GOING HIGHER PART 16 (The Widow of Zarephath 4): PASTOR E.A ADEBOYE – SPECIAL RCCG ONLINE SUNDAY SERVICE, 25TH APRIL 2021
SPECIAL RCCG ONLINE SUNDAY SERVICE
TOPIC: GOING HIGHER – PART 16
MINISTERING: PASTOR E.A ADEBOYE
DATE: 25TH APRIL 2021
BIBLE TEXT: 1 KINGS 17: 17-24
Let Us Pray!
SONG
Immortal God
Invincible God
Immortal God
How Great thou Art
… Repeat!
OPENING PRAYER
Omnipotent God, the Resurrection and the Life; the One who can reverse the Irreversible – We worship You.
Please accept our worship in Jesus Name.
Today, Lord God Almighty as Your Words will be going forth; I Pray that everything that the enemies has stolen from Your Children will be fully restored.
I am Praying Lord God Almighty that this day will be a day Your Children will never forget.
In Jesus Mighty Name we have Prayed – Amen.
Praise the Lord – Hallelujah!
We want to continue with our Study on: “GOING HIGHER”; and this time, we will be looking at Part 16.
If you want to give it a Sub Title, you call it: The Widow of Zarephath – Part 4.
DMC NOTES: We can get to access the Full Text of the first three (3) Parts of the Short Series inside the Going Higher Series Parts 13 to15 from these links:
https://discoverymediacrew.com/Going-Higher-Part-13-Pastor-E-A-Adeboye
https://discoverymediacrew.com/Going-Higher-Part-14-Pastor-E-A-Adeboye
https://discoverymediacrew.com/Going-Higher-Part-15-Pastor-E-A-Adeboye
Our Bible Text will be: 1 Kings 17: 17-24
17 And it came to Pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the Mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.
18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou Man of God? Art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?
19 And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.
20 And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the Widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?
21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I Pray thee, let this child’s Soul come into him again.
22 And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the Soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the Chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.
24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a Man of God, and that the Word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.
Hey, this is one of the most interesting Passage that I have ever read in the Bible – It is so full of Interesting Points that I won’t have the time to cover it all but I will share a little bit of it with you and then we move on a bit of it in the future if the Lord allowed me to deal with it more closely.
The Child became Sick – I mean the Child of the Woman (Widow) and died with Elijah in the House.
And the woman came and said: Man of God, you came here, eating my food, drinking my water, sleeping in my house – I have been hiding you from the King who has been looking everywhere for you. Is this your Reward?
You have came here to slain my son, you have come here to remember my sins. You didn’t remembered that I was a sinner when you came here to live o!
… Oh God, I could imagined the embarrassment of Elijah!
In the Yorubaland (Of Nigeria) where I came from; when somebody brought food for you and you eat until your stomach is full, and you are making yanga (Showing Off) – If such happens, you will want to go and vomit the food!
But if Elijah is to vomit the food; how many foods is he going to vomit now?
I Pitied Elijah as he must have been in a very tight corner.
The Woman said to Elijah: You are a Killer, you are an Ungrateful Prophet.
Elijah took the Child and then turned round and said: Lord, what kind of God are you? You want to kill and it has to be the son of the Fellow I’m staying with and You are the One who sent me here?
How can you do this Oh God?
… The woman Put the blame on Elijah and Elijah Put the blame on God – Real Drama!
But then he was able to summon enough courage and said: God, Please send the boy back to us. I know that you can do it!
There are lots of Lessons to be learnt from this Story.
- The Bible said that the Child was sick; the Sickness was sore until there was no breath left in him.
That you are alive today is only because you are still breathing – Whatever ‘Big Man’ you think that you are; you are nothing other than ‘Ordinary Breathing’. If God takes it away; you become an ‘Ordinary Mud’.
So, all these Pride, all these yanga (Showing Off) – Thinking that you are Big – You are nothing other than ‘Ordinary Air’ that is going in and out!
Let us leave aside all these “Passing of the Bucks” – Elijah you are a Killer; God, You are the One.
… Let’s leave that out because there are so many other things to be learnt!
- The wages of Sin is death – That is what the Bible says: The Soul that sinneth he shall die.
We don’t know what were the sins of this Woman – We were not told but definitely she had a Past.
God was aware that she had a Past and yet He sent His Servant to go and stay with her.
That alone is a very encouraging Part of the Story – Your Past doesn’t have to determine your Future.
It doesn’t matter how horrible you have been in the Past; if you will let God take over, He can turn you to a Vessel unto Honour.
You don’t believe me; ask Mary Magdalene!
She was a Princess among Witches – She has seven (7) demons in her but she ended up becoming a Treasurer of God.
Romans 6:23 says: The wages of sin is death. However, there is a Gift of Life through Jesus Christ.
And for God’s sake: Don’t accuse God of doing evil.
John 10:10 made it clear: It is the devil who comes as a thief to steal, to kill and to destroy.
My God is not a killer because Jesus Christ said: I have come that you may have Life and have it more Abundantly.
And just in case I never get to mention that Part: The devil never raises the dead – Take Note of that Statement!
… Devil can kill, only my God can raise the dead.
And when you considered the Story of Job in Job Chapters 1 and 2; you will discovered that the devil is the one responsible for evil.
So, when Job says: God gives and God takes away; that is a lie – God gives and it is the devil who wants to take away!
So, if you lose anything; don’t say that it is the Will of God – It is not!
The devil is deceiving us by saying: God gives and God takes – No, No, No. God gives, the devil may want to take away!
And so with this Understanding, you can tell the devil: Take your dirty hands off me and all that is mine.
- There is a Reward for Hospitality.
Hebrews 11:6 made it clear: God is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
If you are not the “Hospitable Type”; change today – God rewards the Hospitable.
And Hebrews 6:10 tells us that God is not Unrighteous to forget your Labour of love – He will reward!
And Matthew 10:41 tells us clearly that: If you receive a Prophet in the name of a Prophet, you will receive the Prophet’s Reward.
There is a Reward of taking care of the Prophets of God and that Reward is not death as God does not rewards you with evil.
… He is a Righteous God!
In 2 Kings 4: 8-17; you will find another woman who was Hospitable – She is called “The Great Woman of Shunem”.
She had everything except a Child.
When God wanted to reward her; God didn’t bothered to reward her with money (She already had enough money) but He rewarded her with something money cannot buy – A Child!
So, if you are Hospitable and you are already comfortable – You don’t need God to reward you with “Material Things”; He will reward you with something that money cannot buy. Take my words for it
Consider for example a Man called Cornelius in Acts 10: 1-48.
The Bible said that this Man without any doubt is a very Wealthy Man – He was always giving Alms, he was always doing Good.
When God wanted to reward him; He rewarded him with Salvation for his entire Households.
… Read the Story!
So, every Rewards from God does not have to be “Material Things” but it can be something money cannot buy.
Take another example in Acts 9: 36-41.
It talks about a Woman called Dorcas – Another Wealthy Woman, Generous Woman who is always looking after Particularly after the Widows.
When she died; the Widows began to cry to God – How can this happened?
God sent Peter to chase death out of her. She came back to Life and got a Reward for all her Good Works.
God will reward you for every Good Things that you do and He will Reward you Justly.
… He is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him!
That brings us to another important Point: Why was the Child allowed to die?
You can also listen to the audio here: Going Higher Part 16 (The Widow of Zarephath 4) : Pastor E.A. Adeboye
Because God knew that this Child is going to be raised from the dead because God knows the End from the Beginning!
We can spend a whole Day studying that aspect alone!
- One of the things that we could talk about which I won’t spend much time on is that: The devil is a very Stubborn.
The devil tried to kill that Child through hunger and starvation but he failed. Now, he came again with Sickness.
… The devil is very, very Stubborn!
The Bible tells us that when he tempted the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 4: 1-11; the Bible said that after Jesus Christ Passed all the Test that the devil brought across His Path, he left Him for a while.
In other words, he didn’t leave Him Permanently as he came back.
The Bible made it clear that you must resist the devil steadfastly – Just keep on resisting the devil because he is a Stubborn Fellow.
Your Victory over the devil will be Permanent in Jesus Name – Amen!
But then, why did God allowed the boy to die?
- That God is in your boat does not mean that there will be “No Storm” – I have taught you that before.
Elijah was living in the house of the Widow of Zarephath and yet here comes Sickness.
In Mark 4: 35-41; Jesus Christ was in the boat and the Storm came. But then the boat did not sink because Jesus Christ was in the boat and He was there to rebuke the wind.
That you have Jesus Christ in your Life does not mean that there will not be trouble again.
It only means that when the Problem comes; you will be able to survive them all.
Why? – The Bible made it clear in Psalms 34:19 that: Many are the afflictions of the Righteous but the Lord delivers him from them all.
When the Problem(s) comes after you have given your Life to Jesus Christ – For example; when Sickness came knocking at your door, all you need to do is to tell the one that is in you (The Greater One in you); Somebody is knocking at your door and then He will go and open it.
Jesus Christ will then go to open the door and ask Sickness to leave here and Sickness will back off.
That is why I’m decreeing from now on: In the Mighty Name of Jesus Christ; death will stay away from your home – Amen.
Why? – Because the One who is called “The Resurrection and Life” is dwelling in you!
- The Bigger the Crises, the Bigger the Testimony.
In Judges 15: 11-16, when the Relatives of Samson came and bound him – Three thousand (3,000) of them came to bound one (1) Man.
So, you can be sure that they did a lot of thorough binding and then brought him to the Philistines (The Enemies).
… The Enemies within handed him over to the Enemies without – God was watching and He did nothing!
Why? – Because He knew that He was going to get “Tremendous Glory” out of it all.
By the time the Philistines began to rejoice and the Power of God came down; a thousand (1,000) of the Philistines lost their lives.
… He who laughs Last, laugh Best!
I’m decreeing concerning everyone of my children; in the Name that is above every other names; you will laugh Last – Amen!
And we mentioned this one before in one of our discussions – When you look at Daniel 3: 1-30; when they were binding Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; God could have intervened.
He could have sent Lightning from Heaven to scattered all those People who were gathered there.
No, He didn’t. He waited until the fiery furnace was made seven (7) times hotter than usual – God was sitting down in Heaven.
They threw these boys in – Those who threw them in were slain by the heat of the furnace. God sat down in Heaven.
And of course, before the boys landed in the fire; the Forth (4th) Man was there waiting for them.
Oh, I could imagined God laughing when they brought those boys out of the fire without the smell of smoke.
… My God knows how to laugh.
So, all those who are rejoicing now because they are Putting additional Pressures on you; just wait, your Testimony is going to be Great – Amen!
… The Greater the Crises, the Bigger the Testimony!
I have said it before that: If Somebody gets up at the Redemption Camp – Maybe during the Special Holy Ghost Service and began to say his Testimony:
A week ago, I had Malaria Fever and God healed me.
… The People will say sir down; let us hear something bigger.
But if Somebody gets up and say: I had Cancer Stage 4 and the Doctor said that I cannot live for one (1) week – That is four (4) Years ago. Look at me; I’m as Strong and Healthy just because I came and I touched the Altar.
… Everybody will Stand Up and shout.
If Somebody gets up and said: The Doctors have told me that I can never have a Child; now look at me: One Child on the Right, one Child on the Left.
… Everybody will jump up and shout.
The Bigger the Crises, the Bigger the Testimony!
And I’m saying to Someone here today or reading now on the Label of DMC that: Your Testimonies will shake the world – Amen!
Look at 1 Samuel 17: 34-51; it was a Great Testimony for David to have killed a Lion barehanded; it was a Mighty Testimony for David to have killed a Bear barehanded.
But can you imagine that day when with just an “Ordinary Sling” he killed Goliath – A whole Nation shouted in Joy.
I Pray for you that the Testimony that God will give you very soon; a whole Nation will join you in Rejoicing – Amen!
I mean that you read John 11: 1-45; you will see what I’m talking about.
Lazarus was sick, he was a friend of Jesus Christ (It was clearly stated); Jesus Christ knew that He was going to be raised from the dead – He said it to His Disciples that: This Sickness is not unto death but so that God might be Glorified.
He waited till the Man died, that he has been buried for four (4) days till they are now saying that by now he is stinking; then He raised him from the dead.
And the Bible said that many People believed!
That kind of Testimony that will bring thousands to the Kingdom of God, may the Almighty God give it unto you – Amen.
But there is something here; especially by this issue of “Going Higher” concerning Elijah – He had never heard of anybody raising the dead before.
He had discovered that he can shut the Heavens so that there will be “No Rain” based on the Words of God.
He has discovered that he can Multiply foods – He had discovered that his little stay in Cherith, he had developed to Somebody who could Multiply food.
Now, he has been staying in the house of this Widow (Widow of Zarephath) again for Months, spending time mainly with God and he had grown and God wanted to show him: My boy, you are not the same Fellow who came here, you can now deal with the dead.
When a Student Passes one Class and move to another and had been studying in the Class for a certain Period of time; to show him that he is ready for Promotion, there will be an Examination.
How do I know that I’m Growing? – The Examination must be tougher than the one I had before.
I used to be a Boxer (I have told you before) – Amateur Boxing and it’s nothing serious o.
But you find out that as you grow in Status, grow in Weight; they change your Opponent.
They never asked a Featherweight to fight Middleweight; they don’t ask Middleweight to fight Heavyweight.
… When you grow, your Opponent will grow!
Do you still want to “Go Higher”? – Yeah God wants to show you that you can grow as you begin to deal with Bigger Problems.
You see: In 1 Corinthians 12:28; we discovered one thing there that: There are Gifts of the Holy Spirit and one Gift is bigger than the other.
It states clearly: The Gift of Performing of Miracles is bigger than the Gift of Healing.
… It is one thing to Heal, it is another thing to Perform a Miracle.
As we say: Power Passes Power!
That is why you find out at times that no matter how anointed you are; you may find a situation whereby you need Higher Anointing.
You will realised that this Opponent is in a different Class – I am Middleweight, this Opponent is Heavyweight. I better look for “Heavyweight Anointing” to deal with “Heavyweight Opponents”.
In 2 Kings 6: 1-7; the sons of the Prophet said to Elisha: The Place where we are is too tight for us, we want to build a bigger Place.
He said: Permission granted – Go!
We want to go to Jordan and fetch wood – He said: Go!
One of them said: Sir, Please come along with us – That boy is wise.
Maybe he knew that there is Power to cut down trees but if the Axe Head should fall into River Jordan, we don’t have the Anointing to bring it back to the Surface.
… Power Passes Power; Anointing is Superior to Anointing.
I’m Praying for you that the Almighty God will make your Anointing Superior – Amen.
I hope that you know what that means: The Greater the Anointing, the Greater the Challenges you will be facing!
But let me add one Beautiful Bit to this Story as I close this Section.
Do you know that a Soul Winner is a Miracle Worker?
That anyone who is a Soul Winner is on the same level as Someone who is raising the dead?
Ephesians 2:1 says: All Sinners are dead.
So, when you win a Soul, you are as Good as “Raising the Dead”.
In James 5: 19-20; the Bible says that if you convert a Sinner; you will save a Soul from death.
… Everytime you win a Soul, you are Performing a Miracle – A Miracle as big as raising the dead.
Do you know that the Bible teaches us that if you can bring back a Backslider, you are raising the dead?
Proverbs 21:16 says: When Somebody backslides; he joins the Congregation of the dead.
… Backsliders are “Dead People”.
They are even “Deader” if such word is allowed; than the one who has never been saved.
So, when you go and bring a Backslider back to God; you are bringing Somebody from the Congregation of the Dead.
When you restored a Backslider, you are Performing the same Miracle as the Lord Jesus Christ did when He called Out Lazarus from the tomb.
… Every Backsliders are dwelling in the Congregation of the Dead – Go after them, bring them back to the Lord and you will be raising the dead!
ALTAR CALL
That is why I’m crying to those of you who has not given your Life to Jesus Christ today; I want you to come out of the Congregation of the dead – Sinners come out of dead into Life.
Jesus Christ said that: I am the Resurrection and the Life. You believed in Me; you won’t die.
… That is what He says – If you are dead, you will live.
Please, come out of the dead – Come and Live.
There is that Song that said that: If you look unto Jesus, you will live.
… Look unto Jesus and you will live.
DMC NOTES: See below the Full Lyrics of the Song in reference:
I’ve a Message from the Lord, Hallelujah!
This Message unto you I’ll give,
’Tis recorded in His Word, Hallelujah!
It is only that you “look and live.”
Refrain:
“Look and live,” my brother, live,
Look to Jesus now, and live;
’Tis recorded in His wyord, Hallelujah!
It is only that you “look and live.”
I’ve a Message full of love, Hallelujah!
A Message, O my friend, for you,
’Tis a Message from above, Hallelujah!
Jesus said it, and I know ’tis true.
Life is offered unto you, Hallelujah!
Eternal life thy Soul shall have,
If you’ll only look to Him, Hallelujah!
Look to Jesus who alone can save.
I will tell you how I came, Hallelujah!
To Jesus when He made me whole—
’Twas believing on His Name, Hallelujah!
I trusted and He saved my Soul.
Source: William A. Ogden (1887)
Please, surrender your Life to Jesus Christ.
Each time a Soul is saved, it means that Life is raised.
Please be one of those who will be raised from the dead today.
… Backsliders, come back to Jesus Christ; come back from the Congregation of the dead!
Now, I will Pray for you.
Wherever you are; if you are in a Church Setting, go to the Altar, surrender your Life to Jesus Christ.
If you are a Backslider, come back to Him and say: Lord, I want to be restored into Fellowship with You.
I will Pray with you now.
As you cry to Him for the Salvation of your Soul; for your Restoration – I will be Praying that my God who is the Resurrection and the Life will take over and bring you out of the dead into the Living that will be Living forever.
So, let us bow our heads in Prayer.
And those of us who are alive and well; those of you who are in Christ, who are not Backsliders; Please Pray for these People. If they get Born Again, you will be raising the dead.
Oh, Thank You my Father, Glory be to Your Name.
In Jesus Mighty Name we have Prayed – Amen.
PRAYER FOR SALVATION AND CLOSING PRAYER
My Father and my God, once again I’m Thanking You for Your Words.
And I’m Thanking You especially for those who are surrendering their lives to You now.
As You are Pulling them out of the tomb, bringing them into Life.
I Thank You for the Backsliders who are coming back home – Thank You for bringing them out of the Congregation of the dead.
I Pray Lord God Almighty that You will forgive all their sins, You will wash them Clean, You will bring them back into the Family of God, You will write their names in the Book of Life.
Take their names out of the Book of Death and from now on; let them live for You. Don’t let them ever know death again.
I Pray Lord God Almighty for those of us who are truly on Your Side; the Grace to go out now and win Souls like never before – Knowing that each time that we win Souls, we are raising the dead. Give that Grace to us in Jesus Name.
The Grace to go after every Backsliders and Pull them out of the Congregation of the dead; Father give to us again in Jesus Name.
Thank You Almighty God.
And Lord I Pray that the Power to go even to Greater Heights than ever before – That Special Spiritual Promotion, Lord God Almighty that will enable us to raise the dead even Physically; release to Your Children in Jesus Name.
Thank You my Father.
For in Jesus Mighty Name we have Prayed – Amen.
Praise the Lord – Hallelujah!
Now, those of you who has given your Life to Jesus Christ; Please contact me as soon as Possible – I want to know your names, your Address and your Prayer Request.
And I Promised you that I will keep on Praying for you.
And contact any of our Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Churches around you.
Tell the Pastor that I sent you and he will tell you how to Proceed from this moment onwards.
The Almighty God will give you a Brand New Beginning of Life in Jesus Name – Amen!
Praise the Lord – Hallelujah!!!
Thank you so much for staying all through to read.
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