PUTTING UP A FIGHT AGAINST THE FORCES OF UNGODLINESS – Bishop David Oyedepo at November 2022 Week Of Spiritual Emphasis, Day 3

THE FIGHT AGAINST SIN IS NOT JUST A FIGHT BUT A FIGHT OF FAITH

WHATEVER GOD SAYS FOR US TO DO IS ONLY POSSIBLE AND DELIVERABLE BY FAITH

FAITH PROVOKES THE HAND OF GOD AND GETS GOD’S WORD ACCOMPLISHED IN OUR LIVES

NO ONE CAN LIVE THE OVERCOMER’S LIFE IN THE ENERGY OF THE FLESH

IF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE IN THE PRACTICALITY OF SANCTIFICATION, YOU CAN NEVER SEE ITS MANIFESTATION

FAITH IS NOT WEAKNESS, FAITH IS GOD’S ORDAINED PLATFORM FOR STRENGTH

IF YOU CAN BELIEVE GOD THE SAME WAY WE BELIEVE HIM FOR HEALING AND PROSPERITY, THE POWER OF SIN SHALL BE CRUSHED UNDER OUR FEET LIKE A DEFLATED BALLOON

THE PROBLEM IS THAT WE HAVE NOT GIVEN SIN, THE REQUIRED SPIRITUAL ATTENTION, YET IT IS THE GREATEST BARRIER TO OUR LIVING THE OVERCOMER’S LIFE

DON’T OPERATE IN A WAR ZONE, AS IF IN A PEACE TIME, IT’S A RISK

WHEREVER SIN REIGNS, REVELATION STOPS TO FLOW

GOD IS EVER WILLING TO FORGIVE WHEN A BELIEVER IS GENUINELY REPENTANT

WE CAN ONLY MANIFEST THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD THROUGH FAITH

THE ULTIMATE AIM OF THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY IS TO GET THE BELIEVER OUT OF THE WAY AND OFF THE BACK OF CHRIST

A SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE MYSTERY OF GODLINESS WILL SWALLOW UP THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY AS IF IT NEVER EXISTED

LUST OF THE FLESH BLOCKS OUR ACCESS FROM KNOWING GOD

I’VE NEVER SEEN A GENERATION WHERE CHILDREN RISE AGAINST THEIR PARENTS LIKE IN THIS AGE

WHEN WE ENGAGE THE MYSTERY OF THE HOLY GHOST, WE SUBDUE THE DEEDS OF THE FLESH

WITHOUT THE HOLY GHOST AT WORK, WE CAN’T LIVE A SANCTIFIED LIFE

REPENTANCE IS THE COVENANT PATHWAY TO LIVING A SANCTIFIED LIFE

REPENTANCE MUST BE TIMELY, LEST SIN BECOMES AN ADDICTION

–  Bishop David Oyedepo at November 2022 Week Of Spiritual Emphasis, Day 3 || Canaanland, Ota

Let’s pledge our allegiance to our saviour, Jesus the son of God, the Lamb of God. In Jesus’ Precious name we give thanks.

In the military and related services, the mode of operation is “obey the last command”. Loyalty is all about obedience, prompt obedience and unwavering obedience.

– let’s lift up our two hands to ask God for grace to walk in obedience to His corrections, reproofs and His instructions. In Jesus’ precious name we have prayed.

Lord Jesus, we are here on this third night, a night of change of position. “On the third, He will raise us up”, let everyone’s position change for the better tonight. Church Gist. Advance our spiritual course tonight, move us forward by the power of your Word. Before this month is over, establish our dominion over every unwanted habit. Release everyone from every form of captivity, to the glory and praise of your Name. Tonight, do something new in our lives. In Jesus’ precious name. Praise God, I’m more than a Conqueror. Congratulations. Give the Lord a big hand of praise.

Putting up a fight against the forces of ungodliness. It’s our teaching series for our midweek services this month and 1 Timothy 6:11-12 is the anchor scripture. We are called to engage in a fight to please God. Church Gist.  A fight to be free from the deadly trap of the love of money. 1 Timothy 6:10. A fight to be free from the spirit of this world, spirit of uncleanliness. The fight against sin is not just a fight but a fight of Faith. We must come to believe that whatever God says for us to do is only possible and deliverable by Faith, because only the hand of God can bring His Word to pass in anyone’s life. Isaiah 53:1. It’s faith that provokes the Hand of God that gets God’s Word accomplished in our lives. Church Gist. For example, we cannot live the overcomer’s life without Faith. 1 John 5:4. That was the missing thing in the law. The law demands that we do it, now, we cannot do it, so come under judgment. But Grace came by Jesus, facilitated by Faith. For we are saved by grace through Faith. So, grace is not, “do whatever you want, then walk free”, Grace is “do what is right and enjoy God’s favour”. Church Gist. You can tap into grace through faith.

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No one can live the overcomer’s life in the energy of the flesh. This, again is the missing link in our teaching on sanctification. Church Gist. It’s not possible in the energy of the flesh. 1 Samuel 2:9. Faith must come to play or you begin to struggle through life, unending struggle. Struggle with condemnation, time and again. We cannot win the fiery battle against sin without faith. Hebrews 12:4. 1 Peter 5:-9. So, the strife is about putting faith against the assaults of all the assaults of the vile fireman. Church Gist. It’s not a struggle for survival, it’s a triumphant faith issue, and in the precious name of Jesus, in this faith, whatever you believe God for, you’ll overcome it. Ephesians 6:16. So, it’s a fight or faith and no one can ever win it without faith.

If you do not believe in the practicality of sanctification, you can never see its manifestation. We are given power to become whatever we believe. John 1:12. Church Gist. You can’t become what you don’t believe. If you don’t believe in the validity of sanctification, the practicality of it, we can never experience it. It is to everyone according to his faith. Matthew 9:29. This missing link must be embraced and engaged with. “I believe in the reality of sanctification and I believe to experience it in all areas of my life.” That’s where the victory begins. Hebrews 11:6. Church Gist. Sanctification is a platform for pleasing God and without faith, it is impossible to please God. Without faith, fasting has no value. Fasting has to work on prayers, but without faith, prayer is valueless.

Now, please note, faith is not weakness, faith is God’s ordained platform for strength. Through faith also, Sarah received strength to conceive seed. Hebrews 11:11. Church Gist. So, faith is the secret behind strength in the Kingdom. How? Faith provokes the Hand of God. When the Hand of God came upon Elijah, he outran the horse and the chariots of Ahab to the gate of Jezerel. Unusual strength by the hand of God provoked by the faith of men. So, faith is not a religious form of weakness, but a source of divine strength. Church Gist. When faith comes, strength comes and when His strength comes, victory is guaranteed. So, it’s not a show or weakness.

If the Church and individuals can believe God to live a sanctified life, the same way we believe God for healing, prosperity, martial, business and career breakthroughs, the power of sin shall be crushed under our feet like a deflated balloon. People have walked into divine health through faith, sickness has nowhere to hide in their lives. Church Gist. If you believe God the same way we believe Him for healing when it gets to a point of life and death, we will crush under our feet as if it never existed. Romans 16:20.

– it’s a new dawn for us!

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The problem is that we have not given sin, the required spiritual attention, yet it is the greatest barrier to our living the overcomer’s life. How? Wherever sin reigns, revelation stops to flow. Proverbs 1:23. So, it blocks access to the flow of revelation and the anointing and leaves the individual empty. Church Gist. It’s time to give this battle the required spiritual attention, so as to fulfill our destiny in grand style. We’re redeemed to walk in the newness of life, remember? 2 Corinthians 5:17-18.

– whatever is yet to become new in truth and indeed must become new this time!

Romans 6:4. That’s God’s agenda for the redeemed – walking in the newness of life. It’s time to give this battle the required spiritual attention.

We must believe in God’s enduring mercy of forgiveness or we continue to live under condemnation for the rest of our lives. God is ever willing to forgive and grant us a new beginning, only if you’re willing to genuinely repent. Church Gist. He’s ever there to forgive. Psalm 130:3-4. God is ever willing to forgive when a believer is genuinely repentant.

-Many of us and everyone of us as many as are prepared will be having a brand new beginning.

Romans 8:1-2. You didn’t use the happenings around to explain the truth, you use the truth to explain the truth. One law must be in place to rescue us from another law. The law of the Spirit is a higher law, so is able to put us over the law of sin and death. Church Gist. It’s a mystery. Forgiveness is an open-ended platform, let’s take advantage of that to get right with God and begin to enjoy his favour as a lifestyle. Psalms 5:12. One proven evidence of His righteousness at work in us is Favour. Psalm 5:12.

– and that shall be the portion of everyone from now – the ever flowing favour of God.

The favour that rescues from stress, strain, misfortune is the portion of the righteous. “and be not deceived, he that doeth righteousness is righteousness”. It’s a doing thing. Church Gist. He engraces us to do it. Our faith taps into grace that empowers us to do it. Matthew 18:21-22. That’s God’s open-ended platform for forgiveness. Let’s take advantage of it and have a brand new beginning. We can only manifest the righteousness of God through Faith. Romans 1:7. 1 John 3:7-8. So, we engage that faith to destroy the artillery of the devil around our lives.

– it’s a brand new day for us, in the name of Jesus Christ. Lift up your right hand and express your faith in this great God for a wholesome, healthy and sanctified life.

– You never tell me to be what you know I cannot be, you never allow anyone to be tempted more than what he’s able. Jesus, I believe in the reality of your sanctification, I want to experience it in all areas of my life. So help me Lord. Amen.

It’s also important to identify these two mysteries that are contrary to one another.

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We have the mystery of iniquity. 2 Thessalonians 2:7. Church Gist. Its mission is to take us out of the way. The ultimate aim of the mystery of iniquity is to get the believer out of the way and off the back of Christ.

Then, we have the mystery of Godliness. 1 Timothy 3:16.  So, If you call the mystery of iniquity, ‘great’, then this is greater. What does that mean? A spiritual understanding of the mystery of Godliness will swallow up the mystery of iniquity as if it never existed. Remember the rod of Aaron and the rod of the magicians. How the rod of Aaron, the greater rod, swallowed up the fake rods. Church Gist. In the same vein, when we put the mystery of Godliness to work, it swallows up the mystery of iniquity. Among the mystery of iniquity, is that there are unclean spirits, foul spirits, whose mission to defile the believer, get them out of the way and make them lose their place in the kingdom of God. Church Gist. Don’t operate in a war zone, as if in a peace time, it’s a risk.

We have two forces of interest here tonight, two foul spirits.

1. The spirit of whoredom, the lust of the flesh. Hosea 5:4. It blocks our access from knowing Him. Church Gist. Whoredom means the spirit of the lust of flesh, sexual perversion. It’s a spirit. 1 John 2:16 identifies it as the lust of the flesh. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 identifies it as fornication.

– This spirit is cast out into hell from everyone been held bound by it, in the name of Jesus.

2. The endtime spirit of derailment. They’re unleashed presently. Many have been held captive by them without knowing that they exist. This mystery already walk, taking many out of the way. What are their manifestations? 1 Timothy 4:1-2. They’re all forces of derailment. 2 Timothy 3:1. Church Gist. Life will be difficult and tough for God’s people who are ignorant of these forces. What is the source of this peril? 2 Timothy 3:2-5. I’ve never seen a generation where children rise against their parents like in this age. Unbelievable. Many parents are tired and weary, many are even afraid of their children. Heady, stubborn, they’re all forces of derailment. Church Gist. They were not taught that by their parents, that spirit got hold of them. Unthankful, “how much did you pay for my school fees? I can pay that back to you, you can’t harass my life, for what? Don’t ask me again where I’m going” – your son or daughter telling you that, it’s a spirit. 2 Timothy 3:4. Church Gist. People just living fake lives, you’re not working, you’re changing car, how? You don’t have a room of your own and you’re renting a place that will give you a house of your own within two years – lovers of pleasure, more than lovers of God. You spend half of the money taken from the bank for business on your wardrobe, is that business? Lovers of pleasure. I classify them as the endtime spirits of derailment. Their purpose is to disconnect their victims from God and make them end their journey in regret.

– not one of us will be a victim, not one of our sons and daughters will be a victim. Not one of our children and grandchildren will be a victim, in the name of Jesus.

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So, don’t watch it in your children, don’t let it grow with them. “Sit down!” “For what? Primary 2, it’s a spirit. “Stop there!” “No”. “Ah, ah, what’s wrong?” “Nothing is wrong, I’m not staying there”. “I’m your father”, he says, “and so what?” That is a spirit, that’s not normal life. If you watch it grow, it’ll be difficult to tame. Church Gist. You pray, “I cast out this endtime spirit of derailment from your life in the name of Jesus, be loosed!” They’ll just calm down and say, “I’m sorry”. That spirit has left. You can’t blame a mad man for doing anything, he doesn’t know what he’s doing but when you cast out that spirit, he comes back to his senses, “what? I didn’t know I was naked”

– none of these spirits will survive in our families, they’ll not have their way in our homes and in our lives, in the name of Jesus.

We can only conquer this spiritual assault by Faith. Mark 16:17. They’re not things to watch, they’re things to deal with.

We round up tonight looking at Biblical steps towards living a sanctified life.

1. We have the provision of the Holy Spirit to modify the deeds of the flesh. So, we must come against the deeds of the flesh by engaging the ministry of the Holy Spirit, who is the refiner’s fire. Malachi 3:1-3. Church Gist. The Holy Ghost is the refiner’s fire, and no wild beast can survive fire, even the Lion, king of the forest, will not dare fire. So, when we engage the mystery of the Holy Ghost, we subdue the deeds of the flesh. Romans 8:13. You can’t fight this in the energy of the flesh, we engage the Holy Spirit to exercise authority over them. Church Gist. We pray in the Holy Ghost to riot their secret places. Jude 1:20. Let’s stop wasting time trying to overcome in the energy of the flesh. Let’s engage the power of faith and the power of the Holy Ghost to deal with these forces. 1 Corinthians 6:11. Without the Holy Ghost at work, we can’t live a sanctified life. Without faith in place, we can’t live the overcomer’s life.

2. We must lay aside every weight and every sin by faith in the finished work of Christ. Not faith in our capacity, experience and confidence but faith in the finished work of Christ. Isaiah 53:3-5. There’s no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord. Church Gist. That means, to finish the work of wickedness in our lives, we need to put our faith on the line in dealing with those assaults of the wicked. John 19:30.

– therefore, every attempt of the wicked one on our spiritual life, from now, is declared finished!

We must therefore, take spiritual responsibility in dealing with these evil forces by enforcing our redemptive right to cast them out. Luke 9:1. Church Gist. All those foul spirits who are out to take us off the Kingdom, He gave us power and authority over all devils. Luke 10:17-19.

– come on, say, “I have power over all devils, including the spirit of derailment”

– watch out for a new experience

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As we round up, repentance is the covenant pathway to living a sanctified life. This runaway boy called the Prodigal son, returned and God changed his rags into robes. Church Gist. He returned and turned his hunger into a feast. If he never returned, he will die and disappear, eaten up by pigs, but he returned and his glory was restored. Repentance is the covenant pathway to our restoration of colour, beauty and glory. Luke 15:18-20

– there are many people here under the sound of my voice tonight, both on ground and around the nations of the world and across our various view centres, expect a brand new beginning!

1 John 1:8-9. He still does that day. He’s the same yesterday, today and forever. But, repentance must be timely, lest sin becomes an addiction. Church Gist. When the cock crew the third time, Peter wept bitterly and God said, “that’s enough, it’s over”. It must be timely. Hebrews 3:12-13. Now, we saw Esau, Samson, Judas became victims of belated repentance. Esau wept bitterly but there was no more space for repentance for him, he had crossed the red line.

– no one here will cross the red line.

Samson was reduced to a toy because of unrepentance. Church Gist. He was unrepentant and became a toy in the hands of his enemies. Judged 6:1-21. Judas repented himself, he cast out the 30 pieces of silver, “see to it yourself my friend”, it was belated repentance. Matthew 27:3-5. Repentance must be timely or one is running a risk, a deadly risk without knowing.

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