“Resurrected By the Resurrection”!!

Text:  St. John 11:24-25 (speaks of Lazarus’ resurrection):   Martha said unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.  Jesus said unto her, “I am the resurrection and the life:  he that believes in me though he were dead, yet shall he live.”

We are readily approaching the time of the celebration of which Christians around the world are commemorating Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection.  

Jeremiah 29:11: For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not evil, to give you an expected end.  

 So we thank God for His resurrection, because it is by His resurrection, we’ve also been resurrected into new life”!!   

And today like Martha, many Christians are saying they will rise again on that great getting up morning.  We like Martha were saying the very same thing, until our Heavenly Father brought us into the revelation truth of "the resurrection."  

When we were growing up all Easter to us then was a day of putting on our new Easter outfits with our cane-cane slips, patent leather shoes, and heading to church and after church, the Easter egg hunt!  Though it was to be a day of celebrating Jesus’ resurrection, yet it was overshadowed by a day of the Easter bunny, new clothes, and Easter egg hunts, which we now know is nothing but Pagan worship and the tradition is still carried on today.

As Jesus said to the Pharisees and scribes in Mark 7:1-13, speaking of their traditions, in verse thirteen, He said to them that they had "made the word of God of none effect through their traditions" (parad'osis)[transmission of precepts; Jewish traditionary laws; customs; ordinances].

Can you see how the enemy always wants to use his tactics and methods to try and keep people from knowing the truth?  How many know that the devil is a liar!  That is why Jesus died and was resurrected to resurrect us and bring us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1^st Peter 2:9).

What is the definition of resurrection?  In John 11:25, it’s from the Greek word anas’tasis, meaning, a standing up again; a resurrection from the dead; a moral recovery (of spiritual truth); rising again; raised to life again.

Ephesians 2:1 states: And you hath he quickened (made alive), who were (past tense) dead (spiritually) in trespasses and sins:  vs 5: Even when we were dead (past tense) in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace you are saved); vs 6: And hath (already) raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Raised in this verse is the root word sunegei’ro, meaning to rouse (from death) in company with, to revivify (spiritually) [to give new life to].  It connects with the other root word egei’ro, meaning to collect one’s faculties; to waken; rouse from sleep (spiritually), from sitting or lying, from disease, from death, and obscurity.  This tells us that we must awake out of religious lethargy (lack of enthusiasm; sleepiness; unresponsiveness), of philosophy, vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world. those things Paul told us to beware of lest any man spoil us (Colossians 2:8).  And when we do and follow “after Christ”, this is a “resurrection from death” by way of “moral recovery of spiritual truth”!!

1^st Corinthians 15:22: For as in Adam all die; even so in Christ shall all be made alive!

Jesus made such a profound statement when He said to Martha in St. John 11:25, “I am the resurrection, and the life!  Therefore the “resurrection” in actuality stated here tells me that the “resurrection” is not some great getting up morning or an event to come one day, but it is a person, the Man Jesus Himself!! 

So if you and I have confessed our sins and have asked Jesus to come into our hearts and He has accepted and forgiven us, you have been resurrected!  Remember, a couple of the definitions of resurrection was “a moral recovery of spiritual truth” and being “raised to life."

You see, we were blinded spiritually.  We have eyes by which to see physically but spiritually we could not see until the “Resurrection” (Jesus Christ) resurrected us and took the religious blinders off our eyes so that we could see by the Spirit!  

·         2^nd Corinthians 4:3-4: But if our gospel be hid, it is hid (kalup’to) [covered up] to them that are lost:  in whom the god of this world hath blinded (obscured; made opaque) the minds (nous) [intellect, mind (divine or human; in thought, feeling or will); understanding] of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine (be made known) unto them.

The “lost” in this verse is not just those that have not accepted Christ as their Savior yet, but there are many Christians that have already accepted Christ as Savior and are yet “lost in the house”, still walking in unbelief and darkness of error due to tradition of men and vain deceit (Colossians 2:8).

Jesus said:  Matthew 6:22: The light (photeinos’) [illumination (knowledge; comprehension; understanding] of the body is the eye (ophthalmos’) [vision; spiritual discernment]:  if therefore thine eye be single (united with Spirit), thy whole body shall be full of light (leukos’) (light) [white].  This “white light” is the “righteousness” of God, that we are become through Christ.

·         Isaiah 61:1: The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound:  vs 2: To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God:  to comfort all that mourn:  vs 3: To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

·         Romans 8:3-4: For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:  that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

·         2^nd Corinthians 5:21: He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

·         Revelation 19:8: And to her (the church) was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white (light):  for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

That’s why Jesus said that “We are the light of the world.”  We are the “white light of the righteousness of God” walking around on two feet just as Jesus was.  

Jeremiah 23:6: In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely:  and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.  (Also Jer.33:15).

This is the importance of us being spiritually minded, so that our bodies can be full of light and life, because if not, our bodies shall be full of darkness (opaqueness) and how great is that darkness (obscurity; error) (Matthew 6:23).  This “darkness” is actually ignorance which brings on misery, destruction, wickedness; sorrow; disease and death.  Romans 8:6: To be carnally minded is death:  but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

We can see now because of the “Resurrection Christ", who has resurrected us in Him!!  Ephesians 2:6: For he hath (already) raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.  

We trust and believe in His resurrection power that dwells in us!  It’s a process.  He is continuously doing a work on the inside of us!!  It’s an inside job!!  The “resurrection” begins in the mind.  Our thought processes must change from death to life; from negative to positive; from natural to spiritual.

·         1^st Corinthians 2:14: The natural (sensitive; flesh; carnal) man receives not the things of the Spirit of God:  for they are foolishness unto him:  neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Jesus said, St. John 5:25: Verily, verily (truly), I say unto you, “The hour is coming and NOW is, when the dead shall hear the voice (phone’) [the disclosure; the revelation; the articulation] of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.”  The “dead” here are not those out in graveyards and not just those that haven’t accepted Christ as Savior, but the “dead” are also those sitting on church pews that have not yet come alive in Christ yet.  They haven’t yet been quickened (made alive) by the revelation truths of who and where God is yet.  Many have Him out in the sky, but in reality, He lives in you.  Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world (1^st John 4:4).

You see, with Jesus’ resurrection, also came a new order of worship, the true worshippers.  St. John 4:23-24: But the hour comes, and NOW is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth:  for the Father seeks such to worship him.  God is a Spirit:  and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 

To worship in Truth is to worship God through Jesus Christ, who is TRUTH (John 14:6).  To worship in Spirit is to worship in the “new realm of the Holy Ghost” or “Holy Spirit" which is the pneu’ma, the inhalation of the wind or the breath of God Himself.  The same “breath” that was breathed into Adam (male and female) in Genesis 2:7; the same “breath” that was breathed in the valley of dry bones by the Prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 37; the same “breath” that Jesus breathed on the disciples in John 20:22; the same “breath” that was breathed in the upper room at Pentecost; the same “breath” that was breathed into us by the Holy Ghost.  Well, those that have heard and received the truth of the fullness of the Gospel of Christ that we can have right here and right now, in these bodies we are yet living in!

Truly, we are no longer under the law, but grace.  Ephesian 2:8: By grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:  it is the gift of God.  Vs 9: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

In time past we read these scriptures but did not understand the truths of them until we were resurrected by the “Resurrection Himself”, through the power of the Holy Ghost who opened our minds to spiritual revelation, an awakening to things we had never heard or known before.  Now that the covers of deception have been taken off and the enlightenment of Christ is revealed unto us, our lives have been transformed from the old man (Adam) to the new man (Christ).  For the power of the resurrection is “THE CHRIST”!!  That’s why Paul said, in Philippians 3:10: That I may know him and the power (dunamis) [miracle working power; ability] of his resurrection.

Resurrection in this verse is the root word anas’tasis, which is a standing up again; a resurrection from the dead, or a (moral) recovery of spiritual truth.

·         John 8:31: If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed:  vs 32: And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.

Free in the Greek is eluthero’o, meaning liberated, exempt from moral ceremonies (religious order or traditions of men):  or mortal liability.  Mortal is that which is liable to die, but Jesus conquered death for us, so we don’t have to!!  Isn’t that good news!!!

·         Romans 8:2: For the law of the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ hath (already done) made me free from the law of sin and death!

·         1^st Corinthians 15:53: This corruptible (aphthartos’) [decayed; perishable] must (not optional) put on incorruption (aphtharsi’a) [unending existence; genuineness; sincerity], and this mortal (decayed; perishable] must put on immortality (athanasi’a)[deathlessness].  Vs 54: So when (as soon as one believes; just then) this corruptible shall have (will; now by faith) put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then (at the time faith is activated) shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory (triumph; success).  Vs 55: O death, where is thy sting?  O grave, where is thy victory?

In 2^nd Corinthians 4:11, Paul stated, “We which live, are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.”  That’s why we have to grasp hold of this truth that our flesh does not have to decay or perish because Jesus’ flesh didn’t see corruption (decay).  

Peter speaking of Jesus:  Acts 2:27: Because thou will not leave my soul in hell, neither will thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption (decay; to rot thoroughly; to perish).  

Now, if God did not allow His physical body (the body of Jesus) to see corruption (experience decay; rot thoroughly; perish), why would He want His spiritual body (the church) to see corruption (experience decay; rot thoroughly; perish)?   HE DOES NOT! 

·         Ephesians 5:30: We are members (limbs; parts) of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 

·         1^st Peter 2:5: You also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

So you see, the "graves" we must be "resurrected" out of are those walking around on two feet.  Look at what Jesus said:  

Matthew 23:27: Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  You are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. 

Luke 11:44: Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  You are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.

God DOES NOT want man to perish, but it is man’s mind (thought processes) that’s destroying him.  Be ye transformed (changed) by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2).

Having a renewed mind is being resurrected!!  Yes it was Jesus who died for us!  It was Jesus who was and is the Door for us to enter into kingdom authority!  Yes it is in Him (Jesus) we live, move, and have our being (Acts 17:28).  It is in Jesus whereby everything was and is created, at the same time, and because the Resurrection (Jesus Christ) has resurrected us, we now have to know Him by the Spirit.   When he died on the cross at Calvary, everything pertaining to the flesh died on that cross.  It was all nailed to the cross:  death, hell, sickness, diseases, the grave, poverty, was all nailed to the cross in Jesus’ body.  When He gave up the ghost and committed His Spirit back into the hand of His Father, the Father was finished with that flesh body of Jesus as one man.  That’s why we now have to know Him by the Spirit, because we are now His body, his flesh, and his bones (Ephesians 5:30), which is a many-membered body in the earth now for the glory of the Father.

·         Luke 23:45-46: And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.  And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit”:  and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

 The veil was Jesus’ flesh.  Hebrews 10:19-20: Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.  That’s why we must know Him by the Spirit, and to know Him by the Spirit is to know “the Christ”!!

·         2^nd Corinthians 5:16: Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh:  yea, though we have known (past tense) Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth (from here on), know we him no more.

We MUST know Him by Spirit!!

Remember, only the “Resurrection” (Jesus Christ) can resurrect your mind, your thought processes, for you to be able to comprehend the revelation of His Word by the Holy Ghost.  How do you think John was able to comprehend and receive the revelations the Lord gave him in the Book of Revelation? 

·         Revelation 1:10: I was in the Spirit, on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet. 

Keep in mind, that every day is the Lord’s Day, from Sunday through Saturday.  So it could’ve been either of those days.  But John was “IN THE SPIRIT” when he got the revelations.  That’s how we get the revelations, “in the Spirit.” 

·         St. John 6:63 (Jesus said): “It is the Spirit that quickens (makes alive), the flesh profits nothing:  the words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are life.”

·         1^st Corinthians 2:13-14: Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.  The natural (psuchikos’) [sensitive (flesh or carnal)] man receives not the things of the Spirit of God:  for they are foolishness (silly) unto him:  neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Isn’t that good news, knowing that the resurrection is not a coming event, but a person, the Man Jesus the Christ?  John 11:23-25: Jesus said to her (Martha), “Thy brother shall rise again.”  Martha said unto him, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”  Jesus said unto her, “I am the resurrection, and the life:  he that believes in me, though he were dead yet shall he live.”

Because we have been resurrected by the “Resurrection”, we can say, “The truth has made us free!”  We can say “I AM THAT I AM!”  We can say, “I am blessed and highly favored!”  We can say, “I once was blind but now I see!”  We can say “He’s already here and I’m not waiting for Him to come!”  We can say, “We are Him in the earth, because we have been resurrected by the Resurrection!”

So let us walk in the dominion, authority and power that our Heavenly Father has given us as sons (male and female) through the “Resurrection power of Jesus the Christ"!!!

Evangelist Mary Perry