His Cross Part 5

[Narration] Churches and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly home front. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tents Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 1] We appreciate Him for His mercies and for His love. We give Him all the glory. His mercies and His love have been wonderful. And as we commence again this second half of the year, we trust the Lord that His mercies, His preservation, His goodness will continue in our life in the name of Jesus Christ. Let us have a word of prayer and we commence the fellowship for today again. Our Father, to You be glory. To You be honor. To You be praise. To You be adoration. We thank You for Your love. We thank You for Your grace. We thank You for all that You have been to us. We thank You for battles that You fought and won for us that we are aware of. We are also grateful for the ones You did that we are not even aware of. Lord our God be praised in the name of Jesus. We thank You again for this start or this commencement into the second half of the year. Lord we pray that You will go ahead of us into the second half of the year to fight our battles, to bring in our miracles, to do for us our humble requests and supplications. Lord there shall be answers. We will not be denied. There shall be answers. There shall be open doors in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank You, Eternal Father. Blessed be Your holy name our God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Today being the first Monday in the second half of the year, we will take our teaching to some point and then also try to pray at some other point in the fellowship. Last week, we continued in our discussion of His Cross. His Cross. and we were relating it to our first episode of His Cross, the second episode, the third, and last week was the fourth. So again, like we normally do, before we go on, we want to ask those of us that were here last week Monday if perhaps there are things you want to share with us. Maybe the high point of lessons for you, or a particular experience or experiences that followed our discussion last week. So we want to open the floor. I want to ask our brethren who are here, is there anyone that has something to say about the matters we considered last week on the matter of His Cross? Anybody having anything to say? Anybody? Okay. So since no one has something to say, we will just try to remind ourselves of a few things and then from there we move on again. We last week we were looking at the situation in Genesis. That is what we were considering last week. The situation in Genesis. We saw something very, very crucial. That when man was made, something was very, very clear. Man was made in the image of God and in the likeness of God. And we noticed that man being made that way, something was clear about the life of man. Man was an expression of the will of God and the mind of God. So when you look at Adam in the garden of Eden, Adam was an expression of God's will and of God's mind. We were looking at examples. We saw that when Adam named the animals, whatever Adam named them, that was the name. We also noticed that when Adam saw Eve and Adam said, "This is the bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, she was taken out of me," that was also the name. That was exactly what God had in mind. That is exactly what God did. Eve was the bone of his bone, she was the flesh of his flesh, she was taken out of him. We noticed that Adam was fast asleep when God was doing all of that. Yet what Adam expressed was the will of God and the mind of God. We tried to relate that to the person of Jesus Christ. We saw that for Jesus in John chapter five, He said the Son can do nothing of Himself except what He sees the Father doing. We also noticed that He said, "As I hear, so I judge." So we noticed that for Jesus too, being the perfect image of God, He was not somebody acting from Himself. He was acting from the Lord. And so we noticed something very clear about Adam. That as long as Adam was alive before he died, as long as Adam was alive, Adam was an expression of the will of God and the mind of God. Adam was a clear expression of what the will of God is and what the mind of God is. So we noticed that it was at the point of death that Adam was no longer an expression of the will of God and of the mind of God. And that took us to several scriptures and we were considering Romans chapter five last week. That was where we left the matter. Please let's go back to that place where we left the matter in Romans chapter five. In Romans 5, we notice in verse 12, that was where we stopped, that "therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because all sinned." We have explained that very well last week. Our emphasis last week from that verse is that sin was a mystery, or sin is a mystery. Sin has nothing to do with rational reasoning. Sin has nothing to do with what you feel or what you don't feel. Sin is that God said the day man eat this thing he will die. And when man ate it, there was the law of representation. When Adam ate it, everybody ate it. So when Adam sinned, all sinned. So it was a law of representation. That was where we stopped last week. And we noticed something that in verse 14 the Bible says, "Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come." And that was where we left the matter last week. That one very crucial thing for us to realize is that as far as God is concerned, after the sin, after the death of man in Eden, the next agenda of God for man was the coming of Christ. Everything that happened between Adam and Christ, they were just temporary arrangements. They were just, let this one be there for now until the real thing will come. So everything we were seeing that was happening through Abraham, through Moses, through all of those people, they were just temporary arrangements. And the reason why it is important to note that this matter of His Cross is that you would realize that when Jesus was speaking, there are two scriptures that we need to properly look at and understand the emphasis of Jesus in those scriptures. These two scriptures, they are in John. The first one is the popular John 3:16. John 3:16. But I will read from John 3:14. I read that last week but I want to emphasize something quickly. "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." [John 3:14-15] The point is this. The love of God for mankind, what God was actually offering mankind in Christ, is life. What actually God was offering to mankind in Christ was life. So essentially, the reason why Christ came is what? So that we can have eternal life. Now when you look at the scripture, let's go back to Genesis. When man was an expression of the will of God and of the mind of God, what was in place? What was in place? Life. He was alive. What made man to cease to be an expression of the will of God and the mind of God was nothing else apart from what? That he died. If man did not die, if death did not come, Bible said as by one man sin entered the world and death by sin, and so death passed unto all men. Now if that sin and death did not come, man would be alive. And as long as man is alive, one thing that is clear was that at that state, what was man? He was an expression of the will of God and the mind of God. So you notice that essentially it is crucial to realize, and that was why when we began, when we were looking at the third series, I made something clear very well. I said we need to disabuse our mind from thinking that the Cross is about works of miracle. Before Christ came, there had been works of miracle. It is important to disabuse our mind from thinking that the Cross is about riches. Before Christ came, there had been riches. In fact, the riches that Solomon demonstrated was something that I don't know whether it has been surpassed because Jesus Christ still made reference to that riches. Now, I said that if you are thinking that Christ, the coming of Christ is about power, look at Elijah. Look at Elisha. That a dead man's bone was bringing to life another dead man that touched the bone. So you will notice that the matter about Christ, and I also did mention something, if you are talking about long life, when we talk about long life in terms of long life in terms of biological long life, I said Methuselah had how many? 960-something. 950-something. Now, all of those had been before Christ came. Yet there was a need for Christ to come. Now, but one thing that is clear that we are making clear about His Cross today is that you will notice that what essentially got missing in man was eternal life. And what could not be replaced was that life. In the temporary arrangement, in all the makeshift arrangements that God made, you discover none of them could offer man eternal life. None of those arrangements could do it. It was when Christ came that He said, "For God so loved the world..." Now the second one is in John 10:10. Another very popular scripture again. John chapter 10 verse 10. In John 10:10, Jesus said, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." So we notice essentially, why are we having Christ in the picture? Why are we having Christ in the picture? Life. What I want you to understand is that this Cross of Christ, the Cross of Christ, what makes the Cross of Christ to exceed every other thing that was before it is life. Everything before it could not offer man eternal life. Everything before it could not offer unto man eternal life. Everything before it offered unto man life, and that life more abundantly. Jesus said, "I have come that they might have life." And when you try to look at it, you'll be wondering. Adam, what essentially happened was that Adam introduced death. But you know, one thing that you must get along the line that must be clear to us is that when we read Romans chapter five, please look at that Romans chapter five again. When we read Romans chapter five, it was important to understand something about that death. And that is where many times believers are not getting it. When you look at Romans chapter five, please let's look at that chapter. When we look at Romans chapter five again, in talking about death, there was something about that death. And that was what I was emphasizing last week. The Bible says that verse 11 and 12, "And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation." Because we were enemies before. Now he said, "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered." So please, one thing we need to get clear is that Christ came to give life. But what actually entered through Adam? What entered? Sin. So brethren, when we say Jesus came to give life, we must get something very clear. When we talk about sin in Adam, you know God said, "The day you eat this thing, you will die." But what the Bible said entered was what? Was sin and death. The Bible did not just say death. The Bible said sin and death. So we need to understand that when the Bible says sin and death, and every other thing God did before Christ came could not offer life. Now you need to get it that the matter of their not being able to give life, we make it clear that essentially everything God did before Christ came could not handle sin. Because the death we are talking about is actually a consequence of what? Sin. So because they could not deal with death, what happened? They could not deal with sin. And that is why if you go to Hebrews, the Bible says all the sacrifices that were offered before Christ came, what were they able to do? They were not able to take away sin. What were they able to do? They only covered sin. Because they could not give life. It is what can give life that can deal with sin. Because the death is coming from sin. So brethren, essentially the Cross of Christ is about sin and death. The Cross of Christ is essentially about sin and death. The Cross of Christ therefore is something that God brought in place to bring victory over what? Sin and death. You'll now be asking me, does it mean that there will be no power? Does it mean that there will be no abundance? Does it mean that there will be no this, there will be no that? But you need to understand, all of those things, they were inside there. It was when death, sin and death came that all those things left. Adam was in glory and power. Is that not true? Was that not true? Was that not true? Adam was in great glory and power. Adam was in so much abundance. Adam had everything working and running for him. What made everything to stop working and running was about what? Sin and what? Death. So the Cross of Christ, the Cross of Christ, when we are talking about having a form of godliness and denying the power in that godliness, is that any form of godliness, please, there have been several forms of godliness. Any form of godliness that denies power. So what actually which power are we talking about? We are not talking about the anointing. No, that's not what we are talking about. Anointing has been. There have been some forms of godliness that exercised all kinds of power. When we are talking about denying the power, and we're able to learn later in Romans in our second episode of the Cross, that the Cross of Christ is what? Is the wisdom of God and the power of God. [1 Corinthians 1:24] You're able to understand when we say there is a form of godliness that denies power, we are talking about a form of godliness that does not give victory over sin and death. We are talking about a kind of godliness. We are talking about a kind of gospel. Will it be a gospel now? It will be another gospel. We are talking about a kind of preaching, a kind of Christianity that see, it may offer anointing. It may offer riches. It may offer what are those things before Christ came? Can we count? You know all those temporary things. You can begin to count all the temporary things. God just put them temporarily waiting for Christ to come. After the first Adam, the next plan of God was what? The second Adam. So what I'm trying to say is that any kind of godliness that exercise everything that was before Christ came, when I mean everything you know what I mean, you know all what we have talked about before. That exercise all those things but does not give victory over sin and death is a form of godliness that denies the power that God introduced. There is a power that God introduced. It is the power that conquer sin and death. So godliness today, if you want to understand what it means to be godly today, is not to display just what we found in Moses. It's not to display what we found in Elijah. It's not to display what we found there. Because everything they did there only covered sin, could not take away sin. All what happened there could not give men life eternal. And so the Cross of Christ, the essence of the Cross of Christ, when we say the Cross, when you say, "I'm having an experience of the Cross of Christ in my life," when you say, "I bear the Cross of Christ," when you say, "I am somebody who has encountered Christ," "I have an encounter with Christ," "I have come to know Christ," what are we saying that you have come to know? What have you really come to know? Is actually not even power now, but victory over sin and death. Now please let me explain something about this Cross. Let me say something about this Cross which is very, very crucial for us. Very, very crucial. Now you know when the Lord was speaking to Adam, the Lord was not speaking about sin. The Lord was speaking about what? About death. "The day you eat this thing," He didn't say sin and death will come. What was the Lord talking about? He was talking about death. But we have a clear understanding that actually once death come into operation, it is a consequence of what? Of sin. So sin and death is actually an operation. Everywhere you find death, what is in operation? Sin. Now please now listen to me. Listen. You notice that when Christ was coming, Christ was not essentially speaking about, "I'm coming to give righteousness." What was He speaking about? He says, "I have come that they may have life." "I have come that they may have abundant life." So what is He telling you? That once life come into operation, what will be working with life? Righteousness. When death came into operation, what was working with death? Sin. So if a man says, "I am alive in Christ," what should be at work in him? Righteousness. When a man says, "I have encountered the Cross of Christ," when a man says, "I have an encounter with the Cross," "I have met with Jesus," "There is this encounter I have with Jesus," what actually should be in operation? Righteousness. Everywhere there is life, it is flowing from righteousness. Now how do we know? Look at something. We want to look a little further into this Romans chapter five trying to express something about ourselves. Trying to look at an issue very, very crucial to us. He says, "For until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed where there is no law." [Romans 5:13] What is that telling us? What is that telling us? That ever before the law came, there was what? There was sin. So listen. When a man breaks the law of God, what did you say? You say the person has sinned. Is that not? But it's important to note that sin has been before the law. So it is not actually the breaking of the law of God that is sin. Sin has been before the law. So it is not the law that brings sin. It is not breaking the law that brings sin. It is not are you understanding me at all? He says sin has been before the law came. You know what he's trying to say? The law came through who? Through Moses. Before the law came, do you know that God was angry and God wiped out human life? Was that not true? Was that not true? God wiped out everybody. He said because the imagination of man was continuously evil. [Genesis 6:5] So do you see that before the God gave any law there was sin? So the law is not the origin of sin. That a man is breaking one law is not why he's a sinner. Sin had been before the law. Now I am saying this so that something can be clear. Sin had been before the law. Now it means therefore, it is not the breaking of that law, it is not disobeying that law that is actually bringing sin. Rather, sin had been in existence. It means therefore, you know what I'm trying to make you see? What I'm trying to make you understand? I'm trying to make you understand something very, very clear. When the Bible says, "as by one man sin entered the world," the Bible was not talking about as by one man somebody broke the law of God. That's not what it is saying. The Bible is not saying that by one man the law of God was not obeyed. That's not what it's saying. What the Bible is saying is that as by one man, sin, it means actually sin, if you really want to understand sin, sin is actually a a how will I explain it? Sin has a life of its own. That's what I'm trying to say. You can say "Mr. Sin". Do you understand me? What the Bible is saying entered when Adam sinned was not that one man disobeyed the law of God so death now came. No. What he's saying is that when Adam disobeyed the law of God, something came with that disobedience. What came with it was an entity, a thing that has a life of its own that is called what? Sin. That sin operates with death. So it's actually a law. The law of sin and death. That's what came into existence. That is why it is crucial to understand that if any man has life and say it is not of it is not the law of righteousness and life, that man is a liar. That man is a liar. Because the Bible says Adam was what? Was a type of Him that was to come. He was a type. So just as we are having it in Adam, we are going to have it where? In Jesus Christ. We are going to have it in Jesus Christ. Now you know I was talking about, but you should notice that when God was talking about Adam, what God mentioned categorically was that the day you eat this thing you will die. God did not say there's going to be a law of sin and death. But what we understood by that death was not that Adam will fall to the ground and die because when he ate it he was still moving alive biologically. What God was saying, that there is going to be a law, a law, an operation in you, that there is going to be an operation in in humanity that will be producing death. That operation will be in humanity. So now if you now look at that operation, and that is why it is so crucial. When you are talking about "I have eternal life in Christ," you should understand that it's not just about having one eternal life that makes you a member of a church. No, it's about having an operation. Something will start operating. It is an operation. It is not something you will try to make to operate. It is something that will operate. Oh, are you understanding me at all? It is something that should operate. But you'll be wondering, why is it not operating? That's what I want to discuss with you as we go on and on. It is something that should operate. Because ordinarily, what do you do for the sin and death to operate? Tell me what you did. What particular effort did you put into sin and death to operate? What effort? There was no effort. There was no effort. But you notice that it was operating. So you need to get something clear. When the Bible says, "being justified by faith," [Romans 5:1] the Bible is telling you that the only effort you need for this thing to operate is faith. Oh, are you are you getting me at all? It is not you making the thing to work. But we are justified by faith. The thing operates by faith. The thing operates by believing. The thing will operate. If it is not operating, it is not because it should not operate. It is because somebody is not believing. The thing should operate and when I say it should operate, oh, let's let's go let's just let's just travel a little a little further in that scripture. Now now let's look at let's look at let's look at something in the verse I want to I want to later I will still come back to trying to look at, you know, understanding what we got in the Cross. We'll be looking at them now talking about, you know I mentioned something at the beginning when the Bible says that a man sold all that he had to buy that land. I'll still come to what are those things. But that's not what I'm doing now. What I'm trying to do this evening is trying to make you understand what the Cross of Christ essentially represent. I have told you before what it did not represent. I am telling you what we meant by His Cross. When you say the Cross of Jesus, why is that Cross the wisdom of God and the power of God? That's what I'm trying to that's what I'm dealing with. Later I'll be coming into what what what what was made available in that Cross. I'm coming to that later. What I'm dealing with now is essentially what is it about this Cross? What does it represent? What is it to bring? So but I have showed you something very clearly that ultimately what God intend to do is to bring man back to where? Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That is where God is bringing man to ultimately. Because that was what man was originally. Once man is inside God, once man lives inside God, man will be an expression of the rule of God and the mind of God. And that is what will happen ultimately. But we are looking at the step. We are looking at how these thing how they join themselves together. How they join themselves together. Now look at what the Bible says. The Bible says in verse 15 talking about this this matter. He says, "Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come." [Romans 5:14] Now look at the next thing. Look at the next thing. Verse 15. He says but what? "But the free gift is not like the offense." I want to look at this matter. The free gift is not like the offense. There is something different about the free gift and the offense. The free gift is not like the offense. Now but do you wonder that immediately he has said that Adam is a type of Christ, the next thing the Bible went to is that the free gift is not like the offense. It's trying to it's trying to make us understand something that actually that which God is giving is a what? Is a what? Everything that God is giving in Christ is a what? Is a gift. And please what's the implication of that? What's the implication ordinarily if something is a gift? It is freely given. That is one. What does it imply again when you say something is a gift? That is it. It means there is no work. Once you work, there is a what you get is what you earn. You say my earned money as He's talking about earned allowance. Earned allowance, that they work for it, we earn it. So it is important to get a background. It is not something to be earned. Nobody can earn the love of God. You cannot earn it in terms of work. This thing that God is bringing, this life that God is bringing, this life that God is offering, is not something to be earned. It's something that was given. It was given. And please that is why you should understand that it is something that should operate. I don't know whether you understand me. Because the capacity of the person giving it is that the person cannot lie. It is something that should operate. If it is not operating, it is not because the thing cannot operate. But it is because somebody somewhere is not believing something. And you will notice that is why at the opening point of the matter of Christ, at the opening point, the matter of Christ, I think I will like us to see before I come back to this Romans chapter 15 to 17. Look at the opening point of the matter of Christ. The opening point in Isaiah. Let's look at this in Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 53. The opening point of that matter. Isaiah chapter 53. The opening point. What did He say? 53 verse 1. He wants to introduce what would be available in Christ. In a bid to introduce it, what did He first say? From verse 1. "Who has believed our report?" What's the next thing? "To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" [Isaiah 53:1] Before He now started to talk about Christ. "For He shall grow up before Him like a tender plant, he out of a dry ground. He has no form of comeliness, when we shall see Him there is no beauty in Him to desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrow, acquainted with grief, we hide as it were our faces from Him. He was despised, we did not esteem Him. Surely He bore our grief, carried our sorrow, yet we esteemed Him stricken smitten by God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgression, He was bruised for our iniquity, the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, by His stripes we are healed." [Isaiah 53:2-5] Now before I began to narrate all of this, what is the first thing He said? Who has believed our what? What He is saying is that this thing, one major reason why it does not it will not operate in men is lack of faith. Who has believed? It takes believing. I keep emphasizing this matter. It takes believing for its operation. He said who has believed our report. He wanted to talk about the report about Christ. And the first crucial question that heaven was asking is that is there somebody to believe this thing? Is there somebody to you I keep do you know that it is easier for us to believe that we are sinners than to believe that we are righteous? That's what I've discovered. People find it easier to say [unclear] than to say [unclear]. People find it easier to take the first operation than to agree with the second operation. It looks awkward. It looks can it be true? Can, can, can and that is it. Can, can, can I just can I just say that I am righteous? I No, I would rather say I'm a sinner. It is easy easier to believe that. And you know the second thing? After He said "who will believe our report," what's the second thing? You see another very crucial thing about the operation. He said, "And to whom has what? Has what? The arm of the Lord been revealed." What he is telling you again? The first thing is about believing, the second is about what? Revelation. The first one is about believing, the second one is about revelation. Those are the key things about this thing that Jesus Christ came to do for us. It is about believing, it is about revelation. It is not something that is commonsensical. It is not something that agree with logic. The truth is not logic. The truth is about believing a revelation. So when there is no revelation, there is nothing to believe. The two works together or else what you will find is what? A form of godliness that what? That denies the power. So two crucial things about everything that the Cross will be offering to us is what? Believing and revelation. Two crucial things about it. And you notice that this was a matter, this matter of believing, for you to know how serious it is, it was the matter that the Hebrew writer began with in Hebrews chapter 1. First to show how Jesus was superior to all the patriarch, all the dreams, all the whatever they had in the Old Testament. He showed again how Jesus was superior to Moses. He showed again how the sacrifice of Jesus is superior to that of what you find in the blood of bulls and lambs. When he was through with all of that, he began again, still in that thing that he was saying, he was pointing to us that what made our father not to enter into their rest was what? Unbelief. When it move on and on and on, when it got to chapter 11, it wanted to tell us that, look, this matter by faith, now faith is the assurance of things hoped for. [Hebrews 11:1] You notice that they still bringing us back to this matter of believing a revelation. But one thing I want you to get very clear is that when sin was to enter, God did not talk about sin. God talked about death. And I want you to know when righteousness is to enter, what God categorically stated is that for God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son. Let whoever believe in this Son will have what? Eternal life. But you need to understand that what enters through Christ is the law of what? Righteousness and life. As the law of sin and death came through Adam. It's a law. It's a law. It's a law we'll get to that much more later. But I want to show you something in that Romans 5 and then I I want us to oh, it's 10 minutes past six. You see I really want us to pray today. I want us to want to to you know, to bring some things into prayer. I want to I want us to pray. Let me go back to that Romans chapter 5 and then just say say one thing there and then we stop for today. I want us to pray into this second half of the year. We are going to just take a few prayers together. But please essentially I've said something today. That essentially the Cross of Christ is about what? It's about what? It is about life. And that life, is a life that made righteousness to be in operation. Death is about sin being in operation. Life is about righteousness being in operation. Everywhere we talk about the life of Christ, there must be a law of righteousness. It is an automatic thing. I want us to pray. I want us to pray. First I want us as a group of people to come before the Lord and give Him thanks for bringing us into this second half of the year. I want us to particularly thank the Lord as a people that we are grateful. We are grateful for this second half of the year. We give Him glory for this privilege of the second half of the year. We want to particularly tell Him that we are grateful for the first half. How the Lord kept us through. How the Lord helped us through and brought us into this second half of the year. Can we particularly say God we are grateful? God we thank You. We thank You our Lord, our help, our all in all. Thank You for Your word. Thank You Father for everything that the law of life and of righteousness in Christ Jesus has done for us. We thank You Lord, we thank You for preservation. We thank You, Lord, oh God Almighty, for protection. We thank You for life. Thank You we are really grateful. Thank thank God for whatsoever whatsoever things you have experienced in terms of increase, in terms of plenty, in terms of addition. I don't know what God have done for you, but you know it better between January and June ending, the first half of the year. Is there something to say God I'm grateful about? Is there something about? Is there something to appreciate God for? Is there something to say God thank You, thank You, thank You, thank You, thank You? Is there something to say God we are really grateful about? Lord we are grateful about today or something? Please go ahead and do so. Go ahead and do so. Go ahead and do so. As to say God we are indeed grateful. We are indeed grateful. And as we have done that, I want us again to move ahead to pray. We have been looking at the last five, four weeks now, five weeks at the matter of His Cross. And what I first want us to pray in this second half of the year is that God Almighty we pray, go ahead of us into this second half of the year. Go ahead of us into this second half of the year. We trust You that as it was You in the first half of the year, it will be You in the second half of the year. There will be no battle that we will not win. There will be no there will be no there will be no obstacle that we will not overcome. Lord God Almighty, Lord God Almighty we pray that God You will surmount our challenges. We will overcome, oh God, our challengers. We will mock at our fears. We will mock at our fears. We will mock at our fears. We will mock at our fears. We will go we will be overcomers. I want us to pray that God we trample over scorpion, over adders, and over every works of the enemy. As a people, as a ministry, as a fellowship, as a individuals, as families, nothing shall by any means hurt us. We shall be overcomers. We go forth conquering and to conquer. We go forth conquering and to conquer. We shall not be victims. We shall not be victims in the name of Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. I want you to go ahead to pray considering the matter of the Cross. And I want you to begin from where we left the matter, where we started the matter, sorry, in five weeks ago. I said one crucial thing, you remember that first week that we started? I said one crucial thing we need today is that the Holy Spirit must tell us of things to come. What we need today, we need so much of revelation. We need God to tell us of things to come honestly. These are not the days to live anyhow. They are not the days to live carelessly. They are not the days to just to just to just to do things carelessly. Honestly it it it is a time, it is a time I showed you then he said the the spirit speak that in the in the latter days perilous time shall come. [1 Timothy 4:1] Perilous time shall come. The spirit was speaking to Paul. He was making him to see what is to come. I'm telling you we need a lot of that today at individual level. I'm not talking about going to look for a prophet or a prophetess. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about as many as are led by the spirit, they are the sons of God. [Romans 8:14] Ability to be led by the Spirit of God. We need a lot of that today as we enter into this second half of the year. I want you to pray. The Bible talks about the days of Eli. It said revelation was scarce. It said vision was scarce. [1 Samuel 3:1] I want you to pray that vision will not be scarce in my life. It will not be scarce. Vision I'm I'm not talking of having one funny or stupid dream. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about hearing what God is doing, seeing what God is doing, hearing what God is saying. I want you to pray that in my life vision will not be scarce. In my marriage vision will not be scarce. In my family vision will not be scarce. Revelation will not be a scarce thing. No, it will not be scarce. It will be abundance of revelation. It will be abundance of revelation. It will be abundance of revelation in the name of Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus Christ. It will be abundance of revelation. Abundance of revelation. Abundance of revelation in the name of Jesus. Abundance of revelation. Revelation will not be scarce in my life. It will not be scarce in my life. It will be abundance of revelation in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. In Jesus' name we pray. There is something I want to remind you of and I'm trying to make you see that maybe I should just make allusion to it because we are praying. It's a familiar scripture. You know we made mention of Elisha in the old operation. I showed you that day that the king of Syria sent his army to go and arrest Elisha. [2 Kings 6:13-14] Why were they sent? Why were they sent? The Bible says the king of Syria will plan all kinds of things against the king of Israel. He will plan to ambush him somewhere. Elisha will send a message to the king, "Don't go this way because look, that king have planned an ambush." He will plan another one again, Elisha will send message to the king. Then the king of Syria now said, "Please, who among you normally go and tell the king of Israel my plan?" And then they told him that no, none of us oh, but there is a man called Elisha. Even what the king normally say in his bedroom, that man normally hear it. I'm talking about some of the things we need this last days. Revelation will not be scarce in your life oh. Evil is increasing. But I'm telling you, the Bible says where sin abound, grace much more the more abound. [Romans 5:20] It is for us to grow in this life of God. I'm telling you. I want you to pray. You see that what was delivering men in the days of ambush, in the days of planning to kill them to destroy them, what the enemy was planning in their camp, somebody was receiving by revelation. Who told you that that is not possible today? That happened in the temporary arrangement, not even in the permanent one. Then more of it can happen in the permanent one. I'm telling you. More of it. I want you to pray. God Almighty, God Almighty, cause me to be a man or a woman of the spirit. These are very important things. I'm telling you. If other look, what happened in these people were just temporary arrangement. God just make it a temporary arrangement before Christ will come. And even that the temporary one, a man can know what the enemy is planning here and there and it the king was continually continually escaping. Who told you that we cannot continually escape today? Ambush [unclear], ambush. Look, it is to grow in the operations of God. I'm telling you. It is to grow in the life of God. I want you to pray. God Almighty, oh God Almighty, that I may grow in my capacity. It is for us to increase in capacity. Honestly it is increase in capacity. Increase he says the spirit speak expressly. It is for us to pray that God, there will be an express speaking of the Spirit in my life. There will be an express of revelation and vision. There will be an express place of insight into what is to come. There will be an express. There will be an increase in the capacity to see what is to come, to hear what is to come, to know what is to come, to understand what is to come in the name of Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Thank You blessed Father. Thank You Almighty God. Blessed be Your name our God. In the name of Jesus Christ. And I want you to pray that God, as we move on in this second half, this second half of the year, Lord God, we need You. Honestly we need God. And we we we need the Lord. The people that know their God shall be strong. [Daniel 11:32] Lord God Almighty, Lord God Almighty, that Christ may dwell in my heart by faith. [Ephesians 3:17] This second half as we march through, that Christ may dwell in my heart by faith. That there may be there may be inner strength. That there may be inner capacity, enlargement and expansion in the name of Jesus Christ. There may be an enlargement in my capacity. My inner strength, my inner capacity, my receiving signal, my receiving my antenna. There may be enlargement, there may be increase in this capacity in me in the name of Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Oh thank You blessed Father. Thank You Almighty God. Blessed be Your name our God. Thank You Almighty Father. Blessed be Your name. And last I want us to pray something that was clear in our, you know, alongside the things that we have been discussing. is that look, it is it is crucial. It is so crucial. It is so crucial. So essential for us to know that what God is doing is by representation. What God is doing in Adam and in Christ is by representation. I want you to pray. I want you to pray. Lord open my eyes. Lord open my eyes. Look everything God is doing in Christ is by representation. The Bible says you will count yourself, count yourself to have died to sin. Reckon yourself to be free from sin. Count yourself. You see the Bible say, "Now consider yourself." [Romans 6:11] You see it is about a reckoning. It is about understanding the law of representation. Can you pray this evening? Can you pray this evening? Oh God Almighty. Lord God Almighty, increase my insight. It is by representation. It has nothing to do with what you feel or what you don't feel. It's not about that. It's by understanding that look, just as we died in Adam, we lived in Christ. Just as just as just as sin came in Adam, righteousness came in Christ. Just as just as death came in Adam, life came in Christ. It is a representation. It is working in the law of representation. I want you to pray for for capacity insight into this matter. That is where the thing is. That Lord as we enter into this second half of the year, Lord increase my capacity in understanding this law of representation. That I may I may reckon myself, that I may count myself, that I may walk in that which Christ have made available. These things are available in Christ. That is why you notice the Bible says, you have been the Bible says, "Who has blessed us with all spiritual blessing." [Ephesians 1:3] Every blessing we have been blessed with it. The experience of them is by representation. The experience of them is by the law of representation. The experience is to increase in understanding the law of representation. That look what is here, oh, a greater capacity of it is here. What is there? That is why I stop at that verse, "much more the more". [Romans 5:15] Do you know that grace is much more the more? Do you understand that righteousness is much more the more? That thing that makes you to lie, in Christ, what makes you to live right is much more than it. Do you know that thing that makes you to sin, what is in Christ is much more the more than it? Righteousness in Christ is much more the more. Do you know that that thing that makes you to know to live in evil, do you know that much more the more? Much more the more, the law of righteousness is stronger than it. Do you know do look I'm talking Bible say much more. I'm telling much more. Do you know that thing that makes you to get angry unnecessarily? That you are just angry when the Bible says be slow to anger. [James 1:19] Do you know that there is much more the more to be able to to be able to, you know, to be slow to speak, to be slow to anger? Do you know that it is much more the more? Look, these things, it is it is an understanding of the law of representation. That look, I have been represented in Christ. It is understanding having insight into what has been made available and what you are representing and to stand in that representation. Can you pray that God, better insight, better insight, greater insight into this law of representation, into this thing that set me free? Grant me greater insight as I walk in this second half of the year. Let it be to me a a time of insight, a time of increase in capacity, a time of expansion, a time of enlargement. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. And I also want you to pray. Christ said, "I have come that they may have life." And in having that life, He said they will have it more abundantly. It means that life will touch every area of their life. It will touch their marital life, their financial life, their health. That is why you notice that in Christ it's not only sin that was destroyed. By His stripes you were healed. He took away our sorrow. He took that. It was an abundant life. Can you also pray that as I work in the second half of the year, Lord You will keep me from evil that it will not grieve me. Lord You will expand me, financially, materially, maritally, You will expand me. It is not just life, it is also an abundant life. It's a life that will touch on everything as you increase in insight into God. He says, "I wish that you prosper, even as your soul prosper." [3 John 1:2] I wish that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prosper. As your soul is prospering, there's also a a consequential thing that happen to you physically. It will come physically. It will affect your education, it will affect your finances, it will affect your health, it will affect your marriage, it will affect it will be affecting everything. I want you to pray that God as we work in the second half of the year, I pray that God Almighty You will keep me from evil. It will not grieve me in any way. Lord You will bless me, You will enlarge my coast, You will increase me. My borders shall be enlarged. My borders will no longer be small. My borders will no longer be small. Lord You will enlarge my coast, my border will no longer be small. Lord You will enlarge my borders. Lord You will give me reason to rejoice. You will give me reason to celebrate. You will give me reason as I celebrate my victory in Christ, I will celebrate in life. That is what it is. It is an abundant life. It goes both ways. It goes both ways. It affects this it affects that. Look, that is the truth about it. That is the truth about it. That is why you notice as Adam was in life, everything was there. It was because there was no life, that's why everything went. As you work in life, consequentially they will come. I want you to pray. Every consequential blessing for me in 2022 will be my own. Every consequential blessing for me, they will come my way I will work in them. Every consequential blessing for my life, as I operate in life, as I operate in the law of righteousness and life, every consequential blessing, I I I speak the word of God. I say these things are added unto me. All my addition I decree, 2022 will will come will come my way as I enter the second half of the year. Every addition whatsoever is holding them I command you to release them. They will become mine. They will come to me as I walk in life in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank You Eternal Father. Blessed be Your holy name our God. Thank You Almighty Father. Blessed be Your name. And last I want us to pray for Nigeria. Let's offer one prayer for Nigeria. I just want us to pray. Oh God, we pray, magnify Jesus over Nigeria. Oh God, we plead with You. Oh Lord, we need life in this country. Everything is dying. Everything is dying. Jesus is life. Let Jesus be magnified over the situation of Nigeria. We need we need we need life. Bible say righteousness exalt a nation, sin is a reproach to any people. [Proverbs 14:34] Oh God we need life. Magnify Jesus, the covenant of life. May it be magnified over Nigeria, over every waster of life. Look at how life is being wasted. Look at how life is being wasted. Some are wasted in terms of their being killed. Some people, it is their time, their future. Yield a lot of thing being wasted. Look at how our youth are being wasted. Look at how look at just look at the ways resources being wasted. I mean death coming in different ways. Death coming in different ways. Can we say God we pray, celebrate we want to celebrate life in Nigeria. Lord magnify Jesus over Nigeria. Lord we want to celebrate life in our nation. Lord magnify Jesus. Lord magnify Jesus over Nigeria. Lord magnify Jesus over Nigeria in the name of Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ. Thank You Eternal Father. Blessed be Your holy name our God. In Jesus' name we pray. Brother, please come and close this meeting for today. [Speaker 2] In Jesus' name we pray. Heavenly Father we are grateful unto You. We thank You, our Lord, our help, our all in all. Thank You for Your word. Thank You Father for everything that the law of life and of righteousness in Christ Jesus has done for us. We thank You because we have been delivered from the law of sin and of death. We give all the glory Lord in the name of Jesus. Lord thank You Father. You cause us to continue in this understanding. Lord give unto us divine revelation, more insight into this truth. Bible says we shall you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. [John 8:32] Lord we need this truth oh Lord, so that we can work in this freedom. We can make ourselves free. We can tell the devil his place, put it in put it in his place and we work as who we are. Lord grant us insight, more insight, more revelation into our place in You, into all that You have freely given to us, into all that You have done. Everything that You did, Bible says You did it for the benefit of the church. You were made the head of all things for the church. [Ephesians 1:22] Father Lord open our eyes. Cause our heart to understand. Let our heart agree with this truth. Cause us to live by it in the mighty name of Jesus. Thank You Lord for answers to our prayer even as we have cried upon You. You said we should call upon You and You will answer us. And You say You will show us great and mighty things we know not. [Jeremiah 33:3] Lord we trust in You. Open our eyes to see. Open our heart to understand. Show us great and mighty things we know not in the mighty name of Jesus. So that we can walk in our full capacity. So that we can walk in in the fullness of what You have made us of made of us in the mighty name of Jesus. Thank You Father because we know You have heard us. Thank You Father because You will do more than what we have asked, more than what we can think or imagine through Your mighty power that is at work in us mightily in the name of Jesus. [Ephesians 3:20] Thank You for Your son oh Lord. We look up unto You. That Lord we will yet drink oh Lord sources, rivers that will flow from You through him in the name of Jesus. We ask for some more unction, we ask for some more insight, divine revelation, life in the mighty name of Jesus. Let the power of the Lord be present with him, oh Lord, to speak to minister. We know Lord as Your word goes forth, yokes are being broken. That which You have done again today, they remain permanent in the name of Jesus. Thank You, Everlasting Father. For in Jesus' name we pray. The grace, 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. Surely goodness and mercies shall follow us all the days of our lives and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever and ever. Amen. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. [Narration] This message is coming to you from Family Tents Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in enriching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development, and mission aid. Our regular activities are the discipleship class every Monday 5:00 PM, Adolescents and Singles Club every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM, Marriage Forum second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM, family life seminars, regular school outrages, and everyday counseling. For further counseling you can reach us at our location Life Camp by the first bridge, Ilere community, opposite Very Joy filling station along Ije Road, Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles Family Tents at yahoo.co.uk, familytentsministry01 at gmail.com, www.familytentsministry.org. Our phone numbers are 080-338-611-36, 070-336-138-48. God bless you all.