Sermon by Pastor E A Adeboye, August 2012 RCCG Holy Ghost Service 60th Annual Convention “Come Up Higher”
Come Up Higher
By Pastor E. A. Adeboye
COME UP HIGHER
Let’s lift our voices to the Most high God, and bless His holy name, give Him glory, give Him honor, give Him adoration, there is no one like Him.
Surely He is the Most high God, the miracle working God, the Almighty, the all sufficient God, the great provider, the great physician, the God of all flesh, with whom nothing shall be impossible, bless His holy name.
You are worthy to be praised my father, you are worthy, what a wonderful God you are… in Jesus mighty name we worship.
Lift your voice to the Almighty God and say Father, please pay special attention to me tonight. Speak to me directly…in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
Lift your voice to him say Father, let the tide turn in my favor tonight…
in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
Hosanna in the highest, Hosanna in the highest 2ce
The angels are singing Hosanna in the highest.2ce
Hosanna to my Jesus, Hosanna to my Jesus 2ce
The angel are singing, Hosanna to my Jesus
Hosanna to the Almighty, Hosanna to my Jesus 2ce
The angel are singing, Hosanna to my Jesus 2ce
Thank you Father, Father we just want to say thank you, King of kings, Lord of lords we worship you. We bow before you.
Thank you for sixty years of favor, thank you for sixty years of love, thank you for sixty year of kindness, thank you for sixty years of your favor, thank you for your sixty years of your mercy, thank you for your sixty years of your patience, thank you for sixty years of your faithfulness, glory be to your holy name Lord, accept our worship in Jesus name.
Tonight, Ancient of days, our God in ages past, our Hope for years to come, Christ in us the Hope of glory, our yesterday, our today, our tomorrow, be glorified in Jesus name.
In the life of everyone here tonight and all those who are listening to us by radio, by television, on the Internet all over the world tonight Lord, do something new. Do something glorious, do something miraculous, do something divine, do something you have never done before, take every one of us higher in Jesus name.
At the end of everything, please take all the glory and give us the blessings.
In Jesus mighty name we have prayed. Amen.
Let someone shout halleluiah!
As of 6.25pm the number of babies born during this convention has risen to sixty eight (68).
PRAYER FOR AUGUST CHILDREN
Father, I want to thank you for your children born in the month of August, the eight month is the month of new beginnings.
In the life of all these your children, let there be new beginnings; new beginnings of joy, new beginnings of success, new beginning of promotions, new beginning of mighty testimonies, new beginning of a closer work with God, let it be well with them, and give them many more years of useful service for the Lord, in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
August children shout halleluiah!
I ask God for seventy thousand children and I have been keeping record, the number of children born in Redeemed Christian Church of God at the beginning of this convention we already got sixty thousand nine hundred and seventy nine (60,979) and I know the rest will come. One thing I want to ask God for tonight is to increase from 70,000 to 100,000.
As usual September will be a special Holy Ghost service for those who are trusting God for the fruit of the womb, so if you have any relative or friend, tell them about the special Holy Ghost service coming up next month for those who are believing God for children.
The topic next month is A GLORIOUS GENERATION. That means the children God will release next month, they are going to form a glorious generation. So next month there will be no Shiloh hour.
Another thing I love as I love children is marriages. In Nigeria alone, between August last year and now we conducted eleven thousand one hundred and sixty two (11,162) weddings. That tells you that the Lord is doing marvelous things among our youths.
As part of the faithfulness of God to The Redeemed Christian Church of Good, we have also been able to enter into thirteen new nations.
So that as at tonight, The Redeemed Christian church of God is in a little more than one hundred and sixty (160) nations of the world. We still have a long way to go because by the grace of God we must be in all nation of the world very soon. Please keep praying for us.
I have one special request tonight, each time we come to the convention and I see so many people sleeping in the auditorium my heart bleed. Yes I know that the auditorium is a good place to sleep.
if they will allow me, I will come and sleep here because anointing is here, the amount of prayers prayed here; means every bit of this soil is charged with power, but at the same time, if there can be rooms for people to sleep in it will be good, I know that is impossible considering the crowd.
There are houses and houses here on this camp and we are not stopping, we are building dormitories but I want us to do much, much more. I would love to see at least 2000 rooms added to the ones we have between now and next year.
Not only can people go there to sleep during the convention, but any time we have a programme, here where people can get just a bed.
So if you would love to help me in that regard, please do something about it, just write your cheque to The Redeemed Christian church of God and call it dormitory project, any amount is ok no matter how little, at least it will buy a block. Please help me so that between now and next year Dormitories containing at least 2000 rooms. God will build house for you in Jesus name.
Finally before I go into the word of God, some people are in the habit of giving Cheques that they know will be return as offering. That is not good, how can you give God a cheque that you know will be returned? If you don’t have anything to give, no problem He knows. But don’t give something that you know it is not going to produce money. The Lord will bless you in Jesus name.
John 5 v 2-9 I want to read a story to you there. In accordance with our theme COME UP HIGHER.
John 5 v 2 -9 “Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porches, in this lay a great multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered waiting for the move of the waters; for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water and whoever then first after stirring up the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.
A man was there who had been ill for thirty eight years, when Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, he said to him, do you wish to get well? The sick man answered Him, “sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I a coming, another steps down before me” Jesus said to him “get up, pick up your pallet and walk” immediately the man became well and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Now it was the Sabbath on that day.”
The Lord says there is someone here tonight, he said on order to prove to you that he is the Lord of host; he said he will use your enemies to promote you.
The Lord says there is some one here tonight, he said you have many ambitions, very great ambitions but because of the way things have gone, it look as if they will never be fulfilled, the Lord asked me to tell you, leave that to me.
The Lord asked me to tell you, today will mark the beginning of days to you.
There was this man who was lying down helpless, waiting for the angel to come. The angel has come 38 times and this man has got nothing out of it because somebody smarter, quicker had robbed him of his success.
But one day unexpectedly, his jubilee came because Jesus walked to him looked at him where he was on the ground and said “come up Higher” and immediately the man who had been lying down helpless, jumped up completely whole.
Somebody is going higher today in Jesus name.
One of the preachers who had preached before me, he made some very important points that I thought maybe he spied my notes, only I know there is no way he could have done that.
He said come up higher could be either of two things, it could be an invitation; like Jesus said come ye to me all ye that labored and are heavily laden. And I will give you rest, or it could be a command. Come up higher, just like God said let there be light and there was light, he went further to say that the one who is going to ask you to come up higher, must be somewhere at least higher than you and today God is the one who is calling us to come higher and we all know that according to Psalm 91 v 1 the one who is calling us to come higher is called the most high. Ecclesiastes 5 v 8 calls him the one who is higher than the highest, so the one who is inviting us to come up higher surely is higher than all of us.
Not only that the One who is inviting you to come up higher must have the ability to help you climb. In case you want to come higher but you cannot do so, he must have the ability to help you come.
Because when Jesus said to this man, get up , take your bed and walk. The Bible says immediately he was made whole and the fellow, who is asking you to come up higher, must have the power to deal with those forces trying to hold you down.
I want to thank God for all the testimonies we have heard tonight, I have heard testimonies in my life, I heard some tonight, I heard some yesterday, I heard of a pregnancy that came after six month and the baby is hundred percent normal as if not premature.
I have heard of a testimony now of a couple that the husband said you ask how many baby do you want, and she said let’s ask for three and the husband says I agree, and they brought the triplet to show us.
I have heard the testimony now of bullet passing through the front of the dress and coming out of the back of the dress and leaving the body alone. I have seen that one.
I’m saying that to say the God who is calling you to come up higher, he is the one who said in Jeremiah 32 v 27 he said behold I am the God of all flesh, is anything too hard for me?
So I am believing God that God who has called you to come up higher, will help you to reach the top in Jesus name.
Of course Jesus said to that man come up higher and the man says I am not interested that he wants to remain on the ground, he would have remained on the ground, so if you are going to come up higher, you must be willing to come up higher, you must obey the one who commands you to come up higher because the word of God says in Isaiah 1 v 19 he said if you are willing and obedient then you shall eat the good of the land.
When God calls you to come up higher, you must have faith in the God who is calling you to come up higher because Heb 11 v 6 says without faith it is impossible to please God. And mark 9 v 23 says if you can only believe, all things are possible to him that believes.
When God calls you to come up higher, you must make the necessary efforts to go higher. Even if all the efforts you are going to make are prayers, you must pray a determined prayer, until you find yourself on top.
I’m believing God for all of you who are listening to me tonight; before the sun rises you will be higher.
Everybody knows that life is in levels. There are all manners of level, for example there is the level of the poor, there is the level of the comfortable, there is the level of the rich, there is the level of the wealthy, there is the level of the prosperous, there is the level of the flourishing.
I don’t know which level you are today but in the name that is above every other name, levels will change tonight.
Let’s look at the story of this man; Jesus stood by him. The Great physician, the One who has never been sick, the One who does not know sickness said to this man “come up higher” come out of sickness!
I want to appeal to you tonight, that you put yourself in the same position as this man, because if you listen to me carefully when I was reading the story to you. The name of the man was not mentioned, in other words, the man could be you, so God is saying to you tonight, come out of sickness.
Is there any one here that is sick tonight, in the name that is above every other name. You will come out of sickness in Jesus name.
Now there are levels when we are talking about health, there is the level of the sick, there is the level of those who have been healed, there is the level of those who are healthy, that some people don’t even know what is called headache, and then there is the level of those who if they touch you at all you will be healed; they have the healing touch.
They are not just healthy; they carry the healing virtue. So even if you are not sick and you are healthy, you can go higher, you can get to that level, where whoever you shake hand will receive healing.
We just finished our America convention and one of the testimonies there, was that last year, some people came for prayers and because they were many, I just prayed for all of them, and they moved out, after I have prayed for them, I got up to go elsewhere, as I was walking by, the spirit just directed me to one man and I greeted him and shook hands with him and I left, I didn’t know his problem, but he came with cancer.
I shook hand with him he returned this year to come and give his testimony that the cancer disappear.
I pray for all of you who are listening to me, that sickness, that disease, that the doctor says it’s incurable, next month you will testify that your sickness disappeared.
So there is the level of the healing touch, and then there is the level of the healing handkerchiefs Act 19 v 11-12 tells us that from the body of Paul, handkerchiefs and Apron were taking to the sick and they were healed and the devil departed from them, that is a level. You can move to that level. And then of course there is the level of the healing voice. You just speak the word and healing takes place.
How many testimonies to that effect, I can tell you many but I want you to be the next one to testify.
That in the name that is above every other names, even as you are hearing me now, be healed in Jesus name.
And then you can move from the healing voice to the healing shadow Act 5 v 14 – 16 tells us that the shadow of Peter was healing the sick, that is a level. You can move from the sick to the healed, to the healthy, to the one with the healing touch, to the one with the healing handkerchief, to the one to the healing voice, to the one with the healing shadow. Which level do you want? Because God is calling you to come up higher.
This man have been sick for thirty eight years, you don’t need to be there to know that his wealth has dwindled year after years for thirty eight years. But the Lord that own all things stood by him and said come out of poverty.
And I’m repeating tonight as the representative of the most high God, there is some one here tonight, you will come out of poverty.
I have already told you there are levels, the poor, the comfortable, then the rich. The rich people are those who save money, the wealthy are those who put money in fixed deposit. They just give you one hundred million and say keep it for three years, I will come for it later. And there are those who are prosperous and there are those who are flourishing, there are those who lends to nations.
I pray for someone here tonight, even if you are poor right now, one day very soon you will be lending to nations.
When we read about somebody like Solomon in 2 Chronicle 1 v 15, a man who treated silver like ordinary stones. That is some kind of money! And I know there are people here tonight, it’s not that they want money just for the fun of it, they want to do the work of God.
There are people who want to build churches. We need a new auditorium, because those who are outside the auditorium now are almost more than those who are inside. Thank God it’s not raining so we need a bigger auditorium.
May I prophesy to somebody here tonight, that in the name that is above every other names, you will be one of the ten that will build the new auditorium.
The reason I said one of the ten is because I have to include myself and my wife and one or two of my friend, so the rest of you can struggle for the remaining number.
I decree in the name that is above every other name, none of you will die poor.
Jesus stood beside this man, this nameless man, so low so unimportant that they didn’t bother to mention his name, because among the Jews if you are important, if you come from a good home, they will mention your name and the name of your father.
If your family doesn’t matter, they will mention your name and they won’t bother to mention the name of your father.
But this man was so useless that they didn’t even mention his name.
They mentioned the name of Bartimeaus the son of Timeaus even though he was a beggar they still mention his name and the name of this father but this man was so useless that they didn’t mention his name,
But the great Promoter stood beside him and said come up higher.
As the Lord lives I prophesy to someone here tonight, nobody may know you now but before you die the world will celebrate you.
Because the God who is asking you to come up higher, is the God who picked Abraham who was completely unknown until God intervened.
In Genesis 12 v 1 -3, God just said to Abraham, the son of an idol worshipper, unknown and said to him “now I have decided to have mercy on you, I will bless you, I will make you great, I will turn you to a blessing, I will bless those who bless you, I will curse those who curses you and through you shall all the nation of the earth be bless.
That God of Abraham is here tonight and he is going to come to somebody and he will say you, Nobody knows you now, nobody knows your father you don’t matter, you don’t count but by this time next year, the world will already be celebrating you. If you are the one say it is me oh Lord!
When we talk about greatness, there are levels; Abraham was great, his son was very great, his grandson was exceedingly great.
There are levels of greatness! You may be great already, God is saying come up higher, let’s make you very great, you may be very great already , God is saying come up higher, let’s make you exceedingly great.
The Lord says there is someone here tonight, the Lord he is already in the mouth of the lion, he says he will rescue him.
The Lord says there is someone here tonight, he said you have known joy before but it was for a brief moment, he asked me to tell you, the joy I am about to give you will Last forever,
Thank you father! The Lord said there is someone here who has several boils in your private parts and they just refused to heal, the Lord asked me to tell you, you can check they are already gone.
Thank you father! The Lord says there is someone here tonight; he said a major breakthrough slipped through your hand, the Lord asked me to tell you, “I will give you a bigger one”
Occasionally he says something that is so sweet that I I want to take it myself before tell in you.
The Lord said there is someone listening to me now, he says in your desert a stream bubble up and it will rapidly become a big river.
Daddy says there is someone here tonight; he said for the rest of your life, your song will be it is raining all over me.
So the Lord stood beside this helpless man. The Help of the helpless stood beside this helpless man, because this man said I have nobody to help me, and He said to him come up higher, there is nobody to help you but the Helper of the helpless has come, let’s change your level from failure to success. From Success to great success, from great success to frightening success.
You know it is possible for God to make you so successful that you will become so afraid, read Luke 5 v 1 -11 peter fished all night caught nothing, Jesus stepped into his boat, told him where to throw the net, he did, caught so much fish, two boats began to sink and he became afraid.
Once in a while God will give you a miracle and you will think you are dreaming.
I decree tonight that the next time you are sharing your testimony, you will tell everybody that three days after the miracle happened, you still thought you are dreaming, so shall it be in Jesus name.
But not only is this man helpless the man said for thirty eight years, as I was moving towards my destiny, thirty eight different people stole miracles before I could get there, somebody had taken it.
And the Lord of host said come up higher, no more defeat.
I pray for you tonight that the Lord of Host will arise for you.
Because we don’t have the time I could have showed you we have different level of victories; we have victory, we have great victory, we have victory without a fight, we have a victory that will frighten the victor.
God will fight for you.
The Lord says there is someone here tonight, he said from now on, three words shall no longer be in your dictionary; failure, defeat and agony.
The Lord asked me to tell you a story because there is something he wants to say; when we were in the very first auditorium, several years ago, I was preaching like this God said that there was someone in the crowd that the fellow was going to have three financial breakthroughs.
God said the first one, hundred percent of it belongs to God, that the second one is to be divided fifty – fifty between God and the fellow and that the third one will wipe out all the debt that the fellow is owing. I announced it.
Some days later a widow came, she is a widow I know very well, she had seventeen mouths to feed and she was heavily in debt not only in Nigeria, the bank in London has been threatening her because of the debt they say the husband is owing.
So she came “daddy I have got the first financial miracle and I have brought it, I said “sister pleases! I know you, I know your problem, if I have money I will give you not take from you.
She looked at me and said” I thought you are my friend? God said there will be three breakthroughs, I have got the first one, you don’t want the second and third to come?
I sad alright, I took the money from her, I kept it. (God bless the preacher who has no faith!) I said I will wait until the second and third comes.
Very soon she came, the second has come, this is fifty percent for Jesus, I kept it, I didn’t touch either of the two, then the third one came, a letter came from the bank in London; we are sorry, we made a mistake, your husband didn’t owe us, we are the one owing your husband.
God went and changed the books and they paid what they say they owe the husband and he cleared all her debts.
Now listening to me carefully, God said there is someone here tonight; he said you are going to have three financial breakthroughs. He said the first one; you can keep it, he said second one 50 percent is your, 50 percent belong to Him, he said the third one is hundred percent for God but after that Get ready to flourish.
The Lord said there is someone here tonight he said there is a wind coming, that will restore all your dry bones.
The Lord says there is someone here tonight, he said there are certain hands holding you down he said I will dislocate all of them.
The Lord Jesus Christ stood above this man, the source of all joy stood above this man, he stood above the man who has been sad for thirty eight years, he said come up higher, come out of sorrow.
Do you know God is speaking to someone here tonight and he is saying to you, you shall weep no more.
There are levels of joy; you can move from sad to happy, you can move from Joy to great joy and there is something the bible called exceeding great Joy like you read about in Matthew 2 v 10 and then there is what the bible called Joy unspeakable.
Joy so great you can’t even say it out; you know somebody can be so glad that he will be crying.
Those of you who have not known joy for a long time, beginning from now, you will move from sorrow to joy, from joy to great joy, from great joy to exceeding joy, from exceeding great joy, to joy unspeakable.
Daddy says there is someone here tonight, he said some people will sing of wealth, some people will sing of popularity, he said but I will be your song.
The Lord says there is someone here today; he said very soon, people will talk of your family that ‘this family has found favor with God’.
When God gives you an Invitation you have a choice, you can refuse an invitation, he can say come, you can say I am not coming.
Even when he commands you, you have a choice to obey or to disobey.
But tonight, since you have taken all the trouble to come, don’t refuse the invitation of God. How will I know that I will go higher if I say I am willing? The Bible says the just shall live by faith, you believe it? You will have it. It’s just a matter of faith.
So you are going to pray by faith tonight, I know the altar call has been made earlier on and so many souls has been saved so I thank God for that.
I am going to take it that by the grace of God those God wants to save, He has saved. But we are going to pray some prayers and we are going to pray this prayer by faith and I will remind you of the story of a couple,
Husband and wife came, daddy we have been barren for years, pray for us so that we can have our own children, I said fine, what kind of baby do you want? The husband said boy, the wife said girl and they said it simultaneously.
So I smiled and said well in that case we better make it a set of twins, one boy one girl and they said amen, they received it.
Nine month later, set of twins came one boy, one girl. If I say to you tonight, that from this moment onward will be your journey will be constantly upward. Will you receive it?
Lift your voice to the Almighty God loud and clear and say Father change my level tonight… in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
Lift your voice to the Almighty God and say Father, pull me out of the miry clay (of failure, of poverty, of sickness) never to return… in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
Lift your voices to the Almighty God all the forces that have been holding me down all this years in the level of poverty, of failure, father scatter them…. in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
Father, all those who have been asking where is my God, show them today, show them right now… in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
Father, everything that pertains to me Lord, perfect it tonight… in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
Father I want to thank you tonight for your word, I want to thank you for those who have come forward tonight to give their lives to Jesus, you said whoever comes to you, you will in no wise cast out, they have come to you now, receive them in Jesus name.
Forgive them in Jesus name, cleanse them in your blood in Jesus name, save their souls in Jesus name, write their names in the book of life in Jesus name.
From now on, let them do your will in Jesus name. Father I am committing everybody here tonight, everyone of us, pull us out of the miry clay in Jesus name, take us to the top in Jesus name, don’t let us come down again in Jesus name, all the forces holding us down, scatter them in Jesus name.
Everything that pertain to us perfect tonight, in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
Let somebody shout halleluiah!
May the LORD bless Nigeria, American and Israel and take care of us; May the LORD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!
Prayer Point 