Today there is a question that the Holy spirit has brought our way, I believe it is a word, a charge, a kind of prophecy for some people and for some other persons. It is going to be a kind of some prophetic teaching and I want to plead with you to allow the Spirit to impart your life concerning what He has prepared for you and I. The question the Holy Spirit has for us today is: Can Your Ministry Be Found In Christ Jesus? This is an heart probing question, a question that the answer is not so much for you to say in the public, but for you to come to the realization of it in your spirit man. Can Your Ministry Be Found In Christ Jesus?
Listen to MP3: CAN YOUR MINISTRY BE FOUND IN CHRIST JESUS?
Before we continue, I want us to have a background understanding of what we are talking about from the book of Matthew 16, from verse 15 downwards. The Bible says:
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 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. 18 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.
The emphasis is on verse 16 and verse 18. Verse 16 says again: "Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." I am sure we understand that no one is in doubt of the existence of God. Now what many people doubt is does God have children? Does God have sons? In fact there is a place in the book of Psalms that says, "you are gods, children of the Most High God." So, we understand that God have children, however, God has a son. And according the book of Mathew 16 from verse 15 that we saw, Simon Peter by the help of God said "you are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Of course they knew He was Jesus and his name was Jesus the Nazareth, Jesus the son of David, the Nazareth et cetera. However at this point, they took it further to say you are not just Jesus the Nazareth, but you are Jesus the Christ. That is why the question before us today is: Can Your Ministry Be Found In Christ Jesus? Of course you could say that your ministry can be found in your country or in your city or wherever it could have been founded. But the question that you must answer is if your ministry can be found in Christ Jesus, the Son of the Living God. Because it is only those whose ministry can be found in Christ Jesus that can be beneficiaries of what Jesus said in verse 18. It says: "I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."
So, when we are talking about your ministry which is a member of the church, which is a denomination, perhaps, of the church, your ministry which is a unit of the church, Jesus said "I will build My church, the bigger body, including your ministry perhaps, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." So, it means the gate of hades will fight and wrestle against it but the only way and the only reason why they won't prevail against it is because it is going to be a unit of my church and a member of my church. And who is the one saying this? It is Christ Jesus and no other person. It is not the General Overseer or the founder, it is not the Senior Pastor.
Jesus said "I will build my church." Therefore, your ministry is a member of that church, your denomination is a member of that church! The question the Holy Spirit is asking is: Can your denomination, can your ministry or your organization, which is supposed to be a unit in Christ, a unit of the church, can it be found in Christ Jesus or is it simply been found on the earth? So, for us to understand that by default, a church or a ministry is supposed to be unit of the church, a ministry is supposed to be a denomination of the church, a ministry is supposed to be a part or a member of the church by default.
But at a point, many people who could have originated from that stage tend to deviate from being in Christ to coming out of Christ. Now the point I am making by the help of the Holy Spirit is this: Many people, many ministries began in Christ Jesus but not many ministries remain in Christ Jesus. In fact, at a point when Jesus was leaving He said "Will I be able to find faith on the earth when I return?" Will I find ministries, will I find people who are still remaining in the faith or would they have gone out the faith? So it means people can come into the faith and people can step outside of faith.
Organizations can begin in faith and can get out of faith. Ministries can start in faith and ministries can end up getting out of faith. Local churches can begin in faith, filled with the Holy Ghost, full of passion for the will of God on the earth, full of commitment for the extension of the kingdom of God on the earth, but end up deviating from the originality of their purpose and of their vision. Many churches began in Christ but they have ended up in the world. So, for us not to get things mixed up and assume that every church or every denomination of every ministry is in Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit is challenging all of us today and is creating a kind of awareness in everyone and perhaps, everyone that is called into the ministry, that before you start, know this that it is not enough for you to start your ministry in Christ Jesus, you must remain in Christ Jesus, and you must sustain that ministry in Christ.
You remember the story in the Bible when Jesus was given us a parable, and He mentioned a people who says "in your name we cast out demons, we did this and that in your name." And Jesus said "I never know you. I didn't know you, get away from you workers of iniquity." Another way we can put it is, you are ministers of iniquity, ministers of unrighteousness, ministers who are not in me. I don't know you, your ministries cannot be found in me. I was not the basis of your ministry, my purpose, my will was not the basis of your actions. You could have used my name, you could have called your church after my name, but your ministry is not found in me. I didn't commission your ministry, men commissioned it. Your ministry is not fulfilling my purpose, it's fulfilling men's purpose.
And perhaps, I commissioned your ministry, but afterwards, the ministry has been given to men. You know, there is a place in Daniel 2, when the Bible was talking about the stone that was cut without human hands that became a big mountain. God was speaking there that He will not hand it over to any man. You know the kingdom that was established will not be handed over to any man. Let us read that portion of the Scripture very quickly. Daniel 2:44. The Bible says:
"And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever."
And so, many ministries, many churches which are part of the kingdom of Christ, which are member of the kingdom that is called the church, they began in Christ Jesus, but because at a point, the authority of the local church was handed over to men, and Christ was no more the ultimate authority in that church, men began to institute culture and traditions, they have deviated out of Christ and they are now in the world. And so, they could still have a name that is being associated in Christ Jesus, but they are no more in Christ Jesus. So that you do not think what I am saying is what I want to say based on my emotion or sentiment, there is a word the Holy Spirit gave to me which is the basis for this word that we are discussing. It is found in the book of Jeremiah 2 and I want us to quickly go and read a few verses there, it is quite a lengthy chapter. I will read from verse 1-3, and then pick some other verses as we continue. The Bible says:
Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord:
“I remember you,
The kindness of your youth,
The love of your betrothal,
When you went after Me in the wilderness,
In a land not sown.
3 Israel was holiness to the Lord,
The firstfruits of His increase.
All that devour him will offend;
Disaster will come upon them,” says the Lord.’ ”
Now, if you look at this, this was the beginning. God was referring to when it all began, when Israel and Judah were in deep love for God, when they love God so much and would do anything to fulfill His purpose. And that shows a pattern of how many ministries start. Many churches started in the love of God, in an intoxicating love for God, but afterwards, the love wax cold. Let us read further from verse 4.
4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the Lord:
“What injustice have your fathers found in Me,
That they have gone far from Me,
Have followed idols,
And have become idolaters?
So, when we are looking at whether your ministry can be found in Christ, it is a serious matter. There was a time when their fathers love the Lord and they followed Him. Now, God was asking them: what was the injustice that their father found in Him that they have now followed idols and have become idolaters. You can imagine a people called by the name of God end up becoming idolaters, and yet people still see them as followers of God?
Now, when God says "my people, my people", I want us to understand that Jesus also said my people at a time. In Matthew 16, verse 18 that we read that says "I will build my church." So, when God was speaking, God said "My people", but Jesus said "My church" and I want you to understand that these are the same matters. What God was referring to in the Old Testament talking about His people that was what Christ was calling in the New Testament as His church. So, when God was speaking concerning His people, Christ is also speaking to us now concerning His church. So, as the people of God went away from God in search of idols and they became idolaters, it has come to God's knowledge that many people, many denominations in Christ Jesus that originally began in deep love for God have deviated from God, from Christ Jesus. They were so much in love with Christ; they loved His word but ended up getting out of Christ Jesus into the world. And so, they become idolaters and yet, they are still called Christians.
Now, let us read from verse 11-13.
Has a nation changed its gods,
Which are not gods?
But My people have changed their Glory
For what does not profit.
12 Be astonished, O heavens, at this,
And be horribly afraid;
Be very desolate,” says the Lord.
13 “For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,
And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.
Anywhere you see my people; you can be changing it to my church to suite the reality of what we are actually discussing today. The latter part of that Scripture in verse 13 is very important and I want us to note it. Let us jump to verse 28. Don't forget God said they had forsaken Him. It says no nation changes its gods, which are not even god, but they, the children of Israel change their own god. And He says they have forsaken Him in verse 13. But see what verse 28 now says:
But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves?
Let them arise,
If they can save you in the time of your trouble;
For according to the number of your cities
Are your gods, O Judah.
You remember I said, as the Holy Spirit led me, that when you hear the word "my people", you should understand that our context now, it is "my church." And when you say my church, those who are contained in the church of Christ Jesus are the people that are called Christians. Bible says believers; in the book of Acts were first called Christians in Antioch. So, it was a group of Pagans that saw them and said these people talked and behaved like Christ, in fact, Christ was their goal and focus, and so, they called them Christians. So, anyone who is a follower of Christ, who isn't following idols, is called a Christian simply because he or she is following Jesus. And so, has God heard His people, and those people were in Judah, or were called the people of Judah, today we are church of Christ and we are Christians. In the land of Judah, they were divided in cities, so there were many cities in Judah. Just as their many denominations in the church today.
So, God said, "According to the number of your cities, are your gods Oh Judah." So, we can deduce that and say it this way "that according to the number of your churches, or your denominations or your ministries, so are your gods." Even though we all began having Christ as our goal, our focus and our model, many ministries and denominations in Christ Jesus have deviated out of Christ and have got into idolatry. We begin to hear of church founders who became followers of mermaid spirits and herbalists, who go to shrines and do all manners of rituals just to have people come to their church.
You must understand that they did not begin at that point, as followers of mermaids, but they ended up as followers of mermaids, some would say out of frustration, out of impatience or whatever it is. But whatever could have been the reason for their deviation in Christ, into the occult and marine spirit, that has made them idolaters and they are no more in Christ, because Jesus said "you cannot serve God and mammon." No man can serve two masters, you cannot begin to follow the gods of this world and still expect to be under the authority of the God of gods. It is not going to work. God says "has a nation changed its gods which are not gods." They are not God but yet, nations don't change them.
Now, the God of gods, we are changing. Many of us who used to follow Him, we are now following other things. Somehow we tell ourselves, God is too slow to handle the 21st century demands, but is God slow? Is God not the God of times and seasons? Was He not God in the ancient past and is He not God today? Don't you see His power everyday in your life? But yet, you have abandoned Him, you have forsaken Him, your ministry is no longer patterned after Him. Your ministry is no longer modeled after Jesus any more, but after the things of this world, after the gods of this world. And then, you called them celebrities, gurus or experts; modeling your ministry after leadership experts, church growth experts, but no more after Christ. No wonder you have not been able to produce righteousness in anybody that follows you.
You see, righteousness gives birth to righteousness. Holiness gives birth to holiness. You cannot be unholy and produce holiness. And unclean cup that has clean water cannot give you a clean water to drink. You cannot be a corrupt father and try to make your son incorrupt, it is not going to work. It is what you have that you give. As a minister, who have been called into the ministry, have you remained in the ministry in Christ Jesus or you have only continued in that ministry in the world? What you patterned your ministry after is now the things that you learn in the world. Let God be true and every man a liar. Now, there are a few thoughts that I noted that I want to share with us.
If a ministry can't be found in Christ Jesus, by Christ, that ministry cannot raise any people unto God in Christ Jesus. Now, you have to understand that when it comes to the matter of checking out whether you are in Christ or not, you see, it is not me or anyone else who will do that. It is Christ Himself that will search for you. See what God said in Jeremiah 2:5. It says:
“What injustice have your fathers found in Me,
That they have gone far from Me,
Have followed idols,
And have become idolaters?
Is it a man that is raising this matter? No! It was God Himself. It is God that know how far that you have gone out of Him. Men could see you to be a great man of God and their Overseer, men could see you to be their spiritual father. But God knows if you are close to Him or far from Him. And God is asking you today: What is the iniquity or the injustice that you have found in Him that has made you move far away from Him? Is it because He couldn't provide for you or increase the number of your church members? He can! But what is it that you have seen in God that have warranted your deviation from Him, the fountain of the living waters.
Another thought that I want you to meditate on is this: The prevalence of spiritual adultery, which we could call idolatry, among God's people is as a result of or an evidence of the absence of enough ministries who show the people Christ Jesus. You know, this really always makes my heart bleed. For instance, I am a Nigerian, I live in Nigeria, in the FCT, Abuja. If you go to the Southern part of Nigeria, there is hardly any street that does not have a ministry that is functioning or a church that is functioning. There is hardly any street. Yet there is so much idolatry, so much perversion in our society. And then you ask, how come the numbers of our churches, of our ministries, of our local assemblies have not been able to translate into the transformation of our society? How come the society have remain the way it is in spite of the number of people that are saved, that are being called by the name of Jesus?
Now one of the thoughts that came to my heart is that we have shortage of ministries, of local churches that are really showing the people of the world whom Christ is. And I want you to think about that. If there are a thousand churches in your city and in your state, then there should have been a thousand examples or ambassadors of Christ in that city, in that state. But is that what we have today? There are cities that have churches, but there is no Christ in the city. So, it shows that the churches are not infiltrating. It is either they don't have Christ in themselves or they are not infiltrating the Christ they have into the society.
But the judgment that the Lord has for the churches today is that they are not even found in Christ Jesus. God is looking for them but they can't be found. So, as God said "my people have done two evils", the Holy Spirit has led me to write that the two evils of the church. Number one: The church of Christ Jesus have forsaken God and His Christ in the deepest of their hearts. Remember when Jesus was teaching us in Matthew 6:33 about seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, talking about Christ Jesus. Number two: The church has raised up for themselves images, models, examples, principles, structures or traditions that cannot produce true righteousness in any professing Christian. And so, we have believers so to say, people flocking our local denomination, local assemblies every week, yet, these people are the same that perverts their society simply because they have corruption in their hearts.
You will see that the same people who go to church are the same people who are also committing atrocities in the government and in the private sector. Then you ask: What is going on? This is what is going on: The church has raised for themselves images, models, examples, principles, structures or traditions that has no capacity to produce true righteousness in any professing Christian. The problem is not the Christians who wants to know God. But it looks as if the ministers who have established ministries have not erected or raised up the right model and pattern for their own growth in Christ Jesus. So, we have a people who go to church but do not have the opportunity to know Christ for themselves because their pastor have no time to teach them who Christ is. They have so much to talk about, so much important things to deal with every week, so much that there is no time to teach Christ Jesus.
These are the two evils that the church has committed. And before we round off, I want to leave us with this Scripture in 1 Timothy 1:12-15 as we are closing now.
And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, 13 although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. 14 And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
The emphasis is on verse 12, it says: "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry," So, sir, ma, this ministry that you are in, you are in because number one, God has counted you faithful originally, and God has enabled you. So, much grace is flowing in your life. You have so much revelation. When you lay your hands on the sick, they recover. When you cast out demons, they go. It is because Christ has enabled you. Why did He do so? Because He counted you faithful at the beginning. And so, He put you into the ministry. Now that you are in the ministry, and you remember that the gifts and the callings of Christ Jesus, they are irrevocable.
Now that you are in the ministry and it looks as if Christ cannot revoke the gift that He has given to you, but you seems to have revoked in your heart out of Christ Jesus, how long will you continue in this journey? Don't you think it would be wise for you to be grateful to Him who counted you worthy and who enabled you? Don't you think it would be wise and necessary of you to return back to God and to abandon the broken cisterns that you have hewn for yourselves? Those strategies, principles, structures and traditions that you created for yourself, to make life easy and rosy for yourself, why can't you just abandon that and go back to God now, the fountain of living waters and the one who can continue to supply your needs, sustain you and continue to enable you?
What is it that you are looking for in Mermaid spirits that Christ cannot give to you? You did not begin this ministry with mermaids, but in Christ Jesus. How come you have gone so far, so deep into the occult spirits? What is it that they are promising you that you lack in Christ? You remember in Revelations 5:12 which says "worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive glory, honor, power, peace, blessing, strength." He was slain to receive them, not because He lacked them. It is because of You and I. So, what is it that the occult spirits can promise you, these demons can promise you that you think you should fellowship with them, you who is the temple of the Living God.
In Revelations chapter 2, from verse 1-17, there is a food for thought for us, talking about the loveless church. Jesus said:
“To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: 2 “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3 and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. 4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. 6 But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” ’
This is the word that the Holy Spirit has laid in my heart. Can your ministry be found in Christ Jesus? The Lord is not saying you did not begin in Him, He knew your first works. He knew them, He knew the things you used to do, He knew your labor, your patience, He knew. However, He also knows that you have left that first love. He knew that you have abandoned Him, the fountains of the living waters, and you have hewn for yourselves broken cisterns that cannot hold water. And what did He say? From verse 5, it says: "Remember therefore from where you have fallen...” I am sure you must know that there is a particular year that you began to deviate. Repent and do the first works.
This is the word that the Lord has laid in my heart and I believe it is a word for the church at this season, and the word that you must not deflect as a servant of Christ. Don't say because you are the general overseer or the senior pastor, you are a preacher, a teacher, you are an apostle or a prophet, and say, who is this man to even be challenging me? I am not challenging you or your authority, but this is the word that the Holy Spirit has laid in my heart for everyone of us. You must return to the first love, you must return to your first works, the things you used to do in the moment and days when Christ is the most important in your life. Return back to those days and begin to do those things again, then you will see the Lord manifested fully in your ministry. You will see a dimension of God that you have never seen before.
Have those marine spirits promised you a few things? God has so much in stock for you, and the promise of God goes beyond this realm, He will bless you in this realm and He will give you an eternity in the end. You don't have to worry about where you will end up. Why? You are found in Christ Jesus and your name is written in the book of life and you are fulfilling the purpose of God on the earth. Your eternity is therefore guaranteed in Christ Jesus. If you must make that decision, I want you to do that. As a man of God, as a preacher, I want you to go back to God, if in any form, you have deviated, apologize to Him. You know He is your Father, He loves you. I want you to go back to Him now and talk to Him. Tell Him you are sorry, like that prodigal son, return back to Him. God is able and willing to embrace you and receive you back to Himself.
Pray to Him, you know how you used to talk to Him in the days when you were deeply in love with Him, talk to Him in that form and He is willing to receive you. He is able to help you again and overflow His grace upon your life. He is able to help you. Promise to remain in Him and be firmly rooted in Him and be ambassadors of Him the cities that you He has planted you. You are the one that counted me faithful, enabled and put me into this ministry, Lord the place that you have put me, that you have settled me, I promise to be your ambassador in that place and to go about fulfilling your purpose, spreading the frontiers of your kingdom, I promise Lord. Help me not to make shipwreck of my ministry.
I want my ministry to be found in you all the days of my life. When the time comes for you to search for those who are in you Lord, help me Oh Lord that I may be found in you, that our ministries and churches may be found in you, help Oh God. In Jesus Mighty name we have prayed.
Amen
