DAYSTAR CHRISTIAN CENTRE ONLINE EASTER SUNDAY SERVICE – MINISTERING: REVEREND SAM ADEYEMI – TOPIC: THE COVENANT OF REST

(SENIOR PASTOR, DAYSTAR CHRISTIAN CENTER LAGOS NIGERIA)

DATE: 12TH APRIL, 2020

BIBLE TEXT: GENESIS 2:2-3

Welcome everyone to this Special Service; Happy Easter – And we warmly welcome you all to the Full Text Transcription from the DMC Label!

Yes, that is the most significant event in Human History – at least, from the Christian view point!

We celebrate the fact that Jesus DIED for our sins; and ROSE from the dead through the Power of the Spirit of God.

So this makes us excited – Alright?

We are excited! And I hope you are also, with your family?

Okay! We are right in the middle of a Pandemic – Unprecedented for everyone that is alive today because the last time there was a Global Pandemic was in 1918 – 1919.

So, you have nobody alive now: Only very few individuals that are alive now, that were alive then. And at worse, when it happened, they were Babies!

So, I saw something being shared Online,

Okay? And I found so, so encouraging. And I want to share it with us – Right!

And so once again, welcome.

Whatever may be the Platform that you are joining us on. It may be Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. It may be on our Church Website: Live.daystarng.org. Or even as you are reading now on the Label of DMC.

You may be joining us on TV! – Happy Easter to you.

Listen to this, it says:

And people stayed at home, and read BOOKS, and LISTENED. And they rested, and did exercises. And made Art and played. And learned New ways of being!

And STOPPED and listened more deeply; someone Meditated, someone Prayed. Someone made face shadow. And people began to think differently, and people HEWED.

And in the absent of people who lived in ignorant ways; dangerous, meaningless and heartless.

The Earth also began to HEW. And when the danger now ended, and people found themselves, they GRIEVED for the dead, and made New CHOICES.

And DREAMED of New Visions, and CREATED New Ways of living. And completely HEWED the Earth – JUST AS THEY WERE HEWED!

… My oh My! Ah, I find that so interesting, so encouraging.

Listen, crises will always come with opportunities.

This is an opportunity to PRESS the reset button – We MUST NOT WASTE THIS OPPORTUNITY.

I Pray that you will EVOLVE; Evolve through this experience into a New Person, into a New Dimension.

No, No! The caterpillar did not DIE; it only withdrew into the cocoon! We have withdrawn into our cocoons.

By the time we come back: where we were crawling, we will be FLYING – Amen.

I Pray that this Season, God will give you New Visions, New Dreams! Heal and Restore our relationships. Heal our hearts and Inspire our HEARTS.

That someone will find a reason to hope and to live and to strive and to achieve and to be Grateful in Jesus’ Name – Amen!

Alright! Let’s share God’s Word a little bit -Okay? As we celebrate Easter.

… Can we Pray?

OPENING PRAYER

Heavenly Father, in the Name of Jesus Christ.

With You, there are no coincidences! It’s just that, all the coincidences are GOOD.

All things, Your Words says in Romans 8:28: All things work together for Good to them that love You, to them that are called by Your Purpose.

Everyone who is a part of this Service is a Man of Destiny; is a Woman of Destiny.

Therefore, Heavenly Father, help us to find alignment with that DESTINY!

Inspire me to speak these Words today Heavenly Father. And Inspire us to hear with accuracy.

And Heavenly Father, put us in alignment with Your Destiny for our lives.

In Jesus’ Name – AMEN!

Alright! alright! So, I will read from GENESIS 2:2-3 (in the New King James Version of the Bible).

It says:

22 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had DONE, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

33 Then God BLESSED the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and MADE.

So we Title this Discussion: THE COVENANT OF REST.

For those of us in the Daystar Christian Center, I said (as we rolled into the Year) that God gave us a Word for the Year.

… And it is the word REST!

We point out that the Principle of Rest showed right from the first week of Creation – from the beginning of Creation.

Yes, right there from Creation, God created everything. Created the man and the woman last!

And then the Bible says: He RESTED on the seventh (7th) Day.

So the Principle of Creation is inherent in the Creation or Recreation of our Planet – it is embedded in it.

Our Planet is not designed to run endlessly; even our Systems as humans, are not designed to run endlessly!

That is why we have the Nights! – REST, stops it.

So that is what we have in the Passage that we read – And the Purpose of that REST is RENEWAL!

So not only is our bodies renewed, our souls – which are the more important part of us (the invisible part of us) also needs to be RENEWED.

The Renewal of the Human Spirit and of the Human Soul was designed to happen through INTIMACY with God.

That was why that seventh (7th) Day was meant to be without BROKEN FOCUS.

… It was meant to be WITHOUT distraction – Okay?

So, in that Place of INTIMACY with God, FOCUS on God.

Don’t forget: God only started Creation, He did not FINISH it! He did the BASIC job, He did not finish it.

Even in the Creation of Humans, He only created only the first (1st) man and then the first (1st) woman; and then left the rest of the job to us!

And you see, we are so Powerful because we were created in the Image of God.

But God did not design for us to do it INDEPENDENTLY.

That is the POINT – Okay?

That is the point – The design was not for us to be independent of GOD.

You know, just like ordinarily – A woman is not designed to produce a baby all on her own!

There are things we will never be able to Produce without cooperation with God.

So, that day of total focus on God, Intimacy with God, ultimate relationship with God: God will transfer ideas into our minds.

We call it Revelations! – He would open our eyes.

And then the next time Adam would look at the tree, he would see his children – Okay?

He will look at the cottons in the fields – he will see his shirts! See the wool on the back of the sheep; Oh see the suit! You know! Or the jacket!

… That is the IDEA!

The FUSION of Divinity and Humanity BIRTHS Miracles in our own Sphere.

I will say that again: “The FUSION of Divinity and Humanity BIRTHS Miracles in our own Sphere here, on this Planet!”

So, let us talk about that INTIMACY.

You know, that Intimacy, you see, because the effectiveness of human life, is meant to come from that INTIMACY.

… From what will flow from God to Earth!

Jesus Christ said something in John 5 – He said: “Without Me you can do nothing”.

You see, without Me you can do nothing!

So He said: I am the Vine, you are the Branches.

So it is what flows from the Vine into the Branch that causes Fruits to come out on the Branch!

… So, that is the DESIGN – Good!

That Intimacy is what we are meant to cultivate.

That should be our focus, that should be our Aspiration!

And the DEPTH of that Intimacy is defined by the word COVENANT.

Covenant of course, is an agreement – Okay? That is legally binding.

So what we have in the Bible though, that God introduced to Adam and Eve, was the BLOOD COVENANT.

… The BLOOD Covenant!

As soon as Adam and Eve sinned in Genesis Chapter 3; the Bible tells us that God killed some animals, covered them with the SKIN.

What they did first was to take leaves, and used the leaves to cover their nakedness. But their nakedness was not only Physical it was SPIRITUAL!

So God killed some animals, shed the blood, put the skin on them.

He was teaching them – Okay? How to come back into a relationship with HIM.

… It will be through a BLOOD COVENANT.

In a Blood Covenant, the two (2) lives involved become ONE (1): so that God and man will come back into a relationship.

God taught Adam and Eve to take animals to represent themselves. To shed the blood of the animals, and to enter into a Blood Covenant with GOD.

God will always keep His part, and man was meant to keep his own part also! Because in a Blood Covenant, there are Conditions and there are Blessings – Wow!

So, Adam and Eve would sacrifice animals. You remember their two (2) sons – Cain and Abel.

You know, when I was a child, I used to wonder: What did Cain do wrong?

Because Cain And Abel brought their sacrifices to God – Cain brought Farm Produce, Abel brought Animals because that was their line of Business!

Cain’s Sacrifice was rejected, Abel’s Sacrifice was accepted.

Why? – The difference was just the Blood!

Because the sacrifice was meant to be a REMINDER of the Covenant Relationship you know, that they had with GOD.

So fast forward to NOAH – Noah sacrificed animals too, to GOD!

Fast forward to ABRAHAM – Abraham understood it.

He did his part in Genesis 15 – When Abraham was walking with God. How will I be sure that the Promise You made to me, to build a Nation through me will ever come to pass? I’m getting old, my wife is getting old, no child!

God said, take some animals, justify them in your house;

… Which was the way by which they cut Covenant in those days!

Obviously, by which Abraham passed through and waited.

And the Bible tells us in Genesis 15, God came in the evening, and the Symbol, as a burning Lamb; and PASSED through the pieces.

And was telling Abraham about what would happened in the future. And how He would give him the land where he was for an Inheritance.

Okay! – I’m saying; people have walked with God on our Planet. They have known Intimacy with God, because they understood this thing about Covenant. And about the Covenant Relationship.

Where you and the Person you are in Covenant Relationship with become ONE! And these people became one with God.

Remember, the combination of Divinity with Humanity will birth Miracles, on our Planet.

At the age of one hundred (100), with his wife, ninety (90) Years old. With bodies – the Bible describes ‘as old as dead’. Sarah, well past Menopause; they produced the child, Isaac!

And God still fulfilled His Promise through that child.

Through that intimacy, God called Abraham His friend (laughs!)

Abraham’s life was described as A walk with God.

It said he WALKED with God – Amazing!

MOSES, one of the most Powerful Characters in the Bible, understood it!

Moses understood it. Understood it – It is Amazing.

You know, the day Israel would move out of Egypt, as much as Pharaoh and the whole of Egypt would not want them go, they left!

Why? – They left when it got to the point where they sacrificed a Lamb in each family.

So, Moses understood the Power of the Covenant.

Israel (Nation of Israel) obviously had gone into Idol Worship after being in slavery for so long.

But that same one night, their relationship with God was restored – They became one with God.

And because you can’t hold God down (in slavery); they and God MOVED out – Wow!

You are in a Covenant Relationship with God: Whatever cannot stop God, cannot stop you anymore!

But this is what I want to draw your attention to – To Moses CRAVED Intimacy with God.

Once again, let me allow the Bible to speak for itself. Let me allow the Scriptures to speak for themselves.

New Living Translation – Exodus 33:12-23;

12 One day Moses said to the LORD, “You have been telling me, ‘Take these people up to the Promised Land.’ But you haven’t told me whom you will send with me. You have told me, ‘I know you by name, and I look favourably on you.’

13 If it is true that you look favourably on me, let me know your ways so I may understand you more fully and continue to enjoy your favour. And remember that this Nation is your very Own people.”

14 The LORD replied, “I will Personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest – everything will be fine for you.”

15 Then Moses said, “If you don’t Personally go with us, don’t make us leave this Place.

16 How will anyone know that you look favourably on me – on me and on your people – if you don’t go with us? For your Presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the Earth.”

17 The LORD replied to Moses, “I will indeed do what you have asked, for I look favourably on you, and I know you by name.”

18 Moses responded, “Then show me your Glorious Presence.”

19 The LORD replied, “I will make all my Goodness Pass before you, and I will call out my Name, Yahweh, before you. For I will show Mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show Compassion to anyone I choose.

20 But you may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live.”

21 The LORD continued, “Look, stand near me on this Rock.

22 As my Glorious Presence passes by, I will hide you in the Crevice of the Rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.

23 Then I will remove my hand and let you see me from behind. But my face will not be seen.”

… That, is the most inspiring Passages that I read in the Scriptures!

… A man like me, craving Intimacy with God!

You know, a man that you would describe as POWERFUL; greatly accomplished.

Huge Miracles happened through him – A great Leader. Expressing his dependence on God:

“If You don’t go with us, don’t take us from here!

You are the One that makes the difference around us. We will be like everyone else, we will not be Special. You are the EXTRA that turns out ordinary into Extraordinary. If You won’t go with us, we are not going forward.”

God said, okay, Good! I will go with you. He said, I will Personally go with you, and I will do what?

… I will give you REST!

We have described this Rest before in this Town; that it is not activities for God. That it is just that God has finished the blueprint for Eternity and for our Planet.

And then He went back, did the Foundational work of Creation, then put man here.

And in our times of Intimacy with Him, then He reveals to us part of the blueprints of the Plan.

The moment we take action in obedience to Him, His Power is released; His Resources are released. Then, the Results are beyond our human capacity.

That is what you call GRACE – That is what happens when you have REST. The Results are beyond your Human CAPACITY.

God told Moses, I would go with you; I would Personally go with you and I will give you REST.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, I Pray that for the rest of your life, you will not labour anymore in the Name of Jesus Christ – Amen!

In Psalms 23, the Psalmist said: Yeah though I walk through the Valley of the shadow of death; I will fear no evil – Hallelujah!!!

Alright! So look at that conversation between Moses and God:

… And he said, if it is true I have found Favour with You, so You will go with us – Fine!

Then he asked one more thing: SHOW ME YOUR GLORY.

You know what that means? – I want to see You! I want to see what You look like! You said we are close, right?

And then God says to him, NEVER! Nobody would See Me and live! Anybody that sees Me – I take them away!

Once you see me, you go describe Me to somebody; somebody is going to draw something. Somebody is going to cut some wood or some stones somewhere and begin to worship it – Okay?

So He said, you know what I’m going to do? – I will put you on that Rock, I will cover you. I will pass by, and then I will remove my hand.

You will see the backside. (Laughs!)

… Oh my God! I love it – that is INTIMACY with God.

And then, later God says; You know what – I will have Mercy on whom I will have Mercy. I will have Compassion on whom I will have Compassion. It is not by struggle (2ce); I bless whoever I want to Bless.

That is it!

You come to that dimension where you enjoy the Sovereignty of God; and that Sovereignty is exercised on your behalf. Nothing, Nobody and no System built by man would be able to stop you anymore – Alright?

Finally, the Challenge is: Noah, Abraham, Moses, they all Covenanted that Covenant with God with the Blood of Animals – it was not enough!

There was a limit to that Covenant.

So in the Bible it is called the Old Covenant. There was a limit to it, not on God’s part but in man’s part.

So you know how God solved that problem? – He sent JESUS CHRIST!

So Jesus Christ came – God and man together. So He would stand in for God, and then He would stand in for man!

He bypassed the lineage of Adam, so that He would have the Pure Nature of God without sin.

In Him, the two (2) Parties came together, and cut that Covenant.

When He DIED, and when He RESURRECTED, He fulfilled the demands of Justice: Spiritual Justice on our behalf!

We knew we were sinners – Okay?

We knew we were sinners, and He took our Place – An Innocent Man.

… His Death is being credited into our accounts once we AGREE that this was done on our behalf!

Listen, the reason why the Blood of animals could not do the work for us is because, SIN is not just an act, it’s a nature!

… It is a NATURE!

But, by the Death and the Resurrection of Jesus, sinlessness is credited into our Account.

The day you accept this was done on your behalf, you ask God for forgiveness: He actually removes the Nature of sin.

The Holy Spirit removes the Nature of sin, and puts God’s Nature in you – That is a Miracle!

Alright! So, Jesus said that He came to bring REST to Mankind.

Matthew 11:28-30; this is the Message Bible, Jesus speaking, He said: Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion?

You see, people have have always created religion – Codes of Ethics. If they did this, then they will be accepted before God.

There is nothing you do that can make you acceptable to God.

… The Price that Jesus Paid on Calvary does the Job!

So Jesus Christ Himself is saying; “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? – Come to Me. Get away with Me and you will recover your life. I will show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me; Watch how I do it. Learn the unforced Rhythms of Grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep Company with Me and you will learn to live FREELY and LIGHTLY.”

So I can tell you my Story (laughs!): You know, how I got to The Polytechnic to study Engineering. And it was my first (1st) Semester that I attended an Event in School.

So I decided to accept Jesus Christ as my Saviour. And then my Nature changed. And somebody Prayed for me to be filled with the Spirit of God.

You see, Job 32:8 says: “But there is a Spirit in man: and the Inspiration of the Almighty giveth them Understanding.”

I found out something; when I would close my eyes to Pray – It will seems as somebody pressed PLAY (in my Imagination). I would see myself standing before people to speak.

I would be the last Person to do that on my own! – I’m an Introvert, I was Shy.

To speak with one (1) Person was an issue; not to talk about standing before a crowd.

But it was whenever I Prayed, that, that thing happened!

So I knew it was from God, and it was describing my Destiny!

… God knows your life better than you do!

So Jesus Christ is saying: You can live lightly, you can live freely – stop the hassles.

We are the ones that created complications into our own lives – I’m serious! Looking for rest where there is no rest.

Our rest is not in anything on this Planet.

God did not put it in anything here – Ask the woman Jesus Christ met at the well, in John Chapter 4.

She had been married five (5) times. She thought it was in relationships – She married, she could not find it there.

Jesus Christ told her, you know what: Just Worship God, that is where your rest is.

Ask Solomon in the Bible – sex, he tried; wealth, he tried; projects? – He said vanity upon vanity, all is what? VANITY!

So today is a good day for you and I, to RESET our relationship with God: to enter into our REST. To cultivate Intimacy with God and come to that Place where He can transfer to us His Plans for our lives, our Decisions.

My Oh my! When God open your inner eyes, you will see God the way you never saw Him before; you will see yourself the way you never saw yourself before.

And I Promise you: YOU WILL NEVER SEE YOUR WORLD THE SAME WAY AGAIN!

… Let’s bow our heads to Pray!

GENERAL PRAYERS

1. Yes, I want you to talk to God, and tell Him you want to know Him. That is the Prayer that the man named Paul the Apostle in the Bible Prayed.

Philippians 3:10 says: “That I may know Him, and the Power of His Resurrection, and the Fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death;”

… That’s the highest level of knowledge!

Lord I want to be Intimate with You, so that with You, my life can Produce what it was meant to Produce:

LOVE, not hatred. JOY, not sadness. PEACE, not anxiety and fear. Alright! Talk to God.

You may have been a Christian before, something went wrong, you went away from God. Today is the day to press the RESET Button – God Bless you!

2. Now, as you are Praying, remember to look beyond yourself. Say a Word of Prayer for everyone that is sick right now we are in the middle of a Pandemic, can we ask God for healing, for everyone that is sick.

Thank You Lord!

The. Power that raised Jesus Christ from death, Lord let that Power flow; bring Healings right now to people all over the world. Everyone that is a part of this Service or reading it now on the Label of DMC, that needs Healings will receive that Healing right now – Amen!

3. Can you Pray for the families that have lost their loved ones right now, especially to Covid-19. You can’t even move close to your loved ones when they are dying. And you can’t even claim their bodies – It’s hard!

Now we are Praying for those who are grieving, that God would give them comfort; give them strength right now.

4. Finally, let us Pray for Healthcare Workers right now. Oh my God! – Like Soldiers in the Infantry Division, right at the forefront of the battle. That is what our Healthcare Workers are doing.

Pray for them, Pray for them! Pray for God’s Protection.

Some of them have taken heal. Pray for God to Heal them.

Some have actually died, but Pray for God to touch their families.

Thank You Lord! In Jesus’ Name we Pray – Amen!

ALTAR CALL

Now, can I ask as I Pray for everyone all over the world.

Wherever you may be, right now. You say Wow! I think I now understand Jesus Christ and why He came a little better.

Since He died for my sins, and I can receive forgiveness right now; I want God to forgive me my sins.

Can you just put your hands on your heart right where you are, and say this Prayer after me:

Dear God, I believe that Jesus Christ paid for my sins. I ask You to forgive me, and to accept me, as Your child.

Thank You for hearing my Prayer; in Jesus’ Name – Amen!

… Let me Pray for you!

PRAYER FOR SALVATION

Heavenly Father, THANK YOU. Again. With You, there are no Coincidences.

Let the Power of the Holy Spirit rest on everyone, all over the world, that is a part of this Service.

LORD, Thank You because we know their sins are forgiven. And Lord, the Power of Your Spirit as you remove the Nature of sins from them, and put Your Own Nature in them.

So we Thank You for that available Change; in Jesus’ Name – Amen! Amen!! Amen!!!

Woow! Congratulations! You just said the Most Powerful Prayer of your life.

If you said that Prayer, God Bless you – Amen.

CLOSING PRAYER

Father, in the Name of Jesus Christ, I receive a Miracle right now.

We ask that the Power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead would touch everyone that is a part of this Service or reading it right now on the DMC Label that needs Healing in their bodies.

I speak by the AUTHORITY of Jesus Christ, that conquered Death and Hell; every spirit of disease GO, in the Name of Jesus Christ!

We receive Healing right now: Every spirit of Oppression GO! We receive Restoration of bodies, souls, minds. Restoration of Relationships, Restoration of Destinies.

Thank You Lord; in Jesus’ Name – AMEN!

So I just want to say a BIG Thank You!

Thank you so much for staying all through to read.

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