MANY TELEVISION PLATFORMS NOW TEACH PEOPLE TO TOY WITH SIN. THEY SAY “GOD JUST LOVES YOU, NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO”
YOU BETTER BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WATCH. EMBRACE A GODLY LIFESTYLE AND REJECT EVERYTHING CONTRARY.
THERE IS NO SHORTCUT TO MAKING HEAVEN.
YOU CAN’T LIVE A GODLY LIFE BY ASKING GOD TO COME AND DO IT FOR YOU. YOU TAKE RESPONSIBILITY BASED ON HIS WORD.
WHEN IT IS WELL WITH ANY INDIVIDUAL SPIRITUALLY IT WILL BE WELL WITH HIM IN EVERY AREA OF LIFE.
I WOULD HAVE LOST THE MANTLE OF KENNETH HAGIN BECAUSE OF MY BURNT VOLKSWAGEN
IN OUR DAYS WHERE GOD IS PLANTING BREAKTHROUGHS HERE AND THERE, PEOPLE HAVE BECOME SO POMPOUS THAT THE FEAR OF GOD HAS NO PLACE IN THEM.
IT TAKES HUMILITY TO DESIRE A REVIVAL. IT TAKES HUMILITY TO DESIRE A HIGHER QUALITY OF WALK WITH GOD
EVERY GENUINELY REVIVED SOUL IS DEPRESSION FREE. THEY EXHUME THE JOY OF THE LORD NATURALLY.
THE JOY OF THE LORD IS AN ASSET OF INESTIMABLE VALUE. IT SHOWS YOU THE PATH OF LIFE.
– Bishop David Oyedepo on UNDERSTANDING THE BLESSEDNESS OF A REVIVAL 2 at Covenant Day of All Round Service || Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland|| First Sunday Service
Jeremiah 20:9.
Prayer: Lord send me the fire of your Word that will keep me in motion in my walk with you.
The light will show you the way, the fire will keep you going. Most of us have had experience with the light of His Word but not many have had experience with the fire. Church Gist. Lord, I want an encounter with the fire of your Word this morning.
Lord Jesus, here we are. All eyes are looking up to you for an encounter of a lifetime this morning. Let no one return disappointed. Let your Word pave the way for every one of us. Let your Word bring answers to everyone’s questions. Church Gist. Let every obstacle that came with everyone be turned to a miracle. Let all the secret tears be turned into a testimony in the name of Jesus.
God is a very humourous God, one day I was teaching on prosperity in our fellowship days. There was this man that had blood in his faeces for six years and had been booked for a procedure. Church Gist. The Word on prosperity hit him, he went to the toilet and for the first time in six years, there was no blood in his faeces. His Word is called the Word of life. John 6:68. No matter what you came with today, in this revival service you are returning with a testimony.
UNDERSTANDING THE BLESSEDNESS OF A REVIVAL
Week one of the Midst of the Year season of glory is gone and we are now in week 2. May no one here be an onlooker. Church Gist. May each one here choose to be a genuine partaker. You will be glad you did.
The anchor scripture is Habakkuk 3:2-3. He makes known His power, He revives His people, He revives His Work, He changes their story. That is going to be you. Habakkuk 3:17-19.
Please note: revival begins with individuals. Psalm 85:6. Revival is primarily about people bouncing back to life, coming out of their spiritual graves. Church Gist. We are very conversant with physical graves but there are many held bound in spiritual graves. Today, every grave of hell holding anyone’s spiritual life bound shall be shattered.
We cannot maximize the blessedness of divine visitation or what we call a revival without first cleaning up. We cannot maximize it without first cleaning up. Exodus 19:10-14. He comes down to people who care to clean up. Our activities will not be a substitute for a cleaning up. 2 Timothy 2:20-21. There is no value in dust. So activity will become valueless where sanctification is ignored. Gold, Silver, wood and earth. Earth means dust. Dust holds no value. So activity is valueless without minding yourself. Church Gist. It is the person of each person that determines his outcome in stewardship. It is the person of your person that determines your outcome in stewardship. Activities are okay, He can walk through an ass to get anything done. Matthew 7:22-23. Worship without a genuine commitment holds no value. Clean up to maximize the wonders of this season because God has come down to turn every issue of shame to glory. For whatever shame anyone has suffered, this season is designed to return it to you double glory.
Hebrews 12:1-4. So sin is not a thing to toy with like they are doing today on many television platforms. God just loves you, no matter what you do. Zero! He loved Solomon, Solomon turned his back on God and God turned His back on him. 1 Kings 11:1. Solomon went off and God set an adversary against him. 1 Kings 11:14. Church Gist. You better be careful what you watch. Do you want to make heaven? There is no shortcut. Do you want the best of adventures on earth? No shortcut. My prayer is that everybody’s spiritual life will take a new turn this time.
Ezekiel 37:12-14. Something outstanding will come out of the lives of every one of us. Your spiritual dry season must be over this time. God will open many graves in this service today. In the name of Jesus, this will be the experience of us as many whose hearts are open today. When it is well with any individual spiritually it will be well with him everywhere. Romans 8:6. 1 Timothy 4:8. Godliness is profitable unto all things. Church Gist. Exercise thyself unto godliness. Make it mandatory to embrace a godly lifestyle and react against anything in the contrary. Godliness is the only spiritual virtue that holds the two-way values, it adds unbelievable value in the now and secures eternity in grand style. No one shall miss it.
So sanctification is a requirement to maximize the blessedness of a revival. Watch, it is every believer’s responsibility. Jesus said as my Father has sent me, so send I you. John 17:19. We have a responsibility. 2 Timothy 2:21. 1 John 3:3. It is a responsibility. It is not a dash. You can’t live a godly life by asking God to come and do it for you. You take responsibility based on His Word. The power of sin has been crushed on the cross. Legally, it has no more dominion over you and me but we now have to take responsibility to stop him from having dominion over our lives. Give no place to the devil. He is still angrily looking for a place. Can you go free like that? No! Let me catch him. When one becomes spiritually empty, he becomes vulnerable. Matthew 12:43-45. So let’s come awake and stay awake. One family was testifying of amazing visitation in their lives, they said ‘Thank God for showing us the light and causing us to stay in the light’. It is not just to come awake, it is important to stay awake. We are in a revival, people have been emphasizing work. Church Gist. Work on yourself first then your work for God will be profitable. Take heed to thyself first then to all the flock. Work won’t take anybody to heaven. Work won’t take anybody to heaven but a quality walk with God. I see many spiritual graves opening right now. You have been waiting for that thing, God is saying go ahead and do it. It is your responsibility. Deliberately exercise yourself in it. Flee from all appearance of evil. Flee fornication, it won’t get out of you, you have to get out of it. Come ye out from among them and be ye separate. Come out! Jesus taught us to pray, lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil. The fear of God is to depart from evil. Something is breaking forth in someone’s life.
So it is time to take heed to ourselves. Only sanctified vessels are vessels of honour in the vineyard. Church Gist. If you don’t want to be dust or wood, then purge yourself.
I mentioned this, we must work on ourselves first before we can work His works. King Asa took courage and took away all demonic things from the land of Judah. He removed his wicked mother from being Queen. Work! We can’t maximize His visitations without getting rid of abominable things out of our lives. 2 Chronicles 16:7-11. Now, it takes a humble spirit to experience a revival. Isaiah 57:15. Particularly in our days where God is planting breakthroughs here and there, people have become so pompous that the fear of God has no place in them. God forbid that anybody dies as a rich fool. It takes humility to desire a revival. It takes humility to desire a higher quality walk with God. Because you have an estate and you live like a queen in one place, so you think you don’t need revival. Church Gist. The day you will know you need Him may be too late. You better wake up, Abraham was very rich and maintained a quality walk with God. We don’t even have a definition of the rich fool’s estate. Abraham was an emperor, he had an empire and he had an army. He was a nation. What is your problem? Only the humble can be revived. Only the humble who will see their wrong as wrong and not try to cover it up. Everybody will know that your walk with God has been renewed. Everybody will know that your heart for God is genuine.
The joy of the Lord which the Bible describes as ‘joy unspeakable, full of glory” is a vital proof of a revived soul. Not the joy of things, the joy of the Lord. Psalm 85:6. In that great chapter of revival, Habakkuk 3. Habakkuk 3:17-19. A revived soul exhumes the joy of the Lord like you breathe out carbon dioxide. You can’t be depressed under any condition as a revived soul. You are bouncing unexplainably all day. Church Gist. You find Paul the revived man rejoicing always. Philippians 1:15-18. That is what they call the joy of the Lord. Romans 8:35-39. Every genuinely revived soul is depression free. He exhumes the joy of the Lord naturally. He is not taking it. If you are truly revived, the joy of the Lord radiates over your life and it is coming from the heart. So it is a barometer for checking how revived your soul is.
We were in a seminar in Kaduna and I was preparing to be in Tulsa. My mechanic was bringing my car home and it caught fire. He was walking around the side of the house without direction. I asked “Dennis what is going on?” He said the car caught fire. Is that why you are looking like that? I am on my way to church. He said will you not see it? I said I have seen many burnt cars in my life. Sir, I would have lost the mantle in Tulsa by camping around one dirty car that didn’t burn a person but burnt itself. Joy! Will you see the car? Never! I don’t have the time. We are in a seminar now and that is where the book ‘Success Buttons’ came out from. Can you imagine if the world is robbed of that? The joy of the Lord is an asset of inestimable value. It shows you the path of life. It revitalizes your energy. Nehemiah 8:10. Proverbs 17:22. You can always check your revival temperature by your joy. Church Gist. Our last daughter was dying and I was on my way to the office. They were taking her away from the house to the hospital. I was on my way to the office, I got to the office and I had a great time of exhortation with the people and we praised God. I sat on my chair with a genuine smile and said ‘Jesus there must be a way out’ and the way out came. Wake up! Don’t let these small things cast down your soul. You are the one that cast down your soul. Somebody is coming out of that grave finally.
The world is going through trauma, many are committing suicide on a daily basis. Church Gist. Many more are contemplating it on a daily basis. May no one miss out of the joy of the Lord.
What is a revival?
1. A revival is a move of the Spirit of God that rescues God’s people from age long bondages culminating in their supernatural change of story.
In a revival, God scatters all everlasting mountains as we read in Habakkuk 3:2-6. All generation curses can’t survive a revival. When your soul comes back alive with God, all generation curses clear off the way of your life. All hereditary diseases find their way out of your life. Darkness cannot survive the presence of light. Church Gist. The Word says the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty, He will save, He will rejoice over you with singing. That is He will turn your life into a celebration. That is what happens. I see everyone’s seeming frustrations converted into lifelong celebrations.
2. A revival is a move of the Spirit of God that drafts multitudes into the Kingdom thereby turning churches into cities without walls.
That is clearly defined and illustrated in the Acts of the Apostles. When the Upper Room revival broke out, the immediate effect was the massive ingathering of souls into the kingdom. On the first day of that revival, three thousand souls came into the Kingdom. The next report showed 5000 people turned their life to Christ. Acts 4:4. Then we saw that multitudes of men and women were added to the Church. Acts 5:12-14. We saw the number of disciples multiply greatly. Acts 6:7. Almost the whole city came together to hear the word of the Lord (Acts 13:43). So the immediate effect of revival in any church is the massive influx of souls. It is not mechanically done, it is a spiritual sequence. Revival makes the life of the revived an attraction. Zechariah 8:23. They come with you to Winners because they see what is happening in the Winner’s life in their environment. Church Gist. It is the transformation of God’s people that becomes an attraction to the unbelievers to know God. We witness to them but they want proof of what we are saying and they saw it around them. They knew that those who they were together before on the ground, they saw that they have left the ground and they are upgoing. They say where are you from? I am a Winner. Ah! I will come. Somebody said they had a calling in her family, they say is it the kind of Bishop’s own? They mentioned other ministries and others that they know. If it is the kind of this one you can go but if it is those other ones don’t go. In the course of this revival, God will turn your life to an attraction. Church Gist. Everything that seems to be like frustration will disappear like a dream of the night. That is one of the mysteries behind a revival, the transformation of the lives of the revived becoming an attraction to the unsaved and following them to serve their God. In the precious name of Jesus, you will not be left out of that calling. The beauty of the Lord shall be seen upon your life.
When is a revival said to occur?
1. When men begin to seek after God in genuine repentance.
They don’t toy with things that don’t displease God. Whatever is contrary to the will of God for their life, they react genuinely against it. If they have fallen into it, they say Jesus! Rescue me. No! I shouldn’t be there any more. That is when a revival takes place. You don’t have a place for evil to settle. As you see it coming, you react against it. Church Gist. The people genuinely repented in Nineveh and God changed His mind. It doesn’t matter what has been with any one of us, whatever is negative around your life and my life, God will turn it around. Galatians 3:22. Faith will get anybody out of any unwanted situation. Jesus already got the job done and I am only taking delivery of it.
2. A revival is said to occur when one begins to take pleasure in the things of the Kingdom of God as a way of life.
He is not struggling to do it. Not just to get something, as a way of life. Matthew 6:33. Church Gist. Psalm 102:13-15. The good news, the time to favour you is finally here. Taking pleasure in the matters of the Kingdom brings us into favour with God. That is where we are going.
What is in a revival for us?
Everlasting mountains clear the way for us in a revival because of God’s presence. We enjoy divine favour in a revival. Acts 2:47. It triggers the flow of signs and wonders among the people of God. Church Gist. Not just the pastors now, everybody on fire for God becomes an instrument of signs and wonders to the needy around them. We see that in this Church. My prayer is that this glorious time will not leave any of us behind.
Today is our Covenant Day of All Round Rest. The world today is in its most troubled state, I believe since creation. How can you have rest in a troubled world? How can one claim to have rest in a turbulent world? I will show you the keys to it. Matthew 11:28-29. ‘Come and learn of me’ not ‘come and pray for me.’ Come and learn of me the way to rest, I will give you the key and you will step into your haven of rest. Church Gist. Isaiah 26:3. Isaiah 59:8. So there is the way to it. You don’t know the way you can’t get to where you are going. There is the way to lasting peace, the peace that passes all understanding and you are getting there this morning. The way of peace will be open to you today. All round rest will be your portion.
Listen, it is not about things. It is about your person. It is about your standing with God that determines how much peace you enjoy in life. Can I testify before the most High God and His people? When this Church was 4, I had rest. Church Gist. When it became 10, I had rest. When the population grew to 20, I had rest. When we were in the open holding services I had rest. So it is not about things. It is not about status, it is not about size, it is about your insight.
What does it take to enjoy all round peace? Let’s round up with these keys in our hands because from today, all round rest will become your experience.
1. First, recognize that all round rest is the will of God for the redeemed.
John 14:27. The gifts and the callings of God are without repentance. Romans 11:29. That is the will of God for us. To enjoy the reality of all round rest, let Jesus come into your boat. That is open your heart to Jesus, be born again and no matter the storm you will remain at rest. John 14:27. Become His disciple by giving your life to Him and it becomes part of your new nature which we call the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, they are all the breakdown of your new nature when you are born again. When you open your heart to Jesus, His peace abides in your life. When you are at peace, He takes over your battles and when God takes over your battles, victory is secured. Church Gist. No doubt. Exodus 14:14. Do you know why God is not fighting? We are not holding our peace. Master, we perish. He said what is your problem? I am in the boat. In case you don’t know my small secret, it is God fighting for me. I am totally at peace. My enemies are at unrest. When I keep quiet, they are afraid, when I speak they mess themselves up. Do you know why? God is the one fighting my battles. When I am sleeping, He is fighting. When you are at peace your battle is transferred to Him. That is a fundamental virtue of rest. Our step into it is salvation which makes peace part of your new nature. Church Gist. You multiply that peace by knowledge because grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God. That peace continues to multiply as you grow in the knowledge of God. 2 Peter 1:2. We have had quite some drama in the air and I said ‘Peace be still’. I have never wished I had a will, I am not willing to anywhere. Peace be still. One of our daughters who travelled with us when we had one of such experience didn’t fly for two years. Church Gist. It multiplies with knowledge. We lost one engine, I said no problem make a U-turn back to Lagos. Folks, do you want some snacks? They were eating snacks. If I had told them that we lost one engine, I might have lost them. They will just open the door and jump down. Peace! I have got peace like a river in my soul.
2. Stay in love with God by cleaving to Him like in marriage and because He is the Prince of peace, all round peace becomes such an individual’s experience.
You are Mrs your husband and your husband is the Prince of peace. So you are Mrs Prince of Peace. Peace just accompanies you, you are not struggling for it. You enter into that union by love. You cleave to Him. Jesus left the Father in heaven and He is looking for who will cleave to Him and you choose to and then you become Mrs Prince of Peace. That is your new name. They mustn’t see pressure on your face again. It is contrary to your new nature and it is contrary to your marriage in Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:1-2. That makes all the difference. I am married to Jesus, Satan leave me alone. Church Gist. My husband is coming to take me away to an everlasting home. If you are genuinely married, His peace settles with you. Stay in love. Romans 8:28. All things work together for their good. 1 Corinthians 2:9-11. They are just living wonders. They are asleep in the midst of the storm. They are unperturbed. Peace that is not mechanical, it is deep rooted. When you are born again and in love with God, the peace of God keeps radiating in your life. You won’t miss it anymore.
Deuteronomy 11:23-25. Enter into a covenant to keep serving God with all your heart. Not to get some things otherwise you get it and disappear and the thing will disappear. That is the way God works. Draw near to me and I will draw near to you. Draw far from me and I will draw far from you. I have cried, you won’t listen to me, you will cry and I won’t hear you. Settled! Enter into a covenant to keep serving God as a priority. Seek ye first the kingdom of God as a priority not as a subsidiary. Matthew 6:33. 2 Chronicles 15:12. They entered into a covenant to serve God with all their hearts and with the whole of their desire and the Lord gave them rest round about. I stepped into that covenant with her September 12th 1976. I can’t get out of it. It is inside my nature. I am bound by it. I have been out three times this week in search of souls as I have been doing since 1976. Church Gist. I got to a place, in the name of Jesus! Nobody was answering. I kept saying so. Then you hear one amen from one corner. Another Amen from another corner. We left the place with about 100 souls. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things that have been added to me and to many in this Church shall be added unto you. Never borrowed once, never lacked once, always protected, never had a sleepless night, all these things. Oh taste and see that the Lord is good. The taste of the pudding is in the eating. It is not in the looking, it is in the eating. You can’t prove it without entering into it. Do you know what He said concerning tithing? “Prove me now and see”. Church Gist. Don’t prove me with your preaching, prove me with your tithe. Many are just preaching nonsense. It is your tithing that counts not the preaching. You can’t prove the truth without engaging with it. Enter into a covenant to make serving God your priority for living and He will start decorating your life. Did you hear the good news about Faith Academy today? Four out of six students in Nigeria. Everything works here. Do you know why? What we are pushing is still what we are pushing. Oh Lord God, save the lost, rescue the afflicted, grow your Church. We have been doing that ever. University is working, Faith Academy is working, KHMS is working, Church is working, the press is working, the foreign mission is working, the home mission is working, every mission is working. So in case you don’t believe any of our testimonies, believe the testimony of the Church. Church Gist. If everything is not working you will know. We are building rural churches, we are building Ark Church, everything is working. Buying properties abroad, buying new homes, everything is working. From today as you choose to enter into a covenant in this midst of the year season of glory, everything will start working in your life. God is not looking for who to use but who to bless. He is not looking for who to stress but who to strengthen. He is not looking for who to humiliate but who to honour.
Public holidays are our own Jesus Duty Day. I met Jesus on a public holiday like this. Seek a quiet place I want to talk to you. It was a public holiday. May 1st. Church Gist. Take advantage of it. It always works. When you seek an opportunity, you will find it.
ALTAR CALL AND COMMUNION MINISTRATION.
– I welcome you to your era of all round rest.
– Grace to abide with the covenant of all round rest, receive it now.
– The days of your struggles are finally over. The days of your being downcast are finally over.
– The joy of a revived soul shall break forth in your life.
– You never know depression anymore in your life. Church Gist.
– You never weep behind closed doors anymore in your life.
– Everlasting mountains and perpetual hills are cleared off your path.
– Welcome to your high places.
Next Sunday is our Covenant Day of Healing. Somebody is bothered ‘Why are they always talking about the well being of people?’ That is our mandate. The hour has come to liberate the world from all oppressions of the devil. One of the oppressions of the devil is sickness and disease. Church Gist. When revival broke out after an influx of souls, the next thing was healing. Chapter 2 Influx of Souls, Chapter 3 Healing. It kept on and on. He heals all manner of sickness and diseases including spiritual infirmities. In the name of Jesus, this coming Sunday no kind of sickness will escape. The same way God filled the hole in the lung of that child, God will do whatever they call impossible in your life.
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