| The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead | | | | die.Matt 27:50-53 is telling us something strange |
| dwells within you. Do you believe that? Have you | | | | happened after Jesus "gave up the ghost." It |
| ever experienced His presence? I've observed | | | | says: "And when Jesus had cried out again in a |
| that most Christians barely have the power the | | | | loud voice ["Tetelestai!" a Greek word meaning "It |
| get up on Sunday morning or make it to a | | | | is finished" or, literally, "Paid in Full!"], he gave up His |
| mid-week Bible Study. These days, one would be | | | | spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple |
| hard-pressed to find a Christian who could muster | | | | was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth |
| the faith to believe for the healing of their own | | | | shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open |
| sniffles.The Apostle Paul said, (Philippians 3:10), | | | | and the bodies of many holy people who had died |
| "That I may know Him, and the power of His | | | | were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, |
| resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, | | | | and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the |
| being made conformable unto His death...."Notice | | | | holy city and appeared to many people."Only after |
| the four statements Paul makes in this verse: | | | | Jesus' resurrection did these resurrected Saints |
| 1) "that I may know Him." | | | | enter Jerusalem, confirming once and for all that |
| 2) "and [that I may know] the power of His | | | | Jesus was indeed the Messiah. Can you imagine |
| resurrection." | | | | living there and seeing all these resurrected people |
| 3) " [that I may know] the fellowship of His | | | | walking around town? The Scriptures are silent as |
| suffering." | | | | to whether these saints testified about Jesus; it |
| 4) "[that I may be made] conformable unto His | | | | only points out that they walked the streets of |
| death."Isn't that amazing? Here's Paul, an old man | | | | Jerusalem. Their presence alone was proof |
| by this time, still zealous for his faith in Christ as | | | | enough that Jesus was no ordinary man. Their |
| he ever was, maintaining that his #1 aspiration in | | | | resurrection could only confirm the fact that Jesus |
| life is this: "that I may know Him."Evangelist | | | | was the Messiah.We could only speculate about |
| Leonard Ravenhill used to say "the Resurrection | | | | what happened to these people. One thing is |
| of Jesus Christ is the Standard of power in the | | | | certain: They were the firstfruits of what will |
| New Testament." Well put, Len. You see, | | | | happen when Jesus returns (1 Thess 4:16-18). The |
| everybody wants power. Everybody wants to | | | | fact is, their function as witnesses was |
| rule the world; at the very least, the world | | | | fulfilled.MEET MR. RESURRECTION |
| they're living in. For some, it's getting enough food | | | | Jesus declared,"I AM the resurrection." Get that? |
| and water to make it one more day. To another, | | | | The Resurrection isn't mere Christianity at all; the |
| it's selling more dope than the competition. To | | | | resurrection IS A PERSON!In Acts 24, Paul |
| someone else, it's done by climbing the corporate | | | | asserts that because Jesus rose, EVERYBODY will |
| ladder or making another business acquisition. The | | | | rise. Jesus was the LAST Adam (1 Cor 15:45). |
| Satanist who becomes a Christian will confess | | | | God expects us to have the world, our flesh and |
| that the main draw to Satanism was the "power" | | | | the devil under our feet. It's certain that our |
| that he saw exhibited there. Seems some people | | | | uncertain emotions will get in the way as they rise |
| are overly impressed with parlour | | | | and fall with our bank account balances and |
| tricks.Regardless of how we do it, "Vene, Vidi, | | | | circumstances. Jesus said we will have MANY |
| Vici" - I came, I saw, I conquered - is everyone's | | | | troubles. But He went through life in His own flesh, |
| personal mantra, whether we admit it or not. Fact | | | | too. He knows life can be tough as nails.The best |
| is, we can't conquer anything that satisfies until | | | | part of Christ's Resurrection is, and I say this |
| we conquer sin in our own lives. Everything else | | | | selfishly, I admit, that He raised ME from the |
| will be found wanting.The Resurrection of Jesus | | | | dead! That's right, God perpetuated that particular |
| Christ is the miracle of miracles. By that miracle, | | | | miracle in US! I was a zombie, walking about in |
| Jesus conquered Death, Hell and the Grave, | | | | pursuit of life, stinking the high heavens. I was |
| proving that He was God in the flesh. Muhammed | | | | smelly, and others experienced the rotten stench |
| never did that. Confucius never did it. Buddha | | | | of my existence. At the end of the Book of the |
| never did. With all due respect to those dead | | | | Revelation, Jesus says: "Listen, I am He that liveth |
| religious leaders, they could NOT do it. Nobody | | | | and was dead and behold I am alive and I have |
| could. Nobody, that is, but Jesus Christ.Easter | | | | the keys of death and of hell." I take comfort |
| Sunday must be Satan's high un-holy Day. Satan's | | | | that I won't die one minute sooner than God |
| empire fell at the moment of Resurrection. To | | | | wants me to. He knows when my work is |
| those who plead with God, "Lord, destroy the | | | | completed. Nobody will destroy me before the |
| work of the devil!" or pray, "Deliver us from evil," | | | | appointed time. Besides, I could be the most |
| here's the truth: Jesus has ALREADY done these | | | | healthy physical specimen of a man and I could |
| things.Ravenhill said, "The standard of God's power | | | | get run over by a beer truck while jogging or |
| in the New Testament is the resurrection of | | | | drive off a cliff while racing to a loved one's death |
| Jesus Christ from the dead. The standard of | | | | bed. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death |
| God's power in the Old Testament was the | | | | of his saints," (Psalm 116:15).Romans 6:8 says: |
| deliverance of the people of Israel through the | | | | "Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that |
| Red Sea which brought them finally into the land | | | | we shall also live with Him: Knowing that Christ |
| of promise. In the Old Testament the miracle is | | | | being raised from the dead dieth no more; death |
| the raising of a dead nation, because they were in | | | | hath no more dominion over him."The Spirit that |
| captivity, in Egypt, which is a type of the world. | | | | raised up Jesus from the dead is the Spirit that |
| They were under the dominion of Pharaoh, which | | | | quickens us, because man is dead in trespasses |
| is a type of the devil, and they were brought as | | | | and in sin. That's why some people cannot |
| the Word of God says, "God called them with a | | | | acknowledge that they're sinners. They're not |
| strong hand. He delivered them with a strong | | | | rejecting the Gospel. Truth is, they never actually |
| hand and a stretched out arm." All the way from | | | | heard it. Sure, their human ears heard it, but dead |
| Moses to Malachi there is a constant referring to | | | | people - zombies - are pretty unresponsive as a |
| "Look what God did when He delivered Israel." | | | | whole. A kernel of corn looks lifeless and dead |
| Now, is anything bigger than that? Have you got a | | | | until it is watered and begins to decay. Then, life |
| problem bigger than that? Can you imagine | | | | springs forth and produces many more kernels. |
| anything that demands on God more than | | | | Get the analogy? So, we keep watering. The |
| that?"Man, I love ol' Ravenhill.GOING DEEPER | | | | harvest comes when it's TIME to come.No man |
| WITH GOD | | | | comes unto the Father, unless the Father draws |
| Because of Christ's Resurrection, WE can be | | | | him (John 6:44).Paul wrote, to the Christian people |
| Resurrected, too. He is called "the first fruits." So | | | | living in a depraved cesspool called Corinth ( 2 |
| He is. Ephesians 2:5 says: "You have been | | | | Corinthians 5:17), "If any man be in Christ he is a |
| quickened who were dead in trespasses and in | | | | new creation." That's Good News! He makes a |
| sins." Notice something there: it doesn't say that | | | | brand new YOU! No patch jobs here! Romans |
| we WILL die. The verse says that we WERE | | | | 6:4,5 states: "Therefore we are buried with him |
| dead. That same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus | | | | by baptism into death: that like as Christ was |
| from the dead will also raise you and me.John 3:16 | | | | raised up from the dead by the glory of the |
| tells us that God loved the world - you and me - | | | | Father, even so we also should walk in newness |
| SO MUCH - that He gave His one and only Son, | | | | of life. For if we have been planted together in |
| Jesus. The cross represents God's love; the | | | | the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the |
| Resurrection represents God's Power.Imagine | | | | likeness of his resurrection."Like a butterfly leaving |
| being the Apostle Paul for a minute. You've raised | | | | a cocoon perhaps?LOOK UP! |
| the dead and many believe you were raised from | | | | Look at Colossians 3:1, 2. Paul says, "If ye then |
| death yourself. You've healed people, cast out | | | | be risen with Christ, seek those things which are |
| demons, wrote more world-changing literature | | | | above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of |
| than anyone in history ever would...and your | | | | God. Set your affection on things above, not on |
| greatest ambition is "I want to know Him."Does | | | | things 'which are beneath.'"Why do we see such |
| that impress anybody besides me?Is that your | | | | radical changes in some people but, in others, we'd |
| goal? It certainly is my own. Don't settle for | | | | never know they've ever entered a church? It's |
| counterfeits, my friends. Religion, ritualism, | | | | one thing for God to make things possible, it's |
| dogmatism, doctrines of devils and of men...there | | | | quite another for us to appropriate these things. |
| are many traps that the enemy has set that are | | | | Romans 2:12 says: "Buried with him in baptism, |
| intended to appease the religious nature of man | | | | wherein also ye are risen with him through the |
| and tap into our spiritual nature. They seem | | | | faith of the operation of God, who hath raised |
| spiritual, sound spiritual and make us "feel" spiritual. | | | | him from the dead. And you, being dead in your |
| They are counterfeits that may even raise a few | | | | sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh hath he |
| goose pimples. Yet most who settle for these | | | | quickened together with him, having forgiven all |
| trappings and partake of them regularly are no | | | | trespasses..." Now look at verse 20: "Wherefore if |
| deeper in their relationship with God than a | | | | ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the |
| committed Army soldier is endeared by the | | | | world, why, as though living in the world, are ye |
| military branch of which he is a part. They'll cut | | | | subject to ordinances, (Do's and Don't's) after the |
| you loose in a heartbeat after decades of service. | | | | commandments and doctrines of men?" Romans |
| Institutional Christianity is no different; | | | | 3:1 "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those |
| "Churchianity," I call it.Do you want a deeper | | | | things which are above, 'wherein' Christ sitteth on |
| revelation of Christ? There is something about the | | | | the right hand of 'the Father'"Seek the high life, |
| Resurrection that we have yet to grasp. My wife | | | | the holy life, that which is ABOVE. Walk the |
| and I recently had a well dug on our property. | | | | Spirit-Life, the life of prayer, the life of inspiration, |
| They had to dig over 500 feet to find it but there | | | | the life of joy. Remind yourself today, not while |
| was cool, clear water down there that just had to | | | | on your death bed. Start victorious living NOW. |
| be untapped. Let's tap into the Resurrection a little | | | | Tozer said: "Remember this: that while you and I |
| bit more. Everything we know about Christianity | | | | are on earth we are passing through enemy |
| balances on that one occurrence, the crowning | | | | territory." Yes, it's hostile country. The enemy is |
| miracle of God. For if there is no resurrection, we | | | | going to open fire even at our newest recruits. |
| are yet in our sins.WE'RE GONNA DIE! | | | | The world doesn't like what we do. It doesn't like |
| What was so unique about the Resurrection? | | | | what we say. It doesn't like the way we act.You |
| Others in Scripture had experienced resurrection, | | | | must draw, moment by moment, upon the |
| after all. Elijah raised the widow's son (I Kings | | | | Resurrection Life of Jesus. That Resurrection Life |
| 17:17-24). Elisha raises the Shunammite's child (II | | | | of Jesus is the Spirit who raised up Jesus form |
| Kings 4:32-37). Peter raises Dorcas (Acts 9:36-41). | | | | the dead. Gone is every sin that man has ever |
| Paul raised Eutychus to life (Acts 20:9-12). Jesus | | | | committed from here to eternity past and future. |
| Himself is recorded as having raised a few. What | | | | No matter how "badly" you may have sinned, it |
| is the difference between these resurrections and | | | | makes no difference. Sure, there will always be |
| His own?First: theirs had no power in itself nor did | | | | consequences for our sins, but nothing will never |
| theirs offer any power to anyone else.Second: | | | | separate us from God's love. The Word says that |
| they were all called forth from the dead by Jesus | | | | Jesus was raised from the dead and He die no |
| or some other man of God. Jesus wasn't called | | | | more. And because He lives, we shall live |
| forth by anybody.Third: when they were | | | | also.Ravenhill said, "Jesus is risen. He's cut off from |
| resurrected, some were wearing burial cloths. | | | | the world. He lives in it, but He is not of it. Again, I |
| Jesus walked out and left those rags in the tomb | | | | can't explain what this does to me, but when I |
| like a caterpillar slips out of a cocoon.The biggest | | | | think that for 40 days and nights He didn't say a |
| difference between His Resurrection and anybody | | | | word to the world...Makes me wonder...if God |
| else's was that, eventually, they all died again. | | | | turns His back on America before long we are in |
| Years ago, while I was praying and asking God | | | | for an awful, awful lot of trouble. Worse than |
| for a friend's healing, He reminded me that | | | | we've ever dreamed of. Maybe if Gabriel could |
| everyone Jesus healed eventually died. What was | | | | shout a word to America right now, or to |
| the purpose for those who come back - cheated | | | | England, or to Australia, so called civilized countries, |
| Death - as we say? To bring glory to His name, I | | | | he'd say, what Jesus said: "Oh, Jerusalem, oh |
| imagine. To share the experience with others that | | | | Corazin, oh Bethsaida, if thou knewest the day of |
| they might repent and receive Him, I guess. God | | | | thy visitation." We don't know how blessed we |
| has a plan, that's all I know.Everyone who was | | | | are... We've food, we've clothing. You think it |
| resurrected died twice. They must have, unless | | | | might take a judgment, or prison to get some |
| they're all hiding away in secret somewhere, like | | | | people really together? To break down bad spirits, |
| an ace relief pitcher awaiting "the nod" to get into | | | | and unforgiving spirits, and hardness of heart? Will |
| the game. But Scripture states: "It's appointed | | | | it have to be done in tears, because it hasn't been |
| unto man once to die and then the judgement," | | | | done at the cross through the love of the Lord |
| (Hebrews 9:27). In general, yes, that's true. Any | | | | Jesus?"Selah. That's good stuff.Let's aspire, by the |
| exceptions in Scripture involved Jesus or those He | | | | grace of God, moment-by-moment to trust in the |
| used - and currently IS using - to do so. That's | | | | Resurrection Life granted to us by Jesus Himself. |
| right, people are STILL being raised from the | | | | He died that we might be cleansed, purified, that |
| dead around the globe. Some might say, "But | | | | we might lead a victorious life and, thereby, |
| Enoch and Elijah didn't die!" The end of Revelation | | | | advance His cause. The resurrection life of Jesus |
| says they will after lying about in the streets of | | | | quickens our mortal bodies.Don't resist. Though |
| Jerusalem. Perhaps they'll die from a terrorist's | | | | the war has been won, there's a mop-up |
| bomb in a nightclub. Who knows. God says in | | | | operation that needs to be tended to.Let's roll! |
| Adam all die. That means we're ALL gonna | | | | |