THE TURNING POINT 5th of October, 2001

And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor.

Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking.

And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do.

And she said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me I will do.

And she went down unto the floor, and did according to all that her mother in law bade her.

And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn: and she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down.

And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself: and, behold, a woman lay at his feet.

And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman.

And he said, Blessed be thou of the

And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.

And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I.

Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman's part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the LORD liveth: lie down until the morning.

And she lay at his feet until the morning: and she rose up before one could know another. And he said, Let it not be known that a woman came into the floor.

Also he said, Bring the vail that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her: and she went into the city.

And when she came to her mother in law, she said, Who art thou, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her.

And she said, These six measures of barley gave he me; for he said to me, Go not empty unto thy mother in law.

John 16:13 & 14 Jesus Christ Himself said concerning the Holy Spirit, "He will guide us." He will guide us into all truth. He will tell us the steps to take. And then He went on to say that the Holy Spirit will glorify Him, Jesus. That is the work of the go-between, the matchmaker – is to guide the Bride-to-be and to glorify the Bridegroom-to-be. The Holy Spirit is going to give you counsel tonight! (Amen!) I pray that you will listen carefully to that counsel. (Amen!) Because it is one thing to receive a good counsel, It is another thing to take the counsel. The mother-in –law of Ruth told her what to do so that her life will change completely. Ruth said, everything you have told me, that is what I will do."

The Word of God says in

Isaiah 1:19 It said if you are willing and obedient then you will eat the good of the land. It is only wise people who take good counsel. That’s why the Bible says in Proverbs 4:7 wisdom is the principal thing. More than anything else the Almighty God said wisdom is very crucial and that means when God gives you advice you take the advice. The Bible made it clear that Jesus Christ, the One that is also called the Counsellor’, is also called ‘the Word of God.’ It says, "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God’ And it said, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. That’s John 1, verses 1 and 14. Everything you need so you can reach your turning point is in the Word of God. And if you will obey what God asks you to do the tide will turn for you tonight in Jesus’ Name!

(Amen!)

Now what are the things that Naomi said Ruth should do? Number one she said Wash yourself." "If you are going to meet somebody who is going to be your future husband, you must go clean. Every one who wants a turning point in his or her life must be washed in the blood of Jesus. In

1 John 1:7 the Bible made it clear that it is the Blood of Jesus that cleanses from all sins.

Years ago when I came to the Redeemed Christian Church of God, when a problem pushed me to the church and I came expecting because they told me – oh the prayers there is sure fire! If they pray for you – oh, your prayers will be answered immediately! "Your problems will be over soon". And so I came.

And when I came, the building was a very ramshackle one and I was a lecturer in the University. We used to go to the Cathedral! And I only entered that place because the problem that was bigger than I was pushing me. And instead of them dealing with my problem, they started asking me, me, me, to confess my sins – me to confess my sins! me to forsake my sins! These ignorant people! I mean you could just take a look at them and you know that all of them are ignorant! They don’t know philosophy. They don’t know sociology. They don’t know psychology! They don’t know all the ‘ogies’! And then they were now talking to me, a lecturer in the University, asking me to repent of my sins! I said it’s not your fault, it is what brought me that brought me otherwise what will I be doing in the company of ignorant people like these?

Ohhh! Glory be to God! I Thank You tonight Lord!. But one day the Almighty God decided that I had suffered enough. Somebody will go home tonight singing a new song! (Amen!) Suddenly it just clicked in my mind. What’s wrong with you? What is wrong with you? These people are not asking you for money! If they had asked for money, I would have given them. They asked you to surrender to your Maker. You are suffering and you are pompous with your suffering! They asked you to confess your sin and repent!. That day I surrendered. The Almighty God washed me in His blood. I became a brand new creature. That was the turning point in my own life. And since that day the point that kept moving upward and upward and upward, All of you who are here tonight and are not yet born again listen to me.

Isaiah 10:27 says that it is anointing that destroys yokes. Every yoke in your life standing between you and your turning point shall be destroyed tonight in Jesus’ Name!

(Amen!)

Anointing can come in various ways. In

Matthew:1-3 When a leper came to Jesus Christ and fell at His feet and said unto Him – If thou will thou can make me clean" Jesus touched him. He anointed him by His touch. Tonight Jesus will touch you! (Amen!) His anointing will touch you! (Amen!) And anointing can come another way. You yourself can get contact with the anointing of God by seeking the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ said in Acts 1:8 It said you shall receive power when the Holy Ghost is come upon you and then you will become a witness. When the power of the Holy Spirit comes on you tonight you will have something to say! You will have stories to tell. You will have miracles to report! You will have testimonies to share. (Amen!) That is why I want to encourage those of you who are here who are not yet baptized in the Holy Spirit, you must seek that baptism, it is your direct contact with the anointing of God.

And then step number three. The woman said to Ruth, she said: "Dress well. Wear you raiment. The best that you have in the house – put it on."

Revelation 19:5-8 made it clear that the garment Jesus wants you to wear is the righteousness of saints. In other words, tonight, as you move steadily towards your turning point, you must be born again, you must seek the baptism in the Holy Spirit and from now on you must be ready for a life or righteousness, a life of holiness because what God wants to do in you life tonight is something so big, something so powerful, something so mighty, that you need a life of holiness to enjoy it forever.

Glory be to God! Alleluia!

The turning point in any mans life comes when you fall at the feet of Jesus in total surrender. The reason why many of us are still suffering today is that our surrender to Jesus is half-hearted whereas

Philippians 2:10 says, At the Name of Jesus every knee must bow. Whether you do it voluntarily or you do it by force, you are going to bow to the name of Jesus. When you consider all those who have surrendered, who have had turning points in their lives, they all came and fell at the feet of Jesus: the leper that we mentioned earlier on came and fell at the feet of Jesus. In Mark 5:22-24 the mighty Jairus, Jairus, big man, important man, well-known man, when his only daughter was dying, fell at the feet of Jesus. He didn’t say he was mighty – he fell at the feet of Jesus.

I remember years ago one great traditional ruler in this nation was having all types of problems in his domain. Somebody told him about the Redeemed Christian Church of God. So he came with his chiefs to that little hut that we call church and when he got there the chief said "No you can’t enter here." Kabiyesi said, "I have come to seek God." He entered. At that time the ground was not even concreted; Kabiyesi knelt on it, falling at the feet of Jesus! And within one moth all his problems were over. There is somebody here tonight, tonight is the last time you will see your problems. (Amen!) Because you will surrender, because at long last you will fall at the feet of Jesus. In

Mark 5:1-6 the Bible tells us of the story of a mad man. He even had more than 2000 demons in him. He wanted a turning point. There is only one thing he did. He ran, fell at the feet of Jesus and left the rest to Him and Jesus took over from there.

The Almighty God will take over from today in your life in Jesus’ Name! (Amen!)

This was the advice, the counsel given to Ruth: Wash yourself. anoint yourself. Dress well Lay at his feet. When does the turning point come? the Bible tells us that at midnight – at midnight, when it was darkest, when the problems were at its maximum, when there was no light at all! So all of you who are passing through the midnight of your life; those of you who are in such a situation that you don’t even know what to do next. Tonight Jesus will turn. I say Jesus will turn towards you. As Boaz turned so will Jesus turn towards you in Jesus’ Name! (Amen!) At midnight. The turning point always comes at the darkest hour – when everything is at its lowest ebb; when the doctors have said no hope; when the bankers said he’s going to sell your house; when your husband said he’s going to drive you out because you have no child; when everybody looks at you and they say – you will never marry; when all friends are gone; when all helpers have failed. At midnight the tide will turn. Tonight the tide is going to turn for somebody. (Amen!)

As our brother who spoke earlier on, I mean I didn’t bother to introduce him because he’s already a member of the family – he’s one of us, you know him by now. As he said in the text he read to us – it was at midnight that Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God. It was at midnight that the Almighty God came and shook the prison doors open. And it was at midnight just before they were going to kill Peter that the angel came and set him free! And tonight is your night! (Amen!) I say tonight is your night! (Amen!) By midnight tonight the Almighty God will do something in your life and things will never be the same again!

At midnight Boaz turned. The turning point always comes whenever Christ turns towards you. When we say Christ turns towards you we are saying that Jesus pays attention to you. Because in the case of Jesus Christ He knows where you are at all times. He knows everything but He knows that there is somebody special here tonight who must receive special attention. Only God knows how many hundreds of thousands are gathered here tonight but the Almighty God knows that Adeboye is here for special attention tonight. He knows some people are here just to watch what is going on. Some people are here to help me shout Alleluia! Some people are here to see miracles but Adeboye is here tonight to receive something special from God. There may be one or two other people who are also here for special attention tonight. If you are one of such people let me hear you shout Alleluia! (Alleluia!)

When you read

John 9:1-7, the Bible says that Jesus was passing by and saw a blind man who was born blind. He saw the man. It wasn’t the first time he’s been passing by there. The man has been blind for forty years. Jesus saw him all the forty years. He saw him even before he came into the world but the day the turning point came for that man Jesus saw him! Saw him in a special way and He’s going to see somebody here in a special way tonight.

(Amen!)

Take note it wasn’t the blind man who saw Jesus - blind people can’t see but Jesus saw the fellow. I am the one that Jesus will see tonight. After He saw me He will see you too. When you look at

John 5:1-9 the Bible talked about a man who had been sick for 38 years. When his turning point came Jesus saw him. Among the crowd Jesus saw him. As many as the people were Jesus saw him and I believe Jesus will see somebody here tonight. (Amen!) Because he turned towards that fellow.

The big question is how can I get Jesus Christ to turn towards me tonight? How can I, with so many of us here, how can I attract His attention? Ahh!, there are examples of those in the Bible who attracted His attention by force.

In Mark 10:46-52 the Bible tells us about a blind man called Bartimaeus. He attracted Jesus attention by crying non-stop for mercy. They tried to stop him he kept on crying until Jesus said, ‘All right. Go and bring him." If Jesus is going to send for only one person tonight who will that fellow be? May it be you in Jesus’ Name! (Amen!) There’s another woman who got His attention by force. In Matthew 15:21-28, the Bible tells us the story whose daughter was grievously vexed of the devil. She came to Jesus and asked for mercy, asked for help. The Bible said Jesus did not answer her one word. She kept on crying. The disciples said, "Get away from here, you are disturbing us, you are not allowing us to hear parables." She said, "I am not here for parables. I’m here for a miracle." So they went to Jesus: "Send this woman away. She is disturbing us." Jesus Christ said, "I’m not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." The woman said, "I’m not going. I will stay here until you answer me." God is going to answer somebody here tonight. (Amen!) Jesus said, "I can’t give the bread of children to dogs." The woman said – "I agree. I am a dog. This dog is not going home empty-handed." And believe me honestly brethren Adeboye is not going home empty-handed this morning. This woman held on unto Jesus until Jesus granted her request.

2 Chronicles 1:6-12 Solomon got the attention of God by force by giving God an offering that nobody had ever given the kind before. The Bible said in one day he gave one thousand burnt offerings to God until finally God said, "Who is this boy? Who is this boy that gave one thousand burnt offerings – who is this boy? God said, "I will visit him." It will be interesting to note that God visited him at night. The turning point in the life of Solomon came at night. The turning point in your life will come tonight in Jesus’ Name!

(Amen!)

Let me go on very quickly. I didn’t know God will allow me to go this far but let’s go on. Then came the big question Boaz asked. "Who are you?" Not "what is your problem?" Not, "Where do you come from?" Not even "What are you doing here?" Not "What do you want?" The big question tonight is "Who are you?" That’s the question the Almighty God wants you to answer tonight. If you answer the question correctly I can guarantee you you will go home singing a new song. Ruth said, "I am your servant, your handmaid, I am yours, you can do whatever you like with me from now on." That’s the only answer Jesus Christ wants from you from tonight. "I am yours O Lord. I surrender. You can do whatever You like with me. I’m absolutely, completely yours." You want a financial breakthrough? All that God wants is .."Who are you?" "I am yours O Lord" You want healing? All He is saying is, .."Who are you?" "I am yours O Lord" Oh they say you are barren you can never have an issue! All that Jesus is asking is .."Who are you?" He wants to hear: "I am yours O Lord"

Jesus Christ said, "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden." But He said one other thing there: He said, "Take my yoke upon you." In other words

the only condition for all your burdens to be over is that you take on the yoke of Jesus Christ. The only condition for your problems to be over forever is that you come under a new management. The only condition for the turning point you must have tonight is that from now on Jesus will be Lord in every sphere of your life.

You see when God decides to make you a billionaire, it’s not so that you can use the money to marry seven wives. It’s so that whenever the work of the Kingdom comes He may talk to you and say, "I want this done, I want this done…" And your answer will be "Yes Lord." Oh, the doctors have said that you are going to die in the next few weeks. Why will the Lord want to heal you? He will want to heal you so that whenever He needs somebody to do something for Him He can say my son go and do this for me" And your answer will be .."Who are you?" "I am yours Lord. Whatever you want to do with me, over to you. Anything you say, that is what I will do"

And then Ruth went on to say, "I am not only your handmaid, I want you to go a step further Lord and cover me." I pray that the Almighty God will cover you tonight. (Amen!) You know when God covers you – all your secrets will be covered. Cover me she said. What does that one mean? It means take me under your wings.

Psalm 91:1-13 will tell you the blessings of being covered by the Almighty God. It said, "He that dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." He went on to say He will cover you with His wings and when He covers you with His wings a thousand may fall at your right hand, ten thousand may fall by your left side . It said no evil will come near your house at all. Who is God talking to tonight? The lady said "Cover me!" And I am saying to Jesus Christ tonight – "Cover me." Is anybody else saying, "Cover me too?".

Cover me means take me under your wings and it also means include me in your family. If God will only include you in His family tonight according to

Romans 8:14-17 then whatsoever belongs to God belongs to you . And we know that sickness does not belong to God. If God covers you today and includes you in His family, everything that is not of God, everything that belongs to the devil, you can ask the devil to come and pick his loads . Come and take your sickness, take your sorrow, take your poverty because I am now a member of the family of God. When you become a member of the family of God, if God will plant you in His court tonight, even in your old age you will still be bearing fruit. Remember what David said in Psalm 23:6, he said, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me – for how long? All the days of my life because I shall dwell in the House of the Lord forever." I know there is somebody here tonight, from today onward now, goodness, mercy shall follow the fellow all the days of his or her life because they will be covered by Jesus. Thank You Father!.

Then forgive me – there are so many cases that the Lord is mentioning but I will tell you as many of them as I can remember when I finish just now.

The man of God Boaz, responded. But everything he said I feel like summarizing into just few words – he said to Ruth, "By tomorrow, all will be well. " (Amen!) I believe Jesus called us together tonight so that He can say to somebody, "My son, my daughter, by tomorrow, by October 6th all will be well." (Amen!) If that is your own case let me hear you shout a good Alleluia! (Alleluia!)

Boaz said to Ruth, "Oh, tarry here tonight. You are a very nice girl. I’m happy that you were not fooling around with young boys; that you had not made yourself a loose girl because of your situation. I know I’m your relative. I’m a relative of your husband rather but there is somebody who is a closer relative than myself. etc etc. etc … but the total sum of what he said was that by tomorrow all will be well. Tell your neighbour that by tomorrow all will be well with me. Say it loud and clear!

What does that one tell us? It means that the turning point can come overnight and everything will just change. And when you study God very closely, you will notice that all along everything that God had always done the turning point had always come overnight. You can start from Genesis and study it. You will find there that what the Bible says again and again is : "And the evening and the morning the first day.." : "And the evening and the morning the second day.." It didn’t say, "And the morning and the evening" it said ": "And the evening and the morning …."The days of God always start in the evening. It changes night to day. Darkness to light. Sorrow to joy. Sickness to health. Barrenness to fruitfulness. Poverty to prosperity. Failure to success. Loneliness to marriage.

That’s the way my God does His things. If it is the other way round, you can be sure it is the devil. My God always starts in the evening and then comes to the morning. If you go through the Scriptures, the turning point in the life of Daniel – oh they all came in the night. There was a time the King had a dream and couldn't remember. It was at night that the tide turned. The following morning Daniel was promoted. It was in the evening that they threw Daniel into the lion’s den. By the following morning not only was he out of the den – all his enemies were gone forever! And by the way,

the Lord told me this one I must not forget – that there is someone here tonight, before the end of October, all your enemies will be forgotten .

(Amen!)

He also told me – this one is also very important, I can’t forget this one –

He said there is someone who had been attending funerals of beloved ones regularly. The Lord asked me to tell you that from now on you will never attend funerals again.

(Amen!)

And so this girl was told that by tomorrow morning all will be well. And you know what? The following day, before the sun set, all the problems of Ruth were permanently over. I come here tonight to tell you that for the first and the last time, God is going to solve your problems permanently. (Amen!) You see the Bible says in

Numbers 23:19-20 God is not a man that He should lie nor the son of man that He should repent. Once He has spoken it is done. When He blesses nobody can reverse it. Your blessings tonight will be permanent in Jesus’ Name!

(Amen!)

Let me mention some two serious cases that Daddy had mentioned earlier on.

The Lord says there’s a woman here tonight who had cancer of the cervix and that you came here tonight bleeding. The Lord asked me to tell you that even whole we are praying, as we begin to pray you should go and do a little check up. You will find that the blood is dried and your cancer is gone.

(Amen!)

.

(Amen!)

Thank You Father! Now what must you do that your blessings tonight will be permanent?

, "Father, I’ve come to You tonight, I’ve come to surrender my life to You; I’ve come to ask You to save my soul; I have come to ask You to forgive my sins. I am not going to remain the same from tonight. I know You will change my life!" 7 now and 8 now! If you know that you want to come, you must be here before I count ten. And I know there are some of you who are still sitting down, who are not yet washed in the Blood of the Lamb – some of you are not yet sure of your salvation. If you miss this opportunity there may never be another one like this. The Almighty God brought you here tonight because He wants to be merciful unto you Come now, come very quickly. 9 now – the gates of mercy are still open. The Lord is saying "come, come, come, I want to turn towards you to help you tonight but how can I help you unless you surrender to me? how can I help you if you refuse to come unto Me?" The Lord is saying come tonight because He wants to be merciful unto you. Come quickly! This is the day of salvation. The Lord is calling you!..

There are still some stains in our spiritual life. I want you to go into the Blood of the lamb and say,

"Father wash me clean tonight. Remove every stain in my life tonight. Wash me clean tonight!" Let’s talk to the Almighty:

Wash me clean tonight Absolutely clean! Completely clean! Remove every stain in my thoughts, every stain in my words, every stain in my life, every stain in my spirit, my soul, my body, every stain – every stain whatsoever, that could in anyway hinder me from having that mighty turning point for the better tonight wash me in the blood, cleanse me Lord; make me as white as snow; let me be absolutely pure! Tonight Father I want to be without spot, without wrinkle, without blemish of any type whatsoever! I know whatever is of God shall be perfect, shall be forever. I want you to perfect my purity in You Lord. Make me as perfect as my Father in heaven is perfect. Make me as pure as light. Cleanse me Lord! I know there is power mighty in Your blood. I know there is enough power in Your Blood Lord to cleanse me body, soul, spirit! I know there is power mighty in Your Blood. I’ve come to wash in that Blood tonight! Almighty God! Cleanse me, make me completely whole. I want You to be able to look down from heaven tonight and be able to point to the angels – Here is an example!"

Lord, I will lead a Christian life, transparent within and without, the kind of life that God Himself will approve of; the kind of Christian life that will have nothing to hide. Call on the Almighty God to help me Father, help me, help me to get rid of every harmful habit. make me absolutely pure. I want to be a good example of what a Christian should be, a Christian that You my Father in heaven will be proud of!

tonight these areas – visit them, visit them, visit them! You know them so talk to Him. Tell them one by one – those areas where things are not what they should be? Could it be the area of health or finances, or your marriage or education?

"Lord, don’t let me go empty-handed!" Open you mouth and cry unto the Lord! ….. Alleluia! Father In Jesus’ mighty Name we have prayed! (Amen!)

"Father, You promised that I will be head and not tail, above, never beneath – tonight Father! take me to the top!" Let’s open our mouth and pray! ….In every area of my life, take me to the top, take me to the top! In every situation of my life ….. In Jesus’ mighty Name we have prayed! (Amen!)

"Father, one special miracle, one heavy miracle, one spectacular miracle, one unique miracle, perform in my life tonight! One unique miracle, one outstanding miracle, one intense miracle perform in my life tonight! Cry to the Almighty God One intense miracle, one unusual miracle, one miracle that will make all other miracles that follow the babies of the mother of miracles."

"Father, even if You are visiting only three people tonight – let me be one of them." Open your mouth and cry to God! "Even if You are visiting only three people tonight – let me be one of them! Please Lord! Please Lord! Please Lord! even if You are visiting only three people tonight , my Father and my God – let me be one of them! Let me be one

of them. my Father and my God Let me be one of them! even if You are visiting only three people tonight – let me be one of them! In Jesus’ mighty Name we have prayed! (Amen!)