HAVING MORE OF GOD
Sunday Sermon - 22nd June, 2020
Introduction
The order in this world now is to have everything upside down. The world and its people now engage in what the English will call "putting the cart before the horse." And it's such a pity that the church itself has found it so impossible to extricate itself from the stranglehold of this strange way of doing things. For example, the church today encourages becoming born-again before having the desire to seek God and have any love, if any at all, for God and His Christ. This is the reason there are many stillborn amongst the so-called children of God all over the places today.
In the same vein, most people go to churches, crusades and what have you because they want something from God. In fact, over 99% of every church population, even many so-called pastors inclusive, falls in this category. Out of the less than 1% percent remaining are those who just came because they feel they needed to go to church; not for anything in particular. The minute percentage left are those that are hungry and thirsty for God. They are very few in the church, and you will know them by their attitudes towards some heretic practices in their denominations. They are the ones who are disatisfied with the religious externalities and the celebration of nothingness which the church calls "celebration of Jesus" in their service by which they promote and encourage sin in their midst. We pray that from today's message, the good Lord will enlighten our hearts of understanding in His Word and draw us closer Home in Jesus Christ's mighty name. Amen.
Message
The worldliness in the world which has taken over most pulpits today has blindfolded most congregants that they don't know that there is a clear dichotomy between "receiving from God" and "receiving of God". That's the reason most messages coming from the pulpits is all "receiving from God. What do these two expressions mean?
The book of Matthew 6: 33 admonishes us to "seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness and other things shall be added unto us." The first part, the Kingdom of God and its righteousness" relates to receiving of God, while the second part, "other things shall be added unto thee" is purely of receiving from God. Don't get me wrong, it's not as if it's a sin to receive from God, but what the Spirit is saying to us today is that "receiving of God" must happen first before "receiving from God."
There is no gainsaying that God desires the prosperity of His children (3 John 1: 2) and it, prosperity, is one of the exploits mentioned about us in Daniel 11: 32b. However, a closer study of that Scripture shows that what comes first is "knowing the God we serve", not the exploit.
Unfortunately today, what we run after and make sure we get first at all costs is the "exploit". That is why many riches and wealth in the church today don't have the hand of God in them and that's why sometimes, a rich and wealthy "child of God" meets with calamities untold. 2 Chronicles 20: 20 admonishes thus: ". . . Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper." From that Scripture, "establishment" comes before "prosperity", just as "knowing God" comes before "exploit" in Daniel 11: 32b. That simply means believing or knowing God should come first so that we established before we prosper.
The few people for who this is true are those who seek to "receive of God", but the larger population who seek exploit and prosperity first before believing in or knowing God are those who are after "receiving from God" instead.
Receiving from God gives spiritual legitimacy to our "exploits" and "prosperity" and also protects whatever it is that we have received. The fact remains that without first "receiving of God", no one may truly "receive from God." The question then arises that how can man "receive of God"?
Receiving of God actually means having and possessing God's qualities. We must remember that this, in essence, is the purpose of God for creating man and for sending Jesus Christ to die for our sins; that we may eventually become like Him.
Therefore, how can we "receive of God"? To receive of God, we do the following:
1) hunger and thirst after righteousness - the book of Matthew 5: 3 tells us that people like this shall be filled. Why? The simple reason is that righteousness is the very nature of God unto which we are called (Mat. 5: 48; Eph. 1: 4). The Psalmist, in Psalm 42: 1 compared his hunger and thirst for God (righteousness) to how a thirsty deer pants after water. In Luke 11: 10, a group of people who had once listened to the Word of life from the mouth of the Master, came looking for Him, and when they didn't meet Him there, there joined the next available ship, "looking for Jesus Christ." Why should we hunger and thirst after righteousness to "receive of God"? That is because we can't remain in sin and expect grace to multiply (Romans 6: 1) and also for the very fact that His eyes are too holy to look at sin (Hab. 1: 13).
2) Be poor in spirit - Mat. 5: 3 says unmitigatedly, that the Kingdom of God is for this set of people. What does it mean to be poor in spirit? It simply means counting oneself as having no knowledge before God. I once told some people that when God is involved, one should suspend their brains. God only fills empty vessels. However, when anyone comes with full self-awareness of who they are and what they think they know, God has no use for such. When God called Jeremiah, Jeremiah didn't say he was not available for God's work, he only told God that he didn't know how to talk. Because of that, God fed and equipped him with His Word (Jer. 1: 5 - 9). Being poor in spirit opens us up to the spiritual fountain of God from where more and more of God flows from.
3) meditate in the Word - this is a direct commandment from God (Joshua 1: 8). And this point is closely linked to being hungry and thirsty for righteousness by the Psalmist in Psalm 119: 11. I have told people that total everything that each of the 1.4 billion people in the world knows and can tell you about God, God is still bigger than that sum. The appalling thing in Christendom today is that the supposed people of God are either too lazy to study their Bible or they are too pre-occupied with other things to studythe Word. What's the result of this attitude? Pity, we end up with Christians who go about with a third party understanding of their supposed Father. Everything we would ever need to know about God is there in the Bible. And if we would spare the time to study the Word in the company of the Holy Spirit, we can be very sure of getting to know our Father more closely and clearly, and receiving of Him, becoming like Him could be surer.
4) be prayerful - by being prayerful, I don't mean the regular prayers that you normally pray and which you have been made to believe is the only prayer. It is not the prayer against the enemies of your glory and destiny. It is not a prayer of wanting to buy cars and build houses. It's not the prayer of you want, you want, and you want. It's a serious supplication with cries for more of God. A serious wailing for God to take you deeper in the knowledge of Him and His Christ. I told some people the story of my growing years in Christ (I have not attained it yet, I am still striving, too as Apostle Paul said). There is this song, "Deeper in love" by Don Moen. In those days, after listening to that song and some others like it, I will go to a corner, either on my knees or standing up, but in the Divine Presence of God, I will cry and pray for hours with just one and only one request: "God, I want more of you", NOT "God, I want this or that from you" as the case is today.
5) be separate - one of the greatest mistakes ever made by some Christian leaders is believing that they could win the world for Christ by becoming part of the world. They shunned aside God's instruction in 2 Corinthians 6: 14 - 18, they invited the world into the church, and today, all over, the world has taken over the church. However as Christ Jesus says, "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it", but the harbourers would be consumed by their own evils. If anyone desires more of God, they must separate themselves from the world, the unbelievers. Until then, they remain unacceptable unto God and God won't be able to pour Himself out on them.
Beloved brethren, we need more of God to receive more from Him. A cursory study of the Scriptures shows that those who had more of God before receiving from Him lasted longer in and with what they received from Him than those who received from Him without having more or even any of Him. A ready example is King Saul. Saul had no experiences of God before God made him king over his people. We all remember how he ended. Let's take a lesson: if you desire to go far with God, ask for more of God NOT more from Him. As I always say, "how much you know about God will determine how far you will go with Him."
Till we meet again to hear from Him, keep keeping on in Him!
Introduction
The order in this world now is to have everything upside down. The world and its people now engage in what the English will call "putting the cart before the horse." And it's such a pity that the church itself has found it so impossible to extricate itself from the stranglehold of this strange way of doing things. For example, the church today encourages becoming born-again before having the desire to seek God and have any love, if any at all, for God and His Christ. This is the reason there are many stillborn amongst the so-called children of God all over the places today.
In the same vein, most people go to churches, crusades and what have you because they want something from God. In fact, over 99% of every church population, even many so-called pastors inclusive, falls in this category. Out of the less than 1% percent remaining are those who just came because they feel they needed to go to church; not for anything in particular. The minute percentage left are those that are hungry and thirsty for God. They are very few in the church, and you will know them by their attitudes towards some heretic practices in their denominations. They are the ones who are disatisfied with the religious externalities and the celebration of nothingness which the church calls "celebration of Jesus" in their service by which they promote and encourage sin in their midst. We pray that from today's message, the good Lord will enlighten our hearts of understanding in His Word and draw us closer Home in Jesus Christ's mighty name. Amen.
Message
The worldliness in the world which has taken over most pulpits today has blindfolded most congregants that they don't know that there is a clear dichotomy between "receiving from God" and "receiving of God". That's the reason most messages coming from the pulpits is all "receiving from God. What do these two expressions mean?
The book of Matthew 6: 33 admonishes us to "seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness and other things shall be added unto us." The first part, the Kingdom of God and its righteousness" relates to receiving of God, while the second part, "other things shall be added unto thee" is purely of receiving from God. Don't get me wrong, it's not as if it's a sin to receive from God, but what the Spirit is saying to us today is that "receiving of God" must happen first before "receiving from God."
There is no gainsaying that God desires the prosperity of His children (3 John 1: 2) and it, prosperity, is one of the exploits mentioned about us in Daniel 11: 32b. However, a closer study of that Scripture shows that what comes first is "knowing the God we serve", not the exploit.
Unfortunately today, what we run after and make sure we get first at all costs is the "exploit". That is why many riches and wealth in the church today don't have the hand of God in them and that's why sometimes, a rich and wealthy "child of God" meets with calamities untold. 2 Chronicles 20: 20 admonishes thus: ". . . Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper." From that Scripture, "establishment" comes before "prosperity", just as "knowing God" comes before "exploit" in Daniel 11: 32b. That simply means believing or knowing God should come first so that we established before we prosper.
The few people for who this is true are those who seek to "receive of God", but the larger population who seek exploit and prosperity first before believing in or knowing God are those who are after "receiving from God" instead.
Receiving from God gives spiritual legitimacy to our "exploits" and "prosperity" and also protects whatever it is that we have received. The fact remains that without first "receiving of God", no one may truly "receive from God." The question then arises that how can man "receive of God"?
Receiving of God actually means having and possessing God's qualities. We must remember that this, in essence, is the purpose of God for creating man and for sending Jesus Christ to die for our sins; that we may eventually become like Him.
Therefore, how can we "receive of God"? To receive of God, we do the following:
1) hunger and thirst after righteousness - the book of Matthew 5: 3 tells us that people like this shall be filled. Why? The simple reason is that righteousness is the very nature of God unto which we are called (Mat. 5: 48; Eph. 1: 4). The Psalmist, in Psalm 42: 1 compared his hunger and thirst for God (righteousness) to how a thirsty deer pants after water. In Luke 11: 10, a group of people who had once listened to the Word of life from the mouth of the Master, came looking for Him, and when they didn't meet Him there, there joined the next available ship, "looking for Jesus Christ." Why should we hunger and thirst after righteousness to "receive of God"? That is because we can't remain in sin and expect grace to multiply (Romans 6: 1) and also for the very fact that His eyes are too holy to look at sin (Hab. 1: 13).
2) Be poor in spirit - Mat. 5: 3 says unmitigatedly, that the Kingdom of God is for this set of people. What does it mean to be poor in spirit? It simply means counting oneself as having no knowledge before God. I once told some people that when God is involved, one should suspend their brains. God only fills empty vessels. However, when anyone comes with full self-awareness of who they are and what they think they know, God has no use for such. When God called Jeremiah, Jeremiah didn't say he was not available for God's work, he only told God that he didn't know how to talk. Because of that, God fed and equipped him with His Word (Jer. 1: 5 - 9). Being poor in spirit opens us up to the spiritual fountain of God from where more and more of God flows from.
3) meditate in the Word - this is a direct commandment from God (Joshua 1: 8). And this point is closely linked to being hungry and thirsty for righteousness by the Psalmist in Psalm 119: 11. I have told people that total everything that each of the 1.4 billion people in the world knows and can tell you about God, God is still bigger than that sum. The appalling thing in Christendom today is that the supposed people of God are either too lazy to study their Bible or they are too pre-occupied with other things to studythe Word. What's the result of this attitude? Pity, we end up with Christians who go about with a third party understanding of their supposed Father. Everything we would ever need to know about God is there in the Bible. And if we would spare the time to study the Word in the company of the Holy Spirit, we can be very sure of getting to know our Father more closely and clearly, and receiving of Him, becoming like Him could be surer.
4) be prayerful - by being prayerful, I don't mean the regular prayers that you normally pray and which you have been made to believe is the only prayer. It is not the prayer against the enemies of your glory and destiny. It is not a prayer of wanting to buy cars and build houses. It's not the prayer of you want, you want, and you want. It's a serious supplication with cries for more of God. A serious wailing for God to take you deeper in the knowledge of Him and His Christ. I told some people the story of my growing years in Christ (I have not attained it yet, I am still striving, too as Apostle Paul said). There is this song, "Deeper in love" by Don Moen. In those days, after listening to that song and some others like it, I will go to a corner, either on my knees or standing up, but in the Divine Presence of God, I will cry and pray for hours with just one and only one request: "God, I want more of you", NOT "God, I want this or that from you" as the case is today.
5) be separate - one of the greatest mistakes ever made by some Christian leaders is believing that they could win the world for Christ by becoming part of the world. They shunned aside God's instruction in 2 Corinthians 6: 14 - 18, they invited the world into the church, and today, all over, the world has taken over the church. However as Christ Jesus says, "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it", but the harbourers would be consumed by their own evils. If anyone desires more of God, they must separate themselves from the world, the unbelievers. Until then, they remain unacceptable unto God and God won't be able to pour Himself out on them.
Beloved brethren, we need more of God to receive more from Him. A cursory study of the Scriptures shows that those who had more of God before receiving from Him lasted longer in and with what they received from Him than those who received from Him without having more or even any of Him. A ready example is King Saul. Saul had no experiences of God before God made him king over his people. We all remember how he ended. Let's take a lesson: if you desire to go far with God, ask for more of God NOT more from Him. As I always say, "how much you know about God will determine how far you will go with Him."
Till we meet again to hear from Him, keep keeping on in Him!
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