BORROW NOT A FEW . EXPECT GREAT THINGS FROM GOD 17

BORROW NOT A FEW : EXPECT GREAT THINGS FROM GOD  17

[29TH - 30TH MARCH 2022 (29-30.3.22 WFT *WISDOM FOR TODAY * Real Evangelism* by Bro. Alex Oguh)

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2Ki 4:3 KJV Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.

Luke 10:30 Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

Luke 10:31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

Luke 10:32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.

Luke 10:33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.

Luke 10:34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

Luke 10:35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’

Luke 10:36 So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”

Luke 10:37 And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

We are about to end this sub-topic and move on to what are the implications of empty vessels in our main text, 2 Kgs 4:1-7. I wish you happy new month as we prepare to enter April 2022.

Again back to the story of the Good Samaritan. That story is like the summary of Adam and we, his descendants. We left the Garden of Eden (our God-given Jerusalem) and we have been on a journey towards Jericho (Hell or the cursed City). We can easily see that the wounded man is typical of humanity. Some humans (priests, levites and even some Samaritans) in every generation appear to be on their feet. 

Read the story over and over and in different versions and you will see that even the priest, the levite and the Samaritan might have been heading towards Jericho, the cursed City or Hell. The Inn or the hospital where the Good Samaritan took the victim to was likely to be along the way to Jericho. There they spent the night. Some milk of kindness is possible even here in this fallen world.

The story was to tell us to be nice to each other here. The story was also aimed to teach us that God does not see as we see. The Samaritan was a man from a denomination contaminated by sin. Humanily speaking, nothing good in that denomination. You look back at how that denomination started in 2 Kgs 17.

2 Kings 17:24 (KJV)  And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.

I don't think that we have a denomination now that started that way. Theirs was a denomination that started by removing all the men in a Church and replacing them with pagan men to be the new husbands. The strangers, mostly men, settled down, married these Church women and began to raise families. Of course the children became like their fathers (2Kgs 17:29-34). The rest of the people of God shunned them. They called them sinners and treated them so. 

There are five blocks in CAN IN (Christian Association of Nigeria). These are:

1. Christian Council of Nigeria (CCN)

2. Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN)

3. Christian Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (CPFN) /Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN)

4. Organization of African Instituted Churches (OAIC)

5. (TEKAN and ECWA Fellowship)

I don't know which one you disdain. Apart from the Catholics that stand on their own, the others have many denominations under them. The prominent ones in CCN are The Anglican and The Methodist.  Many of you know those in Pentecostal Churches. OAIC Churches are popularly known as Garmented Churches. The last bloc, not the least , is Tekan/ECWA.

I have been a Catholic for 26 years and I still belong there at heart. Why I'm not among them all the time is because they will not receive my testimony since I've not gone through their Seminary. They honour Peter, an ex-fisherman, that Jesus worked on. I wonder why they think that Jesus can't succeed in turning me to a preacher.

I'm currently in TEKAN/ECWA bloc and I've been here for the past 19 years (2003 -2022). The Lord ordered my steps into the Pentecostal bloc some months after my being saved and I was there for 11 years (1992-2003). I became a astor there and I was trained there.

I'm familiar with those denominations in CCN, especially the United Evangelical Church, UEC. I'm familiar with White and Red Garment Churches. There is no block I've not visited and I have one branch of Cherubim & Seraphim by my house.

I will be surprised if a person from certain blocs do some things. You may know where you don't expect that Samaritan that did such a good thing to come from. The story must have surprised the first hearers. They must have been surprised when the Lord said that it a person from that ungodly bloc that was nice to the wounded man. He spent so much on the man. He even made a deposit to cover the unforseen expenses. 

This is why borrow not a few implies borrowing from these existing churches. Borrow empty men of God, if possible. Whatever made that priest and the levite walk away from the responsibilities of helping the wounded humanity was absence of Christ in them (Col. 1:27). Evacuate what they now carry and refill them for God.

What is your view?

Alex Oguh

+234 806 579 2749

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