How T.B Joshua’s Death Reveals Dark State Of Some Christians – Fredrick Akhigbe
The sudden death of Temitope Balogun Joshua, otherwise known as T.B Joshua, a popular Nigerian televangelist and founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) has divided the Christian Community in Nigeria.
Since his death was confirmed by the Church last Saturday, professing Christians have been arguing, abusing and cursing one another on social media platforms, particularly on Facebook, since the Nigerian Government has placed a ban on the usage of Twitter.
Death Reveals Dark State
Some said that T.B was a wolf in sheep clothing who deceived the people by pretending he was a good man caring for the poor and healing the sick.
On the other hand, his fans and followers who are doing the cursing said he was the greatest man of God ever to live in the world and served humanity by helping the poor and healing the sick.
Death Reveals Dark State
Personally, I was pained by the death of T.B Joshua, at least, for “the good work” he was doing. But I have learned over time to measure good work and faithfulness to Christ by the Word of God, not by human or secular reasoning.
All the same, I was pained and saw his death as a personal loss, even though I had a reservation about his unbiblical methods of ministry.
Death Reveals Dark State
But my concern was that as T.B Joshua’s family, his church, his fan and his followers weep and mourn over his death and I read their comments on social media, particularly on Facebook, the reasons they gave why he was the greatest man of God call for a lamentation over the pathetic condition of most professing Nigerian Christians.
No one is telling us what they are hearing from Heaven, where they even believed that T.B is seated with Christ, which should have been the case. Rather, “brothers and sisters” are quarrelling and fighting themselves on Facebook, forgetting the race that’s set before each of us.
Death Reveals Dark State
All goods are not necessarily godly
Yes, it’s good to do good! But Heaven is not for good people. Heaven is for those who appear in the glorious image of Christ and did His Will while on earth. Good people are in Hell.
If Heaven was a matter of doing good, then, all good doing people will land in Heaven. The devil will certainly be in Heaven. The falling man in Adam will be in Heaven because in every man there is an element of good: for they ate the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil at the Garden of Eden.
Death Reveals Dark State
But the things pertaining to Christ is not just about doing good, but the source and motive for the action. And if it’s not from Christ, it cannot go to Christ.
If it does not resemble Christ it cannot have access to Heaven, where Christ come from and He is.
Whereas the Lord Jesus Christ told us plainly in Matthew 7:22-23 that “many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity”; those who are blinded to the truth is rating and approving men by prophecies, healing, the casting out of demons and the doings of good works. What an error!
Death Reveals Dark State
So, it’s a lack of knowledge of the Truth, for a man/woman who has been going to the church for at least three years and yet measure faithfulness to Christ and genuineness of God’s servant by prophecies, healing, miracles and good works.
This does not reveal the true position of a man/woman before God. Neither are they proofs of holiness and Christ-likeness. To believe otherwise contrary to the Words of the Lord Jesus Himself, and the display of such ignorance on social media reveals one thing:
Death Reveals Dark State
The Truth is hidden from such a soul and he or she is an emergency spiritual patient, who should be in intensive care of the Spirit, where the Truth of the Gospel is birth.
The current Church leadership and the FFC syndrome
The current church leaders in Nigeria should partly be held responsible for raising Fast Food Christians (FFC) as disciples; massive followers who do not understand the basic truth about the Kingdom of God, but measure greatness in Christ by fame, issuance of wrong and most times guessing prophecies, material wealth, miracle-working and doing good works.
Death Reveals Dark State
The FFC are also to be blamed for their pathetic condition because their pastors did not stop them from reading and studying the Word of God personally and thereby growing in their personal walk with God. And for this reason, the Holy Spirit was given to teach us personally.
“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you”. John 14:26.
Death Reveals Dark State
As the conversation continues, I am more concerned that several professing Christians have little knowledge about the truth of the Gospel, which T.B Joshua’s death is revealing.
His death is revealing an unfortunate truth that several professing Christians neither know the Lord personally nor are they familiar with His written Word, the Bible.
Death Reveals Dark State
They do not understand that while men look at the outer and visible activities, the Lord look at the heart. I am pained that professing Christians are blinded spiritually and their understanding darkened, to the extent that they cannot see that the heart of a man can be very desperate and that it can do good outwardly, just to cover the evil in the heart, and perhaps, to even bribe God!
To these FFC of our time, the Gospel is all about what we can get: healing, good job, availability of everything pleasurable and lustrous, houses, cars, good looking husband or wife as the case may be, good education, and every other thing the unbelievers have without Christ.
Death Reveals Dark State
And thus, you see these FFC hopping from one church to another, seeking for men they believe are powering with God to use their access to God to conjure material things for them and take away anything that pictures suffering from their lives, permanently.
But on the contrary to the truth of the Gospel, we have an Apostle Paul, who was so anointed that handkerchief from his body healed the sick and cast out demons, and yet, he had a sickness that he pleaded with God to remove, and God told him no.
Death Reveals Dark State
We have a righteous Job, whom God Himself would testify that he was blameless, and yet, God allowed the devil to attack him, killed his ten children one day, wrecked his entire businesses and afflicted his health.
We have a David, who though anointed king, yet he was running and hiding in caves, for about fourteen years before he eventually became king. At some point, he ate bread not lawful for him to eat and sent his men to the house of Abigail’s husband to beg for food.
Similarly, there was a Joseph who saw God’s vision for his life at the age of 16, but had to spend another 16 years of hatred, slavery, blackmail, imprisonment and suffering before becoming a father to Pharaoh.
Death Reveals Dark State
Even our Lord Jesus Christ had to learn obedience through the things He suffered. Unfortunately, it’s not so with most of the pastors of this generation and their FFC disciples. They are unwilling to suffer in order to grow their root deeper in Christ.
They know nothing about the Fellowship of the Suffering of Christ (FSC), and consequently are alien to the substance and power of Christ. And the result, hopping here and there, for miracles. And are ready in their ignorance of what Christ is all about to defend the indefensible, and curse their parents if need be.
Death Reveals Dark State
The power of bewitchment
Another lie that is being peddled by the fans and followers of T.B Joshua which again shows that they are bewitched and in serious darkness is that “he foretold his death”. As it’s their style, the staff of Emmanuel TV weaved this web of deception and several were caught in it.
Now, how does “there is time to come to church, and there is time to go home”, means T.B Joshua foretelling his death? Meanwhile, in his well-circulated prior birthday message, he had said
Death Reveals Dark State
“there are several birthdays to celebrate”, since the Covid-19 pandemic protocol forbids some church members in certain countries from travelling to Nigeria; a few days later he died, and yet, you were not only made to believe he foretold his death but became instruments in spreading error and outright falsehood!
The questions I now want to ask you are that what is wrong with you? Who has bewitched you and suspended your brain that you can no longer use it to think independently “test every spirit whether it’s from God”, as the Scripture says?
Death Reveals Dark State
“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world”. 1 John 4:1. A man says, “there are many birthdays to be celebrated”, and then died about two days later, without seeing even the birthday he was planning to have quietly, and yet, your brain is captured and used to spread the falsehood that he foretold his death?
Death Reveals Dark State
Na waoo! You need deliverance, urgently, or return to Primary school, since you lacked basic understanding and common sense.
But where is T.B Joshua?
When some Christians die, everyone around them and some Christians who did not even meet them while they were alive just know that they went to Heaven because the Lord normally furnish us with such information.
At times, the Lord will go a step further by taking someone, either a member of the deceased’s household or a Christian who did not even meet him when he was alive to Heaven and show him or her the departed soul in Heaven.
As for me, this is how I want to die, and it’s a prayer for me. I also talk about it oftentimes to those who are around me. I want to leave the assurance of Heaven behind for my loved ones when I die.
Death Reveals Dark State
There were certain loved ones of mine that died some years ago and we received a message from Heaven that they are there.
But the case is not like that now with T.B Joshua. I certainly do not wish to die like this: where church members and pastors in faraway Uganda are jubilating and celebrating his death.
While it’s immaturity to celebrate the death of another person unless the person was a notorious criminal like Boko Haram’s Abubakar Shekau, the Ugandans and similar professing Christians who celebrated his death obviously knew something about him which some of us did not know.
Have you heard about the Ghanaian herbalist who claimed that he killed T.B Joshua? Have you not watched the latest trending video by one of his former employees who is asking that his DNA should be taken before he is buried, because several women will come forward to claim he is the father of their children?
Maybe you want to die like this since he is your mentor; certainly not me! Lord, please let me die with Heaven in sight and assurance of Heaven behind for my loved ones.
About two weeks ago, I had a revelation about T.B Joshua and I told my younger brother Mathew Ehiosun about it. It was about him as a person.
Death Reveals Dark State
I was neither praying about him nor thinking about him when I saw the vision. About three days before his death, I told a friend, Peter Ehigiator about it as we rode back in his car from Lekki to Ikotun.
It’s a personal Divine Information (DI) that I do not have the liberty to share publicly. I didn’t know that his time was at hand.
While I know his position concerning Christ by the time of that vision, I sincerely do not have the assurance that he is in Heaven now. My only regret now is that I wish I prayed for him fervently thereafter.
Whether he is in father Abraham’s bosom along with Lazarus or on the other side of the gulf, only the Lord knows. But this is not Christianity: the sons of the prophets knew that Elijah went to Heaven; the family and the followers of Enoch knew that he went to Heaven;
Death Reveals Dark State
we knew that Stephen the martyr went to Heaven, why then should my case and that of anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ while alive be different? Lord, please help me.
The only hope that I have now is that no matter how prettily bad or cultic some of us believe T.B Joshua’s secret life was, like the blood on his hands when his church building collapsed on September 12, 2014, and killed hundreds, and he and the church did everything to cover it up including bribing journalists two of whom I know personally to report otherwise.
Our merciful Jesus who met a murderer on the Cross at Calvary and gave him an invitation to Paradise with Him is capable of saving T.B Joshua at the point of death. So, don’t write Joshua off on the matter of Heaven, unless you have an unmistaken revelation from Heaven.
Otherwise, it will amount to playing God to sentence him to Hell. And if God should mark iniquity who can go to Heaven? Perhaps, you have the holiness to make Heaven by your own righteousness, certainly not me. But with God Heaven is possible for even the vilest offender, according to Scripture!
How T.B Joshua’s death reveals dark state of some Christians. What do you have to say about this?
