FOR WHOM THE HEAVENS OPEN – PART 36 (CASE STUDYOF JOSHUA – PART 23) – “THE ROLE OF YOUR HANDS IN YOUR JOURNEY TO THE PROMISE LAND”). – PASTOR E.A ADEBOYE – SPECIAL RCCG ONLINE SUNDAY SERVICE:21ST JANUARY 2024

SPECIAL RCCG ONLINE SUNDAY SERVICE

TOPIC: FOR WHOM THE HEAVENS OPEN – PART 36 (CASE STUDYOF JOSHUA – PART 23) – “THE ROLE OF YOUR HANDS IN YOUR JOURNEY TO THE PROMISE LAND”).

MINISTERING: PASTOR E.A ADEBOYE

DATE: 21ST JANUARY 2024

BIBLE TEXT: JOSHUA 7: 19-21

Let Us Pray!

SONG

Blessed be the Name of the Lord

He is Worthy to be Praised and Adored

So we lift Up Holy Hands in one Accord

Singing, Blessed be thy Name 

Blessed be thy Name

Blessed be the Name of the Lord

Holy is the Name of the Lord

He is Worthy to be Praised and Adored

So we lift Up Holy Hands in one Accord

Singing, Holy is thy Name 

Holy is thy Name

Holy is the Name of the Lord

Jesus is the Name of the Lord

He is Worthy to be Praised and Adored

So we lift Up Holy Hands in one Accord

Singing, Jesus is thy Name 

Jesus is thy Name

Jesus is the Name of the Lord

*OPENING PRAYER*

King of Kings and Lord of Lords; the One who is called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

The Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the Ending; the One who was, the One who is, the One who is to come; The Almighty – We Worship You and we Adore You.

We Thank You for all You have done for us already in the New Year; we Thank You for what You are yet to do – Please accept our Thanks in Jesus Name.

Even today as we gather together at Your Feet again to learn; Please send Your Words to us and let Your Words bring Healings to all of us.

In Jesus Mighty Name we have Prayed – Amen,

Praise the Lord – Hallelujah!

*We are moving on to Part 36 in our Study on the Series: “For Whom The Heavens Open^ and here we are using Joshua as our illustrations for Someone for whom the Heavens Open.*

And we were discussing in details what and what could represent Achan in our lives because we have emphasised that Achan must die. That anything at all in our lives that could lead us into trouble as we journey to our Spiritual Promise Land must be thoroughly dealt with.

In Part 35 of this Series, we looked at Joshua 7: 19-21.

I will read that Bible Text again as we continue our discussions on Achan.

Joshua 7:19-20:

19. And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I Pray thee, Glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me.

20. And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done:

“He saw” – That was what led to our discussion on: “The Role of the Eyes in our Journey to our Promise Land”.

And then he took.

*So today, we will be talking about: “The Role of the Hands in our Journey to our Promise Land”.*

He (Achan) said: I saw and then I coveted and then I took.

The Bible is very, very Specific when it comes to the issue of Covetousness.

In Luke 12:15; the Lord said a Man’s Life does not consist in the Abundance of the things he Possesses.

The Value of your Life is not determined by how much you have.

How Great you are is not determined by how many cars you have, how many houses, how much Money you have in the Bank, how many dresses you have – That is not what determines your Greatness.

As a matter of fact, I’m sure that some People must be frustrated because they have so much and there is no way of telling the People that this is how much I have in the Bank.

Some People if it were Possible will like to have a way of writing maybe on their foreheads – This Man is a Billionaire.

*No, what makes you Great, what makes you Important, what makes you a Man/Woman of Value is not determined by the Abundance of the Things you have.*

*Covetousness is a Killer – You want to have everything that your Neighbour has.*

*That could lead you into some things that you never could have Dreamt that you could do.*

*The only thing that the Bible gives us Permission to covet according to 1 Corinthians 12:31 is the Best of Spiritual Gifts.*

*The Bible says that you are to covet earnestly the Best Spiritual Gifts.*

If you say: God I want to have the Ability to raise the Dead; I want to have the Ability to get the Lame to walk; I want to have the Ability to make the Blind see – Oh, God will keep on saying Amen; ask for more.

*You are allowed/advised to covet the Best Gifts because these are the things of Value and these are the things that will help you on your Journey to Eternal Life in Heaven.*

*But now, let us consider briefly the role of the hands because this Man said: When I saw, then I took.*

You know in Genesis 3:6; in the original sin, it was after Eve saw that she took.

Genesis 3:6 – When the woman saw that the Fruit was Good, Pleasant to the Eyes, then she took.

*You know that there is a Statement of the Wise – They said that the one who is fond of toiling with the leaves will reach for the Fruits at Last.*

You kept on admiring the leaves, one day you will reach for the Fruits.

*1. The Hand can bring in Death to the Owner.*

In 2 Kings 4: 38-41; the sons of the Prophets were sitting before Elisha and he said that they should Prepare food for them.

And one Zealous fellow went to the field to go and gather additional Fruits to go and put into the food. And he brought in Poison.

*You know, when we say to People who jump from one Church to another, there is the danger that you might bring in Poison from outside and the Poison you bring in might not be only there to kill you; it might be there to kill others with you.*

*Be careful what you touch with your hands.*

Psalms 105:15 gave a Great Warning that has to do with how you use your hands.

It says: Touch not my Anointed and do my Prophet no harm.

When you read 1 Samuel 24: 1-5, in case you think that, that has only Spiritual Implications and Nothing Physical; you will discovered that when David had an opportunity to kill King Saul, he refused to kill him. He said No, he is the Anointed of God but I will cut a little Piece of his dress – Just a little Piece,

The Bible said that after he cut that little Piece, he has a Heart Attack – His Heart smote him. That is what the Bible says because he uses his hands to cut a little Piece of the dress of a Man of God.

Oh yes, he is a Backsliden King – Oh yes, God had forsaken him but the Anointing was still there.

*Be careful how you treat or handle the Man of God.*

Now, the Bible says again and again and again – Touch not the Unclean. Watch what you do with your hands.

In 2 Corinthians 6:7; it says that anything Unclean don’t touch. Why? Because if you touch the Unclean, you defy yourself,

How important is your hand? How important is what you touch with your hands?

Why don’t we learn a Lesson from what happened during the Coronavirus Epidemic or Pandemic.

What was the emphasise throughout that Period? 

It was your hand – Wash your hands, and use Sanitizers on your hands.

They did not ask you to use Sanitizers for your face, they say instead, cover your face.

But then when it comes to your hands – Oh you shake hands with Somebody, then you must use Sanitizers because they know that the greatest way for the enemy to catch you might be through your hands.

The Bible says in Psalms 24: 3-5 – It says that you want to go to the Presence of God? They said that your Priority must be a Clean Hand.

Number One of all the conditions for those who will go to the Presence of God is Clean Hands.

That is why those of you who are True Children of God – Be careful what you do with your hands in your Place of work because whether you know it or not; God is watching you and God is keeping a Record.

*That is why when we were talking of Restitution, you must learn to Restitute everything you have taken that is not yours, and everything that you have Possessed that should not belong to you because what you do with your hands can determine how far you will go.*

That is why if you have stolen Money from your Place of work, you must Restitute; or if you have taken what is not yours, you must Restitute.

I told you this Story before:

When I was a Lecturer at the University of Lagos, because of my Position in the Department, we had envelopes and sheets that when we want to write Official Things we can use.

And I wrote a Personal Letter and I Stretch forth my hands to take one of the envelopes to put the Letter in. And the Almighty God said: Stop it, that envelope is for Official Letters and not for Personal Letters,

And I said to the Almighty God – How much is an envelope? And He said to me that if you know an envelope is that cheap, go and buy your own.

Because many of you can see the Glory – And I thank God for the Glory of God in my Life.

And I’m Praying for all of you my children because you are the ones I’m Praying for Specially – In the Name above every other name, you will be Greater than I (Amem).

*But if you see the Glory, you must know the Story.*

*The God that you are dealing with is an Holy God and the wife He wants to marry must be a wife without Spots, without Wrinkles and without any Blemish.*

*If you have some Restitutions that you haven’t made, go ahead and make them now!*

*If you think that you have done certain things that Nobody knows and Nobody sees; what about God? He knows, He sees and He is keeping Records!*

*2. And yet the hands are very Precious Part of the Body:*

*I. If you use your hands right, it can bring in your Miracles.*

For Example in Mark 5: 25-34; the woman with the Issue of Blood said that if I can just touch the hem of His Garments – That’s Hand o!

She didn’t say if I can tear His Garments!

You remember King Saul tore the Garments of Samuel and Samuel said to him – The Kingdom is torn away from you.

The woman with the Issue of Blood touched Him and as she made Contact with her hands with the One carrying the Power that made Heaven and Earth,  she got her Healings.

*I’m Praying for those of you who needs a Miracle today; that by Faith your hands will touch the hems of the Garment of Jesus Christ – Amen!*

In John 11: 39-43; when Jesus Christ came to the Tomb of Lazarus, he asked the Men who stood by to roll away the stones.

You need hands to roll away stones,

*They used their hands to do what Human Beings can do and then they open the way for the Almighty God to do what He alone can do.*

*Occasionally, the Almighty God will give you an opportunity to use your hands to Preoare the way for the Miracle He wants to Perform in your Life.*

For Example, when we come to the Convention, we always say that those of you who are around; you must Pick Up every dirts that you see on the floor.

And we always add – As we are keeping the House of the Lord Clean, He will keep your Life Clean.

Some of you will say that I’m “Too Big” to bend down to Pick any dirt. You don’t know what you are missing  – Your hands can Prepare the way for the Miracles of the Almighty God to come in.

*Use your Hands correctly and you will get a Reward from the Almighty God!*

Consider 2 Kimgs 2: 9-15 – When Elijah was taking by Whirlwind to Heaven and he dropped his Mantle.

The Bible said that Elijah took the Mantle – He used his hands to grab the Mantle.

He used his hands when he got to River Jordan to roll the Mantle and to smite the Jordan and said: “Where is the Lord, God of Elijah?”.

*He used his Hands Profitably, he used his hands in the correct way and you know the results – He became Someone that other Children of the Prophets came to bow down for.*

*II. Your Hands can become Conductor of the Power of the Almighty God.*

For Example in Mark 16: 17-18; the Almighty God says as Part of  the Signs that will follow those who believed Him, that they will lay hands on the Sick and they will recover.

*Your hands can conduct the Power of God into the Life of the Sick, so that the Sick can become Healed.*

God is not saying that you will be the Healer, He says you lay your hands that they can feel and then my hands that they cannot see will be laid on your hands and the Power will flow.

*But what kind of hands do you think that can be laid on the Sick and get the Sick healed?  It cannot be dirty hands or Unclean hands.*

What kind of wire is used to conduct Electricity? – Pure wire. They don’t use iron wire to conduct Electricity.

There was a time they were using Copper wire because that was very pure compared to iron in those days.

But they moved on from that when they discovered that there is Fibre glass.

They discovered that the Purer the Conductor, the more easily the Current will flow.

What kind of hands are your hands? Can they conduct the Power of God freely?

It is not everyone who can lay hands on the Sick and the Sick will get healed.

What is the Problem? The Problem is a matter of the hands – How Clean are your hands?

3. And then another thing about your hands is found in Ecclesiastes 9:10. 

*The Bible says that whatever your hands find to do, do it with all your Might.*

*In other words, how Diligent you are is related with your hands.*

Are you a Lazy Person? Are you an Hardworking Person? Are you Someone that God will give the opportunity to bear rule?

The Bible says that the Diligent Hands shall bear rule.

How are you using your hands? Do you use your hands to Play all day long or you use the hands to do something Precious for the Almighty God?

Think about it.

Is your hands reaching out to something that is wrong or is it reaching out to transform other lives?

4. But the most important thing about your hands is actually to be found in Psalms 73: 22-24.

David was talking about how he could be a “Foolish Fellow”; how he knows that he is not very Worthy.

He said but one thing he is sure of is that the Almighty God will hold him by the hand and receive him into Glory,

If you read Psalms 24: 7-10; you will discovered that when we are talking about entering into Glory, there is a door there called “The Everlasting Door”.

That door does not just open to anyone – It opens only to the Lord Jesus Christ.

And even the Lord of Host Himself will answer Questions when He get to that door.

My Spiritual Daddy used to tell me – Son, when a Man dies in Christ, the Angel will come and take him and carry him to Heaven.

But when the Angel gets to a certain Level, He will tell you that I can’t go further than this – I get “Too Close” to God, the Glory of God will wipe me out.

He said that is why the Angel who stands before God cover their faces and feet with wings so that the Glory of the Lord will not wipe them out.

He said that the Angel will say: This is how far that I can go and then the Son of God Himself will come  and take you from there on and lead you all the way to where God the Father is.

David said: When I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I fear no evil; for thou Art with me – Because I know that you will receive me to Glory by holding my hands.

Do you think God is going to hold dirty hands?

Do you think that the Almighty God whose Eyes cannot even behold sin will hold the hands that is Unclean and lead Him to Glory?

You will cry to God today and say: Lord God Almighty, from this Day onwards, don’t let my hands touch anything Unclean.

Anything that I have been toiling with that will not allow You to hold my hands and receive it to Glory, Father let me put an end to it today.

*ALTAR CALL*

Now, as for those of you who are not even yet Born Again; it is not even your hands alone that are dirty but your entire body.

So, you better come to the Lord Jesus Christ now and ask Him to Please wash you Clean in His Blood. Ask Him to save your Soul because there is a Place you cannot go on your own except the Lord leads you in.

So, if you want to give your Life to Jesus Christ, Please bow your heads now.

Cry to Him for Salvation – Ask that His Blood will wash you Completely Clean from head to toe as I Pray with you just now.

In Jesus Mighty Name we have Prayed – Amen!

*PRAYER FOR SALVATION AND CLOSING PRAYER*

My Father and my God, I want to Thank You once again for Your Words – I want to Thank You for the Grace to say the Truth as it is.

And I want to Thank You for those who has decided to Surrender their lives to You today.

Father Please receive them, save their Souls, let Your Blood wash away traces of sin in their lives. And from now on, Father keep them Pure and keep them Holy so that all of us together will be able to enter into Your Kingdom as You hold our hands.

In Jesus Mighty Name we have Prayed – Amen!

Praise the Lord – Hallelujah!

Now, I’m rejoicing with those of you who has given your Life to Jesus Christ today.

I can assure you that the Blood of Jesus Cleanses from all sins. That even if you are to die today now, you will make it to Heaven.

But I will advise you to go to the Pastor in The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) nearest  to you and ask him what do I do next?

I will be hearing Good News from you in Jesus Name – Amen!

And one day, we will meet in Heaven – Amen!

Praise the Lord – Hallelujah!!!

Thank you so much for staying all through to read.

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