Meeting: Season of the Spirit (Day 7)
Minister: Pastor Emeka Egwuchukwu
Message Begins…
“There will be yet more shakings. This is because there are many in the world, who will not take the matters of the saving of their soul serious until there are shakings. Just like the Isrealites, while in Egypt didn’t remember the Lord until a pharaoh arose who persecuted them.” (Excerpt from Jean Lead’s Prophecy)
**Read Jean Lead’s Prophecy no 52 & 53**
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We are in the season of encounters. If we believe the report of the Lord unto us, the arm of the Lord shall be revealed and there shall be a performance of what has been revealed – “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” (Colossians 3:1)
To be risen with Christ isn’t the new birth. It means to be raised with the things of Christ. A soul can be raised with cultures, traditions and rudiments of this world. But there is also what it means to be raised with Christ. Christ can be used to raise a soul.
There is the resurrection from the dead and the resurrection of the dead. To be raised from the dead is to be raised with Christ. In Philippians 3:10-11 (10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.), we see Paul, though being alive prayed to attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Men are raised with things. The Pharisees were a brood of vipers because they were raised by the law of Moses which was ravaged by sin. A soul can be raised by philosophies, even the whole world is run and governed by various ideologies. We have seen how philosophies, principles and traditions of this world have raised men who are luminaries in various fields of study, so also, Christ can also be used to raise a soul, and where the Lord has designated for Christ to be used to raise a soul is the Church.
The Church is a place where Christ is raised!
The things used in instilling the traditions of men and vain philosophies fight against the things used to raise Christ even in the church. It will only take a raised and rooted Pastor to stay with the teachings of Christ in raising a christ. Anytime we come to church, we must know assuredly that the way they used philosophy to raise men is the same way they will use the teachings of Christ to raise us. “8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” – (Colossians 2:8)
To be risen with Christ is to be raised with the things of Christ. It will only take a Christ church to seek the things above. It will take a Christ church to appreciate appearance.
The things of the right hand are the things of great importance, they are the majestic things of the throne which are found at the right hand of God. If a man is raised by these things of the right hand, such a man has been raised ‘of’ the dead which is higher than being raised ‘from’ the dead.
Appearance in the scripture isn’t rapture, The Lord at many points promised he will appear and come to us. In John 14: 15, 16, 21 & 23 (15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. 23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.) We can see there are many promises of His coming.
God first promised to send us another comforter who will teach us the truth of God and call forth the life of Christ within us. And if we obey and walk in the truth that has been revealed unto us by the comforter, His Father, I.e God will love us in turn and manifest Himself. To make manifest is to become tangible either by encounter or teachings; for the Lord to achieve this, he opens up and anoints his servant to keep teaching until it becomes tangible to a believer.
We see this evident in the Garden of Eden when the serpent kept on teaching Eve overtime until there was an appearance and she saw the tree in a way she hadn’t seen before – “6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” (Genesis 3:6) The preaching of the gospel of Christ isn’t ordinary, the apostles knew this. Jesus has to be preached until he is made manifest and he appears.
One of the reasons for appearance is entrance. There are certain entrances that will not be ministered until he (Christ) appears – “8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.” (Revelations 3:8) The book of Revelation is an appearance to help the churches finish the works of salvation.
The appearance of the lord to the Churches in revelation is to reprove the Churches so they can stand perfect and prepare for the glorious appearing. For instance, In Revelations 3:14 (14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.), we see that the Lord introduced himself as the Amen, the faithful and true and so on. The reason why the Lord introduced himself that way is because of his expectations for them. The Lord reprimanded them for being lukewarm. In the season of everlasting life/works and so on.
The appearance of the great God is the final appearance but for this to happen, we must reason with Christ and seek the things set on the right hand of God, which are also the things of Salvation. Salvation means glory – “7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:7)
(John 3:1-3) – “1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
The hope here in verse 3 isn’t the hope of charity but the hope of Salvation. The reason why we must constantly receive declarations upon declarations of the Lord is to birth the hope within. It is the hope within that births love, which purifies us – love purifies. When we yield to the demands of the hope within, it becomes love. It is the hope of salvation which makes me obey the laws of salvation to a high degree. When we see the hope of His appearance, we will be able to obey God.
There are things that qualify us for the appearance of the Lord. We can’t just live anyhow and expect God to manifest Himself, No. There are things we must do, there is a life we must live to call for His coming.
The coming of the Lord must be declared unto the church and this declaration will be done through teachings and tribulations. The essence of tribulation is to make us appreciate the appearance of the Lord.
At various points of our growth, we should all look forward to the glorious appearance of the Lord, and He will manifest Himself to us at our various levels. Appearance isn’t vision, neither is the manifestation of the unveiling of the reality of the persons of God in christ. There are persons of God in Christ; they are the blessings of God in him which are Yea and Amen. The persons of God in Jesus are Christ, The Son of God.
THE END