JOHN THE BAPTIST AND PROSPERITY DOCTRINE

A popular preacher recently made the assertion that John the Baptist died the way he died because he “veered off the Will of God and began to do things that were not in his prophetic blueprint.”

He went further to categorically state: “that is not how God rewards those who walk with Him.”

Has he not read about the Prophets of Old, the Apostles of the Lamb and the many Christians who were persecuted and killed in the Early Church and throughout Church History?

Has he not read? Has he not known? Has it not been told him what the LORD Almighty said?

“On account of this, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.” (Matthew 23:34-36)

It is crystal clear that most pastors and preachers do not understand the fundamental truth of Christ revealed in Scripture. 

Just like I formerly was, and most people who grew up in this modern and popular Nigerian/African Christianity which is an offshoot of the American Gospel, these preachers are products of the prosperity gospel which is a false doctrine.

Then, they have given themselves over completely to this false teaching and have become false gurus who are teaching unbiblical concepts that are not in line with God’s Truth. 

They are basically using God’s name to fulfill their self-seeking desire for fame and fortune. They are fleecing nations, intentionally or unintentionally, in their collective pursuit and with their illusionary promise of health and wealth allegedly through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This is tragic. 

Rest assured, with due respect (if any) to whom it may concern, the teaching of most Nigerian and African preachers is totally false, wrong and misleading. This is not an attack on anyone as a person in their own right. 

Many people listen to pastors and take whatever they say hook, line and sinker without reviewing it in the light of Scripture. Plus, most Nigerian/African preachers are always being emphatic and forceful in their preaching trying all they can to persuade and convince the scripturally and spiritually ignorant, pliable or unwary.

So let’s ask and categorically (without ambiguity) answer this crucial question.

Did John the Baptist really die that horrid death because he derailed from God’s Will, Purpose calling and assignment for his life? 

A capital, emphatic and resounding NO.

To be clear, John the Baptist fulfilled his ministry and his death albeit dreadful was in line with God’s Sovereign Will, brought great glory to God, and great eternal honor and reward is his, according to the teachings of the Lord Jesus in the Sermon of the Mount.

The Bible records that John the Baptist was a just and holy man who was observed and feared by Herod the king whom he had rebuked for taking his brother Philip’s wife, Herodias.

John the Baptist came, as the voice of one (that is, a lone voice) crying out in the wilderness the Kingdom message of repentance in order “to prepare the way for the Lord”, and baptizing the repentant sinners with water in the River Jordan (a sign that was to be done away with as Christ began His ministry, hence his renowned words: “He must increase and I must decrease”).

Rebuking Herod for his act of wickedness and lawlessness was within the scope of the preaching ministry of John the Baptist. It was a call for the king, just like any other sinner, to repent. It was the message of repentance.

This blunder by this Nigerian preacher who gave the verdict that John the Baptist literally died from derailment is a serious indictment on the popular prosperity doctrine showing it is built on greed, partiality, corruption, hypocrisy and deception of the fallen human flesh that has double standards: unable to call the high and mighty, rich and famous to repentance from their sins but able to loudly rebuke the poor and lowly for their own sins. The Scripture clearly teaches and strongly warns (both in the Old and New Testaments) that partiality, or double and dishonest standards, is an abomination to God.

This is what is happening in many churches today, that are supposed to be a light in the dark world. This is one major reason society is yet dark, decaying, deeply corrupt and desperately wicked. No much shining and burning lights to speak truth to power, to preach repentance and righteousness to sinful and wicked men in religious and sociopolitical positions of authority or leadership. 

Indeed, religious leaders need to be called to genuine repentance for all their false teachings, false miracles, false hopes, false prophecies, false gospels, all the witchcraft, manipulation and wickedness they have done to humans and all the lives they have destroyed in the name of religion, albeit sometimes disguised in a public parade of piety and philanthropic gestures. 

All this error is based on a flawed theology: that is, the misinterpretation of Scripture resulting in a wrong knowledge of God and what God’s Will really is. It shows that this professed Christian religion is not powered by or proceeding from the Spirit of God. Thus, in the words of the Bible is “a doctrine of devils”, which is a sure sign of the last days.

Thank God for the life and ministry of His servant, John the Baptist, who heralded the first coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To God alone be the glory.