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Blessed in the Kingdom of God · Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons

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  Hi there, welcome to NECF. We're excited to share today's message with you. Don't go
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  anywhere, stay with us to the end for some valuable resources to enrich your faith.
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  Here's today's sermon.
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  So we have been discussing about manifesting the kingdom of God. So today, in a way of introduction,
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  right, we will just start a topic. This one I'm going to do it in a series as long as possible
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  till I exhaust it. Amen. But I appreciate the lead pastor who is not with us, right, he's in Nigeria
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  and then putting all the structures in place to close the gate. Hallelujah. May the Lord give
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  you understanding. You see pastor Victor didn't cough today. That's new. Amen. So his coughing
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  days are over. Praise God. You know he coughed during my time like never before. Once they say
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  pastor Custin, the cough will come. But his coughing days are over. Praise God. So this morning
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  we'll talk about blessed in the kingdom of God. Blessed in where? In the kingdom of God. You are
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  blessed actually. Praise God. You're not the one seeking for blessing. I see 10 people here
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  and the spirit of the Lord is saying if you can sow a seed of a thousand dollars, people that are
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  doing chabuk chabuk, you can still see thousand dollars in their pocket. Your blessing is tied
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  to this one thousand dollars. By the time you sow it, 10 people, 10 people, 10 people, the guy is
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  calculating 10,000 dollars cash out. People, your blessing. You see when he gets that kind of
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  congregation or assembly because they are full of moomoo's, you know, that are not taught the word,
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  somebody will get some emotional thing that he thinks his blessing is tied to the thousand dollars
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  and then he will be under pressure to borrow a thousand dollars. In fact the guy will not add it.
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  He said even if you don't have the thousand dollars, you know God is a god of second chance.
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  He will give you a space of one week. You can still redeem it in one week.
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  Some will even say if you don't have it now, you can't, you can't, you can't, is it not what is not
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  vow? Pledge. He said you can make a pledge and redeem it in one month. God will take record of it.
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  You see in this church, we will teach you the truth of the word so that you can be delivered
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  from unreasonable men. Hallelujah. You'll be delivered from false teachers. The scripture
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  calls them that they are after their... So blessed in the kingdom of God. Amen. So what does it mean
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  to be blessed? What does it mean to be what? To be blessed is a question which we're going to explore
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  throughout the study. What does it mean to be what? To be blessed. Praise God. Hallelujah.
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  Yeah, Matthew chapter 28 everybody. Let's go to Matthew chapter 28. Say I am the blessed of God.
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  I am the blessed of God. All that is in Christ is in me. My life, my conduct, my character,
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  my life, my conduct, my character reflects Jesus. Hallelujah. You see in the teaching of the doctrine
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  of Jesus, there are three things that are very important. One, you are taught Christ, right?
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  You are taught who Christ is, what he has done, his lifestyle on the earth, the significance of
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  why he came. Amen. Secondly, now you are taught how you identify with him. Praise God. How you
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  identify with Christ, how and who you are in Christ Jesus, how eternal life is yours. Amen.
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  And then thirdly, now then you are taught your conduct as a believer, your lifestyle as what?
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  As a believer. So you're taught Christ, you're taught about your identity, how you identify with
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  Christ and then you're what? Your conduct. Praise God. That's what it means to manifest the kingdom.
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  Hallelujah. You can't manifest what you don't know. Praise God. Only when you are demon possessed,
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  that's when you manifest things you don't know. But you can be filled with the Holy Ghost and don't
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  manifest. You are manifesting the Holy Ghost. In fact, the Holy Ghost ensures that you don't
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  manifest him in ignorance because you do great damage, greater damage. So you have a good
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  environment, a good assembly, an atmosphere where you know who you are in Christ Jesus,
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  where Christ is taught who is Christ, right? And then now the pastors or the teachers there
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  don't allow you to just go like that. You are now taught the conduct of what? Of the believer.
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  How you now manifest the life. Praise God. Hallelujah. So Matthew 28 verse 18 to 20 now,
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  it says, and Jesus came and spake unto them saying, all power is what? Is given unto me in heaven and
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  in what? And in earth, go ye therefore and teach how many nations? How many nations? All nations,
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  baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. 20 now, teaching
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  them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and know I am with you always even
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  on to the end of what? Of the world. Amen. Hallelujah. Praise God. So when we see verse 18,
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  everybody put your eyes on verse 18. And Jesus came and spake unto them saying, all power is given
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  unto me in heaven and in what? Big question. How did Jesus know that all power has been given to him?
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  Amen. So Christ must be speaking from a source of information. Amen. So for him to speak that
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  statement is a reality that he already has come into. Amen. So he should have seen that information
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  somewhere. It must have been set somewhere that all power in heaven and in the earth will be given
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  to him. Praise God. The first time you got into school, you were told that if you become the best
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  graduating student, this is what will happen. You're going to get opportunity to shake with the
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  rector of the school. And then suddenly now you went through all this four years and studied and
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  studied and studied and your CGPA came out as 3.99. Just one of the nights you slept and then
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  you got a B in one course and then you know one of those things that happened and then you're on
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  3.99. On the graduation day now and then they call you. We invite the best graduating student.
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  Now we call on Mary Ayuba Ogundimu. You know Mary will just come, check her, check her, check her.
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  All her fans will just have camera. Tis tis tis tis tis tis tis tis. You know and she'll come and then
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  collect the gifts and she'll say finally all the gifts are the best graduating students
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  of the faculty of, I don't know your faculty, but in the department of psychology has been given
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  to me and I had the opportunity to shake the rector. In fact see a photo of it. She shows
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  a photo, we'll see it on our Instagram, we'll see it on TikTok, we'll see it on Facebook, we'll see
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  it everywhere. We'll join her and celebrate with her. So for her to come into that reality, right,
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  somebody will have encouraged her along the line. She must have had the information somewhere.
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  So for Jesus to say all power is what is given to me, right, he must have seen it somewhere, amen.
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  So Christ wasn't speaking out of ignorance. He was speaking because he has also read the scriptures.
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  He has read the prophecies that have been spoken about him, amen. He has read them where? From where?
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  The scriptures. Hallelujah. You see this is the main reason why the believer ought to live his life
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  by the scriptures. You see the husband cannot just wake up and say, you know according to our
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  tradition a woman does not shake a man with the left hand. You know according to our tradition,
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  you know in my land the women must be taken care of like an egg. So even life breaks egg. Sorry.
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  You see in Christ, there is no my tradition. No, you don't see that in Christ. All you see in Christ
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  is Christ. Hallelujah. The man that comes into Christ and lives by the scripture, oh he will
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  always have the testimony of the scripture validated around his life. So Christ himself
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  lived his life by what? By the scriptures. The believer ought to live his life by what?
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  The scriptures. So God's word must be the final authority over your life. So Jesus was speaking
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  and he was teaching them from the scriptures. Amen. How did Jesus know that all power, all
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  authority has been given to me in heaven and the earth? Right is somewhere. He was speaking from
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  the scriptures. And if you write Jesus speaking from the scriptures right somewhere, I ought to
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  live my life by the scriptures. That's why I believe her. The topic is blessed in the kingdom of where?
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  Of God. Hallelujah. So he wasn't quoting scriptures from Matthew. He wasn't quoting from
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  Ephesians because at that time there was nothing called Ephesians. He wasn't quoting from Galatians.
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  Amen. Jesus was quoting from Genesis to Malachi. Praise God. He was quoting from where? From Genesis
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  to where? To Malachi. Amen. So sir, how did you know it's from Genesis to Malachi? Look chapter 24
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  everybody. Please pay attention because it's a teaching, it's a training. Amen. So everything
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  will be adding up as we continue moving. Praise God. So Jesus was teaching from where? Genesis to
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  where? To Malachi. He wasn't teaching from Old Testament. Neither was he teaching from New
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  Testament. Luke 24 verse 24 everybody. Or let's start from verse 25. Then he said unto them,
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  O fools, and slow of heart, to believe all that the prophets have spoken. I don't want to see
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  anybody sleeping on me. If you are sleeping on me, I'll ask you to stand up. Amen. Yeah.
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  O not Christ to have what? So what did the prophets, what was the things that the prophet was
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  speaking? O not Christ to have what? Suffer these things and to enter into his what? So the prophets
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  were saying that Christ will what? Will suffer and Christ will what? Enter into his glory. Is everybody
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  with me? Is everybody with me? Good. See 27 now. And beginning at Moses and what? All the prophets,
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  he expounded unto them in all the scriptures, the things concerning. So if Jesus say all power,
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  all authority in the heaven and on the earth has been given unto me, where did he see that from?
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  And when we say the scriptures, we mean what? Genesis to where? To Malachi. Amen. Perfect.
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  Now when we now go to verse 44 of that same chapter, and he said unto them, these are the
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  words which I speak unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be what? So now
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  the saints of Christ now, he's saying that now everything has been fulfilled and now all power
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  in heaven and on the earth has been what? Has been given to me. All things have been what?
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  Fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning
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  who? Concerning me. 45, then opened he their understanding that they might understand the what?
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  The scriptures. Hallelujah. So you see that Christ was teaching them from where? Genesis to Malachi
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  because he is the center of the message. Hallelujah. So when you read Genesis to Malachi,
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  who you should see there is Jesus. Sir, well you know now, you know there is somewhere,
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  I cannot remember how, but he said the wealth of the Gentiles shall come unto us. That's the only
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  thing they know, wealth of the Gentiles. He says, sir, you know, you know, some of these bad guys
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  are associated myself, all these G boys, sir, is to fulfill the scriptures. You know, sir, the
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  Americans came and brought slavery into our country. Now it is time to take it back from them.
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  Sir, even you know, last month I cast out, I gave a huge tithe to my church. They will say it all.
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  The scriptures is not teaching about prosperity. The scriptures is not a book to teach you how to
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  make money. Amen. Hallelujah. Yes, but I think somewhere Proverbs is saying so.
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  There is nothing in the scriptures. If you want to learn wealth creation, go to Harvard Business
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  School. If you can afford it, if you have a village like me, there you go to Kaduna Business School,
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  right? They're going to teach you how to make money, to teach you entrepreneurship and the rest.
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  But you don't get into the Bible to learn how to make money. You will live your life poor. I tell you,
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  the Bible is not a book about relationships. Sir, what this thing you are saying, eh? Ah,
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  now wow, now wow, yeah. The scriptures is about Christ. He said from Genesis to Malachi,
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  from Moses and the prophets, all the things they were speaking concerning me. So when the believer
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  gets into the scriptures, what he ought to see is to see Christ. As the believer sees Christ,
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  he will see himself in where? In Christ. So when you are taught the scriptures, when you are trained
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  in the word of faith, what do you see? You don't see yourself as it were, just flying around.
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  As you see Christ in the word of faith, you see who? You see you. Amen. So Jesus was saying that
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  I am the center of the message. And that statement, Christ spoke that statement after resurrection.
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  Amen. So where did Christ get or got his power from? From resurrection. Hallelujah. So God gave
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  or willed that power to Christ at where? Resurrection. Praise God. Hallelujah. Amen.
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  So because if you check, look 24, when you start from verse one, all that is happening there
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  is about the resurrection of Jesus. Amen. And so he will expand the scriptures to them,
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  open their understanding that they may understand who he is at where? Resurrection. Amen. Praise
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  God. So there's nothing called New Testament. There's nothing called Old Testament. Pastor
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  Chidi, Pastor Victor has already taught us extensively on that. When you go on our website,
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  go to understanding the Bible, the series there, you're going to see the whole series.
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  The series there, you're going to see it, listen to it, right? Translators helped us. And they did,
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  you know, some yesterday I was trying to go through to read Bible that had no verses
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  and had no chapters. They're online. You see it. Just go and get a sample for yourself. And it's
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  beautiful. Do you know why, sir? Because when you are reading it, you don't read with your mind split
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  in split, no full stop. It's a full story. You read it like a novel, like a story, right? This is
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  how you're going to read it. You know, now we are reading Luke 24. Everybody go to Luke 24.
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  You know, Luke chapter 24 from verse one, now upon the first day of the week, very early in the
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  morning, they came onto the Sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared and certain
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  orders with them. You now see full stop. Your mind now also becomes stopped. You now go to verse two.
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  You now open your mind. And they found a stone rolled away from the scripture, from the Sepulchre.
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  And they entered in and found what? Not the body of what? Of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass.
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  You see, it's full stop, comma here, semicolon here, and the rest. But you see, when you open
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  the one that has no verses and has no chapters, it's a straight communication. It's just a flow.
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  You just keep flowing. You just keep flowing. So, at the end of it, when you reach the end
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  of a particular communication, you now will have a complete understanding of the context.
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  So, why we now have verses and chapters, they're taught in their mind. You see, Moses, when he
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  wrote Genesis, he never wrote Genesis to be an Old Testament book. When Paul wrote Ephesians,
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  the letter to the Ephesian church, he never said, okay, I Paul the apostle according to the Lord
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  Jesus Christ, this book shall be a New Testament book. I'm sending it to the Ephesian church.
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  Oh, my dearly beloved children in Ephesus, when thou seer this letter, classify it on the New
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  Testament in age to come that they might read it and understand easily. No. Amen. So, when you go
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  and listen to understanding the Bible, you know how they were piled and compiled together for us.
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  Amen. Praise God. Hallelujah. Even though I know Pastor Victor has some more that he was going to
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  do, right, but he said, let's pause first. Right. Amen. But the series that is going to take us later
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  will capture all these things. So, there's nothing called New Testament. Jesus will have said,
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  Jesus will have in that Luke chapter 24, he would have said something like this.
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  Then he said unto them, oh, fools, 25 now, as the law of how to believe all that the prophets have
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  spoken in the Old Testament. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his
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  glory and beginning at Moses and all the prophets he expanded unto them in all the Old Testament
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  and some of the New Testament, the things concerning himself? No. Praise God. Because
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  there's nothing called Old Testament and there's nothing called New Testament. It's called the
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  scriptures. And the scriptures is concerning who? Concerning Christ. Praise God. Hallelujah. Amen.
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  So, how do you know? First Corinthians chapter 15, verse 3. And then let's see whether some other
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  people called it like that. First Corinthians chapter 15. No worry, we'll take it gradually.
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  It's a long series, so it's okay. First Corinthians chapter 15, everybody, from verse 3. See what Paul
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  was saying. For I deliver unto you first of all that which I also received. How that Christ died
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  for our sins according to Old Testament, according to New Testament, according to what? And when we
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  say scriptures, we mean what? Genesis 2. Because at this time there is nothing called Ephesians.
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  In fact, there is nothing called Matthew. Amen. According to where? So where did Paul know that
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  Christ died for our sins? Genesis 2, Malachi. Ah, since I've never seen it. You see that's why
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  it's because you don't attend cell meetings. You refuse to attend cell meetings. You make a choice
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  not to attend midweek service. You can never see it. Never. Verse 4. And that he was buried,
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  and that he rose again the third day according to the... So where did he see it from? Genesis 2,
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  Malachi. So are you saying that Genesis 2, Malachi actually spoke about Christ's burial,
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  his re- is rising, and even on the third day? Yes. According to where? The scriptures. Amen. And that
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  he was seen of Cephas, then of the what? Of the 12th. Hallelujah. Luke 24, which we have read. Amen.
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  So now, because we are talking about the scriptures Genesis to Malachi, right? Just in a way you could
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  just write it because we are reading the canonicals. So when you are reading the canonicals now,
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  you don't become mindless. Amen. So if I want to understand, for example, right? The book of Genesis,
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  the book I should read more is Exodus. Amen. I'm going to say something now. Or if I want to
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  understand the book of Revelation, the background books I should read is 1st John, 2nd John, and
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  what? 3rd John. If I want to understand all the letters of the apostles, apostle Paul,
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  each and every one of them, I go to the book of Acts. Amen. Some days ago we were talking with my
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  wife and I told them, and I was telling her, not them, you know? I bind your minds. You know, the
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  heart of the church members with pure water. I told her, amen, that as we read the scriptures,
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  just pay attention. You're going to see lots of repetitions and lots of things will be adding up.
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  Amen. Now I say, damn, now all of them are turning to look at her. Whether she has a swollen face,
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  your mind needs to be purified. So now you need to go to the book of Acts because all their journey,
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  all their movements, all the churches they visited, you will see them where? In the book of,
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  so when you now see Paul visiting Ephesus and then you go and see his letter to the Ephesian church,
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  it will now make sense the problems he's addressing, the teaching he's bringing to them.
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  Because when you read the book of Acts now, you will now understand, ah, so from Acts,
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  these were some of the things actually that happened. Amen. When you now go to Colossians,
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  so that you don't read Colossians in isolation, and then you go to Acts, you now see, okay,
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  so that's why actually in the Corinthian church, they had these major issues with them. So I want
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  to understand the apostle Paul, his letters. I go to Acts. I want to understand Matthew, Mark,
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  Luke, and John. I go to Genesis to Malachi. Oh, so to understand Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
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  as you read Genesis to Malachi? Yes, sir. And I want to understand Exodus. To Malachi, I go to Genesis.
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  I want to understand Genesis, I go to Exodus. Because it's from Exodus that Genesis came from.
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  If there was no Exodus, there wouldn't be Genesis. Moses would not be sent, and Moses would not write
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  anything. Amen. So you see, now it will help you to read the scriptures all together. That all the
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  scriptures are about Christ. It's concerning who? Concerning Christ. So you see, you can go to
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  Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and then you read it in isolation. You now understand what I mean about
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  the life of Christ is from Genesis to Malachi. When you go to Acts, and you want to understand
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  the book of Acts, you need to read Matthew, Mark, Luke, John to understand what is happening in Acts.
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  Praise God. You see, these things I've said on to you will help you to read the entire Bible in
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  context. Amen. So why are they called all the scriptures? We have learned also, right? Amen.
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  We have learned that because they never came by the origin of man. Praise God. They never came by
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  what? The origin of man. They were never an idea of man. Praise God. Hallelujah. Secondly, men wrote,
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  prophets spoke as they were inspired by the Holy Ghost, by the Spirit of God. Praise God. And also,
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  the central message there is about Christ's death and His resurrection. 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 10
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  to 11. 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 10 to 11. I'll just read this scripture and then I'll stop here.
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  I said all that I said because of the things we will start building on. Amen. So because we are
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  going to be going to Genesis to Malachi, quote and unquote, all testament, to say most of the things I
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  will say. The blessedness of the believer didn't start in the Acts. Amen. The blessedness of the
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  believer is from Genesis to here. So which means when we study the book of Genesis to Malachi,
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  we will see you there. Hallelujah. Because when we see Christ there, we will see the believer there
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  too. Amen. Hallelujah. Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and sat diligently,
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  who prophesied of the grace that should do what? Should come unto you. Verse 11.
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  Starting what or what manner of the time the Spirit of Christ which was in them be signified
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  when it is signified beforehand, the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should what?
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  Should follow. The prophets spoke about it. Amen. 2 Peter 1, 20, 21. 2 Peter 1, 20, 21. 2 Peter
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  chapter 1, verse 20 to 21. Knowing this first that no prophecy of the scripture is of what?
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  Any private what? Interpretation. Yes, 21. For the prophecy came not in old time. You see? In what?
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  Old time, not in Old Testament. In old what? Time. Okay, we'll see in the next time we meet.
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  By the will of man, but holy men of God speak as they were moved by what? By the Holy Ghost.
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  By the Holy Ghost. Hallelujah. Praise God. So the whole scripture. So what are we learning this morning?
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  We are learning one thing. That all scripture is concerning who?
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  Concerning Christ. If Christ had to speak, he will speak from where? The scriptures. If Paul had to
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  teach, he had to teach from where? The scripture. If James had to teach, he had to teach from where?
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  The scriptures. If the apostles had to live their life, they were living their life from where?
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  The scripture. If the believer has to live his life, he has to live his life from where?
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  If you have to live your life, where should you live your life from? From the scriptures. Amen.
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  Can we just bless God everybody? Just bless God. Just bless God everybody. One prayer I say,
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  Holy Spirit, strengthen me to live my life by the scriptures.
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  Strengthen me to live my life by the scriptures. Strengthen me. I receive strength in my inner man.
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  I receive strength in my inner man. I receive strength in my inner man. I receive strength in
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  my inner man. Thank you for listening to today's sermon. Your journey matters to us. Let's keep
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  walking together. Visit our website for more resources and follow us on social media to stay
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  social media to stay updated. Feel free to check the show notes for additional insights.
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  If today's message was a blessing, share it with a friend. Till next time, be blessed.