"AND WHEN HE HAD SPOKEN THESE THINGS, WHILE THEY BEHELD, HE WAS TAKEN UP; AND A CLOUD RECEIVED HIM OUT OF THEIR SIGHT", (Acts.1:9). A prophet of the Lord once said, and I quote "Everyone talks about the rapture, the rapture! Yet they don't have enough faith for healing. Don't you know it takes faith (greater faith) to go in the rapture?" Behold this literature series endeavours to tell you about the rapturing faith: the faith that believes the FULL REDEMPTION! Elijah-kind of faith! The faith that has a covenant of "life" with God and is joined to the one who has abolished death, "who alone has immortality". The faith of the overcomer! Read on and be blessed! Believe ye and prepare for the time is at hand! Gospel Distribution,
"I AM THE RESSURRECTION AND THE LIFE; HE THAT BELIEVETH IN ME THOUGH HE WERE DEAD YET SHALL HE LIVE; AND WHOSOEVER LIVETH AND BELIEVETH IN ME SHALL NEVER DIE." (Jn.11:25,26). Behold the word of the master himself: Jesus Christ the almighty! No man will ressurrect unless He ressurrects him! Jesus declared in the above statement that He alone has power to give life: Immortality to those that will go in the rapture, and life to those that will be ressurrected. "Believeth thou this?" saith the Lord. In order to go in the rapture, one must believe immortality can be obtained from Jesus. For that, there must be a confrontation with the devil who has held the power of death for a while. But now, child of God, believe the scriptures(in Heb.2:14b) which said Christ died "that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil". Christ has destroyed the devil! "Believeth thou this?" saith the Lord. Believe the scriptures that speaks of our saviour Jesus Christ "who has abolished death and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel".Yea Christ saith "I AM HE THAT LIVETH, AND WAS DEAD; AND BEHOLD, I AM ALIVE FOR EVER MORE, AMEN; AND HAVE THE KEYS OF HELL AND OF DEATH" (Rev.1:18). Wilt thou go in the rapture? You must have the covenant of "life" with God like Elijah the prophet. Elijah believed God that he was not to go to the grave if he remained faithful to his calling. Elijah gave up at one point and preferred to die, but God never breaks covenant. (1 Kgs.19:1-4). "He requested for himself that he might die; and said, it is enough; now, O lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers".
But the angel of the Lord woke him up and told him to "arise and eat" and to keep going. You can have the same covenant of "life" with Jesus, the eternal one! But you must first understand that it is Satan who causes death, and that Jesus has brought life abundantly.
Wilt thou go in the rapture? You must believe the "full redemption"!
Sin, sickness, poverty and death: all came into the world through the disobedience of Adam. (Gen. 3:17). Hardship was talked about in verse 17, and poverty was mentioned in verse 18: "in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread"; and physical death is mentioned by the utterrance that said "till thou return to the ground for out of it was thou taken, because dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return". I said sin, sickness, poverty and death came into the world through the disobedience of Adam and Eve. Sin brings spiritual death and physical death was also mentioned as part of the punishment. Sicknesses are preliminary stages of physical death. It was the devil that had been implementing the wrath that was pronounced upon mankind.The summary of what happened in the garden of Eden is that Adam had a bodyguard which was God. The devil who was the enemy of mankind was also roaming about in the garden (Eze.28:13). He caused Adam to disobey and the bodyguard left him. The devil moved in to afflict, to tear down and to kill (Jn.10:10); And Christ said "But I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly". You will see that both man and woman were put under that burden. The extra burden which was put upon the woman for her part in the offence was revealed in verse 16. "Unto the woman He said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception"; by "sorrow" it means a woman will be emotionally fragile; and by "thy conception": it speaks of a lot of sorrow during woman's pregnancy and delivery due to labor pains. It can be said to mean "sorrow in thy conception", however greatly multiplying conception will be equally a punishment which points to the revelation of what went wrong in the garden of Eden. It also said "In sorrow shall thou bring forth children"; You should wonder about this: why will the Lord put all the woman's punishment around child bearing? Then you should understand the verse that says: "Notwithstanding, she shall be saved in child-bearing" (1Tim.2:15; Gal.5:19-20;Mat.19:19- 20).
But Christ came to redeem mankind from the wrath of God as it was promised in Gen.3:15 that "I will put enemity between thy seed and her seed, he shall bruise thy head and thou shall bruise his heel". Christ came as the seed of the woman and has bruised the head of Satan. (Ephe.4:8) The revelation that was given to apostle Paul said "as by one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin", even so, by one man, Jesus Christ, the gift of grace has come into the world. (Roman 5:12,15,17). "As by the offence of one, judgement came upon all men to condemnation, by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life" (Rom.5:18). In verse 19 it says "for as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners, even so by one man's obedience many were made righteous". Now Christ has redeemed us from the wrath of God. Therefore we that believe, who have been made righteous by the sacrifice of Christ should be free from the repercussions of the offence. That is, since we have been redeemed from sin, sickness & diseases ought to be stopped; physical death also ought to be removed. Sin brought eternal separation from God, ("the wages of sin is death"), but the punishment that was put upon Adam included physical death. Since Christ has redeemed us, we should therefore be free from sicknesses and from physical death. But the just shall live by faith. The same faith is what you must use to claim every promise of God.
Let's analyse how Christ presented these benefits. Remember faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Christ has paid for the full redemption of mankind, yet he commissioned us to preach it. Preachers have preached salvation through the shed blood of Jesus: salvation by the remission of sins, through his blood on the cross. Healing has been preached: By the stripes of Jesus we were healed; the stripes before the crucifixion.
But Christ's payment did not stop there! He sent apostles to heal the sick and raise the dead! Power over death was also given. "He tasted death for mankind"; (Heb.2:9) We don't have to taste death anymore. "Christ abolished death" (2 Tim. 1:10). His soul was made an offering for sin; (Isa.53:10). His own words say "if a man keeps my saying he shall never see death" (Jn.8:51). All paid for at the cross! Yet believers have to come to appropriate the benefits by hearing and believing. The Just shall live by faith! It was the devil that was implementing the wrath of God. However, though God is now on our side, He did not make it automatic for mankind to be freed from the tormentors; God kept it on the basis of hearing and believing and coming to the Lord to receive the benefits. "COME UNTO ME ALL YE THAT LABOR AND ARE HEAVY LADEN AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST" (Mat.11:28). Know also that the devil is a rebel; therefore don't expect him to give up easily.
When believers are exercising faith for healing, if the enemy is raging, people need to call for the ministry that the Lord is using to reveal the message. This is because when the Lord sends out a message, he sends an anointing and an Angel to go with the ministry. For those that believe the message when you are resisting the devil with your faith, if the devil seems to be stubborn, call for reinforcement. The Lord will vindicate his word! The main purpose of the ministry Angels is to defend the saints when situation arises. If you believe the message of the Lord, whenever the devil puts up a trial and you are resisting the devil, if necessary call for prayer at the ministry that is revealing the word. "The Lord will hear thee in the day of trouble, and the name of the God of Jacob will defend thee" (Psa.20:1).
But the promises and plan of God are revealed to us by the preaching of the gospel. When we believe, we are saved from our sins; when we further believe in Christ's provision we are healed from our sicknesses; If we can believe and latch unto the faith and the promise of Christ over death that "Christ has abolished death, and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Tim.1:10), we will defeat the death spirits all the time. The Lord said "thou shalt know the truth and the truth shall make you free" (Jn.8:32). This is the truth that it's not God that kills mankind, therefore we can freely resist the devil, and he will flee from us, when we remind him that our master Jesus now has the keys of hell and of death. (Rev.1:18). Christ reveals the word of God precept upon precept, line upon line. When the church was being bombarded with sicknesses like the world, Christ revealed that "by his stripes we were healed". Those that were able to believe it began to use the declaration of the word to push back the devil. Remember Moses lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness only after the deadly serpents were attacking. The Lord reveals his word which can be used to combat the enemy's challenge to every generation of his believers that are going to face the challenge of the devil. He also revealed the message of prosperity to this generation because the end-time drama is closely associated to the world economic chaos that will bring in the man of sin. (Rev.13:17). Remember the propagation of the gospel
also needs financial support. The revealed truth is that Christ's sacrifice on the cross also redeems mankind from poverty, because Gen. 3:18-19 shows that poverty and economic hardship were part of the punishment of Adam for which we are forgiven by Christ. Another promise in the scriptures for the righteous is that God will supply our need even in the time of famine (Job 5:20,22; Psa.33:19; 37:19). All those promises are being revealed to Christians ahead of the enemy to combat whatever the devil has in stock for the world. (Rev.3:10). The book of revelation revealed apocalyptical events that will destroy masses, ranging from hunger & poverty to death and hell by all kinds of things (Rev.6:5-8). The Lord knows some of his elect will still be around during those crisis and as a just God, he comes ahead of time to reveal faithful words and promises that believers can use to combat sin, sickness, poverty and death; whosoever will believe.
In Rev.6:8 it says "AND I LOOKED AND BEHOLD A PALE HORSE: AND HIS NAME THAT SAT ON HIM WAS DEATH, AND HELL FOLLOWED WITH HIM. AND POWER WAS GIVEN UNTO HIM OVER THE FOURTH PART OF THE EARTH, TO KILL WITH SWORD, AND WITH HUNGER, AND WITH DEATH, AND WITH THE BEASTS OF THE EARTH".
This verse speaks of the last onslaught of the devil in the form of poverty (hunger) and death upon the earth, and to combat these, the Lord has revealed faith for healing, faith for prosperity (when rightly divided) and finally faith that overcomes death: "the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" (1 Cor.15:26).
Christ has paid it all on the cross and has revealed to us that we don't have to be poor; we can claim all the promises of the righteous that says in the time of famine the righteous shall be satisfied (Psa.37:19 ). We don't have to die also; we can resist the devil with the word of the Lord that says "Christ has abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Tim.1:10). Also the bible said "precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints" (Psa.30:9; 116:15).
The word of God is revealed for a specific purpose which is to destroy the works of the devil. Whether it be salvation, justification, sanctification, baptism of Holy Ghost and fire, healing, the coming of the Lord, prosperity, or immortality, the word is revealed to destroy the works of the devil; the believers that rightly divide the word will reap the benefit, while others will stumble at the word to their shame.
As the apocalypse prophezied in Rev.6:8 intesified at this end of time, the word of the Lord necessary to defeat the devil has also been given to the church. Against the apocalypse of death and destruction Christ has revealed that he has abolished death: (Rev.1:18) "I AM HE THAT LIVETH, AND WAS DEAD; AND BEHOLD, I AM ALIVE FOR EVERMORE, AMEN; AND HAVE THE KEYS OF HELL AND OF DEATH". Heb.2:14b-15 says that Christ, "through death might destroy him that has the power of death, that is the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage".
Against sin and temptations, no matter how sinful the world around us will become, believers can take hold of the word of God and keep themselves in Christ: "Sin shall not have dominion over you"; "I am crucified with Christ" (Rom.6:14, Gal.2:20). The saints are to overcome the devil "by the blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony" (Rev.12:11). No matter the temptations to sin, believers that know how to speak these words of deliverance from sin can overcome every temptation.
Against diseases and sicknesses, faithful scriptures have been given. By speaking forth the word of healing from the scriptures, believers can
quench every dart of the devil that was in the form of sicknesses or diseases: "who his own self bare our sins on the tree,that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed" (1 Pet.2:24). "I am the Lord that healeth thee"; "who healeth all thy diseases"; "He sent his word and healed them" (Psa.103:3;107:20; Psa.91).
IMPORTANT NOTE:
The Lord showed to me in a vision one morning, that the devil was planning to kill some believers and He commissioned me to preach this message that He has abolished death and that he has the keys of death and hell. That is why I am emphasizing it. "for thou shalt know the truth and the truth shall make you free". The Lord said:"the thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill and to destroy; I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (Jn.10:10). Every believer has got to believe this and use such scriptures to resist the devil when the enemy attacks wanting to kill, instead of giving in to death as a lot of people do, professing that paradise is better than here. Whereas the devil is winning when he can stop a voice from praising the Lord every morning. The psalmist said "Only the living will praise thee, O Lord! The dead cannot praise thee." (Psa.30:9; Isa.38:19). Though some people die, but the word of the Lord still remains the same. Christ has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Let God be true but every man a liar ( Rom.3:4). Christ paid for all that Adam lost in the garden of Eden. Christ revealed his word so that the church can have enough power to glorify his name when his faith in us does not only deliver us from death, but also call the dead back to life.Those that believe and have the faith shall be able to resist the devil and snatch some out of the grip of death which the devil is multiplying at this end of time. Yea, "the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death". (1Cor.15:26).
"Every minister, sent by God, is like a driver of a transportation vehicle. Some, driving cabs; and others, driving big buses; All, bringing the children home!"
It is certain the devil will not like this full redemption message which I preach; especially the aspect about abolition of death! Therefore, the Lord energized me when he showed to me in a vision a bus in which I was in the driver's compartment. The Lord came around in that vision and brought an Angel to me and said the Angel is the "angel of life" that should go with me. The Angel came and sat in the driver's compartment with me and a brother that was helping in the ministry. This gives me a confident assurance that the Lord means business with this message and you do well to take heed to the word.
YEA, "WE HAVE ALSO A MORE SURE WORD OF PROPHECY; WHEREUNTO YE DO WELL THAT YE TAKE HEED, AS UNTO A LIGHT THAT SHINETH IN A DARK PLACE, UNTIL THE DAY DAWN, AND THE DAY STAR ARISE IN YOUR HEARTS", (2 Pet.1:19).
We that believe and will stand our grounds against any wiles of the devil, the angel of the Lord is present to defend us and push back the devil for us. Therefore fear not! Hold to the word that Christ has abolished death! Remember Rev.21:8 warns against being fearful, and in Rev.12:11 "they overcame him (the dragon) by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony; and THEY LOVED NOT THEIR LIVES UNTO THE DEATH". Why? Because the overcomers believe the truth that it is Christ now that has the keys of death and hell.
DID METHUSELAH DIE IN THE FLOOD?
The scripture says "STUDY TO SHOW THYSELF APPROVED UNTO GOD, A WORKMAN THAT NEEDETH NOT TO BE ASHAMED, RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH" (2 Tim.2:15). By tabulating the years of life of men from Adam, DO YOU KNOW that it was the same year that Methuselah died that the flood of Noah occurred? (Methuselah was the man that lived the longest ever recorded in the bible among those that died). (Gen. 5:27). Moreover, do you know that the flood came in the second month and the seventeenth day of the month of that year? (Gen.7:11). That left Methuselah with only the first month and seventeen days of the second month within which to have died, if we assume he did not die in the flood. Pretty close, isn't it? Could it be that Methuselah longed desperately to disappear like his father Enoch did before him, and when he realized he was not meeting up to God's mark, he prefered to die in the flood and refused to go into the ark with Noah, his grandson?BEHOLD A LOT OF CHRISTIANS ARE ALSO GIVING UP ON FAITH FOR THE RAPTURE, RATHER PREFERING TO DIE AND GO TO PARADISE -- THE EASY WAY OUT. WITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE THE LORD. IT TAKES GREATER FAITH FOR BELIEVERS TO GO IN THE RAPTURE, THE FAITH THAT OVERCOMES DEATH! GOD DESERVES OUR FAITH IN HIM THAT HE HAS THE POWER TO KEEP US ALIVE TILL HE COMES, BY WALKING WITH HIM. (Heb.11:5; Gen.5:24).
When we tell some Christians to believe in divine healing they say "No! they'll rather go to the medical doctor": they shy away from faith. When we tell others Christ has abolished death and that believing we can live till Christ returns, they say "No! they'll rather go wait in paradise": they surrender to the last enemy which Christ already destroyed. (Heb.2:15).
No wonder Christ said "NEVERTHELESS WHEN THE SON OF MAN COMETH, SHALL HE FIND FAITH ON THE EARTH?" (Lk. 18:8). "THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH!" (Rom.1:17; Hab.2:4). [ Methuselah -> Lamech -> Noah -> flood ] [ 187 + 182 + 600 = 969 ] (All the days of Methuselah: 969)
WHERE DID ENOCH AND ELIJAH GO?
DO YOU KNOW that when Jesus Christ was on earth, He saith: ".. and no man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven, even the son of man which is in heaven" (Jn.3:13 )? DO YOU KNOW that the statement is perfectly true?But have you pondered upon this statement to enquire about it? Since every word spoken by the Lord is perfect and himself is the word? (Jn.1:14); Have you asked the question that "WHERE THEN, WAS ELIJAH THE PROPHET TAKEN TO? Also, WHERE WAS ENOCH TAKEN TO? For whom the scriptures said ".. AND ENOCH WALKED WITH GOD AND HE WAS NOT; FOR GOD TOOK HIM" (Gen.5:22), and "BY FAITH ENOCH WAS TRANSLATED THAT HE SHOULD NOT SEE DEATH, AND WAS NOT FOUND, BECAUSE GOD HAD TRANSLATED HIM: FOR BEFORE HIS TRANSLATION HE HAD THIS TESTIMONY THAT HE PLEASED GOD." (Heb.11:5). Also about Elijah the prophet, it was written: "THERE APPEARED A CHARIOT OF FIRE AND HORSES OF FIRE AND PARTED THEM BOTH ASUNDER: AND ELIJAH WENT UP BY A WHIRLWIND INTO HEAVEN" (2Kg.2:11). And yet when the Lord Jesus Christ was on earth he saith: ".. no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the son of man which is in heaven". OH YES!
But where then went these two great men of faith: Enoch and Elijah? Lo, the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him (Psa. 25:14; Prov.3:32). And when ye shall seek to know this, ye shall come to understand that Christ has made many "WORLDS" (Heb.1:2) and the "heavens" (Psa.102:25; 97:6). AMEN and AMEN!
Yea prepare for the rapture! "IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE ARE MANY MANSIONS; IF IT WERE NOT SO I WOULD HAVE TOLD YOU. I GO TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU. AND IF I GO AND PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU, I WILL COME AGAIN, AND RECEIVE YOU UNTO MYSELF; THAT WHERE I AM THERE YE MAY BE ALSO". (Jn.14:2-3)
BEHOLD HE COMETH!
Testimony:
A christian brother was in a commercial bus which was involved in a ghastly accident. The bus was such a wreck that the rescue party did not expect anybody to survive the accident. While the dead bodies were lying on the ground, this christian brother woke up from among the dead bodies unscarred, picked up his briefcase and the rescue team fled at the sight of him because they thought he was a ghost. They did not know how on earth he survived. Of course he should have told them that his master, Jesus, has abolished death! YEA, "WE HAVE ALSO A MORE SURE WORD OF PROPHECY; WHEREUNTO YE DO WELL THAT YE TAKE HEED, AS UNTO A LIGHT THAT SHINETH IN A DARK PLACE, UNTIL THE DAY DAWN, AND THE DAY STAR ARISE IN YOUR HEARTS", (2 Pet.1:19).Another Testimony:
I watched this on Christian television: A christian brother was 104 years old. He told the interviewer that he is believing God to be alive till Christ returns when he was asked whether he had setup everything for his burial. He said he has not made any plan for burial because he is not going into the grave. I said to myself: "if this 104 years-old brother can confess such statement on national television and believe God, why not you and me who are very much younger?" Yea, "the just shall live by faith". "FOR WE HAVE NOT FOLLOWED CUNNINGLY DEVISED FABLES, WHEN WE MADE KNOWN UNTO YOU THE POWER AND COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, BUT WERE EYEWITNESSES OF HIS MAJESTY" (2Pet.1:16).
Another Testimony:
I exhorted in one Assembly of God and a brother related this testimony to me: A minister was driving his car on a highway. A hitchhiker flagged him down for a ride and he picked him up. The hitchhiker turned out to be an armed robber. While they were going, not saying much to each other, the man pulled out a gun, turned to this minister and said "I'm going to kill you!" The minister replied: "It's not possible; you cannot kill me". The man yelled again,"I say I'm going to kill you!" The minister replied: "You cannot kill me!" The man ordered the minister to stop the vehicle, and to get out of the car at gun-point. He forced him into the bush, ordered him to remove his shirt. He took the minister's wristwatch, his ring and his wallet. He pointed the gun at the minister and said,"I am going to kill you". The minister was not afraid but replied "I have told; you cannot kill me!" Then the man fired his gun about five shots. The bullets hit the minister's chest and the bullets fell on the ground by the minister's feet. Without any hurt, the minister bent down, picked up the bullets and gave them back to the man and said: "I told you, you cannot kill me". The man's eyes turned big! He got scared, shook his head and turned around to run off. Then the minister took control and commanded him to come back. The minister said: "That is my car, and I am driving! I want my wallet and clothes back!" The man complied. They both went into the car and the minister now got to witness to this man. The minister followed the man home, at his request, to pray for his family. Yea, who said Jesus can't keep us alive till he returns? Only believe! "THEY OVERCAME HIM (the dragon) BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB AND BY THE WORD OF THEIR TESTIMONY; AND THEY LOVED NOT THEIR LIVES UNTO THE DEATH" (Rev.12:11).
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