Meeting: Sunday Service
Theme: Community Service
Minister: Pastor Olaide Olaniyan
(Galatians 6:1-6) – “1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. 2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. 3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. 4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 5 For every man shall bear his own burden. 6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.”
Brethren comprises those who are spiritual, those who are carnal and those who are overtaken in a fault. Paul calling the Galatians “foolish” was not impulsively, it was out of an unction – “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?” (Galatians 3:1). We must know when God possesses a man to rebuke you. Blessed are you when you see this not as the vindictiveness of man but as the mercy of God for your correctness. Even when God possesses a man to rebuke another, he’s still meek in the heart.
Sometimes when we’re being corrected, we don’t have the right to determine how the correction comes. If you truly are repentant, it’s not about how the correction comes but that correction is being meted to you. The goal of correction is to work the righteousness of God, so before God can possess a man like that, He must have cleansed such a man from wrath and anger so that it be not of his own volition.
In a congregation, leadership resides in people who are ghosted, spiritual, those who have used the Holy Ghost to learn the way and judgements of God – “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?” (1 Corinthians 6:1). The work of restoration is for edification, not to tell who is right or wrong. The burden of the soul of anyone who is spiritual is restoration; how a person can be restored to fellowship or overcome an infirmity – “14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” – (Hebrews 4:14-5) “Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.” – (Hebrews 5:2).
When a person is spiritual, they will not be judgemental; to be judgemental is not the inability to judge but the ability to judge without mercy. A person can be very critical of you and yet he is spiritual because his work is not to leave you with that infirmity but to help you out of it, hence, the criticism.
Salvation is the one thing that we are permitted to be selfish in. Scripture permits us to seek our salvation first because if we don’t, we will not be able to save others. Seeking one’s own things is one of the things that destroy relationships (hustle spirit). The gospel is supposed to redeem us from such conversations (principles of living life).
When a man begins to seek his own, he begins to violate a code: the code of brotherhood (in Christ). When God is thinking of us, he’s thinking of the prosperity of all because we are one. God does not think of one person without thinking of every other person. Lack of understanding is what makes a man not realise this.
(Deuteronomy 28:11-15) – “11 And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 12 The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. 13 And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them: 14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. 15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.”
(Deuteronomy 11:10-12) – “10 For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs: 11 But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: 12 A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.”
Our souls want the comfort of stability for many years. We need to understand that according to the dealing of God, there will be hills and valleys (ups and downs). That there are hills and valleys doesn’t mean that God is absent. If we understand this, haste will be quenched in our hearts. The economy that God has called us into is different – it’s a face (grace) ministration. This is what it takes to journey through that land. This doesn’t mean that indolence is accepted.
The lord will bless the work of our hands but the work is not in any way attached. The reason we work is because it is part of our nature. Work is not necessarily a job, work might not have any pay. Jobs are done mostly by hirelings – those who sell their work for wages. Sometimes, God is allowing us to work and puts us in positions of strict bosses so as to heal us of the heart of a hireling. What determines what an hireling puts in is what he will be getting out of it.
There is a sense that we have that is not aligned with the interest of the entire community, it’s a sense of “seeking their own”. Work was not always meant to sustain you – God is your sustenance. Doing any work we find as unto the lord is the culture of our community. While we are diligent in what we’re doing, we’re not hustling to make ends meet or for a paycheck. What the world teaches us is how to hustle. This is not an economy of faith.
(See Deuteronomy 8:6-20) – If you follow the laws of God, you’ll find out that God has your best interest at heart. There are certain principles that this land (the economy that we have been brought into) responds to, the sum of it is the principle of honour. If we don’t see this, Satan will give us another race. There is nothing that destroys you faster than disregard for the Lord.
If we follow this law, even our natural will be affected by it. (Ecclesiastes 7:12) – “For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it.” There are things money cannot do but the excellency of knowledge is that it gives both things money can do and what it cannot do.
Keeping the commandments of the law is one part told having regard for the law. Whether in lack or abundance, the soul should not offend. You can honour the lord by keeping his commandments but not know how to honour the Lord with their substance. God owns our material substances first before He gives them to us, so Him asking to give Him back is because He wants to check the disposition of our hearts. (Haggai 1:3-8) –“3 Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? 5 Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. 6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. 7 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord.”
(See Malachi 1:6-14) There is a way the world wants us to run but there’s an economy God wants for his own children. (Luke. 6:38) – “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” This scripture is talking about forgiveness not giving. If you give God with the mind of receiving back, it’s wrong. God can bless you but it’s not because of what you gave Him first.
When you sow sometimes, it might not come back to you but things like grace and life will come. We work because it is part of our salvation programme and the service we will give. (Malachi 1:14) – “But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.” God knows who He is and we must know too – this should inform our offering to Him: this is honour.
When we dishonour our parents in the natural because they’re poor, we are kicking against bricks. When you don’t do to your parents what you do to your pastors, you become a hypocrite. Honour is very significant.
Charity is the bond of perfection but it’s also the mark of brotherhood. We must discern ourselves and walk in love one toward another. One thing we should be bothered about is how to walk as brothers and sisters.
Some of us don’t know how to live in a family. In a family, there are elders both (male and female), there are peers and there are younger ones. (1 Timothy 5:1-2) – “1 Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; 2 The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.” Even when we’re in situations that it feels that we are right, we should learn how not to rebuke an elder – (Job 32:8-12) “8 But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. 9 Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment. 10 Therefore I said, Hearken to me; I also will shew mine opinion. 11 Behold, I waited for your words; I gave ear to your reasons, whilst ye searched out what to say. 12 Yea, I attended unto you, and, behold, there was none of you that convinced Job, or that answered his words.”
Entreating elders means having a plea bargain with them. The more we walk in love that is not purified, the more Satan revives old lusts that have not been dealt with in us. We should be able to relate in purity, sincerely, and without ulterior motives. (1 Corinthians 6:15-17) – “15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. 16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. 17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” (1 Corinthians 7:33-34) – “33 But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife. 34 There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.”
We must exercise our bodies in holiness and purity. Purity is not just exercising pure thought, it’s doing away with anything that is contrary to God. If we don’t clear this ground, brotherly love would be a thing that evil will flourish.
(1 Timothy 4:12) – “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” There’s a way a believer should behave that should be a model for others. (2 Samuel 13:2-5) – “2 And Amnon was so vexed, that he fell sick for his sister Tamar; for she was a virgin; and Amnon thought it hard for him to do anything to her. 3 But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David’s brother: and Jonadab was a very subtil man. 4 And he said unto him, Why art thou, being the king’s son, lean from day to day? wilt thou not tell me? And Amnon said unto him, I love Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister. 5 And Jonadab said unto him, Lay thee down on thy bed, and make thyself sick: and when thy father cometh to see thee, say unto him, I pray thee, let my sister Tamar come, and give me meat, and dress the meat in my sight, that I may see it, and eat it at her hand.” We should be jealous of our brothers and sisters to the extent of not entertaining any evil thoughts regarding them. Brotherly love should be without any impurity.
(See 1 Thessalonians 4:1-10) Paul was not presumptuous about the state of this church; that’s why he continued addressing the church to possess their vessels regardless of where they were in the spirit. Possessing our vessels includes possessing all our bodies (spirit, soul and body). You can walk in sanctification yet we’re not possessing our bodies in honour.
There are certain things that we must not take for granted. We don’t know the implications of certain things we dabble into, God can forgive us but the implications can be long lasting because that thing is a gene of sin and God can deal with it till the third and fourth generation. First of all, we need to discern this body that this place is a holy ground and deal with each other in wisdom. We shouldn’t take advantage of the Holy ground that was purchased by Jesus’ blood to display evil. Jesus can destroy a man if he messes with what God is saving.
There’s a difference between repentance and confession. Confession is not what works repentance. Godly sorrow works repentance, what confession works is healing. You can confess and not turn from that thing. When a soul realises that something is wrong, he should sorrow until he has gotten to repentance. (2 Corinthians 7:6-10) – “6 Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus; “7 And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more. 8 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. 9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”
Charity is not your giving. Charity is first how you will take the word of God. A heart that is exercised in charity has found the love of God pleasurable to the soul. Charity suffers long and is kind because it is the state of a person that enjoys doing the will of the Lord.
THE END