Speaker 1I would have to lean in on the help of the Holy Spirit to be able to finish what we have to cover today. So I'm going to be speaking a lot, you know, by the speed of the Spirit and you'll be catching a lot by the speed of the Spirit as well. Are we ready? Brilliant. Proverbs chapter 19, verse 2 to 3. I'm not going to lay foundations again. We have been here. Why are you laughing? We're always laying foundations, right? So I'm not trying to lay any foundation. Wow. Praise God. You know, if not for social media age, it's okay. Let's start from there. We're talking about how to be led by God's Spirit, right? And we have said quite a lot of beautiful things already. You can go back and get the messages, feast on them because it's line upon line, precept upon precept. Now he says also that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good. For the soul to be without knowledge, it is not good. And he that hasteth with his feet sinneth. He says the foolishness of man perverted his ways. The foolishness of man perverted his way and his heart fretted against the Lord. I don't know if they have the living Bible. Do you have, just let me know quickly, do you have the living Bible? Not NLT. Do you have the living Bible? They have the living Bible. Brilliant. I'd like us to read this together. One, two, go. It is dangerous and sinful to rush into the unknown. Let's read it again. One more time. Verse 3, quickly. A man may ruin his chances by his own foolishness and then blame it on the Lord. He says a man may ruin his chances by his own foolishness, his folly. He says and then blame it on the Lord. You know, there are two people that are always the culprits, God and Satan. They are always the culprits, natural disasters caused by God. Have you ever heard of that before? Insurance will tell you, I mean, they'll use the acts of God. The two culprits always. But he says a man may ruin his own chances by his foolishness just because he did not wait for clear instructions. Now, let me say this to you. No matter how long you have been on the wrong direction, it will never become right. No matter how much you have invested in the wrong direction. In fact, I think it's 2 Chronicles 26 or 25, King Amaziah, if you read the story of King Amaziah, the Bible says that he wanted to go to a war and so he gathered the armies of Judah and then he gathered the armies of Israel and Ephraim and paid heavily to get them to go with him to war. Then the man of God, a prophet, comes to Amaziah and says to him, he says, God is not with the army of Israel. I think we should read it. 2 Chronicles. No matter how long you have gone in the wrong direction, it will never become right. No matter how much you have invested, Lord, I've been with him for five years. That's not going to change him to the right person. Lord, I've invested this amount of money. Could you just bless this thing? Could you just make it work? 2 Chronicles 25. He tells us that he gathered Judah together and then made them captains and all the rest. Then if you further downwards read, he says, he hired, verse 6, also a hundred thousand mighty men of valor out of Israel for a hundred talents of silver. But there came a man of God to him saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee. He says, for the Lord is not with Israel to with all the children of Ephraim. He says, but if thou would go do it, be strong for the battle. God shall make thee fall before the enemy. He says, for God had power to help and to cast down. And a Messiah, look at what the king said, which is the question several believers ask. A Messiah asked, but what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? The amount of money that I've expended, the investment that I've put into this, what shall I do? Is it going to go to waste just like that? Look at the answer of the Lord. And the man of God answered. And this is God's answer to someone here today. And I want us to read it together. I want to go. What does he say? What did the man of God answer? The Lord is able to give thee much more than this. Say with me, the Lord is able to give thee much more than this. Come on, say it again. That you have invested so much and spent so much will never make it right. Will never make it right. So it's important that everyone learns to be led by God's spirit in accuracy and precision. We established last week that the first primary way God leads us is through the scriptures. And that basically is a general leading and prophetic leading. General in the sense that you may not be able to exactly say the exact details, those fine details of your life. You may not find it in the scriptures. All right. Where do I live? Where do I work? Who do I marry? Those exact details, the decisions that you have to make. You may not find it exactly in scriptures. But then there's the prophetic nature of scriptures, which you talked about last week, where God brings you counsel for the days to come. However, the Holy Spirit brings us specific guidance. Specific guidance, which means at every point of the way, we can live our lives with precision. No assumptions, whether or not it's working, whether or not this is what God wants us to do with precision. You can be in the middle of a move of God and see things happening mightily like we were in Abuja and God uproots you right there. And there is no question, Lord, am I sure? I hope I'm not making a mistake. Obviously, that comes with time. Having learned to be led by God's spirit, you develop confidence, you develop confidence in your work with God. You develop confidence. The more you obey and then you see the results of obeying, you develop confidence. But then that's the way God wants us to live our lives. Not as moles that need bridles and all the rest to be led, but by precision and with accuracy. And so the Lord leads us generally and prophetically through the scriptures, but he leads us specifically through the Holy Spirit. John chapter 16 verse 5. John chapter 16 and verse 5. John 16 and the fifth verse. It says, But now I go my way to him that sent me, and none of you has kept me, whither goest thou? But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart, hath filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is expedient, it is advantageous, it is profitable. I want you for a moment just to imagine the irony of what Jesus was saying. Do you know how normal Peter's life was before Jesus came into his life? Do you know how average he was? I hope you know that was probably not the first time he toiled all night and caught nothing. It may have happened before. In fact, how I know it's not the first time is that he wasn't shocked. There was no sense of desperation. It was just a case of, well, we've toiled all night long and he began to wash his nets. Tomorrow will come again. But then Jesus comes, net breaking, boat sinking, catch of fish. Jesus comes into his house, raises his mother-in-law. They saw Lazarus being raised from the dead. Do you know what it means for bread to multiply in your hands? Not that they told you, a part of the miracle. Do you know what it means for you to hold just a small loaf of bread and you go back home to tell your children and your wife that I don't know what happened to, but as I was breaking it, it was increasing and increasing. And now here comes Jesus. He says, I'm going away. To where? To where? And then he adds a statement, adds a word. He says, it is expedient. It is at the Greek word means it is more profitable for you. It is advantageous for you. The human mind by logic can never conceive how much advantageous it can be. Never can conceive. It is more advantageous for you that I go away. And the reason is this, that I may send on to you what? The comforter who will not come on to you. But if I depart, I will send him on to you. Glory. Now, if you look at verse 12, look at what he says, the comforter will do. He says, I have yet many things to say on to you, but you cannot bear them now. How be it when he, the spirit of truth is come, he will guide you. Now, if you're reading in a Bible, a real Bible, okay, that you can underline, not the one that has to boot and has to be charged. I want you to underline these sentences or these phrases there. He will guide you. The first word I want you to underline is guide. Because I want you to underline these sentences. I want you to underline these sentences. I want you to see the scope of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Many times people do not know exactly what the ministry of the spirit is thank god for the laughing in the spirit the falling under the power the goosebumps and whatever it is the charismata the manifestations but what is the ministry of the holy spirit number one is what he will do what guide you underline the word guide so me guide look at what he says he says for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that he shall what speak underline that he will guide he will not speak now what's the next thing he says and he will show you things to come on the line the word show he will guide he will speak he will show so me he will guide he will speak he will show come and say again with me he will guide me he will speak to me he will show me look at what he says next he shall glorify me for he shall receive of mine and shall what show it unto you so what is the ministry of the holy spirit he will guide he will speak and he will what show he will guide say that with me he will what speak and he will come on say it again with me he will guide he will speak and he will show which means ninety percent of the ministry of the holy spirit deals with revelation ninety percent of the ministry of the holy spirit deals with revelation thank god for the beautiful things that we enjoy by the ministry of the holy spirit but the bulk of his ministry in the life of a believer is to bring him a light and revelation to have the holy spirit and not have revelation is an irony to have the holy spirit and not have revelation is an irony and when i say revelation here i'm talking about specific you know david said he said your word is a light onto my feet have you ever read that before and a lamp onto what onto my parts am i right it's a light onto my feet and it's what a lamb onto my part it's a light onto my feet and what a lamp onto my part but have you ever got into a crossroad and you realize that having a lamp may not be enough then you need a guide even though you can see the three ways that you can go but you don't know exactly which of the three you should take so the word of god brings us generic instruction are you following this here but every one of us will soon come to crossroads in our lives where you need a guide someone who can say of these three options this is the one god has designed for you that person is the holy spirit glory to god and if a man says that i've received the holy spirit if with the church of jesus christ says we now have the holy spirit dwelling inside of us the primary the primary evidence of the indwelling presence of the spirit of god is access to lights as the primary evidence access to lights the primary evidence first corinthians chapter two very important and then you see those verses two and verse 11. now what is he showing us what is he guiding us into what is he revealing to us look at first corinthians chapter two and verse eleven first corinthians chapter two and verse eleven or better still let's take it from verse nine just to give it context verse nine to give it context well somebody said if we keep looking for context we might just back up to genesis chapter one verse one after a while glory to god well let's start from verse nine i think that's enough context we might just back up to genesis chapter one verse one after a while glory to god but let's start from verse nine i think that's enough context it says but as it is written let's read together i the physical eye has not seen neither has the physical here heard neither has it entered into what the heart of any man the things which god had what prepared say they are prepared it says the things which god had prepared for them that love him let's read verse 10 together once you go but god had hold on did he say god had given them to us by his spirit no what does he say come on talk to me what does he say now write this down your note revelation is possession it says god had revealed them unto us by his spirit and oh by the way when you come to church you should have a note to write the speaker is not an actor are you following what i'm saying it's good home training to have a bible to have a pen to have a notes glory to god and here's the reason why 90 of the things you hear you forget immediately so you have to journal in fact it shows the spirit of god that you actually value what he has to say or it shows the spirit of god that you actually value what he has to say glory to god so while nobody's looking at you ask your neighbor to get you a sheet of paper there and you can't glory to god are we still here and you can't give him a sheet of paper so that's why we have to get you a sheet of paper so that's why we have to get you a sheet of paper that's why we have to get you a sheet of paper now what does he mean when he says the things of god this is the general dealings of god with every man which means it is not specific to you salvation is not specific to any man healing is not specific to any manner you get what i'm saying here prosperity is not specific to any man all right these things that jesus procured for us on the cross but then you will agree with me that whilst and let me valentine come here come a bit dot twins here come here now whilst both of them they both have what you call a covenant of prosperity prosperity are you getting this here on the basis of what jesus did on the cross but you will agree with me that the way and manner in which his own prosperity will be manifested maybe i mean i mean maybe that he's a nine to five person are you getting this here and then god begins to give him direction on the places where to walk but for some other person is buying and selling now both of them have a general covenant of prosperity are you getting this here which means both of them can claim and say this is what god has done for me but if he takes the pattern that god has for this man he won't step into that covenant of prosperity why is that so the things of god are generic for everybody but the things of a man are specific to that man is somebody getting what i'm saying here now he says this is what the holy ghost does please stay with me he says the holy ghost such as the deep things of god which means the first assignment of the spirit of god is that he's going to bring you light revelation concerning every and anything that the holy ghost i mean god has procured for you the things that god has prepared for you he will bring you light and revelation about it but he doesn't stop there because your prosperity is tied to your leading if somebody gets what i'm saying here he said to elijah he says go to the brook called chariot for i have commanded ravens to feed you there which means elijah you have a covenant of provision but the way and manner in which this provision will be manifested is you have to be a chariot the other person does not need to be a chariot even though it's the same covenant are you getting what i'm saying here and that's why you cannot use another man's testimony as the basis for your faith you can be inspired are you getting this you can be inspired by what somebody said or what happened in somebody's life but ultimately what god will do in your life is always a unique specific dealing with of god with you how did moses part the red sea stretched his rod how did joshua part the jordan he stepped inside the jordan the prosperity that is available to me in christ jesus but i needed specific instructions now and the reason we don't share our instructions many of times is that people just want to jump on instructions they just want to say oh god did it this way pastor i also this is how god will do it with me and many times he never does it that way one year god spoke to me he said i wanted to give attention to the healing and a miracle ministry that i've given on to you and then he said to me he said this is what i would ask you and i listen to this carefully i've said it over and over again that instruct Instructions are not doctrines. That when you read an instruction that God gives to a man, it's specific to that man. You can't build a doctrine around it. Are you getting this here? This is important. So God said to me, and then, but you can take principles out of it. God said to me, he said, I want you in a fast every other month. So January, I was in a fast. February, March, I was in a fast. And all dressed, no dressed. The year after that, we had our first healing service and all dressed. I mean, Toba, I mean, that's where Toba's life was forever changed. I still remember that meeting. And this was in Gwagwalada, Abuja at the time. And there was this woman, and just to tell you how powerful this is. Somebody says, was it a fasting and prayer? You know, Jesus has done everything. So are you saying it was your fasting and prayer? Listen, it was not exactly the fasting and prayer. It is the fact that every door has a key. Are you following what I'm saying here? And I think it was Pastor Diola that said it. She said, keys usually look smaller than the door they open. Have you ever seen a key that is bigger than the door it's opening? Keys are usually so small that you can despise them and say, oh, what are you talking about? I remember that meeting. If you remember, I mean, those of you that were there, you would remember. There was this Elijah who had lived in Saudi Arabia for years. And you know how they live in that place. The woman was living beside a factory. And the noise had perforated. Was it left or right here? I don't even remember. One of the ears. And she was completely deaf. Not partially deaf. Completely deaf in one of the ears. Were you in that meeting? Completely deaf in one of the ears there. And cut long story short, this woman had been dragged in and all the rest. Her ear, I mean, God healed her ear. We changed her name. What was her Muslim name? But we changed her to Madam Esther. So we changed her name to Madam Esther. I don't even remember what her Muslim name was. But here's where I'm going to. So we decided we wanted to plant a fellowship, an outreach fellowship in Gwagwalada. And we wanted to use the exact same venue. The Muslim community had come together. First, they sent a warning to the venue owners. And they said, if you give this to a church, we will burn it down. You remember? We will burn down this place. And then they sent a warning to us that we must not come. You see, Lagos Christianity. It will rain small. You just sleep extra. They said, if we come there, that, I mean, it was a threat to us. That if you come there, blah, blah, blah, and all this. But I thought deeply about it. I mean, cut long story short. I mean, we have thriving sales, outreach fellowships in the place right now. And maybe sometime down the line, we're going to have a church planted there very soon. I personally believe that the chain of events that happened from that year, January that year, would not have happened if I didn't have the specific instruction from the previous year. And while I was obeying those instructions, it looked as though I was just on a hunger strike. I was on a hunger strike. I mean, you fast an entire month. You take a break for another month. You fast six months of the year. I was in a fast. By the next year, pam, pam. The kind of miracles that, I mean, we had never seen in the ministry before. We had only believed God for it and all of that. What am I saying? Even though God had given me an assignment, he took an instruction for me to be able to walk in it. Is somebody following what I'm saying here? Mother of Jesus, Mary said to them, she said, whatever he tells you to do, what did she say? Do it. So let's see the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus. Just as an example, you see, because Jesus had the spirit within. And he's the perfect first biblical example of how the Holy Spirit leads a believer from within. John chapter 5 verse 30. I told you already, we have a lot of grounds to cover here. Here. I personally believe that our critical assignment in church is to ground people in the word of God. Get them grounded. All right? Eliminate all fear, doubt, excuses, till there is persuasion and assurance in your heart concerning the subject. John chapter 5 and verse 30. Look at what Jesus said. I can of mine own self do nothing. This is the word of God made flesh. Am I right? He says, now how many of you agree this is Jesus? Jesus said, I can of my own self, what? Do nothing. And this is the posture that guarantees being led. Remember I shared with you, I don't know if it was the first Sunday or the second Sunday in the series. I said, it takes meekness to be led. Where you have to drop the pride and the arrogance of knowledge, even though it's limited. The arrogance of, you know, I know exactly what to do. I know what buttons to press. It takes a measure of meekness to be led. It takes meekness to be led. Jesus said, I can of myself, I cannot do anything. Of my own self, I can't do nothing. But how do I do what I do? He says, I judge and my judgment is right. The word judge there is the Greek word krinos. And please write it down. K-R-I-N-O-S. K-R-I-N-O. Pardon me. No S there. And it's a legal term, which means to make a decision. On. On the basis of information. So it's not just a half-asset this thing. You are making a decision because you have enough information provided you on the subject. It's like a jury who's had all the evidence in a trial and now possesses the information needed to take action. All right. Now has all the information that he needs to take action in that place. So he says, I judge. When he says, I judge, he's not talking about judgment in terms of, you know, and all the rest. He says, I judge. I make decisions and my decisions are always right. Why was it that Moses never lost a war? He's the only king in scriptures that we know never lost a battle. The Bible will tell us about David and he inquired of the Lord. He didn't go in the pride and the arrogance of, you know, I have the best military might so I can take on any army at any point in time. In fact, one time he faced the Philistines. God said, go against them. A few days after, the Philistines regrouped themselves. And then he asked the Lord again and God said, you shall not go against them. In essence, sometimes we are just presumptuous because we did it this way the last time, then we can do it again this way. The Bible tells us he never lost a battle, not because he was God's favorite in that sense, but he inquired always. How come Jesus had results always? How come he didn't move at the point where they said, Lazarus whom thou lovest is sick and now he's dead. Why didn't he move by emotions and say, you know, that's what happens with a lot of people. Why didn't he move by emotions and say, listen, God, Lazarus cannot die. Lazarus cannot die. Lazarus cannot die. Why did he wait for four days? Do you observe that the way he ministered healing from one person to another was different? There was no gold standard in the way and manner in which he, is somebody getting what I'm saying here? There was no gold standard to say, oh, you know, this is how he ministered healing always. You can put it in brackets. You can say, well, the power of Ultrans, the power of torch. I mean, and you know, and all of those things theologically where we can put them in brackets, but the truth of the matter is every single encounter with the different persons was different. One time blind Bartimaeus was shouting. I mean, have you ever thought about it? The man was shouting and Jesus refused to answer him. He just walked on as though he wasn't hearing him. I mean, what, what was he trying to prove there? If you study the life of Jesus, his dependence on the voice of the spirit is second to none. No assumption. No presumption. If the word made flesh, neither that level of dependence where he said, I can do nothing. So we need nothing of my own self. How do I do the things that I do? It says, as I hear, I watch, I judge, I make decisions. It says, and my judgment is always right. My decisions are always aligned, always right, because I seek not my own will. I have emptied myself of my own opinion on the matter. I have emptied myself of my will on the matter. I think it's Ezekiel 14, 4. I shared it with you. Now, many a times people have decided what they want God to say. They are only going to God to confirm what they want to hear. Are you following what I'm saying? You have decided on the heaven, this is who I'll marry. So by the time you are saying, God, whom shall I marry? You and God know you have decided. And God says in Ezekiel 14, 4, I believe. He says, listen, I will answer thee according to the idol of your hearts. That's how dangerous it is. So he says, I seek. Is somebody getting this here? You're seeing the principles here. He says, I can of myself do nothing. You see, total dependence. And then he says, I seek not my own will. I empty myself of my own opinion, my will on the matter. It does not matter what I want. This is the reason I'm able to, I mean, capture the will of God on the matter. I've laid down my own opinion. And all I need here is what God has to say in the situation. Glory to God. The kingdom we belong to is an accurate kingdom. So instructions are necessary. Let's flip backwards a bit and look at types and shadows of how the Holy Spirit leads from the Old Testament. Let's look at types and shadows. Exodus 23. Exodus chapter 23. And we're building up to something very critical this morning. Exodus 23 and verse 20. Look at what it says. It says, Behold, I sent an angel. And if you are using the King James, you see that the word angel is in capital E. letters am i right not small now so he's not talking about just any angel are you following this he's talking about the angel of his presence isaiah actually gives him a name he calls him the angel of his presence and that's the holy spirit he says i sent an angel before thee now everybody read number one what would the angel do come on talk to me what is the assignment of the angel to keep thee where in the way please tell the person beside you there's a way you should go tell them stop this probability and assumptions there is a definite way you should go there's a defined part it's not oh oh this was happening now praise god no there is a defined part for your life there is a way that you should go look at what he says he says he will keep thee in the way and he will bring thee into the place everybody read what does he say which i have prayed for prepared i don't know if you remember what we read in corinthians do you see that this is the holy spirit now now somebody put it this way and i think it's powerful god planned it jesus purchased it the holy spirit leads you into it let me say it again god planned it jesus purchased it the holy spirit leads you into it so you see this it says there are prepared places for you you don't have to walk up your way you don't have to think up your way you don't have to design your path there are places that are prepared for you places of provision places of inheritance places of destiny say this there are prepared places for me come on say it again there are prepared places for me say it one more time as though you meant it there are prepared places for me now who prepared it's god it says i will this angel of mine will bring you into the place that i prepared to let you know this is the holy spirit look at the next verse beware of him and obey his voice provoke him not he will not pardon your transgressions for my name is in him who does this sound like it's the holy spirit he says don't provoke the holy ghost he won't forgive you that's what that's what jesus said look at verse 22 please follow the thought here it says but if thou indeed shall obey his voice and do all that i speak then i will be an angel of God and i will be an enemy unto thine enemies you won't have to pray against enemies is somebody following what i'm saying here i have said this over and over again hear me and hear me well 90 percent of the prayer points of the church of jesus christ in nigeria is because we are not being led by the spirit 90 percent if you are being led by the holy spirit 90 percent of your prayer points will be eliminated i'm telling you look at what he says here maybe i should read this here so you see the blessed the blessedness of he says if you listen i will be an enemy unto your enemies an adversary unto thine adversaries for mine angels shall go before thee and bring thee in unto the amorites let me clearly say this here that you are being led by the holy spirit does not mean there will be challenges in fact the first place he will bring you into his warfare he says i will bring you in unto the amorites which means you enter fight if you have not learned to be led by god's spirit you start equating the absence of the spirit of the holy spirit and you will be led by the spirit of the holy spirit the absence of trouble with being the will of god and what i found out many times the will of god is full of plenty oh bobs do you understand what i'm saying that if you are following the will of god you will have battles to fight look at what he says please follow this i mean i think we should stay on this he says i will bring you to the amorites the heat heights you enter your own heights poverty neither tights i'm saying here there's one i want to say but it's okay relationship all right it says the canaanites the hevites the jebusites now look at what he says everybody with a loud voice want to go and i will cut them off who will cut them off the one who is leading you let me tell you something when he listen whoever has the responsibility of leadership has the responsibility for security protect are you for i'm going to show you in scriptures here that the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire was not just to give them guidance was to protect them at one point in fact the bible says the angel moved from in front of them went behind them and became a division between israel and egypt if you remember the exodus 14 or 13 they became a division and this is powerful he says the cloud was the light onto israel that same cloud was darkness onto egypt how do you explain it you will not have to look for your own security or whatever it is if you have been led is somebody following what i'm saying stay here look at what he says he says i will cut them off he says thou shall not bow then he starts giving them instructions you shall not bow down to their gods not serve them you shall serve the lord you shall bless your people you shall bless your people water there shall nothing cast their young nor be barren in thy land i will send my fear before thee destroy an address i will send hundreds before they will drive out the etites the canaanites etites from before thee i will not drive them out from before thee in one year lest the land becomes desolate and the beast of the field multiply against thee so this is going to be what step by step guidance is somebody follow what i'm saying you are not going to wake up one morning and be standing in the fullness of destiny overnight it's going to be step by step abraham leave thy father's house leave thy country to a land i will show you i've shared this with you over and over again there is no land called the land i will show you have you ever seen a land that is named a land i will show you there's no such land so when he said abraham leave i i've shared this i've given this example if i say to you um um comfort leave the auditorium and go to somewhere that i will tell you do you know the only thing she can do is to leave the auditorium and go outside and what will she do she will go outside and what will she do next wait for me to give the next instruction let me tell you how god works then god will say now go to the back there is an envelope waiting for you that you will need on this journey now her journey is not at the back do you understand what i'm saying what you don't realize is this is that we think that thank you so much we think that being led by god's spirit is a straight line no sir it is usually zigzag and the reason for that is this he sees what you cannot see the problem with a zigzag is this if it's a straight line i can tell this is where i'm going to i do not need faith neither do i need trust but if it's a zigzag by the time you're out of angle you have to trust that the one who is guiding you can take you to where you're going to is somebody following what i'm saying here get thee out to a land i will show thee the last he could do was get out of the place oh lord oh lord where next i can of myself do nothing and then god says take another place and i will show you where i'm going to go and i will show you another step oh god we're next oh god we're next are we still here so this angel of the lord leads us and in the new testament for us we know that this angel of the lord is the holy spirit now how does how did it manifest to israel exodus 13 quickly quite a number of scriptures i told you we have grounds to cover today verse 21 it says and the lord exodus 13 21 and the lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud to lead them by the way and by night in a pillar of fire to do what to give them light to go by day and night everybody read verse 32 one to go what does he say he took not away the pillar of the cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people does that not sound like he will not be able to do that he will not be able to do that he will never leave thee nor forsake thee so you see that this is a manifestation of the ministry of the holy spirit from the old testament now so that tells us something please stay with me stay with me the essence of types and shadows is that there is the operational principle of the real substance is found in the type and the shadow what do i mean by that when a thing has a type and shadow in the old testament what we are simply saying is that we can look at that thing in the old testament and take the operational principle for that thing that is now revealed in the new testament glory to god can we appreciate and welcome the phenomenal minister judy k god bless you are you getting what i'm saying here so the bible tells us that he said to israel he said take a lamp and then kill the lamp put the blood on the lamp on the lintel of the house everyone that is within the house now observed that he didn't tell every member of the family to kill a lamp he said the head of the family should do what kill the lamp in essence it is the head of the family that makes the sacrifice and on the basis of the sacrifice of the head of the family everybody in that family is covered which means we don't have to give any sacrifice in that sense jesus the head of this race has made that sacrifice do you see the operational principle there so when we see that this cloud was a type and a shadow of the holy spirit that is to come it's important we investigate it look into it and ask ourselves what exactly did the cloud do for them what exactly did he do for them are we ready this morning show me prepared places lift your right hand towards heaven say this father i thank you for prepared people and prepared places let me say this to you the secret to life's success is to be in the right place with the right people at the right time that's the simple secret prepared places which means that you are not in a place of your own volition you are there because god's spirit has prepared the place for you is somebody getting what i'm saying here god's spirit has prepared the place for you look at exodus 13 we're still studying there now move very quickly to exodus chapter 40 i mean i can jump that exodus 40 36 to 38 please take note of that reference there and you can study that for yourself later on 14 verse 19 of exodus i want to pick something there very quickly 14 19 of exodus it says and just 19 and 20 but i want you to see something there very important and the angel of god which went before the camp of israel it says removed and went behind them and the pillar of cloud went from before them so do you see that the way and manner in which the angel was manifested was the pillar of cloud so we're not talking about different entities that this pillar of cloud i mean how did they know there was an angel there you can't see an angel say that god opens your eyes the way and manner in which that angel led them was what the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire are we still here this morning our building up to something why a cloud that's the question you should ask yourself of all things god's spirit could have used why a cloud i should say this very quickly follow the cloud don't follow clouds follow the cloud don't follow crowd for all right let's do it again so you do it better so we can capture it follow the cloud don't follow clouds but on the most i mean we are being serious here follow the cloud don't follow clouds follow the cloud i told you how that we had just finished a powerful convention in abuja and i just sensed that the cloud had moved i just knew it under no circumstance under heaven should we have made such a decision are you following what i'm saying i mean even by human desires and all the rest who i mean who of their own volition likes legos is it not condition and bets that makes them like the instruction of god i mean if you like it is because you have not gone outside do you understand that's the truth just go to ogun states do you get what i'm saying here initially you'll be very angry you say they are very slow they are slow they are slow after a while you'll find out that you are the one that is on fast forward that they need to now come the first time i went to abuja years ago i used to be angry i mean you are buying things and the cashier will just go i called us i said in legos where 10 people are on your neck you are you are the only one who is going to be angry and then i found out that i've had a very traumatic relationship with legos state very toxic relationship many people don't know they're in a toxic relationship legos state i'm telling you just calm down i mean so the truth of matter is if by my own volition why why would i want to but by instruction are you following what i'm saying by instruction and hear this it was kenny copeland that said it he said his will is our wealthy place that's powerful his will is our wealthy place his will is our wealthy place follow the cloud not the crowd follow the cloud not clouds follow the cloud not clock don't say i'm too old i mean let me quickly be somebody and then you marry the person and that's it follow the cloud not what your clock psalm 99 verse 7 quickly psalm 99 and verse 7 is anybody getting anything this morning we are building off to something and i want to show you what that cloud is in just a bit remember that when elijah prayed and traveled there on the mount what was he that god showed him as the sign of his prayers been answered a cloud in the shape of a man's hand question again is why a cloud why a cloud could he not have used just anything is god i mean is it that god had lost i mean i mean different things to use why a cloud i'll show you in a bit psalm 99 and i mean there's so much i can show you but just let's just stay with you psalm 99 and verse 7 psalm 99 and verse 7 he spoke unto them in the cloudy pillar do you see it again he spoke unto them in the cloudy pillar they kept his testimonies and the ordinances that he gave them thou answerest them oh lord our god that was the god that forgives them thou do king james do you understand so i was studying about this thing of a cloud and i was reading what the rabbi said and i put it side by side with some scientific studies and all the rest now you know that so let's use the closest example you have to a cloud which is actually a cloud fog you know fog is a cloud when you have a fog on earth it's a cloud it's just that it's not suspended in the atmosphere it's actually a cloud now when you look at a fog how many of you realize that when you look at it it looks material am i right you look at it and you say that ah there's something there in fact the reason you can say there's something there is that it's material if it's not material you can't see there's something there but do you know that you can walk through a fog even though you say it's material you can go through it and it's not material enough to stop you do you get what i'm saying but as you go through it you will feel it but you can't hold it is somebody following what so when he talks about how the holy spirit leads us and uses the cloud as a symbolism he's saying the primary way the holy spirit leads you is through what you call a feeling what you call a perception so when you walk through the cloud can you hold it can you touch it no but are you sure that there is something there yes is somebody getting what i'm saying which means i cannot hold it like this and say listen this is it but something in me just feels like it's a feeling that's what we call the inward witness it is a feeling and a perception on the inside of yourself that does not have substance but you can't shake it away do you understand what i'm saying it is not thus saith the lord it is not my son i rise now go to obomosh obomosh has suffered from my hand we must plant a church in obomosh those people shouting that's you all right so that's listening just give them deployment form now you follow what i'm saying you cannot say if somebody says why are you doing this you say i just sense do you understand what i'm saying just in the same way you walk through that fog you feel the fog but you can't hold it it's not material enough are you getting this it's not substantial enough but it's real enough to be known that it's there do you get what i'm saying here which means you cannot doubt the presence but you can't prove the presence and here's where a lot of believers make mistakes because it's a witness and a perception it does not seem strong enough it does not seem provable enough it does not seem to have substance enough and do you know what we say we say something told me or i was just thinking about it i'll show you how you design what the inward witness is you see because primarily the inward witness will function through your thoughts so if you are not if you have not learned how to design it you will say i was thinking you say how you i thought i was the one thinking because the holy spirit will not suspend your thoughts to give you a witness it is in the train of your thoughts the witness will come so if you have not learned how to design in fact it was bishop daguel meals he said learning to be led by the holy spirit is the way to be led by the god spirit is more of elimination than any other thing which means there are several voices and you have learned how to eliminate those voices and say this one is the voice of the spirit romans 8 16 look at what it says it tells us that the holy spirit bear that witness with our spirit that we are what the sons of god let me show you a couple of scriptures and see how the bible actually refers to this witness romans 8 16 we can't read all of them acts chapter 7 verse 23 speaking about moses he says it came into his heart he didn't say god said to him do you understand what i'm saying and i've shared this over and over again with you that he came into his heart he didn't get details from god he stepped out and acted prematurely he messed up the plan and do you know what happens with a lot of people because in a sense they fall on their face they start questioning if they ever had god and that's why god had to use a burning bush a spectacular experience to reroute him back to destiny because if it comes into his heart again moses like every one of us listen no the last time he came into my heart so god had to use something so spectacular that moses could not in fact to let you know that moses didn't stop with burning bush as spectacular imagine you get to your house eh you get to your house and your dining table is on fire you come close to it it's not burning next thing you hear my son tossing i've been looking for you since imagine with all of that moses did not believe what he said he said god god this thing you're talking about what's his name i should tell them i am that i am give me sign give me evidence god said put your hand inside your pocket he put it inside lepros put it back inside he said god is there more god said is that what's in your hand he said your rod he said drop your rod on the ground he became a snake the other part is the one me i don't understand why will you know god has a pig snake no no no so whatever it is moses picked up the snake the snake became a rod again you will think that moses had enough there do you know this actually moses said he said god you know i'm a stammerer you know this public speaking asking me to do i can't do it god said if as though god knew he said before you even asked i already spoke to aaron he's look he's behind you coming finally moses okay okay okay okay okay we shall see what we shall do about this matter why do you think he took that don't forget the first time he came to his heart he jumped out that's what happens with a lot of people because we haven't learned how to be led to discern and what to do when the witness comes which we can't get into today because we feel face flat we start questioning the witness so we start wondering something is telling me and we reduce the holy spirit to something hmm act 723 i want to show you in scriptures he says he came into his heart act 15 28 when they were going to settle matters of doctrine in the early church circumcision or non-circumcision go and read it how did they respond they said it seemed good to the holy ghost and us kai which means i can make decisions on it seemed good not to say it do you understand what i'm saying here we have to understand that the bulk of the leading of the believer is in a perception a feeling a notch are you getting this here that listen what they wrote there was going to determine the trajectory of the church of jesus christ forever if they had said there that listen that we have to be circumcised if we have to if they had said that do you know what you mean for us all of you coming with mascara and wig do you know what it means do you know that would have you would have been bringing goat or whatever it is and as you reach outside there pastor tosy will be there and say this one has spot move away and and as we're having service here and we are singing they'll be giving us um auto and soprano from us do you know what he means that the destiny of the church was determined by it seemed good it seemed good to the holy ghost and us are you still here acts 27 verse 10 what did paul say sars i passive and when they did not listen to him because obviously the captain they said the weather is okay i mean what the hell nonsense are you talking about the weather is fine i mean there's nothing wrong when they did not listen to him and they had a shipwreck the next time god was going to give him guidance he said an angel of the lord stood by me by night it had to be spectacular but the first time he says sars i passive can you ask the person beside you how many times have you perceived something how many times how many times you know the thing with perception how many of you have perceived aroma before and you can listen this is the power of perception you can follow an aroma to where they are cooking do you get what i'm saying here that you don't need to be where they are cooking this is how the spirit of god leads us prepared places do you get what i'm saying here he sends the aroma of our prepared place ahead of time you perceive that thing and it looks as though you are going on a long winding journey but brothers and sisters there is a place called canaan there's a place called the promised land if we will trust the guidance and the leading of the holy spirit so many prepared places well let's run and do this in two minutes are you ready i want to do what i should do in three services in two minutes but i believe that the lord does the impossible it's going to be at the expense of you not hearing something all right so number one the general characteristics of an effective witness and i just wanted you to notice that we say that it's an inward witness that the holy ghost leads us by what are the general characteristics of an effective witness number one please write down a witness is only needed to give clarity in an ongoing matter this is important do you agree that a witness is not useful if something is not happening it's an ongoing matter now when the bible says that the holy ghost is the guide i hope you know you are not you don't guide the stationary man please everybody listen to me i'm going to tell you a story i'm going to tell you a story i'm going to look at me i need you to understand this bit about being led by the spirit of god and i'll use paul the apostle as an example he said they decided to go to a certain town to preach the holy ghost suffered them not then they decided to go to the next town to preach the holy ghost forbid them then finally he had a dream in the night you remember and he saw the man of macedonia asking him to come but i want to ask you a question was there any point where we are told that paul was trying to at every point because this is a mistake a lot of people make and he was trying to decide that this is oh should i go here should i not go here listen he was on the go what i've discovered is this is that if you are not taking steps already in line with what you already know are you following what i'm saying here in fact most times the guidance of the spirit is more of a red light he will check and say no you can't go in that direction and then he will reroute you but if you are stationary doing nothing you can't go anywhere you don't need a guide you need a chair do you understand what i'm saying that it's people that are on a journey already that we now give a guide to ensure that their journey is not shipwrecked are you following what i'm saying here the second thing here is this a witness maintains the same testimony under every circumstance and i'll explain why this relates to the inward witness in a bit the third thing a witness has no personal vested interest in in essence you can't put somebody on a witness stand if the person has vested interest the person has should have no personal vested interest and guess what jesus said about the holy spirit he shall not glorify himself is that not what he said he shall take of what his mind and glorify who me talking about jesus no personal vested interest number four a witness must possess extensive knowledge of the situation for you to be a witness in the situation you must possess extensive knowledge of the situation and possibly other factors relating to the situation lastly number five a witness must be credible do you now see why it's called the spirit of truth consistently when jesus spoke about him being the guide being the instructor being the comforter he will use this phrase spirit of truth because a witness must be what credible now let's narrow this down into the specific character of the inward witness which means this perceptive perception this feeling that you have on the inside of yourself this nudge how do i know that is the holy spirit you have to listen now number one is that it always comes with strong conviction but let me qualify it it is authoritative but not domineering let me state that again that the witness of the spirit is authoritative just like that fog you can't deny that there is a fog but you can cut through the fog you can go your way the fog will not stop you do you understand what i'm saying so the first thing to note about the witness of the spirit is that it is authoritative but it's not domineering god will never impose his will and his will upon any man the second thing about the inner witness is that it is persistent and repetitive under every circumstance is the same thing he will keep saying in every place you find yourself are you following what i'm saying here look at galatians chapter 4 verse 6 and that's that's just paul saying the exact same thing he said in romans 8 16 you know in romans 8 16 he said the spirit bear witness in our hearts that we are sons of god children of god look at what it says in galatians 4 16 can we do together and because you have sons god had sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts doing what crying have you heard a child crying before do you see the persistence with which they cry they change gear from one gear to another the woman they stop then it continues again it is persistent and repetitive under any circumstance wherever you find yourself you may deceive yourself and tell yourself otherwise but somewhere inside your heart you can't get away from it i don't know if you know what i'm saying here you can't get i mean you have convinced yourself otherwise but inside your heart you know exactly what he's saying number three it is an inexplicable knowing and what i mean by that is that it's independent of your reason and it's independent of your logic and lastly number four it is an impression of peace which means every time you consider it what it brings into your heart and into your life is peace colossians 3 15 amplified classic it's a let peace decide with finality let it be the umpire for all of your decisions glory to god psalm 85 verse 8 it says when god speaks how does he what Four things there, strong conviction, persistent and repetitive, inexplicable knowing, it's independent of your reasoning and logic, you didn't reason it out. And then number four, it's an impression of peace. Now let me give us one thing that we need to know. need to do this week let's rise up on our feet and this will help us in first corinthians chapter 14 and verse 2 it says that when a man speaks in unknown tongues what is he doing he's speaking forth what mysteries unto god am i right everybody who gives that utterance that mystery that is speaking forth who gives it come and talk to me who gives the utterance we do the talking but who gives the utterance the holy spirit so when you start speaking in the spirit please this is one of the excess last week we spoke about meditation on the word but this is one of the exercises that you have to give yourself to when you start speaking in the spirit what you're doing is that you are speaking forth the exact same things that the holy ghost will grant you witness about in essence the more a man gives himself to speaking in the holy ghost praying much in the spirit the stronger the witness of the spirit becomes in itself that's why you see that old testament shadow and type that it was after elijah had prayed over and over that a cloud appeared in the shape of a man's hand if a man will be led by the spirit of god and the inward witness will become a sure guide you have to be like paul say that i thank my god that i speak in tongues more than you all glory to god let's pray in the spirit this morning and you're not praying in the spirit this morning you're not praying in the spirit this morning you're not praying in the spirit because you have your prayer points the bible says that when you pray the holy spirit it says that you speak for mysteries unto god you speak for mysteries unto god you speak forth mysteries unto god for the next one minute let's lift our two hands towards heaven and pray in the holy ghost let's lift our two hands towards heaven and pray in the holy spirit for the next one minute lift your two hands towards heaven and pray in the holy spirit pray in the holy spirit you're praying for the future you're praying for mysteries you're praying for the next 10 years you're praying for the next 15 years all of a sudden you are the right man at the right place it's not by chance you prayed it out and then your heart becomes more perceptive you're praying for the next 10 years you're praying for the next 15 years all of a sudden you are the right man at the right place it's not by chance you prayed it out and then your heart becomes more perceptive because you have prayed these things forth we have 30 more seconds everybody with a we have 30 more seconds everybody with a we have 30 more seconds everybody with a loud voice praying the holy spirit
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