This Gospel of the Kingdom (prayer Session)

[Speaker 1] Peace and love. We bless Him for all who He is and all that He is to us. We appreciate Him for His grace. We appreciate Him for His goodness. We appreciate Him. This is the last Monday in the year 2021. As we gather unto Him this last Monday, both to exhort ourselves briefly and to pray, we trust that the Spirit of the Lord will work within us to the glory and praise of His name, in the name of Jesus Christ. Let's have a word of prayer as we come into the presence of the Lord this evening. Our Father and our God, we give You glory. We give You honor. We give You praise. We give You adoration. We bless Your holy name. We bless Your holy name for all who You are and all that You are to us. We appreciate You for Your mercies. We appreciate You for Your love. We appreciate You for Your goodness. We say Lord our God, be exalted in the name of Jesus. We thank You for preservation January through February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December, and December today. We are in the last Monday of the month of December. We say our Father, to You be glory and praise in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, as we commence this evening, we trust You for Your working in our midst in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank You, eternal Father. Blessed be Your holy name, our God. In Jesus' name we pray. We thank our God for this last Monday in the month of December 2021. By the time we'll be meeting again for another discipleship class, by God's mercy and grace, we'll be talking about the year 2022. We trust the Lord that it has been Him and it will still be Him through 2021 into 2022 in the name of Jesus Christ. As our usual practice every last Monday of the month, we exhort ourselves briefly and then we take time to pray. We will be taking our prayers based on what we have been considering: the Gospel of the Kingdom. We'll be looking at issues around it, one or two things for us to pray about also. The Gospel of the Kingdom. We have been able to tell ourselves about the Gospel of the Kingdom, that the Gospel of the Kingdom is dispensational. Under one dispensation, that which is about the Gospel of the Kingdom was not clear. Holy men and righteous men who desired to understand the Gospel could not understand the Gospel. They could not really know the full meaning. They prophesied about the coming of Christ, they prophesied about His suffering and His death, but they could not really bring it, they could not really interpret it. Eventually, the Bible says the Gospel is now made clear through our Lord Jesus Christ. Last week, we were looking at some crucial things that the Gospel actually did. Let's look at that text again. 2 Timothy 1:9-11. It says, "who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." We saw that the Gospel is about Jesus. Jesus is the heart of the Gospel. The Gospel abolished death and brought life and immortality. We saw that is exactly what Jesus did. So, the Gospel we are talking about, that which is about Jesus, which centered on Jesus, we said it is primarily a working relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Last week, I took us to Genesis to look at the matter of the Gospel abolishing death and bringing life and immortality to light. We saw that in Genesis 3:22. It says, "Then the Lord God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever'—therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life." I emphasized last week—that was where we closed the meeting—that God would not want man to have immortality in death. It is not the design of God that man should enjoy immortality in death. You notice that the Bible says, "Behold, God said man has become like one of us, to know good from evil, and lest he put forth his hand and eat of the tree of life and live forever." Man must not have immortality in death. Man must be alive to have immortality. So, quickly, God separated man from immortality. He must not eat of the tree of life and live forever in death. That is why you notice in 2 Timothy 1, the first thing that the Gospel is to do, the first thing that Jesus does in the life of any man, is to abolish death. The Bible says Jesus came and He abolished death through the Gospel. The preaching of Jesus, the first thing He is to do for any man is to abolish death. It is when death is abolished that we talk about life and immortality because you see that God separated man from immortality as long as man was a dead person. Now, we want to talk—I said I would try because I want us, this our last Monday, to take time to pray. I really want us to pray about this matter of the Gospel. That's what we're going to pray around. We're going to take some apostolic prayers around the Gospel because the truth about the Gospel is that the Gospel, which is centered on Jesus—as I mentioned last week—is not about reading the Bible, it's not about joining a church, it's not about being active in a fellowship, it's not about even preaching the Gospel. It's about a personal encounter with Jesus. That is the Gospel. It's about an intimate relationship with a person. That is the Gospel. And that intimacy, the Bible says that what the Gospel will do, this Gospel of the Lord Jesus, the first thing is that it will abolish death. I want to speak just a little on the matter of death today, and then we begin to take apostolic prayer about the Gospel. There are definite apostolic prayers in the scripture that centered around the Gospel because the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is not a Gospel that comes by the will of man, by some good intelligence. No, it's something that comes by revelation. Nobody can see God except by the light that comes from God. If light don't come from God, man cannot see God. And that is the nature of the Gospel. I said something last week, that the Gospel is established on foolishness, that the basis of that Gospel, when you look at it, when man looks at the Gospel, it looks foolish. I will be building more on that in our next meeting. But today, I want to look at this matter of death very briefly. In Genesis 2:15-17, the Bible says, "Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 'Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.'" The day you eat of it, you shall surely die. We notice something very important here. It's so amazing. Look at the extent of liberty for man. Man is to eat everything except one. It's like you have 20 trees inside the garden and you said man can eat of everything, eat everything except one. You can eat 19 except one. Is that not liberty? Is that not freedom? Is that not a restriction? But then, it's so unfortunate that man would not live within the liberty that God has set for man. Man continues to enjoy liberty when he stays within the liberty that God has set for him. But if man wants to experience excessive liberty, he enters into problem. God said eat 19 except one, and yet man still went to eat the one he was not supposed to eat, as if the 19 was not more than the one that he was not supposed to eat. But then, we notice something, that he was told to eat of everything except that tree, except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Now, man went and ate of it, and God said that the day he eats of that tree, in dying he would die. Eventually, we saw in chapter 3 that man took of the tree as tempted of the devil. The woman, deceived of the devil, ate of it and gave to her husband. The husband took of it and ate, and when the husband ate, the eyes of both of them became open. Now, the point we are making is this: when we are talking about death, it says the Gospel abolished death. You will notice that when they ate that fruit, they died. Because God said in dying you will surely die. When they ate, they died. But you will notice that the type of death we are talking about is not the ordinary physical death because they were still alive physically speaking. So, when we are talking about the Gospel abolishing death, you must understand that we are not necessarily just talking about a physical dying. We are not talking about a physical dying. There is a death that is actually death. The physical dying is not real death; it's just a transition. When man dies physically, he did not die; it's only a transition to another level of living. The first thing I'm calling your attention to is that it would have been—do you know how wonderful it would have been, for instance, if immediately they ate that fruit, the two of them just fell down and they are no more existing? We'll be able to understand the real consequence of what happened. But because they did not fall down, they were still biologically alive, it does not make man to appreciate death when God is talking about death. It does not make man to appreciate death. But I want to make you see what is death from Genesis. So, in looking at the book of Genesis, death is not necessarily something physical. So, when people die physically, they did not die because death is not something physical. Something physical is just a transition. It's just like changing your position. The physical death is like, for example, I'm here now in Nigeria. I will not be able to tell what is happening in the United States because I am not there. This is where I am present. Even in Nigeria, I am physically in a particular location, Ile-Ife. So, it is in Ile-Ife that I can say this is what is happening. What is happening in other locations in Nigeria, I don't know because I am not there. I'm not physically there. Now, the physical death is something like that. The physical death is not actually a death; it's a change of location. When a man—when you say he died physically, what you actually meant was that he has changed his location. He's no more here physically to know what is happening here, but he's in another place knowing what is going on. So, the physical death is not death; it's a change of location. Now, what is death? Because the Gospel abolished death. Now, when we look at Genesis, what we notice about death was that first and foremost, their eyes were opened. Now, I don't want to go into too much exposition about that because of our time. I really want us to pray. But very, very simple. If they ate the fruit and their eyes were opened, it means before they ate the fruit, ordinarily speaking, their eyes were closed. I'm just speaking figuratively. If you are to speak figuratively, it means before they ate that fruit, their eyes were closed. But they were seeing. They were moving around because we notice that God brought the animals to Adam, he named them. God brought Eve to Adam, he said, "this is now the bone of my bone." So, he was seen. So, how was he seen? Now, I'm speaking figuratively. When a man does not have the physical eyes to see, when you close your physical eyes, you will need a guide. You will need somebody to guide you. What Jesus was telling Peter, he said, "Peter, when you were quite young, when you were very young, you go wherever you want to go by yourself. But a time will come when you will grow old." Of course, when you grow old, there will be no strength, most times there will be no good sight. He said you will now need someone to guide you. So, this is what I'm trying to make you see. When we are talking about death, the first thing about death is that—to not be separated from life, or to be dead, is a situation where God is not your guide. When a man cannot be guided by God, when he becomes the guide of his own life, when a man can see for himself, he can take decision for himself, he can act from himself, that man is a dead man. That looks like something intricate, but it's not intricate. Let me show you what Jesus said. John 5:19. I'm reading from the New King James Bible. Look at what the Bible says: "Then Jesus answered and said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.'" Are you seeing a man who is alive? Are you seeing a man who is alive? Because He's our perfect example. The Bible says when they ate that fruit, how do we know that they died? We know because they can now see. We know because they can now do things by themselves. We know because they no more need the guide of their life. We know because they no more need God to be the guide, to guide them here and there. I ask you, for instance, Adam was fully asleep when Eve was made. When God brought Eve to Adam, Adam said, "this is now the bone of my bone, the flesh of my flesh, she shall be called woman." My question is that, how many month of relationship, how many month of dating or courtship or whatever, or boyfriending and girlfriending as we find more around Christians today—you know, today you find people say "my boyfriend in Christ," just a carryover of our worldly life into Christianity. I don't know what you mean by boyfriend in Christ and girlfriend in Christ. But anyway, when you say your boyfriend in Christ or girlfriend in Christ, how many days of relationship existed between Adam and Eve that Adam knew immediately that Eve was the bone of his bone, the flesh of his flesh and she was taken out of him? Of course, that was not possible except that there was a guide. He was living under the power of a guide. Adam saw bone, Adam did not see flesh. It will take any female to stand before you, will you see flesh or bone? What you will see will be the flesh. But Adam saw bone. Adam saw beyond the physical thing. Adam saw the very existence, the totality, the intricate part of that thing that was brought because the eyes of Adam were eyes that were guided. They were not just eyes that were independent. They were guided eyes. I'm talking about being alive. A man that is alive is a man that is guided. A man that God is the guide of his life. When a man becomes the guide of his own life, can I announce to you that he's a dead man? And when we say the Gospel, when we say a man encounter Jesus, what is supposed to happen in the life of that man is that the man should decrease for Jesus to increase. It will become "Thy way not mine, O Lord." It will become "O Lord, not as I will, but Your will be done." That is Christianity. It will become "O Lord, no more my choice." It will become "Lord, O God, have Your way. Have Your own way, O Lord, have Your own way. You are the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me, just as You will." That is a life that is alive. The Gospel abolishes death. If you are encountering the true Gospel—as I told you last week, the true Gospel is not just a philosophy, the true Gospel is not just a doctrine, it's not a church doctrine. "In our church we do like this, in our church we do like that." No, the true Gospel is an encounter with a person, an encounter with Jesus. If you are truly experiencing the Gospel, if you are truly having encounter with Jesus, what will be happening to you is that daily your will will be dying and the will of God will be finding expression. That is what it means to be alive. But when you find people today, big strong will, full of their ways, full of themselves, the truth is that there is no correct encounter. What they are experiencing is not the Gospel. The Gospel of the Lord Jesus is a Gospel that first, the Bible says, the Gospel abolishes death. The first thing the Gospel does in the life of any man, when a man truly encounters Jesus, the first thing that begins to happen in the life of that man is the man begins to lose every capacity to guide his own life. God begins to become the guide of that man's life. That is what it means when the Bible says, "we that were dead He made alive." To be alive is to lose control over your life. That's what it means to be alive. The Bible says their eyes became open. Their eyes became open. They could now act for themselves. They could now go where they choose to go. Formerly, they would need to be guided on which path they should go, on what they should say, on how they should say. Look at when Adam was naming the animal. Was there any mistake in his judgment? He said this is lion, this is tiger, this is... he was just naming them. And what did the Bible say? The Bible says whatsoever he named them, that was its name. His judgment cannot be wrong because the judgment is not of his own judgment. And I will show you something very quickly about this matter I'm talking about. Look at what Jesus said again in that John 5:30 about judgment, then I will relate it to something in the life of Adam. I will show you something in Genesis. And I want you to look at it from Genesis and Matthew for you to understand what it means to be alive. Jesus, oh, the Bible said He brought life, He made us alive. May we come into the fullness of these things in the name of Jesus. Look at John 5:30. The Bible says Jesus said, "I can of Myself do nothing." May God bring us to this point in the name of Jesus. May God, I'm telling you, that is what the Gospel is first to do in your life—is to abolish death. Is to bring you to a point where you can do nothing of yourself. It abolishes death. That is the death it wants to abolish. Man is full of his own ways. His thought is not the thought of God. His ways is not the ways of God. His thinking is not the thinking of God. He is darkness, God is light. He is revengeful, God is merciful. He is full of hatred and vices, God is full of goodness and virtue. That is why the Bible says the fruit of the Spirit is goodness. Man is full of wickedness. So, the first thing the Gospel should do in the life of any man is to abolish this death. It abolishes this death. A man that can do things of himself is a dead man. He's a dead man. When man was alive, he can do nothing of himself because his eyes were closed. He always needs a guide. He always needs a guide. And the guide of his life was God. God was the one guiding him. I'm speaking to you figuratively and I'm speaking to you trying to understand so that I don't want to go into too much explanation of the matter of an open eye. But I'm trying to make you see literally that if their eyes were closed, they were under a guide. Jesus said, "I can of Myself do nothing." May God bring us to this point in the name of Jesus. "As I hear, I judge." That was Adam. That was Adam in Genesis. When he said lion, he was hearing something. When he said tiger, he was hearing something. When he said gorilla, he was hearing something. That was a man that is alive. He said my judgment is righteous. May our judgment become a righteous judgment because it is not coming from ourselves. When a man's judgment does not come from himself, when a man, the way you look at things, the way you judge things... and that was why the last time I was thinking about God's judgment and justice. Very different from the way men see justice and judgment. Man sinned against God, man is the offender, man should be killed for what he has done, yet God went to die for man to live. Look at God's nature of judgment. Look at how God judged. Quite different, very different. When God takes over the heart of a man and a man begins to hear God in how he judges, his judgment will become righteous. His judgment will not be full of vices, will not be full of revenge, will not be full of hatred, will not be full of malice, will not be full of self-centeredness, will not be full of selfishness. His judgment will become righteous. May God lift you up. May God lift us up. May God bring us to where we become societally relevant. All these things we have today, we call churches everywhere, and there is so much vices, so much wickedness, so much self-centeredness, so much evil even inside the church. Because those you call believers are not actually believers, they are still dead men. They are having a gospel that is just based on church doctrines and teachings of men that does not flow from God. When a Gospel flow from Jesus, the first thing it begin to do in your life is to bring you alive, is to abolish this death. It is because this death is not consistently abolished. Look at what Apostle Paul said, he said "we die daily." What is he saying? They are daily decreasing. They are daily losing grip over their life so that the life of Christ can be made manifest in our mortal body. It is because this is not happening today to so many people, that is why we have so much problem. Even among the so-called Christian, even among the so-called believers. Look at instability today in Christian homes. Sometimes you wonder if it does not surpasses what happens among unbelievers. I pray for the body of Christ today. May our judgment become a righteous judgment. May our judgment, the way we relate to one another, the way we treat ourselves, may our judgment become righteous judgment. May God bring a revival as we enter into the new year. May God bring a wind of change. May God bring a wind of change that will make us to die for Jesus to live. May we decrease for Jesus to increase. Be truly alive in Christ in the name of Jesus. The Gospel abolishes death. That is the first thing. It abolishes death. God does not want immortality in deadness. And that is why you notice in the Bible says without holiness no man can see God. Man, God did not prepare immortality in deadness. No, man must come alive out of that deadness. He must come into a righteous judgment. He must first abolish death. That is what He says, the Gospel, it abolishes death, and then He brings life and immortality. God said no, the man must not eat the tree of life and live forever in deadness. Immortality is not meant for dead people. It is meant for living people. And I pray may you come alive in the name of Jesus Christ. I relate this to what happened to Adam very quickly and then you will see what I'm trying to say. When I said Adam said, when I said it is as he was hearing, so he judged. He saw something like him, said oh, this is bone of my bone, the flesh of my flesh shall be called woman. That's wonderful. And his judgment was correct. Was the judgment not right? His judgment was excellent. That's why I was telling some young men in a meeting I had with them some two days ago. I said instead of taking time to develop intimacy with God, you are busy sampling sisters. You are sampling which one is emotional compatible, which one is mentally compatible, which one is sexually compatible, which one is physically compatible, which one is that compatible. You are just wasting your life. Go and bury yourself and be, you know, let the Gospel abolish death. Come alive and let God be your guide and let us see whether your judgment about who you will marry will be wrong. There was no boyfriending girlfriending, there was nothing between Adam and Eve, but immediately he saw her, the guide of his life guided him. This is the bone of my bone. May the guide of your life be your guide in the name of Jesus Christ. Look at something in Adam. I'm talking of what it means to be alive. Jesus, oh the Bible says we are alive, He brought life, He made us alive. May we come into the fullness of these things in the name of Jesus. Not this "my church we believe this," "my church we believe that," "my... this is the activity we have today," "that is what we have tomorrow," "we have Bible study." I'm not saying all of these things are wrong in themselves, but I'm saying that the Gospel of Jesus transcends activities, transcends church doctrines. It's about a working relationship with a person, and that person is the guide of our life. That person is the guide of our life. It's a relationship. It's a one-on-one relationship. It's not just church membership. It's not just church doctrine. It's not just a denomination. "I belong to this," "I belong to that." It's not all of that. It's about being alive. May you be alive. May you be alive. May you be alive. May you be alive. May you be alive. May you be alive. In the name of Jesus Christ. I want to show you something about Adam. That may be where I may stop this today. We'll speak... I've told you that we'll... this is what we will take into the new year. The Gospel of the Kingdom. We need to know what this Gospel is. We need to understand it because there are several things today that looks like it but they are not it. They look like it but they are not it. They are not it. And that is why there is so much problem today. Look at Adam. To show you something in Adam. I'm talking of what it means to be alive. Jesus, oh the Bible said He brought life, He made us alive. May we come into the fullness of these things in the name of Jesus. Look at something in Adam. Look at something Adam said. Let's compare it with what we have in Matthew. Genesis chapter 2. Genesis chapter 2:23. Adam said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed. Now, please, I want you to look at something. He says, "and Adam said, 'this is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man.'" The next sentence we saw is "therefore a man shall leave father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh." When you look at this statement, theologically there have been different positions as to who made this statement. Theologically, some felt it was Moses, that Moses was just judging for what was happening. Some disagreed that it cannot be Moses, that this statement was made by Adam. This way, that way, this way, that way. But do you know something about all theologians? All theologians came to a conclusion. Look at something in Matthew. I just want to compare... I'm talking about "as I hear, so I judge." That's the matter, that's what I want to raise for you to see. And that's why I'm praying that may the guide of your life become your guide in the name of Jesus Christ. Look at Matthew chapter 19. All theologians agreed on this. And with this, because the principle of interpretation of the scripture is that you don't use an obscure scripture to explain an obvious scripture. Rather, you use an obvious scripture to explain an obscure scripture. That's the principle of biblical interpretation. Now, in Matthew chapter 19, Jesus was speaking when the Pharisees came to Him, from verse 3. The Pharisees also came to Him testing Him and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?" And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?" So, we have now found very clearly in Jesus that Jesus said it was God that made that statement. So, what am I trying to make you see? If you attribute it to Adam, you will not be wrong. Why will you not be wrong? Because as Adam does what? As he hears, so he does what? So he judged. The statement, if it belongs to Adam, it is not the statement of Adam. It was a statement that Adam got by inspiration from God because God was the guide of his life. If we say it was Moses who drew the statement, then we are saying that also for Moses, Moses spoke by inspiration of the Lord. Because all scriptures were given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So, what am I trying to make you see? That when a man is actually alive, his judgment, his statement, his word become what? The judgment of who? The judgment of God, the statement of God. So that when a man makes a statement, when a man judges, we can say his judgment is a righteous judgment because the judgment is flowing from God. That is what I'm trying to make you see. That is what I'm trying to make you understand. That is what I am bringing into your understanding, that when we are truly alive, when we truly live, then our judgment flows from the Lord. So, this evening, as we take time to pray, as we take time to come into His presence, I want us to begin our prayer from the book of Luke. The Gospel of the Kingdom. Luke chapter 24. We take our first prayer point from there. Luke 24. I want us to see the story from around verse 13, but I want to pick the prayer point from somewhere down the line. The story started from verse 13 of Luke chapter 24 when two of them were on their way to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. It says as they talked about all of these things which had happened, so it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near with them. But their eyes were restrained so that they could not know Him. I want you to pray because the Gospel of the Kingdom is the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. A man whose eyes is restrained cannot enter into the Gospel, cannot experience the life that is in the Gospel. Death cannot be abolished in a man whose eyes are restrained. I want you to begin to pray for yourself. That's our first prayer point. That Lord, Lord, cause that my eyes would not be restrained from seeing Jesus. Lord, what are the restrains in my eyes? What are the restrains upon my spirit? What are the restrains that are upon my walk with God that things that are not allowing me to see Jesus clearly? The Gospel of the Kingdom is about Jesus. The Gospel of the Kingdom is a daily encounter with the person of Jesus. The Gospel of the Kingdom is a daily experiential encounter with Jesus. The Gospel of the Kingdom is daily knowing and seeing Jesus. The Gospel of the Kingdom is not a doctrine. The Gospel of the Kingdom is not a church practice. The Gospel of the Kingdom is not about denomination. "I belong to this," "I belong to that." It's not about the belief in your church. The Gospel of the Kingdom is an encounter with the person of Jesus. So, you need to begin to pray that God, that my eyes be not restrained from seeing Jesus. Whatsoever is a restrain, whatsoever is a restrain to my eyes, whatsoever is restraining my seeing Jesus clearly. O Lord God, I pray, as we close up 2021 and we are entering 2022, O Lord, begin to deal with restrains upon my eyes, restrain upon my spirit, restrain upon my walk with God. Whatsoever is a restrain. It says their eyes were restrained. Their eyes were restrained. Whatsoever may be restraining me from seeing Jesus clearly? Whatsoever is not allowing me to see Jesus? Whatsoever is not allowing me? You know, sometimes traditions may not allow you to see Jesus. Sometimes experience may not allow you to see Jesus. And sometimes even some of these doctrines we practice in our churches, they may not allow you to see Jesus. Sometimes religion may not allow you to see Jesus. I want you to pray whatsoever is the restrain. Whatsoever is the restrain. Whatsoever is constitutive restrain, I mean restrain from experiencing Jesus. Any kind of thing, any kind of thing. Could it be a friendship? Could it be a fellowship? Could it be a... I don't know which type of ship. Is there something? Something that is not allowing you to see Jesus clearly? Their eyes were restrained. Their eyes were restrained. May my eyes not be restrained. May my eyes not be restrained. As we close up 2021 and we take up 2022, O Lord God Almighty, open my eyes to see Jesus. Open my eyes to see Jesus. Open my eyes to see Jesus. Open my eyes to see Jesus. Open my eyes, open my eyes, Lord, that I may see Jesus. Open my eyes to see Jesus. Open my eyes. Open my eyes. Open my eyes. Open my eyes. Open my eyes. Open up my spirit. Open up my life. Open up my life. Open up my spirit. Open up my ears. Open me up, Father. The Gospel abolishes death. The Gospel, it abolishes death. The first thing that the Gospel must kill is your ability to live by yourself. The Gospel must bring you, it must bring you to where you are alive. A man who can live from himself, of himself, by himself is a dead man. A man who is alive is a man whose eyes are closed. He always needs a guide. He always needs a guide. He must be guided. Once you cannot be guided, you cannot be led. Oh, look at how the Bible puts it in Romans chapter 8. It says as many as are led by the Spirit are the sons of God. If you cannot be led, you are not a child. If you cannot be led, you are a spiritual bastard. If you cannot be led, you are a spiritual bastard. You must be led. You must be carried. You must be somebody that can be led of God. I want you to pray. Lord, what are those restrains to my being led of God? What are those restrains? What are those restrains? What are those things restraining me? What are those things restraining me? Oh, I give you a good example. Do you know when I was coming up as a young believer and we were trying to understand how to walk with Jesus and we were asking some questions from people? "Ah, I don't understand. Why am I still struggling with this type of sin in my life?" All we were told is that "you see, in this church, you need to understand, we are look, we are all sinners, God will help us, [speaks in Yoruba], you'll just be managing like that, it is only God that can help us." That was how doctrine initially restrained me from entering into the fullness of the Gospel, from entering into the liberty wherein Christ has set me free. Until one day, when my eyes was opened to the Gospel and I saw where the Bible says, "Oh, how can we who were dead to sin, how can we continue therein?" Then I knew that actually I died in Christ to sin. I want you to pray. What are the things restraining me? Oh, seeing Jesus. What are the things restraining me? Lord, cause my eyes to be open. Lord, cause my eyes to be open in the name of Jesus Christ. We take the second prayer point. Second prayer point I want you to take about this matter of the Gospel. You will find that between from around verse 22 downward, it says, "Yes... no, let me just go straight to where I want." I go to verse 24, 25. It says the disciples they were speaking. Says, "Certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and they found it just as the woman had said, but Him they did not see." Then Jesus said something: "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophet has spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" And beginning at Moses—I want you to notice that—and all the prophets, He expounded to them in all these scriptures the things concerning Himself. I'm saying that if scripture don't point you to Jesus, what you are seeing in scripture is heresy. If scriptures don't point you to Jesus, what Jesus did, how He suffered, that is the Gospel. How He suffered, how He died, how He rose again for our justification. If the summary of scripture is not to point you to Jesus, what you are seeing in scripture is heresy. The purpose of scripture is not to just build doctrines. The purpose of scripture is not to just know Bible. The purpose of scriptures is to encounter Jesus. I want you to pray. I want you to talk to the Lord this evening. He said the Bible says, "and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He began to expound to them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself." Can you pray that Lord, Lord, can You begin this, can You begin like this with me? Can You begin such kind of a fresh thing in my life? Can something fresh begin in my life? Lord, can You pick this same scripture? Can You pick the scripture and begin to expound them to me, Lord? Lord, I desire in my life that You will expound the scripture. The Gospel of the Kingdom is about Jesus. Lord God Almighty, like You did with these men, Lord, can You expound to me in all scriptures the things concerning Yourself? Can you just cry to Jesus? Can you just talk to Jesus? Can you just open your mouth and call upon the name of the Lord? The Bible says he that call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Can you cry unto Him? Can you say Jesus? Jesus, as we close up this year and we move into a new one, Lord, I want it to be a closer walk with You. I desire a closer walk with You. And Lord, I desire a walk where You expound to me from Genesis. Bible says beginning at Moses. When You begin to expound to me from Genesis through Exodus, down, down, down to Revelation, the things concerning Yourself. Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, I want You to expound scriptures to me. I desire this experience. I desire that You will expound scriptures. I desire that You will expose scriptures. I desire that You will expound scriptures to me. I desire an experience, this kind of experience. I desire a situation where You begin to expound scriptures, where You expound scriptures, when You expound scriptures in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Thank You, Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Look at the third prayer point in that place. Look at what they said. He says, "and they said to one another," verse 32, "did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road and while He opened the scriptures to us?" See, let me tell you something. If your heart is cold—listen to me very well—if your heart is cold to scriptures, you are not experiencing the Gospel of the Kingdom. See, I keep saying something. The Gospel of the Kingdom is about Jesus. Anything that is not built on Jesus, that is not founded on Jesus, is not the Gospel. When men encounter Jesus, they said, "did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road and He opened the scriptures to us?" Can you take a prayer: Set my heart ablaze Father, for Your name Let Your fire burn in my soul Let Your fire burn in my soul O Lord, hear my prayer Set my heart ablaze Father, for Your name Let Your fire burn in my soul Let Your fire burn in my soul I want you to pray. That Lord, as we close up 2021 and as we look toward 2022, I don't want to be lukewarm in my soul. The Bible says fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. I want you to pray that Lord God Almighty, Father, set my heart ablaze by scriptures. Set my heart on fire by scriptures. Let my heart burn within me. Let there be a burning that comes from realization of the truth. Let there be a burning, a fire, a passion, something burning, something vehement, something... I cannot be lukewarm. Oh, when Jesus is there, your heart cannot be lukewarm. When Jesus is present, your life cannot be cold. When Jesus is present, there must be a fire. When Jesus is present, there must be a passion. When Jesus is present, there must be a burning. Anywhere Jesus is, there is a fire, there is a passion, there is a burning, there is a reality. There is a reality. There is a reality. Oh, the Gospel is not a religion. It's not just one religion of coldness. It's not lethargy. It's not lethargy. There must be zeal. There must be life. There must be burning in the name of Jesus. I want you to talk to God. Talk to God. O Lord Jesus, be present. Be present with me in scriptures. Set my heart ablaze. Set my heart ablaze. Set my heart ablaze. Set my heart ablaze. I don't want to lukewarm. Oh, look at what He said in Revelation. He said, "because you are lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth. I would that you are either hot or you are cold." Lukewarmness is a curse. Lukewarmness is not a blessing. Lukewarmness is not a blessing. Lukewarmness is not a blessing. You must be either hot or you are cold. If you're on the side of God, you are hot. If you're on the other side, then be cold. We don't want a lukewarm person. It says oh, not slothful in business, we are fervent in spirit. O Lord God Almighty, Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, expound the scriptures to me. Bring a fire in my soul. Bring the reality of the truth of the Gospel. Let it bring a burning in my soul. Let it bring a burning in my soul. It says, "did not our heart burn?" Oh, their heart burned. There was a burning. There was a fire because Jesus was present. Jesus was present. Oh, thank You, Father. Oh, thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. Oh, in the name of Jesus Christ we pray. And then I want you to see the last one in Luke chapter 24. I'm reading now verse 44 and 45. Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." The Bible says He opened their understanding that they might comprehend the scriptures. Can you beg Jesus for this one too? Can you beg Jesus for this kind of a thing? Can you beg Jesus? The reason why we are confused is because we don't have understanding. Oh, you're not understanding me. You're not understanding me. If you go to the parable of the sower, he says the seed that fell by the wayside, the birds of the air they came to steal it away. When Jesus interpreted that parable, He said they are those who hear the Gospel but they don't understand it. They become victims of the devil. As we close up 2021 and we open up 2022 by the mercies of God, you will not be a victim of deception. You will not be a victim of delusion. You will not be a victim of heresy. You will not be a victim of lie. You will not be a victim of men's doctrines. I'm showing you something here. Jesus said when any man lack understanding, he becomes a victim of the devil. When we talk about the devil, we're talking about wrong teachings that come from men. Devil work in different ways. Don't be thinking of one thing that has three horns. Devil use people. Devil use religion. Devil use men. Devil can use your friend. Devil can do what is familiar to you. Devil can use your mother. Devil can use your father. Devil can use your husband. Devil can work through any means. That is the truth about the devil. Understand that when we are talking about the devil, we are talking about opportunistic spirits. Spirits that takes advantage of opportunity. He took advantage of the opportunity that Eve was not with Adam at a particular point. He quickly took advantage of that opportunity. I'm telling you, when Jesus was hungry, he came to him, "turn stone to bread." He takes opportunity. And one opportunity for the devil is where there is no understanding. One opportunity for the devil is where there is no understanding. It was the Lord Jesus that told us that. He said the birds of the air represent the devil. They come and they steal away. I want you to pray. Brethren, we are seen what Jesus did for men. What Jesus can still do for you. I want you to pray. O Lord, open my understanding that I may comprehend scriptures. Open my understanding that I may comprehend scriptures. Open my understanding that I may comprehend scriptures. Open my understanding that I may comprehend scriptures. Oh, thank You, Father. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Holy Spirit. Thank You, Jehovah God. Thank You, Almighty God. Thank You, Father. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord. One more, one more prayer we need to pray still on this matter. I take you to Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1:15. "Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I did not cease to give thanks, to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you, may give you, may give you..." And I pray this evening, may this rest upon you in the name of Jesus. I pray this evening that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ will give you the spirit of wisdom and the spirit of revelation in the knowledge of Him. The God of our Lord Jesus Christ. The God of our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh Lord, I pray this evening every brethren that are here physically, every brethren joining us online, whether on Mixlr, whether on Telegram, I pray this evening, O Lord our God, as we close up 2021, as we open up 2022, O Lord God Almighty, O Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, O God of glory, give unto us, give unto us the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of wisdom and revelation, and revelation in the knowledge of Him, in the knowledge of Him, in the knowledge of Him, in the knowledge of Him. Lord God Almighty, we pray this evening for a release. Lord, crown this year for us with this release. Lord, crown this year for us with this release. Let there be a release of the spirit of wisdom, of the spirit of revelation in the knowledge of God. A release, a release, a release, a release, a release, a release of the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of revelation in the knowledge of God, in the knowledge of God in the name of Jesus. Can you begin to thank God this evening? Can you begin to thank God for this evening? Can you begin to thank God for this evening? Can you begin to thank God for what He has done? Can you begin to give glory to God? Can you begin to give glory to God? Can you begin to give glory to God? Oh, give glory to God. Give glory to God. Give glory to God. Give glory to God. The Gospel of the Kingdom. It abolishes death. It abolishes death. It abolishes death. It abolishes death. It abolishes death. It abolishes death. It abolishes death. It abolishes death. It abolishes death. It abolishes death. Thank You, Father. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. One prayer I want you to pray into 2022 as we close this evening, as we close this evening and I ask my wife to round up. I want you to take this prayer. When man was alive, the guide of his life was God because their eyes were closed. Except God guides, they cannot do anything. I want you to pray into 2022 as we look into 2022, as we look at various things, aspirations, decisions, plans. I want you to pray particularly this evening that God make for me that 2022 will be an experience with the guide of my life. 2022 for me will be an experience with the guide of my life. You see, God is the guide of our life. Jeremiah 10:23-24. He says, "O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps." Mere mortals cannot run their life. Men and women don't have what it takes to take charge of life. We don't have what it takes to take charge of life. I want you to pray that God, make for me that 2022 will be an experience with the guide of my life. An experience with the guide of my life. We don't know what 2022 holds, but one thing we know that David said is that "if the Lord is our shepherd, we shall not want." That is one thing we know. That is one thing we are assured of. We don't know the uncertainties in 2022. Several things have been said. But one thing we know, that if the Lord is our shepherd, we will have everything we need. I want you to pray particularly this evening because any man who is truly alive, the guide of his life will be God. God becomes the guide of his life. Once a man can act from himself, can decide from himself, can judge by himself, he's a dead man. The first thing the Gospel does in the life of a man is to abolish death. I want you to pray this evening that God, make for me 2022 an experience with the guide of my life. An experience with the guide of my life. That the guide of my life will be my guide. That the guide of my life will be my guide in all things I do, in my decisions, in all I plan, in my aspirations, in my going forth, in my coming in. O Lord, I pray in Your mercy make 2022 a year for me that I will not do anything from myself. I will not judge from myself. O God Almighty, that You will grant me the privilege of seeing what You are doing, that I may do what You are doing. Of hearing what You are doing, that I may do what You are doing. Of perceiving what You are doing, that I may do whatever You are doing. O Lord, make 2022 an experience with the guide of my life. I want to be alive. I want to be a living man in 2022. I want to experience life. And the Gospel abolishes death. That is the first thing about this Gospel. It abolishes death. It abolishes man being the guide of his own life. That is the first thing the Gospel abolishes. It abolishes a man being the guide of his own life. Oh, God Almighty, 2022 make it an experience for me that the guide of my life is my guide. [Speaker 2] In Jesus' name we pray. I want us to sing this song. It's like the rounding up song. That is the song that came to mind when I was called. Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah Pilgrim through this barren land I am weak, but Thou art mighty Hold me with Thy powerful hand Bread of heaven, bread of heaven Feed me till I want no more Feed me till I want no more Open now the crystal fountain Where the healing waters flow Let the fiery cloudy pillar Lead me all my journey through Strong deliverer, strong deliverer Be Thou still my strength and shield Be Thou still my strength and shield Heavenly Father, we worship You. Isaiah 42:16 talks about You our God, our Father, and the Father of our Lord Jesus, that You are the God that led a blind Israel in a path, in a new path. It says You guide them along unfamiliar ways. You turn darkness to light before them. You make all their crooked ways straight and You never forsook them. Ancient of Days, this is our cry. This is our cry, our call upon You. Lord, please lead us in a new path. Lord, enough of our seeing by ourselves. You alone can lead the blind. And Lord God Almighty, until we are blind to ourselves and You being our eyes to see, we will continue in death. We call upon You, O Lord tonight, and as we journey on into 2022 and beyond, Lord, the blessing, the deliverance, the healing that You have sent to us by Your word is that You are going to lead us in a new way. We allow You, Lord. We ask, Lord, be our eyes. Be our eyes, O Lord. O Lord, be our eyes. Everywhere that our eyes are open that are not opened by You, Lord close it. And cause the eyes that will be opened be the eyes that You, only You open in the name of Jesus. And Lord, guide us in this unfamiliar way. The way of life is so unfamiliar. 2022 is unfamiliar. You alone knows it from beginning to the end. Because You are the Alpha and Omega. You are the God that is, that was and is to come. Lord, You know all things and that is why we are asking. Even the next moment is unfamiliar to us. We can only know about it when You reveal it to us. Lord, guide us, O Lord, in the unfamiliar ways of our life in the name of Jesus. Let darkness be light before us. Everywhere, Lord, that we grope in darkness, let light shine. Let darkness be light before us in the name of Jesus. And we ask, O Lord, make all our crooked ways straight. Everything perverse, crooked about us in our thinking, philosophy, in every area, Lord straighten us out in the name of Jesus. And You say this You will do, and You will do lots more. Lord, we pray as we journey on. As we journey on, Lord, we rest in Your everlasting arm. we rest in Your ability. That Lord, this You will do for us and much more in the name of Jesus. Thank You, faithful God. Thank You for Your son that You have spoken through, that You have used, O Lord, to be a channel of blessing to us. Almighty Father, we pray, O God, You will replenish him. He will not be an abandoned, O Lord, vessel in Your hand. We pray Lord Jehovah God You will renew his strength. We pray Lord Jehovah God that You will be his eyes always and Lord Jehovah God You will never stop being his guide. Thank You, Father, for the blessings You have blessed us with. [Announcer] 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 hints. Our regular activities are Discipleship class every Monday 5:00 p.m., Adolescent and Singles club every first Saturday of every month at 10 a.m., Marriage forum second Saturday of every month at 10 a.m., 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 Joyful Filling Station, along Ijegun 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. [Speaker 2] Lord, we are going forth Lord Jehovah God with Your guidance. The Lord who is our shepherd, and we know God Almighty we will not grope in darkness in the mighty name of Jesus. Even when darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people, the light of God will shine upon us in the mighty name of Jesus. Thank You, faithful God. For in Jesus' unfailing name we pray. Let's share the grace in fellowship. [In unison] 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.