Discipleship

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. So today we have another opportunity

to teach God's Word. And what we're going to

see is that we're going to be making progress.

in our lives. We're going to be making progress

in our work. And in this church, we're committed

to seeing that we grow in our knowledge of God's

Word and we grow in our commitments to the Word

of God and we grow in our commitment to the work.

I want us to pray in the Spirit. I want us to

pray in the Spirit. I want us to take this time

to pray in the Spirit. I want us to take this

time and give thanks to God for what He... Yes,

today the world is celebrating Easter. And every

day, what Christ has done, the fact that we have

power because he is risen, we sang, we danced

on an empty grave, we have won the victory. The

victory has been won long ago. We are walking

in the victory that we've won. And I want you

to open your mouth and say, Father, thank you

because I have won the victory. I have won the

victory. I walk in that victory. I know that

victory. I know that victory and I walk in that

victory in the name of Jesus. I want you to open

your mouth and thank God. I want to hear you

praying. I want to hear you praying. I want you

to give glory to this God that is faithful. He

didn't stay dead. He didn't stay dead. It's because

of his death and resurrection, we can be called

his children. We can be called sons. And we're

grateful for the wonderful privilege that we

have to call him father. We have a good, good

father. We have a God who is gracious. And because

of that, we're not slaves to fear. We are not

slaves to fear. A victorious person doesn't tremble

in fear. A victorious person glories in the fact

that the one who has won the victory for him

is alive. He's not dead. Thank you for what you're

doing in our midst. Thank you for what you're

doing already. Thank you for what you're going

to do. We give you all the glory and praise and

honor. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray.

Amen and amen. What I want us to do is to examine

ourselves. And in your examination of yourself

by the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit is going

to bring you to a point where there are certain

things that you will stop, and there are certain

things that you will continue to do, and there

are certain things you're going to start. And

for you to not take hold of that which Christ

has done, certain things... have to end, certain

things have to start, and certain things should

continue. Praise God. Certain things should continue.

And the teaching for today is going to be very

instructive. It's going to be very instructive,

and I want everyone of us to pay attention. I

want everyone of us to pay attention. And it

takes humility to be able to learn. It takes

humility to be able to learn. And I want us to

declare these words in affirmation. Say, I'm

teachable. I am teachable. And I stay teachable

without pride in my heart. Say it again. I am

teachable. And I stay teachable without pride

in my heart. I lead others by serving. I lead

others by serving. and I serve diligently. I

want you to declare these words. I submit to

authority. I submit to authority. I am not rebellious.

I don't frustrate the efforts of the leaders

and the pastors. I prioritize discipleship. I

prioritize discipleship and the activities of

the kingdom over everything else. Say, I'm a

disciple that disciples others. I am a disciple.

The disciples order. Say, I'm a disciple. The

disciples order. That you have your topic right

there. The topic for this teaching is discipleship.

And I want you to put a bar and include manifesting

the kingdom of God. Discipleship, manifesting

the kingdom of God. Discipleship, manifesting

the kingdom of God. And I want you to meditate

on this while the teaching is going on. Ask yourself

these key questions. I'll ask them at the end

of the service. Do you learn like a child? Do

you learn like a child? Do you learn like a child?

Do you serve like our Lord Jesus Christ serves?

Do I serve or do you serve like our Lord Jesus?

And ask yourself the third question. Do I prioritize

God's kingdom? Do I prioritize God's kingdom?

I'll read in Matthew 28. was from 1 to 20. But

our focus for this teaching will be 18 to 20.

And I'll read again to our hearing. It says,

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All

authority has been given to me in heaven and

on earth. He now says, Go and make disciples

of all nations, baptizing them in the name of

the Father and of the Son. and of the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to observe all things that I have

commanded you. And lo, I am with you always,

even to the end of the age. Amen and amen. Can

someone say amen to that? I want you to read

together with me verse 19. I want us to read

it together, verse 19. Give us the New King James,

verse 19. I want us to read together. He says,

go therefore together and make disciples of all

nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father

and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Next verse.

He says, teaching them to observe all things

that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with

you always, even to the end of the age. And I

want us to say an amen, an amen to that. The

focus is the active verb in that 19. Our focus

will be the active verb. There's a go, which

is passive, is a passive verb. And then the make

disciple is the primary and the active verb in

that conversation. It says make disciples. In

the New King James, you will see teaching there.

You will see teaching there. And the word there

in the Greek is matatu, which implies to instruct

people, to cause people to learn. Instruct people,

cause people to learn. It uses the word, uses

teaching. And we'll see teaching later on in

the subsequent verse. It says instruct. The word

there is making disciples. The phrase there is

making disciples. or in the New King James, it

is teaching, and it is mathetio, M -A -T -H -E

-T -E -U -O, which implies to cause people to

learn, cause people to learn. And the word, the

Greek word there is from a root word, math. It's

from a root word, math. The math that you know,

the math, the short for mathematics. From the

word math. That's M -A -T -H. M -A -T -H. That

Greek word there is an ancient word. And the

word is for mental effort. Mental effort. The

meaning of that word is mental effort. It says

to think through something. It also means to

think through something. And it deals with a

thought pattern. It deals with a thought pattern.

And I'm explaining all of this to... Set the

stage for the different things that we're going

to be looking at this Sunday. And I want us to

pay attention. The word there, it goes beyond

just making disciples. The root word there establishes

the fact that it's down to the thought pattern.

Note that it's not just all in here. It goes

down to the actions of the individuals that are

being trained or being made into disciples. Praise

God. And it's very important that we know that

it's beyond just education. It's beyond being

educated. It's beyond knowing the things of God.

It comes down to practice. Because we know a

lot of things, but in practice, the things we

know, it doesn't translate to the things that

we do. Praise God. It's very important that we

see that making disciples goes beyond education.

because some of us are educated or we're getting

education, but some of the education that we're

getting doesn't translate into the practical

workings of our daily living. Praise God. And

I want to take us to a passage in Scripture that

points to us the fact that these people that

were instructed to make disciples, they themselves

had something that people could see and knew

that these people were trained by some means.

Not a conventional training, but a training that

they have been with someone. A training that

comes as a result of their... interaction with

someone. I want us to go to Acts 4 verse 13.

Acts 4:13

Please pay attention. Please pay attention. Acts

Acts 4:13

4 verse 13, it says now, it says, now when they

saw the boldness of Peter and John, they saw

something. They saw something. When they saw

the boldness of Peter and John and perceived

that they were uneducated and untrained men.

Uneducated and untrained men will mean that These

people don't seem like they had attended any

form of, they didn't have any form of formal

education or formal training. He says, but they

marveled. They marveled because it got their

attention. Like, these guys have not been to

any of our Ivy League universities and why are

they sounding like this? Why are they bold? What

is giving them that boldness? What is giving

them that confidence? And he says, they realized

something. They realized that they had been with

Jesus. Praise God. They had been with Jesus.

And at the point in time where this was happening,

know that Christ was no longer physically with

them. Praise God. Christ was no longer physically

with them. So it says they realized that they

had been with Jesus. I want us to pay attention

to this, that they realized that they had been

with Jesus. So they didn't see what they knew.

They saw what they practiced. Praise God. They

didn't see what they knew. They saw what they

practiced. So you can know a lot of things, but

if those things don't translate to practice,

it's a waste. Praise God. It's actually a waste.

And this thing called discipleship, let's define

it. Let's define it. Discipleship is a process

of training. It's a process of training. How

many of us like training? I know the hands will

be few. Some people, it's a process of training.

Praise God. I see one or two hands. It's a process

of training as a student. I'm nervous as students.

Yeah, we're students and we don't like training.

Praise God. So it's a process of training as

a student or an intern or an intern or an apprentice.

I'm giving us a list. It's as a student, as an

intern or an apprentice. If, let me, I think

we're very familiar with the student part. How

many of us are familiar with internships? We

do internships. If you have, some of us are doing

internships at the moment. Some of us are interning.

You're an intern when you're doing internships.

And, you know, all the things you studied in

school now becomes practical when you're doing

internships. And most of you don't even realize

what you don't know. You don't realize what you

don't know until you're now asked a couple of

times, you'll be like, we did this in the first

year. And then it starts. It's over time, it

starts coming together. I remember when I did

my own internship, as in the experiences I had

from that internship as way back as 2009, I did

my internship and I did it in a lab. I did it

in a lab. And when we came in at first, I think

I was the second person to show up as the intern.

And what they do is that the company wants to

relieve themselves of responsibility. So they

will ensure they train you properly so that when

they train you, the next set of people that are

going to come, you will train them. And that's

discipleship right there in the world system.

They train you and know that they're doing it

because they don't want to do their responsibility,

which is train everybody. But there's a beauty

of that because you now get trained and you train

the next person. Praise God. And it's so beautiful.

I can remember the experience. For me, it was

beautiful because I was like, all the things

I've been taught now takes on life. It takes

on flesh. Praise God. Takes on flesh. It's not

just words now. It's practical. And even in one

of the incidents, when I was training the person

as I was trained, an accident broke out in the

lab where my hands were on fire and I had to

wave it through. You know, those experiences

are not what you get from just in class. There's

no accident. There's safety. The place is just

safe. There's no, you're not going to experience

anything. Nothing is going to come to you. Just

read it. And then the only accident might be

during exams. After exams, when you go for the

exam, that's probably a terrifying experience.

But it was very interesting because I had instructed

the person that I was now training, because now

I'm the trainer, I'm the teacher, the person

is a student. I had given instructions, and the

person actually messed the instruction up. And

there's always a consequence. When you do...

What you shouldn't do. Praise God. I want us

to pay attention. We're going somewhere. There's

always consequences for when you are instructed

and you don't follow instruction. What we saw

was fire. Praise God. What we saw was fire. And

I was now in God. I've given instruction. I'm

walking away. And all of a sudden, I looked at

my hand. But the good thing was that I had a

very... God preserved me. I had a very long...

So it was what was on fire. My hand, my actual

hand was not on fire. The cloth was what was

on fire. And then I walked past the office swinging

my hand. And then my bosses were like, what is

going on? Like they saw fire just going around

because I was trying to get the fire out. And

then once it was out, it came, what happened?

What happened? I couldn't explain because I was

trying to work out what just happened because

even my brain was not computing what had just

happened. Went back into the lab. We saw the

lady there because she was holding the thing.

when the wires was on fire. And then she dropped

it. It was when she dropped it, the fire followed

me out. And then I got engulfed by the, we had

the fire situation. And we had a fire extinguisher

right there, but we didn't, nobody's, you know,

in the heat of the incident, nobody's paying

attention to that. I think I had, I made a LinkedIn

post on that. And I advise people to be very

careful, be very careful when you're in the lab

and pay attention to your environment and follow

instructions. So not that, that. You can have

incidents like that when you're trying to give

life to what it is you're being taught. And then

you have the other word, the apprenticed. I think,

I don't know, you know, I'm from Nigeria and

I'm Igbo by tribe, but I'm from the kingdom of

God. Yes, that's my earthly tribe, but my heavenly

tribe is the kingdom of God. And there's something

that we practice, which is a young man, Lends

a trade. He wants to make something out of his

life. He now goes and meets his boss or his master.

And then he lends. This active is selling spare

parts, selling building materials. They spend

time and lend a trade. And it's not just, they

don't lend it by proxy. They go there, engage

with the market, know what the dynamics of the

market is, and then they learn. They don't do

it. online. Praise God. They do it by doing.

Praise God. They do it by doing. And it's very,

very, very, we can see that and see something

to pay attention to. And I've not finished defining

discipleship. Remember I said it's a process.

Means that if you start and not finish, you lose

out on the opportunity to grow or to learn. Praise

God. You lose out on the wonderful opportunity

you have to learn. And if the young man that

goes to learn that trade decides that his boss

is not worthy to be his boss and then he quits,

that's the end of it for him. He might not probably

have a career in that because he dropped off

in his second year or his first year. Same thing

with being a student. If you drop out in your

first year or your second year, I think this

week, I asked about a student of mine. I said,

where are they not in class? The friend said,

they said they quit. They said they quit. I laughed.

I said, you're just in foundation. You have not

started first year. And you just did one semester

and you failed the course. You came back again

and then you say you quit. I said, there's a

lot ahead of you. If you start quitting like

that, you'll quit on everything. There'll be

nothing left of you. Praise God. And even as

a student, if you quit, that's the end of the

degree. That's the end of the degree. You go

find something else. That means you have a plan

that doesn't involve schooling. Praise God. And

the thing about discipleship, it involves someone

higher. It involves someone you can refer to,

since we're using the same word, a discipler.

Praise God. Involves a discipler. And I want

you to put another word there. It involves...

In the context of a church, it involves a pastor.

Praise God. It involves a pastor. It involves,

you can also call it, because a pastor is all,

a shepherd. Praise God. A discipler, a pastor,

a shepherd. And this is someone who is more mature.

In the context of the boss, it's someone that

has experience, someone that is in it for longer

than yourself. Someone that has been in it for

longer than yourself. With a teacher or with

a lecturer. Someone that has a couple of degrees

to their name that gives them the authority to

be able to teach you. Praise God. And I want

us to pay attention to something. In the context

of discipleship, know that discipleship is not

mentorship. Praise God. Discipleship is not coaching.

And it's something that the world uses. Terms

of engagement, the rules of engagement for mentorship.

Let me explain. The rules of engagement for mentorship

is that you go, you see a mentor. There's something

you want to learn in the life of that mentor.

Then you tell the mentor, I want to be your mentee.

And then there's an agreement between you and

that mentor. And then what happens is that over

time. If you decide that that mentor is no longer

worthy to be your mentor, you switch to another

mentor. Some people will have mentors for days.

And know that you, in fact, in the world of mentorship

or in the world of business, they will tell you,

you should not have, if you have a mentor, the

mentor has to be for this area. Your other mentor

has to be for this area. Because if you have

two mentors in the same area, one mentor will

say, jump up. Your other mentor will say, stay

ground, don't jump up. And then you'll be confused.

You'll be like, should I jump? You now look and

then you weigh the mentor. You say, what is in

the CV of this mentor? And then you now start

choosing which one of them you will follow. But

know that in the kingdom of God, you don't choose.

Once you are in the church, the pastors that

are there in that church are the ones you submit

to. Praise God. The pastors that are there in

that church are the ones you submit to. Let me

give us a scripture in Acts 20. Verse 28. Acts

Acts 20:28

20, verse 28. He said, Therefore, take heed to

yourselves and to all the flock, among which

the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd

the church of God, which he purchased with his

own blood. Which he purchased with his own blood.

He said the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.

And know that the context of that is, Apostle

Paul actually admonishing the elders of the church

in Ephesus. He was admonishing them and telling

them to take heed to themselves and to the flock.

The flock there will not be referring to a group

of sheep. It's human beings. Praise God. It's

human beings. It says, among which the Holy Spirit

has made you overseers. Meaning that the Holy

Spirit is the one that has placed the pastors,

the shepherds, because that will make sense,

flocks, shepherds, in charge. The church of God.

And even the statement there also says, which

he purchased. Who is the he there? Christ. Remember,

what Christ had done. is for all of this. What

his resurrection gives rise to is in his resurrection

that we're called sons. It's in his resurrection

that we are part of a body, part of a family.

And he is the one that is truly in charge. I

want to establish something very, very, very

clear and very powerful. That the things that

you are discipled in or on is the things concerning

the same Jesus. that has saved and is still saving

the lives of people. Praise God. And if you're

here, know that the message is singular. The

message is not multiple. And that's why in this

church we're blessed to have several pastors.

There were six pastors in this church. And know

that everything that we teach is anchored on

one message, which is what I said. Mentorship

is very different in the sense that you can have

different people teaching you different things.

And by the way, also just to point out a couple

of things. In this church, your pastors have

their careers as well. So, know that I'm a lecturer.

If you come and ask me to mentor you in your

academics because you're doing badly, that now

is different from this. It's together because

we do that. When we tell you your CGP has to

be 3 .0, know that we are... Because what we

do here is beyond... Just teaching the Word of

God. We are concerned about every area of your

life. Praise God. You're concerned about every

area of your life. And know that what is most

important to us is your spiritual. What is most

important to us is your spiritual. Meaning that

if there's anything that is our priority is that

you grow in your walk with God. You grow in your

knowledge of God's Word. You grow in your fellowship.

You grow in the discipleship. And you're growing

to the end that you... And not just disciples,

you also disciple others. Because in your growth,

you're more matured than someone else. Praise

God. So you can be here and just having it one

way. And in your growth, others will grow. In

your growth, others will grow. And let's look

at why the whole teaching and everything that

we do is anchored on Christ. It's anchored on

Christ. Let's look at the same passage of Scripture

where we read. He says, In 20, he said, teaching

them to observe what? Teaching them to observe

all things that I have commanded you. Teaching

them to observe all things that I have commanded

you. And I want us to go to Luke, Luke 24, 27.

So it says, in the beginning at Moses, this is

Jesus Christ speaking, beginning at Moses and

all the prophets, he expounded to them. in all

the scripture, the things concerning himself.

Expanded in scripture, the things concerning

himself. And that same Luke 24, 44, this was

the incident with Cleopas in 44. We see where

he does it with a larger group of disciples in

44, the same 24, 44. It says, 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 in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning

himself, concerning Christ Jesus. So know that

all the things they thought, even when they were

going around, the reason why they would say that

these people had been with Christ is because

they saw the things that were being taught by

Christ in flesh. So they had internalized all

the things thought concerning him to the point

where it shows in how They acted. It shows in

the things that they do. And as I said earlier,

I'll repeat myself again. The message is singular

because it's all about Christ. The curriculum

for discipleship is all founded in the things

concerning Christ and nothing else. The thing

concerning Christ and nothing else. It's beautiful

when you add business, education, and all of

this to that. Know that that is now where you're

going. But know that the things that... What

shapes the curriculum? Here is the Word of God.

It's the Word of God that shapes that curriculum.

So the fact that we have every, the growth is

important. So we just keep going and then we

grow together. And we say that discipleship is

not a one -off thing. It's not a one -off thing.

And when you come into union with Christ, know

that what follows, because he says making disciples,

right? What? happens is that you're taught the

Word of God, you come into the union, you come

into union and fellowship with God, and then

what happens is that you are now discipled. Meaning

that if a person is saved, they should be in

the church where they will be taught. And if

a person is saved, you should be part of a church

where you will be taught. Praise God. Either

which way, you have to be part of a church where

the teaching of God's Word comes to you. Regularly.

Consistent. Because we say it's a process. Meaning

that if you drop out of school, you don't learn.

Yeah, if there are people that will say, I'm

dropped out of school, you can still learn. Just

take your book and then study. Good luck with

that. There are people that do self. You know,

you can read a lot of things. You can have a

lot of information. But the practice of it, it's

in the same fellowship where you are able to

serve. which is very important. You serve in

a church. Several of us are serving in the media.

You are serving in the church, and that is part

of discipleship. Service is also part of discipleship.

We'll see that very shortly. Note that commitment

to training is not sweet. That whole commitment,

like it's really, you have to now walk. You know,

some people, they are very, you know, sir, I'm

introverted. You know, I really, I like my space.

Yeah, you came into God's space anyway. You came

into God's space and you still want your space.

It's His will, not your will. Praise God. So

many of us love our spaces, but for the sake

of the one who has called us, for the sake of

the union we have with the one who now has us,

we break away from certain things that are uncomfortable.

Praise God. Because certain things are necessary

for your growth. Certain things you don't like,

but you do them because you have to. Because

you're not doing them will affect some other

people. I used to use that a lot because it makes

the point very clear. You know that if you don't

brush your teeth, someone is going to be affected.

And that in itself is the motivation for doing

what you do. Because you have to wake up. If

you forget, you go back. Even if the boss is

waiting for you. Because you know that when you

step into that boss, something is going to happen

and it's not going to be good. Praise God. So

what we're going to start to do now is we're

going to look at certain attributes of a disciple.

Certain attributes of a disciple. And one of

them, I know that the overall attribute of a

disciple is that they have to be childlike. The

humility of a disciple has to be childlike. And

first on the list, I want you to write down that

a disciple is teachable. A disciple, It is teachable.

I want you to write that down. In fact, write

it in capital letters. If your style of writing

is small, I forgive you. Just continue in capital

letters. Say, a disciple is teachable. I want

you to say it. I am teachable. Say, as a disciple,

I am teachable. Lord, we don't learn things from

the streets. As God's children, we learn things

from his word. And when we are instructed...

To be childlike, not childish, because you can

be childish, and that is not good for you. Know

that the childlike is not meaning that you should

be a child, right? Saying that there's a character,

a characteristic of a child that you should adopt

that will aid you. And I want us to look at Matthew

18. Matthew 18. Matthew 18. The whole conversation

there from one, let's just look at three. So

I want you to write that down. You can read from

one to four or one to five. I want you to just

focus on the three. And this is Jesus Christ.

He said, Assuredly, I say to you, unless you

are converted and become as little children,

you will by no means enter the kingdom. Know

that he's saying this at the point of entry,

meaning that your attitude should be that of

a child, meaning that your attitude you should

carry because a child has certain character or

characteristics or certain traits that you can

look and you say, this is a child. One of them

is that a child is dependent. A child is dependent,

a child is trusting, and a child is eager to

learn. A child is dependent. A child is trusting

and a child is eager to learn. And a child is

not self -sufficient. A child cannot just wake

up one morning because he has 200 tele, says,

Daddy, Mommy, I'm now a man, I'm now a woman,

I will leave your house. The question is, how

long will you survive with that amount of money?

Knowing that what Jesus Christ is saying here

is that the attitude of a child is what gets

you into the kingdom and the attitude of a child

is what... Helps you to grow even in the kingdom.

The attitude of a child is what helps you to

receive. Because the child is very believing.

And if you look at the child, you even lie to

the child, the child still believes you. Because

your auntie or your uncle, and you will not lie

to them. Praise God. I was saying, when I was

teaching one time, I said, you know this thing

about value. The child... sometimes doesn't understand

value. So you can give them two 10 tele and one

100 tele and say, choose one. But nowadays, they're

very smart. They will take everything. They will

take everything. They will say, uncle, all. But

when you give two and one, not that the child

will say two is more than one, because the child,

they're just like, this is two, this is one.

Obviously, it makes sense. It's a no -brainer.

But you that is looking at the value, what 100

tele will buy you is against what 20 tele will

buy you. You're a lot smarter. That's why they

don't play those games with adults. They play

with children. And you want to pay attention

to the kind of children you play with. There

are certain children that you don't want to look

at some of them in church. Praise God. Praise

God. Know that it's the attitude of learning

and growing. Because a child has to. And that

is something that we should adopt. Because if

you want to learn, you have to be childlike.

You have to be trusting. You have to be believing.

You don't want to have a sense of self -sufficiency.

You want to have God's sufficiency, which is

that you are dependent on God and you're dependent

on the systems He has placed around you for your

growth. You know, when you take for granted the

systems that God has placed to sustain you, you

will just have a dream or have a brilliant idea.

And then you wake up one morning and act on that

dream and that idea. And the end result is that

the end result is not good. Praise God. So it

means that you, and the beautiful thing about

the kingdom that we're in is that even though

you're big or you're small, we're still referred

to as children of God, right? Because you cannot,

you cannot grow out of, you cannot grow out of

being God's child. You cannot, you can never

stop being God's child. And the growth, your

growth doesn't change it. Praise God. Your growth

doesn't change you. You know when you say, God,

don't call me, no, no, no, I'm no longer a child

anymore. I'm no longer a child. I mean, I mean,

yeah, your son, your son, you say, okay, man,

now. You say, man, oh God. You see, man, you

have to go low. Praise God. Yeah, in reality,

you have to go low as a child. Praise God. And

we see, we see this very exemplified in the life

of Samuel. I want us to go to 1 Samuel 3, verse

1 Samuel 3:9

9. And I want you to read the book of Samuel,

I mean that chapter, 1 Samuel 3. But just for

this, I want us to see an example. 1 Samuel 3,

9. It says, Therefore Eli said to Samuel, Go,

lie down, and it shall be that if he calls you,

that you must say, Speak, Lord, for your servant

hears. So Samuel went. lay down in his place.

So Samuel did not assume. Samuel heard and ran

to Eli. Samuel heard and ran to Eli. The call

was from God to Samuel, but note that Samuel

submitted to Eli's guidance. Samuel submitted

to Eli's guidance. You are here and you are in

church. You want to submit. to the guidance of

your pastors. You want to submit to the guidance

of your teacher because it's important for your

growth. He did not assume that he knew God's

voice. He did not assume he had learned from

Eli to respond to the voice of God. He says,

when you hear the voice, he says, speak for your

servant hears. And what typically happens in

this day and age is that, you know, now we have

an opportunity to go online, And then it's very

beautiful because you can listen to a pastor

online. And some people will say, my pastors

are online, which is not a problem. You can have

your pastors online. But asides having the pastors

online, you know, when you have a, you know,

it's uncomfortable because now the pastor online

cannot talk to you. He cannot, you know, he can

give you a prophetic word, right? But he cannot

talk to you. We can't, because remember, we said

something that is practical. It's practical.

The things around it is very practical and you

can't do it remotely. You can't do it virtually.

You have to do it by showing up in church. You

have to do it by serving. And you don't want

to fall to anybody that comes and then you say,

oh, my pastor is in. And then you are attending

a church, local church, and it just shows your...

It reveals a bit of pride. It reveals, I don't

know how to scale it now. There's a pride and

there's a lack of submission because you are

meant to be submitted to the church you attend.

When you go to that church, that now becomes

your church and then you submit to the activities

there. There's something about when you are doing

two things. You know, it used to be very interesting

when you're part of a church and then... it becomes

monotonous because over in your church, in your

country, you're fasting, you're, you're, you'll

just be doing, it's not looking like, it looks

like the God you're serving is like, the God

of that end is different, is different from the

God in this end and you're just, you, you will

be frustrated in your service because now you'll

just be, you know, for some people, they get

capacity, man, oh God. You just see that they

are, because they, You want to understand that

if you're here, you want to take the activities

they were doing here seriously. You know, some

people say, they say, we're doing Book of the

Month. They say, no, there's a book I'm reading

from my church. That is, you yourself, you know

that that is rebellion. You are just, you are,

you are just outrightly, and the point is, if

you check, they're not even doing the one from

the other two because the church, the other church

cannot confirm. People are very smart. And then

they think that the pastors that are leading

them don't have experience. They were foolish.

We've been doing this for a while. Praise God.

So, know that the second part is being, The B

part, a disciple rejects pride. I alluded to

it. A disciple rejects pride. I want you to write

that in capital letters as well. A disciple rejects

pride. I want you to see something in the life

of David. In Psalms 131. Psalms 131. Media team,

please help me. Psalms 131, verse 1 and 2. Psalms

Psalms 131:1

131, it says, Lord, my heart is not haughty.

That is another word for pride, prideful. Nor

my eyes lofty. That's a lot of T. Neither do

I concern myself with great matters, nor with

things too profound for me, too. It says, surely

I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned

child with his mother. Like a weaned child is

my soul within me. Praise God. This is David

that is a king, he's a warrior, he's a psalmist.

He has a lot of things to be prideful about.

Some of us have not attained, we have not attained

the status of this man called King David. We

have not attained that status, but yet there's

something in us. That makes us feel like we have

arrived. That we have seen it all. That we know

it all. And we have it all. Praise God. But this

king remains constantly and continually dependent

on God. David is someone that has fought many

battles. But anytime he wants to go to war, he

will still seek God's face on whether to or not

to go. He's someone that can say, I know how

this works. You see them? I will take them down.

He can take pride in his abilities or in himself

to be able to do that. And he has the men to

help him to do it. But he is the one saying,

or he's the one you can tell and see the posture

of this man called David. His humility, his humility.

And this is the same man. And just since we're

on David, let's just go to 1 Samuel 22 verse

1 Samuel 22:2

2. 1 Samuel 22, verse 2. I want us to see something.

1 Samuel 22:2

It says, and everyone who was in distress, let

me wait for us. 1 Samuel 22, verse 2. It says,

1 Samuel 22:2

and everyone who was in distress, everyone who

was in debt, and everyone who was discontented

gathered to him. Him there is David. So he became

captain over them, and there were about 400 men

with him. This is a man that all these people

came to him. And I want you to see something.

They are distressed. They were in debt. They

were discontented. And all these people are people

that came around him. And I want us to notice

that it's this same group of people that stayed

with him to the point where in 2 Samuel 23. I

want you to write it down. We'll not really go

there. But you just go there and read the first

verse. 2 Samuel 23. 8 to 39. You can write it

down, but you read it. 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel 23.

8 to 39. It says, these are the names of the

mighty men whom David had. And the list goes

on and on and on down to the 39. And this man

became mighty men. This man hanged around him.

This man was trained by him. This man grew. Because

they submitted themselves to him. Praise God.

They submitted themselves to him. So if you're

prideful, and by the way, he picked them up when

they were nothing. Or they came to him when they

were nothing. Meaning that anything they are,

if you notice, I think one time I was looking,

I was like, David said he was thirsty. And this

man, because of the fact that this man had done

a lot for them, they were able to, regardless

of the... The challenge, they went in broke and

when they got the water, he said he cannot and

he didn't go ahead to drink it. Note that David

is an example of someone who has a lot, but yet

still humbles himself and is not prideful. And

note that there's something about pride. When

you allow pride foster in your heart, you will

lose out on a lot. You will lose out on opportunities

to grow. You lose an opportunity to learn. You

lose an opportunity to be blessed and to bless

others. Praise God. And we, in 1 Corinthians

8, 1 and 2, 1 Corinthians 8, 1 and 2, I want

us to look at it. We see that pride, knowledge,

can puff up. You know, when you start knowing

some Hebrew and some Greek, start knowing certain

things, you have a tendency to feel like, I have

arrived. I didn't know it, now I know it. Apostle

Paul speaking here, he says, now concerning the

things offered to idols, we know that we all

have knowledge. We know that we all have knowledge.

He says, knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.

Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. I want

you to go to 2. It says, and if anyone thinks

he knows anything, if anyone thinks he knows

anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to

know. He knows nothing yet as he ought to know.

So know that in all of your knowledge, in all

of the learning and the acquiring, you want to

know that what truly edifies your neighbor is

love. Because your knowledge mixed with love

is what blesses your neighbor. You don't allow

it. You don't see yourself. Because in your quest

or in your display of these things, you want

to ensure that you're doing it anchored on. And

you're doing it the way Christ. We'll do it.

You're doing it the way Christ will do it. Let's

look at the third part, which is a disciple submits

to authority. A disciple submits to authority.

That's the third part. A disciple submits to

authority. I think we'll do that and then we'll

close. A disciple submits to authority. I want

you to say it again. I submit to authority. I

submit to authority. I want you to write it in

capital letter. A disciple submits to authority.

I am a disciple and I submit to authority. So

I want us to look at Hebrews. 13, 17. Hebrews

13, 17. Hebrews 13, 17. It reads, it says, obey

those who rule over you. The word, the rule there

is lead. Rule over you and be submissive for

they watch over, they watch out for your souls

as those who must give account. Let them do so

with joy and not with grief. for that would be

unprofitable for you. Say, for that will be unprofitable

for you. The word submissive, to be submissive,

the word to be submissive is H -Y -P -E -I -K

-O. H -Y -P -E -I -K -O. It's not hype, but it's

hupe. It's hupe. So not that accountability or

submitting to your leaders is something you don't

negotiate. It's non -negotiable. It's non -negotiable.

And we are committed to the things that we do.

What your response should be is that you return.

And it's the normal. It's normal. We are in a

world and in a place where people just wake up

and do what they like. But as a disciple, that

is not how you're afraid. As a disciple of God,

that is not. how you operate. Note that in the

situation that we just read, 1 Samuel 3 verse

1 Samuel 3:9

9, Samuel did not look at Eli and said, I can't,

like, who are you? In fact, if you look at the

sons of Eli, the sons of Eli were not the perfect

example. Because you can say, look at yourself,

your children suffer. You know, you have very

reasonable things to throw at the man of God.

You know, some of us, we... Somebody does something

and then you just go, your pastors are not, your

pastors don't reply pastors online. But you feel

like responsibility is upon you now to speak

on behalf of God. You have got, it's a calling

upon your life to now come and then you'll be

typing under, this is heresy, false doctoring.

You'll be typing under and you'll be, in fact,

you'll say, sir, with all due respect, you'll

be typing. All the things you're typing underneath

comment sections. When you look at your pastors,

none of us go and with all due respect, man of

God, listen to what you're saying. The Greek

word is this, this, this, this, this. So with

these few points of mind, these things you have

said, you know, we don't do that here. So if

you are here and you are paying attention, you're

looking. at what your pastors are doing and you're

learning from your pastors. You don't do, that's,

you submit to authority and your submission to

authority will mean that you have regard for

your pastors and have regard for other people

that are pastors as well. You want to have that,

put that at the back of your mind because if

you're doing that to them, it's just a matter

of time you do that to us because you're practicing

for the day. When one pastor will tell you what

you don't like and then you explode. And the

words that you type is what you're going to give

to us. Praise God. Know that Samuel had regard

for Eli. And in his regard for Eli, he submitted.

He submitted to Eli. And I want to bring to our

attention something that is very key. If you

are here in this church, submitting is not, sir,

I submit you. You know, some people, you know

how to bend down and say, sir. You know, some

people will tell you I submit with words. Remember

I tell you discipleship is practical. It's not

just in the things you say, it's in the things

you do. And we take note of the things you do

and the things you don't do. And one of the things

you don't do is you are a member of a cell and

you will not be coming for the cell. Praise God.

You will not be coming for the cell. You will

wait for us to find out that you're not in the

cell and start negotiating how we'll ask you.

about why you're not in cell and they will now

find out why you're not in cell. A person that

understands leadership should notify the leader,

notify the pastor that they will not be available

for something. And you know, man of God, you

know one thing I noticed that they do is that

because they know that if they notify you, you

will tell them, you will ask them questions that

the leader will not ask them because the leader

will say, okay, thank you. Thank you for notifying

us. But because they know that if they ask the

pastor, the pastor will say, where are you going

to? Or where are you going to be since you're

not going to... You know, if you say, I'm writing

an exam, okay, good. Or I'm going to... You will

say, okay, there's a legitimate reason. But because

the leader cannot ask them of the legitimate

reason, so they will choose to... And the leader

will tell them, ask the pastor, they will say,

I did. It's when you now ask the question, you

know, it just communicates that you actually

don't have... And some of us, we don't know.

We don't know because we have not been taught.

So know that when this thing comes to you now,

you understand that. Because when something happens

to you, who do you call? The form of you. You

have your father's number. You have your mother's

number. You have your brother and your sister's

number. It is still your pastor you're going

to call and it's still that same person you don't

tell where you are going to. Praise God. You

see how it doesn't even... You yourself. Think

about it. Praise God. So very quickly, know that

a disciple is not above correction. A disciple

is not above correction. And any discipleship

where correction... It's not muted out. It's

no discipleship. Because anything you, any place

where anything goes, nothing grows. If anything,

you can just do anything you like. Just go. Even

in school, you don't do anything you like. You

can't just show up to the exam when you like.

In English university, 30 minutes after, sorry

will be your case. Praise God. I want us to see

something in Proverbs. Proverbs 12 verse 1. Proverbs

Proverbs 12:1 Proverbs 12:1

12 verse 1. Proverbs 12, verse 1. I'll read from

Proverbs 12:1

here. It says, Whoever loves instruction loves

knowledge. Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge.

Proverbs 12, verse 1. Not 1, verse 1. Proverbs

Proverbs 12:1 Proverbs 12:1

12, verse 1. I want us to read it together. Please,

media, please, don't waste time. I don't have

time. Proverbs 12, verse 1. It says, Whoever

Proverbs 12:1

loves... Let's read it together, please. Thank

you. Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge.

But who hates... is what? Stupid. The word there

in the King James is brutish. It's a very interesting

word. And the Greek, the Hebrew word is ba, that's

B -A -A -R. I know some people will be taking

offense in the words to be like, how can they,

how can I be saying because I hate correction,

stupid. The Greek word is alogos. Some of you

are familiar with logos. This one, logos, means

that there's no word. When you say, you know,

logos, when you put A in front of something,

it means that it's not that thing. It means that

you're unreasonable, you're irrational, you're

not paying attention to words. Because if you're

paying attention to words, there will be a result.

If you're paying attention to words, there will

be a result. So when someone says that you are

stupid, it's not an insult. You're just being

unreasonable. You know, when you're trying to

talk to somebody and the person is not hearing

what you're saying, it's... It doesn't, and if

you think that that word is not, let's look at

Acts 25, 27. Acts 25, 27. The same word is used,

but in the Greek now. There are logos, which

is the, Acts 25, 27. And this is, this is, for

it seems to me, for it seems to me unreasonable

to send a prisoner and not. and not to specify

the charges against him. That unreasonable there

is the word, alogos, which is the word that is

translated as stupid. Because he's saying that

I cannot, like it doesn't make any sense. It

doesn't make any sense that I will not, this

is speaking about, speaking of, that is Felix

now, I think it's Felix, yeah, Governor Felix

speaking to Agrippa and saying that it doesn't

make sense for me to send him without giving

a charge because the normal thing is... There's

a prisoner, there's a church. But now it's unreasonable.

I will just give us the other text of Scripture.

I'll give us the other text of Scripture. There's

2 Peter 2, verses 12, and Jude 10, verse 1. I

2 Peter 2:12

said Jude 10, verse 1. Jude 1, 10. Or Jude 10.

2 Peter 2, verses 12. 2 Peter 2, verses 12, and

2 Peter 2:12 2 Peter 2:12

Jude 10. It uses brutish beasts. You know, most

of the times when we say someone is stupid or

is an animal, use that for an animal because

the animal doesn't understand what you're saying.

There's no word. The animal doesn't get you.

That's why you use... And there are animals you

can train, there are animals you can't. Animals

you can train, there are animals you can't. It's

just difficult to train because they don't really

get it. They don't really understand. And we

are not animals. We are able to understand and

we are designed to. Know what it is and do what

is instructed of us. And it's very important

that we know that some King Saul, that's King

Saul, not Saul in the, that's Paul that became

Saul, at some point in time thought that activity

equates instruction. Just doing stuff equates

instruction. Know that in your submission, you

want to submit to the instruction given, not

an idea of what you feel like. Because at some

point in time, he was instructed to do certain

things. He did what he thought was. And Saul

admonishes him. And he says, obedience is better

than sacrifice. And he says, for rebellion is

as serious. I read from the first Psalm of 15

verse 23. He says, for rebellion is as serious

as the sin of divination, which is fortune telling.

And disobedience is as serious as false religion

and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word

of God, of the Lord, he has also rejected you

as king. I want you to understand something very

quickly. It wasn't that God rejected Saul. God

rejected him as king. Because for him to be king,

he has to listen to what God says and then instruct

the people. Remember we saw David. David is very

different from Saul in that... when God says

he's the man after my own heart, is that he listens

to what God says and does what God does, what

God instructs. But in Saul's case, very different.

He was rejected by God, but like he wasn't rejected

by God, but rather rejected to be king over Israel.

What this means is that you can be rejected,

like you might not be fit for a position, right,

in church, but it doesn't make you a non -believer.

Praise God. What this means is that because of

certain things or because you don't follow instruction,

you might not be fit for certain things, but

it doesn't make you an unbeliever. It means that

first and foremost, you are a child of God. That

is more important. And in your being a child,

you want to learn and grow. And because of maturity

and everything, you will be given responsibility.

So I want us to understand that when we see certain

things or when we are given certain instruction,

know that correction is what anybody that corrects

you wants you to grow. Anybody that will correct

you wants the best for you. Because if, you know,

you have those friends that will say, yes, sir.

They'll tell you anything you want to do. They

just, they're the oh yes. And you don't even

learn anything around those sets of people. So

I want you to just come to that place where I

will end with what I started with, which is,

I want you to examine yourself with the questions

I asked at the beginning. Do you learn like a

child? Are you humble enough to learn as a child?

And learning as a child means that you will take

notes. You prioritize what is being spoken to

you. And do you serve like Jesus does? Do you

go out of your way to be sacrificial in your

service? And do you prioritize God's kingdom?

Are you committed to the things of God? Are you

committed to the things? And discipleship is

not automatic. It requires intentional submission.

It requires intentional submission. And know

that we want to, in this season, choose discipleship

so that we can effectively manifest the kingdom

of God. I want us to end with this. I affirm

that I am teachable. I stay teachable without

pride in my heart. I lead others by serving and

I serve diligently. I submit to authority. I

am not rebellious. I don't frustrate the efforts

of my leaders and my pastors. I prioritize discipleships

and the activities of the kingdom over everything

else. I am a disciple. their disciples, others.

I want you to pray these things over your life.

I want you to open your mouth and just pray.

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 us through our

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are encouraged, share this message with someone

you care about. Until next time, stay blessed.