I HAVE SEEN DEATH IN ITS VARIOUS SHAPES AND I HAVE TRIUMPHED WITHOUT SWEAT
THIS CHURCH WILL BE KNOWN AS WHERE PEOPLE DON’T DIE YOUNG.
YOU WILL ANNOUNCE YOUR DEPARTURE SMILING, NOT IN SICKNESS OR PAIN
I AM NOT IN A HURRY TO GO TO HEAVEN, WE WILL BE THERE FOREVER.
TWO WEEKS FROM NOW, THIS MINISTRY WILL BE 43 YEARS AND WE HAVE NEVER KNOWN ANY DRY SEASON
WE HAVE NEVER INVITED ANYONE TO COME AND RAISE OFFERINGS IN THIS CHURCH
LIFE IS A PLEASURABLE ADVENTURE IF YOU USE BIBLE SENSE
YOU ARE NOT GIVING YOUR TITHE TO THE CHURCH, JESUS IS THE ONE RECEIVING IT IN HEAVEN.
- Bishop David Oyedepo on GATEWAYS TO SUPERNATURAL BLESSINGS IN HARD TIMES 3 at Covenant Day of Long Life Service || Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland|| 21st April 2024 || First Sunday Service ||
By divine illumination, I had the first teaching series on victory over death in 1983. 41 years ago. It was light that came from heaven and death came to try whether I knew what I was talking about. The whole place was turning when I concluded that meeting the following morning. My wife will be able to tell the story better. No flicker of fear. Darkness cannot threaten light. Please be awake. It is a subject that is hardly taught so Satan has been having a field day. When I wrote the book ‘Victory Over Death’ people were scared. So I turned it into ‘Long Life Your Heritage’ so they can consume it and then ‘Fulfilling Your Days’. It is the same truth that I had to change the packaging to help people access it. Church Gist. People are so scared of death, death does not kill. It is the fear of death that does. I have seen death in its various shapes and I have triumphed without sweat. In the name of Jesus, I curse the siege of the fear of death on your life.
It is inquiry that leads to discovery. People hardly enquire. People are having marital issues and they have never read one book on marriage in their life. People are dying of sickness, they have never read one book on healing. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”. It is never heard that darkness swallows up light. When they came to the light of the world, he asked “Whom seek ye?” they said Jesus and they fell down. Pilate said I have power. He said, “You don’t have power over me. I am just going the way it is written of me.” It is never known that darkness threatens light. Church Gist. Light is the master of darkness, any day, any time, anywhere. I have mentioned it before, this Church will be known as where they don’t die young. You will announce your departure smiling, not in sickness, not in pain. You will bless your children, your grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Jesus, thank you. It is only the light you show that we can access. It is God who has shown us light. Church Gist. Thank you for showing us light. Let the light of your word penetrate everyone’s heart today in Jesus’ name.
Again, the prophetic focus for the month is IN THE DAYS OF FAMINE I SHALL BE SATISFIED. No one shall be a victim of the days of famine. We have been on our series GATEWAYS TO SUPERNATURAL BLESSINGS IN HARD TIMES. As already established, the covenant of seedtime and harvest is gateway to a world of supernatural blessings and the secret behind our exemption in hard times. Genesis 8:22. No matter what goes on on the earth, seed time and harvest will remain in force. Church Gist. In famine, out of famine, in season, out of season, in plenty, in lack. The covenant of seedtime and harvest remains in force while the earth remains. In the heat of famine, the widow of Zarephath gave all she had and it never ended for three and a half years. The covenant of seed time and harvest is as binding on God as the covenant of the day and the night. Until you can stop the day and the night from taking position, we cannot stop the covenant of seed time and harvest. He supplies all our needs according to His riches in glory.
In the days of scarce commodities, we were looking for baby food and it was nowhere to be found. The Lord said give all that you have as seed. So that even when you find it now, you can’t get money to buy it. Church Gist. We did. The following day, no announcement, no mentioning anything to anybody, somebody walked into our home and said, “There is no baby food in town and the Lord laid it on my heart to bring you 24 cartons of baby food.” The law is in force forever.
One morning there was no soap in the house, I mean in the bathroom. There was only one. I called the young man living in the house and I said, “Get soap when you are coming back.” People line up in the stores. They took soap to the shop that very day at control price without lining up. Please wake up. No games. You will eat food for free not knowing where it is coming from. Has God changed? No! It is the hardness of the hearts of men that has been our problem all the way. You can’t be on the giving platform and still be on the begging line. No! Prayer and fasting will never be a substitute to giving. There are many fasting machines in the Body of Christ who are paupers to the highest realm. Can you pray and fast to go and harvest maize in a field that you have not planted? If they catch you there, you know the meaning. Church Gist. People try to use different things that don’t work. It is not every key that opens a door. You have a bunch of keys for the house that you built. Is it every key that opens every door? You don’t put the right key and you are just saying, “I am the owner of the house.” You won’t enter. You need the right key to enter. These things are yours and mine by redemption but you need the right key. If you want power, prayer and fasting is the right key. But if you want blessing, give and give. We can as well close because all I need to do is to tell you how to get there. All the stories, the core is giving if you want to receive good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over. By the anointing today, I decree the giving power to be released upon everyone’s life. The power to give is the gateway to the power for wealth. Until one is empowered to give, He cannot be empowered for wealth.
Today we are looking at Serving God With Our God Given Resources Is Key To A World of Supernatural Blessings.
It is God given. What have you that you have not received? Like I said the other time, Tithing is an acknowledgement that you received His blessings and here is my acknowledgement of receipt. What you sent to me I got it and here is a tenth of it to show that I got it. You know the problem? When there is no such acknowledgement. The next one may not be forthcoming. Maybe your address has changed, maybe your bank account has changed. Maybe it didn’t get to you. J.C. Penney will tell the story well because he began giving and God was promoting him. He began tithing and God was lifting him and his business. He was growing and growing and then he began to cut down. Church Gist. “This tithe is becoming too much, let’s check it. The church won’t need this much.” He thought he was giving to the Church. Every tithe given is received by Christ in heaven who has the key of David that opens and no man shuts. Ushers may receive it in their bucket but Christ receives them there. Hebrews 7:7-8. He is our Melchizedek, our eternal High Priest. Christ receives them and engages the key of David in his hand to open the windows. I don’t have the keys so no matter how much I cry, “Oh God bless me.” It won’t work. The one that has the key is Christ and He is no respecter of persons. When He receives your tithe He opens it. It is our covenant life insurance. “I will rebuke the devourer for your sake.” Not “I will pay you when you have accidents”, I will keep you from accidents. No domestic accidents, no road accidents. No ship hazard, no air crash. He rebukes the devourer based on our tithe.
Our seeds must be sown willingly both to be acceptable and to be rewarded. If a man gives according to what he has, it is accepted, not according to what he has not. God is no taskmaster. As God has blessed everyone, even so let him give. Deuteronomy 16:17. It is by equality, we have equal access to the covenant of abundance. Like we heard the other time, the tithe of ₦10 is ₦1, no assumption. The tithe of ₦1,000,000 is not ₦1. No! It is ₦100,000. Can I give ₦100,000? God says that is why I have not brought you there. You don’t have capacity to give. I can’t give you what you don’t have capacity to let go. So if you can’t a tithe of ₦1,000,000, your journey is long. By equality. Church Gist. Can you hear me this morning that you are not giving to Church, ushers are not receiving your tithe, Jesus is there receiving them. When they were giving offerings in Church, Jesus was looking over the treasury and He saw a woman that cast two mites. So He is watching over the seed you gave even as worship offering. Those blessings that come upon our lives are not earthly, so they cannot be removed by earthly wickedness. No! They are beyond their reach, far above where they live.
Our spiritual perspective of the covenant will go a long way to keep us on track. God is no respecter of persons. To have respect for persons is a sin and Jesus knew no sin. So we have to wake up and align. He was asking for an offering in Exodus 35 and He said to Moses, “Tell them this is the thing which the Lord has commanded, anyone that is willing hearted let him bring.” Exodus 35:21-22. So they came and gave willingly and they began to experience some blessings. Church Gist. They were bringing daily. ‘This is the way to go’ and God said ‘It is enough, don’t bring again. We don’t need any more. You have tried’. That is where you are getting to. You are moving to the realm of too much.
Giving God the first place empowers believers to flourish in hard times. Elijah told the widow of Zarephath, “Make for me first.” And she was flourishing in hard times. Matthew 6:31-33. You have given God the first place, you have established your place in hard times for flourishing. When we commit to Kingdom promotion endeavours, we enjoy supernatural blessings in return. Phillippians 4:15-19. All your needs! Your need for health, your need for strength, your need for peace, your need for joy, your need for material things. All your needs. Your needs to get Children to school. All your needs. In his frustrated state, Peter let Jesus have his boat and that was the biggest turnaround of his life. All fishermen are forgotten but Peter is still speaking. He gave Jesus all he had in his frustrated state and God turned him into a celebrity. Church Gist. Genuine commitment to Kingdom advancement impacts believers to keep flourishing like the palm tree with no more dry seasons. Your life will not know any more dry seasons. Two weeks from now, this ministry will be 43 years and we have never known any dry season. The Church started 41 years ago, you still can’t believe how what He made available was sufficient and enough without ever recording red from one year to another. His blessings make rich and add no sorrow to it. So an adventure of no dry seasons is a reality. 41 years and you hear one of my sons here testifying that he was 30 years in the Church. No games! There are those who were here then. No games! We have never invited anyone to come and raise offerings in this Church. Those who did it, they did it on their own. You can get across to the realm of no dry seasons, all these palpitating, gasping is not the way to live. My prayer is that your remaining days on earth will be absolutely financially pressure-free.
Don’t try to impress people and oppress yourself. What are you looking for? All my friends are riding brand-new cars. Go and buy one. What is your problem? A car is a car. Somebody asked me, Brother David I learnt that you got a car. I said Yes, the Lord blessed me with a fantastic car. He said did I hear it is a Volkswagen Beetle? I said Yes. He said God forbid. Don’t do that in your life. Where is he today after so many years? I have left Beetle, I have gone to ‘battle’… It was fantastic. Every blessing of God is fantastic in my sight. I have lived in one room before and one of my friends here came to visit me. One room! 22 people using the same toilet. You line up to have your bath. If you want to go out early, get up very early to beat everybody. You better wake up. Life is a pleasurable adventure if you use Bible sense. Church Gist. Live your size per time, you won’t lose your peace if you keep pace with God. That car was too small in his sight but we have left that car many years ago and for many many years now we have been flying by seeing it as fantastic. You bless God for your one room, it will soon become two. From two, it will soon become three. Where I live now, if it is sunny you have to drive to go from one end to another. If it is raining, you can’t even try it. You have to drive. God is on your side, don’t let any devil come between you and God. He is taking your life phase by phase and you are getting there. Haggai 1:3-13. Job 36:11. You won’t suffer pressure anymore.
As we all know, every blessing in the Kingdom trails the believer’s obedience. Our obedience is key to accessing His blessings. Deuteronomy 28:1-2. Without obedience, no believer is a candidate for his blessings. Whatever He tells you to do, do it. So that He will remove shame and reproach from your life. Obedience is key. Genesis 12:1-4, 14:14. His army conquered another nation and rescued his brother who was held captive. Obedience! One is not in love if he is not working in obedience to His commandments. John 14:21. Romans 8:28. Obeying His commandments is proof of your love and things are bound to be working together with you. That will be your case from now. The good news is the days of struggling for survival are over in your life. Phillipains 2:9. Christianity without obedience is a life in crisis. “I don’t agree” Good luck. “I won’t take that.” Well done. May you receive grace to take what will beautify your destiny and secure your eternity.
Here are some of the blessings that money cannot buy that accompany the covenant of seed time and harvest.
- It Averts Curses
A number of people are under the curses of the wicked. Many are under generational curses, some are suffering from hereditary diseases but when God enacted this covenant, its first mission was to avert the curse on the earth. Genesis 8:21. Curse averted! This covenant averts curses. Church Gist. The wicked line up our path in destiny, they are wishing evil daily. You come under this Covenant, curses are averted without your attention and the curser carries the curse. Can money buy that? Can money averts curses? If you don’t know what is in it, you just keep suffering while that thing is already in your account. What you are receiving this morning is an alert, curses are not permitted to work against your life walking in the covenant. It averts curses, money can’t buy that. I decree every curse of the wicked on your life back to sender this morning. - It Engenders Divine Health.
Psalm 41:1-3. - It Secures Divine Protection
Job 21:21-25. If you are in that covenant, you enjoy divine defence. Psalm 20:1-3. He defends us against the wicked machinations of the enemy. The covenant offers protection. Satan said to God, have you not built a hedge around him (Job)? Job never knew there was a hedge around him and let’s forgive him because there was no Bible. Church Gist. When you are in the covenant, there is a hedge around you. There is a wall of fire around you, you are not penetrable. You are impregnable. There is a defence around your life. Malachi 3:11. So He keeps off the hand of the enemy off your life. - It Stimulates Joy And Rejoicing.
Hard times make people mourn. “nothing is working. I go to Church and nothing is working.” Everybody is mourning on the streets, covenant people enjoy one kind of joy that cannot be explained. They call it joy unspeakable full of glory. 1 Peter 1:8. 2 Chronicles 15:12. 2 Corinthians 8:1-2. Joy, poverty and liberality, what an equation. Every giver enjoys one kind of joy you can’t take away from them. I can’t pick on a day in my life that I have not laughed. I mean genuine heart-rooted laughter. Joy is stimulated in covenant people. Giving stimulates joy unspeakable full of glory. He loves a cheerful giver. If you are not a cheerful giver you are playing games. Church Gist. Can you be paying your way forward and be grieved? People don’t know they are giving their way forward. They think they are giving to the needy so the needy can go forward. Proverbs 19:17. If you know you are giving your way forward you can’t be frowning. This is what makes the difference between covenant-made wealthy people and skill-made wealthy people. They are depressed. The more the wealth, the more depressed they become. I met one many years ago, the way he was breathing. My God! I asked what was the matter. When he told me what he had and what he wanted to get. I said you have this much and you are breathing like this. Use it for something else. Every covenant-made wealth is pressure-free. No more pressures on your life. Proverbs 10:22. - It Terminates Barrenness.
The Shunamite woman gave her way out of barrenness. Abraham entertained angels unaware out of barrenness. It terminates barrenness. Therefore, let all covenant people know that barrenness is illegal in your life. Church Gist. Psalm 127:1-3. It is part of your package, part of your returns for serving God including with your means. 2 Kings 4:17. - It Secures The Destiny Of Our Generations After Us.
There is no amount of wealth you can leave for your children that has a future. You can engage in quality covenant walk to secure your posterity. Church Gist. Psalm 112:1-3. It is this quality covenant walk that secures our posterity not any amount of literal cash you put behind but the work of the blessings of God that comes upon our covenant walk. - It Engenders Longevity
Exodus 23:26.
Terms of Long Life
John D. Rockefeller was the richest man in the world at one point. He was the only billionaire of his time. He was the first billionaire in the world. By age 25, he controlled the largest oil refineries in the U.S. By age 31 he had become the world’s largest oil refiner. At age 38, he commanded 90 per cent of oil refineries in the country. At 50, he was the richest man in the country but at 53, he became ill. His entire body became racked with pain. His personal highly skilled physician predicted that he would die within a year. Church Gist. That year passed agonizingly slowly. As he approached death, he awoke one morning with the vague realization of not being able to take any of his wealth with him to the next world. So he called his attorneys, accountants and managers and announced that he wanted to channel his wealth to hospitals, research and charity work. John D. Rockefeller established his foundation and this new foundation eventually led to the discovery of Penicillin, a cure for malaria, tuberculosis and diphtheria. Perhaps, the most amazing part of Rockefeller’s story is that the moment he began to give back a portion of all that he earned, his body chemistry was altered so significantly that he got better. It looked as if he would die at 53 but he lived to be almost 98. He said “My life has been one long happy holiday full of work, full of play. I dropped the worry on the way and God was good to me every day.” This was his biographer writing. That’s a validation of Psalm 41:1-3. Blessed is the man that considereth the poor. ‘Since I will die, let me distribute this to help others live and then his body chemistry began to adjust to the verdict of the covenant. Get excited, it is your turn.
It is not enough to have light, it is important to walk in it. John 12:35. Church Gist. Every time the water is stirred, jump into it. Make your decisions. Don’t drag, it doesn’t work that way. Please don’t play with it.
Today is our Covenant Day of Long Life and I have mentioned in the early preambles that Christ died to deliver us from the fear of death. Hebrews 2:14-15. The things that Job greatly feared came upon him. It is what we fear that befalls us. 2 Timothy 1:7. Romans 8:15. Whenever the jungle matures, that is what I say. Satan I will show you the son of who I am. I am going to show you right now the son of who I am. I am not in doubt about it. Revelation 1:18. Church Gist. Satan used to have the power of death. Jesus rose from the dead and all powers in heaven and on earth were given unto Him. Including the powers of death. So it is our Saviour that now holds the key, not the devil anymore. This Saviour when He shuts no man can open and when He opens no man can shut. Death has no final say on your life. Do you know what He said to me? I am holding the keys in my hand and I am holding it in favour of my children. So the key is being held in your favour. Death can’t enter your house anyhow.
If only you can see it. There was a man who was crying, “Come and see what the devil has done to me. Nothing is working”. A man was crying. I told him I wouldn’t talk to him under this crying he wouldn’t hear anything. I told him to go and get the book ‘Satan Get Lost’ when you finish come back. When he came back, he was just smiling. “I didn’t know Satan is this cheap.” You better settle down to make discoveries. Church Gist. These 40 minutes of teaching won’t do much. We only tell you where you can find it. Settle down to make discoveries. He was smiling, it wasn’t the same person that came back. It is your turn. No death has the power to take your children, your grandchildren, your great-grandchildren.
From the scriptures we discover that believers don’t die, believers simply sleep. They that sleep only sleep in the night, you can’t say good night in the morning. Can you say that? Good night at 12 noon? Good night at 4pm? Goodnight at 7pm? That will be too early a sleep. 1 Thessalonians 4:13, 5:7. Here is my simple humourous way of looking at it. Going to bed at 7pm is going to bed too early, from scriptures I want to take 70 years as 7pm. So when you are 70, it is just 7pm. Don’t say goodnight. It is too early. Going to end at 8pm, 8:30pm, 9pm, following the same illustration I gave, is just going to bed at 80, 85, 90 years respectively. Which is okay for those who go to bed early. Isaiah 65:20-24. Genesis 6:3. People are afraid to say this. I didn’t write this passage. This is God’s Covenant, the same covenant He made with Noah after the flood. He made it before the flood that after this flood, this is what will obtain. It was an adjusted lifespan. It was much longer than that before. Church Gist. When you serve Him, the number of your days He will fulfill. So they are numbered, no guesswork. As far as your eyes can see unto you will I give it. Moses saw 120 and it was delivered to him. He lived to be 120 exactly. David came and said “What are we doing here? Three scores and ten is enough.” And at 70 exactly, he took off. As far as your eyes can see. Do you know why I am not in a hurry to go? We are going to be there forever so why hurry? Where we are going, we are going to be there forever. Let’s finish the time allotted here first and we can go there forever. Church Gist. Do you agree? So relax. You can never die young. No one dies young in your household. As far as your eyes can see unto you, I will give it. Don’t start practising being old. Stop practising old age. One of my friends came to see me and they said, an old man came to see you. I came out and shouted, “Are you the one they are calling an old man?” I discovered he has been practising old age for long.
If young men shall see vision, Abraham got vision at 75, ‘No! That is an old time.’ Moses got vision at 80. You are on course. It is not over. God still has a plan for your life. By this light, I curse the siege of the fear of death on your life. Every appointment with death is hereby cancelled. The man they said will die at 53, he lived to be about 98 by connecting with the covenant. Psalm 91:14-16. Keep your love for God alive. Forget about the devil. In the Kingdom, it is what we receive and believe that we are empowered to experience. You can’t be empowered to experience what you don’t believe and receive. Church Gist. By redemption, we are now children of light and we are to walk as children of light. Ephesians 5:8. 1 Thessalonians 5:5. Can darkness stop the way against light? Can darkness challenge the way of light? Yet, it is the entrance of His Word that gives light. When you receive and believe His Word, you are lighted to subdue darkness. Therefore every arrow of death shot at any of us under this service returns back to sender.
The following are the demands of the covenant of longevity.
- Be born again.
Don’t fake this thing, that is where everything begins. Don’t just like a Church, be born again. Don’t just be counting that your father and mother were born as Christians. Be born again. Don’t just like the preaching, be born again. Church Gist. Can I say this to those of us preaching here in this Church, in the satellite fellowship meetings? Don’t just like preaching, be born again. Don’t just be a founder of a ministry, be born again. John 3:6-7. Very important in Church but be born again. 1 John 5:4. - Receive and believe the provision of a good old age.
Believe it. It is a provision already set. When Jesus rose from the dead. Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin and the power of the grave is the law. Church Gist. Christ has abolished both on our behalf. So believe in the provision of longevity, it is part of our birthright in redemption. Deuteronomy 34:7. Believe in that provision. Moses received it, believed it and he enjoyed it. - Stay in love with God
Isaiah 41:8. Genesis 15:15, 25:8. Abraham went home at a good old age. An old man full of years. Stay in love with God. Church Gist. Befriend God. Let everything about God turn you on, let your love for God keep burning. - Be committed to serving God as a lifestyle.
Exodus 23:25-26. - Free yourself from the fear of death.
How do you do that? By light. Go for light and fear will flee. Walk in the light and fear will clear the way. Church Gist. That witch said to me back in 1979, when we sense a higher power on the way we clear off the highway. Evil must clear off the way when you are coming with light. - Be committed to a lifestyle of joy and rejoicing.
Psalm 92:1-2, 10-15. - Be committed to godly living
Psalm 34:12-14. Let godly living become your way of life. 1 Timothy 4:8.
- The mark of a good old age will be set on your life.
- Evil will be clearing the way as you approach.
- The good news is the chemistry of your body is changing now.
- As you keep seeing giving as giving your way forward, you will never be weary.
Your giving is not helping anyone else but you. It is not helping God, it is not helping the needy, it is helping you. God will never need help, if you don’t service the needs of the needy, somebody else will do. There was someone here that we provided accommodation for and while I asked my son to help me look for furniture somebody else showed up and said, if Papa could get this for this family, let me do the furnishing. Somebody else will do it. Don’t waste your life bragging and saying if I don’t do it, no one else will. Are you looking after the birds of the air? Who is feeding the bees in the wild? See everything you are asked to do as helping you forward. It is not helping nobody else, it is helping you forward. For all those who are part of helping people from the zonal centres, no one in your generation will be immobile. Church Gist. For those that are being helped today, as the Lord lives before the year is over you are helping others. Some are being given food today, before the year is over you are giving food to others. Some are being given clothes to wear today, before the year is over by the grace of God, you are giving clothes out. Some are being harassed by their landlords today, by the grace of God you will be in your own house. So all you need is to be consistent in your walk with God. Mind the covenant terms and life will begin to deliver to you abundantly.
Exodus 4:22-23. Do you think God is joking? You are out to serve Him, He will clear every barrier on your path. Did He do it or not? There was wailing in Egypt, the kind never heard before. There was no family where nobody died. Church Gist. All the firstborns of beasts, animals, birds, everybody. Don’t joke with God. That is how jealous God is over your life. Anybody that won’t let you live will go for you. Anyone that vows that you must die, will die your death. Anyone who digs a pit for you and your children will fall into it.
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