For several days in October, the tireless 77-year-old General
Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG),
Pastor Enoch Adeboye, was overseas, preaching and praying for
God’s fire to fall. Most recently, he was in Manchester and
Ireland. Before then, he visited Russia, the country of Orthodox
Christians and the United Arab Emirates.
Back in Nigeria but not to rest, he is today, Friday, hosting
thousands of worshippers at the November Holy Ghost Service of
the Church at its expansive Redemption Camp. Being the first day
of a special month-long fasting, the service promises to be
special, according to a church official, who also expects high
attendance.
The services overseas, called the Festival of Life, are also Holy
Ghost Services, which many people look up to for the
characteristic miracles, signs and wonders which have become
hallmarks of the revered pastor.
But to him, the priority is strengthening and growing the faithful
spiritually; and winning more souls
All these, and oftentimes revivals, are obtainable when the Fire of
God falls. In Ireland, noted for strong historic revivals, Pastor
Adeboye prayed specifically for a revival.
“When the Fire falls tonight, revival will begin in Ireland because
wherever the Fire touches becomes a holy ground. This is a
nation that has witnessed revivals and used to send missionaries
out. Revival will begin again,” he prophesied.
In Manchester, he also said: “When Fresh Fire falls, Revival will
come to the land. Whether the devil likes it or not; United
Kingdom will know Revival again.”
There are many accounts of the wave of revivals in Ireland years
ago. According to one of them: “A man travelled from Ireland to
observe the London meetings of Reuben Archer Torrey.
His assignment: to report to his grandfather whether this was ‘a
real work of God.’
“Years earlier, the grandfather had been part of a commission
sent to America to study revivals sweeping America. They
concluded that these revivals were real moves of God.
“Encouraged, many Irish people, including four men from Kells,
started praying every Saturday for years for revival in their
country. The grandfather was one of those men. But nothing
seemed to happen.
“After the grandson reported that Torrey’s crusade was of God,
the men decided to preach in an effort to bring about revival. But
‘their attempt did not yield immediate results, so they went back
and kept on praying.’
Finally, ‘the fire of God fell.’ God had “rewarded their
persistence.”
Lives were changed dramatically. ‘Courts adjourned because
there were no cases to try; jails were closed because there were
no prisoners.’ Many ‘notorious and hardened and hopeless
sinners’ were ‘converted.’ People were so consumed by the things
of God that they had no time to attend even to ‘ordinary’
matters.”
Today, that seems unrealistic, but nothing shall be impossible to
God.
Preaching on October 25 at the packed Luttrelstown Castle
Resort, Castleknock, Dublin with the theme, “Let the Fire Fall,”
Pastor Adeboye used the experience of Moses with the burning
bush to explain what happens when the Fire falls.
He said from this story, the first time that the Fire of God fell for
Moses, he saw something new. But not only did he see something
knew, he heard from God, who called his name and said he had
seen him.
God also said he had heard the cry of the people. God told Moses,
“I have seen the suffering of my people; I have heard their cries.”
And then He said, “I know their sorrows.”
Going back in time to remind Moses He was the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, signified that He remembered His covenant with
them.
According to Pastor Adeboye, the best part of the encounter was
God’s assurance that He would deliver His people, which is what
happens when God’s Fire falls.
“You know God has a time table for everything. When you read 1
Samuel 17:16-51, for 40 days, Goliath terrorized a whole nation,
but when God was ready, He sent a small boy, David, to put an
end to all the enemies had been doing.”
Then he assured the congregation: “It doesn’t matter how long
your problem had been; the moment He is ready, the problems
are over!”
He also cited a personal testimony:
“We have a programme like this and I was about to end. So, I
asked everybody to ask for something special from God.
And there was this lady there who was already past childbearing
age and had not married because nobody approached her for
marriage.
Her prayer was simple: ‘God you know my problem; I have been
praying to you about it for all these years and there was no
response. It is now too late and I won’t bother you again. I will
just keep on praising you anyway.’
God heard that and remembered her.
Few days later; one brother came and said: ‘Sister thus sayeth
the Lord; you are my wife.’
She looked at him and said, ‘you better go and pray again.
He said he had prayed and the lady was the choice.
But she looked at him again and said: ‘Don’t you want children? I
am passed childbearing age.’
The man said: ‘Ah, Glory be to God. You are the one because I
have already had children. I lost my wife and I don’t need more
children. But I need a wife: somebody that will keep my
company, somebody who will help me look after the children that
the other woman left behind – you are the one.’
So, they got married and that very month that they got married,
she became pregnant. She gave birth to a set of twins.
Later, on October 27, Pastor Adeboye presided over the RCCG
Republic of Ireland 9th Ordination and Graduation Service. Unlike
the ordinations at the Redemption Camp held for thousands of
people, the relatively small numbers in Ireland afforded Pastor
Adeboye to lay hands on each of them.
He said: “In the case of the ones ordained today; I even came
down, after I had done the anointing; after I had laid hands on
them; after I had made the proclamation and prayed. I still came
down to shake hands with them – one by one.”
But he warned that the effectiveness of each ordained person
depends on how seriously the Fire of God is taken.
Manchester
Pastor Adeboye was earlier, on October 18, in Manchester for the
RCCG Festival of Life in The Midlands and North of England.
According to the transcription of all the sermons by the Discovery
Media Crew, this time, he used the story of Elijah on Mount
Carmel, where he directly prayed for the Fire of God to fall over
his sacrifice.
According to parts of the story: “At the time of sacrifice, the
prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: ‘LORD, the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are
God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these
things at your command. Answer me, LORD, answer me, so these
people will know that you, LORD, are God, and that you are
turning their hearts back again.’
“Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the
wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the
trench.
“When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The
LORD—he is God! The LORD—he is God!”
Drawing inferences from the story, the General Overseer
explained what happens when the Fire falls.
When the Fire falls:
Prayers are answered instantly because some prayers like Daniel
in the Lion’s den cannot wait. He, however, explained that some
miracles take place after a while, like God’s promise to Abraham
to make him a Father of nations. But Abraham waited for some
25 years to have a child.
When Fire falls, offering is consumed or accepted; and if an
offering accepted, it means harvest can begin immediately!
The wood in Elijah’s offering was consumed by fire!
The potential in the wood was the fire, just as inside every
individual there is a potential! – A potential to be great; a
potential to be famous; a potential to become mighty. When the
Fire falls, potentials are activated;
The rock was consumed, which signifies the end of hardship when
the Fire of God falls because rock stands for hardship
The dust signifies the end of physical problems.
The Fire also consumed the water. Water is supposed to put off
fire but the fire that we are talking about is the one that uses
water as fuel – It is a Divine Fire. The significance of this is that
when the Fire falls; God wipes away tears.
The next thing was that the people fell on their faces and started
shouting: “The Lord Is God” It meant God’s purpose for that land
was fulfilled – Revival came back to the land.
Pastor Adeboye spoke at length about purpose.
According to him: “God never created anybody without a
purpose.”
Using a personal testimony, he said: “I had my own plans; I
thought I was going to become the youngest Vice Chancellor
Africa had ever known; that was what I wanted to be.
But the Purpose of God for my life was different. He allowed me
to study Mathematics for many years and then He blocked my
way and said: “I want you to be a Preacher.”
As a Vice Chancellor, I would have been a blessing to a
University; as a Preacher, by the Grace of God, I am a Blessing to
the world.
God never created anybody without a Purpose. You were not born
as an accident; you came into this world for a purpose.
The sad thing however is that many people believed that they
came into this world without a purpose.
So, they lived and died without fulfilling their purpose.
The purpose God has for your life is a Good One, according to
Jeremiah 29:11.
He said that: I know the thoughts that I think towards you –
thoughts of good, not of evil, to have an Expected End.
God has a purpose for our life; that purpose begins to find
fulfilment the moment the Fire of God falls.”
During all the sermons, there was time to share testimonies and
the one thing Pastor Adeboye cannot do without – the call to the
altar. Several people responded to that.
Source: Metrowatch
