Dearly Beloved
The whole Gospel of John is condensed in the book of Romans 1:16. There is a Gospel of death, which people don’t preach again because it brings men to the place of death (dying to self that that Christ may live indeed). There is the written Gospel, there is the spoken Gospel but by and by there is the living Gospel. The living Gospel is for the total Salvation of man.
When men are dead, it gives God a chance to work. That’s why Jesus was glad on hearing of the death of Lazarus in John11:14. There seems to be a contradiction here. In Jn. 11:4, Jesus said Lazarus sickness was not unto death and later said plainly that he was dead in verse 14. We must come into the next level of the Gospel which is contradiction, a place where men don’t understand what is going on.
If you have not come into the Gospel of contradiction you might not understand what God is doing at the end of the day. Whenever God allows a contradiction to come into your life watch it, he is calling you into another level of the Gospel which will eventually cause you to grow in Him.
Consider Moses in Egypt who felt that to kill an Egyptian was the right thing to do. This was a contradiction but God used it to work out something in him, to bring him to another level. He fled Egypt and ran into the wilderness and became a Shepherd. It was there that God brought him into the level of being a sheep - where he was dumb, like a sheep unlike the eloquent man he was in Egypt. God brought him to the point where he could hear the voice of the Shepherd. He then took him to the next level at the burning bush, God called him and then he was able to hear the voice of God... (I’m not ashamed of the Gospel)...That God called you does not mean that everything is okay with you. God also called Moses too but it did not mean that everything was okay with him.
In John 11:25, Jesus said to Martha, “Your brother will rise again.” When Jesus arrived at the scene, the written word and spoken word became alive. Martha knew only the written word (John11:24) but it was only when Jesus showed up that the written and spoken word was revealed to her as the living word.
The Gospel of death comes first after which comes the Gospel of Resurrection (John.11:24-26). The only way to live is to die. Jesus stayed for four days for Lazarus to die and begin to smell. We must not only ‘die’ to self but also ‘smell’, not physically but by losing our Soulish life which remains an abode for the worldly good/affiliations. This is the way the soul journeys into the Spirit.
From 1965 I’ve been enjoying the Gospel of love though I was sick in my soul but in 1983 God brought me into the next level which is the Gospel of death as seen in Colossians 3: 3. “For you are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God”. To die is not easy, but we must go through it every day. After these experiences I began to experience some changes in my life, and I began to search for people who had similar experiences until my daughter in the lord told me of his servant in this vineyard, Rev. Kayode Oyegoke.
This life is real, but it has a price to be paid. This is my joy that I die daily.
This is what I always tell God, ”there is something that is always bothering me, and I know it is real but I can’t seem to reach it. I know there is something, I heard of Enoch and Elijah who were both born of women but Lord can I taste the death that will give me a better resurrection?” If an evil spirit can possess a man to do extraordinary things how much more when the Spirit of the Living God possesses a man? Lord that I may be so possessed by you. The truth really is this; I’ve not done anything, or will do anything in this life other than to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and if there is any other work, please count me out.
So Jesus cried out to Martha “...Do you believe this?” (John11: 26). I am not ashamed of the Gospel with all its contradictions; I count everything but dung for the excellence of winning Christ.
The Glory of this Gospel is incomprehensible; it is from one level to another, whenever you see contradictions in your life just know that God is up to raising you to another level. Death is inevitable, it a simple thing once you understand it.
- Rev. O. Ezekiel
2011 Believers Convention (Day 2)
