MOUNTAIN OF FIRE AND MIRACLES MINISTRIES
International Headquarters, Lagos, Nigeria.
Sunday Worship Service
May 7th, 2023.
Topic: THE COMPANY OF HOLY ADDICTS (5)
Text: 1 Corinthians 16:15; Mark 4:3–7; 18–20; Revelation 12:11.
Ministering: Dr. Daniel Olukoya (G.O. MFM Worldwide).
We have been defining what addiction means in the negative sense, which is an inability to stop doing something. So when you are a Jesus’ addict, you enter the grace of God in a new way. And we began to explain what we should be addicted to as Christians. And we said:
1. The presence of God.
2. The Word of God, which took us to look at the parable of the sower in Mark 4, on the different kinds of hearts that receive the word of God. We have discussed:
1. The wayside heart—the distracted heart.
2. The stony heart—the heart that comes to God and leaves with nothing.
Mark 4:7 (KJV) says: “And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.”
We will be discussing the third kind of heart today, which is the thorny heart. This kind of heart, Jesus began to explain in verses 18–19 of Mark 4, which says: “And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.”
Jesus said this kind of heart is affected by three things:
– the cares of this world: anxiety, worry, fame, and running after worldly things that will not last.
– The deceitfulness of riches: when you think that once you have money, that is all. If you think coming to this world is just to make money, then you have come to live a miserable life. And those who think that money can buy everything will know that money cannot buy everything. Money can buy you furniture, but not comfort. It can buy you a house, but not a home. It can buy you a certificate, but not a brain.
– and the lust of other things entering in: different kinds of lust after money, the opposite sex, and all kinds of terrible things you should not lust after.
When these three things are in your life (the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and lust), they will choke the Word of God in your life and make it unfruitful. Are you that kind of heart? Then you cannot get addicted to Jesus until you get out of it.
Mark 4:20 (KJV) says: “And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.”
This is the group to which the addicts belong. Are you addicted to Jesus? If you are not, you better plan to be. The Bible says we should not be drunk with wine but with the Holy Spirit. When a person is addicted to certain things, they can hardly wait until they get alone and experience the things that make them have that experience. So in the same way, if you are addicted to God, you can hardly wait to get into His presence. David said “In the presence of God is fullness of joy”. Addicts find themselves daydreaming about their addictions and their habits.
Addicts regularly turn to their habits whenever they are worried or sick. They go to their drugs or cigarettes. They normally get upset if they cannot partake in that habit for a long period of time. They prefer to be with other addicts. It must be the same for us when we are holy addicts to Jesus. This is a very, very serious matter, and we need to understand it very well. God is as close to you as you want to be to Him. You move closer to Him, and He will move closer to you. If you move far away from Him, He will move farther away from you.
When you are a Jesus’ addict, you will be craving Him. You will need Him to function and even breathe. If you are addicted to Jesus, you want to be with Him all the time. Many come to worship services, but they do not enjoy them; they want to be somewhere else. But when you are a Jesus’ addict, He becomes the source of your love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. You become a Jesus’ follower. If something is happening to you, the first question you are going to ask is, “What would Jesus do in this situation?” When you are a Jesus’ addict, your every thought, word, and deed will be motivated by God’s unconditional love, revealed and powered by the Holy Ghost. You must get addicted to:
– God’s presence,
– scripture reading,
– Praising God,
– praying without ceasing,
– evangelism,
– studying the Word of God.
So people with addiction wake up every morning with one thing on their minds. They cannot get back to taking their drugs or cigarettes. And because they are addicted, they do not care how much effort they have to put in to get what they want. Sometimes they sell off all their properties to get that drug into their systems. To get that drug into their bodies, they do not care who they hurt. They do not care who they connive with; they do not care who they have to speak to.
This is how we ought to feel about our relationship with God. The apostles were beaten up for preaching the gospel, but they were smiling and praising God. They said “Thank God, we are being counted worthy to be beaten for the name of Christ”. The consuming fire of God must be in you. Jeremiah said “The fire was shut up in my bones, and I could not stay”. He could not hold that consuming fire of God.
This is the question for you now:
Are you the kind of Christian that can hardly wait until you get to the presence of God? Do you find yourself being lost in Jesus?
You must get addicted to praising God and to prayer. The Bible says, “Pray without ceasing”. You must get addicted to fellowshipping with the people of God, sharing the gospel with others, and giving to the needy. You must get addicted to God so much that you do not count your life as important to God’s service. The book of Revelation, chapter 12:11, tells us something. It is a deep scripture. It says: “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”
These people loved not their lives unto the death. They were ready to sacrifice their lives unto Jesus. They were addicted to Him.
I read a story many years ago. In communist countries where churches are not allowed to operate in the open, some believers were hiding in the basement of a building and holding a prayer vigil. People were not supposed to gather like that, but they were gathering and hiding there. There were always soldiers going around to see who was breaking the law, and if they caught any offenders, the punishment was capital punishment.
All of a sudden, in the middle of the vigil, there was a loud bang on the door, which was very unusual. They opened the door, and two armed soldiers came in. The soldiers said, “You people are breaking the law of this place, and you are all in trouble now. But we are going to give you a chance. Those of you who are ready to die for Jesus go to one side, and those who are not ready to die go to another side. But let us warn you: if you go to the side of those ready to die, we are shooting you down right away. But those who do not want to die shall be allowed to go free”.
120 people were gathered for the vigil, and the drama started. The pastor moved to the side of those who did not mind dying for Christ. His wife and son crossed over with him, and three more people crossed over with him, making a total of six people. The remaining others went to the side that did not want to die. Imagine that in a prayer meeting of 120 people, only six people were addicted to Jesus. So the soldiers looked at those people who said they did not want to die and ordered them to go back home.
They ran home immediately, and on their way, they were saying, “Ah, we are not going to see the pastor anymore. These soldiers are going to kill them”. After those people rushed out, to the amazement of the pastor, these two soldiers shut the door, put their guns down, and said, “We are Christians like you. Let us continue with the vigil. Those people are the ones hindering your prayers. They come with a half-hearted heart. They come to the presence of God not expecting much to happen. Their heart is not there”.
God is calling for holy addicts. So if they have not started accusing you where you are that you have become fanatical, then you are not His addict yet. When you become His addict, they will complain about you. They will tell you that you are too serious. Believers who are not serious will tell you that you are too serious.
PRAYER POINTS.
[Before Message]
1. Powers preparing the rain of shame to fall upon me, your time is up, die in Jesus’ name.
2. Everything disguising to destroy my portion, die in Jesus’ name.
3. Whatever is empowering my battles, wherever you are, die in Jesus’ name.
4. Mighty testimonies that will take old testimonies away from my mouth, manifest in my life, in Jesus’ name.
5. Powers saying, “Leave him; he will not go far,” die in Jesus’ name.
6. Battles that want me to be lost in the crowd: you are a liar; die in Jesus’ name.
7. Glory that left my life in the night, come back by fire in Jesus’ name.
After Message.
(Sing: “Send down revival, Lord; let it start within my soul. Holy Ghost revival, pentecostal fire!)
Tell the Lord to deliver you from any chain holding you back from becoming the best for heaven.
God bless you🙏