THE MERCY OF GOD MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE – PASTOR E.A ADEBOYE – AN EVENING OF BIBLE STUDY WITH PASTOR E.A ADEBOYE;9TH MAY 2024
AN EVENING OF BIBLE STUDY WITH PASTOR E.A ADEBOYE @ THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF POLICY AND STRATEGIC STUDIES (NIPSS) KURU AS POWERED BY RCCG REGION 8 CHRIST REDEEMER FRIEND INTERNATIONAL (CRFI) FELLOWSHIP IN COLLABORATION WITH THE CHAPEL OF SALVATION, NIPSS KURU
MINISTERING: PASTOR E.A ADEBOYE
TOPIC: THE MERCY OF GOD MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE
DATE: 9TH MAY 2024
BIBLE TEXT: JOHN 2: 1-3
DMC NOTES: Therein is the Background check about the Venue – National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in Kuru, Nigeria. NIPSS is a Policy Formation Center for Bureaucrats, Private Sector Leaders, Military Officers, and Medium-Rank and Senior Civil Servants, which was founded in 1979. Most Policymakers in Nigeria have attended the NIPSS. Its first Director General was Major General Ogundeko while the current Director General is Professor Ayo Omotayo.
Let Us Pray!
SONG
We give You all the Glory
We give You Honour
We give You all the Glory
We give You Honour.
OPENING PRAYER
Ancient of Days, we Worship You.
King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we Adore You.
Father, I Personally want to say Thank You very, very much for what You have done in our Individual lives and in the Life of this Institute since the Last Time that I was here.
Father, I Thank You in advance for what you will do again this Evening.
Please, accept our Thanks in Jesus Name.
As You sent forth Your Words today, I Pray that You will heal Your People.
You will heal them as Individuals, You will heal them Collectively and You will heal this Institute.
Let it be well with all of us and let Your Name be Glorified.
In Jesus Mighty Name we have Prayed – Amen!
Well, let Someone shout Hallelujah – Hallelujah!
Please shake hands with one (1) or two (2) People and tell them: God will bless you this Evening.
You may Please be seated – God Bless You.
I’m happy to be back – I can’t remember exactly the date but I was here several years ago.
And I Thank God that God had kept on Preserving this Institute and He will continue to do so – Amen!
We will go Straight to John 2: 1-3 – Because by the time I read those Verses, then you will know the Story I have in Mind.
John 2:1-3:
- And the third day there was a Marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:
- And both Jesus was called, and his Disciples, to the Marriage.
- And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.
… I’m sure that you know the Story by now!
There are three (3) Categories of Failures – And none of them will be your Portion (Amen).
CATEGORY 1 OF FAILURE: This is when there is no Plan to Succeed.
In Matthew 25: 24-30; the Man who buried his Talents had no Plan to Succeed.
I mean: If Somebody has no Plan to Succeed, he is bound to fail.
CATEGORY 2 OF FAILURE: This is when the Preparation for Success is Insufficient.
In Matthew 25: 1-13; we have a Story of the ten (10) Virgins.
That those Girls were called Virgins means that they came from very Good Homes – They were well taught.
Their Parents told them – Preserve your Body. And they accepted the Teachings of their Parents.
They were Good Girls – They were Selected out of only God knows how many Virgins to go and receive the Bridegroom.
You could see that they were already on the way to Success – They had so many things going for them.
But then as you know the Story very well – Even though when they were leaving home, their Lamps were full of oil; but because they didn’t take into considerations the Possibility of the Bridegroom delaying his coming, they failed to Succeed.
Because when the Bridegroom delayed and they ran out of oil; by the time they went to buy, it was “Too Late”.
They were Prepared to receive the Bridegroom but their Preparations were not Sufficient!
CATEGORY 3 OF FAILURE: This is Failure inspite of all Preparations and Efforts and the result is still a Failure.
… This is the One that can be very Painful.
In Luke 5: 1-5; Peter fished All-Night and still caught Nothing.
He was a Good Fisherman, he was ready to Succeed as he didn’t just fished Half of the Night, he fished all the Night – And yet, he failed.
It is like the Story we have where we took our Bible Text from in John 2: 1-3 – In the Wedding at Cana of Galilee.
When you Prepare for a Wedding, you Prepare very well.
I mean, they were so sure everything is well – Not only did they invite Jesus Christ Himself; they even invited His Disciples.
… These People were ready and yet they failed.
I have come to Pray for you that for the rest of your Life; you won’t fail again – Amen!
Now, three (3) Categories of Failures will lead us to three (3) Major Questions!
QUESTION NO 1: HAVE I DONE ALL I COULD?
Because I know that the People who come to this Institute (NIPSS) for the Programs are not “Ordinary People” – They are Selected and Important People.
And so, the Bible Study with such People should not be “Wishy-Washy”
DMC NOTES: Wishy-Washy in English means having no Colour, Firm Ideas, Principles, or Noticeable Qualities of any type.
You see, when you read Joshua 13:1 – You find a Scripture that will cause you to think again.
Joshua was Old and he was well Stricken in Age – According to Bible Scholars, he was well over 100 years Old.
Chosen by God, Specially Anointed – I mean the Bible said: Joshua, the son of Nun was full of the Spirit of Wisdom because Moses had laid hands on him (DMC NOTES: Deuteronomy 34:9).
… Meaning that he had everything to Succeed.
But the Testimony of God in that Joshua 13:1 was that: Joshua you are Old and well Stricken in Age and yet there is still much Land to Possess.
Joshua, when I called you, I told you that you are not only going to Possess all the Lands, you will distribute the Lands to the People.
But now, you are about to die and there is still a lot of Lands to Possess.
My friend just introduced us and he was talking of how we met in 1985 – That is almost 40 years ago now.
The Question is: Where are you now? What have you achieved in 40 years?
I think this is where we have to think very deeply because when you ask a Student to mark his own Papers, he will score himself 100% because everything he wrote down, he wrote them down because he believed it was correct.
It is the Teacher who will now take the Papers and say this is not exactly what is right. At times, he might not even score you well.
I mean I could remember very clearly when I was doing my Masters’ Degree and my Supervidor gave me an Assignment. And I have written Pages upon Pages, thinking that when my Supervisor goes through this; he will say: Boy, surely you are ready for your Masters’.
And he called me and said: Totally Unacceptable!
I thought you will say: Well we should correct this or that; but He said: Totally Unacceptable.
Why? Because I made a mistake in Page 1 and every other things were built on that Faulty Foundation.
Have I done all I could do? – My brothers and sisters, you must ask yourself that Big Question!
QUESTION NO 2: AM I DOING RIGHT NOW ALL I SHOULD DO?
… This is a more important Question.
Yes, I might have failed to measure up to Expectations in the Past but what about right now? Am I doing all that I should be doing?
Revelation 3: 15-18; that is where God was talking to His Children and He told them: The Problem with you is that you believed that you are doing Great – You are rich, you don’t need Money, you are doing fine.
And He said that when I take a look at you, I found out that you are Poor, you are Wretched and you are Blind – That could be very frightening.
And He said to them that the whole thing might have been better if you are not doing anything at all so that I will know that you are Cold.
Because it is either you are Cold – Real Cold or you are Boiling Hot.
He said but because you are Lukewarm, I will spue you out of my mouth – Revelation 3:16.
So, I believed that God is Challenging you to take a Close look at yourself – Take a Close look at your Past and a Close look at your Present!
QUESTION NO 3: AM I WILLING TO BEGIN TO DO EVERYTHING I NEED TO DO TO CATCH UP?
… This is the most Important Question of all.
Because if we are going to be very, very sincere; Majority of us will not be where we ought to be.
But are we willing to make this Day a New Beginning?
Are we willing to start afresh?
Are we willing to move at the Speed that will be required to redeemed the Time that has been Lost?
You see because Proverbs 22:29 talks about the “Diligent Man” who is diligent in his busines – How he will Stand before Kings and not before Mean Men.
I am sure that you are not expecting a Long Bible Study?
I do not intend to give you a Study that you will forget.
I believed that God sent me here to talk to Someone so that what you are going to hear today or read now on the Label of DMC; will be something that you will never forget because it could be something that will affect your Destiny forever.
… And I’m talking from Experience.
If forty (40) years ago, I was Ordaining a Great Man of God – Reverend Joseph Olaiya; who is now a World Renowned Evangelist; then I should be asking myself Question: Forty (40) years later sir, where are you?
When God gave us a Piece of Land somewhere along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway after He had Promised me that: Son, I will build you a City.
He gave us that Land – It was a 4½ Acres of Land.
And then, we were buying more and more Lands.
At that time, we were buying an Acre of Land for #1,000 – Naira then is not Naira of now o and God will have Mercy on us.
And then, all of a sudden, by the time we got to a thousand Acres, I said: Oh, we have done enough.
I mean from 4½ Acres to a thousand Acres – That’s Great Men!
It took the Almighty God to wake me up one day and I believed that He will wake you up today – Amen!
To say: Son, who asked you to stop buying Lands? Is this all I Promised you? – That’s the time I woke up.
By the time I woke up, an Acre now wasn’t selling for #1,000 again – A Plot of Land was selling close to one Million Naira (#1,000,000).
Because all of a sudden, everybody had seen what is going on at the Expressway and all the Villages around began to bubble – Particularly as we had gone far into the bush to bring Electricity to the Campground. And so everybody began to get access to the Electricity.
Well, I thank God that I woke up; I Thank God that I kept moving; I Thank God that at least today, we have more than thirty thousand (30,000) Acres of Lands and we are not Stopping yet.
I still remembered the Story of one of my daughters – I mean the wife of one very Important Man.
When she became Born Again, she said to me: I dare not Pay Tithe.
I said why not? She said I have wasted so much of my Life.
We have wasted so much Money on Parties, Receptions etc and People Thank us and that is all.
She said that she must reclaimed some Lost Grounds – And she did before she finally went to meet with the Lord.
But something a little Deeper: If you are willing to redeem Time; do everything you need to do.
There is still this Big Problem – How do I still know that I will end up a Success even if I Redeemed the Time, Restitute my ways and now begin to run my Christian Race like Nobody Business?
I mean because People ask me Questions – Now, you are 82 years Old; why are you still running up and down? Why don’t you begin to Slow down?
I smiled – Slow down?
There is still this “Crucial Issue” that even when you have done your Best and you are doing your Best.
There is still this Passage in Romans 9: 15-16 – Where the Almighty God said that I will have Mercy on whom I will have Mercy, I will have Compansion on whom I will have Compansion.
He said that it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God who shows Mercy.
You can be 100% Prepared and still run out of wine!
You see, in 1 Samuel 2:9; the Bible says: By Strength shall no Man Prevail.
You are not going to Succeed because you are Strong; you are not going to Succeed because you are Intelligent – You Succeed only by the Mercy of God!
I tell Stories because I have a lot of Experience and I learnt from the Mistakes that happened to others.
I remembered that I was sharing earlier this Morning with the Executive Governor of Plateau State (DMC NOTES: The Executive Governor of Plateau State is His Excellence Barrister Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang)
And I told him that I came to Jos for the first time in 1965 – That was a long time ago.
And the Jos that I knew then and that I fell in love with is not the same Jos of today – We have Prayed that the Almighty God should restore.
And I think I remembered that it was in 1965 when we were Preparing for the first Nigerian University Games Association (NUGA) Games which took Place at the University of Ibadan 1966. And when we came from The University of Nigeria Nsukka to Jos, we came as Representative of Sportsmen.
But in those days, when the University of Nigeria Nsukka are going out for that kind of Outing, we will check our situation to know where we will win Gold because we took Sports seriously and most of our Coaches came from America.
And there was this Girl – She was the fastest thing on the face of at least Nigeria at that time. We knew that she will win Gold and there was no doubt about it.
We got to the University of Ibadan for the Competition – In the Heat, she beat everybody far behind.
The Final Day came – On your Mark, Set, Go!
She was gone and left all the others behind.
I mean we used to joke that the others won’t even see her back.
Some few distance to reach the Finishing Point, she fell – She got up and fell, she got up and fell and then she began to crawl towards the Funishing Line.
But then now, the one who would had been 2nd had come 1st; the one who would have been 3rd, had become 2nd and the one who would have never had a Position had come 3rd.
She didn’t fail because she didn’t know how to run but God would have Mercy on whom He will have Mercy.
I mean, there are some of us who thinks that No Problem – I can’t Possibly fail. Don’t you know how Intelligent I am?
Which reminds me the Stiry of a Man that when I was a Student at Ilesha Grammar School in the 1950’s – There was a Mad Man always sitting infront of our Gate.
And one way or the other; we discovered that if we really want to learn History – The kind that our Tutors self even don’t know; all I need to do is to buy a Keg of Palm Wine and take it to this Man.
And after he had taken a cup or two, he will say: Which History do you want to know? – English, European or America.
When we say European History; he will say from which year to which year?
And he will begin until we stopped him.
This Man, he doesn’t know his Address but we knew that he came from ilesha in Osun State.
He was a History Professor in USA but something went wrong.
You are intelligent and you think that is enough? – It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth; it is God who shows Mercy!
So, I just want to Conclude my brother and sister:
What turned the Tide for the Bridegroom and the Bride was the Mercy of God!
Jesus Christ was there and His mother was there – That even when the mother of Jesus said they needed wine; Jesus said: Mama, what is my own concern? I’m here as a Guest and my Time to Perform Miracle is yet to come.
But there is something called “The Mercy of God” – That Propels the Lord Himself to say: Okay, even though my Time had not come yet, I can bring “Not Yet” to “Now”.
I can show Mercy subject to one Condition?
The mother of Jesus told those People – Whatever He tells you to do, do it.
You won’t to end well? Remember that if He does not show you Mercy; you won’t make it.
Shall we bow our head Please?
ALTAR CALL
Before we Pray, there might be one (1) or two (2) of us who has not even invited Jesus Christ to our Party.
He is not even invited into your Life – You are just Playing Church!
You are not a Child of God until you have reached that Conclusion that: Whatevwr He says, I will do anytime and anywhere!
And if you are in that situation and you are not absolutely sure that you are one of His Children and you want to be – You want to make a Decision that from now on, you will obey Him all the time.
If you want to make that Decision, it will be a Good Idea if you Step forward so that I can remember you in the Prayer for Salvation.
So, if there is anyone who will want to give his/her Life to Jesus Christ now – And I Meal “Real Surrendering” to Jesus Christ; you can come and Stand before the Altar so that we can Pray for your Salvation.
The rest of us, you may want to call on the Almighty God and say: Just have Mercy on me, I will do Your Will 24/7 for the rest of my Life.
Whatever You say, that is what I will do – Whether it is convenient or not. I will do Your Will.
… Let’s talk to Him!
Thank You Father.
In Jesus Mighty Name we have Prayed – Amen!
CLOSING PRAYER
My Father and my God, I want to bless Your Holy Name.
I just want to say Thank You for making it Possible for us to meet today.
I want to Thank You today because Today’s Meeting wasn’t in my Plan at the beginning of this Year (2024) and it wasn’t even in my Plan a week ago.
But You wanted this Meeting to hold because there is Someone here or reading now on the Label of DMC that You Loved; Someone who must finished well.
So, I Thank You on behalf of that Fellow and I said: Accept our Thanks in Jesus Name.
Father, Please bless Your Words in the Hearts of Your People.
And as many of them that has made up their Mind that from now on, they will obey You in all areas of Life; Father have Mercy on them and Show them Mercy.
Please Lord, let them finish well.
All the years that has been wasted, help us to redeem them.
Whatever we need to do Lord God Almighty so that we can begin to redeem the Lost Time, the Grace to decide to do them and to begin to do them; give us in Jesus Mighty Name.
And I Pray Lord God Almighty that every Lost Grounds in the Life of these Your Children; Please let them recover.
And I commit all the Staffs of this Institution into Your Hands Lord; like never before, anoint them for Success.
They are very “Important People” Lord God Almighty.
But my Father and my God, Your Words made it clear that You resist the Proud and You give Grace to the Humble.
Keep them Humble, and give them Grace – Let them do Your Will so that they will Succeed.
And in this Institude (NIPSS); my Father and my God:
I. Let there be Good News.
II. Let there be no Death, no Sickness and no Sorrow.
III. Let there be Only Shout of Joy.
And my Father and my God; I Pray that in Your Kingdom, None of us will be missing.
Thank You Father – Glory be to Your Holy Name.
In Jesus Mighty Name we have Prayed – Amen!
Praise the Lord – Hallelujah!!!
Thank you so much for staying all through to read.
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