CONDITIONS FOR REVELATION

MEMORY VERSE: for I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him, Genesis 18:19.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Judg 15, Acts 19, Jer 28, Mark 14

BIBLE STUDY: Genesis 18:17-21

There are certain conditions that must be satisfied before the Lord reveals things to a fellow. Firstly the fear of the Lord must be deeply rooted in the heart of the fellow. According to Psalm 25:14, God shares His secret with people who fear Him. A fellow who fears God will not toy with sin at all. Proverbs 16:6 says by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil. The tendency to do evil is in everyone but the fear of the Lord drives people from committing evil or participating in evil. Secondly the fellow must raise his children and household in the fear of the Lord. In 1Timothy 3:1-13, Paul told Timothy before you anoint a man to the office of a Deacon or Bishop , first of all check how he runs his household. Where his children and household spend eternity, is it a concern for him? If it is a concern for him, he will rule and raise them in the fear of the Lord. If that is not his priority don’t bother anointing him because a man who does not love his family enough to do everything in his power to get them to heaven will not love the church of God.

How you raise your children and household is directly proportional to the level of revelation you will get from God. In other words whether God will reveal things to you or not is dependent on the effort you put in to training your wards. When God was contemplating whether to tell Abraham His plans or not, He concluded by saying I know Abraham, He will command his children and household after Me. God was not obliged to reveal His plans to Abraham but He did so because He knew that Abraham took raising children up in the fear of God as priority.

The question is how did God know that Abraham was going to raise His children and household in the fear of the Lord? Well God is God and He knows all things. According to Isaiah 46:10, God makes known the end from the beginning and from the ancient times things that are not yet done. Asides this, how you train the child of others is how you will train yours. After the death of Nahor (Abraham’s brother), Abraham took Lot and raised him as a son. Abraham raised Lot up in the fear of the Lord. Despite the atrocities of Sodom, Lot managed to keep himself pure. Not only that, Lot raised his two daughters has virgins in Sodom all thanks to the training Lot received from Abraham. Thirdly, the fellow must be upright. Psalm 11:7 says for the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright. To be upright is being in accord with what is right or to be honest.

POINT TO NOTE: When you raise a child in the fear of the Lord, you are preparing him to be used by God to influence nations.

CONDITIONS FOR THE GETTING THE ‘NEW’

MEMORY VERSE: therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new, 2 Corinthians 5:17.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Num 31, Ps 75-76, Isa 23, 1 Jn 1

We all want something new in one area of our life of the other. Some want a new name for example a single bro and sister becoming Mr and Mrs; a student becoming a graduate; a failure becoming a success e.t.c. Some just want to sing a new song. The children of Israel sang a song of sorrow for over 400 years but after they crossed red the sea they sang a song of Joy, Exodus 15:1-21. Some want a new beginning or a fresh start or new walk in Christ for example all the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11) wanted was a second chance or a fresh start. Others want a new job, challenge, working environment, career e.t.c. We all want something new either for ourselves or for someone close to us.

God is still in the business of giving His children new things . The bible records that He renews His mercies over my life every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23), I believe He does the same for you too. The word ‘new’ suggests the existence of the word ‘old’. Without the ‘old’, you cannot have the ‘new’. To have the ‘new’, there are one or two conditions you need to satisfy. Firstly, to have the ‘new’ you must be tired of the ‘old’. A change for the better only comes when you become tired of your present situation or state of things. I heard the testimony of a sister who lost the gift of speaking tongues. For several years she prayed and prayed but nothing happened. One night she became tired of her weak spiritual life and began to violently call on God; within an hour she received this precious gift back.

Secondly, to have the ‘new’ the ‘old’ must first pass away. For you to experience a change that will bring the ‘new’, the ‘old’ must pass away - old mentalities, old ways of doing things ; old beliefs ;old attitudes to work and time e.t.c. A wise man once said if you keep doing what you are doing, you will keep getting what you are getting. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. If you have giving your life to Christ and the people around you cannot notice any changes in you then there is work to do. Once everything becomes new, people around you will notice - your lecturers, managers, supervisors, parents’ e.t.c. A particular sister was making her way home from work when some thugs approached her; they knelt down and asked her to pray for them. Although this sister did not know them from Adam, these thugs saw something different in the way this sister dressed and carried herself.

QUESTION: Can strangers just by observing you conclude that you are a born again Christian?