Vol.95/7
Introduction:
Rapture is a supernatural occurrence! Therefore believers need this kind of "faith for the supernatural" to be one of those going in the rapture!
Our God is a supernatural God, therefore we must believe for the impossible and seek for more of him to be like Enoch of old who pleased God and disappeared, "for God took him", that he should not see death.
May your eyes be opened and your heart set on fire to seek more of our supernatural God. AMEN!
Gospel Distribution Ministry
Faith for the Supernatural
(From a recorded sermon of Bro. Julius Adewumi, Night Vigil, 4/28/95)
I want to talk about faith for the supernatural today. I want to present it to the new generation of believers to make them be zealous for more of God. Sometimes we wonder, "what can we say, Lord? what can we exhort and communicate to these kids to make them wake up and say 'I want that also'?" It looks as if they are not getting it , or it looks as if they are not on fire for the Lord as we expect of them. I looked back at myself and our generation of believers who began to follow the Lord in the '70s and tried to see what made us to follow the Lord as we did? Why did I come to Jesus? What was that thing that made me seek God? What was that thing when I was growing up that made me and my peers want to get through to God? Some people might say "but this is a new generation, a different society!" But they are still human beings! What was it that made me to seek God and that made me wanted to move closer to God? I believe it was generally the same thing that made many of my peers in those days to seek God among we that were redeemed.
In your own case you might have simply been preached to and you accepted the Lord. But before that preaching, you might have been wanting more of God deep down in your heart.
Speaking for myself, what I want to describe was the impetus that made me want to move closer to the supernatural God. I wanted something supernatural from the highest height where I can get it. That is what I want to point out in the epistle of John.
In 1John 1:1-3 I read: "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us : and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his son Jesus Christ".
He said "that thing which we have heard!" We heard about it. When I was growing up about 7 year-old, or 10 year-old, many of us would discuss about God in those days. We were not even christians, simply following our parents to churches or mosques. We knew that there was something described as supernatural power and that God has the greatest power, and that certain folks in the olden days got some of those supernatural powers and they used them to do wonderful things. We heard that "things" happened in the olden days. How will we also like to get such powers? Then we will console ourselves that "in those days there were no sins, but we are too sinful nowadays. In those days they were holy people, but the world is too sinful now. God must have shut his doors and windows at us!" That was how we consoled ourselves. Maybe in the days of apostle John they were also consoling themselves that "in the days of our fathers, we heard what God did for them!" Every generation always look back at the previous generation as better. In the days of King David, he also wrote the same words. Every generation usually look at the former, to marvel and say "Oh! God did wonderfully for them in those days! But not like our generation; there are too many sins, too many temptations!" But No! They had temptations in those days just as you have in this your generation! The truth is, some folks were able to live above those temptations in their days. And I believe some people will also be able to live above the temptations in this your generation! The question is, "will you be one of them?
In Psalm 44 verses 1-3, David wrote the same thing. There will be some few people who will be able to brush off the dust of polutions of the world and stand above the temptations, and you are called upon by the Lord Jesus to be one of those who will brush off the dusts and be used of God.
Who is this man that is from the beginning which John was talking about? Who is he and what has he got for mankind? In Psalm 44, the psalmist also said "we have heard with our ears O God,our fathers have told us; what thou did in their days.. " Everybody always point to the days of old: "Oh, in those days!" We also can point to the days of king David how that David killed Goliath the giant, and we will say "Whaoh! God did great things!" Whereas David in his own days was also writing in his psalms how that God did wonders in the days before him. Men can easily fail to see what great thing God is doing in their days. Always looking back to the past and hoping for the future!
What I'm pointing out to you now is that God is calling you also. What he did in those days he is ready to do for you. That same Spirit that did it for them in those days is still around and he is looking for people to use again.
The psalmist went further: "how thou didst drive out the heathen before them. They got not the land by their own sword..."
In the days of king David, he was saying "our fathers found favour before God." He wanted to get that kind of favour. We can look back and say David got that kind of favour also from God. Here in the epistle of John, apostle John was telling us: "that which was from the beginning, which we have heard". Take note of this! How was he from the beginning? The scripture says "His goings forth has been from of old, from everlasting". (Micah 5:2). He was the one that was there with the fathers. He created Adam. He was the one that walked with Enoch! He revealed to Enoch that "if you follow me, you can live forever". Enoch did, and he is still alive today. That same Spirit whom Enoch walked with and got so much power to defeat death, is still around! We heard about him. As I said, when I was little, we usually console ourselves by saying: "they had supernatural power because they didn't have sins in those days. We are too sinful nowadays! We are all sinners right now, and God has shut the windows!" That was the type of pessimistic words we usually hear from people to explain why great powers of God are not manifested any longer. Apostle John was saying in his epistle: that which was from the beginning has manifested to us.
The same Spirit suddenly appeared to them calling individual, "John, Simon, follow me!" He started calling them one by one, and they said to one another "we have found the messiah!" "We have found the man whom Moses wrote about." And they followed him. He was telling us that the same personality who did wonders in those days, which they heard about, has suddenly appeared to them.
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"That which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the word of life."
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This same person that did the wonders is called the word of life. Remember Jesus Christ was called "the Word of God " in the book of revelations.
This is what we sought after that made us follow Jesus. I personally sought after that power, that man, that Spirit which gave men of old the supernatural power to do wonders. And as the Lord Jesus said "everyone that seeketh, findeth." Some people thought "Oh, he went away! He left this planet! He has given us up! We were so sinful!" But he has appeared again saying "No, I am still here!" That was what John was telling us in the first verse of his epistle:
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"For the life (that life which they were living in those days) was manifested, and we have seen him and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the father and was manifested unto us."
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The same Spirit that was doing it for them in those days, suddenly appeared and said: "I am he; do you want the same thing? Follow me!" You now can understand why the Lord Jesus told the Jews, "if you believe not that I am He, you shall die in your sins". (Jn. 8:24).
He said "follow me!" And if you follow him, he is going to lead you to gather all those gems of life which will empower you for the home-going Rapture! As you pass by some gems he will say "pick this one, pick that one." Just as he said, "Eat my flesh, and drink my blood, and you will have life in you". Those are the steps. He said you will have to eat his flesh and drink his blood. What will that do for you? It is to build the same power in you to be able to go away like Enoch of old and not see death! Didn't the Lord Jesus say "Verily, verily I say unto you, if a man keep my saying, he shall never see death?" (Jn.8:51). This is the life that was manifested which we are showing unto you!
Someone may say "why do I need this supernatural power?" You will see what you need it for in a moment. Remember what happened recently? We thank God that it did not happen here in Phoenix. The report about the bomb-explosion which occurred in Oklahoma city was that the guy who planted the bomb had a plan to bring one to Phoenix also. But listen to this:The same God which was working wonders in those days, if He is in you and with you, He has the power to lead you away from the evil; or He can protect you that even in the midst of the bomb-blast you are not hurt; He can guide anybody out of the house of trouble. Amen! "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations..." (2Pet.2:9).
Suppose you are a student and in the school; suppose a hostage taker is to enter the classroom and take everybody hostage because the police is after him. You may say how can God save us in that type of situation? God knows how to deliver the just from trouble! Minutes before the man come into your classroom you may feel like going to the toilet; and while you are gone, the classroom is surrounded by the police. If the hostage taker kills himself and everybody in the classroom, people will be thanking God that you escape by a miracle. Yea, God knows how to deliver the just from trouble! The grand parents in those days might say the man that escape such evil has eaten some charms which cautioned his spirit of the impending evil. But Jesus Christ is more powerful than any potion, more potent than any charm. He said "if you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have life in you". (Jn. 6:53 ).
I said this same Spirit that did wonders for them in those days is still looking for vessels, people who will want that kind of power.
That type of supernatural power to sense an impending disaster and avoid it, which many people in the occult groups are searching for, is readily available to anyone who will follow the Lord Jesus. It is called the gift of the Holy Ghost in the "discerning of spirits". This is one of the gifts which you can receive when you seriously follow the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why I say this same Spirit that was from the beginning, whose going forth has been from of old, from everlasting, is the same Jesus whom we are inviting you to come and fellowship with. He gave Enoch the power to disappear and not to see death. He gave power to Elijah the prophet and he went away to heaven in a chariot of fire and never die. This same Jesus is looking for more vessels whom He will empower for great things. We heard about Him! We longed for such presence! Then He manifested to us and called us. We have tasted of his goodness, and of his power and his gifts; now we show it unto you!
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"That which we have heard and seen declare we unto you that you may have fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ."
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This same Jesus has the power to make somebody simply vanish before a bomb explodes! He was with the hebrew children in the furnace of fire and they were not burnt! It's a small thing for God to make somebody disappear from the point of trouble. We have heard stories from our parents of men of legend who had so much supernatural power that they appear and disappear in the fields of battle. We cannot confirm those stories because we perceive that those names must have gotten their power from spiritism which was not in the line of God's holiness. However there is no power on earth that is not created by God. It's like science! Every knowledge which men have now, in physical science, still comes from the spirit world. Remember the angel told Daniel that "Knowledge shall be increased". (Dan.12:4). Men simply discovered what God has already created, yet most of those who discover them are not christians, neither do they discover them through holiness. Spiritual science also had been upon earth and men had been pursuing the knowledge in the occultic groups, far away from God's holiness. The devil teach them those that will make them puff up and offend the Holy God more and more. Satan even reportedly had made some men worship him so that he can give them some evil power. But God has been calling men unto himself for centuries, so that He can give them the true riches.
We heard of testimonies that some folks, through some charms of their making, can discern if a vehicle will run into catastrophic accident on a journey, by some feeling in their palms when they simply touch the vehicle. What is that? But a simple gift of the Holy Spirit of "discerning of spirits" can be commonly used by christians to reveal such trouble, not to talk of even to nullify the trouble by prayer and spiritual authority. Yea, I'm showing to you that the "life" which we have heard of the men of legend has manifested unto us also. Come and receive it!
This is faith for the supernatural! Many years ago when I was preaching in Lanlate, Nigeria, there came a man to me. He came with a friend and I tried to present the gospel to him.
He asked, "where are the miracles and the power of God we have read about in the bible? They are no more!"
"It is still around", I replied.
He said, "No, it's dead long time ago!"
When I began to relate to him testimonies of what God has done through the little ministry in my hand, and other testimonies of great ministers of our time, he sobered down and realized that he had been in a dead church which made him believe that those miracle powers of God are no more.
This same God is still alive and He is looking for vessels to use. That is what John wrote about in this epistle. He is pointing out that we have heard about the supernatural in those days, we do not know how to get it, but now the supernatural has suddenly manifested himself to us, and we are telling you about it so that you also can come and fellowship with the supernatural God.
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"That which we have seen and heard declared we unto you,that you also may have fellowship with us." "Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his son, Jesus Christ."
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We have fellowship with this man called Jesus; and if you also come with us, you will also be having fellowship with Him, and with the Father.
This same God who did wonders for the men of old is still alive and he is looking for vessels to use. If you want the assurrance such that "a thousand shall fall at thy side, ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee", the promise is already in the bible. (Psa.91:7). The sure promise of God for supernatural deliverance is already in the bible. However, do you know that those promises will just be "words", unless you walk with this Spirit, with this man Christ Jesus? It will just be "words", unless you fellowship with this same "life" which apostle John wrote about: "the life was manifested and we have seen him". Like King David said "we heard it with our ears that he did wonders in those days".
Remember Gideon!
Gideon was running away to hide his food. Suddenly the Angel of the Lord manifested to him. "His going forth has been from of old, from everlasting!" Gideon had heard about him with his ears that he did wonders for their fathers. This is what I want you to see. They thought the God who did wonders for their fathers had forsaken them. No He did not! They forsook him! They were running from their enemies, but they desired that same type of power which they heard that the fathers had. Every one of us desire those days where the wonderful miracles happened. While Gideon was running to hide his food, here comes the Angel again.
The Angel said, "The Lord is with thee thou mighty man of valour".
But Gideon said, "Oh my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites." (Judges 6:13-14).
The Angel looked upon him and said "you can go in this your strength and go fight them;" Gideon would like to say "No way! not me!" But the Angel said "have I not send thee?"
Apostle John was saying the same thing, in his own generation also, the same great Angel has manifested unto them, shroud in flesh - The Lord Jesus Christ! The power is not for some people called "prophets" somewhere. It is for you! All you need to do is to come and fellowship with this man Christ Jesus. Apostle John was saying "come and fellowship with us because our fellowship is with the Lord Jesus Christ!"
What did they gain in fellowshiping with him? Life! He manifested to apostle John, to Peter, to Paul, and they wrote it down. We read about it in the bible, but He has manifested unto us also! And that is why we follow him! We are showing him to you also, you children of the next generation, that you may consider it seriously and come and fellowship with Jesus.
You might have heard that in the 70's many of us who were in colleges and high schools took christianity to the point that many of us forsook our parents and some left schools to follow Jesus. He manifested unto us and that was what happened! The same Jesus called James and John and they left their father, Zebedee, with the hired servants and followed Jesus.
What will you gain in fellowshiping with Jesus? You have seen what is going on right now in your own generation. The type of violence in the streets, drive-by shooting, gang violence and so on! It seems there is no safe place in the cities. Jesus not only promised you eternal life if you follow him, but also He has the power to keep you alive, free from all fears.
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The Lord Jesus is the "King of kings and Lord of lords,who only has immortality." (1Tim.6:16). He also "has abolished death and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. (2 Tim.1:10).
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And what is immortality? It is the power to live and not die. When you fellowship with this Jesus, you will not need to fear all those violence in the streets because the promises in the bible of protection will not be just "words" to you as I said before.
Jesus is saying, do you want that type of power? come! When you come he will say: "Now I have to clean you up, and set you apart to be endued wth such power." That is what sanctification is! He has to get you into a corner with himself and clean you up. You must decide to do that. It is your decision; then will you have access to the power that you have heard that He gave to the great men in those days. The same Spirit is still alive!
Things that happened in the days of old can still happen today! Some of those ordinances are still active. God has not changed anything. God told me one time that something is done one way and it has been like that and has not been changed.
For example, suppose there is an incantation which people can say and if they say it there will be thunder and lightening in clear daylight. You know that if there is any such incantation which perhaps some occultic people already gotten hold of, if anything will change that ordinance, it is only God, who ordained it in the first place, that can change the ordinance in order that it may fail for the occultic people.
For another example, electricity is wired into this hall; the bulbs are in place. What anybody needs to do is to press the button and the light will come on. For the light not to come on when the button is pressed, assuming that the bulbs are okay, is for the man that knows where the electric meter is located, to turn off the meter. What God was telling me was that the ordinance he showed to me is still the same, he has not changed it, even though some people misused it.
What I am showing to you therefore is that the same God is still alive, and his power is still available even though men couldn't get to it. Do you want it? Do you want that type of protection from God himself. Whether from bomb or from bullets! Our God is still the only saviour. This is the time for the faith of the overcomers. This is the time when we can really say: "though a thousand fall at my side, and ten thousand at my right hand, it shall not come near me!" But that is faith!
I remember telling a brother some things that "if you say this and that and that, some things will happen"; the brother replied and said, "brother Julius, it's not just saying it; there must be anointing to go with it!" I said "now you get my point!" It's not just saying some magic words. Some folks had accused preachers that they did not get divine healing after quoting the bible verses which the divine healers told them to quote several times. It's not just quoting words! There must be anointing to go with the words! You must fellowship with the man Christ Jesus! He is the anointing! He giveth the anointing! The same thing with faith! The same thing with translation! You may say "I know the date of the rapture! I know the date of the rapture! I listened to one prophet say it! I heard it from a vision!" That will not make you go in the rapture! It is the anointing on your spirit and that you are ready when he calls which will take you away from here. That is why many people pray and pray and the answer never come. Why? Because the anointing which will make the God who answers prayers come and do it, was not present. You have got to come and walk with the messiah, with this man who is from of old, and has manifested unto us. His name is Christ Jesus.
He is still looking for vessels to give the power which he gave in those days. Some people said "unless you are so holy, you cannot get anything from Him". God will help you on that. In fact he said come as you are, and he will wash you and make you holy. He is saving us by grace so that we can now come and be cleansed by "the washing of water by the word". When we are sanctified by the word, he will give us all that our hearts desire. You have to come to Jesus. The Lord said, "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest."
Someone said, "what do you mean by 'come'? I have already come!" But he is looking at the heart! It's the heart that is to come to him. Another said, "I go to church, I do my best, yet you still say I am to come to him. I have already come!" If your heart will say "Lord, I want you, I want that power and I am ready to pay the price to set myself apart to the word of God"; if your heart says that to him, he will put the yearning in you for more of Him. And people will notice it. Then you are on your way to being used mightily by God.
Let your heart come. It means, begin to aspire; wanting more of God! Do you seek this type of power? The church needs the zeal again for more of God. People are no more seeking for more of God. I mean more of his power! More of his holiness! More of his life! Wanting to be like him. How can you say you want to be like Jesus and then reject the power of working wonders? Being like him includes demonstrating the power of God like he did, along with holiness, righteousness, sanctification, and faith. Seeking for more of God is what brought us closer to God thus far. If we give up the desire to want more of God, what we will have left is just "playing church". You see? That is what make the Lord pull us closer to himself. He will say unto you: "do you want more of me? do you want this power? Then you must be like me in holiness, in humility and in all other attributes."
I remember fasting for three weeks after reading Daniel's testimony when he set his heart to know. I listed the gifts of the Holy Ghost and I was praying for them during the fast. All my prayer requests were just that. That is how to seek for more of God! Pray for it! Fast for it! Study the Scriptures and gospel Literatures for it! Yea, He that seeketh, findeth!
Someone may ask: Why will you be seeking for those things? What do you want to use it for? Because you want more of God. The more you get, the better you are. Knowing that the Lord will not give you power until you are as humble as he desires to be able to use it right, then the first step for him to answer your prayer is to work humility into your spirit. Then the power you ask for will follow. Brethren, that is how you can grow in this spiritual life to be like Jesus. If we give up the desire for more of God's power, we have just given up the desire to grow to the fulness of the stature of Christ which the scripture said is our goal.
In order for you to use the supernatural powers from God, and use them the way God prefers, you need to have the fruits of the Spirit manifesting in you. For example, if you have the power to command lightening and thunder, or the power to command the fire of God upon enemies like Elijah the prophet did, you better be long-suffering and patient and have love - which does not get angry easily, otherwise you will sin with the power. Do you now understand what I'm trying to show in this sermon, that you will grow the fruits of righteousness when you seek for more of God's power? Because God will not give you the power until he brings you into divine love and its attributes in order to righteously use the power you ask for. But He has to answer your prayers since he said "he that asketh receiveth". Therefore, in answer to your prayers, the Lord will guide you into divine love, humility, patience, and all the attributes of the Spirit of God, which is required in order to use the power of God.
When that zeal is in us for more of God, the Lord will reveal to us our short-comings; we will begin to understand what we are lacking; then we can work on those short-comings and get rid of them. We are going to pray specifically, for the body of Christ that the Lord will restore the zeal for "more of God" into the hearts of the saints. That is what will make the saints aspire to want to be like him, and thereby grow towards the fullness of the stature of Christ.
I always direct my sermons towards a prayer request in this night vigil so that we have a point to pray about for the body of Christ. That is the purpose of this all-night prayer meeting.
Remember in Revelations chapter 3, when the Lord sent message to the Laodecian church: they said they have no need of nothing, whereas he said they are poor, wretched, and blind; When the body of Christ ever gives up the desire for "more of God's power", that will be the state -- Laodecian church!
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"Because thou saith that I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see." (Rev.3:17-18).
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That is the problem of the body of Christ in this generation. As long as people think, all they need is just wait for the Lord's return, and they are no more seeking for more of God's power, they are no more aspiring to be as supernaturally powerful as the Lord demonstrated, then they are not climbing the mountain; they can only go downwards.
But if we constantly ask for his power to do wonders, the Lord will look at us, and say "you are asking me for this? look at you, your temperament, your bitterness against others, get rid of those; you cannot use my power with those in you!" As we get those hinderances out of the way, very soon, we'll be as humble as he wants, as patient as he wants, and as gentle as he wants. He is going to help us to shed some of those weights from us.
Some power cannot come to some people because they are not humble enough. Some gifts cannot come to some people because they are not quiet enough; they may be too forward, quick to speak, and quick to act. If they have the power they most likely will run to show it off and demonstrate on stage that they have the power. And that will be wrong. The power of God is not for "show and tell". Precisely that was the first temptation the devil brought against the Lord Jesus Christ: "If you are the son of God command these stones to become bread". That means, if you have this power, show us! Let's see you turn stone into bread -- the devil even gave a reason, which is that the Messiah was currently hungry. But Christ refused.
When the Lord points out our short-comings and we get rid of them, then do we become ready vessels for the outpouring of his power. May the Lord give you the heart to long for him!
[Our Father and our God, In the name of the Lord Jesus, I pray for every one who reads this literature that the words will burn in their heart to want to get the supernatural power, that they may know and want this same Spirit which gave men of old the supernatural power by which some were able to overcome death. This same Spirit is still alive and this same Spirit is Jesus Christ the Almighty God. May this zeal be put in the heart of believers worldwide so that we will not be complacent but will aspire to the goal of overcomers, in the precious name of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.]
Bro. Julius Adewumi, Gospel Distribution Ministry
{ If you are blessed by this literature, write and let us know. As the Lord has said, "to him that hear shall more be given."}
email: juliusa@gospeldistribution.org.