Preaching Notes: Pray for all people!

Sunday, 10th November 2013

1 Tim 2:1-7

1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, 7 for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. NKJV

PRAY!

Who is speaking and to whom? Paul to Timothy and to the church at Ephesus as a whole!

Paul has just been released from prison in Rome and discover that the church leaders in Ephesus had distorted the genuine message they had first heard from him. The leaders in Ephesus have shifted their focus from Jesus Christ and have tolerated false doctrine. Paul's focus is on what true church leadership should be.

Paul tells Timothy in 1:5  "The goal of this command is love which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith"

Paul also said in 1:18-19 "This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith"

There's a truth in this passage. What is it? Our responsibility as a church concerns everybody! In the passage we've all read together, Paul is stressing a vital truth and 4 times, it is VERY EMPHASIZED. 

First, pray for all

Second, God wants all people to be saved

Third, Christ Jesus gave Himself as a ransom for all men. 

Fourth, Paul calls himself a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles. All nations. All people!

VERSE 1

PRAY for all people. 

Verse 1

I urge, then, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people.

Paul is urging Timothy that FIRST OF ALL, 

Supplication

Prayers

Intercession

Thanksgiving be made for all people. 

Before anything at all. Before we even begin to look at the "nitty gritty", let's offer the above first. It's a thing that we must do. We must offer these petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving. 

FOR ALL PEOPLE!

All people? Apostle Paul is read here to be encouraging and asking that Timothy do the afore-mentioned for all people. Yes! Everyone. I want to reiterate the emphasis on the phrase "For all people". Paul is not segregating. He had done that when he was a morbid persecutor, chasing and killing the believers of Jesus Christ about. Now, he is a changed man and is read here to be asking Timothy, to make sure that he prays for all people and in turn teach the Ephesian church same!

They must have stopped praying! 

Let me ask a question. Who do you pray for? And why? Do you only pray for your family and close friends? Do you pray for me? Do I pray for you? Prayer is good. It shows our dependence on God. It shows we are weak and need God to intervene. Who and who are on your prayer card? Do you pray for your neighbours? Do you pray for all people? 

The church in Ephesus has deviated from the gospel of Jesus Christ but Timothy is still asked to pray for them. It may sometimes be difficult to pray for all as humanly as possible. 

WHAT WE SHOULD PRAY AND WHY?

Paul is not asking Timothy to only pray. He asked him to send petitions(Supplications) to God and intercede and also offer thanksgiving. Paul is asking Timothy to do FOUR MAIN THINGS:

Supplications

Pray

Intercede and 

Offer thanksgiving to God on behalf of all people. 

Supplications

The Greek phrase for this is "to lack so something. To be without something. So when Paul asked Timothy to make supplications to God, he wants him to ask God to meet the need of these people. The need in question is salvation. The lost have a great need for salvation. 

Pray

Intercession. As believers, we must constantly intercede for others. The word comes from the root meaning "to draw near so as to speak intimately. Paul is asking Timothy to come intimately to God and ask for mercy! Believers must always intercede. For all! 

Thanksgiving. Ah! This is the appreciating part. In all things, we must offer thanksgiving to God! As believers, we must always do this. 

For all people:

The lost in General is the import of what Paul is driving at here. The lost. Everyone. And not just the elect. God's election is secret and we don't know. So Paul is asking that Timothy pray for all men. I ask us this morning that we must pray for all men as a church. 

We must make SUPPLICATIONS. We must PRAY. We must INTERCEDE. We must also offer THANKSGIVING!

VERSE2

PRAY for kings and those in authority

Verse 2

Paul "upped the ante" by also asking Timothy to also "pray for kings and those in authority", "that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness". 

I was just wondering what must have been on Timothy's mind as he opened and read Paul's letter to him.  Would he have said something like "He's asking me to pray for all people, fair enough but to also pray for kings and those in authority is taking the peace". Pray for kings and those in authority? Pray for those who have milked the society dry with wrong taxes? Pray for those who have put you in prison? Recall that Paul wrote this letter after he left a Roman Prison, yet he's asking Timothy to pray for kings and those in authority, the same set of people who have unjustly put him in prison? Emperor Nero? A vicious blasphemer and persecutor of the faith? 

Why is Paul asking Timothy to pray for kings and those in authority? Hear Paul's reason "that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in godliness and holiness. 

Paul is asking Timothy to pray for kings and those in authority. The same people who slammed Paul in prison for preaching Jesus' gospel? The same church leaders in position of authority who have distorted the gospel and given to immorality? Paul is asking Timothy to pray for these people? 

Paul didn't just ask Timothy to pray for these people. He specifically ask that when Timothy pray for them, peace and quietness will remain and we will all live in godliness and holiness. 

When we pray for those in authority over us, God will hear our prayers and those who have prayed will enjoy peace wherever we are. Also, as Paul asked Timothy to pray for the church leaders in Ephesus, godliness and holiness will return and immorality will have no place. It's a simple arithmetic. 

Let's bring this home. 

Her Majesty, The Queen

His Right Honourable, Prime Minister David Cameron

The Coalition Government 

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson

Our local MP

Our Council Head

The Councillors

The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon

The European Assembly in Stratbourg. 

The list is endless..........

Sometimes because these leaders are so powerful and highly influential and sometimes do wrong stuff, they are often the target of gross bitterness and animosity from their subjects but Paul is still asking Timothy and in general terms asking that we continue to pray for them even when they churn out bad policies. Even when they rule like despots. We must pray for them. 

BUT and this is a big BUT. How would you pray for a personality such as Emperor Nero? Let's come home a bit. How would pray for a particular tribe which massacred a "lesser tribe" and killed 800, 000 in less than 1 year. I am talking about the massacre in Kigali, Rwanda in 1994. 

When we don't pray for these people. Immorality pervades. When we pray for them. God intervenes! Godliness and holiness comes in and they have a changed life. Also, we who have prayed as believers will enjoy peace and quiet life. Paul in this letter is not asking for excuses. He's asking that Timothy and then the church should pray. Pray for kings and those in authority. 

Let's touch on THREE KEY POINTS which are the benefits when we pray for those in authority and kings:

Godliness

Holiness

Peace and Quiet lives 

Godliness is the need to call back people to holy living who have been negatively affected by false doctrine. We must endeavour to have the proper attitude and conduct before God in everything we do. We must pray for this. 

Holiness is moral dignity. It's also very important that we pray for all and kings and those in authority to have moral dignity. It's obvious that a converse of this breeds what happened in Ephesus. Deviation from the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Peace and Quiet lives. When the church pray for those in authority and kings, the bible says we will experience peace and quite lives. Who don't want to experience this? When we pray for them, God will direct them in the right direction. When we pray for these set of people, the church may experience certain level of religious freedom. Amen!

VERSE3

PRAY because this is good and pleases God. 

Verse 3

This is good, and pleases God our Savior

Paul continued in this very personal letter to Timothy and state in verse 3 "this is good and it pleases God". 

What's good? And what pleases God? What's Paul writing about here? 

1. When Timothy pray to God for these people. 

2. When Timothy makes requests to God on these peoples behalf, it is a good thing to do and it pleases God. 

3. When Timothy after all said and done, offer thanksgiving on behalf of these people to God!

These leaders in Ephesus have made a complete detour. They've gone off tangent. They've missed Jesus' gospel. They've become immoral. So when we pray to God on their behalf. It is a good thing to do. We have a responsibility as believers to pray for all people. God is by nature a "saving God" and also "the source" of our salvation which has been planned from ages past. 

VERSE 4

PRAY because God wants the truth to be known. 

Verse 4

who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 

Paul went further to point Timothy to the very fact that the reason why "this is good and it pleases God" as we've read in Verse 3 is "God wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth". What a mighty God we serve! 

"What a mighty God we serve/2x

heaven and earth adore him,

angels bow before Him

what a mighty God we serve"

Let's pause here a bit and do some digging:

The scripture very well teaches divine election both in the OT and NT. The truth of divine election which is God's sovereignty must never be expressed in such a way as to deny the complementary truth that God wants all people to be saved. 

Divine election is a reminder that the credit for our salvation belongs to God alone!

Divine election reminds us that God's love will never let us go!

Divine election does not give us an excuse not to evangelise or pray for all people.  

VERSES 5 & 6

PRAY because God saved us. 

Verse 5 & 6 

For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself as a ransom for all people. 

Paul went further to buttress his letter to Timothy. Tell these people. Tell them that there's only ONE GOD. Tell them. Pls, do! Tell them, Timothy! Tell them! His name is Yaweh! His name is Jehovah! The God I am writing to you about and that which I want you to tell these people is THE CAPITAL G GOD! Every other god is a small letter g god! Tell them pls. 

The church in Ephesus have gone astray. They've missed the link. Pray so that they can return to the true and real gospel. If it's not the Almighty God, it can never be the same as the Almighty God! 

There's no other way of salvation. It is ONLY through Jesus Christ! So, Paul encourages Timothy and us in this present time to pray for people to see and acknowledge this One and Only God. We can see further evidence of this ONE TRUE GOD in 1Cor 8:4b-6

Tell them also, that there's only one mediator between this God and mankind and His name is Jesus Christ. The one who gave Himself as ransom for all people. Paul want the Ephesian church to fed the truth. He want them to be fed Jesus Christ. In culinary terms, JESUS CHRIST IS A BALANCED DIET. OTHER THINGS ARE JUNK! Indeed! 

John 10:10

The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy but I have come to give life and give it abundantly. Jesus is the ONLY way! 

I draw your attention to the Cross of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ laid down His life.

The resurrection is real. It's an undisputed fact!

He paid the ransom for our transgression. 

He stood in the gap as the mediator!

and that's what Paul is writing here. He draws these Ephesian leaders back to the truth which is Jesus Christ. 

A songwriter says 

"Great is the gospel of our glorious God

where mercy met the anger of God's rod

A penalty was paid and pardon bought

And sinners lost at last to Him were brought

O let the praises of my heart be thine

for Christ has died that I may call Him mine

that I may sing with those who dwell above

adoring, praising Jesus, King of love!"

Let's take a look at the ransom for all people. 

Mathew 20:28b says "Jesus gave His life as a ransom for many". To become a ransom is to substitute something for another thing. Fact! So how is Christ's death a ransom for all people as read in this great passage of Paul to Timothy?

The word "Ransom" simply implies that we were in bondage to sin and judgement and unable to save ourselves and the price paid for these was Jesus' death in our place. 

The ALL is qualified by the MANY.

Jesus' death was sufficient to cover the sins of all people yet the ransom (which is the substitutionary aspect of his death is unlimited in all it's sufficiency but it's limited in its application). 

God in his sovereignty can offer it to all. Yet only the elect will be saved according to to His eternal purpose! 

VERSE 7

PRAY so that we can be faithful to evangelism. 

Verse 7

And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles.

Paul concludes this part of the passage by writing "and for this purpose I was appointed a herald and apostle. What purpose is Paul talking about here? Here's a list of what Paul meant:

I have been appointed as a herald and apostle to:

Pray for all people

Pray for kings and those in authority. 

Share the good news of Jesus Christ and preach the good news to all people with faithfulness to the text. 

It is my duty as Paul as well as yours, Timothy to do this. And we must carry out this JOB DESCRIPTION with utmost diligence and flair. The application of the last verse to us as 2013 believers and beyond is to faithfully preach God's word and pray for all. 

Paul went further to write, saying "Timothy, pls also tell them that the above I have written is the truth and I will never lie. I am a true and faithful teacher. 

The TRUTH. What is the truth? It is the GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST which brings SALVATION! 

That songwriter says:

We praise Thee O God

For the Son of thy love

For Jesus who died 

And is now gone above

Hallelujah, Thine the glory

Hallelujah, Amen

Hallelujah, Thine the glory

Revive us again!

So, what is the general application for us as a church?

Those serving in various church ministries MUST realise that prayer is the foundation of everything 

WAKE UP CLARION.

Wake up from the slumber of prayerlessness 

I state boldly that you can't be effective at ministering in your groups if you are not spending time praying for your group, the church as a body and the people, generally. 

Also, the gospel of Jesus spreads with prayer. That's the import of Paul's letter to Timothy. 

Amen!  

• 
  

Do Not Steal!

Preaching Notes.

Exodus 20:15

Exodus 21:1-8

Stealing is defined as “taking another person’s property without his or her permission. 

"Property" in context can be anything. Anything! 

The core phrase is "Taking without permission". 

Take them back to Genesis 20:1-2 [And a God spoke all these words: I am The Lord Your God....."]

I'm very sure you must have heard these phrases before:

Finders, keepers

They made the error

I deserve this

I've worked here for 20 years,

The price they were charging was highway robbery anyways.

They won't notice it's missing.

The profound - 'I won't get caught'

He deserves this treatment - look what he did.

Everyone is doing it.

This is the easy way out of a difficult situation - Bankruptcy.

Its nothing,

I couldn't help myself.

No one will notice.

If he doesn't find out, it won't hurt him.

What are the names we have given the term "stealing" to remove the guilt feeling? (Ask them to think through). LET IT SINK IN!!!!

S.O's story

He jogs most Saturday mornings and see a lot of personal effects misplaced by night club crawlers of previous Friday night. He drops these effects at his local police station. The officers know him cos he's    always bringing in these effects. 

The Police Command has recognised him at their annual event giving him a Recognition Plaque. 

On this particular Saturday morning, he was jogging and saw a wallet. He picked it up. Saw £40 cash. Took the money. Threw the wallet away. Continued jogging. He was contented and happy. Why? Why did this good friend of mine who had always dropped off these misplaced effects at the local Police Station do the opposite of his usual behavioural attitude?

The previous Friday in London, he had lost his wallet with his Bank Cards, Drivers Licence, etc. In that wallet that he lost was £40 cash! 12 hrs later, he saw a wallet in Scotland, very near to his house. He picked up! Thou shall not steal!-NO MATTER THE CIRCUMSTANCES. 

STEALING SERIOUSLY QUESTIONS GOD'S UNQUESTIONABLE ABILITY TO PROPERLY PROVIDE FOR HIS PEOPLE! 

The Movie industry is not doing it right.....

An action film, Parker came to the UK cinemas in March staring Jason Stratham and Jennifer Lopez. Parker and his friends are professional armed robbers and they went robbing. His friends betrayed him, shot him and left him for dead. He didn't die. He was rescued by locals and he went in search of the friends. He killed them all. Took all the money. Gave some to Jennifer Lopez and went on to live his life. The film ended. He was never caught. When we watch a film such as this wrapped up in"revenge" but its actually about armed robbery where the robber is glorified as victim, there's a subtle underlining factor that its okayish to steal! No! It is VERY wrong. 

STEALING SERIOUSLY QUESTIONS GOD'S UNQUESTIONABLE ABILITY TO PROPERLY PROVIDE FOR HIS PEOPLE!

HAMMER ON THIS 

"You shall not steal”is one of the Ten Commandments people can readily recall, even though it is number eight. It's easy to recall cos we see opportunities everyday to take what does not belong to us. We see the opportunities without people seeing us and without actually "stealing" in the physical context! EXPLAIN STEALING NOT IN THE PHYSICAL CONTEXT! There are a lot of stuff that we steal but we don't physically or forcefully take them, we don't necessary count them as stealing. 

There have been suggestions also that Ten Commandments is old and archaic and a very old covenant that is no more relevant to the present world. If you are in this school of thought, I'm sorry to disappoint you cos Jesus Christ speaking to the rich young ruler in Mathew 19:18 quoted expressly from the commandments. These commandments are the moral laws of God and they apply to men of all ages!

Types of stealing

Active and Passive

1. STEALING TIME AT WORK

Taking longer over lunch breaks at work or arriving late and leaving early are actually forms of stealing from our employers, stealing time they have paid for. Taking advantage of employers in that way indicates a lack of love for others.(See John 13:34-35). LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF. 

2. EXTORTION (Luke 3:13-14)

Extortion is gaining possession of another person’s property by the use of authority or of force. In many parts of the world, Law enforcement officers use their position of authority to extort funds from those who are vulnerable. If a policeman could, by his false testimony alone, convict you of a crime that would imprison you, you would gladly pay his extortion fee to avoid the threatened punishment. Thus, John the Baptist told the tax gatherers and soldiers "Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” And some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages” (Luke 3 :13-14)

3. ROBBERY

Robbery is the act of taking what belongs to another. Robbery generally takes things directly, often by the use of superior force (frequently involving a weapon).

4. FRAUD

Fraud involves getting what belongs to another by deception. 

5. KIDNAPPING/ABDUCTION

In the ancient Near East, kidnapping was considered a form of theft (Deut. 24:7), probably because the individual would be kept as a slave, rather than because he or she would be ransomed. Today, people are kidnapped and abducted for monetary ransoms.  

6. EMBEZZLEMENT 

Embezzlement is the misuse or misappropriation of something that has been entrusted to us (Lev. 6:2). It is a violation of trust, for what has been placed in a person’s keeping has been appropriated for selfish purposes. 

Passive are as follows:

1. A man’s negligence which results in a loss to his neighbor. Exodus chapter 22 (verses 1-15) 

2. A man’s failure to return something lost to its owner is stealing. In Leviticus 6:3, the old adage, “finders keepers, losers weepers,” is shown to be an excuse for theft. 

3. Failure to give what belongs to another is stealing. A day laborer is to be paid at the end of the day (Lev. 19:13; Deut. 24:14-15

The Boiling Frog Syndrome

If you drop a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will of course frantically try to clamber out. But if you place it gently in a pot of tepid water and turn the heat on low, it will float there quite placidly. As the water gradually heats up, the frog will sink into a tranquil stupor, exactly like one of us in a hot bath, and before long, with a smile on its face, it will unresistingly allow itself to be boiled to death.

Stealing if not stopped becomes a habit!

Eph 4:28 [He who has been stealing must steal no longer but must work, doing something useful with his own hands that he may have something to share with those in need]

HOW DO WE STEAL FROM GOD?

We as believers have received tremendous physical and spiritual gifts from God, and we should desire to give back to Him all that we have. When we withhold the things that are rightly His, we are in effect stealing from Him. What are those things that we must give back to God?:

OUR TIME

OUR TALENT

OUR POSSESSIONS

OUR FINANCES

One day we will be judged by God and expected to give an account of what we did with the gifts God has so generously bestowed on us. Romans 14:12, 2 Cor. 5:10, Heb 4:13

Sing: 

You laid aside Your majesty, gave up everything for me

The good news is that thieves can be forgiven.

Ezekiel 33:15 - The thief who repents must give back what he stole. It is not enough just to say "I won't steal anything else." We must return what we unlawfully took.

Then, to be forgiven, you must be baptized (or pray if you are a Christian).

If you have stolen your past life from God, unfortunately you cannot turn back the clock and relive the past. But you can determine to live the future for Him, and this is what he requires.

The thief on Jesus' side at Calvary. "Today, you will be with me in paradise. 

Do you need to make your life right with God?

SING:

Great is Your mercy towards me!

Proverbs 30:7-9

“Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God" Proverbs 30:7-9 NIV

Proverbs 30 is regarded in the bible as the words of a man named Agur who probably lived during the time of King Solomon. The entire passage reflects a man of humility with a deep hatred for arrogance and love for God!

Argur starts in v7 by asking God two things and even begged God not to refuse him before he dies. What a man! 

What are the requests?

1. Keep falsehood and lies away from me!

2. Give me neither poverty nor riches but give me ONLY my daily bread!

Agur went further by telling God in his prayer requests the reason(s) for the requests. Which are:

1. If I have too much riches, I may disown God and say "Who is The Lord?"

2. If I become too poor and steal, "I will dishonour God's name"

Agur only asked for DAILY BREAD! 

What's Daily Bread? 

Jesus teaches us how to pray in Mathew 6 and specifically asked that we ask for our "Daily Bread in v11 "Give us today our daily bread". The word bread here denotes everything necessary to sustain life, Mt 4:4( Jesus says "man does not live on bread alone). Deut 8:3( He humbled you causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna. (The context here is all about trusting God even in great need - Israel totally failed here for they were quick to moan and rebel)

This petition implies our dependence on God for the supply of our wants. Perhaps this was what Agur was specifically asking God for. Give me ONLY my Daily Bread!

Above all, this talks about contentment in everything! 

We should never be anxious for anything but we should present our requests before God! Phil 4:6.

Paul admonishes us to be content with all we have and even said that he has learned the secret of being content. Secret? 

What's the secret? We can see this in v13 "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength". 

Question:

How do we become contented with what we have? Daily Bread is all about contentment!

Helping the poor and needy!

Luke 10:36-37- "The one who had mercy on him. Go and do likewise". 

Question:

How do we help the poor and needy amongst us? 

What are the consequences of stealing as a believer?

1. We dishonour God's name by questioning His ability to provide for us as His children. v9

2. We run the risk of arrest and custodial sentence or even death.  1Peter 2:13-25(which talks about upholding the laws of the land)

3. The risk of putting our family(both nuclear and church) to shame. 

4. Bad example to our children. Why did daddy go to prison? Because he stole and was arrested by the police. Jesus did warn us in Mark 9:42 about the effects of causing people to stumble(They not necessary be our children). 

The Last Three Days of Creation

Theme: The Last Three Days of Creation

Text: Genesis 1:14-31

Introduction: The Almighty God on Day 4 of creation created the light[but what light?]. On Day 5, He created the living creatures and called them blessed [this is obviously the first time, the word "blessed" is used by God] and on Day 6 created man in His image. As Ize Adava had highlighted on Tuesday, God is a wonderful sculptor with absolute Fine Art dexterity and attention to details. God is awesomely pedantic. 

Day 4 [v14-19]

Light? Again? Didn't we have "Light" created in v4? God has created light and there has been light in the past 3 days so what kind of light are we writing about here again? God could have left the light like that but He never did. He created the "lights, sun, moon and stars to serve as markers for seasons, days, years and signs. Just imagine a world without season, it would have been extremely "bland". These signs are important factors as they help us appreciate God more. These signs are used as testimony to God [Romans 1:14-20]. As navigation [Mathew 2:1,2] and as weather [Mathew 16:2,3].

Day 5 [v29-24]

God used the Day 5 to create living creatures: The animals and fish. And called them "blessed". The word, "blessed" simply mean to "be fruitful and multiply". Question. Can we ever catch all the Tilapia for food in the ocean? God has blessed the entire world with food. Why then do we go hungry and many are dead because of lack of food? Did God not bless us? Ponder on this! Adamic sin crept and God's curse remained! 

Day 6 [v24-31]

"Let us make man in our own image"- the words "us" and "our" shows us the very first sign of trinity [God, Son and Holy Ghost]. The crowning point of creation is the making of a living human in the image of God! I make bold to write that because we are made in the image of God, we draw a personal relationship with Him. Lets pause and think for a bit. We are made in God's image. We have a head [so does God], we have a heart [so does God], we have limbs and mobility [so does God]. We are made in His likeness. We are like God. The only difference is His awesome power. We have everything that God has! 

Dominion: We have dominion over all things that God has created. We have been asked to subdue them. [Psalm 8:6-8]. The word "subdue" does not in any way suggest unruly behaviour to "God's stuff".  We need to treat the earth with utmost caution and take care of God's stuff. I like the word "stuff". 

Male and Female: These two humans were specifically designed by God to multiply. God created them "Male and Female". This is instructive in this age of homosexuality where you have to be politically correct to address such issue but God at creation created them "Male and Female" and not "Male and Male" or Female and Female". If He had wanted such, He would have done it. Why are we changing God's plan? 

Blessed: God called them blessed. That word again? The second usage in the bible. This particular blessing involves reproduction and dominion. 

And it was very good: It's instructive to note that in v 4,10,12,18, 21, 25, God had used the word "good" but at the end of creation, He then used the phrase "very good". God was obviously pleased with Himself. There were no flaws. God is perfect! 

Conclusion

I wrote this about 3 years in an article titled "For Men Only: Praise and Worship", it's important that I add it here for emphasis. Pls enjoy!

I must confess that something just stirred up inside of me as I opened my PC to write this article, I’d wanted to write on an entirely different topic but I couldn’t hence this topic. Many of us as Men no matter our circumstance need to worship God daily. Nonstop. Sometimes, when I look at His Awesome wonder, I marvel at his sculptural dexterity. Forget human physiology and anatomy. Forget Medicine! God is an artist. He formed the bones and covered them in sinews and tendons. He formed the ball and socket joints and didn’t leave it like that; he added cartilages as a form of shock absorbers. He formed the ear and covered the middles section, the most delicate part with a tympanic membrane or else many of us in this 21st century would have gone deaf with the advent of over-blaring iPods and MP4s. He covered the eyeballs with an automatic eyelid, no matter the danger, no matter how small a foreign object may be, the eyelid closes before impact. It’s like He has a remote control in his hands up there. Take a look at your heart (I know you can’t see it but visualise its mechanism, follow the rhythm) and tell me if there is a Piston and Sleeve in place, what pumps that little organ? It’s been pumping the very minute you and I were conceived and will never stop till we drop the last breath. Even a Bentley Continental GT needs an annual service. When was the very last time you manually serviced your heart? What about the brain? Not even the world's fastest supercomputers can match it in Intuition. 

Give Him praise!

[Guest Article] The Christian in the End-Time Part 2 of 5

THE RAPTURE

David Oludairo

Please permit me to say from the beginning that the teaching on eschatology exists today in the realm of gleaned truths from the Scriptures. No denomination can lay claim to exclusive, infallible knowledge of the sequence of events for the end time. That’s why there are lots of argument and confusion among the body of Christ on the subject. This write-up is not immune from this trend.

We have a less-than-perfect picture because the Church is not engaging God on the subject of the end-time in the place of earnest prayer. Therefore, almost like the world, our back-slidden Church is also terrified of the end-time! Which is ironic, because the Lord has designed the end-time for the redemption and comfort of His people (1 Thess 4:18).

BOTTOMLINE: The most important thing about the end-time is not to have a full understanding of the sequence of events, but to BE FULLY PREPARED for the event.

Now, let’s come to the subject of the Rapture. There are several schools of thought in the Church on the timing of the rapture in relation to the seven-year Tribulation Period (TP) prophesied in Daniel 9:24-27. Some believe that all Christians will be here on earth (divinely protected) throughout the period of tribulation and will be rescued by God afterwards. This is the post-tribulation position shared by many evangelicals.
Others believe the rapture will occur mid-way into the TP (mid-tribulation position).

The pre-tribulation position (The Rapture), taught by most Pentecostal churches and other denominations, teaches that Christians will be taken away from the world before the wrath of the Lord is revealed in the TP (1 Thess 5:9). [Please join us in earnestly praying that the Lord will please shed more light that will unify the understanding of true believers on end-time events so that we can speak with one voice.]

Let’s look further at the pre-tribulation position on The Rapture. 

MODE
By nature, the Rapture will be sudden and cataclysmic; ( in the ‘twinkling of an eye’ – 1 Corinthians 15:52; and like a ‘thief in the night’ - 1 Thess 5:2). Jesus will appear suddenly in the sky at the blast of the trumpet of God in the midst of angels. The dead in Christ will rise in their graves and join this heavenly procession. Believers that have been truly waiting expectantly for this second coming will be caught up to join them in the air. (1 Thess 4:16-17). All this will happen in a split second.

TIMING
Jesus emphasised that no one will know the hour of His coming (Matthew 24:36). This is what He told us about the timing: IT WILL BE TOTALLY UNEXPECTED (Matthew 24:44).

PRECEDING SIGNS
How many signs will precede the Rapture? Zero. Unlike most events in the end-time that have multiple signs preceding them, there is not a single sign that will precede the Rapture. It is designed in this way so that only those who have obeyed the instruction to be ready at all times will make it. Scary, but very true.

INVITATION
The invitation list is exclusive, and highly restrictive. ‘Many are called, but few are chosen’ (Matthew 22:14)

POLITICAL OUTLOOK
Politically, the world will be under the central government of the Anti-Christ, who will unleash an unprecedented, pre-ordained persecution against Christians. He will torture them. He will overcome them. And He will kill them in huge numbers. All this is pre-ordained to punish and cleanse believers that ignored Jesus’ warning to be ready for His second coming. (Daniel 11:33,35; Revelation 13:5-7).
For such Christians, as well as the rest of the world, it will be a period of the out- pouring of God’s judgment on mankind in a series of calamities including, but not restricted to, natural disasters of megatronic proportions, onslaught of unknown pandemic diseases, huge social unrest and upheaval, devastating famine, etc. Jesus puts it this way: "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved...." (Matthew 24:21-22 

A Growing Concern!

I'm getting seriously concerned about a growing trend. 

As a youth leader both at church(I must confess that I have quite a few good kids at church) and outside, I have a few youths on my BB contact and the level of misbehaviour is high(Pls guys, don't delete me, Wale is just trying to help!).

What these guys post on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and BB and Foursquare is shocking. The level of lewdness is alarming. Now, here's a catch; these boys and girls idolise Rihanna and with her saucy and salacious mode of dancing on stage coupled with her meteoritic rise to fame sunbathing on a yacht off the Caribbean coast with Chris Brown as boyfriend all covered in tattoos points in the direction that we have lost focus and if care is not taken, we run the risk of building a future with broken bricks. 

I'm presently dealing with a case(with IB involved) where one of our young female friend "mistakenly" sent a text with her picture(semi-naked) to another female friend(we don't know her) and the entire school got it on their BB and Nokia and Samsung via Whatsapp and it trended for hours. She almost Killed herself! We asked her, why did you send your photograph in the first place? She retorted "it's a game thingy( I hate that "thingy" word! Whats thingy?) where we share photographs? I shouted "naked photographs? IB poked me metaphorically with her big eyes! 

The issue is, most of these boys and girls can't discuss these issues with their parents so they find "accommodating" older friends and IB and I have been doing that but my level of tolerance is waning. 

I get shocked everyday at what I read and see. What's happening to our society? A society where G-strings are taken as trophies by boys when they have sex with girls?  A society where boys sign off girls bra and pants with the phrase "I was here and enjoyed it". A society where boys are integrated into gangs by smoking "skunk? A society where both parents are engrossed in their jobs and not having time for the children? A society where boys aged 10 are used as gun keepers? A society where technology has eaten deep into our moral fabric and kids stay in their room all day on XBox, PSP, iPad and BB? A society where these kids play video games shooting and maiming "opponents"? What are we building?

Here's another shocker; the academic reports are going south! I review a lot of CVs for younger friends who are looking for summer jobs or college placements and I see words like "email addy", "refs" and the most annoying "I chillax with my friends as past time". All these in a formal document with the hope of getting a job? Our present day youths have been pummelled with "technological short hands" where they can't distinguish between the real world and Facebook. I asked one of them to write a short story on the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and I couldn't help but laugh at the grammatical flaws? A 16 year old? What's happening? The entire note was filled with street lingo and gang style innuendo bordering on the ridiculous. 

I also listen to the music collection on their phones and ah! Justin Bieber and Chris Brown and Rihanna and Lil' Wayne and because most of the kids are of Nigerian descent, they get hooked on a guy named Damoche(he was shot dead recently at his university). Damoche sang a "hit" called something in the region of "female genitalia as something worthy of eating". These youths see these musicians with the wealth they flaunt as the next big thing thereby pushing education to the back burners. Let me shock you, google the WAEC and NECO results in the last 5 years and let your brain freeze.

I am upset!

What have we done to this next generation?

Cultural Clash in church!

Geoff Low and I had a superb time out this past lunch time discussing God and the cultural clash from an African migrant like me and a British guy like Geoff. We were able to conclude that there should be nothing called "an African or British church, but a "Christ themed church" where God is worshipped in spirit and truth. I particularly enjoyed his exposition on who God really is without the hidden borders of rich semantics and culture. Geoff had lived in Peru and I grew up in Nigeria, so it was very easy to Identify the cultural differences from an African perspective and the reason why there's an influx and growing trend of "prosperity gospel" where we have turned God into Tesco! 

My church is rich in culture with diverse ethnic groups of Asians, Sub-Saharan and Southern Africans, continental Europeans and of course, Britons but the central theme is the Cross of Jesus Christ. I particularly told Geoff that I struggled when I joined on what I did term "sluggish mode of service" as a result of where I was coming from where there is an effervescent (that word again, Geoff. Lol) "gospel" approach to music but after some time, IB and I began to look indepth at the lyrics from the Praise! Hymn book and "landed" on 676-To God be the glory! Stanza 2 line 3-4 made perfect sense and I quote inter alia "the vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus, a pardon receives". So when we sing at TABC with only an accompaniment of soft piano and flutes, I have come to now pay particular attention to the lyrics of the hymns with emphasis on God. 

Why did I struggle? I have been used to my "place of birth" Baptist Church in Lagos, Nigeria and the Pentecostal church I was with for 15years both Nigeria and London where we worshipped God in Praise and Worship accompanied by a large ensemble of choristers and musical instruments. Let me run a quick example juxtapositioning Hymn 676 with Gospel singer, Donnie McClurkin's "Great is your mercy towards me"-a very popular worship chorus in pentecostal churches. McClurkin sings "great is your mercy towards me, your loving kindness towards me, your tender mercies I see, day after day......"  That line that I have come to love "the vilest offender who truly believes....." Has the same semantic semblance with "great is your mercy towards me" because both points to the Cross of the Savior, Jesus Christ and despite the fact that I was born a baptist, hymn 676 never made impact until I joined TABC. I was extremely cocooned in my culture of "heavy metal drum sets and bass guitar" without being pedantic to the lyrics. Pls, don't get me wrong, there's nothing absolutely wrong in worshipping God with those instruments but sometimes, they can form a sort of distraction where we are unconsciously swayed away by the rich music.  

Another issue that Geoff and I discussed is the mode of prayer. I come from a background where we pray for hours at "Night vigils" and petitioning God in a prayerthon approach and interjecting these prayers with hundreds of thunderous "amens" and phrases like "The blood of Jesus" and "Holy ghost fire" having the belief that prayers are answered only when you pray "hard". When I joined, IB and I struggled heavily with the mode of prayer as we found it extremely "sluggish" for us until God began to deal with us on who He really is and the ways to approach Him in prayer. IB and I now see this "erroneous" sluggish prayer mode as good because we don't bombard God with tons of prayer requests all pointing towards tautology and "Me, myself and I".The question thus arise that now that we have changed our prayers to the way it is done at our church, has God not answered us as a family? A capital YES affirming that we have testimonies to the goodness of God. 

I have taken time out to write this because I see myself as a microcosm of the family unit at TABC who had gone through the stage of cultural clash and pray that God reveal Himself to us more so that we can fully come to the understanding that a God's church must be Christ themed with a background know how of this year's Men's Fellowship theme "That I may know Him, the fellowship of His suffering and the power of His resurrection". 

Thanks to Geoff for the opportunity to share my thoughts with him. God bless you bro! 

[Guest Article] The Christian in the End-time (Part 1 of 5)

INTRODUCTION

David Oludairo

The world we live in is already under God’s judgment of condemnation. The judgement is awaiting execution at this moment. (2 Peter 3:7, Acts 17:31)

Before this final judgment is executed, God, in His mercy has provided a ‘safety net’ for all those that will cross from this condemned world to the new heavens and new earth that He is creating (2 Peter 3:13, Isaiah 65:17). Everything that will cross over to this new creation must be in this ‘safety net’ - and that is Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:10). Anybody/anything outside Christ will perish with the old world.

Thus, to escape God’s awesome wrath, every believer must take heed to be SURE that he/she is actually IN CHRIST. This is one of the reasons Jesus admonished His followers “Abide in me....” (John 15:4). The greatest danger relating to ‘abiding in Christ’ is that it is quite possible not to be in Christ, and to think you are in Christ. A lot of us do not abide, we visit....

Therefore, it becomes the prime duty of every Christian to be engaged in constant evaluation and re-evaluation to be sure that his/her life is actually, truly and incontestably in Christ. Apostle Peter puts it this way, “... give DILIGENCE to make your calling and election SURE (2 Peter 1:10). The key is to be SURE.

Before releasing the pent-up judgement, God will take His own people out of the way of His wrath (1 Thess 5:9). This is similar to what He did with Noah during the judgement by flood (Genesis 7:1), and with Lot’s family during the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:12-16). In these last days, it is through The Rapture that the Lord will take His people out of harm’s way in the coming judgment (1 Thess 4:16-17).

However, those that will be raptured, along with the saints that slept in Christ, have to be top notch, premium quality. Jesus is coming for a church without spots or wrinkles. 1 Thess 3:13 tells us our hearts should be “... unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints”. The standard is very high – attainable if we live in the spirit, pipe-dream if  we live in the flesh, and dangerously risky if we live in the Spirit today, and in the flesh tomorrow.

Also, please consider this: "... but we know that, WHEN HE SHALL APPEAR, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him PURIFIETH HIMSELF, EVEN AS HE IS PURE." (1 John 3:2-3). Furthermore, 2 Peter 3:14 is very instructive.

Preparation is everything for The Rapture. However serious you are as a Christian, if you mis-use this period of preparation, forget about The Rapture completely. This is what the Parable of 10 virgins teaches us clearly (Matthew 25:1-13). There will be no mercy at that gate. Now is the time to use the available grace and mercy of the Lord to get ready for that day.

How ready are you? Are you truly in Christ 

Mathew 6:9-10 is indeed "My Oga at the Top".

When my friend, Kola Oyeneyin, the CEO of the emerging and vibrant business, Vernia Hub, Lagos posted an update "a church somewhere in Nigeria tomorrow will be preaching on "My Oga at the Top" using Mathew 6:9, I saw an opportunity to share the gospel. In the last one week, a video had gone viral and images of the Lagos State Commandant of the National Security and Civil Defence Corps pointing to the ceiling with his index finger and uttering the now very popular phrase that has had over a million hit on YouTube and trended heavily on Twitter for over 72hours "my Oga at the top". Cartoonists have made T-shirts and caricature of the man. Artistes and DJs have done musical videos and rap songs about the phrase but I will be seeing an opportunity to share the gospel. 

Who is our own "Oga at the Top"?

Mathew 6:9-10 specifically tells us who the "Oga at the Top" is. Here is it:

Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil"

Our "Oga at the Top" is "sat in heaven and makes the earth His footstool"-Acts 7:49. This same "Oga kwatakwata" made the whole world in Genesis 1-reading the Book of Genesis points in the direction that this very "Oga" is highly methodical and meticulous, not given to sloppiness. He plans his plans well. He pays attention to details. He always ever ready. "A very present Help in times of need"-Psalm 46:1. This same "Oga" told the extremely frightened Israelites as they were boxed in between the rear raging Egyptian Army and the Red Sea  in Exodus 14:13-14 "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent." This "Oga" at the top gave strict warnings to Noah and the inhabitants of the world about bad behavioural attitude, they didn't listen, he caused a great flood wiping the entire world with just Noah and his family surviving. He gave us a clean slate. Who really is this "Oga at the Top"? What's His name? 

The "Oga at the Top" that I have been writing about is no other person than The Almighty God! Who is the Almighty God? The Hebrew name same as the "Almighty God" is "El Shaddai"-The All Powerful One. The Mighty One of Jacob. The title speaks volume. It points to the huge fact that this "Oga" now addressed as God has ultimate power over all things. The very first time the name came out was when "Oga" appeared to Abram and uttered this statement in Genesis 17:1 "I am God Almighty, walk before me and be blameless". We have come to know His many names and address Him as:

The Creator of heaven and earth. Genesis 14:19

The Almighty God. Genesis 49:25

The King of heaven. Daniel 4:37

The Eternal King. Jeremiah 10:10

He is the only God. Jude 1:25

Builder of everything. Hebrews 3:4

He's able to do more than what we ask for. Ephesians 3:20

He's also refered to as The Lord when he appeared to Moses in Exodus 6:2-3

My "Oga at the Top" is an Omnipotent God!

The omnipotence of God implies that he cannot be stopped from doing what he purposes to do. Daniel 4:35 says, "The Most High does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand." If God purposes with all his heart to do a thing, it simply cannot be stopped by any power in the universe. Second, the omnipotence of God implies that he does whatever he pleases. Psalm 115:3, says "Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases." In Isaiah 46:9-10 God says, "I am God and there is none like me. GOD ALMIGHTY is not like us. He can do whatever he pleases. Ultimately the only thing that determines what God will accomplish and what He won't is His own will. Third, the omnipotence of God implies that His power is superior to all other powers. 

My "Oga at the top sent us His Beloved Son!

The Almighty God sent us His only begotten son in John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Thus singular act gave all of us new life by the redemptive blood of the "Oga at the Top" beloved son, Jesus. This "Oga" is a very good Man because He loves us so much and we mustn't take this love for granted. 

When the Lagos State Commandant of NSCDC was asked the name of his establishment's website and he pointed to the ceiling of the TV studio saying "my Oga at the top.........", ironically we do the samething when we are desperately looking for help from God, we lift up our eyes to the sky, raising up our hand and ask "my Oga at the Top", I'm in dire need of your help! 

Give your life entirely to this Oga at the Top and allow Him direct your path according to His riches in glory. Come to Jesus today and you won't regret. 

Thanks to amiable Kola Oyeneyin for this nudge. I owe this sermon to you. One love bro.