ONE OF OUR GREATEST OFFENCES IS OUR PROSPERITY
MANY ARE OFFENDED ABOUT THE PROSPERITY OF THIS MINISTRY AND WONDERING WHY GOD HAS NOT CANCELLED US
GOD’S FINANCIAL FORTUNE AGENDA IS NOT A PRESS BUTTON STUFF, IT IS AN ADVENTURE.
BUILDING FROM THE BOTTOM IS THE ONLY WAY TO THE TOP.
STARTING FROM WHERE YOU ARE IS THE ONLY WAY TO WHERE YOU ARE GOING.
I GOT GRIEVOUSLY PERSECUTED FOR PREACHING PROSPERITY
ONE OF MY FRIENDS SAID ‘THE MESSAGE OF PROSPERITY IS MATERIALISTIC AND IT IS THE devil WANTING TO CORRUPT THE REVIVAL IN NIGERIA.’
SINCE I CAME DOWN WITH THE MANDATE OF PROSPERITY, IT HAS CHANGED THE FACE OF CHRISTIANITY ESPECIALLY ACROSS AFRICA TO THE GLORY OF GOD.
EVEN WICKED MEN WISH THEMSELVES LONG LIFE AND PROSPERITY. SO WHY DO YOU THINK GOD WILL WISH YOU LONG LIFE AND SUFFERING?
IT IS GOD’S WILL TO PROSPER US
- Bishop David Oyedepo on GATEWAYS TO FINANCIAL FORTUNE at Financial Fortune Banquet Service || Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland|| 7th April 2024 || First Sunday Service ||
Next to salvation, the greatest asset of every believer is revelation. You are not saved, they said you will perish. You don’t know, you also perish. So it is not enough to be saved, we must get to the point of knowing what accompanies our salvation. We must get to that point by the opening of our eyes into those things that accompany salvation. What are the things that accompany salvation? Church Gist. There are many frustrated believers today because they don’t know what the things that accompany salvation are and how to realize them. The Psalmist prayed “Open my eyes Lord that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” It is access to those wondrous things that make a believer a living wonder. A believer who is void of spiritual understanding is as good as dead.
Jesus, give everyone in this service today an encounter of a lifetime. 42 years ago, he brought me an encounter that is still speaking today. Jesus, grant each one in this place today an encounter that will keep speaking all the days of their lives. Let it be a bailout service. Let everyone escape from the dungeon of poverty, lack and want. Church Gist. You specialize in raising the poor out of the dunghill, now change the story of everyone this morning by your light that is coming forth in Jesus’ name. Thank you, Father. Breathe on your Word and let the Spirit of your Word enter into your people and put all of us back on our feet in Jesus’ name.
Please note that visions, revelations, dreams and goals are all definitions of expected outcomes in His Word. The expected outcome as revealed in His Word. But many are so engrossed with the euphoria of expected outcomes without being mindful of the process that will lead there. They are just basking under the euphoria, “He became poor that I through His poverty, might be made rich” That’s okay. It is settled. What is the process to realize that provision? People’s eyes are here, they see only the end because they are not looking down, they keep stumbling. Church Gist. Yes, the vision that this ministry will have vibrant churches across the nations of the world. You know God can be very humourous sometimes. There was not one yet when He said that. To now be looking for how to get across the nations at that time would be madness. You start from the locality where you are. No one is born a giant. All these get-rich-quick syndrome is of the devil. There is always a process. If you want a baby, you need to be pregnant first and believe in the reality of the labour room. We have come thus far by faith. You better know it is a journey. Church Gist. God’s financial fortune agenda is not a press button stuff, It is an adventure. Genesis 17:1-2. It is a walk. You cannot but stumble with your eyes on top of your head. No one jumps from Primary 1 to 6, no matter how brilliant. He is so brilliant, let him jump from Primary 1 to 6. 5++ GPA won’t jump from 100 Level to 400 Level. Life is a journey. The journey of a million miles begins with only one step. There is always a process to get across to our expected outcome. Church Gist. Building from the bottom is the only way to the top. May the Lord grant each one of us understanding. Starting from where you are is the only way to where you are going. You can’t start from where you are going, you start from where you are. There is nothing magical or mystical about God. No games, no gimmicks.
With my encounter with the mystery of financial fortune in 1982, you will think I was a victim of financial misfortune. I knew what He said and I knew what to do to realize what He said in the ultimate. “Get back home and make my people rich” Me? How? ‘As poor, making many rich. Go and show them what I have shown you.’ It was the only way I got persuaded. I wasn’t a candidate to say to anybody God sent me to come and meet you. Show us your riches first. It is not knowing where to start that has kept many believers suspended. One of the greatest offences of the ministry today is prosperity. Many are offended in this ministry. Many are wondering why God has not cancelled this ministry. They are so angry. Nonsense! That is not where we started from. When I tell you that our first full-scale year as a church ministry was ₦18,000. That was a lot of promotion. If you take it up from Power House, was there any month we saw ₦1000? No! ₦500? Too much. One step and another, the longest journey is made. Get set for a walk with God in the covenant and you are sure to be established in the realm of his fortune in hard times. Church Gist. Get set for a walk with God. Don’t be a waster, throwing things around. Psalm 112:5. If you settle down to see how much waste you engage with, you will be sorry for yourself. Most people I mean. We in this family are so used to discipline and decorum. I told a humourous story of what my mentor said. We were at the airport and somebody greeted, he said “Give me ₦500.” I said “For what? For greeting you? I don’t do that.” The man heard it and laughed, I also laughed too and that was the conclusion. Is it helping the poor? Is it offering? Is it tithe? What is it? It is time to get set for that walk. It is that walk with patience that brought this Church to where we are. It is that walk that will bring you to the ultimate of God’s plan for your all-around rest in times of crisis. It is never too late to be right, start now.
GATEWAYS TO FINANCIAL FORTUNE
We have a picture of financial fortune in scriptures and every prophetic word shall be fulfilled before Jesus returns. Job 22:21-25. So there is a law that launches men into financial fortune. It is a picture, it is a glimpse. It is the realm He is taking us into. Joel 2:21-23. Church Gist. So He is talking about the latter rain era, the end time Church. Joel 2:24-26. That’s God’s agenda. Beautiful destination but the demands of the process must be embraced to get there. We are all getting there. Those who are just getting there, will remain there. Those who are already there will go farther.
There is a law and there are principles that guide the working of that law. That is what we must get to see so we can actualize His agenda. Deuteronomy 8:18. So there is His covenant that we must enter into to actualize His financial fortune agenda. It is not the agenda of a church, the doctrine of an apostolic ministry, it is His covenant. He inaugurated that covenant in Genesis 8. Genesis 8:20-22. Church Gist. God swore that covenant when He saw the sacrifice of Noah to avert the flood on the earth. Thereby God swore the covenant of seedtime and harvest, that is as reliable as the covenant of the day and the night, cold and heat, summer and winter, seed time and harvest. So under any climatic conditions under heaven, this covenant works. The good news is you have escaped.
As mentioned earlier, our access into every redemptive provision is revelation. Acts 20:32. 2 Peter 1:3. The only access is revelation. Only the spiritual can access revelation. This is roadblock 1. Psalm 25:14. 1 Corinthians 2:14. Only the spiritual can access revelation. 1 Corinthians 3:3. One can be born again and still be carnal. So it takes a spiritual repositioning to access revelation, otherwise you join the scorners. “It is not true. I know what I am doing.” You don’t know what you are doing. Church Gist. How can you see it for God’s sake, Tangible testimonies from your Christian friend, your business partner and still doubt its reality? The Bible calls it an evil heart of unbelief. Hebrews 3:12. Mark 4:11. Revelation 22:15. Proverbs 26:11. Who are the dogs? Those who take pleasure in returning to their vomits. I am sorry today, I am sorry tomorrow, I am sorry next tomorrow. It takes spiritual discipline to flow in revelation. That is why most people carry about the stories of the gospel, no access to the mysteries. They can’t command dominion over the things they claim to have found. 2 Peter 2:22.
So we need to package ourselves, striving in faith to keep living a life that pleases God. Job was a man who feared God and eschewed evil. He became the greatest businessman in his time and he told us the story. Job 29:4. The fear of God in Chapter 1, the mystery behind it in Job 29:4. Even Thomas when he saw Jesus, “My Lord and my God.” People see tangibles and they scorn. “I don’t know. Even though the Church does not take bank loans. There must be individuals in the Church that give soft loans to the Church without interest.” People just say all kinds of things. We have never borrowed. Church Gist. ‘It is not true.’ Okay, that’s to you. Even the hardened Jews, they saw that woman touch the hem of his garment and was made whole. They kept scrambling for it from all over. They don’t believe Him but that this woman got this thing by doing this, I must get my own. They were made perfectly whole. Matthew 14:36. Matthew 9:20-22. Everybody broke the protocols of security and as many that touched Him were made perfectly whole. I mean hardened Jews. You are a believer. Why are you reading negative meanings to people’s testimonies? Start thinking good things. Somebody said ‘I have been giving transport money in my zone and God has been blessing me.’ Carry meaning: There is nothing there. It is just circumstance. Am I not also giving transport seed in my zone? Well done. Do you know the red-headed lizard? That is always nodding. Maybe you did but your attitude was wrong. “We are the ones in this zone so anybody who has transportation challenge should come to me. We are the challengers.” The attitude may be wrong. It is your turn at last. You will not be found among the scorners again.
Watch, even natural men wish themselves long life and prosperity. Wicked human beings! So why do you think God will wish you long life and suffering? Let me tell you my wish in case you don’t know. I have no other pleasure than to hear that my sons are walking in the truth. Church Gist. 3 John 2. It is not our ambition, it is God’s agenda. It is God’s will to prosper us. That is far beyond your earnings. People are tied to it today. Far beyond your business earnings, people are over-tied to it today.
Flourishing in hard times means you carry money and you don’t have what to buy. That king cried out, “If God does not help you, where will I help you from?” I ran from my house because there was no food to eat. They were selling dungs of doves. Doves will shit, human beings will collect and cook. They began to trade their sons for food. We eat your son today, tomorrow we eat my own. That woman said, “Oh Lord my king, the covenant is broken. Yesterday we ate my son and today we are to eat her son, we can’t find him.” Hard times are not coming, hard times are here for anyone who has eyes to see. Church Gist. Yet there are people smiling in the midst of these hard times, why not come and join that army? Join that army. Without cutting corners, without playing out your business partners, and without cheating on the company where you are working. Come and join that chariot, it is a real one.
“As far as your eyes can see unto you will I give it.” You have read it, you have heard it, Okay. But have you seen it? You must get to the point where you see the reality of this provision and what it takes to realize it. I am sent on this mission so He gave me the words to say. I am sent. I didn’t come by myself. Since I came down with that mandate as delivered by Him by the grace of election, it has changed the face of Christianity, especially across Africa to the glory of God. Your story must change. I got grievously persecuted for teaching this. I was in a meeting where I almost died if not for the mercy of God. A friend of mine took up the mandate and began to ‘pieces’ it, the words were like arrows to my flesh. Church Gist. He said this message of prosperity is dialectically materialistic. Emi gbo ru e ri o (I’ve never heard that before). This is the devil wanting to corrupt the revival in Nigeria. So I was an agent of the devil. You know when? 1983. How I drove home from that meeting, I can’t tell. Whether I was on Gear 1 or 2. I can’t tell, before God. When I got home my wife asked, “How was the meeting?” I said Great. I thought I was to minister on that schedule, I misread the programme. He was the one to minister, I felt I should just enjoy myself before the Lord. It was suffering. My wife said, won’t you eat? No! I mustn’t say what I heard. Church Gist. I mustn’t pass that venom to anybody else. So I covered myself and went before the Lord to smear my body with ointment. So I came out of it. She never heard that word from me in seven years. After it had been turned into a testimony. Don’t pass venom.
When I see commentators on ministry, I always wonder, have you ever seen a referee win an award in any sporting event? Including Olympics? That this is the best referee in the world? No! You can’t be the best. You are just a referee. You are in a career, you are not a candidate for medals. So why disturb your life by commenting up and down? You are not working in a radio house where you are a commentator, so relax. When they talk against you, relax. If it is a newspaper, it has a one-day lifespan. Church Gist. Nobody will buy it tomorrow. If it is a magazine, one-month maximum and the effect will be waning. “Have you seen this magazine? Yes, I have seen it.” He won’t read it again. So why are you breaking your head because somebody insulted you on social media? It can change in one second, they have seen somebody else to insult. Face where you are going. I knew I heard from God, so I held tight to what I heard. See the effect of what I heard now. May you hear from God this time. May you see what God is saying to you this time in the name of Jesus.
What is a covenant?
We are saying that the covenant of seedtime and harvest is the secret behind our exemption in hard times. What is a covenant? I have defined a covenant as a deal enacted by God based on well-defined terms and sealed with an oath. Here is God saying I have this covenant package for you if you are interested. Lord, I am interested. Okay, these are the terms that will deliver the goods of the covenant if you truly are interested. It is a deal enacted by God. When God made a promise to Abraham because he could swear by no greater. He swore by Himself. It is a covenant sworn to by God for delivery if you will do what the terms demands. Hebrews 6:12-18. Church Gist. We have a lot of blessed people in this Church, we are all blessed people in various stages of His blessing. 1 Timothy 6:17-19. So it is not giving out of poverty, it is giving to stay under an open heaven. The covenant is not a press-button platform. No! Philippians 4:15-16. Once and again! The terms are so interesting. If I were giving out of poverty I would have stopped. Poverty left me a long time ago. If your Church were giving to get out of poverty, we would have stopped the longest time. The volume of what goes into welfare in this Church, in this country alone. God have mercy. He gave it, so there is nobody bragging about it. Those are salient terms. Just walk with Me in the covenant and I will establish it. Then you can take your rest. God has no other way of changing our story than by His Word. He tells you what to do to bring you out of the unwanted issues of your life.
- You won’t beg.
- Your household will not beg.
- No matter what shuts down in these hard times, none of your endeavours will shut down.
- There shall be no one pauper in this Commission.
That is what makes the covenant of seedtime and harvest the gateway to a world of supernatural blessings. 2 Corinthians 9:6-8. What a raw interpretation of Genesis 8:22. Giving is sowing. Attitude must be right. God is never in need, He wants to help you out of your need. God will never be in need. The day God gets into being in need, the world will end. John 1:16. Church Gist. When God is in need, we are all dead. The right attitude is required. No one has the capacity to sponsor God. No! You are going somewhere. “If not that there are some of us in this church, three of us actually, nothing will be happening here. You know they don’t recognise people in this Church, we need to talk to Papa. There are timbers and calibres here.” I see timber and calibre in everybody. The timbre of timbers, Jesus Christ, lives inside you. Who can be a greater timber than you? Caution! Don’t cut down your destiny. Caution, please. You are going somewhere, He will take you there. 2 Corinthians 9:8.
Now, we are going to supply transportation to our main hubs so that all our new converts who don’t know our zones who get on the highway and edges and flow into those vehicles come into the Kingdom. Somebody will say ‘How much is the hub in my place, can I be privileged to take care of that for the month?’ Someone else will say ‘Can I take care of that for the year?’ You are just demonstrating your love to your source. Of Him have you received. Church Gist. Of His own are you giving. So you’re just excited. People in the zones that are doing what they are doing, are doing it because of their affection for God and God is visiting them in return. So wake up! This covenant works. Ask thousands in this Church and they will tell you it works. This covenant works everywhere. Do you know how we entered into 83 nations without any supply of funds for Nigeria? It works. Wherever covenant people are, things turn. It is your turn.
The good news is that this month is set apart for you and I to step up in our covenant work with God and get free from the days of uncertainties that are coming to visit the world. The Ark is ongoing, it will soon be ready. So what stops every zone from having their own buses? Instead of paying for funny things and sustaining them. You mean you can’t get 4,000 or 5,000 people here that can offer onto the Lord a bus each? Living bus, alive, brand new. It is just the zeal and the zest for God that changes people’s stories. Church Gist. People are not aware of it. It is happening already. As they are selling businesses we will be buying them. It is your turn to be visited. These 40 days post-resurrection appearance of Christ will add value to your life. He will show up either in the morning, in the afternoon, in the night, on the way to work and say My son, this is the way to go. You won’t miss Him.
So we must understand that our seed is not a financial donation to ‘help’ God, the Church or ministers. Psalm 50:14. Psalm 24:1. Haggai 2:9. No devil can stop it and no human resistance can stop it. Luke 22:35. That is your God. That is the realm you are going into. The realm of lacking nothing. Our seeds sown is a spiritual transaction for provoking divine favour over our lives. Noah reared an altar of sacrifice and God spoke from heaven. Genesis 8:20-22. So the sacrifice spoke in heaven and God responded. Our giving is a spiritual transaction that commits God to pour out His favour on our lives. Malachi 3:10. It is a spiritual transaction, it is not a banking system. Church Gist. It speaks in heaven. Hebrews 7:1-8. Tithe goes to heaven unto Jesus who has the keys of David, he opens and no man can shut. He opens the windows of heaven to pour out His favour on your life and my life. Our givings are spiritual transactions.
We come back to what Abraham did on Mount Moriah, Abraham laid Isaac on the altar and God spoke from heaven. Why? It spoke in heaven. The sacrifice answered in heaven. Genesis 22:16-18. Have a spiritual transaction mentality of your seed. Proverbs 19:17. So you give to the needy, it answers in heaven. We need that spiritual transaction mentality to keep going in our giving lives. The Widow of Zarephath just did one thing and opened up her destiny, three and half years free feeding in famine. May the one thing you will do that will exempt you in hard times get across to you this time. By the covenant, we are not permitted to suffer what the world around us suffers. You will not suffer it. Exodus 9:1-7. We saw the death of cattle in Egypt, not one cattle that belongs to Israel died. That was their business. None of your businesses will die. We saw hail and storms and tempest mingled with fire, which connotes devastation and destruction, there was no hail where God’s people dwelled. Church Gist. Exodus 9:18-26. We saw gross darkness which connotes confusion, not knowing what to do, stagnation, frustration, they saw not one another and they didn’t rise from their place in three days. Confusion! You saw Judah saying, “Neither know we what to do.” Confusion. Stagnation. In the land of Goshen where covenant people dwelled, there was light. Exodus 10:21-23. You won’t lack light. Whatever door appears to close, seven others will open.
Famine is synonymous with every generation of covenant people. There was famine in the days of Abraham, there was famine in the days of Isaac, there was famine in the days of Jacob and there was famine in the days of Joseph. Church Gist. They were all exempted. We shall be exempted. Now, we have spoken about what Financial Fortune Banquet is all about but mind the following seven steps which I call Covenant Keys To A World of Financial Fortune.
- Be spiritually minded.
That will provide you access to increasing revelation that will keep growing your commitment as you grow. Church Gist. Romans 8:6. Walk in the truth and keep doing so. - Make the covenant of seedtime and harvest your new lifestyle.
Proverbs 11:24-25. - Embrace financial integrity in your dealings so as to avoid the curse of the law. Zechariah 5:1-4. Jeremiah 17:11.
- Remain committed to being a blessing to the challenged ones around you.
Genesis 12:2. God cannot be any more committed to blessing us than we are committed to being a blessing first to His Kingdom and to those around us. - Seek continuous guidance in the way to God.
Don’t carry your bag and jump the fence to Benin Republic. It is so close but if you have missed God’s place, you are a displaced person and it can be horrible. Don’t carry your bag because you got a VISA and disappear to China. Seek continuous guidance. Isaiah 48:21. He guided us to this Canaanland, a land flowing with milk and honey when there was no hope of any life or any hope of life in the place. Before we decided to come here, there was no company working here. All the companies were dead. The devil was having a field day. He said this is the place. Let Him guide you, it may be a desert for others but for you, it will be a flourishing garden. To be a displaced person is quite a challenge. From your big house, you are now in a dormitory without a toilet. You go to the bush to toilet. Church Gist. You carry a plastic plate to collect your food. No one is qualified to lead himself. Proverbs 16:1. I am not qualified to lead you, I am not qualified to lead me. Let Him lead you. I said something yesterday in our broadcast to Pastors and Workers, Nobody has said he is going into ministry from this ministry and I said don’t go. Church Gist. I may advise by the little I know but you are the one to clear. I won’t clear for you. I won’t say I will clear for you. Clear properly because God is only committed to what He commands. I got a very disturbing caption recently saying it is insane for anyone to remain in Nigeria. A Nigerian talking. It is insane. So we are all insane. See how you are flourishing despite the hardship. Brand new day for you. Not everything that glitters is gold. Not every open door is God’s door. Many are traps in disguise. Caution! - Be committed to thinking and speaking covenant-rooted words.
“Nothing works here.” They stop working. “No one can make it in Nigeria.” Then you start joining the ones who will never make it. “I am finished” Then you finish yourself. Philippians 4:8. Proverbs 23:7. Think scriptural things, think covenant words. Church Gist. You will be speaking covenant words without any stress. Proverbs 23:7. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. You can’t think right and talk wrong. You are not thinking right, that is why you are talking wrong. You want to flourish in hard times, don’t make it hard for yourself. - Keep rejoicing.
Keep rejoicing to take delivery of your returns. Your rewards or returns on the covenant of seed time and harvest must meet you rejoicing. Habbakuk 3:17-19. Joel 1:12. Church Gist. Keep rejoicing. Tomorrow is better than today. Keep rejoicing, you are going somewhere. Keep rejoicing you will be a breadwinner to many tomorrow. Keep rejoicing, you never know the horrors of the day.
Please take away this. You don’t start climbing a tree from the top. It is from the bottom up. Start from where you are.
If anyone sends any message to you claiming that he or she is from this place, that you should give something so you can get something that is fraud. Never here. Church Gist. Never once, never forever. So keep yourself safe. The enemy is wild. He is going all over town creating tension anywhere, you will not be a victim.
Jeremiah 15:16. One acid test for a true encounter with the Word is joy. You can’t encounter the Word and be depressed. How many know the way out right now? How many know the way out to be exempted in these hard times? Give God thanks. If you want to know what they market in any shopping mall, just stand by the parking lot and watch people coming out. What they come out with is what they market in there. This is a home of prosperity. So anyone who is a part of this family has a right to it. If you do what we do, you will see what we see. You can’t be on board this flight and be deprived of what they serve here. Church Gist. So if you are truly on board, it is your turn to smile. If you truly care for what the Word says it is your turn for a breakthrough. If you truly embrace what the Word demands your dominion is here. The good news is not one member of this church family will go down.
Finally, the encounter is on for the resurrected Christ. One way there from what I said yesterday is passion for God. Passion for God and the interest of His Kingdom will secure an encounter. Church Gist. It is that time He shows up. I have seen too many things here, it is not theory. Work your way there. The harvest time is on.
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