LED BY THE SPIRIT

Matthew 4:1-4

Immediately after Jesus was baptised, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, alighting upon Him and God the Father spoke from heaven, saying 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased' (Matt. 3:16-17).

Until Jesus Christ was anointed with the Holy Spirit, He was referred to as Jesus of Nazareth...

The baptism paved way for the anointing...(Suffer it to be so...)!

Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness...(Matt. 4:1; Mark 1:12; Luke 4:1).

Likewise, the Spirit can lead you up! But to where exactly will the Spirit lead you?

It's important for us to note that before He ushers us into the fulfilment of that glorious destiny, He will first lead us up into the wilderness...

What's the big deal about the wilderness?

Jesus Christ passed through it, likewise, we must pass through it!

He was led into the wilderness by the Spirit and He returned into Galilee, with the fullness of the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:14).

After the wilderness experience, you will come out better and stronger in the name of Jesus Christ!

What happened to Jesus in the wilderness?

He was tempted by the devil...

He was driven up into the wilderness for that purpose!

The truth is that we will also go through trials and temptations, that's why we need the ministry of the Holy Spirit, to see us through...

A lot of folks don't come out of their 'wilderness'...because they don't follow the leading of the Holy Spirit all through. Such will not be your experience!

How Jesus was tempted

The devil tempted Jesus in three ways after which he left Him until an opportune (appropriate) time (Luke 4:13).

One of the three ways or categories of temptation (which are still the same templates the devil uses today) is:

Forsake the Word for bread!

The devil knew that Jesus was hungry (having fasted for 40 days) and told Jesus to turn stones to bread to prove that He was the Son of God.

Likewise, the devil comes to us (mostly when we have a pressing need) to make bread out of 'stones'...

However, Jesus replied him with the Word of God! "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God'" (Matt. 4:4; Deut. 8:2-3).

Turning stone to bread was not an issue for Jesus, He had the power to do it.

Of what purpose is the conversion of stone to bread? Who will be glorified at the end of this?

Is it to meet our personal needs or heavenly demands?

What is your bread/meat?

'My meat (or food) is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work' (John 4:34).

It was not about His personal need or desire for food (hunger), it was about the will and desire of God...

Jesus later fed multitudes with five loaves and seven loaves in another scenario...

Man shall not live by bread alone...

Are you being led by the Spirit? Are you willing to follow the Holy Spirit to wherever He leads you?

Sometimes, the Lord deliberately cuts off the supply of bread, to make the Bread of life available to you...

The Word of God can only become a bread of life to you, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit!

Henceforth, through the outpouring of the Spirit of God, you will live by the Word.

                                                 PASTOR NATHANIEL SADELA

        Resident  Pastor

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THE NAME OF THE LORD

Genesis 4:26; Exodus 3:13-15

After the creation of man, God was referred to as the LORD God (Gen. 2).
In Genesis 4:26, the Bible revealed that men began to call upon the name of the Lord.
The name of the Lord is a great asset to God’s children. It’s a spiritual weapon of warfare and a hiding place. There is power in the name of the Lord. Oh! There is victory in the name of the Lord.

In Matthew 18:20, Jesus said ‘where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them…’

Some of the men of old called upon the name of the Lord, in respect to how He met them at the point of their needs.
Some referred to Him as El-Shaddai, others called Him Jehovah Jireh, to some others, He was Jehovah Rohi, Jehovah Nissi, Jehovah Shammah, Jehovah Tsikenu, Jehovah Shalom, etc.
The important thing is that they called upon His name and He answered them. The Lord will answer you!

The name of the Lord is a tower of refuge (a strong tower), a place of covering, a shield. Proverbs 18:10; Joel 2:32; Psalm 116:17.
….the RIGHTEOUS runs to it…

God said to Moses ‘…I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you…’ (Ex. 33:19).

David secured victory over Goliath by the name of the Lord (1 Sam. 17:45-49).
Psalm 20:7-8; 124:8.

In Mark 16:17, Jesus said ‘And these signs shall follow those who believe; IN MY NAME they will cast out demons…’

Even the devil and demons tremble and bow their knees at the mention of the name, JESUS! (Phil. 2:9-11).

The name of the Lord gives us access privilege to the throne of God.
Whatsoever you ask in My name – John 14:13
Whatsoever you ask the Father in My name – John 15:16
Acts 3:1-6; 4:10-12

However, anyone who wants to call upon the name of the Lord must depart from iniquity – 2 Tim. 2:19.
Many people call upon the name of the Lord, but the Lord knows those who are His. (John 10:14, 27; Matt. 7:21).

Lastly, through faith in the name of the Lord, we receive the Spirit of adoption into sonship (John 1:12; Romans 8:15).

Through faith in the name of the Jesus Christ, we receive the life of God (John 20:30-31).

Beyond reasonable doubts, power, victory, dominion, blessings, protection, honour, security.....and many more, are accessible through the name of Jesus Christ! 

  PASTOR NATHANIEL SADELA

        Resident  Pastor

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Holy Spirit and the church

Lesson Text: Acts 1: 1-10, 2:1-11

The word Church does not refer to a physical building composed of wood and stone. It refers to the building of God composed of believers as living stones. It is the Holy Spirit who makes believers living stones and without the Holy Spirit there can be no living Church as it is the Holy Spirit that gives it life. A Church without life (that is without the Holy Spirit) is like a radio without batteries or without a connection to electricity.

The disciples of Jesus after His ascension to heaven, must have felt utterly deserted and cut off.

When Jesus ascended to heaven, I guess the disciples looked at each other and had that after the funeral feeling - now there was this relationship between them and God that, at least in Jesus’ case, could be bridged through prayer but nonetheless Jesus was in heaven, and here they were with their feet in Jerusalem.

But fortunately for them, Jesus had given them some precise instructions. Acts 1:4-9 Jesus instructed His disciples very clearly to wait for the gift that God the Father had promised - the gift of the Holy Spirit in Whom they would be baptized.

The scriptures make it quite clear that the gift of the Holy Spirit is for believers (John 16:5-7).

In Matthew 28 verse 20, He instructs His followers to baptize those who believe in the name of the Holy Spirit.

In a general sense, Jesus said ‘It is for your good that I am going away, Unless I go away, He says, the counsellor will not come to you, but if I go, I will send Him to you’.

The church was born of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost as described in Acts 2. 

Before that date, the disciples had certainly known spiritual fellowship with Christ and with one another; 

They had experienced the illumination and power of the Spirit on some occasions, they had been specifically taught about the Spirit, and had been promised God’s gracious gift of the Spirit. Yet, although the Spirit had clearly been with them before Pentecost, He was not abiding in them. His action had been as in Old Testament days coming upon certain people at certain times for certain occasions.

In one way or the other, it became impossible to think of the church without the Holy Spirit. Take Him away and you have no church. You could have an institution, an organization, a building, a structure perhaps, but no church of the living God.

Let’s consider some of the foremost tasks of the church.

Guidance is the work of the Spirit of God: ’For all who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God.’ Galatians 5 :16 

A second task of the church is prayer - prayer also needs the direct assistance of the Holy Spirit. We are to "pray at all times in the spirit; and if we are conscious of our weakness in the realm of prayer. Ephesians 6:18; Romans 8:26

A third task is ministry, through which we can build up the body of Christ. This is also dependent on the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor. 12:4-11

The fourth task of the church is to witness Jesus Christ. Again no one finds this easy; and therefore Jesus promised His disciples the power of the Spirit in order to be His witnesses Acts 1 verse 8 or Luke 24 - 49

The fifth task of the church is to worship God. But real worship is never easy - Jesus said:- God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

The sixth task of the church is compassion - We cannot possibly love this broken world with God’s love without His Spirit.
We truly need what has been commonly described as the Father-heart of God. This kind of love only comes when we open ourselves up to the warm reception of God’s love in our lives.

How then can we personally and corporately know the power of the spirit here in our own church today?

Luke 11:9-13

The reception of the Holy Spirit into our lives depends deeply on our asking God for Him.

So when Jesus and John The Baptist said, "You will be baptized in the Holy Spirit" they were saying :

-you  will be filled with the presence of God!

-when you are dipped, immersed and soaked into the presence of God you will have a new spiritual color that will fill every part of your being!
When Jesus received the Holy Spirit at His baptism, we need to understand that the Holy Spirit’s character was revealed at that time -
He descended upon the Lord Jesus at a dove.

There is no question that the Holy Spirit was and still is often received by the laying on of hands and prayer as we see in the scripture.

As Christian you need the Holy Spirit, so why don’t you ask the Father in heaven to send His Spirit to you so that you can be a fulfilled Christian.

DEACON OLUWAYIMIKA ANIBABA

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