Blog

RUNNING THE RIGHT RACE (2). - THE DEMANDS OF THE EARTHLY RACE.

Hits: 88
RUNNING THE RIGHT RACE (2). - THE DEMANDS OF THE EARTHLY RACE.
 
1 Cor. 9:19-27; 2Tim 4:5-8;
 
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. ~ Ecclesiastes 9:11
Man is naturally wired to succeed in life irrespective of who you are and where you come from. Nature fights against inactivity, redundancy and sluggishness which are anti-success actions.
RUNNING THE RIGHT RACE (1)

Hits: 115

RUNNING THE RIGHT RACE (1)
Ps. 19:4-17; Eccl. 9:11; Matt. 7:18-27; 11:12; 1 Cor. 9:24-27; Heb. 12:1-3
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Hebrews 12:1
I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 1 Corinthians 9:26

INTRODUCTION TO DIFFERENT RACES. ~ Eccl. 9:10-12

10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

Hits: 59


THE SPIRITUAL GROWTH OF MEMBERS AND THE CHURCH (30)
DIMENSIONS OF GROWTH (22), GROWING IN CHRISTIAN SERVICE (7).


PAUL THE APOSTLE: A CLASSICAL EXAMPLE OF GROWTH IN SERVICE.
For I am the LEAST of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I

LABOURED MORE ABUNDANTLY than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 1 Corinthians 15:9-10 .
Paul the apostle was indeed an INSTITUTION, A VANGUARD AND VETERAN Christian whose entire life after his conversion was an embodiment of all we need to know about growth in Christian service. A single teaching on him will be a disfavour to the grace bestowed on this luminary spiritual icon. However, we shall attempt to summarize the study as follows:

1. He was captured as an evil genius, a blood thirsty persecutor and an injurious fellow before his encounter with Christ on his destructive mission Acts 7:54, 57-58; 1 Tim 1:13
2. He had the striking salvation experience like we all had no matter our backgrounds. Every sinner is a sinner and salvation to everyone is a striking turnaround. Acts 9:3-9; 22:6-11; 26:12-18
3. Paul spent over ten years in personal retreats, prayers, study of the word and fasting to train and prepare himself for the ministry. Acts 6:4; Gal 1:15-24
4. He graduated from (3) above to outrun his contemporaries who were privileged to study UNDER THE FEET OF JESUS and experienced the Holy Ghost Baptism before him BUT, GRACE, REPOSITIONED HIM above ALL. Even Peter the foremost Apostle had this to say of Paul that some of his writings are hard to be understood. 1Cor 15:9-10; 2 Pet 3:15-16
5. Few of his heart burning sermons are preserved as models for preachers of all times in Acts 13:16-41 where he ministered to the Jews in Antioch, Acts 17:22-31 Gentiles at Athens.
6. His growth was phenomenal such that he could correct Peter, Barnabas his partner in Ministry and other Jews on a behavioural issue that was not in consonant with the truth of the gospel. Gal 2:11-16.

7. God saw in him the MIND TO MEND lives for Him not minding what will become of him in the process of trying to achieve it and WILL TO WORK hence of the 27 books of the New Testament, Paul wrote 14. Phil. 1:21,

8. Despite his not being part of those whose names were mentioned before, at and after Pentecost where the New Testament Church was ignited and empowered for exploits, he depended on the same Holy Ghost at his late hour of repentance to outrun the first beneficiaries. You too can grow beyond this stagnated level.

Hits: 58
THE SPIRITUAL GROWTH OF MEMBERS AND THE CHURCH (26)
DIMENSIONS OF GROWTH (18), GROWING IN CHRISTIAN SERVICE (3).
 
HINDRANCES TO GROWTH IN CHRISTIAN SERVICE (2).
Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. 10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Romans 12:9-10
Love is one of the greatest tools of growth in any form of human relationship including animals. It is practically difficult to exist without it. But when it is used as a guise to achieve selfish aims, then it can be very destructive and disastrous. Incidentally, it is one of the easiest deceptive ways that can be deployed to infuse and inflict pains on others thus negating the growth pattern.
 
Below are examples of wrong usage of love to the detriment of growth in Christian Service.
a) If your faith can move mountains, and you equally have the gift of miracles backed with the best of tongues in this contemporary Christian world and in the midst of all these spiritual achievements love is missing, you will not go far. Prov. 10:12; 1 Cor. 13:1-13.
b) The subtle seed of hatred for whatever cause is a killer disease that attacks love from its roots ensuring that its cancerous effect is noticeable in no distant time. When it happens amongst couples, every good deed is seen in bad light. 1Sam 18:21-29; 2 Sam 20:9-10; Ps 55:12-14.
c) Common ingredients in the church and families that act as recipes for diluting love to its non functional state are gossiping, murmuring, slandering, backbiting, telling others “you too do’ instead of commending the grace of God operating in them etc. Their aim is to tear down spiritually prosperous brethren thereby weakening their hands and ultimately distorting growth. Prov. 26:25-28; Acts 15:1-2; Rom 16:17; Gal 2:1-5; Rev. 2:14-15.
d) Systematic erosion of the fundamental spiritual principles on which you were built upon. Eph 2:18-20.
 
These include though not limited to
i) Renewed love for the world. Gal 2:18; 1 John 2:15
ii) Strong allurement, amusement and sentiments that clearly negate God’s word. Acts 15:36-40; 1 Tim 1:18-20.
iii) Spiritual kwashiorkor and stuntedness. Heb 5:11-14; 6:1; 1 Pet 2:1-2
iv) Wrong association. 1 Cor. 15:33; 2Cor. 6:14-17; 7:1; 2 Tim 3:12-17.
v) When service becomes a burden and the restlessness for missing your duty post no longer attracts tears as it used to in the days of yore. Rev. 2:4
vi) When prayer is a struggle, Bible study is very stressful and church attendance is now replaced by resting period. It indicates that your first love is gone and you are either quarter to go back to the world or you are already there. Even angels will fear your forbidden strength. Ps 119:105; 122:1; Luke 18:1

Hits: 52
THE SPIRITUAL GROWTH OF MEMBERS AND THE CHURCH (28)
DIMENSIONS OF GROWTH (20), GROWING IN CHRISTIAN SERVICE (5).
 
Acts 6:1-7; Roms. 15:4
But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.
Acts 6:4.
As mentioned last week, the above statement was like placing a limitation on those who were appointed to be Deacons not to give themselves to studying and prayers, but we see a paradigm shift from Stephen and Philip who demonstrated to the apostles and the church that growth in service is possible for those who depend on God and the principles laid down. Today we shall look at:
 
2. THE GROWTH OF PHILIP.
Acts 6:4-7
Philip was one of the first deacons to be addressed an Evangelist. He proved within the bounds of scriptures that growth in service is very possible. He further authenticated the fact that an individual’s stability and stamina in times of crisis depends on how much of God the man has known. He was indeed a God-sent and Spirit controlled Deacon cum Evangelist
 
They following are his growth exploits.
a) At the peak of Christian persecution that saw the killing of his colleague Stephen, while the Apostles gathered at one place probably to continue in prayers, the spiritual energy in Philip stirred him to move to Samaria. Acts 8:1 validates that this Philip was the one appointed as Deacon and not Philip the Apostle. Acts 8:1, 4-5
b) Through Philip, a mighty revival broke out in the city of Samaria with signs and wonders following Acts 8:6-7
c) He had an overwhelming grip and great impact on the people. This led to the coming of some of the Apostles to consolidate the work he started. The apostles did not reprove him for growing above his calling, Acts 8:12, 14
d) He was equally spiritually led in some of the decisions he embarked upon as did the Apostles. Acts 5:19; 8:26
e) A great and effectual door was opened in Ethiopia, a heathen nation through his ministration (seed planted) through his encounter with the Ethiopian Eunuch. Acts 8:26-31
f) He was equally knowledgeable in scriptures thus defending his position as a servant of God. Acts 8:32-35
g) He is visibly the first person in the New Testament to experience a spiritual flight without any physical means of transportation. Acts 8:39-40
h) He proved beyond doubts that God is neither prodigal nor partial with His anointing. he giveth liberally to those who wait on Him. Apart from Jesus, none of the apostles manifested in this dimension. John 8:59; Acts 8:39-40..
i) His life influenced his four daughters who never prostituted their virginity but rather gave themselves to godly services in the prophetic. Acts 21:8-9.
j) The bible is careful enough to make a categorical distinction that this same Philip who was ordained a deacon later became an evangelist Acts 21:8.
The extent to which a man can become proficient in Ministry is determined by who HE IS WITH THE LORD and not who he is related or connected to in real life. It is also not governed by his title nor when he was called into ministry. How old was Methusaleh compared to Enoch? Who amongst the two of them did God reward? God is too Sovereign to play politics with leadership. Look at 1 Kings 11:11-13. God later gave the kingdom to Jeroboam who had no legacy in the lineage of the Messiah.
 
SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT. Study and contrast the life and spiritual exploits of Philip the Apostle with that of Philip the Deacon Evangelist. We shall look at this next week if Christ tarries. Don’t miss out
  1. DIMENSIONS OF GROWTH (21) GROWING IN CHRISTIAN SERVICE (6)

Recent Posts

Other Teachings

Popular Tags

Wind and Fire 25 41 A.k.Komando, 13 Pst.Sule balogun 8 RUNNING THE RIGHT RACE 2 sermon 12 Pst.Sampson Badare 7

Connect With Us

Redemption Ministries International Headquarters Omega Beach, Eastern By-Pass, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. And branches worldwide

  +234903222664

 

Major Teachings

Newsletter

Enter your email to receive updates and information from our church.