The document discusses the resurgence of antediluvian sins and demonic practices within modern Christianity, indicating a troubling return to ancient rituals and beliefs under the guise of revival and spiritual awakening. It highlights the necessity for prophetic discernment amidst a complex landscape of religious pluralism, where traditional standards of worship and truth are increasingly compromised. The author expresses a sense of urgency for reform within the church to realign with true worship and the teachings of Jesus amidst a pervading spiritual deception.

2. CHURCH DEVELOPMENT
About the Book
The specter of antediluvian sins of the times of Noah is rearing its ugly head
again in these times. Men are once more having “intercourse” with demonic or
fallen angelic beings in ways that confer power on them to manifest miracles,
signs and wonders whose real sources and validity can only be uncovered by
prophetic discernment.
As men of this century are returning to the wisdom of long past ages, modern
Pentecostal/Charismatic churches have also been invaded by the spirit of the
age, sustaining their flight upon the wings of ancient lore. Every characteristic of
the antediluvian sins seems to be reappearing. Open intercourse with demons is
being perpetuated on a vast scale in the very heart of Christendom and these
practices do not exclude even the hitherto somewhat traditionally conservative
segments of the Protestants. The use of concocted substances and countless
other practices of primal and medieval times now thrive in numerous “church”
circles. Old, mesmerizing healing methods rooted in ancient magical arts are
increasingly being passed off as genuine Spirit-induced miracles. All these are
floating back to us upon the tide of “revivals” and “spiritual awakenings.” They no
longer come veiled or shrouded in secrecy or mystery; rather, in accordance with
the spirit of the age, they blatantly present themselves as veritable tools of
evangelism and church growth.
2

3. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1: THE DESOLATING SACRILEGE
Worship in the Beginning
Making God in Our Own Image and According to Our Likeness
The Altar of An Unknown God
The Spirit of Python
Chapter 2: CHURCH GOVERNMENT
What Does the Real Church Look Like?
Beware of the “House of God”
Beware of the Athaliahs
Jeroboam, A False Apostolic Order
Beware of the Altars of Jeroboam
3

4. Chapter 3: JESUS’ MINISTRY WAS PURPOSE
DRIVEN NOT NEED MOTIVATED
The Market-Place Christendom Versus the Ecclesia of God
Abomination in the Holy Place
Christ Has Come in the Flesh
A Generation that Practices Lawlessness
The Mark of the Beast
The Mark of Christ
Chapter 4: SALVATION -
Pictures of Salvation
The Dynamics of Salvation
How Do I Get Saved?
Salvation and Entering the Kingdom
Ultimate Salvation…?
4

5. Chapter 5: THE NECESSITY FOR REFORMATION
The gospel of the kingdom
The Church is Not the Kingdom of God
The Community of people that Jesus is building
Chapter 6: RESSURECTION AND REGENESIS
Resurrection
What is Regenesis?
Creation Story
5

6. FOREWORD
The Prince of this World has long been striving, and seems almost close to
achieving that victory. It is the natural result of a major error by the church: a
lowering of the standard of the Kingdom through the introduction of a gospel of
convenience, a walk with God that does not require sacrifice, Christianity that
lacks the power to adjust the human nature and character. The Church’s
surrendering of this basis of her power and legitimacy has made her to exist in a
perfect and harmonious accord with the World. The visible Church has virtually
created her own ‘GOD,’ a religious deity who seems satisfied with His subject’s
excesses, cares little about their sins, highly appreciates their works of virtue,
even though these were predicated on human pride, and looks with pleasure
upon their bold deeds and intellectual displays. Packages of doctrines, whole
pedestals of understanding and range of thinking system which form the basis of
people’s faith have been tailored to satisfy the cravings of fallen men. The God of
the bible has been left out of His own house. His city lies in virtual ruins while the
city wall are continually been compromised so that strangers may enter at will.
This book is written out of the pain and frustration that I suffered in my pursuit of
the true God and it is dedicated to the seven thousand who have not bow their
knees to Baal, and to The Regenesis my community for allowing me to be an
elder among the elders of the assembly; indeed they were the guinea pigs used
in the process of uncovering this ancient path, and to all men who are sighing
because of the affliction of Joseph.
Ayodeji Ezra-Williams
6

7. Chapter 1
THE DESOLATING SACRILEGE
Religion is as old as the recorded history of man. The history of every civilization
must include an account of its religion(s) with accompanying god(s), ritual rites,
myths, and symbols. Old world religions (among which Christianity is often
ignorantly listed) such as Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Taoism, etc have
found new expressions, and have given birth to many offspring. In the 21st
century, these major religious traditions have lost their monopoly. What were
once “standard religions” must now compete with those which, at a time would
have been considered as “marginal” or “fringe” groups. Increasingly our people
are seeking to worship at alternative altars that suit their individual purposes and
objectives.
The global paradigm shift must of necessity be seen as the force that add
impetus to the manifestation of conflicting and competing claims to truth which is
confronting the Church of Christ. At a time old traditional religions are fast losing
their monopoly over the worship systems of the earth, we are no longer just
going to be seeing churches and mosques on our streets, but will equally be
bombarded by sundry other ancient devils and corruptions of old, filling our cities
with false altars, meditation centers and psycho-spiritual self-help groups.
The new millennium has ushered in a fresh wave of spiritual awakenings. These
are hallmarked by new ecclesiastical vocabularies and dazzling worldviews,
eastern mystical imports, new age gurus and charismatic preachers; even
magicians and spiritists are beginning to sound “ Christian,” with the singular
objective of hoodwinking and deceiving the unwary and the undiscerning.
One of the challenges that the religious pluralism of the 21st century poses to
believers in Christ is that they must place unwavering emphasis on the
development of discerning or prophetic skills (i.e. access to the mind of God).
7

8. “And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives
you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will
deceive many”:
Mathew 24:4,
And Jesus, answering them, began to say: “Take heed that no one
deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and will
deceive many. But when you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be
troubled, for such things must happen, but the end is not yet. For nation
will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be
earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles.
These are the beginnings of sorrows. “But watch out for yourselves, for
they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the
synagogues. You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a
testimony to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.
But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or
premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour;
speak that for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. Now brother will
betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up
against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated
by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”
So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the
prophet, standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then let
those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the
housetop not go down into the house, nor enter to take anything out of his
house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But
woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in
those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter. For in those
days there will be tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of
the creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be. And
unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but
for the elect’s sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days. “Then if
anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, He is there!’ do not
believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and
wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. But take heed; see, I have
told you all things beforehand “.
Mark 13:5–23.
8

9. And He said: “Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in
My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time has drawn near.’ Therefore, do
not go after them. But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be
terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come
immediately.”
Luke21: 8-9.
The fact that the issues of discernment and deception were repeated thrice by
our Lord Jesus in all the gospels underscores their significance to the believer’s
survival in the end times.
Presently, the world is operating at a level of sophistication and competence that
the Church as it is today finds difficult to either keep pace with or even
comprehend. One clear evidence of the fact that our present day Church is blind
to its own needs and even undiscerning of its inadequacies, is that we have
destroyed within the church structure our research and development
departments, by making the false claim that there are no more prophets and
apostles, and subsequently replacing them with the limiting concepts of
monarchical bishops and parish pastors in a world that acts and thinks global.
As time goes on, the church in its present state may soon discover that she will
no more make impact by advertising miracles as the bait to get people into its
fold. The spectre of antediluvian sins of the times of Noah is rearing its ugly head
again in these times. Men are once more having “intercourse” with demonic or
fallen angelic beings in ways that confer power on them to manifest miracles,
signs and wonders whose real sources and validity can only be uncovered by
prophetic discernment.
As men of this century are returning to the wisdom of long past ages, modern
Pentecostal/Charismatic churches have also been invaded by the spirit of the
age, sustaining their flight upon the wings of ancient lore. Every characteristic of
the antediluvian sins seems to be reappearing. Open intercourse with demons is
being perpetuated on a vast scale in the very heart of Christendom and these
practices do not exclude even the hitherto somewhat traditionally conservative
segments of the Protestants. The use of concocted substances and countless
other practices of primal and medieval times now thrive in numerous “church”
circles. Old, mesmerizing healing methods rooted in ancient magical arts are
increasingly being passed off as genuine Spirit-induced miracles. All these are
floating back to us upon the tide of “revivals” and “spiritual awakenings.” They no
longer come veiled or shrouded in secrecy or mystery; rather, in accordance with
9

10. the spirit of the age, they blatantly present themselves as veritable tools of
evangelism and church growth.
It is instructive that the Apostle Paul also encountered a pluralistic culture in
which many gods were worshipped, as revealed in his speech to the folks on
Mars Hill (Acts. 17:16). His approach to the Athenians of his day models for us
the methodology for the21st Century kingdom exploits.
Armed with apostolic and prophetic insights, the 21st Century Church has the
calling to be militant yet respectful, confrontational yet courteous, open to
dialogue but firm in its convictions. When Paul addressed the Athenians, he
made it clear that he had studied them and that he was listening to them. He
affirmed their spiritual quest without endorsing where that search had taken
them.
The same was written of Moses [“And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of
the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds,” Acts 7:22]; and of Daniel
and his three friends who actually studied the languages and the literature of the
Chaldeans in order to discredit their claims to truth. [“…young men in whom there
was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge
and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom
they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans.” Daniel 1:4-5]. We
must tap into all these enduring, ancient values and technology to be able to
overcome the final invasion of alien gods and false altars of these last days.
The 21st century believers must be wise, competent and endowed with the
necessary spiritual capacity to deal with the issues that will confront the
inhabitants of the earth as the age is about to climax. The greatest challenge of
this 21st century is not going to be worship or the lack of it, but the “whom” and
the “how” of worship (i.e. who are men worshipping and how are they doing the
worship). This is because over the years especially the decades immediately
proceeding and leading up to the 1990s, the nations of the earth witnessed some
serious spiritual awakenings, a fact which was not lost on Satan the devil and his
cohorts. And although he does not mind anyone becoming religious, what the
devil detests and hates with passion is the worship of the true God. To that
extent, he concentrates all his energy on defiling and polluting the worship
systems of the earth.
10

11. “Who (i.e. the man of sin) opposes and exalts himself above all that is
called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of
God, showing himself that he is God”.
2nd Thessalonians 2:4
There is a dimension in the church system of today that is presenting itself as the
worship of the true God, but which is false. Whenever anyone seeks to worship
the almighty God, it is this religious imposition that you are first confronted with.
Sometimes it comes as a system of belief and at other times, it may manifest as
a wrong emphasis of the doctrine of Christ. It might also be a denomination that
was once used by God but which in the present time has become a monument.
The issue that our generation has to contend with is that this dimension sits in
the temple and is showing itself as God.
With this understanding, we must begin to examine our lives so that we can be
sure that we are serving the living God and not gods imposed by systems and/or
organizations which are fast spreading and polluting the spiritual landscape of
the nations.
WORSHIP IN THE BEGINNING
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, and
to all the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘Whatever man of the house of
Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, who offers his sacrifice for any of his
vows or for any of his freewill offerings, which they offer to the Lord as a
burnt offering—you shall offer of your own free will a male without blemish
from the cattle, from the sheep, or from the goats. Whatever has a defect,
you shall not offer, for it shall not be acceptable on your behalf. And
whoever offers a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord, to fulfill his vow,
or a freewill offering from the cattle or the sheep, it must be perfect to be
accepted; there shall be no defect in it. Those that are blind or broken or
maimed, or have an ulcer or eczema or scabs, you shall not offer to the
Lord, nor make an offering by fire of them on the altar to the Lord. Either a
bull or a lamb that has any limb too long or too short you may offer as a
freewill offering, but for a vow it shall not be accepted.
You shall not offer to the Lord what is bruised or crushed, or torn or cut;
nor shall you make any offering of them in your land. Nor from a foreigner’s
11

12. hand shall you offer any of these as the bread of your God, because their
corruption is in them, and defects are in them. They shall not be accepted
on your behalf. ‘And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “When a bull or a
sheep or a goat is born, it shall be seven days with its mother; and from the
eighth day and thereafter it shall be accepted as an offering made by fire to
the Lord Whether it is a cow or ewe, do not kill both her and her young on
the same day. And when you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord,
offer it of your own free will. On the same day it shall be eaten; you shall
leave none of it until morning: I am the Lord. “Therefore you shall keep my
commandments, and perform them: I am the Lord. You shall not profane
my holy name, but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel. I am the
Lord who sanctifies you, 33 who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be
your God: I am the Lord.”
The Feasts of the Lord
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and
say to them: ‘the feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy
convocations, these are My feasts.
The Sabbath
“Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn
rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the
Lord in all your dwellings “.
The Passover and Unleavened Bread
“These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall
proclaim at their appointed times. On the fourteenth day of the first month
at twilight is the Lord’s Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same
month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must
eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation;
you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made
by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy
convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.’ ”
The Feast of First fruits
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and
say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its
harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the
priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your
behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. And you shall
offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year,
without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. Its grain offering shall be
12

13. two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire
to the Lord, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-
fourth of a hin. You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh
grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it
shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
The Feast of Weeks
‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from
the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths
shall be completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath;
then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. You shall bring from
your dwellings two-wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of
fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the first fruits to the
Lord. And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year,
without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt
offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an
offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord. 19 Then you shall
sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the
first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. The priest shall wave them with
the bread of the first fruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two
lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. And you shall proclaim
on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no
customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings
throughout your generations. ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you
shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather any
gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the
stranger: I am the Lord your God.”
The Feast of Trumpets
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel,
saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have
a Sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You
shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by
fire to the Lord.’ ”
The Day of Atonement
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Also the tenth day of this seventh
month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for
you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the
Lord. And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of
Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. For any
person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from
his people. And any person who does any work on that same day, that
13

14. person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no manner of
work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your
dwellings. It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict
your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to
evening, you shall celebrate your Sabbath.”
The Feast of Tabernacles
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel,
saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of
Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. On the first day there shall be a
holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. For seven days
you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you
shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire
to the Lord. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work
on it. ‘These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy
convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering
and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day—
38 besides the Sabbaths of the Lord, besides your gifts, besides all your
vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the Lord.’
Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in
the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on
the first day there shall be a Sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a Sabbath-
rest. And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful
trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the
brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. You
shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a
statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh
month. You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native
Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made
the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of
Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’ So Moses declared to the children of Israel
the feasts of the Lord.
Leviticus 23:17-44
When God instituted worship under the Old Testament, He regulated it by
proclaiming Feasts of the Lord and various sacrifices. No one is permitted to
worship God the way he likes. Anyone’s desire and zeal to worship must fall
within the confines of what was stipulated by God. The rules guiding various
sacrifices must be adhered to or the wrath of this terrible God would be incurred.
God even went to the extent of giving directions on how altars were to be built.
“An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your
burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In
14

15. every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you.
And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone;
for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it. Nor shall you go up by
steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it”.
Exodus 20: 24-26
Much of this truth has been lost. These days, anyone can just decide to build any
form of altar (CHURCH) without following God’s prescribed pattern. You can
actually shop for whatever kind of god, in whichever kind of organization or
denomination you want, depending on what is the currently reigning theology or
more importantly, what you perceive your needs to be. This is not God’s pattern
for advancing godliness but the lawless spirit that Apostle Paul discerned (2nd
Thessalonians 2; 7) and affirmed had actually been at work centuries ago.
MAKING GOD IN OUR OWN IMAGE AND LIKENESS
The Ichabod Generation
“And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man saying, we will
eat our own food and wear our own apparel only let us be called by your
name to take away our reproach “.
Isaiah 4:1
In the context and the structure of this prophecy by Isaiah, we find a generation
of people with insatiable appetite to worship God at all cost. A generation has
arisen with a corrupt desire to pollute the worship systems of the earth by
substituting the doctrine of Christ with their own idea of who God is and how He
is to be worshipped; we have become a generation that is making God in our
own image and likeness.
Woman is the picture of the church, and the church is the bride of Christ. There is
only one man [mediator], Christ Jesus the saviour of the world. There is nothing
wrong in wanting to take hold of the man Christ Jesus, but doing it on your own
terms will be evil and ungodly. Every false religion of the earth took its root from
this evil technology. This apostate church wants to eat her own food [her own pet
15

16. DOCTRINE] and wear her own apparel [her own idea of RIGHTEOUSNESS], but
hide under the name of Christ so as to damn the souls of men who worship at
her altar. A good percentage of what is known as church today, even among the
Pentecostals and the Charismatics, actually thrives on this evil imposition.
“Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day
about three thousand souls were added to them. AND THEY CONTINUED
STEADFASTLY IN THE APOSTLES’ DOCTRINE and fellowship, in the
breaking of bread, and in prayers”.
Acts 2:41-42
The early church was birthed in the apostolic doctrine and in which it continued
steadfastly; the doctrine was the bedrock upon which the totality of its mission
thrust was built. Although complete reference bibles and bible schools were not
in existence, believers were matured by being in fellowship with the apostles; and
as long as they adhered to the apostolic teachings, their lifestyles remained
accurate and in subjection to Christ.
The accuracy of a church group or its activities is measured by its ability to
discern God’s purpose for the time, and the commitment and obedience it brings
into its execution. It has nothing to do with crowd, fame or the building of
ornamental structures. It does not matter what anyone builds on earth in the
name of the Lord, its validity and genuineness must be measured in terms of how
it conforms to God’s righteous standards. If it is not a product of the divine will
and if its conception is rooted in human ambition and personal aggrandizement,
then it is a false altar. There are countless numbers of such illegitimate altars
today, not only in this land but also around the world.
“…Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the
tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the
pattern shown you on the mountain.”
Hebrew 8:5
WORSHIPPING AT THE ALTAR OF AN UNKNOWN GOD
“Because of the fragrance of your good ointments, your name is ointments
poured forth; therefore, the virgins love you”.
Songs of Solomon 1:3.
Multitudes are drawing near to Christ today because of the security that His
name provides. That His name is as ointment poured forth as a refreshing and
16

17. consoling factor for a brutalized humanity is absolutely true. However, it is only
the naive and the ignorant who love Him just because of what He can do for
them, but not necessarily for who He is. This is pure idolatry; it is a corruption of
worship and the purpose for which it was instituted.
These concepts of worship are alien to the God of the bible. You hear churches
advertise miracles and build their entire ministry initiatives on solving people’s
problems, rather than bring them into a spiritual relationship with Christ in a
manner that will lead to the transformation of their character, and indeed their
very nature.
Entire church denominations are being built on survival and management
principles and cunningly devised fables of financial success and breakthroughs,
thus breeding a throng of greedy saints with insatiable appetite for worldly wealth
and fame.
We now have a generation of believers who cannot differentiate between what
truly constitutes God’s blessings and merely having access to material things.
Although contending for the gold of the earth is, in itself, not a sin but the manner
of and the motive for its pursuit (especially as an end in itself) can definitely be.
Everything, no matter how desirable, which pursuit and eventual possession is
not the result of the will of God, and therefore not tied to divine purpose, will
eventually become a stumbling block to the believer. It is a trap carefully
orchestrated to keep such a believer permanently out of God’s divine economy.
In the scriptures, it is likened to God sending leanness into the souls of a self-
seeking people (Psalms 105:15). The inevitable result of that is an otherwise
avoidable spiritual dissipation. We understand that though Abraham was rich in
gold, silver, land and cattle, yet he was constrained by purpose (i.e. what God
wanted for his life) to living in tents for the rest of his life.
Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the
mighty man glory in his might (miracle power), Nor let the rich man glory in
his riches (prosperity); But let him who glories glory in this, That he
understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising loving kindness,
judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the
Lord.
Jeremiah 9:23-24
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love
God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He
foreknew, HE ALSO PREDESTINED TO BE CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE
OF HIS SON, THAT HE MIGHT BE THE FIRSTBORN AMONG MANY
BRETHREN”.
17

18. Romans 8:29
THE SPIRIT OF PYTHON
Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed
with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by
fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These
men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of
salvation.” And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed,
turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ
to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour. But when her masters
saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and
dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities
Acts 16:16-19
The whole essence of biblical Christianity is not just that we may be healed and
blessed by God, but more importantly, to transform us into the image of His son.
However, there exists in the church today a “python” spirit that promises solution
to people’s problems without the reformation of their character and the
regeneration of their nature. It was the same spirit Paul encountered in Greece
[Acts 16:16]. A divination (Puthon-Greek for Python) spirit it was, which could
give accurate information about people’s ailments, conditions or fortunes. It was
so accurate in foretelling that if it were to be situated within the context of man’s
21st century religious ingenuity, it could be conveniently polished and packaged
as the operation of the gift of the Holy Spirit, out of which a big “church” or
“ministry” could be created.
This “python” spirit in the slave girl was bringing a lot of profit to her masters
through accurate diagnoses of situations (fortune-telling), and to any
undiscerning person it could well pass for the power of God. However, the
moment it came in contact with the true power of God working in His apostles, it
suffered permanent neutralization. This evil anointing can gather crowd and
produce miracles, but it cannot manifest Christ; and if Christ cannot be
manifested in any situation, there can be neither transformation of nature nor
reformation of character.
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19. “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of
the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory,
just as by the Spirit of the Lord “.
2nd Corinthians 3:17-18
Issues of character refinements, godly fear and piety have been buried in the
tomb of endless church programmes, activities and ministry merchandising, and
as long as money is coming in and structures are going up, deluded minds will
conclude that the kingdom of God is being advanced.
Many church groups of these last days are being built on these pedestals of
deceit and distraction, and they are bringing gains to their founders and
facilitators at the expense of the souls under them. These groups might not have
started out with the intention of becoming objects of spiritual lawlessness, but the
moment any church groups begin to elevate the needs and problems of people
above God and in so doing, trade away His time-honored pattern for building the
church (i.e. the lives of His people), they will automatically tap into this spirit of
“python,” even unknowingly.
Since their patterns have no origin in God, they will be creating vacuums that can
only be filled by alien spiritual entities, and not the Spirit of God. Since the Holy
Spirit will never work in their midst, they must rely on other sources of power.
Multitudes will be gathering to get their problems solved but never to be
conformed to the image of Christ. Emphases are always on great manifestation
of miracles, signs and wonders and the meeting of personal wants and desires
but hardly on character development or the internalization of the values of the
kingdom of God. It all smacks more of a “better life programme” than kingdom
initiatives for a better society.
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20. Chapter 2
CHURCH GOVERNMENT
Deceived by the specters of gathering multitude of souls supposedly being
saved, innumerable miracles that are being wrought, and the firebrand sermons
being preached, most will be led into the erroneous conclusion that the true
church is what already exists and is visible. The truth however is that much of
what is visible today as the church bears little resemblance to the true Church.
The people of this age have not seen the real Church. The real Church has only
CHRIST as her HEAD. He is the only person that must be exalted at all time and
around whom all must be gathered.
There must never be a program, there must not be a man (like an orchestra
leader) directing everybody, telling every other persons when to sing, when to
stand, when to sit, when to shout, when to say Amen, or what and whom to
believe. If a gathering of the church is on at any time or moment, Jesus must be
at the head of that congregation, and whatever chores it is currently undertaking
must have been initiated and wholly supervised by Him. If truly, Jesus is the
reason for any of our congregations, He alone gets all the recognition and
everybody must look up and submit to Him. It does not matter what vessel is
being used, the Lord Jesus alone must be lifted up. The present situation in
which so-called pastors, bishops or general overseers and their sermons loom
large in people’s eyes and mind is a subtle promotion of idolatry.
The prevailing conditions in the church in these days present a picture that is far
from the original intention of God. The divine order of things has been totally
compromised and all kinds of laughable activities are going on in the name of
God. The list include the preeminence of a nicolaitian dimension of clergy versus
the laity, self-glorifying slaves ruling over the people of God and literally taking
dominion over their faith, the dictatorial posturing and the larger-than-life image
of church leaders, the prevalence of a pharisaic order in which robes and gowns
are the instruments of the anointing, the obscene harvest of titles (e.g. The Very
Reverend…, Snr. Evangelist…, Bishop…, Rev. (Dr)..., Prophet (Dr.)…,
Prophet/Apostle…, etc.), the reckoning of divine approval by material acquisitions
and numbers, the competition with programs and activities, and many more. All
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21. this presents a picture of a truly desolating abomination, a travesty of the real
thing.
God did not create the sort of hierarchical structure that the church of today is
using to sustain itself. His original intention which must come to pass is to make
us into a Kingdom of Priests. He did not set up a system of the clergy and the
laity. He did not create a class system. He hates Nicolaitanism (Rev 2:5&15)-
rulers ruling over His people and taking His place in the congregation. Anyone
who takes the place of Christ in our lives is an antichrist. Many church groups
have already been spewed out and many more are still being spewed out of the
mouth of God. They are no longer in Him. They are outside, although they still
reckon they are in Him. They are still functioning and still claiming to be part of a
victorious body of Christ, even when they are gradually exiting into a Babylonian
position and will become an unwitting tool in the hand of the Antichrist in this last
age of the church.
WHAT DOES THE REAL “CHURCH” LOOK LIKE?
At first, Jesus’ followers saw no need to develop a system of church government.
They expected Christ to return soon, so they dealt with internal problems as the
need arose—usually in a very informal way. But by the time Paul wrote his letters
to the churches, Christians realized the need to organize their work. The New
Testament does not give us a detailed picture of this early church government.
Apparently, one or more elders (presbyters) presided over the affairs of each
congregation (Rom. 12:6–8; 1 Thessalonians. 5:12; Heb. 13:7, 17, 24), just as
elders did in Jewish synagogues. These elders were chosen by the Holy Spirit
(Acts 20:28); yet apostles appointed them (Acts 14:23). Thus the Holy Spirit
worked through the apostles to ordain leaders for the ministry. Some ministers,
referred to as “evangelists” seem to have travelled from one congregation to
another, as the apostles did. The title means “men who handle the gospel.”
Some have concluded that they were all personal deputies of the apostles, as
Timothy was of Paul; some others suppose that they gained their name through
manifesting a special gift of evangelism.
The elders assumed the normal pastoral duties between the visits of these
evangelists. In some congregations, the elders appointed deacons to distribute
food to the needy or care for other material needs (cf. 1 Tim. 3:12). The first
deacons were the “men of honest report” that the elders of Jerusalem appointed
to care for widows in the congregation (Acts 6:1–6).
Some New Testament letters refer to “bishops” in the early church. There may be
some arguments whether the bishops of Paul’s letters are quite the same as the
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22. ones we have in some churches where the title is used today. Then, they were
not ordained in a coronation kind of event. In Paul’s reminder to the elders of
Ephesus that they were bishops (Acts 20:28), he seemed to use the terms ‘elder’
and ‘bishop’ interchangeably (Titus 1:5–9). Both bishops and elders were
charged with the oversight of a congregation. Apparently, both terms refer to the
same ministers in the early church, namely the presbyters.
Paul and the other apostles recognized that the Holy Spirit gave special
leadership abilities to certain people (1 Corinthians. 12:28). So when they
conferred an official title upon a Christian brother, they were confirming what the
Holy Spirit had already done.
In the early Church, no one local assembly was a branch of another, and there
were no branch pastors. Also manifestly absent was the concept of a
headquarters, which served as some kind of a center of power from where
strings of control were being pulled on the branches. Every assembly was
autonomous, yet in relationship with the rest of the body of Christ. The Christians
understood that Christ was the center and source of all their powers (Acts 20:28).
Ministry meant serving in humility, rather than ruling from a lofty office (cf. Matt.
20:26–28).
By the time Paul wrote his pastoral epistles, Christians recognized the
importance of preserving Christ’s teachings through ministers who devoted
themselves to special study, “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). The
early church did not offer magical powers to individuals through rituals or any
other means. The Christians invited unbelievers into their group, the body of
Christ (Eph. 1:23). They were uncompromising in their disapproval of individuals
seeking to gain special powers from Christ for their own selfish ends (Acts 8:9–
24; 13:7–12).
OUR IDENTITY: EKKLESIA OR KYRIAKON?
JESUS NEVER SAID I WILL BUILD MY “CHURCH”
The word “Church” actually means a physical building. Ekklesia which is the
actual Greek word that Jesus used in Matt. 16:18 IS NOT the same as Church. In
other words, Church is a mistranslation of the word Jesus used i.e. Ekklesia – not
just in Matt. 16:18 but in 111 places out of the 114 times that Church and
Churches are used in the New Testament. Worst of all, the mistranslation was
not an accident but deliberate! The undeniable fact is that the word, “Church” is
NOT from Ekklesia but from an entirely different word, “Kyriakon”.
What is Ekklesia?
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23. While Ekklesia literally means “Called Out”, its historical and contextual meaning
is a legislative assembly. That means Ekklesia is not related to religion in any
way. The word has been in use since the days of the Greeks up to Roman times
to refer to a political assembly. When we understand the proper context of the
Matt. 16:13-18 discourse, it will not be surprising why Jesus chose such a term to
describe the Body that He is building when He could have easily used other
religious terms such as temple, sanctuary, altar, synagogue, tabernacle, and so
on. But the Lord Jesus said what He meant and meant what He said.
What of Kyriakon?
Kyriakon means “the lord’s house” but do not let that mislead you into assuming
that the “lord” there refers to the Lord of the bible or that the “house” refers to the
Assembly of Gods people. While it is true that one of the metaphors used for the
Body of Christ is a building (Eph. 2:21, 1 Cor. 3:9, 2 Cor. 6:16), kyriakon actually
refers to a physical building for the worship of heathen gods or idols.
Recall that until the 4th century, no physical building was associated with the
Christian faith. So, kyriakon was always used in reference to heathen temples.
Synonyms include temple, shrine, (and if you like, synagogue or even mosque
because what is common to them all is that they are literal physical buildings
dedicated for religious worship).
The birth of Institutional Christianity
The word, Kyriakon, however was introduced into the Christian lexicon as a place
dedicated for Christian worship in the fourth century, when Constantine
established Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire. This was
when Christians began to meet in “worship” buildings, rather than in homes or in
public places. And that transition (the shift from homes to dedicated worship
buildings) marked the beginning of our identity crisis: a switch from nationhood
into religious institutionalization. And with every passing year, decade, century up
to a millennium, the identity crisis deepened and became entrenched. Somebody
once said, “Repeat a lie long enough and it becomes an accepted and
established truth.”
Conspiracy Against the Head
Fast forward to the 16th century during the Protestant reformation. The printing
press had just been discovered to coincide with ongoing efforts to translate the
bible from Latin to other languages, English being one of the first.
In 1525, William Tyndale translated the first printed Bible into English. He
translated the word ekklesia as “congregation” or assembly. This was in direct
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24. contradiction to the Roman Church. At that time, the Roman Church feared that
removing the word “church” from the Bible would threaten their authority and
hierarchy. This was one of the major reasons Tyndale was burned at the stake
by the Roman Church in 1536. Interestingly, when King James authorized his
translation of the Bible in 1611, eighty-four percent of the New Testament was
translated directly from Tyndale’s Bible. But King James made one translation
rule clear: ekklesia was to be translated “church” and not “congregation” or
“assembly.” … King James was the head of the Church of England and all forty-
seven translators were members. For political and control reasons, the King
James Version of the Bible mistranslated the Greek word ekklesia to “church.”
Since then, just about every English version of the Bible has kept to this
translation of “church. ”Thankfully, besides the Tyndale translation, other bibles
that have chosen to stay with the original word Ekklesia; include Darby, Young’s
literal translation and Complete Jewish bible. They use the word Assembly
instead. CJB uses “Community” which I believe to be contextually an even more
accurate rendition.
ECCLESIA VS CHURCH
'Ecclesia' is a Greek word translated 'Assembly', 'Congregation' or 'Community of
Believers' in English which literally means 'the called-out ones’. Whereas
'Church' is an English translation of the Greek word 'Kyriako’s' which literally
means 'pertaining or belonging to a lord' (note, not the Lord, but a lord), because
the rulers of those days were referred to as 'lords'. Little wonder why Believers
were martyred because they called Jesus Lord (meaning they pledged their
allegiance to only one King, Jesus, not Caesar or any other king).The word
'Ecclesia' appears 112 times in the New Testament, but was replaced with the
word 'Church' in the KJV Bible, a political move by King James himself (and
some other translations followed suit). Note that the KJV Bible wasn't the first
English translation of the Bible. The word 'Church' wasn't used in the earliest
English translations of the Bible. For example, the Tyndale Bible, being the first
direct English translation from the Greek translated the word 'Ecclesia' as
'Congregation'.
What we refer to as 'The Church' is a Religious Institution created by Constantine
the Great in the 4th century (the Roman Catholic Church) with the intention of
forming a one-world religion. Hence the word Catholic means 'Universal', were all
kinds of things have been mixed up, paganism and the likes.
Church is man-made, a creation of the State and not God. Jesus spoke of His
Body (a People, a Community) and not an Institution, an Organism and not an
Organization (see Matt 16:18).You and I are not the Church, we are the Ecclesia
of God, the Body of Christ, a Kingdom Community of People and the called-out
Ones.
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25. BEWARE OF THE “HOUSE OF GOD”
Building Church and Temples.
Since King Narmer 3150 BC started to rule Ancient Egypt and as way back as
2102 BC the period featured the construction buildings and the manufacturing of
artifacts for the worship of gods .Stone age people in Ireland built a 250,000 ton
New Grange solar oriented passage tomb. In Malta Hagar-megalithic temples
were built featuring both solar and lunar alignments. Inter -dimensional Portals
just like the tower of Babel. Fallen angels taught men the use of magical
incantations that would force demons to obey man. This became ingrained into
the Egyptians, Persians and Babylonians. Nimrod called Minus by the Greeks
was handed this knowledge and by it caused men to go away from the worship of
God and go into diverse and erratic superstitions and they began to be governed
by the signs in the stars and motions of the planets”
- Recognitions of Clement 4: 26-29.
History tells us about the Anasazi people of the New Mexican desert who 1000
years ago built what they call Kivas: A constructed building for summoning
demons and a gateway or portal to another dimension. These buildings are then
aligned to the solstices and the equinoxes and used in the worship of the sun.
- History of Pueblo Bonito of Chaco Canyon
The motive for building the so called “House of God” today is still connected to
the Babylon of old. We are overly focus on buildings structures rather than
building people and once the faith of Gods people is tied to a thing or place, the
people of God are not far from idolatry especially if that thing becomes the
validation of their spirituality.
It is not that the people of God will not from time to time need facilities for the
meeting of the community or the assembly, we will always build, borrow or use
one facility of the other but it will just be a place for gathering nothing more or
less.
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26. Act 7:47-50 NKJV “But Solomon built Him a house. (48) "However, the
Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:
(49) ‘Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you
build for Me? says the LORD, Or what is the place of My rest? (50) Has My
hand not made all these things?'
Ezekiel’s Vision of Snakes in the Temple
A prophetic-intercessor recently visited a respected church in a particular city. It
belonged to a reputable Pentecostal denomination, but during the worship, her
eyes were opened and she saw, in the spirit, a large serpent along the length of
one whole wall. And as they left the service, the car park was swarming with
writhing baby serpents.
What was the significance of this? And how could a “Spirit-filled” church, looking
respectable by man’s estimation, become a habitation for serpents – for
demons?
In Ezekiel chapter 8, the prophet saw a vision of Israel’s idolatry. He was taken,
in the Spirit, to Jerusalem, right into the inner recesses of the temple:
“6 And he said to me, ‘‘Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the
utterly detestable things the house of Israel is doing here, things that will
drive me far from my sanctuary? …” 7 Then he brought me to the entrance
to the court. I looked, and I saw a hole in the wall. 8 He said to me, ‘‘Son of
man, now dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and saw a doorway there.
9 And he said to me, ‘‘Go in and see the wicked and detestable things they
are doing here.” 10 So I went in and looked, and I saw portrayed all over the
walls all kinds of crawling things and detestable animals and all the idols of
the house of Israel. 11 In front of them stood seventy elders of the house
of Israel... Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense
was rising. 12 He said to me, ‘‘Son of man, have you seen what the elders
of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his
own idol? They say, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken
the land.’” (Ezk 8:6-12 NIV, emphasis mine)
“I saw portrayed all over the walls all kinds of crawling things”
Hidden deep within the walls of the temple, in a dark and secret room, the elders
worshiped false images. The KJV describes the room as, “the chambers of his
imagery”, or the NIV as “the shrine of his own idol” (v 12). Every private home at
this time had a room or closet dedicated to the secret worship of images. This
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27. room, in the temple, was so secret, though, that the prophet was instructed to dig
through a small hole in the wall to discover it (v 7-9). Without any
correspondence to the design of Solomon’s temple, it appears to have been
purpose built for their secret and idolatrous practices.
Snakes on the wall!
Inside the room Ezekiel saw images covering the walls of “crawling things,
detestable animals and all the idols of Israel” (v 10). The Hebrew term for
“crawling things” (‘remes’) refers to all small animals such as rodents, and
especially reptiles. Ezekiel, like my intercessor friend, saw among other creatures
snakes on the wall of this hidden room.
Though what Ezekiel saw was hidden, it was a blatant rejection of the Lord’s
covenant which prohibited idolatry of “creatures that move along the ground”
(the noun form of ‘crawling things’ which also carries the meaning of animals
that glide along the ground - snakes). Although the outward ceremony of the
temple was maintained the secret worship of snakes and other creatures was, in
fact, an out-and-out rejection of the Lord’s covenant-love.
However, despite the hidden practice of snake worship, from the outside nothing
had changed. The temple looked the same. To the naked eye, it was still the holy
place of God’s presence. This is the very essence of deception – an external
appearance of spirituality, but an altogether different reality within.
JEROBOAM – A FALSE APOSTOLIC ORDER 1 Kings 12:25-33
Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and dwelt
there. Also he went out from there and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in
his heart, "Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: If these
people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem,
then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of
Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah."
Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the
people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods,
O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!" And he set up one
in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Now this thing became a sin, for the
people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. He made shrines on
the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not
27

28. of the sons of Levi. Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the
eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the
altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at
Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made. So
he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth
day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own
heart. And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered
sacrifices on the altar and burned incense. NKJV
CATALOGUE OF KINGS DEFILED BY JEROBOAM’S WORSHIP SYSTEM
 NADAB 1kings 15:25-30.
 ELAH 1kings 16:8-18.
 OMRI 1kings16:25-26
 AHAB 1kings16: 30-31.
Ahab did not marry Jezebel; Jezebel hooked Ahab to strengthen the defilement
of priesthood and the full expression of fleshly vanities. It is a marriage between
illegitimate government and false altars. What made Ahab’s demonic government
powerful enough to terrorize Elijah and send Him to an early retirement was not
only Jezebel but also the foundation of evil that was laid by Jeroboam almost 60
years earlier. During Ahab’s evil reign, Uriel built Jericho, the city that was cursed
by Joshua.
 AHAZIAH (AHAB SON) 1kings 22: 51-53
 JEHORAM 2kings3: 1-3.
 JEHU: Jehu’s governmental strength and anointing was corrupted by the
Jeroboam’s altars, because he ignorantly aligned himself with these two
idols in Bethel and Dan.2kings10: 29-32
 JEHOAZ 2kings13: 1-6
 JEHOASH 2kings 13: 10-11
 JEROBOAM II 2kings 14: 23-24
 ZECHARIAH 2kings 15:6-9
 MENAHIM 2kings 15: 17-18
 PEKAH 2kings 15:27-28
“Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were
written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come”.
1st Corinthians 10: 11
It is not enough to acknowledge that this story is true, but we have to extract the
principle found in this story to decode how not to build a church that will cause
eruptions of ancient devils in these last days.
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29. Just as Jeroboam’s selfish act corrupted Israel’s worship system for almost two
hundred years, so also exists in the church of today a defilement and corruption
of purpose that she has to cleanse herself of.
As a result of the palpable dearth of revelation among the
Pentecostal/Charismatic church groups concerning proper Church order and
government, earthly patterns of government have encroached into or have had to
be adopted in local churches. The logical consequence of this has been the
enthronement of tyranny and oppression of the people, whereas God is not an
oppressor. Where for instance is it written in the bible that once a man is called to
a local church ministry, his wife is also automatically called? There is no
scriptural basis for this, except in an exceptional situation where the wife
evidences the call of God upon her life.
When Apostle Peter or James died, the bible did not tell us that any of their wives
or biological children took over the church in Jerusalem. We have to be careful
how we build, and the principle we use in the building process. This is necessary
so as to ensure that after labouring in the Lord and building our so-called
worldwide ministries, and we pass on, there won’t be anyone equally gifted and
anointed to succeed us. Most likely, they would have been frustrated out of “our
ministries” because of the overbearing and dictatorial tendencies of the
Pentecostal and the Charismatic church order.
BEWARE OF THE ATHALIAHS
When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose
and destroyed all the royal heirs. But Jehosheba, the daughter of King
Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him
away from among the king’s sons who were being murdered; and they hid
him and his nurse in the bedroom, from Athaliah, so that he was not killed.
So he was hidden with her in the house of the Lord for six years, while
Athaliah reigned over the land.
2nd Kings 11:1-3
Just as Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri the king of Israel, usurped the throne
of Israel when her son Ahaziah died, and destroyed all the royal seed, so also is
there a false and illegitimate spiritual government being used in the church of
today to destroy ministry potentials and ministry gifts before they mature and
come of age. This illegitimate authority employs the Jezebel principle of using
incompetent eunuchs to rule in the church and/or over the people of God.
Athaliah represents a lingering Jezebel spirit that seeks to destroy every element
of kingship and authority within any church structure.
29

30. It is important to note that the Apostles, with whom the Lord pioneered the
Church, did not have the following practices with which we are very familiar these
days:
 They did not create a Denominational church structure.
 They did not use Jerusalem or Rome as “the Mother Church.” Though
Jerusalem reproduced itself, there was no centralization nor was
Jerusalem the “headquarters” of all the churches .If there was any
headquarters at all, it was a person - Christ.
 They did not have Provincial/District Churches structures which brought all
the local assemblies under a District.
 All churches were locally governed; they were autonomous and
reproduced themselves accordingly. They were not wielded into a great
organization. The unity among the local churches was never an
organizational unity, but that of the spirit, by the Spirit.
However there was not extreme independence in these local churches either.
 They did have a spiritual unity in Christ.
 They did recognize each other’s sovereignty under Christ’s headship.
 They did share with each other, and minister to each other as much as
possible.
 They did receive ministry from each other.
 They did recognize that the revelation of Christ to one could be profitable
for all. (Revelation 1-3)
BEWARE OF JEROBOAM’S ALTARS
In order not to be left out of the worldwide spiritual awakening and to cash in on
the “In-The-Name-Of-God Plc,” syndrome, many churches and organizations are
using all kinds of methods just to remain relevant to the times.
One of the greatest corruptions in the Church today consists in the very popular
and seemingly harmless practice of having local church branches as a means of
expansion. It must have started out with the intention of achieving certain level of
uniformity in, and control over, matters of doctrine and other practices where very
large congregations exist. Although pioneered by the major Orthodox Church
groups, it has also become a major tool of church growth among the Protestants
and Pentecostals.
Even with the best of intention for its establishment, the practice still contains in it
inherent flaws. We used it and adopted it, and God put up with us because we
did not know better. But each time God comes closer with His better standard,
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31. we must discard that which we have always known and are familiar with, (which
actually is a reflection of our limited knowledge of the Lord), and move on with
God. A closer look will reveal that the practice is not even consistent with what
obtained in the Early Church, which provided us with foundational building
patterns.
As with all practices which God invalidated and declared inadequate, the practice
is now widely tainted by ambition and the desire for pecuniary gains. We now
have to put up with situations in which churches are spreading their branches
across the land, not necessary for kingdom-relevant evangelism but more for
territorial expansion, control and preservation which immediately translates into
fatter pecuniary returns. Because people see ministry more as a means of
personal advancement and as object of personal promotion, an unspoken part of
most evangelistic thrusts is not just “poaching” on other church groups but also
includes deliberate manipulative strategies to restrict and closely monitor the
movements of those they consider their “own sheep.” Churches are springing up
nowadays more as “business centres” located in areas that are not relevant to
the primary spiritual calling of the set man, but where there exists prospects for
numerical advantage or the attraction of certain class of persons, all of which
translate into certain carnal (usually pecuniary) advantages.
It has also degenerated into a mess of unhealthy competition among church
groups. The fad now is for church leaders to pride themselves with the dubious
distinction of being reckoned as having the fastest growing church denomination
in a locality, a nation, a continent or even in the world. This low level operational
mentality is very prevalent among Pentecostal/Charismatic church environments
in which the yardstick of success is numerical and not accuracy. ‘Accuracy’ refers
to how whatever is being done and the way it is being done, is in perfect
harmony or conformity with the divine pattern or the will of God. And that usually
has nothing to do with size or number.
Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and dwelt
there. Also he went out from there and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in
his heart, “Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: “If these
people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then
the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of
Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.”
Therefore the king asked advice, MADE TWO CALVES of gold, and said to
the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your
gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!” And he set
up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 30Now this thing became a
sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. He made
shrines on the high places, and MADE PRIESTS FROM EVERY CLASS OF
PEOPLE, who were not of the sons of Levi. Jeroboam ORDAINED A FEAST
ON THE FIFTEENTH day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in
31

32. Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to
the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the
high places, which he had made.
.
1st Kings 12: 25-32
“Jeroboam I, the first king of Israel (the ten northern tribes, or the Northern
Kingdom), a state established after the death of Solomon (1 Kin. 11:26; 14:20).
The son of Nebat and Zeruah, Jeroboam reigned over Israel for 22 years (1 Kin.
14:20), from 931/30 to 910/09 B.C. Jeroboam I first appeared in the biblical
record as Solomon’s servant: not a prince but a glorified slave “the officer over all
the labor force of the house of Joseph” (1 Kin. 11:28). One day as Jeroboam
went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the road and
confronted him with an enacted parable. Ahijah, who was wearing a new
garment, took hold of the garment and tore it into 12 pieces. He then said to
Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the Lord, the God of
Israel: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give
ten tribes to you’ ” (1 Kin. 11:31).When Solomon learned of Ahijah’s words, he
sought to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam fled to Egypt, where Shishak I, the king of
Egypt, granted him political asylum. Only after the death of Solomon did
Jeroboam risk returning to his native Palestine (1 Kin. 11:40; 12:2–3).
“Solomon’s kingdom was outwardly rich, prosperous, and thriving. But the great
building projects, especially the building of idol temples for his foreign wives,
which he undertook were accomplished by forced labor, high taxes, and other
oppressive measures, above all Solomon departed from the ways of David his
father, he reared up altars to foreign gods, discontent and unrest existed
throughout Solomon’s kingdom. When the great king died, the kingdom was like
a powder keg awaiting a spark.
“The occasion for the explosion, the tearing of the ten northern tribes from
Solomon’s successor, came because of the foolish insensitivity of Solomon’s son
Rehoboam. Rehoboam had gone to Shechem to be anointed as the new king. A
delegation led by Jeroboam, who had returned from Egypt following Solomon’s
death, said to Rehoboam, “Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore,
lighten the burdensome service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put
on us, and we will serve” (1 Kin. 12:4).
“But Rehoboam followed the advice of his inexperienced companions and
replied, “Whereas my father laid a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my
father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!” (1 Kings.
12:11). After this show of Rehoboam foolishness, the ten northern tribes revolted
against Rehoboam and appointed Jeroboam as their king (1 Kin. 12:16–20).
32

33. “Jeroboam was concerned that the people of Israel might return to the house of
David if they continued to journey to Jerusalem for the festivals and observances
at the Temple of Solomon. So, he proposed an alternative form of worship that
was idolatrous. He made two calves of gold that bore a close resemblance to the
mounts of the Canaanite pagan god Baal. The king told his countrymen: “It is too
much for you to go up to Jerusalem” (exchanging sacrificial kingdom lifestyle with
the god of convenience). Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up
from the land of Egypt!” (1 Kings 12:28). One calf was erected in Bethel and one
in Dan.
“Once committed to this sinful direction, Jeroboam’s progress was downhill. He
next appointed priests from tribes other than Levi. He offered sacrifices to these
images and gradually polluted the worship of Israel. The Lord confronted
Jeroboam by sending him an unnamed prophet who predicted God’s judgment
on the king and the nation. Although outwardly he appeared to be repentant,
Jeroboam would not change his disastrous idolatry. His rebellious, arrogant
attitude set the pattern for rulers of Israel for generations to come. Eighteen kings
sat on the throne of Israel after his death, but not one of them gave up his pagan
worship.”
We can see from the biblical extracts above that Jeroboam, out of insecurity
created a worship system that violated God’s order for worshiping Him. The only
accepted place of worship was Jerusalem where God had caused His name to
be placed. But Jeroboam out of insecurity and desire to monitor and control
people made two calves. He placed one in Dan and the other “branch” in Bethel.
We may wish to remind ourselves that when this calf was first mentioned was in
the time of Moses. Aaron created it in the absence of Moses the ordained
apostolic leader of Gods people.
“After this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, BUT AGAIN HE
MADE PRIESTS FROM EVERY CLASS OF PEOPLE FOR THE HIGH
PLACES; WHOEVER WISHED, HE CONSECRATED HIM, AND HE BECAME
ONE OF THE PRIESTS OF THE HIGH PLACES”.
1st Kings 13:33
The second evil that the Jeroboam order of ministries brought into the church
was the violation of the Covenant of Levi. No one could be ordained a priest
unless he was from the tribe of Levi, but “Archbishop” Jeroboam ordained any
one he could find as a priest (Pastor) to fill the position of a branch Pastor in the
church system he created without regard to whether such people were called by
God to stand in that office or even in any of the five governmental offices.
33

34. The present system of a local church or denomination having branches with
headquarters somewhere, from where people are posted and transferred as
pastors, does not reflect the accurate standard of God. The Holy Spirit is
broadcasting God’s true and flawless standard which has always been in the
bible. This old pattern was used at a time the Church did not have the revelation
of God’s precise pattern. It must be seen as having outlived any usefulness it had
before now. It is not even in the bible. It is a form of spiritual ‘parastatals’ system
designed to create offices for people who have no business being in the pulpit. In
some denominations, it is actually a means of rewarding good followership and
diligent service. And because this order of churches has no origin in God, it will
not have the divine capability to disciple men into the purposes of God for their
lives.
A typical posted, “civil servant-pastor” usually lacks the spiritual sight, the depth
of revelation to see clearly into the mind of God and therefore does not possess,
by God’s grace, the wise-master building anointing of the Holy Spirit to be able to
accurately represent divine patterns of Heaven into men’s hearts here on earth
(Hebrews. 8:5; Exodus. 25:40). A lot of these men and women have never
encountered the resurrected Christ themselves. They were never commissioned
by the Holy Spirit into the offices they have been elevated to within their church
system. They have been anointed and sent by men, usually their General
Overseers, Superintendents or Bishops. If they see their assignments as merely
for the administrative convenience of the larger denominations to which they
belong, it will be very well understood.
In reality most of these branches or parishes are mere contraptions or makeshift
arrangements in the form of fellowship centres of the larger denominations and a
lot of them grow so well as to have large numbers and a lot of money. And
because they plan big meetings, programmes and activities, they erroneously
count themselves as recognized tribes of the spiritual ecclesia. To the extent that
they hold the notion that they are “church” in the sense of an ecclesia of Christ,
the altars they have raised would be largely illegitimate. A hallmark of a tribe of
the biblical ecclesia is that it must be independent, self-governing but under the
direct control of the King (in this case, God). Our Lord deliberately, in His
omniscient capacity, borrowed that word and applied it in its contemporary Greek
and Hebrew connotations.
Although in contemporary times, we give our own actions auras of spiritual
legitimacy by organizing elaborate ordinations and anointing ceremonies, the
underlying spiritual principles are still the same with Jeroboam’s actions.
Ordaining people whom God, the Holy Spirit has not called, tested processed
and commissioned, to spiritual offices not meant for them, is not different from
recruiting every class of people (i.e. those who are not the “sons of Levi”) into
priesthood, a la Jeroboam.
34

35. Whenever God calls and commissions anyone, such a person owes no
allegiance to any other man. He does not report concerning his actions to any
man, he is responsible and accountable to God alone. This does not however
invalidate mutually beneficial relationships devoid of any form of control and/or
manipulation.
Denominations fall short of God’s purest building standard, but God used
denominations when the church had no better means of (or revelation as to)
reaching out to the people. However, in this 21st century and in line with the spirit
of the present reformation of the church, the limiting concepts of church
franchising, with all its rigid civil service mentalities and other Babylonian
tendencies, will not be able to contain the outpour of the Spirit of God, ordained
to propel the church towards the finish. God never calls a denomination, He
always calls a man who may go ahead to build a denomination, and in the event
of the Holy Spirit not being allowed to express Himself within an unclean,
hierarchical structures of any denomination, God leaves to find another man.
This has been the problem with the church from the beginning of the Pentecostal
and the Charismatic move of God; and that is why the church of Christ has
existed in the earth for two thousand years without accomplishing God’s purpose
for the earth. No matter how effective a ministry or a church is under a
denominational structure, all that the devil does is, to wait for the founder of the
denomination to pass away, and then the whole movement becomes crystallized,
archaic, wrinkled and irrelevant to the times. Because men love to build
monuments to their own names, we have not mastered the art of preserving and
transmitting truth from one generation to another.
Chapter 3
JESUS’ MINISTRY WAS PURPOSE-DRIVEN AND NOT NEED-
MOTIVATED
After this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in
Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of
sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For
an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water;
then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well
of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who had an
infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that
35

36. he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you
want to be made well?” The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to
put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming,
another steps down before me. “Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed
and walk.” And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and
walked.
John 5:1-9
From the story in the scriptural passages cited above, we notice that although
there were in the pool a great multitude of sick people- the blind, the lame and
the paralyzed, only a certain man was ministered to by Jesus strictly in
accordance with the Father’s will at that particular time. To heal one man and
leave the rest was God’s ministry initiative by the pool at that time. The anointing
was restricted on purpose although the Lord was anointed without measure. A
carnal response would have been to start a church or in the spirit of the age, in
which we live, build something in the mould of a ‘Bethesda Pool Healing Ministry’
with a view to healing all. Of course, this would be no more than an emotional
response directed to meeting what although will be the legitimate need of the sick
people but certainly not a Spirit-led initiative that must always be in accordance
with the will of God the Father. But Jesus never responded based on emotion or
sentiment; He responded based on what He knew was the Father’s will at any
material time: in this instance, it was to heal one man and leave the rest.
Creation, including all the life forms in it will only know peace that comes with the
full restoration of the divine order when men master the art of responding
precisely to God’s word and will.
Just as the early church dealt with this spirit of python, eliminating and
annihilating it from Her midst, the present-day church must also rid itself of its
influence and purify its activities by refusing to place undue emphasis on
miracles and manifestations as the yardstick for measuring kingdom
effectiveness. She must rightly emphasize character formation and the fulfillment
of God’s purpose for the earth as the sole objective for biblical Christianity.
A feature of a true apostolic church is a strong territorial, governing influence
predicated on a transformational power of impartation, capable of changing lives
and effecting a corresponding change in the society. The reason why
righteousness and godly fear would not reign supreme in the society inspite of
the fact that local church assemblies exist every five minutes’ walk in some
localities is because of this lack of governing, territorial influence.
THE MARKET -PLACE CHRISTENDOM VERSUS THE ECCLESIA OF GOD
36

37. “To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are
they like? “They are like children who sit in the market place and call to one
another, and they say, "we played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.”
Luke 7:31-32
We must beware of the demand-driven and market- oriented church that peddles
self-indulgent Christianity and all its corrupt tendencies. We all probably need to
acquaint ourselves with the book written by our brother Evangelist Jim Baker
titled “I Was Wrong,” in order to have a fairly full grasp of the shallowness of a
church packaged for the market. Such a church is not driven by God’s prophetic
voice. It is steeped in religion but lacks spiritual sight and sensitivity. It is totally
devoid of the transformational and the impartational power of the Holy Spirit. It is
usually materially rich but spiritually parlous. It is wild and loud on the Television
but what it sells is not Christ. It gathers crowd but does not produce the values of
the Kingdom of God, for it is driven by a market- place anointing.
When Jesus talked about building His church, He made no reference to
denominations, monumental structures, organizations and church activities with
large billboards in some market place of religion. The church as our Lord intends
it to be, is not as much what happens when the people gather, as it is what
happens when they scatter.
For any harlot and user-friendly church to grow and succeed, it has to be selling
something. The commodity for sale is either the personality of the set-man of this
church or his pet doctrine. It may also be such cultic materials like bottled oil or
clothing materials. And usually, whenever the leaders of such church groups fade
out, everything as it were dies with them even though those who inherit the
system may institutionalize their teachings and doctrines.
The church of Jesus Christ has nothing to sell; the apostles neither sold
themselves nor the power of God. The demand and supply driven worship
system dates back to the time of Aaron when the people said to Aaron “come
make us a God” [Exodus 32:1]. Centuries later, Jeroboam acquired a notoriety
for elevating this perversion of the false representation of God to the people, to a
standard practice [1kings 12:26-28].
37

38. ABOMINATION IN THE HOLY PLACE
“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’” spoken of by
Daniel the prophet, STANDING IN THE HOLY PLACE “(whoever reads, let
him understand)
Mathew 24: 15
“So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’” spoken of by Daniel the
prophet, STANDING WHERE IT OUGHT NOT” (let the reader understand),
Mark 13: 14
When the Lord spoke of the “holy place,” He was not speaking of a physical
temple in Jerusalem. Many preachers and theologians still split hairs on whether
or not some physical temple must still be built in the natural Jerusalem before
Jesus comes, and whether or not the antichrist is going to take his seat
physically in the middle of such temple. No such thing may ever happen and
even if it eventually will, as some mere symbolic event, the more important issue
to God and which is being strongly emphasized here is the building of the
spiritual temple which refers to His church or the lives of His people (1Cor 6:19;
1Pet 2:5).
Satan in these last days has launched an attack on the church which is the only
institution that God has ordained for the propagation and the advancement of His
truth on earth. The church of the living God, the pillar of the truth of God will be
ferociously assaulted by Satan in these last days with a view to denying humanity
the opportunity of getting right with God. Unfortunately, he cannot succeed
because God is God, and His plan for the restoration and perfection of His
church cannot but come to pass.
Satan from the time of the early church has continually sought to corrupt the
church and undermine it from within. The greatest threat to “kingdomizing” the
earth is not Islam or any other religion but the emergence of a “cartoon church” in
place of the true apostolic (or Kingdom establishing) church. The enemy has
decided to take his battle beyond the realm of merely instigating false religions to
that of a literal invasion of the church, setting up in it what looks like God but is
actually an impostor. The objective of this is the total obliteration in the heart of
men of the image of the true values of the Kingdom of God which Christ
embodies.
38

39. “The abomination that makes desolate” that Daniel saw and which was confirmed
by our Lord Jesus Christ, is a picture of how the enemy of the Kingdom seeks to
corrupt worship. The strategy is to swap pure worship of the true God with a
perverted mode in such a way that will conveniently deceive the spiritually
uninformed. The intention is to diminish the stature of Christ or distort His true
identity in the eyes of the people, thereby robbing the church of the power of His
resurrection.
The antichrist dimension will then be able to establish enough footholds within
the structures and the hierarchy of the church as to guarantee it a measure of
control over its affairs. This abomination will be so pervasive that it will not be
restricted to the outer court where the gentiles belong. It will actually invade the
holy place, manifesting lawlessness with a view to disrupting the desire of God to
be manifested in and through the lives of the people who desire to worship Him.
As earlier mentioned, the temple referred to has nothing to do with a physical
temple in the literal Jerusalem as some preachers erroneously concluded, but a
spiritual temple of the Church of God. The explanation for the “abomination of
desolation” begins in Daniel 9:27. “Then he shall confirm a covenant with many
for one week.” Jesus Christ has a covenant with the people of God for one week
(seven years) to bring righteousness on the earth, walking and talking in human
form. He cut the week short and died in the middle of the week (three and a half
years), leaving three and a half years for the sons of God to finish the
manifestation (“…but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice
and offering” verse 27b). He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.
There was no more sacrifice for sin after He gave the one sacrifice on Calvary
(verse 27c). “And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate”
There is another part of this scripture that also referred to “the abomination that
makes desolate.” Daniel 12:11 and 12, “…and from the time that the daily
sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there
shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he who
waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.
Blessed is HE that waited, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and
five and thirty days.” We are looking at a prophecy, which quite likely has
already come to pass. We may be well into the end of this prophecy. This
scripture is saying there is an abomination that was set up in the church that is
going to make THE CHURCH TOTALLY DESOLATE, AND WILL ABSOLUTELY
DESTROY THE CHURCH SYSTEM.
39

40. CHRIST HAS COME IN THE FLESH AND SHALL CONTINUALLY COME IN
THE FLESH AND WILL ULTIMATELY APPEAR
“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was
manifested in the flesh”.
1st Timothy 3:16
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are
of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this
you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of
the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the
world “.
1st John 4:1-4
Notice, this scripture above did not say every mouth, it says every spirit. The
Greek word translated spirit is pneuma. Figuratively, it means the rational soul
and by implication it means a mental disposition or life.
Men are to confess Christ through their human spirits which are in subjection to
the dictates of the Spirit of God, and the life they now live in the physical will be
patterned after the very life of Christ Himself when He came in the flesh to show
us how to live for God. This is what it means to confess that Christ has come in
the flesh; it is the adjustment of our nature and character by the revealed life of
the Son of God who is the express image of His person.
Just as God was manifested in the flesh through his Son, so also must God
continually manifest in the flesh through His word in the lives of those who
profess to be Godly. Without this reality, anyone can merely say with his or her
mouth that Christ has come in the flesh, without any real commitment to Him.
Jesus Christ, the bible testified, crucified sin in the flesh, an action which
modeled for us the standard for Godliness. Any kingdom initiative or religious
activity that does not bear directly on how a person lives his or her life in this
Godless age has nothing to do with the gospel of the kingdom. This is true
irrespective of the signs and wonders that may be happening there. If the
ministry objective and the structures put in place are not geared towards
correcting the depravity and the carnal propensities in man, but only to gratify the
flesh and its cravings; if the reason why people are flocking to a place of
supposed kingdom initiatives is only to get their needs met and not to be
changed to conform to Christ’s image with a view to discovering and fulfiling
God’s kingdom-establishing purpose for their lives, what is being disguised as
Godliness is nothing but the mystery of iniquity or lawlessness that Apostle Paul
40

41. spoke about. He said that it is already at work and our Lord Jesus also had
earlier prophesied that it shall abound in the last days.
It is our responsibility to develop within the church the capacity to test all spirits.
God never intended for His people to receive anything just because it is
presented in Jesus’ name without looking closely at its origin or underlying
principle. We must also move away from using miracles and manifestations as
yardsticks for measuring the arrival of the kingdom. We must have within the
church, spiritual systems that test and detect error.
What then is the true test of Godliness?
“By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh is of God “
The identification with the need for man’s regeneration through the vehicle of the
Word of God becoming incarnate, and the necessity for the followers of Christ to
validate the word of God with the way they live their lives is the true test of
biblical Christianity. You cannot be confessing Christ and still be holding on to
iniquity. There is no church [ecclesia] unless we depart from sin unto God.
“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the
power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet
not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not
forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the
body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be
manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for
Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal
flesh”.
2nd Corinthians 4:7-12.
A GENERATION THAT PRACTISES LAWLESSNESS
“Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because
lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who
endures to the end shall be saved”.
Mathew 24: 11-13
“And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his
own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who
now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way”
41

42. 2nd Thessalonians 2:6-7
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of
heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to
Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out
demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I
will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice
lawlessness!’
Mathew 7:21-23
There are a few issues we need to consider in our quest to uncover the mystery
of iniquity or lawlessness:
What is Lawlessness?
The English Thesaurus renders the word “lawlessness” as:
 Anarchy
 Chaos
 Disorder
 Mayhem
 Lack of control and Free for all
Lawlessness is the presence of an inner corruption inspite of an outward
evidence of righteousness (Matthew 23:27-28). Because it hides and can only be
discerned, it has the ability to exist within the very structure of the church
(Matthew 7:21-23). Whenever the heart is not pure, the spirit of the antichrist
takes up positions within the very structure of anything that is being done in the
name of the Lord.
From the various related meanings given above, it is clear that “lawlessness” or
“to work iniquity” is not part of the attributes of a godly and an orderly company;
and the fact that these are present in and among churches groups today is
actually a sign that we are far from the ideals of the Kingdom of God.
But to the Son He says:” Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved
righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore, God, Your God, has
anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.
Hebrew 1:8-9
42

43. Biblical evidence clearly shows that there had been times in the history of God’s
people that anarchy, disorder and lawlessness prevailed in their midst. A few
examples will suffice.
“You shall not at all do as we are doing here today— every man doing
whatever is right in his own eyes— for as yet you have not come to the rest
and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you. But when you
cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord your God is
giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round
about, so that you dwell in safety, then there will be the place where the
Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all
that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the
heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow
to the Lord”.
Deuteronomy 12:8-11
“Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the
people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods,
O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!” And he set up one
in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Now this thing became a sin, for the
people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. He made shrines on
the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not
of the sons of Levi”.
1st kings 12 28-31
“After this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but again he
made priests from every class of people for the high places; whoever
wished, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high
places. And this thing was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, so as to
exterminate and destroy it from the face of the earth”.
1st kings 13:33-34.
“The man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod and household idols;
and he consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In those days
there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes”.
Judges 17:6-7
43

44. “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in
his own eyes”.
Judges 21:25
From all indications and the testimony of the scriptures, to practice lawlessness
is to act outside the context of God’s order and His revealed intent and purpose.
Lawlessness constitutes acting outside of God’s divine plan or the refusal to be
governed by His mandate although our activities seem good and righteous.
The phrase “I never knew you” is another key indicator of the presence of the
mystery of iniquity or the practice of lawlessness. From scriptural exegesis, we
discover that, to “know” someone means more than just a casual acquaintance; it
speaks of intimacy and relationship that makes possible a transfer of values
leading to the spiritual reconstitution or if you like, genetic reengineering of the of
the one being known. What this engenders is an instant change of nature and
character.
Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said,
“I have acquired a man from the Lord.”
Genesis 4:1-2
“Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and
returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his
wife, and the Lord remembered her”.
1st Samuel 1:19
In essence, what Christ meant by “I never knew you” was that though many
prophesy in His name and did many miracles in His name, He does not
recognise them or they do not have an identity or standing with Him because
they never allowed Him to infuse them with His nature and character. These
category of persons never allowed Him to transfer His values to them although
they are called by Him name. To practice lawlessness or work iniquity refers not
essentially to unsaved people, but to false religious orders or religious activities
that are totally devoid of the revelation of God’s purpose for man’s redemption.
WHAT THEN IS THE SOLE OBJECTIVE OF BIBLICAL CHRISTIANITY?
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45. The whole essence of being born again is not so that we might be “blessed.”
Indeed we are already blessed as a result of the work of reconciliation
accomplished through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. But above
all, God desires to raise a people upon the earth who He may inhabit. As these
yield their lives to Him, He seeks to change the societies, the nations and indeed
the whole earth through them. The desire of the Lord is to re-impose His own
divine order (or His Kingdom), a process which was temporarily interrupted as a
result of the loss of man’s regency status on earth to Satan and his cohorts (“Thy
Kingdom come/Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”).
What the lifestyle we now refer to as “Christianity” was designed to do was to
redress this warp in creation. Man must be restored to a place of authority, power
and dominion over the rest of creation. This can only come to be when the entire
content of his life has become once more the out play of the divine intent of God.
The whole process of bringing this about begins with the appropriation of the
sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross which reopened the way for man to God. It
continues with the day to day working out of the details of the divine will for one’s
life, through a process of sanctification (the regeneration of character and
nature), and leading to the restoration of the life, the power and the presence of
God for rulership purposes. All these are what are bounded up in that lifestyle
modelled after the last Adam, the Man Jesus.
A lot of what the earth knows today as “Christianity” can conveniently pass for
lawlessness, a travesty of the real thing. Lots of the “Lord, Lord” business that we
see on virtually every street, operate without the revelation of what it actually
means to partner with Christ to fulfill the objectives of biblical Christianity. This
Ichabod generation has succeeded in reducing Christianity to what goes on in a
building on Sunday. People go from service to service, church to church,
programmes to programmes and from pastors to bishops, yet they lack the
understanding of God’s pattern for constructing their lives and the capability to
change the fabric of the society. Christianity is not what the gathered crowd does
in a building but what the scattered crowd does outside the building.
Although we call it Christianity and treat it as a religion; we have reduced it to
gatherings on particular days, in some appointed locations or buildings called
churches where we normally sing and dance and preach sermons. We also
observe certain days and carry out certain rituals and do a number of other
unrelated things. What God actually has in mind is a lifestyle that is built on a
dynamic relationship between God and man that is very radically life -
transforming.
The Beast from the Sea and the Earth
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46. “Then….I saw a beast coming out of the sea…. And the entire world
marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon that gave
authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like
the beast? Who is able to make war with him?’ And he was given a mouth
speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to
continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy
against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell
in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to
overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and
nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not
been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. He who leads into captivity
shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the
sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. Then I saw another
beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and
spoke like a dragon, and he exercises all the authority of the first beast in
his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the
first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so
that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of
men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth— by those signs which
he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on
the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword
and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast
that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would
not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He causes all, both small
and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right
hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one
who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of
the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666”.
Revelation: 13.
We notice from the scripture above that two beasts were mentioned; one is
coming out of the sea while the second is coming out of the earth. However, we
are going to limit our analysis to only the beast coming out of the earth even
though both beasts represent a worship system existing today in the earth.
The beast coming out of the earth has two horns like a lamb but speaks like a
dragon: this is a mockery of the person of our Lord Jesus who is the Lamb of
God. It is a false religious order that has horns like the Lamb of God (a prophetic
picture of strength and power). Its sole objective is to subvert the purpose of
God.
Servants of this beast will do mighty acts of miracles, signs, wonders, healings
and deliverances to the amazement of the true servants of Jesus Christ, but the
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47. fact that it speaks like a dragon is an indication that the totality of its underlying
operating principles is from the dragon (devil).
“And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and
causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose
deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes
fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he
deceives those who dwell on the earth— by those signs which he was
granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth
to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.
He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast that the
image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not
worship the image of the beast to be killed”.
Revelations 12:13-15
Three issues are raised in this passage, which have been underlined for topical
emphasis, and we will examine them as they occurred.
“And causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast,”
This counterfeit Christianity represented by the beast that came out of the earth
(philosophy of men), is actually drawing men to worship the dragon (devil). You
do not need to fraternize with the occult any more in order to worship the devil;
you can actually be serving the devil while you are seated in what looks like a
gathering of the church of God.
“Telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image (idol) to the beast “
How does one make an image to this beast? What does image represent in
prophetic terminology? Image speaks of the mentality or the mindset upon which
we build our value system. The major objective of this beast is to destroy
Christianity through the manifestations of false miracles. You will be making an
image (21st century idolatry) to this beast when you make seeking miracles,
signs and wonder your sole objective for serving God instead of a relationship
that leads to a transformation into His likeness and image. A number of local
churches, Pastors, Bishops and General Overseers have been used and are still
being used, by the devil to create this type of evil worship system in the earth
today. And that is why you see advertisements for miracles and what God can do
for us overshadowing what He wants to be in us and through us.
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48. “He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast that the
image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not
worship the image of the beast to be killed.”
Notice that he was granted power to give breath (a type of spirit or anointing);
there actually is a spirit walking with this false order of churches that is not
necessarily from God. Robert Munien, a servant of the Lord from South Africa
once described it succinctly as “doing miracles by another ghost that is not
necessarily the Holy Ghost.” One very worrisome observation however is that in
spite of all the signs and wonders going in the Christendom today and the
millions attending the various campaigns, our cities and indeed the nation have
not changed.
A large section of the nation of Nigeria for instance still wallows in abject poverty;
the political atmosphere is still largely a picture of confusion. The economy is
reeling under massive indebtedness, mismanagement and monumental
corruption. Nepotism, greed and other forms of injustice are still the norm in our
public life. The social situation is chaotic with the vices of prostitution and
violence especially among the youths assuming an unmanageable proportion.
There is little to show as any evidence of the fear of God in the land other than
crass religion. The society had drifted so badly that it is very easy for any
discerning observer to see that the spiritual high-grounds are being occupied by
the forces of darkness.
The obvious question will be: was the situation like this in the days of the
apostles of Christ? The obvious answer is an emphatic No. The apostles shook
their nations for God and His fear came upon the cities. What they preached and
proclaimed then, cleansed and stabilized the nation and created a distinct name
and identity for a people who embraced the lifestyle of the kingdom that was
being proclaimed. They were called Christians, not by God but by people who
have observed their patterned lifestyle.
”and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be
killed. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to
receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads”
Note that the bible says he causes as many as would not worship the image of
the beast to be killed; this will be a direct attack on the true worshipers of God
with a view to deactivating them from fulfiling their prophetic purposes and
destiny.
Many genuine, born-again believers are, as it were, being “killed,” the moment
they are lured into this evil dimension of church that promises better life, success
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49. steps to becoming a millionaire, when God’s desire is for a crucified life that will
reveal His Glory to a perishing humanity.
The mark of the beast is a present day reality and many, who profess to be
Christians, have received the mark already, although they erroneously believe
that the phenomenon will only happen after the “rapture of the saints”. However,
there is nothing in the scripture under reference that suggests that line of
thinking.
What Does the Mark of the Beast Represent?
The mark is a seal of identification based on allegiance. At a level of
interpretation, the mark which is borne on the forehead (mind or thought pattern)
represents the value system which shapes the direction of the life of a person. A
man’s outlook to life is a function of his thought patterns or the values he has
imbibed. The battleground between the forces of light and those of darkness for
the control of a person’s life is his or her mind. A person is no better than how he
or she thinks (“as a man thinks in his heart, so is he”) or the totality of what
he/she believes. In other words a person is equal to his faith. Whoever or
whatever controls a person’s mind or who determines his/her values, orientation
and philosophy of life, in the final analysis, rules that person’s life.
One of the principal strategies of the enemy for instance, against the church is
the distortion of the true image of God in the minds of believers. You do not need
to deny God outright in order to veer into lawlessness. The whole emphasis on
self-oriented gospel as against a purpose-oriented one is an example of such
subtle means of immersing or baptizing people in a wrong notion of God. It is so
bad now that even when people glibly talk about purpose, their notion of what it is
and how to truly follow God into it, is terribly warped; it is self-seeking. All these
engender a distortion of the mindset in a way that results in the loss of purpose; it
may even cost one his ultimate salvation. The technology for the transmission of
these marks is based on an unseen reality, hidden most of the times to the
physical eyes. And what may not be obvious to many is that right now, a process
of sealing or marking is actively on.
THE MARK OF CHRIST
One of the most damaging schemes of the enemy of God’s purpose through His
church has been to sell to the latter an inaccurate sense of eschatology (i.e.
knowledge and understanding of end-time issues). As a result, an undue
emphasis is being placed on the issue of the mark of the beast. Indeed, the
church has built a colossal doctrine around it. This has not just foisted on the
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50. church a debilitating fear, it has also created a crippling distraction. The near total
blinding of much of the visible church to the fact that there exists a more
powerful, earth-shaking phenomenon called the “mark of Christ” has robbed the
body of Christ of much of its inheritance.
Quite significantly, the mark of Christ is more important to the believer than the
so-called mark of the beast. This is because the former is the only defence
against the latter. The technology for its transmission is just as veiled as that of
the beast. What form will the mark of Christ take or how will it be administered on
the church?
“Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the
servants of our God on their foreheads.” And I heard the number of those
who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of
the children of Israel were sealed”:
Revelation 7:3-5
God will mark His saints and cause them to advance His purpose in these final
hours of the church. God is going to have a people with a mindset and mentality
totally immersed in Christ (that is what it means to be sealed in the foreheads);
and because these 144,000 which is the prophetic picture of the fullness of God
in Christ will totally possess the mind of Christ, they will be ready to lay their lives
down for Him. These are the ones that will reveal Him in this time of tribulation.
And of course as we earlier noted, the devil will seal a generation also, with a
nature that is opposed to God in every sense of the word.
Where is the Mark of the Beast going to be placed?
The mark of the beast is being placed on the right hand or the forehead. The
right hand speaks of the strength and the purpose of God for our lives and if the
seal of the beast is being placed on it, it means that these will only be available
and be used for the beast and not the Holy God. That is why many believers of
today are excessively concerned with or bogged down by the cares of ordinary,
mortal life. They have been so spiritually incapacitated that the only strength
remaining in them is that which they can only deploy, willy nilly, for the purposes
of the beast.
While most are hardly seen in church meetings which serve as equipping centres
for the true life in God, those who attend do so for one self-centered reason or
the other. Generally, most people prefer to slave away, albeit ignorantly, for
Pharaoh under the pretext of eking out a living. Under such circumstances, it is
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51. already very difficult to pursue God in any meaningful or result-oriented way not
to talk of sparing a thought for a neighbour’s soul. And most tragic is the fact that
such people are not equipped to fulfil their prophetic purposes since God has no
access to their lives. Yet they go to a place they call church on Sunday either to
be entertained or be counted. These ones have had their right hands (strength of
purpose) marked by and consecrated to the beast and they can no more operate
in the purpose of God for their lives.
The seal that is being placed on the forehead speaks of the messing up of the
minds and the mentality of the people who worship in that order of churches.
To believe that God only exists as a “father Christmas” is a delusion, and it
makes mockery of the sacrificed souls of the martyrs and the heroes of the “faith
hall of fame” (Hebrews 11). Some church groups even claim that when you come
to Christ you will not suffer; that kind of preaching will make Stephen or even Job
look like unbelievers or sinners. Paul, who hoisted the persecution he endured
for the Lord as the emblem and seal of his apostleship and an enduring sign for
measuring his accuracy in the purpose of God, will be cast in the mould of an
outright heretic by such an anti-Christ gospel.
“But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose,
faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which
happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I
endured. And out of them all, the Lord delivered me. Yes, and all who
desire to live godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men
and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
But you must continue in the things which you have learned and being
assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them”.
2nd Timothy 3:10-14
As if it is not tragic enough that the minds of most of the members of the visible
church has been ravaged and messed up by an incomplete, fear-ridden and
devil-determined faith, the self-centered orientation of contemporary gospel has
also ensured that millions of souls are dead and buried in the tomb of a defective
prosperity doctrine. Jim Bakker in his book “I WAS WRONG” exposes the
shallowness and the incomplete nature of the prosperity doctrine taken out of
context. While it is true that God wants to bless us, His intention was not that we
make idols out of these blessings. A more fundamental truth, tragic though, is
that much of the visible church including most of its very well known leaders are
vastly ignorant of what constitutes God’s true blessing. Too often, it is mainly
seen in terms of gold and silver (i.e. material things). Most church groups of
today have no capacity to raise genuine, kingdom-minded missionaries; rather
we are ever churning out mercenaries who are only out to work for their gains
and booty.
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52. In conclusion, the practice of lawlessness entails the worship of God outside the
parameters of the mystery of Godliness. It amounts to embracing the lies put
forward by the false order of churches, by false prophets, and false apostles.
These abound everywhere today and regrettably, are the ones trying to define for
us the parameters of worshipping God in the 21st century.
Chapter 4
SALVATION
One of the least understood subjects of biblical Christianity is salvation as
handed down by our Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles. The reason why most
believers are deactivated in the area of the fulfilment of purpose is primarily due
to the fact that a wrong or shall we say, an incomplete understanding of salvation
has been imparted to the church over the years. Anyone who has not been
instructed in such a way as to place supreme value on his or her salvation will be
ill-equipped for the kingdom life. The obvious indication of this is that such an
individual has neither seen the risen Christ nor has he been touched by His
resurrection power and life.
The enemy has achieved a major success in diverting the attention of the
majority of us to the non-essential issues and losing sight of the weightier
matters. Issues like healing, deliverance, personal blessing/prosperity and better
life have been elevated to the front-place in our gospel invasion and as a result of
this, many people are attending our church services with the hope and sole aim
that they will make heaven someday without ever understanding the
requirements and the responsibility they must take, for the salvation of their
souls.
Salvation through repentance remains the only legitimate entrance into the
Kingdom of God and it is a major plank of the apostolic doctrine that is being
restored to the church in this day of reformation.
“For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every
transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we
escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be
spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him “,
Hebrews 2:1-4.
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53. Above all that the present church prides herself with and advertises, we must
never lose sight of the fact that Jesus came to give the knowledge of salvation
(Luke 1:77), and that the grace that brings this salvation has openly been
manifested before all (Titus 2:11).
“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under
heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4; 12
Salvation (soteria) means, “to rescue or bring to safety.” The picture in the word
“salvation” is that of an impending doom from which we must be rescued. It
projects an image of having been removed from something injurious to man’s
total well-being. Being a church member or having gone to a so-called altar to
say some prayers does not mean you are saved. You can do all of that and still
remain unsaved. Many of the present day church-goers know little or nothing
about salvation through the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
What Are We Being Saved From?
(a) The Sin Nature and Its Effect on Our Soul
“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our
likeness”;
Genesis 1:26
“This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created
man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and
female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were
created. AND ADAM LIVED ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY YEARS, AND
BEGOT A SON IN HIS OWN LIKENESS, AFTER HIS IMAGE, and named him
Seth”.
Genesis 5: 1-4
It must be understood that the original man made in the image and likeness of
God no more existed by the time Adam began to populate the earth with his own
likeness. The fact of the matter is that you and I were made in the image and the
likeness of the fallen, backslidden and cursed Adam with all the effects and
consequences of the Fall. The restoration of man to the position that Adam was
in before the Fall and much more, is a major highpoint of our Christian
experience on this side of eternity and it is the point at which we come into a true
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54. experience of salvation and redemption. This will be dealt with in subsequent
chapters
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”:
Romans 3:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal Life in Christ
Jesus our Lord”.
Romans 6:23
“For I knew that you would deal very treacherously, And were called
transgressor from the womb “
Isaiah 48b
“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived
me”.
Psalm 51:5.
Since it was because of Adam’s sin, that God pronounced the guilty verdict on
the Adamic race, so has God also pronounced our justification through the
obedience of the man Christ Jesus. Anyone who would predicate his faith on the
atoning work of Christ on the cross of Calvary will be delivered from the fallen
Adamic nature and the grip it has on mankind.
If this reversal (God’s redemptive programme through Christ Jesus) was not put
in place, the fallen humanity has the inherent capacity to self-destruct. This is
because sin had been systematically eroding and reducing the quality man’s
noble nature since the fall of Adam. That sin nature would eventually have led a
hapless man to his death if not checked. God had to set up some sort of a
management programme to contain man’s sinful excesses with the institution of
the Mosaic Law. A complete redemptive work would however await the physical
emergence of Jesus; and thank God that we are being restored and are RISING
AGAIN in Christ.
With the passage of time, our humanity is gradually recapturing the lost glory.
Since our ultimate salvation lies in how clearly we can see God, the quality of our
humanity has been on an increasingly improving spiral as we avail ourselves
more and more of the privileges provided by Christ’s bridging of the gap between
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55. man and his Creator. What Christ did was to tear down the veil which had been
blurring man’s sight of his God. And as our sight of Him gets clearer, we are
constantly being transformed till we fully regain the very likeness of God in which
we were created before the catastrophic fall.
(b) The World and the Lust Thereof
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world,
the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of
the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but
is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he
who does the will of God abides forever.
1st John 2:15-17
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,
who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present
evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory
forever and ever. Amen.
Galatians 1:3-5
(c) The Dynamics of the World System
The Greek word translated “world” is Kosmos. It does not describe a physical
entity; rather it portrays the created order in rebellion against God. Kosmos is the
arrangements and order created by Satan and his cohorts to influence men’s
lives, through the Adamic fallen nature. There is a ruler and power behind the
world system –its system of economics, the educational arrangements, the social
landscape, cultural and philosophical ideas all of which determine the directions
of human life. How men reckon success and all of the way humans respond to
the challenges and the questions that life poses are all affronts to God and His
agenda for Creation. In his attempt to proffer solutions to the challenges of life
and living, man, aided by satanic powers, have devised and built a complex
system of social, economic and political interactions with which he seeks to
master nature without going through the Creator of all things. The one word
which sums up this approach to life is Humanism. It is a philosophical delusion
with which Satan seeks to continually limit man. The whole of humanity must be
delivered and saved from his clutches, else they will share in his fate at the end
of time (Ephesians 2:2; John 14:30; 2nd Corinthians 4:4).
All of the world’s philosophy and values that are currently being projected
through humans are diametrically opposed to that of the Kingdom of God. The
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56. world does not know (perceive/recognize) us (1st John 3:1); it hates us (1st John
3:13); has its own philosophy (Colossians 2:1-9). The church is called not to
conform to the world (John 17: 1-26; Romans 12: 1-2). Any church that conforms
and parleys with the world has fallen from the kingdom of God.
PICTURES OF SALVATION
“I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having
saved (rescued) the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed
those who did not believe”.
Jude 5
“ If God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell
and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;
and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a
preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the
ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes,
condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who
afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was
oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man,
dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day …”
2nd Peter 2:4-10
From the second scriptural verses cited above, it will be noticed that only Noah
and seven other people were saved from the old world. This happened not
because the ark could not contain everyone but because only this few met the
conditions for salvation. Noah himself exemplified the requirement for salvation;
he was called “a preacher of righteousness.”
It need be noted that Noah never attempted to fill the ark with people inspite of
the fact that there were more than enough room left for more; he keenly
understood God’s intents, standards and requirements, and would not
compromise these with any emotional consideration or reaction.
“With many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved
from this perverse generation”
Act 2:40.
From the scriptures used to convey pictures of salvation in the bible, we
discovered that true salvation must involve coming out of one thing and entering
into another thing. The Apostle Peter in Acts 2:40 describes what we are to be
saved from as “this crooked and perverse generation.”
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57. “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things, which are above,
where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things
above, not on things on the earth for you died, and your life is hidden with
Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will
appear with Him in glory. Therefore put to death your members, which are
on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and
covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God
is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once
walked when you lived in them. But now you yourselves are to put off all
these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, and filthy language out of your
mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with
his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge
according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither
Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave
nor free, but Christ is all and in all “.
Galatians 3:1-11
To be saved or be rescued does not mean that we will no more exist in this
world; we will be existing here but will totally depart from the values of this world
that are in opposition to the Kingdom of God and the precepts of Christ.
THE DYNAMICS OF SALVATION
“And that from childhood, you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are
able to make you wise for salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus”.
2nd Timothy 2:15
Being wise for salvation involves an understanding of the reality of the Prodigal
Son’s experience in Luke 15:11-24:
(11) Then He said: "A certain man had two sons.
(12) "And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the
portion of goods that falls to me.' So he divided to them his livelihood.
(13) "And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together,
journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal
living.
(14) "But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land,
and he began to be in want.
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58. (15) "Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he
sent him into his fields to feed swine.
(16) "And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the
swine ate, and no one gave him anything.
(17) "But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired
servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
(18) 'I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have
sinned against heaven and before you,
(19) "and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of
your hired servants."'
(20) "And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great
way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his
neck and kissed him.
(21) "And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in
your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.'
(22) "But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it
on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.
(23) 'And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry;
(24) 'for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'
And they began to be merry.
Four important dynamics of salvation were uncovered to us through the life of the
Prodigal Son:
 The understanding of the fallen state of man and the consequences
thereof (vs: 17)
 Genuine personal desire to be reconciled to the father (vs. 18)
 An understanding of God’s righteous demand and the necessity for
repentance; not just wallowing in the futility of religion (vs. 19)
 An understanding of the need to turn to God for the salvation of his soul
(vs.:20)
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59. HOW DO I GET SAVED?
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live
soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed
hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ”.
Titus 2:11-14
“Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also
with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from
sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the
lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past
lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness,
lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.
In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the
same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. They will give an account
to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this reason the
gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged
according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit”.
1st Peter 4:1
You are not being saved unless you are continually getting spiritually educated
by grace to deny all acts of impiety towards God and His commandments; and
are being freed from self-centered desires resulting from the diseased condition
of the soul.
Salvation is a continuous experience (we are saved, being saved and shall yet
be saved). It has a beginning and an end, for the bible speaks about the end of
your salvation. You cannot be saved and be ignorant of what you have been
saved from, for the scripture makes us wise for salvation (2nd Tim. 3: 15).
Salvation is a process which is not exactly synonymous with answering what, in
the current level of the understanding of most church groups, is called an “altar
call.” One can respond to an ‘altar call’ so-called, based on many factors that
have nothing to do with the kingdom of God. The objective of the finished work of
the cross is to fully reconcile fallen man back to his God so as to be able to fulfil
his Kingdom-establishing mandate. The culmination of that reconciliation is for an
individual to get restored to the state of existence from which Adam fell, the
fullness of which is now realizable in the risen Christ. When due to a conviction
of the Holy Spirit, you attest from the heart to the fact that you, like all have
sinned and have come short of the glory of God (we all have fallen short of God’s
standard of righteousness), and attest to the fact that Jesus Christ has paid the
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60. ultimate price for the sin of mankind (yours and mine inclusive), you have just
taken the initial of the series of steps necessary for genuine salvation to take its
full course. The full privileges of that reconciliation will only begin to be enjoyed
when you enter into a life-transforming, intimate relationship with God Who by
His Holy Spirit begins to help, teach and instruct on the need to and how to
actually confront and deal with the issues of life, reorientating you to become
righteous in your ways.
Confessing Christ
But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your
heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with
your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised
Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto
righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”.
Romans 10
There is a serious misconception regarding the word “confess” as it relates to the
issue of salvation and being born again. The Greek word for “confess” used in
the context of salvation is HOMOLOGEO (From Vine's Expository Dictionary of
Biblical Words), Copyright (c) 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers:
Homologeo NT:3670, lit., "to speak the same thing" (homos, "same," lego, "to
speak"), "to assent, accord, agree with," denotes, (a) "to confess, declare, admit,"
John 1:20; e. g., Acts 24:14; Heb. 11:13; (b) "to confess by way of admitting
oneself guilty of what one is accused of, the result of inward conviction," 1 John
1:9; (c) "to declare openly by way of speaking out freely, such confession being
the effect of deep conviction of facts,"
“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen
them afar off, were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that
they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such
things declare plainly that they seek a homeland”.
Hebrew 11:13-14
This scripture evidences the lives of the patriarchs, communicated by a deep
sense of journeying, forbidding any attachment to earthly principles and values.
They lived their lives within the structure of the life found in Christ; they were not
just confessing that they were strangers as in church creed, but they
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61. communicated these values by the life they lived in the midst of perverse and
crooked generations. They were not at home in the body but were present with
the Lord even though they were still in the flesh.
“Therefore whoever confesses me before men, him I will also confess
before My Father who is in heaven “.
Mathew 10:32
From this scripture and couple with the understanding of the word translated
“confess,” we are able to deduce that, “to confess” means a binding public
declaration by which a legal relationship is contractually established. “To
confess” Christ means to contractually bind oneself to the fact that Jesus Christ
has paid the price for sin and attesting to this fact before men by a corresponding
lifestyle of holiness in this crooked world of sin.
With this new understanding, “salvation” and being “born-again” do not happen
merely because of what we say or what we now imagine ourselves to be, but
because we have become one with Christ in His attributes and character, in a
sinful and godless world. It neither has anything to do with church activities that
have no capacity to transform us, nor has it to do with responding to an “altar
call”. In the church that Christ is building, the altar of God is in our hearts and the
Kingdom of God expresses itself through us by the way we live our lives. To say
you are born-again and still continue in sin, is to deny the fact that God has sent
Jesus to die for sin, thus making God a liar.
What Do I Believe in My Heart ?
“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your
heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with
the heart one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation”.
Romans: 10
“BELIEVE” (pisteuo), is a Greek verb from pistis. It suggests not just faith in
church doctrines or articles of faith; rather, it expresses reliance and a personal
trust that produces obedience. It includes submission and living a life that
emulates Christ. To profess that one believes that God raised Christ from the
dead and still continue in sin (death), is a sure sign of unbelief.
So in essence salvation means to be rescued from the values and lifestyle that
are in opposition to the values of the Kingdom of God contained in His Word; to
be saved is to embrace new values, discarding principles that this world has
taught us, for if any man is in Christ Jesus he is a new creature.
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62. SALVATION AND ENTERING THE KINGDOM
Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water
and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of
the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not
marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
John 3:5-8
From the scripture above, irrespective of the local church assembly you attend,
Jesus highlighted the requirements for entering the kingdom of God; and from
the look of things, if Jesus meant what he said (and He did mean it), then the
present day church has failed in this regard .You will not enter the kingdom of
God by attending endless religious activities that have no capacity to baptize you
into the nature of Christ.
What It Means to Be Born of Water and of the Spirit?
We must bear in mind that a crucial stage of salvation is for the word of God to
incarnate in or to become the form of the human flesh. Therefore to be born of
water is to have the influence of the word of God exerted by the Spirit of God
upon the soul of man. Pure water was metaphorically used to further highlight the
necessity for man not just to be religious but to allow the purifying effect of the
word upon the soul which is the seat of man’s emotion, will and intellect.
“And having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a
true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water”.
Hebrew 10:22-23
How can our “bodies” be washed with pure water?
Does not the word of God tell us in Romans 12:1-2, to present our bodies as a
living sacrifice?
There is a deliberate reason for the use of the word “bodies,” (plural), and not the
singular noun “body.” The word translated “bodies” is soma; and it refers to the
whole of man: spirit, soul and body. A thorough salvation is that which occurs at
those three levels (1Thess. 5:23). The sanctifying process of washing of our
bodies with the pure water of the word entails the renewing of our mind with the
word of God, to the extent that our thoughts, feelings, responses and choices are
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63. directed by the word of God (or the imperative of His will) and not the dictate of
the flesh.
“Just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He
might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that
He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or
wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without
blemish”
Ephesians 5:26-27
We may need to attempt a brief but needful explanation of what salvation at the
soul level itself entails. The soul of man contains his will with which he makes
decisions; his intellect which is his reasoning and rationalizing faculty; and of
course his emotion with which he expresses feelings such as anger, happiness,
love, hatred, passion, etc.
Before the Fall in Eden, man’s spirit was in an inseparable unity with the Holy
Spirit of God thereby guaranteeing man unfettered access to the omniscient mind
of God. Every action of man was dictated by communications from the mind of
the only Holy God. His very construct required that for him to achieve the
purpose for which he had been created, he must continually live in conformity
with the will of God. Life in the will of God was the very source of his own
life; the moment he stopped living in the will of God, man lost his life. The source
of his power to live a normal life devoid of aberrations had been cut off
regardless of whether he still moved around and engaging in activities or not.
The current life he lives is a travesty, a terrible joke. He had ceded the spiritual
high grounds to rebellious spirit beings over which he was created to rule.
However, before the Fall, man did not use his will to take or assert self-generated
decisions or ideas communicated to him from external, invariably evil sources,
but only to enforce the will of God communicated to him through the Spirit of
God, through Whom he was connected to God.
Likewise, whenever the Spirit of God communicated the mind of God to the man
(Adam) before he fell, he did not use his intellect to begin to rationalize whether
to carry it out or not or whether it was good or not. Rather, he used his intellect to
intelligently carry out or execute that which had been communicated to him.
Man’s emotion also expressed feelings communicated from God’s mind. His idea
of love for instance, was not an unguarded passion directed at the opposite sex
for the purpose of satisfying a personal desire; rather, every act of love had its
root in the need to perpetuate godliness whether expressed within the context of
marriage or otherwise.
As a result of the fall however, all of these faculties of man stopped being used to
willingly serve God’s holy purposes, as his (man’s) source of connection to God
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64. was severed and he stopped being a spiritual but a soulish being (the remaining
presence or Spirit of God in him collapsed right into his soul). Invariably, all of his
decisions, his reasoning and feelings got taken over by the Devil and his cohorts
of fallen angels, who now express themselves through man in various perverted,
worldly ways. Since then, every man has assumed the role of the “master” of his
own destiny. It became fashionable or the norm for everyone, for instance, to
bandy around what they call “vision” for their own lives. And this usually refers to
an idea or craving that has been self-generated or thought out and the
achievement of which they deploy all their energies, labour and toils to. It is a
further expression of man’s alienation from his God Who must be the sole source
of his vision. There can be no truth in any claim by a man whose spiritual sight
has not been restored through redemption, that what he has cooked up in his
mind is the equivalent of a divine idea or a vision from God.
This also apply to Christians whose salvation fall short of the standard our Lord
Jesus set out in John 3:3, 5. Any true God-given vision must proceed out of the
deep desire of God to enforce His will and establish His Kingdom. It is spiritually
discerned. It is not a product of man’s thinking and therefore cannot be
appropriated by man as a personal possession. It cannot also be transferred or
inherited through biological considerations. This point has to be stressed
because of the prevalence of very harmful teachings being perpetuated mainly
by self-styled motivational preachers who encourage people whose minds are
largely unrenewed and whose priorities in life are not exactly one with God to
pass off what they cooked up in their own minds as dreams and visions from
God.
One other very harmful effect of this is also that they make man to be limited to
and begin to think and act in the context of a limited world. Life was not designed
to and cannot be lived meaningfully by fallen humans (i.e. outside the divine
blueprint); but since it must continue to be lived anyway, man has had to or has
been helped (by the gods of this earth) to devise all manner of means to get
around the challenges of living. He has to manage to devise how to concoct
marriage and live in it (having lost the original blueprint); how to keep the
environment safe for habitation and how to co-exist with his neighbours. There
began to emerge social/psychological thoughts and ideas on interpersonal
relationships; diplomatic ideas on how nations can peacefully co-habit; economic
ideas to allocate scarce resources for production purposes; educational, social
and philosophical ideas to enhance humanity and improve its well-being;
democratic ideas and principles to govern society, keep law and order and
prevent descent into chaos; recreational ideas (especially sports, social clubs,
etc) to manage boredom, weariness, stress, etc. All these point to one fact: that
humanity now sustains itself on management and humanistic principles. These
are all attempts at managing the effects of the Fall and the limitations the latter
impose on humanity, without the capability to reverse it. Sadly enough, much of
the visible Church still exist or thrives on these management and humanistic
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65. principles despite all pretensions to spirituality. The enemy sold to the Church a
gospel which proclaims Christ but denies His power.
A further manifestation of the limitation the Fall imposed on humanity is that man
began to institute various rival cultures expressible only within the context of his
limited environment. And that is why people identify themselves passionately in
terms of earthly systems of culture and values (nations, states, people groups,
racial and ethnic groups, etc.) which blur people’s memory to the fact that they
belong to a Kingdom with its distinct culture that have roots in the realm of God.
You hear people revel in what they call the cultures of “our people.” And these
represent various perverted ways of viewing the world, life and the meaning to
attach to it. It must be stressed here that the culture of the Kingdom of God bears
no relation to any earthly culture, whether it be Swahili, Chinese, Ibo, Kurdish,
Yoruba, Arabian, European or American. It is a distinct culture which man lost
touch with and to which he must be reconciled through the instrumentality of
salvation in Christ Jesus.
Any salvation that does not restore man to the reality of the pre-Fall state at Eden
is, at best an incomplete one and at worst, an outright deception. Biblical
salvation is God’s strategy to restore man to a state where all of the contents of
his life (his thoughts, actions and deeds) becomes the outplay, a total and
exclusive reflection of God’s divine intent or will at any point in time. When we
come to Christ as new converts and accept the reality of His death and
resurrection, our spirit is the first to receive the salvation impact.
Our soul where a chunk of our humanity resides, takes a longer while to be
affected by the reality of our salvation. By the very nature of its constituents, it
takes some struggle and deliberate cooperation with God the Holy Spirit, through
the exertion of pressures, to free our souls from the corruption of the Fall. The
pressures we experience often result from the struggle which ensues as the
Spirit of God seeks to bend our wills, purifies our emotion, and realign our
intellect, subjecting all of these to the will of God.
This process which entails deprogramming and reprogramming of the human
mind, is made possible by God’s sovereignty, power and grace and it is achieved
primarily by the application of the word of God (Heb. 4:11) which contains the
values of the Kingdom of God, and within it, the power to re-orientate and change
heart. Once we cooperate with the Spirit of God to achieve this divine objective of
heart’s circumcision, the light of God begins to shine into our life, and our hearts
become illuminated by the light of the revelation of whom Jesus is. The life, the
presence and the power of God begin to be expressed through us in an active
way. The scriptures begin to open up to us and eternity (i.e. heaven, the realm of
God or the Kingdom of God) descends into the hearts of us mortals. This also
enables us to represent Christ or model Him accurately to our generation and
also confers on us the ability to occupy effectively for Him to make Him return.
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66. Our bodies which still carry the corruption of the earth, will also be affected
greatly by the glory radiating from our inward nature, and will actually be freed to
a large extent from such pressures of the fallen nature as sickness. The body
which is of the earthly nature will also know total redemption as it will be
continually renewed and changed as our sight of Him becomes more and more
powerful.
In a nutshell therefore, this washing effect of the water of the word upon the
church (i.e. the soul of the people rather than a building) brings sanctification
(the manifestation of a life produced by the power of the Spirit of God) (1Cor
6:11; Eph 4:23). Only the pure in heart shall see God (Math.5:8), and “heart” (or
kardia) as used in this sense refers to the totality of “thoughts and feelings,” It
paints the picture of having a transparency of spirit like NATHANIEL (John 1:47).
Have you seen any born-again believer like this lately? When you meet any ones
like that who have been restored to sonship and priesthood because they have
the holy and divine nature of God in them, they are usually wonderfully excellent
humans.
To be sanctified (cleansed) describes the manifestation of this kind of life
produced by the power of the Holy Spirit through the effect of the word upon the
soul. The effect of this salvation is such a powerful phenomenon that it has the
effect of producing such an effective human with an unlimited ability to rule and
reign over life and its circumstances. The ability such a redeemed human has to
make just anything happen is only subject to the constraints of the spiritual
constitution called “THE WILL OF GOD.” This is the paramount consideration in
what he does and does not do. The spiritual man is ruled and governed by the
exigencies of the will of Good. Such a human will also not be limited by any
artificial life’s boundaries; the global arena will be his/her operating theater.
Because he is backed in all he does by the greatest force in the universe, no
force of life will be able to resist him. The world eagerly awaits the emergence of
this brand of beings on its scene. It is however a tragedy that the church of today
is silent on the all-important aspect of our salvation which can produce such race
of humans.
It must be re-emphasised that salvation or getting born-again does not just
involve accepting Jesus as the Lord and Saviour. Accepting and believing is
about the easiest thing to do (the devil also believe), but we must negotiate our
ways into God’s kingdom through character refinement and by continually
allowing our self-oriented lives to be adjusted by the word of God. This frontier of
salvation makes it possible for our spiritual senses to be very well formed.
Ideally, life and all it entails is designed by God to be lived by redeemed humans.
For instance, if people who have attained spiritual manhood enter into marriage,
they can make Godly choices and their understanding of proper spiritual
government is sound. This will reduce, if not eliminate unnecessary dissipation,
which usually is associated with, and bogs down incompatible relationships.
Incidences of counseling will also be significantly reduced. It must however be
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67. pointed out that opportunities for growth and maturity exist for relationships
entered into at a time of limited understanding or even outright ignorance. The
challenge for everyone is that marriages can be and have to be built. The desire
for the spiritual tools with which to build must command a lot of our priorities.
The same level of salvation is what also makes for effective leadership in various
capacities- business and profession, family, etc. For instance, if any business or
leadership seminar fails to address the ultimacy of this frontier of salvation (which
makes an individual to identify with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection), it
will not produce Kingdom business people/professionals or leaders, but natural
humans who will be mere pretenders to doing business for and in the name of
Christ; and of course, pseudo-leaders for whom this attribute is merely an art
rather than life. The ability needed to move situations and strongholds for God in
critical areas of business and professional practice with the power of the
Kingdom (i.e. of the age to come) is reserved only for those who have been
“redeemed from among men” (Rev. 14). There is no ‘corporate gospel’; there is
only one- “… in Christ, the resurrection from the dead” (Acts 4: 2).
Mention also needs be made of a “new” form of “gospel” that is commanding a
throng of followership surprisingly within the body of Christ. Church leaders are
fast succumbing to the lure of seeking to produce “leaders” through the
employment of all kinds of soulish methods being promoted by a growing rank of
so-called “motivational preachers/speakers,” most of who even claim to be
“Pastors” of some local churches. A legion of literature now adorns our
bookstands promoting so-called leadership “principles” and ideas that actually
had their roots in the thinking system of the world. This is not surprising as much
of what calls itself parts of the Church of our Lord are actually extensions of the
territories of Babylon (the World System). Most of them peddle philosophies of
men disguised and packaged as the gospel. Paul, the Apostle calls it “another
(or “different”) gospel.” Usually, they lift certain biblical principles, ideals and
patterns of leadership and teach people to “adapt” themselves to these, by
training their minds. It is hoped that by doing this, they will become leaders.
Almost all of these teachings conveniently ignore the truth that biblical leaders
who are always leaders under God (e.g. Jacob, Moses, Joseph, David, Daniel,
the apostles, and the ultimate, pattern-leader Himself- our Lord Jesus) were all
produced by thorough spiritual processes. The living Word of God came alive in
and through them by the power of the Holy Spirit. The standard cannot be
different or lowered for us. God is the same yesterday, today and forever.
It must be stated clearly that any attempt on the part of men to seek to solve any
problem in life, which are all created by the Fall, by any other means other the
only God-preferred way of escape, the way of the Cross, made possible by the
death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, is merely diversionary. All of the issues
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68. and problems of life must be resolved by the reversal of the Fall. The values
(including that of leadership) that humans lost and are trying to recover through
the backdoor of “management principles” are all creational ideals embedded in
the nature and life of God (His presence).
True leadership is an attribute of Jesus Christ (God), and therefore, it is spiritual
in nature. They were lost because men fell short of God’s glory. The only
doorway back to recovering those ideals, which God approves, is Christ (“this is
my only begotten Son, in whom I am well pleased…,” “…there is no other name
or nature to be conformed to, under heaven through which a person can be s-a-
v-e-d other than the name or the nature of Jesus.” You cannot by-pass Christ
and lay hold of God’s attributes. Seeking to recover the glory that was lost
without coming through the door that is Christ is something opposed to Christ. All
such attempts are designed by Hell to deny the centrality of and make nonsense
of the significance of the death and resurrection of Jesus. They are therefore
anti-Christ.
Jesus is the perfect model of leadership after whom all who desire the ideal thing
must be patterned. It is impossible to become like Him by merely observing and
adapting oneself to some principles and traits gleaned from the lives of some
individuals. The living Word of God must become flesh in and through anyone
who aspires to spiritual leadership (which is what our world needs), and only the
Holy Spirit of God has the capability and the competence to produce and pattern
a human after Christ. Our model of leadership cannot and must never be some of
those fallen, substandard and weak humans who although do exhibit certain
leadership traits and charisma, are however failures in other areas of their lives.
It is because the world has not seen true leaders in contemporary times (these
were called the ‘sons of God’ in the word of God -Rom 8:19); it is because
Christendom has not been able to present the world with true leaders that they
still look up to or cite some charismatic politicians/statesmen, business and
corporate moguls, as leadership examples. Most believers also are confused in
this respect. This is because most still struggle with the split personality
phenomenon.
Author Rick Joyner gave a beautiful insight into this in his highly inspired work
“There Were Two Trees in the Garden” (1993):
To be double-minded is to have more than one mind or
personality. …there are degrees of double-mindedness
found in all who not been transformed from the carnal
nature of fallen man by the renewing of their minds in
Christ. If we tend to have one personality at home, another
at the office or job…these are symptoms of double-mindedness.
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69. Only the resurrection power and life can restore the true leadership traits that
men seek. It cannot be attained by the exertion of the human will and intellect.
You cannot become a leader by observing certain so-called “irrefutable laws.”
The best you can be is a hypocrite of sorts with different faces at different times,
places and occasions; an inconsistent, product of public relations and a hybrid of
multiple natures. True leaders don’t “act,” they live, breath and exude leadership
qualities unconsciously and it is not because they had read about it in any
literature. Go ask the Apostles which books of leadership they read or which
seminars they attended. Yet, no one can deny that these were quintessential
leaders of all time. True leadership is life, not an art, and they don’t attain it by
attending any management school, seminar or conference, or even by reading
any book. The only way to it is the Cross.
It is crass ignorance that will lead anyone claiming to be representing Christ
especially as the minister of His gospel to purvey any principle that will not
ultimately lead the target audience to the Author of Life. It is the height of what
the scriptures call “double-mindedness” (James 1:6-9) to represent ourselves to
different audiences in different ways because some people may need to hear you
but not the mentioning of Christ. This sort of thinking permits certain teachings
and instructions to be directed at secular audiences while the real Christlike
standards are only reserved for “spiritual” situations/audiences as in a church
assembly; and many books have been written along this line to encourage self-
development in many areas of life including the subject of leadership. If we
ourselves carry God in appropriate measure, nobody will be able to resist the
God in us. And you don’t need to carry a placard or a physical mark on you about
Christ. If you salt your earth perfectly, Moslems, hinduists, atheists will be forced
to defer to and ask what your secrets are, who your own God is.
We must allow the word of God to break satanic holds (such as systems of
responses and priorities developed over the years that are not word-based) in
our lives; and use the same word to build Christ-like character or new response
system based on the word of God. Satan’s attacks come only through the
unaffected strongholds (old thought patterns) in our lives. We must all desire to
be yielded only to the will of God; the word of God is God’s will.
“For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved
to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy,
hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and
His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds
which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the
washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured
out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified
by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life”.
Titus 3:3-7
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70. We are saved through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy
Spirit. The word translated “regeneration” from the Greek original text is
anakainos and it means renovation, regeneration and spiritual birth.
ULTIMATE SALVATION AND THE END OF THE AGE
The end will not come if the church (individual and corporate) remained lulled into
believing that we can become born-again and then just sit to wait for the
“rapture.” There has to be cooperation between God and man in order to bring an
end to this age.
“And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before me, for the
earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them
with the earth.” Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the
ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. And this is how you shall
make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty
cubits, and its height thirty cubits. You shall make a window for the ark,
and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in
its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks”.
Genesis 6:13-17
“And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son
of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in
marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and
destroyed them all”.
Luke 17:26-28
By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with
godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, BY WHICH HE
CONDEMNED the world and became heir of the righteousness which is
according to faith.
Hebrews 11:7
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71. From the scriptures above, we have a glimpse into the activities of men and their
responses to God in the period called the “last days.” Many books have been
written on what men were doing in Noah’s days, but few had devoted more
attention to what Noah was doing.
While they were eating and drinking, marrying and being married, Noah was
building the ark (an active construction of life and values based on the veiled
realities of the principles of Christ); he made rooms for God in his ark (a picture
of sanctified human life in a corrupt environment). He was engaged in the
construction of a process that will ensure his safety from the flood of crises and
calamity that will drown the men of his generation.
A strategic initiative was developed by Noah to build something that will interface
(or actively cooperate) with heaven in order for the end to come. God would not
end the age while Noah was still engaged in the process of building or when he
was not building according to God’s specification.
The church has to be piloted towards the restoration of man before the end can
come. The issue of fallen-ness must be dealt with by the church as a condition
for God to judge the entire world. Three things must be understood by the
Church in order to bring an end to this age.
 What Noah built has no earthly prototype; it was built on three levels and
on God’s specifications.
 What Noah built was what God shut Him in; not anything outside the
parameters of his operation.
 Noah was caught up with God in the ark while the flood of God’s judgment
ravaged the earth. Indeed, the ark in which he was shut floated on or was
suspended by the same flood which swept away the unsuspecting
generation.
In conclusion, the ultimate salvation of the church will not come unless houses
(or temples, according to 1st Corinthians 3:16) are constructed upon the earth for
God to inhabit, and this will serve as a basis for God to interface with the earth.
Ancient patriarchal lifestyles must be constructed back into the earth as a
standard of judgment against the nature of men that are living in these last days
of the church.
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72. Chapter 5
THE NECCESSITY FOR REFORMATION
I will turn My hand against you, And thoroughly purge away your dross,
And take away all your alloy. (26) I will restore your judges as at the first,
And your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the
city of righteousness, the faithful city." (27) Zion shall be redeemed with
justice, And her penitents with righteousness. (28) The destruction of
transgressors and of sinners shall be together, And those who forsake the
LORD shall be consumed.
Isaiah 1:25-28
The present condition of the Church is a far cry from what God intended. There is
economic prosperity but an increasing decay in the moral and spiritual fibre of the
society .The church is lulled into a false sense of security that ‘everything is
okay.’ Religious tradition and ineffectual ministries abound. God is desirous of
and about to bring a radical change to the church. This change that God is about
to make in His church is not a revival. In essence, we are not going back to an
Azusa-type revival, as some people are wont to believe; what God actually
desires is a Reformation of the Church. (…read “The Present Reformation of the
Church” by Dr Noel Woodroffe).
What is a Reformation?
The Greek root word for Reformation is ‘diothorsis’ from which the word
orthopaedics was derived. It refers to the proper alignment, adjustment or
rearrangement of the internal skeletal, bone structures which give shape to the
external reality, especially of a human being. In its most basic sense, ‘to re-form’
means ‘to make again,’ or to restore to the natural and normal condition
something that is broken, protruding abnormally or has got out of line. The word
is used once in the New Testament portion of the Bible (Hebrews 9:10).
The Church of our Lord Jesus Christ is currently undergoing a major reformation
in its nature, character and operational principles. The current level of the
Church’s executive operation makes her clearly unready to fulfil the divine
mandate of her Groom. The Lord is realigning and adjusting the Church in terms
of her understanding of the purposes of God for Creation and Redemption; her
priorities, choices, motives and perspectives of the things of God, which had
been skewed over the ages, are being incrementally aligned with the will of God.
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73. This realignment or reformation is so fundamental that it is changing a whole
range of what have been standard practices in the Church (traditions of men
being confused with spiritual requirements). These range from such major issues
as ministry initiatives, to the most basic things like the conduct of marriage
ceremonies. God is changing and properly aligning our understanding of such
concepts as ministry, the church, the Kingdom and their interrelationships.
We are now realizing for instance, that ministry or our functioning for God in life
or what we traditionally refer to as our ‘call’ or ‘calling’ extend far beyond the
pulpits right into the womb of the society. The five manifold gifts of apostles,
prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are given as gifts to men not just to
our traditional view of church. Apostles may be called to function as statesmen
and nation-builders while prophets and pastors may be called to function as
builders of businesses.
The Holy Spirit is now revealing to us that a whole lot of what we used to attribute
to God is actually not the way He is. Such aberrant practices as excessive
personalisation of ministries, selfish ministry priorities and goals, the way leaders
of local church assemblies carry themselves and relate with members of their
congregation, emphasis of scriptures and/or doctrines (e.g. rapture) are being
changed. It must be noted that the thrust or emphasis of any reformation is to
make the church more perfect, more sanctified, more matured and ready to host
her Groom.
It must also be noted that the church is the people and not buildings, and the
individual is the least unit of that church. Therefore, the focus of the reformation
is the individual. God is reforming you and I, aligning our shape of understanding
and reordering our priorities and aligning them with the will of God. These
movements take us further and further towards Him making us to become one
with Him eventually. In this world, the power of His Kingdom will be restored to us
to enable us fulfil our regency roles on His behalf.
“I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the
beginning, afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the
faithful city."
Isaiah 1:26
Also, a feature of this reformation is the restoration of the ministry offices of
apostles and prophets working fully for the first time alongside the pastors,
evangelists and teachers.
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow
citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, (20) having
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74. been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ
Himself being the chief corner stone, (21) in whom the whole building,
being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, (22) in whom
you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:19-22
There is something called the “five-fold ministry.” Christ has equipped men with
different governmental anointing to bring the wider church body into positions of
maturity. The five-fold governmental office is not designed to elevate a man or
create a class structure within the church; rather, it is the technology that God
has chosen to build His Church. In the past, many men functioned in these
positions and under such anointing but there was no clarification and definition of
the prophetic and the apostolic ministries.
From the scriptural verses cited above we understood that the church is being
built upon the foundations of the apostles and prophets. These represent the
revelation ministries of the church, (the research and development dept).
However, it must be stressed that none of these ministry offices is superior or
inferior to the other. They are equal parts of the Lord Jesus and no part of Him
can be inferior or superior to the other. They differ only in functional terms.
By which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the
mystery of Christ),5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons
of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and
prophets
Ephesians 3:4-5
Although no attempt is being made to do an in-depth study of these offices here,
suffice it to say that prophets are the eyes, the ears and the mouths of God. In
the Old Testament, they are called the trumpets, and they very are declarative,
bold, penetrative, accurate, insightful, discerning and knowing the way (their
presence signified the absence of confusion).
Apostles are builders, creative, multifaceted, multilevel, purposefully pioneering,
success-oriented; they have breakthrough capabilities, making the impossible
possible, gathering, prospering and re-engineering of the economy of God, have
strong revelation for word-based lifestyle, wisdom and knowledge for practical
demonstration of God. Issues of government, headship and leadership, removal
of limitations, and the breaking of yokes placed by the system of the world, liberty
and release, and the finishing mentality are all associated with the apostolic
anointing.
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75. The restoration of the spiritual office of the apostle is critical and peculiar to this
Reformation. Apostles are first (1Cor 12:28) and the word for ‘first’ in this
scripture is derived from the Greek word ‘proton,’ which means first in order, in
time and in rank, but not necessarily superior in quality. There is no aspect of
Christ that is superior to the other. Their revelation, authority, anointing and
wisdom provide the foundation upon which an accurate church (local and global)
is built (Eph 2:20). Without these ministries (of the prophets and apostles), the
church would be inaccurate because the foundation would be wrong.
In 1Cor 3:10, Paul describes himself as ‘a wise master-builder’ who lays a proper
foundation. Two hallmarks of the apostolic anointing are wisdom and building.
The account in Zech. 1:16-21 is a prophetic picture of the building thrust of the
apostolic.
“Apostles provide functional headship to the Church because they possess a
building, governmental anointing designed to give the Church penetration, clarity
in the design of God and an order in which the power of God can move,
unhindered by religious/political clutter. The apostolic release is the arrowhead of
the Reformation move of God today.” (“The Present Reformation of the Church”
by Noel Woodroffe, pg.9)
Radical Renovation of the Mentalities within the Church
(Rom. 12:2; 2 Corinthians 10:4-6)
In order to effectively embrace and function within the present restructuring, there
must be a radical shift and change of thought patterns within the body of Christ.
The word of God must bring about a transformation or the renewal of the minds
of the saints (Rom. 12:2). This involves a movement away from former positions
that may have once been accurate but are now no longer relevant to the new
positions God is moving us to. The old platforms of understanding through which
believers reckon or view the things of God must now be shifted and brought into
‘the obedience of Christ’ (2Cor. 10:4-6).
Whatever system of understanding we harbour in us conditions all of our
responses and behaviour patterns in normal situations of life. They are very
similar to the operating system of a computer. This determines the way the
computer processes every piece of information fed into it. The spiritual operating
system of a believer, like the operating system of a computer, is the very nature
or thinking pattern of that believer. Just as the computer is not better than its
operating system, the believer is only as good as his spiritual operating system.
The spiritual operating system of a believer is the spiritual experience which
produced such a believer. If a believer has his foundation in a spiritual
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76. experience which says ‘I seek God so that He can bless me,’ that mindset
continues to control and condition the way he sees and responds to the things of
God throughout his Christian life, except by some fortuitous encounter, he has a
change of mind. And the way a man sees God determines what power of God he
or she can touch and experience.
Except the person runs into God afresh or have a change of experience, he or
she may die unfulfilled. There must be a change of orientation not only in terms
of thought processes but also in response systems. And a very crucial area
requiring change in our Christian experience is that which must move us from a
worship of God for what he can do for us, to a worship of God for who He is and
what He wants to do in and through us. The only spiritual operating system that
God has always approved and will not change till we accomplish our purposes is
uncompromising commitment to and the actual fulfilment of God’s will. If we see
God and view life through this confine of His will, our life and existence will be a
story of divine accomplishment.
Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:” Sacrifice and offering
You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for me. In burnt offerings
and sacrifices for sin you had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have
come in the volume of the book it is written of me—to do your will, O God.’
Hebrew 10:5-7
Just as the whole of humanity craves to have its needs met, God also
passionately desires to manifest Himself to the world through the lives of those
who profess to worship Him. God, it seems, has an accommodation problem and
only a reformed, Kingdom-oriented church can build such a house that can
accommodate God. His (Christ’s) Body must be prepared for the manifestation of
His glory in the earth.
Today, church is viewed as a limited activity that goes on in buildings on
Sundays and some other appointed days of the week. The desire of God
however is that church be the totality of our lives from Monday to Sunday,
extending its tentacles through all that we are and do deep into the cultural
territories of Babylon. In Daniel’s vision (Daniel 2), the Kingdom fills the earth.
The Kingdom fills all and is in all. Man-made demarcations and denominational
boundaries will not limit the Kingdom. God is interested in the establishment of
His Kingdom. Christ preached the gospel of the Kingdom (Matt 4:23; 9:35; Mark
1:14), and it is the gospel of the Kingdom that is to be preached throughout ‘the
entire world’ (Matt 24.14). The Kingdom invades every aspect of life and is not
confined to our limited notion of “church.”
Within the Kingdom there is no demarcation between the secular and the spiritual
realms. A lot time ago, the devil sold a lie to much of the church that they have a
dual life- one, spiritual and the other, secular. The latter referring to jobs,
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77. vocations and other activities of their lives in which God seems not to loom large
or have an overwhelming control, or does not even want to get involved. The
former of course refers to their “religious” activities. The gods of this earth know
that all of lives activities or the things we see in the physical are controlled or
hatched in the realm of the spirit. Either they are being controlled directly by the
power of God’s Holy Spirit or they are being hatched by the powers of darkness
that operate in and through the lives of humans and their daily life activities. This
is not to suggest that there are two equal power centres in the universe; all that
the powers of darkness do are subject to the permission of God the Almighty.
From the riots erupting in a football match venue somewhere in Europe to an
ethnic conflict elsewhere in which hundreds of thousand of lives are being lost;
from the seemingly harmless petty trading and marketing activities in various
localized, remote settings to the highstake political, social and economic activities
going on in various institutions scattered around the globe, all are being
controlled spiritual entities. Our activities on our bank jobs, in the security
organizations, in the academia or some other public or private practices
relationships are all spiritually controlled. The only ones ignorant of this fact are
church-goers.
The plan of God for each redeemed humans is to live one whole, unified,
seamless life of purpose. Whatever He assigns us to do in His Kingdom
represent our spiritual functioning. The challenge is to truly figure what that is, so
as not to confuse what Babylon has deceitfully configured us to do as His
purpose for our lives. Kingdom purposes can only be spiritually discerned by a
renewed mind. The Kingdom is not an external reality but the submission of
everything to the will of God. It is the internal reality of Christ’s rule in our lives
that then determines the manner of our conducts in the earth. ‘The kingdom of
God is within you,’ says the Lord Jesus (Luke 17:20-21).
The Kingdom is the rule of God that begins and emanates from within the heart
of the individual believer. It is the content of your covenant, commitment,
obedience, zeal, endurance, progress, and submission to the will of the Lord. Its
hallmarks include purity within, clarity, knowledge and understanding. It is the
force of God flowing out of the Church into the earth that is released as God’s
government and right to rule, strongly expressed first inside our hearts.
THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM
John the Baptist, Jesus, the Disciples and the early Church preached about the
Kingdom of God.
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78. John the Baptist, Mat 3:1-6. When John the Baptist came he had a message that
was different from what the people were used to hearing. He was bringing in a
NEW AGE. Before John came, forgiveness and acceptance before God was
through the sacrifice of a lamb, turtle doves, pigeon etc. blood was everywhere
in the Temple. It was a transition from the old religious way to the new. If the
people would listen to him God was bringing a great change to His people in
those days.
Jesus the Christ
Mat 4:13-18 (13) He moved from his hometown, Nazareth, to the lakeside
village Capernaum, nestled at the base of the Zebulun and Naphtali hills. (14)
This move completed Isaiah's sermon :( 15) Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
road to the sea, over Jordan, Galilee, crossroads for the nations. (16) People
sitting out their lives in the dark saw a huge light; Sitting in that dark, dark country
of death, they watched the sun come up. (17) This Isaiah-prophesied sermon
came to life in Galilee the moment Jesus started preaching. He picked up
where John left off: "CHANGE YOUR LIFE. GOD'S KINGDOM IS HERE."(18)
Walking along the beach of Lake Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers: Simon (later
called Peter) and Andrew. They were fishing, throwing their nets into the lake. It
was their regular work.
The Twelve Apostle and the Seventy
Mat 10:1-10, The prayer was no sooner prayed than it was answered. Jesus
called twelve of his followers and sent them into the ripe fields. He gave
them power to kick out the evil spirits and to tenderly care for the bruised
and hurt lives.(2) This is the list of the twelve he sent: Simon (they called
him Peter, or "Rock"), Andrew, his brother, James, Zebedee's son, John,
his brother,(3) Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, the tax man, James,
son of Alpheus, Thaddaeus,(4) Simon, the Canaanite, Judas Iscariot (who
later turned on him). (5) Jesus sent his twelve harvest hands out with this
charge: "Don't begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert
unbelievers. And don't try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy.
(6) Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. (7)
TELL THEM THAT THE KINGDOM IS HERE. (8) Bring health to the sick.
Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have
been treated generously, so live generously. (9) "Don't think you have to
put on a fund-raising campaign before you start. (10) You don't need a lot
of equipment. You are the equipment, and all you need to keep that going
is three meals a day. Travel light.
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79. WHAT IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD?
The Rule of God in Man and through MAN. Jesus used a parable to show us that
God wants to RULE over US; He does not only want to rule in heaven but also
want to rule on earth LUKE 19:11 – 27, Vs27 ‘But bring here those enemies of
mine, who did not want me to reign ( Basileou) over them, and slay them before
me.
Mat 6:10 Your kingdom Come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
Greek; Basileia bas-il-i'-ah From G935; Properly Royalty, that is, (abstractly)
Rule, or (concretely) a realm (literally or figuratively): - Kingdom, + Reign. God
does not want to rule only in heaven, he wants to rule on earth, Man was
originally given this Mandate. Gen 1:26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in
Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish
of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth
and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD
YOU OBEY WHO EVER RULES OVER YOUR LIFE
Rom 6:12, Therefore do not let sin Reign (basileou) in your mortal body,
that you should obey it in its lusts. Rom 6:16 Do you not know that to
whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves
whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to
righteousness?
The Kingdom of God is within [Luke 17:20-21]. The Rule and reign of God is of
the Heart from when it proceeds to the Earth filling Gods creation with the Image
and the Likeness of God.
The message of Jesus and His disciples has always been about the kingdom of
God: the domain where God’s invincible kingdom reigns.
Luke 16:15-16
And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men,
but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an
abomination in the sight of God. "The law and the prophets were until
John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and
everyone is pressing into it.
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80. Luke 19:11 Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable,
because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of
God would appear immediately.
It is not a natural or physical human kingdom and the major component of the
faith is to make the kingdom of God visible here on earth as it is in heaven,
Mathew 6:10, Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in
heaven. 6:33,"But SEEK FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
and all these things shall be added to you.
Mat 13:44-46 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a
field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all
that he has and buys that field. (45) "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like
a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, (46) "who, when he had found one
pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
The moment you sight the Kingdom, it requires your absolute Obedience. You
must buy the Field: dedicate your talent and time towards appropriating and
harnessing its fullness and reality in your life.
There are four areas in the Life of Believers in Christ through which the kingdom
seeks to express itself.
 Civil/ State Government : Reading Romans 13 Will help us to
understand that heroes of the Church in past centuries have recognized
there are different jurisdictions within society, each being directly
accountable to God, and each of which has certain boundaries and its
own governmental structure. Those jurisdictions are: Self Government,
Family Government, Church Government, and Civil (state) Government.
Tyranny arises whenever any one of these jurisdictions steps beyond its
own God-given boundaries and interferes un-biblically with the legitimate
action of any of the other jurisdictions. The principle of civil government is
a divinely established sphere, and that all citizens, especially Christians,
have a stewardship role in civil government
In numerous places the Bible refers to the orphan and widow saying we
should not oppress them. Yet the Bible goes much farther. It also teaches
that we should, “…seek justice, reprove the ruthless; defend the orphan,
plead for the widow” (Isa. 1:17; 1:23). The question to ask is this – How
can we fulfill these things without being involved in the places of power
and influence? How can we deliver the widow whose property is taxed so
that she eventually loses her home, or the orphan whose father not only
divorces his mother, but also abandons his family financially – how can we
“defend the orphan and plead for the widow” without being involved in
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81. politics? Christians everywhere should promote biblical justice within their
society, by faithfully voting, by either running for public office or by
encouraging those who do run, by being godly change agents as much as
possible within their political structure; the opportunity will vary – in a
dictator run country there is much less opportunity than in a free country.
 The Government of SELF; all major freedom that a man enjoys begins
with the knowledge of the TRUTH - Person, Not Doctrine. We bring our
lives under the authority and guardianship of the Holy Spirit. Our
developed spirit must now govern our soul this is what it means to enter
the Kingdom of God.
 Family Government (ORDER). You can measure the peace in a home by
how much the government of God is established in the home. (The
Government of God expressed through family is a major evangelism tool
and a conversion point in this last days as we see the dismantling of
organize religion. The head of everyman is Christ …… Men must learn to
prophesy at home before they do it publicly, and women must be in
subjection to their husband as the church is subject to Christ.
 Church Government – The focus of the 3rd Reformation is the
reformation of structure, how things are arranged. He is replacing the old
order of Moses' tabernacle with the New—he is restoring David's
tabernacle (see Acts 15:16-18).
Saul presided over an old structure, Moses' tabernacle, devoid of God's
presence. The ark had gone into captivity under this old structure and a
delinquent priesthood. However, it did not return to either. God raised up a
new structure and a new priesthood. David's tabernacle, unlike Moses',
had no prescribed pattern, nor an intermediary priesthood. In fact,
because there was no prescribed pattern simplicity was the order of the
day. It was only a one-man tent. The complexity of the old order (Moses'
tabernacle) was gone, and now it was simply about his presence. There
was not even a veil—everyone had open access to the presence without a
priest. The implications of this are revolutionary.
During the 3rd and 4th centuries the church reverted to Old Testament
patterns of priesthood to legitimize the shift to Saul-type leadership—to
the `monarchical bishop'. Based in official authority, instead of spiritual,
this became the pattern for today's position of senior pastor. He
effectively, along with all the clergy, became intermediary priests. With the
restoration though of David's tabernacle in which there was no animal
sacrifice and therefore no intermediary priesthood, everyone becomes a
priest. There is no human covering between Christ and the believer for the
"head of every man is Christ" (1 Cor 11:3).
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82. As in David's tabernacle we all now offer spiritual sacrifices of prayer and
worship. This is not to say there is no authority in the church, but it does
beg the question as to what kind of authority it is meant to be. Very simply
the authority of Jesus and the apostles was supernatural. It came from
God by the Spirit and functioned relationally. It was therefore not official or
hierarchical in any way. It was not dependent on human structures, nor
could it be devolved or delegated through them. The authority was
resident in the person not a position.
Jesus taught this when he said, “You know that the rulers of the
Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority
over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to
become great among you shall be your servant. Mat 20:25-26
He is explaining there are two kinds of authority for two spheres: one is
secular authority for the `Gentiles', the other is spiritual authority `among
you'. The former is based on `lording' (i.e. on position and hierarchy), the
latter on `serving' (i.e. on the person and relationship). The former is
legitimate for the civil/state/business spheres, but not for the house of
God. Just as Israel surrendered the priesthood to Aaron and their
kingship to Saul, the church too surrendered its king-priest role to a
professional caste—the clergy. With the emergence of the `monarchical
bishop' through Ignatius in the 2nd century and the confusion of authorities
through Constantine in the 4th, secular styles of leadership replaced true
spiritual authority. But now, in the fullness of reformation, God is working a
final and revolutionary structure-shift from secular to spiritual. Accurate
governance in the Church will result in equity and justice in the society,
after all judgment must begin in the house of GOD
THE CHURCH IS NOT THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Although it is clear that there is a relationship between the church and the
Kingdom of God, the Church is not the kingdom of God in the fullest sense of that
word. Although the kingdom and the Church have much in common, the
Kingdom is much larger than the church. The Church is within the Kingdom and it
provides the platform through which the Kingdom is being projected, declared
and advanced. The Church had been falling and rising, the Kingdom has never
fallen; it can never fall. Rather, it will continue to increase in leaps and bounds.
“To the increase of His Kingdom, there shall be no end.” The Kingdom uses
everything in its course whether such things want to be used or not. It once used
Pharaoh for instance. It encompasses the whole universe (including the fallen
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83. world of rebellious angels), the angelic hosts, plants and animals, as well as Old
Testament and the New Testament saints.
In a narrower sense we may say, for the present, that the Church is confined to
the believers of the present age and dispensation of the Holy Spirit. The Kingdom
is all-inclusive.
FURTHER DISTINCTIONS AND RELATIONSHIP
“The church and the kingdom are the universal reign of God over all creations
and creatures and the universe of worlds, including in itself angels and men. The
church is composed of redeemed believers, out of every kindred, tongue, tribe
and nation. The church does not include the angelic hosts. So we may say that
the angelic hosts are in the kingdom, but only the redeemed are in the church
and also in the kingdom.
The kingdom is eternal and unlimited. It is all encompassing. The church is God’s
eternal purpose, manifested in time. It is limited to those of mankind who are
redeemed by Christ. The church becomes the instrument for the full
demonstration of the kingdom. God’s kingdom, His rule and reign, is to be
established in the church. The church is in the kingdom and the kingdom is in the
church. But church is not the totality, but only a part of the kingdom of God. The
kingdom is far more inclusive than the church.
This distinction or the relationship between the church and the kingdom needs to
be recognized and understood to avoid confusing the real issues involved in
both. We do not pray “thy church come” but the church prays “thy kingdom come”
(Mathew 6:6 – 10). Nor do we preach “the Gospel of the church” but the church
preaches the Gospel of the Kingdom (Mathew 24:14).”
(Excerpts from Conner, K.J.: The Church in the New Testament, (1989)
The church has received the keys of the kingdom (Mathew 16:18); the church is
called to manifest the kingdom. In Acts1 7:38, Stephen identified Israel as the
congregation in the wilderness. The church was reformed in Acts chapter 2 by
the baptism of Holy Spirit, but after the twelve apostles died, the church fell from
the kingdom, was hijacked by Rome and the medieval Roman Catholic Church.
Historically, this period was considered as the ‘Dark Age,’ until the first
reformation was kick started by Martin Luther in October 31, 1517.
From the understanding of the relationship between the church and the kingdom
of God, we are supposed to examine the local assembly we are attending by the
content of the kingdom values it still holds. A local church is not a biblical
“church” just because it calls itself one; it can only be worthy of that appellation
because it accurately represents Christ to the world.
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84. How can we know a church that has fallen from the kingdom of God?
 It will not be driven by revelation, but by traditions and commandments of
men.
 It will be activities-driven. Lacking in the spiritual capacity to reproduce
Christ in the saints, it will keep the mind of the people engaged with
varieties of soulish programmes and activities (building projects,
inaccurate “prayer” and “teaching” conferences, annual celebrations,
concerts and shows without any kingdom relevance, social and
community-oriented projects that are just the fanciful ideas of its human
head.
 It will not reflect the present emphasis of the Spirit, but the crystallized
dimension of what it used to be when it was influenced by the Life of God.
 It will be wrinkled (sign of old age and evident of death and decay), and
operating in the mindset of the 1920s and the ‘40s even though it exists in
the 21st century.
 Its priorities will be sloppy, as it will be rooted in a “bless-me,” self-oriented
gospel rather than a preoccupation with Kingdom commitment. It will be
selling miracles, signs and wonders as the hallmarks of godliness rather
than maturity and perfection in the purposes of God.
THE COMMUNTY OF PEOPLE THAT JESUS IS BUILDING
When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His
disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they
said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one
of the prophets. He said to them, “But who do you say that I am? Simon
Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for
flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in
heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will
build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I
will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on
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85. earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be
loosed in heaven.”
Mathew16: 13-19
It is not every local church that is seen today, that is part of the biblical Church or
ekklesia that Jesus is building. When the Lord Jesus declared that He would
build His church, what He meant was that, He is going to be involved in all of the
processes and the developments that will make His church what God ordained it
to be. “I will” implies that, He will see the processes through. The kind of Church
He is building will not be abandoned and subjected to the caprices of men and
the human frailties and confusion that is evident in the church of today. What He
meant was that “I am going to involve myself in the various stages of the
development and construction of what is called ‘my church.’ ” In essence, Jesus
has been building His church and is still doing so.
Jesus’ kind of church does not necessarily refer to a denomination. There is no
denomination in heaven, for God is neither a Roman Catholic nor a
Pentecostal/Charismatic or any other denomination whatsoever. When Christ
emphasised the building of His church, He was not referring to a big organization
built by man, but to a body of people listening to Him, following Him and serving
His purposes and objectives.
Build: Greek NT: 3618 oikodomeo (oy-kod-om-eh'-o); from the same as NT:
3619; to be a house-builder, i.e. construct or (figuratively) confirm: KJV-(be in)
build (-er, -ing, up), edify, embolden.My: Greek NT: 3450 mou (moo); the simpler
form of NT: 1700; of me: KJV-I, me, mine (own), my.
.
In the great classical days of Athens, the ekklesia was the convened assembly of
the people. It consisted of all the citizens who had not lost their civic rights. Apart
from the fact that its decisions had to conform to the Laws of the State, its
powers were to all intents and purposes unlimited. Among other things, it:
 elected and dismissed magistrates.
 directed the policy of the city.
 declared war, made peace, contracted treaties and arranged alliances.
 elected generals and other military officers; ultimately was responsible for
the conduct of military operations.
 raised and allocated funds.
The two great watchwords of the secular application of the term “ekklesia” are
“equality and freedom.” All had equal rights, and equal duty to take part and to
give consideration to matters of public interest. In essence, the Church (or the
Ekklesia) is a body of people, not assembling so much because they have
chosen to come together, but because they have been chosen to come together
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86. to assemble, because. God has called them to Himself. They are not to propound
and propagate their own opinion of who God is, but to be influenced by His very
Life so as to accurately represent Him to the world.
As we see all kinds of human contraptions over generations carrying the
appellation “church” and the negative consequences of these taking its toll upon
humanity, we cannot but continue to pray as Jesus taught us: “thy kingdom
come and thy will be done on earth…,” oh Lord.
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow
citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself
being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted
together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being
built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:19-22
“According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master
builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one
take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than
that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ”.
1st Corinthians 3:10-12
“How that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have
briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my
knowledge in the mystery of Christ) which in other ages was not made
known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His
holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the
same body”.
Ephesians 3:3-6
The church that Jesus has in mind is built upon the foundations of the Apostles
and Prophets and not the gifts and manifestation of the Spirit some of which can
be counterfeited, and indeed have been counterfeited by the devil. The church is
built upon something received and not just vain imaginations of men. One critical
reason why the true church has not emerged is because of the unavailability of
Spirit-certified prophets and apostles ministering to the body of Christ.
The true church is built upon the foundation of Christ laid by the breakthrough
revelation potential of the apostolic office, and the capability of the prophets to
obtain the precise pattern of what is to be replicated on earth from God. The true
church cannot be built unless these two ministries begin to function within the
church alongside the pastors, evangelists and teachers.
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87. Chapter 6
THE FINAL WORD - RESURRECTION
Christ has risen—all things are being renewed!
The resurrection of Christ signals the transformation of the cosmos – this
physical world – in time and space, in history. From chapter 1 of his epistle to the
Romans Paul progressively explicates the Gospel as God's solution to the
disruption of the cosmos caused by human rebellion, climaxing in chapter 8 with
the resurrection and life of the Spirit. Christ’s physical body has been raised from
the dead as "the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Cor 15:20)
Rather than the destruction of the cosmos, the resurrection promises its
transformation. God's estimation of this time-space world – the world of matter –
is firstly the creation, secondly the incarnation, and climactically the resurrection.
At the creation the triune God stood back admiring the world of matter, declaring
it as "good" (Gen 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). And then at the climax of history
God's ultimate creative fiat – God coming as the man, Christ Jesus – deals the
definitive deathblow to all dualistic thinking. 1John 1:1–2, John 1:14
There is, therefore, now no separation or hierarchy of spirit and matter, nor of
sacred and secular. All is now equally holy. God has become man. In fact, the
new order in Christ is so transformational that our physical bodies have the
temple of the Holy Spirit.
The ministry of the Spirit therefore, as expounded by Paul in Romans 8, is toward
the transformation of the cosmos, not its destruction. We have been given "the
firstfruits of the Spirit" and "groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for the adoption as
sons, the redemption of our bodies" (Rom 8:23). The Holy Spirit in those that are
Christ's is the "seal" or “the down payment of our inheritance until we acquire the
possession of it" (Eph 1:14). Within every believer is the anticipation of greater
things, not only in the age to come, but here and now (Jn 1:50; 14:12).
The activity of the Holy Spirit within us is merely 'faith on tiptoes' as it anticipates
our full inheritance as the sons of God in this world (Rom 8:15-17). In fact, the
creation, "subjected to futility" (mataiotes [v 20] – vacuity, lack of substance and
meaning) through man's ethical rebellion and delinquent governance, groans and
anticipates "the revealing of the sons of God" and thus its restoration and liberty
(Rom8:19-22). In other words, the cosmos awaits a redeemed and restored
humanity to deliver it from chaos—this, the bodily resurrection of Christ and the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit guarantees.
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88. In response, it demands that our worldview, our eschatology, and our mission be
reviewed.
First, we can no longer view the world as governed by the so-called "god of this
world" (2 Cor 4:4). That god is a pretender and mere idol (1 Cor 8:4). Any power
it demonstrates is a borrowed one, transferred through human collusion and
rebellion. The resurrection declares that the one true and living God is the creator
and redeemer of all that is. He is sovereign over history and all things are
working according to his will and predestined purpose. My world-and-life-view
must now see the whole of life – every sphere of human endeavor – as sacred.
Second, in light of the bodily resurrection my eschatology (last things) must now
view Christ as victorious in history. Any doomsday view of last things that
anticipates Christ and his church defeated in time-space history must be
considered erroneous. Because of the resurrection the cosmos, rather than
destined for destruction, is destined for transformation. The renewal of the
universe – the new heavens and the new earth – has come definitively in Christ's
resurrection, is coming progressively in the power of the Holy Spirit, and will
come consummatively in the resurrection of all those who believe.
Third, our mission as the redeemed community is revolutionized. The "greatness"
of the Great Commission is restored. Rather than a myopic attempt at saving
people's souls only, it is now recast in its true light as a mandate to save and
transform whole cultures and nations, teaching them to obey all that Christ has
commanded (Mt 28:18-20). It is, in fact, the cultural mandate of Genesis 1:26-28
now fulfilled in the new creation.
Consequently, the world of the resurrection is here and now. But its
transformational power will only exert its liberating effect on creation because
those who are led by the Spirit are the sons of God (Rom 8:14). The creation
waits for their revealing. Why? Because the Spirit will give them sensational
manifestations and experiences? No, because he will lead them into all spheres
of life as artists and musicians, as lawyers and judges, as entrepreneurs and
business people, as teachers and educators, as politicians and parliamentarians
imbued with the wisdom of God for the integration of all things in one head,
Christ, and thus, for the flourishing not only of humankind but also the whole of
creation.
The end-point of biblical Christianity will not be the emergence of well-organized
and structured Christian organizations, but the emergence of a dwelling place for
God within this Godless, crooked and perverse generation. Becoming God’s
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89. dwelling place is the end-point of all the building processes in the church. The
earth is not waiting for the manifestation of fantastic church buildings, but for the
manifestation of the sons of God. The end will not come unless spiritual houses
are constructed upon the earth with the very nature of God Himself.
The end will not come unless we have assemblies upon the earth that will have
the capacity to produce new humans. Our local assemblies must become
“factories” for producing resurrected and restored humans and not just a place
for endless church activities and habitation for ancient religious devils.
Thousands of years ago God showed His servant John, this glorious church that
will emerge to climax the age. “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s
wife.” Revelation 21:9. We have always referred to this vision as that of heaven,
but how can heaven be coming out of heaven?
“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the
seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will
show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the Spirit
to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy
Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God”
We all know that the church is the bride of Christ typified by the city shown to
John. This city had twelve foundations, the construction of its wall was of jasper
and the city was of pure gold like clear glass, and the street of the city was pure
gold, like transparent glass.
Too often, prophetic pictures like this have been erroneously interpreted by a
large section of the Church. Most of these interpretations are either too shallow
or narrow or they swing to the other extreme. The truth however is that some of
these scriptural portions written with heavy prophetic symbols are just beginning
to make meanings to the discerning sections of the Church. Many of us, for
instance have erroneously believed that the vision refers to heaven and are
longing to walk on literal streets of gold. This is not about heaven in the ways we
have always conceive of it, but it is about the integration of heaven’s life into
earthly frequency.
And we are not going to walk on any literal streets of gold, which is a material
representation of a spiritual reality. Gold is probably used because humans can
relate to its preciousness at this level, but our ultimate destination is not a
material reality but Him. Gold is material and of the earthly realm. Our ways in
Him will be characterized by the divine nature of God because what was shown
to John was descending out of heaven.
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90. Talking about the city descending out of heaven, it should be recalled that that
was the same city Abraham sought (Hebrew 11:8-10), a dimension of life built
upon the foundation of Godly piety, born of the very nature of God (prophetically
represented as streets of gold). It describes a life devoid of religious distortion,
hypocrisy and darkness because it is as clear as crystal. The bible says that this
kind of life is going to be integrated into the earthly frequency so as to fulfill the
scripture that says, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will
dwell with them, and they shall be His people”, Rev 21:3. This is the end
point of all church experience.
THE REGENESIS
WHAT IS “REGENESIS”?
Creation stories are important because they are our faith’s explanation for the
start of all things concerning us. They give us a peek at our true identity, who we
were made to be, what our relationship with creation is, how God works and
ultimately, hold the key to figuring out what is wrong with us.
That last bit seems particularly important to me, as it is very hard to fix something
if you don’t know what is wrong with it. Consistently in Scripture heaven and
earth are linked: both by way of comparison and of contrast.
Genesis begins with the creation of heaven and earth; Jesus taught us to pray
that the order of heaven would come to earth; the last book of the Bible speaks of
a new heaven and a new earth. Creation and consummation are inextricably
linked.
Creation begins with a couple, consummation shows us a multitude that no-one
could number; creation has a tree in a garden, consummation presents us with
the tree of life bearing fruit throughout the year in the midst of a magnificent city,
which is itself set in the midst of a renewed creation; in the creation narratives
God visited his people in the evening, but in the closing pages of Scripture God
makes his home with redeemed humanity forever.
Creation indicates where God is taking his creation and his people – and the
fulfillment is far beyond the inaugural work. Yet the two are related for God has
always had a plan for his creation. Paul states as much in Romans 8:20, 21
when he speaks of a groaning creation waiting for its redemption.
Creation’s future is not one of destruction but of regeneration. The age to come is
presented as taking place on earth with God ‘moving’ address to be with
humanity, rather than vice-versa (Rev. 21:3, 10). Paul says we are waiting for a
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91. Savior to come from heaven (Phil. 3:20). This coming from heaven does not
indicate the withdrawal from this world but the fullness of the age to come with its
transformed heaven and earth.
In this new order redeemed humanity will fulfil all that Adamic humanity failed to
achieve and they will be used to bring God’s order to creation (Heb. 2:5).
Eschatological humanity in resurrected state will reign on the earth (Rev.
5:10).The future is not one of ‘going to heaven’ but of participating in the heaven
that comes to earth.
The final amalgamation of heaven and earth is the glory that will ‘cover the earth
as the waters cover the sea. The final scene of Scripture is that of the unification
of heaven and earth and the complete obliteration of the power and presence of
evil (shown to us by the symbolic statement of John that ‘there was no more sea’
(Rev. 21:1) – the sea being symbolic of the unruly part of creation). This will be
the fulfillment of the purpose of God in creation.
This is the end and also perhaps the beginning of a new release of creative
energy and ability. There is nothing in either Old or New Testament that would
lead us to suppose that the age to come is ‘other-worldly’ in the sense of being
away from the earth. Even Paul’s words that those who are alive at the coming of
Jesus will be caught up to meet him in the air (1 Thess. 4:16, 17) do not lead us
to believe that the future destiny for the believer will be “heavenly” for Paul uses
a phrase eis apantesin (to meet). This was a phrase associated with the official
visit of a ruling dignitary to a city, when the populace would go out of the city to
meet the ruler and then return in triumphant procession escorting the ruler back
to the city.
The destination was the city – Paul’s readers would have understood the final
destination for the saints with their Lord to be the earth not the sky. The witness
of Scripture is that Christ will return with his saints and set up his everlasting
kingdom on earth. The heaven to be gained is to participate in the rule of Christ;
we can only prepare for it this side of life
The End
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92. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ayodeji Ezra-Williams is the Apostolic Leader of The Regenesis Global, a
Kingdom initiative for a new heaven and a new earth. With 30years of
involvement in Church Developments which started with the Word of Faith
Movement in the 80s, Ayodeji Ezra-Williams served with Rev Dr, Tunde Joda of
the Voice of Faith Ministries and in the 90s with Dr Tunde Bakare’s Global
Apostolic Impact Network and then the Congress-WBN an Apostolic Network led
by Dr Noel Woodroffe from Trinidad.
Ezra-Williams is the convener of City Apostolic Council (CAC) a governing
territorial leadership coalition relating with Kingdom Communities in South Africa,
Bangladesh, Lagos Nigeria and London, United Kingdom. He is the Director of
Missions and Developments (Nigeria), Kingdom Impact Vision Int’l (KIVI) a global
network of Ministers, Churches and Believers committed to the Great
Commission. and he is the Vice President of its Board of Trustees. Directorship
at Technites Leadership Institute: an Apostolic reformation leadership training
initiative delivering relevant 21st century kingdom leadership mentalities to
corporations, kingdom entities and churches. He is married to Ranti Williams and
resides with his family in Lagos Nigeria.
www.regenesisglobal.org
Phone: Nigeria+234-7055-494-779, 8171981523: UK +447792467002
Email: info@regenesisglobal.org dejiwilliams@gmail.com
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