Sermon

Blessed in the Kingdom of God

Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons

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  1. Hi there, welcome to NECF. We're excited to share today's message with you. Don't go

  2. anywhere, stay with us to the end for some valuable resources to enrich your faith.

  3. Here's today's sermon.

  4. So we have been discussing about manifesting the kingdom of God. So today, in a way of introduction,

  5. right, we will just start a topic. This one I'm going to do it in a series as long as possible

  6. till I exhaust it. Amen. But I appreciate the lead pastor who is not with us, right, he's in Nigeria

  7. and then putting all the structures in place to close the gate. Hallelujah. May the Lord give

  8. you understanding. You see pastor Victor didn't cough today. That's new. Amen. So his coughing

  9. days are over. Praise God. You know he coughed during my time like never before. Once they say

  10. pastor Custin, the cough will come. But his coughing days are over. Praise God. So this morning

  11. we'll talk about blessed in the kingdom of God. Blessed in where? In the kingdom of God. You are

  12. blessed actually. Praise God. You're not the one seeking for blessing. I see 10 people here

  13. and the spirit of the Lord is saying if you can sow a seed of a thousand dollars, people that are

  14. doing chabuk chabuk, you can still see thousand dollars in their pocket. Your blessing is tied

  15. to this one thousand dollars. By the time you sow it, 10 people, 10 people, 10 people, the guy is

  16. calculating 10,000 dollars cash out. People, your blessing. You see when he gets that kind of

  17. congregation or assembly because they are full of moomoo's, you know, that are not taught the word,

  18. somebody will get some emotional thing that he thinks his blessing is tied to the thousand dollars

  19. and then he will be under pressure to borrow a thousand dollars. In fact the guy will not add it.

  20. He said even if you don't have the thousand dollars, you know God is a god of second chance.

  21. He will give you a space of one week. You can still redeem it in one week.

  22. Some will even say if you don't have it now, you can't, you can't, you can't, is it not what is not

  23. vow? Pledge. He said you can make a pledge and redeem it in one month. God will take record of it.

  24. You see in this church, we will teach you the truth of the word so that you can be delivered

  25. from unreasonable men. Hallelujah. You'll be delivered from false teachers. The scripture

  26. calls them that they are after their... So blessed in the kingdom of God. Amen. So what does it mean

  27. to be blessed? What does it mean to be what? To be blessed is a question which we're going to explore

  28. throughout the study. What does it mean to be what? To be blessed. Praise God. Hallelujah.

  29. Yeah, Matthew chapter 28 everybody. Let's go to Matthew chapter 28. Say I am the blessed of God.

    Matthew 28 chapter mention Matthew 28 chapter mention

  30. I am the blessed of God. All that is in Christ is in me. My life, my conduct, my character,

  31. my life, my conduct, my character reflects Jesus. Hallelujah. You see in the teaching of the doctrine

  32. of Jesus, there are three things that are very important. One, you are taught Christ, right?

  33. You are taught who Christ is, what he has done, his lifestyle on the earth, the significance of

  34. why he came. Amen. Secondly, now you are taught how you identify with him. Praise God. How you

  35. identify with Christ, how and who you are in Christ Jesus, how eternal life is yours. Amen.

  36. And then thirdly, now then you are taught your conduct as a believer, your lifestyle as what?

  37. As a believer. So you're taught Christ, you're taught about your identity, how you identify with

  38. Christ and then you're what? Your conduct. Praise God. That's what it means to manifest the kingdom.

  39. Hallelujah. You can't manifest what you don't know. Praise God. Only when you are demon possessed,

  40. that's when you manifest things you don't know. But you can be filled with the Holy Ghost and don't

  41. manifest. You are manifesting the Holy Ghost. In fact, the Holy Ghost ensures that you don't

  42. manifest him in ignorance because you do great damage, greater damage. So you have a good

  43. environment, a good assembly, an atmosphere where you know who you are in Christ Jesus,

  44. where Christ is taught who is Christ, right? And then now the pastors or the teachers there

  45. don't allow you to just go like that. You are now taught the conduct of what? Of the believer.

  46. How you now manifest the life. Praise God. Hallelujah. So Matthew 28 verse 18 to 20 now,

    Matthew 28:18–20

  47. it says, and Jesus came and spake unto them saying, all power is what? Is given unto me in heaven and

  48. in what? And in earth, go ye therefore and teach how many nations? How many nations? All nations,

  49. baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. 20 now, teaching

  50. them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and know I am with you always even

  51. on to the end of what? Of the world. Amen. Hallelujah. Praise God. So when we see verse 18,

  52. everybody put your eyes on verse 18. And Jesus came and spake unto them saying, all power is given

  53. unto me in heaven and in what? Big question. How did Jesus know that all power has been given to him?

  54. Amen. So Christ must be speaking from a source of information. Amen. So for him to speak that

  55. statement is a reality that he already has come into. Amen. So he should have seen that information

  56. somewhere. It must have been set somewhere that all power in heaven and in the earth will be given

  57. to him. Praise God. The first time you got into school, you were told that if you become the best

  58. graduating student, this is what will happen. You're going to get opportunity to shake with the

  59. rector of the school. And then suddenly now you went through all this four years and studied and

  60. studied and studied and your CGPA came out as 3.99. Just one of the nights you slept and then

  61. you got a B in one course and then you know one of those things that happened and then you're on

  62. 3.99. On the graduation day now and then they call you. We invite the best graduating student.

  63. Now we call on Mary Ayuba Ogundimu. You know Mary will just come, check her, check her, check her.

  64. All her fans will just have camera. Tis tis tis tis tis tis tis tis. You know and she'll come and then

  65. collect the gifts and she'll say finally all the gifts are the best graduating students

  66. of the faculty of, I don't know your faculty, but in the department of psychology has been given

  67. to me and I had the opportunity to shake the rector. In fact see a photo of it. She shows

  68. a photo, we'll see it on our Instagram, we'll see it on TikTok, we'll see it on Facebook, we'll see

  69. it everywhere. We'll join her and celebrate with her. So for her to come into that reality, right,

  70. somebody will have encouraged her along the line. She must have had the information somewhere.

  71. So for Jesus to say all power is what is given to me, right, he must have seen it somewhere, amen.

  72. So Christ wasn't speaking out of ignorance. He was speaking because he has also read the scriptures.

  73. He has read the prophecies that have been spoken about him, amen. He has read them where? From where?

  74. The scriptures. Hallelujah. You see this is the main reason why the believer ought to live his life

  75. by the scriptures. You see the husband cannot just wake up and say, you know according to our

  76. tradition a woman does not shake a man with the left hand. You know according to our tradition,

  77. you know in my land the women must be taken care of like an egg. So even life breaks egg. Sorry.

  78. You see in Christ, there is no my tradition. No, you don't see that in Christ. All you see in Christ

  79. is Christ. Hallelujah. The man that comes into Christ and lives by the scripture, oh he will

  80. always have the testimony of the scripture validated around his life. So Christ himself

  81. lived his life by what? By the scriptures. The believer ought to live his life by what?

  82. The scriptures. So God's word must be the final authority over your life. So Jesus was speaking

  83. and he was teaching them from the scriptures. Amen. How did Jesus know that all power, all

  84. authority has been given to me in heaven and the earth? Right is somewhere. He was speaking from

  85. the scriptures. And if you write Jesus speaking from the scriptures right somewhere, I ought to

  86. live my life by the scriptures. That's why I believe her. The topic is blessed in the kingdom of where?

  87. Of God. Hallelujah. So he wasn't quoting scriptures from Matthew. He wasn't quoting from

  88. Ephesians because at that time there was nothing called Ephesians. He wasn't quoting from Galatians.

  89. Amen. Jesus was quoting from Genesis to Malachi. Praise God. He was quoting from where? From Genesis

  90. to where? To Malachi. Amen. So sir, how did you know it's from Genesis to Malachi? Look chapter 24

  91. everybody. Please pay attention because it's a teaching, it's a training. Amen. So everything

  92. will be adding up as we continue moving. Praise God. So Jesus was teaching from where? Genesis to

  93. where? To Malachi. He wasn't teaching from Old Testament. Neither was he teaching from New

  94. Testament. Luke 24 verse 24 everybody. Or let's start from verse 25. Then he said unto them,

    Luke 24:24

  95. O fools, and slow of heart, to believe all that the prophets have spoken. I don't want to see

  96. anybody sleeping on me. If you are sleeping on me, I'll ask you to stand up. Amen. Yeah.

  97. O not Christ to have what? So what did the prophets, what was the things that the prophet was

  98. speaking? O not Christ to have what? Suffer these things and to enter into his what? So the prophets

  99. were saying that Christ will what? Will suffer and Christ will what? Enter into his glory. Is everybody

  100. with me? Is everybody with me? Good. See 27 now. And beginning at Moses and what? All the prophets,

  101. he expounded unto them in all the scriptures, the things concerning. So if Jesus say all power,

  102. all authority in the heaven and on the earth has been given unto me, where did he see that from?

  103. And when we say the scriptures, we mean what? Genesis to where? To Malachi. Amen. Perfect.

  104. Now when we now go to verse 44 of that same chapter, and he said unto them, these are the

  105. words which I speak unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be what? So now

  106. the saints of Christ now, he's saying that now everything has been fulfilled and now all power

  107. in heaven and on the earth has been what? Has been given to me. All things have been what?

  108. Fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning

  109. who? Concerning me. 45, then opened he their understanding that they might understand the what?

  110. The scriptures. Hallelujah. So you see that Christ was teaching them from where? Genesis to Malachi

  111. because he is the center of the message. Hallelujah. So when you read Genesis to Malachi,

  112. who you should see there is Jesus. Sir, well you know now, you know there is somewhere,

  113. I cannot remember how, but he said the wealth of the Gentiles shall come unto us. That's the only

  114. thing they know, wealth of the Gentiles. He says, sir, you know, you know, some of these bad guys

  115. are associated myself, all these G boys, sir, is to fulfill the scriptures. You know, sir, the

  116. Americans came and brought slavery into our country. Now it is time to take it back from them.

  117. Sir, even you know, last month I cast out, I gave a huge tithe to my church. They will say it all.

  118. The scriptures is not teaching about prosperity. The scriptures is not a book to teach you how to

  119. make money. Amen. Hallelujah. Yes, but I think somewhere Proverbs is saying so.

  120. There is nothing in the scriptures. If you want to learn wealth creation, go to Harvard Business

  121. School. If you can afford it, if you have a village like me, there you go to Kaduna Business School,

  122. right? They're going to teach you how to make money, to teach you entrepreneurship and the rest.

  123. But you don't get into the Bible to learn how to make money. You will live your life poor. I tell you,

  124. the Bible is not a book about relationships. Sir, what this thing you are saying, eh? Ah,

  125. now wow, now wow, yeah. The scriptures is about Christ. He said from Genesis to Malachi,

  126. from Moses and the prophets, all the things they were speaking concerning me. So when the believer

  127. gets into the scriptures, what he ought to see is to see Christ. As the believer sees Christ,

  128. he will see himself in where? In Christ. So when you are taught the scriptures, when you are trained

  129. in the word of faith, what do you see? You don't see yourself as it were, just flying around.

  130. As you see Christ in the word of faith, you see who? You see you. Amen. So Jesus was saying that

  131. I am the center of the message. And that statement, Christ spoke that statement after resurrection.

  132. Amen. So where did Christ get or got his power from? From resurrection. Hallelujah. So God gave

  133. or willed that power to Christ at where? Resurrection. Praise God. Hallelujah. Amen.

  134. So because if you check, look 24, when you start from verse one, all that is happening there

  135. is about the resurrection of Jesus. Amen. And so he will expand the scriptures to them,

  136. open their understanding that they may understand who he is at where? Resurrection. Amen. Praise

  137. God. So there's nothing called New Testament. There's nothing called Old Testament. Pastor

  138. Chidi, Pastor Victor has already taught us extensively on that. When you go on our website,

  139. go to understanding the Bible, the series there, you're going to see the whole series.

  140. The series there, you're going to see it, listen to it, right? Translators helped us. And they did,

  141. you know, some yesterday I was trying to go through to read Bible that had no verses

  142. and had no chapters. They're online. You see it. Just go and get a sample for yourself. And it's

  143. beautiful. Do you know why, sir? Because when you are reading it, you don't read with your mind split

  144. in split, no full stop. It's a full story. You read it like a novel, like a story, right? This is

  145. how you're going to read it. You know, now we are reading Luke 24. Everybody go to Luke 24.

  146. You know, Luke chapter 24 from verse one, now upon the first day of the week, very early in the

    Luke 24 chapter mention

  147. morning, they came onto the Sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared and certain

  148. orders with them. You now see full stop. Your mind now also becomes stopped. You now go to verse two.

  149. You now open your mind. And they found a stone rolled away from the scripture, from the Sepulchre.

  150. And they entered in and found what? Not the body of what? Of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass.

  151. You see, it's full stop, comma here, semicolon here, and the rest. But you see, when you open

  152. the one that has no verses and has no chapters, it's a straight communication. It's just a flow.

  153. You just keep flowing. You just keep flowing. So, at the end of it, when you reach the end

  154. of a particular communication, you now will have a complete understanding of the context.

  155. So, why we now have verses and chapters, they're taught in their mind. You see, Moses, when he

  156. wrote Genesis, he never wrote Genesis to be an Old Testament book. When Paul wrote Ephesians,

  157. the letter to the Ephesian church, he never said, okay, I Paul the apostle according to the Lord

  158. Jesus Christ, this book shall be a New Testament book. I'm sending it to the Ephesian church.

  159. Oh, my dearly beloved children in Ephesus, when thou seer this letter, classify it on the New

  160. Testament in age to come that they might read it and understand easily. No. Amen. So, when you go

  161. and listen to understanding the Bible, you know how they were piled and compiled together for us.

  162. Amen. Praise God. Hallelujah. Even though I know Pastor Victor has some more that he was going to

  163. do, right, but he said, let's pause first. Right. Amen. But the series that is going to take us later

  164. will capture all these things. So, there's nothing called New Testament. Jesus will have said,

  165. Jesus will have in that Luke chapter 24, he would have said something like this.

    Luke 24 chapter mention

  166. Then he said unto them, oh, fools, 25 now, as the law of how to believe all that the prophets have

  167. spoken in the Old Testament. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his

  168. glory and beginning at Moses and all the prophets he expanded unto them in all the Old Testament

  169. and some of the New Testament, the things concerning himself? No. Praise God. Because

  170. there's nothing called Old Testament and there's nothing called New Testament. It's called the

  171. scriptures. And the scriptures is concerning who? Concerning Christ. Praise God. Hallelujah. Amen.

  172. So, how do you know? First Corinthians chapter 15, verse 3. And then let's see whether some other

    1 Corinthians 15:3

  173. people called it like that. First Corinthians chapter 15. No worry, we'll take it gradually.

    1 Corinthians 15 chapter mention

  174. It's a long series, so it's okay. First Corinthians chapter 15, everybody, from verse 3. See what Paul

    1 Corinthians 15 chapter mention

  175. was saying. For I deliver unto you first of all that which I also received. How that Christ died

  176. for our sins according to Old Testament, according to New Testament, according to what? And when we

  177. say scriptures, we mean what? Genesis 2. Because at this time there is nothing called Ephesians.

  178. In fact, there is nothing called Matthew. Amen. According to where? So where did Paul know that

  179. Christ died for our sins? Genesis 2, Malachi. Ah, since I've never seen it. You see that's why

  180. it's because you don't attend cell meetings. You refuse to attend cell meetings. You make a choice

  181. not to attend midweek service. You can never see it. Never. Verse 4. And that he was buried,

  182. and that he rose again the third day according to the... So where did he see it from? Genesis 2,

  183. Malachi. So are you saying that Genesis 2, Malachi actually spoke about Christ's burial,

  184. his re- is rising, and even on the third day? Yes. According to where? The scriptures. Amen. And that

  185. he was seen of Cephas, then of the what? Of the 12th. Hallelujah. Luke 24, which we have read. Amen.

  186. So now, because we are talking about the scriptures Genesis to Malachi, right? Just in a way you could

  187. just write it because we are reading the canonicals. So when you are reading the canonicals now,

  188. you don't become mindless. Amen. So if I want to understand, for example, right? The book of Genesis,

  189. the book I should read more is Exodus. Amen. I'm going to say something now. Or if I want to

  190. understand the book of Revelation, the background books I should read is 1st John, 2nd John, and

  191. what? 3rd John. If I want to understand all the letters of the apostles, apostle Paul,

  192. each and every one of them, I go to the book of Acts. Amen. Some days ago we were talking with my

  193. wife and I told them, and I was telling her, not them, you know? I bind your minds. You know, the

  194. heart of the church members with pure water. I told her, amen, that as we read the scriptures,

  195. just pay attention. You're going to see lots of repetitions and lots of things will be adding up.

  196. Amen. Now I say, damn, now all of them are turning to look at her. Whether she has a swollen face,

  197. your mind needs to be purified. So now you need to go to the book of Acts because all their journey,

  198. all their movements, all the churches they visited, you will see them where? In the book of,

  199. so when you now see Paul visiting Ephesus and then you go and see his letter to the Ephesian church,

  200. it will now make sense the problems he's addressing, the teaching he's bringing to them.

  201. Because when you read the book of Acts now, you will now understand, ah, so from Acts,

  202. these were some of the things actually that happened. Amen. When you now go to Colossians,

  203. so that you don't read Colossians in isolation, and then you go to Acts, you now see, okay,

  204. so that's why actually in the Corinthian church, they had these major issues with them. So I want

  205. to understand the apostle Paul, his letters. I go to Acts. I want to understand Matthew, Mark,

  206. Luke, and John. I go to Genesis to Malachi. Oh, so to understand Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,

  207. as you read Genesis to Malachi? Yes, sir. And I want to understand Exodus. To Malachi, I go to Genesis.

  208. I want to understand Genesis, I go to Exodus. Because it's from Exodus that Genesis came from.

  209. If there was no Exodus, there wouldn't be Genesis. Moses would not be sent, and Moses would not write

  210. anything. Amen. So you see, now it will help you to read the scriptures all together. That all the

  211. scriptures are about Christ. It's concerning who? Concerning Christ. So you see, you can go to

  212. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and then you read it in isolation. You now understand what I mean about

  213. the life of Christ is from Genesis to Malachi. When you go to Acts, and you want to understand

  214. the book of Acts, you need to read Matthew, Mark, Luke, John to understand what is happening in Acts.

  215. Praise God. You see, these things I've said on to you will help you to read the entire Bible in

  216. context. Amen. So why are they called all the scriptures? We have learned also, right? Amen.

  217. We have learned that because they never came by the origin of man. Praise God. They never came by

  218. what? The origin of man. They were never an idea of man. Praise God. Hallelujah. Secondly, men wrote,

  219. prophets spoke as they were inspired by the Holy Ghost, by the Spirit of God. Praise God. And also,

  220. the central message there is about Christ's death and His resurrection. 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 10

    1 Peter 1:10–11

  221. to 11. 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 10 to 11. I'll just read this scripture and then I'll stop here.

    1 Peter 1:10–11

  222. I said all that I said because of the things we will start building on. Amen. So because we are

  223. going to be going to Genesis to Malachi, quote and unquote, all testament, to say most of the things I

  224. will say. The blessedness of the believer didn't start in the Acts. Amen. The blessedness of the

  225. believer is from Genesis to here. So which means when we study the book of Genesis to Malachi,

  226. we will see you there. Hallelujah. Because when we see Christ there, we will see the believer there

  227. too. Amen. Hallelujah. Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and sat diligently,

  228. who prophesied of the grace that should do what? Should come unto you. Verse 11.

  229. Starting what or what manner of the time the Spirit of Christ which was in them be signified

  230. when it is signified beforehand, the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should what?

  231. Should follow. The prophets spoke about it. Amen. 2 Peter 1, 20, 21. 2 Peter 1, 20, 21. 2 Peter

    2 Peter 1:20–21

  232. chapter 1, verse 20 to 21. Knowing this first that no prophecy of the scripture is of what?

  233. Any private what? Interpretation. Yes, 21. For the prophecy came not in old time. You see? In what?

  234. Old time, not in Old Testament. In old what? Time. Okay, we'll see in the next time we meet.

  235. By the will of man, but holy men of God speak as they were moved by what? By the Holy Ghost.

  236. By the Holy Ghost. Hallelujah. Praise God. So the whole scripture. So what are we learning this morning?

  237. We are learning one thing. That all scripture is concerning who?

  238. Concerning Christ. If Christ had to speak, he will speak from where? The scriptures. If Paul had to

  239. teach, he had to teach from where? The scripture. If James had to teach, he had to teach from where?

  240. The scriptures. If the apostles had to live their life, they were living their life from where?

  241. The scripture. If the believer has to live his life, he has to live his life from where?

  242. If you have to live your life, where should you live your life from? From the scriptures. Amen.

  243. Can we just bless God everybody? Just bless God. Just bless God everybody. One prayer I say,

  244. Holy Spirit, strengthen me to live my life by the scriptures.

  245. Strengthen me to live my life by the scriptures. Strengthen me. I receive strength in my inner man.

  246. I receive strength in my inner man. I receive strength in my inner man. I receive strength in

  247. my inner man. Thank you for listening to today's sermon. Your journey matters to us. Let's keep

  248. walking together. Visit our website for more resources and follow us on social media to stay

  249. social media to stay updated. Feel free to check the show notes for additional insights.

  250. If today's message was a blessing, share it with a friend. Till next time, be blessed.