Misled
by the Leaders
Pastor Michael Joseph Gowon
16. For the leaders of this people, caused them to err and they that are led of them are destroyed. -- Isa. 9
How can a blind man lead a blind man, they will both fall into a ditch and be destroyed. The situation in the Church of the Living God today is very pathetic. Many of those we call our leaders have never surrendered themselves to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. They operate in the flesh, following human traditions and customs; they rely on their knowledge and understanding thereby misleading their followers. The Bible says, the leaders of this people are the cause of their going astray. Sure enough there were those kinds of religious leaders in Jerusalem when Jesus was on earth. One day when, He saw the multitudes and was moved with compassion for them He said, the people "Fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd" (Mat. 9:36)
The leaders have led their followers
unto eternal destruction and not to salvation. No wonder, I can hear a bitter
cry in hell saying,
20. The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. -- Jer. 8
No one told them the need to be born again. Their modern Pastors only preached his popular prosperity messages and touched nothing about sin and forgiveness, or heaven and hell. Each time they gathered in Church, they only long for a good time, they crave for messages that will satisfy their selfish desires; in short they want their tasty, smooth, smart and simple sermons and not the truth. God will require their blood from such leaders.
I read the testimony of Dr. Ray Charles Jarman long ago. Though he was considered a very successful minister by many people, he had no real joy, peace of mind or even assurance for the future. His success was only statistically speaking. In his own words he said, "I was neither a Christian, nor was I saved. Moreover, in all the 52 years that I preached, I did not bring one single person into salvation experience. Oh yes, hundreds-even-thousands joined the Church under my ministry. But, if they were saved, it was by the grace of God apart from me. You cannot give to another what you do not have yourself."
Dr. Ray questioned the infallibility of the Bible, the creation story, the virgin birth, the bodily resurrection, the second coming and so on. Being a teacher of Meta-physics his messages were mainly methods of thinking constructively with a Christian flavour. There was no real spiritual conviction in his messages and nothing of the Gospel at all, though he was an ordained minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Those who sat under his ministration
were so happy to have such a minister because he preached what they wanted to
hear. His Church was humming with bazaars, dinners, board meetings, Church
promotions, parties and congregational activities. The people were comfortable,
complacent and at ease. He never disturbed them with words like
"sin", "repentance", "salvation",
"hell", "judgement" "wrath", or
"punishment." In his own style, he was modern and up-to-date, but
never preached "the old-time religion" or even gave an altar call.
Dr, Ray freely spoke about the cross, but avoided mentioning the blood. The Bible
was used to take his texts, but he had no real hunger for the Word of God. He
thought all along with his whole congregation that they were perfectly alright
in the sight of God, and much better than all other groups. That was why the
people came to hear him year after year without any concrete change. They were
nothing but good Church people, living only for their possessions and the
pleasure of this world as did the people who never went to Church-completely
self-centered.
There
are thousands of so- called ministers like Dr. Ray, but when Ray finally met
Jesus, the story changed. He became a messenger with a definite message, the
word of reconciliation. God wants His ministers to blow the trumpet in Zion, He
don't want them to make an uncertain sound. There is a portion of meat in the
Kingdom for every of God's people all over the world. God's Word to us is for a
definite time and for definite individuals. God's desires for us to receive
that portion of meat in due seasons and that will certainly be a word fitly
spoken.
Today, like it was then, people are no longer interested in hearing the truth because it is more than they can bear. They don't want to have their consciences disturbed by the sincere truth of God's Word. Like sponges they are saturated with modernism. They substitute temporalities for eternal verities, the profit of the life that now is for that which is to come. Their concern is to cause the Holy one of Israel to cease from before them. The end result in such a religious culture is a costly waste. Such a people are marked by aimless activities, ignorant of the Scriptures, unbelieving and disobedient. They are simply uninstructed, though they may have information, their hearts’ longing is not for the true Gospel of Christ but for smooth things. This desire in the hearts of the Church people for smooth, soft messages is on the increase today and that is why men can no longer endure sound doctrines, but rather heap for themselves teachers after their own tastes.
People with itching ears are turning away from
the truth into fables and something ought to be done. (see 2 Tim. 4:3) Much of what is being taught today from our
pulpits can be best described as "smooth things" beautifully dressed
and articulated to tickle the fancy of men but never to reach their hearts for
Jesus.
The doctrine of a lost eternity has been laid aside and in its place has come a doctrine of purgatory-a place where those who are unfit for heaven go until they are prepared for heaven. The tragedy I must still say is that there is nothing better that men like to hear than that they are on the road to heaven, when in reality they are on the broad way that leads to everlasting destruction. The leaders have led the people of God astray because they have not taken away the vile from the precious. The Word of God says, "If thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shall be as my mouth." (Jer. 15:19b)
God would surely desire a difference between the righteous and the wicked, but why must we continue to turn the truths of God's Word upside down at the whims of men and succumb to their request and go as low as possible to prophecy lies. (Jer. 23:25-26
It doesn't matter what the people say as long as you have heard a word from heaven declare it, prophecy it and never hold back. Do not be afraid of the faces of men, whatsoever the Lord commands thee to do that must you do. This is not a time for keeping back, but rather a time to declare ALL the counsel of God. People may be offended by the truths you teach, but do not apologize, for of a necessity the Word of God must divide. We see a lot of mixed teaching and mixed services because we have not been told to come out from among...and be separate (2 Cor. 6:14-17).
We have not known who we are, the fact that we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that we should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvellous light. (1 Pet. 2:9) Friends may I repeat it here again, the Church needs a word from God, we need a word fitly spoken.
Dumb and Greedy Dogs
10. His watchmen are blind; they are all ignorant they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark: sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.
11. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have
enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand, they all look to their
own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.
12. Come ye, say they I will fetch wine, and we will
fill ourselves with strong drink, and tomorrow shall be as this day, and much
more abundant. -- Isa. 56
The leaders of the Church ought to know what their duty is and to do it faithfully. To Ezekiel the Lord said, "Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of the Israel, therefore hear the word at my mouth and give them warning from me." (Eze. 3:17).
But as long as the watchman does not have ears that hear from heaven, he will fabricate some psychology and daze the people with fables and fantasies. We have many hirelings who have no vision for the lost souls and because they have no vision they have no message (1 Sam. 3:1) and thus drift into escapism, self-pleasing, extremism and blither optimism. The Word of God describes such a people as blind and greedy dogs who cannot bark, but are just in love with excessive sleeping. They are only concerned with making gains and filling themselves with food and strong drink. I tell you the truth you are what you hear. The kinds of things you hear on the television or over the radio or from the pulpit or even in the buses or on the highway affects you psychologically, socially as well as spiritually.
Except our ministers learn to hear a word, I and give men warnings "from Me" as the Lord declares, we can never receive a word fitly spoken from our pulpit ministry. It is time for our ministers to give due regard to what one old brother called "Pegs on which people can hang their thoughts." Those who wander in their preachings "from Dan to Beersheba" or from "Cape town to Cairo" to the boredom of even the most longsuffering of their hearers causes great harm to the kingdom of God. It is time to speak like the oracles of God, preaching "that which stirs and that which secures."
The people of God needs edification, exhortation and comfort, and when we tarry long in His presence we shall surely bring forth a word for the hour, a message that settles our needs and questions. Sound words, plus sound doctrine makes a sound believer and a sound preacher . . . and leaves the audience sound in the faith. It is no longer time for negative preaching.
When our preachers take their stand against sin, denouncing evil in the congregation and lifting up Jesus, there will surely be a positive change. When our messages build in the people and inspire them to victory we will see greater harvest than ever. When our messages are centered on the fault of the people without showing them the way out we are going down a dead-end street.
Our preachers must be men with a
positive message, creating faith in their hearers and lifting them up into new
dimensions of Spiritual experiences. They should point their congregation to
the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus, and teach the people to be doers and
not to be mere hearers alone deceiving themselves.
When by their messages, they have brought the people of God to a point of rest in the Lord setting them free from the dominion and authority of Satan, there is surely going to be increased fruitfulness and usefulness to God and to fellow human beings.
Paul, reminded Timothy to "Do the work of an evangelist." (2
Tim. 4:5). Timothy was a Pastor (1:3) but now the Apostle Paul was
declaring a command to him to do the work of an Evangelist; to preach the Word,
be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all
longsuffering and doctrine.
There are those who have been deceived into thinking Pastors are so caring that they must not rebuke, so loving that they would not want to grieve or displease their people. And as such the soul winner is the Evangelist alone. But every man of God is meant to be a fisher of men. (Mat. 4:19, Jer. 16:16), and a soul-winner. There are ministers who have refused to pay the price that it takes to be a real soul-winner and have simply settled down to become a noise maker in the name of being a Teacher-Pastor. It takes diligence, willingness to pay the price to get to heaven. "It takes blood, sweat, tears, separation, consecration, purging and day by day denial of the self-life (Lk. 9:23), going outside the narrow gate, bearing the reproach of Christ to be a real soul winner. It doesn't matter your office or duty, whether you are a Pastor or Teacher what God desires is for all to be fishers of men.
16.Behold ,I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them and after I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rock. -- Jer. 16
Every preacher is a fisher and a hunter. He must preach against sin if he must save souls. We need to condemn sin, preach against sin and hate sin. We must not fear the faces of men but declare the Word of God in our mouth to the nations. John the Baptist, by the river of Jordan, preached repentance and that is the same message we ought to declare today. We have a responsibility to remind sinners and Christians that "the axe is laid unto the root of the trees and the tree that beareth not fruit shall be cut off and destroyed." (see Lk. 3:9)
Peter stood boldly on the day of Pentecost and said to the soldiers that
crucified the saviour and put the spear in His side, the priests, the Pharisees
and leaders of Israel who had mocked Jesus,
“You killed the prince of
life and desired a murderer to be granted unto you. You have crucified and
slain the Lord of glory, but God has raised up, whom we are his
witnesses."(Acts 3:14-15)
Peter preached boldly, and that ought to be how every preacher should do. When the people later said, "You have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine." Peter answered them, "we ought to obey God rather than men." (Acts 5:28:19)
Others in the Bible who preached without fear includes Jeremiah and Stephen. Our preachers today ought to preach on the dangers and sinfulness of alcoholism, the folly of discos and movies, the destruction of the occult and the falsehood of evolution. When they preach on "God's love" as recorded in (John 3:16), they have got to remind the people about "God's wrath" also from (Heb. 12:29; 10:31; Rom. 6:23 Num. 32:23; Gal. 6:7).
The late John Rice said, "My God put men, not sissies, in the pulpit these days, I tell you the truth, the pulpit has lost the confidence and respect of the world these days. In these days we have nice, soft-spoken preachers who never hurt anybody's feelings, never offend anybody, never arouse anybody, and rarely save anybody!"
We need messages that makes the people sleepless at night staring into the dark, afraid to go to sleep at night and forcing them into their prayer closets. These “peace-at-any-price preachers”, these "good-Lord and good-devil," milk-and cider preachers”, will never bring a revival. Many poor preachers preach with a certain fervour of heart that it will involve tears in preparation and tears in delivery that involves a straightforwardness, a commitment and an ear opened to the leading of the Holy Spirit. God is prepared to use the foolishness of preaching to save souls and thus we ought to preach about sin and death and judgement and the Second Coming of Christ and the coming wrath of God. We do not need to trick men around with fake emotionalism and fake sensational stunts, but with the boldness of God, the fire of the Spirit, and the kind of preaching that forces men to their knees with tears of repentance, trusting in Jesus Christ. By this we will take the world over for Jesus. Good preaching also causes some people to go out in hate, gnashing their teeth but that is what we will continue to give out until He returns.
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