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Tag: Femi Aribisala

  • Christian rock stars and superstars – By Femi Aribisala

    Christian rock stars and superstars – By Femi Aribisala

    Churches now do telemarketing surveys, asking: “What would you like in a church?” In effect, many churches are made to measure, according to the greatest demand and not according to God’s prescriptions.

    Some pastors even go further and play it safe. They have surveys asking our members what kind of messages they would like to hear. This is a standard operating procedure in the world of business marketing. You find out what your potential customers want, and you give it to them. But it is inappropriate for the kingdom of God, which is based on the will of our Father in heaven.

    The rock of the rock star is not the Rock of Ages.

    The modern-day pastor is determined to change man’s perception of God and to make Him more desirable and appealing to the flesh, all in the interest of expeditious church growth. The flesh hates holiness, so, many pastors do all they can to make the church more like the world. Frankly, holiness is hard on the numbers and has a way of annoying the ambitious and offending the profane.

    Instead of hating evil, as scripture commands (Psalm 97:10), today’s Christians are being taught just the opposite: to hate holiness. This is achieved by zealously removing from churches anything that encourages fear, respect, reverence, and awe toward the Almighty.

    The trend is now towards promoting a casual, even cavalier attitude and atmosphere in and around churches to make people feel more comfortable and relaxed. The truth, however, is that we cannot entertain men into the kingdom: but we can convict them.

    Churches are now the jack of all trades. They use such non-spiritual activities as gymnastics, rock n roll, comedians, and a host of other gimmicks to entertain their congregation. The church service is often a carefully crafted and choreographed production designed to please and impress men and not God. Many churches put on shows with worldly celebrities to increase their numbers.

    Now we see the next logical step in the process of marketing the church to the world, offer a free inducement to get them into your establishment. Put on a show, offer a free trial, give away something of value, and entice them with things to get them in the door.

    Today it is a regular practice for churches to offer some sort of inducement for newcomers. In one American church, they offered to pay for a portion of the visitor’s petrol in exchange for visiting the church. Another preacher offered non-members a certain amount of money for just sitting through a Sunday morning service.

    I suppose you might call this “avant-garde evangelism.”

    That is entertainment

    I walked into the parish of a major Lagos church for the very first time and was surprised to hear the choir playing the theme song from the blockbuster movie “Mission Impossible III.” Do not get me wrong; the choir was excellent. But you start to wonder if you are not actually at a pop concert as opposed to a church.

    Another church in Anderson, South Carolina (U.S.A.) even upped the ante. It was reported that they started a church service with the song “Brick House” by the Commodores. Who could blame them? After all, they were purpose-driven, determined to attract the world.

    Just take a look at some of the words of the song and judge for yourself whether it agrees with the virtues of Jesus Christ:

    She knows she got everything
    a woman needs to get a man, yeah.
    How can she use, the things she use
    36-24-36, what a winning hand!

    The clothes she wears, the sexy ways,
    make an old man wish for younger days
    She knows she’s built and knows how to please
    Sure enough to knock a man to his knees

    How in heaven’s name can anyone think such a song is appropriate in a church of all places? But then churches are no longer what they used to be.

    According to The Telegraph, the pastor of a big church in Kyiv, Ukraine encourages his congregants to “shake their booty and praise the Lord.” Reporting on one of his services, the newspaper observes that:

    “As he prepared to make a grand entrance, the choirgirls shook their pompoms, the disco lights started to flash, and a fanfare sounded. The lights cut out, and (he) emerged from a shroud of dry ice. Children holding flags of the world wafted around him and the choir bellowed ‘Sanctus!’”

    What exactly is happening here? Is it a worship service or a rock concert? Is Christ the bright morning star or is the pastor the superstar? I dare say some churches have gone astray because of their preoccupation with attracting and retaining new members.

    Babylonian songs

    In the single-minded pursuit of size and numerical growth, new-generation churches have reconfigured the church service into a show business where men come to be entertained on Sundays for the “gate fee” of an offering. The thinking is that by spiritualising popular music, the church becomes more attractive to unbelievers.

    The danger in this approach is that the modern church becomes increasingly worldly.

    The playing of secular music in churches does not facilitate the conversion of the lost. Indeed, music is never used in scripture as a means of reaching the lost. Instead, music is primarily used as a means of reaching God, because the Lord inhabits the praises of His people. (Psalm 22:3).

    God is not likely to be reached through the “urban contemporary gospel music.” Jesus said to the Samaritan woman: “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24).

    God’s mechanism for reaching the lost is through preaching. Jesus directs His disciples to: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15). He does not say we should go into the world and organise beautiful concerts.

    But while the gospel may no longer be preached in many churches today, they certainly strive to play good popular music that is very attractive to the people.

     “Give Jesus a wiper!”

     Christian pop and rap

     Is it appropriate to recast popular secular songs into Christian ones by changing the lyrics?

     I do not think so.

    Worldly music is inappropriate for conversion into “gospel” music. Jesus says: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6).

    James asks rhetorically: “Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus, no spring yields both salt water and fresh.” (James 3:12).

    There is a spirit that holds the copyright to every song we sing. Changing the lyrics does not change the copyright. This means a worldly song cannot be converted into a godly song. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego refused to bow down to a god worshipped “in symphony with all kinds of music.” (Daniel 3:14-18).

     Rock music, for example, is naturally wild; designed to stimulate the flesh. This makes it inappropriate for worship. Indeed, the rock of the rockstar is not the Rock of Ages. Moses says: “Their rock is not like our Rock.” (Deuteronomy 32:31).

    Rap music is also vulgar and fleshly. At its most fundamental, it is characterised by foul language, and videos glorifying pimps and “bitches.” These types of music cannot be converted into spiritual music because of what Jesus calls the “good fruit” principle: “Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.” (Matthew 7:17-18).

    Rap music emphasises the drums. Spiritual songs, on the other hand, emphasise the melody as opposed to the beat. (Psalm 33:2; Isaiah 51:3). Indeed, the Bible makes no mention anywhere of drums.

    New songs

    Christian songs should be “new songs;” not reworked popular songs. New creatures should sing new songs, not the same old songs we were singing when we were still in the world.

    The psalmist says: “He has put a new song in my mouth- praise to our God.” (Psalm 40:3). He enjoins believers repeatedly to: “Sing unto the LORD a new song, and His praise in the congregation of saints.” (Psalm 149:1). “Sing to Him a new song; play skilfully with a shout of joy.” (Psalm 33:3).

    If church music appeals to the world, then it must be unacceptable to God. Jesus says: “What is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15). The world is not interested in music that genuinely glorifies the Lord. Therefore, many so-called Christian artists end up laundering their lyrics to give them a “cross-over” appeal.

    After the children of Israel were carried into captivity, the Babylonians requested them to sing for sport. But they refused to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land. (Psalm 137:4). Observe that it is the Lord’s song and not the world’s song. It is not even Israel’s song.

    Christian songs are supposed to be unto the Lord and not unto men. Christian music should be Godward and not manward. The psalmist says we are to sing praises “to the Lord.” (Psalm 9:11). Christian music should glorify God, as opposed to entertaining men.

    Saturday night fever

    Pastors play church a lot. They fill their choirs with gifted musicians who are singularly unspiritual. They hire them for a fee. As long as they play good music, they are acceptable in the beloved. These musicians play in discos on Saturday night and then in church on Sunday morning. Pastors are particular about how well they play: they are not concerned about their anointing.

    But God is not impressed, and He would not be mocked. He says through the mouth of Amos:

    “Away with your hymns of praise- they are mere noise to My ears. I will not listen to your music, no matter how lovely it is. I want to see a mighty flood of justice- a torrent of doing good.” (Amos 5:23-24).

  • The God who is not good all the time (2) – By Femi Aribisala

    The God who is not good all the time (2) – By Femi Aribisala

    The law not only discriminated against women, it considered them less valuable than men:

    “When a man consecrates by a vow certain persons to the Lord, according to your valuation, if your valuation is of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old, then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. If it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels.” (Leviticus 27:2-4).

    “God prefers to make people cry than to make us laugh.

    The rape of virgins was condoned. Moses directed Israel concerning Moab:

    “Kill every male among the little ones and kill every woman who has known a man intimately. But keep alive for yourselves all the young girls who have not known a man intimately.” (Numbers 31:17-18).

    After decimating Benjamin with an oath not to give their daughters in marriage to them, the men of Israel kidnapped 400 virgins of Jabesh Gilead. (Judges 21:10-12).

    God also sanctioned discrimination against the handicapped:

    “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to Aaron, saying: ‘No man of your descendants in succeeding generations, who has any defect, may approach to offer the bread of his God.’” (Leviticus 21:16-17).

    Slavery

    The Law of Moses approves slavery:

    “From the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves.” (Leviticus 25:44-46).

    It even approves the selling of children:

    “If a man sells his daughter to be a female slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do.” (Exodus 21:7).

    Death penalty

    God passed a death sentence on most transgressions. The killing of witches was divinely approved:

    “You shall not permit a sorceress to live.” (Exodus 22:18).

    He told the Israelites to stone anyone who worshipped the sun, moon, or host of Heaven. (Deuteronomy 17:2-7).

    Mass slaughter was sanctioned as punishment for unfaithfulness to God:

    “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let every man put his sword on his side and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.’” (Exodus 32:27-28).

    When a man was arrested for gathering sticks on the Sabbath day, God told Moses:

    “The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” (Numbers 15:35).

    God prescribed genocide for those whose land He forcibly gave to the Israelites:

    “Of the cities of these peoples which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, but you shall utterly destroy them.” (Deuteronomy 20:16-17).

    Children were slaughtered while livestock were spared. (Deuteronomy 3:6-7).

    The Bible even details an example of cannibalism:

    “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ So, we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.” (2 Kings 6:28-29).

    Reconciliation

    The question then is this: “How can we reconcile a good and righteous God with these terrible acts?” Unlike Christian apologists, God does not whitewash them. Instead, He claims full responsibility saying:

    “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7).

    Strange goodness

    The God of the Holy Scriptures does not conform to human expectations of goodness. A good man does not tell his son to marry a prostitute, as God did with Hosea. (Hosea 1:2). A good man does not instruct his servant to walk around without their trousers for 3 years, as God did with Isaiah. (Isaiah 20:2-4). A good man does not put diseases on people. (Exodus 15:26). A good man does not kill off millions of his children over 40 years in the wilderness, as God did to Israel.

    If Jesus were a good man as men call goodness, He would not be despised and rejected by men. (Isaiah 53:3). He would not call his friend Peter “Satan.” (Matthew 16:23). He would not call a woman who came to Him to be healed a little dog. (Matthew 15:25-26). He would not keep company with disreputable people. (Matthew 9:10-11). He would not take sides with a woman caught in adultery. (John 8:3-11). He would not deny His own mother and brothers. (Matthew 12:47-50).

    He would not pronounce woe on His adversaries and call them whitewashed tombstones. (Matthew 23:27). He would not tell some Jews that the devil is their father. (Matthew 8:44). He would not smash the wares of sellers in the temple but would just ask them to leave. (Matthew 21:12-13). He would not ask a man who has been sick for 38 years if he would like to be healed. (John 5:6). He would not heal just one man and leave so many others unhealed. (John 5:3-13).

    Righteousness of man

    Because men truly have difficulty with the goodness of God, Jesus presents a parable in which a man says to God:

    “I was afraid of you because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.” (Luke 19:21).

    God’s goodness became doubtful at some point to David, he asked God:

    “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.” (Psalm 139:7-8).

    As for Jonah, he tried to run away to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. (Jonah 1:3).

    When Jeremiah ended up in prison despite God’s assurances, he outrightly accused God of deception:

    “O Lord, You deceived me when You promised me your help.” (Jeremiah 20:7).

    Since God is righteous, Jeremiah wonders why the way of the wicked prospers. He asks:

    “Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?” (Jeremiah 12:1).

    Habakkuk is disgruntled with God’s goodness:

    “Evil men swallow up the righteous and You stand around and watch!” (Habakkuk 1:13).

    The psalmist has the same complaint:

    “Lord, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked triumph?” (Psalm 94:3).

    But the worst of all is Abraham, who had the effrontery to try to teach God righteousness. When he realised God would soon destroy Sodom, he asked:

    “Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25).

    As for Job, he acknowledges that God is not good all the time, He brings the good as well as the evil. (Job 2:10). Nevertheless, after having lost his children, his wealth, and his health, he asks God accusatorily:

    “Why do the wicked live and become old, yes, become mighty in power? Their descendants are established with them in their sight, and their offspring before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.” Job 21:7-9).

    Presumptuous sins

    God answers Job angrily:

    “Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?” (Job 40:8).

    Since Job was acting like a know-it-all, God asks him:

    “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know!” (Job 38:4-5).

    Elihu counsels Job:

    “Do you know the mind and purposes of God? Will long searching make them known to you? Are you qualified to judge the Almighty? He is as faultless as heaven is high- but who are you? His mind is fathomless- what can you know in comparison?” (Job 11:7-8).

    Isaiah asks:

    “Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has taught Him? With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, and showed Him the way of understanding?” (Isaiah 40:13-14).

    Paul is even more categorical:

    “Who in the world do you think you are to second-guess God? Do you for one moment suppose any of us knows enough to call God into question?” (Romans 9:20).

    The truth is that the wisdom and knowledge of God are too deep for man to fathom. His judgments are unsearchable and His ways past finding out. (Romans 11:33). There are far too many things about the knowledge of God that are simply beyond man’s pay grade. As David admits:

    “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it.” (Psalm 139:6).

    Thus, Paul says:

    “Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their own craftiness’; and again, ‘The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.’” (1 Corinthians 3:18-20).

    Trust God

    God is not answerable to man for His actions:

    “Why do you contend against Him? For He does not give account of any of His actions. [Sufficient for us it should be to know that it is He Who does them.]” (Job 33:13).

    “Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, Israel’s Creator, says: ‘What right have you to question what I do? Who are you to command Me concerning the work of My hands?’” (Isaiah 45:11-12).

    We do not have to understand why God does some of the strange things He does. All that is required of us is to trust Him. The wise man says:

    “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

    Only God is wise. (Romans 16:27).

    “The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works.” (Psalm 145:17).

    As for us:

    “We know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.” (1 Corinthians 13:9-10).

    When perfection comes, we will discover that there is always a good and righteous reason for everything God does. That is why we give thanks to Him in everything. (1 Thessalonians 5:18). By faith, we know that God works all things together for good. (Romans 8:28).

  • The God who is not good all the time (1) – By Femi Aribisala

    The God who is not good all the time (1) – By Femi Aribisala

    Nobody spoils a man’s life like Jesus. Jesus is a killer of all worldly joy. God’s attitude to the world is often lost on many. God hates the world system. The world hated Jesus and killed him. Therefore, anyone who is a lover of pleasure; anyone who likes this world becomes an enemy of God.

    God prefers to make people cry than to make us laugh.

    Accordingly, James asks:

    “You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4).

    Paul agrees:

    “She who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives.” (1 Timothy 5:6).

    God is so implacably opposed to the world; He has doomed it to destruction. Isaiah says:

    “I have heard from the Lord God of hosts, a destruction determined even upon the whole earth.” (Isaiah 28:22).

    In the meantime, God plans “to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.” (Isaiah 23:9).

    God allows wickedness to prevail on earth, the better to commend to us the superiority of the kingdom of heaven. Job notes that:

    “The whole earth is in the hands of the wicked” (Job 9:24).

    This is because God allows it to be so. Thus, God allows the worst kinds of people to be heads of state and governments:

    “The High God rules human kingdoms. He arranges kingdom affairs however He wishes and makes leaders out of losers.” (Daniel 4:17).

    Wonder-less world

    Thanks to Jesus, we are brought to the realisation that what we deem to be life is death. Under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit, believers are made foreigners and strangers here on decrepit earth; having become citizens of a spiritual heavenly kingdom.

    Out of this new reality is then fashioned a completely different psychology. The atonement kills everything before it makes them come back to life.

    Christ makes every pain irrelevant, and He diminishes every joy outside of Himself. Therefore, be contemptuous of every advantage. Overlook every disadvantage. Jesus is a leveller. The kingdom of God cancels deficits and erases credits. Before the glory of God is revealed:

    “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill brought low.” (Isaiah 40:4).

    God is at pains to make us see that what we call wonderful is “wonderless.” He tells us the man who is blessed is not he who won the lottery, but he who receives forgiveness of sin:

    “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him.” (Psalm 32:1-2).

    Jesus maintains the joy to be cherished is the joy of salvation:

    “Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.” (Luke 10:19-20).

    Man of sorrows

    God prefers to make people cry than to make them laugh. Jesus was a man of sorrows; acquainted with grief. (Isaiah 53:3). The Bible says of Him:

    “It was the Lord’s good plan to crush Him and cause Him grief.” (Isaiah 53:10).

    There is very little to laugh about here on earth. What is there to laugh about in a world riddled with sin, where souls are perishing every day; and where the thief comes daily to steal, kill, and destroy? (John 10:10). What is there to laugh about in a grief-stricken world?

    Therefore, Jesus pronounces woe on those given to laughter. He says:

    “Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep” (Luke 6:25).

    Amos also says:

    “Woe to those lounging in luxury at Jerusalem and Samaria.” (Amos 6:1).

    James goes even further to prescribe a strange tonic for the soul:

    “Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.” (James 4:9).

    But we thought Jesus came to give us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness? (Isaiah 61:3).

    Yes indeed!  But Jesus’ ministry is only for those who are sorrowful and mournful. Moreover, the consolations of Christ come not through the reform of this world, but by invitation to another kingdom, a kingdom not of this world.

    Divine prescription

    The nature of this ungodly world is such that, according to the wisdom of God, even in laughter the heart should sorrow, since the end of mirth may be grief. (Proverbs 14:13). Solomon says:

    “Sorrow is better than laughter, for by a sad countenance the heart is made better.” (Ecclesiastes 7:3).

    By laughter and merriment, the heart is made worse, vainer, more carnal, and sensual. It is made more in love with the world and more estranged from God and godliness.

    If sorrow is indeed better than laughter, then the man whom God makes sad is more blessed than the happy man. When a man decides to be good to another man, he tries to make him happy. He ministers to his body. He makes him comfortable.

    Not so the goodness of God. When God is good to someone, He is more likely to make him sad. God’s goodness works more on the heart than on the flesh:

    “The goodness of God leads you to repentance.” (Romans 2:4).

    Its main objective is to lead us along the path of life and make us heirs of salvation.

    Therefore, God is not good in the way that is normally considered to be good. If we do not understand the peculiarity of God’s goodness, we are likely to be sad when we should be glad, and to be glad when we should be sad.

    In the kingdom of God, the way up is down.

    Fake ambassadors

    An ambassador is sometimes required to tell lies for his country. But is an ambassador for Christ, required to do likewise for the Lord?

    Certainly not!

    However, you might be mistaken if you listen to many of the falsehoods propagated in the churches about the gospel of the kingdom of God.

    Jesus is the Truth. The gospel is the gospel of truth. Nevertheless, many people feel an effective way to promote the gospel is by telling lies.

    They make promises on God’s behalf that He never made. They say without Christ there is crisis, implying falsely that the Christian life is crisis-free. They make financial wealth an object of the gospel. They insist God is out to make all Christians billionaires, provided they first give their hard-earned monies as tithes to the churches.

    But the worst lies of all are those told about God. These lies are told by Christians who reject the knowledge of God and who create God in their image. God says:

    “I have kept quiet while you did these things, so you thought I was just like you.” (Psalm 50:21).

    However, it is important never to forget that:

    “God is not a man.” (Numbers 23:19).

    Deceived psalmist

    A popular refrain in the churches says: “God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good.” But is this true? Does God Himself claim to be good all the time? God is not good in the way that men define goodness.

    Because we insist foolishly that God is good all the time:

    “We call the proud blessed, for those who do wickedness are raised up; they even tempt God and go free.” (Malachi 3:15).

    The psalmist says:

    “As for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the boastful when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pangs in their death, but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like other men. (Psalm 73:2-5).

    Offensive God

    In many respects, many of the actions of God in the Old Testament do not conform to human standards of goodness. God Himself warns us, saying:

    “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9).

    If God were to be good all the time according to man, the righteous would not die in an accident. Evil men will not prosper. Jesus would not be despised and hated by men. He would not be: “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel,” and “a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 8:14).

    For example, in the Old Testament, no case was made against incest. The daughters of Lot had sex with their father and had children with him. (Genesis 19:33-36). Their action and pregnancy could only have happened by the determinate counsel of God.

    CONTINUED

  • Do not love the world – By Femi Aribisala

    Do not love the world – By Femi Aribisala

    God says:

    “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9).

    Jesus goes even further to reveal that the ways of God are not only different from, but often diametrically opposite to, those of man. (Luke 16:15).

    “If it is popular in the world, then it cannot be of God

    This means that if man thinks something is black, God is likely to consider it to be white. If man thinks that something is good, God is likely to consider it to be bad. Or if man thinks something is beautiful, God is likely to consider it to be ugly.

    Kingdom dynamics

    Let me put this even more graphically. If man establishes a university and says that the first 100 pupils in the exam would be admitted, then know that in God’s university, it is the last 100 pupils that would be admitted.

    Or if man has an Olympic Games and gives the gold medal to the person who comes first, then be sure that in God’s Olympic Games, the gold medal would be given to the person who comes last. The first must become last and the last become the first.

    God seems to violate deliberately every human yardstick and criterion. This inclination was a matter of great fascination to Solomon. He notes that:

    “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favour to men of skill.” (Ecclesiastes 9:11).

    When God sent Samuel to anoint one of the sons of Jesse as the new king of Israel, Samuel forgot that he was not acting on behalf of a man. He immediately jumped to the conclusion that Eliab, the oldest, tallest and most distinguished son, was the Lord’s choice. But the Lord quickly corrected him:

    “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7).

    Reversal of fortune

    The kingdom of God is designed to bring about a radical transformation of the human or world order. For this reason, God works in contradictions, creating a reversal of fortunes:

    According to the counsel of God, the rich are going to become poor and the poor are going to become rich. Therefore, if you are rich be considerate. Use your riches wisely for the time of poverty is coming.

    If you are poor take heart, your time of enrichment is coming. Let the weak say that they are strong and let the strong realise that by strength no man can prevail. The older shall serve the younger, and the master shall become the slave.

    John the Baptist prophesied that:

    “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:4-5).

    Observe that the glory of the Lord cannot be revealed until every valley is exalted, and every mountain and hill brought low.

    Disadvantageous advantages

    Accordingly, every advantage in the world becomes a disadvantage in the kingdom of God. Likewise, every disadvantage in the world becomes an advantage in the kingdom of God. Every mountain of beauty, wealth, position, brains, skill, background, or pedigree shall be brought low. Every valley of ugliness, poverty, lowliness, stupidity, lack of skills, lack of education, or lack of social status shall be exalted.

    At the end of the age, God has promised that:

    “All the trees of the field shall know that I, the LORD, have brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish; I, the LORD, have spoken and have done it.” (Ezekiel 17:24).

    It also means that everything will be renewed. God is determined to wipe the slate clean and begin all over again. Therefore, He says:

    “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:18-19).

    Indeed, to enter the kingdom of God, every man has to begin all over again. Thus, Jesus tells Nicodemus:

    “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3).

    Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount turns everything on its head. It is the poor in spirit who are enriched by the inheritance of a kingdom more glorious than all the thrones on the earth. It is the meek who renounces self-aggrandisement who ends up by inheriting the earth. It is those who hunger and thirst after righteousness (and not earthly riches) who are filled.

    Devil’s kingdom

    Is God just determined to be disagreeable? Not so. We must remember that His kingdom was the only kingdom. The kingdom of God preceded the kingdoms of this world. But the kingdom of God on earth was given to man to administer, and man ceded the dominion and authority to the devil because of sin.

    So, it was not God who decided to be contrary. It was the devil, the ruler of the darkness of this world, who was determined that everything about this world should be the antithesis of the kingdom of God. Therefore,

    “All that is in the world- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life- is not of the Father but is of the world.” (1 John 2:16).

    Look around you and you will see that the prevailing way of doing things in this world is ungodly. The policeman harasses innocent motorists to extort a bribe from them. The mechanic puts fake parts in a car. The pharmacist sells expired drugs. The armed-robber snatches cars. The civil servant demands a bribe. The lecturer demands sexual gratification from his students. Without a doubt, the world around us is under Satan’s power and control. (1 John 5:19).

    Therefore, know this for certain: if it is popular in the world, then it cannot be of God. It must be devilish. If Michael Jackson’s album “Thriller” was the highest-selling album of all time, it must be because the devil approved of it.

    If Bruce Wilkinson’s book, “The Prayer of Jabez,” was such a runaway best-seller, it must be because its underlying principles are fundamentally ungodly. If Mel Gibson’s film, “The Passion of the Christ”, was so popular, it must be because it excites the flesh and not the spirit. That is how we get the darlings of the world, such as Jerry Springer, Eminem, and J. K. Rowling.

  • Thieves and robbers – By Femi Aribisala

    Thieves and robbers – By Femi Aribisala

    The bus was going from Jerusalem to Jericho and highway robbers waylaid it. They got on the bus brandishing automatic weapons:  “This is a stick-up,” declared the leader of the gang in a menacing tone designed for maximum effect.  “Is there anybody here who has been paying his tithes?  If you have been paying your tithes raise your hands.”

    A few passengers raised their hands sheepishly.  He told those who did to move to one side.  Then he declared: “Those of you who have not been paying your tithes are thieves and robbers. You have been robbing God.  Therefore, we are going to rob you.”

    The robbers then proceeded to cart away the money and valuables of those passengers who had not been paying their tithes.

    You might not have heard this story before.  But, in all probability, you might have heard a similar version of it.  Different versions are common in the churches.  Those who tell it insist it really happened.  But every time you hear such stories know it is a lie.  It is surely no more than a figment of the deceitful imagination of pastors.

    You need to know that pastors specialise in preaching “another gospel” to con their church members into coming to church, staying in church, and giving them more and more money.  That is why, in the story above, they even go as far as to use a thief to preach their own gospel.  The intention is to frighten people into paying tithes by implying that if they do not, God will send armed robbers to rob them.  But you need to recognise that only a thief would employ a thief to teach the way of righteousness.

    Thieves and robbers

    Jesus warns believers to be wary of thieves and robbers.  He says:

    “I am the gate for the sheep.  All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.” (John 10:7-8).

    Who precisely are the thieves and robbers of whom Jesus speaks?  Is he talking about men who mug us in the streets?  Is he talking about highway robbers who snatch our cars?  Is he talking about those “yahoo thieves” who rob us blind with a keystroke of the computer on the internet?  Or is he talking about those who break into our houses in the dead of night?

    Listen and understand.  The thieves and robbers of primary concern to Jesus are the pastors of our churches. Jesus’ message is that pastors and other so-called “men of God” are thieves and robbers who “steal, kill, and destroy.” (John 10:10). He re-echoes a lament that first found expression in Jeremiah:

    “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” (Matthew 21:13).

    In many respects, what holds today is no different from the falsehood popularised in the days of Martin Luther, when priests maintained a man could purchase forgiveness of sins for a dead relative by giving money to the Catholic Church.

    The Dominican monk, Johann Tetzel, was one of the people sent out by the pope to preach this heresy. His message was straightforward: give money to the church and your sins will be forgiven. Like the pastors of today, he came up with a popular refrain:

    “As soon as a coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.”

    Robbers of God

    Today, the favourite scripture pastors use to fleece their flock is the one in Malachi about tithing.  In it, God asks:

    “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. ‘But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse – the whole nation of you – because you are robbing me.” (Malachi 3:8-9).

    What pastors hide from unsuspecting Christians is the fact that God was not admonishing believers in this scripture in Malachi; he was admonishing pastors.  The thieves said to be robbing God were the Levites; the pastors of biblical Israel.  As is commonplace today, those pastors were stealing the tithes and offerings of the people, and converting them to their personal use. (1 Samuel 2:28-35).

    All through Malachi, God is unambiguous about the objects of his angst:

    “It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name. But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’ You place defiled food on my altar.” (Malachi 1:6-7).

    The Levites were replacing the animals brought by the people for sacrifices with crippled and diseased animals. (Malachi 1:8).

    God continues:

    “This admonition is for you, O priests. If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honour my name, I will send a curse upon you.” (Malachi 2:1-2).

    Unlike Levi, their ancestral father, the priests were fraudsters:

    “The lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction- because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty. But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble.” (Malachi 2:7-8).

    Is this not what is still going on in the churches of today?

    The Levites were monopolizing the tithes and offerings; thereby denying the widows, the fatherless and the aliens the portions God expressly reserved for them. (Malachi 3:5).  Therefore, God charged the pastors:

    “Bring ALL the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.” (Malachi 3:10).

    God’s people are not the pastors and the priests as today’s clergy would have you believe, but the poor and the dispossessed.  Jesus says:

    “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sister of mine, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40).

    So it was the pastors who were robbing God and not members of their congregation.  But today’s deceitful pastors have led Christians to believe they are the thieves.  The actual thieves were pastors stealing the gifts the people brought to God, and not those who were not bringing any or enough gifts.

    The Law of Moses did not pronounce curses on those who did not tithe.  However, since these same thieving Levites were the ones required to atone for the sins of Israel, their greed and avarice were in danger of putting the whole nation under a curse.

    The Redemption

    Therefore, God promises to send Jesus; His “Messenger of the Covenant, to:” “purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.” (Malachi 3:3).

    In that process, God replaced the Levitical priesthood after the order of Aaron, with a completely new priesthood after the order of Melchisedec. (Hebrews 7:11-16).  This fulfilled His long-standing plan:

    “I will establish ONE Pastor over them, and He shall feed them- My servant David. He shall feed them and be their Pastor.” (Ezekiel 34:23-24).

    This one true pastor is none other than Jesus Christ.  With Him as High Priest:

    “The Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.” (Malachi 3:3-4).

    Thus when Jesus finally arrived, He declared:

    “All who ever came before Me were thieves and robbers. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the Good Pastor. The Good Pastor lays down His life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the pastor.” (John 10:8-12).

    Can you see it now?  The hired hand and the thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy is the pastor.  Jesus, on the other hand, is “the Good Pastor.”  Thenceforth, says Jesus:

    “There will be one flock and ONE PASTOR.” (John 10:16).

    That means all those still parading themselves as pastors today are impostors.

    With the end of the Levitical priesthood, there should be no pastors still pretending to be Levites; fraudulently collecting tithes.  Thereby, Jesus disqualifies the pastorate:

    “Do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.” (Matthew 23:8-10).

  • The scriptures and the power of God – By Femi Aribisala

    The scriptures and the power of God – By Femi Aribisala

    Imagine a situation where your life is telling a story, except that this story is not your story but someone else’s. You are just living your life but do not know your life is telling a story that someone else has decided to tell.

    How can that be?

    Remember this: “(God) is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.” (Ephesians 3:20).

    How does (God) synchronise our personal decisions and actions to the story He has decided to tell humanity in the scriptures?

    That is the power of God. Jesus told the Sadducees:

    “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.” (Matthew 22:29).

    Throughout the scriptures of the Old Testament, God used His power to ensure that actual events turned out to be parabolic representations of His plan of redemption. From Genesis to Malachi, God makes every life and incident a pre-figuration of Jesus Christ.

    Here is the kingdom dynamic. Jesus says:

    “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” (Mark 4:26-29).

    God paints in the Old Testament scriptures a portrait of Jesus.

    Portrait of Christ

    God paints in the Old Testament scriptures a portrait of Jesus. The people He uses to paint this portrait do not know their lives are painting such a portrait. But when you combine the bits and pieces of the different lives depicted from Genesis to Malachi, you end up with an outstanding picture of Jesus.

    We read so many disjointed prophecies about Jesus in the psalms and the prophets. And then suddenly, in the gospels, in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the person of whom the scriptures have spoken shows up.

    Paul says:

    “When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son.” (Galatians 4:4).

    And we are left in awe and wonder at the amazing power of God.

    Jesus says:

    “Search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.” (John 5:39).

    This is predicted in the psalms of David:

    “Then I said, “Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me.” (Psalms 40:7).

    In a period spanning 1500 years, all the people in the Old Testament, all the incidents, and all the ceremonial rites, all point to one person, Jesus Christ.

    When He rose from the dead, Jesus met two of His disciples on the road to Emmaus:

    “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.” (Luke 24:32).

    The scriptures, from Genesis to Malachi, all tell us something or the other about Jesus, but we do not know this until Jesus Himself arrives on the scene in the gospels and turns on the light as the light of the world.

    Then we realise that all the tedious laws and customs of the Israelites presented in the Old Testament have a singular spiritual significance: to present a composite picture of the birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus, designed to redeem mankind from sin, to the glory of God the Father.

    Word of God

    Jesus is the word of God written in the Old Testament. When He finally came in person, He told us:

    “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63).

    This means the ceremonies and sacrificial rituals Moses gave to Israel were not carnal ordinances. They were spiritual representations of the life and character of Jesus. It is quite possible that Moses himself did not know this. Certainly, the prophets wrote things by inspiration without fully knowing precisely what they were writing about.

    “Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.” (1 Peter 1:10-12).

    Past guinea pigs

    The things that happened in the Old Testament were written with us in mind. When the light was turned on in the New Testament, we discovered that:

    Rom 15:4

    4 Whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” (Romans 15:4).

    “These things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; 10 nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” (1 Corinthians 10:6-11).

    The writer of Hebrews notes that the tabernacle that God commissioned Moses to build served as:

    “The copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For (God) said, ‘See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.’” (Hebrews 8:5-6).

    In effect, the Law of Moses was:

    “A shadow of the good things to come.” (Hebrews 10:1).

    It therefore becomes incumbent upon us to ascertain, by the help of the Holy Spirit, the significance of the types and shadows presented in the Old Testament.

    John the Baptist said about Jesus:

    “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

    Jesus then was the lamb that Abraham told Isaac God would provide:

    “Then (Isaac) said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” And Abraham said, ‘My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.’” (Genesis 22:7-8).

    When God says in Hosea:

    “I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6).

    And when Jesus repeats this:

    “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.’” (Matthew 9:13).

    He was telling us that God does not require man to do what only God can do.

    “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. Therefore, when (Jesus) came into the world, He said: ‘Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin

    You had no pleasure.” (Hebrews 10:4-6).

    So, what was the point of all those sacrificial rituals of the Old Testament?

    Their futility was evident in that they had to be repeated again and again. But perfection came when Christ offered Himself “once for all” and sat down, having finished His work.

    “This Man, (Christ Jesus), after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:12-14).

  • The blessings of grace – By Femi Aribisala

    The blessings of grace – By Femi Aribisala

    “Always give people what they don’t deserve”.

    Grace is the highest expression of God’s love and blessings showered on us. It is God’s special favour reserved for a chosen few. God says: “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” (Exodus 33:19).

    So, “It is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” (Romans 9:16).

    Grace is when God gives us what we do not deserve. As someone who has received grace upon grace from God, the Lord gave me a directive: “Femi, never give people what they deserve. Always give people what they do not deserve.”

    The testimony of my life is about receiving grace upon grace from God. When I did not know God, He introduced Himself to me by saying: “Blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear.” (Matthew 13:16). He then showed me: “Great and mighty things, which (I did) not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3). He taught me to see Him with the eyes of my heart. (Ephesians 1:18).

    He opened my ears to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd. (John 10:27). He told me that God does not desire sacrifice and offering but an obedient heart that delights to do His will. (Psalm 40:6-8).

    I am grateful to God that I see what others do not see, and hear what others do not. God made me a promise: “(I will) make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8-9).

    I testify that in my life of faith in Christ, He has kept this promise repeatedly. Indeed, God’s grace has been more than sufficient for me. (2 Corinthians 12:9).

    “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’” (Zechariah 4:6-7).

    Who are you, indeed? Who are you, O great mountain,? Before Femi Aribisala, you will become a plain.

    You see, the grace of God does not just enable us to succeed in something. It also ensures that we: “Bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:7). It even gives us the strength to endure failure. It empowers us to face whatever situation we find ourselves in.

    How will we survive this disastrous “Emilokan” economy?

    The answer is by the grace of God.

    How will we afford the high cost of food and groceries?

    By the grace of God.

    How will we pay for the high cost of petrol?

    By the grace of God.

    How will we afford the high cost of transportation?

    By the grace of God.

    How can we pay the high cost of rent?

    By the grace of God.

    What about the skyrocketing cost of school fees?

    By the grace of God.

    The grace of God provides the answer to every challenge and prevails over every adversity.

    Here is grace. Paul says: “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:11-13).

    Blessed be the Lord our God.

    The grace of God enables us to endure persecution, adversities, difficulties, disappointments, bereavement, and every other situation and circumstance. God is a redeemer. He does not often deliver us from bad situations. In most cases, He gives us the grace to endure them.

    Paul wanted deliverance from a thorn in his flesh. But Jesus refused to deliver him. Instead, He told him: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

    Therefore, Paul changed his tune. He said: “Most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

    Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

    God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness. “By strength, no man shall prevail.” (1 Samuel 2:9). “Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger.” (Psalm 8:2).

    God does not fight Goliath with another Goliath. He fights Goliath with little David and prevails over him. Therefore, we are strong when we are weak. Joel says: “Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’” (Joel 3:10).

    Foundation stone

    God is the Alpha and the Omega of everything. (Revelation 1:8). He is the Uncaused cause of everything else. Therefore, He orchestrates everything that happens to us. Since that is the case, how can we pray for deliverance from anything since God is the cause of everything?

    What are we going to pray for? Jesus says when we pray, we should ask for God’s will to be done. (Matthew 6:10). That means believers are the people who pray for God’s will to be done. We must not pray to God against God’s will. We must pray that we should learn what God wants us to learn from whatever situation we are in. We should ask God for the grace to learn whatever He wants to teach us in any situation or circumstance.

    Groans for grace

    Shall we pray for deliverance? Shall we pray for strength? Shall we pray for endurance? There is no way of knowing. That is why we have the Holy Spirit. He is the One who guides our prayers along the path of life.

    “The Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Romans 8:26).

    Thank God for the Holy Spirit. Thank God for Jesus. He is our prayer partner: “He is at the right hand of God, making intercession for us.” (Romans 8:34).

    Jesus says: “If two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.” (Matthew 18:19).

    Join faith with Jesus. Agree with Him and it shall be done.

    Lessons from Gethsemane

    What did Jesus receive at Gethsemane? He did not receive deliverance from the cross. But He received the grace to endure the cross.

    “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

    Jesus received the grace of God.

    “He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.’ Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.” (Luke 22:41-43).

    Jesus received the strength to endure. He received the grace to prevail. He received the grace to succeed in the purpose that was purposed for Him. We also need that grace. The grace to prevail in the challenges of life.

  • No other father but God – By Femi Aribisala

    No other father but God – By Femi Aribisala

    “Jesus only promises eternal life to those prepared to forsake all natural relationships”.

    Paul maintains that Abraham is the father of believers.  He says:

    “(Abraham) received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe.” (Romans 4:11). 

    “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.” (Romans 4:16).

    However, Isaiah says: “But now, O Lord, you are our Father.” (Isaiah 64:8).  Jesus confirms Isaiah’s position by insisting that his followers have only one Father and only one family, which has nothing to do with Abraham.  He says:

    “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.” (Matthew 23:9).

    Children of God

    The Jews see their link to “father Abraham” as their guarantee of salvation.  However, rather than guarantee their salvation, their link to Abraham impeded it.  The salvation that Jesus preaches comes through God replacing all earthly fathers and becoming the Father of sons of men.

    Even in the Old Testament, God looked forward to the day  when He said:

    “You shall call me, ‘my Father.’” (Jeremiah 3:19). 

    Jesus declared that day on His resurrection when He appeared to Mary and said to her:

    “Go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’” (John 20:17).

    Accordingly, John says in the New Testament:

    “As many as received (Jesus), to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13).

    Children of God must relinquish their earthly fathers in preference for the heavenly Father.  However, the Jewish insistence on being the children of Abraham ensured that they could not become children of God.

    Everlasting Father

    God does not change.  He is the same: “yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8-9). But we did not know that God has been our dwelling place “in all generations;” “even from everlasting to everlasting.” (Psalm 90:1-2).  He has also been our Father from everlasting:

    “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called …. Everlasting Father.” (Isaiah 9:6).

    Isaiah knew by revelation that Abraham could not be the Father of Israel.  He says to God:

    “Doubtless you are our Father, though Abraham was ignorant of us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O Lord, are our Father; our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.” (Isaiah 63:16).

    Abraham and Israel (Jacob) were ignorant of their so-called children and could not acknowledge them because they died, and the children came after their lifespans. But we have an Everlasting Father. Jesus came to proclaim this Everlasting Father to us. 

    At the end of His ministry, he told God He had fulfilled this ordained purpose:

    “I have manifested Your Name to the men whom you have given me out of the world.” (John 17:6). 

    “I have declared to them Your Name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:26).

    What is this name of God that Jesus manifested to us and what is the significance of this name? 

    The name Jesus came to declare is “Father.”  He reveals to us that God is not distant, foreign, and fearsome, as we presume; but that he is our Father; close intimate, and loving.  Therefore, He says:

    “When you pray, say: our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” (Luke 11:2).

    What name of God are we now required to hallow? 

    We are required to hallow the name “Father.”  It must now be of exclusive application to God and God alone.  Jesus says:

    “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.” (Matthew 23:9).

    Therefore, do not call any man on earth by the Name of God.

    Joseph

    When Jesus was only twelve, He went with His parents to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.  But on coming back home, they discovered He had not returned with them.  After what must have been an agonising three-day search, they finally found him in the temple, engaged in discussion with the teachers of the law.  His mother said to Him:

    “Son, why have You done this to us?  Look, Your father and I have sought you anxiously.” (Luke 2:48).

    However, Jesus is unrepentant.  “He says to them,

    “Why did you seek Me? “Don’t you know I must be in My Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49). 

    The father Jesus is talking about here can certainly not be Joseph because the temple is not Joseph’s house but the house of God.  In effect, Jesus refuses to acknowledge Joseph as His father.  He has no other father but God. 

    David

    The Jews believed the Messiah would be the son of David.  However, Jesus, the Messiah, denies He is the son of David.  Instead, He maintains the Messiah could never be David’s son:

    “While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, ‘What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is He?’ They said to Him, ‘The son of David.’  He said to them, ‘How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool’’? ‘If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” (Matthew 22:41-45).

    But if the Messiah is not the son of David, then whose son is He?  He has no other father but God.

    Abraham

    Jesus also denies to the Jews that He is a son of Abraham.  He refers to Abraham with abstraction as “your” father:

    “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day.” (John 8:56). 

    Moreover, He insists He is older than Abraham and therefore, Abraham cannot be His father:

    “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” (John 8:58).

    Jesus made these denials as prefaces to one of His most radical and revolutionary claims of all.  He declared that God was His Father, making Him the Son of God:

    “I and My Father are one.” (John 10:30).

    No man had ever made such a claim before and the Jews were extremely outraged by it:

    “The Jews sought all the more to kill (Jesus), because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.” (John 5:18).

    Price of eternal life

    The eternal life that Jesus gives comes with conditions.  One major condition is that its recipient must forsake his father, among others.  Jesus says:

    “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, He cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26). 

    Jesus only promises eternal life to those prepared to forsake all natural relationships:

    “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.” (Matthew 19:29).

    By implication, anyone who is not prepared to fulfil this condition will not inherit eternal life.  The heir of salvation must have no other father but God.

  • Idol worship (2) – By Femi Aribisala

    Idol worship (2) – By Femi Aribisala

    “If God is with us, why do we fear?”

    Sometimes we pray to fulfil all righteousness.  And after we have prayed, we come back to our senses and have panic attacks.

    A lady’s son was going back to the United States from Nigeria.  He had an American passport and a Nigerian passport simultaneously.  He came in with his Nigerian passport, which meant that he did not get a Nigerian visa.  But if he tries to leave with his Nigerian passport, they would require him to show a visa for his destination, the United States. 

    That meant he would have to show his American passport.  But dual nationality had been suspended in Nigeria.  If he showed his American passport, they would ask him how he got into the country without a Nigerian visa.

    It was a “Catch 22” situation.  So, she took the matter to God and asked for help.  Then she went to the airport with her son.  But on getting there she had a panic attack.  She started looking for other gods to help her.  Perhaps there is somebody that she knows?  Perhaps if she talks nicely to the immigration official?  Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. 

    But what does the word of God says?

    “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7).

    But this lady was anxious about everything, and she had no peace.  Finally, the Holy Spirit spoke: “Did you not ask Me for help?  So why are you still anxious?” 

    Suddenly, she stood there in the airport terminal apologising to the Holy Spirit.  She had scarcely finished praying her apologies when someone called her name.  “Professor Ogwu is that you?” 

    She looked up to see this distinguished military officer standing in front of her and smiling at her. 

    “What are you doing here?” he asked. 

    “My son is travelling to the United States.” 

    “Where is he?” the man asked taking charge. 

    He took charge so completely that he ushered him past immigration and literally on to the plane.  Problem solved.

    When Joy told her husband what had happened, he was unimpressed.  “It was just a coincidence,” he insisted. 

    Coincidence my foot!  God is not a coincidental God.

    Babalawo option

    At other times, we are so worried we cannot even pray. 

    “Pastor, I have been so worried, I have not been able to pray.”

    It could be because you don’t believe in prayer anyway.  Maybe you only pray to fulfil all righteousness.  Otherwise, I fail to understand why a man would refuse to pray when he is in trouble.  It is like falling off a cliff and hanging by a shrub and refusing to cry out for help.  Maybe you are convinced that no help would come in any case.

    If there ever were a time to pray, it is in time of trouble. God says:

    “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” (Psalms 50:15).

    My brother had left the country unannounced.  For years we did not know where he was.  But one day my Aunty who is a Christian came with a wonderful suggestion. 

    “I am not saying that God is not powerful,” she said, starting on an apologetic and defensive note.  “But what I am saying is that sometimes we need to mix things with our own native and local abracadabra.” 

    Her suggestion was that we should go to the “babalawo” (the voodoo man or fortune teller), who would be sure to tell us exactly where Bayo was.  Her logic was impeccable: God sometimes needs local help.

    But the message of the bible is without ambiguity:

    “Why are you trying to find out the future by consulting witches and mediums? Don’t listen to their whisperings and mutterings. Can the living find out the future from the dead? Why not ask your God?” (Isaiah 8:19).

    A god who needs help is not God.  A god who needs help does not deserve our worship.  When man decides to help God, he ends up with Ishmael and not with Isaac.  When man decides to help God, he arrogates himself as God and sometimes ends up dead, like Uzzah, who tried to help the ark from falling down.  When a man decides to help God he is likely to end up with a lorry-load of problems. 

    That is how people get children from the god of the river and start eating the bread of sorrows.  That is how people make deals with the devil, get rich quick and within a short time the god of mammon receives them into his everlasting habitations.

    Man-made gods

    The bible says “casting down imaginations.”  God is not a God of our imagination.  We do not serve an imaginary God.  We serve a God who is real and who is true.  We should not presume anything about him. 

    We cannot know God by reason or thinking. His ways are not our ways; his thoughts are not our thoughts.  We can only get to know God through the bible.  The word of God says: “I am the way the truth and the life, no one can get to the Father except by me.”

    “You shall have no other gods before me.” 

    But I thought there was only one God, so how can I have another god when there is only one? 

    Men are very creative.  We are specialists God-creators.  We prefer to worship a God who is created in our own image and likeness.  We prefer a God of our own imagination.  We don’t have time to get to know the one true God.  In any case, the one true God is a “hard man.”  He is not the God we want.

    “Why don’t you like Me,” asks God?  “What did I do to drive you away?  What iniquity did you find in Me that turned you against Me?” (Jeremiah 2:5).

    It wasn’t that we found iniquity in Him, but that He would not allow us to do the things that we want to do.  We needed to get away from Him, so that we could live our own lives by our own rules.  We needed to get away from Him so that we, and not He, could be the god of our lives.

    When God finally showed up in the person of Jesus Christ, we did not like Him.  He came unto His own, His own received Him not.

    All our lives, we have dealt with men and they have disappointed us.  We have dealt with men, and they have lied to our face.  We have dealt with men, and they have betrayed us.  We have dealt with men, and they have deceived us.

    Many have even used God to deceive us.  Many use the name of God to defraud us.  Many swear by God and then stab us in the back.  So, when it comes to dealing directly with God, we become hostages of our past.  But we need to remember one thing.  God is not a man even though He became man.

    “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. DoesHhe speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfil?  (Numbers 23:19).

    Let God be true even if all men were liars.  Jesus can never fail us; He can never disappoint us.

    Spirit of fear

    Worries.  Anxieties.  Problems.  If God is with us, why do we fear?  Why are we lonely?  Why are we sad?  Why are we anxious?  Why are we troubled?  If Jesus is in the boat, why should we be afraid of perishing? 

    The answer is simple.  We fear because we don’t know Him.  We fear because we don’t really believe in Him.  But eternal life is in the knowledge of God.  Without trust we cannot please God.

    Is God not enough?  God says don’t worry and we are still worried.  Is there any other reassurance that we need?  If God cannot reassure us and we keep our peace, then tell me who can?

    Dear God, I thought everything would be smooth sailing because I have You.  But things were getting worse and worse.  “God, you deceived me,” cried Jeremiah.  “You said You would defend me, so why am I here in this dungeon?” 

    John the Baptist experiences a similar crisis of faith.  “Are You really the Messiah,” he asked Jesus.  Or should we look for another?”  If you are really the Messiah, why should I end up in prison for doing Your work?

    “My case was different,” said one of my parishioners.  “I was a faithful servant.  I really waited for God.  But He kept me waiting forever.  I simply had to do something before it was too late.” 

    I could not but sympathise with the fellow.  The problem with God is that He always takes too long.  Where was He all this time?  Where was He when all those problems were piling up?  “I had told God I could only wait for Him until eleven o’clock.  After eleven o’clock, I had no choice but to look for other options.”

    We have other options because we have other gods.  We have gods as insurance policies.  We have gods as fallback positions.  Just in case God fails to act let me not be entirely godless.  But God is never late with people who truly put their trust in him.  And he that believes never makes haste. (Isaiah 28:16).

  • Paying the price (2) – By Femi Aribasala

    Paying the price (2) – By Femi Aribasala

    For how long are you going to look for people to lay hands on you?  For how long are you going to look for people to pray for you?  Grow up.

    The salvation of the soul is perfected:

    “In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.” (2 Corinthians 11:27).

    Jesus paid the price.  Even though he was God, nevertheless he paid the price.

    Fight the good fight of faith

    “Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.”

    (Hebrews 5:8)

    Heaven helps those who help themselves.  That statement is in the spirit of the scripture:

    “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13).

    The salvation of the soul will not take place without an effort on our part.  Health and life will not take place without our own exertion.  Jesus said my father is always working.  If God works, then you must work.  A servant is not greater than his master.  Work out what he worked in.  Don’t despise the grace of God.  God has given you the whole ability, do something useful with it.

    “The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.” (Psalm 78:9).

    God armed them, they carried bows, and nevertheless they refused to fight for their own deliverance.

    The pastor laid his hands on you, and the anointing fell.  My brother, it is only sufficient enough unto the day.  What will happen tomorrow?  Lay your hand on yourself.  Prophesy on your own head.  Don’t wait for any pastor.  The spirit of God is poured forth.

    Jesus said to a paralytic:

    “‘Rise, take up your bed and walk.’ And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath.” (John 5:8-9).

    So Daddy, why did you not simply leave it at rise up and walk?

    No! Jesus included the injunction to take up the bed.  There were three things that this man had to do.  Even though the Lord had wrought a healing in him, the perfection of his healing was conditional upon his fulfilment of those three requirements.  He had to rise, he had to take up his bed, and he had to walk.  If he merely rose up and walked, his obedience would not be complete and his healing would not be perfected

    God is not a respecter of persons. (Acts 10:34). The so-called men of God are men of God because they paid the price.  They consecrated themselves and were focussed on the Lord.  There is no shortcut.  There are no five easy steps to the anointing that breaks every yoke.

    Martha thought she was the one putting in all the effort because she was in the kitchen cooking, while her younger sister was sitting in the living room listening to Jesus. Little did Martha know that it is more difficult to listen to Jesus than it is to cook in the kitchen.

    “She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:39-42).

    “Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.” (John 12:1-3).

    Observe that Mary was always inclined to pay the price, no matter how high.  Martha, on the other hand, refused to learn, but was still specialising in serving.

    Did you learn to speak in tongues?  No, you simply believed.  Yet listen, miracles are worked.  They are worked through fastings, and watchings, and praying, and fighting the good fight.

    “Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast him out?”  So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.  However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew 17:19-21).

    “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues.” (Mark 16:17).

    Signs follow believers, but believers work out their beliefs.

    “But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” (James 2:18).

    You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. (Jam 2:24)

    Therefore, Paul wrote to Timothy:

    “I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” (2 Timothy 1:6).

    Who is going to stir it up?  You are.  God is not going to do it.  You are going to have to do it yourself.  Therefore be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

    “This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare. (1 Timothy 1:18).

    “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” (1 Timothy 6:12).

    “Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.” (2 Timothy 1:13-14).

    Hold it fast so they don’t steal it.  Keep it by the power of the Holy Spirit.

    “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 1:3).