PREACHED on SUNDAY, 4TH APRIL, 2004 by the SON OF MAN (APOSTLE PETER ODOEMENA) AT THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD ONITSHA
I am your “Mercy Seat.” But I know that one day I will change position and sit on the “Judgment Seat.” He that has brought you so far is the same “One” you will meet at the end. You are not meeting any other person other than He that is with you now. Believe it if you can…
—The Son of Man
The Faith of the Son if Man is not a Reformatory Faith but a Revolutionary Faith. If because of this, you say there is no need for discipline – if that is how you understand it – that is up that is up to you-Son of Man
PART ONE
THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY
SECTION ONE
The Background
FORWARD
From when I began to read, research in, and evaluate the works of peoples of like minds, this is yet another time I am running into a great and valuable writer, thinker, and possibly a social reformer. I have a hunch that such fellow, as Peter Odoemena would command a large follower-ship. Like every great artiste who would want to create an indisputable master-piece once in his life time, he champions an exodus of purposeful existence.His works are relative—the believe that truth is not always and generally valid but can be judged only in relation to other things, for example, one’s personal circumstance. The spread of truth to many is contagious. But it is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it; ignorance may deride it; malice may distort it, but there it is.A long time ago, dragons ruled the Earth. When people appeared, dragons saw their potentials for good, and shared their dragon wisdom, pledging to watch over humans and help them grow. The souls of dragons who fulfilled that pledge were stars. Their spirits are still up there comforting anyone who cared to look.It is evident that Apostle Peter Odoemena hails from the family of langsyne dragons, judging from his antecedents. The more publications of the present and latter truth from his unquenchable prolificsm would undoubtedly convince many mortals that such person as he ever lived.Philosopher Charles Ogbonna.(D. Litt.)
PROLOGUE
Today is a wonderful day. Wonderful in the sense that God has granted us a place in the land of the living.
2. You do not know what God is doing if you are blind spiritually. But, if you are awake spiritually, every minute of the day, you will appreciate the good things of the Lord.
3. Last Sunday, we were returning from Enugu; just at the boundary between Enugu and Anambra—before our very eyes—a man was watching his station wagon burning to ashes. Nothing was rescued from the car except human beings.
4. The vehicle burnt to ashes and was smoking. The man was moving round the vehicle and watching—we met him there, and we passed.
5. Who sustained us? The Lord. Are we better than that man? Or, can we say our vehicle was better than that man’s vehicle? No. The Lord has been protecting us. We have many, many testimonies. Amen.
CHAPTER 1
GOD DELIGHTS IN MEN OF CONVICTIONI am happy that I am serving the only God that can hear and answer prayers. The only one and true God! The only God that shows concern in the affairs of His people. The only God that could be touched by the infirmities of His people.
2. The ever compassionate God that does not deal with us according to our unfaithfulness. Ever merciful! Always forgiving iniquity.
3. Let me tell you, I have proved God in many aspects of life. I do not need a prophet to tell Me that there is God around Me that keeps watch over Me everyday. I have proved it. It is a personal revelation to Me.
4. I do not say it so that others will believe, no! Your unbelief cannot change my conviction. Men that have served God rightly from the very foundation of the world, I have traced their histories, I have found out that they were men and women of conviction.
5. That was why they were prepared to die because of what they believed. Even death could not scare them away. There was no amount of trouble that could scare them away. Rather, oppositions strengthened them.
6. Hear me very well; if opposition does not strengthen your conviction, you are not convinced. You are standing on the opinions of others. You can stand on the opinions of others. If you are standing on the opinions of others, you are not standing anywhere. You are standing on sinking sand.
7. You must stand on your personal conviction. Moreover, you do not care about who opposes your conviction. It means nothing to you even if he is opposed to your own conviction. They are two ends that can never meet. It is the convincing faith that men of God took and God approved of their Faith.
8. God delights in men of conviction. Not in men that will stand on people’s opinions.
9. This woman that is coming in, is she a part of us? Is she a member of Onitsha or from outside? She should fellowship outside unless she is coming from Amagunze—that is the only excuse.
10. Take your time. Such wicked people should be locked out of our gate. They are always preaching another Gospel, coming to the fellowship to weaken us, trying to change our conviction. We cannot allow that.
11. Sometimes, loved ones can cause you to change your conviction. Then, that goes to show that you are a fool. If you are sure and certain of your conviction, your love for your conviction will be higher than your love for anything else. If you have anything you love more than your conviction, surely you are not convinced.
12. That was what I saw during the meeting in the recent past; and I was very happy to mention it. I saw men of conviction handling cases. In spite of the pressures we mounted on him, he stood on his conviction. He was prepared to die.
13. I approved of Brother Ik Nwobodo. This is a man of conviction. During the time of austerity, even face-to-face with death, face-to-face with Almighty God, he stood his ground and called the Elders, “Upon this my conviction I stand. Nothing in this life or in the life to come will ever make me compromise my conviction.”
14. Brethren, I shivered.
15. At a time, I stood up, changed my Voice, changed my face, thinking he would be afraid. He looked at Me, looked around and stood up, asserting his conviction more and more. He thought I was crazy, he never knew I was watching him.
16. I changed many times to see whether he could be frightened. At the end, I saw nothing but a man. I saw a man! A man is known by his words. Your ability to stand by your words, which is your conviction, that makes you a man.
17. There and then, I found out that he thought about it. It was not a decision he took in one day. He evaluated it, weighed the cost against the benefits. He saw that the benefits by far out-weighted the cost. He stood on his conviction.
18. After all, if we leave him in that hopeless condition, he is the one that will suffer and we will not go home happy.
19. A wise man makes himself happy. If you impose a burden on me, and you go home rejoicing, leaving me in sorrow, I will be a foolish man to accept that burden.
20. So, I am really very grateful to God.
21. Pastor Dan, you are happily welcome. I thank God who led you safely. It is not easy to ply on the highways. In the same way, we thank God on behalf of our Brethren that travelled long distances to be in the Fellowship.
22. God knows our hearts, that there is no wickedness in us. We do not have any wicked motive why we come to His Presence; travelling long distances to be in His Presence because what we hear from Him is beneficial to us.
23. As many as are travelling long distances, if what they are hearing in this Fellowship is not benefiting them, do you think they will be coming? All the money that they spent and the risks involved, if they are not deriving something that is sustaining their experiences, do you think they will be wasting their time coming to this Fellowship?
24. I am very grateful to God. We are in His Presence this day to worship God in spirit and in truth.
25. I wanted to handle the Sunday school this day. I had earlier told our Pastor that I would like to be in the pulpit. His approval of it was conditional: It was based on the condition that I will not feature in the meeting of yesterday. But, you saw the turn-out of the events yesterday.
26. I was forced to be in the meeting and I believe my presence also paid off a lot. Because, people we never invited attended the meeting. We never knew that Sister Rose invited her people, told them where to wait and kept it away from us.
27. And the Lord fizzled the thought out of her mind. The people arrived at the place she told them to come on time, just opposite our Pastor’s house. But, they did not know our Pastor’s house.
28. So, they were there since 9 o’clock till about 10:30 a.m. And the thought fizzled out of Sister Rose’s mind. That was how the Lord wanted it.
29. They phoned my house from there and I told them I was around. Right from there, they came down to Benjamin. I received them, heard a little from them and then prepared their mind concerning what they were invited for.
30. I entertained them a little, took them and my maidservant Vicky because she invited her people. You know that Vicky is equally her daughter. I included her there. I took all of them to our Pastor’s house. It was a wonderful meeting. Real wonderful meeting!
TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOUR AGED PARENTSI will speak on that if not today, maybe any other day.
32. Mama Ikebude travelled to Lagos. We discussed. I refused her application to travel to Lagos. I opposed it with a pure heart. Some Elders were there, they also opposed it.
33. Mama insisted that she must go, then we allowed her. She has reached safely. She phoned my house. I am trusting God that He will bring them safely back.
34. To love is to tell the truth. I opposed her trip because I saw nothing about that trip. She was not going to make any meaningful contribution there. She was with her daughter and her in-law on Thursday till the end of the week. That week, they enjoyed life together.
35. Because I did not join them together in their holy wedlock in their Church in Lagos, which is End-Time in Lagos, I was not opposing it because it is End-Time or any other denomination. I opposed it because of mama’s age. I struggled to stop her children from inviting her to Lagos from time to time, to come and collect money for feeding.
36. I wrote her first daughter and her only son. They understood my message and accepted the arrangement I suggested.
37. If you have your aged parents and you love them; to show that you love them, it is your duty to visit them. Whatever you have for them, you should take it to them. But, if you want any of them to come to you for a rest period, it is a different thing. That will be once in a while.
38. But, if you insist that you will never give your parents anything until they come to you, it is wickedness. The highways are no longer enjoyable, especially, that Lagos road. Anything can happen on the Lagos road.
39. If there is a stampede, can mama run? Remember her last trip, she narrowly escaped death; and this time around it is wedding.
40. My opinion was that her first son and the only son, an adult also is living in Lagos; Ngozi also—you know Ngozi here in Onitsha—will also be there. They were enough even to represent mama.
41. What was needed there was the son who will handover his sister publicly to her husband. It is not mama that will do the handing over, it must be a man.
42. If it is eating and drinking, was she not satisfied with the much she ate till today? If it is dancing, she danced a lot. Please, adults in this Faith, learn a lesson.
43. We want you to live longer. We do not want you to risk your life on the highways for the things that profit not. Before you do anything, ask yourself: “What is the end result?” If the end result is vanity, do not embark on that mission.
44. If the end result of anything you want to do is vanity, please, do not take that risk. This is my opinion.
THE QUALITIES OF AN ELDERBrother Amobi, surrender those letters to Me. I have one important letter there. That letter is like a testimony. You were not in the Elders’ meeting yesterday for reasons best known to you.
46. You may tell me you were working on your vehicle, and I will tell you that you did not come to Fellowship with that vehicle. So, the end result of what you did yesterday was vanity—pure vanity!
47. I wonder what is wrong with many of us these days. I remembered when we were in the denomination, even in the End-Time Message; people were scrambling for the pulpit. Everybody was ordaining himself minister. People were even fighting physically to be in the pulpit.
48. In the denominations also, you see every type of campaign. People tend to run down the reputation of their fellow brethren so that they can be recognized as ordained ministers. Everybody struggling to occupy a position in the denominations.
49. However, watch this Faith, it is not like that. We recognize every Brother as a minister. Also, no minister is higher than the other; for we believe in the equality of Brethren.
50. At the same time also, we allow everybody, every Brother in this Faith to ordain himself an Elder. We have never for one day since the history of this Faith, assembled them and said we are ordaining an Elder. Have we ever done that? It is not even in God’s plan for His Family.
51. But we allowed you to call yourself an Elder. What makes you an Elder? One, it is not how long you have been with us. You may be in this Faith from the beginning of this Ministry, yet you know nothing about the Faith; are you an Elder?
52. An Elder is one that is versed with the Faith, one that knows his belief. He is not a fanatic. He can stand anywhere and convince anybody that will ask him what the hope of his calling in Christ is.
53. He will stand boldly without inviting his Pastor, a Prophet or an Apostle from somewhere to come and speak. He will be the Prophet, he will be the Apostle, he will be the Pastor, he will be all and all as far as his Faith is concerned. That is an Elder.
54. He has the interest of the Body of Christ in his heart. Nobody reminds him of the roles he should play. He knows he occupies a position in the Family of God; and that position is important. Moreover, nobody will play that role for him. That is what it takes to be an Elder.
55. But if you are in our midst, and we are still reminding you to do this and that: “These are the things you should do, these are the things you should not do;” even if you are in the Faith from the beginning of this Faith, you are not qualified to be an Elder.
56. Thus, when the announcement went forth, he said, “If you know you are an Elder, you are required to be in the meeting;” we equally extended the invitation to women.
57. I say women, because your fellow Sister is involved. If any of you (Sisters) will like to come and witness how the matter will be handled, she is free.
58. We did not see even one Sister except the Pastor’s wife, who was in her office making sure we did not die of hunger after the whole thing. We really praised her for that ministry.
GOD’S WAY OF PROVING THINGSFor the first time since l knew the Sister, I can say I enjoyed her ministry as a married Sister.
60. Bishop Nnachor was shocked hearing Me making such a statement before her. I tempted her together with Apostle Kelechi. I pretended I was not hungry. She came to Me and said, “Daddy, please, just one spoon.”
61. I said, “Sister, I am not hungry, I do not want to eat.” She begged and begged; there was food on the table, Brethren were sharing it, but I said that I would continue drinking. I muttered to myself, “Let me see whether she really wanted Me to eat.”
62. A little while, it appears she understood the message. She went in again, came back again with a plate which was covered, and said, “Daddy just take one little lump of meat and I will be happy.”
63. I said, “Sister, give Me food, I do not want to take meat.” She pleaded and pleaded; she was there for over five minutes, and I was tapping Brother Kelechi. Others shared the food.
64. Brother Kelechi was not eating. I said, “Sister, you can go, leave the food there;” and she left. Before she came back again, the plate was empty. I finished it with Brother Kelechi.
65. I said, “Brother Kelechi, do you doubt Me? She is coming up. At least, this is an opportunity she could not miss.”
66. Since she got married, I have never taken a cup of water in their family. I have never sat down even to think of anything, her husband can bear witness.
67. This is the wonderful opportunity, if she had missed it, I wonder if she could get it again. You know the year she married.
68. Do not say, “Brother, why did you behave that way?” Do you know that when Jesus Christ was going to Emmaus, He met two young men on the way; as He expounded the Scriptures to them, their eyes opened. Then they knew Him.
69. But before then, something happened. It was night and He told them He was going far away. They beckoned Him to stay with them that night. The Scriptures said that Jesus Christ pretended He was going somewhere; He wanted to stay with them but He pretended.
70. They brought bread, they brought fish, yet He pretended He was in a hurry. The people begged and begged, a little while He said, “Okay,” and He carried the bread and the fish.
71. Immediately He blessed these things in His own way, the people’s eyes opened. At that point, He left them.
72. You know I believe in proving all things. I enjoyed the meeting yesterday. I am very grateful.
73. So, Brother Amobi, for you to have absented yourself from that meeting, I call it blindness.
CRAVE FOR POSITIVE CHANGEYou see, when a man marries, he changes. But mind where the change is leading you to. If the change that is in you—as a result of marriage—is taking you far away from God, let it be known to you that the change is not from God.
74. Because any change in your character, in your life as a result of marriage which God Himself instituted and approved of it for all His children, if the change does not bring you closest to God, please, question that change.
75. What am I trying to say? If a bachelor stays away from his house till late in the night, nobody queries him except co-tenants because he will be disturbing them by knocking at the door. But once he marries, there must be a check. There must be somebody in the house that will make him to be closest to his house than before.
76. Now, if he marries and then there is change in his life; he now changes from coming late everyday and now stays two, three days away, abandoning the woman; the change is not from God. For the change has thrown him farther away from the home.
WE ARE ALL BUILT TOGETHER AS LIVELY STONESRemember that your family is an integral part of this great Family of God. This great Family of God, my family is a part of it, your family is a part of it. That is why I believe that we all are built together as lively stones.
78. When we come to the Fellowship together, we form a great habitation. When we are talking about the Family of God, it is made up of individual families coming together.
79. This is why we are enjoying the peace of the Holy Spirit. Outside this Faith, people see the Family of God or Church of God as a building. Maybe with one man as the head—that is the founder and the general overseer. Every other person is just a participatory member.
80. Any day he is offended, he can work alone. Any day he gets enough money, he can start his own because it is just a business centre. Any money that comes into his pocket is seen as First Bank or as a mobile agent.
81. But in the Family of God, it is not so. It is your family, for you have no other family than that. Moreover, nobody can excommunicate you from your family.
82. Even if you commit crime and we disown you, you will not disown your Family. Even if you are mad, you can never forget your father’s Family.
83. If a man commits an offence in the family, the entire family can join hands together and push him out as a punitive measure; but one day, they will come together, remember him again and bring him back. He may even force himself back when he feels that the offence must have been forgotten.
84. Sometimes, he can come back anyhow because, if sickness attacks him, his people will be invited—he is coming back as a liability. Because of the shame, his people must go and bring him back; otherwise, the image of the family will be ridiculed.
85. That is what it takes to be a son in the family. He is not a slave. If he is a slave, once he leaves the family, you will see change of name: “I, formerly known as so-so and so, from now, wished to be called this and that,” because from the beginning he was a slave that took the master’s name, to enable him get what he desired from the master.
86. So, Brother Amobi, I hope you are not becoming a slave in this Faith? If I were in your shoes, being a prince, looking around this Faith, you can hardly see people fromIdemili Local Government, except the Obasanyas. If there be any, it can be by marriage.
87. I remember that we had a Pastor who came from Ogidi. Is he in this Faith with us? Once history is forgotten, the mistake of the past must be repeated.
88. If you do not want to fall on the way, please, please, do not play with history. Do not allow evil to befall you before you have your experience.
89. When you hear about evil that befell somebody, learn a lesson from there. A wise man learns from what happened to others. He does not wait until he passes through the same problem or ordeal.
90. Find out why he is not in this Faith. You are not holding a position in the Body as an Elder.
91. Also, the other time I lashed you, I noticed you did not take it seriously because I sent you somewhere. I told you, you should be there, and I will be there also. I expected a feedback from you, but till today no report.
92. I am saying that in this Holy Ministry, we allow everybody equal opportunity to manifest the gift that is in him or her. For we are of the opinion that we are bestowed with great gifts by the Almighty God.
93. These gifts differ according to the individuals. All these gifts are for us to profit thereby. These gifts are to help in building up the Body of Christ. If we do not give you that free hand, how can the gifts be tapped?
94. That is why we do not regulate anybody in this Faith. For we believe you have the Spirit of God in you that will do the regulatory work.
95. As many as are guided and regulated by the Holy Spirit of God, they are the sons and daughters of God, unless you want us to be policing you about.
96. What is the Holy Spirit? The Word you are hearing from the mouthpiece of God, that is spirit, that is life. Amen.
CHAPTER 2
WHAT IS SUSTAINING YOU?I want to rehearse something, which I believe will help Me to handle the Sunday school. If not today, it will be some other time.
2. I have found this letter to be very, very important. That is why I want to engrave it in the tape.
3. Remember that one day, I woke up after my deep meditations; I decided that all the letters and epistles that are already written to all the Local Assemblies, and to some individuals, that I will incorporate all of them in a book.
4. I bundled the whole file to Lokoja. Apostle Joe did the typesetting. He finished everything—including pieces of papers—in a book form. That was the only thing I needed from wherever I may call our library.
5. That was why I am not interested in anything that is in the custody of our former Bishop because I had already taken my materials; and he knew it not.
6. You can see when the plan was hatched out. You see, I believed in one thing: “At the end, we will not remember the words of our enemies, but we will remember the silence of our friends.” This is truth.
7. Let me say like Martin Luther, “Do not ever interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake; do not ever obstruct your enemy when he is making a mistake, because at the end we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
8. SUSTAINED BY MY EXPERIENCE; is a Message I preached in this Faith some months ago; and it is being vindicated by this letter.
THE VICTORY LETTERHousehold of God at Jos, March 16, 2004. Dear Daddy, it gladdens my heart to hear from you the Word of Life, to read from you and granted the privilege of writing you.
10. Thank you for including me in your favoured list—an unworthy and hitherto, without any hope.
11. You brought yourself to my level to save me. You gave me a lively hope. Daddy, please, pardon me for not writing you for a very long time now.
12. Along this part of life and light—for you are the great Fountain—my path has been encircled with innumerable experiences.
13. I discovered in 1996, when I drove the Brethren in a pick-up van on our way from the last Pentecost from Moba to Forest, a distance of over 15 kilometers without fuel, and the vehicle engine was made even smoother.
14. In September, 1998, I had a strange occurrence in my house. As we had just returned from Fellowship, I was overwhelmed and out of my tongue proceeded a court session by the cover of witches who were eying over my soup, but their boss commanded them to release me because, I did not belong to them.
15. I recalled another interesting experience in the year 2003. I was given a contract to construct a firm and it was in the rainy season. If it had rained, the deal would have been jeopardized because the clouds were thick and the rains were dropping.
16. I stood my ground and called on my Lord, commanding the rain not to drop on the ground where we were working. Lo and behold, the rain had encircled everywhere we were working and it rained heavily, while the place we were working remained dry.
17. Daddy, Thou Son of Man, you are worthy of my praises, worships and adorations. There were many experiences I have had recently; one pleasant assurance is that these experiences were from above.
18. Also in my dream, we were somewhere that is untraceable as I plied in my dream, or I found myself in a mountainous region where I had problems tracing my way, or where I found myself taller than the electric pole, while other human beings will be smaller and so on.
19. I wondered if I was a loser until the voice of assurance came giving unto me a lively hope, in removing the cause of offence which is the Bible.
20. Daddy, you told me there is hope for the hopeless. I responded Amen. In going down memory lane, that you, the Source and Fountain of Life should bypass chassis engines and settle down for a knocked down 0.40 engine like me.
21. Without a guide, a human being is like the most miserable creature upon the Earth.
22. Take my case for instance, before you had come from the opposite direction to rescue this madman—a completely knocked down engine. I was a principal personnel officer with the Plateau Publishing Company (PPC) Limited, Jos.
23. I attached my curriculum vitae with this letter. As I was progressing on my job, my uncle, (now late); and later my younger sister, now a completely knocked engine! She was a reputable seamstress but now she washes dishes for Hausa food sellers at MarabaMarket, Jos.
24. I deceived him (my uncle) into consulting herbalists for protection. One day in my house, I stepped into something like a snake. I did not see any snake. Then trouble unfolded. The mother of Spuka, my first wife, I had earlier sent away; my job was hanging on the balance.
25. I was running from one herbalist to another looking for protection. I gave up many things ranging from money, chickens, goats and rams.
26. I contacted many spirits ignorantly whenever I went to crossroad at 3.00am, remove my pyjamas, stand naked, pour upon myself some herbal potions, and chant some incantations as I turn to the north, south, east and west.
27. Gradually, my second wife who is with me today, was sent away on the accusation she was a witch.
28. At another time, I gave a goat to be sacrificed in my stead because I was marked for sacrifice by the witches. All the attempt by my senior administrator, Joseph Carey, who wanted to remove me from my professional area, Administration Department, to any other department of my choice failed.
29. It was the last straw and he told me to include my name in the list selected for retirement. Already, I had lost interest in the job. This madness continued.
30. I lost my last vehicle, a Peugeot 504. I earlier had a Morris Marina and 4XL. It never occurred to me to build any house. But in my 19 years of service at PPC, it was only vehicle, women and enjoyment.
31. It came to a time when these herbalists were scaring me here and there; and I was perching there, as if that was not enough. I moved from Deeper Life and later to Cherubim and Seraphim. I later pleaded for the return of my wife, and my wife, Grace, came back.
32. By this time, I was to rest; but inside of me I said, “If only I could come to the true God, against that, they will all kill me.”
33. One day, I told the last herbalist to leave my house. I told him I had met One that is greater than his herbs and that he should leave my house. He thought that I was either mad or I was joking, I pushed him out.
34. It came to the stage that I included my work in order to survive. The battle raged on especially, while we were under the Law. Sometimes, I will be walking on the major streets; I will feel physically troubled of what will exist upon my face.
35. My dreams were nothing but edifications and where I wrote them, they were happy there. I withdrew from being in a strange city, finding it difficult to find my way through, and being on a highway or even crying and the likes; and these activities often weigh me down in the morning.
36. This reminds me, there was a time I dreamt I was carried by a force that I cannot explain, into a high place and I was forced to take a substance under threat, I refused but the substance was forced on me. This I suspect was the beginning of the operations of the witchcraft people.
37. In 1998—precisely September—I had an experience. I had just returned from Fellowship, and I was smiling with joy, as I entered my house, a force attacked me, pushed me to the ground, and I was like a drowning man.
38. My wife was so disturbed; she rushed out accompanied by a lady to invite the Deacon.
39. While somebody stood to witness my rolling on the ground, my mouth was sealed, but out of my tongue proceeded voices of women, three in number; two were arguing: ‘Why Richard should say he did not understand,’ but the third woman who seemed higher than the other two commanded that I should be released; arguing that I did not belong to them, that I belong to God.
40. Many things were said concerning God’s plan for mankind. I heard from them, ‘Mankind is about to miss it again because they want to understand before they believe.’
41. All along, you have sustained me even when the worst incident of the witches operation took place right under my door. You had sustained me, what else could I say?
42. I want to thank you Daddy, most sincerely for restoring my wife to me. You are to recall when I had pleaded that my love for my wife be restored and you graciously did so, and along side that, my love for my children came back also.
43. You are indeed a wonderful Father. When you had removed these causes of offence: the Bible, the Law and others; and I am sure and certain, I am before my Maker, the source of my great existence, the greatest decision I cannot but now, pour out my heart even more.”
THE DEVIL MUST TESTIFY AGAINST THIS GENERATIONBrethren, that is the much I want you to see from the testimony. Our Brother who wrote this letter, you know him. He is not a novice concerning the Faith. He is a highly educated fellow that was brought up in West Germany in those days, in one of the best Universities.
45. He came down here in Nigeria. He continued in his career up to University of Jos, to Plateau Printing and Publishing Company (PPC). He rose to a managerial position before the fire fell.
46. You have seen his experiences. What is sustaining him? In spite of all the troubles within and without, what do you think is sustaining him? “Personal conviction” that he is not deceived.
47. Why couldn’t those spirits destroy him? Because he discovered his home, his lineage, he traced himself back to God. And those spirits also voiced it out, confirmed that he is not their property. That he belonged to God.
48. They disarmed him of all his possessions including vehicles. They scattered his family yet they could not destroy him. Today he had the victory. This is victory letter. He is sharing his experiences. Please, do not carry it too far.
49. The experiences he had, most of them were not dreams, they were physical experiences. Spirits will transform into human beings, come to him and sit down in his parlour, pin him down there, then discussions will start.
50. Sometimes, judgement, sometimes, they will tell him where he will wait at crossroads. He will go there and stand naked. Spirits will come in the form of human beings and they perform the very rituals there.
51. He was looking for security, being a big man, a rich man in a big company. He ran from one Church to the other. From COCIN (Church of Christ in Nigeria) to Deeper Life; no way! From Deeper Life to Cherubim and Seraphim; no way!
52. Until in 1996, the Lord found him and brought him. Moreover, being a learned man who could argue very strongly, the Lord decided to use signs and wonders to cause him to obey.
53. First miracle on the way started with the vehicle he was driving. After the camp meeting in 1996—many of you in the Fellowship this day were in that vehicle.
54. Along the way, fuel finished in that pick-up van, and there was nowhere to buy fuel. It was the time there was fuel scarcity. The vehicle stopped and then picked up again. They checked the tank, nothing. The vehicle picked up again and carried them about 15 kilometers from the wilderness down to the forestry. And there, they bought fuel.
55. I have experienced it with Brother Charles just like the vehicle that carried us back from our trip last Sunday. We were taking between 120 and 140 speedometers on the road to make sure we meet you in the Fellowship. In spite of the troubles we had, we succeeded.
56. Who could believe that that same vehicle could not get to Brother Nnachor’s house safely and back. While we were trying to go, before we got to the Police Station, the vehicle spoiled. From Awka Road to Brother Nnachor’s house back to Benjamin, we used gear one and two in one lane.
57. Moreover, what damaged in the vehicle was something that was enough to somersault that vehicle. The steering stabilizer rod broke into two. Then, what was controlling our steering? It is the Lord’s doing.
58. Now, there is one mark I want to make there: THAT IF GOD DOES NOT GUIDE A MAN, THAT MAN WILL REMAIN THE MOST MISERABLE PERSON ON EARTH.
59. See what the chiefest of all those spirits told him. Remember it was on a Fellowship day. He came back from fellowship, because before then, each time he comes back from Fellowship and opens his door, these spirits would be there already in human form like Brother Chikezie Ukasanya was experiencing in those days before he came into this Faith, and that is what is sustaining him.
60. In spite of all the excommunications, Brother Chikezie remained. You do not know the extent the spirits can fight a human being if you are free from such.
61. Like I was saying before I digressed; he opened the door; the spirits were already in human form. He wanted to talk but they commanded him to kneel down. From there he started rolling. They were about to kill him.
62. One of them said, “Touch him not. He is not our property. He belonged to God.” He said that one thing with these people that believed God is that many of them had MISSED Him before, and that they are about to miss Him again because they want to UNDERSTAND before they will believe.
63. Have I not told you in my Message that the Devil must testify against this generation?
64. In the generation of Jesus Christ, the people he came to save called him Beelzebub, called him chief of the devils, called him every kind of blasphemous name. But the very Devil called Him “Jesus the Son of the Most High God.”
65. The people He came to save, who were claiming to be God’s people were blinded. The Devil himself who was called their enemy, recognized their Messiah, their Saviour and gave Him His due honour and respect. But the people He came to save, they could not recognize Him.
GOD IS MISUNDERSTOOD IN EVERY AGEThe same experience is repeating again. It has always been the same in every dispensation. God has always been misunderstood by the same people that pray for His coming.
67. One thing is to pray for God’s visitation, another thing is to receive God’s visitation. People can only acknowledge God when God has finished His work and gone away.
68. Check history, only the Elect, only the people to whom the visitation is meant for have recognized God. When He will appear to do something, the rest are blinded. Their eyes will only open when He has come and gone.
69. Can you imagine, if you were in the shoes of this Brother who has been having encounters with spirits physically and spiritually, what would have been your reaction? And look at the last encounter, the last victory; look at his experience in the year 2003—just last year.
70. I wonder if many of us will not go and consult mediums so as to believe that we are not deceived. That is why I love the testimony of Brother James Elum. Nobody will teach him to be quiet; nobody will even tell him to know God. Nobody! It does not require preaching again.
71. If there was a time he was in doubt as to what he was hearing and the power behind the whole thing, that time has gone. He is no longer a rebel if he is sincere with his experiences.
72. But must everybody have it that way? There are some people that will get to that point and they will not come back. They will die there, especially, if you went there to prove the power of God.
73. Brother James did not go there to prove the power. He went there for something. He forgot the personality he is. It required the devil to remind him of who he is. If he had gone there to find out, whether he is being deceived, he would have died there.
74. What is sustaining you? Do you have any thing supernatural around you? Have you experienced God’s touch in any way? just like our Brother Abel in our midst.
THE MAN BELAI remember my last meeting, that was in 1998 in Jos. It was during the raining season around August. It was raining heavily. Kaduna River over flow its bank. The flood was very great. I was holding a meeting in Jos.
76. Our Brother was desirous to be in Jos but he had no money. He decided to use his bicycle, carried his tools and then used a track road. From Zonkwua, in Kaduna State, he was going to Jos. He went through a shortcut.
77. Finally, the thing boiled down to Kaduna River. There was no bridge and it was in the night. There was no canoe, no help in sight. He did not know what to do. He had covered a long distance of over 50 kilometres. There was no way he could go back. There was no building in sight. He was there alone watching the big river.
78. The rays of the moon were glittering on the surface of the water. What an encounter! And our Brother was fixed on going to Jos to meet the meeting. By and by, what did he do? He just prayed.
79. He did not know what to do again. He could not swim across River Kaduna. If he could swim, what about his bicycle? All of a sudden, somebody appeared from nowhere and looked at him, and interviewed him. He told him the truth about his mission. That river was flowing very swiftly.
80. He said, “Okay, you know what you should do. Now, give me your bicycle, pull off your shirt, remove your sandals, simply watch me. I will be in front, stay behind me. If we get to the middle, the tide will be very swift, water will even reach your nose, but in all do not panic.” Our Brother said Amen.
81. A man he knew not, in the night, and then the man carried the bicycle, and he followed. They got to the middle of the river, the tempest became very deft, water was trying to cover his face. He was not panicking. The man continued to encourage him. So, they continued walking and walking, and they saw themselves on the land.
82. When they got safely on the land, on the other side, the man gave him his bicycle and spoke to him again. He said, “Now, climb this hill, climb the other hill, you will see some buildings, you can pass your night there. In the morning, continue your journey.”
83. Our Brother turned and said, “Sir, please, may I know you? How much will I pay?” The man replied, “Do not pay me anything. But, why do you want to know me?” Our Brother said, “Please, that I may tell my Brethren who helped me, who crossed me along River Kaduna.” He said, Okay, when you get there, tell them that BELA helped you.”
84. He thanked Bela, moved forward, looked back and could not see the man again. It was when he got to the meeting at Jos, that Brethren rushed towards him. The following evening while he was trying to narrate his experience, Brethren were telling him that God had already mentioned his name, his trouble, that God will see him through.
WHAT IS YOUR CONVICTION?If you were in his shoes, people can talk blah, blah, blah; will you be numbered among them? Even if you are the only one left in that city like Antipas, it makes no meaning.
86. Only inexperienced people talk blah, blah, blah. Experienced people do keep quiet.
87. Watch people that make noise in public, they are people without experience, people that are being sustained by the opinions of others. When people express their opinions about certain matters, they will be number one to say “Hayi, na true, na true.”
88. Then, what is your opinion about the matter? Make sure you are not standing upon the opinions of others because people proffer their opinions according to their convictions.
89. Brother Amobi, you have caused me to say few things there. I am sustained by my experience. That Brother Phinehas is waxing stronger everyday, he is not a Pastor of a Local Assembly, he is an ordinary member. He is a very humble Brother.
90. He could pick up any job to make sure he feeds his family. He is appreciative that all his requests are granted by the Almighty God. He is enjoying the love and work of his family now. He has a lot to testify. Amen.