The Revelation Of The Cross

There is something that we all as believers can safely agree on: that God wants us to grow spiritually; that He does not want us to remain babies forever. And in order for us to grow spiritually, we will need to feed on a proper diet. That means we will need to hear the right doctrine or teaching.

There are some congregations which are based on praise and worship, which is not a bad idea, except that the prescription for spiritual growth is in a teaching – a teaching of the right doctrine. Jesus spent much of His time in ministry teaching proper doctrine; so did the early apostles. The Apostle Paul says that “it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (1 Cor. 1:21). When you read verse 25, you realize that the ‘foolishness’ he is talking of here is actually God’s wisdom. Foolishness to the carnal man, but wisdom and power to the spiritual.

And what, pray, is this right teaching that the Church needs to hear? When you look carefully at the teachings of Jesus, you notice that they are not so soft, after all. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus provides the Church with a blueprint for the kind of lifestyle it ought to live. It is a tough calling. When you realize what is expected of the Church, you also acknowledge that it can only be achieved through the power of the Holy Spirit.

And in Matthew 10:34-39 He says, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.”

Jesus called Peter “Satan”. He called another lady a dog! You try that kind of ‘teaching’ with any of today’s rights-conscious Christians and you will end up in jail. Literally.

It is obvious that the charismatic gospel that the Church has been fed on for the last 2 decades or so cannot provide us with spiritual growth. It simply does not have the ingredients for bringing the Church to spiritual maturity. On the contrary, today God’s people are being taught to look out for No.1 (self); others are taught to live in self-pity.

The gospel that Jesus and the apostles preached is not a gospel you are likely to hear in our age, and for that reason the Church remains immature: it is fighting, envious and engaged in every kind of stuff that does not please God.

We need to hear the right gospel that will make us to rise and fight the good fight with joy and assurance of victory in our hearts.

In two instances in the Bible (1 Corinthians chapter 3 and Hebrews 5) we see Paul rebuking the churches for failing to grow spiritually. On both occasions, he says the reason for this lack of growth in their spiritual lives is because they have not been able to eat ‘strong meat’, instead loving to partake of only milk.

Mother’s milk is wholesome; but it will never bring baby to mature. Baby needs to reach a place where he can eat tough food!

The ‘strong meat’ that Paul is speaking of here is the gospel of the Cross. That is the revelation that he received from Jesus Christ; and that is why in all his teachings Paul echoes the words that Jesus spoke in the Gospels. Inherent in all of Paul’s teachings is a thread that never breaks: the importance of the Cross in a believer’s life in crucifying their flesh.

But it is equally true that the Church needs a revelation in the spirit to understand Paul’s doctrine concerning the Cross.

This is the gospel that Jesus had kept hidden throughout the ages, the gospel that He purposed would be preached to every creature to “present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (Col.1:28). The preaching of this ‘tough’ gospel does not make us to question whether God loves us or not. A child who questions their parents’ love for them must have psychological problems on the side! We have no doubt that God loves us. But here, it is about growing up, becoming mature in our spirits. Which means we should not doubt God’s ways.

I am well aware that when you begin mentioning names in such a forum as this people are likely to think you are advancing cultic teachings. However, personally I am grateful for Brother Miki Hardy and the many elders of CTMI for the revelation that God has placed in their hearts for the restoration of the Church.

I would encourage anyone who reads this blog to check out CTMI’s website (www.ctmiworld.com) to see for themselves whether there is not something new and challenging for the Church.

I wish you all a lovely weekend.

True Spiritual Victory -Pt 2

“… I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Php 3:14)

The Apostle Paul’s eyes were on the finishing line. He could see the mark! What an incredible grace that was! What a glorious revelation! And I can tell you now what it was that Paul saw. He saw suffering and death. He knew he had to die; and the ‘pressing towards the mark’ he is talking about is his determination to put away the old self with its worldly aspirations, desires, and lusts, that he might gain the life of Christ.

The Apostle Paul came to understand in an incredible way that he had to pass through death to enter into life. He tells the Corinthians: “Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die.” 1Co 15:36

There was a time in my Christian life when I could not claim Paul’s victorious words for myself; and even now I still cannot do so with any amount of confidence. The difference between then and now, however, is that now I understand what the mark that Paul was pressing towards was. Back then I did not understand it. I did not have that revelation. I floated along in my Christian life and ministry, blissfully unaware of that aspect of suffering and dying with Christ. I would hold wrong attitudes and desires in my heart and not think a thing about it. As long as on the outside I appeared and acted and felt all right that was okay with me. And let me tell you that I have the capacity to appear more than perfect on the outside; in fact, so much so that even I myself am often deceived. (In the 1990s I was in a church where if you spoke anything against me the entire congregation would have stoned you because I was considered the perfect Christian. But, unknown to them, there were dragons safely locked away in my heart, real dragons breathing real fire; and ultimately it was the wife I married who would come to set them loose).

What I am saying is that there was a time in my Christian life when I ran the race blindly. But one day God, in His great mercy and grace, granted me to hear and understand the gospel of the Cross that was preached to me by Brother Miki Hardy – the same gospel that the Apostle Paul preached – and from that time I understood that the man I was had to die. No halfway marks. The finishing line for my race was revealed: it was the total death to who I was.

The scales fell from my eyes, as it were – and death stared me in the face. Death to my human pride. Death to the world and its lusts. Death to the sinful nature. Death to Zakaria Mwita. I needed a new name! And when I realized that I fell to my knees and cried to God for His grace. Grace to die to self.

For me today the challenge is more about walking daily in that revelation, and dying daily to myself. That means guarding my heart as perfectly as I can. Of course, I cannot do that. I need the Holy Spirit to help me to do that.

If there is one thing I can say with all the strength that I have in me it is that the Church today needs revelation. A revelation of the Cross of Christ. The Apostle Paul makes it abundantly clear in Ephesians 3:1-12 and in Galatians 1:11-17 that the gospel he received and preached and lived – the gospel of Christ and Him crucified – he says he received this gospel by revelation. Only through that gospel was he able to die to self. Only the revealed gospel of the Cross of Christ has the power to crucify the flesh in a man or woman.

The relevant question we need to ask ourselves today is: is Paul’s gospel the same gospel the Church today should be carrying, or should we expect a different one? If the gospel that the Church should be carrying is the same that the Apostle Paul carried, then we should fall on our knees and pray for the same revelation that Paul had.

Mind you, we can reject the Pauline doctrine of revelation and continue preaching (there is so much stuff to preach about!) but we will never arrive at the mark, the finishing line. As long as we do not put that body of the flesh to death, we shall remain spiritual babes, subject to worldly elements and wanting in spiritual maturity – and the life of Christ.

Today’s Church preaches the ‘abundant life’. The Apostle Paul preached Christ, and Him crucified. The latter requires a revelation to understand it; the other does not.

My Wife!

My wife has a way of talking in my presence as if I don’t exist. One day, many years ago, she was preparing to travel to a ladies’ conference in a neighboring country, and we were in the bedroom packing and having some pleasant talk when all of a sudden she straightened up and said, “Oh, dear me! I wonder if I will get someone to help me heave these bags over to the bus stop….”

I almost burst a vein. The “Oh” had come out in a long, drawn-out sigh which clearly meant that she did not consider she had anyone to assist her in moving those bags to the bus stand.

Here I was, enjoying my final moments with my wife – and with one artless remark she had thrown a spanner into the whole works.

“Flo”, I said in deep frustration, “here I am, waiting to help you with your luggage, and you go about moaning as if you don’t have a husband!”

“Oh, I am sorry”, she replied, blissfully oblivious to the volcano that was building up right next to her. “I just meant these bags are heavy, you know….”

I flipped. “No! No! You don’t get my point!”

She looked at me in a manner which clearly stated she understood my point all right. Pride is pretty pointed, and it would take a moron to miss it.

Finally, she saw the light.  “OK, forgive me”, she said meekly.

Which did not seem like an admission to me, but I grudgingly assented. “You are forgiven”, I replied as my pressure gauge slowly dropped down to a few hundred bars above normal. At least I had made my point.

That experience is nothing to boast of, and yet I can thank God for it. If there is one thing I am eternally grateful to God for, it is the wife He gave me, Flo. She is a true “helper”. She “helps” cut down my pride. God uses her very effectively in confronting my particular brand of pride and in showing me the narrow path.

Initially I was a very poor learner. I would constantly “kick against the pricks”, savagely battering down all her admonitions and attempting to impose my will in every situation. Needless to say, all my “victories” were won at great personal cost.

But now I thank God that, through the revelation of the Cross in my life, it is easier for me to back down. And the fruit I reap is unbounded peace and joy.

To this day, my wife still talks in my presence as if I were a long-dead fossil. She does it involuntarily (must be a genetic defect), and no harm is meant, of course; yet it is sometimes enough to raise my “manly” hackles to the limit. But by the grace of God a strong undergirding of a given, surrendered life has gradually taken over, and through an understanding of the Cross of Christ I can finally wrestle down the flesh. I am not implying it is easy; but the Cross has become the joy of both our lives.

Today, in our 18 years of marriage my wife and I both know that we are in the best relationship we have ever been in.

And I couldn’t possibly end this post without thanking Brother Miki from the bottom of my heart for bringing us the revelation of the grace of God that has brought such mighty healing to the entire spectrum of our spiritual lives!