GOSPEL WITHOUT POWER IS (MORE LIKE) GOSSIP
THE SUPERNATURAL IS THE NATURAL REALM FOR MAN
FUNCTIONING BELOW OUR SUPERNATURAL REALM IS FUNCTIONING BELOW OUR STANDARD
EVERY PASTOR, EVERY MINISTER IS A MESSENGER OF A SUPERNATURAL BEING
WE HAVE BEEN CALLED TO BE THE VISIBLE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE INVISIBLE GOD
CARRYING THE BIBLE WITHOUT MINISTERING IN THE SUPERNATURAL IS LIKE CARRYING THE STETHOSCOPE WITHOUT KNOWING HOW TO USE IT
THE SUPERNATURAL IS NECESSARY BECAUSE WE LIVE IN A NATURAL WORLD THAT IS ENVELOPED BY THE SUPERNATURAL WORLD
AS A PASTOR, YOU’RE GOING TO COME ACROSS SITUATIONS THAT MEDICAL SCIENCE HAS NO ANSWER FOR, YOU NEED SOME LEVEL OF INJECTION OF SPIRITUAL FIRE POWER
THERE ARE SITUATIONS THAT YOU WILL CONFRONT THAT YOU NEED TO STEP INTO THE SUPERNATURAL TO ESCAPE THE TRAPS FROM THE NATURAL
A CHURCH MEMBER DISAPPEARED MIRACULOUSLY FROM THE KIDNAPPERS’ DEN TO THE HIGHWAY WHILE SINGING ONE OF OUR SONGS
IF YOU’RE A PASTOR AND YOU’RE CALLED OF GOD. YOU DON’T HAVE ANY OPTION THAN TO WALK IN THE SUPERNATURAL.
A MAJOR KEY TO WALKING IN THE SUPERNATURAL IS FOCUS ON CHRIST.
FAITH WORKS BY LOVE, YOU DON’T NEED TO STRUGGLE FOR FAITH IF YOU WALK IN LOVE.
LOVE IS A TRIGGER FOR THE SUPERNATURAL.
COMPASSION COMPELS UNCTION. FEELING DETERMINES HEALING.
WE LIVE IN A NATURAL WORLD THAT IS ENVELOPED BY THE SUPERNATURAL.
– Dr. Pastor Paul Enenche on “FOCUS ON CHRIST FOR THE SUPERNATURAL” || Church of God Mission International Pastors’ Conference, 2024 || CGMI, Benin City.
Very quickly, I’ll be speaking on the theme of the program which is “FOCUS ON CHRIST FOR THE SUPERNATURAL”. Church Gist. Acts 8:5-8. I have two objectives in this preaching:
1. We want to understand the necessity of the supernatural. Why is the supernatural necessary?
2. We want to understand how to focus on Christ in order to experience the supernatural.
I will start with the first – the necessity of the supernatural.
It is important to note that the supernatural is a critical necessity for every child of God, not to talk about every minister of God for 5 reasons.
1. Man was created as a supernatural being. God made man in His image and in His likeness. The supernatural is the natural realm for man. The supernatural is our world and our habitat. Church Gist m The same way that the fish is natural in the water and the bird is natural in the sky and the plan is natural in the earth, that is how man is natural in the supernatural. It’s our natural habitat. I can show you how. I mean, God made man in His image, God is supernatural. We will come to that shortly. But, when God created man, a supernatural being, in Genesis 2:19, God decided to give man a supernatural test. “I have made this man to be supernatural. Let me test him whether he is a practicing supernatural being”. Genesis 2:19. Church Gist. The Bible didn’t say, He brought them to Adam so that Adam can name them, He brought them to Adam to see – it was a test, it was an examination – what will he call them. Listen to this, “and whatsoever Adam called every living creature”, – He didn’t say, ‘that became the name’ – that was already the name. That was what God called them before. Church Gist. When God created them, he had a name for each of them but He wanted to see whether he was on the same page with Adam.
Are you hearing what I’m saying here? Man began to manifest his supernaturality. What we call the prophetic is the normal realm of man. Church Gist. That was the normal realm of man at creation because God made man to be a super supernatural being.
– I announce to somebody here today, at the end of this conference, you shall walk into your natural realm!
He was so supernatural that he did not.., well, I want to leave the rest to your imagination. If God said Adam should name the animals, then how did Adam name the eagle at 10,000 feet above sea level? Either he flew to meet the eagle there or he summoned the eagle and the eagle arrived. Church Gist. That is supernatural. Either he entered the water to name the whales or he summoned it to come on the surface and made it to live outside water. That was supernatural. And then, Adam was asleep when God took the bone from his side and created Eve. Adam opened his eyes, nobody gave him any information, just him and God. He said, “you know what? Even though you put me to sleep, you became the first anaesthesiologist and gave the anesthesia to do a thoracic surgery, thoracoplasty and you removed that bone. Church Gist. Even though I was not awake, I can tell you since you made me in your image, this is bone of my bone. You took this person from my side. This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, she shall be called woman”. That is the supernaturality of existence.
Beloved, functioning below that realm is functioning below standard. Functioning below our supernatural realm is functioning below our standard. So, let it be clear. Why is the supernatural necessary? Man was created as a supernatural being.
2. We are called to represent a supernatural God.
Every Pastor, every Minister is a messenger of a Supernatural being. We are called to represent a supernatural God. John 17:18. Church Gist. God is saying, “I am making you the visible representative of the invisible God”. You’re to be visible, the God they cannot see, when they see you, they should see Him. Jesus said, “no man has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him”. Church Gist. That was one of my greatest challenges at the beginning of our ministry. I said, “God, you called me to represent you, not to apologize on your behalf and I’m not going to stand here and apologize on your behalf and explain reasons why things cannot happen. No, no. If things will not happen, then I don’t need to be here”. Are you hearing what I’m saying here today? Church Gist. We have been called to be the visible representatives of the invisible God.
– somebody say a loud Amen!
3. We are called to preach from a supernatural Book.
Actually, we are called to preach a supernatural Bible. The Book we are preaching is not natural. Listen to this, I’ll like you to remove every supernatural occurrence in the Bible. Remove it from it. Church Gist. From the creation of man, the parting of the Red Sea, the feeding of Elijah by the ravens, the Jonah and the fish, the 5 loaves and 2 fishes, the water turned to wine. Remove all of it from the Bible, just remove all those stories, what will be left will be the size of a pamphlet. Church Gist. Carrying the Bible without ministering in the supernatural is like carrying the stethoscope without knowing how to use it.
A man is wearing a doctor’s cloth and he’s carrying the stethoscope on his neck and he’s holding the sphygmomanometer they use to measure the blood pressure, yet he knows nothing about medicine. Yet, he doesn’t know what he’s listening to if he listens to the heart. It is misplaced. That is what happens when we carry the supernatural Book and fail to walk the supernatural walk. Gospel without power is more like gossip. You’re just talking about things.
– I announce to someone here, a mantle, a raw mantle of power is coming upon you!
4. The supernatural is necessary because we live in a natural world that is enveloped by the supernatural world.
In this world, there’s another world. 2 Corinthians 10:3. Ephesians 6:12. Church Gist. One translation says, we fight against persons without bodies. Bodiless persons. We are in the world of the spirits. You walk on the road, you come across spirits. You enter offices, you do this, you encounter spirits here and there. That is why we cannot afford to be natural.
One woman was bent like this for 18 years and she went into the Temple in Luke 13. Everybody thought it was a normal situation until Jesus rebuked the spirit of infirmity. Church Gist. It was a spirit that was behind that affliction. Jesus arrested that devil, it jerked back to hell and the woman’s bone straightened.
As a Pastor, you’re going to come across situations that medical science has no answer for, that ordinary counseling will not do, you need some level of injection of spiritual fire power.
– lift your right hand, say, “I receive power!”
There are situations that you will confront that you need to step into the supernatural to escape the traps from the natural. My Personal Assistant, his cousin was inside a vehicle and coincidentally, it’s around this area, Ore-Benin Expressway where a whole vehicle load of people were kidnapped into the bush. Church Gist. They were coming from somewhere, everybody into the bush. This young lady sat in the middle of the bush and she sat on the ground like that, everybody seated waiting for their fate. She’s a member of our Church. She placed her head inside and began to sing one of the songs that God gave me, “You’re always there to help me”. “You’re always there for me, you’re always there to help me. Even when no one else was there, you’re there. Church Gist. Even when I can’t feel you, even when I can’t trace you, I have faith in your Word that you’re still there”. She sang a line or two and then lifted up her eyes and then, she was now on the highway beside the military checkpoint. She had evaporated from the kidnapper’s camp and manifested on the highway. The soldiers saw her and said, “what is going on? Who is this?” She told them the story on how just now she was in the death camp and with the speed of light, she had evaporated from the midst of the devil and located herself right on the highway. Church Gist. They arranged for her and paid her transport fare. You’ll come across situations where you need the supernatural to overcome the natural.
A young boy, the mother is a widow, under our sponsorship in a Polytechnic in Plateau State, Barkin-Ladi. Church Gist. This young boy one day went to the stream with his friends and they were kidnapped, caught together by terrorists, took them into the middle of the bush, stripped them naked about 7 of them that they should renounce Christ and they refused. Then they want to fire them. Gun 1 could not fire, 2 could not fire, 3,4,5,6,7 could not fire. They tried all their best, gun couldn’t fire. Young man said, “oh God, I can’t die like this”. That boy was on our Church scholarship and we cannot invest for disaster and destruction. After they couldn’t kill them, they sent them free. About a week later, the leader of the gang arrived at the school looking for him. He found him and he said, “do you know me?” He said, “I know you. You’re the one who wanted to kill us the other day”. Church Gist. He said, “I am sorry. I just want you to tell me your secret. What kind of power is that? Give me”. He thought it was a charm. He said, “No oh. It’s Jesus. What happened?” He said, “not only did the gun not fire that day, they have not worked again”.
– somebody here shout power!
– Look at somebody by your side, say, you’ll need the supernatural to be victorious in this natural world.
Are you hearing what I’m saying here today? We need the supernatural. I heard the story, I can’t remember who told the story in the year of 1987, he was flying a long flight from America towards Australia and they were serving food in the aircraft and there was a man sitting beside him that was not eating being served. Church Gist. After a while, he asked the man, “what’s happening? You’re not eating”. The man said, “I am fasting”. Are you ready for this? He said, “Fasting? You must be a tongue talking Bible-believing child of God”. You know what the man said? He said, “satan forbid”. He was a satanist on a fast for the crash of ministries and the failure of ministerial marriages. Church Gist. They were on a one year fast and if you know around the year of 1987, you’ll know some of the disasters that happened around that time. They were on a year-long fast. I said, we live in a supernatural world.
When Goliath faced David, he did not depend on his weapons. The Bible said he cursed David by his gods; other people were coming physically. Goliath even though he was a war champion was not depending on his championship right now, he cursed David in 1 Samuel 17:43, he took the battle spiritual. Pastor, you don’t know the number of occultists that come to service to see what they can do to frustrate. Church Gist. There are some you lay hands on that came with a purpose to nullify what you carry, so you must carry a higher supernatural. When David was anointed king, the Bible said the Philistines came to look for him in 2 Samuel 5:17-21, they were not just fighting with bow and arrow, they were depending on the supernatural to tackle certain things in the natural. And there are so many Christian men moving about, the same interview that you went for, some people consulted their witch doctors and consulted their occult grandmaster before they arrived. Am I communicating at all?
Somebody say: I am supernatural. And I must function in the supernatural.
Sometime in the course of our ministry, there was a Church that was literally a shrine that came to share fence with us, very terrible demonic Church. They burn all manner of things, all manner of abominable, unprintable things. When we got to know who they were, we said: No, two of us can’t remain here at the same time. Church Gist. Light does not coexist with darkness. Am I communicating at all? Light can’t coexist. So, we took it up as an issue, that man ran from Abuja town. He ran! His brake light was not seen. Wherever he exists in the World now, nobody knows.
Somebody say: Supernatural.
When Haman said that the Jews should be killed, he consulted an oracle for one year. The Bible said he cast the Pur (the lot) from the first month to the twelfth month to determine the opportune time for the implementation of that agenda. Church Gist. We are in a natural world that is enveloped with the supernatural.
-I announce to somebody here today, as you leave here and leave this Conference, you shall proceed into a dimension of the supernatural that will amaze those who know you. Church Gist. You believe that shout the loudest Amen.
We live in a natural world that is enveloped by the supernatural. Finally, why we need the supernatural? Very important!
Most natural situations only have supernatural solutions. The situations appear natural but the solution is supernatural. Somebody say Amen. Yesternight, during our prayer in the night, a young man testified, he had been bound to the habit of masturbation for 17 years. He said, I mean he was an innocent young man and somebody said: ‘Do that so that you can, erm, it will prevent you from falling into the real immorality, if you do that you will be helped’. Church Gist. So he began with that then he now went into the fornication they said the masturbation should stop. And then went into lying, into cheating, into stealing. He went into every terrible thing for 19 years. So, the other night I was ministering and I was declaring about somebody: I said your spiritual life is being attacked. You are from the Adom area of Benue State watching right now, the power is broken. He said where he was in his room, power hit him, he landed, he was watching on a television.
A dark spirit woman stepped out of his body. He said: From that day, every trace of those evils died. Now, you will think we were dealing with a natural thing but it was a supernatural thing. A young man was diagnosed with a cancer of the jaw, brought to the National Hospital in Abuja; in the course of one of the ministrations, doctors were trying to take a bone graft from here and to put on the jaw and so on. In the course of one of the ministrations, he said a spirit left him that carry the same kind of jaw, left his body. Church Gist. On the spot, the cancer (Illustrating) exploded. He’s normal as a gentleman; we thought, they thought it was a natural thing but it required a supernatural answer. Am I communicating at all? Even in some people’s lives here, even in the lives of some people that are coming to meet you as a pastor, the problem looks natural but the solution is supernatural.
-I prophesy to you today. Is somebody receiving that prophetic word? The answer is here, receive it!
Having said all of these, in beginning to round off, if you’re a pastor and you’re called of God. Church Gist. You don’t have any option than to walk in the supernatural.
Look at your neighbour and say: I must walk in the supernatural.
And a major key to walking in the supernatural is what the theme of our Conference is: Focus on Christ. Because Christ is the embodiment of the supernatural. Acts 10:38. Church Gist. The embodiment! For the sake of time, I’m going to give you three directions of focus on Christ for the supernatural.
1. Focus on love.
Love like He loves and live like He lived and you will see the supernatural. Love is a major definition of who He is. He only touches people in Matthew 14:14. Let me show you why love is a trigger for the supernatural. First, this is one thing now, love is the nature of God. 1 John 4:8. God is love! So, to walk in God is to walk in love. To walk in God is to walk in the supernatural. Is to walk in the supernatural! Love is the nature of God!
Secondly, faith works by love. Galatians 5:6. Church Gist. Faith works by love! Show me a lover and I will show you someone who walks in the supernatural. I heard the story of Oral Roberts when he said that in the days of the Healing Revival, if he carries a child in his hand for prayer. He will ask, supposing this was my child, how will this prayer? Then he will pray his heart and the fire will flow and the child was healed. Love! (It) causes faith to work. Faith works by love, you don’t need to struggle for faith if you walk in love. Thirdly, compassion compels the unction. It compels! Compassion compels unction. Your feeling determines the release of healing. There is a connection between feeling and healing. What you feel and how you feel affects what can (be) healed.
One day, they drove a man from a distance like 6 hours, 5 hours drive to our Church. When the man arrived, he was like skeleton that is wearing skin. They stopped like four or five times on the road to pouring him water to resuscitate him. When they brought him, they carried him in their hand. When they brought him I asked them to bring him, then I packed him in my hand and put him to my chest and prayed with all the fire I possess. Church Gist. When I dropped him, he landed on his feet and moved. And moved like that initially and moved! Two weeks later, this man drove himself to my house, he said: ‘I came to show you myself’. It was not anything but passionate love. Compassion compels unction, feeling determines healing. There are those who want power for show, there are those who want to show off power. ‘I am anointed’, He’s not looking for such people. And I will come to that shortly but when Moses felt for Israel, God made him their deliverer. He felt for them until he killed person, God made him their deliverer.
When Joseph felt for people, he saw prisoners down cast. He said: ‘Why are you sad’? He was a prisoner too, but he didn’t care for himself, he forgot his problem and God said: ‘Is that how you care for people? Let Me hand over the whole nation for you to care for’. Church Gist. When David felt for Israel, ‘Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that should defy, emasculate the armies of my Living God. I better die than to watch this Man alive’. Then God gave him the power to bring him down. Am I communicating at all? Love! Palpable, tangible love. Love! Feelable love!
One day I went on a 7-day fasting. In those days when we fasted, we didn’t drink water. Alright! And then, I think around the fourth or third day or fourth day, I drank some water, no food. I said: ‘Lord! I don’t want people to come around me and I’m helpless. They have problem and I can do nothing’! God saw the passion and things happen. Now, I will tell you another story of compassion that is a funny one. Earlier in our ministry, we lived in a house that was tormented by rats so we got a cat that could handle the Rat. Church Gist. Unknown to us, it was a mis-cat, it was a cat that was an abuse of the cat family. It could not eat rats, even if they killed rat for it, it would be reversing. Which kind cat be this? It will not handle rat, you handle the Rat for it, it will not go. Meanwhile if they bring you food, he will just come and be looking at your food. So I developed malice with the Cat, I was bearing grudge with it. ‘Your mates are eating rats, you’re here looking for somebody’s food’.
One day, they brought me food, before you can say: ‘Praise the Lord’! That Cat dashed on the food, I carried it, threw it: ‘Leave here my friend! Go and look for rats to eat. He hit his head on the wall and dropped – Eye turned! Elee! Lord, I never kill person, is it cat I will kill? In all sincerity my heart went in compassion for the Cat. I was so passionate, I went and looked for a bottle of anointing oil, I poured on the head of the Cat. Church Gist. I’m a doctor so I know it must have had a head injury, intracranial bleeding. I mean cat was gone, I anointed the head of the Cat, cat opened his eyes, cat lived, cat stood up, he lived. (Taking a deep breath). Thank You Lord! For rescuing me, I escorted the Cat. I said: ‘You know what? You better find where to go so you don’t die a second time’. (Laughing). Somebody say a loud Amen. I have other such stories and I’m not trying to impress you, examples communicate principles. Can God heal cat? What about man?
Beloved brothers and sisters, if the only thing you can ask God after this Conference is: ‘Father, drop back compassion on my heart! Let me feel for people how you feel. We have a high priest, Jesus that is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. That’s why He healed us so much! The high priests in the Old Testament were not touched with the feeling of people’s infirmity. ‘Father, help me to feel for people’. One day I was to go to Kogi State to preach, I had finished healing and deliverance service on Tuesday morning and this is around one o’clock to two o’clock. Church Gist. And I was meant to do a crusade that same Tuesday in Kogi State in Anyigba where the University is. So, when I saw how tired I was and I saw how exhausted I was. I called the Pastor and I said: ‘Pastor, I am so sorry, I will not be able to come for this Crusade today, I will ask somebody to stand for me today but tomorrow I will come. I just finished healing and deliverance service, I need some rest’. The Pastor said… because if you go through Lokoja and Ajaokuta and all those, the roads are just like this. And I said to the Pastor, when I told him the Pastor said: ‘Yes sir, yes sir, although people have been here since morning. Yes, although people have been here since morning’.
‘People have been here for the Crusade of the evening since morning, they carried all manner of afflicted people’. I said: ‘Really’! He said: ‘Yes’! I said: ‘I’m on my way’. When I heard people have been there since morning, tiredness disappeared. Exhaustion died! I entered the vehicle I didn’t know, there was zero tiredness. Church Gist. By the time we arrived in that Crusade, that night, the devil saw something – Souls were saved, bodies were healed, blind eyes, deaf ears, all manner of affliction, demons were checked to hell at the frequency of compassion. That was not a move to go and show anything, it’s the move to go and demonstrate the love of God. ‘People have been there since morning’. And we’re the one who printed the handbill and I say: ‘I am tired’. No way!
Lift up your right hand and say: Father, I receive today a fresh baptism of your compassion in my heart, in my life in the name of Jesus! I receive it now! In Jesus’ name!
Let me round off quickly, focus on love
2. Preach Christ.
Preach Christ. Philip went to Samaria and preached Christ then unclean spirits began to riot. Preach Christ, not Church. Preach Christ, not self. We have many self preachers. Preach Christ not doctrine – There is a place for that. Preach Christ not current affairs. Preach Christ not doctrinal argument. I see some people at times on the pulpit arguing with themselves and arguing and I’m just wondering, the things you’re saying now, at the end of these, how many people are saved? How many people are healed? How many people are delivered? How many people have been helped? Oh! Ah! People just waste their life and waste their energy and destiny for nothing. Church Gist. I called one preacher the other day, I said: ‘Don’t waste your time standing on the pulpit and saying: Some people are preaching like this, some people are preaching…’ Say the one you are called to say. Some people say this, some people say that. Some people say grace does this, some people say this. I said: ‘What is wrong with you’? If some people say this and some people say that you are standing on the pulpit broadcasting on YouTube, broadcasting on social media and broadcasting on internet and broadcasting on Twitter and everything. And talking against the Church to the world from the pulpit. What a mess is this?
When God saw darkness, he didn’t mention darkness, He said: Light be! Focus on the solution! Church Gist. Let everybody be answerable to what they are saying, you be answerable for what you want to say. If the one is talking darkness, talk the light. Talk your own.
He preached Christ. That was what our Papa Archbishop Benson Idahosa lived for – he preached Christ. People like T. L. Osborn, Billy Graham. Church Gist. They were not bothering who is this or that, just straight Christ. Reinhard Bonnke used to say he is called to preach the A B C’s of the Gospel, he leaves the X Y Z to theologians let them argue it.
Philip went to Samaria, he preached Christ. I’ll like you to ensure Pastors, if you want to see the supernatural, preach Christ. Preach Christ not motivational talking. We have a lot of motivational teachers. The truth is, Bible will motivate you, Christ will motivate you but don’t be a specialist in “five ways of this and that.” Church Gist. Preach Christ to the people from the Word. It will change their mind and also impact power to change their lives. Christ is the Word. You know, a lot of people have dodged from the miraculous in our generation. They don’t want the headache, they just escape into, “let me teach you some certain things.” Paul the Apostle said, I have fully preached the Gospel and we must fully preach the full Gospel. If your calling is a singer, a worshipper, in the course of your worship let blind eye open, let the cripple drop his crutch. I don’t know what the calling is, it must have a supernatural dimension – something must happen that is not natural. If you’re teaching let the teaching break something. Church Gist. Jesus was teaching and the Bible says, the people came to hear and to be healed. Preach Christ means preach the Word. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” Don’t preach what is popular – “okay, this is what everybody is preaching now let me join.” Remain with the Word. Don’t preach what you think the people will like, preach the Word.
One man came all the way from Port Harcourt to our Church one day and he said, “I came to see the Church whether it is real that people are gathered like that because the way you preach people are not meant to gather. You preach a lot of hard hard things.” I said it’s the opposite; people are attracted to reality because in the spirit of man there is reality. Preach Christ, preach the Word, don’t preach what is popular but preach what is proper. Church Gist. Don’t even preach what you think you want because there are things that you want. You know there are people who preach things today to excuse themselves. If they cannot pray they will tell you, prayer is not important. If they cannot fast, they will tell you fasting is not important. They preach around their lives that is, they bring the Bible to their level instead of taking their lives to the Bible’s level. I tell God and said, I will preach the Word even if the Word is against myself. I don’t spare myself if it comes to whatever must be preached. I better adjust my life to the Word than to adjust the Word to my life.
I believe in the regular time of fellowship and prayer with God, Abraham woke up early in the morning, Jesus woke up a great while before day. Church Gist. But there are times you can oversleep – some of us and you didn’t pray when you’re meant to pray, if that happens once, twice or thrice, then you now preach (that) it is not very necessary to have a time of prayer. Preach the Word, preach Christ.
Can I say one more thing? Don’t use preaching time to settle quarrel. Don’t use the pulpit and preaching time to preach at people – to get back at people. This man offended the Pastor and the Pastor is so angry and he steps to the altar and he uses one hour to face this man with his preaching and people who know about them know who he is talking to. Church Gist. Now, it may sound funny but that is a risk in the sight of God because you have wasted the destiny of 99.99 per cent of people that God gave you the privilege to minister to. You back them because of your personal sentiments. You decided to waste people’s time and every one of us will give the account to God. Your compassion for the people would allow you to settle your problem with the brother and use the pulpit to bless everybody not to fight one person.
Now, don’t misunderstand me, you can have situations that are bad behaviours in the crowd that you see that you can use the pulpit to address everybody generally – that is a possibility. When you notice issues and people are misbehaving that everybody needs to be warned against such behaviour, it’s possible. Church Gist. But when you carry a person and he is the only reason why you are standing that day, you don’t care whether somebody who came with hypertension needs to be healed, whether somebody is at the brink of suicide and came to Church to hear a word that will make him change his mind from committing suicide – you don’t care. You picked one person, wasted Heaven’s time, wasted your time, wasted everybody’s time and you expect the God of Heaven to confirm your quarrel with signs and wonders? We see that all the time! Preach Christ.
Finally, let Christ live through you. Focus on Christ means I am not the focus. Galatians 2:20. Let Christ live in you and this is the meaning: first, let self be crucified and Christ be magnified. Church Gist. We used to sing SU (Scripture Union) songs in those days, Jesus must be honoured in my life everyday. Let self be crucified and let Christ be magnified.
2. Let Christ be seen, felt and heard around you. When people come around you, let the most important thing they feel be the presence of Christ. Let the most visible person in that Church not be the Pastor or the Pastor’s wife because at times we occupy everywhere and Jesus is nowhere to be found. Nobody can feel Him. I’ve never entered the house of a herbalist but I have passed in front of evil forest in the village. When you pass there you feel the presence of the devil. Church Gist. When you see a native doctor, when you see them pass you feel satan. Why will people enter God’s house and not feel God? How will people come around a genuine servant of God and not feel God and not experience God? Where someone will say, I just feel something.
We went to England for a program to the Wembley area, they were checking us into a hotel, young Arab girl from Egypt or so was checking us at the counter. After a while, she looked at me, my wife was there, she said what you have I want it; she just pointed. We have not said anything! So I told the people who brought us, “did anyone, did you tell her?” They said, no, we are all just coming. When we finished the check-in, we went to sit down at the lobby we called her, she was sitting with us, I said, what did you say? Church Gist. I said what you have, I want it. (she repeated.) I said what is it? I don’t know what it is but whatever it is that you have (she said). I said, I have Jesus Christ, I have the Holy Spirit, the anointing, the Fire of God. You know what she said? Everything you just said, I want it. We knelt her down at that lobby, led her to Christ, handed her over to the people who came to book us at the hotel.
I’m not saying this boastfully but by his mercies we’ve experienced a few of such things. It is my own passion that Jesus should not be a stranger in his house. He shouldn’t be a stranger in the Church, the Temple. Church Gist. He shouldn’t be a visitor, he should be the owner of the house, should be felt, seen and known. Let Christ be felt and seen and when he is felt and seen, the third thing will happen.
3. Pride dies, arrogance dies. Ostentation, vain glory dies – relegated. We live in our days today. You know when our Father was here, there was no rural area he could not go, there was nowhere he couldn’t enter. There are people today, there are places you can never invite them to preach. This big man to come to this village? When was the last time any of us had enough power to wake ourselves up from the sleep? Church Gist. Not even a miracle yet! God helps people small, shoulders are raised – too big for everybody. John said, He must increase I must decrease and many people are too full of themselves until they are totally empty of God. You’re wondering, “What are you proud about now? I called one young man one day, his shoulder is like this (puffed up) and I said, “come, let me ask you. What are you proud about? What do you have?” The Master of the Universe, the Saviour of the Earth came down to lowly Earth, went everywhere.
My Wife and I we have a very interesting life: we will come from crusade in New York and go straight to a village where there is no light. We will come from Leeds – auditorium jammed to capacity, Mayor of the City in attendance asking for prayer, we leave there straight, the next place is market evangelism – distributing flier in main market. Church Gist. People, this is why the power of God is so much in short supply because the people who want to divide the glory with God are plenty. In fact the people who want to own the whole glory, they want the glory to be theirs.
One day I went to preach in a Church as a guest minister so they came to introduce somebody. When they finished the introduction, between you and me, I thought it was God they were talking about. The young man said, “he changed my life, he did this, he did that.” By the time he finished talking I didn’t know that it was the Pastor of the Church they were trying to invite before he invites me. Church Gist. Wow! Then when he arrived, he arrived and totally ate up the glory and stood on the altar and he talked talked and invited me. When I came up the atmosphere was as dry as Sahara desert, no presence of the Lord, there’s nothing that would have happened there. The kind of place where you will be preaching and the Word will be hitting the walls and returning back to you. I struggled for about 30 minutes to worship, to do this and that and then the atmosphere changed and I preached. At the end of the Service I said to the man, “Excuse me brother, can I counsel you? That glory they were giving you is too much, please calm down, I beg you so you can last.” He got angry at me. His face changed – why should I talk to him like that? That was my last time. This was a man that I loved like this (demonstrates clicking of fingers), laid on the same bed with one day. Church Gist. That was my last time of being with him. You know what happened? This man is still alive today, if I call his name you will never know. A man as big as our Papa here honoured him in his life, faded into oblivion complete. Whether the Ministry exists now I am not aware.
(Singing) All the glory must be to the Lord
No man on Earth should give glory to himself.
John 2:11. God does not do miracles to glorify man; he does miracles to glorify himself. Anytime you’re at the end of yourself, you’re at the beginning of power with God. Church Gist. “Jacob, what is your name? No, you’re no longer Jacob – let Jacob die so that power as a prince that has power with God, you can live. The end of Jacob was the beginning of power with God, the beginning of Israel.
Prayers:
Lord, I don’t want to struggle glory with you, I don’t want to struggle honour with you, I just want to be an instrument in your hands. Where I have done so, I ask for mercy.
#DrPaulEnenche
#ArchbishopMargaretBensonIdahosa
#CGMIBalmofGilead
#IPC2024
#11thJanuary2024
#ChurchGist
