Creflo Dollar - Covenant Requirements for Long Life
We're going to teach tonight on "Covenant Requirements for Long Life". In other words, what is it that's stated in the covenant of God that you have a right to where long life is concerned? And I'd like to go to Psalm 91:1 through 16. I'm gonna let's look at it in the NLT. I wanna pick out some points here in Psalms 91 that will help us to really understand what we need to do where this is concerned. Let's read 1 through 16. And some of you, you know, we read it every morning in our morning confessions. And then let's look at some things that I believe will help you out.
Psalms 91 verse 1 says, "Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you. Just open your eyes, and see how the wicked are punished. If you make the lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won't even hurt your foot on a stone. You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet. The lord say, 'I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with long life and give them my salvation.'"
Now, from this, I wanna pick out some key issues that, if we'll begin to operate in, it begins to lead us to this place of long life, and the first one is in verse 1. Number one, lay hold of secrets. Lay hold of secrets. And when you lay hold of secrets, that's called revelation. It's important that we lay hold of secrets or we gain revelation. Verse 1, says, "Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty". What is it that you can lay hold of, living in the shelter of the Most High? What is it that you can lay hold of, resting in the shadow of the Almighty?
You know, John 8, verse 32, says the truth you know on long life, you know, the Bible says, "The truth will make you free". Well, the truth that you know on long life is what determines the freedom you enjoy from the harassment of death. I believe the truth that you know about long life. We've been sharing truth concerning long life. I believe the more truth that you begin to understand about long life, it begins to set you free from the harassment of death.
You know, Luke 10 and 19 says something about the enemy because, you know, it's important: "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing the Word of God". Faith for long life cometh by hearing, and hearing the Word of God concerning long life. You're not gonna be able to release your faith for something that you're ignorant of. You're not gonna be able to loose your faith for something that you don't know. I can't tell you how imperative it is for a Christian to understand how vital it is to get in the Word of God. This is a part of your life. It's who you are. It's something that you do, and you've chosen to do, communing with God and communing with the Word of God. I believe that strengthens you to live long life. We saw that in one of our sessions.
Look what he says in 10, verse 19, Luke 10:19, "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you". Now, look, this first word, "power". "Behold, I give unto you authority", that's the right to command. You have the authority or the right to command. You can command long life. "I give unto you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions," you have authority to have absolute mastery over serpents, over scorpions, or anything that comes from Satan, "and you have authority over all of the power", now, this word, second power, it's translated "ability".
You have authority over all of the ability of your enemy, all of the ability of your enemy. You have authority, or the right to command over all of the ability of your enemy, and watch this: "and nothing shall by any means hurt you". That's a Scripture you take and you lay hold of. Death is an enemy, and it wants to cause you to operate in those things that produce death. It wants to cause you to think and to talk and to act a certain way. Death is an enemy, and it wants to kill, steal, and to destroy.
And so now you've gotta get a revelation and an understanding that you cannot allow the enemy to come in and motivate you and move you to, again, speak things that will cause self-destruction, think things that will cause certain ways that you could go that'll cause self-destruction. You know, the Bible says, "There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof is destruction". And so we've got to understand, let's get into the presence of God, let's commune with the Word of God. Let's lay hold of revelation knowledge.
Let's know the truth about long life, and when we know the truth about long life, then we put a end to the harassment of death. So that's the first thing there, lay hold of secrets. Here's a second thing that we do, and we've been talking about this for the last couple of sessions: speak long life. Psalms 91, verse 2, speak long life. Here's what he says in verse 2, he says, "This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, he's my place of safety; he's my God, and I trust him". He says they declared this about the Lord.
See, you got to declare about the Lord long life. Long life, you gotta speak long life. I will say, you know, if you don't say it, you'll never see it. If you don't say it, what you don't say, don't expect to see. They declared about the Lord, "He alone is my refuge. He is my fortress. He's my safety". Why would they say that? Because they know if you don't say it, you don't get to see it. And so that is so powerful. And there are so many Scriptures that bear witness with this throughout the Word of God, and hopefully, I'm really praying that you get a revelation on making confessions and saying things. If you don't say it, you don't see it.
Let's look at some Scriptures here: Mark 11:23, he says, "For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he," what? "Saith shall come to pass; he shall," what? "Have," what? "Whatever he saith". So, you know, you speak long life, you have long life. You have what you say. And then we've already looked at Proverbs 18:21, let's do it again. Proverbs 18:21 says, "Death and life is in the power of the tongue". So if you want life, you put life in your mouth. You want death, you'll put death in your mouth.
Look at Numbers chapter 14 and 28. Just giving you some Scriptures to understand that speaking long life is very important. Speaking long life. You have a right to it, but speaking long life is important. He says in verse 28, "Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as you have spoken in my ears, so will I do to you". "As you have spoken to my ears, so will I do to you". It's just over and over again, bearing witness to, "Well, if you speak long life, you're gonna have long life".
Look at Matthew chapter 12, and verse 36. Matthew 12:36. I pray these Scriptures will convince you to be more sensitive to what you are allowing can come out of your mouth, death coming out of your mouth or life coming out of your mouth. Verse 36 says, "But I say unto you, That every idle word," every empty word, "that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment". Are you being judged by the words that you speak? Are you being judged, you don't wanna give an account of not having a long life because you're being judged of always talking about, you know, death, and you're being judged by always talking about those things that go against long life.
Psalms 34, verses 12 through 13, and get these Scriptures down and meditate on 'em. 12 through 13, he says, "What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good"? Verse 13, "Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile". All right, now, we read that over in the New Testament, but you see it here. Go back to verse 12, 'cause notice what he says. If you desire these things, this is how you get it. He says, "If you desire life, if you love many days and you wanna see good," he says, "all right, you gotta get your tongue right," verse 13, you gotta make sure that you keep your tongue from evil and that your lips from speaking guile, or deceit or lies.
Now look at Psalms 81, verses 10 through 14, Psalms 81. See, when you don't know these things and you don't recognize the truths of the gospel, and, you know, you could be, because you don't know how powerful your mouth is, then, you know, you could be killing yourself and don't even know it, don't even know it. You know, you're a part of the world, and "This Christian stuff sounds ridiculous, and there's no way that by just saying it something happens," and you just don't understand how you've chosen to go down to a path that's gonna lead to destruction, and you can change that.
Verse 10 through 14, says, "I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it". "Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it". Verse 11, "But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels. Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries," but they wouldn't do the simple thing. They wouldn't do the thing 'cause it just seemed like it didn't make sense in the world, just seemed like, you know, "Who in the world would believe something like that"?
All right, it's important now that we understand how powerful these things are. Look at Genesis chapter 8, in 22, and then Galatians 6, in 7. Why do we need to say these things? Why is it important for us to begin to do this, speaking long life? Why is that important? He says, "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer, winter, day, and night shall not cease".
Now, the part I want you to see is that "seedtime and harvest will not cease". And so one of the reasons you speak the Word is because, by speaking the Word on long life, you're sowing seeds concerning long life, and "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest won't cease," so that begins to come to pass. And look at Galatians chapter 6, in verse 7: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked," or made a fool of, "for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap".
Look at this in the New Living Translation. So, again, he's talking about "What are you sowing"? When you speak words, it's like a farmer who sows seed into the ground. You're speaking words, and those words are like seeds that are being sown, you know, into the ground of life. He said, "Don't be misled". And that's what happens when people are telling you, "Well, that doesn't make any sense," and, you know, "That's just tomfoolery for you to expect that you can speak things, and they can come to pass".
You know, the Bible says you'll have what you say, not having any doubt in your heart. So he says here, he says, "Don't be misled: you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant". And there are people, they're trying to mock the justice of God, and he just wants to make it clear, you're gonna always harvest what you plant. You're gonna harvest what you plant, and you're gonna harvest what you say, and this is so very important.
Now, go to Isaiah 44, and I realize I'm giving you lots of Scriptures, but, like I said, it is so important that we get the Word of God on each of these things, especially when we talk about victory over death, so that you can have something to go back and just really feed on so you can build your faith where these things are concerned. Look at verse 24 through 26. This is so powerful 'cause you're saying something so God can perform something.
He says, "Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself," 25, "That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh the diviners mad; that turneth wise men backwards, and maketh their knowledge foolish," 26, "That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, You shall be built". What's going on here? You're saying it to give God something to perform. You are saying it to give God something to perform. You saying that "I have long life, I'm gonna live long life," you are saying it to give God something to perform.
Now, if you say something negative and something that's not in the Word of God, he's not gonna perform that, so you may be saying some things to give Satan something to perform. And so, again, you're right back where this choice is concerned. You're gonna have to make a decision. You're gonna have to make the choice on what kind of harvest you want to come out of the ground of life. Psalms 18, verse 44 through 45, check this out. Psalms 18, 44 through 45, he says, "As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me". Verse 45, "The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places".
There's something powerful that's getting ready to happen, but I'm telling you right now, there's something so strong about you understanding how to declare the Word of God. There are things in your life that will fade away when you can learn how to speak God's Word. There are things in your life that won't even think about coming your way because you are speaking out God's Word. Look at Psalms 103, in 20. Psalms 103, and verse 20. He says, "Bless the Lord, O you his angels, that excel in strength," now watch this, "that do his commandments," watch, "hearkening unto the voice of his word".
Now notice, he didn't say that they hearken just to the Word but to the voice, so someone's gotta give voice to his Word. Someone who was giving voice to God's Word says the angels will hearken because the voice of God's Word has been given. And then, Psalms 81, in 10, just one more time here. I want you to just really get ahold of what's happening here. Psalms 81, in 10, "I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open your mouth wide, and I will fill it". Open your mouth, God says, "I will fill it".
So the second thing that I believe will work where a long life is concerned, a covenant requirement for long life: speaking long life, speaking long life. Number three: trust, trust. You wanna see long life? Trust is so important. It's relying... to "trust" means to rely confidently on the one that you say you believe. In Psalms 91, 2 and 4, he says, "This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he's my God, and I trust him". And then look at verse 4. He says, "He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor, and they are your protection". And so you've got decide, "I am going to trust him".
Faith equals confidence. Trust equals commitment. Faith equals confidence. Trust equals commitment. So when I say you're trusting in God, I'm looking at a level of commitment. How committed are you to the promises of God? How committed are you to the instructions of God? Faith is about confidence. Trust is about your commitment. Say what you say in absolute trust. Say what you say in absolute trust. When you say it, "I'm committed to this," and you're not just saying it, but you're saying it as a declaration of your commitment. "I'm saying it, I am committed to this".
Look at Psalms 125:1-3, in the New Living Translation. Trust is a covenant requirement for a long life, and so in Psalms 125:1-3, in the New Living Translation, he says, "Those who trust in the Lord are as secure as Mount Zion; they will not be defeated but will endure forever. Just as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, both now and forever". Verse 3, "The wicked will not rule the land of the godly, for then the godly might be tempted to do wrong".
You know, this is so powerful to the commitment that we make, and then we see God has made such a commitment to us and towards us. This is the security that they who trust in the Lord will enjoy. And then, in Mark chapter 11, and verse 23, when I trust God, there's no doubt. When I trust God, there is no doubt, no doubt. Doubt will hinder your declarations. And that's why the Bible says in Mark 11:23, look at this, he says, "For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, be thou cast in the sea," he said, do all of that, "and shall not doubt in his heart, but," do what in his heart? "Shall believe," he said, "then those things which he saith shall come to pass," he shall have in possession what he saith, but doubt will hinder your declarations.
One moment of doubt will hinder your declaration. That's what fear is: fear is just a moment of doubt. Fear is just a moment of doubt. And so, when you trust God, there's no fear. There's not that moment of doubt. The Bible says, "Believe in your heart, no doubt in your heart, you'll have what you say". Be determined that you're not gonna allow doubt to hinder your declarations. And then, finally, here's a covenant requirement for, you know, long life, and you begin to trust God for long life. You begin to speak the Word of God for long life.
You begin to get in revelation for long life, but then, just what I just closed with: don't fear, don't fear. Don't allow fear to come in. Psalms 91, verse 5, says this. He says, "Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night", you know, you're believing for long life. "Don't be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor of the arrows that fly in the daytime".
You know, one of the worst things people can have is the fear of death. We'll talk about that in a moment, but we cannot allow fear to rob us of long life. Job 3, verse 25. Job 3 and verse 25. Now watch this. He says, "For the thing which I greatly," what? "Feared," Job said, "it's come upon me, and that which I was afraid of," he says, "it's come upon me". My goodness, the things you fear the most will come upon you.
If you fear that you're gonna die at a early age, the thing you fear the most will come upon you. If you fear that, you know, "Oh, my goodness, I don't think I'll live past 50," then whatever you fear will come upon you. Fear is just having, you know, doubts about whether the word that was promised will come to pass in your life. The number one fear that Satan throws on God's people is the fear that what God said and what God promised won't happen, and you cannot do that. You cannot let that happen in your life.