Increasing Faith Deliverance Ministries Intl.
The House of Prayer Power & Praise!!
The Church's Position on Tying Off (A Medical Procedure to Stop Women from having anymore Children)
Question: What is the Church's Position on tying off (a medical procedure to prevent women from having anymore children)?
Church's Position: In regards to the matter you stated: Usually, it is not recommended for a woman to have more than three (3) C-sections (Caesarean Section). It can prove very harmful or even fatal to both mother and child.
Testimony #1: We have had a case in this church where a mother had a fourth C-section, but this was unplanned and unexpected, as the mother was already tied off. So, something went wrong (according to man) or went right (according to God), and she still became pregnant years later by her husband. The doctors were surprised and even advised her to abort the child, but she would not. We (the church) prayed, and both mother and child were well (The mother named her baby girl "Faith", after the name of our church in gratitude for the results).
Testimony #2: My mother also experienced this when having Camille (my little sister, Richard Morris' wife. The one who died at her second C-section and came back to life). My mother became pregnant with her by her husband, five (5) years after tying off. She was advised similar things, to abort, but here she is today.
Counsel: We, as the church of Jesus Christ, is not against tying off. It is a medical and surgical option that is available to couples to control the number of children they have to care and provide for. It is just like using contraceptive or condom. It gives better control to the couple how many children they want or can afford to manage within their relationship, and God gives them that right. But sometimes I believe that God sometimes step in and adjust their decisions. So, it is a decision both you and your wife should make with the help of the Holy Spirit. We also encourage persons not to put themselves intentionally in danger and then call for God to help them out (Matt. 4: 5-7). So, if after we have taken the necessary precautions (tying off), and it still happens; then we trust and pray for a victorious outcome. So, we still encourage others to make this decision, and also advise them to keep listening to the voice of the Lord and His Holy Spirit in their lives."
(Apostle Richard Fagan).
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Introducing the Kingdom of God to Mankind
a)WHAT THE KINGDOM GOD IS
b)THE KINGDOM OF GOD BOTH PRESENT AND FUTURE
c)THE MYSTERY OF THE KINGDOM
d)THE PRACTICAL DEMANDS OF THE KINGDOM
e)THE PARABLES OF THE KINGDOM
f)THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE CHURCH
Most of the biblical references to the Kingdom of God are found in the teachings of Jesus, recorded in the four gospels.
The subject of the Kingdom of God, was central in Jesus' teaching. Yet, nowhere did Jesus say exactly what the Kingdom was,
and neither the writers of the New Testament who followed Him.
WHAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS
Jesus' teachings on the Kingdom of God is the rule of God.
It is not a territory over which He reigns, but the rule which He exercises. It is defined, not as a geographical location,
nor an era of existence to the nationality of the people; but by the Sovereign Rule and Authority of God
(Exo. 15: 18; Ps. 103: 19; Ps. 145; 10-13; Dan.2: 44; 4:2,25,32).
Jesus, likewise, understood God's Kingdom as God's Rule, rather than a territory or a people. The person who seeks God's Kingdom,
seeks God's rule in his life (Matt. 6: 33); and receives God's rule in his life (Mark 10: 15).
The prayer for God's Kingdom to come, is a prayer that God's rule be accepted so that His will be done on earth, as it is done in heaven
(Matt. 6: 10).
The Kingdom is a realm in the spiritual, rather than in the physical sense. The person who enters the Kingdom of God, enters the realm
where he accepts God's rule (Matt. 21: 31).
The world, at present, is in rebellion against God's Rule because it is under the power (sway) of Satan (2 Cor. 4:4; 1 John 5:19).
Therefore, when the Kingdom of God comes among mankind, in the person of Jesus Christ, the rule of God was demonstrated in the defeat
of Satan.
As Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom, He healed those who were diseased and oppressed by evil spirits and in so doing He gave evidence of
His power over Satan (Matt. 4: 23-24; 10: 1, 7-8; 12: 22-30; Luke 10: 19; Acts 26: 18; 1 John 4: 4; 5: 4-6).
GOD'S KINGDOM; BOTH PRESENT AND FUTURE
In contrast to the popular Jewish belief, that God's was a future national and political Kingdom to be centered on Israel,
Jesus pointed out that God's Kingdom was already present among them. It was present in Him (Luke 10: 9, 17-21).
When people willingly humble themselves and submit to the Rule of Christ, and continue in His doctrine (John 8: 32-36);
and are born again "of water and of the Spirit" (John 3: 2-6); born of God (John 1: 12-13), they receive forgiveness of sins,
they immediately enter Christ's Kingdom and receive eternal life (Mark 10: 14-15; John 3:3).
Not only those of Jesus' time, but people of any generation, when they believe in Him, continue in His teachings (doctrines),
they immediately enter the Kingdom and receive the blessings of the Kingdom (Government and Rule of God, working for them;
Matt. 6: 25-33; Rom. 14: 17:; Col. 1:13).
A person may ask, "How is the Kingdom of God present here and now, and yet be something that awaits the future?" The answer lies
in our understanding of the Kingdom of God as the Sovereign Rule of God.
A person enters the Kingdom through believing in Jesus Christ and continuing in His doctrines, being born again.
But they will experience the full blessings of the Kingdom only when Christ returns to punish evil doers and reigns
in righteousness (Matt. 13: 41-43; 1 Cor. 15: 24-26).
Eternal life is the life of the Kingdom of God, the life of the age to come; but because the Kingdom of God has come
among mankind now, those who are born of God have this life (Matt. 25: 34, 46; John 3: 3, 5; 1 John 5: 9-13).
PARABLE OF THE KINGDOM
The parable of the seed and the soil shows that, because people are free to accept or reject the message of the Kingdom, most reject it.
But those who accept it experience great spiritual growth in their lives (Matt. 13: 18-23).
The parable of the wheat and the weeds teaches that, in the present world, those who are in God's Kingdom live alongside those who are not;
but the day of judgment, when God's Kingdom will be established openly, believers will be saved and unbelievers punished (1 Cor. 1: 18).
There are both the true and the false among those who claim to be in God's Kingdom. The parable of the dragnet show that the good will be
separated from the bad in God's decisive judgment at the close of the age (Matt. 13: 47-50).
PRATICAL DEMANDS OF THE KINGDOM
Although a person may desire the Kingdom of God above all else (Matt. 6: 33; 13: 44-46), no person can buy his way into it. The right of entry
into the Kingdom comes through being born again, "born of the water of the Spirit" (John 3: 3, 5); those who want entry must humble themselves,
as a child (Mark 10: 15; Luke 12: 32). There are those who are close to the Kingdom, but they do not have entry (Mark 12: 34). The work
and word of God introduces a person to the Kingdom and produces eternal life in them. It is a work that no person can do, no matter how hard
he tries, yet God does it for the one who believes in and continue in the teachings of His Son, Jesus Christ (Mark 4: 26-29; 10: 17, 23-27;
John 8: 30-36).
Neither a person's good deeds nor his status in life can gain him entrance into the Kingdom of God. What God demands is repentance-a total
change that gives up self-sufficiency for the sake of following Christ as King (Matt. 4:17; 5: 20; 16: 24; 19: 23; Luke 9: 62). It is a
decision that requires the full force of a person's will (Luke 16: 16). All who enter God's Kingdom comes under His Rule, where He
teaches them about the life of the Kingdom--which is eternal life.
Yet they look upon His commands not as laws they they are forced to obey, but as expressions of His will that they find true happiness
in doing (Matt. 5: 3, 10; 1 John 5: 3-4). They learn that the principles that operate in the Kingdom of God, are different from those
that operate in the world (John 15: 18-25; 18: 36). Having come into the enjoyment of the Rule of Christ themselves, they then spread
the good news of His Kingdom throughout the world (Matt. 10: 7; 24: 14; Acts 8: 12; 19: 8; 28: 23, 31).
Those who serve in the Kingdom of God will be persecuted and suffer for the cause of Christ (Matt. 10: 7, 16-22; Acts 14: 22; 2 Thess. 1: 5).
God, however, will preserve them through their troubles and bring them into the full enjoyment of His Kingdom in the day of its final triumph
(Luke 18: 29-30; 2 Tim. 4: 18; 2 Pet. 1: 11).
THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH
God's purpose was that, when the Messiah came, the people of Israel would be first to hear the good news of the Kingdom. Upon accepting
the Messiah, they would enter God's Kingdom, and then spread the good news to all nations (Matt. 10: 6-7; 15: 24). But when Israel rejected
the Messiah, God sent the message to the nations directly. Gentiles who believe entered the Kingdom. But the Jews, who heard it first,
were excluded (Matt. 8: 10-12; 20: 1-16; 21: 33-43; Acts 13: 46-47; 28: 23-31).
The reason many of the Jews rejected Jesus was because He did not bring the type of Kingdom they were looking for, they wanted a
Messiah who would be a political deliverer and a Kingdom that would bring material prosperity. Jesus was opposed to both ideas
(John 6: 15; 18: 36). Even the apostles did not fully understand the nature of the Messiah and of His Kingdom; but they did not, as others,
reject Jesus. They knew that He was indeed the Messiah of God, who brought the Kingdom of God and eternal life to mankind (Matt. 16: 13-16;
John 6: 66-69). However, the church is not the Kingdom, just as Israel was not the Kingdom.
The Church and the Kingdom are things of a different kind. The Kingdom is the rule of God. The church is the community of people. It is the
"new community" of God's people, just as Israel was the "old community". The Kingdom works through the church, but it is sometimes far
wider than the church. It worked in the days before the church was born, and it will continue to work until the day of God's final triumph
(1 Cor. 15: 24-28; Rev. 11: 15). In the meantime, the church is the means by which God's Rule should most clearly be seen in the world
(John 17: 23; Rom. 14: 16-18; Eph. 3: 10).
I would encourage you, therefore, to read all the references mentioned above over and over in order to get a deeper understanding
of God's Kingdom. May God's richest blessings be with you as you study His word.