Adeboye speaks on source of God’s power at RCCG’s Holy Ghost Service

Enoch Adeboye, the 77-year-old general overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), has always led the church’s monthly Holy Ghost Service in person since its inception in 1986.

Even with the restriction on religious gatherings to curb the spread of coronavirus, he has not taken a break.

He led the service in April and early this month, via a broadcast from his home to the millions of people.

Since inception when it was birthed on “God’s promise to use the platform to touch the lives of people”, attendance has continued to soar.

It has been so fast that two large auditoriums are now used for it at the Redemption Camp on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

That is despite the fact that all branches of the church in over 198 countries now have viewing centres for people to participate in the services, and also through various online platforms.

HE DOES NOT JUST STROLL TO THE PULPIT

The largely interdenominational service, noted for signs, miracles and wonders, has continued to be a major attraction of the church but unknown to many people, the general overseer does not just stroll to the pulpit on service days.

It takes days of physical preparation, and a spiritual part, which is unseen.

Asked about the strong manifestation of God’s presence at his services in a recent online live chat, he said: “I discovered in any ministry that if you would spend time with God in secret, He will spend time with you in the open.

“In other words, if you would wait upon Him before any programme, then He will show up! For example, when I want to prepare for the Holy Ghost Night, I make sure that I spend at least a couple of days locked up with Him – away from my wife, away from my children.

“It is just God and I alone; I would be waiting on Him, praising Him, and seeking His face for the programme ahead. So, I don’t just walk up to the stage on Friday night – having spent all the time talking with my friends!

“And after I have spent hours upon hours, day and night with Him, automatically He responds! When I get to the altar, He comes up and begin to manifest His Glory.”

Though there was no opportunity for the physical presence of people at the Redemption Camp, the May Holy Ghost Service was highly anticipated and therefore drew large participation from across the world.

Continuing the theme: “Let There Be Light”, which was the fifth in the series, Adeboye showed the effects of God’s light on people who pray for it. The sermon and the live chat were transcribed by The Discovery Media Crew.

The pastor said every great gift is from above, light that comes directly from God – pure, white light – and the crucial thing about the light of God is its purity.

“So, when we pray ‘Let there be light,’ we are saying let there be purity,” he said, adding that it could mean several things.

Some of the things highlighted by Adeboye are:

• God, please give me pure healing: total, complete, comprehensive, healing with no sign that I was sick.
  Pure healing could be a second touch or recreation as in the case of Naaman, who got pure healing from leprosy without any scar.
  The womb of Sarah was dead, but it was recreated, and she had a baby – Isaac.
• God give me pure life: vigorous life; life filled with vitality.
  Caleb told Joshua at age 85 to give him the mountains to settle there. He was still strong!
  Stop managing life, cry to the Almighty God for vigorous life.
• God give me pure wealth. There is a link between light and wealth. All the great natural wealth of the earth like gold and diamond are hidden in the ground and need light for purity.
  The Shunamite woman had wealth, but she had a pure wealth through the intervention of the Almighty God, which gave her a son.
• God give me pure joy: There is a link between joy and light. The joy of the Lord is pure joy.
• God give me pure peace: There is also a link between light and peace. The peace of God passes all understanding.

EXPERIENCE ON A CRUISE SHIP

He illustrated this point with his experience on a cruise ship years ago. “If you really need a holiday, you want to really go on holiday – go on a cruise! Well that was before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

“They would feed you like nobody’s business. They seem to take joy in overfeeding you. And since you are far in the ocean, nobody can come and visit. The first six days of the cruise I was on was like heaven on earth. Then the seventh day, a storm came!

“You don’t want to be on the ocean when there is something called a storm. The ship was several stories high, but when the storm came, the ocean was tossing it up and down. Everything was shaking. The cutleries, the plates, were flying about. It was terrible.

“Things got so bad, the captain called all of us together, and said: ‘Well, ladies and gentlemen, don’t worry yourself; there are twelve categories of a storm at sea.’ ‘Category one is the smallest, category twelve is the worse – we are only in category ten’

“I said, ‘God, what am I doing here? In my village the biggest river is one a trainee can jump over. What am I doing here in a Category Ten storm? “So, the Captain said, ‘don’t worry, just go to your cabin!

“I said, God Almighty, what am I going to do now? And He spoke. He said: ‘Son, when I was here on earth and there was a storm, what does the Bible say I was doing?

“The Bible says: You were sleeping!”

“He said, ‘son, sleep!

“Immediately, I jumped on my bed, and in minutes I was fast asleep. By the time I woke up, we were already at the port; everything was calm and peaceful. Anytime I tell the story, people say: how can you sleep in such a situation?

“What else could I have done – jump into the ocean? I didn’t even know how to swim! But that is a kind of peace – the peace that passes all understanding!

“Everyone has beauty in him/her, As a shepherd, David was singing to animals until light came to his family and he began to sing to kings.

“Light shined on Esther and made her a beautiful Queen who saved the Jews. The light of God shined on Joseph and he was remembered and brought out of prison and later became a prime minister.”

In conclusion, he said, all these beautiful things from the light of God are available to those who have given their lives to God and are pure in heart.