Sermon

The Believer's Authority in Christ pt 5

Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons

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  1. Welcome to NECF. We're thrilled you're here.

  2. Make sure to stay with us till the end, where

  3. we'll share some great resources to deepen your

  4. faith. Now, let's dive into this week's sermon.

  5. We'll just be continuing from where we have been

  6. teaching since Wednesday, then Sunday. than Wednesday

  7. again. So just continue from there and build

  8. up. So still relating to the authority of a believer

  9. and immediately manifesting the supernatural,

  10. right? Manifesting the supernatural. The main

  11. thing is, like I said, to charge us more, right?

  12. To charge us more to have... expectations towards

  13. these things, the things of the supernatural,

  14. to know how it functions, to believe it, to see

  15. it across the scripture that beyond reasonable

  16. doubt, we will be able to participate, give ourselves

  17. to the things of the spirit much more. So that

  18. is why we are teaching this, so that we can be

  19. able to engage in... expressing healing, right?

  20. Many administering healing to people through

  21. our preaching. Then we carry out signs and wonders,

  22. miracles, and all the operations of things of

  23. spirit through us functioning effectively, right?

  24. So that we can have expectations through it.

  25. We can know that these things are real, like

  26. the word I use all the time, that these are actually

  27. real. And that's the call of God is able to walk

  28. all of these through us. Amen. So what we've

  29. done so far, right, what we've done so far is

  30. actually to understand the believer's authority,

  31. right, to understand the believer's authority,

  32. especially with regards to things in the natural,

  33. how the believer can influence the natural, which

  34. is supernatural, bringing forth the supernatural

  35. into the natural, letting the supernatural overpower

  36. or oversee the natural. So we started and we

  37. went through Moses, right? What Moses did and

  38. his work with the children of Israel in the wilderness.

  39. We moved through that and we came to the prophets

  40. and we touched upon Elijah a little bit, right?

  41. Showing with evidence, right? Showing with evidence

  42. and proof, right? Showing with evidence and proof,

  43. right? realities of these things, right, of the

  44. manifestation of the supernatural, right? So

  45. we see divine provision, we see divine preservation,

  46. and we see across many things where they intervened

  47. in both situations. So we see that these men

  48. of God, the prophets, right, Moses and Elijah,

  49. they expressed the supernatural in their walk

  50. with the people they were walking with. So the

  51. last time we... talk, right, on Sunday, we move

  52. towards Matthew, and we try to stay a little

  53. bit there, right, stay a little bit there to

  54. see how Jesus, right, functioned or exercised

  55. the supernatural in healing people, people who

  56. were lame, people who were possessed by demons,

  57. people who were not, right, in their right mind,

  58. Jesus restoring them, people who were sick, right,

  59. see a lot of miraculous things taking place.

  60. So now what we're able to get there is that we

  61. can receive this miraculous or this supernatural

  62. by seeking it. That is not wrong to seek it.

  63. So it's not wrong. You can seek to be prayed

  64. for and to be healed. You can seek to lay hands

  65. on. When we minister to each other, when we hold

  66. each other's hand, we are actually seeking to

  67. be ministered upon. We are seeking the supernatural,

  68. true. the other believers around us. So we find

  69. that and we see that in Matthew 8, verse 1 to

    Matthew 8:1–4

  70. 4, we see how that context, right, was actually

  71. someone requesting to be healed. And we see many

  72. people that come to Jesus, right, they will say,

  73. I know you can heal me if thou be willing, right,

  74. heal me. And Jesus will say, yes, I'm willing.

  75. And we see that he heals them. So we see seeking,

  76. right, asking as something very accepted according

  77. to the scriptures. We also see, right, that faith,

  78. even without asking. can actually bet for the

  79. supernatural, right? Faith without asking can

  80. actually bet for the supernatural. And we see

  81. the case of the centurion, right? Matthew 8 scriptures.

  82. We see the case of the centurion who just believed

  83. that Jesus would say a word, right? Just say

  84. a word and healing would take place. And Jesus

  85. was really amazed and wondering, you know, what

  86. manner of faith in his healing power, right?

  87. As such a man expressed at this time. Seeking.

  88. We see faith, which is believing, right? We also

  89. see the woman who touched the hem of his garment.

  90. If I would just touch the hem of his garment.

  91. So we also saw our faith too, right? We saw our

  92. faith in the context of that. And we see touching,

  93. touching in line with that too. So faith in the

  94. healing ministry of Christ. And she said, if

  95. I only touch, right? She could have been like

  96. the centurion and say, okay, Jesus would just.

  97. say a word, right? Or just by belief. But she

  98. said nothing about thought. So we see seeking,

  99. we see believing, right? Having faith in what?

  100. Healing ministry of Christ. And we also see touching,

  101. right? So touching. So sometimes we see Jesus

  102. lay hands on them. He put his hands on their

  103. eyes and their eyes are open and all of that.

  104. So we see touching, right? Touching takes place.

  105. Laying of hands can also take place, which is

  106. connected to touch. Now, also we can see that

  107. people can also bring you, right? People can

  108. have faith for someone who is sick, right? They

  109. can have faith for someone who is sick and they

  110. can bring the person. They can bring the person.

  111. Matthew 8, 16. Matthew 8, verse 16. Matthew 8,

    Matthew 8:16 Matthew 8:16

  112. verse 16. This one is people bringing others,

  113. right? Bringing others, having faith for other

  114. people. And when Jesus entered Peter's house,

  115. from verse 14, he saw his mother -in -law lying

  116. sick with fever. He touched her and her fever

  117. left. So touching again, Jesus lay hands on Peter's

  118. mother -in -law and she was healed. Now verse

  119. 16 says, that evening they brought to him many

  120. who were oppressed by demons and he cast out

  121. the spirits of the world. and they healed all

  122. who were sick. Healed all who were sick. So we

  123. see that people had faith, right, for other people,

  124. and they had faith that someone can be healed

  125. by Christ, right? There are people who were sick,

  126. and, you know, they had this faith, and it brought

  127. them to meet Christ. So they were exercising

  128. faith on behalf of their family members, on behalf

  129. of people that were sick, and it brought them,

  130. and by their faith, Jesus healed them. I see

  131. that we can bring someone, we can exercise faith

  132. for healing, right? So, again, there's another

  133. scripture that we're going to check. Luke 5,

  134. Luke 5, 17. Luke 5, verse 17. Just to add to

    Luke 5:17

  135. this one of people bringing others to Christ,

  136. right? Luke 5. So, one of those, on one of...

  137. Those days, as I was teaching, Pharisees and

  138. teachers of the Lord were sitting there who had

  139. come from every village of Galilee and Judea

  140. and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord

  141. was with him to heal. And behold, some men were

  142. bringing on a bed, a man who was paralyzed. And

  143. they were seeking to bring him in and lay him

  144. before Jesus. But finding no way to bring him

  145. in because of the crowd, they went up on the

  146. roof and let him down with his bed, threw the

  147. tiles into the mist before Jesus. And when he

  148. saw their fates, right, he saw their fates, he

  149. said, man, your sins are forgiven. And the scribes

  150. and Pharisees began to question, saying, Who

  151. is this who speak blasphemies? Who can forgive

  152. sins but God? When Jesus perceived their thoughts,

  153. right, he answered them. Why do you question

  154. in your hearts? Which is easier to say, your

  155. sins are forgiven, or to say, rise and walk?

  156. But that you may know that the Son of Man has

  157. authority on earth to forgive sins. He said to

  158. the man who was paralyzed, I say to you, rise.

  159. pick up your bed and go home. So in this context,

  160. we see that people had faith in Christ for their

  161. friend, right? People had faith in Christ, right,

  162. for their friend. And that faith that they had

  163. in Christ, right, was shown in their action as

  164. well. So when they saw that the place was crowded,

  165. right, they couldn't find a means. They could

  166. have said, oh, we just need to go back, right?

  167. What is the effort for? Or because they need.

  168. that Christ could heal. They went through the

  169. roof and they brought the man down. And Jesus

  170. saw their faith. So it was not just the faith

  171. of the man who is to be healed. He saw the faith

  172. of this group of people who brought the man down.

  173. So people can actually have faith for others

  174. to heal. So when we come to church and we talk

  175. about people who want to be healed, we pray for

  176. your... your parents, like we pray for our mothers,

  177. our fathers, our siblings that are sick, we are

  178. exercising faith in Christ for them. We are exercising

  179. faith in Christ for them. Therefore, through

  180. that, the supernatural can also take place, right?

  181. Of course, we've been talking about healing so

  182. much in this context of supernatural, but we'll

  183. stay there for now. So we can see that we can

  184. exercise faith, right? And so on can come into

  185. healing. Bye. our faith so this shows that the

  186. faith of men so therefore it corroborates matthew

  187. 8 that says that many were brought to him right

  188. many were brought to him and as they were possessed

  189. by demons he cast them out with the word and

  190. healed them so people had faith and their faith

  191. uh yeah people now um We're saying two scriptures

  192. in the line of receiving for people, right? Receiving,

  193. healing for people. Of course, you know that

  194. salvation cannot be received for someone, right?

  195. Salvation cannot be received for someone. What

  196. can be received, right? Is this kind of ministrations

  197. as such as healing, right? Because you believe,

  198. right? And you are interceding, you are praying

  199. for the person, but the person can receive. And

  200. don't forget, we also establish across most of

  201. these scriptures and time of Christ, we saw that

  202. most of these people did not believe in the message

  203. of salvation itself, but they believed that Christ

  204. can heal them. And they were just receiving,

  205. right? They were just receiving the healing.

  206. They were receiving the healing. So this is what

  207. we see in this context, that faith can bring

  208. about healing for someone, but of course we can't

  209. have faith for them in terms of salvation in

  210. that context. Because some of them are unbelievers,

  211. we still see that they receive. Healing supernatural

  212. express through the faith of others. Now, we

  213. can also go to Matthew 8, 23 to 27 and find something

  214. there as well. We've seen seeking, we've seen

  215. believing, we've seen administered touching.

  216. we've seen believing for others by bringing them,

  217. right? When you bring people, you are showing

  218. expression of being believed. If you also come

  219. out, right, someone needs, your mom needs to

  220. be healed, your dad needs to be healed, a brother,

  221. a sibling has been on impact. When you come out

  222. for that person also, you are, in essence, bringing

  223. yourself, right, representing the person and

  224. then we can agree together in prayer to the brother.

  225. Now, Matthew 8, 23 and 27. And when it got...

  226. into the boat. His disciples followed him, and

  227. behold, there arose a great storm on the sea,

  228. so that the boat was being swarmed by the waves.

  229. But he was asleep, and they went and woke him,

  230. saying, Save us, Lord, we are perishing. And

  231. he said to them, Why are you afraid, O you of

  232. little faith? Then he rose and rebuked the wind,

  233. and the sea. And there was a great calm. And

  234. when the men, and the men marveled, saying, what

  235. sort of man is this that even winds and sea obey

  236. him? Even wind and sea obey him. So what do we

  237. see here? We see rebuking, actually. That's what

  238. we see here. And I'm going to show us some other

  239. scriptures that also talk about rebuking. So

  240. we can rebuke. We can rebuke, actually, circumstances

  241. in the natural. We can rebuke circumstances that

  242. are natural to bring them into order, to bring

  243. order into place, to stop a chaos, to stop a

  244. problem, to intervene in an unpalatable situation

  245. where people are engaged in. We can rebuke accidents.

  246. There's nothing like we cannot pray against those

  247. things. We can rebuke them, rebuke those things

  248. that there will not be accidents, there will

  249. not be theft. We can rebuke those things. So,

  250. rebuking is another way that we put... our authority

  251. into practice or we put our authority into action

  252. when it comes to the supernatural so we can rebuke

  253. secretion now if you just take a walk back to

  254. uh verse 16 verse 16 that evening they brought

  255. to him many who were oppressed by demons and

  256. he cast out the spirits right with a word and

  257. he healed all those who were sick. So this is

  258. also similar, right? Rebuke, cast out, right?

  259. They are direct expression of the believer's

  260. authority, right? They are direct, direct expression

  261. of the believer's authority, right? These are

  262. direct expression of the believer's authority.

  263. Therefore means that the believer, right? Should

  264. primarily directly administer. Healing, directly

  265. administer, casting out demons, directly rebuking

  266. unpalatable situations. So this is the direct

  267. expression of the authority of the believer.

  268. So what I'm saying is that while people can seek,

  269. while you can seek, while you can have faith

  270. for something to take place, right, why you can

  271. be administered upon, you can touch, you can

  272. be touched, your hands can be laid, and so you

  273. can lay hands as well. But there are circumstances

  274. where the believer must rebuke, right, must rebuke

  275. those situations. We see here that he was casting

  276. out demons, he was rebuking. He was casting out

  277. demons, and he was rebuking, he rebuked a situation,

  278. right, he rebuked a situation. So this is, this

  279. pattern is actually the direct expression, of

  280. the believer, which we always talk about, right?

  281. You can cast out demons. We don't negotiate with

  282. demons. We don't have conversations with demons.

  283. We don't have conversations with circumstances,

  284. right? We don't have conversations with circumstances.

  285. Is it important? We don't have such kind of conversations,

  286. right? So what we do to unpalatable situations

  287. is that we rebuke them. What we do to demons,

  288. right, is that we cast them out. This is direct

  289. expression. And this is where the believer should

  290. regularly be. This is where the believer should

  291. regularly be, right? So it's intentional that

  292. we took us through all those other ones and up

  293. until coming to this one now. This is where the,

  294. what would I say? Would I say the magnitude of

  295. the believer's authority. is put into action.

  296. The magnitude of liberalism is put into action.

  297. When we rebuke circumstances, when we cast out

  298. demons, this is the magnitude of the believer's

  299. authority. And this is where the believer should

  300. regularly be. Regularly be as a believer. Now,

  301. let's see. Let's see from Acts of Apostles. A

  302. little bit. Acts of Apostles. Acts of Apostles,

  303. chapter 3 as well. Acts of Apostles, chapter

  304. 3. I think we read that on Sunday. I'll show

  305. you another form in which the magnitude of the

  306. believer's authority is expressed, right? Another

  307. form in which the magnitude of the believer's

  308. authority is expressed. Now, Acts chapter 3,

    Acts 3 chapter mention

  309. it says, Now, Peter and John were going up to

  310. the temple at the hour of prayer, the night hour,

  311. and a lame man from birth was carried, whom they

  312. laid daily at the gate of the temple that is

  313. called the beautiful gate. to ask hands of those

  314. entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about

  315. to go into the temple, he asked to receive them.

  316. And Peter directed his gate as him and as did

  317. John and said, look at us. And he fixed his attention

  318. on them, expecting to receive something from

  319. them. But Peter said, I have no silver and gold,

  320. but what I do have, I give to you in the name

  321. of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.

  322. Rise up and walk. So this is a situation taking

  323. place in the life of a man, right? Asking from

  324. him, right? This man was lame. He was a lame

  325. beggar. And what did the apostles did? They didn't

  326. seek, right? They didn't seek. They didn't, you

  327. know, lay hands. They didn't do anything. They

  328. instructed the man out of the situation, right?

  329. So they instructed the man out of the situation.

  330. So what we can also do. As believers, expressing

  331. our authority is that we can instruct people

  332. to come out of unpalatable circumstances. We

  333. can express our authority by commanding, actually,

  334. that is it, commanding people to come out of

  335. unpalatable circumstances, to give expression.

  336. to what we want to see. That's another word to

  337. say it. To give expression to what we want to

  338. see. So you can instruct people to come out of

  339. unparalleled situation. We can instruct or command

  340. people to give expression to what we want to

  341. see, right? So when you see the blind eyes, you

  342. can say, I command that eyes to be opened. Let

  343. your eyes be opened. So you are bringing the

  344. person out of that circumstance, right? You are

  345. bringing the person out of that circumstance.

  346. Here they said, arise and walk. right that would

  347. have sounded uh ridiculous if anyone who had

  348. known that man for a long time that has been

  349. sitting there right what what is this saying

  350. can't you see that this guy has been here for

  351. a long time in fact he's not even willing to

  352. be healed he's actually looking for alms from

  353. you right so people say what is he saying but

  354. what did uh the apostles say and what So we can

  355. command people out of circumstances. We can command

  356. people out of chaos. We can command people who

  357. are possessed out of those circumstances. So

  358. we see rebuke as excess direct exercise of the

  359. believer's authority, right? We see, what do

  360. you call it? We see casting out demons as well

  361. as direct, I mean, very impactful authority expressed

  362. there. We also see here in this context, calling,

  363. the man out of his circumstance. Right? Calling

  364. the man out of his circumstance. So we see this

  365. as the place where the believer should regularly

  366. be. Right? The place where the believer should

  367. dwell. We're not saying that the believer cannot

  368. ask to be prayed for. Right? You can't be asked

  369. to be prayed for. We can't say, we are not saying

  370. that people cannot express faith for you. I've

  371. expressed faithful faith on circumstances regarding

  372. people's life and we see it come to pass. Right?

  373. When we come together as a church and pray together,

  374. we exercise faith on certain circumstances. That

  375. is us. Right? But that is not the only way, and

  376. that is not the only way we can receive. The

  377. believer itself carries an authority, right?

  378. The believer himself carries an authority that

  379. can bring to bear the circumstances that we want

  380. to see. So whatever we desire to see in a situation

  381. where there's chaos, we can call it forth. We

  382. can call it forth and command it to be as we

  383. have seen. So rebuking, casting out demons, and

  384. all of that are regularly where we should be.

  385. Now, so we're done with these areas about receiving.

  386. So the next thing we'll just discuss, which I'm

  387. going to explain through the scripture, is actually

  388. with regards to the preaching of the gospel.

  389. With regards to the preaching of the gospel.

  390. Also, still related to the supernatural. So people

  391. believe that, not people believe, but across

  392. the scripture, one... pattern or the order that

  393. we have seen is that the supernatural can give

  394. expression when the gospel is preached or rather

  395. let me say the supernatural can give expression

  396. after the gospel is being preached and also the

  397. supernatural can be expressed before the gospel

  398. is preached right before because there's a reason

  399. why i'm saying this because we are not magicians

  400. we are not showmen We are not showmen. We are

  401. the power of God. We give expression to manifestation

  402. of the things of God. We give expression to healing.

  403. We command, we instruct circumstances to come

  404. alive. We instruct the eyes of the blind to open,

  405. the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, the lame

  406. to walk, those who are sick to be healed. We

  407. have the capacity to do this because the Spirit

  408. of God is in us. However, we are not showmen.

  409. We are not showmen. to just engage in those things.

  410. So what pattern did we see in the scripture,

  411. right? Because, you know, over the years, this

  412. is one of the areas I've questioned, right? Because

  413. I see people, they give expression to healing

  414. and they just let people go, right? So they just

  415. laid their hands and they just let them go and

  416. all of that. So what we see, right? What we see...

  417. in this, in the scriptures, what we see in the

  418. scriptures is that the preaching of the gospel

  419. moves with signs and wonders. And signs and wonders

  420. and miracles and the workings of the power of

  421. God can also take place and the preaching of

  422. the gospel follows. Right? This is the most,

  423. I mean, this consistent pattern of Christ's teachings

  424. and what we see in the scriptures. So let's go

  425. to Matthew. Let's go to Matthew to first establish

  426. this. First of all, the emphasis that we are

  427. not magicians, we are not showmen, right? The

  428. miracles, signs, and wonders should be followed

  429. by the preaching of the gospel or when we preach

  430. and we can give expression to it. So either ways,

  431. both of them are patterns that are scriptural,

  432. right? But to heal and just, you know, let them

  433. just go and all of that, most of the time, is

  434. not what we think. From Matthew 5, okay? From

  435. Matthew 5, Jesus started a teaching. He began

  436. to teach and give, expressing things regarding

  437. the kingdom of God, expressing the law, things

  438. relating to the law, teaching about divorce,

  439. retaliation. You move to chapter 6, you see Jesus

  440. teaching about giving, right? Teaching about

  441. giving, teaching the disciples, right? What is

  442. written there as the Lord's Prayer, right? Explaining

  443. to them, right, the realities of the kingdom

  444. of God. in that prayer, you move downward, you

  445. see fasting and all of that. And this prayer

  446. extended up to chapter 7 and ended in chapter,

  447. verse 28. Verse 28 of chapter 7 says, when Jesus

  448. has finished these sayings, which is teachings,

  449. right? You know, called the Sermon on the Mount.

  450. I think these teachings, the crowd were astonished

  451. at his teaching, for he was teaching them as

  452. one who had authority, not as the scribe. So

  453. we see that teaching. That kind of a long, extensive

  454. teaching. Then it is on conduct that we begin

  455. to see. Verse 8. Because verse 5, if you read

  456. chapter 5, first of all, if you read chapter

  457. 5, verse 1. Chapter 5, verse 1 says, Seeing the

  458. crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when

  459. he sat down, his disciples came to him. So chapter

  460. 5, he climbed up the mountain. Then chapter 8,

  461. right? It says, chapter 8 verse 1 when he came

  462. down from the mountain great crowds followed

  463. him and behold a leper was lame a leper came

  464. to him and he knelt before him saying lord if

  465. you will make me clean and from there we see

  466. the entire chapter 8 right even into chapter

  467. 9 Christ manifesting the supernatural, right?

  468. Among the people that have followed him, that

  469. have listened to the sermon, right? He came down,

  470. they followed him and he continued to. So after

  471. teachings, right? We should expect the supernatural.

  472. After teachings, we should expect the supernatural.

  473. After the preaching of the gospel, we should

  474. expect the supernatural. We should give room

  475. also for the supernatural. So while people are

  476. teaching, pastors are teaching, we should set

  477. our hearts that as this teaching is going on,

  478. you can receive during the teaching. And after

  479. the teaching, we can give expression and open

  480. the opportunity for people to receive more. So

  481. the preaching and the supernatural expression,

  482. the manifestation of healing, deliverance, the

  483. casting out demons, exercising the authority

  484. that we have, bringing in order in people's lives.

  485. comes together preaching and the supernatural

  486. manifestations work together we see that they

  487. work together in this so first the pattern we

  488. see is preaching and afterwards we see jesus

  489. expressing this now if we go to max 16 as well

  490. go to max 16 right which is the scripture that

  491. we regularly read from verse 14 they said after

  492. he had appeared to the 11 themselves as they

  493. were reclining at the table. He rebuked them

  494. for their unbelief and hardness of hearts because

  495. they had not believed those who saw him after

  496. he had risen. And he said to them, go into the

  497. world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

  498. Whosoever believes is baptized. Whosoever believes

  499. will be baptized. But whosoever does not believe

  500. will be condemned. And these signs, right, will

  501. accompany those who believe. In my name, they

  502. will cast out demons. They will speak. Whosoever

  503. believes is baptized. Whosoever believes will

  504. be baptized. But whosoever does not believe will

  505. be condemned. And these signs, right, will accompany

  506. those who believe. In my name, they will cast

  507. out demons. They will speak in new tongues. They

  508. will pick up serpents with their hands. And if

  509. they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt

  510. them. They will lay their hands on the sick and

  511. they will die. recover, right? So he said these

  512. signs, right? So first, what we see there is

  513. go and proclaim the gospel. This is not a, I

  514. mean, the first time he's saying it, he's going

  515. to check that also in Matthew, we'll find it

  516. there. So he said, go and preach the gospel,

  517. right? As you preach, these signs will accompany

  518. those who believe, right? These signs will follow

  519. their, you know, their preaching, right? In my

  520. name, they will cast out demons. These people

  521. that I'm sending now, as they are preaching the

  522. gospel, These signs will be following. So what

  523. are signs, right? What signs are they talking

  524. about here, right? It's not, it's actually referring

  525. to something that shows, right? Something that

  526. shows with evidence, with proof, the presence

  527. of the one who has sent them, right? So that

  528. sign is something, things, right? Things that

  529. show the presence, the proof. The evidence of

  530. the one who ascended. So when they preach, the

  531. evidence of him who ascended, which is manifestation

  532. of peace of God by the supernatural, follow them

  533. evidently. So we see it here as another pattern.

  534. So the preaching of the gospel and the supernatural,

  535. they work together. See it there. That Jesus

  536. doesn't just go and preach the gospel, but these

  537. signs will follow them. That belief, right? In

  538. his authority, in his authority. So you see that

  539. it is about evidence and proof of him who has

  540. sent them. Evidence and proof of the authority

  541. of Christ. So in my name, they will do what?

  542. They will cast out demons. My reputation in all

  543. that I've achieved in my name, in my authority,

  544. right? In my office, they will do these things.

  545. Right? They will give expressions of supernatural

  546. as they are preaching. These signs will follow

  547. them. So we also go to Matthew 10. Matthew 10.

  548. So I took us to Matthew 10. Just to establish

  549. significantly that we are not showmen. Right?

  550. We are not showmen. We are not people who are

  551. just on the street. We are not just looking for

  552. people. In fact, the essence of this is... is

  553. attached to the gospel. The essence of the manifestation

  554. of the supernatural, right, in many ways, especially

  555. when it regards to people who don't believe,

  556. is attached to the gospel. The essence of it

  557. is attached to the gospel, right, so that people

  558. can hear and they can believe, right, they can

  559. believe. Matthew 10, verse 5. And the twelve

    Matthew 10:5

  560. disciples sent out, and these twelve Jesus sent

  561. out, instructing them, go nowhere among the Gentiles,

  562. and enter... no town of the Samaritan, but go

  563. to the lost house of Israel and proclaim as you

  564. go, saying, the kingdom of God is at end. That's

  565. the gospel, right? Preaching the kingdom of God

  566. is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse

  567. the leper, cast out demons. You receive without

  568. paying, give also without paying. We see that

  569. he said that. Preach the kingdom. As you preach

  570. the kingdom, let the signs of the kingdom follow.

  571. The manifestations of this kingdom in the supernatural,

  572. let it follow. So preaching again, being followed

  573. by the manifestations of the power of God. So

  574. when you are preaching, as you go for evangelism,

  575. you should expect... You should expect that you

  576. give expression to these things. You can give

  577. a word to the person. You can heal them. You

  578. can tell them about someone the spirit is leading

  579. you to instruct. You can give them instructions.

  580. You can heal them. You can heal someone they

  581. know. That's another one. You can have a word

  582. for them regarding someone they know that is

  583. sick and you can heal them. You can also cleanse

  584. the confusion in their life. It means that you

  585. can give them direction. You can give them word

  586. of wisdom, word of knowledge, explaining and

  587. clearing every confusion in their life as you

  588. go to preach. So the supernatural is something

  589. we should expect. In fact, after you have preached,

  590. whether the person even hear or believe or do

  591. not believe, it is necessary, right? Or it is

  592. helpful that you allow yourself to give expression

  593. to the power of God. So whether the person has

  594. believed or not, just... Take some time out before

  595. you leave the person, right? Before you leave

  596. the person, you take some time out and you give

  597. expression. You give a word of encouragement.

  598. You give a word of wisdom. You heal. You speak

  599. things that the scripture calls signs that should

  600. follow those that are believed, right? So you

  601. give a sign. Because we have established that

  602. they can receive whether they believe or they

  603. are unbelievers, right? It is about you who is

  604. giving the supernatural out. So there's nothing

  605. wrong in saying, okay, you have my belief, but

  606. I still keep you the supernatural. And that can

  607. just be what will just make the message, you

  608. know, come alive. Because both the message and

  609. the supernatural are the power of God. Hallelujah.

  610. Both the message and the supernatural are the

  611. power of God. Both the message and the supernatural.

  612. We see it here as... So for three scriptures

  613. now, we've seen how the preaching of the gospel

  614. is accompanied by signs and wonders. It is not

  615. for sure, right? It's not... For sure. Now, let's

  616. go to Acts. Let's go to Acts. Especially in the

  617. life of the apostles. Or in the life of the apostles.

  618. Let's go to Acts. And let's see how they were

  619. explaining. When things happen, they have to

  620. explain. They were explaining because... Alright.

  621. So, let's look at this same chapter 3. This same

  622. chapter 3. Something happened there. Chapter

  623. 3. Now, after they had healed the man in verse

  624. 6. Verse 7. He took him by the right hand and

  625. raised him up. right? He took him by the right

  626. hand and raised him up. I'm trusting that when

  627. there's more time that we are teaching about

  628. the gift of the Spirit, the supernatural, the

  629. expression and emancipation of the Spirit, the

  630. workings of miracles, right? As we, you know,

  631. time goes on, we'll have time to talk about that

  632. much more and to see how people can manifest

  633. or operate or work the miracles of God out. So,

  634. look at what he says. He, took his hand, for

  635. example, in this case, he took him and raised

  636. him up. So he helped him up, right? He took him

  637. by the right hand and raised him up. I mean,

  638. immediately his feet and his ankles were made

  639. strong. And limping up, he stood and began to

  640. walk. So we see how gradually he received healing

  641. and the apostles walked it out with him. Right?

  642. Walked it out with. So we'll see this hopefully

  643. in the future. Now, as he was leaping, he began

  644. to walk and enter the temple with them. Walking

  645. and leaping and praising God. Right? And all

  646. the people saw him walking and praising God and

  647. recognizing him as the one who sat at the beautiful

  648. gates of the temple asking for hands. And they

  649. were filled with wonder and amazement at what

  650. had happened to him. Now look at what happened.

  651. While he clung to Peter and John, right? He clung

  652. to Peter and John. All the people utterly astounded.

  653. So he held them, right? So he was still limping.

  654. He was still trying to get his balance, right?

  655. For someone who has not worked for a long time,

  656. right? Receiving healing. So he's trying to get

  657. a balance and he held on to Peter and John, right?

  658. More like an, I don't know, would I say implicating

  659. them? Ran together to them in the... particle

  660. called solomon and when peter saw it right he

  661. watched all the people outlier standard run together

  662. to them in the particle called solomon and when

  663. people saw it uh sorry when peter saw it he addressed

  664. the people so people came around right they saw

  665. the miracles the man holding peter and john then

  666. they came around and when peter saw that these

  667. people had come around he has to explain something

  668. to them so miracles can bring people right can

  669. bring people come around. Miracles can bring

  670. people to come around. And their coming around

  671. is for the preaching of the gospel. So Peter

  672. began to explain, men of Israel, why do you wonder

  673. at this? So signs and wonders are taking place,

  674. right? And it was beginning to wonder why they

  675. were wondering. But of course they were wondering

  676. because they were filled with unbelief. So the

  677. people who gather when there is signs and wonders

  678. and begin to look and they are wondering and

  679. they are amazed. They are working in unbelief.

  680. When signs and wonders happen, a believer sees

  681. it, he glorifies God. He does not run to the

  682. man and say, what have you done? Or go there

  683. and begin to watch as if it's a movie. You know,

  684. it's not supposed to be a movie. It's not supposed

  685. to be, a believer cannot respond to signs and

  686. wonders as a movie, right? A believer cannot

  687. respond to signs and wonders as a movie. It's

  688. not. But you glorify God and say, this is God's

  689. doing, right? You know, remember that Simon the

  690. Sorcerer too. When he saw signs and wonders,

  691. he too ran, right? He ran to go and collect power.

  692. It's also not to collect power. So when you see

  693. signs and wonders, you want to go and catch the

  694. person's leg. It's unreasonable, right? It's

  695. unreasonable. That's not the way a believer responds.

  696. The signs and wonders and the workings of America

  697. and all of this are not a surprise to you as

  698. a believer. It's not a surprise to me as a believer.

  699. I glorify God because it's the power of God.

  700. But look at, right, all the people utterly astounded.

  701. They ran together to them in the portico called

  702. Solomon. When Peter saw all those people gathering,

  703. so he raised a crowd, raised the people coming

  704. together. What did he use? He used the opportunity

  705. to preach to them, right? He used the opportunity

  706. to preach to them. Men of Israel, why do you

  707. wonder at this? Or why do you stare at us as

  708. though by our own power or piety? We have made

  709. him walk. You see, first, explaining the power

  710. of God is not by our power. Now, look at what

  711. he used. The God of Abraham and the God of Isaac,

  712. the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers glorified

  713. his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and

  714. denied in the presence of fire. Now, if you start

  715. to use what they could relate to it, right? What

  716. they could relate to this God of Abraham, God

  717. of Isaac, God of Jacob. talking about the promise

  718. of God, right? So he used what they could relate

  719. with and began to preach to them, right? He preached

  720. to them up until verse 22. He continued preaching

  721. to them and said, Moses said, the Lord God will

  722. raise for you a prophet like me from your brothers.

  723. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells

  724. you. And it shall be that every soul who does

  725. not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed

  726. from the people. And all the prophets whom spoken

  727. from Samuel and those who came after him also

  728. proclaim these days. You are the sons of the

  729. prophet and of the covenant that God made with

  730. your fathers, saying to Abraham, and in your

  731. office shall all the families of the earth be

  732. blessed. God hath raised up his servant sent

  733. unto you first to bless you by turning everyone

  734. from your wickedness. Right? So, he preached

  735. the gospel. He preached to them. He explained.

  736. He connected everything together and explained

  737. to them. Praise God. Now, that's why we have

  738. so many of these, so many of this pattern. So

  739. many of this pattern, we have them. Now, let's

  740. see. Let's see a couple of other scriptures that

  741. we are going to see. Now, let's look at Acts.

  742. Let's look at Acts. I'm just going to pick up

  743. another explanation, right? Let's look at Acts.

  744. Acts chapter 10. Chapter 10. Acts chapter 10.

    Acts 10 chapter mention Acts 10 chapter mention

  745. Now, this was another situation where an explanation

  746. had to be given. Something happened, right? And

  747. an explanation had to be given. And it gave a

  748. chance, right, for the preaching of the gospel.

  749. So, Acts chapter 10, verse 9. Acts chapter 10,

    Acts 10:9 Acts 10:9

  750. verse 9. I don't think we'll have more time to

  751. read everything. But this is actually Peter's

  752. vision. Peter saw a vision, right? And in verse

  753. 13, it said, there came a voice to him saying,

  754. rise, Peter, and kill and eat. But Peter said,

  755. by no means, Lord, I have never eaten anything

  756. called unclean. Now we know the story that is

  757. referring to the case of Cornelius, right? Someone

  758. who is not within. the confinement of Israel,

  759. right? He said, at Caesarea, there was a man

  760. named Cornelius, a centurion, who was known as

  761. the Italian cohort. So it was not like any Jewish

  762. person, right? So the context of this is that

  763. there was a vision that was seen. So Peter saw

  764. a revelation of what God will do, right, in a

  765. people's life. I'll say a people's life because

  766. it's not just Cornelius alone, right? But Cornelius

  767. was the pointer to... That part, that God will

  768. also bring, right, others into what he is doing.

  769. And there will be no segregation among the people

  770. of God, right? Within the church, within the

  771. household of God, there will be no segregation.

  772. So we see there that Peter was saying, I want

  773. to eat something that is uncommon. And we saw

  774. that up until verse 30, Cornelius explained the

  775. story to Peter and Peter also explained the vision.

  776. right that he saw so from verse 34 you see so

  777. peter opened his mouth and said truly i understand

  778. that god shows no partiality okay but in every

  779. nation anyone who fears him and does what is

  780. right is acceptable to him and as for the word

  781. that is sent to israel preaching good news of

  782. peace through jesus christ and he explained all

  783. of that He explained the gospel in verse 44.

  784. He said, while Peter was still saying this thing,

  785. the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.

  786. So he had a vision, which is something supernatural,

  787. spiritual, how you call it. He had a vision.

  788. And in the natural, he had a convert, which is

  789. preaching to someone, Cornelius. believing and

  790. we see the supernatural uh taking place the holy

  791. spirit falling on them that we are listening

  792. to the scriptures or to what uh peter was teaching

  793. so what we see here first is that he had a vision

  794. which is a supernatural uh revelation right which

  795. had an interpretation. And through that, the

  796. preaching of the gospel took place, right? After

  797. understanding everything, the preaching of the

  798. gospel took place. And then many others, right?

  799. Upon many others, the Holy Spirit fell. The Holy

  800. Spirit fell. So in this case, we see that it's

  801. not directly healing, but we see also that it's

  802. a supernatural revelation, right? That led to

  803. the preaching of the gospel and people receive,

  804. people receive the Holy Ghost and they believe.

  805. On every account, right, on every account that

  806. we have a supernatural encounter, whether we

  807. heal people, whether we cast out demons, whether

  808. we see a vision and a clarity and an understanding

  809. of what God is doing, the end point is not for

  810. sure, right? The end point is not for sure. So

  811. you see something, right? Because true, there

  812. are visions and there are visions that God still

  813. communicates with us. And we know that we vet

  814. these visions, right, by the message of God.

  815. There are also supernatural encounters, right?

  816. We can, you know, we can have different supernatural

  817. encounters and we can vet them by the scriptures

  818. and we can hold on to the truth of the message

  819. that we find in them. The end point of every

  820. supernatural encounter is not for a show. It's

  821. that the message of God will be preached and

  822. many will come to believe. Right? That the message

  823. of God. So as we desire this much more, as we

  824. expect it in our meetings, as we look forward

  825. to the manifestation of it, the end point, right?

  826. Especially when we are ministering to unbelievers,

  827. is that they will come to believe. They will

  828. come to believe. Right? They will come to the

  829. knowledge of Christ. They will come to know the

  830. message of the gospel. So the emphasis, right?

  831. would not be the supernatural. The embassy would

  832. not just be, oh, we want to do the science. That's

  833. part of what comes with the preaching, right?

  834. So the embassy is both together, right? Both

  835. together, the teaching and the manifestation

  836. of the gospel. So as we go to preach, as we see

  837. revelations, these are the things that we must

  838. pay attention to. We must pay attention to this,

  839. right? So just finish with Matthew 28, right?

  840. Just go with Matthew 28. Verse 28. Matthew 28,

    Matthew 28:18

  841. verse 18. And behold, I am with you always to

  842. the end of the age. I am with you always till

  843. the end of the age. And we see that the instruction

  844. is go to go and preach, to go and make disciples

  845. from all nations. And Christ says that I am with

  846. you always. And just like I said last night,

  847. because Christ is with you, while the preaching

  848. of the gospel is taking place, all that is in

  849. Christ can find expression. So as you are preaching,

  850. as you have received authority to go and preach,

  851. Christ says, I am with you till the end of the

  852. age. So all that is found in Christ can find

  853. expression with you. All that Christ did can

  854. find expression with you. The healing can find

  855. expression with you. The revelation, the teaching

  856. with power, teaching as one with authority can

  857. find expression in you. So therefore, we preach

  858. signs and wonders following. Miracles following

  859. because we have the authority through Christ.

  860. We have Christ ever present with us to be able

  861. to make us manifest. So we don't have any reason

  862. to doubt it, right? We don't have any reason

  863. to doubt it. Also, another thing is that when

  864. we preach, right, when we preach, it helps us

  865. to, it solidifies us, actually, right? Sometimes

  866. when you're going for a baptism and you're preaching,

  867. it solidifies you. In a way, it kind of prepares

  868. you. to expect the supernatural. It so much prepares

  869. you. When you have preaching at the core of your

  870. mind, you have that this soul would believe at

  871. the core of your mind. It helps you to believe

  872. the supernatural because you have a goal. The

  873. goal is not just to heal, but also that these

  874. people might come to the knowledge of Christ.

  875. Praise God. I will just give thanks this evening

  876. and say thank you, Jesus, that as we go, as we

  877. preach, we see the manifestation of the supernatural.

  878. We see healing taking place. We see deliverance

  879. taking place. We see casting out demons taking

  880. place. We see opening the eyes of people. We

  881. give word to people. They understand as we preach,

  882. we have the boldness to give expression to this

  883. thing. As we preach, we are intentional. giving

  884. time to open the eyes of people to see and partake

  885. in this supernatural power of God. Through us,

  886. as we also manifest the supernatural, can we

  887. pray that as we manifest the supernatural, even

  888. spontaneously, in the name of Jesus, we give

  889. ourselves to the preaching. We will not forget

  890. the preaching. As we manifest, as we heal, as

  891. we lay hands on people, oh, in the name of Jesus,

  892. as we say, let me pray with you, as we hold on

  893. to faith and encourage people, can we pray in

  894. the name of Jesus? that we do not forget the

  895. message. We run with the message. We teach the

  896. message. As we are healing, we are teaching the

  897. message. We are pointing them. And Peter and

  898. John will say, why do you think that we have

  899. done this through our own power? It is not by

  900. our own power we have done this, but by the power

  901. of God. That as we manifest the power of God,

  902. we point them to the one. whose power is at work

  903. in us. We point them to the one whose power is

  904. resident in us. We point them to the one through

  905. whom we are doing all things. Can we pray in

  906. the name of Jesus? God bless.