Enlisted: Obeying the Master's Order

By Mike Olawale

The word ‘enlisted’ is often associated with ‘a call to duty’, for example, to serve in a nation’s armed forces. Jesus gave a direct and divine order for all believers to be enlisted as the covenant trustees of His delegated authority on earth. To show people the way of salvation and make disciples in His name. Believers have been given a command to go on behalf of the COMMANDING GENERAL Himself, our Spiritual commander Jesus Christ, to go and evangelize the world through the gospel of good news.

You have been enlisted as a soldier through the process of the new birth in Christ, to carry out the heavenly duties of making disciples, as you tech, preach and baptize in the name of Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” -2Timothy 2:1-4.

For this purpose, salvation or redemption is not a license for idleness in the Kingdom of God, rather it is a call to action as soldiers of Christ to serve and win souls, as commissioned men and women carrying out great assignments with enabling power, given to us directly by Jesus. He has promised us that now that we are one with him. He will never leave us or forsake us, but rather, in Him we shall be more than conquerors! I pray that all who come across this book, shall discover their purpose in God and pursue it with total commitment in Jesus name.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Dec 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781698704739

Mike Olawale

Mike Olawale is the presiding pastor of Christ Dominion Church of God International, with headquarters in Upper Malboro, Maryland, United States. Mike believes not only in preaching the word of God, but also in teaching the word of God. He is a firm believer in the truth that the word of God must be ‘lived’ and applied practically in every aspect of daily life in order to reap its fruits. He is also the founder and president of The Mike Olawale Foundation (TMOF), a NGO founded in 2012, which serves as a platform to extend the love of God to those who are in need. TMOF’s core activities focus mainly on supporting families, by equipping their youth with the encouragement they need to achieve excellence in their educational goals and aspirations. He is the author of several books, and workshop materials needed for spiritual growth and development. He is married to his beautiful wife Pastor Olori, and they are blessed with three wonderful children.

Book preview

Copyright 2021 Mike Olawale.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-1-6987-0472-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6987-0474-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6987-0473-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020925425

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

KJV

Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, King James Version. Public Domain

Trafford rev. 12/18/2020

33164.png www.trafford.com

North America & international

toll-free: 844-688-6899 (USA & Canada)

fax: [phone]

CONTENTS

Introduction

1 Qualifications for Enlistment

2 A Panoramic Presentation of the Fivefold Ministry Gifts

3 Elders, Deacons, Helps, and Governments

4 The Nature and Role of the Holy Spirit

5 Spiritual Gifts

6 The Baptism in the Holy Spirit (the Pentecost Experience)

7 Examining Jesus Teaching about the Holy Spirit

8 Outpouring of the Spirit

9 The Nature of Law and Grace

10 The Manifestation of the Spiritual Life

11 Discovering and Receiving Your Ministry

12 Is Any among You Sick?

13 The Prayer Connection

14 The Breakthrough Power of Biblical Fasting

15 Supernatural Provisions for Faithful Enlistees

Conclusion

Prayer of Salvation and Baptism of the Holy Spirit

Bibliography

Other Books by Author

To the love of my life Pastor Olori Olawale, from being my friend and my classmate to becoming my wife and co-laborer in the vineyard. May you be greatly rewarded. Also to our beautiful children for their various sacrifices and understanding of my calling and obligations that come with it. I shall surely see your greatest fulfillment by His grace in Jesus’s mighty name.

Also to my beautiful princess Ayobami Victoria Yoyin for her persistence and perseverance through personal losses, health challenges, and other unforeseen situations and still pulled through to graduate with a distinction in Neuroscience. You shall fulfill your purpose and greater glory ahead of you.

To all the gospel lovers around the world doing the work of God as commanded by our Commander in Chief—Jesus Christ, may you all be rewarded here and in eternity.

I acknowledge the great sacrifice and total dedication of my team, the Royal Intelligent Team, for helping with the editing and layout of the manuscript of this book. I pray you shall be helped and fulfilled in your individual assignments in Jesus’s mighty name.

To all my spiritual sons and daughters serving with me in this commission and other ministries, for your kindness and contributions towards my ministry efforts, you all are rare gems and I am blessed to have you in my life. You are indeed precious and may God bless you all abundantly.

INTRODUCTION

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen (Matt. 28:19–20).

J esus gave a direct and divine order for believers to be enlisted as the covenant trustees of His delegated authority on earth. To show people the way of salvation and make disciples in His name, believers have been given a command to go on behalf of the COMMANDING GENERAL Himself, our spiritual commander Jesus Christ, to go evangelize the world through the gospel of good news.

You have been enlisted as a soldier through the process of the new birth in Christ to carry out the heavenly duties of making disciples as you teach, preach, and baptize in the name of Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier (2 Tim. 2:1–4).

The word enlisted is often associated with a call to duty, to serve in a nation’s armed forces. In the context of this book, as a soldier for Christ, it is a spiritual duty to obey the call of Jesus to serve in His great commission as commissioned men and women carrying the great assignments with enabling power as given by Jesus.

In this great commission, we are all called to be enlisted into his fourfold ministry:

1. Go. This applies to everyone who is born again with no exception, not only preachers, pastors, etc. but all-inclusive. Just like invitations to salvation are for all, no matter your race or family background, Go is an all-inclusive call to evangelize and show the way of salvation to others, just as someone introduced us to Christ. Therefore, all believers should obey the enlistment and help to evangelize the world in every way and means. If you are unable to go, send someone to go by supporting the missionaries with your resources and be committed in your local churches with your giving. This enlisted call should not be left for a few people but for all of us through our obedience to the Master’s order.

2. Teach (Gr.: mathetes—to make disciples). This is to enroll a new convert into a discipleship school (note that this is different from the teaching Jesus commanded). Apostle Paul, a good teacher of the gospel said in Acts 20:19-21 (KJV) stated, Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews. And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

Be enlisted in the move of God to teach and make disciples for the Master.

3. Baptize them. We are enlisted to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost by Jesus. It is by the authority of Jesus we carry out this divine assignment. You should be bold and act in faith because Jesus has given us assurance to be with us always.

4. Teaching (Gr.: didasko—give instruction). This divine command by Jesus is more than making disciples but training them through sound teaching, teaching them to use divine instruction received to carry out His agenda for the great commission.

It is through teaching that people would be able to know the divine instructions to follow as they apply the word of God to various matters.

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen (Matt. 28:20).

And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch (Acts 14:21).

For this purpose, salvation or redemption is not a license for idleness in the kingdom of God. It is a call to duty as a soldier of Christ to serve and win souls.

Throughout the pages of this book, I will be sharing various ways the believer can be enlisted to carry out the divine assignment given to them by the general commander, Master Jesus. Jesus told his disciples to make more disciples as they preached, baptized, and taught. With this same authority, Jesus still commands us today to tell others His gospel of good news, making disciples and showing people of all races and backgrounds the way of salvation through the authority of His name. HAVE YOU ENLISTED ALREADY? If yes, congratulations! But if your answer is no, now is the time to do so.

At the time of writing this book, the world is going through the greatest onslaught of the devil so far through the plague of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over one hundred and eighty thousand people have lost their lives in the United States, and around twenty-seven million are infected globally. Millions of people have lost their jobs, and political and racial injustices continue to escalate daily.

The true and lasting solution cannot be found in any human being but in Jesus Christ, and through your obedience to His call, you can spread the gospel of peace and proclaim healing to those who are hurting. You can give hope to those who are frustrated and give comfort to the comfortless. Let us follow the footsteps of the disciples of Jesus and all the Christian reformers who obeyed and enlisted to go, to teach, to baptize, and teaching all people the gospel of Christ even at the expense of being killed, persecuted, or forsaken by their families. Apostle Paul said in the book of Acts 20:24, "But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear onto myself so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God."

The above scripture describes Apostle Paul’s commitment to the ministry by consecrating his life to the advancement of the Gospel even to the point of denying himself of certain things in life. Therefore, the call to be enlisted can be defined as a call to divine trust, to build up the kingdom of God through our commitment and service. It is a divine enlisting to feed the sheep of the Lord.

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood (Acts 20:28).

In simple terms, the ministry is the assignment of God on earth that is committed to your hands in order to further His work. This is accomplished through an ongoing relationship of divine trust. Equally important to the above definition, the ministry is neither a vocation nor just a mere human ambition, but it is a calling that is ordained by God before we were born from our mothers’ belly as described in the scriptures below:

Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations (Jer. 1:5).

Therefore, every task in the ministry constitutes God’s plan for you and your destiny. They have been there before you were born again. God has been waiting for you to step into the kingdom and occupy your position until Jesus comes. However, you must know this: The work of the ministry is neither a dream nor a trance. It is not about having a church title or holding a leadership position in a local church. More specifically, the work of the ministry is a divine assignment that God delegates to a person. Simply put, the ministry is about stewardship. It is about serving as a messenger to carry out the orders of your superior, the commander in chief. It involves a commitment to carry out a given task or assignment for the advancement of the gospel for the purpose of saving souls and enduring until the end!

For this purpose, salvation or redemption is not a license for idleness in the kingdom of God. It is a call to duty as a soldier of Christ. On the one hand, the call to be enlisted is not to be construed as an avenue for personal, material acquisitions but as an avenue to spread the gospel! On the other hand, material blessings should be expected and used as resources to carry out the divine assignment entrusted into your hands. Thus, your motivation for serving the Lord must never be the material gains that you desire. Instead, it should be based upon your love for the Lord and His work.

My advice for those who have enlisted is to keep the fire and passion for the kingdom burning, no matter the years of service and great success in advancing the kingdom of God. They should not be tired or retired but refired, reenergized, and rejoicing, because a golden crown is awaiting them in their eternal home. And those who are yet to decide, your generation is waiting for you to make a divine impact, to show them the love of Christ and the need for their salvation.

I pray that all who come across this book shall discover their purpose in God and pursue it with total commitment in Jesus’s name.

CHAPTER

1

37398.png

Qualifications for Enlistment

T here are certain divine qualifications required for your enlistment process as a