"DEAD AND ALIVE UNTO GOD WITH JESUS"
November 15, 1998 am
MF Blume
Reve 12-5:1 And there appeared a great
wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her
feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child
cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared
another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads
and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third
part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon
stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her
child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was
to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto
God, and [to] his throne.
Reve 12:7-11 And there was war in heaven:
Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and
the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their
place found any more in heaven. And the
great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan,
which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his
angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven,
Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the
power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which
accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the
blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not
their lives unto the death.
Ephe 4:27 Neither give place to the devil.
We are continuing to receive insight regarding our unions with Jesus
Christ.
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This is revelation of Jesus Christ.
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A revelation is an unveiling.
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When we really see what Jesus is all about, and the main purpose in Jesus
coming to this world, we receive a revelation.
Matt 16:15-17 He saith unto them, But whom
say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed
art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed [it] unto
thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
Peter saw who Jesus really was.
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And Jesus admitted that the only way anybody can see the truth about Jesus
is by the father giving a revelation of Him.
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"Flesh and blood hath not revealed it, but my Father..."
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It needs to be "revealed."
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Revelation is a "revealing" to you.
In the book dedicated to the entire thought of the Revelation of Jesus
Christ, called the Book of revelation, we read to you the passage that
shows a woman ready to birth a child.
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And there is the old serpent, Satan, ready to devour her child.
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And when the child is born, it is immediately caught up to the throne in
heaven, war occurs in heaven and Satan has no more place in heaven.
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He is cast down to the earth.
And then we receive an explanation of what that was all about.
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A loud voice in Heaven says that salvation has come!
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Do you know what "salvation" literally means?
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It means Deliverance has come.
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The kingdom of God and the power of God come.
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And the voice cries "They overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the
lamb and the word of their testimony."
What you have just seen, the angel cries out, is the saints have overcome
the devil by the lamb's blood and their testimony's word.
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Notice there are many saints because we read the word "they" overcame him.
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But there is only one testimony -- "The word of their testimony".
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Not "testimonies."
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All these "brethren" have a common testimony.
Now Jesus has been risen and on the throne for 2,000 years.
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But here we read of a manchild born and who rises immediately to the throne.
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We do not read of a death happening, which did happen after Jesus was born
and went to the throne.
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We simply read that He was born and ascended to the throne, and Satan had
no place in heaven.
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But then we read that the explanation of this picture is that the saints
(brethren) overcame the devil by the blood of the lamb and the word of
their testimony.
To overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony means
that it was His blood, but our testimony.
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Jesus died as us.
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He died in our places as us.
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One man died, but since He died for all of us, then we can say that all
of us have one common testimony: we died with Christ.
Roma 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with [him],
Gala 2:20 I am crucified with Christ:
This is similar to what happened in Egypt.
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The Death angel was going to strike every home in Egypt.
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God told Moses to have the people kill a lamb and put its blood on their
doorways.
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When death came by the homes with blood on the entrances, it went on by
to another home.
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This is telling us a truth.
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We must apply the blood of Jesus to our lives.
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We must get a revelation that "Jesus died AS ME!"
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"Therefore, I died."
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When death comes to claim us, it looks and sees blood and that tells him
that we already died.
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Death has nothing to claim.
Death cannot say, "Well, there's been a death here, but there's going to
be another death now, too."
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The Bible teaches that it is appointed unto man ONCE to die.
Hebr 9:25-28 Nor yet that he should
offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every
year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the
foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared
to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto
men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered
to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear
the second time without sin unto salvation.
Roma 6:9-11 Knowing that Christ being raised
from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For
in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth
unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin,
but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
These verses tell us that people only have to die once.
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Now, the lamb died instead of the Hebrews in Egypt.
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But that did not matter.
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The lamb died as them.
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They were claiming the lamb's death as their deaths by putting it on THEIR
doorways.
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Egyptian people must have thought they were crazy.
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Blood on a doorway?
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But it was sending a message to God and to death.
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They did not care what Egypt thought of them.
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They were sending a message to the death angel.
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They were saying, "You cannot touch me, here, because there has already
been a death here."
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"I applied the blood of the lamb to my house."
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"Death, you know that it is appointed to man ONCE to die."
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"Well, here is that one death that I owe you."
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"So go away and be gone!"
Now Lazarus rose from the dead and yet he died again later.
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Simply because he died once does not mean he did not have to die again.
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This death we have to die once is death unto sin.
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We were slaves of sin and servants of sin.
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And we have to die to sin.
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Lazarus did not die to sin.
Notice that Israel were slaves in Egypt.
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But the death of the lamb was their deaths, and they applied that blood
to their homes.
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They claimed that death as their deaths.
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And that is what freed them from slavery!
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They were no longer servants of Egypt.
We read in Hebrews and Romans about ONE DEATH.
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Jesus only had to die once.
Roma 6:10 For in that he died,
he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Hebr 9:27-28 And as it is appointed unto
men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered
to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear
the second time without sin unto salvation.
That lamb represents Jesus.
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Applying the blood to their homes means we must apply Jesus death to our
lives.
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Bring it right down to our homes!
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"Where we live," so to speak.
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Where you live is a term pointing to us as individuals.
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You get a revelation that Jesus died as you, and you do something about
it.
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You apply it to yourself.
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You actually think in the manner that if He died as you then you can say
you are dead.
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You are convinced of that.
Now, Jesus is already on the throne.
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But perhaps not FOR YOU.
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What I mean is that it may do you no good, although he is on the throne.
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But when you apply His death, His blood, to your life, and make it your
testimony, then you have united yourself with Him and FOR YOU He is now
on the throne.
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And you are there with Him.
Suddenly the devil is defeated.
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All you did was realize that He died and shed His blood as you.
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And you pulled that to yourself and applied it to your address.
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You claimed it as your death.
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And Satan was defeated.
There is the blood of the lamb and the WORD of your testimony.
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You must Speak it forth.
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You must confess it.
Roma 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God
hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart
man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation.
Matt 12:34 ...out of the abundance of the
heart the mouth speaketh.
When you fully believe that you died with Jesus, then when death and Satan
comes near you, you SPEAK about that and demand that they leave on account
of that.
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It is the WORD of your testimony.
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You do not speak a word until it is fully in your heart -- your belief.
People who do not tell people they are saved do not fully believe they
are saved.
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From what is in your heart, you speak.
You finally get it.
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You finally realize that Jesus fought the devil head on for you and as
you in your place.
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The devil knows that.
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But he hopes you don't.
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He will terrorize your life like he does to those not saved.
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But when you SPEAK it out and let the devil know that you know, he
knows he is finished.
We need to truly know what this is talking about.
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We need a revelation of this fact of truth.
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Let me declare that if we truly know this, we will simply be unstoppable.
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Nothing will be able to destroy our faith and our walks with God.
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In order to truly appreciate what the apostle Paul was conveying to us
through these words, let us begin by showing you this thought:
Fill your heart with this and believe it and then speak it.
You have to DIE to be free from sin.
Roma 6:7 For he that is dead is
freed from sin.
Until we die we are servants of sin.
Roma 6:16-17 Know ye not, that
to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom
ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed
from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
We were the servants of sin.
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And that means that God had nothing to do with us.
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The one master to whom we were servants was our master.
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We were slaves to the one whom we obeyed.
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That is why God had nothing to do with us.
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We were not his servants.
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No man can serve two masters.
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If we serve two masters, then neither of them are our masters because a
master has all power over us and nobody else can have any power over us.
You can only be one of two things.
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Servants of sin.
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Servants of God.
God will not use anybody who is a servant of sin.
I am no longer a servant to sin.
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Jesus died unto sin once because it is appointed to mankind to die once.
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And He had to die as us.
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So he died unto sin.
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And He only had to do it once, because that one death is what frees us
from the slavery of sin.
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But after He died to sin once, He now lives unto God forever.
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He did not have to die to become a servant of God.
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You could say He already was a servant of God.
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So why did it say He died to sin to live unto God.
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Why did it say He died to no longer be a servant of sin so that He might
be a servant of God?
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It said it like that because we were servants of sin.
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And if He was going to die as us, He had to die to sin.
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Once you unite yourself to Jesus so that you really believe His death to
sin was your death to sin, then you know the old master cannot boss you
around any longer.
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You died to that master.
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You were freed from that master.
As the death of the lamb freed Israel from the slavery of Egypt, you were
freed from being a slave of sin by the lamb Jesus Christ's blood.
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So if you are dead to sin, then you can be a servant to God.
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God had nothing to do with you since you were a servant of sin.
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But we died to sin so now we can walk up to God and tell Him, "I want to
be your servant now."
Jesus died to sin once and now is alive unto God.
Roma 6:10 For in that he died,
he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
In this verse we read:
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Jesus died to sin.
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Jesus liveth unto God
Then we are supposed to RECKON that as what happened to us, because if
Jesus did it as us, then it is true for us.
Roma 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also
yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
We are dead to sin.
But alive unto God.
So now that we are alive unto God, why don't we yield ourselves to God
as those alive from the dead.
Roma 6:13 Neither yield ye your
members [as] instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves
unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members [as]
instruments of righteousness unto God.
We need a revelation that what happened to Jesus happened to us. Get this! Since He is alive unto God after having died unto sin, then we are to present ourselves to God AS THOSE ALIVE FORM THE DEAD, ALSO.
If what happened to Him happened to us, then we need to check him out!
Reve 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus
Christ,
This book is dedicated to that very thought... the revelation of
Jesus Christ.
You have to get into the WORD to receive a revelation.
Reve 1:10-12 I was in the Spirit
on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest,
write in a book, and send [it] unto the seven churches which are in Asia;
unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and
unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to
see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden
candlesticks;
In the Tabernacle, if you had to turn and then look directly behind you
to see the candlestick, that means you were originally facing the TABLE
OF SHEWBREAD.
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The table was in the north of the tabernacle and the candlestick was south.
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So if John looked behind and saw the candlestick, he must have been facing
the table.
The table of shewbread depicts the bread of Life.
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The WORD of God.
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John was symbolized as feasting on the WORD of God.
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He was in the Spirit on the Lord's day.
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That is what we do on the Lord's day.
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We come and feast on the word.
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Get into the Spirit on the Lord's day and come and feast on the word, the
bread of life.
And then John heard a voice behind Him and it was Jesus.
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So he turned around and looked to the origin of the voice.
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He saw seven candlesticks.
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Then He saw Jesus in the candlesticks.
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But Jesus looked different!
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White hair and eyes of fire.
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John saw Jesus in the glorified state.
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Then look and see what happened:
Reve 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at
his feet as dead.
Something happens when you get a revelation of Jesus.
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It will take hold of our faith and do an overhaul of it.
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It will change us.
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John fell like a dead man.
Then Jesus said:
Reve 1:17-18 And when I saw him,
I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying
unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 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.
John fell like one dead, and then heard Jesus say, "I was dead, but am
alive forevermore now."
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This is no coincidence we read that right after John fell as one dead.
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When John saw a revelation of Jesus, he acted like He died.
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Well, since Jesus died as us, when we get a revelation we start acting
like we really died.
And then Jesus said that He liveth, was dead and is alive forever more.
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Hebrews said He does not have to die many times, because we had to die
only one death, so He died once.
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And He told John not to fear because He lives, was dead and is alive forevermore.
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In other words, "John, do not fear. "
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"I died as you. And therefore I only had to die once."
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And I was dead, am alive and will live forever.
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Past, present and future.
If I am alive to God forever more, then you reckon yourself to be dead
to sin but alive unto God forevermore.
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So, go ahead and yield yourself to God as alive from the dead.
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I died to sin once, so you died to sin once.
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And I am now alive unto God forevermore and don't have to die another single
death, so you can say you are alive unto God forevermore.
When the devil knocks on your door, realize you are alive forevermore with
Jesus.
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And EXPECT him to run when you command him to do so because you are no
longer his servant, but are a servant of God.
Roma 14:4 Who art thou that judgest
another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth.
The devil cannot boss around another master's servant.
If we wonder if this will work when we command him to leave, then we
are not convinced it will.
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We have not received a revelation.
John turned and saw Jesus, and then fell like a dead man.
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This is the same pattern we read about in 2 Cor 3.
2Cor 3:16-18 Nevertheless when it shall
turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit:
and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty. But we all,
with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed
into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the
Lord.
Your heart TURNS and looks to Jesus.
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It is always on something else when you first turn to Jesus.
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And then a veil is removed, and you get a revelation.
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You get an UNVEILING.
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And you see Jesus.
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And there is liberty .
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You are freed.
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You're going to know true freedom.
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And while you look at Him you are changed into that same image.
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Since He died, you are changed into His image and YOU DIED.
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That is why John fell like one dead.
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But Jesus informed Him, not only did John die with Jesus, but since Jesus
was alive forevermore, then John was alive forevermore.
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"Fear not, John."
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What fear was it John had?
Hebr 2:14-15 Forasmuch then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of
the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of
death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death
were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Fear of death.
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Thank God there is no fear of death any longer in we who have died with
Christ and are then risen with Him!