Access to the Kingdom of God pt 3

Welcome to NECF Sermons. Each message here is

designed to uplift and strengthen you in your

walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until

the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive

right in. Acts chapter 1. It says, but you. shall

Acts 1 · chapter mention

receive power, chapter 1, verse 8, when the Holy

Spirit has come upon you. And you shall be witnesses

to me in Jerusalem. Hallelujah. And in all Judea

and unto the ends of the earth. Hallelujah. This

is our reality, that we have access to the fullness

of the Spirit of God and we move and live our

life by the influence of this Spirit. Matthew

Matthew 16:19

16, verse 19, Jesus was speaking particularly

to Peter. He says, I will give you the access.

And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of

heaven. And these keys refer to access. And we

concluded that this access is what? It's the

spirit of God. Hallelujah. And I will give you

the access into the kingdom of heaven. And this

access comes with authority. And the authority

enables the believer to bind and to lose. And

whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven.

And whatever you lose on earth will be lost in

heaven. Hallelujah. And then from the previous

teaching, we saw and examined some practical

examples from the book of Acts of men who leave

the earth and exemplify these realities. We saw

the life of Stephen. Stephen was a man of like

passion as ours. He was a man full of the spirit.

We saw the story of Philip and also Ananias,

who by the power of the Holy Spirit manifested

this reality. They manifested the kingdom of

God by the preaching of the gospel accompanied

by signs and wonders. Hallelujah. And we say

that this is also our own reality. Amen. In our

own day, in our own time, there is a demand of

heaven upon us that we also demonstrate same

power. As we see in scriptures, these are not

just fairy tales. Hallelujah. These are not just

stories for men that have lived and have died.

But it is your reality. It is my reality. It

is our reality that will bring heaven on earth.

That will bring about the realities of the kingdom

of heaven on earth. That by the preaching of

the gospel, healing takes place. By the preaching

of the gospel, chains are broken. By the preaching

of the gospel, We perform miraculous signs and

wonders. And this is not for some specific set

of people. But it is the reality of every believer.

Hallelujah. So long as you believe. The Bible

says in Mark chapter 16. Mark chapter 16. Mark

Mark 16 · chapter mention Mark 16 · chapter mention Mark 16 · chapter mention

chapter 16. Says he who believes and is baptized

will be saved. But he who does not believe will

be condemned. Verse 17. And these signs, what

signs? The signs of all the things we see. So

these signs will follow him that believe. In

my name, they will cast out devils. They will

speak with new tongues. And they will take up

servants. And they drink anything deadly. It

will by no means hurt them. They will lay hands

on the sick. And what will happen to the sick?

the sick will recover. Hallelujah. Now let's

see another example. In Acts chapter 9. Acts

Acts 9 · chapter mention Acts 9:31

chapter 9, verse 31. Example of a man of like

passion as ours. This is not an angel, but it's

for men. Acts chapter 9, verse 31 to 35. When

Acts 9:31–35

the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee and

Samaria, had peace and were edified. And walking

in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the

Holy Spirit, they multiplied. Now it came to

pass, as Peter went through all the parts of

the country, that he also came down to the saints

who dwelt in Lydda, where he found a certain

man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight

years and was paralyzed. And Peter said to him,

Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you. Arise and

make your bed. Then what happened immediately?

The Bible says he arose, right? Arise and make

your bed. Then he arose immediately. So all who

dwell at Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned

to the Lord. This is the effect of what? was

done. Hallelujah. The pointer to this sign is

the redemption of the souls of men. Amen? Further

on. At Joppa, there was a certain disciple named

Thabitha, which is translated Dokas. This woman

was full of good works and charitable deeds which

she did. But it happened in those days that she

became sick and died. When they had washed her,

They laid her in an upper room, and since Leda

was near Joppa, and the disciples heard, hallelujah,

they heard that Peter was there, they sent two

men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming

to them. Then Peter arose and went with them.

And when he had come, they brought him to the

upper room, and all the widows stood by him,

weeping, showing the tonics. and the garments

which Doca has made while she was with them.

But Peter put them all down and knelt down and

prayed, and turning to the body, he said, Tabitha,

arise. He spoke a word. He said, arise. And she

opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she

sat up. Then he gave her his hand and lifted

her up, and when he had called the saints and

widows, he presented her alive. Verse 42. And

it became known throughout all Joppa. And many

what? And many believed. Hallelujah. That is

the essence of the signs and wonders. That men

will believe. And many believed on the Lord.

So it was that he stayed. It was that he stayed

many days in Joppa with Simon Etana. Hallelujah.

So Peter here is another example of God walking

through ordinary men. Hallelujah. God walking

through ordinary men, men like you and I, God

walking through ordinary men to do extraordinary,

supernatural work on the face of the earth. And

I want to bring to our remembrance as well as

we've sung and we've prayed that this is your

heritage. Hallelujah. This is your heritage.

This is your heritage. This is all that you have

received by the Spirit when you believed. The

same Peter. A man of, a frail man. If you look

through the story of Peter, you will see that

Peter was a weak man. Amen? But at the receiving

of the Holy Spirit, there was a new man. Let's

look at instances. Luke 22, verse 54. Where he

Luke 22:54

denied Jesus. Luke 22. Yes. Having arrested him

when Jesus was arrested, they laid him and brought

him into the high priest's house. But Peter followed

at a distance. Now when they had kindled a fire

in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together,

Peter sat among them. And a certain girl, seeing

him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at

him and said, This man was also with him. But

he denied, saying, Woman, I do not know him.

He denied knowing Jesus. And after a little while,

another saw him and said, You also are of them.

But Peter saw, Man, I am not. Then after about

an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed,

saying, Surely this fellow was with him, for

he is a Galilean. But Peter said, man, I do not

know what you are saying. Immediately while he

was still speaking, the rooster crowed. Hallelujah.

Not only after that, Jesus died and Jesus rose

again. And we see another instance where Peter

gave up. In John chapter 21, verse 1 to 5. After

John 21:1–5

the resurrection, Peter said, I go out fishing.

John chapter... Chapter 21 from verse 1 to 5.

I'm just trying to show you a level of inconsistency

in a man. After these things, Jesus showed himself

again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.

And in this way, he showed himself. Simon Peter,

Thomas, Carl the Twin, Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee,

the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples

were together. Simon Peter said to them, I am

going fishing. They said to him, we are going

with you also. They went out and immediately

got into the boat. That night they caught nothing.

But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood

on the shore, yet the disciples did not know

that it was Jesus. Then Jesus said to them, children,

have you any food? They answered him, no. And

then we read on, we read on, we see where Jesus,

you know, correcting Peter and bringing him back

to his senses and reintroducing to him the purpose

to which he has called him out. Hallelujah. Now,

I want you to understand that this is a Peter

that was weak, frail, all right? When we look

through history in scriptures, we discover that

all the men that did extraordinary things on

the earth are ordinary men ordinary lives. Hallelujah.

But when the Spirit of God had come upon Peter,

when we read Acts chapter 2, after the Pentecost,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

we see the power that began to operate in Peter.

Hallelujah. The Bible says in Acts that we read

verse 1, verse 8 talks about power, alright?

Power coming into a man when the Holy Ghost arrives.

Amen? And this is the same Peter that we see

moving from place to place. operating in the

supernatural because the Holy Spirit has induced

such a man. Hallelujah. So also is the reality

of a man, regardless of your experience in life,

regardless of your shortcoming, the moment you

believe in the Word of God, the moment you come

into relationship with God and His Spirit indwells

you, it comes with power. Hallelujah. And that

power is not only for you to live, above sin,

but it's also to manifest the power of the Holy

Spirit in signs and wonders. Hallelujah. So in

Acts chapter 9, we see the essence of the miraculous

Acts 9 · chapter mention

signs. It's not only to meet the needs of the

saints, but most importantly, to lead men to

Christ. Most importantly, to lead men to Christ.

And for us to effectively do that in our generation,

we cannot neglect The supernatural. Hallelujah.

We cannot attempt to neglect the supernatural.

We cannot deny the operations of the supernatural.

I said this the last time. I said you're born

again is a supernatural experience. You didn't

become born again by any human calculation. But

it is the will of the spirit. It is the workings

of the spirit in the man that regenerates him

into who he is. Then we'll begin to see the power

afloat in your life, the transformation of your

character, the transformation of your ways. We

begin to see boldness in you. This is a supernatural

experience. And for you to deny the supernatural

in signs and wonders is equally to deny the salvation

that is a supernatural activity. Hallelujah.

So to attest to the supernatural work in you,

We expect, God expects upon us that we go out

there and manifest the fullness of His Spirit

as we go about preaching the gospel in our daily

lives. Hallelujah. So, several scriptures will

see records. And why do we have these records?

Romans chapter 15, verse 4. Romans chapter 15,

Romans 15:4 Romans 15:4

verse 4. I'll read from the Amplified. It says,

for whatever was written in the earlier times,

was written for what? For our instructions. Instructions

here means for our teaching, for teaching. So

that through endurance and the encouragement

of scripture, we might have hope and do what?

And overflow with confidence in his promises.

Hallelujah. So all the records of the things

we see in scriptures is not just to give us a

theological knowledge in our head. But the essence

is for our instructions. The essence of the practicals

we see in scriptures is that we will believe

in the gospel message, is that we also will be

empowered with faith to do equally the same.

So that through endurance and encouragement of

scripture, we might have hope and overflow with

confidence in his promise. It therefore means

that those historical facts recorded for us in

the Bible are not just for fun. Hallelujah. They

are not just for fun. They are for us to learn

from them. They are for us to see what God is

doing and also partake in what God has been doing.

Hallelujah. It's for us to learn. It's for us

to believe. And it is for us to practice. Because

God has not changed his ways. He has not changed

his plan. God is the same yesterday. He is the

same today. And forever he will be. Hebrews 13

Hebrews 13:8

verse 8 talks about the consistency of who God

is. In Jesus Christ, he is the same. Yesterday,

today, and forever. So since we equally have

the same access. Because these men we read in

scriptures are men that have access to the authority

that is in God. These are men that have access

to all the resources that is in Christ. So since

we equally have the access to the kingdom of

God and all the resources that has been made

available to believers, as seen in the examples

we've read, why don't we also experience these

tremendous manifestations in our daily lives?

Why don't you, the believer, manifest tremendously

the works of the Spirit in our individual lives.

We've looked at the life of Peter or the life

of Stephen and we say that Stephen was not among

the apostles. Stephen was what we call a church

member. And then we see tremendously how he was

full of the Spirit and then he operated in the

fullness of the Spirit. We saw the life of Philip

as well, who was not part of the apostles. He

was what we would call a church member, but we

see tremendously the walkings of the Spirit of

God in him. We see Ananias, who was not even

part of the apostles, but we see how powerfully

he walked in the dimension of the Spirit. And

all the promises of God in Christ are yes and

they are amen. That is 2 Corinthians 1 verse

2 Corinthians 1:20

20. That is they find their fulfillment in Christ.

All the promises are encapsulated in Christ.

For all the promises of God in him are yes and

in him amen to the glory of God through who?

Through us. Meaning that we find the fulfillment

of all of God's promises in Christ. And we have

Christ in us. Hallelujah. We have the totality

of God in us. The same God that was in them is

the same God that lives in you, the believer,

today. So what do we expect? We expect to see

the fulfillment of all that the scripture has

said about the believer. In Mark chapter 16,

Mark 16:15–20

verse 15 to 20, that we read earlier on, it says

that signs are to follow those who believe. As

they go about preaching the gospel, signs and

wonders will follow. All these signs will follow

those who believe in my name. They will cast

out devils. They will speak with new tongues.

Verse 18, they will take up serpents and if they

think any deadly thing, it will by no means hurt

them. They will lay their hands on the sick and

they will recover. Verse 19. So then after the

Lord had spoken to them, he was received up into

heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

Verse 20. And they went out. Hallelujah. They

went out what? They went out to preach. And we

see that they went out to preach everywhere as

instructed. And the Lord walking with them. Confirming

the word. They spoke. Through what? Accompanying

signs. Hallelujah. Do we experience this supernatural

in our daily lives? Probably we are living. Contrary

to the instruction of going out. Therefore it

is difficult. To live and experience this in

our daily lives. Because this is an empowerment.

In Acts chapter 1 verse 86. You shall do witnesses.

Hallelujah. So if you are not a man and a woman

that is going out at all times, looking for opportunities

to preach the gospel, it means that you're going

to limit the flow of this power that is resident

in you. So we ask ourselves, why do we often

not see much of this manifestation in our lives?

And on Wednesday, we say that because there is

what we call the flesh. Hallelujah. Often are

carnally minded and do not walk in our nature.

Because we are often carnally minded and not

walking in our nature. That is walking in the

spirit. Galatians chapter 5 verse 16 to 18. Galatians

Galatians 5:16–18 Galatians 5:16–18

chapter 5 verse 16 to 18. I say then walk in

the spirit. And you shall not fulfill the lust

of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the

Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And

these are contrary to one another, so that you

do not do the things that you wish. Verse 18.

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not

under the law. Hallelujah. So verse 16 and 17,

we will see, two contradicting influences over

a man's life. Now, we're not saying that the

spirit and the flesh coexist. Amen? The spirit

and the flesh cannot coexist in a man. But there

is two, there are rather two contradicting influences

in a man. Hallelujah. We established last time

that all of us are a product of influences. No

man is neutral on earth. All of us are a product

of influence. And we choose what influences us.

So what did we see was the flesh. We said in

the Greek, the word is translated from a Greek

word, I don't know whether I pronounced it correctly.

And in our study, we saw that this word could

mean two things. First of all, It means, it can

mean the physical body, the physical flesh, the

physical body, flesh, flesh and blood, flesh.

And it could also mean a nature, a spiritual

nature. And the context of his usage in this

passage, the flesh does not mean physical body.

Hallelujah. So what the Galatians... 5 verse

16 is talking about is not a struggle between

the physical body and the spirit. Your physical

body is not in struggle with the spirit of God.

Because your physical body is actually the temple

of the spirit of God. It is God's desire to dwell

in your physical body. So your physical body

is not a crime. Hallelujah. It's not anti -God.

So sometimes we want to mutilate our bodies because

we think that the body is not behaving the way

it ought to behave. No. There is an influence

that influences the body. Hallelujah. So when

we don't see the things we ought to see, it means

that there is an influence. And that influence

is what we call the flesh. A spiritual nature.

It is that nature without the influence of God.

It is also called what? The world or worldliness.

It is also called in our translation, the carnal

nature, the sinful nature, the old nature, the

sinful mind. It is also called the evil nature

and many other words used in describing this

nature. We say that flesh refers to a thinking

pattern. It influences the thinking pattern of

a man. A thinking pattern that is different from

what is of God. It is actually independent of

God. And this nature is against God. This flesh,

or what we call the carnal nature, is against

God, is in opposition to God and all the things

of God. This nature will not prompt you to pray.

Hallelujah. This nature will not influence you

to do the works of evangelism, to go to preach

the gospel. Even if we attempt to preach the

gospel, this nature will corrupt it. The focus

of flesh itself, it doesn't bring glory to God.

And sometimes the flesh can parrot itself in

seemingly, you know, godly way. Hallelujah. It

can be in form of pride. It can be in silent

activities of men that can easily be contradicted.

to the workings of the spirit. Flesh can actually

preach, but the ends is not for the glory of

God, but is for self -aggrandizement. Hallelujah.

So flesh is an influence that operate in men.

And we saw the manifestation of this flesh. We

saw that it is obvious in verse 19 of that Galatians.

He says the manifestation of the flesh are obvious.

Now the works of the flesh are what? Are evident.

Which are what? Sexual immorality, adultery,

fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry,

sorcery, hatred, contentious, jealousies, outbursts

of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,

envy, murders, drunkenness, rivalries, and the

like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as

I told you also, that those who practice such

things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Hallelujah.

So the believer has no sinful nature in him.

That's one thing that we need to establish. That

in the believer, alright, in the believer, the

carnal nature does not exist. In the believer,

the sinful nature does not exist. The flesh cannot

be found in the believer. Because at salvation,

the believer has crucified the flesh. It is not

your nature. The believer does not carry in him

the nature of the flesh. Because the flesh and

the spirit cannot coexist in a body. Amen. 2

2 Corinthians 5:17

Corinthians 5 verse 17 in the Amplified. 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 5:17

5 verse 17. He says, therefore, if any man is

in Christ, that is, he is grafted, he has come

into union with Christ. He is joined to him by

faith and in him as Savior. He is what? He is

a new creature. He is reborn, renewed by the

Holy Spirit. The all things, now these all things,

It's referring to that nature. It's referring

to that carnal nature. It's referring to that

sinful nature. Old things. Not A -L -L, but O

-L -D. Old things, right? Old things. The previous

moral and spiritual condition. Any man that is

not born again is in that moral and spiritual

condition. But a man that is born again, the

old things have what? Have passed away. The old

things or the old man or the old nature has died.

He has passed away. Behold, new things have what?

Have come. Why? Because the spiritual awakening

brings in what? A new life in the man. Hallelujah.

So the believer has a new man in him. All things

and their manifestations, as we see listed in

Galatians 5, that nature, the nature that produces

these activities that is obvious to the eyes

to see, have what? Have passed away. So what

does it mean to a believer? If you see this manifestation

happening in your life, it is illegitimate. It

means that you are acting beyond yourself. It

means that you are not living commensurately

to your nature as the new creature. Galatians

Galatians 5:24

5 verse 24 further emphasizes the reality of

a man in Christ. It says, and those who belong

to Christ Jesus have what? They have crucified

what? Is it that they were crucified or they

have crucified? It's a past tense. It is a reality

of the believer now that a man in Christ has

crucified that sinful nature, that nature we

refer to as flesh, that source of influence that

is anti -God has been crucified together with

their passions and their appetites. So the desires

of that nature has been crucified to the cross

of Christ. And there's a new nature in the believer.

So it becomes unnatural for man that is in Christ

to behave beyond his nature that is a new creature.

Romans chapter 6, verse 1. Father emphasizes

Romans 6:1

the reality, your reality and my reality in Christ.

What shall we say to all this? Should we continue

in sin and practice sin as a habit so that God's

gift of grace may increase and overflow? Certainly

not. How can we, the very ones who die to sin,

who died to that nature, that sin nature, how

can we, the very ones who died to sin, continue

to live in it any longer? Oh, are you ignorant

of the fact that all of us who have been baptized

into Christ Jesus, now this baptized into Christ

Jesus is not referring to water baptism. It refers

to all of us who have believed in Jesus Christ.

who have participated in his death. Verse 4.

We have therefore been what? Been buried with

him through baptism into his death, so that just

as Christ was raised from the dead through the

glory and the power of the Father, we too might

walk how? What should be our habit? That we might

habitually walk in a newness of life, abounding

in what? The old man and his practices and his

ways. For if we have become one with him and

this union is a permanent union. Hallelujah.

If we have become one with him, permanently united

in the likeness of his death, we also certainly

be. One with him and share fully in his likeness.

We share fully in the likeness of his resurrection.

Verse 6. We know by knowledge that our old self.

Which old self are we talking about? The carnal

nature. The old nature. The sinful nature. The

carnal mind. The sinful evil nature. Our human

nature. That nature. Without the spirit of God.

Was what? Was nailed to the cross with him. In

order that our body of sin might be done away.

So that we will no longer be slaves to sin. So

our influence, our source of influence is not

to that old nature any longer. This information

is important for the believer. If you will walk

in the fullness of the dimension of the spirit

of God. We know that our old nature has what?

Has been nailed to the cross with him. In order

that our body. of sin might be done away with

so that we will no longer be slaves to sin, verse

7. For the person who has died with Christ has

been freed from the power of sin. We have been

freed from this nature, from this rebellious

nature. Now, if we have died with Christ, we

believe that we will also live together with

him. If we've died with him, It means that we

are alive with him because Jesus is alive. Hallelujah.

Because we know the self -evident truth that

Christ, having been raised from the dead, will

never die again. Death no longer has power over

him. For the death that he died, he died to walk

to sin. Ending is power. That is why when you

receive the Spirit, you receive power. Because

Jesus has died to sin, ending his power and paying

the sinner's debt once and for all. Hallelujah.

And the life that he lives, he lives, that is

Jesus, to glorify God in unbroken fellowship

with him. Verse 11. Even so, because Jesus lives

in you, even so, consider yourself to be dead

to sin. and your relationship to the all nature

broken. Consider yourself disassociated and disconnected

to that all nature that is a limitation to the

flow of the power of God in your life. But alive

to God in unbroken fellowship with him in Christ

Jesus, because we've come into union with him.

Therefore do not let sin, this comes with the

will of a man, by the power of the Spirit of

God, in relationship with the Spirit of God.

Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal

body. Now, this body now is a physical body.

We don't give room for our physical body to conduct

itself, to obey the passions of its lust. Do

not go on offering the members of your body to

sin as instruments of wickedness. But offer yourselves

to God in a decisive act, as those alive who

have been raised from the dead to a new life.

And your members, all of your abilities, sanctified

and set apart as instruments of righteousness,

yielded to God. Verse 14. For sin, hallelujah,

this is your reality. Amen? This is the truth

that concerns you. It says, for sin will no longer

be a master over you, since you are not under

law as slaves, but under what? The unmerited

grace as recipients of God's mercy, favor and

mercy. Hallelujah. We are not under the flesh.

We are not under the control of the nature of

sin. But we are under the control of the Spirit

of God. Therefore, it is illegal for sin to have

power and control over us. Romans 8, verse 1.

Romans 8:1

Therefore, there is now no condemnation. No guilty

verdict to punishment, no punishment for those

who are in Christ Jesus, who believe in him as

a personal Lord and Savior. Well, Jesus is a

Savior of the world. I don't know how personal

the salvation is anyway. For the law of sin of

life, which is in Christ Jesus, the law of a

new being has set you free from the law of sin

and death. That is, you are no longer under the

influence of sin, the nature of sin. Hallelujah.

For what the law could not do, that is, overcome

sin and remove its penalty, its power, being

weakened by the flesh. What is the flesh? Man's

nature without Holy Spirit. God did. He sent

his son in the likeness of sinful man. As an

offering for sin. And he condemned sin in the

flesh. He subdued and overcome it in the person

of his own son. So that the righteousness. So

that the righteous and just requirement of the

law might be fulfilled in us. Who do not live

our lives in the ways of the flesh. Guided by

holiness. And our sinful nature. I prefer that

it should be the sinful nature. Because the sinful

nature is no longer the reality of the believer.

Hallelujah. So we are no longer guided by worldliness

and the sinful nature, but live our lives in

the ways of the Spirit, guided by His power.

For those who are living according to the flesh,

what do they do? They set their thinking pattern,

their mind on the things of the flesh, which

gratify the physical body. But those who are

living according to the Spirit, what do they

do? They set their mind on the things of the

Spirit, His will and His purpose. Now the mind

of the flesh is death, now and forever, because

it pursues sin. But the mind of the Spirit, which

is in you, which is in me, is a life and peace

of God, the spiritual well -being that comes

from working with God, both now and forever.

The man of the flesh is actively hostile to God.

It is not in agreement to the things of God.

It is not in agreement to everything that the

Spirit of God will do. It does not submit itself

to the instructions of God. It does not submit

itself to the guiding principles of God's love,

of God's word, since it doesn't have the ability

to do that. Verse 8. And those who are in the

flesh, those who are not born again, those who

are in the flesh, living a life that caters to

sinful appetites and impulses, they cannot please

God. Hallelujah. They don't have the ability

to bring glory to God. They don't have the ability

to bring honor to God. Verse 9. However, you

and I are what? Are not living in the flesh.

Hallelujah. The believer is what? He's not in

the flesh. He's not controlled by the sinful

nature. But by what? By the Spirit. If in fact

the Spirit of God lives in you, though the Spirit

of God lives in you, He lives in the believer,

directing and guiding him. But if anyone does

not have the Spirit of Christ in him, he does

not belong to Christ. He's not a child of God.

Verse 11, verse 10. In Christ, if Christ lives

in you, though your natural body is dead because

of sin, your spirit is alive because of righteousness,

which he provides. Verse 11, the last verse here.

And if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from

the dead lives in you, he who raised Jesus Christ

from the dead will also give life to your mortal

bodies through his spirit. Who what? Who lives

outside you? Where does he live? He lives where?

In you, how? Permanently. Hallelujah. So, your

nature is a new creature. Your nature is the

nature of the Spirit of God. You have the ability

to live in accordance to the Spirit of God. You

have the capacity in you to obey God. You have

the ability in you to live above the activities

of a nature that is not yours. Because there

is An ability in you, the Spirit of God, to live

that out. Nevertheless, nevertheless, this is

our nature. Nevertheless, the believer can be

influenced externally to act beyond himself.

The believer can be influenced externally to

live a life that is not his nature. When your

focus and your meditation is not in the spirit,

you will act in nature that is not you. And this

is the foundation. This is the cause of the problem

of the believer of today. It is possible for

you, a believer, to see the manifestation of

the self -life in your conduct. This way, You

cannot effectively manifest the kingdom of God

while under the influence of the flesh. I said

it last time. I said it is impossible. It is

impossible to manifest under the influence of

the flesh. And we saw the example of the Corinthian

church that are full of the spirit. They lack

no good thing. They lack no manifestation. But

we had horrendous activities happening in the

church. That a man sleeps with his father's wife.

They take each other to court arbitrarily. They

are not living in love. This church is alive.

Paul called them carnal. He called them carnal

men. Are they not living as carnal men? Even

though they are not carnal, but he used the word

carnal. This flesh that is their natural men.

They're living as natural men. Even though they

are supernatural men. Because they allow an influence

that is not them, their nature, to guide and

conduct their lives. So the believer can be influenced

by the world. The believer can be influenced

by the world and the men of the world. When we

talk about the world, we talk about a system

of the world. And this system of the world is

made up of men. Nobody is above influence. All

of us are a product of influence. And the believer

can be influenced by the world and the men of

the world. Through his association with them.

Through your association with the world, you

can be influenced by the world. By what they

say, they can influence you by what they say.

By what they do, they can influence you by what

they do. How do we have access and associate

with ourselves in the world? Through the media.

And in our direct relationships. 1 John 2 verse

1 John 2:15

15 talks about Loving the world. 1 John 2, verse

1 John 2:15

15. Do not love the world of sin that opposes

God and his precepts, nor the things that are

in the world. If anyone loves the world, the

love of the Father, It's not in him. For all

that is in the world, the lust and essential

cravings of the flesh and the lust and the longings

of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, pretentious

confidence in one's resources or in his stability

of earthly things. The Bible says that these

do not come from the Father. But they are from

where? They are from the world. Verse 17. The

world is passing away and with its lust, the

shameful pursuit and ungodly longings, but the

one who does the will of God and carries out

his purpose, he lives forever. Hallelujah. So

we must examine our relationship with the world.

We must examine Our contact with the world. Because

we are in the world. Amen. But we are not of

the world. And our contact with the world can

determine the level of influence we have. And

the world system has a way of meeting us at every

point in time. Through the things we see. Through

the things we hear. Through the things we take

in. Through the desires that we can allow it

rise up from our heart. Hallelujah. You see,

Jesus was tempted because he was hungry, right?

If Jesus was not hungry, do you think the temptation

of hunger will be effective? Do you think the

devil will have a place to tempt him? If you

didn't eat rice, no matter how they press your

stomach, We will not see our father rise. Amen.

So, it means that the world can influence us

and create desires even in our hearts. And these

desires become the foundation by which we become

receptive to the leading of the world. Hallelujah.

Nobody is above influence. 1 Corinthians 15,

1 Corinthians 15:33

verse 33. 1 Corinthians 15, 33, 34. He says what?

Do not be deceived. Bad relationships. What does

it do? It corrupts. It corrupts, right? Verse

34. Be sober -minded, be sensitive, wake up from

your spiritual stupor as you ought to and stop

sinning. For some of you have no knowledge of

God. You are disgracefully ignorant of Him and

ignore His truth. I say it to your shame. Hallelujah.

So we say that a believer It's walking in the

flesh when we see him conducting himself in a

nature that is not the nature of God. It means

his imaginations. It means his thoughts. It means

his words. And his philosophy are independent

of the spirit of God that lives within him. We

see in church, suddenly we begin to see that

even your dressing changes. we begin to see that

even the words you speak are no longer full of

grace. We begin to see that even in your dealings

with people around you has changed. It means

that you have allowed an influence that is not

your nature. Hallelujah. So to see the kingdom

of God in full manifestation in our lives and

ministry, we must allow the spirit of God to

influence our lives and not the flesh. Galatians

Galatians 5:16

5 verse 16 says, but I say, I'm ready to amplify

it. It says, I say, walk and live habitually.

Walk and live habitually in the Holy Spirit,

responsive to and controlled and guided by the

Spirit. I love this emphasis. Then what will

happen to you? You will certainly not gratify

the cravings and the desires. of the flesh, of

that human nature without God. And this human

nature without God lives in men of this world

that are without God. And if you associate with

these men that live in the world without God,

they have the tendency of influencing your conduct

in the natural. Therefore, we see you not doing

the things that God wants you to do. Suddenly

you cease to come to church because you have

accompanied yourself with people that don't honor

and dignify the things of God. Suddenly we see

you, you no longer speak in tongues because you've

been around people that they turn the things

of the spirit into joke and comedy. Suddenly

you begin to downgrade and devalue the people

of God. Then we see you cease to be blessed by

men of God. Suddenly we begin to see you running

away from the men that used to be your company.

Suddenly you cease to have desire for prayers.

You no longer have passion for the world. We

no longer have desire to see that men and lives

are won for Christ. This in itself is a litmus

test to the influence that you've exposed yourself

to. And sometimes this influence is not far from

you. This influence is in your hand and it's

in your pocket. When you enter your blanket,

it hawks you. Some of us, we sleep with our phones

on our chest. Do you know that you can easily,

you can easily be scrolling unnecessarily on

statuses and on the media, social media, for

hours. You don't know that you've done three

hours. And the moment you just kneel down to

pray, you go into the spirit. Listen, let me

tell you, right? It's not natural. It's not natural.

It means that you need a brother to lay hand

on you. To hold you. To pray with you. to come

out of that, that you will walk in your nature.

That is why you need brethren around you to encourage

you, to strengthen you, to encourage you. Hallelujah.

We walk by the Spirit, by being obedient to the

written word. 2 Timothy 3, verse 16. 2 Timothy

2 Timothy 3:16 2 Timothy 3:16

3, verse 16. You see, the written word is inspired

by the Spirit of God. The spirit of God will

always lead us to the written word. All scripture

is God breath. That is, it's given by divine

inspiration. It's profitable for teaching, for

instruction, for conviction, for correction of

error and restoration to obedience, for training

in righteousness, learning to live in conformity

to God's will, both publicly and privately, behaving

yourself how? Honorably with personal integrity.

and moral courage. We get led by the Spirit of

God when we exalt the written word, when we read

the written word, when we study the written word,

when we are taught the written word. We will

become familiar with the mind of God and easily

know when He gives us instructions. We become

familiar with the leading of the Spirit of God

when we give ourselves to the Word of God. We

cannot walk in the Spirit unconsciously. See,

walking and being influenced by the Spirit does

not happen. It's not magic. It's not witchcraft.

We walk in the Spirit consciously by deliberately

giving ourselves to the written word. The Spirit

of God cannot walk in a man effectively that

has not known the pattern of the mind of the

Spirit of God, which is the written word. And

sometimes we think that the habits we see in

our lives, we can break off habits, bad habits,

ungodly habits, by strong will and determination.

It's not by strong will and determination. It

is by the Spirit of God, by the Word of God and

by prayer. Strong will and determination cannot

deal with the activities of the flesh. It is

only the spirit of God that does that work. The

word and prayer. So the believer must prioritize

his fellowship with God in the word and prayer.

This is the foundation for manifesting or the

foundation for the believer to manifest the spirit

of God in his daily living. Hallelujah. This

becomes The foundation to seeing in every single

moment, in every single day. You are walking

in the fullness of the Spirit of God. I want

you to just close your eyes and speak to God

at this moment. We appreciate you being here

today. We hope you carry this word with you throughout

your week. Don't forget to check the show notes

for additional insights. Stay connected with

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with someone you care about. Until next time,

stay blessed.