MOUNTAIN OF FIRE AND MIRACLES MINISTRIES
Sunday Worship Service
August 27th, 2023.
Topic: WHEN YOU ARE NOTHING (4)
Text: 1 Corinthians 13:1–8, Mark 12:28–31, Luke 6:31–33.
Minister: Dr. Daniel Olukoya (G.O. MFM Worldwide)
We have been speaking on this topic for some time now.
1 Corinthians 13:1-2 (KJV): “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.”
The person may have a name that is living, but he or she is dead—very dead.
We have covered the characteristics of love that we have been discussing:
– Love is patient. It does not have the ability to turn into hate overnight.
– Love is kind.
– Love does not envy.
– Love is humble.
– Love is not boastful.
– Love exhibits good manners.
– Love is never selfish.
– Love exhibits self-control.
– Love does not think evil.
– Love does not rejoice because something bad has happened to someone.
– Love beareth all things.
– Love endureth all things.
– Love hopeth all things.
– Love never fails. It will triumph at the end of the day. We have covered all those things in this place over the past few weeks.
But the talking and exhorting to love one another is something that goes on throughout the scripture. The Bible does not say God is faith, hope, or power, but God is love. The Bible says “Out of the mouth of two or three witnesses, the truth is established”. So you can see the centrality of this matter.
Mark 12:28–31 (KJV): “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”
What you do not want somebody to do to you, do not do to others. Love your neighbour as yourself. No other commandment is greater than this. You can see what the Bible is saying. The scribe came to Jesus and asked for the major commandment. Jesus replied that it is love. If you love your neighbour:
– You will not steal from him.
– You will not keep malice with him.
– You will not rape your neighbour.
So you can see that all other commandments are coming under this same love. Unfortunately, we have a lot of unloving Christians. When you see somebody who does not love others, it is likely they do not love themselves. That is why it is said that if you must throw mud at others, you will first of all stain your own fingers.
Luke 6:31–33 (KJV): “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.”
Luke 10:27 (KJV): “And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.”
It is important to note that this is a recurring thing in the Bible.
John 13:34–35 (KJV): “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
The reverse is also true: by this shall men know that you are not my disciples if you have not love one to another.
True love is being willing to help people, even if it hurts you. A man of God was taken as a prisoner. There were about 200 prisoners there. So they were taken to the farm. This man of God had been preaching to them, but they were mocking him and saying, “Why are you here if you know God?” He was jailed because of the wrong accusations. But he kept preaching to them. He was only able to persuade about 20 of them out of the 200. The 180 left laughed him to scorn. Suddenly, something happened one day. The shovels given to them to work were counted, and one was missing.
And so the soldiers guarding them were very angry. They asked, “Who has stolen the shovel? If nobody confesses and the thief does not reveal himself, we will shoot you all dead.” Everybody heard ‘die’ and they could see that the soldiers were serious. So when nobody was coming out to say they stole it, five more soldiers came in to wipe them out. The preacher then came forward and said, ” I stole it.” They asked him again, and he confirmed that he stole it.
They took a spade, and with that spade, they beat him to death in the presence of all the prisoners, only for them to discover after they had killed the man of God that they did not count the shovels correctly, that the number was complete, and they left one behind. The prisoners also realised that the man loved all of them so much and that, because he did not want everyone to die, he surrendered himself to be killed. That singular thing that happened converted the other 180 to Christ. That is true love. Willing to help people even when it hurts.
So, love is made visible by work. You work. And then let me tell you one truth. He who wants to claim that he truly loves the Lord must love his brother. You cannot say you love God, you love Jesus, and you hate a fellow human being. Hatred is like putting acid in your body, and it does more harm to you than the people you hate. He who truly loves the Lord will love his brother. Real love is helping someone. Jesus came to die for our sins, for the sake of those who will never return the favour. In fact, the people he came to rescue were the ones who nailed him to the cross. So in fact, it is impossible for two people to hate each other and say they love God.
It is a lie. That is why the Bible says that a lot of people will get to heaven, and God will say “You are a murderer”. And they will say, No, I have never killed anybody. I do not even know how to shoot a gun”. But the Bible says, “If you hate your brother, you are a murderer.” So murderers are not just those who shoot people dead; also, those who hate people are murderers. So God measures how much we love him by how much we love others. When you are out of love, you are out of Christ.
Anywhere love is reigning, God reigns there. Power reigns there. Deliverance reigns there. A lot of people are complaining that nobody loves them. People are not going to love you; you will have to love them. When you know that the words in your mouth will hurt somebody, it is love to keep quiet. Some say, “I always say my mind.” But if that is what your mind is saying is putting someone in jeopardy or trouble, it is classified as an unloving character. Love is deafness when gossip is coming to your ears. Love is like a cough; it can never be hidden. And if you exhibit love, it can never be wasted.
Wherever love is bestowed, it will always bring returns. So to anyone who wants to write a letter to being totally miserable, then begin to hate people. That is why the Bible says that one of the characteristics of love is kindness. Kindness is the ability to love people more than they deserve. If the power of love could replace the love of power, this world would be a better place. There is plenty of love of power but no power of love. This is a very serious matter. When somebody is ranting against you, love is patient enough to just keep calm and behave like you never heard the insults hurled at you.
That love is when you are thoughtful about others’ troubles. According to scripture, love provokes people’s influence. It is the key to people’s influence. The capacity to love a person gives influence to people. This is a very serious situation. I think the Chinese have a proverb that says, If you want to run a market shop and you do not like smiling, just forget it’. You must have love in your heart. Selfishness in your heart drives people away. Hatred, bitterness, and unforgiveness in your heart drive people away from you. There are so many marriages where the husband and wife are total strangers to each other. They are just together because of “what will people say?”
It is not supposed to be like that. Jesus Christ was love personified. He loved and loved his people until he was sacrificed on the cross. Anywhere he went, crowds gathered, demons were cast out, and people were healed. Because He loved, He was able to make an impact.
If your life is devoid of people, you are just going like a lone ranger, it means your life is devoid of impact. Who will you take to heaven when people are avoiding you? How can your children love you as a father when you are a seargent major, calling commands in the home? There are so many parents who come to MFM and their children do not follow them because of their unloving character at home, and it is becoming a serious challenge to us now because they cannot even become the priests in their homes.
They exhibit unloving characteristics before their children, and they expect those children to follow them to church. Impossible. When those children now travel abroad, these are children who have been brought up with prayers, and all of a sudden, they do not need to be forced to pray. They go to churches where they do not pray; they just dance and listen to somebody talking, and then they go home. Then the enemies that have been fighting them begin to regroup. And right now, as I am talking to you, there are plenty of people being rushed back home because of insanity, satanic attacks, all kinds of strange behaviours, smoking of marijuana, drugs, etc. All people who came from Christian homes.
The unloving characteristics of their parents have put them in trouble. Now that they are back, they bombard me. And when I say, “Where do you worship?” Some will say “no church.” Some will mention one church like that. When I ask, “Do they speak in tongues?” The reply is “No”. “Do they pray?” “No”. So now, the battle is now regathered. A warning to those parents who are fighting and exhibiting unloving characteristics at home: you are bringing trouble to yourself. When your life is devoid of people, it is devoid of impact. It is devoid of love. So the easiest way to affect your generation is to be equipped with a life that loves people.
When someone enters your life or you enter somebody’s life, your duty is to amplify the goodness in their lives and not to bring them down. When there is genuine love, you want to leave somebody better than you met them. When that is what is in your heart, then you are disciplined. No matter how wild your flesh is, you are disciplined. There are so many reckless believers today in church heading straight to hellfire because of a lack of love in their hearts. It is a show of indiscipline. If you love a woman, you will not kill her spiritual life. If you love the man, you will not kill his spiritual life. This is a very serious matter.
1 Corinthians 13:1 (KJV): “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.”
Though I can do all things and have not love, I am nothing. Though I can prophesy that it will come to pass and have not live, it is nothing. Though I can understand all languages and have not love, I am nothing.
Many people complain about being lonely. Any life of loneliness can be cured by a lifestyle of love. When you begin to reach out to people in love, people begin to reach out to you. This world is a strange place, and a lot of people do not even know why they are here. When you have that love, you live a disciplined life. Whenever you do things and are just thinking about yourself, it has no impact on others. The reason somebody is a robber is because he is thinking of only himself. So he is not thinking about the other person. A rapist is thinking of only himself and not others. A wicked person who brutalises others does not care about what happens to their lives.
We need to:
– First of all, repent of all unloving characteristics and words. Do not be too proud. Pride, too, is a lack of love. It means you are rating yourself better than you are. It is love of self. Make up your mind. “Oh, this person is not greeting me”, greet them. “Oh he will not answer”, Greet them. Do a roundabout turn. That is what repentance is—a total change.
– Forgive all who offend you. We did not say be eating food from everybody. But you can forgive somebody without eating from them.
– Ask for special grace to love even the unlovable. I read a story that struck my heart so seriously. Even as a minister of God, I was so shocked. There has been racism in South Africa, where the whites were killing the blacks. Then it got to a stage that the Blacks took over the government. And they launched a reconciliation meeting to reconcile Blacks and Whites. There was a woman in that meeting. A white policeman took the son of that woman, shot him dead in the presence of the mother, set fire on the boy, waited till the body burnt and left.
The mother of the boy was at the meeting, and after they told the public what the policeman did, they wondered how they could compensate her. When the woman spoke, she said, “I am a Christian, a child of God. I have forgiven him. The only thing I want this body to do is, first of all, bring the man here and let me hug me. And let him promise that since he has killed my only son, he will be visiting me regularly to say hello to me.” And she stepped down and hugged this man who killed her son. All of a sudden, all over the courtroom, singing blew forth:
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound!
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
People there were shaken, including those who were atheists. Even myself as a minister of the gospel, I was shocked. I am praying that there will be somebody here today who will know that he needs to love others. It is the first and major commandment.
– Seek to grow in your Christian walk. You should not be at the level you were last year. Your Christianity should have grown. You should be better. You were praying for 5 minutes last year; it should be 10 minutes now. You were fasting once a week last year; it should have doubled by now. You were hearing God faintly last year; your hearing should have been clearer by now.
– Pray for patience. The queen of all virtues.
PRAYER POINTS.
[Before Message]
1. Battles assigned to embarrass my existence, you are liars; die! in the name of Jesus.
2. Powers wearing rags to represent me in the spirit realm, your time is up; die! in the name of Jesus.
3. Powers commanding me to carry heavy loads, your time is up, die! in the name of Jesus.
[After Message]
1. Powers assigned to keep me on the same level: your time is up, die! in the name of Jesus.
2. Powers assigned to use sickness to pursue me to the grave, die! in the name of Jesus.
3. Powers assigned to shut down my laughter: you are liars; die! in the name of Jesus.
4. Where is the Lord God of Elijah? Arise, destroy the helpers of my enemies! in the name of Jesus.
5. Thou power of destiny delay, your time is up, die! In the name of Jesus.
6. Battles giving birth to battles in my life: your time is up, die! in the name of Jesus.
7. Powers fighting my glory, expire! In the name of Jesus.
8. Thou power of God, arise! Silence my mockers! in the name of Jesus.
9. My battles, hear the Word of the Lord, become testimonies! in the name of Jesus.
10. Powers assigned to make me spend my money on battles, fall down, and die! in the name of Jesus.
11. Battles of irregular favour, die! In the name of Jesus.
12. Dark powers, seeking for my shame, you are liars; die! in the name of Jesus.
(A sevenfold amen.)
God bless you🙏