Chapter
37
Dr
Adekoya sat in Pastor Taiwo’s office waiting for him to finish reading the
letter of resignation he had handed in…it was the best thing to do…he was not
welcome on the board of elders, the others had made that clear to him in a
private meeting…they did not want ‘a cog in the wheel of progress’ they had
said…so Dr Adekoya had decided to step down.
Pastor
Taiwo smiled as he carefully folded the letter and put it back inside the
envelope.
“I understand
how you feel sir, but this letter is like accepting defeat. You must know that
I too am under severe persecution as my brother has already turned the heart of
the Rising Star Church world-wide against me. I have been receiving calls and
emails asking me to repent and beg the forgiveness of my brother and the
church. It is so much so that as you are aware, I no longer preach in church
and it takes great courage for me to even come to my office every day…I get a
lot of stares and whispers behind my back…mostly sympathetic ones…but still,
sympathetic in the sense that they wish I hadn’t backslidden. So everyone now
thinks that my mother and I are apostates.”
“I
didn’t know it was that bad pastor!” exclaimed Dr Adekoya, genuinely surprised.
“So
are you now going to leave me too because of this persecution?” asked Taiwo
smilingly.
“I
retract sir; may I have my resignation letter back? I see your point and I
stand with you. We will go through this together pastor,” said Dr Adekoya,
reaching for the letter of resignation that Taiwo held in his hand.
“I
however do not say that you should continue to worship here every Sunday. I
have found a place where the true word of God is taught. A man of God who was
my dad’s close friend runs a home fellowship. We are about to begin a period of
fasting and prayer for my brother and for the church. We believe that this is a
spiritual attack and we have been instructed to respond accordingly. Can we go
there together this Sunday?” asked Pastor Taiwo.
Lolade
ran her own up and coming Eatery and a beauty salon beside it, but she had
taken a few days off to develop a stronger relationship with the Lord…she had
handed over to someone she could trust and monitored her occasionally through
phone calls.
She
had taken the day off from attending to Taiwo’s mother to go to her own
apartment to pray…Taiwo would be home throughout the day to attend to his
mother’s needs…
As
she sat in her living room, she pondered over the events of the past couple of weeks
that had led to the edging out of her fiancé from the administrative and even
pastoral affairs of the church…she wondered how God would eventually resolved
it…she had attended about three Services in Mr Adeleye’s home already, and
wondered what exactly she had learnt in her four years at Rising Star
Church…she couldn’t really lay a finger on anything…the emotion she usually
felt during worship…she now knew to be triggered by the song itself, not by any
love for God.
She
had seen from the Word of God how God expected believers to show their love for
him…certainly not through human emotions…for they were so unstable…Mr Adeleye
had carefully expounded the word and showed from scriptures what exactly the
love of God in demonstration was…it was simple obedience!
Several
scriptures remained steadfast in her mind…
John 14:21 He that hath my commandments,
and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved
of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
There
was nothing emotional about loving God…anyone could get emotional about God and
still not keep or obey his commandments…it was a deception to think that
because one genuinely felt something for God in the emotions or feelings, then
one truly loved God…Mr Adeleye had taught that ‘you can’t use human feelings to
gauge your love for God, God’s love is proved by obedience’.
1John
2:5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected:
hereby know we that we are in him.
1John
3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us:
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
1John
5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his
commandments are not grievous.
All these scriptures had at first hit her like blows to
her spirit, then they had remained indelibly impressed on her heart…there was
no love of God without obedience…it simply wasn’t possible!
She saw now that when she worshipped, she had been
offering up her feelings to God rather than her obedience…it was what the
church had been trained to do…it was the reason why musical worship had been
emphasized over the offering up of the sacrifice of praise; the fruit of our
lips as is written in the book of Hebrews.
She had thought that it referred to musical worship…but
she had now learnt that it referred to the worship of those who had gone
OUTSIDE THE CAMP to be with Jesus…those who were being persecuted for their
obedience…they were the ones who were able to sing songs of worship motivated
by their obedience rather than their feelings.
Heb
13:13-15 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his
reproach.
For here have we no continuing city, but we
seek one to come.
By
him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is,
the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
The sacrifice of praise was
a SACRIFICE…not just mere singing…it was a sacrifice because those who offered
it continually were those who went forth to Christ outside the camp
continually, bearing his reproach…his shame…living the godly life that MUST
suffer persecution…people who had no earthly ambitions in this world any
longer…they sought another city…this was what she had learnt from Mr
Adeleye…and it bore witness in her spirit that it was the truth…
They were people who lived Gal 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of
the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
They had died to the desires and ambitions of
this world…they were strangers and pilgrims on earth…they sought another city…another
country…no longer comfortable in this world…they had crucified their affections…the
love of the things of this world…
GA
5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections
and lusts.
She reached across the table
to pick up her bible, but the bible seemed to slide away from her…Lolade rubbed
her eyes…she actually hadn’t had much sleep in the last twenty four hours as
she had been woken up intermittently by the sobbing of Taiwo’s mother, still
grieving for her husband…she missed him dearly!
She looked at her bible
again and it seemed to be farther away from where she had first left it…that
couldn’t be true…she reached forward again very slowly…just as she almost
touched the bible…it slid away again ever so imperceptibly…Lolade tried several
times more with the same result.
She felt the hair on the
nape of her neck suddenly rising…she felt goose pimples begin to form all over
her body…she started to hyperventilate as panic began to set in…
She fumbled shakily for her
phone and called Taiwo…
“My…my bible slid away from
me Taiwo…I tried several times to pick it up…it just keeps sliding away Taiwo!”
she was hysterical now.
“GET OUT OF THERE NOW!”
roared Taiwo into the phone.
“Drive to your Eatery, it’s
close to you, I will meet you there in half an hour. Please go now Lolade!”
Lolade picked up her car
keys…but they simply slid away from her…then the table slid away…then the
chairs began to rearrange themselves in the living room…suddenly all the doors
began to open and close as though a mighty wind were blowing.
Lolade ran out of the house
blindly on to the road…screaming and tearing at her hair…she didn’t see the
vehicle that was approaching…she ran across the road blindly…screaming in
panic…
Chapter
38
Kehinde
lay with Maureen…the real Maureen…she was even more beautiful than he
remembered as she cascaded her hair around her like a small waterfall. She had
strange ways of giving pleasure but all were extremely satisfying…Kehinde
raised himself on one elbow and drank in her beauty.
“Why
are you staring at me sir?” she giggled.
“Can
we just drop the ‘sir’?” asked Kehinde
“Never
sir, it is part of the pleasure I give…my submission and subjection to you…it
would be very difficult for me otherwise sir,” responded Maureen.
Kehinde
had noticed a slight tinge of redness in her pupils…the same kind he had seen
several times in a mirror in his own eyes…but he was too captivated by her
beauty to be bothered…it merely added to her beauty.
“Your
pupils are tinged with red…why is that?” he asked suddenly.
“I
inherited it from my father sir, he said it was an eye defect,” explained Maureen
easily.
“And
yet I also have noticed the same recently in my own pupils…why?” prodded
Kehinde, getting a little suspicious.
“I
do not know why sir…perhaps it might be an eye defect that is sexually
transmitted…I should stop seeing you sir…I am sorry that I have passed on my
eye defect to you Sir,” said Maureen with genuine concern in her eyes…she got
off the bed immediately and began to wear her clothes.
“And
where do you think you are going?” asked Kehinde, alarmed at the speed with
which she was wearing her clothes.
Maureen
hesitated…
“Sir,
would you like to punish me before I leave?” she asked submissively, her eyes
to the ground as she came round to kneel before Kehinde.
“Okay
I want you to stop the theatrics!” Kehinde said sharply, beginning to get
irritated at her extreme and unnecessary obeisance.
Maureen
kept her eyes to the ground, waiting for him to speak…
“I
don’t want you to leave…at least not just yet…and if indeed you have passed on
some eye defect to me…I don’t feel it yet…my eyesight is still as sharp as
ever, in fact, truth be told…I seem to see far better at night than I used
to…so this eye defect is a good thing for me” he raised her up from her knees
and pushed her back on the bed.
“I
had a strange dream last night…I dreamt I was with you in a gathering
somewhere…and suddenly you turned into a statue and people worshipped you…I was
the first to come before you and bow down and worship you…then you turned back
into a human and smiled at me and said I had been chosen above everyone else,”
he stared at the ceiling as he spoke.
“Very
strange dream indeed sir, but it may not be what it appears, I would never
receive your worship sir…it will always be the other way around sir…I will
always worship you…my master,” replied Maureen.
Kehinde
did not need to know that that was how spiritual things worked…there was one
thing happening in the physical realm and quite the opposite in the spiritual
realm…for as long as Maureen worshipped him in the physical realm…he would
always worship her in the spiritual realm…he would worship her true
self…Mammon…
The
day the physical aligned with the spiritual would be the day Maureen’s hold
would be broken over him forever…she must continue to worship him in her
earthly form…
Self
always had to be worshipped…esteemed…glorified…praised…pampered…if the new man
inside was to be kept under…in bondage…enslaved…for the day Self began to be
denied its pleasures and its importance…that same day would the spirit of man
begin to be exalted…it would begin to work its way to freedom…to enthronement
over the total man…but Kehinde didn’t know much about spiritual things…
He
only knew what the word said literally…what his physical eyes could read from
the scriptures…the letter of the word…but the god of this world had blinded his
eyes to the truth that could set him free…the spirit of the word was veiled
from his eyes…hence he like so many other pastors, knew only how to thread
messages together…they had a theme or topic in mind and merely looked up what
all the scriptures had to say on that one topic…never in context…always with
the promises in view…never the warnings and the threats and the conditions…never
with the sacrifices it would entail to obtain the promises…such as whose names
were written in the book of Hebrews, of whom the world was not worthy…sawn in
half and still not obtaining the promises…yet these felt that the promises
would just come by confessing and receiving? How laughable!
Kehinde
drifted off to sleep again…his exploits in the night had tired him out…Maureen
watched him malevolently…he had attended his first meeting…he had been
initiated into the cult of Mammon and didn’t know it…he wasn’t as perceptive as
she had thought a pastor would be after all…
He
was too weighted down with the cares of this world…too pampered with the
material comforts of this world…too absorbed in the pursuits and ambitions of
this world…
It
was a Saturday morning and he wasn’t going to receive any visitors…at least not
upstairs in his bedroom where she was to stay safely ensconced till early the
following morning…
Her
mother had plans for him…whole new ‘revelations’ he would receive and so damn
his followers to hell…two million souls in one fell swoop…the Prince of
Darkness would be pleased with her!
Maureen
smiled evilly as she remembered the first of the ‘revelations’ for which she
had been sent to prepare him…to sow the seed in his heart…it had been done
already and he had received it willingly.
He
had accepted her submission…her worship…now subsequently he would begin to
require it…for it would develop into a craving…he would demand it tacitly of
his followers…first his workers…then his close associates…finally the whole
church would pay obeisance to the man of God.
That
was Maureen’s job…to ensure that the need to be exalted above his fellow man
became first a craving…then an obsession in him…already Kehinde was addicted to
Maureen…yet it was her submission and subjection to him in all things that
attracted her to him…no woman he knew was so utterly subservient…thus he would
always crave for utter subservience from his followers male and female…it was
the training Maureen had been sent to give him.
He
would enslave them with the power of Mammon…the power that all men crave
for…that all men worshipped with all their heart…he would make them depend on
him…do anything for him…when that happened, it wouldn’t matter anymore what he
preached…it would be accepted…he would be all powerful…for in the end, it was
only possible to worship one of two…God…or Mammon…
Chapter
39
Mr
Adeleye had begun fasting and praying for Kehinde long before arrangements had
been concluded for them to do so corporately. One thing the Spirit of God had
made clear to him was that he would have to confront Kehinde in person if he
was to defeat the spirits who had taken possession of him.
He
didn’t know yet how that would work out, but if the Spirit said it was
necessary, then He would arrange for it to happen.
He
had never conducted deliverance before…but he had read of how Jesus had cast
out evil spirits from the man possessed by a legion of demons, and sent them
into a herd of pigs.
He
read through the story again…Jesus made it look so simple…he chuckled to
himself.
In
the meantime he would strengthen himself in his spirit through
prayer…especially praying in the spirit…he had been fasting for four days now
without a break and had begun to receive instructions from the Holy Spirit.
The
Abayomi family were but babes in Christ…they would be totally lost and overcome
by the powers of darkness…for they had been fed on nothing but the milk of the
word…He was to take the lead…the initiative in this battle…he had been warned
that there would be casualties, but had not been told the extent of it…
Only
two nights ago, he had had a very strange dream…he dreamt he was in a large
temple…not a church…it looked like a pagan temple, for it was filled with idols
and an innumerable company of people…they all faced a huge idol that was set on
a dais…he stood at the back of the auditorium observing…
Suddenly
the huge idol came to life…it was a woman, too beautiful to describe! The
multitude fell on their faces in worship before her…but one person was so
captivated, he moved forward towards the statue-turned-woman, as though in a
dream…only when he got close enough to touch her, did he fall to his knees and
bow his head to the ground.
“You
are the chosen one,” the statue-turned-woman had said in a loud voice that
reverberated throughout the auditorium…then she had suddenly turned into a
statue again. As the multitude filed out of the auditorium he could see that
they were the wealthy people of the earth…but what bothered him the most was
that he had caught a glimpse of the one who had dared to move towards the statue-turned-woman…it
was Kehinde!
Mammon is not just the god of wealth…it
is the god of Self…for everything that Self aspires to;
money…fame…ambition…influence…power…all are represented in Mammon…
He
had heard those words so clearly in his spirit as he transited from the dream
into full consciousness.
A
scripture floated into his mind as he meditated on the dream…
Luke 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power
to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and
nothing shall by any means hurt you.
What
exactly did Christ mean by ‘power to tread on serpents and scorpions’…did he
mean it literally? Christ had responded to the rejoicing of his seventy
disciples who exulted in the fact that even the demons were subject to them
through the name of Jesus.
He
seemed to have given them this power to tread over serpents and scorpions and
over all the power of the enemy AFTER they had returned rejoicing over the
subjection of demons to them through the name of Jesus, for Christ had said "Behold I GIVE YOU" he had used Present Tense...it appeared to be
something ADDITIONAL to the name of Jesus through which they had exercised
AUTHORITY over the demons…now Christ was giving them DUNAMIS - POWER in
addition to the EXOUSIA – AUTHORITY that he had given them previously!
And
this same power had been given to all who had received the life of Christ…
LU
24:49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in
the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
The
Holy Spirit was the promised Power from on high…he was going to rely on the
power of the Holy Spirit as well as the name of Jesus…the name at the mention
of which every knee shall bow of beings in heaven, earth and under the
earth…how could he lose?
His
spirit began to utter praises in an unknown tongue as he exalted the name of
Jesus…
Paul
had said ‘we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and
powers…’ he didn’t have to wait for a confrontation with Kehinde before he
began to wrestle with these demons…he could begin right now!
He
strode over to the door of his study and locked the door…
2CO 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
Scriptures
began to flood his mind as he released his spirit in a torrent blast of
tongues…as he prayed; he listened attentively for the direction of the Holy
Spirit.
Hours later, he began to feel as though his spirit was chained…something seemed to be
binding him…wearing him out...he knew in his heart that he was experiencing the bondage under
which Kehinde was being held…suddenly his tongue changed and he began barking
commands in the spirit…at least that was how it seemed to him, for he had never
gone beyond just praying in tongues before…he had never found himself
experiencing what another was experiencing…he had to break free if Kehinde was
to break free…
He
felt himself capitulating to the pressure on his soul…a feeling of tiredness
engulfed his body and he sat wearily in a chair, his praying had gradually
slowed down to a mere whisper…he looked at his wristwatch…he had been praying
for only two and a half hours…in this battle he had grown exhausted…he had succumbed in
prayer…
This is only a tip of the iceberg…you
are yet to come up against their full onslaught…prepare yourself greatly!
Mr
Adeleye drifted off to sleep in the chair as those words sank into his spirit…
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