The idea of suffering generally is not palatable. But it is a road we must pass through – it is a plate that God serves to all and sundry.
The idea of suffering generally is not palatable. But it is a road we must pass through – it is a plate that God serves to all and sundry.
A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid—and if you look at the picture of a lighthouse, its major identity is its height, which makes it to be seen across miles. Wherever you are, you can behold it but the lighthouse has its own purpose.
Metals react with the environment, some of the changes are irreversible, no second chance, no restoration! And so if your nature and you are unwilling to cooperate with God, there is only so much that God can do with you, other than that He would kick you out in His mercy and find someone else.
The word Stewardship is mentioned in both the Old Testament and New Testament. What is Stewardship or who is a steward?
The representative of the greatest power on earth, Pilate, confronted his creator, and indeed the Creator of heaven and earth cynically asking if He was king!
Slaying the dragon of carnality: Making sure the good does not blind you to the best
Preacher: Afolabi Oladele
Texts:
Ps 40: 6 – 8 (NLT); Luke14:15; Isaiah 5: 8-10; 1 John 2:15-16; James 4: 4; 1 Corinthians 1: 3; Ps27:4-6; Matthew 28:18 – 20; Luke 12:42 – 48; Luke 15: 4-7; Philippians 1:12-17; Ephesians 3:8 – 10; Acts 20: 22-45 ; John 10:20; Ish 50; James 10; John 10, Luke 13; and Galatians 6.
Summary of Message:
We need to watch out for the situations or things that makes us focus our attention more on the present than on our destiny and our eternity. 1 John 2:15-16 states, Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.
The best that God has for us is in relation to the Kingdom of God and not our current circumstances. James 4:4 says, You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.
We need to put God first, this should be our desire as it was David’s, even a busy King’s desire was to only to put God first as seen in Ps 27:4-6 – The one thing I ask of the Lord- the thing I seek most—is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple. For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary He will place me out of reach on a high rock. Then I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me.
At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the Lord with music.
When this becomes our desire as it was Paul’s also, we will see that Grace is already available as seen in 1 Corinthians 1: 3 says, May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
As the church of God, in order to be balanced, we need to stand on two legs. We teach and are taught the word of God but do our lives evangelize to the world?
Matthew 28:18 – 20 states that 18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Luke 12:42 – 48 states,
And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
The servants in this text knew and understood their roles as ministers. They knew the mind of their master and they knew that he had a goal, the goal of reaching a number of completion. In the same way, we need to ask ourselves, do we know the mind of Christ, do we know His goal and do we work towards it?
“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
luke 15:4-7
The parable of the lost coin and sheep, were all aimed at reaching a complete number, reaching the goal of the master.
Paul was so driven by the goal of the master that he did not mind sufferings or insults. We need to do our part in reaching God’s goal. Let our lives reach out to those around us.
In order to reach God’s goal, we must learn to live a sinless life; working towards dropping our sins and leaving them for good. God wants us to delight in him and share this same delight with the world not living religiously. Ps 40:6-7 (NLT) 6 You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings. Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand— you don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings.7 Then I said, “Look, I have come. As is written about me in the Scriptures: 8 I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.” for your instructions are written on my heart.”
What sorrow for you who buy up house after house and field after field, until everyone is evicted and you live alone in the land. But I have heard the Lord of Heaven’s Armies swear a solemn oath: “Many houses will stand deserted; even beautiful mansions will be empty. Ten acres of vineyard will not produce even six gallons of wine. Ten baskets of seed will yield only one basket of grain.”
Isaiah 5:8-10
Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God!”
In the times we are, we are seeing that the things of this world mean nothing and the only delight a child of God will have is the joy of looking forward to meeting Jesus. Luke 14:15
Points to Ponder:
– What am I doing in pursuit of living a sinless life?
– Do I know God’s goal and am I aligning with it?
– Is my life ministering/evangelizing to the world?
– Lord help me let go of any good that is distracting me from the best you have for me.
Prayer Points:
– Lord, help me live a sinless life and not just a religious one
– Lord, help me tap into the grace available to live a life for you
By Pastor Andrew – 4 March 2018
How long will God condone carnality? Answer, till it injures you.
Don’t cut off people’s ears, they need it to hear – Peter and Malchus (king or kingdom representative). You can carry your carnality – knife with you without Jesus complaining, it doesn’t mean He approves (JN. 18:10-11). You get to a point when you are supposed to know better – Paul in 1Cor. 13:11; Eccl. 10:16.
2 extreme cases where God spoke up (Ex. 4:21-25: Num. 22:22-32. Num. 31:8, Josh. 13:22).
We live in the age of prophecies fulfilling, yet we gloss over them, instead of using them as the standard to measure our walk with God. 2Tim. 3:5 is one – people will have a form of godliness. As we long as we are in the latter/perilous times, the spirit will come after anybody that wants to practice Christianity. So first, there is a spirit of “form of godliness” roaming seeking whom it may devour. We need to live with that daily! What’s the meaning of the word “form” and what is the meaning of the word “godliness”? that should help us to pin it down.
Form – mere (not real), semblance – something that resemble something – not the original.
Godliness is reverence, respect, piety towards God, holiness.
A “semblance of holiness” or 90% holiness is not acceptable – because what we call holiness is actually the nature and character of God (Hab. 1:13; Heb. 4: 14-15; 2Cor. 5:21). We are not better than old Israel that God sentenced to captivity for their sins. See His comments against them in Ezek. 36. 1 –
Yahweh
In the ancient world, names communicated something about a person’s character. See Ex. 3:12-14. In Ex. 3:15 Ex. 6:3.
Name discussed (Gen. 11:4 2Sam.7:23 Prov. 22:1). Name is SHEM i.e. fame, glory, reputation, memorial, monument. Strong: An appellation as a mark or memorial of individuality – by implication, honour and authority.
How do we meet His standard to maintain fellowship with Him that will take us to the Promised Land? There’s the crossing of Jordan in front of everyone before you get to the Promised Land. What is Jordan? Understanding this will help us. It means to descend, sink, to subdue, run down, to bring down – all from YARAD the root word for YARDEN which means one going down – descender. See Gen. 11:7; Gen. 26:2; Gen. 18:20-21
Crucified with Christ is total and true Christianity (Gal. 2:20; 1Cor. 2:2; 2Cor. 5:16;)
Character Upgrade
Because we live in Satan’s World
• Eph. 2:1-3
• Ps. 58:3
Those who serve the Lord must not bring in what they have, rather, their character must be suitable for the Lord’s use. This is possible only after you have gone through the process of refinement – character upgrade like Abraham and Moses.
• See Col. 3:10; Rm. 13:14; 1Cor. 13:11; Gal. 3:27; Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:14
Inside Egypt
The Exodus, note He didn’t tell them they were going to the Promised Land; He said, let my people go that they may worship me” (Ex. 4:5).
And here, the Lord began to lay a condition for heaven: unless you worship God in spirit and in truth (live to please Him John. 4:26) you don’t deserve heaven, the City of God. Also, by this statement God was questioning their knowledge of Him and their faithfulness – consistency. The desert and the hardships would unveil their nature.
You need to understand that the Lord will not use the things of man alone. Your talents or other forms of endowment by themselves are not useful to Him. They can only be useful to Him if He is the one using them – telling you what to do and what not to do. That was the first lesson Moses learnt, in the burning bush episode where the bush was burning but it was not consuming the wood.
God was showing him that He does not need what he has. He had been a general and a state builder in Egypt; these characteristics were of no use to God by themselves. God had to unlearn him – drop the nature of Egypt so that He could fill him with godly qualities needed for the job at hand.
• 2Cor. 4:7
• 2Cor. 3
Our person must have been dealt with by the cross. (Matt. 16:24-28)
(1Pet. 2:21)
Pastor Noel Abdulahi – 11 February 2018
We must always think of David as a figure of the church, because he personifies the church that entered within the veil.
For about 10 years David triumphed mightily as he maintained his abiding place on the holy hill.
The nations conquered by David – 2 Sam 5;7-10, 2 Sam 8:11-15.
Ancient demons and their New Testament equivalents
• Phillistia – speaks of envy and hatred
• Moab – speaks of pride and anger – prov 19:11 (nlt)
• Edom – speaks of bitterness and resentfulness
• Babylon – speaks of confusion
• Egypt – speaks of worldliness
• Assyria – stoutness of heart and cruelty
• Amalek – speaks of the lust of the flesh
• Footnotes: i cor 13, jn 13:35, jn 15:11-13, 17
The Spirit of David
To have the spirit of David you must conquer these enemies (ancient demons) which reside in the realm of the old Adamic nature and the realm of the spirit.
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the kingdom of God. Gal 5:19-21 NLT.
To have the spirit of David you must have the 7 spirits of God rested upon you.
Christ reigns through His crucified ones- 2 Tim 2:12, Rom 16:20; Psa 18:37-38
This was Christ’s example and we should follow suit- Gal 2:20
God was tired of sacrifices and offerings and wanted something better Heb 10:5, 19-20
Priesthood and kingship – 1 Pet 2:5, 1 Pet 2:9, Rev 1:6, Rev 5:20, Heb 6 :12
No priesthood no kingship
The priestly aspect involves suffering and sacrifices
The kingly aspect involves authority and rulership
David crossed the forbidden line of being both a king and a priest in the Old Testament speaking to the better things that god had in store for us-we are such a privileged generation.
Don’t settle for less!
Comments on Love
We are not commanded to demand love; we are commanded to love (evaluate yourself, not somebody else).
God loves us not as we want, but as He wants – He is love and knows best how to love us.
For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom Hhe receiveth (Heb 12: 8).
Love is not melancholy – the love of God is widely accepted, but wrongly understood. But the error is not just among unbelievers, for many Christians also have a very distorted concept of God’s love.
Action/inaction is not enough indices to judge true love; what determines true love are the eternal consequences of our actions.
The end point of God’s love is to make us be like Him
Pastor Andrew Morgridge – 21 January 2018
Introduction
We live in the age of prophecies fulfilling, yet we gloss over them, instead of using them as the standard to measure our walk with God.
2Tim. 3:5 is one – people will have a form of godliness. As we long as we are in the latter/perilous times, the spirit will come after anybody that wants to practice Christianity.
Crucified with Christ is total and true Christianity (Gal. 2:20; 1Cor. 2:2; 2Cor. 5:16; Acts 1:8)
But topic is a truth that Christians don’t practice, though we celebrate Jesus crucified with pomp and pageantry. Whether it’s Christmas, whether it’s Easter, it’s all about Jesus crucified and now risen for our benefits. We sing Because He lives, I can face tomorrow; we sing, I know it was the blood for me… But is that all to Christianity? Is that why He was crucified?
In the book, “The Triumph” by Gene Edwards, the angel of death told Jesus that he was going to keep Him in the grace if He ventured to die for mankind. Jesus told the angel of death that “before you came, I died for the sake of as many as would be Mine.” Jesus died before death was officially introduced (Rev 13:8) So the first thing about Jesus is Jesus slain. 2 things you quickly see about the word “slain” : (1) There is the willingness (CHOICE) to die, and (2) The pain associated with it (Phil. 2:5-11; Lk. 22:39-44). What we saw in the spirit was later played out at His birth. (Matt. 2:10-11).
These appointed delegates knew that they were bowing before a King. They honoured Him with gold, symbol of the wealth and purity of the Davidic kingdom. They paid tribute to Him with frankincense, the priestly Temple offering. Its divine scent rises as a connection between God and man. They prophesied of His death sacrifice with myrrh, the spice of death and burial. They honoured Him in the three divine offices, King, Priest and Prophet.
If we are being conformed into His image (1Jn. 4:16-17; Rm. 8:29; 2Cor. 4:17-18) the standard for us is the same. See Rev. 1:6. Let’s now discuss the 3 nature of Christ: (1) The gold. 3 Scriptures explains this, 1. As it pertains to the Priests, 2. As it pertains to David and 3 as it pertains to Laodicea. Gold speaks to purity of heart and a submitted person – one ready to drop his ideas for the will of God. Laodicea story and why Rev. 3:15-18. Jer. 24:7; Ezek. 11:19; Ezek. 14:3 Scriptures; Ex. 37. Daily contact with gold to help condition their heart and conduct. For David Acts 13:22. Discuss removed, raised up and heart-seat of emotions. Raised up has a purpose – to make us like David’s heart. Kings rule, but with God kings serve (Lk: 12:37; Lk. 22:27; Jn. 13:1-7. Note vs 17)
The parable of the Banquet brings alive the crucified with Christ in the parable. (Lk. 14:16-24)
Look at the servants, from the angle of service.
(1) They agreed with their Master
(2) They were sold out to His plan. (you can agree with someone and don’t do anything about his project. Passion explained in the context of their travailing work – From the rich invitee and the way they would have been treated to moving to the highways and then crannies.
(3) My 1st Missionary experience at the bank of River Benue – ORRIA. Victor on Bike for 3hrs crossing Liberia to Ivory Coast on untarred road. Our crossing from Guinea to Kanema.
How could they do this – they had transmitted from sons to servants. Discuss using i.es of servant and sons
Doulos
Thayer Definition
1. Slave, bondman, man of servile condition
a. A slave
b. Metaphorically, one who gives himself up to another’s will those whose service is used by Christ in extending and advancing his cause among men
c. Devoted to another to the disregard of one’s interests
2. A servant, attendant
STRONG’s Definition – a slave (literally or figuratively, involuntarily or voluntarily; frequently therefore in a qualified sense of subjection or subservience); – bond (-man), servant.Compare with Eccl. 10:16-17.
Jesus actually called us servants
Shepherds in true meaning. (John 10:
-The Jonah Example – Tarshish vs the will of God.
-As Jesus said, except wheat of corn dies, it cannot multiply Jn. 12
Conclusion: You are not crucified with Christ; you don’t belong to His kingdom.
The Prophet was a person who had a close relationship with God and who became God’s confidant (Amos 3:7). The prophet saw the world and the covenant people from God’s PERSPECTIVE, not HUMAN point of view.
Like God, the prophet deeply loved God’s people. When the people hurt, the prophet felt deep pain (Jer. in Lamentation 2:8,17) He wanted God’s best for them (Ezek. 18:23) and thus his messages contained not only warnings, but also words of hope and comfort.
Why are we different. I have shown the standard in the word.
(c) The Christian Brethren Church