To wrap up today's teachings, the President of the women's fellowship of this great ministry and wife of the founding father, Pastor (Dr) Nonyem E. Numbere gave a talk on the topic “The Power of His Resurrection” (Philippians 3:10-11, Romans 1:3-4 and Romans 8:11).

Excerpts on her teaching can be found below:

Power comes from the Latin word, potere means “to be able” but things with power are much more than able – they are able to exert a lot of force (Vocabulary.com).  It also means “possession of control, authority, or influence over others” (Merriam- Webster dictionary); physical might.

The word, “His” in the topic refers to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the King of kings, Lord of Lords and “the first begotten (first fruit) of the dead.” His death and resurrection form the bedrock(foundation) of the Christian faith. The atonement for our sins was done on the Cross but breaking the power of death and captivity to sin and Satan was accomplished by His resurrection. Alleluia!  

Resurrection (Grk – anastasis) means “a standing up again” or “rising.” It includes not only coming back to life but a rising from the grave. There were a few cases in the Bible of the dead coming back to life e.g., the son of the widow of Zarephath, son of the Shunamite woman, the unnamed man whose corpse came back to life on touching Elisha’s dead bones, Jairus daughter, Lazarus etc., but all of them eventually died and returned to the grave.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is unique in that it is the only one without a human agent and is forever. He rose from the dead by the power of God and the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:23-36, Psalms 16:10, Romans 1:3 – 4)

 Power was needed for Jesus to rise from the dead. It was an act of the triune God. One can therefore say from the above refs that the power of the resurrection came from God the Father, Jesus Himself. It was not possible for Him to be held down by death he also said that He had power to lay down his life and power to pick it up) the Holy Spirit.

Other refs- Acts 3:15; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 2:12; Hebrews 13:20; John 2:19; 10:18; 1 Peter 3:18

The Cross and the Resurrection

On the Cross Jesus cried out, “IT IS FINISHED” (John 19 :30). The Greek word for this is tetelestai and it was a word that was used in several ways – a task was finished, a sacrifice offered fully, a masterpiece completed and in commerce it was often written across a bill to indicate that the bill had been paid in full. The Resurrection is the receipt to show that Jesus paid the price of our sins in full. And the evidence that God had accepted His work of redemption. The Resurrection is the hope of all believers that we too shall resurrect and live eternally with Christ.

What if Jesus did not rise from the dead? We will still be under the Law and offering sacrifices that cannot not solve the problem of sin and death. Satan would have been celebrating because there would have been no escape for man, but thanks be to God, an empty grave was there to testify that Jesus rose from the dead and the disciples were witnesses to that effect. Without it, Christianity is nothing (1 Corinthians 15:12-19).

Accounts of The Resurrection

• Jesus Himself talked about His death and resurrection (Matthew 20:19; Mark 9:9; 14:28; Luke 18:33; John 2:19-22).
• Gospel accounts- Matt 28:1-15, Mark 16:1-8; John 20:1-18.

Results of The Resurrection

•  The resurrection proved that truly Jesus is the Son of God and that the gospel is true.
•  By His resurrection Jesus was given power over death, over Satan and his demons and over every power in heaven and in earth (Matthew 28:18).
•  Power over death. The wages of sin is death and that is for both spiritual and physical. Jesus now has the keys of death and hell and so Satan can no more lay claim those (Rev1:18).
•  He secured the redemption of man and the power to give salvation and eternal life with God to man. The accomplishment on the Cross was stamped eternally by His resurrection.
•  The bodily resurrection of believers is guaranteed by His resurrection (Romans 8:11;1 Corinthians 6:14; 15:47-49; Philippians 3:21; 1 John 3:2.) He is referred to as the “first fruits of them that slept” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23). We shall put on immortality and be like He is (1 Corinthians 15:33-53). That is the hope and comfort of the believers (1 Thessalonians 4:18). He has delivered us from the fear of death and we no longer fear death (Hebrews 2:14-15).
•  The defeat of Satan was publicly declared by the Resurrection (Ephesians 4:8-10; Colossians 2:14-15).
•  Jesus has given all believers power over Satan (Luke 10:18-19) and “we are more than conquerors” (Mark 16:15-18; John 20:21-23)

Conclusion

Apostle Paul had experienced the power of Christ in his life and in his ministry, yet he felt he was not close to Him as he should. He craved for closer intimacy with Christ to experience His power fully and also to die like Him or have a joint partnership in His sufferings.

The resurrection power of Christ is not found in idols like the so-called anointing oil, or “die by fire prayers”, or in worldliness. He has made all provisions for us. It was finished on the Cross and exhibited by His resurrection.  Paul made his choice. What is yours?

"Unforgiveness is a bait which Satan uses to trap people especially Christians".

The above is an excerpt from the inspiring book "I FORGIVE FOR MY SAKE" written by   Apostle Geoffrey D. Numbere (of blessed memory), Founding Father of the Ministry of Greater Evangelism World Crusade .

During the review, the book reviewer gave  a brief information about the author, Apostle Geoffrey D. Numbere. He was  born in1944 and ascended to glory in 2014. He was converted on May 11, 1969 and spent his life labouring in God's vineyard. The book was published in 2014 with 21 chapters and 194 pages. The foreword of the book was written by Dr Oluwafemi O. Martins of West Africa Theoretical Seminary (WATS) and a lot of comments written by different individuals.

Furthermore, Pastor A. Iyagba highlighted reasons why the author was the right person to write about forgiveness.  

• The author experienced a miraculous conversation that led him to repentance and forgiveness
• He had a slogan that says 'We do not teach people how to make money but we teach people how to make heaven"
• The author had mentioned earlier how he feels disappointed about how people whom he had been of assistance to disappointed him and how he felt hurt to the point were he felt no more hurt by the actions of men
• His life and teachings were also centered on forgiveness

In addition, the book is necessary at this time because Easter is a time of forgiveness, the rapture is at hand and we cannot live a crucified life without forgiveness.

The power to live a life of forgiveness is only possible when we have an encounter of the cross.

Some highlighted lessons from the book are:

• God initiated the whole idea and process of forgiveness (John 3:16)
• Forgiveness is a debt we owe (Matthew 18:21-35)
• Unforgiveness is a sin and has consequences
• Unforgiveness defiles a man (Mathew 15:10-20)
• Unforgiveness can grieve the spirit, expose one to the devil, hinder family prayers and cause one to have a shortened life
• We forgive others to free ourselves from the tormentors (Mathew 18:34)
• Vengeance belongs to God (Deuteronomy 32:35a).
• Forgiveness has the power to break the jinx in our life and society

This book also covers the characteristics of a forgiving heart, gives in depth analysis on the amendment of laws in the Old testament and considers the blood of Abel versus the blood of Jesus. It also contains real testimonies of people who had to forgive, for example, a young lady who had to forgive her rapists and the killers of her family.

To purchase this book, kindly visit our bookshop, Crusaders’ Bookshop, 1 Club Road, Lagos Bus Stop, Port Harcourt.  Contact: +234 806 866 8846

It was with great expectation, people gathered to get revitalized as the third day of the 2021 Easter Retreat commenced.

Giving the 3^rd talk of the Retreat, Pastor Isaac Olori, the International Director spoke on the topic, “The Quickening Power” (Romans 8:1-11). He taught that it was the Spirit of God that raised Jesus from the dead and that is the same Spirit that dwells in us. The challenge we have is lack of knowledge that this same Spirit dwells in us that is why we live defeated Christian lives.

Defining quickening as - to quicken is to make alive, to give life or the inflow of divine life, he explained that this can be  seen in three ways

• To endue with life (divine vitality, Ephesians 2:1)
• To produce alive(this means that the life we now live as believers is a new life Ephesians 2:5)
• To preserve alive

At  salvation, we are endued with life (Ephesians 2:1). There is a life a believer has that unbeliever does not have, that is the divine life (Ephesians 2:5). He stressed that one proof that you are born again is that you have been quickened that is, we have been given a different life that subdues the flesh (Colossians 2:13).

Pastor Isaac Olori described  two categories of people

• Those who are dead in sin – the life of the old man.
• Those who are dead to sin – the life of the new man on whom sin is powerless by the power of the cross (1 Corinthians 15:45)

He stressed that the born-again believer was designed to live not by the dictates of the flesh but by the quickening of the Spirit. You cannot live a victorious Christian life without the help of the Spirit. It is the Spirit that quickens.

In conclusion, he explained the Secret of the Quickening (John 6:63). It is the Word of God – the quickening agent (Psalms 119:50). We need this quickening every day.