Pastor Felix Jarikre is a teacher of the word of God. He is the CEO of Bible Teaching and Leadership Training Group, Healing Report Today.
In this interview with Clement Adeyi the former General Manager of Our Daily Manna, an international daily devotional and leadership consultant stresses that the salvation that Jesus offered free of charge to mankind with a costly price on the platter of his blood is too precious to be toyed with. He notes that Christians, including pastors, who place an undue premium on phantom miracles have undermined the huge investment that Jesus made to guarantee their salvation and have therefore made themselves his enemies.
He urged them to jettison their miracle mentality and embrace Jesus’ offer on the Cross of calvary which has eternal value over miracles that are ephemeral.
You are a teacher and preacher of the word of God. During His earthly ministries, Jesus Christ performed so many miracles as recorded in the Bible. This shows that miracles are scriptural. Why then do your teachings condemn believers’ belief in miracles?
I preach and teach the word of God with truth. This is because the Bible says that ye shall know the truth and it shall set you free. A lot of people need to know the basic truth about miracles and the inestimable value that Jesus added to the lives of people through His free gift of salvation. Owing to lack of understanding, a lot of believers have erroneously put miracles that are ephemeral ahead of the salvation gift which is eternal.
Some Christians and people seek Christ because of miracles instead of salvation. Did Jesus come because of miracles? No, he came because of salvation that He offered mankind freely which is the basis of eternal life. But alas, miracle mentality has taken over the minds of a lot of believers. They have simply and sadly sacrificed Jesus’ salvation gift on the altar of miracles.
I encourage them to destroy their miracle mentality and seize control of their minds henceforth. Christians who put their faith in miracles have given their tenacious support to sin and death. They are not better than atheists. Little wonder then many pastors don’t feel embarrassed for enabling unenlightened and cruel tyrants to gain governmental powers.
Pastors are now apologizing to lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, questioning (LGBTQ) community for their past messages. Pastors flex muscles only when it comes to messages of money-making and material prosperity under the auspices of miracles. Soul-salvation is far from their minds because they are afraid of the fire of tribulations.
The fact that Jesus Christ performed miracles to benefit Judah and Israel which had imperfect and unsanctified conscience is not enough that He should continue to do miracles for mankind whom He sanctified and perfected by the offering of His blood.
Christians who place a premium on miracles can never take responsibility for their lives. Their resolve and focus are easily destroyed by ideas and thoughts that are hostile to their purposes in life.
So you think it’s not appropriate to place a premium on miracles?
One of the primary reasons the blood of Christ was shed is for believers to take responsibility for their lives by seizing control of their minds.
A believer is licensed to serve an eviction notice on any thought or idea that prevents his resolve or destroys his focus. Whether you perish or thrive is all up to you! Believing the word of God alone is resourceful enough for any believer to have the experience of whatever he desires.
Basically, God cannot change or convert the mind of man without disrupting or disorganizing what it takes to make man accountable for his actions. It’s this self-imposed restraint on the part of the Creator that necessitated Jesus Christ as the Son of God to taste death for man and abolished sin in order to introduce eternal life to believers.
The devil is eager to invade and take possession of the human mind so that man’s mind is suppressed to think only through Satan’s dark and limited perspective. Satan regards the person who thinks independently as a threat that must be eliminated. You can clearly see why Satan loves using miracles to manipulate the minds of people. Placing an undue premium on miracles leaves your life to chance without purpose and resolve.
Contrary to God’s purpose, Satan gets people to believe miracles so that they can be prevented from seizing control of their minds and discouraged from taking responsibility for their lives.
This way, Satan can get men to retain evil thoughts, easily blaming others for their misfortunes and adversity while looking for human helpers up and down.
If they are not looking for human helpers, people are looking for those they can cheat, steal from, and destroy. The delay that mankind experienced from the Garden of Eden before hope was finally released through the shedding of the blood of Christ came from the challenge of how to get the man to seize control of his mind by taking responsibility for his life.
There are clear indications that genuine miracles take place by anointed ministers of God. This shows that miracles are always possible to confirm Jesus’ promise to His disciples that they would do exploits. What is your take on this?
A true Christian would not be quick to dismiss my assertion that the gift of the working of miracles from the Holy Spirit is not something that should be our obsession. A true Christian would investigate and interrogate the validity of my assertions by relying on the scriptures, instead of scatter-brain church teachings that continue to ruin the lives of many generations.
Miracles persuade no one except to drown people in their sea of unbelief. What can persuade anyone and draw them to believe God is the minister’s message drawn from your experience of the glory of God and not just miracles.
If not miracles, what else do you think would inspire belief in the power of God?
It is unity and sustainability of believers which can only be achieved from their experience of the glory of God. Jesus said the unity of believers will draw men to him. Without this experience, they can only pretend and masquerade, but can never mask their disunity and state of perishing. It takes unity and sustainability of Christian believers for unbelievers to pay attention to the Christian messages. (John 17). Miracles cannot achieve God’s purpose for mankind.
Miracles are divisive and cannot breed cohesion. But people are afraid to hear of the glory of God being preached this way as the replacement for miracles. No man or woman can experience the glory of God without having to go through the discipline of acquiring the knowledge of the truth.
Christians who place an undue premium on miracles are those who want to avoid the discipline of acquiring the knowledge of the truth. Without receiving the knowledge of the truth, you cannot have any perfect gift from God to save your soul. (James 1:17-21).
A lot of people want cheap miracles at the expense of the knowledge of the truth of the word of God. Lamentably, evil-minded pastors and bishops would not tell them the truth because they don’t want their churches to be scattered. Miracle seekers in their ignorance want something wonderful to happen before they can believe it with their eyes. God did genuine miracles in His deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt through Moses. He also ministered genuine miracles to benefit Israel in the wilderness.
The conquest of Jericho by Joshua’s Israel was not a miracle, but the demonstration of the glory of God through faith. Those who believe that because God did miracles before, He would continue to do so should know this before it’s too late. God is not superfluous nor wasteful. He is purposeful and deliberate. He is precise and consistent. Miracles are done with purpose as we see through scriptures not indiscriminately.
Miracles inspire and authenticate belief in the power of God. If you claim that miracles are not important, what else do you think could prove God’s powers in the lives of man?
What do you need miracles for when you already have eternal life? Your confidence is that when you pray according to the will of God, you are heard by him. You can then rise from prayer to speak from the heart to the challenges that you think are insurmountable. That is, a mountain to be removed. When you refuse to doubt in your heart, the mountain will eventually disappear in obedience to your faith. Eternal life means the very moment you spoke the word of God to that mountain, it obeyed. The mountain was removed and disappeared that very hour you spoke to it. It doesn’t matter if your physical eyes kept seeing it days after. You believe with your heart, not with your naked eyes.
The question remains: Would doubt disappear from your heart only after the mountain has been removed and disappeared under the sea? Or would doubt vanish from your heart even if your naked eyes keep seeing the mountain?
For the person seeking a miracle, doubt will only vanish from his heart after the mountain is removed. But for the person who believes in the glory of God, doubt will fade away automatically from his heart the moment he speaks the word of God to the mountain facing him. He does not walk by sight but by faith.
We must realise that Israel had the law, but not faith. It was Christ who brought grace and truth to humanity, using Israel as a contact point.