In the first part of this piece, we began looking at something that we believe is important for us as disciples of Jesus. We began looking at: “Looking unto Jesus.” And what we considered in the previous piece was part 1. In this piece, we will be concluding the series with the part 2 of it — Looking unto Jesus Part 2. And we want to specifically find out: “How to Be Trained for Fruitfulness.” I believe it is this fruitfulness that necessitates our need to look unto Jesus. It is because we want to be fruitful that we have a need to look unto Jesus. If there is no need for any one of us to become fruitful in life, become fruitful in the things we do, become fruitful in the things that we commit ourselves to, then we may not have to bother to look unto Jesus.

 

When you are a man or a woman, and you desire to become a plumber, what do you do? You go in search for a plumber and you say, “Please, Sir, make me your apprentice.” And what is the goal? You want to become a plumber yourself; you want to help others with their plumbing needs and plumbing services. It is that, that is in view that makes you to submit yourself, your precious self to that plumber. The man may not be a neat person; he may not be handsome. The man may not be too intelligent; the man may not be good at speaking English. You may be good in all that, you may have English; you can command the grammar; you could even have money more than the man, but what does the man have that you don't have? The plumbing skill. And for that plumbing skill that is set before you, what do you do? You submit to him: “Sir, make me as one of your servants; make me as one of your students. Because you believe, if you can learn from him, you will also be able to solve the plumbing needs or problems of other people. Do we understand?

 

So, how to be trained for fruitfulness, we began by looking at the reality of that fruitfulness.  Jesus promises fruitfulness, so you quickly want to be trained by Him. So, you look unto Him. But let's start from where we began looking at in Hebrews chapter 12, I will read from verse 1 to verse 11. Now the Bible says, from verse 1, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”  In case we think that verse 1 is not important, then look at what verse 2 starts with, and what verse 1 ended with. Verse 1 ended with a comma. That means you are still making that statement, that sense, you just want to add to it.

 

“Looking unto Jesus,” in the spirit of running the race to the end, in the spirit of being fruitful, in the spirit of commanding the result that Jesus commanded, looking unto Jesus. This must be your guiding principle; this must be your mode of operation. Every time we see you, we must see you looking unto Jesus. You must not be a man who looked unto Jesus; you must not be a woman who used to look unto Jesus; you must keep looking unto Jesus. Very soon we'll see why. If you used to look at Jesus in the past, whatever you will learn is going to be restricted to what you have learnt. So, even though you could be confronted with new challenges in life, what you are learning has stopped, or the flow of knowledge into your life has ceased. You are confronted with new threats, and new challenges, but you still need to rely on what He taught you in 1986.

 

Now, you are faced with the challenge of 2023, but your relationship stopped in 2010. So, a new challenge, old information. That is why the Bible says, “Looking...” don’t looked. “Looking...” don't be tired of it. Don't stop; don't stop; don't stop, keep going. Don't stop; don't stop, keep doing. Now, let's read it again, verse 2: “Looking unto Jesus, the ^[a]author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

 

Is there any better place for you than where Jesus is sitting? The Bible says, “He has sat down,” He is not going to be judged. What He did is not going to be subjected to empirical research and testing: if He fails, He goes to this, but if He passes, He has been made and certified whole and successful. In fact, right now He is sitting at the right hand of the One that will judge you and I. He is not going to be judged like us. He has been judged. “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” “This is my beloved Son, hear Him.” That is judgment from God. When you read it in Philippians chapter 2 and gradually after verse 5, verse 6, and verse 7, the Bible says, “Therefore, God has highly exalted Him, and given Him,” not will give Him. So, what happened to Jesus and the matter of Jesus is a done matter. He has been crowned, He has been certified, He has been glorified, He has been blessed, He has been rewarded, He is not going to get His reward like us; He has gotten His. So, the Bible says, “Look unto Him.”

 

No matter how fantastic Bro. Gboyega could look to you, he has not yet been judged. No matter how he looks, he has not yet been rewarded. His work has not yet been tested with fire. It will not be good for you to build your life on him. What if his work is not found to be enough, then yours will just not be enough. In case you don't want your life to be subjected to maybe, maybe not, I may do well, I may not do well, because I don't know whether he will do well or will not do well. Instead of putting your life to such guesswork, the Bible says don't get confused, look to Jesus. And look at it, the Bible says, “Who for the joy...” look at that statement. The essence of everything that He goes through that looks unpleasant is basically for the joy. So, when we are going through anything today, that doesn't look nice, is it for the joy or something else? “Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame” that's for Jesus. Now let's continue. Verse 3:

 

For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. ⁴ You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. ⁵ And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; ⁶ For whom the Lord loves

 

You know, in chapter 12 from verse 1 to verse 2, the Bible introduce us to ourselves; we are running races. There is a race before you. Then, before you think you're alone, already, it said there are clouds of witnesses. It says, in this race, if you will do well, look unto Jesus — “Who for the joy that was set before Him,” not you and I literally. It was Him that the joy was set before. So, He despised; He endured, right? Let's keep that separately. Now look at it: the Bible says, “Now consider Him”.

 

The Bible began to talk to us about something, and later in chapter 5 verse 5, it says, “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord”. So, God chastises! But what is it that is convenient for people to do with the chastening of the Lord from that Scripture? Despise it, we belittle to it, we disregard it. Another word we can use is we misinterpret it; we miss judge it. Maybe He hates me. Maybe it's because I was born on the wrong side of the bed. Maybe is because I am this. It says, “Don't despise it”. And don't be discouraged when, for those of us that understand English, it didn't say don't be discouraged if, when is a matter of time, it will surely happen for everyone. It will happen for Bro. Joshua, Bro. Dennis, Bro. B, Sister Lara… it's a matter of time.

 

“Do not despise the ^[c]chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him,” God will rebuke you. It's a matter of time, and you will soon know why that rebuke comes because some of us were born angels. Some of us not all of us, when we were born, we were born saints, we were born perfected: we don't think wrong, we don't say wrong, and we've never done wrong since we were born to date. People like bro Francis now, they were never wrong, have never done anything wrong. Now let's look at it, that may not be true for all of us.

 

In verse 6: “For whom the Lord loves He chastens.” You know, when you combine to words together, chastisement and love. Normally, when you see chastisement, you want to add hatred to it. But the Bible says, “God chastises the son [anyone] that He loves,” it says, “and scourges every…” I don't know if Bro. B has seen that every in the past. It says, “And scourges every as son,” are you part of the every? You know, when somebody wants to speak every, every: every involves all. So, if Bro. Dennis is a son of God, for instance, God will what according to this scripture? Can you hear him? Yes, some people did not want to put the name. I said, “If Dennis is a son of God, what will God do? God will scourge him. And why is God scourging? The Bible says, “And scourges every son whom He receives.” You want to be my son? Alright, come! And the Bible says, He receives you to Himself and scourges you. How does it feel? It doesn’t look nice. But before that, it says, “For whom the Lord loves He chastens.”

 

Now, let's continue verse 7. “If you [you, you, my brother, my sister], endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons...” if you endure it. If you don't endure it, look at it. For what son is there whom a father does not chasten? ⁸ But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers...” is like you will be a special exemption. All of us are all into this thing. But in case, you are without chastening of God, what does it says? What is the word for illegitimate? Bastard.  A bastard is a person that they know the motor, but they don't know the father. If all of us are born by the same mother, but not by the same father, and one of us, we don't even know the father, what do we call that one? Who is the mother of that bastard? Our mother? One mother gave birth to 9 of us, and one of us, we don’t know his father; the father is not our father. Nobody knows the father. What do all of us call that one? Call a spade a spade, you call that one bastard. Do you get confused about the mother? Who is the mother of that one? Our mother. But, who do we not know? His father. And I want you to look at it.

 

If you are a son, but you don't have the chastening of your father, don’t doubt your mother, the father is what you should doubt. So, you could be one of us. We could all be brethren. You could even claim you are a Christian. So, we are not doubting the fact that you are one of us. We don't doubt your source, we doubt where you source your life from: we don't know it. And God is like not from me. You call yourself a believer, but God is saying this life that flows in you, this blood that flows in your veins is not from Me.

 

This thing is produced by another. A man looks at his son, I have looked at you enough, I've looked at my wife, and I've looked at myself, you don't look like any one of us. Your behavior, no. Your look, no. Are you sure I'm your father? That man is already confused. The man is questioning, does my life flow inside this boy? Of course, he knew that his wife was pregnant, so he doesn’t doubt the mother of the boy, he is just doubting am I the father. “But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. ⁹ Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us,” can somebody say corrected us? What does the fathers do? Correct us. Bro. B, can you see your work now? That's our work. What do we do? To correct. The mothers are there, right?

 

So, as a father, Bro. Dennis, don’t say if anything is wrong with my children, then my wife should say it to them. The Bible says who should correct them? You keep your correction, what are you trying to say? You don't love them. You don't love the children. It says, “We have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰ For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit.”  You know, when I said corrected us, some of us were thinking it was about God. But later we realize it was about human father, so we wanted to put little weight behind it. Let's continue. It says, “For our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. ¹¹ Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful...”  

 

There is nobody here that wants to say he wants pain. We all want joy. But the Bible is saying if you are a son, indirectly, who can now help me? Who wants to play smart? It is like many thoughts are going through our mind, and you are like which one is this man looking for? Sister Joy, the Bible had already said if you are a son, a good one, your father would chastise you. And the Bible now says, “No chastening seems to be joyful for the present but painful...” do we get? No chastening is joyful for the present, it is painful.

 

So, what must a son go through? So, if you are a son, don't say God forbid pain. That's the summary. Me, all I want is joy, God forbid pain. Then you are trying to be religious without being spiritual — let me use the word of sister Obayomi. It's not about you being religious because many religious people will go about telling people, ‘Give your life to Jesus, all your pains are over’. I want to say all your uncoordinated pains are over. When you have pain, you now know where the pain is coming from. You now have a directed pain; a purposeful pain; a cross, lift you from where you are to where you are going to.

 

Now let's continue. “Nevertheless, afterward...” after the pain, “it yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”  So, when you are being chastised, the Bible says you are being trained. When you are going through pain, the Bible says you are being trained. And after you have gone through the pain, you have gone through the training, the Bible says, “You will produce fruits of righteousness”. Not just fruit of righteousness by the way, but peaceable, peaceful, it looks like when the Bible says, “It is the blessing of God that makes a man rich without adding sorrow”, peaceable fruits, fruit that comes with peace, you are drinking your fruit, you are eating your fruit and you are having joy, contentment and satisfaction. This is the Lord's doing in my life, it is marvelous.

 

You are not getting the fruit and you're panicking; you are not getting the fruit and you're watching your back and you're like who is after you, who wants to kill you, who wants to remove you, who wants to stop you, you are getting your fruits and you are having peace. The Bible says this is the path that produces it. And if you flip it upside down, those who escaped the path of pain, who go for the path of joy, they are going to get their own fruits that is going to be with crisis. Do you get that? The opposite of peace is war, according to people, so it's either it is peaceful or it is full of crisis. The fruit to produce is either it comes with peace or it comes with, in Nigeria parlance, ‘wahala’.  It comes with all manner of troubles. They say, “Pay now [work] so that you can play later.” But you know, you can also play now so that you can pay later, or work later. That will not be our portion in Jesus’ name.

 

Alright, let's run through a few things. And the first thing we want to look at is when you look unto Jesus, what is the implication? The implications of looking unto Jesus: Coincidentally, this evening, I will not be sharing sweet, sweet implications of looking onto Jesus because I want to be guided strictly by this Scripture that we just read. In the Book of Hebrews chapter 12. When you look unto Jesus, look at it when, the moments, the time you choose to look unto Jesus, you will start getting these things:

 

The First Thing Is You Can Be Chastised (Corrected by suffering). When you look unto Jesus, you can be chastised. So, what happens when you don't look unto Jesus, you may not or you cannot be chastised. I don't know how many of us parents that go about chastising the children of our neighbors? All right. Number two, when you look unto Jesus, you can be rebuked (criticized for behavior or action). These are the things that we have read. When you look unto Jesus, you can be rebuked. And lastly, when you look unto Jesus, you can be scourged (great suffering). So, what is the implication of these three?

 

When you are chastised, another word for it is that you are collected by suffering. Corrected but by suffering. None of us really struggle with correction. I'm not sure anyone of us say don't correct me. But if you correct me, do I need to suffer something in the bid? Corrected by suffering. These are not the things I generated. They are just on Google. They are in the dictionary. The word for chastise, when you chastise me, it means you are correct by suffering, you put the person through suffering towards correcting them.

 

The number two is you can be rebuked. criticized for behavior or action, that is something that you do and you keep doing. So, when there is something that you do, and you keep doing; something that has become a habit. You know, ultimately is going to become a character. For those of us at the Centre, you know, there's a link between all these things. It starts with you doing something once, you do it again, it looks harmless, before you know it, you say, “That is me”. Something that you just did three times — you just started the match — that is me.  So, it has become your second nature, it has become your character, your personality.

 

So, when there is something like that; when you are rebuked, it means you are criticized, this your behavior, this your action, something you do and you keep doing is not right, stop it. That is rebuke. And the last one is you can be scourged — great suffering. It is to make a person to suffer. That means the person is scourged. Now, let's quickly revise or read that Hebrews chapter 12 from verse 5 again. Now, we've pointed out a few things, let's see if brother Gboyega is scriptural or is out of context. Hebrews chapter 12 from verse 5:

 

“And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,” so the Lord chastises, “nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him,” the Lord rebukes, for whom the Lord loves He chastens,” so the Lord doesn’t chastise His enemies, He chastises His lovers, “and scourges every son whom He receives.”

 

And what does scourge mean? Great suffering. And this is the son that the father has received. What does chastise mean according to the bracket? And He corrects by putting to suffering the one that He loves. Now, somebody can say, “Oh, I don't like chastising. I don't mind God correcting me, but He should not chastise me,” then the question is, how much can you learn without suffering? Like I'm pleading, do you have the ability to learn anything without suffering anything? If you do, then maybe you will never be chastised by God. So, let's quickly reflect, let's reflect, how often do we learn, or how quick do we learn without any suffering? As you were passing, you step on my leg, I said, “Siter Joy, don’t step on my leg again”. Are you serious? Are you saying you will never step on it again, especially, if I happen to be putting my leg on your path every time? You know, if we meet once in a year that you will say, “No, it is next year, I will shine my eyes,” do you understand?

 

How often do we get corrected without suffering and we take the correction? Now, there's a scripture that we will read, but before we read it, want to leave these three things that we've seen. We want to look at what was the cross to Jesus, and perhaps, we will see how we links to. Now, we are looking unto Jesus, but in Jesus’ context, what was the cross to Him? So that we will see whether Jesus is the high priest that, we can pour our heart to, or He doesn't share in our feelings. Now that place that we read, the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2, “Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross”.

 

So, what was the cross to Jesus? Symbol of suffering, okay. Does anybody have any other thing to say? Ma, brother B said a symbol of suffering, and chastisement is correcting by suffering. So, I want something else. What is the cross to Jesus? There's a scripture in front of it that I want you to read before answering; look at that verse 2: Hebrews 12:2. Bro. B, what did you start with? Symbol of suffering. So, you can’t say endurance again. The Bible says, “He endured the cross,” the suffering is the symbol. God bless you. Mummy, what did you say? Faith, no, it could be but there are two things I want us to look at.

 

Now, Bro. B said the cross is the symbol of suffering. So, he had to endure it. The cross is a symbol of suffering, Jesus endured it. Now, it is another symbol. It could be symbol of faith, symbol of other things that we say, but the second one is, the cross is also the symbol of shame for Jesus, He had to despise it. So, Jesus is even teaching us the best attitude. What are the things that people used to despise according to Hebrews? What are the things that people typically despise? People despise the chastening of the Lord.

 

What does the Bible say Jesus despise? He despised the shame. So, when we are going through a difficult time, we are the same person that is shy about it: “I don't want people to know I'm suffering. I don't want people to know what I'm going through. I don't want people to know life is difficult for me.” What do I want people to know? I'm fine. What do I want people to know? I'm enjoying. What do I want people to know? I have arrived. What do I want to boast in front of people? The goodies of my life. So, when there are no goodies in my life, I have nothing to show. But what did Jesus do to no goodness of his life? He despised it.

 

The Bible says, “There was no comeliness to Him”. Apostle Paul said, “I will not boast in the good things of my life, rather, I will boast in my infirmities”. How many of us boast in our struggles? But when we are in the struggle, or when we are struggling, we will rather be ashamed of it, and then we cover the struggles, and we want to put a picture, that we are not struggling. Now, imagine that we all struggle before we make it, and you are struggling, you're covering it. You don't know the next person, if he's not struggling, he just finished struggling. I don't know, let me say it again. Imagine if we are going to only struggle in life per chance, maybe you can be ashamed of it. Like I may never struggle, I may struggle, but if there will be times in your life when you must go through that difficult situation, and if those who are great today have gone through it; people like Pastor Adeboye, people like Bishop Oyedepo, people like Pastor Eneche, people like anybody that you can remember. There were times when things were not rosy, people like Dr Mensah Otabil.

 

I remember when he, Dr Mensah Otabil, said they used to do their services in mechanic shops. So, they move from one mechanic shop to another. That was where they were, they could not rent any facility. When they got the first megaphone that could just record or make sound, they celebrated it. No great person has built a great edifice, whether you call it glory dome, or you call it the Altar, or you call it any name, they started from little or nothing.

 

So, you can’t stand in front of them and be ashamed of yourself. Lo and behold, they were once like you; nothing to be ashamed of. Let me give you a practical example. Now, if you are poor, and then you want to talk to me, are you ashamed because you're poor. You don't know, I have been poor before? There was a time in my life, I was living with my grandma, there was no toilet in the woman's house. We go to heap sites. I don't know whether sister Joy knew all these places — heaps. People dumped all manners of things, once you start approaching the heap, the soil becomes black and the land is like, maybe, 100 by 100, the entire 100 by 100 is a heap. So, I climb to the peak of the something to easy myself. So, you bathe somewhere, then you easy yourself there. But you were born inside a water system toilet building; everywhere there is tiles. There are tiles everywhere. But whatever you're going through now, you think you're going through a very bad experience. That brother was born when you were not born. So, there is nothing to be ashamed of.

 

These experiences are common to us. There's a scripture that says it here, look at it in verse eight, it says, “But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons”. We are all partakers of the chastening; you are not peculiar and you are not going to be an exemption. Don't go from one mountain to mountain in asking God to excuse you from the chastening, why? God loves you. He wouldn't excuse you. So, for Jesus, the cross was a painful experience. He was without sin, it only those who have been found guilty of sin that they put to the cross. Yet, He was put to the painful experience, the expatiating experience, painful experience. He was put that shameful experience. Imagine somebody that didn't do any bad, but people are shouting at you, “You did it, you did it. Go to hell, go and die. Get out of here. We don't want you with us. Go, go, go.” And you didn't do any bad thing. So, it's shameful. But what did Bible say, “For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross”.

 

See, the best gift that God can give to all of us in our different circumstances today is the gift of the joy ahead of us — the vision of that joy. There is no body created by God, that God has not sent a joy ahead of. What we don't all have is the vision of the joy. If you see your tomorrow that it will be all right, you will despise the present shame.

 

Okay, let's quickly paint two scenarios. You know, I'm a dramatic person, so I like to create drama a little bit. Now, two people at different instances go to the mechanic village. And the two of them dress simply and perhaps poorly. But two of them went with their vehicles at those two times. Now, because they don't dress well, they are in the mechanic village, they came to repair their vehicle maybe on the weekend. So, something happens in the mechanic village, and somebody just looks at you and almost spit on the floor, the person brought a better car, but you brought something else.  And when they were discussing among those who have cars that came to repair, you stood there; you're almost trying to participate and the person is like saying, “What is this one saying, it's not people like you”. But in your mind, you know, you have better money than what they see, what do you do to that situation?

 

You remove your cloth, and you start fighting, is that what you do? What do you do? You despise the shame. That is despise. But let's say you are really struggling in your house, you don't have #2,500, you are even praying that the mechanic will not collect #1,500 from you. And then you dress poorly, and then they despise you like that, what do you think you will do? Do you know the difference between the two of them? One has a joy set at home, joy in the bank accounts. He knows he has many cloths in his wardrobe, but had worn that dirty cloth. The other one has worn the cloth available. So, until there is a picture of a better future, you don't have the ability to despise shame; you take it personally. Why would you talk like that to me?

 

Instead of you to despise the shame; you take the shame, you soak it in and you never get out of that cocoon ever again. How would they say such a heavy word to me? How would they do that? Jesus says ‘Despise it,’ despise the shame, why? There is a joy. I know my Redeemer liveth, I know my Redeemer liveth, He liveth forevermore. Although, my beginning may be small, my latter end shall be greatly increased. So, if you despise me now, if you look down on me now, I will despise the experience. I will not take it to heart.

 

I was listening to a message by Bro. Gbile sometime ago. He was talking about how he could be driving on the road, and maybe he did something, another driver will just do like this to him (insult him), okay, do you expect me to now do my own back? He said, ‘No! I will just move on’. And some of us, I just imagine, Bro. Frances, that it was Bro. John that they did like that to and he is a driver, I don't know what brother John will do, it is the Lord that knows.

 

Me and my wife, we know somebody that drives in Lagos if you do like that to him, he will park the car and come and meet you. If he does not park the car, he will do his own with two hands, abandon the road and face you. He is somebody that he does not despise shame. He will soak it in. If he can come out physically to meet the other driver, then the two of them will fight, why? Really, basically, among other things, when they do like this to him (insult him), he believes they have insulted his father, his mother. He believes they are looking down on him because he's poor, and because perhaps, he's also poor. But what can they help him, If God has told him, ‘Don’t worry about your present predicament, I have chosen you for greater works; you will be great’. So, when they do like that to him, instead of him to react based on his today, he looks at his tomorrow, and just move on.

 

The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 5 from verse 7 to 9, it says: ⁷ who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, ⁸ though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. ⁹ And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.”  Many of us have been destined to become great things. But the journey begins with us being perfected. Another word for perfected which I came to realize in this message is corrected. See, if you have never done an assignment and then they told you, you score 2 out of 5; and they say you miss 3, you miss 5, you miss 4. And the answer for 3 is this, the answer for 4 is…, what are they doing? They're correcting you. If you have never been corrected as a student, then you have never gone to school.

 

The school is basically the place of correction. I don't know how many of us that went to more local schools, when you do like that, you score 2 over 5, the teacher gets angry. He beats everybody that's score those small, small scores. Bro. John, have you been beaten for scoring low score in your school; primary to secondary? Me and bro, B, we have been there before. You know, you score something low, instead of the teacher saying, “Please, improve next time,” like they do today, it is with flog. Why were you flogged? Because you did not score well. So, they will correct you and then they will make you to suffer, next time, you will want to score 4 out of 5, why? You have been corrected. (But today: fine girl, I know you score 5 out of 20, don’t worry, good girl, love you! I don't know how much the girl will see a need to change.)

 

I don't know any of my children that you can correct like that, and then you expect them to change, they will just give you the same thing. Maybe 3 over 20 next time. Because the more they don't do well, the more you pet them. You know, people do what people get appreciated of. They don't do well; you rob their heads. If they do well, you look at them like ‘all right, so, so person did well’, but they didn't do well, but because you have a principle of correcting with love, you told them not to worry: don’t worry, you are the best…you'll be fine, all right. So, they don't want to do well, so they can hear sweet, sweet words. Correct, but go through it.

 

So, if you desire to be perfect, please, understand that you will suffer a few things. And I just want to quickly say this, in the sense that what is the essence of anyone looking unto Jesus? Basically, the reason why we look unto Jesus is that we may be trained. It is to be trained. We look unto Jesus because we want to be trained, we want to be perfected, and we want to be fruitful. Jesus said, “You did not choose me,” in John 15:16, “but I chose you, that you may bear fruit and your fruit may abide.” In John chapter 14 verse 12 to 14, Jesus was telling those who have believed Him, He says, “The works that I do, you will do also and greater works than this you will do,” why? Because I go to the Father. So, the essence of looking unto Jesus is that you want Him to train you. And when He has trained you, what does it mean?

 

When He has trained you that is by correcting you, taking you through some experiences that look a bit painful, what is the goal? That you may be perfected over time, and that eventually you can be fruitful, you can be productive, you can bear fruit that abides. Let's quickly look together Luke chapter 6. There's something we want to see there. In the Book of Luke chapter 6, and we'll read verse 40. Jesus speaking, He said, “A disciple is not above his teacher. But everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher”.

 

What is the essence of looking unto Jesus? That I, Gboyega Adedeji, may be perfectly trained, which means I may be corrected even if by suffering. So, whether the collection comes with love, or the only thing I see is suffering, I don't see love; it is correction — by all means get corrected; by all means get perfected. Because that's the only way we can bear fruits that abide. And that is another way we can describe peaceable fruits of righteousness. It doesn’t fall down like ripe pawpaw; it's not by mere wishing. If you never went through the experience, you cannot wish to be fruitful after the order of the experience. If Jesus never was your teacher, if Jesus never was the object and the subject of your focus; of your attention, you cannot produce results after the order of Jesus. The walks that Jesus did, you cannot try it, why? You never looked at Him. You never spent time with Him. When you were with Him, you were looking away. You sat down beside Jesus and you were looking away. So, is that what you would you do for the rest of your life? Say, I am with Jesus but my guess is on the world.

 

Lastly, let's read Acts chapter 4 verse 13 to 14, Act of the Apostles chapter 4 verse 13 to 14, the Bible says, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. ¹⁴ And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them,” the man was not sleeping around, the man was not collapsing. You know, it is one thing to heal a man, it is one thing for the healed man to remain healed. That is bearing fruits that abide. What was the precursor for that bearing fruit that abides? They realized, Bro. France, they had been with Jesus. They had been looking at Him. They have been learning from Him. They been corrected by Him. When it was painful, they submitted; when it was easy, they submitted and lo and behold, they have become men and women that can bear fruit, peaceable fruit of righteousness.

 

And Bible says, “When they saw the man standing with them, they could say nothing against it. The Bible says, God's speaking that He will give us a mouth and a wisdom that your adversary would not be able to gainsay or resist. With that giving, I will give you a mouth and a wisdom, does it fall on everybody in Nigeria? Is it something that everybody can enjoy just like that? When God says He will give you a mouth and a wisdom, He will give it to you at His feet. Every time you come to Him, He will be giving you mouth and wisdom is not giving mouth, and that's it. Even though you never come to Him again, you will still continue to carry the mouth around. No. That's a man who used to be with Jesus. You must keep being with Him. You must keep being with Jesus. Don’t stop, keep coming to Jesus. Hallelujah!

Thanks for the gift of your time, We are Gboyega ADEDEJI and Obayomi Abiola Benjamin!

Feel free to share your thoughts or testimony in the comment box below. I promise to respond to them as soon as possible!