PIGS IN THE PARLOUR
I have a burden. The burden of my heart is, borne out of the great chasm between the standard of Christianity which I grew up to know and the modern trend which leaves much to be desired. When I got born again in 1974, there was no room for sitting on the fence. Believers and ministers were completely sold out to the Lord.
The kind of Christian experience which people parade in our present generation is a far cry from the standard of the good old days. Christianity has become a popular religion. The laity and the clergy have imbibed a type of Christian life that is watered down.
MINISTERIAL DIVERSION
Christian conduct is rather cosmetic than real. We live the Christian life as if we are on a picnic. only very few believers are ready to contend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints. The real substance is gone. Most believers and ministers are now busy chasing shadows. We relish fantasy while we reject the real essence of true Christianity
I was privileged early in life to be exposed to sound doctrine, I came to grips with the fact that men and women have chosen to hold on to things that lack substance. I also discovered that the godly stock is fast diminishing. This is made clear In the scriptures.
Ps 12:1: Help, LORD; for the godly man ceasoth; for the faithful fall from among the children of men.
There is a serious problem in the church. There are pigs in the
parlour. Godliness has jumped out of the window. Nowhere is the precarious problem more pronounced than among ministers of the gospel. What men and women of God need today is to return to primitive Christianity. We all need to pray that God should take us back to Bethel. We need to ask God to effect ministerial restoration, renewal and revival within the body of Christ.
We need to be shaken spiritually in order to experience the removal of the negative tendencies which we have imbibed. The starting point is spiritual revival. This is one point from which all men and, women of God must start the journey towards spiritual recovery.
THE GOOD OLD DAYS
The first ministerial meeting which I attended took place some 25 years ago. Our main speaker happened to be an eighty-two year old veteran. He was indeed an experienced minister. The topic is still fresh in my memory: “The foundation of ministerial failure” The old preacher stated, clearly that he had a burden for the ministers of the gospel. He declared, “The tragedy of modern day ministry is that many ministers may not be able to fulfill their ministries”. He rounded off the message with these words: “Let him that thinketh, he standeth, take heed, lest he fall”
MINISTERIAL DELIVERANCE
Nobody needs deliverance more than ministers of the gospel. The one who needs deep deliverance is the deliverance minister himself. It is quite easy for us to surmise that the people to whom we minister need deliverance while we exclude ourselves from this important area of need. There will be greater successes in our ministerial endeavours when all categories of ministers see the need and go ahead to run themselves through deliverance.
You cannot minister effectively and have your services approved by God, if you fall to obtain deliverance in certain vital areas of life and ministry. If ordinary members and people are told that without deliverance
fulfillment of life and destiny will remain elusive, ministers of the gospel should also be made conscious of the indispensable nature of personal and ministerial deliverance as a criterion for success and holistic living.
VITAL AREAS OF DELIVERANCE
Let us examine some vital areas where deliverance is necessary.
Failure to obtain deliverance in any of them will lead to disaster.
1. Deliverance From Sin
To function as a minister you must have experienced deliverance from sin before enlisting Christian service. The first qualification, you need in order to be labelled as a man or a woman of God, is deliverance from sin. It is not negotiable. Deliverance from sin is a starting point as far as the ministerial calling is concerned. To go into the ministry without experiencing deliverance from sin can be likened to putting the cart before the horse. Those who have, not experienced deliverance from sin, are as good as blind leaders trying to help a company of blind people move across a dangerous narrow bridge; both the leader and the led will fall into the river. The only remedy for sin is total deliverance. To decide to patch things up will amount to pouring water into a basket. All the energy expended in that venture will yield no result.
There is no dark stain as stubborn as the stain of sin. The only soap that can wash it clean is the soap of total deliverance from sin.
Sin is so deadly that it took the most lovely life on earth and nailed Him to the cross. Sin made the Son of God to remain hanging between heaven and earth. His head could not touch the heavens while his legs could not touch the earth. He was rejected by the people whom He came to die for, while His heavenly Father also rejected Him. Sin is so bad that God turned His back on His only begotten son.
Sin kept Jesus suspended between heaven and earth. No amount of scientific breakthrough or technological knowhow can solve the sin problem. Strange enough, brilliant scientists are also caught in the web of sin. We have no business teaching people fancy topics in the church
while they remain captives of sin.
Ministers who spend several hours teaching faith and prosperity without telling the congregation that God hates sin with perfect hatred are wasting precious time. It is the height of spiritual fraudulence to fail to tell people that sin stinks. The truth is that ministers who are not delivered from sin cannot help people to obtain salvation and deliverance from sin. It takes a minister who has obtained deliverance from sin to lead a congregation of people who have truly obtained deliverance from sin.
DELIVERANCE FROM SIN
To obtain deliverance from sin is quite simple. God has promised to grant His people, Including ministers, deliverance from sin.
Matt 1:2: And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name
JESUS: for he Shall save his people from their sins.
It is possible to obtain deliverance from sin and consequently live a sinless life. You will no longer go into sin deliberately. Those who are delivered from sin do not pre-meditate and go into sinful acts. Of course, when such a fellow falls into sin, mistakenly or accidentally, he quickly repents demonstrating hatred for every step taken towards backslidding.
2. Deliverance From The Flesh
The second type of deliverance that is needed by ministers of God, is deliverance from the flesh. The flesh is the hidden spy within our system. The flesh is the enemy within the camp. It is the hidden spy that operates from within. The flesh is, indeed, horrible. Paul, the apostle, was conscious of the domineering power of the flesh when he said: “I put my body under, lest after I have preached to others I myself become a cast away.” The flesh is so stubborn that it can make you preach to others and go to hell at the end of the day. The task of putting the flesh under control lies squarely on your shoulders.
Nobody will do it for you. If you fail to tame the flesh, it will mess up your ministry. If you go about saying “God will help me”, you are living in self-deceit. You must make conscious personal efforts rather than pass
the buck to others.
The flesh is very rebellious. You must put it where it belongs; under subjection. This explains why the Bible says, except a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies it abideth alone.
The flesh must be put to death, if you want God to use you the way He wants to. If you allow the flesh to have a free day, It will ruin your life and ministry. The flesh has a knack fat disgracing people in high places. It is a subtle enemy that is capable of making ministers fall from grace to grass.
ABOMINATION!
In recent times, we have had ugly reports and news concerning some respected men of God. Such reports were occasioned when they gave room to. the flesh. Recently, a minister had a quarrel with his wife. The wife’s mother came into the house to settle the quarrel. The conflict was so serious that the settlement went beyond midnight. unknown to the wife; seductive eye contacts were established between the minister and his mother-in-law.
After the settlement, the minister and his wife retired to their rooms. The wife woke up around 3:00 am and, went to the toilet to ease herself. After visiting the toilet she peeped into, the husband’s room only to see a strange sight. She almost fainted When she saw her husband who happened to be a pastor, sleeping with her mother. Needless to say, that was the end of the marriage.
You may wonder what would have made a minister of the gospel to descend so low as to commit such an abominable act. It is no other thing but the flesh. The scandal also led to the end of the man’s ministry.
Some men of God have boasted saying: “I have gone beyond that kind of scandal. I can never make that kind of kindergarten mistakes.” Some words!
Don’t ever deceive yourself saying that you can never fall or make a scandalous mistake. Those who boast of their Infallibility are deceiving
themselves. Paul, the apostle, declared: “We have no confidence in the flesh”. The moment you become overconfident, you are finished.
3. Deliverance from the Love of Money.
The third deliverance needed by all ministers is the deliverance from the love of money. Money itself is not a problem. Money can either become a servant or it can become a master.
Many modern day ministers have allowed money to become a master to them. The peril of modern day ministers is the love of money. Another word for money is mammon. Mammon is the spirit behind money. If you don’t conquer it, it will conquer you.
Money has caused untold number of spiritual casualties in christendom. Many believe that as soon as they have enough money to spend, all their problems in life and ministry will be over.
In the world, those who have money are busy hoarding it. The wealthy are hardly generous. Rich people are often stingy. If you undertake a research into the lives of rich men and women, you will hardly come across those who have not had crooked deals.
Pastors who preach prosperity and relegate God’s word to the background are leading their congregations astray. The love of money is a deliverance case. It is unfortunate that many pastors have lost sight of the fact that their blessings reside in being preoccupied with the spiritual well-being of their congregation.
Ministers who do God’s work faithfully will be blessed. I have discovered that pastors or ministers who love money and run after material gain never find it. Surprisingly, God has blessed men and women of God who are not looking for money at all.
THE BLESSING OF THE LORD
I started out in the ministry without any thought of making money. All I wanted to do was to serve the Lord and rescue souls from hell. I invested my income in the work of the Lord.
If I had wanted to make money I would have willingly accepted a job offer from many international establishments. Although I knew that the world is in dire need of brilliant scientists, I opted to join the group of those who were ready to spend and be spend in order to rescue the perishing. If I had chosen the greener pasture which the idea of working for an international organization presented, I would have ended up earning some thousands of dollars as my salary every month.
I decided to put my hands on the plough, burn the bridges behind me and serve the Lord as a minister even when I was not sure of any financial gain. Some of my colleagues who heard that I tendered my resignation from a foremost African research institute, wondered what led me into the ministry. Some of them even made comments like “Why did you decide to become a pastor after an unprecedented academic record in field? Why did you have to bag a PhD if all you were going to do was to stand behind the pulpit and preach?”
I did not listen to their comments. The die was cast. There was no going back. I decided to preach the gospel rather than make a name in the academician world. Even when I started writing Christian books I never knew that God in His divine wisdom and sovereignty, would surpass the record I made as an academic. So far, the number of our Christian books has gone beyond one hundred and fifty. It may interest you to know that a particular book, “Prayer Rain”, has sold in millions.
To be honest with you, Prayer Rain is now acclaimed to be the best selling prayer book in the world. Prayer Rain has become so popular that it is used by most churches, ministries and denominations, Catholic Priests, Orthodox Clergy as well as those who belong, to the white garment tradition: It may even :surprise you that Muslims own and make use of Prayer Rain.
On two separate occasions, two people have sent me cheques running to millions of naira each as a way of showing appreciation for receiving help when they needed it most. They had problems and made use of the prayer points contained in Prayer Rain.
However, each of them made a vow that 10% of the money they
made would be sent to the author of the book as a sort of appreciation. Tell me what kind of job will you do and you will be sent a cheque of N10million as your salary? The truth is that ministers who serve the lord without making money their God will always be blessed beyond their wildest dreams. God will never fail true ministers who serve Him in sincerity. Don’t ever make money or mammon your idol.
I have a word here for pastors or ministers who are guilty of stealing God’s money. If you are a branch pastor in your church and you decide to dip hands into the treasury, thinking that the General Overseer may never know, you are revelling in self deceit. You must realize that God’s eye runs to and fro and will easily detect the slightest act of theft in the house of God. In any case, you cannot dip your hands into the offering bag or steal God’s money secretly and believe that when you lay those hands on the sick they will recover. You must obtain deliverance. from the god of mammon if you want to go far with God.
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