The Harvest Is Ripe!

(From radio broadcast of Bro. Julius Adewumi)

Shadrach Meshach and Abednigo along with Daniel dedicated themselves to God. God honored their dedication. There came time for their faith to be tested, and they were tested.

Everyone that follows the Lord must be ready to lay down his live for Jesus Christ. If you are going to fear God, don't be afraid of what the devil can do. Fear God and God only. The saints overcame the dragon by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death. (Rev.12:11).

Let's talk about the trials that came to Daniel himself. When the three Hebrews, Shedrach, Meshach and Abdnigo, were arrested for not bowing to the image, you should ask yourself "where was Daniel?" He was no where to be found. How come? Daniel was not there. He didn't show up. This is something about faith. Some men can see evil ahead and avoid it. The bible said "the wise man forseeth evil and hideth himselt, but the foolish pass on and are punished." (Prov. 22:3 ). Daniel, being a governor of the palace, and highly respected by Nebuchadnezzar, most likely was exempted, directly or indirectly. Or he refused to show up. He knew what was coming and he did not show up. Nothing recorded that the king would arrest any officer who did not show up. But the rest of the officers were so afraid of the king and they showed up, and had to face the image.

I want you to apply this to yourself. Maybe you are in college, high school, or at work. There is to be a school party or all employees party. You know what will be taking place in such parties: reveling, drunkenness, fornication, adultery. But instead of abstaining you are so intimidated and said "I have to be present, I have to accept the invitation; My boss invited me, I have to accept the invitation!" You attend and then have to face the ridicule or persecution. Who is to blame? Yourself. You had better stand firm in the face of ridicule and not deny Christ!

Daniel was in town during the trial of Shedrach, Meshach, and Abednigo. He did not show up for the dedication of the image of Nebuchadnezzar. He knew what was coming, and refused to show up. The three friends of Daniel, being lower in rank and in faith, perhaps thought if they did not show up might be in trouble with the king. Well, they showed up and were in more serious trouble. They were faced with death. What were they afraid of initially? Perhaps they might lose their jobs if they did not honor the king's invitation. Now they honored it and were in greater danger of losing their soul if they bowed to the image.

Going now to Daniel chapter 6, we will see how Daniel himself was tested. As I said before, for every believer, your faith will be tested. This is where Daniel's own faith was tested. After the kingdom of Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar had been overthrown by the Medo-Persians, Darius, the king, was on the throne and he favored Daniel.

(Dan.6:1 -3) "It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage.

Daniel became like a friend to the king, The other presidents were almost being told to report to Daniel. This made them jealous, and they sought to change the arrangement.

"Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him."

These people were looking for a way to accuse Daniel so that he could lose favor with the king. They could not find any. God expect you and me as believers in Christ to be faithful in whatever we are doing. Christ said "occupy till I come". Are you an employee of a company? Be found faithful in your work. The bible said we should do all things as if we are doing for Christ. (Col.3:23). Are you a student in school? Then do your studies as if you are serving God. If you are doing it for God, there will be no laziness, isn't it? Because God knows how hard you can work and knows whether you are being lazy.

God does not entertain laziness. Daniel was faithful in his work.

"Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.

Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellers, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions." (Dan. 6:4-7).

You may have known the whole story. It may sound strange that any king will sign such a decree. But kings, governors, rulers in our present time are still making decrees with similar connotation -- self-serving, to boost their ego.

They made the king sign the petition. He was not thinking of Daniel or anything but his own honor. So he signed the petition. But Daniel would not be persuaded to stop praying for thirty days, and three times a day.

v.10: "Now When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime."

He refused to change his lifestyle for any petition and he was found praying and accused before the king.

v.11 "Then these men assembled , and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king's decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians which altereth not.

Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day."

You have to remember this petition was devised against Daniel in the first place. Now they got their prey. The king was completely perplexed.

v.14: "Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him."

He was looking for every loophole in the law to deliver Daniel, but the king's hand also was tied by the law that he could not deliver him.

There is coming persecution against true believers at the end of the world, and he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved. In Rev. 13:7, "And it was given unto him (the beast) to make war with the saints, and to overcome them." The beast, called the antichrist, will bring persecution against those that refuse to take the mark, or the number of the beast as written in the book of revelations. Christians who know these things will refuse to take the mark of the beast, not joining the new trading systems or monetary system. They will be arresting and jailing those that refuse to take the mark.

In Rev.3:10, "because thou has kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth." There will be the hour of temptation as written, and Christ will protect some. But he that shall endure to the end shall be saved. The rest of the world will accept the mark of the beast, but only the true believers will not.

Daniel had the choice to postpone prayer for thirty days, or face the lions. He chose to pray and he had to face the lions. He had given his life to God and was ready to die for his God. This also is my challenge to you today. Have you given your life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Count the cost of being a disciple. "He that loseth his life for the kingdom of God shall keep it to life everlasting."

Daniel was arrested. The king could not help him, but he said "your God whom thou serveth day and night, he shall deliver thee." The king believed that the God of Daniel is mighty.

We all know the rest of the story. He was thrown into the lions' den, but the lions couldn't touch him. God's angel shut the mouth of the lions.

Just like Shedrach, Meshach and Abednigo, God delivered them in the fire. There are many ways God could have delivered them: God could have changed the mind of the king; God could make the law to be reversed. He did not do it that way. He waited till the men were in the fire before he showed up. The same thing with Daniel: God could have caused the men who were conspiring against Daniel be exposed before they got Daniel. But he did not do it that way. He wanted Daniel to prove his faith also. Daniel was ready to die if the lions be it. God could have changed the situation so that he did not have to go into the lions den. He did not choose that. Our God is sovereign. He doeth what he willeth. Stand for him and walk with him. He loves you and he is ready to deliver you from all evil. But you must give up your life to his care.

Meditate on these things daily, because the day of decision is coming. Your own day of decision may come to you apart from the rest of the believers. Will you still stand? Some men will not worry as long as they are not alone in the persecution. Such crowd glamour is not for the great faith. Daniel was alone in his test, Joseph in Egypt was alone in his trial, and you may be alone in your trial. But if you stand firm and deny not your faith in Christ, you are not alone, for the Father is with you.

God bless you.!

Bro. Julius Adewumi

Date: Thursday, 01-Aug-96 09:00 PM

From: Lew

.... I'll like to know more about fasting. .....

Lola.

Sister Lola,

About fasting, I recommend that you order a book called "glorified fasting" from "Hall deliverance Ministry,P.O.Box 9910, Phoenix, AZ 85068 - 9910.

The minister discussed fasting at length in the book.

Bro. Julius.

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Dear X,

thanks for your email and I bless the Lord Jesus for giving you the desire to know him more. First of all, if you have never done so, on your knees prayerfully ask Jesus Christ to take charge of your life and that you confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Also renounce any known habits which are sins and in your prayer ask the Lord Jesus to remove those habits from your heart. Henceforth, believe the word of God that He has forgiven you, and make an habit to read the bible daily (set a timetable of at least one hour morning or evening, to study at least one chapter consecutively. Begin perhaps from Romans chapter 1). Try to memorize a verse or two that sounds good to you in each chapter, and also try to apply what you learn from the chapter to your every-day life. Pray after each study that the Lord help you to do what you learn in the chapter. Don't jump into any major fasting yet until you learn more of the word of God. Fasting means abstain from food for a specified duration (except water). (Read Faith Testimonies part 1 - chp.4 on our homepage). If you send your mailing address, I'll send the booklet-copies of some of the literatures to you by snailmail. Repeated reading of the literatures is very useful, just like reading the bible over and over again to refresh ones memory and for further revelation. Look out for bible-believing, born-again gospel fellowship to attend (even Campus crusade fellowship may be in your college). You can get edification from fellowship of true believers because "Iron sharpeneth iron". The very important aspect of Christian walk is that one must be ready to standup for Christ, and not be ashamed to be a Christian in holiness. It means be ready to be forsaken by your former sinner-friends as you repent from former sinful lifestyle: you are stepping into a new class of friends in true Christianity and a great company of Angels. (Lk.18:29-30). "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God". (Jn.3:3). i.e Until one is born again, one will think there are no holy people on earth. But when you are born again, the Lord will lead you to meet the true holy people, because you will recognize them, now that you are one of them. I pray that the Lord will guide you into his truth and fill you with the Holy Spirit, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Keep me posted with your questions and concerns as you step into studying the bible daily. It's a new life! All things become new! God bless you.

Bro. Julius

Dear Brother Julius,

Dear X,

Concerning "Standing in the gap", don't believe it nor accept it the way you think - that the you are blocking the devil's way- because by such thinking you are giving the devil a liberty to attack you. When I say "standing in the gap", my own interpretation is that I am presenting someone else's request before the Lord, in case that someone's prayer needs help, if he or she is not getting through to God. Concerning "praising the Lord and praying in the night", When I sleep at about 11.00pm, and I wake up at 3.00Am, I must sleep again at 4.00Am till 6.30 or 7.00AM -- which gives me at least 5 hours of sleep. We need at least 4 or 5 hours of sleep each day. Concerning fasting, I said before, don't jump into it yet. Study the word consistently for a while. If you must take one fast, attempt one single day (missing breakfast, lunch and dinner) and eat the following morning and see how it feels. But during your fast, as much as you have time, be reading the bible. Concerning doctrines, (Trinity, baptism etc.) you can only point people to what was written in the literature or straight from the bible. Let them read it for themselves and form their own opinions. Remember "No one can come to me except the Father draws him" was what the Lord Jesus told the Pharisees. It means, unless Jesus opens the eyes of individual to a doctrine, they will argue the point forever. The water baptism will not hinder you from receiving the Holy Spirit. If the church understood and believe that "Lord Jesus Christ" is the "name" of the Father, the son, the Holy Ghost, when you were baptized it will be okay in my judgment. e.g each one of us is three-in-one (spirit, soul, and body). But if the church says there are three persons in the Godhead, like a family or like 3 friends on a project, they are in error (which is polytheism -- many gods). Concerning the Holy Spirit baptism, you cannot "rush" God. One thing I have learnt is when dealing with even highly placed men, I wished they hurry up and give me what I asked but they took their time. When I realized how great God is, then I just present my request and by faith begin to thank him for giving it to me, until I receive it. Don't rush him. God follows his own timetable. Therefore, you can pray today for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but don't worry if you don't feel anything. Begin to thank him for giving it to you henceforth, and you shall receive what you ask for.

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