Practicing The Local Church

[0:00] Thank you for choosing to listen to today's message by Reverend Dr. David Etrie. We know you will be blessed as you seek and serve God. We believe that this message will stir up a desire for more of God even as you listen.

[0:13] Be blessed. Today I want to preach a message by God's grace. I would like to focus on the practice of the local church. Practicing, sorry, sorry, practicing the local church.

[0:26] We got to get this church thing right. When we say church, what do we actually mean? Let's get it right. Let's get serious.

[0:40] I mean, let's get serious. So I want to take, let's go to Revelation chapter 1. Now, anytime, in fact, when you go out, outreach, sometimes you meet people.

[1:02] Sometimes you meet people and you'll be shocked at the ignorance, confident ignorance of people. People are so ignorant and yet they're very confident.

[1:15] Yesterday, there was a man who said, what, Pastor Frank said, you mean, you don't believe. He said, I can't believe in creation as the Bible is saying. And I can't believe.

[1:26] I believe in panspermia. That means extraterrestrial. Some strange creatures coming to, they are responsible for our living. Pastor Frank said, I can't believe someone in their normal sense who even want to believe something like this.

[1:43] So it's interesting how people can jump on anything and try to believe anything. But one of the things that with all the belief systems that there are, they all must fit into one.

[2:01] If anything that does not, is not in coherence or consistency with origin, meaning.

[2:12] What's the meaning of life? What's the meaning of marriage? What's the meaning of having a child? What's the meaning of going to school? Origin. Origin, where is it coming from? The meaning.

[2:24] Morality. And destiny. These four major pillars. Every religion or every philosophy of ideology must be able to have these things in consistence or in agreement.

[2:40] Because if you talk about origin, if you speak about origin in a certain way, that defies morality. Then your argument is falling by its own weight. It's suffering intellectual hemophilia.

[2:51] So, origin, meaning, morality, and destiny. You say, are you saying that we emerge from the slimes?

[3:05] There's no purpose for our living. So then somebody can just walk on the streets or anywhere, catch somebody's baby, cook the baby and eat. But why are you saying that's wrong?

[3:16] On what basis? On what basis do you define wrong and right? Maybe it feels wrong to you, but to the person it's right. So where are you deriving your morality from?

[3:29] Right and wrong. What makes you think something is right? For you to talk about human rights. And what makes you think something is wrong? Who defines what is wrong or what is right? Oh, but human beings, you know, we are developing, so we have common sense.

[3:44] We are able to... No, no. What you think is common sense is foolishness to somebody else. And what someone calls common sense is foolishness to you. So who defines the morality? Who defines what is right?

[3:58] Who defines... If you say we just appeared from something like worms, then anybody I talk and walk upon us, it doesn't make any difference. So origin, your definition of origin, your ideology of origin must be consistent with morality, must be consistent with meaning.

[4:19] If you feel you are tired in life, you can just kill yourself because after all there's no purpose for your life. See, that's meaninglessness. But thank God for the Bible. The Bible gives us all the answers.

[4:31] It's origin, meaning, morality, and destiny. So you can't... That's why they want to attack Genesis. Genesis is just attacking origin.

[4:45] Oh, but science says, who says? Who is science? What is it? Is it a fact or is it an ideology or an opinion? What's Darwin there?

[4:57] And where is he now? Look at the way your situation... Your life is struggling. Look at the way you get very frustrated with your children, with your wife, with your husband, with your sister, with your cousin.

[5:11] Look, you can't be... You say you're a scientist. I bet you science cannot give you answers to your own personal, emotional issues. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

[5:23] Look at the way you are sexually attracted to everybody. You are confused. You can't handle your sexuality. You are confused. Hey. So, what is Darwin?

[5:45] Bible says, in the beginning. There was nobody there. But the one who made it is telling you in the beginning. And interestingly, he did not leave us only with the beginning.

[5:57] But he takes us to the end. The destiny of all things have been told in the scriptures.

[6:08] The beginning and the origin of everything is here. And the end, the destiny of everything is here. You may doubt the origin.

[6:19] But the destiny will all get there. When you die and you wake up and you realize that this everything is real. You go and look for that.

[6:30] Who may be burning in hell. Or maybe he gave his life to Christ just before he died. You never know. Even though I doubt. So. So.

[6:46] Revelations. It's very important for us to know. Revelation is not about frogs. It's not about some mystical creatures. It's not about some scary stuff.

[6:57] Most of us don't do revelations. Because it scares you. Too much. So you don't do revelations. When you try and read revelations, I'm always afraid.

[7:12] Unbelievers actually don't like revelations at all. And people who live in sin don't like revelations at all. Yeah. Is it not true?

[7:24] Some of you have never attempted and you have vowed. I will never read it. Yeah. You will never read it because of elements in your life. But this morning, God sets every one of us free here.

[7:40] So I'm preaching from revelations. Because we have to know. Revelations chapter 1. This is a long one.

[7:52] Revelations chapter 1 from verse 1. The revelation of Jesus Christ. The revelation of what? Jesus Christ. The revelation. So it's not about revelation of any other thing. Frogs. Beasts.

[8:04] Red dragon. Lion. Horse. No. It's the revelation of Christ. That's where it starts from. So it's that the revelation of Jesus Christ.

[8:16] Which God gave him to show his servants. So it's not hidden from us. Jesus Christ is the revelation of Jesus. It's the revelation about Jesus. Which has been given to Jesus.

[8:28] To be given to his servants. So that we will be in the know. The revelation of Jesus. Christ. Christ. Which God gave to show to his servants. Things which must shortly take place.

[8:44] And he sent and signified. Say signified. Signified. It's very important. He sent and signified by his angel to his servant John. Now signified means that he sent it in symbols.

[8:56] Alright. So this revelation has been given in symbols and tokens and signs. So he sent and signified it to his servant John.

[9:09] Who brought witness to the word of God. And the testimony of Jesus Christ. To all things that he saw.

[9:20] There's a lot. Back in here. Say the testimony of Jesus Christ. Say the testimony of Jesus. Jesus. That's actually our theme for them. Isn't it? Yeah.

[9:31] The testimony of Jesus. Let me just. When you read Revelations. Chapter 1. Verse 9. It talks about the testimony of Jesus. I John. Your brother and companion in the tribulation of the kingdom.

[9:44] Tribulation and kingdom. And patience of Jesus Christ. Was on the island. Was on the island. That is called Patmos. For the word of God. And for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

[9:57] So it's about the testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelations 12. 17. Talks about the testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelation 19. 10. Talks about the testimony of Jesus Christ.

[10:08] Christ. Revelations 24. Talks about the witness. Which is the same as the testimony of Jesus Christ. The. I think the Greek word is something like. Maturio. Or something like that.

[10:19] It's the same. And then Revelations. What we just read. 1. 2. It's about the testimony of Jesus Christ. Now watch this. I want to throw this in. When we talk about the testimony. Anytime you see the testimony of Jesus Christ.

[10:29] It's actually talking about the church. The church. Is the testimony of Jesus Christ. Alright. The church. It is the testimony of Jesus Christ.

[10:41] The church. Is the expression of Jesus Christ. The witness. Witnesses to Jesus Christ. Is the testimony. We testify. Alright. So the church. The church.

[10:52] As a whole. Is the testimony of Jesus Christ. You got to understand this. Because it will be very helpful. So when you read through Revelation. You come across. Different aspects.

[11:04] Watch. This is a very interesting. Different aspects. Or different ways. The church. Has been portrayed. In Revelation. Which is the testimony of Jesus Christ.

[11:14] So the first portrait. Of the church. In the book of Revelation. Is the lamp stand. We will come to that in a minute. So when you saw. When you read the book of Revelation.

[11:25] Chapter 1. You see the lamp stand. The lamp stand. Is the church. Is not anything. Is not some. Just a menorah. Or something somewhere.

[11:36] It's called menorah. Actually. Hebrew. But then. It's the church. So. It symbolizes the church. Does that make sense? Anytime you read Revelations. And you see lamp stand.

[11:47] You have to remember. It's talking about the church. Right? We'll get into that. In a minute. The lamp stand. And then in Revelation chapter 7. It talks about the great multitude. Of the redeemed.

[11:58] These are the testimony. Of Jesus Christ. In Revelation chapter 12. It talks about the bright woman. With a man child. Most people think. It's Mary. The bright woman.

[12:09] The Bible says. And I saw a sign. There was a great sign. Did you see a sign? A great sign appeared. And it said. A woman. Clothed with the sun. It said. Shining. With the moon under her feet.

[12:21] And with the. And on her head. Were. Garland of 12 stars. Okay. So. I was. I think I explained it. A few weeks ago.

[12:32] But. This. This woman. Is a reflection. Of the church. Okay. But don't go too. And it talks about. How this woman. Had a child. And when he had the child. The dragon.

[12:42] Wanted to eat the child. The dragon. So the child. Was taken away. Whisk. Raptured by God. Into the presence of God. For three and a half years. The rapture.

[12:53] Remember when I was talking about the rapture? So the church. Will have. The strong ones. Out of the church. Those who overcome. The overcoming ones. Will be the man child. Out of the greater church. Who will be raptured.

[13:04] For three and a half years. Before the tribulation. And. What is all these things? We are in revelation. We are in revelation.

[13:15] Okay. So. I think. I don't have to go into details now. The bride. To one. Is a. Is a. Is a. Is a testimony of Jesus. The. Harvest with the firstborn.

[13:26] The over. The over. The over comers. In chapter 15. The over comers. On the sea of glass. And then. In chapter 19. The bride. Ready for. The marriage.

[13:37] Is the church. The bride. Ready for. And then. In chapter 20. 21 and 22. The. Or chapter 22. The new Jerusalem. It's all aspects. Portraits. Of the church.

[13:48] Which. As time goes on. You understand. Guess what. How does the Bible end? The Bible ends. With the new Jerusalem. And what's the new Jerusalem? It says that. God will be in their midst. And they will be with God.

[14:00] And it's God. And man together. Eternally dwelling together. That's what he did in the beginning. Created Adam. So he can. Put himself in the Adam. And then Adam went. And put. Allow Satan to get into him.

[14:12] And. And. It resulted in us. So. So. So. Jesus. In Matthew chapter 16. Could look at.

[14:22] A whole. Disciple. Following Jesus Christ. With a revelation. That Jesus. You are the son of the living God. And then tell. Jesus told. The flesh and blood. Has not revealed this to you. But holy ghost. I mean.

[14:33] Somebody like this. Jesus can turn to him. And say. Get behind me. Satan. He didn't say. Get behind me. Peter. Bible said. Matthew chapter 20. Chapter 16. Verse 23. And Jesus.

[14:44] Stand. And said to who? And said to who? I can't hear you. And said to who? What did he say to Peter? Get behind me. Satan. Where was Satan?

[14:55] Inside Peter. Peter. Peter with the revelation. Satan was inside. So you just sitting in church. There's no guarantee. That Satan can manifest to you.

[15:06] Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. I taught the message. Where is Satan? It's in the flesh. The location of Satan. Don't go any far.

[15:17] It's in your flesh. Satan is the enemy from within. The devil is the enemy fighting from without.

[15:29] When he's coming at Satan. Bible. When he uses the word Satan. He's using it in the term of fight. One more fight. Right from within. So Jesus said. Satan. He already entered. Bible said.

[15:40] And Satan entered Judas. He says. And I saw. The high priest. And Satan was at his right hand. And he says that.

[15:52] Job 1.6. Job 1.6. He says that. When the sons of God gathered. Satan also came. Ah. So Satan is always within you. Yeah.

[16:03] When you talk about Satan. It's not the one outside. It's within. Job 2.6. And Satan came. When the sons of God came. Job 2.6. The same thing. When the sons of God came. And the Lord said. Behold.

[16:15] The Lord said to Satan. When the sons of. Satan always comes amongst. Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy. I'm telling you. The Bible talks about how they overcame by the blood of the lamb.

[16:28] And the word of their testimony. Okay. Revelations. And in that verse. Two. Three verses before that. Revelations chapter 12. He says. And the great dragon was carried out. And the devil. Satan.

[16:39] Who deceived the whole world. And he cursed. So Satan was right there. Even accusing the brethren. Before God. Satan has to appear. Satan is when he.

[16:50] The one who fights from within. So you don't have to look too far. Satan. He said. The messenger of Satan.

[17:00] Was given to me. To buffet me. He wasn't afraid. He was inside me. Buffeting me. Hey. Hey.

[17:12] Okay. Well. So that's the new Jerusalem. God puts himself. In man. And that has been God's ultimate. Agenda.

[17:24] God's ultimate. And eternal plan. Is to put himself. Into man. He created man. So man can contain him. So we are created. As vessels.

[17:35] Not. As instruments. We are created. As vessels. And. So that he. That. God. By himself. Will fill us.

[17:46] With himself. And then he put us. Before the garden of. The tree of life. And he said. It's the tree of life. So that me. As God. I can enter you.

[17:56] And then he went. And ate the tree. Of knowledge of evil. Which was. Represented the nature of Satan. So from that time on. Satan entered man. That has been your problem now. And Satan in man.

[18:07] Is called. Flesh. Flesh. Satan in man. Eh. Inside man. Is the flesh. So. Your. Your nature. You by yourself.

[18:18] Outside of God. You are the flesh. And guess what. When Jesus saved. Us. From our sins. He saved us. He didn't save the flesh. The flesh.

[18:29] The flesh. Can never be saved. God has not got plans. For the flesh. So you are a Christian. And yet you are living. In the flesh. If you stay. In the flesh. You will be sinning. Even though you are born again.

[18:39] Wow. You will be struggling. Even though you are born again. So he says. In Galatians. He didn't say kill the flesh. In Galatians. He says. In Galatians 5.16.

[18:51] Walk in the spirit. And you will not fulfill. The desires of the flesh. Because the flesh. Will constantly be with you. Paul says that. To will is present with me.

[19:02] But to do. I cannot find. Romans chapter 7. Verse 16. 17. He said. To do. I can't find it. The willingness is present. But to do.

[19:12] I can't find it. He said. I want to do. I want to talk about it. I really want to do right. You know. I want to.

[19:23] I want to live the godly life. I want to live. I want to live the Christian life. I want to live the Christ-like life. I am genuine. How many of you are genuine here? But you really.

[19:35] Sometimes you even think you are like a hypocrite. Yeah. And people. Who see you coming to church. Some have made up their minds. You are hypocrites. Yeah. And they seem to have.

[19:47] A reason for saying that. Then they are right. They are right. In that sense. But you are not a hypocrite. The only thing is that. You are trapped in this body. That is. It has the proclivity.

[19:59] And the tendency. An. Irreparable tendency. It's that. The tendency of the flesh.

[20:10] Is always. Bent towards sin. Bent towards. Away from God. So those of you. Who don't read your Bibles. Those of you. Who don't pray. Those of you. Who consider coming to church.

[20:21] A luxury. Oh. You can't do it anytime. Those of you. Who don't. Actually put in effort. To work with God. And to do Christian activities. Come to church.

[20:31] You are. Depriving your spirit. Of strength. To be able to overcome. The desires. Of the flesh. And so. You think you are Christian. Yet you are walking in the flesh.

[20:41] You are struggling. You are struggling. Why you can't. Why am I struggling like that. Pastor. I really want to pray. Listen. You don't have it inside you. You don't have it inside you.

[20:53] Nobody can do the things of God by nature. At all. You don't have it inside you. You can't. The Bible says. Whatsoever is born of the flesh. Is flesh. I feel like preaching.

[21:06] Whatever is born of the flesh. John 3.6. Whatever is born of the flesh. Is flesh. And whatever is born of the spirit. Is spirit. So.

[21:16] If you want to live the Christian life. He said. Be you. Ephesians chapter 4.24. Be you renewed. In the spirit of your mind. Be renewed.

[21:29] In the spirit of your mind. It is a spiritual thing. Other than that. You can't live the new life. You are a new creation.

[21:42] And yet. You are living in the old creation. Putting new wine. In old wine skin. Listen.

[21:52] If you want to lose weight. You got to. You got to. You got to reduce. You have to. Check your diet. And go to the gym.

[22:03] If I want to keep fit. I can't just be sleeping. Waking up. Sleeping. Waking up. Expecting that because I pray. I'm a Christian. I'll just keep fit. It does not work like that.

[22:16] And some of you. I discovered that. Putting on weight. Really. Can be more expensive. Than I thought. Because you may have to change your clothes. I can't afford to lose weight.

[22:31] Because. Some of these shoes. I wear it. It's a gift. Now. If I. I gain weight. It's a gift. If I gain weight. I may not be able to buy. I can't. I can't tell you my friend.

[22:42] That the suit is not fitting. So. I can't do that. I know what you are thinking. Pastor. Go for. Extra size. And grow into it.

[22:59] But you can't just get up and lose weight. Because you want to lose weight. You can't just get up and keep. Stay fit. Because. There are things you have to do. You can't just pass an exam.

[23:09] Because you have a good will. I'm out pass. I'm out pass. No. Get yourself. Put yourself on a training. On a course. Bible says that.

[23:21] Physical exercise profits little. First Timothy 4.7. But godliness profits unto. So that godliness. Exercise. Then verse 8 says. Exercise yourself unto godliness.

[23:33] Verse 7. Exercise yourself. So that's the Greek word. That's where we get gymnastics. Gymnasium. Gym. It's. Bible. Started talking about gym. A long time ago.

[23:43] A long time ago. Long time ago. You are going. To register. At the. Pure gym. Build gym. What?

[23:54] Pure. Ah. Okay. Foggy. Foggy. Foggy. You've registered. Registered at pure gym.

[24:08] It's good. Bible says that physical exercise profits. So it's good. It keeps. But. The way your situation is. And the way you are struggling with fornication.

[24:22] The way you are struggling with lust. The way you are struggling with unforgiveness. The way you are struggling with gossip. The way you are struggling with all kinds of.

[24:33] Stealing. Stealing. At work. Stealing. The way you are struggling with the flesh. Listen. Listen. Let me be honest.

[24:44] Can I be honest to you? Oh be honest. Please do. I can't pray for you. Suddenly for you to start walking holy. I would have been praying for myself and sleep holy. You don't walk holy because someone prayed laid hands on you.

[24:59] You walk holy because you exercise your spirit. Exercise your spirit. Exercise your spirit.

[25:11] How can someone pray for you to be full when you are hungry? No. You have to exercise your jaws. Your mouth. Get mandibles. Get something inside.

[25:21] And chew it. Yeah. Your uncle loves you. Your mother loves you. And you are nowhere. But they beg you please eat something little. Because they can't eat it for you. But why are you expecting a pastor to do spiritual exercise for you?

[25:35] You can't do that. It's the same as faith. No one can act on faith by faith on your behalf. So you have to eat. Amen.

[25:46] Alright. Let me go back to my text. Because. So what I'm saying is that the testimony of Jesus Christ. Alright. I spoke about.

[25:57] Now verse 2. Verse 3. Revelation chapter 1 verse 3. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy.

[26:09] So now he said this is a word of prophecy. Isn't it interesting? It says blessed is he who reads and those who hear.

[26:23] And I didn't leave there. It says that. And keep those things which are written in it. For the time is near. Look at how it started. It started by saying that the revelation of Jesus Christ.

[26:35] The testimony of God. The testimony. Sorry. The testimony of Christ given to his servant. Then he goes on to talk about blessed. God wants you blessed. But you have to hear.

[26:47] You have to read. Hear and keep. For the blessing to materialize. He said blessed is he. See some of us think that. Oh please bless me. Bless me.

[26:59] No, no. It doesn't happen like that. You have a role to play. It's called human responsibility. Hallelujah. Alright. How many of you think you are ready for a blessing?

[27:10] If you are not ready, please don't lift up your hands. And may God witness it. If you are ready for a blessing, then the highway of blessing is to read, hear, and keep the words of the prophecy.

[27:28] There's no one blessed outside of this means. It's very important. Blessed is he who reads and keeps, hears and keeps the words of this prophecy.

[27:44] Now look at this. John to the seven churches which are in Asia. This is a very interesting one. John to who?

[27:55] The seven churches. It should have said to the church. To the seven churches which are in Asia.

[28:08] So right when he was starting, it tells you who this book, who this prophecy is sent to. It's not sent to humanity, everybody.

[28:20] It's sent to the churches, seven churches of Asia. In Asia. John. So he said, this is me. I saw this. Alright. And interesting.

[28:31] Through our revelation, you keep seeing the word, I saw. Behold. Behold. See. Look. I saw. Behold. Behold. See. Look. I saw. So many.

[28:41] I can give you so many scriptures. A lot of them. But through our revelation, I saw. I saw. I saw. All the way to chapter 22. Which is the last chapter in revelation. I saw.

[28:52] I saw. And behold. 22 verse 8. I saw. Behold. Right from chapter 1 verse 2. I saw. All the way to the end. It kept. I saw. And behold. Chapter 6. I saw. Chapter 5.

[29:03] I saw. Chapter 7. I saw. Chapter 14. I saw. Chapter 10. I saw. Chapter 90. I saw. Chapter 20. It was. I saw. I saw. I saw. I saw. I saw. This is revelation. But you keep saying.

[29:14] And I will show you what the chief instrument for seeing or the medium for seeing in the things of God is by the spirit. Because chapter 4 or chapter 1 verse 10.

[29:28] He said, I, John, I was in the spirit. And on the lost day. And I heard behind me a loud voice as a trumpet.

[29:38] Look at verse 11. Verse 11. And saying. This is what I am. The omega alpha and omega. Look at. Go to the verse 12. Verse 12 says that. Then I tend to see. You got to be in the spirit in order to see.

[29:53] And revelation can be divided into four parts. The first part is for. It is more about the vision concerning the church.

[30:05] The second part, chapter 4 to chapter 16, is about the destiny of humanity. The destiny of the world. The third part, chapter 17 to chapter 20, is about the great harlot.

[30:18] Babylon the great. And then the last part is about the new Jerusalem. And every one of them starts with I was in the spirit. So just before I spoke about the church.

[30:29] He said. Verse 10. 1. 10. Revelation 1. 10. He said. I was in the spirit. And then chapter 4 verse 2. He said. When he was about to talk about the destiny of humanity. From chapter 4 to chapter 16.

[30:40] He says that. Immediately. I was in the spirit. And then. Chapter 17. When he was about to talk about the great harlot. Chapter 17 verse 3. He said. I was. I was in the spirit.

[30:51] Chapter 17 verse 3. He said. I. I was in the spirit. And I saw. Do you see how? How do you see? You got to get in the spirit. Most of us have been trained. Exercise to use our brains.

[31:02] But not our spirits. That is why. When it comes to the things of God. You keep missing it. You are missing it. You are not getting it. Because you are trained only to use your brains.

[31:13] But you got to use your organ. Your spiritual. The organ. The only organ in a human being. That can receive from God. Is the human spirit. When he said.

[31:26] Ah. Let me throw this in. When he said. Let me finish the fourth one. And then in chapter. Chapter 20. Verse. Verse 8. Yeah. It's chapter 20.

[31:37] Verse 8. He said. 21. Verse 10. He said. I was in the spirit again. And I saw. Talking about the new Jerusalem. How can you see the great things of God.

[31:48] The purpose of God for your life. The things of God concerning your marriage. Concerning your health. Concerning our church. Concerning our city. How can you see it. If you are not in the spirit.

[32:00] Most of us think. We see it in books. No. It's not in books. You got to go in the spirit. Be spiritual. Be spiritual. Be spiritual.

[32:11] And the things of God. Will begin to make sense. Watch this. The revelation of God. Is beamed out from God. I listen to this very carefully. It comes from God. Straight into the human spirit.

[32:23] And then from the human spirit. It begins to transform your mind. So it doesn't come from God to the mind. God doesn't communicate to your mind. He communicates to your spirit.

[32:35] God. God. Does not communicate. With. Or to your mind. By grace. Are you saved. Through faith. And now watch that.

[32:45] How he puts it. He says that. What does he say? The word of faith. Which we preach. Where is it? He said. It's in your heart. And in your mouth. That if you believe with your. It didn't talk about mind.

[32:56] Afterwards. Chapter 12. Then he talks about. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So first. It's your heart. God works with your heart. With the human spirit. That word have I hid.

[33:09] In my heart. Yes. Now. God. Does not. Communicate. With your mind first. But with your spirit. And then from the spirit.

[33:21] Your mind begins to pick up the divine things. So. Ephesians chapter 3 says that. I pray that you may be. God will strengthen you by his spirit. Into your inner man. Your inner man.

[33:33] Is that from your spirit. Then it gets into your soul. Before your body follows on. So. So those of us who don't exercise our spirits. He says that. Christ.

[33:44] Is the Lord. Is the spirit. And where the spirit of the Lord is. There is liberty. The Lord is the spirit. And instead you have to turn to the Lord. Second Corinthians chapter. Chapter. Second Corinthians chapter 3.

[33:56] Verse 17. He said. But if we turn to the Lord. Verse 16. The veil is taken away. And then verse 17 says that. The Lord is the spirit. Let's all say that together.

[34:06] That the Lord is the spirit. I can hear it louder. That the Lord is the spirit. Shout it louder. That the Lord is the spirit. So the Lord is the spirit.

[34:17] And watch this. This is not. When he says. I was in the spirit. He wasn't talking about. I was in the spirit of God. I was in my human spirit. For God.

[34:29] Is the spirit. John chapter 4. 23. 24. For God. Is the spirit. And those who worship him. Watch this. Must worship him. In spirit. And in truth.

[34:41] Walk. In the spirit. And you will not fulfill. The desires of the flesh. And so. There is a difference. Between the spirit of God.

[34:52] And the human spirit. So every human being. Has a spirit. According to. First Thessalonians. Chapter 5. Verse 23. May God.

[35:03] Sanctify you. Through. Your whole spirit. See. Your whole spirit. Soul. And body. So. Every human being. Has got a spirit. Bible says that.

[35:14] Because we are sons. Galatians chapter. Chapter 4. All right. Verse 5. I think. Chapter 4. Verse 5. We are. Verse. Chapter 4. Verse 6. Because you are sons.

[35:24] God has sent forth. The spirit of his son. Into our hearts. Which cries. Abba father. God. And Romans chapter. Chapter. 8. Verse 16.

[35:35] He says. This. I think that's the one. I'm actually looking for. Let's read it out loud. Let's go. The spirit himself. Please. I mean. All of us. Okay. To Le Mans. Let's go. The spirit himself.

[35:46] The spirit himself. So. You can tell. The spirit himself. You see. The himself. The spirit. This is God. The spirit himself.

[35:57] Bears witness. With our spirit. There are two spirits. You're talking about it. Your human spirit. The spirit of God. Communicates. With your human spirit. So.

[36:08] The spirit himself. Bears witness. With our spirit. So. When he says. I was in the spirit. On the Lord's day. It's not the spirit of God. I was in. But I was in my human spirit.

[36:20] That's the only place. That divine communication. Can take place. Tell somebody. Enter the spirit. Enter the spirit. It's sad. It's sad.

[36:31] That sometimes. As a pastor. I've seen it a few times. There are times. You are teaching. And people are receiving it. With their mind. Not their spirit. Not their spirit. Bible says that.

[36:42] In 1 Corinthians chapter 2. The spirit of God. It talks about how. We have. Don't. It said. We have not received the spirit of the world. But we have. To fear.

[36:53] But we have. It talks about. We have. No man knows what a man thinks. Save the man's spirit. Okay. Verse 10. And it says that. And. Verse 11. There.

[37:03] It talks about. For no man knows what a man thinks. Save the spirit of the man. Which is him. Even so. The things of God. No. Knows no man. Save the spirit of God. And it said. We have received this spirit.

[37:14] Of God. Okay. We have received. We have not. And we have received. Not the spirit of the world. But the spirit who is from God. That we might know the things. See. How? That we might know. The things that are freely given.

[37:25] You can know. Outside of the spiritual realm. Church. Watch this. Church. Listen. Church. It's not just about morality. It's about spirituality. Yes. It's about spirituality.

[37:37] I know. I know you don't do some bad stuff. But you are not spiritual. You are blind. When it comes to the things of God. When it comes to the move of God.

[37:49] You are blind. You don't. Paul said when it comes to the law. The righteousness of the law. I was. I was a Pharisee. When it comes to righteousness of the law.

[38:01] Philippians chapter 3. I was a Pharisee. That he knew how to operate righteously. But yet. He didn't know the things of God. Bible talks about how. He was persecuting the church. Thinking that he was doing God a service.

[38:13] Why? Because he was so much not in the spirit. He was just in the flesh. Thinking that he can please God in the flesh. Bible says that by. In the sight of God.

[38:25] Shall no flesh be justified by the dish of the law. So nobody can do good. So good that God feels so well done. No. So we have to be in the spirit. In my dealings with you.

[38:37] I have to be in the spirit. I'm not saying that I am always. No. Okay. Okay. I don't mean when being in the spirit. You have to be. The Holy Spirit is telling me.

[38:52] Sister. The Holy Spirit told me. That. You have been doing something with that brother. And then the sister said. Wow. Had it not been for you. I never knew the Holy Spirit can sometimes lie.

[39:04] Because when we talk about being in the spirit. People have got all kinds of spooky ideas about being in the spirit.

[39:15] You have to look strange. You have to look queer. You have to look abnormal. And even when you are praying. You have to. There are people who are praying and shaking.

[39:28] And they are not in the spirit. It's not those things that determine your spirit. Your attitude towards the things of God. Your offering tells us more about your spirituality.

[39:40] Than your shaking and shaking. We can lay hands on you. You can shake like a leaf. In the wind. It does not mean you are spiritual. You are spiritual. Look at the way you are gossiping about the other sister.

[39:54] And yet one way. And sometimes. The people who look. They are always fasting. I'm not done playing fasting. Because it has a role to play.

[40:06] Alright. But there are people who have credited spirituality to themselves. By virtue of how people see them. And by virtue of some behavior. And those. Where was I? I think I was teaching in Birmingham.

[40:17] During the week. I told them. The people who are always coming out with revelations. I saw. I saw. Listen. It does not mean you are spiritual. Can I say that?

[40:28] Revelations is not an indication of your spirituality. Watch this. Having spiritual gifts is not an indication of your spirituality. You can have spiritual gifts.

[40:40] And every now and then. There might be a manifestation. But it does not mean you are a very spiritual person. You are godly. You are moving with God. There may be somebody sitting quietly.

[40:51] Come. Working with God. Reading their Bible. When they obey. They walk in obedience. Their spirits are engaged with God. But they may not scream like you are screaming. Wow.

[41:01] Wow. It's true. They may not scream. I am not talking about those who are not screaming. And they are not even. You are also blunt. As for you. I think. I mean. Try. I mean. Try something.

[41:12] Just in case. It works for you. Try something. Wow. Wow. Wow. Oh. So.

[41:23] I was in the spirit. Let me. Let me go to the practice. Because. All right. So. John. To the seven churches in Asia. Grace to you and peace from him.

[41:33] Who was. And who. Who is. Who was. And who is to come. And from the seven spirits. From the. From the seven spirits. Who are before the throne.

[41:43] And from Jesus Christ. The faithful witness. The first born from the dead. And the ruler. Excuse me. Ruler over the kingdoms of the earth. To him.

[41:54] Who loved us. And washed us. Washed us. From our sins. In his own blood. And has made us. Kings and priests. To his God. And father. To him. You see the glory is coming back.

[42:05] To him be glory and dominion. Forever and ever. Amen. Then. He starts his message. He said. Behold. He is coming with the clouds. And every eye shall see him.

[42:17] Even they who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth. Will mourn because of. Can you imagine? Will mourn because of him. Even so. Amen. I am the alpha and the omega. The beginning and the end.

[42:27] Says the Lord. Who is and who was. And who is to come. I, John. I, John. Both your brother and companion. In the tribulation. And the kingdom of.

[42:38] And the kingdom and the patience of Jesus Christ. Was on the island. Island. That is called Patmos. For the word of God. And for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the spirit.

[42:50] On the last day. And I heard behind me. A loud voice. As of a trumpet. Saying. I am the alpha and the omega. And the. And what you see.

[43:01] Right in the book. Watch this. Watch this. It's going somewhere. What you see. Right in the book. And send it to the seven churches. Which are in Asia. Watch this.

[43:13] He was in the spirit. And he. Babu said. He heard. A sound. Like a trumpet behind him. He heard the sound. And the sound says. That I am the alpha and the omega.

[43:24] And he said. I am. What I'm saying. He said. I am the alpha and the omega. The first and the last. And what. What you see. Write in the book. And send it to the churches. So it looks like this thing.

[43:35] The gentleman wrote. Was meant to what. For the churches. Watch this. Watch this. I know you didn't hear something. I didn't say it was meant for the church.

[43:48] Is there a difference between. The church. And the churches. I surely want to explain that. There certainly is. Not any.

[44:00] Radical way. But definitely there is. What is the difference between the church. And the churches. The church. In Matthew chapter 16.

[44:11] Verse 18. When Peter said. You are the son of the Christ. The son of the living God. Jesus said. To Peter. That. Blessed are thou. Simon. Simon by Jonah.

[44:22] For flesh and blood. Has not revealed this to you. By my father in heaven. Watch this. Look at it. Let's already verse 18. Let's go. Let's go. On this rock.

[44:34] I will do what? Shouldn't he accept churches? But when he was sending the letter. He said. Send it to the churches. He said. Upon this rock. I will build my church.

[44:47] And the gates of hell. Shall not prevail against. This is what in theological circles. We call. The universal church. Let's go. Let's go. The universal church.

[44:58] Say it again. Say the universal church. The universal church. Okay. So. The universal church. is all of Ephesians chapter 1. verse 22. Verse 22. Verse 22. Verse 23. I'm going to quote some scriptures very quickly.

[45:08] I just want you to understand this. He. And he put all things under his feet. And gave him to be the head over all things. Towards the church. Okay. So Christ was given to be the head over all things.

[45:20] To the church. Look at verse 23. To the church. Which is his body. The fullness of him who fills all. So the church is Christ's body. Now this. When you hear this word. Church. Here. It's talking about the universal church.

[45:34] That means all throughout the ages. Anybody who gets born again. Is part of the church. So. After Christ died. All those who are in Christ.

[45:47] And gave themselves to Christ. They are part of the church. And after. If Christ dies. Even when we go. Our children's children. Those who give their life to Christ. They are part of what Jesus said.

[45:57] I'll build my church. So that is the universal church. It encompasses everybody. Who is in Christ. Who is in Christ. We are all the church. This is very important.

[46:09] All right. And Bible says that. Christ loved the church. And gave himself for the church. Not the churches. Ephesians chapter 5 verse 25. Husbands love your wives. Even as Christ loved the churches.

[46:22] The church. All right. Love your. I just ask Christ. Love the church. And give. So this is the church. In Ephesians chapter 4 verse 4.

[46:32] It talks about one church. It's not churches. One church. Did you see that? There is one body. One spirit. Just as you are called into one hope. Of your calling. Go to the next verse.

[46:45] Verse. Well. Okay. Let's go to verse 3. It can't be verse 3. So. Okay. Sorry. I mean one body. Sorry. Verse 4. One body. Yeah. One body.

[46:56] Which is the church. The body of Christ. Okay. So not different bodies. That body, body, body, body, body, body, body, body. No. Body. One body. Remember it says that he gave him to be the head of the church. Who is the body.

[47:06] His body. Do you remember that? Yes. Are you here with me? Yes. Yes. You can't tempt me to talk about marriage. I won't. I'll talk about Christ. Christ and the church. At least I mentioned marriage just now. Husband, love your wife.

[47:17] Is that not enough for you? So. One church. Say one church. One. Which means. Which is the same as the body of Christ. Actually. 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 12. Talks about. Even as there's one body.

[47:28] And all many members. But one body. You see. For as the body is one. And has many members. But all the members of that body. Being many. Are one body. So also is Christ.

[47:39] So Christ is one body. Let's all say Christ is one body. Christ is one body. Say Christ is one body. Christ is one body. Say it louder. Christ is one body. So.

[47:50] Now. Why did he say this letter. Risen it to the churches? Churches. Where is it coming from? Why churches? And why not to the church? Now.

[48:01] When you look at the book of Acts. What am I preaching about? The practicing of the church life. When you look at the book of Acts. When you look at the book of Acts. The church life was practiced in the local setting.

[48:14] So in Acts chapter 8 verse 1. Bible says the church that was at Jerusalem. In Acts chapter 13 verse 1. The church that was in Antioch. It's not all the churches. But this particular one in Antioch.

[48:26] This particular one in Jerusalem. In Acts chapter 15 verse 41. The church that is in Syria and Cilicia. No Sicilia. Cilicia. This particular.

[48:40] It's called local churches. Yeah. Local churches. Say local churches. Local churches. Say local churches. Local churches.

[48:51] And so. In the book of Acts. The church life was practiced in the local churches. Now. So what's the difference between the local church and the universal church? The church. The church.

[49:01] You can never realize or practicalize or actualize the universal church without the local church. Okay. So it takes the local church for us to see an aspect of the universal church.

[49:13] Does that make sense? Yes. So. So. So. If you're actually talking about the church. Then. The church. The church that you know. Is not the church Peter was part of.

[49:24] No. In Jerusalem. No. The church you know is not the church in Cambodia. Right. Have you been to Cambodia? No. No. Maybe somebody. But. You. I'm talking about you.

[49:35] You know. So. What church are you familiar with? The church in your city. Yes. Okay. The church you see. That's the. So. Even though we are part of the universal church. We have to be.

[49:45] You can only actualize. Or practicalize. The universal church in the local church. And now watch this. Watch this. It's very interesting. Read throughout the Bible.

[49:58] There's no. None of the epistles. There are several epistles that were written. Few of them were written to individuals like Timothy. Like Titus. Like Philemon. Okay.

[50:08] But. None of these epistles were written to the universal church. Wow. It was written to churches. So. The church at Rome. The church at Ephesus.

[50:20] The church at Thessalonica. The church at Galicia. The church at Philippi. The church at Colossae. It was written to churches. Can you imagine? The message of Christ.

[50:31] The letters that were written. Were not written to the body of Christ. They were written to local churches. Because God's focus is on the local church. That's right.

[50:43] I'm going somewhere. I'm going somewhere. I'm going somewhere. You cannot experience and enjoy God in his end time move outside of the local church.

[50:55] You have to be positioned in the local church to be able to enjoy what God is doing in the church. So. So those of you who say that, perhaps for me, I'm just a Christian, and that's what matters.

[51:10] Christ didn't come to form any church. Is there any church called the Church of Christ? There's no church that Christ himself formed. He just came to die, you see, and it's all human beings of greater institutions.

[51:23] You don't understand the things of God. You are not spiritual. You are not spiritual. You are not spiritual. That's why you are saying that. Because if you are spiritual, you will realize that God's focus, God's agency is the local church.

[51:38] You must be positioned right in a local church to enjoy the move of God. God cannot do anything in a city outside of a local church.

[51:51] Can I take it further? In Revelation, I just read it. In Revelation chapter 1 verse 4, he says that this, John said, to the seven churches.

[52:03] He didn't say to the seven church, to a church. He said to the seven churches where? In Asia. Now, when it comes to the word seven, it's very important in the scripture, especially in Revelations, or particularly in the scripture.

[52:17] Seven is the number of completion when it comes to God's move on earth. So that's why Genesis, creation, Genesis chapter 1, verse 31 to chapter 2, verse 3, is seven days God created.

[52:29] It's completion. Seven is the number of completion of God's move in the church, on earth. Okay? So that's why we have the number seven. It says to the seven churches. The seven churches that are in Asia.

[52:41] We saw in Revelation chapter 5, verse 5, it says that the scroll has seven seals. Seven seals. And then we saw seven trumpets.

[52:55] Revelation chapter 8, verse 2, seven trumpets. And we saw seven bulls. Seven angels. Seven spirits of God.

[53:07] The seven eyes of the Lamb. It's getting interesting. You know, I told you Revelation. But just for you to know, seven stands for a completion in God's move on earth.

[53:20] All right. So it's now to the seven churches. It does not mean there are only seven churches that are relevant to God. But all these, watch this, all these churches represent a section of the body of Christ.

[53:36] So when we go to the, when I start to teach further into the seven churches of God, or seven churches in Asia, Ephesus, Smyna, Pergamos, Tartiria, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, all these seven, all these seven churches.

[53:56] And guess what? I wanted to wait for next week, but let me throw this in. When I went to Bible school, they taught us something called church history. To me, it was a serious thing they taught us.

[54:08] Very interesting. Okay. Okay. You are in the spirit. On the lost day. On the lost day. When you, when the word, the phrase, the lost day means Sunday, actually.

[54:26] The lost day. Sunday. John chapter 20, verse one, the first day of the week. So when Christ resurrected, worship of the early church was no more on Saturday, Sabbath day.

[54:38] It was on the day of resurrection. Because the church is a product of resurrection. So we don't have to be Sabbath. We have to be the lost day, the first day of the week. You must understand that. But the gathering of the brethren, in first Corinthians chapter 16, verse one and two, it says that on the first day of the week, set aside money.

[54:54] So they used to, it was their custom. They used to worship on the first day of the week, which is actually not Monday. And neither is it Saturday. Saturday is the seventh day. But first day of the week is one.

[55:06] Revelation, sorry, John chapter 20, verse one, Bible says Jesus Christ was resurrected on the first day of the week. So the Sunday worship is not because it is paganist. It's because that is what the apostles used to do on the first day of the week.

[55:20] In fact, in, in, in, in Acts chapter 20, verse seven, Bible says that Paul wanted to have communion on the first, actually, now on the first day, do you see that? This is where Eutychus was sleeping in the first.

[55:33] On the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread. So they were meeting on the first, if they met any time at all, you should have said one of the days, but he said on the first day when they came.

[55:44] So the early church was meeting, their actual congregational worship was other days, but first day of the week was significant, which is on a Sunday, because Sunday is called the lost day.

[55:55] That's when he resurrected from the dead. And the church is a product of resurrection. We are the resurrection people. We are living in the resurrection. All right. So he said on the lost day, I was in a spirit.

[56:09] Yeah. Yeah. So in Revelation chapter four, chapter one, verse four, please let's have, my time is, I have to just, I need somebody to get this.

[56:21] I have to run it up now. In Revelation, he said, I was in a spirit of the Lord, and I heard verse four. I want the verse four here. John, to the seven churches that are in Asia. So this letter, he said, is sent to the seven churches that are in Asia.

[56:35] Okay. It's the seven churches. And then guess what? In the, he says that I was in the lost day, verse 10, and I heard behind me a voice like a trumpet. And what did the voice say?

[56:46] He said, I am omega, alpha and omega, the first and the last. And watch this. He said, what you see, write in the book, and send to the seven churches, which are in Asia. Let's mention the churches. Let's go. Let's mention. Are you ready?

[56:57] Let's go. Ephesus, Smyna, Pergamos, Titeria, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodice. I want to ask you a question.

[57:09] You will not find anywhere a church called Ephesus. So what did you say? Ephesus is a city. I'm going somewhere.

[57:22] How about Smyna? It's a city. How about Pergamos? It's a city. How about Titeria? It's a city. How about Sardis? It's a city. How about Philadelphia?

[57:34] It's a city. How about Laodicea? It's a city. Seven cities. But it says that, what is this? To the churches that are, what you want, to send it to the churches which are in Asia.

[57:45] Then instead of mentioning churches, instead of mentioning cities. He didn't mention churches. He mentioned cities. So God was dealing with the church based on the city.

[57:57] In other words, the sphere of the church's operation, or the church's jurisdiction, is not within, or not below the boundaries of a city, and not beyond.

[58:07] We, we are glad to let you know, that our jurisdiction is to take over London. Yes. Together with all other Christian Christ-centered churches.

[58:23] We are one. We are the church in London. Yes. We are the church in London. The church in London. Hallelujah.

[58:34] In heaven, you will not see any church with any other name. It has to do with the churches in Cilicia. The churches in Syria.

[58:45] The church in Ephesus. Paul sent for the churches that were in Ephesus. The elders of the church in Ephesus. The church in Jerusalem. Read your Bible.

[58:56] So the church is described by the city the church is in. Because when God looks at the church, he knows that every church has got a citywide assignment. Yeah. And you are just thinking about your marriage.

[59:11] You are just thinking about catching a husband. You are just thinking about a new job, promotion. And God is thinking about the city. Wow. Can you imagine if you begin to develop the heartbeat of God?

[59:30] What is it that is on your heart which God will do for you? Even those parents with a few children. Sometimes there are some of the children, when they ask you something, you are very eager to do quickly.

[59:41] Because of the way they are close to your heart. Or because of the way they please you. Your father's estate or your mother's estate, it's bequit most of the time to people who are close to their heart.

[59:53] When people are about to die and they want to give away their. Listen, learn how to add the church to your will. Learn, okay, MME, Karen.

[60:07] Okay, okay. If you not do Karen, I don't know why you wouldn't do it. But make sure your will, there is a church in your will. But pastor, I don't have a lot.

[60:18] Even those seven weeks, one can be... Wheel it to the church. Or you can wheel three to the church.

[60:31] Yeah. If you have a will, and there is no placement in the church, what God loves on the will, you will go and meet him. I will tell you something.

[60:44] You are going, ah, I was doing with you. You are going to heaven. You believe that when you die, you are going to heaven. And no more suffering. You are going to inherit blessings. And when you are dying, what the one in heaven loves most, cares about most, focuses most, when he appears, write a letter to them.

[61:01] When you are writing, when you travel, you want to write a letter to someone you care about. You will just write to the government. First of all, you have anything to say when you are in space? It's a word message you want to give to your loved ones or to somebody.

[61:14] It's all to my wife. Me, it's first my wife, not my mother. My wife. Not my daughters. My wife. Not the church. My wife. Oh, yeah.

[61:24] If I have a message, I'm troubled, and I'm doing mission work in space. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

[61:39] It's church. My wife is. Is it not so? So, the letter he wrote was to the church, and you claim you love God. See, those people who tell you, I love God.

[61:50] I love the work of God. But their attitude towards local church, first of all, you can't be committed to every girl in town. They are nice, and they are all good potential, but you have to be committed to one.

[62:06] That's why. That's why. Why is it that you are committed to every church? We are preaching. We are committed to every church. Yes. Because you are phony.

[62:17] Yeah. And it's because you have a fidelity problem. Hey. Hey. Hey. Commitment.

[62:30] Yes. Commitment. Is to the church God has placed you in. Your spiritual. That's where it starts. Yes. That's where it starts.

[62:42] Where you are receiving the word of God. Watch this. Watch this. This is interesting. Amazing. He says that. Watch this. Okay. Let me go to verse 12. I want to show you something. Verse. Verse.

[62:52] No. Chapter 2. I'm sorry. Revelation chapter 2 verse 1. Watch this. When he started giving the message to the world. He said to the angel of the church. Right. He didn't say to the church. There is a messenger. The word angel is angelus.

[63:05] A messenger. Right. Of the church. So every church has an assigned messenger. And the letter was written to the messenger. So that the messenger was passing on to the church.

[63:16] That's right. Oh. God speaks to me directly. No. He speaks to the messenger of the church. Yeah. Oh. Are you trying to suggest God doesn't speak to anybody?

[63:28] He does. But when it comes to his move. His work. Yeah. He can speak to you about your obedience. Yeah. He can speak to you about that. The way you should forgive that guy. Forgive him. He can speak to you about how you should cut down your eating and start fasting.

[63:41] He can speak to you. He can speak to you about those things. How you should pay or give your tithe. God can speak to you. Yeah. But when it comes to the move of God. The working of God in a city.

[63:51] Through a church. He gives it to leaders of churches. Yeah. The blueprint of his economy in a city. Within a local church.

[64:03] Is given to the leader of the church. That's why you have to always pray for your leader. Yeah. Because why do you sit under a leader who can't pick signals from God? Yeah. You're in trouble.

[64:13] It's in trouble. Yeah. You're getting yourself into trouble. Because God operates through the leader. Yeah. If your GP is quack, you're in trouble. You may die very early. Yeah. The minister of health cannot do anything.

[64:25] It's your GP. Wow. So you got to learn how to pray and stop gossiping about your pastor. I can see my teacher. What is your blessing in this season?

[64:40] I can see my teacher. I feel like preaching. Preach. Are you learning something at all? Yes. Yes. Yes. You see, there are people who are not spiritual.

[64:51] They don't understand these things. Yes. Because they are you. Oh, okay. But what if? I'm sure you're in the scripture. Try and get the scripture and it will begin to refine the other struggles you're having in your mind.

[65:04] Start from God's standpoint and then grow from there. Don't tell God. Don't. You fit into mine. Why do you want the train to come to your house before you go out? Hey. Go to the station.

[65:15] That's right. Yeah. That's right. Wow. Very important. You see, that's why I spoke about spirituality. Yeah. Because what many people think, some people are very theological but not spiritual.

[65:29] Yeah. Yeah. Because to them, theological exercise is an academic exercise. Read through church history and you will find out that many people God use.

[65:41] It's not because they are theologically astute. I'm not saying theology is not important. It's necessary. It is. All right. But that is not what defines how God will use you. Most of these great revivalists, most of them were not, some of them were just lawyers.

[65:54] Some people like Bishop Doug A. Ward Mills. This has not been to a theological, but it's one of the few men of God in our generation, God is using for a great worldwide revival.

[66:04] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, I'm not downplaying theology because theology is necessary. Your doctrine is necessary. How to understand. But what I'm saying is that for some of us, it's just an academic exercise because you're academically quite good.

[66:18] So, you're going to be reading. What do you mean? So, I've read different books. And where has it taken you? Paul said he said you're asking for my credentials unfortunately I can't find a document by human beings on my credentials of the calling of God the efficacy of my ministry is on the human heart it's not on paper if really you are spiritual and you are that deep in God please show us your fruits through human fruits not testimony not you pray for somebody and you get a miracle that's not what I'm talking about somebody says I used to be this but now I'm this in Christ that is the sign of someone who is very spiritual very spiritual very spiritual you know everything you know everything about systematic theology you know about pneumatology hamashiology soteriology, christology eschatology you know everything about systematic theology

[67:21] I mean you know about demonology angelology I mean talk about the logies you know all that but there's no there's no human practical practical provable human evidence fruits Jesus said I called you that you bear fruits and that your fruits will remain it's not about the ideologies or what you have how much you know it's how much your words Jesus said if you don't believe me for what I say let my works tell you who I am so before you make noise about how spiritual you are how much your revelations work please show us your fruits in Christ when I say fruits I'm talking about you prophesied to somebody who got a job and got a job excuse me even demons can do that but demons demons can grow people in Christ hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah let me let me let me run out this is someone getting something listen people will tell you the church is this the church oh as for the there are different aspects of the church and and it depends somebody said it depends on how you define the church listen excuse me excuse me excuse me depend on how you define the church how else would you define the church the church is the body of Christ the church is what died

[68:43] Christ died for and the practical living expression of the church is the local church the God really said does for his Hebrews chapter 10 verse 23 24 don't forsake the assembling of yourself together it's necessary okay so that's the local church and when he wrote the letter to the local churches he didn't write to the to the universal church all the epistles were written to local churches apart from few that were written to individuals as I said earlier on so he wrote the letter to the local churches and then the local churches he said to the church Ephesus right next week I'm going to start the every church now I spoke about I studied church history in Bible school they taught you taught us about how from Christ and how the church in Europe how the church in Middle East how the church and this man St. Augustine Martin Luther King Calvin sorry Martin Luther I'm sorry Martin Luther sorry Martin Luther Calvin John Calvin you know these reformers Whitefield they taught us about all those things the history church history how the Catholic church became the only state's church the apostate's church so I'm not saying it's apostate now but maybe

[69:55] I don't know but and how we are called Protestants where is it coming from how Church of England came in and all these Methodists Presbyterians where did they all come from where we're not all one where did this is church history now watch this church history teaches you about the the stages of the church across the generation Jesus Christ didn't leave his church without history and so in only two chapters or sorry three chapters of Revelation he also gives church history before church started so when we talk about the seven churches of Asia he's talking about definitely there were churches at that time it related to churches at that time but much more he was talking about the church across the generations so from the time Jesus went left and the time he's coming these seven churches are states different states three of them have already passed so three of them have already passed now we are in the last four and when we go into that I'm going to show you what the state different states of the church and these are the

[70:58] Jesus wrote the letter to the church the church in this state the church so some of them they have lost their first love some have become materialistic Bible says some of them they are the synagogue of Satan they are the synagogue of Satan he said I have this against you then in every church he tells them he who overcomes because there are true elements in the church who need to change their ways so every generation there are elements of the church that can repent hallelujah but let me end by saying in Revelation chapter 1 verse 11 he mentioned the churches verse 12 he said then I tend I like this verse 12 Revelation 1 12 he said then I tend to see the voice that spoke with me and having turned I saw seven did you see that seven what I saw what seven golden lampstands what did I tell you the portrait of the church is lampstands okay I can't go further because of my time but I saw seven golden lampstands and guess what look at what he saw again verse 13 and it this is ah listen he said and in the midst of the seven lampstands one like the son of man clothed with a garment down to his feet gathered about the chest with golden golden satch belts should be on your waist but his own is on his church

[72:25] I feel because now he's finished working he's loving the church I'll explain it look go to the next verse go to the next verse his head his head and hair were white like wool as white as snow and his eyes like the flame of fire let's continue verse 15 his feet were as fine brass as if refined in a fairness his voice as the sound of many let's go to the next verse look at this describing Jesus Christ okay he has it in sound what seven stars seven again seven stars out of his mouth came two escorts this person must be very scary two escorts and his countenance was like the sun shining in his strength alright go to the next verse this is Jesus describe Jesus and when I saw him I fell at his feet as dead but he laid his right hand on me saying do not be afraid I am the first and the last go to the next verse look at this I am he who he who lives I was dead and behold I am alive forevermore amen and I have the keys of haste and death this is Jesus okay so go to the next verse let me show you something that he said write these things which you have seen and the things which are and the things which will take place after this so he said write these things and then send it to the church but look at verse 12 again

[73:44] I want to show you something 12 again when I turned I saw golden lampstand verse 13 and amongst the lampstand in the midst of the seven lampstand this one where was the one this one the first where was he so let's say these are the seven lampstands he was right in the midst of the seven lampstands I saw him and he was walking in the midst of the seven lampstands and so we have to find out what's the lampstand look at verse 20 Jesus himself defined the lampstand look at verse 20 he said the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches alright and then how about the lampstand and the seven lampstands you saw are the churches so where is Jesus he was in the midst of the churches but we know he's seated where this is the lamp seated we know he's at the right hand of the throne of majesty interceding for us according to Hebrews chapter 9 verse 25 yeah I think 24

[74:48] Hebrews 9 24 so he's there he's look at Hebrews chapter 9 verse 24 Christ entered into a holy place which is but into heaven Christ entered so we know he's in heaven but now what we saw he says he's in the midst of the church he's where is Christ in the midst of the church the churches in the midst of the local churches you want to discover God you have to you want to encounter God position yourself right in the local church he's in the midst of the local church and next week I'll continue from there what he's doing he's loving us he's caring for us he's building his church he's nourishing he said at the same time he's at the right hand of the majesty interceding for us and at the same time he's within the church loving us nourishing us working with us working with us and he said these letters write to the churches now my point here is that how come you are so godly you have missed the local church how come if you are that God centered

[75:51] I'm telling you he'll point you to the local church anyone who does not get involved in building the local church is not doing God's work very deep I like the way the place is quiet do not think God owes you anything the best of God you get is what theologians call the general benevolence generally good it rains on everybody everybody can get a job everybody can pass you can love your unbelievers generally things can be good okay but for God to put his backing on you then you better buckle down and get his attention by getting involved in the local church local church somebody was asking but why do you have to go and save souls if you say that the work of the church is to build church we have to go and save souls so they can come in the church we don't leave them how do you go to maternity ward give birth and leave the child there you need a home before my wife went to leave the child before time to give birth time of delivery we've already bought coats we've already bought nappies a lot of

[77:06] Moses baskets a lot of things because the baby is coming home we go out to go and win souls and bring them home to bring them home for what so they'll be part of the church I'm talking about practicing the local church life that's why we go out that's why we do everything we do and every local church must be interested in building the local church and making sure their local churches are doing well and the local church what is the evidence of a church doing well when people's lives are becoming more Christ centered in the church it's not money all those things are fringe benefits so some of you your financial situation may not change at the moment because God wants you to get it right with him because the way you are you are already every time physically you look like this Lord I worship you physically that's why but in the spirit you are on your marks set waiting for money to jump out of the church hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah so you have come pastor bless my oil for me so I can get more customers

[78:25] I will pray for it but it's God who determines to answer but your testimony is coming you are receiving your testimony you are receiving your testimony in the name of Jesus let's build the church nothing you do in church will ever be in vain now don't be so big so smart okay let me put it this way if you think you are too intelligent to serve in a certain church go to the church where you are not too intelligent to serve but serving you must serve the way they do their things I don't like go where they do you like the way they do their things so that you can serve it's important Jesus he was God himself he humbled himself and came down to come and serve he said he did not relinquish he did not count equality if God something to grasp on Philippians chapter 2 but he gave he left that and came down and died a shameful death that's why God has highly exalted him there's a reason why God lifts you want God to be behind your raising your lifting your exalt elevation come on for goodness sake buckle down do something in the church when we are going to win souls join us let's go win souls let's win souls

[79:42] God is watching God is watching God is watching and he's marking and you don't forget you have a spiritual account every one of us you have a spiritual account build it because in the day of need they will have to pay you from your account for we must all appear before the judgment seat of no God of Christ 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verse 10 for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ and everyone will give an account of whatever you have done in their body whether good or bad and then verse 11 said knowing the terror of God we persuade men we persuade men we persuade men knowing the terror of God we persuade men we are persuading you do more for God do more for Christ because life is short but eternity is longer somebody's here we thank God for using this sermon

[80:49] Reverend Dr. David Entry to share this awesome word if this message has blessed you in any way please spread the word by sharing it and send us an email to amen at charis.org remember to stay connected with us on Facebook Instagram YouTube and Twitter for regular updates on what God is doing here at Charis Ministries stay blessed