CONTENTS

• Give me this Mountain
• Healing for Today
• God’s Pattern for Revival in Nigeria
• How to Conduct a Service?

GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN

"Caleb said unto Joshua Thou knowest the thing that the Lord said unto Moses concerning me and thee, and Moses sware saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, because thou hast wholly followed the Lord. Behold the Lord kept me alive, as He said, these forty and five years. Now therefore give me this mountain. Joshua blessed him and gave Caleb... Hebron for an inheritance" (Joshua 14:6-14).

It will be remembered that in H. O. L. D. No. 14 in the article "Giants or grasshoppers" we spoke on how the ten spies misled the people. Those spies judged God's promises by their senses, not being ready to exercise their faith that what God had planned and promised He would perform.

They developed unbelief as a result of trusting their senses, and spread unbelief among the Children of Israel. As a result, the Children of Israel perished in the wilderness and never enjoyed the Land of Promise, in spite of this being God's Will and purpose. God had given it to them but it was their task to 'go in and possess' the land (to make their calling and election sure). They failed because of their unbelief, not because God's power was insufficient or unavailable.

But there were two men who had FAITH, Joshua and Caleb. They were with the group of spies, they saw the fruit and blessings of the land God had given them, they also saw the giants and mountains. But they believed God's promises and expressed their faith publically in the midst of all the unbelief of their own company. Joshua became the successor of Moses, and led the new nation of Israelites who captured the giant's capital of HEBRON, and completely destroyed the giants of ANAK (Josh 10:36). Then came the time to divide their new inheritance among the victors. Caleb stepped forward to lay his claim to his inheritance.

 

 

GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN

It must have been a wonderful sight to see this old man of at least 85 years of age ask for the most difficult stronghold in the whole country. As one of the spies, he had desired it and asked for it to be his portion later. He laid claim to it before it belonged to the Israelites. He claimed it by faith before he saw it captured. He knew God's principle of faith "Whatsoever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mark 11:24).

For 45 years he lived with the unbelievers in the wilderness, watching his own country people die without inheriting their inheritance. But he lived and fought to capture that which he had claimed by faith 45 years before.

Caleb believed God for preservation for 45 years. Faith kept him alive and he believed he would not die until God had granted him his claim. Caleb believed God for daily health and strength to enable him to prove God's power and promises to those who trusted Him.

Caleb believed that God would also fulfil His promises no matter how old he was or how weak. His faith was in God alone.

But Caleb also believed in his own ability in God to take that great stronghold of the enemy and the mountain and city of Hebron. He believed he could and would possess that desired great mountain and city. He had climbed several mountains before he claimed Hebron. He had climbed it when he first saw it and desired it, it was his mountain of VISION.

He climbed it many times during his wilderness life as the mountain of PROMISE. He climbed the mountain and vision and promise when he claimed the POWER to capture it and then it became the Mountain of Deliverance and Transformation. All these mountains had to be climbed by Caleb before he actually possessed his possession.

It was probably because of the atmosphere of faith that surrounded the city of Hebron which made King David make it his capital of Israel. It became a city of blessing to all Israel because of the faith of one man, Caleb. But Caleb had grown up in faith and it had become his normal way of life.

He had seen Moses hold out the rod over the Red Sea which separated the waters and enabled the host of Israel to escape out of the grasp of the Egyptians. He had seen God's provision of food daily for the host of Israel in the wilderness and the miraculous healing of the people on so many occasions.

He had firmly accepted God's plan for Israel to have the Promised land and his faith

never wavered in spite of the great unbelief the nation.

So it is not surprising that faith should also be found in his family. After Caleb

had taken possession of the Mountain and City of HEBRON, his daughter got married

to one of the family, and she followed her own father's way of life by asking for  what she needed, she wanted the best for the family - She asked her father for a portion of land (Josh. 15:18).

Then she also asked for springs of water for the land. She wanted a constant supply of nourishment for her portion. She married man of faith, who had also learned how to put action to faith and possess what he felt was his portion (Josh. 15:16-17). Faith begets faith and cultivates faith in others.

One lesson which God wanted to teach the Children of Israel was that they had to take the promised land portion by portion. It was not one great ACT OF FAITH, they had to move forward daily in faith, they had to conquer each mountain and city in faith. They had to fight each battle separately in faith.

This is what God had told them; “I will not drive them out from before you in one year...let the land become desolate... by little and little I will drive them out...until thou be increased and inherit the land" (Exod. 23:29-30, Deu. 7:22-24).

We are saved by an act of our faith; we are healed as a result of a definite act of faith; we are filled with the Holy Spirit as a result of an act of accepting by faith.

Then God expects us to climb every mountain and conquer it by faith, to possess every portion of land (blessings) He has promised us. God made it clear to the people that He desired them to have the land.

'He brought us OUT from thence, that He might bring us IN, to give us the land" (Deut. 6:23).

But they had to claim it; had to conquer it by faith. Let us lay claim to all He has promised us.

Salvation, Healing, Holy Spirit's fullness, Victory over Satan daily, Daily blessings and provision and also the conquering of the land from Satan which belongs to our God.

Lessons we may learn from this story.

1.    "Without faith it is impossible to please God" (Heb. 11:6).

2.    God looks for personal faith in His people, not general faith.

1. There is a need to hold firmly to what ever God has shown us, or spoken to
2. us and to declare it boldly and fearlessly. That exhibits faith.
3. There is a need for keen Christian groups in Nigeria today to seek God's Will and
4. plan for their personal lives and also for the faith to tackle problems around them.
5. Do not tackle mountains first. God's dealings with us begins with small hills and proceeds to higher mountains as we exercise faith to tackle them.
6. God is looking for men (and women) who are prepared to allow their lives to
7. be controlled and operated in faith and not by their senses.
8. We already have God's promises for dealing with some 'mountains' today, sin, sickness, Satan. Make your claim clear NOW.
9. We know now, with certainty, that the Lord Jesus is the rightful ruler of this
10. world and that He will soon take over the reign again, to rule in righteousness.
11. Jesus Christ is now training His 'Calebs' to live and claim and climb mountains.
12. Have you got any 'mountains' you can not conquer.

WE DECLARE   OUR   FAITH   AT H. O. L. D.

WE KNOW that the Lord started this magazine H O. L D., THEREFORE we claim the means to continue it in spite of paper problems and finance.

WE KNOW that the Lord wishes Northern Nigeria to hear the gospel, THEREFORE we claim more men and means to send them the gospel in the next two years.

WE KNOW that it is the Lord's will for revival to cover the whole country, THEREFORE we claim a stirring in the hearts and lives of many young people now turning to the Lord.

We do not claim the whole of Nigeria for Christ. We are leaving some part of it for YOU to claim.

(Caleb did not claim the whole country, he too wanted others to exercise faith and take possession of their claims).

"We know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him" (I John 5:15).

HEAR YE THE WORD OF THE LORD

"It is essential that a great deposit of faith be found in your hearts. The faith that is needed at this time is the faith that can remove mountains, says the Lord.

There are mountains that lie ahead of you, that are appearing in front of yon. There are mountains in the form of authorities; in the form of finance and means; and the opening of doors.

All these are necessary and I would urge you to have a living faith among you because you believe God.

Faith can make a way My people and I want you to find that way and follow it...”

HEALING FOR TODAY

Most Christians believe that God has the power to heal and that He does heal at times today. But many have vague ideas of the Bible reasons why God heals. Real faith in healing must be based, not on experiences, not on feelings or even in what God can do, but must be based on what God has promised to do.

This lesson will seek to instruct the believer in the Bible's promises and thus enable every Christian to minister healing to needy seekers. God is moving in these days again.

God made a covenant of healing with His people (Exod. 15:26)

"If thou wilt...I will put none of these diseases upon thee...for I am the Lord that healeth thee" (Exod. 15:26).

God wanted His people to be healthy and made full provision for them to be healthy. This is still God's plan. God wants you to be healthy so that you can serve Him properly.

But note that there are conditions to this promise of health. Because man has sinned and our bodies are now subject to disease and sickness God must also make provision for healing.

GOD REVEALED HIMSELF AS "JEHOVAH-RAPHA" - I AM THE LORD THAT HEALETH THEE

He healed Miriam after she committed the sin of opposing Moses authority. He healed the children of Israel when they sinned and were bitten by serpents (Numbers 21:7-9). Read carefully what Jesus said about this in John 3:14-16. The brazen serpent was a type of Himself who would heal all who looked to Him.

Naaman, an ignorant heathen came to Elisha and obeyed God and was healed (II. Kings 5)

1. God called sickness captivity (Job 42:10)
2. The Lord Jesus called it bondage (Luke 4:18, 13:16)
3. The Holy Spirit called sickness oppression (Isa. 58:6, Acts 10:38)
4.  It was Satan who put boils on Job (Job. 2:17)
5. It was God who healed him (Job. 42:10). There are many today who say that God
6. sends sickness as a blessing. If this is so then it would seem that God is now doing
7. what Satan once did.

Sickness was a curse in the O. T. Read Deut. 28.

There are 11 different diseases stated here as curses. It is clear that sickness is a curse which has been brought into the world by sin. But since the Lord Jesus Christ died to remove the curse, then we can claim the promise of healing and health.

"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us" (Gal. 3:13).

HEALING IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

"Jesus, went about all Galilee teaching, preaching and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of diseases...He healed them all" (Matt. 4:23-24).

A large part of the Lord's ministry was healing the sick in which multitudes of people were delivered from all manner of diseases and sicknesses. No sickness could stand before Him. No demon could defy His commands.

He healed the leper, the paralytic, the blind, deaf, dumb, and palsied and bed ridden. This ministry was a sign of the new Kingdom of Heaven which the Lord came to bring.

Jesus called His disciples and gave them the same ministry

Jesus "gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of diseases" (Matt. 10:1). He also said; "As ye go, preach, saying The Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils; freely ye have received, freely give" (Matt. 10:7-8).

He gave this authority to the original 12 and them to the 70. Jesus stated that healing was a proof of the new Kingdom among men. He never insisted they were members of any temple or even were recognized as good or holy men, all He demanded was faith in Himself and His ability to heal them.

The Lord commanded His disciples to heal just as He had done; "As the Father sent me...so send I you" (John 20:21). 

The great Commission

"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature and these signs shall follow them that believe. In my Name shall they cast out demons, they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" (Mark 16:15-18).

Among the signs that follow true believers was the casting out of demons and the healing of the sick. Some Christians insist that this promise was only for the first century Christians. But the Lord also stated; "Go ye...observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, lam with you always, even unto the end of the age" (Matt. 28:18-20).

Thus did the Lord make it clear that all these signs would be till the end of the age until He comes again.

DIVINE HEALING IN THE CHURCH

The early church faithfully carried on the ministry of healing; "They preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, confirming the WORD with signs following" (Mark 16:20).

A lame man was healed at the gate of the Temple and this resulted in 5000 being converted (Acts. 4:4).

"By the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people" (Acts. 5:12,16).

An evangelist, Phillip had a mighty revival in Samaria in Acts 8, in which many were healed. Paul declared he had fully preached the gospel by means of mighty signs and wonder (Romans 15:19).

The writer to the Hebrews stated that this ministry was confirmed by God with) signs and wonders (Heb. 2:3-4).

Ministry of healing inside the churches

No word or instruction is ever given for a sick Christian to be sent to a doctor or hospital. But no one should ever condemn the work of hospitals or medicine as God is using these means to help in the work healing, and many are wonderful Christian. But God's word states clearly; "Is there any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of   the Lord; and the prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up" (James 5:14-16).

Gifts of healing for the ministry 

I Cor. 12:1; "And to another the gifts of healing” (verse 9).

The operation of gifts in the church today is a confirmation of the testimony of the Lord’s words and that this ministry should continue until the Lord's return. The Lord intends these gifts to remain in continuous operation. They are miraculous gifts and are not acquired by learning or training.

HOW WE CAN CLAIM HEALING TODAY

DIVINE HEALING IS IN THE ATONEMENT

"When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils; and He cast out the spirits with His Word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses" (Matt. 8:16-17, Isa. 53:4).

This is the great basis for healing today. It has been purchased by the Lord Jesus for us just in the same way, and at the same time, as He purchased our salvation on the Cross.

Jesus bore my sin and sickness on the Cross. Healing is part of my inheritance in the same way as pardon is also mine by faith. The Lord Jesus died to become MY SAVIOUR. The Lord Jesus also died to become MY HEALER.

In John 3, God's great declaration of SALVATION is also illustrated by the incident in Number 21:5-9 where the command for healing was to look in the same way when we are sick we are commanded to look to the Lord Jesus as our healer.

JESUS CALLED HEALING 'CHILDREN'S BREAD' 

In Mark 7:27, the Lord rebuked a Gentile woman who came to Him claiming healing for her daughter stating; "Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the CHILDREN'S BREAD, and cast it to dogs."

That Gentile woman could not lay any claim to healing, she was not of the family. But because she exhibited such faith and took the 'dogs' place, she was granted her request.

The Lord confirmed that Healing was for every member of God's family, for every 'born again' child of God, it is our right.

HEALING IS ONE OF THE BENEFITS OF EVANGELISM

Jesus read from the Bible in Luke 4:18-19; "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent we to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised."

He then went out into the world to demonstrate the scope of that calling and mission, and He performed many miracles and proved His power and authority over all sickness and even death.

The need for the power of healing to prove the claims of Christ are certainly as great today in Nigeria and especially where the Lord Jesus is denied as the Son of God. Miracles of healing are the answer.

THE LORD PROMISED TO GIVE US WHATEVER WE ASK IN HIS NAME

"And whatsoever ye ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it" (John 14:13-14).

If we ask for healing in Christ's name, shall we not receive? When you ask for healing, "believe that ye receive, and ye shall have" (Mark 11:22-24).

THE LORD WILL HEAL BECAUSE SATAN CHALLENGES HIM BY PUTTING SICKNESS ON PEOPLE

When the Lord met a leper, He was challenged (Mark 1). The leper said I know you can heal me, but will you? The leper was saying that he knew Jesus was powerful enough to heal him but doubted whether Jesus loved him enough to do so.

The Lord answered; "I will, be thou clean" (Mark 1:14). It is Satan's work to destroy and kill, it is Jesus' work to heal, make alive and cleanse and restore all who asked Him in faith.

THE LORD JESUS HEALS THAT HE MIGHT DESTROY THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL

"For this purpose the Son of God was manifest, that he might destroy the works of the devil" (I John 3:8).

Luke, the writer of Acts stated that Jesus went about healing all that were oppressed of the devil (Acts 10:38). The Bible thus makes it clear that sickness and disease are associated, either directly or indirectly with the devil. Christ heals today because He wants to destroy those works. Not all sickness is the direct work of Satan but we can still claim our deliverance as children of God because Satan was directly responsible for bringing sin into the world.

The Lord heals today, because HE IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY and FOR EVER (Heb. 13:8)

GOD'S PATTERN FOR REVIVAL IN NIGERIA

The Lord commanded; "Go, preach the gospel, baptise the believer and teach them and make disciples" (Mark 16:15-16).

When the Lord Jesus died he laid the foundation whereby everyone can be saved and He rose again to work for that purpose from the throne. He sent the Holy Spirit into the world to fill people to give them the power to witness, and gather the converts and train every one of them to become soldiers. God intended that the Church should be the training ground for the Christian Task Force to take over the whole world.

In the Acts (which could really be called Acts of the Holy Spirit) we see the Holy Spirit at work equipping and working through disciples and converts and spreading the gospel over the then known world. Those men had seen the revival start on the Day of Pentecost, had seen it spread across the city of Jerusalem. "Great power" and "great grace" was upon them all (Acts 4:33). Thousands had been converted and they had seen some wonderful miracles and healings and had been arrested and freed. Within their fellowship their existed a wonderful oneness of heart and soul and counted everything as loss for the sake of the gospel (Acts 4:32; 5:12).

The revival moved into Samaria and into the Gentile world and as the churches became established they saw the Holy Spirit taking control and sending out chosen vessels to other parts (Acts 13:1-4). But they also witnessed the great number of converts also witnessing and being scattered all over the world by persecution, so that they took the gospel with them. God used Satan to spread the work.

The revivals spread to Antioch (Acts 13:49; 19:20, 26), to Philippi (Acts 16:12-40), Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-9) and Ephesus (Acts 18:19 - 19:41). The revival was a continuing story of Pentecost and yet the Christians had no special training, no special calling, no special talents.

What then was the secret of the revivals in the Acts? Firstly, the early church regarded EVANGELISM AS THE SUPREME TASK OF THE CHURCH and every convert was expected to be a soul winner and witness. They fully surrendered themselves and all their goods to the work.

They knew God demanded complete holiness and Peter led by the Holy Spirit was ready to pronounce the death sentence upon two of their members, because they were not completely holy. The conclusion is clear; If we are prepared to pay the price then God is prepared to send us revival.

The Lord is moving in revival in many parts of Nigeria now and there is a   great expectation among Christians that this will spread and involve the whole country. We believe that this is a real move of   God for a special purpose at this time, but we also feel that there is a part for Christians to play in bringing that revival and this article is written to try to help all Christians to see that it comes.

Make no mistake about it, the responsibility for revival rests with us. Billy Graham has stated "I believe that we can have revival any time we meet God's conditions. I believe that God is true to His word and that He will rain righteousness upon us if we meet His conditions."

The question now is; Do we want a revival? Do we want God's will to be done? Are we ready to pay the price?

Every hindrance to the flow of God's grace must be removed. Unbelief, lust, lying, cheating, unclean thoughts and filthy speech, dirty habits, cursing, ingratitude, indifference, prayerlessness, unforgiving spirit, backbiting, envy, jealousy, bitterness, deceitfulness, selfishness, hypocrisy and whatever it is, must be confessed and forsaken.

There must be fall repentance before we can expect revival. There must be a willingness to make things right with those we have wronged too. 

No revival can come into our hearts until sin is out of the way. In fact, until we do this, we are standing in the way of God's blessing to others. It is pious humbug to hold all-night prayer meetings for revival when we hide sin in our lives. There must be confession and consecration to God.

PREVAILING   PRAYER

Prayer implies our complete identification with the purpose of God. Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our preaching, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers.

Believing, persistent, determined prayer is the only way of victory. Whatever limits are imposed upon the power of prayer are entirely of our making. We can organize crusades, plan and work for revival, but it will NOT come until we have fulfilled God's conditions.

Such prayer and praying is never easy, it demands sacrifices and will make us face the cross. Prayer for the Lord Jesus was sweat, tears and blood (Luke 22:44). The battle of Calvary was fought and won in prayer by the Lord Himself before He went to the Cross. That is the way revival begins.

The PRAYER OF THE EARLY CHURCH; "Grant unto Thy servants that with all boldness they may speak WORD by stretching forth Thy hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be. done by THE NAME of Thy Holy Child Jesus, and when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with THE HOLY SPIRIT" (Acts 4:29-31).

The Book of Acts is the pattern of God's operations for His Church. God has not changed and the need of the people has not changed. Jesus Christ has not changed and neither should we try to change the way God works. The world is waiting for the Church to return to this pattern in all its fullness and glory and then we shall see revival.

Three principles are stated in the early Church which we need to follow today. 

1. They preached the WORD. It convicted and converted.
2. They were filled and anointed with the HOLY SPIRIT, who confirmed and produced the miracles which established the gospel and its power.
3. They knew the authority of and used the NAME of Jesus. It was their credential and authority.

Here we see the importance God placed upon HIS WORD.

THE WORD

"The Word of God increased" (Act 6:7).

"The Word of God grew and multiplied" (Acts 12:24).

"The Word of God prevailed" (Acts 19:20).

"They spoke the word of God with boldness" (Acts 4:31).

The early disciples proclaimed the word and not their own ideas or explanations or stories. IT IS THE WORD WHICH CONVICTS. It convicted even the priests because they realized that Jesus Christ was alive because of the miracles which He wrought.

It was because the early disciples gave themselves "to the ministry of the word" (Acts 6:4) that the "word of God increased and the number of disciples multiplied" (Acts 6:7). It was not a denomination or an organization they preached, it was the word, Jesus Christ.

God watches over His Word to perform it (Jer. 1:12).

God's Word cannot return to Him void (Isa. 55:11).

God sends His Word and heals the sick (Psa. 107:20).

God's Word is God's power to salvation (Rom. 1:16).

God's Word wields the same power and force as God Himself.

Therefore, study the word, preach the word, digest the word. We must study God's word, we must act on it, we must live it. It must control our thoughts and our feed our faith. It must be the controlling factor of our lives and we must have a 'word' for every operation. God must Honor His own Word.

THEY WERE FILLED AND ANOINTED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

If the early church was to 'continue' the ministry of Jesus Christ which He 'began'; if they were to act representatively in His Name and continue doing His works, they must be anointed with the same spirit, they must be filled with the same Holy Spirit.

Jesus said; "The Spirit of the Lord is upon ME" and then He spoke of His ministry of deliverance, healing and proclaiming the Word.

The same ministry is required today to meet the growing desperate needs of the people and the 'deliverers' must be truly anointed with the Holy Spirit.

"God anointed Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 10:38).

The book of Acts sets forth the foundation of the ministries of the task of World Evangelism. The first foundation was the fullness of the Holy Spirit. We cannot attempt or succeed in doing God's work unless we do it in God's way, by being filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8; 2:4; 5:4; 9:14-15; 9:17).

The first sermon after Pentecost promised:

1. Salvation for "Whosoever" shall call.
2. The filling of the Holy Spirit for "all flesh".
3. "Signs and wonders."

Only the Holy Spirit can give the power to produce such evidence. In Acts, every man who was filled with the Holy Spirit gave evidence of:

1. A miracle ministry
2. A soul winning ministry
3. A healing ministry. The early church had no other type of preachers. It is the Holy
4. Spirit who has set us apart for His ministry. We must obey and yield to Him. He must
5. be sought to anoint us, as He anointed Jesus Christ, so that we can heal the sick, cast
6. out demons, open the eyes of the blind, deliver captives and preach the gospel (Luke 4:18). It is the Spirit's will that we continue to do the same work.

THE NAME, JESUS CHRIST

All that Jesus is, is in His Name.

All that God is, backs that Name.

They cast out devils in His Name.

They wrought miracles in His Name.

They healed the sick in His Name.

They performed signs and wonders through the use of that Name.

They wield an authority b y speaking the Name that brought fear upon all who heard them (Acts 4:17-18).

Persecutions followed the preaching in that Name (Acts 5:41-42).

In the name of Jesus, we have;

Salvation for our soul;

Healing for our bodies;

Victory over the forces of Satan;

Access to our Father.

The Word, the Spirit, the Name are the three principles of the successful work of the early church.

Let us repent, be baptized, filled with the Spirit and surrender our all to the Lord Jesus and pray and work for Revival in our days in Nigeria.

HOW TO CONDUCT A SERVICE?

How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done to edifying" (I Cor. 14:26).

There is no record of any complete church service in the N.T. and God has not given any established order of service.

WHY?

Because under the new dispensation, where the Holy Spirit is the leader and controller of all that pertains to God's service and worship, there can be no distinct order of service. He will lead and control as He wishes, because of the different spiritual needs in each service. But there are certain principles which we do find established and we recommend that all Christians who are used of the Lord to lead and conduct any services, should re-assess their use and make sure that every church service brings glory to God and edification to Christians.

PURPOSE OF GATHERINGS.

1. The primary purpose of every gathering Christian anywhere and at any time, should be to worship God and glorify His Name.

2. We should always recognize the value and need of expressing our thanks for all the Lord has done for us physically, materially and spiritual. This can take the form of

songs or choruses of praise. "Whosoever offereth praise glorifieth me” (Psa. 50:23).

3. Every service should have an explicit purpose of providing edification, exhortation and comfort for the Lord's people.

1. Opportunity should be given for worshippers to make known their needs, problems or testimonies of the Lord's working in their lives, as well as making known decisions and dedications to the Lord.
2. Definite periods of prayer for the needs and problems of the work of God as well as the needs of Christians present or known (Acts 4:23-31; Acts 12:5-17).
3. Certain services should be devoted to prayer others to Bible instruction, so that every Christian can be trained to be a soul winner.

There is no paid ministry in the N. T. but God has given certain gifts to His people to enable them to minister to the needs of the Christians. The Bible says "A man's gift maketh room for him" (Prov. 18:16) and it will soon be manifest to any group of the Lord's people who has gifts among them which can be exercised for the blessing of all.

But all Christians are now part of the priesthood of the N. T. and no single person or small group of men should be allowed to control services. Every Christian should exercise his right and develop in ministry of some kind.

It must be expected that in every group of Christians called and gathered by the Lord, that there will be some who have the spiritual gift and ability to lead the group. Full opportunity should be given to such a one to do so but not exclusively so that he alone controls the group.

PRAISE

No rigid form of service should be followed. The Holy Spirit should be allowed to lead but a period of praise and worship should be devoted in each service and then a period of prayer should follow prayer.

Again this should, as far as possible, be a period when the Holy Spirit can use channels in requests and praise. A few short prayers are better than one long rambling prayer. 

EXHORTATION.

This is sometimes called the 'sermon' and should be designed under the Holy Spirit's guidance to meet the spiritual needs of the hearers. It should be based upon the Bible.

The Holy Spirit desires to use this part of any service as His opportunity to speak to the hearts of the listeners. It should not be used as an opportunity to abuse or criticize the congregation.

It is wise for the preacher to carefully prepare his message, asking the Holy Spirit to guide and use the message. Each message should have a definite objective as being a definite message from the Lord and not a rambling connection of various Biblical texts. Preach Jesus Christ. Do not be negative in your ministry, be positive and seek to lead everyone to Jesus Christ.

At the conclusion of a message, opportunity should be given for those who wish to make a decision to surrender themselves to the Lord, to seek healing for their bodies, or to themselves to the Lord for His service. Every gathering should result in some act of dedication to God.

OFFERING.

There is no instruction given in the N. T. regarding money and the present system of finance in our churches is largely man-made and many churches use the services merely as a means of securing money. The Lord confirmed the principle of tithing in the Law and the Lord Himself added his approval in Matt. 23:23 ("ye pay tithe… these ought ye to have done") and in Heb. 7:4-10.

God required His people to acknowledge His right, to their property and in the N.T. the Holy Spirit commands us to yield our all and our bodies to His service.

An opportunity should be given in most services for the people of God to give out of their abundance to the Lord's work. No pressure or demands or force should be used in taking up an offering. "The Lord loveth a cheerful giver" (II Cor. 9:7).

DEDICATION

Make it possible for an opportunity for anyone who needs advice and counsel at the close of every service, to be helped. Make sure every seeker is led to commit their lives fully to the Lord Jesus with prayer.

BENEDICTION

Let the final benediction be an act of blessing the congregation, "Lifting up holy hands” (I Tim. 2:8). 

It should be an act of bestowing grace and blessing to all.

SOULWINNER’S UNLIMITED NIGERIA (S.U.N)

This is Nigeria’s wonderful opportunity to join in PARTNERSHIP WITH GOD.

Although God is Almighty and has unlimited power, yet He chooses to invite men to join with HIM in taking and preaching the GOOD NEWS to mankind.

God is not worried about how much money you may have, He is the owner of all treasures of the world and so is not poor. His great plan and purpose is to use this ‘partnership scheme’ to create blessing for the partners.

When Elijah was sent by God to Cherith to prepare for the challenge with Baal, God could have provided miraculously for His servant’s needs. But instead He used a widow, whose only possession was a little meal and oil. But God asked for her to give that to Him and when she did so, the provision was miraculously multiplied.

When the Lord wanted to feed 5000 all He needed was a boy with 5 loaves and 2 fishes, his only meal. But God multiplied it.

When the Lord Jesus needed a boat, He asked Simon Peter to lend Him the one he owned. And on this occasion, the Lord so blessed that they could not contain all the fishes He brought to their nets.

So it will be for Nigerians who join in partnership with God to give just what they have, however small and we are sure that the Lord will multiply it in abundant blessings to the giver.

Many Nigerians are waiting to ‘GO’ with the gospel.

Will you become a partner with God in “Soulwinners Unlimited Nigeria”?