Volume 2002/11

 

The Harvest Is Ripe!

"He will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner"

(Mat.3: 12)

 

 

 

(From radio broadcast of Bro. Julius Adewumi)

Daniel chapter 10

"In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing and had understanding of the vision.

In those days, I Daniel was mourning three full weeks."

We believers must take some lessons from this chapter: How did they become so close to the Lord that they were able to get those visions and prophecies? Here are some of the things they were doing: fasting and praying. When you begin to fast long fasts like 21 days (days and nights) like Daniel did here, you are beginning to walk the walk the prophets walked.

v.3: "I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.

And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel; Then I lifted up mine eyes and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz:"

Daniel told us when the vision came, twentieth day of the first month, after the fast. When you fast secretly, God will reward you openly. You will not be rewarded when you are still fasting. After the fast, when you are now eating, God will visit you.

v.7 "And I Daniel alone saw the vision : for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves."

A physical visitation occurred, where Daniel and some men were standing and a physical shaking occurred like the ground quaking, and the other people fled, but Daniel did not run because he saw the Angel that came down.

v.8 -11: "Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.

Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground.

And behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.

And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for to thee am I now sent."

How can one become "a man greatly beloved?" By humility, and by panting after God.

v.12: "Fear not Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words".

Take note of this: God said, before you open your mouth God already knows what you are going to ask. And as you say it God said he will say "here it is". It's not that you need to fast long days for God to hear your words. The Angel confirmed to Daniel in this chapter that his words were heard from the first day, and the answer was dispatched immediately on that first day. But we need to fast to get our answers delivered, because as you will see in the next verse, there is a confrontation and an enemy who is opposing our prayers, and he will resist us so that we cannot receive our blessings. So God heard you the first day you pray. But for you to receive the answer, and keep the answer, maybe you need that long fast.

v.13: "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days; but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of persia."

The angel gave us an insight in what is going on in the spirit world. Our prayer is often resisted by the principalities and satanic spirits that rule in that area or in that city, or in that nation. But if you don't give up in the prayer, and hang in tough, the answer will come. Daniel's case took 21 days. The evil spirit that ruled Persia, resisted the prayer. They use many forms of resistance. As long as there is no break through, the angel dispatched will stop. But Daniel continued to fast until he has fulfilled his 21 days, which he purposed. Michael was dispatched from heaven to clear the way, so that the angel could come to Daniel. Every country in the world has a satanic spirit that rules the country. We saints are to grow till we will not be bordered by those satanic spirits. When individual comes to the fullness of the stature of Christ, we will be ruling over those spirits as Christ said "He that overcometh will I grant power over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron." (Rev. 2:26-27).

v.14: "Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for the vision is for many days."

The plan of God was revealed to Daniel in several visions in chapter 2, chapter 7, chapter 8, and 9. Again in Daniel chapter 10, an Angel came to him. More detail of the same plan of God was given. They were showing Daniel the same plan of God in different views of it. It's like building a house, you may see the floor plan this time, and next time they show you the front view, or later the back view, or the side view, all of the same plan of God. Now in chapter 10, the angel will show Daniel what will happen to his own people, the Hebrews, because they are in the middle-center of the plan of God. God had chosen Abraham's seed through Jacob, and through them he would take the whole world back from the enemy and give it to the saints of God. The first Adam sold out, and God came in the second Adam to redeem the earth and make new creation, sons and daughters of the second Adam, through the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Jewish nation was the center of the plan of God. But the plan was for the whole world.

v.15: "And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb."

Remember, Daniel had just fasted and was lean. The anointing that came down also overwhelmed him so that he was dump or perhaps faintly. He needed strength in his muscles to withstand the anointing. When he mentioned that he retained no strength by their presence in verse 16, another angel appeared and strengthened him.

v.18: " Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strenghtened me, and said, O man greatly beloved, fear not; peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong; And when he had spoken unto me, I was strenghtened, and said, let my lord speak, for thou hast strenghtened me."

v.20: "Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the king of Grecia shall come. But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince."

This is where we'll stop in this story. In Chapter 11 is the detail of what the angel came to tell Daniel.

The angel came to tell him to the detail what will happen. He also said he is one of them that make things happen in a large scale on this earth. When God commanded that a thing should happen, the angel that visited Daniel in this chapter confirmed that He is a major force to make things happen on this planet when he said "there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince". He was confirming that he is the one that makes things happen. In Chapter 11 verse 1, he also said, he stood by Darius the king of the Medes and caused him to overthrow Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom, when Babylon's time was up.

What you should learn from this chapter and the declaration of this angel is that "God is in control of all things on this planet." When God commands something to happen, it happens by the dispatch of his mighty angels. God ruleth in the affairs of men, and all the proud people will be brought down. Proud kings are brought down. The angel said he stood by the Medes to make Babylon fall. Someone may say, it was just some soldiers that make it happen. Not some soldiers! Things happen in the spirit world to make the soldiers win that you don't know anything about, like David overthrowing Goliath! The bible says, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." (Heb.11: 3). Think about the last part of the verse above: "things you can see are NOT made of things which do appear". The invisible world created and controls the visible world. We saints of God that can move the hand of God in prayer should be ruling the world by our intercession. You can move the fingers of God for a nation, for a land, for a people, when you know how to intercede in prayer and let God move on your behalf. The Lord said, "if my people which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land". (2Chr.7:14) God can turn things around. Maybe you have a government that is so corrupt, and evil, and oppressing the people, and it seemed nothing can be done. If the saints of God will pray and fast and seek the face of God for the land, God can turn it around and put away the wicked rulers just like that, because God rules in the affairs of men. When men are not turning to him, God allows wicked kings to rule over them. But if saints of God cry unto him, he will bring the wicked rulers down.

This is what the angel alluded to in this chapter when he said "also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him."

Though the Medes are not people of God, through Daniel's prayer for Jerusalem, God raised up the Medo-Persians, looking ahead to King Cyrus who was to make the Jews go home to rebuild the temple. God rules in the affairs of men. Even in countries where it seems they are not worshipping God, God can make things happen anytime he wants to, because he is God. His angels are ready and can be dispatched to make things happen as He wills.

Therefore put your hand in the hand of the master, the Lord Jesus Christ. He knows your life and your need. Cast all your burdens upon the Lord. He careth for you. Put your life in his care. Trust in the Lord your God. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. He has the whole world in his hand. He is the one we need to trust and fear. Do not fear men. Fear God and God alone. Put your life in his hand, and he will take care of you.

God bless you.

WHEN DOES MIRACLE HAPPEN?

(From a sermon of Bro. Julius Adewumi, Night Vigil, 4/5/96)

I like to share this question from a Christian brother who read some of my literature on the internet, and the answer I gave. I will use this as the basis for my exhortation today and also for a prayer request for the body of Christ. The letter goes as follows:

****************************************************

Dear Bro Julius,

Have been reading some of your pages on the WWW and wish to ask you some questions regarding faith. As a Spirit-filled Pentecostal who has been in fellowship in the same group for 19 years, I have an urge to see some results of my faith, and so have been searching for groups/ individuals on the internet who can testify of results to their faith that I can learn from them.

(sniff)

In our assembly there are about 1600 or so saints who meet over 3 halls. We are "full gospel" and have been going here in Australia for around 35 years or so. In the last few months we have had 3 tragedies in our midst, with a father of 5 being electrocuted, another woman in her mid-forties dying in her sleep (no apparent illness), and just 9 days ago a young lad of 15 killed when the car his sister was driving hit a tree.

This young man was from the closest family I have ever known, baptized, filled with the Holy Spirit, loving the Lord, real good value folk.

Some of us determined that this was not the will of God (going on the pattern in Scripture whereby every young person that Jesus or the apostles prayed for was raised up) and that this was an opportunity for the Lord to manifest His goodness and glory should the boy be raised up. I asked the Lord for a gift of faith so that I could go and pray for him that his spirit might be returned to him and the family be restored and I believed the Lord had given me this as I had a strong burning inside me for days till the opportunity presented itself, which was last friday the day scheduled for his funeral.

I went to the private 'viewing' and while alone in the room with him prayed for him and commanded he wake in Jesus name etc - but

unfortunately nothing happened. I understand that I take full blame for the failure of the prayer. If the prayer works then the Lord gets the glory, but if the prayer fails then I alone wear the shame. That I can cope with, as there will hopefully be something I can learn to do better next time (such as Cains sacrifice was rejected, but The Lord offered opportunity to him to get it right another time) for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

My questions are; How does one know when one gets a gift of faith?

Did I blow it, or was the burning desire to pray over him just some emotional thing? How can I exercise the kind of faith that I read about in the Scriptures, and that used to happen in our group?

Any suggestions or recommendations gratefully received. Best Regards

Peter. O.

(AUSTRALIA)

When the brother mentioned tragedies, the world has been like that recently. The end of the world is near. Both economic crisis and those evil things are earmarked for the world. From the brother's words, I gathered that he was saying things were not like that before: they had testimonies of faith and miracles before. So they are "full gospel".

Whenever I receive a letter like this, asking a question which I myself could have asked the Lord sometime, I always refer it to the Lord. Every theologian would have had opportunity to wrestle with such question until some of them concluded and said "the days of miracles are gone". Maybe those theologians have never seen one miracle in their congregation. After they are confronted with unstoppable tragedies like that, they would say "I told you the days of miracles are past". But I have seen miracles! This brother testified that miracles have happened before in their midst. The question came during the time when I also have prayers, which have not yet been answered, therefore, I looked to the Lord and said, "Now Lord, you answer this guy. What do I tell him?" I started typing my reply on the computer and the Lord gave me these two points which I made in my response:

Dear Peter,

I'm glad that you ask these questions. We all question the Lord each time we pray for a thing and it does not happen.

We then have to refer back to the answer the Lord gave to the apostles concerning the same. "Why couldn't we cast the devil out?" That was the question the apostles asked.

Remember the apostles had been sent out to heal the sick and to cast out devils. They had done it before. But they came to this one when the Lord Jesus was not with them and the devil refused to leave. They were dumbfounded! Maybe they were even struggling among themselves who should be in-charge. Afterwards they asked Christ, "why couldn't we cast him out?"

But Jesus answered and said, "because of your unbelief .... However, this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting." (Mat.17:20-21).

God gives special gifts for miraculous performance to reveal that it is indeed the Lord's will for man to be well and to live.

It's not a matter of "is it the Lord's will or not the Lord's will?" He gave those special gifts to reveal his will.

But because mankind is far from the ideal state (the stature of Christ) God has to bypass the norm to give special gifts to some, from whom he demands that they fast "long fasts" to contain the power. The special gifts are to be used to demonstrate his will.

Secondly, there is what is called "times of refreshing" when God also condescending, comes down to pour out much anointing upon the church, during which miracles and prayers are easily received without much effort from the believers. (Acts 3 : 19). Outside of that refreshing time, the anointing is scarce or withdrawn. Therefore, believers have tougher time to get things done. Then, only the highly placed spiritually among us, who have acquired some level of anointing from the Lord, will get things done by their prayers more than the rest of the crowd, in performing miracles or wonders.

In summary, the Lord's will is in his word. But since we are dealing with rebel -satanic spirits, when we pray against some evils, we must realize that there is a wrestling match going on against us.

We must strive to put on the whole armor of God (Ephe.6:11-15).

We must attempt the long fasts seeking from the Lord the power that will place us above the adversary. You are not alone in the struggle, and God desires that the saints aspire to attain to that fullness of the stature of Christ. He is ready to help us, but He will not spoon-feed us.

You may notice that when we are freshly born-again, we almost get everything we ask in prayer often times. But after a while, the prayers seem to take longer times before answered. It is not just because we become "stale". It is like a new-born babe need not do much before food is served, and diaper is changed, and carried by the parent all the time. However, the pampering will not be for ever! After a while, the Lord stops pampering us. We are to understand our right and get it from the adversary who usurped it from mankind.

To get it, we must be ready to fight for it, with the Lord on our side. He said "resist the devil, and he shall flee from thee." Sometimes we must resist steadfastly in the faith. At times it's like a tug of war.

But we must remind the devil that our Lord Jesus Christ has already gotten the victory. That weakens the adversary.

May the Lord reveal more into your heart.

 

 

Bro. Julius Adewumi

Gospel Distribution Ministry

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www.GOSPELDISTRIBUTION.ORG

Email: webmaster@gospeldistribution.org

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I want to thank those that have been sending offering to this ministry. Your investment and mine send the literature to believers and send the word on radio. That is one sure way we can send our money ahead of us to heaven. The Lord said: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Mat. 6: 19-21). "For we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out." (1Tim. 6: 7).