By Bisi Daniels
The second evening of the on-going 2020 Holy Ghost Congress of the Redeemed Christian Church of God was a heavy evening for sober reflection, even as the General Overseer of the church, Pastor Enoch Adeboye preached about how to be a high-flyer in life.
The theme of the Congress is, “It is time to fly.”
In one of the many testimonies to illustrate how to “fly” he recalled how one of his spiritual sons in Ilorin, Kwara State, where he was based then, confessed to forging a teaching certificate at the risk of being convicted.
“The young man heard a sermon like this and rushed to the College where he was teaching with a forged certificate to confess his sin to the principal: ‘I am sorry sir, I didn’t have the certificate that I claimed I have, I want to resign.’
Shocked, the principal asked: ‘Do you know what you are saying? This could land you in jail.’
“The young man replied boldly, ‘That is fine, sir, it is up to you – you can let me go free because I have come to resign or you can hand me to the police. They could send me to prison but I won’t die in prison because the crime that I have committed is not punishable by death. I will come out and then I will continue my life.
‘But while in prison, I will be a free man because the burden of living a false life will be gone.
“The principal looked at him for a while and said if he was resigning he could go!
“That young man surrendered to God and decided to serve Him diligently. He became a Bishop, started his own Ministry and God prospered the it mightily.”
“Sin is a killer, don’t toy with it,” Pastor Adeboye stressed at a point.
“It can kill you physically; it can kill you materially; it can kill mentally; it can kill financially; it can kill maritally; it can kill your career and it can separate you from the God.
Reading from Ephesians 2:1-7 for his sermon, he dwelt extensively on how sin ruined the first man, Adam, and how the coming of Jesus Christ restored the relationship of mankind with God.
• He said, God created man a high-flyer and blessed him to be fruitful and dominate the earth.
• Adam was a high-flyer, made extremely strong to take charge of the large Garden of Eden; extremely wealthy with all the resources of the garden; mentally a high-flyer to be able to name all the animals; maritally high-flyer because he was provided a wife by God himself. He was a high-flyer all-round.
• Then the couple sinned against God, straining their relationship with Him
• With that came fear and shame, making them try to hide from their Creator.
• Curses followed and the couple was chased out of the garden, thereby losing everything God had provided them.
• Death came later when Cain killed his blood brother.
• As a matter of fact, things got so bad that in Genesis 6:5-7; the Bible says God regretted that He created man.
• But among the curses was that the seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the agent of sin – the serpent
• Year after, a flood reduced mankind to Noah’s family
• And many more years later, a Saviour, Jesus Christ, was born to provide salvation through a sacrificial death on the cross, which reconciled man with God. The Bible says in John 1:29: “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.”
• After the Cross, looking up to Jesus removed shame and fear, including the fear of death; and all the pain associated with sin!
• Look unto Jesus Christ now and you can fly out of sickness; out poverty; out of loneliness; out of bondage; out of stagnation and all punishments from sin.
Pastor Adeboye, also known as a holiness preacher, stressed that despite all the benefits of the arrival of Jesus, which served as a turning point in man’s relationship with God, His standard remained the same.
He said God’s standard was not just an Old Testament standard meant for only Adam, but it is also made clear in the New Testament for us to live by: No lying, cheating, corruption, anger, fornication or indecent language.
“If you are not yet a child of God you have to look up to Jesus and surrender to God to be a high-flyer with His blessing.
“And those who say they are children of God should know there are no half-measures and no on-and-off relationship with God
A high-flyer’s life is not a life of impurity, obscurity or backsliding, but an exemplary life that draws people to God, in addition to our efforts at winning souls.
Although he admits that there is usually a price to pay for it, he reminds people that God remains on the throne and rewards those who become His children and serve Him in spirit and in truth.
“Your standard of Christianity must show you are a high-flyer!” he said.
As in his usual practice, he made an alter call and prayed for those who gave their lives to Jesus Christ. Transcript of the full sermon is courtesy of The Discovery Media Crew.
The day had begun in the morning with Presentations of the “Pastors’ Seed Family” and Teens. The evening session, which commenced at 6pm with prayers and intercession, was followed by the popular praise and worship led by the Mass Choir, which returned for a choir ministration before Pastor Adeboye came on.
