Preached on THURSDAY, 4TH JANUARY, 2001 At THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD ONITSHA By APOSTLE PETER ODOEMENA THE SON OF MAN THE SUPREME INTELLIGENCE” “Truth has no substitute” © BRIDE OF CHRIST MINISTRY WORLD-WIDE
1
WARNINGS
we have sounded a warning in this fellowship time without number that when we come to fellowship, we expect that the adults will come in and sit down.
2. If you have nothing to do, why not pray? If you are above prayer, why not open your Bible or publication? If you can’t do that, why not open your jotter or why not sit down and then meditate? Find out why you are in His Presence.
3. Some of us do not know the purpose why we come to God’s Presence. Some think we are in His Presence to play ‘Church.’ If you are thinking that way, surely you are going to be disappointed. We don’t come to play ‘Church.’ We are in His Presence for a strict business with our God.
4. We know the hour we are living in is very delicate; there is no time left. I am telling you God’s truth; there is no time left again for us to wallow in ignorance and sheer stupidity.
5. This is time to be serious, very quiet and sober and be mindful of all your actions so that when you come to His Presence, you come for a purpose. If you don’t have any purpose, please don’t come.
6. But if you have a purpose, you fight every other engagement and then try your best to be in His Presence and when you are in His Presence, make sure you benefit from the day’s message so that your effort and money will not be wasted.
7. I believe that if we stay at home, we will see many things we could do, but now that we have decided to be in His Presence, let us not regret coming down to fellowship for it is not easy for one to be in His Presence, honestly speaking.
8. If God has given you the privilege to be in His Presence, it is not easy. It is a fight in your heart to overcome a lot of things for you to be in His Presence; it is not easy to be in His Presence. It is never, never easy.
9. You can attend parties so easily, attend ceremonies too easily, but to come to fellowship to worship God, there are some sacrifices you have to make; even the time of this fellowship is enough to scare somebody away.
10. A business man that stays in his shade from three o’clock to six o’clock can make a lot of money from his customers.
11. Thus, when we come to fellowship, I don’t want to see people milling around where our mothers usually attend to the little children.
12. Oftentimes, adults mill about there talking and talking. And when you do a lot of talking, that is where you kill yourselves for you don’t know that every idle word that comes out of your mouth is numbered against you.
13. When you bridle your tongue, you will be a happy child of God. But when you stay there, there are too many attractions that will draw your minds away; too many things that will keep you talking and talking; too many things you will see and you create jobs for the deacons over there.
14. The deacons shouldn’t control adults; they should control the little children. Adults are of age; they should know what to do at the right time.
15. Another warning please! I went outside to ease Myself and I noticed that that place is a terrible eye-sore. We have been warning mothers to warn their maid servants to know how to use that place.
16. If you go there, you will see how they have just messed up the place and the school will re-open on Monday. It is not good at all. Even if the school will not re-open, we have a teaching to protect; I say, we have a doctrine to protect.
17. We have doctrine on sanitation and godly cleanliness in our environment. Thus, if you know you are responsible for that mess over there, make sure you clear it.
18. Mothers, please talk to your maid-servants immediately. Deacons, please make sure that the place is tidied up before we close. Amen.
2
SUSTAINED BY OUR EXPERIENCE
God bless you all. I am not your minister tonight, but I am just here to wish you all that which you wish yourselves in this New Year.
2. I have a message for you, but not now because I want God to have His way. When God is at work, every wise man settles down, holds his temper.
3. He does more of watching than talking because God is at work in His Church. He wants to achieve something.
4. If you want to obstruct, you will do it to the hurt of your soul. Let Me tell you something, we have passed through so many hurdles. We have suffered a lot. Many of you do not even believe our reports. We know the experiences that have kept us together even today.
5. While I was discussing with some elders in My house yesterday, we were imagining the distance between this pulpit and that farm over there and we were thinking whether a human being in his conscious estate could jump from here, across the gutter, across the plain surface and then land inside the farm.
6. Even if he is running fast so as to gather momentum, he can’t get to that place. But before our very eyes, not that we heard, we saw the Mighty Power of God in action; a Super Power that turned a Man round, round, round and before we knew it, He was thrown out like a piece of paper.
7. He was even backing the door when the thing happened, not that he was facing that place, he was backing the door.
8. Then such a Mighty Power swept Him off in a second into the farm and He remained talking there. He was carried inside, down to the children’s hall, he remained talking.
9. The thing couldn’t cease; from there again, straight to the pulpit and it continued; a man wearing white upon white, no wound, no stain, nothing.
10. I believe the Power was enough even to translate the Person. I was a witness. I was telling our elders; let any of our mothers try it or impersonate it, she will die on the spot.
11. That the Holy Ghost could lift up a pregnant woman before many witnesses and she hit the so-called stomach on the ground was not ordinary.
12. Before then, she was hitting and jamming benches like that, turning her over and over and finally flooring her; no wound, nothing happened to the baby.
13. I remember My first experience the day we came in here; the day I preached the message titled, “CONSECRATION”; that is the first message we preached in this Church.
14. A sister was lifted up before everybody and ‘gbam,’ she landed on the floor. The noise shook the foundation of the fellowship hall. In that same condition, prophecies went forth. Most of them, we are witnesses to today.
15. Before our eyes, a sister drank half a bucket of water and nothing happened to her. We could see such mighty power that pervaded the camp that time. That was the day we saw a man about to fall down and five men couldn’t hold him back. I mean five men couldn’t hold the man.
16. Before we knew it, both the man and the people that held him, all landed on the ground. We have seen many things which unfortunately we have forgotten. We have forgotten many.
17. I can’t forget My experience the first day I went to Ebonyi River in 1993 and it was during a baptismal service. When we got there, heathens were there. After much preaching; I think while we were working, Brother Ben joined us from Obosima.
18. Then the Lord wanted to confirm a message because those people over there that time were purely educationists, highly learned people and because they stayed too long in the End-Time and had never seen the Man they were asked to believe, it became extremely difficult for them.
19. But that day, before their very eyes, when the Man came for baptism, something happened. He stepped into that river; there was no command for anybody to leave the premises because that is the only river serving those people living over there and it was during the dry season, so both men and women; children, they just run there with many vehicles.
20. When the young Man stepped into the River, raised His eyes towards the sky, called upon the Name of the Lord, before our very eyes, a Thick Smoke descended; there was Thick Smoke everywhere.
21. Heathens started running; a man took it upon Himself to become our Marshal. It was noised abroad. We thought we could baptize the whole village that evening, but we baptized only a handful.
22. We have gone places. I remember we have living witnesses that saw what took place one great night like that. I was handling this message and it was during deliverance hour because it was the time of ‘attraction’; they wanted to see the Power of God and then the Voice said, ‘If you are outside, come in immediately, for he is roaring outside; he is challenging Me. I received God’s power; if you are outside, whatever happens to you, blame yourself. Nursing mothers, come in with your children.’
23. Before our very eyes, while I was handling spirits that operate in men and women, to deliver them, the thing descended and spoilt our P.A. system before many witnesses and it was real war.
24. Around 2.00am, the thing continued. When it got to Sister Orjiakor, something terrible took place. Then, she knew how she was born and why she was behaving the way she was behaving.
25. That was why our brother talked to Me few days ago, saying, “Brother, I believe You have the Power to look at the demon possessed and exorcise them. If You want to save, surely, You will save them; you can deliver them from such spirits.’’
26. He was saying it because he knew he was sure. It has happened before his eyes. I gave charge, ‘Let nobody ever, ever try to go out. If you want to urinate, urinate in the Church, inside here. What is hanging about is greater than any human being. Lock all the windows.’ They locked all.
27. Before their very eyes, there was a spirit that was cast out and in retaliation, it hit back and broke the window into two. Were you not there? Am I bearing false witness?
28. Before many witnesses, what we heard was kom, tua, the window opened by force and split into two halves sharply.
29. Brethren wanted to run away, we said, ‘No, don’t run; this is the much he can do. He was escaping.’ We carried the message down here.
30. The same deliverance occurred also before many witnesses. It is not written anywhere in the Bible; with our living ears, we could hear the cry of evil spirits when they were going out of human beings. A sister became stubborn.
31. I said, ‘Sit down there, do you know the type of spirit that is leaving this young man? A hefty young man was being flogged by the evil spirit and you want to stand up?’
32. She thought I was kidding. Immediately she wanted to make a move, the thing struck her tua. Before our eyes, the woman died in the Church; the husband was an evangelist. The physician confirmed her dead.
33. ‘It was Brother that killed her,’ the husband felt. But we turned, turned round again and said, “God, it cannot happen here; You have the Power of life and death; we need her alive.’
34. We went into praises, ignoring her. When the hour came, she was touched and she rose up again with her eyes red. She got home and didn’t know how she travelled all the way from Nkpor to Enugu Agidi.
35. Three complete days, she never recovered from the shock. It was enough experience. We have seen things; even one of the beneficiaries is here.
36. Let Me tell you something, I am giving you few things. When you want to know something about this Faith, go to our library at No. 20 Benjamin Street where Bishop Okey is operating; he will show you some of the old ancient pictures we took. You will see the sizeable number of the Church and then you will see how we were, even watching over ourselves, making sure nobody fell prey to Satan.
37. I say, how we were watching over ourselves making sure that not even a single one strayed away. Amen.
3
WATCH EVERY MAN OF GOD FROM HIS COMMISSION
I remember there was a time we were treated like outcasts that this Truth might stand. Men were given their own day when they came before Him, all sitting down from night till morning. Nobody talked of food; nobody fell asleep. How can you sleep?
2. Another time, it was the turn of women; that was their own day; then, the entire Church.
3. I was discussing with My brethren the other day and I said, ‘Look at how God has loved us, now iniquity can hide here because we want it to hide here. If we don’t want it, we know what to do. It is so simple.’
4. I went further, ‘Brethren do you know what happened that time? The Move was so great that whatever you call confession today, we called it testimony.’
5. The Lord started with us with open confession. We were not confessing something we did at present. We confessed from the day we became human beings; we were asked to fault ourselves and the day that message went forth, I wasn’t in the Church; I travelled. While coming back, I was not even a minister.
6. I knew the Church would gather on a Saturday. I thought I would be back before then, but while I was coming back, the vehicle I entered, a luxury bus, took another route because the road was blocked along Owerri Road. We followed Obosi Road.
7. I said, ‘To God be the glory.’ On getting to the gate at Amazu, I came down, went straight to the Church with all My bags. Immediately I dropped the bags, My wife rushed Me; Sister Ifeoma rushed; brethren came and said, “Brother, God has answered our prayer; it is You that was remaining and we have been praying that God will bring You here”.
8. I asked what happened. They said, “God did something in the Church. We have been confessing since morning; nothing is left”.
9. I said, ‘This is a simple thing; this is the desire of My heart.’
10. I asked, “Did God say He has forgiven after you finished confessing?”
11. They answered, “Yes”. “What else do I need? There is no other thing I need than to say that my sins that are many are forgiven”.
12. I dropped My bags, enquired from the ministers. They said it is true. I said, ‘Okay, thank God Church has not dismissed.’ I mounted the pulpit, opened up from A to Z.
13. Let Me tell you; when you read this thing, it is not written because of you; it is written because of Me and because of those that are working with Me.
14. We are tried and tested vessels, but our simplicity is oftentimes misunderstood. I thank God for today. Thank God more for tomorrow.
15. When you hear us talk or minister to you, we are time tested materials of God. We know what kind of materials we are made of. If I should ask people to come for open confession today as the only way to obtain salvation, this Church will trim down.
16. Let Me fix Saturday and say, ‘We are coming here and I will handle the message, “Godly confession saves from eternal death”, I tell you, we may not get up to ten persons here. Some may even faint here.
17. Then, how do you think after passing through this fire we can come here at last to compromise our holy and high calling? How can we compromise over something we are known for? We have always lived the life of our doctrine at every stage.
18. Watch us by this commission. When you watch a man of God, watch him by his commission, but if you watch him ordinarily by your own mental thinking, you will miss it. Watch every man of God from his commission.
19. Something jumped down over there. Where is the minister there? The thing is black; it is not a rat; it is not up to the size of pussy cat either. It is very, very dark. Okay! Leave it there; let it not disturb us, but remove our children. I know it is harmful. Amen.
4
THE WISDOM OF GOD
Please, bear with Me because I am foolish. I am a fool for Christ. I say, I am a fool for Christ and I want to learn His wisdom. God bless you all.
2. On Tuesday, I was happy. Wednesday, happier, but today, I am in My happiest form for the Bible says godly sorrow worketh out true repentance and St. Paul said that when you sorrow, you should sorrow after a godly sought, for when you sorrow worldly, it will generate hatred. Godly sorrow produces love, but worldly sorrow produces hatred.
3. I really want to talk to you from the Holy Scriptures to see whether I can impart a little wisdom in some of us. For your sake, I penciled down a little thing.
4. The Book of Job chapter Twenty-eight verse twelve to twenty-eight (28:12-28) “But though men can do all these things, they don’t know where to find wisdom and understanding. They not only don’t know how to get it, but, in fact, it is not to be found among the living.
5. ‘It is not here,’ the oceans say; and the seas reply, ‘Nor is it here.’ It cannot be bought for gold or silver, nor for all the gold of Ophir or precious onyx stones or sapphires. Wisdom is far more valuable than gold or glass.
6. It cannot be bought for jewels mounted in fine gold. Coral or crystal is worthless in trying to get it; its price is far above rubies. Topaz from Ethiopia cannot purchase it, nor even the purest gold. ‘Then where can we get it? Where can it be found?
7. For it is hid from the eyes of all mankind; even the sharp- eyed birds in the sky cannot discover it.’ ‘But destruction and death speak of knowing something about it! And God surely knows where it is found, for He looks throughout the whole earth, under all the heavens.
8. He makes the winds blow and sets the boundaries of the oceans. He makes the laws for the rain and the path for the lightning. He knows where wisdom is and declares it to all who will listen.
9. He established it and examined it thoroughly. And this is what He says to all mankind: “Look, to fear the Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding”.
10. To fear the Lord is true wisdom and to forsake evil is understanding.
11. I want to talk to you on the message titled, “THE WISDOM OF GOD.”
12. From where we read in the Bible, we can see that wisdom is very much esteemed far above riches, far above our positions in the society.
13. Wisdom cannot be found everywhere. It is not something you can purchase with your money. You can’t get it by going to institutions of higher learning. Only God knows where it must be found and God has described what true wisdom is all about.
14. True wisdom is to fear God and to depart from evil is understanding. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, the Bible says, but fools despise advice.
15. Wisdom is very, very important in the life of every child of God. He that lacks wisdom surely will perish and wisdom is not something you can get anyhow because it has a Source.
16. When St. Paul was writing to the Corinthian Church, he said, ‘If you should covet any gift, covet that more excellent way which is wisdom.’
17. He said some covet prophecy, some covet knowledge, some covet tongues and interpretation, but if you are wise, go for the more excellent way; covet wisdom.
18. Please follow Me gradually. All things works together for good to them that love God; to them who have been called according to His purpose.
19. St. Luke’s Gospel, chapter nine verse fifty-one through fifty-six (9:51-56) KJV “And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, And sent messengers before his face:
20. and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.
21. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elijah did?
22. But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.”
23. Look at an encounter between Jesus Christ and his disciples. Jesus the Christ gave them a command of what to do and when they were about to carry out the plan, some people withstood them and turned rebellious. They didn’t want them to fulfill the will of God.
24. The disciples came back to God and said, ‘Master, command us; we will call down fire from heaven immediately to destroy all these wicked people that are trying to hinder the fulfillment of Thy purpose.’
25. Jesus the Christ looked at them and said, ‘Gentlemen, cool down your tempers; you don’t know the type of spirit you have, for the Son of Man has come to save and not to destroy.’
26. I want you to understand one thing there. The whole idea of God watching this Church is to save and not to destroy. When God is on a salvation mission, nothing stands on His way.
27. Let Me tell you. There are so many people that can oppose, but will they succeed? God must save whosoever He willeth? If God is out to save, He will save to the utmost, but that hour wasn’t the hour for the destruction. It was time for salvation.
28. Now, the disciples so believed Him having walked with Him. They knew that at his command, fire could come down and finish all those mockers and scoffers. They knew that He is the God of fire. He has the power to do it, but within Him, it is not His purpose that hour. His purpose is to save and not to destroy. Then they continued their journey.
29. We will not start perishing until we start underestimating the power of God. Yes, we will never start perishing until we start underestimating, that is, underrating the Power of the Almighty God. Nothing kills a people more than that.
30. Let Me tell you. If we must survive in this Faith, man and woman, take note of that. You are not the first children of God that appeared here on earth.
31. When Christ was walking here in the First Advent, there were men and women following Him. There were women, the Bible recorded; influential and prominent ones that were following Him about, ministering unto Him, yet they were humble; they were loyal; they were obedient; they were faithful.
32. There were men, both rich and poor who were ministering to Him. They were humble; they were very, very meek and lowly. They were copying the master’s example for Christ said, “Learn of Me for I am meek and lowly”. Learn of Me.
33. His simplicity can never overlap His Lordship. The simplicity of God has always been misunderstood to mean weakness. When God is simple and He is dealing with you in His simplicity, it is always misunderstood as weakness.
34. That was why St. Paul said, “To the weak, I become weak that I may gain them. To those that are strong, I became strong also”.
35. I made myself all things to win them. The power of God remains the same; nothing has tampered with it. From generation to generation, men that feared God feared Him because He is the Almighty.
36. Almighty because He can do all things: when He wants to destroy you, nothing stops Him. He wants to save you, nothing stops Him too. Amen.
5
GODLY WISDOM
I want to talk to you on godly wisdom. Where can you find it? The Bible said it is not found on earth. The seas say it is not in them; the trees say, ‘No, not here.’
2. You cannot purchase it with your riches; you can’t get it with your education, for only God knows where it is found and true wisdom is to fear God and then to depart from that which is evil is understanding. To show you understand God, you must depart from whatever God hates.
3. A REAL SEED OF GOD, A TRUE CHILD OF GOD LOVES WHAT GOD LOVES AND HATES WHAT GOD HATES. That was why David, a man after God’s own heart said, “God, thou has known me, thou has known my heart. Have I not hated them that hate you with perfect hatred and counted them as my enemies?” That is the man after God’s own Heart.
4. The Bible gave us the character of an unfaithful wife. The Bible says she loves her husband’s enemies and God says that He is the Husbandman to the Church.
5. Christ is the Bridegroom; we are His Bride. Whatever Christ hates, the Bride must hate it. Let Me tell you something; in Hebrews 1:1, God in time past spoke to us using prophecy, but today, He speaks to us directly through His Son whom He has ordained and has made Head over all things.
6. In Hebrews chapter five, the Holy Ghost Himself started exalting Himself. I mean, the Son who is also the Comforter and the Holy Ghost, started exalting Himself:
7. “What have you seen in Me? What have you seen in this Son of Man that you have exalted Him and have given Him authority over all things to the point that you have made Him Possessor of heaven and earth? If you are a pastor of this Church and you don’t want to repent and change your habit, God will punish you and when I say, ‘punish’, I mean serious punishment.
8. Don’t think I will slap you. There are many ways of meting out punishment on a human being; many, many ways, that men may fear God. And it has started even in My family.
9. There is an adage that says, “Charity begins at home”. If I start with Me, in My own household, who are you then to escape it? Where will you run to?
10. That is why, you see the young man they call ‘Ejima,’ if he was able to kill his own twin brother because of stealing, it will be a covenant between him and death that he will never spare anybody that is found guilty of stealing and that is why he is alive till today because he handles his judgment without partiality, because nobody is greater than his own twin brother whom he brought out before his parents and slaughtered. That is what I want to do now.
11. If I could start from My own family to punish every rebellion, to punish any sign of intransigence, what is the fate of your family? Who are you then? Mere maggot and you are boasting; you are walking about because I have not remembered you.
12. I have never gone to bed one day and thought of you because I have other things bothering Me. I have not passed sleepless nights because of you. That is why you can move about and have the mouth to talk.
13. You have not even disturbed My peace. I have something more important than what you are talking about or doing. But when I remember you, heaven and earth will know that I have remembered you. You, yourself will know because I don’t fight anybody and then hide My face or feelings.
14. Ask all that have had encounter with Me here; they will tell you. I come face to face; I will tell you to get ready; to gather your armies, but when I start, you will know it is the Finger of God.
15. Everybody that sees it or hears about it must also say, “This is the Finger of the Lord.” Because I have come to a point where all these people that are here would want to have a proof of God speaking through Me. They want to see the proof that it is God that is talking through Me and God is all out to show a proof in one way or the other.
16. I want to read scriptures. Where do you find this wisdom? What is wisdom all about?
17. Proverbs Chapter two verse six (Prov. 2:6), Living Bible,‘ For the Lord Grants wisdom! His every word is a treasure of knowledge and understanding…’
18. Wisdom is very, very important. In First Kings chapter three verse three through nine, (1st Kings 3:3-9) Solomon had everything, but when the Lord came to him, He said, ‘Make a request from Me; tell Me what you want.’
19. Solomon did not say, ‘God kill my enemies; God make me a millionaire,’ like we see today. We know we have many problems.
20. A lady that is not yet married, if God should come to her way and say, ‘Make a request of what you want Me to do for you,’ and she is desperate for marriage, marriage will be the number one thing she will request.
21. What do you think will be the request of a barren woman? Fruit of the womb, of course. Whatever be your desire is what God will grant you.
22. Solomon said, ‘God I need nothing but wisdom and understanding.’ Remember the fear of God is true wisdom; to depart from evil is understanding.
23. Solomon said, “I need wisdom and understanding”.
24. 1st King 3:3-9, Living Bible, “Solomon loved the Lord and followed all of his father David’s instructions except that he continued to sacrifice in the hills and offer incense there”,
25. Please note it. Solomon said, “I need wisdom and understanding that will help me lead your people; to guide them.”
26. If you are a man of God and souls are entrusted into your care, you must ask for wisdom; even in handling your own family.
27. When Solomon made that request God granted him the wisdom. Did God deny him of material things? Did he lack any other thing?
28. That’s why the Bible said, “First seek ye the Kingdom of God and its righteousness and every other thing shall be added unto you”.
29. We are suffering today because we are extremely materialistic. We present material things before God. We don’t place first things first.
30. Now, My idea is that after this message, while coming back to the pulpit, seeing and recognizing the wrong direction you have been pursuing things all these years, that you may make a U-turn back to God immediately so that He will harness your ways and then prosper you.
31. Re-order your priority chart; re-order your list immediately; allow them to agree with the Word.
32. Proverbs Two verse Six (Proverbs. 2:6), “For the Lord Grants wisdom; His every word is a treasure of knowledge and understanding.”
33. Who grants wisdom? It is the Lord that grants wisdom. His every word, His every word is a treasure of knowledge and understanding. Every word, the Bible said that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of God’s mouth.
34. If I have a good interpreter, I will use him more than Pastor Dan, for you are the one that lacketh wisdom. No social man does God a service according to His Will, for a social man cannot be strict with God’s word. A social man always seeks popularity. A social man cherishes everything; he lacks discerning spirit. He can never discern evil from good.
35. First Kings Chapter Three through Nine (1 King 3:3-9) “Solomon loved the Lord and followed all of his father David’s instructions except that he continued to sacrifice in the hills and to offer incense there.
36. The most famous of the hill top altars was at Gibeon, and now the king went there and sacrificed one thousand burnt offerings! The Lord appeared to him in a dream that night and told him to ask for anything he wanted, and it would be given to him!
37. Solomon replied, ‘You were wonderfully kind to my father David because he was honest and true and faithful to You and obeyed Your commands. And You have continued Your kindness to him by giving him a son to succeed him.
38. O Lord my God, now You have made me the king instead of my father David, but I am as a little child who doesn’t know his way around. And here I am among your own chosen people, a nation so great that there are almost too many people to count!
39. Give me an understanding mind so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between what is right and what is wrong. For who by himself is able to carry such a heavy responsibility?”
40. Give Me an understanding mind that I may be able to differentiate between what is wrong and what is right; between what is evil and what is godly.
41. In other words, every true Man of God must pray for wisdom for without wisdom, everything will be good in his eyes and that is where he perishes. You will even come to a point where you will compromise with heathens and conclude that there is no God, for a foolish man says in his heart, “There is no God; why wasting my time doing Him a service? If there is God, why has he permitted me to be suffering all these years? Why doesn’t He come to my rescue?”
42. U say that, you are a foolish man; you are a pagan; you are blind! You don’t have an understanding mind; you don’t have the fear of God in your heart. Amen.
6
IN EVERYTHING, PUT GOD FIRST
Psalms Twenty-Seven verse Four (Psalm 27:4) LB, “The one thing I want from God, the thing I seek most of all, is the privilege of meditating in His Temple”.
2. You know, you are the temple of God where God dwells. It says the privilege of meditating in His Temple, living in the presence of God every day of my life, taking pleasure in God’s delights; in God’s perfections.
3. Remember, THE TRANSLATION IS FOR THE PERFECT. Look at David, look at his interest, and look at his desire; he coveted God’s wisdom, for God’s wisdom in a man will always guide him to go to God. Holy Ghost will always point you back to Holy Ghost.
4. The wisdom of God which is far beyond riches, far beyond material things can never guide you into the world. No! It will guide you away, guide your heart away from material things of the world and guide you into spiritual things of God, bring you to a corner, a standpoint where you will always be meditating.
5. Then, you will be delighting to be in His presence always, not avoiding Him, not running away from Him, not fighting Him. This was what nearly killed Bishop Okey Paul; the same thing that nearly killed Adam when Adam committed crime. He ran away, but love projected and brought him back.
6. When a man commits iniquity and runs away from God, if he is not careful, he will hang himself. But when you commit iniquity, continue with God, keep on pleading your case, along the way, he must pardon. That was what Samuel told the people of God.
7. He said, ‘All these years, you committed this great iniquity against God, your Maker who has brought you out of the land of bondage, nevertheless may your hearts never turn away from Him. Follow Him every day, plead your case; by and by, He will pardon you along the way, for He has called you His own people, but if your hearts be turned away from Him, surely He will destroy you. He will forsake you.’
8. Right from the Garden of Eden there was one that sought for this wisdom we are talking about not knowing that it was not found on earth.
9. Satan deceived her saying, ‘Look at this tree of life; see this tree; God has asked everybody to eat everything, why did He forbid you from eating this one? It is because it is the tree that makes one wise. If you eat it, you will not die; rather, you will be very wise; you will be like God. God doesn’t want anybody to be like Himself. Let me show you,’ he ate one.
10. You know the type of tree I mean? You see this woman Eve; Eve sought for wisdom, but in a wrong place. The wisdom of God was not found in that tree, neither was it in that fruit. It was Satan that was trying to trick her.
11. Eve sought wisdom in a wrong way; in a wrong place and got a curse. She got a curse. When any man is seeking wisdom of God in the wrong place, in return, he must get a curse. Failure to get into the right channel of your desire, automatically changes the expected result.
12. If you are looking for something, you desire for something and you want to get it by all means from a wrong way, surely, what you are going to get is an unexpected result; a negative result.
13. What is that thing? You are coming back with sorrow; you are coming back with weeping; you are coming back with demoralized conscience.
14. Finally, you will come back with a great curse from the Almighty because you didn’t seek it from God, more especially, when God is the only source where you can get it from.
15. Proverbs Chapter Three through Six (Prov. 3:3-6) LB “Never tire of loyalty and kindness. Hold these virtues tightly. Write them deep within your heart. If you want favour with both God and man, and a reputation for good judgment and common sense, then trust the Lord completely; don’t ever trust yourself. In everything you do, put god first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.”
16. Do what? Trust the Lord completely; this is what God has been looking for, a people that will put their trust on Him and on Him alone; completely rely on Him, depend on Him, call upon Him. In everything you do, do what? Put God first; I don’t care what that thing is. God must be considered first.
17. In other words, everything you want to do must agree with the word of God for God is nothing, but His Word. You must ask yourself this question, “What is the word of God saying about this thing that I want to do?”
18. If you have done it already, “What is the word of God saying about this thing I have done?” For whatsoever the word of God says there is final. You don’t say, ‘Let me consult Brother or consult Sister,’ again.
19. “In everything you do put God first and He will direct you and crown your effort with success.”
20. If your efforts have not been crowned with success all these years, go home and think. Have you ever put God first? Go home and think about it.
21. Read this scripture again; you will see that you are the one to be blamed. You have been spoiling your ways and you turn round to blame God. No, you have not placed God first.
22. The Bible said, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and every other thing shall be added unto you”. Commit your plan and trust in Him and He will bring all these things to pass. Woe is he that trusteth in a man for the help of man is vain.
23. The Bible says, “Don’t put your trust in man or in princes, for in them there is no help, but put your trust and mind on God and He will establish your ways.’
24. God is the only One who opens the door no one can shut; if He shuts the door, then no one, no matter how hard he tries, can open it; he will never succeed. He will waste his time pursuing the whirlwind because the Hand of God is there.
25. If God says you can never see, let your eyes be larger than the pulpit, you will never see!
26. It is the wisdom from God that will make you succeed, be it a man or woman. Success is never measured by abundance of material possession, but rather on knowing and fearing the Lord.
27. Let he that has money not boast because of his money; you have a wife, don’t boast of it. You have husband or children, never boast of them, but boast that you know the Lord; you fear Him; you know Him. That should be your boast.
28. Any other boast outside it, the Bible calls it, ‘An empty boast; a vain boast.’ Trust not in riches for the Bible says riches vanish away and leave you miserable. It is the wisdom of God that will bring success to a man.
29. Any other source of wisdom is like money which has limited powers. If you want wisdom which is something that should be esteemed more than any other thing, call upon the Lord, He is the Giver of wisdom. Amen.
7
ASK OF THE LORD
James Chapter One verse Five King James and Living Bible, (James 1:5), “If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask Him, and He will gladly tell you, for He is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask Him; He will not resent it”.
2. He will not resent it. God is abundantly ready to supply it. Ask of the Lord. He did not say, ‘ask of any man,’ rather, ‘Ask of the Lord, for He is ready to supply it more abundantly.’
3. Colossians Chapter Two verses Two through Four (Col. 2:2-4). FROM NOW HENCE FORTH, IF YOU KNOW YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN HERE; LET NOBODY COME HERE AGAIN TO JUDGE US FROM SIX O’CLOCK IN THE EVENING; FROM NOW, WE WILL BE GOING ANYTIME HOLY GHOST WANTS US TO GO AS IT WAS IN THE VERY BEGINNING.
4. FROM NOW, THE IDEA OF GETTING BACK HOME AND THEN SAYING YOU HAVE THE RIGHT AND POWER TO RIDE OKADA (COMMERCIAL MOTOR CYCLIST) OR TAXI OR DO ANY OTHER WORK WITH THE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD IN THE NIGHT IS ABOLISHED. IN THE BEGINNING, GOD HATED IT.
5. NOW, GOD HAS REPEATED IT. HE HAS HATED IT WITH PERFECT HATRED BECAUSE MOST OF THEIR MISTAKES ARE THINGS YOU ARE DOING NOCTURNALLY.
6. All these nocturnal business will stop immediately. If you want to do anything that is right, it should be done in the day. I say, it should be done in the day when we can look at your face and then discern the spirit that is working in you.
7. The night is deceitful. You cannot wink your eyes in the night. It is only in the day that we can look at your face and know the spirit that is operating in you. In the day, you can’t deceive us although you may put on a laugh; it is short-lived.
8. “This is what I have asked of God for you, that you will be encouraged and knit together …”,
9. What!? ‘That you will be encouraged and knit together,’ if you don’t know what knitting is, consult Brother Kelechi. He does knitting work or see Sister Nnachor and some others here.
10. “That you will be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love…”,
11. ‘That you will be knit together by strong ties of love; strong rope of love; tied together.’ It has been My prayer from the very beginning and it has been what God is looking forward to seeing: a Church that has perfect love; a Church that is devoid of worldly love, sensual love that is too sentimental; that exalts the flesh more than the spirit. Sensual love delights in gossiping; delights itself in causing division.
12. Let Me tell you something, there is one thing I know about Godly love and devilish love. Devilish love is love that is created around gossiping with human beings and it doesn’t last. Any love that is as a result of Brother, Sister coming to gossip using a brother or a person or anything is no love: ‘Sister this said so, so and so,’ surely, it doesn’t last because God is not there.
13. “That you will be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love and that you will have the rich experience of knowing Christ…”
14. That you will have the rich experience of knowing Christ, The Anointed One. It is an experience. Learn from experience. You will have that experience that you have known God; you have known Christ, the Anointed One. I have experienced Him. It is no longer a story to Me. Surely, I know Him
15. “And that you will have the rich experience of knowing Christ with real certainty and clear understanding”;
16. With what? Real certainty and clear understanding. You know, it baffles Me that some people can even go out and say they know The Son of Man. Well, with every amount of certainty, they claim so but watch their behaviour. It proves them wrong.
17. There is no experience because when you encounter Christ, surely, He will bestow you with wisdom and this His wisdom is what will protect you. It will help you fear God. It will help you to depart from evil. It will help you to discern between that which is evil and that which is godly.
18. But when you say you know Him and you don’t possess these qualities, close your mouth; shut up your mouth. You are claiming something that is higher than you.
19. However, when you humble yourself and say, ‘Really, I don’t know,’ you may be helped. That is why the Bible warns us; it says, ‘Let no man ever go about thinking himself to be more highly placed than the other or more than what he is for if you exalt yourself, God will humble you, but if you humble yourself, God will exalt you.’
20. This type of empty boast should stop from this moment.
21. “For God’s secret plan, now at last made known is Christ Himself. In Him, lie hidden all the mighty, untapped treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
22. In Him lies what? Hidden all the untapped treasures of wisdom and understanding; not in any other person for the Bible says, ‘In Him is the only Source of wisdom. ‘
23. If any man lacks wisdom and understanding, ask Him He will give it to you. He will not resent it, for that is what He delights to give you. In Him lie all the untapped treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
24. I am saying this because I am afraid that someone may fool you with sweet talk. If this thing did not happen before, it cannot happen now, it would not have been recorded in the scriptures.
25. Thus, it must happen in our midst that the scriptures might be fulfilled in our day. By this, I know that this Church is the True Church of God. I am showing you the difference.
26. I want to give you wisdom so that you may know what is the height, the breadth, the depth, and everything about the salvation God has offered you; so that nobody will spoil you with foolish philosophies and insane ideologies that emanated from the devil out of self-materialistic tendencies.
27. Be very careful. All that glitters is not gold. I know why I am here. If I wanted to play religion, I will not be here. You are My brothers; you are My sisters if you fear the Lord and obey Him, but where there is no fear of God in you, no reverence for God, no respect for His word, you are My enemies; you are not my brothers, you are not my sisters. You are not even a republican.
28. If you are a republican, I will love you more. But you are My enemies for you have hardened your hearts to come and sit down in our midst; in a place that is called by His Name and you say, “I am safe; I am secured to do abomination”. That is false security. It is false security.
29. I want to confirm this scripture. Jeremiah Chapter Nine verse Twenty-Three to Twenty-Four (Jeri. 9:23-24), it is a pity there is no light here, but God is going to supply light here.
30. “The Lord says: Let not the wise man bask in his wisdom, nor the mighty man in his might, nor the rich man in his riches.
31. Let them bask in this alone: That they truly know Me, and understand that I am the God of justice and of righteousness whose love is steadfast; and that I love to be this way”.
32. I love to be this way. The Wisdom of God will help you to know God; wisdom of God will help you to fear God; to honour God and obey Him, but any wisdom that can never lead you back to God is not from God. Can God be against Himself? No!
33. There is a message preached here some years ago. I was going through it in My memory and I remembered some statements and I said, ‘How I wish we can play it again.”
34. The title is: “WHAT IS THE HOPE OF A HYPOCRITE?” The message said all those things he collected hypocritically from among brethren, he is going to vomit them all in the last day.
35. It says while he is having them in his throat, the Lord will hold him. Swallow it, no way; vomit it, no way. He will be all eyes. What is the hope of a hypocrite? With the mouth we call, ‘Brother,’ with the heart we call, ‘Satan.’ Amen.
8
CHRIST IS THE WISDOM AND POWER OF GOD
God bless us. Please, brethren what is really wisdom? This wisdom is very, very important.
2. This thing that is quantified even higher than money, higher than every other thing; wisdom is eternal life because great is the wisdom of God and Christ is the Eternal One. Don’t you know that?
3. When you have wisdom, you have Christ and Christ can never fight Himself. Christ in you, the hope of glory. The Bible recorded it in St. Luke. It says the wisdom of God said, “I will send you prophets and apostles”. Then who is with the wisdom of God?
4. 1st Corinthians Chapter One verse Thirty (1st Cor. 1:24). But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. KJV.
5. The Bible says Christ is the wisdom of God. Please know what I want you to covet. If you do not know Bible, pray. Some say they have wisdom and yet they fight against Christ.
6. What is Christ? The Anointed One: One anointed with the Spirit of God. That is Christ. He speaks, He is God talking to you, for God said, ‘In time past, I spoke to you using prophets and dreams, but now, I speak to you through My own Son whom I have anointed with Power and made Him Heir of all things and even Head over His Church which is His Family’.
7. He told them clearly, ‘Many of you living today will not die until you see Me come back in My Kingdom.’
8. What is more, the Bible said in the Book of Colossians that He has transferred us from the Kingdom of Darkness into the Kingdom of His Dear Son and now, He is a Son over His Father’s Heritage. Some people behave as if they were in this Kingdom before now or they knew anything about it before.
9. Nobody knew anything about this Kingdom before until the Owner appeared. When He came, He restored His Kingdom, but until then, the Kingdom was hidden from everyone.
10. How can you be wiser than Christ? That was the message we heard here last week Tuesday. If Christ is the wisdom of God and Christ is pointing at something saying, ‘Steer clear from that place,’ and you say, ‘Over my dead body’, and you run to the place and say you have wisdom, you are deceiving yourself.
11. You are blind, poor, miserable, yet you know it not. You are naked, yet you claim you are covered. You don’t know what wisdom is all about. When you go out, you talk of wisdom. What people refer to as their knowledge are things which they gathered from written books; that is wisdom of the world which will make them harden up against God.
12. Some even challenge the Bible. Is that wisdom from God? God help Me tonight.
13. Ecclesiastes Chapter Seven read Verse Twelve, Living Bible or King James (Eccles. 7:12) LB, “You can get anything by either wisdom or money, but being wise has many advantages”. KJV
14. “For wisdom is a defense, and money is a defense: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it”.
15. Can money give you life? Then, if you are wise, what do you go after? When you go after wisdom, you are placing God first; you save your life. Some don’t believe that it is impossible for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Some do not believe it.
16. Where ever a man’s wealth is, there his heart will be. If you don’t know that, know it that the more you get this money, the more troubled you become. If millionaires should tell you what they pass through, you will hate money.
17. Your problem starts from the day that money comes; you will never sleep in your bed; your brain will be working up and down; you can hardly pray; you cannot read the Word; you cannot meditate; your mind wanders from one creditor to one debtor; from one customer to another customer; from there to your workers; then you perish. God is kept behind.
18. You know, people that have not seen money before or tasted it are the ones who rush towards it and when they get the money they will destroy themselves.
19. The picture of the personality they have painted in their hearts as what they want to be is exactly what they become after which they forget God.
20. Tell Me that person you know who controls this world’s riches and still sets his affection on things that are on high, tell Me! Amen.