Believers’ Convention 2024 (Day 3 – Morning Session)
Date: Tuesday, 20th August, 2024
Minister: Reverend Kayode Oyegoke
Topic: Becoming a Prisoner of Jesus
Transcript Excerpt
“Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.” (Eph. 4:8). Captivity is a state of being captured. Mankind was a captive of the devil, but when Jesus ascended up on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. He captured those who had been captured; He captured the captivity. You see the captivity in mankind because everything about captivity is a work of experts who are captains of the captivity.
The devil did a lot in mankind; this is why the state of mankind after the fall has been a world of captivity. That anomaly was not dealt with until Jesus was raised from the dead. He ascended up on high, then initiated captivity that we were all under and led it captive. He has the right to dispose of the captors and remove the captivity of the people. If He freed us from captivity just by releasing us from those who have held us captive, we would go back to our captivity.
Captivity is not bondage. There are two houses in the Old Testament that God redeemed His people from. Egypt which was the house of bondage where God wrought deliverance. God led the people of Israel out of Egypt and took them to the promised land but even after they got to the promised land, captors came, captured them and took them into captivity. The two houses are not the same, as the first house which is the house of bondage gave birth to Moses (the Law). The law came as a result of bondage.
As a result of the disobedience of the people of Israel in the land of promise, God brought those who would take them away into captivity. This does not refer to oppressors as seen in the season of the book of Judges. The season of Judges was characterized by the oppression of the people of God in the promised land and this gave birth to the season of the Kings. The order of the Kings was born, and God had expectations of the people of Israel, but they fell into idolatry. God was jealous and so He took them out of the land because they did not do well. The land needed their obedience for them to dwell in the land of promise. They lived below the recommendation of occupation, so they had to leave the land. They left the land and were taken captive.
Bondage is oppressive and grievous, but captivity is sweet and can take one away because one would lawfully submit to it. It is difficult to heal captivity unlike bondage that can be hated. It is difficult to hate captivity. Captivity can be likened to this world which the scriptures instruct us not to love (1 John 2:15).
When Israel was returning to find a clean priestly lineage, it was difficult because they had intermarried and broken laws of priesthood. God preserved a priest called Ezra, who was commissioned by Artaxerxes to teach Israel the law after the temple was built through the prophecy of Haggai and Zechariah.
Jesus dealt with both bondage and captivity. Bondage is lower but captivity is stronger because it involves the love (will) of the people. Being captured does not exactly mean slavery because it is captivating; it can be likened to someone who is raptured into something else.
The gifts of the spirit God gave are called “charisma” in Greek. Fivefold ministers must know how to capture people that Jesus led captive. Hence, anyone who stands in the fivefold has something around them. The Church cannot make a person come into the fivefold ministry; such a person must be called by God. Pastors can ordain bishops and deacons; they are not fivefold, they are extracts from the office of the Shepherd overseeing a local church. Being called by God has a direct tie to the Throne.
Ministers of the gospel who are genuinely called, are supposed to deal with a very high job that Satan did in the souls of men. That is the work of ministry. Jesus chose the fivefold ministry and put it upon men. Not all men are called into the fivefold ministry.
Jesus led captivity captive and he gave gifts unto men. In the spirit, Jesus has done all that is necessary to lead captivity captive. So, when a man is called into the fivefold, God would bring those whom He already led captive to him. There is a power keeping people around ministers to hear them. That is why it is difficult to scatter the flock from a minister of the gospel because it is Jesus that is keeping them.
Some other ministers do unscriptural things to get people, like trying to make wrong impressions in order to have a large audience. In the Body of Christ, there are currently ministries that are solely interested in selling platforms; merchandising the gospel with the thought of godliness being gain. Men should not sell platforms, because that is another way of capturing men. We should be purified from these things.
This is a message of hope that God would prepare a lot of Christians for. The devil does not want this work, but this is great hope that is being painted to us. In that season, many people from other religions, even the Jewish community, would turn to God. Jews are not moved by miracles; there is something they are looking for because they know the signs. They will see the sign of the Son of man amidst the Gentile church having the glory of God and the lamb.
“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. [2] For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. [3] And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” (Isa. 60:1-3). The fivefold ministry was given to heal captivity. The devil did a lot to capture men. That captivity causes instability with God, even after you are filled with the Holy Ghost. To completely take it out, the fivefold ministry has to come into full expression of ministry. They should be able to preach a message that can destroy the captivity in them.
Jesus leading captivity captive does not mean that He had healed their captivity. Because He has power to subdue all things. He took them with their captivity, held them captive and gave gifts to men to heal the captured. The essence of this is so that these men would preach to the captured. The church consists of those who have been captured. Our captivity begins with the infilling of the Holy Ghost at New Birth. We come into a place where we are in a community of saints in the Lord’s captivity. Keeping the fivefold ministry in the church dispenses liberty to the captive. Jesus wants the captivity in people to be completely healed.
“(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? [10] He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)” (Eph. 4:9-10). He fills all things because the wisdom of captivity is as deep as hell. God had to send His Son there to tarry three days and three nights and raise Him from the dead to train Him. Jesus went to hell to culminate the training of saving to the uttermost. He became the captain of our salvation after resurrection. Learning hell was part of the curriculum of Jesus because the things in men are hellish.
“Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, [21] Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (Heb. 13:20-21). To become a complete, perfect, and great Shepherd, Jesus had to descend. The Great Shepherd of the sheep is the mediator of the covenant.
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; [12] For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: [13] Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ…” (Eph. 4:11-13).The fivefold ministry ought to be high-powered agents to perfect the saints. That knowledge of the Son of God is what Jesus knows as a son, and we should have this knowledge. Jesus would reveal His knowledge to us.
In the days of the Apostles that Jesus revealed Himself to them. Through scriptures we see that they got there, and they achieved it. One evidence of this is that they produced seven churches (Rev. 1:4). Those seven churches are not ordinary; we presently do not have churches like that. Those seven churches are governed by stars.
“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called…” (Eph. 4:1). A preacher of the gospel has to be imprisoned by the Lord. Some preachers are not prisoners anymore. When a preacher preaches another gospel, he has broken free from his chains. When a preacher is preaching the real gospel, a chain is around his neck. Everybody who would minister the true gospel must have a chain attached to his neck.
“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; [5] One Lord, one faith, one baptism, [6] One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Eph. 4:4-6). All of us who are born again are members of one body – the Body of Christ. The calling is one calling, not many callings, but the fivefold ministry is not one calling, its many callings.
“But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. [8] Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. [9] (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? [10] He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) [11] And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers….” (Eph. 4:7-11). Jesus can take a soul from hell to heaven and make such a soul to sit on the Throne. The vocation is not fivefold ministry. When a person has been called into the fivefold ministry, he should not settle in it; it is the stewardship to the calling. All believers are called into one calling, into one vocation.
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; [12] For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ…” (Eph. 4:11-12). This is the building of believers into the calling. The calling of the body is not fivefold ministry. The body is called for a ministry; one calling. That calling has a build-up unto its highest point. There is the first calling and there is the high calling of God. The first calling is not being called into the fivefold ministry but a calling to become like Christ.
This calling is a nature, not a gift of the Holy Spirit. We cannot just get into the high calling; we have to build on it. It means the Apostles are supposed to serve the calling and build the body of Christ into the calling.
When scripture says, “walk worthy of your vocation”, it means to walk worthy of what God has called us to be – the Christ calling (Eph. 4:1). It is a calling into a nature. Paul was travailing on the purpose and premises of this calling when he said to Galatians ‘my little children in whom I travail in birth till Christ is formed in you’ (Gal. 4:19).
Christ is not formed in us at new birth. This is not referring to the spirit; the spirit is a new man. To look like Christ is not to borrow tools, materials outside this man, it is what is in the man that is the material for building given to the saints in order for the saints to be formed.
Jesus can come to a baby and relate with the person who is just born again, and the person would love Jesus. One thing with the Godhead is that they are very gentle, they do not force anything on anyone. We can be more aggressive than the Godhead. The Holy Ghost can be talking to a believer, and such a believer may not obey. How many ministers have obeyed the Holy Ghost well? There is room in them for patience, and long suffering. The Godhead has faith; They know we will become like them. They just wait for us.
Ministers of the gospel must possess the right heart to save people. It takes time to possess what is called the heart of a Shepherd; the heart for ministry to save people. Where we err is in our hearts. If our hearts are not upright, we would not go far with God.
One of the most vital tools and ingredients is the gift of the heart that can do the will of God. Many ministries and many ministers are in trouble today because they use their senses to interpret ministry. We should not fall into senses because senses are a product of carnality. If we do ministry after the sensual order, we will end up producing grass. God taught me to hate fame, and not just resist having a name on earth but to hate it. This is one thing that tempts men.
The man is more of a wife to Satan, he can easily be pulled. Women do not respond easily to the devil like men do; the masculine man is usually at the edge of trying to show strength because of ego. Satan can tell man what can make him feel elated. Pride is very close to a man.
We cannot come closer to God if our hearts are not coming close and the battle of the heart is not an ordinary battle. It was the heart that fell Nebuchadnezzar and turned him into a beast. It was the heart that fell Lucifer and turned him into a beast of iniquity “your heart was lifted up because of iniquity (Ezek. 28:17)”. Satan is a master of heart battle.
If God does not help us to tame our hearts, and God does not supply the ingredients for us to hate what Satan offers, we will leave the people and use them as our own clothing for the future. When we make up our minds and have a right heart by the help of God, He would supply the necessary materials.
A minister must be dead; the journey to the throne is death. One Man came, and before He came, He died. To become a man is death, but even after He came, He obeyed and obeyed unto death, even the death of the cross (Phil. 2:8). Death is not supposed to be fearful, death means separation from Satan so that we can possess a heart that can save the people. If our hearts are not right, we can easily use the people for our own grass glory. The more ministers of the gospel deal with their hearts, the more provision comes; the more they detach, the more provision runs after them. Practice it. If you discover something is alluring you, detach and you will see that it will come.
There are two types of heart to have in the scripture; the first is called “a new heart” and the second is “My heart”.
“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” (Ezek. 36:26) This is a heart for the ministry, this is the heart that can serve the Lamb. A new heart is a pure heart that can see God. The fact that a person has a pure heart does not mean that he immediately begins to see God. Such would put inside of him a new spirit.
The word of God is precepts, it is different from the will. The word of God is different from the way of God. It is in the way we find spirit. Spirit means truth; it is water and spirit. One cannot find spirit except he has been led. We get spirit through leading in a way we do not want to go.
New heart, and new spirit makes up the person of Christ. Upon the new heart there is a promise, which is life and godliness. God would then remove the heart of stone. One cannot say that he has a heart of flesh until the stone is removed. What defeats the heart of stone is possessing a new heart.
A minister of the gospel is blessed before he is sent. Then God would give him a heart of flesh; the heart of flesh is the heart of God, after which God would put “my spirit” in him. “My spirit” is different from a new spirit.
“And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. [28]And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.” (Ezek. 36:27-28). What we would become is ‘the promise’, we will be a people and what God will be to us is also a promise.
“I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. [30]And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.” (Ezek. 36:29-30). You can be clean and not be saved. To really save a man from uncleanness, God needs to give him His spirit. You can be clean and go back, but when a man is saved, he will not go back anymore. The first thing the people of Israel ate when they got to the promised land was corn, the next thing was to find the fruitful vine of the field. All of these things are promises.
Blessings!