He Made Us Right

[Music] [Female Voiceover] Churches and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God really desires a godly home for you. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tech Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 1] Let's look at, go back to the text that has been our text of consideration all the while, as we have been looking at this great topic. What exactly is the gospel? That has been the center of our discussion. What exactly is it that the Lord intends that we believe? What exactly is the Lord looking up to that we believe? And we have been looking at the matter from Isaiah 53. [Speaker 1] And we have said so many things already. The whole matter began from verse 1 for the past two, three weeks now. "Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities" (Isaiah 53:1-5). [Speaker 1] There was where we stopped at our last discussion, that he was wounded for our transgressions and that he was bruised for our iniquities. We were to move on to look at "the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." We were looking at, "but he was wounded for our transgressions and he was bruised for our iniquities." And we saw that in looking at that scripture, we were able to establish that if the death of Adam made us to be eternally lost—that was where we left the matter—then the death of Christ should not just make us to be able to do right, it should make us to be eternally right. Because in Adam, we didn't get a temporary condemnation. It was not a temporary condemnation. Some people that are born are no more born sinners? We said that if in Adam, as long as you are born in Adam, even if you do nothing evil and the person die—he did no evil, he was a moralist throughout his life—where is he going? Is the person condemned or justified? So we noticed that it's not as if Adam made us to be able to commit sin. No. But he made us to be permanently, irreversibly, and eternally sin. He made us sin. Not as if he made us to be able to commit sin, but we were sin ourselves. And so there is nothing we do even if we don't do anything, we don't bear any fruit of personal sin. It does not make us to be righteous. We are still eternally lost. And that's why Jesus said, he who believes on the Son is not condemned, but he who believes not, regardless of whatever he is doing, is condemned. He's a condemned man. So we were eternally condemned. That was also what we got in Christ. So when the Bible says he was bruised for our iniquity and that he was wounded for our transgression, he was not trying to make us a little to do right, but rather we were also made right with God. And any man that comes into God truly through Christ is made eternally right. That was where we left the matter. And then we said but there are issues that begin to come up in this thing that we have said. We read three scriptures that day, but were able to look through one. We saw 1 Corinthians where Paul was to address that church. He calls them sanctified and all of that, yet he was to address key issues in their life. Now we want to move to the next scripture in looking at this matter of "he was wounded for our transgression, he was bruised for our iniquity." Can we now turn to the other scripture we read that day that we did not have the time to look through? That is 1 John. [Speaker 2] 1 John chapter 1. We want to read through into chapter 2. "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)" (1 John 1:1-2). [Speaker 1] So what was manifested to us? It was eternal life. Don't forget we're coming from the background of eternal death. Are we together? We are coming from the background of eternal death. What was manifested to us was eternal life. Eternal life. [Speaker 2] "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:3). [Speaker 1] So there is a level in which we have fellowship with one another like this. You are fellowshipping with us. But the truth actually is that everybody fellowships with who? With the Father and with the Son. So that anybody who is not truly fellowshipping with the Father and with the Son will be a problem to the group fellowship. There must first be a personal connection, a personal connection that now brings us together. But we are moving beyond that. We are trying to look at the matter of that "he was bruised for our iniquity," "he was wounded for our transgression," the implication of that. [Speaker 2] "And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth" (1 John 1:4-6). [Speaker 1] Please don't forget where we left the matter the last time, that was fortnight Monday. We left the matter on the fact that if what Adam did was something that was permanent, that was irreversible, and something that was eternal, then much more the more what Christ will have done will be something far, far greater than that. So Christ did not just make us to be able to do right, but he made us eternally right. And now we are seeing something. We establish just from 1 Corinthians, we saw that Paul was writing to a church and in addressing them, see how he addressed them as people who are holy, who are sanctified, even though he was going to treat issues with them. Now I was saying that when the true gospel is expressed, when the true gospel is preached, the first thing that comes to your mind is that if the matter is like this, if Christ makes us irreversibly right—because that is the thing that makes some people to fear, they find it difficult to believe. Most people don't believe that. That's why you find this mentality of "I'm a sinner." Most people don't believe that gospel. I remember when we started, we said "Who will believe our report?" But the thing that could have made us to understand it was to see that could Christ have done less than Adam? If Adam's own was eternal, could Christ's own be temporary? At least it helps us to be able to step from our religious background that seems to hold us, religious backgrounds that hold us back from believing truth. That religious background says this is too serious to believe. How will you say I am irreversibly, permanently, and eternally made right? But you could believe that Adam made you the other way. I think you could be able to believe that Christ has done much more better. That's the foundation. Now the implication of what we are saying is that the righteous deeds of the righteous is not the thing that makes them right. Rather, they have righteous deeds because they are right. Is that not very clear? Is that not very clear? Is that confusing? It's like saying the mango tree bears mango, not because—the mango tree bears mango because it is a mango tree. It is not the fruit that makes the tree. Rather, if you plant mango, what will you have? Mango fruit. So the sinner sins because he is a sinner. It is not the sins that he is committing that makes him a sinner. That is why even if he does not commit any sin, if he dies, he still goes to hellfire without Jesus. Because it's not his deeds that makes him a sinner. That is why we say except a man is born again, he can never. Let him do all the good things, he's still a sinner because it's not the fruit that makes the tree. Whether you plant an orange—if you plant an orange tree and there's no fruit on it, does it make it a mango tree? No, it's still an orange tree. So even if there is no fornication, there is no lie, there is nothing, if a man dies without Jesus, it's hellfire. Why? Because by the death of Adam, he was made—not just to be somebody who commit sin, he was made sinner. He only bears the fruit to confirm that he has been made a sinner. Is that not? Is that not? So if we reverse that same thing and we say when Jesus took our transgression and he bore our grief, when he took it away, when he brought us and said, "Look Judge, these people are no more sinners, I have bought them," it did not just put in us something that will make us to be doing right. We are saying he made us right. So the righteous deeds of the righteous is not what makes them righteous. It's not what makes them righteous. Rather, they are righteous, that is why they bear the fruit. Now if that is clear, if that is a foundation that is clear, if that thing is very, very clear that Christ made us eternally right, the first time you see Apostle Paul was saying, immediately he finished Romans chapter 5, he said, "This kind of grace... can we therefore continue in sin?" And say, "This is so good. It did not depend on what we do that makes us right or not right. Then anyhow we live." Because anyhow the sinner lives, without Jesus he's a sinner. Anyhow the righteous man live, it does not change his position. Are you getting the point? It does not change his position. That now raises issues in our hearts that so is this not a complication? Does it mean I can begin to commit fornication and stay righteous? Are you following? That is the issue I want to explain today. That's the issue I want to dwell on and make clear. The reason why we need to make these things clear is so that we understand the gospel. I keep saying that it is sometimes because of this when the pure gospel is preached, the implication it brings to the human heart because it looks like, that's why some people run away from the true gospel. We say, "Ah no, I will not yet say Christ made us eternal. Ah, it's not possible. Do you then mean that if somebody is now committing fornication now, do you then..." that is what it's telling us. That is what it carries. Because if Adam made them irreversibly, then Christ could not have made them less. Because if ordinary dust can do something so eternal, then the blood of God cannot do something less. Now if that is the foundation upon which we stand, because if you don't first stand on that foundation, let me tell you the truth, you will never be able to lead a victorious life over sin. If you don't stand upon this first foundation, that it is not my deeds that makes me right. You must first be able to believe that report. And that is why we took almost four weeks to look at who will believe our report. Because it's a report that is difficult to accept, it's difficult to take in. But until you take it in, you cannot experience the liberating power of the Spirit. You cannot experience what frees men from the life of sin. You cannot experience what brings the victory. You will think it is when you are double-minded, you are doubting it, that will bring the victory. No. It is when you take it just as it is. Now that is why we came to John, to try to establish this matter further. But maybe before I read John on and on here, let me make us come to Romans chapter 6. Let's look at Romans chapter 6. I'll come back to this John. Romans 6. Maybe it will create a good foundation for what I want to consider in John. Romans 6. Let's look at Romans chapter 6. Are you there? [Audience] Yes, sir. [Speaker 1] Now to read into that 6, I will take it from the end of 5. I will take it from the end of 5. So let's take it from the end of 5 then we read through into 6. Romans chapter 5, I will read from verse 20. "Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound" (Romans 5:20). Another translation that is easier, it said God's law was given so that all people can see how sinful they are. The law was not given to make anybody righteous. It was given to make people see how sinful they are. "But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (Romans 5:20). Are you following something? That is, just as the issue of Adam could not reverse a man, as sinners do right more and more, even so condemnation remains more and more. Their righteous deeds become like a filthy rag before God that gets God angry. The more man tries to say yes, I can save myself by some things I do, the more he provokes God. In a similar way, the Bible is saying that when people come into Christ, sin can no more condemn them. No matter how much sin want to stand, there is no condemnation. Now I want to say that, look at the verse 21. That will give you the clue to answering a further question. It says "That..." now listen. In verse 20 it says, "Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." Why? Verse 21 says "That..." which means 21 is implied on 20. Another translation has a different word? [Audience] "So that." [Speaker 1] "So that." So which means 21 rests on 20. Now the reason why that's working, why God had to make it that way, is coming out clear. It says "So that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:21). Now you will notice that the reason why that's working is like that is not because it will make sin to abound. Rather, the reason why that's working is like that is because it will make grace to reign through righteousness. Are you getting something? The reason why you must believe that first gospel that I tell people, I am not a sinner. There is nothing about me that makes me a sinner. And that is an eternal truth. And I keep saying, no matter how much the devil's sin want to abound, no matter how wickedness, how deception wants to become more cunning, there is a working. There is a working of God that will make sure that I still triumph. The other one makes you to believe that "Ah, this one that I did, I hope I can get to heaven? This one that they said..." the other one makes you live in fear. The other one makes you live in boldness. There is a working of God. The reason why God allowed that working to be like that is that since this one makes men irreversibly condemned, we must also do another one that will make men irreversibly justified. It's two principles that are working. But the reason why that was made is because it's the only means by which grace can reign through righteousness. What it means is that if you don't believe and agree with God that you are not a sinner, grace cannot play about in your life. You can't find grace. Grace is not what I try to get. Grace is a working of God. Apostle Paul said, "I strive by His workings that worketh in me mightily." There is a working of God. If you look at Apostle Paul again, he says, "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that works in you both the willing and the doing." It is God. But I'm showing you how this thing works. We must have an understanding that He bore my transgression. He was bruised for my iniquity. It is not about a thing that will now make me to be able to do right. That's not the kind of thing He bore. Rather, He made me, if I come to Him, a positionally changed person. From this position of a sinner, I am made saint. And just as this one stands as it stands, this one stands as it stands. I must have this confidence and this boldness about what Christ has done. That is the basis of saying that as Moses lifts up the serpent in the wilderness, even so shall the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believe will be saved. I must believe this thing. How it works, just leave that. How the venom will go is not your problem. But you must agree with the gospel. The gospel does not make us people who can now do right so that they will be doing right. No. The gospel of Jesus, His death and resurrection, made us righteous. We are not sinners. And there is nothing that can reverse my position as long as I keep looking unto Jesus. If you shift from looking, if you shift from believing, it's a different story. But the way to run that race is that I am looking into what He said, I am agreeing with what He said, I am holding to what He said, I am holding to what He has done. I take a true grasp of it, I refuse to leave it. And as I hold this and hold this, the Bible says we are changed into the same image from glory to glory. But if I look away and I begin to look at, "Ha, I am this, I am that," that is where grace can no more reign through righteousness to eternal life. And that is why he that must come to God must believe that He is. There's this thing that we hold to God. You don't have to hold to your experience. "You see, this my... you know, the thing has become so powerful." I say look, you are not understanding. You don't even know who you are. And sincerely, every time, the day since the day I got that story in my mentality, it has changed a lot of things. The story I told us I don't know how many weeks, how many months or years ago now, years ago, when I was telling you about a hunter that went into the bush. And he wanted to kill the eagle but the eagle escaped but he got the egg. And then he took the egg home and put the egg under his hen. And over time, the hen hatched both eaglet and chick. And as the eaglet was going with the chicks, going with the chicks, going with the chicks, going with the chicks—that's all his life, he was moving that way. And many times, the eaglet will see eagles flying in the air, say, "Ha, I wish I am like this. But I'm a chick and I've been made a chick." And he continued that way until at a particular point, the hunter said this thing is not flying, it needs to fly. The hunter took it to a height and then released it. It began to flap and move on. Pa! It fell down. It could not fly. Because all its life, it has been living on the ground as a chick. And so it cannot see itself, it did not know who exactly, it cannot remember, it just, he has never lived that way. So it cannot understand the workings of that. So the hunter waited for a while, allowed it to grow much more further. The hunter now went to a high mountain and threw the thing. And the thing was falling, falling, falling and he was just seeing things. Pa! Pa! So it was flying! And it was going. Why could it not fly at first? Why could it not fly at first? [Audience] Because it had not realized its identity. [Speaker 1] That's the problem. Until the believer understands that I have been made righteous, he will not breakthrough with sin. He will not! He will be struggling with it, he will be messing himself with it and be turning in it and be turning in it. "You know I'm a sinner, you know I'm a fornicator, you know I am this." And he will keep turning like that on the ground. It will keep turning and turning and turning on the ground. Not because he cannot fly. The Bible says whosoever is born of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. It's not our experience, it's not our struggle. It is our what? Our faith! We must believe what has been said. You see, what I discover is that for many of us, we just say, "Ah, how will you say He has resurrected? Ah, for me oh, if I don't put my hand inside His side and I also put my hand, I will not believe oh." For many of us, that's where we are. We cannot agree that He has resurrected. We cannot agree that liberty has been given. We cannot just agree that we have been set free. We keep—you know what you want to do? We want to experience it. You are waiting. "Father, bring some special power upon me now. Oh, I'm waiting for that power Lord, so that I can stop lying. Father, bring me that power. Power come now, power, power, power. Ha Father, I need that power. You know I'm a sinner, I need that power. Let that power come now. Father give me that power." We cannot agree that we have been given. We cannot believe that He has made us right. You see, we cannot agree that He has resurrected. We don't want to agree that it is finished. We still want some work to be done. But the work has been completed. Liberty has been purchased. Position has been changed. Men have been liberated. We are no more tied. He says He translated us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. When He was speaking to His disciples, He didn't—He was speaking to Paul, He didn't say, "Why are you persecuting my disciples?" He said, "Why are you persecuting me?" Because he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. But we don't want to agree that we have been joined to the Lord. We don't want to agree that we are one with the Lord. When Paul was addressing us in 2 Corinthians chapter—yes, 2 Corinthians chapter 6 from verse 14, he was talking about, don't be unequally together with unbelievers. Go and check everything he called the believer there. He said, what does Christ have to do with this? What does light—he didn't say what does a Christian. He's calling exactly who you are. You are Christ. For that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. I am not trying to become Christ. And I illustrated this thing I think in one of our messages. I said immediately an egg meets with a sperm, everything that becomes a human being has been given. It is just for it to form. Is that not true? It's not when you are lying there, we need to put eye, God now come put eye. And then we—is that how we grew? No, all the things are there. They are just forming, they are just forming. The reason why many Christians are not becoming more and more like Christ is because they are not beholding His glory and being changed into His likeness. Until you can believe and you can hold, you are not changed. And so you notice the bottom line, and that is my argument. You know, somebody we were discussing this thing and he said, "But you—what I think therefore is that this thing makes people to be free to, you know, it makes people even do anything. People can live anyhow and then they are still righteous." I said don't you understand that the matter on which God bases this thing is quite a different thing from what you are thinking. You are trying to reduce God to man. You see, if a man—and that's why I will take us to our time we get to John—if a man truly encountered the Spirit of Christ at salvation, the grace of God ceases to become a license for sin. Except he never encountered the Spirit of Christ. Except at that foundation, it was not the Spirit of Christ that he met. Don't we realize that it was because man was still dead that God said, "Look, lest he stretch his hand and eat this thing and remain in this situation forever? He will become crafty. Let's go and take it now craftily." And lest he become permanently in sin, "Let's ban him from it." When man comes alive, they are released to life. They are released to eat life. They are released to take life. It is when a man is dead that the grace of God becomes a license for sin. And when you see a believer who says, "Look, it doesn't matter, if I commit fornication, the grace covers everything," you know he never met the Spirit of Christ. Because the truth—I think I gave a pattern illustration one time—the truth is that if something used to be a crab and you change it to a fish, automatically he lost everything that makes it to walk on land. Every time he's taken out of water, what will be the struggle? To get back where? Into water. He begins to flap and flap and flap and flap and flap and flap. He begins to say, "Ha hey, water! Water! Water!" because the Bible says, he that is born of God does not continue in sin. He says he cannot! Not that he will not! It's not a matter of will. It's a matter of can! He cannot! If he can, he was not born. He was not born! If he's born, he cannot! He said because the seed of God is where? Is in him! So when you see any man that says that, "Ah, you see, we have received grace so anyhow we live, we go sink our together, we have been made righteous, continue... anyhow..." and then see him, go and check back. They never encountered the Spirit of Christ. Because many times, you bring men to the cross when they were not prepared. And it's happened several times, and I've observed several times before. You finish a message, you say, "How many want to give your life to Christ? All eyes closed, all eyes closed." Anybody close your eye—I don't normally close my eye in such situations like that, I didn't see the need to do that. "All eyes closed!" and then they all close their eye. "Now if you are decided, raise up your hand." And then some people raise up their hand. He said, "I can see that hand! One, two... yes, I can see it! I can see it! I can see it! Okay, take another step of faith. All eyes closed! All eyes closed! All eyes closed!" These are psychological makeups. You are just psyching people. You see, when a man truly gets converted, it doesn't matter who is looking or who is not looking. But you see, we try to bring them too early to the cross. And then he says, "Okay, okay, okay, okay, come out now! Hey, no! Don't sit down! Don't sit down! I can see you! I can see you! I can see you! I can see you just there! No, if you are ashamed of Jesus, He will be ashamed of you!" Then the person stand up again and then, and then... I just don't close my eye because I don't, I just—because I don't believe in all of this, I don't close my eyes. You know, I don't. Because I don't see, you don't pressurize people to Jesus. Men must decide to follow him. Men must come to a point where they decide. And the person now gets out, he stand there, and then the person come out. "Okay, okay, what are you... okay, say after me..." and then... he didn't want to come out now. "Father Lord, in the name of Jesus, at least because the whole area is eyes on him, he must say what they are saying. I give my life to you, I give my life to you, I confess..." and then the person go. You see, God searches the heart. We don't give what is holy to dogs. That doesn't mean again that there are no people who, you know, that have gotten born again correctly that way. That would be another extreme to say all those things is just sim-trick. They are not all sim-trick. There are people when they said raise up your hand, they sincerely wanted to come. And that coming was a coming of decision to encounter Christ. That's also true. So we should not over-emphasize certain things to a fault. But I'm saying some situations that lead to this error, that's what I'm trying to illustrate. So the person then goes and says, "Ah Brother, Brother... yes Brother... you see you are now born... you see, you are a child of God now... you see, you are a new creature in Christ." There was no encounter. What changes a man is the Spirit of Christ. And until the Spirit of Christ come, there is really no transformation. It's just reformation. You know we have reformed this place now. We have put tiles. We can also go ahead and put some books here for reading. We say come and then we put another area there, read between 10 and 12. You'll call it a what? A library. Is that not? But even though we say library and call it, it is still our what? Our seminar room. It is a different thing. Some people are just repackaged and repackaged and repackaged and rebranded. But there was no transformation. So when you begin to see men that the grace of God—this grace is so pure, and the pure grace I am telling you is a great grace. When you see men who take this grace as a means for lasciviousness, for lust and for several things, go and check back oh. Go and check back. Because there are men like that among us. But that does not reduce the truth of this eternal truth. It doesn't change it. It was this thing that we learned that gave us victory over all everything that religion could not save me from. It was this thing that some people say is making some people to sin, that took away masturbation, that took away pornography, that took away blue films. It was this thing, this truth—"Ah, so I have been changed. Ah, you work you can't continue in my life. If I see you, do you know where I am now?" I just find that we stop doing it. Is that not a good... I find ourselves changed. It was these things that changed us. So if some people say it is the thing that makes men to sin, they never encounter Christ. It was this thing that changed us. This is the truth that changed. When we were told in the scripture, if as in any man be in Christ, he's a new creature and thing. That is the point we must get clear and clear. And if you look at, if we now read that, if we now read that 21 into chapter 6 now, you will now notice what Apostle Paul now says. "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" (Romans 6:1). Now look at the way it answered the question. Please verse 2, let's hear the translation. My King James says, "God forbid. How shall we..." please note that word. Is it that are going to die? Or "that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" (Romans 6:2). Please any other translation? [Audience] "Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?" (Romans 6:2 NKJV). [Speaker 1] So it means that thing that reversed us to life also took us away from death. It can't be life-death. It can't be death-in-life. It's either it is dead or it's alive. So if it is dead to sin, I can't easily... there is no meeting point. There's no way there's a meeting point. And that is why many times you must understand, people who just profess Jesus and people who encounter Jesus. There are many professors that profess it. They profess it, they preach it, they teach it. They have not seen it, they have not handled it, their hand has not touched it, they have not seen it themselves, but they profess it. They are professional. Have you seen professional criers? That you rent them. Once things go bad, maybe there's somebody died, they will rent them to cry. Oh you need to see the way they cry! [Crying sounds]. It is just a profession. Nothing has happened to them. The real emotional pain is completely absent. But it is done purely because for money. And so you will see, "Ah pastor you be father... hey... ah..." All these things, that is the type of people live in church. [Yoruba language]. Christ has not been encountered. [Yoruba language]. They are just professing. They are professionals. Come here, let me lay hand on you and receive! They study it, they do it. They are professionals. So we should be able to separate professionals, people who have Christ as their profession, from those who encounter Jesus. The big difference is that you know if you get to that place where the professional criers are crying, except they tell you that "Ah, omo won ko lo ku o," except they tell you that oh it is not their child that died. [Yoruba language]. Because you don't know the story. And that is the problem. You don't know her story because you, but if you truly know the story, you'll just be laughing. [Laughter]. Look at these people. You will not feel anything again. So you find that do you see that there's just a thin line between reality and artificiality? Many are artificials even though they are inside. But the reality is there. There are those who have the reality. It's for you to draw your line whether you are professing, by the reason of those who got you born again and the circumstance on which you got born again. We need to check your story. Because the problem of some people is a foundational problem. Because it's a matter of birth. If a thing is born eagle, it cannot be chick. But if a thing was born chick, say, "You see don't worry, you are now eagle, eagle, yeah, yeah eagle." They put some feathers and they gum it. It cannot be eagle. It will never fly like eagle. If it manage to fly, when the storm comes and the eagle want to mount on it, you will now know this one is not eagle. And you always say, "You see, you see, I actually do not want to... you see... but see the circumstance of situation? You see you need to know, you know sometimes some grace is not available? No we are given different type of grace. You know..." I'm telling you stories that I've heard in different across churches. "We have different type of grace. Some are not great sin. If the people are great sinners and then because the person..." But I tell people, sin, begin to subject your mindset—you see if your mind is not transformed, you will struggle and some of you may struggle till death. You see, there is a transformed mind by which these things operate. A mind—Bible says, "Let the word of God dwell in you richly in all wisdom." It's dwelling, it's coming, you are turning it, you are turning the thing, you are turning it, you are turning it, until it become a thing that is dwelling. Not just a thing that you are just hearing. It's dwelling, it's there, it's springing up like a spring, it's coming up, it springs out. So, you see why the Bible was now raising issue in the John that I read. Let's now go back to the John. Let's go back to that first John now that I read at first. Let's see that first John now chapter 1. Now we have read up to the verse, I think I stopped around verse 5. "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness..." Three people said it, we lie. Are you seeing where the background is coming from? How can we who died—it's not dead-life, it's not life-death. You were dead and now you are alive. So it's either you lie. [Yoruba language]. If any man say—and that is where the mystery is—you see that he didn't say if any man says he knows him, if any man says he has been born again. He says if any man says what? "Fellowship." That is what! If any man—what is fellowship? You know he said at the beginning that our fellowship is truly with the Father and with the Son. He said if any man is truly having fellowship with Him. So the matter is not if any man is coming to church. It's not if any man is in the choir. I'm not saying these things are wrong. You understand me? I am in the prayer unit in my church. But the matter is not if any man is in the church, if any man is in the choir. It doesn't mean if any man speak in tongues. No, no, no. If if any man says he has what? Fellowship. If there is a sharing between a man and God. If there is an intercourse going on between a man and God. You can't be beholding His likeness and be changed to something else. [Yoruba language]. If any man fellowship, he says this thing going on. He says "we with open face, behold as in a mirror the image of the Lord, we are transformed into the same image from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 3:18). So when a person [speaking in tongues] says "look, I know God," and the man continues in darkness, what is that man? He's a liar. He's a liar. That is why I keep saying until we individually begin to have true fellowship with God, we cannot have real fellowship with the brethren. We must individually have true fellowship with God. True fellowship with God. I like illustrating it like this. If you put a pot on local fire that you use put wood, you cross wood on wood to cook something. If you take seven woods together, if four are very dry and three are very wet and you put them together to cook something, what do you notice will happen? Fire will not burn well. That is the point. If you have observed it, the fire will be burning but it will not burn the way it should burn. Because it will be taking time to also dry the other one, dry the other one. At the end of the day, what you want to cook will not be cooked. You'll need to put more wood. So when a man is not truly fellowshipping with God, by the time we come together, while we are catching fire into God's purpose, our own will still be trying to dry that one. We'll be drying, trying to dry, we'll be drying, trying to dry. You are just a problem to the communion. [Yoruba language]. What made Israel to lose 36 soldiers? Just because of one person, Achan. There was a breakthrough that became his breakdown. They conquered Jericho. He saw—he said, "I saw one Babylonian garment and I coveted it and I put it." Mind you, you know one thing about God? He said he has also become curse because those things are curse. Anywhere sin is placed, God judges it. That is what you must understand. When it was placed on God, God did not spare that. That should be clear to us. When God carried sin, he lived? He died. Anywhere sin is placed, God judges it. And so that was it. So you find that some brethren, some brethren, they are actually problems to the communion. They don't allow us to ascend. But the first thing to teach people is look, you must personally have this true communion with God. The reason why church has so much problem today is that they have made themselves God. Have communion with me, have with me. They don't lead people to go have communion with God. And the truth is that until a man can truly fellowship with God, he cannot truly change. Because he who changes is God, it's not man. But when we come together, there is an atmosphere that brings again another kind of communion that the one cannot do. He says two are better than one, they will have a good reward for their labor. One will chase a thousand, but when two do what? They will chase ten thousand. That is the power of communion, why we also need one another. There are some things that by the time we come together, the church becomes what? A formidable force. Unlike when they say since I am alone, I am individual. No! He says don't forsake the assembly of one another as believers. There's what this coming together also do again for us. But there is—if any man must, he must have a fellowship with the Father. That is very, very important. That is what is lacking today. We have fellowship with the Father and he walks in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. Now look at the verse 7. "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light," what happens to the fellowship? We have fellowship one with another. Do you see? When we walk individually, you understand who you are and you approximate who you are, as he is in the light. We have fellowship one with another and what happens? "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). My question is which sin again is in the light? We are not walking in darkness. But they are taking us on something. It only makes you—it's making you to understand a position. That as the believer walks—how will I best explain this? I'm looking at time. Okay we have just one minute. But you see, what we are saying is this. You see, because Christ eternally made them right, as they fellowship with Christ, as they look at Him—don't forget they are moving from one level of glory to another level of glory. Which means at this level where they were first, there were some things that were not right. When they move, they drop. Are you following me? You know you are changing on and on. What he is saying is that because we are human, because you have not become God practically, but as we walk in that light, as we fellowship in that light, as we move on looking at Jesus, and we continue with him that way, the issue is that there are things about us that are sinful that we don't even know. You don't know because it has not come to your understanding. That's what in the Anglican, because we don't want to be held down by those things, whenever we come like that, [Yoruba language]. But in Christ, there is nothing like [Yoruba language]. If there is nothing I don't know, it cannot hold me as far as God is concerned. As I walk in the light, as he is in the light, as I move on with Him changing into His glory, those things that have not changed they cannot hold me. But it must begin with the matter of light. People want to say "Pastor, we are getting confused." Let me explain it to you. A believer is an individual who does in all places, at all times, in all things, only those things he can openly defend. A believer—you see when you are walking in light, light don't hide. That is how I'm talking about light. Light don't hide. You see a believer is somebody as you are walking in light, you are somebody who does in all places, at all times, in all things, only those things you can openly defend. You say yes I did, this is why I did it. This is why I did it. This is why. Now, when a believer—I'm talking about walking in the light, so you can understand this matter of light because I will although the later verse will show them as we are going on but I could not get down we'll explain them much more better next week. You see, but when the believer moves on, like I explained that time, once a fish leaves water, what happens? What happens? He begins to struggle to do everything to do what? To get back into water. You see, once a believer does something and it is not light, do you know what happens to him? He freezes. His sense of joy is lost. His light is scattered. He cannot keep it. He said, "Brother, I have done this thing now. Oh why did I do this?" They are not the people that cover sin. They are not people that hide sin. Once—and that is why you notice that even when things are done that is not light, it is still in light. A believer sins in the light. That's why he says, "confess your faults one to another" (James 5:16). And some people ask, "Why should we tell you how many you be?" He says he that covereth his sin shall not prosper, but he that confesseth them shall be shown mercy. That's why he says, "come boldly to the throne of grace, that you may obtain mercy and find again fresh grace" to go ahead and conquer that sin. He doesn't continue doing the sin. They stumble. "Ah Baba, what happened? What happened?" They go back to him with boldness. "Lord, look at what happened!" There is no covering. They walk in light. They don't hide sin. They don't cover sin. "But you know what I did today? Do you know—ah you don't know what happened to me? I told a lie to that person. I've told the Lord and I'm so sorry. I told him I was so sorry because I don't know what even came upon me. Ha Baba, if you can..." They are open people. They say he has—thank God God gave me another chance. We will finish this John next week by God's grace. Let us pray. Let us talk to the Lord. I'm talking of that if he was wounded for our transgression, he was bruised for our iniquity. [Yoruba language]. I am light. I am righteous. I have been set free from the law of sin and death. Talk to Him! He cannot hold me! Look at whatever is holding you. Brother you are an eagle, sister you are an eagle. Fly! You are not a chick! You are not a chick! Fly! Swallow everything! Fly in righteousness! Fly in holiness! Fly in godliness! Fly! Fly in light! [Hymn Singing] Oh Jesus you are a wonder. Jesus you are a wonder. Jesus you are a wonder. You are a wonder to my soul. Oh Jesus oh, Jesus you are a wonder. You are a wonder oh. Jesus you are a wonder. You are a wonder. Jesus you are a wonder. You are a wonder to my soul. I have found a friend in Jesus, he’s everything to me. He’s the fairest of ten thousand to my soul. He’s the lily of the valley, in him alone I see. He’s the fairest of ten thousand to my soul. Oh, in sorrow he’s my comfort, in trouble he’s my stay. He tells me every care on him to roll. He’s the lily of the valley, the bright and morning star. He’s the fairest of ten thousand to my soul. Oh in sorrow he’s my comfort, in trouble he’s my stay. He tells me every care on him to roll. He’s the lily of the valley, the bright and morning star. He’s the fairest of ten thousand to my soul. [Speaker 1] You have been bruised for my iniquity. You have been wounded for my transgression. Sin can no more. The price has been paid. The consequences have been shattered. The power has been broken. Hey! The price has been paid! The consequences have been shattered! The power has been broken! Brother, sister, that is the gospel! That is the gospel! That is the gospel! He died for our transgression and rose again the third day according to the scriptures for our justification. [Yoruba language]. Thank you Holy Spirit. Thank you Jesus. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. Our Father we just thank you. And Lord we just commit our lives into your hand. Lord we are declaring again and affirming again, Paul plants and Apollos waters, it is God that gives the increase. Lord we are pleading, we are asking this day, that beyond the voice of the speaker, let your people hear your voice. Lord God, beyond me, cause your people to see you. Amen. In the name of Jesus. Let the vision of Christ, the vision of Jesus, the vision of the liberty, the vision of liberation, the vision of redemption of God, far pass in their heart in the name of Jesus. [Audience] Amen. [Speaker 1] Thank you Father. Thank you Jesus. Blessed be your name. Hallelujah. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.