Faith of Our Fathers

The message of this song, in addition to salvation, holiness and
sanctification were Brother Julius favorite messages. I can still say
today, 27yrs after I left him in the Apostolic Faith church, and I got filled
with the Holy Ghost, that his faith, his bold stand for God in a town where
everybody mocked and persecuted him left a life-long impact on me. He left me
with a desire to earnestly contend for the “Faith of our Fathers”.

In addition to, and before meeting Brother Julius, I was heavily privileged
to have another man of faith in my life. His name is Daniel, my Grandpa. In
my village when I was little I learnt his nickname given him from the clan
was, in my language, “Dani Apata, Apata le, Oloko dasi” which by interpretation
means: “Daniel a rock, the rock is indestructible, so the farmer had no choice
but to leave it alone”. You will see why as you read on.

Remember the goal of sharing this with you, is to, on the human side,
challenge your heart and mind to “contend earnestly for the Faith once
delivered to the saints” The goal is to encourage your heart in the
love of God and in the patience waiting for Christ.

My grandpa was born like every other child in his days to idol worship
in a war-like clan that worship and are the chief worshippers of the
‘god of iron’. Behind our house was a shrine for this god and his
family were the custodian. According to what I was told, somehow he
traveled out of the village to Western Nigeria and something really
serious happened to him. He came across some of the early revival
that got to Nigeria in the 50s and got saved. He returned home
and had the guts to declare to his occultic clan that he, Daniel Oladipo,
had decided to forsake their god and the so-called heritage of their
forefathers to serve “the living God, the God of Abraham, of Isaac and Jacob”
..And the rage and the war against him began and never ceased till he went
home to be with the Lord. Just as the Scripture said: “Why do the heathen
rage and the people imagine vain things, the kings of the earth stood up,
and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against
his anointed”

He was attacked, cursed with all manner of satanic incense against him.
He did not bend. They could neither intimidate nor break him. Of course
he was true to his name Daniel, He was a ‘man of prayer’. That was what
I was born into, in the late 50’s and from childhood I lived with him in
the same room.

Are you getting an idea of how he got his nickname? It was a slap in the
face of the clan that one of their own, from the elite ‘iron god’ priesthood
would ‘sell out’ and embrace a “foreign” religion. Yet no intimidation
and voodoo spell could break him. I learnt that two other men also
became Christians along with him. They became an outcast not just in the
village but also in the district. We were told that at of the peak of their
disgrace, these three pioneers of faith in my village were brought
to the market place striped and beaten mercilessly and disgracefully
before the whole village. They were then thrown out of the village and
sent to the capital of the state to go and defend themselves in the
courthouse. I heard him talk about how they walked that 60-miles journey
on foot and when they got there, there was no accommodation for them. I
still clearly remember him saying they slept outside the courthouse with
no shelter for the days they were there and there was heavy rainfall in
those dreadful nights. Yet they held on to the “faith once delivered to ..”
Each time I think of him I remember this passage in Hebrew: 13 that says:
” Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own
blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him
without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing
city, but we seek one to come.”

Nevertheless, Glory to GOD, they overcame. “Who is he that overcomes the
world but he that is born of God, and this is the victory that overcomes
the world, even our faith” Through their faith, their patience in tribulation,
the gospel penetrated the thick darkness that was over my village, and
eventually a church was built there. They fought the good fight of faith,
they won and laid hold on eternal life. ” ..whose faith follow, considering
the end of their conversation.”

When I was born by divine appointment, because I was his first grandson,
he took me as his lastborn. I was his dear son, the son of his old age,
just like “patriarch Jacob treated Joseph” he bought me ‘coat of many colors’
and like Benjamin, I was the ‘son of his right hand.’ He taught me to read
and write in our native language very early so as to be able to read the
Yoruba Bible for myself, and I soon became the ‘scribe’ for the whole
neighborhood while in early elementary school. He made me memorize chapters
of scriptures, like Psalm 24 (which now is the name of my son, TiOluwa),
Psalm 91, Psal 100, and would keep me at home reading the Bible while other
kids were getting in trouble outside. I did not rebel against him neither
did I want to rebel (though I was not born again yet), I loved him and just
wanted to be with and like him. Very early in the morning (around 4:00am)
he would be on his kneels praying. I didn’t know why neither did I ask for
in my culture, in those days you don’t ask your parents or elders many
questions. He would pray Psalm 35, Psalm 91 etc; and you could feel the
fervency of his prayers because he said the words out. He prayed as if he
was in a real warfare (for then I could not understand) Sometimes I would
be awake and pretend to kneel to pray with him but would fall back down asleep.
I could see that he was praying as if he was in some kind of a battle, only
much later did I come to know that truly that the “effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man availeth much”.

In the late 60’s he went home in glory to be with the Lord, but had already
sown in me almost 10years worth of seed of ‘that faith that was once delivered
to the saints.’ He had already prayed me into the kingdom and all that was
left was for Lord of the harvest to send a laborer to harvest me for the
kingdom. I was not born again yet but his effectual fervent prayer was
already availing much. On the day that he went home to be with the Lord, like
patriarch Jacob did, he left specific instructions to his sons (my dad and
uncle) concerning me. He specifically prophesied concerning the secondary
school I was to go. He seriously charged them to make sure, that after his
departure from this earth, they followed his word, one of which was that
I should attend GSS Omu Aran.

Less than a year afterwards my secondary admissions started coming in. I had
to reject other school that offered me admission, at his word, I waited and went
to the school he spoke of. My third year in that school, I was born again (1972),
2-years later (June 1974), I was filled with the Holy Ghost and began to
understand the things he had taught me. All the memory verses he had forced me
to learn began to come up in my spirit. After another 3-years of being filled
with the Holy Ghost and had several conferences, prayer and fasting boot-camp
type training opportunities I was called and commissioned for the ministry by
the ‘laying on of hands’ of Papa S.G. Elton (also gone home in glory), and
received a specific ministry anointing.

As I walk day-by-day with the goal to please my Lord Jesus, I also, on the human side, think of my grandfather and a few other men of God. I know he’s there among the ‘cloud of witnesses’ spoken about in Hebrews (Heb 12:1), cheering me on in my race from the sideline of this amphitheatre having completed his course and won his race. I often picture him (I speak as a man) saying.. “WAY TO GO Boy” cheering me on when I win a round in the good fight, and probably saying some encouraging words like “GET UP Boy, Get UP and fight” when I get beat, or worn out. And considering what he suffered for the Name’s sake and yet was not weary neither gave up under afflictions and persecutions, my conclusion is that I have no excuse.
For I ” have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin” (Heb 12:4) So
I made a quality decision a couple of decades ago to follow the same faith.

I’ve thought about this…. If the ‘day of the Lord’ tarries beyond my lifetime,
What will my children say about me? What will the people I’ve come across in
this life in the 4 continents I’ve lived report about my faith? What report
of faith will they give? Beloved…Think about this too.

Are we contending for the ‘faith once delivered for the saints.? The faith that
fears neither sword nor dungeon. Yes, my heart is full of joy and my zeal and
determination to serve the Risen Lord is fueled afresh when I think about his faith.

If persecution arrives in our city tonight, how many of us will still
identify with that Name or with a local assembly that bear that Name tomorrow?
Are we ready to ” go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his
reproach?” I have the privilege of the Holy Spirit Baptism, teachings on faith,
on healing, on the Name of Jesus, on the Blood of Jesus, on my identification
with Christ and so on, which my grandpa did not have. But despite the little
he knew he held unto this faith in the face of fiery attack. He seemed to have
identified with those 3 Hebrew children who said :

“If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which
thou hast set up.”

The Lord Jesus Christ is our only perfect example, the only one in whose steps
we can follow a hundred per-cent of the time and not miss it. However, there are
testimonies of faith in the life of men of God and heroes of faith that can be
of great help to us. For these indeed are the testimonies of the workings of the
Lord Jesus in their lives. Therefore there is power in these testimonies, to
encourage us and help us overcome the enemy. Can’t you see Rev 12:11 in the
testimony shared above:
” And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the
word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Also remember that “The testimony of JESUS is the spirit of prophecy” As we
testify of our past victory of faith over the adversary we are operating in
the spirit prophecy, speaking concerning future victories of faith, yet to come.

For thus says the Lord this hour :

“Speak forth therefore ye anointed ones, for the Greater One is at work in you and leading you into greater victory.
Speak of His excellent goodness and of the testimonies of His wonders of the past,
For as you do, you are prophesying of greater victories that are about to unfold upon you.

Say not, but I have no testimony to declare, yea, speak, speak of what Jesus has done in you. Yes, the road may be rough and your adversary may bring more fiery attacks than ever
Fear not, follow the faith of the saints before you
Keep on fighting the good fight of faith, keep on declaring the testimony of Jesus,
You will overcome, ‘for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy’ “

I want to trust the Holy Ghost to convey the ‘burden’ that is in my heart in this
message to you, for I fall way too short in getting it across. I pray that the zeal of
the Most High will consume us as we dedicate our whole life for the cause of the
gospel of Jesus Christ.

“And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured,not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. “