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good morning, church! [good morning.] acting on the word hallelujah. [amen.] acting on the word demands for believing and believing demands action – creates action. it is not just mental assent. it does not just admire or admit without acting upon it. action!
the scoan sunday service now, it is time to bring jesus one the scene. the direction to follow - you have seen it all. how do we bring jesus on the scene? when you say, "in jesus' name" and jesus would just come. ask your neighbour, “how do we bring jesus on the scene?†[how do we bring jesus on the scene?] i cannot hear you. there are many: "be healed, be delivered, amen" but jesus is not there.
you are just saying words. there is a difference between praying prayer and saying words. there is a difference between what? praying prayer and saying words. acting on the word is letting christ act through you. tell your neighbour. [acting on the word is letting christ act through you.] i mean, acting on the word then gives christ an opportunity to heal, deliver and set you free. he is looking for an opportunity to eat with you, talk to you, greet you; "how are you?", to touch you,
to live with you - just an opportunity. by acting on the word then gives christ an opportunity. by looking into the word and acting on it will bring christ on the scene. the problem of believing is made easy when you know that it is acting on what god has spoken. repeat after me. the problem of believing is made easy when you know that it is acting on what god has spoken - very very... it is made simple. faith is perfected by our acting on the word.
the problem of believing is made very simple when you know that it is acting on what jesus has spoken. love your neighbour as yourself, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal - just act on those things - the commandments. it is so simple, when you know that it is acting on what he has spoken. you will be talking about me but you cannot behave like me. if you are saying, "t.b. joshua is this and that" - this is all you know about me. but what of my behavior? i can run - can you run? i can laugh - will you also laugh?
i can dance - can you dance? t.b. joshua can run - can you run? if you cannot run - you do not know t.b. joshua. this is the problem we are having in our faith today. say, "action!" [action!] believing demands action – creates action. that is believing. we are hearers but not doers.
since you are a hearer, you just have sense knowledge – mental assent. being just a hearer and not a doer – if there is anything you have faith in, it is in man; what man has done – science, works and organization. these are the things you can have faith in - not in god. to have faith in god, you must be a doer of the word. if you are a doer, you have faith in god but if you are just a hearer of the word, if there is anything you have faith in, is in man – what man has done, science, works and organization and more. these are the things you can have faith in because you are not a doer of the word.
that is why you can build a big beautiful church, you can organize things, you are a good organizer, you can plan an organization or church, you can build a big building... science - yes, you can make things happen just like that. these are man's natural gifts. this does not necessarily demand for an obedience to god to be endowed naturally. you learn, you study, you pay the price. can you see now why it is difficult for you to have faith in god? you hear and study the word of god, you commit it to memory, not in your heart. if there is anything you have faith in - it is in what man has done.
these are the things you have faith in because you are a hearer and not a doer. that is "a sense knowledge, mental assent" which i describe as "admires, admits but does not act on the word". i admire your look, you look good. that does not mean i can die for you. there is an extent i can go... these are the reasons you look at the appearance when you want to marry. the man is rich, looks handsome, the lady looks beautiful - they have some outward qualities. this is mental assent.
if you go now “by believing†to marry somebody and carry god along, you demand for action, create an action - and this must come from your heart. the bible says that what does not come from the heart is a sin. action must come from your heart. heart. the love of the heart is love of god. tell your neighbour, “i have found the secretâ€. [i have found the secret.] let the word be loosed in you, let the word dominate you,
let the word rule you, let the word live in you. these are the secrets. i have found the secret. let the word rule you, let the word be loosed in you, let the word dominate you, let the word live in you - these are the secrets of bringing jesus on the scene. the secret of bringing what? [these are the secrets of bringing jesus on the scene.] each time you call, "jesus!" - people around would hear you, you would hear yourself but jesus does not what? [hear you.]
does not hear you - that is very frustrating. this is what happened to the seven sons of sceva; when jesus could not hear them - what happened? the demon jumped on them and said, "paul i know, jesus i know; but who are you?" they started beating them. if jesus heard them jesus would be there to act for them, to defend them, to protect them. ok, take your pen and write, “the secret of bringing jesus on the scene, i have found it today.†i have found the secret, the secret of bringing jesus on the scene: let the word be loosed in you, let the word dominate you, let the word rule you, let the word live in you.
that is the secret. that is just the secret. loose is l o o s e. once you have this; you will be eating with jesus... when you say "jesus!", he will reply, "what do you want?" you would say, "be healed!" you say, "jesus!", he would reply, "- what do you want? - i want you to come sleep with me.- ok, don't worry. give me another pillow." [hallelujah]
you can see the reason why you are just calling yourself every day instead of jesus. if you don’t give, you don’t receive. in this case now, you have to give to receive; not money – your quality time, strength and love. you must give your quality time to the word of god, your quality love to the word of god. if you were not here but at home - where can you go? can you go to work today? can you go to the bank? today is not your quality time. you know what i'm talking about.
your quality time is when you are in between a billion dollars... here is prayer and somebody is calling you, "- hey, come and receive this. - no, i want to pray. when i finish the prayer i will come.- if you come after prayer you will miss the money. - ok, let me miss the money. let me pray first." how many of us can do that? choice can be the greatest gift you have. there are many of us today that were supposed to be here and i can see that one or two them are not around. by the time you meet them, they will say that while they were coming to the church they received a phone call that their dear one was in coma.
it is a time for a choice now. would you choose to go to your dear one that is in coma or come to god? who is the creator of the one that is in coma? god is not one of those things, he is the only one. even your coming here can revive the one in coma. you don't put god where god belongs - that is the problem you are having now. in the house of many of us - we don't have an altar. you are leaving the church now, you get back home; the morning water you received - you take it there. your bible, your booklet you received you place it there.
before you enter your room or any other place, you go straight to the altar - you go on your knees at the table of your altar - you place everything you have received today (morning water...) on the table with your bible and give thanks to god for giving you the grace to come back home. it is like you believe that angels of god have followed from here; you take them back to your altar to stay there for you - when you are going home... when you just get home to your sitting room, bedroom you hang your clothes - "where is my food?" you don't have an altar. sometimes, you just have a revelation that you want to fast and pray today
and you will only be at the altar there that day. you tell your family, "i'm there" - you just lay down there and pray. an altar should be a place where you should give the highest regard to god. we see god as one of those things... no - he is the only, not one of those things. don't restrict god with arrangements you make. that is why it is difficult for me to wear an expensive watch. because i cannot "time" god. if i have a watch i will not look at it when i am in the presence of god. i will not "time" him.
he should tell me when to start and when to finish, or when i should leave here. i should not to begin to look at the watch, "oh, this is twelve o'clock..." i don't "time" him. these are the steps we are ignorantly taking and we say that we are serving god. you are not serving god - it is god who is serving you. now, i’m looking at you; i can’t see anyone among you holding this. while i'm talking i continue to "fire on" - and that is the purpose of it. while i'm talking, you should also be in an attitude of prayer by saying, "take more of me lord, give me more of you."
if you cannot do that here, you will definitely forget about it at home while watching tv. you should be "counting your faith" while watching tv. you must get used to it. you must cultivate the habit of building yourself – you need to build yourself. when you build yourself, god will take it up - god will take you somewhere and start building you but you must first of all start building yourself before god can take it up and begin to build you. god will not start building you from scratch. look at what happened to peter - i keep giving a good example of peter.
when peter wanted to meet him on the sea, he said, "come". he said, "i want to come with you". jesus said, "come. take a step." it was the step peter took and was coming, and started to drown... finally, when he was about to disappear in the sea... jesus allowed him to test his faith. your faith needs to be tested. a relationship must go through hard and good times before it can be mature before it can be called a relationship.
if everything goes smoothly on monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday - i will not wait for friday before going on a fast and pray, "god i am sensing danger." this world is not our home; we are only passing through it. you are doing a business; big profits from monday to thursday - you know you are walking towards danger. that profit - something is coming to destroy all the profit you made from monday to thursday. you have to pause. you may not even go to work on friday because the profit is alarming. monday - profit, tuesday - profit, wednesday - profit, thursday - profit; don't go to work on friday. avoid what?
avoid profit - tell your neighbour. [avoid profit.] that profit may be dangerous. just avoid profit. say, "no. lock the shop. don't come to my shop and buy - no." when someone comes to your shop asking, "where is that gentleman?" they would answer, "he is not around; the shop is not open today." yes, go fast and pray. “in this world, there will be tribulation; cheer up, i have overcome for you!â€
because you don't know you are in the world. you don't know how the bible describes that world to us - believers. this world is not my home - sing it for them. let them listen to that song. this world is not my homei’m just passing through my treasures are laid upsomewhere beyond the blue the angels beckon mefrom heaven’s open doors and i can’t feel at homein this world any more you may be seated. crises, situations, if you are a christian, are friends and not your enemies.
when you begin to see your situation as a friend, you will overcome it. because you know you are the cause of your situation, that is why you see it as an enemy but it is not. they are meant to promote you. the examination you are doing for promotion, are they enemies? [no.] that is the way, that is the life. you have done a lot of examinations to be where you are today. examinations are not enemies; they are enemies when you are not prepared for them. when the examination comes and you are not prepared, it becomes an enemy to you
but when you prepare for an examination, you pray, you are happy – it is your friend. everybody - people pray... those who want to be promoted pray for examination all the time because they want to be promoted. when the examination comes and you pass, you’re promoted; that is the situation to you, christians. your situations are friends; they are meant to promote you. in the world, examination promotes when you pass but in the spirit, you cannot remain stagnant; you need to be promoted. the situation can be any type of situation; it depends on how it is designed - as it should be by divine will.
your situation could be sickness, poverty, hardship, infirmity, disappointment. situations are meant for our spiritual benefit. [situations are meant for our spiritual benefit.] yes. they are meant for your spiritual benefit, for your spiritual growth. your situation could be this, could be that; sickness, disappointment... when you sit down and you cannot define the cause of your situation... all of us here that have a situation know the cause of your situation. you know how many people you have duped in the past.
you know, out there how you met a spiritualist to collect concoction, charm and dropped it on the seat of your boss, so that your boss can be removed, so that you can take over the position. you know how you decided to gang up against your boss and you took a report or petition to the authority, lying against your boss. at the end of the day the boss was fired. you are promoted to the position. you know you are a drunkard; you can drink a lot of alcohol. if there is a damage in your organs, don't call it spiritual benefit.
it is not a spiritual benefit - it is to kill you; if god doesn't intervene. i'm talking of... when you accept jesus as your lord and saviour and you renounce your past and follow him, whatever situation you are facing is for your spiritual benefit. are you with me? let's stand up and hear this. the day you accept jesus as your lord and saviour, with all your heart – when i say "with all your heart" i mean - you mean it. you know - some of us, we don't mean what we are saying.
the day you accept jesus as your lord and saviour, with all your heart – you mean it and you follow him, whatever situation whatever challenges you will be facing after accepting jesus as your lord and saviour - jesus never said that when you accept him, you will not face challenges, this is why he said, “i pray your faith will not fail!†he was talking to his disciples and insisted, "i pray, your faith, simon, will not fail." it means that something is coming, that will challenge their faith. what can challenge our faith? situations.
satan. mess and stupid things – could be sickness, disease, disappointment, setback, infirmity. "i pray your faith will not fail" - it means that something is coming that will challenge their faith, that will make them say, "will i continue to follow this man, or should i go back to the world?" that is temptation, he was talking about. the day you accept him and you mean it with all your heart... he never said that when you accept him, you will not face tribulation, trouble and challenges. there will be challenges; those challenges are meant for your spiritual benefit because you are not alone. tell your neighbour, "i am not alone".
[i am not alone.] so, why are you afraid? why are you living as a christian, as if there will no more be challenges or temptations? there will be trouble and situations but those situations, challenges and temptations are meant for your spiritual benefit. benefit means to promote you. when you face a situation, you are not alone; after that situation, you are up. we christians cannot pray for challenges. we cannot just sit and begin to say, "temptation should come."
it is something we could be demanding for because they are promotion. you know the way you are looking for a promotion out there - you know. outside there you know how desperate you are to be promoted. if it was possible, you would like to be promoted everyday. if it is possible, everyday you want to seek for an examination. i want to give you a key that will help your life. anytime you are facing a situation or challenges, it is time to honour jesus before men. do you honour him? look, i may be having pain here now - it is time to be happy before men.
i will be happy before men. anytime you are facing challenges of any kind, it is time to honour jesus before who? [men.] before men. it is only when you want a contract, you honour jesus before men. what satan wants for you when situations come – he wants you to be sad; that is what he wants and that sadness is not permitted by the holy spirit because the holy spirit wants a free spirit to operate. your spirit must be free and if our spirit is free, joy and happiness comes
but when you are not free, your spirit is not free and you are worried, forget about it– that is not for the holy spirit; the holy spirit is not allowed at that moment. so, satan wants you to be sad all the time because he knows what it means to be sad; to be sad is to be out of god; to be unhappy is to be out of god. he knows that when you are sad, you are out of god and he doesn’t want you to be with god, he wants you to be out of god. when you are not happy, you are out of god. that is why that situation will come. when you are happy; suddenly you receive a phone call, "do you know that this thing happened?"
suddenly sadness comes. the joy that was there before is gone. jesus is gone - satan enters. jesus must be honoured must be honoured must be honoured jesus must be honoured in my life every day when you are not happy, you can’t make any good decision. it means, you cannot pray and if you try to pray, you are praying to yourself - people around you will hear you but god will not hear you. can you see the need to be happy and joyful even when there is nothing to be happy about;
you just have to be happy. what satan wants to achieve is to take you out of god. the moment you are not happy, you are out of god; he can attack you and have access to you. the only time satan has access to you is when you are not happy. when you are happy, satan cannot have access to you. i am not saying, “create happinessâ€. you can create happiness when you go to beer parlour begin to drink, to smoke to be happy... that is happiness you created by yourself. or you go to a party, begin to dance - you create that happiness; i am not talking about that happiness.
i am talking about a natural one that comes as a result of your deeds. the medicine of your situation is happiness. the happiness you had before your situation, don’t quit it. when a situation comes, you can still hold on to your joy. quickly remember what the bible says, “in this world, amidst that tribulation, cheer up!†amidst - in the middle of that situation - that is the word, "cheer up". c h e e r in the middle, midst of that trouble, bad news, attack – you are inside that serious attack, don’t forget, he said, “cheer up! be happy! that will make me to have access to youâ€.
because he wants to have access to you while you are in trouble and to have access to you, you have to be happy in that trouble, so that he can come and rescue you. these are the decisions we need to make when we follow him. i have decided to follow jesusi have decided to follow jesus i have decided to follow jesusno turning back no turning back someone is coming to know whether you mean it. someone came to god and asked him, “let me go to this man to know whether he means it.†satan came to god, "please, allow me. i mean this man doesn't mean it. he said he follows - he doesn't mean it." god answered, " - he means it.- ok, allow me. let me confirm whether he means it"
when he is coming to you, he can come with sickness, attack or whatever to show whether you mean it. if you mean what you said. if you mean it with all your heart, the more that attack, the more your desire for god. the more that temptation, the more your desire for god but when you don’t mean it and the attack comes, you will look back and begin to see jesus in a bad light. "where i am coming from, there is nothing like this; i thought when i accept this man - no problem." take care of yourself; someone is coming to confirm whether you mean it and he will not stop coming; his coming is to promote you if you mean it.
tell your neighbour, "if you mean it, he is coming to promote you". can't you hear what paul said in the book of romans? “what can separate me from the love of god?†because he meant it; he said it with all his heart. indeed, trouble and tribulation came; there was nothing that did not come to paul but the more those things, the more his desire for god. what can separate me from the love of christ? can disease? can affliction?
can poverty? can hardship? can death? what can separate me? [nothing.] if you mean it! you may be seated - thank you. the hardship in your nation, the attack on christians or whatever cannot separate you from the love of god, rather, it strengthens your desire.
what is holy is what we attack and what is dirty we don’t attack. tell your neighbour, “what is holy, what is awesome, we attack.†if you are not worth it, no-one will attack you. there are many people on the street; they live on the street, they sleep on the street, they live under the bridge, they sleep outside; nobody attacks them. attack on you is to show your potential, your value. the more the attack the more your value. if you are worth it, you deserve attack from those who are not worth it. you can never envy someone who is below you but someone above you.
do you still envy those who are below you? who are the people you envy? someone is also envying you and that envy can lead to attack; that envy can lead to death. therefore, you have decided to follow jesus – meant it! tell your neighbour, "mean it!" [mean it!] someone is coming to ask you, someone is coming to confirm – mean it! thank you.