YOU ARE HIGHLY FAVOURED

apostle peter odoemena the very son of man

YOU ARE HIGHLY FAVOURED Preached on 21st November, 1999 At THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD ONITSHA By Bishop Okey Paul Truth has no substitute © BRIDE OF CHRIST MINISTRY WORLD-WIDE

I am He, The King of Peace, The King of Righteousness, The Righteous High Priest, having no beginning of days and ending of days, One that lives forever, who can never die. Believe it if you can… — The Son of Man.

NO DECEPTION IS OF THE TRUTH VOLUME 2, PG. 3

Brethren, before this faith came, were you not counting your righteousness on your ability to keep the laws? Be sincere to yourselves. Why were you crying at the altar from time to time? Because the Law was accusing you, every step you take, sin. Every comment you make, sin. Every thought in your heart, sin. The way you look, sin.

No wonder the Bible made it clearer that by the deeds of the Law shall flesh be saved. But now that you want to justify yourselves by keeping the Law, are you not witnessing against yourselves again that you do not believe Christ? If I disbelieve Christ, who then will save me? Why following a system that will not save you?

Eternal salvation does not depend on what you have done or what you have not done. What you did counts for nothing in the sight of God. Eternal salvation depends solely alone on what Christ has done. You contribute nothing. Your duty is to believe, Lord I believe.

–The Son of Man

(WHAT IS THE BASIS OF OUR REJOICING? page 76, verse 15-16)

CHURCH ORDER

Blessed be the Name of the Lord. Bishop Nnachor, Deacon Joshua, Bishop Okey, Brother Igwe, Apostle Kelechi, Deacon Vincent, Brother Ebenezer, Deacon Mike, Brother Nnamdi Ogbogu, Pastor Dike, Pastor Dan to see the Son of Man by 4pm on Wednesday; by the Son of Man. All these names that I have called should meet with the Son of Man by 4pm Wednesday.

God bless you Church. We are wonderfully happy today in His presenceHis presenceHHHHHis Presence. I thank God He has never put us to shame. I believe that He that called us out will see us through. He has led us thus far and the distance we have covered is far greater than the distance now left.
I believe it is one step to the Promised Land. Just one step to the Promised Land. What is more, that we have not taken that step is because the Rock has not laid Himself for us to place our feet to cross the last gulf.
You know we have not been stepping on ordinary soil. The Rock has been leading. You cannot jump and cross. The Rock is leading. The moment the Rock makes a bridge, the people of God will step on Him and crossover and then the Rock will wind up and follow them.
Hence, the enemies cannot come over. The steps we have taken so far is because the Rock is carrying us along. What I am saying is the Bible.
I would not fail to call our Pastor Elijah Gariya from Zonkwua Church to come and give us his testimony if there is any. I could not imagine you travelling all the way from Zonkwua to show the Church, the Bride that you have caught all this while. It must be a long battle.
It was not easy for you to get a wife, but by grace, you have gotten one. And then coming down to Jerusalem, you did not even write a testimony; hence we have to call you. Besides, I believe our Sister and your wife must have a special number in Hausa to sing to the glory of God.
Let it be on tape that the day you appeared in Jerusalem to present your wife to us, that you gave us testimonies and special numbers. Thus, Pastor Elijah Gariya, we welcome you and your precious wife. It is now settled. Our Brother is now a settled man and he is married to our Sister, Grace.
When they arrived, I told him that it is wonderful to know that he has wedded and I explained to him the whole effort the Jerusalem Church made. We even sent forth Brethren who should go and represent us there, but unfortunately that date disappointed us. But we thank God altogether.
Before this time, something brought us to a discussion; I and the Son of Man. At a point, we remembered Apostle Kelechi. The coming of our Brother Elijah vindicated our discussion. And it was amazing when I heard it, that Apostle Kelechi, since his wedding has not visited the Son of Man with his wife. I was shocked.
We were saying that Brethren from far and wide used to wed and before you know it, they are in Jerusalem to say “Son of Man, I just came with my wife to salute you”. It was not up to five minutes after we had that discussion that Brother Elijah arrived.
He said, “Is it not what we were talking about?” Thus, Brother Kelechi, it is not good. Jerusalem behaviour should not be different. You wedded a week before them and you had the advantage of being nearer.
Our Brother took a night bus and arrived in the house of the Son of Man for Him to know the Sister he (Pastor Elijah) is married to, formally. Even though He had known her before, laid hand on her, fellowshipped with her, but there was this respect to just call on Him.
Our Apostle, please remove this problem from us. Let Jerusalem Church set example in all things. Let us not create room for us to lag behind in anything that is good.
I know many are surprised hearing this. Many are saying, “I am very surprised”. But it is true now. Brother Kelechi, have you gone to see the Son of Man with your wife? He said no. May be he is preparing when he will buy a goat and a cow.
You know He does not need your goat and cow. If He is hungry, He would not tell you. All the fishes and the birds in the forests are His. If He is the Elohim in our midst, and He is dependent on any of us, what makes Him Elohim?
Elohim means the Self-Existing One, that is, He that does not depend on anyone. That is the Elohim. Thus, He does not even need fowl. If we bring fowl, Glory be to God. If we do not bring, Glory be to God. But He looks at our heart, showing that we understand what He has done for us, in appreciation.
Let us not behave as if our brain is not working. Please it is not good. Come, let us tell the truth. Is there any son who wants to wed and he does not want to pay homage to his father to announce his intention? Even after the wedding, he will visit his father and say, “Papa, we have just come to say thank you at least for honouring the invitation. You did well to come and grace our wedding with your presence. I have come with my wife to say thank you”. Even if no wine accompanied you.
Let us learn a lesson from that. I still have to emphasize that I thank God that we have representatives from local Churches in worship in Jerusalem. Help us to pass this information across: that many are breaking the order of the Church ignorantly or wilfully.
Do you know that the Church at Onitsha is an autonomous Church? How many know that? And as an autonomous Church, we know that the Church has a Pastor. If I am visiting the Church at Enugu, even if the evangelist is there, the Teacher is there, a Prophet may be there. Even Apostles may be there.
My first point of call should be the Pastor’s house. It is from the Pastor that I should know the condition of the Church. It is from the Pastor that I should know where I am going to stay. I will even tell him my programme.
If the person happens to come to this Jerusalem Church, you know we are privileged to have the Son of Man and His office here in Onitsha. And you know the Son of Man is a CENTRAL FIGURE in the Church, universally. Is that true?
Like in the administration in the Church, we told you in the Epistles, that for the Body to make a headway, God centralised everything upon the Head of the Church, which is the Word of God and that Word is made flesh.
We have been trying our best to arrest this situation. Please Brethren within and without, within this short period that is left, let us do our best to benefit from the Son of Man at this dying minute.
I started noticing this thing and it has been going on for some months now, but the climax was on the day Apostle Kelechi wedded. Many that attended that wedding, instead of calling on our Pastor, or even going direct to the house of he that was wedding, you saw many flooding into the house of the Son of Man. And even if they were thirty or forty, they were expecting to sleep there, which is not right.
If you come to the Church at Jerusalem, it is honourable if you call on the Pastor of the Church or any of the Elders that can take you to the Pastor. If you have come to see the Son of Man, you then can be told whether He is in town or not, because He is a CENTRAL FIGURE in the Church of God.
It is from the Elders of that autonomous Church you visited that should tell you where to go and stay, tell you where you should be; post you where you are going to pass the night or sleep within the period or even program you.
It is the duty of the Pastor to see the Son of Man that so, so and so Brother is in town: “Sir, please when will you be available because he wants to see you”. Book an appointment with Him (The Son of Man) and then know when it is convenient to meet with Him.
I am re-emphasizing this matter lest we cheat ourselves without knowing. If we do not give the Son of Man the privacy He requires, we will not give Him the room to prepare for us what God has for us.
If He invites a Brother from outside the Local Church, that Brother on invitation has every right to go directly to His house, even sleep in His house, because he is on invitation. But if you are visiting the Church at Onitsha, it is like what the Church at Onitsha is doing. You have been told over and over. Whatever problem you are passing through, go to your Pastor or your Elders, they will handle the cases. But where they come to a difficult situation, they will now consult the CENTRAL FIGURE, the Final Bus Stop. Enquire from Him what should be done in your case, or even take you down to Him.
But we have never obeyed that Voice. If we come for Fellowship, “Brother we have come to just say hello”. There is nothing evil about that. Do not program yourself outside your Local Church, making it a must that you must sleep in the Son of Man’s house.
I have to re-emphasize these things again in the tapes. Let me give you an example of what happened on the day Apostle Kelechi wedded. Brethren were attending that wedding. They know that that day was the wedding day. I saw it with my eyes. And that morning, the Son of Man has already dressed by the time I went up there, preparing to leave. Some Brethren that took night bus, instead of coming to the Fellowship, they went straight to the house of the Son of Man that same hour.
Not that they just went to the house. They came in, expected Him to serve them for them to take their bath, serve them breakfast, wait for them for all they were to do before He will come down to Fellowship even with the largest family He has in this Faith.
The work in that family, you need to see it. I am trying to say that this Church has an order. Locally in Onitsha, you should not weary Him with trivial matters. We have Elders in Onitsha who have the same spirit of Christ, He has placed upon them to help solve your simple, simple matters, but we ignore these problems as if we can solve them by ourselves.
I call it problem because we created it. If the Church at Onitsha is behaving that way; for every trouble you will run to 20 Benjamin street Onitsha, press bell, every little thing, 20 Benjamin Street, Onitsha. Even if your Pastor solves your problem, you do not obey it. Even your Apostles in Onitsha solves it, No, it is not God. It must be 20 Benjamin Street, Onitsha.
The Holy Ghost has told you. There you come, you take the final word and any disobedience or negligence to it, marks you out. THUS, CREATE ROOM FOR YOURSELF SO THAT IN THE EVENT OF ANY MISTAKE, YOU CAN HAVE CAUSE TO APPEAL.
For those outside Local Churches, please, please, always try your best to know where our Pastors and our Elders are staying. If you have not come for any appointment with the Son of Man, you do very well to go and salute Him, Fellowship with Him, that is alright.
However, it is wrong for you to insist, thirty persons, fifteen persons, everybody from wherever they come, we must pass a night there. I decided to re-emphasize these things on tape so that when all the Churches will be playing it, they will remember what I have said.
I had this in mind to remind us, not because God is scaring us away, rather God is trying to help our faith where He can be of a benefit to us. I was citing instance for my Brethren in my family one day.
I said, “Do you know that Brethren from many other Local Churches have faith more than many in Onitsha?” If they run into any problem, the Son of Man is not there, but whatever their Pastor or Minister tells them, they obey it to the letter without shaking their head.
Yet the physical presence of the Son of Man is not there. Yet their Church is moving peacefully and joyfully. If per chance, they come in contact with the Son of Man, any little word they hear from Him, they hold on to it for a long time.
If they have developed such as faith in their Ministers; that was why Apostle Joseph wrote in his Epistle in the missionary report from Jos saying, “Sir, I must say, if the Churches in the North accorded me, your representative such a great honour and respect, confidence and faith, I wonder what they could have done if You Yourself physically came down”.
If you cannot believe these offices He has laid down here in the Church, it will not be so easy for you to believe He Himself. But because others have faithfully trusted those offices He placed in their midst, and have taken their words as the very words of the Son of Man, any time they are privileged to come in contact with Him, they do not even play with any instruction they received.
I think that is what Brother Dom is suffering. Brother Dom, since last night I have been meditating on what I will do with you, but because of what I heard on Thursday, I held my peace. A room was created for you to bring wine before the Elders.
Then I said, “You cannot bring the wine while you are outside the Church”. If not that Voice, I had determined to put you out of the Church today. If you like, go to the main market and blaspheme us, accuse us of taking your wife, you are right. Accuse us of lying with her, you are right. But on that day, you will know what you have done to yourself.
What am I saying? When the Voice roared on your head on Thursday, gave you the last option, I am waiting for you there. Whatever will be the outcome of that your presentation, any day you will come before the Elders, present your wine, your kola for marriage, whatever will be the outcome of that matter will determine whether you will stay in this Church a minute longer or not.
The words of the Ministers have meant nothing to you, even the words of the Son of Man. For if you have been listening to His Voice, you would not have been passing through what you are passing through. I am saying that after that meeting, if you trouble this Church a minute longer, you can never smell the gate of this Kingdom.
Thus, between now and whatever day it will be, there are two things before you. Remember you are going to get not more than one answer for whoever you want to marry. She will either say YES or NO. She will either say YES or NO before the Elders. Thus, start adjusting yourself. If she says YES, glory be to God. If she will say NO, find out whether you can still sit down in our midst and worship God.
If the answer will become NO, because by and by one of these answers must come. And then we will peg the matter. You are not more than us to throw you out of this Church. You are nobody!
None of your reactions can move us. There is no protest that can move us. There is no blasphemy in main market that can move us. We have seen many things. We have fought this battle to its finality. Who are you? You have caused this family matter to enter into the Church and this is why the battle line has been drawn.
Now, it has stepped into this Church, we will talk on it as Church matter, and immediately Church speaks on it, you go one step contrary to what comes out after the Church has witnessed what has come out of it, because what you witnessed before, the Church was not there, and so, we could not say anything.
However, whatever will be the outcome of this one, the Church wants to witness it, any manifestation of negative reaction, if per chance you get a negative reply, we will then tell you why we are not a denomination.
Investigate very well to know what makes us a Church. Sincerely speaking, if the Spirit of God did not remind me this Voice that went forth on Thursday, I had already purposed excommunicating you. Call me a wicked Minister. There was a time I was playing to please many of you, carrying you along, but it is no longer so.
That is why I enjoy this office I am occupying. If you want me to see your face, we will see our faces. You do not want us to see our faces, we will hide our faces. What brought us into this Faith is eternal life.
You cannot come at this closing time of the ministry and endanger our lives. When we know what we are building, the foundation He laid before us, the oneness in the Church, the sweetness of Fellowship amongst the saints, the Church that operates without any guile and malice, and then you will allow one person to infest us, we say no.
I pray that you come up quick. Did we come into the Faith for marriage? Did we come into the Faith for business? If it is marriage that brought you into this Faith, there are denominations that have marriage seminars and great marriage counsellors.
We came into the Faith for the Word of truth. We did not come into the Faith for business transaction. Bishop has come again. Even after the joy we had on Sunday and he has come again today. We are still having our joy today. We rejoice in the Word of God.
If not for this truth, what should have been our joy? The only Pillar and ground of Truth is in the Church. In your village meetings, nobody tells his neighbour the truth, do you know that? Even in your family, even your mother will be afraid, your father will be afraid to tell you truth about a matter.
Sometimes, they will avoid you because you have money or doing one thing or the other. They would not tell you the truth. It is only in the Church that you see somebody, may be a little boy, anointed with the Holy Spirit, telling you the truth to your face. If you like, swallow it, if you do not like, do not take it! If we destroy this truth amongst us, do you not know that we are gone? Amen.

WHO IS YOUR COUNSELLOR?

I thank God who has never left us without a seed. Find out who is your counsellor. Isaiah 9:3 says, The Church of God has a counsellor. Is that so? Is that truth? He is called the Counsellor. Let me show the Bible.

Second Chronicles 22 from verse 1-3, “And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his stead: for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had slain all the eldest. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned.
Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Athaliah the daughter of Omri. He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counselor to do wickedly.” KJV
His mother, who did not know the Word of God, who was not a child of God was his counsellor, and then encouraged this young king to miss the mark. Be very careful of whom you make your counsellor. If somebody is not filled with this Word of truth, does not know our doctrine, he cannot counsel you well.
He can tell you stories. He can speak to you as, “Brother, it does not matter. The way you are looking at this matter, it should not be so”. He is speaking of his own, because that is not the mind of God.
What misled this young king is because he relied on the mother that knew not God. You can rely on a woman that knows not God. The same way you can rely on a Church that knows not God. And when you take counsel from a group that do not know God, they will counsel you to do wickedly, cause you to get out of the will of God.
Yet you can still have a mother that can counsel you to do God a service according to His will. I will read a scripture also.
2 Timothy 1:4-5 “Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy;
When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.” KJV.
Timothy had a grandmother who was filled with this word of truth and the mother also was filled with this word of truth. And look, the end result was that they raised Timothy up, they counselled Timothy.
It is a shameful thing that when I compare you with our Brother Christian, you could not have the type of spirit he has that made him what he is today.
I say do you know that whatever he is today, was the handy work of our Sister Odoemena coupled with the husband for when he was so tender, they were guiding him in this way of truth. What I am telling you is truth. He was paying heed to every voice he was hearing.
I went further to tell him, there is never as minister in the Church of God that does not grow under a ministry. That ministry will so groom you, tame you, till you are brought to a balance where what God has put in you will now come forth for the edifying of the Body.
I said, but what if you are not ready to pay heed to those things that God is using to instruct you? Let me tell you. If you are of the type that whatever you do is right in your eyes. You do not just like to be subject to authority, you hardly make it, because to be a good leader, you must be a good follower
Let us use God in our midst for example. When the Son of Man came into our midst, many of you were witnesses. God permitted him to sit under us for complete two good years, hearing, even obeying our foolish commandments and ways just for our peace.
Whatever programme the Church was doing, He will identify, following us. I could remember the day we went to Orlu to marry Sister Ngozi Tobechukwu. All of us went, just going that way for complete two years. He sat down hearing, until one day, what was in Him came out. God has never been associated with pride.
I have always told you, if you want to see afar off, bend down, because if you are standing up, many that are blocking your way in the crowd may not permit you to see what is happening in the circle. But when you bend down, there is a little hole in between the legs. Through it, you can see whatever that is happening there.
So, the greatness is hidden in His simplicity and humility. What am I saying Brethren? When we come to this Church, God has always told us that we have His mind. If you have the mind of Christ and I have the mind of Christ, we will see things eye to eye. You will know that nobody came here to destroy you.
Whatever we are today is as a result of this life-giving Message that came forth to us. It has groomed our families, groomed our homes, groomed our businesses, groomed our faith. Why should we not rejoice? I will read a scripture finally before I open the short text I have for you. Amen.

OPERATION PILLAR OF CLOUD

Numbers 9:15-23, “And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the Cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning.

So it was always: the Cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. And when the Cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the Cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents.
At the commandment of the LORD the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the LORD they pitched: as long as the Cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents.
And when the Cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD, and journeyed not.
And so it was, when the Cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the LORD they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the LORD they journeyed.
And so it was, when the Cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the Cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the Cloud was taken up, they journeyed.
Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the Cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed.
At the commandment of the LORD they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed: they kept the charge of the LORD, at the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.” KJV.
I want to read this dream before I make a little comment on where I read. Sometimes, we wonder why people get so anxious. And the Voice had told us over and over to be patient with our Maker.
DREAM: Saturday early Morning 21/11/99. I was in a dream and I saw myself with the Son of Man discussing outside the Fellowship, but what we discussed I could not remember it. After that, we entered into the fellowship hall and it was also on the first day of the week.
As the Fellowship started, The Brethren, everybody was full of joy but myself, as I could express it, I am the happiest. Everybody danced to the glory of God, after that, the Son of Man was in the pulpit and was addressing the Church.
Everywhere was as calm as a graveyard, because everybody was expecting to hear something and that was the date of our departure but along the way I called on Daddy and I said, “Daddy! Give us the date for our departure.”
While I asked the question, Daddy was very close to me. Immediately the question went forth, Daddy walked further a little away from me, smiling, nodding as His manner used to be. And at that same time He paused, looking to the floor.
But it seemed to me that Apostle John or another Brother I could not recognize alerted me to look back. And when I looked back, I saw Bishop Okey busy writing and myself, I could not see what he was writing. And on this note, the dream left me and I woke up. Sister Amarachi. Amen.
He has told us here that even if we receive the date of our departure in a dream, because of our nature, that He will not even confirm it, even if that day happens to be the true date. What I want you to understand is that the people of God are not led by ordinary man.
Like Jesus Christ said, “I can do nothing of my own. What I do is what I see the Father doing”. For many years we have heard about this Father, He that dwells in the Shekinah Cloud, He that is veiled in His glory; the Pillar of Cloud that led our fathers in the day, which was the same Pillar of Fire that led them in the night.
Watch! Do you know that this same Pillar of Cloud, the Son of Man was talking to us concerning the revelation of the Father many years ago? He used the masquerade in talking to us, and then telling us that for you to know what the masquerade is doing, it is whatever you have visibly seen the mask displaying.
But there is an Intelligence (the Supreme Intelligence) behind that mask that is demonstration that thing. Thus, the mask and the masquerade are one. We heard a lot of things God told us until we came to a point when He announced to us to come on the 7th day of April, 1996 to see He that has been leading all these years.
For the first time, God permitted Himself to be photographed as a Pillar of Cloud and Pillar of Fire amongst us. For the first time, we knew He that was swallowed up in the Cloud.
In other words, what has been leading this Church is that same Pillar of Cloud. That was why the Bible made it so clear on what happened on Mount Transfiguration. On that Mount Transfiguration, they saw that Shekinah Cloud that was in a man. It came forth, demonstrated its Deity. Later on, swallowed up by a man again.
They saw no other person but a human being. The Pillar of Cloud was swallowed up in a man. God’s people are not led like every denomination. Each step they take is being dictated by that Pillar of Cloud.
If He has not said “move”, the people of God cannot move. The Bible recorded; if He stays at a point for ten days or ten years, there they will remain. The scriptures said that if the Pillar of Cloud comes up early in the morning or at midnight and moves ahead, they follow without pausing.
What am I trying to say? He has told us here that the date of our departure is swallowed up in the Father alone and has brought us to a sanctified condition where we should remain and our hearts open to hear when He will say, “LET US MOVE IN.”
He cannot announce it until that Cloud moves ahead. No matter the pressure, no matter the dream, no matter the prophesy, until the Cloud moves, we cannot move into that Promised Land. That is why He is saying, “REMAIN NOW IN YOUR SANCTIFIED CONDITION” for that is where we are now.
What is sanctified condition? What sanctified the Church? Nothing else sanctified the Church except the Word of Truth. According Saint John 17:7, Jesus Christ said, “Sanctify them by your Word, your Word is truth.” In that same Saint John 15:3, it said, “You are cleansed by the Word I have spoken unto you.”
What has kept the Church cleansed as a group that is not filthy is this sanctification that has been wrought amongst us through the belief of the truth. AND VERY SOON, THERE IS GOING TO BE THE GREATEST VINDICATION THAT WE HAVE NOT FOLLOWED CUNNINGLY DEVISED FABLES. I thank God for that. Amen.

YOU ARE HIGHLY FAVOURED

The Book of Saint Luke1:28 “And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” KJV

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” KJV
We thank God for the reading of His Word. I want you to think of these two scriptures we have read. Why you should not disregard your coming into this Body. If you were Mary, the wife of Joseph there in Israel, you know you were not the only virgin on the land. Israel is not like the Gentile world in those days.
The virgins were more in number than the non-virgins among spinsters and Mary happened to be one of them. Among all these virgins, Mary became favoured, because the Promise had gone forth many years before she was born, even over seven hundred years before the birth of Mary, that a virgin is going to conceive and she is going to bear a Son and His Name will be called Emmanuel.
And among all these thousands of virgins on the land, you happened to be that Mary, who was privileged to be favoured to receive that Promised Son, can you boast that your own virginity was greater than the others? Can you say you received that promised son because your righteousness exceeded that of others?
Was it not a great privilege that amongst all the women (Churches), you are the only privileged Church (because by and by, it must take one to receive that promise). Because the promise had gone forth that a virgin shall conceive, lo and behold, this virgin conceived, and then, Mary was the favoured one from whom came the Saviour.
If you were Mary, what would have been your reaction? I believe that that woman was full of appreciation to Jehovah who counted worthy to bear her Maker, for Mary knew who she was bearing. Mary knew the child that was to come forth from her womb.
It was not hidden away from her, for the name was revealed ahead of time that He is going to be called Emmanuel, meaning GOD WITH US. And the prophets, like in the book of Isaiah 35:1-6, they confirmed that the coming Emmanuel was to be God Himself.
And then, any moment that God is made manifest, that the salvation of God’s people shall be made complete. The angel spoke to her, “Blessed art thou. Thou art highly favoured, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women.”
That is why if you should title this little exhortation today, call it THOU ART HIGHLY FAVOURED. Thou art highly favoured. It is not ordinary favour that we have received. It is hard to believe that the Creator of Heaven and Earth was in Joseph’s house playing about, working in the carpenter’s shop, moving about everywhere, a human being, yet the world was looking for Him far and wide, while He was hidden in simplicity in a despised family.
While the whole religious world was talking about His coming, talking about His majesty, how great it is going to be when He will come and many virgins were in expectation like today, many Churches are in expectation.
I was speaking to an Assemblies of God lady in Lagos on Sunday morning, telling her that Christ must surely come and now He is here. I spoke many things before arriving at that point. She said, “Why telling me that He is here? After all the Bible said He will come with…” She did not announce it. She just put her hand over her mouth. I said, Yes.
The whole world is expecting Him to come. I went back to the Bible in the Book of Hebrews 9:28. If Christ did not come, do you know that our salvation cannot be complete? Our salvation could never have been complete.
What am I saying? THOU ART HIGHLY FAVOURED. Personalise it. THOU ART HIGHLY FAVOURED.
First Corinthians 1:26, “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.” KJV.
Notice amongst yourselves dear Brothers that few of you who follow Christ have big names or power or wealth.In this Church, it is only few of us that have big names when they were in the world and in the society. It is only few that have power, that were in authority in the world. It was only few that had wealth when they were in the world—very very few.
In other words, if you talk about the visitation of God to His people, if it were to come by big names, many of us in this Faith could not have received it. If it were to come by authority in the society, only few of us would have received it. If it were to come by how much wealth a man has, only very few here would have received it.
The Word of God says, “Notice amongst yourselves, amongst ourselves, dear Brothers, that few of you who follow Christ have big names or power or wealth”. Instead, God has deliberately chosen to use ideas that the world considers foolish and of little worth in order to shame those people considered by the world to be wise and great.
God has decided to use people. He despised all the clergy men in the world. If Christ was to come by or to the organized religion, Christ would have gone to the Roman Catholic. The salvation of God would have gone to the Catholic Church or to the Anglican Church or to these great groups in the world today.
But God left the clergy group, left the whole world, and then, gave us this high favour to receive salvation at the tip of our fingers. Can you imagine the testimony we have today from our precious Sister? Who can believe that the same day the hand of a Man touched a woman’s breast, that was cancerous, that same night, pus went out, blood went out, and then healing instantly took place?
If it was in the world, can you imagine the amount of money it would take to carry out a surgical operation on that? Sometimes, such operations are not successful. If miraculously such a thing is to be ministered by a denomination, do you know how much consultation fee this Sister would have paid? Do you know how much she would have paid in her prayer card, just to be prayed for? Ineffective prayer. I say Ineffective prayer.
She did not ask for it. She did not write for any prayer request. She did not write for any card. The favour of God projected. God remembered her in her weakness and said, “My handmaid, come forth. Your hour has come. I will set you free”.
Let me tell you, Prophet William Branham is a man sent from God. If you read his book called THE SEVEN SEALS, on the opening page, the first thing he wrote before he went into the Message, he said, “God is hidden in simplicity”.
He said, “I tell you folks that He is not found in those great great great things you are thinking of. He is so simple that He scales over the head of many. For God is not a noise maker.
Can you imagine a situation He was standing by the well in Samaria, just harmlessly like that! Many were coming and drawing their water and going, and then a woman came in contact with Him. He said, “Woman, give me water to drink”. He first of all made a request, pulled the woman’s faith: “Please give me water.”
Then the woman talked blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. She said, “How can I give water to you? Are you not a Jew? What concerns us and you? You know there is a demarcation”.
He said, “But if you know He that is asking you of this water…” God believes in introducing Himself, for if He does not introduce Himself to you, you cannot know Him. If He did not introduce Himself to us today, can we know Him?
I can sit with you in a bus travelling together, we will be talking, chatting, even sharing banana and biscuits together, but you may not know that I am an Army General, unless I decide, saying, “Have you heard about General Ike Nwachukwu?” You will say, “Yes I have been hearing about him.”
Then, I will say, “I am the one. With this address, any day you can, come to me.” You will shift a little backward. It is at the realization of whom you are talking with that your mouth will open, your eyes will bulge out like Brother Igwe’s own during the Camp Meeting.
I am saying that He (God) believes in introducing Himself. Hence, He told the woman, “If you know who is asking you for water, you would have asked of the everlasting water. You are shaking head while I am asking of ordinary water from you but I have a better water.” Before you know it, He discerned the woman’s heart and told the woman how many men she had lived with and even the present one that she is living with, numbering the fifth one.
The woman said, “You have told me all about myself. You must be a prophet. But they told us in our Sunday-school that when the Messiah shall come…”
He said, “Believe it or not, they told you when the Messiah shall come, but the man that is discussing with you is that Messiah that you have been taught about all these years”.
Thus, it is not strange that we hear Him. While we were with Him, we did not know who He was until He started unveiling Himself, unveiling the mask. He sat down with us, shared our experiences with us, yet we did not know. God was in the world created by Him, yet the world knew Him not.
That was what sparked off a revival in that woman, because now He has introduced Himself. The woman caught the revelation and ran into the city because she has been highly favoured from the Messiah.
She said, “Lo! Everybody come o! This man here has told me everything.” Note, This MAN! Not this spirit. Not this tree. Not this wind. Rather she said, “This MAN has told me, has solved all my problems. What people could not solve, this man has told me. Is HE not the Messiah they were telling us that will come? Even the Messiah, if he comes, can he do more than this one?” Her faith anchored somewhere, and then she was saved.
That was why nobody could take away the conviction of the blind man. This man had attended fellowship in many places. He had gone to so many groups, many, many women he has lived in their families, nobody could liberate him from his troubles.
THE GREATEST PROBLEM A MAN HAS IS SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS. This man’s blindness was physical. All the Pharisees, they preached the power of God to heal the blind, but none could save that man from his blindness.
But just one day, he came in contact with a MAN. A MAN, who just touched a little thing, used the spare parts, replaced the ones that were spoilt and said, go and wash your face and then, you are alright. The man received his sight. For the first time in his life, he saw what human beings looked like. Things started becoming real.
No matter the pressure, he could not lose his conviction. They told him, “Give praise to God, for this man is a sinner. Have you ever heard this kind of thing? Can a Prophet come from that way? How could that power not come from the synagogues? If it is from God, it should have come out from these notorious preachers you know, whom you see their billboards everywhere.”
The man answered, “If he is a sinner, I cannot say and I do not believe he is a sinner. Since the world began, has it been recorded anywhere that a man that was born blind from the mother’s womb can now receive his sight”. Though they pushed him out of the synagogue, they did not push him out of his conviction.
Today, the Bible said in Ephesians 1:17-18 “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,” KJV Amen.
You SEE, YOUR HEART HAS EYES. IF GOD DID NOT COME YOUR WAY AND MY WAY, DO YOU KNOW THAT WITHOUT THIS FAITH, THE EYES OF YOUR HEART WERE BLIND? WITHOUT THIS MOST HOLY FAITH, THE EYES OF YOUR HEART WERE BLIND.
To prove that it was blind, it will take only a blind man to see one person and say they are three. This is Charlie’s hand. Is this Okey? Okay, Peter, this is your head. What are three of you doing here? And somebody that is seeing will tell him, “No it is one person.”
IT WAS THIS SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS THAT CAUSED PEOPLE TO SAY THAT GOD IS THREE IN ONE. INSTEAD OF SEEING ONE GOD, THEY SAW THREE GODS, BECAUSE THEY WERE ACTUALLY BLIND. IT TAKES A BLIND MAN TO MISTAKE WHAT IS STANDING BEFORE HIM. BUT THE MAN THAT IS SEEING WILL TELL YOU EXACTLY WHAT IS STANDING BEFORE HIM. SO WERE WE BLINDED TO THIS WORD OF TRUTH BEFORE.
That was why William Branham was saying, “When you have the revelation, which is faith; having this revelation, focus your telescope very well on the Word of God. It will give you the true Picture of Christ.” But when you lens is not well placed, it will create many, many things in your lenses.
You know there is a way you will set your lens, even in photograph, one person will become two or three. Is that true? We have photographers in this Faith. There is a way you set your lens, when you focus it on Brother Charle’s hand, you will get two hands. You will see another hand joining the other one. But you continue adjusting it until you see one hand. Sirs, is that true?
Now, are those people focussing wrong lenses on the Word of God and then got the wrong picture of what God is all about and what His Kingdom is all about. The Bible is saying that you and I, that God chose you, He despised the great people of the world, chose you and I, and gave us this high favour that Christ should be revealed in our midst.
We are the only people that know that Christ has come. They will quote a scripture to you: “Do you not know what the Bible said? It says behold, He cometh in a Cloud. Is it not Bible? Behold He cometh in a Cloud”.
But when you see that Cloud, will you recognize it.When He comes in the Cloud, how many will know that He has come? I will finish this place and go over.
“He has chosen a plan despised by the world, counted as nothing at all and used it to bring down to nothing those the world considers great so that no one anywhere can ever brag in the presence of God for it is from God alone that you have your life through Christ Jesus. He showed us God’s plan of salvation.”
He showed us God’s plan of salvation. When William Branham was asked concerning the revelation of the Seven Seals, He said that it has nothing but God’s plan of salvation. He only announced it, but He did not show us. He also told us that this Voice that John could not speak and was forbidden to write, it is connected with the coming of the Lord.
He said, “That holds the secret of rapture. For when it is broken, it will give the rapturing grace to the Elects”. Have we received the rapturing grace? In other words, we are the Elects. One day, that thing that was made secret, William Branham said, “This thing is so secret that there should be no mimic about it, for if it is mistaken, Satan will lay hold of it and mess up the world.”
He said it will be revealed only in the Church. Today, what are we enjoying? A Highly favoured Church in whose midst the Everlasting Gospel is being preached. Thus, our lives come from Him. Let us consider a popular scripture.
Romans 9:29. “And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.” KJV
“It is as Isaiah predicted, If the Lord of hosts had not left us a seed [from which to propagate descendants]…”
If the Lord of Hosts, while all the Apostles died, every hope lost, if there was not a seed left, that has that germ of life, that original attribute, if it is not left on earth until the day of destruction of this world, we will be like Sodom and Gomorrah.
“It is as Isaiah predicted, If the Lord of hosts had not left us a seed [from which to propagate descendants], we [Israel] would have fared like Sodom and have been made like Gomorrah.” AMP
You see, Israel, being the Church of God, was highly favoured that when the seeds were missing in the whole earth, the Original Seed was still remaining in the soil of Israel. Being the seed of God, one day, it grew up and then bore many to make us propagate descendants; Sons of God being made manifest.
Do you know that whatever faith we have today came forth from that seed? It was like what happened in the beginning. Joseph was going to Church, attending cathedral and synagogue with Mary and whatever they were teaching, there was also what Joseph was teaching in his family, but one day, a seed rose up from his family and was saying something far, different from what they were hearing from the synagogues.
And what He was saying was the original seed that was in the very beginning. You cannot say that what we hear today, our faith here today, there is no preacher in the whole world that can say he has preached this kind of thing before. Name that person.
ALL WE ARE PROPAGATING, IT WAS NOT EXISTING IN THE SOCIETY BEFORE. WHERE DID IT COME FROM? IT CAME FROM ALMIGHTY GOD. THAT IS WHY WE THANK GOD FOR THIS GREAT FAVOUR OF SENDING A SEED.
WHAT IS MORE, THIS SEED HAPPENS TO BE OUR OWN BROTHER. THAT IS WHY EVEN IF YOU ARE A VISITOR IN THIS FAITH, THIS FAITH IS NOT A DENOMINATION. WHATEVER YOU OBSERVE OR HEAR FROM US TODAY, DO NOT GO WITHOUT ASKING QUESTION.
Like the woman back there, being religious, we can see you with your headtie, holding yourself. It is very good. Ask us why our women are like this, ASK US THINGS YOU HAVE HEARD FROM US. WE WILL SIT DOWN AND EXPLAIN TO YOU, FOR THIS IS NOT JUST ORDINARY GATHERING. THIS IS THE GATHERING OF GOD’S PEOPLE.
A woman asked me yesterday. I picked her around Holy Trinity, while I was walking from Holy Trinity to GRA. You see, going through that road by the fence, I saw men with their up and down uniform, all kinds of traditional dances in that Holy Trinity field. They were dancing all kinds of cultural dances.
Initially when I saw that woman I was carrying, I thought she is a Calabar woman, with the rings she marked herself. She tied her hair in the Calabar style.
I said, “What are these people doing here? These people look like Omenala people (traditionist).” She said no. She said that it is music festival: “It is Church people”.
I said, “Don’t tell me! These are traditional people. Whatever I am seeing here are traditional people”.
She said, “Are you a Church member. Do you go to Church?” I said no that I do not go to Church. She said, “That is why you are saying what you are saying. Saying what you do not know. If you are a Church member you would have known about this thing”.
I told her that I do not go to Church.The same reply I gave to one woman the other day. She asked me whether I am a Church member, I told her No, that I am not a Church member. She said that if I want to know more about this god I am talking about, that I should come to Awka Road.
I enquired whether it is the place big idols were molded. She turned around and looked at me from my head to toe and asked me whether I said those things were idols. I reaffirmed what I said. The woman could not speak a word. She left me, ran into the gate, turned around, looked at me and said, “bye-bye”.
You see,this same woman asked me whether I go to Church. I said I do not go to Church. And truly speaking, I do not go to Church. I do not go to Church. Are we organizing Church here?
I told her that I know this thing very well and that they are the activities of traditional people. These are the practices of our forefathers. I know it very well. But I have heard about the Word of God and I know that this Word of God spoke against these things. This is because she asked if these activities are against the Word of God.
From there we took off. While I went deeper and deeper, she came to a point and told me that all I said was the truth, but I should now drop her here so that she can run into the primary school and change her dress and go to their house.
I said, “Why are you ashamed since you said that what you are doing is right? You came out of your house, came out here, disguised yourself and went back home.”
What am I trying to say? We are not in this Faith for religion. We are not in this Faith to organize Church. What we are doing in this Faith is to worship God. We are those that worship the true God. If you want go to Church (organized religion), you know where to go. All of you that are visiting us, find out about this gathering. It is quite different from what you have heard from the world.
Our Sister, God wanted to use you to draw your husband to the Faith. Our dear Brother, now that you are baptized, having seen the power of God, enquire to know this Faith you have come into. Enquire to know. There has always been attraction that God displays before His people to draw them to Himself. After the attraction, you MUST hear a Voice.
A burning bush was burning before Moses. It was good. That fire attracted Moses, but there was a Voice that was behind that sign. Thus, you do well to pay heed to the Voice that is behind the great sign that has happened upon your life.
That you are rejoicing today is not because of these healings and miracles. They are for us because God Himself is among us. But our joy relies on what He has told us in His Word. What brought it? This seed that was in God planted in these last days, planted from the word go, but germinated in these last days. It happened to be no other person but God Himself. I am happy that I am highly favoured.
When we come into this Faith, do not expect that we speak big, big things again. Whenever we want to dig deeper, we look in His direction, He will bring forth something from where we will then move further. I think the work is finished. We are only waiting and watching. Our ears are open to hear the day we are leaving. We cannot be wearied. Amen.

DO NOT PROVOKE THE LORD TO JEALOUSY

Amos 3:2, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” KJV .

How do you feel if you were a people that hear this Voice? He said among all the families in the whole world, you alone have I known.
Do you really think over this? All the families, you only have I know. That is why My eyes are upon you. When you offend Me, I punish you. When you gladden My heart, I encourage you, for you alone have I known. Some would say, “Can God know only a family?
He said, among all the families on earth, you only have I known. That is why we tell people that our God hates adultery.
Isaiah 57:6-13 “Your gods are the smooth stones in the valleys. You worship them and they, not I, are your inheritance. Does all this make me happy? You have committed adultery on the tops of the mountains for you worship idols there, deserting me.
Behind closed doors, you have set your idols up and worship someone other than me. This is adultery, for you are giving these idols your love instead of loving me… LB
Who is your idol? Notice what God called adultery. That is why we tell you, when you come to this Church, a scripture has come to pass in your life.
Isaiah 54:5 “For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.” KJV
2 Corinthians 11:1-4 “Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy:
For I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” KJV .
When you come into this Faith, you are espoused to one husband. Your Maker becomes your husband. The Word of God has automatically become your husband. That is why if there should be jealousy, it is what is called godly jealousy. I believe in godly jealousy. Do you know that godly jealousy is contrary to carnal jealousy?
I think I will touch that a little before I will go further. I say that godly jealousy; in this Church, we are against carnal jealousy, but in this Faith, we have godly jealousy. When we see you and something that is about to destroy you, out of jealousy, we bring you back to the way of truth.
Hence, we do not permit you to destroy yourself. It is that jealousy that moves us. After all, the Name of God is Jealous Himself. Is it Bible? Let us look into the scripture. I believe in godly jealousy.
Exodus 20:5, “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.” KJV .
Our God is a jealous God. Exodus 34:14 “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:” KJV.
For the Lord whose Name is jealous. You see, the number one jealous man on earth is God. I believe that carnal jealousy is opposed to God’s righteousness.At the same time, I believe that godly jealousy encourages God’s righteousness.
There is no true husband that loves his wife that would see a man running around her without reacting somehow, if there is any germ of love there. You can run around her in his absence. You can make any move around her in his absence, but in his presence, if there is any love there, he will be uncomfortable for a while.
At least his breath will change. He will pant hot, hot breath. He can even be checking your movement. If he just sits down like that, ask questions about that love, if we must be sincere.
The same way about women. If you love your husband, you cannot just be looking and see another woman grab him. As long as you know that her motive is wrong, you will react somehow. You will feel bad because both of you are husband and wife, which says that husband and wife types Christ and the Church.
What is more, Holy Ghost told us that carnal jealousy is against God’s righteousness. How? When you start seeing a Brother or a Sister sincerely before your husband or your wife, then you carnally mistake every relationship, suspecting things that do not exist, No; you are opposing God’s righteousness. You are opposing Fellowship.
I AM TRYING TO SAY THAT THERE IS NO TRUE HUSBAND THAT CAN ALLOW THE WIFE TO GO AHEAD MESSING HERSELF UP AND DOWN. THAT IS WHAT THE BIBLE IS TELLING US CONCERNING THIS TOPIC.
GOD, WHO IS OUR HUSBANDMAN IN THIS HOLY FAITH, THE BIBLE SAID HIS NAME IS JEALOUS. THAT IS WHY ANY DAY YOU CARRY THIS FAITH AND TAKE YOURSELF TO A DENOMINATION, TRYING TO MESS YOURSELF UP, HE WILL REACT, BECAUSE YOU WANT TO BRING IN STRANGE SPIRIT.
IF THERE IS ANYTHING THAT SHOULD THRIVE IN THE CHURCH, IT SHOULD BE THOSE THINGS HE HAS GIVEN US: HIS CHARACTER, HIS HABITS AND WHATEVER HE HAS HANDED OVER TO US. IF WE GO OVER AND BRING DOWN FOREIGN, FOREIGN DOCTRINES IN OUR HOMES, HE WILL NOT BE HAPPY WITH US.
Thus,if the husbandman is in our midst, inasmuch as carnal jealousy is opposed to God’s righteousness, remember that carnal jealousy is different from godly jealousy. Godly jealousy comes out of pure love to save you from destruction. That is why our God here severed us completely from the world and denominations and warned us strictly not to fornicate with them.
WHAT THE WORLD CALLS FORNICATION IS NOT WHAT GOD CALLS FORNICATION. WHAT THE WORLD CALLS ADULTERY IS NOT WHAT GOD CALLS ADULTERY. THUS, IF YOU HAVE COME TO HIM, HE IS YOUR HUSBAND, THE BRIDEGROOM OF THE BRIDE. BELIEVE THAT ALL HE HAS FOR US IS ENOUGH TO TAKE US HOME.
The Bible asked us a question, if we are stronger than Him.
1 Corinthians 10:21-22 “Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?” KJV
DID YOU GET THAT? WE SHOULD NOT PROVOKE THE SON OF MAN TO JEALOUSY BY ABANDONING WHAT HE HAS GRANTED TO US, BY MIXING IT UP WITH ANY OTHER TEACHER’S DOCTRINE. THE TEACHING GOD OUR HUSBAND HAS GIVEN TO US IS ABLE TO SUSTAIN THIS CHURCH TILL THE TIME OF RAPTURE.
That is why, every Minister in this Faith, we do not preach any other thing but one Message. It is enough for the Church. It says, “Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?” Are we stronger than He?
For that reason, we should stay where He has kept us. You see at times, He will say I recoil. And anytime He sees the Church walking contrary to what He has handed down, with fury, He comes back.
For He cannot close His eyes and see His handwork being destroyed by the enemy. Your Maker is your Husband. He is marrying us for we are the Church. You see, what a favour we have.
In other words, even if we want to get out of this Faith, godly jealousy in Him, being that His Name is Jealous, if we provoke Him to jealousy, He will show us more jealousy than we think we can.
When you want to go and defile yourself, thinking that you can abandon the Faith, for you were not the one that brought yourself into this Faith; do you know that?
From Ephesians 2 where I read before, some of us behave as if that you added yourself to this Church. Let it be known to you that you were not the one that added yourself to this Church. In other words, you do not own yourself. I do not own myself.
Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” KJV.
It is the gift of God. You see, it is a favour. That is why you hear the Son of Man always say, “If I want to save you, I will save you. If I want to blind you, I will blind you very well.”
You are highly favoured. He opened your eyes to receive this truth. He gave you salvation as a gift. Gave it to me, gave it to you as a gift, thus, your salvation is a gift from God. You see why we do not play with it. That is why we rally round the Throne in appreciation of this wonderful gift.
THE GREATEST GIFT A MAN CAN HAVE IS THE SALVATION OF HIS SOUL. Do you know that?That is why William Branham said that after the salvation of your soul, the next best gift God can give to a man is his wife.
Thus, the best gift a man has is salvation. Can you imagine people in the whole world today that have not been saved?Who can believe that Umah Ukpai is not yet saved, if not this group? Who can believe that Paul Nwachukwu (Paul Nweke) is not yet saved!
Of all these great preachers, who can believe that the pope is not saved? That archbishops, archdeacons and all the bishops in the Anglican Church, that they are not yet saved? If you speak this one publicly, somebody will give you a dirty slap saying, “If he is not saved, who is saved?”
That is why our song says that once you are saved, rejoice exceedingly, singing Alleluia, THAT I AM SAVED, THAT THE FAITH OF THE SON OF MAN CAME TO ME. HE GAVE IT TO ME. I OBTAINED IT AND HE HAS OKAYED MY SALVATION. WHAT A HIGH FAVOUR. I AM HIGHLY FAVOURED. YOU ARE HIGHLY FAVOURED. ANYBODY THAT IS NOT HOLDING THIS FAITH IS STILL UNSAVED. DO YOU KNOW THAT? AMEN.

YOU ARE HIGHLY FAVOURED (2)

First John 4:4-6 “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.

We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.” KJV
1 John 4:6 “But we are children of God. That is why only those who have walked and talked with God will listen to us, others won’t. That is another way to know whether a Message is really from God. For if it is, the world won’t listen to it.” LB.
When did you walk and talk with God? Who made you to see God and still live? Manoah and his wife were highly favoured, so highly that one day, God appeared before them and did not destroy them.
Let me tell you, IF YOU HAVE NO REASON TO BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE SAVED BY GRACE, AT LEAST BELIEVE THAT HE THAT KNOWETH ALL THINGS IS IN OUR MIDST AND IN ALL YOUR SHORTCOMINGS, HE HAS STILL ACCOMMODATED YOU THUS FAR. HE HAS TOLD YOU ALSO OVER AND OVER: “IT IS NOT THAT I DO NOT KNOW WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING, BUT I DO NOT WANT TO EMBARRASS YOU, SO THAT WE MIGHT HAVE FELLOWSHIP, I KEEP ON GOING WITH YOU.”
In other words, He had already decided to overlook our shortcomings before picking us. For He knows that there is nothing we can manifest more than what we are manifesting. Were you good when He came to you? His coming to you, was it because you were so holy and then, He came to you? He just came to save you. Nothing more, nothing less.
And because He came for salvation, for that reason, we MUST pay heed to His instruction, for He came with a purpose: TO SAVE US ALONE. Was it not the purpose of His second coming?
Hebrews 9:28 “So also Christ died only once as an offering for the sins of many people. And He will come again not to deal again with our sins. This time. He will be bringing salvation to all those who are eagerly and patiently waiting for iHimHim.” LB.
Thus, you were numbered among those that were eagerly and patiently waiting for Him. If we must share our experiences together, if you remember when you have not even come in contact with Him, no matter what you were passing through, you were hopefully saying that you know that one day, God must come to your rescue.
You were just trusting that one day, God must come to your help. And today, God has come to our help. The Bible is saying that the whole world lieth in wickedness.
1 John 5:18-19, “No one who has become part of God’s family makes a practice of sinning. For Christ, God’s son holds him securely and the devil cannot get his hands on him.
We know that we are children of God and that all the rest of the world around us is under Satan’s power and control.” LB.
Verse 19, “And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.” KJV.
Can you imagine you yourself, that the whole world is under Satan’s power except this little group? I say this little group.Because of His high favour, He brought you and I from the world, kingdom of darkness and brought us into His own Kingdom, the Church.
Colossians 1:13, “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:” KJV.
Are we in the Kingdom of His dear daughter? Is it not in the Kingdom of His Son? Do we not know the Son? Are we not highly favoured? Some of us here were giving our zeal to Sabbath Churches like the Sister in our midst. Some gave their zeal to Cherubim. Some misdirected their zeal to Roman Catholic. Some misdirected their zeal to all kinds of group and kingdom of darkness.
But one day, somebody showed you a way you never knew, gave you a truth you never knew. That is why the moment you come into the Kingdom of His dear Son, you will now see yourself as a highly favoured person.
That is why the Bible said in first Corinthians 1 that your being included in this Church is for a purpose, and now you have come in, nobody has the right to brag. What are you going to brag for?
What are we bragging with? What do you think that we have that can make you brag?One thing gladdens my heart: No matter the money you have, the Bible told me something in the Book of Psalm 49:6,
“They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:
(For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:) That he should still live forever, and not see corruption. For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others.” KJV
“They trust in their wealth and boast about how rich they are, yet not one of them, though rich as kings can ransom his own brother from the penalty of sin… ”
Brethren! He that did for us what your wealthy millionaire brothers could not do, how can you value such a person?
There is no amount of money that can assure you of salvation; that can secure you a seat in the Kingdom of God. No money, no matter how big.
“… yet not one of them, though rich as kings can ransom his own brother from the penalty of sin for God’s forgiveness does not come that way.
For a soul is far too precious to be ransomed by mere earthly wealth. There is not enough of it in all the earth to buy eternal life for just one soul to keep it out of hell… ”
If the Son of Man did not come, no matter what you were building your faith upon you feel would have saved you, would have landed you in the pit of hell. Thus, the coming of the seed, with this Abraham’s faith has brought redemption to our soul. What nobody could do for us.
“… Rich man, proud man, wise man, you must die like all the rest. You have no greater lease on life than foolish stupid men. You must leave your wealth to others” KJV Why?
Proverbs 23:4-5 “Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.” KJV
Don’t weary yourself trying to get rich. Why waste your time. For riches can disappear as though they have the wings of a bird” LB.
That thing that has caused people not to accept this Faith, the Bible said that it can fly away. Are there not rich men today, those you once knew to be owners of big limited liability companies, millionaires? But today, to feed is difficult. Have you not seen such people, people that were doing very well, a little while the money flew away? That was why Paul told Timothy, “Lay hold on eternal life.”
You see why when you come into this Faith, we tell you to boast on the Lord. We announce to you that you have come to the final bus stop for no other thing can assure you of everlasting security if not the Word of God in our midst. Nothing could redeem a man. Your relations could not do it. Your wealth could not do it. Nothing! But now that you have come to your Redeemer, and He redeemed you, O! Our hearts should be full of joy.
Proverbs 21:30 “Human wisdom, brilliant insight. They are of no help if the Lord is against you” GNB.
You see why you are highly favoured! If the Lord turned against you, the Bible said that human wisdom, brilliance, insight, smartness, your wealth, they cannot save you, if the Lord is against you.
Brethren! Can’t we glory in the Lord that the Lord is not against us? That the Lord is against the world and so, no human wisdom, no brilliance, no insight, no gra-gra by the scientists—which the scientist are making—can save anybody.
It is gra-gra that has led them to try to manufacture human body, a new body. Hence they say, “We will do something, so that we will not perish.” If ordinary blood tonic costs so much money, even if they succeed in producing that human part, how many people would afford it? Ordinary Supradyn^®, you know the amount. Complan^®, some of us have not tasted it since life, because it is one thousand naira plus.
Ordinary antibiotics, there are some Brother Dan told me that they are sold at four thousand naira plus, one thousand naira plus. Some of us may be sick, once such medicine is mentioned, automatically we start looking for faith, because the money is not there.
If ordinary drugs are this expensive, how many could afford that kind of human part? God knows that their plans will not save them, but we are highly favoured that God made a promise to us. Free of charge God made a promise to us.

THE REALITY, CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST

Second Corinthians 5:1, “For we know that when this tent we live in now is taken down, when we die and leave this bodies, we will have wonderful new bodies in heaven” LB.

We will have wonderful new bodies in heaven. Are we in heaven now? In other words we have already gotten that wonderful new body.
Has not the Son of Man told us over and over that your Theophany body is already with you? You are already immortal, because you are in heaven.
I was talking when our Sister Ekwe was singing. I was telling Brethren around me that actually, denomination is death. I said, “Look! Our Sister has become a spinster in our eyes. When she came from Deeper Life Church newly, you will just see deeper life. She looked like death”. But today Sister is blossoming with life.
The Son of Man was calling some of us. We know what we used to look like. I said that it is Abraham’s Faith. William Branham said, “There must be the transformation of our bodies, when the promised Son is around the corner.” Why? The body of Sarah was very much transformed that the 90 years old woman became a spinster in the eyes of Abimelech. And this young man was desiring an old woman.
Something happened. Old Sarah became a teenager in appearance but yet 90 years old. I said yet 90 years old. And then that made her to conceive and had the strength to push out a baby because she is a young woman, transformed in a moment of time. O! What a high favour that I have Abraham’s Faith that has made me young and young every day?
Some of us since we knew each other, we have been what we are because the I AM THAT I AM is in our midst. Check every Brother you know since you have known him, find out whether there has been changes that has made him to look older since you knew him.
The moment you leave this Faith, you become an old man, an old woman, but as long as you are in this Faith, you keep on getting renewed, strong, young, for you are among those that the Lord used to fulfil His Word: That there is going to be those that will be alive and will remain in the Faith when the Lord will return. And those that are alive and remaining in the Faith, they with the Lord shall be caught up in the air. Amen.

I thank God He (Christ) is in our midst renewing our strength every day. We are highly favoured. Among all the people on earth, we are highly favoured.
I remember that before Brother Ben came, looking at him with the man that came for the first time here, they were very old men. You know two of them that day.
The other one was bulky and fat and black, with Brother Ben. But look at him today. Brother Ben is like under-seventeen. That is what the Faith has achieved. How can we leave this Faith? It is impossible.
2 Corinthians 5:1- “For we know that when this tent we live in now is taken down, when we die and leave this bodies, we will have wonderful new bodies in heaven. Homes that will be ours forever, made for us by God Himself and not by human hands.
How weary we grow of our present bodies. That is why we look forward eagerly to the day when we shall have heavenly bodies which we shall put on like new cloths” LB.
Can you sit in heavenly places without heavenly bodies? Remember that He that came to us came from heaven. Our own Adam is the quickening spirit, not the other one. He is a heavenly guest. He came from heaven and because He is a quickening spirit, His Words keep on transforming us, keep on transforming us, keeps on transforming us and look at what it has achieved in us.
I have told you, if we are privileged to visit Brethren that came to this faith newly, those that have been old in the Faith, if you see your family, a family of a Brother when he came in newly, when the threats of the old order, the threats, the part of the old order was still following them, you will see how far you are.
Or if you go to somebody that has not come into this faith at all, there are some you cannot even use their toilet. There are some that you cannot even stay in their parlour to drink water. Some, if they tell you to sit on a cushion, hit your hand there, the dust that will react will make you to put your legs on the table.
You will see that they do not have a doctrine. But today in our midst, the appearance of Brethren, especially when you come on the first day of the week like this, watch the Church, see the appearance of the Church, how everybody is blazing, you just give God the Glory for what He has wrought in the Bride.
We are not only clean outwardly; He has already made us clean inwardly. I was dancing there with Papa Obasanya, I saw the whole strength this Papa was using rejoicing before the Lord and I have been watching him since he came in. He came in as a dying man, but today, he is living, getting stronger and stronger as this new body is taking over the old body.
The Son of Man told us so many years ago that it is this same Message that will transform this your mortal flesh. This same Message will transform this your mortal flesh. He said that something is happening in you, something is taking place in you every day, though you may not notice it.
That is why you do not know the height you are until you just fly out. When you fly out as an eagle, you see yourself alone in the blues, expecting another bird to come closer, you will not see another. Any that will try to come up, immediately it comes in the air where the wind speed is high, it will destabilize it. It will come back to the world.
There is no group that has been brought to the point of revelation we are in this most holy Faith. Not even one! People use to think it hard for man and God to dwell together. Have we not proved them liars? Man and God have been dwelling together from the beginning.
If He dwelt with them in His First Advent, how do you think they were dwelling. It was like this: “Peter! Take this money, go to the market. Please buy us some things, so we can eat. After it, I will wait for you at the well here in Samaria. Come and meet me here. We will be going for evangelism to Capernaum. I will send Luke and the others.”
Man and God, talking. During Fellowship they will go together. When they want to travel by sea, “Everybody take your seat. Oya! Move. I will take the back one.” And in the course of the journey, they heard God snoring in the boat.
Yes, God snoring in the boat.You look at the feeble man that is lying down there and snoring, yet He is the Omniscience. Brethren didn’t get scared. Everybody was discussing: “That Fellowship we had last night, it was wonderful! Did you see what happened, how the Lord made His move? The move was great! The Lord discerned the heart of the woman. I was there when that happened.”
Before you know it, the trouble has come into the Church. Strong wind, storm. They asked, “Are you still here sleeping?” To the point that Peter can rebuke Him: “Carest thou not that we perish? You are here sleeping. See! There is water in the boat.” And what they were panicking about, Christ said, “!O Peter, relax your mind. O ye of little faith. Peace, be still.”
The moment He speaks, the situation comes under control, as God. The boat continued. God has been a Man right from creation. In every generation, God has always been a man. And in this our day, God is a Man, Dwelling in our Brother, Peter Odoemena (blessed be to His Holy Name, Selah).
Brethren! We are highly favoured. People are thinking how God and man can dwell together. William Branham said, “The coming of that Lamb brought heaven and earth together. That day when that great vindication took place, when that spirit like a dove perched on a man, that brought heaven and earth to one.” And it repeated in our day.
On that day, when we saw that Pillar of Cloud, dwelling in a badger flesh, that was the vindication that heaven and earth are now dwelling together. God and Man are now dwelling together. That is why He calls us members of His family.
Salvation is not what you have achieved by your works. If you are not a part of his family from the beginning, you cannot be a part of His family today. Being our Father, He knows everyone of us. Brother John the Beloved used to say it that our Father is Akpuruka and Isiokpukpu. And He chose Akpuruka and Isiokpukpu to work with Him.
The lion cannot begat a fearful cub. He is not a feeble one. He that we are having dealings with can never be pushed around. If you came up on the scene, came with a faith that is not existing anywhere, you alone are holding that faith, what can make you hold tight to that faith, even when the whole people do not know about it? You held on your conviction, kept on affirming it.
Before you knew it, because you know what it will result in the end, you held it so strong till it achieves its result. If it was not God, immediately you raise it up, this one will condemn it, another one will condemn it, another one will criticize it. You would not like to be man alone, you will equally drop it and join others.
That is why I told you that the Faith we are holding was not existing since 300 AD. Nobody has heard a little of what we have heard, for after 300 years of the death of the last Apostle, there was no Apostle after 300 AD. Check your Church history.
Thus, whatever the Apostolic Faith was all about was missing in the whole world. Nobody could bring it back and there were no Apostles until a Seer came, told us what went wrong. We were telling stories: “In the Bible days, in the Apostle days…”
The Prophet came and said, “If you want to witness the Apostles’ days again, go back to the home of the Apostles, for they are still living in the Word of God. If you get back to their home, there you will see them.
Before we knew it, we faced towards that road; a man came from the opposite direction and brought back all that were existing in the beginning. And this time around, nobody could do it if not The Apostle Himself, The Holy One. You see, it is a particular one.
The Apostle, High Priest of our profession brought it back. Today the Church is in her perfection, ready for departure. Thus, Brethren, we are really highly favoured.
Seeing that the whole world and Church lieth in wickedness and we are the only people that have been favoured to have been brought into His marvellous Light, let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for He that is promised is faithful to take us home.
Romans 15:8-10 “Now I say that Jesus Christ was a Minister of the circumcision for the truth of God to confirm the promises made unto the Fathers” KJV
“Remember that Jesus Christ came to show that God is true to His promises… ”
Brethren, remember that the Son of Man came to show that God is true to His promises. All that the Prophets prophesied would have been false if He (God) did not come. The Church would not have been made manifest. Sons of God would not have appeared. Thus, the Son of Man had to come to show that God is true to His promises to the fathers.
“…Remember that Jesus Christ came to show that God is true to His promises and to help the Jews. And remember that He came also that the Gentiles might be saved and give glory to God for His mercy to them.
That is what the Psalmist meant when he wrote, ‘I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name’. And in another place, ‘be glad O you Gentiles along with His people the Jews.
Verse 11-13, And yet again, praise the Lord O you Gentiles, let everyone praise Him. And the Prophet Isaiah said, ‘There shall be an heir in the house of Jesse and He will be King over the Gentiles.
They will pin their hopes on Him alone’. So I pray for you Gentiles that God who gives you hope will keep you happy and full of peace as we believe in Him.” LB .
“Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy;”
That the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy. It has come to us, so we must glorify God for His mercy.
“…as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name. And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people.
And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” KJV.
Brethren! God has kept His promise and that is why we are highly favoured. Today or tomorrow, ANY DAY THE PILLAR OF CLOUD MOVES FROM THIS PLACE WE ARE NOW INTO THE RAPTURE GROUND, WE ARE GOING TO FOLLOW. AS LONG AS HE IS AROUND US, WE HAVE NO FEAR.
2 Peter 1:16-19 “For we have not been telling you fairy tales when we explain to you the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and His coming again. My own eyes have seen His splendour and His glory. I was there on the holy mountain… ”
Brethren, have not our eyes seen His splendour and glory? How many were here in the Holy Mountain when He displayed His Power and Glory? How many were in Mount Zion when it took place? I was there. That is the final showdown in the Holy Mount Zion.
What we tell the whole world is what we were eyewitnesses too and not fairy tales that Christ has come back.
“… I was there on the holy mountain when He shone out with honour given Him by God his Father. I heard that glorious majestic voice calling down from heaven saying, ‘This is my much beloved son, I am well pleased with Him’” LB.
I heard that Voice with majesty. It was not the voice of man. I HAVE ANOINTED YOU WITH MY SPIRIT, SPEAK MY WORD. I HAVE ANOINTED YOU WITH MY POWER, FEAR THEM NOT. Where did it happen? In Mount Zion.
Brother Kelechi, we have not followed cunningly devised fables. If it happened in Babylon, we will be sceptical, but it happened in Mount Zion.
“So we have seen and proved that what the Prophet said came through. You will do well to pay close attention to everything they have written for like light shinning into dark corners, their words help us to understand many things that otherwise will be dark and difficult.
But when you consider the wonderful truth of the Prophet’s words, then the light will dawn in your soul and Christ the morning star will shine in your heart” LB.
When you consider these things that are written in the word of God, which have been brought to plain view in our day, today’s star, THE REALITY of Christ will become very clear in your heart. We have proved that what the Prophet said were true and then we became the highly favoured people among whom Christ was revealed.
And now, he has been revealed, taught us all things according to his promise, what do we now do? It is to be patient with Him, for He alone knows the time of our departure. It does not even need our asking. Our enquiry cannot bring it out.
If you ask Him, and it is not the time, He would not reveal it. If we cry, “Let us move! Let us move, ooh! I am fed up,” He cannot move. For He can do nothing of His own except that which the Father reveals.
We were not the one that forced Him to give us the Message of grace. The later wine that was sweeter than the former. You know we joined the law with every zeal.
Though it was very painful, we were bragging with the law. Anybody we came in contact with, we used the Law to make him nobody. We were bragging that we were the people that knew the Laws very well.
It was sweet to us, but we did not know there was a sweeter one. One day, the GRACE OF GOD appeared. The Message of Grace came, when we did not even expect it. Things that we were not imagining that can be mentioned here, that was our culture, we saw it in reality.
Before that time, if you see a Bother with a bottle of stout or beer, what would you have done? How do you write him off? You will report it to the Pastor, surely he is leaving the Church.
But today, you not only touch it, you even reserve it in your fridge. You have not died and there is no guilty conscience has shaken you out of His Kingdom, for the Perfecter of the Gentiles is here.
If He said we should not go that way and you harden you heart to go that way, the guilt alone will bend you down. But because He is the one who permitted it, we were brought into the Grace. We saw that liberty is sweeter than bondage.

The same way He has told us that where we are entering is better than where we are now. Let us believe it. If we are enjoying here now, over there, there will be no words to explain the joy there, until our hearts will go on singing. Amen.