ONLY GOD KNOWS HOW MANY RELATIVES HAD WISHED THAT YOU WILL BE DEAD BUT GLORY BE TO GOD, YOU’RE STILL ALIVE TODAY!
OCCASIONALLY, YOUR ENEMY MIGHT BE SOMEBODY GOING TO THE SAME CHURCH WITH YOU
THERE ARE EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL ENEMIES BUT THEY ARE SMALL COMPARED TO THE ENEMIES THAT MIGHT BE WITHIN YOU
A PRIEST ASKED IF I WANTED TO K1LL MY CONGREGATION WITH FASTING. IF FASTING K1LLS, I SHOULD BE D£AD BY NOW.
ALL REDEEMED CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF GOD MEMBERS, YOU WILL FAST FOR A HUNDRED DAYS IN 2025.
ONE BIG THING THAT MUST D1E IN YOUR LIFE IS PRIDE. GOD RESISTS THE PROUD.
YOU ARE FINISHED IF YOU EVER GET TO A STAGE WHERE YOU THINK THAT WITHOUT YOU, GOD CANNOT DO WHAT HE’S DOING.
PRIDE IS THE CAPITAL EN£MY YOU MUST ADDRESS TODAY SO THAT YOU WILL NEVER FAIL AGAIN.
THE SECRET OF CONTINUOUS AND CONSTANT VICTORY IS KNOWING THAT ALL VICTORIES IS OF THE LORD.
VICTORY IS OF THE LORD. YOU NEED DIVINE HELP
PRAY! IT IS PRIDE THAT HINDERS US FROM PRAYING
YOU MUST NOT TEMPT THE LORD YOUR GOD – FLEE ALSO YOUTHFUL LUSTS
- Pastor E. A. Adeboye on “SUBDUING THE FLESH” || RCCG Holy Ghost Congress 2024 || 10th December 2024 || Day 2 Evening Service ||
I’ve been asked today to speak on, “SUBDUE THE FLESH.” My text will be 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. I want to say it loud and clear, if only one fellow will be victorious here tonight, I will be the one. One more time I want you to help me prophesy to your neighbour and say, “you will not fall by the way side.” Enemies are in categories basically external enemies and internal enemies. Church Gist. All external enemies can be grouped together under their captain, satan. Bible told us to be sober and be vigilant because our adversary the devil like a roaring lion is walking about seeking for whom he may devour. Bible tells us that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, against principalities and powers, then he mentioned all other forces of darkness. Enemies are in categories: external, satan and his host and then, internal. Internal enemies include family members – Matthew 10:36; Genesis 37:1-20. The first murder recorded in the Bible was Cain versus Abel. Genesis 4:1-9. Children of the same mother, the same father, worshipping as it were God but one killed the other. Church Gist. Aren’t you glad that the Almighty God has not allowed enemies within your families to kill you? Only God knows how many relatives had wished that you will be dead but glory be to God, you’re still alive today.
In Judges 15:9-13, it was the relatives of Samson that bound him and handed him over to the Philistines. Church Gist. The elders have a saying, “if the death within does not kill you, the death without cannot kill you.”
- In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, you will win!
In talking about the army, within the army of God occasionally we find an enemy in the rank. Occasionally, your enemy might be somebody going to the same Church with you, singing the same song with you, shouting the same shout with you. In Joshua 7, the enemy that nearly ended the ministry of Joshua was one of the soldiers – Achan by name. Church Gist. So we could have enemies among relatives, children of the same parents, enemies even in the Church, etc. All these internal enemies are small compared to the enemies that might be within you. Enemies that you sleep with, wake with, go to the toilet with, come to Church with, enemies within, yourself.
In James 1:13-15, the Bible tells us that God never tempts anybody. If you run into any temptation, maybe you need to check yourself, but people are led into temptation because of their own lust that could lead them to sin, that will ultimately produce death.
When you read Hebrews 12:15-17, you find that the greatest enemy of Esau was his appetite for food. I’m talking to soldiers for Christ, I’m trying to share with you the secret of never failing again. Esau loved food. There are soldiers of Christ who cannot fast. Church Gist. Before anybody can contradict me, “there’s no where in the Bible where it is written that the Just shall live by fasting, what the Bible said is the Just shall live by faith” and I’m telling you that in advance, particularly those of you who are full fledged members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, I want to warn you in advance, in the coming year, you will fast. Church Gist. The Amen wasn’t loud. I’m telling you in advance so you can enjoy between now and December, because as the Lord lives, in the year 2025, you are going to be fasting for a hundred days.
- If you’re happy, shout hallelujah!
You see, the last time we fasted for a hundred days was 2015, 10 years ago. You say “Daddy, why are we going to fast for a hundred days?” I will tell you when the time comes. Oh Lord, have mercy. I remember last year, or was it at the beginning of this year? Church Gist. One Priest said, “what kind of God would ask you to fast for 50 days before answering you?” I said, I’m not talking to your congregation oh, I am talking to my children. He said “Ah, ah, you want to kill them with fasting?” Have they complained to you? If fasting should kill, I should be dead by now.
- Tell you neighbor one more time, “You will win”
It was food that destroyed Esau. His stomach was his god. When you talk of Gehazi, one of the greatest losers in history. In 2 Kings 5:20-27, that boy who would have probably been the greatest Prophet in the Old Testament ended up with leprosy, because his eyes were focused on the things of the Earth, rather than things of Heaven. Church Gist. A boy who could have obtained a double portion of the anointing of Elisha. You can imagine how tremendous his power could have been. No, he preferred money and he got leprosy.
You know Judas Iscariot of course. Acts 1:15-20. Peter said, he was one of us, he obtained part of this ministry, he ate and drank and slept with the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, but he ended up hanging himself.
- I pray for you one more time, you will win!
So, I can go ahead and begin to mention all the things you must subdue. Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, etc, but I want to focus on just one big thing that must die in your life tonight. If that thing dies, then I’m sure when I get to Heaven, I will see you and that is something called pride. In warfare, it is a regular practise that when you are facing an enemy that you’re not sure you’re able to defeat, you get an ally, you get another army to join with yours so you can defeat your enemy. Church Gist. But the worst scenario in any man’s life is to go to war with an ally going with you and then, you get to the battle field and your ally crosses over to the enemy’s side and begin to lead the attack against you. The greatest ally of a Christian soldier is the Almighty God Himself, the Lord of Host. But the Bible says in James 4:6, that if you ever give room to pride, God resists the proud. Proverbs 16:5. If you ever become proud, you have a big problem because your ally becomes your enemy.
Beloved children, even if you don’t learn anything else during this Congress, learn this, that no matter how well trained a soldier may be, no matter how well equipped a soldier may be, safety is of the Lord. Proverbs 21:31. Don’t ever forget that. Once you remember that, you know the secret of continuous and constant victory. 1 Samuel 2:9. Church Gist. No matter your training, no matter how strong you are, it is written, “By strength shall no man prevail”. All success, all victories, all progress, is of the Lord. John 15:5, Jesus Christ said clearly,” Without me, ye can do nothing”. When you go through the Scriptures, you’ll see great soldiers who have been marching for years and they end up failing.
Learn from Moses. I studied Moses greatly when I became a Christian. Numbers 20:1-12, you will find out that after 40 years of marching through all, he made a statement. The people lacked water, he went to God and God told him what to do. He got back to the people and said, “Must we bring you water? We, myself and Aaron” So God said, “Ah! Moses, are you the one who have been bringing water?” Church Gist. If you ever get to a stage in your life that you begin to think that without you, God cannot do what He’s doing, you are finished. It’s not you. Thank God for the first lecture we had, greater is He that is in you, He’s the One who is in you. Never ever think that without you, God is helpless, it’s the other way round. Without God, you are helpless.
Learn from Samson. Judges 15:14-16. After the Spirit of God came mightily upon him and he took the jawbone of an ass and with that he slayed a thousand people. What did he say? Judges 15:16. Proverbs 16:18 says pride comes before destruction. Pride is the capital enemy you must address today so that you will never fail again. Church Gist. Pride is the mother of ingratitude. If you have found it difficult to be grateful particularly to God, if we had had to really, really pump you before you praise God, you have a problem with pride and like I told you yesterday, if you don’t show gratitude for what He has already done, when another problem comes, to whom will you run?
Look at the case of Samson again. Judges 15:17-19. After he said “Oh, I’m the one who killed a thousand” and thirst hit him hard, he had never said thank you God. Church Gist. But when he now saw that oh, he was about to die. He now said, “Oh, God you are the One who gave this great victory” That’s why God gave him water to drink again.
Another reason why pride is so dangerous, why it is probably the worst enemy you can ever dream about, is that pride leads to overconfidence. Once pride comes, overconfidence will follow. In 1 Corinthians 10:12, the Bible made it clear, if you think you stand, take heed lest you fall. Victory is of the Lord. He’s the One who can see you till the end. At least, you remember Peter. Church Gist. Matthew 26:31-35. The Lord said, all of you will be offended in me tonight. Peter said, what are you talking about? Don’t you know me? I mean, not too long ago, you yourself said flesh and blood were not revealing things to me, I hear directly from God. Even when the Lord told him, you are going to fail 3 times before the cock crows. He said, not me. You know the end result.
- Pride must die in you beloved soldier of Christ!
I want you to note the following. The sermon is not going to be long because it’s a sermon you must remember for life. If you remember this sermon, there’s the guarantee that you will never fail again. Let us listen to Paul, the Apostle of grace. The one I will call an ultimate winner. Church Gist. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, he said be grateful, in everything, give thanks. Not only in words, but in action and if we have any major problem among brethren, among soldiers of Christ, it’s ingratitude. I’ve heard people say why do they always say let someone shout hallelujah, let someone shout hallelujah, ah!
- Let someone shout hallelujah!
In 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Do you know it is pride that does not allow you to pray? “I can do this myself, who needs to call on God for this one?” Church Gist. Pray, pray. That song says:
Christian, seek not your repose
Hear thy guardian angel say
Thou art in the midst of foes
Watch and pray!
One of my close associates travels with me almost all over, wherever I go. When something happened she said, “Now I know why you pray almost all the time,” because if we’re going somewhere, before we leave the living room we pray. We get into the car, we pray. Church Gist. On the way to where I will be preaching, I will be praying. I arrive where we are going, before they say some people are coming to see me, I say, “okay just give me some minutes – I’ll pray.” Why? Victory is of the Lord. You need help. How many of you need help? Do I hear you shout, God help me.
When I wake up in the morning, I pray. When I’m about to take my bath, I pray. I just keep praying. There are lot of things that you do that is only God that is making it possible for you to do them. Years ago, one of my daughters have been sick for quite a while and we have been praying and praying. One day I got a message from her, “ah thank God Daddy for the first time in 6 months I was able to go to the toilet by myself today.” Church Gist. Do you thank God for being able to go to the toilet on a day? If you ever heard of people who are on their way to the toilet and they collapsed? Have you ever heard of people who died in the bathroom? Pray my brother! It is Pride that hinders us from praying. Peter was so sure he could never deny God even when he was told, “pray so that you don’t fall into temptation,” he fell asleep.
Who needs to pray? 2 Corinthians 11:27. Listen to him, he’s my friend, I love him. There are some people who think they know him better than I do – that’s all right. But you know that he says in 2 Timothy 2:22. You must not tempt the Lord your God. Church Gist. Samson was so sure, “Who is Delilah, this little girl? I can handle her.” At the end of the day, he discovered he couldn’t handle her. There are certain things you don’t wait for. Don’t tempt the Lord your God. If they throw you into the den of lions my God will get you out! But if you walk into the den of lions yourself the lion will eat you up.
In one of the universities, a prophet said he wanted to prove to the people that the God of Daniel is his God. So he went into the zoo and climbed into the lion section. The lion saw him coming and was wondering who is this fellow? So the lion began to move back and he was saying to the people, “you see now, the God of Daniel is my God.” Church Gist. The lion began to move back and he wanted to prove further that the God of Daniel was his God. He began to tease the lion, “sh shh.” So the lion said, “Well, if you want to attack I will show you how to do it.” Before anybody could do anything, the lion had finished him. Don’t walk into the den of lions yourself and say, “I am a soldier of Christ.” Don’t walk into temptation, don’t let pride destroy you.
Philippians 3:12-14. Paul the man who finished well, a man who finished strong said, “I’ve not yet attained. I’m still on the journey.” Then he said one thing because this is one major area where some of us have the problems with pride. He said, “I’m forgetting the things behind and pressing forward.” Church Gist. Many of us get into pride because of the victories of the past. Someone said, “Victories of the past can be like ashes. If you are not careful they can put out your fire.” Ashes! Glorify God for all He had done for you but please don’t say, I did it. There’s only one “I am” not two. If you are marching on and you are not stumbling, it is the one in you that is doing the work. So we’ll be praying tonight. I have focused on pride because it is the biggest fellow – there might be some little little brothers associated with him. You are not a good soldier if you don’t finish well. You must finish well and whatever is in you that will not allow you to reach your goal must die tonight. Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live. But the life I live now I live only by the grace of God – of the Son of God the one who loved me and died for me.” Church Gist. We’re going to be crying unto God to do a thorough crucifixion tonight. We’re going to be laying ourselves on the altar before the almighty God and asking Him, “Father whatever is in me that will not allow me to make it to Heaven, to finish well, crucify.” Particularly, anything in me that might be faintly associated with pride, kill it tonight. The moment you subdue that enemy within, then your future will be glorious.
I remember years ago, we were in the very first auditorium – the crowd was big, about 20,000 people and I’m telling you, that was a big crowd then. It was Holy Ghost night and I’ve been praying since morning. Of course I’ve been fasting, I’ve been praying. Church Gist. Then the choir was singing which was a signal to me in my prayer room, “I must come out now to minister.” I didn’t feel satisfied, I didn’t feel that I’ve prayed enough. I said, oh my God, what am I going to do? Yes, I’ve been praying since morning but I don’t feel I’ve prayed enough. He said to me, “Son, do you think it is your prayers that is performing the miracles? Do you think it is because you know how to wait on me, how to fast? So you’re beginning to think it’s your effort?” I said, no Sir I’m sorry. He made a statement I’m sharing with you probably for the first time – “Don’t worry my son, I will go with you. I will do the work.” You’re not the one doing the thing. Church Gist. Beloveth Choir, the voice is not your own. Anointed pastor, the anointing is not your own. Wonderful ushers, the strength to stand is not your own. Anything that you’re doing that can give you the impression, it is me, must die tonight.
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