HOW THE KINGDOM OF GOD WORKS
Today, Bishop Keith continued his teaching on the subject of God’s kingdom. After reading from 1 Cor. 13:13, he explained the hope of a believer. He said, “Hope is equal to faith.” According to Rom 15:13, the supernatural ability of the Holy Ghost is released by hope.
He said, “Hope is to anticipate usually with pleasure. Therefore, because of hope, we have joy and peace. What follows after faith is action, and hope patience. When you start losing hope, you become impatient. When you see someone who is hopeless, they have lost their patience. Hope and patience operates together.”
Reading from Heb 6:11-18, he said that patience means to be steadfast and to not change, to remain the same. He mentioned that the two unchangeable or immutable things in the Bible are the Word and the Blood, and with these we undo the world of the devil. He said that Hope is necessary, as it keeps you firmly in place so that you are not pushed away from the things of God. It is the anchor of the soul.
He said, after reading Prov. 13:12.KJV. Rom. 5:22, “Hope comes from the same place as Faith and that is by hearing – again and again – the Word of God. The way you apply the principle of faith, is the same for the principles of hope. The Word of God makes hope to be kept alive. It energizes you from the inside out. When you see a depressed Christian, what is happening to them is that they are becoming hopeless. Hope allows the Word of God to come alive and keeps an individual alive. Rejoicing means to boast or brag. When we have hope we boast in God.”
“Hope is the anchor to the soul. A hopeless person is impatient.“
He said that anybody can brag about God after the miracle. The time to brag is before the miracle. Your mouth is the weapon, use it. Everytime you see the word of faith and hope in the scripture, it is in relation to the attainment of human needs. Hope puts you in a position where you can never get disgraced because hope makes you unashamed. It puts you in a position where you always win. God wants you to brag about Him and when you do you help quicken your victory. {Heb. 10:32, Mark 4: 13}
Bishop Keith discussed some tools Satan uses to stop people from obtaining God’s blessings from the kingdom.
The first two approaches are Afflictions & Persecution (especially from family or the church, that is, Christians).
Speaking about persecution, he defined it as pressure brought to you by satan. He said, “Satan uses fellow Christians and family members against you because they are the people you are most vulnerable with.
According to Heb. 10:35-39, a Recompense means payment for a loss or injury. He said, “If you’ve been hurt (afflicted), recompense is coming.” Hope is what keeps you going in the rough times.
Another tool Satan uses is Distraction – the type that looks good whenever you set your mind to do the will and the word of God. The Bible refers to distraction from doing God’s will as the cares of this world. These ‘cares’ appear good on the outside but it is best to listen to the Holy Ghost. If you keep your hope alive, God will bring you what you need. Hope comes from hearing and hearing the Word of God.
According to Rom. 8:24, you hope for something you don’t have yet in hand. When you keep your hope alive, it helps you to be patient and to endure till you get God’s blessings. God has more hope for you than you have for yourself. If God talks good about you then you should talk good about yourself.
Hope is activated when you start speaking the word of God and then watching the people that you associate yourself with. Who are you hanging around with, and what are they saying? There are some people you have to stop hanging with. The Bishop made these statements admonishing the people.
He further said, “Get your hope back up. Your latter end will be greater than your former. God will not bless you without your cooperation, you have a part to play. God is the God of hope and the Spirit is the Spirit of hope. When you are tired, then you’ve lost your hope. So if you are tired and seem hopeless, ask God and He will give you hope.”
“Hope is activated when you start speaking the word of God.”
Still admonishing the congregation, he said, “You don’t prepare when a blessing comes. Faith prepares now when you don’t see it. Faith, Hope and Love are tied together by rejoicing and praising God especially in the middle of tests and trials. Rejoicing is necessary, it is to tell the devil he can’t get rid of your hope. You need to get up and praise God in the morning, noon time and evening.”
Reading from Rom. 12:12, Proverbs 17: 22, he said that when you are facing trials and tribulations, affliction and persecution, it is not easy to rejoice but this is when you need to dance and praise especially when everybody feels you are done for because you understand that greater is He that is in you. When pressure is on you, this is when you need to shout, rejoice and praise God.
“The covenant God has made with you requires action on your part. The bigger the issue, the more you have to rejoice on what God says about it in faith. One thing you must do all the time when you feel bad, mad or sad, is to rejoice. Never cooperate with the devil to make you sad. Whatever it is just rejoice. Whenever satan gives you a reason to be sad, rejoice.” He said this as closed his session.
The entire message is available on the church’s website. Click DAY 8 MORNING SESSION 2 to purchase it at 100 NGN.