Serving Overseer of First Love Assembly, Lagos, Pastor Simeon Afolabi has called on Christians around the world on the need to have understanding of the mind of God in the wake of the current Coronavirus pandemic.
In an online broadcast on Sunday, Afolabi said there are various schools of thought trying to explain the current global happening.
He also said if the situation is not well understood there would be misunderstanding about the mind of God for the hour.
“In the last one week several theories have been propounded to explain what is happening. I have read wide, I have listened to dozens of messages,” he said, adding that, “There is a group that believes Coronavirus is a bio-terrorism, some people believe it was actually manufactured in a laboratory.”
Stating further, he said, “I have my doubts whether it was manufactured in the lab. The world is so advanced that what nations do in their closets can easily be revealed.
“Another group believes it is a trade war, they are close to those who believe in the bio- terrorism argument.
“Another group believes that Coronavirus is a fall out of technology. They believe what we are suffering is a fall out of 5G technology, that our bodies are reacting to what is emitted where 5G technology is operating. There are those who believe it is hell at work.
“Unless you have a clear understanding you don’t know how to respond. One of the prayers we should be praying now is that God should give us clarity. Some believe it is from hell, it is the devil that wants to wipe out the human race. What school you adopt will determine the kind of response you have. I love to maintain one way or the other whatever school of thought you adopt, God is at the centre of it all,” he explained.
He however stated that those who believe the devil through the virus is on the loose wanting to destroy the earth have such thought because of limited understanding.
“Though we live in a fallen earth, I want to submit that God is still in control of the earth. It still belongs to the Lord. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof… its not my picture of the Bible that the devil can just do anything he likes.
“God still has His redemptive plan of the earth. The devil does not have the power to do just about anything without God’s permission. That is the God the Bible tells us about,” he explained.
Quoting from Job chapter one from verse nine, Afolabi said the devil cannot go all the way in doing anything thing without the Lord’s approval.
“Whatever power the devil has, whatever liberty he has is on lease and he is bound and restricted. The devil can’t go all the way, he cannot do anything without the approval of the father.
“The devil cannot just jump on any life, he cannot carry out any act without God having a fore knowledge about it and without God drawing a line saying Satan, you cannot go beyond this line. I tell you there is already a line drawn by God against Coronavirus that it cannot go beyond. God has drawn the line when that mark is reached you will be surprised about what God would do,” he explained.
He reiterated that the earth still belongs to God and He would take the glory at the end of the crisis.
Afolabi also stressed that what the earth is witnessing is a shaking which he referred to as the beginning of all shaking.
“I am of the opinion judging from scripture that what we are witnessing is the beginning of shaking. In Hebrews 12 the writer says God has once shaken the earth…what is that reefing to? when God spoke on mount Sinai the mountain shook. Ex 19:18. Mount Sinai was completely in smoke. The whole mountain quaked greatly and the people had to hide. But in the Book of Haggai he said he would shake the earth once more, he would not even only shake the earth but he would shake the heaven also so what we are seeing is just the beginning of shaking. Heb 12 says I shake not only the earth but also the heaven. This is the beginning of shaking.”
He however took the congregation including the online congregation that logged on to the broadcast from across the world through further explanations during the teaching.
“Let me show you a few things that are already being shaken. From the perspective of political economy some things have been shaken,” he said.
According to him, “The mindset and the believe that one race is superior to the other is already shaken. The Bible says God is not a respecter of persons, He does not see white colour as superior and the blacks as inferior so if there is anything to learn about this situation, is is that no race is superior to the other. As a matter of fact, the so called inferior race has more resistance. The same God over all is rich unto all that call upon him,” he explained.
The second thing he said is being shaken under the political economy is man’s knowledge.
“Number two thing that is being shaken under political economy is that man’s knowledge; our acclaimed knowledge, our scientific breakthrough is being shaken right now. What we don’t know as human being is by far higher than what we know. We know in part. As a believer the more you know, then you know you have not known anything. We are realising we haven’t known anything yet,” he explained.
Afolabi also said wealth is being shaken as the wealth of the world has not found solution to the current crisis.
“Wealth is being shaken. It is showing us the unpredictable nature of wealth. Some people have lost tons of money within this period. Paul said Timothy should teach those who are wealthy not to put their trust in their wealth but in the living God because wealth can develop wings and fly.
“This shaking is showing us how limited wealth is especially when it is not connected to God.”
During the teaching he also implied that walls of denominationalism are falling as Christians have stopped to discriminate on denominational lines.
“Only God knows how many people would be forced to worship in other places other from their denominations,” he wondered.
He also said, “Only God knows how many people would derive their spiritual sustenance in this season online from pastors and ministries they have never heard before, pastors that they do not even know exist or that they do not even support.
“Friends that is one big wall that is crashing and if you want to ask me that is a good news. I said sometimes ago that there are twin devil that are literally paralysing the world. One is racism the other one is denominationalism.
“What racism is doing in the political world is what denominationalism is doing to the church of Jesus Christ; dismembering the church and weakening it.
“That wall is coming down. Through this plague I see the walls coming down. The walls of denominations are crumbling so that the true church may emerge,” he explained.
Another thing Afolabi said is crumbling is the pride of Christians.
“Our pride as believers is shaken. You know what Christians pride themselves in? We pride ourselves in our buildings, our cathedrals, our air conditioned places of worship, our orchestral, our attendance, our budget, our money. Suddenly we cannot even access those buildings anymore, suddenly we don’t have the opportunity to count our offerings all night long. All these things are being shaken.
“The cathedrals are locked up, to let you know the church is not about building, it has never been, the church has always been about a people called out of the world, a people saved and washed by the blood of Jesus. All our pride is crumbling before our eyes it is a beginning of shaking,” he said.
Still on what he said are being shaken, he said man’s plans are being shaken.
According to him, a series of lined events have been cancelled after the Coronavirus became a global threat.
“Our plans are being shaken, for who says a thing and it comes to pass if God has not commanded it? How many conventions have been cancelled? How many trips have been cancelled, how many seminars, conferences, concerts, you can count them.
“To bring to pass what God has said, many things are now grounded all over the world. It is just making a mess of our plan to show us the only chief planner is God Himself.
“Our supposed power as a church is being shaken, God have mercy. What we are seeing is the beginning of shakings. That means this is not the end of it and the shaking will continue in one form or the other and at the end of it, what would remain would be things that cannot not be shaken.
“Everything within the nation, within the church across the earth everything will keep shaking. The only thing that will remain is what cannot be shaken. And everything human being does would be shaken the only thing that cannot be shaken is what God does.
“Invariably everything would be shaken, only what cannot be shaken would remain and what cannot be shaken is the truth because make believe would give way,” he assured.
Concluding, he recommended what should be done in this period of shaking.
Reading from Mathew 10:28-31, he asked the congregation not to be perplexed.
“Don’t think for a moment God has lost control. He knows what He is doing and He will get the glory out of it when the whole thing is over,” he encouraged.
Continuing, the Serving Overseer said, “Don’t fear those who can kill the body and cannot kill the soul. In the final analysis, no plague can kill the soul. I’m not asking you to succumb to death prematurely, I said it last Sunday quoting Pastor Tunde Bakare. He said ‘I am not afraid of death only I would not cooperate with it’. In other words, when it is not my time to go and death comes knocking, I won’t cooperate with it,” he said, stating further that, “I am not saying you should cooperate with death but on the final analysis there is nothing on earth that can kill the soul, only the body. So don’t fear those who can kill the body and cannot kill the soul but fear he who can kill the body and the soul.
“As cheap as the sparrows are, unless it agrees to the will of God for a sparrow to come down, no skilled hunter can bring one down, so believers should not fear death.
“No plague can have power over us without the father’s will. Go about and know you are more valuable than the sparrows. The sparrow cannot fall to the ground without the father’s will so I cannot fall to the ground without the father’s will.
“The one who has enough time to count the hairs on my head, not just to count but to number each of them. God in all of his busy schedule still has time to put number on each of the string of hair on your head, that is to say He is watching over every details of your life and there is no reason to be afraid, fear not. He said if you pass through the fire it will not burn you, if you pass through the water, it will not overwhelm you because he is on your side. Don’t fear what they fear, don’t be overtaken by the dread that is coming on the world because your God is thinking about you, fear not,” he admonished.
The second thing Afolabi said believers should do at this time is to anticipate the second coming of Christ.
“Number two thing to do in these days is to anticipate the call-up. Let us anticipate our call up to join with the Lord in the air. I am talking about the rapture. Anticipate it. The Bible did not give any specific sign that will take place before the rapture, the Bible gives a lot of things that will happen before the Lord returns, before he puts his feet again on mount Olives, his feet would touch mount Olives one time at the second time but before then the Bible says there will be catching up of the saints to meet with him in the air.
“A lot of things would go on in the world before that event, some of the signs are already here; earthquakes, the rumours of war, the pestilences like the world is grappling with now. These things will come toward the end time and rapture will take place before these things end then that means we are close to the end of time.
“We are seeing signs that we have never seen before, so anticipate the Lord’s return and our joining him in the air and let us live our lives accordingly asking question everyday, asking what if today is my last day on the earth what would I do? What would I love to live behind? We are in the days of fearful things and we must begin to anticipate the Lord’s coming and be preparing for it,” he warned.
Finally, reading from Hebrew 12:28, Afolabi said believers should serve the Lord like never before.
“Let us look for opportunity to serve Him like never before, these are the things we need to do so that when the kingdom of God comes upon the earth, we can hear well done from him,” he concluded.
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