FALL DOWN AND DIE? SERIOUSLY??

If you heard the phrase (fall down and die) some thirty some odd years ago, it may not have rung a bell. Hear it today however (mostly among some deliverance fixated crowd), what comes to mind immediately is prayer. 

It is a phrase that is today synonymous with 'holy anger' induced, ‘scream like a wounded lion’ prayer, where the person praying is asking that his/her enemies should fall down and die spiritually and/or otherwise. I am still in search of the nexus this has with the word of God on prayer.

It is good though that a lot of people choose to pray more these days, the word of God admonishes/commands us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonian 5:17). Jesus in Luke 18:1 spoke a parable to us to the end that men ought ALWAYS to pray and not to faint, imagine how Jesus would have survived the Garden of Gethsemane without prayer, He was prayed up till the very end.  

The apostle Paul by the Holy Spirit taught us in Colossians 4:2 to Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving. All over the scriptures, we are taught and commanded to always pray, underscoring the necessity for the believer to be prayerful. 

Jesus prayed exceedingly as we know and He is our example, our Shepherd, Leader and Master. We know also that as His disciples, we are expected to at the least be like Him, for it is written in Matthew 10:25 that It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord.  

Now then, to what end must we pray?

To the end that God would answer by granting us what we pray for through the working of His power. 

In John 15:7, Jesus said if ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. God wants to answer our prayers always and Jesus’ instruction here is God’s way that guarantees answers to our prayers. 

Take notice that earlier in Jesus’ discourse in this chapter, He had talked about bearing fruits. It is clear from those verses that the fruits Jesus referred to here are prayer fruits. 

These fruits are God’s answers to the prayers of the saints by which God is glorified (this further accentuates the fact that God always looks forward to answering the saints’ prayers because that is how He is glorified in our lives and in this world - verse 8). 

Any prayer that will be answered by God must be prayed according to His word for Jesus said if ye abide in me and my words abide in you, then ye shall ask….

Any prayer that is prayed outside God’s word will not be answered by God. Believers must pray according to God’s word, if we expect Him to hear and answer. If we pray outside God’s word He will not hear in the first instance, then answering is out of the question (1 John 5:14).

We know also that prayer to God must be in faith

Prayer to God must be done in faith (James 1:5-7) and faith comes ONLY by one way and one means, hearing God’s word (Romans 10:17). Prayers made according to the word of God are most certainly prayers made in faith, for the word of God upon which they are based produces the faith and these prayers are guaranteed to be heard and answered by God.

While making answered prayers exclusive to those made according to God’s word is viewed by some as condemnation to their prayers not always being answered (because they see the knowledge of God’s word on issues of this life as unattainable, given only to a few, hard to get, etc.), for others who receive the word of God with simplicity (James 1:21), it is the clincher, the assurance that they will get their prayers answered by God at all times because they already have God’s requirements set out clearly. 

Think about it, how better can one pass an examination than when it is an open book examination? We already have the key, the ‘answers to the questions’ if you will. God says abide in me and let my words abide in you, then ask what you will and it shall be done unto you. 

Abiding in Him and letting His word abide in you makes Him govern your will and then you always ask right, always following the right path.

What then do you do?

The first question on your lips before proceeding to ‘bombard heaven’ or your enemies with prayer should be “is my intended prayer according to God’s word (His will)”? 

If it is not or you are not sure, don’t bother wasting your time, except the prayer you want to pray is that of thanksgiving, praise and worship or that of consecration or praying in the spirit, all which we know are according to God’s word (Hebrews 13:5, James 4:17, Jude 1:20), otherwise such a prayer will be an exercise in futility. 

For whatever you are going to pray, seek God’s word first, be sure you are asking based on His word.

When the Lord Jesus said to watch and pray, He meant just that. Simply because it is called prayer does not mean it is prayer to God the Father, else it will be prayed according to His word. 

There is only one God the Father, the same way there is only one Jesus Christ. God the Father is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:13) and if prayer is to Him, it must be prayed according to His word otherwise He is under no obligation to answer because He will not hear in the first instance (1 John 5:14). 

Part of the watchfulness therefore is to ascertain firstly that we are praying according to God’s word and secondly that we are seeing the fruits (answers) to our prayers as the word of God says, so that God can be glorified in our lives. 

If you are not seeing the fruits, make the necessary corrections and pray still.

Have you ever wondered why there is so much ‘prayer’ going around today and yet things are not getting better (at least not to the extent to which the prayers are being made)? The answer is not far-fetched (at least not anymore).

Dear believer, are we going to once and for all look into the perfect law of liberty (without the veil of man’s opinion), allow the Holy Spirit to teach us God’s word and then continue in what He teaches? 

I admonish that we do because God wants to glorify Himself in our lives more than what we have going on at the moment. To be Jesus’ disciples indeed we must bear much fruits to God’s glory and this happens only when we pray according to God’s word and He answers (John 15:8).

Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all (1 Timothy 4:15), while you watch out for a sequel to this write up that will take you to yet another level in your prayer life.

Pastor Gboye Omolayo is the Resident Pastor of Church@Allen, Allen TX, USA. He is a prolific writer and preacher who believes the efficacy of the word of God and the potency of the works of the Holy Spirit are still available to the Church today, as were at the Church’s infancy. He is the publisher of this blog.

FAITH: IF IT DOES NOT DESTROY THE WORKS OF THE FLESH, IT IS NOT OF CHRIST

CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH (THE CONCLUSION)

Mortify the works of the flesh and remove the influence of devils from a person’s life, then the person will assuredly continue in the word of God. This is the purpose churches/ministries are meant to serve in the lives of believers as well as unbelievers (starting with salvation) through serving them the rightly divided word of God. Teaching and equipping them to walk in the Spirit (Ephesians 4:11-15, Galatians 5:16). This is the purpose for which Jesus came to die and rise from the dead, this is what is called the destruction of the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). Outside the works of the flesh and the activities of devils, there is no other work of Satan in a man’s life.

Once this purpose is removed from the motive behind, the focus of and the activities of a Church/Ministry (or relegated to a secondary place), God’s purpose for it is defeated and it becomes largely ineffective and (to say the least) injurious to the plans and purposes of God for mankind. Satan knows this and that is the reason why his activities are focused on getting churches/ministries and by extension believers not to continue in God’s word.

Recall that the bible says if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do (Psalms 11:3)? The answer is “nothing”, plain old nothing! The moment the motive behind a church/ ministry is wrong, then the “church/ministry” simply becomes “church/ministry” by name, not church/ministry indeed.  Jesus said in John 8:31 that if you continue in my Word, then are you my disciples indeed. A believer who does not continue in (live according to) the word of God is not a believer indeed the same way a church/ministry that does not continue in the word of God cannot claim to be a church/ministry indeed, it is just a church/ministry by name. Its purpose is not being served.

A church/ministry cannot absolve itself from the fruits it bears (its members/congregation). The members/congregation are largely a product of what the church/ministry feeds them, what the church/ministry believes and a direct result of the motive behind the church/ministry. The apostle Paul by the Holy Spirit said in 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 that ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men. Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. 

This was the main reason behind Jude’s admonition by the Holy Spirit in his epistle, emphasizing the necessity for us (as individual believers) to contend for the faith that was once delivered to us. Pointing out that the purpose for the gospel in which we have believed must not be lost sight of, so that the destruction of Satan’s work may become a reality in our lives. Jude wrote this epistle (around 65 years into the life of the Church), because there was an influx of preachers/teachers (“certain men”) into the rank of the Church that had started to preach to and teach the believers another gospel and an alarming number had already started giving heed. These “certain men” professed to be Christians, they bandied the name of Christ but their manner of life and what they preached and taught, rather than help destroy the works of the flesh and the activities of devils (in their lives and that of the listeners), promoted it. There could not have been greater conflict or/and contradiction, than where work being done purportedly to promote Christ and that for which He came to die, produced exactly those things which Christ’s death and resurrection came to destroy in the lives of those preaching and teaching as well as those hearing them. Is this happening in your life or around you? Are the works of the flesh Jesus came to destroy growing in your life or around you rather than getting decimated? Then you must heed the call to action of Jude. Take note, if it is Christ’s, it must destroy that which Christ came to destroy, if it does not, then it is neither Christ’s work nor His message yet, not His work and message indeed.

The Holy Spirit through Jude warned of the consequence of not taking any action, by the believer, against these false teachings/preachings, by referring to three prior incidences. First, the Israelites that were delivered from Egypt to go to the Promised Land but never got there. Secondly Satan and the other fallen angels (demons/devils) who though were with God in heaven but were cast out and thirdly the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah who were destroyed (all of these because of their choice to follow diverse lusts rather than to obey God). The warning was against these teachings/preachings of “certain men” crept in unawares (verse 4), false teachers that came in by way of deception to take advantage of and make gain of God’s people.

The Holy Spirit through Jude further likened these “certain men” who had crept in to Cain, Balaam and Core (Korah) (verse 11). These three were Old Testament characters who did evil in God’s sight. Cain did not walk in love towards his brother and ended up murdering him (1 John 3:15 says whosoever hates his brother is a murderer). Balaam went against God’s commandment because of money. Money, gain, rather than God’s will was the driving force behind his life and ministry (1 Timothy 6:10 says the love of money is the root of all evil, Matthew 6:24b says you cannot serve God and mammon). Korah lusted after power (authority and control over men) and kicked against God’s commandment that hallowed the call to ministry to God’s decision and His decision only (Hebrews 5:4 says And no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron). Ministry has nothing to do with authority or control over men, it cannot be worked for or earned, it is not given as a reward either and man cannot take it upon himself of his own volition, but Korah lusted after it to gain authority and control over men and was destroyed.

Make no mistakes, getting it wrong because of false teachers/preachers is not tenable before God as an excuse for not continuing in His word as He demands (John 8:31). In actual fact, preachers/teachers are also not the only ones in the wrong most times in this equation, hearers/listeners are too, because of the satisfaction they get for their fleshly desires (2 Timothy 3:6, 2 Timothy 4:3-4). God will hold you responsible for what you make out of your life as a believer (whether you continue in His word or not) the same way He will hold the false teachers/preachers responsible for their greed, deceit and conceit. They make merchandise/gain of God’s people to satisfy the lusts of their flesh while the hearers most times also get what pacifies and fulfills the desires of their flesh (both making gains, fleshly gains). The bible says take heed what/how you hear (Mark 4:24, Luke 8:18). Jesus already also said take heed that no man deceive you (Matthew 24:4b). That is one of the reasons He gave you the Holy Spirit (John 14:17, John 16:13, 1 Corinthians 2:12). It is your responsibility how and what you hear, it is your responsibility what you mind and believe (Romans 8:5), otherwise God would not have said so.

Do not let the death of Christ for you be in vain, seek and fulfill that purpose for which Christ died for you, fulfill your God given destiny (Romans 8:29). According to Jude in the twenty-fourth verse of his Epistle, God is able to keep you from falling and present you to Himself without fault. This happens when and only if you allow Him to, by keeping yourself in His love (contending for the faith by insisting on and following His word) first and foremost among other things.

Meditate on these things, give yourself wholly to them, that thy profiting may appear to all (1 Timothy 4:15).

Pastor Gboye Omolayo is the Resident Pastor of Church@Allen, Allen TX, USA. He is a prolific writer and preacher who believes the efficacy of the word of God and the potency of the works of the Holy Spirit are still available to the Church today, as were at the Church’s infancy. He is the publisher of this blog.

OVERCOMING ONE GREAT DECEPTION

Further on establishing that God’s blessing or the blessing of the kingdom is not indicated or measured by corruptible things, look at a warning the Lord Jesus gave in Luke 12:15. 

He said take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

A close look at the story preceding this warning shows that it was given as a result of the request of a man for Jesus to compel his senior brother to share the portion of his inheritance (apparently left by their deceased father) with him because the senior brother (by birth-right) got more. 

In those days and in their culture, the older son received twice as much inheritance as the younger brother. This had happened in the case of these two brothers and the younger one being unhappy (not because he did not have but because he wanted to have “more”) had made this request to the Lord Jesus, which the Lord turned down and warned about. 

As it was then, so and even more is it in our days, when the more you have of material things, the more you are seen as “blessed” because of the erroneous belief that a man’s life consists in the abundance of that which he possesses. 

Everyone (and believers too) is therefore chasing after the “blessings” of God at whatever costs and whoever’s cost, not only for want or lack, but also just to have more, more or the same as “my brother”, more or the same as “my neighbor".....covetousness. The position of God’s word has not changed on this matter.

What we are to legitimately long for and seek after as children of God, citizens of His kingdom, is the abundance of that for which Christ came to die, the purpose of God, the will of God (John 10:10b, Matthew 6:33). All the necessities of life (and in abundance also) is what God will add to us as we do His will, as fringe benefits, so we do not have to serve the enemy or succumb to unrighteousness to get them. 

We should keep in mind that unbelievers that do not have God’s life also get these things and some of them in abundance too, when they do whatever it takes. We on the other hand are not allowed/permitted to do whatever it takes because doing it takes us away from God, right outside His plans and purposes, to the place where Satan will have us be, so He can inflict the most injury and possibly rob us of eternal life and/or the fulfillment of our destinies for which Jesus came to die.

Jesus warns in Matthew 6:24b that ye cannot serve God and mammon. The blessing of God is beyond what mammon can offer. If mammon offers it, then it cannot be a yardstick of measuring God’s blessing or approval.  

As a believer therefore, the end never justifies the means, rather the means justifies the end. Chase not after these things, do not succumb to unrighteousness to get them, follow after doing God’s word, God’s will, for therein rests God’s blessing in righteousness, the fullness of the expression of His life and power by which you have access to all things without compromise or unrighteousness. 

The Lord Jesus had said but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you (Matthew 6:33). “These things” are those corruptible necessities of life, and the Lord says not to seek after them but rather to seek after the kingdom of God and His righteousness and these things will be added to you, without you having to serve mammon by doing unrighteousness to get them. 

Rather than follow covetousness and unrighteousness, follow God’s will, His word.

The wisdom of God is foolishness to man (as we have seen clearly on this matter) as it says in 1 Corinthians 1:21. But we must remember that the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men as the bible says in the twenty fifth verse of the same chapter.

God’s life and power cannot be obtained by fleshly covetousness, therefore where you see it, then God is at work. This is His blessing, His handiwork. 

Any power that is at work where there is covetousness and evil work is not God’s power (no matter in what cloak of justification it is wrapped for people’s deception). Wherever things work, not because the believer has compromised by doing what has to be done (unrighteousness), but because he/she has acted on God’s word and God’s life and power is compelling things to work in their favor and advantage without compromise, that is the place of God’s blessing, the blessing that comes by doing the word, by doing righteousness. That is the place of God’s power, where the believer keeps himself and that wicked one (Satan) is unable to touch him (1 John 5:18).

Satan knows that as humans, we are ruled by our five physical/natural senses until and unless our spirits are re-created (given the life of God when we get born again) and we through it train our minds to know and follow God’s way as shown in His word by the Holy Spirit. 

Then we live by faith in God’s word, not the prodding of our physical/natural senses. The physical/natural senses long for necessities of life whichever way they have been taught by the world to do so. 

To the senses, as taught by the world, getting the most of these corruptible things is the reason why man exists. The more he gets, the greater he is thought to be in this life. Then these necessities have been reduced to monetary terms (by the world system which is controlled by Satan) and decent money made easy to come by only through unrighteousness or the path that leads away from God. 

The necessities have also been cunningly re-branded as God’s “blessings” and this destructive path to them sold to man (believers and unbelievers alike) as the way to God’s “blessings”. The question remains whether God will put His “blessings” inside unrighteousness or on a path that leads away from Him and His word?!! The rational answer is no, He has not and will not. Whatever teaches otherwise is Satan’s deception.

You can only begin to imagine how far and deep this deception of the enemy has gone and also understand why there is so much wanting of God’s righteousness even among believers, the Church of God, the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15). 

Jesus warned about this, that things will be so bad in the last days to the extent that if it was possible, even the very elect will be deceived (Matthew 24:24). The saving of ourselves from this deception necessitates the expediency of our contending earnestly for the faith that was once delivered to us (Jude 1:3). There are no two ways to it.

As believers and most especially in this dispensation that we live in, we cannot but continually examine ourselves whether we be in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5). 

Meditate on these things, give yourself wholly to them, that thy profiting may appear to all (1 Timothy 4:15).

Pastor Gboye Omolayo is the Resident Pastor of Church@Allen, Allen TX, USA. He is a prolific writer and preacher who believes the efficacy of the word of God and the potency of the works of the Holy Spirit are still available to the Church today, as were at the Church’s infancy. He is the publisher of this blog.