“Whoever digs a pit shall fall into it, and whoever breaks the hedge, serpent shall bite him.” – Ecclesiastes 10:8
“For we must needs die, and are as water spilled on the
ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person,
yet, doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.” - II Samuel 14:14
Most
times, we are the architects of our fortunes as well as our misfortunes.
Breaking our spiritual hedges amounts to breaking down our individual spiritual
walls. When we do, the result is usually unwanted visitors. Igbos would say
that “Anyone who fetches an ant infested
firewood has invited lizards to a feast in his house.” Israel had broken
the hedge and the serpents of captivity and devastation bit her.
The
book of Nehemiah can aptly be titled, “Diary of a Reformer and Restorer.”
It tells the story of a man who was on a mission to rebuild a nation that was
totally devastated. Recalling God’s warning and its attendant results, Nehemiah
prayed:
“Remember the word You commanded Your servant Moses,
saying, ‘If you transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations.” (Nehemiah
1:8)
The
devastation that was visited on Israel was as a result of opening themselves up
to sin and disobedience of all sorts. Because Israelis had broken their
spiritual walls (their defences), they were bitten by the serpent of captivity
and desolation. Yes, Israel was the architect of the misfortune she suffered,
but would God abandon His people? When we fall, will God abandon us?
GOD IS INTERESTED IN REBUILDING AND RESTORATION
God is God of New Beginnings. The God we serve is the God of Second Chance. He opens doors for Fresh Start. He desires to give people New Beginning, only if they would accept His offer to make them the way He wants them to be. At Jeremiah 18:1-6, God gives us a revelation of what He does with those who have lost themselves:
“The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, ‘Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.’ Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again into another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter?’ saith the LORD. ‘Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in mine hand, O house of Israel.’ ”
God is an expert in rebuilding shattered lives, shattered dreams and shattered expectations. In essence, He is the Porter and we are the Clay. He has a place where He refines and remoulds people back to usefulness. In Jesus, God recreates our past, renews our present and readies our future. When we are down, He will lift us up. When sin interferes with our lives, His grace intervenes on our behalf. When Satan shatters our lives, His grace glues us up and restores us to wholeness.
REBUILDING BROKEN INDIVIDUALS
Sin disorganizes, defaces and destroys people, but grace rescues and restores them. Someone remarked that, “Man is born broken, he lives by mending Grace is the glue.” Galatians 6:1 enjoins us:
“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”
Admittedly, the Church of Jesus Christ is a spiritual hospital where all manners of sick people are admitted and treated. People are plagued by different illnesses. What ails one is not what ails the other. The twelve Apostles of Jesus aptly embody this fact: all these were suffering from one spiritual malady or the other. Some were mild while others were grave. While they were with Jesus, eleven of them were rescued from their various ailments while one (Judas Iscariot) whose ailments could not be cured was lost. At John 17:12 Jesus prayed:
“…those You gave me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition…”
There is no gainsaying the fact that we are all plagued by one spiritual and moral ailment or the other. While we meet as Christians, God uses His Word and Spirit to address our spiritual and individual challenges. Some of us have been cured of the sicknesses we came into Christ with and are now strong and alive in the spirit while some of us are still struggling with our various ailments. What should we do to those who are still struggling? Should we “shoot our wounded” or help them to heal and be restored?
Jesus’ encounter with a
woman who was caught in adultery (John 8:1-11) shows us what to do. First, it reveals
that sin is a trap set by Satan with baits on it to attract weaklings, who, in
the moment of arousal of passions lose their senses, get on board and are
caught.
What was Jesus’ reactions
to this woman’s spiritual and moral challenge? Did He join those who were
calling for her head? No! In the midst of voices of judgment, Jesus’ Voice
delivered mercy. After addressing the judgementality and hypocrisy of the crowd
when He asked, “Who among you is without
sin? Let him cast the first stone” (John 8:7), the result was “…those who heard it, being convicted by their
own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even to the last
…” (John 8:8). Indeed, “Mercy
triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13b).
We should not excuse or
tolerate sin because sin is destructive (“He
who sins against me hates his soul” Proverbs 8: ). While God hates sin,
He still loves the sinner. He is “not
willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (II
Peter 3:9).
God is interested in
rebuilding shattered lives. No matter how low you have sunk, God is still
interested in remaking you. The word, “Remission”
found in Acts 2:38 is from the root word, “Re-mission.”
It means to “re-commission” and to “re-launch.” In other words, in Jesus
Christ, God re-commissions and re-launches us.
At I Timothy 1:12 – 15,
Apostle Paul recalls what God can do with those who are willing to change:
“…I
thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has enabled me because he counted me faithful,
putting me into the ministry; who was before a blasphemer, a persecutor, and
injurious, but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And
the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love which is in
Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying,
and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners, of whom I am chief.”
Here, Apostle Paul says
that God used him as an example for anyone who thinks he/she has sinned beyond
redemption. God can change anyone. If He could change Saul, a terrorist and
religious bandit who became Paul, then there is no one He cannot change. Ephesians
2:10 says,
“For
we are his workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should
walk in them.”
In a typical carpenter’s
workshop, he produces and showcases his craft. Usually, he has a showroom where he displays “his workmanship.” Here, he demonstrates
how he is able to turn “useless woods” into “beautiful pieces of furniture.” In the
same way, God takes “useless people”
and makes them “useful” (cf. Philemon
verse 11), and displays them for the world to see. At I Corinthians 6:9 – 11,
Apostle Paul expresses what God can do with sinners who are willing to be
reworked:
“Know
ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not
deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate,
nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are
washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord
Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”
God is not interested in
condemnation, but in redemption. He takes pleasure in the return of the
Prodigals and their reunions with Him.
How To Recalibrate Your Life To
Serve Higher Purpose
1. Live a Self-Supervised Life
Philippians 2:12 enjoins us,
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as
in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling.”
Do not wait to be seen and monitored by fellow Christians before you live the way you should. Regulate and supervise yourself.
2. Live
A Practical Christian Life
In his book, James: Practical and Authentic Living, Chuck Swindoll asked:
“If you say you believe like you should, then why do you behave like you shouldn’t?”
II Timothy 2:19 says, “Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal, ‘The Lord knows those who are His. Therefore, let everyone who names the Name of Christ depart from iniquity.” Immorality is antithetical to the Christian Faith and Congregational growth.
Moral prodigality will remain a stain on our Christian garments. At Zechariah 3:1-3, we see what moral prodigality can do to a child of God:
“And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the LORD said unto Satan, ‘The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD Who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?’ Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.”
Let
us make it a priority to beautify the Church of Christ in our local
congregations with the beautiful moral lives we model.
3. Cultivate Higher Moral and Spiritual
Disciplines
As Christians, our daily goals should be to “please God.” II Corinthians 5:6, 8-9
says:
“So, we are always confident, knowing that while we are
at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. ... We are confident, yes,
well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to
Him.”
To be “present in the body” is to live the way we would have loved to while to be “absent from the body” is to live the way God wants us to.
4. Practice God’s Presence Daily
Recognize that God is watching your every move. II Chronicles 16:9 tells us:
“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the
whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to
Him.…”
If people do not see you, God sees you. Knowing that God sees you and knows everything you do even when others do not should help you to know how you live.
5. Live Above
Spiritual Mediocrity
Going to church is not the end of it all. Learn to be completely absorbed in the Divine and to experience God personally. At Philippians 3:10 Apostle Paul wrote, “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection….”
6. Stop Living For
The Now
Remind yourself daily – time and time again of the consequences of living in the “NOW.” Esau lived for the NOW and he suffered the consequence. Hebrews 12:16 - 17 warns:
“Let there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.”
7. Live With
Eternity In View
Live with eternity in view. Do not live for today, live for tomorrow. Do not destroy your future with your present. In his novel, The Celibates, James Kavanaugh wrote,
“Do not destroy your beautiful soul with a piece of ass….”
We must understand that a few moments of joy could usher in months of misery (Romans 6:21). Deuteronomy 32:29 states:
“O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!” (KJV).
When we live with eternity in view, life would have more meaning than the present holds. This is because there is life beyond this present life. Living for the hereafter has greater purpose and requires all the resources one has to attain to that purpose. Living for the hereafter is living for the higher purpose. This is the real life. Anything short of this is a mirage.
STRENGTHENING THE PULPIT
While the Church is the “ground and pillar of the Truth” (I Timothy 3:15), the Pulpit is
the heart and engine of a doctrinally sound congregation. A weak and compromised pulpit are threats to the continued existence of the
New Testament Church.
A doctrinally weak congregation is a compromised Church.
We stand to lose the Church of Christ of today to a future generation who do
not know the differences between the New Testament Church and churches of men.
There is no gainsaying the fact that the differences
between the New Testament Church and denominations is doctrine. To strengthen
the Pulpit is:
1. To equip men to become men of Book, Chapter
and Verse.
2. To equip men who would contend earnestly for
the Faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude v.3).
3.To equip men who will speak where the Bible
speaks, Silent where the Bible is Silent, Call Bible Things by Bible Names and
Do Bible things by Bible ways (I Peter 4:11).
4. To equip men who will not go beyond that
which is written (I Corinthians 4:6).
5.To equip men who will stand to ask, “By what authority?” (Matthew 21:23).
6. To equip men who will insist, “To the Law and to the Testimony: if they do
not speak account to these there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20).
7. To equip men whose allegiance is to the Lord,
and to His Word (Acts 20:27).
8. To equip men who will insist on “Divine Pattern” (Hebrews 8:5; cf. II Samuel 6:3-10; I
Chronicles 15:13-15).
9. To equip men to detect error with Biblical
laser-like precision. It was T. M. Clement, Jr. who observed, “Those who set a truth apart, have truth in
part and from the Truth depart.”
To
equip men to strike a balance between Moral
Purity and Doctrinal Integrity –
to “watch over their lives and their
doctrines” (I Timothy 4:16).
The Pulpit is where sound doctrines are promoted. It is
not a place for entertainment. Preaching is not a call into the paparazzi or
the razzmatazz. It is a solemn call to duty, which requires uncommon courage,
commitment, can-do-spirit and Sterling-worth integrity.
Preachers are people whose sermons should be bullets, not buckle shots. We need pulpits where the Word is strongly proclaimed, where doctrinal errors are not tolerated (Galatians 2:4-5).
Guideposts to Strengthen
the Pulpit
The mission of a minister is to bring God’s Word to the people and to bring the people to God. To strengthen his serve, he should do the following:
1. Implant
Jesus
The greatest responsibility of a preacher is to make Jesus known; to implant Him in the hearts of those he ministers to. Apostle Paul’s heart-touching message at Galatians 4:19 remains every preacher's challenge:
“My little children, of whom I travail in birth again UNTIL CHRIST BE FORMED IN YOU.”
God’s ultimate desire is to see that every
believer conforms to the Image of His Son
(Romans 8:29b).
If a preacher succeeds in this assignment, he
will have no problem in his work as a preacher because each person would be “established and rooted” in Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:6-7). When this happens,
there will be less infighting, less lethargy and more commitment to the things
of the Lord and to His Church.
2. Avoid the Pitfalls of Encomiums
Preachers must close their ears to accolades and focus on their callings. Often, the mistakes preachers make is to allow themselves to be carried away by commendations. Some will say that you are a “powerful man of God.” Thank them, but do not let such statements get into your head. You must remember that God did not call you to be “powerful,” but to be a “faithful” man of God (II Timothy 2:2; Luke 17:10). It is this faithfulness that God rewards.
3. Be a
Person of The Word
A preacher is God’s Mouthpiece where he is. He is called to sound the trumpet, to preach the Word. Therefore, he should “be instant in season and out of season, to rebuke and exhort with all longsuffering” (II Timothy 4:2).
A preacher is not called to “pamper people to hell, but to push them into Heaven.” How can this be accomplished? There should be no “What went wrong” sermons – every sermon must be a message.
Preachers should remember that they are called to “feed the flock,” not to “feed on the flock.”
4. Magnify
Your Ministry
At Romans 11:13, Apostle Paul affirmed, “For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I MAGNIFY MY MINISTRY.” What does this say to you, servant of God? – You must go about your duty with dignity! Do not make mockery of your calling and office by engaging in any kind of pettiness. You must not allow anyone to undermine your work. Titus 2:15 says, “These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.” How can a preacher magnify his ministry? By the way he conducts himself.
5. Have
a Working Knowledge of Those You Minister To
Know your members. Know where they live and what they do to earn their living. Do not be standoffish. Visit them in their houses, farms, workshops and stalls. Apostle Paul’s statement at II Corinthians 11: 23-28 suggests that he had a working knowledge of the people he ministered to.
6. Draw
a Work Plan (Proverbs
24:27)
Plan your work and work your plan. You should have a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly plan of work. These plans should include targeted number of conversions, restorations, teachings and projects to initiate and execute.
STRENGHTENING THE PEW
In Political
Science, people talk about the “Office of
the Citizen.” In the same vein, in Christianity, the Pew are critical
stakeholders in the Kingdom business. To strengthen the Pew, the Pew should do
the following:
1.
Do not accept line, hook and sinker whatever
the Pulpit dishes out. Be like the “Bereans
who searched the Scriptures daily to ascertain the veracity of what were
taught” (Acts 17:11).
2. Do not go to Church to listen to the musicality of the Preachers’ voices. Ezekiel 33:30-32 says,
“… son of man, the children of your people are speaking about you by the walls and in the doors of their houses; they say to one another, ‘Come, and hear what is the Word that comes from the LORD.’ And they come to you as people come, and sit before you as my people; they hear your words, but they will not do them because with their mouths they express love, but their hearts are after covetousness. Behold, you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: they hear your words, but they do them not.”
The Pew can only be strengthened when they become responsive to God’s Will.
3. To strengthen the Pew, Brethren must appreciate the fact that Preachers and Church Leaders are not called to “minister,” but to groom the saints while it is the responsibility of the saints to do the “work of Ministry.” Ephesians 4:12 says:
“And he gave some, apostles; some, prophets; some, evangelists; some, pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
In Church, “every member is a Minister.” Therefore, find out what roles you can play and what areas of your congregation’s need you can meet.
4. The Pew must appreciate the fact that they are not called to be “entertained,” but to serve (Church is not a group of entertainers, but a group of worshippers. Late Brother Jim Massey affirmed that “Worship is an outward expression of an inward sense of praise”). One of the greatest gifts we can give to God to strengthen our respective congregations is “Availability.”
To demonstrate the importance of availability, the Psalmist says, “In the days of His battle His army shall be volunteers” (Psalms 110:3). Again, “The Lord gave the Word, great was the company of those who proclaimed it” (Psalms 68:11).
II
Corinthians 8:1-5 underscores the importance of availability when Macedonian
Christians were commended for giving themselves first and then to the Lord.
Giving ourselves or making ourselves available is an all-encompassing and
all-involving transaction. It involves our time, talents, treasures and our
lives in general.
No one
who gets busy in the Lord’s Vineyard would ever complain of inertia.
CONCLUSION
Rebuilding our spiritual
defenses requires cultivating personal relationship with God. As a Church, we
must appreciate the fact that we are called to be “our brothers’ keepers.” When
any one of us falls, it is our duty to help him or her to rise. We must stop “shooting our wounded.” We must
cultivate grace-attitudes rather than being Pharisees (those who are far-to-see)
and Saducees (those who are sad-to-see).
To strengthen our Pulpits, our preachers must keep improving themselves to improve their serve. At I Timothy 4:13, 15 Apostle Paul told Timothy, “Until I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. ... Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.”
Our Pews should be more “service-oriented.” We are happier and more productive when we serve than when we are not.
Thank you.
Hilary Johnson Chukwuma Chukwurah
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