THIS CONGRESS WILL BE THE GREATEST WE HAVE EVER HAD
PASTOR ADEBOYE INVITES ALL TO HOLY GHOST CONGRESS FROM TOMORROW, 5TH-12TH DECEMBER, 2022 THEMED, “DOUBLE PORTION”
“I LIKE MY FRIENDS OF THE IGBO CULTURE. WHEN IT IS CHRISTMAS SEASON, THEY LEAVE THE MANSIONS THEY HAVE HERE IN LAGOS AND THEY HEAD FOR THE VILLAGE; THEIR ROOT”
PRAYERS FOR LANDLORDS, TENANTS AND THE NATION
Pastor E. A. Adeboye on “IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE || Thanksgiving Service || December 4th 2022 || Redeemed Christian Church of God
Father Almighty we worship you, we thank you for your goodness, mercy, for thus far you have helped us. Thank you for January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December. Church Gist. Accept our worship in Jesus’ name. You brought us thus far, we know we will see the new year. Accept our thanks in Jesus’ name.
We pray for all landlords today, please continue to bless them, prosper them, enable them to build more houses. Father we pray for all tenants – thank you for health, strength, provision; please Lord God Almighty, if there are tenants here today owing rents, in your own miraculous way help them to pay and don’t let them die as tenants. Build for them.
My Lord and my Saviour we are praying for our nation. We have cried to you over the weekend, we have confessed our sins to you, we have cried to you for mercy. Once again, have mercy on our nation. Let all our sufferings be over before the New Year. Church Gist. Intervene O God! As for your children who have been faithful in the payments of their tithe and in the giving of their offerings, please Lord build houses for them, bless them beyond measure even before the end of this month, Father surprise them.
Lord God Almighty we pray that today you send your Word to us and your Word will bring healings and deliverance, joy, victory in Jesus Mighty Name we have prayed.
Can somebody shout halleluyah!
May I seize this opportunity to invite you to the Congress that is beginning tomorrow. I know you are believers but believe it or not, the congress beginning tomorrow is going to be the greatest that we have ever had. Church Gist. We are talking about DOUBLE PORTION so everything is going to be double double. Miracles will be double, testimonies, blessings, victories and joy will overflow. So I will see you there in Jesus’ name.
This morning I have been asked to speak on, “IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE” probably because it is a special day for landlords. The text is found in John 14:1-3. When we were in the primary school – and that’s a little time ago, our teacher taught us about nouns and adjectives. Church Gist. Then they tell us that there is something they call, “Adjectival Clause,” an adjective that is more than one word. So we see that kind of adjectival clause or something like that they call it then. “In my Father’s House” house is the noun there; the adjective is ‘In my father’ – big thing!
We spend just a little bit of time looking at the noun, ‘house.’ What is a house? A house is a permanent residence; something solid, something that is a landmark, something that is an address not a tent, not something that is here today and you move it to somewhere tomorrow. Something fixed you can refer to as an address. Church Gist. But house in the true sense of the word means much more than just where you live. A house actually could be a family. Genesis 7:1 – God told Noah, “you and your house.” Your house there means family; those who live in that house. But on a deeper scale, a house can mean your root. When you talk about ‘I am going to my house’ you might not be talking about just little bungalow; you might be talking to your root, your village.
I like my friends of the Igbo culture. When it is Christmas season, they leave the mansions they have here in Lagos and they are heading for the village. Church Gist. They are going back to root. Where are you going? They say, ‘I am going to my house.’
In Genesis 24:34-38, Abraham said to his servants, ‘don’t marry a stranger for my son. Go back to my root. Go to my father’s house and get a daughter for my son to marry.’ A house can actually mean a compound. In Yoruba land they call it, “Agbole” – collection of houses forming a compound. Church Gist. The people living in that compound will be blood relatives – Uncle has his own house, Aunty has her own house, elder brother and so on and so forth. We call that one also a house. Members of the same family with houses built together. So you hear from time to time people saying, ‘this is not how we behave in our house.’ They are not talking about the particular house where they live. They are talking about in our compound, where our families gather together. So when you find a child who is well behaved in Yoruba land we call him, ‘Omoluabi – a child of the house, they taught this one well in their compound.’ For example, you are riding in a bus and then there is an elder who came in and has no seat, you stand up and tell the elder to come and sit. Church Gist. The elder will look at you and say you are Omoluabi – you are from a good home. How many Omoluabi are here this morning? Let me hear you shout halleluyah!
So when Jesus Christ said, ‘in my father’s house,’ He is actually saying, in my father’s compound there are many mansions. He is not talking of a single house; he is talking of a collection of houses, a compound. Church Gist. That is why He could say, ‘In my Father’s house there are many mansions…’ not just one building but many mansions. Now, God the Father lives in that compound and all his children also have their own mansions surrounding the one belonging to God the Father.
You know the Bible tells us that in Romans 8:29 that Jesus Christ is the first born of many brethren. So, ‘in my father’s house there are many mansions’ and by the grace of God I have one there. Church Gist. If you are a child of God you have one there too and I will see you there one day in Jesus’ name.
The peculiar thing about the mansions in my Father’s house is that each one is huge. A mansion is a house with many rooms. One day God will open your eyes and you will have a glimpse of your mansion in Heaven. The day you see that mansion anything that can ever take you back from Jesus is no more existing. Church Gist. Now, each house there is not just big (there’s no way we can describe it (how big) here on Earth), it is very costly, very very expensive. Jesus Christ was referring to this in Matthew 16:26, He said all the money in the world cannot buy one of the mansions. If you have all the money in the world you can’t even build one of the mansions there.
- In the name that is above all other names, nobody can take your own mansion.
Over there where we are going (and I will see you there in Jesus’ name), the very mud that is used to build the houses is pure gold – purest gold! Gold so pure they look like mirror; absolutely pure. Revelations 21:21. Those of you have little idea about gold, you know the measure, purity of gold in carats – 17 carat gold, 21 carat gold and so on. Me I didn’t have an idea of what carat means until one day I travelled with a friend of mine to Singapore and we got to a place where they sell gold and they have a purifying section where they clean the gold. Church Gist. You see my friend had been trying to dazzle me with the gold – the ring on his finger. He was telling me it is 24 carat gold. I didn’t know the difference between 17 or 24 (carat gold). Then we got to this place and they said they refine, can purify your gold. You just give it to them; they have something that can take care of it. so he said in that case, can you just clean my ring for me. They asked him, ‘how many carats?’ he said, ’24.’ They said, ‘we don’t handle such. It is too inferior.’ My friend said, “24 carats?” they said, ‘we put it on our machine, it will melt it off.’
The gold in Heaven, I don’t know what carat and it is that kind of gold that is used to build the mansions. There is something great waiting for you in Heaven; I pray you make it in Jesus’ name!
The little bit I want to talk to you about this morning is the statement that My Lord made when He said, ‘I go and prepare a place for you.’ The first question that will come to the mind of anybody is – if there are many why do you need to go and prepare a place? Church Gist. The first answer that will come to your logical mind is that many does not mean enough. There can be many houses, mansions, it doesn’t mean everybody will get one. “Oh, there are many chairs here” – some people are still standing this morning. Why? Many does not mean enough
The second thing which is even more important is that reserving a place is talking about how close you are; how important you are. There are degrees of importance when it comes to reservations. I think I’ve told you before when the one President was going to be sworn in and a friend of mine – big man of God came into where I was staying in Abuja (I was there in Abuja for that period) with a card. Church Gist. “Ah! Daddy I have got an invitation card; I’m going to the ceremony and I’ve got an ‘A’ card” (He told me excitedly). There was an ‘A’ written on his card. He was glad. I said, ‘Congratulations.’ Just as we were talking another one came in. He said, ‘Ah! Daddy I got an invitation.’ On the card, ‘AA.’ So the man with ‘A’ looked at himself ‘what’s going on here?’ Not long after another one came in with a card, ‘AAA.’ You know what that means? When the ceremony is over and it is time to entertain people there is a limit to where ‘A’ can go. There is a place where ‘AA’ can go. There is a place where ‘AAA’ can go. So they all looked at me and said, ‘alright, okay. You Sir, we know you got a card. So how many ‘A’s are on your card?’ I smiled and told them, ‘I don’t need a card. All I need to do is show up.’ There are levels of intimacy. Church Gist. When we get to Heaven some people will be almost a billion kilometers from where Jesus Christ is seated. Of course they made it to Heaven – the man with A on his card was happy.
- I pray you will make it to Heaven!
But He said, I am going to prepare a place for you and He gave the reason. He said so that where I am, you may be also. How close will you be to Jesus Christ when you leave this world? It is a very important question because how close you are to Him is going to be determined by how intimate you are with Him here on Earth. You remember very well when the Lord Jesus Christ was going to the mount of transfiguration; he took the 12 apostles with him. Church Gist. The 12 got to a certain stage, he told 9 to wait and then he took 3 with him to the mountain top. When they got to the mountain top he was transformed before them – before 3! 9 were down there but the 3 saw his glory. They heard the voice of God; they saw those who have gone before – Moses, Elijah, the glory was so mighty! Peter didn’t even know when he was saying, ‘Lord, don’t let us leave here.’ When they were coming down from the mountain the Lord told the three, ‘don’t tell those people downstairs what you have seen.’ There are levels and there are levels.
On the cross of crucifixion, when he looked down from the cross, ‘where are the other disciples?’ they’ve gone into hiding. Only one was there – John the Beloved. He looked down from the cross and said, ‘Hey son, behold your mother; mother, behold your son.’ Church Gist. Beloved John happens to be a landlord because the Bible says on that day he took the mother of Jesus into his own house. Landlords I hope you are listening to me; is Jesus living in your house? Can He feel comfortable there? What is the kind of landlord you are? Are your tenants praying for you every morning? We leave that to you and God.
How close you are to the Lord Jesus Christ will determine how close you will be to Him when you get to Heaven. God is no respecter of persons. Revelation 22:10-12. How close are you to Him? How are you serving Him? He is going to reward according to how your works shall be. That’s one aspect. Church Gist. There is yet another aspect when He says, ‘I am going to prepare a place for you. When I finish, I will come for you.’ There is the idea of reservation. When things are many – many mansions, but they are not enough, those who have their places reserved don’t have to worry because once it is reserved, it is reserved. It means nobody else can sit there.
I said it before, we were attending a program somewhere in Ibadan in a very big Church but the ground was huge. I was going to be the guest speaker. So automatically my seat was reserved. I was standing outside getting some fresh air before we go and begin the service. Church Gist. One young man was coming and people were rushing him – everybody was trying to get a seat. This young man saw me, ‘Ah! Daddy how are you, your wife, business?’ I told him, ‘Sir, my seat is reserved. Yours is not.’ He forgot me immediately and rushed inside.
Is your mansion reserved in heaven? Your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ on Earth do you think it can guarantee a reservation of a mansion for you in Heaven? Ask yourself this question this morning. This morning, God wants you to think deeply.
In conclusion, He said when I have finished preparing the mansion for you I will come again to come and take you to myself so that where I am, you will be also. Church Gist. The implication of that is tremendous. It will take one hour but I will just say it in may be 2 or 3 sentences.
- If you close your eyes here on Earth in death and Jesus is not already standing by your side by the time you are closing your eyes, you are not going to Heaven. You say why? Read the Bible. It says that the angels who claims that they are very very special, who say they can stand in the presence of God, they have 6 wings; with 2 they fly, with 2 they cover their faces, with 2 they cover their feet. Why? Church Gist. The glory of God is so mighty that if they don’t cover their faces, the glory of God will just wipe them out. Meaning what? If it is an angel that should come to pick you here on Earth to say he is taking you to Heaven, he will get to a certain level where he can’t go further and say, ‘the rest is up to. This is how far I can go.’ But the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of God Himself, he had direct access to God. If He is the one who comes to pick you up and he is taking you on the way to Heaven, there is a gate that has to be crossed before you get to Him. When He, the Lord Himself, gets to that gate he will have to speak before the gates open. “Lift up your heads oh ye gates; be thou lifted up ye everlasting doors that the King of Glory may come in.” The angel in charge of the gate is going to ask, ‘Who are you? Where are you coming from? Who is the King of glory?’ – The Lord strong and mighty, mighty in battle. Church Gist. The Lord who has never lost a war. Then He will command again, (It’s there in the Bible) even after that introduction, He will still say, ‘Lift up your heads O Ye gates; be thou lifted up you everlasting door that the King of Glory may come in.’ the angel will say, ‘Who are you?’ – ‘I am the Lord of Hosts; I am your commander in chief. Open the door.’ The door will open and as he is going in, because He is holding me by his right hand, I will be going with Him. I hope you will go in with Him too?
My brothers and my sisters, I don’t know why they chose this topic but they chose this topic might be because of one person in particular that you think you can pretend to be close to the Almighty God and you are not. When it is time to die, if you close your eyes without Jesus standing by your side to lead you back home, Lord have mercy on you. Church Gist. People here will say you have gone to Heaven straight. One day we will discover where the straight is leading to. But I am praying for you that anything that can hinder you from getting into my father’s house, the Almighty God will help you deal with it today.
The Bible tells us that Stephen, that young man full of the Holy Spirit, just before he left this world, he lifted up his eyes and he saw Jesus standing. Why was Jesus standing? Church Gist. The Bible told us when He finished his job here on Earth, He sat down with his father in Heaven but when He saw that a saint was about to come home, he had to stand because he is coming on a journey. He is coming down to come and pick the beloved saint and to take him home.
- I pray that all your coming to Church, all your singing, shouting, will not be in vain. Church Gist. That when it is time to leave this world, the Lord of Hosts, King of Glory will zoom down from Heaven, hold you by hand and take you to his father’s house.
But the choice is yours. You can keep on pretending – I’m a pastor now, a member of the choir, the most senior chief among the Elders. You better make your way right with God, and do it now because He comes quickly. Church Gist. Nobody knows how quickly His quickly. There are many of us who started this year who thought they will see many many more years. ‘Quickly’ came for them and they are gone. Make your ways right with God today.
SALVATION CALL:
If you want to surrender to Jesus or rededicate your life to Him, cry to the Almighty God.
Ask Him to have mercy on you, wash you clean with His blood, and save your soul.
PRAYER POINT:
• Father, anything that will take away my salvation don’t let it happen to me.
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