The General overseer of the Redeemed Christian church of God Pastor Enoch Adeboye has warned against reliance on material wealth.
He gave the warning at the Lagos headquartres of the church on Sunday, November 6.
From riches to rags
Adeboye also gave instances of many rich folks who later became poor. He cited the instance of a wealthy Nigerian who had houses in the UK but ended up in the village wearing rags in a mud house.
He also cited the example of a Lagos rich man who had many houses. ‘He was a very rich man. But he was a wicked man.
“At a point he became sick and he had to sell his house one after the other to take care of his health.
“When he was about to sell his last house the doctors decided to perform an explorative surgery on him. That was when they discovered his liver had turned to stone. He was discharged from the hospital to go and die in his house because the doctors could not help him.”
Adeboye then explained that anything that is material wealth can disappear adding, ‘If you don’t have Christ you don’t have rest’
Blessings money can’t buy
Earlier in his message titled, Overflowing blessing, he talked about blessings that money can’t buy. “There are lots of rich people who can’t sleep and can’t eat. Those who manufacture drugs are making money off them.
“One of the greatest blessings you can thank God for is to be at peace with God. When you have peace with God your mind will be at rest. A lot of people are developing high blood pressure today because of the trouble of this world.
“When you are at peace with God you know your tomorrow is alright. The Bible tells us, say to the righteous it shall be well with him. We know tomorrow will be alright.
“It does not matter what happens as long as I belong to Jesus my tomorrow will be alright. Be at peace with God. If you’re not at peace with God you will have no cause to be Afraid.”
I sleep easily
While declaring that he is not a billionaire he said, ‘I can sleep any time. In fact, the reason I take a walk while praying is that I don’t want to fall asleep. When I want to pray I walk around I know a man who had 14 houses in Ibadan who could not sleep.
“Good health is a blessing. Some of us don’t appreciate what God has done for us. You can be rich and sick. Of what use is money then?
“Of what use was the money of Naaman who could not even embrace his children because of his leprosy? If God gives you the ability to sleep it’s a blessing. Count your blessings name them one by one.”
He said however that material blessing comes on different levels. He talked about the category of the poor, the comfortable, the rich, and the wealthy. He also talked about the category of the prosperous and the flourishing.
Overflowing blessings
Talking about the overflowing blessing he said, “God can bless you and make your blessing flow to others. The wealthy will help the poor. The strong will help the weak. Those who have material wealth will help those who are rich in faith. Those who are rich in faith will help the one who is rich materially.
He said anybody can rise to the point of being a blessing irrespective of the person’s status. “A house help was the one who helped Naaman by introducing him to the prophet in Israel for his healing.
“There was a man who was discharged from the hospital in the UK and was brought home to die. The man could not walk. It was his maid that advised him to come and see me for prayers.
‘The man was brought to my living room for prayers. We prayed simple prayers after he had given his life to Christ and God healed him.”