Coming Kingdom Outreach

Ilesha—Nigeria
Copyright © 2022 Ruth O. Elton
First published 1990

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means: electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise without the prior permission of the author.

Published for:

Coming Kingdom Outreach

Sharon Compound, Shorundi Layout,
Ibala Road, Ilesha, Osun State, Nigeria

By:
NIU Nation Publishers
[email protected]
08038548073

Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture quotations in this book are from
the New International Version (NIV) of the Holy Bible.
Scriptures marked TLB are from The Living Bible
Scriptures marked NASB are from The New American Standard Bible
Scriptures marked NKJV are from The New King James Version
 Table of Contents

1. Your Citizenship 04
2 Changing Your Citizenship From Darkness
To Light 14
3. Confessing And Believing 25
4. Full Citizenship of the Kingdom of Heaven 33
Other Books 39

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 1
YOUR CITIZENSHIP

What is your Citizenship?

In the world today, citizenship is a very important
matter. It determines the right(s) of all people. It
determines what they can do, what they can own,
where they can live, what they can say; it determines
their way of life from day to day and their future life.
This concerns the lives of people living on earth. Most
people are not aware there is a citizenship outside this
world; a spiritual citizenship that will determine where
and how they will spend their spiritual lives for ever and
ever.
"For He (God) Has rescued us out of the darkness and
gloom of Satan's kingdom and brought us into the
Kingdom of His dear Son.” — Colossians 1:13 [TLB]
This Scripture shows us that outside this world, in the
spiritual, unseen realm, there are two kingdoms: the
kingdom of darkness and the Kingdom of light.

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 ONE | Your Citizenship

The king of the kingdom of darkness is Satan with his

cohorts; they are called the rulers of the darkness of this
age (Eph. 6:12). As darkness implies, everything in
Satan's kingdom is evil and in direct opposition to the
Kingdom of light.
The King of the Kingdom of light is God's own Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. There is no darkness in His Kingdom.
Everything is beautiful and peaceful more than can ever
be imagined.
The fact is that every person in this world is a Citizen of
one of these kingdoms, though they do not realize it.
Every person should think seriously and know their own
spiritual citizenship—that is, to which kingdom they
belong and who is the king holding sway over their lives.

The Condition of Citizens of the Kingdom of

Darkness
Let us consider the situation of kingdom of darkness
citizens. Why consider citizens of darkness? Because
Adam, the forefather of us all, was created into the
Kingdom of light; everything was good for him as God
intended it should be.
However, Satan came and tempted Adam with our
mother Eve. They did not stand firm but fell; so, they lost

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Your Citizenship | Ruth Elton

their citizenship of Light. They fell into the kingdom of

Satan and became citizens of darkness. Therefore, all
children of Adam have inherited the citizenship of the
kingdom of darkness—up until today.
The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 3:23 that “all have
sinned”. King David also tells us in Psalm 53:2-3 that God
looks down from heaven and sees that there is not even
one person who does good. We may think that we are
good or doing good but we have inherited sin; it is in us
and our heart is deceitful above all things (Jer. 17:9). As
long as we are born of the seed of Adam, we are sinners
and are citizens of the kingdom of darkness.
What happens to sin and sinners? Our forefather, Adam,
was told plainly in Genesis 2:17, that in the day he
disobeys the commandment of God, which is sin, death
would be the result for him. Romans 5:12 established
that sin and death passed from Adam to all mankind.
Ezekiel 18:4 & 20 also tells us plainly: "The soul that sins
shall die".
Thus, every person is a sinner and has inherited death.
What happens after the death? Is death not the end?
No; Hebrews 9:27 tells us “man is destined to die once,
and after that to face judgment". So, death is not the end
but a new beginning. After death, everyone will face the
judgment of God on where their soul belongs, in which
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 ONE | Your Citizenship

kingdom they will spend eternity. We can phrase it that

every person's "spiritual passport" will be checked to
ascertain their citizenship. Do you know your
citizenship? Which kingdom do you belong to for ever
and ever?
It is extremely important that everybody knows their
"spiritual citizenship" and know the condition of the
kingdom they belong to; the place they will go to after
many years on earth, the place where they will exist for
ever and ever, time without end.

Eternity in the Kingdom of Darkness

Jesus, the King of the Kingdom of light, who came to save
us from the kingdom of darkness—because He truly
knows how bad it would be—tells us plainly in the
Gospels what the eternal condition of the kingdom of
darkness will be: it is HELL.
In Matthew 25:31-46, King Jesus tells us a story from
which we can understand something of the final
judgment. All mankind will be divided into two sections:
one section is on the right hand side of the Judge and the
other section on His left hand side. Those on the right
will go to the everlasting Kingdom of light while those on
the left will go into the eternal abode of darkness.
For those on the left hand belonging to the kingdom of
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Your Citizenship | Ruth Elton

darkness, King Jesus makes four important statements

which show how terrible that place is: Hell.

God's Judgment on the Citizen of Darkness

“Then He will say to those on His left 'Depart from me,
you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the
devil and his angels'” — Matthew 25:41
1) DEPART FROM ME: To depart from God means a
total, eternal separation from anything good,
anything pleasing and from any hope of Divine help,
comfort or intervention. In hell, there is no
experience of anything good again. Think of it!
2) YE CURSED: In hell is the peak of the spiritual,
soulical and physical curse of God over all; it is total
torture forever.
3) EVERLASTING FIRE: The true situation of the eternal
domain of darkness is something not known on
earth. On earth fire bums with a terrible heat; it kills,
then dies itself. But this fire of hell continues
burning. It does not kill, it only tortures; it continues
burning and never dies itself. On earth fire is known
to give light, but the fire of hell is a burning darkness.
We cannot understand a burning darkness, but King
Jesus speaks of it in Matthew 8:12, 22:13, 25:30. He
shows that the fire of darkness is a terrible torture,

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 ONE | Your Citizenship

causing “weeping and gnashing of teeth".

4) THE PLACE FOR THE DEVIL: Hell is the fitting place
prepared for the punishment for Satan for all the evil
he has ever done: beyond our understanding. The
devil with all his evil spirit-workers of every kind will
be confined to this place for all eternity. It is so
terrible a place that even demons do not want to go
there. In Luke 8:31, we read of demons that "begged
Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the
Abyss" (NIV).
This is the place of eternal destiny of those divided onto
the left hand side of the Judge.

Hell, A Terrible Place

King Jesus tells more about hell. In Mark 9:43-48, we are
told it is better to "cut off one hand", "cut off one foot" or
"pluck out one eye", thus, be maimed and suffer on
earth but inherit the Kingdom of God for eternity, than
to have all our faculties with pleasure on earth and go to
hell for eternity.
Again, Jesus gives more insight about hell in addition to
the fact that its fire is unquenchable. He says there,
“their worm does not die". A worm gnawing the flesh
and bones of “eternal bodies”—the worms do not die;
the bodies do not die—a gnawing torture forever. This is

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Your Citizenship | Ruth Elton

also mentioned in Isaiah 66:24. How terrible!

LAZARUS AND THE RICH MAN (LUKE 16:19-31)
Here, Jesus tells of the rich man who appeared to have
so much good and pleasure on the earth. But when he
died, his citizenship was proved to belong to the
kingdom of darkness, so he faced the judgment of hell.
In hell his torture was terrible; the fire of darkness
burned so much that he begged for just one drop of
water on his tongue. But nothing could be done; the
separation between the kingdom of darkness and the
Kingdom of light was totally impassable. He had
"departed", to the "curse" and "fire" forever.
In the Book of Revelation, we read the final destiny of
Satan and the authorities of the kingdom of darkness.
The devil and his co-rulers will be thrown into a lake of
burning sulphur, where they will be tormented day and
night for ever and ever (Rev. 20:10). We also read about
the final judgment of all mankind (Rev. 20:11-15). God
sits on the great white throne and the Books are opened.
Every person who ever lived has their name and the
history of their life written in these books. From what is
written therein, their destiny would be decided. There is
one special Book of Life in which are recorded the names
of those who are citizens of the Kingdom of light.

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 ONE | Your Citizenship

Anyone whose name is not found written in the Book of

Life is a follower of Satan, a citizen of the kingdom of
darkness, and will be thrown with Satan and all his
authorities into the Lake of fire, which will burn forever.
This fire is spoken of finally in Revelation 21:8. Listed
here are all the worldly people who rejected the King
while they were on the earth—unbelievers, murderers,
idolaters, adulterers and all liars—they will be cast into
the fire of burning darkness together with the devil and
all his subordinates. This is called the Second Death,
which is not death but agonizing torment day and night
for ever and ever.
Anyone in the world now who is a citizen of the kingdom
of darkness, under the rule of Satan, is facing this eternal
destiny. Their position is desperate. Their need for a
change of citizenship is so great. If they are alive it is not
too late. What can they do? Can they get their eternal
citizenship changed and their name written in the Book
of Life?

Can Any Person Help Themselves?

Considering the situation, can any person determine to
sin no more and to live a good life? Can they adopt the
philosophy: “Avoid all sin; always do the best you can”?
indeed, they can't, for the heart is deceitful and

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Your Citizenship | Ruth Elton

desperately wicked as we have seen in Jeremiah 17:9.

The thoughts of the mind are sinful and count as much as
actions—this is what Jesus teaches in Matthew 5:27-28.
No one can change or stop the thoughts that come to
their mind. Even if we could, the past sins are recorded.
Our nature is so sinful that Isaiah 64:6 tells us that "all
our righteous acts are like filthy rags". We are sinners by
nature and no action of ours is considered righteous.
There is nothing we can do of ourselves to change our
citizenship or erase our sinful records.
“In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be
cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood
there is no forgiveness.” — Hebrews 9:22 [NIV]
The above Scripture makes it clear blood is needed to
cleanse the sinful record and bring forgiveness.
Whose blood? Our own blood or animal blood?
Hebrews 10:4 tells us that it is not possible for the blood
of bulls or any other animal to take away sins. The blood
needed to do the cleansing must be pure and sinless,
and all human beings already have sin in our blood.
Therefore, there is no change we can make for ourselves
to get rid of our sins. We need some other help, some
pure blood that can cleanse us and buy us back into the
Kingdom of light.

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 ONE | Your Citizenship

The Lord Jesus Christ, the King of the Kingdom of light, is

the only One who has done all that must be done to save
us from the eternal destiny awaiting all citizens of the
kingdom of darkness.
Jesus Christ is the Saviour! He is the Redeemer who has
bought back all mankind with His own pure blood so that
anyone can belong to Him as a citizen of the Kingdom of
light.
“For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and
transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in
whom [Jesus] we have redemption, the forgiveness of
sins.” — Colossians 1:13,14 [NASB]
Thanks be to our Lord Jesus Christ the King!

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 2
CHANGING YOUR CITIZENSHIP FROM
DARKNESS TO LIGHT

Step 1: Recognise Your Condition and Your Need

From what we have seen in these studies of the kingdom
of darkness and the Kingdom of light, realize what your
own personal condition is. What is your "Citizenship",
your eternal destiny, your need? Recognize that you are
a sinner, your destiny is that terrible place called "hell"
for ever and ever. You desperately need to change your
condition, your "citizenship".
Many people today in the world, especially those
educated and civilized, do not realize their condition.
Many people do not even believe in sin; they do not
believe in the devil and his powers; they do not believe
in hell and have no idea of being a citizen of the kingdom
of darkness. People do not have any thought of needing
a change, of needing salvation from their condition, so
they just continue in their earthly lives in any situation as
best they can. They do not know that they are going

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 TWO | Changing Your Citizenship from Darkness to Light

slowly on towards hell.

If this is your condition, stop! You need a change. And
the first step for a change is to recognize your condition
and your need. Then you can do something about it.

Step 2: Repent
When a person has recognised their need for a change
their next positive step is to Repent. Repentance is the
essential action.
John the Baptist came to prepare the way for the King
and Saviour (Matt. 3:1-3). He was the herald proclaiming
that the King was coming with the Kingdom of Heaven.
But first, he had to call out people to “Repent”.
Then in Matthew 4:17, King Jesus Himself stepped to the
scene. The first thing He called out to people was
“Repent!” After this He told them that the Kingdom was
at hand and then demonstrated the power and
authority of the Kingdom.
After King Jesus the Saviour had accomplished His great
task of doing all that was necessary for every person to
change their citizenship from darkness to light, He
ascended to the throne of heaven and the apostles were
left to continue the work. They had to proclaim to the
whole world how to change, and their first call in

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Your Citizenship | Ruth Elton

preaching was “Repent!” (Acts 2:38 and 3:19).

You must repent; no repentance, no salvation. This fact
is in the scriptures and stands till today. This is the way
that the Saviour King Jesus laid down.
EXAMPLES OF REPENTANCE
1) Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-9)
Zacchaeus was a successful man in the world but he
knew he had a need. He wanted to see Jesus whom he
had heard about. Jesus, passing along, stopped under
the tree from which Zacchaeus was watching and called
him down. He then went with him to his house—how
wonderful! But it was not until Zacchaeus had
considered his situation and was prepared for a change,
which then made him to speak plainly for all to hear that
he had truly repented, that King Jesus, who had called
him, was able to say that salvation had come to his
(Zacchaeus) house.
2) The Criminal on the Cross (Luke 23:39-43)
Here, we read of two criminals who were condemned
and crucified one on either sides of the Saviour. Not only
were they condemned in the physical world, as sinners,
they were also spiritually condemned and on their way
to hell. However, one of them realised his condition, he

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 TWO | Changing Your Citizenship from Darkness to Light

acknowledged it, repenting at the last minute and

turning to Jesus. He recognised Jesus to be King of the
Kingdom of light and because he repented and turned to
Jesus, his destiny was changed. He did not go to hell, he
was saved, he went to the Kingdom of light.
3) The Roman Jailer (Acts 16:22-34)
Paul and Silas were in trouble after delivering a girl who
had been under the powers of the kingdom of darkness.
They were beaten, thrown into prison and put into the
charge of the jailer who took up their case thoroughly.
He put Paul and Silas into an inner cell where their legs
were put into stocks for serious punishment and
suffering. In the night things happened; Paul and Silas
prayed, sang and praised God and caused an earthquake
which shook off their chains and opened the doors.
The jailer awakened, considered the situation and
concluded the time had come for him to make an end of
his life in earth. But Paul and Silas stopped him, showing
him that they had not run away, it was a different
situation to what he had thought. So the jailer saw he
had been wrong in what he had done, he changed his
mind, his whole being was shaken and he fell trembling
in front of Paul and Silas. Instead of chaining them and
putting them back into stocks, he brought them out
from the cell. Instead of abusing them he said “Sirs, what
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Your Citizenship | Ruth Elton

must I do to be saved?”
Paul and Silas saw his complete change, his repentance,
and with joy they said “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
and you will be saved”. Because of this man's complete
change of mind and action, he and his household were
saved.
True repentance means to think seriously, understand
your full situation and need, change your mind and turn
around. This change is necessary before you can be
saved from the kingdom of darkness to get citizenship of
the Kingdom of light. To change citizenship, it is
necessary to reject and renounce all the ways of your old
citizenship. You can have either one or the other—there
is no dual citizenship in the spiritual realm. You cannot
have one foot in the kingdom of darkness and the other
foot in the Kingdom of light. Make your choice and stand
on it. Repent.
KINGDOM LIFE FOUNDATIONS
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and
puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his
25
house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams
rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house;
yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the
rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and

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 TWO | Changing Your Citizenship from Darkness to Light

does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who
built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the
streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that
house, and it fell with a great crash.” — Matthew 7:24-27
After talking much about the blessings, ways and laws of
the Kingdom of Heaven, the Saviour, King Jesus gives this
example of how to begin a Kingdom of Heaven life: if
your life is to stand well it must have a good foundation.
Architects and builders know that the foundation of a
building is important.
The foundation digging is the first and most important
task. The foundation must be dug down to strong, solid
ground, the 'rock'. Dig down, throw out all the sand, the
soft soil, the rubbish, the roots of growing things; and
get a clear, clean foundation dug. Then begin to lay the
solid stones of the words of Jesus—the laws of the
Kingdom. Then your kingdom life will stand.
But if you don't dig out your old ways, if you try to build
Kingdom laws on top of the old rubbish, sand and
growing tree roots, the sand will make the walls
collapse; old roots will grow up, split the walls and fall
them down. With good, cleared out foundations your
Kingdom life will stand, whatever troubles may come.
But if you don't dig out your foundations, your Kingdom

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Your Citizenship | Ruth Elton

life will be shaken, fall down and be lost. You will lose
your citizenship of light and fall back into darkness.
This digging out of foundations is the work of
repentance; it is a big and important task. Think carefully
of all the ways of your life.
PERSONALLY: Think of your old ways, your habits, your
thoughts, your likes and dislikes, your ambitions—and
what you want out of life.
PRACTICALLY: telling lies, cheating or stealing, drinking
alcohol, smoking, fornication, laziness, money, self-
importance or pride, your desire towards God' or a mere
religiousness. Look into every part of your old life and
identify things you must utterly reject.
FAMILY WAYS: A person's family's ways may be different
from others; such as a family tradition of polygamous
marriages, or a family business of alcoholic beverages or
some other ungodly money making business and way of
living. Such a family way, totally belonging to the
kingdom of darkness, must be rejected. This could be
serious, but essential in changing citizenship.
TRIBAL WAYS: Think of your tribal ways or ethnic
customs. Some tribes and ethnic groups, have customs
or traditions that come from and are totally based on
things belonging to the kingdom of darkness, civilised or

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 TWO | Changing Your Citizenship from Darkness to Light

uncivilised. Even some civilised peoples and countries

have traditions and customs that are commonly
practised and it is not realised that these things have
come from old pagan practices of the kingdom of
darkness. All our traditions, customs, ceremonies and
festivals need critical examination. Ways and
ceremonies of marriages, funerals and others practices
such as certain dances: what is their meaning; what are
they based on?
Some uncivilised and really backward pagan tribes may
have to change nearly all their customs and ways of life
because the old life is totally based on and controlled by
the kingdom of darkness. This has actually been put into
practice in some places, where a person changing from
the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of light has had
to leave a village of darkness practices and go where the
rules of the Kingdom of light are upheld.
To become a true citizen of the Kingdom of light, all
these things and ways need to be looked into carefully;
find out their meaning: do they fit with the new way of
life or are they to be thrown out?
All these things are part of the serious work of
repentance, not just to be 'sorry', but to clean out the
old and make way for the new.

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Your Citizenship | Ruth Elton

ANYTHING OCCULTIC: Apart from a person's ways and

habits, likes and dislikes, everybody needs to look into
their past and check for any connections with the occult;
a spiritual tie, a “chain”, between the person repenting
and any power of the kingdom of darkness—personal,
family/ancestral or tribal. These need to be investigated
thoroughly and cut off. They could be "tree roots" that
would grow in the future and disturb Kingdom life.
In view of this, briefly, check your life:
Personally: Check from your conception, birth,
babyhood, childhood up till your present age: was there
any time you have visited any oracle, made a sacrifice or
received “medicine” of any kind for anything?
Family: A family could have traditional connections with
some occult practice, idol or festival or place.
Tribal: Tribes, clans or villages could have occultic
traditions that need to be dealt with.
In the work of repenting look into the past for anything
occultic and get it “dug out”; deal with it and cut it off so
that it cannot grow up and cause trouble in the future.

Repentance from the heart

Finally, before leaving the important step of repentance,
what is your attitude to those things you must repent of?

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Having thought carefully of all your ways in the past,

having turned from the habits, having “dug up roots",
what is your attitude to the memory of these things? Do
you remember them as a now forbidden pleasure? Or
with sorrow that you had part with them? Your attitude
is part of repentance.
For example, once you were a drunkard; you enjoyed
the drink. Now you recall the drinking, the drunken
activities: do you enjoy a laugh about them with just a
little desire that you could have such times again? Yes,
you now accept it was wrong; you no more drink, yet,
you remember with pleasure not grief. If this is your
attitude, you have not yet known true repentance.
Those habits, those ways or occult things were totally
against the God who loves you, and against Jesus Christ,
the Saviour who died for you. When you were involved
in those things, it was a grief to God. It was another
wound to Jesus who sacrificed Himself on the cross for
you. Therefore, remembering those things at any time
should bring a sadness to you, a cry of “Oh God, I am
sorry!” and “Lord Jesus, I am sorry” from your heart.
In true repentance, you first change your heart/mind
and then change your ways. When any of those old
things come to mind, your attitude should be “I am
sorry” and then thank Jesus Christ for shedding His
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blood to buy you back from the kingdom of darkness.

With this attitude, you will no more be tempted by the
memory of those things and true repentance would
have done its work.

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 3
CONFESSING AND BELIEVING

Step 3: Confess
In step 2, you have looked into all your past conditions
and known what needs to be changed and rejected. And
you have followed it up with repentance. What action
are you to take to deal with them? Confess.
Remember the stories of the Gospels that we have
looked into? In the case of Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-9, we
saw it was when he spoke out publicly—confessed his
repentance—that salvation came. This was a public
confession because the crowd, who were murmuring
about Jesus going to the home of Zacchaeus, heard what
he said.
Similarly, the thief on the cross (Luke 23:40-43)
confessed his repentance for the other thief and for
those at the foot of the cross to hear; then he got his
salvation.
In Luke 18:9-14, Jesus told a story about two characters

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Your Citizenship | Ruth Elton

who appeared in the temple to pray. The first man, a

Pharisee, was self-righteous; he depended on his "filthy
rags" (Isa. 64:6). But the second fellow, a tax collector,
stood at a distance, bowed his head and beat his
breast—public sign of distress and asked God for
forgiveness, saying “I am a sinner”. This was a public
action to be seen by anybody in the temple. The tax
collector confessed and went home with forgiveness.
Therefore, when you have known your condition and
you repent, make a public confession of your
repentance, your need - you are a sinner needing
salvation.
However, do not publicly tell stories of your sinful ways;
stories of how you have been telling lies, stealing,
committing fornication and so on. Do not publicly tell
stories of occultic experiences. You may confess “I have
been a witch and have done terrible things”, but do not
go about giving gory details of how many people you
killed, where and how you killed them, stories of the
witches' meetings, who attended them, where they
were held and the likes. Such detailed stories of sinful
ways or occult practices draw more attention to you and
the devil. And the devil enjoys his work being made
known and takes his evil glory from such stories.
Nonetheless, there are some details that need to be
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 THREE | Confessing and Believing

confessed—howbeit in another way.

Spirit-filled Counsellors
Every good house must have an architect who sees to it
that everything done follows the building plan to the
letter. To building your Kingdom of Heaven life, you need
a Kingdom architect, a Spirit-filled counsellor, a mature
citizen of the Kingdom of light who, through many years
of experience, has mastered all the rules and knows
what needs to be done. This counsellor will teach you
what to do.
If you have such a mature Kingdom citizen as a
counsellor, you should confess the whole details of your
life, of any sinful thoughts, ways or habits, of anything
occult and all details about occult practices. Your
counsellor will instruct you and help you to dig out all
the rubbish. He or she will help you to pull out and cut off
any occultic demon connections. This is necessary,
because many occult connections cannot just be cut off
by the person to whom they are attached. It needs
someone free and strong to help in the cutting off
completely.
Spirit-filled counsellors are Kingdom of light authorities
on earth who will help people changing citizenship from
darkness to light. Through their help and counselling,

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Your Citizenship | Ruth Elton

sins will be forgiven and souls saved from hell.

“Again Jesus said, 'Peace be with you! As the Father has
22
sent me, I am sending you.' And with that He breathed
23
on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive
anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive
them, they are not forgiven.'” —John 20:21-23

Step 4: Believe
After the serious work of digging out the foundations
thoroughly, the next important action is to build a good
and solid foundation using quality materials. This action
is to believe. Believing is like cement of the foundation; it
holds together the stones or blocks that make the
foundations. But cement alone without some solid
article (stones) will not make good foundations. In
building a solid foundation of the Kingdom life what do
you believe? What are the "stones"?
If you ask people what they believe, many will tell of a
preaching they listened to, after which an “appeal” was
made and they raised up their hand as a gesture of
"believe". Then they were called forward and prayed for;
their names were written down and they began to
attend the church regularly—that was how they became
believers. This can be a very weak, uncertain “believe”.
What did they believe? Did they only believe Jesus?

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 THREE | Confessing and Believing

James 2:19 shows that even demons believe and

tremble. Mark 5:7 also shows some demons who
recognized the identity of Jesus. The foundation stones
of a good Kingdom life are more than a vague, mere
belief in Jesus; one should know and understand the
facts one believes.
“He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the
good news to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is
baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will
be condemned.'” — Mark 16:15-16
Here we see that the disciples were commanded to
preach the Gospel, and those who believed the Gospel
would be saved.

Believe the Gospel

The Gospel is entirely about Jesus and His Work. It is the
good news of the greatness of who Jesus is and all He has
done to redeem the sons of Adam from the kingdom of
darkness, bringing them back into the Kingdom of light
(Col. 1:12-14). There is much in the Gospel to learn and
believe. (For a full study of the Gospel, obtain a copy of
“The Gospel of the Kingdom” by Ruth Elton).
THE BASIC POINTS OF THE GOSPEL
JESUS: Who is this Jesus? What is His purpose? How

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great is He?
- The Son of God - Mark 1: 1.
- The Son of man, Adam - Matthew 16:13-16, Luke
3:37.
- The last Adam - 1 Corinthians 15:45-49.
- The Saviour - 1 John 4:14.
- The Redeemer - Galatians 4:4-5.
- The Deliverer - 1 John 3:8.
- The Lord - Philippians 2:10-11.
- The King - John 18:37.
- The Son of God was born a man - Luke 1:26-38, 2:1-20.
- Jesus was tempted as a man - Matthew 4:1-11.
Jesus had authority over all things: sin, sickness,
demons, death and all creation; wind, sea, plants and
animals.
To learn and understand all this, read His life on earth in
the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Jesus became God's sacrifice to redeem man back to
God.
HIS SACRIFICE: What is the magnitude and impact of His
sacrifical work?
Gethsemane. Matthew 26:36-45.
The flogging. John 19:1, Isaiah 53:5.
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 THREE | Confessing and Believing

The mocking. John 19:2-3.

Jesus took the cross. John 19:16-17
Jesus was crucified. Luke 23:33.
Jesus took man's sins/darkness Mark 15:33-34. Isaiah
53:6.
Jesus died. Luke 23:46.
The Blood of Jesus. John 19:33-34, 1 John 1:7.
The body of Jesus was buried Mark 15:42-46.
You may think that when Jesus died and was buried, that
was the end of the sacrifice. But we have seen that for
every human being death is not the end, it is a beginning
of life in one of the other kingdoms.

To Which Kingdom Did King Jesus Go in Death?

Remember that He died bearing our sins which should
have taken us to hell? So, we can say that Jesus carried
our sins to hell and threw them where they belong. This
means that on our behalf King Jesus went down to hell.
What happened when King Jesus got to hell? Think of it!
Maybe Satan and his powers were glad and thought they
could hold Him. More likely Satan, fallen angels and all
his spirits were terrified, King Jesus threw down sins and
stood with all power and majesty. No satanic power
could speak or look upon the King; they fled! Then Satan

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was called and had to come and stand with bowed head
before the King. He had to hand over the keys of death
and hell, accepting that he, Satan, and all his authorities
and demons had no power or authority before King
Jesus. Jesus is the King of the whole universe.
These facts we can see from Matthew 28:18, Ephesians
4:9-10 and Revelation 1:18.
King Jesus spent three days going round every universe
that exists; then His soul came back to His body in the
tomb and He rose again (Matt. 28:1-10, Mark 16:1-7,
Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-23).
After His resurrection, King Jesus spent forty days
appearing to His disciples and talking to them about the
Kingdom of light (Acts 1:3). He then ascended to heaven
and sat at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19). Soon, He
will come back as King of kings (Rev. 19:11-16).
This is the Gospel of what King Jesus the Saviour has
done to buy man back, to save all mankind from going to
hell, the eternal abode of darkness. Study this Gospel
well, know and believe its great truths, because "it is the
power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes"
(Rom. 1:16).
Believe this Gospel and you will be saved from going to
hell.

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 4
FULL CITIZENSHIP OF THE KINGDOM OF
HEAVEN

Step 5. Baptism
Let us look carefully at full citizenship of the Kingdom of
Heaven. Let us look carefully at the commission King
Jesus gave before He ascended to Heaven and let us
consider how the pioneer Apostles carried it out.
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit” — Matthew 28:19
“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but
whoever does not believe will be condemned.” — Mark
16:16
“Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized, every one of
you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of
your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'”
— Acts 2:38
Here we can see that there must be a definite outward

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Your Citizenship | Ruth Elton

sign, an action that goes with the unseen believing in the

heart. In Matthew, the Lord Jesus shows that nations
should become followers (disciples) of Him, and are to
be definitely baptised.
From Mark 16, we see those who believe and are
baptised will be saved. In Acts 2:38, Peter the Apostle
tells those who have a complete change of mind and
repented that there must be another action of
significance: Baptism. Because this is a public sign to all
people that you have changed.
The ceremony of baptism is a well-known doctrine
practised in churches. To many people it has become an
earthly show. For some people it is merely “making a
sign”, or the requirement for taking a new name or for
becoming a member of a church. Not a few have lost its
true deep meaning.
BAPTISM IS A SIGN OF WHAT?
For John the Baptist who, from New Testament records,
began the practice of immersion (baptism) as we know
it, baptism was a sign of repentance. In Acts 19:3-5, we
read of the apostle Paul meeting with some Ephesians
who were known as disciples and had been baptised.
But when Paul questioned them further, they revealed
they only knew of the baptism of John which was for

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 FOUR | Full Citizenship of the Kingdom of Heaven

repentance. After Paul had taught them the truth, they

went into the baptism of Jesus.
When the Lord Jesus was baptised He had nothing to
repent of, but He was baptised as a sign, and so ended all
His old life at Nazareth. It was the beginning of His new
life manifesting the Kingdom, King Jesus made baptism
to be the end of the old life and the beginning of the new
life. Paul the Apostle corroborated this in Romans 6:3-7.
Baptism means the burial of the old life. The life of the
citizen of the kingdom of darkness has finished, it has
died, so bury it! Then a new life will arise.
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but
Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in
the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
— Galatians 2:20
Here Paul shows that the old life needs to be nailed to
the cross to die. It is a definite decision of the believer;
he rejects all the old life with its habits and customs; he
gives it up as crucified.
Baptism is the "funeral ceremony" for the citizen of the
kingdom of darkness. After the 'burial', the believer will
rise with a new, different life, all of which belongs to
Jesus Christ his/her Lord. Jesus is King for the citizen of
the Kingdom of Heaven.

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Your Citizenship | Ruth Elton

It is a new life. A new person. Give it a new name! Who

do we normally give a name who formerly had no name?
A new born babe, of course!

Born Again: A Citizen of the Kingdom of Light

In John 3:1-7, we see Nicodemus, a good, wise Pharisee.
He had listened to what Jesus had said, and watched all
He had done, then came to Jesus.
He believed Jesus. The Lord Jesus told this honest
believer plainly that he could not see or enter the
Kingdom of God unless he became born again – put an
end to the old life and begin a new life.
To be a mere believer in Jesus is not enough to change a
person into being a real citizen of the Kingdom of
Heaven. It needs a definite decision of the person and an
experience with God, so that the heart is changed and
the inner man is born of the Spirit.
Many people who attend churches believe in Jesus and
call themselves Born Again Christians, but still live the
old life and hold to its ways and customs. We may say
they are "mere believers"; maybe saved from going to
hell after this world, but they are not spiritually born
again, with a new life of a citizen of the Kingdom of light.
To become a citizen of the Kingdom of light is not a

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 FOUR | Full Citizenship of the Kingdom of Heaven

casual, trivial, emotional thing. It requires careful,

serious thought and determination. The Lord Jesus said
"If any man would follow me" i.e. become my disciple,
be born again ... "let him deny himself ... take up his cross
daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23). This requires deep
consideration and consecration.
The old life (citizenship of the kingdom of darkness) will
be crucified, not just die a normal death. Crucifixion is a
public shameful and painful death; no space for
sympathizing with the old identity or ways. You will bury
it, forget it. You will rise again with a new life, a new
citizenship, a new baby! A born again citizen of the
Kingdom of light.
Congratulations, new baby! Now you must be fed with
milk first, and then brought up and trained in the ways of
this new life, the ways of the Kingdom of light. You must
learn its customs, laws and rights until one day you
become a fully mature citizen. You will reach a position
in which you can be given authority; you will be able to
use the authority of a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven
on earth.
Here in your life on the earth, you will be a citizen of the
Kingdom of light. You will learn to take up Kingdom
authority, until one day, when the King comes back to
establish the Kingdom of light, then you will be called to
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Your Citizenship | Ruth Elton

join Him. You will not be told to depart, but to come, you
blessed, and inherit the Kingdom prepared for you (Matt.
25:34). Then you will be under the King reigning on
earth.
This is the difference between citizenship of the
kingdom of darkness and the Kingdom of light.
The big question is: What is your Citizenship?

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 OTHER BOOKS

By Ruth Elton
- The Gospel of the Kingdom
- The Kingdom Has Come
By S.G. (Pa) Elton
- The Coming Kingdom
- Babylon Today
- We have Come to Mount Zion
- The Battle for the Nations
- Bringing the Church to Fullness
More on: www.sgeltonlegacy.org
Also from the Publisher:
- Understanding the Kingdom Message
- The Family in God's Work of Restoration
- Essence Restored Magazine (featuring the Pa Elton
Story)
Contact Publisher:
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 08038548073

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Your Citizenship | Ruth Elton

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