0:16 Praise the Lord. >> Hallelujah. >> We are grateful to the Lord again who has brought us together for another time to learn at his feet. I know this is a series we have been holding and this happens to be the third edition and we believe that the Lord who has been ministering to us will minister to us again today in the name of Jesus. >> Amen. >> Um we welcome everyone here today from those who are here with us here and those who are listening or watching us across the globe. We believe wherever you are, the Lord will reach out unto you. God is everywhere and his word has
1:04 the power to penetrate into every heart, into every home, every situation and every circumstance. Before I go forward, let me acknowledge our dear brother whom the Lord has been using to lead this particular ministry. That's brother Tommy Cile. He's a young man. I have known since his undergraduate days and I'm grateful to the Lord for the focus God has given him and you know he started this thing years ago and he's been consistent with it and that is what I really appreciate in what he's doing the fact that you can start start something and you can continue with it and we can see it grow over time
1:54 the kingdom of God starts small but it grows and thank God this has become a global movement. I know some other Christians in several other places who have been challenged who have been provoked to pursue the same thing just because of what the Lord has given him to do. And today by God's grace like I said this is the third edition we're looking at the main theme. Let your kingdom come from the book of Matthew chapter 6 verse 10. That's just the first what I could call the first prayer point in what we popularly call the Lord's prayer. Say let your kingdom
2:41 come. Matthew chapter 6 verse 10. Let your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. But by God's grace, based on that theme, we have decided to coin out a topic. And the topic we're looking at today says where there is no king. Just before we proceed, I'd like us to bow down our heads as we pray together. Father, we thank you. We bless you for this privilege we have to come before you to learn at your feet. We ask you Lord to breathe upon this world. We ask you Lord to speak to your people everywhere they are today. We ask Lord
3:28 that you do something new in our lives as we enthrone you in the course of this message. Lord take your place in our hearts. >> Sit on the throne of our hearts. >> Amen. >> Be king indeed over our lives. rule over every aspect Lord. Leave none untouched by your king kingship in the name of Jesus. >> Amen. >> Father we thank you. >> In Jesus name we pray. >> Amen. >> Okay. So as we commence this topic where there is no king, I like us please if you have your Bible with you to open
4:14 to the book of Judges chapter 17. Judges chapter 17 and I'm going to read verse 6. Judges chapter 17 verse 6. It says, and I read from the King James version of the Bible, in those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. I read again, in those days there was no king in Israel,
5:00 but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. And that's where the topic has been taken from. Where there is no king. Now, this passage talks about a time in the history of Israel as a nation when they didn't have a king to rule over them. A king is somebody who is in charge of a particular geographical location. You could have a king in a village. You
5:47 could have a king in a community. You could have a king in a town or a big city. You in fact some nations of the world have what we call the monarchy system of government where a king rules over the people. But we're not just limiting what the Bible says here as king just to the monarchy system of government alone. We're looking at a king being in charge. A king being the leader, a king being in government over a particular people or location. In fact, when you look at our theme that we've been
6:32 considering in the course of this series of teachings, thy kingdom come, you remember kingdom actually comes from two words. king's domain that is a particular place where the king has his rules where the king is in charge where the king dictates what happens and what does not happen that's what we mean by kingdom king's domain so a place like this can be my domain I remember a particular person who was elected as president of this nation Nigeria and when he was not sworn in, the election that brought him that should have brought him was cancelled and he was locked up. When he declared himself as a
7:18 president at a time when he was in custody, he had to be begging that military government, please release me if I cannot be king over Nigeria. Allow me to be king over my house. Let me go back to my family AND BE THE HEAD OF MY FAMILY. But he never came out. Unfortunately, he died in custody. He never became either the king of Nigeria or he never went back to be the king of his house. But anywhere the king has dominion that is what is called the kingdom. SO WHEN WE SAY LET YOUR KINGDOM COME, we actually say Lord come and have your rule here. Come and take charge in this place. That place could be your home. THAT PLACE COULD BE YOUR PLACE OF
8:06 WORK. THAT PLACE COULD BE YOUR COMMUNITY, your neighborhood where you live anywhere. But at least you are in charge there. For example, in a school, the headmaster or the head mistress, in the secondary school, the principal is the king there, is the one in charge. In a university, you talk about the vice chancellor. Every place has its own king. So when we talk about the king's domain, that's a place where the king has HIS AUTHORITY. BUT IN ISRAEL IN THOSE DAYS, IT says there was no king. There was no leader. Nobody was in charge. Nobody dictated what should happen and what should not happen. And what do you have there? It
8:53 says in those days there was no king in Israel. And the result, the consequence of no king, it says every man, and let me tell you when the Bible says every man, the Bible means it. It's not an exaggeration. It says, "And but every man," what did they do? They did that which was right in his own eyes. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes. You know the meaning of that? EVERY MAN WAS A KING. EVERY MAN WAS A KING. Nobody could challenge another man. Every man was FREE TO SAY WHATEVER HE LIKES TO SAY. Every man was FREE TO DO WHATEVER HE LIKE TO DO. Every man was
9:40 FREE TO ENTERTAIN ANY THOUGHT he like to entertain. Somebody could wake up in the morning and decide, "Okay, let me go and hit that fellow." And nobody would challenge him. In fact in in in some modern places in modern palance they call it a state of irony no control. When I was in secondary school I used to have a senior in my secondary school he was about 3 years ahead of me. You know the appellation he gave himself or whether he gave himself or his friends gave him no control. So anytime we saw senior no control you better be careful around him because he had no discipline. He couldn't control himself. He could beat you to the extreme. There was nothing he couldn't do. No control. And it's a dangerous situation
10:26 when somebody has no control. When somebody has no rule over his own life, when somebody can just wake up and say this what I like to do, I can do whatever I like. I can go whatever I like. I can say whatever I like. It's my mouth. And unfortunately even amongst us as Christians surprisingly we have had Christians who say I have my life to live. I mean I'm talking ABOUT PEOPLE INSIDE THE CHURCH. PEOPLE CLAIM TO HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES TO CHRIST and you challenge them about certain areas of their lives and they look AT YOU STRAIGHT BACK in the face and they talk back to you and say excuse me I have my life to leave. In fact, some of them WILL CHALLENGE THEIR PASTORS. Why are you policing me around?
11:13 Why you policing me? Why you watching like this over me? Leave me. Let me live my life the way I like. And excuse me, IF YOU'RE A CHILD OF GOD, you cannot live your life the way YOU LIKE. BECAUSE THE DAY YOU GAVE YOUR LIFE TO CHRIST, WHAT HAPPENED? You made JESUS KING OVER YOUR LIFE. BUT IN A LIFE WHERE THERE is no king, anything can happen. I remember somebody sang this song. There used to be this popular program in OU back there. I don't know whether they still hold that program. It's every year it's a musical concert. I can't remember exactly the name given to it. It's but it's every year it's a musical concert. And I remember somebody went there to sing a very powerful song. I used to enjoy that song. But sometime when I consider the
11:59 words of that song, I I have a second thought. You know that song says in your presence anything goes. And I talk to myself at a time in God's presence. Can we really say anything goes? Look, I'm a family man. I have my wife and my children and other people living in my house. Can I really say even in my house anything goes? I don't allow things to go out of hand in my house. I take charge. I control my children. I put everybody where they belong. Why would somebody say in God's presence anything goes? One of the problems we have in Christianity is that we think after we have given our lives to Christ, we can still continue to live the way we used to live. We think we can continue our life WITHOUT A CHANGE OF LIFESTYLE,
12:46 WITHOUT A CHANGE OF CHARACTER. The first thing about Christianity is not your confession. The fact that you say I'm a Christian. The first thing about your Christian life is your character. We'll get there later. Let me not rush into that. But what am I saying today? Where there is no king, there is a problem. Where there is nobody to take CHARGE OF YOUR LIFE, WHERE THERE IS NOBODY to control you, and at this point, let me quickly chip in this. When we say when there is no king, we're not just talking about Jesus being in charge of your life alone. Because there are certain people God has also placed over you. For some of us, we are still under our parents. God has placed our parents over us and we must submit ourselves to our parents. For a wife, she's under her husband
13:34 for for for for a husband is under Christ. you when I see some young people I don't know how many of you have also noticed that when young people nowadays write what they call their CV curriculum vital a in preparation to apply for jobs in big companies and uh you know there is something I like and they think that is that's a plus for them they say I can work without supervision I don't know many of us have seen that in some of these I can walk without supervision excuse me that is a call to anarchy you can walk without supervision. No, everybody must be under supervision. Somebody must be in charge OF YOUR LIFE. SOMEBODY MUST BE ABLE TO TALK TO YOU. Somebody must be able to rebuke you.
14:21 Somebody must be able to say, "Sit down and you sit down." Somebody must be able to say, "Stand up from here." And you stand up from there. Don't be Mr. No control. Don't be brother, no control. Don't be Mrs. No control. Don't be sister, no control. You must have people who can talk to you. You must have people who can instruct you. You must have people who can rebuke you. One of the worst situations you can place yourself as a Christian is to get to the point where nobody can talk to you. Where there is no king. At that time in Israel there was no king. And the Bible says everybody did that which was right in his own eyes. King over himself.
15:06 doesn't listen to anyone. As we were coming for this program, I remember I was discussing whether my dad is here and he was telling us look even when a child has in principle left his father's house has started his own family it doesn't mean he's not still under the authority of his parents there till today my mother still calls me and thought some things to my head and I listen to her I remember at the time my wife wanted to do something and I put my feet down and I said my wife you are not going to do this and my wife went to see my parents on it and my father just you know put a call through to me on phone he didn't even come to see me he called me and when my father talked to me my head
15:52 reset not that what I was telling my wife to do of course I I had the power to do that of course but you know what I still have somebody who can talk to me don't get to that point where nobody can talk to you don't put yourself in such a situ situation. It's a difficult position to be in life. Praise the Lord. >> Hallelujah. >> So the Bible says in those days there was no king in Israel and everybody did that which was right in his own eyes. Now as we continue, let me make it plain here. The kingdom we're talking about is not about a geographical location. You know what I mean by geographical location? You could say, "Oh, the kingdom of God is in my family. It's in my house." Or somebody will say, "Oh, I'm king over this town. So the kingdom of God is in a is over this town and
16:39 king over. So the kingdom of God is in that's not we're not talking about the geographical entity. If we begin to think about the geographical entity will go into error and I will explain that. Have you not seen ministers of God over the years in the last 100 years? I've read about some of them who will just start a camp outside and they will call it maybe the embassy of the kingdom of God and bring Christians to the place and say in this place there is no sin in this place there is holiness in this place this is what going to be obtained and at the end of the day it always it has always ended in tragedy tragedy in an attempt to create a a physical kingdom where you think in this
17:26 will be all law abiding and we have seen people like that who have put the lives of so many Christians in danger. People have died before their time. A lot have been deceived. So when we talk about the kingdom of God coming, we're not talking just about the kingdom of god coming to a particular geographical location. Actually what we mean is that the kingdom of God coming into the life of every individual and that's the point I want to take and I will use this to explain you remember when Jesus when Jesus was here in the book of Luke chapter 17 let me quickly open we still come back to our main text in John in in Judges 17:6 but I just want us to establish this first Luke chapter 17.
18:15 I'm going to read from verse 20. And of course, I will read it to verse 21. And usually I use the King James version when I preach. So if I don't say I read from the King James version, just know it's the King James version. Sometimes I say jokingly, if you look at the first page of your King James version, say the version permitted to be read in churches. Not that you should not consult any other version, but the truth is that this is the oldest we have. So Luke chapter 17 verse 20. And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, "The kingdom of God come not with observation." Verse 21. Neither shall they say, "Lo here, or low there. For behold, the
19:02 kingdom of God is within you." Where is the kingdom? Within you. The kingdom in your heart. The kingdom in your heart. We're not talking about the kingdom outside of you. The kingdom in your heart. That is the best place for the kingdom of God to start. Not a geographical place. And you are trying except you want to go the way of the world and conquer people by force. But the kingdom we belong to does not conquer people by force. We don't co people to give their lives to Christ. We don't compare them. The best we can do is to persuade. The Bible say knowing the terror of the Lord we persuade men but we don't compel men we don't force them to give their lives to Christ there
19:49 is another religion who does that and that's the way they have conquered the parts of the world they conquered they call it religious war conquer them by force force them to follow our religion force them to believe what we believe but that is not Christianity Christianity comes through love. In fact, sometime when we preach what we call the the hell and pition message and you hit people hard and you you you you you frighten them to come to church. You frighten them to give their lives to Christ. You frighten them to receive Jesus into their lives. It doesn't work because God is a God of love. He appeals to us. He invites us by his love, not by
20:35 comp. If God had wanted to win the whole world by that, he would have done that long ago. But that is not in the nature of God. God is love. So Jesus said if they tell you the kingdom of God is here or there don't believe that because the kingdom of God is in you. So what am I trying to bring out? Where there is no king it is because Jesus is not there. Jesus is not there. Jesus is the king. I mean here Jesus is the king I'm referring to here. Not any other person. The kingdom is within you. Another occasion that was after he had risen from the dead, before he ascended into heaven. Those 40 days before he went to heaven, he was teaching his disciples so
21:21 many things. And just before he ascended to heaven, you remember one of the disciples asked him, maybe speaking on behalf of the rest, he said, Lord, that's the book of Acts of the Apostles chapter 1 verse 6. You can check it out. Acts of Apostles 1:6. They said, "Lord, will you at this time restore a kingdom to Israel?" What we lost centuries ago and the Romans invaded our land, took our cities. Can you restore it now? Because that was the kind of king they were looking for. A military ruler, a king that will, you know, defeat their enemies. And that's why most Jews today have not received Jesus into their lives. Partial blindness has happened to them just because of us anyway. Because the kind of king they were looking for was a physical king, was a warrior, a mighty
22:08 warrior who would deliver them from the oppression of other nations around them. But Jesus didn't come that way. He came as a lamb, not as a lion. And so the disciples even were almost fooled into what others were believing and they said, "Will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" And Jesus never said the kingdom will not be restored. But he said it's not now. So that means the kingdom we're talking about is not the physical kingdom even now. It's about the the kingdom within you. The kingdom within your life. Praise the Lord. >> Hallelujah. And if it's a kingdom within your life, what that spells out is that
22:56 what God wants to do first of all is to establish his kingdom in the life of every individual Christian. When Jesus is Lord over my life and is Lord over your life and is Lord over her life and is Lord over his life and is Lord over everybody's life, then we can take the kingdom. We can be proud and say yes, the kingdom of God is here because the kingdom of God is in us. Praise the Lord. >> Hallelujah. >> Now I move forward from there. So like I said, God's kingdom is not about a place. It is about an individual. So it is individuals who bear the
23:42 kingdom. We are the ones who carry the kingdom of God about. And can I use this to challenge every one of you listening from everywhere you are listening? anywhere you find yourself because the kingdom is in you. It becomes imperative on you to ensure the kingdom that is in you is established anywhere you find yourself. You remember when Saul of Tarsus was converted on the road to Damascus and he was God sent Ananas to him one of the old disciples in the city of
24:28 Damascus in Syria. And when he got there, he said, "God has chosen you." He said, "YOU ARE A CHOSEN VESSEL." IF I QUOTE IT CORRECTLY, that's from Acts 9:15. He said, "You are a chosen vessel to carry my name." In the KJV verse, he said, "To bear my name." To bear my name. WHEN YOU BEAR GOD'S NAME, IT'S like bearing God's kingdom. You are carrying his name everywhere. You are carrying his mercy everywhere. You are carrying his his his grace everywhere. You are carrying his power everywhere. God, that is what God wants to do. When he says, "My kingdom is in you." That means anywhere you go, you carry the kingdom there. You bring the grace of the kingdom upon that place. You bring the mercy of the kingdom upon that
25:14 place. You bring the power of the kingdom over that place. And so if you're a Christian, if you're a child of God AND YOUR CHRISTIANITY DOES NOT REFLECT WHERE YOU ARE, SOMETHING is wrong. There is a query. You have a question mark there. You are a Christian. YOU ARE INVOLVED IN BUSINESS. YOUR CHRISTIANITY DOES NOT REFLECT in your business. Something is wrong. I've had some Christians WHO SAY CHRISTIANITY APART, business apart. Why then did Jesus come? Why then did he come? Don't lock up Jesus in a certain compartment of your life and lock him out of it. allow and you allow Jesus in some other parts and you disallow him in some other parts. You know each time I you with your phone
26:00 and you want to do some some things maybe you have never done before with your phone and you know what the phone will tell you? He say you are you say click whether you allow or you deny this particular function to take place on your phone. You say allow or deny. If you allow then it works. If you if you deny it, it doesn't work. And I think that is the way God wants it with us too. That the way he operates when he comes into our lives, he comes because we have allowed him. You remember that scripture even in his own church in the book of Revelation chapter 3, he said, "I stand at the door and I do what? I knock." You know when
26:46 somebody comes to your door and does not knock and opens the door, you feel who is this barbaric man? Have you not cut you just bump into this place like that? Did you not know you must first knock on the door and then we can say who is there and then we allow you to come in or we say no don't come in yet. All right. Even Jesus he said I stand at the door and I do what? I knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens, I will come in. But if you don't open, he can come in. And I'm asking you, you have allowed Jesus to come into your life. But are you denying him access into some other aspects of your life. There are some who
27:32 believe Jesus should not be involved in their marriage. There are some who believe Jesus should not be involved in the way they raise children. There are some who believe Jesus should not be involved in the way they take contracts. There are some who believe Jesus should not be involved in the way he you know he runs his office he deals with his employ employees or you know there are some people just feel look Jesus leave this aspect and you know just like some of us have divided all our one life into several compartments. There is something we call one spiritual life. If you say academic life if you have a vocation you do say for vocational life. You into a marital life. Thank you. Family life, financial life, your health life, so many aspect of one's life. And you know what? Jesus
28:19 has not been allowed into all. And that's why what the kingdom of God is all about. Bringing Jesus into every aspect of your life. Allowing him to make decisions. Allowing him to invade your life and make his glory to be seen. Let him have the preeminence. Let him take charge. That's what it means. Say he's a chosen vessel to carry my name. So you become a vessel and you carry his name everywhere you go. You carry his power everywhere you go. You carry his kingdom everywhere you go. And so you can get to a place and you can declare the kingdom of God is here. Why is the kingdom of God there? Because you are there. You are the carrier of that kingdom.
29:07 And that's why I like a passage like this. Let me quickly read it in the book of um Psalm 115. Precious passage. I like it. Psalm 115. I'm going to read verse 16. Yes, I'm there. Psalm 115:E16. Listen very carefully. It says, "The heaven, even the heavens are the Lord's." Look at that. The heaven, even the heavens are the Lord's. But the earth, the earth has he given to who? The children of men. The earth has he given
29:53 not that he will give the earth to the children of men. He has given the earth to the children of men from the time of Adam. That's why if God will move in this world, if God will operate in this world, he needs the permission of man. God cannot just invade our earth without us. And that's why he Jesus had to come in human flesh because he has given the earth to the children of men. So for him to come, he must come as a man. He couldn't have come as God. He say took upon him the flesh of a man
30:38 and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man. Jesus was here as man even though he is God. So the earth has been given to us. And that's why he say let your kingdom come. Let your will be done where on earth as it is done in heaven. But how does God make that to happen? It is through us. When he rules in our lives, he can rule in our planets. when it rules in our lives, it can rule in our marriages. It can rule in our homes, it can rule in our places of work, it can rule in in government. When it rules in our lives and that's why even in governance, you
31:25 discover what is obtained is actually a reflection of the leader there. If you have a governor of a state who is very stingy personally, I can bet you in his administration, you will see stinginess. It will reflect when you see a waster who is by by nature a waster by the time is in government and you given the the the authority to rule a state is going to waste the resources of that state because that is who he is and that's the appeal we're making. If you are a child of God, let the fact your Christianity, let your Christianity reflect in everything you do. STOP SAYING JESUS IS IN MY heart and he
32:13 cannot be seen. The Jesus that is in your heart that we cannot see, he must be a fake Jesus. As I tell people, let your kingdom where there is no king, there is no rule. WHEN THERE IS NO KING, THERE is no discipline. Where there is no king, anything goes. So if in your life you have not ALLOWED JESUS TO TAKE CHARGE, THAT IS WHY YOU behave carelessly. That is why any thought can run through your mind. That's why you can watch anything you like to watch on on the television on the internet on Facebook and you click
33:00 anything and you can watch anything. That's why THERE IS NO RESTRAINT TO some people who are given to pornography because you are not allowed Jesus access into every aspect of your life where there is no king no discipline. Caution is struck to the wind you are like a wild animal. I think it was also sang that song from 2 Corinthians 5:17. He said, "Since I gave my life to Christ, where I used to go, I go there no more. What I used to say, I SAY THEM NO MORE." Things have changed since I met him. He's ruler over my life. HE'S KING OVER MY LIFE. HE TAKES CHARGE. SO LET THAT KINGDOM COME INTO YOUR LIFE FIRST.
33:46 And when it comes into your life then you will be able from your life to rule over every other place where there is no king anything goes. In those days there was no king in Israel. And at this point I want to ask you do YOU HAVE A KING OVER YOUR LIFE? And when I'm talking about a king I'm TALKING ABOUT JESUS. DON'T EVER assume he's there. Assumption can be costly. H Joseph and Mary, first appearance of Jesus, took Jesus to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover when he was 12 years old. He went from Nazareth to Jerusalem.
34:33 And by the time they left, the Bible said they assumed Jesus was in their company, but he was not there. They assume he was with maybe friends or relatives or cousins and were in-laws, but he was not there. And they had traveled three days before they discovered he was not there. And you know what? They came back. They had to go back to Jerusalem looking for Jesus. And let me tell you, you need to examine yourself. Re-examine your life. Yes. Maybe at a point you give your life to Christ. At a point you confess you were born again. At a point you let in Jesus. But can I ASK YOU HOW FAR HAS JESUS GONE in your life? How deep have you allowed him?
35:18 How many of the territories OF YOUR LIFE HAS JESUS TAKEN OVER? Is he king over your marriage? Is he king over your business? Is he king in all your affairs, in all your dealings? Is he king over your mouth? in the way you use your lips and your tongue. Is he king? In those days there was no king. Do you have king Jesus in your life? Is that not the way some Christian behave? You need to question whether the king is in their lives. You need to ask them whether there was a point they gave their lives to Christ or it was just an assumption on their part that they were born again. The way they behave raises so many questions
36:04 about Christianity. In fact, in the heart of some unbelievers, the way some believers behave is giving them concern whether you can somebody can be genuine Christian. Say, "Oh, they are all liars. They are ALL PRETENDERS. THEY DON'T really mean it. It's not true because of the way some Christians behave. So if in your character we can't see the kingdom, if your character we can't see Jesus, then something is wrong. Where there is no king, every man did what was what right in his own eyes. You know what I mean?
36:52 Every man was selfish. Every man was self-centered. Every man never cared about another person. I don't care ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS. I DON'T CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK. And can I tell you there are Christians LIKE THAT TODAY WHO TELL YOU, I don't care what you think about me. I can dress the way I like cuz I don't CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK. And let me tell you, I care about what people think about me. I care actually about what they say about me because you are being watched. THE BIBLE CALLS THE EPISTLES OF CHRIST. How can you say you are a Christian and you can dress the way you like?
37:38 Let me tell you in some organizations you can't dress anyhow there. In fact, some companies they won't allow you in if you dress carelessly. My first son when he was an undergraduate he was doing his IT somewhere in Lagos and the first day he appeared there to tender his letter and to you know he was he just appeared there and they said okay you start the following day and I've been talking to my son about you know wearing a decent beard as a young man he was an undergraduate at that time maybe was 19 or 20 years but some of them just like keeping beards I wouldn't know why but that you know that was the trend and I think you see the same trend today, you know. So he just went with his bears to this company in Lagos and after they interviewed him and they said, "Okay, you can start tomorrow." And then they
38:24 put a clause. Young man, when you are coming tomorrow, that was what they he said, "Make sure you shave. We want a clean shave." And my son called me from Lagos. He said, "Daddy, this is what they asked me to do. As I told you, you didn't listen to your daddy. Now you listen to your boss. Let me tell you what God is trying to correct in your life. Allow him. If you don't allow him, somebody else will point it out to you outside. And that person might not even be a Christian. That person might not even be a child of God. But you know what? Even nonbelievers know our standard. They know what God requires from our lives. And that's why nonbeliever will tell you, are you a Christian? Even though they are not Christian, they will even tell you, you are not because they know our standard. They know what God
39:10 requires from our lives. They know the way we should behave. So when we are getting out of our boundaries they know and that's why they they can call some of us hypocrites. So where there is no king everybody is selfish. YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT WHAT ANYBODY DOES. YOU DON'T CARE WHETHER YOUR LIFE WILL BRING SOMEBODY ELSE DOWN. You just want to satisfy yourself. It's just like somebody who is going into marriage. You used to live as a single person before and now you are married and you think you can continue to live as though you are still single after you are married. That is the problem in most marriages. Can two work together except they be agreed? Now you have become two. You have somebody to please. Paul says in first Corinthians 7, he said if you are married, you are not just there to
39:55 please God. You are also there to please your spouse. A woman wants to please her husband. The man wants to please his wife. He doesn't want to keep late at night again. He comes home early. He doesn't want to eat outside again because his wife must have cooked for him. So he is going to eat his wife's food. You can't be married and you still live as though you are single as though somebody has not come into your life. So why you a Christian and Jesus has come into your life and you are living as if he has not even had access into your life. Don't be selfish. IN A SELFISH LIFE THE KING IS NOT THERE. You just want to please yourself. Oh, this is the way I feel. I want to do
40:41 the way I feel. You can't always do the way you feel. If you walk by your feelings, you will enter into trouble. They say my first son, I remember when he was in secondary school, just came into secondary school and he said something. His mother woke him up very early in the morning. Young boy, exams are coming. Sometimes it's good for you to read very early in the morning. And my son never wanted to read in the morning. So when his mother woke him up, I overh had it. This boy said, "I don't feel like reading." I never heard that in my room. So, I jumped out and I went to him. I said, "Young man, your mom said you should read before going to school and you are saying you don't feel like reading." And I asked him a question. Do you feel like do do you think I feel like paying your school
41:26 fees? I I've never felt LIKE PAYING YOUR SCHOOL FEES, but I pay. I pay, but I don't I've never felt like paying it. If you walk by your feelings, you might be wrong. Don't allow your feelings to dictate you. If you are a Christian, don't be selfish with your life. DON'T BE SELF-CENTERED AND YOU ARE NOT CONCERNED ABOUT OTHERS. And you don't know your life affects their lives. Your life could hurt them. Your life could debour them from coming to Christ. How can you bring the kingdom in a place
42:12 where you are even offending everyone? You're not pleasing God. You're not pleasing anyone. Just do whatever I like. When you're a boss as a Christian in a place, you cannot even do whatever you like even in that place because you have a boss yourself. Where there is no king, people throw away caution. They live like wild animal. You know how white animals live, how they live in the wild. I watch that program on the television, Niger Wild. And sometimes I don't like watching especially when you see predators the cat family hyenas cheetah lion leak foxes
42:58 wolves if you see the way they attack their praise I'm not happy and I just feel oh this is this is too much and nobody's cautioning them and when they say are there no forest gu and those who are in charge of this particular place forest reserve and when you see a lion trying to kill and then just attack the lion so had effect on me years ago I was watching one and this lion lioness was after this impala and was about to just pounce on him but I didn't allow it guess how I switch off the television I switch off the television that's how
43:44 animals in a white leaf, kill, destroy, not caring about anybody. And why would you live like that as a Christian where there is no king? People people live a wide life. Stop saying I can go wherever I like. Can do whatever I like. She means my mouth. Is it not my mouth? Is it your mouth? Years ago, a sister came to me. I I saw she was you know she was not living correctly. We were all coppers together you know serving the Lord. That was about 30 years ago and I was not pleased with the way she was living her life. So I went to her I started talking to her. We're in Bible study classes together. We're in prayer meetings together. We're in fellowship together. Why would you
44:29 live like this? Come on. I was just talking to her. And after I finished, guess what she said? She said, "Do you want to control my life?" I said "No but I think Jesus should control your life." Said, "Why are you policing me around? Why are you watching me? Why you are my heels?" And I remember I had to tell her, I said, "Do you know what they call pastors? Pastors are shepherds. They watch over the sheep. They ensure the sheep don't go astray.
45:15 And when you have somebody like that over your life, you should be grateful to God. Just like I said earlier on who can correct you. A lot of people have gone into error. A lot of people have fallen because they have nobody over their lives who can correct them. And I'm appealing to everyone here today. Allow him into your life. Where there is no king, everybody did in those days when there was no king, everybody did what was right in his own eyes. You know what you call that? Freedom. And I put freedom in quotes. Freedom in quotes. a situation in which everybody was free to do whatever he or she liked.
46:03 Oh, that's freedom. That's freedom. But that's a freedom that leads to destruction. And that is the freedom some Christians are asking for even in our age who take the grace of God as a license to commit sin. The Bible talks about such people in the book of Jude who take the grace of God for granted and the grace of God is in VAIN UPON THEIR LIVES THAT EVEN though I've GIVEN MY LIFE TO CHRIST, grace covers me. The blood of Jesus will settle it and you willfully go into sin
46:51 resting on that scripture that says if you come back he will receive you. Yes, he will receive you. But the time comes, he gets tired of your inconsistency. He gets tired of your selfish living. Gets tired of the way your flesh is taking control over your life. So make up your mind today that Lord, I will allow you as king over my life. Invade every area of my life. I still do that today. I used to do that a lot years ago but from time to time even now I still do that because you cannot there is no limit to Christian growth you can't get to the point and say from this point you are not growing again you have reached the maximum no there is nothing like that in fact the Bible says
47:38 we die daily even when we say I have been crucified with Christ nevertheless I live but Christ lives in me and the life I now live in the flesh I live by the flesh of the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me from Galatians 2:20 But Paul also said, "I die daily." The fact that you overcame yesterday does not mean you will overcome today. It's an everyday thing. Every day of your life, you wake up and say, "Jesus, be king over my life today. Have your way in my life. Take your place in my life." Where there is no king, that is why anybody can misbehave. But when you have the king over your life, you will have caution.
48:26 There are places you won't go. There are things you will not do. You have limits. Like I said earlier about some of our young men who say I can walk without supervision. And I said to them sometimes ago I said to one of them I said even Jesus never walked without supervision. When Jesus was here, the father supervised his life. In John chapter 5, Jesus said, verse 30, I can of my own do nothing. Even Jesus was supervised. Why? Why have you suddenly become a lone ranger? That nobody can talk to you, that nobody can instruct you, that nobody can
49:12 correct you, that nobody can rebuke you. Jesus had somebody over his own life while he was here. Even before he began his ministry, he was subject to his parents. The liberty we HAVE IN CHRIST JESUS SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN TO THE EXTREME THAT CAN BE VERY DANGEROUS FOR OUR LIVES. So I can of my own self do nothing. What I hear that's what I do. He said what I see my father do that's what I do. He was working on supervision. Somebody was in charge of his life when he sent the disciples out. What we call the great commission according to the gospel of Mark having called them together said go into all the world and preach the gospel to
49:58 every nation. He that believeth on me and is saved shall he that believeth on me and baptized shall be saved. But he that believeth not shall be done. This shall follow those who believe in my name, they shall do this, they shall do that on and on. And then the Bible says after he had spoken to them, he was received up into heaven, sat on the right hand of God the father. And the Bible says the disciples instructed the disciples he just charged the disciples he just commissioned. The Bible says and they went out and preached everywhere. Surprisingly the Lord, the Bible says went to heaven. He say and the Lord working with them working as if they were laboring together.
50:44 Don't do your business all alone. Involve Jesus. Don't run your marriage all alone. Involve Jesus. He wants to walk with you. I remember what we what we used to have like some pictures in some houses. I I I don't think they are common any longer and somebody hangs this on the just like some of these ones we have on our walls here. And then it says Jesus is the head of this house. And then they refer to him as the unseen guest. When Jesus has become a guest in your house who comes and goes and that's the way some Christian live their lives sometimes Jesus is there sometimes he's not there you can't see the unseen guest at every say the silent listener to every conversation what am I driving out since I began this message I'm trying to tell you if we
51:30 cannot see Jesus in your character you cannot bring the kingdom of God the kingdom of God comes first from your life from your character, the way you behave, the way you conduct yourself. Bring the kingdom to such a place by your life. You are the most important person in God's work where you can surrender to his way. When God can have you, then he can use you. We are limited because of some things we have not allowed God to do in our lives. The more we allow him, the more his power we see, the more
52:16 of his grace he expresses through us. Make up your mind from today that in my life the king will be seen. The king will have his way. The king will have his power. I struggled with God sometimes in my life. Yes. From time to time. The first one I noticed was while I was a you member in auta fellowship. I was the leader of the copper fellowship in Abuta and we came to fellowship that Sunday evening in Baptist church. And good enough the praise worship was on and I sat like
53:04 every other person was singing and worshiping the Lord. But God has been dealing with some with me on certain issues of my life certain area of my life specifically and I and I didn't want to honestly it was difficult for me to accept what God was offering and I remember in the fellowship that day a song was raised in the course of worshiping the Lord. Have your way oh Lord have your way. Each time I preach I like to talk about this especially when I preach a message like this. Have your way. out of your way. And they were people were singing this song, but I couldn't sing it because of what I was going through. I didn't want God to have his way. I said, "Lord, you've had your way before
53:51 in my life. Now allow me to have my way. I'VE TRIED. Let me have my way now. Let me do what I like to do. I've satisfied you on campus. I SERVED YOU. PLEASE JUST ALLOW ME TO DO WHAT I like to do. Have your way oh Lord have your way. I said Lord don't have your way. I open my eyes look at my colleagues. Everybody was singing THAT SONG. I COULDN'T sing it because I was telling myself do they really mean what they are singing? How will I sing a song like this when I have not permitted God in some aspect of my life? I said God don't have your will. And then the song was changed to another one. And I was so happy when it was changed but I didn't know this song will even touch me even deeper. Touch my life. Oh God, touch my life. That's
54:37 another version of have your way. Oh Lord, have your way. And I said, Lord, don't touch it. Just don't touch my life because if you touch my life, my life will stop and your life will continue. I said, God, don't touch my life. And I meant it. But at a point, I broke down in tears and I said, "Yes, touched my life." Was I not born again? I was. But I was struggling with God. What to him who struggles with his maker. There are things God has been trying to take away from you and he has not been able to take it. You have not allowed it. Allow him. I met a young man when going to scripture you don't fellowship
55:23 and he was coming with us but I knew him very well in the neighborhood. He was still a smoker. He smokes heavily. You could see it all around him. You could smell it. And I said, "Young man, change. Stop this habit." You know what he told me? He said, "When I get married, my wife will take it from me." And I said to him, "What Jesus cannot take from you, your wife cannot take." I'm telling you, what you don't allow Jesus to take, nobody can take it. But if you say, "Lord, I surrender." You may be here today and you are struggling with an area of your life. There's an aspect you are struggling with. You know it. It's a no-go area. Your husband must not
56:09 talk about it. Your wife must not TALK ABOUT IT. YOUR PARENTS MUST NOT TALK ABOUT IT. YOUR TEACHER, YOUR pastor must not talk about it. It's a no-go area. It's a closed door, landlocked. Nobody must come into it. Well preserved, a wilderness, a desert of your life. Say no way. Touch every other area but not this area. Leave me here. This I want it. And God is asking you drop it. I want to come in. I want to take over. I WANT MY KINGDOM TO COME TO you so that anywhere you go, we can rely on you that you bring the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is not here or there. He
56:55 said the kingdom of God is within you. Let him have his way in your life first. Where there is no king, there is no kingdom. There is no kingdom. What makes a place a kingdom is the king in that place. Is the king in that place. Why would Jesus be seen AS WEAK IN YOUR LIFE? It's all because you have not allowed him. He moves to the extent that you allow him. Why not allow him? One young man got home and his wife went to the pastor and the wife said, "I have a new husband
57:42 because the husband started allowing Jesus in certain areas of his life." And his wife concluded, I have a new husband. Initially, the person was afraid. Huh? You shouldn't divorce your wife because the person was aware they have been having problems. But God gave that woman a new husband indeed by giving the husband a new heart, a change of character. The kingdom is within you. Let the king come into your life. And if he's there, let him have his way. Let him spread his tentacles, his rulership, his throne. I remember that song by Bob Fitz.
58:29 Bob Fates, one of the late singers in the Marinata, you know, music in America and the Integrities said to keep your lovely face ever before my eyes. This is my prayer. Make it my strong desire. He said that in my secret heart no other love competes, no rival throw survives and I will serve only you. Only you. Only you. God must be the only person. Don't strive with God. Don't compete with God. Let him have his way. Let him take charge.
59:15 Let him take charge. Let him overall your life and change you altogether. And when he changes you, everybody will see it. Everybody will notice. You don't need to announce to anybody that you are a better Christian. Everybody will notice in your in your neighborhood. They will see it. People will see it all around you is a change person in the way you drive. as you drive around the town. You know, sometimes some of us when it comes to driving, we are not born again. I've fallen into that a number of times and you you are not even a Christian behind the wheels and you can ask the Lord today. Have your way in my life. I just want your kingdom to be within me. I want the king to be there. When the king
1:00:00 is there, the kingdom is there. It is the king who brings the kingdom there. So when he's there, the kingdom is there in righteousness, in peace, and in joy in the Holy Ghost. I like us to pray at this point. Wherever you are, just bow down your head. Those of us who are here, you can do that right now. And those of us who are listening to us elsewhere, in your room, in your office, outside of your house, wherever you are, you are listening, you can take this time to pray and say, "Lord, there are areas of my life, there are departments of my life where you have never been king. You have been king in this area, you'll be king in that area, but there is this other area I've not seen your kingship. I've not seen your lordship.
1:00:48 I've not experienced you. I'VE NOT PLACED YOU ON THE THRONE." CAN YOU SAY TO THE LORD JESUS, "COME IN. TAKE OVER THE THRONE OF MY HEART. Take over the throne of my heart. Oh yeah. Let him have his way in your life. Let him touch you. THAT ASPECT NOBODY HAS TOUCHED IS the only one who can touch it. That aspect nobody can change is the only one who can change it. That aspect nobody can invade is the only one who
1:01:33 can invade it. That aspect nobody has been able to feel is the only one that can feel it. The king is coming. The king wants to come in and to have his way. In those days, there was no king in Israel. We don't want HISTORY TO REPEAT ITSELF IN OUR LIVES. THAT'S NOT a good side of history. That is not a good side of history. That must not be repeated in your life as an individual. That must not be repeated in your place where you live. That must not be repeated in your family, in your house. That must not repeat be repeated where you work. That
1:02:21 must not be repeated where you DO BUSINESS. LET IT NOT BE SAID that in this day there IS NO KING AND so everybody just misbehaves. Why not say to the Lord, be the king. BE ENTHRONED IN MY HEART. Be enthroned in my life. Take charge. TAKE CHARGE. I ALLOW you access, oh Lord. Where I have denied you access before, I allow you now. I allow you touch every area of my life. Invade every compartment or every department of my life.
1:03:09 Speak to the Lord. The heaven, even the heavens belong to the Lord. The earth has he given to the children of men. Say to the Lord, take charge of my life here. Where there is no king, there is no kingdom. The kingdom is you. Is in your life. If Jesus is there, you are his kingdom. You are his kingdom. It is in your life that his kingdom must be saved. It is in your life that his will must be done. Must be done. Thy kingdom come. Thy will
1:03:54 be done. Ah, let your will be done. Can you pray that prayer where you are? Let your will be done. Let your will be done. Lord, I'm not running away again. Lord, I'm not hiding again. I'm not hiding. Adam hid from God. Eve hid from God. GOD ASKED THEM WHERE ARE YOU? WHEN GOD IS ASKING WHERE ARE YOU? IT IS because you are not where you are supposed to be. Have you BEEN HIDING FROM GOD? HAVE you been running away from God? HAVE YOU BEEN KEEPING AN AREA AWAY FROM GOD? WHEN I SAY TO THE LORD, I'M AVAILABLE. LORD, I open my hearts to you. I open my life to you. Lord, HAVE YOUR WAY. TOUCH MY HEART.
1:04:42 The kingdom is within you. The kingdom is within you. Tell the Lord. Tell the Lord in your marital life, your marriage with your neighbors. Lord, have my way. Have your way. I don't want to live selfishly. I don't want to live to satisfy my pleasure myself. I want to please you, Lord. I want to satisfy your heart. I WANT TO BE A DELIGHT unto you. I want you to
1:05:29 look down from heaven and smile on me. He looked down from heaven at Jesus. And he pointed everybody's attention to Jesus. He said, "This is my beloved son. THIS IS MY BELOVED SON IN whom I am well pleased." Can God say that about you? Can God be pleased with your life? TELL THE LORD, "BE PLEASED WITH MY LIFE." Ask him for grace. Grace, grace to do what he wants you to do.
1:06:14 Let's bring our prayer to a close in Jesus name we pray. >> Father we thank you this day. We appreciate you for your word that we have heard today Lord we invite you. Come into our hearts. Be king over our lives. Fill every void, Lord. Fill our lives with your presence. Fill our lives with your word. Fill our lives with your will. Lord, let us live as men and women
1:07:00 who have JESUS AS KING OVER THEIR LIVES IN THE NAME of Jesus. Lord, we promise we will not strive with you. We will no longer strive with our maker. Have your way in our lives, Lord. Touch our hearts, Lord. >> We allow you in into every area. Have your way and do your will, Lord. We thank you, our father. We bless your holy name. In Jesus name we pray. >> Amen.
1:07:59 Hallelujah. We believe you have been blessed by this wonderful teaching. Other SGS teachings are available on our YouTube channel. Kindly do well to like, subscribe, and turn on the notification icon in order to receive updates about our SGS teachings. You can also drop your comments and questions after the broadcast. We also have the compressed audio version of this teaching and other teachings on our Telegram platform. Join us again next week for another round of encounter with God. Remain blessed. Shalom.
