END-TIME STUDY; PREPARING FOR RAPTURE (PART 4) RESTITUTION

TOPIC:   PREPARING FOR RAPTURE, (PART 4):  RESTITUTION

TEXT:   EZEKIEL 33: 13-16

13 When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it. 

14 Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right; 

15 If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. 

16 None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

INTRODUCTION

Another word for RESTITUTION is RESTORATION. These two words can be used interchangeably. One can be used in place of the other. The words ‘Restitution’ or ‘Restoration’ can be defined as reverting something back to its original or initial state or condition.

To explain what it means to revert something back to its original state, let me use this example of a Bank’s Automated Teller Machine that debited my bank account when no money was dispensed for me. I complained at one of the bank’s branches and after investigation, my bank account was credited with same amount that the ATM debited me. By doing so, my account balance was ‘restored’ back to the original amount it was, before it was debited. This is an example of what it means to restitute/restore. The mistake or error made by the Bank’s ATM was corrected.

In a similar way, we believers must do restitution, after coming to the saving grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ. As led by The Holy Spirit, we must correct all the wrongs we made when we were unbelievers. We must confess and return stolen items, fulfill pledges, settle quarrels and so on. Even, while we live as believers, restitution must continue. We must check ourselves everyday to see if we have done anything that warrants restitutions or restorations or corrections. One of the things the Lord has been speaking to me continually is restitution. I have done many restitutions and yet He is still reminding me of restitution.

IS RESTITUTION REALLY NECESSARY?

Yes! Restitution is necessary because God commands it. Though, some Christians may argue that a person that has accepted Jesus Christ as his Saviour and Lord and confessed all his sins to Him does not need to do any restitution since all his sins have been forgiven and old things have passed away. Truly, all our sins are forgiven when we repent in Jesus Christ, yet, we must do restitution to fulfill all righteousness.

Let us look us look at our text above, Ezekiel 33: 13-16. In verses 14 and 15 of Ezekiel Chapter 33, God listed the conditions that a wicked (a sinner), upon whom God had proclaimed judgement of death, must meet to be saved from the death and gain life. Let us list the conditions as follows

1.  He must turn from sin and do what is lawful, Ezekiel 33:14.

To turn away from sin is REPENTANCE and to do what is lawful is to FORSAKE his sins by not returning to them.

So, the first thing the wicked must do is to confess and beg God for mercy for all his sins and not return to them.

2.  He must restore pledge and give again what he has robbed, Ezekiel 33: 15.

To restore pledge means to FULFIL PLEDGE. To give (back) what he has robbed means to RETURN THOSE THINGS HE HAS STOLEN. These two actions are RESTITUTIONS.

3. He must walk in statutes of life without committing iniquities. Ezekiel 33: 15.

To walk in statutes of life without committing iniquities means TO LIVE A HOLY LIFE afterwards.

These three conditions that can restore a wicked from judgement of death back unto life can be summarized as REPENTANCE/FORSAKING OF SINS, RESTITUTIONS and HOLY LIVING.

While it is good to preach Repentance and Holy living, yet it is better and complete if we add Restitution to it. It is a necessity.

WHAT RESTITUTIONS (RESTORATIONS) SHOULD BELIEVERS DO?

The followings are some categories of restitutions that believers should do.

1.     All Stolen Items.  

All stolen items in our possession must be returned to the people we stole the items from and we must beg for their forgiveness. Stolen items that are no longer in our possession must be confessed to the owner as such. Consider the case of a man that stole his mother’s money in the bible, Judges 17:1-4. The boy came back to confess and return the money. His mother then blessed him.

Judges 17:1-4
1 And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 

2 And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son. 

3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee. 

4 Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah.

2.      All pledges we made must be fulfilled. 

These include all pledges that we make to donate one item or the other in the church. Pledges like these happen a lot in churches during thanksgiving or anniversary. Members of congregation are often called upon to come and donate some items to church and they make pledges. Often times, these pledges are not fulfilled. All pledges we make to man must be fulfilled. All pledges we make to God when we are asking Him to do something for us must be fulfilled like Hannah did, I Samuel 1:11. It is better not to pledge than to default a pledge.

It is going to be reputed as sin unto us if we defaulted. Consider, the following scriptures.

Deuteronomy 23: 21-23                                  
21 When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee. 

22 But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee.

Ecclesiastes 5:5-6                                                              
5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.

6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?

3.     All items owed or borrowed must be paid back.

These include bank loans, borrowed money, borrowed items and such. We must pay our employee their wages in full and on time. Taxes must be paid. Some believers are deliberately holding back what they borrow especially money. They will refuse to pay when they have the money. They have to repent and pay back the money. If they refused, God will see them as Wicked upon whom the judgment of death is hanging.  But once they pay, God see them as Righteous. Consider the scriptures below.

Psalm 37:21,
21 The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.

Romans 13:8
8  Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

4.      All offenders must be forgiven from heart.

Forgiving past offenders is part of restitution. We must forgive all past and present offenders from our heart no matter what they do to us. If you are keeping malice with somebody, you must settle it as part of restitution. All quarrels must be settled and Peace must be made with all men. Consider the following Scriptures.

Mathew 18:35, Mathew 5:23-24

35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

5.     Errors in Marriage must be corrected.

Restitution in matters of marriage are also very essential. Defaulted dowry must be paid. Let me narrate my own story here. I got married to my wife in the marriage registry when I was an unbeliever but I did not pay the dowry. Few weeks after I gave my life to Jesus I had a revelation. In that revelation, I saw a certain man of God leading me towards a certain place of high importance. When we got to the gate, I was happy and eager to enter. However, I was barred from entering while the man of God was allowed to enter. Then, I asked what my offence was. I was told I had no offence except that I bought something from a woman and I had not paid. A woman was presented to me in that revelation. Though, the woman was not my wife but I realized that the woman was just representing my wife and I knew that it was dowry they were talking about. When I woke up, I arranged with the two families and I paid the dowry. After that, we repented that we lived together without payment of dowry and we went to the church and the marriage was blessed. Man and woman living together without being married must go and marry as restitution. Otherwise, they will be committing fornication if they continue like that.

Divorces should be restituted. Marriage to another man’s wife or another woman’s husband must be restituted. You must return the husband or wife to the right owner. You can read about how King Abimelech restored Abraham’s wife back to Abraham in Genesis 20. Extra-marital affairs you had must be confessed to your partner and beg him/her for forgiveness, even if you have asked God to forgive you.

Essential information you kept as secret from your partner must be confessed to him/her. For instance, if you had abortion without his knowledge or you have given him a child that is not his own to him as his own. Some lies you have told him/her must be confessed and so on. You may even need to seek forgiveness of those whom you promised to marry but you betrayed them.

6.     Fraudulent Properties.

All items like certificates, documents and riches acquired by fraudulent or illegal means must be confessed to the appropriate authorities and restituted. Those you have cheated in business transaction must be begged for forgiveness, if you know them. Consider the following Scripture.

Luke 19:5-9                                                      
5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.

6 And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.

7 And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.

8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.

9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.

7.     As Convicted By The Holy Spirit.

There are many issues of restitutions that may not properly fit into any of the above listings. However, The Holy Spirit may convict us about those issues that we need to restitute. We must pay attention to His voice and act accordingly. It is good to always pray that the Holy Spirit should reveal to us what we must not fail to restitute.

SIGNIFICANCE OF RESTITUTION

1.    It is commanded by God.
2.    It amends our way with men.
3.    It perfects our salvation, Ezekiel 33:14-16
4.    It is an evidence of repentance.
5.    It removes hindrances from evangelism.
6.    It silences accusation from satan.
7.    It reverses curse associated with our wrongdoing, Judges 17:2.
8.    It may open doors of healing and fruitfulness, Genesis 20: 17.

HOW RESTITUTION SHOULD BE DONE

Before we mention how restitution should be done, permit me to say that it is almost impossible to restitute or restore all what we have done in the past for some reasons. We may not remember them all. For instance, a trader that used unjust balance/scales for his numerous customers to defraud them may not be able to know or identify all the customers because they are too many.  Also some of our offenders may have died. We may have even lost contact of some people. However, if your case falls into any of these situations, you must ask God in prayer for direction of what you should do. Let God speak. The following steps are advised in matters of restitution.

1.      Prayerfully Seek God’s Forgiveness, First.

Any sin any person commits is first against God. For instance, If you slept with another man’s wife. The sin of adultery you committed is first against God before the woman’s husband. If you steal government’s money, your theft is first against God before the people of the nation. Let us use about 3 cases to justify this.

Case 1.  When King Abimelech took Sarah, wife of Abraham, God said He did not allow Abimelech to touch Sarah because He did not want Abimelech to sin against Him. Genesis 20: 1-6.

6 And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.

Case 2. When Potiphar’s wife asked Joseph to sleep with her, Joseph refused and said he could not commit such wickedness against God. Genesis 39:1- 9.

9 There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?

Case 3: When King David committed adultery with Uriah’s wife, He said it was against God He had sinned. Psalm 51:4a

4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight:

You must pray fervently like David to God for forgiveness of all sins of restitutions, those that you can remember and those that you cannot remember.

2.     Let Holy Spirit lead you.

Issues of restitutions can be complicated and frightening. At times we may be afraid of carrying out restitution because we don’t know what the outcome may be especially restitutions that may involve government.

Because of this reason, we have to be careful before we take any step. We must allow Holy Spirit to give us direction on how to go about it. The Bible says ‘For as many are as led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God’. Romans 8:14.  We have to pray to God to give us direction on how we should carry out the restitution. For complex restitution matters, It is always advisable to hear a direction from the Holy Spirit before we take step.

3.     Pray and Fast For Mercy And Favour.

If the restitution to be carried out is a complex one, pray and fast that God should allow you to receive mercy from whomever the matter involves. You may ask other children of God to pray and fast along with you.

4.     Lastly, Seek Counselling From Experienced True Man Of God.

When carrying out complicated restitutions, it is advisable to seek counseling from true servants of God that have handled complex restitution matters. Past experience may be of useful help.

Please listen to the video teaching below. It is titled 'Holiness and Restitution. It will help you a lot understand restitution better.


                     
VIDEO; COURTESY HOREMOW


CONCLUSION

 Finally, restitution is an evidence of salvation. After dropping the old man and wearing a new man, our characters as new man are expected to be different from that of our old man. The old man wants to damage and destroy but the new man wants to restore and bring to life. The old man wants to hide his secrets (Proverb 28:13) but the new man wants to uncover them. It is an evidence of a renewed heart. God expects believers to make right all wrongs that we have done as led by His Spirit while working out our salvation with fear and trembling.

SUMMARY

Amendment of our ways transcends just prayer of repentance as we have seen above. Restitution is a step further to repentance. It can be likened to what baptism is to our belief. Baptism is an act taken to demonstrate our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Consider what happened between Evangelist Phillip and The Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8: 27-40. Phillip had just preached to the Ethiopian Eunuch and the eunuch believed. So, when they came unto water, the eunuch asked Phillip what would hinder him from being baptized since he had believed and there was water. By asking to be baptized the eunuch wanted to confirm his new found faith and also prove to Phillip that he truly believed.

Acts 8:36-38                                                                                

36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

From the scripture above, the eunuch’s question above can be paraphrased as “Phillip, look. This is water. What then will hinder me from being baptized since I have believed”?

Even, you need to exhibit this type of behavior of the eunuch. You can ask yourself similar question or perhaps I should ask you. What then is hindering you from doing restitution since you claimed you have repented?

PRAYERS

1. Lord Jesus, forgive me all sins of restitutions I have ever committed.

2. Holy Spirit of God, reveal to me everything I must restitute unfailingly and give me the grace to carry them out.

3. Lord Jesus Christ, give me the courage, the resources, the wisdom to carry out the necessary restitution.

4. Lord, do not allow restitution to hinder me from rapture.

ACTIONS

Are you an elect of Christ? Are you truly saved? Are you on the narrow road? Do you want to make the rapture/heaven? If your answers are yes, then,                                                  
• Make all efforts to heed the warnings of Jesus Christ.
• Be watchful. Pay attention to what is happening around the World and see whether they match what the scriptures say.                                                                                    
• Be filled with the Holy Spirit and be in the Spirit all the time.
• Fast, consecrate yourself, run away from sin and worldliness.

If your answers are NO, then you can repent today. Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Kindly sincerely and faithfully pray the prayer of repentance below and make a determination never to commit sin again.

PRAYER OF REPENTANCE

Lord, Jesus Christ, I am sorry for all my sins. I confess them with my mouth and I ask for mercy. Please forgive me and wash me in your blood. I accept you as my personal Lord and Saviour. Write my name in the book of life. Give me power over sins and fill me with your Spirit and Joy of Salvation. When rapture trumpet sounds, let me make it. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name, I pray.

Begin to read bible. Begin with the book of John. Pray always. Fast regularly (you can begin with once in a week). Look for a bible believing church where they teach repentance, holiness, salvation and fellowship with them. Pray before you go. Always run away from SINS.

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Shalom.    

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