Date: Wednesday, 11th August, 2021
Ministering: Pastor Medad Makama
“For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.” (Heb. 5:13). The allocation of the milk of the Word is an awesome provision that has sustained the church for over two thousand (2,000) years. This allocation is wonderful: it can be used to raise the dead, heal the sick and perform other great works (Mark 11:23). However, the gospel has provision for more than the milk of the word.
There is nothing wrong with the allocation of the milk of the word, but we will remain unskillful if we limit ourselves to its usage. This is similar to the natural where a child cannot continue to feed on milk all his life; the feeding of a child must be upgraded to a more solid meal to ensure an appropriate growth of the child. There is a provision in the Spirit that can make us skillful and give us mastery of righteousness – the meat of the Word.
“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called…” (Eph. 4:1). We have been called into a vocation by our Father and it is a vocation of learning Him and becoming like Him. Through these teachings, God is bringing us back to a life that is not dependent on the intellectualism that man has lived by.
“For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Hab. 2:14). Righteousness must reign on earth, and this means that sin will be defeated. We do not have to know how it is going to happen before we believe that it will happen.
We cannot become righteous or come to the full age in Christ if we do not have mastery in the usage of the Word of Righteousness. “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Heb. 5:14). God's desire is for us to come into the full age in Christ so that we can have capacity to use the strong meat of the Word.
Spiritual discernment is a function of the spiritual faculty or senses. Every life has a particular faculty that sustains it. The life of the natural man is sustained by his five (natural) senses, while the life of a spiritual man is sustained by his spiritual senses. When we try to understand the Bible with the faculty of our (unredeemed) soul or with our unrenewed mind, we are often cut off from the understanding from our spirits where the Holy Spirit dwells. Without that faculty of the (regenerated) spirit, we cannot know what is good or evil. Discernment of good and evil is not what our minds can tells us. Rather, it is a factor of the operation of our regenerated spirits. Until we have mastery in the Word of righteousness, we cannot discern evil.
Our judgement of evil often comes from our carnal mind, and this make our judgements incorrect. “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor. 2:14). The good things of God can only be known through spiritual discernment. We are granted access to live the Edenic life when our senses have been exercised to discern between good and evil (Heb. 5:14).
There are different shades of life. We can live a life that is not physically/morally wrong, yet may still be filthy in the sight of God. There are those who do iniquity, those who are transgressors and those who are sensual. These are different degrees of the life of the flesh.
God’s issue with man is not (primarily) with his will or emotions but the life that is operational in these faculties. The life of the flesh has been judged and condemned; so anyone who lives according to the dictates of the flesh is condemned already. We must know that it is possible to live by the Spirit; and this is one of the blessings of the Word of Righteousness.
We must never at any point despise the light that our fathers in the faith have walked by, just because we have received mercy to access a greater light. One of the reasons we enjoy this dispensation of light is because of the labour of these fathers.
The doctrine in the milk of the Word does not make anyone a son because of the limited measure of righteousness that it can work out in a soul; just as the natural birth does not qualify one as a son, until the child is raised in accordance with the standards of his father.
“For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” (1 Cor. 4:15). This shows us that it is possible for a man to have many teachers who are not necessarily his father. The truth is that you do not choose who your father is. Your father is who you give attention to in Word and doctrine. Choosing not to submit to your spiritual father is at your own detriment. Paul had fathered the Corinthian church by the reason of his labour over them in Word and doctrine. God gave us fathers so that we can become sons. Whosoever has not been fathered cannot be a father to another.
The summary of the gospel is that it holds promises that can bless a soul (Heb. 8:6). Whosoever takes heed to the gospel through consistent hearing and obedience will come to the place of the blessed promise of Life. The gospel gets a man out of the place of sin, which is a comfortable zone for the soul; and takes the man to the place where he can be blessed. The measure to which you obey the gospel is the measure to which you will be blessed by it.
The gospel introduces us to the realm of the spirit where the provisions of God are resident, so that we can become partakers of those provisions. The gospel will introduce a man to a spiritual journey of faith; just like Abraham journeyed by faith, not knowing where he was going (Heb. 11:8). The journey of the gospel is an operation of faith. We follow the Lord even though we do not know where we are going. It is through this journey that we would arrive at the blessing.
It is the same calling that was upon our father Abraham that is upon every believer. “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” (2 Cor. 6:17). We cannot be received until we come out of flesh. The gospel calls us out of the filthiness of the flesh life so that we can be received into the life of Christ. The blessing of the gospel is that God will be our Father, and we will be His sons and daughters (2 Cor. 6:16). As we obey the teaching of Christ, we will be led into sonship (Romans 8:14).
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