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Message Transcripts for 2022
Title: Concerning cultural influences
By: Johnson O. Lawal
Date: December 11, 2022
Series: Single Message Series
I want to share some things with you from Scriptures about dealing with cultural influences. To start with, let me remind you that the word of God tells us that the believer is not of this world, even though he is living in this world. For instance, the Lord says this in John’s gospel, chapter 15, from verse 18, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” (John 15:18-19NIV) From what He says here it is clear that we should expect those of this world to hate us, as believers. Why? It is because we do not belong to this world.
Yes, as I said before, we live in this world and interact with the people and the things of this world. But we do not belong to this world. And we should let this fact sink into our systems. I know sometimes Christians, speaking of their time before becoming born again, would say, “When I was in the world, I used to do all kinds of bad things.” But where are they now? Are they no longer in the world? They are still in the world. It is just that they do not belong to the world. And because they do not belong to this world, they are not expected to function the way those of this world function.
Really, we are supposed to be different in the way we look at things and handle them. We are to look at things from the point of view of our master, that is, our Lord Jesus Christ. This is why Paul, speaking to the Romans, says in verse 2 of chapter 12 of his letter to them, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” (Romans 12:2NIV) Did you see that? Those of this world have their own patterns of behaviour. And the Christian must not conform to them or adjust to them. That is because we do not belong to this world but to the kingdom of God.
Now there are ways those who belong to God’s kingdom are expected to function. Their ways are contrary to the ways of those of this world. So, we must not adjust our lifestyles to the lifestyles of those of this world. We are governed by the Spirit of God and by His word. So, we live according to the dictates of the Spirit and the word. We do not interpret things according to the principles and philosophies of the world. That is why the bible says we have the mind of Christ (1Corinthians 2:16). That means we think the way He thinks, look at things the way He looks at them. His philosophies are our philosophies. His ideals are our ideals.
Also, in 2Corinthians, chapter 10, verse 3, Paul says, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.” (2Corinthians 10:3NIV) This is an acknowledging of the fact that we are living in this world and not outside it. We are a full part of this world. We use the things of this world and interact with those of this world, as I pointed out before. And we use the languages of this world. So, we are a full part of this world.
However, we do not handle things the way those of this world handle them. We do not fight the way they fight. We do not call everything they call ‘good’ good and everything they call ‘evil’ evil. So, we don’t handle life the way they handle it. We are different and must think and act different. We must think and act as our Lord Jesus instructs us to do. Yes, if what those of the world are doing agrees with what our Lord Jesus tells us, it is not wrong for us to do it. But if what they are doing disagrees with what our Lord Jesus tells us, then, we cannot join them in doing it. Instead, we must stand with the Lord Jesus Christ. Otherwise, we will be influenced by those of this world.
See, there are all kinds of influences in the world that can affect us. There are influences where we live, work, study or do business that can impact or affect our lives negatively. And we must not yield to them. Unfortunately, many, even having become Christians, have not let go of the ways of the world. They are still conforming to the standards of the world and to those evil desires and influences that once controlled their lives. And that is wrong.
Truly, when we come to any place, we will find influences and traditions that are prevailing there. And I am not saying we are to go against all such influences or traditions. But we need to be sure that whatever influence we yield to is of the Spirit and in agreement with God’s will for our lives. That means we must make up our minds not to yield to any environmental influence or culture that runs contrary to the will of God for our lives.
As I already pointed out, there is no environment we will come into that we will not find some negative prevailing influences there. And if we are not careful, it will not be long before we find ourselves being influenced or led by these wrong influences. For example, if it is greed that is prevalent where you are, if you are not watchful, you may soon find yourself living in greed. Or if it is sexual immorality that is prevalent there, it may not be long before you too find yourself living in sexual immorality. Or if selfishness is a prevalent force where you are, you too may find yourself acting selfish before you know what has come over you.
I once lived in one of the southern cities of this country. And while I was there, I realised that a good number of their single ladies were baby mamas. It was either they were with one child or more, children that they gave birth to as teenagers. That was really prevalent in that culture. And if you raised your child in that culture and were not careful, that child may end up coming up with teenage pregnancy or impregnating someone as a teenager.
Also, while I was there, I observed that stinginess was prevalent there. It was really cultural. All they wanted was to take as much as they could from you – they were not ready to give anybody anything for free. They were not generous at all. So, even in the church, I found this to be so. For instance, when I just got there, at least one person would meet me at the end of every Sunday service for financial assistance to go back home. And initially, I did not see it as anything serious. “What could possibly be wrong with helping one’s brethren with transport fare after a church meeting?” I would think.
But as I stayed longer among them, I realised that it was a culture, a culture of parasitic living. These brethren would come to church, give offerings, buy books and tapes and maybe some refreshment too. Then, when they wanted to go home, they would be looking for someone to give them transport fare. So, for a very long time, I was a victim of their parasitic way of life. I was hurting myself to help them. But most of them never cared about me or bothered about how I was faring. They just wanted to drain me dry. Interestingly, they would not meet their own people for such help, for they knew what sort of answers they would get from them.
Well, when I learnt my lessons, I stopped assisting many of them. I actually had to learn to say ‘No’ to them, when I saw that their culture was not only parasitic but also stingy. And were these people not children of God? They were. Were they not born again? They were. But the environmental influences of their place were still dominant in their lives.
Now we have instructions given to us along these lines in the bible. So we are not looking at something that is peculiar to certain places or environment – it is something that is peculiar to every place where people live. In other words, wherever we find ourselves, there will be certain prevailing wrong influences that we must take our stand against. Otherwise, we will find ourselves be controlled by them.
In Titus, chapter 1, from verse 10, Paul says this:
“For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach – and that for the sake of dishonest gain. One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith.” (Titus 1:10-13NIV)
Titus had been left in Crete by Paul to take care of certain things that were out of place among the brethren there. And in this passage, Paul his addressing him on how he is to handle them. First, he tells him to silence certain people who have been rebellious in the churches in Crete. So, it is not a new thing to have rebels in the church, people who will not want to take instructions or be rebuked or follow what is in accordance with sound doctrine. And leaders of God’s people must not give in to the pressure or manipulation of such people. Instead, as Paul tells Titus, they must silence them.
What we are saying is that anyone that is causing confusion in the church or disrupting order among God’s people must be silenced. They must not be allowed to carry on with whatever nonsense they are carrying out among God’s people. How is that to be done? Are church leaders to resort to force in silencing them? No! This is a spiritual thing. So, we handle it by teaching the word of God to point out the errors of such people to the people of God and to warn them and those associating with them. In Titus’ case, as we see in Paul’s letter to him, he possesses the authority to build up the people of God in Crete. And it is on him to use this authority to forbid the heretics and divisive ones among them from disrupting the church of God.
Then Paul goes on to point out certain cultural or environmental influences in Crete that Titus must not overlook but must be ready to address among the brethren. He says to him, “One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” This saying is true. These people have become Christians, as we can see. Yet certain cultural traits of their people are still finding expression in their lives. Many of them have not abandoned these straits; they are still conforming to them and allowing them to run their lives.
Now what are these cultural traits that are prevalent among the Cretans? First, there is lying. That means an average Cretan is a liar. So, if you are interacting with him, you can be sure that he will attempt to deceive you or cheat you. Second, they are called evil brutes. That means they are violent. And if you should get involved in anything with them that results in a quarrel, you can be sure that they will want to hurt you physically. Then they are referred to as lazy gluttons. That means they don’t want to work or be responsible in life. They just want to play around and eat the bread of idleness.
Unfortunately, as Paul further tells Titus, all these things are not only true of Cretans but are also finding expression among those of them that have become Christians. And he is telling him these things because he wants him to know that he will surely find in Crete brethren in whose lives these evil cultural traits are still present and obvious. That means these believers have not yet renewed their minds. That is why they are still conforming to those evil cultural tendencies of their city.
Paul, as I showed you before, tells us in his letter to the Romans to renew our minds. And with what are we to renew our minds? The word of God! We are expected to have our minds cleansed with the word of God. That way, evil cultural traits or influences that are prevalent where we are or that are associated with the culture in which we grew up or got educated would not dominate our lives again as Christians. Yes, we may have grown up under these evil influences. But having become Christians, we are no longer of the world; we are now of God and of His kingdom of righteousness. And as citizens of the kingdom of God, we have our own culture. The word of God defines our culture for us. And in doing so, it tells us that we have been recreated to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. These, then, are what our lives must reflect: God’s righteousness and holiness. And the only way this will happen is for us to allow His word to renew our minds, to change the way we think.
Well, my point is that we need to pay attention to the cultural influences or traits where we live, work, do business or study. This is so that we will know those among them that we must not yield or conform to. Otherwise, though we have become Christians, people may find it difficult to tell that we are, when they can see that certain wrong cultural traits that are seen in those of the world are also in us. There are, for instance, groups of people in this country that are known not to be trustworthy when it comes to money matters. And even when they become Christians, people still find it difficult to trust them in money matters. Why? Experience has taught them that those from these ethnic groups who call themselves Christians are no better than their people that are not Christians. They too cannot be trusted with money.
Also, we have groups of people in this country whose women don’t stay with their husbands. For one reason or the other, they will divorce their husbands or just move away from them. These ones are not raised in their culture to take men or marriage seriously. Sadly, even those who are Christians among them behave similarly. That is because they have not abandoned this cultural trait. And if you, who are not from that culture, want to marry from among them, you will find people warning you not to do so. You will do well, then, to pay attention to their warning and not ignore it. Don’t say, “But this person is a Christian. So, she will be different.” That may just be a costly assumption. You have to find out if that person has really had her mind renewed and cleansed of that wrong cultural trait. Otherwise, even though the person is a Christian, if you get married to her, you can expect her to behave the way unbelievers from her ethnic group behave.
What is my point? It is that children of God are not of this world but of the kingdom of God. Therefore, they must not conform to the patterns of this world. They must not allow any wrong cultural trait of their community, neighbourhood, school or workplace to find expression in their lives. In this town, for instance, it is cultural for the men to act irresponsibly in their marriages, if they marry at all. They just get married and start multiplying in number, without showing much readiness to take care of their women and children. And you, as a child of God, must not conform to this bad culture.
Also, it is cultural for the men here not to stick with one wife, even if they are Christians. It is cultural for them to be involved in all kinds of extra marital affairs. And you must not conform to that pattern of life, as a child of God. Then it is cultural for the people here to be stingy, not to want to give or share with anybody. They just want everything for themselves. That is because they see themselves as poor – they have poverty mentality. You, however, must not yield to this influence, seeing that you are a child of God. And even if you have grown up with this mentality, you must allow the word of God to cleanse you of it and make you begin to excel in the grace of giving. Remember you are no longer of this world but of the kingdom of God. So, don’t allow any wrong culture of this world, your neighbourhood, office, school or town to dominate your life again. And may the Spirit of God strengthen you to be yielded to the cleansing of the word of God, so that your mind may be utterly renewed in the culture of the kingdom of God, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Copyright © 2022, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to alaythiabiblechurch@gmail.com/alaythia4all@gmail.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
Title: Is it of any value to you?
By: Johnson O. Lawal
Date: December 04, 2022
Series: Single Message Series
I want to show you something we are shown in the book of Hebrews, which is very important for us to pay attention to about our attitude towards the word of God we are receiving. From verse 1 of chapter 4, we are told this:
“Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did, but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.” (Hebrews 4:1-3NIV)
The writer is speaking to us here about the people Moses brought out of Egypt. He led them out of Egypt in order to bring them into the land God had promised to give them. Unfortunately, most of them could not enter the land. Why could they not enter? It was because of unbelief. We are told in the last verse of the third chapter of this book that they could not enter God’s rest because of unbelief. They wandered in the wilderness for forty years and perished there, never arriving at where God had wanted them to be.
Therefore, we are told to watch ourselves so that we do not experience what they experienced, so that things do not end up for us the way they ended up for them. What happened to them, according to Scriptures, happened to serve as an example to us. And it is showing us that it is not enough for us to start walking with God; we must also finish. True faith in God is always from start to finish. It is not something that quits or that gets tired on the way. It is always from start to finish.
Well, we are told here what is responsible for the failure of these people to enter God’s rest. They heard the word of God. But the message, the good news, they heard was of no value to them. The word did not profit them. Why? It was because they did not combine it with faith; they did not mix it with faith. And we are told this because the word of God has come to us as well, just as it came to them. In fact, His word has kept coming to us, showing us how to live, walk and please God. But is this word of any value to us? Is this word producing in us the results God wants it to produce in our lives?
The word of God will not produce in us the results God wants it to produce in our lives, if we do not combine it with faith or accept it in faith. We have to see His word as He sees it. We have to take His word as He takes it. Whatever He says to us about Himself is what we must accept as the reality. Whatever He says to us about ourselves is what we must accept as the reality. Whatever He says to us about life is what we must accept as the reality about it. We must accept anything He says to us about anything as the reality, the only truth we are to act on. Otherwise, what He says to us will be of no value to us.
You want the word of God to work in your life. You want His word to produce the fruit it talks about in your life. Then you have to accept it in faith. You don’t argue with God or with His word. You don’t debate with Him. Instead, you accept what He tells you and act on it. These people did not accept the word of God as the reality. They did not believe what He had told them, which was that He was going to give them the land of Canaan. They should have accepted it, regardless of what they saw or felt. That would be faith for them. And because they did not accept what God had said to them, because they did not believe that He was able to give them the land He had promised them, they could not enter it. So, the word they heard wasted; it was of no value to them.
Now I am asking you this: the word of God you have been listening to this year, has it not been a waste? The things God has been saying to you about Himself, about you and about life as a whole, have they not been a waste? Have these things been of any value to you? If you have not accepted them, if you have not embraced them and begun to act on them, then, they will surely be of no value to you?
See, it is not just about attending church meetings and hearing the word of God, week after week; it is also about embracing what is coming to you and acting on it. If you are not acting on His word, if you keep debating with His word, refusing to make the changes He wants you to make, refusing to drop the things He wants you to drop and do the things He wants you to do, His word will be of no value to you. This is why two people may hear the same word and one will go and work with it while the other does nothing with it. And in the course of time, the one that has been working with the word of God will stand out. The word of God will work wonders in his life, home, business, marriage and so forth. That is because he has mixed it with faith. But nothing worthy of praise will happen in the life of the other fellow that has heard the same word and done nothing with it.
Our Lord Jesus also shows us why the word of God may be of no value to people in three of the gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke’s gospels. He told us about a farmer that went scattering his seed, of how the seed he scattered fell on different grounds and of what became of the seed afterwards. According to him, some fell along the path and the birds of the air came and ate it up. Some fell on a rocky place and grew up very quickly. But the plants withered because they had neither root nor moisture. Some fell among thorns and were choked by the thorns when they grew up. And some fell on a good ground, where it grew up and produced a crop – a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
Now here is the explanation the Lord gave of the parable:
“This is the meaning of the parable: the seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good on soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.” (Luke 8:11-15NIV)
There is a lot to say about this, actually. But I want to be as brief as possible in commenting on it. The first thing the Lord tells us is that the seed is the word of God. Then He goes on to give us reasons this word may be of no value to people, reasons it may not produce the results God desires in the lives of those who hear it. And in doing that, He describes for us different kinds of heart with which people may receive the word of God.
Now the first group of people He talks about are those who hear the word of God and do not understand it, as revealed in Matthew’s account of the same parable. And because they do not understand it, Satan comes to steal it from their hearts. Though these ones hear the word of God, they are not making any effort to understand it. They are like the people described in Hebrew 5 who, when they ought to be teachers, still need to be taught all over again the elementary truths of the Christian faith. Why? They are not making any effort to understand what they are learning. Yes, they sit down to hear God’s word. But their hearts are not focussed on understanding what they are learning. Therefore, Satan comes to steal the word from their hearts.
The problem is that when the word comes to them, they don’t bother to ponder on it. They are indeed like a footpath. All kinds of things run through their minds and nothing concrete gets to stay. They have no time to consider the word of God coming to them. They have no time to think about how it may profit them or be of value to them. So, Satan comes and steals the word from them. And they end up not believing or acting on it.
Perhaps you too are like that. You come around for church meetings week after week and hear God’s word. But you are not hearing to act on it. Even when you pick up your bible to read it, you are not doing so to act on it. You don’t see the word in it as your life. You don’t see it as something you need to work with. That is why your life is not changing or improving, even though you are hearing the word of God week after week. People cannot see God in you. They cannot see the life of Christ in you. And if you continue like that, you can never be where God wants you to be. You may assume that you are with God. But you are not with Him, for His word is not working in you to make you the kind of person He wants you to be and to also bring you to where He wants you to be.
Then we have another kind of heart with which people may receive the word. And that is a stubborn heart. These ones don’t immediately reveal themselves as stubborn. Instead, they will laugh, smile and rejoice at the word of God they are receiving. But when it comes to practising it, that is where the problem shows up. When they are faced with situations that require that they act on the word of God they have been listening to, that is when you will know that the word of God they are listening to has not taken roots in their hearts.
What I am saying is that these ones don’t really allow the word of God to dwell in their hearts. We are told to allow the word of God to dwell in us richly. But though these ones are hearing the word of God and are rejoicing over it, they do not allow it to dwell in their hearts. They will not allow it to take a firm root in their hearts. So, when they are challenged or confronted with situations that demand that they act on what they have been learning, they won’t act on it. So, Jesus says they believe for a while. That means their faith is temporary. And that is no real faith.
Real faith is always from start to finish. It does not quit on God. It is just like the people Moses brought out from Egypt. We are told that they did not enter God’s rest because of unbelief. But they were not always unbelieving. They did not start out in unbelief. When they came out of Egypt, they came out believing. They came out with everything they had, saying bye-bye to Egypt for ever. But they did not get to where God was taking them. Why? Unbelief! What produced unbelief in them? It was the fact that the word of God did not take firm root in their hearts. They did not permit it to get into their hearts and get rid of the pride, arrogance and lust in them. So, the word died on the soil of their hearts because they were stubborn.
If you too are stubborn, that is how things will end with you. The word of God will not profit you. Yes, you may smile and rejoice over the word you are receiving. But ultimately, it will not work in your life because you are stubborn. His word will not do what it is meant to do in your life. And after a while, you will start disbelieving what He is saying to you; you will start debating with Him. You will know His mind for you and what He expects of you. But you will keep debating with Him because you are stubborn and don’t want to let go of your ways.
So, the word will die on the soil of your heart, never producing results. Yes, you may keep learning. But you will never come to the knowledge of the truth. Paul, writing to Timothy, tells him in the third chapter of his second letter to him about certain women in the church that are ever learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth. They present themselves for church meetings. They attend bible study meetings. They own personal bibles and read them. But the word of God is of no value to them. It is not changing or transforming their lives. It is not moving them forward. And they themselves can see that His word is not profiting them.
Why? All along, they have been stubborn. They believe only for a while. And there are many that fall under this category. They believed only for a while. And now they are no longer in the faith. If you too will not allow the word of God to settle in you, at some point, you will get tired and walk away from it. So, it is possible for people to believe for a while. It is possible for people to be Christians for a while. That ‘a while’ may be some months, twenty years, thirty years or more. But as long as the word of God does not take root in their hearts, a day is coming when they will walk away from the faith – they will abandon the faith. The children of Israel walked away when they came to the very threshold of the promised land. And that was because they were stubborn – their hearts were hardened. I pray that will not be the case with you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
We have another group of people that the word of God is of no value to. These are ones whose hearts are unguarded, whose hearts are not weeded. According to the Lord, the word of God that falls into such hearts falls right among thorns. Yes, it grows up as to be expected. But it could not produce fruit because it is choked by the thorns all around it. The thorns should have been cleared and removed from that soil, so that they will not hinder the fruitfulness of the seed planted on it. And because they were not removed, they chocked the plants that grew on it and prevented it from producing fruit that would mature.
Now that is how the hearts of many people are. Their hearts are unguarded, unprotected against those things that will not allow them to bear fruit with the word of God. The weeds on the soil of their hearts are not taken care of. So, the word of God they are receiving cannot work in them or be of value to them. The cares of this life, the deceitfulness of riches and their desire for pleasure will not allow the word of God to produce in them the results God wants. That is why they cannot concentrate on working with the word they are receiving. Their hearts are loaded with all kinds of cares and worries. The things they want to do, their ambitions, the pleasure they want to derive from life will not allow them to work with the word of God they are receiving. So, they cannot be fruitful with it. It is of no value to them. It is useless to them.
Are you like that? Is the word of God of no value to you? Is the word of God useless to you? Could it be that you will not allow the word of God to work in you because of your desire for pleasure and your ambitions and anxieties about various things? Then you need to weed your heart. You need to guard your heart. You need to get rid of all these wrong things that are preventing the word of God from working in you. You need to get rid of the wrong ideas, philosophies or traditions you are holding on to. Otherwise, the word of God will be of no value to you. Your life will not be changed by it. Your life will not improve because of it. Christ will not be seen in you.
The bible talks about ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’. That means Christ is to be seen in us. It is one thing for us to be in Christ; it is another thing for Christ to be seen in us. And it is the word of God that builds the character of Christ into us, so that people may see His person in us. Now is Christ being seen in us? Are His love, faith, patience, humility, gentleness and other beautiful things that describe His character being seen in us? Are the things God has been speaking to us about being seen in us? They will not be seen in us, if we are allowing the cares of this life to choke His word coming to us.
Well, I want you to ask yourself, as we come to the last days of this year, “Has the word of God been of value to me this year?” Those that the word will be of value to are those of good and noble hearts, as Luke tells us in the passage we are considering. These ones retain the word of God in their hearts. And through perseverance they are producing fruit with it. That means they are labouring with the word of God, so that it may produce the results it talks about in their lives. They are labouring to understand what He is saying to them, so that they may work with it and produce fruit. The word of God is of value to such people. The word is changing them. The word is lifting them.
Why? They are working with everything God is saying to them. They are working with whatever He says to them about their jobs, lives, marriages and so forth. Therefore, the word is working in them and changing them. Others may look at them and say, “How are they able to do this?” The reason is that they are labouring with the word that is coming to them. You too need to begin to labour to see the word of God work in you. Otherwise, it will be of no value to you. Don’t let His word waste in your life. The problem is never with His word. The problem is always with those who hear it and with the heart with which they receive.
I pray that God will work in your heart and on your heart, so that it will always retain His word and labour with it to produce the results He desires, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Copyright © 2022, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to alaythiabiblechurch@gmail.com/alaythia4all@gmail.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
Title: Wrong association
By: Johnson O. Lawal
Date: November 13, 2022
Series: How Satan works
I want to further share with you on ‘How Satan works’. And we have looked at a number of ways through which this evil being work. We are doing this to fulfil the word of God that tells us to resist him. It is our job to resist him. It is our job, according to the word of God, not to give him any opportunity to work in our lives and affairs. However, if we do not know how he works, we will not be able to deny him opportunities to work in our lives.
Now, in my last teaching on this, I said Satan works through curses and confessions. So, we have to watch the things we say with our mouths, whether the things we say about ourselves or about others. Satan is about to work with these things. Therefore, we must watch our tongues. Solomon tells us that death and life are in the power of the tongue and people will eat the fruit of what they say (Proverbs 18:21). That means you will eat the fruit of whatever you say, whether it is good or evil. So, watch what you say about yourself. Also, watch what you say with your mouth about others that you have authority over. Do not let any unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, for you can ruin the lives of those under you by your words.
Well then, I want to give you one more point on how Satan works. This has to do with our association with people that are not living in the will of God. As I told you before, Satan can take advantage of any form of disobedience to God to work in people’s lives, to steal from them, to kill them or to destroy them. But even though we are not living in sin, we can open up our lives for Satanic affliction through our association with those who are living in clear disobedience to God or who are under His wrath. Therefore, we need to be careful of the kind of relationship or association we keep.
In 1Corinthians, chapter 15, Paul says, “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’” (1Corinthians 15:33NIV) But I need to let you know that keeping bad company can do more than corrupt you; it can also expose you to Satanic affliction. Yes, here, Paul wants us to know that bad company corrupts good character. That is why he says don’t deceive yourself or allow anyone to deceive you into thinking that keeping wrong company will not affect you. It will affect you. It will hurt you. And if you are keeping bad company, it is already affecting – you are probably not just paying attention. Soon it will become clear to you that it is ruining you.
But I am now saying that our association with the wrong people can do more than corrupt us; it can also expose us to satanic affliction. So, we need to separate ourselves from it. Look also at what Paul says in 2Corinthians, chapter 6, from verse 14:
“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, And I will be their God, and they will be my people.’ Therefore, ‘Come out from them and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.’ And, ‘I will be a father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.’” (2Corinthians 6:14-18NIV)
This passage is showing us how important it is for us to watch the kind of association we keep with those who are not believers, who are not Christians. Of course, it is not every form of association with unbelievers that we will refer to as representing unequal yoking with them. For instance, we cannot say that it is wrong to work in the same office together or to be together in the same class to learn. That is not wrong. But any form of association with them that prevents us from doing the will of God is wrong. Any form of association with them that corrupts our lives is wrong.
As I have been saying, there is no way we can do away with the unbelievers in our world. Unless we want to leave this world, we will continue to have dealings with them. Whether it is in our neighourhoods, offices or schools, we will continue to have dealings with unbelievers. If you are traveling, for instance, you cannot insist that it is a believing driver that must take you. That is because you may get to a motor park and not find any believing driver there. Or you go to a market to buy something. You cannot insist that it is only believers that you will buy things from. You will probably leave that market with nothing. So, we cannot do away with the unbelievers in our world or totally do without them.
However, as I said before, we must watch the kind of association we keep with them. Any form of association with them that makes us irresponsible in our lives is wrong. And we must avoid it. Any form of association with them that prevents us from serving God as we ought to serve Him is wrong. We must avoid it. Any form of association with unbelievers that corrupts our lives or encourages us to start doing things that we know to be wrong is unacceptable for us. We must avoid it.
But then, even if we are not being corrupted, misled or made irresponsible by them, by fellowshipping with unbelievers we can expose ourselves to Satanic affliction. This is why we need to be careful of the kind of association we keep with them. And I am going to give you some examples from Scriptures that show us how our association with unbelievers can expose us to Satanic affliction. First, in Genesis 13, we are told of how Abram and Lot separated because the land in which they were living could no longer contain the two of them. Unfortunately, when Abram told Lot to first choose the part of the land he would like to stay, he chose to stay near Sodom. And here is what we are told in the bible about this incident:
“Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan towards Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out towards the east. The two men parted company: Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.” (Genesis 13:10-13NIV)
As we see in this account, Lot was given a chance here to choose the part of the land he would stay in before his uncle Abram. And we are told that he chose by sight, he chose by what he saw. But the Scripture tells us that we do not walk by sight but by faith (2Corinthians 5:7). So, it is not everything that looks good to us that is truly good. That is why we must learn to choose by the Spirit of God and make decisions by Him.
See, that something looks right or good to you does not mean it is really good. All the circumstances surrounding the decision you want to make may be pointing to the fact that what you are doing is right. But it may not be right. And unless you are spiritually minded and in touch with God, you won’t know. Unless God reveals certain things to us about a decision or choice we want to make, we may not know the danger that lies ahead of us. This singular decision that Lot made that day resulted in the loss of all that he had and even his wife years later. So, whatever we want to do, we must learn to commit it into God’s hands. That way, He can guide us by His Spirit and lead us to go in the right path.
In the book of Joshua, chapter 9, we are told of the deception of the Gibeonites. These people have heard news of all that the Israelites did to the cities beyond the River Jordan and what they did to Jericho. So, they wanted to save their lives. Therefore, they resorted to a ruse. They came to them like travellers who had come from a far place. Their sandals were worn out. And their bread had become mouldy. Everything looked right to Joshua and to the leaders who sampled their provisions. But the bible goes on to tell us that Joshua and the people did not inquire of the Lord about these Gibeonites. Why? It was because everything looked right and consistent with their story. But some days later they realised that they were their neighbours.
Now why did those Gibeonites succeed in deceiving them? They succeeded in deceiving them because they did not inquire of the Lord. The made their decision based on what they saw alone. And that was the plan of those people, to show them what they wanted them to see. So, they were deceived. That is to show us that there are times that what we see may not be the exact thing we are supposed to see and what we think is good for us may not be good for us at all. Unless the Spirit of God, then, opens our eyes to see the hidden things behind what we can see, we may just be misled.
In any case, Lot chose to go and stay in Sodom. But he really could have allowed his uncle to choose for him on this occasion. He could have said to Abram, “You have been the one leading and guiding me all this while. Why don’t you choose for me? Why don’t you tell me where to stay, and I will go there?” Instead, he chose by himself and went to live in Sodom. But we have a remark in Scriptures that says that the people of Sodom at that time were sinning greatly against the Lord. And we are given this remark to let us know how Lot’s choice of living near them was going to affect him in the future.
But then, Lot was a righteous man and not a sinner. In 2Peter 2 we are clearly told that he was a righteous man. And this righteous man, on this occasion, made a carnal decision to live in Sodom. But he did not have enough spiritual muscle or strength to cope with what was coming. Abram, on the contrary, had been living among unbelievers for a long time and had yet maintained his integrity. But Lot was not spiritually strong enough to handle living in Sodom. Yet he went and pitched his tent near them. Later he moved in to living in the city itself.
Now, in the fourteenth chapter, of the book of Genesis, we are told of how certain kings attacked Sodom and Gomorrah and took everybody away, including Lot and his family. Who lured those kings to attack Sodom and Gomorrah? It was the devil. Remember Job. Remember how Satan lured bandits, raiders and robbers to attack his possessions and take away everything. This evil being went out from the presence of the Lord to attack this man’s family and his possessions. But he did not show his face, saying, “Hello, I am Satan and am here to take away your possessions and children.” No, he did not do that. Instead, he incited raiders, robbers and bandits to attack the man’s possessions and to snatch them away. (Cf. Job 1)
In this case also, these kings were incited by the devil to attack Sodom and Gomorrah and to take away everyone there and their possessions. And God was kind to Lot by using someone who had escaped to tell Abram about the situation. Look at how this is reported in Genesis, chapter 14:
“A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshkol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.” (Genesis 14:13-16NIV)
You can see that it was Abram that God used to rescue Lot. Yes, Lot was a righteous man, as I have pointed out before. But because he pitched his tents near wicked men, wicked men that he could not correct, rebuke or prevent from perpetuating wickedness. So, on the day that Satan attacked them, he too was captured and taken away with them. And if God had not shown him mercy and used his uncle Abram to rescue him, he and members of his family would have become slaves for life.
Why am I showing you this? I am showing you to let you know that we need to be careful of those we associate ourselves with. We need to be careful who we make alliances with or friendship with. If we make unbelievers our allies or friends, there may come a time in which we will partake of whatever punishment that comes on them for their sins.
In 2Chronicles, chapter 18, which parallel we have in 1Kings, chapter 22, we are told this from verse 1:
“Now Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honour, and he allied himself with Ahab by marriage. Some years later he went down to see Ahab in Samaira. Ahab slaughtered many sheep and cattle for him and the people with him and urged him to attack Ramoth Gilead.” (2Chronicles 18:1-2NIV)
Did you see that? Jehoshaphat allied himself with Ahab by marriage. Jehoshaphat was a righteous man, as we are shown in the bible, one that was devoted to pleasing God and to leading his people to serve Him. However, he made an alliance with Ahab by marriage. We are not told the details of this. So, we wouldn’t know whether he was the one that married from Ahab’s house or if it was Ahab that married from his house. But he became an in-law of Ahab. And because he had become his in-law, there was a relationship between them.
Now we can actually learn from this. If you marry from a family of unbelievers, you become an in-law to unbelievers. Is that wrong? It all depends on the person you are getting married to. If the person you are getting married to is a believer, then, it is fine. We cannot say that you should not marry a believer because they have come from a family of unbelievers. That will mean that you have not accepted the person as a child of God and are trying to judge them based on their background, which is contrary to the will of God. But then, you also need to be ready to deal with whatever that family is known for. You must be sure you can handle whatever they bring up or whatever they are associated with. You cannot ignore their devotion to idolatry or to sinful living. You need to pay attention to this and consider how it may eventually affect you and your home.
Jehoshaphat had allied himself with Ahab and so had to visit him at some point. And Ahab took his time to entertain him. But that is not the point of the story. The point of the story is that God wanted Ahab to be lured to go to war against the Arameans so that he could meet his death there. So, He presented this before the host in heaven to see which of them would go and do the job. And there was a spirit that said that he would do this by being a lying spirit in the mouths of Ahab’s prophets. God, then, told him to go and that he would succeed.
Well then, when Ahab discussed his desire to go and fight the Arameans with Jehoshaphat, he told him to let them consult God before going. Therefore, he called all his prophets in. And they all told him to go and that he would succeed. All of them were saying the same thing. But what they were saying was a lie. That was because there was a lying spirit speaking through them. You, then, should take note of that. The fact that you go from one place to another, hearing the same thing from prophets, does not that it is God that is speaking.
See, you could bring together a hundred prophets and hear all of them say the same thing about the same matter. Yet it could be a lie. Also, you could go to different parts of this country in order to learn about something from different prophets, soothsayers or wizards and hear the same thing from all of them. That does not mean it is not a lie. Look at what is said about this matter in 1Kings, chapter 22, which gives us a parallel account of this incident: “So the king of Israel brought together the prophets – about four hundred men – and asked them, ‘Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?’ ‘Go,’ they answered, ‘for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.’” (1Kings 22:6NIV)
Can you see that? There were four hundred prophets of Ahab that were brought together to tell him whether it was right to go to war against the Arameans or not. And all of them said the same thing. They were all speaking by a lying spirit that had entered their mouths.
At any rate, they brought in another prophet, Micaiah, because Jehoshaphat was not satisfied with what he was hearing. He had said, “Don’t you have a true prophet of God that can give us His mind about this matter?” That was why they brought in this man of God. And he told them what had happened in heaven before the court of God and what He had decreed against Ahab. He also told them that God had given a lying spirit permission to deceive this king through his prophets. And that was the truth.
Now though Jehoshaphat heard the words of this prophet, what did he do about them? Nothing! Ahab, on his part, had been angry with Micaiah that he had spoken those words against him. So, he said that he should be detained until he returned. And the man of God told him that if he indeed returned from that battle alive, then, God had not spoken through him. Again, Jehoshaphat heard him. Yet he teamed up with Ahab to go to that battle. But it was an evil spirit that was luring them to go to war against the Arameans and meet with destruction.
As I said before, Jehoshaphat was a good man. So, he was not supposed to follow Ahab to that battle. Truly, he was his in-law. But he should have told him that he was not following him since the Lord had spoken against him. He should have told him that he was not going to follow him to disobey God. But because he did not want to appear to Ahab like a weakling, he joined forces with him to go to war against the Arameans. And he almost lost his life in the process.
As the account goes, the king of the Arameans had given instructions to his army officers not to fight anybody but only the king of Israel. By the way, Ahab, as they were going into the battle, told Jehoshaphat to put on his royal robes while he would disguise like an ordinary soldier and enter into the battle. So, the moment the army officers of Aram saw him, they assumed that he was the king of Israel and went after him. But when he cried out to the Lord, He answered him. Imagine that. Though he was on a reckless mission, God had mercy on him and saved him when he cried out to Him. What if he had not cried out to God? He would have lost his life.
Now look at what God said to him when he came back: “When Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned safely to his palace in Jerusalem, Jehu the seer, the son of Hanani, went out to meet him and said to the king, ‘Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, the wrath of the Lord is on you. There is, however, some good in you, for you have rid the land of the Ashera poles and have set your heart on seeking God.’” (2Chronicles 19:1-3NIV) God showed this man mercy because he had been devoted to living for Him and to serving Him. Otherwise, he would have lost his life in that battle. Yet the Lord said to him, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?” Ahab was wicked. Ahab hated the Lord. So, Jehoshaphat should not have had anything to do with him. He should not have become his in-law, not to talk of going to battle with him, even having heard the Lord’s warning. Satan really would have taken his life on that occasion, if God had not been merciful to him. He would have taken his life, even though he was a righteous man.
So, when someone is clearly living in disobedience to God, stay away from them. If someone is clearly doing something that is contrary to the will of God, you need to how to relate to them. There are things you cannot be found doing with them. Otherwise, when they are judged by God or when Satan attacks them, you too may participate in their suffering. You may lose your life, properties, family members or reputation in the process.
Well then, these again are the things Scriptures show us about how the devil works. And it is important that we pay attention to them. Watch the kind of association you keep. Watch the kind of people you relate to. Watch what you do with those in your life. If people are clearly disobeying God, don’t join them in their disobedience or reckless missions. Let them know that you cannot join them. Otherwise, you may expose yourself to destruction. My prayer is that God will continually keep you from falling into the traps of the devil, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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Title: Curses and confessions
By: Johnson O. Lawal
Date: November 06, 2022
Series: How Satan works
I want to further share with you on how Satan works. We have been looking at how he works and ruins people’s lives. Don’t forget that the bible tells us that he is our enemy. So, we have to resist him. And we can resist him, for God has provided us with weapons to resist him. However, we will not be able to effectively resist him, if we do not know how he operates or works. There are various ways through which this evil being works. There are various ways through which he steals from people, kills them and destroys them. And we cannot possibly look at all of them in this series. But we are looking at the major ones that are revealed in Scriptures. And through our knowledge of this we can detect other ways through which he works, which may not be obvious to people.
What I am saying is that there are many ways Satan operates in people’s lives. And we cannot possibly look at all of them at this time. But by recognising the nature of his works, we can tell when he is working. Also, by paying attention to what Scriptures what Scriptures say about how he works and how to resist him, we can put some measures in place to frustrate or prevent him from working in our lives or affairs.
Now I have already shared with you how he uses deception, ignorance, sin and human flaws to operate in people’s lives. And I want to give you some more points on how he works. One of them is that Satan works through curses and people’s negative confessions. We are warned in Scriptures not to let any unwholesome word to proceed from our mouths (Ephesians 4:29). Why? Solomon answers that for us, saying, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 18:21NIV) That means the power of death and life resides in what people say. People can invite death into their lives through what they say. People can also invite life and peace into their lives through what they say.
How do people get born again? It is not by what they say? People get born again by saying exactly what God tells them to say in order to receive salvation. In like manner, people can get destroyed by saying things that are inconsistent with the will of God for their lives. In 1Peter, chapter 3, Peter quotes a portion of a psalm of David, saying, “For whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it.” (1Peter 3:10-11NIV) What is he doing here? He is giving us instructions on how to see good days and enjoy life. He says if you want your days to be filled with goodness, first, you must keep your tongue from evil. That means you must watch what comes out of your mouth.
See, our confession is very important. The things we confess with our mouths about our lives, about the lives of those around us are very important. With our confession we can fill our lives with pains, bitterness and confusion. And with our confession we can fill our lives with peace. So, you must watch what you say, for Satan can take advantage of what you say about your life or about others’ lives to work. All he needs is for someone to say something that he can use against them or something that gives him an invitation to operate in their life. Of course, we do not need to invite the devil for him to come and work in our lives. But by our words we can invite him to work in our lives or others’ lives.
For example, in the book of Joshua we are told of how he placed a curse on the city of Jericho after its fall. Look at how this is set forth in Joshua, chapter 6, from verse 26, “At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: ‘Cursed before the Lord is the one who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: ‘At the cost of his firstborn son he will lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates.’ So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.” (Joshua 6:26-28NIV) Look at the curse this man placed on Jericho: whoever lays its foundations will do so at the cost of his firstborn son and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son. Why did he place a curse on this city? We are not told or given any specific reason he did that. But the moment he placed a curse on the city, Satan became active to work against anyone that tried to rebuild the city.
Now for years no one attempted to rebuild the city because of the curse on it. That means those who knew about the curse took the words of this man of God seriously. But several years after, in the day of Ahab, a man by the name Heil decided to rebuild the city. Look at what is said about this in 1Kings 16:34: “In Ahab’s time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the word Lord spoken by Joshua son of Nun.” (1Kings 16:34NIV) Who was Heil? We are told that he was from Bethel. That means he was an Israelite and must have known about the curse on the city of Jericho.
Nevertheless, he decided to rebuild the city. And He did so at the cost of his sons, Abiram and Segub. That means the curse on the city of Jericho worked against this man. He lost his sons while rebuilding the city. Who took his sons? It was the devil that took the lives of his sons. What gave the devil the right to take their lives? It was the curse that was on the city. That curse gave him the right to attack anyone that wanted to build it.
But this curse has always been on the city. And why would Heil, knowing about it, go ahead and still rebuild it? Sometimes, when people are rich, they ignore warnings. All they will be asking is how much will it cost me to get what I want? But it is not every time that the cost of what we may want to acquire is just money. Sometimes, what we want to acquire may cost us more than the money we are paying for it. Sometimes, the cost of maintaining certain things may be more than the cost of buying them. And there are times the cost of getting something may include the lives of some loved ones. It may look like you are having a good deal when you are getting it. It may look like all that it will cost you is the money you are paying for it. But in the process of maintaining or using it, lives, even your own life may be lost. So, before you get anything, don’t just look at the money it will cost you. Look as well at other things it may cost you.
Heil ignored the curse on the city of Jericho, most probably because he did not think the curse would still be potent after all those years. We are looking at decades, actually centuries after the curse was placed on the land. History shows us that it was about five hundred and thirty years after the curse had been placed on Jericho that Heil decided to rebuild it. Yet the curse was potent enough to kill his sons. But his sons were not the offenders. Yet Satan took their lives through the arrogance of their father. This is why, as I pointed out in a previous teaching, we must learn to pray that we will not be victims of other people’s errors.
Well, there are still many today that are suffering in one way or the other because of certain curses working in their families, neighbourhoods, towns or countries. And because of these curses their lives are not moving forward. Because of these curses Satan now has reasons to work in their lives and hinder their progress or kill them. Remember that God placed a curse on the family line of Eli because of the sins of his sons. Look at how this is put in 1Samuel, chapter 2, from verse 30:
“Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: “I promised that members of your family would minister before me for ever.” But now the Lord declares: “Far be it from me! Those who honour me I will honour, but those who despise me will be disdained. The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your priestly house, so that no one in it will reach old age, and you will see distress in my dwelling. Although good will be done to Israel, no one in your family line will ever reach old age. Everyone of you that I do not cut off from serving at my altar I will spare only to destroy your sight and sap your strength, and all your descendants will die in the prime of life. And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign to you – they will both die on the same day.” (1Samuel 2:30-33NIV)
God placed a curse on this family that no one would ever reach old age among them. The moment He said those words through the mouth of a prophet, Satan took hold of them. And as the archenemy of humanity, he was out to see to it that the curse was enforced. So, any time any member of that family was growing a little old, Satan would move to take his life. I mean that he would see to it that no one in that family line ever got old again. And if you went and married from this family, you could expect yourself to become a widow at an early age. Why? There was a curse at work in the family. So, if you ignore it, you ignore it at your own risk, at your own disadvantage.
I am showing you how Satan works. If there is a curse on a family or a place, that curse has to be removed. Otherwise, Satan will continue to use it as a reason to work. There are families, for instance, that are operating under curses of poverty. And Satan is using it to keep them in poverty, regardless of how hard they work or labour. Again, in the book of Joshua, we are told of how Joshua placed a curse on the people of Gibeon. They were among the people God had said that the nation of Israel must destroy. But because they feared for their lives, they came and deceived the Israelites about where they were living. And the deceit worked because the people did not consult the Lord about their matter.
In any case, when it became clear to the Israelites that they had been deceived and that there was nothing they could do about it, Joshua placed a curse on them. He said, “You are now under a curse: You will never cease to serve as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.” (Joshua 9:23NIV) What was he doing here? He was placing a limitation on them. And Satan would certainly work with it. Someone who had authority placed a limitation on them by his words. Think about it. That was a curse on a whole people, a whole nation. Therefore, it did not matter how hard Gibeonites worked, they would remain woodcutters and water carriers for life. Yes, some among them may become rich while doing these jobs, but they had already been limited as a people and would remain slaves in the land.
This is why we sometimes see groups of people or even nations who may never rise in life, regardless of how hard they work or labour. A curse is working against them. And regardless of how hard they work, Satan will continue to use that curse as a reason to limit them. If it is a curse that says they will die young, then, Satan will come around and take their lives when they are still young. If there is a curse that says they will not be rich, the devil will see to it that they are frustrated for life. That is because he has been given permission to attack them. Remember the case of Job. When Satan asked God to permit him to touch him and then see if he would not curse him to his face or not, God said, “Behold, he is in your hands.” And the bible says he went and afflicted Job. Why? Someone with authority gave him the right to afflict him. (Cf. Job 2:1-7)
In like manner, everyone has some measure of authority in his own rights and realm. And Satan will take note of everything you say about your life or others’ lives. For instance, you have authority over your children. So, Satan is able to work with whatever you say about them or against them. That means by saying negative things about them, you are giving him permission to work in their lives. Also, as a spiritual leader, God has given you authority to build the lives of those under you. And you can misuse that authority by saying negative things about them or into their lives. Then Satan will work with your words, for you are putting them right in his hands.
Remember what Paul says about a man that was having sexual relations with his father’s wife. Remember that he said that the brethren in Corinth should hand him over to the devil. How? By words of mouth! We can place people right in the hands of the devil through the things we say about them or into their lives. This is why we must take seriously the word of God that says do not let any unwholesome word proceed from your mouth. For Satan can take advantage of any careless word we speak to operate in our lives or in others’ lives. (Cf. 1Corinthians 5)
The point I am making is that our words, our confession about our lives, world, nation and so forth can be utilised by the devil to work in our affairs and frustrate us, limit us or injure us. And we may not even know that we have unconsciously placed ourselves in his hand. So, we need to be mindful of what we say all the time. Then if there is a curse on a place or a family that we are a part of, that curse must be removed. Don’t ignore it. You must remove it. For instance, even though Hiel rebuilt the city of Jericho, it was still a fruitless place to stay because of the curse on it. Yes, it was well situated. But it was fruitless, unproductive and causing death because of the curse on it. And that was how things were until Elisha came and removed the curse on the city. Then it began to prosper. (Cf. 2Kings 2:19-22)
Now thank God Jesus has come and taken care of every curse for us. So, there is no curse that cannot be removed in His name. If you are born again, even if there has been a lingering curse over your household, by being born again, you have ceased to be a part of the curse affecting that household. That is because you have become a part of the household of God. And there is no curse in operation in the household of God. The bible says God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3). So, you need to proclaim the blessings upon yourself. You need to proclaim the blessings on your family. You declare that because you are a member of the family of God, there is no curse working against your household, family, community, city or country that will operate in your life.
God’s children need to understand that we must not keep quiet about things like this. A lot of times we keep quiet about them. So, Satan keeps working and using those negative words spoken over our families or communities against us. See, even though he knows that he has no right to afflict us as children of God, he will still try to afflict us. Why? He is not sure we will resist him. It is now on us to let him know that he has no right to afflict us because we are now children of God.
So, if you observe that your life is already going in a negative direction that the lives of members of your household or community are going, you must begin to speak against it, in the name of Jesus. If you observe that your life is already following the pattern of failure or defeat that the lives of others in your family or neighbourhood or city are following, you must begin to proclaim the blessings of God on your life against this. You need to begin to say that your experiences are different because you are a child of God and are blessed of Him. You must refuse to have those wrong experiences because you are a child of God.
Remember that the bible says that God has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son of His love (Colossian 1:13). So, if you were born to operate under any curse or find yourself in a place where there are active curses working against those there, you must know that you have been delivered already from the power of all such curses. Jesus says he who hears my words and believes in Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned – he has passed out of death into life (John 5:24). So, you have come out of the realm where curses work into a realm where the blessings of God are working. That is why those curses operating in your family, community or country cannot operate against you. But that is only if you will acknowledge that you are no longer under such curses but under the blessings of God and also begin to proclaim the blessings upon your life.
You just have to be confessing God’s word over your life. And it is by confessing it over your life that Satan will know that you know that he has no right use any curse as a reason to work in your life. So, we must know that life goes beyond working hard or diligently. What we say about our lives is also very important. Yes, what we say about our present, future, homes, families, communities and so forth is also very important.
But then, even though you are a child of God and blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, you need to watch what you do. Remember that Peter says this to us: “For whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it.” (1Peter 3:10-11NIV) That means it is not enough to be confessing the word of God over your life and about it; it is also important that your actions are consistent with what you are saying. You must turn away from evil. Yes, you are a child of God and blessed with all His blessings. But if you do not turn away from whatever evil thing you are involved in, you are opening the door for the devil to work in your life.
I told you before that Satan is able to take advantage of any kind of sin to work in people’s lives. As long as you are disobedient to the word of God, even though you are a child of God, you are already giving Satan an opportunity to work in your life. Then when people, especially those who have authority over you or those that you have hurt through cheating or stealing, speak negative words into your life, unless you turn away from your wickedness and repent and seek God’s forgiveness and perhaps their forgiveness too, Satan will use those negative words they have spoken against you to work in your life.
Ananias and Sapphira were born again. Yet when they tried to introduce hypocrisy and deceit into the church, the man of God that they were dealing with, Peter, said that they would die. And Satan took advantage of that to slay them before the Lord. I am saying this because I want you to understand that the things we say into our lives and into others’ lives are very important. So, stop speaking negative words into your life. Stop speaking negative words into your affairs. Stop speaking negative words about the church of God. Stop speaking negative words about our country. It is time we began to speak positive words and words of blessings over our country and our communities. This is so that if there has been any curse working against our land we can remove it.
If Elisha could remove the curse working against the city of Jericho, we too can remove any curse working against our land, in the name of Jesus. As children of God, we have the authority to remove curses in the name of Jesus. And we need to begin to do this, proclaiming the blessings of God over our land to remove all the evil curses causing us to be behind, causing our leaders to misbehave and ignore the plights of their people. I hope you would take these words that I have spoken to you very seriously and begin to act on them.
Let us pray.
Copyright © 2022, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
Title: Human flaws (c)
By: Johnson O. Lawal
Date: October 23, 2022
Series: How Satan works
We want to continue from where we left off on ‘How Satan works.’ In our last teaching, we further looked at how he uses human flaws to work in people’s lives. Among the flaws we have considered are laziness, disorderliness and a lack of recognition of our abilities and limitations. These flaws may not be sins against God in themselves. But they are errors in our lives that Satan can use to steal from us, hurt us or destroy us. So, we must not make any excuse for any of them in our lives. We must not make any excuse for disorderliness or laziness in our lives. And we must not make any excuse for a lack of appreciation of our true abilities and limitations in life. It is on us to have a true and proper estimation of what we are able to do and what we are unable to do. This is so that Satan will have no room to use this against us.
Now I want us to look at more things that we could call human flaws and which Satan equally uses to work in people’s lives. And these are carelessness and recklessness. I am putting them together because they are related, though it is possible for people to be careless and not reckless. But before I press this further, let me say this: when we are talking about the operation of the devil through men, we can look at it from two perspectives. First, we can look at it from the perspective of this evil being using others to work against us or in our lives. Second, we can look at it from the angle of his using us to work against others or to work against ourselves.
Whichever way we look at it, Satan’s work is never to our benefit or to the benefit of others. Whether we are the ones being used by the devil to ruin our own lives or other’s lives or it is others that he is using to ruin our lives, it is never to anybody’s benefit. So, we must understand how he operates through humans. Then we can be on our guard against his activities.
Having said that, let us look at some Scriptures that talk about how Satan can use our carelessness or recklessness to operate and mess things up for us. First, in Exodus, chapter 21, from verse 28, we are told this:
“If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull is to be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible. If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull is to be stoned and its owner is to be put to death. However, if payment is demanded, the owner may redeem his life by the payment of whatever is demanded. This law also applies if the bull gores a son or a daughter. If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull is to be stoned to death. If anyone uncovers a pit or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it, the one who opened the pit must pay the owner for the loss and take the dead animal in exchange. If anyone’s bull injures someone else’s bull and it dies, the two parties are to sell the live one and divide both the money and the dead animal equally. However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it penned up, the owner must pay, animal for animal, and take the dead animal in exchange.” (Exodus 21:28-36NIV)
Here the Lord is instructing His people about how to handle cases of carelessness. And from what we see here, it is clear that God knows that Satan can work through our carelessness and steal from us. It is unfortunate that, a lot of times, when we are talking about the works of the devil, people think of Satan showing up as a dark figure with some horns on his head, all of the stuff they see in movies. But Satan does not have to show himself when working. He is an invisible being. And unless he chooses to reveal a form of himself, a form that you cannot even take as his definite or permanent form, you cannot see him.
However, he often works through human beings and their processes, systems, culture and beliefs and also through other things God has created. And I am saying among such things that pertain to men that he works through are carelessness and recklessness. When we are careless, Satan can take advantage of this to devour God’s goodness in our lives or in other people’s lives or to devour the fruit of our own labour or that of other people’s labour. When we are careless, Satan can use our carelessness to kill us or someone else or to maim our bodies or someone else’s body.
Remember Job’s trials and ordeals when Satan attacked him, which we have recorded in Job 1. Apart from the fact that he used nature (fire and wind) against him in taking the lives of his children and destroying some of his possessions, he also used people against him. There were people that attacked his possessions and took them away. He used the greed of those people to do that. He was the one that incited those people to attack his possessions and take them away. That was how he stole from him.
What I am saying is that when those raiders and bandits came to attack Job’s servants and took away the animals and goods with them, it was Satan that moved them. And in like manner, he often moves people through their unwillingness to obey God to attack others and steal from them or injure them in different ways. This is why we must allow the word of God to dwell in our hearts so that Satan will never have any room to use us to afflict others.
In any case, just as Satan can use people’s disobedience to God to work through them, he can also use their carelessness or recklessness to steal from others, to rob others of God’s goodness or to destroy them. And that is what God is showing us through the Scripture I just showed you. He wants us to see how Satan can use our carelessness to make others lose their possessions or lives.
In chapter 22, from verse 5 of the same of book of Exodus, God further says this along this same line:
“If anyone grazes livestock in a field or vineyard and lets them stray and they graze in someone else’s field, the offender must make restitution from the best of their own field or vineyard. If a fire breaks out and spreads into thorn-bushes so that it burns sheaves or corn or standing corn or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make restitution.” (Exodus 22:5-6NIV)
You can see that the Lord is again talking about how, through our carelessness, we may provide an occasion for Satan to devour the fruit of other people’s labour or His goodness in their lives. As He points out, if, for example, you are grazing your livestock somewhere and you allow them to stray into another person’s field, they will definitely consume what the person has in his field. That way, the person has lost the fruit of his labour because of your carelessness, negligence or recklessness.
In Nigeria, we often see herdsmen who deliberately allow their animals to move into people’s farms and devour the fruit of their labour. Such people are showing that they have no concern at all for the labour of others. They are just concerned about taking care of their own animals and making profit by doing so. This, of course, is not applicable to all herdsmen. But there are herdsmen like these. I have personally seen some who deliberately turned blind eyes to what their animals were doing and allowed them to stray into the farms of others and devour their labour. That is wickedness.
But there are times that such things happen because of people’s carelessness or negligence. And the point is that when you allow this to happen, when you allow other people’s work to be ruined or devoured through your negligence, you have allowed Satan to use you. So, as I have said before, when Satan is working, it is not every time he shows up for people to see him and tells that he is the one working. A lot of times, what he uses are people’s carelessness, negligence and recklessness. He uses these things to bring harm to others. All of this is why we must not be careless or negligent or reckless. No, being careless, negligent or reckless may not be a sin. But Satan can use it to destroy lives or things.
Moreover, in Ecclesiastes, chapter 10, from verse 8, Solomon says, “Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake. Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them; whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.” (Ecclesiastes 10:8-9NIV) Here Solomon is saying that through our carelessness or negligence we can endanger our own lives, not just the lives of others. And everyday we see illustrations of this. People handle their affairs in a careless or negligent manner and expose themselves or others to danger. There, for example, have been cases of people who uncovered pits and did not cover them well or at all and later fell inside and died or got injured. Some have had their own children fall inside such pits and die or get injured.
In many of our companies and factories today, we have safety rules put in place to protect people from their work environment and work tools or machines. Why are such rules put in place? Though people may not be conscious of this, it is so that Satan will not have a room to ruin people’s lives through their carelessness or negligence in handling their work tools or machines or in relating to their work environment. There are factory machines that are very powerful and could instantly end people’s lives, if not handled carefully. And if you are careless in using such machines, you could endanger your own life or other people’s lives. Or when you are driving and are careless or reckless in doing so, you can get yourself or someone else killed. There are people who have died or become useless for life in such manner. And that was not because their time was up. But because someone was careless or negligent or reckless, Satan took advantage of the situation to ruin their lives.
See, the word of God is clear about the fact that accidents can happen. And a lot of times, what make them happen is carelessness or recklessness. When we choose to be careless, negligent or reckless in handling the things we use or the systems we have created, we can open the door for the devil to work through accidents. There have been people who had their houses burnt down because they were forgetful or careless. They were cooking and left the house without remembering to put off their gas burner. And few hours later they learnt that their house was gone.
Now some of such people may never recover for life. And who took away their possessions and properties from them? Satan! How did he do so? Through carelessness, negligence, forgetfulness or recklessness! So, if you are careless, you need to stop making excuses for your carelessness and starting training yourself to be careful. If you are negligent, you need to stop making excuses for it and start training yourself to be responsible. And if you have been reckless in any area of your life, don’t praise yourself for being reckless or mistake recklessness for smartness. Instead, change your ways. Otherwise, you may get yourself or others killed or permanently injured. There are people that are in prison now because of manslaughter. These are not necessarily evil or wicked people. But sometimes ago, they acted carelessly or recklessly and became responsible for some people’s death. So, they were jailed.
The Scriptures I shared with you before are all showing us how important it is for us to be careful in handling our affairs. They are showing us that through our carelessness or recklessness the enemy can work and devour God’s goodness in our lives or other’s lives or destroy our lives or other people’s lives. So, we must train ourselves to manage our properties, facilities and possessions well. We must train ourselves to set up safety rules and to also observe them. That means we must watch how we use things and where we put them, so that they do not end up endangering anybody’s life.
I must say that there are a lot of illustrations that we can bring up to show us how important it is for us to be careful and not careless, negligent or reckless in handling whatever we are handling in life. As I told you before, accidents can happen. And when they happen, the one responsible can’t be said to be totally guiltless. No, he may not have caused an accident to happen intentionally. But he is not totally guiltless. That is why people get arrested for manslaughter and are prosecuted. It is also why people get arrested and prosecuted for arson. Of course, arson is a deliberate burning down of the properties of others. So, it is a crime.
But then, there are times that people, through carelessness or negligence, make themselves responsible for fire incidents that destroy very valuable properties of others. And if you are responsible for burning down someone’s property, are you going to be held guiltless? No! Of course, you may not have done so deliberately. So, we may not charge with you with arson. But if you have burnt down someone’s property, unless the person is unwilling to prosecute you, you may end up in jail because of it, if you cannot pay for their loss.
Look at what God says along this line in Numbers, chapter 35, from verse 22:
“But if without enmity someone suddenly pushes another or throws something at them unintentionally or, without seeing them, drops on them a stone heavy enough to kill them, and they die, then since that other person was not an enemy and no harm was intended, the assembly must judge between the accused and the avenger of blood according to these regulations. The assembly must protect the one accused of murder from the avenger of blood and send the accused back to the city of refuge to which they fled. The accused must stay there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.” (Numbers 35:22-25NIV)
The Lord is showing us here that an accident can happen. And if one happens, the person responsible is expected to be protected by the leaders of the land. But that does not make the person entirely guiltless. So, there is a sanction given to the person. There is a place he must stay until the high priest of the land at that time is dead. Those places are referred to in the bible as cities of refuge. They are places where those who have accidentally killed people can run to and be safe. Otherwise, they will be killed for taking someone’s life. Yes, they have killed accidentally and not deliberately. But they have been used by the devil to take someone’s life. So, they are not totally free.
Well, my point is that we must not allow ourselves to become accessories that Satan can use to devour someone or to devour the goodness of God in anyone’s life. Also, we must conduct our affairs in ways that no room is left for the devil to ruin us or destroy us. We can destroy ourselves or our families through our carelessness. We can lose the things God has blessed us with through our carelessness or recklessness. Yes, Satan will be the one stealing these things from us. But it is our carelessness or recklessness or negligence that will have provided a way for him to do so. So, we must deal with all forms of carelessness, recklessness and negligence that are associated with our lives.
There are, for example, people who keep replacing their cell phones every now and then. Some may use like three to four phones in a year. And that is not because those phones are bad or are malfunctioning but because they are careless in handling them. This is why some people no longer have certain good things of life again. They were careless with the things God gave them. They allowed Satan to steal what God gave them through their carelessness. And so we have those who Satan stole their children, vehicles or homes from them through carelessness, negligence or recklessness.
If you too have been careless, Satan has been stealing from you. You perhaps have just not noticed. If you are reckless, Satan has been stealing from you. You probably have just not noticed. Most of the accidents happening on our roads today are happening because of carelessness and recklessness. Some will put vehicles on roads that are not road worthy and then endanger themselves or others. Some are just reckless in driving. And we see a lot of reckless drivers and motorcyclists on our roads and in our streets today. We see people who throw caution to the winds and behave as they like while driving, sometimes making phone calls, sometimes flouting traffic rules. These ones behave as though they had nine lives, like a cat. But they have only one life, a life that can be taken away by the devil just at the snap of the fingers.
Well, we are not the only ones that can become accessories in the hands of the devil; others too can become accessories in his hands. And he can use them to devour God’s goodness in our lives. This is why we must learn to pray that God will always keep us from being victims of the carelessness or recklessness of those in our lives or those around us. You can be very careful and orderly in your life. Yet you can get injured or have the fruit of your hard work devoured through someone else’s carelessness, recklessness or negligence.
Job lost his possessions through some people’s greed. But as I said before, it is not only through greed that Satan can afflict us. He can also afflict us through someone’s carelessness or negligence or recklessness or forgetfulness. He can through these things make us lose our jobs, lose our possessions or lose our lives. So, we must continually pray to God to keep us from being victims of anybody’s carelessness, recklessness or negligence.
Besides, where we can put in place safety rules or systems that will protect us from people’s carelessness, negligence or recklessness, we should do so. This is, in fact, where the government comes in. And a very poor government is better than no government at all. Now part of the job of the government is to make laws and policies that will discourage people from being careless in the way they handle their affairs. Those passages that I showed you in the book of Exodus show us laws and principles God gave His people, Israel, to discourage them from being careless or reckless or negligent in handling their affairs.
And we can see how He insists that if someone makes another person lose their life or properties through their carelessness, they must pay. The government of the land must take up the matter. So, it goes beyond someone saying, “I forgive you for what you have done.” There must be a government in place that will insist that people pay, if they endanger other’s lives or possessions through their carelessness, recklessness or negligence.
It is, however, unfortunate that, in a country like ours, our leaders care less about these things. Yes, we have laws in place that are to deter people from being careless, negligent or reckless in the way they handle their affairs. But these laws are not being upheld. So, we must also pray that God will give us leaders that will promote and uphold righteous laws. See, when the word of God tells us in 1Timothy 2 to pray for all men, especially our leaders, kings and all those in authority, it is because of things like these – it is so that we may live peaceful lives. When we have leaders who take seriously their job of upholding righteous laws in the land, there will be safety for everyone in the land. Those who have been careless or reckless or negligent will be begin to conduct themselves appropriately, when they are always made to pay for their misconduct.
This is also why we have governments in all our organisations, institutions and companies. We call those involved ‘management’. These people are there to make and enforce rules that will ensure that people are not careless, reckless or negligent in the way they conduct their business affairs. So, we have safety rules in many of our workplaces that people are commanded to adhere to. Otherwise, they may become victims of their work environment or of the tools they are using to work.
What I have been saying, all along, is that Satan often takes advantage of human flaws like carelessness, negligence and recklessness to steal from people or to destroy people’s lives or to make them useless for life. And when we know this, we can take appropriate steps to hinder him from working in our lives or through our lives. Yes, it is important that we continually pray to God to keep us from being victims of other people’s carelessness, negligence or recklessness. And we must also be praying that we too will not become victims of our own carelessness, negligence or recklessness or make others victims of these things.
Yet where it is possible for us to put rules and measures in place that will discourage us and others around us from acting recklessly, carelessly or negligently, we must do so. And we must see to it that people are penalised for violating such rules. That way, they and others can learn to take seriously the need for carefulness in all that they do. My prayer is that God will cleanse your life of everything that is associated with carelessness, recklessness and negligence, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Copyright © 2022, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
Title: Human flaws (b)
By: Johnson O. Lawal
Date: October 16, 2022
Series: How Satan works
I want to continue to share with you on ‘How Satan works.’ Remember that we have been looking at how this archenemy of man operates in people’s lives, the tools he uses in destroying them, killing them or stealing from them. We are looking at these things in order to fulfil the word of God that commands us to resist him. The bible refers to him as our enemy. He is not our friend. And if we do not know how he operates so that we can take our stand against him, we may end up being ruined by him, even though we are God’s children.
Now we have looked at some of the tools he uses in doing his works. We have looked at how he uses ignorance, sin and deception to operate in people’s lives. And we are now looking at how he uses human flaws to operate in people’s lives. When we are talking about human flaws, as I pointed out before, we are not talking about sins. It is not every human flaw that can be regarded as a sin. Yes, there are some human flaws or errors that can be regarded as sins against God. But it is not every human flaw that is a sin against God.
Nonetheless, Satan knows how to utilise our flaws and errors as humans to mess things up for us. This is why it is important that we recognise how he does these things, so that we will stop making excuses for whatever flaws we have in our lives instead of dealing with them. And in my last teaching on this, I shared with you how he uses laziness and disorderliness to operate in people’s lives. Now I want to talk about how he uses our failure to recognise our limitations to operate in our lives. What I am saying is that not coming to terms with our limitations is an error. Not coming to terms with what we have abilities for and what we do not have abilities for is an error. And Satan often takes advantage of this to steal from people, to destroy them or to kill them.
In Roman’s chapter 12, verse 3, Paul says this: “For by the grace given me I say to everyone of you: do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” (NIV) This is important. And whether we are dealing with our walk with God or how we handle our daily affairs, this is a rule of life we must take seriously. We must never think of ourselves more highly than we ought to. That means we must have a proper estimation ourselves. Yes, there are people who say that we ought not to think of ourselves at all but always of others. These ones will have us put thoughts about others ahead of thoughts about us.
But there is no part of the Scriptures in which we are told to think of others first. What we are told in them is to think of ourselves first before thinking about others. Or why does the Lord say, “Love your neighbour as yourself?” It is because He wants us to have proper thoughts about ourselves first. Until we learn to love ourselves appropriately and adequately, we cannot love our neighbours well. And until we think right and well about ourselves, we cannot think well and right about others.
What I am saying, in any case, is that we need to have a proper estimation of ourselves. We need to have a proper appreciation of our abilities and limitations. Otherwise, Satan will take advantage of our lack of real estimation of these things to work in our lives. See, when we get involved in things that we are not supposed to get involved in, though things these are not wrong in themselves, we may expose ourselves to frustration or depression. And there are many that are frustrated and depressed today because they got themselves involved in things that they have no abilities for. Some of these are now running from pillar to post or seeking to escape totally from their families. Some others have landed themselves in the prison. In short, all kinds of terrible things happen to people when they fail to recognise their abilities and limitations and function accordingly.
Now let me show you some of the things our Lord teaches about this. And though in the portion of the bible I want to share with you He is actually talking about the cost of being His disciples, what He says there is also applicable to other matters of life. Look at it in Luke’s gospel, chapter 14, from verse 28, which says:
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, “This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish. Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.”” (Luke 14:28-32NIV)
Two illustrations are given here by our Lord Jesus Christ on the need for us to have a proper estimation of our abilities and limitations. First, He says if someone wants to build a tower, what is the right thing for him to do? The right thing for him to do is to first sit down and estimate what doing so will cost him, not just to start the building of the tower but also to finish it. That, of course, is usually not our style in Nigeria. We usually love to get things started first before we start considering how we are going to finish them. So, if you want to build a house, you will find people who will tell you, “Just start with what you have and later you can finish it, as you get more money.” This may be okay to some extent, depending on what you are handling. But the truth is that it because of this approach to handling projects that we now have many uncompleted buildings around us.
If you are starting something, you need to know what it will cost you. That does not mean you have to finish it in few months or days. But at least, you need to appreciate what it is going to cost you, what you will need to give up, what you will need to get, how it is going to affect you or your family. For example, if you want to build a house, you need to consider how it is going to affect you and affect other things you need to do in your life. Perhaps you are married and with children. You need to consider how what you want to do is going to affect them and your responsibilities to them and see whether you have enough resources or muscle to handle what is coming. Otherwise, you may start and not finish and also not be able to take care of your family adequately.
There are people who are in trouble because of things like this. They are not sinning. But they are not functioning with a proper estimation of their abilities. So, they are in debt and are being harassed and dragged here and there by their creditors. Who have they opened the doors of their lives for? Satan! They have opened the doors of their lives for him to use their failure to function within the realms of their abilities to frustrate them and fill them with depression. Some of these now find themselves continually getting angry with their spouses and children and everyone around them because they are in debt and are frustrated. They are making an enemy of everyone around them, giving the impression that those in their lives are the reason for the problems they are facing.
But if you are one such people, know that the people in your life are not your problem; you are your own problem. You opened the doors of your life for Satan to come in and frustrate you and also fill you with depression. Soon enough, if you do not resist him, you may find yourself battling with high blood pressure or some other ailments. So, it is important that before you get involved in any project or venture that is going to take a lot of money or time or energy from you, consider your abilities to handle it. Don’t get yourself involved in something that you have no capability to handle or resources to manage.
It is really a shame that many often go for things that they have no ability to handle or manage. They just do things or get things because everyone is getting them. There are those who want to study further in school because all their friends are doing so. Is it wrong to want to go for further studies in your field of life? No, it is not. On the contrary, it is right to do so, especially if it will increase your chances of earning more. But you also need to consider what it is going to cost you. You need to know whether you are overreaching or not. Otherwise, you may just get yourself into troubles that you may not be able to deal with for the rest of your lifetime.
All of this is why our Lord Jesus is saying if you want to do anything, first of all consider your ability to succeed at it. We are not to rush into any project, if we are not sure we have the ability to handle it and finish it, without hurting ourselves. Yes, sometimes, we may have to give up some things in order to accomplish some greater good. That is fine. But the price we are paying for whatever we are doing must not be something that will destroy our lives, homes or reputations.
The second illustration the Lord gives us in that text is about going to war. He says don’t go into any war without first considering your chances to win it. Don’t get involved in a war you cannot win. No, you don’t need to make yourself anyone’s slave or put yourself in a position where people trample upon you. But it is important that if you are fighting any war, first consider your chances of winning. Don’t make a bad situation worse. So, if you are going to war with anyone, be sure you are going to win.
Now we are not just talking about literal wars here. We are also talking about other matters of life that involve struggles. If you are starting a business, for instance, you need to consider your ability to make a success of it. This is not just about praying to God. Yes, we need to pray to God about every matter of our lives. But we also need to ask ourselves whether we have the required skills, abilities, education or resources to make a success of what we are engaging in. Otherwise, you can expose yourself to Satanic attacks.
Look at boxers. They have to have a proper estimation of their abilities and limitations with respect to those of their opponents before agreeing to get inside the ring and fight with them. Otherwise, they may just get themselves killed. So, these are very important illustrations the Lord is giving us here. And the kind of attention we give to them will determine whether we are able to shut the devil out of our lives in some ways or not.
Satan, according to God’s word, is always looking for whom devour. He is always looking for any open door or any opportunity to operate in our lives. And one of the ways we can give him to room to work in our lives is not to have a proper estimation of our abilities. If we do not have a proper estimation of what we can do and cannot do, we will be giving him opportunities to work in our lives and hurt us or take our lives.
In 2Samuel, chapter 21, from verse 15, we are told this:
“Once again there was a battle between the Philistines and Israel. David went down with his men to fight against the Philistines, and he became exhausted. And Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels and who was armed with a new sword, said he would kill David. But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue; he struck the Philistine down and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, saying, ‘Never again will you go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel will not be extinguished.’” (2Samuel 21:15-17NIV)
As we see in this text, there was a battle between Israel and the Philistines and David went down with his men to fight. Now this man had been a warrior all his life. But as he aged, he began to lose his fighting strength. So, on this particular occasion, he went into battle with his men and got exhausted. That was to show that he was no longer as strong and as agile as he used to be. In any case, a man came against him at that time, threatening to kill him. Thank God, Abishai was there to rescue him and to kill that man. That was when his men swore that they would never allow him to go into battle with them again. He could supervise them or give them strategies to win their battles. But as far as going to battle to fight hand to hand against their enemies was concerned, they would not permit him to get involved.
Now David could have got himself killed on that occasion. And that would not be because his time was ripe. Rather, it would be because he was not going to come to terms with the fact that he was ageing and his strength was going. If he had come to terms with that fact, he would not have gone to battle with his men at that time. And even if he had gone with them, he would have stayed somewhere safe just to direct them and watch how things would go. By the way, he had become used to palace life and was already getting rusty, as soldiers would say. So, he could have stayed back. But he felt that he was still who he used to be, a great and mighty warrior. And that was how he would have gotten himself killed on that occasion, if someone had not come to his rescue.
In like manner, there are times we get ourselves involved in things that we have lost touch with, thinking we can handle them because we used to handle them well. But we need to come to terms with our limitations and not pursue something that is already beyond us. It may even be that it is some days of illness that have taken certain amount of energy or presence of mind away from us. We need to deal with it and not push ourselves beyond proper limits.
See, some have died because of things like these. They would not accept their failings or weaknesses. So got themselves involved in what was beyond them and lost their lives or body parts in the process. Yes, it was Satan that was responsible for their loss. But how was he able to do what he did? It was through their failure to admit their limitations. So, if certain things are leaving you, you need to come to terms with that reality. If you are no longer as strong, fast or agile as you used to be, then, know what you need to refrain from. Otherwise, you may get yourself burned or killed before your time.
We have a similar example in 2Chronicles. This is about King Josiah. He became king at age eight. And because he sought the Lord, He was with him. This man was a reformer, who set right many things that had been wrong in the land right during his reign. Then, one day, he sent some of his men to a prophetess, Huldah, to inquire of the Lord for him about what would become of his country. And here is the account from 2Chronicles, chapter 34, from verse 22:
“Hilkiah and those the king had sent with him went to speak to the prophet Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the New Quarter. She said to them: tell the man who sent you to me, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people – all the curses written in the book that has been read in the presence of the king of Judah. Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and aroused my anger by all that their hands have made, my anger will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched.” Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the Lord, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before God when you heard what he spoke against this place and its people, and because you humbled yourself before me and tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the Lord. Now I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place and on those who live here.” So they took her answer back to the king.” (2Chronicles 34:22-28NIV)
You can see that there was a promise from God to Josiah here that his eyes would not see the disaster that was coming upon the land of Judah. God told him that he would be gathered to his ancestors in peace. That means he would die and be buried in peace. But did he die in peace? No! See, it is one thing for God to make certain promises to someone; it is another thing for the person to position himself where he will experience the fulfilment of the promises God has made to him.
I know that people often say that when God says He is going to do something, He is not going to change His mind. That is true. And there are Scriptures that confirm it to be true. However, there are equally Scriptures that show us that how people respond to what God has said is important as well. If we do not respond appropriately to what He has said to us, we may not witness a fulfilment of His word in our lives. That will not mean that He is going back on His word. Rather, it will mean that we are placing ourselves in a position where His word will not be fulfilled in our lives.
God, in the text we just looked at, promised Josiah that he would die in peace. But he did not die in peace. Why? He did not recognise his limitations. He had been a great king, a great reformer. But he was not a warrior. And because he did not realise this, he died as a young man – he died before his time. Look at the account of his death as given in 2Chronicles, chapter 35, from verse 20:
“After all this, when Josiah had set the temple in order, Necho king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah marched out to meet him in battle. But Necho sent messengers to him saying, ‘What quarrel is there, king of Judah, between you and me? It is not you I am attacking at this time, but the house with which I am at war. God has told me to hurry; so stop opposing God, who is with me, or he will destroy you.’ Josiah, however, would not turn away from him, but disguised himself to engage him in battle. He would not listen to what Necho had said at God’s command but went to fight him on the plain of Megiddo. Archers shot King Josiah, and he told his officers, ‘Take me away; I am badly wounded.’ So they took him out of his chariot, put him in his other chariot and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. He was buried in the tombs of his ancestors, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him.” (2Chronicles 35:20-24NIV)
How did Satan get Josiah killed here? It was through his refusal to acknowledge his limitations. Josiah was a great king, as I told you before. He was a great reformer who led the people back to God. But he was not a warrior. That was not his thing. But because he served God faithfully, He kept him and his kingdom safe for thirty-one years. He became king at age eight and ruled for thirty-one years. And in all those years nobody came against him to fight him. God made sure he was preserved.
But on this occasion, he marched out to fight against King Necho. Why? He wanted to make a name for himself. But Necho told him that he did not have any quarrel with him and so he had no reason to come out to fight him. He was simply getting involved in a fight that was not his. And there are people like him today also, people who get involved in fights that are not theirs. Why? They do not have a proper estimation of what concerns them and what does not concern them and a proper estimation of their abilities and limitations.
Look, don’t get involved in fights that do not concern you. Don’t make battles that are not yours yours. That battle was not Josiah’s. Necho did not come out to fight him. In fact, he told him that God did not send him to him but to someone else. But he did not listen. Perhaps you are like Josiah. You like to get yourself involved in things that do not concern you, just to show that you are smart, rich, educated or spiritual. It may be a fight or a ceremony. There are people that like to carry burdens of ceremonies that do not concern them, just like there are those who get involved in neighbourhood quarrels that do not concern them. And they may through this open the door for problems that should never have been a part of their lives to come in.
Sometimes, people who act like this think they are showing solidarity for their neighbours or friends. But you must learn to choose your battles carefully. The people Necho was going to fight did not ask for Josiah’s help. Yet he went to fight against Necho. And though the man warned him, he did not listen. Instead, he disguised himself and went into battle. That was how he got himself killed. He got himself killed because he did not recognise his limitations.
Similarly, many are getting themselves killed and injured today because they do not recognise their limitations. They are getting themselves into all kinds of troubles because they do not have a proper estimation of their abilities and limitations. And I am saying to you now that Satan often takes advantage of that to afflict men. So, recognise your limitations, financial limitations, physical limitations, academic limitations and so forth. Recognise your boundaries wherever you are. Even in business, you must know that there are clients that you have no ability to manage. Otherwise, you may open the door for Satan to bring frustration, depression, destruction of reputation and other terrible things into your life and ruin you.
I pray that God will cause you recognise your abilities and limitations so that you will continually handle all your relationships and affairs with wisdom and not give room for Satan to work in your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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Title: Human flaws (a)
By: Johnson O. Lawal
Date: October 09, 2022
Series: How Satan works
We have been looking at how Satan works and have considered three of the tools he often uses in operating in people’s lives. And these are ignorance, sin and deception. Now we want to look at another tool that he uses in working in people’s lives, which has to do with human flaws and errors. But then, someone may ask, “Are human errors and flaws also not sins?” No! It is not every time that the flaws that we see in people amount to sins. It is not every time that the imperfections that we see in men are sins against God. There are, of course, imperfections, flaws and errors of men that are sins against God. But it is not every human flaw or error that we observe that is a sin.
Therefore, when I am talking about human errors and flaws here, I am not talking about things that we will take as sins or disobedience to God. But I am talking about things that are not sins in themselves but that reveal the imperfection in humanity, things that reduce or limit our fruitfulness or usefulness in life. And I will give you some illustrations along this line so that you can get my point.
To start with, we have disorderliness. Disorderliness can’t always be taken as sin. But it is a flaw that Satan often uses to work in people’s lives. When we look at creation accounts that we have in the book of Genesis, we see orderliness in the way God created all the things He created. And this was written down for us to teach us orderliness in life. As the accounts show, man was the last of all the things God made. That means before man was brought forth, God had ensured that the food he would eat, the water he would drink, the mineral resources he would use and so forth had been provided.
So, God did not make man first and then start thinking about what he would eat and how he would fare in life. That would have been disorderly. That would have resulted in some measure of frustration for both God and man. But God did not do that. He first made sure that all the things His man would need were available before He brought him forth. Also, we see that before He made all the animals and birds, He had provided the plants that they would feed on. Then before He spoke the plants into being, He had already provided the Sun, the moon and the stars and all the conditions that would be needed for them to thrive. That is orderliness. And that is what makes life smooth for all living things.
We too must learn orderliness, for it will make life smooth for us in many ways. It will make our progress smooth. It will make it easier for us to continually increase in fruitfulness and usefulness. But where we are disorderly, Satan can take advantage of our disorderliness to work in our lives or to cheat us of the opportunities that could have been ours or to frustrate us or to lead us into depression. For instance, those who are disorderly will often realise that they are late to be where they are supposed to be or to do what they are supposed to do. And when you are late in doing what you are supposed to do, you may find yourself doing things in a hurry and making mistakes you ought not to make, overlooking things you are not supposed to overlook. This, of course, may be used by the devil to cheat you of the reward that should have been yours or the profit that should have been yours or the opportunities that should have been yours. What I am saying is that lateness can make you miss opportunities for advancement or promotion in life.
Mind you, there are people that are suffering at work because of lateness. Why are they often late? It is because they are disorderly. They are not organised. They have not learnt how to put first things first. So, they are going late for work and their bosses or employers are always angry with them and will not promote them or reward them as they should have been rewarded. Some have even been sacked because of things like this. Satan made them jobless. But how was he able to make them jobless? It was through late coming. And they were going late to work because they were disorderly.
Some also have lost job or business opportunities or opportunities to be helped because they were late in meeting those who wanted to help them. So, you need to be orderly in your life. You need to see this as a target. I mean that being orderly must be an objective for you. And anything that is contrary to orderliness in your life must be dealt with by you. The bible says, “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace – as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.” (1Corinthians 14:33NIV) Our God is not an author of confusion but a God of order. Where there is disorderliness there will be confusion. And Satan loves to take advantage of people’s confusion to operate. That is why we are told to be orderly even in our church meetings. Otherwise, we may just be giving Satan room to operate and fill our brethren with anger, bitterness, hatred and so forth.
Well, I am saying it is important that we are orderly in life. And if you have been disorderly, you have a flaw in your life that you need to deal with. You should, therefore, not make excuses for it, for it may be an avenue for the devil to operate in your life. He will use it to make you late and miss opportunities. He will use it to frustrate you. See, when people are disorderly, they easily become frustrated. They have many things to do but do not know how to go about them. Then they get frustrated, looking as though they were the ones carrying all the problems of life. And if you are frustrated and it looks like you were the one carrying all the challenges of life, you need to check your life for disorderliness.
I am saying that if you find yourself bearing burdens that you are not supposed to bear, not meeting your targets or goals at work, in business or in school and not finding time to rest or sleep, you are most likely disorderly in your life. And you may soon become frustrated. In Numbers 11 Moses complained to God because of his depression and frustration. And he was really depressed and frustrated because of the burdens of taking care of the nation of Israel in the wilderness. These Israelites were always grumbling and complaining and never satisfied with anything done for them. So, it got so bad for Moses that he asked God to take his life instead of allow him to continue living in frustration and depression.
It is not a new thing, then, for people to become frustrated or depressed. Truly, there are many frustrated people in the world today, just as there are many depressed people in the world. And when people are frustrated or depressed, they may start wishing for death. Moses wished for death. He asked God to kill him. We have those who would also like God to kill them because they are frustrated or depressed. And if He is not going to kill them, they will kill themselves.
Well, Satan loves to take advantage of these things to work in people’s lives. He will use their frustration or depression to drive them to commit suicide or to take steps that will make things get worse for them. Moses, as I pointed out before, was frustrated and depressed at that time. And Satan was going to use these things against him, to take his life before his time was up. But how did God solve that problem? Through orderliness! God told him to get leaders that will help him handle some of his work and share his burdens. That was how God solved his problems of frustration and depression.
In like manner, we can solve a lot of problems through organisation. We can solve a lot of problems by being orderly in our lives. For example, we know that a pregnant woman will carry her pregnancy for about nine months. And what should that person do during those nine months? She ought to be preparing for the baby coming. She does not have to wait for the nine months to be over before she will start getting all the things she will need at the point of delivery or after delivery. She may not be a millionaire. But she knows that a baby is coming and that this baby will come at some point. So, she ought to get herself ready for what is coming. That is being orderly. But if she does not do that, then, she will have to start running around when the baby comes knocking. Then she gets frustrated and depressed and may even have others insulting her for not being orderly. Unfortunately, some people have died as a result of things like this. Hospitals would not accept them when they went into labour because they did not have all the things they were supposed to have before they could be attended to. And they died while everybody was running around at the eleventh hour to help them.
Also, we have people who get frustrated and depressed because of house rents or school fees. And one way you can prevent these things in your life is for you to be orderly or organised. If, for instance, you have children in school that you are regularly paying their school fees, do you need to wait until the time the fees are to be paid before you start looking for them? If you wait in that manner, especially if you have a number of children to take care of their school fees, the burden may just be too much on your neck when it is time to pay. But if you are saving ahead for their school fees, then, when the time comes for them to resume, the burden of paying their school fees will not be heavy in you.
You can see why I am saying there are a lot of problems we can solve through orderliness. But if we will not take orderliness seriously, Satan will certainly find ways to use our disorderliness against us. Then we will find find him constantly putting us in situations where we are embarrassed or disgraced for not meeting up with our responsibilities. This is how people find themselves in financial miseries. But things don’t have to be like this for us.
Furthermore, there are students that are failing in school because they are disorderly – they are not organised. When they are supposed to be studying, they will not study. When they are supposed to be resting, they will not rest. And when they have assignments, experiments or other academic activities to face, they will not face them. Why? They are disorderly! They are not organised. Such individuals are bound to fail or to come out with very poor results in school.
See, it is not everyone that comes out with a very poor result in school that is unintelligent or not brilliant. You may be brilliant or intelligent as a student. But if you are not organised, you may find yourself failing where you should not fail or getting poor results where should have excelled. There are those who are supposed to go through certain notes or textbooks of theirs more than once or twice in order to fully absorb the things in them. But because they are not using their time well, because they are wasting their time on irrelevances and non-essentials, they end up getting frustrated, depressed and failing where they should not have failed. In like manner, if you are not organised in your business, Satan may end up putting you in financial trouble or destroying that business for you.
What I am saying, at any rate, is that disorderliness is a human flaw that Satan can use to molest you, harass you, keep you poverty or lead you into a state of frustration or depression. And when you are frustrated or depressed, you may find yourself doing things you are not supposed to do or falling sick every now and then. So, get yourself organised. Make it your goal or ambition to be organised and orderly in all that you do. Then you will be able to shut the devil out of certain areas of your life without even praying.
In Proverbs, chapter 6, from verse 6, we are told this: “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.” (Proverbs 6:6-8NIV) This is a call for us to learn orderliness from ants. As Solomon tells us, ants have no commander or overseer or ruler. Yet they are orderly. They are orderly in the way they do things. They know when to gather their food. They are wise enough to know when to store up food for the future. And they have nobody to supervise them or to direct them. Yet they are doing these things. If ants can be orderly like this, then, we have no excuse for not being orderly in our lives.
Well, this is a call to orderliness. This a call for us to know how to put first things first. This is a call for us to know how to organise our lives for greater fruitfulness or effectiveness. When we organise our lives, we will see that we are able to eliminate frustration and depression and are also able to free ourselves from unnecessary burdens. So, learn from the ants. You don’t need anyone to organise you or direct you. It is your job to organise yourself and to direct your affairs well. You have the Spirit of God in you. And you can do this.
So, stop making excuses for disorderliness in your life. Stop making excuses for late coming. Stop making excuses for not doing the things you are supposed to do when you are supposed to do them. Don’t waste your time on irrelevances. Don’t waste time on non-essentials. You need to know those things that are important for you to do and when you are to do them and then act accordingly. Know when you need to work and when you need to rest. Know how to put yourself on a schedule. And as you function like this, you will see that you have shut the devil out of certain areas of your life.
Another thing very close to disorderliness is laziness. Is laziness sin, as we will class sin? No! But it is a human flaw. And Satan often uses it to operate in people’s lives. He often uses it to make people lose opportunities to rise and shine in life. He uses it often to keep people in their low states in life. When people are unwilling to use their brains or work with their hands, Satan will take advantage of that to keep them in poverty.
Now someone may say, “But we have many people that are hardworking and are still poor.” That is true. But there are different forms of laziness. We have spiritual laziness. We have mental laziness. And we have laziness of the hands, unwillingness of people to work with their hands. The form of laziness we are most acquainted with is the unwillingness of people to put their hands to work. This, of course, could put anyone in poverty. But that someone has overcome this form of laziness does not mean Satan will not keep him poor. If the person will not use his head to think, Satan may still take advantage of that to keep him poor or in poverty.
See, it is not enough for us to be hardworking; it is also important that we are examining what the work we are doing is accomplishing. Is it moving us forward or not? Do we need to do it differently? Or do we need to abandon it for something else? That is where mental laziness is affecting many people. They cannot sit down to think and examine what they are doing to see whether they are making progress at it or not. Satan, of course, is using this to afflict many people. They are working hard, waking up early every day and also sleeping late. But they have never sat down to look at what they are doing to see if it needs to be done differently or not or if it is moving forward or not. They have never done this because they are lazy in their minds.
There is also spiritual laziness. And this affects many people as well. They are too lazy to relate to God. They are too lazy to commit the issues of their lives into His hands. See, apart from God, there is nothing we can accomplish. We may be smart in thinking and hardworking. But if God does not move us forward in life, we are going nowhere. So, we need to be talking to him about our lives, casting our burdens on Him.
Unfortunately, many people are lazy in this area. They are too lazy to engage God by themselves. Some people cannot stand to pray with you for fifteen minutes, a quarter of an hour. Once they pray for few minutes, they get tired or bored. And we are dealing with a spiritual enemy that is ready to use everything to work against us. He is ready to use the sun that is shining, the rain that is falling and any circumstance of our lives to work against us. If we, then, are too lazy to engage God, the one who has the ability to cause all things to work together for our good, that spiritual laziness will be taken advantage of by the devil to afflict you.
So, you cannot afford to be lazy, whether spiritually, mentally or otherwise. Satan is going to take advantage of any form of laziness in your life to afflict you. No, you may not sinning against God, telling lies, stealing, fornicating or doing any of the bad things people do. But you are lazy. Your laziness will be used by the devil to keep you in poverty. Even if you are working with an organisation, no one will promote you, if you are lazy. Sensible people don’t promote lazy individuals. They don’t promote those who don’t turn on their work when they are supposed to do so.
See, if you are given a task to do in your office, and you don’t get it done at the set time, Satan may take advantage of that to ruin you. Yes, you may be praying to God for promotion. But you won’t be promoted, for you are lazy. You may be praying to God for opportunities to do great things in life. But those opportunities won’t come because of your laziness. Even if they come, you won’t take advantage of them because you are lazy.
In Proverbs, chapter 6, from verse 10, Solomon further says this to us: “How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest – and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.” (Proverbs 6:10-11NIV) Did you see that? Laziness will invite poverty into your life. Laziness will come upon you like an armed man. Yes, you are a child of God. But that won’t drive scarcity away from you. That will not drive poverty away from you.
See, laziness will not allow you to wake up when you are supposed to wake up or to move when you are supposed to move. Interestingly, laziness and disorderliness often go hand in hand. Yes, there are disorderly people that are not lazy. It is just that they are not channelling their energies in the right direction and are not on schedule. But most lazy people are disorderly too. They are not organised. So, Satan takes advantage of this to ruin them or keep them in poverty or prevent them from advancing.
Don’t forget that I am talking about human flaws and how Satan uses them to afflict people. And I am saying some of such human flaws that he uses are disorderliness and laziness. Where you see one, you will likely find the other. To say the fact, most of the terrible things happening in our world today are caused by these things – disorderliness and laziness. For example, one of the duties of the government is to maintain order in the society. And where they fail to maintain order, Satan will have a free day. Most of the accidents taking place in our country today and claiming lives and maiming bodies result from disorderliness on our roads and in our streets.
As we all know, there are traffic laws and rules that are meant to be maintained to prevent accidents on our roads. But we do not have enough officers or boots on the ground to maintain them. So, most of us do what we like on our roads and in our streets. And wherever people do as they please or do what seems to be okay in their eyes, Satan will take advantage of the situation to ruin them. That is why we keep having accidents here and there. And through these people take one another’s lives, not deliberately but through disorderliness.
So, I am saying that if you want to shut the devil out of your life in many ways, you must be orderly and also learn to be hardworking and not lazy. You must not be lazy with your hands, lazy in your mind or lazy in your relationship with God. I will share more with you later on how Satan uses human flaws and errors to work. I pray that the few things I have now shared with you will be used by God to set you right wherever you are missing it and to keep Satan out of your life and affairs. Amen.
Copyright © 2022, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
Title: Deception
By: Johnson O. Lawal
Date: October 02, 2022
Series: How Satan works
We have been looking at how Satan works. We have looked two of the tools he uses in working in people’s lives. The one is ignorance and the other is sin. And as I pointed out, any kind of sin can be used by the devil to operate in people’s lives. Of course, we do not have to sin before Satan works in our lives. But if we are not walking in disobedience to God, there are things that Satan can never do to us – there are ways he can never work in our lives. Because we are walking in obedience to God, we will be able to shut him out of several areas of our lives. So, it is important we take obedience to God’s word seriously. It is important we take walking in the will of God very seriously.
I also went on to talk about how people’s rejection of God or of His truth can be taken advantage of by the devil to work in their lives. This, of course, is also related to disobedience to God. Rejection of God is disobedience to Him. Rejection of God’s word is disobedience to Him. This does not have to be sexual immorality or greed. Any time people reject God’s word or reject Him, they open up the doors of their lives for Satan to come in and operate. So, we need to watch our attitude towards whatever form of truth God is bringing to us. We need to watch how we relate to the word of God that is coming to us. Otherwise, Satan may take advantage of this to outsmart us.
Now there is something else that is related to what we are saying, which also results in disobedience to God. And that is deception. What I am trying to say is that Satan also uses the tool of deception or deceit to work in people’s lives. And once he succeeds in deceiving people, he will make them disobey God. This, of course, does not mean it is every time Satan deceives people to disobey God. There are times people just deliberately ignore God or ignore His truth and disobey him. But there are times people disobey God because they do not know any better. Satan has succeeded in deceiving them at such times or in giving them wrong impressions of God or of themselves.
Jesus tells us that Satan is a liar, a deceiver. Look at how this is put in Saint John’s gospel, chapter 8, verse 44: “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44NIV) The Lord refers to the devil here as a liar. He says there is no truth in him. Then He goes on to say that anytime Satan lies he is speaking his native language, for he is a liar and the father of all lies. That means you cannot trust anything Satan says to you. Even if Satan says something that appears to be true to you, it is so that he may mislead you.
For example, once while tempting Jesus, he quoted a Scripture to Him that says, “God will give His angels charge concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” And he uses this Scripture to encourage the Lord to commit suicide, to encourage Him to jump down from a very high point of the temple in Jerusalem and kill himself. So, Satan can tell you the truth. But it will be in a twisted way. He can give you half-truth and keep the complete truth from you. And when you act on the partial truth he has given you, you get injured or destroyed. (Cf. Matthew 4:5-7)
Furthermore, while tempting Jesus, he told him that all the kingdoms of the world and their glory had been given to him and that he could give them to anybody he wished to give them to. And that was indeed the truth. Adam handed the kingdoms of the world over to him the day he obeyed him. But why did he tell Jesus that? It was to lure Him to worship him. So, even when Satan is telling you the truth, it will be to mislead you to act against the will of God and ruin yourself.
The point I am making, at any rate, is that Satan often uses deception to make people act against the will of God and ruin themselves. There are two ways to actually look at this. The first has to do with Satan’s use of deception to make people reject God, reject His will or think of themselves or of God in ways that are wrong. Ultimately, his aim is to destroy his targets. His aim is to lead them away from the place of God’s provisions or protection for them to a place where their lives will be ruined.
In the book of Genesis, we are told that Satan deceived Eve, the first woman. In 2Corinthians, chapter 11, verse 3, Paul says to the Corinthians, “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the snake’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” (2Corinthians 11:3NIV) Here this apostle is drawing the brethren’s attention to how Satan deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden. Eve did not know that she was being deceived or that Satan was lying to her. But it was different with Adam. Adam was not deceived. Adam was the one God gave the instruction to not to eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So, he deliberately disobeyed God.
In 1Timothy, chapter 2, verse 14, we are told this: “And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.” (NIV) Did you see that? Eve was deceived by the devil and so she became a sinner. How did the devil do that? It was twisting the word of God and calling Him a liar. Look at how this is set forth in Genesis, chapter 3, from verse 1:
“Now the snake was more craft than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden”?’ The woman said to the snake, ‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, “You must not eat from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, for you will die.”’ ‘You will not certainly die,’ the snake said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” (Genesis 3:1-6NIV)
Did you see how the woman was deceived? Satan told her that God was lying. That is deceit. He told her that God did not have their best interest at heart, which was why He told them not to eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So, he encouraged her to throw away her confidence in God and sin against him. Unfortunately, Adam who knew better did nothing to arrest the situation. Why he did nothing about it is something we will probably find out someday in eternity. But he was not deceived, as we are told in 1Timothy 2:14. He knew that the devil was lying. Yet he said nothing but simply followed his wife in sinning against God. And that was a terrible thing.
But the point I am making is that Satan succeeded in deceiving Eve by calling God a liar and giving her the impression that God does not have their best in mind. He still does the same thing to many today. He twists their minds. He brings them thought patterns that will make them see themselves and God in ways that are contrary to the truth. He will call God a liar and give them the impression that He does not have their best interests at heart, which is why He tells them to do certain things or not to do certain things. And once he succeeds in getting anyone to see things the way he wants them to see them, he can begin to operate in them and through them.
How do people become terrorists? It is through the deception of the devil. He will give them justifications for killing others. He will twist their minds and make them adopt philosophies that will make them kill others and be happy, that will make them kill others and not feel remorseful. In Saint John’s gospel, chapter 16, from verse 1, Jesus says, “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. They will put you out of the synagogues; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.” (John 16:1-2NIV) Can you see that? What will make people kill others and think they are doing God a service? It is a satanic philosophy that is entrenched in their minds.
There are, for example, those that Satan has succeeded in convincing that by killing those who do not share their faith, God is going to reward them handsomely. So, you find those who slaughter their family members in what is now called honour killing, believing that God is going to reward them for doing so. These things are rooted in satanic deception. We talk about suicide bombers today. What is behind it? Why will someone wear a bomb, go to where multitudes are, denote the bomb there and get himself and several others killed? There is always a satanic philosophy behind these things.
How do people end up becoming homosexuals, lesbians and crossdressers today? It is through satanic deception. I have read stories of people who, at some point in their lives, were fighting off the thought of being homosexuals. But Satan later convinced them that God made them that way and so they didn’t need to fight it. He told them, “This is who you are. Why don’t you just embrace and promote it? Love yourself the way you are.” Satan does these things, twists people’s minds to agree that God made them to be gay.
And we see leaders of the world who have been convinced by the devil to believe the same lie. That is because he is a master in the art of deception. He knows how encourage and lure people to believe lies and live on their basis. I told you before of how a lying spirit entered the mouths of four hundred prophets of Ahab and made all of them tell the same lie. So, the fact several people are saying the same thing does not mean they are right. A spirit of deception can be operating in the lives of many and causing them think and act the same way. But ultimately Satan is going to ruin their lives. Therefore, all these people who call themselves lesbians, homosexuals, bisexuals and other similar nonsense that people call themselves are going to be ruined by the devil someday.
We equally have those who are involved with animals. We call this bestiality. And I learnt that there are countries of the world that have standing laws against homosexuality but who turn blind eyes to bestiality. Satan has caused these ones to believe that it is okay for them to be involved in animals. He keeps telling them that they are made that way by God or nature and that it is okay for them to fall in love with animals and even have sex with them. That, unfortunately, is how certain strange and incurable diseases find their way into our midst. It is Satan that is behind these things. And he introduces them by getting people to believe and act on lies.
Now many who are involved in these acts will end up becoming depressed and frustrated at some point. They will find themselves filled with bitterness and hate and start killing themselves. Only God knows the number of those who have killed themselves in this manner, people who killed themselves because Satan made them believe that living was not worth it and that it was better for them to take their own lives. And as I said before, all these people who call themselves homosexuals and lesbians are prone to such things. At some point, Satan will fill their minds with fear and depression and cause them to destroy themselves.
Paul, in 1Timothy, chapter 4, verse 1, says, “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” (1Timothy 4:1NIV) I gave you this Scripture to let you know that what we are not talking about is not applicable to unbelievers alone but to believers as well. Believers also can follow lying spirits and teachings of demons. Then they will start doing things they are not supposed to do. Satan will convince to begin to see something that is wrong as right.
For example, in the verses that follow the one I just gave you from 1Timothy 4, Paul speaks about people who command others not to get married and not to eat certain foods. And in recent times in this country, a woman in the church was preaching and telling people not to eat certain foods because they are being produced in the bottom of the oceans by some evil beings. Also, a man, several years ago, used to preach similar nonsense. He would tell husbands not to use their wives’ wrappers to cover themselves when sleeping because it has some spiritual connotations. He would also tell people not to wear certain colours of clothes on certain days of the week because doing so has some spiritual connotations.
But all these things are lies. And they are things through which Satan operates in people’s lives and keep them in poverty or misery. That is because instead for them to face the real issues in their lives that are responsible for their failure, poverty or sicknesses, it is something else they will hold responsible for their ordeals. And there are all kinds of myths and legends that are rooted in satanic deception. Sadly, people live on these things.
Why do people worship idols? It is satanic deception that is responsible. The things we call taboos in most places today are mostly rooted in satanic deception. And many live their lives on their basis. For instance, growing up, we were told that if you were going somewhere and you hit a stone with your left foot and stumbled, it meant that something bad was going to happen soon that day. And many of us believed this lie. So, any time you dashed your left foot against a stone, you would start expecting something bad or terrible to happen. And guess what? Something bad would happen, for you had been looking forward to it. Satan would keep reminding you that something bad was supposed to happen that day. And since the doors of your heart were already opened to welcome a bad occurrence, you have already given him the permission he needed to work in your life. Therefore, you must be rooted in the word of God, for Satan succeeds in deceiving people often because of their ignorance of the word of God.
Now remember that when he succeeded in deceiving Eve, she and her husband ended up being driven out of the Garden of Eden. They were driven out of God’s place of comfort and provisions for them. And many are being driven out, just like them, out of God’s place of rest, peace of mind and provisions for them through satanic deceit. They are being driven out of where their lives can flourish and be meaningful to a place of hunger, frustration, depression, barrenness and death because they are living on the lies of the devil.
Therefore, it is important that you know what the word of God is saying. It is important that you hold on to His word. Only His word has the power to demolish the lies of the devil. Paul speaks about this in 2Corinthians 10. He says there that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal or worldly, but they have divine power to demolish arguments and every pretention that sets itself up against the knowledge of Christ. Therefore, we can take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ. And this will only happen to the degree that we understand the word of God and act on it. It is through our understanding of the word of God that we take captive satanic thoughts, philosophies, lies and deceits.
If we you do not know the word of God, you have no answer for the lies of the devil. He will deceive you and cause you to act on his lies. And once you act on his lies, he will ruin your life. The reason he was not able to get Jesus to commit suicide when he once tempted Him was that He knew the word of God. Also, the reason he could not get Him to worship him was that Jesus knew the word. And each time he brought Him a new lie, He cast it down with the word of God. So, He did not commit suicide or worship him, even though he used Scriptures to support his lies. Jesus knew better and would not act on half-truths.
There are, unfortunately, many that act on half-truths and partial truths today. And Satan loves it that way, for he can use that to ambush them or outsmart them and destroy them. He knows that he does not have to tell you whole lies to mislead you. All he needs is to tell you half-truths or partial truths. Then he can get you. So, you need to know what the word is saying. Moses told the children of Israel, “The word of God is your life.” That means we have no life apart from the word of God. We have no answer for the challenges of this life, if we do not have the word of God in us. So, we are told man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. (Cf. Deuteronomy 32:47; Matthew 4:4)
Furthermore, Satan uses signs, wonders and miracles to deceive people. And that is the second thing I want to show you about how he deceives people. As I said before, he often deceives people by feeding them with wrong ideas and philosophies about life, about God, about themselves and about the world of spirit beings. And when they are deceived about these things, they turn their backs on God. I remember meeting a young man that was angry with God and did not want to have anything to do with Him. Why? He said, going through Scriptures, he realised that God sanctioned genocides during some periods in history. “How could a good God order genocides?” he asked. “Why would He wipe out the entire human race from the face of the earth, leaving only eight people? I do not want to serve that kind of God.”
Now it was Satan that succeeded in making that man see God in that light. But what He was overlooking was the fact that when God acted that way and ordered whole ethnic groups to be wiped out or when He made a move to remove humanity from the face of the earth, it was to save the rest of humanity. For example, in the days of Noah, people had gone crazy and had allowed anarchy to set in among them. They were fully of all kinds of wickedness and destroying themselves. So, leaving us to continue like that on the face of the earth was not good at all for us.
By the way, God was not the one suffering at that time. We were the ones suffering. Our wickedness does not hurt God, which is something we must keep in mind. We are the ones that get hurt through our wickedness. But Satan succeeded in making that young man to see God as wicked. There are still many like him who see God as wicked. Some blame Him for taking away their families from them. But we know that Job experienced something similar. Satan took away his children in one day. And he too thought it was God that took them away. When people are ignorant of what Satan is doing, he can succeed in making them blame God for it. And as long as they continue to live on his lie, he can continue to ruin their lives further and further.
Well, it gets even worse, as I just pointed out. Satan also sometimes uses signs, wonders and miracles to get people to believe his lies. In 2Thessalonians, chapter 2, from verse 9, Paul says:
“The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” (2Thessalonians 2:9-11NIV)
I love this. Paul here tells us one of the ways Satan works. He says he uses all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders to promote his lies. Now, of course, he is going to do this in abundance when the Antichrist shows up. But already the secret power of wickedness is at work in the world. Satan is already working and causing people to believe what they are not supposed to believe. And one of the ways he convinces them to follow him is through signs and wonders. Think about that. Satan is able to perform signs and wonders and miracles. He is able to amaze people with miraculous works.
It is no big wonder, then, that our Lord Jesus warns us not to follow anyone because he is performing miracles, signs or wonders. Satan also can do these things. He has some measure of authority and power to do these things. Remember he is an angelic being, though fallen from grace. Remember also that he now carries man’s authority to rule over this world. So, he can do wonders, signs and miracles to whatever degree God permits him to do them. And he uses these things to cause people to believe his lies and be entrenched in them.
You can see why people sometimes say of miracle workers, “If he is not telling the truth, how come he is doing these mighty works? How come he is doing all these miracles?” But our Lord Jesus says, “By their fruit you will know them.” If they are of God, they will not only be performing miracles, they will also be bringing forth the fruit of righteousness. But if all they do is perform signs and wonders and are not bringing forth the fruit of the Spirit, you can be sure that they are not of God.
Today, we have miracle workers all around the world. And some of them openly get involved in sexual immorality. For instance, I once saw a video of a woman who was giving men holy milk in her church. They would come and openly suck her breast in order to receive a miracle. Disgusting, isn’t it? But things like such are happening. I also once saw the video of a man who was taking his bath in a drum in his church auditorium and asking his brethren to line up to drink his bath water. And they were coming to receive the water from him, while some others were singing around him. Why do people follow such liars? Why do people yield themselves to be led into doing such nasty and crazy things? It is usually because of the signs, wonders and miracles that they see. They believe that once someone is performing signs and wonders, he must be the real deal.
I equally saw another video of a man who was shaving off the hair of the private parts of certain female members of his church. And those women came out to have their private parts shaven by this charlatan. Why would people yield themselves to such things? Most times, it is because they have witnessed the signs and wonders performed by them. These things convince them that these miracle workers are real.
Well, that is exactly what Satan wants and loves to do. He loves to confirm his lies and errors with miracles and signs. And as Paul tells us, the reason people end up being deceived by such things is that they do not love the truth of God. When people hate the truth, when they do not want to embrace it, God, as this apostle further says, will send them a powerful delusion so that they will believe Satan’s lies. And by so doing, they will ultimately ruin themselves.
Remember that what first made Pharaoh adamant and unwilling to let the Israelites go was the magic of his magicians and sorcerers. He had these people with him who were performing signs and wonders. They were the ones that strengthened him in his wickedness, to his own destruction. Similarly, there are people today who are being strengthened in wickedness by certain wizards, sorcerers or witches in their lives. These ones are giving them tokens and employing the power of witchcraft and sorcery to support them. So, they end up believing that no one can hurt them or destroy them. But it is all a lie. At some point, they will become victims of their own wickedness.
I shared all these things with you to let know how Satan operates. So, watch out for his lies. Watch out for his deception. And the only way to recognise these things is to be rooted in the word of God. I pray that your heart will be strengthened in His word of truth always, so that you can live accordingly and frustrate whatever scheme Satan may employ against you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Copyright © 2022, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
Title: Sin (b)
By: Johnson O. Lawal
Date: September 25, 2022
Series: How Satan works
I have been sharing with you on how Satan works. And I want to continue where we left off the last time we were looking at this. We have looked at how he uses ignorance, people’s ignorance of God and of His power or their ignorance of the reality of the devil himself and of his works or their ignorance of the authority and power that are available in Christ Jesus to resist him to work in people’s lives. So, we must deal with whatever form of ignorance of the workings of the devil that we have, whether it is our ignorance of God and of His power or our ignorance of the reality of the devil and of his works or our ignorance of the authority and power that are ours in Christ Jesus to resist this evil being steadfastly and to frustrate his works.
But then, apart from ignorance, Satan also uses our disobedience to God to operate in our lives. Disobedience to God is sin and sin is disobedience to God. Sin is disobedience to God’s instructions, God’s laws. And any form of sin can be used by the devil to operate in our lives. I am saying that he can take advantage of our disobedience to God to mislead us or to ruin us.
Now remember that Jesus tells us how to identify the works of the devil. He says the thief comes to steal, to kill and to destroy (John 10:10). That means Satan is a thief, a killer and a destroyer. So, any situation that is geared towards stealing from you, killing you or destroying you is of the devil. I told you before that unless you are looking a situation in which God is judging people for their disobedience or stubbornness and causing all kinds of bad things to happen to them, any situation that is geared towards stealing from you, killing you or destroying you is of the devil. And we must take our stand against it.
But how does Satan get to work in our lives? That is what we are looking at. And remember again that we do not have to sin for Satan to work in our lives. We see an example of this in what happened to Job. He was a righteous man. Yet Satan afflicted him. He took away his wealth in one day. He took away all his children in one day. And later afflicted him with sores. But he was blameless before God. So, you do not have to be a sinner for Satan to work in your life. If you are ignorant of his works, just as Job was ignorant of his works, he will definitely find a way to work in your life. He will take advantage of your ignorance to work in your life. And unless you are shown mercy by God, he may end up ruining you.
A lot of times, however, Satan uses people’s disobedience to God to work in their lives. And I gave you examples in my previous teaching on this of how he uses anger to ruin people’s lives and of how he uses sexual immorality, drunkenness, disobedience to established authorities, jealousy and so forth to work in people’s lives. In fact, he is able to do most of the terrible things that he is doing in the world through people’s disobedience to God. When we disobey God’s order, when we disobey His instructions, we are giving Satan an opportunity to operate in our lives. And we have been told not to give him an opportunity to work in our lives.
So, we need to continually pay attention to what God is saying to us. Whatever God tells us to do is for our own good. If we will not listen to Him, we will be opening the doors of our lives for the devil to come in and operate in them. And once he comes in to work, getting him to stop may not be a piece of cake, if we do not understand how to deal with him by the wisdom of the Spirit of God and according to the word of God. In fact, it is only those who are submissive to God, as I pointed out to you before, that will be able to resist the devil. So, unless you are yielded to God, you won’t be able to resist the devil.
It is important, then, that we stay away from sin. We cannot tell what form of sin we will engage in that will give Satan an opportunity to work in our lives. So, stay away from any form of sin; stay away from any form of disobedience to God. I already gave you some examples of how Satan works in people’s lives through their disobedience to God. And now I want to give you some more. First, in 1Samuel 15 we are told of how King Saul was rejected because of his rebellion against God. God had given him very clear instructions about destroying the Amalekites. But when he went there, he did his own thing. So, God, through Samuel, rejected him. And when He rejected him, His Spirit also left him.
Now from verse 14 of 1Samuel, chapter 16, we are told the following:
“Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. Saul’s attendants said to him, ‘See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our Lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the lyre. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes on you, and you will feel better.’ So Saul said to his attendants, ‘Find someone who plays well and bring him to me.’ One of the servants answered, ‘I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is fine-looking man. And the Lord is with him.’ Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, ‘Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.’ So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his on David to Saul. David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armour-bearers. Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, ‘Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.’ Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better and the evil spirit would leave him.” (1Samuel 16:14-23NIV)
Observe that when the Spirit of God left this man, an evil Spirit from the Lord began to torment him. And the way this is rendered in this passage gives us the impression that God deliberately sent that evil spirit to torment him. But why would God send an evil spirit to torment him? Well, as we further see in the passage, his attendants advised him to permit them to get someone that would be playing the lyre for him so that any time that evil spirit began to torment him, he would be comforted as the lyre was being played. And that was exactly what happened when they brought in David and he began to play the lyre for him.
But if it was God that had sent that evil spirit to torment him, then, why would He want to send the evil spirit away from him whenever David was playing the harp for him? We need to understand the way Scriptures use certain words or phrases so that we do not misrepresent what they are saying. Indeed, we are told that an evil spirit from the Lord was coming to Saul to torment him. That, however, does not mean that God deliberately sent an evil spirit to him to torment. There, of course, Scriptures that show us that such a thing could happen. But what happened to Saul was similar to what happened to Job.
In Job 2 we are told that Satan went out from the presence of God and afflicted Job. Was it God that sent Satan to go and afflict Job? No! Yes, God permitted him to afflict Job. But that he went right away from the presence of God to afflict Job does not mean that it was God that sent him. And as I told you before, Job did not do anything wrong for Satan to afflict him in that manner. But that was not the case with Saul. The Spirit of God had already left Saul at that time. And the fact that the Spirit of God had left him gave room for Satan to afflict him. What we are saying, then, is that by the leaving of Spirit of God from his life, his life was opened for satanic affliction. That was why an evil spirit began to come to him to torment him. And that was because God permitted it.
Now we are not given details of how that spirit tormented him. But we know that it often put him a bad mood. It often put him in a killer mood. Look at what else is said about his situation: “The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully on Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing in his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand and he hurled it, saying to himself, ‘I’ll pin David to the wall.’ But David eluded him twice.” (2Samuel 18:10-11NIV) What came upon Saul forcefully here? It was not the Holy Spirit. It was an evil spirit that came upon him forcefully. And he began to prophesy. This was different from what happened when he was just anointed as king over Israel and the Spirit of God came upon him and he began to prophesy (1Sam 10:9-13). He was prophesying by an evil spirit on this occasion. And that spirit led him to attempt to kill David.
What brought Saul to that situation in which that evil spirit began to lead him in that manner, it was disobedience to God. When you are walking in disobedience to God, you are making room for evil spirits to use you. And this is especially true of those who turn away from God to idols or to the practice of witchcraft or sorcery. Whether they have been believers or not, their lives are always open for demonic spirits to afflict them. That is how people become mad. That is how they become sick and nothing done for their healing works. It is how people deaf, dumb and paralysed. Their involvement in witchcraft and sorcery opened the doors of their lives for evil spirits to come in and afflict them.
So, disobedience to God can open our lives for satanic affliction. Don’t forget that Saul did not commit adultery for him to be afflicted in this manner. He had not even at this time got involved in idolatry. His sin was simply that of not carrying out God’s instruction against Amalek. That was why the Spirit of God left him and he became exposed to satanic affliction.
Now we have the Spirit of God in us. So, we cannot be possessed by demons. I mean that the Holy Spirit and demons cannot occupy our hearts at the same time. However, by disobeying the word of God, we will be opening the doors of our lives for demons to attack and afflict us. So, we need to be careful of any form of disobedience to God.
Furthermore, we are told of King Ahab in the bible and of how God judged him. This man had been given to all kinds of wickedness and idolatry. Then the time came for God to judge him. And what made it easy for God to judge him in that manner was that his life was already exposed to satanic attacks. Here was a man that was not ready to listen to the truth. He hated the truth and anyone telling it. He hated Elijah, for instance, for telling him the truth. His wife also hated Elijah for telling them the truth. In fact, there was a time that his wife wanted to kill Elijah for telling them the truth and the latter had to run for his life.
So, here was a man that was living in iniquity and was not ready to listen to the truth anytime he was confronted with it. I am particularly drawing your attention to this because I want you to see how the enemy came to work in this man’s life and to lead him to destruction. In 1Kings 22 we are told of how King Jehoshaphat visited this wicked king and how he persuaded him to go to battle against Ramoth Gilead with him. Jehoshaphat was his in-law. And that was why he visited him. But Jehoshaphat was a godly man. And he told him that it was not right for them to go to battle like that without finding out from the Lord how it would go.
Unfortunately, all the prophets that Ahab brought in to find out the mind of God on that occasion were false prophets. They were not prophesying by the Spirit of God. So, Jehoshaphat asked him, “Can’t we get a true prophet of God to minister to us?” And Ahab said that there was one prophet indeed that they could call in and that the problem he had with him was that he never prophesied anything good about him. Well, Jehoshaphat persuaded him to bring him in and he was brought in.
Now from verse 15 of the chapter we are told this:
“When he arrived, the king asked him, ‘Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or not?’ ‘Attack and victorious,’ he answered, ‘for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.’ The king said to him, ‘How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?’ Then Micaiah answered, ‘I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the Lord said, “These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.”’ The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?’ Micaiah continued, ‘Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing round him on his right and on his left. And the Lord said, “Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?” One suggested this, and another that. Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, “I will entice him.” “By what means?” the Lord asked. “I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,” he said. “You will succeed in enticing him,” said the Lord. “Go and do it.” So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you.” (1Kings 22:15-23NIV)
You can see how God’s judgment eventually settled on Ahab in this passage. Micaiah shared a revelation in which God had a meeting and expressed His wish for someone to go and entice this man to meet his death. And after different spirits had come before him to say different things about how they could entice him, a spirit came before Him and told him how he would entice him. He said that he would be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets. And God told him to go and that he would succeed in enticing him. That spirit, then, went and became a lying spirit in the mouths of all Ahab’s prophets. Think about it. That spirit came and began to speak to Ahab through his prophets. But it was a lying spirit. He gave his prophets what to say to him, so that he would be enticed to go to Ramoth Gilead and get himself killed.
However, even though Micaiah gave Ahab this revelation, did he listen? No! He did not listen to him because he hated the truth and couldn’t handle it. And you can see that anyone who detests the truth already has the doors of his life opened for Satan to come in and work there. Once you detest the truth God is bringing to you, you are opening your life for the devil to work in it. And he will mislead you to do things you are not supposed to do. He will entice you to go to places you are not supposed to go. He will push to destroy yourself or to destroy others.
As we see in Ahab’s case, it was his hatred for the truth that gave that evil spirit the room to work in his life and lead him to destruction. He was someone that loved to hear only what he wanted to hear. He did not want to hear anything other than what he wanted to hear. And Paul, writing to Timothy, says a time will come when people will not want to put up with sound doctrine but instead will gather around themselves a great number of teachers that will teach them what their itching ears want to hear (2Timothy 4:3-4). If you are one of them, if you are one who does not want to put up with the truth, Satan will certainly have a free day in your life. And he will often lead you to places you are not supposed to go, get you involved in businesses you are not supposed to be involved in. He will keep enticing you to do things that will fail and to do things that will lead to your ruin or destruction.
That was what he did to Ahab. And Jehoshaphat also would have been killed in the process, if God had not been merciful to him. He, as a godly man, should not have followed Ahab on that occasion, especially since the Spirit of God had already revealed to him what was going to happen. But because he did not want to be seen as a weakling, he followed him and almost got himself killed. So, I am saying that if, for any reason, you reject the truth of God, you will be giving Satan an opportunity to work in your life. I am saying that through our wrong attitude towards God and His instructions to us Satan can work in our lives and ruin things for us or destroy us.
Also, in 1Chronicles, chapter 22, from verse 1, we are told this:
“Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, ‘Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are.’ But Joab replied, ‘May the Lord multiply his troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all my lord’s subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?’ The king’s word, however, overruled Joab; so Joab left and went throughout Israel and then came back to Jerusalem. Joab reported the number of the fighting men to David: in all Israel there were one million one hundred thousand men who could handle a sword, including four hundred and seventy thousand in Judah. But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, because the kings command was repulsive to him. This command was also evil in the sight of God; so he punished Israel.” (1Chronicles 21:1-7NIV)
Here we are told that Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take their census. Think about that. Satan wanted to destroy Israel. He wanted an occasion in which they would do something that would give God a reason to punish them. And what did he do? He got David to take their census. But David was a godly man. He was a lover of God. He was a man after God’s heart. Yet when Satan wanted to work against Israel, it was this godly man that he used. How? He incited him to go against the will of God by numbering Israel.
Now what was wrong with numbering Israel? In the book of Numbers we have records of the censuses that Moses handled. There is one account in chapter 1 and another account in chapter 26. And on each occasion, we see that it was God that instructed him to number them. It was not his idea to number them. He numbered them because God told him to do so. Besides, there is a warning in Exodus 30 that God gave to Moses about how to handle any census. He said everyone counted must give an atonement offering. Otherwise, a plague would break out among the people and destroy them.
These are clear instructions about how censuses must be taken in the land. But none of these was observed by David when he wanted to number the people. It was not God that told him to number them. It was his idea to number them. And we are not told whether the offerings the people were supposed to give were given when they were numbered. But who moved David to do this? It was Satan that moved him to do it.
This is why it is important that we pray for those who have authority over us in any way. And the word of God instructs us to pray for our leaders and all those in authority (1Timothy 2:1-2). One of the reasons is that if Satan is unable to operate in our lives directly, he may decide to use someone that has authority over you to operate in your life. He can use them to make decisions that will hurt you or that will ruin your life or that will slow you down or limit you in some way. So, take praying for those who lead you and for those who are in a position to make decisions that will affect your life seriously. Yes, continually pray that they will not yield to evil influences that will cause them to do things that will hurt your life. Then, always pray that you too will not yield to any influence of the devil that will cause you to make decisions that will ruin the lives of those under you.
We have an example in what happened on the occasion that we are examining. Satan used David to make a decision that resulted in the death of seventy thousand men of Israel. I mean that lives were lost when that angel of death began to judge the people according to the will of God. That happened because of one man’s disobedience to God’s instruction. If you too are walking in disobedience to God, you may not be the only one that will suffer for it; you may be exposing others with you or around you to satanic afflictions as well. You spouse, your children, your friends and others in your life can be afflicted as a result of your disobedience to God’s instructions.
See, I have been saying that Satan is able to work through any form of disobedience to God. Often, we think it is only those who are involved in sexual immorality, those who steal or those involved in idolatry that are sinning against God. But the word of God shows us that those are not the only sins against God. Any form of disobedience to God is a sin against Him. And it can be used by the devil to operate in our lives.
Then, as I pointed out, ignoring God, not taking Him seriously opens the doors of your life for Satan to come in and work. People who don’t take God seriously in their lives have their lives freely accessible to the devil. If Satan is continually seeking an opportunity to destroy one who takes God seriously, is it one who does not take Him seriously that he will not move against? In Matthew’s gospel, chapter 12, Jesus tells us how demons operate. He says when a demon is driven out a man’s life, he goes through dry places seeking rest. And if he does not find, he will tell himself, “I will go back to my former house to see if it is still available for me to occupy.” When he comes to that house and finds it swept clean and unoccupied, he will go and take seven other demons more wicked than himself to join him in occupying that house. Then the latter part of that person’s life will be worse than the first.
The Lord tells us this to show us that when people’s lives are not occupied by God, they are free for Satan to come into them and freely operate. By not taking God seriously, by not allowing Him to take charge of your life, you are giving Satan a room to freely operate in your life. You cannot ignore God and be fine, which is the point I am making. You cannot ignore God and keep Satan out of your life. It does not work. It can never work. So, if your life is not occupied by God, it is free for the devil to occupy and operate in.
There are people who have enjoyed the goodness of God in various ways in their lives. Yet they have never yielded their lives to Him to occupy them and take charge of them. Anytime Satan comes for such people, he will surely make life more horrible for them. This, of course, goes beyond saying, “I am a Christian.” How seriously do you take God in your life? If you do not take Him seriously, the door of your life is already opened for Satan to come in and work. And this, as I said before, is how he comes into people’s lives to afflict them with strange illnesses, incurable diseases or problems that will keep them paralysed for life – their rejection of God. So, take God seriously in your life and stop giving Satan a free access to come in and mess things up for you.
Let us pray.
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Title: Sin (a)
By: Johnson O. Lawal
Date: September 18, 2022
Series: How Satan works
I have been sharing with you about how Satan works. And I said ignorance is one of the tools that he uses to work in people’s lives. It may be ignorance of God and of His power, ignorance of the reality of the devil or ignorance of the authority that we have in Christ Jesus to resist the devil. But before I tell you another tool that Satan uses in working people’s lives, I want to say some things to you about those who consult the devil for help, as I promised before. You know there are people who meet witches, wizards and the like for help in solving certain problems of their lives. But the word of God shows us that Satan will never oppose himself. He is a thief, a destroyer and a killer. And he is responsible for all the terrible things we see in people’s lives.
Yes, of course, Satan cannot succeed in working in our lives, if we do not permit him. That is, in fact, why we are talking about the need to resist him. But we must understand that all the terrible things we see in people’s lives are manifestations of his works, whether directly or indirectly. And when you consult him to solve your problems for you, you are just giving him more room to work in your life.
Now someone may say, “There have been people who met with wizards or witches or sorcerers for help and who got the help they wanted. What do you say about that?” Indeed, wizard or sorcerers often attempt to help those who go to them by making sacrifices for them or giving them some concoctions to take. And those who have come to them may get healed or have the problems disturbing them disappear through what they have done for them. Is that, then, to say that what they are doing is working? I know there are those who will answer and say, “What will you call that, then, if you won’t say it is working?” But the word of God tells us very clearly that Satan will never oppose himself. He will never solve problems that he has created. He can only compound them or make them worse.
See, as we are shown in Scriptures, there are different classes of demons. And some are more powerful than others. In Ephesian 6, for instance, Paul tells us that we have rulers of this dark world, authorities of this dark world, powers of this dark world and spiritual forces of evil. These are different classes of demons. And they can displace one another in people’s lives and affairs, based on their degree of authority or power in the realm of darkness.
Our Lord Jesus also tells us that demons can be more wicked than demons. Look at how He put this in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 12, from verse 43:
“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through and places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, “I will return to the house I left.” When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.” (Matthew 12:43-45NIV)
Here, as I pointed out before, the Lord is showing us that some demons can be more wicked than others. Then He also says that they can, in fact, invite one another to come and live in a person’s life and make it miserable. Remember we are told of how He once healed a mad man in whom there was a legion of demons. The demons in that man were many. How did they end up becoming many? They were inviting one another to come and stay in his life.
Well, the point I am making is that Satan will never drive out Satan or oppose himself. He will never voluntarily end his activities in anybody’s life. And what usually happens when people consult those who are engaged in demonic activities is that more powerful demons are used to displace less powerful ones. So, if someone, for instance, has been blind because of the activities of a demon in his life, a more powerful demon can be used to displace that demon of blindness. When that is done, that person’s blindness will naturally disappear. But this more powerful demon will occupy the life of that person and introduce into it problems that were not there before.
Our Lord Jesus Himself was once accused of operating by this principle. Look at how this is put in the same gospel of Matthew, chapter 12, from verse 22: “Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. All the people were astonished and said, ‘Could this be the Son of David?’ But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, ‘It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.’” (Matthew 12:22-24NIV) Observe that Matthew is careful to let us know here that this man was blind and mute because there was a demon in him. That means the demon in him was the one responsible for his blindness and dumbness. So, when Jesus drove out the demon, the man could both talk and see. And that was to be expected, for the one responsible for his blindness and dumbness had been sent out of him.
Now when the Pharisees would respond to that they said that it was by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that Jesus did that. In other words, Jesus was simply using a more powerful demon to drive out less powerful demons. And by saying that, they were implying that Jesus was in fellowship with Satan and so was using his authority to drive out demons. That, of course, was a terrible insinuation. And they deliberately insinuated and said that just to discredit what the Lord was doing.
Well, the Lord responded to that from verse 25 of the chapter, which Matthew renders like this:
“Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.’” (Matthew 12:25-28NIV)
You can see that the Lord is here showing us that Satan will never go against himself or against his own works or activities. So, if you engage Satan to stop his activities in your life and it appears that those activities have been stopped, you can be sure that there will be a renewal of his works in your life in a greater way. Why? He cannot oppose himself in any way. If he is opposing himself, his kingdom cannot stand. So, if you use a more powerful demon to displace a less powerful one or to stop the activities of a less powerful one, you can be sure that your life will become more miserable. That is because Satan will never voluntarily stop his works in your life. And if he ends certain activities of his in your life, it is so that he may start new ones. The less powerful demon that is sent out will indeed go with his works. But the new one that has taken over will surely start his own works, which, of course, would be worse and more wicked. Then your latter state will be worse than the former.
It takes one who has authority over the devil to end his works permanently, not temporarily. And that is what our Lord is saying in that text. He says it is only by the Spirit of God that Satan can be driven out of people’s lives and affairs; it is only by the Spirit of God that the works of Satan can be ended. Jesus Christ was anointed by God with the Holy Spirit and power. Therefore, He went about doing good and healing all those who were oppressed of the devil. So, it was by the Spirit of God that He was healing people, driving out demons and destroying the works of the devil. (Cf. Acts 10:38)
In like manner, it is only by the Spirit of God that we can destroy the works of the devil. It is only by the Spirit of God that we can resist him. And that is why I said it is only those who submit themselves to God that can resist the devil. It is only those who are children of God, who have His Spirit in them and have been given authority in Christ Jesus that can resist the devil, frustrate him and end his works. I want to believe this is clear to you.
Now don’t forget that what we are looking at is how Satan works. Why are we looking at how he works? It is so that we can frustrate his works. If we do not know how he works or operates, we will not be able to frustrate his works. And we have examined the role that ignorance plays in giving room to the devil to work in people’s lives. So, you need to deal with whatever form of ignorance you have, whether it is ignorance of God, ignorance of the reality of the devil and his works or ignorance of the authority that is yours in Christ Jesus. Whatever form of ignorance you have must be dealt with. Otherwise, even though you have authority over the devil, he will continually outmanoeuvre or outsmart you. Remember that Paul says that Satan can outsmart or outmanoeuvre us (2Corinthians 2:11). And the reason we are learning like this is that we may deal with whatever form of ignorance that Satan is using to outsmart us, so that we can resist him.
Well then, another tool that Satan uses in working in people’s lives is sin. Sin is disobedience to God. And any form of disobedience to God can give Satan an opportunity to work in our lives. As I said, every form of disobedience to God is sin. Every form of lawlessness is sin. Yes, there are different kinds of sins. There are things we do that are obviously sinful. And there are things we do that are not obviously sinful. I mean that we may not know that certain things we do are sins. But any form of disobedience to God is sin and can give Satan an opportunity to work in our lives.
For instance, Paul says this from verse 26 of chapter 4 of Ephesians: “In your anger do not sin: do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” (Ephesians 4:26-27NIV) Can you see that? Anger can result in sin. Rage can result in sin. Paul says in your anger do not sin. Another translation of the bible says, “Be angry, and do not sin…” (NKJV) So, you can get angry. You can get angry at wrong things that people have done. However, any form of anger that will make you do something contrary to the will of God must not happen in your life.
Why is it important that you pay attention to this? It is important because by getting angry you can give room for the devil to work. That is why Paul goes on to say do not give the devil a foothold – don’t give the devil a place to work. By getting angry, as I said, you can give Satan a place to work in your life, in your home or in your business. Perhaps you are angry because someone has done something wrong to you. And before you know it, you have given the person a blow. Then, though you do not expect the blow to hurt the person in any serious way, the person is injured or falls down and dies.
Now who has taken that person’s life? Satan! Through whom has he taken the person’s life? Through you! And how was he able to work through you? Anger! And there are many whose homes have been destroyed as a result of this. Maybe the wife did something wrong, and the husband was upset. Then, because he was upset, he stopped talking to his wife. And just like, they went from not talking for one day to two days and on and on like that. Before they knew what was happening, two weeks were gone. Satan had already settled down in that home to ruin it. And while they were still like that, angry with each other, a strange woman came in and made the matter worse.
You can see, then, that when the word of God tells us not to give Satan a room to work in our live, we need to understand that we can give him a room to work through our disobedience to God’s instructions. Again, there are people today who are down with one form of sexually transmitted disease or the other. We know that Satan is the author of such things. He is the author of every sickness and every disease. But how do people contract the so-called sexually transmitted diseases they have? Often, it is through sexual immorality that people contract them.
We know through God’s word that He is against sexual immorality. He is against adultery, fornication or any form of sexual sin. And some people, by engaging in sexual sins, gave room for Satan to afflict them with sexually transmitted diseases. Now they will have to live with those diseases until they die, unless God shows them mercy and heals them. That is an example of how, through disobedience to God, we can give Satan an opportunity to work in our lives.
What about drunkards. The word of God shows us that drunkenness is against the will of God. And there have been people who died as a result of drunkenness. Some got drunk, got into their cars and then drove themselves to death. Yes, the one that killed them was the devil. But what did he use in killing them? Their drunkenness! We equally have those whose homes have been ruined because of drunkenness. These would go from work to some beer parlour or bar and get drunk there. Then they would come home drunk and begin to hit their wives or children. Or they may regularly fall off into drainages and make a mess of the reputation of the family. And at some point, their wives would get fed up and decide to leave them. What has Satan used in ruining their homes? Drunkenness!
Is all this to say that every work of the devil is made possible through sin? No! There are times that sin is not responsible at all for the works of the devil that we witness. But I am telling you now that Satan is able to use any kind of sin to work in our lives. Any kind of sin can open the doors of our lives for him to come in and work. Any kind of sin can give him room to afflict us with sicknesses or poverty or to destroy our relationship.
In Saint John’s gospel, chapter 5, we are given an account of a man that had been an invalid for thirty-eight years and that the Lord healed by the pool of Bethesda. Then John goes on to say this in verse 14 of the chapter: “Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.’” (John 5:14NIV) That means that man found himself in that situation because of certain sins he had committed. The Lord did not say exactly what sin he committed. But He made it clear that he had to stop sinning, if he did not want something worse to happen to him. His sins had kept him in that paralytic condition for thirty-eight years. His sins gave room for Satan to work in his life for thirty-eight years.
In like manner, there are many today that are paralysed because of sin. It may not be adultery or drunkenness. It may bitterness, envy or jealousy. And Satan can use it as an excuse to operate in people’s lives or to drive them crazy and cause them to do what they ought not to do, injuring themselves or others. Several times, King Saul attempted to kill David. Yes, it was actually Satan that wanted David dead. But who did he use? Saul! How was he able to use him? Through jealousy!
In like manner, there have been people who poisoned their friends because of jealousy. Satan used them to destroy their friends because of jealousy. And there are also people that he has used to do all kinds of evil through bitterness and hatred. So, you need to understand that through disobedience to God Satan can have a room to work in your life or through your life to bring affliction.
As I have been saying, it does not have to be sexual immorality. Any kind of sin can be used by him. For instance, he can use theft. The word of God is very clear to us about stealing. It says that those who have been stealing should stop stealing and start doing something honest with their hands, so that they also will have something to share with others (Ephesians 2:28). But there have been people who lost very good jobs because of theft. And there are those who are in prison now because of theft. Some of these once had very beautiful lives or homes. But all now lie in ruins. What happened? Those people gave Satan an opportunity to work in their lives through theft.
I once worked with a bank. That, of course, made me know of cases of people who stole from the bank, got caught and were sent packing. Some of these had to sell some properties of theirs in order to pay back what they had stolen. And it was not every one of them that was able to find their footing again. I was told of one whose wife left him as a result of this. But he was having a beautiful life and a beautiful home before he did his thing.
So, again, I am saying that any kind of sin can give Satan an opportunity to work in our lives. And this is why the word of God tells us to turn away from every form of sin. This is why His word tells us to live by the Spirit, so that we will not gratify the desires of the flesh. The desires of the flesh will result in sin. And any kind of sin will give room for Satan to work in our lives. If you, then, have been living in sin, know that the doors of your life are wide opened for Satan to come in and work. Perhaps the reason Satan is cheating you and making a mess of your life at the moment is that you are living in sin. The word of God is telling you now to turn away from every form of sin.
Do you know that disobedience to authority is also among those sins that Satan can use to afflict us? The word of God tells us to obey every human authority. And as long as our leaders at home, in the church, in our offices or in our society are not instructing us contrary to the will of God, we are expected to submit to them and obey them. By disobeying them we can give room for Satan to work. For instance, people often disobey traffic rules. And many of have been killed by the devil as a result of this. He took advantage of their disobedience to traffic rules and destroyed them. That, of course, may not look like anything to us. But disobedience to traffic rules is disobedience to the authority that established them. And Satan has been taking advantage of this to send many to early graves and to give many others permanent disabilities.
So, I am saying it again that any form of disobedience to God can give Satan an opportunity to work in our lives and mess things up for us. This is why you must turn away from every form of sin, from every form of wickedness. If we do this and focus on practising righteousness, we will be able to shut the devil out of our lives in many ways. This is where I will stop for now. And I pray that these words will live in your heart and bring forth the fruit God desires in it. I pray also that God will open your eyes to areas in which Satan has been outsmarting you and lead you to do what is right to shut him out of them, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Copyright © 2022, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
Title: Ignorance
By: Johnson O. Lawal
Date: September 11, 2022
Series: How Satan works
We have been learning about how to recognise the works of the devil, so that we can fulfil the word of God that says, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” So, it is our job to resist the devil. We should not wait for God to resist the devil for us. Of course, there are times that God limits the devil and prevents his activities in our lives. But we must understand, as children of God, that we have what it takes to resist the devil. Otherwise, we will not be told to resist him. And as we see in Scriptures, it is not only James that tells us to resist the devil. Paul also does in a number of his epistles. For instance, in his epistle to the Ephesians, he tells us not to give the devil any opportunity to work in our lives and affairs (Ephesians 4:27). Then Peter also lends his voice to this, telling us to steadfastly resist the devil, who is going about like a roaring lion and seeking whom he may devour (1Peter 5:8-9).
So, we have all these Scriptures telling us the same thing, which is that we can resist the devil and that we are to resist him. But there is no way we are going to do that or be effective in doing it, if we do not know what the devil is up to or if we cannot recognise his works. It is when we can recognise his works that we can stand against him and take advantage of what God has provided for us to frustrate or destroy his works. This being the case, when we are talking about how Satan works, one of the tools that he uses in working is ignorance, ignorance of various forms, ignorance of various magnitudes.
Now let me give you that Scripture that we considered when we started these studies again. It is in 2Corinthians, chapter 2, from verse 10, and it says, “Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven – if there was anything to forgive – I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.” (2Corinthians 2:10-11NIV) As I pointed out to you before, Paul here is addressing the brethren in Corinth about the need for them to forgive one of their own who had repented of his sins. He does not tell us in this passage what sins this man committed or how long he had been under the punishment of the brethren. But because the man had repented and shown some signs that he wanted to come back to the people of God, Paul began to tell them to reaffirm their love for him and to bring him back into fellowship with them. Otherwise, Satan might outwit them.
Think about that. Satan can outsmart God’s children. Satan can outsmart us in our marriages, businesses and so forth. And there are many children of God that Satan has outsmarted. There are many children of God that Satan is daily outsmarting. He is cheating them. He is stealing from them. He is devouring God’s goodness in their lives. And they don’t seem to know how to handle this or how to prevent what he is doing. That, of course, will be because they are ignorant of his works or schemes or ignorant of how to deal with him.
In any case, Paul, in that text, says that he is not unaware of the schemes of the devil or of his workings. And I am now saying that if we are not aware of his schemes, he will outsmart us and cheat us. That is to say that one of the ways Satan takes to cheat or work in people’s lives is ignorance. I really can classify ignorance in this sense into three. First, there is ignorance of God and of his power. What I mean is that there are situations in which ignorance of God and of His power is the tool that Satan uses in afflicting people and messing up their lives.
Now remember that James tells us to submit to God and then resist the devil (James 4:7). That means anyone who will succeed in resisting the devil must first of all submit himself to God. It is only those who submit themselves to God that can resist the devil. It is only those who yield themselves to God, listening to Him and walking in His will, that can resist the devil. Don’t forget that God created all things — man, animals, visible things and invisible things – including the devil himself. Since God created the devil, He has power over him. He not only has authority over him; He also has power over him. In fact, the bible tells us that God has already judged the devil and also prepared a place for him to spend his eternity. So, God has power over him. God is not fighting the devil. He is not in the devil’s class.
Well, because God has power over the devil, anyone who submits himself to God can resist the devil. In fact, it is only those who submit themselves to God that can resist the devil. Anyone who does not know God or who does not believe in Him cannot resist the devil. You know there are people who do not know believe in the existence of God. Some of these are deliberately ignoring Him or telling themselves not to accept Him as a reality. Such people cannot resist the devil. And Satan loves it that way. He loves it because he knows that only those who believe in God stand in a position to resist him. They may not resist him – that is another thing entirely. But anyone who knows God, who submits himself to Him and who is acting on what He says about life and salvation is in a position to resist the devil.
What I am saying is that every child of God is in a position to resist the devil. Even that little child that believes in Jesus – and remember that Jesus says the kingdom of God belongs to children too – is in a position to resist the devil. But those who do not know God, those who are ignorant of Him cannot resist the devil. Such people, of course, may try to deal with the works of the devil by using their own wisdom or by relying on some institutions or organisations or by consulting the devil himself. But they cannot succeed. They cannot successfully resist the devil through any of those means.
So, Satan uses people’s ignorance or rejection of God as an opportunity to work in their lives and affairs and mess things up. He uses these things to drag people into the mud, to lead them to destroy themselves. And there are many that find themselves helpless and hopeless in the face of Satan’s works because they are ignorant of God and of His power over this evil being. He, of course, loves it that way. He loves to see people think of themselves as helpless and hopeless before him. He loves to push people to that point where they do not see the future or any way out of their trouble, addictions, sicknesses or miseries. That way, he can get them to kill themselves or to throw in the towel and surrender themselves totally to him, so that he can make matters worse and worse for them. Therefore, if you are ignorant of God, you cannot resist the devil. He will continue to mess you up. And there will be nothing you will be able to do about it.
Another form of ignorance that Satan takes advantage of in working in people’s lives is ignorance of the reality of his existence. What I mean is that there are people who do not believe in the reality of the devil. They do not believe Satan exists. And he loves that. He loves to hide in the dark and afflict people. Since they do not believe that he exists, they cannot associate their troubles or problems with him. If they are believers in God and do not believe in the existence of the devil, then, they will most likely blame God for every bad thing that happens to them. Even if they do not blame him for every bad thing that happens to them, they may accept the bad things happening to them in good faith, thinking God is just exercising His sovereignty over them.
Such people are like Job of bible days. Job thought God was the one afflicting him. Thank God for the revelation this man later had about the devil and his works. But when his ordeals first started, he attributed everything to God. He lost all his children in one day and held God responsible for it. Of course, he did not blame Him for the loss of his children. But he held him responsible for their loss. He also held Him responsible for the loss of his wealth, which happened in one day. Later, he got so sick that even his friends could not believe their eyes when they saw him. And when you read all the chapters that follow the first two chapters of his book, you will see that he and his friends agreed about the fact that it was God that was punishing him. They only disagreed on why God had to punish him in that manner. He believed that he did not do anything to deserve all that he went through. His friends, on the contrary, believed that he had done some terrible things that he would not acknowledge and repent of. But all of them agreed on one thing, which was that it was God that was afflicting him. They saw God’s hand in everything the man was going through.
But it was not God that was afflicting him. It was Satan that took away his children. It was Satan that took away his wealth. But when the whole thing started, his response was, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked I will go back. The Lord gave. And the Lord has taken away. May the name of the Lord be praised.” But it was not God that took away all his children and all his wealth. Yes, God granted Satan the permission to attack this man the way he did. That was to show this wicked being that Job’s faith in Him was genuine, contrary to what he had suggested. That, however, did not mean that Job could not have taken advantage of God’s power to resist the devil.
Unfortunately, he did not see Satan at all in what was happening. So, he did not think about resisting him. Look at what is said in chapter 2 of his book and from verse 6: “The Lord said to Satan, ‘Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.’ So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.” (Job 2:6-7NIV) Notice that Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job. So, it was not God that afflicted him; it was Satan that afflicted him. But he did not see the hand of the devil in what was happening to him. Therefore, instead of resisting him, instead of talking to God about the situation, so that He would destroy the works of the devil in his life, he kept on blaming God for everything. He blamed him for harassing and tormenting, even though he had done nothing wrong.
And from this we can see that you do not need to do anything wrong for Satan to work in your life. You do not need to be a sinner or a wicked person for him to work in your life. You do not need to do any bad thing for Satan to work in your life. He can afflict anybody. He can attack anybody. Once he has an opportunity to work somewhere, he is going to work there. So, it is on us not to allow him to work. It is on us to take our stand against him. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 to put on the whole armour of God, so that we can stand against the schemes of the devil. So, we really can take our stand against the schemes of the devil. We do not have to allow him to have a free day in our lives. We do not have to allow him to destroy our lives, our homes, our marriages, our children or anything dear to us. We do not have to permit him to keep us in poverty or in misery. We can take our stand against him.
But if we do not know his schemes or recognise his works, we, as Job did, will accept his works and take is as fate. We will be saying, “Maybe that is how God wants things to be. Maybe He wants us to suffer or die in this situation. Maybe He wants us to lose what we have for reasons known to Him.” But that is not the case. We can resist the devil as children of God. We can take our stand against him. We just need to recognise his works and how he functions, so that we will not permit him to work in our lives but drive him.
Remember that James says if we resist the devil, he will flee from us – he will run away from us. But he won’t run away from us, if we do not resist him. Satan has to be shown that we are willing to resist him. He is not going to assume that we will resist him. He will want to devour and ruin us, just to see if we are going to resist him or not. And this is why I have been saying we must not be ignorant of his works. We need to know when he is working, so that we can take our stand against him.
Jesus tells us that the devil comes to steal, to kill and to destroy (John 10:10). He also tells us that the devil is a liar and full of lies to tell us (John 8:44). So, we can expect him to lie to us and to do all kinds of things to steal from us our joy, peace, possessions and even lives. Also, we can expect him to do all that he can to kill or destroy us or everything good in us. So, when we notice any activity or situation that is aimed at destroying us, stealing from us or killing us, we need to know that Satan is the one at work and not God. Jesus says I have come to give you life and to give you life to the full. Whatever God is doing, then, is towards giving us life – it is towards giving us the fullness of Himself and of joy, peace, rest and prosperity.
Yes, there are Scriptures that show us that God sometimes can move in judgment against people because of their pride. And I am talking about situations described in the bible in which God took responsibility for the judgment that had come on certain individuals. But where judgment is not involved, and we see ourselves in a situation that is working towards killing us, destroying us or stealing from us, we need to know that the one at work is the devil. I am saying any situation that is geared towards ruining your home is of the devil. Yes, any circumstance that is geared towards taking away your peace, your rest, your prosperity or your loved ones is of the devil. And it is on you to resist him. But if you are ignorant of these things, you will most likely do nothing to resist him.
This is even worse for those who do not believe in Jesus at all and also do not believe in the reality of the devil. All such people are done for. If you do not believe in the existence of the devil, how will you resist him? You will continue to apply human wisdom to deal with his works. But human wisdom is no match for the works of the devil. Human wisdom cannot stop the devil from working, from ruining lives. This is why we sometimes see academics and other wealthy or influential people, people who are controlling great wealth and who probably also have a lot of people under their control being messed up by the devil. He messes up their homes, marriages, children or health. And all you see in them are their cosmetic smiles and expensive dresses. Satan is taking advantage of their ignorance to mess them up.
Another form of ignorance that Satan uses in messing people up is ignorance of the authority and power that are available to God’s people to frustrate and destroy the works of the devil. There are many who believe in God and in His Son Jesus Christ and who also can recognise the works of the devil but who are still suffering from in his hands. So, it is not that these ones do not know that Satan is the one at work in their lives. Rather, it is that they are waiting for God to resist him for them. But God is not going to do that. He has already given us the authority to resist him. So, wherever we are supposed to resist him, we must do so instead of waiting for God to do so for us.
James says resist the devil and he will flee from you. So, it is our job to do so. Peter also says resist the devil steadfastly. It is our job to do so. It is our job not to give him any opportunity to work in our lives. It is our job to say ‘No’ to him in our lives. That is what Peter means when he says steadfastly resist him. I think it is okay for us to consider the verses in which he says these things again. From verse 8 of chapter 5 of his first epistle, he says, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (1Peter 5:8-9NIV)
Can you see that? He says resist the devil, standing firm in the faith. That means you don’t give up. Satan is very stubborn. And you too must be more stubborn in dealing with him. You must always be ready to say to him, “No, there is no place for you here. I am not going to allow you to destroy my life or ruin my health. I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to stop your works against me.” And remember that Jesus says in Luke 10:19, “Behold, I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Think about that. We have authority over all the power of the enemy. We have authority over all the works of the devil. Jesus’ authority over the devil and his works has been given to us –it has been handed over to us. It is now up to us to either use this authority or to let it be.
If we do not use the authority that is ours, Satan will destroy us. If we will not use the authority that God has given to us to stop his works and frustrate them, I want you to know that he will make things go from bad to worse for us. Look at Job’s case, for instance. If God had not shown him mercy and limited the devil, the devil would have killed him. But God had to specifically order him not to touch his life. Otherwise, he would have taken his life. And that is how Satan operates. He will keep making things worse for us, if we will not resist him.
Job did not know that Satan was the one at work in his life, not to talk of thinking about resisting him. But we have been told how to recognise his works and also told to resist him. And if we resist him, he will flee from us. We have also been told to put on the armour of God, so that we take our stand against him. What, then, are we waiting for? We are to put on God’s armour and resist the devil.
In Acts of the apostles, chapter 16, from verse 16, we are given this account by Luke:
“Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, ‘These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.’ She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned round and said to the spirit, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!’ At that moment the spirit left her.” (Acts 16:16-18NIV)
This is an interesting account. This young lady had been following Paul and his ministry companions for some time and announcing to people that they were servants of the Most High God who were telling them the way to be saved. But she was doing this by a spirit of fortune telling. That means she had an unclean spirit in her. Yet she was saying the truth. And this is something those who think everyone who says certain truths about their lives is of God needs to know. But it is not everyone that prophesies that is of God. People can prophesy by some unclean spirits. The case of this lady is an example. She was prophesying by a spirit of fortune telling and telling people to listen to Paul and his companions. But she was of a different spirit. And before long she would ruin the work, for she was giving the people the impression that Paul and her were on the same team.
Now were they on the same team? No! She was of the devil while Paul was of God. She was of the kingdom of darkness while Paul and his ministry companions were of the kingdom of light. But she kept on following them day after day and saying the same thing. And nothing happened to her. She was ruining their work and spoiling their testimony. Yet God did nothing about it. God did not stop her. But when Paul got annoyed, he commanded the spirit in her to leave. And that same minute the spirit left her. What if Paul had not done anything about her case? She would have continued to torture them and destroy their works. And they were doing good works.
In like manner, if we will not do anything about the devil and his works in our lives, God may not do anything about them. God may not stop his works or limit him, if we will not do anything about him and his works. He has already given us authority over him and his works. And if we will not deal with him, then, the problem is ours and not God’s. Paul was annoyed and drove that evil spirit out. We too need to be annoyed with the devil and his works, so much so that we will command him to stop whatever he is doing against us. And maybe that is what God is even waiting for. Maybe He is waiting for us to get so annoyed with the devil and his works that we will say to him, “I command you to stop your works here, in the name of Jesus Christ.” But, as I have been saying, if you are ignorant of the fact that you can resist the devil, you will not do anything about his works. And he will keep on messing you up.
In closing, I told you before about those who do not believe in God or in His existence and of how Satan is able to use this ignorance of the reality of God and of His power to work in their lives. Such people cannot resist him until they yield themselves to God. Whatever steps they take towards resisting him will not work. Then, as I pointed out before, there are also those who consult the devil to solve for them problems that he created in their lives. Such people are making a terrible mistake. Jesus already tells us that this is not going to work. There is no way Satan will drive out Satan. And I will share more with you on this before I move on to talking to you about another way through which Satan works.
Let us pray.
Copyright © 2022, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
Title: Ignorance
By: Johnson O. Lawal
Date: September 04, 2022
Series: How Satan works
I want to begin to share with you on how Satan works. And before we fully move into looking at this, let me show you what James says in his epistle, chapter 4, verse 7: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7NIV) From what he says here, it is clear that the devil can be resisted – Satan can be resisted. He does not have to have a free day in our lives or affairs. He can be stopped. He can be driven away. He can be prevented from carrying on with his activities in our lives and our affairs. The word of God tells us that he can be resisted. In fact, we are told to resist him.
But who can resist him? It is the child of God that can resist him. Not only that, it is the child of God that submits himself to God that can resist him. If you do not submit to God, you will not be able to resist the devil. That is what James wants us to understand. He says we are to submit ourselves to God, yield ourselves to Him, yield ourselves to His word and to all the people He has appointed over us as our leaders. Remember the bible tells us to submit to every human authority, for there is no authority except that which God has ordained (Romans 13:1-5).
So, if you are unable to resist the devil, you should check yourself. The problem is always with us and never with God. He has told us to resist the devil. Then He tells us that if we resist him, he will flee from us. Observe that James does not say that Satan will flee from God, if we resist him. He does not even say that God will resist the devil for us. On the contrary, he says that we are to resist the devil and that he will flee from us, if we do so. All of this is why I said we do not have to put up with whatever Satan is doing in our lives. We do not have to permit him to make a mess of our lives, our homes or our children. We do not have to permit him to ruin anything for us. If we sense that he is working in our lives, in our affairs or around us, we can resist him.
Paul communicates the same thought to us in Ephesians 6. He says from verse 10, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” (Ephesians 6:10-11NIV) Here he tells us to be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. How are we to do that? It is by putting on His armour. By putting on the armour of God we can take our stand against the devil’s schemes. Also, in verse 13 of the same chapter, Paul says, “Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything to stand.” (Ephesians 6:13NIV)
So, God expects us to take our stand against the devil. He expects us to take our stand against his activities. So, resisting the devil is not what God will do for us; it is what we will do for ourselves. If Satan, then, is working in your life, you need to resist him. Don’t wait for God to resist him for you. Do it yourself. If you sense that he is doing anything to resist or limit you or destroy you, you have to resist him. You have been commanded to resist him. And you should resist him.
Yes, the bible further tells us how to resist the devil and what steps we are to take in resisting him. But we must first understand and appreciate the fact that he can be resisted and that it is our job to resist him. Satan is not as powerful as many people paint him to be. He is not as powerful as some of our preachers would have us think he is. He can be resisted. The child of God can resist him. The child of God can get him running. The child of God can drive him out of his affairs.
Unfortunately, many of God’s children today are afraid of the devil. They don’t even want to hear his name or have him discussed around them. But you cannot run away from the reality of the devil. We have to discuss him. What you need is to know and understand is that you have authority over him. And with that you can resist him. Jesus says I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you (Luke 10:19). So, you have authority over the devil. You have authority over his demons. You have authority over all these evil forces of darkness that are warring against humanity. So, you should not be afraid of them. You should not be afraid of witches and wizards or of their enchantment, divination sorcery or witchcraft. You should not be afraid of these things, for you have authority over them.
A lot of times, we underestimate the authority that is ours in Christ Jesus. We underestimate His power in us. We underestimate the authority He has given to us to function in this life. So, we function as victims instead of as victors. We act as helpless people and allow Satan to have a free day in our lives and affairs. This is wrong. We are disgracing God by functioning like this. We need to brace ourselves for action. We need to be strong in the Lord, as Paul says to us. We need to put on His full armour and strengthen ourselves in Him. Then we can take our stand against the schemes of the devil.
But we cannot take our stand against the schemes of the devil, if we do not know what his schemes are. We cannot take our stand against his works, if we do not know what those works are, if we cannot recognise them or tell if the devil is the one working or God, we will most likely not take our stand against him. We need to know what the works of the devil are. We need to be able to recognise his activities. Otherwise, we will not be able to prevent him from working in our lives or through our lives.
In 2Corinthians, chapter 2, Paul addresses the brethren about the need for them to forgive one of them that sinned and has repented of his sins. The church has inflicted a measure of punishment of this person that had sinned and had refused to repent. But when Paul was writing this letter, the man had repented. So, he wanted the church to forgive him and reaffirm their love for him, saying this from verse 8 of the chapter:
“I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. Another reason I wrote to you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven – if there was anything to forgive – I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. for we are not unaware of his schemes.” (2Corinthians 2:8-11NIV)
Here Paul is saying that the reason he wants the brethren to forgive this man is that Satan might not outwit them. That means Satan can outwit us, even as children of God. Yes, we have authority over him. But he can outsmart us. Every day he outsmarts many of God’s people. He has found ways to subdue, control them, cheat them continually and oppress them continually, even though they have authority over him. This is why many are living low lives. This is why many are living in poverty or living meaningless and useless lives. Satan has found ways to outsmart them. So, we need to detect what he is doing to outsmart us in order that we can resist him.
Paul, in that text, says that through the unwillingness of the brethren in Corinth to forgive one of them that has repented of his sins, Satan can outsmart them. Satan can take advantage of the situation to work and destroy that brother and also afflict other members of that church for their unwillingness to forgive. And here is a remarkable statement from him: we are not unaware of his schemes. But it is not everyone that can say this. You need to know his schemes in order for you to be able to say I am not unaware of his schemes. Paul knows how Satan works. He can tell when Satan is at work somewhere. And since he can tell how Satan is working and when he is working, he can resist him. Can you also tell how Satan works or when he is working? Are you aware of his schemes? If you are not aware of his schemes or how he works, you cannot resist him.
In 1Thessalonians, chapter 2, Paul says something striking along this line. He says from verse 17, “But, brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. For we wanted to come to you – certainly I, Paul, did, again and again — but Satan blocked our way.” (1Thessalonians 2:17-18NIV) Look at that. Paul wanted these brethren in Thessalonica to know that he and his ministry companions wanted to come to them to minister to them and supply whatever was lacking in their faith. But they were unable to do so. And he is saying the reason they were unable to get to them was that Satan blocked their way.
Now exactly how Satan hindered Paul and his companions from getting to these Thessalonians we would not know. We are not told by Paul in this letter. But he could tell that it was Satan that prevented them from getting to them. He could tell that it was Satan that was working and not God that prevented them from getting to the Thessalonians. Therefore, he was not just going to stay still and hope for the situation to get better. That was because he knew that the one at work was the devil and that he had to resist him.
We too need to know when Satan is working. It is not enough to know what God wants us to do or the kind of life He wants us to live. We also need to know our enemy, the devil. We need to know how he reasons and works. We must know these things so that we can be on our guard against him. Peter tells us something similar to this in his first epistle, chapter 5, from verse 8, saying: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (1Peter 5:8-9NIV)
Here Peter first tells us that Satan is our enemy. He is not our friend. Second, he tells us that he is continually moving around to see whom he may devour. He is always looking for an opportunity to devour someone or ruin their life. Third, we are told to resist the devil anytime he shows us. And we are told how to do this? We are told to resist him steadfastly. That means we must be firm and fervent in resisting him. We must not accept his works at all. We must not permit him to work in our lives. We have to be determined about this. He must not sense any form of weakness or tiredness in us.
See, if we permit him in any area of our lives, he will work. And he will not limit his works to that area of our lives alone; he will proceed to work in other areas of our lives as well. So, you must not accept any work of the devil. You must not permit or allow him in any way. Instead, you must take your stand against him firmly.
When Moses was sent by God to deliver Israel from Egypt, Pharaoh kept on calling him for negotiations. And that was after he had seen the hand of God come mightily against him and his people. He wanted him to meet him half-way. So, sometimes, he would say, “Okay, I will allow you people to go and worship your God. But it is only the adults that should go. You must leave the children behind.” And another time, he would say, “Okay, you can go. But leave all your livestock behind.”
But every time he called this man of God for negotiations in this manner, he firmly refused. He told him that what they were getting was absolute freedom and not partial freedom. According to him, God had told them to leave. So, they were going to leave. And it was up to Pharaoh to either allow them to leave peacefully or to see the full wrath of God come against him and his people. That, of course, was exactly what happened. The full wrath of God came upon Pharaoh and his people, and they allowed the Israelites to go. Then, as the story goes, after they had allowed them to leave, they still went after them in order to bring them back into slavery. Therefore, God destroyed their entire army.
Now that is exactly how Satan is. He does not give up. He does not allow his prisoners to go free. He may give you a little relief. But he will still subdue you again. So, if you resist him a little in your life, and he hands off, do not think he is not going to come back. He will still find an opportunity to come back. So, you have to resist him steadfastly. You have to get him running from you. Until you get him running, you are not safe from his schemes.
That, in any case, is what Peter is telling us. He says we are to resist Satan firmly in our lives, in our work places, in our businesses, in the lives of our children, in our marriages and so forth. We must just be determined to say ‘No’ to the devil. But as I pointed out before, if we do not know that he is the one responsible for the problems in our lives, for the miseries we are facing, for the misfortunes we are confronted with, for the sicknesses that we see, we will not resist him or deal with him the way we need to.
So, we need to know how Satan works. And we see Paul telling us of the need to be aware of his schemes, of his devices. It is not every child of God that is educated to know these things, to recognise the works of the devil, so that they may resist him. And this is where church leaders come in. They need to continually teach their brethren to recognise not only the will of God for them but also the works of the devil in their lives, so that they may frustrate him.
Unfortunately, what some of them are doing is make people afraid of the devil and his works. When I was growing up and we would attend some church crusades, preachers would come around and tell us stories upon stories of how Satan is powerful and of how he is destroying people’s lives. So, you go home, thinking about the stories. When you were sleeping, you were thinking about the stories. Even when you dreamt, you dreamt of these stories. And that was because certain individuals had filled your heart with fear, the fear of the devil.
But there is nowhere we are told to be afraid of the devil in the bible. Think about this: when God shows up to talk to people, not in judgment but in peace, what does He usually tell them? Fear not! Why? He does not want us to be afraid of Him, for we cannot relate properly to Him, if we are afraid of Him. I am not talking here about godly reverence for God. Rather, I am talking about shrinking fear that makes people run away and not want to have anything to do with God.
Remember that the first time God came down to talk to the Israelites in the wilderness they told Moses that they did not want to hear the voice of God again, if they did not want to die. They said, “You talk to Him and let Him tell you whatever He wants to tell us.” Why did they speak like that? They were afraid of God and of relating to Him. And that is not the kind of fear He wants us to have of Him. (Cf. Exodus 20:18-19)
Well, when God comes to us, He says, “Do not fear.” And since God is telling us not to fear, should we be afraid of the devil? No! So, if anyone is filling you with the fear of the devil, he is doing you a great disservice. It does not matter how anointed the person may appear to you, he is doing a disservice to you and to the body of Christ. We have to be strengthened in the Lord. We have to be encouraged in Him. We have to be energised in Him to take our stand against the schemes of the devil. The point I am making is that we have to know what the works of the devil is. Otherwise, we cannot resist his works.
In Saint Luke’s gospel, chapter 13, we are given the account of a woman who had been crippled by an evil Spirit for eighteen years and of how the Lord set her free. And this happened on a Sabbath. So, the leader of the synagogue in which the incident happened was angry and spoke against the healing of the woman. Here is how Luke reports the case from verse 14:
“Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, ‘There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.’ The Lord answered him, ‘You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?’” (Luke 13:14-16NIV)
Here the Lord is showing that Synagogue ruler that the one who bound that woman was the devil. She was crippled for eighteen years – she could not straighten up at all. And there are many around like that who are bent over and who could not straighten up at all. There are many who have hunch backs and who could not walk well like normal human beings. There are many who are deaf, just as there are many who are mute and cannot talk.
Now I am not saying that all those who are having challenges along these lines are having these challenges because Satan is directly working in them. Of course, when we look at the background of every illness, we see the hand of the devil there, whether directly or indirectly. Yes, there are times that people, through their own errors or mistakes, could experience certain problems in their lives. But ultimately, the one that is behind every problem of humanity is the devil. We just need to know how he works and introduces these things into our lives so that we can stop him.
In that passage, the Lord is clearly showing us that the woman in question was in that crippled condition because Satan bound her. That was why He did not allow her to go like that. He did not say, “Oh, what can we do now? This is your destiny. This is how God wants you to be in order to keep you humble.” He did not say such things. Instead, He commanded the spirit afflicting her to leave, saying, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” And she was loosed that same moment. That was her deliverance. And that is how to resist the devil. That is how to frustrate his works.
Mind you, Jesus actually came to destroy the works of the devil (1John 3:8). And now He has given us the job of destroying his works. He has given us the job of recognising his works and destroying them. So, in order to resist the devil, the place to start is to know his works. And that is what I will dwell more on when next I bring you God’s word on this matter.
Let us pray.
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Series: Church discipline 9
Title: Why they must be punished
By: Johnson O. Lawal
Date: August 21, 2022
I want to further share with you on church discipline. And we have now come to the need to punish unrepentant brethren and the nature of punishment we are to give to them. In Saint’s Matthew’s gospel, chapter 18, the Lord tells us the steps we are to take in dealing with any brother or sister who sins and the nature of punishment we are to give to them, if they refuse to repent. He tells us to withdraw fellowship from them. And we see that the same thing is said by Paul in 1Corinthians 5, Romans 16 and 2Thessalonians 3. He says that if someone sins and we make effort to rebuke and correct them and they will not listen to us, we are to withdraw fellowship from them.
But what sort of sins will a brother or sister commit that will require that we withdraw fellowship from them in this manner? We have examples of such sins that will require that we act in this manner in the bible. For instance, in Romans 16, Paul says if someone is causing divisions in the church and putting obstacles in the way of other brethren, and we have taken steps towards correcting or rebuking them and they will not listen, we are to treat them in this manner. Or if brethren are immoral, slanderous, idolatrous or involved in swindling people and they will not repent of these things but continue to walk in them, we are to withdraw fellowship from them.
So, there must be a clear basis for withdrawing fellowship from an unrepentant brother or sister. We are not to withdraw fellowship from anyone just because they disagree with us about some matters of opinions or because they do not see things the way we see them. There are assemblies, unfortunately, in which brethren are punished in this manner because they disagree with certain policies of a church leader or because they are placing their fingers on certain wrong things that a church leader is doing. Such brethren are wrongly labelled as unruly or dangerous and other brethren are warned to stay away from them. In fact, there are assemblies in which leaders go to the extent of cursing these so-called unrepentant brethren. And that is wrong.
My point, in any case, is that we need to be careful in administering this nature of punishment. There must be a clear basis for it. Otherwise, we may find ourselves causing a lot of damage in the body of Christ. We have a case along this line that is mentioned in 3John. From verse 9, we are told the following:
“I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church. Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.” (2John 9-10NIV)
In this passage, John refers to what Diotrephes was doing as evil. So, he tells other brethren, especially Gaius to whom this letter was written, not to imitate him. According to him, Diotrephes love to be in charge. He loves to have everyone under his control. So, he is sort of a church boss. We are not told in this letter what church this man was leading at the time. But evidently, he was one of the leaders of God’s people at the time. And he was someone that was well known by both Gaius and John.
What, then, was his offence? John says he put certain brethren out of the church. In other words, he told the brethren not to fellowship with those people again. And why did he do that? He did that because those brethren acknowledged the leadership and authority of the apostles of the Lord. More so, they welcomed the travelling evangelists that came to their place. And he was not pleased with that. So, he put them out of the church.
What all that means is that Diotrephes did not want to be under the leadership of the apostles of the Lord. He did not want to submit to them. We are not told how that church he was leading started. So, we would not know whether he was the one that God used in starting it or if it was someone else. Whatever the case, for Apostle John to have written to that church, it must mean that he had a relationship with her, one way or the other. But Diotrephes would not take seriously the letters of this apostle. In addition, he was spreading malicious rumours about the apostles of the Lord and telling his brethren not to have anything to do with them. Just imagine that.
But those apostles were the foundational members of the body of Christ. So, to spread rumours about them in order to keep the brethren from submitting to them or fellowshipping with them was outrageous. And we can see, then, that there was no clear basis for Diotrephes to put those brethren that he put out of the church out of the church. Whatever he had said about them was wrong and evil. Then if he had placed a curse on them or said anything negative about them, it would not have come to pass. That was because he was clearly out of line.
Today, we also have leaders like Diotrephes in the church. These ones often act based on sentiments or hypocrisy. And they put people out of fellowship based on sins they are trying to cover up. This is wrong. This is unscriptural. This is evil. And we are told not to imitate it. So, I am saying again that if we have to put anyone out of fellowship in the church, there must be a clear basis for doing so. That person must have done something or must have been doing something that is clearly wrong. He must have been living in obvious sins. And it is on this basis that we are to put him out of fellowship, if he will not repent.
Why, then, is this important? It is important in order to save the soul of such individuals. Let me again share with you Paul’s words about how to deal with unrepentant brethren in the church. Mind you, we may not be happy about putting anybody out of the fellowship of the church. In fact, no true leader of God’s people will be happy that he has to take this sort of step. But it is a step that needs to be taken for the health of the church and also for the salvation of the person involved.
Well then, Paul says this from verse 4 of 1Corinthians, chapter 5, “So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.” (1Corinthians 5:4-5NIV) Can you see that the focus of handing anyone over to Satan is the salvation of his soul? And I explained to you before what it means to hand someone over to Satan. It is the same thing as withdrawing fellowship from the person. The moment we choose not to fellowship with an unrepentant brother or sister, we are putting her right in the hands of the devil. The devil is the prince of this world, the god of this age. And anyone that the church will not have any dealings with again is definitely in the hands of the devil.
Remember what happened in Job’s case. Remember that God said to Satan,
“Behold, the man is in your hands. But do not lay a hand on his life – do not kill him.” And the moment God said that to him, he went out and began to afflict Job. Why? Job had been handed over to him. In like manner, when we hand over anyone to Satan in the church, he begins to afflict the person in various ways. Why do we do this? It is so that the person’s spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord. The point of this is that when we hand someone over to the devil in this manner and he begins to afflict them, their eyes are opened to see what they have done and then return to the Lord. (Cf. Job 2:6-8)
So, our focus is on their salvation. We do not put people into Satan’s hand because we want them to be permanently ruined or destroyed. Yes, by being unrepentant, they are showing us that their salvation is questionable or that their so-called Christianity is questionable. And in order to tell whether they are of the Lord or not, we hand them over to the devil. If they are of the Lord indeed, they will acknowledge their sins and, at some point, return to Him. In every case where people are dealt with in this manner, the focus is on their salvation.
In fact, if erring brethren listen to us, we will not have to put them out of fellowship. In Galatians, chapter 6, Paul says this from verse 1: “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.” (Galatians 6:1NIV) Can you see that the focus is on their restoration? Our focus of approaching a sinning brother or sister is on restoring them to true Christian living. It is never to be on destroying them, slandering them or ruining their reputation.
Unfortunately, in many assemblies of God today, measures that are often taken against erring brethren are wrong. They are measures that are not focussed on their restoration. Erring brethren are harassed, slandered, insulted or even cursed. All these things are inconsistent with the word of God. We must not imitate such things. Instead, we must avoid them.
Therefore, we are to keep watching out for the willingness of unrepentant brethren to return to the Lord. We keep watching out for their readiness to repent and come back to us. Remember the story of the prodigal son, which the Lord shares in Luke’s gospel, chapter 15. We see from the story that this young man’s father was continually looking out for his return. He was continually longing for his homecoming. So, on the day he returned home, it was his father that first sighted him.
That is the way it is with God too. He is continually looking forward to seeing His children that have been living in error come back to Him. After they have been handed over to the devil to be afflicted, God is on the watch for them to return to Him. We also who are their brethren must continually look out for their homecoming. We must not be like the elder brother of the prodigal son who was upset that his brother came back home and that his father had thrown a party for him. That is a terrible attitude to have towards repentant brothers and sisters.
Unfortunately, we have many children of God who are like the prodigal son’s elder brother. They don’t want to see their unrepentant brothers or sisters come back to the faith. They want their separation from such people to be permanent. So, even if they return to the Lord, they will continue to look at them from a worldly point of view. They will continue to look at them and treat them as sinners. And this is wrong.
Look at what Paul says about this in 2Corinthians 2, from verse 6:
“If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent – not to put it too severely. The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. Another reason I wrote to you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven – if there was anything to forgive – I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan mighty not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.” (2Corinthians 2:5-11NIV)
Paul, here, is telling the brethren to forgive a brother who has sinned and whom they have punished. We would not know if it was the same person that he mentions his case in 1Corinthians 5 that he is talking about here. But it is clear that there was a brother in the church in Corinth that was punished for his sins because he would not repent. The brethren withdrew fellowship from him. But now he is ready to come back to God and to His people. So, Paul is telling the brethren that they need to forgive him and reaffirm their love for him. He is telling them that they need to restore him and bring him in.
According to him, the punishment inflicted on this brother was enough. That means he had been punished enough. Now is the time to bring him back. Otherwise, Satan would take advantage of the situation and destroy him totally. He says we are not unaware of his schemes. In other words, one of his schemes is to use our unwillingness to forgive others to destroy them. So, we need to be very careful about this.
Furthermore, another reason we are to punish unrepentant brethren is that their sin will not become the sin of many. Paul, in 1Corinthians, chapter 5, from verse 6, says:
“Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch – as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1Corinthians 5:6-8NIV)
What is this apostle saying here? It is that when we refuse to judge wickedness in the church, it will soon spread. Sin is like yeast. And whatever form of it we want to talk about is like yeast. Whether it is hypocrisy, greed, sexual immorality, divisions or sorcery, it is like yeast that, when applied to a batch of dough, will spread through it and make it rise. So, when we refuse to judge the sin of one person in the church, it may not be long before it becomes the sin of the majority.
If someone is involved in sexual immorality, for instance, and we will not deal with it, before we know it, others may follow in their steps. Or if someone is dividing the church through slander and words of bitterness or hatred, if we refuse to attend to it, before we know it, the church may become polarised along different lines. Then brethren will become bitter, envious, malicious and so forth. So, if we do not want the sin of one person to become the sin of many people in the church, we must deal with it decisively.
Look at what Paul says about this in Galatians 2, from verse 11:
“When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.” (Galatians 2:11-13NIV)
Can you see how one person’s sin can become the sin of many? The hypocrisy of Peter became the hypocrisy of all the Jewish brethren with him in Antioch. Even Barnabas was caught in the same trap. And this hypocrisy emanated from an apostle that was afraid of defending the truth. Paul, then, had to step in and set all of them right.
Today, we have assemblies in which similar things are happening. It may be one person that got involved in sexual immorality. But because it was not dealt with, others in the church began to indulge in the same thing. Or it may that a member was bitter or jealous of another. But because it was not dealt with, jealousy, bitterness and hatred began to spread through the church. And before they knew it, brethren could not sit down comfortably with one another again to discuss or to fellowship. Someone was poisoning their well. And by not dealing with that person decisively, everybody in the church got poisoned.
So, if anyone is sinning in our church and will not repent, we must deal with them decisively. We must call everyone’s attention to what they are doing and ask them to withdraw from fellowshipping with them. This is so that their yeast will not work in the church.
Remember the sin of Amnon, the first son of King David. Remember how he raped his half-sister, Tamar, as we are told in 2Samuel 13. And though his father, David, heard about it, he did nothing to punish him for this offence. Yes, he knew what the Law of Moses says about rape cases. But he did not judge the young man or punish him. He was angry, of course, about it. But he did not punish him. And because he did not punish him, he allowed bitterness to fester in the heart of Absalom, Tamar’s elder brother. So, when the opportune time came two years later, he murdered his brother, Amnon, and fled from the land.
Now when words came to David about this, did he do anything about it? No, he did nothing about it. Yes, he wept for his son, Amnon. And later he was comforted. But did he do anything to Absalom about the case? No! But the Law of the land is clear about how to handle murder cases. The Law says if it is not an accident, then, the avenger of blood has to seek the murderer out, bring him back to where he has committed the crime and execute him. It is only if it is an accident that the person is permitted to run to a city of refuge and hide there until the death of the current high priest of the land. (Cf. Numbers 35:9-28)
But that was not the case in Absalom’s case. He deliberately murdered his brother and fled. And when he came back, the king welcomed him and did nothing about his case. That is how you strengthen wickedness in the land or in the church of God. Well, because Absalom was not punished, he moved to the stage of plotting a coup against his father. He ejected him from the palace and began to reign in his stead. That is what we can expect when we refuse to deal with wickedness. It will be strengthened and start spreading where we are.
In addition to what I have said about the need to punish unrepentant brethren, if we refuse to judge their sin in order to prevent it from spreading, God, at some point, will step in and judge it Himself. Again, look at what Paul says about this in 1Corinthians, chapter 5, from verse 12: “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. Expel the wicked person from among you.” (1Corinthians 5:12-13NIV) That means God expects us to punish wickedness in the church. It is not our business to punish wickedness in the world, if we are not political leaders, traditional leaders, justices or institutional leaders. But in the church, God expects us to deal with wickedness. He does not want us to allow it to be strengthened or to be rooted in our midst. So, if one of us is living in sin, we cannot ignore it; we must not ignore it. Instead, we must deal with it. Otherwise, God Himself will have to step in and deal with it.
In 1Corinthians, chapter 11, Paul tells the brethren that one of the reasons many of them are weak and sick and some are in fact dead is that they will not judge the sins – malice, bitterness, envy, divisions, sexual immorality and so forth – among them. They allowed these things to become deep-seated among them. So, God, at some point, had to step in to judge them. Look at how Paul puts this from verse 27:
“So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and ill, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.” (1Corinthians 11:27-32NIV)
Think about that. Because these brethren would not judge the sins among them, sins that were manifesting even in their meetings, God had to step in and judge them. Now Paul says if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. That means if we will deal with any wrong thing that is going on among us, God will not have to step in and judge it. But if we refuse to judge it, then, God will have to step in and judge it. And who knows how he will judge? In this case, Paul says it is because God is judging these brethren that many of them are weak and sick and that some of them have died. They have allowed wickedness to gain ground among them, to become deep-seated among them, instead of dealing with it.
In like manner, there are many assemblies of God’s people today in which people are falling sick and dying and experiencing many terrible things. Yes, they are praying and perhaps fasting too. But things are not getting better. Brethren that are sick and prayed for. Yet they do not get well. Such assemblies need to watch themselves. There may just be sins being committed among them that they are refusing to judge.
In the book of Revelation, chapter 2, the Lord speaks about a woman in Thyatira who was teaching God’s people to be involved in sexual immorality and to food sacrificed to idols. He calls this woman Jezebel. And He says that He has given her time to repent of her immorality but she is unwilling. Therefore, He is ready to judge her and her children. He is ready to cast them on a bed of affliction and to strike her children dead, if they will not repent of their sins. The Lord is going to do these things so that all the churches will know that He is the one searching the hearts of all men and the one who would repay each person according to what they have done, good or evil.
Now since the Lord judged sexual immorality and idolatry in the early church, we can expect Him to act similarly today, if we refuse to judge known sins among us. If people’s sins are unknown, that is a different thing. But if it is known that someone is living in sin among us and we will not deal with it, God will have to step in and judge their case at some point. This, as I said before, is the explanation for the widespread illnesses in some assemblies. It is the reason some people get sick in the church and are prayed for but don’t get well. It is the reason all kinds of disasters and terrible things happen in some churches and no amount of prayer or fasting is about to take care of them.
Peter says judgment must begin in the house of God. Yes, He will judge unbelievers too. But a lot of times, before He moves to judge outsiders, He will first judge members of His own household, the church. He will sanitise His house first. This may result in the death of some members of this house or their illness or their constant failure in life. This is why many of those in the world don’t want to have anything to do with many of our assemblies today. There is nothing to attract them to Christianity in us. They see the death, illnesses, weakness and plagues befalling us and wonder if coming to us is in their best interest at all. (Cf. 1Peter 4:17-18)
Remember the case of Eli. Why did God punish him? Was it because he was living in sin? No, it was not that all. He was not living in sin. It was his sons that were living in sin. But because he would not judge them, God decided to punish them and him too. God said I would punish his house because of the sins of his son, sins that he knew about. His sons, according to God, were misbehaving, and he refused to restrain them. That was what God told Samuel about him. That means God expected him to put his sons out of office. He expected to do more than merely rebuking them. He expected him to punish them by sacking them. (Cf. 1Samuel 3)
These young men were stealing and also committing adultery, right in the sanctuary of the Lord. Yet their father did not judge them. So, God said no sacrifice or offering will atone for their sins – they must die. And when they died, their father also joined them in death. He became a partaker of their judgment because he allowed their sins to gain ground and spread in the land. We too can become partakers of other people’s judgment, if we will not judge them where we are in a position to judge them.
See, God will not be inactive in dealing with sin the church. Both Paul and Peter tell us this in their epistles. God will judge it, if we refuse to judge it. And if we do not want His judgment to fall upon us, we must be quick to address cases of sins and unrepentant brethren in our churches. Where we need to put people out of fellowship, we must do so for the health of the church. You can also read Numbers 25 for further studies on how God views steps taken in judgment of sin among His people. And this is where I will round off all that I have been sharing with you on church discipline. I pray that these truths will live in your hearts continually and produce in your lives the results God wants to see, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Copyright © 2022, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
Title: Punishment (b)
By: Johnson O. Lawal
Date: August 14, 2022
Series: Church discipline 8
I want to further share with you on church discipline. We have been looking at what it entails and what it does not entail. And recently, we started looking at punishing unrepentant brethren. Now, as I made clear before, if brethren are repentant, having been rebuked and corrected for certain wrong things they have done, they do not have to be punished. But sometimes, because of the nature of the wrong thing people have done, we may have to take certain measures to help them. Unfortunately, people often see measures taken in this sense as punishment. But that should not be. When someone has done something wrong and that is of public nature, something that people already know about or that they will get to know about it sooner or later, then their matter may need to be treated publicly. A public statement needs to be made by the church about the matter, so that other brethren will know that that the church does not condone wickedness or sin of any kind.
Furthermore, some other measures may be taken in such situations to prevent such brethren from getting involved in the same sin or other similar sins in the future and also from being ridiculed by other brethren. These things are done to set the person right. So, they must not be seen as punishment.
Then, as I also pointed out before, when brethren are given tasks in the church and they do not carry them out well, certain measures may be taken to punish them. Those measures taken have nothing to do with their salvation or faith. They are just measures that are taking to punish them for their failure of performance in what they have been asked to do. That may be called administrative punishment. And brethren who are punished in this way have not done anything ungodly or sinful. They are simply being punished for not doing whatever task they are given in the church well. We may take those tasks away from them or prevent them from handling certain task in the church because they have shown themselves to be incompetent in doing those things. But that has nothing to do with their salvation or faith. Rather, it has to do with their competence or character in handling whatever they are told to handle.
What we are dealing with here, however, has to do with obvious sins that brethren have committed and are unwilling to repent of. And I am saying that when brethren have to be punished for such sins, there must be a basis for doing so. We must establish that they have done something that requires that they be punished. In Matthew’s gospel, chapter 18, Jesus tells us what steps we are to take in dealing with erring and unrepentant brethren. Look at how He puts this from verse 15:
“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.” (Matthew 18:15-17NIV)
You can see here the stages we are to go through in dealing with brethren who have sinned. Of course, the Lord does not tell us what sort of sins will require that we act in this manner. But He does tell us that if our brother sins, it is our duty to point out his error to him. And if he listens to us, the matter should end there, if it is not something that is of public nature. But if he will not listen to us, we are to take one or more people with us, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he listens, then, the matter should end there – we don’t have to take it any further than that.
However, if this person will not listen to us, then we are to tell his matter to the church. If he listens to the church, it should end there. But if he will not listen to the church, then, he has to, henceforth, be treated as a pagan. You can see from this that the Lord’s desire is that we will straighten out our brethren, if they miss it, so that they can be restored. Paul says something similar in Galatians 6. He says if one of us is caught in a sin, those of us who are mature should restore them gently. So, it is important that we do not leave any of our brethren in sin. We must address the person about it and seek to bring him to restoration. We will look at why this is important later.
But if people will not listen to us, if they will not accept rebuke and correction, especially when they have been addressed by different people and the church, if they will not acknowledge their sins or are claiming not to care, then, we must punish them. And what sort of punishment are they to be given? The Lord says we are to treat them as we would treat a pagan or a tax collector. This has to do with withdrawal of fellowship from them. That means we stop fellowshipping with them the way we will fellowship with believers. It does not mean we are to condemn them to death or curse them or abuse them or slander them or destroy their reputation. We have no business doing such things.
Unfortunately, in several assemblies of God’s people today, if some brethren show themselves to be unrepentant in any way, we start calling them names, abusing them, cursing them and destroying their reputation. By living in sin, they are already destroying their own reputation. We don’t need to make matters worse for them. We must understand, as I will later discuss, that even when people are unrepentant, whatever measure of punishment we give them must be geared towards bringing them back to the Lord Jesus Christ. So, Jesus says we are to treat them as we would treat pagans, as we would treat someone who needs to be evangelised all over again, as we would treat someone that is not saved at all and needs to be brought to the knowledge of the truth.
We know how we relate to those of this world. We know there are things we do not do with them. We have been told not to be unequally yoked with them. In like manner, we must not be unequally yoked with any brother that is living in sin. There are other passages of the bible in which we are shown that the punishment to be given to unrepentant brethren is withdrawal of fellowship.
But then, as I pointed out earlier, we need to know and understand what people will do that will require that we treat them in this manner. This is so that we do not withdraw from brethren who have not done anything wrong. You know there is a possibility of wanting to punish brethren in this way just because they do not agree with us on certain things or because they will not allow us to run their lives based on our own idiosyncrasies or opinions about certain matters of life. And that is wrong. There must be a clear basis for doing this to the brethren, for withdrawing fellowship from our brethren.
Now let us begin to look at some of the things that are said about this in the bible. First, in Romans, chapter 16, from verse 17, Paul says this:
“I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naïve people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good and innocent, about what is evil.” (Romans 16:17-19NIV)
Notice here that Paul says we are to keep away from certain individuals in the church. That is the major punishment to be given to unrepentant brethren. It is withdrawal of fellowship from them. In other words, you refuse to fellowship with them. You refuse to associate with them as you would associate with other believers. And what will people do to require that we treat them in this way? Paul says if people are causing divisions in the church, we are to deal with them like this. So, we are talking here about those who have a culture of causing divisions among the brethren and putting obstacles in their way. Whether it is through the things they say, do or teach that they are doing this, they are candidates in this matter. Maybe they are spreading rumours in the church or slandering other believers. Whatever it is that they are doing that is causing divisions in the church, causing brethren to bitter against one another, they must be treated in this manner.
Paul says we are to watch out for them. That means we are to identify them and deal with them. So, if we observe that brethren are not relating well or are fighting among themselves or are bitter against themselves, we must locate the source. We must identify who is responsible and warn them. If they take correction and change their ways, the matter should end there. But if they are insisting that they are right and will not accept rebuke and correction, then, we must withdraw fellowship from them. We must let the brethren know them and know that they must not continue to fellowship with them or treat them as believers.
You can see now that this is a clear basis for punishing an unrepentant brother or sister. So, if you are causing divisions in the church, we have a clear basis for punishing you, if you will not repent. We have a clear basis to tell the brethren not to have anything to do with you again. It does not mean they are not to greet you again or that they are not to work with you, if you work with the same organisation. Rather, it means they are no longer to treat you as a believer. They can no longer share their lives with you or be involved with you as they would be with a believer. You have shown yourself as someone that is unrepentant and put yourself in a position where we begin to question your salvation and ask ourselves whether you are saved or not.
So, you need to watch yourself. You may not be involved in sexual immorality, stealing, swindling or sorcery. But as long as you are causing division in the church and troubling the body of Christ, you must be treated in the manner we are talking about. In fact, writing to Titus, Paul says warn a divisive person twice and then have nothing to do with him again (Titus 3:10). So you must be careful of the things you do and say in the church. Don’t say things that will divide the brethren. Don’t say things that will set them against one another. You need to watch your choice of words in relating to God’s people. Otherwise, you may end up putting yourself in a position where you will be punished.
Also, in 1Corinthians, chapter 5, Paul says this to the brethren about a man who was having sexual affairs with his father’s wife:
“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate. A man is sleeping with his father’s wife. And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this? For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.” (1Corinthians 5:1-5NIV)
Paul is giving us a clear basis for punishing someone in the church in this passage. Here we have a man that has been sleeping with his father’s wife. Unfortunately, the church is doing nothing about it. But that is outrageous. That is something that even unbelievers will not tolerate. They will not overlook it. Sadly, members and leaders of the church in Corinth will not do anything about it. That is terrible.
Now what that man was doing was common knowledge in the church. Everybody knew about it. Even Paul, who was not with them at the time, knew about it. That man was involved in incest, sleeping with his father’s wife. Reuben, first son of Jacob, did that and was cursed by his father for it (Genesis 49:3-4). So, Paul says to the Corinthian brethren, “You are wrong to be unfeeling about this matter. You are wrong not to have done anything about it.”
What should they have done about it? They ought to have put the man out of fellowship with them. That means the man was still living in the sin at the time. He was still unrepentant about it. Maybe initially the brethren were talking to him about it. And maybe it was when they realised that he was not going to listen that they decided to let him be. But Paul says you are wrong to let him be. Why? Such things have serious implications, something that we will look at later. There are implications for allowing brethren to continue living in sin and not dealing with it in the church. If we are not aware that someone is doing something wrong, it will be a different thing. But if we are aware of their wrongdoing or if it is common knowledge that they are doing something wrong and we refuse to deal with it, there will be grievous consequences.
You can see why Paul tells the brethren that they ought to have put that man out of their fellowship. Then he further says they are to hand him over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord. What does that mean? Does it mean they are to curse him? No! Rather, it means exactly what he already says they are to do the man – they are to put him out of their fellowship.
See, when you put someone out of the fellowship of God’s people, you are saying that he is not to be treated as a believer again. And by doing that, you are already handing him over to Satan. The bible tells us that Satan is the god of this age. Therefore, anyone that is put out of fellowship with God’s people is placed right in the hands of the devil. The devil, then, will begin to afflict him. And things will start going wrong in his life. This is why we cannot handle this biblical instruction carelessly or based on sentiments or in a frivolous manner. We have to be sure that someone has done something that requires that this be done to him.
It should, then, not be that we will treat a brother or a sister this way just because we are not happy with them. It should not be because someone does not share the same opinions with us about certain matters of life that we will tell the brethren not to fellowship with them again. Unfortunately, there are leaders that once someone disagrees with their opinions or with their lifestyles, they will label the person evil.
I was once under the leadership of a pastor that was involved in adultery. So, at some point, some brethren began to talk about the matter and about what they might do to salvage the situation. But it was an assembly in which brethren had no right to freely express themselves or to privately meet with their pastor and point out what they thought he was doing wrong to him. And don’t miss my point here: I am not saying it is right for brethren to speak against the leadership of their church. No, it is not right. It is rebellious to do such things.
However, when someone is clearly living in sin, then, there must be someone that will address this. This, of course, was not the case with that pastor. So, rumours started flying around in the church and outside it about what he was doing. And one day, in a church meeting, having known what was going on, he said, “If you are trying to help God, He is going to kill you.” Someone like that does not want to be corrected. And if he had a chance to put anyone out of fellowship on account of what was happening at the time, he would not hesitate at all to do so. But that would not be a clear or right basis for doing so.
My point, in any case, is that there must be a clear basis for putting anyone out of the fellowship of God’s people. Everyone should be able to see that the person has actually done something that requires that they be punished in this way. So, we must educate the brethren along this line. They need to know what the word of God says about this matter. Otherwise, they may become sentimental when anyone is punished in this manner. And there have been places where brethren were sentimental in handling such cases. They gathered around the offenders and tried to defend them.
What that shows is that those brethren did not understand the will of God; they did not understand what God has said about dealing with unrepentant brethren. And I am teaching you this so that you will know what the word of God says about the case and will not unite yourself with rebels. There is grave danger in uniting yourself with a rebel in the church. There is danger in uniting yourself with someone that is rebellious to God or to His established authority in the church. You just end up being punished with them or having your life ruined along with theirs.
Well, in this passage, Paul says that the brethren are to hand that offender over to the devil for the destruction of his flesh. This is so that he may be afflicted. When nobody is fellowshipping with him again, no one is counselling him again or praying with him or for him again, Satan will begin to afflict him. And if he is actually saved, that will bring him to a point where he retraces his steps and returns to the Lord Jesus. So, the idea is to save the person and not to destroy him. When we hand him over to the devil, we are not just looking at a situation in which Satan will afflict him but also one in which he begins to examine himself to see how consistent his life has been with the truth and the need to set it right and be saved on the day of the Lord.
Furthermore, from verse 9 of this same chapter of his letter to the Corinthians, Paul says this:
“I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people – not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. ‘Expel the wicked person from among you.’” (1Corinthians 5:9-13NIV)
Again, Paul is stating for us the basis for punishing unrepentant brethren through withdrawal of fellowship. Here he speaks of a letter that he had written to the Corinthian brethren but which do not have. And he reminds them of what he says in the letter about how to relate to unrepentant brethren. According to him, they are not supposed to associate with certain individuals in the church because of their sins. And he goes to say that he is not saying that believers should not associate with sinners at all. If that were the case, we all would need to leave this world. Or how do we cope in this world without relating at all to the sinners in it? We cannot totally do without them. We need them to buy things from us or to sell things to us. We need them to build houses for us or for us to build houses for them. We just need them for all kinds of things in this world. So, we cannot do without the unbelievers in our world, as long as we are here.
However, in the church, things must be different. As Paul points out here in the passage, God will judge those of the world. But we must judge those in the church. It is our business in the church to judge anyone that is living a life that is contrary to what we have been called to live. And in very clear terms, Paul tells us the kind of life that people will engage in that will require that we judge them in this manner and withdraw fellowship from them. He speaks about sexual immorality, greed, theft, idolatry, slander and swindling. So, anyone that is involved in any of these things is a candidate for this sort of punishment.
Unfortunately, we have many in the church today that are involved in these things. Yes, we do have those who are involved in practising witchcraft and sorcery in the church. Even we have leaders of Christian assemblies that are involved in witchcraft and sorcery. The church must have nothing to do with such individuals. Once it comes to our notice that a pastor involved in these things, then, all the brethren must turn away from him. Even if he is the general overseer or bishop of the assembly, the brethren owe it to themselves to stay away from him and his assembly, if he will not submit himself to spiritual discipline. There are many today that are continually under the ministration of preachers that are practising sorcery or witchcraft. Such people are ruining their own lives.
Well, the point Paul is making is that we must have nothing to do with so-called Christians who are idolaters. We must have nothing to do with so-called believers who are slanderers or sexually immoral. As long as they will not repent, brethren must be told to stay out of fellowship with them. What about drunkards, so-called Christians that are continually getting drunk and messing up themselves everywhere and destroying their reputation, the reputation of their families and the reputation of the church? Brethren must be warned not to have anything to do with them, if they will not repent. Again, the focus of doing this is not on messing up such brethren but on helping them to see themselves the way God wants them to see themselves. That way, they can come to repentance.
Then what about swindlers? And today we have a lot of swindlers in the church. We have a lot of yahoo boys and yahoo girls in many of our churches in Nigeria today. Sadly, there are pastors that encourage them in this evil that they are involved in, pastors who give them tokens and even encourage them to be involved in sorcery. Well, the word of God tells us that swindlers have no place in the kingdom of God. In Galatians 5 and Ephesians 5, Paul tells us not to allow anyone to deceive us about these things – those who are involved in them have no part in the kingdom of God.
In fact, from verse 9 of chapter 6 of this same epistle, Paul says, “Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanders nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1Corinthians 6:9NIV) Can you see that people who are involved in these things have no place in the kingdom of God? So, when we see people who claim to be Christians and who are still involved in these things, we must withdraw fellowship from them. In fact, Paul says we must not eat with them. It is as serious as that. We must let them know that we cannot have anything to do with them, as long as they are like that. Everyone in the church must make this clear to them.
Well, you can see that there must be a clear basis for withdrawing fellowship from anyone in the church. We have to clearly see that they are living in sin and are not willing to repent before we take this step. So, all these swindlers, drunkards, slanderers and sexually immoral people that we have in the church are candidates to be treated in this manner. Now, of course, we are not just to drive everybody away from the church on account of this. A lot of times, we have inquirers coming to church meetings, not knowing whether they are ready to be saved or not. We cannot take these ones as believers or treat them as believers. The Spirit of God often leads such to church meetings to hear His word and perhaps be saved. And we must be careful not to drive them away but to let them know that their way of life is unacceptable and that there is an extent to which we can fellowship with them, if they do not surrender to the Lord Jesus.
But when we are dealing with people who claim to have been born again and who are still living in sin, we must withdraw fellowship from them. This is where we will stop. Let us pray.
Copyright © 2022, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
Series: Church discipline 7
Title: Punishment (a)
By: Johnson O. Lawal
Date: August 07, 2022
I want to further share with you on church discipline. We have already looked at a number of things on this subject, what church disciplines means and what it does not mean. And just to remind you of some of the things we have looked at, I said church discipline is not all about punishing brethren for their wrongdoings. It does not even begin with punishing anybody for anything. Rather, it starts with instructing people in the will of God for their lives. Then this is to be followed by an illustration of the will of God for His people to see. So, leaders of God’s people, who happen to often be in a position to discipline them, must always stand before them as examples of the disciplined lives they want them to live.
Furthermore, I said when brethren miss it or will not live in conformity with the will of God that has been revealed to them, then, they have to be rebuked and corrected accordingly. But when they will not take rebuke and correction, when they totally refuse to accept or acknowledge their wrongdoings, then, they must be punished. We will, of course, later look at why this must be done. However, we must not forget, as I pointed out before, that there are things that must not be mistaken as punishment. When brethren do certain wrong things that are of public nature, even though they have acknowledged their faults and repented of them, certain measures must still be taken in order to help them and the church.
Our Lord Jesus, as we will still dwell on later, tells us that if any of our brethren who has sinned acknowledges their sin, the matter should end there. There is no need to make it public before the church of God. But this does not apply to every situation. When what people have done are of public nature, when what they have done is what everybody already knows about or what everyone will know about, sooner or later, their matter must be dealt with publicly. That, however, is not punishment. That is done to let other people of God know that the church never sanctions any form of iniquity.
Then, sometimes, certain measures need to be taken to help such repentant believers. We may need to take away some tasks from them in order to remove from them opportunities to sin again. Apart from that, measures may be taken in order to prevent them from being ridiculed by immature or carnal brethren or from becoming reasons others blaspheme against God. And measures taken in this manner, as I have been pointing out, must not be misrepresented as punishment. These measures need to be taken for the health of the church and for the restoration of those who have sinned and repented of their sins.
Another thing I want us to understand is that there is a clear difference between administrative punishment and the kind of punishment we are talking about here. I am saying this because people often mistake the two for each other. If for, instance, a task is given to a brother or sister in the church and she does not carry it out well, we may have to take some steps to punish her, depending on how she handles the task. There are times we take some tasks away from some people or stop them from handling certain jobs we have given them because of their incompetence or attitudes. This is important for order to be maintained in the church and for the smooth and effective running of the ministries of the church.
But this must not be taken as moral or spiritual punishment. Spiritual or moral punishment is focussed on dealing with the life that people live and their salvation. But administrative punishment is different from this. Look at what Paul says to Timothy about church administration: “In the same way, deacons are to be worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.” (1Timothy 3:8-9NIV)
Now from what we see in Scriptures, deacons, in bible times, were church members that assisted leaders of God’s people in whatever way they wanted them to assist them. The first of set of deacons ordained, for instance, talking about Stephen, Philip and the rest of them, were ordained to handle the daily distribution of food to the widows in the church. That was an administrative job. Of course, they needed to handle it in a spiritual way. So, I am not saying that when people are given administrative tasks in the church, they do not have to go about handling them in a spiritual way. They must be handled spiritually. In fact, it takes spiritual people to handle administrative tasks in the church effectively and for the growth and edification of the church. (Cf. Acts 6)
Well, my point is that those men were not ordained to preach to the people but to serve them in food matters. Yes, they my find themselves preaching to the people while doing this. And some of them did find themselves preaching to the people while carrying out their tasks. But they were not originally ordained to do that. They were ordained to help in dealing certain administrative duties of the church.
In like manner, today, we have deacons in various assemblies of God people saddled with various administrative responsibilities of their respective churches. They may be in charge of the choristers, the technical crew, the ushers, the finance of the church and so forth. And as I already pointed out, people must be spiritual in order to be able to succeed in handling these things. However, as Paul shows Timothy, brethren should first be tested with small tasks before they are given huge administrative duties in the church. It is whey they have handled the small tasks well that they can be given bigger responsibilities.
What this implies is that if someone is given a task in the church and is not handling it well, the task can be taken away from the person. That, of course, will be seen as some form of punishment. But this is purely administrative punishment. It does not have to do with the person’s faith or salvation. Of course, the person may need to drop certain attitude or approach he has towards his job in the church. Perhaps he has been slothful, lazy or complacent. Or it may be that he is totally overrated. That means he does not have the skill-sets required for the task he is given and so cannot succeed at it. Remember that even though everything we do in the church is spiritual, there are some skill-sets people should have to be able to do certain jobs in the church.
For example, if people are required to constantly make a written report of their activities in the church, they may need to have some degree of education or exposure in order to be able to do that. And if they fail at such things, you may not be able to blame them much for failing. That, however, does not mean that they have not failed. They have failed because they are incompetent for the job. So, the job has to be taken away from them. Will they be happy about that? No, people are usually not happy when responsibilities are taken away from them in the church. But what has to be done has to be done.
As Paul tells us in 1Corinthians 14, our focus in the church must always be on the edification of the brethren and on maintaining order in our meetings and in our lives. And anyone who cannot labour to accomplish this can’t be kept in whatever position they are occupying in the church or left to be doing whatever task they are given to do. You know there are times that people in some of the service or ministry units in the church display some attitudes that do not promote order or edification. They may come late for meetings, lose focus in meetings or waste time in doing whatever they are ask to do. Such people must be punished when it has become cultural for them to function like this.
But whatever punishment they are given is administrative. It has nothing to do with any moral sin they have committed. It has nothing to do with their salvation. Of course, they may not take the punishment they are given well, based on the degree of their maturity. But their punishment is basically administrative and must not be mistaken for spiritual or moral punishment given to brethren for being unrepentant.
Let me give you an example from Scriptures about this. In Acts of the apostles, chapter 13, from verse 4, Luke says, “The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.” (Acts 13:4-5NIV) When Barnabas and Saul set out on their first missionary journey, led by the Spirit of God to the various places where they went to preach, John also went with them. This John was also known as Mark then, the writer of the gospel of Mark. He was a young man at this time. And he went with them as their helper or minister, as some other bible translations put it.
Now what was he to do for them? Was he to preach to them? No! Or was he with them to pray for them? No! Of course, it won’t be a bad idea for him to be praying for them, seeing that they were together on the trip. But he was there to assist them. That means he was to help them with things like house chores, writing of letters, delivering of letters, packing of baggage or luggage, getting things from the market, cooking and so forth. He was their assistant.
Mind you, Mark was a great child of God. He was the one that God used in giving us the second Gospel, the gospel of Mark. However, this young man left Barnabas and Paul at some point. Look at how this is reported in this same chapter and verse 13: “From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.” (Acts 13:13NIV) We are not told exactly why John left there at this time. But in chapter 15 of the same book, when they were about to go for their second missionary journey, Luke says this:
“Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, ‘Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.’ Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.” (Acts 15:36-41NIV)
From what we see here, it is clear that Mark did not leave them because he wanted to deliver a message for them at home or because he had something very important to do at home. Rather, he deserted them. That means he was no longer interested in what they were doing. We would not know what happened to him. Maybe he was afraid. Maybe he was not comfortable serving them. Whatever it was, the fact remains that he deserted them. When they needed him most, he was not available for them.
Therefore, when they wanted to go on their second missionary trip, Paul was not going to take him. And that was a sort of punishment for him. He believed that he cannot be relied upon. But Barnabas was of a different opinion. So, there was a sharp dispute between them and they had to go their separate ways. That did not mean that they were no longer in talking terms. Rather, it means that they were no longer working together as ministry partners. All that, however, did not change the fact that Mark was a true child of God. He was a true child of God and was utterly saved. But at that time, he did not have the discipline required to travel and work with these apostles.
Later on in Paul’s life, when he was writing his second letter to Timothy, he said this to him: “Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.” (2Timothy 4:11NIV) That means at some point Mark grew up. So, Paul could say he is helpful to me in my ministry. But initially, Mark was useless to him. Yes, he went with him and Barnabas to minister to them during their first missionary journey. But he ended up becoming a useless helper to them. And Paul punished him by not taking him with him for his second missionary journey.
Now that kind of punishment, as I have been saying, was administrative. It had nothing to do with any immoral or ungodly thing Mark did. He had his own reasons for deserting them at that time. And since we are not told what those reasons were, we cannot tell whether it was right for him to leave them the way he had left them or not. But he did not commit any sin that would require being given spiritual punishment. The punishment he received was simply that he was not taken along with Paul during his second missionary journey.
So, we need to learn to separate punishment that is given to brethren based on their failure of performance in handling tasks giving to them in the church from punishment given to them for certain sins they have committed. The punishment Paul gave to Mark did not stop him from being a child of God. It did not stop him from fellowshipping with God’s people or praying to God or teaching the word of God to those who cared to listen to him or from writing the gospel of Mark. It had nothing to do with his salvation or relationship with God. It had to do with the task at hand that he did not demonstrate enough character in handling.
What we are saying, at any rate, is that when we are talking about punishing the brethren for their sins, there must be a clear basis for doing so. It must not be mistaken for administrative punishment given to brethren for being inconsistent or unserious in handling the tasks given to them in the church. The kind of punishment we are dealing with has to do with the lives people live. It has to do with dealing people who are living lives that are contrary to the will of God.
So, first, it is important that we establish that there is a right basis for punishing them. That means there is a need for us to establish the fact that brethren have done something that requires that they be punished. From what we see in Scriptures, the main form of punishment given to unrepentant brethren is withdrawal of fellowship. And to make this clear to you again, it is only unrepentant brethren that need to be punished. Look at what our Lord Jesus says about this matter:
“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.” (Matthew 18:15-17NIV)
Now the Lord does not tell us here the nature of sin someone will commit that will require that these steps are taken. There are other places in the bible in which this is treated, and we will look at them later. But the Lord tells us that if any of our brethren sins, it is our job to meet them and point out their fault to them. That means we are dealing with sins that we are aware of and not those that we are unaware of.
Well, the point is that if our brother has committed a sin that we are aware of, we should go and meet him and point out his sin to him. If he listens to us, then, we have won him over. The matter should end there, unless it is of public nature, as I earlier explained to you. But if he does not admit his error, then, we are to take one or two more people with us to talk it over with him. Why is this important? It is so that if the matter should come out and people have to address it, it will not be reduced to what is generally termed as ‘your word against mine’. But when we have witnesses, maybe one or two of them, who are also involved in setting the person right, that can be avoided. And as the Lord says, if the person listens when we take one or two more persons with us to talk to him, then, we have won him over – the matter should end there.
However, if he will still not listen, then, we have to make the matter public to the church. That means the leadership of the church should know about it and address him. And if he does not listen to them, then, we have to treat him as we would treat an unbeliever. That, of course, does not mean we have to start calling him names. Rather, it means we are to see him as an individual that is not saved. We don’t expect unbelievers to live as Christians, for they are unbelievers. So, we pray for them and reach out to them with the word of truth. But there is a way we do not fellowship with them. And that is the way we are to treat anyone that is unrepentant in the church. We withdraw our fellowship from them and start treating them like they are not saved. But there must be a clear basis for doing this to any brother or sister.
We see all kinds of punishment being given to brethren in our various assemblies today. Sometimes, people are asked to sit in some places in their church meetings, that is, in churches where there are exalted or elevated seats. Or they ask them to fast and pray for a certain number of days. Or they ask them to stay away from certain meetings and so forth. As I explained to you before, measures taken to help repentant brethren must not be mistaken for punishment given to unrepentant brethren. And do these measures help the brethren at all? Any measure taken in this light that is not aimed at helping the brethren should not be taken. It is useless.
Even in punishing unrepentant brethren, the focus must be on helping them, something that I will talk about later. And the main form of punishment to be given to them, as shown in the bible, is withdraw of fellowship. They have to be punished like this because of their unwillingness to repent, their unwillingness to change their ways, their unwillingness to look at what they are doing that is wrong and admit that it is wrong, their unwillingness to listen to godly counsel and reprove. Their unwillingness to do these things requires that we punish them. But we must not condescend to the level of calling them names, slandering them or cursing them. Sometimes, leaders of God’s people curse people for certain wrong things they have done. That is wrong. We don’t curse people, even if they are unrepentant. Instead, we treat them as we would unbelievers.
Furthermore, as I pointed out before, we need to know what sort of sins will require that we punish brethren in this manner. And what sort of sins will require that we do so? That is where we will pick it from when next we meet. Let us pray.
Copyright © 2022, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
Title: What is not punishment
By: Johnson O. Lawal
Date: July 3, 2022
Series: Church discipline
I want to further share with you on church discipline. We have been looking at what this means, the purpose it is meant to accomplish in the lives of the people of God and how it is to be handled. Already, we have looked at where church discipline begins. I said it begins with a giving of God’s people instructions in His will. His people must first be instructed in His will in order for them to be disciplined. Then the will of God must also be illustrated to them. It is not enough to instruct God’s people in His will. They must also see His will lived out by those instructing them. This is why preachers of God’s word and leaders of our various assemblies must stand as examples of what they are teaching God’s people to them in their various endeavours.
Then there is a place for rebuke and correction in handling church discipline. When God’s people already know what is expected of them and will not live accordingly, they need to be rebuked and corrected. Even when they are ignorant of the wrong things they are doing, they still must be rebuked and corrected. Otherwise, we may just be strengthening them in doing what is wrong. Then the sin of one person may end up becoming the sin of many people. So, rebuking and correcting God’s people is very important when we are dealing with church discipline.
There is equally the place of punishing God’s people for not living according to the instructions they are receiving in the will of God. And this is expected to take place when people have been rebuked and corrected severally about a line of action they are taking or about a choice of action they are taking and they are refusing or rejecting correction. As I pointed out before, church discipline does not begin with punishing erring brethren. Rather, it begins with instructing God’s people in His will. But when people have been instructed in the will of God and have also been rebuked and corrected for not living according and they will yet not pay attention to what is being said to them, they must be punished.
Now, of course, I will later share with you the nature of punishment erring and unrepentant brethren are to be given, as stipulated in Scriptures. See, it is important that everything is done as we are instructed in the Scriptures. Nothing must be done to God’s people outside His word when we are disciplining them. This is why we will look at the acceptable nature of punishment they are to be given and how this is to be done.
But before I go on talking to you about that, I should let you know that when brethren are rebuked and corrected and they accept these things, they do not have to be punished. Jesus tells us in Saint Matthew’s gospel, chapter 18, if our brother or sister offends us or does something wrong, which we are aware of, we are to go and meet her personally about the matter to set her right. If she listens, as the Lord goes on to say, then we have won her over. The matter should end there. We don’t need to talk about it again. If she does not listen, we are to take two or three people along with us to address the case. If she listens, then, it should end there. But if she would not listen, we are to take the matter up with the church of God, that is, our Christian assembly. If the church, then, succeeds in getting her to accept her error and repent, the matter should end there. But if the church does not succeed, the Lord says we are to regard her as an unbeliever, as one that is not born again at all. (Cf. Matthew 18:15-17)
You can see, then, that there are steps or stages to be gone through in dealing with erring brethren before talking about punishing them for not taking correction and the nature of punishment to be given to them. But then, there are times that the nature of people’s sin requires that it be dealt with publicly. I am saying there are times that even though we have rebuked and corrected brethren about their sins and they have acknowledged them and repented of them, we still need to make the matter public. Why? It will be because the nature of what they have done is public.
For example, if someone was involved in adultery or fornication and it resulted in an unwanted pregnancy, evidently, at some point, God’s people will get to know about it. Some years ago, a brother approached me after a church meeting and told me that he was involved in sexual immorality with a lady, which resulted in an unwanted pregnancy. I would not know how long they both carried on in that act before the lady got pregnant. But when it resulted in an unwanted pregnancy, he decided to open up about it. So, I shared some things with him to let him know that he was out of line. And actually, he knew that he was out of line and that he had acted contrary to the will of God for his life and was willing to repent.
Now if the matter had not resulted in an unwanted pregnancy, I would only have addressed both of them about it, prayed with them and monitored them to see that they totally abstain from sexual immorality. Those would have been okay in dealing with their case. But because an unwanted pregnancy was involved, every member of the church would get to know what they did eventually. So, I told him that though he had acknowledged his sins and was willing to repent of them, his matter still had to be made public. In other words, his acknowledging of his sins against God and against His people was not sufficient. Everyone would still get to know about what he had done. So, it was better for us to make the matter public for everyone to know the exact truth about it. That way, no one would have to carry rumours around about them. I explained all that to him and told him that he had to be there when I would treat their case. And he was there. That, of course, was the end of the case.
I am saying this to let you know that even when people have taken correction and have admitted their sins or errors, there are times that their matter need to be treated publicly. That will be the case if their sin is of public nature. I just mentioned sexual immorality as an example of what could warrant that. Theft also could warrant it. If someone has stolen money belonging to the church or to others and the matter has become of public knowledge, then, it has to be treated publicly in the church. Or if someone was involved in a fight or domestic violence and it is of public knowledge, then, it has to be treated publicly in the church.
It is not enough for those who are involved in such things to acknowledge their sins and be repentant; it is also important that their matters are treated publicly in the church. Why is this important? First, you need to understand that the aim of this is not to ridicule them or destroy their reputation. The aim is to let the people of God know that the church does not condone iniquity or wickedness. So, a public statement must be made by the leadership of the church to the members that the church never sanctions or sponsors wickedness. If, for instance, we are dealing with a case of sexual immorality, which members of the church are already aware of or will be aware of sooner or later, then, we should let them know that the church does not condone such things.
Another reason it is important to treat such matters publicly is to prevent the sin of one person from becoming the sin of many. When a sin of public nature is not addressed publicly, people may be strengthened to do even more terrible things. So, they need to know that the church is not in support of any kind of sin and that she will continue to take her stand against it.
Then, apart from addressing a sin of public nature publicly in the church, there is also a need to remove the opportunity to sin from the person involved. This is so that the person will not have an occasion to fall into the same sin again. This is why we sometimes take certain responsibilities away from some brethren, when they sin. When we see that those responsibilities can further expose them to the sin we want them to deal with or walk in victory over, it is only wise to take those responsibilities away from them.
If, for example, someone has gotten involved in sexual sins through his leadership over a group of people in the church, it is only wise to remove the person from that position. That way, the opportunity to be involved in sexual sins will not present itself to that person again through that office. Or if someone has been involved in theft while managing certain resources of the church, it will be important to remove the person from that office so that he will not be tempted to sin through it again. This, as I said before, is sometimes the reason people are relieved of certain duties they have been handling in the church.
Unfortunately, in many assemblies of God’s people, such things are often done in vindictive ways. They are done to victimise those involved, to make them feel sorry for themselves and to destroy their reputation. But I told you before that the focus of church discipline is not to make people feel sorry for themselves or to put them down. People can be sorry for themselves and still be unrepentant. People can be put down and still not be repentant. So, putting people down for their sins or making them feel sorry for their sins is not the same thing as getting them to repent.
Well, my point is that there are times we may have to remove the opportunities for sinning from people until they get their lives together. And doing this is also important to prevent blasphemies against God and even the ridiculing of such people. Yes, the person who has done something wrong has repented of their sins. However, if they continue to hold certain positions in the church or to do some of the things they have been doing before, they may be exposed to ridicule and give other brethren reasons to blaspheme God.
See, it is not everyone that is mature in the things of God. And when certain people see individuals who have committed obvious sins still handling some functions in the church and behaving as though they had not done anything wrong, they may begin to say things they ought not to say and sin against God. I mean that it is easy for carnal and immature brethren to make remarks they are not permitted to make under such circumstances. They may even begin to relate to such individuals with disregard because they think they are not sober enough or because they think their sins are unforgivable.
Now there is no sin that is unforgivable. There is no sin a man may commit that God has not provided forgiveness for. There is provision of forgiveness in Christ Jesus for any sin any may commit or may have committed. We are the ones that do not easily forgive people. We are the ones that talk about forgiving people and not forgetting their sins. We are the ones that often make such nasty remarks and show such wicked attitudes towards others. God is not like that. When people acknowledge their sins or repent of them, God forgives them. And He is not going to count their sins against them anymore.
However, there are natural consequences of sins that people must be willing to deal with. And when they are dealing with those consequences of their sins, they must not see God as the one punishing them. For example, if a lady had been involved in several abortions and had lost her womb as a result, God is not to be held responsible for the loss of that womb. And if as a result of that, no man wants to marry them, they should not think that God is the one punishing them. They are just facing the natural consequences of their sins. Of course, God can rescue people from the natural consequences of their sins. But they must first appreciate that God is not punishing them when they are facing the natural consequences of their sins. It is Satan that is using their past to harass, oppress and punish them.
This, unfortunately, often happens in the church. I mean that Satan often finds brethren to use to torture and punish repentant believers using their past sins. That way, he can keep them in their sins or errors because they are being ridiculed, put down and treated like outcasts. Look at what Paul says along this line in 2Corinthians, chapter 2, from verse 5:
“If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent – not to put it too severely. The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. Now, instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. Another reason I wrote to you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven – if there was anything to forgive – I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.” (2Corinthians 2:5-11NIV)
You can see that Paul here is telling the brethren to reaffirm their love for that erring brother that has repented. Since he has repented, it is important that the church as a whole reaffirm their love for him and see to it that he is fully restored. Otherwise, Satan may take advantage of the situation and use it to destroy him or other persons in the church. So, I am saying that when people are repentant, certain measures may still need to be taken to set them right; certain measures may need to be taken to prevent them from getting involved in similar or the same sins in the future. And these measures taken will also prevent other brethren from sinning against God on account of them.
This is why we sometimes find brethren’s sins being made public in the church. This does not have to happen every time. But when what people have done will one way or the other become public at some point, it is better to make it public to the brethren and control the damage their sins may cost. You can see why Paul tells Timothy in his first letter to him, the fifth chapter, that elders who have sinned must be rebuked publicly so that others will take warning. He is referring there to elders that are living in sin and doing things that are obviously wrong. And because what they are doing is of public nature, their matters must be addressed publicly. Measures must be publicly taken to help them.
Mind you, we are not punishing people when we act like this. On the contrary we are healing them and healing the church of God. So, they must not see measures taken along this line as punishment. We will surely come to the part of punishing erring brethren for their sins because of their refusal to repent. But we are talking now about those who have repented or shown willingness to repent. And we are saying that we must not see measures taken publicly or openly to set them right as punishment.
More importantly, the focus of all that we do for such brethren must be their restoration. How they will be made to return to walking in the will of God must be our focus. This is why we must show them that we care about them in all that we do. Yes, they must see that it is because we are truly concerned about their spiritual health and that of the church that we are taking the kinds of measures we are taking concerning their sins.
Look at what Paul says about this: “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore the person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.” (Galatians 6:1NIV) Did you see that? Paul says if one of us is caught in a sin – that means it is obvious to us all that the person has been caught in Satan’s trap – we are to restore them. Our focus must be on their restoration. Sadly, this often does not happen in most of our assemblies. So, those who have erred end up yielding themselves completely to their sins or end up turning away from their devotion to God. That is because instead of helping them to stand in the will of God, what we do often is to pull them down and mess them up.
But this is wrong. It is not the way of the kingdom of God. The way of the kingdom is for us to seek their restoration. Consider the case of the woman that was brought to the Lord Jesus, which John reports in his gospel. She had been caught in the very act of adultery. And the people wanted to know what the Lord would say about her case. According to the law of Moses, she was supposed to be stoned to death. Unfortunately, it was only the woman that was brought to the Lord. The man that was involved in the act with her was not brought. Whether he ran away or not, we would not know, for we are not told in the bible.
Well, in responding to that, the Lord told the people that brought her that any one of them that was without sin should be the first to cast a stone at her. By and large, all of them who had brought her disappeared one after the other. That was because none of them considered himself fit to judge her. And after they had all gone, Jesus asked the woman, “Has anyone condemned you?” “No one,” she answered. Then the Lord said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.” The Lord was after the restoration of that woman and not after her destruction. The people who brought her were only concerned about her destruction. Already, they had ruined her reputation by bringing her out to be judged publicly like that. And they wanted to go further by killing her. Why? They were not walking in love. (Cf. John 8:11NIV)
In like manner, when we are not walking in love, we may find ourselves seeking to destroy our brethren because of their sins, even though they are repentant. Sadly, that is how we function in many of our assemblies. We ruin their lives. We destroy their reputation and whatever good that is in them. That is because we are not concerned about their growth or steadfastness in the faith. What we are concerned about is our image and our reputation as a church. If a brother is caught in sin, the harm has already been done. And we must know that we too may have failed that person in one way or the other. That is probably why they are in the mess they are in. Therefore, their restoration is what we should be thinking of and not our reputation. I mean that our focus should not be on what other believers or churches around us will be saying about us.
See, when we labour to protect our reputation in that way, we are simply seeking the praise of men instead of seeking the praise of God. If we are seeking the praise of God, then, we will focus on the restoration of our erring brethren. And when we do that, even if our reputation seems to have been messed up among men, God will honour us. Then, soon enough, we will see that the reputation we think has been destroyed has not been destroyed at all but has been preserved by God. This is where we will stop today. May God continue to keep you in His love and truth, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Copyright © 2022, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
Title: Rebuke and Correction (b)
By: Johnson O. Lawal
Date: July 17, 2022
Series: Church discipline
We have been looking at church discipline and the various dimensions to it. We started by looking at the giving of instructions to God’s people, so that they may know and understand what God expects of them. That, as I said before, is where church discipline begins. It begins with the instructing of the people of God in His will. Then we also have the part of illustrating the will of God to His people. If we want His people to be disciplined, we must illustrate His will to them. We must go beyond telling them about how He wants them to function in life to also living out the things we are teaching them. Then they can see that what we are teaching them is practicable.
Furthermore, we looked at the need to train God’s people by giving them specific responsibilities. Until they are given responsibilities and are watched to carry them out, we cannot be confident that they are taking the things we are teaching them about living in the will of God very seriously. There may be exceptions to this, of course. It is not every time that people show themselves as responsible in the church that they also show themselves as responsible in other places or areas of their lives. Nonetheless, from experience, we have seen that it is often those that show themselves responsible in the church that also show give themselves to acting on the things they are being taught about living in the will of God in other areas of their lives.
Moving away from that, we began to look at the place of rebuking and correcting the brethren. Remember that Paul tells us in his second letter to Timothy that the word of God is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished for every good work. So, the major tool for instilling discipline in the people of God is His word. It is His word that we use in instructing them in His will. It is His word that serves as our guide in giving them responsibilities. It is also His word that we use or must use in rebuking and correcting them, when they miss it.
As I pointed out to you before, until we instruct people in the will of God, we have no moral right to demand that they live accordingly or to rebuke or correct them for not living accordingly. However, when we have made the will of God known to His people and they are not living accordingly or taking steps that are contrary to His will, they need to be set right. This is mainly the job of the leader. But there are times that the members are also expected to help one another when they can see that they are doing things that are not consistent with the will of God.
The point I am making is that the tool to be used in setting God’s people right is the word of God. In rebuking God’s people, we must do so according to the word of God. In correcting God’s people we must do so according to the word of God. But we cannot leave erring brethren alone. Otherwise, they will continue to miss it or to do things that are contrary to the will of God.
Our Lord Jesus, as I showed you before, rebuked and corrected His disciples when they missed it. And if our Lord would not shy away from rebuking and correcting His disciples when they missed it, we too, especially the church leaders among us, should not shy away from rebuking and correcting our brethren that are missing it. Will this always be interesting? No! It is usually not interesting to rebuke and correct those that we love. It is usually not interesting to rebuke and correct people, where there is a possibility that they may misrepresent us or that the goal we are trying to accomplish may be defeated.
Let me show you what Paul says along this line in 2Corinthians. From verse 1 of chapter 2, he says:
“So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you. For if I grieve you, who is left to make me glad but you whom I have grieved? I wrote as I did, so that when I came I would not be distressed by those who should have made me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you, that you would all share my joy. For I wrote to you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.” (2Corinthians 2:1-4NIV)
Evidently, there was a letter Paul had written to these brethren that hurt them in a sense. And he wrote this letter in order to set right certain things that were wrong in their midst. For instance, in 1Corinthians, we see a number things he says to set right the things that are out of place in their midst. There may have been another lost letter that he wrote in which he said to them things that really grieved them. But he had to do what he had to do. And from what he tells us in this text before us, it is clear that he did not find rebuking and correcting these brethren interesting. He did not find it interesting because he believed hurting them was as bad as hurting himself. They were among those to comfort him in his ministry. And if he was deliberately hurting them without any meaningful cause, then, he would be hurting himself as well.
So, it is often not interesting to rebuke and correct those that we love. It may endanger our relationship. It may endanger even their own walk with God. There are people that may not want to continue to walk with God once they are severely rebuked for certain sins or errors in their lives. However, what needs to be done must be done. And this is why God’s people must also be taught how to respond to rebuke and correction. We see that our Lord Jesus’s apostles never left Him because He rebuked or corrected them. And He rebuked and corrected them a number of times.
For example, there was a time He said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan.” He literally called that man Satan. Of course, Peter was not Satan. But because he allowed Satan to use him to say certain things he should not have said, the Lord addressed him as Satan. And did he leave Him because of that. No, he did not leave Him. Why? He had been well-taught. (Cf. Matthew 16:21-23)
Also, in John’s gospel, chapter 6, we are told that many of the Lord’s disciples left Him because they found His words too hard to bear. Now John goes on to write this about what He said to the Twelve: “‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.’” (John 6:67-69NIV) That is the right attitude towards rebuke and correction. The Lord said things that were difficult to understand and embrace to all His disciples. So, many of them left. But these ones would not leave. Why? As Peter pointed out, it was because they had come to believe and know that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. Also, they had come to see for themselves that He had the words of eternal life. Therefore, whatever He said to them could only result in life and not death for them, if they would embrace it. It may hurt them. It may be painful for them to bear. It may make them sad. But it would always result in life for them and not death. (Cf. John 12:50)
This is why we must not shy away from rebuking and correcting the brethren. Yes, there are those who are afraid of doing this. And such people are not fit to lead the Lord’s people. So, if you have brethren in your life that are missing it or misbehaving and will not set them right, you are as good as participating in their errors. Remember why God rejected Eli. Remember why He had to judge him for the sins of his sons. He was never a part of their sins. Nevertheless, he was judged for their sins. Why was he judged for their sins? It was because he did not do the needful about what they were doing.
Eli was in a position to deal with those children. He was in a position to rebuke, correct and set them right. But he did not do so. Yes, once in a while, he called them to tell them that what they were doing was wrong. But God expected him to do more than that. He expected him to put them out of office, something that we will address later when we start looking at punishment as one of the dimensions of church discipline.
Well, what I am saying is that rebuking and correcting the brethren are very important things we must pay attention to when talking about church discipline. They cannot be overlooked or ignored. In 2Timothy, chapter 4, as I showed you before, Paul says this from verse 1:
“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather round them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” (2Timothy 4:1-5NIV)
Paul tells Timothy here that a time is coming when people will no longer want to put up with sound doctrine. They will not want to hear the truth. They will only want to hear what they want to hear. And this is never going to be for their benefit. That is why Paul tells Timothy to be ready to correct, rebuke and encourage the brethren, in season and out of season. They may not want to hear the truth. But he has to tell them. They may get angry with him for telling them the truth. But he has to continue to tell them the truth. He has to continue to rebuke and correct those who are missing it. And he has to continue to do this whether it is convenient for him or not and whether those he is dealing with find the time appropriate for them or not. He must not allow errors to fester in the church. He must not allow iniquity to spread in the church. It must be dealt with. Otherwise, the sin of one man may end up becoming the sin of many.
In 1Corinthians, chapter 5, Paul refers to the sin of sexual immorality, which was found in the church of the Corinthians, as a yeast that will spread. Look at how he puts it from verse 6 of the chapter:
“Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch – as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1Corinthians 5:6-8NIV)
Did you see that? Sin is like yeast. Before you know it, it will spread in the church, if it is not dealt with. So, if someone is walking in error in an assembly and is not set right, his sin will soon spread to other members. It does not necessarily have to be sins like sexual immorality, greed or bitterness. It may even be something like legalism. Paul rebuked the Galatian church for this in his letter to them. These brethren are exalting their works above the works of Christ and seeking to stand righteous before God through them. And Paul has to rebuke them sharply for doing so. He has to tell them that their works could not make them righteous before God, however good or great those works may be. Only the works of Jesus Christ could make them righteous. So, it is His works they have to embrace for their righteousness. And if you consider the language that Paul uses in communicating the truth to these brethren, you will see that it is somewhat harsh. That is because he wants them to see how serious the matter is. He wants them to see how legalism is ruining their faith. Therefore, correcting and rebuking the brethren are important for the growth of the brethren and the health of the church.
See, as I pointed before, there are times that brethren retain some of their old habits or certain cultural traits that are inconsistent with the will of God. And these things must be dealt with. The attention of the brethren must be drawn to them, so that they may rid their lives of them. Look at what Paul says to Titus about this again:
“For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach – and that for the sake of dishonest gain. One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: ‘Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.’ This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth.” (Titus 1:10-14NIV)
Here Paul is drawing Titus’ attention to certain cultural traits that have not left the brethren he is pastoring. The man is pastoring the churches in Crete. And as Paul shows him, one of the prophets from Crete has said that Cretans are always liars, evil brutes and lazy gluttons. Unfortunately, these things happen to be the truth. An average Cretan is a liar, an evil brute and a glutton. And he must not be left like that because those traits are not consistent with the Christian faith and the life we have been called to live. How is Titus, then, to respond to these things in the brethren? He is to rebuke them sharply so that they will be sound in the faith.
That means this man of God is not expected to ignore the evils that he sees in the brethren in Crete. Rather, he is to rebuke them. He is to tell them to their faces that what they are doing is wrong and that they need to get rid of them in their various lives. Then observe also that Paul says there are many rebellious people in that church. These are rebels in the church, people who will not take spiritual instructions seriously, people who always want to do things their own way. And they must be set right, for the church is not a place where you do as you please. Anything we do in the church must be consistent with the word of God, with the will of God. And anyone that is acting contrary to this must be set right. What they are doing cannot be ignore or overlooked. It has to be dealt with.
As I said before, if we do not deal with the error of one person in the church, it may soon become the error of many people. That is why in certain churches we find that certain sins are widespread or predominant. It may be sexual immorality. So, when you bring two or three of the brethren out, you may realise that at least one of them is involved in it. Things probably did not start that way in such assemblies. But because appropriate measures were not taken in rebuking and correcting the brethren, so that they may be sound in the faith, one man’s error later became the error of many.
So, regardless of how gifted or devoted to service brethren may be, when they miss it, they must be set right. In Galatians, chapter 2, Paul speaks of a time he had to rebuke Peter for his hypocrisy. Look at how he puts this from verse 11:
“When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, ‘You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?’” (Galatians 2:11-13NIV)
Paul then goes on to share with all of these people how they are to treat the law of Moses as Gentile and Jewish believers. In any case, you can see that when Paul saw that Peter was not walking in line with the truth of the gospel, he had to confront him with the truth publicly. He probably would not have done that, if other brethren in the church had not been involved in his hypocrisy. He started the whole thing. He became hypocritical because he was afraid of those of the circumcision in the church. And because of his hypocrisy other Jewish believers with him were led astray. Even Barnabas was caught up in the mess. That is why I am saying that the sin of one person can become the sin of many.
Well, Paul, on that occasion, would not allow that in the church. So, he dealt with it once and for all. But if he had been afraid of Peter, that problem would not have been solved. If he had cared about the praise of men more than the praise of God, the problem would not have been solved. But he was a servant of the Lord who cared about the health of His church. So, he would not allow anybody, even if the person was an apostle, to mess of with that.
Now observe that Paul did not insult Peter at all. He simply told him the truth. And in Ephesians 4 we are told that we must come to that point in our walk with God and with one another where we speak the truth in love. Paul goes on to call that Christian maturity. So, one of the signs that we are maturing as Christians is our devotion to speaking the truth in love. It may hurt. It may be painful. But truth must be told, told in love.
I know there are people who, when addressing the errors of others, do all they can to insult and abuse them and make them feel all bad and terrible. That is a wrong approach to church discipline. The focus is never on pulling people down. And it is also never about making them feel sorry. People may feel sorry for themselves for doing certain wrong things and still not repent. In 2Corinthians, chapter 7, from verse 8, Paul says this about church discipline, as it concerns rebuking and correcting the brethren for their error:
“Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it – I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while – yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. So even though I wrote to you, it was neither on account of the one who did the wrong nor on account of the injured party, but rather that before God you could see for yourselves how devoted to us you are. By all this we are encouraged…” (2Corinthians 7:8-13NIV)
There is really a lot to say about what Paul says here. But the point of it all is that the focus of church discipline is repentance. The focus is to make brethren abandon whatever wrong thing they are doing for the right thing. The idea is not to make them feel bad or sorry. And the idea is not to pull them down. That is why it has to be done in love. Yes, rebuking and correcting the brethren may hurt them. As Paul shows us in this text, his letter hurt the Corinthians to some degree. But his original intention was not to hurt them. His original intention was to set them right. And he was glad that they were set right. That was why he said we are glad that we did not harm you in any way, even though we had to rebuke you the way we did.
Why did Paul’s rebuke not result in harm for the brethren in Corinth? It was because they acted on what he said to them. They were not just sorry for themselves. Instead, they also showed themselves to be ready to repent. And Paul refers to that as godly sorrow, which always results in repentance and leaves no regrets. But there is equally worldly sorrow. And this results in death. So, we have had those who committed suicide because they were sorry for themselves. There have also been those who abandoned Christian fellowship because they were sorry for themselves and certain things they did. These ones left the church and never came back. They turned their back on God.
So, the aim of church discipline is not to make people sorry. Rather, it is to lead them to repentance. It is to bring erring brethren around. It is to make them see what wrong things they are doing, how these things are hurting them and the church and the need for them to repent of them. Yes, rebuking and correcting them may make them feel bad or sorry. But the focus is not on making them feel sorry or sad but to make them repent.
Well, the point of it all is that if we will be disciplined in the church, we must embrace rebuke and correction, when we miss it. And if people are missing it in our lives, we must not shy away from correcting or rebuking them. This is not the job of the pastors alone but also of all God’s people that they are leading. Remember that our Lord tells us that when any of our brethren errs, we are to meet them to set them right. And if they do not listen, we are to take more brethren with us in setting them right. If they still will not take correction, then, we are to bring the church in. But wrongdoings must not be ignored in the church. Anything that can hurt the health of the church or tamper with the growth of God’s people must not be overlooked or ignored. It must be dealt with in love. And God will honour us for doing so and heal His church. But if we refuse to deal with it, God Himself may have to step in at some point and judge it, as Paul shows the Corinthian brethren in a letter of his to them.
We will pick it up from here next week. Let us pray and thank God for His word that has come to us.
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Series: Church discipline 4 | Title: Rebuke and Correction (a) | By: Johnson O. Lawal | Date: July 10, 2022
For a while now we have been looking at church discipline and what it entails. As I pointed out before, church discipline is not all about punishment, even though that is the way many people view it. When we talk about church discipline, they think we are referring to measures that are taken to punish erring brethren. And while we cannot exclude the need to punish erring brethren when talking about church discipline, church discipline is not all about punishing erring brethren. In fact, it does not begin with punishment; rather, it begins with instructions. We instil discipline in God’s people by first of all instructing them in the will of God.
Then we also need to illustrate the will of God to His people. It is one thing to instruct people in the will of God; it is another thing to show them with our lives how they are to function in His will. And there are several Scriptures that point to the fact that leaders of God’s people must take the lead in doing the will of God. They must lead God’s people, not just by instructions but also by examples.
Furthermore, I shared with you on the roles of training people to do the will of God. And I read to you what Paul says to Timothy in his second epistle, which reads, “All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished for every good work.” (Cf. 2Timothy 3:16-17) Here we see dimensions that church discipline ought to take. We have a giving of instructions to God’s people, which is where everything must begin. Then we have a training of God’s people. God’s people must be trained. This goes beyond instructing them in the will of God or illustrating the will of God to them. We also need to engage them in training. How? It is by giving them responsibilities.
That is the way we train our children at home. We give them responsibilities. We don’t just give them instructions on what to do or how to do it. We also give them specific responsibilities. These will help us to see whether the things we are teaching them are being taken seriously by them or not. In like manner, people must be given responsibilities in the church. And as I pointed out before, it is those that take the responsibilities that we give them seriously that we can also expect to act on other things we are teaching them about living in the will of God.
However close we may be to the brethren, we can’t possibly know all that is going on in their lives or know how well they are acting on the things they are being taught in our church meetings and so forth. Unless God reveals specific things to us about them or others bring some reports to us about them, we may not be able to tell the degree to which they are acting on the instructions we are giving them in the will of God. But when we give them responsibilities in the church, we can judge from the way they handle them whether they are taking other instructions we are giving to them about Christian living seriously or not.
Of course, this does not mean that those who take the responsibilities given them in the church seriously always live in the will of God where they are, live, school or do business. Sometimes, we find exceptions to this. I mean that there are times we find those who take their responsibilities in the church seriously but who do not act responsibly at home, at work and so forth. People can be all good and nice in our church meetings but be totally different in relating to their family members, colleagues at work, neighbours and so on.
However, the truth is that it is those that take whatever responsibilities we give to them seriously that we often find to be living according to the truths of the Scriptures that they are learning in our church meetings. So, if we want to know whether our brethren in church are learning at all or taking seriously the things we are teaching them, we must give them responsibilities. And as I pointed out before, the kingdom of God is a place of responsibilities. It is a place where people are expected to be responsible. It is a place where everyone has responsibilities set aside by God for them to take care of. It is on each of us, then, to find out what these responsibilities are and begin to carry them out.
Now it is as we carry our responsibilities in the church out that we get trained to be able to do any kind of good work. Remember that God wants us to be thoroughly equipped for any kind of good work. For that to happen we must take seriously whatever responsibility we are given where we are at the moment. This is not always about preaching or teaching the word of God. Sadly, there are those who think taking up responsibility in the church is only about these things. But that is not so.
Teaching God’s people, of course, is important and this cannot be overstated. But that is not the only thing required to discipline God’s people or bring them to maturity. There are other things that must equally be done to them in order for the will of God to be done in their lives. So, we see that it was not every time that our Lord Jesus sent His disciples to preach, heal the sick and cast out demons. There were also times that He had other responsibilities for them.
Then in the early days of the church, brethren were given all kinds of responsibilities in serving one another. As we are shown in Acts of the apostles, the first set of deacons that were ordained in the church were saddled with the duty of sharing food among the widows of the church. And as they did this, the word of God grew and the church of God also grew in number.
In like manner, when we take up responsibilities in the church, even when they do not appear to be spiritual, God is able to use them to bring about the fulfilment of His will in the lives of His children, as long as such things are done in love and according to His word. So, our sweeping of the floor of our meeting place, our standing as ushers in our meetings, our organising of the place we meet, our following up of God’s people and so forth can be used by God to accomplish His will in the lives of His children. Ours is simply to make ourselves available to serve. And this is how we get trained in the will of God.
Unfortunately, we often find that though some want to preach to God’s people, for example, they do not want to sweep the floor of the place where those they want to preach to will sit. What kind of preachers will such people be? The truth is that it is as we make ourselves responsible in the church that the gifts of God given to us begin to fully find expression. All of us, according to Scriptures, have been given diverse spiritual gifts. Each of us has at least one of these gifts. And this gift, whatever it may be, is given to us to serve in the kingdom. And as we use it, we are trained by God to be more and more responsible in the kingdom. If we won’t serve, however, brethren may not even accept or recognise the so-called spiritual gifts we have.
I am saying these things because I want you to keep in mind the fact that it is important that God’s people are trained in the will of God by giving them responsibilities that involve serving others. But then, it is also important that whatever responsibility they are given is given in line with the word of God. No responsibility is to be given to them outside the scope of the word of God. All the responsibilities being given to them must be within the scope of God’s word, of their spiritual gifts and of other recognised abilities or skills they may possess.
Well, as I said before, until we take up whatever responsibilities we are given in the church, nobody will be able to tell whether we are taking other things we are being taught seriously or not. If we are being taught how to pray, for example, it will okay for us to be asked to lead some group of God’s people in prayer once in a while. That way, we will know whether the things we have been learning on prayers are being taking seriously by us or not. Or if we are taught the relevance of following up God’s people, it will be okay to ask us to follow up certain brethren, so that we may see for ourselves what it looks like to do follow-up. We may even be paired with some mature brethren in doing this, so that we can learn from them how to relate to brethren in dealing with whatever form of challenges they are facing in life. I am sure you are now appreciating what disciplining the brethren in the will of God involves. It goes beyond giving them instructions; it also involves giving them specific responsibilities that will make them put to work the things they are being taught.
Having said all that, it is equally important that we know that in disciplining God’s people, there are times that they need to be rebuked and corrected. Remember that Paul says that the word of God is useful for rebuking and correcting God’s people. To what end is that? It is to the end that they may be disciplined. It is to the end that they may attain maturity. It is to the end that they may be thoroughly furnished for every good work.
Now when do we need to rebuke and correct God’s people? It is when they miss it; it is when they err. Of course, this is often not easy for the leader that has to rebuke and correct those who are erring. And it is also often not easy for the brethren that are being rebuked and corrected to take what is coming to them. But it is important for the health of the church.
As we are shown in Scriptures, even our Lord Jesus rebuked and corrected His disciples on a number of occasions. When they functioned outside the will of God for them, He rebuked and corrected them. He did not leave them to themselves. He did not overlook their wrongdoings as nothing. Of course, it was not every time that they did wrong things. But when they did, He rebuked and corrected them. When they had wrong views of things, He set them right.
For example, in Mark’s gospel, chapter 10, from verse 13, he says:
“People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’ And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.” (Mark 10:13-16NIV)
On this occasion the disciples were furious that those coming to the Lord were bringing their little ones along with them. And that was because they felt that the Lord did not have enough time to minister to adults. Besides, they believed that those children would make the whole place noisy and rowdy. So, they asked their parents to get them away from the Lord. As far as they were concerned, they were doing what was best for the Lord, for themselves and for every other person there. But the Lord was angry with them for acting that way. And He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them.”
Mind you, the Lord could not have said that to them nicely or calmly. He must have screamed at them. That was because He was upset that they did what they did. And He had to correct their wrong thinking about children and their place in God’s kingdom. He told them plainly that the kingdom of God belongs to children as well. So, they must not be hindered. He, in fact, goes on to say that anyone who will not receive the kingdom like a little child will never enter it. You can see that the Lord on this occasion did not overlook what His disciples did. Instead, He rebuked and corrected them for it.
But people often don’t like to be rebuked or corrected. Even leaders of God’s people often don’t like to rebuke and correct their brethren. It is only bullies that delight in doing such. But whether a leader likes to rebuke and correct God’s people or doesn’t, it is part of the job. And anyone that is not ready to do this has no business leading the people of God. You want to function with sentiments all the time and have people like you or love you for always being nice to them. Fine. But you cannot lead them without being ready to rebuke and correct them. For the health of the church and for their own health, growth and usefulness in God’s hand, there are times they must be rebuked and corrected.
Now observe that I have been putting these two things together: rebuking and correcting. That is because disciplining God’s people when they err must not end with rebuking them; it must also include correcting them. That means it is not enough to show them what they have done wrong; it is also important that they are shown what they need to do right. These things, of course, must be done in love. But they have to be done.
Yes, there are people who do not know how to rebuke or correct in love. And they are wrong to be that way. But these things must be done in the church on need basis. Mind you, there is no well-established organisation in which these things are not done. There is no organisation in which people are not rebuked and corrected when they do wrong. What about our schools? Don’t they rebuke and correct their students or pupils? They do. Otherwise, they will not mature or become responsible. In the same vein, at home children are rebuked and corrected so that they may grow and become responsible in life. We don’t just leave them to themselves and allow them to ruin their lives and the home or the society.
Furthermore, we have another occasion in Mark’s gospel, chapter 10, where the Lord had to set right His apostles again. As we are told, James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, had come to the Lord, asking Him that He would allow one of them to sit at His right hand and the other at His left hand in His glory. And though the Lord did not rebuke them for asking this thing, He did tell them that He was not in a position to grant them their request and that the only person that could grant their request was God. Here is how Mark records what followed:
“When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’” (Mark 10:41-45NIV)
The other apostles were angry with James and John for making the kind of request they made and trying to put themselves ahead of them. In fact, they did not just want to be ahead of them; they also wanted to have the most important places in the Lord’s eternal kingdom. And though the Lord did not rebuke James and John for this, as I pointed out before, He did call all of them together to correct them, when He saw that the others were angry. Truly, James and John expressed their desire to be ahead of the others. That is not to say that others also did not have similar desires. Each of them must have had his own desire to be ahead of the others in the Lord’s kingdom. It was just that they did not express it.
Well, the Lord told them that their thinking was that of the world. According to Him, one can indeed become greater than others in the kingdom of God. But that would not happen by following the ways of the world. You don’t become great in the kingdom by lording it over others or ruling them. Rather, you become one by serving others. And that was what the Lord said to those apostles to set their thinking right.
On another occasion, as reported by Luke in his gospel, Jesus had to rebuke James and John for seeking permission from Him to rain down fire on a certain Samaritan village because the people would not allow them to pass through their village. Look at his account of this:
“As the time approach for him to be taken up, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, ‘Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?’ But Jesus turned and rebuked them. Then he and his disciples went to another village.” (Luke 9:51-56NIV)
Did you see that? Jesus turned and rebuked them. They had wanted Him to permit them to call down fire from heaven to destroy those Samaritans, just as Elijah once did. But the Lord rebuked them for having such thoughts. In fact, some ancient manuscripts show us that the Lord further told them that they did not know the kind of Spirit they belonged to, for the Son of man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them. Just think about it. They wanted to destroy those people because they would not welcome them.
Now similar things happen among us and with us today. We want people to go to hell because they would not accept the gospel. Or we want certain evil to befall them because they oppose us or our ministry. That is wrong. It is not in our place to judge or punish those who will not accept the gospel of Jesus Christ or our ministry. That is God’s job. And unless He reveals to us how He intends to judge certain individuals for opposing His work, we must refrain from pronouncing any judgment or curse on them. Otherwise, we will be allowing Satan to use us. Then we will need to be rebuked.
Jesus rebuked James and John on that occasion. And interestingly, they did not leave Him or His ministry. So, people’s attitude towards rebuke is important. If you, then, want to be disciplined and mature in God’s kingdom, you must have the right attitude towards rebuke and correction, not just towards the teachings coming to you or your responsibilities or your leaders. Otherwise, you won’t grow much.
John tells us in his gospel, the sixth chapter, that there was a time that many of the Lord’s disciples left Him. They left Him because they felt that the things He was teaching them were too hard to bear. They literally said, “This is a hard saying. Who can bear it?” So, they left Him because they did not want to embrace the truth He was sharing with them. They did not want to be disciplined or come to maturity in the things of God. They simply wanted to continue as they were, thinking and acting the way they had always done. (Cf. John 6:52-66)
But we must not be like them. Instead, we must grow and come to maturity. So, we must allow ourselves to be rebuked and corrected, whenever and wherever we are wrong. This, by the way, is one of the problems Paul says the church will face in the last days. People will not want to be disciplined. They will not want to be corrected, even though this is important for their growth. But he did this in a number of his letters. In a letter to the Corinthians, for instance, he rebuked them for the divisions, immorality, envy and other wrong things going on in their midst. He did not keep quiet about these things or act as though they were nothing, for they were terrible and were ruining them and their testimony in the land. Instead, he said very hard and tough things to them. He himself confessed in 2Corinthians that he could see that a letter he had written to them made them feel sorry. (Cf. 2Corinthians 7:8-10)
Also, he did similar things with the Galatian church. He rebuked them for their tolerance of another gospel and said some very tough things to them in the process. He did not overlook their error as nothing. That was because the health of the church was concerned. And as I pointed out before, he charged Timothy about the significance of doing this. He did that because he knew that a time would come when people would not want to cope with discipline in the church. Look at how he puts this, as we close:
“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather round them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” (2Timothy 4:1-5NIV)
Paul gives Timothy this charge in the text: preach the word and nothing else. Then he goes on to tell him that he must be ready in season and out of season, that is, whether it is convenient or not, to correct, rebuke and encourage the brethren, with great patience and careful instruction. So, correcting and rebuking the brethren are both vital parts of church discipline. And we will surely have people, here and there, who will not want to put up with this. They will not want to put up with sound doctrine. Instead, they will be looking for those who will teach them what their itching ears want to hear.
However, the church leader does not have the luxury of telling you what you want to hear. His job is to tell you what God wants you to hear and to teach you what God wants you to know. And you have to be ready to hear that. This, of course, is where we will stop today. May God fill your heart with understanding and strengthen you always to embrace whatever truth He has brought to you or may bring to you. Amen.
Copyright © 2022, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
Title: Training
By: Johnson O. Lawal
Date: July 03, 2022
Series: Church discipline 3
I have been sharing with you about church discipline. And I want to further share with you on the subject. Already, I told you that church discipline does not begin with punishment; rather, it begins with instruction. Many people think that when we are talking about church discipline, we are talking about punishing God’s people for erring or for sinning or for doing things that are contrary to the will of God. We cannot, of course, exclude that from Church discipline. But church discipline does not begin with punishment. Rather, it begins with instructions. We must first of all instruct God’s people on how to live to please God. We must first show them what God expects of them and how He expects them to function. It is when they are not functioning as God expects them to function that we can begin to take appropriate measures to bring them to order.
So, I am saying this again: church discipline does not begin with punishment but with instructions. We instruct people first in the will of God before we start making demands for conformity on them. And the tool for instructing them in the will of God is the word of God. We don’t instruct people in the will of God with our tradition, culture or experiences. Yes, we can use our experiences or things happening around us or things that are consistent with nature to illustrate the word of God to people. But the main tool for instructing people in the will of God is the word of God. This is why in 2Timothy, chapter 3, from verse 16, Paul says all Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
The focus is bringing God’s people to maturity and thoroughly equipping them to be able to do every good work God wants them to do. That is the focus of church discipline. And the word of God is what we must deploy in accomplishing this. First, we use it to instruct people in His will. Then we illustrate His will to them. This is why Paul tells the Corinthians that his life agrees with what he teaches everywhere (1Corinthians 4:17). This is how things must be in every assembly of God. We must go beyond giving instructions to people in the will of God to actually illustrating His will to them. We must illustrate His will with our lives and conduct.
Therefore, leaders of God’s people everywhere must live lives that are open for God’s people to see. They must be open about the way they live in their respective communities. This will make it possible for people to learn from them. When they see them living in the will of God, they will be able to tell that the things they are teaching them are practicable and not just rules that have no bearing with life. That way, they can expect to get the same results in their lives, if they too will devote themselves to practising the word of God that they are being taught.
Another way to accomplish discipline in the church is through training. God’s people need to be trained to do the things God wants them to do. It is one thing to instruct people in the will of God. It is another thing for them to be trained to do the things they have been taught. I already told you that church discipline includes all that is done to God’s people and for them to bring them to maturity and make them the people God wants them to be. And they have to be trained for this to happen. How, then, do you train them? It is by giving them responsibility.
Mind you, Paul already tells us in his letter to Timothy that God’s word is useful for training people in righteousness. And I am saying that training them in this manner involves giving them responsibilities. How do we train our children or students? It is not just by giving them instructions but also by giving them responsibilities that will drive them to out the instructions that we have given to them. We can give God’s people instructions on how to function in their homes, workplaces, neighbourhoods and so forth. And we can give them instructions on how to relate to prayers, the word of God, the government, Christian fellowship and so forth. But if we do not give them specific responsibilities, we will not know how seriously they take the things we have been teaching them or whether they understand the things we have been teaching them at all.
So, in God’s kingdom, we must give people responsibilities that are consistent with the instructions we have been giving them in the will of God. See, there is no way we can monitor everything going on in the lives of the children that are in our lives or that are under our care. But by giving them responsibilities, we can measure to some degree how committed they are to the things we are teaching them. And there are Scriptures that point to the fact that the kingdom of God is a place of responsibilities. To start with, God gave Adam responsibilities when He put him in the Garden of Eden. He told him to take care of the Garden.
God gives His children responsibilities and does not just leave them to be idle. For instance, we are told this in Hebrews 12:
“And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, ‘My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.’ Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father – and everyone undergoes discipline – then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.” (Hebrews 12:5-8NIV)
Did you see that? God disciplines His children. He disciplines those He accepts as children. He subjects them to discipline. And one of the ways He does this is by giving them responsibilities. By giving them responsibilities He instils discipline in them. Look at what Mark says about how our Lord Jesus related to the first set of disciples that He called: “Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.” (Mark 3:13-15NIV) The Lord selected twelve people out of the disciples following Him around. Why? First, it was so that they might be with Him. Why did He want them to be with Him? It was so that He might instruct them in the will of God.
Second, He wanted them to be witnesses to His life, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension. He wanted them to see these things so that they would have a message to those of the world. But that was not all. He also wanted to send them out to preach and to have authority over demons. That means He was not just going to be instructing them in the will of God; He was also going to be giving them responsibilities. And we found Him giving them responsibilities. For instance, Mark says in chapter 6 of this same gospel, verse 7:
“Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits. These were his instructions: ‘Take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.’ They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed with oil many people who were ill and healed them.” (Mark 6:7-13NIV) Th
Look at that. Jesus had been teaching these people how to live to please God in this life, illustrating this to them with His own life. Then He began to send them out to put into practice the things they have been learning. Teachers can fully relate to this. While they were still in school, they were regularly sent out for what is called ‘Teaching practice’. This is a time for them put to practice the things they have been learning in school. They meet with real students in real classrooms and see how things really work. Also, they meet with other people who have been teachers before them and see how they handle things in the school and in their classrooms.
In like manner, those who do sciences are often sent to practicalize what they are taught in class. Everything does not end with the instructions they receive in the classroom. They are also regularly sent into the laboratories to see for themselves the things they are being taught and to put into practice whatever principles they have been taught.
So also, our Lord Jesus Christ gave His disciples responsibilities that were consistent with the things He was teaching them. As we saw in the bible text I just gave you, He sent them out to preach the good news they had learnt from Him. They had seen Him preach and heal the sick and drive out demons. So, they were aware of the possibility of being able to do the things He was doing. But they had to go out and do them. And in fact, in sending them out, He gave them no money. That was because He wanted them to learn to trust God for their various ministries. That is training.
However, training God’s people with responsibilities goes beyond asking them to preach or heal the sick. Everyone is not called to preach the word of God the way some of us are. And everyone does not possess the gift to heal the sick or drive out demons as some of God’s people do. Yes, every child of God has authority in Christ Jesus to heal the sick and drive out demons. But these things manifest in different degrees in different children of God. That is because we all are gifted differently as His children. This is why we all cannot be teachers of the word of God or be healing the sick or driving out demons as regularly as those gifted along these lines will be doing. But we all have our various responsibilities in the kingdom, which we should know and begin to carry out.
As we see in Scriptures, it was not every time that our Lord Jesus sent out His disciples to preach or heal the sick or drive out demons. There were times that He had other responsibilities for them. For instance, there was a time that He fed five thousand people and more. The disciples were not the ones that preached in that meeting. But they were the ones that managed it. Look at how Mark puts this in chapter 6, from verse 39 of his gospel:
“Then Jesus told them to make all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.” (Mark 6:39-44NIV)
Now Jesus Christ performed a miracle of multiplication of food that fed more than five thousand people on that occasion. But who was responsible for distributing the food? The disciples! Who was responsible for organising the people? The disciples! They were the ones that made the people sit down in groups of fifties and hundreds. Also, when the people were done eating, who picked up the left-over? It was the disciples that picked up the left-over. Their responsibility at that time was not to preach but to organise those that the Lord wanted to minister to. In like manner, God’s people in our various assemblies must be given responsibilities from time to time that will result in the fulfilment of the will of God in the lives of others.
Also, just before the Lord Jesus went to the cross, He sent some of His disciples to prepare for the Passover. Look at how Matthew reports this in his gospel:
“On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?’ He replied, ‘Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, “The teacher says: my appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.”’ So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.” (Matthew 26:17-19NIV)
What was their responsibility at that time? It was to prepare for the Passover feast. So, taking up responsibilities in the kingdom of God is not all about preaching. Preaching, of course, is essential for the building up of God’s people. But people also must pick up different responsibilities in the kingdom of God that will result in the fulfilment of God’s will in the lives of His people. So, when we have a meeting, we will need those who will arrange or organise things in it, so that it will go smoothly. Then there are times that the duty we will give some among us is to visit those who have not been regular in our meetings or those who are sick or those who are still weak in their faith.
In short, there are all kinds of things that can be done for God’s people to be built up. And brethren must be given responsibilities that will accomplish this. I know some just want to preach and do nothing else. But preaching is not the only thing needed for the will of God to be done in the lives of His children. There are other things that must be done to them for this to happen. They must be followed up, looked after, prayed for, comforted, counselled and so forth for the will of God to be accomplished in their lives.
Do you know that Jesus had someone managing the purse of His ministry for Him? John tells us that Judas Iscariot was the one responsible for that. He was the treasurer of the ministry of the Lord. And from time to time the Lord sent him to minister to the poor and share things with them. I am sure others too would have received specific responsibilities from Him that aided the ministry. And each of them would be expected to fully discharge the duties of their ministries. Judas Iscariot, for instance, was expected to handle his ministry of managing the ministry money well. But he failed at it because of greed and lost it. (Cf. John 12:4-6)
I am showing you all these to let you know that when we are talking about the kingdom of God, we are talking about a place of responsibilities. And I am giving you all these Scriptures to make the point very clear to you that you cannot grow as God wants you to grow and be a disciplined child of His, if you will not take up responsibilities in the kingdom. In fact, you are probably showing yourself as an illegitimate child by not taking up responsibilities. If you are a legitimate child of God, you will submit yourself to be disciplined.
Now in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 21, from verse 28, he shares this parable:
“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, “Son, go and work today in the vineyard.” “I will not,” he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, “I will sir,” but he did not go. Which of the two did what his father wanted? “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.” (Matthew 21:28-31NIV)
Here the Lord is showing us that the kingdom of God is a place of responsibilities. There is work for everyone to do in it. In fact, we are told in Ephesians 2 that God created us to do the good works He has prepared in advance for us to do. And as we fellowship with Him day by day, He reveals these good works He wants us to do to us and also expects us to carry them out. These works may ones to be done in our homes, neighbourhoods, offices, towns, cities and so forth. But they are works that God has prepared in advance for us to do. And we must be willing and devoted to doing them.
In fact, we are to ask, “What are my responsibilities in the church and to the world?” Don’t just come around for church meetings to listen to instructions being given to you week after week or to have others pray for you, counsel you or give to you. You too need to find out what your own responsibilities are in the kingdom. Each of us has a responsibility in the kingdom. Each of us has something to contribute to the overall growth of the body of Christ. Each of us has something to contribute to the overall usefulness of the body. Look at how Paul puts this in Ephesians 4, from verse 11:
“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does it work.” (Ephesians 4:11-16NIV)
Observe here that one of the reasons we have pastors, evangelists, apostles and prophets is that they may train God’s people for works of service. They are not just to instruct us in the will of God. They are also to train us for works of service. They are to build us up to be responsible children of God. And I am saying that one of the ways they do this is by giving us responsibilities. They may show us all kinds of things we are to do in our lives, homes, workplaces and so forth. But they can’t always be there to watch us do these things. By giving us specific responsibilities in the church and watch us how to do them, they, however, can tell whether we are taking seriously all the instructions they are giving us in the church or not.
Then observe that Paul says the body of Christ grows as each part does its work. So, if you are not carrying out your own duty in the kingdom, you are limiting the growth of the entire body of Christ. If you are not doing anything in the church, you are limiting the overall growth and usefulness of the body of Christ. And we cannot be certain that you are taking seriously all the things we have been teaching you about how to live to please God. But when we give you responsibilities and you carry them out, then, we can have some guarantee that you will put into practice other things we are teaching you.
This, of course, is not always the situation. I know there are times people show themselves responsible in their various assemblies, when they are not acting responsibly in other areas of their lives. But the truth is that it is those who show themselves responsible in whatever task they are given in church that often show themselves responsible in other areas of their lives as well. Those who don’t take up any task at all in the church don’t often show themselves responsible in Christian living.
Therefore, if you have no responsibility you are carrying out in the church, and you are not ready to take up any, it is most likely that you are not living in the will of God where you are. Stephen, Procorus, Nicanor, Parmenas, Philip and others were saddled in the early days of the church with the responsibility of daily sharing food among the widows. And they took it seriously. Then, while they were carrying it out, other gifts of the Spirit began to find expression in them. Luke reports what followed this, saying, “So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.” (Acts 6:7NIV)
Think about that. Through the sharing of food among widows, the word of God grew. As those deacons took their responsibility in the church seriously, even though it was just that of sharing food among the widows, it resulted in the growth of the word of God and of His church. What, then, is the relationship between a sharing of food and the growth word of God or of the church of God? There does not seem to be any logical relationship between them. But the truth is that when we take whatever responsibility we are given in the church seriously, God knows how to use it to bring about the growth of His people.
What I am saying is that preaching is not the only thing will bring about the fulfilment of the will of God in the lives of His children. There are other things as well that must be done to them and for them as well in order to bring about the fulfilment of His will in their lives. And leaders of our various assemblies are in a position to give us responsibilities along this line. Ours is to take them seriously and carry them out well.
Remember the parable that was shared by the Lord about the man that gave his servants talents to work with. And the Lord says that is typical of how things are in the kingdom of God. In other words, the kingdom of God is a place where people are given responsibilities. And God expects His children to carry out those responsibilities. That is one of the things that will determine whether they will move forward in the kingdom or not.
As that parable goes, the man that did nothing with his own talent was punished severely. I would not know how God punishes His children that fail to carry out their responsibilities. But we do see in Scriptures how He dealt with Jonah for running away from the task He gave him. And we also see that the talent that was given to that man was taken away from him and given to another. So, there is a place for that in the kingdom. When you are given responsibilities in the kingdom and you do not take them seriously, they can be taken away from you. People often get angry at such things. But that is God’s way of handling and training His children.
Moses was given the responsibility of building God a tabernacle. And he did everything he was told to do. So, the glory of God appeared on the tabernacle. If you too want the glory of God to appear to others through what you are doing for Him, then you need to take it seriously and carry it out the way He has instructed you. That is where we will end it for now.
Let us pray.
Copyright © 2022, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
Title: More than instructions
By: Johnson O. Lawal
Date: June 26, 2022
Series: Church discipline 2
I want us to continue from where we left off on ‘Church discipline’. As I pointed out to you before, when we are talking about church discipline, what usually comes to the mind of many is punishment. Even though punishment cannot not be excluded from matters of church discipline, church discipline does not begin with punishment. Rather, it begins with instructions. It begins with giving brethren instructions on how to live to please God. The focus of church discipline is on bringing brethren to maturity and making them sound in the faith. God wants us to come to maturity as His children. He wants us to get to that point where the fullness of Christ is finding expression in us and we are relating together as one. And Paul explains this in Ephesians 4.
Now, in order to accomplish these things, instructions must be given to us on how God expects us to live. Let me again draw your attention to what Paul says to the Thessalonians about this in his first letter to them. He says from verse 1 of chapter 4, “As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we as you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.” (1Thessalonians 4:1NIV) You can see that when the Thessalonians became born again, Paul and his ministry partners instructed them in the will of God. They taught them how to live to please to God. And that is exactly what church leaders are expected to be doing. They must instruct everyone that comes to the Lord Jesus Christ in the will of God. And the tool for doing this is the word of God.
In 2Timothy, chapter 3, from verse 16, Paul says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2Timothy 3:16-17NIV) Paul here says all Scripture is God-inspired. And it is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. All the Scriptures are useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. To what end? It is to the end that God’s people may become perfect, thoroughly furnished for every good work. We have been recreated by God, according to Scriptures, to do those good works that God prepared in advance for us to do. But we won’t be able to do them, if we are not made fit.
Thankfully, the word of God has been given to make us fit to live righteous lives and to do those good works that God wants us to do. And we can see from what Paul says to Timothy the various uses the word of God could be put to in bringing Christians to maturity. First, Paul says it is useful in teaching, that is, in instructing people to do the will of God. So, if we want to instruct people in the will of God, our tool is the word of God. It is His word that we use in instructing them how to please Him.
We cannot rely on our own ideas to do this. We can’t rely on our traditions, feelings, idiosyncrasies or experiences in instructing God’s people. Yes, we can use our experience to illustrate what the word of God says about a situation. But what we must use always in instructing people in the will of God is His word. It is unfortunate that many today pass on their own ideas or experiences as the word of God to people. And there are also those who pass on their traditions to people as the word of God. But that is wrong.
We cannot be mixing our traditions, cultures, feelings or experiences with the word of God. The moment we mix something else with the word of God, it stops being His word. His word is sufficient in instructing people in His will. So, if we want to instruct people to do the will of God, our tool for doing so must be His word. And when you open the bible, you will find adequate instructions in it to God’s people on how to live to please God.
For instance, as I pointed out before, there are instructions in the bible to men on how to function in their homes. There are also instructions to women on how to function in their homes. There are instructions to parents on how to relate to their children. There are instructions to children on how to relate to their parents. We have instructions in it also to employers and employees, as well as to masters and slaves, on how to relate to one another. Then we have instructions to us on how to relate to our various governments and leaders.
More so, we have instructions to us about the world of angels and demons. And we have instructions on what attitude we must have towards prayers, the word of God and Christian fellowship. We have all kinds of instructions in Scriptures on how to live lives that are worthy of the Lord. So, we do not need to mix anything with them. We don’t need to mix our ideas, experiences, traditions or idiosyncrasies with them.
Again, as I said before, I do not mean that we cannot use our experiences in some areas of life to illustrate what Scriptures are saying to us about certain matters of life. We can even take things from nature to illustrate the word of God. Our Lord Jesus when He walked the face of the earth illustrated His teachings with all kinds of things from nature and from what was happening all around Him. So, it is not wrong to illustrate Scriptures with natural things or with our experiences. But we must rely solely on what they teach in instructing people in the will of God. Otherwise, we may find ourselves placing on God’s people burdens they are never meant to carry. Our Lord Jesus accuses the religious leaders of the Jews of placing on people burdens they were never meant to carry. He accused them of twisting Scriptures. He accused them of using their traditions and personal ideals and idiosyncrasies to nullify the word of God.
It is sad that we find similar things happening in many assemblies of God’s people today. We nullify the word of God using our culture. We nullify the word of God using our traditions. We nullify His word with our experiences, ideals and ideas. We, in many cases, place our ideals and ideas over the word of God and impose on people burdens they are never meant to carry. All of this is wrong.
In any case, when we are talking about church discipline, we need to understand that the tool for accomplishing it is the word of God. We use the word of God in instructing the people in His will. So, anyone that will be handling church discipline must know the word of God thoroughly. He must know His word adequately. He must know it sufficiently enough to be able to impart the truth that it communicates to others.
Our Lord Jesus accused the religious leaders of the Jews of not knowing the Scriptures. He says you are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God (Matthew 22:29). These were people who had given themselves to studying and teaching the Scriptures all their lives. That was their main business. Yet the Lord said to them, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.” So, that someone is carrying the bible around does not mean that he knows or understands what is in it. That we call someone a pastor, a prophet or an evangelist does not mean he knows and understands the Scriptures. And anyone that does not know and understand the word of God is not fit to instruct people in the will of God.
I am saying this to let you understand that it is only those who understand the will of God adequately that are in the position to instruct people in the will of God. And until we have instructed God’s people to live in His will, we do not have any moral right to demand that they live accordingly. It is when we have already instructed them how to live that we can make demands on them to live accordingly. We should not think of reaping what we have not sowed.
So, our main focus in our Christian assemblies, if we want God’s people to be disciplined, must first be on showing them how to live in the will of God. We must show them what the word of God says about different matters of life. This, of course, is not what can be accomplished in a day or in few months. This requires a lifetime commitment on the part of every leader of God’s people. They must continually show God’s people what God expects of them. They must continually instruct them in the will of God for their lives. And it is when they are doing this that they will properly stand in a position to demand that they act accordingly. Also, as we will later see, it is when they are doing this that they will properly stand in a position to correct, rebuke or punish them, when they are not living accordingly.
More so, apart from instructing God’s people in His will, it is also important that leaders of God’s people stand before them as examples of the will of God. It is easy to teach people to do this or not to do that. But they also must see these things being done by those instructing them. The idea of what I say is what you should act on and not what I do is foreign to Christian living. Of course, there are Scriptures that speak of a possibility of this happening. For instance, in Saint Matthew’s gospel, chapter 23, from verse 1, we are shown this: “Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: ‘The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practise what they preach.’” (Matthew 23:1-3NIV)
Now the Lord here is clearly establishing for the people that their religious leaders have been authorised by God to teach them. However, they do not practise what they teach. And because they do not practise what they teach, the Lord tells the people to act only on what they teach and not what they do. In other words, their attention should be on what these teachers are teaching them and not on the way they are living their lives. That is because their lives negate what they preach; their lives are not consistent with what they teach.
But I am saying that is foreign to Christian living. The leader of God’s people is not permitted to function in that manner. Leaders of God’s people must practise what they teach; their lives must agree with what they teach. They are instructing God’s people how to live their lives wherever they find themselves. They also must be examples of what they are teaching them to practise. That way, those they are leading will see that what they are teaching them is practicable.
That was how our Lord Jesus lived. So, He could tell the people, “None of you can accuse me of anything wrong.” He was perfect in character. He was not just perfect in speech; He was also perfect in conduct. In like manner, leaders of God’s people who are instructing them in the will of God must also aim for this kind of perfection. Paul says, “I am aiming for perfection. I want to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. I want to be all that He wants me to be and do all that He wants me to do.” He says these things in his letter to the Philippian-brethren. (Cf. Philippians 3:7-14)
See, in nature, we are already all that God wants us to be. We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We are His holiness in Christ Jesus. We have been justified before God in Christ Jesus. So, we now stand before Him without blemish. We stand before Him blameless. That is what the word of God says about us. However, we must live lives that agree with what has already happened to us in our spirits. That is what Paul means when he says that we are to live lives that are worthy of the calling we have received from God (Ephesians 4:1).
Now all this must begin with those who are leading us in our various assemblies. They are the ones saddled with the responsibility of instilling discipline in the people of God. But they themselves must exhibit discipline in their lives in a very obvious manner. We are not talking about hidden discipline here but obvious discipline.
In 1Corinthians, chapter 4, from verse 15, Paul says, “Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.” (1Corinthians 4:15-17NIV) Paul, here, is calling on the Corinthians to imitate him. Now if you read the entire letter and other letters of his to the church, you will find instructions given by him to the brethren on living lives that are well pleasing to God. But his ministry was not only about instructing people on how to live to please; it was also able setting examples for them on how to live to please God.
What I am saying is that Paul himself stood before the brethren as an example of how to live to please God. That was why he could ask them to imitate him. That was a lot to say. It is a lot to ask someone to imitate you in Christian living. It is a huge proposal and in fact responsibility to tell someone to follow you and act like you, as far as Christian living is concerned. You just have to be sure of what you are saying. Or else you are going to put a lot of people in trouble.
Furthermore, Paul says in that text that he is sending Timothy to the brethren. Why? It is so that he may remind them of his way of life, which agrees with what he teaches everywhere he goes. And why will Timothy remind them of Paul’s way of life? It is because his way of life is open for everyone to see. There is nothing hidden about his life. He has nothing to hide from the brethren. They could see his life and everything about it. They could see the way he related to all the people in his life and how he handles his business, ministry, appetites, the government and so forth. And he functions in this manner to give to the brethren an example of how God wants them to function.
That is why I have been saying that those who will take charge of disciplining God’s people must themselves be disciplined in their lives and be living in the will of God. And they must function like this in an open fashion. This is so that those they are feeding with God’s word can see for themselves that what they are being taught is practicable. They should be able to see that they are not simply being loaded with unnecessary burdens or useless rituals.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of useless rituals that God’s people are made to observe in the church today, things that will never accomplish the will of God in their lives. These rituals have been passed along to them as the will of God for their lives. And that is because most of their leaders are not sound in the will of God. So, they are mixing their own ideas and experiences with the word of God. They are adulterating the word of God. This is wrong. If God’s people will attain spiritual maturity, the tool we must use, which is the word of God, must not be adulterated in any way.
Well, my point is that leaders of God’s people must not just focus on instructing God’s people in His will; they must also stand before them as examples of what God wants to see in their lives. God’s people must have examples to follow. Look at what Paul says to Timothy about this, first from verse 14 of 1Timothy 3: “Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing to you with these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.” (1Timothy 3:14-15NIV) Here he is expressing his desire for God’s people to know how to conduct themselves. And that is why he is passing on all the instructions in this letter to this servant of God.
Then he goes on in chapter 4 of this same letter, from verse 11, to say, “Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” (1Timothy 4:11-12NIV) Again, Paul, here, is telling Timothy that it is his job to teach and instruct God’s people in godly living. In fact, he says that he has to command them to live according to the will of God. Then he is not to give anybody any reason to despise him. That does mean Timothy is to go around telling people, “Don’t look down on me because I am young,” or, “You cannot talk like that to me because I am young.” No! Rather, it means Timothy is to live his life in such a way that no one will look down on him. How? It is by being an example to them in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.
Think about it. Timothy has to be an example to the brethren of what he is teaching them. His life has to be an example to them of what he is instructing them to do. And as I pointed out before, he has to do this in an open fashion. So, Paul further says to him in verse 15 of the same chapter, “Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.” (1Timothy 4:15NIV) Did you see that? Everyone needs to see the progress of Timothy in this matter. Everyone needs to see how he is maturing in the things of God. That, of course, will inspire them and let them know that things he is teaching them are not just what God expects of them but also practicable.
Now that is part of the basis for accomplishing discipline in the church. But where leaders lead anyhow, they cannot accomplish discipline in the church. Yes, they may be ruthless in punishing God’s people or have all kinds of laid-down rules for disciplining the brethren. But the discipline they will accomplish with such rules will merely be something outward. There will be nothing concrete about it. It will limit things to what happens in church meetings.
Sadly, a lot of times, when we are talking about church discipline, our focus is on what happens in church meetings and how people behave in them. We want people to come in early for meetings, not to make noise in them and to be orderly all the time. And that is fine. God expects us to be orderly in our meetings. But church discipline goes beyond what happens in church meetings. It also includes what happens in brethren’s lives out where they live and work. Are they orderly in their lives? Are they orderly in their homes? Are they orderly and living in the will of God in their neighbourhoods, schools, offices or wherever they find themselves?
If they are not living in the will of God in all these places in their lives or in every aspect of their lives, whatever form of discipline or orderliness they show in church meetings is meaningless to God. They may just be trying to please their leaders or impress other people around them. And that is not what we are dealing with. We are dealing with what affects people at the core of their lives, when we are talking about church discipline. (Cf. Ezekiel 33:30-32; Mark 7:6-7)
So, we who are instructing others in the will of God must also stand as examples to them of what God wants to see in their lives. But if we are living anyhow and are not disciplined in the way we handle our various relationships and responsibilities, we are not fit to accomplish the will of God in the lives of our brethren. We do not stand in a position to help them. We are not qualified to help them or discipline them. We will, therefore, need to get our lives right first. Or we may eventually become totally useless to God in carrying out His will in the lives of His children. (Cf. Matthew 7:3-5; Romans 15:14)
Let us pray.
Copyright © 2022, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
Title: Introduction
By: Johnson O. Lawal
Date: June 12, 2022
Series: Church discipline
I want to begin to talk to you about church discipline. I know that when we talk about church discipline, what usually comes to the mind of many is punishment. They think of it as any kind of punishment that we give to erring or rebellious believers in order to bring them to repentance and also make other brethren desist from whatever wrongdoings those believers have been involved in. But church discipline goes beyond that. Church discipline does not even start with punishment, any kind of punishment, though it does not exclude it. Church discipline has to do with all that we do to God’s people and for them in order for them to be sound in the faith, to attain maturity and live responsibly before God and before men.
Now isn’t that what discipline all about in normal life? Discipline has to do with instructions and rules that we give to people to obey, so that they can function in a prescribed way. And it is when these instructions and rules are not taken seriously by them that punishment is used to set them right and, of course, to show others that what they have done or have been doing is unacceptable.
In like manner, in the church, discipline has to do with the things we do to and for God’s people in order to bring them to maturity, to make them stand firm in the faith and be responsible in the way they live their lives before God and before men. If brethren are left to themselves, there is every tendency that they will not grow up to be responsible in the kingdom of God. So, they have to be disciplined. But we must understand what church discipline is aimed at accomplishing and how to go about disciplining people. Otherwise, we may find ourselves working contrary to the purpose of God for His people.
That people have become born again does not mean that everything about their lives is right. God, of course, has accepted them as a result of faith in Christ Jesus. That, however, does not mean that they have come to maturity or that they are living lives that are well living pleasing to Him. Brethren must be taught how to live lives that are well pleasing to Him. Brethren must be shown how to live lives that are well pleasing to God. And they must also be made to know when they are not living to please God, so that they can change their ways. So, when we are talking about church discipline, these are the things that are involved.
When you read the epistles, you will see that it is possible for people to remain unchanged in the way they live their lives, even though they are Christians. For instance, in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, 1Corinthians, chapter 3, from verse 1, he says, “Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly – mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still ready for it. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another says, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not mere human beings?” Paul first reminds these brethren of how he related to them when he first came to minister among them. He could not relate to them as spiritual people at the time but as worldly people. That was because they were yet worldly at the time, mere infants in Christ Jesus, since they had just become born again. So, he had to relate to them with care, compassion and carefulness, as a mother or a father would relate to his baby.
But no parent will want their baby to remain an infant for life. Instead, they will want them to grow up. All the things you do for your baby now are not things you will want to do for them forever. You may be helping them to wash, bath, brush their teeth, do their homework and so forth now. But you will not want to do that for them for life. Rather, you will want them to grow up and become responsible. And that was what Paul wanted for the Corinthian brethren. He wanted them to grow up and become mature. He wanted them to become sound in the faith.
Unfortunately, at the time he was writing this letter to them, he still could not refer to them as spiritual believers or believers that are living by the Spirit but as mere infants in Christ Jesus. Why? It was because certainly worldly traits were still manifesting in them and among them. Jealousy, for example, was still finding expression among them. Divisions were still finding expression among them. These things characterise the way of life of those of the world. They are not things that you should be finding expression in believers and among them. God’s people are not supposed to be living in envy, jealousy or bitterness. But it is possible to find God’s people living in such manner.
Today, we have Christians that still manifest a number of worldly traits, these traits have not left them because they have refused to let go of them. They have refused to grow up. They are not paying attention to the fact that these things are not meant to be in their lives. But they keep making excuses for them. They make excuses for their arrogance. They make excuses for being stubborn. They make excuses for being divisive or being jealous or being unforgiving. Brethren can make excuses for these things. But they are all signs for spiritual immaturity. They are signs that brethren are not growing. They are signs that brethren are not functioning as God wants them to function.
Well, as we can see, Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is a letter to a true church of God. And the things he says in the letter show that there were traits in that church that were not supposed to be there. In fact, in chapter 5 of the same letter, he says there is sexual immorality in the church. In chapter 6, he says there are swindlers in the church, people who are swindling their brethren. So, there are lawsuits among them. Then he goes on in chapter twelve to talk about those who are arrogant in the church because of certain spiritual gifts they have, just as he speaks of those who are totally irresponsible in handling their spiritual gifts. All these groups of people are found in the church in Corinth.
Unfortunately, we have many Christians that function in similar manner today, brethren that we can refer to as Corinthian brethren. They are immoral. They are greedy. They are jealous. They are divisive. They are irresponsible at home and irresponsible in the church. And regardless of how long they have been in the church, they have not grown much. They are still infants as far as the Christian faith is concerned. But they must not be left like that. And that is why they must be disciplined.
In Paul’s letter to Titus, chapter 1, from verse 10, he says this:
“For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach – and that for the sake of dishonest gain. One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: ‘Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.’ This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth.” (Titus 1:10-14NIV)
Evidently, Titus was in Crete when Paul wrote this letter to him. And part of the things he says to him in the letter has to do with church discipline. According to him, there are many rebellious brethren in the church at Crete. Yet it is a church of God we are dealing with. It is in a church of God that we have many rebellious people. In fact, Paul quotes one the prophets from that city as saying that Cretans are always liars, evil brutes and lazy gluttons. And according to him, what that prophet says is true.
These Cretans have become believers indeed. However, there are certain things that use to characterise their everyday life that have not left them. There are traits that are native to them and which are still finding expression in them. For instance, it is said that they are always liars. That means if you meet with a Cretan, you can be sure that he will not be truthful in dealing with you. In other words, you cannot trust him or rely on whatever he says to you.
Then he says that they are evil brutes. That means they are violent people. They are individuals who love violence, who thrive on violence and who do not know the way of peace. So, they are used to solving their problems through violence. They are used to getting whatever they want through violence. Unfortunately, even having become Christians, violence has not left them. They are still violent at home, in their neighbourhoods, at work and even in relating to one another in the church.
Another thing he says about them is that they are lazy gluttons. These people don’t want to work. They are often relying on others for everything they need. They want someone to pay their bills for them, take care of their house rents for them, pay their children’s school fees for them, buy a car for them, fuel their vehicle for them and so forth. They just do not want to be responsible in any way. Instead, they want to put their burdens on someone else to bear for them. And that is wrong.
So, Paul is telling Titus that these people must not be left to continue to live like that. That is not how God wants us to live. Having become Christians, such traits must not continue to find expression in us. But we really can decide or choose to retain them in our lives. We can choose to continue to function the way we have been functioning. And that may be because of certain things we gain by doing so.
Today, in this country, all our tribes are known for certain wrong things that are peculiar to them. So, if you want to marry from certain tribes, for instance, your people may have issues with it. Yes, the person you want to marry from one of such tribes may be a Christian. But your people may not agree with that. Why? It is because of the wrong things that those tribes are known for. Unfortunately, in many cases, this is found to be true.
For instance, we have many who have come from tribes that are known for violence and who have not stopped being violent, even having become Christians. They have just refused to allow the word of God to cleanse them of the violence in their lives. Some years ago, I went with certain brethren from a southern state of this country to Lagos for a camp meeting. And something happened, which I cannot remember now, and some of these brethren began to fight themselves. The driver that took us had to pack on one of the highways in the city, so that these brethren could come out and sort themselves out. And when they came out, they began to fight and to throw punches at one another. It was like a wrestling match in which many wrestlers would come to fight in the ring at the same time.
But we went for a camp meeting. And we had just listened to the word of God before the fight started. The fight started anyway, and we fought ourselves on our way back to the place where we were supposed to lodge for the night. Why? It was a cultural thing for these brethren to fight over any matter and every matter. It was a part of their every day life to do that. And having become Christians, one would expect that they would allow the word of God to cleanse them of the violence in them. But they would not allow it to cleanse them. So, violence continued to find expression among them, which is similar to what Paul is saying to Titus about the Cretans.
Furthermore, there are tribes that are known to be stingy in our country. They don’t give or help others. They are selfish. And we have brethren who have come from among them and who are still stingy and selfish. They will not allow the stinginess and selfishness that characterise their natural tribe to leave them. We equally have those who have come from tribes or clans that do not show respect for their husbands or for their wives. So, they hardly stay in marriages or practise monogamy. And you may expect those who have become Christians among them to begin to live differently. But it does not often work like that. What you will find, in most cases, actually is that many of them are not living differently at all. Yes, they have become Christians. But they have refused to let go of those wrong cultural traits.
If you, then, want to marry from such tribes, you just have to be sure that the person you want to marry has actually allowed the word of God to wash them. Don’t just say, “Oh, he is a Christian. He is a true child of God.” That someone is a child of God does not mean that he has abandoned the ways of the world or that he has abandoned certain wrong cultural traits that he has lived all his life expressing. You need to keep this in mind.
Now that is what Paul is telling Titus. He is telling him not to assume that these Cretans are fine because they have become Christians. The truth that he will find is that many of them have not let go of the ways of the world. And it is his job as a pastor to deal with these things. It is his job as a pastor to do for them things that will make them become sound in the faith.
The point I am making, at any rate, is that when we are talking about Church discipline, we are talking about things that are done to God’s people in order to make them sound in the faith. And it does not begin with punishment. Rather, it begins with instructions. It begins with giving brethren instructions on how to live. In 1Thessalonians, chapter 4, Paul says from verse 1, “As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.” (NIV) Can you see that? Paul says we instructed you how to live to please God. That means, having become Christians, God’s people must be instructed how to live to please to God. The Thessalonians were instructed how to live to please God. And at the time Paul was writing his first letter to them, he could attest that they were living just the way they had been instructed. So, all he needed to do was to urge them to do so more and more.
Brethren don’t often automatically become fine Christians. Yes, there are brethren who had been brought up to be morally upright before they became Christians. And these ones may just carry on in the same spirit and not give themselves to immoral living or the wrong things that most people are involved in, having become born again. But it is not like that for everyone. Some have lived all or most of their lives in immorality or in greed or in bitterness or in jealousy or in violence. Some others have lived most of their lives robbing others, swindling others and not trusting anybody. And though they have now become Christians and have been given all that they need to live godly lives, they still must be taught to take advantage of the grace of God to live the kind of life God wants them to live. Otherwise, though they have become Christians, they will still be living lives that are contrary to the will of God for them. Their lives will not be manifesting His grace or goodness.
So, the first thing about church discipline is to instruct God’s people how to live. They must know how to live their lives as believers. They must know how to function as men. They must know how to function as women. They must know how to function as children. They must know how to function as employees or servants. They must know how to function as employers or owners of businesses. They must know how to relate to the government. They must just know how to function in life.
When you read Paul’s epistles, you will find instructions to brethren on how to function in different areas of their lives. There are instructions to men on how to function in their homes. There are instructions to women on how to function in their homes. There are also instructions to children on how to relate to their parents and treat them when they are old. He equally gives instructions on how masters are to treat their workers and how workers or slaves are to relate to their owners. And at that time, there were many slaves in the world. So, they must know how to relate to their masters and get the praise of God.
Furthermore, we find teachings in the epistles about how to relate to the government and other established human authorities in our land. These things are penned down for us so that we will know how to function in life and get God’s approval and be sound in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. Christian living is not just about getting things from God or getting Him to do things for us. Yes, God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus and also freely gives us all things for our enjoyment. But Christian living goes beyond that. It also involves living lives that please God and that make Christianity attractive. So, when we are dealing with Christian or church discipline, the first thing we must keep in mind about it is that it begins with giving people instructions on godly living.
We will continue from here next week Sunday. I pray that God will continue to work out in you all that is pleasing in His sight and also equip you with everything good for doing His will. Amen.
Copyright © 2022, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
Title: Keep watch (2)
By: Johnson O. Lawal
Date: June 06, 2022
Series: Church meetings
I began sharing with you before on keeping watch, as we wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to return. We have been told in the bible that our Lord will return to establish a new order of things. And His coming will result in the destruction of this present earth and the present heavens. In fact, Peter tells us in his second epistle that all these things we now see are reserved for fire. But we are not told exactly when this will happen. The Lord makes it abundantly care to us that nobody knows the day or the hour that He will come and establish this new order of things. That, of course, is why we need to keep watch.
Now we are looking at how to keep watch and what it means to keep watch. First, when we are talking about keeping watch, as we wait for our Lord Jesus Christ, it means we must not allow ourselves to get carried away by anything we are doing or anything that is happening around us so much so that we forget that our Lord is coming again. We can get carried away because of our passions for the things of this world. We can get carried away because of the events or the happenings around us in this world. But we must not allow that to happen to us.
In 1Thessalonians, chapter 5, from verse 1, Paul says this to us:
“Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety’, destruction will come on them suddenly, as labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober” (1Thessalonians 5:1-6NIV)
Yes, all through the Scriptures we are told that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. But that is for those who do not believe in the Lord and who are not waiting for His return. Those of us who believe in Him and who have been told that He is coming back should not be surprised when He comes. This day will certainly come. We do not know when it will be. But it will certainly come. And in order for us not to be surprised when it comes, we need to keep watch; we need to get ready. That is what Paul is talking about in that text. He says we are not in darkness that this day should surprise us like a thief. That means the day of the Lord should not come upon any child of God like a thief. You have been told that this day is coming. And you have been told what its coming will bring upon the world. If you believe what you have been told, then, you will keep watch and get yourself ready for that day.
As I told you before, when God told Noah what was coming upon the human race, he believed Him. And because he believed he did all that God told him for his salvation. If you too believe that the day of the Lord will come, then, you will do all that you have been told about your salvation.
Well then, the first thing about keeping watch has to do with our seeing to it that we do not get distracted or carried away. The pleasures of this world and the deceitfulness of riches must not be allowed to distract us or get us carried away. Our desire for wealth, fame, power and so forth must not be allowed to get us carried away.
We are not saying that we must abandon life because we are waiting for the Lord. There is nowhere we are told to abandon life because we are waiting for the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not told not to get married. On the contrary, we are told that it is satanic to tell God’s people not to get married (1Timoty 4:1-5). Nothing is wrong with getting married. Getting married is not going to stop you from being a part of the kingdom of God. Getting quality education will not stop you from being a part of His kingdom. Building your business or a house of your own will not stop you from being a part of His kingdom. All these things are not in themselves bad. How you handle them is what determines whether they are good for you or bad for you.
Noah did not stop his life because he was waiting for the flood. His sons did not stop their lives because they were waiting for the flood. The only thing is that they did not lose sight of what was coming. You too must not lose sight of what is coming. The one who is coming will not delay. He will come when His time is due. And He needs to meet you ready. He must not take you by surprise. If He takes you by surprise, then, it means you are not keeping watch.
Another thing that keeping watch, as we wait for the Lord, involves is separating ourselves to live for Him. Jesus Christ has already told us that He is coming to establish God’s eternal kingdom. And if we believe that this is true, having come to Him to be born again, then, we must live as He expects us to live. We must live lives that are consistent with the kingdom that we are now a part of. We have already been brought into this spiritual kingdom. The literal kingdom, which we can touch, feel and handle, will be set up at the right time. But we are already a part of God’s spiritual and eternal kingdom at the moment. So, we need to live as children of the kingdom. We need to walk as children of light.
The point I am making is that we must live lives that are separated for the one we are waiting for. That is also part of what it means to keep watch. We cannot say that we are waiting for the Lord Jesus Christ and be living our lives as we please. If we are waiting for Him indeed, then, we are going to be living lives that are consistent with His will. Look again at what Peter says to us about this in 2Peter, chapter 3, from verse 10:
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear like a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.” (2Peter 3:10-14NIV)
Here Peter tells us how we must wait in response to what is coming. He already tells us what will become of this present earth and the present heavens. And if we believe what he says about these things, then, we must get ourselves ready for what is coming. He tells us that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness reigns. We are to look forward to these. We are to look forward to the day in which these will happen. But while we are waiting for this or what will show that we are waiting for this is the kind of life we are living.
Peter says, “Since everything will be destroyed with fire, what kind of people ought you to be?” He says we ought to live holy and godly lives. We ought to live lives that are separated to the one that saved us. We ought to live lives that are separated to the one we are waiting for. We cannot give ourselves to immorality, impurity, greed and so forth and still say that we are keeping watch. We cannot be involved in idolatry or be given to bitterness and say that we are waiting for Jesus. We will be deceiving ourselves, if we are doing that. We will be deceiving ourselves because the bible abundantly makes it clear to us that people who do such things have no part in the kingdom of God.
Now let me give you some of the Scriptures in which this is clearly pointed out. First, in 1Corinthians, chapter 6, from verse 9, Paul says, “Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1Corinthians 6:9-10NIV) Paul says don’t let anybody deceive you about any kind of sin. Don’t let anybody tell you that these things do not matter. They matter. And people who live in this manner have no part in the kingdom of God. The homosexuals, the lesbians have no part in the kingdom of God. Those who have sex with animals have no part in the kingdom of God. So, you do not say that you are a child of God and be living in this manner. Something is wrong. Your new birth is questionable, if you are living in this manner. If you are truly a child of God and a citizen of His kingdom, you will not live in this manner.
Also, in Galatians, chapter 5, from 19, Paul says, “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21NIV) Look at that. Paul says I am warning you, as I did before, that those who are living in sin will not inherit the kingdom of God. The sexually immoral will not inherit the kingdom of God. The impure will not inherit the kingdom of God. Those who give themselves to idolatry, witchcraft and sorcery will not inherit the kingdom of God. Those who hate others, murderers, thieves, robbers and those who are involved in orgies have no part in the kingdom of God. So, do not let anybody tell you that these things do not matter. Do not let anybody tell you that these things do not mean anything and that the only thing that matters is that your heart is right with God – what you do with your body is unimportant. People who live like this have no part in the kingdom of God.
Furthermore, for you to see the seriousness of this matter, Paul again says in Ephesians, chapter 5, from verse 5, “For of this you can be sure: no immoral, impure or greedy person – such a person is an idolater – has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them.” (Ephesians 5:5-7NIV) Did you see that? If we are keeping watch indeed, then, we are going to live lives that are separated for the one we are waiting for. We are going to live lives that honour Him, lives that are worthy of Him and of the call we have received from Him.
Therefore, to lose ourselves to the immorality in this world is not keeping watch. To lose ourselves to the love of money is not keeping watch. To become envious and jealous like the rest of men is not keeping watching. That means we have totally forgotten who we are or we are not what we claim to be. Those who are true children of God are going to keep these things in mind. They will be living their lives for the one who died for them and was raised again.
Now I have been saying that this does not mean that we are to abandon life and not get married, go to school or engage in some honest labour. No! Look at what the Lord says in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 24, from verse 40: “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.” (Matthew 24:40-41NIV) Did you see that? The Lord, illustrating what will happen when He comes, says two men will be in the field and one will be taken and the other left. What will they be doing in the field? They will be working. Also, He says that two women will be grinding at the mill and one of them will be taken and the other left. What will they be doing at the mill? They will be working.
So, the Lord will return while people are going about their normal daily activities or businesses. And from the way He describes what will happen, it is clear that He is not leaving anybody behind because they are working or busy with the things of this world. Rather, He is going to take people even while they are about their usual business. In fact, in another part of the bible, the Lord says that two people will be in bed when He returns, and one will be taken and the other left. That is to tell us that we are not to abandon life in the name of waiting for Him. Rather, we are to keep living for Him while we keep in mind the fact that He is coming again. And while we are doing whatever we are doing, while we are in our marriages, while we are handling our businesses, while we are in our schools or while we are sleeping or resting, the Lord will come and take us to be with Him forever. But that will only happen if we have been living our lives for Him.
You can see that we can live normal lives while waiting for the Lord Jesus. It is unfortunate that there some who now give God’s people the impression that it is even wrong for them to sleep or rest well while waiting for Jesus. There is nothing like that in the Scriptures. We are not told not to rest, not to eat, not to marry or not to do any of these legitimate things of life, simply because we are waiting for the Lord Jesus. On the contrary, we are told that while we are doing these things, the Lord will come and take us, if we have been living our lives for Him. So, waiting for the Lord Jesus does not mean we are to become irresponsible to our family, to the society or to the church of God.
Another thing that keeping watch has to do with investing in our eternity. We have been told that this world, as we know it, will be ended one day; this earth we live in and the heavens we see will be destroyed someday. Then God will establish a new heaven and a new earth. If we believe this, then, we must prepare for what is coming and invest in our eternity. We need to live our lives in such a way that when we move into that kingdom, we will not fail to have our reward. And the Lord Jesus and His apostles of old show us through their teachings that we can actually invest in our eternity and that we should.
For instance, Jesus says this in Matthew, chapter 6, from verse 19, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21NIV) We are talking about keeping watch. And the Lord says where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. If you have treasure in the heavenly kingdom that the Lord will establish, then, your heart will always be there. And how do you lay up treasure for yourself there? It is by being devoted to good works.
The Lord says do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth. Why? It is because whatever you store up here on earth is reserved for fire and will ultimately be lost or destroyed. Even before the day of the Lord, anything can happen to the things we store here on earth and make us lose them. Thieves can strike, even though we do not pray for that to happen to us. Windstorms, rainstorms and so forth can take away from men what they have stored up for themselves here no earth. In one day, as we are told in the Scriptures, Job lost everything he had. All kinds of calamities befell him and made him lose everything he had, including his children. And he went from being the richest in the land to perhaps the poorest.
That is showing us that nothing of this world is certain. The only one certain is God. So, Jesus says do not store up treasures here on earth but store up treasures in heaven, where thieves do not break in, where moths and vermin do not strike. And how do you do that? It is through good works. Paul tells us in Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 10, that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, the good works God prepared in advance for us to do. So, there are good works God wants us to do here in the world. And as we do them, we will be saving up for eternal purposes, we will be laying up treasures for ourselves in heaven, we will be investing in our eternity. All of this is why we preach, give and do all kinds of things for the kingdom of God.
Well, my point is that you need to invest in your eternity. If you believe that Jesus is coming to establish a new order of things, invest in your eternity. Noah invested in his salvation. God had told him what was coming and what he would need to do to be saved. He was to build himself an ark. And he did. But whose money did he use in building the ark? His money! Whose time did he use in building it? His time and perhaps the time others whose services he engaged and also paid for! Everything Noah did was geared towards saving himself and his family members.
In like manner, everything we do now must be geared towards investing in our eternity. Noah, in his own case, had to store food and water in the ark to take care of himself, his family and all the animals and birds with him in the ark. Whose money did he use in getting all these things? It was his money. So, all that he did, from the time the Lord spoke to him about what was coming till the time he entered the ark, was geared towards his future survival. And think about this: if he had gone into the ark without enough food and water to drink, when he did not even know how many days he would spend in there (and they spent months in there), would he and those with him have survived? No!
You too need to invest in your eternity. You need to invest in it with your time, money, energy, education, skills, spiritual gifts and any other thing you have. You are to put all these things together and use them to invest in your eternity. Use them to do good works that God can reward you for. In Galatians, chapter 6, from verse 7, Paul says this: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” (Galatians 6:7-10NIV)
Paul is showing us here that we can either sow to please the flesh or to please the Spirit. We can either sow in things that will ultimately be destroyed or in things that will last for eternity. If we sow to the flesh, we will reap destruction. Those who invest in this world will ultimately lose everything. But those who invest in their eternity will enjoy the reward of their investment throughout eternity.
Now, as I pointed out before, one major way to invest in your eternity is to do those good works God has chosen for you. Paul says this to Timothy while admonishing him about what to teach the rich in his assembly:
“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” (1Timothy 6:17-19NIV)
How do we lay up treasure for ourselves in the coming age? It is by being rich in good works. So, you need to be rich in good deeds. What are you doing with your time? What are you doing with your resources? What are you doing with the gifts and spiritual abilities God has given you? You are supposed to be using these things to do good and to invest in your eternity. Nothing stops you from building your own house, as long as you make up your mind to use it to do good to others. Nothing stops you from buying a car of your own. But you must use it do good works. Whatever you acquire in this world must be used to do good works.
For example, the education you are acquiring or have acquired must be aimed at doing good works. Likewise, that job you are doing or want to do must be aimed at doing good works. All these things you have must be put together in investing in your eternity. And as you function like this, you are showing that you believe in the Lord indeed and are waiting for Him to return to you and to reward you when He comes. This is what it means to keep watch. But are you keeping watch? Are you making yourself ready for the one coming? Or are you lost in this world already? Are you lost to your ambitions? Are you lost to the things happening around you? Are you lost to your desires for pleasure? I want you to meditate on these things. The coming of the Lord should not take you by surprise. But it will take you by surprise, if you are not keeping watch by being devoted to doing these things that I have shared with you.
I pray that the Lord will keep you pure and blameless, spirit, soul and body, when He returns. Amen.
Copyright © 2022, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
Title: Keep watch (1)
By: Johnson O. Lawal
Date: May 29, 2022
Series: Church meetings
The word of God makes it clear to us that these present heavens and the present earth are not going to be for eternity. God is going to make an end of them at some point. We are told the following, for example, in the book of Hebrews, chapter 1, from verse 10: “He also says, ‘In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain: they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.’” (Hebrews 1:10-12NIV) That is a revelation of what God intends to do with the present heavens and the present earth. God is going to make an end of them at His own appointed time, and all the activities in them in cease.
Furthermore, Peter tells us this in his second epistle, the third chapter, from verse 10:
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.” (2Peter 3:10-15NIV)
So, it is because God is going to bring about a new heaven and a new earth that He is going to destroy the present heavens and the present earth. As you can see, Peter tells us that everything we have here on earth is reserved for fire. All the things we now see – the heavens we see, the earth we live in and the things we use here on earth, the cars, the roads, the machines, the vehicles and so forth – will be destroyed. God is going to make an end of them all. Not one of them will survive. And after they have been destroyed, God will set up a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
Righteousness has not been permitted to reign here on earth. Yes, God has introduced His righteousness to us. But people love wickedness instead of righteousness. People love darkness rather than light. And they do all kinds of things to subdue the truth. They do all kinds of things to harm the truth. They do all kinds of things to get rid of the truth and righteousness from the face of the earth. But a day is coming in which all the activities of men, all the evil things they are doing will be brought to an end. Then righteousness will begin to reign freely on that day.
Now we are to anticipate that day. And not only are we to anticipate it, we are to get ready for it. In fact, the reason we are told these things in advance is that we may get ourselves prepared for what is coming. We may not know how the government of our nation will turn out. We may not know how the circumstances of our nation will turn out. But we do know that a day is coming when God will put an end to all the things that are happening here on earth in order to establish a new order of things. Are we going to be a part of that new order of things or are we going to be lost forever? It all depends on how seriously we take the things we have been told about what is coming.
In Saint Matthew’s gospel, chapter 24, verse 42, we are told this: “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” (NIV) Here the Lord is clearly showing us that the day these things will begin to take place is not known by anyone. No one knows when God will introduce in a new order of things. None of us knows exactly when God will set this earth and these heavens on fire in order to establish a new order of things. That is why we are told to keep watch. And if we believe all that we are told about what is coming, we will definitely keep watch and get ready for what is coming.
Now it is important that we do not misrepresent what the Lord is saying to us about keeping watch. He is not saying that we are to abandon our lives in order to wait for what is coming. Unfortunately, that is how some people take it. They think the Lord is saying, “Since you do not know exactly when I am coming, you should abandon life altogether. You do not need to go to school again or get married or build a house or do anything else. Just keep looking out for my return.” But that is not what He is saying to us.
In order to know what He is saying to us, we need to look at other Scriptures that address this same subject or that give us situations that are similar to the one we are dealing with. That way we will know how to relate to what He is saying to us about keeping watch. For example, in the days of Noah, God told him that He was going to make an end of man on the face of the earth. He, of course, obtained favour from the Lord. And because he obtained favour from the Lord, he was warned ahead. God told him what was going to happen and also showed him the way of salvation.
That, of course, is showing us that it is the mercy of God that has brought us the revelation of what is going to happen in the future to the earth we live in and the heavens we now see. How we now respond to this is very important. Noah believed God when He told him what He was going to do mankind. So, he acted on what he was told. In fact, we are told that he was a preacher of righteousness (2Peter 2:5). That means he did not keep to himself the information God gave him. Instead, he went about telling people about what was coming. And did they believe? No!
Why did they not believe Noah? They did not believe him because nothing happening on the earth looked different at the time. In Matthew’s gospel, chapter 24, which we just looked at, and from verse 36, Jesus says, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of man.” (Matthew 24:36-40NIV) It was business as usual on the day the flood came and took everybody away. There was nothing surprising or spectacular to agitate the people and give them the impression that destruction was near.
So, people were eating, drinking, getting married and conducting their businesses as usual. Even on the very morning that the flood came, the sky did not look any different. There was no spectacular occurrence to make the people wonder what was about to happen. That was how God got them.
In any case, Noah, who had been warned about these things, got himself ready. And he was saved because he acted on what he had been told. God told him what was coming. God told him how to prepare for what was coming. And because he believed God, he began to prepare himself for what was coming. He built the ark that God asked him to build for his salvation. But he did not stop his life because he was looking forward to what God had told him. On the contrary, he must have continued to do his business as others were doing theirs. He must have continued to take care of his family as others were taking care of theirs.
Then remember that Noah had sons who also had wives. And they too did not stop their lives because God was going to destroy the earth. On the contrary, they made sure everything they were doing was geared towards their salvation from what was coming. Noah made an ark. And we are not told that God rained down money from heaven for him to build it. He definitely used his own money to build the ark. And he must have gotten the services of some people in building it, services that he must also have paid for.
Then he stored food in the ark. They were on the ark for several days and eating and drinking there. So, they must have taken enough food for themselves and for the animals with them in the ark. That must have been a serious responsibility. It must have involved the use of a lot of resources on the part of this man. But he did not stop his life because he was waiting for the flood to come. Instead, he kept on doing the things he had been doing. He kept on taking care of his family and working to make money. The only difference between him and others, however, was that everything he was doing was geared towards his salvation. Whatever money he made at the time was used for the purpose of his salvation. And whatever thing he saved at the time was for the time he would be staying in the ark.
Yes, of course, when he was done with the building of the ark, he was given the advantage of knowing exactly when the flood would come. God told him that in seven days’ time He would bring floodwaters on earth to destroy mankind from its face (Gen 7:1-4). We do not have that advantage. We do not know that day. We do not know that hour. That is why you must not listen to anyone that is telling you that Jesus will come on x-day or y-day. Those are liars. We have not been told the exact day the Lord will return. That is not revealed in Scriptures. But we have enough information to get us ready for the day.
My point, in any case, is that we are not to stop our lives because of the coming of the Lord. Instead, we are to keep watch. And what does that mean. It means, first, we are to function with the consciousness that the Lord is coming again. So, we must not allow ourselves to get carried away by anything we are doing or by anything that is happening around us, to the end that we forget that this earth is not our permanent home and that it will be destroyed at some point.
As I told you before, Noah must have had his own house at that time. But he knew that he was not going to be able to save that house or to take it with him into the ark. Then if he had investments at the time, he would have handled them with a consciousness of what was coming on the face of the earth. His aim would be on using whatever he had to secure his salvation. In like manner, we are told in the Scriptures how to get ready for the coming of the Lord. We are told things to do in order to get ourselves ready for Him.
So, the first important thing in keeping watch, as we are instructed by the Lord, is that we do not get carried away by the things happening in this life. All kinds of things are happening in the world, things that are capable of distracting us or leading us astray or making us forget that this is not our permanent abode. One of the things the Lord wants us to keep in mind then, when He tells us to keep watch, is that we must not lose ourselves to the happenings in our world.
But we are not to stop our lives. We are not to stop going to school because we are waiting for Jesus to come. We don’t know when He is coming. Instead, we are to make ourselves useful here on earth. There is nowhere we are told in Scriptures not to work because we are waiting for Jesus to come. On the contrary, we are told to work and to work hard. We are told to work so that we will not be unduly dependent on anybody. In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, he tells them that anyone that will not work must not eat. He says those who are idle among them should settle down to work and earn the bread they eat. (Cf. 1Thessalonians 4:11-12; 2Thessalonians 3:6-12)
So, the fact that we are told to keep watch does not mean we are to abandon lives. It does not mean that we must not build our own houses. It does not mean that we must not get married. I told you before that Noah was married and also had sons. That did not stop him from being saved. So, getting married is not what is going to stop you from being saved. Building your own house is not what will stop you from being saved. Going to school and getting quality education is not what will stop you from being saved. Raising children is not what will stop you from being saved. Having investments here and there is not what will stop you from being saved.
One main thing that will make people get lost forever is their refusal to pay attention to what God is telling them. He has told us that He is going to destroy this present order of things. So, we have to look forward to that and get ourselves ready in order that we may not get destroyed with this order of things. The question we should be asking ourselves, then, is, “How do we live now, so that we do not get ourselves destroyed with this world?”
Now Peter tells us some things about this in his second epistle. He says in chapter 3, from verse 11, “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming…” (2Peter 3:11-12NIV) Look at that. Peter says since these present heavens and the present earth are reserved for fire, how are we to live our lives? And he says we are to live holy and godly lives.
In addition to that, he says in verse 14 of the same chapter, “So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.” (2Peter 3:14NIV) Can you see that? We are to make effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with the Lord when He comes. So, part of keeping watch is devoting ourselves to living holy and righteous lives in this world. We are not to live as we please. Rather, we are to live to please God. In our offices, neighbourhoods, schools, families and wherever we find ourselves, we are to live holy and righteous lives. We are to live as individuals that know that God will someday judge our works.
This, then, is what we keep in mind, as we live everyday. We do not forget that God is watching us and looking at our very step and action and will reward us accordingly someday. Instead, we walk with that consciousness. That is what Peter is talking to us about. If we do believe that God is going to make an end of all things someday and judge everyone according to their works, we will live our lives to please Him. We will live lives that are separated to please Him. We will ensure that our relationship and fellowship with Him are vital and robust. If you are continually fellowshipping with God, then, you will continue in your eternal fellowship with Him when He comes. But if you are not in fellowship with Him right now, you cannot expect Him to take you in when He comes. It is those who have maintained their fellowship with Him and are living their lives for Him that He will take in when He comes.
So, apart from keeping in mind the fact that Jesus is coming, how we live is also important. If you claim to believe that Jesus is coming but are not living a life worthy of Him, you are just deceiving yourself. If Noah had simply said to God, “I believe everything you have said,” but did not build that ark, would he have been saved? No! So, if you believe all that the Scriptures say about all that is coming, then, you must live holy and blameless lives. You must not lose yourself to the things of this world. You must not allow anything happening in this world to make you lose yourself.
Look at what Paul says about this in a letter to the Corinthians: “What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.” (1Corinthians 7:29-30) Did you see that? Paul does not say that people should not live, buy clothes, marry or use the things of this world. Rather, he says do not allow yourself to be carried away by these things. That is because these things are reserved for fire.
Also, an end will come to all the activities here on earth. You will not always remain married, for example, or involved in whatever field of work you are now in. A day is coming when all of that will end. So, you need to function with a consciousness that there is an eternity waiting for you. That being the case, do not get yourself engrossed with the things of this world. Don’t allow the things of this world to own you or dictate to you how to live your life. Those of the world allow the things of this world to control their conducts and behaviours. But you must not allow that to happen to you. That is because you are looking forward to that home of righteousness that the Lord Jesus has already promised to us.
We will continue from here next Sunday. Let us pray.
Copyright © 2022, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministry.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)