Acts of the Witness 

Chapter 3

 

                            The Way You Should Go

 

Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way by which thou shouldest go (Isa.48: 17).

 

And the LORD answered me, and said, write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry (Hab.2:2-3).

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses (1 Tim.6:12).

At the onset, we thought we had a good understanding of what the Lord was doing in our lives, but the time came when we had to ask him some basic questions. That decision stemmed from a discussion we had with Pastor Kola Ewuosho of the Fountain of Wisdom Ministries, then based in Kano. He counselled us to go before the Lord, with writing materials ready, and ask him specific questions about the vision and our wisdom of operation. On that occasion (and on subsequent occasions) the Lord addressed us on a number of issues. We will supply some of the highlights.

He started by giving us a basic understanding of His expectation of us. We are to demonstrate to both believers and unbelievers the kind of life He expects His children to live. We are to bear testimony to the fact that we can be holy, faithful and blessed in such a way as to enthrone His majesty. In other words, we are expected to be witnesses to His holiness, faithfulness, blessedness and majesty. In so doing, the Lord confirmed our initial understanding, as captured by Pius’ inspired prayer.

Financing the Vision

The Lord also told us that He was committing a project into our hands, and that we were to start it with nothing. “In this will all men know that I am the Provider and the All-Sufficient,” He added. That in itself (starting with nothing) was a sign. In the spirit of that demand, we were going to release the things that were precious to us. All He expected of us was His work and, in due time, he would bless us. He told us, again and again, not to beg. He was going to provide for us through men, but not at our instance. On our part, we were to make use of the provisions according to the guidance of His Spirit. Whatever came to one of us was for the use of the two. In addition, we were to desire opportunities to give.

Relationship with the Churches

In dealing with us about fellowships and ministries within the Body of Christ, the Lord gave us an instruction which we began to appreciate only after some time. “Refuse to be confined,” He said, “but remember to do everything with love.” We did understand, after a while, and this has formed the basis for our non-denominational outlook. He also spoke of His expectation of us, in relation to His Body: “Yours is no small purpose. From you will the world know that the Church is marching on.” He told us He would send us to build up some places, by which we understood that He was going to use us to build and strengthen some existing fellowships.

He also instructed us to write some of His ministers, resident in Nigeria and other parts of the world, and share with them our vision and peculiar experiences: “Tell them of these things” He said, “and their response and their attitude will build you up.” We duly complied with the directive but, till this moment, we are yet to receive a direct reply. One of the seven ministers we wrote sent us a Christmas card, a book authored by him and, for a while, magazines published by his ministry.

To us, that was more than sufficient encouragement. But after ten months, the Spirit reminded us of the assignment and brought to light the mystery behind it, including the lesson we needed to learn. These are His words: “I sent you to write to other parts of the world. Have they replied? Hasn’t their reply encouraged you?…Their reply is what has brought you this far.” We sought an understanding of these words and the lesson we needed to learn, and this is what we came to: When a man’s brethren and co-labourers in the Lord’s Vineyard, have written to him, telling him that they were instructed of the Lord to do so, the least he is expected to do is ask the Lord some questions – “Did you really send them? If so, what do I say to them?” Afterwards, he is expected to, at the least, acknowledge receipt of the mail and, possibly offer a word of counsel. It may not always be possible for everyone in every place to reply every correspondence, but the moment someone says “the Lord asked me to write you,” the onus is on us to prove or confirm it (1 The.5:19-21). In our case, most of the ministers replied with silence, something we did not mind, as we had no agenda of our own. But the Lord seemed to mind, as indicated above. With the benefit of hindsight, their silence was the encouragement we needed to push on. It only shows how much more we all need to do to make the Body what it should be.

Relationship with Each Other

At that point, Pius and Daniel were the only custodians of the vision. The Lord told us to avoid all “doubtful disputations” and “carnal bickering.” Our conversations were to be spiritually focused. In the spirit of humility, each was to consider the other better than himself. Whenever we were in conflict with ourselves, we were to come to Him, and He would resolve it. He told us that whatever was given to one of us was for the use of the two. We were to love each other, and by that frustrate the plans of those who come only to frustrate and set apart. We were to listen to one another in corrections. He said, “Whenever you know you are giving an excuse, be persuaded to know you are wrong. Take correction and ponder on your spirit at all times.”

The Training Ahead

The Lord told us repeatedly that it was going to be hard, and forbade us from asking Him to remove from us the battle we had to fight. He told us, “Manifest My glory. Let no man be able to ask of you at anytime: ‘What is the matter.’” The details of the training will feature in the next chapter. For now, suffice it to say that when it came, it was beyond everything we had imagined. The Lord, in His faithfulness, gave us advance warning, but our finite minds could not fully anticipate the rigorous times ahead of us.

Chapter 4