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A NEW ALTAR TO GOD 6th of January, 2012
A NEW ALTAR Let’s lift our voices unto Him and worship the Almighty God, the One who is, Greater than the greatest, who is Better than the best, who is Higher than the highest. Bless the Almighty God, give Him all glory, give Him all honor, give Him all adoration, bless His holy name, He is worthy to be praised. There is no one like Him, He is the Almighty God, He is our help in ages past; He is our hope for years to come, He is the Almighty. Give Him glory, give Him honor, give Him adoration, and bless Him. Thank you for last year Lord, thank you for bringing us to a brand new year, Thank you Father... In Jesus mighty name we worship Now as an individual, you want to thank God for all he did for you last year; for keeping you alive, eyes to see, ears to ear, mouth that can still shout, hands that can still clap, legs that can still dance. Go ahead bless the name of the Lord as an individual for what He has done for you in the past one year. Give Him glory, give Him honor, and give Him adoration. He is worthy to be praised. Bless His holy name… in Jesus mighty name we have prayed. Now lift your voice to Him and say Father, please let this year be absolutely glorious for me, go ahead and talk to the Almighty God… in Jesus mighty name we have prayed. Now lift your voice to Him and say Father, I have started this year well, let me end it well… in Jesus mighty name we have prayed. With all your heart, lift your voice to the Almighty God and say Father, arise for Nigeria, take absolute control… in Jesus mighty name we have prayed. Father, Higher than the highest, you are Greater than the greatest, Better than the best, Older than the oldest, Stronger than the strongest, Wiser than the wisest, glory be to your holy name. Father glory be to your holy name. Thank you for what you did last year, thank you for what you did during the congress, thank you for what you did at the end of the year. Thank you for what you did since the year began, accept our worship in Jesus name. Today is the first Holy Ghost service in the year 2012, do something new in our lives, do something new in our homes, do something new in our business, do something new in your churches. Father, take control of Nigeria, arise for this nation, arise speedily for this nation, Father let all be well, let all be well very soon. We have started this year well, please Lord let us end well. Answer all our prayers tonight… in Jesus mighty name we have prayed. Let someone shout halleluiah! I want to say happy New Year to all of you! I want to also quickly tell you a little story before I go on. Some of you know what is called bed bugs, in the old days when people sleeps on wooden beds and mats, bed bugs will also be doing a good job. One day a man took out his wooden bed and because bed bugs hid in the woods and corners of the bed; he poured very hot water on the bed and the baby bugs began to shout and scream. The mother bugs said to the children bugs “take is easy, there is nothing hot that will not become cold”. If you receive that let me hear you shout halleluiah! SPECIAL PRAYERS: Children born in the month of January stand up and let me pray for you. Father, I want to bless you for the children born in the month of January, this children born in the very first month of the year must be very special to you, in all areas of their lives, let them come first, let them be leaders. Give them unique miracles, give them new joy, new blessings, new promotions, let this year be a very successful year for them and let them serve you like never before, in Jesus mighty name we have prayed. The number twelve is a very important number; there are twelve tribes of Israel, there are twelve apostles, there are twelve gates to Jerusalem, when Jesus was twelve year old; He began to show professor, that twelve years old can do something special. So all children who are here today who are twelve year old, stand on your feet I want to pray for you. Father, I commit all these special children into your hands, even as they become twelve, all the blessings of adulthood release unto them in Jesus name. The kind of wisdom that Jesus had at the age of twelve; release to them now in Jesus now. Let them be outstanding, let them be special and use them mightily for your glory… in Jesus mighty name we have prayed. ANNOUNCEMENTS: February Holy Ghost service is going to be very special; it is going to be one Holy Ghost service we are going to be making some special decrees. The theme for that Holy Ghost service is “LIFT UP YOUR HEAD OH YE GATE”. So you know the reason why you shouldn’t miss that for anything. For those of us who are covenant partners as well as all members in The Redeemed Christian church of God, Iam sure you know our fasting begins from the first of February, the Almighty God who has been using that period to bless us, will bless us again this year like never before. TOPIC: A NEW ALTAR 1 kings 18 v 30 – 39 And Elijah said unto all the people, come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came saying, Israel shall be thy name: And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood and said, fill four barrels with water and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood. And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time. And the water ran around about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water. And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and of Israel, let it be know this day that thou art God in Israel and that I am thy servant and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me; o Lord hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God and that thou turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said. The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God. An altar is the meeting place between the physical and the spiritual. Everybody knows; Christians, non Christians, those who believe in God and those who does not believe in God, they know that the spiritual control the physical. That is why those who do not have Jesus Christ result to contacting forces of darkness for one thing or the other. So they bath themselves with special soap, rob themselves with special ointment in an attempt to woe the spiritual to come to their aid. And the Christians know that it is the blessings of the Lord that makes rich and added no sorrow to it. I pray tonight that that blessing of the Lord, that makes rich, without adding any sorrow, will be your portion in Jesus name. Many at times I have heard of people who go to certain “prophets” and they come back saying they receive miracles. I always ask them the question; at what cost? And we are not talking about material cost; we are talking about spiritual cost. I want you to pay a special attention tonight, this is not an ordinary night, I believe that the destinies of several people will be changed for the better tonight. A sister was barren for years. We prayed for her, we did everything we knew and we left everything in the hand of God. She felt that we didn’t try enough, so she visited a “prophet” and came back within three months; “look at me I am pregnant”. I said congratulation. All we have being praying for is that you become pregnant. One pass, two years, three years, four year, five years. That kind of miracle they would then become a sorrow to you, you will never get it in Jesus name. The altar is where the physical contacts the spiritual that is the place where human beings goes to contact either God or demons. But the altar we are talking about tonight the emphasis is on the word NEW ALTAR. Building a new altar to God. Because whether it is God or demons that you want to contact, if it is God, God expects you to build the Altar. That you prepare a place, where the two of you can meet. If it is the devil, he expects you to build a altar. The building of the altar is your own responsibility. There are two possibilities, either you destroy the altars that existed before and then build a new one for God, like it happened in Judges 6 v 25 – 27 the angel told Gideon, pull down the altar of Ball that is in your father’s house and build a new altar to God. The old must go, if the new is to stay. Why? Matthew 9 v 16 -17 the Bible says you do not mend an old cloth by putting new one. We don’t put new wine in an old wine bottle. If you want to build a new altar to God, the first thing you must do is to remove the altar to the devil. The two cannot co exit. 2 Corinthians 5 v 5-17 He said therefore if any man being in Christ he is a new creature, old thing are passed away, behold all things are become new. The altars that you have built to the devil before, they must go tonight, for new altar to God to take his place. The idols you have been worshipping in your family up till tonight; I know many of you will say but I don’t go there to bow down, I only send them money every year, for them to buy the necessary animal for the sacrifice. That must stop tonight. A servant cannot serve two masters. This is a very special year; you need to break with the past because God wants to do new things. When you do that, when you destroy the altars of Satan, and you build a new one to God, you can expect the following things. 1. You will get deliverance from your enemies’ Judges 6 v 28-32. When Gideon pull down the altar of Biel in his father house, the worshippers of Biel rose up against him but the almighty God delivered him from them all. Proverbs 16 v 7 the Bible says when a man’s way pleases God, He will cause his enemies to be at peace with him. And like I told those of you who came to the Holy Communion last night. In the name that is above every other name, all the problems that plagued you in the last year, not one will follow you into this New Year.
2. When you destroy the altar of Satan and you build the Altar of God, you will get deliverance from God Psalm 118 v 17 He said I will live I will not die and I will declares the works of the Lord. They wanted to kill Gideon, but Gideon lived. Anyone who is waiting for your funeral, you will attend their burial. You follow the story of Gideon; by the time you get to Judges 7 v 19 – 23 you will discover that Gideon had outstanding victories with just a handful of people. It was in the life of Gideon that it was first established that one man defeated a thousand. I have good news for somebody here today, that if you will destroy the altars of Satan and build an altar to God, from this moment onward, you will have victory without a fight. The second way to build a new altar to God is the text we read at the beginning. You first of all repair the altar of God that was broken down. Elijah repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. Thank God there are some of us, who do not worship idols anymore, for a long time we have separated from all the idols, but then we say we belong to the Lord; and now we are neither hot nor cold. The altar of God that is in our life had gone into disrepair. We now serve God when it is convenient for us, we don’t want to make any sacrifice to serve God, that must changed. We must repair the altar of God that has gone into disrepair in our lives, because for a new altar to be built to God, obedience must be total. The Lord said there is someone here tonight, he said before this year ends, it will be evident that you are a child of destiny. Deuteronomy 28 v 1-2 God said if you will hearken diligently to the voice of the Lord your God, to observe and to do all that he commands you, it is then that he says blessings will pursue you and overtake you. God hates half obedience; God will prefer that you are hundred percent an idol worshipper, than that you will be one leg inside, one leg outside. He said if you are lukewarm; he will spool you out of his mouth. The reason is simple; when you are not on the side of the Lord, if anything happen to you, nobody will blame God, but when people think you belong to God but yet half of you belong to the devil. When something happens to you, they blame God; they will say where is your God and God will say this fellow is o not on my side. On more than one occasion, we have prayed and prayed for some people and nothing happened and in desperation I will talk to God. God what is happening? I have done everything you taught me to do, why is something not happening. On more than one occasion God has said to me, ask the fellow, ask the fellow you are laboring for. This fellow claim to be on my side but he is not on my side. He comes to church, he sings, he shouts, when he leaves the church, what does he do? Some of you know this story, most of you who are old in the church, a very prominent chief was sick, in a town not too far from here and they invited me to pray for him, when I get there as usual, I preached the gospel to him, he said “ I am a Christian” I said I am talking about being born again. He said “I have been born again a long time. I said then you will be healed. So I prayed for him and came back the following week to check, no change at all. So I said I know what I will do: I will send my prayer warriors, my two personal prayer warriors. I told them, I want you to go and stay with this chief, fast for seven days and night, even the water you are going to drink, take it from home. They were there day seven days and seven nights. They fasted they prayed nothing happened. So I went there and I said I know what I will do; I will do the fasting and I will pray myself and I will do it for 21days and night. God spoke to me and said “son if you want to fast it is good, but not for this fellow, done waste your energy”. But I said why not, he is one of your children, God says he is not, God says ask him seven questions. One of the questions is “how many secret society does he belong to?” I won’t bother you with the remaining six. When I finished the seven questions, you know what he said to me? He said, don’t come again. That altar of Satan that is in your life will be destroyed tonight. The altar of God that has fallen into disrepair in your life shall be repaired tonight. Many of you know how you use to pray, many of you knows how you use to study the word of God, many of you know what you will sacrifice just for God, but now things are different and yet God wants to do a new things. He will include you in Jesus name. When you repair the altar of the Lord and build a new one like Elijah did, you can expect the followings: 1. Instants answer to your prayer Psalm 50 v 14 -15 he said you come to God with thanksgiving, pay all your vows to him, he said then you call on me in the days of trouble and I will answer you. When you have repaired his altar, when your obedience to all his laws is complete, he said you call on me in the day of trouble and I will answer you. I am believing God for every one of you tonight, those of you who are listening on Radio, Television and Internet all your prayers this year will be answered by fire.
2. When you have repaired d the altar of God and built a new one, then your offering shall be accepted of the Lord. The Lord said there is a lady here, he ask me just to tell you, you will not lose the pregnancy. The Lord said there is someone here tonight, he said this year, I will enlarge your coast speedily and rapidly. In Genesis 4 v 3 -5 two people brought offerings to God; Cain and Abel. God accepted the offering of one and rejected the offering of another. May the Almighty God not reject your offering in Jesus name. 3. When you have repaired the altar of the Lord and built a new one, then your potentials shall be activated. When the fire fell on Mount Carmel, it was an answer to prayer. He picked up the offering and took it to offering and then he consumed the fire wood. He turned wood to fire. Every wood has the potential of becoming fire; every wood has the potential of becoming a blessing. A blessing in cooking, in warming people who are cold and so on as so forth. Inside you is a potential, there is something God put in you when he created you, God didn’t send you into this world to just come and eat and wear some dress, he wanted you to become a blessings to your generation and that will begin from now in the name of Jesus.
4. When you have repaired the altar of the Lord and you built a new one to him, hardship will come to an end in your life. When the fire fell on mount Carmel, it was not only the fire wood that he consumes, it consumes the rock; the symbol of hardship was removed. I prophecy to someone tonight, this year you will never know hardship at all. Then not only that, the fire licked up the water; that means if you do what we are asking you to do, if you build this new altar to God, you will never have cause to sorrow again. Remember the Bible says weeping may endure for a night; joy cometh in the morning. I know you have been quoting that passage for years. But as the Lord lives, as you repair his altar and build a new one, by the time the sun rises tomorrow, your joy would have arrived. Not only that, the fire also consumed the dust that was on the ground. And we have explained to you before that the dust stands for the flesh. When you do what God asked you to do, when you build this new altar to God, the grace to overcome lust of the flesh will be released. Romans 6 v 16 – 18 The Lord said there is someone one here tonight, he said everyone in your family is sick, the Lord ask me to tell you, I will heal every one of them. The Lord said every year has its dry season and raining reason, he said but there is someone here tonight, he said this year will be an exception because it will be raining season all the time. Romans 16 v 8 says sins shall no longer have dominion over you, the Almighty God will give you the grace to live above the lust of the flesh and then when this fire fell, everybody fell on their faces and said the Lord is God. In a single a moment, God turned a whole nation to God. Do you know that winning souls will become easy for you if you build a new altar to God, the reason why many members of your family are yet to accept Christ, is because they are confused, the look at you and know that you are neither in nor out and they are wondering “should we become like this or stay as we are?” I am praying for someone here tonight every member of your family will be saved before the end of this month. When you build a new altar to God, it is then you begin to hear the sound of abundance, it was after Elijah build a new altar to God that he said to Ahab I have heard the abundant of rain, and shortly after hearing the sound of abundant of rain, there were showers. I have good news for somebody here today, even as God has spoken, this will be your own year of showers of blessings. The Lord said there is a family here, he said I have scattered the forces causing stagnation in your family. The Lord says there is someone here tonight, he said as far as you are concern, laboring in vain ends with last year. The Lord says there is someone here tonight he said do what my son is telling you and in this one year, you will achieve more than you have done in the last ten years. Ephesians 3 v 20 says God is able to do exceedingly; abundantly what you can ask or think. If you build a new altar to God, even before you pray he will answer, and not only will He answer you, He will do more than you can dream possible. I have told you the story before, it may sounds little to you but it was significant to me then. We were going a-fishing, myself and my last two boys with the driver, years ago. We got to some where we saw a sign board; Turkey for sale. It was Christmas period, and I just said to myself, since I was born, I never had turkey for Christmas. I just said that one and we went on our go and fishing. By the time we came home, three turkeys were waiting for me. And then I went to church in Ebute-Metta the following Sunday, I said look at what happened. I didn’t pray for turkey, three came and I said to them jokingly, I said that is not an invitation to launch, I am not asking you to come and eat my turkey. Before I got home, seven others turkey had arrived. Now turkey may not mean anything to some of you who eat cows for Christmas. But the point I am making is this, is if you are pleasing God hundred percent, you don’t even need to ask God for one thing before he gives you ten. I am praying for someone here today, this year as you build a new altar to God, when you knock at one door, ten will be opened unto you. Now this altar that you want to build to God must be a very special altar. 1. It must be an altar of faith. Stop doubting God, Hebrew 11 v 6 says those who come to God must believe that he exist and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. I have told you before, four times in the bible, God said the just shall live by faith. Why do you call yourself a Christian if you don’t believe him, when he makes a promise, it will come to pass. You must behave as if you know what God says he will do, will be done. You must have the faith of a child. I have told you this one before, I was praying one day when God said, son, one day President will come to the camp to worship. I said Amen, by that time there is no possibility, but Daddy said. If He said it, as far as I am concern it is done. So I told my people, God says presidents are coming, we don’t want to wait till they come before we build where they will stay. So quickly I say let’s begin to build, we build the place called presidential lodge, it was the biggest building in the camp then. One year, two year, three year, no president came. Then my senior pastors held a meeting “you don’t understand what this man is saying, he wanted to live in a big house and he doesn’t know how to tell us, he has finished building now, he doesn’t know how to move in”. So they came to me and said you are our president, move in! The Just shall live by faith! I said no. That is not my house. That is for the president. The president is coming. Have they been coming now? Every promise of God concerning you shall be fulfilled. Listen to this very carefully, The Lord says there is someone here tonight, he said people will weep with you this year, but it will be tears of joy. The Lord says there is someone here tonight, he said before the end of this month there will be a new episode of dancing in your family. An altar of faith, stop being doubters. God does not like those who doubt him. I can tell you several stories to encourage you to have faith in God; I know because of several things that have happened, some of you, your faith has been shaken. You don’t know all the stories; you don’t know what the people that something happened to that you didn’t see. If you don’t have any reason to believe God, just look at me, just look at me and believe that there is God. I told you I was in Mushin, living in a room when I said to God, father even if it is a boys quarter, build one for me and he said son, “don’t ask me for a house, I have decided to build you a city”. That was in 1981. How could you believe that if you have only one room in Mushin, but look at us today and God says, son, this is still a camp, the city is yet to come. I am saying to someone here today, every promise of God for you will come to pass. Stop doubting him! Build an altar of faith. If God says it, it will come to pass. It doesn’t matter how impossible it may appear. 2. The altar you build must be an altar of praise. Psalm 65 v 1 says praise waits for you in Zion. You should be able to say God, come to my house you will find praise there. When God comes to some houses all he will get is murmuring, complaining, Queries; God why have you done this, why have you done that, that is what he get in some houses, that is why he doesn’t come. If God knows that in your home, in your heart, there will be constant praise, he will draw near. One of the elders here, we started building this camp together, he was the first engineering here and he discovered by associating with me that it doesn’t matter what is happening, am always forming a song or praising God or one thing or the other. So I decided I wanted to pay him a visit and I told him, I will be there for only about five minute. Before I arrived, he has put in a tape of beautiful hymns and songs, I didn’t know when I spend one hour, because I was enjoying the music, I forgot time. Can you imagine God visiting you, hearing praises, songs, adorations, He will stay! You must make up your mind this year, it doesn’t matter what is happening, I will praise the Lord. Everywhere I go, I know they have given me a nick name they say: let somebody shout halleluiah! I said that is a very good nickname, and I am going to say it again, let somebody shout halleluiah! Altar of praise! 3. Let it be an altar of thanksgiving, learn to thank him; thank him for what he has done, because he has done something for you, you know! The fact that you are even here listening to him means you have something to thank God for. Your ears is still hearing, by the grace of God, your eyes are still seeing, your mouth can still speak, I think with that mouth you should shout a big halleluiah! The Lord says there is someone here tonight; he said the one seeking your downfall will soon lose its sight. The Lord said there is someone here tonight, he said progress wise; two years ago you were walking, last year; you were running, this year; you will fly. (The Lord said this is nothing we should gloss over; let’s give him big a round of applause) Psalm 103 v 1- 5 said bless the Lord oh my soul, forget not all his benefits, but then he began to list the benefits. Many of us complain that God hasn’t done much for us. I told you of the time when I visited Egypt for the first time in Cairo, there is a city called the city of the dead, where people sleep on the slab that is on the grave of those who died in the world war. No matter how bad things are you are not sleeping in the grave yard. You may not have a house of your own yet, but you are not sleeping in the grave yard. I visited one of the hospitals not too long ago, to go and pray for a woman who was dying of cancer of the breast and I was trying to console her before I pray for her. And she said no! Can’t you see all these people? And I saw one who has cancer of the eye. One eye has become almost as big as the head and several other horrible things. She said if God healed me, fine, if not I am going to heaven, look at this ones, they have no hope, she said at least I thank God, I know Jesus Christ. How many of you know that when you die you are going to heaven? Is that not enough to shout halleluiah? 4. Build an altar of worship, a place where you can tell the Almighty God, how great thou hart. I like David, he knows how to worship God, in Psalm 18 v 1- 2 when you worship him and you begin to call Him His name He will rise for you. One of the apostle who came to the Congress, I think he came from South Africa, he said I think I have discovered what I came for, I said what is it? He said I have discovered the secret of your success, I said I see what is it? He said when you go to the altar unlike the rest of us who calls ourselves bishop and apostle, when we get to the altar; we open the bible and begin to talk. If we think we are good at all, we pray for few minute, he said but you, you go before him and begin to call him names, Almighty God, king of glory, ancient of days, lion of the tribe of Judah, the unchangeable changer,. He said I know your secret, I said son, go and practice it and you will see the result. Is there anybody here today who will say from now on I will worship God? Build an altar of worship.
5. Let it be an altar of prayer The Lord said there is someone here tonight, he said stop doubting, I have already heard your cry. The altar of God must be an altar of prayer, he promises to answer prayer. In Jeremiah 33 v 3 he said call on me and I will answer you, not I may, I will. In John 14 v 14, he said if you ask anything in the name of Jesus, it will be done. Believe him, you will get result, you will get result 6. Make it an altar of sacrifice. The one who have spoken before me have told you, that the altar is not an altar until a sacrifice is place there. When you read Genesis 22 v 1- 13 God said to Abraham, I know you love your son Isaac but I want him, go and build an altar place him there and sacrifice him to me. God doesn’t eat children, this is just a test, at the beginning, it says God wanted to test. In 2 chronicle 1 v 6-12 the bible says Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings to God. People say Solomon was already rich, but even standing there while they kill one animal after another that is another sacrifice on its own. Let me tell you the truth from my own experience, it is the rich people who are more stingy when it comes to giving to God. Not all of them but majority of them. When we say let’s make pledges, I always ask the ushers please just list those one thousand, ten thousand I know those ones will pay. Then those who says one million, ten million, I always smile. I based my calculation on those who says one thousand, ten thousand I know they will pay somehow. Somehow the rich, I think they just find it difficult to sacrifice. They think they are already great so why bothered? Forgetting that God can make the great, greater. That he can take somebody who is already in the moon all the way to the sun. I pray for all of you who are great here tonight, before the end of this year, you will know the true meaning of greatness. David said in 2 Samuel 24 v 18 – 25 he said I would not offer God something that doesn’t cost me. When I give a sacrifice to God, I must feel the pinch. The offerings that God had graciously accepted from me in the past that marked turning points in my ministry are offerings that touched me deeply. I’ll give you one or two example; I told you this is a special night and am sure many of you know your life will not remain the same after tonight. When I became general overseer, I had to sell my Toyota crown, so at least I can have some money to manage for some time. We were rich in those days, and then somehow, somebody bought me a Pajero. Oh mine! I loved that Pajero, we went everywhere together for four years. It never gave me a problem; not once. Then one day I was praying for one particular special Holy Ghost services and God said give me your Pajero, I said ah! And I didn’t have any other car. I am telling you it was difficult, if you want to know how close I have become to that Pajero; the day the fellow God said I should give, came to collect it, my driver wept; it was as if a member of the family died. But the first service after I gave after that car; fourteen thousand people were healed in a single night. 7. Sacrifice! You must build an altar of sacrifice. When you learn to sacrifice to God, get ready for envy; because when God begins to respond, those who didn’t know your sacrifice, they are going to be envious of you. You must be ready for that, because there are some of you tonight, where God will take you after tonight, your friends who didn’t hear what you are hearing now, there are going to ask, is she the only one worshipping God?. If you receive that let me hear you say amen. I have told you the story I am telling you because it is a prophecy to someone One of my sons came to visit and he began to tell me all that God was doing, God did this for me, God did this for me and I was praise the Lord Halleluiah! After some time he said Daddy, am the only one talking; you are just saying praise God, you didn’t say what God is doing for you. I said my son if I tell you all that God is doing for me, you will say God is partial. That will be your testimony! The Lord said there is someone here tonight; he said you will regain your championship this year. The Lord said there is someone here tonight; he said very soon, they will describe you as the quiet millionaire. (It is one thing ot be a millionaire, it is another thing to be silent about it.) 8. Make it an altar of dedication and consecration. Roman 12 v 1 said you are to offer yourself as a living sacrifice. Many of us are ready to sacrifice money; ready to give anything. As long as it does not take us out our comfort zone, many of us if we have the opportunity we can build a church for God; Provided the pastor did not talk about using our house as a fellowship centre. Don’t come for house fellowship in my house, I will rent a place for you outside. Until you yourself become a living sacrifice, then that altar is not yet built. Am sure you know the testimonies, we were building our church in Ilesha, several years ago. I was a lecturer in the university and I was there with them, and we were fixing concrete and so on. and then my good friend chief Ogedengbe came; he was the richest man in our church then. He is a big chief in the town. He came in his agbada to supervise the work. Then suddenly something strange happened, he removed his agbada and asked for a head pan. Ah chief! No! You gave the money for the cement; leave it for we small boys. He said I heard God saying “unless you join this people in what they are doing, your offering amounts to nothing.” He heard God; no pastor was big enough to tell him to do that. Make yourself a living sacrifice! If you are too big to be a sacrifice on the altar of God, then you are definitely too big! I’m about to close but this is a defining moment in your life. When we were building the church in Ebute- Metta, because there was no land so we had to carry sawdust from nearby to push the lagoon away. I was full of joy that at long last I was saved, I was a lecturer at the University of Lagos, but I was going to hell before Jesus found me. At long last I have an opportunity to say thank you to God for saving my soul. So I got a big basket and I was using it to carry saw dust. and then there was a go –slow in Lagos and one of my former student of the university of Lagos was coming in his car, I think he saw a car going into the church compound, he thought it is a short-cut out of the go-slow so he followed, as he entered the church compound, he saw me with my big basket of saw dust on my head. He said ha oga! I said which oga? Who is your oga? I am not oga before Jesus Christ. I give you another example, because you are going to build a new altar to God tonight and your life will never be the same again. As a lecturer in the University of Lagos, after Jesus saved my soul. We gathered some youth together and we started what we used to call Christ Redeemer’s congress. We will go to any secondary school with boarding house facility, we will invite everybody to come, we will say we will give you food. We didn’t have much money; but everything that I have I will place it down and this little boys whatever they can contribute, they will contribute. People will come, we’ll give them two meals a day, if there is any food left for us we will eat and if there is none, no problem, in my own case I will be fasting anyway. But we will always go ahead before people will arrive to go and clean up the place. I am always the first to arrive with my wife and I went to inspect this particular school in Oshogbo, when I got to the toilet, oh God. When my young ones came, (we call them bible study leaders in those days). When they come like that we will divide ourselves into groups; you go and clean the toilet, you go and fetch fire wood and so on. When they arrived I told them the toilet this time requires only volunteers. I told them I will lead the team and I need five other people to join me. We got a big bottle of Izal, got handkerchief to tie round our mouth and nose. By the time we finished we finish with that toilet, you could sit down and do bible study, if I didn’t lead the boys am sure when they go to the door and found out that the whole things is full to the door. Only God knows what report they would come and give me Hands that can’t do manual labor for God cannot heal the sick. Hands that can’t sweep the house of God, that can’t clean the toilet that cannot be a sacrifice on the altar of God cannot be use of God to perform miracles. And I am believing God for you that this year is going to be different from other years, that whatever you touch this year is going to prosper, but you must be a sacrifice on the altar of God. When were build the first auditorium, we were digging water here, somewhere down at night and one day I was carrying two buckets of water; I called it balancing equation. One on the right one on the left, one of the boys said daddy let me help me with one, I said no, go and get your own bucket. How many of you want to be a living sacrifice to the Almighty God, let me assure you, the Lord who has promoted me, he will promote you this year. Let me close, if you have not even surrender your life to Jesus, then you don’t even know what we are talking about, if you have not surrender your life to Jesus how can you be talking about building an altar to God. But you can begin from here, you can surrender your life to Jesus, things will change. You should have seen me before I became born again, I was an arrogant fool, I have nothing but I was just proud for nothing, but after he saved my soul; things changed and things are still changing for the better. Come and give your life to Jesus and things will change, old things will pass away and all things will become new. So if you want to give your life to Jesus come now… As you are coming begin to talk to the Lord Jesus Christ; that you have come to surrender your life to him today, that from now on, you will serve him hundred percent and throughout all the days of my life, save my souls, forgive all my sins, from this moment onward, I am yours oh Lord! I will serve you. I will not serve Satan any more. And the rest of us let us stretch our hands towards this people and pray for them, and ask the Almighty God who save our soul will their souls too… in Jesus mighty name we have prayed. Savior we bless your name. Unchangeable Lord, we give you glory, thank you for this your children who have come forward now, every one of them, receive in Jesus name, forgive in Jesus name, let your blood wipe away their sins in Jesus name. save their souls tonight in Jesus name, write their names in the book of life in Jesus name and please Lord don’t let them go back into the word In Jesus name, from now on anytime they call on you please answer them by fire in Jesus mighty name we have prayed. I want to rejoice with those of you who have come forward tonight, I want to make you a solemn promise; that every day from now on, for the rest of my life, I will be praying for you. Very soon you will be receiving miracles that you didn’t pray for, then you will know somebody is somewhere praying for you, That is why I am going to need your name and address and your prayer request. Now I told you earlier on that the number twelve is very significant number; because there are twelve gates that lead to Jerusalem, they are twelve gates to the heavenly gate. When we talk about twelve we are talking about Gate, which is one of the reason s why next month we will be talking about lift up your head oh ye gates. But the twelve gates you can approach the throne of grace easily. You are going to pray with all your heart tonight. There are fourteen prayer points I to those who came to the watch night service, I am going to add one or two to those who are coming for the first time.
Prayer points: 1. Praise the Almighty God; for all he has done for you. And he has done a lot; you are alive, you are well you are not in a lunatic asylum, you are here tonight. You are not in a hospital, you are listening to me. And even if you are listening to me and you are in the hospital you know heaven is your ultimate home,. You are not going to die you are going to live. You need to praise God anyway 2. Tell the Almighty God, am offering myself completely to you tonight as a living sacrifice on your altar, please don’t reject me 3. Father, every altar of Satan; that I know you have helped me to destroy tonight; don’t let them ever rise again. 4. Father, January is the first month of the year. This month; give me miracles that are first of its kind. 5. Father, February is the second month of the year; double my blessings in February. 6. Father, March is the third month of the year and three is the figure of trinity. In March; show your almightiness in my life. 7. Father, April is the fourth month of the year. In April; send help to me form the four corners of the world. From the east; send help to me, from west; send help to me, from north; send help to me, from south; send help to me. 8. May is the fifth month of the year, five is the number of grace, in May this year, father show me divine favor. 9. Father, June is the sixth month of the year. In June let me have an unexpected breakthroughs. 10. Father, July is the seventh month of the year. Seventh is the number of perfection, in July perfect all that concerns me. 11. August is the eight month of the year, and eight is the number of a new beginning. In August give me a new beginning of all that is good. 12. Father, September is the ninth month of the year. In September prove your all sufficiency in my life. 13. Father, October is the tenth month of the year, ten means double grace. In October; let me have a taste of your amazing grace. 14, Father, November is the eleventh month of the year, eleven stands for more than enough. in November, do for me that which is exceedingly abundantly above what I could ask or think. 15. Father, December is the last month of the year. In December; crown all my efforts with glorious success. 16. Father let me serve you much more than ever before this year.
The altar is open. We are going to pray for at least one hour. You can pray standing or seating or facing the ground any how you want to, but for the next one hour, let’s call on the Almighty God….
In Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
The Almighty God will answer you by fire. He will accept you as a living sacrifice to Himself all the altars of Satan that has been destroyed in your life shall never rise again, a new altar to God will begin in your life tonight. This month of January, God will do unique miracles in your life, in February; He will double your blessings. In March; in every areas of your life, He will show Himself to be the Almighty, in April he will send help to you, from the east; He will send help to you, from the west; He will send help to you, from the north he will send help to you, from the south; he will send help to you. Even from heaven from above, he will send help to you.
In May He will show you divine favor. In June, He will give you unexpected breakthroughs. In July he will perfect that which concerns you, in August he will give you a new beginning, a new beginning of joy, of success, of promotion, of everything that is divine.
In September, He will show you his sufficiency; He will meet all your needs. In October, He will give you a taste of His amazing grace, in November he will do much more than you hope for.
In December He will crown your effort with success. And you too will serve the Lord, this year you will serve God more than ever before, in offering; you will serve the Lord, in tithe; you will serve the Lord, in witnessing; you will serve the Lord, in follow up; you will serve the Lord.
God will use you to heal the sick this year; God will use you to even raise the dead this year. God will use you to do mighty things for him this year and your joy will overflow this year, the enemy will not overcome you this year, God will build a wall of fire round about you this year.
The enemy will not discover your secret this year. All those who are pursuing you will never be able to overtake you, it shall be well with you. I
In Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
If you receive that let me hear you shout halleluiah!
Pastor E. A. Adeboye
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