MANY MORE

‘MANY MORE’

A call to stay with the Word

When I was in the university, I purposed not receive any message/sermon from anyone if he/she would not back-up every fact/truth with several verses of scriptures. I had been greatly influenced by a Pastor who sat under the teaching of Pastor George Adegboye AKA Walking Bible, so he too quoted scriptures immensely. As a result of this, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, I could quote several chapters of the Pauline epistles by heart (not leaving out a single word). Therefore, no preacher was to be excused, there had to be scriptures to buttress his/her assertions (whether in context or even out of context).

John 4

²⁸ The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,²⁹ Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

³⁰ Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.³⁹ And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.⁴¹ And many more believed because of his own word;⁴² And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

Truth be told, the words of the Samaritan woman did have a degree of impact on her audience. In the same vein, if someone preaches a message at you with no particular reference to scriptures, the message will still have a certain level of impact in your life. By the way, this woman remains the first Evangelist ever in Bible history.

On the other hand, when the Samaritans heard the words of Jesus, when they heard from the horse’s mouth, when they connected to the source, ‘many more’ believed. It is high time we got dissatisfied with the ‘many’ kind of harvest but move to the ‘many more’ kind of harvest. When we consciously stay with the word and allow our audience to connect directly to the source, then we will have ‘many more’ harvest.

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.  I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power. (1 Cor 2:1-5 NIV).

Here, Paul affirms his stance on staying with the Word and the importance of doing so. As soon as we depart from the Word, we embark on a switch from the spirit to the flesh.

One day, at a meeting somewhere, the preacher had just gone about 20 minutes into the message when the lady seated next to me leaned side-ways and whispered “please, has he made any scriptural reference since he started’? Now this shows that human beings, especially serious Christians are not gullible. We like to check something again before we accept it as true. Remember the Berean Jews? They knew that they had an assignment/home work to do (Acts 17:11).

Apostle Paul, in his letters, was generous in making reference to the Old Testament scriptures (the law and the prophets) 1 Cor 15:1-4).

We should preach in such a manner that the hearers have something to go back home and check again because they know exactly where to find it in the Bible. We must stop the

vagueness.

“The Bible says, the Bible says” – where exactly in the Bible is it? Because many, by so doing have quoted African proverbs and lyrics of songs at us and we have swallowed them.

Jesus Christ (His death and resurrection) remains the centre of the Gospel (John 5:39). All of the Law and the Prophets point to him, His disciples point to Him, the Apostles point to Him and so must we as we magnify His very Word.

Are you ready for the ‘many more’ kind of harvest?