Enoch Adeboye, general overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), has appealed against doubting God in a sermon at the Redemption Camp of the church.
“Don’t doubt God!” he said. “When you doubt God you are already mocking Him.”
Preaching during the September Holy Ghost Service of the church with the theme “Stronger than your enemies 7: Silencing mockers.” he warned that those who love to mock God or things of God end badly.
Pastor Adeboye anchored the sermon on the story of Hannah in the Bible, citing many other instances where people mocked God and ended up on the wrong side of time.
They included people who mocked Noah when he was building the Ark and those who mocked Lot before the fire fell.
He recalled that, “in the days of Lot people were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting and building when Lot went to tell his in-laws that he had heard that destruction is coming but they laughed at him. By the following day when the fire fell, they were not laughing anymore”.
He also cited an example from the days of Moses: ”The children of Israel murmured to God that all they had to eat was manna. God said that they were ungrateful so let us give them a bit of judgment. Fiery serpents came among them and many Israelites died. But God said to Moses, make a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole, so that whosoever was bitten and looked upon the serpent on the pole shall live and made whole.
“Do you know that some people still mocked Moses saying we are talking of serpent biting us and you are saying we should look up to a serpent made of brass to be saved? So, as many that did not look up to the brazen serpent died.”
He said as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of man be lifted up. “All you need to just do is to look up to Him and be saved,” he explained.
“Don’t mock the call to Salvation. No one is saying that you should look up to a man but to look up to Jesus Christ – the Author and Finisher of our Faith.
“Don’t believe those that tell you that all will be well with you even when you are committing sin. You cannot say that you are a child of God and live a life of sin. You cannot continue in sin and ask the Grace of God to abound – God forbid.”
On the basis of that, he made an altar call, to which many people responded. He explained that the call for salvation was necessary for people who were not living right with God to qualify for His blessing.
Silencing mockers
Continuing with the second part of the sermon, which was to empower people to defeat their mockers, he stated that mockers were in trouble that night simply because of the association of the congregation with God.
“The Bible teaches us that if you are a true child of God, anyone that touches you is touching God; anyone who persecutes you is persecuting God,” he explained, citing the case of Saul of Tarsus was on his way to Damascus to continue the persecution of Christians but met the Lord on the way and he later became Paul.
In an earlier sermon by Adeola Mensah, which Adeboye commended, mockery was defined as a form of ridicule designed by the devil and his agent to humiliate man.
She identified the common types of mockery as those over spiritual or physical issues, financial, emotional, marital and ministerial mockery.
Assuring the congregation that all mockers could be silenced through God, Adeboye took the challenges one after the other for prayers, prophecies. He also shared testimonies of people who overcame their mockers.
He started with barrenness. Stressing that it could be overcome, the general overseer said: ”Let us look at this case of fruitlessness because this month is a special month for those trusting God for the ‘Fruit of the Womb’.
“We thank God for the testimonies that we have heard. I am sure those of you here last Month saw the thousands of people who were barren but got their own children and we have seen even more tonight. There will always be people who will want to mock you if by the time you ought to bring forth you have not brought forth children.”
With references to the story of Sarah and Hannah, he assured the congregation that with God everything is possible.
“When anybody begins to mock your fruitlessness, they are mocking God; they are mocking the Commander of Wombs, he said. “In Genesis 1:28; when God made man and woman and blessed them, He commanded them to be fruitful.”
Then he prayed: “In the name that is above all names, your womb will obey the command of God; when you come next year, you will come with your own baby in Jesus name.”
Fruitless efforts
He also prayed for those who are being mocked because of failures in other areas of life; people who have nothing to show for their efforts.
He said: “There might be forces holding you in bondage – spiritual husbands, spiritual wives, evil in-laws, curse, evil covenant, etc. The point is that even these evil forces trying to stand between you and your fruitfulness are merely mocking the Lord of Host.
“But anytime any force mocks God, God responds. So if there are evil forces trying to hinder you from being fruitful, the Lord of host will deal with it because Philippians 2: 9-11 says at the mention of the Name of Jesus; all knees must bow.”
Testimonies
A major takeaway was the caution not to mock God. On a night Pastor Adeboye used his familiar preaching style – message, testimony for illustration, prophecies and prayers – many testimonies were shared.
“Don’t doubt God. The same God that said to my Father-In-The-Lord (the founder of the church, who was an illiterate) that I will give you a Church that will go round the world. Ordinarily how was that possible?” he asked.
“Today, RCCG is in 197 countries.”
From his personal experience, he said way back in 1961, he gave a small gift to a prophet, who prophesied that one day he would be travelling overseas like someone going to the market.
Pastor Adeboye recalled that, “it was at a time that if anyone in my village travelled abroad, the whole village would gather to dance to welcome him. That time I didn’t even know Ikeja, Lagos, but today the prophecy has been fulfilled”.
He also shared the testimony of God’s promise of the Redemption Camp when he was begging Him for a flat in Mushin, where he lived in a one-room apartment as General Overseer.
“Prior to becoming the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, I was the head of Department of Mathematics at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. I was living in a mansion with a two-bedroom guest quarters. I also had servants’ quarters with four bedrooms. All these were not part of the main house.
“But when I became the General Overseer, I had to live in a one-room apartment at Mushin (a relatively poor suburb in Lagos). I left my wife and children in Ilorin to be in Lagos to work in the church. Due to my difficult living conditions at that time, I had to tidy up things before my family could join me.
“Before bringing them over, I went to God in prayers and explained the challenges I was facing to Him. I told God to help me get a decent accommodation.
“Left to me I did not mind using the one-room apartment, but the thought of housing my entire family in one room posed a great challenge to me.”
God’s response to me was, ‘Son, don’t ask for house because I have decided to build you a city.’
“That response was beyond what I could comprehend. After this encounter, I began to dream of a city where everybody would be a Christian; a city where there would be no molestation; a city where there would be no power failure or water shortage. God began to stretch my mind to see a city where His praises would fill every mouth.”
Repeatedly, he reminded the congregation that once God has spoken, it is done.
Other testimonies
There were also testimonies of healing and childbirth from the congregation. A lady referred to as Sister Folashade, testified by email how she was healed from cancer.
She said, “I give glory to the God of our Daddy Adeboye for healing me from cancer. I just wanted to share this testimony because God is good and deserves to be praised and adored. I am a cancer survivor.
“In 2014 I discovered a cancerous lump in my breast, I underwent chemotherapy, radiotherapy and I had surgery to remove it. And with prayers and support of my family, it was successful and clear.
Sadly early this year 2018, I had a relapse, I was diagnosed of metastatic cancer which means that cancer has spread all over my body and the doctors had speculated only two weeks for me to live. I was at the point of death. My brother flew from Nigeria with the anointed handkerchiefs and oil Daddy had prayed on.
“He also connected me to Daddy on the phone. He prayed a simple prayer and said God that did it before will do it again. My brother applied all the anointed materials on me. All glory to God, all treatments went well and I’m now cancer free. God of our Daddy Adeboye turned the reports of the doctors to testimony. Let someone shout hallelujah.” - TheCable
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