What is the true test of Godliness? How can one fellowship with the true church without being contaminated by the religious impositions of men of today? The Prince of this world has long been striving and seems almost close to achieving that victory. it is the natural result of the error by the Church; a lowering of the standard of the Kingdom of God through the introduction of the gospel of convenience, a walk with God without transformation of life , a Christianity without the Cross. The church surrendering this basis of her power and legitimacy has made her to exist in a perfect and harmonious accord with the world. The visible church has virtually created her own ‘GOD’ a religious deity who seems satisfied with his subjects excesses ,cares little about their sins, highly appreciates their works of virtue, even though these were predicated on human pride , and looks with pleasure upon their bold deeds and intellectual displays. Packages of doctrines, whole pedestals of understanding and range of thinking system which form the basis of people’s faith have been tailored to satisfy the cravings of fallen men. The God of the bible has been left of his own House. His city lies in virtual ruins while the city wall are continually been compromised so that strangers may enter at will. This book written by Ayodeji Ezra-Williams brings to mind the words of Jesus Christ comparing the days of his coming to the days of Noah

2. CHURCH DEVELOPMENT
About the Book
The specter of antediluvian sins of the times of Noah is rearing its ugly head
again in these times. Men are once more having “intercourse” with demonic or
fallen angelic beings in ways that confer power on them to manifest miracles,
signs and wonders whose real sources and validity can only be uncovered by
prophetic discernment.
As men of this century are returning to the wisdom of long past ages, modern
Pentecostal/Charismatic churches have also been invaded by the spirit of the
age, sustaining their flight upon the wings of ancient lore. Every characteristic of
the antediluvian sins seems to be reappearing. Open intercourse with demons is
being perpetuated on a vast scale in the very heart of Christendom and these
practices do not exclude even the hitherto somewhat traditionally conservative
segments of the Protestants. The use of concocted substances and countless
other practices of primal and medieval times now thrive in numerous “church”
circles. Old, mesmerizing healing methods rooted in ancient magical arts are
increasingly being passed off as genuine Spirit-induced miracles. All these are
floating back to us upon the tide of “revivals” and “spiritual awakenings.” They no
longer come veiled or shrouded in secrecy or mystery; rather, in accordance with
the spirit of the age, they blatantly present themselves as veritable tools of
evangelism and church growth.
2

3. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1: THE DESOLATING SACRILEGE
Worship in the Beginning
Making God in Our Own Image and According to Our Likeness
The Altar of An Unknown God
The Spirit of Python
Chapter 2: CHURCH GOVERNMENT
What Does the Real Church Look Like?
Beware of the “House of God”
Beware of the Athaliahs
Jeroboam, A False Apostolic Order
Beware of the Altars of Jeroboam
3

4. Chapter 3: JESUS’ MINISTRY WAS PURPOSE
DRIVEN NOT NEED MOTIVATED
The Market-Place Christendom Versus the Ecclesia of God
Abomination in the Holy Place
Christ Has Come in the Flesh
A Generation that Practices Lawlessness
The Mark of the Beast
The Mark of Christ
Chapter 4: SALVATION -
Pictures of Salvation
The Dynamics of Salvation
How Do I Get Saved?
Salvation and Entering the Kingdom
Ultimate Salvation…?
4

5. Chapter 5: THE NECESSITY FOR REFORMATION
The gospel of the kingdom
The Church is Not the Kingdom of God
The Community of people that Jesus is building
Chapter 6: RESSURECTION AND REGENESIS
Resurrection
What is Regenesis?
Creation Story
5

6. FOREWORD
The Prince of this World has long been striving, and seems almost close to
achieving that victory. It is the natural result of a major error by the church: a
lowering of the standard of the Kingdom through the introduction of a gospel of
convenience, a walk with God that does not require sacrifice, Christianity that
lacks the power to adjust the human nature and character. The Church’s
surrendering of this basis of her power and legitimacy has made her to exist in a
perfect and harmonious accord with the World. The visible Church has virtually
created her own ‘GOD,’ a religious deity who seems satisfied with His subject’s
excesses, cares little about their sins, highly appreciates their works of virtue,
even though these were predicated on human pride, and looks with pleasure
upon their bold deeds and intellectual displays. Packages of doctrines, whole
pedestals of understanding and range of thinking system which form the basis of
people’s faith have been tailored to satisfy the cravings of fallen men. The God of
the bible has been left out of His own house. His city lies in virtual ruins while the
city wall are continually been compromised so that strangers may enter at will.
This book is written out of the pain and frustration that I suffered in my pursuit of
the true God and it is dedicated to the seven thousand who have not bow their
knees to Baal, and to The Regenesis my community for allowing me to be an
elder among the elders of the assembly; indeed they were the guinea pigs used
in the process of uncovering this ancient path, and to all men who are sighing
because of the affliction of Joseph.
Ayodeji Ezra-Williams
6

7. Chapter 1
THE DESOLATING SACRILEGE
Religion is as old as the recorded history of man. The history of every civilization
must include an account of its religion(s) with accompanying god(s), ritual rites,
myths, and symbols. Old world religions (among which Christianity is often
ignorantly listed) such as Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Taoism, etc have
found new expressions, and have given birth to many offspring. In the 21st
century, these major religious traditions have lost their monopoly. What were
once “standard religions” must now compete with those which, at a time would
have been considered as “marginal” or “fringe” groups. Increasingly our people
are seeking to worship at alternative altars that suit their individual purposes and
objectives.
The global paradigm shift must of necessity be seen as the force that add
impetus to the manifestation of conflicting and competing claims to truth which is
confronting the Church of Christ. At a time old traditional religions are fast losing
their monopoly over the worship systems of the earth, we are no longer just
going to be seeing churches and mosques on our streets, but will equally be
bombarded by sundry other ancient devils and corruptions of old, filling our cities
with false altars, meditation centers and psycho-spiritual self-help groups.
The new millennium has ushered in a fresh wave of spiritual awakenings. These
are hallmarked by new ecclesiastical vocabularies and dazzling worldviews,
eastern mystical imports, new age gurus and charismatic preachers; even
magicians and spiritists are beginning to sound “ Christian,” with the singular
objective of hoodwinking and deceiving the unwary and the undiscerning.
One of the challenges that the religious pluralism of the 21st century poses to
believers in Christ is that they must place unwavering emphasis on the
development of discerning or prophetic skills (i.e. access to the mind of God).
7

8. “And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives
you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will
deceive many”:
Mathew 24:4,
And Jesus, answering them, began to say: “Take heed that no one
deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and will
deceive many. But when you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be
troubled, for such things must happen, but the end is not yet. For nation
will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be
earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles.
These are the beginnings of sorrows. “But watch out for yourselves, for
they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the
synagogues. You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a
testimony to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.
But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or
premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour;
speak that for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. Now brother will
betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up
against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated
by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”
So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the
prophet, standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then let
those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the
housetop not go down into the house, nor enter to take anything out of his
house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But
woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in
those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter. For in those
days there will be tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of
the creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be. And
unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but
for the elect’s sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days. “Then if
anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, He is there!’ do not
believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and
wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. But take heed; see, I have
told you all things beforehand “.
Mark 13:5–23.
8

9. And He said: “Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in
My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time has drawn near.’ Therefore, do
not go after them. But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be
terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come
immediately.”
Luke21: 8-9.
The fact that the issues of discernment and deception were repeated thrice by
our Lord Jesus in all the gospels underscores their significance to the believer’s
survival in the end times.
Presently, the world is operating at a level of sophistication and competence that
the Church as it is today finds difficult to either keep pace with or even
comprehend. One clear evidence of the fact that our present day Church is blind
to its own needs and even undiscerning of its inadequacies, is that we have
destroyed within the church structure our research and development
departments, by making the false claim that there are no more prophets and
apostles, and subsequently replacing them with the limiting concepts of
monarchical bishops and parish pastors in a world that acts and thinks global.
As time goes on, the church in its present state may soon discover that she will
no more make impact by advertising miracles as the bait to get people into its
fold. The spectre of antediluvian sins of the times of Noah is rearing its ugly head
again in these times. Men are once more having “intercourse” with demonic or
fallen angelic beings in ways that confer power on them to manifest miracles,
signs and wonders whose real sources and validity can only be uncovered by
prophetic discernment.
As men of this century are returning to the wisdom of long past ages, modern
Pentecostal/Charismatic churches have also been invaded by the spirit of the
age, sustaining their flight upon the wings of ancient lore. Every characteristic of
the antediluvian sins seems to be reappearing. Open intercourse with demons is
being perpetuated on a vast scale in the very heart of Christendom and these
practices do not exclude even the hitherto somewhat traditionally conservative
segments of the Protestants. The use of concocted substances and countless
other practices of primal and medieval times now thrive in numerous “church”
circles. Old, mesmerizing healing methods rooted in ancient magical arts are
increasingly being passed off as genuine Spirit-induced miracles. All these are
floating back to us upon the tide of “revivals” and “spiritual awakenings.” They no
longer come veiled or shrouded in secrecy or mystery; rather, in accordance with
9

10. the spirit of the age, they blatantly present themselves as veritable tools of
evangelism and church growth.
It is instructive that the Apostle Paul also encountered a pluralistic culture in
which many gods were worshipped, as revealed in his speech to the folks on
Mars Hill (Acts. 17:16). His approach to the Athenians of his day models for us
the methodology for the21st Century kingdom exploits.
Armed with apostolic and prophetic insights, the 21st Century Church has the
calling to be militant yet respectful, confrontational yet courteous, open to
dialogue but firm in its convictions. When Paul addressed the Athenians, he
made it clear that he had studied them and that he was listening to them. He
affirmed their spiritual quest without endorsing where that search had taken
them.
The same was written of Moses [“And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of
the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds,” Acts 7:22]; and of Daniel
and his three friends who actually studied the languages and the literature of the
Chaldeans in order to discredit their claims to truth. [“…young men in whom there
was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge
and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom
they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans.” Daniel 1:4-5]. We
must tap into all these enduring, ancient values and technology to be able to
overcome the final invasion of alien gods and false altars of these last days.
The 21st century believers must be wise, competent and endowed with the
necessary spiritual capacity to deal with the issues that will confront the
inhabitants of the earth as the age is about to climax. The greatest challenge of
this 21st century is not going to be worship or the lack of it, but the “whom” and
the “how” of worship (i.e. who are men worshipping and how are they doing the
worship). This is because over the years especially the decades immediately
proceeding and leading up to the 1990s, the nations of the earth witnessed some
serious spiritual awakenings, a fact which was not lost on Satan the devil and his
cohorts. And although he does not mind anyone becoming religious, what the
devil detests and hates with passion is the worship of the true God. To that
extent, he concentrates all his energy on defiling and polluting the worship
systems of the earth.
10

11. “Who (i.e. the man of sin) opposes and exalts himself above all that is
called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of
God, showing himself that he is God”.
2nd Thessalonians 2:4
There is a dimension in the church system of today that is presenting itself as the
worship of the true God, but which is false. Whenever anyone seeks to worship
the almighty God, it is this religious imposition that you are first confronted with.
Sometimes it comes as a system of belief and at other times, it may manifest as
a wrong emphasis of the doctrine of Christ. It might also be a denomination that
was once used by God but which in the present time has become a monument.
The issue that our generation has to contend with is that this dimension sits in
the temple and is showing itself as God.
With this understanding, we must begin to examine our lives so that we can be
sure that we are serving the living God and not gods imposed by systems and/or
organizations which are fast spreading and polluting the spiritual landscape of
the nations.
WORSHIP IN THE BEGINNING
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, and
to all the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘Whatever man of the house of
Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, who offers his sacrifice for any of his
vows or for any of his freewill offerings, which they offer to the Lord as a
burnt offering—you shall offer of your own free will a male without blemish
from the cattle, from the sheep, or from the goats. Whatever has a defect,
you shall not offer, for it shall not be acceptable on your behalf. And
whoever offers a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord, to fulfill his vow,
or a freewill offering from the cattle or the sheep, it must be perfect to be
accepted; there shall be no defect in it. Those that are blind or broken or
maimed, or have an ulcer or eczema or scabs, you shall not offer to the
Lord, nor make an offering by fire of them on the altar to the Lord. Either a
bull or a lamb that has any limb too long or too short you may offer as a
freewill offering, but for a vow it shall not be accepted.
You shall not offer to the Lord what is bruised or crushed, or torn or cut;
nor shall you make any offering of them in your land. Nor from a foreigner’s
11

12. hand shall you offer any of these as the bread of your God, because their
corruption is in them, and defects are in them. They shall not be accepted
on your behalf. ‘And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “When a bull or a
sheep or a goat is born, it shall be seven days with its mother; and from the
eighth day and thereafter it shall be accepted as an offering made by fire to
the Lord Whether it is a cow or ewe, do not kill both her and her young on
the same day. And when you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord,
offer it of your own free will. On the same day it shall be eaten; you shall
leave none of it until morning: I am the Lord. “Therefore you shall keep my
commandments, and perform them: I am the Lord. You shall not profane
my holy name, but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel. I am the
Lord who sanctifies you, 33 who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be
your God: I am the Lord.”
The Feasts of the Lord
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and
say to them: ‘the feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy
convocations, these are My feasts.
The Sabbath
“Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn
rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the
Lord in all your dwellings “.
The Passover and Unleavened Bread
“These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall
proclaim at their appointed times. On the fourteenth day of the first month
at twilight is the Lord’s Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same
month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must
eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation;
you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made
by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy
convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.’ ”
The Feast of First fruits
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and
say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its
harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the
priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your
behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. And you shall
offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year,
without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. Its grain offering shall be
12

13. two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire
to the Lord, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-
fourth of a hin. You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh
grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it
shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
The Feast of Weeks
‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from
the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths
shall be completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath;
then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. You shall bring from
your dwellings two-wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of
fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the first fruits to the
Lord. And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year,
without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt
offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an
offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord. 19 Then you shall
sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the
first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. The priest shall wave them with
the bread of the first fruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two
lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. And you shall proclaim
on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no
customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings
throughout your generations. ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you
shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather any
gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the
stranger: I am the Lord your God.”
The Feast of Trumpets
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel,
saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have
a Sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You
shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by
fire to the Lord.’ ”
The Day of Atonement
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Also the tenth day of this seventh
month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for
you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the
Lord. And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of
Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. For any
person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from
his people. And any person who does any work on that same day, that
13

14. person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no manner of
work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your
dwellings. It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict
your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to
evening, you shall celebrate your Sabbath.”
The Feast of Tabernacles
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel,
saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of
Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. On the first day there shall be a
holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. For seven days
you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you
shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire
to the Lord. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work
on it. ‘These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy
convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering
and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day—
38 besides the Sabbaths of the Lord, besides your gifts, besides all your
vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the Lord.’
Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in
the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on
the first day there shall be a Sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a Sabbath-
rest. And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful
trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the
brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. You
shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a
statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh
month. You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native
Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made
the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of
Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’ So Moses declared to the children of Israel
the feasts of the Lord.
Leviticus 23:17-44
When God instituted worship under the Old Testament, He regulated it by
proclaiming Feasts of the Lord and various sacrifices. No one is permitted to
worship God the way he likes. Anyone’s desire and zeal to worship must fall
within the confines of what was stipulated by God. The rules guiding various
sacrifices must be adhered to or the wrath of this terrible God would be incurred.
God even went to the extent of giving directions on how altars were to be built.
“An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your
burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In
14

15. every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you.
And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone;
for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it. Nor shall you go up by
steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it”.
Exodus 20: 24-26
Much of this truth has been lost. These days, anyone can just decide to build any
form of altar (CHURCH) without following God’s prescribed pattern. You can
actually shop for whatever kind of god, in whichever kind of organization or
denomination you want, depending on what is the currently reigning theology or
more importantly, what you perceive your needs to be. This is not God’s pattern
for advancing godliness but the lawless spirit that Apostle Paul discerned (2nd
Thessalonians 2; 7) and affirmed had actually been at work centuries ago.
MAKING GOD IN OUR OWN IMAGE AND LIKENESS
The Ichabod Generation
“And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man saying, we will
eat our own food and wear our own apparel only let us be called by your
name to take away our reproach “.
Isaiah 4:1
In the context and the structure of this prophecy by Isaiah, we find a generation
of people with insatiable appetite to worship God at all cost. A generation has
arisen with a corrupt desire to pollute the worship systems of the earth by
substituting the doctrine of Christ with their own idea of who God is and how He
is to be worshipped; we have become a generation that is making God in our
own image and likeness.
Woman is the picture of the church, and the church is the bride of Christ. There is
only one man [mediator], Christ Jesus the saviour of the world. There is nothing
wrong in wanting to take hold of the man Christ Jesus, but doing it on your own
terms will be evil and ungodly. Every false religion of the earth took its root from
this evil technology. This apostate church wants to eat her own food [her own pet
15

16. DOCTRINE] and wear her own apparel [her own idea of RIGHTEOUSNESS], but
hide under the name of Christ so as to damn the souls of men who worship at
her altar. A good percentage of what is known as church today, even among the
Pentecostals and the Charismatics, actually thrives on this evil imposition.
“Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day
about three thousand souls were added to them. AND THEY CONTINUED
STEADFASTLY IN THE APOSTLES’ DOCTRINE and fellowship, in the
breaking of bread, and in prayers”.
Acts 2:41-42
The early church was birthed in the apostolic doctrine and in which it continued
steadfastly; the doctrine was the bedrock upon which the totality of its mission
thrust was built. Although complete reference bibles and bible schools were not
in existence, believers were matured by being in fellowship with the apostles; and
as long as they adhered to the apostolic teachings, their lifestyles remained
accurate and in subjection to Christ.
The accuracy of a church group or its activities is measured by its ability to
discern God’s purpose for the time, and the commitment and obedience it brings
into its execution. It has nothing to do with crowd, fame or the building of
ornamental structures. It does not matter what anyone builds on earth in the
name of the Lord, its validity and genuineness must be measured in terms of how
it conforms to God’s righteous standards. If it is not a product of the divine will
and if its conception is rooted in human ambition and personal aggrandizement,
then it is a false altar. There are countless numbers of such illegitimate altars
today, not only in this land but also around the world.
“…Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the
tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the
pattern shown you on the mountain.”
Hebrew 8:5
WORSHIPPING AT THE ALTAR OF AN UNKNOWN GOD
“Because of the fragrance of your good ointments, your name is ointments
poured forth; therefore, the virgins love you”.
Songs of Solomon 1:3.
Multitudes are drawing near to Christ today because of the security that His
name provides. That His name is as ointment poured forth as a refreshing and
16

17. consoling factor for a brutalized humanity is absolutely true. However, it is only
the naive and the ignorant who love Him just because of what He can do for
them, but not necessarily for who He is. This is pure idolatry; it is a corruption of
worship and the purpose for which it was instituted.
These concepts of worship are alien to the God of the bible. You hear churches
advertise miracles and build their entire ministry initiatives on solving people’s
problems, rather than bring them into a spiritual relationship with Christ in a
manner that will lead to the transformation of their character, and indeed their
very nature.
Entire church denominations are being built on survival and management
principles and cunningly devised fables of financial success and breakthroughs,
thus breeding a throng of greedy saints with insatiable appetite for worldly wealth
and fame.
We now have a generation of believers who cannot differentiate between what
truly constitutes God’s blessings and merely having access to material things.
Although contending for the gold of the earth is, in itself, not a sin but the manner
of and the motive for its pursuit (especially as an end in itself) can definitely be.
Everything, no matter how desirable, which pursuit and eventual possession is
not the result of the will of God, and therefore not tied to divine purpose, will
eventually become a stumbling block to the believer. It is a trap carefully
orchestrated to keep such a believer permanently out of God’s divine economy.
In the scriptures, it is likened to God sending leanness into the souls of a self-
seeking people (Psalms 105:15). The inevitable result of that is an otherwise
avoidable spiritual dissipation. We understand that though Abraham was rich in
gold, silver, land and cattle, yet he was constrained by purpose (i.e. what God
wanted for his life) to living in tents for the rest of his life.
Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the
mighty man glory in his might (miracle power), Nor let the rich man glory in
his riches (prosperity); But let him who glories glory in this, That he
understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising loving kindness,
judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the
Lord.
Jeremiah 9:23-24
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love
God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He
foreknew, HE ALSO PREDESTINED TO BE CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE
OF HIS SON, THAT HE MIGHT BE THE FIRSTBORN AMONG MANY
BRETHREN”.
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18. Romans 8:29
THE SPIRIT OF PYTHON
Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed
with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by
fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These
men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of
salvation.” And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed,
turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ
to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour. But when her masters
saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and
dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities
Acts 16:16-19
The whole essence of biblical Christianity is not just that we may be healed and
blessed by God, but more importantly, to transform us into the image of His son.
However, there exists in the church today a “python” spirit that promises solution
to people’s problems without the reformation of their character and the
regeneration of their nature. It was the same spirit Paul encountered in Greece
[Acts 16:16]. A divination (Puthon-Greek for Python) spirit it was, which could
give accurate information about people’s ailments, conditions or fortunes. It was
so accurate in foretelling that if it were to be situated within the context of man’s
21st century religious ingenuity, it could be conveniently polished and packaged
as the operation of the gift of the Holy Spirit, out of which a big “church” or
“ministry” could be created.
This “python” spirit in the slave girl was bringing a lot of profit to her masters
through accurate diagnoses of situations (fortune-telling), and to any
undiscerning person it could well pass for the power of God. However, the
moment it came in contact with the true power of God working in His apostles, it
suffered permanent neutralization. This evil anointing can gather crowd and
produce miracles, but it cannot manifest Christ; and if Christ cannot be
manifested in any situation, there can be neither transformation of nature nor
reformation of character.
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19. “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of
the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory,
just as by the Spirit of the Lord “.
2nd Corinthians 3:17-18
Issues of character refinements, godly fear and piety have been buried in the
tomb of endless church programmes, activities and ministry merchandising, and
as long as money is coming in and structures are going up, deluded minds will
conclude that the kingdom of God is being advanced.
Many church groups of these last days are being built on these pedestals of
deceit and distraction, and they are bringing gains to their founders and
facilitators at the expense of the souls under them. These groups might not have
started out with the intention of becoming objects of spiritual lawlessness, but the
moment any church groups begin to elevate the needs and problems of people
above God and in so doing, trade away His time-honored pattern for building the
church (i.e. the lives of His people), they will automatically tap into this spirit of
“python,” even unknowingly.
Since their patterns have no origin in God, they will be creating vacuums that can
only be filled by alien spiritual entities, and not the Spirit of God. Since the Holy
Spirit will never work in their midst, they must rely on other sources of power.
Multitudes will be gathering to get their problems solved but never to be
conformed to the image of Christ. Emphases are always on great manifestation
of miracles, signs and wonders and the meeting of personal wants and desires
but hardly on character development or the internalization of the values of the
kingdom of God. It all smacks more of a “better life programme” than kingdom
initiatives for a better society.
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20. Chapter 2
CHURCH GOVERNMENT
Deceived by the specters of gathering multitude of souls supposedly being
saved, innumerable miracles that are being wrought, and the firebrand sermons
being preached, most will be led into the erroneous conclusion that the true
church is what already exists and is visible. The truth however is that much of
what is visible today as the church bears little resemblance to the true Church.
The people of this age have not seen the real Church. The real Church has only
CHRIST as her HEAD. He is the only person that must be exalted at all time and
around whom all must be gathered.
There must never be a program, there must not be a man (like an orchestra
leader) directing everybody, telling every other persons when to sing, when to
stand, when to sit, when to shout, when to say Amen, or what and whom to
believe. If a gathering of the church is on at any time or moment, Jesus must be
at the head of that congregation, and whatever chores it is currently undertaking
must have been initiated and wholly supervised by Him. If truly, Jesus is the
reason for any of our congregations, He alone gets all the recognition and
everybody must look up and submit to Him. It does not matter what vessel is
being used, the Lord Jesus alone must be lifted up. The present situation in
which so-called pastors, bishops or general overseers and their sermons loom
large in people’s eyes and mind is a subtle promotion of idolatry.
The prevailing conditions in the church in these days present a picture that is far
from the original intention of God. The divine order of things has been totally
compromised and all kinds of laughable activities are going on in the name of
God. The list include the preeminence of a nicolaitian dimension of clergy versus
the laity, self-glorifying slaves ruling over the people of God and literally taking
dominion over their faith, the dictatorial posturing and the larger-than-life image
of church leaders, the prevalence of a pharisaic order in which robes and gowns
are the instruments of the anointing, the obscene harvest of titles (e.g. The Very
Reverend…, Snr. Evangelist…, Bishop…, Rev. (Dr)..., Prophet (Dr.)…,
Prophet/Apostle…, etc.), the reckoning of divine approval by material acquisitions
and numbers, the competition with programs and activities, and many more. All
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21. this presents a picture of a truly desolating abomination, a travesty of the real
thing.
God did not create the sort of hierarchical structure that the church of today is
using to sustain itself. His original intention which must come to pass is to make
us into a Kingdom of Priests. He did not set up a system of the clergy and the
laity. He did not create a class system. He hates Nicolaitanism (Rev 2:5&15)-
rulers ruling over His people and taking His place in the congregation. Anyone
who takes the place of Christ in our lives is an antichrist. Many church groups
have already been spewed out and many more are still being spewed out of the
mouth of God. They are no longer in Him. They are outside, although they still
reckon they are in Him. They are still functioning and still claiming to be part of a
victorious body of Christ, even when they are gradually exiting into a Babylonian
position and will become an unwitting tool in the hand of the Antichrist in this last
age of the church.
WHAT DOES THE REAL “CHURCH” LOOK LIKE?
At first, Jesus’ followers saw no need to develop a system of church government.
They expected Christ to return soon, so they dealt with internal problems as the
need arose—usually in a very informal way. But by the time Paul wrote his letters
to the churches, Christians realized the need to organize their work. The New
Testament does not give us a detailed picture of this early church government.
Apparently, one or more elders (presbyters) presided over the affairs of each
congregation (Rom. 12:6–8; 1 Thessalonians. 5:12; Heb. 13:7, 17, 24), just as
elders did in Jewish synagogues. These elders were chosen by the Holy Spirit
(Acts 20:28); yet apostles appointed them (Acts 14:23). Thus the Holy Spirit
worked through the apostles to ordain leaders for the ministry. Some ministers,
referred to as “evangelists” seem to have travelled from one congregation to
another, as the apostles did. The title means “men who handle the gospel.”
Some have concluded that they were all personal deputies of the apostles, as
Timothy was of Paul; some others suppose that they gained their name through
manifesting a special gift of evangelism.
The elders assumed the normal pastoral duties between the visits of these
evangelists. In some congregations, the elders appointed deacons to distribute
food to the needy or care for other material needs (cf. 1 Tim. 3:12). The first
deacons were the “men of honest report” that the elders of Jerusalem appointed
to care for widows in the congregation (Acts 6:1–6).
Some New Testament letters refer to “bishops” in the early church. There may be
some arguments whether the bishops of Paul’s letters are quite the same as the
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22. ones we have in some churches where the title is used today. Then, they were
not ordained in a coronation kind of event. In Paul’s reminder to the elders of
Ephesus that they were bishops (Acts 20:28), he seemed to use the terms ‘elder’
and ‘bishop’ interchangeably (Titus 1:5–9). Both bishops and elders were
charged with the oversight of a congregation. Apparently, both terms refer to the
same ministers in the early church, namely the presbyters.
Paul and the other apostles recognized that the Holy Spirit gave special
leadership abilities to certain people (1 Corinthians. 12:28). So when they
conferred an official title upon a Christian brother, they were confirming what the
Holy Spirit had already done.
In the early Church, no one local assembly was a branch of another, and there
were no branch pastors. Also manifestly absent was the concept of a
headquarters, which served as some kind of a center of power from where
strings of control were being pulled on the branches. Every assembly was
autonomous, yet in relationship with the rest of the body of Christ. The Christians
understood that Christ was the center and source of all their powers (Acts 20:28).
Ministry meant serving in humility, rather than ruling from a lofty office (cf. Matt.
20:26–28).
By the time Paul wrote his pastoral epistles, Christians recognized the
importance of preserving Christ’s teachings through ministers who devoted
themselves to special study, “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). The
early church did not offer magical powers to individuals through rituals or any
other means. The Christians invited unbelievers into their group, the body of
Christ (Eph. 1:23). They were uncompromising in their disapproval of individuals
seeking to gain special powers from Christ for their own selfish ends (Acts 8:9–
24; 13:7–12).
OUR IDENTITY: EKKLESIA OR KYRIAKON?
JESUS NEVER SAID I WILL BUILD MY “CHURCH”
The word “Church” actually means a physical building. Ekklesia which is the
actual Greek word that Jesus used in Matt. 16:18 IS NOT the same as Church. In
other words, Church is a mistranslation of the word Jesus used i.e. Ekklesia – not
just in Matt. 16:18 but in 111 places out of the 114 times that Church and
Churches are used in the New Testament. Worst of all, the mistranslation was
not an accident but deliberate! The undeniable fact is that the word, “Church” is
NOT from Ekklesia but from an entirely different word, “Kyriakon”.
What is Ekklesia?
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23. While Ekklesia literally means “Called Out”, its historical and contextual meaning
is a legislative assembly. That means Ekklesia is not related to religion in any
way. The word has been in use since the days of the Greeks up to Roman times
to refer to a political assembly. When we understand the proper context of the
Matt. 16:13-18 discourse, it will not be surprising why Jesus chose such a term to
describe the Body that He is building when He could have easily used other
religious terms such as temple, sanctuary, altar, synagogue, tabernacle, and so
on. But the Lord Jesus said what He meant and meant what He said.
What of Kyriakon?
Kyriakon means “the lord’s house” but do not let that mislead you into assuming
that the “lord” there refers to the Lord of the bible or that the “house” refers to the
Assembly of Gods people. While it is true that one of the metaphors used for the
Body of Christ is a building (Eph. 2:21, 1 Cor. 3:9, 2 Cor. 6:16), kyriakon actually
refers to a physical building for the worship of heathen gods or idols.
Recall that until the 4th century, no physical building was associated with the
Christian faith. So, kyriakon was always used in reference to heathen temples.
Synonyms include temple, shrine, (and if you like, synagogue or even mosque
because what is common to them all is that they are literal physical buildings
dedicated for religious worship).
The birth of Institutional Christianity
The word, Kyriakon, however was introduced into the Christian lexicon as a place
dedicated for Christian worship in the fourth century, when Constantine
established Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire. This was
when Christians began to meet in “worship” buildings, rather than in homes or in
public places. And that transition (the shift from homes to dedicated worship
buildings) marked the beginning of our identity crisis: a switch from nationhood
into religious institutionalization. And with every passing year, decade, century up
to a millennium, the identity crisis deepened and became entrenched. Somebody
once said, “Repeat a lie long enough and it becomes an accepted and
established truth.”
Conspiracy Against the Head
Fast forward to the 16th century during the Protestant reformation. The printing
press had just been discovered to coincide with ongoing efforts to translate the
bible from Latin to other languages, English being one of the first.
In 1525, William Tyndale translated the first printed Bible into English. He
translated the word ekklesia as “congregation” or assembly. This was in direct
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24. contradiction to the Roman Church. At that time, the Roman Church feared that
removing the word “church” from the Bible would threaten their authority and
hierarchy. This was one of the major reasons Tyndale was burned at the stake
by the Roman Church in 1536. Interestingly, when King James authorized his
translation of the Bible in 1611, eighty-four percent of the New Testament was
translated directly from Tyndale’s Bible. But King James made one translation
rule clear: ekklesia was to be translated “church” and not “congregation” or
“assembly.” … King James was the head of the Church of England and all forty-
seven translators were members. For political and control reasons, the King
James Version of the Bible mistranslated the Greek word ekklesia to “church.”
Since then, just about every English version of the Bible has kept to this
translation of “church. ”Thankfully, besides the Tyndale translation, other bibles
that have chosen to stay with the original word Ekklesia; include Darby, Young’s
literal translation and Complete Jewish bible. They use the word Assembly
instead. CJB uses “Community” which I believe to be contextually an even more
accurate rendition.
ECCLESIA VS CHURCH
'Ecclesia' is a Greek word translated 'Assembly', 'Congregation' or 'Community of
Believers' in English which literally means 'the called-out ones’. Whereas
'Church' is an English translation of the Greek word 'Kyriako’s' which literally
means 'pertaining or belonging to a lord' (note, not the Lord, but a lord), because
the rulers of those days were referred to as 'lords'. Little wonder why Believers
were martyred because they called Jesus Lord (meaning they pledged their
allegiance to only one King, Jesus, not Caesar or any other king).The word
'Ecclesia' appears 112 times in the New Testament, but was replaced with the
word 'Church' in the KJV Bible, a political move by King James himself (and
some other translations followed suit). Note that the KJV Bible wasn't the first
English translation of the Bible. The word 'Church' wasn't used in the earliest
English translations of the Bible. For example, the Tyndale Bible, being the first
direct English translation from the Greek translated the word 'Ecclesia' as
'Congregation'.
What we refer to as 'The Church' is a Religious Institution created by Constantine
the Great in the 4th century (the Roman Catholic Church) with the intention of
forming a one-world religion. Hence the word Catholic means 'Universal', were all
kinds of things have been mixed up, paganism and the likes.
Church is man-made, a creation of the State and not God. Jesus spoke of His
Body (a People, a Community) and not an Institution, an Organism and not an
Organization (see Matt 16:18).You and I are not the Church, we are the Ecclesia
of God, the Body of Christ, a Kingdom Community of People and the called-out
Ones.
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25. BEWARE OF THE “HOUSE OF GOD”
Building Church and Temples.
Since King Narmer 3150 BC started to rule Ancient Egypt and as way back as
2102 BC the period featured the construction buildings and the manufacturing of
artifacts for the worship of gods .Stone age people in Ireland built a 250,000 ton
New Grange solar oriented passage tomb. In Malta Hagar-megalithic temples
were built featuring both solar and lunar alignments. Inter -dimensional Portals
just like the tower of Babel. Fallen angels taught men the use of magical
incantations that would force demons to obey man. This became ingrained into
the Egyptians, Persians and Babylonians. Nimrod called Minus by the Greeks
was handed this knowledge and by it caused men to go away from the worship of
God and go into diverse and erratic superstitions and they began to be governed
by the signs in the stars and motions of the planets”
- Recognitions of Clement 4: 26-29.
History tells us about the Anasazi people of the New Mexican desert who 1000
years ago built what they call Kivas: A constructed building for summoning
demons and a gateway or portal to another dimension. These buildings are then
aligned to the solstices and the equinoxes and used in the worship of the sun.
- History of Pueblo Bonito of Chaco Canyon
The motive for building the so called “House of God” today is still connected to
the Babylon of old. We are overly focus on buildings structures rather than
building people and once the faith of Gods people is tied to a thing or place, the
people of God are not far from idolatry especially if that thing becomes the
validation of their spirituality.
It is not that the people of God will not from time to time need facilities for the
meeting of the community or the assembly, we will always build, borrow or use
one facility of the other but it will just be a place for gathering nothing more or
less.
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26. Act 7:47-50 NKJV “But Solomon built Him a house. (48) "However, the
Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:
(49) ‘Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you
build for Me? says the LORD, Or what is the place of My rest? (50) Has My
hand not made all these things?'
Ezekiel’s Vision of Snakes in the Temple
A prophetic-intercessor recently visited a respected church in a particular city. It
belonged to a reputable Pentecostal denomination, but during the worship, her
eyes were opened and she saw, in the spirit, a large serpent along the length of
one whole wall. And as they left the service, the car park was swarming with
writhing baby serpents.
What was the significance of this? And how could a “Spirit-filled” church, looking
respectable by man’s estimation, become a habitation for serpents – for
demons?
In Ezekiel chapter 8, the prophet saw a vision of Israel’s idolatry. He was taken,
in the Spirit, to Jerusalem, right into the inner recesses of the temple:
“6 And he said to me, ‘‘Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the
utterly detestable things the house of Israel is doing here, things that will
drive me far from my sanctuary? …” 7 Then he brought me to the entrance
to the court. I looked, and I saw a hole in the wall. 8 He said to me, ‘‘Son of
man, now dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and saw a doorway there.
9 And he said to me, ‘‘Go in and see the wicked and detestable things they
are doing here.” 10 So I went in and looked, and I saw portrayed all over the
walls all kinds of crawling things and detestable animals and all the idols of
the house of Israel. 11 In front of them stood seventy elders of the house
of Israel... Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense
was rising. 12 He said to me, ‘‘Son of man, have you seen what the elders
of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his
own idol? They say, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken
the land.’” (Ezk 8:6-12 NIV, emphasis mine)
“I saw portrayed all over the walls all kinds of crawling things”
Hidden deep within the walls of the temple, in a dark and secret room, the elders
worshiped false images. The KJV describes the room as, “the chambers of his
imagery”, or the NIV as “the shrine of his own idol” (v 12). Every private home at
this time had a room or closet dedicated to the secret worship of images. This
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27. room, in the temple, was so secret, though, that the prophet was instructed to dig
through a small hole in the wall to discover it (v 7-9). Without any
correspondence to the design of Solomon’s temple, it appears to have been
purpose built for their secret and idolatrous practices.
Snakes on the wall!
Inside the room Ezekiel saw images covering the walls of “crawling things,
detestable animals and all the idols of Israel” (v 10). The Hebrew term for
“crawling things” (‘remes’) refers to all small animals such as rodents, and
especially reptiles. Ezekiel, like my intercessor friend, saw among other creatures
snakes on the wall of this hidden room.
Though what Ezekiel saw was hidden, it was a blatant rejection of the Lord’s
covenant which prohibited idolatry of “creatures that move along the ground”
(the noun form of ‘crawling things’ which also carries the meaning of animals
that glide along the ground - snakes). Although the outward ceremony of the
temple was maintained the secret worship of snakes and other creatures was, in
fact, an out-and-out rejection of the Lord’s covenant-love.
However, despite the hidden practice of snake worship, from the outside nothing
had changed. The temple looked the same. To the naked eye, it was still the holy
place of God’s presence. This is the very essence of deception – an external
appearance of spirituality, but an altogether different reality within.
JEROBOAM – A FALSE APOSTOLIC ORDER 1 Kings 12:25-33
Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and dwelt
there. Also he went out from there and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in
his heart, "Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: If these
people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem,
then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of
Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah."
Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the
people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods,
O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!" And he set up one
in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Now this thing became a sin, for the
people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. He made shrines on
the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not
27

28. of the sons of Levi. Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the
eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the
altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at
Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made. So
he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth
day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own
heart. And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered
sacrifices on the altar and burned incense. NKJV
CATALOGUE OF KINGS DEFILED BY JEROBOAM’S WORSHIP SYSTEM
 NADAB 1kings 15:25-30.
 ELAH 1kings 16:8-18.
 OMRI 1kings16:25-26
 AHAB 1kings16: 30-31.
Ahab did not marry Jezebel; Jezebel hooked Ahab to strengthen the defilement
of priesthood and the full expression of fleshly vanities. It is a marriage between
illegitimate government and false altars. What made Ahab’s demonic government
powerful enough to terrorize Elijah and send Him to an early retirement was not
only Jezebel but also the foundation of evil that was laid by Jeroboam almost 60
years earlier. During Ahab’s evil reign, Uriel built Jericho, the city that was cursed
by Joshua.
 AHAZIAH (AHAB SON) 1kings 22: 51-53
 JEHORAM 2kings3: 1-3.
 JEHU: Jehu’s governmental strength and anointing was corrupted by the
Jeroboam’s altars, because he ignorantly aligned himself with these two
idols in Bethel and Dan.2kings10: 29-32
 JEHOAZ 2kings13: 1-6
 JEHOASH 2kings 13: 10-11
 JEROBOAM II 2kings 14: 23-24
 ZECHARIAH 2kings 15:6-9
 MENAHIM 2kings 15: 17-18
 PEKAH 2kings 15:27-28
“Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were
written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come”.
1st Corinthians 10: 11
It is not enough to acknowledge that this story is true, but we have to extract the
principle found in this story to decode how not to build a church that will cause
eruptions of ancient devils in these last days.
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29. Just as Jeroboam’s selfish act corrupted Israel’s worship system for almost two
hundred years, so also exists in the church of today a defilement and corruption
of purpose that she has to cleanse herself of.
As a result of the palpable dearth of revelation among the
Pentecostal/Charismatic church groups concerning proper Church order and
government, earthly patterns of government have encroached into or have had to
be adopted in local churches. The logical consequence of this has been the
enthronement of tyranny and oppression of the people, whereas God is not an
oppressor. Where for instance is it written in the bible that once a man is called to
a local church ministry, his wife is also automatically called? There is no
scriptural basis for this, except in an exceptional situation where the wife
evidences the call of God upon her life.
When Apostle Peter or James died, the bible did not tell us that any of their wives
or biological children took over the church in Jerusalem. We have to be careful
how we build, and the principle we use in the building process. This is necessary
so as to ensure that after labouring in the Lord and building our so-called
worldwide ministries, and we pass on, there won’t be anyone equally gifted and
anointed to succeed us. Most likely, they would have been frustrated out of “our
ministries” because of the overbearing and dictatorial tendencies of the
Pentecostal and the Charismatic church order.
BEWARE OF THE ATHALIAHS
When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose
and destroyed all the royal heirs. But Jehosheba, the daughter of King
Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him
away from among the king’s sons who were being murdered; and they hid
him and his nurse in the bedroom, from Athaliah, so that he was not killed.
So he was hidden with her in the house of the Lord for six years, while
Athaliah reigned over the land.
2nd Kings 11:1-3
Just as Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri the king of Israel, usurped the throne
of Israel when her son Ahaziah died, and destroyed all the royal seed, so also is
there a false and illegitimate spiritual government being used in the church of
today to destroy ministry potentials and ministry gifts before they mature and
come of age. This illegitimate authority employs the Jezebel principle of using
incompetent eunuchs to rule in the church and/or over the people of God.
Athaliah represents a lingering Jezebel spirit that seeks to destroy every element
of kingship and authority within any church structure.
29

30. It is important to note that the Apostles, with whom the Lord pioneered the
Church, did not have the following practices with which we are very familiar these
days:
 They did not create a Denominational church structure.
 They did not use Jerusalem or Rome as “the Mother Church.” Though
Jerusalem reproduced itself, there was no centralization nor was
Jerusalem the “headquarters” of all the churches .If there was any
headquarters at all, it was a person - Christ.
 They did not have Provincial/District Churches structures which brought all
the local assemblies under a District.
 All churches were locally governed; they were autonomous and
reproduced themselves accordingly. They were not wielded into a great
organization. The unity among the local churches was never an
organizational unity, but that of the spirit, by the Spirit.
However there was not extreme independence in these local churches either.
 They did have a spiritual unity in Christ.
 They did recognize each other’s sovereignty under Christ’s headship.
 They did share with each other, and minister to each other as much as
possible.
 They did receive ministry from each other.
 They did recognize that the revelation of Christ to one could be profitable
for all. (Revelation 1-3)
BEWARE OF JEROBOAM’S ALTARS
In order not to be left out of the worldwide spiritual awakening and to cash in on
the “In-The-Name-Of-God Plc,” syndrome, many churches and organizations are
using all kinds of methods just to remain relevant to the times.
One of the greatest corruptions in the Church today consists in the very popular
and seemingly harmless practice of having local church branches as a means of
expansion. It must have started out with the intention of achieving certain level of
uniformity in, and control over, matters of doctrine and other practices where very
large congregations exist. Although pioneered by the major Orthodox Church
groups, it has also become a major tool of church growth among the Protestants
and Pentecostals.
Even with the best of intention for its establishment, the practice still contains in it
inherent flaws. We used it and adopted it, and God put up with us because we
did not know better. But each time God comes closer with His better standard,
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31. we must discard that which we have always known and are familiar with, (which
actually is a reflection of our limited knowledge of the Lord), and move on with
God. A closer look will reveal that the practice is not even consistent with what
obtained in the Early Church, which provided us with foundational building
patterns.
As with all practices which God invalidated and declared inadequate, the practice
is now widely tainted by ambition and the desire for pecuniary gains. We now
have to put up with situations in which churches are spreading their branches
across the land, not necessary for kingdom-relevant evangelism but more for
territorial expansion, control and preservation which immediately translates into
fatter pecuniary returns. Because people see ministry more as a means of
personal advancement and as object of personal promotion, an unspoken part of
most evangelistic thrusts is not just “poaching” on other church groups but also
includes deliberate manipulative strategies to restrict and closely monitor the
movements of those they consider their “own sheep.” Churches are springing up
nowadays more as “business centres” located in areas that are not relevant to
the primary spiritual calling of the set man, but where there exists prospects for
numerical advantage or the attraction of certain class of persons, all of which
translate into certain carnal (usually pecuniary) advantages.
It has also degenerated into a mess of unhealthy competition among church
groups. The fad now is for church leaders to pride themselves with the dubious
distinction of being reckoned as having the fastest growing church denomination
in a locality, a nation, a continent or even in the world. This low level operational
mentality is very prevalent among Pentecostal/Charismatic church environments
in which the yardstick of success is numerical and not accuracy. ‘Accuracy’ refers
to how whatever is being done and the way it is being done, is in perfect
harmony or conformity with the divine pattern or the will of God. And that usually
has nothing to do with size or number.
Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and dwelt
there. Also he went out from there and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in
his heart, “Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: “If these
people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then
the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of
Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.”
Therefore the king asked advice, MADE TWO CALVES of gold, and said to
the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your
gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!” And he set
up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 30Now this thing became a
sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. He made
shrines on the high places, and MADE PRIESTS FROM EVERY CLASS OF
PEOPLE, who were not of the sons of Levi. Jeroboam ORDAINED A FEAST
ON THE FIFTEENTH day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in
31

32. Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to
the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the
high places, which he had made.
.
1st Kings 12: 25-32
“Jeroboam I, the first king of Israel (the ten northern tribes, or the Northern
Kingdom), a state established after the death of Solomon (1 Kin. 11:26; 14:20).
The son of Nebat and Zeruah, Jeroboam reigned over Israel for 22 years (1 Kin.
14:20), from 931/30 to 910/09 B.C. Jeroboam I first appeared in the biblical
record as Solomon’s servant: not a prince but a glorified slave “the officer over all
the labor force of the house of Joseph” (1 Kin. 11:28). One day as Jeroboam
went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the road and
confronted him with an enacted parable. Ahijah, who was wearing a new
garment, took hold of the garment and tore it into 12 pieces. He then said to
Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the Lord, the God of
Israel: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give
ten tribes to you’ ” (1 Kin. 11:31).When Solomon learned of Ahijah’s words, he
sought to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam fled to Egypt, where Shishak I, the king of
Egypt, granted him political asylum. Only after the death of Solomon did
Jeroboam risk returning to his native Palestine (1 Kin. 11:40; 12:2–3).
“Solomon’s kingdom was outwardly rich, prosperous, and thriving. But the great
building projects, especially the building of idol temples for his foreign wives,
which he undertook were accomplished by forced labor, high taxes, and other
oppressive measures, above all Solomon departed from the ways of David his
father, he reared up altars to foreign gods, discontent and unrest existed
throughout Solomon’s kingdom. When the great king died, the kingdom was like
a powder keg awaiting a spark.
“The occasion for the explosion, the tearing of the ten northern tribes from
Solomon’s successor, came because of the foolish insensitivity of Solomon’s son
Rehoboam. Rehoboam had gone to Shechem to be anointed as the new king. A
delegation led by Jeroboam, who had returned from Egypt following Solomon’s
death, said to Rehoboam, “Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore,
lighten the burdensome service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put
on us, and we will serve” (1 Kin. 12:4).
“But Rehoboam followed the advice of his inexperienced companions and
replied, “Whereas my father laid a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my
father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!” (1 Kings.
12:11). After this show of Rehoboam foolishness, the ten northern tribes revolted
against Rehoboam and appointed Jeroboam as their king (1 Kin. 12:16–20).
32

33. “Jeroboam was concerned that the people of Israel might return to the house of
David if they continued to journey to Jerusalem for the festivals and observances
at the Temple of Solomon. So, he proposed an alternative form of worship that
was idolatrous. He made two calves of gold that bore a close resemblance to the
mounts of the Canaanite pagan god Baal. The king told his countrymen: “It is too
much for you to go up to Jerusalem” (exchanging sacrificial kingdom lifestyle with
the god of convenience). Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up
from the land of Egypt!” (1 Kings 12:28). One calf was erected in Bethel and one
in Dan.
“Once committed to this sinful direction, Jeroboam’s progress was downhill. He
next appointed priests from tribes other than Levi. He offered sacrifices to these
images and gradually polluted the worship of Israel. The Lord confronted
Jeroboam by sending him an unnamed prophet who predicted God’s judgment
on the king and the nation. Although outwardly he appeared to be repentant,
Jeroboam would not change his disastrous idolatry. His rebellious, arrogant
attitude set the pattern for rulers of Israel for generations to come. Eighteen kings
sat on the throne of Israel after his death, but not one of them gave up his pagan
worship.”
We can see from the biblical extracts above that Jeroboam, out of insecurity
created a worship system that violated God’s order for worshiping Him. The only
accepted place of worship was Jerusalem where God had caused His name to
be placed. But Jeroboam out of insecurity and desire to monitor and control
people made two calves. He placed one in Dan and the other “branch” in Bethel.
We may wish to remind ourselves that when this calf was first mentioned was in
the time of Moses. Aaron created it in the absence of Moses the ordained
apostolic leader of Gods people.
“After this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, BUT AGAIN HE
MADE PRIESTS FROM EVERY CLASS OF PEOPLE FOR THE HIGH
PLACES; WHOEVER WISHED, HE CONSECRATED HIM, AND HE BECAME
ONE OF THE PRIESTS OF THE HIGH PLACES”.
1st Kings 13:33
The second evil that the Jeroboam order of ministries brought into the church
was the violation of the Covenant of Levi. No one could be ordained a priest
unless he was from the tribe of Levi, but “Archbishop” Jeroboam ordained any
one he could find as a priest (Pastor) to fill the position of a branch Pastor in the
church system he created without regard to whether such people were called by
God to stand in that office or even in any of the five governmental offices.
33

34. The present system of a local church or denomination having branches with
headquarters somewhere, from where people are posted and transferred as
pastors, does not reflect the accurate standard of God. The Holy Spirit is
broadcasting God’s true and flawless standard which has always been in the
bible. This old pattern was used at a time the Church did not have the revelation
of God’s precise pattern. It must be seen as having outlived any usefulness it had
before now. It is not even in the bible. It is a form of spiritual ‘parastatals’ system
designed to create offices for people who have no business being in the pulpit. In
some denominations, it is actually a means of rewarding good followership and
diligent service. And because this order of churches has no origin in God, it will
not have the divine capability to disciple men into the purposes of God for their
lives.
A typical posted, “civil servant-pastor” usually lacks the spiritual sight, the depth
of revelation to see clearly into the mind of God and therefore does not possess,
by God’s grace, the wise-master building anointing of the Holy Spirit to be able to
accurately represent divine patterns of Heaven into men’s hearts here on earth
(Hebrews. 8:5; Exodus. 25:40). A lot of these men and women have never
encountered the resurrected Christ themselves. They were never commissioned
by the Holy Spirit into the offices they have been elevated to within their church
system. They have been anointed and sent by men, usually their General
Overseers, Superintendents or Bishops. If they see their assignments as merely
for the administrative convenience of the larger denominations to which they
belong, it will be very well understood.
In reality most of these branches or parishes are mere contraptions or makeshift
arrangements in the form of fellowship centres of the larger denominations and a
lot of them grow so well as to have large numbers and a lot of money. And
because they plan big meetings, programmes and activities, they erroneously
count themselves as recognized tribes of the spiritual ecclesia. To the extent that
they hold the notion that they are “church” in the sense of an ecclesia of Christ,
the altars they have raised would be largely illegitimate. A hallmark of a tribe of
the biblical ecclesia is that it must be independent, self-governing but under the
direct control of the King (in this case, God). Our Lord deliberately, in His
omniscient capacity, borrowed that word and applied it in its contemporary Greek
and Hebrew connotations.
Although in contemporary times, we give our own actions auras of spiritual
legitimacy by organizing elaborate ordinations and anointing ceremonies, the
underlying spiritual principles are still the same with Jeroboam’s actions.
Ordaining people whom God, the Holy Spirit has not called, tested processed
and commissioned, to spiritual offices not meant for them, is not different from
recruiting every class of people (i.e. those who are not the “sons of Levi”) into
priesthood, a la Jeroboam.
34

35. Whenever God calls and commissions anyone, such a person owes no
allegiance to any other man. He does not report concerning his actions to any
man, he is responsible and accountable to God alone. This does not however
invalidate mutually beneficial relationships devoid of any form of control and/or
manipulation.
Denominations fall short of God’s purest building standard, but God used
denominations when the church had no better means of (or revelation as to)
reaching out to the people. However, in this 21st century and in line with the spirit
of the present reformation of the church, the limiting concepts of church
franchising, with all its rigid civil service mentalities and other Babylonian
tendencies, will not be able to contain the outpour of the Spirit of God, ordained
to propel the church towards the finish. God never calls a denomination, He
always calls a man who may go ahead to build a denomination, and in the event
of the Holy Spirit not being allowed to express Himself within an unclean,
hierarchical structures of any denomination, God leaves to find another man.
This has been the problem with the church from the beginning of the Pentecostal
and the Charismatic move of God; and that is why the church of Christ has
existed in the earth for two thousand years without accomplishing God’s purpose
for the earth. No matter how effective a ministry or a church is under a
denominational structure, all that the devil does is, to wait for the founder of the
denomination to pass away, and then the whole movement becomes crystallized,
archaic, wrinkled and irrelevant to the times. Because men love to build
monuments to their own names, we have not mastered the art of preserving and
transmitting truth from one generation to another.
Chapter 3
JESUS’ MINISTRY WAS PURPOSE-DRIVEN AND NOT NEED-
MOTIVATED
After this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in
Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of
sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For
an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water;
then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well
of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who had an
infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that
35

36. he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you
want to be made well?” The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to
put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming,
another steps down before me. “Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed
and walk.” And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and
walked.
John 5:1-9
From the story in the scriptural passages cited above, we notice that although
there were in the pool a great multitude of sick people- the blind, the lame and
the paralyzed, only a certain man was ministered to by Jesus strictly in
accordance with the Father’s will at that particular time. To heal one man and
leave the rest was God’s ministry initiative by the pool at that time. The anointing
was restricted on purpose although the Lord was anointed without measure. A
carnal response would have been to start a church or in the spirit of the age, in
which we live, build something in the mould of a ‘Bethesda Pool Healing Ministry’
with a view to healing all. Of course, this would be no more than an emotional
response directed to meeting what although will be the legitimate need of the sick
people but certainly not a Spirit-led initiative that must always be in accordance
with the will of God the Father. But Jesus never responded based on emotion or
sentiment; He responded based on what He knew was the Father’s will at any
material time: in this instance, it was to heal one man and leave the rest.
Creation, including all the life forms in it will only know peace that comes with the
full restoration of the divine order when men master the art of responding
precisely to God’s word and will.
Just as the early church dealt with this spirit of python, eliminating and
annihilating it from Her midst, the present-day church must also rid itself of its
influence and purify its activities by refusing to place undue emphasis on
miracles and manifestations as the yardstick for measuring kingdom
effectiveness. She must rightly emphasize character formation and the fulfillment
of God’s purpose for the earth as the sole objective for biblical Christianity.
A feature of a true apostolic church is a strong territorial, governing influence
predicated on a transformational power of impartation, capable of changing lives
and effecting a corresponding change in the society. The reason why
righteousness and godly fear would not reign supreme in the society inspite of
the fact that local church assemblies exist every five minutes’ walk in some
localities is because of this lack of governing, territorial influence.
THE MARKET -PLACE CHRISTENDOM VERSUS THE ECCLESIA OF GOD
36

37. “To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are
they like? “They are like children who sit in the market place and call to one
another, and they say, "we played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.”
Luke 7:31-32
We must beware of the demand-driven and market- oriented church that peddles
self-indulgent Christianity and all its corrupt tendencies. We all probably need to
acquaint ourselves with the book written by our brother Evangelist Jim Baker
titled “I Was Wrong,” in order to have a fairly full grasp of the shallowness of a
church packaged for the market. Such a church is not driven by God’s prophetic
voice. It is steeped in religion but lacks spiritual sight and sensitivity. It is totally
devoid of the transformational and the impartational power of the Holy Spirit. It is
usually materially rich but spiritually parlous. It is wild and loud on the Television
but what it sells is not Christ. It gathers crowd but does not produce the values of
the Kingdom of God, for it is driven by a market- place anointing.
When Jesus talked about building His church, He made no reference to
denominations, monumental structures, organizations and church activities with
large billboards in some market place of religion. The church as our Lord intends
it to be, is not as much what happens when the people gather, as it is what
happens when they scatter.
For any harlot and user-friendly church to grow and succeed, it has to be selling
something. The commodity for sale is either the personality of the set-man of this
church or his pet doctrine. It may also be such cultic materials like bottled oil or
clothing materials. And usually, whenever the leaders of such church groups fade
out, everything as it were dies with them even though those who inherit the
system may institutionalize their teachings and doctrines.
The church of Jesus Christ has nothing to sell; the apostles neither sold
themselves nor the power of God. The demand and supply driven worship
system dates back to the time of Aaron when the people said to Aaron “come
make us a God” [Exodus 32:1]. Centuries later, Jeroboam acquired a notoriety
for elevating this perversion of the false representation of God to the people, to a
standard practice [1kings 12:26-28].
37

38. ABOMINATION IN THE HOLY PLACE
“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’” spoken of by
Daniel the prophet, STANDING IN THE HOLY PLACE “(whoever reads, let
him understand)
Mathew 24: 15
“So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’” spoken of by Daniel the
prophet, STANDING WHERE IT OUGHT NOT” (let the reader understand),
Mark 13: 14
When the Lord spoke of the “holy place,” He was not speaking of a physical
temple in Jerusalem. Many preachers and theologians still split hairs on whether
or not some physical temple must still be built in the natural Jerusalem before
Jesus comes, and whether or not the antichrist is going to take his seat
physically in the middle of such temple. No such thing may ever happen and
even if it eventually will, as some mere symbolic event, the more important issue
to God and which is being strongly emphasized here is the building of the
spiritual temple which refers to His church or the lives of His people (1Cor 6:19;
1Pet 2:5).
Satan in these last days has launched an attack on the church which is the only
institution that God has ordained for the propagation and the advancement of His
truth on earth. The church of the living God, the pillar of the truth of God will be
ferociously assaulted by Satan in these last days with a view to denying humanity
the opportunity of getting right with God. Unfortunately, he cannot succeed
because God is God, and His plan for the restoration and perfection of His
church cannot but come to pass.
Satan from the time of the early church has continually sought to corrupt the
church and undermine it from within. The greatest threat to “kingdomizing” the
earth is not Islam or any other religion but the emergence of a “cartoon church” in
place of the true apostolic (or Kingdom establishing) church. The enemy has
decided to take his battle beyond the realm of merely instigating false religions to
that of a literal invasion of the church, setting up in it what looks like God but is
actually an impostor. The objective of this is the total obliteration in the heart of
men of the image of the true values of the Kingdom of God which Christ
embodies.
38

39. “The abomination that makes desolate” that Daniel saw and which was confirmed
by our Lord Jesus Christ, is a picture of how the enemy of the Kingdom seeks to
corrupt worship. The strategy is to swap pure worship of the true God with a
perverted mode in such a way that will conveniently deceive the spiritually
uninformed. The intention is to diminish the stature of Christ or distort His true
identity in the eyes of the people, thereby robbing the church of the power of His
resurrection.
The antichrist dimension will then be able to establish enough footholds within
the structures and the hierarchy of the church as to guarantee it a measure of
control over its affairs. This abomination will be so pervasive that it will not be
restricted to the outer court where the gentiles belong. It will actually invade the
holy place, manifesting lawlessness with a view to disrupting the desire of God to
be manifested in and through the lives of the people who desire to worship Him.
As earlier mentioned, the temple referred to has nothing to do with a physical
temple in the literal Jerusalem as some preachers erroneously concluded, but a
spiritual temple of the Church of God. The explanation for the “abomination of
desolation” begins in Daniel 9:27. “Then he shall confirm a covenant with many
for one week.” Jesus Christ has a covenant with the people of God for one week
(seven years) to bring righteousness on the earth, walking and talking in human
form. He cut the week short and died in the middle of the week (three and a half
years), leaving three and a half years for the sons of God to finish the
manifestation (“…but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice
and offering” verse 27b). He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.
There was no more sacrifice for sin after He gave the one sacrifice on Calvary
(verse 27c). “And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate”
There is another part of this scripture that also referred to “the abomination that
makes desolate.” Daniel 12:11 and 12, “…and from the time that the daily
sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there
shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he who
waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.
Blessed is HE that waited, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and
five and thirty days.” We are looking at a prophecy, which quite likely has
already come to pass. We may be well into the end of this prophecy. This
scripture is saying there is an abomination that was set up in the church that is
going to make THE CHURCH TOTALLY DESOLATE, AND WILL ABSOLUTELY
DESTROY THE CHURCH SYSTEM.
39

40. CHRIST HAS COME IN THE FLESH AND SHALL CONTINUALLY COME IN
THE FLESH AND WILL ULTIMATELY APPEAR
“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was
manifested in the flesh”.
1st Timothy 3:16
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are
of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this
you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of
the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the
world “.
1st John 4:1-4
Notice, this scripture above did not say every mouth, it says every spirit. The
Greek word translated spirit is pneuma. Figuratively, it means the rational soul
and by implication it means a mental disposition or life.
Men are to confess Christ through their human spirits which are in subjection to
the dictates of the Spirit of God, and the life they now live in the physical will be
patterned after the very life of Christ Himself when He came in the flesh to show
us how to live for God. This is what it means to confess that Christ has come in
the flesh; it is the adjustment of our nature and character by the revealed life of
the Son of God who is the express image of His person.
Just as God was manifested in the flesh through his Son, so also must God
continually manifest in the flesh through His word in the lives of those who
profess to be Godly. Without this reality, anyone can merely say with his or her
mouth that Christ has come in the flesh, without any real commitment to Him.
Jesus Christ, the bible testified, crucified sin in the flesh, an action which
modeled for us the standard for Godliness. Any kingdom initiative or religious
activity that does not bear directly on how a person lives his or her life in this
Godless age has nothing to do with the gospel of the kingdom. This is true
irrespective of the signs and wonders that may be happening there. If the
ministry objective and the structures put in place are not geared towards
correcting the depravity and the carnal propensities in man, but only to gratify the
flesh and its cravings; if the reason why people are flocking to a place of
supposed kingdom initiatives is only to get their needs met and not to be
changed to conform to Christ’s image with a view to discovering and fulfiling
God’s kingdom-establishing purpose for their lives, what is being disguised as
Godliness is nothing but the mystery of iniquity or lawlessness that Apostle Paul
40

41. spoke about. He said that it is already at work and our Lord Jesus also had
earlier prophesied that it shall abound in the last days.
It is our responsibility to develop within the church the capacity to test all spirits.
God never intended for His people to receive anything just because it is
presented in Jesus’ name without looking closely at its origin or underlying
principle. We must also move away from using miracles and manifestations as
yardsticks for measuring the arrival of the kingdom. We must have within the
church, spiritual systems that test and detect error.
What then is the true test of Godliness?
“By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh is of God “
The identification with the need for man’s regeneration through the vehicle of the
Word of God becoming incarnate, and the necessity for the followers of Christ to
validate the word of God with the way they live their lives is the true test of
biblical Christianity. You cannot be confessing Christ and still be holding on to
iniquity. There is no church [ecclesia] unless we depart from sin unto God.
“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the
power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet
not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not
forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the
body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be
manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for
Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal
flesh”.
2nd Corinthians 4:7-12.
A GENERATION THAT PRACTISES LAWLESSNESS
“Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because
lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who
endures to the end shall be saved”.
Mathew 24: 11-13
“And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his
own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who
now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way”
41

42. 2nd Thessalonians 2:6-7
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of
heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to
Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out
demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I
will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice
lawlessness!’
Mathew 7:21-23
There are a few issues we need to consider in our quest to uncover the mystery
of iniquity or lawlessness:
What is Lawlessness?
The English Thesaurus renders the word “lawlessness” as:
 Anarchy
 Chaos
 Disorder
 Mayhem
 Lack of control and Free for all
Lawlessness is the presence of an inner corruption inspite of an outward
evidence of righteousness (Matthew 23:27-28). Because it hides and can only be
discerned, it has the ability to exist within the very structure of the church
(Matthew 7:21-23). Whenever the heart is not pure, the spirit of the antichrist
takes up positions within the very structure of anything that is being done in the
name of the Lord.
From the various related meanings given above, it is clear that “lawlessness” or
“to work iniquity” is not part of the attributes of a godly and an orderly company;
and the fact that these are present in and among churches groups today is
actually a sign that we are far from the ideals of the Kingdom of God.
But to the Son He says:” Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved
righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore, God, Your God, has
anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.
Hebrew 1:8-9
42

43. Biblical evidence clearly shows that there had been times in the history of God’s
people that anarchy, disorder and lawlessness prevailed in their midst. A few
examples will suffice.
“You shall not at all do as we are doing here today— every man doing
whatever is right in his own eyes— for as yet you have not come to the rest
and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you. But when you
cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord your God is
giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round
about, so that you dwell in safety, then there will be the place where the
Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all
that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the
heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow
to the Lord”.
Deuteronomy 12:8-11
“Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the
people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods,
O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!” And he set up one
in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Now this thing became a sin, for the
people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. He made shrines on
the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not
of the sons of Levi”.
1st kings 12 28-31
“After this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but again he
made priests from every class of people for the high places; whoever
wished, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high
places. And this thing was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, so as to
exterminate and destroy it from the face of the earth”.
1st kings 13:33-34.
“The man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod and household idols;
and he consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In those days
there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes”.
Judges 17:6-7
43

44. “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in
his own eyes”.
Judges 21:25
From all indications and the testimony of the scriptures, to practice lawlessness
is to act outside the context of God’s order and His revealed intent and purpose.
Lawlessness constitutes acting outside of God’s divine plan or the refusal to be
governed by His mandate although our activities seem good and righteous.
The phrase “I never knew you” is another key indicator of the presence of the
mystery of iniquity or the practice of lawlessness. From scriptural exegesis, we
discover that, to “know” someone means more than just a casual acquaintance; it
speaks of intimacy and relationship that makes possible a transfer of values
leading to the spiritual reconstitution or if you like, genetic reengineering of the of
the one being known. What this engenders is an instant change of nature and
character.
Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said,
“I have acquired a man from the Lord.”
Genesis 4:1-2
“Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and
returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his
wife, and the Lord remembered her”.
1st Samuel 1:19
In essence, what Christ meant by “I never knew you” was that though many
prophesy in His name and did many miracles in His name, He does not
recognise them or they do not have an identity or standing with Him because
they never allowed Him to infuse them with His nature and character. These
category of persons never allowed Him to transfer His values to them although
they are called by Him name. To practice lawlessness or work iniquity refers not
essentially to unsaved people, but to false religious orders or religious activities
that are totally devoid of the revelation of God’s purpose for man’s redemption.
WHAT THEN IS THE SOLE OBJECTIVE OF BIBLICAL CHRISTIANITY?
44

45. The whole essence of being born again is not so that we might be “blessed.”
Indeed we are already blessed as a result of the work of reconciliation
accomplished through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. But above
all, God desires to raise a people upon the earth who He may inhabit. As these
yield their lives to Him, He seeks to change the societies, the nations and indeed
the whole earth through them. The desire of the Lord is to re-impose His own
divine order (or His Kingdom), a process which was temporarily interrupted as a
result of the loss of man’s regency status on earth to Satan and his cohorts (“Thy
Kingdom come/Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”).
What the lifestyle we now refer to as “Christianity” was designed to do was to
redress this warp in creation. Man must be restored to a place of authority, power
and dominion over the rest of creation. This can only come to be when the entire
content of his life has become once more the out play of the divine intent of God.
The whole process of bringing this about begins with the appropriation of the
sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross which reopened the way for man to God. It
continues with the day to day working out of the details of the divine will for one’s
life, through a process of sanctification (the regeneration of character and
nature), and leading to the restoration of the life, the power and the presence of
God for rulership purposes. All these are what are bounded up in that lifestyle
modelled after the last Adam, the Man Jesus.
A lot of what the earth knows today as “Christianity” can conveniently pass for
lawlessness, a travesty of the real thing. Lots of the “Lord, Lord” business that we
see on virtually every street, operate without the revelation of what it actually
means to partner with Christ to fulfill the objectives of biblical Christianity. This
Ichabod generation has succeeded in reducing Christianity to what goes on in a
building on Sunday. People go from service to service, church to church,
programmes to programmes and from pastors to bishops, yet they lack the
understanding of God’s pattern for constructing their lives and the capability to
change the fabric of the society. Christianity is not what the gathered crowd does
in a building but what the scattered crowd does outside the building.
Although we call it Christianity and treat it as a religion; we have reduced it to
gatherings on particular days, in some appointed locations or buildings called
churches where we normally sing and dance and preach sermons. We also
observe certain days and carry out certain rituals and do a number of other
unrelated things. What God actually has in mind is a lifestyle that is built on a
dynamic relationship between God and man that is very radically life -
transforming.
The Beast from the Sea and the Earth
45