LIFTING THE BANNER OF THE LORD SAY ”NO”(PART 3)

Those who preach grace out of context say once saved, you are saved forever, it doesn’t matter how you live after. Here in Holy Ghost Fellowship our message is the Bride’s message, if you receive the message and put it to use, it will produce right living in your life. The Holy Spirit told me lately that Christianity is sweet when it is lived, when the word has become flesh.

Verse 7 “In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech that cannot be condemned … no evil thing to say about you”. Can somebody do business with you? As a child of God, there are structures that should be in place in your home. When they are cracking coarse jokes in your office, you must not be part of it; you must not be comfortable with swine’s food. What have you been eating of late? You are gradually becoming what you are eating. If you are comfortable with pigs, check your DNA, something has happened. If you are frolicking with dogs, check your DNA, something has happened. A child of God should be a transformer and not a conformer. Why do you have to do all the things enumerated in verse 7? The answer is in verse 11 “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men”. Grace is a concept throughout the Bible. Grace is the first sentence God uttered. The concept of grace was in creation, the only thing is that God deals with man dispensationally and we are in the dispensation of grace. The grace of God that brings salvation became flesh, appeared, and manifested in the person of Jesus Christ.

What does this grace do? Verse 12 “Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly, in this present world”. In NIV, it says, ”the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us to SAY NO to ungodliness and world passion.” Grace teaches us to say “No”. If you want to be a man of the people, you will miss God because the voice of the people is not the voice of God. Christianity is not a yes religion. It is necessary for you to be so detached so that you can fly. To be contaminated is to carry a heavy load and anything that is overloaded will sink according to the law of gravity. When last did you say “No” to the adulterous overtures of your boss in the office? When last did you say “No” to every appearance of evil? When last did you say “No” to ungodly handshake? When last did you say “No” to the king’s portion? The Church is losing its relevance because the Church is saying “yes” to everything she should say “No” to. Darkness is getting darker and bolder because those who are supposed to be the light are not shining; they have compromised. Pastors are dancing. If there is going to be a healing of the nation, it must start from the Church. Pastors are now dropping their higher calling for a lower call; some are even ready to settle for local government Chairman. Something is wrong. Oil is for consecration; it means to be set apart, there are things you must never do again. Don’t ever behave in such a way that the name of Jesus will be put to ridicule.

Grace teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passion and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. True grace teaches you to love what God loves and to hate what God hates. True grace will make you fall in love with God and this love will naturally draw you to his presence. True grace will make you a worshipper not just a worker, true grace will make you heavenly-minded and earthly-relevant because you will reign. Where you operate, that becomes an embassy of Christ because you are an ambassador. When you legislate, it will stand. You will reign in the midst of your enemies. True grace will make you call the shots. You need not occupy any political position to operate. True grace will make you heaven’s darling, anything that touches you touches the apple of God’s eye. True grace is not a licence to live anyhow; it is an enablement to say “No” to error, to worldliness and to dilution of the word of God. True grace is an enablement to say “No” to distortion, “No” to compromise, “No” to hypocrisy, “No” to the works of the flesh. True grace is an enablement to say “No” to pride, “No” to deception, “No” to household wickedness, “No” to witchcraft, “No” to marine contamination, “No” to occultism, “No” to idolatry, “No” to stubbornness, disobedience, oppression, depression, oppression, suppression, affliction, seduction, obstruction, hindrances, “No” to the dainties from the king’s table.

Abraham said “No” and became God’s friend. Daniel said “No” and he became God’s special, highly favoured and ten times better than his peers. Enoch said “No”, God took him. Elijah said “No” it is not going to rain except by my word. Elisha said “No” to the gift from Naaman but his own prodigy that didn’t know how to say “No” (a typical example of an average Christian today) went from behind and collected the gift but also collected leprosy. When people say “yes” to what they should say “No” to, they collect leprosy. How do you know someone who is spiritually leprous? Anything the person touches withers (becomes leprous) because leprosy is a disease of the limbs, he cannot hold anything together anymore, the centre will naturally fall. If you don’t have spiritual insight, the environment will mess you up. There is no way you can dominate an environment you have not properly analyzed and discerned. The country is the way it is today because the Church failed to discern the spiritual environment.

TO BE CONTINUED