admin
A message to people who aspire to be used greatly by God.
(Presented at Miracle Valley Gospel Ministries 19th August 2018)
There are wild and humble people.
(A) WILD PEOPLE.
- God said Jacob I love , Esau I hate.
Read:
“As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” (Romans 9:13)
- Absalom was a wild man.
Read about Absalom 2 Samuel 15 : 2 and following :
15:2 And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.
15:3 And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee
15:4 Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice!
15:13 And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom.
15:14 And David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; for we shall not else escape from Absalom: make speed to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly, and bring evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword.
15:16 And the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the king left ten women, which were concubines, to keep the house.15:17 And the king went forth, and all the people after him, and tarried in a place that was far off.( 2 Samuel 15:2-4, 13,14,16-17).
You can see the conspiracy of a wild man. He desired the throne of his father.
Absalom died a tragic death in pursuing the father (2 Sam. 18 : 9-33.)
David as usual of himself mourned for Absalom against the opinion of his elders and warriors. (2 Sam.19:4, 8-9)
- Ishmael was a wild man.
“And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. (Genesis 21:9-10).
- Sons of Jacob, who took authority against the opinion of their father were wild children. (Genesis 34: 1-31). Note specifically the concern of Jacob in the rash behaviour of Simon and Levi in the following extract:
” And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.” (Genesis 34:30)
(B) Men of contrite hearts are more used of God.
- David was a man of a humble spirit.
- Modecai and so was Esther, never forgot the principles of God.
- The 4 young Jews in Babylon Daniel, Mishack, Shedrack and Abednego, did not forget that charity had begun
at home. Therefore they took the virtues of their God to PERSIA.
- Moses preffered to suffer with his people than to be the next Pharoah of Egypt.
We cannot mention all of them, but for our message today, let us use these few names to drive our minds. Very importantly, if we must follow our mentor, who is Jesus Christ, we know He left the floodlight of heaven to dwell in earthly night. And His coming did bring salvation to all men, who received Him as it is given “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. (John 3:16).
NOW THE LEAD STORIES.
Note God’s knowlege of some of the names so far arrowed above.
“But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not.” (Jeremiah 49:10).
“As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” (Romans 9:13).
God sees the future of all men. A sister whose relations were not doing well in
life held that this sister and the husband, stole their destiny. But incidentally, these relations did not love the Lord God. It is possible for the occult people to manipulate people, this was never the case here. The people never knew their God probably.
Absalom the son of David, fought against his father to usurp the throne ordained by God for the father. He could not wait to inherit the throne and he had not gone through the tutelage of kingship but wanted the throne and so he died tragically. What would have been his inheritance passed over to Solomon, who was born later, later.
About Ishmael God said “His hand will be on every man and every man”s hand shall be on him. He was therefore a wild man. So you can imagine what is going on in the Middle East today. The sons of Ishmael are scattered in Palestine.and among them are all those, who have adopted the ways of Ishmael.
Issac, God’s chosen heir has in his own generations today great men of enterprise, who believe in peaceful coexistence and love.
The Evils of Simeon and Levi.
The sons of Jacob who killed the man who defiled their sister were cursed by Jacob, which he pronounced at the point of his prophetic prayer of blessing towards his children.
Reading from Genesis Chapter 49 from verse 5:
49:5 Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.
49:6 O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.
49:7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. (Genesis 49:5-7).
You should spend time to see how Levi ended into priesthood among tribes of Israel. God is awesome. God could implement the statements of fathers towards the children, positive or negative.
CLOSING REMARKS:
Humility brings progress. People who are wild, will never be used of God.
About Jesus:
“And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:8).
If Christ the Son of God would humble Himself, what then is the reason for us to be arrogant.
To me and you:
4:6 “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” and in verse 10, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”(James 4: 6,10).
If you go through the catalogue of people who God used, you will discover they were down to earth very humble.
From their cradle they learnt the virtues of godliness and did not abandon them. But many came out of similar cradles, but did not love the Lord.
To me and you, I will encourage us to hold on the words of God given to Timothy, if we want to be used by God. And Paul the apostle said to Timothy:
1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,1:2 To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.and verse 5, When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. (2 Timothy 1:2,5).
God promoted Timothy to be the Bishop of Ephesus, as he promoted David to be King of Israel. So also did God make Moses a lawgiver, made a slave girl Esther queen in a foreign land, and He made Modecai Governor in the land of their enemies. Do not forget the Hebrew boys indirectly ruled the princes of Persia, inspite of several levels of persecution. All these were their portion, because they were not wild people.
HUMILITY BRINGS PROMOTION , BUT ALL THAT ARE HAUGHTY WILL BE LOWERED BY THE LORD, NO MATTER HOW FAR THEY RISE. AND SO NEBUCHADNEZZAR DWELT WITH BEASTS IN THE FOREST FOR SEVEN YEARS. DIVINELY HUMBLED, UNTIL HIS SENSES CAME BACK TO HIM AND HE WAS COMPELLED TO SAY :
4:34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? (Daniel 4:34-35).
What are we learning from these?
In contemporary world today there are many wild leaders in dictatorship, wasting the lives of their citizens, because they differ in religious ideology.
Many are engaged in ritual wealth carryng out fetish activities to make money. Some live in complacency and immorality. Some are not aware, because they are not Christians or some are christians and care less. But interestingly, ignorance is no excuse at all.
We are made to read and see that the evil events of today, will unfailingly attract the wrath of God tomorrow. It pays to be humble and shun wild character in all its dimensions, because good or bad they will always attract God’s reward.
“For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:14).
May God bless he that reads especially you, to take one new good step of faith for eternal blessings in Jesus name Amen.
Miracle Valley Sermons August 2018.
outreach.mvgm@yahoo.com
website : www.mvgmng.org
Prof. P. C. Nnaocha.