Founder of West Africa Theological Seminary, Prof Gary Maxey, Evangelist Mathew Owojaiye and the Bishop of the Diocese of Ilesha of the Anglican Communion, Prof Dapo Asaju have called on the church in Nigeria to wake up from its slumber warning against the danger of spiritual lethargy.
The trio made the call while ministering at different points at the 90th birthday celebration of Ruth Elton, the legendary British-turned-Nigerian missionary.
The event took place at the Kingdom Gospel Mission Ilesha on Saturday September 7.
In a 14-page paper titled, Where are the Prophets?, Prof Maxey wondered what had befallen the Church in Nigeria, while also recalling the exploits of the Late Pa Sidney Elton in Nigeria.
Maxey noted that one of the most alarming factors in Nigeria is that many think the solution to its age-long crisis will come from an unknown source.
According to him, “The church is being deceived by false prophets that Nigeria will soon rise to leadership and will lead the entire world in a great global revival.
However, He said that he is not certain Nigeria is closer to that prophecy being fulfilled than when he first came to Nigeria in 1982.
He reasoned further that no true revival can take place if there is no genuine repentance.
While lamenting the paucity of true and genuine prophets in the nation, he asked, “Where are those who are ready to incur ill favour and wrath in order to speak God’s word to his people? Where are those within your own church and mine who play this role? Pa Elton had the boldness to be that kind of prophet, but where are our prophets of today?”
Until church leaders rise to preach against sin and wickedness in the land, Maxey said, genuine revival may not likely “break out” in Nigeria again.
Describing Nigeria as his own country having naturalised, he said, “Nigeria today is virtually dying in its own wreckage. It lacks effective instruments for either discouraging or punishing corruption” adding that all the institutions that are supposed to enforce the rule of law and probity in the country “are largely impotent in the face of the corruption threatening to drown the nation”
He lamented the preponderance of false prophets in the country and the loud silence of the church in the face of the “nation’s hour of calamity”
While reiterating the question: Where are the prophets of God, he said, “When Israel was headed down the fast road to disaster before the invasion of the Assyrian armies, God called out fearless prophets” in the likes of Amos, Isaiah and the rest and led the people to repentance.
He said Nigeria’s situation won’t be different. “Massive and persistent repentance is our only route to survival. The church must lead the way. Mass humbling before God and individual and corporate turning from wickedness is the only way we can hope to avert further disaster.” He said.
Maxey also warned churches in Nigeria against the unrelenting attempt of the church in the West to foist upon them what he called “the mind-boggling sexual and social rottenness of their godless society”
While noting that many church emissaries are already in Nigeria preaching the liberal gospel, he cited the example of the United Missionary Church of the U.S.A. which he said has embraced the LGBTQIA+agenda
He said, “The culmination came at their General Conference this year when on May 3, 2024, the UMC in America voted overwhelmingly to do a complete about-face from their historical Bible-based ethics. They fully embraced homosexuality, so-called gay marriage, transsexualism, abortion, premarital sex etc. They now have at least three female bishops who are openly engaged in same-sex marriages”
He noted however that Bishop Wesley Yohanna who leads the church in Nigeria has led the church to quit UMC in the US to join the Global Methodist Church.
Still urging the church in Nigeria not to get to that point it will ultimately fail the nation, he said, Ruth Elton “powerfully reminds us of what has been in the past and what could be in the future.”
Bishop Asaju in about 15 minutes led the congregation at the event in soulful prayers of intercession while equally lamenting the rot in the church. The prayer was intense and quite on point pleading with God to look upon the church in Nigeria in His mercy and restore it to its first love.
Message to the church
In his brief intervention at the event, Evangelist Owojaiye lamented the decadence in the church wondering how the church got to its present state.
He said the Eltons did not come to acquire material wealth in Nigeria noting that today, many Christians now see material success as success in ministry. “The family did not look for popularity. They just lived simply and poured their lives as a libation to the God of heaven.”
He noted that the lives of the Eltons have preached more than their sermons recalling how many Nigerians caught the fire of the holy ghost in the 70s.
Owojaiye called on the Church to repent saying, “the message we are passing to the whole church in Nigeria is to stop pursuing popularity. Stop gathering crowd after yourself. Look unto Jesus. We are telling the youths it is not a failure to pour your life on Jesus. Stay on the narrow road. Its time to wake up and preach only Jesus.”
He prayed that all empires inside the kingdom of God will collapse while also binding every spirit of error that has infiltrated the church.