Exhortation

It is important amidst the contrary situations that we face in life to always remind ourselves of who we are in Christ Jesus. Amongst unbelievers, they are aware of the fact that no condition is permanent, a common saying which finds a parallel in 2 Cor 4:17, which describe our light afflictions as temporal. Whatever we indeed go through will ultimately come to an end.  Many times we approach our living, God and our Christianity from the standpoint of our problems and we are always encouraged not to focus on them because they are temporal. However, do we really need someone ALL THE TIME to always remind us that problems should not be the reason why we should not praise God? If this is the case, then there is something we are still not seeing – the things that are eternal and permanent (2 Cor 4:18). We spend the majority of our lives trying to look away from our temporal manifold problems. We should realize that as long as we are in this world, we will always have challenges (John 16:33). Rather than spending our time, effort and strength on looking away and dwelling on our temporal troubles, our emphasis and efforts should be on looking unto things eternal (Heb 12:1, 2 Cor 4:18, Col 3:1-2).

The word “looking” as used in Heb 12:2 conveys the idea of looking away from something to focus on another thing. If we are not focused on Jesus, we will keep looking away and carrying our weights. The secret of focusing on Jesus is to realize that what He has done is what is permanent. This should be our source of strength. We should not wake up looking for someone to encourage us, or worrying about our manifold problems. If we do that we will pass our time managing crisis, rather than making progress in God and focusing on what He has done for us and on who He has made us. We should realize that because we are born of Him we are overcomers ALREADY (1 Jn 5:4-5). Victory is not something we are fighting for, we are already in a position of victory. When you have this kind of perspective you can actually look at contrary situations in the face and laugh, without being cajoled, coerced or psyched. This is how true Christianity should be. You can only do this when you realize that He has given you the victory (1 Cor 15:57, Rom 8:38-39) because we have his seed within us (1 Pet 1:23). 

If we are are born again, there is an incorruptible seed in us that cannot be destroyed which gives us victory in life. It is the reason why we can face tomorrow.  Because of the seed of God within, we should be so confident in God that we are not moved by circumstances of life (Acts 20:24). This is the way to approach Christianity, not the wrong approach of viewing it from the perspective of our problems. We should understand that we are God’s investment and that He has a stake in us.  We are His workmanship (Eph 2:10). Many times we do not have this kind of Christ esteem such that when things go wrong we wonder where we missed it and find it hard to praise God. When things go wrong we should retain our confidence in God and praise Him. Our confidence in God should be so strong no matter the circumstances (Acts 20:24).  

We should put our confidence in the fact that we are new creatures. We should not wait until we are pysched and cajoled out of her depressed attitude every Sunday because we live our lives outside of church meetings majority of the time. Rather we should live vibrantly and rejoicing always because of who He has made us. We need to understand that we are sons (1 John 3:1-3) and esteem who we are in Christ. Rather than spend our time wondering and worrying, we should remember His seed within us and plan towards how we will do exploits for God. Our orientation should be on how we can leverage on what God has given us to further His word and shine His light.

Analysis of 1 Pet 2:22-25

1 Pet 1:22- We have purified our souls. When this is read along with Acts 2:40, one may get the impression that Peter implied that salvation comes by human effort. However, that will be inconsistent with a plethora of scriptures which affirm salvation by grace (Eph 2:8, Titus 3:5-6, Rom, 4:1-5, 9:16, 11:6, James 1:17). By having purified their souls, Paul implied that they had OBEYED the truth. To obey the truth in this context means to BELIEVE the truth. Salvation does not come by obeying or keep some rules, or even the Ten Commandments. Rather it comes by believing on Christ through the gospel (John 6:28-29).

1 Pet 1:23 – The word ‘seed’ as used here is equivalent to the English word for sperm. Therefore, it is not agricultural seed, but that of a person. This seed by which we have been begotten is that of God and it is the only thing that is incorruptible under the Sun. Since Adam fell, the whole of the universe, including man and nature, by virtue of the entry of sin into the world became subject to corruption (Rom 8:18-22, Rom 5:12-14,1 Cor 15:42,50, 53,54). It was so bad (Gen 6:11,12) that God had to wipe out the entire human race with a flood sparing only Noah and his a family (Gen 6:-8). But even Noah because he was himself subject to corruption after a bout of drunkenness inadvertently committed incest with His daughters. The new race of men that sprang from Noah (Genesis 9:19) were equally subject to corruption. This was why the Saviour never came by copulation between a man and a woman, otherwise He would have been corrupt. At the right time, Jesus was made of a woman and conceived of the Holy Ghost (Gal 4:4-5, Luke 1:34-35). He did not come of corruptible seed. Likewise, believers have not come of incorruptible seed. Because of God’s investment in mankind, Jesus,  like a grain of wheat died and brought forth believers who are like Him and share His nature (Jn 12:24) – an incorruptible seed. This new identity we have in Him should give us a sense of worth and esteem to make us hold our heads high amidst the circumstances of life.

1 Pet 1:24 – When we look around the universe, we see things and the works of the hands of man that can be termed the glories of this world. We see architectural masterpieces, technology-enabled devices, exotic cars, well-planned cities, beautiful women, power, fame, immense wealth and huge human accomplishments. We can call this the glory of man. However, Peter likens the whole of unredeemed humanity and its glories to the flower of a grass which ceases to be when the grass withers. 

He was stressing their transient, corruptible or temporary nature. We should realize that all we see in this world is temporal and not worth focusing on, so if they disappear we do not inadequate

1 Pet 1:25 – Peter contrasted the transience of humanity and its glories, to the eternal nature of God’s word – the word of the gospel by which were begotten. The seed of God that saved us and reproduced in us abides forever. This implies that God’s interest in us is forever. We must be confident of the fact that He has an investment in us, and that in this life and beyond, we have a hope and a future. In this life we are designed for exploits. Sadly what most of us do because we fashion our own plans exclusive of God, is struggle to go from level to level, gearing all our efforts and endeavours towards our pre-planned end. We forget that God has plan for us, much grander and fulfilling than our own puny thoughts (Is 55:8, Eph 3:20). It is because we are oblivious of this that we get grounded when we have a small problem. Some even question, challenge and fight God, not learning from Job’s example who eventually learnt the wisdom of committing the keeping of His soul to a faithful, all-wise, sovereign God.

We need to stay grounded and rather than questioning, trust that God has a plan for our lives, which our circumstances cannot thwart of frustrate. We see the reality of the foregoing in the life of Joseph Joseph was hated by his brothers; sold into slavery; got into trouble and was cast into prison for not sleeping with Potiphar’s wife; became head of the prisoners; forgotten by Pharaoh’s butler for years; before eventually becoming the second most powerful man in Egypt after about 13 years. Joseph could have been bitter against God after waiting for several years, for showing him things which seemed was never going to come to pass. He could have been forgiven if he concluded that God’s plan for Him was to remain in Potiphar’s house or remain in prison and be a good influence there. However Joseph trusted God as He worked out His plan in His life. God’s plan was grander than Joseph’s understanding of it. Joseph thought it was merely to preserve Israel during famine (Gen 50:20). However, God’s ultimate objective was to preserve the nation from whom Jesus the Saviour was to come (Rom 9:5).

Many times we feel we have served God enough and do not deserve our unsavoury circumstances. We wonder where God is taking us to and at times jump to the wrong conclusion. We wonder why God allows circumstances He could have prevented from happening to us. But we must realize that God has a plan and end in view concerning our situation. He is working out things  for His glory. There is a seed and Spirit within us which God uses to lead, guide and to direct our paths. His eyes are fixed on us. Rather than focus on problems, let us focus on the real thing. Let us have the attitude of rejoicing (Rom 12:12, Php 4:4), not merely because we know that our circumstances are temporal, but because we know He has a plan for our lives, because of what He has done for us, and because of His investment in us. We should change our thinking about God. He loves us so much and He is committed to us. Our circumstances are part of what God is using to get us to where He wants to take us.

Comfort In The Place Of Prayer

It is not unusual to find people praying and spending long hours in meetings doing so. Sadly if most people examined what they call prayer in the light of scriptures, they will probably use their time in a better way. Listening to the content of most people’s prayers will make one wonder how far they can go in life with it. Unfortunately, that is the bondage that most people find themselves in, simply because they never found out the truth, or because they refused to study the bible, or because they were never taught the right things by their instructors. Irrespective of how such a sorry state arose, it is clear that God cannot go outside the bounds of His word. He would not say because someone has spent several hours in prayers, praying amiss outside His will, that He should countenance such prayers. That is why it is very good for us to keep in mind why we do things.

Prayer is not a tool that we use to get God to do what He does not want to do, or to do what we want Him to do. The fact that God tells us to ask and receive will expose us to disappointment if we take it to mean asking for anything outside His will. We see scriptures instructing us to pray without ceasing and at all times. James 5:13-17 speaks of different situations that confront men, and commends prayers in certain instances. However, before we open our mouths to pray, we should ask ourselves certain questions to be sure that we are doing the right thing. Many times we find ourselves in circumstances that are unpalatable and we seek a way out.  Most of the time people are quick to turn to prayers, but before going ahead, it is important for us to be in the right frame of mind. We should realize that prayer, rather than a tool for getting things from God is a medium of relating with God, finding out His will and aligning ourselves with that will.  Before we open our mouths to pray, we should have settled at the back of our minds what is propelling us. James 5:11-17 and Philippians 4:6 gives certain insights in this regard.

Php 4:6 commends us to eschew anxiety, but rather commit our burdens to God in prayers. Anxiety basically means fretting and worrying over situations. Essentially we learn from here that before we get ourselves into prayer we should get ourselves into a state where we are not worried such that our prayers are not motivated by anxiety, but by faith in God. Sadly a lot of us take decisions that are not motivated by God’s word, but by our present circumstances, forgetting that we are dealing with a great and wonderful God – the One who is in charge of our lives. As a consequence, we are downed by circumstances. The Bible says we should not be anxious about anything. It is only when our trust is in the living God, that we can do this. Rather than worry about our circumstances, we should see that God is in there with us. He has not left us alone in our trials. If a person born again realizes this truth, it will fill him/her with confidence.

Before we open our mouths to pray, we should ask ourselves if we trust in the Person of God with whom nothing is impossible. Granted we may be going through difficult, situations that should cause us to worry, nevertheless we are instructed not to entertain anxiety. There is someone in charge of our situation who has not lost control and who will always be in charge. Our problems stems primarily from the fact that we cannot see God in our situation. We think He is not acting on or behalf or is oblivious of our situation.  However, that is not true, for his commitment to us goes beyond what we can see or do not see. His posture towards us does not change (James 1:17). We should never allow circumstances rob us off confidence in God. Irrespective of our situations we should not be anxious, knowing that He is in control. God never stops working on our behalf. Things may be rough and unpalatable, but it does not change the fact that He is committed to us and that He is working things out. 

A lot of us have faced situations where we have wasted our time worrying, and did all sorts of things all to help ourselves all to no avail, only to wonder why we wasted our time worrying when things were resolved so simply when God “showed up”. We chastise ourselves for not having waited patiently, without anxiety, trusting God to act – which is the state that God wants us to be in no matter how bad circumstances may be. This attitude will keep us unmoved and confident, much like someone who had been guaranteed a job by the CEO, who only knows that turning up for an interview is a mere formality. That is how we ought to conduct ourselves as believers. Because God is in charge and always at work, we can have our hearts assured rather than worrying. If we do not have the perspective that God is bigger than our situations, it will be extremely difficult for us not to worry. We should never repose our confidence in man, for vain is the help of man. There are several circumstances in life such as terminal diseases which show the helplessness of man. Consequently, our confidence should always be in the living God. The fact that things are not working our way does not mean we should be fretting. It is only a matter of time; God will come in His own time. Our challenges are not unique to us; several others have experienced same or similar challenges. We should keep trusting in God.

Furthermore, we should always have at the back of our minds before praying that God has a purpose for everything. There is a reason why He allows trials to come our way, though we may not immediately comprehend it. Mindful of that reality, rather than questioning Him we ought to trust in Him. We may not know how things will be in the future, yet we should trust in the living God who is in charge of our lives, circumstances, and the future. When we adopt these attitudes our outlook will be positive and we shall experience peace even amidst turmoil (Php 4:7) -  a peace which defies earthly logic which only God can give. This can only happen when our trust is in God and not in Man. God has a plan and purpose for us and it will be good – ultimately. God works through us and He will bring forth His counsel and reveal His glory in our lives, even amidst our circumstances. He does not work arbitrarily and everything in the world – our circumstances, us and the universe, works together to fulfill the good pleasure of His will. We ought to see things this way so that we can make progress believing that He can do absolutely anything.

This is the right frame of mind which will enable us derive comfort in the place of prayer. Before we pray, we should ask ourselves if we really believe in our God, the God of all possibilities (Heb 11:6). Is our trust in Him alone? We live in an age where there is a tendency to trust in many things – our intelligence, our grade, our plans, our visions, our connections, our certificates, men, etc. It is no wonder that our plains fail to work out according to plan. We must always remember that God is the One in charge of our lives. We need to pause and return to dependence on God, and ascertaining what He will have us do in every situation. If truly we believe in the Person of God and believe that with Him nothing is impossible, then we should allow Him have His way in our lives. We need to always subject ourselves to seeing His will realized in our lives, irrespective of our well-laid plans, rather than suffering the repercussions of living outside His will.

Conclusion

As believers we need to come to terms with the sovereignty of God and His all-sufficiency. It is only when we do this that we can live our lives without being anxious when faced with contrary situations. Rather than being anxious, we should talk to God and let Him have our burdens in prayer. Is it a job we are looking for, we should trust in God. Is it a child, we should never let our trust in God wane.  We saw God fulfil His promise of a child to Abraham, despite his faith wavering, and despite his attempt at self help by sleeping with Hagar. God came through at His own time. That is the kind of God that we serve. He is ever faithful to His word. He might not do it the way we expect it, but He will fulfill His promise because faithfulness is His very nature - He cannot deny Himself. He does things according to His own plan and His own season. There is a time and season for Him to do what He wants to do in our lives, which we can be rest assured will not pass us by. However, we need to keep our trust in God. He is the only One that will never fail us.  

A Call To Discernment (1 Thess 5:21-22)

Highlights

God expects everybody to be discerning. Many believers exercise discernment in other areas of their lives e.g. job, marriage etc; we however take with levity the things of God especially the truth of the word of God. It is important for every believer to be able to distinguish between error and truth, Just like every skill, in order to exercise discernment to the finest details, we need to embrace and put it into practice.

Ways in which we can develop discernment

·     By having complete dependence on the revelation of the word of God - 2Pet 1:12-21. There’s an inspiration from God that gives us wisdom that’s not based on age or some traditions Isaiah 8:19-22. Many of us tend to rationalize things based on our opinions, forgetting we do not have an opinion when it comes to the word of God. Hence, do not depend on your own rationalization because it is not about what you think or how you feel.

Also, do not depend on strange experiences because they may not be interpreted in the light of God’s word.

Job 32: 1- 22

·       Diligence -  2 Tim 2: 14-15

Diligence in the word of God is key! Diligence takes hard work and perseverance. Make a determination on what to study, keep at it and devout yourself wholly to it. You need to make an effort to develop discernment so you don’t end up just believing what the pastors preach

·       Constant Use - Heb 5:14 

It becomes easy to discern when you expose yourself consistently to the word of God.

In attending to the truth, it becomes easier to distinguish between good and evil!

Important Notes on reading the scriptures

·      Read the scripture as a book

·      Follow the trend and understand the message therein

·      It’s important for the believer to know there are 2 different covenants found in the book and that what is contained in the Old testament is different from the New testament

·      In this age, we have a different covenant!

·      You need to develop an attitude of critically analyzing everything you hear and holding on to the truth!
  ·     It is time for us to persist and continue in the truth!!! 

Love (1 Cor 13:1-3,1 John 4:7-10)

PREAMBLE

First, we should bear in mind that every believer is important to the Body and we are all needed for the work. Every believer should discover His role in the Body and run with it. Having seen many that have borne witness to the life of faith, we should run our race. If God has put something in our hearts with respect to what He will have us do, then it is just right that we keep focused on doing it.  We should lay aside every weight and sin, anything that may distract us from this. Anything could be a weight, and they could be legitimate or illegitimate. It could be a sleeping or eating habit, a friend, a problem or even a relationship. Let us align our minds and hearts to the race before us. The woman who recently won the 100 metres race at the 2012 London Olympics did not even know she won until she saw the replay, because she was fully focused on her race and never allowed any distraction to hinder her from reaching her goal. Had she been distracted she would probably have lost the race because she won by the narrowest of margins. We should emulate this attitude in running the race set before us, keeping her eyes on the focus  without allowing anything to distract us (Heb 12:1-2).

Second, James stressed the importance of being slow to speak, swift to hear and slow to wrath (James 1:19). We should cultivate an attitude of swiftness in hearing and receiving the word of God. We should not be quick to commend or comment. We should have a readiness to be receptive at all times.

MAIN SERMON

Love is a concept that is usually talked about, and celebrated, but in the actual sense greatly misunderstood by so many people in our world today. There is a need for us to understand what love is from a divine/biblical perspective. 1 Cor 13 gives us tremendous insight into what love is from God’s perspective; while simultaneously using the exercise of spiritual gifts as examples to underscore how vital love is to our Christian faith.  Love is very important to our Christian faith. Love is so fundamental that if we manifest spiritual gifts of prophecy, faith, giving, word knowledge, to an extreme or prodigious measure,  without love as the underlying attitude or motivation; then it would profit us nothing (1 Cor 13:1-3).

WHAT IS LOVE?

In the present age and time, a lot of people talk about love and we see very little of it being shown. Also, one of the misconceptions people have is that love equates to sex.  So what is love? Have we been walking in love? Have we been showing love to one another as God commands us? If we check through the scripture we will see a lot of commandments instructing us on love, how we should love 

God with the entirety of our being, and also on how we should walk in love one with another (John 13:34-35,15:12-13,17,19, Rom 12:9-10,13:8-10, Gal 5:6,13-14,22,Eph 4:32, Eph 5:2, Php 1:9,2:2, Col 2:2, 1 Thes 3:12,4:9, 5:8, 1 Tim 6:11, Heb 6:10,10:24, 13:1, 1 Pet 2:17, 3:8, 1 John 2:7-11, 1 John 3:1,11,14,16-18,23, 1 John 4:7-8,11-12,16,20-21,I John 5:2-3, 2 John 1:5-6.  1 Pet 1:22 is a good example where Peter instructed believers to love one another with a pure heart FERVENTLY.  The emphasis of the foregoing is FERVENTLY, showing the depth of love we should display towards one another. Do we really understand what biblical love is? But the question still remains – what is love?

In Matt 22:35-38 Jesus described the concept of love as the greatest of the commandments that was given to the Israelites. In this portion of scriptures, Jesus, by calling it the greatest commandment underscored its supreme importance. As Christians we need to have a good grasp and understanding of love, we need to walk and act in it, we need to live our lives by this very important principle and concept. Without love we amount to nothing. 1 John 4:7 reiterates what has been said above and commands us to love one another as practical proof that we are saved/born of God/believers. Apostle John followed this up in 1 John 4:8 to categorically state that our failure to practice love may well prove that we are not saved since God is love. Lest we should not lose sight of what love is, we see that Apostle John gave us an insight – GOD IS LOVE.  If we have God then we have love. All that God expressed towards humanity is love. 1 John 4:9 reveals that God’s love was manifested towards us by giving Jesus who died and rose again, that we might live through Him.

Furthermore, there is a need to dispel a commonly held notion that we must love as a form of reciprocation, or that we need to love someone because the person loved us first. This idea essentially is the attitude of the natural man who loves conditionally, and because he is loved. However, the foregoing notion is foreign to New Testament scriptures with respect to biblical love, the love God displayed towards us, and the love He expects us to display towards others. We see clearly from scriptures that we did not take the initiative by loving God first before He had to respond; neither did He love us because He had to reciprocate, rather He loved us first and that is the reason why we love Him (1 John 4:10, 19). Biblical love as demonstrated by God through the gift of His Son demands that we love without expecting love back, or because someone loved us first. God lavished His love on us through the death and the resurrection of Christ and without any selfish motive because that is His nature. He did not love us because he knew we were going to be fantastic ministers, philanthropists or missionaries in the future; or because He knew we were going to live up to our calling  and exalted position; rather He did it because love is His nature. God is love. Out of that loving nature He offered Jesus as the solution to the 

deepest need of Man. All that God has done for us through Christ has been to benefit us, to elevate us and make us better persons that can function victoriously on earth.

God loved us and gave the greatest demonstration of that love when Christ died for us on the Cross. It stands sure and steadfast and remains for eternity. He did not love us because we loved Him first. We could never have loved God first because we did not have the nature or capacity to have done so since all men were dead in sins and alienated from God. The average man expects something back in return when he loves, even if it is for that love to be reciprocated.  The things we do which we call acts of love, are they really acts of love, or were they done with the expectation of reciprocation? We should do them because God commanded us to do so. God loved us without expecting back and He expects us to walk in love towards one another. Jesus said we should love God with the entirety of our being – with all our hearts, souls, and minds. This is the starting point (Mt 22:37). When we do this, it becomes easier to do the other aspect which Jesus talked about – loving others (Mt 22:39). God loves us whether we respond or not; whether we appreciate it or not; and whether we yield to it or not.

God loved us and demonstrated that love through the sacrifice of Jesus (John 3:16). We see here that God’s love involves sacrifice. Love requires sacrifice – a lot of sacrifice at times; but not because we expect something in return. He freely gave up Christ for our sakes because He loved us (Rom 8:32). We see from scriptures all that His love brought us. It brought us deliverance from the kingdom of darkness and translated us into God’s kingdom (Col 1:13). Because of His love something happened to us in the realm of the spirit that changed us radically that we had no contribution to. Because He loved us He made us better, gave us the Holy Spirit, therefore empowering us so we can live a triumphant life. What can we give in return to show appreciation for what He has done for us? God expects us to love others in appreciation of the love He demonstrated towards us.

God has given us the capacity to love as He loved us (Rom 5:5) because we have His nature within us (2 Pet 13). In John 15:13 Christ described how that the ultimate demonstration of love was for a man to lay down His for His friends. He did just that for us. He has impacted us eternally.

CONCLUSION

God is love and we have been loved by Him. We do not need to place ourselves in a position of pity or despair, because we are the recipients of His love. He has loved us with a love that cannot be compared to any other. Our response to His love should be to love Him with the entirety of our beings and to love one another fervently.