Reflection on the Book of Colossians 7

[Congregational singing of "We Are Gathering Together Unto Thee" with musical accompaniment] [Speaker 1] Our Father, indeed unto you we gather. We thank you, O Lord, for your help all through the months of the year, gathering Mondays after Mondays. Lord, unto you we gather this evening. We pray that your Spirit will work within us, among us, in the name of Jesus. Brethren online on Telegram, on Mixlr, and we who are here, Lord, you will meet with us all. You will attend to our situation. You will speak to our heart. You will inspire our soul in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray, teach us again from your word. Let your Spirit indeed work in our midst, O Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. We are all welcome again to today’s edition of our discipleship class. And as for the past six weeks now, we have been reflecting on the book of Colossians. We have been able to go through Colossians chapter one. We have exhausted that and we are in Colossians chapter two. In Colossians chapter two, we have moved between verse one and verse 14. We should be now—we should be taking our fellowship today from around verse 15. I said that I didn't want to start with verse 15 last week because there is so much to say in verse 15 of that Colossians chapter two. Verse 15, Colossians chapter two, verse 15, reflection on the book of Colossians, this our seventh edition. And we are looking at it from verse 15. Verse 15, NKJV reads, "Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it." [Audio distortion] That's what I mean, in other translations so that we can get verse 15 better. "By the way of nailing it to the cross," that is starting from the back of the verse 14. "In this way, God disarmed the evil rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by His victory over them on the cross of Christ." That’s NLT. I read NIV translation. NIV: "And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." The Message: "He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their scammed authority at the cross and marched them naked through the street." That is public show of them. He marched them naked through the street. The Message. Then, Amplified Translation: "God disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us. He made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it, the cross." Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Now, what I want to quickly call our attention to is taking the matter from the way we left it last week. You know, when we took it from the verse 11 through to that verse 15, they were all things that had been done. They are not things that will be done. They were things that had been accomplished. They were things that Jesus had settled. They were things that He had done. That is the first thing I want to call our attention to in looking at that verse 15. In looking at the verse 15, I am calling our attention, brethren, to a very important thing about principalities and powers. Principalities and powers, what are we referring to? We are referring to the gates of hell. We are referring to evil forces. We are referring to unseen powers. We are referring to forces of darkness. We are referring to these things that operate and we are calling them principalities and powers because in several ways, in many ways, they rule. That's why they are principalities. They are authorities and they are in the universe. Forces of darkness, they are principal powers, that is, they rule, they control. Now, because they rule and they control, they are actually able to exert manipulation. That's why other versions call them tyrants. They are tyrants. They can make you do what you don't want to do. So, the Bible began to speak about the position of Christ and what He did for us by way of our salvation. Now, by way of our salvation, the Bible is saying that Christ had done something. What Christ did was that in relation—and that must be very, very clear to us, because sometimes people get this thing confused. When we say Satan is powerless, when we say principalities and powers, they are powerless, it is important for us to know that the Bible says He triumphed over them where? In the cross. What that simply means is that the victory is not outside the cross. The victory is not around the cross. The victory is not by putting a cross under your pillow when you want to sleep. The victory is not by making the sign of the cross. What the Bible is saying is that by the death of Jesus on that cross, by His resurrection that followed, Jesus did something for the believer. And that is why the Bible was speaking to us in Matthew, Luke 11, Luke 19, when Jesus was talking about the cross, when He said, "Let him take his cross." The Bible is making us to see something very, very vital: that as long as a man expresses his faith in the death and in the resurrection of Jesus, the person should understand that concerning him, because of that faith that is expressed in that death and resurrection of Jesus, principalities and powers cannot have dominion over such a person. Principalities and powers, they know that they will not. The point is that they cannot. Why is it that they cannot? It is because in that suffering, death, and resurrection, they were disarmed. What does it mean to disarm somebody? To disarm somebody is to strip the person of his power. So if somebody had been stripped of his power, so what power can the person exert again? There is no power to exert. And that is why when we say Satan is powerless, we are saying that in relation to what? The cross. Anybody who has not encountered the suffering, the death, and resurrection of Jesus by way of personal experience in the Lord in his life, that person should never, ever think that Satan was disarmed. But for anybody who has been baptized into Jesus, for anybody who has come into Jesus, for anybody who have drunk into Jesus, for anybody who have had encounter—spiritual encounter, the Emmaus encounter, where there's revelation of Jesus to the heart—that person should have a clear understanding that it is because the person allowed his mind or her mind to be manipulated, that is why Satan is able to exert authority over him or her. The person allowed his or her mind to be manipulated. You know, I said something last week and I'm still saying it again: spiritual bondage for the believers is in their mind. It is not in the spirit. As far as the spirit is concerned, the coast is clear. But you will never experience that liberty except you follow that which the Master said. He said, "You will know the truth and what? The truth shall set you free." And Jesus was speaking that statement to those who believed in Him. So that a man believed, that a man believe in Christ, he has come to Christ, ordinarily the person is expected to be free. But like I said last week, the freedom is in knowing the truth. And I noted that in the Old Testament, God said what? "My people perish because of lack of knowledge." Where we don't know the truth, then what happens is that we will be manipulated. And that manipulation makes Satan to be able to express his control over us. But if we truly understand who we are, if we truly understand what was done, if we truly know the truth about ourselves, the reality is that over our lives, Satan had been disarmed. The reality for the believer is that there is no enchantment against Jacob. There is no divination against Israel. The reality for the believer is that there is no weapon that is fashioned against them that will prosper. Every tongue that rises against them in judgment shall be condemned. Every association against them shall scatter. That's reality. However, what happens with many believers today is that fundamental thing that I just said: that the understanding of the truth about who we are in Christ is not there. So what happens with our life most of the time is what the Bible makes us to see in Ephesians. Let's see the book of Ephesians, chapter six. Ephesians chapter six. Are we there? Ephesians six, I want to take my reading from verse 10. "Finally, my brethren, be strong," where? "be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might." So where is our strength? In the Lord and in the power of whose might? His might. So, meaning that ordinarily in ourselves, we are not strong and at the same time, we don't have any might of our own. We are strong in the Lord and also in the power of His might. It is His, not ours. Now, having said that, what's the next thing? "Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against what? Against what? The wiles of the devil." Permit me to take that verse 11 in other translation. NLT translation: "Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the devil." So when we put on the whole armor of God, what are we standing against? All strategies and tricks of the devil. NIV: "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes." The Message: "So, take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of best material, and put them to use so that you'll be able to stand up against everything," please note, "to stand against everything the devil throws your way." Are you following something? What he does what? What he throws your way. I want to ask you, why is he throwing something and not himself fighting? Why is he throwing something? If you stand like this, you stand like this, you want to fight somebody, you stand and then you are throwing something. It's a bait, that's one. But what I want you to see is that the Bible is making us to see that what we are actually to fight against is what the devil throws our way. We are not fighting the devil himself. He's going to throw. Why are we not fighting the devil himself? Because he has been disarmed. You know the way you see—when you see, let me give you a good example. You see a snake and you want to kill a snake. What do you quickly do? You get something to arm yourself to go and kill the snake, isn't it? But if you don't have anything in your hand, what do you normally do? What do you see most people do? When they see the snake and they still want to kill the snake and there's nothing they can arm themselves with? They throw stones because there is no arm. There is nothing they can do. But if they are armed, maybe they are fully dressed, that you say if the snake bites, it cannot touch them. They are in their rain boots, everything is set up. They will carry stick, they get a stick, they go close to the snake because they know it cannot harm them. The devil knows that if he comes near you, you can finish him. So he stays far to throw stones. He had been disarmed. So the Bible says put on the whole armor of God to stand against his strategies, his tricks. If you are not taken by his tricks, he cannot do anything with your life. If you are not taken by the devil's trick, the enemy cannot do anything with your life. You know what he will just be saying? You know what he will be telling those in his kingdom? You know the way he will say, "Hey, hey, see snake! See snake! See, see, he's going! See, see, see!" That is what he will just be saying. "Hey, hey, see Moses! See Moses! See Moses! See Moses! He's going! See, see, he's a shining in our kingdom! See, see, see! Hey, hey, hey!" That is all. And let me give you something that gives you a glimpse, a little glimpse into these things so that you can understand it better. You will notice that when you look very closely at what happened in the book of Job, what happened in the book of Job? When the Bible says there was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright and one who feared God and shunned evil. And seven sons and three daughters were born to him. Then the Bible talk about all his possession and all his riches. The Bible speak about how Job regularly makes sure he does sacrifice for them. So the Bible says in the verse five, "So it would be that when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them." For Job said, "It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." Thus Job did regularly. There was a provision of God. There was a provision of God. What was the provision of God? "This is how you should live to be upright." And Job was living inside that provision of God. Are you following me? Burnt offering, this, that, don't—if anything is wrong, make sure you offer the sacrifice. Job was doing that. He was living—listen, the blood of bulls, the blood of rams cannot take away sin. But Job was doing all those things that was said about the blood of bulls and the blood of rams. He was following, obey the law. He was doing those things. And do you know what the Bible says? It says there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, "From where do you come?" So Satan answered the Lord and said, "From going to and fro," Alayenile, Alayelona, no base. In the New Testament, what the Bible says? "He goes about seeking who to devour," no base. His base is once there is somebody that can be deceived. Then there is a place to stay. Now, he said from going to and fro the earth and from walking back and forth in it. Is that a base? Then the Lord said, "Okay, in your going back and forth, in your going to and fro, have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless man and upright, one who feared God and shuns evil?" So Satan answered the Lord and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not made a hedge around him and around his household? About all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hand and the possession that has increased. But now, stretch out your hand and touch all that he has." Brethren, you know what I'm trying to make you see? You know what I'm showing you? I am showing you that even before Jesus came to completely, completely finish the devil by disarming him, when he still have—not as at this time, he still have the keys—it was when Jesus resurrected that He said, "All powers in heaven and on earth have been given to me." Everything, there is no power anywhere again, because that of death, everything, He had disarmed them, He had disgraced them, because He had had victory over—the Bible says through death He destroyed him who had power over death, so that He can free all of us. So by dying, Jesus destroyed Satan's power over death by His resurrection again. As at this time, this had not happened. God only just used what you will call, do I just say a rope? Just draw line. You know when you have something, you now do a fence around it so that nothing can touch it. And yet even that one, Satan could not cross it. Am I making sense to you? Satan could not cross—as at this time we are talking, he has not been conquered by the Lord Jesus in terms of time. Yet in the space of time, in time—you know in eternity everything had been settled—but the story of Job here is in time, not in eternity. This story in time is telling us that even when men were just following the blood of bulls and the blood of rams, and he had not been disarmed, and Baba just placed one rope, one fence, "Don't touch this one," he needed permission. He needed—He said, "You stretch forth your hand." So except God stretch forth His hand, he cannot do anything. That is under a covenant that is inferior to our own. The reason why I'm saying these things is that many believers live in the fear of the devil. When we say, "Ah, do you know that in your village there is this thing that they have done? You better don't go." You will see people's heart begin to [mimics fast heartbeat sound], "Hey, hey!" When they say, "Ah, do you know that there is this power, this charm that they did?" You see, the way we approach these powers, we approach them with a fear that they are more powerful than us. That's my concern. Are you understanding what I'm trying to bring out? And so you know when we want to pray about those things, you know how we come to the place of prayer? "Hey, those agents, we are coming! We are coming!" Not from the position of faith. We are coming more because, "Hey, this power, my life is in trouble. I have been tied and tied and tied and tied in such a way that ah, we will need Baba Kumuyi. We will need Baba Adeboye oh. We will need Daddy GO to come and help us. We cannot," because we have been tied. Where is Baba Oyedepo? We need them to come and help our life. You see, I am not saying we don't need fathers in the land. I am not ridiculing anything. But what I am trying to make us understand is that that kind of heart that live in the fear, that have this presumption of some powers able to harm, able to destroy, it is that fear that is making those power to destroy. That's what I'm saying. That is the stone that he threw at you. The darts of the enemy, the first one is ignorance. Can we do everything for them not to know the truth? What can we do so that they don't know? And that is why if you notice it today, many of our children that are coming up, they are more of soulish Christians. They are not revelational Christians. They are the level of the soul. That spiritual word of God that separate the soul and asunder, that revelational thing that changes a man and gives a man encounter is not in many of our children. That's a dart of the enemy. It's a dart, it's a stone that he threw at us. So that what is he trying to do? Can we do everything for them not to know? Because what they don't know, they can never be free. "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free." So, you know what he does for them? He makes them to be informed. "All power belong to God." They know that. They are—they have the information, but they don't have the revelation. So when you see average—the average Christian today, deep inside the Christian, there is no boldness! There is no confidence! That "That thing that they said..." [mimics fast heartbeat sound] "God help me oh, so that it will not..." There is a fear. There is a fear. And that is what we are addressing. That's what I'm addressing. The reason why the devil is having a field day today is that one, there is ignorance. Two, there is fear. Three, there is a perceived knowledge that Satan has power over the believer. There is this thing people—there is this—I don't know how best to add it, but I know what I'm talking about. I know it because I've been under that bondage. You just have this—you just have this fear that he's chasing you. And that is why He said, "Brethren, wherever you are listening to me, the manipulation going on in your life, the root of it is in your mind. It is not in the spirit." How is it in your mind? Your mind have been made to lack revelation of the truth. You only have information and information cannot save a man. It's revelation that saves. When I say revelation, I'm talking of encounter with the living Word of God. When the Word of God comes to you strong and powerful, when the Word of God becomes a fire in your bones, burning like a fire with confidence, when it comes, the Bible says He sent His Word and His Word healed them. When the Word of God visits a man—I'm talking about revelation of the Word—when it comes as a person, when it comes as life, that's what I'm talking about. This is what you don't find in many upcoming generation, many people today. What you find more is the soulish one, the one that have to do with intellect, Bible knowledge, CRK. They can speak so much about what Jesus did, but they don't have the encounter of the life in their heart. And so, Satan is having a field day. He's having a field day. But what the Bible is trying to make us see, number one, is that I've tried to make you see that even before our Lord Jesus came to completely, completely finish the devil by disarming him, before He said "It is finished," even the blood of bulls and the blood of goats put a boundary, ordinary—there was just—you place a hedge. Even the blood of bulls, the blood of goats placed something that makes Satan powerless over a man. He tried and tried and tried and tried and tried. The man was not aware anyway. And he could not do anything. So if the Bible now says for me who came into Jesus, for me who have Jesus, it is not only—God this time did not place a rope. It's more than that now. Somebody says, "So, what about..." I said you don't understand. This time around, our life is hidden in Christ in God. It's not a hedge. For them, you know what He said? He said, "I've engraved you on the palm of my hand." They were still visible. We are not visible. We are inside Christ, Christ is inside God. Am I making sense to you? Now, the Bible now says that Satan, having disarmed—the point you need to understand is that this man cannot come close to you because he's afraid of you. That is the reality. And so he first look at can I make you not to know the truth about this matter? If he succeed in that, oh good. Oh, can I make this one to fear? Can I make this person to doubt the reality of what has been said? Because as you doubt the reality of what has been said, you begin to sink in the wilderness of life. When Peter was standing in faith, he was walking on the water. But when he looked away from the Lord Jesus and he was looking at the sea, the storm and everything, what happened? He began to sink. So many believers are sinking under demonic operation today, under satanic attack, under seemingly spiritual manipulation from somewhere, from whatever, not because those things have not been disarmed, but because the believer lacks a proper understanding of what Jesus actually did for them. The reality about your life as a Christian is that you must know that as long as you have come to the cross, in the cross Satan had been disarmed. In the cross Satan had been disarmed. And that was why I wasn't ready to rush into this matter last week. Satan had been disarmed. I want us to get that very correctly. And because of this, what should you know? He says, "Let no man judge you in food or in drink or regarding a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath, which were shadows of things to come, but the substance is in Christ." You know what he's trying to say? There are so much religious things today people say you do to make you righteous. There are so much religious things and I keep telling people, there is nothing in addition to your believing in the death and resurrection of Jesus that made us righteous. There is nothing! Nothing! Look, what gave us justification, what gave us acceptance with God, what gave us righteousness, what made us blameless, what made us acceptable to God, there is no religious—there is nothing! Nothing apart from what Christ did. And I need to make you understand something. Religion today is emphasis around several things that God did or that Christ did while Christianity is centered on Christ Himself. I take that again. Religion, religion, I tried to make you see—I sat down and I was taking an evaluation one day. Some people worship moon, some worship sun and water. Am I correct? Who created the sun, the moon, and the water? God. You see, religion is something about God, not God Himself. Are you getting what I'm trying to bring out? Some today, don't do that. I want to—I want to now talk about the Christian faith. Jesus did so many things. God did so many things to prepare the way in bringing Jesus into limelight, in bringing the substance. There were so many shadows. There were so many things that were used to represent, so many representation. The lamb in Egypt correspond to Jesus Christ that will die. Joseph that suffered persecution from his brothers and then was now to minister to them was representing Jesus. Isaac that was offered first by Abraham and then Abraham received him back from the dead was talking about the seed that God said "Through your seed." So when God told Abraham through his seed, He wasn't talking about Isaac. There were physical representation. But the reality, the Isaac, the seed that God was talking about was Christ. There were lot of representation. Unfortunately today, religion has—this Christian religion, not salvation, have centered on so many things, so many things that has to do with the things that surround Jesus. The so many things that surround Jesus, not on Christ, not on Jesus Himself. The issue of the new moon, the issue of the Sabbath, the issue of so many things, the list is endless today. Some will pick Mary, some will pick the cross, put it under their bed, some will carry the Bible. You know some people will take the Psalm, put Psalm under their pillow as protection, that the word of God can protect. Some will carry cross, put it on their wall, write it on their wall, that cross will save. So many things around Jesus, but not Jesus Himself. What I want to emphasize to you, what I want to make you understand, brethren, you must be careful when men are shifting your—the emphasis from Jesus. When men are taking the emphasis away from Jesus. When men are not saying that "Look, everything that leads to Jesus," please, I take that again, please get me very well. Everything that leads to Jesus does not make meaning again. The only thing that makes meaning is the Lord, is Jesus. I take that again. Everything, so many things were done this way, that way, this way, that way, so many things here and there, here and there, here and there, but all those things, they are just shadows. They are shadows. They are shadows. The substance, the reality of the Christian life is only in Christ. What should be our desire? What should be our pursuit? What should be our earnest cry? Oh, you know something is coming to my mind now and I feel we may read that scripture and I may be rounding up with that place. But let me say—so let no one judge you in food, in drink, concerning some will tell you this place is a holy place, don't put your legs somewhere, don't—you cannot wear this into this, you cannot touch one place, this place is sacred, that one is this. We create all kinds of symbols. All these are religious acts. God is Spirit and anybody that want to worship God, worship God in spirit and in truth. So it's important for us to notice this and to get it clear. He says these things, they are shadows of things to come, the substance is in Christ. The substance is in Christ. I want to read something and then I will go to that John that I said occurred to me. Look at what He says further, verse 18: "Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility." Please note this. "Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind." Let me take that in a simpler translation. "Don't let anyone condemn you by insisting on self-denial." And don't let anyone say you must worship angels, even though they say they have visions about this. These people claim to be so humble, but their sinful minds have made them proud. "Angelic host ni, mo ri kini kan loju orun." I saw this. Look, don't let anybody—don't let anybody colonize your mind. Jesus only! Jesus ever! That is our message, that is our reality. He says "Don't let anyone who delights in false humility and worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes with a great details about what he has seen, and His unspiritual mind puffed up with idle notions." When people begin to place emphasis on what they saw, what they felt above the Word of God. Not about what you saw, what you felt. It's about—we are talking about Jesus. He says, look at what the Bible says: "Not holding fast to the Head, from whom the body nourished and knitted together by the joints and ligament, grow with the increase of God." Look at it, verse 20: "Therefore, if you have died with Christ from the basic principles of this world, why as though living in the world, do you subject yourself to these regulations? Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle, which all concern things which perish with using, according to the commandment and doctrines of men. These things indeed have appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility," of the body, "but they are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh." Let me read that to you in another translation. I want to read that matter in another translation. That Colossians chapter two, verse 23. Colossians 2:23, NLT: "These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion." They may seem wise because they require strong devotion, humility, and severe bodily discipline. "Ah, 40 days fasting will settle it." They look like ah, they look like some serious discipline for the flesh. "Ah, you just pray through the night, seven days, not sleeping. God will see how serious you are." You know there are certain things we say as if we want to use it to intimidate God. He says, "These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, humility, and severe bodily discipline, but they have no effect when it comes to conquering a person's evil thoughts and desires." Ask yourself, all of those things you do, how pure is your thought? How pure is your mind? How are you able to conquer lust of the flesh, lust of the eye? How are you able to conquer, you know, love of the world in the heart? How much victory does it give you in proper conduct? That is what we are talking about. People are so committed to some religious things, but let them get angry. You will see how they cannot control ordinary anger. You will see how some who said they are so disciplined, they are this, they cannot control greed. Ordinary that somebody offended them, the way they react to offense, you'll be wondering whether they are Christians. So it's not about some devotion that does not produce godly living. And that is why Jesus said—I want us to take to that place—look at what Jesus said. That scripture occurred to me and I want us to read it. Oh, I want us to read that scripture and that is what we are praying with this evening. Wherever you are, we are praying with this scripture. Wherever you are listening to me, we are praying with this scripture. John chapter six, we are praying with this scripture, we want to use it to pray. Look at what Jesus said, John chapter six, I take my reading from 31. They were speaking to Jesus, they said, "Our fathers ate manna in the desert as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly I say to you, Moses did not give them bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven." Do you get the point He's trying to make? They said, "You know they took manna, so they're making reference to manna that Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat." He now said no, Moses did not give them bread from heaven to eat. It is God that is giving them the true bread now, the true bread. Because that one is just a shadow. The true manna is now among them. Look at what He said: "For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and give life to the world." Do you get what He's trying to say? That that one that seems as if it came from heaven, nothing came down from heaven. What was mediated then was mediated by angels. The one that came from heaven is me now, I'm the true bread. They said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you—but I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All the Father gives me will come, and he who comes to me I will no wise cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my will, but the will of Him who sent me. This is the will of my Father who sent me, that of all that He has given me I should lose none, but should raise them up on the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that everyone who sees and believe in Him, everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day." Are we seeing this matter of I, me, me, away from what God seems to be doing to me, me, me. Forget Moses, forget manna, forget Sabbath, forget all these thing, me. Know me, believe me, work with me. It is the same thing that we are saying today. Some people are more committed to church than to Jesus. There's nothing wrong with being committed to church, I'm committed to a church. But I'm trying to give an understanding of something. Committedness to Jesus, I'm talking about there's this thing about me, not about things that surround me. I am, He says, and I'll raise him on the last day. Now look at what happened, verse 41: "The Jews then complained about Him because He said, 'I am the bread which came down from heaven.'" And they said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He's saying 'I came down from heaven'?" Are you seeing problem with what? The mind. And that is it. We have a great issue with our mind. And I pray for everybody listening to me, may the Lord open your mind. May the Lord open your mind. Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except He who comes from God, He has seen the Father. Most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in me have everlasting life." He's still telling them the matter is me. He said, He now repeated again: "I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and are dead, because it was just a shadow. This is the bread which comes from heaven, that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever, and the bread that I give is my flesh, which I give for the life of the world." The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves saying, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?" Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly I say, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. For whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I abide in him." I am showing you that what Jesus is pointing them to, is speaking something that is to us today: that it is about encountering Jesus, knowing Jesus, seeing Jesus, believing Jesus, encountering Jesus in His Word, understanding what He did for you, understanding the implication of His death, of His resurrection. It is the more you get into these things that you can have eternal life. Eternal life is not about some set of doctrines or some set of rules. Eternal life is about Jesus. Eternal life, being able to live victoriously over sin, victoriously over self, is not about certain rules or regulation. It's about knowing Jesus, following Him, understanding Him, His counsel, His teaching, His—you know, the implication of what He did for us at Calvary. The more you get into that, that is where eternal life is. Eternal life is not about some set of doctrines or some set of rules. Eternal life is about Jesus. Eternal life being able to live victoriously over sin, victoriously over self, is not about certain rules or regulation. It's about knowing Jesus, following Him, understanding Him, His counsel, His teaching, His—you know, the implication of what He did for us at Calvary. The more you get into that, that is where eternal life is. Brethren, wherever you are this evening, I want you to pray. Lord Jesus, that I may eat your flesh, that I may drink your blood. You know, eating the flesh of Jesus, drinking the blood of Jesus, that I may have personal intimate encounter with you. Eating His flesh, drinking His blood, personal intimate encounter, personal intimate revelation, knowing Jesus by the Word of God, knowing Him by what was preached about Him, what the apostles said. What they said about Him. The prophets prophesied that He is coming to die. The apostles said He actually died and resurrected. It is what was said about Him, the more we believe that thing, the more we hold to these things, the more we understand it, that we can live victoriously over sin, that we can live victoriously over the devil, that we can live victoriously over the world. Prayer and say, "God, God Almighty, Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, that I may drink your blood, that I may eat your flesh, that I may have this Emmaus encounter, encounter with Jesus, that Lord you will break the bread for me, that Lord you will break the bread for me, that there will be a revelation of your Word, a revelation of who you are, an increasing encounter with Jesus on a daily basis." Thank you, Lord Jesus. Blessed be your holy name, our God. Lord, I just pray for each and every one of us, may we eat your flesh, may we drink your blood, may we eat your flesh on a daily basis, eating your flesh, drinking your blood, having eternal life, reigning in life, over sin, over the world, over the devil, over the flesh, in the name of Jesus. May we live, oh God, this life that is eternal, in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Blessed Father. Blessed be your holy name, our God. In Jesus' name we pray. Let's share the grace together in fellowship. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forevermore. Amen and amen. [Music] This message is coming to you from Family Tent 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: 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 outreaches and everyday counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location, Life Camp by the first bridge, Ilere community, opposite Rejoice filling station along Ijeare road, Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are: 08033861136, 07033613848. God bless you all.