RCCG HOLY GHOST CONGRESS 2024 (27TH EDITION)
THEME: ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIER
MINISTERING (DAY 1 EVENING SESSION): PASTOR E.A ADEBOYE
TOPIC: PRAISE AS A WEAPON OF WARFARE
DATE: 9TH DECEMBER 2024
BIBLE TEXT: PSALMS 68:1-5
Hallelujah!
There is an Army that can never, never lose a battle – That Army is the Army of the Lord.
And there is Someone here tonight, including those reading now on the Label of DMC, who is a Member of that Army.
If you are that one, let me hear you shout Hallelujah – Hallelujah.
SONG
What a Mighty God we serve
What a Mighty God we serve
Heaven and Earth adore Him (even)
Angels bow before Him
What a Mighty God we serve (we are serving Him).
OPENING PRAYER
The Ancient of Days, the Lord of Hosts. The Lord Strong and Mighty, the Lord Mighty in battle. The One who said let there be Light and there was Light; the One who can never fail.
We Worship You – We give You all the Glory for all You’ve done in the Past Congresses.
We Thank You for what You are going to do in this Present one.
Father, accept our Thanks in Jesus’ Name.
All we have come to do tonight is to say Thank You!
And we know that if we can only say Thank You appropriately, the rest of the week will be Mightily Glorious.
So Father, all we want to say is Thank You:
The Men among us are saying Thank You.
The Women among us are saying Thank You.
The Children among us are saying Thank You.
Every Child of God here Present, including those reading now on the Label of DMC is saying Thank You.
Accept our Worship, in Jesus’ Name.
My Father and my God, once again on behalf of every one of us, I say Thank You.
In Jesus’ Mighty Name we have given Thanks – Amen!
Well, let me hear Somebody roar a “Big Hallelujah” – Hallelujah!
You are most Welcome to the first day of the RCCG Holy Ghost Congress 2024.
I have Good News for you: By the time you get back home, everybody will be says, certainly there is Someone behind you – Amen.
Psalms 68:1-5
1 Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.
2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
3 But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.
4 Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him.
5 A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.
Now let me hear you shout a really “Big Halleluyah” – Hallelujah.
Life is War! Many of us didn’t realise this, but we do quite appreciate it.
And the war has been there from the very beginning.
There is one very crucial thing that we need to know about War – War is not a competition, it is not football.
There are only two Possibilities when you go to War:
I. It’s either you win or you lose. There is no draw game.
II. And one other thing about war is that the Winner takes all; and the Loser loses all.
Goliath said to Israel: Send me one man, let the two of us fight. If I win, all of you will become our slaves. Also, if I lose, all of us will become your slaves.
Winner takes all, yet you are fighting a war – To lose is to lose all. To win is to win all.
So my first decree during this Congress is that you will not lose – Amen!
The war began from the very beginning.
In Genesis 1:1-3, the moment God created Heaven and Earth the war began. Darkness covered the face of the deep.
Thank God He said, let there be Light – and there was Light.
Every one of us, if you would think very well, you would know that you have been fighting a war.
When you were in the womb, in the Darkness of the womb:
- You could have been aborted.
- You could have been Stillborn.
- You could have been deformed.
As we would discover later on, there are enemies in your home that didn’t want you to be born.
You were born and many of course, know this – Those of us who were born in some Villages where there are no Maternity Centers: Born into a very dirty floor full of germs. And as you were coming out death was waiting, but you survived.
When you were crawling about, at a time when you didn’t know the difference between fire and flower; at a time when you didn’t know the difference between a worm and a snake – The enemy wanted to finish you then but you survived.
Even as children, as you were walking about playing; you went to the Elementary School the enemy was still determined to finish you.
I don’t know if you have ever wondered what happened in Mark 10:12-16 – The Parents of Children wanted to bring them to Jesus for Him to lay hands on them and bless them.
What happened? Immediately a gang rose up and said, take the Children away! Don’t bring them near for blessing.
But Thank God again, Jesus saw what was happening and told them, whether you like it or not, I’m going to bless them.
Left with the enemy you won’t reach this age.
If you reached this age you won’t be here today.
There is a war and it’s a constant war that you have been fighting from the day you were conceived.
Thus far the Almighty God has given you Victory – That’s why He expects you to Praise Him tonight.
Look at what has been happening since the Evening – Musicians upon Musicians have been leading us to Worship God.
You see the atmosphere, you feel the Presence of the Most High, you see some People shown on the Screen, and you know, these People are already making contact with the Almighty God.
It just occurred to me while I was sitting down there; how I wish a time will come when we will have a Congress and we would do nothing throughout the week other than Praise God – I’m sure the Miracles will be more than anybody can count.
But for the time being, how about shouting a Big Hallelujah to God? Hallelujah!
WHY DO WE NEED TO SPEND TIME THANKING HIM?
- Because Praise is a Weapon of Warfare.
If you Thank God for what He had done, we are sure He would do more.
In 1 Samuel 7:10-17, the Almighty fought for Israel and Samuel raised up an Altar and the People Praised God.
And the Bible said, God responded by making sure that throughout the Life of Samuel, the Philistines never bothered Israel again.
Let me be Bold to say that because Somebody is going to Praise God like never before here tonight, the enemy will never bother you again – Again.
- Another reason why you need to Praise God is that, from the little we find in the Bible, one Battle may come almost immediately after one Victory.
So if you don’t Praise Him for one Victory, who are you going to run to when the second battle comes?
The Elders have a saying – Talking about those of us who are “bush boys” (Children of farmers).
When you are travelling in the jungle and suddenly it begins to Rain, then you run to the nearest Hut that you can find, to escape the rain.
When it is time for you to leave when the Rain has stopped and you forget to say Thank You to the owner of the Hut. He won’t quarrel, but he will tell you “the Rain can send you to the same Hut more than once.”
In other words, if you don’t show Gratitude now, when next you need help where will the help come from?
When you read Exodus 15:1-21, the Bible tells us that after God gave a Great Victory to Israel, in Exodus 14 and they crossed the Red Sea on Dry Ground, and the Enemies Pursuing them drowned, the Children of Israel danced, they Praised God, they sang.
Three (3) days later, they came across a different kind of enemy – They were thirsty and they came to a River called Marah. And now the water was bitter.
The enemy they just got delivered from was an Army of Pharaoh but the enemy that was about to kill them now is an enemy called ‘Thirst’ and the water was bitter.
But because they Praised God for yesterday, He was at hand to help them in the future.
Is there anybody here tonight, including those reading now on the Label of DMC, who has received any help from God in the Past?
Let me hear you shout Hallelujah – Hallelujah.
Is there anybody here tonight, including those reading now on the Label of DMC, who is expecting that if the enemy comes against him or her in the future, the same God that helped him or her yesterday, would be there to help again?
Is there anyone like that? If you are the one, let me hear you shout Hallelujah – Hallelujah.
When you read Mark 10:46-52 – That’s the Story of Bartimaeus. And it is the Story you know very well.
He was a blind Man asking for help. There were so many People ready to Silence him.
There was something he said that caused Jesus to arise for him – Something he said that caused Jesus Christ to Stand Still; something he said that caused the One who Controls the Earth and Heaven to suspend His Journey to attend to a Beggar.
He said, “Jesus, Though Son of David…”
He said, I know You: You are the Son of the Giant Killer, You are the Son of the Greatest King of Israel, You are the Son of Your father (David). If Your father were around, he would help me.
Do like Your father would do.
You know many atimes, when you hear the Language of the one who is Singing, and they get to a stage when they begin to eulogize Jesus Christ – When you begin to hear something about Him being the King of kings and the Lord of lords; the Ancient of Days; the Unchangeable Changer; the Lion of the Tribe of Judah; the One who spoke and it is done; the One who reigns Supreme.
When you begin to hear that, even your own hairs would begin to rise up.
… Why is Praise a Weapon?
- It is because if you’ll do it correctly, the Almighty God would rise up for you.
You are fighting a battle, and for you not to lose, you need Someone who has never lost a war to rise and support you.
That’s why the Bible Text we read (Psalms 68:1-5) said, Let God arise, and what would happen? His Enemies will be scattered!
If the enemy looks at you, he would say, “who are you?” How can you defeat Satan? He’s been around for thousands of years. He has destroyed Mighty People before. And now you little girl or little boy confront him. He would look at you and say, “you are a small fly.”
But when he looks behind you and he sees the LORD, the Lord Strong and Mighty, the Lord Mighty in Battle, the Lord of hosts. When he sees Him standing behind you, he gets out of the way.
When you look at the Story of the Man with Legions of demons (Mark 6); the Bible says he saw Jesus coming and he fell at His Feet.
All the demons recognised the Lord of Hosts and they knew that at the Name of Jesus all knees must bow.
I believe the Almighty God has already sent a Message to you: By the time you get home, People would say, there is Someone behind you – Amen.
I don’t want to take more time tonight, I want to give you an opportunity to Praise Him.
Because in Praising Him tonight, the Foundations of your Victory for the rest of your Life will already be laid – Amen.
Several years ago; as you have heard before – We went to Minister in a Town not far from here, because the Traditional Ruler was having a Program. He was a Christian, one of my Children, and I went to Minister.
And all his High Chiefs, who were deeply connected to the devil came to the Program; dressed in their Special Regalia.
The Ushers saw them coming and ran to me and said Sir, are we going to allow these People into the House of God?
I said, of course! Bring them in, put them at the front row.
And I changed my Sermon. I was younger then – I’m talking of more than forty (40) years ago. I had a lot of zeal, not as much Wisdom.
I changed my Sermon, and it became Warfare – I was going to talk about “Oh! That Men should Praise the LORD”; I changed the Topic to, “The Competition on Mount Carmel.
When I finished, I Challenged all those Agents of the Devil – I told them, “I came here with my wife, my son, in my car. And the Plate Number of the car is so, so so.”
I told them, I want you to use all your Powers to make one of my tyres go flat – Just one.
If you do so, I will Surrender to your god. If you cannot do so, you must surrender to my God.
Then I made the Altar Call – The Second in Command to the Traditional Ruler was the first to come forward to receive Jesus Christ. And when the others saw their Leader go forward, they followed him.
At the end of the Service the Traditional Ruler said to me, E.A (that’s my Initial) let’s go and visit Chief so, so, so. Maybe he didn’t know what you said. Maybe he thought you were asking People to come forward for Healing.
We got to his house and the Traditional Ruler ask him, Chief so, so, so, why did you go forward when they made the Altar Call, to Surrender to Jesus?
He said, you see this small boy challenging all of us: “Who does not know there is Somebody behind him?”
He said, “It is the One behind him that I Surrendered to.”
When we Praise God the way you should Praise Him, He would arise! And when He arise, all your enemies would scatter – Amen.
Because they know it’s not you they would be fighting, it is the Lord of hosts Himself; the One who controls all forces in Heaven, all forces on Earth, all forces underneath the Earth.
I have the assurance that Somebody is going to Praise God the way He should be Praised tonight.
And from now on, when the Enemies see you coming, they would run – Amen.
If you are that one, let me hear you shout Hallelujah – Hallelujah.
Just one more Point and then I’ll release you to Praise God.
DAVID – A WAR CHAMPION:
- He fought a Lion and won.
- He fought a Bear and won.
- He fought Goliath and won.
… And as you would hear tomorrow;
- He fought his father-in-law and won.
Let’s learn the Secrets of this War Champion.
What did he say in Psalms 34:1?
I will bless the LORD at all times: his Praise shall continually be in my mouth.
Somebody who says, “I will bless the Lord at all times” is somebody who would say, I will be Victorious at all times.
- It was not the fist of a small boy that killed a Lion – There was Somebody behind him.
- It was not the Punch of a small boy that killed a bear – There was Somebody behind him.
When he faced Goliath, what did he say? “I come to you in the Name of the LORD.”
If you would just Praise God tonight like you have never done before; I can Guarantee you that by tomorrow Morning, your Story would have Changed.
I’ll say it one more time: your Story would have Changed – Amen.
I know you are not going to die before tomorrow; so I am going to give you an opportunity straightaway to Praise God.
By tomorrow we would go a little step further and share with you “The Secret of Absolute Victory” – I would tell you that tomorrow.
But tonight, at the Instruction of the Most High God Himself, every one of you here, would be Ministered to.
While the Choir would continue with their Praising God, the Pastors would come down and lay hands on you.
And when they are laying hands on you, the only Prayer they will be Praying for you is: “Oh LORD arise for this Child.”
And even before you sleep, you will know that the One who has never Lost a battle is now on your side – Amen.
If you believe that let me hear you shout Hallelujah – Hallelujah.
“Oh! Daddy, aren’t you going to make an Altar Call?” Don’t worry, you are not dying before tomorrow.
By the touch of God that you are going to receive tonight, any force trying to hold you back from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself would have released you.
So I’m going to ask that the Pastors would Please, go down now and line up to attend to these Precious People who came the very first day.
I’m going to ask the Choir to Please, help me – You have done a wonderful job tonight. Thank you very much!
But the Songs I want you to sing for the rest of the Night are songs that we can dance to.
Because when you notice that War Champion called David, he didn’t only say, “I will bless the Lord at all times…” When he was dancing before God, the Bible says he danced with all this Might.
I want the kind of Songs that would cause the People down there to dance with all their Might.
So that as soon as they lay hands on you, you dance back to your seat, and continue to dance and Worship God.
I Guarantee you, by the time the Sun rises tomorrow, you will be Singing a Song of Victory – Amen.
God Bless You Pastors – Amen.
Will you kindly go down and line up to lay hands on these People?
And by the time we meet tomorrow, somebody would have a Testimony – Amen.
If you are that one, let your Amen be louder – Amen!
Over to you Choir – you will continue to Minister to the Lord!!!
Thank you so much for staying all through to read.
STOP PRESS: Out and ready for Pick Up – Our Year 2023 RCCG Programs covering all Programs, Inclusive Weekly Messages of Pastor Mensah Otabil, Apostle Joshua Selman, Bro Gbile, Pastor Paul Enenche and Pastor Poju on a 16GB Flash from our Stable. Call/Text/WhatsApp 08023604721/08066497178/08059821748
To Support DMC: https://discoverymediacrew.com/donate/
To read other Messages on the Coverage of DMC MediaCrew so far this Year and beyond; kindly visit our Website: http://discoverymediacrew.com.
Follow us on Twitter: @discoverymediac
Follow the DISCOVERY MEDIA CREW (DMC) Channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VabDEA9HFxP0xpAB1z25
Send a Friend Request on Facebook to DMC MediaCrew.
Like our FB Page: Discovery Media
Join us on Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/NzzPckuGazKYFxZZFkt9fg
Follow Us on Instagram: Discoverymediacrew
Watch and Follow Us on YouTube: Discovery Media Crew
For Enquiries, email Us on: info@discoverymediacrew.com
Discovery Media Crew … Reaching out to the World through the Power of the Gospel!!!
COMPILATIONS BY:
MOSES DURODOLA, TITILAYOMI AJAYI AND TOPE BABALOLA
© DISCOVERY MEDIA CREW (DMC) 2024
