If you are grateful to be alive this Easter day, praise the Lord! A happy Easter to all of you in Jesus name. Like your pastor has prayed, nobody will go away from here the way they came.
Our Savior and our Lord, Lord of lords, King of kings, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the I am that I am, Author and Finisher; thank You for the complete job that You did on Calvary tree; we give You praise for coming to the earth to show us the way back to God; thank You for going to the cross to pay our debt of sin, thank You for going to the grave to conquer death and hell on our behalf and thank You for rising on the third day for our justification, blessed be Your name oh Lord in the name of Jesus.
Thank You, thank You, thank You for who You are, thank You for what You do, thank You for the blood of the cross, may Your name continuously be magnified, glorified, hallowed and adored in Jesus mighty name.
Our Father and our God, this morning I’m asking You to come and take control by Your spirit. Almighty God, thank You for preparing the hearts of Your people to receive from You and thank You mighty God that no one will go back the way they came, blessed be Your holy name, in Jesus mighty name.
Once again, I’m happy to be here, thank you very much. I will give you the introduction and I want you to listen very carefully, if you don’t get anything from the sermon and I know you will, go home with the introduction and you will never be the same again. If you have been listening, the choir has been singing and if you have been following their hymns and their choruses, you will know that you have nothing else to fear.
Somebody said there are 365 ‘fear not’s in the Bible, I’ve never had the time to sit down and count it, but I know that in the Bible, God says to you ‘fear not, I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are Mine’. If you belong to God, you belong to the most potent Being in the universe; if you are the daughter or son of a president, nobody can mess around with you.
I want you to go away from here this morning knowing that if you have made Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior, there’s nothing to be afraid of. Pastor was just telling you that there’s going to be some kind of menu-menu for the people who are not sufficient yet, by the time God finishes with all of you, you will be more than sufficient in the name of Jesus Christ.
So God has made every provision when He proclaimed on the cross, ‘it is finished’, it means that it is finished, the job has been done perfectly, completely complete, blessed be the name of the Lord.
Our Bible text for Go-A-Fishing of this year, (I think) is John 11: 25 & 26, “Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying”. Which means that right now, you will not be cut short before your time, and when you die, there is still hope for you, blessed be the name of the Lord.
Jesus was saying this to the sister of Lazarus, they said to Jesus, ah, if You had come before now, our brother would not have died, he had been dead four days, he’s already buried and he’s already stinking; we have accepted our fate, we know that on the resurrection morning we will see him again. Jesus said unto them categorically, I am the resurrection and the life, those who believe in Him, though they were dead, they will live. You will never die; meaning that you will never die doesn’t mean that you won’t leave this physical body, when you transit, you are going to be with God in glory, blessed be the name of the Lord.
Jesus is the resurrection and the life, following from this, let me say from the outset that it does not matter whether you believe it or not or you don’t believe it, the fact that Jesus died and rose from the dead stands eternally; they have tried more than 2,000 years to prove that He didn’t rise from the dead, they have not been able to disprove it and because He rose from the dead, your matter is already settled, blessed be the name of the Lord.
Studies by theologians, by historians, by archaeologists, numerous eye witnesses, atheists and even the evidence of changed lives show that Jesus is alive. I use to tell people that I am a living testimony that Jesus lives; the people who knew me in 1981, some can’t recognize me.
Let me just give you a short testimony if I cannot finish this sermon; several years ago, I was coming back from London, I was sitting quietly in my seat reading a book and about three hours into the flight, somebody came to me and said madam, you have been sitting for almost three hours, you’ve not left your seat, you haven’t spoken to anybody, you have just been reading, what are you reading?
So I turned the back of the book and he saw the title, he said ha, na God book, I said yes. So he sat by me and said I have been confused looking at you for more than three hours; he said you have a striking resemblance to somebody I used to know. This man is a very important politician in the former western region, (some of you were not born when they were politicians); so I said to him, who is this person? He said but I haven’t seen the person for some years now, but it can’t be that person because she can’t sit in one place for three hours, not talking to anybody and looking as innocent as a newly born child.
I said who is this person? He said you would know the person, that the person’s name is Oretayo Adetola, formerly of The Daily Times at Nigeria. I said ha, she died; he said ha, it’s your sister, I said it’s me. So I called him the name we used to call him in the former western region when they said that they have power, now they don’t have power like they used to have. He said you? What happened to you? I said Jesus; he said ha, how? So I told him the story and he said to me, will you be able to take me to your church?
I’m telling you a true story; so I said to him, you can come to church at Ebute-Meta on Monday; our pastor comes on Mondays and Thursdays because he’s still working in the university, he said he would come. He was in Ebute-Meta before I got there, Jesus lives, He will never die again. By the time I got to Ebute-Meta, he was already there; he accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior and that was the beginning of miracle in his family.
One day we were on camp, (some of you know Mummy Sagua), we were going somewhere and she said look, I want to branch somewhere, I want to greet a friend, I will soon come out. I said look, I said this is why I don’t go to church with you; you will greet the dog, you will greet the cat, you will greet everybody and we’ll never get to where we are going on time; she said please, I won’t be long. So I entered the facility with her and the woman ran to me and knelt down and said mummy, ha, it’s you flesh and blood; I said yes, it’s me, do you know me? She said my husband has never stopped talking about you; she said so one day I came to London again on Baker Street, we used to rent church … don’t say my story is long because your pastor has told me to do it briefly, I want to give you cogent reasons why you are in a place where you should be this morning, there is no accident with God.
We used to have church in Baker Street that time at 1:00 in the afternoon because we were borrowing the church – when the church people went out, we came in and that day by some providence, I preached, so she said to me, that day I was in church and that day I gave my life to Christ. God is going to use you for His glory; the purpose and plan of God for your life has been settled before the foundation of the earth, God is about to bring it to pass in the name of Jesus Christ.
So it does not matter what anybody is telling you, it does not matter what you believe now by the time God finishes with you, you remember Thomas? Thomas said I will not believe unless I see the print in His hand and the hole in His feet and His side, when he saw it, he bowed; by the time God finishes with you, He’ll bring you in and His purpose and plans for your life shall be fulfilled.
It does not matter how rich you are this morning, it does not matter how popular or famous or notorious or whichever, if you are not in the purpose and plan of God, you are not yet leaving; when He brings you to His purpose you will leave.
So before you leave here this morning, just go back that I said to you that one of the evidence that is incontrovertible is the changed life that God gives to the people that He calls. Paul of Tarsus was the original terrorist, he was on his way with letters to Damascus to go and bring church people to be killed, God encountered him, and he was never the same again. God is going to put His hand and His resurrection power wherever you need His touch this morning and you shall go home rejoicing, blessed be the name of the Lord.
Peter was a coward, a house-girl said to him, you are one of them, he said haha, don’t put me into trouble o, I never knew the man; by the time God finished with him, he was pointing his finger at the highest council of those days and he was calling them murderers. God is going to empower you this day with that resurrection power that brought Him out of the grave and you will never be the same again. God is here this morning, He’s alive and well, He’s risen from the dead and that will be made manifest in your life in the name of Jesus.
His death is unlike any other; there has never been a man that died and rose from the dead, don’t let anybody tell you any story, He has been the only person and today He’s going to prove the power of His resurrection in every area of your life.
What can we gain from the resurrection? What is our hope? If we start telling people that Jesus rose from the dead, Jesus can do this, Jesus can do that, some of you know what I’m talking about, you used to be people extremely out of order, today you are sitting in church and if they ever said you were a rogue, nobody will believe. I’m not looking at anybody, but if they said you were a cheat, nobody will believe; if they said you were a womanizer, that your wife will trail you all over Lagos, nobody will believe, that is the resurrection power of God to change people, that will be made manifest in your life today, blessed be the name of the Lord.
What is the gain, what is the hope? There are many, but because of time, the number one, they have sung about it this morning –through the power of the resurrection, you can be forgiven. It does not matter who you are and I’m not condoning sin or saying that sin is beautiful; you could be a prostitute; Mary Magdalene was one, full of demons, you can be anything, don’t let me waste word talking about things that are not palatable, but the power of the resurrection can take hold of you this morning, forgive you all of your sins and make you a saint, blessed be the name of the Lord.
That is one of the gains of the power of resurrection, that is the hope that you have; when Christ comes into you then shame is no longer your portion, glory is, blessed be the name of the Lord.
Number two, because Jesus rose from the dead, you can have a meaningful life. The Apostle Paul was a terrorist, he may be sincere but he was sincerely wrong and he had no peace in spite of the fact that he was doing what he thought was right, he was all over the place but when Jesus got a hold of him, He changed him totally, completely, permanently; he wrote almost 1/3 of the New Testament, he was ahead of all the people that he met there. God is going to accelerate your promotion by the power of the resurrection; God is going to move you forward from this day forward.
Number three, the resurrection power displays unimaginable power. You can do the job that God does, you can preach the message that people of old preached, and you can be what God created you to be by the power of the resurrection. The Bible says the power that is in you, that very power that raised Christ from the dead (that is if you are born again) gives life to your mortal body.
Today if you are here, oh, they’ve diagnosed all the sicknesses that – and they’ve given them names, some of the names are so long some people cannot pronounce it, I am not making nonsense of doctors, I have three of them in the house but their facts may be facts but God’s truth override their facts. Jesus Christ was wounded for your transgressions; He was bruised for your iniquities; the chastisement of your peace was put upon Him, by His stripes, (the Bible says) you were healed. You are not going to go out here this morning sick in the name of Jesus Christ.
If you are born again, the resurrection power that raised Christ from the dead that is already dwelling in your mortal body will give life to your mortal body in the name of Jesus. And if you are not yet born again, when you accept Him this morning as Lord and Savior, you will begin to enjoy that divine health that He died on the cross to provide for you, blessed be the name of the Lord.
Number four, because Jesus rose from the dead, you can live a never ending life. That’s what our text says, John 11: 25 & 26, if you are alive now, you will not die before your time; you will fulfill the number of your days and when you die, you are not going to go to hell, you are going to spend eternal life with Jesus Christ in the name of Jesus Christ.
So if you are here this morning, death for you is not your destination, it’s just a transition from one place to another place. If you are here, maybe you are bereaved recently and you are wondering, is that the end of the story? Born again as I was when my husband died, for months I would go around the house wondering is it over? Is it finished? Haha, but it’s not finished, death is not the end, it is not our destination, the Bible says we should not sorrow like those who don’t have hope, it is painful, but I want to tell you this morning that you must not lose sight of the hope of the resurrection morning, it does not matter who you have lost, if they are born again and you are born again, you will be reunited with them forever, blessed be the name of the Lord. Be consoled by that fact.
Number five, because Jesus rose from the dead, (continued from number four) eternal life is guaranteed, you will live forever with Jesus. He promised, He said I’m going back, I’m going to prepare a place for you, when your place is ready and your work is done, I’m coming to take you to Myself so that where I am, you can be there also; and Jesus is not a man that He should lie; He’s not a son of man that He should repent, as He said it, will He not do it? You will not be wasted, Jesus created you for His glory, He will not lose you in the name of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is a tangible proof that the worst obstacle, the worst enemy has been overcome. The Bible says the last enemy that will be overcome is death; Jesus already overcome death and He didn’t overcome death for Himself, He overcame death for you and for me, blessed be the name of the Lord. Give Him all the praise if you believe that, thank You Almighty God, we give You praise, we give You glory, we give You honor, adoration and majesty, be exalted, be magnified, be lifted up.
And rounding up, the Bible says for those of you who are here this morning and you don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior, He says come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. It does not matter what load you are carrying, Jesus came and carried it on Calvary cross; load of sin, load of this poverty that is ravaging people now, if you are born again it should not be your portion, God is going to turn your situation around.
No peace, anxiety, you go out you don’t know when they’re going to come in and if you are reading the Bible, God says to you I will protect your going out and your coming in, I will preserve you from all evil from this day forward and forever. Gbogbo gbomogbomo gbeyangbeyan (kidnappers), they are not on assignment about you because the Bible says you bear upon yourself the mark of Christ, let no man trouble you.
Everything that is overwhelming you, everything that is assailing you, if you don’t know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the Bible says come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden. Some of you, if your children go to school now, you cannot concentrate until they are back from school, all kinds of story, but the Bible says the children of the righteous shall be delivered. If you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, no evil can befall your children because He will continuously give His angels charge over them, blessed be the name of the Lord.
So if you are here this morning and you are saying ha, don’t mind them, all these fanatics, they say Jesus saves Jesus saves, what has Jesus done for them? If I stand here now and start telling you what Jesus has done for me since 1981 March, I won’t finish until midnight and I can continue again tomorrow morning.
I’m not saying I haven’t had challenges since being born again, but He has never left me in my problem. He promised me He will never leave me, He will never forsake me, His promise has been true all the way. So if you are not born again, in order to be free from all that is going on – you know the Bible says the poor will never cease among us, did the Bible say you are going to be the poor? No, so why should you come to church now and begin to struggle with handouts? That will change today; from today, God will bless you to become a blessing in the name of Jesus Christ.
God is true and God is faithful, God cannot fail; He said come unto Me, I came in 1981, I’ve never regretted it and I have had a lot of challenges, when it looks as if to say ehn ehn, sebi o ni o gbagbo ni, a ma wo ibi ti o ma ja si (but you said you are born again, we will see how you will end up), then suddenly, the God who made a way in the Red Sea will make a way, I will pass through and when the enemy wants to pursue, He will drown them, hallelujah!
Come unto Me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. If you are already born again, Hebrews 4: 16 says come boldly to the throne of grace, to obtain mercy and grace and help for your need. What is it that you need? Some of us are here this morning, we cried ourselves to sleep last night, that is going to stop today.
Some of us are here this morning, we are afraid to go back home because of what we will go and meet; the man said to you, o tun n lo laaro yii, o n pada bo wa ba mi (you are going again this morning, you will meet me here), by the time you get home, God would have tackled him, hallelujah! He did it for me, He will do it for you, hallelujah!
So come if you are already born again, come boldly to the throne of grace and mercy, to obtain mercy, grace and help for every need that you have. Some of us have children how many thousand miles away from home, they are scattered all over the world, and because of what is happening now, you cannot sleep, sleep, God is in control, He’s the sovereign God of the universe and He can do what no mother or father can do for your children; fear not, He’s in control of your life if you belong to Him.
So when we want to pray this morning you will come boldly to the throne of grace and mercy and every problem that you have, you will call the resurrection power of Almighty God that raised Christ from the dead into your problem so that by the time you leave this place, they will be dead and they will be buried, blessed be the name of the Lord.
If it is sickness, He has taken the stripes because of you; if it is poverty, He was made poor that you may be made rich; if it is rejection, your husband says to you, I’m sorry I married you, I didn’t even know what happened to me – some of you, they’ve told you that before but by the time you get home today he’ll be seeing you in a new light, blessed be the name of the Lord.
If it is rejection, Jesus was rejected so that you can be accepted in the beloved; long story short, every evil that was due to you and to me, Jesus bore it on the cross and every good that was due to Him has been transferred to my account and to your account (if you are born again), you have nothing to fear.
If you are not getting what you are entitled to as a child of God, there may be several reasons, two of which may be it’s either you are not reading this Bible and claiming the promises or something else is wrong, but I wouldn’t know what is wrong, you can find that out yourself and once you take care of it, God has no problem with you.
If you are born again, come boldly this morning and your needs shall be met. If you are not born again, come boldly this morning, the first problem that God will remove from you is the problem of sin. The Bible says God’s hand is not short that He cannot deliver, His ears are not heavy that He cannot hear, it is our iniquity that separates us from God, when we take care of that this morning, God will take care of us, blessed be Your holy name oh Lord.
Let us stand to our feet; if you are not born again, there is no disgrace in being born again, that is when life begins; if you are not born again, you are not living, you are just existing and what it means is that acknowledge this morning that you can no longer help yourself, all the dubious things that you have done, what result have you gotten? Put your problem in the hands of God so that He can take care of it.
[Altar call]
Say Father, I’ve heard Your word, in faith and in the name of Jesus I believe Your word, I know that I can no longer help myself, I’ve tried everything that I can, yet it is not yielding the right result. I come back home this morning like a prodigal son, I put my life into Your hand, take me Lord in the name of Jesus, save me Lord in the name of Jesus and begin to rewrite my story according to what is in Your Book in the court of heaven in the name of Jesus.
I believe that You died on my behalf, paid the price for my sins, You rose more than 2,000 years ago to justify me, I decree and I declare that I’ll begin to walk in that justification from today in the name of Jesus. I make You my Lord and I make You my Savior, thank You Lord for saving me, blessed be Your holy name, in Jesus mighty name, amen.
Put up your right hand, I’m going to pray for you; my Father and my God, You say those who come unto You will no one cast out. I came 43 years ago, You have been faithful, Almighty and everlasting Father, prove Yourself in the lives of each and every person that is in front of this altar today in the name of Jesus. Explode in Your Almightiness, let them know that You are who You say You are and You can do what You say You can do, do so for them Lord in the name of Jesus.
Thank You Almighty God, Almighty and everlasting Father, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, every iniquity of their bloodline that has been pursuing them for evil, because some of them are suffering for sins they know nothing about, I cut them off from that bloodline this morning in Jesus name, and I say they belong to You because they have declared You Lord and Savior, they are now hid in Christ and Christ is hid in You Almighty God, begin to defend them from today in the name of Jesus.
And Your purpose and plans for their lives, make it manifest; thank You for doing that, blessed be Your holy name oh Lord, in Jesus mighty name.
This is the resurrection morning, the resurrection power that raised Christ from the dead dwells here; God wants to resurrect everything and anything that is dead here this morning – dead dreams, dead marriages, dead businesses, dead hope, everything that is dead, you know what you want God to resurrect in your life, I know what I want God to resurrect in my life; put up your right hand and begin to tell God.
Say Father, this morning, I want to know the resurrection power that raised You from the dead, let that resurrection power that dwells in my mortal body bring life into every area and every facet and every sphere of my life (begin to tell God what those areas are). Bring resurrection power into my family, bring resurrection power into my marriage, bring resurrection power to the lives of my children.
God of resurrection power, I now belong to You; the resurrection power that raised Christ from the dead dwell in my mortal body. Almighty God, let the resurrection power strengthen my mortal body; remove from me every sickness, every disease, every infirmity, every pain in the name of Jesus Christ.
God of the resurrection power, visit every area and every facet in my life and begin to work the work of Your resurrection in my life in the name of Jesus.
And so Father God Almighty, this morning we give You all the praise and all the glory; we thank You God Almighty that our faith is not in vain, thank You because You rose from the dead and thank You because You live forevermore and because You live, we can face tomorrow, blessed be Your holy name oh Lord.
We thank You that the resurrection power that raised Christ from the dead dwells in our mortal bodies and that resurrection power begins to give life to our mortal bodies now in the name of Jesus. Driving out every pain, every sickness, every disease and every infirmity, the resurrection area moves in every area and every facet of our lives to cause a renewal Lord God Almighty of all those things that have been destroyed, blessed be Your holy name, take all the praise and all the glory, all the honor and all the adoration in Jesus matchless name.
