The Kingdom of God is at hand

“And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying: Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, the days are prolonged, and every vision faileth?” Ezekiel 12:21-22

My Mother, being an honourable Justice of the Nigerian High Courts is able to recite long strings of sentences that have been deposited in her mind over time. She’d attended a British run secondary school in eastern Nigeria in the nineteen sixties, attended law school, served as a defense lawyer, a (chief) magistrate, a (chief) register and now she is a Judge. Doubtless she’s has had to memorize countless laws, the legal profession being what it is. What I find now to be very interesting is that I inherited some of her ability to remember words, because looking back many of the things she would recite on occasion would somehow stay in my memory word for word. Of all the things my Mother recited there is one verse that has stayed with me through the years. It is a verse from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and it reads: There is a tide in the affairs of men which when taken at a storm leads on to success. Omitted, all the voyages of their life are bound in shallows and in miseries. In such a sea are we now afloat and we must seize the current as it serves or lose our ventures.

I thank God that in a season such as this where he will make known to my heart the urgency of the times in which we live, that verse will come to mind in all of its application to the world right now. I believe that the world exists at a very special time in history where God has given us a sea of provisions and blessings which we must seize or lose his kingdom. As I searched for words to convey the urgency of the times in which we live that verse by Shakespeare came to mind.

I searched with a sincere urgency to convey urgency because I believe that there is a lie that the enemy has told which attempts to dull our Christian and even human senses to a realization of the times in which we live. That lie is this: That the things long spoken of by the Prophet’s and the times long spoken of by our Lord Jesus Christ are still far in the coming. The enemy has attempted to dim the glory of our Lords coming by trying to get the world to believe that there is no God or believe in a false god. The enemy is trying to get the Church to remove its focus from the coming of our Lord, by placing it on such things as “fulfillment” and “claiming promises”. But the coming of our Lord can never be dimmed for the word says that “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not”. The Light of Jesus will shine; it is up to us to decide if we will stand in the glorious light or be in incomprehensible darkness.

With light comes enlightenment and knowledge. Lately I have heard sermons speak of the urgency of the times in which we live, and the return of our Lord Jesus Christ but God confirmed this to me tonight as I revisited a passage that I had come across in the book of Ezekiel.

Christ’s coming in my Life

In January when this year began, God gave me certain words concerning what he will do in my life this year. He gave me specific instructions which I was to obey, and outlined specific outcomes which I could expect. Many of these were given me through scripture, some of them a conviction that came upon me in prayer; and as the year went along the lord continued to speak. When the enemy tried to bring doubt into my heart the Lord immediately rebutted him as he directed my eyes to Joshua 21:45: There failed not aught of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.

The first words the Lord had given me concerning this year had come from the first book of Joshua. Here God was saying – It shall all come to pass.

Two of the things that I was waiting on the Lord for were his help in graduating from my Masters Program this year and that he take my career where he wants it to be. And so miracle by miracle, from January to November the Lord had fought vigorously for me. It was now clear that I would be graduating from school in December. What was not so clear was what would happen with my career as the global financial crisis continued to take a turn for the worse. And so it was in the midst of this that the Lord led me to the book of Ezekiel Chapter 12.

The Lord had given the people certain promises and had spoken many prophetic words through his servants over the years. But when the people did not see them coming, they rationalized amongst themselves that the days of which the Lord spoke are still a long way in coming. Basically assuming that since those things had not occurred they probably will not for a very long time. They even made a proverb out of it, limiting in their eyes the power of God to do something now.

And so the Lord said through his Prophet Ezekiel “Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, the days are prolonged, and every vision faileth? Tell them therefore, thus saith the Lord God, I will make this proverb cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them: The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision”. Ezekiel 12:22-23

God continues in verse 25 by saying “For I am the Lord, I speak and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass, it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days O rebellious house will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God”

As I read these words, I began to realize that the enemy had been trying to get me to postpone the occurrence of all that God had said to me throughout this year, and assume that God meant it for a time yet to come. God was saying no, I said I will do it this year, I will do it this year.

Brothers and Sisters, December has just begun and tomorrow is my last class in school, tomorrow my promotion will be announced at work, and I am ever more convinced that before this year is over God will take me far beyond all that I ever thought possible. He said he will do it and so he is doing it.

Christ is coming to the world

Brothers and Sisters, I tell you this story of my life because the Kingdom of God is at hand. In Matthew Chapter 24 our Lord Jesus Christ talks about his coming. He gives his disciples signs and wonders that they can expect in anticipation of this time. In verse 30 he says “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory”.

The signs that our Lord gave us have come to pass: There have been wars and rumors of wars; many have come claiming to be Christ. There have been famines and earth quakes, the gospel has been preached in the entire world.

But my friends, there is a lie that the enemy has told the world. It is in the form of the proverb which the children of Israel spoke to themselves in the days of Ezekiel- That the days are prolonged and the vision faileth and are for many days to come. I believe that God wants to shake us out of this complacency.

The words that he showed me in the book of Ezekiel were not only pertaining to his arrival in my life in the midst of all he said, but it pertains to his return to our world. And so in a moment such as this, I cannot help but carefully consider two things –

1) Christ has brought to pass and is bringing to pass all that he said to me that he will do this year; they were not for a season prolonged in the future.

2) The Kingdom of God is very close now; it is not for a time far prolonged.

So, what?

And so in light of these things how do we proceed? I assume that if we knew that Jesus was coming tomorrow we would be less concerned about many of the things that we are concerned about. Those who have not accepted him would quickly do so, those who have will somehow double their efforts, those backslidden or lukewarm would rededicate themselves and go searching for others to bring to Christ. Basically we would start doing what we ought to have been doing all along.

Brothers and sisters…as I lay down this evening considering my walk in Christ I thought to myself that the only retirement for me is death. There is no vacation from the cross once it is picked up and so long as I live there is no point I will get to where I would have gone far enough. These thoughts were overwhelming when the spirit of God settled in my heart that his grace is sufficient.

And so I urge you, get deeper into the life of Christ, accept him as your lord and savior if you have not (For any questions about this please reach me at wendu.nwakanma@yahoo.com) and live everyday as if the lord would come that day.

There is a season spoken of by our Lord Jesus, a season in which we now live…and we must seize salvation and all that it means or lose his Kingdom.

God bless you forever…