₦Sermon 13
(A Sermon Preached by Rev. Fortune Emerence Chinemerem Nwaiwu)
And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, where art thou? — Gen 3:9KJV.
The LORD, the Creator of all things puts the question above, not to Adam again but to us who are alive today, the question seems to be a rhetorical question, a question that does not demand for any reply because he that asks it is Omniscient, he knows everything, he knows where Adam is hiding. He asks to remind Adam that he is lost from the apex of glorious splendor that is designed for him and his wife. For God to ask him where thou, he only wants him (Adam) to know that he has become a total disappointment to his creature.
Have we seen how foolish human beings are? Adam begins to reply to his Creator. He gets the answer right, thus, he says the truth — “I heard you walking in the garden so I hid, I was afraid because I was naked’ — Gen. 3:10.
From the answer Adam provided, we may be perturbed to say that Adam was restless after eating the forbidden fruit. He could no longer know himself; it seems that the burden of sin is upon him. Fear begins to torment him as perhaps he recalls the consequence of his sin which is death (Gen. 3:3) 2:16 – 17 and coupled with his nakedness. Thus, sin has opened the eyes of the couples to see themselves as an entity prone to death and destruction. Sin uncovers their divine protection and they really feel the repercussion.
Our wives can be an architect of our problem. They are capable (if care is not taken) of leading us astray. Listen what God says to Adam: “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you”— Gen. 3:17. Where are men who profess Christ? Where are these people who claim to be Christians? Most of them are lost like Adam because they are beginning to listen to their wives, they are now listening everything their wives tell them. The bible describes Satan being the serpent as the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD GOD had made. Devil is shrewd and wise that was why he came in the body of the wise serpent. He knows that women are weaker vessels and therefore he tends to manipulate the man (Adam) through his wife (Eve). That is why you can see some men after having their meeting, when they reach or get to their various homes, their wives will begin to lure them to demur any consensus agreement which the men have reached. When we stop from listening to God and scriptures and listen to our wives, it is the moment we begin to listen to Satan. You see that, Adam was listening to God before, tendering the garden and watching over it and also keeping God’s commandment not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge and evil. We are not told for a time that Adam listened to his wife and it was well, with him but rather than when he listened to his wife by eating a forbidden fruit. This is also in consonance with Sampson who listened to his philistine wife Delilah and he was doomed to destruction.
Many Christians today have stopped from listening to God. They are now listening to what the world says and the things the world will offer them. I do not know where you are now. It may be that you are here but your heart has gone far away from God. God warns you to return to him.
Where are thou? Are you in a business and the business has turned your heart away from God? There are some business men and women who use charms to sell their market, such business men/women, where are you? God wants you all to return and sell your market with the fear of him. Do not cheat by giving a false scale. God is from a far distance watching us.
God asks Adam; “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat? The Creator asked and it does not mean that he is unaware of what is happening but is trying to let the man know from the height he has falling. Countless Christians today when they feel that their prayers are not being answered, they resort to seek for divination for the solution of their problems King Saul did this. He was to meet the woman of Endor to consult the spirit of Samuel. Where are thou, means where is your trust in God when there is trouble? Where is your love among your brethren? Where is your hope? Some people put their trust in the idols, money and in what their devilish charm can do for them, they seek for protection, where there is not.
Read John 20:19-29. In this account of John, we notice in verse 24 that among the Disciples of Christ, Thomas was not there when Christ appeared to them. The question is where was Thomas? He was with Christ when Christ addressed them as not to let their heart be troubled. As he rendered his sermon as the way to the father, this Thomas was present and remarked that they do not know the way to the father —John 14:5. He was with Christ and other disciples, enjoying the good tidings but the moment the son of God was crucified, he ceased from coming to church. He was no longer regular to church activities because he perhaps felt the inclination that Christ is no longer with them.
Remember, this period was the time, the critical moment the disciples were afraid of the Jewish leaders (see John 20:19). They usually meet in locked doors and Thomas seemed to have stopped from coming to fellowship with them. When Christ appeared to his disciples as they gathered in the locked house, he said: “Peace be with you. As the father has sent me, so I am sending you”— John 20:21. He then breathed on them and said “Received the Holy Spirit” — John 20:22. After this, we are tempted to read our scripture again to know whether Thomas was there when Christ empowered his disciples. We see now that Thomas was not there when Christ felicitated peace upon his disciples and neither were he more powerful than others rather, he was not there is he was not there. Even when he later came in the other day because he had heard wonders that happened as Christ appeared to them, he doubted the resurrection of Christ and came to prove what he had heard and instead of him to hear you are blessed, Christ however said to him: blessed are those who believe without seeing me ”—John 20:29. This means Thomas did not follow other disciples receive the final blessings from the Lord Jesus Christ.
My question is where was Thomas when other disciples received peace and power from Christ? This question is what most of scholars and theologies are unable to come up with a concrete answer. We ought to learn a lesson, thus, we should always be in a place where God wants us to be. Because Thomas was not where he ought to have been, he did not have the access to receive the power of the Holy Spirit as Christ breathed to his disciples and nobody knows if he was there on the day of Pentecost but the scripture records that all the believers were meeting together in one place —Acts 2:1. This means, he was perhaps present. We see that Thomas was once lost in fellowship when Christ gave his disciples power that is why nobody sees a scripture written by Thomas because he was not there.
There are countless Christians who are promising heaven and earth to give to God and as a result they get lost as they are struggling to realize their dreams. This happened to Esau whose father Isaac called for him to prepare wild animal for him to eat and bless him. Esau did not use what was available to offer to his father but rather he went out to hunt wild animal as to prepare for his father. He did not know that it was a dying minute for him to receive a blessing from his father. He was out until his mother Rebekah called for Jacob as she overheard what Isaac was telling Esau. Rebekah asked Jacob because she loved him to use the available animal to slaughter and prepare it for father. Thus, had it been that Isaac used what was available to offer, he would have received his own blessing. Where was Esau when Isaac was blessing Jacob? He was not there, he was in search of wild animal, and Christians should learn how to use the available items to worship God, our bodies are the first and primary item to give to God first before other thing. We forget to give God our body and tend to be busy body, no one cares to hear the word of God, and all we need is to hear prophecies of dooms. Where art thou, parents? Our parents are causing problems in a family. We see that most of the separation among the brothers and sisters are from our parents. In the story of Esau and Jacob the cause of enmity between the two brothers was from their parents. Isaac loves Esau but hates Jacob and Rebekah loves Jacob but hate Esau. Where art thou, mothers and fathers? Are you like such couples? Any family that shows favouritism among her children will likely collapse. This also happened in the family of Jacob as we know, Jacob loves Joseph more than other of his children. Because of this, he bought him a special coat which none of his brothers had ever wore. We are told that he loved Joseph more than others because Joseph was the son born of his old age. This issue of favouritism escalated and his brothers began to harbor hatred against him. They planned to kill him but God did not allow their plan to come to pass because Joseph was innocent. As a result, God’s favour was upon him which sustained him during the time of his trials and difficulties in the land of Egypt.
If we fail to be in place God has assigned us to stay, the results are very clear as Paul records in Galatia 5:19
Sexual immorality: When a man takes another man as a wife, it is a part of sexual immorality; when an elder in the church or whoever takes another man’s wife, it offers sexual immorality when it a time to worship God, you ignore it to attend your wife first it offers sexual immorality, sexual immorality is a satanic instinct in man to desire unwholesome pleasure which gives no room of the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. This sin of sexual immorality has tramped people today to commit abortion and or lead to unwanted marriage. An elder confessed his sin that he was in the house of one prostitute, when some church members were preaching round the village in the morning and he was there when a voice called on him and said: where art thou?
Impurity: Our hearts are impure and no longer in right relationship with God like Simon the socerer. We no longer tell the truth because our hearts have been contaminated; we lust for pleasure and forget the things of heaven. It was lust that Eve ate that forbidden fruit because she desired to acquire the knowledge and wisdom which the fruit would offer her. Because our hearts are impure, they only develop to outburst of anger, quelling, jealousy, selfish ambition and ignition.
Idolatry: Some bishops, pastors and members of churches today have turned to idol worship. Some pastors have forgotten their divine calling and then seek for power in the occultic biosphere because they are no longer in Christ; they are not for him again. Where are thou? We are warned not to worship idols, Lev. 19:26, Act 19:13 – 19, Rev. 21:8, Isaiah 47:12 or partaker in sorcery and witchcraft.
———————Meditation Point—————————————
O God of righteousness, I pray that may I be found faithful when you come to harvest the world, amen.
(A Sermon Preached by Rev. Fortune Emerence Chinemerem Nwaiwu)
And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, where art thou? — Gen 3:9KJV.
The LORD, the Creator of all things puts the question above, not to Adam again but to us who are alive today, the question seems to be a rhetorical question, a question that does not demand for any reply because he that asks it is Omniscient, he knows everything, he knows where Adam is hiding. He asks to remind Adam that he is lost from the apex of glorious splendor that is designed for him and his wife. For God to ask him where thou, he only wants him (Adam) to know that he has become a total disappointment to his creature.
Have we seen how foolish human beings are? Adam begins to reply to his Creator. He gets the answer right, thus, he says the truth — “I heard you walking in the garden so I hid, I was afraid because I was naked’ — Gen. 3:10.
From the answer Adam provided, we may be perturbed to say that Adam was restless after eating the forbidden fruit. He could no longer know himself; it seems that the burden of sin is upon him. Fear begins to torment him as perhaps he recalls the consequence of his sin which is death (Gen. 3:3) 2:16 – 17 and coupled with his nakedness. Thus, sin has opened the eyes of the couples to see themselves as an entity prone to death and destruction. Sin uncovers their divine protection and they really feel the repercussion.
Our wives can be an architect of our problem. They are capable (if care is not taken) of leading us astray. Listen what God says to Adam: “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you”— Gen. 3:17. Where are men who profess Christ? Where are these people who claim to be Christians? Most of them are lost like Adam because they are beginning to listen to their wives, they are now listening everything their wives tell them. The bible describes Satan being the serpent as the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD GOD had made. Devil is shrewd and wise that was why he came in the body of the wise serpent. He knows that women are weaker vessels and therefore he tends to manipulate the man (Adam) through his wife (Eve). That is why you can see some men after having their meeting, when they reach or get to their various homes, their wives will begin to lure them to demur any consensus agreement which the men have reached. When we stop from listening to God and scriptures and listen to our wives, it is the moment we begin to listen to Satan. You see that, Adam was listening to God before, tendering the garden and watching over it and also keeping God’s commandment not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge and evil. We are not told for a time that Adam listened to his wife and it was well, with him but rather than when he listened to his wife by eating a forbidden fruit. This is also in consonance with Sampson who listened to his philistine wife Delilah and he was doomed to destruction.
Many Christians today have stopped from listening to God. They are now listening to what the world says and the things the world will offer them. I do not know where you are now. It may be that you are here but your heart has gone far away from God. God warns you to return to him.
Where are thou? Are you in a business and the business has turned your heart away from God? There are some business men and women who use charms to sell their market, such business men/women, where are you? God wants you all to return and sell your market with the fear of him. Do not cheat by giving a false scale. God is from a far distance watching us.
God asks Adam; “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat? The Creator asked and it does not mean that he is unaware of what is happening but is trying to let the man know from the height he has falling. Countless Christians today when they feel that their prayers are not being answered, they resort to seek for divination for the solution of their problems King Saul did this. He was to meet the woman of Endor to consult the spirit of Samuel. Where are thou, means where is your trust in God when there is trouble? Where is your love among your brethren? Where is your hope? Some people put their trust in the idols, money and in what their devilish charm can do for them, they seek for protection, where there is not.
Read John 20:19-29. In this account of John, we notice in verse 24 that among the Disciples of Christ, Thomas was not there when Christ appeared to them. The question is where was Thomas? He was with Christ when Christ addressed them as not to let their heart be troubled. As he rendered his sermon as the way to the father, this Thomas was present and remarked that they do not know the way to the father —John 14:5. He was with Christ and other disciples, enjoying the good tidings but the moment the son of God was crucified, he ceased from coming to church. He was no longer regular to church activities because he perhaps felt the inclination that Christ is no longer with them.
Remember, this period was the time, the critical moment the disciples were afraid of the Jewish leaders (see John 20:19). They usually meet in locked doors and Thomas seemed to have stopped from coming to fellowship with them. When Christ appeared to his disciples as they gathered in the locked house, he said: “Peace be with you. As the father has sent me, so I am sending you”— John 20:21. He then breathed on them and said “Received the Holy Spirit” — John 20:22. After this, we are tempted to read our scripture again to know whether Thomas was there when Christ empowered his disciples. We see now that Thomas was not there when Christ felicitated peace upon his disciples and neither were he more powerful than others rather, he was not there is he was not there. Even when he later came in the other day because he had heard wonders that happened as Christ appeared to them, he doubted the resurrection of Christ and came to prove what he had heard and instead of him to hear you are blessed, Christ however said to him: blessed are those who believe without seeing me ”—John 20:29. This means Thomas did not follow other disciples receive the final blessings from the Lord Jesus Christ.
My question is where was Thomas when other disciples received peace and power from Christ? This question is what most of scholars and theologies are unable to come up with a concrete answer. We ought to learn a lesson, thus, we should always be in a place where God wants us to be. Because Thomas was not where he ought to have been, he did not have the access to receive the power of the Holy Spirit as Christ breathed to his disciples and nobody knows if he was there on the day of Pentecost but the scripture records that all the believers were meeting together in one place —Acts 2:1. This means, he was perhaps present. We see that Thomas was once lost in fellowship when Christ gave his disciples power that is why nobody sees a scripture written by Thomas because he was not there.
There are countless Christians who are promising heaven and earth to give to God and as a result they get lost as they are struggling to realize their dreams. This happened to Esau whose father Isaac called for him to prepare wild animal for him to eat and bless him. Esau did not use what was available to offer to his father but rather he went out to hunt wild animal as to prepare for his father. He did not know that it was a dying minute for him to receive a blessing from his father. He was out until his mother Rebekah called for Jacob as she overheard what Isaac was telling Esau. Rebekah asked Jacob because she loved him to use the available animal to slaughter and prepare it for father. Thus, had it been that Isaac used what was available to offer, he would have received his own blessing. Where was Esau when Isaac was blessing Jacob? He was not there, he was in search of wild animal, and Christians should learn how to use the available items to worship God, our bodies are the first and primary item to give to God first before other thing. We forget to give God our body and tend to be busy body, no one cares to hear the word of God, and all we need is to hear prophecies of dooms. Where art thou, parents? Our parents are causing problems in a family. We see that most of the separation among the brothers and sisters are from our parents. In the story of Esau and Jacob the cause of enmity between the two brothers was from their parents. Isaac loves Esau but hates Jacob and Rebekah loves Jacob but hate Esau. Where art thou, mothers and fathers? Are you like such couples? Any family that shows favouritism among her children will likely collapse. This also happened in the family of Jacob as we know, Jacob loves Joseph more than other of his children. Because of this, he bought him a special coat which none of his brothers had ever wore. We are told that he loved Joseph more than others because Joseph was the son born of his old age. This issue of favouritism escalated and his brothers began to harbor hatred against him. They planned to kill him but God did not allow their plan to come to pass because Joseph was innocent. As a result, God’s favour was upon him which sustained him during the time of his trials and difficulties in the land of Egypt.
If we fail to be in place God has assigned us to stay, the results are very clear as Paul records in Galatia 5:19
Sexual immorality: When a man takes another man as a wife, it is a part of sexual immorality; when an elder in the church or whoever takes another man’s wife, it offers sexual immorality when it a time to worship God, you ignore it to attend your wife first it offers sexual immorality, sexual immorality is a satanic instinct in man to desire unwholesome pleasure which gives no room of the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. This sin of sexual immorality has tramped people today to commit abortion and or lead to unwanted marriage. An elder confessed his sin that he was in the house of one prostitute, when some church members were preaching round the village in the morning and he was there when a voice called on him and said: where art thou?
Impurity: Our hearts are impure and no longer in right relationship with God like Simon the socerer. We no longer tell the truth because our hearts have been contaminated; we lust for pleasure and forget the things of heaven. It was lust that Eve ate that forbidden fruit because she desired to acquire the knowledge and wisdom which the fruit would offer her. Because our hearts are impure, they only develop to outburst of anger, quelling, jealousy, selfish ambition and ignition.
Idolatry: Some bishops, pastors and members of churches today have turned to idol worship. Some pastors have forgotten their divine calling and then seek for power in the occultic biosphere because they are no longer in Christ; they are not for him again. Where are thou? We are warned not to worship idols, Lev. 19:26, Act 19:13 – 19, Rev. 21:8, Isaiah 47:12 or partaker in sorcery and witchcraft.
———————Meditation Point—————————————
O God of righteousness, I pray that may I be found faithful when you come to harvest the world, amen.
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