Father, indeed, take us back to that first place where we first received You, take us back to that place where we were hungry for You, take us back to that place where we were passionate about You and things that concerns You, take us back, oh Lord, take us back to that place, rekindle Your fire within us, Lord.
Jehovah El Shadai, we come before You; Jehovah Jireh, we acknowledge You this morning; Jehovah Ori, the Lord of our light we come before You; Jehovah Saboat, the Lord of our host. Jehovah Mekoddishkem, the Lord who sanctifies us, indeed, oh Lord, You are the ancient of days, You are the lifter of men, You are the lifter of women, the alpha and omega, You control our beginnings, You control our endings and everything in between, Abba Father, we bless Your holy name, be thou exalted in the mighty name of Jesus.
Lord Jesus, let Your manifest presence fill this gathering today, let every heart be open and be receptive to Your word in Jesus name. Let Your word come with clarity, with power, with conviction and transformation, let scales drop from our eyes, oh Lord, and let our destinies be awakened this morning in Jesus name.
Father this morning let me decrease and You increase, let no one see me but let them see You, oh Lord, in Jesus mighty name we have prayed. Praise the Lord! Praise the living Jesus!
I acknowledge my Creator and my Maker, God Almighty, for the gift of life and for His breath in me, I do not take that for granted. I’d also like to acknowledge our father in the Lord, the APICR, for this opportunity, more grace in Jesus’ name.
Brethren, we are in the month of May and the month of May has been dedicated to the explosive growth drive which is our vision 2032 in the Redeemed Christian Church of God; so this message or similar to it is what will be preached across the 50,000+ parishes in the mission, and I pray that indeed as we sang with the choir that God will take us back to a place where we are passionate about kingdom things in Jesus name.
At times we need to realize that what we need from God is not necessarily about Him taking us forward but taking us back to a place where He can use us, where we return to His first love, going back to a place of spiritual renewal. And I pray that God will help us all in Jesus name, I believe this message is primarily for me and I pray that God will help me as well in Jesus’ name.
Brethren, let us realize that before God enlarges a man publicly or a woman publicly, He often restores them privately and we will be restored in Jesus’ name. The theme is The Latter Harvest Should Greatly Increase, your latter harvest will greatly increase in Jesus’ name. And our text is Job 8:7, though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.
So brethren, no matter where you are in this journey of life, God is still able to increase you to do greater exploits, there’s someone here you need to realize that the final chapters of your journey has not been written yet because God has greater things for you to accomplish for Him and for yourself in Jesus’ name.
We need to realize that there’s a consistent pattern with God, God never ends where He started. Imagine if all God did was let there be light and He ended there, no, God has great plans for our future, and I pray that He will see us through in Jesus’ name. Throughout the scripture, we see God do this time and time again, and for me and for you, it will not be different in Jesus name.
God commits Himself to increase, expansion, multiplication, and greater glory. Just imagine, He took Abraham from one son to becoming a father of nations, Genesis 17:5; Abraham who struggled to have a child but God took him from a man looking for one son to being a father of nations. Neither shall thy name anymore be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations I have made you, that is how God works.
God took Israel from being a household, a household of Jacob into a mighty multitude, and we see that in Exodus 1:7. We see that in the world today that tribe of Israel or nation of Israel are doing great exploits, God is very deliberate, from Jacob He has produced a mighty nation, from you He will produce mighty nations in Jesus name.
God took the early church from 120 believers to thousands within days. The likes of Peter preached and 3,000 people gave their lives to Jesus, and we see that in Acts 2: 41, so you might tell me, “But those were in the Bible days, what’s happening now?” And I’d like to tell you that even in this mission that we belong to, God took the RCCG from 32 parishes in 1981 to over 50,000 parishes at the moment. Who did it? And He will do yet more in Jesus name.
Don’t you wonder at 50,000 parishes, why are we still embarking on Vision 2032? If you do not have a growth mindset, you start to shrink and you start to diminish. We will not shrink, we will not diminish in Jesus mighty name. God is never static, heaven’s agenda is always advancement and I pray we’ll continue to advance in Jesus’ name.
So while we’re talking about harvest for the kingdom, this message also pertains to us; many of us are saying, “Oh, we are almost 60 or we are over 60, we need to retire and stop acting,” that is not God’s plan for you, you must not settle. Like He told Joshua, there are greater things yet to be done, and I pray you will do those greater things in Jesus name.
You know what? If a certain 67year old man said he was 67 and didn’t do anything, you and I will not be eating Kentucky Fried Chicken today; I don’t know whether you’ve heard about the story of Conell Sanders, at old age he set up that business and today is still standing. I pray that those greater things that God wants us to do, we will do them in Jesus name.
So we have four quick points and we’ll go through them, the Holy Spirit enabling and time permitting;
The first point is God’s agenda is always greater still. The mountains you have conquered, there are bigger mountains to conquer and you will conquer in Jesus’ name. And that’s why you see in that passage Job 8:7 that we read that talks about the small beginning and the latter end increasing greatly and context, we’re not in Bible study, but many of us missed the context in which that passage came about.
These were the friends of Job talking to him, ‘don’t worry, you have sinned, you’ve lost everything, but God will do it’, but you know Job didn’t sin, it just happened because God permitted it. But what did God do for Job in Job 42:12, so the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had – and if you read the Bible and study the Bible, more than what he had lost. I pray that whatever you have lost, in tandem with our theme for the year in CTL, God will restore multiple fold in Jesus name.
Haggai 2:9, a favorite passage of mine, the glory of this latter house will be greater than the former. Brethren, you have not started yet, people might have written you off, but guess what? Because God is on the throne, they will be shocked at what He will do with you and with your life in Jesus name.
God is not interested in replaying yesterday’s victories, He’s interested in what we will do now. And for those of you, you know I’m passionate about something, I shall not replay yesterday’s victories, I shall be winning, my club shall be winning, a few people understand that. They’ve written us off that we cannot win something, we will win the double in Jesus name, so that they don’t call from national and query the APICR and I won’t say much.
Heaven is committed to greater glory, to greater impact, greater influence, and greater harvest. And I pray that God will help us in Jesus’ name.
In John 15:2, let us know, He said, “Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth, it that it may bring forth more fruit,” take note, not just fruit, more fruit. Many of us are going through a purging process and we are seeking to give up in the middle of that purging process, but God is preparing us for the great harvest ahead. And I pray we will walk into that harvest in Jesus’ name, more glory is coming our way in Jesus mighty name.
Brethren, very quickly, the key takeaway from this first point is that stagnation is a sign of misalignment with God’s agenda. God doesn’t want us to be stagnant, stagnation is not His plan for us, and indeed, increase is not optional, it is heaven’s expectation, and we will encounter increase in Jesus’ names.
Second point is around why harvest stops growing and that is because some of us are satisfied with the results of the past. Some of us are in the school of thought of ‘I get am before,’ I get am before is not an asset, I do and before is not an asset, what people are interested in is what are you doing lately? And I pray that God will help you to do great exploits in Jesus name.
This is not me, but this is God warning you and warning me. In Amos 6:1, woe to them that are at ease in Zion; let me contemporarize it, woe to them who think that they have arrived, woe to them who think that I need not hustle anymore, woe to them who think that I need not do anything for God, I’ve won souls in the past, I’ve gone on evangelism in the past, God is warning us. I pray there will be no woe to us in Jesus mighty name.
When we live on past reputation, spiritual decline is already manifested, and I pray that that will not be out portion in Jesus’ name. Many believers and churches today survive on old testimonies, former revivals, yesterday’s growth, past accomplishments; let me quote something, my mother’s generation, they have this saying, nigbati mo wa ni sango ode, in my prime, you are 70 you’re talking about prime, when did Moses start doing the work he did? At what age? You are quarter to 60, you’re acting like an old tired person, you are 60, you are 70, there is more to do. I want you to declare, I will do more, I will not rest on my words in Jesus name.
A church that celebrates only yesterday’s harvest will soon lose today’s relevance, may our church not lose relevance in Jesus’ name, may we not lose relevance in Jesus’ name. And as our father in the Lord typically says, may your validity never expire.
Why does the harvest stop growing? Because of a loss of burden for souls. Matthew 9:36, you know we serve a compassionate God, this was Jesus, He saw the multitude, He was moved with compassion on them; many of us we see people who are troubled, people who are going through one challenge or the other and we walk past them, when a simple ‘Jesus can help you, Jesus will fix you’, we have gotten accustomed to leaving souls as we meet them. I pray we will have a rethink in Jesus’ name.
Indeed, compassion is the engine room of harvest; when you are compassionate, nobody needs to preach to you to share the gospel or to encourage others, I don’t know about you, the amount of people I encounter in my network and when I talk about network – village, workplace, neighborhood, Arsenal supporters club, plenty of them that need encouragement, and what do we need to do? Connect them to Jesus. I pray that God will help us to have a heart of compassion in Jesus’ name.
When compassion dies, evangelism becomes optional; when compassion dies, many of us, plenty of us seated here will say am I a pastor? Am I a deacon?” That is their work. As far as I remember, the great commission is not for pastors only, is not for deacons only, is not for workers, it’s for everybody. I pray that when we get before God, we will not be stammering, by God’s grace, you will face God and you’ll make heaven in Jesus name. But you know, there are crowns for different levels of conduct. I pray that we’ will win several crowns in Jesus’ name.
We need to start seeing souls the way Jesus sees them, no church, I repeat, no church can grow beyond the depth of its compassion. I challenge all of us here, we are in Lekki territory, there’s so much pain and burden around us, there’s a lot we can do, you can have your own personal outreach to Itedo sside, you can have your personal outreach in the dead of the night in this territory because Lekki at night is different from Lekki during the daytime, do you agree with me? I know many of you don’t go out after 9:00 but some of us are on the road after 9, drive through Lekki and you know that we need to occupy Lekki for Jesus and God will help us in Jesus mighty name.
So brethren, for us and for the church, work is important, we have our work cut out for us, we should stop downgrading ourselves from mission people to maintenance people. You know what maintenance people do? I came into CTL, this is how I met CTL and this is how I’m going to leave CTL, no, you’re not a maintenance officer, leave that for NEPA or PHCN, your work is to go out into the field, do the labor that brings the harvest into the house of God, and we will not fail in that in Jesus mighty name.
My third point and this is a point for myself particularly and maybe for you and that’s a need for self-examination and this is the crux of the matter this morning. Where do you stand? There are four categories, pardon me if you think it’s a business school illustration, we’re looking at our passion for souls and we’re looking at the action that backs up that passion.
So we have people who have low passion for souls, low action, they are what we call consumers and spectators; you come, you mark the register, I was in CTL today, you feel good. God will help me, God will help you in Jesus name. They are called the settled saints, they attend church regularly, they focus on personal blessings – Father, miracle for me, Father, breakthrough for me, not wanting to give God anything, minimal kingdom burden. They rarely engage outsiders, their own Christianity is like FBI, secret, nobody must know my identity, and many of us behave like that in the workplace.
By the way, please go to our website, Morning Dew today, fantastic teaching by Pastor Umbulu on work as a tool of evangelism, this afternoon it will be on our website, please go look at it.
The next set of people are people who have a passion for souls, they want to do, they want to bring people in but action they not get. Have you heard this saying ‘fine boy no pimples, no action’, they are burdened but very passive, when you hear there’s evangelism on Saturday it doesn’t enter, they are very concerned observers, they love the things of the kingdom, they love God deeply and they desire revival, they pray for souls, they pray for harvest but because of a fear of rejection and lack of confidence, they can’t go and do the work.
Who told you that you have to do the work in your own strength? It is the Holy Spirit that enables you. They are burdened but passive.
Then we have the next set of people – religious activists. They have low passion for souls, action gragra they have it, they are busy but unbroken, they are active in church programs, they will not miss church, they serve diligently, they can organize outreach, they can organize events, evangelism for them is a routine, some of them even use it as exercise, you know walking is a form of exercise, but it’s not a burden for them. They are religious activists.
Then we have kingdom reapers and that’s where we ought to be. They are the laborers, actively evangelizing and bringing souls to the kingdom following up on converts, not just preaching to them but following up and they are burdened for souls and they are disciple makers and that’s where we want to be.
There are these four categories, I know where I want to be, I know where I am, where are you in this quadrant? Reflect for a moment, where are you? The pastor might see you every Sunday, every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, but God sees you. Where are you? Examine yourself. And I pray that God will give you the boldness to make the right decision in Jesus name.
You have to ask yourself honestly, do I truly have any measurable harvest? Has there been any genuine increase in souls on your part since last May when we had the explosive growth drive preaching? Is your spiritual impact growing? Like I said, this question is not just for you, it is for me as well. Are you satisfied with your past harvest?
Oh, when we went on evangelism in 2024, I spoke to 100 people, 10 people gave their lives, God, mark this in my register. God wants more from you and you will do more for Him in Jesus mighty name.
We remember Haggai 2:9 says God desires your latter glory to exceed the former, and please you need to back it up with the work that you need to do. What’s a key takeaway here for us? Selfexamination is not condemnation, that you’ve looked at this today and said this is where I belong to, is not condemnation, you have just brought yourself to the realization of where you are and where you should be going. And I pray that God will help you in Jesus name.
It’s the first step indeed towards our being recommissioned, and guess what? God cannot repair what we refuse to acknowledge. If I’m acting on how men see me rather than how God sees me, then we are not ready. I pray that God will help us in Jesus name.
And very importantly, what must we do? First, we must repent. Let us recognize the areas of decline, complacency, and stagnation, let us repent. Many of us think that repentance is weakness, it is not weakness, it is indeed the gateway to restoration. When you repent, you’re telling God, I have fallen short, I need Your help, help me, Lord, and God will help you in Jesus’ name.
You need to enlarge your vision. If you walked to this level last year, you have to enlarge your vision – I will do more, I will win more souls this year, in the local village where I will come from, I will support mission work to chase darkness away from my local village. Many of us go to villages where we cannot sleep, we are scared of people that should be scared of us because we have not done the work we should do. God will help us in Jesus name.
Isaiah 54:2 says, “Enlarge the place of your tent,” you must enlarge your capacity to do more for God this season and beyond in Jesus’ name. Let us lift up our eyes to the great work that God wants us to do, let us see beyond our current limitations. You cannot experience enlargement with a small vision and nobody will tax you for having a great vision. I pray God will help us in Jesus name.
Stretch your capacity. Philippians 4:13 tells us, I can do all things through Christ which strengthenth me; it’s not about your capabilities, God will stretch you spiritually, He will stretch you mentally, He will stretch you organizationally in Jesus name.
You have to lengthen your reach. Many of us are confused about how to go about it, just do something; in this digital age, it might just be somebody who you know is going through trouble, somebody who does not have Jesus in his life, send an electronic message to encourage that person.
At the end of this service, we’ll share what we have in the Redeemed Christian Church of God, a call to salvation that you can share with that person who needs encouragement, it is not difficult, the choice is before us, let’s make the right choice. We must know, if you want new wine, it requires new wine skins, we require a new you, a reinvigorated you to do the work that we want to do.
While we’re working on the harvest to bring the harvest into the house, some of us here indeed are needed to be harvest first and foremost. You must stop being in that lower left hand column where you’re a church goer, you come in here but you do not have a relationship with Jesus, Jesus is calling you this morning to leave that quadrant to become a harvest yourself so that you can begin to bring harvest in.
So if you are here this morning, you know you have looked at that quadrant, you have set yourself, you know that Jesus I am waiting to be harvested, this is the time for you to become a harvest. So if you are here this morning and you want to surrender your life to Jesus, you are tired of going round and around in circles, going round that mountain and not accomplishing much…
[Altar call]
But for the rest of us, let us rise to our feet, we need to rededicate ourselves. Many of us, our spiritual fires have gone down, so I want us to pray and say Father, where my spiritual fire has gone down, rekindle that fire in the name of Jesus, oh, rekindle Your fire in my life in the name of Jesus.
Father, You restored Peter when he was down, Father, restore me in the mighty name of Jesus. Father please restore my passion, Father, restore my fire, Father restore my burden for souls in the name of Jesus.
We’ll continue to pray and say Father, align my life and ministry with Your agenda of greater still, deliver me, oh Lord, from stagnation, from mediocrity, position me for a continuous increase in harvest in the name of Jesus.
You’ll cry out and say Father, restore my compassion for souls, let my heart burn again for the lost, remove every coldness, every lukewarmness, and every distraction for my life in the name of Jesus. In Jesus name we’ve prayed.
This particular prayer, if you don’t want it for yourself, pray it for me, you’ll say Father, deliver me from satisfaction with past results, break every spirit of conplacency, provoke me, oh Lord, into a greater harvest. In Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
Brethren, I believe there are still a number of us who need to answer the call, you are free to come out anytime before the service ends, and I pray that God will help us in Jesus’ name. Thank You, Father, thank You, Lord, for in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
