A wall is a boundary. The elders will tell you that even if the farm belongs to both father and son, there will still be a boundary. A wall that you would probably see in big houses is telling the neighbours, “You may be richer than I am but this wall is saying this is your boundary”, it is how far you can go and no further.
Not all walls are bad. If you go to Ikoyi or Victoria Island in Lagos, you’ll see some mighty houses, you’ll see big walls around them saying to all those outside the wall, there are treasures here. You don’t see such houses in Ajegunle, you don’t see us building mighty walls round our houses in Mushin. But when you go to places that within the walls there are treasures, the walls are high.
Revelation 21:10-12 talks about the Holy Jerusalem, the great city of God surrounded by walls because within that city, all manner of precious things are there; but it is simply telling outsiders that you can see the wall but you cannot come in. So, walls basically mean, “thus far you can come and no further”.
You’ll find that walls are in categories. I will try to mention some of the categories. There are some walls that are natural, they have been there, like the Red Sea. The Red Sea had been there for donkey years since the world was formed. It only became a wall when the children of Israel were on their way to the Promised Land and it stood in their way. I can give you an illustration of that straightaway. When you were born and you were born black, there’s nothing wrong with being born black depending on where you were born, depending on which nation. There are some nations that if you are a black man, there is limit to how far you can go. These are walls that you inherited. The walls have been there before you were born. I’m sure you have heard of things that they call generational curse; you were not born when your father or great grandfather misbehaved, but there is a wall created by a curse pronounced on the family that will be there blocking your way.
I remember very well before I became a Christian, I came from a family that if a woman gives birth to a boy, she must not eat salt or oil for 9 days; and she would avoid the same for 7 days if she gives birth to a girl. If she dares eat salt or oil within those days, the child would die. This is traceable to the days of warfare, because our great grandfather was a mighty warrior and he did something to one of the slaves and that one placed a curse on the family. It took Jesus to break that curse.
And then there are walls that are man-made like Jericho wall. So, there are walls that are natural, walls that are inherited, walls that are man-made and probably the most critical of all of them, is walls you build yourself; walls that you erected by yourself that is blocking your way.
Let’s take the Red Sea as an illustration. Like I said, the Red Sea only became a wall when it blocked the way of the children of Israel to the Promised Land and the rest is symbolic of delays. The children of Israel were already going, they had left Pharaoh and his cohorts far behind but when they got to the Red Sea, they were stuck there until the enemy caught up with them. The Red Sea represents walls that allows= people that you have left behind to catch up with you, particularly enemies. The Red Sea represents the kind of walls that can send you back to square one because the plan of Pharaoh and his cohorts was to recapture the children of Israel and take them back to slavery. The Red Sea represents situations that can cause you to backslide and go back to where you have already said bye-bye to. The Red Sea represents walls that can render your previous victories useless. The children of Israel had already left Egypt singing victory songs because at long last they were delivered; they left with a lot of wealth, they were healthy but the Red Sea wanted them to go back so that all the previous victories can become useless. The Red Sea represents the kind of wall that not only delays you for enemies to catch up with you, it could ultimately lead to death. One example is the case of Samson.
Jericho wall is symbolic of a situation in your life that defies the promises of God. God has made certain promises to you. For instance, you may had come to the Holy Ghost Service and the word of God had come directly to you and you know that this word was for you, no doubt about it and yet years have passed, you have had other people who were present during that time giving testimonies showing that the man of God didn’t lie and so you begin to wonder. Saying, I know he didn’t lie, I’m sure that when he prophesized, he was talking to me, how come my own case has not come to pass?
You see, God had already told Joshua that every place his foot shall tread upon, He has given it to him and then here comes the wall of Jericho. The wall of Jericho represents something that is saying you are so near and yet you are so far because that wall was now the only barrier before the children of Israel and keeping them from moving into all the promises of God. The wall of Jericho represents a situation when after you have done everything God says you should do, you pray, you fast, you pay your tithes, you give offerings, you win souls, you even build churches and yet God seems to be silent. That is the wall of Jericho.
Let’s take Goliath. You know whether you believe it or not, the enemy can see a bit into your future. Ask the elders, they will tell you that the original ‘Babalawo’s’, the genuine ones, can see at least 4 days ahead. They have a proverb which says, “Because as today is, is not how tomorrow will be, that is why the Babalawo’s checks the oracle every five days.” He can see five days ahead and then you can’t go further.
Many a times, the moment you were born the devil had a glimpse of what you are going to become. I don’t know where the devil was when God anointed David in the house of Jesse, but somehow the devil knew that the little boy is going to become a king. So, he decided that before he would become the king, he will kill him. The devil used a lion, the lion failed. He tried the bear, the bear failed. You know what? Only God knows how many efforts the devil has made to destroy you. You don’t know how many battles God has fought for you up to this moment.
I don’t have to tell stories but if I’m to tell you how many efforts the devil had made over my life when I was small, you will be amazed. It’s a miracle we are still alive today, brother; it’s a miracle you are still alive, sister.
So, the lion failed, the bear failed and the devil said well, let’s do it this way, let me present my champion. Listen to what Goliath was saying in 1 Samuel 17. I’m sure you know the story that’s why I’m not wasting time. What Goliath said is that, send one man to fight me, if I defeat him, you all become our slaves, if he defeats me, we become your slaves. All the devil was after was the kingdom that God has prepared for David. The devil arranged it that this boy, I’ll tell his father to send him to the warfront; I know when he gets there, he will begin to brag about his God then I will kill him and take over the kingdom. But there is someone who is called the Alpha and the Omega, not only does He know the end from the beginning, He is your beginning and He is going to be your ending.
Some of you have probably heard me tell this story before. We were in the very first auditorium and miracles were happening round the altar. There was a short man in the crowd. He wanted to see what was going on around the altar. When he turned to the right, somebody taller blocked his eyes, he turned to the left, another fellow blocked his face and he cried to God, “O God, how I wish I was taller”, and God heard in heaven and spoke to me and said, “hey, there’s somebody there saying I wish I was taller”; the Lord said tell him I’ve already granted his request, he should check his trousers. The man checked his trousers and the trousers seemed to be shorter. God said it is not the trousers that has become shorter it is you that have become taller.
There are certain walls that you create by yourself, walls that you carry everywhere. Number one of them is Laziness. The word of God made it clear that a slothful man will always be under tribute. The word of God says in Proverbs 22:29, “If you see a man who is diligent in his business, that’s the fellow who is going to stand before kings.” You read 2 Kings 13 from verse 14 onwards, when Elisha was about to die, a king came to him and said you are the one who has been defending my nation, what am I going to do now? Elisha said don’t worry, I will settle the situation of your country before I die. Get an arrow, open the window and shoot; he shot. Elisha said that’s victory for you. Elisha said again, take that arrow and smite the ground; and the king smote the ground three times and stopped. The man of God said, “ahh, why did you stop? You should have continued at least 5 times or more and your victory would have been total but now you’ll only have 3 victories”.
Laziness! If I were the king, I would grab the arrow and I’ll keep smiting the ground not 5 times not 10 times, I’ll keep smiting until Elisha begs me to stop but the king was lazy. You know one of the biggest walls that many of us have is that we can’t pray even for one hour. Laziness is a terrible wall. The Holy Spirit will remind you, for instance as a student, of those things that you have been taught, that you have learnt; but if you don’t study and you fail, the Holy Spirit will comfort you. He will tell you don’t worry you are not dead yet, try again, it’s only that your classmates now become your senior.
Another one is Pride. Pride is a very terrible wall. Why? The Bible says in James 4:6 that God resists the proud. How can you move forward when it is God that is pushing you backwards? How can you? I have said it before that if a demon is blocking your way and you say, “I command you, get out of my way”, and the demon says, “in whose name?” and you say “in the name of Jesus”, the demon will get out of your way. But if an angel is the one blocking your way and you say, “I command you, get out of my way”, and he says, “in whose name?” and you say, “in the name of Jesus”, the angel will say, “He is the one who asked me to stand there”.
God resists the proud. In fact, Psalm 73:6 says, a proud man is like a man in chains. Proverbs 16:18 says, destruction follows pride. When pride comes, then destruction follows. Proverbs 29:2 says, pride brings a man low. In 2 Kings 5:1-14, but for the grace of God, Naaman would have lost his healing. He would have died a leper because when he came and the man of God said go to Jordan and wash and be clean. He said, “Me, General Naaman! When there are better rivers where I’m coming from. Can’t I go there and wash and be clean?” A leper dictating how he should be healed. Thank God for extended mercy.
A lot of people always express their appreciation for my humility, but they don’t know that I learnt my lesson the hard way. You don’t know who is sitting before you. I was poor and proud in every area. I was just proud and there was nothing to show for the pride. When I became born-again, I was the most educated man in the church, so I became the interpreter for Papa, the General Superintendent, and every other pastor left me to interpret for him. When other pastors wanted an interpreter, they took somebody else; there were quite a few interpreters anyway.
Then one day, one pastor came to me and said, “brother, you’ll be interpreting for me today”. I said, ah me? I didn’t say it loud o. I said it inside me that who does he think he is asking? Me, the special interpreter of Baba?
I interpreted for him because in the Redeemed Christian Church of God, a worker cannot say no to a Pastor. We finished the sermon. The man did not know how my heart was boiling, if he had known he would have asked me to go and sit down, he would have taken another interpreter. But as I was going to my car, and in those days in the entire Redeemed Christian Church of God, there were 5 cars and my own was one of the newest and it was second-hand. As I was going to my car, God spoke. He said, “so you’re now too big to interpret for my servant?” And suddenly heaven was shut. You’ve heard the story before, one of the gifts God gave me early in my Christian life is to hear from Him. I didn’t hear a word from God anymore and the devil knew I was not hearing so he tormented me as much as he could. I pray that God will not resist you!!!
I wept, I prayed, I fasted, I did everything I could and He didn’t talk, heaven was silent. It got so bad that one day I prayed God to forgive me this once, if I’m going to offend You again tomorrow, please kill me today, then He knew He got me. He started speaking again and since then He has been speaking ever since.
Pride nearly destroyed me but the wall of pride fell so thoroughly in my life that years later when I became General Overseer, I went to our church in Illesa and there was a deacon there that was about to lead the Bible study that night; they didn’t know I was coming. I just came in and they took me to the altar and I sat down there and the deacon was already at the altar to teach. As soon as he saw me, he said thank God you have come, and I said no I’m not here to teach, he said ah, you must talk to us. I said, okay, you preach I will interpret. General Overseer interpreting for a Deacon. His leg was shaking. I said don’t worry preach I will interpret. After sometime, of course he forgot who was the interpreter when the Holy Spirit grabbed him. I was the worker who wasn’t willing to interpret for a pastor who became a general overseer and interpreted for a deacon because the wall fell.
Another wall that must fall in your life is Anger. Psalm 37:8-9 says cease from anger, stay away from the camp of evil doers so that you are not cut off. Some of you enjoy being angry; you have a violent temper; you are quickly annoyed. Proverbs 14:17 says the one that is soon angry deals foolishly. Ecclesiastes 7:9 says anger rests in the bosom of fools. Even God Almighty is slow to anger. The Almighty God Himself is slow to anger, so if you are quick to anger, something is wrong with you because the Bible says in Proverbs 16:32 that the one who is slow to anger is better than the mighty. Psalms 145:8 says even the Lord, the maker of the heaven and earth, the one who can do as He pleases, is slow to angry. It was anger that did not allow Moses to make it to the Promised Land, it was anger that was his wall.
Get rid of anger, nobody gets angry without a reason but the moment you feel anger rising up in you, tell yourself immediately “don’t be a fool” because it doesn’t matter who has wronged you, anger is called temporary madness. It may be temporary but it is madness and during the period of that madness, you can do something that you would never be able to reverse. That wall called anger must fall today.
There’s something called unbelief. Mark 9:23 says if you can only believe, all things are possible to him that believes. Let me assure you, my God can do anything, He is the God of all flesh, there’s nothing too hard for Him to do. The wall that has been standing between many of us and our miracles is something called unbelief. There are promises of God that when you hear them, they sound impossible but if it is God speaking, believe Him. He is the maker of heaven and earth. When I was praying for a house in Mushin and He promised me I will build you a city, I believed Him; it didn’t make sense. I’m talking about a God you cannot see but His power can do anything. The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6, without faith it is impossible to please God and if He is not pleased then you have a barrier.
There is another wall which is a twin sister of unbelief. It is called doubt. ‘Well, they said God can do all things but how am I sure He will do my own?’ Why are you doubting? Mark 11:23 says if you believe and you doubt not, if a man believes and doubt not, he will say to a mountain move. Many a times we have asked mountains to move and after we say it, we begin to doubt. And the Bible says in James 1:5-8, if you ask anything in faith, you must not waver because it says anyone who is wavering won’t get anything from God. Just believe Him, don’t doubt.
Now, it is one thing for the wall to fall, it is another thing for the wall to remain down. When the wall of Jericho fell, Joshua cursed anybody who will ever try to rebuild the wall again because he wanted the wall to stay down. When David killed Goliath, he didn’t just want him to remain there, he cut off his head. The elders have a saying, don’t play with a snake whose head has not been cut off. The wall you have made up your mind to destroy, particularly these internal walls, must remain forever down. No more doubting, no more unbelief. If others want to be proud, that’s their own concern, be humble. If others want to continue in their anger, leave them alone; maybe they don’t know, let them call you a fool for being meek. When the wall falls, it must remain forever down never to rise again.
The last one I want to mention is sin. Isaiah 59:1-2 says the hand of the Lord is not shortened that He cannot save, neither is His ear heavy that He cannot hear. If it is your sin that is the problem, God knows the foundation of every wall, He can pull them down. It was just one shout from His children and the wall of Jericho came tumbling down.
Some very important people in the time of Paul and Silas put them in prison; they thought that their destiny is about to be truncated hoping to finish them the following morning. But by midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God who knows the foundation of every prison. God shook it and the doors were flung open and those who threw them into the prison came the following day to beg them to go.
But if you are living in sin, you won’t be able to contact God. How will your Red Sea part? It takes the wind of the Holy Spirit to blaze a path through the Red Sea, it takes the Almighty God, the One who says the earth is mine and the fullness thereof, to uproot the wall of Jericho. It took the Almighty Rock of Ages to knock down Goliath. You can’t get all these walls down without His help.
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