OBEDIENCE IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE EXPLAINED  PART 1

OBEDIENCE IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE EXPLAINED  PART 1 PREACHED On          Friday, 30^th September 2022 AT THE VOICE OF GOD STUDIO Bridal Lodge, Nsugbe Anambra State, Nigeria BY Apostle Peter Odoemena THE SON OF MAN The Holy Spirit         

Transcribed by Deacon David Mbah Students’ Fellowship MOUAU, Abia State

[29-30]KEEP ME FAR FROM EVERY WRONG; HELP ME, UNDESERVING AS I AM, TO OBEY YOUR LAWS, FOR I HAVE CHOSEN TO DO RIGHT. [31] I CLING TO YOUR COMMANDS AND FOLLOW THEM AS CLOSELY AS I CAN. LORD, DON’T LET ME MAKE A MESS OF THINGS. [32]IF YOU WILL ONLY HELP ME TO WANT YOUR WILL, THEN I WILL FOLLOW YOUR LAWS EVEN MORE CLOSELY. [33-34] JUST TELL ME WHAT TO DO AND I WILL DO IT, LORD. AS LONG AS I LIVE I’LL WHOLEHEARTEDLY OBEY. [35]MAKE ME WALK ALONG THE RIGHT PATHS, FOR I KNOW HOW DELIGHTFUL THEY REALLY ARE. [36]HELP ME TO PREFER OBEDIENCE TO MAKING MONEY! [37]TURN ME AWAY FROM WANTING ANY OTHER PLAN THAN YOURS. REVIVE MY HEART TOWARD YOU. [38]REASSURE ME THAT YOUR PROMISES ARE FOR ME, FOR I TRUST AND REVERE YOU.

Psalms 119:29 – 38, Living Bible

I am laying a background for something. I want to touch on something that is hindering you from addressing your minds to the entirety of the Word of God, because most of you came from places where worshipping of God is alien. Completely foreign. You came from idolatrous communities where you join hands in worshipping idols in diverse manners, ignorantly, until the whole thing permeated into your systems. To get rid of it has become a problem. That is why, when God appeared in our midst, December 30, 1992, the first Voice said, “If we must get along with God, we must drop all preconceived ideas about God. Two: we must yield ourselves to be flushed by the Word of God, because the amount of the Word of God that comes into your life displaces the same amount of unbelief, ignorance, stupidity, foolishness that has been in you.”

– the son of man –

DIDN’T OUR HEARTS BURN WITHIN US VOL. 1; Preached on Sunday 30^th April 2017 at the Household of God, Onitsha; Pg. 34 vs. 58 – 61

INTRODUCTION

PRAYER

1. Our dear Heavenly Father, we have come before you tonight being Friday, the best of the days in the week, a special day indeed.
2. And we have come this very evening for our normal evening oblation at an hour when you find it difficult to refuse the prayers of Your Saints. We are Saints because we are standing before you covered by Your presence and covered by Your glory.
3. It is Your unfailing plan which You established before the world began that we should stand before You holy without any particular spot and without any blame [Father] in love as we stand before You.
4. This is Your unfailing plan which You had already made before the world began that we shall stand before You declared holy, because of what Christ our LORD had already accomplished for us; and not what He will accomplish, for He had already accomplished it for us by that blood of Christ which was shed abroad for the remission of the sins of many, of which we are included in the number.
5. We approach your Throne of Grace tonight and we plead O God that the cleansing power that is in the blood will cleanse our hearts of every evil conscience. Purify our hearts. Purify the hearts of all that are called by Your Name.
6. Father divine, remember You made it clear to us that we are the chosen people of God. Because of us O God, You sent Christ to die [Father] on our behalf that we may be declared the righteousness of God.
7. Here we are tonight Father invoking the promise and the power that is in that blood, for there is power in that blood; the blood that speaketh greater things than the blood of Abel; the blood, O God, of the everlasting Covenant; the blood that made You O God, to love us [Father] from everlasting to everlasting.
8. Here we are claiming the promise that is embedded in that blood that when You see the blood, You will pass over us.
9. THANK YOU, O LORD for this all-inclusive salvation, which You decided O God to extend to us, mere mortals, who in time past, knew You not. In time past, we were pagans given over to dumb gods. But today O God, we are no longer the same.
10. We have been purchased Father, with the costliest price ever – the blood of Christ. The blood of the Most High God, Who became Man that we might be saved.
11. Father, here we are presenting nothing but the righteousness of God before You, presenting nothing but the sacrifice You made for the atonement of our sins, for the propitiation of our sins.
12. Even when we had not come into existence as human beings, You had already O God, placed the atonement there. Father, we look up to that atoning blood. And we say, “May this blood atone for us, from generation to generation unto eternity.”
13. Tonight O God, we say THANK YOU, for whatever might be our flaws had already been taken over. They had already been taken over by that same blood.
14. Father, therein we stand and establish our faith that from everlasting to everlasting, Your love for us O God cannot be reversed. We know that to sure, for whatever you do endureth to all generations. For You are the only everlasting God, and whatever you do is everlasting. Nothing can be subtracted. You said that, even before the world began.
15. You brought us into the world as human beings, and You died for us and saved us. At this closing hours of the history of the whole world, You have appeared again to give us full and complete salvation, to conclude the work You initiated when the world was without form.
16. Father, we say, “THANK YOU for including us in the number.” You know all You have chosen for salvation, even before the world began scattered all over the globe. We bring all before You this evening.
17. For this evening oblation O God, we make this solemn request on their behalf. Save all of us to the utmost. Transform our mortal bodies in Your own good time and in Your own due time [Father] according to Your Word of promise, which can never fail.
18. May we never appear before You in judgment. May we be saved by Your grace. May we never esteem nothing but Your grace. And may Your grace be sufficient for us in all situations.
19. Tonight O God, we are standing in the gap for every Elect of God worldwide. Harken unto our prayers. Harken unto their prayer request as well. Even those that have not known You up till this day, turn their faces towards You. Turn their hearts towards You.
20. Those, O God, who knew You but have decided to draw back, Father, reveal to them where they are drawing back to because many are still standing because You are in our midst upholding us. Please uphold us till the end. Keep us from falling.
21.  Let there be no temptation in this life [Father] that will take us away from the revelation we have concerning who you are and the Word of this salvation which You have given us free of charge. May we never abuse this wonderful privilege. Father, may we never abuse this golden opportunity because we know the value of gold. Help us to preserve it.
22. Thank You O God for the journey mercies granted our Brethren who left Mbaise in the morning today. They are here safe and secured. THANK YOU because You intervened on the highways.
23. Otherwise, there would have been another story. They would have run into the hands of hoodlums. And that might have been the end of their lives – a whole family. Father, we say, THANK YOU, for You did not allow that to happen.
24. THANK YOU for answering our prayers which we made on their behalf ahead of time, and on behalf of all, Father, who we supported in their trips, even to Uzuakoli today. To and fro, O God, grant all of them journey mercies. Let there be no evil reports that will be received from the ends.
25. Thank You for brightening the weather. Since yesterday till now, we have been enjoying a fair weather, even for three days now, simply because we presented our programme of activities before You.
26. We requested O God Father, Your favour, and You assured us that You are there for us. Until this very hour, You are still there. Remain there until the whole thing is over.
27. Whether the people You are favouring will acknowledge it or not; even if they like, let them attribute [Father] Your victory to their idols, Father, we know who did it. We know who is doing it. We know Who will continue to do it.
28. There is no other Personality than You the Almighty God, the Great Jehovah that ruleth over the affairs of the whole world in Whom there is no variableness.
29. Father, we bow down before You tonight and say, “Speak to all hearts, even the Word of life. Remind us of those things You taught us in time past. Correct us where we need correction. Accuse us where we need to be accused so that we can correct every error now that we are alive.”
30. May your love and mercy project towards all Your children in their various families Father, as they worship You tonight.
31. Those that are still on the highways, grant them journey mercies. Forgive their sins. Peradventure they compromised their holy and high calling [Father] with the heathens because of eating and drinking, Father please forgive them. Lay no charge against them. May they get to their destinations safely.
32. Tonight, we pray that you build a strong hedge around us. May Your glory shine upon us this evening. May we O God, experience the presence of Thy Deity [Father] in this Holy Gathering tonight.
33. May Your Name be praised forever and ever for answering our prayer request. For Your Name’s sake O God, we pray. Amen.

1

God is PUTting US IN REMEMBRANCE

SONG: [Guide me O Thou Great Jehovah pilgrim through this barren land. I am weak, but Thou art Mighty. Hold me with Thy powerful hand.

• Bread of Heaven, feed me now and ever more. Bread of Heaven, feed me now and ever more. Songs of praises, I will ever sing to Thee. Songs of praises, I will ever sing to Thee.]
• Tonight, we want to consider this Message. I handled this Message under the highest anointing those days on the 29^th of July, 1994. It is one of those Messages that God used to bring us together and to instill His fear in us.
• The Message that God used to shape us and to prepare our hearts for the good tidings that were on the way. As many  as were obedient to this Message, truly speaking,  benefitted a lot.
• As many as paid heed to this Message and are still standing on that solid Rock, they have no regrets whatsoever.
• But those who fooled themselves by paying lip service to this Message– those who fooled themselves by living hypocritical lives and pretending to be what they were not, they have not survived it till today. They are alive physically, but spiritually they died many many years ago. Why? They did not take the Word of God seriously.
• How do you know whether you are taking it seriously or not? It is already reflecting in your daily living. When you begin to hate evil and cherish good things; when good thoughts begin to dominate your heart and dominate your mind; when you begin to live an organized life in the fear of the LORD, would you not know?
• When the fear of God and the respect for God will begin to restrain you from certain ungodly habits, would you not know?
• When you are refusing to do something that God hates because you do not want to enter into trouble with God, it is not a man regulating you again. It is the fear of God and the honour and respect for God that is regulating you.
• When you come to this level, it is that time that you can boldly tell the whole world that you are walking with Christ and that you are in right standing with God. That is the time, when you look up and you look down, there is no trace of  evil  your conscience will prick you of .
• This is because once there is anything evil in you, if you are a seed of God, your conscience will hold you guilty. And the devil will be accusing you every minute of the day.
• So we pray that tonight, God will put us in remembrance of this truth. And anywhere we notice any fault or any omission in our lives, that God will help us to address them because nobody knows tomorrow, and nobody knows what will happen.
• And there is no better time for this Message to come than this evening. This is the last hour of the evening of Friday. This is the last hour. And between now and 7 o’clock, I believe that the LORD Who is here with us will do us good. And that is, if the determination to obey is in us, I believe the LORD will bless our Faith tonight.
• Let us go through this Message. You stand and read it where it will enter the tape. Let it enter the recording machines so that those who travelled will benefit when they come back because we are posting it to every family for the sake of those we sent out to go and represent us.
• They might not be present in their meetings. When they comeback, they will know that they have been taken good care of. Through prayers and through this Message, they will also maintain the same balance with all of us.
• So, read it like a human being that has the strength and that has the Holy Spirit. Let your voice carry strength immediately.

2

TWO THINGS THAT ARE HOLDING MANY CAPTIVE IN THIS FAITH

The title of the Message is OBEDIENCE IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE; Preached on 29^th July 1994 at the Household of God Onitsha by Apostle Peter Odoemena, THE SON OF MAN, The Rock of Ages.

• Page 3 Nugget: It is true I am an ordinary human being in appearance. Whosoever God sends in every dispensation is God’s tabernacle. He is God’s dwelling place. He is where God is hiding. He must always be a human being. He cannot be walking with wings because God is dwelling in him. No!
• He remains a mere human being in appearance, but He is a supernatural human being the other way round, in that He can change situations. Believe it if you can… – THE SON OF MAN. [From the Message: NO DECEPTION IS OF THE TRUTH Volume 1 [A Foundational Message] Preached on Sunday 28^th January 2001 at the Household of God Onitsha; Pg. 82 vs. 27 – 28]
• Chapter One—OATHS AND VOWS: ¹Two things are holding many captive in this Faith. Number one is oath bondage; number two, is vow. …
• Take note! Two things that are holding people captive in this Faith. Two things! Two major things! You may say that you did not do this and you did not do that. Note these two things holding many people captive. Take note of it.
• Two things God is saying are holding many people captive. They have nothing to do with the law, and they have nothing to do with grace, Pay attention.
• … This bondage is holding many captive in this Church. As God liveth, if anybody that calls himself a teacher, or a man of God comes and tells you that if there is a promise or vow or an oath which you took, maybe, in your private place or in the congregation, that you will not pay it, tell the person that God did not for one day call him. Sure!
• ²If you are a man and it happens to be that you took an oath before God, as far as God liveth, if God approves it for you, you MUST fulfill that oath because He did not force you for one day to make it. Sure!
• You must redeem the oath, for God never forced you to make that oath before Him.  If any Teacher or Prophet, Apostle or Pastor is telling you to ignore it and that it was done in those days, tell the person that God never spoke to him because this is an oath you made out of your own volition, binding you and the Almighty God. You will remain guilty until that oath is redeemed.
• You are the one that placed yourself in that bondage and God used the Word of your mouth to seal it for you.
• ³If ever you have a vow which you made before God saying, “God, if you do this for me, I will give you this or do that for You”, it is between you and God, and not between you and your Pastor nor anybody else.
• ⁴The Bible told us in the book of Ecclesiastes that whenever we come before God that we should not promise like little children. That it is better we do not promise God and worship Him than for us to promise Him of something which we know that we cannot fulfill. For God can never leave us to go scot-free because He is not only a man.
• Ecclesiastes 5:1-6, LB. ^[1-3]As you enter the Temple, keep your ears open and your mouth shut! Don’t be a fool who doesn’t even realize it is sinful to make rash promises to God, for he is in heaven and you are only here on earth, so let your words be few. Just as being too busy gives you nightmares, so being a fool makes you a blabbermouth.
• ^[4]So when you talk to God and vow to him that you will do something, don’t delay in doing it, for God has no pleasure in fools. Keep your promise to him. ^[5]It is far better not to say you’ll do something than to say you will and then not do it.
• ^[6-7]In that case, your mouth is making you sin. Don’t try to defend yourself by telling the messenger from God that it was all a mistake to make the vow. That would make God very angry; and he might destroy your prosperity. ….
• ⁵I want to tell you the condition by which you will not fulfill your promise to God. If you are a married woman and you made a vow, the law says that you must table it before your husband. And if your husband confirms it, you must fulfill that vow according to how you made it.
• However, if eventually he says no to it, God said that you will not pay for the vow again, and nothing can ever condemn you or input sin on you for not fulfilling the vow.
• For you stand righteous before God because your husband refused you to fulfill it. But if your husband ever allows you and you decline to do it, you will be condemned.
• The condemnation is not to the woman who had already volunteered and made a vow or swore an oath before God, and was ready to fulfill it. The condemnation is not on the woman again.
• The condemnation now rests on the husband, who on hearing it refused that act of worship– who on hearing and the wife declaring it to him and the man now resists it and begins to tell the wife why she should not do it, the wife is righteous before God. Before God she has paid her vow and she has redeemed her oath, but the husband is guilty.
• The husband is guilty of hindering somebody from redeeming a pledge or vow or an oath that person made with God, and was not forced to do it. It was voluntary and based on how God touched his or her life positively.
• It is based on what she was requesting from God just like Hannah. Hannah never sought the permission of the husband before she made a vow in the temple of God, that if God would bless her with a child [a male child in particular] whether male or female, that she must bring that child back to the temple and hand that child over to God, so that all the days of that child’s life, that the child must serve God in the temple alongside with the high priest.
• Then God permitted Hannah after many years, to be pregnant. Then the woman delivered after 9 months. The day of presentation came. The woman went to the husband Elkanah and disclosed it to him, “Master, this child is of the age when we can present him before the Almighty.
• Look at the vow I made. Remember the day we entered the temple. The high priest Eli in Shiloh thought I was drunk. I told him I was not drunk. I was pouring out my heart before Jehovah for my fellow woman folk, my fellow wife and the second wife, Peninnah is ridiculing Me.”
• Peninnah was ridiculing Hannah, for being barren and for being childless. Instead of quarrelling with Peninnah who was always quarrelling and mocking the woman over her condition, the woman preferred going to the temple of God.
• And then, there in the temple, Elkanah the husband was not there. Peninnah was not there. She [Hannah] was there crying and her lips moving and the high priest noticed the tears and the way the mouth was moving. She was not even talking. She was mumbling within.
• The high priest supposed the woman to be drunk with strong drink as it was the manner of some worshippers that time. Then, the woman said, “O high priest my Lord, your maidservant is not drunk as you suppose her to be. I am pouring out my heart to the Almighty God. The only Person that has the solution to my problem. The only person that has the answer to my condition.”
• Then the high priest replied, “It shall be unto you, Woman, according to your faith. According to the request you have presented to the Almighty God, so shall He perform it for you.” And the woman said, “Amen!” and left the temple.
• The husband was not there. The fellow wife who was ridiculing here was to there. And the LORD did as the high priest declared by answering her prayers. Then she vowed to present the baby back to God.
• On that day of presentation, that was the day she made it known to her husband, for she was ready to redeem the vow. When she disclosed it to the husband, the husband being one that honoureth and feareth God, according to the Bible, never restrained the woman– never stopped the woman from redeeming it. Instead, Elkanah encouraged Hannah.
• The Bible said that Elkanah equally brought turtle dove and too many other things according to the traditions of the Jews and encouraged the wife to go to the temple to pay her vow.
• On getting there, the woman did as she promised. On going back, they left Samuel. They left Samuel, the only son and the only issue. According to the vow, they left him in the hands of Eli the high priest. They surrendered him and then went back.
• Can you see? And the LORD blessed the woman, blessed the husband and also blessed the child. The story of Samuel littered the whole Bible. He became a Prophet and a Priest in Israel. And during his reign, Israel refrained from idolatry. He led them to God.
• So, when somebody, a married woman had already prayed to God– Prayer is done quietly. Prayer is done as an individual. Just like I am here. If I kneel down now to pray, you do not know what I am requesting from God.
• When you kneel down to pray, you pray according to the condition you are in. You pray, requesting that God should come to your help. Nobody should know what you are requesting from God. Only you and the Almighty God knows what you are asking for. Then, when God answers your prayers, nobody will know except you.
• So, whatever oath or pledge or vow you took that time is bound  between you and God. Nobody knows it until you make it public.
• So, if a woman makes her own known to the husband on the day she is all out to redeem it, and the husband hinders the woman, whatever might be the reason, the woman is now justified and declared righteous and in right standing with God.
• Before the Almighty God, she has already redeemed the oath. She has redeemed the vow. The guilt is now on the husband who hindered and prevented her from redeeming that vow physically, which is an act of worship. It is like stopping somebody from worshipping God. The condemnation is on the husband and no longer on the woman. Have you heard it?
• ⁶If you are unmarried and you make a vow before God, if the vow is one that concerns your marriage, your father must be aware of it. Yes! If he permits you, you are obligated to marry that person you vowed to marry, but if he says “no” that you will not marry that person, that’s the end of that marriage. Yes!
• This one is still obtainable till this day, that the father of a lady has the final say. True or false? True or false? The lady has given her consent to the whosoever that is coming to marry her.
• Now, it is carried to the father for his approval. If the father disapproves of it, it is no longer the lady that refused the man. The lady is willing to go with the man and to stay with man throughout the rest of their lives, but the father is saying no.
• So, it will be wrong for the man who was refused to begin to persecute the lady. Did you get the Message? If there is any problem, it is not between that suitor and the lady. Rather, it is between that suitor and the man [the lady’s father]. True or false?
• That is why, when the kindred will hear this, they do not keep quiet. They will go to the man to find out whether he has good reasons why he should say no to the proposal because the guilt is on him. Did you get it?
• If by tomorrow that lady remains in that unmarried estate until she grows very old and becomes abandoned property, and people begin to ridicule her, who should be blamed? The father! Who is responsible for that? The father! He is guilty. He is guilty and will remain guilty. So, no guilt will be attributed to the girl. No!
• That is why parents’ role remain advisory. Purely advisory as far as marriage is concerned.
• Sometimes, if such ladies know their stance with the Holy Scriptures, they ignore the man and run to their suitor, knowing that the man [the lady’s father] will ask for whatever might be the bride price and the traditional rights by and by. I hope you are getting Me.
• You heard what he said. He said, “Many people are being held captive here because that is what they used their mouths to pledge and to vow before the Almighty God in their quiet places, secretly in their hearts in their homes.” In the Fellowship, body, nobody makes it public. It is a matter between you and God
• ⁷If you are not married and you make a vow before God, you are like a man before God, for you must fulfill your promise before God. How are we going to fulfill the promise? It is written in the Bible. In the book of Psalms chapter 50, God warned us there that we should make sure that we fulfill our vows.
• Psalms 50:14, AMP. Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High,
• ⁸In Numbers 30, He also warned us that we pay our vows. Numbers 30:1-2, LB. ^[1-2]Now Moses summoned the leaders of the tribes and told them, “The Lord has commanded that when anyone makes a promise to the Lord, either to do something or to quit doing something, that vow must not be broken: the person making the vow must do exactly as he has promised.
• In Malachi, He also warned us to fulfill our vows. Malachi 1:14, AMP. But cursed is the [cheating] deceiver who has a male in his flock and vows to offer it, yet sacrifices to the [sovereign] Lord a blemished or diseased thing! For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and My name is terrible and to be [reverently] feared among the nations.
• The whole of the New Testament talked about paying of vows. How are we going to fulfill it? If you promise fowl, you will not give goat, neither will you give cow. What you promised is what you are going to give. Take note!
• … If you know the person you made the promise to give the vow to, that is the person you are going to give the vow to. Period!
• ⁹You have no right to say because the fowl which I promised is sold hundred Naira, so for that you will give hundred Naira, no. You did not promise hundred Naira. What you promised is what you will give. It is left for your Pastor to direct you on how you will do it.

This why we must follow this Message strictly. If you do not know the point of your perfection in Christ, you are lost. You must know; One, the point of your salvation in Christ, the point of your justification in Christ, the point of your righteousness in Christ, the point of your perfection in Christ.

– the son of man –

ARE YOU WALKING WITH GOD OR WALKING ALONE? Preached on Wednesday 12^th October 2011 at the Household of God, Onitsha; Pg. 17 vs. 4

3

YOU MUST GIVE THAT WHICH IS YOUR VOW, OATH OR PLEDGE

It is because vow is not thanksgiving. Oath is not thanksgiving. Pledge is not thanksgiving. I hope you are hearing it.

• In thanksgiving, you will just thank and appreciate God using whatever you are lead or whatever you desire to give. Nobody regulates you, but not in oath.
• If you know that thing you vowed, even if it is ordinary sand, that is what God is expecting from you. Whether it is a cup of water that is what God is expecting from you. You cannot say, “Let me go and exchange it with anything at all.” No!
• No matter the distance you must travel, when you get to that place, go and buy it if it is to be bought with money. Assuming that where you are going to redeem it is in Lokoja or in Kaduna, enter motor, and when you get there, buy it there. Then go and redeem it.
• But it is not thanksgiving. It is not offering. If it is an offering and you discover that the place is far, your duty is to exchange it for money. If it is for thanksgiving and the place is very far, you exchange it for money, and then forward it.
• Once it borders on vow, oath or pledge, you must redeem it with that which proceeded out of your mouth.
• Maybe you promised a fowl when you were very poor. And by the time you are redeeming it, you are rich, and you can afford a cow, what God is expecting from you is that fowl. I hope you are hearing Me.
• Hear me very well. If you made the promise that it is going to be a fowl, that is your oath or pledge or vow. It is binding you and God.
• Assuming you made it when you were very poor. And by the time God fulfilled everything and you are about to pay or redeem it, you notice you are very rich, you cannot say, “It will be a small thing for me to go and give God a fowl when God has already blessed me with riches and I am wealthy enough to provide even 20 cows.” You can never change it.
• No matter how God has come your way, what you vowed is a vow. Go and give the fowl. If it is a lamb [you vowed] it is not a sheep. A lamb is the young one of a sheep. What you vowed is a lamb. Carry that lamb like Abel, for that was what Abel carried.
• While his brother, Cain gave the best fruits of the land, being a farmer. He [Abel] was not ashamed of carrying the small lamb for that was what he had already vowed. Did you get it? So you cannot change it.
• If you say it is a cow because you are rich, and as you journeyed along, your table turned upside down, but God had fulfilled that thing which you requested for, and by the time it came to pass, you had already gone down in wealth, you must redeem that cow.
• You cannot say, “God, I vowed a cow when I was rich. Now that I am poor, let me give you a dog”, or “Let me give you a goat.” It must be a cow. I hope you are paying attention.
• If he commands you to go and sell it and then bring the money, you go, and anything you sold it is what you will surrender to God.
• Not minus. You cannot say that it is too much or too small. That was what put Ananias and Sapphira into trouble as recorded in the New Testament, not Old.
• They had already pledged their land. They were to sell it and bring the money to the treasury for the work of the LORD. They went and sold, counted the money and it became too much for them. They tampered with it. The husband and wife reasoned together and tampered with it.
• What happened? It cost their lives. It is not that they became poor. They died. The man died and three hours later, the wife died because the two took counsel together to tell lies and to conspire against the truth.
• For they were asked by God Who was dwelling in Peter, “Is that all?” He said, “Yes!” He said, “Ananias, why has Satan deceived you? When you were having this land and this money, was it not your own? It would have been better that you refused to do it—to sell it and pledge it to God—than for you to do it, sell it and tamper with the money. Only for you to come here to tell lies with straight face before the Almighty God. As long as God liveth, see all these people here—the Deacons—they will bury you now.” He slumped down and died.
• Three hours later, the wife came. Read the Acts of the Apostles. You know this story very well. Then the wife equally joined in telling lies for it was a conspiracy against the truth.
• He said, “For conspiring with your husband, to tell this lie, so you are defending your husband in error. The people that are coming in went to bury your husband. They will bury you now.” She slumped down and died.
• This is just like what God nearly do to Chinwendu of Enugu. Chinwendu did not know that the Almighty was standing on the pulpit. Amazing grace saved him. He dried up. His lips blistered.
• He wrote a letter at the end and said he had an experience which no human being should ever pray to have. He said that it was amazing grace that saved him, for what killed Ananias and Sapphira would have killed him.
• In short, he died. Only that I spoke a Word that brought him back to life. You were all there.
• So, may we never joke with this Message. It was handled on 29^th July 1994. The Message God used to create faith in us, and to instill His fear in us.
• ⁹You have no right to say because the fowl which I promised is sold hundred Naira, so for that you will give hundred Naira, no. You did not promise hundred Naira. What you promised is what you will give. It is left for your Pastor to direct you on how you will do it.
• ¹¹If he commands you to go and sell it and then bring the money, you go, and anything you sold it is what you will surrender to God. If he does not want to sell it, he also has the right to collect it from you and do anything with it.
• I am saying this that you may be liberated. The same thing is applicable to the offering which we do give in the Church. There is no place in the scriptures where it is written that it must be money that you will give as offering. Offering is offering and it is you and your God that know what you want to give.
• ¹²Whatever you decide is what you will give. Sure!!! Offering according to the scriptures can be given in form of rice, garri and even yam. There are people who are being given the gift. That is why we have ministers.
• We can be in Onitsha and hear of our Brethren in Ohuba or Isiala-Ngwa or other places, that they are in hardship, it is your offering that will be used in attending to their needs.
• Had it been that we have a Local Assembly there in Lagos now, pertaining to the situation in Lagos for now, you would have known what it means to help Brethren in time of hardship, for any household of God in Lagos can be likened to the Church in Jerusalem suffering from tribulation and hardship.
• [This is] Because one cup of garri given to somebody in Lagos is like one million Naira. The same it is to one bottle of kerosene given to somebody there.
• For they were having trouble that time. Remember that time. It has not stopped. It is still on. Only that we are carrying it now in different forms.
• That time, some Elders  came to carry materials [including clothing’s, food items and so on], travel long distances and deliver them. I thank God that both the recipients and those who were in charge of it are still alive. Only a few died, while a few left, but the majority are still in our midst till today.
• Think of it. If eventually we have a  Church there and we send a minister there with gallons of kerosene and red oil, as well as bags of rice which you gave as offering, how do you think  it will be? It is then that you will know who is worshipping God. I want your eyes to open a little.
• ¹³We really thank God that our Pastor is in the fellowship with his family. Pastor, did you trek to this fellowship? Is there any reasonable excuse before God? You may say that God understands, when you ought to be in the in the fellowship on time.
• Since you wanted to come late, you would have come late alone and allow your children to come ahead of time, and come late alone. Well, whatever  might be your reason it is between you and your God.
• ¹⁴There is nothing that you can give as an offering that is bad. I told you that I want to liberate you so that everybody will be free and worship God.
• In time past, we closed our eyes so that nobody will be stumbled but now that we have come to the fulfillment of all things, everything must be complete. If you want to die, you die. If you want to stumble, you stumble.
• ¹⁵If I have surrendered Myself to God, I surrendered even all My family and everything I have. If I die today, I will not know where my property is. 1994.
• ¹⁶It is just like when I was talking to my wife saying, “If I close my eyes in death now, I will not know whether you are by my side”. Because the message is becoming harder yet if you look at it, it is very quiet. Sure!!! It is becoming biting. Why is it so? If you have ever seen somebody that is struggling with death, nobody will tell you that the person is dying.
• [It is] ¹⁷The same thing if you see somebody that is drunk. At times he looks like a mad man. Why is it so? He is being disturbed because his mind is somewhere.
• It was this condition that made Christ to leave His disciples: “If you want to perish, perish,” because He knew that it was time for Him to be crowned. Thus, it was not the time when somebody would come to distract Him over things that did not matter.
• ¹⁸Imagine Christ asking somebody to help Him pray. What kind of help would somebody give Christ? Was He afraid? The Message is biting now. Yet, it is very quiet. It is now that you see Great Falling away. Yet, people do not know.
• ¹⁹Now I am coming back to something. If My wife delivers a baby and it gets to the day that I want to dedicate My baby to God, anything that I decide within Me and My God to give as thanksgiving, I am not under obligation. Sure!!! For that is what I have decided within me, from my heart to give to God as a thanksgiving.
• ²⁰No Minister or man of God has the right to tell Me that I should go back with it because we are rounding up.
• ²¹But before now, we set these things aside knowing fully well that we must meet them. Why was it that in the time past, we closed our eyes from these things and continued going like that? It was because we had not got to the height where we could understand it.
• Had it been that we touched it that time, we would have become a denomination by now. Had it been that we revealed these things that time when people were very much eager, they would have placed sacrifice first before any other thing. Everybody would have been anxious of what they will give to God.
• What will I do to God instead of listening to the Word of God? Secondly, it would have brought in politics in the Church of God. It would have come to the point where the poor will say that instead of people seeing him that he does not have money, he will go to borrow or buy in credit just to show that he has zeal for God. Why? Because as at that time many of us were not filled with the Holy Spirit.
• ²⁴However, today, anybody that has not got the Holy Ghost, I do not know when next that person will have his own because I do not know the Message that will be preached to him that will make him have the Holy Ghost in him.
• ²⁵We have come to the climax of everything. And now that we have come to the climax, all those things that were neglected are being brought together now and placed accordingly. What are we doing this time? We are plastering the wall.
• ²⁶Any place that has hole, we fill it back, for everywhere must be smooth. That is what we are in. As far as it is Scripture, it must fit in the wall. Every of our action must correspond with the Word of God. Amen! That is the perfection of the Saints.
• ²⁷Then shall all of us come to the same unity and height. Nobody will be above the other. You will not do because I did so.
• ²⁸Assuming you made a vow when you were in the denomination and God saved you and brought you to this most holy Faith, it is still in your hands. Yes!
• Prayer is a sacrifice. If we are singing praises, we are rendering sacrifice unto God. Amen.

4

SIN IS NOTHING BUT UNBELIEF [DOUBT]

OBEDIENCE IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE; Preached on 29^th July 1994 by Apostle Peter Odoemena, THE SON OF MAN, The Rock of Ages.

• Chapter 2—REBELLION IN THE HOUSE OF GOD: ¹Malachi 1 verse 10-11, “Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought?  neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought….”
• ¹Who is in this Church to play with this altar? Who is in the Church to cry wolf when there is no wolf? Who is here to raise false alarm? Who will ever go into his house and ever shut his door for not having any reason in mind?
• ³There must be a purpose. You do not kindle fire for nothing sake. You cannot put out  fire for nothing sake, or without a reason. Now the Lord is saying something: “I have no pleasure in you priests here,” because we are a royal priesthood. We are all priests, both men and women. God is considering us as priests that will offer sacrifice in one way or the other.
• ⁴“I have no pleasure in you. For that reason, I will never never accept your sacrifices.” We have to settle the matter first of all.  If you cannot praise Me, I have people that can praise Me. If you do not want to sacrifice to Me as your God, hold your sacrifices for My Name is great even among the heathens. Neither will I accept an offering in your hand.
• ⁵How can the God you have been doubting accept something from your hand? He moves, and you do not believe that He is moving. You do not believe that He is speaking to you. You do not believe that He is even in your midst. How then do you bring sacrifice and you want Him to accept? You are throwing it to the winds.
• You are throwing it where? To the winds. 29^th July 1994. Brethren, up till this day, are you still hearing this language?
• Let us come down low. You do not believe in the God that is in your midst, you do not believe in the move that He is making, you do not believe in His Word. If He does anything you will attribute it to a human being, you are sacrificing your sacrifice to a human being.
• Every time God will be shouting, “unbelief will kill the Church, unbelief will kill the Church,” and somebody is saying that at all times God will be shouting, then the question is, have you ever run away from unbelief and God never stopped saying unbelief? As long as unbelief remaineth in the Church God must never close His mouth.
• Where ever there is so much indictment and rebuke, there abides much iniquity also. Have we not seen the level of unbelief starting from the Pastor down to the lowest person in the Church? Both the Prophet, the priest, everybody in unbelief, attributing God’s doings to human beings. If there is ANY, it is unbelief.
• ⁹Check, right from the time that we came in to this place, the first time that we came to worship God, the first warning that was given to us was unbelief:
• “Obey instructions. Hearken unto my Word. Follow my Word, for I will never leave you. Follow instructions. Follow My Servant. Hear His Word. Obey Him, for I will never leave you.”
• ¹⁰However, when we started manifesting doubt and unbelief in the camp, God came down roaring every time. We were carrying unbelief too far.
• What is unbelief? When God will move, God will speak through the voice of a man and you call Him a Minister, you call him a man of God and a servant of God. Yet, you do not believe the Word that it is from God.
• ¹¹You will read the Word of God. The Word is the discerner of the heart. The Word of God searches every secret. Whatever you do in secret, God reveals it and you say Amen.
• However, when God directs it to you, it will turn to devil. You do not believe that the eyes of the Lord watcheth throughout the world or that there is an all-seeing eye watching you, and you will say Amen, but when you are caught and it flashes on the air where people will hear it, you start retaliating.
• ¹²The cause of your offences and why too many of you do not believe the Faith is: “Why must my name be mentioned? Why must my sins be revealed?”
• God will say, “Your sin will kill you if you do not turn away from it.” Instead of you to say, “God thank you sir for finding fault with me. I am ready to change”– Instead of deciding to change, you will say, “Why will it be said? God why?” Do not worry. God will give you reasons. Rebellion in the house of God.
• ¹³Some people even went to the extent of even challenging God’s authority. Yet, sit down in the Camp. God is saying that  as many as are guilty of this sin must surely account for it. What is that sin? Sin against the Holy Spirit because the Spirit is speaking.
• Because we are living in the latter times, the Bible said that the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times, some must depart from the truth giving heed to seducing spirit. The spirit is saying, not a man.
• ¹⁴John the Revelator in the spirit said, “Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches.” What is that Spirit? That Spirit is Christ Himself. Yes! May be you are waiting for a day when you will hear from your ceiling, “Hear Me O you sons and daughters of men.”
• Even if Christ will come and hang on top of the Fellowship roof, some people will doubt Him.
• Did it come to pass? Have you not seen Christ hanging? Yet, people doubted.
• ¹⁵God will make a move and you will attribute it to a human being. Some will call it even magic. Most of you even heard it in this Church.
• ¹⁶“…I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand. For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same….”
• ¹⁷IF WE ARE NOT PREPARED TO WORSHIP GOD, GOD IS READY TO GIVE GLORY TO HIMSELF. The Bible said that when there was none even to worship God, God lifted up His hands towards Heaven and gave Himself the glory. He glorified Himself because He is the Elohim, the All-sufficient God, the Self-existing One.
• ¹⁸For from the rising of the sun even unto the setting down of the sun, My Name shall be great among the heathens– among the Gentiles.
• In the whole world, the Name of the Lord must be great, greatly honored, greatly worshiped and greatly acknowledged, whether you like it or not.
• If you like worship Him. If you do not like, do not worship Him. Why must we come into the Church to deceive ourselves?
• ¹⁹“For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name…”
• ²⁰In every place, people must offer many sacrifices unto His Holy Name if we are not ready.
• ²¹“…And a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, [Amen!] saith the LORD of hosts…”
• ²²Note, a pure offering, for His Name must be great even among the heathen said the Lord of Host.
• PRAYER: ²³Holy Father, come into our midst and magnify Your Name more and more. May we see the greatness of Your Name. Father, even if we are not ready to worship you, to give You the honour that is due to You, Father lift up Your holy hands towards Heaven and bring glory and honour to your Holy Name.
• ²⁴However Lord, we come humbling ourselves. We have repented of our wicked ways and we are ready to turn unto You once and again that You may bless us O God. Come, and let us straighten the matters with You and us, O God. Mercifully consider Your people in Christ’s Name. Amen!
• ²⁵What are we saying? The Spirit is saying something. What is the spirit saying? Why are we doubting God’s move? Why are we doubting what the Spirit is saying?
• The great question is this: Is the Spirit speaking lies or why must it be said like that? Does it mean that God accused us falsely? Is the problem, “Why must He say it in the Church”? Is it because He did not come and kneel down before us and beg us?
• ²⁶When we all raised up our hands as a confirmation that what the Spirit said is truth, that it is our character. The Spirit was picking it one by one, describing things around us and everybody was taking his or her own share one by one.
• How could you, after taking your own, turned round and give it back to a human being, and that it is not God any longer? In this Church?
• ²⁷In the Fellowship you say, “God is Great! God is Great!” But when you get to your house, God is no longer great. He will now turn to a man.
• That you took the glory that should be given to God and gave it to a human being, what have you done? You have committed sin against the Holy Spirit, [Yes!] because you attributed the work of the Holy Spirit to a man.
• It is just like this rainy period we are in, and you know your experiences. And God was consulted. He accepted to make a Name for Himself and assured us that we must march on dry grounds if only we will obey his instructions. Did it not come to pass?
• He outlined the three things he was having where He cannot shy away from. [1] The traditional wedding taking place in his own home town involving our daughter and our parents here who is a part of the Family of THE SON OF MAN, for the whole thing started in My Family from childhood up to this age. How do you think that I could permit rain, which is nature, to be a disturbance? No! I know God has been doing it for Me. Why can God not do it for His own?
• [2] I have a burial ceremony [I mean] that involves Me as a Family. The most senior of all the females in My in-law’s compound who is of the same father with My wife who died at 83.
• Some of you were here when the eldest man came here and pleaded with Me and said, “We are going to hire rainmakers, but O LORD of Spirits, we are looking up to you. Please do not allow us to be put to shame. Hold this rain for us, for we know Your power. We know You can do this. We are celebrating it for two days. Please. Please. Please.”
• I thank God that I went there with some people. When he was trying to talk about rainmakers and I opened My mouth, he called everybody, “Please please please, I know you can do it here. Please do not scatter them. Do not, please. Others may not know, but I know Who is doing it.”
• [3] Then I told Brethren that this is Ozuakoli on Friday. Apostle Ojiakor is involved. He called me the previous night but I ignored that call. It was not because I was weak. I did not want to hear from him.
• In the morning [that is today], he called again. I answered that call and then began to enquire about whatever he is doing. He told Me that he has repented.
• This time around, he never involved the Umuojis. He is afraid of the heathens now. He is now using his family and the Brethren.
• I now told him how I went to Nsugbe as it has always been My manner. Concerning everything about Me and My in-laws, what I have remains the Elders in our midst. The Brethren and their wives. That is what I have in life or in death.
• But in his own case, he likes to compromise together with his wife and his family. And that has jeopardized his position in Christ. He said he is repenting now, and I said, “Thank God for you. You can now go with your family.”
• The wife called. I have been ignoring her calls since she travelled, but this time around, I picked it. She said, “Daddy! Thank God that you have picked my call at last. We now want to go to the mortuary. Daddy please…”
• I said I know what I should do, for I am not like you. Do you think I can forget that this your late mother assisted Me while marrying My wife? Your father assisted Me while looking for accommodation. You father signed the tenancy agreement for Me.
• That is not all. When I had My first baby, it is this your late mother that nurtured My wife and the new-born baby until My mother in-law came. You think I have forgotten all these good deeds. I am not like you. The burial will be peaceful. And it will be organized on a dry ground. Take note! I closed My mouth and switched off.
• Now that you have returned from there, if they had acted according to My instructions, they would have buried her before you started coming back, for you left that place exactly by My own time at 1:38PM.
• That was exactly the time I answered your call. Pastor Thomas called. I looked at the time, and it was 1:38PM. They were still in the church because they were enjoying bright weather. Is it not true?
• I know that at the end of the day, they will give the glory to their own gods, but it does not make meaning to Me, provided I have done the right thing.
• Pastor Chizoba went there. I told her, “I do not consider what you are doing wrong. I only show interest in doing the right thing.
• Though the whole world will remain in the wrong, I will remain in the right. I must always do the right thing, not minding where you are standing. No! The result of My action will tell the whole world That I made no mistake doing the right thing.”

5

IT IS OBEDIENCE TO THE

WORD FIRST

For that reason, you will grow no further until you make it right. Imagine a situation, we all heard it in the Church of the extent people have gone, even to the point that when prayers were going on, their minds and thoughts was to watch the Brother who is prophesying and to know the reaction of the other person. Then a Sister will be shouting, and once she starts shouting, it is then that the other person will start his own.

• ³⁰Once this person starts, another person will start as well. That was her own way. And to her, all these things are to her, American wonder. Why is it American wonder?
• Then you say, “God, if really you are the One doing it, do it to me let me know. Until you have done it to me, I will not believe that it is you.”
• ³⁰What is more? In that condition, as far as God lives, do not expect such a thing to come to you [Sure!!!] because, from the beginning, you doubted it. [Yes!] How can you doubt and you want what you doubted to come to you? It is impossible for God to tell lies.
• ³¹Is God indebted to you? Whosoever God wants to use to magnify His Name, He will use. If what will make you not to believe is until you are being used to do it, what is operating in you is the spirit of jealousy. Good!
• And as far as God lives there is no way out, until you recognize your fallen estate, …
• That was what nearly killed Brother Mike. Even today, he nearly lost his life with his wife and children who accompanied him.
• You remember that before he left here, we all held a meeting. He assured us that after everything, he will come back that same day. Is it not true?
• And then in the night yesterday, I called to know whether he had arrived for he was not here with us, only for him to tell Me that he will be coming back the following day. I asked, “The following day?” And he said, “Yes.”
• He never left in the morning. Then, when he left home at last, he ran into difficulties on the main road. All of you that came back never experienced any traffic congestion.
• His troubles started even as far as Owerri. By the time he got to Mgbidi, a trailer fell across the road. Everybody was diverted into the village. He ran into the hands of a hoodlum who misdirected him, intending to lead him straight to abductors for him and the family to be kidnapped for a ransom.
• But God intervened inside the forest. Where he was heading towards Orlu inside the forest, an on-coming vehicle stopped because it was a sharp bend.
• He began to enquire and then the man told him, “If you are going to Onitsha, no, do not follow that way. This is the way you will follow.”
• The young man who claimed to be the good Samaritan with his motorcycle and who was leading Bro Mike and his family to the place of slaughter reacted sharply and held that motor.
• Then they stood there standstill for many minutes quarrelling. Then that man [the motorcyclist] shouted, “Why should you spoil this business for me? Why should you spoil my business? Why did you ruin my business?” He held that driver, “Why did you spoil my job. You have completely ruined my job.”
• Bro Mike was there with the family hearing. The cyclist continued ranting, “Look at what you have just done. You have ruined my job. Who told you to intervene?” He held that driver.
• While they were quarrelling, bro Mike meandered his way and then left. And then he began to enquire as he continued journeying until one led him to the right path he should follow and then burst at the major road.
• That was how he escaped being abducted. This thing happened this afternoon. This thing happened this afternoon inside the bush. Where was it taking place? Mgbidi-Orlu axis, the prohibited area. Can you imagine?
• What caused it? His refusal to follow his Brethren as he had earlier said. He said it and I approved it before the whole Brethren. Now, he changed it, for he is given to change. It nearly caused his life.
• He never knew we made real prayers in the morning for him and his family, and for all that will travel to Ozuakoli today. For we know that in that horrible condition he found himself at Mbaise, he may not have the time to pray.
• He will only be giving himself over to entertaining the heathens, seeing that they had already shown interest in eating his food and drinking his wine, they remained serving them.
• We had to make intercessions for him that God will go before him and then lead him in the right path; put on human vessel; use a human being as a vessel to guide them.
• Assuming he followed you yesterday, there would not have been any obstacle. Have you seen it? He flaunted the agreement and it landed him into troubles. You better hear from his mouth, together with his wife and Agabus of what they passed through.
• No sooner they left here I called you and you told Me that you were nearing Nkwelle. That was the time they were going. A journey that would have taken them three hours took them more than six hours.
• ³¹… And as far as God lives there is no way out, until you recognize your fallen estate, that God will use whosoever He wants to use. Yes! Will all of us be Prophets at the same time? No! Must everybody be gifted to speak in tongues? No! Must everybody have the gift to interpret it? No! Everybody has his or her own gift on its own.
• ³²Our Prophet told us the Word of encouragement that we will not prophesy or do signs and wonders or miracles, but if at the end of the whole thing what we received is that our sins that are many have been forgiven for Christ’s sake, he said that we should rejoice exceedingly.
• What else are we looking for if what we received at the end is that our sins have been forgiven for Christ’s sake. Many doubted and doubted and doubted, even things that happened to them they also doubted it.
• ³³I wonder where it will take us. The Lord is still saying that our sacrifice can never be acceptable as long as we continue in this condition.
• If our sacrifices are of no use again before God, of what use again is it that we are in His Presence? Do I know?
• ³⁴Somebody might be in the Church asking himself question, “If our sacrifice is not accepted then why is it that anytime we come to His Presence, God must come down?”
• Let it be known unto you that God can because of one person come down. Sure!!! He can also because of two people come down and bless them. Sure!!! God can come down here and everybody will be rejoicing, jumping up. Yet, you are not a part in the blessing because when God came down there was unbelief in you.
• ³⁵What if the Lord will come down only to confirm the presence of His Spirit in the pulpit and go away: Period! “Let them that will believe, believe. If you do not want to believe you leave it there.” As a judgment and as a witness. Look at our condition. Amen.
• OBEDIENCE IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE; Preached on 29^th July 1994 by Apostle Peter Odoemena, THE SON OF MAN, The Rock of Ages; Pg. 48, Chapter 3—OBEDIENCE IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE:
• ¹My topic is: “OBEDIENCE IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE”. First Samuel chapter 15 verses 7-26, “And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
• ²But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly. Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,
• ³It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night. And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.
• ⁴And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD. And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
• ⁵And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
• ⁶Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on. And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?
• ⁷And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?
• ⁸And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
• ⁹But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.
• ¹⁰And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. ¹¹For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft …”
• ¹²Note that rebelling against the truth and against the commandment of God, our Prophet said it is witchcraft. You are a witch if you are rebelling against the Spirit of God. If you rebel against the Word of God, you are a witch.
• And the Bible said “Suffer not a witch to live.” You are not worthy to live. You are worthy of death. You are not supposed to be where the Saints of God are. Why?
• ¹³“…and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. Period!
• ¹⁴And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
• ¹⁵Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD. And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.” KJV.
• ¹⁶Note, Saul rejected God. How did he reject God? When he went to sacrifice, he sacrificed with an impure mind. He knows what he was doing. We all know the commandment that was given to Saul to go and fight the Amalekites and kill all, both the sheep, goat, young and old, Saul obeyed but when he was coming back, what did he do?
• ¹⁷He selected all the cows, sheep and goats that were fat because he wanted to eat fatty animals. Even their king, he brought home. When he met the servant of God, he told him that he has done as the Lord hath commanded him to do.
• ¹⁸Did God tell you to bring back fowls and goat? Did he ask you to come back and sacrifice unto God? Saul, when did you started sacrificing? Who made you a priest to sacrifice unto God? You want to change your position from a king to a priest. Will you use the king of Amalekites for sacrifice? Does God use human being as a sacrifice? It is self-deceit. Self-deceit!
• ¹⁹However, watch that man Saul, if not that the man of God was filled with the spirit he would have taken bribe. But Samuel understood the spirit that was in operation. That was why he told him, “It is better to obey than to sacrifice.”
• ²⁰It is better to obey than to gather all your money and your wealth for sacrifice unto God.
• Your coming to His Presence is good. your offering is good also, but the best thing God is expecting from us is, to first of all, obey and hearken to His Words.
• It is better that we obey and hearken to God’s Word than for us to use all the money that we have to support this Church.
• Missionary trip, you sponsor it. We want to do this and that, and you support it. You are labouring in vain.
• July 29^th 1994. Tell Me when God compromised this Faith.
• ²¹It is better to obey the Word of God first. Moreover, the moment somebody disobeys the Word of God, God sees it as rejection. Yes! Saul disobeyed God, God said that Saul rejected Him. Sure!!! He disobeyed God willingly, he was aware, that was how he rejected God and because of that God pushed him outside. Sure!!!
• ²²If we reject God today by disobeying His commandments and God  accepts us, God will have to tender apology to Saul. The God that we are worshiping is not a kid. God said that it is better to obey than to sacrifice.
• Now, if we continue reading that place we will see what happened to Saul. Saul did not die his natural death. You will see what disobedience to the Word of God brought to him.
• First Samuel chapter 16 verses 1-2, “And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill thine horn with oil, and go. I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. Amen!
• And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hears it , he will kill me. And the LORD said, Take a heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the LORD.”
• Verse 13-19, “Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. Amen! So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. Ramoth-gilead.
• ⁶But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
• For rejecting God’s Word– for disobeying that Word, he has been handed over to another spirit. The spirit of delusion. You see why we must be very careful.
• He did not die physically immediately, but automatically, he died spiritually, for he was removed from the presence of God, but he was still sitting in the palace parading himself as the king of Israel.
• That is why you can be rejected by God, and you still remain in the Fellowship, giving money for everything we are doing. You are sponsoring. You are helping Brethren. You are wasting your money. You are wasting your time.
• If you have found yourself in this category, the first thing you will do is to make sure that you normalize your relationship with God. You amend your ways and see if there will be hope for you, not thinking that you can bribe God by bringing fabulous amount of money or offering of cow and this and that or sponsoring what God is doing. That is absolutely rubbish.
• Be it known to you that from the very beginning, God has been hammering on this thing, for He never gathered us to come and raise a big congregation where we will enrich ourselves with money. No No No No!
• Money has never, for one day, been the reason why we gathered or the reason why we preach this truth. Never, never!
• Obedience to the Word of God first. Every other thing is secondary.
• When you are not ready to obey His Word, do not render any service. Do not render any sacrifice. Do not even open your mouth to say, “Praise the LORD!” They are wasted sacrifices, for they are rendered in unbelief and in willful disobedience.
• So, let us bow down our heads as we thank God tonight.

CONCLUSION

PRAYER

1. Our Heavenly Father, we are here thanking and appreciating you once again for the journey mercies you granted our Brethren all the way from Uzuakoli in Abia State down here again.
2. Their vehicle did not spoil. They went through the worst-dreaded roads, Father, from Nnobi-Igboukwu-Ezinifite down through Umunze, down through Owerre-Ezukala, down to Okigwe and so on.
3. All those routes, Father, they are dreaded routes where the worst hoodlums are operating. And You led them through Nkerefi. You led them through [O God, Father] through Umulo.
4. You led them through all those horrible places where people have been kidnapped. Even the reverend fathers and reverend sisters and even the bishops, none of them have escaped it.
5. This is the route our Brethren plied. To and fro, Father, You led them through. We give You the praise and glory.
6. Concerning Bro Ojiakor and his family, they are equally involved. Father, You led them through. I believe You will bring them back safely also.
7. What is more? You answered our prayers by rescuing Bro Mike and his family from the lion’s den. He could have perished in the hands of abductors with his family due to his foolishness and blindness and his unsteadfastness to the words of his mouth as a Deacon.
8. Have mercy on him. Have mercy on him, for he was there from the very beginning up till this day, but he has not settled down. He is still dangling in his Faith. Father, talk to his heart.
9. We THANK YOU O God that You withheld the rain from spoiling the whole programme and activities. You made a name for Yourself among the heathens and among our Brethren.
10. Look at Mbaise, Nsugbe and Uzuakoli. Father, You were everywhere. We give you the praise and glory.
11. Down home, You protected our lives and the lives of our Brethren in their various families. Hence our Brothers came back to meet their families [Father] rejoicing in good health.
12. We have to thank You also for the deliverance you extended to our Brother Kelechi Eze. Miraculously, You healed him and brought him back to us.
13. THANK YOU for everything, even for the successful traditional marriage. The outing was very great. You made a name for Yourself there. Heathens are singing Your praise, while Brethren are rejoicing exceedingly that You made them proud. Bless that new family. Unite their hearts together.
14. Father, even if it rains now, You have fulfilled all we requested from You. Even if it rains from now till the next one week, you have done it as we requested from You. You never let us down.
15. LORD, we really THANK YOU. Cause that family that is coming up to be exemplary among our youths.
16. We have another programme tomorrow, if there be tomorrow. Guide our footsteps. Guide those that will be there to discuss marital issues with that family.
17. May they receive them O God, with open minds. May they speak truth in love. Take away O God, every iota of hypocrisy in their hearts. Let their yea be yea, and let their no be no.
18. We pray O God that it shall also be a successful outing that will attract glory, honour and praise to Your Most Holy Name.
19. As we go to our beds tonight, we hand over the keeping of our lives into Your hand. All Your children globally, be with them all. May not even one of us pass from sleep to death. Give charge over our guardian angels to keep watch over us even while we sleep.
20. If there be tomorrow, help us to see the brightness of a new month and a new day, October 1, 2022.
21. Father, harken unto our prayer, for Your Name’s sake, O LORD we pray. Amen.