THE HOLY GHOST IS OUR GOD ORDAINED MASTER HELPER AND THAT IS WHY HIS NAME IS CALLED THE COMFORTER
IF YOU ARE FILLED WITH THE HOLY GHOST YOU HAVE THAT EXTRA BOOSTING IN THE REALM OF JOY.
THE GREATEST LOSS OF LACK OF JOY IS LACK OF ACCESS INTO DIVINE PRESENCE. GOD CANNOT SURVIVE A JOYLESS ENVIRONMENT
EVERY CHILD OF GOD IS REDEEMED A BUNDLE OF JOY. WHEN WE GOT SAVED, JOY WAS PART OF THE THINGS IMPLANTED IN US
IF YOU ARE TRULY IN FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD YOU GO BACK WITH JOY – THE JOY OF FELLOWSHIP – BECAUSE YOU HAVE APPEARED IN HIS PRESENCE
EVERY ENCOUNTER WITH THE TRUTH STIRS JOY – THE JOY OF REVELATION AND EVERY ONE THAT IS SURE OF ETERNITY STAYS SUPERNATURALLY JOYFUL – THE JOY OF ETERNITY.
THE CASE OF A BELIEVER CAN NEVER BECOME HOPELESS BECAUSE HE IS JOINED TO THE LIVING GOD
EVERYBODY NEEDS THE SPIRIT OF JOY, PARTICULARLY IN THESE LAST DAYS WHEN THINGS ARE GOING HAYWIRE WORLDWIDE.
I STARTED CHECKING THE DEBT PORTFOLIOS OF VARIOUS NATIONS TODAY AND IT IS TERRIBLE.
THE WORLD TODAY IS UNDER THE SIEGE OF THE SORROW OF HEART AND THE SITUATION WILL CONTINUE TO GET WORSE FOR THE WORLD.
WE NEED THE SPIRIT OF JOY NOT TO BE BROKEN AS OTHERS ARE BROKEN.
EVERY UNWANTED SITUATION YOU FACE IS A TEST, IF YOU DON’T PASS IT YOU WON’T CHANGE LEVELS.
LOOK AT THE TRIALS OF YOUR FAITH AS STEPPING STONES TO YOUR TRIUMPH
– Bishop David Oyedepo on ENGAGING THE HELP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 6 at Midweek Communion Service || LFC Canaanland || 25th October 2023 ||
Everybody needs help. The Holy Ghost is our God ordained master helper. His name is called the Comforter which literally means the Helper. Not to think we need help is pride; we are created to need help. May the help ordained for us in the Master Helper not be short circuited. May this help flow through to reach each one of us! 2 Corinthians 1:24. Church Gist. Everybody needs help. In these great challenging days we need help. We need our joy to remain intact and in place and growing. Our teaching series which is concluding today is, “Engaging the Help of The Holy Spirit.” We all need this helper. We touching on a thing today in our teaching series that is most crucial even for the time that we are living in, that is, the Spirit of Joy.
Many laugh on the outside, they’re crying on the inside – superficial joy. They get to bed and begin to mourn, “what’s happening to me? Is my life going to remain like this?” …and when the heart is broken, life is broken. Proverbs 18:14.
– Today, help us coming!
– Your joy will be inside out! Your joy from henceforth shall be inside out! It will not be smiles on the outside and tears on the inside! Church Gist. From this day by the ministry of this helper, your joy shall be inside out! It shall remain intact! No storms of life will challenge it! You remain on top!
– Ask God for an encounter with the Spirit of Joy.
Among the divers operations of the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Joy. It’s referred to in Isaiah 61:3 as the Oil of Joy; in Psalm 45:7 as the Oil of Gladness. Luke 10:21 – joy from inside out! It stirs joy from within that cannot be hidden from without. Proverbs 17:22. As a preamble, every child of God is redeemed a bundle of Joy. Can I have you say with me, “I’m redeemed a bundle of Joy.” There is what we call, the Joy of Salvation. Church Gist. The Psalmist prayed prophetically, “Restore to me the joy of thy salvation…” Psalm 51:12 and we saw that in the listing of the Fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22. They are manifestations of our regenerated spirit so when we are saved, joy was part of the things implanted in us. It’s “fruit” o not “fruits” – fruit of the Spirit – one. Mango fruit – it has seed, back, the flesh, it’s one fruit. So when you’re born again, you’re born with joy. New birth comes along with joy. They call it the Joy of Salvation and then we have the Joy of Revelation. Jeremiah 15:16. Every encounter with the truth stirs joy. Then we have the Joy of Fellowship. Psalm 84:7; Nehemiah 8:10. So being in fellowship keeps you on the path of joy unspeakable. Psalm 16:11. So among the takeaways from Fellowship is Joy. If you’re truly in fellowship, not that you came and attended, one of your takeaways is joy. Joy goes back home with you because you have appeared in his presence. There is fullness of joy, it imparts on your life. Every child of God is redeemed a bundle of Joy. Romans 14:17 – intoxicating joy, the kind that broke loose on the day of Pentecost. “These people are not drunk like you think. It’s the third hour of the day. The bars are not open.” Acts 2:15. Drunken-like – joy that’s what the Holy Ghost gives.
Singing: the Holy Ghost power is moving just like a …
If you are filled with the Holy Ghost you have that extra boosting in the realm of joy. Then we have the joy of eternity. Every one that is sure of eternity stays supernaturally joyful. Hebrews 12:1-2. The joy of eternity kept him (Jesus) smiling on the Cross. “Today, you’ll be with me in Paradise.” You don’t give good news groaning. Christ smiled till he went down to the grave. He rose triumphant at the end of the day. What he saw before him kept him joyful in spite of what was happening. Church Gist. That’s the kind you’re taking away from here because the greatest loss of lack of joy is lack of access into divine presence. Your God and my God cannot survive a joyless environment and if God be not for you and me, anything can be against us. Your joy is so vital to keep the devil at bay. That’s why so much is invested in redemption to keep you and I joyful.
Why was I just bouncing, jumping, all the time my wife was under siege of death? Singing. Nobody had room to ask me, “What’s going on? How far?” Church Gist. Daughter was dying, I was on my way to the office. I had good time of fellowship with the brethren and sat down in my office with a smile, “Jesus, there must be a way out.” You can’t access light without joy and you can’t access light, darkness will dominate you.
– You’re going away with something tonight that will live with you for life if you care to walk in it!
This is why every true child of God is immune to depression as long as he keeps walking in the light. I’m yet to sit down once by grace, “Why am I doing what I’m doing?” I’ve not done everything right, yes, but following God has been with utmost joy, unperturbed joy, unrepentant joy, unreserved joy. Church Gist. Receive that grace tonight! If you know what lack of joy is costing you, you will respond. Psalm 42:5. Depression is a proof of hopelessness but there is no case of a believer that is hopeless. Ecclesiastes 9:4. Your case can never become hopeless because you are joined to the living God. Today is sparking the dawning of a new day in your life!
But why do we need the Spirit of Joy?
1. It engraces us with joy unspeakable, full of glory. Joy indefinable, indescribable, full of glory. 1 Peter 1:7-8. Those fellows were worshipping God in the fiery furnace. He said, “I saw four men walking, worshipping and celebrating”. It is the oil of joy that keeps us going in season and out of season. Isaiah 61:3. It is the oil of joy that keeps a believer going in season and out of season. It empowers believers to keep riding in majesty in season and out of season. Church Gist. Psalm 45:4-7. Among the things that empower a believer to ride in majesty is the oil of gladness. The more of it you have, the more insight you gain and the more wisdom with which you operate in and your enthronement cannot be denied. Proverbs 8:15.
Why do we need it? It is impossible to rejoice always without the Spirit of joy at work. To rejoice when they insult you is not natural. Is it natural? To rejoice at the rebuke of people. It is not cheap but with the Spirit of joy, you can’t feel it. I have shared a story with you that in 1979 we were coming in from Lagos while this construction of Faith Tabernacle was going on and we got to Abule Egba and there was a hold up like normal and a vendor came around for us to buy newspapers. I said we don’t buy newspapers. Church Gist. He pulled out one magazine and my beautiful picture was at the back of it. Complete cover story. They did good justice to that picture and it was very good. The vendor said, “What about this?” I said we won’t buy it and he started laughing. That was 1999, I have not asked what was in it. This is 2023. I am yet to find out what was in it. You are talking about me, you are not talking to me so you are just spreading your opinion. I didn’t hold an interview with you and you are talking about me, I am now buying your own. No! I am smarter than that. I know me more than you do. Why I am not bothered is that everyday newspapers have a one-day lifespan. Church Gist. Magazines have maybe one-month lifespan when they are still on. Some have three months until they don’t know whether they exist or not. They have already written it down, so what is your problem? That you are crying does not remove it. The Spirit of joy makes you ride over the things that bring others down. You ride over them. Somebody called you a fool five years ago and up till now, you are still weeping. Maybe he is right because he has forgotten what he called you and gone on with his life but you are still under the pressure. “They called me a fool five years ago, March 29th at 2 a.m. He called me on the phone and said I was a fool. Emi?” you are justifying the individual.
It is impossible to rejoice always without the Spirit of joy. Philippians 4:4. That is impossible with all the things going on in the world. You went to the market and they pushed you, you are overreacting. It is a marketplace, people step on each other’s toes. Church Gist. Don’t go to the market if you don’t want to be pushed. The world is a market, people will push you intentionally and deliberately. They will put their toes on your feet and say yes! You say that’s my leg and they say and so what? Just to break your joy and disconnect you from God. Not by power, not by might but by my Spirit.
Everybody needs the Spirit of joy, particularly in these last days when things are going haywire worldwide. I started checking the debt portfolios of various nations today and it is terrible. Where they are borrowing from, I don’t know. The world today is under the siege of the sorrow of heart as the situation will continue to get worse for the world. So we need the Spirit of joy not to be broken as others are broken. There was a family here in the old Church and that night they served water for dinner. The woman called everybody to give God thanks for giving us water. They blessed God for water and they went to bed. Two bags of rice came to their door in the morning. No one was told, no one was spoken to. Heaven responded, God came down wherever joy is and intervened on their behalf. But someone else doesn’t have food to eat and they complain “Is this how to serve God? I am not serving God anymore. Church Gist. Never! Everything they say in that book is not working.” and the helper is just standing at the door to come to your aid, you say “go away helper I don’t need you. Is it now you are coming?” You know the story of a woman here who crossed into the new year with #100 and living in an uncompleted building and yet they are praying Kingdom advancement prayer? God said “Look I will decorate you” and turned her story around like a dream of the night. Everybody needs the Spirit of joy to deal with unwanted seasons of light. Receive that tonight in Jesus’ name.
Matthew 24:12. “If God had anything to offer, He should have offered me long ago.” Who told you? Are you the one handling His program? Every unwanted situation is a test, if you don’t pass it you won’t change levels. Look at the trials of faith as stepping stones to your triumph. Church Gist. You are getting there. Mark 13:7-8. You see now why we need the Spirit of joy to deal with these prophetic horrors of the end time so we can be distinguished. Joel 2:1.
Now, in summary, we need the Spirit of joy:
1. To secure access to increasing revelation.
Revelation is a way out of our situations. Arise, shine as your light comes. You can’t shine without light. Isaiah 12:3. Joy is a fundamental requirement for accessing the wells of salvation. You saw Paul the ever joyful Apostle, they were preaching against him in Philippians 1:15-18. What kind of intoxication is that? You saw the level of revelation he was walking in. Ephesians 3:1-5,8-11. Church Gist. Unusual insight. 2 Peter 3:15. Unusual mysteries delivered to him through the channel of joy and rejoicing. He was the one who wrote Philippians 4:4. Rejoice because you don’t know what you are missing when you are not rejoicing. You are blocking access to light which is the way out of your unwanted situation.
2. To secure our health and vitality.
Proverbs 17:22, 18:14. When the spirit of a man is broken, the body breaks along with it. Church Gist. Caution! Don’t afflict yourself to sorrow of heart. Stop afflicting yourself to sorrow of heart.
3. To keep going after God in season and out of season.
Habakkuk 3:17-19. It takes the Spirit of joy to rejoice when things are not working the way you think they should work. Church Gist. It takes the Spirit of joy to keep pursuing God even when things are not working the way they should.
4. To secure strength in our inner man.
Nehemiah 8:10. David, they were thinking of stoning him but he encouraged himself in the Lord and God answered. Church Gist. 1 Samuel 30:6. There is a way out. There must be a way out. 1 Samuel 30:8-18. David recovered all that was stolen.
We need strength in the inner man against the day of battle. Church Gist. Proverbs 24:10. We need inner strength to deal with issues that may arise in the journey of life.
5. To deliver us from murmuring and complains which may trigger the wrath of God: Murmuring and complains trigger the wrath of God – don’t toy with it. 1 Corinthians 10:10; Numbers 11:1. Church Gist. It looks so ordinary and natural, “you know I must say my mind…” every complaint, every murmuring is at a cost. The cost is terrible but avoidable.
6. To secure divine presence that will always make a difference between the believer and the world around us: it takes joy to secure divine presence and nothing differentiates the believer from the unbeliever like divine presence. It takes joy to secure divine presence. God only inhabits the praises of His people. Psalm 22:3; Psalm 100:4. Church Gist. Those are all features of joy. So it takes joy to carry divine presence. Do you want his presence? Then be joyful. Philippians 4:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:16.
– Everyone of us is returning with something special tonight! You’re returning with the seal of the Spirit of Joy!
It won’t just be joy on the inside, it will be inside out. Inside out order of joy, joy that has no recourse after you’re withdrawn from the public. You shut your door, you start groaning. Joy that is out on the street, there in the room, in the bathroom, there in your sleep. Most of the things you call nightmare, you’re the “mare.” The evil thoughts in your heart, “can we survive?” It’s what you slept with, so animals came to come and attend to the meetings you held with yourself. The Bible says, “out of the multitude of thoughts, we have dreams.” Church Gist. So when you think evil, you find evil chasing you around. It’s time to relax; God is in charge. No matter what happens, you never fall prey to it! No matter what happens, you will not wear rags for life! No matter what happens, your children will not be out of school! Because to him that is joined to all the Living, there is hope and the hope we are talking about is called lively hope, hope that maketh not ashamed. You won’t see shame! God who fed Israel for 40 years, two meals a day for free, is still there. He has not changed, he has you in mind, just create the environment for him to intervene in your affairs. Joy is one of those critical issues that must be in place to secure divine intervention.
Lift up your right hand and give God thanks!
Everybody needs the oil of gladness and the Spirit of joy to keep going in season and out of season. Church Gist. Every endowment of the Spirit answers to a thirst and desperation.
Someone asked me years ago, “Brother David, do you ever have any problems?” I said, “Maybe it came and I didn’t know.” A time has come when no one should see any problem on your face and that time is tonight. You will not be collecting pity all around town. Do you want divine intervention? Cheer up! Christ will always say “Weep not, I can’t help you in your weeping state. Church Gist. Weep not, I am in charge. Weep not, I am not looking for any helper. Weep not, you have come to the final bus stop for every situation of life.” Christ cannot jump in while you are weeping. He wants you to wipe your tears and put on cheers.
By this communion tonight, the same oil of gladness upon Christ shall be transmitted to every one of us. The order of joy that makes him rejoice from inside out. Church Gist. Rejoicing in the Spirit, receive it from this table tonight because we are empowered to live like Jesus through the mystery of the communion. Everything that joy and rejoicing offers shall become your new experience.
– Your countenance will no longer be sour.
– Your look will no longer be offensive.
Watch it from tonight there shall be no more crying behind closed doors again because you are redeemed as a bundle of joy. So if you want to, write a little piece and put it on your door ‘I Am Redeemed As A Bundle Of Joy’. Church Gist. Say that to yourself every time any negative or terrible thought comes to your mind. Everything about my life is ordained to emit joy. Salvation – joy, baptism of the Holy Ghost – joy, Future of a great eternity – joy. Everything about your life emits joy.
Lord, we receive this table tonight as your body and blood. Let your order of joy come alive in us. Let every siege of depression be blessed. Church Gist. Let every form of downheartedness be over. Let everyone enter into new realms of joy.
So with the Spirit, the flesh and the blood, you are okay. The battle is over. That man was struck with a stroke in Peru. Because the devil didn’t want him to be free, he sent him out of his job and he couldn’t feed his family anymore. He got saved at Toll Gate and God restored his job miraculously. Now they sent him to Peru and he said: “I will follow you there”. Church Gist. You can’t run from the devil, he is anywhere the air can be found. He is the prince of the air. Except there is no air where you are going. In the same way, God is everywhere If you create room for him. From today, lack of joy will not put God off your life in the name of Jesus.
– Your health is declared restored.
– No more physical breakdown. No more emotional breakdowns. No more spiritual breakdown.
– Whatever cannot be found in Christ will not be found in your life.
That is the toast for tonight, receive it by faith in Jesus’ name.
Please take note of this. As far back as 1976 the Lord gave me a precious gift from Deuteronomy 28:47-48. Early morning, awesome gift. My niece was having her birthday that day and she ran to me “What have you got for me Sir?”, I said, “Come, this is the gift God gave me this morning and you are the first person I am giving it to”. Serving God is not enough, Serve Him with joy or nothing comes out of it. Don’t serve God on contract, He is not your trade companion. Joyfulness and gladness of heart is a non-negotiable requirement for profitable stewardship. Joel 1:12. Church Gist. No matter how much seed you sow without joy there is no return. You will not serve God in vain again. So when you are praying Kingdom advancement prayer begin with a smile. I thank you for the privilege to be welcome on the prayer altar to have fellowship with you, the Most High God and my Father. I have come for your Kingdom. Let your name be glorified. With a smile. I had a friend who we lived together in the early days of this ministry. He had a prayer ministry, he prays but I never met him smiling. I tried to remember when I was coming tonight whether I caught him smiling once. No! Every God who carries the whole world is laughing. This man never laughed. Church Gist. We were close but that lack of laughter didn’t let me get too close. You need a smile to attract favour. If you have a staff who is always frowning, you may not want to send them anywhere. Because of this kind of look, he is always wearing, he may not buy the correct thing. When you have the one that is always smiling you can tell him anything and send him anywhere with a smile. Somebody’s story has changed. So don’t write this down in your notes, write it down in your heart. As you are going from here start smiling before the battery goes down. Keep the battery charged.
Next Sunday is our Rescue Miracle Sunday. Some are in bondage and they don’t know but Jesus who knows everything is coming down to us as He did in Egypt to bring us out of this age long bondage. You can’t tell why there is tension in your home, He knows. You can’t tell why there is nothing going well in your office, He knows. Church Gist. What you can’t see, what I can’t see God sees and He has come down for our rescue. The net shall be broken and everyone shall escape. God will wipe away tears from all faces. He will make your bones fat in famine. He will show you favour. Someone is stepping free. A few hours more for Paul and Silas to be slain, God stepped in and brought them out. God is stepping into your affairs and bringing you out from the net that you don’t know exists.
You heard that testimony tonight you have taken the communion, you can still take more. There is no overdose of it. It has the capacity to wipe away stroke, bone marrow cancer. Church Gist. It has all the capacity in it. Therefore in the name of Jesus, whatever looks like an issue tonight, by Sunday you are sharing your testimony.
#BishopDavidOpedepo
#MidweekCommunionService
#25thOctober2023
#LFCWorldwide
#CovenantHighways
#ChurchGist
