THE BEST DAYS OF THE CHURCH, THE BODY OF CHRIST AND IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD IS ABOUT TO BREAK FORTH ON THE EARTH.
A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE RELAXING BECAUSE THEY DON’T KNOW THE RESPONSIBILITIES THAT BELONG TO THEM IN THIS SEASON.
A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE RELAXING BECAUSE THEY DON’T KNOW THE POSSIBILITIES AND MANIFESTATIONS THAT BELONG TO THEM IN THIS SEASON.
FOR EVERY POSSIBILITY THERE IS RESPONSIBILITY. FOR EVERY EFFECT THERE IS A REQUIRED EFFORT.
HISTORY REVEALS OUR SPIRITUAL HERITAGE AND OUR SPIRITUAL BASELINE.
HISTORY REVEALS THE RESPONSIBILITIES TO ACCEPT AND THE PRICE TO PAY TO SEE THE MOVE OF GOD.
IF WE DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT GOD DID BEFORE, WE WILL BE CELEBRATING THE RESULT THAT SHOULD MAKE US CRY
ONE OF THE WORST THINGS THAT CAN HAPPEN TO ANY GENERATION IS FOR THE MOVE OF GOD TO STOP WITH THE DEATH OF PREVIOUS GENERALS
THERE ARE SO MANY BILLIONAIRES IN THIS WORLD WHO HAVE MONEY THAT IS ACHIEVING NOTHING – SAVING NO SOUL AND DELIVERING NOBODY
THE HISTORY OF REVIVAL AND THE CHURCH REVEALS OUR SPIRITUAL HERITAGE, WHO WE ARE AND WHO WE ARE MEANT TO BE IN GOD
UNTIL WE KNOW WHAT GOD HAS DONE BEFORE, WE HAVE NO CLUE AS TO WHAT GOD WILL DO AGAIN
– Dr. Pastor Paul Enenche on “THE PURPOSE OF REVIVAL HISTORY” || New York Apostolic Invasion – Day 2 (Morning Session) || New York, USA.
Genesis 26:17-18. The Lord bless His Word in Jesus’ name.
The overall subject we are dealing with is, “REDIGGING THE WELLS OF REVIVAL” but the message this morning is “THE PURPOSE OF REVIVAL HISTORY”. Our objective is to understand the purpose of the history of revival.
The Bible just showed us how that after the death of Abraham, the Philistines covered the wells that Abraham had dug. Church Gist. One of the worst things that can happen to any generation is for the move of God to stop with the death of previous Generals. The worst that can happen to any generation is for Abraham and there’s no more well and nobody to find out where the well was. Church Gist. This morning, our objective is to find out. Because, before you can redig the wells, you need to know that the wells existed. We need to know that the wells existed, where the wells were and what the wells did. That was what we read yesterday from Judges 6. Church Gist. When Gideon began to ask God questions, when the Angel of the Lord met with Gideon and told him, “the Lord is with thee, oh thou mighty man of valour” in Judges 6:12 and verse 13, Gideon was rehearsing history to God. “Oh Lord, what has become of America? If you’re with us, on our currency, it is written, ‘in God we trust’, if we trust in God, what is happening? Where’s the God of A. A. Allen? Where are the miracles of Jack Coe. Where are the kind of miracles with William Branham and miracles we saw with T. L. Osborne?” In T. L. Osborne’s meeting, in one meeting, 90 blind eyes were open. “Where are the miracles?” Church Gist. “Where are the miracles of Jack Coe?” In one meeting, he emptied about 120 wheelchair, throwing them across his shoulder and 60 of them were walking. “where are the miracles? Where are the manifestations of A. A. Allen and Aimee Semple McPherson? If God be with us, what about the things we saw with Charles G. Finney and D. L. Moody? Church Gist. Where are the kind of things we saw in those days where old cities will stand still because there was a move of God in the city. Under 48 hours, everywhere is ablaze because a General of the Gospel stepped into the land? Where are those days?” That was what Gideon was asking God and the Lord seemed to say to Gideon, “you’re aware of all these things? Then go into that might. You’re aware of all these things? Then, go in this strength! You have this level of light of what I have done before? Then, proceed in the might of them!”
– I believe that there’s a might that is coming upon a Pastor, a woman, a man and a ministry; a grace that is coming upon somebody with what is going to happen in this season. If you’re the one, you will shout the loudest Amen!
The other day, I was so bothered. I was bothered because I said, what happened to the mantle of Aimee Semple McPherson? Church Gist. The first Faith Gospel Church that is existing today, founded by a woman. What happened to the kind of mantle of Kathryn Kuhlman? What happened to the kind of grace that women carry in those days? Church Gist. Why is it that today, what women are fixated on right now is how to look and how to dress and how to do all these physical things? I was bothered the other day.
– I see fresh apostolic mantles, fresh prophetic mantles, I see even fresh financial mantles, I see kingdom millionaires and billionaires that will be raised in this endtime to be instrumental in the move of God around the earth!
There are so many billionaires in this world who have money that is achieving nothing, that is saving no soul and delivering nobody. Church Gist. Money that is sponsoring drug addiction and all manner of anti-God agenda. There are so many billionaires in this world today who are trying to see what to do to shut down the world. Meanwhile there’s someone who needs massive resources for Evangelism in India, South America and in the Middle East and is struggling for resources.
– I prophesy today, these wealth mantles, financial mantles, apostolic mantles, Prophetic mantles, Pastoral mantles, evangelistic mantles, heavy weight mantles are coming upon someone here!
– you’re the one, shout the loudest Amen.
The other time we came here, we preached in Houston and then, we went to Pittsburgh. Church Gist. I ministered and on Friday night, we left Pittsburgh around 1am to fly to Abuja in Nigeria. 1am on Friday is 7am of Saturday in Abuja and I have to be in Abuja on Saturday to preach on Sunday. There’s no private airline that I can walk into and say, “take me by 1am”, no commercial airline. There was no way I could have moved to be in service on Sunday morning. Church Gist. Am I communicating at all? The things that people look at their tools, there are many tools needed to make the Gospel effective.
– I prophesy to somebody here, in this endtime, there’s nothing that is going to stand in the way of the Gospel!
Why is it necessary to understand the history of revival?
1. History reveal our spiritual heritage.
The history of revival and the Church reveals our spiritual heritage, who we are and who we are meant to be in God. Church Gist. Listen to me, until we know where we are coming from, we don’t have an idea of where we are going to do. Until we know what God did before, we have no idea of what God can do and will do now. He said, “I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed”. Church Gist. He said, “Jesus, the same yesterday, today and forever”. Until we know what God has done before, we have no clue as to what God will do again.
2. Revival history reveals our spiritual Baseline.
That is our spiritual stepping stone. It is important to know that the move of God is a continuum. Church Gist. It is like an ocean that flows from generation to generation. It is the flow of a river that flows from generation to generation. If you go to Lagos in Nigeria and you go to the bar beach area, you will see the explosion of the ocean waves on the sea shore and that same ocean is the same Atlantic Ocean that has traveled for thousands of kilometers and it’s moving with waves upon waves and then explodes. Church Gist. That is how the move of God is. We need to know where God stopped with the last generation so that we can know where to start in the next generation. We need to know about the revivals that happened before.The Holy Ghost Azusa Street Revival, where it moved to, into the Healing Revival, into the Charismatic Revival, the Apostolic and the Prophetic Revivals. Church Gist. Where are we now? What should we expect from God? What are the possibilities before us? It is very important for us to know our baseline.
Listen to me, there’s something that you must understand, if we don’t understand what God did before, we will be celebrating shadow in our generation, we will be celebrating when we should be crying, we will be celebrating the result that should make us cry. We are celebrating the things that should be making us to mourn.
After seeing some things in our Ministry and some people expect us to settle and expect us to raise our shoulders and expect us to behave like we have arrived. I tell some people and I say: ‘You don’t know what I have seen, what I am aware of that God did in the past, neither are you aware of what God has shown me that should be possibilities in my life, that I have not yet seen in the physical, the kind of things I have seen in revelation, I’ve seen in dreams and visions that are the possibilities of the present time that has not yet manifested physically, if you know you won’t slow anybody down’. Church Gist. We should be able to know our baseline! A lot of people are relaxing and I’m coming to that point shortly because they don’t know the responsibilities that belong to them in this season, they don’t know the possibilities and manifestations that belong to them in this season.
I’ll give you an example of what I’m talking about. In the days of Ezra when the Temple was dedicated, there were two kinds of reactions in Ezra 3:10-13. They shouted and sang: ‘What a beautiful foundation, what a glory, what a manifestation, what a move of God we have never seen a thing like this’. Then there was another reaction, many of the Priest and Levites and chief of Fathers who had seen the first house wept. Church Gist. The younger people who had no knowledge of history were celebrating what was happening, the older people who knew history were mourning: ‘Lord, why will the Temple of Solomon be destroyed and what we are having instead is this one?’ That is what we have in our generation today, the younger younger generation of people they think that they know it all and have it all and they think that everything that is happening is happening with them when the elders are saying and those who are in touch with history are saying: ‘Lord! We saw more results, we are aware that great things happened in time past but Lord the best is not meant for the past, the best is meant for the future, the best is meant for the now, the best is meant for the future, we cannot be celebrating what will happen in the time past more than what is happening now but I have a prophecy for somebody. The Bible said, the path of the just is as a shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
– I have a prophecy for you, for your family, for the Church you pastor, for this nation and for our generation: The best of God is about to be manifest, God is about to release the reserves of power, the reserves of glory, the reserves of mantle! Get ready! Church Gist. What you have not seen before, what we have not seen before as a generation is about to manifest because He said: ‘Eyes have not seen, neither have ears heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, the things God has prepared for them…’
We need to know what God did before in Chicago through John Alexander Dowie and through all the people in Chicago. D.L. Moody was also in Chicago, we need to know what God did before in Texas through Kenneth Hagin, through John Osteen, through R.W. Schambach, those rugged fireful men. Church Gist. R.W. Schambach once prayed for a woman with a cut off breast because of cancer and a new breast grew out because he had been mentored by A.A. Allen who was a specialist in commanding amputated legs to grow.
-But I have good news for somebody, the best is not in the past, the best is in the future. And the best is here now! Church Gist. The best of our days, the best days of the Church, the best days of the body of Christ, the best days in the history of the world is about to break forth on the earth.
Why do we need the history of revival?
History reveals our spiritual heritage, reveals our spiritual baseline.
3. History reveals the responsibilities to accept and the price to pay to see the move of God. In history, we understand the steps that the people before us took in order to see the results they saw. In history, we understudy the responsibilities they accepted in order to experience the possibility they experienced because for every possibility there is responsibility, for every effect there is a required effort. Church Gist. For every outcome, there is a required input and then we see that Evan Roberts prayed for 13 years to see revival in Wales and you have prayed for 11 years, and you have prayed for 5 years to see a particular result around your life and you have not seen it yet then you persevere. You heard that William J. Seymour prayed for 5 and half years to see results and there was no result and he went before God after 5 and half years and said: ‘Lord! What’s happening’? 5 hours every day for 5 and half years and God said: ‘Increase your prayer, move forward’ and he increased it by two more hours for another two years and then the Heavens opened.
And so when you know that people persevered like that in order to see the results they saw then no matter how much effort you have put forth, you will refuse to be weary in well doing because you know that in due season you shall reap if you faint not. Liberty University is where? Virginia. The Founder of Liberty University, Jerry Falwell pastored a Church of about 5 people for around 5 years no results! And he decides to wake up every day to knock on 100 doors: ‘I have a Church here, I’d like you to come’. Some will shut the door in his face, ‘Who do you think you are? I have a Church to go already’! And he kept on knocking on doors, a 100 doors per day for 5 years. Church Gist. At the end of 5 years, boom! Explosion started! Church began to explode because God is a rewarder of the diligent labourer. Jerry Falwell came to a point where he didn’t just have a Church, he had a University still existing, became advisor to American Presidents, Influential Christian figures but he struggled for a while. That is what we learn from history! The history of revival! You know what the people did, you know the effort they put forth, you know how they persevered, how the devil tried to resist them and they resisted the devil back.
-I speak to someone here today, every resistance you are experiencing in your personal life, in your ministerial life, in your career, in your destiny! Church Gist. I declare it, collapses right now! Every wall that is standing between you and the next phase of God’s move in your life, every wall that is resisting the purpose of God for your life, the wall collapses now.
Hebrew 6:12. I have been tithing and paying ten percent of my income to God without fail since the year of 1986, that is 37 years right? Church Gist. But for a long time I didn’t see the results that the Bible promised: ‘I will open the windows of Heaven, I will pour you out the blessings’ but I kept at it, I kept on and then God proved that He was the one who said it, that He was the one who wrote it, that He is too faithful to fail. That if you will not faint, you will not fail.
Before we went to our current venue, we had three Services, big Sanctuary to take between four to five thousand people with the galleries. Church Gist. The first Service was filled to under the gallery, Second Service was filled up and down, everywhere were filled. Third Service was filled half way. Those were the kind of three Services we had. We kept at it, at that time God began to give me instructions and then we put chairs outside for overflow when the Service was not filled because we expected the overflow. And then with that kind of three Services, I was flying to the UK – London, England one time and God spoke to me that when I come back we should start 5 Services, wow! How do you fill the five Services? Church Gist. I came and I announced it and the next Sunday, first Service was filled, second service filled up and down, third Service filled up and down, fourth service filled up and down, fifth service was filled about the balcony. That was when our journey started. The Church began to explode and explode. Fifth service, all filled, then, sixth service. Church Gist. The sixth service is filled to outside the flow, then the outside is filled to outside the fence. When we came to that point, that was what gave rise to the Glory Dome. The place became impossible to remain.
We were not trying to fulfill an ambition. When we had all night programs, people will sit down everywhere, sit on the highway and sit on the roads, sit everywhere. Church Gist. By His mercies, I’ve not come here with a theoretical message, I am here with something that is going to change your life, your destiny, you story and everything about you.
– lift your hand and say, “Father, I am not weary of well doing, I am going to persevere and see the results I must see, in the name of Jesus!”
– look at someone by your side and tell them, “keep at it, something is about to explode, break forth and manifest around your life, your family and your destiny!”
4. History delivers us from the life of ease and complacency.
Amos 6:1. It delivers us from ease. When you understand that someone like John Wesley woke up everyday by 4am and continued working till 10pm and did that for 70 years. John Alexander Dowie had 100,000 recorded healings per year. Church Gist. Crutches, all manner. Charles Wesley, 6,000 written songs. We are singing many of them today. Then, you wake up. Listen, Elijah said, “I cannot do more than my fathers” but the truth is, even if we cannot do more than our fathers, at least, let us not do less than our fathers. Church Gist. The son should be an improvement of the Father. It is from generation to generation. Isaac went a bit further than Abraham; Jacob went a bit further than Isaac. The move is from generation to generation. David did his best but he couldn’t build the Temple, it was Solomon who built the Temple. So, it moves like that. Moses brought the children of Israel out of Egypt but it was Joshua who took them into Canaan. So, the child, the son, the progeny is meant at least on a higher level. Church Gist. But, let us assume that even if you’re not on a higher level, at least, you shouldn’t do less than your father. Jesus said the disciple may not be more than his Master in certain areas but the least is that a disciple should be like his Master.
One of the most impactful men on the earth is called Bishop David Oyedepo, some of you may have heard of him. He functions like he has 48 hours in 24 hours. Two universities running, 10,000 Churches planted in a year and so on and so forth. Church Gist. You know what he told me? He said, “Paul, if you don’t up to what we are doing, you failed”. He will be telling you and be laughing. Everytime he sees me, he puts me under pressure, “what about this other thing? How far? What about this? What about that?” I say, “by the time we meet in December, I will give the reply of this”. Church Gist. Do you understand what I’m saying? When you know what those ahead have done, it wakes you up, it clears sleep from your eyes. Someone asked God’s servant, Bishop David Oyedepo, he said, “some people take coffee to stay awake, some people take other things to be awake to work. You work so much and you’re awake most of the time, what do you take?” Church Gist. He said, “I take responsibility. I just know what I need to do and the steps I need to take and I know it must be done”.
Nobody needs to be advised to eat or have his bath because you know it is necessary for life. The things you fail to do are the things you don’t consider necessary. Church Gist. Nobody is counseled to have his bath or to have his meal, nobody is counseled to wake up on time and go to work, when the day breaks, you know you must go to work. It may be raining, it may be winter, terrible snowing, it might be anything but you know you must report at your duty place if you must maintain your job to continue to have your income. You do them because you know they are necessary. Church Gist. If you don’t do them, it’s because you don’t think they are necessary. If you don’t study the Bible, it’s because you don’t think it’s necessary; if you don’t worship as you should, if you don’t fast when you should, if you don’t study and evangelize when you should, it’s because you don’t think they are necessary. Church Gist. The things that are important to life require no counsel, advice or encouragement. History delivers from life of ease and complacency. 1 Kings 19:4.
5. History reveals pitfalls to avoid and errors to escape.
When you study history, when you understudy what people before us did, you know the pitfalls to avoid and the errors to refuse. 1 Corinthians 10:10-12. The things that happened to those ahead of us, they happen as admonition. We learn from what they did well and also learn from what they didn’t do well. Church Gist. For example, I have been in Churches before where I attended as a member. In some of the Churches, I learned what to do well, in some of them I learned what not to do. ‘If you want to succeed in life, don’t follow Ministry like this. If you want to fail, behave like this person, if you want to succeed behave like this person’. In the same manner, from history we learn from the people ahead of us to make us better versions of those who went ahead of us. Listen to this, the life of those ahead of us blesses us both through their effort and through their errors, through their miracles and through their mistakes, through their wonders and through their blunders.
Do you understand? For example: I read through the Scripture that Saul was rejected because he stepped into an office that was not his own, he was anointed as king and the Prophet Samuel was coming and the Prophet Samuel said to him: ‘Wait for me, I am coming after seven days, I’m coming to offer a sacrifice’! And Saul waited until the seventh day and he offered the sacrifice and he was not a Priest, he waited till the seventh day. If I were him I would have waited until the seven days expired because Samuel said: ‘I will come in seven days’ and the seventh day was still on and he offered the sacrifice. He stepped out of the office of the king and entered into the office of the Priest and the moment he finished offering the sacrifice, Samuel arrived still on the seventh day. He said: ‘You have done foolishly because you have rejected the commandment of God, the Lord has rejected you’! That was how he lost his destiny! Uzziah the same thing, when Uzziah became mighty, he became proud and arrogant and he took censer to offer incense as a Priest. And the Priest told him: ‘It appertaineth not unto thee oh Uzziah…’ Church Gist. He became angry at them and in his anger, God struck him! Leprosy from his head and when he saw leprosy in his head they said: ‘Push him out of the Temple he is a leper’. Even before they could throw him out, he went out himself. When he was buried, he wasn’t buried among kings, he was buried in a detached place, ended as a leper because he was trying to step into an office that was not his. We learn from such things and we learn to say: ‘Stick in your track, remain in your calling, don’t break ranks. Follow your lane, don’t think that somebody’s calling is more fanciful than your own, don’t become a Pastor because Pastors appear successful’. If your calling is that of an Evangelist, stick to it.
Listen to this and I will round up here! One of the most explosive Prophets in the history of the world apart from the Bible days was William Branham. William Branham had 100 per cent accuracy, he never said to anybody: ‘This is your name and it wasn’t, this is where you live and it wasn’t, this is the diagnosis’! Not one! Because he wasn’t guessing, he was seeing like a television where they will write every detail of a person and it is clear. Church Gist. And then he makes a declaration and the person was healed, he was an Old Testament order of Prophet such that when a woman came he prophesied to her and her afflictions disappeared and this lady kept on coming back for healing and he said to her: ‘Woman, I have fulfilled my Ministry on your life, what you need now to keep your healing is the teaching of the Word, you need to sit down to be taught how to maintain the healing you have received and I recommend Kenneth Hagin for you, he is a teacher of the Word, he will teach you to keep the healing you have received, go to Kenneth Hagin’! Wow! I will talk more in this line tonight!
How many times do you see a Pastor recommending someone to another Pastor? In this generation? It’s antagonism, it’s competition, we will talk more later. Church Gist. A time came, when William Branham felt that he should also start teaching and then he began to teach that was when all manner of heretic things came up, he began to teach things that were not Scriptural, he took the Bible and just began to misinterpret it, he was so simple, he was so innocent, he was so angelic if you look at him but he stepped out of his calling and stepped into another Ministry and that was when his challenge happened. Christmas Eve of 1965, he had a ghastly accident even while he was at the point of death he was laying hands on people that had the same and they were being raised, being healed, being delivered. When you are on your track, you can’t be trapped. When you are on course, you can’t be cursed. But when the bird wanders out of the nest, he can become a victim of the snare.
Beloveth brothers and sisters, two things that I will counsel this morning:
1. Take the time to learn all you can regarding what God did before both from the Scriptures and from history. What has God done before? Church Gist. Because if Jesus is the same yesterday, what did He do yesterday? And today? And forever? We must understand what He did yesterday like Allen said: ‘We know what He can do today because we are aware of what He did yesterday’. He’s the same yesterday, today and forever.
2. Develop a hunger for the best of God in your own life and generation.
The best that God has to offer in your own life and generation – ‘I am aware that I haven’t seen all that God can do in my life’. Paul the Apostle after 33 and half years of Ministry, he said: ‘That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection…’ In other word, there is something God has in store that I haven’t seen yet, there is a dimension of God I haven’t touched yet, there is a realm in God I haven’t stepped into yet. Let that hunger not die! That was what gave the mantle to Gideon, ‘If the Lord be with us, where are all the miracles? Where is the power’? And God said: ‘With this light and with this hunger, go in this thy might, move in this power, move in this anointing, step into something’!
——PRAYER AND ALTAR CALL——
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