Now why?
So that none of us think for a
moment that when we are baptized today after
2026 years gone by, so that when somebody
is baptized today they don't fall into this
mistake and think that now the Lord Jesus,
let's say this person was baptized, the Lord
made him the hand and the other one
was baptized he made him the leg and
the other one was baptized he made him
the nose, the eye and the rest of
the members and the Lord as if he
started gluing all these members together to make
up the body now.
No, the body was born complete with all
the members on Pentecost, 50th day.
Okay, so now my beloved the church is
complete from the moment she was born on
Pentecost but when the baby is born what
do we do?
We make the baby grow isn't it?
And how do we develop that baby and
make it grow?
By feeding the baby so as the church
needs to be fed in order to grow.
The church does not miss any hands, legs
or members but it needs one thing, it
needs to grow from a baby to a
mature figure.
So now, see my beloved, some will come
and say, will ask this question and they
don't even understand what they're asking.
They will come and ask you, have you
received the baptism of the Spirit?
Have you been baptized by the Holy Spirit?
What do you mean being baptized by the
Holy Spirit?
See if somebody comes and asks you, have
you received the baptism of the Spirit or
have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit?
You say yes and if they ask you
when, say when the Holy Spirit descended as
tongues of fire on the 120 people in
the upper room.
On that day I received the baptism of
the Spirit because the baptism of the Spirit
is the filling of the Spirit which is
the birth of the church.
So there is no such thing as are
you baptized with water or are you baptized
with the Holy Spirit?
Are you on fire?
Relax, baptism of the water you receive the
Holy Spirit and you should be on fire
thereafter.
So there is no such thing as baptism
of water one thing and baptism of the
Spirit another sort of concept.
No, baptism of the Spirit is the birth
of the church.
When was the church born?
On Pentecost the 50th day and when were
we all born?
On the day the church was born because
just like the baby is born with all
complete body so was the church born with
complete body on Pentecost.
I'll come to it more and more.
I could see you're still saying where is
the bishop trying to lead us to?
Now my beloved the Holy Spirit does not
give birth to the church every day because
birth is only once.
You don't get born every day do you?
You only get born once and that's it.
After you get born you need to grow.
That's all you need.
You don't need to be born again and
again and again and again and born again
is not...
Oh my beloved, birth is only once.
Now later on in the near future we'll
do topics about the sacraments of the church
so you understand.
I'll bring you biblical references.
I'm not talking out of my own thinking.
I'm talking out of the Gospels, the Holy
Bible and the church fathers which are so
vital.
Church fathers, the only strike of them ever.
Now my beloved the Holy Spirit does not
give birth to the church every single day.
As soon as you believed in the Lord
you become a member in the mystical body
of Christ which is the church.
The church is the body of Christ.
As soon as you believe in the Lord
you become a member in that mystical body
or in that church and as long as
you are in the faith therefore you have
been baptized into one body.
Saint Paul says it 1st Corinthians 12 13.
As long as you're in the faith you've
been baptized into one body.
You have joined the body of Christ in
other words.
And at the same time you have become
a member in the one body.
So as long as you are in the
faith you have joined the body of Christ
and the body of Christ Saint Paul says
the church is the body of Christ.
So the moment you're in the faith you've
joined the body of Christ and at the
same time when you join the body.
How did you join the body?
You join the body as one of the
members of the body.
This body has many members.
One is a fingernail.
The other one is a finger.
The other one is the hand.
The other one is the leg.
The eye.
The nose.
The ears.
The mouth.
The lips.
The tongue.
The heart.
The kidneys.
The lungs.
The veins.
The blood.
All of these members come together make up
the body.
So we became we joined the body and
we became members in the body of Christ.
Now what does that mean?
I'll make it more simpler.
I'll go to the doctor.
I say, and then he says, Bishop, and
then the doctor holds my hand and he
says, by the way, Bishop, this hand of
yours was born before your leg.
Would that work?
Can the doctor say that?
This hand was born before the leg?
Of course not.
Why?
Because when I was born the hand the
leg and all the other members were born
together at the same time because the baby
was born complete.
So all these members were born together as
one body at the same time.
And when the body started growing, when the
body started developing, guess what?
All the members grew together and developed together
at the same time.
So there is no one before the other.
No one before the other.
Now what does this mean?
There is a lot of questions today and
the word what will be mentioned a lot
today.
What does that mean?
That all of us grew together.
This means my beloved that when Simon Peter
entered in the body of Christ, guess what?
You also entered with Simon Peter at the
same time.
Not today.
You entered with him at the same time.
Even though you came 2,026 years later.
The day Simon Peter entered the body of
Christ, you entered with him at the same
time.
Not now.
Back then.
When was the church born?
Pentecost.
That's when you were born.
Now you may say how?
Well, I'll say to you, this is the
work of God.
This is the work of the divine.
And the work of the divine is what?
Mystical.
Mysterious.
It's a mystery.
How does that work?
I don't know.
But God knows.
You can't fathom it.
God can.
You can't do it.
God can.
Don't ever say no, that's impossible.
Because the moment you say it's impossible when
it's to do with God, you have stripped
away from him the title almighty.
Now, please bear with me.
It's going to get harder.
I mean, easy.
And this is what we call filling of
the spirit or the filling of the spirit.
Now, how do we receive the filling of
the spirit?
We said earlier that when the baby is
born, what do we need to do with
the baby?
Feed it in order to grow and develop.
Well, so is the church.
So is the church.
And that's where St. Paul again in 1
Corinthians 12, 13, he says, all been made
to drink into one spirit.
So all of us drank from the same
spirit because when the baby is fed, it's
fed from one mama.
Are you going to have many moms?
Can't be.
Only one can feed the baby.
You with me?
So we all drank from one spirit.
We were all baptized into one body.
Now, stay with me.
So now what does that mean?
See, I told you the word what will
be mentioned a lot.
So what does that mean?
What does it mean to drink into one
spirit?
St. Paul puts it to drink into one
spirit, one spirit.
I'll put it to you in this way
so we can try and make it as
easy and as simple as possible for us
to all understand.
Like these words are really big, you know,
theologically speaking, they're very big, but I'm telling
you a story.
I'm not giving you a lecture.
So now what does it mean that we
all drank into one spirit?
One spirit.
What is one spirit?
Let's take the example of electricity.
I'll ask you this.
Does electricity differ?
Is there different kinds of electricity or is
electricity just one?
It's electricity, isn't it?
Yes or no?
Please be with me, huh?
And please tell me yes.
Yes.
Are you sure?
Thank God for that.
So electricity is one.
There is no types of electricity, no different
kinds.
Electricity is electricity.
You grab the cable, you're in deep trouble,
brother.
So now, however, however, when electricity enters a
fan, electricity gives us air.
When the electricity enters a fridge, electricity gives
us ice.
When the electricity enters a motor, electricity gives
us movement.
Question, is the electricity that entered the fan
different to the fridge, different to the motor?
No.
It is all one electricity same.
It is only one electricity.
But when it entered the fan, it gave
us air.
When it entered the fridge, it gave us
ice.
When it entered the motor, it gave us
movement.
So now what am I trying to say
here?
Or what is the Holy Bible trying to
teach us here?
You see, when that electricity entered the motor,
it gave us movement.
The motor started moving.
Now, but according to the motor's capacity to
accept electrical input, this determines the extent of
its operational performance.
I'll put it in simple terms.
How much the motor allows electricity to enter
it, that much it can work.
No more, no less.
If the motor allowed electricity to enter it
for one minute, the motor will work for
one minute and it will stop whether it
likes it or not.
But if another motor allows electricity to enter
it for an hour, that motor will run
for an hour, for a day, for 10
days, for a year, depending on how much
the motor allows electricity to enter it, that
much it will perform.
However, the motor, regardless how long it runs,
it will always be a motor.
I don't know if you're getting the drift.
So it can run till kingdom come, but
it will never be anything else but a
motor.
Meaning, so what does that mean?
I'll put it this way.
I went to Harvey Norman and I bought
the most expensive and the best fridge ever.
The best and most expensive fridge I bought
from Harvey Norman.
I brought the fridge home and I wanted
to cook red rice on it.
The fridge did not do what I wanted
the fridge to do.
I get so angry because I paid a
lot of money for it.
I took it back to Harvey Norman and
I said to them, take this fridge.
It is good for nothing.
You have deceived me because the fridge could
not cook red rice for me.
Well, my dear consumer, the fridge can never
cook red rice because the manufacturer, when he
came and manufactured the fridge, he did it
in a way to act as a fridge,
to cool things for you and to give
you ice.
Cannot cook because the manufacturer never made it
to cook.
He made it to cool things and freeze
things.
Are you with me?