Adeboye reveals secret of his closeness to God

Pastor Enoch Adeboye, general overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), on Tuesday revealed one of the secrets behind his closeness to God.

Noted by members of the church and others for “signs, wonders and miracles,” he said, “the reason people have noticed that God answers my prayers quickly is because I am an incurable soul winner, which is one of the requirements for having dominion.

“If you invite me to your function and hand me the microphone to make remarks you must be sure that I will use the opportunity to win souls.”

He was preaching the first sermon at the church’s 66th annual convention, holding at the Redemption Camp, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

The theme of the weeklong convention is ‘Dominion’.

He identified the other two other major requirements for having spiritual, physical, economic, marital and other forms of dominion as the readiness to go after backslidden people to bring them back to Christ; and having faith.

Pastor Adeboye is also noted for holiness, which God does not compromise.

In a relatively short and straightforward sermon, devoid uncharacteristically of testimonies or illustrations, he took the thousands of worshippers in the auditorium of the camp and those at viewing centres around the world through a compelling case for people to depart from sinful life to embrace Jesus Christ in order to become a new creature.

Reading from 2 Corinthians‬ ‭5:17‬ (Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new), he said God wants people who are new creatures to enjoy dominion because they become brand new and old things about them have passed away.

‭‭He broke the term “new creature” down for clarity, saying: “From the verse above, we have two words worthy of consideration; New and Creature.

“New is the opposite of something old or stale. Creature is something made from scratch, not refurbished, not repainted or copied – it is like an original work of art.”

Therefore, he said, a new creature in Christ is not the former man patched up or reformed; he is somebody completely new.

Using the example of Apostle Paul, he recalled that he used to be confused by the Apostle’s claim that he had wronged no man, because of his involvement in the persecution of followers of Christ.

However, Pastor Adeboye recalled how he later got the revelation that by his conversion, Paul became a new creature – all his atrocities wiped out, a new slate.

“A new creature in Christ has no old history,” he stressed. “The moment you say I do to Jesus and surrendered, you become a new creature.”

Such people dump their old selves and all the burdens they carried. Pointing out that old self was under the dominion of sin, he listed the burdens that went with it:
Those under the dominion of sin are subject to sickness, as was the case of the paralytic, who Jesus healed by merely forgiving his sins.

Those under the dominion of sin are also:

• subjected to hardship (Proverbs 13:6 way of transgressor is hard)
• subjected to forces of darkness (1 John 3:8)
• subjected to sorrows (Psalm 32:10; Psalm 16:4)
• subjected to constant divine anger (Psalm 7:11)
• subjected to fear of an uncertain future (Isaiah 3:11)
• All manner of terrible things occur to a sinner.

Conversely, he said happily, the new creature has dominion over sin and that is what makes the change wonderful.

Other benefits are that:

• As a new creature you are dead to sin.
• Christ liveth in me.
• You become a terror to Satan by resisting him.
• Hardship is no more your portion (Matthew 11:28-30)
• Failure can no longer have dominion over you (Philippians 4:13)
• Sorrow can no longer have dominion over you (Psalm 32:11). It is replaced by joy. Joy is not the same as happiness because happiness is due to happenings, while joy is like a spring and comes from the Lord
• Your dominion as a new creature is recognized in heaven because you become a member of the family of God(John 1:11-12)
• From the moment you surrender to Jesus, the family of God rejoices with you (2 Peter 1:4)
• You are a royal priesthood, you are a king.

• Angels recognize your dominion and are servants to you. (Hebrews 1:14)
• And your dominion over Satan is recognized in hell.

He illustrated this with the testimony of an elderly member of the church, who went straight to his estranged wife after giving his life to Christ at Sheraton Hotel in Lagos.

The woman, whose demonic nature had caused the split, looked at him and said she knew he had given his life to Christ – without the man telling her what happened at Sheraton Hotel.

As he rounded up the sermon, Pastor Adeboye identified the three basic things to do for one to have dominion as; soul winning; going after backsliders; having faith to believe Him.

When he made an altar call before the congregational prayers, a large number of people streamed out to form a pool of over 600 people at the altar.

The congregational prayer, which he said was for people to start practising their dominion, was intense.

The prayer points were as follows:

• Father, if you are giving dominion to two people only during this convention please let me be one of them.
• Father, from now the anointing for dominion please release unto us today.
• Father, make me an incurable soul winner.
• Father, in the mighty name of Jesus I command every mountain or obstruction to my dominion to move right now.

The evening had started beautifully on a bright note as children of the church welcomed the congregation with singing, dancing, Bible recitals, and drama. Coordinated by the wife of Pastor Adeboye, Pastor Folu, who is the director of children education and also called the Mother of Israel, the children parade was spectacular.

And when after the performance they presented gifts to Pastor Adeboye, he thanked and blessed them.

After the opening ceremony, he welcomed the congregation: “You are all welcome, in Jesus Mighty Name. I have it on the authority of God that this Convention will never be forgotten.”

He said he could confirm the assurance with the birth of 37 babies that had been born at the medical facility of the church by the second day of the Convention.

Photo credit: Segun Komolafe