Eternal Glorious Fountain Ministry (EGFM)
Programme: Believers’ Convention 2023 (Day 5 - Evening Session)
Date: Thursday, 10th August 2023
Minister: Reverend Kayode Oyegoke
Transcript Excerpt
“But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. [19] Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; [20] And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you.” (Acts 3:18-20). There is still a need for repentance after one gets born again. At the New Birth, repentance takes place in a measure, but there is still much more repentance to be done after the New Birth. One must have been sealed by the Holy Ghost before such can develop the stature for repentance.
The demand of repentance is an undertaking of a turning towards a change of lifestyle. Repentance is not just the dropping of obvious wrong habits, but the alteration of the life of a man. A man who is not submitting his manner of conversation (lifestyle) is not repenting. Repentance here is an admittance of another way against our own way. God does not deal with the wrong ways in spiritual babes and children immediately; rather, He nurtures them until they attain stature to a level. The milk of the word, to a degree, does not alter ways in a soul but prepares the soul for a season where it can learn the ways of God.
The Holy Ghost is the Being that administers the milk of the word. Some spiritual children quickly mature out of the hand of the Holy Ghost while some stay longer. There are some who get weaned from the milk of the word easily while others do not.
“And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. [26] And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.” (Matt. 14:25-26). Water (the sea) here signifies this world. This world has created systems that a man must obey to survive on the earth. Evil spirits make it difficult for a man to live on the earth without an aid or a dependance on the worldly system. The aid is what informs the life and conversation expressed by men upon the earth.
Peter was able to get out of the boat but was unable to continue on the water because he did not have the doctrine that would keep him consistent on water (Matt. 14:28-30). Peter was the only disciple that attempted to walk because the other disciples did not have the same measure of faith despite hearing the same word. To walk by faith is to walk on earth without trusting the help that man can render. Men fear because they do not believe that it is possible to survive on the earth without an aid. This does not mean that we should not work at all, but our work should not be our strength, rather, the Lord should be our strength and our help.
“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3:19). It is by the learning of Christ that our sins are blotted out. When we become converted and our sins are blotted out, we become children that can enter the kingdom of Christ. There are two kingdoms in the Kingdom of God: Christ and God. One cannot enter the kingdom of Christ without being converted into children fit for entrance. There is no entrance into any Kingdom without the forgiveness of sin and conversion from being full of the world’s wisdom into being a child. One who is an adult in the world cannot enter the Kingdom. An adult in the world is a babe in Christ.
In God, we should be mature but, in the world, we should be children. “Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.” (1 Cor. 14:20). A child in the Holy Ghost has a reduced age in this world. Age is a representation of how much wisdom one has to survive on earth. One who has an abundance of the wisdom of the adversary is a man in the world. As such, there is a need for God to reduce the age of such a man and raise him as a child in the spirit, where Satan does not have access to him as much as before.
The kingdom of Christ does not completely remove all our age in this world. There is an age called ‘sin’ and there is another called ‘iniquity’. The age of iniquity is the most difficult age to deal with. These ages are lifestyle and not just habits. Habits can be dealt with while ages (sins) are still intact. Many times, our definition of sin is based on the world’s definition. What many believers know as sins are obvious works of the flesh, which unbelievers also know are wrong (Gal. 5:19-21). We may have some form of outward holiness but there is something that binds us to Satan – the ability to live in this world and not trust God completely. This is a sin against faith, and faith is life.
After our sins are blotted out, times of refreshing ought to come from the presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19). As such, the next level after our conversion into being children is the ministration of God’s presence. It takes a kind of formation to be admitted into the presence of God. It is one whose sins have been blotted out that would be administered into God’s presence. Power is required to blot out sins for a man to enter presence. The comings of the Lord Jesus are calibrated in the times of refreshing.
“[20] And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: [21] Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” (Acts 3:19-21). This event occurred a few months after Pentecost. Times of refreshing will not just occur because there is something that ought to trigger it which is the first covenant. The first covenant is Christ. If the New Testament is in the blood of Jesus, it means Jesus took it from His blood and gave it to His disciples. This meant that after He was to ascend, the disciples were meant to engage the New Testament in His blood (Luke 22:20). The New Testament is a blood portion.
“And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; [28] For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matt. 26:27-28). Another word for remission is to blot out. The first act that day was to remit sins to bring the season of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. When refreshing comes, there is a deposit of presence. Refreshing precedes the coming of Jesus Christ (Acts 3:19-21). To refresh is to bring something fresh.
Jesus knew that the disciples could not handle more than the New Testament as at that time. He then began to prepare the disciples to enter into covenants. Christ is the first covenant. The blood was shed for many, not for all. This means that not everybody will be interested in this cup. It is meant for all, but not all would take it at once. The soul of a believer does not become new until it takes this new covenant. When we have used the blood, there is still a need for a refreshing of the wine.
“Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” (Mark 14:25). In the season of the kingdom of God, the communion is served again at a higher level. It means that one must have been drinking of the cup before to drink it new in the Kingdom of God. One must have been used to the cup, then it would be made new again. This is refreshing. To make it new is to bring one to a higher experience in God. The cup of Christ is new because we had never drunk anything like that. After a time, it is no longer new because it has been revealed and we have used it for a while. Then it is made new again in the kingdom of God.
There is the kingdom of Christ and of God (Eph. 5:5). There is a difference between bread and wine. Wine is higher than bread. Bread typifies a measure or dimension of strength, but the fullness of strength is deposited in wine (Psa. 104:15). Bread is knowledge while wine is spirit. We need to eat bread to acquire the strength to drink wine. If we are not strong, we would not drink wine. Blood is the strength that runs the life of any dominion, so there is no dominion outside blood.
“And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; [30] That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Luke 22:29-30). Jesus first appointed the kingdom of Christ to them. Without the communion, it would not have been possible to do this. The holy communion is not primarily for healing physical diseases, but for dealing with the laws of darkness in the soul. The blotting out of sins is what births the first covenant so that times of refreshing can come to us. After this, Jesus Christ will be sent (Acts 3:19-20). Jesus Christ has to be preached to us before He can be sent. Before Jesus can be sent, sin and death should be no more, for they should have been blotted out.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. [2] For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Rom. 8:1-2). It is the Holy Ghost who is responsible for blotting out sins. The Holy Ghost first makes us children then by the instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ, makes us Christ. Jesus the Lord does not need to be present when Christs are being made, for it is the activity of the Holy Ghost.
The Holy Ghost listens to Jesus. Jesus as a man has gotten to a place that no other person can. He is the only one that can talk to the Holy Ghost. There is no level of spiritual growth that a man can come into that would give him the authority to talk to the Holy Ghost, for only Jesus as the Head of the Church has this authority. We can have the image of Jesus, but we cannot have the measure of His anointing. This should make us humble that in the world to come, we will still be under Him.
There is no way we would come into the image of Jesus and be proud. That is why any tendency to turn must have been dealt with before we can put on eternal glory. The only person that can bring us into the place where we can no longer sin is Jesus Christ, but we need to come into God’s presence for that to happen. High level sins cannot be blotted out without God’s presence. Satan is an angel of the presence of God, so iniquity was committed in God’s presence. Satan committed iniquity from the beginning; this beginning is presence. Therefore, presence must be restored for iniquity to be dealt with. Presence is the domain where the light of God reigns. This is the realm where we can say that God is the message (1 John 1:5).
“But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, [23] To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, [24] And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” (Heb. 12:22-24). There is a church of the firstborn which is written in heaven. As we are being written in heaven, we are being made part of the church of the firstborn. The purpose of the giving of heavenly things is to make us part of the church of the firstborn. The new covenant here is not the Christ covenant, rather, it is the covenant of God for the kingdom of God.
Jesus mediates for iniquity to be taken away so that we can be made righteous. Jesus was made sin for us; He was made the sin in the presence (2 Cor. 5:21). This is because the person who died on the cross was not just Christ, but the Son of God. He was made sin so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
Anyone whose sin has been blotted out is ready for the times of refreshing which would bring the presence of the Lord. The essence of the times of refreshing is to prepare the church to receive the appearing of the Lord. The Lord always appears in the Sanctuary first. The reason Jesus was raised from the dead and was made to sit at the right hand of the Majesty on high is to help men cross from the Holy Place into the Most Holy Place (Heb. 1:3).
“Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. [18] I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” (John 14:17-18). The Holy Ghost would train us on how to detect the presence of the Lord, for the ministry of the New Testament cannot be administered without the Lord’s appearance. The Holy Ghost alone cannot do it; He needs Jesus. Jesus cannot leave the Father without the Father’s permission. One may see Jesus in a vision, but Jesus may not have come to such a person. If ministers who are sensitive to Jesus are not raised, we would minister without Him. The Holy Ghost would not take away iniquity without the presence and authentication of Jesus because it is Jesus’ ministry to deal with what Satan has done (1 John 3:8).
We need Jesus to remove iniquity from sons of faith because they can still turn. It was in presence that Cain began to sin (Gen. 4:16). Satan is not going to enforce the seed of iniquity until a man has come into presence. Satan’s seed grows in presence, so he waits for a man to come into presence. What was supervising the growth of the seed in the garden was presence; that was why he planted his tree beside it (Gen. 2:9).
The more you know God, the more you are able discern Satan. This is because the time of temptation is also the time of salvation. There can never be salvation without overcoming temptation. It took our Lord Jesus to pray for Peter not to fall into temptation; Jesus must have trapped enormous grace for Peter's name not to be blotted out (Luke 22:32).
The fullness of the covenant, that is, the second cup needs an appearance. The Holy Ghost supervises the first coming, but the second coming is under the supervision of our Lord Jesus. Jesus meets with men in the Sanctuary and takes them to the Most Holy Place to become partakers of the covenant. It is only a High Priest that can do this work of mediation. In presence, Satan is destroyed again. To destroy Satan, all his works must be destroyed, and this is the essence of the Son of God. Satan’s work in a man cannot be destroyed without the Son of God.
We must walk in the light as He is in the light (1 John 1:7). Light is presence and without presence, sin cannot be dealt with because sin was a commodity of presence. Satan was in presence, so he knows how to deceive men by disguising sin. It will only take presence to illuminate sin. This is why we need our Lord Jesus to give us understanding to see sin that is disguised as light. It is in presence that obedience would be carried out and then the sprinkling of the blood (1 Pet. 1:2). Obedience must take place first before the sprinkling of blood. As we obey, we access the provision of the blood that cleanses us from all sins.
“And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” (Heb. 12:24). The colour of iniquity is scarlet (blood) and that is what the beast wore (Rev. 17:3); he had become a full child of Satan. Satan was described as a red dragon (Rev. 12:3). These beings can only be judged by a Man whose garment has been dipped in blood, who comes from God's presence. He needs to appear to us to deal with sin and iniquity.
The Son must sow the incorruptible seed in those who would become His bride. This seed is the ministration of the spirit which comes by truth. Truth is the spirit that is in Jesus. Jesus is full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Satan planted his tree beside God's tree. The Spirit too, like a thief in the night, would plant a seed in man. The reason for presence is to stop the seed of Satan from growing, for it is only spirit that can remove spirit. That is why we need blood for cleansing. We need enough wisdom and life to make the seed of God in us grow and kill the seed of the serpent.
The reason for appearance is to deny our obedience to that other seed. Right now, iniquity is dormant in us because we do not have senses to operate it, but a time would come when we would know good and evil. It is when we know good and evil that the warfare with Satan starts. This is why God would not just allow every Christian to go through the process of sonship, for it is only for those who will be faithful and not turn.
“Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee” (Deut. 23:5). Balaam understood the laws of everlasting life, yet he turned. If the work of God is not through in us, we should not relax. May the Lord heal us from the love of money.
The first thing Jesus wants to plant in our womb is the first truth which is grace. Grace is a spirit. The entrance of truth in a soul will expose sin (1 John 1:8). After this grace has worked in a man and developed, it becomes truth. From truth, it becomes life. Truth is not just an information, it is a seed. The corruptible seed is from the serpent, which he carried from his bosom; it is his life. The serpent waits for the time when a man is alive enough to know how to operate with that seed; but the blood of Jesus is present to ensure a man does not love that life until that seed of the serpent dies.
Spirit is life, it is doctrine. To know spirit, one needs a special understanding. To understand is to comprehend. One who has come into comprehension can read spirits, read lines, and can move into measure; such a person can see grace and obey it. Grace becomes truth after it has been used. Jesus is not just full of knowledge, He is full of grace and truth (John 1:14).
Truth is a level of demand that is placed on a man. One who can love in truth is obeying what the truth is commanding because truth speaks (2 John 1:1-2). Without the truth of Christ, one cannot know the person of Christ. The reason men are not free is because they do not know truth yet (John 8:32). One may have knowledge of the scriptures but may not know the truth.
One who knows truth, knows life and knows God. Truth is the seat of God; it is where God is because God is truth. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth (John 16:13) and Jesus is the truth (John 14:6). Truth and grace are spirit. Grace is the ability to become truth. It means salvation is grace. There is a knowledge of salvation, but salvation itself is grace. Truths are installations of glory (1 Pet. 1:11). Both grace and truth are glory.
“Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.” (1 Pet. 1:12). When an angel looks at a man, it is not the amount of precept in the man that he is measuring, rather, he is looking for grace. Demons use graces that are fallen to tempt man. Fornication is a kind of grace from the devil. Grace surpasses prayer; we pray to get grace. Grace is a store of strength. Nothing delivers us from the law but grace.
“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ…” (1 Pet. 1:13). To gird up the loins of one’s mind is to increase the capacity of one’s loins to catch a higher truth. It is to upgrade it, thus, making it more sensitive and aware of what is coming. One who does not gird up the loins of his mind may lose the grace that is to come. Salvation is grace. When the grace of salvation comes, it would communicate salvation; thus, teaching a man how to be saved. The coming of our Lord Jesus is the bringing of grace to us.
Listen to Audio Here: The Benefit of the Appearance of the Lord
Blessings!