Christ Diplomat (Exhortations)

TEXT: John 15:14-15 14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.  15  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. MESSAGE When you think  of your best friend, what comes into your mind? He's a person whose company you enjoy, a person whom you are fond of, right? He's very importantly, our confidant. It's very common for men to have friends. But one thing that is beyond even our widest imagination is the friendship between man and God. Once upon a time God called a man his friend. That man was Abraham. God singled him out and blessed him (Isaiah 51:2). He was so blessed of God that in Him was all men to be blessed. In fact God literarily gave him the C of O of the Earth. Apart from blessing him, God made Abraham His confidant. He didn't feel comfortable hiding his plans from Abraham (Gen 18:17). Now there...

TEXT: Hoseah 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. MESSAGE The life of God, and I mean the very life Jesus lives, is given to every born again child of God. You could live just as Jesus on earth, but without the word of God you will be short changing yourself. You will underutilize or "underlive" the life. The reason why Christians are sick and poor and defeated is because they do not know the first thing about the life that they have in Christ. They go everywhere looking for someone to help them with what is already theirs. They look for a healer to heal them. They look for a prophet to show them the future. They need people to pray for their protection. Little did they know that they are not the sick looking for healing, they are the healed whom the devil is trying to put sickness...

TEXT: 2Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness MESSAGE Most people today, especially in this part of the world, buy appliances and never bother to go through the manual. The result is that they either soon damage the appliance or grossly under utilize it. Someone once bought a very expensive android tablet and all he could do with it was to make and receive calls. he ran everywhere to send e-mails. He spent hours at business centres trying to get his documents typed. Many other things he suffered because he never knew that his tablet could be used to solve all of those issues. In much the same way, when we receive eternal life into our spirits, it will be foolish of us to just assume that we know what to do with it. Just as the wisest thing anybody that bought an applicance would do is to check for the manufacturer's instruction in the manual, so also...

TEXT: John 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. MESSAGE You might have wondered whether God hears and answers prayers. Or maybe you didn't doubt that God answers prayers, you doubt might be whether God is ready to listen to you. Many years ago, I used to think that God only listens to great ministers of God who have special relationship with God. I don't think I'm alone in such state of mind. Many have spent a fortune seeking people with special relationship with God who might be able to convince God into considering their conditions. Others have begged everybody including dead saints to pray for them. You don't need that friend Jesus says, "in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you." Have you given your life to Jesus? Then you are entitled to use the nam...

TEXT: Phil 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. MESSAGE Last time we learnt that we have been saved by the death and resurrection of Jesus. However, our souls must be progressively transformed by God's word till be behave like Jesus. This renewal or training of the soul is the salvation--the salvation of your soul--that God wants you to be actively involved in. It involves studying God's word under the leadership of the Holy Spirit is your responsibility. God will not read your bible for you. You have to be disciplined enough to study your bible, pray and act on the word of God. God want you to be very serious about it as a mark of reverence for him. (Phil 2:12). We are to give all diligence to and be actively involved in this process because we reverence  God who wants us to change our character from that of the devil to His own. When you stud...

TEXT : Phil 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. MESSAGE Many people misapply this scripture. They are at loss whether the work of salvation done by Jesus was complete or not. You see, Man is a spirit. The devil targeted this spirit and disconnected him from, the source of his life through sin. That's what God calls death. God warned Adam against it. he said, ''for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.'' (Gen. 3:17) and Adam died just as God warned. The effect was that Adam could no longer stand, the presence of God. He fled and ran from the sound of His coming (Gen. 3:8-10) Jesus gave His divine life to reconnect us so that as many as believe in Jesus may be reconnected to this Eternal Life and have Him for himself (John 3:16). This salvation from death was perfected by Jesus. It does not need your impute. Just b...

Col 2:6   As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: MESSAGE One major question that occupies the heart of many genuine children of God is how to live the life of a Christian. A life free  from the works and oppressions of the devil. Some have got this thing they call their easily besetting sin which floors them every so often. And they wonder how they can be wholly free from sin. The rest which Christ promises seems to be more of a fantasy than real. And because the Christian doesn't want to believe that his dear Lord Jesus lied to him, he placates himself with the thought that these spiritual blessings that the Scriptures talk about are likely to be symbolic allegoric or something to be experienced in the blessed bye and bye. And so begins the journey of the young Christian into a life of doubt not sure if he could step out on the Word of God. But God's Word is real and true. Rest is your now. You can live the victorious Chris...

CEASE FROM YOUR LABOUR AGAINST SIN; LIVE IN GOD'S REST TEXT: Prov 3:5&6  5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths MESSAGE Folks who have just given their lives to Jesus often have this feeling that they have made a pledge to live a Holy and a consecrated christian life and as such have the obligation to make it work. Thus many have expended a lot of energy trying not to sin all to no avail. Let me tell you the truth; you have no business TRYING not to sin. You shouldn't be doing that. You don't need to TRY to live a Holy life. What you should be doing is to concentrate on growing  up by feeding on the word of God. As you do so, Holiness will flow naturally out of you as a natural characteristic of a healthy Christian life Fine,  you may not yet be able to fully operate as mature Christians should. You may have a hard time keepi...

DEVELOPING A HEALTHY CHRISTIAN LIFE TEXT: 1Pet 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: MESSAGE Virtually all you do with your baby is to relate with him and breastfeed him. You know that when he ingests good food that is appropriate for his age, he grows and he is physically healthy. But if he is malnourished, his growth might be distorted and he may not be able to do things that are expected of his age. The Holy Spirit reveals that the balance diet on which you can feed for proper growth in the Lord is the Word of God. The Apostle Peter counsels: "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby". A child may not be able to do all that a normal human being should do. But when he is grown enough, he should. A baby may crawl, but soon when he is of age, he'd walk. Every parent knows this and much as he desires to see his child walk and run around, he concentrates more on feeding him  than comm...

YOU HAVE A NEW LIFE IN CHRIST TEXT: Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himse lf for me. MESSAGE Like a very Reverend Man of God would say, "When you got born again, nothing happened to you. In the real sense, you are what happened" Oh how true! You are the miracle of the season. The Almighty God who ihabits eternity and the spirit realm has just stepped into the earth realm and into time through you!  What happened in the spirit, is that you actually died--ending the life you got from your ancestors; life that is in the blood and sustained by the blood; a life affected by ancestral covenants, curses and sin which are passed down through the bloodline. They ended on that moment of receiving Jesus into your life. Then you got born again. This time not by blood or the will of man but by the Word of God and His H...

TEXT: 1John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. MESSAGE When I was younger, I sang and prayed "I want to live eternal life God save my soul". I prayed, oh how I prayed. I prayed fervently with strong crying and tears. Of course, I thought eternal life is the life that we'd be given when we resurrect or rapture to meet with Christ. Then and only then, I thought, one could have eternal life. Evidently, my challenge was that I didn't know what eternal life (or everlasting life) means. Eternal life is not simply a life without end or an undying life. Eternal life is the life of God. Just like plants have plant life, animals have animal life, humans have human life, so God has the divine life. This divine life has no end, thus it is refered to as eternal or everlasting. This life is not susceptible to death, decay, or wea...

TEXT: Romans 6:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? MESSAGE No matter what the devil throws at you, be it pain or pleasure; attack or allure, his end is to separate you from the love of God. He can no more stop God from loving you than a man could stop the sun from shining. He however means to stop you from receiving or relating with God's love just as a man can blindfold another from seeing the light of the sun That has been his trick from the very beginning back then in Eden. He's not got much up his sleeves. Unfortunately many still fall for the same 6,000 year old trick. You wonder why. Religion is the snare that makes even Christians to be susceptible to the tricks of the devil. Religion or the traditions of men (as Jesus calls it Matt.15:1-7) is man's idea of of how they believe they could please God. The evil in religion may not be evident in the beginning. ...

TEXT: 2Cor 5:14-15  14  For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15  And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. MESSAGE The consciousness of God's love is the purpose and crux of the Message of Grace. When you begin to relate with this message, it  makes your life an endless stream of praise and thanksgiving. You cannot stop praising God. Your prayer language will change from complaining and murmuring to thanksgiving. Since you know that God has unconditional love for you, you will understand that He delights to grant any request you make. No wonder Jesus premised his invitation unto prayer on the love of God. He says; "at that day ye shall ask in my name: and i say not unto you, that i will pray the father for you: for the father himself loveth you..." (John 16:26-27) The c...

TEXT: Ephesians 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. MESSAGE The Gospel of Grace is the Good News of God's unconditional love for man which he expresses in giving us Jesus His only begotten Jesus so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but  have the same life that God has--everlasting life (John 3:16). It is the news of God unusual love by which he offers His best, His life packaged in Jesus to condemned criminals like us who deserve nothing but death and destruction. Now that you are in Christ Jesus, the Gospel of Grace tells you that the unconditional love of God does not end after conversion, neither does it become qualified or conditional. Rather it remains with you. " [If] While we were still God’s enemies, God’s Son died. He died so that we could become God’s friends. So, even more certainly, now that we are God’s friends, his Son will save us. Christ will save us because he...

CHRIST IN YOU TEXT: John 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you . MESSAGE There's no gainsaying the fact, friend, that this world is full of many oppositions. Life daily presents challenges. The world is experiencing various challenges now. The super powers are not spared. Everyone is adopting austerity measures. The born again child of God faces these challenges too. But much more than that is the challenge to keep the faith. The devil tries every day to rob the saint of his faith either by luring him through lust of the eyes, lust if the flesh and pride of life; or by intimidating him through trials that may come as sickness, financial challenges or even death. Good news dearly beloved, Jesus lives in you! Do you know what that means? He is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Heaven. All the Host of Heaven are at His command (Rev 19:10-14). He's so auster, all Hell cower before Him. Yet so loving children climb up his...

TEXT: Luke 23:39-42   39  And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.  40  But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?  41  And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.  42  And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. MESSAGE The malefactor (as he is called in our text) is actually crucified and facing his last moments on earth, he seizes the moment. In one desperate cry he turned the course of his destiny. He is on the brink of everlasting torment in hell. But just before he falls into eternal doom, one sentence saves him. He calls to the Lord. He didn't have the time to weep over his sins and the consequence. He had an audacity of faith and dared to ask for life in paradise. Guess what? He g...

TEXT: Luke 23. 39-43  39  And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.  40  But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?  41  And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.  42  And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.  43  And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. MESSAGE One fateful day, a young man is led out for execution. He is a robber and full of evil. So bad is he that Crucifixion is the sentence deemed fit for him. But there on the cross and just within earshot is the Lord of righteousness. That is the turning point in His life! That is how a journey of doom was instantly changed and ended up in paradise just some few seconds before its final bus s...

TEXT: Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. MESSAGE Grace is not that concept that makes us think God has changed his perspective about sin thereby giving us licence to misbehave. That is very far from the truth! Now one of the first thing you must understand about the work of grace as it relates to sin is that by grace we have become the sons of God and God treats us as His children not slaves or strangers. Now consider a parent and the child. Does bashing your dad's car make him disown you? Of course not! Rather, a sincer apology and maybe a promise not to repeat the wrong may put an end to the issue forever, grave as the offence may seem! Thereafter normal relationship returns. Even if you were arrested by the police for damaging someone else's fence with the car, your Father comes to bail you out and helps you through the case. You see, many of us think we are more loving than God. You don't chastise y...

TEXT: 2Corinthians 13:14  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.  MESSAG: Ask an average Christian today what he knows about grace, he'd simply tell you, "Grace is unmerrited favour". Well, close as that may seem, I think it depreciate from the true meaning of what Grace actually is. Grace is the manifestation of God's unconditional love as revealed in Jesus by which He transmits to man His fullness (his person, power, presence precepts and providence) to man who doesn't merit it. Grace gives unconditional access to God and His resources. It is the reason why you can do anything because His full resources are made available to you on the platter of grace. Grace is the reason why nothing can oppose you successfully because God has taken His side  with you and as such no one can be against you. It is grace that brings salvation (Titus 2:11).  Salvation is tha...

TEXT: Zech. 4:6 ...Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. MESSAGE One major difference between the church of Jesus Christ and any other religion or social organization is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the life essence of the church. We are not simply another religious group. We are not simply followers of Jesus. The church is a living person. It is the body of Jesus. Thus the Spirit that is in Jesus must be in the church. Any part of he church, whether as an individual or group that has not the Holy Spirit, is alienated from Jesus. In fact, you are not a part of Him if you have not the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:9).  In fact the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives cannot be overemphasized. Jesus would not even allow the new born church to step into the public without the infilling of the Holy Spirit. We no less need the presence and the filling of the Holy Spirit now as did the church then. But thanks be to God, every born-again child of ...

TEXT: Zech. 4:6 ...Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. MESSAGE Let us face reality, world is a horrid place creeping with devil's that are bent on frustrating men. The Bible says the days are evil. Since the day that Adam and Eve sold their birthright to the devil by sinning against God, they put the devil in charge of the world. That turn has not cease from making life a misery for the children of men. He steals kills and destroys daily. Good news! For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. He came to give life to men who have all the while been subject to death. This He does by giving us His Holy Spirit by whom he comes to dwell in us When the Spirit of the Lord is in you, the the Lord is in you. Thus no matter the opposition, no matter the devil that arises, no matter how strong or how many they are, "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that...