Your Night Of Escape by Bishop David Oyedepo: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Escape from Defeat to Victory

Whatever is born of God overcomes the world — 1 John 5:4. New birth is your escape from the realm of defeat into victory. God has given every one of us a measure of faith, and that faith carries the capacity to secure victory in every battle of life. When you are saved, your faith comes alive and secures your victory. No more defeat in your life.

Escape from Poverty to Prosperity

Man was once clothed with glory, but after the fall he was naked, and poverty manifested. Jesus came, and though he was rich, for our sakes he became poor, that through his poverty we might be made rich. Poverty is not your portion in redemption.

When Jesus rose from the dead, he offered us a sevenfold redemptive package — power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, blessing, and glory (Revelation 5:12). The siege of poverty is broken over your life. No one in this place will beg for bread or for clothes to wear. When you are saved, you are called to glory and virtue; poverty is not your portion, nor the portion of your family.

Escape from Sin to Righteousness

He became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. He carried our sin so we could live a life that pleases God. Godly behavior is proof of redemption. Paul instructed believers to know how to behave in the house of God, which is the pillar and ground of truth (1 Timothy 3:15), and testified of living holily, justly, and unblamably among them (1 Thessalonians 2:10).

• Godliness with contentment is great gain.
• The foundation of God stands sure: the Lord knows them that are his, and everyone who names the name of Christ must depart from iniquity.
• In a great house there are many vessels — some to honor, some to dishonor. Whoever purges himself of iniquity shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and prepared for every good work.

Righteousness is not merely a philosophy that is preached; it is a lifestyle. "He that doeth righteousness is righteous" — 1 John 3:7-8. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. If you are saved, it will show in your behavior.

Escape from Barrenness to Fruitfulness

The promise belongs to the seed of Abraham: "Thou shalt be blessed above all people... there shall not be male or female barren among you." That is the heritage of Abraham's seed. Whoever has been called barren, tonight is your night — unless God has not sent this word, it will find you.

Escape from Frustration to Celebration

Jesus was anointed to heal the brokenhearted and to bring out those bound with chains (Psalm 68:6). His mission is to terminate every form of frustration, including marital frustration — whether the wait for marriage or the frustration inside one. Isaiah 61 speaks of his ministry: to appoint beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. He came to terminate the root of depression.

The Conqueror's Laughter

Because we are raised up together with him and seated with him in heavenly places, we come into the realm of laughter described in Psalm 2 — "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh." When you enter this realm, your enemies are already beaten. As you open your mouth in the laughter of faith, keep imagining yourself as more than a conqueror.

A minister of the gospel was once flying over the Indian Ocean when the captain announced they were lost. Instead of panicking, he began to laugh — the conqueror's laughter, the laughter of one who knows who he is in Christ regardless of the circumstance. When you meet a challenge with that laughter, you come out of it like one who has awakened from a dream.

"When our last daughter was seized by the spirit of death and the doctors said her organs had broken down, I sat down in my office with a smile and said, 'Jesus, there must be a way out.' And the way out came." Do not complain in the wilderness of your trial the way Israel did and lose the battle for free; hold your peace, retain his presence, and maintain a high level of spiritual discipline rather than going the world's way for a solution — his ways are higher than our ways.

Say with me: "By redemption I am seated in heavenly places, and all I do is laugh at every attack of the devil. I am more than a conqueror."

Pharaoh's army was behind Israel, the Red Sea was in front, yet Moses was not crying — God said, "Go forward." You cannot carry God's presence and be defeated.

Forgiveness Is the Gateway

Forgiveness of sin is the gateway to all these blessings, and the new birth is your guaranteed access to this realm. Psalm 103:1-5 — "Bless the Lord, O my soul... who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's."

He forgives your sins first, to unleash the blessings of redemption; until your sins are forgiven, you are not a candidate for the unleashing of that blessing. Acts 3:26 says God raised up his Son and sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. You must first choose to turn — then it becomes your turn.

Everything Is Free — It Is Your Choice

The blessings of redemption take over your battles; the Lord will fight for you while you hold your peace. When one is saved, he is entitled to everything else God can offer — Romans 8:32: "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?"

All of this is free. It is not available in any market, and no money can buy it — you cannot purchase peace, and you cannot purchase joy, only Jesus can give them. Romans 6:23 — "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man will open the door, I will come in."

New Creature, Candidate for the Miraculous

Being born again is not the same as growing up religious, in a church building, in a habit of prayer, while still carrying old things around unchanged. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

When you are born again, you become a candidate for his miracles — you cannot always tell where they are coming from or where they are going, as with everyone that is born of the Spirit (John 3:8). "I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts" (Isaiah 8:18). Every child of God is a candidate for the miraculous. Let him forgive your sin, and he will heal your disease, satisfy your mouth with good things, and renew your youth like the eagle's.