Message Transcripts 2024

Series: Healing rivers | Title: God’s will for your health By: | Johnson O. Lawal | Date: April 14, 2024

I want to share with you briefly about God’s will for your health. And I will be reading to you from Saint Matthew’s gospel, chapter 8, from verse 1, which says:

“When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.” (Matthew 8:1-3NIV)

Here we have a short account of how Jesus healed a man that was leprous. And as we see in the account, it was the man that came to Jesus; it was not Jesus that found him. We have cases recorded in Scriptures in which Jesus found certain individuals and healed them. But that was not the case with this man. He was the one that came to Jesus.

Well, it does not matter whether you are the one that comes to Jesus or it is Jesus that finds you where you are, what is important is knowing His will concerning your health. This man asked Jesus when he came to Him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” That means, at that time, the man was not sure Jesus was willing to heal him. Of course, he had no doubt about the ability of the Lord to heal him. If he doubted His ability to heal him, he would not come to Him. So, he came to Jesus because he believed that Jesus had to power to heal him.

Now it is important that in coming to God you believe that He has the power to deliver. In Hebrews 11, verse 6, we are told, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, for anyone who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” So, if you are coming to God, you come with faith in your heart – you come with a heart that God believes that He has the power to deliver to you whatever you need.

This, unfortunately, is what many who want to receive from God don’t understand. They come, expecting that God will do something to make them believe Him. Yes, there are times that God does things to convince people of His ability to save, lift or bless them. But it is not every time He does that. That is because there is enough proof in the world that God has the power to heal, save, deliver, set free and exalt. So, when you come to Him, you should come on the basis of the knowledge that He has the power to give to you what you want.

This leprous man came to Jesus, knowing that He had the power to heal him. What he was not sure of, however, was whether Jesus would be willing to heal him. And you know that it is not enough for someone to have the ability to do something for you; it is equally important that the person be willing to do it for you. There are people who do not have the ability to help or sustain you in any way. And it will be foolish of you to be reaching out to such people to help or sustain you, if they do not know someone that can be of help to you.

I am saying that if someone does not the ability to help you, it will be a waste of time to be begging or pressuring the person to give you what he does not have the ability to deliver to you. You can make people feel wicked or irresponsible that way. But it will not change the fact that you are looking for solutions where they do not exit. Yes, people who do not have the ability to help you may care about you or feel concerned for you. But as long as they do not have the ability to help you, they cannot help you.

Then we have those who may possess the ability to help you in one way or the other. But if they do not have the willingness or interest to help you, they may not use their ability to help you. You can beg them or plead with them or do whatever you like to encourage them to help you. If they are still unwilling to help you, they will not use their ability to help you.

But in dealing with God, things are different. Not only does God have the ability to help people, He also wants to help them. Not only does He have the ability to save people, He also wants to save them. And not only does He care about people, He also has the ability to take care of them. There are all kinds of Scriptures that point to the fact that God is not just caring and loving but also possesses the ability to take care of us. So, if there is anyone we need to turn to for all that we need in life, it is God.

Well, as we see in this man’s case, not only did the Lord Jesus possess the ability to heal him, He also wanted to heal him. But the man was not sure that Jesus was willing to heal him. And because he was not sure of this, he said to Him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” What, then, was Jesus’ response to that? The bible says, “He reached down and touched the man.” But this man was leprous. And leprosy is contagious. That is why back in those days and even today leprous people are usually isolated or quarantined.

Remember that during the outbreak of COVID-19 many who were tested and confirmed to have the disease were quarantined. Even those who were suspected to have contacted it were equally quarantined and placed under observation until medical examiners could certify that they could be released to live among others. And leprosy is like that. Once a man contacts it, he has to be isolated or sent away from people, so that he does not infect them with the disease. So, a leper is not someone you want to touch carelessly or embrace, if you don’t want to be infected with their leprosy.

But we find Jesus touching this man. Why? It was to show him that He cared about him. And Jesus, of course, was able to do that because He knew that He could not be infected by any disease. But He did not touch the man to prove that He could not be infected by his leprosy; rather, He touched him to show that He cared about him.

At any rate, He touched him and said, “I am willing. Be clean!” By doing that, the Lord was expressing the mind of God about people’s health. In other words, God’s will is for those who are sick to be healed. Perhaps you are sick in your body. Perhaps you are disabled in one way or the other. Whatever your illness or disability may be, God is willing to heal you. You may not know that until now. You may be doubtful of God’s stand about your healing. And there are many that are doubtful in that manner. Some have, in fact, died while hoping that God would heal them. They were not sure if He was going to heal them. So, they would not ask Him to heal them. And that made them die in their sickness.

But here, the Lord wants us to know that God wants us to be well. He said to that man, “I am willing. I want you to be well. So, be well!” And it is the same thing He is saying to every one of us today: “I am willing to make you well.”

Now why was Jesus willing to heal that man? He was willing to heal him because it was the will of God for the man to be well. It was the will of God for all the Jews, the people of God, to be well. He had told them this in the Law. He had told them that it was His will for all of them to live in health. For example, from verse 25 of Exodus, chapter 23, we are told this:

“Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.” (Exodus 53:25-26NIV)

What is the first thing the Lord says to His people here? He says, “Worship me.” Who is the one to be worshipped? God! When Satan came to Jesus and asked Him to bow to him, the Lord told him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’” So, the only one to be worshipped is God. No other being is to be worshipped. You don’t worship the sun, the moon or any of the stars. You don’t even worship any angel. The only one to be worshipped is God, the creator of everything. (Cf. Matthew 4:8-10)

As John tells us in the book of Revelation, twice he made the mistake of wanting to worship the angels that had been showing him the revelations of Jesus. Why? He was highly inspired and awed by what they had shown him. But those angels told him, “Don’t do that! Worship God!” (Cf. Revelation 19:9-10; 20:8-9)

Again, that is telling us that the only one we are to worship is God. And God is saying to His people, the Jews, “If you will worship me, then, I will put my blessing on your food and water.” Why do we need to have God’s blessings on our food and water? One main reason is that most of the illnesses people contact come from what they eat and drink. This, of course, is why nutritionists are coming up everyday with all kinds of rules for us on what to eat and not to eat and what to drink and not to drink.

Now while it is important that we do not eat and drink just about anything, what we see in Scriptures is that there no kind of food that God has not approved for us to eat, as long as it is not poisonous. That is because everything God made in beginning was good and nothing is to be rejected once we give thanks for it. God gave us all the herbs here on earth. Of course, we have to learn the proper way to use them. Also, He gave us all the animals for food. And gospel writers tell us that our Lord Jesus affirmed this in His teachings. (Cf. Mark 7:17-19; 1Timothy 4:4-5)

But today, we have people who will want to regulate for us what we eat and what we drink. Of course, as I said before, it is important that we eat what is good and well cooked. It is also important that we drink clean water and stay away from drunkenness. But what is even more important is the blessing of God on what we eat and drink. And He says that He will put His blessing on the food and water of His people, take away sickness from their midst, see to it that none among them miscarries or is barren and also give them a full life span. These are His promises to His people.

So, it is not the will of God for His people, the Jews, to be sick. That is because He has promised to take away sickness from among them. Satan, of course, would labour to put sickness on them. He would try to get to become sick through what they ate and drank. But God said that He would take it away, if he did so. So, sickness would not be among them. Why? It was not the will of God for them to live sick or weak lives. His will was for them to be well.

Then the Lord says that none of them would miscarry or be barren. Those things were not the will of God for them. Therefore, any of them could take Him to task on this matter. Yes, any of them could say to Him, “Lord, you have said that none of us would have miscarriages. So, miscarriages ought not to be identified with my life.” Also, any of them could say to Him, “Lord, you have said that none of us would be barren. It is not right, then, for me to be barren. So, put an end to it in my life.” And those who spoke to Him in that manner could expect Him to act on their behalf.

Now all these promises were made to those Jews that would worship God. And that is not to say that God cannot extend the enjoyment of these promises to those who were not worshipping Him. But He specifically made these promises to those who would worship Him. And among the promises also was the fact that He would give them a full life span. So, we see that it is not the will of God for His people to die young. Yes, God’s people may die young because of persecutions. Jesus died young because of persecution and because God wanted it that way, so that He could save humanity through His death. And we have accounts of other people of God that were killed because they would not renounce their faith in Him.

Apart from such situations, it is not the will of God for any of His people to die young. He said, “I am going to give you a full life span.” So, it is clear that God took responsibility for the health, welfare, safety and fruitfulness of the Jews. And He announced that to them through Moses. If that man who came to the Lord Jesus for the healing of his leprosy had been meditating on Scriptures, then, he would have known that it was the will of God for him to be well. Yes, He would have known that Jesus was willing to make him well, for it was the will of God for him to be well.

Now someone may say, “But that is for the Jews.” Even if you are not a Jew, as long as you have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and give yourself to worshipping Him, you can expect to enjoy the manifestation of these same promises in your life. The Jews, as long as they worshipped God, enjoyed these promises as a nation. But when they failed to worship Him, they experienced contrary things.

In any case, God was looking beyond the Jews when He was making those promises. His plan was beyond taking away sickness from among them; He was also looking at taking away sickness from among all men. And that was one of the things He accomplished by sending Jesus Christ. Why did He send Him to die for us? One might answer and say, “He was sent to die for our sins.” And that is correct.

However, He was not just sent to die for our sins; He was also sent to die for our sicknesses, weaknesses and infirmities. Don’t forget that every evil thing we see among men came in as a result of sin. Death came as a result of sin. Sin entered the world through one man, Adam. Then death came in through his sin. And everything that is associated with death came in as a result of sin.

If someone is sick and is not immediately cared for, what do you think will happen to the person? Death! Every sickness is death knocking. People may say, “Oh, it is just common cold or malaria.” But many have died because of the so-called common cold. And before medical practitioners found the cure for malaria, it perhaps took millions of lives. Malaria, in short, was once a very deadly disease. And it has not become less deadly now. But because all kinds of cure have been found for it, people could just buy some drugs over the counter, use them and be rid of malaria.

Well, my point is that every illness is death knocking. That is because of the sin of humanity. But when Jesus came, He began to heal all kinds of sicknesses and diseases. And He was doing this to show men that the will of God for them is to live in health. So, it does not matter what is responsible for your illness – and there are kinds of things that could be responsible for people’s illnesses – God’s will is that you become well.

Look at this from Saint Matthew’s gospel, chapter 8:

“When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him. When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.”” (Matthew 8:14-17NIV)

Did you see that? Jesus, beginning with Peter’s mother-in-law, healed all the sick people that came to Him. And Matthew says He did that to fulfil what was said by prophet Isaiah that He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases. Is that to say that it was on every occasion that He healed all the sick people He came across? No! When He went to His hometown for instance, as Mark tells us in chapter 6 of his gospel, He could not do many mighty works there. Why? The people were unbelieving. It was not that He did not want to do mighty works among them. Rather, it was that they were not receiving.

But on the occasion being reported by Matthew in that text, those people came to Jesus themselves to receive healing from Him. And He did not turn them back. Instead, He healed every one of them. Why did He do that? It was because God had said that He was going to take away sickness from among the people. So, when Jesus came, He began to fulfil that – He began to take away sickness from among the people. That is why Matthew quotes that Scripture that says, “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.”

The point I am making, then, is that as Jesus went around healing the sick, cleansing lepers, driving out demons and even raising the dead, He was fulfilling the will of God for the people to be well. And now let us look at a more detailed prophecy of Isaiah along these lines:

“He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:3-6NIV)

Now someone may ask, “How do you know that this is referring to Jesus?” Well, we know because we have other passages of the Scriptures that say so. For instance, in Acts 8, God sent Philip to an important official of the queen of Ethiopia of the time. And he met the man reading this exact passage. Then the man asked him, “Who is the prophet referring to? Is he referring to himself or to someone else?” And Philip answered by letting him know that Isaiah is not referring to himself but to someone else. That person is Jesus Christ. So, beginning from that passage, he took the man through other passages of the Scriptures, preaching Jesus to him.

Well, we are told in the passage that Jesus took up our pain and bore our suffering. It also says that He was pierced and crushed for our transgressions. So, everything Jesus suffered was for our sins. No wonder Paul says that He became sin for us, even though He knew no sin (2Corinthians 5:21). That means the sin that came into our lives through the disobedience of Adam was taking care of by the Lord Jesus through His sufferings and death.

But it was not only our sins that Jesus took care of. He also took care of every other thing that came to us as a result of the sin of Adam. Among those things that came as a result of his sin were sicknesses, diseases, deformities, pain and death. In short, all the terrible things we have been experiencing in the world came to us because of the sin of Adam. But Jesus took care of them all when He suffered and died for us.

So, Isaiah says, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” That means Jesus purchased healing for us, just as He purchased redemption for us. Just as He paid the price for our sins, He also paid the price for our sicknesses, diseases and infirmities. And as we accept His offer of salvation and redemption from our sins, we should also accept His offer of healing of our sicknesses, diseases and deformities.

It is unfortunate, however, that many who have accepted Jesus’ offer of redemption from their sins will not accept His offer of healing for their sicknesses or infirmities. But just as He died for our sins, He also died for our illnesses. He took them away. He carried them away. So, you should not have them again.

Peter also talks about this in his first letter, the second chapter. He says, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree in order that we, being dead to sin, might live unto righteousness. By His stripes we were healed.” We have been healed. Jesus already paid the price for us to live in health. All we need is to receive our healing now. You don’t need to doubt if He wants you well. If He did not want you well, He would not die for your sins and illnesses. But He already paid the price for your sins and illnesses. What is important, then, is for you to take your health, just as you took your salvation from sin and the devil.

So, tsake your salvation from that sickness, deformity, blindness, deafness, dumbness or paralysis. Yes, take your salvation from barrenness, miscarriages and mental problems. Jesus did not die for you to continue to live a sick and weak life. Rather, He died for you to have your health back. And He did not do what He did for the Jews alone; rather, He did it for everyone that will come to Him in faith.

The bible says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…” So, Jesus was not given for the Jews alone but for all men as well. The salvation He purchased is for all men. The healing He purchased is for all men. And ours is to accept what He has gotten for us and experience His healing in our bodies and minds. Those who accept His salvation from sin are the ones that experience it. In the same vein, it is those who accept His healing for their bodies that will experience healing in their bodies.

So, accept His healing right now by saying, “I receive my healing, in the name of Jesus. I receive my sight. I receive my hearing. I receive strength to walk and to use my arms.” And if you have been barren, receive fruitfulness, in the name of Jesus. Or you have been sterile – receive fruitfulness in the name of Jesus. Whatever you need right now to be whole, receive it in the name of Jesus. And it will be yours. Hallelujah!

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Series: Recognizing His Voice | Title: Verify with Scriptures By: | Johnson O. Lawal | Date: April 07, 2024

I want us to continue from where we left off on ‘Recognising God’s voice’. We have looked at the various ways through which God speaks to people. Now we want to look how to tell when God is the one using these means to talk to us and when He is not speaking to us through them. This is important because the word of God shows us that it is not only God that uses these means in talking to men. As we already saw from Scriptures, God talks to people directly and audibly. He talks to people through nature. He also talks to people through visions, dreams and prophecy. He equally speaks to men through angels and through signs. The He speaks directly to people’s hearts without using any medium. And we want to be able to tell when He is the one talking from when He is not the one talking through any of these means.

Now we are using Scriptures as our reference in doing this. That is because they represent the entire body of truth God wants us to know. Yes, they represent the entire body of the will of God that He wants us to have as humans. And as long as they are interpreted correctly, they are reliable and serve as our reference book in differentiating when God is talking to us from when it is some other voices that we are hearing.

Well then, let us look at some of the things said in Scriptures along these lines. To start with, we know from Scriptures that God speaks through prophecy. But they also tell us that it is not every prophecy that is of God. And they go on to tell us how to tell whether a prophecy is of God or not. The bottom line is that any prophecy that is not in line with Scriptures must not be taken seriously. It is not of God. For example, we are told this in Deuteronomy, chapter 13, from verse 1:

“If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death for inciting rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. Your must purge the evil from among you.” (Deuteronomy 13:1-5NIV)

These are clear instructions to us on how to relate to prophecies. And they are showing us that even if the person prophesying to us is one who has prophesied in the past and whose prophecies have come to past, we must not listen to him, if he tells us anything that is contrary to the commands of God. What commands is Moses referring to here? The commands of God in the Scriptures. God, through Moses, had given the Israelites the Book of the Law. And this book contains all His commands and instructions for them to live lives pleasing to Him.

Now He is telling them that if a prophet should arise among them and should tell them to do anything that is contrary to what is in the Book of the Law that He has given them, they must not listen to him. Instead, it is God they must listen to. In fact, He says that they must see to it that they kill that prophet. Why? He is inciting rebellion against the Lord. How is he inciting rebellion against God? It is by asking the people to act contrary to the Scriptures.

So, it does not matter who the prophet is, how influential he is the church, what title he carries and what reputation he has as a prophet, as long as his prophecy is geared towards making you do what is contrary to what is in Scriptures, you must not listen to him. That is our instruction from God through the Scriptures.

Also, here is what God says through Jeremiah:

“This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.”” (Jeremiah 23:16NIV)

God is saying do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you. Evidently, God is not saying that all prophets are false and should not be listened to. If that is what He is saying, then, even Jeremiah should not be listened to at all. What He is saying is that certain prophets that are prophesying to the people of Judah and misleading them should not be listened to. Why? Their visions are from their own imaginations and not from the mouth of the Lord. Therefore, God says do not listen to them.

In 2Chronicles, chapter 20, verse 20, King Jehoshaphat tells the people of Judah to have faith in God in order to be established and to have faith in His prophets in order to prosper. So, it is in line with the will of God to trust His prophets. However, we are to follow a prophet only to the degree that he is consistent with the will of God. That means we are not to follow just any prophet that comes our way. Our Lord Jesus also warns us against false prophets. He says that they come to us as wolves in sheep’s clothing. And He tells us to be on our guard against them. (Cf. Matthew 7:15)

Well, God further says this to us from verse 21 of Jeremiah 23:

“I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied. But if they had stood in my council, they would have proclaimed my words to my people and would have turned them from their evil ways and from their evil deeds.” (Jeremiah 23:21-22NIV)

Can you now see that it is not every prophet that is sent by God? It is not every one of them that is sent by Him. That being the case, it is not every prophecy that is of God. And how do you know that a prophecy is not of God? Inasmuch as it is not consistent with what we have in Scriptures, it is not of God. That is what Scriptures themselves say to us in Deuteronomy 13.

Furthermore, God says this from verse 28:

“Let the prophet who has a dream recount the dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain? Declares the Lord. “Is not my like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:28-29NIV)

Here God is speaking about the supremacy of the Scriptures. He is saying if a prophet wants to prophesy, he should go ahead and do so. Or if it is a dream or vision that he has to share, let him go ahead and narrate it. But the one who has God’s word, the one who has the Scriptures, should declare what they say faithfully. Why? The word of God is the real deal. He likens His word here, first, to grain. And He likens any prophecy that is contrary to Scriptures to straw. Which, then, is the real thing, grain or straw? Evidently, grain is the real thing.

Then God likens His word to fire that consumes and purifies. So, if what you have is worthless, God’s word will consume it. But if what you have is like gold or silver or diamond, God’s word will purify it. Also, God likens His word to a hammer that breaks rocks into pieces. In other words, His word is effective in handling the hardest of problems. And He is saying these just to let us see the supremacy of the Scriptures to visions, dreams and prophecy. That being the case, our focus should be on what He says to us in Scriptures, even where we have prophets prophesying to us.

You can actually find yourself in a place where all kinds of people are prophesying and you cannot even tell who is who. What you need to do in that kind of situation is to give yourself to the word of God. This, however, does not mean that we should despise prophecy or see every prophet as false. The word of God does not tell us to do that. Instead, it tells us to test everything and hold on to what is true. (Cf. 1Thessalonians 5:20-22)

How, then, do we test prophecy? It is by checking out its consistency with what we have in Scriptures. Paul tells us in 1Corinthians 14 that if anyone prophesies in the church, his prophecy should be weighed carefully. What do we use in weighing it? It is the Scriptures. There is nowhere we are told in Scriptures to accept any prophecy as of God. We are not told in them to accept people’s prophecies on the basis of their reputation. Sadly, many in the church think that once someone has a reputation for being a prophet, they must listen to everything he says. But they don’t have to. If what the person says is not consistent with the body of truth we have in Scriptures, then, it is to be rejected. It is as simple as that.

The same thing is applicable to visions and dreams. It is not every vision that is of God. It is not every dream that is of God. As long as a dream or vision is not consistent with Scriptures, it should be rejected. Interestingly, we see that even the apostles of old would not force their dreams, visions or revelations on God’s people. Instead, they admonished them to recognise the supremacy of Scriptures over whatever dream, vision or revelation they shared with them.

For instance, Peter shares this with us about his experience with Jesus on the mountain of transfiguration:

“For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He received honour and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2Peter 2:16-21NIV)

The first thing Peter tells us here is that the gospel is made up of cleverly invented stories. He and some of his companions were eyewitnesses of the Lord’s glory and power on the mountain of transfiguration. They all saw Him transfigured before them. And the Lord warned them not to share what they had witnessed with other disciples until He had risen from the dead (Mark 9:9). Nevertheless, even though Peter witnessed this and it was real, he still goes on to tell us that there is something else that is superior to any revelation they may have been privileged to witness. And what is that? The Scripture!

His words are: “We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” What prophetic message is Peter talking about here? The one we have in the Scripture! He is referring to the things spoken by the prophet of old about our Lord Jesus Christ and that they were also inspired by God to write down. And he says that these things are completely reliable. Scriptures are completely reliable, as long as they are not twisted. They are completely reliable, as long as they are not misinterpreted. And we are to pay attention to them, as to a light shining in a dark place.

So, again, Peter is showing us the supremacy and reliability of Scriptures here. That is why we use them as our reference in telling when the one talking to us is God and when the one talking to us is not Him. Peter, in fact, goes on to show us that what we have in Scriptures are not of human origin or will. Those who wrote what we have in them down did not write out of their own understanding or view of things. Instead, they wrote them down as they were inspired or carried along by the Spirit of God. So, we can completely rely on what they have written down for us. All of this, then, means that anything that is contrary to Scriptures must be rejected, be it a dream, a vision or a prophetic revelation.

Mind you, Peter further tells us this from verse 1 of chapter 2 of his second letter:

“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them – bringing swift destruction on themselves.” (2Peter 2:1-2NIV)

What he is telling us is that we can expect to encounter false prophets and prophecies and can also expect to encounter false teachers and false teachings. And all these people are going to be claiming that they and what they are saying are of God. But they are liars. And we must be able to tell genuine prophets and teachers of the word of God from fake ones. How? It is by relying on Scriptures. We check out what they are saying in Scriptures, to see if it is consistent with them or not.

When Paul went to minister in Berea, the Jews he met there took out time to verify what he was teaching them in Scriptures to see if it was true. They did not just accept him as a true man of God, just because he said that he was one. Instead, they settled down with Scriptures to see the consistency of what he was saying with what was in them. And what other way did they have of verifying what the man was sharing with them, to see if it was true? None but the Scripture! They could not wait until God showed them a vision or a dream in order to know if Paul was right. Even if God showed them something, how would they know that it was actually from God? So, all they had to rely on were Scriptures. And it was only after they had seen that he was in line with Scriptures that they embraced his message. (Cf. Acts 17:10-12)

Mind you, Paul himself did not prevent them from examining the Scripture to see if what he had shared with them was true and to be embraced. So, if a prophet or anybody is telling you that it is an insult for you to verify what they are teaching you or proclaiming to you as the word of God, then, know that they are most likely a deceitful worker. And you should not listen to them. There are all kinds of things that preachers ask God’s people to do today, things that are totally foreign to what we have in Scriptures. Such things must be rejected, regardless of who they are coming from.

The same thing is applicable to angelic visitations. They must be in accordance with what we have in Scriptures. Yes, Scriptures tell us that God still speaks to people through His angels. So, we should not reject or despise the ministry of angels. They are continually ministering to us whether we see them or not. But through Scriptures we also know that there are times that God may want these angels to show themselves to us and minister His will to us.

Nevertheless, the same Scripture tells us that it is not every angel that is of God. It tells us that there are demons posing as angels and that we must be on our guard against them. For example, Paul says this in 2Corinthians 11:

For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.” (2Corinthians 11:13-15NIV)

Here this man of God is showing us that there are false apostles. In other words, it is not everyone that calls himself an apostle of the Lord that is one. There are false apostles. And as he further tells us, we should not be surprised that there are false apostles. Why? It is because Satan, who is the master of these false apostles, also masquerades as an angel of light.

Satan is an angel of darkness. He is an angel that God has already judged and that will be sent to spend his eternity in the lake of fire when the time is ripe. But sometimes he poses as an angel of light. Unfortunately, many do not know this. They think of Satan all the time as this ugly being that always appears frightening. It is true that Satan’s sin corrupted his beauty. And whether that turned him into an ugly being or not is not mentioned in Scriptures. But we do see from Scriptures that he does not always appear as an ugly and frightening beast. Instead, he sometimes appears as a lovely being, one to love and embrace. That is what Paul means when he says that he masquerades as an angel of light.

Now why will Satan masquerade as an angel of light? It is to have a clear opportunity to devour us. So, we are warned ahead in Scriptures of this. And we will do well to keep in mind the fact that there are demons posing as angels of light. How, then, do we know them? One way to know is that such demons may demand that we worship them. There is no angel of God that will demand or accept human worship. They are servants of God sent to minister to us. They are not God. So, they do not deserve human worship and will not request for it.

Remember that Satan once asked Jesus to worship Him. And how did the Lord respond to that? He told him that it is written, “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.” So, to worship any other thing apart from God is to be involved in idolatry. No angel of God, then, will put himself in a condition where people will worship him. Only demons will do that. (Cf. Luke 4:5-8)

Well, we are warned to be careful of demons who pose as angels of light and who may want us to worship them. Paul says this to the Colossians along the same line:

“Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.” (Col 2:18-19NIV)

Did you see that? People can go into great details about their experiences with angels and so forth. But as long as what they are saying is promoting the worship of angels, you must not listen to them. Otherwise, they will disqualify you for your prize in Christ Jesus.

Well, the point I am making is that no true angel of God will accept human worship – no true angel of God will tell you something that is contrary to the body of truth we have in Scriptures. For example, John the apostle tells us in the book of Revelation that twice he was tempted to worship angels, the angels that were showing him revelations of the future. Look at what he says about this:

“The angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb”” And he added, “These are the true words of God.” At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.” (Revelation 19:9-10NIV)

“I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!” (Revelation 22:8-9NIV)

Did you see that? Those angels would not allow John to worship them. Instead, they told him very sternly, “Don’t do that!” So, as I said before, no true angel of God will accept or encourage human worship. Instead, he will direct you to the worship of God. If you, then, find an angel that is asking you to worship him or to do anything that is contrary to the will of God, you should know that you have found a demon. That angel is, of course, accursed. Paul says that if any angel preaches a gospel that is contrary to the true gospel that he preaches, that angel is under a curse. And we should keep that in mind. (Cf. Galatians 1:8)

But how do we know these things? It is by examining Scriptures. So, if you keep in mind what is said in Scriptures about how to relate to the different mediums through which God speaks to people, you will see that no one will succeed in misleading you.

For instance, do you know that there are lying spirits? And these spirits often speak to people, giving them the impression that it is God that is talking to them. Yes, as we see in Scriptures, God speaks to people clearly and audibly. But He is not the only one that can do that. Satan also can do that. How, then, do you tell when God is talking to you from when Satan or any of his lying spirits is talking to you?

It took Eli to help Samuel recognise the voice of God (1Samuel 3). Why? God’s voice did not sound special to Samuel. On the contrary, it sounded on that occasion like Eli’s voice, like the voice of a human. So, it is not every time that God speaks to people that it thunders (John 12:28). There are times that He speaks quietly to people, just as He did to Elijah on Mount Horeb (1Kings 19). So, how do you tell He is the one talking to you and not some lying spirit? It is by verifying what is said to you with what we have in Scriptures.

In 1Timothy 4 we are told that the Spirit of God says expressly to us that in the last days some believers will abandon the faith and follow lying spirits and teachings of demons. So, there are lying spirits and they talk to people all the time. How, then, can you recognise them? It is by checking out what you have heard with what is in Scriptures. Do they agree? If they don’t, then, know that a lying spirit is at work.

Satan once spoke to Peter, telling him to rebuke Jesus for saying that He was going to die (Matthew 16). Why did he succeed in getting Peter to rebuke Jesus on that occasion? It was because Peter did not know what is written in Scriptures about why Jesus came into the world. He came to die for our sins. And He was ready to do so. But Peter did not know this. So, Satan got him to oppose Jesus on that occasion. And Jesus had to rebuke him for this error.

Well, what we are saying is that we can tell if it is God that is using a medium to talk to us or not by verifying what we hear in Scriptures. And if it is not in agreement with what is in them, we should reject it. It is not of God.

Let us pray.

Copyright © 2024 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@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07025105978)

Series: Recognising the voice of God| Title: The supremacy of Scriptures By: | Johnson O. Lawal | Date: March 31, 2024

I want us to continue from where we left off on ‘Recognising God’s voice’. In our last lesson, we looked at how God talked to people in the past through Scriptures and how Scriptures represent a document of the will of God for us. What we are saying is that the Scriptures represent the entire body of truth that God wants us to have. And interestingly, they are the only medium through which God speaks to people that He Himself has told us to meditate on day and night.

In Joshua, chapter 1, verse 8, for instance, God, speaking to Joshua after the death of Moses, said, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” (NIV) You can see here that God specifically told Joshua what to do with Scriptures. He told him to meditate on them day and night. How often was he to do that? He was to do so day and night. Why? It was because God intended to talk to him everyday through the Scriptures.

Also, we are told this about the blessed man in Psalm 1:

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-2NIV)

The blessed man is said to be one who gives himself to meditating on the word of God day and night. If you tie this with what we have in Joshua 1, you can see that God wants us to give ourselves to meditating on His Scriptures day and night. This is showing us that the Scriptures are the only medium through which God communicates to people that He tells us to meditate on day and night. And that is because He wants to be talking to us through them every day and every night.

As I told you before, the Scriptures represent the complete body of truth that God wants us to have. So, we can expect Him to talk to us through them day and night. We can expect Him to talk to us through them any time. If you, then, want Him to be talking to you everyday, you should give yourself to reading, studying and meditating on Scriptures everyday.

Now God has not told us to look forward to having visions or dreams everyday. And He has not told us to look forward to prophetic revelations or angelic visitations every day. Then He has not told us that He will be speaking to us audibly and directly from heaven everyday. Instead, He has told us to meditate on Scriptures day and night, for He intends to talk to us through them always. That being the case, we must give ourselves to the Scriptures everyday.

Furthermore, since the Scriptures represent the entire body of truth that God wants us to know, they are reliable. The Scriptures themselves tell us that they are reliable. Look at what Paul says to Timothy about that:

“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)

Here we are told that all Scripture is God-breathed. What does that mean? It means that all Scripture is God-inspired. Everything we have in Scriptures is inspired by God. That does not mean that everything said in the Scripture is said by God. No, it is not everything in it that was said by God. We have statements made by the devil in Scriptures. We also have statements made by angels and demons in the Scripture. And we do equally have statements made by men and animals in Scriptures. So, it is not everything said in them that was said by God.

But everything we have in Scriptures is there because God wants it to be there. Remember I told you that the Scriptures were put together by the command of God (Romans 16:25-17). So, they are reliable to the degree that they are interpreted correctly. And I want to keep that in mind. The Scriptures are only reliable to the degree that they are interpreted correctly. When they are misinterpreted or interpreted wrongly, they will be misapplied. That, of course, will affect their reliability.

Well, because the Scriptures are reliable to the degree that they are interpreted correctly, they serve as a point of reference for us. A point of reference in what sense? A point of reference in confirming the means through which God speaks to us and the reliability of those means. In other words, we can learn from Scriptures whether God is the one speaking to us through a particular means or some other being.

For instance, we know through Scriptures that speaks to people and still speaks to them through nature. Look at what is said in Psalm 19, from verse 1:

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world…” (Psalm 19:1-4NIV)

David is telling us here that God still speaks to people day by day through nature, through the things He has created. When you step out of your house and look at the things God has created, you can hear Him talk to you. Of course, the things God says to us through nature are limited. But He truly talks to us through it. He speaks to us about His eternal power and divine nature through it. He shows us through it that He is alive and well and that the things we see did not appear by accident. (Cf. Romans 1:20)

In any case, by listening to God through nature, we are able to understand the various times and seasons there are and how to make the most of them. Yes, by listening to Him through nature, we are able to plan our lives. And we know this is the case through Scriptures.

Also, through Scriptures we are able to tell that God still speaks to people through dreams, visions and prophecies. Remember that we listed these mediums among the ones that God used in speaking to people in the past. And how do we know that He spoke to people in the past through them? It is through the Scriptures, for that is plainly stated in them. For example, speaking about the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, Luke says this from verse 14 of Acts 2:

“The Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.’”” (Acts 2:17-18NIV)

Peter, here, tells us three things that God will be doing to people and through them after pouring out His Sprit on them. First, He will cause them to prophesy. Second, He will cause them to see visions. Third, He will cause them have dreams. And remember that in the past, as we see in Scriptures, God spoke to people through these means. Now we can see again that He is not through speaking to people through them. In other words, He still speaks to people through visions, dreams and prophecies.

That being the case, we should desire to see visions, have dreams and prophesy. That, of course, does not mean that God will definitely show us visions or dreams or bring us a prophetic word. He may not do that, for He does these things according to His divine purpose. But we must understand that the days of divinely given dreams are not over. No, the days of visions are not over. And the days of prophecies are not over.

Unfortunately, there are people that believe that the days of prophecies, for example, are over. They believe that Scriptures have replaced prophetic instructions or revelations. But Scriptures themselves tell us that God wants us to prophesy and that He wants us to see visions and have dreams. Scriptures tell us that God intends to speak to us through these means. Why, then, should anyone say that Scriptures have replaced them? That is contradictory!

In 1Corinthians 12 we are enlightened about the various gifts of the Spirit that God wants to manifest in the church. And in the last verse of the chapter, we are told, “Now eagerly desire the greater gifts…” (1Corinthians 12:30NIV) What are the greater gifts? They are those gifts that edify the body of Christ. These gifts do not just edify the ones that possess them but also edify the body of Christ. And one of those gifts is prophecy.

So then, in verse 1 of chapter 14 of 1Corinthians, Paul says, “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.” (NIV) Can you see that? We are to follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit. Then we are told a particular gift that we all, as assemblies of God, should eagerly desire. That is the gift of prophecy.

Now let me quickly say this: one of the reasons we are not seeing much manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit in the church today is that the hunger for them is no longer there. Yes, there are some assemblies in which people show some measure of hunger for the gift of prophecy. But what about the other gifts of the Spirit? Are they not needed in the church? They are. But those groups of believers, as I pointed out, focus mainly of the gift of prophecy. And because of this, they have opened the door for all kinds of errors to flow into their midst.

Should we because of that discourage prophesying in the church? No! We are told not to discourage the use of spiritual gifts in the church. Yes, there are false spiritual gifts. But where there is falsehood, there is surely the truth somewhere around the corner. So, we should not because of falsehood reject the truth.

In any case, we are told to eagerly desire the gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. Why must we desire the gift of prophecy? Paul tells us in verse 3 of the chapter, saying, “But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.” (1Corinthians 14:3NIV) Through prophecy God encourages, strengthens and comforts people. That means God speaks to people through prophecy. So, those who are saying that the days of prophecy are over or that Scriptures have replaced prophecy are missing it.

It is true that Scriptures are supreme. It is true that we can have God talk to us without the employment of the gift of prophecy. That, however, does not mean that God intends to displace prophecy with Scriptures. Yes, Scriptures can effectively replace prophecy. So, even if God does not speak to us through prophecy, we can still hear Him talk to us through Scriptures. Remember that He tells us to meditate on Scriptures day and night. And that is because He wants to talk to us through them. If we will, then, sit down with Scriptures, we will hear God talk to us.

As we all know, it is not every time that God speaks to people through prophecy. And it is even only those who have the gift of prophecy that we can expect to regularly prophesy. Some who do not have this gift can, of course, prophesy accidentally. But it is those who possess the gift that will often manifest it. Yet it is not everyday and concerning every matter of life that God will be talking through them through prophecy.

God has not told us that He will be talking to us everyday through prophecy. He has not told us to watch out for prophetic instructions every day. Rather, He has told us to watch out for Him to talk to us every day and every night through Scriptures. Nonetheless, we know through Scriptures that God still intends to talk to us through prophecy. We also know through them that He still intends to talk to us through visions and dreams. And He, in fact, tells us that it is not only men that are going to experience these things, when He pours out His Spirit on all mankind, but also the women. Therefore, we should desire these things.

More so, we know through Scriptures that God still talks to people through angels. Again, whether we are visited by angels or not, we can hear God talk to us through Scriptures. As I told you before, one of the reasons God has documented His will for us in Scriptures is that none of us may have any excuse for not knowing His will. In other words, we cannot say that the reason we do not know His will about a matter of our lives is that He did not send a prophet or an angel to us or that He did not show us a vision or a dream. That is because we can know His will by settling down with Scriptures.

But then, even though Scriptures can effectively replace angelic visitations, God has not chosen to displace angelic visitations with Scriptures. And we know these through Scriptures. Again, God has not told us to daily watch out for angelic visitations. But He tells us that we can expect them to visit us.

Now angels are all around us. And we know this through Scriptures. We know through them that we are surrounded by angels and that they are sent by God to serve us, even though we cannot see them. But sometimes, God wants us to see them. That may be because He wants to talk to us through them or do certain things for us through them. So, we are told this in Hebrews 13, verse 2: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2)

We are instructed here not to forget or neglect showing hospitality to strangers. This is not about the people that we know but about those that we do not know. We have to be wise, of course, in the way we show hospitality to strangers. We should be kind to them and helpful to them in whatever way we can. But we must do this with an understanding of the prevailing conditions of where we live. Otherwise, we may foolishly fall into the traps of wicked and unreasonable people that are posing as strangers.

In Genesis 18 we are told of how God once visited Abraham with two of His angels. And as we further see in the account, even though Abraham saw these strangers as no ordinary people and was determined to entertain them, he did not bring them into his tent. He entertained them outside his tent, where he had found them. That is wisdom in dealing with strangers. Therefore, don’t just bring anyone that you do not know into your house. It might be dangerous.

However, we are told not to neglect entertaining strangers and treating them well, according to the measure of grace given to us by God. And that is because we may just be relating to angels. Some believers, as the writer of the book of Hebrews shares with us, in the past entertained strangers and later found out that they were angels. And he shares this with us to tell us that God still speaks to people through angels.

Well, we are able to understand these things through Scriptures. And that is why we should take them seriously, if we will be able to recognise God’s voice. As I told you before, if we are going to be able to recognise His voice, we must first be able to ascertain those ways through which He speaks to people. Then we must be able to tell when it is God that is using a particular medium to talk to us and it is not Him. And we can do these things by giving ourselves to Scriptures.

In addition to all that, remember that we also said that God spoke through an animal before. And is He still doing that? Well, the only recorded instance in which God spoke to someone through an animal was in the case of Balaam and his donkey (Numbers 22). We don’t have any other record in Scriptures of God doing this to someone else. Yes, we have another case of a talking animal in Genesis 3. But it was Satan that was talking through it to Eve, not God. And we do not have any other record of another serpent talking in the same manner to anybody. So, we can safely say that God is no longer talking to people through animals.

Mind you, even if someone claims to have God talking to them through a snake, a donkey or any other animal, we simply need to look at the consistency of whatever is said with the body of truth we have in Scriptures. And if it is not consistent with it, we don’t need to bother ourselves about it.

Then does God still speak to people through signs. Yes, He still does. And Scriptures confirm that. For instance, He spoke to John the Baptist through a sign, that is, for him to recognise the Messiah of the Jews and also introduce Him to them. Also, He spoke to Jesus through a sign, to let Him know when His earthly ministry ended. How? When the Greeks came seeking an audience with Him, He said that the hour had come for Him to be glorified. So, the coming of the Gentiles to Him was a God-given sign that the end of His earthly ministry had come. (Cf. John 1 & 12)

Furthermore, till today, the Rainbow still appears in the sky. I mean that God has not stopped talking to us through the Rainbow and reminding us of His covenant with us not to destroy all life again with floods of water. And we have also heard a number of preachers share their experiences with us of how God spoke to them or speaks to them through certain signs.

However, as I pointed out before, we also see from Scriptures that even if God is going to speak to us through a sign, He will have told us in advance what that sign is and what it will mean. Otherwise, we can be sure that He is not the one using signs to talk to us.

Then does God speak to people again through direct revelations to their hearts and without any medium. Yes! As we are shown in Scriptures, we are to always pray that God will fill our hearts with wisdom and revelation so that we may know Him better (Ephesians 1:17). This is about what God does to our hearts, what He does to us on the inside. It is not about seeing visions or having dreams or seeing angels or receiving prophecies. Rather, it is about having God deal directly with our hearts. Then we will just know the truth that He wants us to know. That, of course, is how we understand the Scriptures – we understand them through divine revelations given directly to our hearts without any medium.

Remember that Jesus speaks along this line to His disciples. He says that when they are brought before rulers of people to be interrogated, they should not bother about what they will say. Why? According to Him, the Spirit of their Father in them will give them the right words to say at that time. That means God will be speaking directly to their hearts in such situations. And whatever He says to them will surely be consistent with what we have in Scriptures. Otherwise, it is not God that is talking to them.

Now I shared all these things with you so that you will recognise the supremacy of Scriptures to all the other means through which God speaks to people. And this is where we will end it today. Let us pray.

Copyright © 2024 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@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07025105978)