Christian Faith Is Better by Pastor Dolapo Lawal: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Fundamentals of our faith

Apostles address the body of Christ and put order in it. A pastor talks to the sheep God has put in his care

Some of what will be said might come off tough or hard, but it has to be said

There can be a problem brewing in our congregation, in our church and in our generation

There is order in the things of God

One of the most toxic areas on social media is Christianity. Everybody has an opinion. You give your life to Christ today and in 3 months you are talking to the body of Christ. It's not like that

Acts 2

When 120 people started speaking in tongues in the upper room, it was clear who the leader was. It was Peter. He was in charge and he was the one who explained that this is the prophecy of Joel Joel 2:28

Before Jesus died for the church, he first instituted the leader, Peter

Before God called Israel out of Egypt, he first picked their leader, Moses. Even with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night following them, when Moses was about to transition he told the Lord to pick a man to set over the people

Because God is in our midst doesn't mean there won't be a man leading. Anything that has two or three heads is a monster

The major problem in our generation is the comment section. People want to say their mind. Christianity is not an opinionated religion. We have a creed. We have a dogma. Christianity comes with a life and a culture

A Christian thinks through scriptures

Crazy things are being said. Paul is the problem of Christianity. I don't agree with everything in the Bible. Somebody said the Holy Spirit led them to open an OnlyFans page. How far is too far?

Christianity is now synonymous with indecent dressing. God is going to hold pastors responsible, so this is me doing my work

3 major problems in our generation

1. False salvation

   A lot of people go to church but they are not saved

   The idea of belonging before becoming is not working. "Let them just keep coming, over time they will change." They are not changing. It looks like we are doing something wrong

   Using programs and events to get people, other than the gospel, is also not working. Suya nights, jeans day, movie nights, karaoke gospel. Those things are not bad in themselves, but if that is what we use to get people, that is what we will use to keep them

   Miracle service is beautiful, but miracles are signs and wonders. They are not the destination. The destination is a person

   You can collect a miracle and go to hell. The people in the Bible had no problem receiving a miracle from Jesus. They had a problem receiving Jesus

   Healing is benevolence. You don't qualify for it by salvation. Saved or not saved, God in his mercy reaches out to you because he made you and he's good like that

   Healing, miracles, signs and wonders bring crowds but they don't make converts

   John 6

   Jesus multiplied bread, people ate and liked it. They came the next day and he said he would not give bread again. The bread he wants to give is his flesh and his blood

   John 6:66

   Many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more. After preaching that message he lost 5,000 members. That is what some people call failure in ministry. Jesus would rather have 12 sheep than 5,000 goats

   He didn't tell us to gather crowds. In England 60,000 to 70,000 gather every week to watch a football match. This is not a crowd game. He told us to make disciples

   Jesus asked the 12, "Do you also want to go?" He is talking to disciples, not the multitude John 6:67

   Peter's answer: we are not here for bread. We came to listen to the Bible. We didn't come here to shout amen. We came to hear the words of eternal life John 6:68

   That is the distinction between a churchgoer and a disciple. Many people in church are not disciples

   How false salvation works: we run a singles night or a business seminar. When we are done we say, "If you want Jesus to bless your business, come forward and give your life to Christ." That is not salvation. You have to hear the gospel and believe the gospel for it to qualify as salvation

   If you came to Jesus not because of what he has done for you in redemption, but for what he can give you, what you have is not salvation

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   Illustration: the campus fellowship

   I asked a campus fellowship, "What's the gospel?" They said, "Jesus is Lord." They couldn't articulate the gospel. Are they saved? To what were you baptized, if you can't explain the gospel?

   Ask an average Christian where we find the scripture that shows the possibility of salvation. They don't know it

   You can learn principles, wisdom and how to run your business from the Bible and not be saved

   This is false salvation, or what some call fake conversion

   You never want a doctor who tells you that you have malaria when it's cancer. He's worse than the disease. You want somebody to tell you exactly what is wrong with you. Please listen from a place of love

   When you receive forgiveness of sins, two functionalities enter your heart. If they are not there, you are not saved:

   1. You are dissatisfied with imperfection. You see who Jesus is, see who you are, see the difference, and you want to be like him. Kind like him, enduring like him, patient like him. That is repentance. The Greek word is metanoia, your mind has changed and you have turned to the Lord. You see sin the way God sees sin. If he doesn't call it a flaw, you don't call it a flaw. You call it sin. You see marriage from God's lens. One man, one woman

      Someone asked me, "What if this is how you are, you are attracted to the same sex?" I said, I'm not arguing that this is how you are. This is not how you are. But the Bible says deny yourself

   2. He can't take away your capacity to sin, but he takes away your ability to enjoy it. If you are sinning and enjoying it, you are not saved. The Christian heart feels remorse when it sins. It's called godly sorrow 2 Corinthians 7:10. Something in you tells you this thing is not connected with your nature
   3. Loss of appetite for sin. You don't plan sin. Planning sin is a Christian walking around with a condom when you are not married. That is not the Christian heart

   It is still righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost Romans 14:17. It won't bring down our standard because we are in the 21st century

2. False brethren

   Numbers 11:4

   This is the mixed multitude. When Israel left Egypt, some Egyptians and others who were not children of Israel left with them. They had their own gods. There is the congregation, the people of God, and there are some who are not with us but join us

   If they stay long enough they give Christianity a bad name. "A Christian did this to me." No, it was a mixed multitude. He is not among us

   Mixed multitude join church for what they can get. "I want to join for community" is not good enough. Hell has community

   Looking for a wife, a husband or friends is not why the church exists. Those things can come as we experience church

   We come to church for the perfecting and equipping of the saints Ephesians 4:12. We come to hear God's word. Join a church because they teach you God's word. If there is no stage light and the word of God is taught, it is a good church

   Don't join a church because the worship is nice. I've cried listening to worship before. Sometimes when you see a gifted person singing, you respond to their gift, not the anointing. Somebody does a run and you say "kai". It's not God

   Don't join because there are young people or because the sound is nice. That's not why

   We don't invite guest singers. If you can't come for the word, stay at home. We are not looking for crowd. God gave us a mandate to raise an end time army. Joining this church means enlisting yourself to be a soldier

   Some join a church because it has many CEOs. "Church is a place for networking." You are abusing the ecclesia. The early church was mostly poor people

   If you are a mixed multitude and you want to use the bread, what happened to Ananias and Sapphira will happen to you Acts 5. Even if you don't drop dead, things will be dying in your life where you have that user mindset

   The Christian heart asks, "What can I give to this church?" not "What can I get?"

   If we don't get these things right, our children will be given a Christianity that Christ won't recognize. How far is too far?

   A man of God said the older generation gave us prayer, the word and power. What we are giving this generation is packaged

   Illustration: the meeting in Chicago

   They wanted to employ me as pastor of a church in Chicago. I walked out, and I needed that job badly because I needed money. We had a 7 hour meeting and didn't even do an opening prayer

   I gave them 7 hours of grace hoping somebody would say something. We talked about the launch service, inviting a guest American singer, the strategy, our demography, our target market. We couldn't give 30 seconds to prayer. All it was about was how they can come, how they can come

   People get the pastor they deserve. You want God's word on a Sunday for 40 minutes, yet you don't read your Bible every day. We preach you into rest on Sunday. By Wednesday you are depressed because you spent four hours every day on Instagram and watched a whole series on YouTube

   Bible study, people don't come. That's another evil of modernized Christianity. On Sunday, where you have the most people, you water it down. Midweek is where you go deep into the word of God, and people don't come. Christians are tired of God's word

   Illustration: the video of a lady's testimony

   A lady said her choir member introduced her to prostitution. Through that influence she ran away from her grandparents' house and moved in with the choir member, who also introduced her to cocaine and ecstasy. From 15 to 17 she was stripping and prostituting

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   Everybody here is not looking for the same thing

   This is how you know false brethren. Somebody says, "I don't agree with everything in the Bible." It's not part of us. God is speaking. Who told you that you can say something? "Once I give my life to Christ, I can't use my brain?" Yes. You are sheep. You are led. That is exactly what I'm saying

3. Members, not disciples

   Luke 9:23

   A disciple is following. Following is an action you do

   Even as a pastor, I don't have the same influence on everybody's life in our church. Some people I advise. Some I ask what they want to do and I say okay. Some I can tell, no, don't do that

   When you don't understand the place people have put you in their life, telling them what to do is manipulation. So you step back and watch them self-destruct. People tell God, "Not so, Lord"

   He said follow me and I will make you. He doesn't make you to follow. You follow so he makes you. That is your decision

   You decide how much you want to lock into this Christian thing. You decide if you want it to be a game, a Sunday thing, or if you want to give him your life and pour yourself out on him as an offering. Especially when you are in a prophetic space

   Jeremiah 6:10

   Say this: this cannot be me. I love God's word

   John 8:31-32

   The disciple abides in his word. You don't call yourself a Christian and you are lying. You are cheating people. It's not consistent with scripture

   The freedom of living this Christian life truly cannot be explained. You have to experience it

   You will not get the best of God serving God and Satan. Even the best of Satan you will not get

   You will be more effective working for the devil if you are in church. You have spiritual capital from God, the anointing, which the devil can't give you. And you have a mask. You are doing the devil's bidding but people think you are doing it for God

Understanding the essentials of our faith

Gordon-Conwell's Center for the Study of Global Christianity estimates about 47,000 distinct denominations, including thousands of small independent churches, especially in Africa and Asia

47,000 different ideologies from a 66 book Bible

We must understand what makes us Christians and how we respond to other Christians who see things differently. If not, we'll make the mistake of the Corinthians 1 Corinthians 1:12-13

If we don't understand the essentials and non-essentials, we can enter into division of the body. We can also become judgmental and critical

When you listen to people who are not from your denomination or stream, you think they are going to hell and everything they do is wrong. Maybe a particular denomination dresses a certain way and you say they have the devil. You are wrong

There is a premise for understanding the essentials and non-essentials. If they pass those essentials, they are saved

Don't allow anybody to isolate you from the body of Christ

The difference between a church and a cult: in a church you are taught the word of God and helped to see that the word of God is also taught outside your church. In a cult, you are the only one correct. Every other church is wrong. If you are not in this church, you have missed heaven

When people leave cults, they don't reach out again. They just conclude they are no more in the faith. That is cult character

A sign of maturity is your ability to separate the speaker from the speech. Somebody can say something you don't agree with and it doesn't mean you abuse them

You can't condemn people into correction. You teach them, and people only learn from who they like. Talking hard at them hardens their hearts, and the more they stay in error

If you want to bring people out of false doctrine, don't shout at them that their doctrine is false. You give them a sense of comradeship. In their camp they say, "They are attacking us because we are correct." They leave rational thinking for loyalty. You are helping them stay in it

Pharisee and Sadducee is not an ethnic group. It is an ideology lying in wait to see what somebody will say that is wrong. People listen to sermons not to learn but to see if the preacher knows more

There was a time in my life I preached like this, determined to know nothing but Christ and him crucified 1 Corinthians 2:2. Once somebody started talking about marriage in church, I would carry my Bible and leave. "He doesn't know the gospel." Now when they drag me, I laugh, because I have sown the seed

God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap, a critical spirit Galatians 6:7

Once you have a critical spirit, you will stop hearing from God. You will focus on the letter but the spirit will not be there. People like that know the Bible but they don't know the Spirit. They can sermonize healing but they can't heal

One of the largest youth ministries in the world, with a pastor under 40, has less than 40,000. An old man of 84 in Nigeria has 15 million members and 250,000 pastors in Nigeria. You want to teach him ministry? Calm down

If you enter that Redemption Camp, even if he didn't build it, if he can conceive it, he's smarter than you

Illustration: my mom and giving

My mom and I were talking about giving. She said once she gives, God will do something. I told her that's not how the Bible teaches giving. She listened

When I left her, the Holy Spirit told me, "This woman has given three cars to pastors." You have not given a bicycle and you are teaching giving. You don't know what you are saying

In the sight of God I have the knowledge, she has the Spirit

Do not hinder a man of God

It's just advice, you can take it with a pinch of salt. If God sends a man of God and you insult him or hinder his ministry, judgment will come on you Luke 10:10-12

Some people are not receiving that man of God's ministry because of what you said. Once you insult a man of God or hinder him, the next thing is judgment

We don't go abusing people, even if they are not a man of God. If you want to abuse them, be sure God didn't send them. If you are not sure, don't do it

A man of God doesn't fight his battles. It is the country that sent him that gives him uniform

Decide this day

You have to decide this day who you shall serve Joshua 24:15

God is very used to sacrifice. Because he is used to sacrifice, we are surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses Hebrews 12:1. He can't drop his standard for us

You don't want to be lukewarm. If you want to be outside, do your mind. If you profess that you have given Jesus your life, don't collect it back

The scripture that applies is a dog going back to its vomit Proverbs 26:11, 2 Peter 2:22

They will not endure sound doctrine

2 Timothy 4:2-4

This is a prophetic word. It's Paul prophesying. Is it possible to pray against it? You plan against it. My prayer for you is that you will not fulfil negative prophecy

You don't pick a pastor who sounds like what you like. You pick a pastor who says how you ought to be. You don't join a church because you agree

The church is for equipping the saints to do the work of ministry Ephesians 4:12

The work of ministry is not having a good job. If it were, Jesus left his carpentry ministry for an inferior ministry

People finish with a first class and are diligent at their work without Christ. Being diligent at your work is not ministry

Being Esther is not your ministry, being in a place of influence. Your ministry is that because you are Esther you put your life on the line to preserve Judah. It must be consequential in soul winning. Your ministry is not a business

God never picked a job for somebody. Nowhere does the Bible say, "I want you doing farming." What it says is, whatever your hand finds to do, do it Ecclesiastes 9:10. But God called people out of jobs to do his work because that is his focus

Because you have a good job doesn't mean you are doing ministry. You can be failing in ministry because you have a good job

The work of ministry has always been about souls and the transformation of lives. And you have to build yourself

Sound doctrine might be boring to you. Sweet food kills. The ones that are not sweet nourish your body, and your flesh will catch up

When it's a worship meeting with a guest artist, people run there. When it's prayer meeting or Bible study, people don't come. They came for the worship meeting because they love music

If you were really interested in God, the same way you ran to worship is the same way you would run to Bible study

The true test of membership of a church is not Sunday service. It is prayer meeting and Bible study. If you are not consistent in Bible study and prayer meeting, you have not joined this church

Philippians 3:14

If you don't put these measures in place, things will be coming out of your life. You will see yourself doing again the things Jesus delivered you from. This time it will be harder because you will have pacified your conscience

My prayer for you is that you will not listen to somebody who tells you that God loves you like that. It's true: come as you are, but don't stay the way you came

What they like is feel good. "It's a new season, you're stepping into your moment." That's not the gospel. The gospel is Christ-centric. It is all about Jesus

Does the church have a message for Bill Gates?

If he sits in our services, can he see the need for the gospel? When we say God wants to bless you, he says, "I'm blessed." God wants to give you good health, "I can pay." Do we have a message for rich people? No. It's the poverty gospel that we preach

The gospel is seen when, no matter who you are, you hear it and know something is missing in your life

How can we relegate Jesus to material blessing? Did God die to give you a job? Almighty God did not come into this world and die so that you can have a child. People had that before Jesus came

The last time I checked, Jesus was poor. If it was about wealth, Solomon should have been our savior

"If you really follow God, he's going to bless you." It's not true. Go and ask Lazarus. The Bible calls some people wonders on earth

Faith and faithfulness

Hebrews 11:35-38

Our commitment to the people of God is that we will always present Christ

One faith is charismatic faith. That means I can use my faith to change things

The other faith is faithfulness. Even if God doesn't do it, I'm here Job 13:15

These are heroes of faith. They had no good clothes. They were destitute, afflicted, tormented. Of them the world was not worthy

That means God can look at a human being and say the world is not worthy of this person. Look at who God says the world is not worthy of

Someone suffering whom you say is afflicted by God. You are Job. People are laughing at you and saying you have sinned. And God is saying, "Satan, have you considered my servant Job?" Job 1:8

On judgment day you will be surprised. The people God will celebrate are those the world was not worthy of, homeless for the sake of the gospel, in dens and caves of the earth. In heaven they have special crowns. Don't miss it

You get to decide what this Christian thing will look like for you. Are you going to play games or lock in and follow Jesus? If it's not Jesus, I don't want it

C. S. Lewis said, "I didn't go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Burgundy would do that." If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, he did not recommend Christianity

Modern Christianity is often marketed like a self-help seminar with worship music in the background. Come to Jesus and your life will get easier. Come to Jesus and you will always feel good

Jesus never promised comfort. He promised a cross

Christianity will wreck your pride, confront your sin, kill your flesh, call you to forgive people who hurt you, and call you to stand for the truth when culture hates you for it

It will also give you what a bottle, a drug, money, sex, success or comfort never can: truth, purpose, redemption, eternal life

Christianity is not about making bad people feel better. It's about making dead people come alive

The gospel

Jesus died for me. He was buried and he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, for the forgiveness of my sins 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

Once I hear that message, the Holy Spirit convicts me, because he convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment John 16:8

Once that message comes to my heart, he supplies saving faith, faith for salvation. All I have to do is respond

If you cannot place your hand on a specific time where the gospel was clearly articulated and you put your faith in what Jesus has done for you, this is for you. Also if you are in a backsliding state, doing things he delivered you from and getting comfortable with sin

You are not saying a cute thing. You are making a powerful confession, a commitment that heaven and earth bear witness to. If you are not sure you want to make this confession, please don't

• Lord Jesus, thank you for what you have done for me.
• Thank you for dying for me, for your resurrection, for the forgiveness of my sins.
• Today, having heard the gospel, I receive newness of life and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
• Thank you because you will keep me and you are able to save me to the uttermost.
• I declare I'm saved and born again, living fully for you.
• I confess you as Savior and Lord over my life, in Jesus' mighty name. Amen.