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Let Us Keep the Feast, Not with Leaven
Just in case you’re interested in worshipping the true God, it’s imperative to know that He has His provided way, and you will have to seek Him according to His way to find Him. However, we see a replay of the kind of worship Jesus referred to as ‘vain’ worship amongst many folks, they want to serve God, but in their own way. Go with me as we examine how to keep the true feast of unleavened bread -the true word of God.
Text: 1Corinthians 5:1-8, Exodus 12:15, Matthew 16:6, 1Corinthians 8:1, Matthew 13:52, 2John 1:9
Paul told us in 1Corinthians 5 not to keep the feast with leaven. At the start of the church on the day of Pentecost, Christ begins a feast amongst His Gentile bride. This was to span through the seven church ages as seen in Revelations 2 and 3. The church on the day of Pentecost was established upon the revelation of the word of God as revealed to the Apostles. And of course, if that was what Christ sowed, then that will be exact He is coming for, not something else. This is the faith Jude told us to contend earnestly for, this is to tell you the relevance of this faith -the foundation that neither can we ignore nor build another. But as we keep this feast, we should ensure that we don’t inject leaven into it.
There are three processes of salvation, -Justification, Sanctification, and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. This would continue through the seven church ages for salvation to be ensured. But how soon did the church forget the command of Paul? Just as Jesus warned the disciples to be careful of the leaven of the Pharisees which was their doctrine; modernized religion has swapped the word of God for some mythical intellectual conception of letters. To have the right worship, you need the right doctrine -that is God’s provided way. But sadly, we ignore doctrines and still want to worship. Did it occur to you that Jesus told us to learn of His doctrines?
As the church age progresses, men began to inject various ideas and conceptions that are not underpinned by scriptures. It became obvious that the parable of Jesus in Matthew 13 was fast fulfilling, the Roman Catholic church took a leaven and hid it in these three measures of meal (the three steps of salvation). The feast, which should be kept without leaven became maddened with the leavens of the Pharisees -who are too wise to submit to the doctrine of the apostolic fathers.
What is Leaven?
Leaven (also known as yeast) is a substance that’s added to flour in order to make it rise (puff up). Spiritually, of course, we have seen lots of leavens added to the faith of Jesus Christ, but we’ll mention a few;
- Baptism in Trinity Titles: One of the injections of the of this leaven is baptizing people in the name of father, son, Holy Ghost and still claim to be saved. The standard for the church is Pentecost, that was where Christ began His church, if you can be humble to see how Christ established His church, you would know that the baptism was done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. This definitely was the revelation of what Jesus told them in Matthew 28:19. It should not be hard for you to believe that it is the revelation of the word of God that produces Faith -and Christ built His church on Revelation. So, instead of running with head knowledge, you should be patient to get the revelation of Jesus’ statement. Your question after reading should be, what is the name of the father, what is the name of the son? Because ‘father’ is obviously not a name. You have a father, but that’s not his name. So, Jesus was right telling us to baptize in the name of the father, son and Holy Ghost, which Peter got the revelation in Acts 2:38, which is the name of Jesus Christ. Throughout the Acts of the Apostles, everyone was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, not in titles. So important that Paul had to rebaptize the disciples of John he met in Acts 19. What a leaven indeed added to the word of God, believing that you should be baptized in titles.
- Another dogma is the scripturally unlawful position the churches gave to women. The fivefold ministry that is solely for men has changed today to incorporate the women. But, the church of God is the wife of Christ, and Christ wants faithful eunuchs to take care of His bride, just like King Ahasuerus sent seven chamberlains to call his wife. Christ has sent the fivefold ministry to do this work. Chamberlains are men saddled with the responsibility of dressing the king’s wife according to the desire of the king, they’re circumcised to avoid unfaithfulness with the king’s bride, and because according to the law, only a male child should be circumcised, Paul referred to the law to explain to us that a woman should learn in obedience, for it is not her position to preach to mixed audience. The two witnesses that Christ gave these chamberlains to build and dress his bride is the Old and New Testament, so don’t say we are under grace. Grace is the law properly put in place. Jesus had women followers, who ministered to him from their substance, but were not made apostles. Well, we are speaking of the faith that Jesus established, not denominational leaven.
- How many God exists in scriptures, if I may ask you? Three? Really? That was a dogma injected at the Nicaea council. The Apostles who started the church believed in One God. Jesus prayed in John 17 and told us that Eternal Life is to know the Only True God. God couldn’t have been One in the Old Testament, and then becomes three in the New Testament. If Jesus was ‘God the son’, are you saying your God was born, cried and died? God has a son he gave for our redemption, but he is the son of God not, God the son. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God Himself. John 4:24 told us that God is Spirit, if he is the Spirit that fills eternity, would there be another Spirit still called ‘God the Holy Spirit’?
Well, those are doctrinal leavens, and we can go endless talking about them. Nevertheless, we have a lot of leavens added to our lives; although we know the truth, we do not live the truth. A supposed Christian is still full of malice, unforgiveness, and all sort of ill characters that are not God-like. Oh, we also need to cleanse that out of our lives as well. The word of God should be the authority over our lives.
We need to wake up and heed the call of Paul, to keep the feast with the pure word of God, and not with old leavens. We need to cross-examine our lives with the bible and be sure we are standing in the faith that Christ would harvest.
But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints. Be ye, therefore, followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor. Ephesians 5.
The Seal of Perfection
Shalom all, you’re welcome to this sermon review on the topic, “the Seal of Perfection”. The goal of this sermon is to make us grasp the purposes of the heavenly bridegroom with his earthly bride. God has one church on earth -and in His unsearchable wisdom, He has designed the fivefold ministry (upon whom the government of His body is established) for his divine plans. Thus, He cannot be haphazard, He is doing something definite per time in His church, because He has a goal, and this we want to understand.
TEXT: Ephesians 4:9-15, Malachi 4: 4-6, Matthew 28:19, Acts 2:41, Hebrew 6:1, 1Corinthians 13:9, James 1:22, Philippians 3:21
PERFECTING AND PERFECTION (Ephesians 4:12, Philippians 3:12, Colossians 2:10, Philippians 3:15)
One of the purposes of the fivefold is for the perfecting of the saints. Perfecting, obviously, is different from “Perfection”. What is perfection? It means for something to be complete, without fault, without error, having nothing to add or remove from it. However, perfecting is the continuous gaining of experience, understanding, and wisdom as you age in the Lord -and you will never get to the end of it -so long as you’re on earth.
If the work of perfecting glaringly from scriptures is seen to be given to the fivefold ministry, then, it’ll be quite painful for any man to believe God gave him a ministry that will perfect the bride. No, the ministry that will do the work of perfecting is given solely to His blessed fivefold -there is no single ministry that will perfect the bride. To what end is such a claim? Don’t try to make a name for yourself with scriptures. For some that we have around the world, the problem comes from misconstruing ‘perfecting’ to mean ‘perfection’. For those who believe in the message of the seventh angel, whilst it is so important for you to read the sermon book, perfecting does not come from reading the sermon book, not even reading the bible from Genesis to Revelation, instead, applying whatever you understand in your life is what do you good -and bring about this perfecting.
Paul, in Philippians 3:12, said he has not attained perfection, right? Would you then tell Paul that he cannot make heaven? Or perhaps, he lost his salvation? Definitely not! That wasn’t what Paul was trying to depict, rather, he’s making us understand that being in the flesh, there’s a need for him to keep learning, to keep working upon himself, to keep growing which is the definition of what ‘perfecting’ means. As far as Paul’s salvation is concerned, he was complete in God, because we are saved by grace, and whatever Christ does is perfect -there is no half salvation. But regarding perfecting, I would call it maturing. And of course, you would believe with me that there’s no end to maturity -you keep maturing. So, perfecting is for those who have been saved and baptized into the body.
The Three Steps of Perfection
- Perfection by Salvation: On the cross, a thief surrendered his life to Jesus, and right there, he met salvation. And yes, that salvation was perfect, he was not half saved, that salvation was not gradual -it was complete. On the day of Pentecost, three thousand people were saved, they heeded the instruction of Peter who spoke by the Holy Spirit, repented of their sin, and were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. That is how this salvation comes, not by saying some sinner’s prayer, not by baptizing in trinity titles. Act 2:38 gave the emblem of what a perfect salvation is! Check it out!
- Doctrinal perfecting: After the three thousand repented and got saved, Christ could then begin his work of perfecting in their lives. Interestingly, the bible says in Acts 2:42, “they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine. This is the next phase of perfection -where you are rooted and grounded in the right doctrine of Christ that is able to build you up. This is where you begin to learn the ways of God because, without the right doctrine, you cannot have the right worship. The more you’re knowing God here, the more you get humble -you’re simply maturing. Thus, it will be needed to know here that when you believe (thanks to God who spared your life afterwards), you don’t stay home and claim you’re fine. You are not supposed to forsake the assembling of the brethren. It’s a sign that God is working in your life when you love to hear the word of God, because that’s where God deals with your carnal man -and he does that by His word. Amen! This is where maturity begins. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Apostle Peter told us of the things we should be adding to faith in 2 Peter 2:5-10.
- Maturity -Life Perfecting: This is where life comes into play. To live the life of what you preach is the evidence that what you’re preaching is inside of you. The essence of all the revelation God gives us is so that we can live a life worthy of the kingdom. A revelation without a life is useless. This is the highest level of perfecting. If you cannot live the life of the doctrine you’re preaching, please stop. Stop, and check your faith, perhaps you’re not saved yet. We keep growing in Spirit till, eventually, we will have our vile bodies changed. We’re told in scriptures that it is the doer that’s justified and not the hearer.
Therefore, we indeed cannot overemphasize the importance of fellowship, on consciously adding the need to our faith, on the importance of having a Life in God. The word of God is what builds you, the word of God is what equips you, the word of God is what perfect you, but you have to with diligence, take conscious effort to walk with God.
God help us. Shalom!
Can This Be The Reason?
It’s quite interesting that the faith of Luke 18:8 entails more than we can conceive. However, before the parable that prompted that question, we’re made to understand that Jesus gave a parable in an attempt to make us understand ‘prayer’. Well, you never can tell, but could that be the reason? If it is, does it mean we haven’t seen so much because we’ve prayed little or not even at all? Was Jesus saying we activate such faith by persistent prayer? Let’s see for ourselves.
TEXT: Luke 18:1, Isaiah 62:1-7, Luke 11:5, Titus 3:2-6
Friends, faith is practical, faith works with prayer. In Isaiah 62, the bible enjoined the watchmen of Israel to give God no rest until He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Guess what? God doesn’t quench a smoking flax. Although the Laodicea church age was said to have a problem of Luke-warmness, should they yield themselves to God, the little fire left has potential with God to be rekindled to becoming a great one that burns for Him. You don’t have to be lukewarm, Christ is looking for those who would grant him permission on the earth through their prayers.
The disciples were told to wait in Jerusalem until they are endued with power from on high. That power wouldn’t have come if they had not waited. How much can we emphasize the essence of prayer to activating the faith needed to wrought deliverance on the earth? Consider Elijah, who was an anointed prophet of God and had God’s backing, however, for that rain to fall, Elijah had to pray -such persistent prayer, till there was a miracle in the sky. If you do not bring your strong reasons to God, you may not experience justice. No wonder the bible told us that ‘Elijah was a man of like passion’. If we pay the price he paid, we will get the result he got. It’s not by claiming, we claim so much what we have not. What we need is to lock ourselves in the room with God till there’s an evidence provable that He has answered. You cannot be in haste with God.
Until we take away the various distractions that have plagued us -especially as youth -we may never experience the true power of transformation. Until we are ready for change, God may not show up. God cannot be mocked. You need to seek him to find him. What you need is a conversion, not emotion. If Christ comes to your life, will he find that faith in you? If you are not ready to die, you cannot be a believer. Every lamb that’s washed signifies that such lamb is going to die. Perhaps you’ve been washed, but you have refused to die.
This is a wake-up call to us who have given up on prayer, a man who God can find on his knees is stronger than ten thousand trained soldiers. Men ought always to pray and not to faint.
Shall He Find Faith?
It was David who said “it is good for brethren to dwell together”, indeed, God is One and His Spirit is the same. In this vein, the Holy Spirit continued the first sermon through another vessel, establishing His word in our hearts. There’s no small word of God, right? Thus, we must respect, cherish, and apply the word of God. The revelation of one word is enough to change a man’s life forever!
TEXT: Luke 18:1-8, Jude 1:2, Ephesians 4:4, Luke 9:1, Hosea 12:1, Hosea 7:11, 1Corinthians 12:6-9
We can say from scriptures that there are three phases of faith. The first is called “the Faith”, the second is the “gift of faith”, and lastly “faith”. Whilst what Jesus requested whether or not he would find when he returns back to earth was the third one -and that we wish to dwell on as far as this convention is concerned, it will however be needed to say a few things -if need be -on the three.
THE FAITH (Jude 1:3)
The first faith is such that gives salvation, as recorded in Jude 1:2, if you do not have that, God does not recognize you, and guess what? That salvation doesn’t have duplicates -it is common -it is One! (Eph. 4:4) and you can only get it by that common faith that Paul says to us that it is One! This faith has its registers -what proves exact that you have it. We could go on to talk about what makes up this faith. This “the Faith” does not recognize trinity as a building block; in this faith, the fivefold ministry is strictly reserved for men -for they are in the position of eunuchs to dress the bride of Christ, thus faithful men are required as chamberlain worthy of presenting the king’s wife to him according to his heart. What more? The entire baptism done in the Act of the Apostles was in the name of Jesus Christ, and baptizing contrary would absolutely mean that you are not in the faith -and you know what that means, don’t you? You don’t have the salvation God recognized.
THE GIFT OF FAITH (1COR. 13:1)
This faith comes from the “The Faith ”, however, it’s a gift, thus, we do not have it alike -it differs in measure.
Whilst these two are wonderful and needed, we cannot enjoy Jesus if we do not launch into this third phase of faith.
FAITH (Matthew 15:22-)
In this third phase is where Jesus is enjoyed, is where the demonstration takes place, is where God is put to work. In another word, it is called “the work of faith”. God has been tagged disabled and incapable because we are unable to enter into this dimension. Some points are needed to understand this faith if we closely look at the environment in which this scripture was situated -Luke 18.
- Prayer: Luke 18:1 reveals to us that the essence of the parable that Jesus was about to put forth was to make us understand the potency of prayer. Meaning, if we only understand how much of a result we can get through that kind of faith, we will always pray and not faint. You need to know this to know how to put God to work.
- Patience & endurance: do you realize that the judge was wicked and would not heed the request of that poor widow? The judge would not even fear God but the woman kept knocking, she kept seeking, she kept asking. Oh brother, for everyone who keeps knocking, the door would indeed be open. The patience she exercised made her persistent, and she wouldn’t even mind the attitude of the judge, she proved herself and put God to work. Of course, God would try your faith. Your patience and endurance in this time is what proves your faith worthy of result.
- Character: In Matthew 15:22-26, the woman of Canaan who came to Jesus and received such a ridiculous response, didn’t find offense in that, instead the bible says, “she worshiped him”. Faith has character. A spiritual man doesn’t work by feelings. Guess what? It will always be to you according to your faith. Per adventure she got angry and uttered some negative words, it will be to her as she has said, but because she stayed positive even when she wasn’t getting a desired response, Christ turned around and changed the situation.
If we understand these, then we should be able to activate this faith, and put God in action. So brethren it is expedient for us as believers to work in the reality of this understanding and I pray that God increases us in Jesus Christ Name.
Shall He Find Faith?
It’s quite obvious that in a building, everything can be changed except the foundation, which means we should not tamper with the foundation. Such is the spiritual, just like the scripture says, you cannot lay another foundation. But the question here is, for you who claim to have received the Holy Spirit and have the revelation of God, where is your faith? Well, my question may not be so explicit yet not until you read on to understand the kind of ‘faith’ Jesus asked whether he would find, when he comes back. So, follow me closely!
Text: Luke 18:1-8, Hebrew 11:1, Hebrew 11:32-40, Matthew 8:5-11 Luke 7:1-9
There are three kinds of faith that we have. The first is the Natural Faith, which is the faith you don’t need to believe in God to exercise. The second is Faith in God which is the faith of the people of the Old Testament as recorded in Hebrews 11, and lastly is, the Faith of God: This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. It will be needed to examine the last two kinds of faith.
The Faith in God and the Faith of God
Abraham was the first man God cut covenant with as regards the faith we have. To the carnal mind, it would be foolish of a man to set on a journey to a place where he knows nothing about just because he had a dream, but Abram did. What would that mean to a spiritual mind? Faith! Abram had faith in God that he could move at the impulse of God’s command which he received in a mere dream -so to say. Coming to Isaac, it should be natural for him to travel with the people to Egypt to escape the famine in the land, but God told Isaac to remain in the land, and to sow in that land of drought. Funny right? But Isaac believed in God, stayed in that land, sowed his seed and he got the reward of faith.
It was by that faith that Daniel was able to dream the king’s dream and gave the interpretation. When he stood before the king, here was his response; “But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days…” Daniel 2:28. It was by this faith in God that Joseph refused to sleep with Potiphar’s wife.
Spread out through the Old Testament, with men who only had faith in God, God wrought great wonders that history cannot erase, we saw a hallmark of God’s demonstration of power, feeble men frail in themselves, yet distinguished simply by their faith in God as they walk through the surface of earth’s soil. Hebrews 11 gave a record of women receiving their dead back to life, people who out of weaknesses were made strong, valiant in battle. People, who though didn’t receive the promise, remained steadfast, strong, embraced the things that are far off and confessed faith! Their astute walk with God, their unflinching trust in Him and their unbending faith in things not seen, they became clouds of witnesses to us who would believe in the God they exalted all their lives.
Meanwhile, in Hebrews 11:40, the bible made us understand that God provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect without us. Abraham who was a conduit through whom the promise of the Faith came to all had such a faith that could be reckoned for the Gentiles who were not yet engrafted. We now have the privilege in the New Testament to receive the promise that Abraham had long patience for, we become heirs of the promise which transcends to us having the faith of God which is the revelation of Jesus Christ. Abraham had the promise, believed, and passed his faith to Isaac, and Isaac to Jacob. And from there, Christ came. The coming of Christ paved the way for the New Testament saints to have the faith of God (the revelation of Jesus Christ). Amen!
Upon the revelation of Jesus Christ, the gentiles were able to have a commensurate result. An example was the Gentile woman needing Jesus to heal her daughter who was dying, Jesus gave a ridiculous response to the desperate cry of this poor woman, yet, faith responded without offense, without finding fault. Oh brother, the faith of our Lord Jesus has patience as part of its component, the faith of God still stands in the midst of ridicule, the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ endures. Your unbelief does not hurt God, it rather hurts us. After faith responded in this woman, Jesus exclaimed, “O woman, great is thy faith!” The Gentile Centurion whose servant was sick, and needing Jesus’ help also responded with such an outstanding faith that cannot be failed.
Friends and elders, we have the revelation of Jesus Christ, we know what the seals are, we know what the revelation of the stars in God’s right hand are, we are quite knowledgeable, and it seems all we’ve heaped up as head prowess have only served a great hindrance to seeing the mightiness of God, we become too knowledgeable for God to demonstrate his dynamics to and through. We seem to know so much of God in complexity of doctrines till we can no longer see His simplicity any longer. With our gathered knowledge, no miracle has been wrought, no deliverance has been noticed just yet, we shout away the denominational world for their miracles when we have none to point to ourselves, and I’m tempted to ask, do we have faith? Where are the signs, where are the wonders, where are the miracles? Are we even noticed as one with the revelation of Jesus Christ? Are the days of miracles passed?
Oh, the church needs the revival, the bride needs to awaken her lover from where she left him, He is not dead, He is still alive and potent, the blind can still see, the lame can still work, the deaf can still hear. Let’s not be in suffering because we fail to exercise the faith Christ has given us already. Or you think you don’t have it? Common, you do! Christ has chosen us in Himself to be blameless in Love, before the foundation of the world. Don’t carry a burden that simple faith can resolve. Reignite your faith, it still works! Exercise your faith, put it to work, don’t bare needless pains dear sister.
Should we in any way be willing to quicken our faith in God again, then we can respond to the question of Jesus “Shall He Find Faith” with a resounding “Amen!”
May He find that faith in you, and may he find that faith in me, Amen!
Shalom!
The Mighty Conqueror II
Today we continue on our last week topic, titled: The Mighty Conqueror. If you missed our last review on this new series kindly click the link below:
Link to Last sermon Review on The Mighty Conqueror I
Brethren, Christianity is not a religion, it’s salvation, and it’s beyond just being saved. Deeply rooted in the word of God is a necessity for every prospective candidate of the rapture. We ought to know what we believe and prove our scriptural belief by the word of God. This is because nothing can make us spiritual except the word of God. Praying doesn’t make you spiritual. if it does, then virtually everyone should be spiritual; but being spiritual goes beyond praying every day. A spiritual man must produce fruits, and one of it is prayer life. So, anything outside seeking the word of God to produce spiritual fruits is mere activity, and anyone not doing the needful is probably caught up in a religious spirit. What will transform you is nothing but the word of God.
The reason we are being conquered by the devil is that we have failed to empower ourselves with the word of God. A man full of anxiety is obviously conquered by the devil – What ever a man gives his heart to must surely conquer him. An example is the devil, he was standing right in the presence of God but chose to give his heart to deceit. He subsequently lost his place with God; the same way many of us have lost our place with God because of what we have given our minds to.
We have two types of conquerors: God and the devil. God, who is the mighty conqueror, gave room to the devil to also conquer after his fall. it simply means a man is either conquered by God or by the devil, depending on what such a man allows. The devil is allowed to conquer men who don’t have time for God. – If you don’t have time for God he will not have time for you.
To get a good grasp of this topic, we need to understand the root of how the devil lost his name; from being called “Lucifer” to the “devil”. Brethren, the change of name, and ultimately change in position of the devil gave him a new business, one of perversion (Perverting the word of God). Which is basically, to deny the credibility of the word of God. He became an enemy of God, conquering men and making them turn their back to God. His first mission was accomplished in the garden of Eden (the beginning of his conquering), where he took off their covering (word of God) and exchanged it with leaves (Religion). The devil threw them naked before God, and he’s still on the same mission of throwing believers naked before God, and careless Christians are in to be conquered.
Today the devil is still conquering and he does that by lies. The church now is in a mess because the devil has conquered, giving them mere religion; but thanks be to God who gave us the Almighty Conqueror (Jesus Christ), who conquered the devil. The devil came after him thinking he was going to conquer him too, but the reverse was the case. The devil was conquered because Christ was(is) the word of God. He bruised the head of the devil (conquered him) by expressing Love.
If you want to follow Jesus Christ and not be a mere religious person, you have a price to pay. Jesus Christ also paid the price after conquering the devil (John 15:13), and that price was paid by him giving his life to be our Almighty Conqueror. This was love expressed in its totality. And we as joint-heirs with him ought to take up this attribute, provoking one another in love, making sure uplifting one another is a lifestyle, and not lacking in our midst. This is the perfect act of Christianity; it’s not just coming to church.
In conclusion, Jesus Christ didn’t stop at conquering the devil for us, he also empowered us to wrestle against the devil, because he knows the devil is never going to rest. The true church of God has been empowered to overcome the devil. Romans 8:33-37 is one of the comforting scriptures for us –
33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us
The lord has made us more than conquerors over the devil. It has nothing to do with your past sin, or what you were before now, the Lord has blotted out our past sin, nailing it to the cross. We now appear before God as the righteousness of Christ Jesus.