Last week we began looking at The Birth and The Rise of a New Kingdom. The Holy Spirit helped us so much that we could not reach the end of the journey. But I believe today, He is going to take us very far into where He is taking us by His grace. We stopped in the book of Daniel 2, even though I would have love that we start off today from there, but for a good reason, we would go to Genesis 2 and then we will come back to Daniel 2. So, let us go quickly to Genesis 2 so that we can continue what the Holy Spirit has started with us: The Birth and The Rise of a New Kingdom.
Genesis 2:7, the Bible says: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Another word for that “being” is a “living creature.” There are creatures of God that are not living in the sense of mankind. Stones are created by God for example, but they don’t breathe the way we breathe. We cannot find the blood that we find in ourselves in them. There are many creatures. But the living creatures has the capacity to move, they have the capacity to make decisions and choices, and this makes them living.
No wonder the Bible says “in Him we live, In Him we move” because our living connotes the capacity to move from point A to point B. And that is even perhaps the reason why many of us have moved away from the will of God. We are living, we move in and out of the will of God. And so, we must be careful about the liberty that God has given to us by making us living beings. But what happened? Bible says God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathe into the nostril of man, the breath of life. The moment God did that, man became a living creature. And so, the man without the breath, was just a merely formed body on the earth. And so, when the breath came, we moved out of just being a formed body to becoming a living creature, which becomes the one thing that characterized many other creatures even before man was created
Now, there is something else I want us to note, because many of us have this impression that it was only man that God formed, God didn’t form other things. Now, there is a Scripture I want us to see that would counter that our impression. In the same Genesis 2:19, the Bible says: “Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.” So, as God formed man in Genesis 2:7, we are also shown here that other things were formed and God brought them to Adam to name them. So, each creature got its name from man. Why? Man was the king of the living creatures on the earth.
In those days, they were all living creatures. The very thing that you and I were, we were living creatures. We were so created living creatures that God had to make man the king over them (the rest of the living creatures under heaven). So, we can see that there was a breath of life that God released, because there are two things here that is still worthy of our meditation. What is the breath of life? What is the spirit? Now, Job 32:8 shows us something that we could also think about. It says: “but there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty which makes him intelligent.” So, that tells us that there is a resident spirit in the man that God made. So, if you are going to be an intelligent man, you must maintain both spirit and the breath of the Almighty God.
So, Bible says the breath of the Almighty was released into the nostril of man, then he became a living being. And we also saw in verse 19 of Genesis 2 that as God formed man, He also formed other living creatures: the cattle, the beasts and the creeping things. Do we understand that? Now, God now made a profound statement in verse 19 of Genesis 3. The Bible says:
In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”
Do we see that? We must understand that there is a part of you and I that comes from the earth. As God commanded the earth to reproduce the other living creatures that we call animals today, the same way God commanded the earth to produce much of what was used to produce us. So, if you look at yourself as a man, as a woman; you are made up of, physically, of the earth. And so, if what was used to make other living creatures that you call animals was the earth, and the same earth was used to make you; what then is the difference?
In Ecclesiastes 12:7, the Bible says: “Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.” So, we know that the dust has been cursed. Man was cursed to return back, and there is no human in our generation, apart from Enoch and Elijah, most men if not all die after certain time on the earth. And if you go back to that same place where they were buried, all you would see will be just bones; every other thing would have decomposed and become part of the earth. In the future generation, some would still make use of the same earth that had been used to bury for other things.
So, what is it that differentiates you as a person from other living creatures? They were part of the dust; they were formed by God and they became living creatures just like you. It is just that fir the purpose of our reading, genesis did not include the details of their own creation, because we have this impression that we are the only formed creature. But my point and what the Holy Spirit has laid in my heart is we must understand where our difference lies so that we do not celebrate what is not worthy of celebration. What is it that you have that the other living creatures do not have? If you do not know that thing, then you will not be able to appropriate yourself, your difference very well. You would think maybe you are just so lucky you weren’t made a dog or one of the animals. These things are not accidental actually, and then it is not to be taken for granted.
That was what happened to Nebuchadnezzar that we read about last week. He got into a state where he felt that by his own hand, he made himself the greatest in the whole world, not knowing that the greatest of all men is still man. And God wanted to show him the difference between a man and the beast of the field. His understanding was tampered with. “But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty which makes him intelligent.” If there is an alteration to any of the two, a man will cease from functioning as a man and he will start functioning like the other living creatures. So, our authority on the earth is tied to our understanding which is also rooted in the manner of spirit that is in us.
I still remember what happened to Jesus and His disciples. John and James said “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven and consume these Samarians?” And Jesus rebuked them sharply and said to them “you do not know the manner of spirit that you are of.” There is a spirit in you that is a different spirit, that spirit in you does not produce this type of behavior. You see some people who behave like animals today, there is a spirit in them that is consistent with the spirit in the animals. You know, I was meditating at a point and I realized that most of the inventions in the world today are patterned after certain animals. They are so useless to us that we patterned every beautiful thing around us to look like them.
So, when mankind wants to build a submarine, they look for a big shark. When mankind wants to build airplane, they study the best of eagles. When we want to build fast cars, we study Jaguar and some other animals. Our scientific expressions are patterned after our observation of animals. When they want to even test drugs, they will say “if it can work with animals, it can also work with humans.” So, even though they are “useless”, yet we learn from them. The proverbs say anyone who is sluggish should go see the ants and learn. So, what is it that made them to be what they are? What is it that makes us to be who we are? These are questions that we must ask so that we must understand our difference and then celebrates what differentiates us. Alright!
So, let us go now to Daniel 4 so that we will continue from where we stopped last week. I will read a few verses from verse 31 downwards. It says:
“While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you! 32 And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses. 33 That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.”
Imagine what will make a man, the king to become an animal in quote for seven years. Seven years is so much, some of us, if they ask us: Seven years ago, where were you and you remember where you were; you will remember that seven years is so much. And you can now imagine a man suffering like an animal for seven years, a living creature that something is missing in.
Now let us read verse 34. The Bible says:
“And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven” did he lift it in the state of being a man or being a near living creature, an animal that we call today. In what state did he lift his eyes? You will get it now! It says: “And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honoured Him who lives forever.” Don’t forget the story of the prodigal son, he went away from the father with everything he thought was his and when he was done, he began to regret his actions. And he was still in that state of being a prodigal son that it came to him that the servants of his father were living better than him and he decided he was going to go back home to his father to seek for forgiveness. He was still away from his father. But it was when he returned to his father that his honor returned to him.
So, when he, Nebuchadnezzar, said this, it was not when everything returned, no! He was still in that state of being an animal, when he was eating grasses like oxen that he lifted up his eyes to heaven. Don’t forget, the judgment that came upon him was convey in this line of purpose in the latter part of verse 32: “until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.” So, in that state of suffering and being a slave, in that state of being afflicted, the moment he got to know that indeed that God rules in the affairs of men. From the moment he begins to acknowledge that, he has a tendency of possibility of returning back to his former glory.
You know, some of us wants our situation to be better before we do certain things. Yet, for our story to change, even in our difficulty, we must start thinking differently. Some people would say “why should I thank God when He has not given me what He promised?” But you must begin to thank God now so that He can even give you that which you are expecting. Somebody walked up to John C. Maxwell, he said at a point and asked him what he does. He replied the person: “I am a leadership writer and speaker.” The person now replied him thus: “maybe one of these days when I become a leader, I will buy some of your books.” And so, John C. Maxwell said when the man left, he told himself: “the only reason why this man would even become a leader is if he buys my books.”
Do you see it? Some people will not do certain things until their situation has changed. But what will change their situation is what they have refused to do. So, the poor refused to become rich simply because they have refused certain principles that makes the rich to continue to be rich. The ignorant will continue in that state of ignorance simply because what knowledgeable people do, they refuse to do it and so, their ignorance continues. But let us continue our reading.
“And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me.” There is a spirit in man and the breath of the Almighty gives them intelligence. Nebuchadnezzar said further: and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever:
For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
And His kingdom is from generation to generation.
35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing;
He does according to His will in the army of heaven
And among the inhabitants of the earth.
No one can restrain His hand
Or say to Him, “What have You done?”
There is no one who can compare his own greatness or magnificent with the Lord. We must never forget that. Whether you are a king of the earth, or a ruler, or a president or prime minister, not matter what position, Bible says God seats upon the circles of the earth and every inhabitants of the earth, including I the speaker, are like grasshoppers before Him. Nebuchadnezzar by revelation became a man and he returned to dominion by revelation. In that state of being a living creature that was feeding on grass, and his skin and hairs start to grow like bird’s hair, in that state, his eyes were opened and understanding returned back to him. He could now see that there is a God who leads the army of heaven and who does according to His will, and among the inhabitants of the earth, no one can say to Him or question Him as to what He does.
From verse 36-37 says:
“At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned to me. My counselors and nobles resorted to me, I was restored to my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.”
May the Lord bless the reading of His word. When Judgment came upon Nebuchadnezzar, the word that came to him was in verse 31. It says: “the kingdom has departed from you!” I don’t want to be thinking like the lowest of men, I want to think like the highest of men, but not in their pride. Nebuchadnezzar was thinking kingdom, he was a kingdom minded man. However, he thought kingdom begins and end with his own kingdom. He didn’t know that there was the King of kings who rules in the affairs of men and so, no wonder in Daniel 2:44, Bible says in the days of these kings, because if you read the earlier verses of chapter two, you will notice that the head of the image was said to be Nebuchadnezzar followed by different aspects and the Bible call those things different dispensations of kingdoms that shall be on the earth.
Daniel 2:44, the Bible says: “And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” One thing you must never forget is that when you hear “kings”, you are hearing kingdoms. Because every king is the head, the ruler over kingdoms. And so, when you hear “these kings”, there are kingdoms. But in the days of these kingdoms, the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom. And so, you must not forget, it is not a duplicated kingdom, and when you have a kingdom, you must not have two kings. Every kingdom is ruled by a king, so, when you have a kingdom, you have a king. So, “in the days of these kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.”
That must settle it that God is interested in kingdom, God is not interested in religion. Kingdoms could have religions, but God is interested in the kingdom. God create kingdoms. In the beginning, the Bible says God created the heavens. It is a kingdom, and that is why we call it the kingdom of heaven, and God created the earth. The earth is a kingdom, it was a kingdom until it got divided and then we now have kings. Even at that time when we have kings, there was a king that was ruling those kings. Don’t forget, when Satan fell, he fell with a host of other angels whom he had put in different places to establish his authority.
But don’t forget also, that Satan was just an attendant to God. So, God created Satan, and Satan when he betrayed so to say, left with a people, some hosts of heaven, some living creatures who now represent him to dominate kingdoms. You are a servant to whomsoever you obey. The moment man, the king of the earth, obeyed Satan, then the kingdom that was resident in the man was received by Satan, and Satan now begin to spread the influence around. And now, the Bible says in the days of these kings, in the days of these kingdoms that are offshoot of Satan, God will establish another kingdom that will topple them.
No wonder Apostle Paul called Satan “the god of this world.” In the days of the kingdoms ruled by the god of this world, God of heaven shall set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed and it shall not be left to others. This is important for us to meditate on, that while we are all complaining under the influence, the operation of these kings, we must start meditating in the days of these kings; these kings that has kingdoms, they have citizens of their kingdoms, subjects of their kingdoms, slaves of their kingdoms; in the days when men and women are slaves in these kingdoms, God will set up a kingdom.
The inhabitant of the earth now has the responsibility as individual inhabitant to work into the kingdom that God has set up for them. God has set up a kingdom, even though there are kingdoms, and then each inhabitant of the earth has a responsibility to work into that kingdom, to enter into that kingdom as an individual, just like it happened in the days of Noah. There were many things on the earth, many houses, there were many rulers. When God wanted to destroy the earth, God told Noah to build an Ark. In the days of these kings, God shall set up a Kingdom.
The solutions of God seem to be residing in oneness. There could be places, but when God makes a provision, it’s a provision. But you have a responsibility as a person to work into the provision of God. That is why every time Jesus talks about the Kingdom, He talks about people entering into the kingdom. The kingdom is a place, a reality, a tangible reality on the earth, you must work into it. Jesus said to Nicodemus “except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” So, the kingdom exists, but you have a responsibility in spite of your operation in your former kingdoms, to work out of them into the kingdom of light by the strength of the Lord. You see, people can be can be afflicted.
Isaiah 42:22, it says: “But this is a people robbed and plundered, all of them are snared in holes. They are for prey, and no one delivers, for plunder and no one says, “Restore!” The solutions of God are always residing in one. “No one says “restore.”” So, the one that says restore has a responsibility to accommodate those who come into that realm. That’s sphere of restoration. But lest we get confused about what God has in plan, already we know in Daniel that God will set up a kingdom. But let us go to Isaiah 9:6 so that we will see that kingdom. The Bible says:
For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government (another word for kingdom) will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
In the days of these Kings, the God of heaven shall set up a Kingdom. So, it is not President Donald Trump setting up a kingdom. It is not President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria or President Putin of Russia or Kim Jong-un of North Korea or Xi Jinping of China; it shall not be by United Nations. No matter how powerful a president of the world is, he cannot set up this Kingdom. That’s why God said, “this kingdom shall not be left to another people.” It will not be left to the Russians, to the Jews, it will not be left to the Nigerians, it will not be left to the Americans. It shall be God’s kingdom, ruled by God, administrated by God Himself.
You know, when Jesus wanted to speak in Matthew chapter 16, He says “I will build my church and the gate of Hell shall not prevail against it.” And one should wonder what is my church, and why is, Jesus particularly interested in building His church? He has His church, and He wants to be the one to build it. The Kingdom shall not be left to another, don’t forget. And Bible says in Isaiah 9 that we read, in verse 7; it says: “Of the increase of His government and peace.” Notice also that He didn’t say “I will build a church”, He personalized it. He called it His church, another word that we must use now is “His Government.” And He was persistent, He said “upon the throne of David and over his kingdom.” So, what He wants to build, the kingdom, He says “He wants to build it upon the throne of David.”
So, let us go to Luke 1, so that we will see how God actualized His agenda even though it looks as if it took so long a time. Luke 1, and I will start my reading from verse 30. The Bible says: “Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest.” The question is: Why? If you Mary will be the one to conceive, then why should we call Him the Son of the Highest? We will see the difference now. “And the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” just like in Isaiah 9:7
From verse 34 downward, let us see the response of Mary. Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I [g]do not know a man?” 35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you.” Actually, the Holy Spirit is the difference, the difference between the creatures of God on the earth. It says “and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.” Even though, He is born by a woman which qualifies Him automatically as a Son of man, He shall be the Son of God, Why? He is born of God.
No wonder Apostle John said “Whatever is born of God, overcomes the world, this the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.” The question is: how is a man born of God? The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Almighty God will overshadow you. The question is this: does a man determine the character, the personality of a child born by his wife? Now when you look at a man who doesn’t carry a child for nine months, and the child comes out, he looks just exactly like him, and people say “that is a miracle.” But the question is: Is it a miracle? For people, it looks like a miracle but to God it’s a normal thing, why, because it is the father that owns the seed. Whoever owns the seed determines the harvest. The earth does not determine the harvest; it is the seed that determines the produce.
If you put the seed of rice into the ground, you cannot harvest orange. If you can determine the seed, you can predict what will come out of the ground. He who owns the seed owns the son. A man will release a seed into a woman in what the white men calls “sperm” and even though it takes place in a twinkle of an eye, that’s it. Do you need to do it again? Once is enough. It’s like when a farmer plants, you don’t plant hundred times the same thing, you plant and off you go. Even though you have gone, who is the owner of what as been planted, is it the land? No! That’s how the earth, the mother of Jesus, called Mary is not the owner of Jesus. All she was to do the work of the earth as the womb to nurse the seed that God has planted. He who owns the seed is the owner of the son!
“Unto us a child is born and unto us the Son is given” And so when the seed came in, all the woman, that’s why Jesus does not have to resemble Mary. It doesn’t matter. Jesus was released into Mary by the Holy Spirit, and so Jesus has to resemble the Holy Spirit who was His father. Yoruba people will say “they do not know how the water enters the coconut” but yet you drink it. How the baby enters the womb of the mother is a mystery but yet there is a conception. The Angel emphasized it, so that you don’t think it’s a magic or miracle “there shall be a conception.” Why? You will receive a seed. It doesn’t originate from man but since its planted in the womb of a woman, then what will come will have the body of the earth, but the Spirit of the Lord. No wonder the body will go back to where it came from, and the spirit will return to God.
So, when we begin to meditate on our difference, we must never forget the Holy Spirit. He is able to differentiate the creatures that He has made on the earth. That’s why Jesus didn’t feel anything, He was not feeling ashamed when He said God was His father. “Don’t you know I must go about my Father’s business”; He knows. There are some people today who are abroad, born by Nigerian fathers, White mothers and they are blacks. Sometimes, they have the complexion that is not too black, but usually it is in the area of complexion that the mothers contribute. But when you are talking about the character of the person, the strength. That’s why even today, in the world of football, black players are called British players, French players, Blacks are ruling. Why? Even though they could be born somewhere else, they have the DNA of their fathers. And their fathers have a very strong seed. That’s why Bible says “we have been born of an incorruptible seed.” The seed that produce you will determine your strength, your quality and your capacity.
The seed that produced Jesus is the seed of God. It carries in it the inherent capacity of God, and whatever God is able to make happen, that seed is also able to make happen. So, when the Bible says, “you have been born unto God unto the order of Jesus Christ”, it’s not a small matter. No wonder the qualification to become a Christian as it were is to become born again. There is a birthing process. Just as the Son came because the child was born; that is how you must be reborn for the Spirit of the Son to enter into you, you must be re-born. Be re-born by the word of God, be re-born by the Spirit of God. Except a man is born of the water and born of the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God is a real kingdom, but it’s a spiritual kingdom. There is a place in Luke 7:20 when Jesus said “the kingdom does not come by physical observation.” The kingdom of God is real, it’s spiritual though, so spiritual that you must be a spiritual being to notice its operation around you. If God will not allow His kingdom to be left to other people, then it means God who is Spirit maintains the spirituality of His kingdom and that became the basis of the authority of that same kingdom. As God is, so is His kingdom. And as God is able, His kingdom is able. As the kingdom of God is overwhelming, the kingdom of God and the of it is overwhelming. So, when people are asking for kingdom, God is looking at their need for His spirit.
Let us go to the Acts of apostles, 1:6-8. The Bible says: “Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” These people were talking not knowing the plans of God, not knowing that the kingdom of God has been released on the earth in the personality of Jesus Christ, because He came has the Son of David, the Son of God, because the Bible says He will sit upon the throne of His Father David. Do we understand? And so, when a child is born, and a King is given, and so it means a king given and when you have a king, you have a kingdom. So, as you see Jesus, you see a kingdom, Why? The king is an embodiment of His kingdom. You can never have a king without a kingdom and we must never forget that. So, they said “will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel.”
Let us see from verse 7-8: “And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” So, if the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you are powerless, we should ask, “have you received the Holy Spirit or have you received the other spirit?” As the Spirit of God came upon Mary and overpowered her with the power of the Highest, she was taken through a birthing experience and so she was able to conceive a child who became the King over the kingdom called the Kingdom of Christ. So, when the Spirit of God comes upon you, it awakens or activate the royalty of God that is upon you. It wakens you to the consciousness that you are a prince in the kingdom of God. The Bible says in Revelation “that He has made us kings and prince unto our God and we shall reign on the earth.” That Act 1:8 concluded thus: “and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
You will be witnesses, you will be my ambassadors. There is no kingdom that has no ambassadorial responsibilities. Once you know a kingdom, then you must know the ambassadors. United States of America has Embassy in almost all the countries of the world, and there are Ambassadors heading each one of them. As far as USA is concerned an Ambassador of USA in Nigeria is like the head of the governmental influence of USA in Nigeria, the head! When a US embassy is set up in a country, it is just that the development of some countries challenges the authority of that. That embassy is like the headquarters of United State Government in that country. And USA also intends to rule that other country from their embassy. And so, when USA wants to change Governmental policies on the host countries, they change their embassy, like in Israel now, they attempted to change the embassy of the USA from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. And it became a serious matter.
If an embassy is mere building, why is it a serious matter? It is about influence, because wherever the embassy is the authority of the kingdom is established there, and from there they rule other places. So, when you hear “you shall be witnesses unto me”, what it means is that you shall be my Emissaries. You shall be my ambassadors in Jerusalem, you will be it in Judea, you will be it in very part of the earth. Everywhere you are, you shall establish my kingdom, everywhere you are, you shall enforce my authority. Jesus said this is how you should pray: “our father in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come.” How will the kingdom come? There must be a new Ambassadorial office there. Every time the embassy is established, the kingdom has come there.
That is why every time Apostle Paul was going to places, don’t forget Apostle Paul was an Ambassador of God’s Kingdom. The Bible says there was a time Apostle Paul wanted to go to a place in Act. The Bible says, the Holy Spirit did not permit him. He wanted to go to another place, the Holy Spirit did not permit him. Then he had a dream, and somebody from Macedonia was calling for help, and then he woke up and then realized and perceived that God wanted them to go there. That’s it! That is to show you the embassies of God, the witnesses of God are coordinated by the Holy Spirit on earth. Wherever He wants them to go, they go! Wherever He wants them to function, they function there.
So, you are looking at Apostle Paul as and apostle, a religious man. Apostle Paul was a kingdom person, a government ambassador. When He got to a land, He said “I perceived that you are religious in this place, you are even worshipping God that you don’t know.” And he began to talk to them about the Kingdom that he represents. Which kingdom do you represent? “I represent Deeper life, I represent Winners”, that is not the kingdom, because there is a kingdom, there are no kingdoms. If it’s about God, it is just a kingdom. You cannot be representing denominations; you must represent Christ.
Is it possible for an Ambassador in Nigeria, and you ask him: “which government do you represent?” And he says “I represent the government of Kaduna state.” You can’t represent a denomination of USA embassies. Wherever they represent the government and the authority of United State government, it is not the denominations. It’s not about the denominations, it is about the currency, Christ is like the currency, He is a unit. A Dollar is a dollar wherever you go in the world, a dollar is a dollar. You can have a thousand of it, but a dollar is a dollar. And you cannot say I’m just a fifty Naira “No”
The kingdom is one, that is why everything about Jesus is about the oneness of His church. He says “that they may be one, as we are one.” And in our oneness our authorities lie there. When Jesus set up the Apostles, the Prophets, the Evangelist, the Pastors and Teachers. He didn’t do it so we can start religion, He did it so that we can become one. He says “Till we come to the unity of the faith.” You could look so scattered now, but you must come to a place of unity, there is a unity and there must be a unit called Christ in us.
Don’t say “me I’m a CAC, I’m a Christ Life Gospel Centre, I’m a Deeper Dimensions Ministry worldwide.” We must be of Christ. Apostle Paul says of those who were talking about sectarianism: “I’m of Paul or I’m of Apollos”, he says was Paul crucified for you? Did Apollos die for you?” He says “we are mere co-workers.” You are God’s building, we are just buildings, co-builders with God, we are just servants of God. We didn’t die for you, in fact all we do for you is just to help you to know God.
See when every Pastors, Prophets, and Apostles brings the people of their denominations into Christ, then we become one. That’s the place of our oneness, our unit is in Christ Jesus. Our power is in Christ Jesus, our authority is in Christ Jesus, he is the king of the kingdom. And Jesus said “I will build my church; the gate of hell shall not prevail against it.” They will battle it they will not prevail. In Nigeria today, they are attacking the church, but why won’t they do? We are so divided. Our oneness is compromised. And so, we are opened to the trials, the temptations and tribulations. Men are dividing us to rule us when in reality, we are supposed to be the embassy wherever we are planted, and everyone reports straight to Christ.
In Christ we are united, in Christ we are one, in Christ we are able to decree a thing, in any local government, in any country we are able to decree a thing and it shall be established. Let us not be glorying in our stature, let us not be glorying in our complexion. Our glory lies in the Holy Spirit, He is our difference. Jesus said something which I have not quoted, I think Luke chapter 22. He said “those of you who have followed with me, followed me in all my trials, I bestow a kingdom upon you, just as a kingdom was bestowed upon me by my father.” Just as my Father gave me kingdom, I give you kingdom, and you will sit on the 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. I give you a kingdom. I receive the kingdom of Christ.
There are no kingdoms in Christ, there is a kingdom, and Christ rules as king. So, whoever you are, you are either an Apostle, Prophets, Pastor, Evangelist or Teacher so that we can be one in Christ, so that we can grow in the stature of Christ Jesus, so that we can become perfect men and women who are perfected by the Holy Spirit unto Christ likeness. I receive the kingdom of Christ.
Here is a good time to pray!