Wednesday, November 4, 2015
BECOMING A MAN THAT IS APPROVED OF GOD-PART 3
Thursday, July 23, 2015
RIGHTEOUSNESS AND GOODNESS
You may
wonder why I want to talk about Righteousness and Goodness. If there is an
assignment that a certain group of people are supposed to engage in, I think
that the wise ones amongst them will like to find out whether they are
qualified to participate in it. It is only fools that will just get up and jump
into something that they are not qualified to- according to the rules to
participate in-you can be sure that such people will only end up disqualified.
Think again about a team that decides to field mostly over-aged footballers,
for example, in an under-twenty football match, you field mostly those players
that are aged twenty-five and above: your team is sure to be disqualified, once
your deceit is discovered.
In the same
way, a male footballer who insists on being fielded by his country, in a
Women’s World Cup competition, cannot be allowed to play no matter how good he
is.
Talking
about prayer, if we look at certain portions of the Bible, we can see the basic
qualifications, for example: in Proverbs chapter 15, verses 8 and 29, we read
as follows:
“8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an
abomination to the Lord: but the prayer of the upright (righteous) is his
delight”
Sacrifice,
means giving something very precious to God: here God is the one receiving, but
in prayer, you are the one asking God for something-although sacrifice can
actually be a part of spiritual worship, aimed at receiving.
Here we can
see that God delights in, or accepts, or loves the prayer of the righteous.
Note also that he hates the sacrifice of the wicked, talk less of the prayer of
the wicked.
Again in
verse 29 of the same chapter, the wise man talks again by the inspiration of
the Spirit I believe, about the righteous, the wicked or sinner, and prayer:
“29 The Lord is far from the wicked:
but he heareth the prayer of the righteous”.
This tells
us that a wicked man, who has not yet repented, and turned away from his sins,
and received Jesus into his life as savior, will be wasting his time praying. A
lot of times, we hear people asking everybody to pray concerning the problems
of the nation, or one thing or the other, but you need to know, that it is not
everybody’s prayer that God hears.
We will
explain what righteousness and sin mean shortly, but clearly.
Yet there is
a more detailed scripture that talks about the type of prayer a righteous man
will do, and the effect of that prayer and that is in James chapter 5 and verse
16, we read as follows:
“16 Confess your faults one to
another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent
prayer of a righteous man availeth much”.
This portion
of scripture tells us that we need to confess our faults one to another before
prayer-it is important to note that, this requires a change of heart
first-called repentance. This is very important, because the state of your
heart matters a lot to God. Remember, that as a man thinks in his heart-so is
he. Again, we read that blessed are the pure in heart in heart: for they shall
see God.
However the
area of emphasis for the purpose of our discussion here is the (b) part that
tells us, that the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
There are
three important things mentioned here that are very important:
1 The type
of man involved-a righteous man
2 The type
of prayer involved-effectual and fervent prayer
3 The effect
of the prayer-it avails much.
The above is
from the New King James version of the Bible, but let us look at the amplified
version of the same scripture:
“16 Confess to one another therefore
your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray
[also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual
tone of mind and heart].The earnest (heartfelt continued) prayer of a righteous
man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]”.
I am sorry
if I am going too far here, but the thing you need to note here is the fact
there this prayer of a righteous is dynamic in it’s working, or has the ability
to cause changes.
Who is a righteous man?
A righteous
man is a man who has made peace with God and accepted his sole authority and
Lordship over all things, and received the one that he has sent-Jesus Christ.
God was here
before time, he created all things, and by virtue of this, has the sole right
to be right-this is called righteousness. Anyone who accepts God’s authority and
dominion and headship/Lordship, becomes right with him, and receives this right
to be right-that is righteousness.
Sin is the
opposite of righteousness, anyone who disobeys God, and disagrees with his word
and authority, commits sin, and is a sinner or a rebel.
When you
decide to accept Jesus, God gives you the gift of righteousness, as we can see
in Romans chapter 3, verses 21 and 22 and, 5 verse 17:
“21 But now the righteousness of God
without the law is manifested by the law and the prophets;
22 Even the righteousness of God
which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all that believe: for there
is no difference: …”
This
righteousness of God which is by faith, is called the gift of righteousness,
you can confirm that this was what made Abraham, a righteous man. We can see
this in Genesis chapter 15 verse 6:
“6 And he believed in the Lord; and
he counted it to him for righteousness”.
Some believers
are confused about this term called: righteousness- some tell us that there are
two kinds of righteousness. They say that there is a gift of righteousness, or
the imputed righteousness, and a doing righteousness. This is not right,
because it removes the element of temporality, and clarity from the concept of
righteousness.
I like to
use strictly scriptural terminology to simplify the concept of righteousness.
The Bible
talks about the gift of righteousness and the fruit of righteousness, and both
are not the same because the gift precedes the fruit. In Romans chapter 5 and
verse 17, we read as follows:
“17 For if by one man’s offence death
reigned by one; much more they which receive
abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one,
Jesus Christ”.
Here we can
see the gift of righteousness which you receive by believing in Jesus, and
receiving his grace.
Secondly,
the fruit of righteousness is talked about in Amos 6:12, Hebrews 12:11, and
James 3:18. However, let us take a look at Philippians chapter1 verse 11, and
Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 9:
“11 Being filled with fruits of
righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God”.
You need to understand that what makes you
righteous when you believe God is the receiving of the Holy Spirit-which is the
seal of your salvation.
Now, in
Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 9, we read as follows:
“9 For the fruit of the Spirit is in
all goodness and righteousness and truth;”
The Holy
Spirit within you is the gift of God who possesses both righteousness, and all
the gifts of the spirit.
We were told earlier that righteousness bears
fruits in us, and this fruit is goodness according to the scripture above and
Amos 6:12:
“12 Shall horses run upon the rock?
will one plow there with oxen? For ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit
of righteousness into hemlock:
This
scripture helps you to understand, that instead of goodness, sweetness, or
beauty-which constitutes the fruit of rightousness, these people mentioned here
have turned it into hemlock- a deadly poison that kills.
GOODNESS
In Mathew
chapter 12 and verse 33, we read as follows:
“33 Either make the tree good, and
his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the
tree is known by his fruit”.
Righteousness
is the nature of God, and God is a good God. In so very many parts of the
scripture you can see it echoed over and over again: For the Lord is good, and
his mercy endureth forever.
Jesus
himself said, in Mathew chapter 7 and verse 20 we read:
“20 Wherefore by their fruits, ye
shall know them”.
This means that by their works, you shall know them.
Again
goodness is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit mentioned in Galatians chapter
5 and verse 6.
It is
important to note that if you are not like your father which is in heaven,
there is no proof that you are really from him.
Jesus
explains everything concerning the mysterious relationship between goodness and
effective prayer in Mathew chapter 7, verses 17 and 19:
“17 Even so every good tree bringeth
forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth
evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not good
fruit is hewn down, and cast into fire”.
A simple way
of explaining this is that if you are not producing the fruit of righteousness,
which is goodness-then, you are a bad or an evil tree. You cannot expect to
produce in prayer. You are condemned to suffering or fire.
This does
not mean that you will make heaven in the end, except if you choose the right
way-the Jesus way.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Friday, June 5, 2015
Sunday, May 3, 2015
WOLVES IN SHEEP CLOTHING
In my
soon-to-be-published book titled, ‘How to wait for the fulfillment of God’s
promises’, I wrote extensively on the ministry of a true man of God, and how to
recognize. In short, I talked about the qualities of a good Pastor.
However,
because of the deception that is rife today, and the work of the devil in
raising evil workers who are hiding as ministers in the church, I will be
teaching briefly on the behavior of these children of darkness. I will be using
the Old Testament primarily, to teach.
Firstly, it
is important to understand that, Jehovah-the Lord God of Israel, whom we serve,
is the only true God. He does not share his glory with any other God. He gave
instructions to Israel not to serve any other God beside him. Israel’s
disobedience was what brought the punishments that eventually led to the
carrying away into captivity.
In
Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 19, we read as follows:
19 And it shall be, if thou do at all
forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship
them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.
The divine
instruction for prosperity and longevity is that you do not combine the service
of the Lord with idolatry. Also we need to know that there are different ways
that people practice idolatry. There are different types of spirits that are
involved in false religion, and the Bible out lines some of them.
In the Book
of Leviticus chapter 19 and verse 21, we read as follows:
21 Regard not them that have familiar
spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your
God.
Again in
Leviticus chapter 20 verses 6, we see this stern warning repeated by God to
Israel, as follows:
6 And the soul that turneth after
familiar spirits and wizards, to go whoring after them, I will set my face even
against that soul to cut him off from amongst his people.
Apart from
going after familiar spirits, the Bible talks about allowing your children to
pass through the fire to Moloch(human sacrifice), stargazing or astrology,
enchantments or the use of charmers, sorcery, and so on and so forth.
LESSONS FROM
THE LIFE OF KING MANASSEH
In chapter
33 of 2 Chronicles, we read the story of King Manasseh, of Judah-son of
Hezekiah. Hezekiah was one of Judah’s (and albeit-Israel’s best kings). He was
a true and humble servant of God.
Unfortunately,
Hezekiah was replaced by a proud and foolish son by the name-Manasseh. He did
those things that were evil in the sight of the LORD; he worshipped demons and
rebuilt their altars and high places. We can see his evil practices in verse
3-7 of 2 Chronicles as follows:
3 For he built again the high places
which Hezekiah his father has broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim,
and made groves and worshipped the host of heaven, and served them.
4 Also he built altars in the house
of the LORD, whereof the LORD has said, In Jerusalem shall my name be forever.
5 And he built altars for the host of
heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.
6 And he caused his children to pass
through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom, also he observed times and
used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and
with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to
anger.
7 And he set a carved image, the idol
which he made in the house of God…
Now let us
simply analyze Manasseh’s idolatry so that everyone will understand it. We can
see the following diverse kinds of devil worship or false religion from the
above:
1. He reared up altars for Baalim
2. He made grooves for the worship of
the host of heaven
3. He built altars in the house of the
LORD for (demon worship)
4. He built altars for the host of
heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD
5. He caused his children to pass
through fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom
6. He observed the times (astrology)
7. He used enchantments (charms, amulets
and charmers)
8. He used witchcrafts
9. He used wizards
1 . He
had a familiar spirit
1He
set a carved image, idol which he made in the house of God
In other to
understand the ministry of today’s false prophets, and fake pastors who want to
move in the supernatural, you need to read and understand what people like
Manasseh practiced earlier on in Israel.
If you
haven’t heard that there are people today, who are running ministries or
churches, who first of all went to a spiritualist, who performed a ritual
(maybe buried a cow or a goat in the church ground, or even human sacrifice),
you need to search more for information. At least I have seen one person
testifying, after defeat and deliverance.
Talking
about enchantments and charmers, we have now come to learn that there are other
Pastors who, you know that there are lots of church goers already or church
members involved. These people depend solely on charmers and their charms or
amulets, to secure victory. If you hear that there is a contract to be won or a
position to be created in an office somewhere-they start boasting about it.
When you hear them boasting about how they are going to win it, you may think
that they fast and pray a lot. I am no longer fooled when I see such things;
you need to look carefully before you leap.
You will be
more than surprised like some of us have discovered that these people have
charmers, or they have charms and amulets, that they use to surprise their
opponents. My most shocking part here is that there are now Pastors, and
Christians of all sorts, who are into this, including deacons and elders.
Another
important part of this story is the use of witchcraft to control churches and
church members. It is amazing to note that there are so-called Pastors, who
threaten others with sickness. They not only threaten with sickness, but
actually go ahead to give sicknesses to those who refuse to even accept the wrong
things they do. Think about a Pastor for instance, who is a cultist. Some
people belong to witchcraft cults, from where, if you disagree with them or
disobey them-they attack you immediately. Spiritually induced lameness,
blindness, leprosy, tuberculosis, and others, have been inflicted on church
members, who refused to be used by these sick people.
What about
familiar spirits? Exactly! These people often claim to be great prophets,
however, because of their association with all kinds of charms, charmers,
spiritualists, cultists, astrologers, and so on, they acquire-familiar spirits.
Sometimes, these spirits actually are called into themselves purposely through
certain rituals. These spirits are called-guardian spirits or spirit guides, by
the New Age Movement.
These
so-called spirit guides, or guardian spirits, are mostly familiar spirits, or
demons of revelation. They are able to predict the future, and tell secrets
about people. It is common knowledge that someone with such demon spirit
guides, can easily masquerade as a prophet of God, but cannot maintain the
character of a true prophet of God. Remember that by their fruits, ye shall
know them.
I will also
like to add here, that apart from the supernatural, you need to beware of the
technological pseudo-supernatural, like Satellite-pseudo-telepathy.
The use of
satellite technology, to monitor members, to read their thoughts, and to
arrange pseudo-miracles for them, is to be criticized, discouraged and opposed
at all cost. It is not for a genuine man of God. Satellite telepathy, and
copying of intellectual properties of others through satellite, is criminal,
and should not be practiced by any true man of God.
Thursday, December 4, 2014
SIX DIMENSIONS OF GRACE!
The grace of
God is what separates us from the Old covenant saints. The Bible tells us that
Moses, brought the law to God’s people, but Jesus Christ, brought grace and
truth.
The Bible
goes on further to tell us that the law was weak, because it did not give the;
people the power to be able to keep it, but from our study today, you will see
that grace did.
The grace of
God, is not the freedom to be bound by a habit, and still be a Christian, it is
not the ability to fall into more sin and be forgiven. The grace of God, will
not be made more available, to those who willfully and knowingly, decide to
continue in sin.
WHAT GRACE IS
A SAVIOUR
We can see this from the book of Titus chapter
2 and verse 11:
For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men,
This portion
of the scripture tells us that grace brings salvation, in other words, grace is
a savior. You and I can still see a further explanation of this from Ephesians
chapter 2 and verse 5:
5 Even when we were dead in sins hath
quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved ;).
The above
scripture again tells us that we are saved by grace, and not of works. This is
repeated even more clearly in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8:
8 For by grace are ye saved through
faith; and not by yourselves: it is the gift of God:
A TEACHER
Grace is a
teacher, in Titus chapter 2 and verse 12 again, we read another important side
of what grace does:
12 Teaching us that denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should learn to live soberly, righteously,
and godly, in this present world;
Grace
teaches us to deny ungodliness, it teaches us to deny worldly lusts, it teaches
us to live soberly, it teaches us to live righteously. Grace in no way teaches
us lewdness, seduction, fornication or adultery. Grace teaches us self-control.
Therefore, when a man or a woman or a church is struggling with sin, there are
two things that may be involved.
The first is
that it may be that he or she has not yet received the teaching of grace, or
has not received grace, has received the grace of God in vain.
GRACE:
THE POWER OF GOD AND THE STRENGHT OF CHRIST
In the Book
of 2 Corinthians chapter 12, Apostle Paul talks about thorn that he had in his
flesh. This was a messenger of Satan that was sent to buffet him and he said
that he prayed about it so many times. The Lord spoke to him and here is what
he said:
9 And he said unto me, my grace is
sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly
therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may
rest upon me.
Jesus said
that his grace was and of course is still sufficient for Paul, you and I if we
believe. He goes on to explain that this grace is his strength, which is made
more abundant to strengthen you in your weakness. Apostle Paul later called it,
the power of Christ. Grace is therefore the power to resist sin.
THE
ANOINTING/ THE MIRACLE WORKING POWER OF GOD
In the Book
of Acts chapter 4, we read about the great manifestations of the power of God
that took place as the Apostles prayed together. Peter and John had healed a
lame man. They then went ahead to explain to the elders and leaders of the
synagogue who threatened them to stop using the name of Jesus. In Acts chapter
4 verses 31-33, we see the manifestation of power and great grace, leading to
signs, miracles and wonders.
GRACE IS
A TRANSFORMER (it changes lives).
In the Book
of 1 Timothy chapter 1 verses 11-14, Apostle Paul explains how that he was a
wicked and an injurious man to the body of Christ, but the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, changed his entire life.
11 According to the glorious gospel
of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.
12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord,
who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful putting me into the
ministry;
13 Who was before a blasphemer and a
persecutor and injurious: but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in
unbelief.
14 And the grace of our LORD was
exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Jesus Christ.
In the last
verse, which is 14, Paul the Apostle explains how that he obtained his
change-it was by the grace of our Lord.
You can
still prove the transforming power of grace further from what Apostle Paul said
in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 10:
10 But by the grace of God, I am what
I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored
more abundantly than them all: yet not I but the grace of God which was with
me.
I am what I
am by the grace of God, actually means; I became who I am now, by the
transforming power of the grace of God. Note also, that he talked about how
that grace enabled him to do more work than all the other apostles.
GRACE IS
HELPER
In Hebrews
chapter 4 and verse and verse 6, Apostle Paul, explains another side of
grace-the enabler, or the help:
6 Let us therefore come boldly unto
the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in the
time of need.
Conclusion-the
grace of is a person-Jesus Christ the son of God.
Song:
Jesus-God’s righteousness revealed!
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