! You need to know that it is in you! Yes, He's there! He's there! He's there! He's in you! Jesus is the author of that faith. It's a faith that cannot be subdued by fire, by lion, by kingdoms. It cannot be subdued. Nothing can subdue that faith. That faith has conquered nations. It has conquered kingdoms before. We are reading—looking at this—this story so that you can understand. You can understand what we are talking about. You can—you can know, you can understand how—how faith operates. You can understand this power of God in your life. When the woman saw that she was not hidden, the Bible says she came trembling and fell down before Him. She declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she has touched Him and how she was healed immediately. And He said to her, "Daughter, be of good cheer." What do you see there? What do you see there? What can you read in that scripture? The Bible says, "Daughter, be of good cheer," Jesus—Jesus speaking—"your faith has made you well." So where is the power? One would think He would say "My power made you well." Jesus said "your faith." Are you getting something, brethren? Is something arising in your heart? Don't let the enemy get your faith. Don't let the enemy uproot your faith. Don't let the enemy do something to your faith. What the enemy want to make sure is not—is not operational in you is your faith. Because he knows that if the faith goes dormant, the power of God cannot operate. And you are kept by the power of God. Nothing keeps you apart from God's power. Nothing! All the preventive measures, yes, they are good for us, we must do them, but they are not what is keeping us here. What is preserving us for our inheritance is the power of God. You need to understand that and wake up! Wake up to your faith! Wake up to what God has authored in you that you are making to be dormant! Wake up! Arise! Jesus said, "Be of good cheer. Your faith—" not my power—"your faith has made you well. Go in peace." Your faith! Everywhere faith is, maybe you—maybe you don't understand what—what I'm trying to say. Eh? The Bible says "without faith it's impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11:6). Once there is faith, God is pleased and power begin—the power of God goes into operation. Eh? Jesus is saying, eh, "My power which is resident in Me, eh, has been made to be kinetic by your faith. Woman, eh, that your faith has changed the potential power in Me to kinetic power." Eh? And I'm telling you, it's the same thing you must do today, brother. That your faith—that is why we are kept by the power of God through faith. The power of God through faith. Once faith is not there, the power will remain—will remain potential, not kinetic. Once there is faith, it becomes kinetic. So we talk about faith and the power of God. But when God look at us, God is pleased with us. Why is He pleased with us? He's pleased with our faith. That's why, eh, He rejoices when we—when we stand in faith because He want us to stand in faith so that what He has made available for us can be useful to us. Once we don't stand in faith, what He made available cannot be useful. It is available! I'm talking about being kept. Being kept. Being kept for your inheritance. Being kept from the gate of hell. Being kept from the powers of darkness. Being kept from everything that is going on around us. Being kept from COVID-19. Being kept from affliction, from diseases, from everything that challenges our faith, from trials, from temptation, all of these things that for now need to be there so that this faith can be shown to be genuine. The more fire come and we quench that fire, He shows that the faith is genuine. If the faith cannot quench fire, it's not the one that Jesus authored. When lion come, he stopped the mouth of the lion. Oh, that is the faith that Jesus authored. If it does not—if it does not stop the mouth of that lion, it's not the one that Jesus authored. The one that Jesus authored will stop the mouth of the lion. So we know it is genuine. The genuineness is in the operation. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Your faith has made you well. And lastly, as we close this evening, look at what the Bible says. While He was still speaking, someone came—came from the ruler of the synagogue's house saying to him, "Your daughter is dead. Don't trouble the—the teacher." But what did Jesus say? But when Jesus heard it, He answered him saying, "Do not be afraid." Confidence! Boldness! There should be no fear! "Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Fear is opposed to faith. Do not be afraid. Only believe and she will be made well." I will stop here today. We will move on in this—we'll continue from this point next week. But note the word of Jesus here as we conclude today: "Do not be afraid." And I am telling you today, do not be afraid. Only believe. You will be made well. What is that thing that is not well? Do not be afraid. Only believe. You will be made well. Do not be afraid, brother. Do not be afraid. Only believe. You will be made well. You will—you will quench—you will—you will conquer that thing. You will defeat it. You will subdue it. That faith that is authored in you can do it. I'm telling you, it—the faith authored by Jesus—is a faith that overcomes. Say "this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith." It is an overcoming faith. It is an overcoming faith. It is an overcoming faith. Talk to God this evening. It's an overcoming faith. It's an overcoming faith. It's an overcoming faith. Thank You, Father. Oh, thank You, Holy Spirit. Mighty God, we bless Your name. Lord, we commit ourselves into Your hand. Oh, Lord, thank You for who You have made us to be. Thank You for—for Your plans for our life. Thank You, Lord, for this great salvation. Thank You for this Your unspeakable gift that is in Jesus Christ. Thank You for this kingdom that we are brought into. Thank You for the Spirit of adoption by which we can cry, "Abba, Father." Thank You, Lord. We are grateful. Thank You, our Father. Thank You, our Jesus. We lift You high, our God. Thank You. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord. And Lord, we pray tonight. Oh, precious Father. Precious Father. Whatsoever, whatsoever is making, oh God, the—the brightness—the brightness, the burning lamp of our faith not to burn brightly, Lord, tonight by the reason of this Your word, I speak into the life of Your people. Oh, let those things be uprooted in the name of Jesus. Whatsoever, oh God, whatsoever, whatsoever, oh Lord, the enemy have arranged against faith in us, whatsoever have been arranged, oh God, against that faith, Lord, in that Your daughter, in that Your son, tonight I speak against those things! I say, yay, in the name of Jesus, let them be consumed in Jesus' name! I speak unto you: arise! Shine, for your light is come! Arise! Shine, for your light is come! Thank You, Father. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Let's share the grace together. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forevermore. Amen and amen. Praise the Lord. The preaching that we heard today is from Family Tent Ministry. It's a Christian ministry involved in enriching the life of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, through discipleship, family life enrichment, social community development, and mission heat. Our activities day for our program: on Mondays like this, 5:00 to 7:00 PM, we have discipleship class. Every first Saturday of the month, we have Adolescents and Singles Club. Every second Saturday of the month, we have Family Life Forum, Marriage Forum. And our contact, if you want to reach out on the website, is www.familytentministry.org. We also have familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry@gmail.com. You can also, for any counseling or question, you can also reach out on these phone numbers: 0803361136 and 07033613848. God bless you all.