DIVINE ENCOUNTER WITH CHRIST SAVING POWER
(Ephesians 1:19-22 (KJV)
“And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,.
Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,”
When we look at this passage of the Bible, it describes the power of Christ. It described the authority of Christ. Christ, by shedding His own blood, all power over principalities; all powers in the world; all powers over the mind; all power over dominion has been given unto Him. And every name, including the one that shall be named, has been brought under the dominion of Christ.
This is why today we are talking about CHRIST’S SAVING POWER. That is, the power that can save; the power that can deliver; the power that can set free.
When you come to Christ, in Him you have authority; power; dominion. And you can’t have these privileges until you come to Him; until you surrender all to Him. It is my prayer that before the end of this message, you will experience the saving power of Christ in Jesus name.
You know, in the history of slave trade, we heard of so many painful things. When I was in school, we were taken for an excursion to the place and told us a lot of things that happened. Out of all the things that happened, there was a remarkable event that I cannot forget.
According to history, people suffered pain; people were bound with fetters; people suffered hunger and thirst; they suffered terrible illnesses without being treated; they were tied like animals and they treated them like non living things. The masters of the slaves or the jailer has no pity or mercy over them.
In fact, they were heartless. They do not have human feelings. They were desperately wicked. It was a time of great sorrow and it was a time of great pain. But in that time there was a particular country that was opposing slave trade. It’s just a group of people. They stood against slave trade. And a line was drawn; there was a particular ground.
And the law was that, if any slave escaped to that ground and crossed that line drawn, such a slave is free and forever free. They won’t be able to take him as a slave again. And the people that opposed the idea if slave trade will receive any slave that eescapes. And are going to remove whatever filthy garment that they put on.
But the fact I want you to know is this. The condition of the sinners is worse than that. All sinners are spiritually in bondage. This is why when the scripture gave the description of a sinner, it says that they are wretched; blind; poor; miserable; slaves. Why? It is because of that identification number of Satan in their lives.
This is why Christ died, so that we can escape from the slavery of Satan. And thank God because Christ shed His blood so that we can be free and free indeed.
What am I trying to say? If ordinary humans could deliver, how much more is our God?
When the slaves try to escape, the people opposing the slave trade try and help them that nobody that can be able to touch those slaves again. All titles of slave will be removed.
If human beings could do that, how much more is God? How much more is Jesus Christ?
Listen carefully to me. The purpose why Jesus died is not only to give us freedom; it’s not only to give us healing but also to give us eternal life in the kingdom of God.
This is why you must encounter that saving power. And you cannot encounter it until you become His friend; until you make your way right with Him. This is because ch6has shed His blood. He shed His blood for our salvation. He shed His blood for our healing. He shed His blood for our redemption. He shed His blood for our deliverance. He has power because all power in heaven and on earth has been given unto Him.
I want you to shout this: All power has been given unto Jesus. All power in heaven and on earth has been given unto Him.
Power over the world has been given unto Him.
Power to overcome the world has been given unto Him.
Power over Satan has been given unto Him.
Power over demons has been given unto Him.
Power over sickness has been given unto Him.
Power over satanic powers; witchcraft powers has been given unto Him.
Power over the wickedness in high places has been given unto Him.
Power over familiar spirits power has been given unto Him.
Power over all powers has been given to Him.
All power, name them maybe by the little gods people are worshipping, but the Lord says all power in heaven and on earth has been given unto Him.
Matthew 28:18 (KJV)
“And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth.”
This happened after His resurrection. As if He’s saying, “I have shed my blood for it. And I am back. I died; I rose up again and I’m alive now. And do you know what? Know that I am alive; not that I have just come to appear to you and say that I am the Saviour. But I want to say this so that you can be bold. So that anywhere you go and any situation you find yourself. All power belongs to me.”
No wonder John the beloved says;
1 John 4:4 (KJV)
“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
What does that mean?
It is because Jesus has foretold it in Matthew.
“All power is given unto me in heaven and the earth.”
I am praying for you that in your situation the Lord will prove His mighty power.
And one thing that proves that statement is the meaning of ‘CHRIST.’ It means ‘the anointed’. And if you check the Old Testament, the Bible says;
Isaiah 10:27 (KJV)
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.”
It says that the yoke shall be broken by the anointing. And now Christ has purchased the power and anyone that comes to Christ will have the privilege to receive that power – power over principalities and power.
The meaning of Christ is ‘the anointed’.
He was anointed for our freedom.
He was anointed for our salvation.
He was anointed for our eternal life.
He was anointed for our healing.
He was anointed for our redemption.
And it is my prayer today that we will see that power.
Acts 10:38 (KJV)
“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.”
And before Jesus was taken to heaven, He said in the book of;
Acts 1:8 (KJV)
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
And now the Bible is saying in chapter 10, “How God anointed Jesus Christ of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and power who went about doing good.”
Jesus will come and do good in your life today.
Think of any problem that looks so big before men, Christ will say, “I can solve them.”
Think of any disease at all; list them by their names. Christ will say, “I can heal them.”
Think of any incurable disease before men, Christ will say, “I can heal them.”
Think of any sickness that looks so terrible before men, Christ will say, “I can heal them.”
Think of anything at all. No matter how big and mighty they may be before men, the biggest mountain is just like an ordinary cockroach before He can just crush.
Your problem is not too big for God. There is no problem on earth that the power of Christ cannot save. Christ says, “I can handle all of them.” This is because all power has been given unto Him in heaven and on earth.
When a man under affliction asks the Lord, “Can I be free? Do you think I can be free?”
He says, “I can deliver. You can be free. Not only that you will be free but you will be free indeed.”
I remember a false prophet that came to Badagry some years back. And he has charmed himself with fetish powers. By the time he got to the crusade ground, the lame began to walk. A lot of things began to happen. But immediately he left, those that had crushes before, their condition turned upside down – it became worse. They have to look for another crush. That is not the power of Christ.
But the Lord says,
John 8:36 (KJV)
“If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
You will be free indeed if Christ sets you free.
Psalms 20:6 (KJV)
“Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.”
It means that when you call upon the name of the Lord, He will intervene; He will arise and deliver you from your affliction. But you need to understand that the Bible says ‘his anointed.’
This privilege is only for those who are in Christ. For the sinners, if you call upon Him, He will give you salvation. But it is so sad that so many people want deliverance, healing but they don’t want to be saved. They hate the salvation of their soul.
If you preach the gospel to them, they will be like, “Pastor don’t talk about that. All I just want is that I don’t want to be having this evil dream again.”
If you preach the gospel to them they will say, “I don’t need that one. All I need is for you to give me the psalm to reach and prayer to pray.”
It doesn’t work like that. Every child of God has been anointed. And those who are outside Christ don’t have this privilege.
Listen to me: this privilege is the birthright of all the children of God, that we can cry, ‘ABBA Father.’ That anytime we call upon Him, He will hear His anointed out of heaven with the saving strength of His right hand.
But the lives of anyone that is outside Christ are full of crises. A sinner is a person that is deeply depraved; evil and bad. I mean the ordinary meaning of ‘sinner’. A man or woman is deeply depraved, evil and bad is a sinner.
There is a distance between God and anyone that is outside Christ.
Isaiah 59:1-2 (KJV)
“Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”
There are so many people who have been calling upon the name of the Lord, but the Lord is saying, “Before I can do anything you must fix that gap between Me and you. You must restore your ways. You must turn away from.your sin.”
There is a distance between a sinner and god because of iniquity. It is because their state is a malicious state. A state of injustice and unrighteousness. And this is why every sinner is at conflict with God.
It is not until when you say, “God I am fighting you.” It is not until when you say, “God I hate you,” but your lifestyle; the life you are living; your actions; your thoughts; your motives; the company you keep; the people you walk with; living in the pleasures of the world; living in carnal delight; shows that you are at conflict with God.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a sinner in the church; or a 8sinning worker in the church; it doesn’t matter the position you occupy, if you have not repented of your sins; if you have not had a personal encounter with Christ – the encounter that transforms a sinner to saint; you are at conflict with God.
That encounter is the day you see your wretchedness; it is the day you see yourself as a wandered sheep – a sheep that has gone astray. You see your depraved nature; you see your miserableness; you see your wretchedness and you fell before Calvary because from Calvary comes solution. You saw the precious blood of Christ and you call on Him and say, “Lord Jesus, I know myself as a sinner.”
That is an encounter I am talking about.
But whosoever – anybody that has not had this personal encounter is at conflict with his Saviour; his Creator.
The Bible says,
Isaiah 45:9 (KJV)
“Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?”
Such a person is at conflict with his Redeemer.
Such a person is at conflict with his Deliverer.
A man fell into a deep water and somebody jumped into the water in order to pull him out; deliver him and rescue him. And this person was drowning before the rescuer jumped in. And the rescuer tried to draw him out, but he said, “Leave me alone.”
And is fighting the person that will rescue him. The time will come that this fellow will give up on him.
It is my prayer that the Lord will not give up.on your soul.
Every sinner is at conflict with his Restorer.
And the Lord is saying, “Before I can manifest Myself as a saving Christ; before I can manifest Myself in your life as a Saviour; Deliverer; Redeemer and Restorer, you must be at conflict with sin. You must be at conflict with Satan. You must be at conflict with the world. This is because I hate sin. I cannot look at sin with delight. My nature is against it. Everything about Me is against it. My kingdom is against it.”
In case you don’t know, there was an Angel, one only the Cherubs called Lucifer. He was decorated with the glory of God. In fact, he was given much privilege to dance before the throne of God. He was given an uncommon opportunity in the kingdom of God. God loved this angel. But he allowed pride.
But because God loves you, He will never say, “Well I love him and he has gone into compromise and backsliding. But because I love him, I will.let him go like that and he will enter my kingdom like that.”
No! God is not a respecter of anybody. God cannot trample upon His standards because he loves you. The Bible says;
Hebrews 12:14 (KJV)
“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:”
Psalms 119:89 (KJV)
“For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.”
It is the same word guiding the Angels. So it doesn’t matter how He loves you.
“If you go against my word, then you will see my wrath. It doesn’t matter how I anointed you. It doesn’t matter how special you may be. I may have appeared to you in a vision. I may have appeared to you in a dream, but if you trample upon my word; if you trample upon my standard, then you will see my wrath.
This thing happened to Lucifer, because of the privilege and opportunity given to him by God. Then he began to have pride, “How I wish I can go to the throne of the Highest and sit upon His throne and rule this heaven.”
Ezekiel 28:14-16 (KJV)
“Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.”
You see that?
Look at that passage. This was an anointed cherub, but the day that iniquity was found in him,
Although God has no beginning and end, as if God is saying, “Since when I have created heaven, there is nothing called sun here. You have come to violate my standards? You have come to defile my holy place? Such will not happen.”
And he was cast out of heaven.
And one day the Lord spoke to me, He said, “Because of his iniquity, he has turned to horror.” The holiness in his life turned to worldliness. All the positive things in his life now turned negative. He was beautiful before but now he is ugly. There is now violence in him.
This is why you must understand that if you want to experience the saving power of Christ, you must be at conflict with sin. You must understand that Satan hates you. That is the fact that I want you to know. I have experienced that. Satan was determined to waste my life right from my very young age. At my young age, I was determined to be a hired killer.
I will be going to the bush planning wickedness. The devil wanted to waste my life. Thank God for the saving power of Christ. When He delivered me, that very night I saw a demon – very big and gigantic. His wings were so mighty and he was pushing me little by little towards a big pit. And I began to cry for help.
As I was crying for help, an angel of God came there, and used his two fingers – not all the hand, just two fingers to pick the demon that looked so giant, terrible and fearful before me and threw him into the bottomless pit. That was my first encounter when I gave my life to Christ.
I am praying for you that because you are reading this, every power of darkness that is pushing you towards destruction, today the saving power will deliver you.
Satan is your enemy. He is a destroyer. He is a thief. He is a robber. He is a liar. He is a deceiver. And listen to me, he puts sin before you; he shows you the pleasures of sin because he hates you and wants to waste you. He comes to steal your joy.
That is a fact. Anyone that is outside Christ, no matter what they have it can never give them joy. Joy only comes from God. It is the joy that remains even though you are going through hard situations. Sinners do not have joy. They may be happy because of what they see; because of the money they have but joy is not meant for sinners. It is only for those who are in Christ.
Satan comes in order to destroy you. That is his purpose. He comes to destroy your future. Do you know that if I had continued with that determination and been arrested, I would have been in Kirikiri today. You see, the devil is a wicked being.
But when God changed my life; changed my ambition; changed my career because all that I was planning to be was totally against His will for my life, everything changed.
The devil comes in order to destroy your destiny because he knows that the fulfilment of your destiny will shake his kingdom. And he comes to destroy your only soul because he knows that once your soul is lost, it is forever lost.
But Satan cannot achieve these unless you cooperate with him. And what is the meaning of that cooperation?
It is procrastinating the day of your salvation.
It is continuing in worldly pleasures despite the call of God to you; despite the invitation of Christ to you; despite the years of the of Christ calling.
This is why Satan will keep.on tempting you. He will hinder you from believing the gospel. And once you agree with him, it’s like you fill a form. When that sin comes, it means, “Do you agree with me that your only soul should be wasted? Do you agree with me to rob you of all the virtues in your life? Do you agree with me that all your future and destiny should be destroyed by me?”
When you yield to that sin is like when you say, “Oh master devil, I agree with you with this my signature.” When you yield to that sin or temptation, you have agreed with him.
Every power that always pushes you to do wrong things the Lord will deliver you in the name of Jesus.
The Lord is saying, “You cannot continue in your sin and expect me to deliver you. You cannot harden your heart and expect Me to deliver you. You cannot expect Me to deliver you when you choose to follow the pleasures of sin.
John 10:10 (KJV)
“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
Jesus said, “I come to give you joy. I come to restore your soul because your soul is lost in the valley of worldly pleasures. But if you can allow Me in your life, I can restore your soul. I will come and I will save your soul. I will come and I will set you free. I will come and I will give you abundant life.”
This is why there is one great work that Jesus has done for us on the cross; a mighty work that He has finished completely. And that work is the work of atonement.
That work is the work of sacrifice. That work is the work of substitution. He laid down His life so that He can save us. He laid down His life so that He can save your soul. He laid down His life; shed His blood; they beat Him and spat on Him.
The day I was coming back from Kwara state crusade and revival program and was inside the vehicle. The Lord just decided to open my eyes to see the agony that took place at that time. And I discovered something that the film ‘Passion of Christ’ is nothing compared to what really happened.
What Jesus went through was so painful. I was shedding tears in my heart. And do you know what He asked me?
“With all these, what else do human beings want me to do? I have shed my blood. What else do humans want me to do? I suffered pain for you, what else do you want me to do?”
John 3:16 (KJV)
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
You have only one soul.
Listen carefully: If you have only one son and now a criminal was caught somewhere and was dragged to court. And he was judged and it was concluded that the criminal is to die by hanging. And that your only son said, “Wait, wait. Leave him alone. I will die for him.”
If you are there, what will you do? You will allow him to go and die?
But when Jesus was on the cross, He even cried, “My Father, My Father, why hath thou forsaken Me.” But the Father left Him at the cross because He wanted to give you salvation. The pain was too much. The tears were too much. Just because of you and me. What else do you want Jesus to do? If He could die again, He would have done that.
But it is appointed unto all men once to die (Hebrews 9:27).
Jesus did not just sit in heaven and leave us. He did not just sit in heaven and is __watch_ us from a distance. He did not just stand on the shore and seal our wreck; and behold us struggling and struggling in that mighty ocean. But He put Himself into that tide – He came from that wreck Himself; He became man to save our souls; He bore our sins and carried our transgressions.
When I saw when He was carrying the cross – a very heavy wood; a particular soldier just used his shoe to push him and He fell down and the cross fell on his head. They did not even allow Him to stand up for 2mins. Some armies have gotten there and are flogging Him to stand up. Imagine that pain. All because He wants to save you.
This is why if you choose to go to hell you will blame yourself. Grace and opportunity of salvation will be too late.
When they put the nail on His hand, He looked at it and tears began to come out from His eyes. He was shedding tears. And the army raised up the hammer and knocked it. He shouted, “Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.”
Do you know the meaning of that? “I am dying for them to have salvation. I am dying for them to have eternal life. Forgive them.”
But he that does without the salvation of Christ will not be forgiven for all eternity.
He became a man and went to the cross.
He became a man and died. And when He died, He shed His blood in order to save us.
He became a curse for us so that He can breach the gap between us and God. This is because sin has separated us from God. Then He became a curse so that He can breach the gulf between us and God and make a way by which we can draw near to God and call Him, “ABBA Father.”
And on the day of His resurrection, something remarkable happened. When He rose, the napkin that was used to cover Him was folded and kept aside.
And according to the Hebrew tradition, when a master is eating and he folds his napkin, it is telling the servant there – that is serving him, that he is coming back. That slave dare not touch that table.
When that cloth folded, it left a powerful message there, “I have died and risen up. And I am coming back again.”
I am praying for you that anything in your life that will stop you when the Lord will come, the Lord will expose them to you today in the name of Jesus.
But Satan hates you. This is why you see a lot of inventions in the world.
I don’t know what you are going through now. You may be going through a painful time. if you can come to Christ, He is able to save you. He is able to deliver you.
And it is my prayer that as you are going to make such a wonderful decision, the Lord will save your soul in Jesus name.
Until when you give your life to Christ is when you will discover that those things that normally bring fear to your heart are nothing before Christ.
That is when you will discover that those things that used to bother you will not bother you again.
That is when you will discover that those situations you are going through can be turned around.
That is when you will discover that those things you are going through that seems endless, Christ can put an end to them.
That is when you will discover that your life that looks so miserable and lost can be remoulded and repaired by Christ.
That is when you will discover that the thing that made you afraid , especially when night is coming, is nothing.
“Night is coming again. This fearful dream is coming again.”
Some people will even use drugs so that they will not sleep. Because they know that once they just close their eyes, it is trouble. I know somebody like that. She must not sleep. If she sleeps, she’s in big trouble. But when we are doing one of the Tuesday vigils, the power of God delivers her and she starts to sleep like a baby.
I am praying for you, that is because you are here tonight, those things that used to trouble you shall trouble you no more.
But listen to me: this is the terms and conditions. If you want to apply for anything, they will tell you to read the terms and conditions. And when you agree with it, that is when they will be able to give you that thing.
But thank God that Jesus is not asking us for money before we can be saved. There are some people that will say, “If you want to have salvation, come out with #10,000; #20,000; #50,000.”
Salvation cannot be purchased with money. It is your genuine decision – decision to follow the Lord; to give your life entirely to Christ.
You must come to Jesus. You must accept Him as your Lord and personal Saviour.
But you must first realize yourself as a sinner.
Romans 3:23 (KJV)
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
You must repent of your sin. Those sins you used to do, you stop it.
Like this song we used to sing;
“Great change since I’m born again,
Great change since I’m born again,
Great change since I’m born again,
The place I used to go,I go there no more
The worldly music I used to listen to, I will listen to them no more.
The worldly films I used to watch, I will watch them no more
The evil friends I used to keep, I will keep them no more
The worldly way of dressing I used to dress, I will dress that way more.
The things I used to say; the things I used to think; the evil things I used to write, I will do them no more.”
Why? “Because there is a great change since I was born again.”
So being born again is not just coming to the altar and making some prayers. It is a change of life; a transformed life; change of choice; change of decision; of a change of ambition; a change of all areas.
You must repent of your sins. You must invite Jesus into your life and renounce your sins. Then you start to walk with the Lord in the newness of life.
Then after this, you must study your Bible daily. You must be going to a Bible believing church where they preach holiness, where you will grow in the knowledge of God. And you must be a man of prayer – not a gentle prayer but aggressive prayer.
Don’t say,”I am not ready for Jesus now”
According to the Yoruba language, ‘Jesu’ means ‘Jesus’. And when you remove ‘J’ from ‘Jesu’, it will remain, ‘esu’ which means ‘devil’ when you interpret it in English. And a lady asked that day, if you remove ‘J’ from ‘Jesu’ and the people around answered ‘devil’.
And she died without Christ. I know that she will never forget that day in eternity. And the devil will keep.telling her, “You have said you want to serve me, so you must now serve me.”
Settle that issue with God now. Tomorrow might be too late.
