Transcription
You're most welcome to the presence of the Lord. And today, we want to share on several lessons from the trials of the righteous. Seven lessons from the trials of the righteous.
Now, we look at, we're gonna look at two scriptures. First, Genesis chapter 15, verses 13 and 14. Job chapter 6, Job chapter 1. Before Proverbs, we have the Psalms. And before the Psalms, we have the book of Job. Looking at the very first chapter of Job, for 6 to 19.
Of Job chapter 1, verse 13, Good News Translation, he says, "Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps His promise, and they will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain found. At the same time, you are put to the test, He will give you the strength to enjoy it and so provide you with a way out." This morning, God will make a way out for someone listening to the sound of my voice.
And in Psalm 18, verse 16, The Living Bible says, "Psalm 18, verse 16, He reached down from heaven and took me and drew me out of my great trials." By the reason of the world coming right now, there is a supernatural, mysterious, divine deliverance that will be taking effect right into the autumn, as part of the life of someone here. "He rescued me from deep waters."
So when we are talking about trials and temptations, perhaps of a 24 verse, they use five different Bible versions. We begin to see different descriptions of trials. King James calls it adversity. "If they are faint in the day of adversity, that strength is small." Amplified Bible calls it distress. Contemporary English Version calls it trouble. Good News Translation calls it crises. Why the New Living Translation calls it pressure.
Then in 2nd Peter chapter 2, verse 9. Second Peter 2, verse 9, using four different Bible versions, we find confirmations of these various descriptions of trial. King James Version of 2nd Peter 2:9 calls it temptation. Contemporary English Version calls it suffering. Easy to Read version calls it trouble. Why the New Living Translation calls it trial.
Now, there are some common trials and challenges that righteous men, God-fearing people, innocent men and women, God loves in men and women, are exposed to on a consistent basis. And as I speak, seven people, some of you listening to the sound of my voice, are currently faced with some kind of trial or the other. So this message is specifically for you. And it's a message of hope. It's a message of deliverance. It's a message of healing. It's a message that is ushering in restoration. And a big promotion is about to be opened.
Some of these common challenges and trials include severe or prolonged illness. Severe illness, prolonged illness. And you see something about these kinds of trials is that it affects, it affects so many people. If it's a child, it will affect a father. It will affect the mother. It will affect the husband. It affects the wife. We had fest the children. The affects the siblings. It was a wife, same thing. Severe or prolonged illness.
Another common trial and challenge that believers face is delay in having children. Delay in having children. Sarah went through it for 25 years. Rebecca went through it for 20 years. And these were women married to covenant men, men who had great covenants with the Lord, yet they experienced delay in having children.
Another common trial is delay in getting married. If you look at 1 Corinthians chapter 7, the Bible actually says, "To avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and every woman our own husband." Now, if you look at that scripture very well, it seems to suggest that when you are truly ready to marry, getting married or getting someone to marry should not be a battle of life. That most many eligible singles, especially the women, are faced with today.
And number four, another trial, challenge, common trial, challenge is at the realm of financial challenges and hardships. Some people are faced with lack of adequate income, inability to afford the basic needs of life, either for yourself or for your children or your household. Excessive hardship. There's a level of hardship that is that is described as mystery, and people are going through these. Unknown to you, difficulty in paying accommodation bills, difficulty in paying education bills, or for women, debt. There's a kind of some types of debts that takes so much from you to pay. There's a kind of debt that takes so long for you to be able to pay back. And there are some types of debts that will expose you to so much pressure, stress, and sometimes even shame, disgrace, humiliation, even publicly.
Another common trial that the righteous believers face is unbearable offenses in marriage. Unbearable offenses in marriage. Some God-fearing men and God-fearing women, some are actually in distress. Some are virtually gone into depression as a result of a bad marriage they are locked into.
Another dimension of trials are devastating losses. Devastating losses. Fast sandwich after 2:30, verse 4. Sometimes they could be the loss of a loved one, especially if it's sudden death, untimely death, or a kind of death, you know, that could have been avoided or prevented. You see, the consciousness of the fact that you know the death of this person could easily have been avoided or prevented is part of what makes it more painful and makes it more difficult to get over. Other types of devastating losses include financial, major financial losses, major material loss, loss of your most valued asset, loss of a lifetime opportunity, and some kind of losses that would take years, so many years to get back together again.
Some believers and more godly people face trials in the realm of repeated disappointments. Repeated disappointment, failure, disappointment, especially at the point of breakthrough. And whoever is currently going through this cycle, may the God's power for deliverance break the cycle of disappointment at the point of breakthrough in the name of Jesus. Sometimes these disappointments could be due to repeated failed attempts to achieve a particular thing. And some of these things we may be struggling to achieve, even things that others have achieved easily and without any stress or even effort.
Some go through trials in the area of major setbacks or repeated major setbacks. Some are faced with overwhelming burdens, overwhelming responsibility. And as I speak to you right now, there are some people who are going through prolonged stagnancy. Obvious lack of progress is now so evident. It's not so evident to everyone that there has been no progress at all for a very reasonable period of time.
And then some people go through trials in the area of betrayal. They've suffered very painful betrayals by close or trusted associates. Sometimes they could be betrayed by a spouse or an intended spouse. Could be betrayed by a close friend or a close relative. Jesus himself, when true betrayal, it was betrayal by close association.
And then some go through prolonged maltreatment or exploitation by someone you cannot avoid. You know, it can be very bad if a wife is consistently going through verbal and physical abuse from her husband. It can be really bad. And so wives are going through this as I speak to you. And sometimes it could be the other way around. Some husbands are going through a lot of so much verbal abuse, so much verbal abuse from their wives. And one of the reasons why this is so bad is because a spouse is someone you cannot avoid. If these attacks are coming from certain people, you can just avoid them. But it could be very, very bad when it's happening from someone you just have to keep on living with so close by.
And then sometimes when your progress and efforts are deliberately frustrated. Today in the university, very sadly, we see many instances of female victims of sexual harassment by their lecturers. It's a form of trial.
And then some people go through consistent experience of hate, resentment, or rejection. Repeated show hate, resentment, or rejection, especially from someone who ought to love you or someone very close to you. I know one interesting thing. The smell of God is just ministering to me that one of the reasons why He is sharing this with us is for us to be conscious of the fact that sometimes we also need to be careful so we don't position ourselves as the instrument of pain, of trouble, of adversity, of abuse to someone around us. That as we're looking at these instances of trials, if we are sensitive in the spirit and our consciences are still alive, the Spirit of God could be pricking your conscience to one of these points: "Is this not what you are currently doing to this person?" And the Lord is saying, "Where if that applies, then there is need for repentance. There is need for urgent repentance."
So when someone is exposed to repeated show hate, resentment, or rejection from someone who ought to love you, someone very close to you, it can turn out to be a real emotional trial. Sometimes this could be from a parent or a guardian towards a child, from children towards a parent, from a brother or sister to their brother to another brother or sister, from one husband to his wife, or from a wife to her husband. These are instances.
And then some trials also happen in the realm of exposure to physical attacks and violence. Mark 10:33-34. Exposure also to shame and humiliation. Exposure to shame and humiliation. Then injustice and unfair imprisonment. Genesis 39, verse 7. That was the experience of Joseph.
Now, seven lessons. Lesson number one: The trials are always foreseen by God. These trials are always foreseen by God long before they happen. If you are truly a child of God and you are truly connected with God, and with trial, God permits you to go through, God it never takes God by surprise. The trials are always foreseen by God long before they happen.
Genesis 15:13-14. Who towers will read that at the beginning. You could see God telling Abraham. And what was He saying? The Amplified Bible says, "God said to Abraham, 'Know for sure that your descendants will be strangers living temporarily in a land, Egypt, which was going to be Egypt. That is not the land.' And what's God telling Abraham more than four hundred years ahead of time? He said, 'Where they will be enslaved, they are season. The season of trial was already foreseen more than four hundred years ahead of time. He said, 'Where they will be enslaved and oppressed for a hundred years.' But on that nation whom your descendants will serve, I will bring judgment, and afterward they will come out of that land with great possession." The voice Genesis 15, verse 13 to 14. He says, "The Eternal One said to Abraham, 'I will tell you this on which you can stake your life.' So this one, what you are reading here, was an irreversible will of God. He'll reverse him. Everything here was irreversible. When the time comes, they must happen. When the time comes, so there are trials that must happen. There are trials that must happen. And I will tell you this on which you can stake your life. So what is going to happen? God said to Abraham, 'You're this we fest before in us in a land that is not the earth. They will be made slaves there and will be oppressed for 400 years.' 400 years. But then I would judge the nation that lives them. When that time comes, your descendants will emerge from that land with many possessions." And you know the good news for her for someone here? You have come to the end of your own season of trials, and you are about to emerge with a divine empowerment, with a divine empowerment. Can that man say it better? Amen. Can that sister, a woman say it better? Amen. To the Lord.
Then in Job chapter 1, verse 12. Job 1, verse 12, New Living Translation. He says, "All right, you may test him." Before it happened, everything that happened to Job, God said this before anything even happened. Before anything happened, God said to Job, "All right, you may test him." The Lord said to you, "Do whatever you want with everything he possesses." So all the roadblocks, all the protective blocks, network that God had persistently, consistently set around Job and his family and all his assets, the roadblocks were withdrawn. The protective shield was withdrawn in order for Satan to have access and cause damage. So everything that was going to happen, didn't happen by God, but God knew. God, God knew that something was about to happen, and it was really going to be terrible. Because we are talking about Satan had been, this is what he had tried to do for so many years. He could not get Job. And Satan told him, "Oh yes, you know, we are aware, but this is the reason you have put a hedge of protection round about him." So all those years, the previous year, Satan had long been trying to attack you. You have been trying to attack his family. Now God gave him the opportunity to do what he had long desired to do. I stand that God's prophet today and I declare this day of God's mercy that as many as have been looking forward to your downfall for real, but they shall be disappointed. Every sworn enemy of your life and destiny forever, they shall be disappointed. Whatever they have long desired to do against you and against your destiny, permanently, God will make them fail. And from today, all those sworn enemies who have schemed against you shall return back to sender, back to sender, back to sender, in the name of Jesus. So shall it be in the name of Jesus.
Then in Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10, verse 32 to 34. Now they were on the way to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking along ahead, and as the disciples were following, they were filled with terror. And now, listen to what Jesus said. Yeah, he said, "Taking them aside, Jesus once more began describing what all that was going to happen to him." Jesus started telling them everything that was going to happen to him in detail. Everything that will happen once they arrived in Jerusalem. Jesus started telling them even before they entered Jerusalem. What did He say? He said, "When we get there, He told them, 'I, the Messiah, will be arrested.'" Was Jesus eventually arrested? Yes. "And taken before the chief priests and the Jewish leaders." Who was He taken before? The Sanhedrin. "Then, what else did Jesus say ahead of time? 'Who will sentence me to die?'" Was He sentenced to die? Yes. "And hand me over to the Romans." Topic here. Did that happen? It happened. Then look at verse 34. He said, "They will mock me." Did they mock Him? "And spit on me." Did they spit on Him? "And flog me." So precisely, so precisely, so precisely. It is not summarises. They don't know them. "When I gather you, treat me badly." He went into such details of what and everything was coming. And other, this is what they would do. This followed by this, followed by this, followed by this. So when the same God who is telling you what was so far ahead of time, also tells you that there is an end to that experience, you better believe Him. Because if the suffering part of it will come to pass, then the end part of it will also come to pass. If there is a promise of empowerment, if there is a promise of restoration, if there's a promise of promotion at the end of that same trial, you can be rest assured that that path must also come to pass. And to them, marks the beginning, the beginning of that new season of divine empowerment, divine increase, divine increase, divine increase, divine multiplication, divine promotion, divine restoration unto you and your family, in the name of Jesus. Jesus said, "They will mock me, they will spit on me, they will flog me." Jesus tried. Jesus tried because there are some things that Jesus just allowed them to do that some of us will not accept because well, our this week at at not pointed if I back. There are some of us when we take some of these, you know, ill treatments to a point, at the point in time, you become, you know, you'll lose your, you lose your patience, and you react. You reactivate. But Jesus took all of it. "And they will flog me with their whips and kill me." That did not stop Him from going to Jerusalem. He knew what was going to happen in Jerusalem.
Run away from false and fake prophets who use all kinds of evil powers to see the things they see. How can somebody just call you and tell you, "Don't go to a battle," and on that day, you are supposed to go for an important function? Anybody that is what that is part of their life. "Stop trying. Don't go there. Don't travel. Stay away from this person." You are in the right church. They will tell you, "Because this challenge is going on for some time, I think if you leave your church, and if you watch carefully, they are drawing you to themselves. They are not going to refer you to another credible ministry." There are times where it is the will of God that you must go to that city. And what a true man of God should do is to pray that whatever danger exists in that journey, that God will intervene and cancel it. Not that you just see anything and immediately you cancel the way. If you do that all the time, you will miss out of God's perfect will for your life. That is why I see them. They live in fear. They want to travel out of the country. They cannot even tell their siblings. You know, someone you saw this morning, they next year tomorrow, you are calling the person, "Ha, I just arrived in New York." What? Or sister, we were talking yesterday morning. You didn't never told me we were traveling. So the time we are talking, you actually on your way to the airport. Does your life? That's the life. Or do you see me as an enemy? Do you see that you cannot even come fight? You can even tell me you are, you know, those days they used to, some of them, you know, so there's some extremes, even Pentecostal churches, away or deliverance ministries, there were some extremes. You know, you see people, "Turn or hide your picture." How can you hide your picture in this in this present time? How can you hide your picture? So don't hide your picture. Can you hide your picture in this present time? When there are some of you, a time will come in your life where your photograph will be an official photograph that must not shoot, must be displayed in certain offices, some in the private sector, some in the public sector. So how are you going to hide your photograph? So wait, that they can use your photograph for some. What if you do is pray that whoever will attempt to use my image, use my photograph for an evil intention, let the evil intention reverse back and backfire. I guess that is that is the right prayer to pray. Not that you have your photograph, you are traveling tomorrow, you hide it from your trusted and close associate. That's bondage. That's one day.
So Jesus told everything that will happen. Then He now said, He said, "They will flog me with their whips and kill me. But after three days..." You know, you know this word, "but" always comes in within a story. At a particular point in time, if everything being narrated is positive, when they hear the word "but," then that means you are likely to hear something negative. Now, if what you have been hearing earlier or reading earlier has all been negative, when you now see the word "but," it's more likely that what you are going to read now will be positive. So someone here, if all you have been going through has been a bad experience, today it shall be written, "But..." [Applause] "From the 15th of March 2020, the Lord turned around her captivity." Let up. As he shouted louder. Amen. [Applause] In the name of Jesus.
And then Acts chapter 9, verse 16. Acts chapter 9, verse 16. The Lord was talking about, was talking to Ananias here, and He was telling him, after reassuring him that he should Ananias should not be bothered or lose sleep over Paul, who was a torment of the church, but now had been converted. He said, "He is my chosen vessel." That was verse 15. "And I will use him to minister the gospel to the king, to the Gentiles." And then in verse 16, Jesus said, "And I will show him how great things he must not issues, he must suffer for my name's sake." Paul had not suffered anything for Christ at this moment. And long before this ever happened, Jesus said, "This man I have chosen. I will use him greatly. But what he is going to suffer, great things, not things, not just anything, some light persecution. He was going to real trials on my behalf." Praise ye the Lord.
Lesson number two: They are not avoidable. The trials of the righteous, most of the time, are not avoidable. Stop blaming yourself. Stop going for deliverance. Stop going for deliverance. This is a church that believes in deliverance, but there are abuses of doctrines. Stop going for deliverance when you have been completely delivered from something and you have not gone back to it. How can you go for deliverance for the same thing? How can, how can you go for deliverance for the same thing that you went through three days, seven days, 14 days, 21 days of deliverance from, and you have never gone back to that? How then can the same Spirit of God that says you are delivered, tell you to what, start all over again? Something is wrong somewhere. So one is speaking from the flesh and not from the spirit. Stop blaming yourself.
In John chapter 9, a man was born blind. And when Jesus encountered the man, his disciples were telling Him, "Sir, this man is that, is it what made him blind? What is pursuing this man? That his own case is so bad that he was blind from that? Is it his fallacy or his own sin in the former world?" And Jesus said, "No, no, no, no. This man's blindness, I know the root cause for this particular man. I know the reason why this man is lying." Jesus said, "It has nothing to do with his parents. This man's blindness had nothing to do with his own sins." He said, "This particular man was permitted to be blind. He is what he is because God has selected him for His power to be demonstrated through, for His power to be demonstrated." So it was already predetermined by God that this man will experience a miracle sometime in his life. It was already predetermined. Unfortunately, that time in his destiny finally came out. That time finally came. Oh, there is a time that God's miracle will come up in your life. And so on that day, 2020, in the year that the whole world was scared, is the same year that God decided to lift you into a new realm. Why the world was crying and becoming so terrified due to the evil, the coronavirus pandemic, in that same season, that same year, God ordained a mighty lifting to happen for someone listening to the son of my voice. So the trials that the righteous go through are not avoidable. You know, we wonder from time to time why things go wrong despite the person's innocence, despite the person's holy lifestyle, despite the person's obedience. We wonder why things go wrong. Despite sowing the right seed, despite his excellent preparation of performance, despite the preventive prayers, despite being very careful, how come things still went wrong for him or her? For you to understand better, you need to look at Job chapter 1, verse 8. Job chapter 1, verse 8. This is not the account of the past of Job. This was the account of God who sees everything in the secret. And what was God saying? What was His testimony of Job? He said, "For there is none like him on the earth." I'm reading an Amplified Bible. "A blameless and upright man." Can you imagine? God called him a man blameless. God described Job as a blameless man. A blameless and upright man, one who fears God with reverence and abstains and turns away from evil. Good News Translation of the same Job 1:8 says, "There is no one on earth as faithful." Can you imagine the testimony of Job? So not only was Job really, really godly and innocent, God, he had the best testimony in the universe at that time. For the Lord Himself said, "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as Job." Now, if a man like this could go through what he went through, what holy lifestyle have you lived so far? Now you feel because of your lifestyle, not in at all, not in terrible happen to you. What kind of holy lifestyle have you lived that you feel that you begin to threaten God? That if this thing does not stop by December, you leave it like that. You won't say what you would do. But you boys, what you give it. You know, some of you are so used to threatening. You just like trap you. It's a habit. So even when you are sharing benediction, when we pass or tells you, share the grace, you translate on your neighbor and say, "Surely His goodness." You point. You point your finger. You are used to of making threats. "Surely His goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life." And you see sometimes if you husband or wife posing like this, enjoy. So if small I keep snowball people, not that posture said I should tell you this. I will tell you this. Crazy. The Lord. So some people feel they get angry when the bottle trials. And this is fight. This is a serious matter because what you will observe is that most believers love God, but they don't fear God. They love God, but most believers do not fear God. And God said, "There's no one as faithful and good as he. He worships me and he's careful not to do anything evil." International Children's Bible, Job 1:8. He said, "No one else on earth is like him. He's an honest man, an innocent of any wrong." So please, I beg you, everyone in this service, stop making insinuations about what could be the possible cause of the problem of a believer. If you cannot pray for him, stop finding the wrong reasons, reasons that God never told you, and sharing that reason with the public as what could be the reason why he's going through what he's going through. God never left you. There are things that could just happen. Sometimes a God has left him. God has left her. God never left you. God never left you. So someone is going through real trials, and it's going on and on, it's getting worse. It doesn't mean that God has left him or God has left her. God never left Job. The Almighty is saying about His son Job, He said, "He's an honest man and is innocent of any wrong. He almost God and stays away from evil."
Now, I need to put it clear that the perfect will of God also involves divinely arranged trials or adversity. Some believers don't realize that the perfect will of God also includes and involves trials. It includes, it involves trouble. The perfect will of God in your life is going to involve crisis. When, if so, when it happens, it's not every crisis that happens by error. No, it was, it is part of the will of God. Jesus was sent here to come and die. He was sent here to come and die. It was a perfect will of God. You can see the arrangement of God for the nation of Israel in Genesis 15:13-40. Now, He said this even before they were born. So how do you explain it? Even before they were born, God said, "This is what this is that there's a generation that will come up, and this generation would be in a foreign land. They will be enslaved. They'll be oppressed. They will be abused. But at the end of a given measure of time, which was 400 years, I will put an end to their slavery. I'll bring them out on the shakaama with great substance." In Matthew chapter 4, verses 1 to 10, you could see Jesus being led into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Luke 24:7, King James Version, it says, "The Son of Man must not may the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men." It was a perfect will of God. And what's will happen? "And be crucified." It was a perfect will of God. And then, "the third day, He will rise again." It's your third day, and the resurrection part of God would bring you up again in the name of Jesus. So sometimes the perfect will of God will involve a trial or temptation. So the trials that the righteous experienced, they don't necessarily happen by error or by the carelessness of the victims. So stop asking, telling people, "Why now? Why did you?" Or, "You know, is it did you know? Pray enough?" I'm aware that the, the general vasya of one of the strongest prayer ministries in the land, they did have a child for 17 years. Only 17 years of marriage. One of the strongest ministries in prayer and deliverance and spiritual warfare, they didn't have a child until 17 years in marriage. Now, we easily find reasons, we create reasons, and to make it worse, which we spread it. We spread it. That was a problem with Job's friends. With all that Job went through, all the losses he suffered, these friends came and they even added to his emotional pain by the kind of things that came out of their mouth. May you not add to the pains of your loved ones. May you not add to the pains of your friends. May God use you to bring healing and encouragement in the name of Jesus. So these trials did not happen by error. They didn't happen because of the carelessness of the victims. That is why they still happened despite preventive measures, despite the godly lifestyle of the victims, despite the preventive prayers that were offered before it happened. That's why they still happened. You know, even the prevalent prayer of Jesus could not make God change the trial that was about to happen. In Matthew chapter 26, 36 to 46. Matthew 26:36 to 46. When He went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray, "Lord, take away this cup." Prevailing prayer. And that was the only time Jesus prayed and God did not answer. Can I also tell you this? The selection of Judas Iscariot by Jesus to be one of the twelve disciples was not a mistake. It was not a mistake. It was not an error. It was God that chose Judas for Jesus along with the other eleven disciples. And neither was it due to the influence of spiritual or human manipulation. Judas Iscariot was deliberately selected by God. How may you never be elected from evil assignments? Judas was deliberately selected by God to play a negative or evil role against Jesus. Against Jesus. I pray that you would never be selected to do something evil against your church. May you never be selected to do something evil against your pastor, in the name of Jesus. But that was what Judas was deliberately chosen for. That was what he was chosen for. Some trials are bound to happen despite all precautionary measures. You can encounter problems even when you have made the right choice. You can sometimes suffer even when you have chosen the right thing or chosen the right person. You can encounter problems when you have taken the best decision. You can encounter problems even when you are walking in obedience to divine leading. You can sometimes suffer when you have done the right thing. You can sometimes go through trouble or difficult times even when you have refused to do the wrong thing or refuse to choose the wrong person. You go through difficult times. An example was that Joseph. Genesis 39, verse 20. Joseph refused to commit adultery with Potiphar's wife, yet, yet he ended up in jail for refusing to commit adultery. And God was there watching. God was there watching. You know, sometimes God can look at the rest of your life. Like Joseph, he thought, "You saved the good story about yourself was that it time we come in the life of Joseph that from that time, from that year in the life of Joseph till the end of his life, that good is going to keep on getting better and better and better and better." So if you are going to have that kind of destiny, God can allow you to go to the worse before that time because God already knows that what you are going through, it won't kill you. What you are going through will end at a particular time, which you may not know, and you may never know, but God knows. And God also knows that beyond that, in ending from that year, that that trial, your trial, and all your trials will end from that year till you die eventually, in God's time, life will just keep on getting better and better. I challenge you, when you go home, go and read what happened to Joseph. Go and read what happened to Joseph. I challenge you. And of course, as I'm speaking right now, there are people with a similar destiny as the destiny of Joseph. So whatever trial you are faced with, it will kill you. There was like an your potty and put you in prison. But your potty fact does not have the power to kill you. Satan could have access to do so much damage to your life as he did to Job. But Satan will never have the authority or permission to kill you. Can somebody say amen? You will see the end of that sickness. That sickness you are faced with today will become history. Become history. Become history. Become history. And if I'm, if I'm right, my medically inclined brethren here can confirm what I'm saying. They are actually some types of sicknesses, the chickenpox, or smallpox, that once you have been exposed to it, you are most unlikely to ever, you know, they are flitted by it for the rest of your life. So for some people, the area that team even comes the better because once you have been exposed to it and it's gone, for the rest of your life, it will never have power over you. So I declare to that woman in this meeting, whatever affliction that the Lord has permitted, it will not take your life. The Lord removed the power of death out of that affliction in the name of Jesus. The Lord put an end to that affliction in the name of Jesus. The Lord grant you complete and permanent healing in the name of Jesus. For the rest of your life, you will live in good health in the name of Jesus. And this one that has gone forth, may this word prevail for your mother, prevail for your elder sister, prevail for your wife, in the name of Jesus. Can someone say, "Thank you, Jesus"?
So the current trials, challenges, suffering, rejection, failure, disappointments, fruitfulness, barrenness, name them, that you may be faced with, do not necessarily imply that your past choice was wrong. It doesn't imply that your past decision was wrong. We don't know how Sarah was chosen, how the circumstances of Sarah getting married to Abraham. But obviously, from everything we saw and read in scripture, Sarah's marriage as Abraham's wife was the approved one from God. But Rebecca even had a stronger testimony because Rebecca came into the picture by a divine arrangement. Abraham prayed that God would bring a wife for his son, and that was how, in response to that prayer and the prayer of his chief servant, Eliezer, that record all the steps of Rebecca to come into the picture. So it was clear that Rebecca was the perfect will of God in marriage for for Isaac. Then how do you now explain a situation where after that kind of marriage, that is so clear that this was, this is God, two years, four years, eight, ten, twelve, fourteen, sixteen, eighteen, twenty years in marriage, no child? It was not until 20 years. And even Isaac had to pray. And the Bible gave account that Isaac entreated the Lord. Some other versions say Isaac called upon the Lord on behalf of his wife, Rebekah, and then eventually she conceived. A tan God, it was double double. So the fact that there has been barrenness doesn't mean it's the wrong choice in marriage. If it is not you, who then I share with us. He passed over some sense of you more Kimmy. I was sharing in some time in November. Is that it's a surprise? No, some members of his church will come as a pastor, I'm going to have good. I said, "Why?" Be say, "One of them was as I said, when I, what me pastor? Why? Why the bishops?" They asked the member says, "So if it's not you, should it be me?" I understand you. I do not understand you. So it was the Holy Spirit that led Jesus into the wilderness where He was tempted by the devil for as much as forty days. Jesus did not enter the wilderness by error. Look for verse one, King James Version. "And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness." When Jesus, the voice Russian says, "When Jesus returned from the Jordan River, He was full of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit led Him away from the cities and towns." Listen carefully. Led Him away from the cities. Can you imagine what that involves? Took Him out of the city, not to bless Him, not all give Him some pleasant experience or a good experience, took Him away from the cities and the towns. And what followed? And out into the desert. And what was going to happen there? For Him to be left alone to sit and not for one day, for forty days. For forty days.
And I close with the third lesson. In the coming week, we would take the other four lessons. And what is the third lesson? That endless, there is always a purpose for which trials are allowed to happen. There is always a purpose. "All things work together for good." Romans 8:28. The divinely permitted trials in the way of the righteous are always allowed to happen for a purpose. They are permitted by God to happen to such persons for certain reasons. They don't happen just by accident. Rather, they were intentionally planned to happen or permitted to happen for a purpose. Intentionally planned. Yes, I am saying this to you this morning. It was intentionally planned. They are never allowed to happen just for nothing or just for the pain, the damage, humiliation, prolonged wait that you will now experience. No matter how difficult your trial may seem, in God's eyes, it's ultimately for a good, for a greater good. There is always something to be tested from you. There is always something to be examined. Is it true? There is always something to be proven if you remain loyal. Is he really faithful? Is he committed? There is always something to be achieved. There is always something to be achieved. Sometimes, you know, in this was in last night or early hours of the morning, the Spirit of God was not beginning to make me understand that, you know, do we even realize that this challenge we're having now? Because 30 years or 40 years ago, it was very easy for young women to get married. And when you are not married at 25, it's already an issue in the family. I can remember that about 30, 35 years ago, when you are married at 25, it's already an issue in the family. It's a cause for concern. Now, that 25 suppose limit has moved up after some years to 30. And now it has moved to 30, 30 to be identified. Now, the Spirit of God was making me understand here, in correlation with this message, talking about purpose. But do you know that it takes trials to bring you out of your comfort zone? It takes trials to move you up into your real potential. Most your husband died for you to have a stream of income. Most your husband died first for you, as a woman, a graduate who went to school, for a woman who knows how to do a particular kind of business. Most your husband died before you begin to, you know, float a stream of income. How come you know? So we seek godly widows, single-handedly send children to good schools. Godly widows, single-handedly build not just a house, but houses. And then we have godly wives in the house who cannot even add temp to the cost of the bills of the family. Most husbands died before you realize that you also had the potential to generate income. And the Spirit of God, Sarah, making me understand that, you know, there are many single women today who would never have discovered their potential to earn money if they got married at 22. Because it's like, you know, all your life as a teenager, it's Papa, Mama, just taking care of you. And then you went to university, they are sending money all the time. And then you'll finish your youth service, and then one young guy shows up, and you get married. And then from the day you get married, if the young guy takes over what Papa and Mama have been doing, and it begins to pay all the bills. So all your life, you have never one day earned income for yourself. So God, this feel of us are saying that trials can be permitted to bring you out of your comfort zone and bring you into your real potential. They asked, don't be offended, man. I'm a man. Don't be offended. There are some wives that have been ordained to be richer than the husband. Don't be offended. It's the will of God. The earlier you are said to be better. In fact, if you understand it very well, you will also be most, you will almost pray that God would bring that kind of wife. So the stress will not kill you. We should I preach something here? The Holy Spirit said, "Do you not know that single ladies, what was supposed to give a try, delay in marriage? Because of that delay, you graduate, you finish your service, because husband will not show up, you start working, because husband will not show up, you start a business. And what looked like a wait for a year turns into two, two years, three years. Before you know it, you have not started discovering your potential in your career, your potential in business. Before you know it, you have on your own moved out from your father's house, your mother's house, into your own apartment. And then not too long after, into your own house as a super single. You know, there are some single ladies, we call them pack and enter. If you marry high spec and enter, everything is already on ground. It's just for you to propose. She can't even provide the funds for engagement ring. It's back Anita Presley, the Lord. If somebody understanding me, I can tell you to your about a boy. He wants me to change it. So the Holy Spirit said, "Do you know that because of these many eligible singles, they were mature, have realized, have entered into their potential? So by the time she gets married, it is too late for her to now be the wife of somebody. And every month, every year, one copper does the entire account through her own effort. It is to lead. She has already discovered her potential. So marriage cannot stop her from being a productive woman. But it may be she married to Ellie at 22, 23. From that age, and not that man, a husband would have just taken over your father's responsibilities. And then you put your, your potential as a woman to be productive is never realized." So said sometimes trials are meant to push you, push you out of your comfort zone into your limit, your real potential. Canadians invent bombs. We never knew until the Civil War. We never knew until the war on their back against Biafra. That was when the Biafrans realized that, you know, they could use their brain. And what Biafra achieved in the Civil War, the rest of Nigeria was not able to achieve it because we still had foreign suppliers, which has forests. Things we can do by ourselves. We had never. We don't wake up and begin to do those things. Sometimes if we take a trail, you know, sometimes there are some of us, we will never do the right thing except we are insulted. And the Holy Spirit also told me, said, "Sometimes when the time of trial is over, some people are now used to manna from heaven. Manna is not forever. Manna is for a period."
Not when you have entered the promised land. Manna is not supposed to be forever. Man, I swear, God is not a place forever. Goshen is just a temporary divine provision before the promised land.
And you see, when you are going through your trash, your wife, God can use your wife to feed the house. God can use your wife to pay school fees. And while that is going on, God will still put his grace upon your wife to still love you, to still respect you, to seek honor you. So, while this is going on, your period of trials, your wife is actually the one ruining everything. And she spirit.
Now listen to this. When it says, "When the period of your trial is over," it says some men are now so used to derangement, they are not so used to that arrangement that they wanted to continue that. Some get to a point where even when they now start making money, they hide it from the wife so that the wife can continue to put those bills. Is that what he do? What he allows to happen is that you allow such women to lose their patience.
When the period of trial ends, one of the things you would know is that the grace that made you cook, that grace will be withdrawn. A day is coming in Nigeria very soon, whether they announced it or not, whether they announced that is another Fulani that has become the president of Nigeria. And this sway him. Mark my words, it is coming. They can do all the ceremony in Abuja whenever they want. A day is coming, the rest of the Middle Belt of Nigeria, the three leaders in the South, and the minority will say, "Never, we will not accept another Fulani president of Nigeria." It is coming. It is coming. You watch what I'm saying. Mark it. Mark my words.
When it is not yet time for you to come out of Egypt, what we put grace on you to tolerate the oppression of Egypt. But when that time has come, God will read nothing I was restraining you. That God will remove it. God will remove it. There are some of you, it would take an insult, a real insult, to bring you out, to let you know that the time of your trial is over.
So, when it is the time of your trial, the wife is provided. And just come home. "Hello, is my food ready?" You finish it by the jam with good, very solid soup and meat. And then you read newspapers. You, and you have put both legs on this stool. And they watch all the films, even the films your wife does not have time to watch. You watch all of them. You, you keep a current with what you, you do it in your time. And then, when that time is over, and you are still refusing to go and be productive, God can remove that grace.
And you know, some women can be terrible. There are some types of insult that after that insult, you can eat food in the house again. She arranged it very well. "May I eat? Is your house where you know that the head of the household eats?" It's what you might do. You want water or motto of fresh? You want fresh man, a fresh apple, fresh apple. But that time, your hand will be shaking. You will go out and look for work. That is a sign that the season of trial is over. Wake up, sir. Tell your neighbor, wake up on your feet. Stand on your feet. Stand on your feet. Stand on your feet.
You know, listen, please listen to this. As I discovered something very interesting in the process of this message. Now, from 2016 to last year, for those who are established members of this commission, God has a plan. He knows about the irrevocable, irreversible will of God. Now, one of those things we discovered later is that the irreversible will of God is not, it's not common. They are rare. If we are to put them in percentage, it's about five percent of the time.
Now, the good news I discovered from this message on trials is that in the same way the trials that are irreversible are few, they are rare, the trials that are reversible. Now, for instance, it was irreversible that Jesus must be handed over to sinful men, crucified. He would die. He would be in the grave for three days. And then, only take the morning of the third day, God will raise him back. It was irreversible. But irreversible promises and plans of God are very rare.
Now, when you want to pray that, "Lord, put an end to my trials," if it has to do with an irreversible trial, God would not answer your prayer. That was why when Jesus prayed in Matthew 26:36 to 46 in the garden, "My God, Lord, take away this," God did not answer because it was irreversible. However, if you are going through a trial that is not irreversible, a God can, you come of God to end it. You come move, go to even earlier than it will have ended. That is one very good thing I picked out. And as having the understanding that irreversible trials are not modified pieces. So, whatever trial as you are going through, someone is going through. Listen to me. Thank you, Lord. I am hearing God saying that two technologies. That do you know that just three people, three of you, if the three of you can come to me in prayer, in prayer, all right, particular thing of a particular person's challenge, I will answer. I will answer. Please write it down. It is the word coming for someone here, for some people here, is that if three of you, take note of the number three, the three of you can come together to me, just to pray over a particular challenge, over a particular person's issue, the Lord says, "I will answer." And I will, I will plead with you to let that happen within the next seven days. Let it happen. And this prayer should not be more than three days. It can be one night, video. It can also roll for three days for at least one hour each day. But let it not go beyond three days because what the impression I have is that if you take it through a video of five hours, or you take it over three days, possibly with the fast, and you prefer at least one or two hours each of those three for each of the three days, the Lord says, "I will answer." Proceed, Lord. You and two other persons, that if only you can come to him and pray over a particular theme of a particular challenge of a particular pressing need, the Lord says, "He will answer." In the name of the Lord. Let us lift up your hands and appreciate God for his word. I appreciate him for his word. I appreciate him. I appreciate him for his word. I appreciate him for his word. Give him thanks. Give him praise. I appreciate him for his word. I appreciate him for his word.
Now, if you, if you already have a clear conviction that you are one of those God just spoke to, and you already have any, you have a conviction to run this prayer with two other persons over the issue you already know, please come to the altar. Come to the altar. Come to the altar quickly. Now, those just touch the altar and go back with both hands. "I receive grace for answered prayers." Just say, "I receive grace for answered prayers." Touch the altar. Say, "I receive grace for answered prayers." And then you can go back to your seat. "I receive grace for answered prayers."
Now, listen to this. Listen to this carefully. Listen to this carefully. As you started singing, the Lord said I should just call out just one group of people for today. He will run up the same partition in the common week. Now, we are going to take one prayer point now, and God will answer. But specifically, it says, as you call out to the altar, those who have gone through a particular trial I mentioned up to 15 of them in the service. You've gone through that kind of trial for 10 years plus, 10 years plus. I've mentioned them one after the other at the beginning. Now, if you are in any of those circumstances for the past 10 years, delay in having children, delay in getting married, severe or prolonged illness, devastating losses, please come to the altar. If you've gone through that for the past 10 years, please come. Come to the altar. Those are false comments. Face. Just come to the topmost part of the altar. Please come. Take a step. Taken steps to the first part of the altar here, so the nest can follow. Can be on the step behind you. Please come quickly. Please step forward quickly. Quickly. Quickly. Quickly. Quickly. Lift up your hands onto the Lord.
Now, we are all going to pray. Now, let's everyone be standing. We are all going to pray. The entire church. We're going to protect this prayer together. Their situation is over. Deal is a verb. You know, standing on the altar, you're already overdue for it. Turn around. You are overdue for a turnaround. And the mercy of God flowing from the altar. The message. We're all going to pray. We're all going to pray. We're all going to pray. "The Lord have mercy upon me and upon my loved ones, and give us an immediate turnaround over every trial, over every challenge we have been exposed to, in the name of Jesus." God will hear this prayer. Particularly by 1 p.m. By 1 p.m. today, by 1 p.m. today, there would have been already a decisive divine intervention over your situation. Are you ready to pray?
"Heavenly Father, have mercy upon me and upon my loved ones, and grant unto us an immediate turnaround over every trial, over every challenge, over every crisis that we have been exposed to, in Jesus." Li palpable supreme. Lift up your voice and prayer in Jesus name. We have every cast that has been walking against you is today broken. Every spell that has been cast against you, against your family, against your loved ones, it divinely neutralized. Every obstacle and blockage they have placed in the way of that blessing in your life is to be removed. Stretch, put hands onto heaven. Does hear the Spirit of the Lord? Receive right now the answer to your prayer. Receive the physical manifestation of the answer to your prayer. Receive from the Most High the answer to your prayer. Receive from the Lord on a full portion and a double portion of the answer to a. Bring the yoke is broken. The body is lifted. Your season of rejoicing has come. Thank you, Heavenly Father. We receive this divine intervention. We receive this divine solution. We receive this divine turnaround. With tons given in Jesus mighty name. Amen. Jesus. With a clap offering. It is you.