TAKE HEED HOW AND WHAT YOU HEAR!!

Fact is, the ‘faith’ taught by many over the years seems to have worked mainly for them alone because in their Churches and Ministries, they are almost always the ‘richest’, ‘healthiest’ and ‘most accomplished’ etc. For their audience (mostly struggling to make ends meet), they always have something ‘new’ to tell them to do in addition to what they have been taught before to make their faith work. This keeps the audience coming for more, because as we will see, the continued working of the preachers’ ‘faith’ seems to depend on the audience’s continued patronage.

Don’t get me wrong, revelation is progressive and every spiritually matured and maturing believer should know this. The statement however holds true on the basis that the foundation (what was first learnt) is correct.

What makes it appear as though these preachers’ ‘faith’ is working (while their audience’s hardly ever work well) is the collection they’ve had from their audience over the years and are still having, in addition to the merchandise they have made and are still making of them (1 Peter 2:3a). The audience receives the short end of the stick because they ultimately get denied the opportunity to learn the real truth that will cause them to walk in God’s best (John 8:32).

Those among the audience who have a show of ‘faith’ that seem to be working like the preachers’ are usually few and hardly have sound Christian character the bible teaches. More often than not, they are as compromised as the preachers themselves or more.

If collections from and the merchandise they make out of God’s people are removed from these preachers, you will see that their faith will stop working or at least won’t ‘work’ an eighth as good as it has, just like their audience who unfortunately have no access to collections or people to make cheap merchandise of.

Think about it, if the ‘new revelations’ being taught on faith now is what would finally make the audience’s faith work, why did the preachers’ faith work prior to now without the new revelation? They usually admit they had not seen faith in the new light of what they are now preaching but their own faith had worked for them hadn’t it? Why did their own faith work without the new revelation but did not work for the generality of the audience who strive to live honest lives?

Folks, the God kind of faith works for any and everyone because God honors His word. Whatever has been taught had not worked for their audience because it largely was not correct. We all are the audience, let us start taking heed how and what we hear!

WATCH THOSE ‘NEW REVELATIONS’

There is more to learn of God from His word than ‘faith’ as being presented to us today. There is obedience (to God’s word), sacrifice (without which a believer cannot live a sanctified life), the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings, enduring hardship as a believer (perseverance), putting the kingdom of God first, understanding the will and purpose of God and living it etc. It is when we live by God’s word holistically that we experience His power and divine intervention in every area of our lives.

Zero in on this teaching: that because the bible says God rested from is works (Hebrews 4:4,10) then God is not going to do anything for the believer anymore as He has done all He would ever do. This is supposed to be another truth you must believe to get your faith to work. But it is no truth; a similar verse of scripture that throws more light on this type of statement is Rev 13:8 where it refers to Jesus as the Lamb of God that was slain from the foundations of the world. This did not stop Jesus from coming to die when the time came, the expression was for emphasis and to make us see that once something is God’s plan or promise, it is as good as done for those who will believe.

Jesus said in John 5:17 My Father worketh hitherto and I work. When Jesus’ time came, He said lo, I come (in the volume of the books it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. He still came and did what God had as His plan despite it being recorded that He was slain from the foundations of the world. The lesson is that for all who believe, God’s promises would come to pass as sure as what has already happened has happened. This should make it easier for us to believe God and hold on to His promises.

We cannot therefore conclude that our faith does not move God to do anything simply because God has finished all His works and done all that He will ever do. We cannot conclude that because of this we do not need to ask God to forgive us when we sin because He has already forgiven us all the sins we could ever commit, that what we do is say ‘thank you God for forgiveness that has already been provided for me, I receive it now, I therefore do not feel any guilt’ etc

The path of faith is broad enough to walk in by the simple; we need not fall into the ditch of error on either side. Faith that does not ask when it is supposed to ask is not scriptural faith neither is faith that does not depend on God to do. It is what I call spiritual rascality and pride garnished with thinking of yourself more highly than you are supposed to (Romans 12:13). James 4:3 says you have not because you ask not. A significant part of prayer is asking God and when you ask, you are asking Him to do or give something and He does because you ask according to His promise that ‘if you ask anything in Jesus name He will give it to you’ (John 16:23).

Any preaching that tend towards the believer becoming more independent of or less accountable to God in the name of faith, grace, humility, being ‘gods’ or whatever coinage it is given is wrong and if followed will only lead to carnality and eventual servitude to Satan through self worship and aggrandizement of the flesh. The God kind of faith is faith towards God (Hebrews 6:1b) not faith towards (in) self or any other!

Apostle Paul asked that the Church to pray for Him that he be delivered from wicked and evil men (2 Thessalonians 3:2). He did not ask the Church to say on His behalf that God has already delivered him from wicked and evil men since God is supposed to have already done the work and will not just do it.

Apostle Paul prayed that God would grant to the Church the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him (Ephesians 1:17), he did not just thank God for already having granted the Church the spirit of wisdom and revelation in His knowledge. There would not be any reason to ask God to do this if truly He is resting and wouldn’t do any more than He has already done.

Jesus prayed for God to sanctify the saints with His word (John 17:17). He wouldn’t have if it holds true that God already done that work and is not doing anything anymore

John 1:9 says if we confess our sins (when we sin) God is faithful and just to forgive us. If He had done the forgiving already, He wouldn’t need to do it now would He? He would not have said for us to confess so He could forgive us if we sin.

LEARN OF GOD

There are things we do not ask God for because provisions have been made already for them when we got born again. These are things that we are expected to do by God. You should not ask God for example to make you obedient or make you holy. This is subject to your own will and additionally, God has put His spirit in you to help you obey Him and be holy, so go ahead and obey Him and live a holy life. If however you have difficulties in these areas, you may ask Him to remove these difficulties from you so that you can do what He requires, that would be praying correctly. But you must be obedient, you must live holy, God will not do these for you, you do them.

You don’t ask God to make you love others, His Spirit has already shed His love abroad in your spirit (Romans 5:5b), you now have the capacity to love. You go ahead and love as God said to. If you have difficulties with walking in love towards others, you ask God to remove them by His power and you will not be praying wrong. But you must walk in love, God will not do this for you, you do it. Not doing it translates to working outside God’s will and no grace covers willful disobedience.

You don’t ask God to renew your mind. You have already been given that ability by His Spirit that indwells you. But you can only renew your mind with the revelation knowledge of God’s word so it is right to ask God for the revelation knowledge of His word (which is what apostle Paul prayed for in Ephesians 1:17-23) so that you can use the revealed knowledge to renew your mind. You however are to do the renewing, God will not do it for you.

The revelation of God’s word comes only when you approach God and His word with enough respect and full intent of obedience, otherwise God who sees your thoughts and intentions cannot help you. James 4:6 says He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Without revelation, faith does not come and without faith nothing else comes from God.

Preachers may preach the wrong things because it benefits them. You must be smart enough to seek and accept ONLY what is right. Note also that wrong preachings are easy on the flesh hence their appeal but don’t be fooled! Only the word of God rightly divided will bring you closer to God, build you up spiritually and ensure you walk in your inheritance in Christ (Acts 20:32). Only this will benefit you.

Meditate upon these things; give thyself 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.