The service, as usual, began with praise to God. The Church sang and praised Jesus. Humbled by His presence, they told Him how much they love Him! Being in church always brings joy, peace, tranquility, new sensations, and new opportunities.
Pastor Bose Adelaja began her sermon by inviting the congregation to listen to the Word of God. “It’s a great honor for me to serve you! I thank God for this opportunity! We will continue to study the Bible, and allow these lessons to convict us. I think they will be useful to us,” – she said.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:21-23).
Here Jesus wasn’t telling us something that has been, but that will be. Jesus always has both the present and the future in mind. We must be like Him, we should not worry about what is happening now, but think of where in life we want to be in five to ten years, and what we need to do to attain these goals.
Jesus was not superficial, and so we as believers should always think about the future, this helps us to break away from today’s unnecessary things and move ahead. Thinking about the future will help us to become mature in Christ.
It’s not enough to just identify ourselves with other Christians because it is impossible to do the will of Him whose name you call, but not know Him. The prerequisite for every Christian is to be in church, but Jesus wants us to have a proper understanding of why we go to church. Yes, going to church has its place in our lives, but God does not want our going to the church to become just a common thing: we need to think about our end, we must have depth in everything; we must test ourselves, to see if we live in God’s will, or if we are only impressed by outward things. Saying, “Lord, Lord!” is much easier than doing God’s will.
In verse 21, Jesus warns us against being deceived. God does not want to think we are going to heaven by doing certain things, only to hear on the last day “Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.”
Obedience is not an option, it is an inevitable necessity. Only those who obey God will enter the kingdom of God. For example, the Bible says, “Husbands, love your wives” (Eph. 5:25). This is not easy to do, but it must be done in order to get to heaven.
We are all believers, we all look alike outwardly, and we are all imperfect. But do we fulfill God’s will? There are general requirements for Christians, but there are others obligations that require instant obedience. This is the kind of obedience this Scripture is calling us to.
As you mature in God, work on yourself in order to learn how to instantly obey. It’s not enough to know the Word; we must do what the Word says.
What prevents us from fulfilling the will of God? It’s the love of the world, the love of wealth. These things prevent us from doing the will of God. We may pretend and create a Christian facade, but this image must be validated. Your essence is important, so you must work on it, living transparently before God, removing every hypocrisy, loving God, and seeing heaven.
When God draws a line, we shouldn’t move the line. We fulfill God’s will not according to the standard that we want, but according to what God said. If we want to outsmart God, we will end up being deceived by ourselves. We do not have to be partial believers; God does not allow us to change; to do His will today and not to do it tomorrow.
In conclusion, faith and obedience go together, as it is written,” faith without works is dead. “Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, do what God asks! We come to God saying, “Lord! My whole life belongs to You…! We draw near to Him by our lips, but where is our heart? God teaches us that when we do things for God, our heart and all areas of our lives should also belong to Him. Check your heart, so that your gifts would not blind your eyes. The gifts of God are irrevocable; God gives gifts and never takes them back. Let us not be blinded by our gifts or prophecies, but continue to keep our hearts and do the will of God! “- With these final words Pastor Bose completed today’s teaching.
May God bless you!
From Central Church Service
May 29, 2014, Kiev
Press center of the “Embassy of God Church “
