Did Jesus Our Lord Mean Everything He Said And Taught?

MESSAGE OF THE HOUR

By Pastor A. C. Ohanebo

 ------------------------------------

 

TO begin our discourse on this subject, let us put the above question another way. Did the Lord actually mean that all He said and taught (and indeed all that the Bible teaches the Christian) should be taken seriously, taught and enforced seriously with precept and practice by those in charge, and observed by all, for them to be Christians, as can be inferred from such scripture passages as (Matthew 5:17 19; 7:21 27; 28:18 20; Luke 9:44)?

 Now, put this question to today’s Pharisee and scribe ministers, who draw near to God only with the lips, but do not give a damn about how God feels about the realities on ground, and hear them retort, “who does not know that the Lord meant all that He said and taught?” However, evidence abounds to the fact that today’s church, “blessed” with multitudes of men and women in the pulpit, filled with sermons as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and with books, books and books, is yet ironically filled with substandard and questionable Christianity.

Multitudes of men and women in the pulpit and in the pews of today, by their actions and inactions, their disposition, attitude, character and lifestyle generally, and by their deliberate neglect of some aspects of Christ’s doctrines, declare that Christ did not mean all the stuff He said or taught (cons. Matthew 15:3-6; cp 2Corinthians 1:17-19; 2:17; 4:2).

Pastor A.C. Ohanebo Ministering To Watchman 

Ministers And Leaders From Several Parts Of The 

World At The Rock Chapel, Logos International 

Secondary School, Awo Omamma, Imo State, In 

January 2011

The purpose of this treatise, is to REALIGN those minds that may have been influenced out of the way, into the damnable habit of making light of the teachings of the Bible, picking and choosing the comfortable things and dwelling only on them, or deliberately avoiding parts of the Christian doctrines. This they do, either because of fear that the pews would become empty and the purse too, if all the counsel of God is given and enforced, or because of some other worthless reasons or arguments.

Now, for the truths on this subject to stand out prominently for everyone to see, let us survey the following points: 

(i) The Nature Of God,

(ii) The Person Of Jesus Christ, And His Ministry.

*The Nature Of God:

Here, we are not considering all aspects of God’s nature or characteristics. We are only concerned with His nature of saying or instructing it, and wanting that what He has said or instructed be believed and carried out (Deuteronomy 28:1,2,13,15,45; 30:1-10; cons. 1Samuel 15:21-26; Genesis 19:15-26). 

Though God is our heavenly Father, who is loving, kind, merciful (Exodus 34:6; 2Chronicles 30:9; Psalm 103:8), yet He is the supreme Spirit-being, awesome, who cannot and does not say or command things for the sake of saying or commanding them. Rather, His word is reserved, extremely hallowed, firm and final, and must be carried out, just as He said them (Deut. 4:1-2; Proverbs 30:6; Revelation 22:18). The following bible incidents will help to show how He, with whom we are dealing takes His words:

  *            Adam was God’s jewel, created directly, not procreated (Gen. 1:26-27; 2:7), but he lost out completely because he toyed with God’s instructions (Genesis 3:1-24).

*          Abraham was a dear friend of God, whose obedience, faith and sacrifice remain the model (cons. Isaiah 41:8; 51:2; Romans 49:9-22; James 2:23), but suffered terrible emotional turmoil and family troubles because he failed to heed God’s word of promise in the matter of having an heir from his legitimate wife (Genesis 16:1-6, 21).

*          Moses was a man of God of great repute, whose meekness was unparalleled (Numbers 12:3), and whose faithfulness was like Christ’s (Hebrew 3:1-2 ), yet he lost the privilege of taking the children of Israel into the promised land for not keeping strictly to the injunction the Lord gave him  (Numbers 20:7-12; Deuteronomy 3:23-27).

 

The Oyo State Chairman Of The PentecostalFellowship

 Of Nigeria (PFN), Apostle SundayPopoola (2nd Left), 

Other Executives Of The PFN In The South West Of Nigeria,

 And WatchmanDiocesan Pastors At The Regional Session 

Of The International Gospel Ministers' Conference Of

TheHour (IGMC) Hosted By The Watchman Catholic

Charismatic Renewal Movement (WCCRM) In Ibadan,

 Nigeria, In 2006

*          Balaam was a revered prophet, who saw visions of God, but he nearly lost his life at the hand of God’s angel, because he had known the perfect will of God on a matter, but went to ask for his permissive will (Numbers 22:1-35).

*          Saul was a great king, anointed to rule God’s people and he prospered until he lost his bishopric for not following God’s instructions, hook, line and sinker (1Samuel 15:1-35).

*          Apostle Peter was the Lord’s chief apostle, and a pillar of the church (Luke 22:31-32. cp. Gal. 2:9) but he was pushed aside and branded a devil by no other person than Jesus for trying to wish away (out of love and concern) the mind of God for Jesus (Matthew 16:21-23).

*          Did Cain not lose out when he took his religious observance lightly, offering for the sake of it to fulfill some kind of obligation? (Genesis 4:3-7).

In the face of these evidences it is absolutely obvious that one of the characteristics of God is that He means whatever He says and wants them carried out exactly as He says them.

*The Person Of Jesus Christ And His Ministry:

Jesus Christ is not only the embodiment of God’s word, that is, the word of God personified (John 1:14; Revelation 19:13), but also the reflection of God’s glory and the express image of God’s person (Hebrew 1:3; John 14:7-9).

While He was on earth, He was God in a human form, having all the attributes of God, including the attribute of saying it, meaning it and wanting it done (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:22 23; Isaiah 9:6; John 14:6,7,9,10).

As for His ministry, Jesus Christ came to make good, consolidate and fulfill all that God had provided and/or instructed (Matthew 5:17).  Like the Father who sent Him, everything that He said or taught (and indeed all things the scriptures have taught) are meant to be strictly heeded and observed (Matthew 28:19-20).

Remember, “the scriptures cannot (and must not) be broken” (John. 10:34) “if any man teach otherwise, and consent not to whole-some words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing” (1Timothy 6:3 5). In other words, if any Christian or minister does not hold unto all the counsel of God (i.e all that the Lord and his apostles taught), which brings about godliness, teaching and enforcing them by precept and practice, that Christian or minister is proud, knowing nothing.  (1Timothy 6:3-5).

In the light of the foregoing, it is mandatory that all who have read this treatise must examine themselves to discover whether they believe that Jesus meant all He said and taught and whether heaven can bear them witness, that by both precept and lifestyle, they are earnestly, as gospel ministers, giving their flocks the whole counsel of God (cp. Acts 20:17 22,24 28).

 Whosoever that is found wanting in this regard must repent in dust and ashes, if he/she wants to be part of God’s human angels preparing the church for the rapture.

=================