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Today we want to look at something I believe will be thought-provoking, something we should open our eyes to, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us into the truth. We are considering: A MIST RISING FROM THE CHURCH. And I want us to go to Isaiah chapter 65, I will read verse 17 and then we will read other verses around it. The Bible says:
Listen To Podcast: A MIST RISING FROM THE CHURCH!
“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing,
And her people a joy.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
And joy in My people;
The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her,
Nor the voice of crying.
Isaiah 65:17-19
May the Lord bless the reading of His word in our hearts in Jesus’ name. Verse 17 began with something important which we are familiar with. It says “for behold, I create new heavens and a new earth.” We know God is the creator of all things, He is the creator of the ends of the earth. Genesis chapter one verse one says “In the beginning God created heavens and earth.” Isaiah 65:17 shows us again that God said “behold I will create new heaven.” When you are creating a new heaven, it means there was an old one. Now in fact, God even says “and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.” So, there is an existing heaven, and there are new heavens. There is an existing earth, there is a new earth. God says “I create the new one.”
God now says again in verse 18 “But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create.” Now, another word for creating is also “giving.” Rejoice in what I give to you. I the Lord, I am the giver of all things. What I give to you, rejoice in it. What I made available for you, be satisfied with it. Let the things that I made available for you as my people becomes the source of joy. Gladden yourself in my provisions, in my supply. That is very instructive and it is clearly spelt out in verse 17 and 18. God says “I create a new heavens”, in fact He says “behold” which means you must open your eyes to it. It is something that if you are not careful, you may miss it even though it is happening in your own day. “Behold”, open your eyes to this truth, “I the Lord I am creating a new heavens and a new earth.” And when you see it, you will rejoice in it. It says “And be glad and rejoice forever in what I create.”
Now, God now got specific. He said “for behold, I create Jerusalem.” Jerusalem is not equal to the earth. Jerusalem is a sub of the earth. So Jerusalem is inside the earth. So God says in verse 18 downwards
For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing,
And her people a joy.
I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing and the people in Jerusalem as a joy. So God has a purpose and God has a plan of making and remaking, creating and recreating, and it is important for us to note that. Then we must not forget the sequence. God says “behold I create a new heavens and a new earth”, looking like some very large territories, new heavens; large, and a new earth. “Then I create Jerusalem.” Jerusalem is smaller than the earth. The he now says “then the people of Jerusalem are also made as a joy.” So we must understand that God is able to create places, God is able to create people. Now God is able to create generations, God is able to create seasons, God is able to create dispensations.
Let us go to chapter 66 of Isaiah, we will still come back to 65. Isaiah 66:1, and then we will come to verse 5. The Bible says:
Thus says the Lord:
“Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
Where is the house that you will build Me?
And where is the place of My rest?
2 For all those things My hand has made,
And all those things exist,”
Says the Lord.
“But on this one will I look:
On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at My word.
Now, God indirectly shows us that while He create heavens and earth, there is nothing inside heavens and earth that is beyond His creation. That is number one. Now there is a word that I wanted to use. When you as a human being, somebody gives you a gift, and the gift looks so small to you, and you are like, “what will I do with this?” And somebody gives you something else, even though it could be smaller than the original or the first thing, you are excited. Because the nature of the gifts creates the excitement in you. Now, God says “heavens and the earth, everything belongs to me.” Now there is nothing that you can give to me or that you will claim you are doing that is not ultimately my work. But this is one thing that I am pleased with. This is one thing that I am drawn to, this is one thing that excites me.
I am always drawn to a people, a dispensation, I am always drawn to a generation who are poor and of a contrite spirit. And that is not all, who also tremble at my word. Now the question we could ask is: Does this happen per chance? Does it happen like a spontaneous or accidental event or is it a deliberate product of a process? And that is why we must examine this. God says there is nothing you can give to me that we really get me excited. There is nothing that you will give to me that I did not give to you. But this is one thing that I love; if you can raise me a people who are poor and of contrite spirit, who trembles at my word, I will be happy. if you want to make me excited and you want me to be pleased with you, then raise me a people who have this.
Now by default, a person may not be of a poor and contrite spirit. By default, a man, or a woman may not tremble at the word of God. Now through a process, a man could be brought to a posture where such a man or such a woman is of a poor and contrite spirit and such person trembles at the word of God. And I don’t want us to forget these things that we are saying. It is a product of a process. Nobody accidentally becomes a poor and of a contrite spirit. Nobody accidentally trembles at the word of God. Anyone who trembles at the word of God is brought to that state after passing through a process. Now, there was a place in Hebrews where the Bible talks about Jesus, that even though He was the son, He learnt obedience by the things he suffered. And so, if you see obedience in the life of Jesus, it did not fall on Him like ripe pawpaw, it was something that evolved in Him after a process has been realized.
So, a man who wants God to be pleased with him, a man who wants God to approve him, must understand that God’s approval does not fall like ripe pawpaw. It is not an accidental event, and in fact, the normal is for people not to be pleasing to God. The random event is for people to be displeasing to God. If you must be pleasing to God, then it must be because you have gone outside the norm, or you are going against the tide. There is nothing that must be abnormal so to say in a man for such a person to begin the process of pleasing God, and we must understand that.
Because, if a new heavens and earth emerges, it means there is an issue with the old. In fact, the book of Hebrews shows us that if the Old Testament was perfect, then there would not have been any reason for the New. If a generation met on earth are perfect, there would not be a need for God to release a new generation. So it looks as if the imperfection of generation produces new releases on the earth, new possibilities of solutions, new possibilities of a people who will please God. So each time God wants to start a new thing, each time God wants a new experience, He has a way of creating a new earth, a new heaven, but He does it through the people in it, especially the earth. Because it says “I create Jerusalem as rejoicing and her people as joy.” So even though they were not as joy, I create them as joy. And how does God do that?
Now imagine a people, a nation that is filled with men and women who have a poor and contrite spirit, imagine a generation, imagine a denomination of the church that is filled with men and women that trembles at the word of God. What happens to such a generation? Would not such a people be called joy? Would not their place be called the rejoicing? That is it! So when God wants to start a new thing, God wants begin a new experience on the earth, the first point of call is the people on the earth. And let us see another manner that God does it. Don’t forget, there must be a process that must have been passed through that has led to a product, and the product is what is pleasing. The product is a poor and a contrite spirit, and one that trembles at the word of God.
Now let us see Isaiah 66:5-9.
Hear the word of the Lord,
You who tremble at His word:
So this is directed at a people now.
“Your brethren who hated you,
Who cast you out for My name’s sake, said,
‘Let the Lord be glorified,
That we may see your joy.’
But they shall be ashamed.”
6 The sound of noise from the city!
A voice from the temple!
The voice of the Lord,
Who fully repays His enemies!
7 “Before she was in labor, she gave birth;
Before her pain came,
She delivered a male child.
8 Who has heard such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day?
Or shall a nation be born at once?
For as soon as Zion was in labor,
She gave birth to her children.
9 Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the Lord.
“Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God.
Now we said there is a scenario created for us in verse 7. It says “before she was in labor, she gave birth. Before her pain came, she delivered a male child.” There is a difference between a male child and children. See where verse 8 concludes it: “for as soon as Zion was in labor”, the first one says “before she was in labor, she gave birth.” Did you see that? Before her pain came, she delivered a male child. Now God says, “have you seen something like that before? Is it normal?” Does it not look like what happened with Jesus? The abnormal thing, something that is not conventional, like once in any time, hearing that a woman who has not had any relationship with a man conceives a child and gives birth to a son. That is not normal. But now, let us look at what is possible.
That verse 8 shows us something that is possible. Already verse 8 shows us something that is not normal or unusual. When a woman who is not in labor, but she gave birth. Now, verse 8 downwards says “for as soon as Zion was in labor”, this time around, there is a labor, “she gave birth to her children.” Now, there is something about her labor that has a link to her productivity. Now, there was a time God says “I create Jerusalem as rejoicing and her people as joy.” Her people!!! What ultimately becomes people begins with children. Every nation that is whatever population today, was once a people who were children. It is the children of today that becomes the people of tomorrow. And so, each time God wants to create or increase the number of men and women that represents Him on the earth, He kick start the process from the children.
He causes children to be born. So every time a child is born, there is a new release, a creation of God. That is why God says “rejoice in what I create.” You are not the one who created these children, but rejoice in them. There is a purpose in them that they must fulfill on the earth. And so, it says “As soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children.” Now God now made something very clear to us. He says “Shall I bring to the time of birth”, so it is understood from it that it is God that brings to the time of birth. That is number one. So God brings to the time of birth. This thing is not a man’s doing, it is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our sight. That a new child is born in the church, that a new star is raised up, that a new deliverer is raised up, that a new vessel of utterance is raised up in the church, is not the works of anybody in the body of Christ, it is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our sight.
God says “Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” So God cannot cause a child a time to come, in fact, that verse is very clear. It says: “Shall I bring to the time of birth.” So, there is a time of birth. God does not bring His people to a dispensation, a rightful dispensation, a due moment in history without causing delivery. Because when a person is brought to the time of birth, and yet there is no delivery, it means there is a problem. So God says “I who bring to the time of birth, I who take these people through this process, I lead them to a successful release.”
Now it says “shall I who cause delivery” which shows that it is God that makes delivery possible, “Shall I also shut the womb?” Why would I do that? Because shutting the womb ultimately affect the children that are being released. So when God is creating a new heaven, God is creating a new earth. It means new children are being released. If you ask yourself, when God destroyed the earth at a point, those who were left, Noah, his wife and his children; are they the ones on Earth today?
So we on earth today, we are the children of Noah. So if what we are doing today is not pleasing to God, God will release new children. So God is the one doing all these things, and there is a reason for it. We will soon understand the reason for this children, as soon as we go this Genesis now; because our discussion is A MIST RISING FROM THE CHURCH. Already we can see that God is able to release a new set of people, new generation of men in His church. Genesis 1:1. It says; “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”
Now if you read all these things, you will realize that God created the heavens, God created the earth. The earth became void, darkness was everywhere, it was empty, God restored the earth. God said “let there be light, there was light”. You must understand that anytime the earth goes wrong, God is always responsible for fixing it. God sees the solution, God declares it. If it requires a new child to be born, God commands it so. Now when Jesus came, it wasn’t because there was nothing Jesus could do in heaven, it was because the earth required Him. There was a lack of Him on the earth and so God released Him. “Unto us a child is born and unto us the Son is given and the government is upon His shoulder and His name will be called wonderful, counselor, everlasting Father, Mighty God.” So a child is born and a son is given, because the children of men required Him.
So our solution as a people, our deliverance as a people, our promotion as a people is tied to what God creates, it is tied to whom God creates. And God says; “I create”. Already God commanded everything that He has created, He blessed them, He told them to be fruitful and multiply, but specifically in verse 26 He said to man; “Have Dominion.” Verse 26 “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Verse 28 shows that God blessed man, God said “be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.” Let me read that again, it says; “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over.” And so as soon as God fixed the earth, God created man. And God gave man a specific responsibility of Dominion over the Earth.
Now that shows us the creation of man, in Genesis 2 the Bible began by showing us the history of the creation. Genesis 2:2, It says; “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done” Then God blessed the seventh day” Let’s jump to verse 4, it says;
“This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; 6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.”
“But a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.” Now verse 5 shows us that there was a dispensation, that we could call a period before growth. It says; “Before any plant of the field was in the earth, and before any plant of the field had grown”, “Before any growth.” And this was a time that there was no growth. So that we understand what made the growth impossible. It says; “for God had not caused it to rain in the earth” So we know it is God that rains on the earth. The earth will lack rain, and therefore lack growth, the moment God withholds rain from the earth. So the way God makes supply for the earth, is by sending rain. God sends rain, there is growth on the earth. However, the Bible didn’t say “God didn’t send rain because God was wicked or God was heartless, but because there was no man to till the ground.” So when you see that when a people, born again or not born again are crying out for solution, when the people are crying out for deliverance and they are like “God are you not in heaven? Are you not seeing us? Don’t you want us to be free from Covid-19 or any other issue, poverty, joblessness, barrenness, don’t you want us to be free?”
God doesn’t have issues making you to be free from all these things, however, there is a need for a man to till the ground. There is a need for a woman to take responsibility for the place. There is a need for a man who has been raised up, a man who has a poor and a contrite spirit, who trembles at the word of God to occupy till God comes. Let me use that word! Every time we on the earth are calling God for answers for solutions, God is also asking, “who is that man, who is that woman that will take responsibility, for that place, for that situation.” God has no issue sending rain, but if God sends rain and there is no man to till the ground, there would be uncoordinated growth, growth that are not managed, growth that are not led.
Bible talks about a ship that are scattered, why? The shepherd is not there. Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. Now when growth is released on the earth without a man taking responsibility under God for that growth, then the growth will become unmanageable, the growth become counterproductive. And so you must not look at God as God being wicked, God being inconsiderate, or God not seeing you, God is seeing you, God is even looking for you. God is looking for a man that He would use as His representative, a man who would take responsibility for that place, that space. God talked about I will create Jerusalem; I don’t know your own city. God wants to create your city, God wants to create your industry, God wants to create your church, God wants to create your ministry but there must be a man and a woman who must till the ground.
And that’s why when God wants to create a new heaven, God wants to create a new earth, God is looking for vessels to use. If the people on the earth are all useless, God will cause a new birth. We can be jealous that new people are rising up, but that is to show that the old people are not fixing the old problems. When there is no man to till the ground something happens because there can be no vacuum. Bible says; “the mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole face of the earth.” Is that not what we are having today? Are we not in the period or dispensation of mist? Mist rising up from the church trying to water the whole earth? What can the mist do?
While meditating, I realized that you cannot replace mist for rain, you can’t have mist and tell yourself you don’t want to have rain. Now when you wake up in the morning and you see your vehicle, your car outside your house, you see it with water. And then you ask yourself “when did it rain?” You now conclude especially when you look at the ground because, every time there is a mist it is always iron object and leaves that will still retain water. When you look at the ground, the ground is already dry. So we conclude there was never a rain. So what produced this water? It was the mist. Mist does not go deep, it does not command true growth, what it does is to keep the earth at bay, to keep the earth in a state of evenness.
The economist will talk about “you either make profit or you make loss.” But there is a time you just break even. The earth is just breaking even. As a people of God are we breaking even? Or are we breaking forth? Are we just surviving or we are experiencing direct supply of God’s revelation, direct supply of God’s vision, direct supply of God’s provision? Are we even enjoying God’s care in a direct supply? Or are we making do with mist that is rising up from the earth? When the mist rises up, it looks like it has enough in it, but it’s always over time that you realize that you were only able to receive a little after a very long time. So if you are under a mist environment, for hours the only thing you will be able to show for it is little water on your body. Do you know a mist cannot create flood?
When you understand what God has plan for, you will soon understand how when we are talking about revival we are not talking about a misty revival, a revival that cannot create flood, it can’t carry anybody. How will a mist carry people from hotels where they are sleeping with girls, sleeping with men, and carry them into usefulness and relevance? When will it carry people out of mediocrity into authority? Can a mist do that? You require a flood, so God does not want to send that flood because there are no men and women to manage the system to manage the move of God.
God wants to create a move and that’s what God wants to do in our time. When God says I am creating a new heaven, I am creating a new earth, don’t be waiting for the time of rapture, it begins from now. God is raising a new people, a generation of people who are of a poor and a contrite spirit, who trembles at the word of God, men and women that God speaks to and they tremble, they do not take the word of God as an advice, they take it as a command. Men and women that patterns their lives after what God has said and what God is saying.
It is possible for a people to once in a while, tremble at the word of God. The generation that God is raising is men and women that perpetually tremble at the word of God not on Sundays. Men and women that tremble daily at the word of God. Will God speak to you and you will say you will think about it? It is God, your LORD or is He your friend? When a friend is talking and you take it like I have my own opinion He has His own. God does not have opinion and you have your own opinion. God has the perfect plan. And God must have His perfect way. Don’t allow God to have His permissible way in your life. Allow the word of God to have its perfect way in your life. When God says it, let that become your experience. The woman said; “let it be unto me according to your word.” And the Bible says; “Blessed is she that believes, for there shall be a performance of the things that God has said to her.”
Why will there be a performance? Because Gboyega Adedeji must tremble at the word of God, he must be of a poor and contrite spirit. When God is speaking, he takes it as the pattern for his life. When God speaks, take it as the pattern for your life. If you must emerge in this dispensation as the people that God is raising, then the word of God must pattern your life. You cannot allow the mist to pattern your life. Things rising up from the church, fresh revelation that is not substantiated rising up from the church is not enough for you to pattern your life after. Somebody said and I quote, but what is Jesus saying? Are you quoting it or are you building your life after it?
This is what the Lord is telling us. You cannot be satisfied with mist. You can only allow mist to have its way when there is no rain. When you acknowledge that even you are not yet ready as a true child, God is able to release new set of people in the church, new generation of men and women who will tremble at the word of God, who will become the light bearer, who will become ambassadors of God and through whom God will change the nations. God is able to satisfy us and saturate us with His joy, God is able to cause the light of His countenance to shine upon us as a people. But God is looking for men, God is looking for women. God is looking for Brother Gboyega, God is looking for brother “Sanmi”; God is looking for brothers and sisters who will become bearers of the truth, men that tremble at the word of God.
At what time will you hear the word of God and you cry? Will you cry at the word of God or you will rather cry at something else? Something that God has created to keep us alive for a while, we should not rely on it to keep us alive forever. Jesus said to His disciples: “Are you also going back?” They said to Him “to whom shall we go? You are the one that has the word of eternal life.” The things you tell us are not just plantain, you are telling us things that are able to produce life in us. We can’t leave you Jesus and go for the mist. The Pharisees have been busy given us the mist. What has our lives become? We cannot pattern our marriages after mist. It is in the church you would see men who are broken up in their marriages teaching marriage. It is in the church you would see men who are financially bankrupt teaching finance. It is in the church you will see people who are struggling teaching on how not to struggle.
We cannot continue to build our lives on mist. It is time for you to be raised by God as a child at this moment and then to ultimately become a people that are a joy to the nations. God wants you to become one of those who will become joy to the nations, joy to their generation, and you must start from now. Allow God as a people who has brought us to the time of birth to make a delivery of you to the nations. Allow God to deliver you to the church indeed so that when you are around, God will be able to send correct water upon the church. When you are around, God will be able to release the correct rain that we need. We are looking for rain but God is looking for you. You must be available; you must take responsibility for a place. Take responsibility under God for a place. Tell yourself there is a responsibility given to me by God for this place.
There must be a place on the earth that God has made you responsible. You must be a steward under God for places, and that is the word of God to you. It is the same word of God to me and likewise to you. God is able to make you a man, a woman who tills the ground. Remember, as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth. There is a need for you to labor at this moment, there is a need for you to cause birth through your labor. Remember God said there was no man to till the ground therefore, there was no rain. If there must be rain, there must be labor. Tilling the ground is laboring. We must prepare the church for the rain. You cannot just pour water on the soil, you must till the ground. And so, when God wants to rain upon His church, He requires you and I, men and women to till the church.
You must occupy till He comes, you must take responsibility for your local assembly. You may not be the general overseer, but you must take responsibility to teach people in that Sunday School, in that place that you are, in that unit God has made you the head. You must take responsibility for the spiritual growth of the people there. God must be able to depend on you as a channel through which He can release water. You see, when you see a land that is plough, you see channels made on it. When rain comes, it does not stay on a flat surface. Rain follows the paths; it follows the channels. And so, when channels are taken care of, the soil is able to absorb enough water.
God wants to raise more channels to release His water into the nations. The church is not a figure head, the church is the body of Christ and if the church must take her place, you and I must take our place in the places that God has planted us. Are you a planted tree in the hands of God, you must take a root there? You must take responsibility there; you must be useful to God. Do not betray God, do not go about getting carried away by the mist. You must seek for the rain and let God be glorified.
I believe here is a good time to pray: “Lord lead us into the rain!”
Article Source: [Centre for New Dimension Leadership]
