THE QUEST FOR EMPOWERMENT IS DYING, THE CHURCH IS FULL OF THEORETICIANS
SALVATION QUALIFIES US FOR EMPOWERMENT BUT IT IS NOT EMPOWERMENT
SALVATION WITHOUT EMPOWERMENT LEADS TO FRUSTRATION
MY HOLY GHOST BAPTISM EXPERIENCE WITH THE EVIDENCE OF SPEAKING IN TONGUES
MANY PEOPLE DON’T GET BAPTIZED BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOT REALLY REPENTED BUT ONLY TRYING TO CONFORM
NO ONE IS A CANDIDATE FOR EMPOWERMENT UNTIL HE HAS GENUINELY REPENTED AND CONVERTED
FEAR IS NOT A STATE OF THE MIND, IT IS A SPIRIT
THE MORE FREE WE ARE WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE MORE FEARLESS WE BECOME AND THE MORE FEARLESS WE BECOME, THE MORE TRIUMPHANT WE BECOME
EVERY MAN IS A VICTIM OF HIS FEAR
BEHIND DEPRESSION IS FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN AND THE UNCERTAINTIES OF TOMORROW
- Bishop David Oyedepo on UNVEILING THE POWER FACTOR OF REDEMPTION at AYAC 2024 Day One Opening Night || Annual Youth Alive Convention 2024 || “EMPOWERED” || Faith Tabernacle Canaanland || 13th August 2024.
In the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, AYAC 2024 is hereby declared open for the empowerment of the saints towards each one’s enthronement, a life of meaning, a life of fulfillment in the name of Jesus. Church Gist.
- No one returns the same way he came.
- New chapters will be opened to each one’s life.
- An end will come to everything standing on your path in the name of Jesus.
Set yourself and you will see the salvation of God. There is a need for a proper positioning to see His glory. The theme is EMPOWERED. Set yourself to be empowered. Church Gist. For the Kingdom of God is not in words but in power. Redemption without empowerment equals frustration. Set yourself to be empowered.
Jesus, breath over this Word tonight. Holy Ghost let your fire go forth. Let it transform every life and take all the glory in Jesus name.
According to God’s Word, this year marks the end of all misfortunes in your life. Church Gist. AYAC 2024 shall be a launching pad into a realm of fearful favour in your life in the name of Jesus Christ.
Tonight, I will be speaking to this subject on this Opening Night, UNVEILING THE POWER FACTOR OF REDEMPTION. The power factor of redemption. John 1:12. It is important to be empowered and stay empowered in increasing dimensions. Salvation without empowerment will result in frustration. After teaching the disciples, Jesus said “I can’t guarantee your triumph. Tarry ye in Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high so you can secure your place in space.” Church Gist. “Meanwhile rejoice because your names are written in heaven. So they are saved. I can’t guarantee your security, I can’t guarantee your triumph without being endued with power.” As many as received Him first, to them gave He power second. “Men and brethren, what shall we do? Repent and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” They are different experiences, salvation and empowerment. Salvation qualifies us for empowerment but it is not empowerment. Acts 1:8. It is a different experience.
The falling away of many in these last days is largely a result of lack of empowerment. They can’t stand the storms, can’t withstand in the evil day because emphasis is shifting from empowerment to teachings. Teachings are toothless with empowerment. Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit (Luke 4:14) and His Words were with power (Luke 4:32), with great power and authority He cast out evil spirits (Luke 4:36). John 6:63. It is the spirited Word that counts. The quest for empowerment is dying, the Church is full of theoreticians. It is time to return back to Source. Church Gist. Creation began with the move of the Spirit. The Spirit of God moved upon the deep and then God’s Word came empowered by that Spirit to create. Christ was inrecognito for 30 years until power came. The Apostle were fearful and jittery in the Upper Room until power came. There is need to renew your quest for empowerment so you can secure a life of meaning, fulfillment and triumph. My prayer is that every single person in this convention both here and around the world where we are gathered will not leave without a genuine experience of baptism in the Holy Ghost and connect to the channel of continuous infilling so as to remain in command.
For the Kingdom of God is not in words but in power. 1 Corinthians 2:4-5. You don’t wish to be empowered, you set yourself for empowerment. Psalm 63:1. Psalm 89:20-24. That’s empowerment. You thirst for it and when it comes, you command dominion. “My soul thirsteth for thee.” Everyone craving for empowerment from this mountain, you are returning a changed person. Church Gist. Empowerment turns believers into another man. 1 Samuel 10:6. It turns men into another man. They couldn’t recognize Peter anymore when they saw the boldness. Acts 4:13. They were operating on the frequency of Christ. Operating with authority. That is what empowerment does, it turns you to another man. You emerge a surprise to yourself. That shall be your experience here.
The things we say may look ordinary to people but because of the Spirit behind it, the Spirit of God behind those words, they bring about unusual things. It’s your turn! It is the power factor that differentiates Christianity from other faiths. Church Gist. It’s that power factor that differentiates your life from others. My prayer is that, no one returns from here the same way he came!
But the covenant foundation for empowerment is salvation. Acts 3:19 – which means be saved and then you qualify to be empowered then you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Acts 2:37-39. The reason why many people don’t get baptized is they have not really repented, they’re only trying to conform. 2 Corinthians 5:17. Church Gist. No one is a candidate for empowerment until he has genuinely repented and converted. I had a very interesting experience because of my Evangelical background. We did not believe that we have need for any baptism in the Holy Ghost. We were taught that when we were saved, you can’t say, “Jesus is Lord” without the Holy Spirit – so you already have the Holy Spirit. …because that is what we were taught, I followed them and was teaching it too. One day I said to myself, what if they’re right after all? I said, “Holy Ghost if you are anywhere, baptize me by yourself.” No one laid hands on me forever. A friend came to tap me for a meeting that, “look, we are supposed to be in a meeting,” as I opened my eyes I began speaking in tongues fluently from that day till now. It’s as auto as that when you are genuinely converted. Church Gist. That’s why the question is: have you repented? Are you really converted? Then empowerment is auto gift. It follows suit.
A young man read my book, “The Miracle Seed,” 1985 – he was a Catholic boy. He got the copy of the book and was moved by the Holy Spirit I believe to go to a mountain near their home and read the book in Chapter 1, he gave his life to Christ. In Chapter 3 he got filled with the Holy Spirit by himself. Church Gist. I mean, speaking in tongues fluently, today he has a ministry with a network of Churches. So you can’t be genuinely converted and be crying and begging for the baptism. It is the birthright of every child of God. But that’s where many stop until the oil is gone. Empowerment is in levels. Now, they received power on the day of Pentecost – Acts 1:8 – and then Chapter 4 (Acts 4:33), there was great power. So from power to great power. Ephesians 1:19 – so we have the exceeding greatness of his power, call it exceeding great power. So you move from power to great power, from great power to exceeding great power. You move from there to the realm of the power of the world to come.
They brought a young chap to me this last Wednesday. He died when he was 4 years old and then, God raised him back from the dead. Now, he told the mother, the only gift I want is take me to Papa. Church Gist. He was the one I saw that said I should get back. I was speaking here, it was sounding there. “It was him I saw and I said I must get back!” 8 years old sharp boy rescued from the jaws of death.
Singing: the power, the power, the resurrection power, it’s still the same today, no matter …
So you’re just initiated into the school of power at baptism. You’re a registered candidate. You now begin to change level – 100 level, 200 level, 300 level … Many have stayed in 100 level all their life. The tongue is drying up. Church Gist. We have power, great power, exceeding great power, then we have the powers of the world to come. Hebrews 6:5. So it’s time to embark on the adventure of growing in power.
One of the first effects of the fall was fear. Genesis 3:10. Fear was the first aftermath of the fall. Fear is behind most of the troubles of life today.
Fear is not a state of the mind, fear is a spirit and it takes the Holy Spirit to destroy the hold of the spirit of fear in one’s life. Church Gist. The more free we are with the Holy Spirit, the more fearless we become and the more fearless we become, the more triumphant we become. You can’t program fear out of a a man’s life. Psychologists are wasting time. It’s a spirit. There’s no injection for evil spirit. Church Gist. So you have the spirit of sickness, no matter the treatment, it won’t go. It takes the power of God for rescue. In the same vein, it takes the power of God to be rescued from the spirit of fear. Church Gist. The Angel said, “fear not, the answer has come. Fear not! I bring you good tidings of great joy. Fear not! The answer is here”. Praise the Lord!
You cannot have God with you and still live in fear. He was shooting arrows and people that were fearing before, everybody kept mute, nobody could move. Peter took command. Church Gist. If you read the episode of Acts 2:14-26, amazing. He brought the whole of that Kingdom down to their feet, nobody could lift a finger. “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” “You killed Jesus?” Direct. So, the first thing He did when He came was to destroy the spirit of fear. Church Gist. One of the practical evidences of the Holy Spirit at work in your life is destruction of fear. The Holy Spirit and the spirit of fear are like night and darkness, they cannot coexist in any place. Church Gist. Where the Holy Spirit is, fear cannot be there. Where He is not, fear would be there.
Bible Scholars claim that there are 350 times where the Bible said “fear not. Be not afraid. Be not dismayed”. That tells you how much grip fear has on mankind. Church Gist. Suddenly, by the Holy Ghost, the fearful Church became the unstoppable Church as the Holy Ghost came down upon them.
- I see every trace of the spirit of fear destroyed in your life!
Please know that fear is a spirit and it’s the spirit of bondage. God has not given us the spirit of fear. Romans 8:15. It holds men and women in captivity. When the Holy Spirit, He blasted its hold. 2 Timothy 1:7. Church Gist. The cure for the spirit of fear, power. Fear is a robber oh, it’s a tormentor, it’s a killer, it’s a destroyer. Job 3:25. If you read Job 3:24-25. Every man is a victim of his fear, that’s how much we need the Holy Spirit, Sir. 1 John 4:18. So, fear torments its victims. When Peter saw the storm, he began to sink. Fear drowns destiny. Church Gist. That’s how much you and I need the Holy Spirit to be free from the torment, the robbery, the destruction that fear brings. Fear ensnares the destiny of believers. Proverbs 29:25. It ensnares destiny, gets you stranded. That’s why people are running up and down today everywhere. Church Gist. Behind depression is fear, the fear of the unknown, the uncertainties of tomorrow and the sole aim of depression is suicide. “What are you still doing here? You don’t have a future”.
Remember I said again, everyone is a victim of his fear. It is the fear of failure that makes a failure. “No, they’re giants, we can’t enter there” and they never entered, they never did. Church Gist. They saw the good land, they saw the good fruits but fear won’t let them in.
- you have a great future, may fear not rob you of your great future!
Numbers 13:27-33. Numbers 14:1-3. It is the fear of lack that makes a pauper. There was famine in the land, it was a grievous famine, Genesis 47:15 all the way. Church Gist. Genesis 47:27. The covenant was their stronghold and they were gloriously exempted.
- You shall be exempted.
It’s the fear of sickness that makes sick. It is not death that kills, it’s the fear of death that kills. You are driving and suddenly you find yourself heading for a head on collision and you already prayed your last prayer, “I think it’s over, thank you, receive me into your Kingdom” and you’re gone. Church Gist. Fear is one of the worst enemy of man. There is no known technique to overcome it. It is the Spirit of power that can subdue the spirit of fear. God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power to subdue the spirit of fear. 2 Timothy 1:7. So, it’s not just a state of the mind, but the spirit.
We find Peter saying “We cannot but speak those things we have heard and seen” That’s not the Peter we used to know who was swearing before a little girl. Church Gist. He faced the whole council, “We cannot but speak those things we have heard and seen. We cannot. You can’t stop us. Who are you?” Acts 4:20. Something has gotten in.
- May that same force get into you today.
This is why we need to keep praying for continuous infilling of the Holy Spirit because the more filled we are with the Holy Spirit, the more fearless we become and the greater command we gain of the supernatural. It is fear that makes believers lose their authority to command the supernatural. Church Gist. “There they were speaking boldly in the Lord” Fearlessly, that’s the meaning and “God began to bear witness to the Word of His grace and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands”. Acts 14:3. Speaking boldly in the Lord, speaking fearlessly. No one can command the supernatural in fear, with fear.
Acts 4:31-33. Great grace, great proofs emanating. That’s how much everyone of us needs the power of the Holy Ghost actively at work in our lives to subdue the horror, the devastation, the destruction of the spirit of fear. Church Gist. 1 Corinthians 4:20. Romans 8:19. They see the sons of God holding the answer to their problems, so they’re waiting, they’re waiting.
- I therefore decree in the name of the Lord Jesus, that every genuinely thirsty soul here will return empowered into next levels.
- You will return empowered into next levels (x5).
For the few moment that we have, listen. The Holy Ghost is the fire, the Word is the wood. So, for everyone baptized in the Holy Ghost, as the Word goes forth, the fire goes higher. You are casting new wood into the fire, the more the fire keeps burning high. Church Gist. My God. Interestingly, “and is my Word not as fire” Jeremiah 20:9. No one can stay empowered without the Word. Acts 10:44. So, it’s not just about crying for empowerment, it’s knowing how to keep the fire burning. Leviticus 6:12. We fan the fire by the Word. We fan the fire by the Word.
Young people, hear me. Your time is being molested by all kinds of junks. The fire of the Holy Ghost is only fanned by the Word. I still read daily and I write daily and I’m not busy. I keep thanking God for the grace for sustainable relevance. Church Gist. I still read daily and I write daily. You can’t ignore the Word and sustain the fire. You cannot ignore the Word and sustain the fire. You cannot ignore the Word and sustain the fire.
What more? The Holy Spirit is our access into the deep things of God. I’m sure we’ll be having a session on that in the course of this Convention. So, He provides us access to the wood to keep the fire burning. Church Gist. John 14:26. Yes, we need a thirst and a longing for change of levels in the school of power but we need the Word to sustain the fire. We need the Word to sustain the fire.
Finally, know that we are not entitled to new wine with an old lifestyle. New wine must be put into new wine skin and He sanctifies us by His Word to keep us to keep our access to new wine, new wine, new wine. Church Gist. Luke 5:37-38. You can’t access the new wine with an old lifestyle. The Word comes in to sort it out. That is why it is a whole lot of responsibility to stay empowered. My prayer is that no life here shall be molested. No one among us will end his life in regret. You will not sell your destiny for a morsel of meat.
Your tomorrow is great. What you do with today will determine your tomorrow. What you do with today is what defines your tomorrow. It is not a chorus, it is a responsibility. Someone said as the morning shows the day so the child shows the man. Playboys today don’t impact their world tomorrow. It takes a serious approach to secure a glorious result. All sports stars began their journey early. This is your best season. If you miss heavy connectivity with God at this time, God have mercy. Ecclesiastes 12:1. Church Gist. Before the evil days come, you marry, you dismarry, you marry again, you dismarry again. You say is Christianity really real? No, you are fake. You are not genuine. Someone may be here now, he just put his hand in his pocket, “Let’s go and see what they are talking about.” Who are you pulling your shoulders to? One by one, not group by group. God deals with us one by one. Isaiah 51:2. God spoke to me that Word, “You are absolutely responsible for the outcome of your life.”
God spoke to me that Word that you’re absolutely responsible for the outcome of your life. Now, whether you are empowered or not today, it will show tomorrow. Luke 10:19. Empowerment is to keep you from being hurt, being molested, being assaulted. Church Gist. Seek empowerment, engage with that to keep your life empowered. Keep fanning the fire of the Holy Spirit by the Word – regular consumption of the Word, bringing in new wood to keep the fire burning. That’s your job.
Finally, good news! 1 John 2:14. You are in your era of triumph. Pay attention and take position. You’re in for the best of times. 1 John 2:14-16 – they rob people of their great tomorrow. You will not be robbed! How many can see the need for the infilling of the Holy Ghost? Church Gist. How many understand now that baptism of the Holy Ghost is not the end of the road but the beginning of the race? How many desire next levels of empowerment on this mountain? That’s what you will have!
Please listen to this: what shall we do? Repent and be converted then you become a candidate for empowerment. That’s the due process. You desire empowerment? To be free from the assault of the wicked one? Repent and be converted and you become a candidate for empowerment. Church Gist. No one empowers the dead, you don’t empower an unborn child. Repent, be converted and then you become a candidate for empowerment. Don’t miss AYAC 2024 that’s ordained by God for your empowerment into a world of exploits, into a world of meaning, fulfillment, accomplishment, securing your place in eternity. Don’t miss it for anything. So if you’re in this service tonight, in this convention, in this opening night, wherever you are around the world hooked on to this service, you’ll say, “Jesus, I want to repent and be converted. Church Gist. I must not miss my place of empowerment agenda for this convention. Lord, I’m here, save my soul, forgive my sins, grant me a brand new beginning”. You find someone here talking about being a drug baron, somebody else came and said he’s a computer scammer and Jesus set them free. He’s still setting people free today. Illegitimate wealth is a curse, don’t handle it, don’t go for it. There are too many legitimate platforms for making a great living in every nation. Church Gist. Just get empowered, it secures your place. You’re here tonight, you’ll like me to pray with you to become a candidate of empowerment through genuine repentance and conversion, stand to your feet.
—ALTAR CALL—
I was 25 when this w1tch confessed. I asked her, “what do you do with the devil?” She said “Anytime we want to suck blood, we get on the highways and we cause the vehicle coming to summersault and then we suck the blood of the victims” and I said, “What if people like us are coming?” “When we sense a higher power on the way, we clear off the highway”. Church Gist. We need empowerment to command dominion. We live in a wild wicked world. The devil knows that he has but a short time so he’s out with all wrath, all wickedness to afflict mankind. We need to jealously guard our power tank and not watch it run empty. We need empowerment to secure our glorious destiny on this Earth. The devil is busy hunting for precious souls. We need empowerment.
We have come to this Mountain of Empowerment, we shall return empowered into next levels. You shall return empowered into next levels (x3). So, you go to bed every night, “Lord, I desire an encounter into my next level of empowerment. I desire again an encounter into my next level of empowerment. I want to move from the realm of power into great power. Church Gist. I want to move from the realm of great power into exceeding great power. I want to move into the realm of the powers of the World to come because the Kingdom of God is within me. I have the potentials to operate in the realm of the powers of the World to come right inside me. So Lord, help me to move forward”.
- You are moving forward.
- All those funny decision that you make that end up in regret, you won’t make them any more because He’s empowered you with a sound mind, you have a clear understanding of what is going on. Can I hear your Amen?
My prayer is that no one here returns the same way he came!
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