Theme: CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY [Part II]

Focus: A Call to Responsibility

Text: John 10:25; 17:4; Luke 18:1; Ez. 3:17, 33:6-7; 2Tim 4:2, 49:17; Matt 13:27; 2Cor 9:7; 1John 4:20; 1Cor 2:4

Introduction

Believers have their parts to play in the body of Christ. We are not called to be irresponsible sets of Christians who believe that God has done all, is doing all, will do all and therefore, we have no part to play at all. Our heavenly Father is not raising irresponsible children; I have said to this House in times past that we do not have a pampering Father. God does not pamper us, instead we have a Father who disciplines us, trains us, develops us and equips us, because He is sending us into the world like He sent His son, Jesus. Jesus Christ came to the earth as one sent; He worked and so we will work. The truth is that Christians cannot claim his grace without claiming his works and his sufferings. This was why Apostle Paul said that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering. Scriptures also recorded that the disciples were punished, yet they rejoiced and counted it all joy that they suffered for Christ.

A responsible Christian is one that knows that he/she has a part to play in the kingdom. An irresponsible believer thinks that He has given his life to Christ and that is all; hence he does not play any part in the kingdom and simply awaits the rapture. It is an act of irresponsibility when you have no contribution whatsoever to the body of Christ.

Our Lord Jesus Christ said that the works He did in his Father’s name bore witness of him. [John 10:25] There are things/works that believers must do that bear witness that we are with the Father. Even in the career sphere, when you secure a new job, you are given your job descriptions. Based on these descriptions, you will either be applauded for doing the right things or held accountable for your errors. Like Christ, a believer must complete his/her God-given assignment. [John 17:4] To boldly say that you have finished what you were sent to do means that you can be judged by your works to ascertain if you are worthy of a reward or reprove. Our time on earth is mainly to fulfill an assignment; and believers are called to both corporate works and individual works.

Responsibility is when you identify your assigned works and perform them with total commitment. Simply put, it is identifying what you should be doing, and doing it whole heartedly. God has some expectations from you and I; and it is a lie from the pit of hell to think that you have no part to play. Just like the world’s systems have created patterns for the world to follow, believers also have kingdom patterns that they must adhere to. These patterns are to help believers grow and mature in the ways of the kingdom. 

Every believer must therefore awaken to the reality that God has called us to some purpose and assignment, and we cannot allow ourselves to fail in such assignments.

What is the Believer’s Responsibility?

The following are the responsibilities of a believer –

• Prayer: Jesus spoke a parable that men ought always to pray and not faint. [Luke 18:1] In other words, man was originally designed to pray; and so a believer must pray. The song writer said “if I don’t pray, satan will make jest of me.” But I usually say, “if I don’t pray, Jesus will not speak to me,” because communication comes through prayers. Also, power comes through prayer, as power will not come on a man that has fainted. This means that prayer ought to be the lifestyle of a believer. It takes the state of prayerlessness to be led of the devil; and a prayerful state to be led of God. Hearing God is not an exclusive prerogative of the pastor, but the right of every believer. 

Brethren, a man that says I don’t need to pray because the Holy Spirit is making intercessions for me, is wasting his time and wallowing in ignorance. Even our Lord Jesus Christ who was 100% God and 100% percent man always went to the mountains to pray while He was on earth.

• Studying God’s word: The Book of 2 Timothy says that all scriptures are given by the inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, reprove, correction, and instruction in righteousness. Please note that if the scriptures are given by the inspiration of God, then we are called to study. There are many things about this Christian race that you and I may never know if we do not read the Bible, and this is why there are many errors in the body of Christ. We have believers who know powerful prayer points but not scriptures and so they cause a lot of problems. There is a dearth of understanding of scriptures among believers; Christians do not study the Bible. It is disheartening that the only scriptures some believers know is John 3:16, and they do not even understand it. 

Studying the word is important, if you must be reproved, corrected and instructed of the Lord. There is a direction your life needs to take, and the scriptures that will guide [propel] that direction is waiting for you, but unfortunately you have not searched it out. There is a scripture for every destiny and you can only stumble upon it through study, then the Lord will say – this is my word for you. On the church logo, you see the scriptures guiding the ministry; this is what God said about the ministry.
Intercession: God told Ezekiel that He had set him as a watchman over the House of Israel. [Ez 3:17, 33:6-7]. An intercessor is one that goes into the secret place to pray for God’s people and God’s assignment. Until you pray for God’s people, you will never hear from God concerning His people. Likewise, if you do not pray for God’s assignment, you will never hear from God concerning it because you have never spent time in the place of intercession. It is a believer’s responsibility to intercede. Unfortunately, the present day believers engage more in gossips, backbiting, rather than engaging in intercession. Whatever you identify anything that is not going as it ought to, you use intercession to stop, correct or solve it. The power of intercession is so strong that you can stop the move of the devil in the place of intercession. The reason why issues will persist and grow in the body of Christ, and

• terrible issues will scatter the church of God is because those who should intercede are either sleeping or politicking. 

Intercession is critical to the survival of the people and the church of God. The Bible recorded that James was arrested and killed, and this was an eye opener for the church who arose to intercede when Peter was arrested. Then, the angel of God went to liberate Peter from the prison. You cannot beat the power of intercession; it is so powerful that as the people of God intercede, they definitely get results. Truthfully, none of us is as strong as all of us; and when we gather to intercede we move mountains, we change situations and open the heavens. However, it is unfortunate that believers are only interested in prayer meetings for abundant breakthroughs, and are apathetical towards intercessory prayer meetings. The sad reality is that the believer of today is not responsible to undertake the intercessory assignment.

• Preaching and Evangelism: Believers are called to preach both in season and out of season, in good times and bad times, whether or not it is convenient to preach. [2Tim 4:2, 49:17] Some believers give excuse that they do not know how to preach, but the truth is that there is no believer that should ever say he/she does not know how to preach as long as such a person can talk. “Go ye into the world and preach the gospel to all nations” is a command to preach, and so there is no room for negotiations. Christians should preach on the bus, in the streets, online, engage in one-on-one evangelism, share tracts, go for outreaches, etc.

• Love for God and Humanity: If you love God, then you must love people. [1John 4:20] It is our responsibility to love God and love people. Scriptures say that God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, Jesus. It is because God loves man, that He gave his son to save mankind. Hence, we must love God’s people and love his son, Jesus Christ that He gave to us.

• To honour God’s servant: It is our calling to honour God’s servants. We must put God’s servants in a position of esteem. Honouring God’s servants brings blessings upon us. [Matt 13:27] Note that we are not called to human worship; rather we are called to honour the God that sent them and has released his grace upon their lives.

• Kingdom Financing: Every man is to give according to how he has purposed in his heart, and not grudgingly because God loves a cheerful giver. [2Cor 9:7] It is the responsibility of every man to give; however no man should be forced to give, but every believer must take a decision to be a part of kingdom financing. Some believers are apathetical towards church projects, they simply say “it is God’s work, God will do it.” They have forgotten that God will always use a man to execute his projects.

Worship: We are to worship God in spirit and in truth; nobody should be forced to worship God. It baffles me to see believers lost or looking around during worship. We can also worship God through service. Beloved, never be in the House of God without rendering any service to Him, as this is the height of irresponsibility. Thank God for the system we have built at the House of Revival, it is such that one can

• serve God both physically and remotely. It is not compulsory to come to church serve physically, as we have individuals managing our online prayer meetings and platforms. This abolishes all excuses that may prevent one from offering their service to God. Look for an area to offer your services in the body of Christ.

• Demonstrating the Power of God: Apostle Paul said that his speech and preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power. [1Cor 2:4] Christians are called to demonstrate the spirit and power of God. One of the pointers to know that a believer has assumed his/her full responsibility is the Spirit of God that is on him/her and the power of God that he/she manifests. Every believer must manifest the spirit and power of God even up to a maximum level. We all have families, and our families and children require spiritual guidance and protection. This is very important because some situations may occur, and you may be unable to reach your pastor via phone call due to network issues or insufficient airtime; and so a believer needs to be empowered to handle such situations if/when they arise. 

We are not raising a powerless church at the House of Revival, we are raising a church where any believer can heal the sick. I was in a prayer meeting with a group of people and on the seventh day, the Lord said He was releasing the spirit of healing. A sister whose younger sister suffered from chronic ulcer returned home from that meeting, met her younger sister and hit her on the stomach. The younger sister fainted from the impact and was rushed to the hospital by their parents. She was resuscitated and by the time she opened her eyes, she was completely healed of chronic ulcer. Believers are called to heal the sick, cast out devils, open the eyes of the blind, and so on; and the earlier we have our eyes opened to these responsibilities, the better for us.

PRAYER

Lord, bless your word in my heart, and let your word make a great impact in me. Help me to be more responsible than this, in the name of Jesus.