TOTAL SURRENDERING: A CELESTIAL ATTRIBUTE FIRST BIBLE LESSON: LUKE 12:22-23 And he said to his disciple, therefore I say to you, be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than food, and the body is more than raiment. SECOND BIBLE LESSON: LUKE 6:20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, blessed are ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. GOLDEN TEXT: LUKE 14:33 So likewise, whoever he is of you that forsaketh not all that he hath he cannot be my disciples. DO NOT BE CARNALLY MINDED This is gospel forms the opening address for the occasion of the Christ servants week. This truth is unchangeable; it remains the same notwithstanding your temperament. Therefore, whether you laugh over it or cry, whether it pleases you or not, the truth remains permanent. This gospel is not directed to any particular person or group but to all things created by God. It is the veritable truth which all should believe. Of his entire creation, our Lord Jesus Christ is the only one who is wise and with a sound knowledge of this kingdom. Hence, right from his first advent he worked towards it and was consequently glorified. Before the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, none knew anything about God or did anything to please him. The whole world fell short of Gods glory and grace. The people of the world claim to be wise and knowledgeable whereas indeed they are ignorant. It was because of their ignorance that Christ declared it an impossible task for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. This gospel is delivered neither to discourage you from your worldly activities nor to encourage you to plunge yourself the more into them. But it is given so that every person should examine himself and decide where to stand, whether to strive to inherit the kingdom or to perish. If you fail to inherit the kingdom of God in spite of the number of years you have been in brotherhood, you should know that it is because of your disobedience and for being carnally minded. Whether you are a visioner, a dreamer, a preacher, or a healer, once you are carnally minded, you have no share in this kingdom. This gospel, thought a short one, is very powerful and the veritable truth. You are therefore, at liberty to take up the opportunity either to enter into the kingdom of God or perish. Note that who ever lusts after food, cars, wife, husband, children, clothing and other material things shall never taste of the kingdom of God. If you observed our Lord Jesus Christ closely, you would realize that he is the Son of Man, Son of God and God himself. That had been possible because he had no association with the things of this world. Among his disciples, you would recall that Judas Iscariot was the most carnally minded and it pleased the Lord to make him a treasurer. Christ is not bothered with the activities of Judas Iscariot as regards disbursement of funds under his custody. He concentrated on preaching the gospel, healing people of their infirmities and doing other mighty works gratis. What ever was given to him in appreciation of his work was passed to the poor and needy. He knew that God owned everything and any person who struggled for Gods property was a thief. This explains why a person who is carnally minded cannot serve God and cannot even think of gaining the kingdom of God. Christ himself was a real child of this kingdom. He worked for it and finally inherited as the head. The time is far spent and this is the only opportunity left for any person who intends to inherit the kingdom of God to strive for it. Whatever material thing, be it a brand-new car, a new house, free food, money, etc. given to you, does not profit you at all. Whoever wishes to enter the kingdom of God is saved as long as he purges his heart of things of the world. Such a person will always be in peace with himself and others since his target is to gain the kingdom of God. This explains the reason why Christ said that except a man forsakes all the mundane things he cannot be his disciple. It is said that as it was done to the Israelites, so shall it be done to the Gentiles: if our Lord Jesus Christ had not come to show us the right way, people would have had excuses to give. The world is faced with strife and untold hardship because the people have rejected both their Creator and his words. You came into the world with nothing and will also depart with nothing. Is it not an act of foolishness for a person to put his mind in the things that are of this world? It is for this reason that he has commissioned us to heal the sick, make the blind to see, make the lame to walk, the dead to rise and to cleanse the leper; freely you received and freely you should give. He warned that while embarking on evangelism, none should go with gold, a handbag and shoe for a laborer is worthy of wages. He cursed the rich people by saying woe betide them while he blessed the poor and the disabled for theirs is the kingdom of God. This is why it is said that all those who are Christs seek not after the material things. The source of mans perdition is traceable to materialism. A person, who is not carnally minded shares whatever wealth he has with the poor, goes out to preach the gospel; he is always kind and loving. It is said; love not the world and the things therein, for whosoever loves the world does not have the love of the father in him. This is why the Christ students, Christ servants, the ordained ones, the elders and the rest of the people find it difficult to serve God. It is said that wherever a mans treasure is, there will his mind be. This is why it is impossible for a man who is carnally minded to inherit the Kingdom of God. These two things, the kingdom of God and the things of this world, are not inter-woven. All those who seek after this kingdom do not have any desire for the things of this world such as food, clothing, houses, shoes, money and the rest of them. It is said in the scripture that you should not think of what to eat and drink the next day for God has promised not to forsake you or leave you comfortless. The birds of the air neither sow nor harvest yet the father continues to feed them. The same care is extended to the trees, the grass, fishes in the water, animals in the forest and everything that lives. If God can take good care of these things, what about the human beings whom he created in his own image? Would he not do even more? It is therefore, advisable for all to forsake the mundane things, accept God and obey him. There is no how you would touch charcoal and you would not be stained. In the same vein, your heart is always fixed in what ever you love. There is nothing like Satan, apparition or mermaid apart from one being carnally minded. Entry into the kingdom of God is not dependent on your longevity on earth. After all Adam lived for 930 years, yet he did not inherit the kingdom but Christ who is at the right hand side of his father lived for only 33 years. QUALIFICATION INTO GODS KINGDOM Therefore, qualification into the kingdom is purely on the level of your righteousness and not the number of years spent on earth. If a person tells you that there is any other way leading to the kingdom of God other then righteousness, such a person is a liar. If your heart is occupied with the lust for material things, hatred and division, which portion of your heart will god occupy? This is why it is said that a servant cannot serve two masters. You cheat and tell lies because you are carnally minded. It is for this same reason that when you are given money to buy something and you happen to get the said item at a less price then expected, you would eat the balance and maintain that you bought the item at the anticipated price. In this kingdom, except you are sincere, you have failed and cannot inherit it. If you were to realize that your neighbor, yourself and even the articles all belong to God, would you have cheated? If you build a house and rent it out at exorbitant prices, are you not foolish? Who owns the house, the tenants and you, the landlord? Is this is not an act of foolishness and the reason why the Kingdom of God eludes you? If you pray for people, preach and charge any amount for rendering such services, how would you fulfill the scripture, which requires you to give freely as you received? When Prophet Elisha prayed to Naaman and he was healed of his leprosy, then later in appreciation gave Elisha some gifts. Prophet Elisha refused all the gifts but his servant of carnal mindedness went back and collected these gifts and perished as a result. That is the same fate that awaits any man that is carnally minded. Read the first lesson once again. FIIRST BIBLE LESSON: LUKE 12:22-23 And he said to his disciples, therefore I say to you, be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than food, and the body is more then raiment. TRUST IN GOD Brethren, The above text speaks for itself. If you know that your life is not the things you possess but in God, why do you continue to lust for those things? Take for instance the food you eat, after feeding heavily, within a short while you feel hungry again. The food you eat and indeed every material thing are transient. But if you surrender yourself to God and his services, you will have internal life. Who is a fool: a man who has given himself to God or the one who has given himself to the world? The tempter asked the Lord to turn the stones to bread and feed himself if he really he was a child of God. But Christ in a quick reaction told him that it was written that man should not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of Gods mouth. The word of God is, therefore, the source of life. It is the height of foolishness for any man to have his pride in the things of this world. No matter what you preach to a man who is carnally minded he will not listen to you, let alone obey the injunctions of God. This is why it is said if the word of God is hidden to man; it is only hidden to those whose eyes have been blinded by the things of this world. (Read 2 Corinthians 4:3-4) But if our gospel is hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them who believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine to them. This is why it is impossible for a rich man to inherit the kingdom of God. Any person who devotes his life and time to the service of God has no time to think or worry about mundane things. Such a person has no time to quarrel or struggle with anybody for whatever reason. He would not even think of charging any fee for services rendered or even be hungry. A real man of God is not fascinated by the things of this world because he knows they are vanity. Whatever material things a man may give to you, even if it is $100 million, it only leads you to destruction. But a single word of God that is preached to you would lead you to the kingdom of God if you practice it. And the person who preaches to you is he who loves you. The kingdom of God, it is said, is not inherited through wealth but by faith. Any person who has prepared himself for the kingdom of God has no interest for a wife, a child, money or any material thing. Your food is to practice the gospel and to do justice. A child of God is one who endeavors at all times to preach to the unbelievers and bring them to God. He is contented in any position God places him. You cannot realize the vanity of food money and other material things except you practice this gospel. The world has nothing admirable in it. The material things are like flowers that look only beautiful and attractive in the morning but soon wither away at sunset. I would rather ask you to take the whole world and give me Jesus. Any person who fails to recognize Jesus Christ and practice his injunctions has perished. Litigations and various types of problems experienced by the inhabitants of the world would not have existed if the lust for materialism had not overwhelmed them. Our Lord Jesus Christ promptly reminded a man who wanted to be his disciples that foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nest but the son of man has no place to lay his head. In the same token, how prepared is a nursing mother who wants to go into the service of God? When has she got the time to attend to her baby and also to serve God? Moreover, how would she serve her husband and also get the time to attend to God? This is why the kingdom of God is incompatible with marriage and other material things of this world. The married woman who decided to go into the field would always be thinking of her husband at home whether another woman has snatched him from her. The thought of her husband, her children at home and other material things would not allow her to concentrate in the work of evangelism. That is why you are advised not to love the world and the things therein. For any man that loves the world has not the love of God in him. You are devoid of the love of God because of your lust for materialism. How will you cease to indulge in medication, fornication, telling of lies and living abominable life when you continue to live in the world and cherish the things therein? You cannot serve God diligently and at the same time be deeply in love with the things of this world. Whoever loves God and obeys him has his hope, faith, thought and deeds in him. Any other way other than this leads you to destruction. Your claim to have healed the sick raised the dead and to have performed other wonderful works is false. It is God that sustains, heals, and gives life. It is for this reason that it is said, many are called but few are chosen. Of the multitude of the people called, only few have forsaken the things of this world. Others are still busy struggling for the things of this world such as husband, wife, money, telling lies, stealing and other vices. The world is corrupt and every ramification. For instance, a girl who refused and resisted the love advances made by a man may end up being called names to blackmail her. One of our sisters from Enugu passed through hell when she rejected her landlords love overturns. The man who had been cooperating with the sister even in brotherhood activities soon became her bitter enemy when she turned down his love advances. It is very common among brotherhood landlords to demand from their prospective tenants two years advance payment for rent. Such an attitude is un-brotherhood. Read Hebrews 3:7-8. Wherefore as the Holy Spirit saith, today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness. This kingdom deluded our great grandparents because of their lust for materialism. David, Solomon and many Kings in the past and even in this present generation missed this kingdom of God because of their disobedience and lust for the things of this world. It is said, even if one distributes all that he has or offer himself as a burnt offering, without charity, the person has nothing to gain. Whoever loves God does not expect any gift from any man. When a certain young man prayed the Lord to ask his brother to share their fathers inheritance with him, what did Christ say to him? He asked the young man who made him (Christ) a divider and judge between them. He also went ahead to warn them of every manner of covetousness, for what ever a man possesses, his life is not in his hands. Let the second lesson be read. SECOND BIBLE LESSON: LUKE 6:20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said blessed are ye poor: for yours is the Kingdom of God. The above passage is not a proverb. If you remember the story of Lazarus and the rich man, you would not need any further tales. In the end of their lives on earth, while Lazarus the destitute, a person of very low estate was resting in Abrahams bosom, the rich man was suffering in hell fire where he remained up till now. The Scripture says, belly for food and food for the belly but God will destroy both of them (1 Corinthians 6:13). It is said, God did not create the body for fornication but as his dwelling place. It is also stated that meat does not command us to God; but we are neither better when we eat it nor worse when we dont eat it. We need to surrender ourselves to God and his services. It is so pathetic to observe that both men and women admire good food, good clothes, beautiful and handsome people. All such things are vanity and empty. The glory of this world and its lust our fast passing away. (See 1 Corinthians 7:31). For the fashion of this world passeth away. Only the children of God shall reign forever. In spite of the time and effort I spent to preach to you and to admonish you on the need for righteousness, you are still unrepentant. It is said; he that has two coats should give one to another who has none, likewise food and every other thing. Why do you worry yourself over the material things of this world? In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the same was God. You have rejected God because of the material things. The world is suffering today because man has rejected God. There is no particular position in the world such as president, minister, governor, etc. that will afford you a place in the kingdom of God. DO NOT SEEK FOR THINGS OF THE WORLD You that is seeking for worldly glory, what do you think will be your benefits? While I desire that you should repent and refrain from sin, live in me and I in you, you are busy struggling for money and other material things. Those of you, who claim to sing to the glory of the father, dance to his glory and do one thing or the other for him should be informed that there are ulterior motives behind your various activities. What ever you claim to do is not for the father but for the sake of gaining one thing or the other. Many members claim to have done a lot for brotherhood. What can any person point to as being his or her contribution towards the progress of brotherhood? Those who will claim to have gone on ministry work to various Bethels, baptized quite a number of persons, raised the dead among others, have failed to note the statement of our Lord Jesus Christ that not all those who call him Lord, Lord will inherit the kingdom of God but those that do what is pleasing to his father who is in heaven. He further stated that on that day, they will claim to have cast out demons in his name, healed the sick and performed other wonderful works, but he shall tell them to go away for they are workers of iniquities. A person who loves money, woman, food and the world will never speak evil against such things because his mind is fixed there. But a child of God has his trust and hope solely in God. Despite the economic, political and scientific advancement of European countries, where are they today? They are all heading towards perdition because they are devoid of the word of God. The first set of people who are ready and working towards inheriting the kingdom of God are the Christs students, who have forsake every material thing and surrounded themselves completely to God. There is no other judgment than this. Those who remain here and continue to steal, covet, deceive and live abominable lives will surely answer for their deeds. THE LAST TRUMPET This is the last trumpet being sounded to the whole world to come in and be saved. It is said, when the last trumpet is sounded all those that were dead in the Lord would rise. This is the period of gods glory in which those whom he calls shall neither be beaten by rain nor scourged by sun; they shall neither thirst no hunger. It shall come to pass that people will be going to the children of God begging for food. This has been confirmed by one of our rich members from Imo state G.O.C. The people of the world could be said to be going to the stream with a basket to fetch water. They claim that the work of God is so difficult to do. But I tell you that the easiest and most profitable work to do is the work of God. When John taught his disciples I how to pray, the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ also went to their master and asked him to teach them how to pray. He taught them to pray thus; Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread.... If you hoard the food that God has given to you, thieves will break into the place and remove it. When the children of Israel departed from Egypt, God use to feed them daily with manna that fell from heaven for a period of 40 years. But one day one person reserved some manna after eating to his full. The following day, he could not find any manna as the whole thing had melted. It is indeed wasteful to hoard or reserve anything to yourself. It is said; give us this day our daily bread. This should be your watchword. What have you to do with the accumulated food and wealth? Let the golden text me read. GOLDEN TEXT: LUKE 14:33 So likewise, whoever he is of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. The above passage is neither a proverb nor an idiomatic expression. It is not even a vision or dream but a direct and true statement of fact. The position, of a Bishop, a Pastor, an Apostle, a Christs Student or any other rank you may think of cannot profit you anything except you forsake every material thing. You could be a Bishop of money, a Bishop of man, a commercial or social Bishop, but not a Bishop of God. Except a Bishop forsakes every material thing, he is by no means Gods disciple. Material things terminate here on earth and are short-lived, but spiritual things endure forever. To prove Christs wisdom, though he was the riches of all man he accepted to be poor in order to inherit the kingdom of God. The lust for material things is insatiable. For instance, if someone prays for five dollars and he is accordingly provided with that, in his next prayer he will increase the amount to $10 and subsequently $15 etc. A man who has one house suddenly seeks for a second one, a third one and so on until he is trapped in the webs of distraction. A man who has one wife goes ahead to seek for the second and the third and so on to satisfy his lust, which finally lead him to distraction. Christ did say that a man who has taken enough of an old wine has no appetite for the new one. People consider the statement of Christ that one should sell all that he has and come to God, a mere Proverb. But that is the only criterion or qualification for Christs discipleship. Whatever you call yourself, individually or collectively, it can never avail you anything. Heaven helps those who help themselves is a biblical saying which people misconstrue to mean human efforts: indulging in diabolism, medication and insatiable lust. SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD The Christs servants have since been warned to desist from charging fees for any services they render, which includes visions, offering prayers, charm removing etc. Every other member of brotherhood charges a fee for any services he or she offers. When you reject all the material things and give your life to God, every other thing shall be added to you. If you seek first the kingdom of God, all the things you require will be added to you. A true man of God lacks nothing since he has the kingdom of God, which is the source of everything. The various problems that take place all over the world are as a result of misplaced priorities and putting round pegs in the square holes. What do you think will happen if you put a person who has a burning lust for materialism in charge of a financial institution or any other concern? Will he not defraud the place? But if a true man of God, who has no lust for materialism, is put there, the money and every property belonging to the institution will be safe. Even in brotherhood, the number of honest people is not up to 5%. But if you fail to take proper care of anything that belongs to another person and demonstrates dishonesty in running such a business, how would you establish your own business successfully? Will you even get it? We can only serve God if we forsake all the material things. We will also be able to practice all his injunctions only if we divorce ourselves from the lust for materialism. Failing which, we will not inherit the kingdom of God. You are enjoined repeatedly to refrain from stealing, telling lies, fornication and the rest of the vices yet; you persist in them because of your persistent quest for materialism. Where there is smoke, fire is bound to be there also. I challenged the whole world since February 1942 that any person who will be able to make me to get angry shall be handsomely rewarded. On your part, you are easily provoked at the slightest thing. You speak evil words and even fight because you have failed to realize your expectations such as money, food, fornication and many other evil things. If you go to somebodys house and the person fails to offer you drinks or food, you get offended because you are a slave to those things. A child that would not allow the mother to sleep has to stay awake and watch over her. All will be well with you if you forsake every material thing. But if you hold firmly to it, you have distraction awaiting you. Your refusal to practice the gospel is to your detriment and not another persons. If you fail to practice the fathers Gospels, you have harmed yourself and not the father. Beloved, it is said a stroke of cane is sufficient unto the wise. He that has ear should hear what the Holy Spirit has imparted to the world. May God bless his holy words. Amen. THANK YOU FATHER
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 21:47:06 +0000
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