Sanctification Is Profitable - Day 2: Week Of Spiritual Emphasis by Bishop David Oyedepo: Sermon Notes

The Foundation of Everything That Works

Sanctification is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life which now is and of that which is to come. (1 Timothy 4:8)

This is the foundation of everything that works. The foundation of God stands sure - and that sure foundation for every believer in the kingdom is sanctification.

It is simple: prayer does not fly without sanctification. Iniquity separates between a person and God so that he will not hear (Isaiah 59:2). Mark 4:11: Unto us is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to them that are without, all things are in parables. Who are the ones without? Revelation 22:15 answers: without are the dogs - those who keep returning to their vomit. They can only access the stories, not the mysteries. The letter kills, but the spirit gives life.

Prayer does not work. The word does not work. The anointing does not work - without sanctification.

Proverbs 1:23: Turn at my reproof and I will pour my spirit unto you. Fresh oil is not accessible when sin is in control. No one puts new wine into old wineskins - by fermentation it will explode and burst the bottle. Both the wine and the bottle are wasted. The new wine of anointing requires a new wineskin of holiness.

Sanctification secures the provisions of redemption here and guarantees eternity at the other end. As has been said over and again: nothing of value is ever free. Hebrews 12:4: Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. It is a fierce battle. Satan is ever on the hunt to disconnect believers from their glorious destiny.

A Fresh Start Is Always Available

Anyone can have a fresh start at any point. As far as God is concerned, it is never too late to be right. The prodigal can come back to himself and say: What is happening to me? The defiant can return. The relevant question to ask is: Do I believe there is a heaven? If yes - do I believe there are conditions that must be met to make heaven? If yes - am I pursuing those conditions or despising them? The answers reveal whether one is truly heading there.

If the prodigal son had waited two more days, he would have been dead, consumed by the wilderness. Anyone can have a fresh start if he so chooses.

Matthew 7:13-14: Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are that go in. But strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leads unto life - and few there be that find it. Only eight people made it in the days of Noah. The minority is not wrong simply because it is a minority. Those who find the narrow way - it will show in their fruit.

Benefits of Sanctification

1. Covenant Access to Divine Honour

   Sanctification eradicates shame and reproach. 2 Timothy 2:20-21: In a great house there are vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and of earth - some to honour, some to dishonour. But if a man purges himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, meet for the master's use, prepared unto every good work. Sanctification is the highway of honour.

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   Bishop David Oyedepo

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2. Covenant Access to Divine Secrets

   Access to divine secrets is the maker of stars in the kingdom. Psalm 25:14: The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant.

   When Joseph came to Pharaoh with the secret from the Lord, Pharaoh declared: In as much as God has shown you all these things, there is none as wise and discreet as thou art - take over the throne. Access to divine secret catapults a person into a place that no strength or skill can reach. Genesis 41:15-16 shows Joseph's posture: It is not in me - God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace. Not his intellectual capacity - simply access to the God of secret.

   Daniel purposed in himself not to defile himself with the king's rich food - and then was the secret revealed to Daniel in the night vision (Daniel 2:19). Daniel testified: This secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living - this is God opening the treasure of his secret to me. Daniel was a sanctified man - they could find no occasion or fault in him. The topmost top is always the place of those who have divine secret access.

   Job said in Job 29:4: As I was in the days of my youth when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle. God himself testified of Job: Have you seen my servant Job - there is none like him on the earth, one that fears me and shuns evil. And Job became the greatest businessman in his time.

   The church is in a takeover era. God's Josephs are rising. Mark every star in the kingdom - access to divine secret is behind their making.

3. Establishment and Fruit-Bearing in the Faith

   Every branch that bears fruit, God purges so it can bear more fruit (John 15:2). There are two levels of fruit in the kingdom: the fruit of the spirit and soul-winning fruit. The verdict on fruitlessness is severe - the tree that produces no fruit is cut down. The word of God on purging is purging to increase, not to diminish.

4. Eternity with Christ

   The grand benefit of sanctification is that it guarantees eternity with Christ. Luke 13:24-28: Strive to enter in at the strait gate, for many will seek to enter and shall not be able. When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, those outside will knock saying: Lord, Lord, open unto us. And he shall answer: I know you not whence you are. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.

   1 Corinthians 6:9-11: Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, abusers of themselves, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners - these shall not inherit the kingdom. But these are all supposed to be past tense. Therefore, everything that disqualifies for eternity must become past tense - by each one's purpose and choice.

Demands of Sanctification

• Abstain from all appearances of evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:22. Amnon, a prince and son of David, had a friend named Jonadab who led him into sin with his sister - and it led to Amnon's death. Abstain. Joseph fled from Potiphar's wife and secured his destiny. He would have died as a household servant. He fled - and the throne awaited.
• Exercise continuously. There is no luck in sport - it is how much athletes exercise themselves that determines what they return with. Exercise thyself rather unto godliness. Exercise. Exercise. Exercise. Only exercise excels.

The Church in the Wilderness: A Warning

1 Corinthians 10:1-11: Israel's fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, ate the same spiritual meat, drank from the spiritual rock - that rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased, and they were overthrown in the wilderness.

The wilderness experience in this life is the journey to the promised land. With many, God was not pleased. These things were written as examples, to the intent that the current generation should not lust after evil things as they did - not commit fornication, not tempt God, not murmur.

Salvation does not guarantee access to eternity - but a conscious, intentional, purposeful determination to live a life that pleases God does. They do not make heaven as groups. Each one shall give account of himself to God (Romans 14:12). No one gets sanctified in groups.

The word of God is the key. Psalm 119:11: Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. They overcame by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony (Revelation 12:11). When light comes in, darkness steps out. Truth sets free - and whom the truth sets free is free indeed.