AS AN INTERPRETER FOR THE GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT OF THE REDEEMED CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF GOD, I BECAME ARROGANT AND THE HEAVEN CLOSED OVER ME WITH THE devil TORTURING ME
IF YOU USED TO HEAR FROM GOD AND YOU NO LONGER HEAR FROM HIM, IT’S BETTER TO DIE
IF YOU HAVE STRAYED FROM GOD, I PRAY THAT GOD WILL HELP YOU DO WHAT YOU NEED TO DO SO YOU CAN BE RESTORED TO SPEAKING TERMS WITH HIM
IF YOU PAY YOUR TITHE, YOU WILL NOT SUFFER ANY MORE LOSSES. GOD WILL BLESS YOU SO MUCH THAT EVEN THE WORLD WILL LOOK AT YOU AND WONDER
IF YOU ARE BACK TO GOD, IT MEANS NO MORE FAILURE; NO MORE DEFEAT AND NO MORE LOSSES
IN THE MIGHTY NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, NO MORE LOSSES PHYSICAL, MATERIAL, MARITAL AND SPIRITUAL
WHEN YOU RESTITUTE YOUR WAYS AND THE LORD RESTORES YOU TO HIMSELF, NEVER FORGET THAT WITHOUT GOD, YOU ARE NOTHING
NEVER UNDERTAKE ANY PROJECT WITHOUT CONSULTING GOD – HE IS THE SOURCE OF OUR STRENGTH, SUCCESS AND GLORY
FANTASTIC RESULTS OF RESTITUTION IS THAT YOU DON’T HAVE TO FALL DOWN ON YOUR FACE IN AGONY ANY MORE
IF YOU ARE BACK TO SPEAKING TERMS WITH GOD, HIS ARMS WILL BE THERE TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU WON’T FALL
AS LONG AS YOU HAVE RESTITUTED YOUR WAYS, DON’T BE DISMAYED; YOUR TOMORROW WILL BE ALRIGHT
– Pastor E. A. Adeboye on “FOR WHOM THE HEAVENS OPEN – Part 39” at RCCG Online Sunday Service || 18th February, 2024 ||
Now we are going on to part 39 in our study of the life of Joshua as an example of someone for whom the Heavens opens and a very good example of Divine Repositioning. Joshua 8:1-2. Church Gist. If we read this passage gently, we will see several beautiful things that God said to Joshua. For example he asked him to ‘fear not.’ We will come to that one of these Sundays. Joshua 8:1-2.
You know, last week we spoke about back to square one, we told you about how beautiful back to square one can be depending on what square one could mean. Church Gist. Here for Joshua it is actually back to God. The square one here as far as Joshua was concerned was Back to God. In Joshua 7 when Joshua suffered that humiliating defeat and he fell on his face in agony, afraid, the future completely uncertain, when God spoke to him he said, “I am not going with you anymore.” I mean, what is life if you have to live it without God? How terrible can situation be when God used to be your partner and your partner now says, I am no longer going with you? How am I going to face the future? Church Gist. When I was a messenger and you chose me and made me head of state and you promised me that no man would be able to stand before me all the days of my life, that as you were with Moses you will be with me? Now you say, no more? You can imagine the situation of Joshua in Joshua 7. You can imagine the reason why they violently dealt with Achan. If you used to hear from God and you no longer hear from him, let me tell you the plain truth: it’s better to die.
I told you that when I joined the Redeemed Christian Church of God and I became a worker and I became a worker in a hurry, I became the interpreter, the translator for my Father in the Lord because at that time I was the most educated in the Church not now. Church Gist. There were many other interpreters, many people who could translate from Yoruba to English and vice versa and because all the pastors realized that the old man had chosen me to be his interpreter, they left me alone to him and whenever any other pastor wanted to preach, he will take another interpreter. Unknown to me, I became arrogant. I’ve become the big man, the interpreter for the General Superintendent and then one day, one pastor I don’t know what got into him, came to me and said, “brother you’re interpreting for me today.” I was furious. I didn’t show it but I was – “didn’t he know that I am, as it were, set aside for the General Superintendent?” Church Gist. I interpreted for him because in the Redeemed Christian Church of God a worker doesn’t say, “No Sir” to the Pastor – you don’t dare. But if he knew what was going on in my mind he would have asked me to please go and sit down and he would have taken somebody else. We finished the sermon and I was on my way to my car when God spoke to me and said, “Son, so you are now too big to interpret for my servant?” From that moment onwards, the Heaven closed. One of the blessings I have enjoyed as a young Christian was the ability to hear from God. Oh, I will be going to Church on Sunday morning, before I get to Church God will tell me who will be the preacher, what he will be preaching on, the Bible passages he will use, I knew the sermon before I got to Church – that was my relationship with him. Church Gist. But after that day, God kept quiet. I’m telling you, it wasn’t long before the devil realized that I wasn’t hearing from God anymore and he tortured me. I prayed, I fasted, I cried to God and God was silent. Until one day I said in desperation, “Father, begin to speak to me again and if I am going to offend you again tomorrow, take me away today.” God knew then that he got me. God knew that I was willing to do to myself what they did to Achan and he began to speak to me from then and he is still speaking today.
– I am praying for you that if you had been on speaking terms with God and you had strayed and he is no longer talking to you, I pray that the Almighty God will help you do whatever you need to do so he can restore you to speaking terms with him in Jesus’ name!
Now, Joshua was back to square one, he was back to God the one who called him originally. The one who spoke to him in Joshua 1:1-9. Back to God to Joshua means no more failures.
– I’m praying for everyone of you listening to me today that this day will mark the end of failures in your life!
… because if you’re back to God, according to Philippians 4:13, you can do all things through Christ who will be strengthening you – no more failures. Life can be fantastic if you know that for the rest of your life you’re not going to fail again. Church Gist. Failure is not a pleasant thing at all. You’ve never seen a student who will shout halleluyah because he failed an examination. You will never see a man of God in the real sense of the Word who will pray for the sick and the sick will die who will say, “glory be to God.” Nobody rejoices in failure and in the name that is above every other name, you will never fail again!
But it’s more than, no more failure. It actually means, no more defeat. It means any battle you fight you will win. You see there’s a difference between fail and defeated. If you want to find an illustration of this, you look at the story of the man by the pool of Bethesda. You find that story in John 5:1-14. Church Gist. When we are talking about defeat we are talking about other forces other than yourself being responsible for your failure. Ordinary failure means you try on your own and you failed. If the man had said, “I have tried for 38 years but before I got to the pool I got tired,” then that would have been personal failure. But he said, “somebody got in there before me,” – I had competitors who caused me to fail. Romans 8:31
– I pray for all of you listening to me today, no more defeat in Jesus’ name!
It means to Joshua – no more losses because the failure, the defeat, that he suffered in Joshua 7, led to losses; not ordinary losses but loss of lives. Several families lost their bread winners because of the sin of Achan. Several wives became widows because of the sin of Achan. Several children became orphans – they lost their fathers – because of the sin of Achan. Joshua lost his joy, his confidence, his past victories, because the victory in Jericho became nothing because of the defeat in Ai. God is now saying to him, “I will restore to you victory. Church Gist. Just like you did to Jericho, I’m going to allow you to do the same thing to Ai. You’re not going to lose anymore.” You know when you read, Malachi 3:8-12, you will see regardless of what anybody may want to say against your paying your tithe that you suffer a lot if you fail to do so because not only did God say that you will be under a curse, he says, if you do what I ask you to do, you won’t suffer any more losses. That’s one of the things he said. He said, “everything that you had lost, I will restore to you. I will rebuke all those canker worms, pests that have been draining your resources. I will bless you so much that even the world now will begin to look at you and wonder.” You know you don’t know what you have until you have lost it. I pray for you today that you will never suffer a loss again.
One of the problems with losses is that some of the losses cannot even be regained. I mean for example, all those people who died at the first attack on Ai, even now that Achan is dead, they didn’t come back to life, they were dead and dead. Church Gist. There are some losses that once you lose, you can’t get them back.
– I pray in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, no more losses for you! No more losses physical, material, marital, spiritual.
– I pray like only someone who has suffered a loss can pray, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ none of you will ever lose your child!
So God was saying to Joshua, “no more sorrow.” I wasn’t there but you can be sure Joshua wasn’t smiling that day during the first attack. He wasn’t laughing, he wasn’t praising God even though the details were not given to us, when he fell on his face down there, only God knows how much tears that he shed. God made a promise in Isaiah 25:8, he said you will suffer no more disgrace. Do you know that God was saying to Joshua, “no more disgrace”? Church Gist. The Elders have a saying that occasionally on some special occasions, it’s better to die than to be disgraced because disgrace brings shame and some shame can be very terrible. There are some shame that you can’t hide. So God was saying to Joshua, “no more sorrow, no more falling on your face in agony.” Fantastic results of restitution is that you don’t have to fall down on your face in agony any more. Deuteronomy 33:27. If you’re restored back to God, then you don’t have to fall on your face again because even if anything tries to trip you, the everlasting arms will be there to support you. If you’re back to speaking terms with the Almighty God, his arms will be there to make sure that you won’t fall. It is another way of saying, “enemies don’t rejoice over me. If I fall I will rise again.” Church Gist. One should spend some quality time thinking of all the joys of restitution. If nothing at all, it brings you back to God, he restores to you several glorious things that you have lost.
What God was saying is in essence, a new river now will begin to flow. Isaiah 43:19. A new thing, rivers now will begin to flow where there was desert before and you know what that means? New rivers beginning to flow means new hope. Church Gist. He said to Joshua, “hey, don’t be dismayed, don’t lose hope. Hope is rising now.” Ecclesiastes 9:4. Yes, you’ve a defeat, yes you have been disgraced, yes you have suffered losses or you have been defeated, but Joshua you are still alive and a living dog is better than a dead lion. Yes, what happened was bad but it didn’t take your life.
So I am saying to somebody who probably like Joshua suffered losses, you have failed, you have been defeated, disgraced and you’re in sorrow, “hey, cheer up! You’re still breathing. Remember the Almighty God said let all things that have breathe praise the Lord.” As long as you have restituted your ways, don’t be dismayed; your tomorrow will be alright. When there is a new river flowing, then as they will say among the Elders, a new river will mean new fish. It means emptiness will be replaced with fullness. Church Gist. It means everything will now begin to increase; your multiplication will begin. You see what God said here, he said, “hey, this time around when you go to Ai, I’m not even going to create an opportunity for any Achan to create a problem for you. There’ll be no need for anybody to steal because whatever you get there, you can keep. I allow you to keep all the wealth, all the garments, animals.” I’m telling you a new river is flowing and the river will not be empty.
But of course he is saying to Joshua, “there is a new beginning because I am sure you will no longer forget who is in charge because you went to Ai without consulting me. When you were going to deal with Jericho remember you were surveying Jericho and I came and you fell down before me and I gave you instructions. You won and now you thought you are the one who can do all these things. That’s why you went to Ai without coming back to me to say, Lord, what next? Church Gist. I hope you have learnt your lesson Joshua. I hope you have learnt that without me you can do nothing.” I hope those of us who are listening are paying attention to that. John 15:5. I hope you will know that I am the only one supplying you the strength, I hope you know that it is only those who wait upon the Lord who will renew their strength. Isaiah 40:28-31.
So my beloved children, brothers and sisters, when you restitute your ways and the Lord restores you to himself, great things will follow but please never forget the great lesson: without God, you and I are nothing. Church Gist. Never again do anything, never again undertake any project without consulting God because he is the source of our strength, he is the source of our success and glory.
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