Transcription
Ah, this one, you need to listen to it in the name of Jesus Christ.
There are three groups of people you must be aware of. It requires great wisdom to deal with these people. Please, I want you to write this and learn. Ah, this one, you need to listen to it in the name of Jesus Christ.
These are destiny-defining principles. There are three groups of people you will always find around your life. It will take a lot of wisdom and discretion to deal with them. Otherwise, you will never arrive at the place of destiny. Are you ready?
Number one, wicked people. Don't worry, you are just right. Trust me. Are you ready? Let's talk about wicked people. Unfortunately, you may not be able to drive them indefinitely from your life. You will find them in your neighborhood. You will find them around your organization. And sometimes, as painful as it is, they will be too useful to be thrown away completely. Wicked people. I want to teach you something that you'll be grateful for.
Proverbs chapter 6 and verse 18. There are three groups of people. This is a lesson coming from an overcomer. "A heart that deviseth wicked imaginations." Part of the six things that the Lord hates. "A feet that be swift in running to mischief."
Let's read Proverbs chapter 4, please, from verse 14 to 17. Wisdom is coming for someone now in the name of Jesus. It says, "Enter not into the path of the wicked and go not in the way of evil men." Uh-huh. Avoid it. It says, "Pass not by it. Turn from it and pass away."
Verse 16, the Bible says, "For they sleep not except they have done mischief, and their sleep is taken away until they cause someone to fall." Verse 17, "For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence."
There are people like that on earth. Believe me, I'm not just trying to be negative. There are people who have chosen to partner with the devil to be wicked. An evil heart, it is called. There are wicked people in our world. There are wicked people around your organization. There are wicked people in church. There are wicked people in society. It is not within your power to drive them away. You have to sustain the wisdom to need them. Some of those wicked people are your superiors for now. You must learn to walk with them. Some of those wicked people, they come in various forms. Believers must be educated to know how to deal with wicked people.
Number two, the second of the three groups of people you must be aware of if you want to enjoy the life of an overcomer is selfish people. I will tell you the difference shortly, but please write. Number one, wicked people. Number two, ignorant/naive people. Write it down and I'll explain. Ignorant/naive people. Naive is spelled n-a-i-v-e. Naive people. What does it mean to be naive? To show lack of consciousness. To show lack of experience. Are we together? To show lack of wisdom, lack of maturity, lack of judgment. There are people who are void of that level of maturity. They are called naive. A naive person is like a notebook that nothing has been written on. That's what makes them dangerous because they become whatever is suddenly written there. The easiest people to deceive are not wicked people. They are the deceivers themselves. They are not selfish people, but naive people.
Now, let me tell you this. When Satan wants to destroy you, the greatest tool he needs is a wicked person. If he cannot find a wicked person, he will make do with a selfish person. If he cannot find a selfish person, he will make do with a naive person. All three can cause the same harm to your life. The difference is that a wicked person does his wickedness from a premeditated standpoint. So, before and after your pain, they are happy. It was the plan. A selfish person, like Judas, is focused on making money out of Jesus, not with the intention for Jesus to die. Usually, when the harm is done and they have what they are looking for, then they have the conscience to regret and they say, "But I didn't want it to go this far." Have you heard of people who beat someone till the person died and when they are in police custody, they would tell you, "The plan was not to kill the person. I arranged a kidnap of the person so that I will get 10 million. I didn't plan that the person will die."
Wicked people, selfish people, ignorant or naive people can be tools that can become a disaster to your life, except and unless you sustain the wisdom to live with them. Unfortunately, for the rest of your life, you will be immersed in the midst of these kinds of people every day, including tomorrow, including forever. You would think that because Jesus was the Son of the living God, he would not have these kinds of people around him. They were among his disciples. Unfortunately, they were among the scribes and the Pharisees. They were among the members of his congregation. They were among the onlookers. And for the rest of his life on earth, Jesus, your Jesus, my Jesus, as the Word of God, the Word God incarnate, he lived in the midst of these people.
Do you know all these three people? I don't have the time to show you. I would have shown you that all these three people played a role together and made the death of Jesus possible. Even though we know now that it was the hidden wisdom of God, but these three groups of people: the naive people who said, "Crucify him, let his blood be upon our heads," the scribes and the Pharisees who plotted it intentionally, and Judas who wanted to make money out of Jesus, not to destroy him.
Ladies and gentlemen, please hear me. If you do not sustain the wisdom to walk with these people, you will get into trouble. Hallelujah. Especially naive people. I hope you know that the first fall was because of this.
Number three. Are you ready for the third? Selfish people. Who are they? Who are these groups of people called selfish? Now, please watch this. Selfish people are not necessarily evil people. They are just people who are indifferent about your state, provided they get what they are looking for. The character of selfishness is that it does not mind who is wounded in the process. The most important thing for a selfish person is obtaining their desire. It does not matter who dies. It does not matter who cries. It does not matter who is in pain. A selfish person does not see anything at their side. All they see is what they desire. They want it so bad. It does not matter who dies. They will betray family for it. They want it so bad. They will do anything, provided it ends with them achieving it. Are we together now? A selfish person has no business harming you if there is nothing that becomes a point of conflict between both of you. You may even look like an ally for a while. Unfortunately, you will find these people everywhere. And I'm hoping and praying with all my heart that you are not one of those people.
The woman you call Eve, Eve did not fall because she was a wicked woman. No, she was beguiled. Corinthians 11 and:3. Did I get that right? Please give us that. But I fear. That's right. "Lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through subtilty." You see that now? So your mind should be corrupted by the simplicity that is in Christ. Satan comes to a naive woman and begins to sell a narrative and sell an idea. How many good people have been turned into wicked people because they were so naive? It is the reason why believers must be trained and be mentored. There are people today who have been made to steal. They are not thieves. They were just naive. There are many young boys today that have been made to join terrorist groups. By the time they catch these boys, some of them are barely teenagers in their early adulthood. And you would find out they were just indoctrinated with extremist views. They were not wicked people by default. They were not selfish people by default. They were just naive, uneducated, unexposed people who became victims of the desire and the plan of others. I'm praying for you. Whatever will make you a prey in the hand of Satan and in the hand of wicked men, I'm praying in the name of Jesus. May God not allow that thing come around your life. [Applause]
Tonight's message may not apply to everybody. There are people who are too innocent to benefit from this message. They have not grown enough to see the value of this message. There are teachings that you need to archive. You may not understand the implication till you rise beyond certain levels. Then you will rush and look at that message. There are those for whom this is a description of the season that they found themselves in. Hallelujah.
Three groups of people. This one, it was a direct teaching that the Holy Spirit taught me. I did not read it in any book. These three groups of people, as much as possible, you keep praying and sanitizing your environment, but you have to get used to it. The cosmos is filled with a mixed multitude. Believers are just a portion of those on earth. Did the Bible not tell you not all men have faith? That means don't expect everybody to say, "God bless you." You find "God bless you" in church, but you will not find "God bless you" everywhere. There are people who will honor you and say, "Apostle, God bless you." But there are other people who are vicious and wicked. There are others who are selfish. Unfortunately, this selfishness has spilled even to spouses, spilled into leaders. There are people who will not mind their entire families go down, with all due respect, provided they go forward. There are parents who will not mind their children becoming prostitutes, provided they return with money for them to eat. The Lord will show us mercy in Jesus' name.
Can I still give you one more? Whenever you see an overcomer, there are men who know this: that among all the people who say, "Apostle, sir, yes sir, yes ma, Your Majesty, you are the greatest man of God in the world," among those meek multitudes, you must have the intelligence to discern that there are wicked people, there are selfish people, there are naive people. But like I taught you when I taught you on destiny helpers, I'm happy to also announce to you that there are sincere people. Do not think everyone is out to destroy you. No, don't allow your pain to stop you from knowing that there are sincere people. Don't throw the baby and the bathwater. I need to balance this before we get to the last point.
There are sincere people. I pray you become one of them. That you become a breath of fresh air to someone. And that the person will say, "From the day you came into my life, you healed me from the pain of 20 years. I never believed that there would be Christians who could be sincere, but thank God for the gift of you." I'm praying again for someone who came to church saying, "God, please bring a good friend to my life. I'm tired of people piercing me. I've spent my life with injuries from betrayals. May my God, who is also your God, send sincere people to you."
Can I tell you, sincere people have a therapeutic effect. When you find godly and sincere people, you can sleep with your eyes closed. And the thing about life and about God is, one sincere person can bring the healing. The healing that a hundred people may have caused for you. There are sincere people. Burn this at the back of your mind. Probably you are seated next to one. There are sincere people. Don't draw a conclusion from your years of pain and betrayal, from your years of whatever. "Oh, they cheated me in business. Oh, church people are terrible. All pastors are demons." No, don't conclude like that. There are still sincere people. There are still sincere people. This is a prophetic message for someone. Are there still good men? Yes. Are there still good women? Yes. Are there still good parents? Yes. Are there still good politicians? Yes. Are there still good leaders? Yes. Are there still good men of God? Yes. Are there still sincere Christians? Yes. If you are not part of that sincere army, there is room for you to join. But do not conclude that all men are evil. You may be wrong. There are evil men. There are selfish men. There are naive men. But my goodness, there are men who are called gifts. When they come into your life in a moment, believe me when I tell you this. This ministry, Koinonia, you see, has enjoyed the ministry of such men. There are a few of these men God has brought into my own life. Truly, you can call them consolations by God.
And Adam had children. He knew his wife. He had Cain and Abel. What did Abel do for Cain to kill him? Cain killed Abel and was arguing with God. You can imagine the pain of that loss in the heart of Eve. But then the Bible says it beautifully. And Adam knew his wife again. And she bore Seth. And the Bible says, "Men began to call upon the name of the Lord." I'm praying for you one more time. Maybe to a preacher who has been badly wounded, betrayed by the people around you. Maybe some parents, you have trusted people and they went behind your back and caused you pain. Your heart is bleeding right now. You've lost money. You've lost trust. You shared secrets about your life with people and they made a shipwreck of your destiny. As a consolation, may my God send true gifts to your life. May my God send good people to your ministry, to your business, to your organization in the name of Jesus Christ.
Because of a story that I heard, a true story of a woman who arranged a kidnap of one of her loved ones by herself. Arranged that kidnap and was joining all the people to cry too. How many young boys today talk to arm robbers and say, "My father has money in this other room, the second one." And when the armed robbers come, plus the boy, they tell him to lie down too, and he will lie down, and you will think he's innocent. By the time they carry the money, it is when the sharing formula goes wrong, usually that's where people just scatter everything. Hallelujah. I'm praying for you.
Making reference to my teaching, "The Seeing Eyes." Anybody who you have drawn to your life and is holding a sword you cannot see on your neck. I'm crying unto my God tonight. May God open your eyes to see this night. May God open your eyes to see this night. Listen, in this world, if God does not show you mercy, you will be helping to hold the knife that will kill you and not know. I'm not planting fear. This is wisdom. This is how life works.
Number eight, lessons from an overcomer. The eighth and final destiny-defining principle that I want you to learn tonight is this: Define the most important things in your life. Not everything is worth dying for. Define the most important things in your life, and I will guide you. Not everything is worth dying for. Please don't kill yourself unnecessarily. There are things that are not worth dying for.
Eighth principle: Define the most important things in your life. Not everything is worth dying for. There are people who have died today. If they had the opportunity to come back, they would smack themselves on the cheek and say, "It was not worth it." I can tell you, everything in life does not hold equal value. You will never rise to the state of an overcomer and have wasted the lesson from your discussion with an overcomer if you do not know this. All great people, all champions in the spirit, in ministry, in organizations, and in life, they know. Some of them have learned from their many years of pain that not everything in life is worth dying for. I have studied the subject of fulfillment myself, and I have taught you a few teachings around fulfillment. I refer you to two of my teachings: One, "What Seekest Thou?" Number two, "The Law of Seasons." But in my studying the subject of success and fulfillment, I found out at the end of my study and gleaning from the wisdom of fathers and champions indeed, that there are only three things that are worth dying for.
The most important thing in your life is defined as what you can die for, not what you are living for. The most important things in your life are defined not just because you are living for them, but that you can die for them. Anything you cannot die for is not that important. Don't let it give you a heart attack. There are people today carrying self-inflicted health concerns because they have put themselves in positions where they have not defined the most important things.
Can I share with you my perspective about the three most important things in your life? Number one, your relationship with Jesus. This is the first thing that is worth dying for. Not just living for, it is worth dying for. If you can only live for Jesus, you are not serious. Genuine love is demonstrated in the ability to both live and, if need be, die for a cause. Your relationship with Jesus. Mark chapter 8, 35-37. At the center of it all, it's you that I see. It's you that I see. [Music] At the center of it all, it's you that I see. It's you that I see.
Give us that scripture. Mark 8:35. "For whosoever will save his life, is that in your Bible? He shall lose it. But whosoever shall lose whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it." Reading to verse 37, "For what shall it profit a man," the Bible says, "if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
Ladies and gentlemen, your relationship with Jesus is the guarantee of your eternal destiny. It should be the most important thing in your life. It is not a preacher's manipulation. No. No. No. I don't care what you have. I don't care what you do well in. If Jesus is not at the epicenter of your life, you have not defined your priorities. Right.
Number two, what is the second thing worth dying for? Your family, both biological and spiritual. Family is worth dying for. When Job lost everything in his life, the only thing that was left was family. Business could not stand the test of time. Reputation could not stand the test of time. Assets, as we call them, could not stand the test of time. At the end of his life, only one woman stood by his side. And even that woman stood there in her pain, and she said, "Why do you hold on to your integrity, Job? Curse God and die." But at least she stood by him. Can I tell you, respect those who can see all your limitations and still love you for who you are. Not everybody has that patience. If you do not respect those who have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly and still love you the way you are, you are making a big mistake. Worth dying for: Jesus and the gospel. Worth dying for: family.
Now, I know that a lot of people say all kinds of things about church, and they are largely right. "Oh, church is full of hypocrites. Church is full of this." But can I tell you, the safest place you can ever be spiritually is the house of God. In the midst of all these stories here and there, you will still find people who love you in church. You will still find those who will cry with you in church. If you think I'm joking, lose a loved one or let something happen, and that's when you will know that many people are selfish. It is in church you will find someone who does not know you, but just seeing you cry can come to you and say, "What is the matter? Can I help you?" Don't get used to wicked people and think everyone is wicked. In church, there are good people. There are all kinds of vessels: vessels of clay, vessels of wood, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold.