….FROM THE WORD OF GOD (Part Two)

                                                         

                    

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When young David said, “This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand;” he quoted an extant scripture (Deuteronomy 7:2; 7:23; 9:2; 9:3 & Joshua 10:8). But when he said, “And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear”, the Spirit of God made it a quotation by future Bible writers: Psalms 33:16, 33:17, 44:6, 44:7; Proverbs 21:30, 21:31 and Hosea 1:7. When the writer(s) of 1Samuel 14:6; 2Chronicles 20:15-17; the sons of Korah wrote Psalm 46:11; and when it was prophesied in Isaiah 9:7 and in Zechariah 4:6 or when Paul penned God’s mind in Romans 8:31 & 8:37, they all quoted the young lad’s inspired, “for the battle is the LORD’S” (1Samuel 17:47).

“…the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life”, are the words of Jesus in John 6:63. Anyone who speaks in faith is actually behaving like God. To behave like God in speech you must use God’s very words as contained in the holy writ: from the very source. ‘Word’ in Greek is   rhēma (hray’-mah): ‘an utterance (individually, collectively or specifically); by implication a matter or topic’. Jesus told us what His word is. It is ‘spirit’, and the Greek word is: pneuma (pnyoo’-mah): ‘a current of air, that is, breath (blast) or a breeze’. The word, zōē (dzo-ay’): ‘life (i.e. God’s kind)’, is a feminine noun, in Greek grammar, thus subjected to God. As the rhema, it must be uttered in total belief that the Lord is in your support. It is pneuma because it flows and goes about in an active fashion, making it a force. Words of faith in Christ Jesus has life, quickening your desire into the practicality of mundane existence. Jesus is called the son of David but a paradoxical Psalm 110 makes Christ the Lord, Messiah and Creator of David. David, going by his scripting of Psalm 110 acknowledged Jesus to be the One he trusted in all his life.

The tiniest millimetre of departure from the express Word is all the Devil needs to remove you from your destiny. Satan cannot remove the destiny because Jesus is man’s destiny. How do I know this? Simple. John 14:6 reads, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me”. The word ‘way’ is hodos (hod-os’) ‘a road; by implication a progress (the route, act, destiny or distance); figuratively a mode or means’. ‘Truth’ is alētheia (al-ay’-thi-a) it means ‘reality’. ‘Life’ is ‘zoe’ (dzo-ay) i.e. God’s kind of life (eternal). What John 14:6 is saying here is simply that, Jesus is the physical reality of the distance in between man and his quest for blissful rest expected after life on earth – i.e. heaven. God warned in Genesis 2:17, “…thou shalt surely die”. In Genesis 3:4 we read, “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die“, negating the rhema with a seemingly innocuous, simple three-letter, (another word) ‘not’; which entered the spiritual system of the Woman to let loose a hellish world ever since. She did not source it from the Word of God, so she failed woefully.

From the above scripture, Jesus is evidently the life of God: no Jesus, no connectivity to God, the Creator. Any religion, society or faith that fails to see the Divine Lordship of Jesus is the Devil’s chicanery designed to alienate victims from heavenly citizenship. Any show of faith that is not found in Christ Jesus is a mere imitation of the truth which will turn out to be a fakery of an imaginative mind of carnality. When the Bible acquaints us with what is obtained in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”; the word ‘beginning’ is archē (ar-khay’): ‘(properly abstract) a commencement, or (concrete) chief (in various applications of order, time, place or rank)’. This tells you, unequivocally that Christ was there before the time of the commencement of creationism. HE is God’s Word. Faith that takes seminal from heaven must come through Christ, which Goliath defied and perished (from the inexperienced hands of a lad)!

Order of service in any Church must come from the Word of God, otherwise it will amount to service unto one’s carnal self. Prayer points ought to have a proper representation from the Word of God or else you definitely will be praying amiss as in James 4:3, where the word ‘amiss’ kakōs (kak-oce’) from Thayer Definition: 1. miserable, to be ill 2. improperly, wrongly 3. to speak ill of, revile, one; Strong’s Definition: ‘badly (physically or morally)’; and the ones who will attend to such prayers for fruition (for Satan allows none to go unnoticed) will be demons. Doctrines must not be based on ancient philosophies or traditional beliefs (which are largely influenced by the familiar spirits of our ancestors of idolatry). Some, ironically, are so averse to teach certain biblical doctrines, citing (a perceived) abuse or members’ inappropriate handling of a scriptural provision. Does God not know of immature ones before allowing its inclusion in His protocol, called the Bible?

Do proper investigation, you truth seekers, before you join Eckankar (which will give you a crucifix – talisman), AMORC (which will ‘endow’ you with their cultic regalia) or Masonry, the mother of Illuminati and all that is of esotericism (they will supply you with the kind of amulet the 1st U.S. President George Washington tied on his waist); ask to see their books, study them in reference to the Bible. You will find out that Jesus has absolutely nothing to do with the bases upon which their faithful gatherings rest.

….FROM THE WORD OF GOD. (Part one)

                                                  David and Goliath

Christians do not value God’s Word at all: for if all children of God place a certain premium on the inherent power of His Word, things will be ordered in a fashion that will place us in the vanguard of every earthly endeavour. A small boy, called David, an Old Testament saint, made the Word of God his fulcrum, culminating in the successful victories all his life.

David is a type of Christian, his name, in the Hebrew is davıyd (daw-veed’), meaning ‘loving’, it comes from dod (dode): ‘to boil, that is, (figuratively) to love.’ A certain boiling love existed between God and David, and for which same reason Jesus found it most expedient to take the course of the destiny of dying the gory death and the shame of the cross, for the object of His love: Christians. Love. Jonathan, for this similar love reason, could not fight the advance of it but to yield to the call of love when he beheld David, the love, boiling so uncontrollably between them. Jonathan, in Hebrew is, yehonathan (yeh-ho-naw-thawn’) BDB Definition: “Jehovah has given”. John 3:16 clearly tells us what Jehovah gave on account of love. God is love, the Bible tells us, now if the Word of God is God, do ponder on these facts and discover the correlation involved.

1Samuel 17:45 “Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied”. Where do you think the youthful seventeen aged David got these words? It was Goliath who first said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day,” in verse ten. O my God, this is very interesting indeed! Ten, scripturally, means trial. The word ‘defy’ in Hebrew is charaph (khaw-raf’): ‘to pull off, that is, (by implication) to expose (as by stripping); specifically to betroth (as if a surrender); figuratively to carp at, that is, defame’. Goliath’s main objective is to wrap Israel and Jehovah up in ignominy. Israel means ‘a prince (ruler) by God’s side’. Israel descends from an antediluvian Shem, which means ‘name’ i.e. ‘fame’; he is one of Noah’s three sons. This Goliath was being used by Satan to play a pun on defy and Shem i.e. to bring ‘shame’ on ‘fame’! Satan, most certainly, is always taking you somewhere, you least expect, when he starts anything with you. David had spent quality time reading the books of the Pentateuch and Joshua (Deuteronomy 7:2; 7:23; 9:2; 9:3 & Joshua 10:8) to enable the boost of faith to face Goliath, an uncircumcised Philistine who has no covenant with God, in the days of the trials of Israel.

He had read with clear understanding, from Exodus 9:16; Exodus 15:14; Exodus 15:15 and Joshua 4:24 to be able declare to his enemy, the words in 1Samuel 17:46, “This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel”, boasting in the LORD. David did not use his own words. Every utterance from David’s mouth had proceeded from the word of God. This gave him so much confidence, knowing fully well that the Word of God is the strength of God.

David did not have more than the first six books of the Bible, the Pentateuch and Joshua, yet he was able to build his virile spiritual life. I wonder how David could exhibit such huge faith! More books with better assurances abound in the complete sixty-six books of the holy writ, but we are constantly walking so faithlessly in our mundane trials. David had heard of how Jehovah, their God had led his people, with a miraculous mighty hand, from Egyptian slavery. He had read from the sacred writ, authored by the great Moses, who have been instructed by Jehovah of all that transpired from eons before Adam, the father of all mankind. David was careful not commit the superstitious error of “neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die” (Genesis 3:3). He kept himself away from additional predilection, evidenced of superstition. David limited himself to what strictly came from the word of God.

His insistence on ‘solely from the Word of God’ did not go unnoticed; God was touched in the Divinity of HIS holiest heart, and HE decided to reward this young lad, a wielder of uncanny faith, with an unparalleled miracle. History does not, I believe, know of a lad who, with sheer strength of bare hands, had killed, (not only) a beastly strengthened lion but also the sheer brute force of a wild bear. If David could save the few sheep from these evil predators by believing what strictly emanates from the Word of God, then the very Spirit behind the faith he exhibited will be so willing to prove the efficacy of His power when David had to rise up to a national call to save his people from the hands of uncircumcised unbelievers. David had done “meditate upon the word of God day and night” of Joshua 1:8, and he was inevitably crowned with the assured ‘good success’. Clinging unto the express Word of God (as parochial it may sound or look), David did not see the gargantuan stature of the veteran war heroic stance of the merciless and brutish of Goliath. He gave heed only to the reverberating words of God’s protocol. He was fully charged, spiritually, incensed by a certain holy indignation, David saw himself leading Israel out of another slavery, so, drawing his strength from the Word of God, he charged at the one the LORD had delivered unto his hands. (To be continued….)`

Read the concluding part by clicking here

… OF A CHRISTIAN

       

Save for the one that is reeled from the Book, he knows of no other wisdom. His very life is run on the tenets of the scripture, which he adores from the core of his existence. The Church…! Ah…! His second home! To the church he is headed every period of worship or service, hooked on it as of an opium. As glad as David he loves to be in the assemblage. Mention, “Jesus” and you want to hit your pinnae with a most grandiloquent effusions of a quintessential order, the type that pours forth from the anointed lips of Rev. Chris Okotie or you want to see Eva Zikenah, a great praise and worship leader, whose love for Jesus is so evincive by her mannerism clutching display to her chest, of her Lord, in so much adorable stance.

In the stream of vascular proclivity of crimson fluid runs the Christian’s desire to please other people time and again. The strength of pecuniary posit is wielded to be of service to the needy as evinced by the obvious inclination of Rev. Chris Okotie, Leke Alder and Kehinde Balepo. What else matters when it is time to worship the Lord a la dance? Absolutely nothing, as they become the likes of Bola Olowu (with her professional touch), the true willingness of Taiwo Sanwo and definitely Rev. Chris Okotie! When he opens his vocal cord in praise and worship he is an Oma Ikomi (whose rendition touches the core of souls spiritually), she is the powerful singing prowess of Eva Zikenah; and to leave out the holy prance of Rev. Chris Okotie before the Lord will be a criminality.

The Christian is a reminiscence of the affable duo of Promise James and Linda Okosun, in her show of love, as she makes sure of the new converts’ Church attendance to and fro is marked by such a convenience that an uncouth mind would want to think probably has an undisclosed, dirty motive. Is it a wrong act? Then, in the-no-nonsense duo, you will see her in the person of Gloria Emmanuel or him in Chuks Nwoko, fighting tooth and nail to prove the wrongness of an issue. It is in the blood of a Christian to take good care of things, like Ruth Akpobaro, Biola Kolapo (the one I call ubiquitous) and Ruth Gbolahan. An H.O. is of a Christian who will rather die than live a life of no usefulness to fellow humanity. Of a Christian it is, to see things going on well or make the loudest Johannine noise about a king’s choice of sinful connubiality.

                                                   

Pastor Chris Okotie

Endowed with the mind of Christ, his perception of global phenomena runs a divergent course to the global tradition. Conscientious sex between unmarried adults is worldly expected hence, okay, but not so to this one of a Christian breed. White or any hue of a lie is a spiritual aberrancy, unlike what the global adherence accepts. The taboo that tags the vulgarity of certain words have been shamefully expunged, becoming words of social entertainment in movies and championed by Hollywood, which has succeeded in turning actresses into glorified prostitutes. Very soon the world will be looking for people of integrity, then he will be most sought after! He has the solution to world problems only if the world’s system is ready to ask for his service. When he testifies of miraculous occurrences it is never of magic but of a genuine act of God’s power. His heart is a spring of wisdom, revealing the treasures therefrom, when he quotes the Bible. He is a man of peace, having sat under the tutelage of the Prince of peace, the Lord of lords and the King of kings.

Thrice in scripture the appellation runs forth from the ink of divinely influenced writers. If the jeering stance of its Antioch first time of Acts 11:26 seems an improper designate, and can be said to have a corroboration in the 26th chapter of the 28th verse, 1Peter 4:16 allays the dread of a portending fear of ‘Christian’ label. There is a fourth between-the-lines reading of ‘Christian’ in Matthew 28:19. Some church going people dislike being labelled Christians as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary exegetes on Acts 11:26, “The disciples were called CHRISTIANS first in Antioch.” This name originated not within, but without, the Church; not with their Jewish enemies, by whom they were styled “Nazarenes” (Ac 24:5), but with the heathen in Antioch, and (as the form of the word shows) with the Romans, not the Greeks there [OLSHAUSEN]. It was not at first used in a good sense (as Act 26:28; 1Pe 4:16 show), though hardly framed out of contempt (as DE WETTE, BAUMGARTEN, c.) but as it was a noble testimony to the light in which the Church regarded Christ—honoring Him as their only Lord and Saviour, dwelling continually on His name, and glorying in it—so it was felt to be too apposite and beautiful to be allowed to die.”

The same commentary commentates on 1Peter 4:16, “a Christian—the name given in contempt first at Antioch. Act 11:26; Act 26:28; the only three places where the term occurs. At first believers had no distinctive name, but were called among themselves “brethren,” Ac 6:3; “disciples,” Act 6:1; “those of the way,” Act 9:2; “saints,” Rom 1:7; by the Jews (who denied that Jesus was the CHRIST, and so would never originate the name Christian), in contempt, “Nazarenes.” At Antioch, where first idolatrous Gentiles (Cornelius, Act 10:1; Act 10:2), was not an idolater, but a proselyte) were converted, and wide missionary work began, they could be no longer looked on as a Jewish sect, and so the Gentiles designated them by the new name “Christians.” The rise of the new name marked a new epoch in the Church’s life, a new stage of its development, namely, its missions to the Gentiles. The idle and witty people of Antioch, we know from heathen writers, were famous for inventing nicknames. The date of this Epistle must have been when this had become the generally recognized designation among Gentiles (it is never applied by Christians to each other, as it was in after ages—an undesigned proof that the New Testament was composed when it professes), and when the name exposed one to reproach and suffering, though not seemingly as yet to systematic persecution. let him not be ashamed — though the world is ashamed of shame. To suffer for one’s own faults is no honor (1Pe 4:15; 1Pe 2:20), — for Christ, is no shame (1Pe 4:14; 1Pe 3:13).”

Long before the Antioch experience had the Lord called us Christians in Matthew 28:19, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations……” The verb ‘teach,’ in Greek is matheteuo (math-ayt-yoo’-o): ‘(intransitively) to become a pupil; (transitively) to disciple, i.e. enrol as scholar.’ The term Christian in the above verses is Christianos (khris-tee-an-os’) 1. (properly, only of the redeemed) a kinsman (relative by blood) of the Anointed-One (the Messiah, also called Christ); 2. (figuratively, as understood by the nations) followers of the teachings of Christ; 3. (improperly, though very common) a person who identifies himself as a Christian only because he does not identify with another religion; 4. (transliterated) “Christian.” Now if ‘teach’ means ‘to disciple’ and a Christian is a disciple, it follows that Jesus had already called a believer Christian or ‘Little Christ’ (after His own Name – a privilege, no doubt!). Of what hue of derogation is a Christian coloured, viewing him from his Messianic tutelage?

Maro Daniel, a Facebook friend, would rather be called ‘Jesus’ Bride’ or ‘HIS Branch’ but definitely not a ‘derogatory’ Christian! All I know, from scripture, is that for anyone to do a sprouting from His divine side that one must of essence go through spiritual sanctification. Can you be thus sanctified without experiencing a certain connectivity? This connection will never be unless you, like Matthew and company, are called to follow as disciples. Tell me, how can you be His bride without assuming, like a needy Mary, a sitting posture at the feet of His tutelage? If discipleship is of essence in the spiritual walk with the Lord then why should I be ashamed to be labelled a Christian? H.O. (the author) is so proud to be called a Christian!

worship

                                                      

                         Nine Fruits of the Spirit