Today is Nigeria’s 32nd independence anniversary. At a time like this everyone of us need to ask the question whether the independence we are celebrating today has any relevance to the one we got in the year 1960.
In the same vain many of us Christians need to ask ourselves whether the freedom we knew when we first gave our lives to Jesus Christ is still the same today. You know it is possible for everyone who come to church like this to keep claiming ‘ I am a Christian, ’even when his name is no longer in God’s register.
In Lagos for example, everyone claims to be a lagosian but when you see a lagosian proper you will identify him by his look and speech. I dare not tell anyone that I am a lagosian because my accent is going to prove otherwise. The easiest way to know where most Nigerians come from is by listening to their pronunciation of certain words.
Ask a Yoruba person from Oyo/Osun states to pronounce CHAMPION and he would say SAMPION, and SANGE for CHANGE. Our friends from Akwa Ibom/ Rivers states would say YAMPION instead of champion. The Igbos pronounce SEKURITY for SECURITY and ELUPHANT for ELEPHANT. The Hausa/Fulani pronounce FAWER for POWER. And it does not matter how much you educate an Ijesha/Ekiti person you will occasionally hear him pronouncing SANINDE for SUNDAY.
The topic of this sermon is Shibboleth and our text is taken from the book of Judges 12:5-6. This is a story of war between two towns with people of common language except in certain pronunciation.
And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before Ephramites and it was so, that when those Ephramites which were escaped said let me go over that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephramites? If he said nay then said they unto him, say now Shibboleth and he said Sibboleth; for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephramites forty and two thousand.
The Ephramites were losing in the battle and they wanted to play a smart game by deflecting to Gilead and claim to be citizen. Physically no one could tell the difference between the two warring side until their mode of speech revealed their identity. What we are about to do now is to know who exactly you are. Are you what you are making people to see or something else?
ARE YOU BORN AGAIN?
Are you surprised that I am asking a question whose answer is in the positive side? Don’t you know how long I have been born again spirit filled and sanctified? I have served in more than five departments since then and now I have been ordained a pastor in our church.
It doesn’t matter your title in the church if you are living in sin you will not be able to say Shibboleth.
No matter whom you are if you have never at any time cried to the Lord and say Lord have mercy on me a sinner your name is not in his register.
Nicodemus was a jolly good fellow and well respected among the Jews yet he felt the need to confirm whether this societal approval will earn him a passport to heaven.
Jn 3:1-5.
There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Jesus talked about the water and the Spirit. You need the washing of the water by the Holy Spirit. All your sins must be washed away so that you can become acceptable in the sight of the Almighty God. Not only that, your old Spirit that rebels against God must be replaced. God spoke through Prophet Ezekiel in his book 11:19-20 that:
And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and I will give them an heart of flesh. That they may walk in mine statues and keep my ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God
Every un-regenerated man is carrying inside of him a stony heart. Until your heart is changed your relationship with God cannot be cordial. You’ll need a doctor right away. Call on Jesus an expert cardiologist.
ARE THE OLD THINGS PASSED AWAY?
That very day that you gave your life to Jesus you were told that you are now a new creature. Are you sure you are still new?
Many of the old things that were swept away that day may have surreptitiously returned. Let’s do some checking
OLD THINGS Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
SMOKING
ALCOHOLISM
PRIDE
ANGER
CHEATING
LYING
DISOBEDIENCE
FORNICATION
WRONG MUSIC
FIGHTING
UNFAITHFULNESS
WHEN LAST HAVE YOU OFFENDED IN ANY OF THESE OLD THINGS?
You may score yourself and see how well you have performed in the past one year or thereabout. 11 Cor.5: 17 says:
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
How many things are become new? All things. This includes the type of music and video you should be watching. If you still find yourself enjoying some of the old sinful tunes, something is wrong somewhere. There is something about music that many people do not know: there is a spirit behind every kind of music. Sing the right music and you can do the right thing. Sing the wrong music and do the wrong things.
The right song can lead you to the presence of the Almighty God. It will keep you holy and pure and set your mind on things above where Jesus is seated. The easiest way to commit fornication is to listen to certain lustful songs.
The Bible warns,
Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What? Know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? For two, saith he shall be one flesh. But he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that commiteth
fornication sinneth against his own body. What? No ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Be careful of what goes inside of your heart because out of your heart are the issues of life. If you allow spiritual poison into your heart the devil will bring back the heart of stone.
WHAT DO YOU DESIRE?
If you have to make a choice between Jesus and another thing: which one are you going to chose? I know that you will say Jesus. If there is an important football match between your country and Brazil and an urgent call to go for evangelism where will you go to?
A pastor was preaching one day about the second coming of Jesus when a young lady said ‘after my wedding!’ Her greatest desire is not to see Jesus but to have her wedding. Do you think there is marital relation in heaven? The Bible says in the book of Colossians 3:1-2.
If ye then be risen with Christ seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
As Christians we should always think on things above and not the things below. In the natural and the physical orders things above are far more superior to the ones below. For example:
• To abstain from all evil is superior to a life of compromise.
• Truth is superior to lying and righteousness to unrighteousness.
• Humility is superior to pride and arrogance.
• Obedience is superior to disobedience.
• Love is superior to hatred.
• Promotion is superior to demotion.
• Holiness is superior to sin.
• Light is superior to darkness.
• Mountain’s top is superior to valley.
• God is superior to Satan. (This is one of the reasons Satan wanted to go higher up and be greater than God. Isa. 14:13-15.).
In the world that we are it would always seem that those who mind the things that are of the heaven are losing but in the end we are the winners. There are quick gains and rewards for those who desire all that the devil can offer. This should not deter us from setting our desire on the things above because we are going to laugh last while the sinners will cry last. 1. Jn. 1:15. Says:
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him
For all the things that are in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
WHAT BOOKS DO YOU READ?
One of the keys that open the doors that lead to human mind and spirit is reading .The messages that are read in the books can make or mar our lives. That is while I am asking you the question: what books do you read?
Magical book will open you up to many demons and it removes from you God’s protection over your spirit. And usually when the spirit of God leaves another spirit must occupy the empty space. God has not designed that we should be empty. One spirit that comes to occupy such an empty space after that the spirit of God is departed is the spirit of confusion and followed immediately by the spirit of madness. In the case of King Saul (1 Sam. 18:10) he became confused and the evil spirit (that made insane) took over him.
I have seen quite a number of people who claimed to have found the 6th and the 7th books of Moses running mad. Moses didn’t have such book; it is from the pit of hell. Those who read such books have ended up their lives in the asylums.
Romance books
When you read romances you open up yourselves to the spirit of fornication and adultery. The reason why many Christians of today found it difficult to overcome sexual sin is because of the avalanche of promiscuous materials being peddled around by the media houses and through the uncontrolled windows of the internets.
Christians who don’t buy promiscuous material cannot deny that they have access to them through their television and billboards.
The Devil is using this medium to remove our resistance and open us up to the enemies attack. He knows very well that great men of war are not defeated in battle by bows and arrows but by women in bed. What the whole Philistine army could not do to Samson Delilah did. I warn you once again be careful of what you read!
If there is a book that you can read without any negative repercussion it is the Bible.
11 Tim. 3:16-17. Says
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reprove, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
Reading the Bible gives you the following advantages,
It gives to your spirit profitable doctrine from God Himself. That ensures a secure barricade to any satanic activities. Prov. 3:2.
It reproves you in strong terms whenever you have done wrong. Even though David was described as a man after God’s heart his wrong actions were strongly condemned.11 Sam.12: 7-12.
It also corrects your mistakes. If after the reprove you feel sorry for your mistakes the Bible provides a way out of your sin. Lk 17:3
The Bible instructs you in righteousness. It gives you divine guidance tested and proving.
What else do you want in a book that the Bible has not provided? Some of us are too busy that we hardly find time for the Bible. This is very wrong. You can reduce your labour time in finding solution to problems if only you can find time to read the Bible. It contains solution to every problems of life.
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church Of God Pastor E.A Adeboye gave us a vivid testimony of how reading the Bible can provide immediate solution to our nagging problems. He was preparing for his PHD in mathematics and he had a problem to solve in certain areas that had taken him more than a year.
One night the Holy Spirit spoke to him to read the Bible in order to obtain solution to his mathematical problem. He at first refused because he felt there was no correlation between the Bible and mathematics. The Holy Spirit directed him to read the story of the crossing of the Red sea and after reading he also directed him to divide his mathematical problem into two halves and to work each part separately, and later to merge them together just as the Red sea came together. He did just that and solved the problem that had taken him more than a year in just three hours.
Reading the Bible brings you solution so read every day.
DO YOU STILL HAVE PEACE OF MIND?
Immediately we became born again the first thing we noticed that convinced us that we are now different persons is the presence of an unexplained peace of mind. We knew right then that we have gain a new confidence and we no longer fear anything. Rom. 5:1-2 says,
Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have access by faith into his grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
If you have lost that peace that you used to know something is pretty wrong with your salvation. I am pinpointing salvation because it was through it that you had the original contact with the peace of God. The following things would be seen in the lives of those that have lost their peace,
The fear of the unknown.
Worrying and anxiety.
Bad dreams.
Evil thought against himself and other people.
Unnecessary suspicion of situation and people.
Sleeplessness.
Ill heath.
Jesus is the Prince of Peace; those who serve him must therefore have peace of mind. He has not given us the spirit of fear.11 Tim: 7 say,
For God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of sound mind.
There is a solution if you have just realized that the issue being discussed has relevance to your own situation.
Do this,
Remember when and how you have descended low. Rev. 2:5
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
Pray to God for restoration. Ps 51:10-12
Create in me a clean heart o Lord; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR PROBLEM SOLVED?
Before we surrendered our lives to Jesus, we all had our various ways of getting our problems solved. These ways had led us into many troubles in the past. Now as a new person you mustn’t go that way again that you may not run into fresh troubles. Heb 4:15 says,
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like we are yet without sin.
It is wrong to go to the herbalist and witch doctors you don’t belong there anymore.
CONCLUSSION
If you have failed in any of the six questions asked you would need to check your life again concerning the issue of salvation. It might be possible for you to deceive everybody but not God. He knows the ending from the beginning.
On the day that is going to end all days when you finally bid this world bye and you get to the gate of heaven, those at the gate yonder will ask you to pronounce certain word which only genuine Christians can pronounce.
In heaven there is a password and only those who know it will gain entrance. In the book of Psalms David gave an insight into what probably happened after Jesus resurrected and got to the gate of heaven.
Ps 24:7-10
Jesus commanded!
Lift up your heads, o ye gates; and be ye lift up ye everlasting door; and the King of glory shall come in.
The angels at the gate wanted to be sure so they replied,
Who is this King of glory?
Jesus replied
The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, o ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
To be double sure, the angels asked for the last time.
Who is this King of glory?
Jesus gave them his key word.
The Lord of host, he is the King of glory.
What are you going to tell the angels when it is your turn to knock at the everlasting doors? All the titles you have gotten in the secular and the spiritual cannot open the door because they are not recognized there. If those angels have the audacity to question their lord at the everlasting doors, do you think they will respect your titles?
Someone once told me, though not yet confirmed from the scriptures, that when we get to heaven we will no longer be able to control our body members. Your mouth will not cooperate in telling lies. Your fingers will report all that you have done with them. Your eyes will tell of all the things you have used them to see. Where will you hide on that day?
If you have never at any time surrendered your life to Jesus Christ you had better do it now because he is going to be the judge of the quick and the dead. Tell him to forgive you and make you his child
