Enforcing Principles For Ascension by Apostle Johnson Suleman: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Enforcing Principles for Ascension

Ephesians 4:8-10 — "When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men... he that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things." His ascension accomplished two things: He put every opposing power in check, and He gave gifts to men. Your impact is a function of your lifting. Everyone destined for impact must first cry out to be lifted, because ascension is a realm of possibility — a height from which you see differently, become unreachable to adversaries, and become a true representation of God on the earth.

Where you stand determines how you see. A building looks massive from the ground and minute from an aircraft — many people see their problems as enormous simply because they have not yet ascended above them. The strongest element on earth is a principle: no matter how difficult a mathematical question looks, it becomes solvable once you understand the formula behind it.

No Ascension Without a Fight

When Jesus was teaching in a crowded house, four friends carrying a paralyzed man could not get through the door, so they broke through the roof. The bottom is too crowded — aim for the top. Genesis 28:12 — Jacob, wrestling through the night, dreamed of a ladder. No matter how big your dream, without a ladder — a platform — it remains a wish. Many gifted, talented people have dreams that end on paper, on a laptop, on a phone, because they lack the platform to carry the dream anywhere.

There is no ascension without contest. Your flight is in your fight. No one enjoys acceleration without confrontation — anytime you see a battle, it means a change of level is coming. Joshua 10:7 and Joshua 6:5 — Joshua and his men ascended from Gilgal to war, and Jericho's walls fell only after the shout that followed the battle. Ascension came after combat, not before it.

There is a level of lifting where even people who do not like you are compelled to use what you provide — you become an institution rather than merely an individual. That is what it means to be lifted: your enemies may hate you, but they still need what only you supply.

Principle One: Revelation — Knowing God for Yourself, Clearly

The first proof that you truly know God is reverence — you cannot be casual in His presence, distracted on your phone during worship or the message, and claim to know Him. Many of us don't actually know Him; we know about Him.

Revelation also means seeing with precision rather than in parables. Mark 4:11 — Jesus spoke to outsiders in parables because they lacked the capacity to receive things with clarity. Many believers sense something from God — an impression, a flash — but never receive the clear interpretation of it, and act on a guess rather than a genuine word, sometimes with painful consequences. When God shows you something, ask for clarity rather than assuming you already understand it. Revelation is not just about the future either — Psalm 119:105 says the word is first a lamp to your feet (your immediate surroundings) before it becomes a light to your path (what lies ahead). God reveals what is immediate before He reveals what is distant; many people are searching for light on their path while ignoring the lamp already at their feet.

This principle was tested personally over years of pursuing a call to ministry — moving from place to place, starting programs that lacked genuine peace, sensing repeatedly, "you are in a wrong place," before finally receiving clear, settled direction toward the specific town and work meant to be built. Some of you are making too many assumptions — God has not yet spoken clearly to you about a direction, but you have already started running with it. Ask for clarity before you commit.

Principle Two: Purity — Clean Hands and a Pure Heart

Psalm 24:3-4 — "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? ...He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart." A purified life is a crucified life — sanctification is the second work of grace, following salvation. James 4:8 — draw near to God, cleanse your hands, purify your hearts. You cannot go higher than how clean you live.

Integrity has to be practiced at the smallest, most private levels before it means anything in public — the small compromises people justify quietly (petty theft, broken promises, dishonest business practices, withheld wages, deceit in relationships) are the same root that produces larger corruption later. Daniel 1:8 — Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself, even in small, private matters no one else would have known about.

Purity also means fleeing rather than negotiating with temptation. When Joseph saw Potiphar's wife, he did not stay to reason it out — he ran. There are situations you don't talk your way out of; you simply leave. And purity means refusing to make wealth or status the true measure of your life — the blessing of God adds to a life without adding sorrow to it; a gain that comes at another person's expense, or that leaves someone else in tears, is not a blessing from God, however it is dressed up. Genuine wealth doesn't need to announce itself — those who truly carry substance are rarely the ones broadcasting it loudest. Sin shrinks, stinks, and sinks — but righteousness lifts a life, and ultimately a nation, in a way nothing else can.

Principle Three: Positive Confession

Luke 19:28 — before His ascension to Jerusalem, Jesus spoke first. Proverbs 25:11 — a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. Your royalty is in your confession.

Positive confession is not denying reality — it is confessing divinity over reality. Isaiah 3:10 — "let the weak say, I am strong." It is saying what God says about a situation, and saying it as it should be rather than merely as it currently appears. A well-known healing evangelist's wife, given only days to live after a cancer diagnosis, refused to fix her mind on the diagnosis, deliberately kept her thoughts elsewhere, and went on to live several more decades. Proverbs 6:2 — you are snared by the words of your own mouth; every careless negative word functions as a trap, whether or not you meant it as one. Right words help you escape the very snares your own mouth would otherwise set for you.