HOW BEST TO RELATE WITH YOUR SPIRITUAL FATHER

Please let's um go into some scripture this morning. Psalm 106, verses 21 to 23, amplified Bible, classic edition. They forgot God. They are saved who had done such great things in Egypt, wonders and miracles in the land of Ham, dreadful and awesome things at the Red Sea. Therefore, He said, [Music] He would destroy them, and He would have done so, had not Moses, His chosen one, stepped into the breach before Him to turn away His threatening wrath.

I'm sharing this morning on how best to relate with your spiritual father. I begin by throwing just giving a summarized insight of some attributes of a spiritual father. A spiritual father is most of the time the head of a ministry or denomination of God's people. He is a carrier of the vision of the ministry. And some points you always, we always need to have in mind that the spiritual father does not have to be in age. He does not have to be older than you in age, in the, in the Lord, talking about year of salvation. Your spiritual father does not have to be older than you in Christ, talking about years of a call to ministry. Your spiritual father does not have to be older than you in ministry. Your spiritual father can be younger than you in age.

Also, the role of a spiritual father is not exclusively reserved only for male ministers. God can also choose a woman. A woman can also be the spiritual father, spiritual leader, or senior pastor of a ministry or denomination. And it's also very experienced when we define attributes of a spiritual father to also put across the people we call fathers in the faith. Fathers in the faith refers to senior ministers of God who have proven themselves as role models and true ministers of God. So we call them fathers, a father in the faith, a mother in the faith.

There are some roles and responsibilities of a spiritual father. One, he should reproduce Christ-like sons and daughters. Christ-like sons and daughters. Two, he should teach and train them in the way of the Lord, in the way of the Lord. Three, he should mold their character and attitude. Genesis 18, verse 19. He should mold the character, the attitude, the behavior of God's people, like he has the privilege to oversee. He should inculcate the right habits, manners, and attitude into their lives. Good manners, humility, self-control, submission, personal discipline, decent dressing, love, kindness, the fruit of the spirit. Number four, he should consistently show love to them, show love to God's people under his care. Number five, he should consistently pray and intercede for them. This is one of the very vital roles and responsibility of a spiritual father. He has the responsibility to pray, to intercede for all members of the church. And by so doing, he provides a spiritual covering, a spiritual covering and protection for them, a spiritual covering and protection for them. He should bless their lives, bless their future. He should prophesy over their lives and future. He should impact the intangible upon their lives.

And in this particular role, we see Moses at the time God became so angry with His children. The Bible says in Psalm 106, verses 21 to 23, that they forgot God, their Savior, who had done such great things in Egypt, wonders and miracles in the land of Ham, dreadful and awesome things at the Red Sea. Therefore, He said, God said, He would destroy them. So, it came to a point God became so angry, and you could come to that same point at some time in your life, either intentionally or by error. You could do something, you could say something that could deeply grieve the heart of God and offend the Lord, provoke the Lord, and something terrible could follow. But for the daily prayers of your spiritual father, who may not be aware of what you have said, he may not be aware of what you have done, but as he comes before God on his knees, pleading every day for God's mercy, for God's forgiveness of sins, forgiveness of mistakes, forgiveness of errors and offenses by all members of the church, the workers, the ministers in the ministry, if not for you, but for the sake of the intercession of that vessel that He has chosen and positioned over your life, God will show mercy, as He did for the people of Israel. In deference to the intercession of Moses, said God would have destroyed them. He would have done so, had not Moses, His chosen one. Moses was not elected and authentically that way of a church that God has instituted on this earth. He is chosen by the Holy Spirit. He is chosen by the Holy Spirit. I pray that every day of your life, the prayers of your spiritual father on your behalf will be answered by God.

Number six, he shall counsel and guide them to make the right decisions. Number seven, you should motivate and encourage them. You should motivate and encourage them. Number eight, he should help them to discover and attain their destiny and optimum potentials. A spiritual father should help them, God's people under his oversight, to discover and attain their destinies, discover their potentials, and attain their optimum potentials. Number nine, he should groom them for leadership. Groom them for leadership, different, and not just spiritual leadership, leadership in different spheres of life, at the home front, as a family, leadership in different sectors of the society. And number 10, he will correct and discipline, discipline them when necessary.

Now, there are some vital lessons to note about our dealings with our spiritual father. One, your destiny and future is connected to your spiritual father. Even before you were born, these things were ordained. And that's this is one of the terrible things about anger. This is one of the terrible consequences of pride. Pride and anger have made people move out of God's will. Pride, anger has made people walk out of God's ordained relationship for them. And in some instances, it includes relationship with in their spiritual life. Your destiny, your future is connected to your spiritual father. Necessarily a prominent minister, and that is an is a very important distinction. Not necessarily a prominent minister.

Two, there is a difference in God's vision and assignment for different ministries. [Music] Understanding this will help you to avoid grumbling. Understanding this will help you to avoid saying things you should not say, privately or publicly. Understanding this will save you from getting involved in some kind of agitation or even rebellion against the authority of your spiritual father. Because some people just expect that whatever is happening in another ministry must also be the process in their own ministry. It doesn't always apply. Otherwise, God would have just created just one ministry worldwide. Take note, like Jethro was a man of deep insight. When Jethro, in Exodus chapter 18, was going to advise Moses, his son-in-law, the husband of his daughter, Jethro gave him what we have today as a template for what for his sound structure, structure and systems in running an organization of people. Having downloaded that template to Moses, he ended by saying, if God, if God, if God tells you. Jethro understood that Moses was a chosen vessel of God. There is a God that chose him in the first place. There is a God that has put him in this position of responsibility in the first place, and he is answerable to that God. Any counsel you give him, especially weighted counselors that could change the order of things, it has to be subject to approval from the same God who chose Moses in the first place. So, these are things. And all you need to do is to communicate as politely as possible. And then, if it's not yet done the way you feel it could be better, you continue in prayers with God. Lord, speak to Your servant on the merit of this suggestion I have communicated. And let it stop there. Continue with whatever you are doing. If it's truly God's will that what you have suggested should be done, God. Proverbs 21, verse 1 is clear. The heart of kings are in the hands of the Lord, and this includes unbelieving kings. Unbelieving kings. Chocolates of a believing, you know, sanctified, tested, and transformed vessel of God that God chose, who, who has experience in hearing from God.

Number three, accessibility to your spiritual father. Accessibility. Take note of this, that some spiritual fathers will be spiritual fathers of tens of believers. Some will be spiritual fathers of hundreds of believers. Some will be spiritual fathers of thousands of believers. Some will be spiritual fathers of millions of believers. Our Lord Jesus Christ, He had His own model. He had His own models of structures and systems in relating with the people that God was bringing to His movement. And our Lord Jesus Christ had levels of accessibility. He had left because He was in human form. Once you are in human form, you must have levels of accessibility for different people. For instance, our Lord Jesus Christ had the three inner circle: Peter, James, John. These were unofficially chosen. These were the closest three to Him, and they were personally chosen by Him. And He had the 12, which was official, and that was why Judas could come into the picture, the 12 apostles. Then the 70 disciples. Now, these three groups of people had different levels of accessibility to Jesus. Peter, James, and John could see Him virtually anytime they wanted. The 12 apostles were with Him most of the time, but they did not have that level of accessibility as Peter, James, and John. The 70 disciples also saw Him regularly, but not as often and as closely as the twelve. If you look at the father of a very large biological family, for instance, a hundred children. Today, we have examples of men who have a hundred children. A man with a hundred children above would not be able naturally to spend as much time. Can somebody say time? A father of a hundred and above number of children cannot, would not be able to spend as much time with all his children compared to the father of very few number of children. However, where this kind of situation exists, it cannot serve as a good reason for any of the children to adopt another father. So, if you are one of those children that has over a hundred siblings, you cannot adopt another father simply because you know, unlike your friends in school who have access to their father all the time, you do not have that same amount of time with your own father. So, we need to understand the dynamics of accessibility. Jesus, who is our Lord, Jesus, who is our mother, He Himself did not give everyone the same measure. Naturally, He could not. There were times He needed to rest. There were times He didn't have to pray. There were times He needed to pray just with people He could really, really trust. Remember, among the twelve was a devil. Among the twelve was a devil. Judas was among the twelve. But there were times where Jesus really needed to open up His heart, pour out His body, like He did in Genesis, uh, sorry, Matthew chapter 26, at the Garden of Gethsemane. He there, He was with Peter, with James, and John, and He said, "My heart is heavy. My heart is heavy." He could open up. It was among these three that He handed over His biological mother, Mary. John was among the three. When it was time, He handed over Mary, His mother, to him to take care of, and Mary moved into the house of John. To show you how close and how much He trusted those three. [Music] So, you, we need to understand the issue of accessibility. Let it not become an issue. Let it not become an issue. [Music]

Number four, be considerate and understanding with him. You must be considerate. You must show understanding with your spiritual father over some issues. For instance, in Acts chapter 6, at 6:1-4, certain things played out there, and at that point in time, people like Peter had to draw the line and make it clear that they needed to be excused from certain assignments. Show me a pastor of a sizable church today, and you are showing me, in most cases, a man who at a particular time of that ministry was able to visit every member at home. At a particular phase of the ministry, but as the growth, the numerical growth begins to manifest, that becomes no longer feasible. And so, a structure was put in place where men and women in Christ, carrying the same spirit of God, sharing the same vision, would be able to carry out the same responsibilities and rules that the spiritual father used to personally handle himself. There must be delegation. There must be delegation of certain assignments. As time is passing on, sometimes it may not even be growth to numerical growth. Sometimes it could be that God is giving your spiritual father some new assignments.

And the next point is number five, is don't abuse your closeness or frequent access to them. Don't abuse your closeness or frequent access to them. Access is one of the best gifts of privilege a man can give you. Access, access, access. I pray that God will also promote your friends. Those that give you access today, may God also elevate them as God elevates you, in the name of Jesus. So, don't abuse your access. Take note of this, access to your spiritual spiritual father is not necessarily defined by any position. Why must you be careful about this point? People who are closest to a pastor are often the ones who despise correction the most. People are the closest. People are the closest. People are the closest. You can hang around a carrier of obvious grace, and yet the grace of God upon that person may not smell on you, may not manifest on you. If you are close to a pastor, double up your work of honor. Double up your work of honor. You will see their weakness, but never take it for granted. If you do a study of familiarity, that is one of the things that will become obvious to you. Remember that they are men. They are human. They are human. Remember that they are human. Human. Unknown them. Unknown is not worship. Unknown them. Honor talks of respect. It is not worship. And there are some models of good sons. Peter was a good son. Elijah was a good son. And so, we should be able to also manifest this. As Peter was to Jesus, as Elisha was to Elijah, we should be able to also manifest this in whatever capacity we find ourselves. Honor your spiritual father. Honor him by giving him respect. Honor him by giving even anyone that is very close to him in a capacity such as maybe a parent or a spouse. Give translators, transfer that same respect to them. When you honor such persons around them, you are equally honoring the man. Respect doesn't mean you fear them. So, never neglect the welfare of your spiritual father. Schedule your benevolence gifts to him or to her. Give as a matter of honor, for it is scripture. Praise hear the Lord. [Music]