Minister: Pst. Laide Olaniyan
We forget the essence of the church when it comes to life expressions. Why did God leave us here on earth after we got born again? In a sense, we are saved to serve, and we are saved to save others; and while that is true, it excludes a principal part of the burden of Scripture; it excludes the work of our own salvation. Acts 2:42-47 “42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, 47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”
God didn’t add those who were totally saved to the church; this means that the program of salvation continues in the church. The church is a driver of the program of salvation. In fact, it is only the church that fosters/aids/drives God’s purpose of salvation in the earth, not only for the world but also for those who have now believed.
A lot of believers have abandoned their own salvation journey to pursue ministry, or a good life – 1 Timothy 4:13-16 “13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. 15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. 16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee”. the profiting here is not making money but the prosperity of the soul, growth unto God and it is what Ephesians 4:15-16 details – “15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” There is a growing up into the head in all things. The measure of growth a person has acquired is how much he has profited in Christ. Profiting in Christ is not material acquisition; gain is not godliness. The actual gain is that you grow up into God. Real profit is that the soul prospers. You are not yet in possession of your soul. Luke 21:19 “In your patience possess ye your souls.” If you have something, would you be told to possess it? It means somebody else has your soul. Possessing your soul is allowing God to have possession of your soul because the things that actually govern a man’s soul are bigger than what man knows.
John 2:23-25 “23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man”
Jesus knew they believed but did not commit to them. There is something inside every man that we don’t know, and believing alone doesn’t remove that thing. We see that God delivered the children of Israel from the Egyptians for them to worship Him, but He tried them in the wilderness to know what is in their heart whether they would obey His commandments or not. That a person has left Egypt does not mean he is totally for God. One essence of the church is to exercise a man until every strange idol has expired and can fully turn to God.
1 Corinthians 10:1-5 “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness” Something inside of them made them to be overthrown in the wilderness. God delivered them from Egypt, but they still perished in the wilderness. The wilderness was not about the miracles but about what God wanted to undo in the Israelites’ lives. The wilderness was not about manna; it was not about the supernatural provisions of bread and water, but it was about what God wanted to do. He wanted to change the taste buds of the children of Israel so that they could learn to discern. Moses had spent 40 years in the wilderness before this time; his taste buds had changed, and he had come to know the dealings of the Lord. He could no longer murmur and complain like the rest of the people. When God is dealing with His people, He doesn’t exempt His prophet. Moses and Joshua went through the same dealings as all the children of Israel in the wilderness. Elijah also experienced famine as others did— he drank from a brook till it dried. In all of that, he didn’t question God, but knew to be at peace with God. That law that makes your heart jittery when resources are going low is a law that is against God. In John 14:27, we see that there is a peace that the world also gives. Some peace comes from natural arrangements and human prospects. Our contentment in every situation should be that God is present with us. It is only the truth of God’s word that can undo the things inside of us. That is why Jesus said believing alone can’t undo it; you have to be led, instructed, taught, and helped to grow, which is the essence of church, until all the laws that Satan has written are expired, and then our soul is solely for God, and you need the truth of the Word of God to accomplish this.
We don’t begin our journey in faith with truth but with believing. John 8:31- 32 ‘31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. ” We see here truth being a future tense; seeing truth becoming a future encounter. One’s encounter with truth doesn’t begin the day you meet Jesus. When you met Jesus, you did not meet Him as the truth; you could have met Him as the Way but not Him as truth. John 14:6. You don’t have the capacity to receive and bear truth at new birth, because the encounter with truth begins with Christ. Psalm 51:6 “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom”. Truth is not just an accurate statement, but truth is a person; truth is a definite person, not just a recount of facts accurately. Truth is not relative or subjective, but truth is absolute and definite in different times, in different circumstances.
We have the inner man(spirit), inward man(soul), and outward man(body). Our spirit has been recreated, but the Lord wants to write something on our inward man. When coming to church, we bring our inward parts to be framed by the Word of God. The labour of the five-fold is to raise a house (Eph 4:13). All the measurement is those stature is truth calibrations.
Sometimes we have zeal but not according to truth or righteousness (Romans 4:3-4). A person can be zealous but doesn’t know truth. Zeal doesn’t save any man. Apollos could debate Scripture, but became better after Aquila and Priscilla brought him in the way. It is better to be on fire with truth because if truth has not been taught to you, you would only have fire (Zeal). Fire is a good messenger but a bad master. Zeal is good, but Truth is important. You don’t know the definition of sin until you have an encounter with truth because sin is a mystery. Until you come to truth, that is when you know that anything not of faith is Sin. A person who has not met truth can’t unravel that anything not of faith is sin. Meaning that anything that doesn’t come by the word of God is sin. Faith is not just your believing, but because it came by the word of God. If it is not according to the word, it is sin no matter how lofty or helpful it is. In 1st Corinthians 10:23, Lawful things can be sin. God desires truth in the inward part, and the church is the ground and the pillar of truth; not our academic institutions. Truth is not a philosophical question; it is not ideological reasoning. It is only by revelation that we can know truth. (Matthew 16:17) Without the ministry of revelation, we won’t grow up into Christ and prosper in the things of Jesus.
Sin is laying a snare for many because there is blindness of the eyes. God has to amplify the ministry of revelation. The Ministry of Revelation is the mercy of God to show things that were ordained for us but hidden from the womb of creation, but ordained for our glory. The gospel is called the gospel of truth, the message of our salvation Ephesians 1:13. You need to preach the gospel more to the church and not the world. There is gospel to the world, and there is gospel to the church. We need more gospel to the believers in the church, so that the message of salvation can progress.
There is a burden concerning the church for us to love truth. The church is the ground and pillar of truth, and what God wants the church to feed on from beginning to the end is truth. Our work is to feed on truth. Truth should raise us until we become edifices of truth on the earth. Finding faith in the earth is not just about believing, but truth, because without faith, truth cannot be found (Luke 18:8). In Isaiah 59:14, “And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter”. The church is God’s redemption plan for creation, and we need to mind truth again. Coming to fellowship with believers should be an encounter with the truth of God. We must hear truth and do truth and then begin to love truth because none of us love truth by default because of the work the devil has done in us. The world hates truth because truth will come for your life.
Ephesians 4:19-21 “19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 20 But ye have not so learned Christ; 21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus…” The truth is in Jesus; there is no truth anywhere else. Jesus is the house of truth. Apart from our environment, we must encounter the person of truth. Truth is a person; truth is not just one thing. That you have known Jesus does not mean you know all. Jesus is plenty. It is God’s desire that you know all truth.
John 16:13-14 “13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you” All truth is one, but it is plenty. When Jesus said he shall receive of ‘mine’, he meant Truth. What the Father has is Truth. One of the ways you know truth is that truth never fades, truth never passes away, truth is the revelation of him that has been before creation was, truth is in Jesus. The Spirit of truth should raise our houses. Our goal is not to succeed on this earth; if there is anything we need to be successful in, it is to build a house of truth that can house truth totally. All our lives should be centered around raising the truth of God. The devotion of every one of us should be to mind truth more than our natural affairs. When God is raising truth, He is also expiring something. We won’t be guiltless if the work of Satan in us isn’t totally judged. A person can be morally upright, but the work of Satan is still intact in the person in the sense that that soul may not be able to agree with the truth of God and then live according to it. Jesus is a teacher, and God is also a teacher, and their assignment is to raise man with their own things until man becomes their perfect house.
God wants us to make progress in truth, to grow in truth, grow in the receiving of Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:4 “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” If men are not coming to know the truth that is in Jesus, we can make them twice sons of perdition. Truth must be found in us, truth must raise us, grace must build us up until we become habitations of truth in the Lord. The man heaven is envious of is the man made of all truth. Paul laboured for two things; first his course and then his ministry. But the first thing was his course.
Message Ends