We had a beautiful communion service. We have it anyway but this is a very special day. I praise God for His word. I want to give a testimony. I don’t know what year it was, about 1981. I want to share it tonight. I was ministering on water baptism for two hours.
The Lord took us into His word and showed us what it meant to be baptized into Jesus. As we read it the spirit of the Lord came. He took me into an experience I’d never had. As He was ministering the word and as He was giving it to me it was as though He took me into that watery grave with Him. As I went into that watery grave He took the keys away from Satan and He handed them to me. Then He made clear to me what it means to be in Christ and Christ in us. Not only when we are born again do we have Jesus come, but He crucified our old man on the cross. We couldn’t pay for Adams sin because we didn’t commit it, but Jesus paid for it and He gave us the privilege of taking that old dead man into the grave with Him. He brought us down, He brought us down and took out the Adamic nature; He put in us the nature of Christ. You want to read it, it is very clear.
Romans 6: 3: “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4: Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death…”
Why were we taken down there? So we could die. So He could live in us. He did a transformation there. What did He do?
4: “…that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5: For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7: For he that is dead is freed from sin.
8: Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
- Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
10: For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
11: Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
12: Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
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.
14: For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
15: What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
16: 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?
17: 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.
18: Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
19: I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
20: For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
21: What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
22: But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
23: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Isn’t that plain. I didn’t add to it. I read it to you exactly as it is. So what’s been our difficulty? We’ve not been taught His word in the light of the spirit of God. You see without revelation it means nothing. A lot of people read the word and they know it backwards and forwards but they don’t have any revelation. But without Jesus revealing this word to us; we can have it in our mind but it doesn’t change us. It’s a mighty word! When the Lord gave us this word we realized that it is the total fulfillment of His atonement. Sometimes we talk about great and mighty things and we stop there; but that’s the beginning. Jesus forgives your sins and baptizes you in water and the
Holy Ghost, but with it comes a responsibility. You find the Lord and you think you can get by with anything. No you aren’t because he will come knocking at your door.
One time years ago the devil thought he was going to pull me down. He said, “Look at your life; you have a lot of junk in your life, you can’t help people.” I got up in the middle of my floor and said, “Devil I’m going to tell you one thing God’s going to change my life and I’m going to help Him change others and you aren’t going to stop me.” I was determined He wasn’t going to have a part of me. When he comes telling you that, it is the old man. You see God made us with His same traits and they are in us. If you don’t know this word and the devil don’t know what Jesus has done with you and you’re too shy to believe God, the devil is going to give you a beating.
For many years I’ve felt people who come to the Lord have to do spiritual warfare. We have to stand firm. You have to be wise in the spirit of God not wise in our own eyes. We are no match for the devil. But when we are wise to the word and to what God has given us, we will rise up and tell him to get lost. We have to stand firm. The devil comes along and says you better throw in the sponge and forget about God. That’s not what God says. He buried him down there. “I put new life in you!” Are you going to fight for His life that’s in you or are you going to allow the enemy to pull you down?
Turn to Romans 5:6: “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”
8: “But God comendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” “Here you are devil here’s the word get lost.”
Romans 8 has been a part of me, most of my life. I was teaching this and I was reading.
1: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
All at once this next verse jumped out at me. (2) “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”
We’re under a new law. When we come to Adam we left that in that grave. When we were baptized, we came out of that grave with new life. This life in Jesus Christ made us free from the law of sin and death.
I tell you when God gave that to me I about busted. You will hear me minister this a lot because I believe we need to get it inside of us. Even though we are in this world, after you are forgiven and cleansed there is no more business in the world. We aren’t citizens of this world any longer. We are citizens of His kingdom. When the enemy comes to rob us, we need to know what Jesus said; “Satan there is nothing of you in us.” That’s what Jesus did for us when we were cleansed from our sins and filled with His spirit and baptized with water. He took away every thing that is of the devil. The devil is going to try us. We are going to go through tests, but whether we are going to believe His word or whether we are going to allow the enemy to talk to us, is up to us. But we have to remember that our warfare isn’t carnal, but it is mighty to the pulling down of the strongholds of the enemy. This word is mighty and powerful. It will transform our lives not by our interruption, but by the word itself.
I love this scripture! 1 John 1:7: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.” Did you ever see anyone when they lose fellowship? They don’t want to come around you. They will run from you. You have to go inquiring, “What’s the matter with you?” Then you find out you weren’t walking in His light. You were trying to walk in somebody else’s light or somebody was telling you this and this, and you got discouraged. You were walking in their light. You’re walking in His light. They kind of tricked you out of it because you forgot it was His light you are walking in. He said, “…if we walk in the light as He is in the light we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son cleanseth us from all sin. It doesn’t say cleansed us. It says He cleanseth us. The devil comes if you slip, “You better get away from God He’s not going to help you any more. Forget God!”
Verse 7: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
The moment we realize that something is wrong inside of us and say, “Jesus, forgive me, for your word says He cleanseth us.” I don’t believe there would be any backsliders if they understood this word as it’s written; because we have the privilege as it is written as children to come before Him. And Jesus sits on the right hand of God, as the Son of Man, to forgive our sin. I’m not telling you to go out there and keep sinning, but I’m telling you we don’t have to carry it around. We don’t believe the devil. So mighty is His word if we will obey Him. I don’t believe one of us needs to backslide. Why should we want to backslide for He said, ‘Herein is our love made perfect that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment because as He is, so are we in this world.” Not when you get to heaven, but in this world. Can I read it to you again? ‘Herein is our love made perfect in God’s love that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment because as He is so are we in this world.’
1st John 4:18: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19: We love him, because he first loved us.”
All the trials and tribulations all that we go through are to make us like He is, taking out the things of our lives, that He might fill us with His love. Then when we stand with Him on the ‘day of judgment’ there will be nothing but Jesus. That’s why we can stand there boldly as He is.
People don’t believe in perfection I don’t know how we can get to heaven. It is wonderful. We think we have heavy burdens and we carry a lot of pity and feel sorry for ourselves; but God is changing our lives, He’s remaking us. None of us have gone through what He has gone through. He’s made the perfect redemption for us to fulfill the things He wants us to do, if we forget the past and let Jesus blot it out. Don’t let the devil lie to you. Take this word, write it down, read it and believe it if you have to shout at the devil, “I don’t give place to you, devil you don’t belong here anymore.”
Our children sing a little song. The devil comes knocking at our door, what do we say? No, no you don’t live here any more. That’s what every one of you that were baptized today need to do. Don’t open the door to him, you don’t have to. You are a happy people. He’s perfecting you in Him so that you can go out there and put down the strong holds of the enemy. Our weapons aren’t carnal, no longer the flesh, but by the spirit of God, we’re pulling down the strongholds of Satan.
You are the army of the Lord. You are ready to let Him begin to show you how to take authority and not be afraid of him, but to stand up and declare, “Jesus set me free. There’s a new law, the law of Christ Jesus that has made me free.” I hope it burns like fire inside of you when the enemy comes. Get baptized in the Holy Ghost if you haven’t already then you’ll have some power against the enemy.
The Lord gave me the keys to the kingdom. Now He says, “Use them.” What we have when we come up out of that water, we are under the authority of the Christ Jesus and now we are free. We are no longer under the law of sin and death. We walk like we are free, and we act like we are free. We are in a new world, the spirit of God ruling and reigning. I pray God will impart it deep inside of you. Don’t try to get it in your head. The spirit of the Lord is going to bring it to your remembrance then you will be alright. There is a new law working in you, His grace.
You are no longer under the law but of His grace. When you went down in that water, Jesus took that law from you. He gave you a new law of the spirit of life in him. You no longer belong to the enemy, under the law of Adam. You are under the law of the spirit of life in Christ.
This is what we believe God wants to do for every one of you. He wants to teach you and give you this word and change your life and teach you to hear His voice and walk in His spirit and not fulfill the things of the flesh. We aren’t in the devils territory any more we are in the kingdom of God. We all have the same liberty and freedom as we walk in the spirit. We can work in the spirit and live in it and fulfill the spirit.
Things of this world will grow strangely dim. We will be so lifted up that what He imparts to us is ours to impart to others. If He gives it to us it’s ours. Praise the Lord.
Isn’t His word wonderful? The sooner we realize that, we’ll quit struggling with the devil. Try it! It works if we read His word and talk to him. Don’t open the door to the devil, keep it locked. I want to tell you a secret. You can talk to Him 24 hours a day. You don’t have to go anywhere.
A lady comes to my house and says, “The Lord told me that you should go to my house tonight He wants to talk to you.” So I asked the Lord about it. He said, “Why would I want you to go to someone else’s house? I talk to you at your kitchen sink and when you are running the sweeper and dusting the furniture and at the clothes line. Why would I want you to go to somebody’s house so I could talk to you? If you went to this woman’s house it wouldn’t be my spirit that is talking to you.” I said, “Thank you.”
My greatest times were at the clothes line and at the kitchen sink, more than all the hours I spent on my knees with Jesus. It’s constant communion with Him; He said pray without seizing. You can’t help but do it if He lives inside of you. When we are tuned to His voice, we need to take time to listen. Wait on Him and give Him time to talk to you. Sometimes we are talking so fast that He can’t get a word in. But when we talk to Him, wait for Him to answer.
One time when I moved here I said, “God you called me to start a training center. I’m going to go out here and get all these trailers and I’m going to start classes.” The Lord said, “I’m going to do it.” I backed off. I said, “Lord I’m going to let you do it.” Believe me, from that day until this day, I’ve let Him do it. He said, “This is my sanctuary and you are mine.” This is where we started down through the years. That sanctuary was our meeting place. We’re so full, we have a full house. It is God’s business. He is filling us through His spirit.
We are going to be trained and obey the spirit of God. If we walk in the spirit as He is in the spirit we have fellowship one with another. When there is a lack of fellowship what do you suppose happens? We get in the flesh sometimes and it disconnects it. Then we see one another’s faults and we don’t get along too well, because we are living in our flesh. Your flesh is buried in that water.
Wouldn’t you like to say something? “Get behind me Satan my life has changed.” This word transforms our lives. He said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away but my word will never pass away.” It doesn’t matter what it looks like.
One time I was going through a problem in college and I knew God had placed me there. But the President came to me, “Sister Agnes, this is one of the hardest things I have had to do. Due to the nature of your illness we have to put you in the hospital. I had a roommate that was backslidden. She walked in my room and she said, “Tell me, does God ever take you so far and then take you?” She said, “I’m not where I ought to be with the Lord but I know He doesn’t do that.” She walks out. Her faith was hanging by a thread, I thought it would break. The Lord said, “How important are souls to you?” Lord you know I would give my life for you. “Would you be willing to spend months in a hospital for souls?” I said, “God forgive me for doubting the wisdom of your ways.” They took me in an ambulance and I stayed four and one half months in the hospital. There was a man in the hospital fighting against Gods call.
During that stay in the hospital, the Lord had me intercede for that college and those stubborn young men. The Lord poured out his spirit on that place. I never went back; but God poured out His spirit. Those same young men that God had called who didn’t want to obey the call gave their lives to the Lord. I don’t know how many gave their lives to the Lord; but one thing I knew; God heard and answered prayer, because I was willing to let Him do it His way. I don’t want to tell God what to do. Realize that He is wiser than we are and let Him do it.
I’m excited about what He is doing. We need a big explosion of His spirit. That’s what we need. I believe as we continue to praise Him and give Him glory our light is going to shine, because it’s His light, not ours. Remember we are in a new world and in the kingdom of God.
Father we thank you for the word. Open our understanding and let us receive from you the impartation of this word, that we will be able to give it to others. In your wonderful name Jesus. We are in this kingdom of righteous, your righteousness. Bless everyone here and cleanse us from all sins. Reveal yourself to us, Jesus. In Your wonderful name we pray. Amen.
Rev. Agnes I. Numer
February 4, 1996
