Salvation Received, Restitution Made

RESTITUTION is one of the principal doctrines of Christianity which many people  treat with levity, but which the Watchman Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement strongly emphasizes. It may be convenient to say that at salvation, all old things have passed away and everything has become new. Indeed, this is true.

But a major process of ensuring that all the old things completely pass away is to right the wrongs committed against others in the past and restore the things taken from others by dubious means. By doing that, one can then maintain a pure conscience, devoid of guilt, towards God and towards man. In the Bible the case of Zachaeus is a classic example. (Luke 19:10).

The testimony of Nelson Durukeako from Mile 4/5 Parish, Port Harcourt Diocese of the Watchman Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement, is an edifying case of genuine salvation vindicated by genuine efforts to make restitution for wrongs committed in the past. Testifying to this experience in Port Harcourt, Bro. Nelson said:

“I was formerly ‘worshiping’ at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, Mile 1, Port Harcourt. By then, I was an apprentice. I served my master for five years and three months. Towards the end of March in 1999, I was settled by my master so I could be on my own. While I was still under my master, I gave my life to Christ.

 But the kind of repentance I had at that time was the one that held that many things did not matter. I believed that God knew all I did, and that He understood. I was so hard working that I made a lot of money for my master and for myself. I succeeded in saving some money in the bank to get some goods for myself, buy a house and property and rent a shop. I did not see all these as stealing. I only saw it as struggling for my master, myself and my future.

 While I was doing all these things, I was still calling myself a believer. Even when I was found out, I would deny everything. The devil knew that I was serving God in error even though I thought I had some zeal. But I was still a sinner; and so the devil afflicted me with a lot of sicknesses. I suffered from chest pain, stomach ulcer, malaria and other kinds of ailments.

 When eventually my master settled me and I went to be on my own, I began to calculate how to execute the plans I had drawn up for the future. I bought a piece of land in order to erect a building and also began to look for a small car to buy.

Then, miraculously, the Lord brought me in contact with the Watchman through my sister who is a Watchman. It was indeed a miracle that from the Watchman pulpit of many colours, I heard the message on restitution. At first, I battled with it, tried to rationalize it, and finally succeeded in getting it out of my mind.

But then, when I heard the message the second time, I asked my pastor’s wife who had preached it what and what was involved in restitution. After explaining them to me, she told me that if I was not convinced, I should then see the pastor. But I made a prayer and told God that if indeed it was His will that I should carry out the restitution, let Him make the pastor talk about it when he came back.

Incidentally, when the pastor came to preach the following Sunday, he said that after preparing a message to give to the Church, God changed it and gave him another message. He then asked us to listen carefully since the message was directly given by God. In the course of the preaching, he spoke about some people who while they were serving their masters had stolen money from them. He spoke on the revelations God gave him on the evils committed by men and said that tears had flowed from his eyes when he got the message from God. As he spoke, my heart melted.

Later, I went to him and told him everything I did when I was on apprenticeship. He told me that what I just heard was a message from the Lord, that I should obey it. He advised me to go back to my master and tell him everything I did when I was serving him and about all the money I had saved while I was with him. After he finished speaking to me and left, I sat there for a long time. As I got up and was going home, the feeling inside me was as if I had just been informed that somebody had died.

At home, I couldn’t eat, or sleep or even sit down or talk to anybody. I tried to delay everything to avoid going to see my master that day because the pastor had asked me to go immediately before the zeal to do it died down. As I was there, a brother came to see me. He shared with me a Bible text (Rev. 3:3, 10). After he had explained the text and left, I made up my mind to go and see my master immediately.

My master himself is a believer. So, I went to him and when I told him all the things which I did while under him, he began to say: “This is restitution! This is restitution!” He then told me to go and tell my pastor that this was the way that restitution was made. I also met my master’s wife that night and confessed all that I did to her, and pleaded for forgiveness, and she forgave me.

In fact, it took me seven days to finish recounting to my master all I did while I was with him. Each time I finished and later went to Church to pray, a voice would remind me of what I had forgotten, and I’ll go back to my master.

 The Spirit of God gave me strength to say it all, At the end of it all, my master collected N400,000.00 (four hundred thousand naira) from me, which was the money with which I wanted to start building a house and buy a car; other things and some money were left for me. Later, my master and his wife came to my house and prayed earnestly for me on many matters.

 There were indeed trying times when people had to say a lot of things; when the devil kept telling me that I would be one of the poorest persons, and that my brothers would all run away from me. When I had no sales in my shop for over a week, the devil would tell me that I was like the cricket that used its leg to burst its stomach. I was depending on the word of God that is written in Hebrews 12:1-13 and Revelation 3:10.

After this stage came the visitation of the Lord. First, the lord gave me pure salvation, baptism in the Holy Ghost, rapid healing of all the sicknesses, break-through in business, and spiritual protection. As for the car, house and shop, the Lord has set them in their places. So, I thank God for Jesus our Lord and Saviour, for the Holy Spirit, for the truth, and for the Watchman, which has the truth”.

“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).