Word given by brother Pedro Dong and transmitted by Instituto Vida para Todos, directly from the Church Auditorium in São Paulo – SP, on 25/08/2024. Text not revised by the author.

We encourage you to watch the full message on the IVPT YouTube channel.

 

 

 

1. I praise the Lord for everything He has done among us since He promised His Son an army of holy youth. In 2020 we received this revelation regarding Psalms 110, and since 2022 we have seen the dewdrops fall, our teenagers, pre-teens and our youth. The Lord has formed a battalion in our midst, because we have our teenagers energized by the Lord as troops, we have captains to coordinate them, and the older and more mature brothers have been included in the role of Supply and Logistics Stewards.
2. Since we received this promise, the Lord has worked miracles among us. The “Come and see” operation has worked miracles! Our teenagers have taken to the streets visiting homes, and they have opened them up to welcome them in. This action creates contacts between several teenagers, and in a short time, a large number of guests gather to participate in the meetings. This is something unprecedented. God is truly using the boldness and simplicity of the teenagers, along with the support of the captains and the Supply and Logistics Stewards.
3. Now we ask the churches for family groups to welcome the new people. Oldest brothers and sisters can’t sit idly by! Multiplication occurs through teenagers, but edification occurs through the care of older people in receiving and shepherding these guests, introducing them to the church life. The revitalization of family groups will be very useful in the hands of the Lord for the multiplication and edification of new people. When we complete the number of people reached, the Lord will return! Let us work to bring Him back. When we let the Spirit act in us through the word, He is the One who gives us people. If we are faithful to the word and practice it, the Lord will bless us, and the number of people in the church will grow, as will our joy!
   

   1 John 2:1-2; 1:7-10

4. At the beginning of his letter, John talks about the Word of life and how this word, which was life itself, was proclaimed to the churches. The Word of life is a person, Christ, Who is Life itself. It is something concrete, a living person who was contemplated by John together with other apostles. Thus, John spoke about a living person, and the word he spoke allowed the circulation of life among the members of the Body of Christ.
5. John emphasizes the importance of never allowing interruptions in the circulation of life, otherwise the members will die. Any member of our body, without receiving blood circulation, which nourishes and cleanses it of toxins, is subject to death. Therefore, John dealt with sin beyond a humanly moral situation. He was really concerned about the fact that the sin we commit can interrupt the circulation of life. It is about the need for everyone to receive life and stay healthy!
   
6. It is wrong to say that, after believing in Jesus, we no longer have the nature of sin in us, as if it had been eradicated from us. In our old man we still have this sinful nature. However, if we remain in the fellowship of the Body, in the circulation of life, it is more difficult for us to sin. The circulation of life brings us God Himself, who is light! Being enlightened, we are more aware of sin.
7. Unrighteousness is the first sign of sin. As an example, unrighteousness happens when we have a bad thought towards our brother, or we stop liking him for some reason. There are also situations in which, like Lucifer, we desire greater recognition from the brothers and sisters, and we start to crave position and visibility, then, we are affected by unrighteousness. We need to fix this! Otherwise, it will become a sin and interrupt the circulation of life among us. Let us be faithful in little! If we are faithful today in a little, the Lord can give us more responsibilities in the future. Don’t be worried about recognition or occupying higher positions in the church. Through our faithfulness in a little and in what the Lord has entrusted to us, He will be able to entrust us with more! Our motto is to serve, serve and serve! The ox that serves in the field never demanded a salary increase or extended vacation from its owner, it just knows how to serve! We must have the same attitude.
8. The worst thing that can happen to a branch on the vine is that it no longer has access to the sap. Likewise, if a limb is deprived of blood circulation, it will necrose. If we are not in the circulation of life, we are in danger. We need to quickly return to this fellowship, without allowing any sin to interrupt the circulation of life. This was John’s biggest concern.
9. The sinful nature is still within us, so that we may eventually fall. But we have an advocate with the Father: Christ! Only a righteous lawyer could defend us before God, and Jesus defends us when we sin. “Lawyer”, in Greek, is “parakletos” and means “called to be at someone’s side to help, provide legal assistance before a judge, a counselor, an intercessor”. When we sin, we need to call this Lawyer so that our circulation of life is not interrupted.
   

   John 14:16; 15:26; 16:7, 13

10. The word “comfortert” in John 14:16 has the meaning of “counselor, intercessor”. While at the side of the disciples, Jesus was their comforter, counselor, and advocate with the Father. After Christ’s ascension, however, it was necessary for Him to send another Comforter, the Spirit of truth. This Comforter is defending us all the time! It was necessary for the Lord Jesus to die and become the Spirit of truth, so that today He could enter everyone who believes in Him. He is within us as the Spirit of truth to guide us. When we receive the prophetic word, it is the Spirit of truth who gives us revelation!
    

    Mk 16:19-20

11. On the one hand, our Lord Jesus is seated in heaven, and all other authorities are below Him. On the other hand, however, He, as the Spirit of truth, has not left us alone. The order we receive from the Lord is to go out into all the earth to make disciples of all nations, preaching everywhere. When we obey the word of God and practice it, the Lord is with us as this advocate, our Comforter. Amid the difficult situations and hostile environments, we face when we take to the streets, He is our Comforter!
12. The Lord confirms His word through signs, and we have received many signs from Him! It appears that for many years after the Acts of the Apostles age, the signs disappeared. But these signs have followed us, confirming the word we have received.
    
13. The Lord Jesus is revealed as our Advocate, the One who defends our cause, who is with the Father and allows us to live in fellowship with Him. His goal is to help us recover the fellowship of life every time we have problems.
    

    Rom 5:18; 1 John 1:2, 9; Rom 3:24-25; 5:25

14. Christ is the Only righteous man. He performed a single act of righteousness on the cross, He died as the righteous One, so that, through His death, we would be justified and receive His life. This justification comes to keep us in the fellowship of life. If we sin, we only need to have a heart of genuine repentance, and God is faithful and just to forgive us. However, for God this was not easy. His righteousness needs to be to fulfilled and He cannot ignore it.
15. The mercy seat is the cover of the Ark of the Covenant. Inside the ark we have the two tablets of the law, the manna and Aaron’s rod. The tablets of the law are not mere written requirements, but they reveal who our God is: He is holy, just, full of love, and full of glory. Thus, this ark reminds us of God’s nature. Fallen man opened the door for sin and death to enter the world. Therefore, all men were born in sin.
16. God is righteous and holy; He cannot accept us anyway. Therefore, He placed a cover over the Ark of the Covenant, and on top of it two cherubim who examine everyone who enters the Holy of Holies. Today, if we want to have fellowship with God, we cannot do it just in any way. If someone in an inappropriate situation entered the Holy of Holies, they would be struck down. Therefore, the path to being justified was not at all easy for God.
    

    Ex 25:17-22; Gen 3:24

17. It is from above the mercy seat that God came and spoke to Moses. Moses was the only one who could enter the Holy of Holies at all times. Today we are in that same position: the Holy of Holies is now in our spirit! But we cannot enter into that place of fellowship with God in just any way.
18. The ark in the Holy of Holies is the place where God meets man. It contained the law of the Ten Commandments with their requirements of righteousness and holiness, which exposed and condemned the sins of the people. The blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled on the cover of the ark on the day of atonement, and met the demands of divine righteousness and holiness under the watchful eye of the cherubim, who represent the glory of God. In this way, the situation of sinners was completely covered by the lid, opening the way to fellowship with God.
    

    Lev 16:11-15, 23:26-28; Ex 30:34-38

19. To atone for the high priest’s sins, it was necessary to sacrifice a bull as a substitute for his death and that of his family. To enter the Holy of Holies with the blood to be sprinkled on the mercy seat, however, it was necessary to take two handfuls of ground aromatic incense. In order not to be struck upon entering the Holy of Holies, it was necessary to produce smoke with the incense so that the cherubim would not see the sinner entering. Look how much was needed for the high priest to enter the Holy of Holies! We today, however, have free access to it, thanks to the work of Christ on the cross!
    

    Heb 2:17; 4:14-16; 9:11 -14; 3-5

20. Today our Lord Jesus is the High Priest; at His resurrection He was appointed High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek. He understands our weaknesses, as He lived a human life in all its frailty here on Earth. “Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
    
21. Today we do not approach the Holy of Holies through the blood of goats or sheep, but through Christ in His eternal redemption! The goal of preparing for us this path, was for us to enter there to serve. God knows that as long as we have problems of conscience, we cannot serve Him. Without a good conscience, we do not have the circulation of life with the Father. Our justification came to receive supply of life and serve!
    

    1 John 2:3-6; John 15:5-7; Col 3:14

22. We only know God when we keep and practice His word. The word is not to be practiced as a list of rules, as it was in the Old Testament. What we receive from God is the fellowship of the word of life, which gives us the ability to fulfill the word. It is not the branches that bear fruit, but the vine itself! The branch, like man, does not have the capacity to fulfill the law and bear fruit. When we organically unite with the vine through the fellowship of life, we begin to be able to bear fruit. These fruits come from the sap, from the life that circulates among all of us!
23. Our real relationship with God does not come through feelings, through our ability to practice His word, but through keeping it. We receive the word of God through those who announce it as the word of life, and the word produces the fellowship of life in those who hear and practice it. Eternal life lies in the revelation of the word, not in understanding the Bible from end to end as mere commandments. This revelation of the word “rhema” is what gives us strength to bear fruit.
24. God insists on the inculcation of the word beyond the dead letter. What works is the word “rhema” instilled in our hearts. That’s why we immerse ourselves in the word: so that it is instilled in our hearts! When we immerse ourselves in the word, we are fulfilling what the Lord tells us in Colossians 3:14, teaching it and admonishing it among us.
25. Therefore, it is not about theoretical or doctrinal knowledge, but about the real and subjective knowledge of those who live in the fellowship of life through the circulation of the word in the Body of Christ. In those who truly keep His word, the love of God is perfected. From this circulation of life, God wants to produce love as the final result. This is the perfect result. If we say that we know the Lord by the circulation of His life among us, but we still have problems in loving each other, we do not really know Him. God’s love is manifested in those who truly keep His word, those who live in fellowship with God and with the brothers and sisters.
26. There is something wrong if we practice all the tools, but we don’t have God’s love as the end product. Whoever says he abides in Him must walk even as He walked, not by external imitation. Many years ago, there was a group of people who followed the logic of constantly asking themselves what Jesus would do in their place. That’s good, but not enough. God wants us to be organically linked to Him. If we are not in this organic connection, there is no point in putting on an imitation show. In China there are monkey shows, in which animals imitate human activities; however, when they receive food, their animal instincts take over, and they stop acting like people. Therefore, what is necessary for us is not to imitate Jesus, but to express His life.
    

    Isa 53:10; John 6:38-40; 5:19; 14:10

27. We will only have the life of Jesus through the word, the circulation of life! We are an extension of Christ, His prolongation. Anyone who looks at the church needs to see an extension of Christ, walking as He walked on Earth. If the church wants to walk as He walked, we need to be as determined to do God’s will as Jesus was. We are here not to do our own will, but to fulfill His will. The church must be determined to do God’s will by believing in the word and putting it into practice to carry out His work, and not by its own ability.
    

    John 1:6-7, 9-11; 13:34-35
    

28. God’s commandment is that we love one another. If we live in organic unity with Him in the fellowship of life and the word is instilled in us, enabling us to fulfill it, love will certainly be produced in us. The practice of love dispels darkness and cause true light to shine. What gives us the ability to love is the circulation of life and words in our midst. It all begins with the word of life that the apostle announces to the church, which we receive by faith and put into practice. This word brings life, the love of God, produces fellowship with God and with the brothers and sisters, generating brotherly love.
    

    Is 14:12-15; John 8:44; 17:3; Gen 4:5-8; 1 John 3:12; Ps 2:1-9; Col 1:13; Eph 6:12

29. He who says he is in the light, but hates his brother, is in darkness. The fellowship of life produces love among the brothers and sisters and makes them walk in the light, because God is light. And whoever walks in the light cannot hate his brother.
30. When Lucifer, the son of light, aspired to rise in position and be equal to the Most High, he probably had the intention of being an assistant king next to God to deal with creation, but then he was cast down to the kingdom of the dead. Disconnected from the Only True God, he became the devil and father of lies, in whom there is no truth. He was a murderer from the beginning and encouraged Cain’s envy and hatred, which resulted in Abel’s death. From envy comes hatred, which, if it grows out of control, leads to murder. That’s why we need to take heed and remain in the flow of the fellowship of life.
31. Psalms 2 reveals Satan’s envy and hatred of Christ, since Jesus was chosen by God to be King over Mount Zion, which is why he incites hatred from the nations’ leaders against God and His Anointed One. Disconnected from God, Who is light, Satan established his kingdom, the empire of darkness, in which he rules over the world of darkness with his princes and authorities, who are the rulers of this dark world, the spiritual forces of evil.
    

    John 11:9-10

32. Whoever lives in the fellowship of life lives in Christ, Who is the light of the world and the light of life. He who lives in the light does not stumble, but he who lives in darkness stumbles, for he cannot see an inch in front of his nose. Let’s walk in the light! What proves that we are in the fellowship of light is that we live in love. Whoever walks in darkness does not know where he is going, because darkness has blinded his eyes. Whoever does not love the word has no life or light, is out of fellowship with God and with the brothers and sisters, and has no direction, because he is blind, in darkness. Whoever has left the fellowship of life constantly stumbles. We want to remain in the fellowship of life, united with the Lord and walking as He walked. If we do not love one another with the love of God, which comes through organic unity with the Lord, we are not one with Him.