 Okay. Welcome once again to the course on Healing and Deliverance. Hope you guys are all doing well. Thanks for joining in. Let's get started with the Word of Prayer. And can I quickly request Hazelidoli, if you mind just leading us off with the Word of Prayer, please. Okay, sure, Pastor. Let us pray. For God we come before the presence and the name of Jesus. But we thank you so much for this beautiful morning that you have blessed us as we begin our session. I pray for our pastor. I thank you for the grace that you have given to him to teach us this morning. And also want to thank you for each one of us who have joined and also I pray for our other friends who are going to join that everything will be alright and it will be clear and everyone will be able to attend the class, Lord. And all the Spirit you lead us and you teach us, Lord. We give you the praise, the glory and the honor in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen, amen. Thank you, Hazelidoli. Okay, let me go ahead and share my screen. So as that comes up in the meanwhile, so we've finished nine chapters, chapter nine, chapter one to chapter nine. And as I mentioned in the last class, chapters 11, sorry, chapters 10, 11 and 12 will be covered in other courses. Okay, that is in BC 112. We'll cover what you guys are already doing, which is believers, authority, demonology and deliverance. That chapter 10 and 11 will be covered in that and then in a wholeness that's chapter 12 will be covered in the next semester. So that's that and which now is leading us into chapter 13, the local church as a healing and delivering community. Now if we are able to finish the next three chapters today, which means today will be our last gathering as a class and so we will not be having, we will not be meeting. So let's see if we are able to go through this oceans today. But yeah, okay, I hope you guys are all well and hope you guys are ready. So let's go, let's take from chapter 13. Talks about the local church as a healing and delivering community. The local church as a healing and then delivering community. Okay, as you can see, it's highlighted as well. One of the greatest desires of God's heart is to dwell among his people. He desires to have a people through whom his glory will be manifested on the earth. Okay, just think about those lines. God's heart is to dwell among his people. His desire to have a people through whom his glory will be manifested on the earth. It's so humbling and in so many levels to know that he wants us, that he wants to flow through us and then he wants to make known his glory through us, his people. Right, just look at the first sentence. God, his heart is to dwell among his people. In those words, his people, my flesh and my blood, my kin, it's all related to when you're referring to your family, your kin, like your blood brother, you know, that's how it is. It's so intimate. It's not just saying his people, okay, you know, the nation of Israel, it's not just random thought, but it's super intimate. Right, it's like we are his and he is ours. And if you read from the book of Genesis, all the way to Revelation, one of the recurring themes, time and time and time again, you can even probably Google this, you know, this verse, where God says, time and time again, that I will be your God, you will be my people. Or you will be my people and I will be your God. It's just Google it and you'll be amazed at the times that verse comes up, that sentence, that statement keeps coming up. And so that is his heart. And that was his heart from the time of creation. It's, you know, going back to Genesis one and Genesis two, when he created everything that he created. And then he, you know, in the garden of Eden, where he puts man and his wife, Adam and Eve in the garden. And then, you know, just holding on to the thought, the garden of Eden. And then when you look at the tabernacle of Moses and later on, the temple that Solomon builds eventually, we see so much, so many similarities between the garden of Eden and the tabernacle of Moses. So why am I even talking about it? Let's just give it a minute. The entrance to the tabernacle of Moses was on the east, eastern side. And then when you read in Genesis chapter two, you'll see the entrance to the garden of Eden was also east. Okay. And then you see the tree of life. It's again, very symbolic to the golden lampstand in the holy place, not the most holy place, but the holy place, right, the inner courts. And in the garden of Eden, as the narration goes, you'll see there's a river that is flowing out. And I forget this. Oops. Sorry. So there's a river that flows off in the garden of Eden, right? You guys remember that? And then if we just quickly read, let me see if I can get that verse, Psalm 46, verse four, Psalm 46 verse four. I'll paste it in the chat section. Psalm 46 verse four says, there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God. Okay. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation, the holy habitation of the most highest, like a dwelling place, his resting place. Okay. Now, why am I saying that? So in the garden of Eden, there is this river that talks about flowing from the garden of Eden. And then it kind of divides itself into four tributaries. And one of the tributaries flows into the land of Peshon, right? And it says, that is the land of pure gold, aromatic and precious stones. Okay. Look at that pure gold, aromatics and precious stones. All of these three elements are associated with the temple, right? And it is in the garden of Eden where he walked in the cool of the garden. And that's where he met, you know, with Adam and they fellowship, they had this conversation. And so that's where he dwelled. So the garden of Eden was God's dwelling place on earth. That's where he would meet with mankind. But what happens after the fall is that they were separated, right? They were disconnected from his spirit. So our history says approximately the timeline between the fall and, and somewhere in the chat, in Exodus chapter 25. So for that's that the gap there is about 2,500 years, more or less, from the time of the fall in Genesis three to Exodus 25. Why Exodus 25? Because it is that is where God tells Moses, make them build me a sanctuary that I may dwell among you. So for 2,500 years since the fall, there was no resting place or a dwelling place for God. From the beginning, the heart of God was always to be in the midst of his people, right? And then later on, we will read scripture once again at Psalm 22 verse 3, but I'll refer to refer to it anyways says he is enthroned on the praises of his people. He is in the midst of his people, right? He's in the midst of his people. So I hope you guys are with me. You know, God's heart is to dwell. The other word for dwell is tabernacle. They pitch a tent, be in the middle of his people. Okay. So God's heart is to dwell among his people. He desires to have a people through whom his glory will be manifested on the earth. The local church is to become a community through which his glory will be released. Each local church is to become a healing and a delivering community, releasing God's glory to the world around. Amen. So let's dive in deeper and see what this chapter has to teach us. Hosting the presence of God as a community. Hosting the presence of God as a community. Imagine a local community of believers among whom God dwells, among whom God tabernacles, among whom God rests. Imagine what our local churches would be like if we made him and his presence a central focus. Imagine if we didn't make it about the politics and about the denominations, about doctrines and what we understand, which is all important, by the way, is, you know, which is not only about music and the stages and the lights and the setup and how huge our auditoriums are, how small our auditoriums are. If we were not fixated on those things and made him, his presence a central focus. Imagine how it would be like, because it is possible to do church and pretend like everything is well without his presence. Just like during the times of Jesus, when the Ark of the Covenant was captured during the time of Jeremiah, where Jeremiah tries to hide it and then the Babylonians, you know, it was hidden from the Babylonians. But for a long time, the Israelites, more so the priesthood tribe, the Levitical priesthood, pretended like everything was fine when the Ark of the Covenant, which symbolized the presence of God, when it was not there in the Holy of Holies, right? When Jesus was walking on the earth, the Ark of the Covenant was not in the temple. So it is possible for us to do church and pretend like everything is awesome and more than amazing without his presence. But imagine what churches would look like with his presence and if we made Jesus a central focus, right? Imagine a community of whom it can be said, God is in their midst. Healing and deliverance, divine provision, everything else that we need for life will be experienced by everyone who is part of such a community. Amen? Healing and deliverance, divine provision and everything else that we need for life will be experienced by everyone who is part of such a community. And immediately, I'm thinking of the time of the Israelites in the wilderness, how beautifully God provided for them, right? Supernatural, divine miracles, everything that they ever needed was provided for them in the wilderness. And this doesn't stop there. As they kept progressing in the Joshua generation, the Canaanites, their enemy had heard of what this God had done to the Egyptians. They had heard that this almighty God is with them, that he goes before them, right? In a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire. And so the word had spread kilometers, kilometers ahead that, hey, there is this people who is coming with whom that there is God is in their midst. And we heard of what he did to the Egyptian armies. Isn't that amazing, right? So when God is in our midst, everybody around us will know that he is there because nobody can ignore his presence. His presence cannot go unnoticed. I'm just again reminded of this beautiful act of worship from that woman in the alabaster jar. She walks in as a sinner, as an adulterous woman in that community, in that society. She's known for all the immoral life that she's lived, but she brings that alabaster jar. She breaks it at the feet of Jesus and she wipes his feet with her hair. And then all of a sudden the atmosphere in the room changes. The full room is filled with fragrance and as she's walking by imagining that people in that room start beginning to talk. Is that fragrance coming from the feet of Jesus or is it coming from her hair? So the point here is that people will know, the world will know if you've been with Jesus and if Jesus has been with you and if God is in your midst, amen. So let's just look at Psalm 132 verse 13 and 18. It says, For the Lord has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his dwelling place. He has desired it for his dwelling place. Now that word desire there is not just like, okay, I want that. I want this. I need that. I desire for this thing. It's not just that. It's the same word that is used for Cain in Genesis. When you go back and read it says, Sin desires to consume him. That means it's just waiting to bounce on it and just consume all of it. It's like a fire that's wanting to consume and it will not be satisfied until it has it. And that's the desire it's talking about here is that he cannot wait until he has everything of it until he wants to consume it. And that's what it says. For the Lord has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his dwelling place. That's where he wants to tabernacle his resting place. This is my resting place forever. Here I will dwell for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy her poor with bread. I will also clothe her priests with salvation and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There I will make the horn of David grow. I will prepare a lamp for my anointed. His enemies I will clothe with shame, but upon himself his crown shall flourish. Okay, so God chooses where he wishes to dwell. Where he causes his presence to abide. Okay, so let's break this sound down, these few verses down and see what really happens to his people, right, to us when God, when we learn to host his presence, when God is in our midst, when he, when he dwells, when he pitches his tent in our midst. Okay, so this is what happens. Verse 15 it says, right, I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy her poor with bread. Means there is supernatural provision, prosperity and blessing. There is no lack for anything. Okay, verse 16. I will also clothe her priests with salvation and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. Okay, I will clothe her priests with salvation and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There is salvation means there is forgiveness, there is healing, there is deliverance, victory, wholeness, total well-being. And the joy of salvation that resounds continually among us. Okay, I'm just reminded of the scripture. Let me see if I can get that for us. A very popular scripture that we are all aware of. Zephaniah 317. Zephaniah, put that in the chat section for us. The Lord your God is in your midst. A mighty one who will save, he will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you by his love. He will exalt over you with loud singing. Okay, when he's in our midst, look at some more things that's happening when he's present. So when he is there, there is joy, there is laughter, there is peace, there is total well-being, there is peace that passes all understanding because he is the prince of peace. The Bible says, isn't it? And Rome said, the God of peace soon crush Satan. God will crush him underneath. There I will make the horn of David grow. I will prepare a lamp for my anointed. So the horn symbolizes strength. That's what it means. So there is a continual increase of strength and dominion. There is continual revelation symbol for lamp. There is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. There is a continual revelation. As his anointed people, we see continual increase in strength, dominion and revelation. There is continual revelation of who he is. You thought you knew his, you know, you could only part the Red Sea just see how I'm going to provide for you, how I'm going to turn these bitter waters into sweet waters. You will see how I'm going to, you know, provide you with water out of a rock. So there is going to be a constant revelation after revelation where you think I could only do this. Just wait until you see how I take care of you here and how I provide for you here, et cetera, et cetera. Your sandals are not going to wear out in the wilderness. So there is constant revelation. There is strength. There is dominion that is being released when he is present. His enemies, I will clothe with shame, but upon himself his crown shall flourish. We triumph over our enemies and continue to increase, flourish and blossom as his people. We triumph over our enemies and continue to increase, flourish and blossom as his people. Once again, I'm just reminded of Psalm 23. He prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies. We can dwell on that psalm, that verse an entire hour because it's so rich in intimacy of what it means. So this is what every local church can become. Every local church can become a community among whom God dwells, where his healing provisions, salvation, joy, strength, dominion, revelation and victory is established. Amen. How many of us would like to just see our churches be like that, where we host his presence and then where we see his glory being manifested in your cities, in your nation, in your land? Are you believing for that? Amen. Can we believe for that? Can we press him? I want to encourage you to believe in for that, wherever you are. Let's just move on. That leads us to this next point. It says, when the king is enthroned, his kingdom manifests. Psalm 22, verse 3, but you are wholly enthroned in the praises of Israel. We've looked this verse in detail when we studied praise and worship, isn't it? You are wholly enthroned in the praises of Israel. It says, when God is enthroned among us, his kingdom manifests. Because the kingdom is two words, king and dominion. In the previous Psalm, we looked at his strength and his dominion increases when he's namis. When the king comes, he always comes with his dominion. That is why when God is enthroned, when our king is enthroned, his kingdom manifests. When God is enthroned, the enemy is dethroned. His kingdom in one that overthrows the parts of the works of darkness, sickness and disease. Every demonic work bows as his kingdom advances. So when God is enthroned, the enemy is dethroned. So as a local church community, we must move away from gathering around all the wrong things, around a superstar pastor, around some denominational ideology, around some social or cultural commonality and only gather to enthrone King Jesus. If that was our only goal, if that was our only aim to come together and to enthrone Jesus and not be fixated on the small trivial things, the things that can be done, the things that he will do is unparalleled. No eye has seen, no ear has heard what he has in store for his people. When he alone is praised, worshipped and enthroned, his kingdom will be established in our midst and his kingdom will manifest. We ought to pursue and go after his kingdom. And it's no surprise that Jesus taught us to pray like the way he did. Let your kingdom come, let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. To see heaven on earth is something that we ought to live for and strive for and encourage our congregation, our church to live for, to pursue, to hunger for, to be desperate for. Because that's the only thing that matters at the end of the day, isn't it? Okay? And then when we are gathered together, his power ought to be there. 1 Corinthians 5-4, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together along with my spirit, with the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 18-20 says, For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them. Right? So anybody can get together. Anybody can come together. And it is us gathering, coming together in his name, that differentiates from every other get-together that people can have. Because people do that all over the world, isn't it? Having a get-together and whatnot. That's what separates a group from a community. There is a purpose, there is a vision, there is a goal, there is a focus. That's the difference between a group and a community. Remember we are talking about a local church as a community here. So God intended that we be a people who gather together in his name, with his power and presence overshadowing the gathering. We need to realize the importance and the power that there is made available for us in the privilege that he's given to use his name. Right? Again, we've studied the power of his name before in the previous chapters and whatnot. But I want to remind us once again, this is a very brief story of Paul in the book of Acts where God tells Ananias when Paul, this is after Paul had encountered Jesus and then he's blind now. And God tells Ananias, go and anoint him when Ananias says, well I'm scared, he's the one who's in a persecutor of the church. But God says, like, no, go. I have chosen him to carry my name. I have chosen him to carry my name. And if you think about it, every brand in this world, you know, every company that exists wants you to carry their name, wants you to represent their name, isn't it? Like Reebok and Nike, Zara, whatever we can go on, like the musical instruments, the sticks you use, the strings that you buy, everything, everything, every company wants you to kind of carry their name. But then here God says, you know, I have chosen, he has chosen us to carry his name. Right? And we need to come to the realization and acknowledge the privilege that's been given to us. And his name is more than just a name where we end a prayer with, we say in Jesus' name. It's not just a formula that ends a prayer. When we say that we are gathered together in Jesus' name, when the Bible says that he is in the midst, that gathering should look like the gatherings in the day of Jesus when he was present. What it would look like, what he would say, what would he do? That's what our gatherings ought to look like when we gather together in his name. Amen. So the degree of glory, power and anointing that we can carry as a community is so much more than what just one of us can carry individually. Okay, there is power in coming together. There is power in unity. There's power in corporate worship. And I'm sure we've realized that during the course of the pandemic is we've all lacked the coming together. And then there's like this beautiful breath of fresh air when people come together in his name, lift our hands up and declare together in unity. There's something powerful about it, isn't it? So there is the degree of glory, power and anointing that we can carry as a community is so much more than what just one of us can carry individually. There is no limit to this. I'm moving on into the next section. God is among us. Fast Corinthians 14-24-25 says, But if all prophesy and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he's convicted by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed. And so falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you. When an unbeliever comes and sees and encounters his presence, it does not go back the same, isn't it? So quickly let's read what it says. Where the Holy Spirit moves and his gifts and power are manifested, people will repent, worship God and say that God is truly among us. When will we have services and gatherings where we are not out to impress people with our slick presentation and use of technology? Rather we depend on the raw power of the Holy Spirit to touch lives. See sinners depend, people healed and devils cast out. Our impressive programs, media presentations and the use of technology cannot achieve this. Only the presence and power of God can. We need to become such a community of believers where when an unbeliever or uninformed person comes in, they are so impacted by the power of God that they fall on their face, worship God and say that God is truly among us. Amen. I don't need to expand on that. But that is our heart's desire. That ought to be our desire. It's my desire is when people come to church and when someone wants to be prayed for and who is expecting a miracle, I don't want them to come and simply meet a motion and go back. I want them to encounter the God of the universe in me and then go back and that way they just didn't come and meet a person but they came and met their creator and their lives were changed and they went back. That's what we need to hunger for and desire more of in our churches that he is among us and we want people to see the fruits of the spirit in us. And people will come where Jesus is. So we see that in Matthew chapter 4, the last verse, verse 25, great multitudes followed him from Galilee and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and beyond the Jordan. Hebrews 13, 8, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Acts chapter 5 says, And through the hands of the apostles, many signs and wonders were done among the people and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. Yet none of the rest dare join them, but the people esteemed them highly and believers were increasingly added to the Lord. Multitudes of both men and women so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities of Jerusalem bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, they were all healed. The point of these verses is the testimony of what God does, what Jesus did, always traveled. And from the time when we read about the women with the issue of blood, where she touched the hem of his garment and she was healed, the news of that traveled and if you go back to the Gospel, I think it's in the book of the Gospel of Matthews, I'm not sure, but at least two chapters after that incident, you will see a blind person just crying and saying, Can I just touch the hem of his garment? How did he know that? Because I'm sure he heard of what had happened to this woman. So the testimony of what had happened spread and that's why a great multitude followed him. And then in the book in Acts chapter 5, we see that people just waiting and longing for Peter's shadow to fall on them. Why? Because they heard that his shadow had healed the person who was waiting at the temple. Amen? So when God is in our midst, when his kingdom is being manifested, the news of what he is doing was spread and people will come. People will not come to our churches because we have fancy equipments or how big or how small our buildings are. People will come to encounter his glory because it's in our DNA. That's what we are longing for. We are all longing. Every single human being is longing for their Creator. They just don't know that it's Jesus. Are you guys with me so far? I hope you are. The section says, when Jesus ministered, he never had a promotional campaign. Advertising agency or mass media propaganda. Yet great multitudes came. They came because Jesus was preaching, healing, delivering, working signs and wonders. They came to hear and to be healed. They came because the power of God was being manifested in healing and deliverances. They came to experience this for themselves. They carried their sick, hurting, demon possessed and brought them to where Jesus was. They came with faith in their hearts. They came with faith in their hearts. Just think about that faith. Where Jesus was going from one city to another city and if you know anything about the geography of the Middle East, it's not always lush, green, beautiful, but you have to pass through a lot of wilderness, dry areas and imagine the faith of these people who carried the sick in that hot sun, the Middle Eastern sun and follow Jesus. That such was their hunger, such was their desire to encounter His presence. And guess what? People are no different today. They will come to where the same Jesus is. The question is, do we have the same Jesus in the church today and the Auto-Recha hearts? Do we have the same Jesus in our churches today? Does that do anything to you? Does that question stir your heart? Does that make you uncomfortable? It should. It's to go back and ponder and reflect. Do we have the same Jesus that the Gospels are talking about? Bill Johnson says at the best, he says, Bible study without Bible experience is waste. I should say I agree. Bible study without Bible experiences is waste. We ought to strive and hunger for more of that. Taking His presence and power everywhere. Acts 6 verse 8, another story of another apostle here. Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. And who was this Stephen? Let's take a look at it. The local church was never intended to be a gathering around a denominational ideal. It was intended to be a dwelling place of God where every individual was graced with the presence and power of God. Every individual, not just the leaders or elders or pastors, but every individual. Every believer is to demonstrate God's glory through releasing His power in signs and wonders. I like Stephen, ordinary believers, serving food or doing other simple things are to be full of faith and power and do great wonders and signs. He was serving food to the widows, to the Greek-speaking widows. Probably he spoke Greek even. But see what the scripture says. He was full of faith and power. The sequence of the choice of words is very important. We just can't read it. It's full of faith and power. The progression of it was full of faith and power. How many times in this course have we read about the importance of faith? It's like a springboard that launches us to God's power. And it also reminds us that, like we've been learning from day one, every believer can do this. Every believer in your church ought to manifest and walk in signs and wonders. That's what we ought to strive for. And in doing that, you encourage your church members, it doesn't matter what you're there to volunteer as, but you are there more than anything else to manifest His presence. You might be there arranging chairs, cleaning the chairs, cleaning the toilets, the bathrooms, whatever, rolling the cables, setting up the sounds, whatever it may be. We are warriors in His kingdom. We are vessels called to manifest His glory around people around us. Amen. So press in for more. There is great price to pay to be an instrument that God can use to manifest His power on the earth. Very few take this road. However, we must walk this path. It says, the disciple should not be above his master, but he shall be like his master. But if we are to be like him in power, we must also be like him in holiness, consecration, meekness and compassion. We must be like him in prayer and fellowship with the Father. We must be like him in faith. We must be like him in fasting and self-denial. If it were possible for the servant to be like him in power without paying the price he paid, then the servant would be above his law by evangelist A.A. Allen. Are we willing to pay the price as individuals, as a corporate, as a local church? Are we willing to pay the price? Okay. And making His presence our corporate desire. Psalm 63 verse 1 and 2. Oh God, You are my God. Early will I see my soul thirsts for You, my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary to see Your power and Your glory. I have looked for You in the sanctuary to see Your power and Your glory. We must make His presence our corporate desire. We must make His presence our corporate desire. We must come eagerly expecting to see His power and glory each time we are together in a large Sunday services in our small home groups or even when we get together as two or three, whenever, wherever and whenever we meet, we must be hungry and thirsty for Him. We must long for Him. His presence, power and glory. We must long for the spirit of God to demonstrate His power amongst us and through us so that lives can be changed, the sick can be healed, people delivered and God glorified. Amen. That's the end of chapter 13. Chapter 14 is a record of everything what Jesus did and I would encourage you to go through this chapter. Once again, it's very small, but then it records everything, every miracle of Jesus and how Jesus ministered. It's in a simple table format. Can I encourage you to please go through it, you know, at home after the class is done, right? And I'll stop here really. And the last chapter, chapter 15 is all about another reminder of what we are called to do. We are encouraged to do and we are His hands, we are His feet to this world, we are His mouthpiece to this world. We are called to go heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead. That's what we are commissioned to do as well. Okay. So with that, we actually conclude this course. It seems like this today will be our last class. And as mentioned, chapters 10, 11 and 12, will be covered in your other courses in believers authority, demonology, and deliverance and in a wholeness in the next semester. Okay. And I hope this course has been an encouragement and it's been an inspiration for you to walk in the fullness of God and insert your heart to love people because God loves His people and He wants to see, it is His will to see His people healthy but without sickness to see His people strong and full of peace. Amen. So that's about it. Any thoughts, any questions, anything that you guys want to share before we close and conclude? Pastor, I just want to ask something regarding the sign in. Okay. Like the book summary. One second. It can stop the recording because the assignment is very different for the e-learning people. So I don't want them to get confused. So I'll stop the recording and we'll have this conversation. Okay.