2018 EDITION OF CHRISTMAS PRAISE CONCERT, AT ASO ROCK PRESIDENTIAL VILLA, ABUJA, NIGERIA.

TOPIC: JESUS IS THE WAY

MINISTERING: PASTOR E.A ADEBOYE

DATE: 13TH DECEMBER 2018

TEXT: JOHN 14:6

Thank you Lord; thank you Lord. Thank God for the Engineers.

Why don’t you lift up your hands to the Almighty God and just bless His Holy Name. Give Him Glory, give Him Honour, and worship Him. That He has kept you alive to see this day. Bless His Holy Name. Give Him Glory, give Him Honour; worship Him, Magnify the King of kings, the Lord of lords. Worship the Ancient of Days. Praise Him; Praise Him. He is worthy to be Praised, He is worthy to be Adored. Thank you Father; in Jesus Mighty Name we have Worshipped!

SONG:

Jesus Christ is Lord,

Jesus Christ is Lord,

Jesus Christ is Lord, Amen!

Every knee shall bow

Every tongue confess

That Jesus Christ is Lord, Amen!

OPENING PRAYER:

Our Father and our God, we want to bless your Holy Name. We want to thank you for Nigeria. Thank you for peace in our time; thank you that we can still gather together like this, to celebrate you. We worship you. Please accept our thanks in Jesus Name.

Our Lord and our Saviour, Prince of Peace; we pray that your peace will continue to reign supreme in Nigeria. That where there is war, we will declare peace.

And we pray for all your children who are listening or reading all over the world this particular moment; send peace to our homes, let it be well with all of us. Have mercy on Nigeria, oh Lord; and let the coming year be a Glorious one.

Father we commit the coming Elections into your hands; just take absolute control. In Jesus Mighty Name, we have prayed. Amen!

Let somebody shout Hallelujah – Hallelujah!

That is Abuja Hallelujah. Well, I know for sure that there is somebody here who will see the New Year. Now, if you are the one, let your Hallelujah be the loudest – Hallelujah!

God bless you. Please be seated.

… I knew that one will catch you; because people in Abuja want to see the New Year.

I want to ask for permission to stand on the existing Protocol because they have given me only twenty (20) minutes to preach. Even though I know from experience that the Program here says twenty (20) minutes; they will give me more than twenty (20) minutes.

So  let me just say: my brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers; God bless you all – Amen!

BIBLE TEXT:  JOHN 14:6:

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

As you can see, and I have told you; Jesus Christ has many Names.  Now, we want to discuss one of the Names.

Last year, as the Almighty! But we going to be looking at it from a very different perspective, today.

You see, when I was younger; am still young (am only 76), the young ones among us had great joy in what we call “Appellations”.

You call your son “Ade”, but he will call himself “Adesco”. There was one whose name was Felix Folorunsho. But he calls himself “Afili Folly”. There was another one whose name was Rufus Agunloye, but he calls himself ” Arufi Agolly’.  But probably the one who got the big cake in those days was the one whose name was Solomon Bamgboshe, but he calls himself “Sokoloko Bangoshe”.

So when you want to send Ade on errand, and you want him to go cheerfully; you don’t call him Ade, you call him “Adesco Meme”.

And you wonder what has this got to do with our Topic of today? Someone, asked the Lord Jesus Christ, everybody calls you one name or the other; some say you are a Teacher, you are a Prophet. We understand your Father calls you Emmanuel; and so on. What would you love to be called? And He said: I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.

That’s the Name He calls Himself! Three (3) Mighty Names.

Unfortunately, each one will take three (3) hours to digest. And so we will only look at the first one within the short period we have. THE WAY!

Jesus is the Way!

Meaning what? He is the way into; way to what? Oh! Several things, but we will simply say:

1. The Way into Freedom.

Because the Bible days in John 8:32 – “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

So Jesus is the Way into Freedom. Like He said; Am not just the Way, Am also the Truth. And then in John 8:36, the Bible says: “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

You see, when we talk about Freedom, there are some people who think they are free, but they are not Free Indeed!

There are lots of Very Important People, who have problems that money cannot solve. They have problems that medicine cannot handle. They have problems that are completely beyond the power of Science.

But there is no problem beyond the Power of Jesus Christ. He is the Way into Freedom.

And I will just give you some little, little Stories to buttress my points. Because I don’t have enough time to handle it all through the Bible.

But you remember a man who according to Mark 5:1-15; he was a man who was controlled by Legion of demons. There is no way that man could have been free, except that he came in contact with the Way! Just one (1) Word from the Way; and all the demons left him.

I give you an illustration; some of you probably heard the Testimony of a woman who was living in a town somewhere in the North here. In the Capital of a State. But she had this peculiar sickness that; whenever you switch on electricity in her house, instead of the current flowing in the instruments, the current will be flowing through her.

For example, you switch on electric iron, instead of the Iron getting hot, the woman will be getting hot. And the iron will remain cold. You switch on the fan; instead of the fan rotating, the woman will be rotating. And so on, and so forth.

So, they brought the case to us. And I said they should go and bring her. And they said; No sir! She cannot even pass through a street where there was electricity. And that there was a time they wanted to take her to the hospital in Pick-up Van; as soon as they tried to start the engine and the current had to flow from the battery; something picked her up and threw her out of the vehicle.

So, she was living in the Capital of a State, but there was no electricity in her house. Now, even if you take such a fellow to hospital; demons don’t appear on X-ray and there is nothing the Doctors could do to help her.

Well, I went to see her, and I told her I know someone who can set her free. Of course, you don’t have to preach long in a situation like that. I preached; she gave her life to Jesus. We prayed a simple prayer, and she was set Free. After the prayer, we switched on the light, the lights came on. We put on the fan, the fan began to rotate.

And I have a feeling within me that there might be someone here today, or reading: who needs to be totally Free – If you are that one, shout Jesus – Jesus!

So, now; No. 1 Jesus Christ is the Way into Freedom.

2. He is the Way OUT of Problems:

… He is the Way into Freedom; He is the Way out of Problems.

Like I said earlier on; there are problems in this world that it doesn’t matter how intelligent you are, you cannot solve them. There are problems money cannot solve. There are problems Position cannot solve.

But there is no problem that Jesus Christ cannot solve! Am Born Again today; I am a child of God today, because I had a problem that all formulas of a Mathematician could not handle. But when I came to Jesus Christ, He solved the problems for me.

For instance, Jesus Christ is the Way OUT of Sorrow. You could be speaking to someone who is well dressed; who will smile at you when you say: Good evening but deep inside, they are dealing with sorrow.

I am praying for somebody here today or reading; that in the Mighty Name of Jesus Christ, your sorrow will end today – Amen!

… In Luke (I think I am having some problem with the Light here); there is nothing wrong with my eyes. It is the Lighting that is faulty.

In Luke 7: 11-15; the Bible tells us of a widow who had an only son; and the only son died. And they were going to bury the boy.

Nobody needs to tell us that, that woman was in sorrow. And I mean, she had her days of Joy;

1. There was a day she got married, she was happy then.

2. There was a day she gave birth to this boy; definitely she had joy then.

But then, the devil came on to change her Joy to sorrow. First by killing her husband. And now coming for her only son that she had. And I can assure you that as they were going toward the burial ground, she was getting deeper and deeper into sorrow.

Because, without any doubt; she realised that there were people among those who were following her, who pretended to be weeping with her, who must be saying: Why is your case so bad? Are you the only one in town? There must be some things you have done wrong; that is why God is punishing you for. She knew that!

She also knew that the moment they got to the burial ground and they bury the boy; all the sympathizers will go home. Then she will go back to her loneliness. But then, she met Jesus Christ, and the tides turned.

I have Good News for somebody here today or reading; because you came; whatever sorrow you brought here, you won’t take it back home, in Jesus Name – Amen!

I was invited to come and preach in Ikoyi (Lagos, Nigeria); and those of us who know Ikoyi, know that is where the high and mighty live.

And I was going to preach on: “Oh that men should Praise the Lord”.  Because the Big ones were there. And then when I was asked to wait in the room of the Hostess; while the others were gathering. And I saw the splendour of the Room. Five (5) Living Rooms, joined one to another. Each one in Ascending order of Glory!

I wanted to change my topic entirely. But then, the Almighty God spoke to me and said, No! Talk to them about: “You Need a Miracle”.

I was to learn later on that she had only one (1) son, and the son was into drugs. That he was so deep into drugs, that when the mother refused to given him extra money to buy drugs, he planted drugs in his mother’s travelling bag so that they could arrest her in London.

… Everything looked nice and glossy; but deep inside, there was sorrow.

But that day, as I preached, the young man was there; he gave his life to Jesus. And suddenly, the desire for drugs disappeared! And the mother, from that day on, knew Joy.

If you want to have Joy for the rest of your life; do I hear you shout Jesus – Jesus! And then;

3. Jesus Christ is the Way FORWARD; The Way Forward.

Many at times in life, you would find yourself in a situation when you don’t know what to do next. You have tried everything you know and yet you know that you are not getting any success. And for years, many people find themselves going round in circles; particularly in careers, in businesses.

You have done your best, but there is nothing to show for it. And we live in a world where; how hard you work is judged by the results you produce. Whereas there are several people who are working hard and there is nothing to show for it.

In Luke chapter five for example. Luke 5:1-7; we find the story of Peter. He was a fisherman, and he fished all night; and he caught nothing. He wasn’t lazy, but he was still considered a failure.

And then, Jesus stepped into his boat. And all of a sudden he saw that: there is a Way Forward. He had been failing all along, but all of a sudden; Instant success came.

… When Jesus steps into your boat, your forward motion becomes Accelerated!

May I pray for someone here today or reading; that after tonight, your promotion too, your Forward motion, will be accelerated in Jesus Name – Amen!

Some of you hear the Testimony of one of my sons. He came and said: daddy, I have been on one (1) spot for more than twelve (12) years. I have applied to many Organization now. They have asked me to come for more interview. Please pray for me because I want to move forward.

And I prayed that the Almighty God will let the Interview go very well. Then he left. The following day, he came back excited. He said: Thank God, your prayer worked very well. I said, what happened? He said: I got to the place, and they asked me to go to the board room. And they asked me only three (3) questions.

He said: I prepared HARD for the Interview; but they asked me only three (3) questions

1. What is your name?

2. What post have you applied for? And he said: Deputy Managing Director.

3. When are you ready to start?

So I said, Congratulations! He said, No! daddy, speak another word. I said: ok, your Promotion will be Rapid! So he left. The following day he came back; he was shaking. What is the problem again? He said: I got to the place to resume work and they told me; Young Man after you left, our Managing Director resigned. Are you ready for the Job of a Managing Director?

I said, so congratulations! He said, No! Speak another word. So I said: The One who started a good work in your life will complete it. And the following day; whether you believe it or not. He came back.

This time he was almost speechless. He said: I got to the place of work again this morning, and they said I should go to the Board Room. I went to the Board Room. And I met the same people I have been meeting. And they said: young man, we have discovered the reason our Managing Director resigned; our competitors gave him a job, the same job we have for him. But they doubled his salary. Now, we don’t want you to leave us. So we doubled your salary.

So he came back, I said congratulations! He said; speak another word. I said, you want to take over the Company from the Owner?

If you want your Progress to be rapid from now on; let me hear you shout Jesus – Jesus!

… So, Jesus is the Way into Freedom, the Way out of Sorrow, the Way Forward;

4. He is also the Way Upward.

Because He said in John 12:32 – “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”

Jesus is always drawing people upward. Jesus never pushes people down. You know the Bible says in Psalm 75: 6-7

6.  For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.

7. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.

God is the Promoter. And Jesus Christ said: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”

I will give you a quick illustration (and I hope am still within my time); some years go, I went to visit a country in Africa. And I wanted to pay a courtesy call to the President. And somebody who knew him said: we can arrange that; but you can be sure of maximum of fifteen (15) minutes. So I said, that’s more than enough. I just wanted to pray for him and his country.

And then we with him and we started talking. And the President arranged for us to be drinking tea as we were talking.

It was on a Monday morning. And as we were together for some two (2) hours. In the meantime, the cabinet was waiting; because they were going to have a cabinet meeting.

And then, someone, one of the cabinet Ministers said: Who is it that is with the President; holding meeting with him for two (2) hours on Monday morning? He is one Pastor from Nigeria. He said; Pastor? Not even a Bishop!

If you want God to move you upward; you want the Almighty God to promote you beyond your peers. Do I hear you shout Jesus – Jesus!

So, He is the Way In, He is the Way Out. He is the Way Forward, He is the Way Upward. And I like this one (don’t worry I will soon be closing);

5. He is the WAY where there is no Way.

When everything looks hopeless, when there is no human way of getting out of your situation; call on Jesus. He will show you that He is the Way where there is no way!

Just one example will do; John 11: 39-44 is the story of Lazarus; a friend of Jesus Christ. You know the story. He died and he has been buried four (4) days. When they got to the tomb and Jesus Christ said they should take away the stone; the sister said to the Lord. sir, this is too late. There is no way out!

You see, if you had come early before he dies, we know you could have healed him. If you arrived when he has just died, we know; we heard the story of Jairus daughter. If you had arrived before he was buried, we know what you did for the widow of Nain. But this case, he has been dead; he has been buried four (4) days – so there is no way out!

Jesus Christ said: all you need to do is believe and you will see the Glory of God.

You know the rest of the story! He asked them to move away the stone. They moved away the stone, and He called Lazarus out of the tomb.

You have already heard; am sure some of you have heard the Testimony of one of my sons. I was visiting the country where he was. And because we are closed, u expected to see him at the Airport. And he was not there. So I asked the others: where is so and so? Oh! Sorry sir, he is sick; he is dying. Where was he? They told me the hospital. So I said I would branched there before going to the hotel.

Now, in that hospital, there was a room where they out people that they were sure will die. They keep them in a particular room. When you go into that room, you are likely to come out “Leg first”.

You see, this my son had a little problem. There is something, I think the doctors call it PSA. If the PSA in a man begins to read above ten (10); they begin to suspect that the fellow might have cancer. By the time your PSA is reading twenty nine (29); no doubt, you have cancer. If your PSA is reading two hundred (200) and above; that’s serious trouble. They begin to talk about terminal cancer. By the time my son got to hospital, his PSA read Four Thousand (4,000). So they just took him to go and join the others, in the room.

So, when I asked for permission to go and pray, they said: you can’t do any harm there. Their case is beyond hope.

… There were quite a few of them there in the room. And I prayed for my son.

Now, you know in some foreign countries, you don’t just go about praying for people. If you pray for somebody, he could sue you; if you pray without permission.

So I prayed for my son alone! And I got out of the place. That was a Saturday. By Wednesday the following week, my son was discharged; completely whole. But the beauty of it is that he was not the only one discharged; everyone in that room was discharged that day.

And so, that gives me the confidence to say that: those of you who are here or reading; no matter how many of you that your situation might look a bit hopeless. Because you are here or reading: Before you enter the New Year, you will find a Way Out!

Now, if you believe that let me hear you shout Jesus – Jesus!

Now, let me close. Jesus said in that John 14:6, He said – “I am the way, the truth, and the life: then He added, “No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

That is a very serious statement; a statement some people would debate. But it comes from the mouth of the one who says He is the Truth. He did not say; I tell you the Truth. He said: I am the Truth itself.

So what is He saying? He says: Am not just the Way, I am the “ONLY WAY” to the Father.

The Bible says in Acts 4:12 that: “Neither is there Salvation in any other: for there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

The Bible says His Name shall be call “Saviour”. Mathew 1:21 says – And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that:  “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

In other words, if you come to Jesus, if you surrender your life to Him. The Blood of Jesus Christ has enough Power to cleanse you from all sins. The Power that is in the Name of Jesus Christ is enough to erase all your past records; it doesn’t matter how evil you have been. And to give you a brand new beginning.

If you give your life to Jesus Christ before you leave this world, when you close your eyes in death. He will be there to hold your hands and lead you all the way to Heaven. Because He said: in my Father’s house there are many mansions.

My father in the Lord, who was an illiterate but who had all manner of revelations of God; told me clearly that; if any man closes his eyes here on earth, in death; without Jesus being there to hold his hand and lead him on, he will not even be able to get to Heaven. He said because the Glory of God is so Mighty that even the angels had to cover their faces with their wings. Otherwise, the Glory of God will just wipe them away.

So, if the Angels were to come for you, they will get to a certain stage, and tell you: we can’t go further. But the Son, the Lord Jesus Himself, if He comes for you, He would hold your hands and together you will go with Him into Glory.

That is why David said in Psalm 23:4. He said: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: WHY? for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

If the Lord is with you, holding your hands; then you will be able to go straight to Heaven. If you close your eyes without Jesus being there to lead you, you won’t go to Heaven.

You can argue, but one thing you will discover, is that: on the day of death, there is no argument. All your Theologies, all your Theories, all your Philosophies will be useless on that day and all the degrees. It does not matter all your influence; on the day of death they will become completely helpless. The Bible says: there is no strong man on the day of death.

And I close by telling you again, the story of one young man, who came to us and said: sir, I hear that you are a Prophet. I said: am not a Prophet, I am a Pastor. He said, but I hear that whatever you say comes to pass. I said; He has been Faithful, He talks to me once in a while: that doesn’t mean I am a Prophet. He said: can you tell me my future? I said, that is easy; all you nerd to do is to answer a question. He said, what is the question?

I said: Are you Born Again? Are you a child of God? Have you given your life to Jesus Christ? He said No! I said: Ah! Your future will be TERRIBLE. He said, how do you know? You have not prayed, you have not even asked me what is my name? I said: No, I don’t need to pray. There is no Prophesy that can cancel the Word if God.

It is written in Isaiah 3:11 – “Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.”

That it is written. Even the devil does not contend with what is written. He said ok! Supposed I say: am Born Again, I am a child of God, I have surrendered my life to Jesus? I said: then your future will be GLORIOUS! He said, how do you prove that again?

I said: it is written in Isaiah 3:10 – “Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.”

May I ask you, my brother, my sister; Are you Born Again? Are you a child of God? Have you surrendered your life to Jesus Christ? Because if the answer is No; God have mercy on you. But you can do so today. You can surrender your life to Jesus Christ today. You can let His Blood wash away your sins today. Today can be a New Beginning for you. But the choice is yours. God is not going to force you.

Shall we bow our heads please? Jesus Christ said: I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. Now that all heads are bow. Please let all eyes be closed. Because this is a very crucial moment.

If there is anyone here or reading now, who will say: Pastor, please pray for me. I would love to surrender my life to Jesus Christ. I want Jesus to save my soul. I want His Blood to wash away my sins. I want a Brand New Beginning from this day forward.

If you want me to pray for you, would you please just raise your hand. That’s all am going to ask you to do. You raise your hand, and then I will pray that the Almighty God wound save your soul.

God bless you, God bless you. Please keep the hands up there, just for about a minute; because I want the others to join you. I can see so many hands up today. I thank God for your lives, please keep it up; keep it up.

And as you keep the hand up, talk to the Almighty God yourself; for just a minute or two (2). Say: Lord, you can see my hand: Am lifting it up to you as a sign of surrender. Please save my soul. Forgive all my sins. And I will serve you for the rest of my life.

… Just keep it up for another one (1) minute and after that, I will pray for you.

If anyone still wants to decide; decide very quickly now. There are dozens of people all over the place, so join them. Let this day be your own New Beginning.

And those of you who are already sure of your Salvation, please intercede for your brothers and your sisters who are lifting up their hands for Salvation today. Pray that the One who saved your soul will save their own souls also. Intercede for them for just one (1) minute. Pray that God will give them Genuine Salvation. That God will give them a Brand New Beginning. That from today onward, things will be different. Please pray for them three (3) seconds more.

And this is the final calling; if anybody wants to surrender his or her life to Jesus Christ and you have not raised your hands yet. You please do so now. Please do so now. This is the last call.

I can see a new hand waving over to my left, God bless you. Glory be to God! I can see another one coming to my right, Glory be to God. Thank you Father. Now let us pray.

GO PRAYS:

Father, I just want to say thank you for your Word. I want to thank you because daddy, you are the Way, the Truth and the Life. I want to thank you because there is Power Mighty in your Blood: Power to save, Power to cleanse from sins, Power to give a New Beginning.

And am asking Lord God Almighty, you can see all the hands that have been lifted up to you, as a sign of surrender. Please save these souls, forgive all their sins, and write their names in the Book of Life. And from now on, anytime they call on you, please answer them by fire.

And I pray that they won’t backslide. I pray that in your kingdom, none of us will be missing. Thank you Almighty God. In Jesus Mighty Name we have prayed. Amen;

Let somebody shout Hallelujah – Hallelujah!

Now, those of you who lifted your hands for salvation, congratulations! I want to assure you that from now on, by the grace of God, I will be praying for you.

… While your hands were lifted, they will give you cards. If you don’t mind fill in in the details; your name, your address and prayer request. They will collect the cards; pass them on to the Vice President (Prof. Yemi Osibanjo). And I am sure He will let me have the copy. And I promise you, I will be praying for you.

Now, before I leave; before I came here at all. I have asked the Almighty God to give me a Special Christmas Present. And the Christmas Present I asked God is that: Any prayer you pray here today: that God would answer it immediately.

So, if you don’t mind, would you stand on your feet, and ask God for something Special – A Miracle that you will remember this day by, for the rest of your life.

Go ahead, ask Him. He will grant your requests. I have already prayed for that one. So go on, talk to God.

… And am sure you will take three (3) or four (4) minutes to call on Him.

Ask for something Precious, something only God can do. If He is a Way out of problems; a Way out of debts; a Way out of sickness; a Way out of sorrow; a Way out of stagnation; a Way out of fear.

Just go on and talk to God, ask for something Special and He will grant your request.

Thank you so much for reading.

… Discovery Media Crew; Reaching out to the world through the Power of the Gospel!

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MOSES DURODOLA AND TITILAYOMI AJAYI

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