Tag: see to it

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Based on the word only_J.O._Lawal

Recommended Citation

Lawal, J. O. (2025, March 06). Based on the word only. See to It series.

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We have been looking at the instructions given to us in Hebrews, chapters 3 and 12, on watching over one another so that none of us will develop a sinful unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God and so that we will not fall short of the grace of God. And this has led us to examining some of the things we must pay attention to in order to be able to fulfil these demands placed on us by God.

Now I want to give us another point that will aid us in helping one another to remain faithful to God to the very end. And it is that we are to relate to one another only on the basis of the word of God. What I am saying is that we must encourage, instruct, admonish, correct or rebuke one another only on the basis of the word of God. We must not relate to one another on the basis of feelings or experiences but on the basis of the word of God.

Don’t get me wrong here. Our feelings are important. Our experiences are important. But they are only important to the degree that they align with the word of God. We can use our feelings and experiences to illustrate the word of God to people. But we must not allow our feelings and experiences to take the place of the word of God in our lives or in the lives of others, especially the people of God in our lives. So, as we relate to one another, our relationship must be word-based. That is the only way our relationship with one another can be clean and also beneficial to all of us.

While addressing the leaders of the Ephesian church, Paul says this to them in his farewell message:

“Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” (Acts 20:32NIV)

There is something he says here about the word of God. And it is that it can build up God’s people and give them an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. That means it is the word of God that we must rely on, if we want to be built up in our faith and if we want to receive and enjoy our own share of the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of God. Prayer is important too. But it cannot take the place of the word of God in our lives. Through prayer, of course, we can be built up in strength, spiritual strength. But it cannot take the place of the word of God in our being built up in our faith, just as the word of God cannot take its place.

Well, I am saying that in dealing with one another in the church, we must do so only on the basis of the word of God. Now there are things the word of God demands or encourages us to do. And we must be demanding and encouraging one another to do these things, if we want to remain in the truth of Jesus. In other words, we must command ourselves to do the things the word of God tells us to do. Also, we must encourage ourselves to do the things the word of God encourages us to do.

For instance, the word of God commands and encourages us to take our devotion to Scriptures, prayer and Christian fellowship very seriously. And we must take these things very seriously in our individual lives. Not only that, we must also demand that our brethren take these things very seriously in their lives as well. If your brother or sister, then, is calling your attention to the need to take the word of God, prayer and Christian fellowship seriously, you must not think that they are doing something wrong or out of place. What they are doing is not out of place. That is because the demands they are making on you are the demands the word of God makes on every one of us.

Now when we take our devotion to prayer, the word of God and Christian fellowship very seriously, other things that God wants us to take seriously will become clear to us as well. That way, we can also take them seriously. The point I am making, in any case, is that in order for us to fulfil the demands that God is making on us to keep our brethren safe, the demands we will be placing on them must the ones God is placing on them. Otherwise, we will be wrong.

Then there are things that God has told us not to do, things that He has already condemned. We also must condemn these things in our own lives and in the lives of our brethren. ‘Acts of the flesh’, for instance, are condemned everywhere in the Scriptures. We must condemn them as well in our lives and in the lives of our brethren. Also, slothfulness, laziness, waywardness and lukewarmness of every form are condemned in Scriptures. We too must condemn these in our lives and in the lives of our brethren. What about immodest living? It is condemned in Scriptures. So, we too must condemn it. We must condemn everything that is immodest among us.

Sadly, there are times that people, in their attempt to evade correction or rebuke, will say, “The word of God says, ‘Do not judge, or you too will be judged.’” They say this to scare their brethren away from addressing the wrong things in their lives. Now it is true that the word of God tells us not to judge others, so that we will not be judged. But on what basis does it say that? In what context does the word of God say this?

When you read the passage where this is said carefully, you will see that Jesus says what He says there in the context of ‘morality in judgment’. In other words, the Lord is speaking of situations in which we are not qualified to judge others. Look at the passage:

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plan out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:1-5NIV)

You can see here that we are dealing with morality in judgment, where you have no moral right to judge others. And when do you have no moral right to judge others? You have no moral right to judge them when you are doing what you condemn in them or when you are doing things that are worse than what you condemn in them. I mentioned some things along these lines in the last lesson. I said you cannot afford to be a part of the problem you are trying to solve, if you want to help God’s people. Therefore, if you have fallen short of the grace of God or have developed a sinful heart that turns away from God, how can you keep your brethren from doing something similar or help them out of something similar?

Well, the Lord in this passage is speaking of morality in judgment. And it must not be torn apart. Often people tear what He says here apart. They will quote only the first line of His words and leave the rest of what He says in the same context out. That is wrong. It is a wrong way to treat the word of God. The context of this passage is of morality in judgment, where you have no moral right to judge others. And you do have no moral right to judge anyone, if you are guilty of the same offence that you want to judge or of worse offences than the one you want to judge.

The second thing we need to keep in mind in dealing with this text is that if God has already judged something, then, anyone that has a moral and spiritual right to judge it can judge it. So, don’t say, “Don’t judge me, if you are doing what is wrong.” God has already judged what you are doing as wrong. You, then, had better accept it. God has judged immorality as wrong. He has judged greed as wrong. He has judged envy, sorcery and witchcraft as wrong. He has judged sexual immorality as wrong. And He has judged homosexuality as wrong.

Today people, especially those who practise homosexuality and lesbianism and other similar nonsense, get upset when we condemn these acts. They get upset that the church will not embrace or celebrate what they are doing. Their thought is that we hate them. But we don’t hate them. The thing is that God has already judged their lifestyle as wrong. We, then, are not trying to judge them. God has already judged them. And if God has already judged something, we also can judge it, as long as we have the moral right to judge it.

So, if you are being rebuked for something wrong, do not say, “Why are you judging me? The word of God says that you should not judge.” If God has already judged what you are doing as wrong, then, anyone with a moral right to judge it can judge it and should judge it. Of course, there is none of us that is perfect. Each of us must strive for perfection. But if you are doing something that is wrong, we will not ignore you because we also are not yet perfect in conduct. We have to call your attention to what you are doing that is wrong. That is because God has already condemned it. Also, it is because God has told us to see to it that none of us develops a sinful unbelieving heart that turns away from Him.

Now since we have this instruction, we must fulfil it. And to make it easy for us to do so, we are told this by Paul in his letter to the Ephesian brethren; “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians 5:21NIV) What is our instruction here? It is that we should submit to one another in our relationship with one another as believers. Why? Out of reverence for Christ! So, the reason I submit to you is not that you are better than me. The reason I do so is Christ. What we are saying is that the reason we submit to one another in the church is not that some people are better than others. Rather, the reason is that we honour Christ when we do so. For instance, when we honour our leaders and submit to them, it is Christ we are honouring and submitting ourselves to.

Well, I am bringing this up to let you know that if we will make it easy for our brethren to help us stay in the truth, we must submit to them. When they are getting involved in your life and trying to place their fingers on things you may be missing, you must not be furious or angry. Instead, you must listen to what they have to say. They may be wrong. People may be wrong when they are trying to place their fingers on certain things that are wrong in our lives. They may even not use gracious words in addressing us, which, by the way, is a wrong way to relate to others. Nevertheless, we must be willing to look at what they are showing us and to listen to what they are telling us.

This is often the problem in the church: we get all furious when others are trying to rebuke or correct us. And that is because we don’t want to look at what they are showing us or to listen to what they are telling us. That is a wrong attitude. It is an attitude of an arrogant person. And if we do not deal with it in our lives, it will sooner or later get us into trouble.

As I already said, people may be wrong in their attempt to rebuke or correct us. But we will be more wrong, if we are not going to look at all at what they are showing us or listen at all to what they are saying to us. We will be showing ourselves as proud, if we are like that. And the bible says that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. (Cf. James 4:6; 1Peter 5:5)

Yes, in this case, you are not wrong but right. The problem, however, is that your attitude is wrong. And because your attitude towards correction is wrong where you are right, when you are actually wrong, there may be no one to set you right. Then, before you know that what you are doing is wrong, it may have destroyed you. You can now see why we are told to submit to one another. And these include leaders as well. They also must submit to one another and to their brethren. This does not mean that they are to yield themselves to be led by their brethren. Rather, it means they are to be open enough to welcome complaints or observations from their brethren.

There are leaders that don’t want to hear any complaint or observation from their brethren. They will ask them to shut up. And there are assemblies in which brethren cannot freely ask questions about the things they do not understand in Scriptures. Someone will ask them to shut up. And that is not helpful for the health or growth of the church. It is important, then, that if we will be able to help one another stay in the truth, we must submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. This does not have to do with the age, experience academic qualification, social status or financial status of those we are relating to. Rather, it has to do with showing reverence for the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you truly revere Him, you will submit yourself to your brethren and not make it difficult for them to watch over you or to counsel, correct or rebuke you.

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
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)