UPON THIS ROCK

 "When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that i son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He said unto them, But whom say ye that i am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my father which is in heaven. And I say unto thee, That thou art peter,and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven.......Matt. 16: 13-19"

Jesus asked His disciple a wonderful question. " who do men say i am?" some of His disciples said, He's Elijah, some said He's one of the prophet of old, but Peter said "you are Christ the son of the living God!" Jesus reply you are Peter, AND UPON THIS ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH.........

What rock  was Jesus  referring to in the above statement, was He referring to Peter, they answer is no, because the church of Christ can not be built on the strength of a man ! The Bible says by strength shall no man prevail!! What then  was Jesus referring to? Peter said "you are Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God"! That was a revelation from Heaven, and it can only got to peter through the auspices of the Holy Spirit!!! The Holy Spirit of God is the Solid Rock upon which the church of Christ is built.

The Holy Spirit gave the revelational knowledge to Peter and Peter was able to revealed who Jesus is. ' And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. The keys of the kingdom of heaven refer to authority, power, right, dominion etc. The Holy Spirit is the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever the church bind on earth shall be bound in heaven...... 

Every regenerated soul must be baptized with the Holy Spirit, and be fill with the fullness of the Holy Spirit of God. The keys of the kingdom of heaven refers to the fullness of the Holy Spirit of God. This fullness of the Holy Spirit is the seven Spirits of  God! They are; The Spirit of Lordship, The Spirit of Might, The Spirit of Wisdom, The Spirit of Knowledge, The Spirit of Understanding, The Spirit of Counsel and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord!

The fact still remains, without the Holy Spirit of God, the church will be powerless, without the Holy Spirit the church cannot witness for Jesus, without the Holy Spirit of God, the church can do nothing. Jesus told His disciple, you shall received power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you! The Holy Spirit of God is the rock upon which the church of Christ is built!!!

 

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SIN IS NOT A FRIEND

 SIN IS NOT A FRIEND

The word sin portrays something that is bad, not holy, disastrous, evil, wickedness etc. Anything that is against God's standard of righteousness is Sin. Anything that displeases God is sin, because God is the only one that shows to mankind what righteousness is and Him alone is the only one that can define the true meaning of righteousness.

Sin has been in existence even before the first man on Earth was created. The first set of beings that originated sin were Lucifer and one third of God's angels that repelled against God. 

"Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee Ezekiel 28:12-15 kjv". 

The first sin ever recorded was the sin of rebellion. Lucifer and one third of God's angels rebelled against God. Lucifer wanted to be like the Most high God. He wanted the sons of God to worship him.

 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. Isaiah 14:12-15 kjv”

 Lucifer and the one third of God's angels that rebelled against God was cast out from God's throne to hell. 

Consequences of Lucifer sin

1. He was cast out from God's throne 

2. He lost all the privilege God gave to him

3. He became a profane thing in God's sight. " Ezek.28.16 - By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire."

The Sin of Adam

Adam was the first man created by God to rule over the planet Earth and everything in it. God gave Adam dominion over everything on Earth. God always visit Adam at the cool of the evening, God always have fellowship with Adam until Adam sin. 

God told Adam not eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil  "  Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.  And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life Genesis 3:1-14 kjv.

Consequences of Adam's sin

1. He lost his Dominion to rule as the king of the earth

2. He lost fellowship with God.

3. The earth was caused because of Adam's sin.

Achan's sin 

The Israelites surfer a great defits in battle when Achan sin against God. Many innocent people died because of one man sin. To cut the story short read Joshua 6&7. 

General consequence of sin

1. The reward for sin is dead, seperation, loss of dominion and fellowship.

2. Sin prevent God from blessing us. Hos.7.1 - When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without.

3. Sin makes our angles powerless  

In conclusion, let flee from sin and embrace righteousness, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

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BUILDING UP YOURSELF ON YOUR MOST HOLY FAITH

 

Building up yourself on your most holy faith.

Texts: Jude 1: 20.

“ But ye beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost Jude 1:20”.

At the point of salvation faith is given (begins) as a seed to all believers. “ A sower want out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell some fell upon a rock…………………….. The seed is the word of God. Luke 8:5-11 kjv”

The above scripture revealed that the seed is the word of God. The basis for the Christian faith is the word of God. The bible also disclosed that faith comes by hearing the word of God. The measure of faith depends on the level at which Christians meditate on God’s word.  The measure of faith varies for all believers. It’s directly proportionate to the level of God’s word that have taken roots in the believers’ life. In Luke 8: 5-11 the seed, which is the word of God is planted in different ground. It’s only those on a fertile ground that will produced fruits.

What makes a believer heart a fertile ground is what Jude the divine revealed in the bible. Jude the divine is revealing a mystery to all believers in his statement “building up yourself on your most holy faith” There’s a different between building up your faith and building up yourself on your most holy faith.  Your faith is called holy because it is sacred, it is sacred because you belief on the finish work of the cross i.e salvation obtained by grace.

In essences, what Jude the divine meant in his statement “building up yourself on your most holy faith” is that there is something you most do for the word of God to have roots in your spirit. Anytime you study the word of God you must build up yourself on it by meditating on it and praying in the Holy Ghost. It’s the Holy Spirit that knows the things in the mind of God at any time. The purpose of God’s word is to transform you into His image, so you need to buildup yourself on God’s word by praying in the spirit. When you pray in tongues your spirit prays.

In conclusion, when you study God’s word, for the word to have root in your spirit , you must buildup yourself on it with prayer, most effectively by speaking in tongues.

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THE ORIGIN OF SIN

 

ADAM WAS NOT THE FIRST TO SIN AGAINST GOD

Sin is an acronym that means Satan, Imparted Nature. Sin came out of rebellion. Satan rebelled against God in eternity past with one-third of God's angel on his side. According to Ezekiel 28, Lucifer was a perfect angel that served God in eternity past; he was created with beauty and glory. He once had access to God's throne. (Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth, and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. Ezek 28:14–15 Kjv)

Lucifer was a cherub and an angel of God. God gave him authority to control most of the things He had created, including other angels of lower classes. Ezekiel 28:15 reveals that iniquity was found in Lucifer, and he is the first being to sin against God. (How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations? For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most high Isah. 14:12-14)

The first sin ever committed was the sin of rebellion. Lucifer originated sin through his rebellion acts. He was not satisfied with the position God gave him. He wanted complete control of all the sons of God (angels) and to be like the Most High God! Lucifer was not alone in this quest; he was able to convince one-third of all the angels God created, and there was a great battle in heaven between Lucifer and the angels that follow him and other angels who remain loyal to their creator.

The battle was so fierce that the Most High God drove him and his followers out of heaven. Lucifer and one-third of the angels of God form the kingdom of darkness. They are the present-day principalities, powers, rulers of darkness in the heavenly places, and wicked spirits ruling the earth today.

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THE POWER OF SANCTIFICATION

 Sanctification is a necessary factor that brings down the power of God.

Sanctification literally means "to set apart for special purpose" that is, to make holy or sacred. "Therefore, if  anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work 2 Timothy 2:21 "

Sanctification is the stage of being separated from the world and be separated unto God for a special purpose. It is the process of perfecting God's holiness in your spirit, soul and body so that you can become a vessel unto honour. Any man God uses as a vessel, must be a man of pure heart. Any man God commit Himself to, must be a man that have the fear of God and loves righteousness!

To become a vessel unto honor is not a chance but a choice! God is looking for men who will make such decision. Sanctification gives you victory over sin and guarantee answered prayers; it is the bridge between your prayers and the answers. Sanctification strengthen your intimacy with God. Amos 3:7 'Can two work together except they agreed.'The more you are closer to God, the more you will be endued with power from above. Sanctification attracts the power of God !

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SANCTIFICATION

Righteousness is the state of being declares free from sin by God through the finish work of the cross. It is an attribute of God, and no man can achieve perfect righteousness by himself. Righteousness is a free gift from God which defines our right standing with God. 

Sanctification is the state of being pure and reverse for a special purpose. Everyone God uses must be sanctified. Sanctification can be classify into three categories; 

Definitive: At salvation there is a level of sanctification given to all believers. This level of sanctification depends completely on the finish work of the cross. Sanctification at this level is purely the product of mercy and grace. 

Progressive: Sanctification is also progressive. This active growth proceeds from the life we live by faith in Christ, we grow in grace by increasing our knowledge of Him and being transform into His image on a daily basis.

It is different for every believer: Apart from the sanctification received at the point of salvation which is the same for all believers, higher level of sanctification differs from one believer to another. The reason for this is that sanctification at this level is defined by your work with God.

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