I HAVE BEEN AMONG INTELLECTUALS WHO ARE COMMENDING SOME CHURCHES
PASTOR IBIYEOMIE BUILT A GIGANTIC HOSTEL FOR A GOVERNMENT OWNED UNIVERSITY
PASTOR ENENCHE AND WIFE ARE DOING MANY MEDICAL OUTREACHES
I HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN AN ORPHANAGE SINCE 1996
STOP MAKING PEOPLE WORK FOR YOU WITHOUT EMPLOYMENT LETTER
I MYSELF ALSO HAVE MY EMPLOYMENT LETTER
WE LIVE IN A GENERATION THAT DESPISES FATHERS TODAY
WISDOM IS IN MIGHTY WORKS NOT IN MIGHTY WORDS.
OUR MINISTRY MUST BE BUILT ON THIS ORDER OF WISDOM THAT PRODUCES WORKS NOT JUST WORDS
GOD ONLY GIVES TO THOSE WHO ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR EMPTINESS, UNTIL YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU DON’T HAVE IT, GOD WON’T GIVE YOU.
UNTIL YOU ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR NOTHINGNESS, GOD NEVER MAKES YOU SOMETHING
THE SAME WAY WE CRAVE FOR POWER, WE CAN CRAVE FOR WISDOM ALSO.
- Bishop David Abioye
Afternoon Session, Day Three
Church Growth Conference, 2022
I want to teach the second part of the teaching I was given the utterance to bring yesterday, that is WISDOM IS THE MASTER BUILDER 2.
Proverbs 24:3-4
These are significant and specific functions. That is God’s plan, He wants us to be on the increase. He wants us to move from Church Growth to Church Establishment and then Church spread. That is what gives us relevance in our ministries. Building any structure demands wisdom in the sense of skillfulness and expertise. There is no part of the building that does not require wisdom. Of course, foundation is most important but If you have foundation, you can’t go and live inside a foundation, you need to build the walls. Church Gist. That is not enough. You need to put a roof on top and other conveniences. The kind of building you expect determines the kind of expertise you welcome. The size of the building you want to construct will require different levels of expertise and skills. A great ministry will require great expertise.
Building the ministry is not a child’s play. It is for people who are willing to work not only engaging the spiritual forces but also the mental forces that will be required. Building is a specialist duty, hence the need for wisdom. For instance, Moses the greatest Pastor that ever lived had the Spirit of wisdom upon him with a three million congregation under his pastoral ministry in the wilderness. In Deuteronomy 34:9, Moses laid his hand upon Joshua and he received the spirit of wisdom. You cannot give what you don’t have. That means Moses had a reserve of it. Church Gist. Moses was filled with wisdom just as he was filled with power. The power that will divide the Red Sea needs to be translated as the power for building the tabernacle. You remember yesterday we said that God of power is God of wisdom, Jesus of power is Jesus of wisdom, Holy Spirit of wisdom is Holy Spirit of wisdom. The Church of power is the Church of wisdom. A minister of power is or can be a minister of wisdom. The same dimension at which God is operating in your life for healing and miracles is the same dimension He can operate in wisdom.
Acts 7:22
There is the spirit of wisdom, there is the learning of wisdom and there is the counsel of wisdom, Moses had all of the three. There is wisdom by endowment, wisdom by learning and wisdom by counsel. Remember Moses took counsel from his father in law. He combined all of it together to lead the people. So we need these three dimensions of wisdom to build successful ministries. Exodus 18:21-25.
Paul also was decked with wisdom from above. He talked about the wisdom from above. 1 Corinthians 2:6. In as much as he was endowed with wisdom in a mystery, he also gave himself to reading. He gave himself to learning. There is no doubt that if you look at the story of Covenant University, it is crafted from the wisdom of God, wisdom from above. Church Gist. God’s servant has never worked in the administration of any university before but God gave him the inspiration for Covenant University. He didn’t stop there, he also had to learn wisdom. He gathered materials from nine topmost universities. He took counsel, he called lots of people who are members of the Church who are Professors to tell him what they have to say about it. These three levels of wisdom are required for us to build ministries that will last.
In my little way, I don’t stop at just praying for the wisdom of God. I do all kinds of reading. Anything management, anything administration, beyond just reading spiritual books. Administration is administration whether in ministry or in wherever. You are doing with people, human relations. Many of us are lacking in human relations that is why our ministries are not being built. I am not just a follower of Bishop Oyedepo, I am also a staff in this ministry and I have an employment letter. Many people are sitting here who have people working with them without an employment letter. Church Gist. One day, they will take you to court, I pray it will not happen. We learn those things from everywhere around us.
Paul put together the structure to run the Church. We saw God’s servant show us the documents put in place to secure the future of the ministry. His letters are consciously and deliberately written to address issues still relevant to the Church today. Were it not for Paul we will have no reference for many Church matters of today. The issue of divorce is very clear, issues of marriage are very clear, issues of ordination are very clear. Church Gist. He describes himself as a master builder. He put structures in place for the running of the Churches, he was not only a Church planter. He was also a Church administrator. He was a Church manager. He assigned Titus in Titus 1:5 to put the things that were wanting in Churches. This is why the Church of Jesus is still standing strong today.
How do we assess this Builder’s wisdom?
- By walking in the fear of God.
Job 28:28. Proverbs 8:13. Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 1:7.
If you walk in the fear of God, it is automatic for you to enjoy wisdom.
Two examples quickly:
- Joseph (Genesis 42:18). What was the outcome? Genesis 41:39. Joseph the one who walked in the fear of the Lord became the custodian of wisdom.
- Daniel (Daniel 1:8, 19-20)
When you walk in the fear of the Lord you gain access to wisdom of all matters. You will be operating as if you studied and learnt those things.
- By continuously craving for fresh baptism of it.
Just as we crave for power, we can crave for wisdom. That is the experience of Solomon in 1 Kings 3. God only gives to those who acknowledge their emptiness, until you acknowledge that you don’t have it, God won’t give you. Until you acknowledge your nothingness, God never makes you something. Church Gist. God’s servant said when he got the call, he said won’t all he knows finish in one year, what will I be preaching? God said call for my servant and the hands were laid on him and he received the spirit of wisdom. It is that craving that invited the spirit of wisdom and it is still speaking till today. - By spontaneously praying for it.
James 1:5-7 - Reading, Studying and Meditating in the word.
1 Timothy 4:14-16.
Mediation is thinking through the word till you find the solution you are looking for. The word of God is a bank of wisdom. As long as we keep meditating on it we keep encountering answers to every situation of our lives. Challenges get dissolved meditating on the word of God.
Psalm 119:97-100
Paul the wise was Paul the reader. 2 Timothy 3:15. He was a very great reader.
- Following the path of the wise
Jeremiah 6:16-17.
In our journeys in life there are those who have gone ahead of us, whose steps we can follow. Many years ago, God’s servant told us the story about while he was meditating and the Lord brought the picture of Kenneth Hagin and said build your ministry outside the pattern of this man. Pattern your ministry after this man. So every time he is in a situation, he gets back to his books. Church Gist. He has told us severally of how by following that ministry rest has come to him. There are individuals that we can pattern our ways after, especially those who have gone ahead of us who have done it better than we are doing. Upon whose lives we cannot see sweat and struggle. We can do what they are doing.
1 Kings 3:3
We live in a generation that despises fathers today. Fathers will always be in front. We follow their path in order not to miss our ways. It is our responsibility therefore to find those who have succeeded in building veritable ministries and pattern our life after them.
What is unique about wisdom from above?
- This order of wisdom will turn you and your ministry into a wonder to behold.
Matthew 13:54
Jesus’ wisdom was about mighty works not about mighty words. What gives worth to a man is his mighty works, not his mighty words. There are those whose words are very sweet, you will almost lick their mouth but no works to back it up. You may be applauded for your words but people will regard you for works. Church Gist. Nothing commands attention like works. Your wisdom must be translated to your works, no matter how much grammar you speak. Nobody condemns you for the works you have done, no matter how many people hate the words you speak. Your words may not make news but your works will make news.
Look at Covenant University, the works are speaking. Professors from topmost Universities came and they agree with the works, whether atheist, Muslim or traditionalist. One of them from a University in the North said “Sir, I want you to be my mentor” why? The works are speaking. When you have works to back up ministry that is undeniable, people easily believe you. Expect they see signs they will never believe. Church Gist. I have sat among different intellectuals and they are commending the work going on in certain ministries represented here. Pastor David built a gigantic hostel for the State University out there. I hear about Pastor Paul and the wife doing medical outreaches, touching lives in the various communities. Who will stone them? If you dare do it, people will fight you because of their works.
God’s servant has told us how he went for an occasion and the head of one major Islamic organization in Ogun State here met him and said “Sir, we thank you for what you are doing. My son was in that University and he learnt morals, everything changed about him”. Our ministry must be built on this order of wisdom that produces works not just words. Ministry whose wisdom has been translated into works cannot easily die.
Daniel 5:13-14.
Let us translate our words of wisdom to works of wisdom.
- It commands the attention of kings.
I have checked through the scriptures I have not found out where Solomon travelled out of Jerusalem, kings travelled and came to him. We are talking about wisdom that does not make noise but makes news. We have heard God’s servant say that he has not been out of the country for many years because God said so and we have seen people trooping in to meet him.
1 Kings 4:29-34
When Wisdom is at work, it commands the attention of not just men but of kings. The Queen of Sheba came to visit in Chapter 10 and she was in wonder.
- This wisdom unveils the glory of the Church
Jeremiah 30:19
Wisdom attracts glory (Proverbs 3:35). This wisdom also attracted an audience for Paul the Apostle. In 2 years, his fame went across Asia. Church Gist. Everywhere the gospel was sounding. We can therefore see that as wisdom continues to flow from our altars, the number of people coming to receive will also receive. As wisdom increases, the Church continues to increase.
Ecclesiastes 5:11
We must continue to go after the wisdom from above that is what we take us above.
Prayers: Father I want the wisdom that will translate from words into works. The wisdom that builds to last and attracts attention from everywhere.
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