Programme: Lekki Soul Centre (LSC)
Date: Wednesday, 18th January 2023
Transcript Summary
(2 John 1:9). It is not every saint that is delighting in the doctrine of Christ as they should. The doctrine of Christ is a resting place that begins with the doctrine of faith. The doctrine of Christ is the access route to salvation because it is the antidote to sin, which is the cause of man’s restlessness. It is through the arsenals of faith, hope and charity (1 Cor. 13:13) that the soul will be brought into an enduring state.
The soul has dwelt in its former conversations of darkness hitherto, but it is now being led out of them into the conversations of light through the doctrine of Christ and the Father (1 Pet. 1:14; 2 Cor. 6:17). The doctrine of Christ is aimed at taking the soul out of the earth to mount Zion, where God, the Judge of all, will begin to rain judgment to perfect it. We ascend according to the level of our yieldedness to the demands of the doctrine.
One of the things the Lord wants to fortify in our hearts is our commitment to charity. At the point where a soul still lacks in its christ-formation, such is limited from receiving the incorruptible seed or the engrafted word (Jam. 1:3-5, 21-25). When that lack is addressed by the teachings of the apostles, the soul will gain the perfect formation needed to take instructions from the Lord Almighty and relate with glory.
There is a pull (weight) the things of this world have on the soul, which constitutes a habitation for it. Such things make the soul lavish the affection it ought to lavish on the Lord on them. When we fulfill the obedience of harnessing the energy of our souls and channeling it rightly, it will inform a walk that will help us to ascend the mount of the Lord. When this is achieved, we have fulfilled an obedience that would see us come into our priesthood in Christ, and a state called peace.
The things Paul cataloged in 1 Corinthians 13 are things capable of changing our thoughts, conversation and understanding; they are things that would see us complete all the curriculum of wisdom and understanding in the knowledge of Christ, in order to address the lack in our Christ-formation. These commandments are meant to be lived out as a conversation until our souls fully abide therein. They are conversations of wisdom and power. Though they appear weak and foolish, that is the instrument for dealing with the love of the world in a man.
(1 Corin. 13:4). Charity suffers long. The dealing of longsuffering brings about the remission of sins, and it is aimed at saving the soul by teaching us patience. God uses delays, denials and discomforts to teach us faith. Faith helps us walk where we have not previously walked so that we can please the Lord in places we have not pleased Him, and be separated from some things we share in common with this present life – things that can be traced to sin and death.
The season of charity is when we will be equipped to look for the blessed hope or the perfect law of liberty (Tit. 2:13; James 1:25). The truth in charity is to separate or sanctify us. The perfect law of liberty is the perfect law of truth that is in the Father – the truth that will see us inherit everlasting life.
The things of this world have a power it exacts on men (1 Cor. 6:12). Just as the gospel of Christ is the power that leads a soul to God (Rom. 1:16), there is also a power that leads to Satan – unrighteous mammon. Satan is mammon, the god of this world, and he has put a system in place that uses unrighteous mammon to bring men to him. Unrighteous mammon steals life in a soul and kills it. As such, the soul becomes ungodly enough to relate with unrighteousness.
The doctrine of Christ teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust (Titus 2:12). Jesus loved righteousness and hated iniquity (Heb. 1:9). The faith of the Son is the wisdom that enables a man to overcome the lusts and high-mindedness that money and its love can bring to a soul (1 Tim. 6:17). A man ought to get to the point where he no longer uses just the faith of the Son to handle unrighteous mammon but also commandments of everlasting life, thereby perfecting that victory (Heb. 6:1). Any lack in our Christ-formation will limit us from profiting in the next allocation of everlasting life.
(1 Corin. 13:4). Charity does not vaunt itself. A man of charity is comfortable living in the sight of God. Hence, he does everything as unto the Lord. We will do a lot of things differently if we can live consciously before the Lord – allowing the Lord to be real to us, like men are. This is an attribute of David that the Lord wants to baptize us into so that He can address the lack of Christ-formation in us.
The Lord wants to do a quick work that will move us from life and peace into everlasting life. When we follow hard after His dealings, some things we do not deserve will happen to us. Heaven will bring a sealing upon us. However, we must strive not to lose the life we have trapped (2 John 1:8).
(1 Corin. 13:5). A man of charity is not easily provoked; he is jealous of the life formation he has inside. A man who is easily provoked is prone to lose life. Our temptation most times is to respond to situations in our natural state and be provoked, but a man of charity is higher than the things that cause provocation. This is because he has a weight of life that makes him control himself.
Charity "thinketh no evil". Evil is an offering that is lovable for a man to think upon, but a man of charity has a clean heart that will not meditate on evil. Anything contrary or inferior to the light of the Father cannot satisfy this type of heart because it has a measure of judgment to know what pleases the Father.
(1 Corin. 13:6). Charity "rejoiceth not in iniquity". Iniquity is always calling for a fellowship/response that can align with its negative joy/excitement; but a charity-man is content and has the compassion of Christ that does not make him rejoice in iniquity. The teachings coming our way are to deck us with compassion so that when we see the infirmities of men, we are not quick to judge but have compassion, remembering that the Lord has also shown us compassion.
(1 Corin. 13:7). A charity-man "beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things" because he has come to full age. Such a man has the stature of the perfect man in Christ-formation – he is entire, lacking nothing (Jam. 1:4). A charity-man has a frame that takes no thought for his life because he has another life called Christ. It is the fullness of Christ-formation that will make the realm of glory real to us.