FACEBOOK PULPIT... MESSAGE II
Dear brethren, you would remember that last week, I started on this facebook pulpit by reminding you of the fact that the bane of man, today, is NOT that he has chosen evil rather than good; but that, instead, the bane of man is that he has chosen THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD and EVIL, rather than choosing LIFE. Permit me, please, to quote these words of Rick Joyner, from his book, "The Torch and the Sword," -- "We [are] on the threshold of the greatest adventure of all, but also the greatest struggle. Those who dream dreams, and those who see visions, would soon see their dreams and visions fulfilled [these, of course, are dreams of LIFE, and not of the 'knowledge of good and evil,' dreams of THE KINGDOM, where divine life reigns supreme, and not dreams of "Made In Nigeria" Holiness or any other types of human holiness for that matter]. The last battle [has] begun, The warriors who [have] been prepared for this day [will] all soon be mobilized. They [respond] to the sound of battle, and the whole earth [will] soon hear the sound of this one."
Yes, there's a battle in the offing; in fact, it has already started; and I am hereby using this opportunity to call on all the "sons of the prophets," all who know the voice of the LORD, to stand up and rise, battle-ready for what lies ahead and in stock for us -- a battle to be fought. This is not the time to be cowardly. We have no more choice than to fight and fight till the final full victory has been won!
What are we talking about? What are we seeing all around us? Permit me, once again, to take you back to the Garden of Eden. There, in Genesis 2:16 & 17, it is written, "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD and EVIL, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." There we have it, brethren! In the day that we eat of THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD and EVIL, in that day we die! And so, Adam and Eve DIED! -- That very day! How do I know that they died that very day? Look at what happened to them, after they had eaten of THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD and EVIL -- "And the eyes of them both were OPENED, and they knew that they were NAKED; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves
APRONS [CLOTHES!]." They made themselves APRONS! They invented CLOTHES! Not because they were feeling cold from the weather, not because some idea of fashion had just hit them -- but because their eyes had become OPENED to another realm of CONSCIOUSNESS (and which realm of consciousness was not
God's will for them, in that He had previously warned Adam about entering into that realm of consciousness, by warning him not to eat of the knowledge of good and evil, and letting him know that to eat of it was to DIE! ) So, brethren, each time we hold on to doctrines of "CLOTHING" as a matter of our faith, we are only displaying the DEATH in us!
Let's get it clear, brethren! GOD DID NOT DESIGN CLOTHING FOR MANKIND! At least, not in the sense of covering any so-called "shame" or "nakedness."
Look at mankind's situation before his fall as a result of eating the KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD and EVIL. In Genesis 2:25, and before that FALL, it is written, "And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were NOT ASHAMED"! Unfortunately, this scripture has been erroneously used to preach "openess" between husband and wife. The truth, however, is that it was those who translated that scripture from Hebrew to English, that decided to use the word "wife," thereby suggesting that it refers to a husband-wife situation. It's so easy to see that this is not so at all, for, if, indeed, it refers to a husband-wife situation, then, how come, after they had eaten of that knowledge of good and evil, "they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons," and that because they then had a consciousness of being "naked"? (Genesis 3:7). Were they no longer "husband and wife," as those who want us to believe that Genesis 2:25 is referring to a husband-wife situation, say? This is fallacious, to say that Genesis 2:25 is referring to a husband-wife situation. For, if indeed it is, were they no longer "husband and wife" in Genesis 3:7? And if they were, who then were they hiding from, by covering themslves with fig leaves? Before whom did they feel naked? Afterall, it was still only the two of them in the Garden!
Not only that, how could they be hiding not only in the presence of each other ("supposed" husband and wife), but also they hid themselves from God (Genesis 3:8, 10) among the trees of the Garden? What, again, has that got to do with a husband-wife situation? I am sure you can see the fallacy, brethren.
Now, the truth is this: Genesis 2:25 is NOT referring to a husband-wife situation! It's simply referring to a male-female situation! It shows us that before the eating of the knowledge of good and evil, there was no "corrupting" of the human heart, such that male could look upon female, and female upon male, without any sense of shame, fear, guilt or sin! And that was why God commanded Adam NOT to eat of the knowledge of good and evil, because God never wanted us to depart from that glorious eatate of BEING, where we could look upon one another as male and female and NEVER feel ashamed! Neither feel sinful, guilty or afraid! YES!
When Jesus Christ went to the Cross, the Bible says concerning Him, "...who for the joy that was set before him ENDURED the cross, despising the SHAME..." The gravity of the Cross, and which He had to endure, was not so much of the physical pain, as great as that was, but of the SHAME of being hung NUDE -- NAKED before all of humanity, and in a very cosmopolitan site such that the accusation written over Him had to be written in three LANGUAGES -- Hebrew, Greek and Latin. It was like being crucified live and NUDE and all over the world people could see you, real-time, via Internet, Satellite TV, etc., just like you watch BIG BROTHER! You can imagine the SHAME of it! Now, why did that have to happen? Because SHAME (the product of Adam and Eve eating the KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD and EVIL), had to be
CRUCIFIED! On the Cross, brethren, "SHAME" died! Halleluyah!
"Shame" died because "LUST" died! ("Lust" is the precursor of "SHAME.") Without LUST in the human heart, there is no reason to be afraid, ashamed, or to feel "GUILTY," "NAKED" or "SINFUL" before the other sex. It is written, "Knowing this, that our OLD MAN is crucified with him" (Romans 6:6). That "old man" is "LUST" imbibed into the human race when Adam and Eve ate of the knowledge of good and evil.
When Jesus Christ came into this world, the Bible says that He came "in the likeness of sinful flesh" (Romans 8:3). He came with that same "sin-consciousness," "shame-consciousness" and "knowledge-of-good-and-evil consciousness" that Adam and Eve imbibed in the Garden of Eden through the eating of the knowledge of good and evil; Christ came so as to take that consciousness to the CROSS! On the Cross that consciousness was KILLED! CRUCIFIED!
It is because people are still full of that sense of "shame," that consciousness of "shame," and as a result of which they consider it "indecent" or "improper" to be "naked" (so-called), that is why makers of movies depicting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ usually put some clothing on the loins of whoever is acting that character in such films! The truth is that, when our Saviour was crucified at Golgotha, He was crucified NUDE! "Shame" was crucified! "Nakedness" was crucified, so that we would never again feel "naked" or "ashamed" though we be without clothing (fig leaves)!
"And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a discple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus [that "NAKED" body], and wound it in LINEN CLOTHES with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury" (John 19:38 - 40).
Yes, they took down that BODY of Jesus from the CROSS (where our shame had been crucified); they took down that supposedly "NUDE" body and they wound it in LINEN CLOTHES, in preparation for burial! But look at what happened at the Resurrection!
"Then cometh Simon Peter following [John], and went into the sepulcher [the tomb, the grave], and seeth the LINEN CLOTHES lie, and the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed" (John 20:6 - 8).
So, there you have it, brethren! He was crucified NUDE, then they wound that NUDE body with linen clothes and buried it; but when He resurrected (for our glorious salvation) He did not go out of that grave with those linen clothes!
HALLELUYAH! He resurrected NUDE and this time without any sense of shame (just as it was in the Garden of Eden, Genesis 2:25, before man ate of the knowledge of good and evil.) And, guess what? The first person He appeared to in that NUDE state was A WOMAN -- Mary Magdalene! Glory!
Those who are trying to force us to "dress up," in the name of "holiness," are wasting their time! They are fighting a lost battle! Jesus paved the Way!
Dear brethren, you would remember that last week, I started on this facebook pulpit by reminding you of the fact that the bane of man, today, is NOT that he has chosen evil rather than good; but that, instead, the bane of man is that he has chosen THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD and EVIL, rather than choosing LIFE. Permit me, please, to quote these words of Rick Joyner, from his book, "The Torch and the Sword," -- "We [are] on the threshold of the greatest adventure of all, but also the greatest struggle. Those who dream dreams, and those who see visions, would soon see their dreams and visions fulfilled [these, of course, are dreams of LIFE, and not of the 'knowledge of good and evil,' dreams of THE KINGDOM, where divine life reigns supreme, and not dreams of "Made In Nigeria" Holiness or any other types of human holiness for that matter]. The last battle [has] begun, The warriors who [have] been prepared for this day [will] all soon be mobilized. They [respond] to the sound of battle, and the whole earth [will] soon hear the sound of this one."
Yes, there's a battle in the offing; in fact, it has already started; and I am hereby using this opportunity to call on all the "sons of the prophets," all who know the voice of the LORD, to stand up and rise, battle-ready for what lies ahead and in stock for us -- a battle to be fought. This is not the time to be cowardly. We have no more choice than to fight and fight till the final full victory has been won!
What are we talking about? What are we seeing all around us? Permit me, once again, to take you back to the Garden of Eden. There, in Genesis 2:16 & 17, it is written, "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD and EVIL, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." There we have it, brethren! In the day that we eat of THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD and EVIL, in that day we die! And so, Adam and Eve DIED! -- That very day! How do I know that they died that very day? Look at what happened to them, after they had eaten of THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD and EVIL -- "And the eyes of them both were OPENED, and they knew that they were NAKED; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves
APRONS [CLOTHES!]." They made themselves APRONS! They invented CLOTHES! Not because they were feeling cold from the weather, not because some idea of fashion had just hit them -- but because their eyes had become OPENED to another realm of CONSCIOUSNESS (and which realm of consciousness was not
God's will for them, in that He had previously warned Adam about entering into that realm of consciousness, by warning him not to eat of the knowledge of good and evil, and letting him know that to eat of it was to DIE! ) So, brethren, each time we hold on to doctrines of "CLOTHING" as a matter of our faith, we are only displaying the DEATH in us!
Let's get it clear, brethren! GOD DID NOT DESIGN CLOTHING FOR MANKIND! At least, not in the sense of covering any so-called "shame" or "nakedness."
Look at mankind's situation before his fall as a result of eating the KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD and EVIL. In Genesis 2:25, and before that FALL, it is written, "And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were NOT ASHAMED"! Unfortunately, this scripture has been erroneously used to preach "openess" between husband and wife. The truth, however, is that it was those who translated that scripture from Hebrew to English, that decided to use the word "wife," thereby suggesting that it refers to a husband-wife situation. It's so easy to see that this is not so at all, for, if, indeed, it refers to a husband-wife situation, then, how come, after they had eaten of that knowledge of good and evil, "they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons," and that because they then had a consciousness of being "naked"? (Genesis 3:7). Were they no longer "husband and wife," as those who want us to believe that Genesis 2:25 is referring to a husband-wife situation, say? This is fallacious, to say that Genesis 2:25 is referring to a husband-wife situation. For, if indeed it is, were they no longer "husband and wife" in Genesis 3:7? And if they were, who then were they hiding from, by covering themslves with fig leaves? Before whom did they feel naked? Afterall, it was still only the two of them in the Garden!
Not only that, how could they be hiding not only in the presence of each other ("supposed" husband and wife), but also they hid themselves from God (Genesis 3:8, 10) among the trees of the Garden? What, again, has that got to do with a husband-wife situation? I am sure you can see the fallacy, brethren.
Now, the truth is this: Genesis 2:25 is NOT referring to a husband-wife situation! It's simply referring to a male-female situation! It shows us that before the eating of the knowledge of good and evil, there was no "corrupting" of the human heart, such that male could look upon female, and female upon male, without any sense of shame, fear, guilt or sin! And that was why God commanded Adam NOT to eat of the knowledge of good and evil, because God never wanted us to depart from that glorious eatate of BEING, where we could look upon one another as male and female and NEVER feel ashamed! Neither feel sinful, guilty or afraid! YES!
When Jesus Christ went to the Cross, the Bible says concerning Him, "...who for the joy that was set before him ENDURED the cross, despising the SHAME..." The gravity of the Cross, and which He had to endure, was not so much of the physical pain, as great as that was, but of the SHAME of being hung NUDE -- NAKED before all of humanity, and in a very cosmopolitan site such that the accusation written over Him had to be written in three LANGUAGES -- Hebrew, Greek and Latin. It was like being crucified live and NUDE and all over the world people could see you, real-time, via Internet, Satellite TV, etc., just like you watch BIG BROTHER! You can imagine the SHAME of it! Now, why did that have to happen? Because SHAME (the product of Adam and Eve eating the KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD and EVIL), had to be
CRUCIFIED! On the Cross, brethren, "SHAME" died! Halleluyah!
"Shame" died because "LUST" died! ("Lust" is the precursor of "SHAME.") Without LUST in the human heart, there is no reason to be afraid, ashamed, or to feel "GUILTY," "NAKED" or "SINFUL" before the other sex. It is written, "Knowing this, that our OLD MAN is crucified with him" (Romans 6:6). That "old man" is "LUST" imbibed into the human race when Adam and Eve ate of the knowledge of good and evil.
When Jesus Christ came into this world, the Bible says that He came "in the likeness of sinful flesh" (Romans 8:3). He came with that same "sin-consciousness," "shame-consciousness" and "knowledge-of-good-and-evil consciousness" that Adam and Eve imbibed in the Garden of Eden through the eating of the knowledge of good and evil; Christ came so as to take that consciousness to the CROSS! On the Cross that consciousness was KILLED! CRUCIFIED!
It is because people are still full of that sense of "shame," that consciousness of "shame," and as a result of which they consider it "indecent" or "improper" to be "naked" (so-called), that is why makers of movies depicting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ usually put some clothing on the loins of whoever is acting that character in such films! The truth is that, when our Saviour was crucified at Golgotha, He was crucified NUDE! "Shame" was crucified! "Nakedness" was crucified, so that we would never again feel "naked" or "ashamed" though we be without clothing (fig leaves)!
"And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a discple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus [that "NAKED" body], and wound it in LINEN CLOTHES with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury" (John 19:38 - 40).
Yes, they took down that BODY of Jesus from the CROSS (where our shame had been crucified); they took down that supposedly "NUDE" body and they wound it in LINEN CLOTHES, in preparation for burial! But look at what happened at the Resurrection!
"Then cometh Simon Peter following [John], and went into the sepulcher [the tomb, the grave], and seeth the LINEN CLOTHES lie, and the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed" (John 20:6 - 8).
So, there you have it, brethren! He was crucified NUDE, then they wound that NUDE body with linen clothes and buried it; but when He resurrected (for our glorious salvation) He did not go out of that grave with those linen clothes!
HALLELUYAH! He resurrected NUDE and this time without any sense of shame (just as it was in the Garden of Eden, Genesis 2:25, before man ate of the knowledge of good and evil.) And, guess what? The first person He appeared to in that NUDE state was A WOMAN -- Mary Magdalene! Glory!
Those who are trying to force us to "dress up," in the name of "holiness," are wasting their time! They are fighting a lost battle! Jesus paved the Way!
Great Message of eternal Life
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