Following a Man of God: The Grace You Receive Through Divine Association

Following a man of God is not merely about receiving teaching — it is about partaking of a grace that gives you access to God and accelerates your spiritual perfecting in ways that cannot be achieved alone.

Following a man of God carries profound spiritual benefits that extend far beyond the words spoken from a pulpit. God designed the body of Christ with appointed servants whose grace capacity, lived example, and divine assignment work together to perfect the saints. Rejecting this association is not spiritual independence — it is a snare of the enemy that leaves believers without a dimension of perfecting that God never assigned to the Holy Spirit alone.

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Teaching Overview

1. The number one reason why you ought to follow a man of God is because of the example they set — whether directly or indirectly by their life.
2. Partaking in the grace that is in a man — not just the word of God that they teach, but taking of the grace that God has endowed them with.

Key Distinctions

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God's Truth Versus Man's Truth

• God's truth is revelation — it originates from the mind of God and is not shaped by personal experience or perspective.
• When man begins to mix his own ways into how God ought to operate, the vessel becomes corrupted and the work with God is undermined.
• There are practices formulated in the name of God that God never sanctioned — the full counsel of God must be taken, not only what appeals to human reasoning.

"The quickest way to destroy your work with God is starting to add your own way into how God ought to operate."

The Snare of Disconnecting from the House of God

• Many believers have not been in the house of God for years, consuming messages from home — and this is a snare of the enemy to the body of Christ.
• Even preachers who teach truth can unwittingly carry this corruption when they instruct people to find God entirely on their own, bypassing the divine structure of spiritual covering.
• The perfecting of the saints is not in the Holy Spirit's job description — it has been given to apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers; rejecting a man of God means forfeiting a dimension of perfecting.

"This is a snare of the enemy to the body of Christ."

The Role of the Holy Spirit and the Role of Ministers

• The Holy Spirit leads believers in all truth — but truth must first be received through the ministry of God's servants before the Holy Spirit can lead the believer deeper into it.
• The Holy Spirit brings to remembrance what has already been communicated — whether through a man of God or a woman of God — and then begins unveiling the layers of revelation hidden within each truth received.
• Every verse of Scripture carries seven layers of revelation; the Holy Spirit, working through what has been received, deepens the believer's roots in Christ rather than functioning as a substitute for ministerial teaching.

"You have to find the truth first in order for Him to lead you in it."

The Living Example: Written Epistles

• The number one reason to follow a man of God is because of the example they set — whether directly or indirectly through their life.
• A true example is not only behaviour in the positive — a man of God's mistakes, failures, and recoveries are also a lesson, revealing the sovereignty and mercy of God.
• Believers are written epistles — living gospels that God is writing and acting out, and spiritual maturity is built through observing both the victories and the vulnerabilities of those who walk with God.

"The number one reason why you ought to follow a man of God is because of the example they set. Whether directly or indirectly by their life."

Making a Mistake Versus Falling

• The church has confused moral failure with being rejected by God — but the true definition of falling is being rejected by God, not making a mistake.
• Making a mistake is not a termination of calling; it is a stage in maturing in the Spirit, and God's choice to use a servant is never based on the servant's merit but on His own grace.
• No one can lose salvation — salvation was never the believer's to lose; it is held by Jesus, maintained by God, and can only be rejected, not forfeited through failure.

"The definition of falling is being rejected by God. Making a mistake is not being rejected by God. That's called maturing in the spirit."

Partaking of Grace: The Second Benefit

• Partaking of grace means receiving not only the teaching of a man of God but the very grace — the spiritual capacity — that God has endowed that person with.
• Grace is not in the air — it is located within people; mantles do not fall from heaven and are not thrown by God, but are carried within the person to whom they have been given.
• A believer's grace capacity determines their gift manifestation, and association with a man of God allows the believer to partake of a grace that opens dimensions they could not access through personal effort alone.

"Your grace capacity determines your gift manifestation."

Fasting: Purpose and Misdirection

• Fasting is not directed at demons — it is directed toward God, for the purpose of deeper intimacy, deeper insight, and deeper roots in Christ.
• Who you are with determines what kind of fasting you do — there is no need to fast and pray for something that a shepherd already carries the grace for; fasting should be redirected toward what only closeness to God can provide.
• Proximity to God produces the miraculous automatically; fasting in isolation toward outcomes that grace has already provided is a misdirection of spiritual discipline.

"We don't fast so that we can do great miracles. We fast because we want to be close to God."

Grace Gives Access to God

• The grace of a man of God gives those connected to him access to God — not because believers lack direct access, but because not all believers are treated with the same urgency in God's presence.
• Biblical illustrations confirm this structure: Ishmael's cry was answered because of Abraham's grace; the bent woman was healed because she was a genuine daughter of Abraham; the blind man was answered because he invoked the name of David.
• There are miracles that happen for a believer not because of their own prayer alone, but because of whom they are connected to — divine association accelerates divine response.

"There are miracles that will happen for you, because of whom you are with. Not because of your prayer."

The Danger of Rejecting Association

• Anyone who has no mentor has rejected the future — even God does not want a believer to navigate spiritual life alone, yet the church has promoted a "do it yourself" theology that contradicts the design of the body of Christ.
• Some ministers are struggling in ministry because they were meant to be partakers of a specific grace and rejected it in the name of independence, not divine release.
• Not everyone who feels called to the pulpit has been sent to it — all believers are called to preach the gospel, but not all have been given a stage; understanding the process of God is essential to walking in true assignment.

"Anyone that has no mentor has rejected the future."

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Key Definitions

God's Truth — Revelation that originates from the mind of God and is not debatable or shaped by human experience or perspective.

Grace (as capacity) — The spiritual capacity endowed by God to a person, which determines the measure of their gift manifestation and which others can partake of through association.

Falling — The true definition, as distinguished from moral failure: being rejected by God — not making a mistake, which is a stage of maturing in the Spirit.

Perfecting of the Saints — The work of spiritual maturation assigned by God specifically to apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers — not to the Holy Spirit alone, and not achievable by the believer in isolation.

Mantle — A spiritual grace or capacity that resides within a person, not something that falls from heaven or is thrown by God; received through genuine association and partaking, not through declaration.

Partaking of Grace — Entering into and benefiting from the spiritual grace endowed to a man or woman of God — including their insight, foresight, and closeness to God — through genuine connection and association with them.

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Key Takeaways

• The perfecting of the saints requires a man or woman of God — this work was not assigned to the Holy Spirit alone but to the fivefold ministry, meaning rejecting spiritual covering leaves a believer with a permanent gap in their maturity.
• Grace is located in people, not in the atmosphere — partaking of a man of God's grace through genuine association opens dimensions of access to God and gift manifestation that personal effort and fasting alone cannot produce.
• Making a mistake is not being rejected by God — confusing moral failure with spiritual rejection produces false condemnation and causes believers to abandon their calling at the very moment God is maturing them through the process.

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Reflection Questions

1. Are you genuinely connected to a man or woman of God — not just consuming messages online — and is that connection giving you access to the grace and perfecting that God designed for you through the fivefold ministry?
2. In what areas of your spiritual life have you been operating in a "do it yourself" mindset, and what dimension of God's work in you may have been delayed because of it?
3. When you have made a mistake or moral failure, did you interpret it as being rejected by God? How does understanding the true definition of "falling" change how you respond to your own failures?
4. What are you currently fasting and praying toward — and does it reflect intimacy with God, or is it directed at outcomes that someone with greater grace has already been endowed to carry?
5. Is there a grace you have been called to partake of that you have resisted — either through pride, independence, or distrust — and what would it cost you to remain disconnected from it?

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Prayers and Declarations

No qualifying prayers or declarations were recorded in this sermon.

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Scripture References

• Ephesians 4:11 — "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." (KJV)
• Philippians 1:7 — "Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace." (KJV)
• John 14:26 — "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (KJV)
• Hebrews 13:5 — "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." (KJV)
• Matthew 9:15 — "And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast." (KJV)
• Matthew 6:9-13
• 2 Corinthians 3:2-3
• Genesis 21:14-21
• Luke 13:10-16
• Matthew 20:29-34
• Acts 10:44-46

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Golden Nuggets

"The quickest way to destroy your work with God is starting to add your own way into how God ought to operate."

"You have to find the truth first in order for Him to lead you in it."

"The definition of falling is being rejected by God. Making a mistake is not being rejected by God. That's called maturing in the spirit."

"Your grace capacity determines your gift manifestation."

"Anyone that has no mentor has rejected the future."

"We don't fast so that we can do great miracles. We fast because we want to be close to God."

"There are miracles that will happen for you, because of whom you are with. Not because of your prayer."

"Who you are with determines what kind of fasting you do."

"The point is not to do what you did. The point is for them to go farther than where you are."

"He did not choose me because of me. He chose me because of him."

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Resources and Further Reading

• Recommended Books →
• Study with a Recommended Bible →