TEXT JOHN 7: 1-END:
You are advised to practise the word of God. The main thrust of our discourse is rooted in verses sixteen and seventeen of our text: "Jesus answered and them and said, my doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me. If any man will do His will, he shall know the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." (John 7:16-17).
Reflect on the above excerpt, you will discover why you are warned not to utter evil words on the man of God. If you live according to the dictate of the flesh you shall perish, but if you use the Spirit to destroy the work of the flesh, you are sure of eternal life.
All visions and prayers offered in the flesh are not effective. But visions, dreams, and prayers which are directed by the Spirit to destroy the work of the flesh are effective. If you are prompted by the Spirit to attend a Bible Class Lecture, or to offer prayers for somebody, you must not suppress the instinct. It will be a sad situation if you do not act immediately. Your individual knowledge means nothing compared with that of the Spirit.
We set aside days for Bible Class and other occasions to bring to your knowledge what is expected of you in the kingdom, and for you to be able to explain the scriptures to others outside the kingdom. This is my motive for preaching to you daily. It is generally accepted that Brotherhood of the Cross and Star is the greatest among all institutions of higher learning in the world.
There is no church or school which can rival Brotherhood of the Cross and Star.
BROTHERHOOD OF THE CROSS AND STAR TEACHES GOD'S WISDOM:
No institution can be compared to Brotherhood of the Cross and Star in terms of teaching good ideas and values. It is wrong to use KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM interchangeably. What is acquired in the school is knowledge. Formal education teaches about things of the world, the society, and man's existance. This knowledge does not have spiritual connotation. Hence it is vanity. Brotherhood of the Cross and Star on the other hand, teaches the wisdom of God and His existance. Its preoccupation is to direct you on how to have eternal life and what to do to obtain salvation. These essential aspects of life are not taught in schools. Our teachings, that is Brotherhood of the Cross and Star teachings, are rooted in this scripture: "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in Him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the spirit of the world, but the spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we know the things that are freely given to us of God." (1st Corinthians 2:11-12).
YOU ARE A STAR ANYWHERE:
A true Brotherhood of the Cross and Star member is a Star anywhere he/she goes to. This is because of the wisdom of God in him/her. This kingdom is the highest university in the world which teaches the Gospel of God. IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHETHER WHAT IS PREACHED TO YOU IS FROM GOD, YOU SHOULD PUT THE WORD INTO PRACTICE. To know and recite the story of Christ's birth is not enough to say that one is well versed in the scriptures. This is the worldly knowledge. To be well versed in the scriptures, one must be able to cite many references accurately and also practise the word of God.
The worldly knowledge means nothing compared with what you receive from Brotherhood of the Cross and Star. The university graduates know and speak wordly things, but those with the wisdom of God speak scriptures. Brotherhood of the Cross and Star is concerned with the true God. This is the God who owns the heavens and the earth. The worldly knowledge is an appendage to Brotherhood of the Cross and Star's teachings.
SHUN MEDICATION:
The wisdom of God directs you in all your endeavors and guides you to success. The Father's teachings lead you to prosperity, dignity and beauty. If you can heed the Father's injunction, that you should not patronize both Western and traditional medicine, you will see that those who patronize these hospitals and shrines are not as healthy as you are.
A brother who lives in Italy testified how an Italian took ill and was bedridden. He tried many medical experts who failed him. But he was cured when he accepted Brotherhood of the Cross and Star. He was asked to bow down his head and write the inscription Leader Olumba Olumba Obu (Three O's) on his forehead with water. The man did and he was healed immediately. The Italian was surprised at the miracle which the inscription O.O.O. did for him.
MEDICAL DOCTORS ARE IGNORANT OF OUR PROBLEMS:
When you visit a medical doctor for treatment, he would ask you many questions before he can arrive at his diagnosis. He would not say exactly what your problems are, because he does not know the cause. Can this aspect alone not demonstrate that those doctors are quack? Before the doctors arrive at their decision, your urine, blood and other elements will be tested. This further portrays them as being ignorant of people's problems. What then is the need of going to the hospital, when doctors are not competent to handle your problems. You should be ashamed of going for x-ray and Dilation and curettage (D&C) in the hospitals.
Sister Udofia of the University of Cross River State, Uyo, Nigeria was once told by a medical doctor at Port Harcourt that she had a pseudo-pregnancy, but a day after this verdict, the sister gave birth to twin babies. This is one of the types of misinformation these doctors give patients who patronize them and these patients are victims of ignorance. The world has forgotten
what the scriptures directs us to do when sick: "Is any sick among you? Let them call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availateth much." (James 5: 14-16).
DISOBEDIENCE IS YOUR PROBLEM:
You are warned not to fornicate, tell lies, practise occultism among other sinful acts, but you would not obey. These sinful acts which you wallow in are the cause of your problems. Taking injections or tablets bring different problems to you. I wonder whether you are aware of this fact. Have you ever met a doctor who said you should confess your sin before treatment? Ever since you started to frequent hospitals, have you been cured of your problems completely? What is the cause of suffering, sickness and death? It is disobedience. It is a lie to believe that your problems are caused by witches or other evil spirits.
Why are you advised not to tell lies, not to steal and to respect your parents? All these pieces of advice are to help you live a worthy life. Read the scripture to know what God says about unwholesome acts. " Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth my servants to commit fornication, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and I gave her space to repent of her fornication, and she repented not, Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts; and I will give unto everyone of you according to your works. (Revelation 2:20-23).
REFRAIN FROM SIN:
Have you seen why people die indiscriminately in the hospitals? If you want to behold sickness or death, you should go the hospital to see things for yourself. BUT IF YOU WANT LIFE YOU SHOULD EMBRACE GOD. DO YOU KNOW THAT CHRIST IS THE ONE TELLING YOU NOT TO FORNICATE,NOT TO HATE, AND NOT TO COMMIT ADULTERY? Why do you trust in people who fornicate and commit all sorts of sins? You should know that it is against the teachings of Christ to sacrifice to idols. You should discontinue this act.
The problems on earth are traceable to sins; it is for this reason I advise you to refrain from sin. Read what happened to Israel in the days of old. "Saying unto Aaron, make us gods to go before us for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the Land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idols and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? (Acts 7:40-42).
The fact that mankind's problems are caused by his sinful acts explains why Brotherhood of the Cross and Star is out against sin. This is so because the moment you fornicate, steal, or tell lies, these sins do come back to you as afflictions. There is no evil power working against you, rather you are the cause of your problems. Get acquainted with the word of God and practise them and you will be free from these troubles. Do not think that you are alone on earth. God and His angels are with you. There are different kinds of Angels. The ones that carry blessings and the ones which carry afflictions, according to your works.
YOU ONLY COMPOUND YOUR PROBLEMS BY GOING TO THE HOSPITAL OR THE OCCULTIST IN THE VIEW TO SOLVING YOUR PROBLEMS. WHAT IS THE SENSE IN BEING A CHRISTIAN AND STILL PRACTISING OCCULTISM AND OTHER DIABOLICAL ACTS? WITH THIS KIND OF BEHAVIOR THE ANGELS OF GOD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU, THEY ONLY HAND YOU OVER TO THE DEVIL WHO TAKES CONTROL OF YOU.
ILLUSTRATION: THE WAGES OF SINS:
There is a story of a man who was destined to be rich, even before his birth. It was predestined that the man would have seven canoes full of merchandise. Immediately at birth, the man had seven canoes full of merchandise. It did not take this man a long time to have a second, third and forth and fifth canoe each full with wealth.
When the sixth canoe was about to come, people advised this young man that he should initiate into secret cult so that he could give protection to his wealth, lest it depreciated instead of increasing. This marked the beginning of his ruin. He further tried his hands on other juju to secure what was left for him. His wealth decreased drastically the more. The more he engaged in this thing, the more he became impoverished. At the end of it all, he became insolvent.
However, since God is merciful, he was still getting some money to sustain him, which was five hundred pounds daily. This man was still bent on using this money given to him by grace for diabolical acts. Because of this stubbornness, God reduced his earnings from five hundred pounds to three hundred pounds daily. This continued till he was left with fifty pounds daily.
Finally his daily income was slashed down to ten pounds. At this point, an angel of God appeared to him with a Bible and asked him about the whereabouts of the six canoes. The angel warned him that if he continued in his diabolical acts, he would not have up to ten shillings as his daily income. The angel told him to abstain from such practises if he wanted to get back his wealth. He was told that if he continued in his evil acts, he would lose his life at the end of it. This man listened to the angel, took the angel's advice. He burnt all the idols in his house, he then picked up his Bible and followed God.
ACCEPT GOD AS YOUR SAVIOR:
On recognizing God and accepting Him as his Savior , his wealth came back to him in no time. When you are in sin, the devil will use you and make anything he wants of you. But if you are righteous, the holy angels take care of you. So, if you seek to immortalize your life through amulet and talisman, you would be losing your life.
"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it." (Mark 8:35).
Most people come to Brotherhood of the Cross and Star because they feel that they have enemies who are after them. People think that they are bewitched and haunted by devils. These are the things which do not exist and you claim they are plaguing your life. Do you believe that one can stay without any carnal means of protection without being harmed? But that is what is happening in Brotherhood of the Cross and Star. Because of fear, man engages himself in incongruous things, and this is why the world believes erroneously that God helps only those who help themselves. This makes them to initiate into one secret society or the other. You are merely deceiving yourself. This informs what the scripture advises man about defilement of body.
"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." (1st Corinthians 3:16-17).
YOU ARE GOD'S TEMPLE:
You refer to a lady as your girlfriend and a man as your boyfriend. And you believe that you derive pleasure from sexual intercourse. You refuse to marry, but you rather plunge yourself into promiscuity. Do you know you are heading to your death? This is an unwholesome act which you must put a stop to. You should know that you are the temple of God. In order to make yourself worthy for God's abode, you should refrain from fornication and other sinful acts.
I wonder what is the matter with members of Brotherhood of the Cross and Star that they cannot obey Me. I want you to refrain from these things which defile you. You should realise that you are God's temple. Sinful acts do not bring glory to God. God cannot live in you at the verge of depravity. If you part with sins, He will abide in you and promise not to abandon you. See the scripture: "I will not leave you comfortless. I will come back to you." (John 14:18).
Naturally, God had made you His abode but the fact that you indulge in fornication, drunkenness and other vices, you had been forsaken by God. The more you indulge in sin, the more you court inexplicable problems to yourself. And there is no amount of sacrifice that can help you, except you confess your sins and denounce them. You should know that you have sinned against God but not man. And so you should repent.
CONFESS YOUR SINS:
ONLY CONFESSION AND ABSTENTION FROM SINS CAN BRING SALVATION TO MANKIND. THERE IS NO POINT IN GOING TO A PARTICULAR PLACE FOR SALVATION. GOD IS OMNIPRESENT AND HE HEARS YOUR SUPPLICATIONS.
*THERE IS NO NEED FOR YOU TO GO AND FIND GOD AT THE HEALING HOME. YOU SHOULD PRAY FOR FORGIVENESS AND REFRAIN FROM YOUR SINFUL ACTS, BECAUSE THE FATHER IS ALWAYS WITH YOU. YOU SHOULD NOT SPEND YOUR HARD-EARNED MONEY TRYING TO FIND THE CAUSE OF YOUR PROBLEMS, BECAUSE ALL SUCH THINGS ARE A WASTE OF MONEY. YOUR SINS ARE YOUR PROBLEMS; IF YOU FORSAKE YOUR SINS, YOU WILL LIVE A PROBLEM FREE LIFE.
GOD CANNOT BE BOUGHT IN THE MARKET. THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN BEHOLD GOD AND HAVE HIS BLESSING IS TO BOW DOWN YOUR HEAD KNEEL DOWN AND PRAY TO YOUR GOD, YOU WILL RECEIVE PEACE. GOD IS IN YOU AND YOU ARE WITH GOD. KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS AND ALL YOUR PROBLEMS ARE OVER. THIS IS VINDICATED IN THE SCRIPTURE:
"My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know Him." (1 John 2:1-3).
May my peace and blessing abide with the entire world. Amen.
Thank You Father.
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