Multiple Wonders By Pastor E. A. Adeboye

Text: Exodus 15:11

The text is talking about our God. It says, “who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?”

A wonder is that which causes you to wonder, a wonder is that which causes you to open your mouth that you can’t close it. In the name that is above every other name, every one of you will experience a wonder today.

So why on earth will God perform multiple wonders, why?

There are so many reasons but I’ll just pick one or two of them.

Number one is to show His Supremacy over and above all His enemies. You know Ecclesiastes 5:8 tells us God is higher than the highest so when He wants to show the enemies in particular that He is higher than they are, He does multiple wonders. For example, consider God versus Pharaoh. In those days, Pharaoh was the biggest King around so God decided to show him that someone is greater than somebody else, and so, He arranged for a competition. If you read Exodus 7:10-25, you’ll see certain things happening. For example, Moses threw down his rod and it became a serpent. Oh, the magicians of Egypt said what’s that? We too can do that. They threw down their own rods and their rods became serpents, too. And the serpent of God swallowed all the serpents of the magicians and then became a rod again.

Now, that’s a wonder. That a rod became a serpent, it’s a wonder; that a serpent can swallow other serpents, that’s another wonder. So, there’s news for those competing with you back home. Let them get all their magic together, by the time you get home, one rod will be swallowing other rods.

Then, you find Moses turning water to blood and the magicians said, “oh, we can do the same thing” and they did it. By the time you get to Exodus 8:1-7, Moses brought forth frogs out of the rivers and the magicians said we can do that and they did it. So, there was round 1, round 2 and round 3, then God said no problem, let’s move to round 4. In Exodus 8:16-19, Moses produced lice just by smiting the dust of the land with the rod and all the sand became lice. The magicians tried and they said, “no, we can’t do this. We surrender”. And God said we’re only in round 4, we’re going to round 10, I’ll show you that I am far-far superior to you.

You know the end of the story. By the time the competition was over, there have been 10 wonders and the Almighty God has shown the enemies that there are at least more rounds superior to the magicians of Egypt. By the time God finished round 10, it was Pharaoh who was begging the children of Israel to go.

I was telling one of my children not too long ago, he had asked, “Daddy, why don’t you fight?” because he had seen some people who misbehave who should be dealt with. Then I told him a story. I said when I was younger, I was a boxer. I’m sure you already know that. My coach told me, “when you go into that ring, you must not go to win by point, you must knockout your opponent”. I said, “why?” He said, “because when you have a competition, there will be three judges and the judges can be bribed. So, if they are going to decide who wins on points, they could say the opponent won. But if you knock out the opponent, there is nothing nobody can say; they see who is the winner”. So, he said, “when you get into that ring, make sure at the end of the fight there’s only one fellow standing and that fellow will be you”. I said that’s why I don’t fight because the moment I begin to fight, the fight will not end until only one person will be standing.

The number two reason why God performs multiple wonders? It is to establish what I spoke to you about yesterday during the Holy Communion: The Law of Substitution. In Proverbs 11:8, it says the righteous is delivered out of trouble and the wicked cometh instead. In plain language, if death wants to swallow the righteous, God will say no no, no, death open your mouth, He will pull out the righteous and then look for the wicked and say death for a victim, take this one. In Exodus 4:21-23, God said to Pharaoh, Israel is my son, let my son go. If you don’t let my son go, I’ll kill your son, there’ll be an exchange. In Exodus 14:21-28, the Red Sea parted and the children of Israel passed the Red Sea on dry ground and the sea was wondering what’s happening now, people are trampling all over me. God said, “hey, sea, take it easy. There’s a substitution coming,” and all the enemies of the people of Israel were in the middle of the Red Sea and the sea closed again.

Take Daniel Chapter 6, it is another classical example. They threw Daniel into the den of lions, the lions stood still. They saw Daniel coming and they thought here comes food but God said No, don’t touch this one, he’s a sign of the tribe of Judah. The lions were upset. God said take it easy, substitution is coming. The following morning, they pulled Daniel out and then all those that put Daniel in came down to the den of lion and the lions had a good meal.

Because there will be some of you who will say, “Oh, that can only happen in the Old Testament, it can’t happen in the New Testament because we’re now in the age of grace”. When you read Acts 5:5-24, the Bible tells us that a King made an arrangement to kill Peter by the following morning and God moved in and brought out Peter. The following morning, they came and they found that the prison was securely locked and Peter had escaped; and the King said, “okay, all the soldiers who were guarding Peter, kill them”. it was Peter that was supposed to die the following morning but it was the guards that died. And God said, wait a minute o, those people were merely doing guard duty, what about the King that threw Peter in prison? So, He made arrangement for worms to eat the King so that death had sufficient substitution.

You may say why am I telling us this? It is because there are some people that have made up their mind that the only way you can have children is over their dead bodies and so they will die because you’re going to have your children. Some of us don’t fully understand Christianity, so many of us don’t understand that though Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God, He is also the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and I’ve said it before that when He says be gentle as dove, that it is in a certain situation because He added quickly, be wise as serpent. Anyone that says you’ll not meet your goal; the law of substitution will apply.

Let’s go to Sarah because this day is especially for those trusting God for the fruit of the womb. How many wonders were given to Sarah? Genesis 18:9-14 tells us of God paying Sarah a visit and keeping a promise that by this time next year she’ll be carrying her son. But wonder number one, Sarah laughed as we discovered in Romans 4:19, the body of Abraham was already dead; he was already 100 years old. It was a long time he had sex last but the Bible says God quickened his dead body and brought it back to life. The womb of Sarah was already dead, the Bible said so. She was 90 years old but God quickened her womb. That’s wonder number two. She gave birth to a child called Laughter, that’s wonder number three. In Genesis 21:1-7, the Bible says Sarah said who would have thought that Sarah would give birth to a child which is good news already. Wonder number four, in Genesis 25:21-26, the one child, Isaac, produced the first ever set of twins; that’s a wonder. But they were not ordinary twins. The Almighty God said the twins would become nations. He said of the two nations one will be less than the other. When you read Genesis 32:1-6, you’ll discover that the lesser of the two had a bodyguard of 400 men, that must be a great man! Like I’ve told you before, the first time a President visited us here, he brought 250 bodyguards. So, the lesser of the two had bodyguards of 400 men, that means he had more bodyguards than a President.

What about the bigger of the two? If the lesser is that big, then the bigger of the two would be a nation; that means the bodyguards would be a nation, a nation that when it was leaving Egypt in Exodus 12:37, consisted of 600,000 men without counting children. Sarah was considered impossibly barren and God gave her multiple wonders until she became the mother of nations.

Consider Hannah. Hannah asked for only one child, 1 Samuel 1:9-20. And She said give me a boy and I will give him back to you. I just want it said that I too have a child. The Almighty God gave her the one child and gave her five extra, that’s more wonders; but God didn’t stop there. The one Hannah gave to God, God turned him to a prophet, 1 Samuel 3:19-21. Samuel wasn’t an ordinary prophet, he was the first kingmaker of Israel, 1 Samuel 9:17-27, 1 Samuel 10:1-25. There is only one fellow that is greater than a King and that is the Kingmaker. Samuel was not just the Kingmaker; he was also the king remover. You know you can make a king and if you misbehave, the King can have your head cut off; but in the case of Samuel in 1 Samuel 15:1-29, he spoke a word and the king lost his kingdom. From the womb of Hannah came 6 children, one of them a prophet, one of them a kingmaker, one of them a king remover, multiple wonders!

Let’s talk about wonders in the physical. In 2 Kings 20:1-11, Hezekiah was sick and God sent his prophet to go and tell him, “You’re going to die, you’re not going to live, put your house in order.” and the King asked, God sent you to tell me I’ll die? Then he turned to God and said, “I’m not ready to go yet. You must remember I’ve been serving you very well. I still want to serve you more”. And the man of God who was just coming out of the palace was told to go back and tell the king that He has changed His mind. Now, that’s a wonder because it is written in Psalm 119:89, forever o Lord my word is settled and in Psalm 33:8-9, it is written what God has spoken and it is done, but now God says I’ve changed my mind, go back and tell him He’s not going to die now, that’s a wonder. God says I postponed the appointment because it is written in Hebrews 9:27 that it is appointed unto a man to die once because we’ll all go one day or the other but God says I postpone that appointment.

I’m sure some of you remember the testimony of Papa Okeowo, one of the great men of God who came to me one day and said “Sir, I met a prophet when I was 44 years old who told me everything that will happen to me in details and then told me that I’ll die at the age of 84,” he said.

“I was glad then. I was only 44 and he just told me I’m going to live for another 40 years and that all manner of blessings will follow and everything he said came to pass.

“I’ve come to you now because I have two weeks to go, so I just want you to pray for me before I depart.”

I said, “Baba, you’re born again now…” because he has given his life to Jesus. “Are you really ready to die?”

He said, “Not really, but that prophet is sure fire. Everything he said came to pass so I’m ready for this one.”

So, I told Papa, there’s a greater prophet here and you’re not going to die until I release you. Papa said is that so, and I said trust me. Baba has bought a little bungalow on the camp, a two-bedroom flat. If you see his mansion in Ijebu-Ode, you can be lost there but he wanted to live on holy land so that when death comes, he can go from Holy Land to Holy Heaven. He continued to live here, attended the Bible College; you never can beat him to morning prayer. When he was just few weeks to 100, he sent for me. He said, “I’m ready to go now, please, release me.” And for myself, I don’t want to live up to 100; well, reluctantly, I released him to go.

But the wonder of Hezekiah didn’t end there; because of him God reversed the sun, He told the sun to go back. In Joshua 10:12-14, when Joshua was fighting and the sun was about to set, he commanded the sun to stand still and it did. And the Bible recorded it as a wonder but in the case of Hezekiah, it was a bigger wonder. The sun was asked to go back on its track; the meaning of this is that the irreversible was reversed.

Let’s talk about Multiple Wonders in the material things of the world. Remember barrenness is another word for fruitless effort; when you try and try and nothing comes forth. When you read the story of Luke 5:1-11, several wonders happened to Peter that day. Number one, there were two boats but God chose Peter’s. Peter fished all night and caught nothing but Jesus chose his boat of all the boats and then he threw one net and caught so much fish that his boat could not carry it. Not only did Peter have a major breakthrough, did you know that his destiny was rearranged that day? Jesus Christ told him from now, you won’t be fishing for fish, you’ll be fishing for men.

It doesn’t matter what your original destiny is, it is the Almighty God who wrote your destiny and He has the right to say I change it.

Let’s talk quickly on spiritual wonders, and we’ll take the case of Paul in 1 Timothy 1:15. Paul called himself the chief of sinners, it was bad; and then when you get to 1 Corinthians 7:2, he said he wronged no man. How can he wrong no man? Because the blood of Jesus wiped away all his sins.

Because when one is in Christ, he’s a new creature, old things are passed away, all things have become new. Salvation is a mighty wonder. But it didn’t end there. In 2 Corinthians 11:5, Paul became one of the top apostles. In Acts 19:11-12, it was said about Paul, not about any other apostle, that God performed special miracles by the hands of Paul; aprons, handkerchief from him were taken to the sick and they were healed, and the captives were set free. That’s a wonder but it didn’t end there. In Acts 19:13-17, when some people tried to copy Paul to ask a demon to get out, the demon said I know Jesus, I know Paul, you know the meaning of that? His influence was recognized in hell, even forces of darkness recognize him as special.

God wants to take you from the miry clay and set your feet on the rock to stand, Psalm 40:1-3. He wants to pick you from the dunghill and put you before kings, 1 Samuel 2:7-8. We’re talking of wonders. He wants to make sure that when you’re passing through a river or fire it won’t burn you, Isaiah 43:1-2. He can make a way where there’s no way for you, He’s a God of wonders. You see all God is waiting for is how you respond to Him.

I’m concluding but let me focus a bit more on those trusting God for the fruit of the womb. God expects you to be hospitable. You should take note of that because when you look at the case of Sarah, some men were passing by, the husband invited them in and the wife cooperated in preparing food for these strangers. There are some of you women that when your husband wants to do the work of God, you discourage him. Be God’s partner; Peter surrendered his boat for God to use, he became a partner. That’s also what Hannah did. ‘You give me a son and I give him back to you. I’d be your partner.’ Be His partner and please be Holy because the text we read in the beginning – Exodus 15:11, says God is glorious in holiness. I’ve told you before, my God is not going to give His children to those who are sinners.