Spiritual Maturity- Apostle Peterson Onoja Abu

The speaker emphasizes the importance of spiritual growth and maturity. They express their desire to see their listeners progress in their walk with God and leave behind their spiritual immaturity. The speaker distinguishes between spiritual gifts and spiritual maturity, stating that while gifts can be received by new believers, maturity is measured by the fruit of the Spirit. They reference Hebrews 5:12-14, where the apostle Paul encourages believers to move from being students to becoming teachers, indicating that maturity involves both knowledge and experience. The speaker emphasizes the need for experiential knowledge in order to effectively communicate the truths of the faith. They warn against teaching what one has not truly experienced, as it lacks authenticity and effectiveness. They conclude by highlighting the importance of spiritual growth and the dangers of remaining spiritually immature. I will be sharing with you on a very interesting topic, interesting because it is my desire to see you that you grow in the Lord. It is my heart cry to see you that you come into spiritual maturation, that you come into spiritual maturity. It is my appetite, my desire, my passion, and even my burden to see every one of you not remaining the same way you met me. Some of you met me about 2020 and from then you have been following me till now and some of you have met me before then, some of you just met me last year, and some of you just met me this year. You must understand that every time you come to me, I knew the state you were spiritually before you came to me and now that you are with me, I have a vision for you, I have a passion for you. There is something in my heart that I ask for you, actually I want you to grow spiritually. I want you to leave the state at which you met me. You met me in the state of babyhood. I want you to leave that state. I want you to come higher to spiritual maturity and this is why I am very interested in your spiritual life. For some of you that happen to be very close to me, every time you chat me up on WhatsApp or if you call me on WhatsApp, there is always a question that many times I do ask you and what is that question? Sometimes I ask you, how is your walk with God? How is your walk with God? Remember I use the word walk with God. It means that your walk with God should be progressive. For example, now you say you are walking from here to there. If you say you are walking from here to there, the moment you use the word, I am walking from here to there, you shouldn't remain in one spot. For you to walk, it means that there must be a change of position. So if I ask you, how is your walk with God today? You shouldn't say, well, I am still in one spot. If you are still in one spot, it means you are not walking. It means you are not walking. If there is movement, if there is walking, then there is motion. And if there is motion, there is positioning from one point to another. It means you are changing position and this is why we are very, very interested in your spiritual growth and this is why I am interested in your spiritual growth. I pray you will grow spiritually in Jesus' name, I pray. I say you will grow spiritually in Jesus' name. We are talking about building up your spirit man unto maturity. Building up your spirit man unto maturity. You need to grow spiritually. You need, your spirit man needs to be viewed just like a child that needs to be grown. Your spirit man needs to be viewed in order for you to come into maturity and this is why we are talking about it. Let me tell you one of the advantages of spiritual growth because when we talk about spiritual maturity, most times we talk about spiritual gift and spiritual gift is not necessarily a sign of spiritual maturity. A spiritual man, a mature spiritual man may have those qualities but this is not the exact sign that we can use to ascertain the fact that a man or a woman is growing. So the gift of prophecy can come upon a baby Christian. It all depends on the desire and the passion you have for the gift of prophecy. When you sincerely desire the gift of prophecy and you pounce after it, then there is every possibility that you might receive it although you might not have come into spiritual maturity. So spiritual maturity cannot be measured with the gift of the spirit. Rather it should be measured with the fruit of the spirit. The gift of the spirit is very good, it's very essential but that is the charismatic part of the Christian life. The charismatic part, it means that it is for service. It is just a gift thing that you use to enhance the body of Christ but it shouldn't be a principle or a standard of judgment to know who is mature or is not mature. A new convert can receive the gift of prophecy but that doesn't mean that that new convert is yet matured in the faith or just one that just came to the Lord may receive the gift because sometimes a passion, hunger, desires and burden can introduce you into experiencing some of the spiritual gifts but spiritual gift is not essentially the hallmark of a spiritually matured believer and this is why even as we hunger and thirst after spiritual gifts, we shouldn't make that a priority greater than the fruit of the spirit. As we thirst after spiritual gifts with our hand, one of the hands, we should also use the other hand to cultivate the fruit of the spirit because the fruit of the spirit brings us into conformity with Christ but spirituality only make us to showcase, I mean the spiritual gifts make us to showcase the gift of the spirit although we might not be matured in the life of the spirit. So now we come to the book of Hebrews chapter 5, Hebrews chapter 5, I read verse 13 and then go from verse 12 to verse 14, Hebrews chapter 5 from verse 12 to verse 14, the Bible says, For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again, which be the first principle of the oracles of God. Now you see the unity of scripture bringing it to the fact that a mature believer must be a teacher. Who is a teacher? One that has knowledge, not just knowledge, he has applying knowledge, he has knowledge, he has experiential knowledge in his life. You can see the visible mark and proof that this person is growing. So there are teachers in the body of Christ who not just go and study theology, they are teachers by conformity, they are teachers because they have been exposed to the body of truth which has eventually conformed them to the lifestyle of Jesus Christ. So Paul the Apostle speaking to the Jews, he said to them that this is the time that you ought to be teachers, but you are behaving as though you needed someone to teach you again. There are many of us that are listening a lot, there are many of us that have been receiving this teaching, you have been hearing a lot of messages, now you hear a lot, but there is no conformity to the messages, the body of truth that you have been exposed to. So Paul the Apostle was speaking to them that you ought to be teachers, you ought to be people that have tasted of the word of God and able to communicate what you have experienced in the spirit. If you are here and you say you are born again and yet you cannot teach the body of truth, it simply means that you have not yet experienced it because it is what you call the experiential knowledge which gives you the power to communicate the things you have experienced in the spirit. So Paul the Apostle speaking to them, he said at the time that you ought to be teachers, you still remain as babies, you still remain as students, you still remain as learners, you still remain as people who need to be taught again. You see the word teach again in verse 12, for when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye are me that want teach you again. You see the word again, when you ought to be teachers, you want that the same teaching to be communicated to you again. Now how long will you remain in the state of hearing and not able to come to the knowledge of the truth? How long will you remain in the state of learning and not able to receive or come to the knowledge of the truth? So when ye ought to be teachers, you are not be able to experience the things we have been teaching you. Paul the Apostle united knowledge with experience. So if Paul is talking about knowledge, he is not just talking about you acquiring something and just keeping it up there. Paul is talking about a knowledge that brings experience. The things of the spirit are not just learnt, they have been experienced. You cannot understand born again until you experience it. You cannot teach what it goes by prism until you have experienced it. You cannot efficiently teach the message of the cross until you have experienced it. You cannot communicate sanctification until you have experienced it. So these things must be experienced if they must be communicated properly. So Paul the Apostle said that when you ought to be teachers, you still need that someone to teach you. That means there is no Spiritual growth. You are not planting other spiritual things. And let me say this, that until we come into experiential knowledge, we are not yet licensed to communicate the body of truth. If not, we will be teaching what we have not yet experienced. And when you start teaching what you have not experienced, it becomes a problem. Why? Because you will not have the skills in communicating it. You begin to teach what you read in books. But the life of it does not back the message. So Paul the Apostle speaking to the Christians, he said, for when for the time you ought to be teachers, you have need that won't teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracle of God. Let us continue, and have become such as have need of milk and not strong milk. Now you see the way Paul the Apostle associated the milk with students. I repeat, Paul the Apostle said that when you ought to be teachers, you still remain babies. And he associated it with milk. Milk are for children. Milk are for those that are unskilled. Milk are for them. But then it comes to teachers. Who is a teacher? An experienced person. An experienced person is a teacher. So you cannot be a teacher because you attended theology. A teacher is someone that has experienced Christ. Someone that has partaken in the divine nature of Christ. Invested in. For everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the world of righteousness. Those that use milk is unskillful in the world of righteousness. That means they are unskillful meaning that they will rise and fall. They are unskillful because they do not have the complete knowledge of Christ. They are skillful because these are people that the devil can take advantage over. Paul the Apostle said, let Satan take advantage over us. For we are not ignorant of his devices. Paul is saying that I am a mature believer. Therefore the devil cannot easily thrill me into ignorance. I am not ignorant. I am knowledgeable. So Paul associated knowledge with spiritual maturation. And I told you that knowledge in this context is experiential knowledge. Experiential knowledge. Experiencing the reality of the body of truth. So Paul the Apostle speaking to them in the book of Hebrews. He said unskillfulness is a sign of spiritual babyhood. Because when you are spiritually a baby. You will not have proper understanding of the truth. You can easily be deceived. You can easily be deceived. You can easily be lied to. Deceptions will not be far from you. You are unskilled in righteousness. Although you know righteousness. But you are unskilled. When you see a lot of Christians. Even those on Facebook and social media. Who keep preaching laws. Who keep teaching rules, do's and don'ts. And some of them keep telling you that you should not eat crayfish. You should eat crayfish. Crayfish is a sin. Now these people. They are God born again. But they are still spiritually infant. They are unskilled in the world of righteousness. They are trying to understand righteousness. But they are unskilled. So by the reason of their babyhood. They begin to interpret righteousness in unskilled way. Unskilled because their explanation is not married to scripture. So their explanation is married to emotion. It's married to revelation, dreams, visions. That is the way. That is what they use in contents. To explain their righteousness. So they are unskilled in righteousness. Then in verse 14. He said, But strong meat belongs to them that are of full age. Strong meat belongs to them that are of full age. Even those. Who by reason of youth. Have their senses exercised to discern between good and evil. So who is a man short believer? Is someone that has his or her senses able to discern between good and evil. A man short believer is the one that knows the will of God. So a man short believer knows the will of God in everything. He knows the will of God in everything. When it comes to marriage. A man short believer knows the will of God in marriage. When it comes to taking a step or taking a journey or going into ministry. A man short believer knows the will of God. Is someone that can be able to design the will of God. Most of us. Our problem is not designing. Some of you can even tell us what can happen tomorrow. Some of you can tell me. You say I dreamt that this and so and so thing will happen to Nigeria tomorrow. But can you design the will of God now? I mean can you go into your secret place and lock up yourself. And come out with the message of God concerning that situation. So we have issues today because we have people who cannot design the will of God. When you are going through challenges of life. Can you design the will of God in that challenge. Although you are going through challenges. Can you say that in this challenge God spoke to me. That is the one behind this. Can you design the will of God in that regard. And that is what we are talking about. That spiritual maturity is tied to you able to design the will of God. You able to go into understanding of the righteousness of God. You are as peaceful as a rat shutter. You can design. You can design what God is saying. You can design what God is saying. Despite your prayers have not been answered. God has not yet answered your prayers. But you can design that God is saying something. There is a disappointment in that area of job. But you can design that God is saying something. You know whether it is from God. You know whether it is from the devil. See that is one of the other things that is happening in the body of Christ. Now you set up a program. And the day of the program you design the will of God. And God said cancel this program. Now before the whole congregation they will call you that you are inconsistent. But because you know the will of God. You can design the will of God. That they fix a meeting. Maybe we have a workers meeting. Or they fix a meeting. And the pastor try to fix the meeting in time conducive for him. And the spirit of God whispers and says no. You should the time that fits for you not for my people. You are selfish. Now can we design the will of God in everything. We do programs today without knowing whether it is the will of God. Spiritual maturity is whether you can design. If God is the one leading you. You can know if this is from the flesh. You can know if this is from God. You can know if this is from the devil. And this is one of the other thing. I put it to Christians today. One of the other thing. People are not able to design the will of God. So when Paul was speaking here. He associated spiritual maturity. With the ability for you to design what is good. And what is not good. The place you are today. Where you are today in life. Where you are staying. That address you are staying. We do design whether it was God's will for you to stay there. The job you took. That job where you are working. We do design whether it was God's will. So most times we enter casualty. Because we are not able to design what God is saying. We face challenges of life. Because we are not able to design what the spirit is saying. And this is why the leading of the spirit. Designing the will of God. Is one of the highest signs of spiritual maturity. It is not the only sign. But one of the critical signs of spiritual maturity. That is why the Bible says. So as many that are led by the spirit of God. They are what? They are not babies. They are sons of God. It is because it is in designing the will of God. That ascertains your spiritual maturity. What is God saying about you now? What is God saying about this season? What is God saying about the season which you are? What is God saying about your children? What is God saying about your wife? Are you able to design the will of God in every situation? So the Bible says. So as many that are led by the spirit of God. They are the sons of God. They are the sons of God. Because they have the ability to design the will of God. So spiritual maturity is not a pastor that puts a bow tie. And then he adds a shirt. You can use human mechanical system to raise a popularity. Let me say this. Popularity is not a striking point of spiritual maturity. A popular pastor can still be mature. Maturity in the spirit. Maturity in Christ is united in the place of understanding the will of God. That you know. And let me say this. Until we start designing the will of God. We can easily be predicted. Let me tell you. A man that is working by the yelling of God cannot be predicted. A man that is working by the leading of God cannot be predicted. You know why? Because the spirit can whisper any time. The Holy Ghost can speak to him any time. The Holy Ghost can tell him. Live here now. Live here now. But today, we can easily be predicted. That you set up a program. After putting the old bills. You are putting on flyers. You have spread flyers. You have used social media to advertise the program. And for the guest ministers to come. The Holy Ghost begins to talk to you about some certain guest ministers that should never come to your altar. And because, you know some of us. Because we are not working in that dimension of maturity. We tend to please men and let the Holy Ghost go. That is not how it works. If we must be matured in the spirit. We must come to the place of understanding the will of God. Knowing what the will of God is. That the program you set. That you advertised everywhere. Was never the will of God. That the program you set and advertised everywhere. Was never the will of God. Let us come to understand the spirit leading. Paul the Apostle. He said that a matured believer. Is someone that has the ability to decide between evil and good. He can decide when God is speaking. So most programs that we organize in our churches today. We organize those programs because others are organizing them. We never organize a program because the spirit is saying something. This is why when you read Jesus messages. The letter of Jesus to the churches. He said to as many that are in years. Let them hear what the spirit is saying. Spiritual maturity is tied down to hearing. Spiritual maturity is tied down to living. If you begin to put a standard. That a matured Christian is someone that can prophesy. You have missed it. Because many prophets are babies in Christ. And when you begin to say. That a matured believer is someone that has popularity. That carries crowds. You have failed because that is not how it works. A matured believer is someone that can design the will of God in every situation. Someone that can design the will of God in every situation. You can design what God is saying. What is God saying about this man. There are many ministers of God that came to me. There were many of them that came to make friends with me. The moment I left their presence. The Lord spoke to me. Never to return back to them again. If it is about friendship. I would have had a lot of friends. Even the ones that are flowing through social media. Even the ones that are flowing through social media. Most of them we are close behind. We are close on telegram. Most of them we are close on whatsapp. But the reason there is no intimacy. Is because God has spoken to me. That I shouldn't bring intimacy. So spiritual maturity. It is not a spiritual gift. Although a matured believer will possess spiritual gifts. But it is not entirely that spiritual gifting. Is a sign of spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity. It is not in the gifting. It is in the leading. So to as many that are led by the spirit of God. They become the sons of God. Because before the spirit of God can lead you. Certain things has happened. And this is what I am teaching you about. Building up your spirit. Until maturity. If we say that the spirit of God is leading us. For the Holy Ghost to lead you. Certain things must have taken place in your life. The spirit of God leading a man. I have seen people saying that. I want God to use me. A lot of people have been saying that. They wrote me on whatsapp. Different messages. I want God to use me. Or you think that God using a man. Is by giving you prophecy. I want God to use me. Let me tell you. What it means that God should use a man. In fact one of the dangerous things to do. Is for you to become someone that hears God. Because the moment you start hearing the voice of God. You will never live for yourself again. You can't be hearing the voice of God. And you are living in your will. So a man. Men and women that hears God. Shed their life. Their life becomes sacrifice. Because the moment you start hearing the voice of God. That is when God will begin to tell you. When you should empty your account. That money you are preparing to celebrate marriage. God will ask you. That you should carry that money. And go and sow a seed. The life of hearing God. Is the life of sacrifice. So the Bible says. To as many that are led by the spirit of God. They are the sons of God. They are the sons of God. Because a process of taking place in their life. That brought them onto that maturity. You cannot be a son of God. Because you register into a Bible school. It is a process. To as many that are led by the spirit of God. They are the sons of God. Before the spirit of God leads you. Certain things have taken place. And one of the things that will take place. Is brokenness. A spiritual man. A true spiritual man. Short believer. Is a broken believer. Because for the spirit of God to lead you. Let me say this. For I myself to lead you. As your leader. There must be some certain attributes. That God has worked in you. The spirit of God. He said. In the book of Genesis chapter 6 verse 3. God said that my spirit will never strive with man again. Are we together? My spirit will never strive with man again. Genesis chapter 6 verse 3. But now. In Romans chapter 8 verse 14. For as many that are led by the spirit of God. This same spirit that will never strive with man. Is now the one leading. What happened? What happened between the old testament and the new testament? Why is it that in Genesis chapter 6 verse 3. The spirit of God could not control man. That God himself said. My spirit will never strive with man again. But in the new testament. He comes and said. That as many that are led by the spirit. They are the sons of God. What happened? What happened between the old testament and the new testament? Something happened. Something happened between old and new testament. It is not every man God can lead. There has to be a place of brokenness. And that is why I engage you. I said. Your spirit man needs to be viewed. Don't remain as a baby Christian. You must passionately desire. The mystery of the world. Enough of just going to church. Lord I want to experience you. I want something more than church. Most of you are carried away by activities in the church. That your spiritual man is dead. Is not growing. You cannot design when the devil is speaking. You cannot design when the devil is leading you. You cannot design when God is leading you. Anything that comes to your heart. Is what you do. So Paul the apostle says. Spiritual maturity is tied. To the point of you designing the will of God. Let me ask you. What is your cry? What has been your desire? Is it designing the will of God? Or your cry has been. Lord anoint me. Give me a fire. I will make my generation to look me. See there are many things we are inviting into the temple. That if Jesus was to be in our time. He would have carried with and whip those things out of the temple. The things that Jesus would have whipped out of the temple. Are the things we are carrying into the temple. Do you know why? We are not designing the will of God. When we begin to design the will of God. That is where spiritual maturity. Finds expression. That is where spiritual maturity. Finds expression. Building up. Your spirit man unto maturity. Spiritual growth. It is in process. For you to grow spiritually. Into maturity. It is in process. It is in process. And let me say this. That when we talk about spiritual growth. Is what Paul the apostle says. It is. And it is called transformation. Romans chapter 12 verse 2. And be not conformed to this world. But be ye transformed. So spiritual maturity is transformation. From one phase to the other. Let me say it. The moment you got born again. You became a light. But your brightness. When you became born again. You are a light. Can you hear me? When you became born again. You were a light. But not a bright light. And it is transformation. That make us to be more brighter. Day by day. It is the amount of the body of truth. We have exposed ourselves to. That determine. How transformed. We will become. Praise the Lord. Are you following? Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12. The Bible says. In verse 2. Romans chapter 12 verse 2. And be not conformed to this world. But be ye transformed. That is a conformity. And it is a transformation. Be not conformed to this world. Do not. The word conformity. Is a state. Whereby it appears. As if you are going down. Do not conform. To this world. It means you were not there. But you are trying to become like the world. It is about being ye transformed. And it puts. The possibility of the transformation. It said by the renewing. Of your mind. It said. The renewing of the mind. Is it causes transformation. Most of you say you read your Bible. And I am not arguing with that. You read your Bible. You have been a Christian for 2 years. You have been reading your Bible. You say you have been studying your Bible. You have been praying for 2 years. And I ask you. Have you received the Holy Ghost baptism? You said no. And if you have been reading that Bible. For the past 2 years. And transformation is not taking place. It means. That your heart was never renewed. Because the evidence of a renewal of heart. Of the mind. Is that it causes transformation. So be not conformed to this world. But you need to be transformed. Out of this world. By the renewing of the mind. Our spirit now will never be built. Until we engage it. We engage our mind. In renewal. Until we start renewing our mind. Our spirit man. Will never be built. Our spirit man is being built. On the platform of daily renewal. Of the mind. So when we say build up your mind. We are saying transformed. Because the Paul the Apostle. Use a continuous terms. He said be not conformed to this world. It means be transforming. Be transforming. And this is why I believe in righteousness. By position. I believe in righteousness by impartation. When I was teaching you about righteousness. I said there is a 2 dimension of righteousness. Or 2 roots. Or 2 branches of righteousness. I said number 1. In Christ. Righteousness by position. It means that the moment. You got born again. You became righteous in Christ. In the stead of Christ. That we are the righteousness of Christ. So when you got born again. Immediately God started seeing you. As a righteous person. Not because you did anything. But you became righteous because of Christ. So at salvation. At born again experience. You receive the righteousness of Christ. And this is why you shouldn't do anything to be righteous. If you do anything to be righteous. At that born again experience. Or for you to obtain born again. It means you have made the work of Christ. Of not value. Because what the death of Jesus does. Is that he brings you. Into position righteousness. But when you obtain the position righteousness. What is the evidence. That you have come. Into the position of righteousness. It is what a doing righteousness. So the Bible says in the book of 1 John. Chapter 3 verse 7. It says he that doeth righteousness. Is what? Is righteous. He that doeth righteousness. Is not the righteousness that gives you born again. It is the righteousness. Because you are born again. So you do righteousness. Not to obtain born again. You do it because you are born again. So the position righteousness. Position you in Christ. So when God looks at you. Instead of seeing you. It says be ye justified by faith. Ye have peace with God. And being justified. Romans chapter 5 verse 1. And being justified by faith. Ye have peace with God. Because you have come. Under the canopy of Christ righteousness. But when you become righteous in Christ. You need to engage yourself. Into doing righteousness. So he that doeth righteousness. Is what? Is righteous. But that is not everything. We must daily. Begin to pant after the place. Of spiritual goods. David said. As the deer panted after the water books. So panted my soul after thee O God. As the deer. Panted after the water books. That the animal that is called deer. As it tasted after the water books. David said. That there is something in me. That tasted for God. There is no way spiritual growth can grow. Until there is a desire. There is no way you can grow. Spiritually. There is no way your spirit man can be built. Until there is desire. The moment your desire. The moment your begging for God. As he affected. It means you are spiritually diseased. Because one of the signs. One of the symptoms of fever. If a man has a fever. One of the symptoms of fever. Loss of desire. So if you have lost your begging for the Lord. If you have lost appetite. If you have lost hunger for the Lord. It means you are spiritually diseased. And you cannot build your spirit man. In that standard. You need to go back to God. And cry for personal revival. Let me tell you what is revival. Revival is applying spiritual treatment. On your spiritual injuries. Revival. Applying spiritual treatment. To your spiritual injuries. So when there is spiritual sickness. When you have lost contact with God. When you have lost the place. The secret place of prayer. You need to retreat back. That word retreat. Is got to from the military people. In retreating. When there is an injured person. In the battlefield. They retreat that person back. When a soldier has been injured. In the battlefield. They take him back. That is where every war. They must have a doctor with them. If a soldier is going to war. In the midst of the war. Among the soldiers there must be doctors. Because in the place of war. There is every tendency. That there will be spiritual injury. And when there is spiritual injury. They take them back. That word going back is what we call retreating. Your spirit man has been affected. You have lost hunger for God. You have to retreat back. You have lost that thing. That keeps you praying all through the night. You have lost that burden. That keeps you in the place of intercession. That thing that places you. In one spot. And you began to pray. You began to pray. You began to thirst for God. You have lost that thing. And when you know that your spirit man. Is dying. You begin to pray for revival. Time is not our friend. How can you build your spirit man. How to build. Our spirit man. What must we engage ourselves daily. To build our spirit man. Until maturity. Before we talk about maturity. Building to maturity. We must understand the place. We must understand the place of consistency. Most of us are praying. But where the problem is. Is consistency in prayer. That is where we have the problem. We pray. But we are not consistent in prayer. You pray today. You don't pray tomorrow. If you want to grow spiritually. It has to be consistent. You don't know how it will happen. But it will happen. Most of us. Every day you eat. You eat your natural food. But you cannot tell. How come you grow. You only show yourself. Every time you woke up. It is after some time. You discover that you have increasing eyes. You are increasing the stature. You are increasing the body weight. Your body is changing. We call it puberty. But you cannot even give an explanation. Let me ask you. But do you understand that there is implication to it. There was something you were doing. That brought that growth. You may not explain how you grow. But you can explain what brought it. So spiritual growth. We may not be able to explain. How it happened. But we can tell what happens. What make it to happen. And that is consistency. In these things I want to tell you. You cannot grow overnight. Don't be deceived. Social media can hype you. To make you think that you can experience growth overnight. It doesn't work like that. Every man you see that God is using today. That are becoming popular. That are covering the social media. They didn't start today. They have been in the faith for years. They were doing something consistently. And this is the result of their popularity. You cannot compare me. With our father in the Lord. Our father in the Lord. These men have been doing consistently. For more than 40 years. You can't compare it with us. That just started. So the level they are. They don't need to shout. Before demons will cry out. They don't need to. They don't need to sweat. Before the blind will see. It is not something they started today. They were doing something consistently. And their spiritual structure. Kept maturing. And it matured into those dimensions. So you will not be able. To relate yourself. With the men of God that God is using. Our father in the Lord. You can't compare yourself with him. For over 40 years. He has been praying consistently. These men are men that will say. That for the past 40 years. They have never missed one day in prayers. How many days did you live without praying? You know that there were some certain days. You didn't pray. You woke up. You have been eating for the past 40 years. A man has been praying. Has been feeding on the world. For the past 40 years. You can't compare the structure. The texture of the structure. So if you must grow spiritually. If you must grow out of the baby Christianity. I remember many years ago. Many many years ago. I was crying for spiritual gifts. I said Lord help me to see. I love the prophetic. I love the prophetic. I was tasting. I fasted. Nothing came. More than 10 years ago. Nothing happened. I was praying. That time God was using me for signs and wonders. I was praying miracles taking place. But I love the gift of the prophetic. It was not working. But I remember a day. I engaged myself every day. I was praying for about 3 hours. Every day. When I say every day. Every night. I must wake up by 2. And pray till 5. 2 am to 5 am. I was doing that for years. For about 3 years. Every day wake up by 2. Pray till 5. It was in that process. I began to see things. I never understood vision. I never understood how to pick things from the spirit. What was happening to me was. I would just see something would just appear. And disappear. So I would. My eyes would start shaking. The 2 eyes would be shaking. Can you see me? These 2 eyes would begin to shake. Would begin to blink very fast. So I thought maybe there was warmth inside my eyes. Because they would begin to blink. I would be seeing some things. That the things would disappear. Nobody to teach me the ways of the prophetic. So I have no prophetic mentor. No books on prophecy I have read. But I knew I could see things. And they would disappear. And few days later those things would happen. And when they happen. I would remember I saw them. So I engaged myself in 40 days fasting. I was praying. I was fasting. Then I began to see. I began to see. So I said what would I do? Anything I see I will write down. When I write them down. They will come to pass. So I would then remember how I saw it. I would then remember how I saw it. I said okay when I saw it. It came like something very fast. It appeared and disappeared immediately. I said okay next time. When I see something like that. That appeared and disappeared immediately. I will quickly say the voice of God. You understand me? And that was I began to see things. So some of you that were close to me. That I gave some prophecy and came to pass. Many of the prophecy didn't come through dreams. They came by the vision. They came by just seeing it and disappearing. You build yourself in your most holy faith. You build your spirit man. You engage yourself in prayer. Consistency in the place of prayer. Is very wonderful. So number one. How do you build your spirit man? From the level you are to the next level. Number one. Feeding on the sincere milk of the world. Feeding on the sincere milk of the world. In the book of 1 Peter chapter 2. Verse 2. They say as a new born baby. Desire the sincere milk of the world. That he should grow thereby. So the feeding of the sincere word of God. Will bring spiritual growth. Now let me tell you what it means to be sincere. The sincere word. Not the idolatrated word. But the word that satisfies. The word that corrects. The word that condition you. I remember those years. I felt. You see the man of God. W.F Kumuyi. The spirit of W.F Kumuyi. Literally walked into me. I was eating his word. Morning night. Zakpone. The person of Zakpone. His spirit entered me. I remember. I don't listen to much song those days. It is not a listen to song. Because I didn't really love singing. So you can check my phone. You will see up to 2000 messages. 2000 messages. Zakpone. W.F Kumuyi. Zakpone. W.F Kumuyi. Robin Hill. David Witterson. These are messages. That as I was listening to those messages. My spirit man was conforming. To the divine image of Christ. So I had no other message. Until. Just to teach Christ and him crucified. You have not yet followed the message. That my sleeping and waking. I will play a message. All through the night to the next day. To the next two days. Without pausing the messages. I was listening to the topic over 10 times. I was desiring. I was pressing. I said Lord I must grow. The sincere milk of God's word. Is what brings pigishwa goods. The sincere milk of the word. Is what brings pigishwa goods. You must taste. Not adulterated word. Not the word that never chastise. I remember listening to Bela Kony. Every time I listen to Bela Kony. Right there I will be repenting. Of sins I thought I have repented of. When you listen to a message. You will be asking God. To empty you of self. And let me tell you. Until you are emptied of self. Christ will not fill you with himself. I repeat. Until you are emptied of yourself. You see the life that some of us are living. It is not because we are not wicked. It is not because we are not stubborn. It is not because we cannot do you bad. But there is a life. That condition us. That for a long time. We have lived that life of the flesh. So we are not used to it. Even when we pretend to walk in the flesh. You will know that it is not part of us again. The sincere milk of the word. I followed the message. I listened. Songs I was feeling myself. Were songs. That will take me to my knees. I don't want to mention the people that were singing the song. When I listen to those songs. I will go on my knees. Sometimes from my sleep. If deep in my sleep. I will be yelling the song. When the chorus starts over here. When the ministry of the song was Sunday. This past Sunday. The chorus of the ministry of the song. It took me back to those days. I will listen to such songs. In my sleep I will start crying there. I will cry from my dream. I will wake up crying. Knees down on my knees. I will be crying Lord give me more of you. I want to be like Jesus. There were prayers we were not praying them. Because our consistent prayer was. I want to be like Jesus. I want to be like Jesus. I want to be like Jesus. That was the panting. That was the hunger. That was the pursuit. We don't want to be seen. The work of God's word. Has effect in the sincere acts. Notice this we are doing. That you are living in sin. There is no conviction. There was some life we were not living. To touch a woman. Was it like a trance. Not just to touch a woman. To be with a sister in a room. Even in the prayer department. When the sisters come to the vestry. One of the offices. When you are there. You are convicted. It was then the Holy Ghost was. Because our hearts were virgin. We are the virgin hearts. By the spirit of God. Who came to circumcise our hearts. There were lives that we were convicted of. Let me ask you this question. How much interest you find in the world. How many of you have read. I am not saying that reading through the bible. Means that you are matured. But the truth of the matter is. If you are aiming spiritual growth. You become a student of the world. You must become a student of the world. You give yourself to the reading of the world. You spend quality time eating. Pieces in the world. You want to eat the world. So as a new born baby. Desire the sincere make of the world. That he might grow there by. One of the things that can bring spiritual growth. Is when you engage yourself. In the reading of the world. Deliberately. You read the word of God. You will not be deceived. I have been saying this. That you don't need to go and tap anointing. From any man of God. I was not taught that. Billy Abner didn't teach me that. Zack Pony didn't teach me that. W.F. Kumbui didn't teach me that. David Rickardson didn't teach me that. Paul Walsh didn't teach me that. John Weston didn't teach me that. Charles Higgins didn't teach me that. E.A. Bond didn't teach me that. These were people I followed. Leona Rivenhills didn't teach me that. They taught me that. If I want to get the anointing. That I must die to save. These were the things they taught me. And that was why we cried. That the flesh was crucified. They didn't teach me to go and be sowing seed. In every churches. That if I keep sowing seed I will get the anointing. This is not the things they taught me. When I read their books. When I listen to their tapes. How they got the anointing. They always relate it to the secret place. They always relate it to the secret place. They always Told me to go to the altar. Of the crucifying of the flesh. It is at the wine place. That you get the oil. Wine place. When you go to the wine place. Where the vine have been placed. That is where they get the juice. So if you want to get the ointment. If you want to get the oil. Put yourself on the altar. Of dying to save. I was not taught. To sow seed. I was taught to obey them to scripture. There was no picture. That they set before me to follow. They taught me to look unto Jesus. These were the men I followed. You may ask the man of God you are following. But I told you the men I followed. And these are the men that made me. And they are making me who I am. I will never deny the facts. Except when you come close to me. And sit with me you will know. That I am coming from these tribes. Bilal Kony. Is one of the men. That God used to shape in my life. Sincere meek of the world. Pride would die. These were the ones that teach me. That even in sickness. I should serve God. No matter the disease. No matter the earth. I can't give excuse. I can't allow my situation to be a reason. Why God's program should be shifted. It was from there I fed on this world. I am asking you this question. How is your relationship with the sincere world? What are you feeding on? What is your current meal? Some of you are so tied to church. That even if the church is not giving you. Well balanced diet. You are committed because you are religious. So you will hear people saying that. I am a member of this church because my father was a member of the church. Because my wife. I got married to her from the church. So we have to be member of the church. But how much interest do they find in your life? Are they growing your spiritual life? What are you planting after? What is the emphasis of their messages? What does their message lead you to? Where are they taking you to? What pushes you? What is above him in that place? Is it consecration? Is it holiness? So you must feed on the word of God. If you want to grow your spiritual man. Number two is meditation. Meditation is number two. See most of us we read the bible. But we don't meditate. You know your problem? One of your greatest enemy in this century. In this period is social media. Social media is one of your greatest enemy now. Do you know why? Social media is good. I am using it now. But you don't know when to use it. You finish reading your bible. In less than two minutes you pick your phone. To go and check whether someone sent you a message on whatsapp. Why would you be quiet? You switch off your phone. You put off the television. Sit down for like an hour. Pick a bible verse. Pick a bible verse. Read it for an hour. See if you do that for like a week. You will understand what intimacy is. So we read the bible. But the word does not dwell richly in us. In the book of Colossians. Chapter 3 verse 16. Colossians. Chapter 3 verse 16. The bible says in verse 16. Of Colossians. It says. Let the word of Christ. Dwell in you. Richly in all wisdom. Let the word of Christ. Dwell in you. Richly. The word of Christ can be heard with the ears. It can be heard. It can be read. But for it to dwell in you. It comes only through meditation. When you read the bible. You have read it. Which is good. Which is number one. But for that word. To dwell in you. For that word to dwell in you. You must be given to meditation. Let me even say this. If you say you want to operate in the prophetic. You must be a man or a woman of meditation. You must pen that. When I heard about the person of David Oliverpool. One of the man that shaped my Christian life. When I was in Port Harcourt. I came into his book. I came into his book for the first time in Port Harcourt. I was in Port Harcourt. I was confused. I don't know where I was going in life. I was confused. Then I got hold of one of his book. When I was reading the book. I put myself on 20 days fasting. It was on the 19th day of the 20 days fasting. That God sent a prophetess. To come and give me the instruction of the next level. When I was reading his book. Bishop David Oliverpool. Is one of the man I respect. One of the man I respect. Is giving to meditation. He can spend 2 hours meditating. Is a man that is giving to meditation. Is a man that is giving to meditation. Every day is fine time to meditate. You know those man that have their own private room. You know those man that have their own private room. I don't say it. One of the ways you will know that the spirit of God want to use you. Is that he always separates you from men. When the Holy Ghost is interested to use you. He will be calling you out for men. So you can be in the midst of people. A time will come. He will be whispering to you to leave everybody and go alone. That is a sign that God want to use you. That is a sign that God want to use you. There is a seduction. Something is seducing you to the secret place. Sometimes you will tell your wife. Say dear please let me just go to the other room to be alone. Say dear please let me just go to the other room to be alone. Something is always seducing you. You will call your children and call your family and say. I have my children and my wife. Please I want to go to the mountain. They say but you have your room. You say yes but the Lord is calling me. That is a sign because the Lord himself is interested in intimacy. That is a sign because the Lord himself is interested in intimacy. You must understand the place of meditation. You must understand the place of meditation. It was a practice in the Old Testament. It was a practice. It was a practice in the Old Testament that the people were given to meditation. It was a practice in the Old Testament that the people were given to meditation. If you are a Christian and you don't find time to meditate on the world. If you are a Christian and you don't find time to meditate on the world. You can't grow spiritually. You must find time. This book of the Lord shall not depart from their mouths. This book of the Lord shall not depart from their mouths. The Lord shall meditate day and night. There is a power. There is a frequency that will evolve out of meditation. There is a frequency that will evolve out of meditation. When you are meditating before you will cry out with faith you will not know. When you are meditating before you will cry out with faith you will not know. It is from meditation your deliverance can easily come. It is from meditation your deliverance can easily come. So that when you start meditating. So that when you start meditating. When you start meditating and you start meditating on the possibility of God. When you start meditating and you start meditating on the possibility of God. You start meditating on the word of God. You start meditating on the word of God. When you start meditating before you will cry out you will not know. You will be looking for a dead man to raise back to life. You will be looking for a dead man to raise back to life. It is from meditation that you will be looking for the blind eyes to open. It is from meditation that you will be looking for the blind eyes to open. When you start meditating on the omnipotency of God. When you start meditating on the omnipotency of God. When you start meditating on the holiness of God. When you start meditating on the holiness of God. And you start meditating on the power of God. Before you will jump back into the street raising the dead you will not know. It is from meditation. In meditation the word of Christ will begin to dwell in you richly. In meditation the word of Christ will begin to dwell in you richly. In meditation it dwells. And let me say this. The more you start meditating less time people will be seeing you in the public. The more you start meditating less time people will be seeing you in the public. You are looking for visibility. You want people to come to you. You are doing Facebook live. You are doing Facebook post to draw men. But you are not a man of the secret place. You are not a man that is finding time with God. You are not a man that is finding time with God. It doesn't work like that. If you want God. If you want to engage God. You will discover that visibility will not be your priority. I am telling you. When you start engaging with God. Visibility will not be your priority. There will be something that. Oh God. Baby said as the deer panted after the water brooks. So panted my soul after thee. When was the last time you were crying while praying. When was the last time that as you were praying alone you started crying. When was the last time that as you were praying alone you started crying. You started expressing your love to Jesus. You said oh Jesus I love you. When was the last time. When was the last time that in the place of prayer. You started sobbing. You started sobbing. That is when you surrender. It is in the place of prayer you surrender. And meditation is one of the way you can experience transformation. It is from meditation that the renewal of the mind can come. It is from meditation that the renewal of the mind can come. Because meditation is having a deep thinking. Because meditation is having a deep thinking. It is from meditation that the renewal of the mind takes place. It is from meditation that the renewal of the mind takes place. That you begin to meditate. As you begin to meditate. Your mind begins to renew. Transformation begins to take place. Transformation begins to take place. I remember when I saw an angel in 2009. I remember when I saw an angel in 2009. 2009 to 2010 I saw an angel. 2009 to 2010 I saw an angel. The first time I saw an angel I went to the church. The first time I saw an angel I went to the church. There was no service in the church. I just went to the church alone. I locked the doors. I lied down close to the altar. When I lied down close to the altar. I was a young believer at that time. I was learning the ways of the spirits. I only discovered that I will leave home. I will leave my parents. I will leave home. I will go to the church when there was no service. I will be inside the church from morning to night. I will begin to meditate. I will begin to meditate. It was that 2019, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015. It was that 2019, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015. That was when I began to have encounter with angels. That was when I began to have encounter with angels. That was when I began to have encounter with Jesus. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. When I sat down close to the altar. Enough of spiritual laziness. Enough of just being a church goer. Enough of just being a church goer. You must praise. You must praise in the place of meditation. Lord I want to know you. Lord I want to know you. I want to know you. I'm tired. I'm tired. Lord give me hunger. Give me hunger for your presence. Give me hunger for your presence. Give me hunger for your presence. Give me hunger for your presence. Give me hunger. Holy Ghost. I need hunger. What about you? You need hunger. We need hunger Lord. We want to pant after the water boots. As the deer panted after the water boots. So panted my soul after thee O God. My soul tested for being a cool and dry land. My soul tested for being a cool and dry land. I'm testing. I'm testing. It is in the place of meditation. And the last of it all is prayer. Number one reading the bible. Number two meditation. Number three prayers. We are going to stop here in prayers. Prayers. What is prayer? I say prayer is a means of transformation. It is as you begin to pray you begin to levitate. When you start praying you will levitate out of the flesh. You will levitate into the spirit. One of the ways for you to work in the spirit is to maintain a consistent prayer. If you are not prayerful you will keep masturbating. If you are not prayerful you will keep fornicating. If you are not prayerful you will keep going to watch pornography. The easiest way to conquer evil desire. The easiest way you can conquer evil desire is in the place of prayer. It is in the place of prayer. When your prayer life is going down there is an attack. You need to strive in the place of prayer. O God charge me. Lord put God in my heart. Let the spirit of prayer engulf me now. Let me press in the place of prayer. Teach me to pray like he is born. Like he is born. Teach me to pray. Teach me. The disciple told Jesus, Lord teach us to pray. You may think you are praying but until the Lord teaches you, you will know you have never started praying. There is a teaching there is a lecture that comes from the spirit. When it engages you in the place of prayer you will never remain the same. Teach me to pray. Holy God teach me. I have not yet learned to pray. I need to be trained to pray. A love of self glory. A love of flesh. Lord teach me to pray. Teach me. Put the spirit within me. How will I be sleeping when the message of God is going on? Even in this church you are sleeping. Teach me to pray. Teach me. You are going to close your eyes now as we begin to talk to the Lord. Begin to ask God to release upon you. The body to pray. Lick upon the sacred. Lick upon the Open your mouth and press in the place of prayer. And say Lord I want to pray. I want to pray. Release upon me the power to pray. Release upon me the passion. Let us say Lick upon the sacred. Open your mouth and press. Lord I want my spirit man to grow as the Lord. And say Lord release upon me. Release upon me. Help me to press in the place of prayer. Help me to press. Help me to press. Lord I want transformation. Lord I want relocation. I want to grow. I want to grow in the place of prayer. Open your mouth and begin to talk to the Lord. Make sure you are pressing. Make sure you are pressing. Make sure you are pressing. Make sure you are pressing. Open your mouth and pray. Open your mouth and begin to pray. Open your mouth and talk to the Lord. Say Lord teach me to pray. Say Lord teach me to pray. Say Lord teach me to pray. Make sure you are praying. Make sure you are praying. Holy Ghost we press in the place of prayer. Holy Ghost we press. We press. We press. We press. We press. Holy Ghost we press. We press. We press. Open your mouth and begin to talk to the Lord. Lord recharge me. Recharge me. Teach me to pray. Teach me to pray. Teach me to pray. Holy Ghost let me press in the place of prayer. Lord I want to press in the place of prayer. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Open your mouth and pray. Holy Ghost. Holy Ghost I press. I press. Open your mouth and press in the place of prayer. Holy Ghost. Holy Ghost. Holy Ghost. Holy Ghost. Holy Ghost. Holy Ghost. Holy Ghost. Holy Ghost. Holy Ghost. Holy Ghost. Holy Ghost. Holy Ghost. Holy Ghost. Holy Ghost.