RCCG October 2017 Holy Ghost Service – Agent of Transformation
Date: October 6, 2017
Topic: Agent of Transformation
Venue: 3km by 3km NewAuditorium, Simawa, Km 46, Lagos-Ibadan Express Way, Ogun State
Praise and Worship Holy Ghost Service October 2017 – Agent of Transformation
TALK 2
Ministering: Pastor E.A Adeboye
Topic: Agent of Transformation
TOPIC: Agent of Transformation
Message:
Thank You Father.
Hallelujah
Let us lift our hands to hands to the most High God and bless His holy name.
Let us praise the King of kings, the Lord of lords; the Ancient of days
Bless Him, He is worthy to be praised, He is worthy to be adored; magnified His holy name.
There is no one like Him
Praise Him
Give Him glory, give Him honour; give Him adoration
Bless His holy name
Bless His holy name.
Worship Him
Worship the Ancient of days; magnify His holy name
Thank You Father
Thank You Lord Jesus
Glory be to Your holy name
Thank You Father
In Jesus mighty name we worshipped.
I want you to lift your voice to Him and say, Father, speak to me tonight.
Go ahead talk to the Almighty God.
Just speak to me Lord; I know if I hear from You my life will be transformed; if you speak to me, I will become an agent of transformation, Father, speak to me tonight; speak to me tonight. Speak to every one of us tonight – speak to the young, speak to the old, speak to children, speak to elders; speak to everyone of us Lord, speak to us. Speak to me O Lord. Thank You. Thank You Father.
In Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
Worthy worthy is the Lamb
Worthy worthy is the Lamb
Worthy worthy is the Lamb
That was slain.
(Glory)
Glory hallelujah
Glory hallelujah
Glory hallelujah
Praise the Lord.
(Worthy)
Worthy worthy is the Lamb
Worthy worthy is the Lamb
Worthy worthy is the Lamb
That was slain.
(Glory)
Glory hallelujah
Glory hallelujah
Glory hallelujah
Praise the Lord.
(Jesus)
Jesus Jesus is the Lamb
Jesus Jesus is the Lamb
Jesus Jesus is the Lamb
That was slain.
(Glory)
Glory hallelujah
Glory hallelujah
Glory hallelujah
Praise the Lord.
Ancient of days we worship You; the Alpha and the Omega, the One who never grows old, we bow before You. The God of the youth, the God of the young adult, the God of the elders, we worship You, Father, accept our thanks in Jesus’ name.
We thank You for our youths, we thank You for the young adults and we thank You for the elders also, please accept our thanks in Jesus’ name. Thank You for the wonderful testimonies that we heard, thank You for proving that You are still the Miracle working God – healing, setting captives free, making the barren fruitful, turning sorrow to joy – accept our worship in Jesus’ name. Father, have mercy on Nigeria; have mercy on our families; have mercy on us as individuals; have mercy on Your church and please tonight speak to all of us; save souls tonight; heal the sick; set the captives free; let every one of us have testimonies this month.
In Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
Let somebody shout hallelujah.
Shake hands with one or two people and tell him or her: you will hear from God tonight.
And then you may please be seated.
I will just go straight to my own sections because they have done so well.
They practically had preached all my sermons..,
please Engineers the choir they are clapping for you, they are saying you have been very good tonight, continue to be good to them;
…my own text is slightly different from their own and they have taken some fantastic text from: let your light shine, etcetera etcetera
My own text is taking from Isaiah chapter 6 verse 8:
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, here am I; send me.
Now, as usual, my sermon will be broken into two parts.
First part – I want to talk to those who are yet to surrender their lives to Jesus; those who are yet to be born again so that they won’t miss the blessings of tonight.
My children have already given you the definition of transformation, so, there is no need for me to waste time on that.
Transformation simply means you change a form
I mean if you read Genesis 2:7, God formed man; so, we were formed.
If you read the entire Genesis chapter 1 and 2, you will see He formed the animals.
We are talking about transform: change form, change what was originally there.
Now, the greatest transformation is to change an animal to man.
You can’t find the greater transformation than that.
And I have told you before, but because some of us might be coming for the first time that as far as God is concern all human beings are in two categories: Dogs and Children
Matthew 15 verse 21 to 28: it tells us the story of a woman who came to Jesus Christ asking for help and Jesus said to her finally, I cannot give the bread of children to dogs.
There are two categories of human beings – Children and Dogs.
Now, who are and who can we put in this category of dogs
Revelation 22 verse 15: He listed the people who are the same class as dogs:
Sorcerers: sorcerers mean witches and wizards. I am sure nobody would want to belong to that class.
Whoremongers: that is another to combine adulterers and adulteresses; fornicators, etcetera etcetera.
Murderers: you will be amazed the Bible says, if you hate your neighbours, you are as good as haters.
Idolaters: an idolater is someone in whose life God is not number one. If there is something more important to you than God, you are an idolater because whatever is number one in your life is what you will worship.
And then the last people in the group of dogs will shock you
He says whosoever loveth and maketh a lie: the crucial point there is ‘a lie’ not many lies.
He is saying, if you have ever told a single lie, you are in the categories of dogs – that is a very serious business.
Because practically everybody before you became born again you have told lies, not even one – black lies, white lies, business lies.
Somebody came to you and wanted to buy something and he was bargaining with you and he said let me pay hundred naira and you said, haa, I bought it myself for one hundred and ten when actually you bought it for fifty – you called it business lies.
He said if you have ever told a lie and you have not yet given your life to Jesus Christ after that you are in the same category as a dog – very frightening.
And then who are those in the categories of children?
1John chapter 3 verse 10 – if you do righteousness, you are of God; if you don’t do righteousness you are not of God.
If you are child of God the Bible says, he that is born of God does not sin. It says he cannot even do so because the seed of God is in him.
There is something called seed, something inside a creature that determines his or her actions.
For example, there is nothing you can do to a goat to make it eat meat.
Have you ever see a goat eating meat before?
Impossible
Because the seed in him, in the goat, does not eat meat; he can only eat grass, vegetables.
When you are a true child of God, there is something in you that cause sin to be repellent to you; you don’t want to sin!
There is something in you that make it extremely difficult for you to lie.
If you tell a lie no matter how white you call it, you won’t be able to rest.
Because there is a seed in you now that says, you are a child of God, children of God don’t lie.
If I stop there now and make altar call you know many of us should come forward because there are some of us who think we are saved, we still lied this week.
You cannot even; the Spirit of God in you cannot even let you get away with a white lie.
I have told you the story before: I went to Ilesha and came back to Lagos and I went to see my-father-in-the-Lord.
On my way to see my-father-in-the-Lord driving through Surulere, I remembered, you don’t to a man of God empty handed.
So, I saw where there are selling oranges by the road side and I bought oranges, I took it to my-father-in-the-Lord.
As soon as I got there, you are welcome my son; he got somebody to peel one of the oranges for him.
As he was sucking the orange and say, haa, the orange is sweet.
He said, you bought it on the road?
I know the question is you bought from the road coming from Ilesha to Lagos?
The question came so quickly, so I said yes sir.
As soon as I said yes sir, the Spirit of God said, you have lied – you bought it in Surulere.
I said, ehen, it is road side of Surulere.
The Spirit of God said, no, no, correct yourself.
I said, God, what different does it make, the orange is sweet and road is road.
The Spirit of God won’t let me rest until I say Papa, he said yes my son.
You asked a question just now?
He said yes.
I said, I did not buy that orange on the road coming from Ilesha, I bought it road side of Surulere.
You know what my-father-in-the-Lord said?
He said, hmmm, Holy Spirit.
If you are born of God, there is a seed in you, a seed of God that will not enable you to do what is contrary to the will of God.
Now, the news is this, God can transform humans to animals and animals to human.
You don’t believe me read Daniel chapter 4 from verse 28 to 37, He change a king to animal for seven years.
Suddenly the seed of a cow enter into a king and he began to eat grass in public.
I heard of one evangelist somewhere is Africa who was asking his congregation to eat grass.
I said haa and they are eating?
I said God have mercy.
The only one I know who was eating grass like that is somebody who fell out with God.
But after seven years, the same God took this animal who was eating grass and changed him back to a man and put him back on his throne.
John chapter 1 verse 11 to 12 said He came unto His own, His own receives Him not but to as many as received Him to them gave he power to become sons of God.
He can change a dog to a son.
That is He is the greatest of all transformer – He can change a dog to a son.
I mean if you read Luke chapter 19 from verse 1 to 10, it tells you the story of Zacchaeus, among dogs he was a dog.
When Jesus decided to go to his house, everybody said, haha, He is going to the house of a sinner – sinners were calling him a sinner.
But before the day was over, he was a son.
In John 6 verse 37, Jesus made a promise, He says anyone who will come to Him, He will no wise cast out.
He does not matter how bad you had been, He can change a dog to a son.
You heard the testimony of my son from the north.
He told you how terrible he used to be and now see what God has turned him to be.
I just rejoice, there goes somebody like me.
And if I tell my own story; you know when we give testimonies we never want to give the real one we just tell the beautiful one.
When somebody just come and say I thank God for the salvation of my soul, I looked at you.
How I love to hear what you were like before you met the Lord Jesus Christ.
So, that is why you need to know the meaning of 2Corithians chapter 5 verse 17 says if there is any man be in Christ, he is a new creature – completely new; different; changed from inside-out.
And so if you are here tonight and from the little I have said, you know deep within you: I think I still belong to the categories of dogs but I want to become a child of God;
If you really mean it and you are ready to say bye to your various ways of the past and you determined God helping you to begin to live like children of God in whose seed of is, you have an opportunity now to come forward and give your life to Jesus Christ and I will pray for the salvation of your soul.
I am going to count from one to twelve because of the crowd in the old auditorium.
But before I say twelve you must already be standing before the altar so that I can pray for the salvation for your soul.
If you delay we will go ahead and know that may be you still want the category you belong to and you don’t want to change.
So, both here and the old arena and in all the viewing centres all of the world, if you want to leave the categories of dogs and moves to the categories of sons and daughters of God begin to come now as I count.
One,
And those of you who are clapping, I hope you are clapping for Jesus, so you better do it very well.
Two, three,
He that is born of God does not commit sin because the seed of God in him; the seed of God, the seed of the holy One of Israel is in him/in her; sin become repugnant to him or her, come and give your life to Jesus, stop pretending.
Four, five, six,
As you come begin to cry to Jesus Christ asking Him for mercy, asking Him to save your soul, asking Him to transform you.
Seven, eight, nine,
And I hope those in the old auditorium you are moving towards the altar, there are men of God there ready to attend to you too even as I will be praying for every one of you.
Keep coming, keep coming.
Ten, eleven
Thank You Father.
Amen.
Now, those of you who are already in front and those of you who are on the way cry to God: Lord have mercy on me, save my soul, forgive all my sins, make me a new brand new creature, I want to be a child of God – a true child of God with Your seed in me; save my soul O Lord and I will serve You for the rest of my life.
The rest of us let us stretch our hands towards these people and intercede for them for a minute or two that the Almighty God who saved your soul, who turned you to a brand new creature will do the same thing for them. Pray for them brethren. Pray for the sisters and brothers. Pray for them and then Counselors both here and the old arena kindly move towards these people. Counselors in all the viewing centers please move towards our new brothers and sisters.
Let us pray for them for another one minute: pray that the Almighty God will forgive them and wipe away all their sins and give them a heart that is from God, a heart that want do only those things that are pleasing to God. Let us pray for them for another thirty seconds. Thank You Father.
In Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
My Father and my God I just want to say thank You for Your word. Thank You because Your word is true: You said, no man can come to Me except My Father draws him; thank You for drawing these people and thank You they have not refused Your drawing; they have come to You now Father, please receive them, forgive all their sins, save their souls, write their names in the Book of Life, and please Lord God Almighty, deposit your seed in them, don’t let them ever go back into the word and let them serve You till the very end.
In Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
Amen.
Praise the Lord.
Now, I want to rejoice with those of you who have come forward tonight because from now on by God’s grace I will be praying for you.
So, I am going to need your names, your address and your prayer request.
Counselors will give you a card which I want you to fill very quickly; we will wait for you till you finish before we continue.
Fill the card and give it back to the counselors and then you can go back to your seat.
God bless you.
The Almighty God that changes so many dogs to sons, I think we should give Him a great clap offering and a mighty shout of hallelujah.
Now, God is the great transformer, He transformed darkness to light just by speak: Genesis chapter 1 verse 3 – let there be light and immediately there was light.
He change sickness to permanent health: Exodus 15 verse 26 – He said you obey Me, I won’t even allow you to be sick, that was what He said; He said, because I AM the God that healeth thee.
He can change bondage to freedom.
Why?
Because He is the Lord of host: there is no captor that won’t let you go when God speaks.
That is why the Bible says is John 8:36, whosoever the Son shall set free shall be free indeed.
He can change storm to absolute peace.
Why?
Because according to mark chapter 4 verse 35 to 41, the wind and the sea obey Him
Why?
He Himself is the Prince of peace.
He can change tears to joy.
In Revelation 21 verse 4, He said, God will wipe away all tears from their eyes.
I believe God for someone here today, you will never weep again.
So, God is the great transformer; but He loves to use man as an agent.
You see when He made heaven and earth, the animals…, He did not call anybody to come and help Him
I mean you read Genesis chapter 1 from verse 1 to 25 – He just kept on saying let there be fish, let there be birds, let there be animals… and everything just came.
But then something happen in Genesis chapter 1 (just like one of my children pointed out) from verse 26 to 28 (Genesis 1 verse 26 to 28), God decided to create something new; something called a man, made in His own image, in His own likeness.
From that moment onward, He said alright in the rest of my activities, let man participate.
I mean Genesis chapter 2 verse 19 to 20, He has finished created everything but He said have not named them, Adam, go ahead you name them and whatever name you called them that is the name they shall bear.
The moment He created man, He wanted man to become an agent.
There are other examples (one of my sons mentioned one): in the case of Moses in Exodus chapter 3 verse 1 to 15 (when you get home, read it).
When God was speaking to Moses, He said, oh, I have seen the sufferings of my people in Egypt, etcetera etcetera; He said, I have come down to deliver them.
Moses was happy
But the next thing God said is, now, Moses, you go and do it.
Haa!
Moses said, I thought you said you have come down to set them free?
Why are you asking me to go and do what only God can do?
How can I do it?
And God said don’t worry I will be with you.
I pray for someone here today for the rest of your life, wherever you go, God will be with you.
And then we see another in Exodus 14, you can read it from verse 13 to 28 (Exodus 14:13 to 28), God said to Moses, Moses was praying, the children of Israel were by the red sea: God we are in trouble, what are we going to do?
God said, why are you crying to me?
You are here! You want to cross! Yes! Lift up your hand against the red sea – you do it!
Don’t forget I have told you I will be with you, so lift up your hand.
As soon as Moses lifted up his hand, the wind of God began to blow and before you knew it there was a wind in the sea.
Do you know I believe very deeply in my heart that beginning from now the moment you lift your hand, there will be away where there was no way.
I don’t want to tell too many stories tonight but I will tell some.
I have told you, some of you have heard it before
I became General Overseer in 1981, I went to visit my village and the whole village gathered to welcome me and at the end of the welcoming something as usual they now made a request:
Ifewara to Ife (Ile-ife) is only 8km but there is no road.
The 8km is when you go through the bush
Instead we have to travel more than 20km to Ilesha and then another 30-somethingkm to Ife.
So they said to me now you are a General Overseer…, I don’t know may be they thought the General Overseer has money, …we need road that will shorten our journey instead of this Israelite journey.
And by faith I said where is the direction you want it and they showed me the direction and I lifted up my hands: Lord, let there be a road.
Six month later, the Federal Government out of nowhere decided to construct a road.
Today, in the Name that is above every other name I lift my hand to all of you and I say where there is no way before, now there will be a way.
Or take the case of Elijah that is another example of God using human being as agent.
In 1Kings chapter 18 you can read it from verse 1 to 45 (1Kings 18 verse 1 to 45), God spoke to Elijah, go and show yourself to Ahab because I want to send rain.
God said it I want to send rain but for the rain to fall Elijah you have to participate and you know the rest of the story; Elijah went and there was this drama on Mount Carmel and the rain fell.
Or you can take a young man called Philip in Acts of the Apostles chapter 8 verse 5 to 8, God made up His mind, I want to bring joy to Samaria and He grabbed Philip: young man I want to bring joy to Samaria, you go and do it.
I was thrilled when the last preacher was preaching and he was giving a catalog of problems we have, I thought he was going to stop short but thank God he is my true son
Glory be to God.
Because in Mathematics, the first thing you do is you identify the problem and then you proffer the solution.
Haa! Unless we want to deceive ourselves, we have problems in Nigeria.
I mean, kidnappers are no longer kidnapping ordinary people now, there are kidnapping Policemen.
(Laugh) Not ordinary Policemen, top Policemen
So, don’t tell me we don’t have problems
But there is a solution and the solutions are those who are listening to me right now; because by the time you leave here in the Name that is above every other name, where there was no way before they will be away.
So, Philip came to Samaria, preached Christ to them and there was great joy in the city.
In all your cities, those of you in Nigeria; in all your cities, those of you who are listening to me all over the world, very soon there will be great joy.
Now, why make man an agent?
I nearly jump out of my seat when I heard one of my boys talking about catalyst; I say wait a minute, this boy saw my note.
Because the reason God makes man an agent is because there are certain catalyst that God must have to bring about transformation.
And you know he described a catalyst, he gave the scientific definition: something that will cause chemical reaction to be speeded up, etcetera; – beautiful definition.
It is just that there are some of us who don’t know chemistry.
So, what is a catalyst?
I will give an example so that even the make women will understand.
When you want to cook beans…,
at least in my village but I don’t know may be they don’t do something like that in Lagos; you know we have some sciences in the villages too;
…and you are hungry, you want the beans to cook fast, you get nails, brand new nails or nails you have been using before, you will wash the nails very clean, add it to the beans, set fire on the whole thing, within fifteen minutes at the latest your beans is soft.
And then you remove the nails unless you are nail eater and eat your beans.
The nails are a catalyst; they speed up the process of change.
If you have not tried the method before try it at home, you will be amazed.
We use it for beans; we use it for stuck fish; we use it for anything that is hard that we want it to be soft very quickly, just add nails.
I don’t know the physics of it but just put nails.
The Almighty God wants the human-cry for Him to speed up transformation.
Jeremiah 33 verse 3, He said, you call on Me, I will answer you and then show great and mighty things that you don’t even know.
I mean for example, 2Kings chapter 4 verse 1 to 7, there was this widow of one of the sons of the prophets, they were holy people – her husband was holy; herself was holy, – but the husband die in debt and creditors want to take away the sons.
Now the Almighty God was seating down in heaven, looking down on this poor woman and He did not pay her debt.
The One who says silver is Mine, gold is Mine, sat down in heaven and He did nothing.
The One whose name is Jehovah El-shaddai, the One who is more than enough, sat down in heaven did nothing.
Why?
He was waiting for the woman to cry to Him for help – waiting for catalyst.
How can God do that?
He sees all things; He knows my need; Afterall He said He will supply all my needs, He knows my need; why doesn’t He go ahead and supply?
Because He learned from experience that when you help human being without them asking for it, they will blame you.
You don’t believe me?
In Genesis chapter 2 verse 18 to 25, God Himself said, look at Adam, he is very lonely, let me give him a wife and so God gave him a wife.
You know what follow in Genesis 3 verse 1 to 11, trouble came and God said Adam, why did you disobey me?
He said, God, when I was alone I didn’t disobey you and I didn’t ask you for a wife: the woman you gave me – You are the One who caused the trouble not me.
God say, is that so?
So He made up His mind: from now on anybody who does not ask Me won’t get anything.
James chapter 4 verse 2 (is there in your Bible – James 4 verse 2), He said, you have not because you ask not.
Some people says Pentecostals are very noisy people, I say thank you, that is why God answer our prayers so quickly; that is why we have so many miracles.
They say when you pray you don’t have to shout, God is not deaf!
I agree; but He is not nervous either.
Can’t I pray quietly, He can read my heart?
He did not say murmur, He say call on Me.
You can’t call with your mouth closed.
I told you a story before:
When I was very little an uncle of mine brought me a used lawn tennis ball; they have played the thing sote but it is bouncing and in the days when what we called football was rotten orange; to get tennis for your own ball that was something great.
So, I was kicking the thing all over the place.
Then one evening, my father was seating down in an armchair getting some fresh air and kicked my ball high and it landed on the roof of the house.
The roof of our house then was thatched roof
So, when the ball landed there, it just stays there.
Now, I just went to get a long stick
When I move back, because I was so little, when I move back I can see the ball but when I move close to the roof I cannot see the ball anymore.
So, I tried and tried I could not get the ball down – I will come back I will see the ball; I will come forward I won’t see the ball.
When I was tired, I went to my father, please, help me, my ball is on the roof.
He said, you saw me here, you thought you can do it, go ahead do it yourself.
I said, sorry, I cannot do it.
And he got up and with one little swing, he brought down my ball.
Stand on your feet; lift your voice to the Almighty God and say: Father, (I mean loud and clear) Father, hear my cry today, transform my situation.
Open your mouth and cry unto Him.
I cannot do it on my own help me, Father help me; hear my cry today. I have been trying using my own strength, You have been waiting for me to cry out to You, I am crying out to you now, Father, hear my cry, hear my cry tonight, hear my cry tonight; hear my cry, hear my cry Lord. You have been waiting for me to cry to You, now I am crying to You, Father, hear my cry; help me; help me; help me Lord; You are the great Transformer, I need help, I need help; help me today Lord; help me, help me, I am crying out to You now, hear my cry and help me, help me tonight, help me tonight; help me tonight, help me tonight. Thank You Jesus.
In Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
And so shall it be in Jesus’ name.
Please be seated.
I tell my friend abroad when they ask me: why do we have so many miracles in Africa and very few in the so called civilized world?
Simply because you have alternatives; when you have no other fellow to turn to other than God you will know how to pray.
You won’t pray the kind of prayer when you put your hand in your pocket and you say: O God, how are you doing up there?
No!
When you find yourself face-to-face with death and you go to the hospital and the Doctors are not there and when they are there, there are no drugs; and when there are drugs, you have no money to pay – you will know how to cry to God.
Let me hear somebody shout: help me Lord.
He will help you in Jesus’ name.
The second catalyst that only man can supply is faith in God.
Hebrews 11 verse 6 made it clear without faith it is impossible to please God.
Then He went on to say, those who come to Him must believe that He is.
You want transformation, God want you to show that you even know Him at all because faith in Him goes hand in hand with knowing Him.
In 1Kings chapter 18 verse 21…
Thank You Father.
The Lord asks me to tell someone that your confusion will end this month.
In 1Kings chapter 18 verse 21, Elijah asked the people if Jehovah is God serve Him; if Baal is god serve him.
Many people come to ask for God to perform a miracle and yet they don’t believe in Him.
He wants you to show that I know God.
Daniel 11 verse 32 says those who do know their God shall be strong and do exploits.
So, God want you to show that you believe Him by demonstrating your faith in Him.
Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 4 says, the just shall live by faith.
He said the same thing in Romans 1 verse 17, the just shall live by faith.
He said the same thing in Galatians chapter 3 verse 11, the just shall live by faith.
And He went further to say the same thing in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 38, the just shall live by faith.
Just like one of my friend said, there can be no transformation until you have faith in God.
When I became General overseer and the church began to grow and Ebute-metta became too small for us, we needed a camp ground;
So I got some of my elders together and together we fasted and prayed for days; at the end He spoke: He said, now that you have cried unto me for a camp ground, I will show you where it is.
And then He came and showed me this jungle, the headquarters of highway robbers.
How can God, of all places chose this place but I have my faith in Him.
When He says all is well; you can be sure all will be well.
And on behalf of Him I am saying to somebody today, all will be well with you.
So, you will notice in Matthew chapter 9 verse 27 to 30, He kept on asking those who ask Him to perform a miracle, He say, do you believe I can do this? Say it out with your mouth let me hear you.
They said, yes we believe.
He said, then, be it unto you according to your faith.
I mean when we talk about faith in God, He expects your faith to be like the faith of a child – almost child-like faith.
Matthew chapter 18 verse 3, the faith must be like that of a child.
My Sunday School teacher, God bless Him, Pastor Aderibigbe here, he was teaching me Sunday school and he said something that planted faith in me.
He gave an illustration: he says a child is standing on a story building and the father is downstairs and the child looks down and says papa shall I jump?
If the father says jump, the child will jump.
He says if you have that faith in human being, how much more the Almighty God.
From that day I had been jumping, I have not hit the ground yet.
And when I talk about childish faith, when I was preparing this sermon, suddenly I remember something that happen way back in 1962 and that time I was not even born again – childish faith.
I was teaching at a school in a town called Oke-Ogbo, early modern school, and we went on excursion; in those days we take student on excursion; we went on excursion to the east.
And one of the places we visited was University of Nigeria, Nsukka; and we arrived there on Sunday and it was lunched time for the student.
Those were glorious days and they allowed us to enter the dining hall, they did not give us food but we are allowed to enter; and I saw the food each student was carry: Jollof rice and half a chicken
Can you imagine?
They take a whole chicken, cut it into two and give to one student!
I came out of the dining hall…; and at that time the University was only two years old; all the building were shinning, everything just beautiful and then I saw that food
I came out of that dining hall, bent down and picked a pebble and I say next year I will come and drop this pebble as a student.
It is just an act of faith of a child: I say by the special grace of God I will come back, the following year I was a student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
God saw the faith of a child who picked up a pebble and say next year I will be back, I will bring this pebble back and he honoured my faith.
Stand on your feet; cry to the Almighty God and say: Father, I believe in You, please honour my faith.
Go ahead, cry unto the Almighty God.
I believe in You, I believe You can do anything, I believe You can heal the sick, I believe You can set the captive free, I believe You can prosper the poor, I believe You can give the barren triplet, I believe in You, honour my faith O Lord, please honour my faith tonight. I believe You can take me to the top, O yes Lord I believe; I believe You can make my joy full believe Lord, please honour my faith. I believe there is nothing you cannot do, I believe Lord, honour my faith, no matter how little it is honour my faith. I believe, I believe You can solve all my problems before the sun rises tomorrow, I believe Lord, honour my faith. I believe, yes Lord I believe that is why I know it is going to be well with me, I believe Daddy. I believe I won’t fail, I believe. O Lord God Almighty, I believe. O yes, I believe. It is well with me; I believe You will take me to the top; I believe I will finish well; I believe I won’t fall by the way side, I believe You Lord, I believe You; I believe You that brought me thus far, You are not going to abandon me, I believe You, honour my faith. I believe You are going to supply all my needs according to Your riches in glory by Christ Jesus, I believe Lord, please honour my faith. Thank You my Father. I believe that Nigeria will become a glorious nation, I believe You Lord; that is why You made a Nigerian; I believe we will survive all our problems, honour my faith. I believe I won’t leave here the way I came, there will be tremendous transformation in my life, I believe Lord, yes Lord I believe, please honour my faith.
In Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
And so shall it be in Jesus’ name.
Please be seated.
Now, catalyst number three) that He wants from man, that is why He wants to make man an agent, is Praise.
Praise
You see, apart from the fact that according to Psalm 22 verse 3 that He inhabits the praises of His people; in Psalm 50 verse 23, He made it clear He appreciates those who praise Him.
He said whosoever praise, glorifies Me.
God wants to be glorified.
And then He says, if you learn to praise me I will show you the salvation of the Lord.
Don’t let anybody deceive you, everybody wants to be appreciated – everybody.
Everybody wants somebody who will come; every preacher wants somebody who will come after the sermon and say that was good.
When I was growing up as a preacher, my number one critic was my wife.
I will preach a sermon and in those days if you listen to my sermon, most of the time it is tortoise story.
When I finish and on our way home, she will say, Darling what happen tonight?
Then I knew I had failed.
But occasionally, I will get into the car, she will smile at me and say that is good, that is good and my joy will be great.
Is anybody here who does not want to be appreciated?
Have you ever seen a wife who does not smile when the husband say, you look good?
Answer me now.
The Almighty God wants to be praise; He hates ingratitude with a passion.
You don’t believe me, read Luke chapter 17 verse 12 to 18, He healed ten lepers, only one came back to say thank You.
He commented on it: Where are the other nine?
You know the reason why many of us have not received many miracles?
Why our situations have not been transformed?
It is because we have not said thank you for what He did before.
He is waiting for your praise.
I told you the story when we started the church in Abuja.
We were in a hotel and I was there, we are going to have three days crusade to start the church and had been praying: Lord, perform miracles; You must do mighty things;
Suddenly, He spoke to me and said, shut up.
I was happy because if He said shut up it means at least you heard me: do this for me; do that for me, heal the sick, save soul, …
He said, AM I your servant?
The once have done for you in the past, have you said thank You.
Thank You Lord!
He said, hold it.
For the next three days, I don’t want to hear anything from you other than praise.
Okay Lord.
And I tried, and you go and try it and you will see how difficult it is – praise God for three days continuously when you have other problems, you will see how difficult it is.
Father I thank You; thank You for what You did last year; thank you for the…, but don’t forget tonight.
He said, ehen, praise Me.
And the third day He spoke: son, go home, appoint elders, let them go round teaching the doctrine of the church, strengthen the foundation; He said because what you have seen thus far is addition, I Am now about to begin multiplication.
I don’t know the exact number of churches we have now but there are not one they are many.
He is waiting for your praise.
He is waiting for your praise.
When you praise Him, He will transform situations.
In 2Chronicles chapter 20 verse 20 to 25, when three kings ganged up against a small king Jehoshaphat, God said, don’t worry yourself, just praise Me.
And then I will show these people that there is somebody who can transform enemies to meat; those people will wipe themselves out and the kings spent three days gathering the spoil.
The Bible says in Psalm 67 verse 5 to 7, it says…
Thank You Father.
The Lord says there is someone here tonight, He said, I will sharpen your vision.
Thank You Daddy.
He asked me to tell the same fellow, not only will I sharpen your vision, I will enlarge your coast.
In Psalm 67 verse 5 to 7, the Bible says, let the people praise thee O Lord; let all the people praise Thee; then God, even our God will bless us; the earth will yield his increase.
You praise Him alone; your harvest will be great.
One Christian said that the secret of his bumper harvest from year to year is that when he has finish planting whatever he wanted to plant, he goes through the farm singing praises to God.
Because the Bible says when you praise Him, the earth will yield her increase, and it said not only will God our God bless us, it said that He bless us so much that we will fear Him.
You want the kind of transformation that will cause you to be afraid; miracles so big that you will frighten; all you need to do is praise.
So, I am going to give you just about three minutes to get up on your feet and praise the Almighty. Praise Him like you have never done before; just praise Him.
I want to thank You for my life. I want to thank You for all You have done for me in the past. I want to thank You that thus far You have help me. I want to thank You for my salvation. I want to thank You for my health; I want to thank You for my strength. I want to thank You for the joy I have. I want to thank You for Nigeria; I want to thank You for peace in our time; I want to thank You because You are in control. O Lord, I want to say thank You. Ancient of days I admire You, I worship You, I give You all glory, I give You all honour, I just want to bless Your holy name. Praise Him. Let Him hear your praise. You know all He has done for you, without Him where will you be now. If God has not been our side where shall we be now? I thank You Lord I was not aborted when I was in my mother womb. I want to thank You that I was not a still birth; I want to thank You that I did not die as an infant. Oh I know how many wars that You have already forth me, and You have given me victory; thank You, I praise Your name. I give You glory, I give You honour, I give You adoration, may Your name forever be glorified; I thank You my Father. Thank You Father. Thank You Almighty God, I bless Your name. I give You glory, I give You honour, I give You adoration, may Your name forever be glorified. Thank You Father. Thank You Father. O glory be to Your holy name. Thank You Ancient of days.
In Jesus mighty name we have worshipped.
May the Almighty God receive your praise.
Please be seated.
O thank You Father.
I can hear a song, a new song, and this is going to be the song of some people:
It goes thus:
My sun is rising again
My sun is rising again
Thank You my Abba Father
My sun is rising again.
You want to try it?
My sun is rising again
My sun is rising again
Thank You my Abba Father
My sun is rising again.
Sing it one more time.
My sun is rising again
My sun is rising again
Thank You my Abba Father
My sun is rising again.
Let us keep the instrument away because I am get a second verse:
My joy shall flow again
My joy shall flow again
Thank You my Abba Father
My Joy shall flow again.
(Three, four)
My joy shall flow again
My joy shall flow again
Thank You my Abba Father
My Joy shall flow again.
Sing it one more time
My joy shall flow again
My joy shall flow again
Thank You my Abba Father
My Joy shall flow again.
And He is giving me third verse:
The mountain shall be gone
The mountains shall be gone
Thank You my Abba Father.
The mountains shall be gone
(three, four)
The mountain shall be gone
The mountains shall be gone
Thank You my Abba Father.
The mountains shall be gone
He is giving me one more:
My rain is falling again
My rain is falling again
Join me shout hallelujah
My rain is falling again.
(my rain is falling)
My rain is falling again
My rain is falling again
Join me shout hallelujah
My rain is falling again.
I hope they will help us put it on the screen, very soon not now, let me just continue with my sermon because I can see that something great is about to happen.
So, He needs you to be His agent.
He needs your hands to heal the sick: Mark 16 verse 18, you shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover – He needs your hands.
He needs your mouth to introduce Him to the world: Matthew 28 verse 18 to 19, He said, you are to go into the all the world, see, I have all the power given to me but you go, tell the whole world, introduce Me to them.
He needs your mouth to cast out demons: Mark 16 verse 18, He said, you shall cast out demons; to cast out demons you have to speak to the demons to get out – He needs your mouth to cast out demons.
He needs your leg to go and take His miracle power to the world.
That is why He said in Matthew 28 verse 19: go ye therefore… – He needs your leg to go to the whole world.
I still remember the joy of one elderly man in Papua New Guinea.
Papua New Guinea is far from Nigeria; when you get to Australia you still have to travel six and half by plane to get to Papua New Guinea.
He held my hands, his eyes is full of tears of joy; thank you that you traveled this distance to bring the good news of salvation to me.
He needs you, He need your leg to go.
And you know what?
He said something that says He needs you for the transformation of Nigeria.
Ezekiel 22 verse 30, says, I look for a man to stand in the gap – looking for one man, one man to stand in the gap so that I won’t pour my anger on this nation but He said, unfortunately I found none.
In the mighty name of Jesus Christ He will find one today.
Let me conclude because we still have one or two things to do before we go; we will soon finish.
Every agent of transformation…
Thank You Father.
The Lord asks me to tell someone, He said before this year is over you will shout I am free.
Every agent of transformation must have an encounter with God.
One of my sons said it very beautifully; he talks about divinity and humanity coming in contact.
One of my sons put it in another way and said you need the Holy Spirit for you to become an agent of transformation.
Every agent of transformation must have a taste of divine fire.
In Isaiah chapter 6 from 1 to 3 (the chapter from which I took my text – Isaiah 6 verse 1 to 3), when Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up and His train filled the temple and he saw himself: O God, you mean I am filthy as this?
He said I am undone; Woe is me.
The Almighty say no problem will take care of that and say, I am a man of unclean lips etcetera etcetera; and God sent an angel to bring a coal of fire to touch the lip.
Every agent of transformation must be taken apart – like when you want to repair the engine of a car, you piece it, you clean it up before you bring it together.
He needs to take you apart body, soul, spirit; do a cleaning and then give you a taste of fire.
Everyone that God wants to send forward to become an agent of transformation must be baptized not only with the Holy Ghost but also with fire – Matthew chapter 3 verse 11.
Because my time is gone, I won’t be able to tell you my various encounters with the fire of God; it is enough for me just to say you cannot be an agent of transformation on your own strength – not by power nor by might but by My spirit, saith the Lord.
So, I am going to ask you to pray one more prayer before we move to the next aspect of what we want to do.
Because it was after He touched the lips of Isaiah with that fire, that Isaiah heard God say: who shall I send? Who will go for me? And then Isaiah was able to say: I am here Lord, send me.
If you are ready to leave this place and become an agent of transformation that will transform this nation, transform your family, transform your church, transform the world; I want you to stand on your feet and pray this prayer (Pray it only if you mean it O. If you don’t mean it just keep your mouth shut) and say: Father, I am ready, let the fire fall.
Go ahead talk to the Almighty God.
I am ready; I am ready to be an agent of transformation Lord, let the fire fall. I am ready, Father, send down the fire, I will be an agent of transformation. In this nation and even the whole world, Father, send down the fire; send down the fire.
In Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
And so shall it be in Jesus’ name.
The great Transformer Himself will transform you. Whatever need to be remove from your life so that you can become an agent of transformation shall be removed tonight. That fire of God, that all consuming fire will burn everything that can hinder you in Jesus’ name. He will empower you. You will not fail Him; you will not fail your nation; you will not fail your church; you will not fail your family and you will not fail yourself. So shall it be.
In Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
Amen.
Let somebody shout a big hallelujah.
