Ascend And Multiply — Advance 2026 Day 1 by Rev. Sam Oye: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Arise and Ascend

Isaiah 60:1–5 — Arise, shine, for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people — but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen. When you arise, the Lord will also arise upon you. And the Gentiles shall come to your light.

When you arise, when you ascend, the multitude will come. Everything listed here — Gentiles coming to your light, kings to the brightness of your rising — all of it happens when you do one thing: arise. The reason the multitudes are yet to come is because the first word is yet to be confirmed. Arise.

Challenges Come in Waves

We are living in a time when the challenges of life, ministry, and leadership are no longer coming in trickles. They are not taking turns. They are not asking each other, "Are you done with him? Can I come now?" They are coming in waves — just when you think one is getting over, another wave is rising.

Waves don't wait for each other. Sometimes, whilst one wave is on, another has already started. Waves of responsibility, pressure, uncertainty, opposition, jealousy from within, accusation, betrayal — all coming in waves. Leadership is not for the casual, not for the spineless, not for the fearful. Destiny is not for the passive.

Waves Don't Last

The beautiful thing about waves is that they don't last. They rise, but they pass. No matter how high they rise, they will pass. This one too shall pass.

Isaiah 43:2 — When you pass through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

The waters will not overflow you. The rivers will not drown you. The fire will not consume you. Let the waters come. Let the fires come. They will meet you and pass. You will be left better than you were before they came.

Interpretation Is Everything

In life, the challenge is not your real enemy — your interpretation of the challenge is what matters.

Paul was kept in prison and he slept. Paul was kept in prison and he sang. Same environment, same prison. Different interpretation. Carrot entered hot water and became soft. Egg entered hot water and became hard. Coffee beans entered water and changed the water. The same water changed the carrot, hardened the egg, and was transformed by the coffee. The difference is not in the wave — it is in the man.

The same wave that threatened to swallow Peter was the water Peter walked on. The difference between Peter drowning and Peter walking on water was focus. The environment did not change — his focus did.

The Runway and the Sky

An aircraft manifests in the sky. No matter how fast an aircraft runs on the ground, that is not what it is designed for. The fastest aircraft on a runway has not fulfilled its purpose. It is meant for the sky.

For an aircraft to fly — to ascend — there are forces it must overcome:

Drag — the force that always wants to make sure the aircraft never goes forward. Every time it needs to move forward, something is holding it back. What is the drag keeping you back? The memory of past failure? What someone told you about yourself? An internal conversation convincing you that you are not good enough? Drag acts on you to ensure you don't go forward.

Weight — those who fly high travel light. Those going to higher heights always travel light. Weights keep you down. Addictions, secret sins, pornography, unresolved grief, intimidation, human opinion — the job of weight is to make sure an aircraft that has the potential to fly never flies.

If you are not taking off, another plane will announce your destination. God cannot be held hostage. If you do not deal with drag, you will be on the tarmac while someone else departs to the same destination you were unwilling to fight for.

Moses and Jethro

Moses was hearing from God, leading the people. Then it got to a point where the leader was lost in the midst of the people — he had become a counsellor. Jethro said: "What you are doing is not good. It will destroy you, and then it will destroy the people."

The same people that are having challenges came to you because they met you in prayer and they came by the results of the word. Do not let the people that are sent to you make you lose connection with what brought them to you. The people are not what to protect — the root is what to protect. The root is in the word. The root is in prayer. Do not allow the fruit of ministry to replace the root of ministry.

Ascension Precedes Multiplication

You must ascend to multiply. You must rise to multiply. The same God who allows the wave to come is the God whose word says the wave will not overflow you.

When a building was lost to a storm — equipment destroyed, millions gone — the call came after midnight. The first question was: "Did anybody die?" The answer was no. The response was: "Go and sleep." And God said: "Take it all down. I will repay with something bigger and better."

The building was removed. Worship moved under a tent. That was when the church exploded in growth. What did not happen inside happened outside. What you think is your end is actually a bend. And what is on the other side of this bend will blow your mind.