Pharaoh was a man who, in spite of God's counsel and
admonition through Moses, refused to listen but hardened his heart against the voice of God. Ultimately, he and his hosts
perished in the Red Sea. No one goes to battle against God and return back home rejoicing or smiling for victory. The Bible
says in Proverbs 29:1 "He, that being often reproved hardeneth [his] neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without
remedy." Those who witnessed or read about the destruction of the Egyptian hosts in the Red Sea are not expected to fall
into the same traps but unfortunately the children of Yis-raw-ale who were delivered by the mighty and strong hands of God
stiff their necks and hardened their hearts against God's commandments. God said that they should destroy their enemies utterly
but they refused to do exactly what God said. They entered into convenant with their enemies who have become thorns in their
flesh since then.
God is calling people today to come unto Him but nobody seems
to reason with His love being demonstrated. When people are denied of their blessings from God, they hardly can be convinced
that it is as a result of their obstinacy and stubbornness against the Humble Mind of God. The Bible also says in Proverbs 1:24-31 "Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched
out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh
at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a
whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek
me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: They would none
of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their
own devices." People are desperately seeking God now as a result of their problems but could not find Him because they
have despised the counsel of God and hated knowledge. They refused to fear God with trembling. The Bible says that if we be
willing and obedient, we shall eat the good of this land (Isaiah 1:19). God is so merciful to Pharaoh and could have blessed
the land of Egypt till today if he had hearkened to the voice of God. Majority of the people on the surface of the earth today
are pharaohic in nature. The Word of God does not mean anything to them. Why? Because we are in the age of ignorance and rebellion.
Children are rebelling against their parents, nationals are rebelling against the law of the land, people are rebelling against
the Humble Mind of God. What then shall we say to all these? It is unfortunate that people have no excuse.
It
is given unto me to understand in the Scriptures that "If
one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding
they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them" - I Samuel 2:25. We are in the perilous
time as prophesied by Apostle Paul. We are not surprised about the goings on in this age because of the fact that the Word
of God is true. God knows the end from the beginning and whosoever will believe and live will ultimately come to the knowledge
of the Gospel of Life.
Look at Ahab and Jezebel during the time of Prophet Elijah. These powerful
people of the earthen vessel were rebellious against God so much that they witnessed the fulfilment of the prophecy of Elijah
that there would be no dew talkless of rain in the land. Still, they hearkened not to the voice of God. The Bible says, "And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the
inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain
these years, but according to my word" - I Kings 17:1. In this current age, people do not reckon with the prophetic declaration
of the men of God. It has been in the beginning till now. God, have mercy on us in Jesus' Name, Amen. Who will now come to
appeal to us to change from being stubborn to being obedient?
The unbelievers in the world today are saying that the children of God are troubling the world whereas their spiritual
adultery and idolatory are the causes of the world's upside down situations. Ahab thought that Elijah was the one troubling
the land of Yis-raw-ale because his spiritual eyes were blind to see clearly that he was the one. Whosoever warns the rebels
not to be rebellious are always taken to be rebels. In 1Kings 18:18, the Bible says, "And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in
that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim." People are forsaking the commandments
of the LORD today that the whole world is turned upside down. The upside down mercy seat of hate, darkness, and death has
taken over the whole universe. The Judgment of God is very imminent. Let us turn back to Him Who is able to turn us around
to witness His Love, Light, and Life.
Those of us who are making
the Holy, Righteous, and Powerful Name of the LORD known through the preaching and teaching of the Crucified and Living Christ
to this dying world are regarded as the enemies of the world just like Ahab and Jezebel saw Elijah. Instead of the world to
jump for joy for witnessing the demonstration of God's love towards them by the presence of the Preachers of Good News, they
are persecuting them. "And Ahab said to
Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil
in the sight of the LORD. Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab
him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, And will make thine house like the house of
Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked
me to anger, and made Israel to sin. And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of
Jezreel" - 1Ki 21:20-23. God
is being provoked to anger by the persecution of His people. The LORD is still waiting for the repentance of the whole world
but that Dragon, the old Serpent, the Devil, and Satan is at work seriously preaching his own sermons of doubts into the ears
of even the people of God after they might have listened to the sermons from the mouth of the man of God in the Church. Those
who are still in the world are being discouraged by those who are supposed to portray the picture of the Living God but are
actually found in the midst of the wicked.
What can you say about a Pastor who invited his Pastor friend
to a night vigil and ultimately killed him for ritual? The friend willingly agreed to attend the false vigil and informed
his wife who also consented. On getting to his friend's Church, four hefty men rounded him up, killed him, and turned his
head upside down in a pit that has already been dug in the Church altar and covered him up. The wife was surprised to discover
that her husband was not back home at 10:00 the following morning and decided to search for him at the Church where the so
called night vigil took place. On getting there, she met the Pastor of the Church and asked for her husband whom he invited
for night vigil. Surprisingly, the Pastor said that he did not see her husband and that there was no vigil at all in that
Church. This innocent woman cold not believe her ears of what she was hearing and alerted the Police. They searched round
the whole Church until one of the Law enforcement agents decided to look closely under the carpet of the altar. They saw that
there was a fresh plastering of the floor. They inquired from the Pastor what was done there and denied that it was the decision
of the Church Elders to replaster the place. The Police got a shovel to dig down when they discovered the two legs of this
missing Pastor up and head down in the pit. When are we going to come out of the people of the kingdom of darkness? This unfortunate
thing was done by this so called Pastor with a view to pulling crowd and making more money. Filthy lucre indeed. Amongst the
people of God also we find those who are troubling the world. But the anger of God will soon bounce on those who are concerned.
We should repent now or else the Judgment of God will follow.
The LORD has revealed that He is going to expose those who are
troubling His world. The earth is the LORD's and the fulness thereon. Because of the stiff-neckedness of the people of this
dying world, the LORD, by His permissive Will, given room for the false prophets and teachers to flourish in the world. There
is no difference between the time of Ahab and what we are seeing in our societies today. The Bible says, "And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and
fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him. And the LORD said unto him,
Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou
shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the
mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee" - 1Ki 22:20-23. It is better to hearken to the voice of the LORD and live rather than to harden our hearts with obstinacy
and stubborness and perish. God is real. Jesus Christ is real. God is demonstrating His love towards us but we find it difficult
in this present age to dress up His Holy, Righteous, and Powerful Name in praise, thanksgiving, appreciation, worship, and
gratitude. If people will not hearken to His voice, He will permit the lying spirit from the mouth of false prophets
to deceive them unto total destruction. The wheel of God's Love and Mercy should not be allowed to move away from the Blessing
side to Judgment side. Once it moves to the Judgment side and up to the end of it, it leads man unto premature death.
In 1Ki 22:28 "And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the LORD hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken,
O people, every one of you." Just like Micaiah said, I am also appealing to the people of this dying old world to hearken
to the voice of the LORD and turn from their wicked ways of ignorance and rebellion against the Supremacy and Sovereignty
of the LORD. To obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams. If Adam Male and Female had obeyed the
loving commandment of God in the beginning, we would not have found ourselves in these situations of woes, sufferings, miseries,
sickenesses, and diseases. God loves us so much that He came in the flesh just to demonstrate His Roaring, Redeeming, Forgiving
Love Blood on the Cross of Calvary for the sake of saving and reconciling us back unto Himself. People can blame God for doing
this by questioning the rationale.
Just as the LORD spoke to Manasseh and he would not hearken, so many people in this world are not ready to hearken
to the voice of the LORD. Instead of the Church of our days winning the world unto salvation, the Church is being welded
into worldly systems. 2Chronicles 33:10 says,
"And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken." If you delight in the world and
its systems, it is better that you return to the path of righteousness and allow God to have His Rulership and Headship over
your life henceforth. This is the only way of life.
God has compassion on
us and His dwelling place but the messengers of God are being mocked and reviled by the people of the world. Many are rushing
after filthy lucres. Covetousness has taken over the whole world and its people. Preach the Word of God on the street and
you will be given a new name, "Lazy man." Our people should not allow the wrath of God to descend upon them before they consider
to listen to His Word. During the time of Noah, it was just like what is happening now. Noah was counted to be a lazy man
who has nothing to do other than wasting his time on the street preaching what he knows not. How can rain fall? They had never
experienced rain before. At the fulness of time, the rain fell and the LORD by His Omnipotent power, opened the windows of
heaven and broke loose the fountain of the deep. Water came down from the teh-home of His Name above to join water from the
teh-home of His below and the whole rebellious people were swallowed underground by the flood. Look at what the Bible says
in 2Chronicles 36:15-17, "And the LORD God of their fathers
sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling
place: But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused
his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.
Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their
sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his
hand." Many are being afflicted with AIDS now as a result of their refusal to hearken to the voice of the LORD. This
is the sword of the LORD to recompense their stubborness and obstinacy. As this obnoxious atttitudes are rampant in the world,
so it is in the circle of the children of God surprisingly. What can you say about a man of God who was caught red-handed
with another man's wife in a remote village hotel? "Thou shalt not commit adultery" is what the LORD says but many are making
their choices after the order of Adam Female. Good luck to them. May we not be cast away from the LORD's presence in Jesus'
Name, Amen. I hate obstinacy, stubborness, arrogance, and stiff-neckedness. The children of Yis-raw-ale were noted for this
but look at what they are experiencing today. It does not augur well with them. There is no peace in the land. Why? Because
they did not hearken to the voice of the LORD in the beginning that they should utterly destroy their enemies in the Canaans
Land.
My Brethren, I wish you happy reconciliation with the LORD as you hearken to His voice this
day. I will be with you soon with Part Two of this Message to bless your soul and restore you back to your original estate
with the LORD. God bless you in Jesus' Name, Amen.
or write directly to:
Associated Christ Gospel Church, Inc.,
4, Adeniyi Badejo Close, Behind Ajuwon High School,
P.O. Box 1216, Mushin, Lagos State, Nigeria
