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Tag: Femi Aribisala

  • The Kingdom that is already here but is yet to come (2) – By Femi Aribisala

    The Kingdom that is already here but is yet to come (2) – By Femi Aribisala

    “The time is coming and has now come”.

    Kingdom dynamics

    Everything happens before it happens. Everything that is happening has already happened. Solomon says:

    “That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10).

    According to this principle, the same Jesus that was crucified in Jerusalem is: “The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Revelation 13:8).

    The Bible also says the works of Jesus were finished before the creation of the world. “The works were finished from the foundation of the world.” (Hebrews 4:3). But it was on the cross of Calvary that Jesus said: “It is finished.” (John 19:30).

    Jesus is God: He does not change. He is: “The same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8). Therefore, He was King, He is King, and He will be King.

    Jesus was King even at His birth: “Wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?” (Matthew 2:1-2).

    When He entered Jerusalem triumphantly on a donkey, Matthew proclaimed the fulfilment of one of the Messianic prophecies:

    “All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: ‘Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.’” (Matthew 21:4-5).

    Nevertheless, Jesus is the King that is yet to come. He is the soon-coming King who says: “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” (Revelation 22:12-13).

    So, Jesus is the King that is soon to be King. He is the King of the kingdom that is already here but is soon to come.

    Conflating the present with the future

    Jesus presents this kingdom dynamic again and again. He says to the Samaritan woman:

    “The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.  God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24).

    The hour is coming and now is. The hour is coming when people will neither worship God on Mount Gerizim nor in Jerusalem. The time is coming when people will neither worship God in Healing Wings Chapel nor Fountain of Life Church. The time is coming when people will only worship God in spirit and truth. That time is coming and it is already here for those who have received the Holy Spirit.

    Resurrection of the dead

    Jesus says: “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.” (John 5:24-25).

    The time is coming and has now come. The time is coming when Jesus will call the dead in their graves back to life. But Jesus also demonstrates that the time has already come by raising Lazarus back from the dead:

     “He cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth!’ And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Loose him, and let him go.’” (John 11:43-44).

    The time is coming when the dead in sin like Femi Aribisala will hear the voice of Jesus on Airport Road in Lagos and come back to life. This is what happened to me in 1993.

    Some will hear Jesus’ voice by a quickening in their spirit. Some will hear His voice from reading the scriptures. Some will hear His voice by being prayed over by a child of God. All who hear His voice will receive newness of life. All who hear His voice will pass from death to life.

    And then the time is coming when I will be reunited with my dead old man, T.S.B. Aribisala. I will be reunited with my dead mother, Ronke Aribisala. I will be reunited with my brother Kola Aribisala who died of sickle cell anaemia. I will be reunited with my sister, Yemisi Aribisala, who died prematurely at the age of eighteen. We will be reunited with our dearly departed ones.

    Then we will fully realise Jesus’ assertion that: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4).

    For God will wipe away every tear from our eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things will have passed away. (Revelation 21:4).

    Infallible proofs

    Jesus provided infallible proof of the existence of the kingdom of God. He cast out demons, demonstrating the overthrow of the kingdom of Satan. He raised the dead, signalling the triumph of life over death. He healed the sick, announcing the end of human suffering. He multiplied loaves of bread, pointing to the satisfaction of all physical needs. He stilled the storm, heralding the emergence of peace on earth. And He forgave sins, proclaiming the dawning of righteousness.

    He said to His Jewish adversaries who adamantly refused his miracles were done by the power of Satan: “If I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.” (Luke 11:19-20).

    He then sent out His disciples as ambassadors of the kingdom of God. He told them:

    “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10:5-8).  

    “Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” (Luke 10:8-9).

    When we preach about the kingdom of God, God validates our preaching with signs and wonders.

    Application to believers

    This is how this kingdom dynamic applies to believers who are citizens of the kingdom that is already here but has not yet come. The writer of Hebrews quotes the psalmist:  

    “‘What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honour and put everything under his feet.’ In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet, at present, we do not see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honour because He suffered death so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.” (Hebrews 2:6-9).

    Even though believers may not yet see everything subject to us now, we must know that everything has already been subject to us. We must walk by faith in the consciousness of the fact that what will be has already happened.

    The future has merged into the present to proclaim a done deal. Therefore, Paul writes in the past tense what is yet to happen in the future:

    “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30).

    Accordingly, even now, whatever our situation or circumstance, we must be joyful and thankful that:

    “God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3-5).

    John also acknowledges the merging of our future with our present in the following manner:

    “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” (1 John 3:2-3).

    Even though it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, nevertheless, we are children of God NOW.

    The time is coming when all our prayers will be answered. Then we will realise that no prayer is ignored. The time is now to recognise that God answers all our prayers.

    The time is coming and now is when we will realise that every word of God in the scriptures is true:

    “The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” (Psalm 12:6).

  • The Kingdom that is already here but is yet to come (1) – By Femi Aribisala

    The Kingdom that is already here but is yet to come (1) – By Femi Aribisala

    “The time is coming, but now is”.

    Jesus says to Nicodemus: “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3). “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5).

    This means some things can only be discerned by those who are flesh and blood but not in the flesh but in the spirit. Some things are only perceptible to those who are here on earth but at the same time are sited in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:6).

    Everything about the kingdom of God is counterintuitive. Because it is currently a spiritual kingdom, it can only be seen by those able to see the invisible things of God. (Romans 1:20). Those things can only be seen by those who are blind but can see. But those who are not blind but can see are blind to them.

    Jesus says to a Jewish man: “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.”(John 9:39).

    Eye-openers

    God says: “Who is blind but My servant? Who is blind as he who is perfect, and blind as the Lord’s servant? Seeing many things, but you do not observe.” (Isaiah 42:19-20).

    Therefore, He reveals to those born again a kingdom that is yet to come but nevertheless is already here. That is why faith in God is: “The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1).

    But how can something intangible be substance? How can something we cannot see be evidentiary? The answer is simpler than it seems. Jesus says: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4).

    A man who lives by bread alone lives an incomplete and unfulfilling life. A man who lives only on his salary is a candidate for hardship. A believer is not rich in money but in the glory of God. (Phil 4:19). He must live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

    This is because God Himself is the life of the believer. (Colossians 3:4). “In Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28). Moreover, “God calls those things which do not exist as though they did.” (Romans 4:17).

    Once He calls them into existence, they exist, whether physically manifest or not. Once He calls them into existence, we can live by them, whether we have them physically or not.

    If God tells the barren she has a child, she must receive the child, whether she is pregnant or not. She must then live in the consciousness of that child, even before she is pregnant. God says His word never return to Him void: “But it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11).

    Believing to see

    In the world, we say, “Seeing is believing.” In the kingdom, we believe to see. David says: “I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” (Psalm 27:13).

    Jesus says to Martha at the graveside of Lazarus: “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” (John 11:40).

    He said to Thomas who did not believe He had risen from the dead: “Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29).

    Accordingly, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7). We must receive things spiritually even before receiving them physically. Therefore, Jesus says: “Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” (Mark 11:24).

    Promised kingdom

    God promised Israel a kingdom that will never pass away. Nathan said to David, king of Israel: “Your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” (2 Samuel 7:16).

    Daniel also confirmed this: “The God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” (Daniel 2:44).

    This kingdom has yet to be established. And yet, it is already here.

    However, the Jews expected this promised kingdom to be established physically. But God brought it to them spiritually.

    Jesus told the Pharisees when they asked Him when the kingdom would come: “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.” (Luke 17:20-21).

    The kingdom of God was already among them, but they could not see it. The kingdom was already among them because Jesus was with them. Jesus is the King of the kingdom of God. But He has not yet been installed as King in this world. Therefore, He told His disciples to pray that the kingdom of God should come on earth and that God’s purpose should be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:9-10).

    We are still using this prayer guideline today, asking for the kingdom to come, because the kingdom has yet to be physically established. It will only be physically established in Jerusalem at the Second Coming of Christ.

    World of evil

    Currently, it is the will of the devil that is done on earth. Or so it appears.

    Daniel says: “The Most High rules in the kingdom of men.” (Daniel 4:17). But John observes that: “The whole world is under the control of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19). Indeed, Jesus calls the devil: “The ruler of this world.” (John 12:31). He told Pilate: “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36).

    Therefore, Jesus is still referred to as a Prince because He has yet to be crowned as King. He is: “The Prince of princes,” (Daniel 8:25); “Messiah the Prince,” (Daniel 9:25); and “The Prince of Peace,” Isaiah 9:6).

    But when John sees Jesus by revelation, He is a King: “He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Revelation 19:16).

    Is Jesus a King now or will He be a King?

    Jesus is already a King, but He is yet to be a King. When He is installed as King: “Every knee (will) bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and every tongue (will) confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil 2:10-11).

    But that Has yet to happen.

    Declaring the kingdom

    The Bible records that: “Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.’” (Mark 1:14-15).

    He was asking Israel to believe what the Jews could not see. The kingdom was at hand but not yet. The King was in their midst, but Israel did not recognise or acknowledge Him. He did not come in the pomp and splendour that they anticipated. He was not a conquering war hero, but a peace-loving and humble servant who laid down His life for the sins of mankind:

    That was the openly hidden promise of the scriptures: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, everyone, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:5-6).

    Jesus rebuked even His disciples for rejecting what was written in the Old Testament: “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!” (Luke 24:25).  

    They did not believe Zechariah, who said: “Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey— riding on a donkey’s colt.” (Zechariah 9:9).

    When Jesus rode a donkey triumphantly into Jerusalem, they did not get the message. Instead of crowning Him, they killed Him.

     

    TO BE CONTINUED.

  • The God who kills before He makes alive – By Femi Aribisala

    The God who kills before He makes alive – By Femi Aribisala

    “Jesus is in the business of saving a man from his own life”.

    Jesus met a man who had been sick for 38 years and asked him a strange question:

    “Do you want to be healed?” (John 5:6).

    “What kind of question is that?” I asked the Lord. “How can You ask a man who has been sick for that long if he would like to be healed?”

    The Lord replied: “Femi, I asked him that because sickness was his life.”

    I was a bit slow on the uptake.

    “What does that mean?”

    The Lord said emphatically: “I said sickness was his life. He had known nothing but sickness. To save him, I had to deliver him from the only life he knew, which was a life of sickness. He did not know what it means to be well.”

    “But how can You save a man from life? I thought men were saved from death.”

    “No Femi, the Lord replied again. “I save from life. That is why I kill before I make alive. I kill the lives of men to give them the life of God.”

    Dying to live

    This makes true Christianity a death sentence. The psalmist laments to God:

    “We face death all day for you. We are like sheep on their way to be slaughtered.” (Psalm 44:22).

    A believer dies to live. Paul says:

    “We had the sentence of death in ourselves, so that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that he will still deliver us.” (2 Corinthians 1:9-10).

    The “great death” we are delivered from is this life. We are delivered from a life of death to eternal life. We are delivered from counterfeit life into original life. We are delivered from the life of the body to the life of the Spirit. We are delivered from the life of men to the life of God.

    Therein lies our dilemma. Jesus’ prescription of death is unpalatable. We do not want to give up the vainglories of this life. We try, pretend but finally give up. We fail to realise that the devil is the author of the life we want to continue living in this world.

    In effect, Jesus our Saviour becomes Jesus our adversary. We are determined to save our life from Jesus, who is equally determined that we must relinquish it.

    Salvation from life

    Therefore, Jesus warns:

    “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:25-26).

    Jesus is in the business of saving men from themselves. He is in the business of saving a man from his own life. The reason is simple: we are our own worst enemies. My enemy is in me.

    Therefore, many sick people desire sickness. The alcoholic desires alcohol. The drug addict desires cocaine. The lung cancer patient desires cigarettes.

    When a man must be saved from his own life there is inevitably a problem. He is confronted with death. Salvation from life requires death. Therefore, the Lord kills before he makes alive.

    But are we prepared to face death? Is self-preservation not a basic human instinct? It might be human, but it is not divine. Jesus laid down his life, leaving us an example to follow.

    Ministry of death

    Death is a minister of the gospel. The gospel was preached in the Old Testament, but the people did not understand it because they had a veil over their hearts. The ministration of death was written and engraved in stones at the hand of Moses. But nothing can give a man a whole new perspective on life than to come face to face with death.

    Armed robbers attacked me on Airport Road in Lagos. A man pointed a gun at me and my whole life flashed before my eyes. It never occurred to me that my life was supposed to end like that. What about all my plans? What about all my hopes?

    Solomon warns:

    “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” (Proverbs 19:21).

    Then Jesus appeared to me, right there and then in the middle of the attack. “Trust me,” He said to me. “Believe in me,” He cajoled.

    Just then, I looked up to see an armed robber approach. He pointed a gun at me, and he fired. The bullet hit me, and I fell and “died.” It ripped into my flesh, and I “died”. It is necessary to put it in graphic terms. I “bled to death” right there on that dreadful road.

    There is nothing like death to make a man realise his need of a saviour. What does a dead man need? He needs a redeemer. What does a dead man need? He desperately needs a resurrection. A dead man needs Jesus.

    Accordingly, Paul cried out:

    “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 7:24-25).

    Jesus came to save me from death. But this death was the very life of me. Therefore, Jesus “took my life.”

    He made me work for Him in His fishing industry. But I am not a fisherman, and I am not interested in fishing. As a matter of fact, I am contemptuous of fishermen. They are poorly paid and are of low social status. I did not go to university to become a fisherman. By ending up as a mere fisherman it meant my life has been one big waste of time.

    Spiritual life

    Job lamented that man born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. (Job 14:1). What was Job’s problem?

    He was born of a woman but not born again. He was born of a woman but not of the Spirit. He was born of a woman but not of God. Therefore, his life was full of insoluble trouble. Job had great possessions. However, he did not have the peace that passes all understanding. (Philippians 4:7).

    It is incredible how many things can kill a man who is born of a woman. Ordinary mosquitoes can kill him. Armed robbers can kill him. He can be killed in car accidents and in plane crashes. He can fall sick and die. The spirit of fear forever torments him day and night. He is anxious about practically everything.

    But what about those who are born of the Spirit? They are impregnable. Since they have died only to be born again, they can no longer be killed. Armed robbers cannot kill them. They are immune to sicknesses and diseases. Though they walk through the valley of the shadow of death, they fear no evil. (Psalm 23:4).

  • The God Who is not a Christian – By Femi Aribisala

    The God Who is not a Christian – By Femi Aribisala

    “If Jesus had come today instead of 2,000 years ago, pastors would have killed him”.

    A man travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho was attacked by armed robbers, stripped of his belongings, and left lying half-dead on the road. Divine providence ensured that first a priest, and then a Levite, passed by. But instead of helping the dying man; both quickly moved to the other side of the road and went away.

    Finally, a Samaritan came along. Unlike the priest and the Levite, he had compassion on the hapless man, bound up his wounds, took him to the hospital, and paid for his medical expenses.

    Good Samaritan

    Jesus’ story of this Good Samaritan is deliberate. It is incredible how, as Christians, we fail to recognise its full implications. The first mistake we make is in the identity of the Good Samaritan. When we situate the story in the contemporary setting, (as we should with all scripture), we assume that the Good Samaritan must be a Christian.

    However, Jesus deliberately excludes that possibility by providing two characters clearly representative of believers in any age. Today, the priest is easily identifiable as a pastor, while the Levite is a Christian worker.

    Who then is the Good Samaritan? Let me repeat this for emphasis: the Good Samaritan cannot be a Christian. The Christian is already adequately represented by the priest and the Levite. The Good Samaritan can only be Jesus Himself.

    Jesus’ story eloquently sets forth the goodness and kindness of Christ our Saviour towards sinful, miserable, and defenceless humanity. The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Christ comes to give life and to give it abundantly. (John 10:10).

    But if Jesus is the Good Samaritan, then Jesus is not a Jew; for Samaritans were not accepted as Jews. As Paul points out:

    “He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.” (Romans 2:28-29).

    If Jesus is the Good Samaritan, then Jesus is a Samaritan. If Jesus is not a Jew but a Samaritan, then Jesus cannot be a Christian, for it is the Jew that represents the Christian of today in the Scriptures.

    Jesus’ killers

    By the time some Jews observed Jesus, they concluded that He was not a Jew. In the first place, He refused to be regarded as a disciple of Moses but claimed instead to have come to fulfil the law. (Matthew 5:17). He did not obey the letter of Jewish laws but claimed to comply with its spirit.

    He insisted pharisaic religious tradition was old wine which could not be put into the new bottles He provided for the new wine of the New Testament. (Matthew 9:17). He prefaced a lot of His sermons with the statement: “You have heard that it was said to those of old… but I say.” (Matthew 5:27-28).

    Therefore, some Jews insisted Jesus was not Jewish. As a matter of fact, their position was that He was a closet Samaritan:

    “Then the Jews answered and said to him, “Do we not say rightly that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honour My Father, and you dishonour Me.” (John 8:48-49).

    Note that Jesus did not contest the charge that He was a Samaritan. But He took great exception to the allegation that He had a demon.

    But if Jesus identified with the Samaritans and not with the Jews, then it becomes clear he would not identify with most of the Christians of today. In fact, let me be so bold as to say that if Jesus were in the flesh today, He would not be a Christian.

    If Jesus had come today instead of 2,000 years ago, pastors and bishops would also have killed him. Like He did to their forefathers, Jesus would also have exposed the ungodliness of today’s Christian establishments to public ridicule.

    Religious irrelevancies

    So, if Jesus would not have been a Christian, what would He have been? He would have simply been Jesus without any specific religious affiliation. Today, Jesus has been replaced by theology, but the real Jesus was not religious. Jesus established no religious institution when He was on earth.

    Indeed, if Jesus were to show up physically on earth today, most Christians would not recognise Him the same way the Jews did not. If He came as a woman, we would not recognise Him. If He smoked cigarettes, we would not recognise Him. If He drank whisky, we would not recognise Him. If He wore earrings and a nose ring, we would not recognise Him. If He spoke Pidgin English, we would not recognise Him. Since He did not wear trousers, we would be contemptuous of Him. We would disqualify Him by religious irrelevancies instead of identifying Him by His fruits. (Matthew 7:20).

    When Jesus asked the lawyer to identify the neighbour of the man who fell among thieves, the man wisely did not say it was the Samaritan. If he had said that, he would have been wrong. Instead, he correctly defined him by his fruit. He said: “He who showed mercy on him.”

    He who showed mercy on him could be anybody, Christian or non-Christian, so long as he believed in Jesus and produced the fruits of Jesus’ righteousness.

    Merciless Christians

    What then does the story of the Good Samaritan mean if, indeed, the priest and the Levite represent today’s Christians? It means that, prophetically, it is the Christians of today who have no mercy. We despise unbelievers, certain they are going to hell. We speak disparagingly of them. We condemn sinners on the grounds they are ungodly.

    We stone them because they are caught in adultery. We fail to appreciate that they are hapless travellers on the road of life who have been attacked by spiritual armed robbers and left for dead. We conveniently forget that we used to be in the same predicament until we were rescued by the grace of God.

    Therefore, “God is not a Christian,” declared Reverend Desmond Tutu. “We are supposed to proclaim the God of love, but we have been guilty as Christians of sowing hatred and suspicion; we commend the one whom we call the Prince of Peace, and yet as Christians, we have fought more wars than we care to remember. We have claimed to be a fellowship of compassion and caring and sharing, but as Christians, we often sanctify socio-political systems that belie this, where the rich grow ever richer and the poor grow ever poorer.”

    One thing is certain. Both the offending priest and the Levite must have had “compelling” reasons for not attending to the man dying on the roadside. They probably could not stop because they were in a hurry to attend a Bible study. The priest decided that the best thing to do was to pray for the man when he got to church. The Levite was hurrying to get to a meeting of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria and could not afford to be late.

    Jesus’ parable “kills” the self-righteous believer who thinks he is justified by calling himself a Christian and by going regularly to church. He alerts us to the danger of assuming we are heaven-bound because of our observance of certain religious rites. True Christianity is not legalistic. The love of our neighbour is the emblem of our being Christ’s disciples.

    “Dear friends, let us practice loving each other, for love comes from God and those who are loving and kind show that they are the children of God.” (1 John 4:7).

  • The God who is not a Christian – By Femi Aribisala

    The God who is not a Christian – By Femi Aribisala

    A man travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho was attacked by armed robbers, stripped of his belongings, and left lying half-dead on the road. Divine providence ensured that first a priest, and then a Levite, passed by. But instead of helping the dying man; both quickly moved to the other side of the road and went away.

    Finally, a Samaritan came along. Unlike the priest and the Levite, he had compassion on the hapless man, bound up his wounds, took him to the hospital, and paid for his medical expenses.

       If Jesus had come today instead of 2,000 years ago, pastors would have killed him.

    Good Samaritan

    Jesus’ story of this Good Samaritan is deliberate. It is incredible how, as Christians, we fail to recognise its full implications. The first mistake we make is in the identity of the Good Samaritan. When we situate the story in the contemporary setting, (as we should with all scripture), we assume that the Good Samaritan must be a Christian.

    However, Jesus deliberately excludes that possibility by providing two characters clearly representative of believers in any age. Today, the priest is easily identifiable as a pastor, while the Levite is a Christian worker.

    Who then is the Good Samaritan? Let me repeat this for emphasis: the Good Samaritan cannot be a Christian. The Christian is already adequately represented by the priest and the Levite. The Good Samaritan can only be Jesus Himself.

    Jesus’ story eloquently sets forth the goodness and kindness of Christ our Saviour towards sinful, miserable, and defenceless humanity. The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Christ comes to give life and to give it abundantly. (John 10:10).

    But if Jesus is the Good Samaritan, then Jesus is not a Jew; for Samaritans were not accepted as Jews. As Paul points out:

    “He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.” (Romans 2:28-29).

    If Jesus is the Good Samaritan, then Jesus is a Samaritan. If Jesus is not a Jew but a Samaritan, then Jesus cannot be a Christian, for it is the Jew that represents the Christian of today in the Scriptures.

    Jesus’ killers

    By the time some Jews observed Jesus, they concluded that He was not a Jew. In the first place, He refused to be regarded as a disciple of Moses but claimed instead to have come to fulfil the law. (Matthew 5:17). He did not obey the letter of Jewish laws but claimed to comply with its spirit.

    He insisted pharisaic religious tradition was old wine which could not be put into the new bottles He provided for the new wine of the New Testament. (Matthew 9:17). He prefaced a lot of His sermons with the statement: “You have heard that it was said to those of old… but I say.” (Matthew 5:27-28).

    Therefore, some Jews insisted Jesus was not Jewish. As a matter of fact, their position was that He was a closet Samaritan:

    “Then the Jews answered and said to him, “Do we not say rightly that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honour My Father, and you dishonour Me.” (John 8:48-49).

    Note that Jesus did not contest the charge that He was a Samaritan. But He took great exception to the allegation that He had a demon.

    But if Jesus identified with the Samaritans and not with the Jews, then it becomes clear he would not identify with most of the Christians of today. In fact, let me be so bold as to say that if Jesus were in the flesh today, He would not be a Christian.

    If Jesus had come today instead of 2,000 years ago, pastors and bishops would also have killed him. Like He did to their forefathers, Jesus would also have exposed the ungodliness of today’s Christian establishments to public ridicule.

    Religious irrelevancies

    So, if Jesus would not have been a Christian, what would He have been? He would have simply been Jesus without any specific religious affiliation. Today, Jesus has been replaced by theology, but the real Jesus was not religious. Jesus established no religious institution when He was on earth.

    Indeed, if Jesus were to show up physically on earth today, most Christians would not recognise Him the same way the Jews did not. If He came as a woman, we would not recognise Him. If He smoked cigarettes, we would not recognise Him. If He drank whisky, we would not recognise Him. If He wore earrings and a nose ring, we would not recognise Him. If He spoke Pidgin English, we would not recognise Him. Since He did not wear trousers, we would be contemptuous of Him. We would disqualify Him by religious irrelevancies instead of identifying Him by His fruits. (Matthew 7:20).

    When Jesus asked the lawyer to identify the neighbour of the man who fell among thieves, the man wisely did not say it was the Samaritan. If he had said that, he would have been wrong. Instead, he correctly defined him by his fruit. He said: “He who showed mercy on him.”

    He who showed mercy on him could be anybody, Christian or non-Christian, so long as he believed in Jesus and produced the fruits of Jesus’ righteousness.

    Merciless Christians

    What then does the story of the Good Samaritan mean if, indeed, the priest and the Levite represent today’s Christians? It means that, prophetically, it is the Christians of today who have no mercy. We despise unbelievers, certain they are going to hell. We speak disparagingly of them. We condemn sinners on the grounds they are ungodly.

    We stone them because they are caught in adultery. We fail to appreciate that they are hapless travellers on the road of life who have been attacked by spiritual armed robbers and left for dead. We conveniently forget that we used to be in the same predicament until we were rescued by the grace of God.

    Therefore, “God is not a Christian,” declared Reverend Desmond Tutu. “We are supposed to proclaim the God of love, but we have been guilty as Christians of sowing hatred and suspicion; we commend the one whom we call the Prince of Peace, and yet as Christians, we have fought more wars than we care to remember. We have claimed to be a fellowship of compassion and caring and sharing, but as Christians, we often sanctify socio-political systems that belie this, where the rich grow ever richer and the poor grow ever poorer.”

    One thing is certain. Both the offending priest and the Levite must have had “compelling” reasons for not attending to the man dying on the roadside. They probably could not stop because they were in a hurry to attend a Bible study. The priest decided that the best thing to do was to pray for the man when he got to church. The Levite was hurrying to get to a meeting of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria and could not afford to be late.

    Jesus’ parable “kills” the self-righteous believer who thinks he is justified by calling himself a Christian and by going regularly to church. He alerts us to the danger of assuming we are heaven-bound because of our observance of certain religious rites. True Christianity is not legalistic. The love of our neighbour is the emblem of our being Christ’s disciples.

    “Dear friends, let us practice loving each other, for love comes from God and those who are loving and kind show that they are the children of God.” (1 John 4:7).

  • The God Christians cannot trust – By Femi Aribisala

    The God Christians cannot trust – By Femi Aribisala

    “Be careful what you trust God for”.

    The beginning of the year is the season when the merchants of God tell the tallest tales about God. They tell us to trust God for all kinds of things in the coming year. They tell us God will buy us cars; He will build us houses; He will even buy our pastors jets so they can evangelise and save the world.

    These motivational preachers, who often require down payments for God’s promises in their bank accounts, are snake-oil salesmen and women. What they conveniently fail to tell us is the truth that God cannot be trusted to fulfil our vanities.

    Be careful what you trust God for. Otherwise, you will conclude that God is not trustworthy. God is often not inclined to do what we want. His thoughts are not amenable to our vainglories. His ways are not conducive to our pride of life.

    Do not buy the lie. Yes, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. (2 Corinthians 5:19). But only so that the world might ultimately be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20). God says to man: “Not your will but mine be done.” He says: “Not your method but mine. Not your timing but mine.”

    Can we trust God enough to accept this?

    God will only act when He chooses to act. He will only do things His way. That makes Him untrustworthy to the Frank Sinatra who want things their way.

    “As for me,” says the psalmist, “I trust in you, O LORD; I say, ‘You are my God. My times are in your hand.” (Psalm 31:14-15).

    Commanding God

    As a new believer, I was misled by a King James Bible translation that reads:

    “Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his maker, ‘Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons, and concerning the work of My hands command ye Me.’” (Isaiah 45:11).

    I went around barking commands at God in the altar of prayer. It took me a while to realise that the correct translation means the exact opposite of that KJV version:

    “The LORD, the holy God of Israel, the one who shapes the future, says: ‘You have no right to question Me about My children or to tell Me what I ought to do!’”

    God cannot be trusted to fulfil our dreams. He cannot be trusted to fulfil our purposes. The fact that you want a car does not mean you can trust God to get one for you. God can only be trusted to fulfil His promises. He cannot be trusted to fulfil our agendas.

    That is why it is important to have a relationship with God. That way, we can hold God to the promises He makes to us and not even assume the promises He made to others in biblical days automatically apply to us. When we read the Bible without understanding, we conclude foolishly that letters addressed to others are automatically meant for us.

    Trust without understanding

    Think this through with me. Can you really trust Someone who kills off Ezekiel’s wife just to make a point to Israel? Can you trust Someone who did nothing to prevent Herod from chopping off John the Baptist’s head? Can you trust a Doctor who deliberately stays back when told His friend is sick and finally arrives four days’ late after the man has died?

    Can you trust a Physician who could heal you immediately but decides instead to nurse you back to health? Can you trust Someone who would shut His face from His Son when He is dying on the cross? Can you trust the bosom Friend who invited the devil into Job’s situation and allowed him to kill his children, destroy his business and adversely affect his health?

    Job himself provides the implausible answer. He persists in trusting God despite his ordeal. He did not succumb to the entreaties of his wife to curse God. Instead, he declares:

    “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” (Job 13:15).

    Trusting God does not always mean we will understand what He is doing or why He is doing it. The wise man counsels:

    “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. Do not be wise in your own eyes.” (Proverbs 3:5-7).

    Work of faith

    What we are called to do is to stand on the word of God, irrespective of whatever situation we find ourselves. We are not to trust God for things. We are to trust God in all things.

    God is not only good when the going is good. He is the same yesterday and today and forever when the going is bad. (Hebrews 13:8). We mouth vain platitudes that “God is good all the time.” But then we nevertheless feel betrayed when times are bad.

    Peter trusted Jesus to walk on water. But when the waves turned, he doubted and began to sink. (Matthew 14:29). The disciples trusted Jesus to cross over to the other side. But when the storm arose, they doubted and complained that He did not care if they perished. (Mark 4:38).

    Trust in God is not inherited: it is learnt. It does not come because of the “completed work of Christ on the cross.” We learn to trust God by trusting Him. For us to learn to trust God, He must put us through some hair-raising situations. If God does everything we want the way and when we want it; we would never develop real trust in Him.

    How much work do we have to do when we are trusting God? James says:

    “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” (James 2:26).

    What then is the nature of the work of faith?

    Sometimes it is not doing what we would normally do. When we put our trust in the Lord, we do not have to scheme to get a husband. We do not have to backstab to get promoted. We do not need to be evil to get ahead. We do not need to hoard to keep. God gives His beloved sleep. (Psalm 127:2).

    God is trustworthy

    Do not believe the lie: Jesus did not become poor that we, through His poverty, might become wealthy and filthy rich. That is a misunderstanding of Paul. (2 Corinthians 8:9). We do not need Jesus to become rich: we need Him to become poor. God cannot be trusted to make us rich. But He can be trusted to meet our needs. (Psalm 23:1).

    He will, indeed, give us the desires of our hearts. (Psalm 37:4). But that means He will determine what those desires should be. God cannot be trusted to give us another man’s husband. He can be trusted to give us ours. He cannot be trusted to give us the world. He can be trusted to give us His kingdom.

    Jesus says:

    “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32).

    God can be trusted to meet and exceed only our righteous expectations.

    If our prayer is “Father, thy will be done,” we will not be disappointed. As we carry our crosses daily, we should be mindful of Jesus’ example at Gethsemane where He prayed:

    “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42).

  • The God Christians dislike – By Femi Aribisala

    The God Christians dislike – By Femi Aribisala

    “We say we love the Lord but, in truth, we do not like Him”.

    The Bible is a book of prophecies. God says in the Scriptures:

    “Don’t forget the many times I clearly told you what was going to happen in the future. For I am God- I only- and there is no other like Me who can tell you what is going to happen. All I say will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.” (Isaiah 46:910).

    Even some of the historical situations presented in the Scriptures are prophetic. Therefore, they are fulfilled again and again. For example, the persecution of Isaac by his brother, Ishmael, is re-enacted in the persecution of Joseph by his brothers, repeated in the persecution of David by his brothers, and again replicated in the persecution of Jesus by His brothers.

    The process continues today in the persecution of true believers by pretender Christians.

    Prophetic Christians

    Since the believer is created in the image and likeness of Christ, our identity is in the word of God. All we need to do is search the Scriptures to determine what manner of men we are and what the future holds. This is because the Bible does not merely predict the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It also foretells the birth, growth, and development of believers and the church of Christ.

    It is the prophetic revelation about Christians that is of particular interest here. The Scriptures indicate that Christians will not like Christ. The church in the wilderness rejected Moses. The Israelites rejected the prophets. The Jews rejected Jesus. Christians will reject the word of God.

    God says to Ezekiel:

    “I am sending you to the people of Israel with My messages. I am not sending you to some far-off foreign land where you can’t understand the language- no, not to tribes with strange, difficult tongues. (If I did, they would listen!). I am sending you to the people of Israel, and they won’t listen to you any more than they listen to Me! For the whole lot of them are hard, impudent, and stubborn.” (Ezekiel 3:4-7).

    Indeed, the Scriptures detail not so much how Jesus is hated by men, as how He is hated by His people.

    John says:

    “(Jesus) came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” (John 1:11).

    That statement is prophetic. Today, Christians are supposedly the people of God; so, the scripture now applies to us. It means Christians will not receive Christ.

    Jesus Himself observes that:

    “A prophet is not without honour except in his own country and in his own house.” (Matthew 13:57).

    Christian animosity

    Most Christians do not like the Jesus of the Bible. We may say we love the Lord because He is our Saviour, but the truth is we do not like Him.

    “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).

    “Hear, O you mountains, the LORD’S complaint, and you strong foundations of the earth; for the LORD has a complaint against His people, and He will contend with Israel. ‘O My people, what have I done to you? And how have I wearied you? Testify against Me.’” (Micah 6:2-3).

    Moses says God created man in His image. However, George Bernard Shaw was right when he said: “We have decided to return the favour.” We have created God in our image.

    Christians do not like the God that is revealed in Jesus Christ. Therefore, we contradict Him at every turn.

    We do not want the God who insists we should love our enemies. (Matthew 5:44-45). We prefer a God who sends the fire of the Holy Ghost to destroy them. We do not want the God who says those who use the sword will be killed by the sword. (Matthew 26:52). We prefer a God who provides us with AK47 rifles.

    We do not like the God who says we should turn the other cheek. (Luke 6:29). We prefer the God who gives an eye for an eye. We do not want the God who desires mercy. (Matthew 9:13). We prefer a God who exacts eternal punishment on sinners.

    The God revealed in Christ is far too demanding for us. He wants everything we have. (Luke 14:33). But Christians prefer a God that only requires a tithe. We do not like the God in Christ who regards men and women as equals. We prefer the God who legislates that women must be servants of men. We do not like the God in Christ who says we should bless those who curse us. (Matthew 5:44). We prefer the God who allows us to abuse our opponents.

    Christians do not like the Jesus who was born in poor and humble circumstances. We prefer the Jesus of our mega-pastors who fly around in jet planes and even establish their private airlines. We do not like the Jesus who did not go to school and get a formal education. (John 7:15-16). We prefer the fictional Jesus who boasts of his Ph.D. degree. We prefer the God who establishes church schools and universities where much money is made by charging high school fees.

    New improved Jesus

    Indeed, the real Jesus of Nazareth has become so offensive to Christians that we have created a new improved Jesus more to our liking. This new Jesus is no longer poor, meek, and lowly. But according to some, He is a rich man who wears “designer clothes.” Some Christians even claim the donkey Jesus rode in humility into Jerusalem was a brand-new “Continental Donkey;” thereby ascribing to it the same status as today’s Cadillac.

    Christians have given Jesus a spiritual makeover. He is no longer physically ugly according to prophecy:

    “He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.” (Isaiah 53:2).

    The modern-day Jesus preferred by Christians is very handsome. He is not even Middle Eastern any longer: He is European and blue-eyed.

    In effect, we have fulfilled the prophecy which says of the true Jesus:

    “He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” (Isaiah 53:3).

    But even more than the fact that we do not like Jesus personally, we certainly do not like His doctrine. We do not like His insistence that we must deny ourselves and take up our cross to follow Him. (Matthew 16:24). We do not like His requirement that we have to lose our life to save our life. (Mark 8:35).

    We do not heed His warning that we should not be worldly but should be hated by the world.

    (John 15:18-20). We do not obey His injunction not to have any other father but God.

    (Matthew 23:9). We do not agree with Him that a rich man cannot enter the kingdom of God. (Matthew 19:24).

    We are then confronted with this dire prophetic decree:

    “Therefore, God will deal with them and burn them. They will disappear like straw on fire. Their roots will rot and their flowers wither, for they have thrown away the laws of God and despised the Word of the Holy One of Israel. That is why the anger of the Lord is hot against His people; that is why He has reached out His hand to smash them.” (Isaiah 5:24-25).

  • Suffering is a powerful weapon for promoting the gospel – By Femi Aribisala

    Suffering is a powerful weapon for promoting the gospel – By Femi Aribisala

    “We preach the gospel powerfully by suffering for Christ”.

    Everything about God and His kingdom is counterintuitive. God warns us about this in the scriptures. But we are so tied to this world that we often overlook it.

    He says: “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).

    Therefore, Solomon counsels that we should not lean on our own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5). Instead of striving with the scriptures and ignoring those we find inconvenient, Peter says we must realise that: “No prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.” (2 Peter 1L20-21).

    Accordingly, Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, says it is a foolish man who does not believe and internalise what the prophets of God have written in the scriptures. (Luke 24:25).

    Suffering for the gospel

    One of those things we have difficulty believing is suffering. Why does a good God, a loving Father, not just allow, but insist that His children must suffer? Why is suffering written into the fabric of the gospel? Why is the suffering of Jesus on our behalf not enough? Why must we also go into the crucible?

    Jesus Himself provides the answer. He says: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6). This means our lives must be patterned after His. The way Jesus takes is the path of life. Whatever He prescribes is the truth of God.

    So, if Jesus suffered,  we must also suffer. If He carried His cross, we too must carry ours. In every way, we must follow His example.

    Jesus does not leave this to conjure. He tells us expressly: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24).

    So, Peter says: “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.” (1 Peter 2:21).

    Persecuting the righteous

    Since the world hated Christ and persecuted Him, even so, the world will hate us if we belong to Jesus. (John 15:18-19). The devil, the prince of this world (John 12:31), will ensure that: “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” (2 Timothy 3:12).

    “The Holy Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are His children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ, we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share His glory, we must also share His suffering.” (Romans 8:16-17).

    No matter what our deceiving pastors insist on telling us by preaching the false gospel of prosperity, the counsel of God is contrarian: “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:22). Therefore, the psalmist insists: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous.” (Psalm 34:119).

    But what about the wicked?

    Job says: “The wicked prosper, growing old and powerful? They live to see their children grow up and settle down, and they enjoy their grandchildren. Their homes are safe from every fear, and God does not punish them. Their bulls never fail to breed. Their cows bear calves and never miscarry. They let their children frisk about like lambs. Their little ones skip and dance. They sing with tambourine and harp. They celebrate to the sound of the flute. They spend their days in prosperity, then go down to the grave in peace.” (Job 21:7-13).

    Overcoming the world

    There are so many reasons why believers must suffer for the gospel and the glory of God. However, I will only address one here.

    When Jesus met two of His disciples on the way to Emmaus, grieving His crucifixion, He asked them: “Wasn’t it clearly predicted by the prophets that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering His time of glory?” (Luke 24:26).

    The truth is that God requires suffering to promote the gospel. Suffering validates the superiority of the kingdom of God over the satanic kingdoms of this world. Indeed, we preach the gospel powerfully by suffering for Christ with disregard for our pains and troubles.

    This, again, is counterintuitive. The carnal mind presumes that the best way to promote the gospel is by the prosperity of the righteous in the world. The prosperity of believers, then, would commend the gospel to unbelievers, and also encourage believers.

    But the carnal mind is enmity against God. (Romans 8:7). The carnal mind simply seeks what is pleasurable, as opposed to what is godly.

    Devices of the devil

    The devil uses the riches of this world to deceive us into sin. He uses them to entice us away from God. Thus, the devil took Jesus up a high mountain and offered Him all the kingdoms of the world if He would worship him and not God. (Matthew 4:8).

    Since Jesus refused, he persecuted Jesus. He had Him tried, crucified, and buried. But Jesus overcame him because God raised Jesus from the dead, never to die again.

    Believers must also overcome sin and death, just as Jesus did. Since we are still in the world of the devil, we will suffer persecution but must disregard this knowing it will amount to nothing in the end because of Jesus.

    Thus, Jesus gives us forewarning: “In the world, you will have tribulation; but be of cheer, good I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).

    He then promises those who follow His shining example: “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” (Revelation 3:21).

    Validating the gospel

    Accordingly, the suffering of believers promotes the gospel by validating it. It shows that: “Neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”(Romans 8:38-39).

    So, John heard a loud voice in heaven proclaiming the triumph of Jesus and the saints of God over the devil and his world:

    “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” (Revelation 12:10-11).

    Our triumph over suffering in the world makes us: “More than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37). When we suffer unjustly and bear it, the agents of Satan defeat us. But then God, in His manifold wisdom, brings amazing victory out of our seeming defeats repeatedly.

    Since we do not give in or give up because of our confidence in the love and faithfulness of God, God is glorified in our endurance, and He works all things together for our good. (Romans 8:28).

    “God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display His wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 3:10).

    CONTINUED

  • Crossing out the devil – By Femi Aribisala

    Crossing out the devil – By Femi Aribisala

    “Once Jesus laid down his life, the devil’s stranglehold on the lives of men was broken”.

    Jesus came into the world as a heavenly commando sent by God to destroy the works of Satan single-handedly. The devil holds men in bondage through the singular sin of the love of life; the foundation of all sin. We steal, cheat, fight, kill and commit adultery to save our lives. God required Jesus to call us to repentance and tell us about His glorious kingdom. He would then demonstrate that our fear of death is baseless by laying down His life and then rising from the dead.

    Hebrews says of Jesus: “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Hebrews 2:14-15).

    Exposed secret agent

    But how can Jesus survive in Satan’s kingdom on earth when His arrival as a baby is broadcast by angels?  How can He survive when wise men from the East are foolish enough to make enquiries about Him in the king’s palace?

    Herod’s response on hearing of the birth of a rival “king of the Jews” was to kill all the infants in Bethlehem. However, God was always one step ahead of Jesus’ adversaries. An angel forewarned Joseph to flee with Mary and Jesus to Egypt for refuge. Thereafter, the devil was bound and rendered powerless for the duration of Jesus’ ministry. (Matthew 12:29).

    Jesus was not secretive about His mission on earth. He preached about the establishment of His alternative kingdom everywhere He went. He also validated His message with supernatural signs. He cast out demons, demonstrating the overthrow of the kingdom of Satan. He raised the dead, signaling the triumph of life over death. He healed the sick, announcing the end of human suffering. He multiplied loaves of bread, pointing to the satisfaction of all physical need. He stilled the storm, heralding the emergence of peace on earth. And He forgave sins, proclaiming the dawning of righteousness.

    Recognising Jesus’ superior authority and powers, the devil quickly sought an unholy alliance with Him. He appealed to the pride of life in Jesus by offering Him all the kingdoms of the world, if He would join His rebellion against God. He said to him: “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” (Luke 4:6-7).

    But when Jesus refused the offer, he resorted to his time-honoured strategy of employing the fear of death against men. He threatened Jesus’ life; knowing Jesus could easily save it. But if Jesus saved His life, He would be entrapped by the word of God which says: “Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it.” (Luke 17:33).

    The devil even attempted to use one of Jesus’ disciples against Him. When Jesus revealed that God’s plan was for Him to be killed and then rise from the dead, Peter objected, saying this should not happen to Jesus. But Jesus rebuked him sharply. He said to him: “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matthew 16:23).

    A house divided

    In Satan’s camp were the Jewish pastors who were incensed that the more Jesus preached, the more He exposed their ungodliness. If He were to continue unabated, they feared they would soon lose their meal ticket, the goodwill of the people.

    They were also concerned that Jesus’ popularity would grow into a revolutionary fervour against Roman occupation; prompting Caesar to crush it with characteristic ruthlessness. Since this would jeopardize their privileged position under Roman rule, they decided to save their lives by accusing Jesus to the Roman authorities of plotting to overthrow Caesar, a crime punishable by death.

    However, Jesus knew Satan had no interest in killing Him; he only wanted Him to save His life. Satan knew he could not kill Jesus. Any attempt to kill Him would prompt the rescue of angels. Satan said to Jesus: “It is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear You up, lest You dash your foot against a stone.’” (Matthew 4:6).

    But Jesus was determined to allow Himself to be killed so that Satan’s captivity of men through the love of life and the fear of death would finally be broken. When Satan realised this was Jesus’ resolve, he decided to call the whole thing off at the last minute. Pilate, another one of his agents, looked desperately for a way to free Jesus, declaring Him innocent. He said to Jesus’ accusers: “Look, I am bringing Him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against Him.” (John 19:4). He then sought to release Him through a clemency order in honour of the Passover.

    However, the pastors, Satan’s other agents, would not consent to Jesus’ release, insisting He must be crucified. In effect, Jesus’ non-resistance divided Satan against himself. Jesus says: “Every city or house divided against itself will not stand.” (Matthew 12:25). To save his life as Governor by avoiding a riot, Pilate had to succumb to the demands of the pastors.

    Provoking righteousness

    But Satan had one last gambit. He engineered the rulers of the Jews as well as passers-by to mock Jesus, hoping to provoke Him to jump down from the cross and save His life. They taunted Him, saying: “If you are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.” (Luke 23:37). “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.” (Luke 23:35). Even God had to restrain Himself from saving Jesus when Jesus cried out: “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).

    However, the love of God for man ensured Jesus was forsaken on the cross. Jesus paid the full Satanic ransom of laying down His life as a man. Thereby, He pioneered the fulfilment of the word of God that says: “He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:25). This ushered in a new era of the resurrection of the dead unto eternal life with God. (John 6:38-40).

    Thus, Jesus’ defeat was paradoxically His greatest triumph. Once He willingly laid down His life for God, the devil’s stranglehold on the lives of men was broken for the very first time. With Jesus’ resurrection, all the righteous dead began to rise from the dead: “And the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.” (Matthew 27:52-53).

    By overcoming the love of life and the fear of death, Jesus opened “the gates of righteousness,” so that men may thereafter follow His shining example. Thanks to Jesus, we are no longer held captive by sin and Satan: “Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 124:7-8).

  • Forgiving God (2) – By Femi Aribisala

    Forgiving God (2) – By Femi Aribisala

    “God has a purpose for every affliction He ordains”.

    Even though God is always justified in whatever He does, nevertheless, we must forgive God for whatever action He takes against us. It is in our best interests to do this. Jesus says: “Blessed is that man who is not offended because of Me.” (Matthew 11:6).

    A lot of the time, when we are angry with God, we do not acknowledge this to ourselves. But our actions express fulsomely our displeasure. We stop going to church. We stop reading the Bible. We stop walking in the spirit and thereby fulfil the lusts of the flesh.

    We stop praying and spending time with God. We stop making melodies to God in our heart. Resentment against God can even sometimes send us into depression.

    Besides, when we are angry with God, we want to hurt God. We consciously or subconsciously do the things we know He does not like. Thereby, we sin against God and against our own souls.

    Judas Iscariot

    When we are angry with God, we grumble and complain about Him. We maintain that there is no benefit to godliness. The upshot of this is that we might end up denying God, just like Judas did.

    Judas bore a grudge against Jesus. Discipleship did not provide him with the dividends he anticipated. It did not make him wealthy, so he stole regularly from the common purse.

    His discontent reached a peak when he saw a woman “waste” an expensive perfume (worth a year’s salary) by pouring it in one go on Jesus’ head. He asked indignantly: “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” (John 12:5).

    John noted that Judas had no interest in the poor. If the perfume had been traded for cash, it would only have given him the opportunity to steal part of the money.

    Judas was so disgusted with this “waste.” that he apparently concluded that Jesus was not a good bet for financial enrichment. Therefore, immediately after this incident, he decided on the quicker and surer option of betraying Jesus for money.

    He went to the chief priests and said to them: “What will you give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.” (Matthew 26:15).

    God is responsible

    God accepts responsibility as the cause of our anger. He never denies responsibility for the afflictions we endure. The Bible declares that nothing happens without God’s say-so. He works all things according to the counsel of His will. (Ephesians 1:11).

    That means God is guilty. He is responsible for our adversities, even including those we bring on ourselves.

    Accordingly, God told me He was the One who sent robbers to waylay and shoot me. At the same time, He was also the One who saved me from the robbers He sent. He made sure they did not do more damage than He intended. So, the bullet they shot at me hit me in the leg and not in the chest.

    But one thing remains certain despite the afflictions God brings, He loves us with perfect love. He goes to great lengths to assure us of this in life and in the scriptures. Paul says:

    “Neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39).

    We will never know exactly why God loves us this much. But Jesus coming down to earth to be beaten and to die for our sins is enough to remove any doubt that God loves us. Thus, the psalmist asks: “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” (Psalm 8:4).

    But God does not butter us up so we can know He loves us and, therefore, love Him back. He expects us to love Him no matter what. He is glorified when we love Him despite our adversities. In any case, He is God, so, He reserves the right to treat us in whatever way He chooses. And He insists we must not grumble or complain.

    Jeremiah’s Lamentations.

    Nevertheless, a whole book in the Bible is devoted to complaining about God. In Lamentations, Jeremiah brings extensive charges against God. Among other things, he says:

    “(God) has turned His hand against me again and again, all day long. He has made my skin and flesh grow old. He has broken my bones. He has besieged and surrounded me with anguish and distress. He has buried me in a dark place, like those long dead. He has walled me in, and I cannot escape. He has bound me in heavy chains. And though I cry and shout, He has shut out my prayers.” (Lamentations 3:3-8).

    Nevertheless, he maintains that:

    “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in Him!” The Lord is good to those who depend on Him, to those who search for Him. So, it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:23-26).

    If we have truly forgiven someone, we will not complain again to anybody about what he did. The same principle applies to God. Complaints about God must be made directly to God, Do not make the mistake of complaining about God to someone else. God does not take kindly to this.

    David says: “I cry out to the Lord; I plead for the Lord’s mercy. I pour out my complaints before Him and tell Him all my troubles.” (Psalms 152:1-2).

    But those who complained about God to others were destroyed by the destroyer. (1 Corinthians 10:10).

    Atonement with man

    One of the most beautifully enigmatic passages in the Bible describes Jesus’ anguish at the tomb of Lazarus.  In the shortest verse in the Bible, it simply says: “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35).

    Why would Jesus weep at the grave of Lazarus when He planned to raise him from the dead?

    The truth is that God is hurt when His people are hurt. Isaiah says of God concerning Israel: “In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them.” (Isaiah 63:9). Indeed, Isaiah prophesied that that Jesus would bear our griefs and carry our sorrows.

    Jesus came down from heaven to earth precisely to enter into our pains and anguish: “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15).

    Indeed, the greatest expression of God’s identification with man in the Bible is Jesus’ repetition of the cry of David on the cross of Calvary: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46/Psalms 22:1).

    By this cry, God entered into the mainstream of the human experience.  God Himself cried out on man’s behalf for salvation and redemption. Man in Christ cried out to God in desperation, in confusion, and in disappointment. 

    “Why, if you are God; why, since you are God, are you allowing all this calamity to happen to us?”

    On the cross, God entered so completely into the human experience and validated human suffering. 

    Purpose for affliction

    Certainly, God has a purpose for every affliction He ordains. It is our responsibility to find out the purpose if possible, or to accept His purpose even when we do not know the reason behind it. Even in his lamentations, Jeremiah acknowledges that:

    “Though (God) causes grief, yet He will show compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. For He does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.” (Lamentations 3:32-33).

    Therefore, in our afflictions, we must not lean on your own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5). We must continue to trust God. This is what makes Job so exemplary. Even in the bitterness of his soul, he maintains his commitment to God, saying: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” (Job 13:15).

    Paul assures us that: “No temptation has overtaken (us) except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow (us) to be tempted beyond what (we) are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that (we) may be able to bear it.”(1 Corinthians 10:13).

    God told the devil: “You can deal with Job, but you cannot take his life.” (Job 2:6). God dealt severely with Assyria because it had no pity on Israel and wanted to afflict the Israelites beyond what God had in mind.

    Even though it is God Himself who orchestrates our afflictions, Zechariah reveals that those He uses to afflict us are in trouble. God will repay them: “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye.’” (Zechariah 2:8).

    The last word here belongs to Habakkuk’s doxology:

    “Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.” (Habakkuk 3:17-19).