Date: Friday, 13th August 2021
Ministering: Pastor Tayo Ladejo
Perfection is a journey back to God through our conformity to the full stature of Christ (Eph. 4:13). The operation of the fivefold ministry is to make us well rounded. While growing up, certain things affect our upbringing; this is why God uses the fivefold ministry to completely furnish us. God has provided them as spiritual equipment to sort out all the loopholes on our journey to the perfect man (Eph. 4:13). Our destination is the person of the glorified Christ – the Son of God. He is the embodiment of Eden; and that is where we are headed. The journey begins and ends with Him. He is our redemption and our hallmark of salvation. He is our righteousness and our all in all.
God is seeking for a place to lay His head. God is making a habitation from where He would initiate the reconciliation of all things. His desire is that our spirit, soul and body become His habitation, where He can fully be domiciled.
Eden is synonymous to preparation; it is not an end in itself but the means to an end; for the purpose of attaining perfection. To become like the Son of God in all things, we must go through this means. Our lives must capture the works of the Father. At different stages of our walk, God is doing a work in our souls. We have once thought of the works of God as the signs that follow us when we believe; but this is not true (Mark 16:17). It is true that we would do the works that Jesus did and also use spiritual gifts; but we must however be preoccupied only with greater works (John 14:12).
Greater works are not the manifestation of gifts. The gifts only come upon us to carry out a kind of work. Manifestation gifts are to serve as a witness to man; while the ministry gifts are for the equipping of saints. We are meant to generate fruits for God. Bearing fruits is doing His pleasure (will). Going to the Father would allow us to do greater works. We must first believe Christ for the works, and also believe that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him; which would generate another kind of work (John 4:9-12). Jesus wants us to focus on the works that change us internally and build in us a heavenly habitation; so that we can become God's temple and bear fruit after His kind. After this, oneness with God will be achieved.
There is a mystery that was not revealed in the first Eden, which would be made manifest to us (Col. 1:26). When this happens, we would know the riches of His glory. A generation would arise, because it is given unto them to enter the mysteries of the Kingdom (Luke 8:10). The purpose of the mystery is to bring us to full age in the spirit; that is, to make us perfect (teleos, in Greek). The mystery is not a function of insight. There is a difference between insight and sight. Insight is supposed to grant awareness and understanding. It is supposed to open our first eyes of the spirit so that we can see and appreciate what is attainable in God. When the first eye is opened, we need to act on the word, believe and appropriate the word; so that we may afterwards have secondary sight, which is called understanding.
Understanding is different from knowledge. Heaven determines those who have understanding. In gatherings like this, what we are receiving is knowledge. It is by our commitment to the Word after we have heard that understanding begins to dawn on us. We must seek secondary illumination. Understanding does not happen without diligence; and without understanding, there is no access and we cannot bear fruit.
Trials of faith and adversity are designed by God for our spiritual transformation, and for the formation of Christ in us. God requires trials and adversity to expose our imperfections and strip us of our idols. Trials and tribulations are designed to rid us of iniquity. All of us have idols of different shapes and sizes. Most of these idols are not ugly at all, or awful; instead, they are sophisticated, seductive, fascinating and desirable. Anything that contravenes our devotion to the pleasure of God is an idol. These idols are pitfalls designed to derail us from getting to our destination. They contend with the will of God for our lives.
We would not enter His rest until our souls are purged of iniquity. Iniquity is not necessarily blatant sins and wrongdoings such as fornication, adultery, stealing. Instead, iniquity is a hidden monster within our members. To put an end to the remembrance of our sins and iniquity, God is going to put His Word in our minds (Heb. 8:10-12). It is the Word that would brighten our countenance so that we can see; and the purpose of this is to further write it in our hearts. Until it is written in our hearts, conversion cannot occur. The writing must become a permanent mark in us for us to become an embodiment of the law of God.
Knowing the Lord is neither a sensual nor intellectual knowledge; instead, it is an intimacy that translates into knowing God's intent and entirety. The sure mercies of David is never administered without knowledge. Knowledge incorporates us into the Godhead. God wants us to share in Eternal Life.
Transgression is a violation of standards and rights. It is easy to transgress when we know the set standards and laws. Our lack of discernment leads to lawlessness. The young prophet was deceived because of his lack of discernment (1 Kings 13:18). We must be purged of lawlessness. Acts of iniquity are sometimes unintentional but often result from lack of discernment.
Gifts are not the litmus test for intimacy. Our recognition before God is not based on our manifestation of gifts (Matt. 7:21-23). We are supposed to manifest and use the gifts, but we must know that is not our profession and should not take that as our preoccupation. What must be our concern now is not to fall short in attainment of Life. We must be constantly exposed to the life of God.
The place of visitation is the place of endurance wherein we overcome temptations. Our trials may be fierce but God knows and sees everything; and the trials are working for our good. We must learn to count them all joy because, although distress is never pleasant, God still wants us to count it all joy. The word 'chara' means overflowing joy; the kind that demystifies distresses and pain. This joy is by the infilling of the Spirit; it is not a happiness that results from a natural circumstance.
We need to expose ourselves to the Word. Our vessels must be filled with water because out of the water is where wine would come from. We must keep filling our vessels with water until the miracle of wine happens (John 2:6-9). We must be like the Bereans in the scripture who "...searched the scriptures daily…" (Acts 17:11). By doing so, we would be well grounded.
As we hear the everlasting Word, we grow in discernment. True spiritual discernment is not a tool for discerning demons but for discerning iniquity. Iniquity is always concealed; hence, we need discernment to break through and demystify its works.
Although we still need milk, we are not meant to be solely dependent on it (Heb. 5:13). We often think we are full and okay with our level of hearing because we are ignorant. God wants us to be attentive, not sluggish. God does not want us to be like the ten spies (Num. 13:31); instead, God wants people that would dare Him like Caleb and Joshua. God wants us to be adventurous in the spirit, not overly afraid or lazy to receive the revelation of the Word because of the fear of error.
The reward of God is on the basis of works. The works of Everlasting Life go before Him, while the reward is with Him (Rev. 22:12). Work is done in patience and it brings about a change in the heart. It takes a changed heart to retain Everlasting Life; therefore, we must experience a conversion of heart. The purpose of Everlasting Life is to change our nature within.
Our goal is to eat of the Tree of Life. Everlasting Life must first be worked out in us for us to imbibe the divine nature. That is the requirement to come into fullness. The ultimate promise is Immortality; and to get there, we must first come into incorruption. Therefore, we must receive the incorruptible Word.
God wants our conversion to be ongoing and sustained. He wants to raise His tabernacle among men, and He is gradually making us into His abode (Rev. 21:3). The purpose of His work is to first dismantle every structure that contradicts Eden in us. Our inner construction must come into alignment with the will of God.
God is the one who spells out the season of His dealing. There is a certain work that must be done in us for us to receive sealing; and every season contains works that must be completed in us. This is so that we can ultimately receive the sealing. Jesus, at the river of Jordan (Matt. 3:17), completed a course that He had been on for about thirty years; and received a dimension of sealing. Three years later, He received another sealing at a different level. Finally, after His death and resurrection, He experienced a greater sealing; and this sealing is what we are pressing into ultimately (Psa. 2:7-8). God wants to give us keys (Matt. 16:18). Keys allow us to access that which is obtainable only in the heavens.