What a glorious day it was! From the fully packed auditorium charged
with electrifying force of the Holy Spirit to an equally awed overflow
congregation, The SCOAN in Lagos, Nigeria was probably the most perfect
venue any worshipper would have loved to be last Sunday. The mighty
power of God manifested itself through wonders and miracles as the man
of God, Prophet T.B. Joshua, walked among the congregants, ministering
prayer.
Thousands of worshippers from all over the world, including a large
entourage from Spain, who gathered at the church to worship, witnessed
the power of Christ in action right from the Prayer Line where the man
of God has recently been ministering. Demons were commanded to their
knees and cast out in the name of Jesus Christ, while many people were
declared free, in the name of the Lord. While at the Prayer Line,
Prophet T.B. Joshua took a brief moment to speak on faith, saying it
should not be circumstantial but an all time attitude irrespective of
one’s situation.
“Jesus did not say, if you encounter a situation you should pray; He said you should have
faith. Today, we pray but lack the necessary
faith
that can release the belief in our heart. Prayer is not right if it
does not spring from faith. One is rewarded, healed, delivered or
blessed only if one talks in faith,” he said, referring to
Mark 11:22 and
Matthew 4:1-11.
Earlier on, Wise Man Racine mounted the pulpit and delivered a
powerful message titled: ‘By His Grace.’ The topic centred on the need
for unity in Christ’s work rather than divisions, saying ministers who
cause division and offences contrary to the doctrine of Christ, ‘seek
not the things of God but of the world.’
“The Bible says mark them and avoid them,” he said citing
Romans 16:15.
Wise Man Racine, who anchored the message on
1 Chronicles 16:22, said
everyone, irrespective of one’s stature and status, ‘is a part of the
same body, by the same Spirit’. He further stated that ‘there is no
division in the body; its different parts have the same concern for one
another’, hence the Bible instructs all believers
(Ephesians 4:3) to ‘keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace’.
“They went to Bible school through their desire but the Bible says in
Romans 9:16 that ‘it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy’”.
According to him, whereas man looks at the outward appearance in
choosing a pastor or a leader, God looks at the heart. “As a Christian
or man of God, you are who you are, what you are by grace. When the Lord
calls a man, He knows all his weaknesses. God knows our limitations.
God knows our shortcomings; that is why He chooses grace rather than
works. When you receive something by grace, you will be content; you
will not compare yourself to others, you will not measure yourself by
yourself. Abuse, condemnation, criticism, name calling are products of
non-contentment. When the Lord calls a man, He knows all his
weaknesses,” said the wise man, citing the calling of Moses and the
commissioning of the apostles of Jesus Christ as some illustrations.
Further in the words of the preacher, Wise Man Racine: “When God
called Moses in the burning bush for the assignment of leading the
people of Israel out of Egypt, Moses expressed his own inadequacies and
unfitness for the service, saying,
‘Lord, I am not eloquent….’ (Exodus 4:10).
He tried hard to excuse himself because he lacked the power of oratory
and boldness (charisma) which is an essential character of great
leaders. But the Lord then replied to him: ‘Go, I will be with your
tongue and teach you what to say’
(Exodus 4:12); in other words, ‘I will make you fit for the assignment’.
He observed painfully that ‘people always fail to understand that God
oftentimes uses His servants as signs to confound the wise’ as was the
case with Job where his friends gave a wrong judgement about him over
his circumstances. ‘They looked at the situations around him and
attributed his misfortunes to sin but Job did not,’ he added.
