A Few Good Men Francis E. MADOJEMU

The Fuel subsidy Question

• Who is right?

• Both sides have valid arguments, Then again both sides have bad records!

• So what should we pray for?

• The subsidy to be r e m o v e d O r t h e subsidy to remain?

Gods View!

• Acts 4:23-36

• 23 And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. 

•24 And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: 

• 25 Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? 

Gods View!

• Acts 4:23-36

•26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. 

• 27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, 

• 28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. 

The Apostles Response

• They take their case to God

• Directed their prayer to him not the problem

• Highlighting who is behind what

• For of a truth... What's all this about?

• I d e n t i f y i n g t h e SOVEREIGNTY of God in the matters of men

Look at the next Prayer Focus

•Acts 4:23-36

•29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, 

• 30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.

• 31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. 

Look at the Consequences

• Acts 4:23-36

• 32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common

• 33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. 

• 34 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,  35 And laid them down at the apostles 'feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. 

Isaiah 66:8-10

• 8 Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.

• 9 Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the Lord: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.

Deliverance or Fruit?

• A woman who is pregnant is not looking for deliverance. She knows her deliverance is connected to her being fruitful

• The pain, discomfort , swollen ankles, morning sickness, back strain of the last 9 months would be in vain without the fruit of the womb

• We like to pray for deliverance not fruit in this country 

• It's time for us to change our focus like the apostles

Look at the focus

• Acts 4:23-36

• 29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, 

• 30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.

• Notes: The focus of all Spiritual Warfare Is ultimately the opening of doors  (Colossians 4:3; 1 Corinthians 16:9) so that the ministry of the gospel may be advanced.

Gospel of the Kingdom vs Gospel of Salvation

• We think the gospel is just to get me to give their life to Christ but it's more than that it's to bring men to the knowledge of the truth!

• Romans 1:16

• 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

• The Gospel Transforms

What was the First Sin in the Bible

• L i e s , f o r n i c a t i o n , adultery, stealing

• What?• T h e fi r s t s i n w a s

disobedience!• All sin is disobedience!• We have focused on the

type of sin we commit and rated them rather focus on the principle of sin - Disobedience

Obedience its Implications  & the Obedience of one.

• Romans 5:17-19

• 17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

• 18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 

• 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Punishing Disobedience does not translate to Obedience

• We seem to believe that punishing and dealing with sin and disobedience, translates t o r i g h t e o u s n e s s a n d obediences

•  Proverbs 14:34

• 34 Righteousness exalteth a nation:  but sin is a reproach to any people.

• That's why we have focused on EFCC & pursued the punishment of our bad leaders

We are Waiting

• It's seems we are waiting In this country, lives home for t he d i sobed ien t to be punished and then they becom ing obed i en t o r righteous yet it's not their obedience that matters or righteousness but ours

• 2 Corinthians 10:6

• 6 A n d h a v i n g i n a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled

The First Sin.

• Genesis 3

• 1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?  2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 

• 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.  4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 

The First Sin.

• Genesis 3

• 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 

• 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden

The First Sin.• Genesis 3 • 9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto

him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.  11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 

• 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.  13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat,

A Play on Words

• Who told thee that thou wast naked?

• Thou is "you" and it's subjective pronoun

• Thee is the objective pronoun "you."

• He was talking about Adam not Eve ie not both of them!

• I personally believe that if Adam had not eaten the apple man would not have fallen. - Why?

Eve was deceived not Adam .....

• 1 Timothy 2:13-15

• 13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being dece ived was in the t r a n s g r e s s i o n . 1 5 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

• A d a m m a d e a w i l l f u l decision!

Adam decision to eat the fruit was disobedience 

• Two wrongs don't make things right.

• Run according to the rules

• If everyone including your spouse chooses to do wrong, you stay righteous

• Even mov ies show criminals who don't keep to rules but the policemen who must keep to the rules.

Obedience

• This country does not have to fail. Your marriage does not have to fail

• Your business does not have to fail. The church does not have to fail

• Your family does not have to fail 

• Even if everyone else is disobedient and wrong as long as you are obedient and right!

Complete Obedience

• 2 Corinthians 10:6

• 6 And having in a readiness t o r e v e n g e a l l disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

• Obedience is complete Means run it's course, finish its circuit completed its journey?

• Stand ing the ground o f righteousness, someone has to stand in righteousness obedience in order to see the glorious end of Gods will and

That's Why God Sought for A Man

• Ezekiel 22:30-31

• 30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. 31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God.

• Like Elijah's 3,000 who had not bow their knees to Baal, many of us have bowed our knees to Baal in this country!

Sustained Obedience

• Nothing will happen until I sustain my obedience,

• Why did Daniel fast for 21 days, it took 21 days For the answer to come but God said on he first day I sent the answer but the evil one withstood the angel with the answer

• What would have happen if he had been Pentecostal and chose a 3 day fast.

How many things have we stopped short in life

• Mar r i ages to Unbe l i eve rs ,  He lp ing God l i ke Sarah, Offering Bribes & incentives when we should not and Compromising our faith in the short term

• Luke 22:31-32

• 31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

• We will not give up on faith in God 

Have you Seen my servant Job?

• Job 1:8

• 8 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

• Have you seen my children in spite of their nation, problems challenges and issues ....

• Luke 18:8

• 8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Gods word promises us help!

• Lord help me not to give up on you, don't let me give up on my faith.

• Isaiah 40:31

• 31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;  they shall mount u p w i t h w i n g s a s eagles;  they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

• Notice mount up, run the race, walk in the spirit, help us torun

3ft from Gold

• T h i n k & G ro w r i c h b y Napoleon hill. 

• The book begins by taking it's namesake from the story Napoleon Hill tells of in "Think and Grow Rich" about R.U. Darby, the man who sold his gold mine to a junk dealer, only to learn later that he was only 3 feet from a major vein. 

• The moral being, never give up, you may only be 3 feet from gold. 

We Run Away From Processes yet God is a God of process

• Process helps us to know when we are wrong!

• P r o c e s s h e l p s u s t o understand how things work and therefore we can fix them when they are wrong.

• Te a c h i n g H o s p i t a l u s e processes as opposed to many private hospitals who don't use process of tests, e l im inat ion, checks and balances

• Let's not lose faith

We Need A Few Good Men

• Raise men up in this  nation because We need heroes, We have to decide and We have to make a choice 

• Matthew 26:39 • 39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and

prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

• We have to make up our minds because you can't ask others to do why you are not willing to do 

• God is making a demand on us

If You Are Willing & Obedient 

• Isaiah 1:17-20

• 17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.  18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 

•19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 

• 20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. We are not to worry about other people's disobedience but our obedience 

The Devil has a plans to destroy us but where is Gods?

• Chess Clock & eternity side

• Eternity stopes when we accomplish things in time

• Q u i c k e n i n g a n d hastening the return of our lord

• Obedience 

• Noah & the prostitute in Jericho

The insanity of Noah In building the ark when it had not rained on the earth!

• The story, as told in Genesis, is a serious account of the reality of human accountability to God, a story that, if believed, would cause people to shake in their shoes!

• It's a lesson about Disobedience, Destruction, and Deliverance.

• "By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith." (Hebrews 11:7, NIV)

The Boldness of the Prostitute at Jericho

• Have you ever read about Joshua, the spies, Rahab and the Jericho Wall?

• Do you know that Rahab was a prostitute but became a woman of decision, courage and faith for the purpose of saving her family?

• She took a risk in believing all that she had heard about the Israelites' God to save her entire family.

Will you choose to do likewise?

• The butterfly effect

• We may not see the effect of our prayers a n o b e d i e n c e because God has p u t t h a t i n h i s master plan

• We must obey and walk in faith