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Tag: Femi Aribisala

  • God did it (2) – By Femi Aribisala

    God did it (2) – By Femi Aribisala

    By Femi Aribisala

    “God not only makes us do the evil we want to do”.

    Let me first address the contrarian who says if God is the author of everything, how can man be held responsible for his actions? Such a dilemma arises from knowing neither the scriptures nor the power of God. (Matthew 22:29).

    The God of the Bible is the uncaused cause of everything. The power of God ensures that God’s determinism never contradicts man’s responsibility. God not only makes us do the evil we want to do, He also makes us do the good we do not want to do.

    In this equation, the devil is merely a servant of God. He only does what God purposes. God says: “I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil; I, the Lord, do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7). Amos echoes this: “If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it?” (Amos 3:6).

    Nothing good or bad happens outside of the will of God. “Who can speak, and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come? (Lamentations 3:37-38). Thus, Job asks his wife: “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” (Job 2:10).

    Indeed, God takes issues with those inclined to make Him one-dimensional: “I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and punish the men who are settled in complacency, who say in their heart, ‘The LORD will not do good, nor will He do evil.’” (Zephaniah 1:12).

    Jesus maintains evil is a necessary feature of life: “Each day has enough evil of its own.” (Matthew 6:34). We need trouble so the power of Christ in deliverance and salvation may be revealed in us. (John 9:1-3). We need evil, in order to partake of God’s divine nature in overcoming it.

    However, believers have this assurance: “The Lord will deliver (us) from every evil work and preserve (us) for His heavenly kingdom. (2 Timothy 4:18).

    Self-denial

    God has already done this. Jesus says: “I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” (John 14:20). This means the believer no longer exists. Jesus says: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself.” (Matthew 16:24). Let him understand that he no longer exists.

    Accordingly, Paul says: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20).

    If you are a believer then, concerning you: “the works were finished from the foundation of the world.” (Hebrews 4:3). The books on you are closed. In that book is every word you will speak in your lifetime and every step you will take.

    “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30).

    Observe that everything about you is expressed in the past tense. It is all already accomplished: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11).

    It is finished

    This means nothing can be added or subtracted from the works and purposes of God in your life. You can now enter into God’s rest. Perfect calmness and peace of mind is achieved once we recognise not only that our times are in God’s hand (Psalm 31:15), but also that “God has done it.”

    He has done all the needful. He has perfected everything that concerns you. (Psalm 138:8). Therefore, nobody can do anything for you. Only God. Nobody can help you. Only God. Do not ask God to make somebody do something for you. Ask God to do it Himself.

    Remember this: “All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; (God) does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, “What have You done?’” (Daniel 4:35).

    All your actions are going to originate from God. Therefore, determine what you want God to do, then do it. “Use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.” (Romans 6:13).

    Recognise this: if you are praying about something, then God is working on it. Before you even started praying, He already had the answer. (Isaiah 65:24). In any case, God is the One who makes you pray. The psalmist says to God: “Quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.” (Psalm 80:18). Without God’s enablement, we can do nothing. (John 15:5).

    New creatures

    Because of Jesus’ atonement, we are new creations who can no longer sin. John says: “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.: (1 John 3:9).

    Here is how you know this applies to you. When you sin, you are remorseful. When you sin, your heart condemns you: “By this we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.” (1 John 3:19-20).

    God knows you are no longer a sinner, but that the sins that are still in you have nothing to do with you any longer. They are only in your good-for-nothing flesh and not in your newly created spirit. These sins are now in you as outlaws. They are in you as strangers and foreigners.

    But rest assured: “The foreigners (shall) fade away and come frightened from their hideouts.” (2 Samuel 22:46).

    That is why Paul says: “I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.” (Romans 7:17-20).

    Here is wisdom. If you want God to use you for His good purposes, be good. If you want Him to use you for His evil purposes, be evil. Whatever you do is what God has purposed for you. That is the power of God.

    “In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honour and some for dishonour. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honour, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” (2 Timothy 2:20-21).

  • God did it – By Femi Aribisala

    God did it – By Femi Aribisala

    By Femi Aribisala

    If you give something to someone, thank God for giving it to him.

    When I met the Lord, I became suddenly open to the spirit world. Jesus said to me: “Femi, blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear.” (Matthew 13:16).

    However, this was double-edged. I could see and hear both the positive and the negative spiritual. After a few months, the pastor in my church came to see me. He had a dream where the devil was laughing at me, boasting that he would drive me mad.

    The Lord asked me to wait on Him for three days because He has something to reveal to me.

    Divine revelation

    On the third day of my fast, I was sitting in my study all by myself, when something mind-blowing happened. The power of God suddenly overshadowed the room, and the Lord started to talk to me. What was so dramatic about this, and it has never happened to me like that since then, is that the voice came from “heaven.” It did not come from within me. It came from somewhere in the ceiling.

    The Lord told me to take a pen and write down what he wanted to tell me. Then He said: “Femi, there are two kingdoms, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. Everybody you are ever going to meet will come from one of these two kingdoms. It is your responsibility to determine which kingdom the people you meet are from.”

    “If the person is from the kingdom of your Father, you must determine why I want you to meet him. Every person you meet, you will meet for a reason, and you will meet by appointment. Nothing that will ever happen to you will be coincidental. Nothing will ever happen to you by happenstance. Everything that will happen in your life will happen for a reason. It is your responsibility to determine precisely what the reason is.”

    As I was writing this down, I was covered with tears. I wept uncontrollably. I could not believe the Almighty God was giving nonentity me such privileged information. What did I do to deserve this Almighty visitation? What did I do to deserve God’s private tutorial on life? I was overwhelmed.

    Kingdom dynamics

    This revelation goes to the heart of God’s providence. It means everything about a man’s life works according to God’s script. As David observes to God:

    “You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book!” (Psalm 139:16).

    It means that if you stand on the street and a car passes by it did not just happen. It was “programmed” to happen. Everything is by divine contrivance. God leaves nothing to chance: “We may throw the dice, but the Lord determines how they fall.” (Proverbs 16:33).

    “All things are of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:18). “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever.” (Romans 11:36).

    God weaves the lives of everyone together as a weaver does the threads of a cloth. Combined, they are all designed to form a particular pattern and design. To those who find this difficult to believe, Jesus says: “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.” (Matthew 22:29).

    Just think; there are over 8 billion people alive today. In your lifetime, you are unlikely to meet even 10,000 of them. There is a reason why you meet the few that you meet.

    Look again at this episode in the bible:

    “As (Jesus) was walking along, He saw a man blind from birth. ‘Master,’ His disciples asked Him, ‘why was this man born blind? Was it a result of his own sins or those of his parents?’ ‘Neither,’ Jesus answered. ‘But to demonstrate the power of God. All of us must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent me, for there is little time left before the night falls and all work comes to an end.’” (John 9:1-4).

    According to Jesus, everything happens for a divine reason. God’s purposes were served even by this man’s blindness. He was blind in order that he might be healed, and that God would thereby be glorified.

    No coincidences

    This means nothing about a man’s life is haphazard. Since Jesus died for everybody, we are too important to God for Him to just leave us at the whims and caprices of the devil. Neither are we under situations and circumstances. On the contrary, we have dominion over them.

    Jesus reaffirmed this quoting the psalmist: “You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High.” (Psalm 82:6. John 10:34). Therefore, take nothing for granted. Gather up even the fragments of your life so that nothing is lost. (John 6:12).

    Everything that will happen to you is going to be from God. If someone takes you out to eat, it is God. If someone gives you money, it is God. If someone abuses you it is God that is behind it. “Lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge (God), and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes.” (Proverbs 3:5-7).

    If you give something to someone, thank God for giving it to him. God did it. It is God: “who performs all things for (us).” (Psalm 57:2).

    Jigsaw puzzle

    The life of a man is a jigsaw puzzle that God assembles. That jigsaw includes every word you speak on earth: “The preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.” (Proverbs 16:1). It includes everything you do: “The way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.” (Jeremiah 10:23).

    That is why you could not have been born in another century. You could not have been anywhere else except where you are right now. You could not have been doing anything else right now except reading this article.

    Without interfering with your free will, God puts you in a particular space where your dispositions are precisely suited to his will. It is like acting in a play. The Director told you that you could say whatever you liked and do whatever you wanted in every scene.

    But He foreknew you. He knew your character and your inclinations. He knew if you saw certain things, you would not stand idly by. He knew those situations where you would be inclined to react in a particular way.

    So, He told you: “Be yourself.” But by being yourself, you acted exactly according to His script, because He is the Uncaused cause of everything: “(He) works all things according to the counsel of His will.” (Ephesians 1:11).

    There is no situation that God does not control. There is no heart that is immune to His power. Therefore: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7).

    “In everything give thanks.” (2 Thessalonians 5:18).

  • Christians are not saved (1), By Femi Aribisala

    I was invited to conduct a teaching program in a neighbouring church in Lagos. Out of the blue, at the beginning of the session, the Lord asked me to lead the members of the congregation in singing a popular Christian song.

    This continued every day for the first five days of the program. Each day, the Lord would come up with another song that dealt with the topic at hand. However, every song that He gave me turned out to be unscriptural. Each song was based on a misunderstanding or misapplication of the word of God. He would then require me to explain to my listeners that the songwriter was not schooled in kingdom dynamics.

    Whose report

    The very first song He asked me to sing was given a major boost by the gospel singer, Ron Kenoly. It is entitled: “Whose Report Will You Believe?” It goes something like this: “Whose report will you believe? We shall believe the report of the Lord. His report says I am healed, His report says victory.”

    You may well ask what could be wrong with this song. Does the report of the Lord not say that we are healed, according to the words of songwriter? No, it does not. As a matter of fact, the report of the Lord not only says we are sick, it says we are terribly sick.

    The book of Isaiah starts with this diagnosis: “The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not been closed or bound up or soothed with ointment.” (Isaiah 1:5-6).

    In the Bible, sin is synonymous with sickness. John says: “If we say that we have not sinned, we make (God) a liar, and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1:10). Since God would never say that a man is sinless, then He would never say that we are not sick.

    But pay attention so that you do not miss the precise nature of the report. The report of the Lord does not only say we are sick, but it also maintains that we are not healed. It does not only say that we are not healed, but it also insists that we are not saved.

    In the scripture above, Isaiah says we are covered with wounds, bruises, and sores that have “not been closed or bound up or soothed with ointment.” That means we are not healed, contrary to the songwriter’s optimistic assessment.

    Isaiah’s medical report is consistent with all scripture. Jeremiah says: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved! For the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt. I am mourning; astonishment has taken hold of me. Is there no balm in Gilead, is there no physician there? Why then is there no recovery for the health of the daughter of my people?” (Jeremiah 8:20-22).

    The prophet is baffled. There is a balm in Gilead; nevertheless, we are not healed. Jesus died for our sins; nevertheless, we are not saved.

    Still not saved

    Were the Jews healed in the biblical days of Jesus? No, they were not because God is primarily interested in the healing of the soul, leading to salvation.

    The Bible says: “Although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (John 12:37).

    Like Jeremiah and Isaiah before him, John is equally baffled that, despite the many miracles that Jesus performed, the Jews still did not believe in Him. Jesus cannot save people who do not believe in Him. (John 8:24, Matthew 13:58).

    In short, even many of those who received physical healing from Jesus in the Bible were not healed spiritually. Despite the many miracles He performed, few recognised Him as the Messiah and, as a result, few were healed of sin.

    When Jesus asked His disciples who the Jews considered Him to be, they told Him that some said He was John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others, Jeremiah. As far as they were concerned, Jesus could be anybody but the Messiah.

    Those who were more inclined to Him, like Nicodemus, permitted that he was a prophet or a teacher. (John 3:2). But they would go no further than that because the word of God has already determined that they could not. So, it was not so much that they would not believe as that they could not. (John 12:39-40).

    Divine selection

    Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would be wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities and that by His stripes we would be healed. (Isaiah 53:5).However, there is nothing automatic about this promise; it is only meant for a select few. Jesus says: “All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given.” (Matthew 19:11).

    To whom then does the promise of healing and salvation apply? It is a mistake to assume that it applies to those who merely quote scriptures or sing certain scripture-filled songs. The word of God does not operate through incantation.

    The word of God is only applicable to those to whom it is given. Jesus says to His disciples: “It has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them, it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” (Matthew 13:11-12).

    That means that by the process of divine election and selection, the word of God would be accessible to some and inaccessible to others. The question then is this: Is the word of God accessible to most Christians?

    The answer unfortunately is “No!”

    Not by incantation

    Some years back, I was on an air flight that encountered serious turbulence. So, I started quoting scriptures that I had committed to memory. One of these states that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7).

    But the more I quoted the scripture, the more fearful I became. It soon became clear that, although the word of God cannot be broken, the scripture had precious little applicability to me. The scripture had not been given to me. The scripture had not been made flesh in me.

    The report of the Lord says that we are gravely sick, and that Jesus is our healer. However, if we do not admit that we are sick, we cannot be healed. Indeed, if we do not recognise that we are sick, we would not even go to see a doctor.

    Jesus says to the Pharisees: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” (Matthew 9:12).

    If we do not admit that we are sick then the question of our healing becomes merely academic.

    CONTINUED

  • The calling of a Christian (1) – Femi Aribisala

    By Femi Aribisala

    Quote: To follow Jesus is to go to our death and funeral

    If you answer the phone and discover that the call is from the president of your country, you can imagine how excited you would be. Your mind might make a 100-metre dash, concluding that the call is about some appointment or promotion, or something of grandeur and prestige.

    You might Walter Mitty that: “The president wants to make me the Ambassador to the Court of St. James. Or he wants to make me a strategic and powerhouse minister in his government. It can also be that he wants to make me the Board Chairman of some highfalutin parastatal.”

    When King Ahasuerus asked Haman what should happen to the man that the king wants to honour, Haman immediately concluded that the king had decided to honour him. He was lavish in prescribing the honour, not knowing that it was meant for his archenemy Mordecai.

    Impetuous Isaiah

    All that happened to Isaiah was that he was given a privileged vision of God Almighty, high and exalted on His throne. Then he overheard the Lord saying: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”

    Isaiah immediately got carried away. He was so excited; he butted in on a conversation to which he had not been invited and shouted: “Here I am! Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8).

    But his excitement soon disappeared when he heard the errand. God said to him:

    “Go, and say to this people, ‘Listen carefully, but do not understand. Watch closely, but learn nothing.’ Harden the hearts of these people. Plug their ears and shut their eyes. That way, they will not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their hearts and turn to me for healing.” (Isaiah 6:9-10).

    This turns out to be the most repeated scripture in the Bible. The Mathew 13:13-16 version is the scripture that God used to call me. But we may well ask: “What kind of thankless errand does this entail?”

    Not surprisingly, Isaiah was nonplussed. He asked: “Lord, how long will this go on?”

    And God replied:

    “Until their towns are empty, their houses are deserted, and the whole country is a wasteland; until the Lord has sent everyone away, and the entire land of Israel lies deserted.” (Isaiah 6:11-12).

    Jeremiah’s angst

    This is not the type of errand that brings glory to the messenger. On the contrary, it brings reproach and opprobrium. Thus, Jeremiah has a bone to pick with God. He says to Him:

    “O Lord, You deceived me when You promised me Your help. I have to give them Your messages because You are stronger than I am, but now I am the laughingstock of the city, mocked by all. You have never once let me speak a word of kindness to them; always it is disaster and horror and destruction. No wonder they scoff and mock and make my name a household joke. And I can’t quit! For if I say I’ll never again mention the Lord- never more speak in His name- then His word in my heart is like fire that burns in my bones, and I can’t hold it in any longer. Yet on every side I hear their whispered threats and am afraid. ‘We will report,’ they say. Even those who were my friends are watching me, waiting for a fatal slip. ‘He will trap himself,’ they say, ‘and then we will get our revenge on him.’” (Jeremiah 20:7-10).

    But the Lord God Almighty is not apologetic. On the contrary, He rubs salt into Jeremiah’s wounds, telling him:

    “If racing with mere men-these men of Anathoth-has wearied you, how will you race against horses, against the king, his court, and all his evil priests? If you stumble and fall on open ground, what will you do in Jordan’s jungles?” (Jeremiah 12:5).

    Problematic calling

    God’s calling gets us into trouble. That is the reason why Paul found it necessary to point out that: “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28). Something that works together for good is not good. But it ends up being good.

    That was the experience of Joseph. God’s calling led to his being thrown down a well, sold as a slave to Egypt, jailed on trumped-up charges, before finally ending up as prime minister of Egypt. In the case of David, he was on the run for his life for years before finally sitting on the throne of Israel.

    For his part, Moses always knew there was God’s calling upon his life as a saviour of Israel. But when he took the initiative and killed an Egyptian and buried him in the sand in defense of an Israelite, he was shocked at the ingratitude of his people. When he tried to mediate between two fighting Israelites, one of them challenged him, asking: “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” (Exodus 2:14).

    Fearing his act was an open secret, Moses fled from the king’s palace in Egypt and spent the next 40 years in the wilderness. When God finally called him to deliver the children of Israel from Egypt, Moses’ response was not Isaiah’s “Here I am, send me.” He came up with a torrent of excuses. He knew he was in trouble.

    In the first place, the same God who called him decided to kill him immediately afterward for not circumcising his children and subscribing to the covenant God made with Abraham: “And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the Lord met him and sought to kill him.” (Exodus 4:24).

    The Israelites that Moses was sent to deliver again turned against him when Pharaoh increased their labours in retaliation for Moses’ audacity in telling him: “Ley my people go.”

    Not so fast

    If your response to God’s call is: “Here I am, send me” then take note. You probably have not yet understood your calling. God’s calling hardly ever agrees with us.

    When God called Jonah, He told him, a Jew, to go and preach the gospel of repentance and salvation to the enemies of the Jews in Nineveh. Jonah would have none of that. He boarded a ship and headed for Tarshish instead.

    When one man offered to follow Jesus, He warned him that they would not be living in the Sheraton Hotel: “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” (Matthew 8:20).

    But Jesus’ discipleship is even more drastic. To follow Jesus is to go to your own execution. To follow Him is to go to your death and funeral:

    “Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:24).

    CONTINUED

  • The sure mercies of David (2) – Femi Aribisala

    By Femi Aribisala

    What would you do if God told you (a Christian) to attack some people and kill everybody, including women and children? You might decide to pity some of them.

    You might see a newborn baby and decide, out of the goodness of your heart, to spare him. In short, you might end up declaring that you are more righteousness than God.

    Several years ago, God told me to terminate the appointments of all the people working with me. He then said I should tell those who still wanted to work with me to reapply. He told me, furthermore, that two people would not reapply because He did not want them to continue working with me.

    So, I did as I was told, and the two people did not reapply. They asked when they could submit all the official paraphernalia with them, and we made an appointment for the next day. Then, I became very sad. I said to myself in my heart, I was not even talking to God mind you: “What a pity that they have to leave.” And God heard me.

    I got into trouble. The Holy Spirit rebuked me sharply. “Are you more righteous than God? I said some people should go and you are asking that they should stay in your mercy. What do you know about mercy?”

    I know nothing at all.

    Judgment of Amalek

    When God told Saul to attack the Amalekites and kill everybody, that extreme instruction came out of God’s kindness to Israel. God remembered the wickedness of the Amalekites in attacking Israel from the rear in the wilderness. He was also trying to prevent the Amalekites from attacking David’s people in the future.

    Do you know that if Saul had completely wiped out the Amalekites as instructed, they would not have attacked David’s people much later at Ziklag?

    “Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way. So, David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive.” (1 Samuel 30:1-3).

    In effect, the judgement of God on Amalek reflects the mercy of God on Israel. This is how the psalmist expresses this kingdom dynamic. He says the mercy of the God who killed the firstborn of Egypt but brought out Israel safely endures forever:

    “To Him who divided the Red Sea in two, for His mercy endures forever; and made Israel pass through the midst of it, for His mercy endures forever; but overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, for His mercy endures forever… To Him who struck down great kings, for His mercy endures forever; and gave their land as a heritage, for His mercy endures forever; a heritage to Israel His servant, for His mercy endures forever. (Psalm 136:15-22).

    According to the scriptures, calamities occur because God’s mercy endures forever. The psalmist says God killed all the firstborn of Egypt because His mercy endures forever. He drowned all Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea because His mercy endures forever.

    In effect, the mercy of God to Israel is the judgement of God to Pharaoh. Israel knows that the mercy of God endures forever because in one day God killed all the firstborn in Egypt in one fell swoop and spared all the firstborn of Israel in Goshen. Had the two different acts of God not occurred simultaneously, Israel would have been oblivious of the mercy of God.

    Thus, the same Red Sea that was the instrument of God’s deliverance of the Jews was the instrument of God’s destruction of the Egyptians.

    Unmerited favour

    God did this so both the Israelites and the Egyptians can fully appreciate the mercy of God. Some people were destroyed so that their land may be given to the Israelites. In this way, all men everywhere would fully appreciate the unmerited favour of God.

    Thus, God says to Israel: “I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you, also the two kings of the Amorites, but not with your sword or with your bow. I have given you a land for which you did not labour, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.” (Joshua 24:12-13).

    Similarly, God gave me a fellowship that I did not start. He gave me a house in exclusive Victoria Island, Lagos that I did not build. He gave me a school, Nouveau International School, Lagos that I did not establish. He gave me a car, Toyota RAV4, that I did not buy. My house in Lagos is full of very expensive paintings that I did not pay for.

    As for you reading this, some people have died of Covid-19 but you have survived, for God’s mercy endures forever. Some people contracted Covid-19 and died while you contracted Covid-19 and survived, for God’s mercy endures forever.

    Therefore, from today, never talk about God’s unfairness again. What do you know about fairness? Who taught you fairness? Is it fair that your name should be written in heaven? It is fair that some should be in the hospital now but you are at home? Is it fair that you can see, but some are born blind? Is it fair that you should know the Lord and others don’t?

    Any insistence on fairness would cost you your salvation. The person who insists on fairness, or vengeance, is the person who despises the grace of God.

    Double-edged sword

    Therefore, if your father should die, if your brother you have an accident, if you should fail in your exams, if your husband should leave you for another woman, from now start seeing everything that happens from the perspective of God’s mercy.

    The word of God is sharper than any double-edged sword. Jesus is both a sanctuary and a rock of offence. He is a sanctuary and a gin and a snare at the same time. This is because for God to be merciful to us, he has to be merciless to somebody else. For us to live, Jesus Christ had to die.

    In your life, the mercy of God endures forever. You are born again, you are in the ark of Jesus Christ, for His mercy endures forever. From the ark, Noah must have seen a lot of dead bodies floating on the water and rotting in the sun, for God’s mercy endures forever. You have received what God promised: the sure mercies of David.

    “Therefore, consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.” (Romans 11:22-23).

    CONTINUED

  • Free will does not exist – Femi Aribisala

    By Femi Aribisala

    Jesus told the Sadducees who came to challenge Him on the resurrection: “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.” (Matthew 22:29).

    There are two vital requirements for knowing the truth of God. We must know the scriptures and we must know the power of God. When we combine these two essentials, we easily discover that free will does not exist.

    God is sovereign

    If man has free will, then God cannot be God. If man can act independently of God, then God does not control everything.

    However, God tells us in the scriptures that He alone controls everything. He says: “I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me. Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.” (Isaiah 49-10).

    God does not just know the end from the beginning. He determines the end from the beginning. This is because He is the Uncaused cause of everything: “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36).

    Everything has a cause, except God. God causes everything to happen. Where does this leave man? Man is simply an instrument of God.

    Predestination

    Everything about man is predetermined: “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.” (Ephesians 1:11).

    God knows our thoughts. He says: “I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.” (Ezekiel 11:5). Moreover, He determines what they are: “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.” (Proverbs 21:1).

    If man has free will, our prayers cannot even be answered. Have you ever asked God to give you favour with someone? How can He answer this prayer if the man has free will? To answer, God must overrule whatever free will he has. But the truth is that he has none.

    When the Israelites were in Egypt, God turned the heart of the Egyptians to hate His people. (Psalm 105:25). But when they were in Babylon: “He also made them to be pitied by all those who carried them away captive.” (Psalm 106:46).

    Every word that we speak is also determined by God. Solomon says: “The preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.” (Proverbs 16:1).

    Indeed, God has used my mouth to speak to me. He does not only do this sometimes: He does this all the time with everybody.

    He says in Isaiah: “My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants, from this time and forevermore.” (Isaiah 59:21).

    Accordingly, Jesus never spoke His own words. He says: “The word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.” (John 14:24).

    Furthermore, every step we take is determined by God. The Wise Man says: “A man’s steps are of the Lord; how then can a man understand his own way?” (Proverbs 20:24). This is validated in Jeremiah: “The way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.” (Jeremiah10:23).

    God also controls all human actions. Have you ever done something good and thanked God for making you do it? Jesus says: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16).

    How can one do that? How can we make sure our actions glorify God and not us? The answer is simple. Whatever good we do; the glory belongs to God anyway. Doing good does not arise from man’s free will. We only do good because God causes us to do good. If He does not cause us to do good, we would never do it.

    Power of God

    Nevertheless, we shall still be held responsible for our actions and inactions: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” (Galatians 6:7-8).

    How is this contradiction resolved? It is resolved by the power of God which ensures that what we do never contradicts what God requires us to do.

    Man can make choices. But our choices are all programmed. The ability to make choices does not mean we have free will. We are only truly free in making choices if in making them, we could choose contrary to the will of God.

    But that is impossible. God controls the circumstances within which we make our choices. Those circumstances force us to make our choices only in consonance with the will of God, ensuring that God’s will is always done.

    Therefore, James counsels: “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’” (James 4:13-15).

    Choosing death

    Moses said to Israel: “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19).

    The Israelites seemingly had the prerogative to choose. However, they all chose death. They chose death because that was truly the only choice open to them. In every situation, there is only one choice open to man and that is the choice that God wants us to make.

    In the Old Testament. God had determined that they would all choose death because life can only come from Jesus and not from Moses: “For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” (Romans 8:20-21).

    Therefore, Jesus says: “If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36).

    If we had free will, it would not be necessary for Jesus to make us free. But then what kind of freedom do we receive from Jesus? Paul says: “Having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” (Romans 6:18).

    In effect, Jesus does not give us free will. He frees us from the bondage of sin. He then tells us we have no free will: “Without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5).

    So then both in the Old and New Testaments: “It is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” (Romans 9:16). “It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2;13).

    TO BE CONTINUED

  • Walking by faith and not by sight – Femi Aribisala

    By Femi Aribisala

    Paul says: “We walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7). He is not telling us how we should walk. He is telling us how we walk. This is like telling a boy that we don’t walk with our hands.

    We walk with our feet. Believers walk by faith. Those who believe in God walk by trusting Him.

     

    Jesus says: “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3).

     

    Little children learn to walk and talk. Like them, Christians must learn to see.

     

    All men are born blind. As a result, we cannot see God. Because we are blind, we steal right in front of spiritual CCTV cameras, foolishly thinking no one can see us. Because we are blind, we cannot see that God is standing right there looking at us while we are engaged in all manner of ungodliness.

     

    Therefore, Jesus says: “‘For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.’ Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, ‘Are we blind also?’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore, your sin remains.’” (John 9:39-41).

     

    This means we need to admit we are blind and pray that God would open our eyes. “The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord has made them both.” (Proverbs 20:12).

     

    The ability to see is a privilege given to those who are disciples of Christ. To them, Jesus makes this promise: “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” (John 14:19).

     

    Then we will discover that the invisible attributes of God are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. (Romans 1:20).

     

    Trusting God

     

    A workman quoted a certain sum for a job I wanted him to do. I responded by drastically slashing the price. The man protested, saying: “You don’t trust me.” I replied: “Of course, I don’t trust you. Why should I? I don’t know you.”

     

    What about God, do you know Him. Has he earned your trust? If not, we need to grow in grace and in the knowledge of God. As we grow in the knowledge of God, our trust in Him grows.

     

    God told me a storm was coming. I believed Him because He had told me so many things in the past and they all came to pass. Therefore, when He told me a storm was coming, I not only believed but told others to prepare for it. Then the storm came in the form of a violent EndSARS protest in Nigeria.

     

    Certainly, if He tells me something else in advance tomorrow, I will believe. I will see it even if I cannot see it, if you know what I mean. For this reason, Paul says it is possible for our faith in God to grow. The correct translation for faith here is trust.

     

    It is necessary for our trust in God to grow from faith to faith. As we see daily the workings of God, we need to get to a point where we trust God in everything. Has He said it? Yes! Then we know He will do it or bring it to pass.

     

    Holy Spirit tutelage

     

    As a new believer, God will give you some revelations. Thereafter, they will disappear. But then: “The gifts and calling of God cannot be revoked.” (Romans 11:29). Therefore, do not worry. You are just undergoing training. The training can last for many years. At the end of the training, the gifts will reappear.

     

    I thought I was a slow learner, only to discover that God is a slow teacher. He does not like novices. Therefore, He takes us through an exacting period of training. Now, after over 25 years, my gifts have blossomed. For example, now I see things before they happen. Now I am fully inducted into the office of a prophet and a seer.

     

    As a new believer, God taught me a new song. I woke up singing: “When the Spirit of the Lord is upon my soul, I will dance like David danced.” I thought it was a one-off. But now, the Holy Spirit chooses praise songs, and He sings them all day long in my heart.

     

    Use the gift you have. Let nothing discourage you. If it does not seem to work, don’t give up. God is not mediated through results. Jesus says: “Whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” (Matthew 13:12)

     

    Faith’s good report

     

    How can I travel from Lagos to London in the confidence that my plane will not crash or be blown out of the sky by terrorists? I can do so by trusting in God.

     

    The writer of Hebrews says: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report.” (Hebrews 11:1-2).

     

    By faith, we obtain the good report that if we travel by air from Lagos to London we will not die in an accident on the way.

     

    Do you have the good report of faith? What does it tell you? It tells you that you can face any challenges because God is your helper. It tells you that, because of Jesus, you can overcome the world. It tells you that whatever God brings before you providentially, He will give you the measure of faith to handle it.

     

    Will things get better for you or will they get worse? “Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come.” (Hebrews 9:11).

     

    It all depends then on what you can see. Can you see that you can pass through the Red Sea? Can you see that you can defeat Goliath? Can you see that you can feed the multitude with five loaves of bread and two fishes? Can you see that you can walk on water? Can you see that you can turn water into wine?

     

    You can see all these things if you know that God is with you. That is why we walk by faith and not by sight. To walk is to live. We live by faith. We live with God and we walk with Him. That is the essence of Christianity. True Christians are the people who live with God and walk with God.

     

    Jesus’ name is Immanuel meaning God with us. God is with believers. He is always with us. He never leaves: He never forsakes. He said to Joshua: “I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.” (Joshua 1:5). He says to all believers: “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20).

    CONTINUED

  • Nigerian Trumpkins and the disgrace of Donald Trump, By Femi Aribisala

    Why should blacks in Nigeria believe in a man who believes black lives do not matter.

     

    By the time you are reading this, the American presidential election would be on its last leg. November 3 2020 is election day in the United States, except that 95 million people have already voted as I am writing this. That means the election must be already baked. And that means, as far as I am concerned, President Donald J. Trump is already on the way to ignominious defeat.

     

    I have been having a ding-dong with Nigerian Trumpkins ever since Trump became the American president against the odds. I pointed out that Trump actually lost the election in 2016 to Hilary Clinton by no less than a whopping 3 million votes. He only became president because he obtained a measly total of 77,000 votes in 3 midwestern states: Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

     

    But Nigerian Trumpkins would have none of that. Trump himself went as far as declare that his 3 million deficit in the popular votes in 2016 were fake votes. However, the 77,000 votes that awarded him the presidency through the antediluvian electoral college system was genuine.

     

    Provoking Trumpians

     

    Then I raised the ante. I told them Donald Trump would be impeached. This prediction earned me a lot of insults on social media from Nigerian Trumpkins. They called me all kinds of names. Fortunately, I am immune to insults. I developed the immunity as a teenager in boarding school.

     

    Three years later, Trump was impeached. Then I discovered that Nigerian Trumpkins do not even know what impeachment means. They assume it means removal from office, whereas, it is the prelude to removal. Of course, Trump could not be removed because his party controlled the American Senate; and two-thirds of the Senators must agree before he can be removed.

     

    Then a few weeks ago, God told me Trump would be infected with COVID-19. When I again went public on this, I was roundly excoriated by the Trumpkins, who claimed I said God told me Trump would die of COVID-19 although he recovered from the disease.

     

    This is a classic case of calling a dog a bad name in order to kill it. I never said God told me Trump would die of COVID-19. For Trumpkins who can read the English language, this is what I wrote verbatim:

     

    “(God) said to me: ‘Donald Trump himself will catch the virus.’ I was not precisely sure what to make of this prophecy. Nevertheless, my immediate conclusion (PERHAPS EMANATING FROM UNCHARITABLE WISHFUL THINKING) was that Donald Trump would not only catch COVID-19 but would die of the disease.”

     

    Surely, a distinction should be made between my wishful thinking and God’s prophecy. But our dear Trumpkins refused to entertain that distinction. I also made another statement that trumped them. I said: “while most pundits believe Biden will defeat Trump at the polls, God has determined that Trump will be defeated by the coronavirus.”

     

    The veracity of this statement will become apparent over the next few days.

     

    My prediction

     

    So, this is my prediction, and it is not a prophecy from God. Nigerian Trumpkins need to be educated that a prediction is different from a prophecy. A prediction is from a man: a prophecy is from God.

     

    I predict that Trump will be disgraced in today’s American presidential election. He will not only lose; he will lose by a landslide. He will be roundly rejected by the American electorate. The whole world is tired of Donald Trump, except perhaps a smidgen of Nigerian Trumpkins. Trump is an assault on human beings everywhere.

     

    He is the man who ushered in the so-called “post-truth world” with his cacophony of lies and falsehoods. The Washington Post tallies over 22,000 false statements emanating from Trump in his 4-year presidency; with a record of 189 lies in one single day.

     

    Nigerian Trumpkins believe Trump’s lies, including his current insistence that the United States is rounding the corner” with COVID-19, even though over 230,000 Americans have died of the disease. Indeed, just 3 days ago, on 30th October 2020, the United States reached a new milestone of nearly 100,000 new COVID infections in one day.

     

    So, you can understand my insistence that Trump will be defeated not by Biden but by the coronavirus. You cannot expect Americans to go through Trump’s abject incompetence in handling the pandemic and still expect them to give him another 4 years of continued incompetence in the White House. It is just not going to happen.

     

    Donald J. Trump will be kicked out of the White House. Thereafter, he will be faced with lawsuits in New York that will end up with him being sentenced to jail by 2023 in Ricker’s Island.

     

    Trump fears this, that is why his chief strategy in this election is suppressing the votes. That is why he is already claiming the election will be rigged without coming up with any substantiation whatsoever. That is why his people have already filed over 40 lawsuits against the election before it took place. That is why he is saying the only result he will accept is that which declares him the winner.

     

    Short shrift

     

    However, the election should be over sooner than people think. In no time at all, it will be clear that Trump has been given the beating of his life. All Biden needs to do is retrieve Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania from Trump. These are the Democratic-voting states that surprisingly voted for Trump in 2016. Biden is well on the way to do that. All the polls show him in comfortable leads in those states, one even by double-digits.

     

    Early results from the American east coast should seal the deal. If Trump loses Florida, the election is over. If he loses Georgia, then we are talking about a landslide. If he loses Texas, then it is not just a defeat but a disgrace.

     

    As I said, the election is already baked. An overwhelming 95% of Americans have already voted, the overwhelming percentage of these are Democrats. Young voters, between 18 and 29 years, who have never voted before, have come out of the woodwork, and they are mostly voting for Biden. Ditto suburban and women voters. Trump is not even doing as well as he did in 2019 among white voters.

     

    Trump’s drubbing will also be reflected down-ballot. Democrats should squeeze through a takeover of the Senate from the Republicans, no thanks to Donald Trump who is determined to bring his party-members down with him.

     

    Poor Trumpkins

     

    I would then need some rationalisations explaining Trump’s disgrace from Nigerian Trumpkins, who are foolishly in love with a man who is not even supported by blacks in his own country. They are in support of a man given to racist dog-whistles, who tells white supremacists to “stand by,” who calls Nigeria a “shithole country,” who has banned Nigerians from the American visa lottery, and who is consistently against the election of Nigerians to high positions in the African Development Bank and the World Trade Organisation.

     

    I would need Nigerians to explain why a man they claim is a Christian champion and therefore ordained by God would then lose his ordination at the polls. Is God unable to prevent Trump’s defeat? This messiah of Nigerian Trumpkins is a man without a moral compass. He is a serial adulterer. He is a man not given to the truth but steeped in falsehood.

     

    Why should blacks in Nigeria believe in a man who obviously believes black lives do not matter. Why should Christians believe in a man who denigrates Christ and Christianity in private but holds up a bible in public just for a photo-up? Why should they support a man who promoted a policy of separating the children of immigrants to the United States from their mothers, with the result that it has not been possible to reunite over 500 children with their parents?

     

    Nigerian Trumpkins claim Trump has kept his promises. So, I ask where is the wall that Trump promised to build? When did Mexico pay for it? Where is Trump’s repeal of Obamacare? And where is his rebuilding of the American healthcare system? Where is the COVID vaccine that is supposed to show up before election day?

     

    If Nigerian Trumpkins can believe these lies and more of Trump’s lies, then I have a mountain to sell to them. In the meantime, these friends of Donald Trump should cry me a river. They should also learn to debate issues and not easily resort to abuses.

     

    The Trump era is over. Thank God for that. Americans will ensure he never returns. Therefore, Nigerian Trumpkins now need a new champion. I suggest they use a little more commonsense in choosing the next one, if at all.

  • EndSARS: The Storm is here, By Femi Aribisala

    The members of the Nigerian government should be careful not to take strong-arm measures against these protesters, otherwise, they will have to answer to God.

     

    Roughly two months ago, God gave me a prophecy that I then preached during a Sunday Service at Healing Wings, Chapel of Faith, Lagos. I entitled it: “A Storm is Coming.” I said on that occasion: “There is a storm coming. Therefore, prepare for battle. But those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High will not be affected.”

     

    The prophecy came to me in a vision. In the vision, I was talking to a friend of mine, Benzak Uzuegbu. Suddenly, I became like one of the sons of Issachar who had “understanding of the times.” (2 Chronicles 12:32). I looked up and noticed a change in the clouds. Although it was daytime, the sky suddenly became dark and I said to Benzak: “Look, a storm is coming.”

     

    Then the scene changed. I was no longer with Benzak but with the Head of State in a strange house. I knew instinctively that the Head of State was the Lord God Almighty. From the house, we could hear armoured tanks of soldiers rolling in the streets. Automatically, we knew they were headed to invade the residence of the Head of State. Perhaps it was an attempted coup d’etat.

     

    But we laughed at them because they had been fooled. The Head of State had inside knowledge of their plot. That was why he was not in his official residence but with me in a secret house. So, they would get to his residence and find no one there. As we were laughing at them, the vision ended.

     

    Scriptural backing

     

    This vision brings to mind the second psalm: “Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, ‘Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us.’ He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure.” (Psalm 2:1-5).

     

    As a result of this vision, I concluded that a storm was coming. Those in authority may send the military to move against the people. But those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High would not be affected. That is why the psalmist continues:

     

    “Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.” (Psalm 2:10-12).

     

    I did not know the precise nature of the storm I saw or when it would happen. Therefore, after telling the members of Healing Wings about it, I insisted that we should commit the vision to prayer. I delegated seven people to lead us in prayer about it over the next seven days. We normally have a one-hour Zoom prayer meeting in Healing Wings every night at midnight that links our members in Nigeria with those in Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Great Britain, and the United States.

     

    One of those who led the Midnight Prayers afterward was Mrs. Joy Obi. Like me, she is called as a prophet. She received a confirmation vision of this prophecy that was far more distressing than mine. She said many people were killed and there was a lot of bloodshed. So, we had to pray against bloodshed.

     

    Confirmation

     

    I had forgotten about this prophecy when, on the morning of Monday, 19th October 2020, I got a phone-call from Benzak Uzuegbu. He said to me: “The storm that God told you about is happening now. It is coming to pass through the ENDSARS protests.”

     

    It was only then that I linked the ENDSARS protest to God’s prophecy. I find it significant that it was the same Benzak, who was there in the vision that God gave me, that then came in-person to alert me about the realization of the vision.

     

    Before then, I had not paid much attention to the ENDSARS protest beyond the fact that it made it very inconvenient for me to go from my house in Lekki to my office in Victoria Island, Lagos, and back. One day, it took me over 5 hours to return home. I came back home at 10 minutes to midnight; just in time for the midnight prayers that I coordinate.

     

    But after he spoke to me, I now believe he is correct. The storm that God warned us about is coming through this nationwide ENDSARS protests. That same morning, another friend, Chibuzor Nwosu, phoned to tell me that the protesters had completely blocked the Lekki expressway from Ajah to Epe; and that they are now demanding that “Buhari must go.”

     

    That means the stakes have been raised considerably. Since I heard tanks rolling in the streets in the vision God gave me, I believe the army will sooner or later be brought in to quell the ENDSARS protest. That will take it to another level because the army boys do not seem to have any respect for Nigerian lives.

     

    If these young boys and girls start getting killed, then we are in for a big crisis that might tear the very fabric of this country apart. But I hope and pray that it will not come to that.

     

    Word of caution

     

    So, what is the point of this prophecy? Why did God give it to us? My conclusion is that God wants his children to pray for Nigeria so that His will shall be done with minimal repercussions. The members of the Nigerian government should be careful not to take strong-arm measures against these protesters, otherwise, they will have to answer to God.

     

    I commend to them, the wisdom of Gamaliel: “I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it — lest you even be found to fight against God.” (Acts 5:38-39).

     

    The psalmist says God will break the powers-that-be with a rod of iron; He will dash the government to pieces like a potter’s vessel. Therefore, they are duly warned.

     

    But the protesters too should not get too carried away by their newfound strength. They must be prayerful. This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: “‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6). The protesters must not allow hoodlums and the violent to hijack their struggle. “In righteousness they must be established, and they will be far from oppression.” (Isaiah 54:14).

     

    God has largely spared us in Nigeria from the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before some label me as a prophet of doom, please be reminded that I declared at the beginning of this pandemic that: “There is no Coronavirus in Nigeria.” If you still cannot see how God fulfilled that article of faith (it was not a prophecy), I cannot help you.

     

    But this one is a different kettle of fish. Children of God all over Nigeria, it is time to seek the face of the Lord. He says: “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14-15).

  • The new and improved Jesus – Femi Aribisala

    By Femi Aribisala

    The story of Jesus does not make an Arnold Schwarzenegger kind of movie. At the end of this film, the great protagonist is not standing victorious. He is hanging dead on a cross.

    Okay, so He resurrected after three days. But how many people knew about it? Did I hear you say five hundred? Just five hundred? How can that be satisfactory? That is why the Jews were able to pay the guards at the tomb to say that his disciples came to steal his body.

    Would it not have been more appropriate for Jesus to have paid a visit to Pilate on His resurrection and said: “Remember me?” The man might just have died of a heart attack.

    How about having Him knock on the door of the high priest or visit some of those disbelieving Pharisees and say: “Check it out. Did you really think you could kill the Son of God?”

    It would have been great to see them begging for mercy.

    Lamb of God

    But God’s ways are not our ways. John the Baptist says: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29). In the wisdom of God, it is only those as docile as the lamb that can overcome sin. It is only the meek, as opposed to the aggressive go-getter, that will inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5).

    The description of Jesus as a lamb is remarkable precisely because Jesus is God. How can God be a lamb? How could God have allowed himself to be slapped and kicked and abused and crucified without putting up any resistance? Would the temptation not have been too much to resist?

    But can you imagine Jesus suddenly jumping down from the cross after saying: “Heavenly Father, just give me five minutes to show these ragamuffins who I Am really?”

    No! Not Jesus.

    The devil was extrem0ely provocative. He said: “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” (Matthew 4:4). But Jesus would have none of that.

    The Pharisees came asking Him to show them a sign from heaven. Jesus refused to oblige. They wanted to know where He got the authority to do His miracles. Jesus refused to answer even that question.

    You would not need to ask a big man of the world for his credentials. If you did not immediately recognise him, he would stand up to you and ask: “Don’t you know who I am?” And then he would proceed to tell you in no uncertain terms that he is “Professor this” or “General that.”

    If he does not get the requisite respect from you, he might decide to show you his power. When the people of Samaria refused to allow Jesus to pass through their town on His way to Jerusalem, His disciples felt it was time to show them precisely who they were dealing with.

    They asked Jesus: “Do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven to consume them, just as Elijah did?” (Luke 9:54). But Jesus rebuked them saying they did not know what kind of spirit was in them.

    Counterintuitive

    Jesus’ approach is often counterintuitive. He said He is the good pastor but by the time He finished one sermon, His whole congregation walked out. By the time He had finished another counseling session, the chief young ruler left the church.

    What a shame! That man could have paid a lot of tithes.

    When a woman poured the entire contents of very expensive perfume on Jesus, Judas concluded that Jesus not only condones the waste of money but that Jesus Himself is a waste of time. At that rate, he concluded, if he continued to follow Jesus, he might never get the money to build his own house.

    Peter, in particular, had a problem with the idea of Jesus, the Saviour of the world, being killed by the wicked. “Be it far from You that You would have to die,” he protested. But this only earned him a sharp rebuke from Jesus.

    Peter could not stand the idea of God washing his feet. When they came to arrest Jesus, Peter would not surrender without putting up a fight. He drew his sword and cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest.

    Again, Jesus rebuked him and preached to him the gospel of the lamb. He warned him that according to the dynamics of the kingdom of God, all who take the sword will perish by the sword.

    Not carnal

    The true believer is someone who has no confidence in the flesh. (Philippians 3:3). The word of God says by strength no man will prevail. (1 Samuel 2:9).

    Paul points out that: the weapons of warfare for the believer are not physical but spiritual. Nevertheless, they are mighty because behind them is the power of God. (2 Corinthians 10:4).

    Peter did not understand kingdom dynamics. He fought a lot of battles with his flesh and not his spirit. He boasted that even if all of Jesus’ disciples deserted him, he would remain faithful.

    For this reason, God’s providence allowed Peter to be tempted above his ability. Therefore, he was the one disciple who denied Jesus three times on the trot.

    When it was time to engage in spiritual warfare in the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter slept. When the battle was over and they came to arrest Jesus, Peter came to fight. He failed to recognise that the real battle is in the spiritual at the point of prayer, for the arm of flesh will always fail. (Jeremiah 17:5).

    Therefore, in the church today, the wisdom of man says: “Let’s re-package the whole gospel story. If we sell Coke in this kind of bottle, people will not buy it. Let’s look for a different and more attractive design.”

    “Let us give Jesus a more urban and contemporary look. Let us make the gospel more palatable to the flesh. If we don’t embellish the message with the enticing words of man’s wisdom; the people will reject it again.”

    Indeed, Jesus should have waited until now to manifest in the flesh. This is the glorious age of mass communications. This is the age of the cell-phone, social media, and cable television; ensuring that Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection would have been broadcasted and televised.

    But all this misses the vital principle. Jesus’ kingdom is spiritual; therefore, His victory is entirely spiritual. Jesus was defeated completely in the flesh, so that He may be totally and exclusively triumphant in the spirit. Although they killed His body, they could not kill His Spirit. Therefore, He rose from the dead.

    Before His death, His enemies only had Him to contend with. After His crucifixion, they discovered to their cost that they now had many more people to contend with.

    Samson killed more Philistines in his death than he did in his life. (Judges 16:30). Similarly, Jesus did more damage to the enemy by dying than by living. Because He agreed to die, the world is now full of believers. Because He agreed to lose: “Of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end.” (Isaiah 9:7).