Seeing the Invisible (practical Steps)

[background noise] [music] [Speaker 1] Churches and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly home for us. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 2] We bless His holy name. We thank Him for this opportunity again to gather for a time of fellowshipping together in the scriptures, to relate to scriptures, to fellowship with scriptures and with the Lord. And we trust Him again that as we gather to learn at His feet in His word, it will be a time again of encounter, a time of refreshment in the name of Jesus Christ. We start this evening as I pray. Almighty God, we are grateful unto You. We thank You for the privilege of access, that without any particular somebody to connect us—some are looking for somebody to connect them to somebody, the issue of access—some are looking for means, for material resource and supply to reach somebody because they needed to meet that person. But Lord, we thank You for the privilege of access to God, that we can access You, that the poor can access You, that the needy can access You, that the wretched can access You, the rich can access You. All manner, all classes of men can access You. We thank You for this privilege of access. We are so grateful that anywhere we gather in Your name, anytime we gather unto You, we have access to You. Lord, we are grateful for the privilege of access. Thank You, Eternal Father. No sacrifice to be paid, for You have paid it all. You paid everything. We thank You. As we come unto You again, we pray, Lord, let it please You to meet with us in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord God Almighty, we fellowship with scriptures. Oh, Lord, please let Your Spirit also fellowship with us. Let there be seed for the sower. Let there be bread for the eaters. Thank You, Eternal Father. In Jesus' most holy name we pray. Amen. We thank God for the prayer section that concluded our last week discipleship gathering. A time to cry out to God. God grant us the mercy, the grace to constantly see the invisible, constantly know what God is saying. I mean the privilege of constantly being able to see what He is doing, the privilege of constantly hearing what He is saying, the privilege of being able to follow God per time. Honestly, it is a great thing. It is a wonderful thing for a man to be granted such operation, such privilege, such place in God. And as we concluded last week, in the course of the week, matters were just coming up in my mind. I just kept looking at how we concluded our prayers last week. The more I keep turning the matter, the more I keep turning the matter, the more I keep feeling, it just occurred in my mind that if someone is to ask, "Sir, what are the practical things to do? What practically do I do so that this experience that we have been discussing for weeks can become something I can enter into, can become something I can have? What does it take? What are the things practically to do? What step do I do? Yes, I want to have this kind of experience. It is so wonderful hearing and looking at the life of these heroes and seeing how they live. But what practically can I do?" And I kept turning that matter over and over and over and over in the course of the week. And I felt it might be good, it will be good for me this evening to try to respond to the matter because it was coming up over and over in my heart. And I am going to do it in a very, very practical way. We are going to make it a very interactive discussion. And I am going to take it from the very, very basic. I am not going to assume anything as to what are the things to do. As simple as these things are, it is their simplicity that make the invisible to elude men. They are not big, big, big things. Sometimes I do feel that if God, maybe if God had asked the world that, "See, each person, you must sacrifice a child and then put a million on that child and then maybe some other more things that look big to us," maybe people will appreciate salvation better. But because salvation is just believe in the name of the Lord and be baptized into Him and you will be saved. Simplicity makes people to feel, "Is that all?" I have heard people say, "Is that all? Is there anything else to do further? Is there something else?" And honestly, that is all. If anybody tells you there is something else to do further, there is nothing else to do further. That is just all. However, the reality is that why salvation looks something cheap to us, salvation was something that was obtained by the blood of God. So, salvation is not really cheap. It is not as cheap as you are looking at it. It was because someone else has cost—maybe that is why you are not appreciating it. So, salvation is not really cheap. Salvation did not—I tell people that the price of freedom is not free. The price of freedom is not free. The price for freedom is costly. And that is—I'm just trying to create a background. And so, I am going to start from a very, very basic thing. Because I remember many, many years ago, while I began to turn this thing in my heart, when I little gave my life to Christ and somebody said, "Ah, the Lord told me," that thing sounded like a time bomb in my heart. I was wondering. I had to meet the person after the fellowship. I said, "Please, you said God told you. You heard His voice from heaven or how?" Because to me, that was sounding something extraordinary. How will God talk to a man? It was something outside my world. I couldn't just bring it to my world. So, I met the brother. I said, "Please, you said God. You heard His voice." He said, "No." So, that took me back. So, I said, "So, what did you hear that you said is the voice of God?" He said, "I heard Him inside me." That started very stupid to me. You heard Him inside you? So, I said, "So, what did you hear inside you that made you know that it was God that was the one that was speaking inside you? Did an angel..." and I was just asking. At a point, the brother too could not satisfy my curiosity. So, if you are outside here and you are wondering this thing that we are talking about and you are just curious, maybe that is why the matter was just coming to my heart throughout the week, that "Can we just discuss basic issues? A practical step about seeing the invisible? Can we just discuss some very, very basic things?" So that you don't begin to run some kind of strange things that you ought not to do in a bid to want to see the invisible. Then you begin to check everywhere for where Angel Gabriel's name is written and where Angel Raphael is sitting or something, and then you begin to look for something else there that may never come. So, it is important for us to just address some of these matters. And all the brother was eventually able to tell me was that when I asked him, all he said was, "See, go and be praying, praying, praying, praying, praying, praying, praying, one day you will just know it." That was all he could tell me. But that is not all I am going to tell you today. I am going to tell you something much more than that. And for us, by the time we will be concluding today, I believe that whichever level you are, whatever level of maturity you have with God, we will have been able to take home something, something that I believe will be of benefit and impact for your life in the name of Jesus Christ. Now, so from the very basic, that is where I am going to take it from, not assuming anything away. I will take it that from John chapter three. You see, Jesus came to introduce a kingdom. Everyone you see today, they are not outside one kingdom or the other. Every human being you see on earth. Before Jesus came, we were in a kingdom. That kingdom is the kingdom of darkness. When Jesus came, Jesus came to introduce a kingdom and He called that kingdom the kingdom of God. In some other instances in the Bible, the Bible calls it the kingdom of light. In some other references in the Bible, the Bible calls it the kingdom of the dear Son. And in some other references, the Bible calls it the kingdom of God. Now, there was a pre-existing kingdom and Jesus came to introduce a kingdom. And Jesus was talking about the need for human beings to move from the kingdom where they are, that is the kingdom of darkness, into the kingdom of light. That was why you notice that at the beginning of His ministry, Jesus began by saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand." So, if you also look at the Lord's Prayer, you find the same bottom line there. He said, "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth." So, there is a kingdom that was introduced. Now, we were talking about seeing the invisible. We are actually speaking in respect of that kingdom, understanding the things that operate in that kingdom and how things go on in the kingdom. Mind you, we were operating in a kingdom. The kingdom we were operating in is a kingdom of sin and death. A kingdom where we live. The Bible best describes how we were living in that. In Titus 3:3, the way we were living in that kingdom, the Bible best describes it. In Titus 3:3, it says from verse three: "For we ourselves were also once foolish," I am talking about the nature of the people of the life in that kingdom. "disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another." It is a kingdom of sin, a kingdom of lust, a kingdom of pleasure, a kingdom of strife, a kingdom of hatred, malice, hating people, envying people, all those kind of things. That was how we were. We were all like that. Now, when He got to verse five, He said: "But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." So, the first thing I am making you to see about this matter is that fundamentally, there are two kingdoms: the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness. We were all in one kingdom. So, the first step into seeing the invisible is entering into that, is a change of kingdom. A change of kingdom. It is something you must be sure happened to you. It is happening to you has nothing to do with being a church member. It has nothing to do with being active in the choir. It has nothing to do with Bible reading. It has nothing to do with praying. It has nothing to do with climbing mountains. No. There is nothing wrong with some of these activities that I have just mentioned. But I am only saying that entering the kingdom has nothing to do with that. The entrance into that kingdom is by faith. And that was what Jesus explained in John chapter three to Nicodemus. He said: "There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, 'Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.'" He was really trying to talk stories with Jesus. But look at the answer of Jesus. Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." So, you see the issue of sight was introduced by Jesus in this place. The matter of seeing, seeing the invisible, sight was a matter that was directly introduced by Jesus in this place. He said, "Unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." So, the point Jesus made very clear is that one thing about this kingdom of God is that it can be seen. It is something you can see. That is the truth about it. It is something you can see. Your eyes can be opened to see it. Yes, it is possible. The Lord is not somebody who cajoles or use words just for triviality. No. He said, "Unless a man be born again, he cannot see." So, there is the case of sight in this kingdom. It is clear that the kingdom can be seen. It is something that can be seen. Now, having said that, Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born again?" You see the question of "how" came here again. How? How can this happen? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb? You can see the man was understanding being born as a literal thing. And then the answer Jesus gave again is that, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." Now, this is another word again that the Lord used. The kingdom can be seen, the kingdom can be entered into. And now, it was in response to "how." How will I be born again? It is something that has to do with water, it is something that has to do with the Spirit. You can see the matter of Spirit here and see the matter of water here. I don't want to go into too much argument, theological arguments that people have made on the matter of water. Some said this water here is the water of baptism. Some said this water here is the water of the word of God, that as you hear the word of God being preached to you, as in Ephesians chapter five, the washing of the water by the word. Different theologians have argued this way and that. That is not my focus. But my focus is that there is—whether by the preaching of the word as we are preaching now, we have answered to the first theologian. Then if it is by the water of baptism, there is nothing wrong being baptized, you have answered to the second theologian. So, whichever way, there is the place of the word of God, there is the place of water, there is the place of being baptized, the place of literally being baptized. Jesus talked about being merged into water. So, whichever way, I don't think it calls for an argument. But my emphasis here is the water and the Spirit. So, there is something about the invisible that has to do with the Spirit. There is something about being born again that has to do with the Spirit. And that is my concern. That is what I read to you in that Titus chapter three that we just read just now. Titus chapter three, if you go back to that place again that we just read just now, that's why I went to that place earlier. Look at what it says in that 3:5. It says, "Not of works of righteousness which we have done,"—not something that you do, not because you are praying, you are going to church, no, no, no—"which we have done, but according to His mercies He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit." So, the matter of being born again is actually a matter of an encounter with the Holy Spirit. Then you ask me, "How do I encounter the Holy Spirit? How does it become a thing that I am sure I have an encounter? This terms of when it says that it has to be a washing of regeneration and an encounter with the Holy Spirit. How am I sure? What do I do to get this done?" The practical answer to that, you will find that again in the same John. Jesus gave practical answers to this thing in that same John chapter one. Gospel according to John chapter one. You see the answer there. John 1:12-13: "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." So, we see the practical issue here. The practical issue here corresponds very, very clearly to what we have in the book of Romans 10:10. Very, very clear. That "what is the practical step for me to be sure I have an encounter with the Spirit of God?" The Bible says that look at it very, very clear. I will read to you from Romans chapter 10 from verse six. It says: "But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, 'Do not say in your heart, "Who will ascend into heaven?"' (that is, to bring Christ down from above) or '"Who will descend into the abyss?"' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? 'The word is near you,'" You see it? The word of God. "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth,"—that is the word of faith—"confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." So, it's as simple—don't let anybody get you confused. The simple thing in entering into the kingdom, "How do I—what is the first step into this kingdom?" What you need to ask yourself is that have I come to a point in my life where I personally believe this word of faith that is preached? That is, that I believe in my heart that Jesus was raised from the dead, that Jesus died for my sin according to the scriptures, that I obtain forgiveness for my sin in Jesus, and that in Jesus I have obtained salvation? And in believing that, I confess with my mouth to that. The Bible says when that happens, the Bible says when we do that, the Bible says we are saved. What that tells us is very, very simple: that when we believe this, nobody has control over the Spirit of God. Nobody can tell who God gives His Spirit to. But what the Bible is saying is that if you believe this and you confess it—if you look at that Titus that we read, it was something that was done simply of God by Himself. That Titus that we read, it was something that was done strictly of God. It says, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly." So, what the Bible is saying is that once you believe that, God Himself does that for you. He poured it on you abundantly through that Jesus Christ whom you received. So, the point is that anybody who believe in Jesus and indeed received Jesus must understand, must have a clear understanding that God in His mercy poured upon him the Holy Spirit. It is by that Spirit, that is the point of navigation. If your faith about the kingdom don't begin from that place, then nothing can go further. Because many times our faith don't begin from this point. Our faith don't begin from the point that when I received Jesus into my life, I received the Spirit of God into my life. When I received Jesus into my life, I received it. Yes, it is something that you should know, in case you don't know. Many of us don't know this. Many of us don't have an understanding that we have inside us that God is in us. When we say "Immanuel," it is God in us, God living in us. It is the basis of climbing correctly. It is the basis of moving correctly. Now, when that is understood, there is the next thing that follows. You will find that in John chapter 10. In John chapter 10, now I have translated into the kingdom. So, anybody who has not done the first thing, I don't know whether you are active in church, you have believed so many other things apart from what I am discussing with you now, and what we have been talking about look mysterious to you and you are wondering how does it happen? I am showing you that these things they are not magic. We are looking at the word of God. The Bible says, "Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." The word of God is giving us light, is giving us direction how to get into something. In John 10, you see the second thing that quickly follows that encounter. Something that quickly follows it and where many believers mix it. Now, I have come to the point of those who are believers. I began with those who may not understand whether they are believers, or those who don't understand the basis, or those who did the basis but don't understand the power of that basis. You see, if you don't understand that you have God in you, you have not started—the real thing. It is difficult to start this walk of encounter. It is difficult to really start the real thing. You will still be feeling somebody is better than you, somebody must hear God for you, because you don't even know that God is in you. You have the Spirit of God in you. That is what you must understand. Anybody who have received Jesus have the Holy Spirit in him. That is what the Bible says. Nobody gets born again without the Holy Spirit. Now, the next thing—if you look at John chapter 10, which is almost the next immediate step that follows that encounter, is that Jesus was speaking from verse one. He said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep." Now, immediately the Lord said that, He said, "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own by name and leads them out. When he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice." Yet, they will by no means follow a stranger, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of the stranger. Jesus was speaking something about salvation. And then the discussion went on and on with those people until Jesus got to verse 10 again. He said, "The thief comes not except to steal, to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly." Now, the discussion continues when he moved. He said, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for his sheep. But he who is a hireling and not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep, and I am known by my own." I want you to be noting this emphasis. "My sheep," in the earlier verses, they know His voice. When he came to verse 14, "I know them and they also know me." They also know me. Now, "As the Father knows me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear my voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. Therefore my Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received of my Father." Therefore there was a division among them because of these things. Many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to him?" Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of a blind man?" Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. Jesus walked into the temple in Solomon’s porch. Then the Jews surrounded him and said to Him, "How long will you keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly." Please look at this discussion. Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you did not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I have said to you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." I'm trying to make you see an important spiritual principle in this place. That one great privilege that salvation grants anybody who becomes born again is this mysterious ability to know the voice of the Lord. This ability to recognize the Lord. Please, I want you to note that these are things that Jesus was saying very specifically. He said number one, they hear His voice, they follow Him. They will not follow the stranger because they don't know the voice of the stranger. Number two, He said, "I know them and they are known of me." When the Jews entered into confusion, "Tell us plainly, are You the Christ?" he said, "I have told you, you did not believe. Anyway, my sheep, they will hear my voice." Which means when the Lord is speaking anywhere, while mysteriously many may not recognize Him or know Him or get Him or see Him, His sheep will hear Him. They will know Him and they will see Him. It's a divine privilege. What I am saying is this, let me now make it practical for you. Because I told you it's a practical discussion. I'm going to take all these things one, one, one, one by one. If anybody carries the Bible and he is reading the Bible, the person may read and read and read and read the Bible and never be able to find Jesus or hear Jesus or see Jesus. That is never for the sheep. It is never the portion of the sheep. You see, there are some things you must know, provision that God has made for you. Because these are some of the things that people don't understand. A double-minded man cannot receive anything from God. There are some provision God has—let me give you an example. It's just like—let me use this very physical thing. You will notice that once a woman is pregnant and the pregnancy is growing, the body too begin to prepare itself for the baby. Do you notice that once it is nine months and the baby is born, the breast is already ready with water, with breast milk to feed the baby? These are divine provision. Things that the baby don't struggle to make available. They are things that came because a child was born. Immediately that child was—immediately you were conceived. That's why I am talking about, you see, salvation—I keep telling there are not two saviors. There is only one savior and that savior is Jesus Christ. And He is the only one that can give the Holy Spirit. Nobody can give you the Holy Spirit. He is the one that get people born again. He is the one that bring people into the kingdom. Nobody can come into the kingdom without Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We will be preaching Jesus. We preach Jesus. Whoever believe. But the coming into the kingdom, as you believe and you accept Jesus, that same Jesus again gives the Holy Spirit. And that thing that you are given, that you are—there is that change from one kingdom to another brings a lot—a lot of things actually happens to you. And what I am trying to make you see happen to you is that see, look, you can hear the Shepherd. Two, you can know the Shepherd. Three, you can hear His voice. You can recognize Him. You see the Jews they were struggling. "Are You? Are You not? Are You? Are You not?" "Tell us plainly, You are confusing us." While they are getting confused, people were believing Jesus and they were entering the kingdom. The sheep were entering. So, there is something very clear. There is a privilege for you once you get born again. And that privilege is that because the voice of the stranger you will not know. You will be wondering how does this thing happen? I will show you again in First John. It says that the—you need not that anyone teaches you anything. It says but the anointing that you have received from Him, which is the Spirit, teaches you all things. There is this thing we receive from Him. We receive it from Him. The right to be children. That sonship that we receive. In Romans chapter eight, you find the same thing. It says the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. That thing that made that—that impartation of the Holy Spirit grants you the privilege to know His voice, to hear His voice, to recognize Him and to follow Him. Yes. That is something that happens to you divinely. It's a divine provision of God into your life. God has provided that for you. Now, the question now is what do you now make of this provision? That's the next step I want to go to. I took time to emphasize the matter of this provision because many of us are not aware of this provision. So, I first try to clear ignorance. Don't be ignorant of what God has done for you. God has given you the privilege to know the voice of Jesus. Heaven has given you the privilege to recognize Jesus. Heaven has given you the privilege to be able to follow Jesus. Heaven has given you the privilege to hear Jesus. Heaven has given you the privilege not to know the voice of the stranger. "I hope one demon will not speak to me and then lead me? No. I hope one evil spirit will not? I hope one..." you know, all this—all this hesitancy, rejecting, expecting some particular signs, expecting some... no, that's not the way to start. That's not the way to it. Understand divine privileges. And you need to get something very clear. Like I told somebody some times ago, as far as the sheep is concerned, the Shepherd has more stake over the sheep than the sheep themselves. Maybe you don't understand what I am trying to say. What I am saying is that you know our salvation is mediated on the fact that we believe in Jesus who was lifted up for our salvation. For God so loved the world and then He gave His Son, He gave Him on the cross, lifted up as the serpent was lifted up. We believe and then having received that Son, we became born again, we were saved. Now, get something clear. That death, the death of Jesus for you, you need to understand something very crucial about it. Look at Romans chapter five. You see, this issue of "I may get lost, I may get missing, I may..." You see, I'm just trying to make some—I told you it's going to be practical and interactive. I'm not even going to rush anything. I'm going to make it as simple that anybody can relate to it. I know it is being recorded. I may have people that may want to ask me again, "How do we get the supernatural?" That's why I'm taking this thing as simple, as practical, so that I'll just tell you, go and listen to so-and-so message, and then you can get it very clear. Now, you see this "What if the demon comes and speaks to me and carry me away? What if this? What if..." You see, how am I sure it is not one demon trying to confuse me in my dream? How am I sure... You know, we have so many—too many that happened to us in the kingdom of darkness. And so, it does not make us to understand our worth in the kingdom of light. Now, when you look at Romans chapter five, it says Romans chapter five, I'll just go straight to the point I want to—look at it from verse seven. It says: "For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Which means as at the point where we obtain salvation, the truth was that our—our life, all of us, our life there was no value in our life as far as God’s kingdom was concerned. We don't have any value to God. We were enemies of the kingdom. There was no value. Please, follow what I am reading. There was no value. Now, when there was no value over our life, God did something, gave us His Son. That is, when the life, estimably, when you look at it, when you estimate the value of our life, when it ordinarily it was having no value, God gave His Son so that what was valueless can be saved. Now, it means it was actually salvation through the death of Jesus that added value to our life. That added value to our life as far as the kingdom of God is concerned. Now, the Bible now says that—look at the next thing. "Much more then," much more then, that is if when we were enemies, Christ died for us. It now says, "Much more then, having been justified by His blood,"—you know His blood, we believe and we were our sins were forgiven, we were now made righteous, we were justified, we were sanctified, we were purified, we were sons, we were made sons, and we were—we are adopted. God deliberately went out for us. It was not like somebody who mistakenly got pregnant. It was an adoption. God deliberately went out for us. He took us. Are you understanding me? It says, "Much more, having been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." So, definitely we can be sure that having come to His side now, there should be no wrath, there should be nothing to condemn us again. But look at where I am going. Look at where I am going. It says: "For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of the Son, much more, having been reconciled, having been reconciled,"—now we are at home—"when we were in the market, nobody was putting price on our life. God want to put—place a price on it. He now brought the thing to His own house. That is when something that is in the market will now come and carry it from His house. How are you thinking? What is your reasoning? Will somebody go to the market and buy something at the expense of his life? He costs God God to bring us to God. Do you understand that at all? He costs God God to bring us to God. No, somebody went at that cost to bring the something to his house. The person will now leave the thing for anything to just carry it and just mess the thing up and just useless the thing? And the thing too, is it that the person slept off in his house? I don't know, I don't know the way you think. Now, I am trying to make you see climbing into the supernatural. You see, there are some—because you see, without faith it is impossible to please God. I'm showing you where these things, where they climb from. Some things don't just jump at the top. No. They come—they enter into our life gradually. They enter into our life. They—there are some confidence we must begin to build. That when we don't build that confidence in God, we cannot climb into deeper mysteries. You cannot trust God that He can keep you, then how can God trust you with revelation? You don't believe that He's always there for you. Then if He speaks to you, how—is there any need to speak to You since you will not even believe? So, get the matter clear. You can hear His voice. The stranger, don't be afraid. The voice of the stranger they don't know, they will flee from him. Don't worry, you will flee from the stranger. All those things, you will flee from them. That is a divine provision. "How will I recognize Jesus?" He said they recognize me. He said it. These are things that Jesus said very specifically. He said, "My sheep, they recognize my voice." Immediately you became that, you got that as the provision into your own life. Don't be asking, "How will I recognize Jesus?" Be thanking God for the privilege to recognize Jesus. So, that major step must be taken. Practical step. I hope you are following me. These are practical spiritual—spiritual step principles of climbing spiritual height. Principle of climbing spiritual height. You see I have not come to the matter of meditation. You will be wondering. I have not come to the matter of prayer. You will be wondering. We will soon get there. But I'm showing you why many times all of those other things they don't matter in your life. Why you say, "I did them, I did them, and nothing is happening." because before you got there, you have already thrown away all the heritage you needed to use to make them useful. You are not different from Nicodemus by the time you got to the scriptures. You are not different from the Pharisees by the time you got to the place of prayer. You are not different from so many other people. You never saw yourself—because the matter—you see one thing about recognizing who you are, let me give you—let me give you a shadow of it for you to know how it operate in with the kingdom of God. You remember the—what's his name now? Please help me. What do they call this Roman army? What do they call them? Please help me. The—the Roman army who said, "I have so—" the centurion. The centurion. That was the centurion that wanted Jesus to heal his servant. Yes, the Bible calls him the centurion. Now, do you remember what happened with Jesus and that centurion? Jesus was coming to his house. I want to make you appreciate the power of spiritual recognition. I want to make you to know that heaven recognizes these things and heaven keys into it. As Jesus was coming, the man said, "Ah, please, I am not—" It is not so. Not be so, not be so, not be so, Lord. Not so, sir, not so. He said, "Look, me too, I am a man under authority. Ah, I understand authority. You see, if I tell one soldier now 'Go,'—he dare not tell me 'I am not going.' He knows that it is death. If I tell another one 'Come,' he dare not say 'I will not come.'" He said, "You too, that is—I—I recognize, I have come to see that that is the authority You have when it comes to the matter of dealing with life. Can you come to that understanding that when Jesus Christ says my sheep recognize my voice, you can understand that as a sheep I can recognize His voice because He said so?" Can you understand spiritual things? And he said, "Look, I understand that, Lord Jesus, that when it come to the matter of life, You can just say 'Be healed,' my servant will be healed. You can just tell that sickness 'Go,' it will go, 'Come,' it will come. You have authority—that is the kind of thing You have. So, use Your authority. You don't need to come to my house." You know that the Bible said that Jesus marveled. And He said He had not seen this kind of faith in the whole of Israel. And He said, "Okay, of course, the man will have it just—just as he said." And what happened? It was as the man said. The man was able to recognize. One great thing today about many of us who are born again is that we don't even recognize who we are. We don't know who we are. And so, we don't come in the confidence and the boldness when the Bible says, "Come to the throne of grace, come boldly." We come timidly. We come with "one demon will interrupt what me and—what I want to do with God." As I'm talking to God now, devil will just take the message and just confuse it that God wants to talk—you know, we have these kind of funny, funny, funny beliefs. We know more of demons than we know of the power of God. So, please, have that understanding. It's very, very important. Those two things I mentioned to You, they are very, very crucial. Now, as—as you climb with that understanding, you climb to the level where other things now begin to have their relevance. What is the other thing that have their relevance? Is you will find that in Matthew, because having climbed to this point that I have spoken now, this next thing I want to talk about, the whole thing begin with hunger and thirst. Hunger and thirst. The Lord said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." Having satisfied all those other things, my question to you is that what is the level of hunger or thirst that you have in knowing the Lord? Because that's another very, very important thing. How—how—how thirsty? What is the—the intensity of your hunger? If you notice that you don't—the intensity of your hunger is—is just shallow, is—you will not—you will not get into these things that we are talking about. Having satisfied those other things, we now need to ask yourself, what is the extent of your hunger? How much—how much desire? What is the—check. Is there—is there a deep, a strong desire? Something burning inside you? If it is not there, that is where to start from. Ask God. Bible say, "Ask and you shall be given. Seek, you shall find." There must be a hunger and a thirst. There must be a hunger. You cannot be casual and enter into some of these depth that we are talking about. When you are a casual person—check, for example, let me ask you for instance. Look at the passion you have for instance to become rich and the passion to know Christ. Which one is stronger? These are the things you use to check. Check. Is there—is there something that you have a stronger desire for than the desire to know the Lord? Then there is still something you need to do about your hunger. Desire to know the Lord, desire to get into Him until He supersedes all other passion and hunger. You are not set for depth. So, one thing to correct in life, one thing to look at in your life is practically speaking, check—check this passion. Check it in your life. When you check it and you notice that the passion to know the Lord is not the number one thing in your life, then you need to still go back to the Lord. The Lord still need to do something upon your heart. Yes. The psalmist said, "As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after You." I'm showing you the soul of men who found God. "As the deer pants for the water." Moses said, "Ah, Baba, if You will not carry us from here, please don't carry us anywhere again in life. Let us just remain here in life." Have you gotten to that point in your own life that you will say, "God, if—if You will not let me know You, please don't carry me any further in life. Don't let my life progress anywhere. Can You—can You please don't let my life progress until You have given me this matter?" I'm talking about desperation. I'm talking about what is—what is... You see, the Bible says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." So, there is a blessedness that you may not be having. You may be a Christian, but that—you may not be having it. Check. Cross-check. And then if you have been able to deal successfully, successfully, as very well with that, before we now come to the matter, I want to show you in Daniel chapter nine. Daniel chapter nine. Daniel chapter nine. In the first year of—of Darius, I'm reading from verse one. "In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was king over the realm of the Chaldeans; in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolation of Jerusalem. Then I set my face toward the Lord to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. And I prayed." Then Daniel began to pray, pray, pray, pray, pray... the prayer was a very long one, so that's not where I want to—where I want to stay with. Where I want to jump is that immediately while he was still praying, is that if you go to the verse—verse 20. It says: "Now while I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God; yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of evening offering. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, 'O Daniel, I have now come to give you skill to understand.'" He came again to give him skill to understand. Are you seeing that these are spiritual impartations? These are spiritual impartations. There are impartations spiritually that take us into different level of spiritual things, of being able to see, being able to hear, being able to understand. This is real. If you check it in this in Ephesians chapter one, Paul said, "I pray that the Lord will give you the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of revelation." So, there is a Spirit of wisdom, a Spirit of revelation. There are different impartations of God upon our life that brings us to different levels. But what I want to draw your attention to is that Daniel's—what led to Daniel's prayer? The Bible says Daniel said, "I understood by the books." I'm showing you the place of giving yourself to scriptures. There are some understanding that first come by the books. Those understanding will now launch us into some things again. You can see that many of the things that when Daniel was speaking about different revelation, this and this and this and that, he got this, he got that. The truth was that it was as he gave himself to study scriptures. He was taking time to study scriptures, to give himself to scripture. The psalmist said, "Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against You." We talk about the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night. Matthew 4:4, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord." Colossians 3:16, "Let the word of God dwell in you richly in all wisdom." There are abundant of—of—of references in the Bible that show that men of revelation, that the spirit of—of scriptures is the spirit of revelation. Are you a woman, are you a man of scriptures? I'm showing you the steps, different things that has to do with this matter of the supernatural. Scriptures. Scriptures. Giving attention to scripture. Paying attention to scripture. Decisions coming out of scripture. Acting out of scriptures. Living out of scripture. Reasoning out of scripture. Meditating onto scripture. Giving oneself to scripture. I'll—I'll quote this verse quickly. John 14:21. You know what the Lord Jesus Himself said there? He said, "He that has my word and do it, is he that loves me. My Father will love him. I too will love him and I will reveal myself to him." And I will reveal myself to him. Revelation. "He that has my word and do it, is he who loves me. My Father will love him. I too will love him and I will reveal myself to him." Are you seeing something? That when we begin to give ourselves to scriptures, to meditate on scriptures, and you begin to—to observe to do what is there, you are giving yourself to scriptures, you are going through scriptures, you are—you are observing to do according to what is written there. My brother, you are exposing your life to revelation. My sister, you are exposing your life to—to depth. But when you don't give attention to scripture, when you don't begin to understand by scripture, you don't begin to do certain things by scripture, you don't begin to take certain action by scripture, scripture don't constrain you, scripture don't make you do—Scripture make you say, "No, the word of God says it I cannot do this. Word of God says I cannot do this. No, after all the word of God says this I can't do it. Word of God says this is what I will do." I mean you begin to give yourself like that to scripture. As you are doing that, something is happening to your spirit. Are you understanding me? Your spirit is coming to where you begin to pick the signals of God. Daniel was giving himself to scripture, to scriptures. He began to understand certain things. Those things led him into prayer. He began to pray. And as he was praying, there was angelic revelation. Things don't just happen. The Bible is showing us how these men got there. That's a very vivid example of something for us to see. So, when we come to scriptures, when you come to scriptures, He has told us the house of Jacob will not seek Him in vain. He will not seek Him in vain. Why? Because we know we will recognize Him in scriptures. We will see Him in scriptures. Are you getting? We will hear His voice in scriptures. You will know Him in scriptures. The voice of the stranger you will not hear. That is—that is the provision of God for your life. So, come to scriptures. "How am I sure I will understand? I hope one demon will not twist my understanding. I will now be understanding wrong thing." I don't know where people—I don't know where people get some of these their foolish and fetish beliefs. Let me tell you one—one big truth. When it comes to discipleship, there is the Discipler and there is a disciple. Every human being on earth is a disciple. But there's only one person that is the Discipler, and that is the Holy Spirit. So, ordinarily, a discipler is actually somebody who has a relationship with the Discipler. And so, based on that relationship with the Discipler, he is knowing the Discipler and is there for making the Discipler known. You say, "Oh, but the Lord Jesus, how does He come in this matter?" The Bible says the Lord is that Spirit. So, when you say the Lord Jesus is the Discipler, you say yes. How is the Lord Jesus with us today? By the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus is with us by the Holy Spirit. So that even if a discipler is not following the Discipler, there is no reason to follow that discipler. Because there is actually just one person who is the Discipler. All other person are different—different, different person God using different people at different places. Do you have an understanding that the Discipler lives inside of you? I'm not throwing away the place of teachers. I'm not throwing away the place of pastors. I'm not throwing away the place of all of these people. But I'm trying to make you understand something. All the effort of all of these people will be vain in your life if the Discipler is not working in your life. The Bible says Paul plants, Apollos waters, it is the Lord that gives increase. Until He—He witnesses with your spirit, all what they are saying will remain head knowledge. They will never become life in your own life. That's the reality of it. So, my question to you as a person, you want to see the supernatural, you want to see the invisible, you want to encounter God, you want to know Him. My question is what is the volume of scripture in your life? Can you lock up yourself for one day and say, "God, and You have not asked me to seek You in vain"? Can you stay with scripture? Can you—can you—can you abandon yourself to scripture? Can scripture become your fear? Daniel saw something, "Eh, so seventy years." He begin to mold his life after it. Can scripture become instruction—instruction for your life? That's a very vivid example of something for us to see. So, when we—when we come to scriptures, when we come to scriptures, He has told us the house of Jacob will not seek Him in vain. He will not seek Him in vain. Why? Because we know we will recognize Him in scriptures. We will see Him in scriptures. Are you getting? We will hear His voice in scriptures. You will know Him in scriptures. The voice of the stranger you will not hear. That is—that is the provision of God for your life. So, come to scriptures. As—as we close today, I will close with Proverbs chapter two. Let's just see Proverbs chapter two, let's close with that today. I believe I've been able to answer this question very practically. But please, wherever you are joining us, brethren, whether on Mixlr, whether on Telegram, if in case you still feel one or two things are not answered, please send in your questions to our page. By next week I will—I will answer it. But I'm just responding to the questions that were coming to my mind as I was meditating on what are the practical things to these things? And I was answering those questions. And as the answers were coming to me, I noted them down and I have responded to them this evening. Look at Proverbs chapter two. I just want us to look at something there that I want to close with today. "My son, if you receive my word, and treasure my command within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding; if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God." I pray You will—we will all find the knowledge of God in the name of Jesus Christ. May the Lord grant us His knowledge. You can see a very direct answer from the scriptures in this matter. It says "Then you will find." You will find. You can find it. Yes, it is something that we can find. and some things said there about finding. Sister Comfort, please close this meeting for us. [Speaker 3] Our Father in heaven, we thank You so much for the simplicity of Your word. Thank You because You know that what we heard over the weeks could be so ambiguous to some people and they are wondering, "How are we going to attain this?" and You brought it to us in the language we will understand. Father, we are grateful to You. Accept our thanks in Jesus' name. Father, the grace to seek Your word, to make it the priority of our lives, to give attention to it, decisive attention. Father, please give us that grace in the name of Jesus. We are asking for hunger and thirst in our hearts that will make us, oh Lord, to even wake up in the dead of the night and turn to the scriptures. Father, please give unto us in the name of Jesus. And as we go through Your word, oh Lord, let there be understanding. Let our eyes be opened so that we see things from Your word. Thank You, everlasting Father. It is not of him that will, neither of him that run, it is of You that show mercy. Please show us mercy individually where we are located in the name of Jesus. Thank You for hearing us pray. Thank You for Your son that You have used again tonight. We are asking that the Lord will illuminate him more and more and You will cause Your word to be alive in his life in the name of Jesus Christ. As we go, please let Your presence abide with us, and come Monday again we gather together. Thank You for hearing us pray. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. [All] The grace together. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forevermore. Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord! [Speaker 1] 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 10:00 AM, marriage forum second Saturday of every month 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, Ilaro community opposite [unclear: Berry Joy] filling station along Igbehin 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 080-338-611-36, 070-333-613-84. God bless you.