A STUDY OF JOHN 9

SEARCH THE SCRIPTURE CONFERENCE

2^nd Plenary Session – Friday 14 February 2014

A STUDY OF JOHN 9

- Bro. Dayo Adeyemo

INTRODUCTION

Search the Scripture Conference is not just another initiative; it is the beginning of a revolution. In the day when Martin Luther simply followed the prompting of his heart to write down 95 reasons he believed the Catholic system was wrong and nailed the same on the cathedral door, he would never have imagined that the outcome would be a worldwide movement that is still a reference point till date. To put it as bluntly as possible, things cannot continue the way they have been in the body of Christ. At some point, there has got to be a change, and I believe that change can begin with us. We trust God that this initiative will ignite a new direction entirely in the Body of Christ and may we all gathered here today be the agents of spreading the fire of reformation all across the earth.

We are returning to the basics of Christianity. Unknown to many, particularly the younger generation, what we call Christianity today is very much different from what the older Christians who gave their lives to Christ in the 80’s or 70’s. Today, we have two different and diametrically opposite things that go by the same name; Christianity. And you have to be discerning to be able to know which is the authentic and original faith of Christ, and which one is the fabrication of the world in order to deceive.

DECEPTION AND THE END TIME

Needless to say, these are the end times; scriptures like Matt. 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, I Timothy 4:1, II Tim. 3:1-9; 4:1-5, II Peter 2,3 etc prove this beyond doubt. There is however something that is always associated with the end time. The Olivet discourse in Matt 24 started when the disciples asked Jesus, “Tell us the things that will characterize your coming and the end of age.” The first thing He said was this, “See that no man deceive you.” And in virtually all end time scriptures I know of, the first thing that is usually pointed out is the seriousness and the lethal danger of deception. Paul, in talking about the end time, started with this same matter of deception. He said, “As touching the return of the Lord, I will not want you to be deceived by anybody for that day shall not come unless there is the appearance of the man of sin and the son of man perdition.” And the stock-in-trade of the man of sin is deception. It smells like God, feels like God, looks like God, speaks like God but is not God. The same thing in I Thess. 4:13.

So the church today had better know that deception is a core issue that characterizes the end time. And the deceived person does not know it; he will argue to any extent that he is not, and even give you facts and figures; howbeit, he’s under deception.

Key areas of deception

Magnificent buildings: What stirred up the Olivet discourse in Matt 24? The apostles looked at the temple building and admired its magnificence; but Jesus Christ looked at them and pitied their naivety, and he said, “Do you see the thing that you are admiring? A time is coming when not one stone will be left atop the other.” Today we can also look at the mighty buildings, the mega structures and empires, the multimillion naira and dollar religious organisations and then we say, surely this is God. Beloved, do not be deceived. That it is a multi-million naira religious empire with magnificent buildings does not make it God.

Prosperity: In Revelations 3, the Laodicean church claimed that she was rich, blessed and prosperous, but Jesus said you do not know - which means she’s under deception. And prophecy analyst have said that today’s church generation is the Laodicean church. That an individual or ministry is materially prosperous does not necessarily mean it is God.

High sounding knowledge/revelation: There are two sources of revelation. One is from God and the other is from the same old serpent that deceived Eve. Today, the messages of the New Age is rampant. The Corinthian church was rich in knowledge and spiritual gifting. Yet, when Heaven read out their score card, they were said to be carnal.

Signs, wonders and exploits: Jesus said, many will come in my name and say did we not cast out devils in your name and in your name did we not do mighty works? Matt. 7:21-23; II Thess 2:9; Rev. 13:11-14.

Church/ministry activities: Matt. 7:21-23

Powerful preaching: Col. 2:4, II Tim. 4:3

People in collar: Matt. 24:11, II Cor. 11:13

A STUDY OF JOHN 9

Born blind

I want to address about three or four things from this very interesting episode. The first thing that strikes me is the fact that it is possible for a man to be born blind. Being born here, of course, refers to being born again; becoming a member of the body of Christ. While it is possible for a man to lose one’s sight perhaps due to accident or aging, to be born blind is a mystery, because when a person gets born again, it is assumed that he/she has now begun to see (the Kingdom of God). and whenever anybody truly sights the Kingdom, the next thing he/she automatically does is to begin to press in order to enter the Kingdom. It is not possible to see the Kingdom of God and to still be running after the things of this world.

Alas, we have a situation here, in which a man was born blind. Notice that this man was found in the temple. He was an active worker in church, perhaps a member of two or three different activity groups. He was a regular tither and giver in church. They called him ‘Brother’ yet this man has never sighted the Kingdom. We have a similar situation in the body of Christ today where many have truly believed and have professed Jesus and have become active workers in church but they have never seen the Kingdom.

And this is the reason for this school of thought: we do know the genuine transformation that should occur in the life of someone who has truly encountered Christ. This man will later say, “Once I was blind, now I see.” In the days when some of us gave our lives to Christ, our appetite for those things of the world simply died. We were not being chased to attend fellowship or read the scriptures or pray because what happened to us was a genuine change. Alas, we have a situation today in the body of Christ where people who have truly recited the sinners’ prayer – the same sinners’ prayer that we recited – and yet the change that should accompany the new birth is not there. The passion that they should have to seek God and love God is not there. In the days when we first came to know the Lord, there was such a willingness to serve God and know God. we were not looking for monetary returns. How much have things changed today. And this has generated a burden in the hearts of some of us that something is wrong somewhere.

I believe that this scripture is God’s response to that burden: many are born blind. I am not disputing the fact that at one time or the other in your life, you actually said yes to Jesus and was led in the sinners’ prayer. Even though you did all of that, the question to you today is did you really see the Kingdom? May you have an encounter with the Spirit of Christ so that you may begin to see.

From what his parents said of him, we know that this man must be well of 30 years of age. He was more than 30 years in the religious system, yet for all that period, the system could not help him in his blindness. I am reminded of that woman whom Jesus called the daughter of Abraham whose back was bent, lo, 18 years, coming regularly to the temple, yet the system could do nothing. We have situations today in which the system can promise to make you a millionaire and a 100 fold return on a financial seed but this same system falls short in that which is most important: transforming sin-bound and world chasing people into Kingdom minded saints.

Do we not have some of our church members who are more than 10 years in church, yet have never been convicted of sin and driven to the foot of the cross? Yet the system prophesies on them Sunday after Sunday and receives their tithes and offerings but has not truly helped them when it comes to this matter of salvation. When even the leadership is struggling with sin and he excuses it for ‘holy anger.’

Siloam: the apostolic ministry

But thank God for Jesus; he came to the scene and asked the man to go and wash in the pool of Siloam which is interpreted, “Sent.” The word, sent, in the Greek is ‘apostolos’ from which we get the word, ‘apostle.’ Thus, the pool of Siloam represents the apostolic ministry, which was what the Lord exposed this man to. The apostolic spirit or anointing is a dimension of the spirit of Christ and the function of the apostolic ministry is to open the eyes of the blind. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light and those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.” (Isa. 9:2) Paul, describing his commission in Acts 26:16-18, said he was mandated to “open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of satan to God.” He again alluded to this in II Cor. 4:3-4 when he said that the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe. Hopefully in the near future, we will do a study on the apostolic ministry and why that ministry must return in full force to the Body of Christ, particularly as we undertake this exercise of searching the scriptures. You really can’t search the scriptures if your eyes are closed. That was why Paul prayed for the Ephesian church, “That the Father of glory may give onto them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him and that the eyes of their understanding being enlightened, they may know what is the hope of His calling.” (Eph. 1:17-20)

Religious intimidation

I observe with interest the way the religious system rose up in fury to intimidate this man after his eyes got opened. The system will prefer that he remained in darkness and continue in his cycle of activities. They began to ask him questions and throw up every reason under heaven to discredit the authentic testimony of this man. The system is a specialist in intimidating people, at cowering people and manipulating them. You dare not ask questions. In fact, the system we have today does not permit someone in the congregation getting up to ask a question. It wanted this guy to feel so guilty that he would willingly go back into his blindness. But what had happened to him was genuine; it was not goose pimples; his eyes had become open! 

So they summoned his parents who had already been completely cowered. So it is no wonder the parents did not want to implicate themselves. That was why they told the religious authorities to ask the man directly. Because the authorities had vowed to excommunicate anybody that sides with Jesus. Now, there is a social dimension of church; I don’t have really unbeliever friends. My friends are those we fellowship together. So if I am thrown out of church, there is an emotional trauma that I am subjected to because even my close friends would not want to go against the authority of the church. The people that help me are my church brethren; when that relation is severed, I am left in the cold. Most probably the person that employed is a member of the church and should I be thrown out, he might tell me on Monday morning that my services are no longer required. Perhaps, my landlord is a church member and when I begin to raise questions and then get thrown out, he may come and tell me to look for another accommodation.

So the people knew very well the implications of being disfellowshipped, so they were not ready to stake their necks. A pastor in this city was sharing his experience. He had gone with another friend to a ministers’ conference. After the meeting, both of them went to the office of the convener of the meeting, a senior minister, perhaps to greet him and as they sat in the reception with others, suddenly, the man’s P.A. stepped out of the office and asked them all to stand up and face the wall. Reason? The big man of God was coming out! These things happen right in our society. Don’t you get moved when a brother or sister has to be on their knees throughout a 5 to 10 minutes conversation with a man of God? That is not the spirit of Christ – neither in the Old Testament nor in the New. Please note that anytime an emissary from the celestials visits a man, the awe of the celestial being is so overwhelming that the man falls down almost dead. But the first thing that the messenger would always say is, “Fear not!” - whether it is God, Jesus, the angels or any of the Lord’s apostles. The first thing they do is to bring you up your feet and say, fear not. Any spirit that thrives on intimidation, that wants to cower the people of God, that is threatened whenever brethren ask questions is surely not the spirit of God. God does not operate in an atmosphere of fear, for God has not given us the spirit of fear but of love, of power and of a sound mind.

Apostolic boldness

There is something that has happened to today’s church generation. It is an African thing. When I was a child and I once told my father that what he said was a lie, he rebuked me and said that a child does not say an elder is lying. So even when something is going wrong and the child sees it, he has to keep mum. But I am so excited in my spirit because if you indeed have a genuine encounter with the spirit of Christ – yes you were born truly howbeit into a religious system, but when you now see the Kingdom, something happens to you. Just one encounter and this man became something else. In the entire four gospels, I have never seen anybody with the effrontery, the spiritual stature and the scriptural depth to withstand the overwhelming intimidation of the Pharisaic spirit and the Sanhedrin council except the Lord Jesus and John the Baptist. Well, this erstwhile blind fellow, just by an encounter at the pool of Siloam, added to the number – even before Peter and the other disciples. The spirit of Christ is the spirit of wisdom. This man was not lettered; he never went to a seminary but with his little testimony and insight, he could stand face to face with the entire religious authorities and completely rubbish their legalistic traditions and religious reasonings.       

Did you see the level of boldness that came upon this man after his encounter with the spirit of Christ? He told the Pharisees, I have told you before, why are you asking again, do you also want to become his disciples? They don’t talk with the Pharisees that way. But boldness, wisdom and an ability to stand for truth comes upon you when you have a true encounter with the spirit of Christ. You will be able to truthfully say, I do not care what man can do to me. And I pray that young men and women will rise from this meeting with a boldness to begin to speak for the cause of truth. One of the things that birthed this Conference is the challenge I received from the Spirit of God around mid-last year. You see, there are some things the Lord has revealed to us as far back as 15 years ago which we have kept quiet about because we do not want to offend people. God said, for how long will you continue to keep quiet? Martin Luther said, if I refuse to speak, I shall be like a cloak that covers evil. Not to speak is to betray the truth. Martin Luther King Jnr. said, In the end, we shall remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.

Conclusion

It’s my earnest prayer for you and for all those who will listen to the CD or read the transcript that if you were born into the religious system, you will now begin to see, or if you were seeing men as trees before, the Lord will bring a second touch into your life. I see the way some of my contemporaries burn themselves out on the religious organisation as if the organisation shed a pint of blood for them – to the extent that their personal relationship with God suffers because they want to serve the system. That is deception. May you obtain your freedom tonight. The difference between a Christian and other religionists is while may also be very zealous, none of them can boast of a personal relationship with God. And this is the Christian advantage. But if you jettison that for the sake of activity and devotion to the system, you are of all men to be most pitied. Jesus said, my sheep know me and hear my voice and the voice of the stranger they will not follow. The surest antidote against the deception of the times is for you to know the shepherd. Some of us have been exposed to all manner of things in our few years of walking with the Lord. What has kept us standing is the correctness of our foundation. If you will be part of the generation that will bring back authentic faith and lifestyle, your intimate relationship with the Lord must be intact.

Prayers

1. Lord, I have been born again but open my eyes, let me truly see the Kingdom.
2. Bless me with an encounter that will produce a genuine transformation in me, that will enable me to walk in boldness, discernment, wisdom and cause me to lose my appetite for the ephemeral things of this life.
3. While the generation of our fathers had a genuine encounter in the 70’s and early 80’s that many of them are still running with, our generation is merely an echo and not a distinct voice. The difference is encounter. Lord, in your mercy, visit our generation with an encounter so that the testimony of your doings may indeed be from generation to generation.
4. Lord, thank you for what you have done in the generations past. But we cry that you do something new, something awesome in our days.

Prophecy

The Lord is saying that there are some here tonight whose hairs have been shaven like Samson, but he has heard your cries tonight and those hairs will begin to grow again. There are some who have lost their passion of prayer, of worship, of seeking and saving the lost, of the diligent study of the word, the enemy has stolen the passion and redirected it on something else. The Lord says he has heard your prayers tonight and that passion is being restored. The Lord is passing through the midst of his flock tonight and he’s transforming mere ordinary defenceless docile sheep into majestic warhorses ready for the battle. The Lord says mantles are dropping from heaven tonight. Ancient mantles from heaven are dropping tonight. Mantles worn by the prophets and the apostles are dropping tonight. There is a recruitment in the Spirit and a new mobilisation tonight. It is a new beginning.

TWO GENERATIONS IN THE KINGDOM

SEARCH THE SCRIPTURE CONFERENCE

Maiden edition: Feb. 14-15, 2014, held at the Chapel of Resurrection, University of Ibadan

1^ST PLENARY, Fri. 14 Feb: TWO GENERATIONS IN THE KINGDOM.

Speaker - BRO. EGUNJOBI ADEBARE

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“But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard afar off.” - Ezra 3:12-13 [NKJV]

For the opening charge of this Search the Scripture Conference, we’ll consider two generations: the characteristics, the peculiarities and the differences of these generations and the lessons we can learn. From the scripture that was read, the temple that was built for 10 years had been destroyed, it was built from the cedar of Lebanon; the stones were cut at the quarry site, away from the temple site so as to avoid noise in the temple. The construction of the temple took years; it took commitment; it took specific instructions from King David for Solomon to do what he did.

This was the temple that, on the day of dedication, was so much filled with the cloud of glory that the priest could not enter; it was this same temple that had been destroyed. This was that temple for which King Solomon sacrificed more than 1,000 animals in one day and God gave him a blank cheque to ask anything he wanted; that was the temple that was destroyed. 

About 70 years after its destruction, God then commissioned a man called Cyrus to give permission to the people of God to rebuild the temple; and Cyrus gave clear instructions that anyone who God has so laid in his heart should rebuild the temple. So the people gathered together and the foundation for the temple was laid; and on this day there was much shouting. That is the beginning of these two generations. A generation shouted for joy, but there were some men - the ancients; they looked at it and they saw it is just a similitude; it doesn’t look like the real thing. The design may be there, the model may be there, but it does not look like the old temple they saw or perhaps read about before it was destroyed - and they started crying!

The shout and the crying met together and there was a loud noise; it wasn’t a voice anymore. When the first temple was about to be constructed, it was a voice that prompted David, Solomon and the priests. This time around, there was no voice but there was noise; crying and shouting mixed together to produce noise. And the bible recorded, in verse 13, that the noise was heard afar off, and the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people. That inability to differentiate certainly was a problem and this is where we are today. Many people can still not differentiate between the cry and the shout. Those who do not know the correct thing will be in the majority and their shout will overshadow those who are crying. 

To which generation do you belong? That is the crux of the matter and we can never get it right until we go to the scripture, because I have had to ask myself: all this while in the Kingdom, have I been shouting or crying? Do I need to migrate? And this is why we are here to search the scriptures to see the basis for what we are holding. Has it been the original or is it fake; is it good enough to promote shout of joy or is it bad enough for us to cry for the original?

The shouting generation

“Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, "Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears." But all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man's plowshare, his mattock, his ax, and his sickle; and the charge for a sharpening was a pim for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to set the points of the goads. So it came about, on the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan. But they were found with Saul and Jonathan his son.” - I Sam. 13:19-22

This is the generation that thinks all is well. There was a battle in Israel and people were going to war. But in the entire land of Israel, there was no single smith who could manufacture instruments of war! We are talking of the entire 12 tribes of Israel; this is a nation that was founded with battle by battle and on battle; a nation that cannot be dissociated from battle, a nation that the day they left the land of Egypt, it was amidst loud wailings of the Egyptians for the death of their firstborns. How come such a nation now has no single smith to manufacture the implements of war? This is nothing short of a tragedy. In verse 20, we are told that all the Israelites went down to the Philistines. Can you imagine this? In the day of peace before crisis came, the Philistines had their strategy in place: let there be no smith in Israel. Let them depend on us. And the gullible Israelites entered into that bargain; after all there is no war!

Have you noticed that in the church today, virtually everything we do, we learn from the Philistines? Thank God we are here today, but valentine parities are going on outside there. Let’s go to the Philistines; let’s learn their strategies; let’s learn their approach; let’s learn their dancing steps. Do you notice that choreography is taking the place of Sunday school today? Do you know that many churches are collapsing the Sunday school department and are building dance department? Let’s go to the Philistine to sharpen our domestic and farming implements - after all it is the day of peace who cares? It did not occur to anybody that when the day of battle comes, the whole nation will be stranded and left at the mercy of their enemy. How then shall they fight?

Today, how many believers have swords and spears? How many believers have quality devotional time with God again? Daily Manna, Open Heavens and other devotionals have taken over. How many believers are personally seeking the face of God? Years ago, Pastor Kumuyi did not have to do any Daily Manna; Baba Adeboye did not have to publish any Open Heavens, because every man would go to God directly and receive directly from God and not regurgitated food. Many believers in this generation have no sword or spear, so it is what our daddy in the Lord says. Let us say the truth here because this is Search the Scripture Conference; it is not just a meeting but a call to revolution.

Notice one thing, in the hands of Saul and Jonathan, there were weapons; how come? Could it be that they were wiser, smarter or simply mischievous? How come they had weapons while others didn’t? And they want to lead an army, what will happen to that army? How come that many of our G.O’s today have swords and spears but they are leading a sheepish congregation without swords and spears! How come that only few people in every assembly will have a direct relationship with God and others will just be running after G.O’s. This is the generation that jumps at anything, laughs at anything and claps for anything.

The simple generation – II Sam. 15:11

“And with Absalom went two hundred men invited from Jerusalem, and they went along innocently and did not know anything.” [NKJV]

“And with Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem, that were called; and they went in their simplicity, and they knew not anything. [KJV]

There is a conspiracy presently against the correct gospel and that conspiracy is getting stronger and stronger every day (vs. 12). We seem to be going away from the ancient landmark on a daily basis. To be a pastor now, I don’t need to be called, all I need is good grammar and psychology books and I will be able to deceive those who have no sword or spear; I will turn everything upside down. I will say, care for your self esteem; it’s about self actualization; it’s all about your self-worth. Yet, the bible says, every man who wants to be my disciple, let him deny himself. The same thing that the bible says should be denied is what the pastor promotes – a complete contrast. But the generation that does not know its right from its left will swallow it hook line and sinker. Why? Because, like the fruit given to Eve, it was beautiful, desirable and able to make one wise; so nobody questions anymore. We are opposing the bible right from the pulpit; the greatest enemy of the church is not outside the church but right inside the church.

Today, it will take 20 minutes to introduce the man of God, and the gullible believers will begin to clap; clapping for the self that should be denied and killed. And when we raise self, God will leave us and we begin to hear from man. so the conspiracy is getting stronger but it all started because of the 200 men that started with Absalom. They were described as simple who did not know anything. Do you know that so many people have been caught in this web of conspiracy against scriptures out of their simplicity and innocence? In the first instance, the gospel message you responded to, did it address the issue of eternity on your soul? Is it not the message of give your life to Christ so that it will be better for you? No foundation. If receiving Jesus is so that can get a visa to travel overseas, then you don’t need this salvation. If you receive Jesus, you’ll become a millionaire - that’s not the whole truth; being a Christian is much more than that. Dangote is acclaimed the richest man in Africa - is he a Christian? There are other ways to become a millionaire without being a Christian, but what is fundamental is that you cannot make heaven without being a Christian; that’s the foundation.

So in simplicity, many Christians today are just following; after all, they themselves do not have any solid personal relationship with God and they are not exposed to solid scriptural teaching in their church services. This is what made the conspiracy against the faith to be very strong and the number keeps swelling. I’m a student of church history and I try to compare what happened in North Africa to what is happening today. The church in north Africa had been very strong in places like Libya and Morocco and has been producing bishops way back since the third century. The first theological institution in the world was founded in Morocco. Today, that country is 99% Islam while Libya boasts of about 96% Islam. What happened to the church in North Africa? Uprooted.

Do you know what brought about the collapse of the church in these areas? The same issue we are talking about today. A generation rose up that placed greater emphasis on cathedrals and titles and ecclesiastical hierarchies and so on. A generation without swords and spears. A generation that was not built up in the word. You just go and study about the church in North Africa before the advent of Islam; find out the condition of the church by the time the Jihadists came. I’ll tell you what happened: there was a conspiracy that started from Rome between the church and the state. The clergy and the statesmen were too close and that closeness resulted in impoverishing the masses. Both the bishops and the politicians were feeding fat on the land of the commoners. Much attention was paid on the comfort of the clergy and building of cathedrals. Discipleship became nil; missions was simply non-existent and arguments over doctrinal statement became rife – so people did not know anything. The conviction that will make a man to say I stand for Christ, I cannot renounce was no more there when the sword of the Jihadists came. And buildings cannot stand the sword; it is only people that can stand the sword but the people were not built.

Do you see any correlation between the present church and the historical church of North Africa? That is why this is not just a meeting but a call to revolution! We are treading the same path; we are laying emphasis on projects and not paying attention to building the people. In the last 10 to 15 years, most of the people who got saved can hardly differentiate between salvation and sanctification. They cannot explain atonement, justification by faith, redemption – no they can’t. They will rather explain swot analysis and goal setting; we are turning churches to business schools and the real foundation has been forgotten. This was the same path North African church trod several centuries back. And as a missionary, we have discovered that it is easier to take over a virgin territory than reclaim a captured territory.

The Phinehas generation

“So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and hang the offenders before the Lord, out in the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of Peor.” And indeed, one of the children of Israel came and presented to his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Now when Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand; and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stopped among the children of Israel.” – Num. 25:3-8

Here is another generation, the angry generation; the generation that will say no by voice and by action; the javelin people generation. How dare you bring a woman into the camp right in the presence of Moses, Aaron, the elders and all the people! No way, I cannot stand this; what impudence! How can you bring a comedian to the altar, to come and desecrate the altar? And when he is called up, he will start by messing up the cross; he will make fun of Jesus – right from the pulpit! Once he’s through with that, he takes on those in the church who have one deformity or the other. And by the time he’s through, while some are laughing, those who have those challenges are going back home crying. We can’t offer hope anymore; we are rather wounding people seeking help. Our problem is not Boko Haram; our problem is the foreign importation into the church.

Phinehas said this nonsense must stop, get me a javelin! And we are going back to the javelin of the word of God, for this plague will not cease until men rise up with javelin of the undiluted word. Mike Bamiloye said at a time that the net we threw into the river has caught so many things: lizard, crab, fish, scorpion etc and we put them all inside the church. Unfortunately, there is no word to separate them, and everything has grown together now; and the crab has become pastors.

We are talking about two generations. One is the simple generation who doesn’t know anything; they have no idea what the fundamentals of the gospel are. GTBank has pillars. MTN has core values. There are ethics in every profession. What are the unshakable pillars of the Christian faith and the guiding ethics of the Church? All that doesn’t matter today. So long you have some naira you can dole out, you become a deacon and from deacon, you are made a pastor. And if unsaved men are becoming pastors, what do you think will happen to the flock? This is where we are today.

The demarcation between the world and the Christianity is too clear and any attempt to remove that demarcation will land us in trouble. Who says we need to use the method of the world to win the world? We have tried this within the last 15 years but what have we gained? The foundation of the Lord stands sure having this seal; anybody who names the name of Christ should depart from iniquity. We can’t run away from that and still think we do modernised evangelism. Any result we get through that will surely not last.

Physiology of the Phinehas generation

1.       The seeing eyes (Pro. 20:12): You must see correctly. If you don’t see correctly all this concerns will mean nothing to you. Current world population is about 7 billion with Christian population at 2 billion and Islam at 1.8 billion. Now you may say we are still more than the Muslims but if you consider the fact that we have been around for over 500years before Mohammed was born, you will know there is problem. Christians are still less than 30% of world population, so is it time to be jumping up and entertaining ourselves? If God looks at the world and about 5 billion are not Christians at all – we’re not even talking about nominal or evangelical, how do you think God will feel? How dare we see differently from the way God is seeing if we are His children? If you don’t see correctly how can you then act correctly? Others saw the Midianite woman indeed but only Phinehas saw with the eyes of God.

2.       The hearing ear (Pro. 20:12): What are you hearing? Can you hear the agony of sinners going to hell right from the church?

Conclusion

Which generation do you want to belong to? We must stop here. Some other time we will continue with the mouth, the hands (the hands that are clean, the hands that will be taught how to war and the fingers that will be taught how to fight), the legs and of course the knees; the bended knee. We can’t stop these problems simply by talking about them; we are not doing activism here. What we are saying is, let us go back to the scriptures.

“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” - Acts 17:11 [KJV]

What things? The things taught by Paul and Silas. How dare you crosscheck what Paul says, the same Paul that had an encounter with the Lord of lords and the Kings of kings on the road to Damascus? If the Berean disciples can crosscheck what Paul said, how dare you not crosscheck what your G.O. is saying? Who tells you that anybody in this mortal flesh cannot make mistake or go into error? We owe it a point of duty to pray for our leaders, never to idolize them. If, tomorrow, they say we should begin boxing competition in Redemption Camp, then we go for it? Where is the generation that will ask questions? How long are we going to continue in this simplicity like the men that followed Absalom? Absalom, were you anointed? Nobody questioned him. The millions that come into church as tithes and offerings, do we question where they came from?

If Martin Luther was of the simplicity generation, we would never have had Protestant Christianity. If Kumuyi was of the simplicity generation, we would never have had the revival that characterised his generation. The generation of Kumuyi, Mike Oye, Amotsuka and E.A. Adeboye was a radical generation; they challenged the authority of the orthodox leaders of their day. They challenged the incursion of occultism that almost took over the church. David Oyedapo was not a quiet generation; now that they have become leaders, must the followers become a silent generation? They weren’t silent in their days; why are we silent in our days? If Kumuyi could challenge the leadership of his days, who says I should not challenge the leadership of my days if it is not according to the scriptures. Who is afraid of apostolic curse here? There is no apostolic curse anywhere; the only curse I am aware of is in Gal. 1:8 – if anyone preaches another gospel, let him be accursed. This is more than a meeting; it is a call to revolution. Let us go back to the bible. We are not judging or pointing fingers; we are here to go back to the scriptures and check whether those things are so. Are you a noble generation that will search the scripture like the Berean disciples? If there is going to be revival, it will start with me.

PRAYER POINTS:

1.       Father, open my eyes to see correctly.

2.       Oh Lord, open my ears to hear correctly what Heaven is saying to my generation. When last did you hear from God?

3.       Saul and Jonathan led an army without spear or sword. How sharp is your sword? Pray, oh Lord equip me for battle in this generation.

4.       Oh Lord, equip me for relevance in this generation. Does it not bother you that we still have to go to Redemption Camp before we can see raw miracles? And does it not bother you that these men are growing grey hair on their heads? Who will take over from them? Is it the generation without sword or spear? For how long are you going to be a consumer generation? The generation of our fathers was a producer generation. Lord, send down revival into my heart.

5.       When John wrote his epistle, he said, “That which we have seen with our eyes and heard with our ears and our hands have handled.” Peter said, “We were eyewitnesses of His majesty on the mount.” It was not what they read in a book. Paul said, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.” Have you got any personal encounter with God? For how long shall it be what Daddy G.O. said? Oh Lord, I need a personal encounter; give me a personal visitation.  

6.       Somebody who will be an agent of revival will have an insatiable appetite for the word of God. You will have to drop these novels for some time. Let’s go into the scriptures now. Lord, make me an addict to the word. Kill this appetite in me for Arsenal and Chelsea and African Magic. Replace it with an insatiable appetite of the word. Let common bread not satisfy me anymore.

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2014 - THE WORD OF THE LORD IN MY SPIRIT...

A NEW SPIRITUAL MOBILISATION

I am strongly persuaded that a new spiritual mobilisation will begin in 2014. The Phinehases & the Nehemiahs of God will be mobilised to rise up at this time and begin to contend for the faith that was once and for all delivered onto the saints. The Davids of God will be stirred up in their spirits with a holy jealousy for the name of the Lord to take down the Goliaths who have for a generation defied the church and brought great reproach to Zion. Now for a long time, brethren have remained at the level of being concerned at the state of things in the Church of Christ but have not really done anything. But now, these people will begin to be emboldened to challenge the error, the falsehood and the infiltrations of the enemy. They will be emboldened to demand a return to the accuracy of scriptural truth. As they move out in response to this spiritual stirring against the spirit of error, the Heavens will back up their move and ancient errors and practices built thereupon will begin to give way.

In 2014, the Lord of Hosts, the Sovereign Commander-in-Chief of the armies of heaven and earth will give His word and a great and massive company hitherto complacent, hitherto intimidated will rise up in response to the shout of the great King to publish the word of the Lord from the house tops. He will issue His command and His word will run swiftly. The Yoruba adage of “if error travels for twenty years, truth will catch up with it in one day” will begin to be fulfilled in 2014.  

In 2014, the Kingdom vision will begin to speak emphatically. Messages we have preached in the name of the gospel but are no gospel will give way for the bold declaration of the gospel of the Kingdom. Mountains & hills will be brought low; crooked places will be made straight & rough places made smooth. There’ll be a crying out of the voice which will demarcate truth from error, expose deception at all levels and prepare a highway of truth in the hearts of men.

The revolution is not just coming, it is here!

Are you a believer? Brace up for what is coming. No one can sit on the fence. There is a warfare for the truth that will unfold in the coming days and every man will be on one side of the divide. I counsel you to be on the side of truth. By the time the dust clears, there will be a clear demarcation between:

-          Believers of truth and believers of culture, traditions and institutions

-          Believers of truth and believers of men of God

-          Believers of truth and believers of experiences, dreams, visions & prophetic revelations

-          Believers of truth and believers of signs, wonders & ‘results’

-          Believers of truth and believers of logic and reason

...The revolution begins!