Rev. Olu George
To deify a person is to make a god of a person, to idolize a person, either dead or alive. Many so-called “ministers” of God to-day have made themselves “gods” and so their members look up to them as “gods”. These members worship them, rather than the True God, either because of their charisma, or because of the miracles, wrought by God through them. Many orchestrated miracles abound in many churches to-day, to deceive the genuine children of God, who have genuine desire to worship the True God. And so most of their “followers” attend these churches, not because they have come to meet Jesus for salvation but to meet these so- called “miracle workers, for their miracles.” But Jesus warned all Christians, who want to make heaven, to beware of these false “miracle- workers”, who have made themselves “gods,” and I quote “and many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive many”- Matthew 24:11. In verse 24 Jesus says, “For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, in so much that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect”.
Many of these preachers, in making themselves ‘gods’ have personalized their ministries, using their own names, such as “Kelly World-wide ministries” or “Michael John world-wide ministries”. Large crowds are attracted to their crusades, to meet a “deified personality” in the person of Apostle Michael John. Instead of lifting up the name of Jesus, who will draw men unto Himself, they lift up their names as the ‘gods’ that will perform these miracles. Some other colleague ministers even use the ‘names’ of these “miracle-workers”, to draw crowds of people unto their own crusade grounds. It is satan, the “god” of this world, that these ministers are lifting up. Satan will definitely draw large crowds unto such programmes, because it is he that is being lifted up. The common language of these “deified” ministers is the language of their master the devil. What is that language? I AM the bishop of the whole world; I AM the ‘demon-destroyer. I will be there at the crusade, I will bless you with babies. In Isaiah 14:13-14 satan said in his heart “… I will ascend into heaven.
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit also upon the Mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High”. So these ministers like their father the devil exalt themselves above measure, being “deified”, by their congregation. In John 3:30, John the Baptist, referring to Christ, declared “He must increase, but I must decrease”. But many so-called miracle-working ministers, have been puff up by their miracles above their Master. Jesus said in John 13:16 “Verily verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him”. The working of many wonderful works or miracles is no passport to heaven Matthew 7:22-23
The “deification” of these ministers of God has reached such a peak, that some of them, go about in a convoy of motor-cades, and some surround themselves with body-guards, paving the way for them to pass through, like the President of a country, because they love to receive honour from men, and love to be deified. Some, engrave their photographs and those of their wives on bill-boards in front of their churches, portraying themselves, as the ‘gods’ whom the congregation have come to worship. Even though they preach in the glorious Name of Jesus, it is another Jesus they are preaching. While one or two church bill-boards bear the portrait of ‘Mother and son, as the ‘gods’ whom the members of the congregation, ignorantly worship. The portrait of Mother and son, on church bill- board, is the greatest degree of Idolatry in Christianity. It has a very serious spiritual implication, likened to the incestuous marriage relationship between Semiramis, the wife of Cush, the grandson of Noah (Genesis 10:8) and her son, Nimrod whom she married after the death of her husband, Cush.