Tag: johnson lawal

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See to it _Based on the word only (c)

Recommended Citation

Lawal, J. O. (2025, April 20). Based on the word only (c)(Vol. 7, No. 49). See To It.

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I want to further share with you concerning the instructions that we are given in Hebrews, chapters 3 and 12, which have to do with watching over one another. We are told to see to it that none of us develops a sinful unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. We are also told to see to it that none of us falls short of the grace of God. And these things have led us to looking at series of things that we need to pay attention to, if we will be able to help one another stay in the truth.

Now the last of the things we have been dealing with has to do with relating to one another only on the basis of the word of God. As I pointed out, we must not relate to one another as believers outside the confines of the word of God. There are things the word of God commands us to do. And they are the things we must command ourselves to do. There are things His word encourages us to do. And these are the things we must encourage ourselves to do. In like manner, there are things the word of God commands us not to do. And these are the things we must command ourselves not to do. Then there are things the word of God discourages us from doing. These also are the things we must discourage ourselves from doing.

But then, there are also things that God has not spoken for or spoken against. Paul refers to such things as disputable matters. And we have rules given to us in Scriptures in handling such matters. We have these rules given to us so that we will not find ourselves judging or condemning our brethren for things God has not condemned them for.

Now I want to press this further by talking to us on dealing with one another according to human traditions. Remember what we are saying is that we must relate to one another only on the basis of the word of God and not on the basis of our feelings, experiences, idiosyncrasies or traditions. We may have feelings that are good. We may have experiences that people may learn from. And we may have traditions that are good. But these things must be consistent with the word of God. Otherwise, we must discard them as useless. We must not impose them on anybody or demand that anyone act on their basis.

For instance, in Saint Mark’s gospel, chapter 7, we are told this:

“The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.) So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”” (Mark 7:1-5NIV)

We see here that the religious leaders of the Jews were judging the disciples of the Lord based on the traditions of the land, not based on the word of God. Truly, the things that are said here about their traditions are not bad. Washing your hands before eating is not bad. Washing your cups, pitchers and other things you use for eating is not bad. And taking your bath, having come back from a journey or the market, is not bad.

However, we do not have any command in the word of God that we must wash our hands before we eat or that we must take our bath before we eat or do any other thing. These things are not bad in themselves. But they are not rules given to us for godly living. It will, therefore, be wrong of us to judge anyone on their basis or to conclude that someone is not living to please God on the basis of these things.

Interestingly, even in marriages, husbands and wives can have issues along these lines. They can begin to make on themselves demands that the word of God is not making on them. You, as a husband, may love to always take your bath when you are back from work, for example. And that is a good thing. But your wife may not love that or may not have been raised to function like that. Truly, it will not be a bad idea for her to copy you in doing this. But to insist that she also must do so before you can relate properly to her in your home is to miss it. That is because you are making a demand on her that God is not making on her.

Don’t miss my point here. I am not saying that it is alright for someone to be living a dirty life. If someone has been working for hours and needs to take their bath in order not to irritate their spouse or others around them, they should do the needful. But we must also understand that something like that will not make them godly or ungodly. Yes, I know there is this slogan that says, “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” But it is not scriptural to say so. There is nowhere in the bible in which we are told that cleanliness is next to godliness.

To say the fact, cleanliness is not next to godliness. Someone may be dirty in their lifestyle and still be godly. And someone may be clean but ungodly. Lazarus, as we see in the story Jesus told about him and a rich man, was dirty and poor. His body was filled with sores and wounds. Yet when he died, angels came to carry him to paradise. But the rich man that was living a neat life ended up in hell. Did Lazarus go to paradise with his dirty and awful body? No! He went there in his spirit. And as we are told in Scriptures, he would, henceforth, begin to live with a glorified body, a body that sicknesses and diseases could not afflict. (Cf. Luke 16:19-31)

So, we need to watch ourselves as we relate to one another. Otherwise, we may be judging ourselves on the basis of some traditions or superstitions. And this will affect our relationships with one another. It may make us condemn or judge the innocent. It may shut whatever door of opportunity we might have had to help one another stay in the faith. If you cannot properly fellowship with another person because you have placed a barrier of traditions between both of you, that person may not be able to reach you, if they should need your help. And even if you should want to help them, they too may not want your help. The same thing is applicable to you.

Well, when these religious leaders of the Jews began to judge the disciples of the Lord based on their traditions, He responded. Look at his response from verse 6 of the chapter:

“He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: ‘These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God) – then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”” (Mark 7:6-13NIV)

There are three basic things Jesus says here about the religious leaders of the Jews. First, He says that they have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions. Second, He says that they have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe their own traditions. Third, He says that nullify the word of God by their traditions. What is the point of all these? It is that these people took their traditions more seriously than the word of God. So, they were ready to replace the word of God with their traditions, wherever the word of God goes against those traditions.

Nothing, as I said before, was wrong with the tradition of cleanliness that these religious leaders of the Jews had. And it is not wrong for us too to have such a tradition. It is not wrong to take care of our body and the things we use in eating and drinking. On the contrary, it is good to be hygienic. It helps us to live healthy. But it is wrong for us to place whatever we believe or practise about this above the word of God. And it is wrong for us to make whatever we believe or practise about it a rule of life for anybody.

Rules of life are made for us on the basis of the word of God. I mean that what God says is what determines our rules for living, not human traditions. And in relating to one another we must be careful not to present our traditions as the word of God. Yes, we must be careful not to judge people on the basis of our traditions or superstitions. There are all kinds of superstitions from place to place. For instance, among the Yorubas, it is a taboo to sit and eat at the entrance of a house. And it is indeed not a commendable thing to be eating at the door of a house. But it is not a sin. You can choose to eat wherever you like. It is not a sin. You can even choose to eat at the dumpsite, if you are okay with it. It is not a sin. There is no Scripture that says that it is a sin for anyone to do so.

So, we need to be careful how we judge people. Certain things may not be socially acceptable. It does not mean that those things are wrong or that God is against them. How people dress may not be socially up-to-date. Some will dress and not tuck in their shirts. Some others will dress and not button up. They just want to dress down all the time. Is that a sin? No! I used to attend an assembly in which a cell leader would tell his members that it was a sin for them to dress and not tuck in their shirts. And is that indeed a sin? No!

See, we must respect people’s right to live as free people. As long as they are not using their freedom as a cover up for evil, we must respect their right to live as free people. Paul also shares some things with us along this line in his letter to the Colossians. From verse 16 of chapter 2, he says:

“Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” (Colossians 2:16NIV)

We dealt with this in our last lesson. We said whatever people believe about what they eat and how they handle days, times and seasons is between them and God. And no one should judge anyone on the basis of how they handle these things. Then, from verse 17, Paul goes on to say this:

“Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. They have 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.” (Colossians 2:18-19NIV)

Paul is speaking here about mysticism. He is referring to a situation in which people try to impose certain spiritual experiences they claim to have had on God’s people. These ones often want to use these spiritual experiences they have had as their rule for judging God’s people or for determining how God’s people are to live their lives. They will talk about the visions or dreams they have had or talk about certain angelic visitations they have received.

Now the word of God is not against visions, dreams or angelic manifestations. These are some of the means that God uses in revealing His will to His people. However, any vision or dream we see must be consistent with the word of God. If it is not consistent with His word, then, we must reject it. We must never place our visions or dreams above the word of God or use them to replace the word of God.

What about angelic visitations? They are real. But it is not every time that people have angelic visitations that they are of God. In 2Corinthians 11 Paul tells us that Satan often masquerade as an angel of light and that his servants also do likewise. So, demons can masquerade as angels of light.

How, then, do we know when an angelic visitation is of God or not? First, a true angel of God will never demand that you worship him. He will always tell you to worship God. Second, a true angelic visitation will only seek to glorify God. Therefore, no angel will tell you to do anything that is contrary to what is written in the word of God. (Cf. Revelation 19:9-10; Revelation 22:8-9)

Unfortunately, there are those who have judged God’s people as going to hell on the strength of certain angelic visitations they had. I listened to a woman who went into details of the things some angels showed her about why Christians may go to hell. According to her, certain Christian ladies were taken to hell because they used earrings, wore trousers or used hair attachments when they were here on earth. And that is an example of what Paul is saying to the Colossians. He is speaking of those who will go into great detail about their visions, dreams or angelic visitations, saying things that are not consistent with Scriptures. What do we do about such things? We throw them away.

You cannot tell me that someone is going to hell because they wear trousers or earrings. On what strength? On the strength on your dreams? Is that what the word of God says? If that is not what the word of God says, I must reject what you are saying. We have prophets who do similar things. They give prophecies that are inconsistent with Scriptures. And they expect everyone to follow them. If you, then, will not follow them, they may take you as a rebel or as an unbeliever. Such things are wrong.

Well, Paul says that you should not allow anyone to judge or condemn you on such basis. In fact, he goes on to tell us that people who do such things have lost connection with the Lord of the church, that is, Christ. Also, he tells us that they are unspiritual. They may appear spiritual. But they are not. So, we should not take them seriously.

Furthermore, Paul says from verse 20 of the chapter:

“Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.” (Colossians 2:20-23NIV)

This is similar to what I shared with you in Mark 7 on relating to human traditions. There are traditions and superstitions of men that say, “Do not touch! Do not handle! Do not taste!” But as long as they are not consistent with the word of God, we do not take them seriously. Yes, there are times we need to exercise caution or discretion in relating to the traditions and superstitions of people in some places. Yet, as long as their traditions are against the word of God, you too must be against them.

But then, if a tradition is not against the word of God and accepting it will make it easier for you to relate to those who practise it, you may want to accept it for their sake. The word of God tells us to be at peace with everyone. And if respecting the tradition of those with whom we live or work or study is not contrary to the will of God, we can show some respect for it. That may help us in living in peace with them. But where their tradition is contrary to the word of God, we must reject it.

What we are saying is that we must not allow our lives to be judged or run on the basis of mere human commands or superstitions. It is sad that we have church leaders that impose things on their brethren that God has not imposed on them. They tell them to dress in certain ways. They force them to fast for some number of days. They tell them what colours they must not use. They don’t want them to use perfumes or lotions. They just want them to treat their body harshly.

These things, however, are not commands of God. If you do not want to use lotions or perfumes, that is fine. But there is nowhere we are commanded in God’s word not to use them. Also, there is nowhere we are commanded in the word of God to fast for any number of days in a week. Is something wrong with fasting? No! But we have no specific command from God on when any of us should fast. Yet we find church leaders imposing these things on God’s people. And that is replacing the word of God with our own traditions.

Sadly, as Paul shows us, all these rules have no power in restraining sensual indulgence. They have no power in changing people’s lives or in stopping people from sinning. Only the word of God has the power to change people’s lives. Only His word has the power to make us the people wants us to be. So, in relating to one another, we must do so only on the basis of the word of God. Otherwise, we will be wrong.

Let us pray.

Copyright © 2025 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: 08146472876)

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FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2025 Pastor's Desk

Put them to death_J.0_Lawal

Lawal, J. O. (2025, April 13). Put them to death. From Pastor’s Desk, Vol. 12, No. 50.

Beloved: Grace, mercy and peace be yours immeasurably from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to another week of the month of April 2025. My prayer is that God will daily teach you to take advantage of His grace to walk in victory over every kind of sin or weakness of the spirit, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Why did I offer this prayer for you? The reason is that it is the will of God for us to put to death any kind of sin that may be associated with our lives. Look at what Paul says about this to the Colossian brethren:

“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” (Col 3:5-10NIV)

Can you see all the things that we must put to death and also rid our lives of? Then can you observe that we are the ones to put these things to death in our lives? That means even though we are now children of God and new creatures in Christ, the bad things we used to do will still want to find expression in our lives and make a mess of our faith. That is because it has become cultural for us to do them.

But as Paul tells us, it is because of all these evil things that the wrath of God is coming on the disobedient. Therefore, we must not give ourselves to them again. Instead, we must put them to death. And can we actually put them to death? Do we have the ability to put them to death?

Well, if we could not put them to death, God would not say that we should do so. The reason He tells us to do so is that we can do so. But how do we do so? We cannot do so by simply wishing or determining to do so. Peter, for instance, was determined not to deny Jesus. Yet he denied Him three times in a row in one night. So, being determined not to do what is wrong is not enough; we must also possess the ability not to do what is wrong. Otherwise, the pressure of sin may weaken our determination and drive us to do what is against the desires of our hearts. (Cf. Matt 26)

All of this is why the bible further says to us. “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” (Rom 8:13NIV) Did you see that? It is only by the supply of the Spirit of God that we can put any kind of sin or bad behaviour to death in our lives. Otherwise, we can only find ourselves failing again and again.

So, if you want to end any kind of sin in your life, you must turn to the Spirit of God for the enablement to do so. How? First, you do so through prayer. Second, you do so by meditating on the word of God and confessing it to yourself. Third, you do so by fellowshipping with the people of God that are walking in righteousness. And as you consistently give yourself to these things, you will soon enough see for yourself that those wrong things that you are struggling with in your life have been put to death by the Spirit of God.

Have a great week.

Copyright © 2025, 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: 08146472876)

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FROM PASTOR’S DESK 2025 Pastor's Desk

Just One Hour_J.0_Lawal

Lawal, J. O. (2025, March 30). Just one hour! From Pastor’s Desk, Vol. 12, No. 48.

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you without measure from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to the transition week between the months of March and April 2025. My prayer is that God will daily strengthen your heart to do all that is right for you to do to remain pure and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus. Amen.

In order for our Lord Jesus, when His time came, not to shrink back from dying on the cross for the redemption of humanity, He needed to do one thing. What was it? He needed to pray. And how much time did He need to pray? He did not need a whole week or a whole day to pray. He needed just one hour to pray.

Now how did we know that all Jesus needed at that time was just one hour of prayer? We knew through Scriptures. As the account goes, as He saw that His time was at hand, He took three of His disciples, Peter, James and John, with Him to pray in a place called Gethsemane. But instead of praying with Him, they were simply sleeping. And that was because they were very tired. Just look at what the bible says about these things:

“Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”” (Mark 14:37-38NIV)

Did you see that? How much time did Jesus expect these disciples to spend in praying with Him? Just one hour! Of course, Jesus could pray to God for more than one hour. Before this time, He had prayed on several occasions for hours, sometimes all through the night. So, He did not choose to pray for one hour on this occasion because He could not pray for more hours. Rather, He chose to do so because He knew that a lot could be changed or done through even one hour of prayer.

Now, of course, because of that one hour of prayer that He offered to God for His soul in that hour of darkness, He received sufficient strength and courage to die on the cross and obtain eternal redemption for us. But what about His disciples who could not join Him in praying for themselves for just one hour? They all went on to deny and desert Him. And if He had not prayed for them before that their faith would not fail, that would have been the end of their relationship with Him.

What is this teaching us, then? It is simply that we cannot measure or quantify what our heartfelt prayer can accomplish for us or for all humanity, even if it is only for one hour. In fact, just one minute of prayer can be the difference between life and death, success and failure, victory and defeat. How long did it take David to pray that God would frustrate the counsel of Ahithophel? It probably took him less than a minute. Yet that prayer changed everything about the rebellion he wanted to end. That prayer led to his victory over Absalom. (Cf. 2Sam 15:31)

Am I now saying that you should only be praying for just one minute or just one hour? No! To say the fact, there are problems that will probably take us hours or days of prayer to handle. But if we will learn to recognise that our prayers can change history, then, we will begin to make the most of every moment we have to pray, even if it is just one hour. And my prayer is that our hearts will be filled with adequate strength from God to daily walk in the light of this truth, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a pleasant week.

Copyright © 2025, 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: 08146472876)

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Single Message Series

Competence to help_J.0_Lawal

Recommended Citation

Lawal, J. O. (2025, March 23). Competence to help. See to It.

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I want to further share with you on the instructions we have in Scriptures that say that we should see to it that none of us falls away from the grace of God or develop a sinful unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. This, of course, calls for a careful watching on our part over one another. And we have instructions along this line given to us in the book of Hebrews, chapters 3 and 12.

Now, in dealing with this, I said we must know what is going on in the lives of our brethren. In other words, we must be actively and deliberately involved in one another’s lives. We will not be able to protect ourselves from the evil one, if we are not involved in one another’s lives and also know what is happening in one another’s lives. But then, in order to be effective in doing this, our leaders must take the lead. They must be the first in opening their lives for us to see. Until they are open in their lives, they will have no moral right to ask us to be open with our lives for them to see. But when they are open with their lives and we can see what they are up to, we can be encouraged to do likewise.

So, if you are a leader of God’s people in any capacity, your life must be opened to those who are under your care. You must deliberately do this. Your brethren must know enough about you. They must know enough about what is going on in your life. They must see that you are not a hypocrite and that the life of faith you are calling them to live is what you yourself are living, not something else. That way, you will be able to help them, if they are missing it.

Another thing that is important is that we know how to live right, especially those of us who are leaders. Let me say this again: church leaders have to take the lead in doing these things, if they will work at all. I mean that if we will be able to adequately and appropriately watch over one another, the leaders must take the lead in doing what is right. So, those of us who are leaders must show ourselves as possessing sufficient knowledge about how to live right. At least, what we want is for our brethren to consistently live right before God and not turn away from His grace. And we too have to consistently live right before God and before them, if we will be able to help them in doing this.

For example, Paul says this to the Thessalonian brethren:

“You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed.” (1Thessalonians 2:10NIV)

What does this mean? It means that the lives of Paul and his companions were open to the brethren in Thessalonica for them to see. And what they did they see in them? They saw that they were holy, righteous and blameless in the way they lived. It is important, then, for leaders not just to be open with their lives but to also show with those lives that they know what they are doing. It is one thing to be open with your life; it is another thing for people to see the right things in your life. You may be open with your life. That does not mean that what is going on in your life is helpful to the people of God.

It is bad enough not to be open with your life in relating to the people of God, if you are a child of God or a leader of His people. But when you open your life for them to see, what do they see? Is it hypocrisy? Is it bitterness? Is it envy or jealousy? Or is it righteousness, peace and joy of the Spirit of God?

The Thessalonians were witnesses of the holiness, righteousness and blamelessness in the lives of Paul and his companions. That means it was not only God that was a witness to the quality of life these men lived; the Thessalonians were also witnesses to it. So, I am saying that if we will be able to watch over another in line with the will of God, each of us that sees it as his duty to do so must not just be open with his life but must also show himself as possessing sufficient knowledge about how to live right and not fall away from the grace of God. Otherwise, we may soon become a part of the problem we are trying to prevent or solve.

In this same 1Thessalonians, chapter 4, Paul says this to the brethren in 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)

Did you see that? Paul says we instructed you how to live to please God. So, these brethren were taught how to live to please God. They knew how to live to please Him. And they were living to please Him, at least, at the time this letter was written to them. So, Paul only needed to tell them to continue or persist in living to please God. And they could be told to persist in living to please God because they already knew how to live to please Him.

It follows, then, that if we do not know how to live to please God, even if our lives are open to the brethren, they will be able to draw no strength or encouragement for true Christian living from what they see. So, if we will be able to watch over one another and keep ourselves from falling away from the grace of God, it is important that we show ourselves as possessing sufficient knowledge on how to live right. Not only that, we also have to be living right. We must not be a part of the problem we are trying to prevent or solve.

If we ourselves have already fallen away from the grace of God, how can we prevent others from falling away? It cannot work. Jesus says a blind guide that is seeking to lead a blind man can only lead both of them to fall. So, if you are not living right, you cannot help others to live right.

Also, in Romans, chapter 15, verse 14, Paul says this to us:

“I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another.” (Romans15:14NIV)

There are three qualities that Paul mentions here. And these qualities are ones that we must possess, if we will be able to help one another live right and remain true to the grace of God, from start to finish. The first is being full of goodness. Paul could say of the Roman brethren that they were full of goodness. In other words, their hearts were right. The goodness of God had settled in their hearts. So, they would not deliberately do evil. They may make mistakes. And that someone is full of God’s goodness does not mean that the person cannot make mistakes. He can. But he will not deliberately do anything that is wrong. Whatever he does will always be with the right intentions. So, even if he misses it, he will be missing it with the right intentions.

Well, my point is that we have to be full of goodness, if we will be able to help one another. And this has to be obvious, for Paul says, “I am convinced that you are full of goodness…” So, people have to be convinced that we are full of God’s goodness, if we will be able to help one another live right and not develop a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. That means we must be known as good people by our brethren; we must be known as people whose hearts are right.

What we are saying is that our brethren must have no doubts about the fact that our hearts are right, as we relate to them. They must have no doubts about our intentions. And this is one of the problems we often face in the church – lack of conviction about the intentions of the brethren. When people are not convinced that our intentions are right, as we come close to them, they may not make room for us to affect or help them.

Mind you, this is not something that will happen automatically. The fact that we are in the same assembly does not mean that we will be able to automatically help one another. We have to give it time. We have to consistently show over a period of time that we are full of goodness and that our hearts are right. Yes, every child of God can manifest the goodness of God, for His goodness is in every one of us. But it is not every one of us that is currently manifesting the goodness of God. So, if people will allow you in their lives, they must see that you are a good person. This must be obvious to them from the way you talk, live and interact with others. And when they are convinced of this, they will have no problem allowing you to be a part of their lives.

The second quality Paul mentions is being filled with knowledge. That means being full of goodness is not enough to help God’s people live right; we also have to know what we are doing. That means we need to be educated in the will of God. Remember that we read from 1Thessalonians 4 of how Paul instructed the Thessalonians how to live to please God. So, people must know that we know what we are doing, that we are knowledgeable enough in the things of God to help their lives and faith. Otherwise, they may not want to have anything to do with you.

What I am saying is that if you are ignorant of the things of God, other people of God may not see why they should permit you to interfere with their affairs. So, you must show yourself as possessing sufficient knowledge of how to live to please God. But this will not happen by accident. You will have to give yourself to prayer. You will have to give yourself to the word of God. You will also have to give yourself to fellowshipping with the people of God, so that your faith is built up. This, of course, is not just about having bible knowledge; this is about possessing the knowledge of the truth, the knowledge about living to please God.

The third quality Paul mentions has to do with competence in helping one another. And this kind of competence only comes from the Spirit of God. It has to do with wisdom to help others. And as I said, it only comes from the Spirit of God. He is the only one that makes us competent to live to please God and competent as ministers of the new covenant.

Now all of these three qualities were possessed by the Roman brethren. So, Paul was convinced that they could real help one another in their walk of faith. If we possess goodness but lack knowledge of how to please God, we may end up becoming a part of the problem we are trying to solve. In fact, we may not be able to help anybody at all.

Also, if we possess goodness and knowledge but possess no ability or wisdom to use our goodness and knowledge to help others, we are still going to be failures. People will be falling away from the grace of God right under our noses. Yet we will not be able to help them. Yes, we may love to help them. But we won’t be able to help them. Whatever step we take will be counter-productive.

See, there are people who are good in their hearts and who also possess the knowledge of true Christian living. Yet they are not able to help anybody live right. Why? They lack the wisdom and the skills to do so. They really want to help. But they just can’t. You may have encountered people like that before. They truly meant well and wanted to help you live right. But everything they did was counter-productive. Their words were counter-productive. Their moves were counter-productive. That was because they were not wise. So, they could not help you live right.

So, we are dealing with possessing the wisdom of the Spirit to be able to help one another here. We are talking about a situation in which we know what to say and what not to say, when to talk and when not to talk and when to visit people and when not to visit them. We must know these things. And as I said, we will not become competent like this by accident. We have to give ourselves to prayer, the word of God and Christian fellowship. That way, we will be growing in the truth of Christ Jesus.

If we are not growing, we can be of no help to nobody. And it is the degree that you grow in your faith that you will be able to help others in their faith. So, don’t feel bad that you are unable to help certain brethren in their faith at the moment. It only shows that you have not grown enough in your faith to be able to help them. What, then, should you do? You should commit yourself to doing those things that will make you grow in the faith even more. These things have to do with spiritual maturity. A man cannot go beyond his strength. So, the more you grow in your faith, the more fit you are to help other people.

We will stop here for now. Let us pray.

Copyright © 2025 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: 08146472876)

Categories
Fire in my Bones

Don’t make yourself a victim_J.0_Lawal

Recommended Citation:

Lawal, J. O. (2025, March 19). Don’t make yourself a victim. Youth for Jesus, 7(45).

“Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.” (Gen 4:8NIV)

Why did Cain kill his brother Abel? He killed him because he was jealous of him. He was jealous of him because, while God accepted Abel and his offering, He did not accept him and his offering. He had probably thought that he would be more favoured by God on that occasion. But when things did not go as he had expected, he became very jealous and angry. And because he would not deal with these things, he ended up murdering his own brother, a brother that he was supposed to be protecting.

But why did he succeed in murdering Abel? He succeeded in murdering him because Abel was either naïve or unobservant. As the bible tells us, after Cain and his offering to God had been rejected, he became very angry. He was so enraged that God had to quickly come to talk to him about his attitude and sin’s desire to posses him to do something stupid and dangerous. (Cf. Gen 4:1-6)

Now did Abel not see that his brother’s face was downcast because God did not accept him and his offering? If he did not notice that, then, he was totally unobservant. That means he was not paying much or any attention to what was happening around him. How, then, could he possibly tell if he was safe to be where he was or not?

Personally, I do not think that Abel was unobservant. The account does not show that he was unobservant. On the contrary, the account suggests that he too could see that his brother was very angry because of how God treated him and his offering. Yet he was not on his guard against him. Why? It must have been because he did not think at all that his brother could harm him, regardless of how angry or jealous he was.

But that was naivety on Abel’s part. It was naïve of him not to know that anger could turn someone into a mad man, making him do unthinkable things, things that he himself will later regret doing. It was also naïve of him not to know that jealousy always poisons people’s lives, making them dangerous and unreasonable. Since Cain, then, was filled with both of these things, he should have been on his guard against him.

Unfortunately, he was not on his guard against him. So, he lost his life prematurely to the cruelty of his own blood brother. And God did not protect him. Why did He not protect him, even though he was a righteous man? We are not told the reason in the account or anywhere else in the bible. But our Lord Jesus tells us something that may help us understand why God may not protect a righteous person from the wickedness of those in his world. He says:

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” (Matt 10:16NIV)

Did you see that? The righteous is not just supposed to be as innocent or meek as a dove, he is also supposed to be as clever as a snake. In other words, he is supposed to always be attentive, observant and on his guard against any form of danger. Otherwise, he will often make himself a victim of the hatred, bitterness, jealousy or sexual harassment of the wolves in his world.

Truly, regardless of how smart or clever we may be in our conduct, if God does not protect us from the evil schemes and anger of the wolves in our world, we will not be safe. But we should at least first obey His command that tells us to be as clever as snakes in dealing with those of this world. Then we can trust Him to take care of every other thing that concerns our safety.

If we, however, fail to obey what He has told us to do, we may end up making ourselves a victim of the wicked, as Abel did. And God may not protect us. Yes, He will avenge us. But we would have already suffered. My prayer is that you will never again suffer from the hands of the wicked and unreasonable. But you too should be as clever as snakes, just as you are as meek as doves.

Cheers!

Copyright © 2025, 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: 08146472876)

Categories
Single Message Series

Open up leaders_J.O._Lawal

Recommended Citation:

Lawal, J. O. (2025, March 9). Open up leaders. See to it.

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I want to further share with you on the need for us to take seriously what Scriptures tell us about watching over one another as believers in Christ Jesus. And in the last lesson, I showed you from the Scriptures what we are told to do to so-called believers that are living in sin. We are told not to associate with them. But then, I asked, “Should we wait for any of our brethren to become immoral or ungodly and then have to dissociate with them? Should we allow that to happen at all?”

As we also see in Scriptures, there are instructions to us not to allow any of our brethren to fall away. And I want us to look at some of those instructions again. First, in Hebrews 3, we are told this:

“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” (Hebrews 3:12-13NIV)

We have a similar instruction in Hebrews 12. From verse 15, we are told this:

“See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears he could not change what he had done.” (Hebrews 12:15-17NIV)

These instructions are all pointing to the same thing, which is that we are to keep watch over one another, so that none of us develops a sinful heart that turns away from the living God. That means we are to pay attention to ourselves, so that none of us becomes immoral or ungodly. Otherwise, we will also have to obey the word of God that tells us not to associate with them. The word of God tells us not to associate with them for two major reasons. The first is that they may see how terrible their condition is and see the need for them to repent. The second is that they may not pollute us. And we must bear these two reasons in mind. If anyone that we know to be a believer becomes immoral or ungodly in any way, we have to dissociate ourselves from him for these reasons, if he is not willing to repent.

But I am saying that we should not allow any of our brethren to become immoral or ungodly. And this is not just something good for us to do; we are also given instructions to do so in the bible. We are told to see to it that none of us develops a sinful heart that turns away from the living God or falls short of the grace of God.

However, we also need to know how to go about this. If we do not know how to go about this, we will just realize that, day after day, we will keep having brethren that are turning away from the living God and won’t be able to stop them. So, first, we need to know what is happening in the lives of our brethren. And for us to be able to do that, we must be deliberately involved in their lives.

Now I know that someone may ask, “What if our brethren don’t want us to be involved in their lives at all?” I will come to that later. But we must deliberately be involved in their lives. That way, we can know what is going on in their lives – what businesses they are involved in, what sort of friends they have, what places they go, what people they listen to or follow, what teachings they are exposed to and so forth.

All this, of course, does not mean that we have to unduly police our brethren or interfere with their lives. I will get to that as well. But it is just important that we are fully involved in their lives that we may know how they are faring. Look at some of the things Paul says along these lines to the Thessalonians:

“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. For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy.” (1Thessalonians 2:17-20NIV)

Here Paul is expressing their desire as apostles to visit these brethren in Thessalonica. They had ministered to them and among them for a while and had also had to leave them hurriedly because of persecutions. But after a while, they began to long for them. They wanted to see them and know how they were faring. And personally, as he points out in the text, he made effort to go and see them. But twice, as he equally points out, Satan prevented him from doing so.

How did Satan prevent Paul from visiting these Thessalonian brethren? He would not say. He does not disclose that in the letter. But he makes it clear in the text that it was Satan that prevented him from visiting them on the two occasions that he had attempted to do so.

Now if visiting them was not important or significant to their faith, why would Satan prevent him from doing so? I mean that if Satan did not know the relevance or significance of Paul’s visit to these brethren, why would he prevent him from visiting them twice? So, even Satan knows how important it is for us to keep in touch with one another as believers. And he will do whatever he can to isolate us and keep us from continually fellowshipping with one another, so that he may have his way with some of us or all of us and ruin our faith. We, unfortunately, are the only ones that seem not to appreciate the significance of this.

Well, Paul, in chapter 3 of this same letter to the Thessalonians, goes on to say:

“So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. For you know quite well that we are destined for them. In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our labours might have been in vain.” (1Thessalonians 3:1-5NIV)

Look at that. Paul was concerned about visiting these brethren because he wanted to know how they were faring in the faith. And he was concerned in this manner because he was aware of the devices of the devil. He knew that Satan would use any opportunity he had to tempt these brethren and to turn them away from the truth of Christ Jesus. So, he wanted to be sure of their faith conditions by visiting them.

Now that is how it has to be for us too. We must be concerned about the faith conditions of our brethren all the time. And to show that we are concerned, we have to be participating fully in their lives all the time. Yes, we have to know what is going on in their lives.

However, charity begins at home. What I mean is that we have to set an example in this manner. In other words, we, especially those of us who are leaders, have to make our lives open to the brethren. That way, we can continually get to know what is going on in their lives. So, we have to set examples for them. We have to let them know what is going on in our own lives. That way, they can see that we have nothing to hide and that our lives are a clear example of what we are telling them to do or how we are asking them to live.

In Ephesians chapter 6, from verse 21, Paul says this:

“Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you.” (Ephesians 6:21-22NIV)

Paul is setting an example for the believers here of how important it is for them to know what is going on in one another’s life. Otherwise, they may not be able to fully fulfill the word of God that tells us to watch over one another. Well, he says I am sending Tychicus to you to tell you how I am and what I am doing. That means he wants the brethren to know how he is faring and what is going on in his life and in the lives of his ministry companions. And if he is opening up to them like this, then, they too will not see it as something strange to share their lives with him.

Also, in Colossians, chapter 4, from verse 7, Paul says:

“Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts. He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here.” (Colossians 4:7-9NIV)

Paul, again, is being open to the brethren about what is going on in his life. So, no one will have to start investigating his life or carrying around any rumour about him. That is because he has already made plain and open his life and what is going on in it. Therefore, no one will say that they do not know what is going on in his life or what he is up to.

You can see, then, that it is important that people know what is going on in the lives of their leaders. Otherwise, they may begin to misbehave. Remember that when the children of Israel did not know what was going on with Moses, they began to misbehave (Exodus 32). In like manner, when people cannot tell what is going in the lives of their leaders, when they cannot see anything about how they are living their lives, they may begin to misbehave.

Yes, leaders may be giving their brethren all kinds of faith instructions. They can be instructing them on the relevance of praying and studying Scriptures. But can they see them praying? Can they see them studying the word of God in any serious way? Can they see them living righteous lives where they live or work? If they cannot see these things, then, they may not take very seriously the instructions that these leaders are giving to them about living right. So, I am saying that, as leaders, if we will be able to fully get involved in the lives of our brethren and fulfill the word of God that tells us to see to it that none of us falls away from God’s grace, we must first be open with our own lives.

Before I move on, let me give you another Scripture that shows us the significance of watching over one another. It is from Acts of the Apostles, chapter 20. From verse 28, it says:

“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:28-31NIV)

We see here, again, how important it is for us to keep watch over one another. It is important because, as I said before, Satan will be looking for whatever opportunity he has to deceive us and turn our hearts away from the living God. He will be looking for any opportunity he has to introduce impurities, greed, bitterness and other forms of ungodly things into our lives. And once he succeeds in sowing any of these wicked seeds into our lives, it will not be long before the seed grows and begins to bring forth fruit. Then we will become upset and begin to raise alarms.

But what were we doing when Satan was planting those seeds? We were not paying attention. And we would not know anything until the seeds have become big trees that are producing fruit of immorality, greed, jealousy and so forth. If we, however, will begin to pay sufficient attention to what is going on in our lives, then, we might be able to tell when Satan is sowing some evil seeds into our brethren’s lives and then move in to prevent him or uproot his seeds from their lives.

Well, the point I am making is that it is important that we watch over our brethren, if we do not want any of us to fall short of the grace of God or becoming unbelieving and turn away from the living God. Then I am saying for us to be able to watch over them well, we must be involved in one another’s lives. And the leaders must take the lead in doing this. The leaders must first make their own lives open to their brethren. Then they can expect them to follow suit.

Now look at what Paul says about this in 2Corinthians, chapter 6, from verse 11:

“We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. As a fair exchange – I speak as to my children – open wide your hearts also.” (2Corinthians 6:11-13NIV)

Paul, here, is challenging the Corinthians to be open to them about their lives and affairs. And on what basis is he doing this? He is doing it on the basis of the fact that he and his ministry companions have already done this to the Corinthians. They have already opened wide their hearts to them, expressing their love and concerns for them. Why, then, are they not doing the same? That is his question to them. Why are they withholding their affection from these servants of God? Why don’t they want them to know what is going on in their lives? Well, he tells them that as a fair exchange, they too should open wide their hearts.

In like manner, there are brethren who may not want us to know what is going on in their lives until we begin to deliberately show them what is going on in our own lives. When we let these ones know what is going on in our lives, then, they will not think of it as strange, if we are asking them to let us know what is going on in their lives. So, leaders must take this very seriously.

If a leader wants to travel, for instance, he should let his brethren know. But there are leaders who will not want their brethren to know their movement. Even if it is fear that will not allow them to do that, it is still inexcusable. I do not, of course, mean that you have to inform the brethren of every step you take. But they need to be able to tell where you go and where you don’t go and what you do and what you don’t do with your life. They don’t have to rely on outsiders to be telling them about you or about your life. It really should not be in the dailies or on the social media that they will be finding out what you have been up to.

So, let them know what is going on in your life, if you are not having some secret affairs. And be deliberate about this. Be deliberate about letting them how you are faring in life and in business. Let them see what sort of challenges you are facing and how you are handling them by the power of the Spirit of God. You will be using this to teach them to open up.

Now remember that until we know what is going on in their lives, we may not be able to help them stay in the faith. Also, remember that if any of our brethren should fall away from the grace of God, we will have no choice but to dissociate ourselves from them. But what is the guarantee that they will be restored to the Lord, if we have to stay away from them in that manner? Yes, we have to stay away from them so that we do not become corrupted by them and so that they may see the need to repent. But what is the guarantee that they will repent on their own?

So, it is better we do not let any of our brethren fall away at all. Yes, regardless of how much attention we give to some brethren, if they are determined to mess up, they will surely mess up, just as Judas Iscariot did. But we have to be sure that we do our own part in ensuring that none of our brethren falls away. And I am saying that in order to do that, we must be fully involved in one another’s lives.

Let us pray.

Copyright © 2025 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: 08146472876)