Apostle BILLEY.
The Lord wants to visit His church. He wants to raise the intensity of our relationship with Him.
Some people don’t go far because of the things we talk about. But whoever accepts the Word and yields to God, will be delivered.
In life, there are Judases, but also John the Baptists, Peter, the apostles…
We choose to be excellent, we choose to glorify the Lord, to have victory, to go to heaven, to become better, to be good, to be in the lead.
The choice was ours.
Just as we choose to resist evil, to destroy evil, we choose to strip ourselves.
We have that power. We can do it. He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world(1 John 4.4).
We can do all things through Him who strengthens us, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Proverbs 28:13 He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
This verse is everywhere in the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, it’s not said in the same way, but it’s the same spirit.
He who hides his transgressions is not blessed, he is not visited, so he cannot prosper. But it’s the one who confesses and forsakes them who is blessed.
Beloved, we must have God’s blessing. We can’t count on the government, on the men. But only the One who has always existed, whose name is God, our Creator.
And it is He who asks us to strip ourselves of all that is evil in our lives.
For some, it’s pride, or fear, envy, jealousy, anger…And sometimes it’s so hidden that if God doesn’t reveal it to them, they won’t prosper.
Let’s not resist God. Don’t listen to the voice of the flesh, which would have you believe that this message is not for you.
Let’s open our hearts, let’s feel concerned by this message, then the heart will be contrite, it will grieve and this sadness will lead to repentance. And this repentance will bring about the elevation of God, which will lead to communion with God.
When God opens our eyes to our condition while on earth, it’s a great blessing. It is a grace to know the evil in us, the state of our lives.
This means that God is preparing us for excellence not only on earth, but also in heaven.
Brothers, we must never hide sin.
Luke 15:11-15
The prodigal son left his father’s home, a house of purity, to go to another country and live in debauchery. As far as he was concerned, he thought he’d become independent, but he certainly found his father’s house a prison. He wanted to be free to act as he pleased.
After spending all his inheritance, he looked for work. It was difficult because of the famine. He finally found work in a field tending pigs.
Luke 15.16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.
He had come to want to feed on pigs’ food. Which just goes to show how far he’d fallen. He left his father’s house of his own free will, because of his own desires.
What can lead a man out of God’s way is the lust of his eyes. This is when the desires of his heart are not the desires of God.
Often, this person will do anything to get what they want. And generally, it’s the road to death, the road to confusion.
Consider this man’s story:
A man wanted to be rich. So he went to see the voodoo, who took him to the sea. So he made a covenant with the water mermaid, who promised him riches, houses and possessions. He was very happy, and she told him she’d come and visit him at night, when he’d gone to bed.
And at night, while he slept, he said that around midnight, he heard a great wind in his house. He opened his eyes and the lady appeared directly in his room. She was very beautiful, started seducing him and slept with him. That’s how she took her life. It was all over for him.
From that moment on, his marriage began to falter. There was no longer any understanding between him and his wife. Nothing could be further from the truth, for he had just married spiritually. So he had two wives, one physical and one spiritual. Now, the powerful woman had an evil power, so she could destroy the other.
When this gentleman saw his physical wife, he treated her with contempt. And now he felt hatred for his children.
This water mermaid had taken his heart because of his desire for money. Did he end up with a lot of money and houses? No, he only had two houses.
But he says that at night, this mermaid, Mami watta, would come and take his soul. It was as if he were dreaming. He saw himself in the sea, at the table, eating. And one day, they served him meat. He asked, what kind of meat was it? They replied: human flesh. He refused, but they told him he had to, because your life doesn’t belong to you.
So he ate the meat. And from that day on, his heart was removed and he was given a demon’s heart. And he was capable of doing great evil, even sacrificing two children.
And at one point, it was his turn to sacrifice his wife. But his wife ran to Jesus, gave her life to the Lord and was saved.
How did it all begin? How did we get here?
It all began with this man’s lust, the desires of his heart that opposed God.
The young man in Luke 15 did not see his father’s glory. His father is rich, but he doesn’t see it. All he cared about was his own wealth.
Luke 15.17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
This verse is very important.
Beloved, you can search your heart to see your desires. You can probe your thoughts, your motivations and change what needs to be changed.
Every human being has this ability. When this ability to discern is taken away from a person, they no longer have control over their life.
He who wishes to be glorified in the Lord must learn to enter into himself, to search his heart, to discern by his spirit, and to remove what is evil. This is called stripping.
That’s also how you can know the intentions of your heart. There’s an intention to everything in life.
Man is made up of 3 parts: the spirit, the heart (also called the soul) and the body.
Soul and spirit are inside, they come from God, but have different functions.
It’s with the mind that we probe the heart’s desires. Flesh is generally formed in the heart. The mind is much more connected to God.
So this young man used his mind to probe his heart.
He has remembered his father’s abundance and knows that it is continuous. He was able to see his father’s authority, his ability.
Luke 15.18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,
This young man has decided. When a pagan decides not to follow Jesus, it’s because his will has been hijacked by the devil.
The will to decide is part of the power God has given us.
The will to decide is part of your strength, your power.
It sounds small, but in reality, it’s a power: the will and the decision.
If you don’t decide, someone else will decide for you. This is why God has given every human being not only the will, but also the ability to decide.
When this young man decided to stand up. Where was he?
He was still in this foreign land, in misery.
Some Christians don’t like prayer. But you have to decide to get up and pray.
There are others who say, I’m going to pray, but don’t. Why? Because they haven’t decided.
You decide to defeat the devil, you decide to go ahead, to get up promptly at midnight to pray.
You decide to be victorious and in doing so, you resist the bad things.
Getting up doesn’t mean getting physical first. It’s spiritual, in the heart, in the mind.
As long as the decision doesn’t come from within, the body won’t get up. And decision is strength.
This young man decided to get up and go to his father, to ask his forgiveness. This was his direct objective as soon as he stood up.
When you make a decision, you have to have a goal.
In Luke 16, this is what the rich man didn’t do, and he ended up in hell. For it is while we are still on earth that we can decide. And it’s while we have life, we breathe, that the demons, the kingdom of darkness will do everything to stop you deciding, especially about the things of God.
Anything that can lead you to victory, to saving your soul, the devil will prevent you from doing. That’s why you have to make up your mind.
This young man decided to go to his father. In other words, he’ll leave his personal desires and intentions behind. This is what we call stripping away, renouncing one’s old life.
Beloved, let’s not love the world. For our lives, this young person’s father is God the Father.
1 John 2.15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him;
Luke 15.19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”
In deep repentance, there is humility.
20 And he arose and came to his father. As he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, running to his neck and kissing him.
When did this young man get up? verse 18 or verse 20?
In verse 18 because we decide from within by standing on the rock. As he decided, nothing could stop him.
21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
We need humility, repentance.
This young person was in the world, it was confusion, everything was blocked, no joy, no peace. He told himself his life wasn’t normal, and went inside himself to think. He said to himself, I must repent…I risk ending up like this in old age.
Beloved, if you see these things in your life, failure after failure, broken engagement after broken engagement, doors closing at the last second….These are clues that you need to run to God. You need to leave Babylon and run to God.
Home here is the kingdom of God;
The Father is God;
The city where he’s gone is the world.
This young man had left, because perhaps he said to himself, There are too many laws, too many prohibitions, I prefer to leave, because I can’t have girlfriends, drink alcohol…
Beloved, the world kills, but God gives life. All the world gives is bait to imprison souls, but God sets them free.
The path with God may seem difficult and full of prohibitions, but the final outcome is freedom.
It’s true, in Jesus, you have to practice prayer, get up at 5 a.m., go to church 3 times a week, pray 4 times a day, sanctify yourself, meditate at home…
It seems difficult at first, as if there’s no life left, but that’s how the narrow gate works. It doesn’t look appealing, as if it’s taking away freedom, and it’s not even as if the promises are going to be fulfilled promptly.
They tell you if you do this, you’ll get rich, you do, but you don’t see… it seems hard at first.
So others say, I’d rather go clubbing, drink all the booze I want…That sounds like a glorious, wide door.
Beloved, this narrow door that seems to be difficult if you persevere, at some point you’ll see that it’s a good door. Then, as you keep going, you’ll see that it leads you into a palace, a world of glory, of God, where there’s no more fear, no more sickness, no more oppression…
This narrow door seems frightening, but in the end the payoff is very large.
Walking with God isn’t easy at first. It’s normal, you have to work hard to get a trophy.
When you have deprived yourself, abstained from sin, the world calls and you refuse. As you continue on this path, when you reach heaven, you’ll be able to say Alleluia! I’ve won the victory.
Beloved, Satan needs you, because he doesn’t want to go to hell alone. Don’t love the world, love God.
Luke 15.22 “But the father said to his servants, Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.
Here, it’s the restoration of this son. When a person repents, there is restoration.
This young man was wearing a dirty dress. His identity has been changed: he was in the world and now he’s in God’s kingdom.
The dress is the dress of justification.
The ring is the covenant. We are in covenant through the blood of Jesus.
Shoes are for walking. The shoes of the world have been removed. And he gave him the walk of the kingdom, that is, the practice of the word of God.
23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry;
24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. And they began to be merry.
Death is leaving your Father God’s house, it’s no longer having any interest in the things of God.
Beloved, we must return to God. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.
Repentance destroys the power of the enemy. The moment you reveal and expose what the enemy is doing in your life, you are weakening him. For one of the devil’s forces is darkness. And darkness is hiding, hiding to do harm.
Repentance is a blessing. This is not humiliation, but humility, exposing all that is evil to God. And He will forgive you.
IN THE NAME OF JESUS, Let Us Pray… →
Lord, I belong to you.
Forgive me for all the evil I have done against You.
Holy Spirit, help me to strip.
Let your light penetrate my soul and expose the works of darkness.
Lord, may your blood be on my ability to decide.
I’ve decided to give up this world to follow you.
In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.