THE CHRISTIAN BRETHREN CHURCH, LAGOS, NIGERIA (TCBC)

TWO-DAY BIBLE TEACHING SEMINAR

“LEST I LOOSE MY CANDLE STICK” Rev 2:5

VENUE: ECWA GUEST HOUSE, YABA, LAGOS

DAY TWO: SATURDAY 23 MAY 2015 | SESSION ONE:

“WHEN GOD GIVES UP! (2)”

• Ministering: Pastor Toks Oshokoya

THE CHRISTIAN BRETHREN CHURCH, LAGOS, NIGERIA (TCBC)

TWO-DAY BIBLE TEACHING SEMINAR

WHEN THERE IS NO DISTINCT VOICE IN A NATION:

SUBTLE DECEPTION to GRADUAL DESCENT INTO DELUSION 

HOW THE DEGENERACY OF THE TIMES OCCURRED…

•1Peter 4: 1-6, 17-19Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered

for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the

lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to

have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings,

and abominable idolatries: 

•1 Tim 4: 1 - 11•Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. 

• If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto

thou hast attained. But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself

rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all

men, specially of those that believe. These things command and teach.

•2 Tim 4: 1 - 11I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick

and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke,

exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall

they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their

ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure

afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

Isaiah 8: 11

For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. 

DELUSION IS ALSO JUDGEMENTAL

•Zeph 3: 1 - 5 (AMP)

WOE TO her that is rebellious and polluted, the oppressing city [Jerusalem]!She did not listen to and heed the voice [of God]; she accepted no correction or instruction; she trusted not in the Lord [nor leaned on or was confident in Him, but was confident in her own wealth]; she drew not near to her God [but to the god of Baal or Molech].

Her officials in the midst of her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones on the morrow, for nothing is left by morning.Her prophets are light [lacking truth, gravity, and steadiness] and men of treachery; her priests have profaned the sanctuary; [defrauding God and man by pretending their own word is God’s word] they have done violence to the law.The Lord in the midst of her is [uncompromisingly] righteous; He will not do iniquity. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He fails not, but the unjust [person] knows no shame.

ROMANS 1: 18 - 32

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 

Wherefore GOD also GAVE THEM UP to uncleanness through the lusts of their own

hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a

lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever.

Amen.

For this cause GOD GAVE THEM UP unto vile affections: for even their women did change the

natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural

use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that

which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

•  And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, GOD GAVE THEM OVER to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, FORNICATION, WICKEDNESS, COVETOUSNESS, MALICIOUSNESS; ... whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, INVENTORS OF EVIL THINGS, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, COVENANT BREAKERS , WITHOUT NATURAL AFFECTION, implacable, UNMERCIFUL: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have PLEASURE IN THEM THAT DO THEM.

2 Thessalonians 2: 5 - 10Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 

•Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 

•And for this cause GOD SHALL SEND THEM STRONG DELUSION, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had PLEASURE IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.

PSALM 1: 1

Blessed is the man that WALKETH  not in the COUNSEL of the ungodly,nor STANDETH  in the WAY of sinners,nor SITTETH  in the SEAT of the scornful.

IN OTHER WORDS, CURSED IS THE MAN, WHO ALLOWED HIMSELF TO MOVE THROUGH THE STAGES OF SUBTLE DECLINE BY CARELESS LIVING AND BLINDNESS

(1) WALK IN SUGGESTIONS, IDEAS and ADVICE OF THE UNGODLY - the nice, seemingly moral, respectable in the society but atheistic in believe system.(2) STANDS (now OBSESSED) IN ENVIRONMENTS WHERE SINNERS REGULARLY COMMUTE AND CHATTER (in pleasure)(3) SIT IN AS A CONVERTER CONTRIBUTOR AND RESOURCE PERSON TO IDEAS PHILOSOPHICAL VIEWS AND DOCTRINAL SLANTS THE MOCK GOD's WORD AND SANCTIFIED LIFESTYLE 

Just like it is in the positive when God seem to prefer to work by three-stage process, it is also in

the negative!

Father .... Son ... Holy GhostAbraham... Isaac ... Jacob

Outer Court ... Inner Court ... Holy of HOLIESThe Spirit ... The Water ... The Blood

Sit with Christ ... Walk in Love and The Spirit ... Stand in Faith

Consider that the THIEF (Satan) comes toSteal ... Kill ... Destroy

Walk ... Stand ... Sit

Judges 17 "There was a man named Micah, who lived in the hill country of Ephraim. One day he said to his mother, “I heard you place a curse on the person who stole 1,100 pieces of silver from you. Well, I have the money. I was the one who took it.”“The Lord bless you for admitting it,” his mother replied. He returned the money to her, and she said, “I now dedicate these silver coins to the Lord. In honor of my son, I will have an image carved and an idol cast

•.” So when he returned the money to his mother, she took 200 silver coins and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into an image and an idol. And these were placed in Micah’s house. Micah set up a shrine for the idol, and he made a sacred ephod and some household idols. Then he installed one of his sons as his personal priest.

In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.One day a young Levite, who had been living in Bethlehem in Judah, arrived in that area. He had left Bethlehem in search of another place to live, and as he traveled, he came to the hill country of Ephraim. He happened to stop at Micah’s house as he was traveling through. “Where are you from?” Micah asked him. He replied, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am looking for a place to live.”

“Stay here with me,” Micah said, “and you can be a father and priest to me. I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, plus a change of clothes and your food.” The Levite agreed to this, and the young man became like one of Micah’s sons.So Micah installed the Levite as his personal priest, and he lived in Micah’s house. “I know the Lord will bless me now,” Micah said, “because I have a Levite serving as my priest.

Jud 17:1-4. MICAH RESTORING THE STOLEN MONEY TO HIS

MOTHER, SHE MAKES IMAGESThis occurrence belongs to a period when the Hebrew nation was in a greatly disordered and corrupt state, that is, soon after the death of Joshua: see chap. Judges 20:28. This episode of Micah, a man of mount Ephraim, that is, the mountainous parts of Ephraim, is connected with Judges 1:34. 

It relates to his foundation of a small sanctuary of his own, a miniature representation of the Shiloh tabernacle which he stocked with images modelled probably in IMITATION of the ark and cherubim. 

NAMES:What a shame! It is ironic that a man named Micah (meaning "Who is like Yahweh?") should establish an apostate shrine with an unlawful priesthood. So what meaneth all these carnally motivated change of names? E.g. "Segun Prosperity", "Success Victory", "Miss Wealth", .... etcWho changed Abraham's name? Who changed Sarah's name? Jabez didn't have to change his name one he became a new creation of God!Who and what is inspiring your change name? To what purpose?

SINCERITY IN IGNORANCE:Micah and his mother were probably

"sincere" in ignorance in their intention to honor God. Sadly the environment, the highly PUNGENT Canaanites influence had corrupted

their KNOWLEDGE, UNDERSTANDING and therefore FAITH!

Their faith was now blended with sad high quantity amount of IGNORANCE and

DELUSION.The divisive course they pursued, as well as the will-worship they practiced, subjected the perpetrators to the penalty of death.

Isaiah 5: 13,14"Therefore my people have gone into captivity, Because they have NO KNOWLEDGE;Their HONORABLE MEN are famished, And their multitude dried up with thirst. 

Therefore Sheol (HELL) has enlarged itself. And opened its mouth BEYOND MEASURE; Their glory and their multitude and their pomp, And he who is jubilant, shall descend into it. People shall be brought down, Each man shall be humbled, And the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled"

Prov 29: 18"Where there is no vision, the people perish:but he that keepeth THE LAW (God's Word), happy is he"

Hosea 4: 6"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:because thou hast rejected knowledge,I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no PRIEST to me: seeing thou hast FORGOTTEN the law of thy God,I will also forget thy children"

THE PRIESTHOOD: Malachi 2: 7-9

“For the lips of a PRIEST should KEEP KNOWLEDGE,

And PEOPLE should SEEK the LAW FRO HIS MOUTH;

For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But you have departed from the way;

You have caused many to stumble at the law.You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,”

Says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore I also have made you contemptible and

baseBefore all the people, Because you have not kept

My waysBut have shown partiality in the law.”

THE ROOT OF CORRUPTION:See the MAJOR cause of this corruption:

The LOVE OF MONEY made Micah so undutiful to his mother as to rob her,

and The LOVE OF MONEY, equally, made her so unkind to her son, as to curse him!

1 Timothy 6: 10"For the love of money is a root of ALL

KINDS OF EVIL, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many

sorrows"

MOTIVATION - BLESSINGS & CURSES, A LESSON:Outward losses drive good people to their PRAYERS, but bad people to their CURSES.

James 3: 10 - 12"Out of the same mouth proceed BLESSING and CURSING. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh"

Deut 7: 1 - 7 THE LAW OF THE LORD:"When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. 

For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall DESTROY their altars, and BREAK DOWN their images, and CUT DOWN their groves, and BURN their graven images with fire. For thou art an HOLY people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a SPECIAL people unto himself, ABOVE ALL people that are upon the face of the earth"

EXAMINING THE PRIEST - The Levite: "of Judah"Observe that two things about this priest here.1. Not much about this Levite fits into orthodox

biblical categories. Some Levites were priests, while others were temple servants (cp. Num 3–4). Levites were scattered throughout Israel (Gen 49:5-7; Josh 21). This young man, apparently a descendant of Gershom (18:30; cp. Exod 2:21-22), was based in Judah, but not in a Levitical town, and was looking for another place to live.

2. Men of the tribe of Levi might connect themselves, as Aaron did (Ex 6:23), by marriage with another tribe; and this young Levite belonged to the tribe of Judah, by his MOTHER's side, which accounts for his being in Beth-lehem, not one of the Levitical cities.

"THE WANDERING PRIEST""the man departed ... to sojourn where

he could find a place“

For want of a competent provision being secured for every member of the Levitical order, he thus became "a wandering priest" and his wandering about showed him to have been a person of a ROVING disposition or UNSETTLED habits. 

"Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father, a spiritual father, to conduct the religious services of my establishment"He was to receive, in addition to his board, a salary of ten shekels of silver, equal to 25 shillings a year. A suit of apparel, not only dress for ordinary use, but vestments suitable for the discharge of his priestly functions.

Micah took care of him like one of his sons. So Micah INSTALLED the Levite (cf. Judges 18:4) as his priest (in addition to Micah's own son, who was made a priest, 17:5). 

THE CONTRACT PRIEST THRIVING ON IGNORANCE & SUPERSTITION"Now know I that the Lord will do me good" The removal of his son, followed by the installation of this Levite into the priestly office, seems to have satisfied his conscience, that by what he deemed the orderly ministrations of religion he would prosper. This expression of his hope evinces the united influence of ignorance and superstition.Micah rejoiced because of his SUPERSTITIOUS notion that having a Levite for his priest would bring blessings from the Lord, when in fact it was FORBIDDEN in the Law (Num. 3:10). The Levite, of course, was as much (or more) to blame for having accepted the position. These acts of disobedience to God's Law were typical of the Israelites in the time of the Judges.

In Micah’s view, conferred some additional LEGITIMACY on the shrine, though his expectation that the Lord would bless him was based on SUPERSTITION RATHER THAN OBEDIENCE to the Lord. 

Micah’s abandonment of God’s covenant would bring a CURSE on him that no unemployed Levite could ward off. Micah was not the last Israelite to seek out a priest or Levite in an attempt to legitimize irregular religious practices (cp. 1 Kgs 12:28-31; 2 Kgs 16:10-18).

Prolonged STATE of sustained satanic STEALING of KNOWLEDGE, UNDERSTANDING & TRUE FAITH leads toAPOSTASY and DELUSION.

PROVIDENTIAL ACTS OF GOD IN STATE OF DISOBEDIENCE:From verses 7-13, Micah thought it was a sign of God's favor to him and his images, that a Levite should come to his door. Thus those who PLEASE themselves with their own DELUSIONS, if Providence unexpectedly bring any thing to their hands that further them in their evil way, are apt from thence to think that God is pleased with them. In backslidden states, lying spirits easily induce total misjudging of the reasons behind PROVIDENTIAL ACTS OF GOD!

Recall:1. "...their foolish heart was darkened"

2. "...GOD also GAVE THEM UP..."

HOW ERROR AND DELUSION SPREAD LIKE CANCER TO KILL A WHOLE RACE:

What began as MICAH's PRIVATE HERESY (17:4-5) would become the APOSTASY OF AN ENTIRE TRIBE

(Judges18:30-31). What began as COVENANT FAILURE (Judges 1:19-36) turned into SOCIAL

BREAKDOWN in the days of Jephthah and Samson (Judges 11–16). 

In the end, law and order were replaced by BANDITRY and PILLAGING (18:27-28).

Jud 18:1-26: THE DANITES SEEK OUT AN INHERITANCE and THE MIGRATION (Josh19:40-48) This is the story of a whole tribe’s failure to obey

God’s covenant, and it is indicative of Israel’s decline. MIGRATION WITHOUT GOD's INSTRUCTION.

Judges 18"In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel. And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there. 

•When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here? And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest. And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous. And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the Lord is your way wherein ye go"

DANGEROUS COINCIDENCES:The clans of the Danites sent five warriors from Zorah and Eshtaol to explore the land. Early in their journey they lodged for the night in the house of Micah in the hill country of Ephraim. There they RECOGNISED THE VOICE (probably the Judean accent) of Micah's priest and inquired concerning his PRESENCE AND ACTIVITIES in Ephraim. 

The Danites expressed no emotions either (1) of surprise or of indignation at a Levite daring to assume the priestly functions, and (2) at the existence of a rival establishment to that of Shiloh. 

WHAT IS TRUE SUCCESS OR BLESSING?

The outward success of their mission did not correspond with the Lord's

revealed plan for the tribe of Dan, and eventuated in the establishing of a

major center of idolatry (cf. 18:30-31; 1 Kings 12:28-30).

Vrs 7-10: Wow! GREAT VISION AFTER GREAT ANOINTING SERVICE

Vrs 11-21:  PURSUE YOUR DREAM!RECOGNIZING THE ANOINTING STRATEGIC THINKINGPRIEST FOR HIREENLARGEMENT OF MINISTRY!MORALITY TO THE BINCONSOLIDATING THE VISIONCONSOLIDATING THE VISIONVrs 30, 31: THEY SET UP IDOLATRY.

Deut 32: 16, 17

"They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations

provoked they him to anger. 

They sacrificed unto devils, not to God;to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your

fathers feared not"

•Where is Dan?

Revelation 2: 5Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy FIRST LOVE.

Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and REPENT, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will REMOVE THY CANDLESTICK out of his place, except thou REPENT. 

LET US PRAY!