His Grace Is Sufficient

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. 2 Cor. 12:9

Today – and, indeed, throughout this week – I cannot hide my joy at the revelation of the cross that the Lord has brought into my heart. Throughout the last week, I had been ministering to several of our churches in Dodoma Region, and I ministered so well that the Lord decided to reward me. Yes, the Lord rewarded me; but you would be surprised at the way the Lord rewards us. I am sure my flesh would have loved it had the Lord rewarded me with a red Porsche (yeah, I particularly love the color red on a car); but the Lord did not do that. On the contrary, God is Spirit, and He had only one way to go about rewarding me: the spiritual way.

So how did the Lord go about it?

The Lord rewarded me with the revelation of the cross! The revelation of the cross is God’s reward to those He loves for in Hebrews 12:6 the Bible tells us:

“For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”

(Perhaps today’s loving parents may need to take a leaf from the Lord about how to raise their children. I am so glad our parents brought us up the Biblical way!)

Anyways, back to our subject: me. The Lord has been showing me new (and old) areas in my life that need to die. Moreover, the Lord has been chastising me about how strong and wise I have become lately in the flesh, and He has been telling me anew how weak and foolish I need to become in order to carry His grace, His strength, His wisdom, His life.

There are many new (and old) areas in my life that the Lord has been showing me that I am still a strong, tough guy. These are areas where I am still holding onto my things, my rights and my life. It is in my rights especially that I have found I am still stuck way deep in the flesh. I am quick to claim my rights!

But the Lord has been quick to show me this weakness – and to give me the strength to begin to release them. Much of the time, of course, our rights and our life are things that are hidden deep within us, and we cannot see them. But when God shines His probing light into our hearts, we see them clearly. But even more importantly, we see exactly what we need to do about them.

Just when my heart begins to become cold and hard towards a person or a situation, the Lord points me to the cross; and I repent.

Sometimes the things that make us to stumble are so trivial that we feel ashamed to even admit them. And sometimes they are so deep we fear to admit them. But whatever the case, we need to bring them up to the Lord and tell Him, “Lord, this is my weakness. I have sinned here, and I need your forgiveness and the strength to go beyond this weakness.”

The Apostle Paul rejoiced at the revelation of the cross in his heart. He rejoiced at how weak and foolish he was required to become. In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 he says:

“12… Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 13 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

What does Paul mean by “strong”? What strength is he talking about?

It is the grace of God. When we allow ourselves to become weak and foolish in this world for the sake of the gospel, then the grace of God is shed abundantly in our lives. And in that manner alone can we be of any value to the Kingdom of God. Of what use or value are we if we are not carrying God’s grace? Allow me to use the word “useless”. You and I are useless in the Kingdom of God if we do not carry the grace of God in us. And that grace comes to us when we have crucified the flesh.

God’s grace enables us to forgive those who wrong us; it enables us to love our enemies, and to pray for them;  it enables us to ask for forgiveness when we wrong others. God’s grace fills us with the love of God through which we become of inexpressible value to our fellow men.

Moreover, the grace of God keeps us. It makes us to constantly be filled with joy, faith and hope.

I cannot possibly list a tiny portion of the benefits of the grace of God in our lives for when we talk of the grace of God we are talking about the life of God.

Suffice it to say that this grace was the Apostle Paul, and the Early Church chased after with all their strength.

[His grace suffices]

A Fool For God

19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

What incredible words! God has declared that He will not reveal His secret to the wise of this world. I know this will not go down well with the educated people of this world; but much learning actually puts one at risk of missing out on the things of God. The sharper the human mind, the more of an enemy it becomes with God. The smarter we get in this world, the further we move away from understanding the things of the Spirit.

We could say that the human mind is the earthly engine; while the heart is the spiritual engine. When we give too much power to the human mind, we give that much more room for worldly things and wisdom to come into our lives. On the other hand, when we crucify that mind and give more place to the heart, we grasp more of the things of the Spirit.

So what is the conclusion?

Become a fool in this world. Strive to become nothing. Unfortunately (for the flesh), that is the singular solution to arriving at the things of the Spirit. You cannot grasp the things of the Spirit with your mind; and the smarter you become, the further you go away from them. That’s a fact.

The Bible says,

“For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God…” (v.21)

Actually, God had no option. The world by its wisdom would not acknowledge God. So God chose a different path to get to man…

“… it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”

Yap. God chose the foolish way of believing, not of wisdom. When the spirit of man hears the gospel, and a man makes the decision to believe in Jesus, all the while the human mind is fruitless! If it were up to the mind to help you believe, only those with Ph.Ds would get saved!

God nails this down even further. He says in 1 Cor. 1:26-31:

“26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of this world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And the base things of the world, and the things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence. 30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”

I recall an interesting story my fellow pastor told me. Probably most people who read this blog think I am the sharpest tool in the barn. Well, you would be shocked…

This pastor told me what occurred at his church when I first preached there. It was the first church that I preached in when I came to Singida. Immediately after the service ended, the assistant pastor pulled his senior pastor aside, an elderly man, and trying unsuccessfully to control himself, he told the pastor, “Of all the people you have brought here to preach, this is the dumbest of them all. Where did you pick him up from? No one here understood a word he said; certainly not I.”

Later that night at home, when the pastor was in bed with his wife, she said sarcastically, “At least bring to church someone who can speak!”

Luckily for me, I was not made aware of all this hullabaloo until much, much later, after God had put all my enemies in that church under my footstool. Today, all three are my most trusted right-hand men (and woman) here in Singida.

That is how the gospel works. That is how God’s power moves. It moves in weakness, and in foolishness.

[A fool. Perfect.]

The Church’s One Foundation

10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation… 11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 3:10-11

Let me begin by trying to get your attention. Let me begin by stating that the foundation of the church is weakness and foolishness.

I am so glad I was able to state that.

Every structure has to have a foundation. Actually, every thing has a foundation. But it cannot just be any foundation. The firmer the foundation, the easier and more securely the structure which is built on that foundation will rest. The structures or things that we see in the natural that have been built by God are unspeakably secure. We see them: the planets and galaxies in the cosmos; the sun and the stars. They are immovable. Even the mighty ocean cannot overcome the boundaries that God has set for it, even though all the world’s rivers, both mighty and small, have been flowing into it for thousands of years.

One can add so many things to this list. All these things have a foundation, and it is this foundation that makes them secure and immovable.

This is incomparably more so in the Spirit. If God can secure His creation in the natural to the extent that we see with our natural eyes, how much more would He do for the things of the Spirit, which are of far much more value to Him? You can therefore imagine just how strong the foundations of the things of the Spirit are. Chief amongst these things – the thing He values above all – is the gospel. This is the singular thing which God was willing to give His Son to die for.

(Don’t you think that for this reason we ought to take a moment to reflect and thank God that it was for us that He did this incredible act of selflessness.)

The gospel  of Jesus Christ has a foundation, thank God!! And what, pray, is this foundation?

It is Jesus Christ Himself, Christ crucified. The minute you remove the word “crucified” you have removed the foundation from under the gospel, and that gospel will crumble like a card of sticks.

Thankfully, “Christ crucified” was the foundation that the Apostle Paul lay in the Corinthian church when he first preached the Good News to them. When Paul uses the words “wise masterbuilder” to describe himself, he is not seeking after our accolades. Rather, he is stating a spiritual fact which is so important for the church. He is stating the wisdom of God.

Paul directed the Corinthians to the cross. He told them to accept sufferings for the gospel’s sake, and to crucify self, to the end that the life of Christ might be found in them.

“1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” (1 Cor. 2:1-2)

“… we preach Christ crucified”. (1 Cor. 1:23)

Paul told the Corinthians to accept to become weak, and foolish. What a challenge! But the Corinthians rose up to it, and Paul left behind a strong, holy and united church in Corinth. Everyone had surrendered their lives to Christ.

What a strong foundation the Apostle Paul had laid! For as long as the Corinthians stood on this foundation, they were safe and secure. Since they had denied themselves and taken up their cross, it was the easiest thing for them, in everything, to find themselves standing together “in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10).

Wow! What a testimony!

It is not easy for any number of people to stand together “in the same mind and in the same judgment”. Human nature simply cannot allow that. But with God all things are possible. With “Christ crucified” firmly enthroned in our hearts, it is so much possible!

But not long after Paul left them, the Corinthians began listening to other doctrines and teachings. Probably they heard the gospel of prosperity, who knows? Or a gospel of law and prescriptions. They could have heard any number of strange gospels. But it is clear they were no longer adhering to the gospel that Paul left them with, “Christ crucified”. For this reason, they came off the foundation of the cross.

And now they were no longer secure! Now there was war, fraction, and every kind of evil work amongst them.  They had come off the only secure place God had given them; the revelation of the cross in their hearts had been darkened. And now they were on another, different foundation, which was fast crumbling.

The church today cannot expect to become spiritual without this revelation in our hearts. There is no other way, and there is no shortcut. The words of the Apostle Paul, backed by the authority of God:

“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

It is a foundation of weakness and foolishness… weakness and foolishness with Christ.

[True unity in church can only come about through a revelation of the cross in our hearts]

 

The Battle Against The Flesh – Part 2

25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. 1 Cor. 1:25-31

Although we are particularly thick-headed, yet verse 25 is trying to tell us something. In the natural state of affairs, everything, man included, wants to go only up. We grow up, not down! But in the Spirit, we are to take the opposite route. We are to go down. We go down with Jesus. We are to accept to be weak and foolish in this world. Philippians 2:5-8 says:

“5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

Now, we cannot hope to fathom the weakness and folly that attended Jesus’s actions here. The folly and weakness – the denial of self – that He exhibited here is incomprehensible to the human mind. But we are to follow Christ in worldly weakness and foolishness.

Notice, now, verses 27 and 28. Why would God choose the foolish things of this world, and the weak, and the base and despised? And why does the Bible expressly state that

“not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called”?

Maybe God does not like problems. And, in the natural course of things, educated people and the rich and those with positions are, to say the least, a bit of a problem. They know things; they have things. It is very difficult for man to humble himself, so these kinds of people tend to be a bit dificult. Scripture declares:

“Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.” (1 Cor. 8:1)

It is no secret also that most white people have a superior view of themselves against other races. Whether rightly so or not, that sort of thing ought not to happen in the church. But the cold fact is that the minute natural man latches onto something, he wants to use it to elevate himself. The Bible says so.

That is why, when the authority of Christ is not in the church, men bring titles and everything else of the world into the church. But where the authority of Christ is at work, no one wants to be recognized for who they are. Rather, God’s people will desire only to reveal the fruit of the Spirit through the cross working in them. This was the singular thing the Apostle Paul desired to have in his life.

“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” (Gal. 6:14)

Paul counted anything he might have had in the natural as dung! In Philippians 3:7-8 he writes:

“7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ”.

Paul had a lot to lose in the natural. But he realized that these things are of no value in the Spirit. But the fruit of the Spirit matters!

Is God really against the wise of this world, and the moneyed and them who have positions?

The answer, unfortunately, is yes. God wants the people He has called not to glory in these things. God does not want you waving your Ph. D in church. Go throw that in the dustbin and bring your circumcised heart into the church!

God wants us to glory in the things of the Spirit. But the flesh craves the glory of this world.

But… are we really weak when we accept to follow Christ in His weakness?

No, we are not. The Bible says of the exact moment that Jesus died on the cross,

“51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” (Mat. 27:50-53)

Great power attended Jesus’s shameful death.

It is the same with us. Great power attends a righteous man’s death. In weakness, we release great power in the Spirit. And in worldly folly, we become wise in the Spirit.

It has been one of the greatest privileges for me to minister amongst people who have little worldly education or wealth in central Tanzania.

It is wonderful to see how quickly faith builds up in such people, and to see the humility of their hearts.

[One of the purest sources of joy in my life is working with these humble men of God]

The Price

… but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil. Rom. 16:19

Do you know the price you need to pay to fulfill this scripture? You will have to give up many, many things. God will see to that, if you allow Him.

Evil, as spoken of here, is synonymous with the flesh. In other words, we need to be simple when it comes to the flesh. That is what this scripture is saying. Scripture is warning us here that if you decide to answer this high spiritual calling, you will, without a shadow of doubt, arrive at a place where you will not only live without many of the trappings of this world, but where also people will view you – and probably call you to your face – as stupid, a simpleton, poor, classless, a fool. Today, many of my brethren from Africa are losing limb and life (and marriages and children) in the desperate bid to get to the West to escape the so-called hard life. But, with the gospel, the hard life is exactly what we have been called to. A true child of God will not fear to live the hard life, nor to be viewed as, or called, any of those negative things, for the sake of the gospel.

Today I want to narrate to you the story of Mzee (Old man) Mgoloka. Mzee Mgoloka was a beauty in the Spirit, and he died leaving behind a legacy that shook all our churches at Zion Gospel Assembly.

Mzee Mgoloka was an elder in our church in Shinyanga. But he lived an interesting spiritual life; simple, frugal and extremely down-to-earth. The man did not even own a bicycle.

But Mzee Mgoloka had a working son and one day this young man decided to buy his father a truck so his father could relaxedly earn some income. The truck came complete with a driver.

Early the next morning after the hand-over, the truck was driven out to begin ‘rolling in the money’. But it hadn’t been gone ten minutes, though, when Mzee Mgoloka received a phone call from the driver.

“Hello, Mzee, please rush to such and such a place, I’ve just encountered a problem.”

“What problem?” Mzee Mgoloka enquired with surprise.

“Oh, just a small problem with the traffic police, sir”, the driver answered.

Within minutes, Mzee Mgoloka arrived on the scene. He went straight to the driver and asked him, “What’s the problem?”

“Oh, nothing, sir, except I didn’t come with any money.”

“What money? Money for what?” enquired the old man.

“Er, well, you know the way it is with the roads, Mzee.”

Immediately, it struck Mzee Mgoloka that in owning this truck, he had just stepped onto a very narrow road; but it was not the strait and narrow road that he had read in the Bible. This was a narrow road of a different kind. And he knew exactly where it led to.

BUT Mzee Mgoloka also knew what he needed to do.

He walked up to the traffic officer and addressed him.

“Sorry, sir”, he said, “I understand there is a problem with my truck. Please, sir, kindly, please, I beg you… if you can forgive an old man like me only this once, I promise to not bother you again.”

The traffic officer was fascinated by the old man’s show of humility and, after thinking it through, he granted him his request and waved the truck through.

Mzee Mgoloka got into the truck with the driver. He instructed the driver to turn around and head for his son’s house. When they arrived, Mzee Mgoloka asked the driver for the truck’s keys. He then got out of the vehicle and purposefully walked into the house. Once inside, he called out to his son.

When the young man arrived, Mzee Mgoloka handed him the truck’s keys.

“Son”, he said, “I cannot tell you how grateful I am for the good thoughts you have had towards me in buying me this truck. But I have perceived that this truck will take me straight to hell. This truck will prevent me from entering heaven, and I cannot allow that. So, here are the truck’s keys. And I thank you very much.”

The old man turned around and walked out of his son’s compound and that was the end of the matter. Not too long afterwards, Mzee Mgoloka died and went to heaven. He died on a Sunday afternoon, right after he had delivered a sermon in church. It was one of the rare Sundays that he had gotten the opportunity to preach in church. No doubt, God wanted this spiritual major-general to bid a proper farewell to the church.

Such is the price that we will need to pay to get to heaven. Mzee Mgoloka’s example might appear extreme, but in reality it is not. Not at all. On the contrary, that’s the gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s how the simple, ordinary life of a spiritual person ought to be lived. The notion that such a lifestyle is ‘extreme’ is what has spawned the prosperity gospel and all the other gospels that cater to the flesh.

To this day, Mzee Mgoloka’s legacy stands, and it stands tall.

It is the flesh that fears to lose. Fear of this life is driving many of God’s children to do many spiritually regrettable things. The flesh wants to be coddled, and to receive the things of this world. But the spiritual person does not fear to lose. Remember Jesus’ words:

“Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.” (Lk. 17:33)

If we decide to cater to the Spirit, we must be prepared to lose. And, for some of us, we probably will need to lose more than what Mzee Mgoloka lost.

[Beginning today, for a while, I shall be posting here the old Hillsong gospel songs. They are timeless. I hope they will be a blessing to you]

 

To Be Spiritually Wise

18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.

19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;

22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

23 And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s. (1 Cor. 3:18-23)

What does it mean to be “foolish”? It means to not be knowledgeable of, to know nothing of that particular situation. It means to be unwise to. We are called upon to be fools in this world, that we may be wise with God.

A few weeks ago our nation went through the heat of a national election and, as is normal with any election, there was a lot of passion going around. After the election, the temperature rose even higher, with claims of election rigging, etc.

All this is normal with any election, of course. What is not normal is born-again believers becoming engaged in such furores. But, unfortunately, I saw a lot of such engagement in our country during the last elections. Brethren-in-Christ were so partisan! It was shocking to see believers so engaged in matters of this world. It appears that, particularly when it comes to politics, believers want to be involved right up front.

But the Bible says that our partisanship should only be in Christ and His heavenly Kingdom.

Politics is worldly business, not heavenly. And politics has a lot to do with our earthly rights, the very rights of which Jesus said we should deny ourselves. When we engage in political partisanship, it nearly always has to do with protecting our rights. And we can hardly call these rights spiritual.

It is the same with worldly activism of any sort. Be it political activism, environmental activism, or black lives “matter” activism – any kind of worldly activism is of the flesh. During His lifetime, our Lord’s nation, Israel, was in virtual slavery to the Romans. But we never read one word of any form of activism, ‘civil’ or otherwise, coming from the Lord. And we all know that the Romans did not handle the Israelites with kid’s gloves.

Jesus did not engage in the activism of this world simply because His Kingdom was not worldly, but spiritual. This is the same Kingdom that we have been born into as born-again believers. We therefore have absolutely no business with the ‘rights’ of this world. When it comes to our rights in this world, we have nothing. Try talking about rights to the Christians who are being beheaded for the gospel’s sake in the Middle East. They have been stripped of any right that they have, even the right to life. But they have Christ, and that is enough. Indeed, we consider them blessed. Christ is our final reward, not anything of this world. Not even our lives. There are certain gospels, chief of which is the prosperity gospel, that teach that our reward is this world and its things, including money. That is a monstrous lie.

Notice the Bible says that all things are ours, including death. There are a lot of bad things that are ours also, including suffering – suffering of many different kinds. The Bible says that all things are ours.

Indeed, were we to understand it, we would realize that this is an incredibly glorious scripture. For, apart from present things, whether good or bad, this scripture talks of other, more glorious things. For example, “…things to come; all are yours”.

Do you know “things to come”?

Let us attempt to interpret “all things are yours”. Firstly, it is that believers will undergo both the good and the bad in this world. We are free to enjoy the good; but we should also be equally free in our spirits to persevere in the bad (Job 2:10).

Secondly, it is that all the things of this world, including the things that we might undergo, are under our dominion. We have victory over them! This is because our spirits – which have been surrendered to Christ – have victory over all these things, for Christ has won us the victory in the Spirit.

But how about us? We are Christ’s! There is nothing that is above us, except Christ. And Christ is God’s. Is it not wonderful that nothing above us other than Christ? Is it not incredibly wonderful that we are Christ’s and, ultimately, God’s? It is an incredible thought indeed.

Having the mind of this world, and being knowledgeable in worldly affairs is not of God. It is of the flesh, and of the world. It comes from the deep, carnal lusts of the flesh.

This lust after worldly knowledge and worldly involvement comes about because people have not crucified their flesh, or carnal nature. They want to know the world because, although saved, they are still men and women of the flesh.

These lusts are what need to be crucified. Such a man or woman will have many other lusts, because they have not crucified the flesh.

Brethren, we have an astonishing inheritance awaiting us in the Spirit. Let us crucify the flesh, and accept to be foolish in the ways of this world, that we might be wise in spiritual matters. We are to know nothing in this world – except Christ.

True knowledge – true wisdom – is to know the will of God. And you cannot know God’s will while you are in the flesh. Knowing God’s will means walking in the Spirit, bearing the fruit of the Spirit. That is why we need to crucify the flesh.

Personally, I thank God for our nation, Tanzania. There is so much peace and stability, in contrast to many other countries in the world. There is comparatively so little internal strife.

This is God’s desire for every nation. It is the Biblical standard for every nation on earth. The purpose is for all people to hear the gospel and be saved. The Apostle Paul writes:

“1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim. 2:1-4)

When I look at my country, Tanzania, I find I have an environment wherein I can share the gospel freely and peaceably. I pray fervently that God may continually grant this nation this state of affairs.

[Below: To be a Christian is to be foolish in this world]

 

 

The Apostolic Message (Part 1)

You notice in the Bible that the word “apostle” is not there in the Old Testament. We find it only in the New Testament. That means that the ministry of the apostle begins under the New Covenant.

But before we get to that, let me first share something in connection with this.

We humans are wired in such a way that we want to understand things rationally. We want everything that comes our way to be explainable and to be understood by the human mind. That is okay as far as this world is concerned. We wouldn’t be where we are progress-wise without the great rational and deductive minds of this world.

But this human predisposition becomes a problem when we turn to God. Deduction and rationalization are hardly the ways to get to know God. God is Spirit, and the human mind is matter; how can it understand spirit? It is not possible. And man’s inclination to do just that has proved to be his undoing.

This is why especially intelligent people of the world have a problem understanding God. I can assure you that when we get to heaven we will find very few intelligent people up front. Now, I know someone is probably about to burst a neck vein over this statement, but notice I did not say there will not be intelligent people up front. All I said is that they will be very few, at least in proportion to the ‘dumb’ people that you normally find in church.

This is because it is the lowly people that God choses to be the heirs of His Kingdom!

The Apostle Paul tells the carnal-minded, intelligently puffed-up Corinthians: “26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence. 30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”  (1 Cor. 1:26-31).

In James 2:5, the Apostle James also echoes Paul’s words: “Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?”

Notice it is God who has chosen them.

Do you know the poor? Living in Africa, I know the poor. Being poor, of course, means, first, that they have nothing. Secondly, they are uneducated, and not very intelligent. Thirdly, they have absolutely no class. It requires a strenuous effort for someone who has class to even notice this group of people. These are people that no one has any need of.

I once knew of a certain rich man in my home town who would keep people – his own employees – standing outside his house the whole day waiting for him to get out and see them. And sometimes he would not come out at all.

Generally, however, worldly people are not so cruel. Most people do all sorts of kindly things for the poor. It is called philanthropy, and much of the time it comes from a true heart of compassion. More so in church we are taught to love others as we love ourselves. But let’s face it, there are very few even amongst the best of us who do not have a red line drawn somewhere deep in our subconsciousnesses where we do not allow certain classes of people to cross over.

But God is the great I AM, and He has no such qualms. He would laugh at our weak attitudes were it not for the fact they sadden Him so much. God is so rich in grace He can do things which we can only dream about. And to prove it, God reaches out and calls the very people that this world has no need of. Now, notice the Bible does not say that God first consults with the rich people of this world on whether He should call the poor, or which poor people He should call. No. Nor does He call up a panel of illustrious university professors and ask them to prepare a list of which uneducated folk He should share His deep mysteries with: (“Oh, y’know, I am not sure whether they can handle it.”)

God is above the high and mighty of this world, and He does not consult them.

God expressly calls and uses the ‘dumb’ and lowly. Some of the Old Testament prophets that we revere today were mere shepherds!

Even when God used educated people, in the spirit they first had to relinquish their stations in life. The great man of law, the Apostle Paul, says that he “suffered the loss of all things”! (Phil. 3:8) All!! When he says all, it means even his intelligence, his doctrines and beliefs, his high office as a Pharisee; and even his very identity. Remember Paul was once known as Saul. He lost even that.

And why does God call and use “the foolish”, “the weak”, “the base” the “despised”, and “things which are not” and not “the wise”, “the… mighty”, or “things that are”?

It is so “that no flesh should glory in his presence”!

The biggest thing that mankind glories in is their mind. But we cannot presume to know God by our minds, however fine they are. We can only know God through our hearts and for that a miracle must happen in our hearts.

As we study the apostolic message, therefore, it is good to pray to God to open our spiritual eyes that we might understand His heart for the church, of whom we are a part.

[Below: In order to interact with God we must have humble hearts]

Only One Gospel!

Today I would like us to consider Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 2:1-2, “And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified”

The Apostle Paul says here that he would not preach any other gospel to the Corinthians “save Jesus Christ, and him crucified”! But he also says something else. He says that his preaching of the gospel was not done through “excellency of speech or of wisdom”.

Let us look at a few other scriptures in relation to this.

In 1 Samuel 16:7 God tells the Prophet Samuel that “…the LORD looketh on the heart”.

And in 1 Corinthians 1:20 we read that God has made foolish the wisdom of this world.

When you put all these statements together you arrive at two conclusions:

1. God has only one gospel for us;
2. God is not going to use our brains or our human wisdom to reveal His plan and purpose for our lives. God uses the heart. The heart is God’s workplace. In other words, God wants to change our hearts. We are what our hearts are. If our hearts are touched and changed by God, then we are changed. We become truly new creatures in Christ.

If we are not changed on the inside, we remain the same, old selves. We might have many things on the outside and appear to be rich spiritually, but the cold fact remains that we are unchanged. We could even have big ministries but God is not interested in that. In fact, we should be careful not to measure our status with God according to any external thing that we might have or that we could be doing.

There are things that have to do with our hearts and this is all that God is interested in. Purity of heart, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (Gal 5:22-23) – these are the truly major issues with God.

The catch with mainstream Christianity is that it is the easiest thing to agree with this sentiment mentally, but it is an entirely different thing to live that life. Christians are struggling with these things every day of their lives! Keeping our hearts pure is not so easy after all! We need to experience Christ’s death in our lives daily so that His grace may be found in us.

Apparently, there were other gospels the Apostle Paul could have preached in his day. But he chose to preach only one – the gospel he knew had the power to change people on the inside.

When this revelation is lacking in our hearts, we console ourselves that we are okay even as we chase after other gospels which do not benefit our souls.

Paul, as Saul, was one of the most learned men of his day in the things of God. And yet, in the first chapter of Galatians he reveals that during the time that he thought he knew everything about God, it was at that very moment that he was persecuting the Church of Jesus Christ! He had all the head knowledge concerning God, but his heart remained unchanged. He was still an ordinary man, full of pride, anger, malice and hatred.

What was lacking? Paul answers this by declaring that the change in his life came after he received a revelation of the crucified Jesus Christ. Mark you, it was not a vision, but a revelation. In his spirit, he understood that Jesus died so that he, too, could identify with Him in that death in order to be found with Him in His life! And since this revelation was a work of the Spirit of God, there was a power that came with it to effect that change in Paul. It was a work so powerful that it conquered the sin nature in Paul’s life.

There are many different gospels being preached today; but it is difficult to find a gospel that deals with the issues of the heart of man. Many deal with the emotions of men. The heart is left untouched. People hear a gospel, but they are left still carrying loads of bitterness, unforgiveness, hatred, fear and many other un-Godly things. They jump and scream on hearing ‘powerful’, charismatic sermons, but they go home and live defeated lives. Pride – the true self in man – is destroying many Christians’ lives. Because the gospel they are hearing is not a revelation, these people’s hearts remain untouched – and their lives remain unchanged.

If victory over self and sin is lacking in our lives, then no matter what other ‘victories’ we may have we still are far short of the mark.

God is not going to change our hearts – and our lives – through head knowledge, or any other gospel apart from the gospel that the Apostle Paul received, which is the gospel of the Cross of Jesus Christ.