THE MESSAGE NOW
Vol. 4, No. 33 – Monday, 26th August, 2019
(Jude 1:3)
CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES
(Part 2)
There is a basic characteristic about authority. It is the fact that authority usually descends from an un-commanded commander down to the commanded. Authority usually does not imbibe equal partnership; the master is always at the top.
In the general sense, the one who is classified as authority, is usually the one who dishes out tasks. Oftentimes, his tasks are not followed up with rewards, and who can really question him/her. If his tasks receive the back-up of rewards, it is always at his/her own prerogative, time and disposition when he/she finds it so convenient to do.
But the case of the Great Master, the Blessed Lord Jesus, is markedly different. His tasks always comes with accompanying rewards. Indeed, Christ is so lowly that obedience to His given tasks makes one equal with Him before His father. Recall the content of John chapter 13 that Christ not only washed His disciples’ feet, He categorically informed them that He was no longer addressing them as His disciples but as His ‘friends’.
In the equation of the Almighty, genuine Christian service makes the children and the heavenly father one entity. Christ worked, serving the course of the Father so dutifully (John 5:17). The result of Christ’s dutiful service earned Him oneness with the Father as was elucidated in the account of John chapter 10:30. This act of service is the next consideration of Christian doctrine.
(3) Christian Service(Evangelism): An author, pastor and lawyer once argued in a book that ‘it is a man’s service onto God that recommends him onto greatness’. Hmmm! Can that really be true? Oh! It is spectacularly true.
But understand that it is both improbable and impossible to serve God without a genuine heart of love. For a master whom you do not genuinely love you certainly cannot please with your service (2 Chron.25:2).
What does that imply? It means that service to God is an expression of love to God. Genuine service to God tells God how much we value Him. Human masters load their followers with myriads of service that oftentimes are heavily crushing. But the Great Master, Christ gave to all who are His friends only one task: MAKE ME KNOWN TO THE ENTIRE WORLD (Matt. 28:18-20).
It has remained an age-old misnomer that evangelism only means the distribution of tracks and the preaching of the gospel. This is true, but not the whole truth. Please understand that winning souls is the best anyone can do for Christ in this present world.
And I do encourage us to seriously do so. But do you know that living a holy life, good enough for others to emulate is equally evangelism? When Christian workers, church members and leaders perform excellently with genuine heart in their given department, they are equally evangelizing.
Do I hear you say how? Matthew chapter 5:16 informs us that ‘let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works,and glorify your father which is in heaven’.
Are we aware that whilst carrying out our duties, others are directly and indirectly being led into our direction? It was the lifestyle of my secondary school classmate, Stephen Angulu, that first prompted me to desire being a Christian. By serving God as a soldier on our duty posts, we are gladdening the heart of the Almighty. The spiritual cameras of heaven too are beaming clearly at us.
I have a spiritual daughter who goes out of her way to remind me about some of our church activities. Why shouldn’t I see her as a challenge? And why shouldn’t I be encouraged by her actions?
There is no one who serves the Lord who will ever be forgotten. Get a further secret and lesson of life about Christian service/evangelism from the espoused mystery below.
If you assist in sweeping or cleaning the things that pertain to God, God in turn makes sure that diseases and sickness are swept off your life. If you serve God with your finances, God knows how to position men to see to it that you never go down. And you know what, those who serve God with their substance will be put in everlasting remembrance (Luke 8:1-3).
If you support in building the house or place of worshipping God, daily and everlasting blessings and the cancelation of all curses are your portion as enunciated in Haggai 2:19). Read the entire account of the book of Haggai chapters 1-2 and see what I mean.
If you support in giving God praises like being in the choir of the house of God and so doing with a genuine heart, God in turn confirms His word in Malachi 2:1-4 in your life by nullifying curses and ensuring your deliverance, salvation and outstanding quicker breakthroughs as laid down in Psalm 50:22-23.
If you arrange chairs and put the house of God in order prior to service hour or even without any services at the corner, God makes sure that He arranges your life and puts its it in order. If you preach with a genuine heart about Christ, you carrying out the greatest deliverance for yourself especially from within. Do I hear you interject?
Have you not read the content of Hebrews chapter 10:22? It reads: ‘let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith; having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water’.
‘Our bodies washed with pure water’?! What does this mean in the context of preaching and evangelism generally? Every word of God preached during evangelism is full of enormous power. It works deliverance to the hearers who are two: the addressee and the one addressing the addressee.
For the one addressing the addressee (that is, the evangelist), note that there is no way a word will be spoken by a man that two things will not happen. One is the movement of the tongue in course of talking. The other is the movement or vibration of saliva in and through the mouth of the evangelist or the speaker of the word.
During the process of talking or evangelizing, saliva moves in two directions which is often unknown to man. The first direction is inward. The second direction is outward towards the atmosphere or sometimes even touching the outward hearer unintendedly.
The mystery is this: that saliva travelling back into the evangelist is carrying the enormous power which goes inside him/her to perform unspeakable miracles and also reside in him/her as residue of great spiritual power. No wonder, when such evangelist pray, there is always great results.
Having got this mystery from the Holy Spirit, I ask everyone the great question: where do you still stand? On the side of God with a genuine heart at every level of Christian service or do you wish to continue in your old ways of leaving His work undone?
Will we force you to give your tithes and offerings? Will we force you to administer rightly? Will we force you to lead prayers in your prayer department? Will we continue to force you to fast and to come to church?
IN THE END, WHO ARE YOU SERVING? REMEMBER THAT YOU CANNOT STAND ON THE FENCE. FOR THERE IS NO VACUUM. YOU ARE EITHER GENUINELY SERVING GOD, YOURSELF OR SATAN. DON’T YOU KNOW THE ANSWER?
Question and Answer Section:
Question: What book of the Bible contains no single mention of God or Lord?
Answer: The Bible book of Esther.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
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ALTAR CALL:
Backslidden – living in sin – needing fresh recommitment (say):
Christ Jesus, You are the Anointed One of the Most High. I come to you today as I am. In your mercy, help me out of my situation. Heal my soul, my spirit, my body, my life and my destiny. I acknowledge you as the only true lover of my soul. Please, deliver me on every side and save me through and through. I promise from the depth of my soul to be yours from henceforth, in Jesus name. Help me now O God. Be my Lord, my Saviour and my all in all from this day. Thank you Lord (read Ps.54 in closing and pray more).
HYMN: Faith Of Our Fathers
PRAY NOW:
1. In every place O God where I have failed the doctrines of the Bible, O God forgive me and return me to the path of old.
2. O God, kill off that nulge in me which is opposed to any word of God.
3. O God, as Nehemiah prayed that ‘God remember me or the good that I have done onto this people’. So God, please remember me for the services you have helped me to genuinely render to your work.
4. O hand of Pharaoh and witchcraft stretched forth against the forthcoming Conference of this Ministry, let the sword of God collide against you.
ANNUAL CONFERENCE IS NEXT MONTH.
