Eternal Glorious Fountain Ministry (EGFM)
Believers' Convention 2022 (DAY 3 - Morning Session)
Date: Tuesday, 9th August 2022
We are all integral parts of the body of Christ and we are all one, for there is only one body of Christ (Eph. 4:4). If the majority of men in the body are in a place in the spirit, then it means we all are still there; this is how God sees it. If the body is suffering weaknesses then, we are all weak. The body of Christ has an allocation of strength, and nothing on this earth is stronger than it. This is because it is not just a body of men but the body of God.
Many of us are still at the level of the foundational principles of the doctrine of Christ (Heb. 6:1-2). However, what God has in mind concerning us is that we should go unto perfection. This is His commandment to the Body, therefore, we should not lose sight of the Body. Even when some things happen in the church that can cause people to develop hatred in their hearts, Jesus will not reject those parts of the body because He still loves all of them. When God is giving us things, He is giving them to us for the purpose of the body at large.
“For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.” (Heb. 5:12). The first principles of the oracles of God refers to the milk of the word of God, and they are different from the principles of the doctrine of Christ. The first doctrine that a believer has to learn after the New Birth is the milk of God. Milk is very powerful, but we need to know Christ before we can see salvation. This is because Christ leads to salvation.
It is usually difficult to differentiate between milk and meat because of blindness in the souls of men. Satan arranged our souls not to know the word of God. The natural arrangement of the mind can access the word in a little measure. However, anyone who wants to do well in accessing the word in a great measure has to be led. Leading corrects the arrangement of the soul for word allocation. Some great men of God had high levels of understanding because of their walk with God, and their walk was a result of being led by God.
There is a faith for asking God for things — it is called faith towards God, but this is not all that christianity is about. If wfe remain here, it may be difficult for us to receive other allocations of God. This principle is not even the major teaching of faith in the milk-level; it is only the beginning of milk. This faith is responsible for the operation of laying on of hands. Each of the principles of milk have measures of faith. For example, repentance from dead works has some faith in it, though it is not obvious. Faith teaches us to deny ourselves for the sake of righteousness. The doctrine of eternal judgement is also faith-propelled; it gives us an idea of our home so that we will be prepared for a journey.
In those days, believers stayed in faith and christian discipline, even when all their needs were not met. And yet, they were content because of the power of repentance. Whenever they prayed, they received answers because of the discipline of the teaching of holiness. When these teachings fall on souls, they bear certain fruits (attitudes and characters) of the spirit. It can only take faith for a believer not to do things that are unworthy or unholy. Unfortunately, many believers have been taught faith but not character. Faith needs a good conscience to survive but if a person is lacking in it, faith would be absent in him.
Milk is a principle and it has many principles. The faith that Paul said he heard of was not the mountain-moving faith (Eph. 1:15). It was milk but not milk for babes; it was milk for children. When God does not answer our prayers immediately, it is a form of training for the next allocation of His word. If God answers our prayers all the time, we will not move forward in the things of God. As such, when we see saints facing contradictions, we should not think they are less privileged. This is because in God’s eyes, they may be the more privileged ones.
Eyes do not need to be opened to understand the milk of the word but to understand the allocation of meat. Wisdom and understanding are needed for this kind of food. Meat makes one a perfect man. From the day of Pentecost, the church in Jerusalem was a milk church and they did many wonders. This shows us how powerful milk is, but meat is more powerful.
“I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.” (1 Cor. 3:1-2). Meat makes a person spiritual. When one begins to handle it, he or she would be obeying the Jewish ideology, which is to live for God and not for things. A man who is not living for God is not a Jew and would not be able to serve God. To serve God is to serve Him for naught. God is looking for true worshippers and the devil knows His stance.
According to the scriptures, an upright man is a man who serves without focusing on things. Job did not curse God because he proved that he was serving God for God, and not for other things. God used Job to prove to Satan that a man could defeat him (Job 1:22).
A believer should graduate from believing in God to knowing Him. Jesus was not a believer but a knower; the same with Adam. Knowing God is a calling for every child of God. The meat of the word is the component of a person called Christ, and it is not accessible outside knowledge. It is a body of knowledge that changes a man from being carnal to being spiritual.
To make spiritual progress, we need to be weaned from milk to meat, and be drawn from the breast (Isa. 28:9). The Holy Ghost is like a mother and He loves His children. He keeps them and gives them to Christ. He takes time to mature them so that they can grow up. As they grow, a time will come that they will become spiritual.
Being spiritual is a growth state. It is an allocation in the spirit that should not be joked with, and it is the Father’s desire that we come into that allocation. The day we come into that allocation is the day we begin to have life. To have life is to have Christ and there is a dimension in being spiritual that brings one to peace. Those who have handled Christ well are those who have done the spiritual doctrine well. They are peacemakers and they have handled meat to become spiritual. When one becomes spiritual, he is disengaging from spirits.
A teacher in the oracles of God is a person who can assist the saints to see things concerning the nature of God. A teacher is a priest, and priests are those who handle meat. Those who teach Christ are priests and priests handle the covenant of life and peace (Rom. 8:6). Anyone who is spiritually-minded is a teacher.
A person who is handling meat will leave the realm of the carnal and begin to move towards heaven. The end of meat (Christ) is to become a sanctuary man. This end is charity. There is a faith in meat, therefore, we need to be trained to see beyond the things we see. A person who wants to go up to God must graduate beyond thinking of their needs; this is the principle of the gospel (Matt. 6:33).
Meat should give one fullness of age, so that he can acquire strong meat. Anyone who claims not to be concerned with meat or strong meat is playing with destiny. We should therefore hate to remain in one place but be interested in moving. The church of Hebrew wanted to go back to milk; they wanted to practice simple christianity. However, this type of christianity cannot overcome Satan. When one comes to strong meat, he is expected to have been raised into a place of discernment and judgement; this is what the doctrine of Christ does.
The season in Deuteronomy was the season of discernment. What was in the wilderness was Christ the Rock and that was what gave them food and drink. He helped them to pass through three dimensions in the wilderness, which are analogous to Faith, Hope and Charity. Jesus Christ is the wilderness of God; this is where we learn how to walk in the Spirit. To walk in the Spirit is to rely on the unseen. Here, we are to develop a sense of judgement because we would be handling wisdom and revelation. It opens us up to learn how to know what is good and evil.
The Spirit of wisdom and revelation will not be able to help one to discern evil. Rather, it gives age. However, strong meat is responsible for giving one discernment. There can never be the saving of the soul without the oracles of God. Going to perfection is going into the strong meat of the word. We cannot see the strong meat except God gives the good and perfect gifts; light and perfect light.
Everlasting life has to do with the light of the Most Holy. In the Old Testament, it has to do with the everlasting priesthood. If we get here, we will be redeemed. If this is your goal as a pastor, you will not relent. If pastors are ministering this light, something great will happen to the body of Christ.
Blessings!
Summary
1.Many of us are still at the level of the foundational principles of the doctrine of Christ (Heb. 6:1-2). However, what God has in mind concerning us is that we should go unto perfection. This is His commandment to the Body, therefore, we should not lose sight of the Body.
2.When some things happen in the church that can cause people to develop hatred in their hearts, Jesus will not reject those parts of the body because He still loves all of them. When God is giving us things, He is giving them to us for the purpose of the body at large.
3.(Heb. 5:12). The first principles of the oracles of God refers to the milk of the word of God, and they are different from the principles of the doctrine of Christ.
4.The first doctrine that a believer has to learn after the New Birth is the milk of God. Milk is very powerful, but we need to know Christ before we can see salvation. This is because Christ leads to salvation (Rom. 1:16).
5.Satan arranged our souls not to know the word of God. The natural arrangement of the mind can access the word in a little measure. However, anyone who wants to do well in accessing the word in a great measure has to be led by the Spirit. Leading corrects the arrangement of the soul for word allocation.
6.There is a faith for asking God for things — it is called faith towards God (Heb. 6:1), but this is not all that christianity is about. If we remain here, it may be difficult for us to receive other allocations of God. This principle is not even the major teaching of faith in the milk-level; it is only the beginning of milk.
7.In those days, believers stayed in faith and christian discipline, even when all their needs were not met. And yet, they were content because of the power of repentance.
8.Milk is a principle and it has many principles. The faith that Paul said he heard of was not the mountain-moving faith (Eph. 1:15). It was milk but not milk for babes; it was milk for children.
9.When God does not answer our prayers immediately, it is a form of training for the next allocation of His word. If God answers our prayers all the time, we will not move forward in the things of God. As such, when we see saints facing contradictions, we should not think they are less privileged.
10.Eyes do not need to be opened to understand the milk of the word; it is needed to understand the allocation of the meat of the word (Eph. 1:17-18). The meat of the word makes one a perfect man.
11.(1 Cor. 3:1-2). The meat of the word makes a person spiritual. When one begins to handle it, he or she would be obeying the Jewish ideology, which is to live for God and not for things. A man who is not living for God is not a true Jew and would not be able to serve God. To serve God is to serve Him for naught.
12.According to the scriptures, an upright man is a man who serves without focusing on things. Job did not curse God because he proved that he was serving God for God, and not for other things. God used Job to prove to Satan that a man could defeat him (Job 1:22).
13.Knowing God is a calling for every child of God. The meat of the word is the component of a person called Christ, and it is not accessible outside knowledge. It is a body of knowledge that changes a man from being carnal to being spiritual.
14.To make spiritual progress, we need to be weaned from milk to meat, and be drawn from the breast (Isa. 28:9). Being spiritual is a growth state. It is an allocation in the spirit that should not be joked with, and it is the Father’s desire that we come into that allocation.
15.There can never be the saving of the soul without the oracles of God. Going to perfection is going into the strong meat of the word. We cannot see the strong meat except God gives the good and perfect gifts; light and perfect light.