Christian Life

Categories: "Service"

Recognizing and Overcoming False Prophecies

Posted by on Mar 15, 2022 in Fundamentals, Devotion, Truth, Stewardship of gifts

We should first be reminded that living beings are either moral (God, angels and humans) or non-moral (animals, plants, fungi and single-celled organisms). Non-living things are of course, non-moral.

Generally, and in the broadest spiritual sense, prophecy is the information given completely by a moral being via spiritual means, to a human being (called a prophet) to be delivered intact and without any human input, to specified human recipients. Prophecy is thus seen as a three-element one-way spiritual communication process comprising of source, carrier and destination. Beyond this basic definition, the Scriptures further show certain details concerning the three elements and the information itself:

-- The source is always a moral being. To be designated a source of prophecy means to be the originator, author of the information, whether divine, angelic or human. However, only evil angelic beings (aka demons) will actually act as sources of prophecy. (Herein lies the root of the occult.) Righteous angels never do. Similarly, righteous humans would not ordinarily constitute themselves sources of prophecy. The only scriptural example where Aaron was a prophet of Moses was personally instituted by God Himself. (More on this later)

-- The carrier of the information can be any living being, whether moral or non-moral, but cannot be an inanimate thing. (Yes, even ordinary stones may be commissioned to raise praises to God if humans are negligent, but not to prophesy!). Generally, there is only one carrier per prophetic instance but sometimes, there is a hierarchy of carriers in which a primary carrier, typically angelic, receives the information directly from God, and delivers it to a secondary carrier, typically a human prophet, for onward delivery to the actual destination. This scenario is perfectly seen in certain parts of the prophecy of End Times as recorded in Daniel chapter 9. Also, the source may cause the same prophecy to be made multiple times, either concurrently or sequentially, and each such occasion is recognised as a distinct instance of the prophecy.

-- The destination is the recipient object on whom the information is to act or be acted upon. While the typical destination is humans, it can be any being whatsover, living or non-living.

-- The information in prophecy is not a mere message but an active word. It is a spiritual proclamation with an inherent ability in itself to be performed. This ability of course derives from the power of the source, whether divine or demonic. Typically the effect of the prophetic word is either to inform with a view to certain response on the part of the recipient or to cause a direct and practical alteration in the being and/or circumstances of the targeted object.

General Versus Biblical (True) Prophecy

At the general, conceptual level, any carrier (prophet) who is faithful to his/her spiritual source to accurately receive and execute the message is a "true" prophet in that regard. Thus, Jesus Christ, who as the Messiah, faithfully operates in the offices of King, Priest and Prophet, serves as an eminently true prophet of God. Similarly, Mohammed was a true prophet of Allah. And every faithful Yoruba babaláwo is a true prophet of Ọ̀rúnmìlà. The Bible also tells us about numerous prophets of Baal, Ashera, etc. And as previously mentioned, Aaron was a true prophet of Moses - at least while ministering in the courts of Pharaoh!

But then, what is the counsel of the Scriptures? Does faithfulness to source automatically define true prophecies and true prophets? The answer is a resounding No! There is the need to explore the very notion of truth and falsehood, and see how they apply to prophecies and prophets.

On Truth

The word of God is truth. Truth is constant and truth is one. It is therefore absolute rather than relative. Though the manifestation of truth to human beings is necessarily compartmentalised because of our nature (e.g. life, morality, integrity, divinity, eternal salvation, etc.), truth remains one in essence and these compartments or dimensions are mere differences of expression rather than fragments or divisions. Further, because of the limitations of human lives, it may be necessary to focus more on one dimension than another at one time or the other. This does not mean relativity of truth but grading of relevance to human experience. For example, a core dimension of truth is sacredness of human life which should propel us to do everything in our power to preserve it - both our lives and the lives of others whatever their circumstances and station in life (fetus, infant, aged, sick, atheist, Muslim, Christian, etc.). However, if there occurs a human situation which truly compels us to choose between sacredness of life and eternal salvation (another dimension of the same truth), we have to choose the later. (Daniel 3:16-18) In all this, truth remains one and absolute even when our experiencing of it is "graded".

Falsehood

Basically, falsehood is anything contrary to the truth, which is the word of God. We have noted that prophecies have the three elements of source, carrier and destination, together with the information transmitted. With this, it is immediately obvious that any content contrary to God's precepts is false. But this is not the whole of the matter. The word of God is not just letters of precepts but also its inherent Spirit which makes it a living entity. (Hebrews 4:12) The mere pronouncement of the "words" of God does not make it the word of God! The Source of the utterance must also be God. (Acts 16:16-18, Acts 19:14-16). Anybody can open the Bible and recite some favourite verses and anyone can hear a word from a genuine prophet of God and repeat it to some other people. If such proclamations are not authorised by God, the message is false even though it may coincide with the original divine words. And one more thing, such an occurrence is actually a theft (or should we saw spiritual plagiarism? Jeremiah 23:30). Who will deny that stealing is contrary to the word of God (the truth), and thus proved to be false prophecy.

At the risk of sounding repetitious, it is important to stress that factual accuracy is not, of itself, a sign of divine source of prophecy (Deut. 13: 1-5). There remain the issues of (1) who God has actually sent, (2) the preservation of the purity and the sanctity of the message, and (3) the delivery to the intended destination.

False Prophecy

To summarise, false prophecy is any purported supernatural message which is not sourced from God, or which requires human mediation for completeness, or which is not delivered in accordance with divine instruction, or which is in any way contrary to the word of God.

Normally, it ought to be that true prophecies will always and only be carried by true prophets of God while false prophecies would be the products reserved for prophets not appointed by God. But due to man's unfaithfulness and God's sovereignty, it so happens that false prophecies may emanate from genuine children of God while God may also route true prophecies through strangers to the household of faith, even including non-moral beings such as donkeys!

Without A Vision, Being Multi-Talented Becomes A Curse

Posted by on Feb 09, 2022 in Service, Stewardship of gifts

To be multi-talented (or multipotential) is a divine gift for the enrichment of one’s path towards the attainment of life goal. It should be received with thanksgiving and not lamented as an excuse for lack of focus and the associated failure in life. Tamara Fisher has described multipotentiality as "the state of having many exceptional talents, any one or more of which could make for a great career for that person."

So often does one come across awesomely multipotential individuals who eventually do not make much of their lives. The invariable reason is an inability to focus. The tendency for such people is to become “jack of all trades” (master of none) which also means “success at none!” But this need not be so! God who gave the multiplicity of talents certainly did not intend it to be the reason for failure. On the contrary, the purpose of the talents-mix is to satisfy the full requirement for success in such individuals so that attainment of goals is easier. Michael Jackson would not have been such a successful entertainer if his only talent was a beautiful voice. Or just good physical appearance (which he tried his best to destroy). Or just excellent choreography. Or just musical composition, etc But he had ALL together and utilised them towards a single focus of entertainment. This required of him two major things:

1. An identification of the life purpose, and

2. A determined life of discipline in walking towards that purpose.

And this is where many multi-talented people miss it. They neither identify their purpose nor exhibit the required discipline to achieve it. Therefore, (because they are gifted in so many areas) they keep changing focus, moving from job to job, project to project, activity to activity, never actually staying long enough on any one to succeed. Eventually, what is meant to be an enviable blessing is turned into a curse. But the fault is that of man, not God, the Giver of the talents.

I pray that each person who is already in this type of situation will take a fresh look at the two requirements listed above under the guidance of God and begin to enter into his/her abundant success.

Is Christ Beneath Your Dignity?

Posted by on Feb 08, 2022 in Faithfulness, Suffering, Stewardship of gifts

So, you have excelled in your path in life. You have acquired much of the world's knowledge, goods, toys, associations, accolades, and wisdom. You now move with the high and mighty. You are dignified.

You are also a Christian.

Therein lies the problem. Your endowments and accomplishments rebel against identifying with "those lowly and ignorant Christians". The continuous need to be approved of those at your social and intellectual circles trumps the imperative to align with and defend the word of truth.

Christ has become an embarrassment to you! It is now beneath your dignity to publicly add your voice to the proclamations of your brethren, or to place your God-given clout at the disposal of the army of God.
You prefer to close your eyes and mouth to the plight of persecuted believers than risk being labelled a bigot or fanatic. Yet, Moses, with far less grace than you, chose "rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt" and Jesus Christ Himself, our Lord and Sanctifier is not ashamed to call believers brethren.

My beloved brother/sister, my counsel to you is to repent and amend your ways before the Lord. Determine now to stand up for Jesus and be identified with all that pertain to Him. I can assure you it is a glorious thing to do.

You have no dignity outside of Jesus.

Spreading God's Fragrance

Posted by on Feb 07, 2022 in Service, Evangelism, Hospitality and Social Work

Text: 2 Corinthians 2: 14-17

Every being, and indeed, every entity, has its peculiar fragrance by which its identity is established and its presence felt. The nature of the fragrance, whether spiritual or physical, is determined by the nature of the entity. Thus, the fragrance may be physical, like the sweet smell of rose or the repulsive smell of fart. On the other hand, it may be spiritual like the love of Christ (SOS 1: 2-3) or the hate-filled darkness of the devil.

We, as Christians, are the fragrance of Christ and the only channel through which that fragrance of His knowledge can be diffused. We may therefore note two levels of our position and responsibility - first, the direct manifestation of the holy fragrance and second, the active pursuit of a life that purposefully diffuses the fragrance possessed.

Direct Manifestation

When people see us anywhere, what scent do they perceive? Do they smell Christ or do they smell some other being? Are we really the "epistle" that we are called to be, whereby even without our conscious efforts, people only need to "read" us as we live our lives and are able to perceive Christ? Do our lives show that indeed, we have been with Christ?

The matter of "being with Christ" is the core issue here. The trouble with many of us is that even though we are of Christ, we have not been with Him enough since we got converted so that His fragrance has not yet sufficiently rubbed on us as it ought to. As a matter of fact, we still manifest various levels of the foul smell of our flesh and the attributes of the world. Ask yourself, "If a stranger comes to where I am or have been, what aroma does he perceive?" Is there the fragrance of Christ or a thick stench of the devil? Yes, every Christian is saved and the spirit regenerated. But is your soul being saved? Is your soul duly submitted to your spirit under the Holy Spirit or does it habitually cooperate with demons to resist the counsel of the Spirit of God (Galatians 5:17). How does your life "smell" in thoughts, speech, action, motives, etc.?

We are saying here that the fragrance of Christ is not automatic upon justification but is imbibed as we live in righteousness before Him, yielding to the ministry of His word to cleanse (and save) our soul from the erstwhile filthiness and increasingly wear His own perfume. The Jewish leaders who arrested Peter and John in Acts 4 already knew that they were followers of Christ (Acts 4: 1-3). But certain definite fragrance emanated from these apostles during their interrogation that made the Jews "realise that they had "been" with Jesus (verse 13). The sad fact nowadays is that too many of us who have received Jesus refuse to consequently "be with Him", maintaining personal intimacy.

Ask yourself one more question, "Have I continued to be with Jesus since I received Him?" If your answer is negative, then it will be difficult to emanate His fragrance.

Diffusing the Fragrance

But it is not enough to just have (or be) the fragrance - we must disperse it. Spread it. Diffuse it.

The knowledge of Christ that we have must be made to go round every area of our influence and reach. We must consciously extend ourselves for Christ's sake. This often involves going out of our ways to spread it to people in places and situations where we might not ordinarily go. We should remember if we, Christians, do not do it, then it will not get done because God has chosen to make only us the fragrance.

It is said of the disciples of old that they filled Jerusalem with the doctrine of Christ (Acts 5: 28). This clearly shows that they succeeded in diffusing the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ. Every child of God needs to ask himself/herself if he/she has filled anywhere with Christ's fragrance. Every Christian is a minister. No one is exempted. We all have to spread the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ - both to the saved and to those who would be saved. Preach the word. Live the life. Be an example to the brethren and evangelist to the lost. God will direct the out of the ministry.

The Outcome

Our job is to diffuse the fragrance, it is God who enables the faithful hearer to receive it. We sow and water, God gives the increase.

Our text shows two directions of outcome:

To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? 2 Corinthians 2: 16 (NKJV)

1. Those who are being saved receive the fragrance as aroma of life. They move from darkness to light. They move from sin to righteousness.

2. To those who are perishing, it is the aroma of death because they reject the knowledge of Chist (John 3: 18).

Therefore, show your compassion by diffusing the fragrance, but the result is left to God. When we do this, God is pleased with our labour of love.

The Endeavour

But really, who is sufficient for this? Is any person really capable of spreading the fragrance of God? Does anyone possess the needful knowledge, skills, strength, money and time to do this work and achieve its end? We must understand that no one is sufficient in himself/herself, but our sufficiency is of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:5). It is not by our power or our might but by the Spirit of God. Therefore, as we move in agreement and obedience to God's word, let us take heed that we do not rely on our personal resources but depend absolutely on God who will choose the best way to accomplish His own ends through our submitted lives.

Again, we must guard against any form of peddling of the precious work. The word of God is not for sale, neither should it be embellished in any way whatever good intentions we may have. Merchandising of the precious seed invites the wrath of God on us while any form of pollution, addition or subtraction defiles it and what is left is no longer His word and hence cannot have His fragrance. Every temptation to admix the message with our private precepts not backed with Scripture must be resisted.

Similarly, neither philosophy, psychology or sociology has any contribution to the word of God but if employed, will only befoul its aroma.

If we are faithful and sincere, we shall remain established as the aroma of Christ before God who is not unfaithful to forget our labour of love.

I pray that the Lord will grant each of us the grace to be cleansed from every evil fragrance and to be used of Him in diffusing the true aroma of Christ to this generation. God bless you. Amen.

Rev. Fikayo Adeyemo