Sermon Series: “Triumph Over Death with Long Life”
Presenter: Dr. JoAnne P. King
Message: “Long Life Is God’s Promise to You!”
October 31, 2021
Today is the third week of teaching in a series: “Triumph Over Death with Long Life.” I will briefly summarize what has been covered. In the first Sermon entitled, “Triumph Over Death with Long Life,” we claimed the 91st Psalm as our own, understanding that we must make Jesus the Lord of our lives and dwell in the secret place of the Most--High in order to come under His shadow. We understand that as Children of God, we received all the protections and blessings of this Psalm including verse 16a= with long life will I satisfy him/her.
During this sermon, I had everybody cast their care(s) on the Lord for He cares for you. He cares so much that He even knows the number of hairs on your head. This series concerns long life and you cannot enjoy a full long life with cares that you have been carrying for years. I am mentioning this because your enemy (Satan) will try to bring some or all of those cares back to you. All those what if’s: I had done this or if I hadn’t been falsely accused of that, or if I had said this in response to that, etc. And, the list goes on. These cares in many instances go back ten, twenty years or longer. How long are you going to carry those cares? These cares affect your life and the lives of those around you. Pay attention to your loved ones, when they tell you to let something go because you may not realize that you have taken that care(s) back up again. Remember, you can not go forward looking backward and God has plans for your future not your past.
Most people think that they have no control over when they die, however, 2 Peter 1:3 says: that his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness… Certainly, when we die, pertains unto life. In Jeremiah 1:4-5 and 29:11, we learned that God knew us, like Jeremiah, before we were formed in our mothers’ belly and ordained us for certain assignments. Additionally, His thoughts of us were of peace (nothing missing and nothing broken in our lives) and to give us an expected end. This expected end is not premature death but a long, healthy and prosperous life. A long life that has completed all of its assignments, destinies and reached all destinations. For us to access the provision that God has put in store for us, we need to use our FAITH.
As Christians, we must remember that we have an enemy out there whose mission according to John 10:10, is to steal, kill and destroy us. Satan wants to destroy you by using your tongue to speak death over your life. Remember, Prov. 18:21: Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. We are not ignorant of his devices. God is a good God; just remember we will have what we say! In Rev. 1:18: Jesus proclaimed that He has the keys of hell and of death, and Satan does not. Therefore, we no longer have to fear death because we have the power over when we die.
Last week the title of the Sermon was “God the Life Giver.” He is the life giver not the life taker. I shared with you a testimony given by Jesse Duplantis who had an encounter with God who told him “I am God. I have the power to take your life but I do not have the authority. So many people are saying that I took somebody home. There are a lot of people up here (heaven) who shouldn’t be up here right now. They did not complete their destiny nor destination. I didn’t take them home. I received them home but I did not take them home. The authority belongs to you because “death and life are in the power of your tongue”
When we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we received many gifts, including the Holy Spirit who leads and guides you into all truth. I applied Rom. 8:1-9 and Prov. 3:1-2 Amp. to give you examples of how the Holy Spirit has been leading and guiding me into long life. Because I had accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I was no longer under the law of sin and death. I told you that I used to smoke, drink alcohol and party. However, God’s desire is for me to live a full long life and fulfill the good, acceptable and perfect will of God for my life—to arrive at a destiny He planned before the foundations of the world.
This could not be achieved if I continued to smoke, drink alcohol, party, etc. But Praise Almighty God, as I committed my life, as a living sacrifice to God, God took away my desires to walk after the flesh, and instead I became entirely focused on walking after the Spirit, which brings you into life and peace. (Rom 8:6). When your life is completely turned over to the Lord, the voice of the Holy Spirit will lead you into the things that will strengthen, sustain, and protect your health and life from evil. Let me tell you how listening to the Holy Spirit protected my health and life from evil. When I was younger, I had a tumor and during a prayer group, I was told by the Holy Spirit to have that tumor removed immediately—not to wait. I obeyed the Holy Spirit and scheduled the operation immediately. After the surgery, the surgeon said that he found something that he wasn’t expecting. Wrapped around the tumor, he found another growth that if allowed to stay would have developed into the most virulent form of Cancer. It pays to listen and obey the Holy Spirit because He knows the traps that Satan has set.
As I declared last week, I will not die before I have achieved every assignment, reached all my destinies and destination. By God’s grace and mercy, I will live a long-satisfied life in Jesus Christ!
Saints, I am fired up this morning! I am here to tell you that God wants you to have and enjoy a long full and satisfied life. For the message today, I hear God saying: “Long Life Is God’s Promise to You! But you must receive the promise by faith in Jesus Christ’s finished works, without wavering!”
Hurry and get a hold of your Bibles. Turn with me to Galatians 3: 6-9. The Apostle Paul writes that if our faith is in Jesus Christ and His finished works on the cross, we are blessed (empowered to prosper) with faithful Abraham, and we are the same as the children of Abraham.
Moreover, Galatians 3:13-14, tells us that Jesus Christ died on the cross so that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles (all non-Jewish), that through our faith in Jesus’s finished works we might receive the promise of the Holy Spirit.
Here are just a few of the finished works of Christ regarding long life: Jesus defeated Satan by becoming flesh and blood, the same as the children, that through death, He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is he devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Heb. 2:14-15) Jesus broke down the middle wall of partition to make Jew and Gentiles one by abolishing the law of commandments contained in ordinances. (Ephes. 2:14-15) Jesus provided us personal access to God. By Jesus Christ, we have access by one Spirit unto the Father. (Ephes. 2:18)
Jesus cancelled the reign of death. Jesus Christ being raised from the dead, dies no more; death has no more dominion over him. (Rom 6:9) Jesus paid the death penalty for all. God commended His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Jesus Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:8)
Galatians 3: 26-29, declares that as many people who have received Jesus Christ as Lord are of Abraham’s seed and heirs to the promise.
I have some awesome news for you! If you have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, you have received the Holy Spirit and thus, the blessing of Abraham is in you, on you and working through you!
Right now, declare with your mouth, affirm that you believe in Jesus Christ and his finished works, that you have the Holy Spirit, and therefore, you are blessed with faithful Abraham—the blessing of Abraham is on your life!
Now we just need to understand what God blessed faithful Abraham with. God blessed Abraham with material wealth and substance; and a long, full, and satisfied life. (Gen. 12: 1-3, 13:1-2, 5-6) Oh, just look at our Great God, and how He made the precious promise of longevity to Abraham and his seed come to pass. (Gen. 15: 4-5, 15) and (Gen. 17:19) God always keeps His promises, for all the promises of God in Him are affirmative, affirmative, affirmative—so let them be done!!! (II Cor. 1:20)
In Genesis 24:1, we find that Abraham lived to be a very old man and was abundantly blessed in all things, and lived 175 years (Gen. 25:7), Isaac lived 180 years (Gen. 35:28), Jacob lived 147 years (Gen. 47:28), and Joseph lived 110 years (Gen. 50:22).
The secret to Abraham and his seeds’ longevity is that they believed in God, they kept His commandments, and walked according to His voice. When born-again Christians hearken unto the Word of God and voice of the Holy Spirit, they lay hold of the promises in Proverbs 3:1-10 Amplified Bible.
Saints, I have made it my lifestyle to walk in Proverbs 3:1-10. I encourage you to do the same. Listen to the Lord speak to you from these verses and hearken unto His voice. (Read Amplified verses) In the mornings when you wake up, read and meditate on these verses. Practice the commands daily and you will live long on the earth with wealth and material blessings flowing into your life, as it did with Abraham and his seed.
Finally, our New Covenant, ratified by the precious blood of Jesus Christ commands us to “hold fast to the promises of God without wavering, for God is faithful who has promised us.” (Heb. 10:23) God is faithful to give you longevity far beyond the human life span of the people of this world, if you will embrace the promise of long life without wavering. God will see to it that your life defies insurance actuarial tables, which seek to limit the probability of your living to 80 years or less. Go on and hold on to the promise of a long--satisfied life as Abraham and his seed enjoyed.
When Satan tries to attack your body with sickness and disease, and speak death to you—tell the devil: “he is a liar and to get out of your face!” Declare that you shall not die but live (healthy and full of energy) and declare the works of the Lord! (Ps. 118:17) Let sickness and disease that has attacked your body know that it has no place in your body because the stripes of Jesus Christ healed you over 2000 years ago. Then command sickness to immediately vacate your physical body because its take on you is illegal!
Now, thank the Lord for a long, satisfied life in Jesus Christ, full of joy, hope, wealth and prosperity! You are blessed with faithful Abraham, the same as his seed, and heirs according to the promises made to Abraham. Amen!