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ABBA, FATHER (PART 2) 3rd of February, 2017FEBRUARY HOLY GHOST SERVICE THEME: ABBA FATHER (Part 2) 3RD FEBRUARY, 2017. BY: PASTOR E.A ADEBOYE Thank You Father. Let us lift our hands to the most High God and just begin to bless His holy name. Let us give Him glory, let us give Him honour, let us give Him adoration. Bless His holy name for yet another month. Give Him glory, give Him honour, give Him adoration. He is worthy, He is worthy, He is worthy to be praised, He is worthy to be adored. Give Him glory, give Him honour, give Him adoration. O Yes Father, we just want to bless Your holy name; glorify Your holy name again and again as You have always done. We bless Your name. You are worthy to be praised, You are worthy to be adored, You are worthy to be magnified. Thank You Jesus. We bless Your holy name. We bless Your holy name. Thank You Jesus. Thank You Lord. Thank You Almighty God. Blessed, blessed, blessed, be Your holy name. Thank You Daddy. You are worthy to be praised. You are worthy, You are worthy, You are worthy to be praised. Glory be to Your holy name. Thank You Father. In Jesus mighty name we worshipped. Lift your voice to Him loud and clear and say: Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, let this month be a month of surprises for me. Go ahead talk to the Almighty God. Pleasant surprises O Lord on a daily basis, let this month of February be a month of pleasant surprises for me on a daily basis; on a daily basis, pleasant surprises O Lord. Thank You Father. On a daily basis Lord, give me pleasant surprises throughout this month – pleasant surprises; beautiful surprises; glorious surprises, marvelous surprises, divine surprises. Father, this month on a daily basis, give me pleasant surprises, mighty surprises, the kind that only You can give. Let this month be a month of very very pleasant surprises for me. Thank You my Father. Glory be to Your holy name Lord. Give me pleasant surprises; mighty pleasant surprises, so that Your name, Your name alone, be glorified. Thank You Father. In Jesus mighty name we have prayed. Join hands with your neighbor and let us apply the law of harvest: what you sow is what you reap. So, pray for your neighbor now and say: Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, please give my neighbour pleasant surprises. Go ahead pray for your neighbour. In the mighty name of Jesus Lord, give all my neighbours pleasant surprises, pleasant surprises. From You Daddy, directly to all my neighbours give them pleasant surprises to the glory of Your holy name. Thank You Lord. Thank You Jesus. Blessed be Your holy name. In Jesus mighty name we have prayed. (Our Father) Our Father who at in heaven; amen Hollowed be thy name.
(Our Father) Our Father who at in heaven; amen Hollowed be thy name.
(Our Father) Our Father who at in heaven; amen Hollowed be thy name.
(Hallowed be thy name) Hollowed be thy name
(Hallowed be thy name) Hollowed be thy name
(Hallowed be thy name) Hollowed be thy name
(Hallowed be thy name) Hollowed be thy name Our Father and our God; the King that is greater than all kings; the Lord that is greater than all lord; the One greater than the greatest, better that the best, older than the oldest, wiser than the wisest, stronger than the strongest, richer than the richest; glory be to Your holy name. Thank You for yet another month; thank You because we will survive this year - Father accept our thanks in Jesus’ name. In the lives of everyone of Your children: those who are here; those who are watching at the various view centers all over the world; let this month be a month of pleasant surprises. On a daily basis, Father, surprise us: with miracles, with signs, with wonders, with breakthroughs surprise us. And tonight in a very very special way my Father and my God, let the surprises begin. At the end of it all, take all the glory. In Jesus mighty name we have prayed. Amen. Well, let somebody shout hallelujah. Shake hands with two or three people and tell them: God will surprise you tonight. And then, you may please be seated. Now, as usual, our discussion tonight will be in two sections: Section A – we want to talk to those who are yet to give their lives to Jesus. So, they can do so; so that they can partake blessings in section B. In John chapter 8 verse 25, Jesus Christ said something about servants and sons. He said, servants don’t abide in the house forever; only sons abide in the house forever. And I am sure you know that is true. Now, how come that servant does not abide in the house forever? Many a times it is not even the fault of the master at all. No matter how good the master may be; no matter how loving, how caring, there is still something in the heart of the servant that says: I do not really belong here – the servant still want to go to his own house; he wants to go back to his own home. The Master house may be a palace; the servant birth place might be a hut, there is something inside the servant that says: this is not your place, you must go back; but the son abides forever. Now, because the son abides forever; if you move that to the level of Sons of God, dramatic implications are there. For example, Psalm 91 verse 1 says, he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. If you are a son of God and you are one of those abiding forever, you will be under the shadow of the Almighty. Meaning what? Meaning that you get divine coverage - wherever you, God will be there watching over you, covering you. Psalm 91 verse 4 says that the Almighty God will cover you with His feathers; under His wings you can trust. Now, those of you who are not from villages, you may not really understand that. In village, when a mother hen had some little chicks, and they are feeding - the chicks are young, they don’t even know what is called danger, they only see food and they are going about eating. But the mother hen look down will suddenly see a shadow, the shadow of an eagle flying overhead and immediately the mother hen will make a sound to the little chicks: come, come, come; and they will run to the mother hen and she will spread her wings and cover the chicks. The eagle that is flying overhead is looking for a chicken to eat but when he looks down, he sees one big hen – too big to carry; so he flies away to go and look for prey elsewhere and then the little chick can come out and continue to enjoy. When you are a child of the Almighty God, long before troubles come to you, He sees the trouble, He spread His wings, He ask you to come and let me cover you with My feathers. That is why I can assure you, it does not matter how many storms will be coming this year; it does not matter how many troubles will be coming this year; if you are a child of God, you are covered. If you go to Psalm 91 verse 7 to 9, the Bible says, if you are a child of God, you will only be observing what is happening to others, ten thousand may fall at left hand side, they won’t come near you at all – you will be observing them with your eyes – this is what I called Divine Insurance Policy. When you are a child of God, yes! Trouble may happen to others but you will be spared. The Bible says in Psalm 27 verse 5, He said, in the time of trouble, He will hide me. In other words, trouble will come; when comes, God will hide me in the His Pavilion. I remember a time when I was living in Mushin and terrible things were happening in Mushin in those days – I believe Mushin has changed now; but in those days in the early 80s, Mushin could be pretty rough. And so, we decided…, those of us in the street, the compound; … decided to set up a group called Vigilante. Do you know nobody put one of his children among the vigilante. All the vigilante they were servants; the children were lying save and secure in their father’s bedroom. God keeps His own in His pavilion – trouble may be happening outside but it won’t come near the children. Some people have said what about the evil that came to Job? I said, read the book of Job very well. In Job chapter 1 verse 8 to 12, God said to Satan, have you observe my servant Job? My what? Servant Job You can perform experiment with a servant; you won’t perform experience with your son. The only things permitted to come near sons are Goodness and Mercy. Satan said let us test him. God said no problem, you can test, I know he will pass. But God will never say to Satan, go and inflict my son. Sons are never used for experiment. But just one more thing before I give those of you who are yet to become sons and daughters opportunity to become one. Do you know everyone in this world is looking forward to something? At the end of our race here on earth: Sons are looking forward to Rewards; 2Timothy chapter 4 verse 8, Paul said, I have finished my race; I have finished my everything I need to do; from now on I am looking forward to my coronation; I am looking forward to the reward that the Almighty God has for me and not for me alone and for all other children of God. But for those who are not children of God, they are looking forward to Judgment. The Bible says in Hebrew chapter 9 verse 27, He said, it is appointed unto man once to die and after that comes judgment. So, if you have not yet surrender your life to Jesus – if you are not yet one of the sons of God; when you leave this world, you are looking forward to judgment. If you are a child of God, when you leave this world, you are looking forward to reward. Now, which of the two do you prefer – Reward or Judgment? And the choice is yours. So, if you are here and you have not yet surrender your life to Jesus Christ; we are going to pray briefly for three or four minutes to give you an opportunity to surrender your life to Jesus Christ; so that the issue of your salvation will be settle; so that you too can become a child of God; so that as you go along, God decide to say there is someone here, you will be qualified to receive it from the Almighty God. But if you are not a child of God, you can hear all the prophecies. The only prophecy for someone who is not a child of God is judgment is coming. So, if you want to give your life to Jesus Christ, I am going to count from one to ten very quickly. Come; surrender your life to Jesus; and I will pray for your salvation. As you are coming here; in all other viewing centers: in the old arena and in all other viewing centers all over the world; you too can move forward, surrender your life Jesus and the prayer will pray here will cover you all. Now, I am counting. One, two, Now, don’t wait for your friend; your friend might not be interested, it might be you that God is speaking too. Come; surrender your life to Jesus; let the blood of Jesus Christ cover you and wash away your sins. And then, the Almighty God himself said, when I see the Blood, I will cover you. When trouble is coming, and trouble sees the blood, it will pass over you. Three, four, I know some of you are far away, you have to move a little faster. Five, six, And those of you in the old arena, you just move towards the Altar too, Pastors are there, they will attend to you. God want to save your soul tonight, don’t miss the opportunity. Seven, Counselors, please, begin to come. Eight, nine, Now, those of you who are already in front and those of you who are on the way, talk to the Almighty God. Tell Him, I want to become one of Your children O Lord. Save my soul. Let Your blood wash away my sin. I will serve you from now on. Please save my soul, write my name in the Book of Life. Be my Lord, be my Saviour and I will serve with all my heart for the rest of my life. And the rest of us let us stretch our hands towards our new brothers and sisters and intercede for, that the One who saved our own soul will save their souls also. Let us pray for them. And those of you who are on the way, you have to hurry up now because I will soon be praying for salvation. Let us pray for them for a minute or so, that the Almighty God will wipe away all their sins with His powerful blood; that He will write their names in the Book of Life; that they will also become members of the family of God from today onward. Please pray for them. Thank You Father. And those of you on the way, just make sure you get here before I finish praying and it will be okay. Thank You Father. In Jesus mighty name we have prayed. Saviour, I just want to say thank You for Your word. I want to thank You for these Your children who have come forward to surrender their life to You. Father, please remember your promise that whosoever will come unto You, You will in no wise cast out. They have come to You Father, please receive them in Jesus’ name; save their souls Lord; let Your blood wash away their sins; and please write their names in the Book of Life. And I pray Lord God Almighty that from now they will serve You till the end. And Lord God Almighty, don’t let them go back into sin. In Jesus mighty name we have prayed. Amen. Praise the Lord. Now, those of you in front I want to rejoice with you and I want to tell you by the grace of God from now on I will be praying for you. So, I am going to need your names, your address and your prayer request. So, the Counselors will give you a card which you should fill very quickly and then return to the counselors; I promise you from now on, I will be praying for you. God bless you. Let us do that within two or three minutes – we will wait for you till you finish. God bless you. We can have some music while they are busy doing that. Romans chapter 8 we will read from verse 14 to 15 (Romans 8:14 to 15): 14) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15) For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. We are discussing Abba Father part 2. You see, there are categories of sons; why everybody may want to call God Daddy, not all are allowed to enjoy the privilege of such intimacy. Not even everyone who says God is my father is regarded by God as His child. There is a proverb where I come from: they said, every Ijesha is the son of Owa. But when the sun set, Owa knows how many children come to his to sleep. Everybody would want to call God father; some of us may even want to go ahead and call him Daddy; but it is not everyone God looks down and say ehyah, that is my son! yeah, that is my girl! Jesus told a story in Mathew 21 verse 28 to 31 – He said a father has two sons: he came to the first one and said son, I want you to go to my farm and work. That boy said no, I am not going. So, he went to the second one and said son, I want you to go to my farm and work. He said, yes Daddy I will go. After some time, the first son repented and went to the farm to work. The second son who said I will go, did not go. Two sons: the first one repentance; the second one deceptive. But even the first one cause his father some anguish – the father said go to my farm and work, he said, he is not going – at the very least you call that one a rude son. The second one you don’t even want to talk about him at all: he told the father I will go, but he did not go. And there is a third son that is the one telling the story – that is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the One that the Father said, go to my farm and work and He said, I will go and he went. So, there are actually three sons: one was rude but repented; the other was totally deceptive; and the one who said, I will go and he went. He is the one who said (the third son), He is the One who said in Mathew 26 from verse 39 to 42 – He is the who said, Father, thy will not mine be done – even when it is not convenient; Daddy whatever you want that is what I will do. And that is why in Mathew chapter 3 verse 16 to 17, God said, this is my beloveth son in whom I AM well pleased. And like I told you last month, the first fellow ever to use the word Abba in reference to God was Jesus Christ. The son in whom the Father is well pleased is the One who qualifies to call God Daddy – a special son; a loving son; an obedient son; a son who will do the will of His Father any time, any place; whether convenient or inconvenient. If God is to look down from heaven tonight and say, haa, this is my beloveth child in whom AM well pleased. How many of you would want to say God, let that be me? Is anyone here who will want God to say hey, that is my beloveth child in whom AM well pleased. If you agree that is the kind of person you want to be, let me hear your amen. Now, when God finds a special son, qualified to call Him Daddy, dramatic things happen in the life of such a child; and I am going to very briefly discuss about seven or so of them tonight – just to let you know that if you qualify to call God Abba, you can expect certain things from Him that may not be available to other people who can just call Him Father. And we are going to compare two people: Jesus Christ that God Himself said, this is my beloveth son in whom I AM well pleased and Paul, the Apostles – because everything, both of them qualified to call God Abba Father. In Philippians chapter 2 verse 5 to 8 – Jesus Christ humbled Himself all the way to the point of death just to satisfy His Father. In Philippians 1 verse 21- Paul the Apostles said, for me to live is Christ, to die is gain. In other words, he was simply saying in living or dying I will do the will of my Father. Now, when you compare these two, you get some deep insight; particularly if you read, Acts chapter 16 from verse 25 to the end – you know the story: Paul and Silas were imprisoned and they were going to kill them the following day; at midnight, Paul and Silas began to sing and they began to praise God, and they things began to happen. What is the first thing you can expect from Abba Father? If you are qualified to call God Abba Father, the first thing you can expect is that God will shake the heaven and the earth to make sure He meets your needs. Because as Paul and Silas were sing and praising God, suddenly there was an earthquake. Just as there was an earthquake in Mathew 28 verses 1 and 2: Jesus Christ was buried; there was a huge stone rolled across the mouth of the grave to make sure He will not be able to even come out if He should arise from the dead; but, the Almighty sent an earthquake. In the case of Paul and Silas, God sent an earthquake that shook the prison to the foundation. The Bible says, the prison doors were flung open and every man’s bound was lose. And Joel chapter 3 verse 16 assures me that concerning any of His special children, the Almighty God will roar out of Zion; He will alter His voice from Jerusalem. When we talk about earthquake coming from the Almighty God, earthquake can come in various forms: It could come with the shaking of the ground. It can come with the shaking of the whole system. And I am believing God that God is about to send an earthquake to someone tonight. I will give you an example that you will remember. One of our children – he is someone you know by the time I tell the story – refused to compromise in his place of work. So, all…, he happen to be a military man; …so, all the Officers above him decided – they decided – the best thing they need to do is get rid of this boy. So, even though he was not due for retirement, they decide to retire him. They wrote a letter of retirement and gave it to him and he came (it was Friday night). He came to the Holy Ghost service and say Lord, this is the letter I have received for being faithful to You; the rest is up to You. That was Friday night. By Monday morning, superior Officers had met and all the Officers that recommended the retirement of this young man were all retired and he was promoted ahead of them. Incidentally, there was a word of knowledge that night that said that ‘there is someone here, the people above you have made up their mind to end your career but long after they are gone, you will still be rising’ He had the word of knowledge and say God, you mean you have already read my letter. By Monday, the miracle had already happen. There is someone here today too, before Monday; your first big surprise will come. But I want you to rise on your feet and pray your first prayer and pray it with all your heart. Lift your voice to the Almighty God and say: Father, whatever You have to shake in order to solve my problem, shake it tonight. Go ahead talk to the Almighty. If You have to shake the heavens, shake the heavens; if You have to shake the earth, shake the earth; if You have to shake the establishment, shake the establishment; whatever You have to shake Lord to solve my problem, shake it tonight. Shake whatever You have to shake tonight O Lord to make sure that You solve my problems. If You have to shake the heavens, shake the heavens; if You have to shake the earth, shake the earth; if You have to shake the establishment, shake the establishment; whatever You have to shake in order to meet my needs, Lord God Almighty shake it tonight; shake it tonight; shake it tonight. Anything You have to shake Lord, in order to meet my needs, do the shaking tonight; do the shaking tonight; shake it tonight Father, that Your name might be glorify. Thank You Father. In Jesus mighty name we have prayed. So shall it be in Jesus’ name. Please be seated. Number 2) If you qualify to God Abba Father, then nobody can stop you. Every child that God considers my beloveth child in whom I AM well pleased: you can hold them but you won’t be able to keep them. In Mathew 28 verse 4 – there were keepers outside the tomb of Jesus Christ. The enemies make sure that if by any means He managed to escape from the grave, the Keepers will arrest Him. But the Bible says, on that resurrection morning, the Keepers shook and fainted – they were like dead men – the earthquake knocks them out. In Colossians chapter 2 verse 15, the Bible says Jesus spoiled the principalities and powers and made a shew of them openly. All those who thought they are going to hold Him down, He destroyed them; He made the shew of them openly. In Acts chapter 16 verse 27 in the case of Paul the Apostle, the Bible said, if Paul had not intervened the jailer would have killed himself. The one that was supposed to keep him save would have committed suicide. Why? Hebrews chapter 12 verse 29 says our God is a Consuming fire. When God arises for His special son, special child, anybody who tries to stand in the way, will be consume by fire. You will remember you heard some testimonies tonight, beautiful testimony: of a child that was kidnapped; and when they heard that she is a member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, they returned her. Some of you will remember - those of who are fairly old; you will remember the story of a lady who after the Convention was going to Abeokuta and got into a bus not knowing that it was a kidnapper’s bus. And they took her into the jungle and they are already shavering her hair off when she began to speak in tongues. And as she began to speak in tongues, the high priest who was in charge of killing people and she has seen a lot of people being killed; came out: who is the one here disturbing us? In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, from now on, when you pray, the enemy will be disturbed. And they carried her right back to where they picked her up. I want you to stand on your feet; you are going to pray this second prayer – it is necessary at a time like this; say: Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, anyone trying to hold me down, show them that You are the Consuming fire. Open your mouth and pray. Anyone trying to hold me down, show them that You are the Consuming fire. Anyone in anyway whatsoever trying to hinder me, trying to hold me down, please Daddy, show them that You are the Consuming fire; let them realize that I belong to You; let them realize that You are my Father. Anyone trying to hold down, show them that You are the Consuming fire; show them that You are the Consuming fire; show them that You are the Consuming fire. Anytime, anyone else trying to hold me down, Father, show them that You are the Consuming fire; let Your fire fall; let Your fire fall; let Your fire fall. Thank You Father. Glory be to Your holy name. In Jesus mighty name we have prayed. So shall it be in Jesus’ name. Number 3) When He looks down and sees you as one of His beloveth sons or daughters; He will turn your enemies to your servants. In Psalm 110 verse 1… Haa thank You Father. The Lord asks me to tell someone here tonight, He said, I will turn that bad news to good news. Thank You Daddy. The Lord said there is someone listening to me (I believe is here; it might be in viewing centers) He simply said I should let you know, I will heal you. In Psalm 110 verse 1, He said to the Lord Jesus Christ, sit down at my right hand, till have make your enemies Your footstool. In Ephesians chapter 1 verse 20 to 22, the Bible says, He raised Jesus Christ far above principalities and powers. He put all things under His feet. In Acts 16 verse… (that one is for Jesus Christ); …in Acts 16 verse 33 to 34 (concerning Paul the Apostle – because you can relate to Paul the apostle), the very man who was the Jailer – the one who was supposed to oversee the imprisonment became his servant: washing his wound; preparing food for him. In 2Samuel chapter 22 verse 45 to 49 – it is written, strangers shall submit themselves to me: … Is that for you? …as soon as they hear, they shall be obedient unto me. That is written for me. I don’t know about you. There is nothing as sweet as God turning your enemies to your servant. If He kills them, they won’t even see you when you are in your glory. That’s why I like what David said, thou prepareth a table before me in the presence of my enemy. I think it will be better if my enemies will be the one who will carry the washing water for me to wash my hands. When I finish eating, let them go and wash the plates. You know the story; maybe there is one aspect of it you don’t know. You remember the story of a woman in a town in Osun State – wealthy woman; her house right in the center of the town. As she sat down to eat; she wanted to eat pounded yam and out of nowhere, a frog just came and jumped on the bowl of pounded yam. Haa! where is this frog coming from? And she tried to smash it, drive it away from the pounded yam, the thing jumped in the bowl of stew. So, the woman said alright, if I am not going to eat this pounded yam, neither will you. So, she took the bowl of pounded yam and slammed it on the bowl of stew burying the frog (at least she thought so). After sometime thinking that by now the frog will have being suffocated to death. She opened the bowl to discover that there was no frog. But from that day onward, she began to cough and I mean the kind of cough that she was coughing she will be urinating. She went everywhere; Doctors tried everything they could do; she just kept on coughing. And then one day, by the special grace of God, we went to that town to hold a programme. She gave her life to Jesus Christ and from that day onward coughing ceased; and she began to sleep – she has not being able sleep for almost two years. And then all of a sudden, a woman came to her and said, how did you get deliverance? – because the demon I send to you had no cure and when it left you it has come to me. Every attack of the enemy against you will back to sender. So the lady told her I gave my life to Jesus. She said please show me the way. And she too gave her life to Jesus Christ and God set her free. Now, the beauty of the story is that the next convention when that woman in the big story building was coming to the convention, it was the lady that sent the demon that carried her bag. Stand on your feet; lift your voice to the Almighty God loud and clear and say: Father, in Jesus mighty name, let all my enemies become my servants. Open your mouth and cry to the Almighty God. All my enemies, let them become my servants. Let all my enemies, my Father and my God, become my servants; all of them let them become my servants, so that they will be able to know that You are the Almighty. You said You will make my enemies my footstool, fulfill Your promise O Lord; fulfill Your promise O Lord; fulfill Your promise O Lord. Thank You Father. Thank You Father. In Jesus mighty name we have prayed. Amen. So shall it be in Jesus’ name. Please be seated. Number 4) If you are one of His beloveth, He will see to it that you fulfill your destiny irrespective of what the enemy my do. In Acts chapter 4 verse 8 to 12 – Peter was talking and he said to the people: he said, Jesus whom you crucified is the One God has raised from the dead and is the One who has just performed the miracle on this lamed man. By the time they were crucifying the son in whom God was well pleased; they thought that His destiny had come to an end. They killed Him; they buried Him; but God raise Him from the dead and the miracles continue. The Bible says in 1Corithians chapter 2 verse 7 to 8 says, had they known, they would not have crucified the King of glory. If they had known that they dying of Jesus Christ is going to lead to world evangelization, they probably would have left Him alone just in Israel. In Acts chapter 16 in the case of Paul the apostle (Acts 16 verse 35 to 39), after the earthquake shook the place; the people who put Paul and Silas in prison sent and said you can tell them to go. Paul said no no, they jailed me without trial, let them come and get me out of here on their own. The enemy came and begged him: please sir, go on with your ministry - they came to beg. In Psalm 33 verse 10 to 11, the Bible says God bring the counsel of the heathen to not but His own counsel shall stand. There might be some of you who have been going through all manners of persecution from people who are even close to you; and you are in a situation where you are no longer even sure whether you will be able to fulfill your destiny or not; I have good news for you, the God of Joseph is still on His throne. The brother of Joseph sold him into slavery, they said, let us see how his dream can ever come to pass! But at the end of the day, they came and bowed down to him. I will tell you a story, true story that I will camouflage it so you won’t be able to know the fellow concerned. But I know one young man, happens to be the youngest son in the family. The father had two wives and first wife had the first son; this boy was born by the second wife. For one reason or the other, the first son hated this young fellow very badly. And there was an occasion when he made up his mind to kill the boy; but somehow, somehow as they say in colloquial English; the boy escapes death. Years passed, the small boy became who God wanted him to be. And then he decided to visit that first brother and he told him from now on, on a monthly basis I will be feeding you; and the older brother began to cry because he remembered, if he had the opportunity, he would have kill this boy. I want you to stand on your feet and tell the Almighty and say: Father, it does not matter what the enemy may be planning, let me fulfill my destiny. Open your mouth and cry to Him because you don’t even know who the enemies are; they might be your relations; they might be those who are very close. Let me fulfill my destiny, it does not matter what the enemy may be planning, just let me fulfill my destiny. Let me fulfill my destiny. I don’t know who they are, who might be planning against me; they have their plans, some of them have perfected the plan but Lord in spite of all of them, Abba Father, let me fulfill my destiny, let me fulfill my destiny; let me fulfill my destiny. O yes Almighty God, let me fulfill my destiny. Thank You my Father. In Jesus mighty name we have prayed. So shall it be in Jesus’ name. Please be seated. Number 5) When you are one of His beloveth children, He can perform not just special miracles for you but special miracles through you. And I am sure some of us will like that one very much because I know there are some of us who will be delighted if God will use us to make the lame to walk, to make the blind to see and to raise the dead. You see, when you listen to some of these testimonies, you need to put yourself in the picture to get the full impact of the testimony. Imagine yourself being a Pastor, you are in church, you are preaching, everything is going fine, people are singing, and right there is the congregation somebody was dead; imagine how you will feel when all of a sudden that you discover one member of your congregation had been dead for two hours. And then imagine how you will feel when by the time you lay the handkerchief on the fellow, the fellow jumps back to life. There are some testimonies you cannot really describe the scenery unless somebody will put himself in that situation. I have good news for somebody here today; very soon God will be performing special miracles through you. I have told you before, the first time I saw God performing special miracles through me, it was at Ilesha, I was visiting…, I had just been General Overseer; …I was visiting and the woman brought a child, she has never spoken in all her life – the child had not spoken a word – she must be about ten years or so of age. And they brought the child for prayer. I was going to pray, expecting that: well, when after I have prayed I would say, okay, go on believing God, very soon we will see result. But as I said in the name of Jesus, the girl said amen. I nearly jumped out of the window. A miracle that will surprise you will happen through you very soon. If you qualify to call God Abba Father, He can perform special miracles through you. In Mark chapter 5 verse 25 to 34, the Bible tells us that the woman with issue of blood just touch the hem of the garment of Jesus, that was all she did and she got her healing. And Mark chapter 6 verse 56, the Bible said as many as touched Him – as many as touched the hem of His garment, they were made whole. In the case of Apostle Paul who is closer home to us, in Acts chapter 19 verse 11 to 12, the Bible said that God perform special miracles by the hand of Paul so that through his handkerchiefs and aprons the sick were healed; and devil saw the handkerchiefs coming and they ran. I am believing God that everyone of you will become a vessel unto honour in God’s hands. How many of these stories can I tell you? You have heard so many testimonies; you have heard about the handkerchiefs that the Almighty God had been using etcetera etcetera. Maybe I will just remind you of one; some of you have probably have heard it before. I was visiting one of our University for a program and that day it rained very heavily; that programme was supposed to start by five, the rain began by four; but the student refuse to move and stay there. And by the time I came on by 6:00pm the rain was still on – they wanted to bring me an umbrella, I said I don’t need an umbrella, let the rain beat all of us. But none of the student left. I did not know they had a plan – I am not asking you to carry out a similar plan tonight – as soon as we finished, they took the chair I sat on and broke into a little piece so the each student will get one little bit, one little bit. And from the testimonies we heard; one of the testimonies we heard was that: one of the student had a sister who had been absolutely mad, I think for sixteen years; he took that little piece of the chair, went home, touch the sister with it and the sister came out of the madness as if somebody comes out of a sleep. She said, oh, I had a long bad dream! They said yes, long bad dream. They did not bother to tell her that the bad dream had lasted sixteen years. I want you to stand on your feet; lift you voice to the Almighty God and cry to Him and say: Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, use me also for Your glory. Open your mouth and cry unto Him. He can use you, He can use you; He can use you mightily for His glory; use me to perform special miracles. Use me to perform special miracles O Lord. Almighty God, use me to perform special miracles, special miracles; use me Lord; use me mightily for your glory. I don’t want to be ordinary Christian, I want to be mighty vessel unto honour in Your hands, Lord use me mightily for Your glory. Use me Lord, use me mightily for Your glory, use me mightily for Your glory; use me mightily for Your glory. Thank You my Father. Use me mightily for Your glory. Use me mightily, very very mightily for Your glory. Thank You Almighty God. In Jesus mighty name we have prayed. Amen. I want you to do something as an act of faith. I want you to touch two or three people by faith and say: receive a miracle now. Touch them! Touch them! Receive a miracle now. Through me, let God give you a miracle now. Receive a miracle now. Let us give God a big round over plus for that. Thank You Lord. And I hereby decree, this is the beginning of a miraculous ministry in your life. Please be seated. Thank You Father. Thank You Almighty God. The Almighty God says, there are surprises and there are surprises. He said those who said you are dying for good will receive a bad surprise this month. Let me say amen to this before I tell you. Because the Lord says there is someone here today, He said, I destined you for greatness and I have not change My mind. Thank You Father. Number 6) When you are a favourite son of God, He will protect those who are close to you for your own sake. In Mark chapter 4… Haa, thank You Father. Amen and amen The Lord says there is someone here tonight, He said your journey to top is not over yet. O my Daddy thank You The Lord ask me to tell someone, He said, this year, your home will be heaven on earth again. In Mark chapter 4 in verse 35 to 41 – Jesus Christ was with the disciples in the boat and there was storm; the boat was even full of water, they thought it was going to sink. They needed not to have worried because there was Jesus in the boat; and because He was in the boat, there is no way any danger could have come to those who are there with Him. In Philippians chapter 2 verse 9 to 11 – the Bible says God has given Him a name that is above every other name that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. That name is available for the use of those who are precious to Him; He does not need to use the name, He is already seated far above principalities and power. The name is for those of us who are precious to Him And then in Acts chapter 27 verse 21 to 25, the Bible said, there was a terrible storm for days everything was dark: no sunshine, no nothing; just one horrible storm. Then one night, an angel visited Paul and said to him, don’t worry Paul, you will reach your goal and all those who are with you on this boat. And the people who are with him on the boat! – they were criminals, they were murderers; horrible people; - God said because of you, I will spare them. So, I have given all those who are with you in the boat, you can have them; they can ride-on on your credit. On funny thing happen, I think it was the prophet or evangelist who told the story himself. We were travelling from London to Nigeria, himself and his wife was travelling in the same plane with myself. And as usual with me, as soon as I finish eating I fell asleep promptly. I can sleep standing up if I want to sleep not to talk of seating down. And then there was big turbulence (they told me later on when I woke up) that the plane was jumping up and down, jumping up and down; everybody became frightened. Then the Evangelist said, he looked in direction and saw that I was fast asleep; he turn to his wife and said: you don’t need to worry, Daddy G.O is sleeping, the plane is not going to crash. I want you to stand on your feet; lift your voice to the Almighty God; Pray this special prayer and say: Father, all those who are precious to me, because of me, keep sorrow away from them. Open your mouth and cry to the Almighty God. All those who are precious to me; all those whose sorrow can cause me sorrow, because of me, Father, keep sorrow away from them; keep sorrow away from them because of me. Anyone that will get into trouble and they will go and call me, don’t let the fellow get into trouble. All those who are close to me, those who are precious to me, my Father and my God, rather than them getting into trouble, because of me spare; spare them; spare them; spare them; because of me Almighty God spare them; spare them. All those who are close to me, my Father and my God, don’t let any evil befall them, don’t let evil come near them at all, so that their sorrow will not become my sorrow; so that their problem will not become my problem. Anyone closer to me, Father keep evil far away from them, keep sickness away from them, keep tragedy away from them, keep any problem far away from them; please Lord, because of me spare them; spare them. Thank You Father. So shall it be in Jesus mighty name. Please be seated. Finally point number 7) If you belong to Him, if you qualify to call Him Abba Father, He will help you to finish well. It is not how hard you try that will determine your success. It is not how hard; it is not how qualified you are that will enable you to finish well, it takes the grace of God; it takes the grace of God. In John 17 verse 1 to 5, Jesus Christ said, I have finished the work You gave me to do. And you must understand that a stage in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus Christ Himself said to the Father three times: Daddy all things are possible for You, I don’t want to drink this cup! But the grace of God kept on saying: ‘not My will but Thy will be done’. The Bible says at a stage, things got so bad that God had to send an angel from heaven to encourage Him: saying, eh en, you cannot come this far and fail. In 2Timothy chapter 4 verse 7 to 8, Paul said, I have finished well. The Bible said, the end of a thing is better than the beginning thereof (Ecclesiastes chapter 7 verse 8). My prayer for you is that you will finish well. Last month I was at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, to hold the Holy Ghost rally and then do one or two things. And I remembered an incident that happens way back in 1965. We went for the University games and before we left home, we had already enumerated the gold that we will bring back… Incidentally for your information, I had brought back gold on that occasion. But we had already mark certain people, I mean this one no doubt; this fellow, nobody can beat this fellow, this is gold no doubt. And there was this girl, she was the fastest thing you ever saw; so, we were sure she will come first, gold was settled. We got Ibadan during the preparatory to the final, she left everybody far behind. And then the time came for the final: on your mark, set, go She was gone. But when she was about ten meters from the finishing line she fell; she got up and fell; she got up and fell; and then she began to crawl towards the finishing line. In the main time, the fellow who would have been second came first; the one who would have been third, came second; the one who would have been come forth, had came third. If the only thing that you get from being a favourite child of God is finishing well, it is worth it. So, I want you to stand on your feet; I want you to lift your voice to God loud and clear and say: Father, whatever it will take, help me to finish well. Open your mouth and cry to the Almighty God. Please, Daddy, help me to finish well. Almighty God, help me to finish well. It is the end that is important, the end is important; the end of a thing is far far better than the beginning thereof. Lord let me finish well. Let me finish well. Lord, let me finish well. Let me finish well. Almighty God let me finish well. Thank You Father. Let me finish. Almighty God, let me finish well. Help me, let me finish well. Thank You Almighty God. In Jesus mighty name we have prayed. So shall it be in Jesus’ name. Please help prophesy to the fellow next to you: you shall finish well in Jesus’ name. And then you may be seated. Let me conclude so that we could have some more time to pray. What does Abba Father expect from a favourite child – what does he expect from me as a favourite child? Because I remember very well that one great man of God once said, Daddy G.O, how come God loves you so much? Are you the only one serving God? I am delighted to see that so many of you got up to join me when we are singing that song: ‘I am so glad, Jesus loves me’ Does He love you? But I am sure you know He loves me more than He loves you. I said to him, ask God; don’t ask me, ask God. But between you and I, what does He expect from a favourite child? Number one) Total obedience Isaiah chapter 1 verse 19 says, if you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land. 1Samuel chapter 15 verse 22 says: to obey is better than sacrifice. Just obey Him; obey Him; just obey Him. I am sure some of you have seen me do some funny things, because I just obeyed Him. I don’t care about what you think about me, I just want to obey Him; I want to obey my Daddy. He has asked me to dance round sick people before, I have done so just in obedience. He has asked me to wear seven agbadas before, I did so. You know all these; you are all there, you saw the results; I just obey Him. To obey is better than sacrifice. You want to be His favorite, obey Him. Now, you can only obey Him if you have totally surrendered to Him – Total surrender. Paul says in Philippians 1:21 I mentioned to you earlier on (Philippians 1:21), - for me to live is Christ, to die is gain. In living or in dying that is the meaning of surrender. When you say you surrender your life to Him that is what it means: you are saying Lord, from now on, whether I live or die, I am Yours – Total surrender Number three) There is a saying: ‘like father like son’. The Almighty expects you to be like Him – He is your Father, He wants people to see you and see God in you. 1John chapter 4 verse 17 - as He is, so are we in this world (that is in the Bible) We are His representatives; we are His ambassadors; people are supposed to see Christ in us. One child got excited after Sunday School and told his parent at home: I saw Jesus today; I saw Jesus today Where did you see Him? In the church. How do you He is Jesus? He helped me tied my shoes. Then they asked him to describe Jesus He describe the senior Pastor of the church. The boy saw Jesus in the Pastor because they have just thought them, Jesus washed the feet of the Apostles. And then, he did not know his shoes has loose And then, he saw an elderly man bending down helping him to tie his shoes and he say, I saw Jesus. The kind of Pastor who will tie the shoe for their member, I think that one qualifies to be mistaken for Jesus. Mathew 5:48 says, be ye perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect. If He is perfect in everything, you have to be perfect in obedience – that is all He wants from you – perfect obedience. In 1Peter chapter 1verse 15 to 16 says, be holy for I Am holy. The reason you wants to be holy is simply because you are the son of your Father. If you are truly the son of your Father, what you will not do in public, you won’t do it in private. You will practice what you preach. Whether anybody is watching you or not, you will still be holy child, the child of God holy, pure. I told you the story of time I travelled from London to Nigeria and there was somebody seating behind me, I did not know. And then, in first-class they were bringing drinks: One was orange; one was champagne; and one was combination of champagne and orange. Now, the combination of champagne and orange also look like orange; the fellow bringing it has to tell you this is a combination. I did not know somebody was behind me watching. They brought the drinks: Sir, champagne - I said no thanks. Champagne plus orange - no, thanks. Orange – yes, thank you. We got Ikeja as the plane was about to descend, then he touched me by the shoulder, how are you Pastor? He has been watching me from London; he wanted to find out maybe, if the Pastor in Nigeria is different from Pastor in the plane. The reason He wants you to be holy is because of Him not because of any other person. Number four) He expects you to declare Him without shame. Psalm 22 verse 22, David said, I will declare the Lord among my congregation; I will tell everybody this is my Daddy. I will boost of Him; I will tell all my brethren, my God is good, He is powerful; there is nothing He cannot do. Some of us cannot even open our mouth about the One will call Abba Father. In our place work we cannot talk about Him; in the buses we cannot talk about Him; in the market we cannot talk about; we want to only talk about Him in the church. Eh en! Declare me! tell everybody! Witness! Let them hear about me! And then of course, He wants you to be ever busy in His business; He wants you to be busy for Him. In Luke chapter 2 verse 49 – when the parent of Jesus Christ had been looking for Him for three days and then they find in Him in the temple; they said, haa, why have you done this? He said, I AM busy about my Father’s business. Why are you looking for me, I AM busy doing my Father’s business. Every one of us can do something for the Lord. Nobody is too big to serve the Lord. And there is always something in His house that you can do. Somebody clean the chair you sat on; why can’t it be you? Some cleans the toilet; why can’t it be you? I remember some years ago in one of the toilets. One fellow was talking to somebody who is cleaning the toilet and he was talking to him rudely: hey, you people, don’t you know who I am? The fellow said, sorry sir but who are you sir? He said, I am a manager in a bank. Oh! He said, I am very sorry sir but for your information, I am the Chairman of another bank. You are Manager! I am Chairman! I am here because I am working for my King. That is what your Father is expecting from you. That is what He is expecting fromyou. Ask them, they will tell you when we were filling the ground at Ebute Metta because the land we had at Ebute-metta was very small but we are by the Lagoon so we were claiming more land by using sawdust because there were sawmailers on or right, sawmailers on our left and did not know what to do with their sawdust, so we say we can help you. We are carrying the sawdust from them using it to chase the lagoon away. I was already a lecturer at the University of Lagos; I became born-again and I realize God as being so good to me, what can I do for Him? Every evening I will come…, ask the elders here, my basket is one of the biggest; …I will carry sawdust on my head. I remember on occasion, there was traffic going on in Oyingbo and one of my former students at the University of Lagos saw a car coming into the church, he thought that that fellow must know a short cut so he followed. When he came into the church compound he saw me with basket of sawdust on my head, he said, haa, oga! I said which oga? I am Oga at the University; before the one who saved my soul, I am just an ordinary person. How do I become His favorite son? : Total Obedience Total surrender Like father, like son Declare Him without shame Be ever busy for His business And I can assure He will answer your prayers and your surprises will begin very soon. Amen. So, I am going to give some prayer points now, so that you can come and talk to the Almighty God for just…, we still have plenty of time; …just about fifteen minutes. So, you want to write down your prayer points, so that you can talk to God. Number one of course is that you want to praise Him for even agreeing to be your Father. Thank Him for giving me an opportunity to be your son; and I know by Your grace I can call you Abba Father. Thank You for the privilege. And then number two you will say Father, let me be a worthy child of God never tarnishing Your image. Let me be a worthy child of God never tarnishing Your image. And then number three: Father, everything I need to serve You diligently, please give unto me. Everything in need: the health, the strength, the money, the wisdom, the anointing, everything I need to serve you diligently, please make available unto me. And then number four: say, Father, from now, please turn every obstacle in my way to stepping stones to glory. Number five: Father, this year, (in fact say this month) make away for me where there was no way before. This month make a way for me where there was no way before. Six: Father, please bring me out of all kinds of all prisons tonight: spiritual prisons, habitual prison (that is prison as a result of my habit), economy prison, bring me out of every prison tonight; I want to be free the way you brought Paul and Silas out, bring me out And finally: Father, because I am Your favourite child, let me laugh last. Let me laugh last. Joseph laugh last, let me laugh last. David laugh last, let me laugh last. Please Lord, let me laugh last. Those are the seven prayer points very quickly I give you fifteen minute. If you want to come to the altar you are welcome. If you want to seat down, you are welcome. You want to stand, you are welcome. Whichever way; but make sure you cry out to the Almighty God. That seven prayer points, if you pray each one for just two minutes that will be the fifteen minute. So, pray your heart out. Forget anybody to your right to your left, just cry to the Almighty God Thank You that I can call you Abba Father. Let me be a worthy child never tarnishing your image. My Father and my God, anything I need to serve You adequately, diligently, provide for me. Turn every obstacle to stepping stones. Make a way for me where there is no way before. Bring me out of all kinds of prisons tonight. Let me laugh last. Go ahead talk to the Almighty God. In Jesus mighty name we have prayed. I want you to please stand and join hands with your neighbours. The Bible says since the days of John the baptize, the kingdom of sufereth violence and the violence ones taken it by force. You need to pray one or two violence prayer now. Lift your voice to the Almighty God loud and clear and say: Father, anyone trying to block the way of my neighbour, wipe them out. Cry to the Almighty God. If they don’t change; if they don’t repent, if they try to stand in the way of my neighbour, remove them. Anyone trying to block the way of my neighbour, if they don’t change, if they don’t repent, wipe them out; wipe them out. Thank You Jesus. ****Speaking in the Spirit****. Thank You Father. In Jesus mighty name we have prayed. One more You will lift your voice to the Almighty and say: Father, any yoke may remain in the life of my neighbour, let Your fire consume. Open your mouth and pray. Any yoke that may remain in the life of my neighbour, let Your fire come down and consume it now. You are the Consuming fire Lord, any yoke, every yoke, that may be in the life of any of these Your children, let Your fire consume; let Your fire consume; let Your fire consume; let Your fire consume; let Your fire consume; let . Open your mouth and pray. Any yoke that may remain in the life of my neighbour let Your fire come down and consume it now. You are the Consuming fire Lord, any yoke, every yoke, that may be in the life of any of these Your children, let Your fire consume; let Your fire consume; let Your fire consume; let Your fire consume; let Your fire consume; let Your fire consume. Thank You Father. Thank You Jesus. In Jesus mighty name we have prayed. Now, lift your hands to the Almighty even as I pray for you. Daddy I want to thank You for this evening. Thank You for salvation of souls; thank You for the people You promise to heal; thank You because I know some of them are already heal; thank You for the testimonies; please accept our thanks in Jesus’ name. In Your name my Father and my God, I hereby decree that the lives of all of these Your children will only bring glory to Your name. I decree that nothing again in their actions, in their ways of life, will never bring tarnish to Your name. I pray that every one of us from now will become worthy children of God that Your light will shine through us in Jesus’ name. Father I decree that every obstacle in the way of these Your children will become stepping stone to glory; that this month in particular where there had been no way before, ways will open to Your children. And if there are any of them in any form of bondage, any form of prison: physical, spiritual, financial, marital, or otherwise, bring them out tonight. My Father and my God You are my Daddy, I know I can call You Daddy by Your grace, so, I have a very special request for all Your children who are here tonight, let them laugh last. In every situation of their life, let them laugh last. Oh my Father and my God, I am not only asking them to laugh last, I want their laughter to begin now. By the time the sun is rising, let them here good news. Let this month be a month of special surprises and let them serve You. Everything they need to serve You give unto them. Give them good health; give them strength; give them anointing; prosper them; open doors unto them. My Father and my God, by the time they meet next month for the special Holy Ghost service, everyone of these Your children, let them sing a new song. In Jesus mighty name we have prayed. Amen. Let somebody shout hallelujah. If you have been blessed tonight let me hear you shout a really big hallelujah.
Pastor E. A. Adeboye
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