THERE IS NO CONSPIRACY OF HELL THAT CAN STOP A MAN’S CHOICE. YOUR CHOICE DETERMINES YOUR LOT
OBEDIENCE, NOT HOW LOUD, GIVES US A VOICE BEFORE GOD
THE COMPANY OF THE OBEDIENT RECEIVE ANSWERS FROM GOD BEFORE THEY ASK
GOD DOES NOT ENFORCE OBEDIENCE ON ANYONE. IT IS SIMPLY A CHOICE THAT INDIVIDUALS MAKE
THE GRACE THAT BRINGS SALVATION IS AVAILABLE FOR ALL BUT EACH ONE MAKES THEIR CHOICE TO BE SAVED
GOD CAN HELP US AFTER WE HAVE MADE OUR CHOICE BUT HE CANNOT HELP US TO MAKE OUR CHOICE
NO FORCE IS MORE POWERFUL THAN SIMPLE OBEDIENCE
FAITH UNLOCKS ITS UNLIMITED POWER THROUGH OUR OBEDIENCE
OBEDIENCE OF FAITH GIVES US ACCESS TO THE UNLIMITED POWER OF GOD MANIFEST IN OUR DIRECTION
YEARS AGO I WAS PART OF OUR STUDIO TEAM IN THIS CHURCH.
OUR GREATEST VOICE BEFORE GOD IS THE VOICE OF OUR OBEDIENCE
TO SEE ABRAHAMIC DIMENSION OF BLESSINGS, THERE IS A DEMAND FOR ABRAHAMIC DIMENSION OF OBEDIENCE.
- Pastor David Oyedepo Jnr on UNDERSTANDING THE POWER OF OBEDIENCE OF FAITH 5 at Midweek Communion Service || LFC Canaanland || 19th June 2024 ||
It is my privilege this evening to bring us God’s Word in this Midweek Service, we are continuing in our series of teachings for our Midweek Services that is captioned, “Understanding the power of obedience of faith.” It is important that we are reminded tonight that no force is more powerful than simple obedience. Church Gist. Deuteronomy 28:1-13 – everyone of those blessings was a response to one thing and one thing alone – obedience. There is no limit to the power of simple obedience. We recognise from Scriptures that God’s power and glory is released in the direction of man’s obedience. John 2:5, 11. Glory began to show forth in response to simple obedience.
But the obedience that will deliver results must be the obedience of faith. Hebrews 11:6. When faith and obedience are combined, there is an unlimited dimension of power that is made available in our direction. So there is a demand for our obedience and the obedience must be engaged with faith. It is faith in action that commits the integrity of God for performance. Church Gist. Hebrews 6:12, 15-18. So from Scripture we are made to see very clearly that it is this faith in action, faith that acts not faith that watches, faith that takes steps based on what God has said, is what provokes the integrity of God to answer on our behalf. That is why, faith without works is dead. So saying I believe and doing nothing, you see nothing. Faith without works is dead. The power of faith is in acting, is in putting what you have heard from God to work. James 2:18, 26. So the power of our faith is in our obedience. Until we take steps obeying God, the invincible power of faith cannot be experienced.
Now it is true that faith has unlimited power for delivery, Mark 9:23, but the power in it only comes alive by our obedience. Church Gist. So our obedience of faith gives us access to the unlimited power of God manifest in our direction.
- I see that becoming our experience in the name of Jesus Christ!
But there’s something very important that we must note about obedience and this is very vital: that God does not enforce obedience on anyone. It is simply a choice that individuals make. Deuteronomy 30:19. It is important for us to understand that nothing and no one, not even the devil has dominion over our choice. Church Gist. Our choice is made by us but our choice determines our lot. Our choice is made by us and our choice ultimately determines our lot. Every man’s choice is a product of his own will. Isaiah 1:19. So each one has possession and dominion over his or her choice. No one can choose for us – not even God. That’s why it said, I place before you life and death, blessing and cursing. I’m advising you, choose life. But your choice determines your lot. So our choice is our choice but our choice determines our lot.
I’ll like you to consider this tonight: for example we discovered that whosoever chooses to be saved is welcome to the Kingdom. It’s your choice. The Gospel is preached to all and then some make a choice on the Gospel that they have received. So whosoever makes a choice to be saved, that individual is welcomed into the Kingdom. John 6:37. No wonder we are told in the book of Matthew 11:28-29. Church Gist. Like God’s servant our Father told us sometime ago, there is no day where you will come and you say, “Lord Jesus, I surrender my life to you, I want to surrender my all to you” and Jesus will say, “I have saved plenty people today, come another day.” No! When you make your choice, you’re accepted into the Kingdom. It is all a matter of our choice.
So each one has the opportunity to make choices and the choices that we make determines our lot. Titus 2:11 – but we know that not all men are saved. Each one makes their choice to be saved. So it is our choice that determines our lot. I remember I heard the story some time ago that was told about a man that was in a boat and the boat capsized and the man was in the water and he looked to God, “God, I need you to save me from this water.” Church Gist. He said a boat came by, the first boat and threw him a rope, “hold this rope and we will pull you out.” He said, no, and the boat left. The second boat came, threw him a floater, “take this floater and we will pull you out.” He said, “no” and then the boat left. Then the third boat came and threw him a rope again, “take this rope, we’ll pull you into the boat” he said no and the third boat left. Eventually, the man died and when he got before God he said, “Lord, how come? I asked you to save me, you didn’t save me.” Church Gist. He said, I sent 3 people, you didn’t accept to be saved. So being saved is a choice. The Gospel is preached to all, the grace that brings salvation is available for all. There is no man that is too far to be captured by that grace but that grace will not pull you out, you will hold it to take you out.
So it’s a choice that is made. Every one’s lot is determined by that man’s choice. We also see from Scripture that anyone can purge himself if he truly chooses to. 2 Timothy 2:21. So our sanctification is a choice. We make the choice for our sanctification. Church Gist. Don’t get me wrong, he helps us after we have made our choice but he cannot help us to make our choice. God can help us after we have made our choice but he cannot help us to make our choice. Our choice determines our lot. 1 John 3:3. He takes responsibility, he makes a choice.
So there are many things that people are entangled with today, that is not because those entanglements are too strong. In fact the Bible is clear, it says sin shall not have dominion over you. So it’s our choice that determines our lot. There is power in choice. Church Gist. There is no conspiracy of hell that can stop a man’s choice. Satan may have been angry the day you got saved, there is no day any man gets saved that satan is happy but he can’t stop the choice. When you make the choice you have chosen your lot. So God will not enforce obedience, each one must make their choice.
It is important for us to also note that obedience speaks louder than voice. John 9:1-8. He gave him an instruction, the instruction left him with a choice. It was only after obeying the instruction that he saw the miracle. He went forth obeying what had been commanded and by the time he returned, he came back seeing. He didn’t need to struggle with prayer, he simply needed to engage the power of obedience. Church Gist. Take note of this: obedience can be said to have a voice of its own. John 9:31. As he is taking steps, God is hearing the actions that he is taking. God’s servant has shared with us before, he said that he asked the Lord sometime ago after something that he didn’t ask for was just delivered into his hands. He said, “Lord will you not wait for someone to even ask before you respond?” He said there is a company of those that before they ask, I will answer. What is he answering? He is answering their obedience. Isaiah 65:24. They don’t need to call, as they are taking steps, I’m responding to their obedience. There are things that we don’t ask for, we obey to. So our obedience is a voice that cannot be silenced in Heaven. Church Gist. When a man is taking steps obeying God, God responds to his obedience by intervening on his behalf.
- For somebody hearing my voice this evening, as the grace for obedience comes upon each one of us, I see God stepping into every matter in your life and turning it around for a testimony!
So our obedience is so vital. In fact we also discovered that even prayer itself without obedience will be muted before God. You know you can be playing something and it is on mute. You have a CD player, you can see the time going but you can’t hear anything. Why? It’s on mute – it cannot be heard. Church Gist. Prayer itself will be muted without obedience. 1 John 3:22. So even the voice of our prayer is accessible by the depth of our obedience. So what gives us voice before God is not how loud we make our demands but how committed we stay in obedience.
I’ve shared this before, years ago I was part of our studio team here and I’d go to the studio office during services at certain times and one of the things that fascinated me one time is: I got there and I saw the person who was on the sound board and the soundboard is where all the inputs from all the microphones and so forth get into and in the sound board I discovered that right there, you can press buttons to hear voices and you can press buttons to silence voices. Church Gist. So somebody can be singing loudly here with all his might and all his power and they can cancel him. Nobody will hear anything he is saying. He is praying with everything inside him, he is singing with everything inside him but out of the output of the speaker, there is no sound. Other voices are been heard but that voice has been muted. When there is no obedience, our prayer is on mute. We can be shouting but there is no voice.
That is why we must recognize that our greatest voice before God is the voice of our obedience. There are many things that people are contending with, all you need to do is obey your way into it. If you check through scriptures you will discover Abraham never prayed for blessings. He only obeyed into blessings. In fact, the master key to blessings is obedience. Genesis 12:1-4. If the matter stopped in verse 3, nothing will change. Abraham departed in verse 4. The beginning of blessings was the beginning of obedience. As Abraham took steps in obeying God, every step in obedience was a step into blessings. Genesis 13:1-3. Genesis 22:1-2. Church Gist. Obedience was costly for that elderly man but he kept pressing on. What was the outcome of that? Unusual blessing. Genesis 22:16-18. That is where blessings came. Genesis 24:1. No area of Abraham’s life was blessing barren. Family – blessed, business – blessed, health – blessed. Every department of his life was saturated with blessings. What is it that attracted the blessing? Obedience.
Isaiah 51:1-3. The way God blessed Abraham is the pattern for the blessing of Zion. Who is Zion? The Church. That means our blessing will follow the same pattern of Abraham. So if we are going to follow the same pattern of the blessings of Abraham, it is not by singing about the blessings of Abraham. Church Gist. It is by obeying into the blessings of Abraham because the pattern of Abraham was the pattern of obedience. John 8:39. To see Abrahamic dimension of blessings, there is a demand for Abrahamic dimension of obedience. It is not just “🎶Abraham’s blessings are mine. I am blessed in the morning, I am blessed in the evening. Abraham’s blessings are mine🎶”. That can only be true if Abraham’s obedience is mine. Because if his obedience is mine, then his blessings will be mine.
Never forget, God is a God of covenants. That means His response to us is on the basis of our response to His Word. We are in a prophetic season that is ongoing, all that God demands of you and me is obedience. If you heard the first testimony that was read, that brother said he had resigned his job and began to look for jobs. He began to get all manner of interviews everywhere. They will tell him you are fit for the job but they will not call him back. Church Gist. Then he said he began to pray. He said he began to pray against stagnation, against every kind of frustration, praying against everything holding his job yet nobody called him back. When it came time to begin engaging, he started engaging. If you noticed that testimony, he was not praying for a job again. He was just engaging. There are things you don’t need to pray into, you engage into. As a result of that obedience, he was called for a job. Colourful job and the heavens opened over him. The breakthrough came as a response to his obedience.
I like us to recognize tonight that what God is demanding from you and me is simply obedience. In this season, are we just watching? Those who watch seasons, miss seasons. It is those who engage in the seasons that receive from the seasons. A season that we only make observations of, we cannot gain profit from. In our country, here in Nigeria now, the rainy season has come. Church Gist. Many of us can make observations of the rainy season. “Oh, it is raining this season. The way it has been raining these few days.” We can only make observations, we cannot gain harvest from the season. Those who engage with the season, they have harvests for the season. Those who didn’t plant for the season will pay for the season. Corn is starting to come out, if you didn’t plant you will pay. True or false? Any season you don’t engage for, you pay for. Seasons we allow to pass are seasons that will leave us with a cost. Don’t think that a season just came and went and had no impact on you and I. You are either gaining or losing. Nothing remains the same. It is either you are moving forward or backward, there is no stagnancy. It is either progression or regression. That is why we must engage with the season so we can gain from the season.
The obedience that works has specific characteristics and we are going to look at two of them this evening.
- The Obedience That Works Must Be Fear Free Obedience
We discover this particularly from the life of Job. Job was a man that was blessed by God. Job 1:3. He was a man of unusual blessings. In fact, God began to boast about Job in Job 1:8-10. That was the story of Job, a man of unusual blessings. Every department, he was blessed. What was it that triggered the calamity of Job? Job 3:24-25. Let’s take note of this: faith attracts God but fear attracts the devil. Church Gist. I discovered that if you look at it, Satan was not inquisitive about anybody else’s case, only Job. Job was not the only man on the earth but Satan was concerned about Job’s case in particular. Fear is a magnet that attracts Satan’s attention. Just like a man that walks with God must walk by faith, any man that walks in fear will attract the devil. The obedience that works is the obedience that is free of fear.
Let’s take note that fear is not an emotion, fear is a spirit. 2 Timothy 1:7. Fear is not an emotion, fear is a spirit. That is why we must not give it any room in any department of our lives. As we are obeying God, we must attack fear. Look at the testimony that was read to us of that Sister. She said she was obeying every testimony that was coming forth, she went out one day and by the time she came back she began to pass blood profusely. Church Gist. Instead of allowing fear, she said “Satan No! I cannot be serving God and then be having this kind of affliction. I need my strength to serve God. Within two hours, I must not see blood.” Within two hours Satan packed his load. She said two hours later no blood. Two days later, no blood. One week later, no blood. Everything ceased because she gave no room to fear. One of the vital things to see our obedience work is that we must ensure there is no room to fear.
Matthew 14:28-32. He saw the wind boisterous and he was afraid and immediately he began to sink. Faith began to fail when fear was given a place. That is what happens. So our obedience will only keep working on our behalf when we obey without fear. The question we ask ourselves is what is the effect of wind when it comes to walking on water? Church Gist. Is it that when you are in a closed space and there is no wind, then the person can walk on water? No! The miracle had already begun by his obedience but fear terminated it and immediately he began to sink. None of us will have fear terminate our obedience again.
The Obedience That Works Is Resolute And Unwavering
It stays the course. It does not shake. It stays in its place. It does not move and it is unwavering. We saw it in the three Hebrew boys. Daniel 3:14-28. They didn’t shake, they didn’t shift their position, they were resolute, unyielding and unbending in their obedience to God. As a result of that, their obedience provoked divine intervention. Daniel 6:10-23. He was resolute, unwavering and as a result of that, his obedience provoked divine intervention. God will always step in when men stay the course. We must learn to stay the course in our obedience. Church Gist. Stay the course. Be unwavering. James 1:6-8. We must ensure that our obedience is done without wavering. That is why we are told that we keep obeying God, abounding steadfastly in our commitment to every divine commandment. 1 Corinthians 15:58. My prayer is that for everyone of us, the grace for unwavering obedience will come upon us. No matter what is happening around us, our obedience will remain constant and stable in the name of Jesus Christ. The truth is we need grace for this because it is a long race. Obedience is a lifetime race, so we need God’s all time grace. I see grace coming upon each one of us to stay the course of obedience.
#PstDavidOyedepoJnr
#MidweekCommunionService
#LFCWorldwide
#19June2024
#Fortune2024
#ChurchGist
