Preached from 6th January, 2008 to 3rd FEBRUARY, 2008 by The Son of Man (Apostle Peter Odoemena) At the household of God Onitsha
Believe it if you can, I am that Almighty God people have been looking for. If you like believe; if you like don’t believe, for it doesn’t reduce me from being what I am or making me not to be what I am – time will tell. Soon, every tongue must confess that I am He
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— The Son of Man
THE PROMISES OF GOD TO ALL THAT ARE FAITHFUL
1. TRY AS MUCH AS YOU CAN TO MAKE YOURSELF HAPPY AT ALL TIMES BECAUSE IF YOU ARE NOT HAPPY,
YOU WILL LIVE A MISERABLE LIFE ALL THROUGH — YOU MAKE YOURSELF HAPPY BY OBEYING THE VOICE OF GOD. THE WAY YOU START THE YEAR IS THE WAY YOU WILL END IT;
2. THE LAST TRIAL IS THE TRIAL OF THE SON OF MAN. HENCEFORTH, THE LORD WILL EXALT ALL THAT ARE FAITHFUL.
3. THIS YEAR IS GOING TO BE GLORIOUS, WONDERFUL AND MARVELOUS. THE LORD IS GOING TO PUT SMILES ON THE FACES OF THOSE THAT ARE FAITHFUL FOR YOUR SUFFERINGS ARE OVER.
4. ALL THAT ARE FAITHFUL MUST BE EXALTED HENCEFORTH IRRESPECTIVE OF THE HARDSHIP THAT WILL BEFALL THIS NATION;
5. HENCEFORTH, ALL YOUR ENEMIES WILL BECOME YOUR FRIENDS, YOU WILL POSSESS THE GATE OF YOUR ENEMIES;
6. NOBODY THAT IS FAITHFUL WILL GO ABOUT BEGGING BREAD FOR THE HEATHENS WILL COME TO YOU TO BORROW FOOD AND. MONEY. THE WAY THE MONEY WILL COME WILL BE A SURPRISE TO YOU;
7. YOU WILL PUT A LITTLE EFFORT AND REAP MUCH GAIN BECAUSE YOUR LABOURS ARE OVER;
8. HENCEFORTH, ALL THAT ARE FAITHFUL WILL PROCLAIM THAT THE LORD REIGNETH FOREVER, FOR HE WILL GIVE YOU REST— YOU HAVE LABOURED ENOUGH;
9. NOBODY WILL BE IMPOVERISHED BECAUSE HE IS SERVING THE LORD FOR THERE HAS NEVER BEEN ANY EVIDENCE THAT SOMEBODY SERVED THE LORD AND BECAME POOR;
10. IT IS THE LORD THAT TEACHETH YOU TO PROFIT AND TO PROSPER, IF NOT, YOU WILL DIE WHILE STRUGGLING. INCLINE YOUR EAR AND YOUR HEART UNTO THE LORD AND YOU WILL ERADICATE POVERTY FOREVER;
11. IF YOU ALLOW THE WORD OF GOD TO LEAD YOU AND YOUR CONDITION DOES NOT CHANGE FOR THE BETTER, PLEASE LEAVE THE FAITH OF THE SON OF MAN;
12. IF YOU OBEY THE LORD AND SERVE HIM, HE WILL MAKE YOUR WAYS PROSPEROUS AND ALL YOUR CHILDREN WILL BE USEFUL;
13. REMEMBER, THERE CAN NEVER BE EXALTATION WITHOUT PASSING THROUGH TRIALS. TO BE FAITHFUL MEANS THAT YOU STOP LEADING YOURSELF AND ALLOW THE LORD TO LEAD YOU;
14. NOW, ALL THE TRIALS ARE OVER – NO MORE FIGHTING, NO MORE WARRING, NO MORE ENVYING AND GRUDGING. THIS IS THE YEAR YOU MUST REGAIN YOUR WEIGHT, NOT BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU EAT BUT THE AMOUNT OF JOY THE LORD WILL PUT IN YOUR HEARTS;
15. AMONG YOU HERE, IF YOU WALK WITH GOD, SOME TRADERS WILL BE APPOINTED DISTRIBUTORS WHILE SOME PEOPLE WILL BECOME LANDLORDS – THERE IS NO CALIBRE OF PEOPLE YOU WILL NOT GET HERE, EXCEPT CRIMINALS;
16. ALL THAT WILL BE IN OUR MIDST WILL BE GOD FEARING PEOPLE WHO WILL BECOME THE LIGHT WHEREVER THEY ARE;
17. THE BLESSINGS OF GOD FOR YOU WILL OVERFLOW TO THOSE AROUND YOU WHO LOVE YOU;
18. THE SON OF MAN WILL NOT BE LEFT OUT OF THESE WONDERFUL PROMISES, FOR HE WILL ALSO BE BLESSED ACCORDING TO THE PROMISE — IF HE TOOK HIS SHARE OF THE TRIALS, HE MUST ALSO TAKE HIS SHARE OF GOD’S BLESSINGS. HENCEFORTH, THE KINGS OF THE EARTH WILL PROCLAIM THAT THE SON OF MAN IS THE VERY CHRIST;
19. THE ECONOMY OF NIGERIA CAN BE VERY BAD BUT GOD’S ECONOMY CANNOT BE BAD. NIGERIA WILL SUFFER GREAT FAMINE THIS YEAR BUT THE ELECT WILL NOT BE AFFECTED — YOUR NEIGHBOURS WILL COME TO YOU TO BORROW FOODS;
20. USE THE FIRST N2000.00 YOU MAKE THIS YEAR TO OPEN A SAVINGS ACCOUNT IN ANY BANK OF YOUR CHOICE AND YOU WILL BE SURPRISE THE AMOUNT YOU WILL SEE IN IT BY 1ST JUNE 2008, WHEN YOU OPEN THE ACCOUNT WHICH IS CALLED SACRED ACCOUNT, LET THE SON OF MAN KNOW ABOUT IT;
21. IF YOU ARE AN APPLICANT, RELAX YOUR MIND. THE LORD WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO SERVE ANYBODY BUT WILL HELP YOU TO EMPLOY SOME PEOPLE, IF YOU WILL SERVE AND OBEY HIM;
22. IF THE LORD IS WITH YOU, EVEN IF THE WHOLE WORLD WILL GATHER AGAINST YOU THEY WILL NOT PREVAIL OVER YOU. BUT IF THE ALMIGHTY IS AGAINST YOU, THE WHOLE WORLD CANNOT DELIVER YOU FROM HIS HANDS – IF THE LORD DOES NOT KEEP WATCH OVER YOU, NOTHING CAN SECURE YOU;
23. YOU MUST CONSTANTLY STAND ON THE PROMISE OF GOD IF YOU MUST BE AT PEACE;
24. WATCH, HENCEFORTH, IT WILL BE PLACED ON THE RECORD THAT THE LORD CANCELLED ALL OUR SORROWS — THE STORY THEY USED TO TELL: “IF THE LORD IS WITH YOU, WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE?” WILL NOT BE HEARD AGAIN AMONG ALL THAT ARE FAITHFUL. WE CANNOT CONTINUE TO PASS THROUGH FIRE BECAUSE IT IS NOT MEANT FOR US;
25. MANY OF YOU WILL BE OFFERED POLITICAL POSITIONS IN YOUR VILLAGE BECAUSE OF THE WAY THE LORD WILL EXALT YOU. PLEASE DO NOT ACCEPT THEM, TELL THEM TO LOOK FOR A BETTER PERSON;
26. ALL THE PROMISES OF GOD HAVE CONDITIONS ATTACHED TO THEM. WHERE YOU DO NOT SERVE AND OBEY THE LORD, YOU WILL HEAR THE PROMISES BUT WILL NOT PARTAKE OF THEM. DO NOT MAKE POLITICS OF THESE PROMISES BECAUSE THEY ARE REAL;
27. EVERY LOCAL ASSEMBLY MUST FEEL THE IMPACT OF GOD’S VISITATION. ORDAINED MINISTERS THAT ARE FAITHFUL WILL BE MADE FLAMING FIRES IN THEIR LOCAL ASSEMBLIES TO UPLIFT THEIR BRETHREN;
28. THIS YEAR IS A YEAR WE WILL RECORD IN HISTORY: THE DRY BONES WILL RESURRECT;
29. THE LORD WILL. NOT ALLOW -BURDENS THAT ARE GREATER THAN YOU TO BEFALL YOU. THE HEATHENS WILL BEAR YOUR BURDENS WHILE YOU REST;
30. WARNING: ANYBODY THAT IS COMING TO THE SON OF MAN TO DISCUSS ANY MATTER OR TO BRING ANY REPORT, PLEASE BE SINCERE TO THE CORE, IF NOT, THE ADVICE HE WILL GIVE YOU WILL NOT WORK BECAUSE IT WILL BE BASED ON THE INFORMATION YOU GAVE HIM,
31. REMEMBER, THE PROUD CAN NEVER INHERIT GOD’S PROMISES, IF GOD PROMISED YOU ANYTHING WHICH HAS NOT COME TO PASS, PLEASE, REMIND HIM OF IT SO THAT HE WILL RENEW IT IF IT HAS NOT BEEN CANCELLED.
– Son of Man
There is A Price to Pay. You are seeking to reap God’s promises henceforth, it must cost you something. This is how nature endorses it. Are you seeking peace, there is a price you must pay. Are you seeking trouble, there is a price to pay. Are you seeking progress, there is a price to pay. You want your children to be useful; there is a price to pay. You want to pass your examinations; there is a price to pay. There is nothing you can get without paying the price. Many are desiring to reap the promises of God, but they are not willing to pay the price. They just want to fold their arms and allow the thing to come anyhow; never, never.
Excerpted from the Message: Revelation of Latent Powers
THE SEVEN STEPS TO REALIZING THE ROMISES OF GOD
FORGIVENESS The First Step to Realizing God’s Promises Henceforth
CHAPTER ONE
FORGIVENESS
INTRODUCTION
I am going to speak to you from what I culled out from the Message: AS I THOUGHT ON MY WAYS; and I want to speak to you lightly. For us to receive the promises of God as we heard on the first January which I believe are contained in the tapes, all the Local Assemblies should call for the tape of first January 2008, for therein contained the promises of God henceforth. You should have the tapes for you to begin to know the promises and how you can go about getting them. I culled out my topic from there.
2. I prayed, watched over myself, the Spirit that is operating in me; I said, “God, there must be a ‘starting point,’ since we cannot benefit from you in unbelief. You can do everything, but you cannot bless us in unbelief. What do I do so that your people will benefit? Reveal to me the next step to follow. Last Tuesday being January first, the beginning of the New Year, I did as you revealed to me, and your children went home happy. What do I do so that there will be a bar between your children and every evil anointing? Because unbelief is an evil anointing. What do I do so that your children will simile this year?”
3. And the Lord revealed only one thing to me, say, “Speak to them on this topic and in this vein, so that you can consolidate my oath over them but not all, but not all.”
3. In the Message AS I THOUGHT ON MY WAYS, God said that He likened the relationship between Christ and the Church to the relationship that exists between a man and his wife, how many heard it? He went further to disclose one negligible thing that normally causes trouble between husband and wife, He said, “It is the inability of the two parties to apply this little statement: I AM SORRY, PLEASE FORGIVE ME.” God said, “Either party can say it, either party can be offended.” God said that the moment you hear, I HAVE FORGIVEN, that you will be relieved, the blessings will begin to flow. That Message became a revelation to me, I have touched it in time past, I paused over it and said, “This very day, since it is the Lord that is guarding and leading, I will not be disobedient.”
4. Therefore, I want to talk to you on a short exhortation: THERE IS VIRTUE IN FORGIVENESS OR THE GREATEST MANIFESTATION OF LOVE IS FORGIVENESS.
5. The greatest way you can show love to one another is through forgiveness or you can call it, THE POWER OF FORGIVENESS. You know what virtue is? There is virtue in forgiveness; the greatest manifestation of love is forgiveness. The first prayer Jesus taught his followers was this: “Pray this way, ‘Father in heaven, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespassed against us.’”
6. The concluding Message there says, “For if you do not forgive one another, how do you think that your Father in heaven will forgive you your own trespasses?” In other words, the secret of getting forgiveness from God lies in your ability in forgiving one another. Whatever the offence might be, it is immaterial, how many times the person has offended you, is inconsequential, is unnecessary, whether one million times a day or one trillion times a day.
THE EVIL SIDE OF AN UNFORGIVING HEART
An unforgiving heart is a very dangerous heart; it is an unbelieving heart, a disobedient heart, a stubborn heart, a proud heart. A haughty heart is an unforgiving heart. When the heart is unforgiving; it is filled with hatred, it is restless, and it profits nothing. Once your heart is not forgiving, any evil done to you, any trespass, watch, you will be busy spreading hatred because the self-pity which you are showing yourself will influence people like you to be coming to you by way of comforting you, say, “We have seen all you are passing through.”
7. Yes, that’s what they will be doing because they hate you, you are spreading it, you will be complaining from one person to another; sometimes, misplacing facts, distorting facts, exaggerating situations; why? You are doing it because you want to win self-pity. You want people to sympathize with you.
8. An unforgiving heart is filled with self-justification, which is the worst thing that will happen to a human being. Self-justification, you cannot see the truth about any matter again; the only thing you will be seeing is that you are being hated by everybody. You cannot even know what the Word of God is saying concerning your action, concerning your condition, the only thing before you is that everybody has hated you. You have become Mr. Right; Mr. Righteous, Mrs. Right; Mrs. Righteous.
9. An unreprovable individual, and unforgiving heart is an incorrigible heart, you see why it is very dangerous. And once you are despondent, you are hostile; your hostile attitude to one another can never permit you to make any meaningful contribution even to yourself, to the congregation or to your family. Unforgiving heart, your body is constantly hot; your mind is busy ruminating on evils of the past; because not even one is erased. 10. Instead of renewing your mind, you will be renewing your evil tendencies; the next thing is retaliation or revenge. I repeat: the next thing is retaliation or revenge. You will be seeking ways to hurt; you will be seeking ways to avenge for yourself, for if you do not do that, nobody will know that you are a human being. “Let me go and show them,” show who?
11. There is no virtue in unforgiveness, but there is virtue in forgiveness. In forgiveness, you win the favour of God, the favour of yourself and the favour of men. If you have unforgiving heart, you hate yourself; you may even commit suicide if nobody checks you. An unforgiving heart cuts you off from Fellowship with one another. When you withhold forgiveness, you are withholding love, you are withholding mercy, please take note of what I am saying. Until you know the evil side of unforgiving heart, you will not see the virtue in forgiveness. You will not see the power in forgiveness.
THERE IS VIRTUE IN FORGIVENESS
We have to make comparisons so that you begin to appreciate what God is doing in your life. Note, there is virtue in forgiveness; the highest manifestation of love is forgiveness. Jesus said to his disciples, “A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another and by so doing, people will know you are my disciples indeed,” is it right?
13. He went further to say, “Love and do not hate, if you must hate, hate evil and do good.” Let’s read something from the historical account of Saint Paul. 14. If you have forgotten it, bear with me, if you have not forgotten it, praise God with me. The greatest manifestation of love is forgiveness; there is virtue in forgiveness. II Corinthians 2:10: “To whom you forgive anything, I forgive also. For if I forgive anything, to whom I forgive it for your sakes, forgive I it in the person of Christ; lest Satan should get an advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices.”
15. If you do not forgive one another, you are creating room for Satan to operate; the divisive tendencies of the Devil will be at work in you, discouraging you from Fellowship of the Saints, discouraging you from obeying the Word of God, discouraging you from everything pertaining to life and godliness, and will always be pointing you to destruction.
16. Moreover, whoever the Devil wants to destroy; he will harden his heart, close his ears and make him blind to the truth. Why? You have refused to obey. If you had obeyed the injunction that you should forgive your Brother, you should forgive your Sister, so that the Lord will forgive you, you would have disarmed the Devil.
17. Hear me very well, if you refuse to forgive the evil people had done to you, Satan will shatter the joy of your salvation, you will never have the joy of your salvation any more; you are shattered. This is why when King David lost the joy of fellowship, he lost the joy of his salvation, many, many evil things started happening around David.
18. When he recognized that destruction was on the way, he turned back to God, and the first plea he made was, “If you will forgive me and restore in me the joy of my salvation, surely with my mouth will I sing praises unto thee. And I will teach sinners your ways and they will obey you,” and the Lord hearkened to his prayers immediately, and withdrew the punishment. The joy of his salvation was restored.
19. There are reasons why we must not hold any grudge, reasons why you must not hold any offence against anybody: Number one; if you are feeling offended by anybody, you will remain troubled until you make it right, once you see the person, anger is kindled in you, hot blood will begin to burble in you; and at that point where you are, your life is in danger because you have lost fellowship with one another. When we have Fellowship with one another, it is only then that God Himself will cleanse us of all our guilts, is it not true? However, when we severe Fellowship from one another, forget about it, you are lost. Therefore, when you forgive your Brother, you forgive your Sister; you will be happy and have peace of mind.
20. Let me just show you what I mean, in II Corinthians 2: 8, I read something that astonished me: “Wherefore I beseech you that you will confirm your love towards him that has erred.” When you restore your Sister to yourself by forgiving her all her trespasses against you, that same hour, I have forgiven, I have restored, the next thing is; confirm your love, in other words, forgiving the evil Brother Solomon has done to me means confirming or affirming my love for him. If I cannot love my Brother who I see everyday, who interacts with me everyday, how can I claim I love God? Is it possible? The answer is no.
21. When you forgive your Brother, you forgive your Sister; you are affirming the Love of God for him. When you forgive and affirm the love, you restore Fellowship; you rekindle the revival of Fellowship in the life of the Brother, in the life of the Sister. One that was feeling rejected and dejected, one who felt humiliated will now be given a sense of belonging. In addition, this is very much revitalizing. I am handling this Message as a first step to realizing the promises of God henceforth, for the GREATEST UNBELIEF THAT IS BEING MANIFESTED IN THE BRIDE OF CHRIST MINISTRY IS UNFORGIVING SPIRIT, UNFORGIVING HEART.
22. Many find it difficult to open their heart and say, “Sister, I have forgiven,” take it easy and then embrace the Sister. “Brother, I have forgiven,” take it easy and embrace the Brother, not with hypocrisy, but without hypocrisy. Until this is done, you have not started in your first step. Unforgiving heart hinders the blessings of God from reaching us and it is a sign of disobedience in the sight of God.
23. If you go to II Corinthians 2:9, Saint Paul wrote them a letter to that effect and said, “I am writing you this letter by way of testing your obedience to the Lord that you forgive him and confirm your love to him.” To see whether you will obey, do not say you are holding anybody guilty because of the Son of Man, no. Once you have forgiven the person, the Son of Man has also forgiven, God has also forgiven. If Paul could forgive in the person of Christ, is Paul higher than the Son of Man? In other words, you are the people holding yourselves guilty. As long as you are holding your Brother guilty, God is holding your Brother guilty and He is also holding you guilty– “he that pinned one on the ground is pinning himself also.”
24. Once you notice that my heart is not right with you, you are in trouble, I am also in trouble until we reconcile it, are you getting what I am saying? That is why Christ came to make reconciliation. Do we have Christ in our midst? The essence of Christ appearing is to reconcile us unto God: unless you are reconciled to God, the promises of God will never be realized, for you cannot realize the promises of God when you are still working against the interest of God.
25. Can you now begin to see that we are the people holding ourselves and not God? We should blame ourselves and not God. Will offences come? Yes, but how do you adapt to them? Through forgiveness. Forgiveness means showing mercy. “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.” Who should forgive first? God said I should be number one to forgive. If Bro Sam has offended me, I don’t need to wait for Brother Sam, I am the one that will first of all forgive by ignoring it, counting it as nothing, creating room for Bro Sam to have a relief.
26. Forgiveness sets people free; as long as you are holding me guilty in your heart, you are not free with me; you have too many reservations with me, you are afraid of me, you have no confidence in me. The same way I am to you, the same way you are to me. It then means we are enemies and yet we are in the same Family answering Brother and Sister.
27. Do you know the meaning of Brother and Sister? Do you know the weight? Blood is thicker than water. Your Brother in this Faith is more valuable to you than your brother in the flesh outside, he is more responsive to your needs than somebody you called your brother outside. He that will kill you is not one in this Faith, but one you have outside this Faith, and yet you still hold grudges, you murmur, you complain against yourselves and yet you want to win God’s favour, is it possible?
28. THERE IS VIRTUE IN FORGIVENESS; THERE IS POWER IN FORGIVENESS. Watch, that Sister, that Brother that your heart is rejecting always, try as much as you can to make peace with that person, that day you will have a nice sleep. As long as your heart is not right with me, all your dreams concerning me will be destructive dreams; all your visions concerning me will be destructive visions, why? Your heart is not right with me. What you are wishing me is what is reflecting in all your dreams, in all your thoughts, and then the question is why?
29. This condition can be seen even in families; Brother loosing face with his wife, the wife loosing face with the husband, yet living in the same house, having children, calling themselves sons and daughters of God. Yet, no love lost between them, no understanding, everything is crippled and yet you are praying for success. How can success come in the midst of disharmony? Can it come? Never, never. If God ever blesses you in that condition, He has gone contrary to His Covenant, He has broken His Word.
30. Our children are not our problems; we are the problems of our children. We are working against our children ignorantly. When we are not working in a way that will attract God’s blessings to our families, we are working against our children. However, when we work in a way that will attract God’s blessings, then our children will be happy, they will be protected.
31. Hear me well, forgiveness offers protection. I repeat: forgiveness offers protection. If you are in trouble and you are running for refuge, do you run to your enemy’s house? You will run to the house of one that loves you, are you getting me? This is why many of you may be in need, a Brother may be in a position to solve that problem but your relationship with him is bad, instead of going to that Brother, you will even prefer selling yourself to heathens, going from house to house, when your problem can be solved by the next door Brother or Sister.
32. In other words, you are not protected any more, that is why Jesus told His own disciple, “Be one another’s keeper.” Offer your Brother protection, offer your Sister protection. If I am not protected in the house of Brother Kelechi, who else will protect me? Is it my heathen brother who is looking for a way to kill me so as to have my position? If your Sister cannot understand you and protect you as Sister, if your Sister cannot confine in you and share her experiences with you so that you can give her advice, who then do you think she will go to? That is why many of them prefer going to the heathens, and heathens will advise them in the heathen’s way because there is no love lost between them. What is causing it? Unforgiving heart.
33. When you forgive your Brother and restore relationship, you have destroyed Satan’s power of operation. Are you getting me? If you watch everywhere, in all the Churches, families, you see confusion everywhere. Husband and wife are not agreeing, father and children, mother and children quarrelling everywhere.
34. In the Churches, you see ministers fighting, everybody fighting; Satan takes delight in such a thing. But where there is love, Brethren are reconciled to one another, they are working in harmony, no room for Satan to operate, every Brother, every Sister is protecting one another’s interest; Satan’s objective is completely shattered.
35. You see why you should not hold your Sister guilty, or hold your Brother guilty in your heart, for if you are doing it, you are creating undue advantage for Satan to operate, for we are not ignorant concerning his devices.
36. The aim of Satan is to pull you out of this Faith so that your enemies will destroy you. Watch all that come to you, you call them your relations, sometimes, you call them your friends, or even your neighbors; they won’t tell you what they have in mind for you, rather they would put a little slang there, that they have many things they will tell you but until you come out of this Faith; that’s a condition: “Don’t worry, we will tell you many things, but first of all, come out.” If you are stupid, you will think they have something, but until you go out to know what they would tell you, you will see that what they will be telling you will even provoke you the more. For they have nothing to offer you.
37. So, the aim of Satan is to pull you out of the Presence of God and deny you of God’s blessings, God’s protection, but when you cement your relationship with one another in love, you have shattered Satan’s way of operation.
38. To husband and wife, there should be mutual love and tolerance; and you begin to see progress, advancement. Watch, forgiveness is divine, I say, forgiveness is divine, divine in the sense that it will take seeds of God to forgive. If you are not a seed of God, you can never forgive any evil done to you, you will record all and you will be rehearsing all of them, always seeking vengeance, for you cannot rehearse without seeking ways of avenging.
CAUSES OF UNFORGIVING HEART
Furthermore, pride, if you watch, an unforgiving heart is filled with pride, and pride is a destructive instrument in the hand of Satan. “Why must I go to my Sister? I will never do that;” “Why must I go to my Brother? Over my dead body,” what is causing it? Pride.
40. Another thing is this, avoid self-pity. When you know you are in error, because God has condemned you, don’t look for somebody who will comfort you in error, but look for somebody who will help you out. Don’t look for somebody who will share the same views with you, justifying what you are doing, but look for somebody who will tell you that you better make it right. There are too many wicked counselors, they are found among men and women. You won’t know what I am saying until you are in error, all that have been in a error will rush to you immediately.
41. If we excommunicate you from this Fellowship for any wrong thing you have done, the first set of people that will come to you are those whose hearts are not in this Fellowship, and those that have already been excommunicated, they will welcome you immediately, you have joined their camp, that is why God is not happy with many of you in this Faith.
42. You don’t know the secret of forgiveness, you don’t know the implications of holding somebody guilty in your heart, you move no further until you make it right. You are pining the person on the ground, you are still on the ground, you are not standing, two of you are standing on the same platform.
43. Watch God, if God is to count our iniquities, who will stand here? If God will record our faults one by one as we live our daily lives, who can stand up and say he is innocent? Who is innocent? Who is holy? It will take the Lord to tell you who is holy. Therefore, what am I saying in effect, unforgiving heart is a dangerous heart that attracts no promises of God other than destruction. There is power in forgiveness and when you forgive, you comfort the person. Once you forgive, the next thing is what? Comfort.
44. If you go to the Scriptures, St. Paul enjoined them, “Comfort that person so that the sorrows of the past will not do any havoc in him.” By comforting words, comforting advices, comforting relationship; whatever might be the pains, the sorrows, the anguish, will become things of the past. The wounds will begin to heal, the refreshing wind from the Presence of God will begin to blow, you see yourself regaining your weight physically and spiritually. When you come into the Family, Oh no! You see the Spirit of God at work, the Love of God at work. Health will be restored to that family because a sinner is unhealthy, an unforgiving heart is an unhealthy heart.
45. Watch many that complain of this and that, some of them have their minds on the people they think are killing them. As long as your minds are still jumping from one person to another, that problem will not be solved until you get out to where you cannot see them again and the only place you can save your life is in the grave. The only place you can save your life is what? In the grave.
46. That is why I told all of you in this Faith that this year is a year I will label AN ON-LOOKING YEAR, LOOKING FORWARD YEAR, MOVING FORWARD YEAR, and not a year of retrogression, not a year we will drift back, but a year we will forget the past and press on to the future for the realization of the wonderful promises of God; and this can only be achieved if we put ourselves in the right mind, create a conducive atmosphere among ourselves, rejoin Fellowship with one another, restore and reconcile one to another, and then the Lord will see nothing that will hinder Him from performing the OATH which He swore by His Name, that once He finds us faithful, the blessings will overflow.
47. Unforgiving heart is a dangerous decision, is wickedness. Hear me very well, I have told you, you can postpone everything but you cannot postpone your joy. If Brother Nnamdi offends me and I withhold forgiveness, I have withheld the Love of God from him. If I say, “I know I will forgive him, let him suffer, let him suffer,” I am also suffering and two, I am postponing my joy and also his joy. At the same time, I am postponing God’s blessings on my side and also on his side.
FORGIVENESS — A VERY BIG OBSTACLE
Forgiveness is inexplicably tied to humility; I repeat: forgiveness is inexplicably tied to humility, you don’t separate it. It will take the humble, it will take the meek, it will take the lowly in heart to effect forgiveness and stand there.
49. To all of you that have found yourselves in my position, I will tell you the secret. It has been my guiding factor for which I have been called many names. Some even among you call me “compromiser.” If some of you will have the opportunity, you will strangle me. You have some people you don’t want me to associate with. You have some you wouldn’t even want me to shake their hands talk less of embracing them but, to your surprise, I embrace A to Z; I shake A to Z, why? Jesus enjoined his disciples in his day that he that strives to be a leader must consider himself to be a servant
50. Moreover, I preached a Message titled: “LET THE SPIRIT THAT WAS IN CHRIST BE IN YOU,” who never regarded His exalted position as anything but took the lowest position that He might render selfless service to humanity; He humbled Himself.
51. If I should be a leader among you, I shouldn’t rule you like the kings of the world who exercise control and authority over everything and expect people to come and worship; I should worship you if it is possible because I’m serving you. I am serving your interest. This is why I go beyond human imagination to make sure I put things right. I say, this is the reason why I go beyond human imagination — things you could not imagine God doing, you see me doing it to make sure I restore the Love of God and restore Fellowship so that the blessings of God can reach you.
52. Another problem you are having is over protection of “self-ego.” I know that every human being has an ego to protect, but over protection of “self-ego” is very, very dangerous. As I am like this, do he or she know whom I am? Is it because my condition is like this? How is your condition? Are you greater than God, both men and women?
Both men and women, who do you think you are? What do you think is your height? Who placed you there? Is it not the Almighty?
53. Whatever might be that your celebrated or exalted position, who placed you there? Is it not the Almighty? How do you feel more exalted than the Almighty? If you humble yourself before one another, God must surely exalt you. But if you exalt yourself, God must pull you down.
54. Forgiving one another boosts your reputation, it earns you respect. There is virtue if the offended pleads for forgiveness from he that offends him. However, it is natural for the offender to plead for forgiveness. What am I saying? If you wait for the offender to write apology before you forgive, you will not forgive. What will cause it? Over protection of “self-ego” will not allow some to tender apology.
55. “If I should go to Brother Emma now, and say, ‘Bro Emma, I am sorry,’ tomorrow, Bro Emma will be looking down on me. I think the best thing is to show Bro Emma that I’m also a man.” This is a dangerous spirit. There is no humiliation in forgiveness but there is exaltation in forgiveness.
56. If you don’t want your Brother or Sister to have the joy of his salvation, of her salvation fully, hear me very well, you are also against that person’s success in life. His success will keep you miserable because you are indirectly wishing the person bad luck.
57. The person is also wishing you bad luck. If God will wait until the whole world will tender apology for their mistakes, do you think God would have forgiven anybody? Do you think He would have imputed righteousness on anybody? The answer is no.
58. What am I saying in effect? While I was praying concerning this Faith, the Lord descended with this awful Message.
59. I say it is an awful Message. It looks light but this is where the problem of the whole world lies. It looks light in appearance but very heavy in practice. Even between husband and wife, even between brothers and sisters, biologically.
60. Even between friends, it appears to be light but it is very heavy in practice. It is heavy because you have made it heavy. I said, “God, if I placed this Message right the way you revealed it to me, confirm it in the hearts of your children.” Forgiveness, this is a problem, and it is the first step. If the obstacle is not removed, you are not going anywhere.
61. No wonder, that was the prayer he taught them in II Corinthians 2:9, “For to this end also, did I write, that I might know the proof of whether ye be obedient in all things.” (KJV)
62. I AM NOT WRITING A LETTER TO ANY OF YOU NOW, I AM BODILY PRESENT, and God is giving you this Message as a test, as a proof, there can be austerity in everything, there is no austerity in this matter; hardship no reach am, this problem has nothing to do with hardship. “I have no money,” does it affect it? “No food in my house,” does it affect it? You pay nothing to achieve it. Yet, it is simple but great.
63. Who can believe that this is a very big obstacle among those that claimed to be children of God? This is a big problem — forgiveness, and God is saying you must forgive everybody, you must not hold anybody guilty and don’t wait for the person to come, forgive him even before he comes. Set yourself free, set him free, set her free – first step to realizing God’s promises.
64. In addition, He said that He is giving us this Message as a proof, as a test, to see whether we can be obedient in all things, for if we are obedient in this matter, God is my witness, we shall be obedient in all things. No command is as great as forgiveness.
65. Unless forgiveness is effected, relationship will not be there, whatever relationship you think might be existing is fake, your eating and drinking, your jumping up and down, singing “o mma mma,” your testimonies are useless. The greatest testimony is the testimony of forgiveness, for love cannot thrive if there is no forgiveness.
66. Apology is not needed from God, are you getting me? Remember that Satan is at work among the “children of disobedience,” but to the sons and daughters of God, who are obedient in all things, they have shattered Satan’s dreams, they have shattered Satan’s plans. Remember, it is the plan of the Devil that we should go about borrowing, that we should live in want, that if it is possible, we should be in the mortuaries, but God is saying no.
67. Forgiveness is the first step towards realizing the promises of God henceforth. An obstacle before you is forgiveness, and I have told you that there is virtue in forgiveness; it is the greatest manifestation of love. It is very simple with the words of the mouth but very heavy in practice, but humility makes it simple, I say humility makes it simple.
68. Moreover, until the Love of God radiates in your hearts, one to another, God is not with you. Until the Love of God without hypocrisy radiates in your hearts, one to another, you can never render help to one another; you can never render acceptable services to yourselves, even coming to Fellowship will be a problem because, once the joy of salvation is shattered because of hatred, grievances and so on; once Fellowship is mentioned, you murmur and grumble, you become very, very weak, your legs will be cold because you are going there to provoke yourself to anger, while the House of God is the House of joy. Am I making sense? Is it sinking well? How many will like to realize the promises of God henceforth? Definitely everybody.
69. How many really understood the implications of this unforgiving heart? If you say you don’t understand, it’s because you don’t want to understand. For the Message is as straightforward as straightforward can be. For this is the Message from Almighty God, from the Throne of Mercy. He said, “Son of Man, I am sending you to the pulpit this morning to open up the Fellowship this year with my people. First step to realizing My Promises is forgiveness. Tell them to forgive one another, to forgive themselves.”
70. You can forgive another person without forgiving yourself, that is, you are holding yourself guilty. When you remember the past, you feel guilty and God is saying, “Don’t ever remember the past.” This is not the year we will be rehearsing our dead past. I repeat: This is not the year we will be rehearsing our dead past.
71. It is a year of moving ahead, a year of moving forward, leaving every past in the past, rekindling Fellowship, revitalizing Fellowship, be at peace with one another, at peace in the family, radiating light in your environment; and watch the magnitude of blessings the Lord will shower on you henceforth.
72. Forgiveness is the first step. Remember, if you fail this test, for God says, “I AM GIVING YOU THIS MESSAGE AS A PROOF, TO TEST WHETHER YOU WILL BE OBEDIENT IN ALL THAT I AM GOING TO TELL YOU IN THE FUTURE.” This is an acid test, If you fail this primary one, no promotion to primary two. However, if we be obedient to this, definitely, we have paved a way; I repeat: we have paved a way.
73. I do not think I can come to Sister Kate and begin to tell Sister Kate what she will do from this year henceforth so that God will bless her if I am not in the right mind with her. Are you getting me? Brother Ebenezer cannot come to me to enquire what he will do if he is not in the right mind with me, I will profit him nothing. Even before he opens my door, I will tell him I am busy, I don’t want to see anybody. Another way of excusing myself, but God doesn’t want it that way; you gain nothing in not forgiving one another. If you do not forgive anybody, what do you gain? You have locked yourself in perpetual prison. A sinner is in prison. I say a sinner is in prison.
74. If you are asked to go to Benjamin Street to see Brother Sam or Brother Johnson there, and you remember you will see me, you can because of me find your way from Egerton to Central Police Station, from Central Police Station; you go round so that you will not see me; increasing your problems, increasing your sufferings, something you could pass in one minute will now take you more than one hour. Is it true?
75. If I tell you to go and see Bro Kelechi when your heart is not right with Pastor Christian Dike; if it is possible, you try to use phone to call him to come out so that you don’t jam Pastor Christian. How can Pastor Christian be a blessing to you then? Amen.
76. So please Brethren, this Message is coming to you as a proof, as a test from the Almighty God to know whether we really want to realize His promises henceforth or we are merely paying “lip service” to them. There is no excuse before God on this matter, for every excuse you want to give is a part of your problem.
77. The greatest manifestation of love is forgiveness, and God said this is the first step towards realizing His promises henceforth.
78. You are a blessing to me, I am a blessing to you. Thus, let us love one another because you are a blessing to me. Are you a blessing? I am a blessing to you. Am I a blessing? I am a blessing to you. Amen.
From the beginning of Creation, God takes delight in having Fellowship with His children starting from the Garden of Eden. Do not join those evil men and women who will tell you that God is everywhere. If God is everywhere, of what use is the Church? What God is emphasizing on is having Fellowship, not ordinary fellowship of eating and drinking, but Divine Fellowship with Him and with one another.
Son of Man
FELLOWSHIP
The Second Step to Realizing God’s Promises Henceforth
CHAPTER TWO
FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD AND ONE ANOTHER
INTRODUCTION
I want to speak to you on the second step to realizing the promises of God henceforth. The first step, which I have revealed in the beginning of this expository, says that THERE IS VIRTUE IN FORGIVENESS.
THIS IS A YEAR OF ENCOURAGEMENT AND NOT OF A REBUKE
Now, let me talk to all the Ministers in this Faith. No matter how you desire any Message, no matter how you love the grammar there, please stick to the present stage. I repeat: please stick to the present stage, do not build your own Message. Whatever Message you are building should revolve around the present stage, it must aim at pressing down the present stage of the Ministry.
3. No matter what must have fascinated you in the Message of yester-years, as long as it does not agree with present stage, dump it by the corner. THIS IS NOT A YEAR OF REBUKE, are you getting me? THIS IS A YEAR OF ENCOURAGEMENT. Our duty this year is to encourage the weak; this is a year of encouragement, a year of comfort. Comfort the feeble hearted, comfort the broken hearted, call it THE LADDER YEAR; you know what I call ladder? This year is the year, ladder year. Ladder is only needed when you want to climb out of difficulty or when you are trying to climb a wall that you cannot climb with ordinary hand.
4. So, help is needed. Ladder signifies help. If you meet your Brother or Sister in a depressed condition, don’t just add salt to injury, don’t leave him in that condition, don’t leave her in that condition, do whatever you can do as a Brother or as a Sister to restore his joy, to restore her joy. Bring the person back to his normal senses, bring the person back to Fellowship, bring the person back to the Love of God.
5. The book of James said that if you save somebody from that type of condition, you have become a saviour to that person; already, God has recorded it to your favour, so don’t add salt to injury when you see one that is dying, do whatever you can do to bring him or her back to life. Don’t just capitalize on his problem; after all, if he had known better, he would have performed better.
6. This is not the year you will begin to say, “He ought to know, after all, he is not a new-comer in this Faith,” no, there is something we call Spiritual Amnesia, he ought to know but he doesn’t know, by right he should know, but by his behaviours, by his utterances, by his actions, he doesn’t know.
7. The much he knows, that is the much he is displaying. Will you strangle him? After all, he doesn’t want to die, if he wanted to die, he would have avoided you, avoided everybody, even avoided the family, for the fact that he still have love for the Family, it goes to show that he doesn’t want to die, he still wants to live.
8. Therefore, I am talking to the Ministers. Are you getting me? I am saying that I don’t like what is happening at Enugu. Enugu’s Fellowship is not moving the way it should move, and the remedy lies in applying the Message of the Son Of Man preached in the year 2008. If you can handle our Message, you will regard the past as past, for the Almighty cannot change the past.
9. So, when you forgive and forget, you comfort and restore, you reconcile and then you begin to move forward but, when you say, “No, over my dead body,” you are still lying down and the person is still lying down also, nobody is making a headway. One pinning another person on the ground is also pinning himself. A child that says the mother will not sleep, will he sleep also?
10. You have to understand the reason why we are in this Faith. We cannot come all these far and volunteer to perish, we cannot come all these far, passing through the fire, troubles and everything and at this time of reaping, we decide to perish, no! We cannot wish ourselves that type of luck.
11. We will wish that we would reap where we have sowed. We will not labour and another person will reap. We will receive the reward of our labour while we are still alive, seeing that we have been labouring together all these years. I am not measuring the extent of labour, labour is labour.
12. One that followed in grinding the pepper also followed in cooking it, because ‘well done’ energizes one. Even if the Message is on the sideline, “wake up, wake up,” is energizing the athlete; I say it is energizing the athlete, it is a supporter. Even if he doesn’t get the share of the money, he will get a share of the joy.
THE GREATEST UNDERSTANDING IS DISPLAYED IN TOLERANCE
Ministers, I am talking to you. This Faith has come to maturity level. Are you getting me? It is just like individuals, there are too many things that were giving us blessings some years ago, but today, we disregard them. This is where I love academic education if it is coupled with godliness. 14. If academic attainment is coupled with godliness, you will see the benefits of enlightenment, and since we cannot acquire it academically, the Lord is giving it to you freely in this Faith so that you can cope with the society, and cope with the Age you have appeared. Even if that suffering is a setback, it won’t be too much. 15. Are you getting me? Because as you proceed in your learning, you begin to see things unfolding. Even, you will come to a point where you begin to condemn yourself when you will be discovering some of those foolish acts you displayed due to immaturity, are you getting me? You don’t answer immature because of age, you can be one million years, yet you are immature in reasoning. I don’t mean “amateur,” I mean “immature.”
16. So when you see one that is matured displaying character, displaying understand, oh no! You see, the greatest understanding is displayed in tolerance. I repeat: The greatest understanding is displayed in tolerance. Hear me very well, how I wish many of us can devote time to reading. While I was listening to the news recently, there was a news commentary from Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) 10 o’clock news enjoining the masses to imbibe “a reading culture.” If we can imbibe reading culture, reading periodicals, novels, magazines, that will help you to know exactly what life entails, you will be developing everyday. There is no limit to learning.
17. What am I saying? If you can read books, write-ups on conflict resolution, you will know how to manage crisis. There are too many types of crisis: we have health crisis, we have economic crisis, we have marital crisis, we have even domestic crisis, we have interpersonal crisis; they must come, because once there is human association, conflicts is inevitable,
18. Now, what is conflict? If I want to summarize conflict, I would call it intolerance. Finish. If I can tolerate you even in your foolishness, even in your hostility, even in your arrogance, in your stupidity, in your haughtiness, there will be no more conflict, and this tolerance is the HALLMARK, that is the CLIMAX of all we have been preaching in this Faith, but we cannot understand.
ANOTHER CONTRACT HAS BEEN SIGNED
If you cannot understand the background I am laying now, please forget about what I am going to say. The Message is so short, it is not a new Message. I am handling it fresh because I am under strict obligation this year, and LET ME AFFIRM IT ONCE AGAIN THAT THE SON OF MAN HAS SIGNED ANOTHER CONTRACT WITH THE ALMIGHTY GOD.
20. The first contract is over and you don’t need a prophet to tell you when it was over. If you listened to the testimony of my wife, there was no make-up there. I even prepared my mind for it. Are you getting me? I deliberately fooled her and took her to the studio, took many love-photographs, which I wanted to be displayed. And of all the photographs I have taken there, there is not even one that resembles the ones I took at fifty, but the Almighty stepped in, looked round, there was not even one that was found worthy.
21. If at this point, I am still using my memo notes to call Ministers to order in the pulpit and redirect them on what is needed in the hour, that goes to show that a lot of work is still yet to be done. If I should ask you now, who do you think that can be the highest among you in this Faith? If the person your mind will be suggesting is still a learner up to the point that he cannot study the Congregation, read the Congregation, know what is needed at any given time, he cannot even know what it means to follow up a strict Message until the purpose is achieved, it then means a lot of work is still yet to be done.
22. If at this point, I am still using language that is not pleasing with a Local Assembly, for there is a strife between the Bishop, the Apostle, Evangelist and this and that, over things that do not matter, it then means that if they should look for me and I am not there again, many leaders will emerge and that will be the end; the center can no longer hold, and the Almighty saw it, but the penalty was too much, nevertheless, He had done it before, He did it again, so the contract was renewed. When is this one going to terminate? I don’t know, but my duty is to continue as long as He is in front.
SO PLEASE, BE VERY CAREFUL AT THIS PRESENT STAGE, OTHERWISE YOU WILL CALL GOD DEVIL. IF YOU ARE NOT CAREFUL AT THIS STAGE, YOU WILL CALL GOD DEVIL.
BE ACCOMMODATIVE IN LOVE
Please understand me very well, you are forgiven, if you have actually forgiven yourself, but have you erased those memories or are you still being hunted about by the nostalgia of sad experiences? You know what I mean by nostalgia? Home sick. When you remember those sad experiences, how do you feel? You are remembering them because you have not erased it. God is saying that you must erase it completely, turn over to a new blank sheet. Is it possible? Yes, unless you are not a part of God. How I wish that the Spirit that is in Christ would be in all of you so that you can dwell even with devil in peace.
24. You see, the Love of God in me has made me to believe that nobody will be useless until I have tried the person, are you getting me? I have examined myself very well, everyday I look into my mind, I tried to ask a question: “Is there anybody on earth whether heathen, that I am holding anything against?” My answer is no. Not even those we excommunicated, no. Instead, they are the people holding themselves because of shame and pride, but as for me, no, nothing. That is why I am as free as free can be. I am at home with everybody. 25. Therefore, this year is not a year of rebuke or indictment, it doesn’t mean you will not correct yourselves, but correction must be done in love.
26. Assuming somebody comes to you fuming, quarreling, threatening hell; if you can just understand that what the person needs is help, that’s all. Gently calm down, pay attention, gradually, gradually, before you know it, the anointing will be over, at that point, you have restored the person back to sense, you can now talk to that person, sense can now come in. But if you return fire-for-fire, you have lost the person, the person may even commit suicide.
27. So what am I saying? In summary, I want to say, God is expecting us to manifest the highest form of tolerance henceforth, be accommodative enough. I don’t care what the insult might be, it doesn’t remove anything from your personality, it doesn’t add anything. There is no amount of insult I can receive that will make me not to be the Son of Man. I am what I am. But if I have the virtue, I will accommodate that insult for Christ’s sake.
28. In addition, I don’t believe that I can be insulted more than Christ Himself, for somebody has already paved a way for me. The way many of you react in certain circumstances often frighten me. Things that will be coming out of your mouth, sometimes I look very much frightened. I begin to ask many questions: “Where then is the love?”
29. Corrective correction is corrective, if it is done in love. Correction is destructive if it is done in hatred. Are you getting me? We have corrective correction and destructive correction, so do not destroy me while correcting me. No matter how stubborn I am, accommodate me in love.
BE IN THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST
Ministers, close ranks; don’t ever come to the pulpit by impulse. Any day you know you are coming to the pulpit, don’t carry waterproof to the pulpit, finish your waterproof at home, leave Main Market and go to your yard, from your yard come to Fellowship. Leave your store, go back to your yard, from yard come to pulpit, don’t ever make the mistake of coming to this pulpit from your work place.
31. No man is above false anointing. When you go home, a different environment altogether, the Holy Spirit Environment in your house will renew you, and because you know you are coming to the pulpit to be a blessing to mankind, common sense will tell you that there is a price to pay, the price that you must dismiss your work on time, get home, take your bath, get ready, be in the right mind and then come to the pulpit. I hope Ministers are taking note?
32. To the entire Congregation, please, please, it is better that you do not come than to come late, it is better you refuse to come to Fellowship than to come late. If you are coming late, you have disconnected yourself from the whole program. So, it is better you come on time to enable you be a beneficiary of what the Lord has in stock for His people that day. Amen.
DO NOT FORSAKE DIVINE FELLOWSHIP
Second step to realizing the promise of God henceforth, remember I said I will continue until I get to seventh step which is the final step. Moreover, before I get there, many things will begin to happen. Even now, many things have started happening already, God has already started exalting us in different, different places, our testimonies have started changing for the better. I don’t know any year you have looked the same way you are looking now. Everybody looking very precious, at least having sweet Fellowship with God and with one another, amen.
34. I am going to speak to you on the second step and that second step is titled FELLOWSHIP. Enmity has been rolled away through forgiveness. The joy of salvation has come back, the broken hearted has a result of enmity, indifferent, has been healed. Fellowship has been restored. Amen.
35. Now, the second step to realize the promises of God henceforth is Fellowship with God and with one another. When you have Fellowship with one another, you have sweet communion, then your Fellowship is Divine Fellowship, no longer “mechanical fellowship” but divinely oriented. The same way, I told you that forgiveness is divine. Any forgiveness that is not divinely oriented is surface reconciliation, it doesn’t last. What it means is that the heart is unhappy, while there is laugh in the teeth. Divine forgiveness, if it is from God, comes deeply from the heart. If you look at the person’s face, you will see it; not only very transparent, but also translucent. However, if it is the one that is not from God, just to do it because I am asked to, it is unprofitable that you did it. You are still standing where you are standing.
36. What I am saying in effect is that this year, 2008, the Lord spoke to my ears saying, “Warn your people to be serious with their Fellowship with me and with one another for my blessing cannot come to them outside Fellowship.”
37. From the beginning of Creation, God takes delight in having Fellowship with His children starting from the Garden of Eden. The biblical account says that every cool of the evening, God will come there to Fellowship with Adam and Eve. 38. That is why you have to understand what John said in his own epistle, that you should bear in mind that we are not having mere fellowship; our Fellowship is with the Father and also with His Son the Christ. So, our Fellowship is divine, divinely oriented, it is not mechanical. Fellowship, very, very important. Now, where does it take place?
39. I know that on Sundays, everybody goes to Church; everywhere is “Church,” “Church,” “Church,” until Church has lost its meaning and its value. The same way, everywhere “Jesus,” “Jesus,” “Jesus,” until Jesus and the Holy Ghost lost their meaning and their value, but God is still the Almighty that ruleth in all affairs of man.
40. The Almighty God can never lose His value, He can never lose His taste, His integrity remains the same, immovable, unshakable, He desires Fellowship. The blessings of God can only reach you when you are having fellowship with one another. John saw it ahead of time in his day when Jesus appeared in their day. He said, “When you have fellowship with one another, then the blood of Jesus will now cleanse you from all sin. But when you are not having fellowship with one another, your sin remaineth in you.”
41. Fellowship was so important to God that Apostle Paul enjoined his followers in his day, he said, “Do not forsake the fellowship of the saints. Do not forsake, don’t withdraw yourself from the gathering of God’s children, the congregation of God’s people as is the manner of some.” Watch, when Jesus the Christ resurrected from death, all his appearances to his disciples were in the congregation.
42. He met them in the house and said, “Peace be unto you,” but Thomas was not there. The second time when He came, he said, “Peace be unto you,” but Thomas wasn’t there. And that his absence caused him a lot, for it pays to be an eyewitness.
43. Fellowship was so important that when Peter was let out of the prison, the first place he went to was the house of Rhoda where Brethren used to gather for Fellowship. Is that not true? He showed himself to them and after that, he left that place and went to another house where Brethren used to gather for Fellowship.
44. You watch the story of Paul and Silas, it was Fellowship. Although, they were put in prison, they were not there to rehearse their experiences with the world, they were there singing praises, they were praying, they were in Fellowship there. Now, for there to be Fellowship, Brethren must be in one mind, one accord, one mind, and one spirit.
45. Look at Fellowship; it has been the Mind of God that His children must be of one mind, one spirit, and one accord, speaking the same thing, passing the same judgment. And for that reason, it will be very easy to discover one that is walking contrary to Fellowship.
46. When God has been talking to you on the necessity to close ranks with one another, many never knew what God was saying by closing ranks. What God is emphasizing on is having Fellowship, not ordinary fellowship of eating and drinking, but Divine Fellowship. You can eat, you can drink, you can dance, but if it is not divinely oriented, it is purely carnal; it is unprofitable.
47. Second step to realizing the promises of God henceforth. Do not join those evil men and women who will tell you that God is everywhere. If God is everywhere, of what use is the Church? Since God is everywhere, what is the essence of going to Church? I can stay in my motor, I can stay in my house, I can stay anywhere; well, I likened it to a mad fellow. Are you getting me? What is the essence of having a wife? Women are everywhere, but of a necessity, a wife is needed – very, very essential. Why is it like that?
48. Even when Jesus the Christ appeared, he told them where they should go and wait for Him. That was why, when Mary was enquiring, he said, “Mary, go to Galilee, go to that place I earlier told you to wait for me, there I will appear.”
49. Now, what am I saying? Whether you answer Church at Onitsha or Household of God at Onitsha, or Family of God and things like that, no problem; that is not what I am asking for now. Are you getting me? I want to ask you a question for you to understand what God meant by Fellowship: if you enlist in the dancing group and refused to attend their practises, are you a member?
50. Now, all that loiter around the premises of every university, are they students of the university? There are too many people that even extort money from their parents claiming to be studying in the university when they have not secured admission for one day. Their parents still have the belief that they are training their children in the university; till eternity, will the person graduate?
51. You can be coming to the Household of God at Onitsha, or any other Local Assembly every minute of the day, yet you are not a member of the Body of Christ. You don’t belong to the Bridal Ministry. This Bridal Ministry doesn’t belong to you. You can be a member of the Household of God at Onitsha, but you do not have your name engraved in the Lord’s Book of Life, you are not numbered, you are not sealed with the earnest of the Spirit, which is God’s own mark of ownership according to the Scriptures. Who and who are marked?
52. God told us that as Satan is marking his own, so also, God is marking His own in the Message titled: “THE MARKING TIME, MARKING HOUR.” Satan is marking, God is marking. God sent all His Elders and asked them to use lantern and then search the Camp; mark all that are inclined to God, mark all that are not inclined to God.
53. When I mention Fellowship, Fellowship can only take place as divine Fellowship amongst those that are in Christ and Christ alone. Those that have obtained common salvation with us, even in the days of the Apostles, they were in Fellowship and the Holy Spirit came down. At the end of it all, they continued in Fellowship with one another, from house to house. They continued in having sweet communion. If your Fellowship is not divine, your communion cannot be divine.
54. If your communion is not divine, your gathering is like one gathering in a bar or beer parlor or hotel. You can stay there and make noise, eat and drink. Finish! That is where it ends.
55. Hear me very well; once your Fellowship is divine, your Fellowship is in heaven, your conversation is in heaven. “As many as are in Christ are sitting in heavenly places with Christ.” Hear me very well; the gathering of the Saints has always been the meeting point between God and His people.
56. God will not meet you outside the promised place because it is only in the Family of God, the Church, the House of God, that all the manifold mysteries of God are revealed. That God will bless you abundantly henceforth, the packages or promises, were they given to you in your house? They were unfolded in the Church, in the gathering of the Saints, in the Fellowship.
57. “Steps To Realize God’s Blessings,” were you given your own in your house? He is revealing them in the Fellowship, in the Church. Let Me refresh you with Scriptures so that you can understand Me. Look at Hebrew twelve verse twenty-two: “But you are come unto mount Zion and unto the City of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of angels; to the general assembly and the Church of the first born which are written or registered in heaven and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,” (KJV). Can you see where you are? If you go to Ephesians chapter five verse twenty-three, in this particular Faith where you are, Christ Himself is the General Superintendent.
58. That is why, if you go to Ephesians chapter one, he made it clear that God has decided to declare us righteous in His sight without a single fault. We that stand in His Presence, covered by His Presence; where do you think the Presence of God is felt? Where? In the Congregation of God’s people where God Himself is their Overseer, the Head in all things, He alone shall have the preeminence.
59. I want to refresh you; if you go to Ephesians chapter two verse nineteen through twenty-two –have you forgotten all these things? If you have forgotten, your life is in danger. Ephesians chapter two verse nineteen through twenty-two: “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and of the Household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets. Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone.”
60. You are no longer strangers, but do we have strangers in this Faith? It will take a stranger to forsake the gathering of the Saints. Does a stranger answer the call of other kindred? If your kindred should call for a meeting, does a stranger come to that meeting?
61. Remember the Message we received, FOLLOW NOT THE VOICE OF A STRANGER; all the characters and attributes of a stranger were highlighted in the Message. Can you now begin to see why God is saying that from 2008, we have rolled into another period? Nobody should plead with anybody to go to Fellowship. Moreover, I believe by this Message that the Word of God has come to pass that nobody should remind one another to serve the Lord, all that belong to God must know that He is the God over them and must serve Him.
62. You don’t need to remind your Brother or Sister anymore or begin to tell them benefits of Fellowship; no, don’t do that again. Many do not know that it is a crime against God for one to absent oneself from the Fellowship of the Saints. Many do not have that revelation.
WHY YOU MUST BE IN DIVINE FELLOWSHIP
In your various homes, I want you to do a survey for me and for yourself. Check all that do not have divine Fellowship, watch them, watch the type of troubles they are having, watch their appearances, watch all of them, they are always troubled. Nobody has ever been made poor because he served the Lord. Nobody has ever regretted the time he spent in serving the Lord. Watch all that do not give God His due honour and respect, that do not serve the Lord, watch their physical appearances, watch events around them, you will notice that they are always troubled. Therefore, Fellowship is very, very important.
64. When Brother and Sister live in love, no spot, no wrinkle, no ill feeling, watch the extent God is going to bless them. Even there is one song we used to sing before: “The more we are together, the happier we shall be.” If when you stay together and you are not happy, you are not born in this Family, you are not a citizen, you are still a stranger. Anywhere you used to find comfort outside the Fellowship of your Brethren, that is where you belong. If you know that place where you will go and you enjoy yourself and be very happy outside the Fellowship of the Saints, that is where you belong to.
65. Don’t try to manage yourself, don’t try to adjust yourself, there is no make up this year, we have rolled into another sphere of the Ministry where God has promised to bless us abundantly, all that will serve and obey the Lord. Who will serve and obey? Only those that are of God, the rest won’t. I say the rest won’t.
66. Another reason why you must be in the Fellowship of the Saints: Paul enjoined Timothy, in first Timothy three, from verse fourteen, that “if I tarry to come back, that you maybe in a position to advise your Brethren on how they should conduct themselves in the house of God which is the Church of the Living GOD, the only ground and pillar of truth.”
67. Truth is not found elsewhere but in the House of God. Why? God Himself is the Truth and He is there as the Overseer, one that is having preeminence over all flesh. That is not all, when you stay in Fellowship with one another divinely, you are abiding in His Love. I say you are abiding in the Love of God. But if you are staying away from Fellowship, you are not abiding in the Love of God. It then means that the Household of God, the Family of God, the Church of God can be described as the Oasis of Love. You know what oasis is? Oasis is a body of water surrounded by land. Every other place is desert, water is only found collecting in that small place.
68. Watch, in all denominations, no matter how big they may appear to be, can you see the Love of God among them? You see schism, you see quarreling, you see backbiting, you see politics in the highest form. and wherever there is politics, there is every kind of evil there, that is why God has been warning us to divert our hearts completely from partisan politics and religious politics. When you come into the Household of God, the Family of God, you are in warm Fellowship with one another.
69. You are abiding in the Love of God; you are abiding in the Presence of God, for if the Love of God is not abiding in you, you do not belong to God, for God Himself is Love, Love is of God. He that loveth is of God. Is it not true? Moreover, this is why God is saying that the second step to realizing these promises lies in Fellowship with God, Fellowship with one another. If after forgiven yourselves and Christ have forgiven you also for His Name sake and Fellowship is not restored divinely, what then is the essence of forgiveness? It is absolutely useless.
GOD IS NOT DEMANDING TOO MUCH FOR YOU ARE HIS AMBASSADORS
If God demands Fellowship from us as a condition for realizing His promises, is He demanding too much? Has He demanded from His people before? The answer is yes. Blessings of God have never reached people outside Fellowship. Watch husband and wife, you must be in divine Fellowship for God to bless your family. That is why He enjoined husband and wife to make sure they agree at all times in all situations, so that their prayers be not hindered.
71. You must be in sweet Fellowship in one accord with your husband, one mind, one spirit, one heart, one purpose and then talk to God concerning that problem. “If the two shall join themselves together and make request, I the Lord will grant it.” Is it not the promise of God? Why not put God to test henceforth? Why not volunteer to obey?
72. Before now, we have been walking in disobedience, we have been walking like two dumb people in the same boat crossing a big sea. If it is possible, nobody will touch one another, nobody will embrace one another, nobody will even visit one another, why? Your hearts are not right with one another. If your hearts are right with one another, godly visitation is made possible. What is godly visitation? What is its essence? If you enjoy eating your food alone, drinking your wine alone always, well, I say something is wrong with you; you will equally enjoy the whole world alone if it will be possible.
73. Therefore, I am saying that God is not demanding too much from us. What God is saying is real. When you come to the House of God, sitting in His Presence, you are covered with the Glory of God, as God’s own representative, are you getting what am saying? The family of God, which is the Church of God, is God’s own Embassy. You know what an embassy is all about? Nigeria has her embassy in Britain, in America, in Cameroon and so on. If there is trouble in Cameroon, all Nigerians will go to Nigerian Embassy; the ambassador will tell them to leave Cameroon immediately. He will arrange for their exit, are you getting what am saying?
74. Then if there is trouble in Nigeria today, all Americans will run to their embassy, the ambassador will tell them what to do. You may not know the extent you have wondered away from God, you may not know where you are standing until you come into the House of God.
75. Watch David, the prosperity of the wicked was a great temptation to him, he envied it, he admired it, he coveted until his feet nearly slipped off, yet he recognized it not until he entered into the House of God, in the Fellowship. The Word of God revealed his condition and David immediately turned back to God.
76. What am I saying in effect? In second Corinthians chapter five, if you read verse nineteen through twenty in particular, you will see that you are the ambassadors of Christ and you are the people God is using to make reconciliation effective.
77. God is biding that we should reconcile with Him, reconciling with God means coming back to Fellowship with God. What was the reason why the world is what it is today? It was the disfellowshipping of Adam and Eve, from that time, fellowship stopped, and trouble came in.
THE IMPLICATIONS OF PLAYING OR FALLING OUT OF THE FAITH
Any day you withdraw from Fellowship, you have incurred trouble for yourself, which you cannot solve, for if God cannot solve your problem, who else will solve it? Check all that have withdrawn from Fellowship, are they not restless? Are they not hostile? Is there any that is happy? How do they look in appearance? They are not happy that they are outside but the way to come back they know not. They have repented fully; they have repented just like the Satan repented. Judas repented but to find his way back, no way.
79. That is why they are hostile. If things have been going well with them, if they have no regrets, they would have been very, very calm. So, the worst thing that will happen to us is to withdraw from Fellowship, or playing with Fellowship. God is saying that the meeting point between you and God is in the Fellowship.
80. Now, since you now know that the second step to realizing the promises of God lies in continuity in divine Fellowship, divine Communion, will I now begin to plead with you to come to Fellowship? Will I now begin to enquire why you are not in the Fellowship? Therefore, if you know the importance, nobody will tell you what to do.
81. Therefore, Fellowship is to you what you are to Fellowship. I repeat: Fellowship with God is to you what you are to Fellowship with God. Follow me as I reveal to you the third step to realizing the promises of God in the next chapter of this expository. Amen.