The Biblical description of heaven is both fantastic and interesting. The streets and houses are made of gold, one of the most precious substances under the heaven. No doubt God, Himself, built the heaven. The beauty of the place is a sure proof of God’s endorsement of good, beautiful and serene environment. There is an English adage that says: “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” The Bible describing self-righteousness as a filthy rag before God testifies that God hates dirty environment. The people serving Him must never appear before Him in rags and dirty apparels too. As a Holy God, He must be served by decent people in an appreciable environment. All the works of God in the flora and the environment — the gardens, the trees, the water — and heaven testify that God loves good and beautiful nature. This is why the Bible in Zechariah 3:1-7 says: “And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. 2: And the Lord said unto Satan, the Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? 3: Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. 4: And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him, he said, behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. 5: And I said, let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So, they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord stood by. 6: And the angel of the Lord protested unto Joshua, saying: 7: Thus saith the Lord of hosts; if thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.”
This is the Lord, Himself, speaking in favour and in defense of His people. The purpose of this vision was to restore Israel of its priestly office (Exodus19:5-6).
Authoritatively, it discloses the following:
The change from self-righteousness to the righteousness of God (Romans 3:21) of which Apostle Paul’s experience in Philippians 3:1-9 is a good illustration as it is also the foreshadowing of the conversion of Israel.
The preparation of Israel for receiving the Lord’s Branch, Jesus Christ. It is also important to note, but unfortunate that the refusal of the Jews to abandon self-righteousness for the righteousness of God blinded them to the presence of the Branch in their midst in His first advent (Romans 10:1-4). It is worthy to read Zechariah 6:12-15, which speaks of the manifestation of the Branch in glory as the Priest-King, when Israel will receive Him in glory.
The vision also speaks of the brand plucked out of the fire, which simply means retrieved for God’s future purpose.
As the vision is for the restoration of Israel into priesthood, Joshua, a representation of the Israelites and, indeed, the entire Christendom must not appear in a filthy garment for that purpose, hence the need for a change of garment. The filthy garment stands for sin, unbelief, diehard religiosity and tradition. These are the issues affecting every human being including Christians meant to be priests. When the old and dirty rages are removed, God will clothe us with a garment of righteousness and holiness. These will help prepare us for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. God’s love for His people is obvious, which is the reason He fights for us, so that, Satan, the Devil, will not distract us from achieving the purpose of the sacrificial death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary.
The removal of the filthy garment is a call for repentance, acceptance of our Lord Jesus Christ and total dependence on Him for the salvation of our souls. In accordance with the lead scripture above, we all are unclean; meaning we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We, therefore, need total and complete repentance, regeneration and conversion as we move into the New Year. God is prepared to purge our sinful activities only if we could humbly submit ourselves to His will.
Our Lord, Jesus Christ, is therefore calling us to come unto Him. Hence Matthew 11:27-28 says: “All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. 28: Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Coming to our Lord Jesus Christ is beneficial in many ways. In Him there is salvation, healing, blessing of all kinds, prosperity of the soul and the body and eternal life at the end of this life on earth.
In this New Year, as you come to change of garment service, hold unto God and demand for your blessings. Do not mince words, while presenting your needs. God will surely visit you.
Isaiah 61:10-11 says: “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. 11: For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so, the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.”
Clothing us with garment of salvation is repentance and embracing our Lord Jesus Christ for greater evangelism and soul winning for God’s Kingdom. God is ushering us into the unique year of dominion, restoration, explosion by grace and miracles. Your faith plays a major role when you believe that God’s plan for you this year will manifest greatly in your spiritual life, family, business or work in Jesus’ name.
Testimony Of The Lord’s Doing
Yoke Of Poverty Crushed With N7m Favour
The thought of man is not the thought of God. Jer.29v11 says: “For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord; thoughts of peace, not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
My name is Brother Ignatius. I live at Ajah and also worships at Ajah branch of the Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Movement.
I have so many testimonies to give, but I will give only four. When I came to Lagos, I suffered hardship to the extent that I became a laughing-stock; even my mother joined outsiders to mock me. I was written off; in fact, people were saying what have I to show since I have been going to church. I said to myself, their mockery would never make me to go back to the world; it is forward ever, backward never. So, I continued to serve God believing that He will one day answer my prayers, as delay is not denial.
I came for one programme and G.O mentioned my case, saying: “There’s somebody here that is planning to go back to his village, but God is saying ‘don’t go,’ He is going to bless you here.” After that service, I went to my house and prayed over the message. As time went on, God favoured me through someone that gave me N7 million. Praise, the lord!
Moreover, in my dream somebody came to me to say he has been looking for me, so, he gave me a torchlight and prayed for me and I woke up. I went to a pastor to interpret the dream for me, and he asked, if I am a pastor and I said no. I told him, I am an evangelist. He said, I should go and win souls for Christ; so, I went back and prayed, asking God to give me three things that would enable me work for Him. Of the three things, God through someone gave me two — a public address system worth about N85,000:00; a Bible and N12,000. Praise, the Lord!
Last month, I had pains in my two legs and could not work properly, but G.O mentioned my case and prayed and I became all right. Praise, the Lord!
I had another dream where G.O held my hands and asked if I am an evangelist and I said yes; he asked again, ”do you go out to preach the gospel?” I said yes. He then said: “I will hear your testimony.” It did not take long, someone gave me N200,000:00. Beloved, The Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Movement is a fertile ground. If you know you love someone, tell him/her to be a Chosen and if you are here and God has not done anything for you, check yourself.
I thank God for removing shame from my family and for blessing me with a building. I now have two shops. Praise the Lord!
I Pray for my pastor, his family and all the Chosen worldwide.
