Everlasting Gospel
First lesson: John 3:6
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
Second lesson: John 1:33-34
“And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending , and remaining on him, the same is He which baptiszeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.”
Golden text: Matthew 3:13-17
"Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptised, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
3.1 He is never to die
Dear brethren, the basis of our address to you is established in this spiritual chorus: "I have come by myself sending no one, hence, I have revealed myself unto the entire world and I have not come to die as people think. Therefore, my people should sing and rejoice for I the Lord have assumed rulership."
On this note, let our first Bible lesson be reviewed.
First lesson: John 3:6
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
3.2 Two people are in the world
Beloved, this Bible text is quite explanatory. It informs us that there are two groups of people in existence on earth. These include the heavenly people and the worldly people. This further implies that God created two categories of human beings viz: the carnal man and the spiritual man. These two sets of people mix together for a common goal or purpose and in this assembly, the Father has brought these groups together. They are all here. What I am telling you buttresses the scripture recorded in Revelation 11:l5..the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever," that we all may be one in the Father.
However, there is always a contrast between these two groups of people. They are given different endowments. The heavenly children are endowed with the gift of the Holy Spirit while the worldly children are endowed with the gifts of the flesh. Thus, inspite of the inclination of the carnal being to the heavenly things, his status as a worldly fellow cannot be changed. At baptism, he receives the earthly gifts. The heavenly child receives spiritual gifts at baptism. Thus the heavenly child cannot have his status changed because of his innate desires. But one thing is certain, we are all one in the same milieu though with different gifts to fulfill different commissions in this kingdom.
Recall that John the Baptist came to the world in the spirit and power of Elijah to do the work of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ was here in the spirit of God equally to fulfill His mission hence, he was indestructible. By these submission, it is possible for you to easily identify a child of God in the world even without introduction. A child of God is known by his good qualities because the Holy Spirit is in him and any child of God is aware of his identity and can not avoid his responsibility. This is so because of his duty to reveal the Father.
So, do not seek the Holy Spirit by your power because it is something natural. Children of God are born with it. They believe in God and have the knowledge and wisdom of God. Nothing can change them just as the earthly children have the power, knowledge and wisdom of this world. Let our second Bible lesson be read again.
Second lesson: john 1: 33 34
“And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me. Upon whom thou shaft see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.”
Brethren, how do you understand this text? This text simply tells us that when God commissions you on an assignment, He goes ahead to accomplish it. He can never send you on an errand and leave you desolate, He goes there and executes that assignment in order to glorify Himself. The bone of contention here is the power of God and the Holy Spirit. This does not portend the performing of miracle, raising of the dead or making the lame to walk. John the Baptist, Elijah, Moses and others performed various miracles. The statement of John in our second lesson, "him whom he saw, the Spirit descending upon" is a distinguishing statement. It indicates the towering personality of our Lord Jesus Christ. You realise that our Lord Jesus Christ alone used the word to teach and transform man from mortality to Immortality.
I therefore sympathize with the world at their ignorance to request money, house, cars, farm and other material things from our Lord Jesus Christ. They should rather request the Holy Spirit from him because with the Holy Spirit, you are revealed and you consequently become a child of God. There is no doubt however that the earthly man speaks about earthly things and the heavenly man about heavenly things. As I said earlier, these form the mark or identity for them. It is said, blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are you when people persecute you and speak evil against you for my name's sake, Rejoice for yours is the kingdom of God.
3.3 The identity of God's children
Brethren, what have been read to you constitute the mark of children of God. Persecution, suffering, condemnation, rejection etc. will be your experiences but do not hate them who afflict you for the inheritance of the kingdom of God is yours. The children of God hearken to the word of God while the earthly children are opposed to it. The children of God know what their expectations are irrespective of where they are. Like the yearly celebration of the reception of the Holy Spirit on earth, that idea was initiated by children of God.
3.4 Where are you?
Beloved, we all in Brotherhood of the Cross and Star are children of God but with particular reference to those who do not fornicate, commit adultery, tell lies, eat meat and engage in other vices. So, if you are in this kingdom and you are still a victim of these vices, put yourself in fervent prayer because no goat can give birth to a dog, just as a dog cannot deliver a hen or can a cow deliver a goat, dog or hen. Each of these will deliver its own kind. So, in this wise, the children of God cannot be like the children of the world, they remain at where they rightly belong.
3.5 Be contented
There was one popular visioner in this fold. He was known for accurate and true visioning. But seeing the way the Children of God behave, 'he said there was no remarkable difference between them and himself for he too was a child of God especially as he could give visions and sing. Not long after he made this statement, he found himself in the midst of some children of God and tried to behave like one of them. In less than one week, he realized his limitations and missed out of that group to the quick embrace of his turban because he was an Apostle.
The point I am making is that you should be contented with your position whether as a Child of God, Christ Student, Christ' Servant or any other group because you will not succeed if you force yourself into a group which does not belong to you.
Let our golden text be reexamined.
Golden text: Matthew 3:13- 17
"Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becomefh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptised, went up straightway out of the water: and, to, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And to a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
3.6 The revelation of Christ
Brethren, the above text refers to the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Even the testimonies of John, "And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptise with water, the same said unto me, upon whom thou shaft see the spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptiseth with the Holy Ghost And I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God."
Now, if our Lord Jesus Christ was pompous and did not go to be baptised by John the Baptist, how could he be revealed? He could not have been revealed and John would not have testified of him.
Remember that when John the Baptist was in the prison and did not see our Lord Jesus Christ coming to rescue him, he began to doubt and sent his disciples to go and find out from Christ whether he was actually the Messiah and if not, they could look for another. Our Lord Jesus Christ replied and said that the emissaries should go back and tell John what they saw; that the lame did walk, the blind regained sight, the sick made whole and the dead raised. What this illustration implies is that had John merely told our Lord Jesus Christ that he was the Son of God, without the baptism and his revelation through the Holy Spirit which descended on him, in confirmation of the sign of identity of who the Messiah would be from the list of those he baptised, it would not have been possible to identify Christ nor reveal him.
3.7 Only the Holy Spirit reveals God
Flesh and blood cannot reveal God unto any one. Money and any mundane acquisition cannot reveal God unto any person. What reveals God unto us is the Holy Spirit. Once you have the Holy Spirit, God will be revealed to you.
If it were the lot of the flesh to reveal God to the world, John the Baptist would have been qualified for the messiahship because of his virtuous disposition and even his priestly family background.
In fact, people had even ascribed to him the Christhood because at his birth and presentation to the altar many wonders happened. Even Zachariah, the father suddenly became dumb for many days until God revealed to him the events that were to unfold. Moreso, people thought John the Baptist was the Messiah because of his good works but he vehemently denied that honour.
So, wherever you may be or go to, always listen to your spirit for it is only the Holy Spirit that can reveal to you whether the person you are meeting is a child of God or not. To confirm the testimony of John the Baptist that the person coming after him was greater than him, his sandals he was incompetent to loosen and that he is the one to baptise with fire and the Holy Spirit, our Lord Jesus Christ came.
3.8 Jesus Christ used the word to work
Unlike John the Baptist who used water to baptise people, Christ used only the spoken word. There is no day our Lord Jesus Christ used water or any other medium to baptise people. He only used the word. He will tell you "go, your problems are over, your sickness is over" and so it will be.
However, the disciples of Christ started using water to baptise people At this point, the disciples of John were disturbed as the multitude now went to Christ to be baptised. They went to John and complained that the man he just baptised was equally baptising people but John replied them saying, that except the authority came from above, none could do anything.
Now, considering this development, what do you think would have been the case in the present dispensation? Would people not foment trouble because of that? But John the Baptist had that understanding that nobody could do anything on his own. And brethren, I tell you that any power or authority that does not come from God cannot stand as there is bound to be problem, fighting and confusion. Since the baptism of John and Christ came from God, no power could oppose it. This is the veritable truth.
So brethren, I do not intend to take you further, a stroke of cane is sufficient unto the wise. Let those who have ears hear. May God bless His holy word. Amen.
THANK YOU FATHER