THE FINANCIAL TESTIMONY OF THIS COMMISSION IS A GLOBAL MYSTERY. IT IS DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND OR DECODE
IT IS GOD’S PLAN TO ENRICH EVERY ONE THAT IS A CHILD OF GOD
ONE OF THE VITAL ANCHORS OF THIS COMMISSION IS ADDICTION TO THE PROMOTION OF THE KINGDOM.
MATTHEW 6:33 IS A SCRIPTURE THAT EVERY WINNER KNOWS. IT IS THE ANTHEM OF THIS COMMISSION
YOU CAN’T PUSH THE KINGDOM FORWARD AND YOUR LIFE GOES BACKWARDS
WE ATTEND TO PEOPLE’S FEEDING, ACCOMMODATION AND HEALTH ISSUES ON A MONTHLY BASIS IN THIS COMMISSION.
AT EVERY STAGE IN LIFE, YOU CAN BE A BLESSING TO SOMEBODY.
GOD CANNOT MULTIPLY YOUR FOOD THAT IS EATEN, HE CAN ONLY MULTIPLY YOUR SEED THAT IS SOWN.
WE STARTED TITHING AS A COMMISSION WHEN OUR ANNUAL INCOME WAS LESS THAN A MILLION NAIRA IN 1987 AND WE HAVE NEVER SLACKED SINCE THEN TILL DATE.
THE CHALLENGE WITH MANY OF US IS THAT WE LACK CONSISTENCY IN OUR TITHING.
WE GOT OUR CHURCH PROPERTY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM BY FAVOUR AS A RESULT OF OUR TITHING.
WHAT IS HAPPENING AT THE ARK TODAY IS OVERRUNNING BLESSINGS.
GOD IS MOVING HIS WORK IN AN INEXPLAINABLE BUT UNDENIABLE WAY.
THERE IS NO DAY THAT NOTHING IS GOING ON THERE. WORK IS GOING ON AND THE PLACE IS GROWING
- Pastor David Oyedepo Jnr on “WALKING IN THE COVENANT OF SUPERNATURAL BLESSINGS 6” at Midweek Communion Service || LFC Canaanland || 24th April 2024 ||
Tonight we are concluding our teaching series that we began at the beginning of the month captioned WALKING IN THE COVENANT OF SUPERNATURAL BLESSINGS. Church Gist. Tonight I want to re-emphasize a few foundations and then we are going to look at the crux of our focus this evening.
It is important that we are reminded from God’s Word that the desire of God is for every one of His people to prosper and be in health. 3 John 2. Furthermore, we are told from scriptures that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law into the blessing of Abraham. In fact, we discover that one of the seven classified blessings of redemption is riches. Revelation 5:12. It is God’s plan to enrich everyone that is a child of God, that is His agenda. 2 Corinthians 8:9. Church Gist. He came to enrich everyone that is a child of God. It is also important to be reminded that this wealth package of heaven, there is no discrimination in it. Romans 10:12. So no matter your tongue, your tribe, your race, as long as you are in Christ, you are ordained to be a partaker of this package.
The question then is, if that is the plan of God then why is it not the experience of every believer? The answer is simple, according to the Word of God, the condition for financial abundance or blessing is the platform of the covenant. Deuteronomy 8:18. He empowers for wealth on the platform of the covenant. Let’s be reminded also that the covenant is a spiritual deal that is based on well defined terms and sealed with an oath. That means until we discover the terms of the covenant and align with the demands we cannot experience the provisions. There is a demand for the covenant. We have come to discover in the course of this month that this covenant anchors principally on seedtime and harvest. Church Gist. Genesis 8:22. In 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 the Bible shows us how that seed applies financially. Giving is sowing and receiving is reaping. In that scripture we see placed before us, the terms of the covenant and the returns of the covenant. The term is seedtime, the return is the harvest and the avenue is the grace. Every one of those forces is moved into motion on the basis of our covenant engagement.
What that means is that in this Kingdom, whenever you see a financial giant behind it there are covenant steps. All through this month we have been looking at various examples of financial giants in scriptures and we discover the covenant steps that they took. Hebrews 6:12. The promises and provisions that God has for us in the Kingdom, He said there are patterns we can follow in order to experience the same. The good news is that according to God’s Word, the following of such pattern is not only in human nature, you will not only look at people. Church Gist. The Bible says to be followers of the Churches that are in Judea. 1 Thessalonians 2:14. So we can look at the pattern of the Churches of Christ and see how they actualized specific blessings and follow after the same steps. The good news is that for us in this Commission we have a wonderful example placed before us, in terms of how God has been prospering His Church and we can follow the same pattern to see Him prosper our lives.
Let’s look at the examples of this Commission as a whole. What are some of the vital keys we have seen God utilize in bringing this Commission to global financial affluence. The truth is this, the financial testimony of this Commission is a global mystery. It is difficult to understand or decode but the steps to it are open for all to see. Let’s look quickly at some of the steps that we have seen God unveil in this Commission that has taken us to the position where we are. Church Gist. The fact that we are here means that we must look like where we are. For each one of us in this service, I see the financial glory that God has brought upon this Commission finding reflection in your own life and my own life. Let’s look at the example of this Church.
VITAL KEYS TO THE FINANCIAL BLESSINGS THAT WE SEE IN THIS COMMISSION
- It is a die hard Kingdom Promotion Church.
One of the vital anchors of this Commission is addiction to the promotion of the Kingdom. Matthew 6:33 is a scripture that every Winner knows. It is the anthem of this Commission. Matthew 6;33. That has been the continuous commitment of this Commission. You discover that at the centre of this Commission is an addiction to the advancement of the Kingdom. At every point in time, if you look at our prayer points – Kingdom focused. You look at our engagement – Kingdom focused. You look at our investments – Kingdom focused. Every department of our pursuit has been centred on the advancement of the Kingdom. Church Gist. You can’t push the Kingdom forward and your life goes backwards. As this Commission has remained committed to advancing the Kingdom, we have seen God advancing the Commission. Galatians 6:7-8. There is no Kingdom focused life that ever diminishes. Every commitment to the advancement of the Kingdom results in an increase in the life of that individual.
Luke 18:28-30. No man! No one advances the Kingdom without being advanced by the Kingdom. Everyone committed to the advancement of the Kingdom is advanced by the Kingdom. You can’t go backward pushing the Kingdom forward. We discover that as a Commission we have seen continuous advancement among other areas financially on the basis of the advancement of the Kingdom. That means that you don’t see increase by praying for increase, you see increase by advancing the Kingdom. Church Gist. ‘Oh Lord, you must give me money’ no! ‘Oh Lord, you must give me this’ No! Just keep advancing the Kingdom, you find God decorating your life. Look at the testimony we heard today, somebody was believing God for children and instead of focusing on the children that they desire, they began to focus on Kingdom Advancement and other people who require the same. When God broke loose, I don’t know if you looked at that timetable, that timetable is very tight. Three consecutive years, one by one by one. Go and do your calculations. Very tight timetable because out of that one year, nine months is pregnancy. That means the child will be like three months and she is pregnant again. From barrenness to overpregnancy. When you advance the Kingdom, you can’t go backwards. That is the person who they said cannot have children, now she is having children outside the natural cycle by reason of refocusing. Church Gist. There are so many of us who are concerned about so many things. Let’s get our focus right. When the focus is the Kingdom, the Kingdom’s focus is you. When your focus is the Kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven now focuses on you. God can’t face your matter and your matter does not turn around. Every matter God faces is overturned. God is facing your matter today.
- Membership Welfare.
We have seen this since inception in this Church. God’s Servant (Bishop David Oyedepo) shared a testimony, he said one day a brother came to Church and had a particular need. The offering in the service was ₦10, the brother needed ₦10. So the offering of the day was given to the brother. That is, catering to the welfare of individuals from the beginning. You know a service where the offering is ₦10, it will also tell you the kind of multitude that was there. Church Gist. But right from the inception, attending to the well-being of others. Galatians 6:2, 1 John 3:17-18. Commitment to seeing the well-being of people – that’s one of the channels to experiencing supernatural abundance. Those who look for others to be well cannot have it any other way but it being well with them. God seeks for their well-being. Psalm 41:1-3. He can’t be killed by affliction because he has given himself to the well-being of others. Shout hallelujah!
You see, all of these things go to show us the secret behind the abundance of this Commission – seeing to the well-being of people. Every month, we have different kinds of cases – health cases being attended to, accomodation cases being attended to. Church Gist. Currently, we have the Kingdom Care Covenant – feeding being attended to. Different areas of humans need being touched on every side. You see, these are the secrets that bring the abundance that you are seeing today.
So, when you hear ‘oh, there is nobody that we owe a thank you to’ it’s because there is a covenant alignment with Heaven’s demand. If you are right with God, you will not need to beg men. Is somebody getting it now? Church Gist. If you are not right with God, you will need to begin to beg men. But when you align with God, you have no man to beg. God begins to settle every department of your life.
- I see that becoming somebody’s experience here! If you believe it, say a louder Amen!
Proverbs 28:27. So seeing to the well-being of others is one of the channels to eradicating lack. That means that no matter your level, you can be a blessing to somebody. This is so important. You can be a blessing to somebody. Church Gist. At every stage in life, you can be a blessing to somebody. We must learn to keep discharging in order to be recharged by God. This is one of the vital secrets that opens our access to God’s blessings.
- I see each one of us today aligning ourselves with the Lord in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! If you believe it, say a loud Amen!
- Commitment to humanitarian services. We have seen it in this Commission over the years – going all out to see that it is well around us. Galatians 6:10. So our doing of good does not stop in Church, it goes beyond it and that’s what we have seen over the years. Church Gist. When there is disaster in one place or the other, you see this Commission quickly taking a frontline role to step in, assist and intervene. Various IDPs camps around the Nation, we have seen this Church stepping in. At various points in time wherever there’s one calamity or the other.
I recall, God’s Servant had shared this testimony before that when they had Ikeja bomb blast and this Church mobilized materials, it was said that there has been no such mobilization of materials since the civil war in Nigeria to see to the well-being of people. You see, it is going all out like that takes one up materially. When life is about you and you alone, God will give you only what you can consume. You notice, God gives 2 things in Scriptures. 2 Corinthians 9:10. Church Gist. God cannot multiply your food that is eaten, He can only multiply your seed that is sown. So the moment there is no seed sown, there is nothing for God to multiply. One billion times zero is what? Two billion times zero is what? One trillion times zero is what? Some people are not sure. If it’s one trillion and you multiply by zero maybe it won’t finish. Anything you multiply by zero is equal to zero. You know what that means? No matter the capacity of God which is infinite, when it meets zero seed, there will be zero harvest.
God is infinite and He is the Multiplier but He is multiplying what you sow. So when there’s nothing that is sown, there is nothing that can be returned. And that’s why it becomes important for us to recognize that we take opportunity wherever we find ourselves to be a blessing at every level. Somebody is around you, you can do good to them. In your community, be known for good, don’t be known for bad things – be known for good. Church Gist. There are some people, there are believers in their community – they are praying for them to leave. Everytime trouble, fighting this person, fighting that person – fighting everywhere. You know there are many christians that cannot do evangelism in their community because how they know them there, nobody would listen to the Gospel. They must go somewhere far where nobody knows them because if they see them with tract or flier in that community, they will say ‘you? Never!’ Be known for good.
- My prayer is that grace will come upon each one of us for this in the name of Jesus!
- It’s been a tithing Church since 1987. Now the tithe is a very simple principle in Scriptures but powerful and potent in results. God’s Servant said he saw in the Book of Hebrews 7:7, the Lord speaking clearly to him, He said to him “look, the same way I open the Heavens over individuals, I open it over organizations, over corporations and even the Church. The same way I do it.” Church Gist. And how does He do it for individuals? By tithing. Malachi 3:10. When God showed this to His Servant, the Commission globally income was less than one million but tithing from that point upward. I am not saying one million per month – I mean per year. But tithing the way upward saw this Commission go from one level to the other. Is somebody getting what God is saying?
Now, listen. I had this experience when sent to our Church in the UK (United Kingdom). When I got there, I discovered this Church has never paid tithe from inception as at that time. I said, this is not how I learnt it o. The way I understand it, you engage your tithe. So I called the leaders. I said this tithe, we must pay. So we decided we are going to pay the tithe from inception till that date. Now listen, we are looking for property. The money we had for the property, the property we saw then, the cheapest one – the money we had total before the tithe is less than one third of the amount. Church Gist. Now, we are going to back pay our tithe which means it is ‘less than less than’ one third. We paid the tithe and we began to look. They said, how are we going to do it? I said look, ‘they got not the land in possession by their sword. He said, but thou hadst a favour unto them.’ I said what we will use to get the property is favour not money. They said what? I said favour will either bring it cheap or favour will bring the money we need to buy it.
Now when the property came, (this thing I’m telling you took place within 2 years of paying that tithe), we got the property very cheap and God brought plenty money. So the money was beyond it. Now listen to the strange part of this testimony. By the time, I was transferred out of that Assembly, the tithe we paid for all of those years combined together that we paid that time that it looked like it was a very big tithe was just about half of the monthly income of the Church. God never takes from you to bring you down, He takes from you to move up. Church Gist. Are you getting what I am saying? That is, paying that tithe looked like we have gone down but before you knew it, that tithe became just around half of what was our monthly income (every month) as a Local Assembly. That’s the power of the covenant.
I said this Commission began paying tithe at less than one million. Now one million naira is nothing by the grace of God in this place. You breathe in, you breathe out, in this Commission one million is being expended like that. You are sitting here, you know the power that we are using here? I’m not talking about anointing, I’m talking about electricity that is being used here like this as you are here. Church Gist. Now, we are not only here, I’m not talking about this Commission globally – I’m even talking about Faith Tabernacle. We are not only here, we are in more than 1,000 Zones that are burning diesel at the same time. Hello! From…what is the tithe of one million? Hundred thousand. That is a hundred thousand tithe. You know diesel money, you don’t know? Is somebody getting it now? Over 1,000 places now are burning diesel, petrol and everybody is smiling and looking at the screen there and saying ‘oh, wonderful o.’ You are looking at screen, television is beaming..he says ‘wonderful. I don’t understand. What’s going on? It’s pastor preaching today, it’s not Papa.’ You are even able to see. If the income was still one million then, you think we are going to be using…fan sef, you won’t on. Not A.C – fan. Is somebody getting it now? That’s the power of the covenant. Don’t look at where you are starting from.
Now, listen carefully. When the Bible says “eyes hath not seen, ears hath not heard. It has not entered into the heart of man the things that God hath prepared”, it means that your imagination cannot comprehend God’s destination for you. Church Gist. You can’t comprehend it. If you dream your best dream, it can’t reach God’s least dream for you. Just stay on course. That’s the secret that makes a difference.
You look at this Commission over the years consistently. You know what it means to have been continuing with the tithe? 1987, 88, 89, 90, 91 all the way till now 2024. But that consistency, you will never remain at the same level. You know the problem with some of us? Church Gist. We start, we stop. You paid tithe 3 months, you say, “I tried.” January, February, March – this April ‘Lord, have mercy. I have tried, I will resume later.’ That’s the challenge. Consistency is absent but consistency is the rule of the game.
What has been the result for us as a Commission? This Commission has emerged now as an exceedingly blessed Church. If you don’t understand blessings, come here. Exceedingly blessed. Inexplainably blessed. Deuteronomy 28:1-2. That has been our experience. Overrunning blessings! Church Gist. Look at what is happening at the Ark today. That is overrunning blessings. Inexplainable but undeniable! There is no day that nothing is going on there. Work is going on, the place is growing and we are smiling. We are just going on and God is just moving His work. Why? The blessings of God make rich and it adds no sorrow.
My charge to us tonight is simple, let us follow the example that is laid before us. Follow the example of Kingdom addiction, follow the example of going after the welfare of the brethren. Follow the example of being good to those that we come across. Follow the example of unbroken tithing. Church Gist. Watch what God makes of your life. 1 Thessalonians 2:14. For you and I, as we follow the example of the Church, we will reflect the glory of the Church. The good news is that for you, no more poverty. No more lack. No more want in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Liberation Mandate Anniversary is coming up next week. There is no doubt that we owe God thanks. For us as a Commission, our story has been dangerously different. Too many inexplainable things. We just open our eyes and we see God working. That is why that theme is so vital IT IS THE LORD’S DOING, IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR SIGHT. We too are marvelled by it. It is inexplainable, I know God is good but God is specially good to this Commission so we owe God special thanks. Church Gist. That is why next week we are committing ourselves in those sessions to celebrating God, glorifying Him for His goodness and His mercy towards us. Therefore be expectant because nobody gives God thanks and leaves without God touching and blessing his life. So get set, it will be a season of blessings in the name of the Lord Jesus.
This has been a month where God said to us that in hard times each one of us will be flourishing, therefore it shall be for you the trigger of your best season yet.
- Nothing will ever finish in your hands again in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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