Benefits Of The Spiritual Gathering

[0:01] Welcome. Thank you for choosing to listen to another word-filled message by David Entry. Preaching is the means by which God manifests His Word and nourishes our spirits. May the life of God enter into you and you as you listen to this message. Be blessed.

[0:18] It's nice to be in church. I said it's nice to be in church. Why is it nice to be in church?

[0:30] There is a social reason. How many of you, when the lockdown started last year, you really felt it?

[0:42] Not spiritually, but socially. You just felt... Your life was... It's like, what's happening to you? How many of you know people who during the lockdown, it affected their mental stability?

[0:55] Yeah. Because we are relational beings. We are created for relationship. That's why there's nobody alive who does not have a mother.

[1:08] Even if your father runs away, your mother must be there. At least to give birth to you. So when God decided to be a human being, He said, I also need a mother.

[1:20] And if you have a mother, you will have a people. So we are all part of... Ethnos.

[1:32] The Greek word is ethnos. Ethnic group. God created us and put us in groups.

[1:43] Which is very important. You can't underestimate that. You can't trivialize that. We were all created and put into groups. Now, why am I saying this? We come to church not purely for identity.

[1:56] Even though it solves a social problem. I don't understand why someone should say, I'm part of a church. I feel lonely. What? You have a church?

[2:08] And you feel lonely? Why? Usually they want to vilify or blame the church. People are not friendly. So look for where they are friendly and you to go and be friendly. If you don't have friends, the problem is you.

[2:25] I'm telling you, if you don't have friends, the problem is... I'm not saying it's a problem not to have friends. But I don't know. If you don't have people you relate with, you have certain bonding with. The problem is you.

[2:36] It's not them. It's in Proverbs. It says that he who will have friends must show himself friendly. So if you want friends, then you have to be friendly. Proverbs chapter something 7 or somewhere there.

[2:51] Okay, 1824. A man who has friends must himself... What? Be friendly. A man who has friends must himself be friendly.

[3:03] You know, he needs friends. He must be friendly. So one of the benefits of fellowship, church fellowship, is interactions.

[3:15] Interaction. I mean, that's actually... Basically, that's what fellowship is about. So you can't say you don't know or you are not known. If you are part of a fellowship, you will know and you'll be known.

[3:29] And one of the challenges that can come with fellowship is someone might get too close and step on your foot. Because I can't step on your foot if I'm far from you. The challenges of getting closer to somebody...

[3:42] Loving from afar is the easiest way to laugh. It's the easiest... There are a lot of people... There are people who laugh... Okay, let me even say me.

[3:54] I went to Ghana. People say, I follow you. I mean, Pastor. They say, I love you. I follow... See, but they laugh because they are very far. When they come close and we start rebuking them...

[4:06] Where necessary or where if you are necessary. You know, everyone might have excesses at some times as human. Then you can tell whether this love was genuine or not.

[4:18] There are people who say, I love charisma. I love charisma. It's the slightest point. If you realize that they were really never in love. It's they love themselves so much.

[4:32] But they assume... Girls, listen to me. Because you think somebody loves you. It's not you. Yeah. He has found what he loves with you.

[4:44] There are people who come to church. They love what God has got to give. But not the God who gives. Yeah. It's very easy and common to have that. But anyway, so...

[4:55] Fellowship is one important thing that every human being needs. That's why we were born into families. Are you learning something? If Satan wants to attack your spiritual life...

[5:08] He will first of all not target your purity. No, your purity is not what he will target. Your fellowship. Your fellowship. When people open their mouth and begin to say some things...

[5:22] That you are surprised. Spiritual. Or about church. About spirit. Just check who they have been talking to. You realize that the fellowship... There is a problem with their fellowship somewhere. Or who they have been listening to.

[5:33] They have started listening to some cowboys online. Okay. So when we come together... There is a social benefit.

[5:45] Sir, can I ask you a question? Are you married? You are? How did you meet your wife? Classroom? Secondary school? No, in church. In church. Oh, so you can find wife in church?

[5:58] Best place to meet a future spouse is in church. That's how I met my wife. Look at how much peace she has given me in my life. Now, we are created for fellowship.

[6:10] That's why some of you like parties. Is there anything wrong with parties? Jesus used to attend it. He attended it. But definitely not the one that...

[6:21] Some people will be there. No, you know. Jesus was not always in church. He was attending parties of unbelievers. And he went to dance.

[6:32] He saw the fruits. You, the ones you have been attending. Where's your fruits? We saw this woman, the Mary prostitute.

[6:42] She comes and then breaks a labaster box and uses her hair to wipe... Her tears to wipe his feet. And they said, look at this man. You can't even tell she's a sinner. And Jesus said that to him whose sin is...

[6:54] Much is forgiven. He loves much. You, when I came to your house, Simon, Matthew chapter 8, Luke chapter 10. You didn't give me... When I came to your house, you didn't give me water to wash my feet.

[7:06] But this one, he said, there's no cease to clean my feet with her hair. And you have the audacity to condemn her. Jesus went into one bibes or bibes.

[7:16] He went and sat amongst them. But by the time he was getting up, most of them have given up. So when you are saying Jesus went there, please validate also you are went in there with the following results.

[7:30] Let the results show. But if you are went in there and no results following you, no results for you, please, you didn't go there for God. God didn't send you.

[7:41] You went there for your flesh. I think these things are quite important. Anywhere you keep going, you are not getting fruits, spiritual fruits. And the atmosphere is not a holy atmosphere.

[7:53] It says, son, don't go there. Don't be going there because it's really, something always happens. You are being polluted or you are cleansing the place.

[8:05] Something that, and when you cleanse the place, you will always see certain impacts. Somebody will call you afterwards. They know because when you came, I don't feel like, no, I'm going to follow you. I'm going, people, it's important.

[8:16] All right. So we meet for, fellowshipping is a very important aspect of our meeting. Those of you who braved and came to look for God, God will also meet you at the point of your life.

[8:31] Yeah. It's important. All these things go, go down in, it's like, time box. You're taking it. You're taking it.

[8:41] is forming what God is doing and what God can do in your life. So when we gather, fellowship is a necessary aspect, but it is not just for fellowship, not just for social interaction.

[8:56] It's for a spiritual atmosphere where God can feel comfortable and begin to show up in our midst to do some things. So I believe that after a godly service, when you, by the time you are living, something God of God has been added to you.

[9:13] I believe that by the time you are living a godly atmosphere, a godly service, your testimony has increased. I believe it. I believe it. I believe it. So when God wants to help you, he will organize and order your steps into a certain environment where he'll be.

[9:30] Now, people have to understand this very, very importantly. And so when we go into lockdown or when we went into lockdown, it affected a lot of people's spirituality because not only socially, they were starving, but spiritually too, most people don't have the discipline to sit at home and listen to messages.

[9:48] Those of you who were feeding more on the messages, it actually strengthened you better. It strengthened you more. That is why the central aspect of our fellowship is the word of God.

[9:59] Now, when people who didn't connect to the word of God, sometimes you can be in church and you are very active by virtue of responsibility, but spirituality, you are at ground zero. Yeah, you can be spiritually.

[10:12] There are people here who have been very active, but spiritually, you are not in a good state at all. At all. Pastor, so what do you do? Do I stop being active?

[10:23] You know, in fact, that is even the last thing you are holding on to. Yeah. I'm telling you, it has a way of keeping you going. It casts away because your activity and responsibility keeps you in an environment like this where the word of God can reach out to you easily.

[10:41] So when God wants to reach out to you, it's easier for him to do it than when you are free and off duty. Off duty police officer.

[10:53] So, our fellowship or our meetings, number one, is for fellowship, but something bigger and better, is for God to have koinonia, God himself, to have certain levels of interactions with us which will not happen otherwise because he said, where two or three are gathered in my name, Matthew chapter 18, verse 18, 20, there I am.

[11:16] I am there. So then, if we have been gathered in his name, there is a way he is not here. Does that make sense? When they had prayed, where they stood shook, on the day of Pentacles, they were all together in one place.

[11:28] Acts chapter 2, verse 1 and 2 and 3, they were all together in one accord and there came a sound from heaven and that field, it's interesting, the sound that came from heaven filled where they were, not some other place.

[11:42] Filled the house. There came a sound like the Asherah, filled the whole house where they were sitting. So, where the limits of the sound was determined by where the last person was.

[11:57] So then, it didn't spill over to where they were not. There is something spiritually intense about our gathering.

[12:08] When we come together, it's a false goal, an opportunity to do, to do or carry out something on earth that otherwise he can't. These things are very important.

[12:20] Don't mind those who tell you that God can do anything wherever you are. God can visit you there. It's a sign of lack of spiritual understanding. Now, the main thing I want to bring to your attention is when God wants to act and do some things in your life, he will allow you by his sovereign power to engage or be exposed to what necessitates his engagement.

[12:48] So then, God doesn't, people think like, you see, the way Mary in the Bible, according to Luke chapter 1, verse 26, and there was a, the angel, an angel called Gabriel was sent to something called Nazareth to a virgin called Mary, right?

[13:06] A virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary, an angel was sent to. See, there are quite a few conditions that must be met for the angel to be, she must have been betrothed, engaged, that's what I mean, she must have been engaged to a man called Joseph.

[13:26] Joseph was a good man, Bible said, because Joseph was a good man, Matthew chapter 1, verse, I think, 18, 19, the Bible said, Joseph was a good man. Yeah, 19, 20, somewhere there.

[13:38] Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, not just good, just man. So, who you marry, who Mary was engaged to, was, those are all parts of God's arrangements.

[13:50] So, she must be married to a guy, and the guy she's married to must be from the house of David. And then Mary herself must be resident, must have permanent residence in, verse 20, the previous verse, 6, 1, 10, Nazareth, yeah, must be a resident of Nazareth.

[14:15] All this, and then a bigger aspect of it too was, she must be a virgin. So, there are conditions that God had put in place that would necessitate what he was going to do in Mary's life.

[14:28] If one of these conditions were breached, he wouldn't have done it. So, this is why you know that God is actually a master planner. He's a puppet master. He orchestrates situations.

[14:40] Only God knows how Mary met Joseph. How? And he waited as soon as they got engaged because if they were not engaged, who would go to a pregnant woman in those days?

[14:53] So, he waited for Joseph to commit himself. Those days, engagement was not like these times. Those days, engagement was like proper traditional marriage. You are married. The only thing is engagement cannot be consummated.

[15:06] In other words, the husband and wife cannot come together in marriage union because they have not married. So, when you engage somebody those days, you have to now go through divorce proceedings to divorce him or her.

[15:22] So, engaging somebody is like you're already almost locked into it. So, God waited. When he got engaged, then one day the lady came and said, I am pregnant. Huh? Hey, in Jewish times, she has to be stoned.

[15:38] You can't do that. You are somebody's practice, somebody's wife and you commit adultery. He said, play, play, play, don't be angry. It's not me. It's not me. But who? He said, an angel is the Lord who did it.

[15:51] Hey! In fact, she said, the Holy Ghost has impregnated me. Hey! If you were Joseph said, my friend, you think I'm a fool. How can you speak like that? Matthew is there.

[16:03] Matthew chapter 1 verse 18. Bible said, watch this, she was found to be with child. Watch this. Now, the birth of Jesus was as follows. After his mother was betrothed, engaged to Joseph, before, before, before he could download his diary, yes, pay diary, before he could say, no, before, God, before, before, before, before they came together, she was, ah, what is wrong with you, Mary?

[16:35] Mary? Mary? Mary? Mary? Mary? Mary? Mary? Mary? Mary? Mary? Mary? Mary? Mary? Holy Ghost? No. Which one? Which of the guys in this town is called Holy Ghost?

[16:55] What? Most of you guys will never have it. You will never have it. How? That doesn't matter. God himself can't explain it. You won't take it. No way.

[17:08] Huh? Before they could come together. So Mary, at least you wait for me to come together with you. But God's timing was perfect. Because if they had come together, they would have said he's the son of Joseph.

[17:22] And there wouldn't have been any social problem for Mary. They would have flown. So God, you know, it's not every coming together that produces pregnancy. sometimes after eight times, after nine times, even some of you may play.

[17:36] Different times. you know what I'm talking about. So God could have just that you let the first time of coming together, and then God afterwards meets the same night, come and meet Mary.

[17:51] And blow into her. So when she, it don't create any social problem, no social tension. Joseph's parents would not be upset. Joseph's friends would not be, you allowed that girl to cheat on you.

[18:03] You. What kind of man are you? All done. You didn't have to face all those things. But God said no. Because he had already given a word in Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14 that I'll me myself, I'll give you a sign when I'm coming on earth.

[18:19] When God said when I'm ready to come, I'll give you a sign. What is the sign? A virgin. How? No way. How can a virgin conceive? Who has ever heard anything like this before?

[18:30] A virgin? A virgin shall conceive and bear a son? No. No, no, no, no. He shall call his name Emmanuel? No, no, no, no, no. God has already spoken about it. But he needed someone to be there as a father figure.

[18:44] So to the standard, nobody knew. They didn't know that Jesus was not the actual son of Joseph. They suppose he was, Joseph was the father of Jesus according to Luke chapter 3 verse, I think 24 or so.

[19:00] Yes, Jesus began, from that time, Jesus began his ministry. And he was the son of Joseph as it was supposed. They said, don't we know him?

[19:11] So, Joseph was around and God needed all these situations, circumstances to be in place. Pastor, how about the people who never have the privilege of having it? God will always connect you to a certain environment because we live in a falling world.

[19:29] There are some of us, you can't eat some kind of food because of allergies. You know, but as human life is like we all, there are some things, A will react to, B will not react to.

[19:43] And so, in the same way, when it comes to family settings, everybody will know, not all of us will have it perfect. Am I communicating anything at all? So, God, when God wants to do something for you, when God is in my destiny, it is in my destiny to appear in certain, at certain levels.

[20:10] How did it happen? It's in my destiny. Before God formed me, he knew this way he's taking me to. It isn't because I prayed and it happened. Okay? It is part of God's plan.

[20:21] And so, if God wants to take you somewhere, he will connect you or expose you to certain environments, certain insights, certain teachings, certain prayers, for you to engage in it, for that to happen.

[20:35] God is in charge, but he does not violate any plan. So, what am I trying to communicate? There are things God has put in place to guarantee his engagement in your life.

[20:47] Number one, those of you who are married and you abuse your wife, true blessing, you will see too. Ah, no, I've discovered it. So, what's the point I'm making here?

[20:59] When God wants to bless you, he will let you hear what I'm saying. Because you wouldn't have known that the reason why this thing is not happening is because something you are, you are not doing something right.

[21:13] Some of us, your, the toxic nature of the relationship with your parents, your mother or father is going to sponsor your demise. So, you need to take, take the rag, pull the rag off the enemy's feet, so long as your relationship with your parents is concerned.

[21:33] Maybe she's a trouble, she, she's, or he is a, but you have to find a way so you don't add to it. Don't, because it's a law.

[21:45] There are things that will, will be provoked, or that there are some goodness of God that will be manifested in your life based on your prayer. There are some goodness of God that will be manifested in your life based on your relationship with your mother, your pastor, your wife.

[22:02] There are people who will just come into church, sit down, listen, and go. There are certain goodness that can manifest in your life by to be kept, because there are other goodness that are based on your service. You know, so there's a box to take for everything.

[22:17] Don't pull prayer to cover everything. And even that, most of the praying is not a prayer that is born from hunger for God between you and you lying at the altar.

[22:29] It's just an environmental prayer. Are you getting what I'm saying? God is sovereign. But for him to show up in somebody's life, if he wants to show up in your life, he will cause you, let's say, your relationship with your mother-in-law was not nice, and he wants to bless you.

[22:50] God forbid, that's not the case. He wants to bless you. Now, he will cause you to hear this thing, that's insights. And suddenly, the next day of the morning, your mother-in-law was going to call. Maybe it would have caused a problem.

[23:01] But this time, you remember the divine info, and you were rather nice, and just that, the woman felt like, oh, this guy is so good to me. This guy, just that peace in her heart has accrued something for you.

[23:17] It's not like she's going to talk to somebody on your behalf. I'm talking about a spiritual mood. A spiritual, how many of you know people who can finish the same course, pass with exceptional grace, but one can be doing very high, and the other one to for years, still not going away.

[23:38] Why? Is it just the grace? No, it's the grace they should have been at the same level. You can see people who get married at the same time, one, a couple, two different couples, one are doing another place.

[23:50] You can see someone who is in church, they arrive in church at the same time, one is rising, the other I mean, people are only operating on the surface, but the authenticity is missing.

[24:01] But spiritual thing responds based on authenticity, not just activities. Other than that, the Pharisees would have been way ahead of Jesus. Because when it comes to activities, they are solid.

[24:14] They would have been their disciples, Jesus would have been their disciples, because their activities were solid, but it didn't have authenticity.

[24:24] God wants to help you. Maybe this Christmas, you might have to call your mom, call your dad.

[24:38] Those are key, not your sister and brother, you can't call them, it's all nice. But the key ones, your mom, your dad, some of us, one day you might have to go and apologize. Yeah.

[24:49] You might have to go and apologize for the way I treated you. I'm sorry. Dad, please forgive me. You'll be wondering, what has happened to this, my girl?

[25:01] This one. Maybe you didn't know, that's why this environment is meant to help you. So it's not just the laying on of hands, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, your mindset, your worldview.

[25:17] So I've mentioned honor, I've mentioned the way you treat your spouse, your mother, your pastor, please. Don't say hello, pastor, but you are lying.

[25:30] I will not know, I will pray, from my heart, it's even more dangerous for you. Because I have now engaged authenticity. This thing, the way it works is strange.

[25:45] The way, when God wants to help you, he will put some insights and inspire your heart to do something. But most of the time, we won't do it. Because of wrong exposure, disinformation, miseducation, or heartiness of heart.

[26:01] So we won't do it. And then we miss it. There are times you don't know what you have missed out. Because six figures salary job was coming. But you never knew it was coming.

[26:14] You ended up getting something under 50k. But you were already in 30. So 50 was like a breakthrough. But originally it's six figures. But you never know. You will never know.

[26:25] Until you begin to engage in some things and they begin to produce fruits, you realize that this thing, I've been telling my wife every now and a second, this thing is strange the way it works. Because I am creaming from the practices.

[26:38] Oh yeah, I'm telling you, I'm creaming from it. It is helping me. Oh yeah, I'm telling you. It works. When crisis, hardship is prolonged in your life, something is missing.

[26:56] There's something you must engage in to break it. There's a certain practice. When hardship is prolonging in your life and it doesn't look abated and it's not compromising, it's not quenching, there is something you might have to start practicing to break it.

[27:13] Yeah. You see, God, when he wants to bless you, he will create the room for you to step out in faith. That is why I can't afford to be a non-believer. And I can't afford to be in a place where you don't hear some things that will move you to the next level based on your practice.

[27:30] We can all hear, but not all of us will experience. Because it says that, John 13, 16, it says that, blessed are you for these things you hear. It said, if you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

[27:45] So it's one thing knowing, another thing doing. And there are a lot of people who come to church and they are not doing what they know. Apart from, I don't steal, I don't lie, I don't fornicate, I know into that.

[27:59] And we live, that is not even, can you imagine that you are a police officer and you say, I don't engage in drugs, but what else do you expect?

[28:11] So, but you should talk about how you do your work with diligence. You do your, so what you are supposed to do, it's not what you are not doing. We focus too much, me, I'm not like that.

[28:22] And we keep comparing ourselves with others. Me, I'm not like this, I'm not like that. I come to church only, I don't come late, I do this, I do that, all those things are important, but it is easy for you to do some things, you have left the way you should treat your husband, the way you should treat your wife, the way you should treat your mother, the way you should forgive that person in the church that you don't like talking to.

[28:44] Most people are emotional, spiritually, when they say they are spiritual, it's all emotive. Please, there are things we practice, if you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

[28:59] Blessing is more a function of what you do, more than what you wish. Thank you for listening to this message by David Entry. To hear more from David Entry, follow him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

[29:15] You can also subscribe to Carish Church on YouTube. Don't forget to share and subscribe to our podcast so you're always up to date. Be blessed. Be blessed. Be blessed.

[29:25] Be blessed. Be blessed. Be blessed. Be blessed. Be blessed. Be blessed. Be blessed.