Eternal Glorious Fountain Ministry (EGFM)
Programme: Believers’ Convention 2024 (Day 5 - Evening Session)
Date: Thursday, 22nd August, 2024
Minister: Pastor Kayode Afolabi
Topic: Being Raised above the Elements of this World
Transcript Excerpt
“And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” (1 John 5:20). The coming of the Son of God is to give us an understanding. We cannot access the very promises of God without comprehension: without knowing what they are and what they are for. One terrible thing that the enemy has done to believers is to limit our understanding. A man who is without understanding is like the beast of the field that perishes (Psa. 49:20). This means that although a man can be in honour in terms of his destiny and position in the spirit, he is like the beast that perishes if he does not have understanding or comprehension about it.
To perish is not to be useful to God. The coming of the Son of God is to bring certain understanding (1 John 5:20). This understanding is an understanding of a Person that is true. We need this understanding in order to come into Eternal Life. “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” (2 Pet. 1:16). This describes the experience on the mountain of transfiguration. The teachings that the life which is being communicated and dispensed to us is founded on were not fables or stories because the apostles were eye-witnesses of His majesty. These apostles were able to witness, that is, they were able to bear record and represent His majesty.
“For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. [18] And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. [19] We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts…” (2 Peter 1:17-19). The coming of the Lord which the apostle described here is beyond what they witnessed on the mount. When they witnessed on the mount, they said to the Lord, “Let us build tabernacles here; one for Him, Moses and Elijah” (Matt. 17:4). But what the apostle is saying here is beyond the experience, that is, the witness of His majesty was beyond that experience. At that moment on the mount, it was just about the experience for them, but the Lord in His mercy raised the apostles to become witnesses of His majesty.
There is a more sure word of prophecy, and this more sure word of prophecy is about the intention of God. Titus 1:2 says “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began…” Therefore, when God promised this, it was the content of the prophecy. That is the “more sure word of prophecy” (2 Peter 1:19), and the content of it goes beyond what we become on earth or anything we can describe as the manifestation of the sons of God. The more sure word of prophecy has to do with functioning with God eternally. But we can not develop the ability to live forever without certain meats. All of these things are in meats and meals. And one of the things that the enemy does is to make sure that we are not interested in meals, but it is these meats that will bring us into the understanding of those prophecies.
In 2 Peter 3:9-12, the apostle describes elements that will be dissolved. Then another scripture talked about men subject to bondage of elements (Gal. 4:3). What controls our thinking and understanding are made possible because we live our lives without certain understanding. Meanwhile the things that frame this world and what we desire are of a superior element than the current state of man.
“But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. [3] Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world…” (Gal. 4:2-3). Without certain growth, we cannot grow above these elements, and if we do not grow above it, we cannot receive the things that will make us the kind of people that can rule in the ages to come. So, the enemy comes to distract us. And one of his principal warfare tools is philosophies of this world/rudiments of this world/traditions of men. He brings these things, and the Bible says these things spoil us (Col. 2:8). They spoil man, so they can spoil us, even though one is a christian. Even as a pastor, it can spoil you when you live by them.
We learnt these philosophies and vain deceit, so also, we learn what will bring us above them. These philosophies have their own material and they are part of the elements that will be burnt up. So anyone whose hope is in them will be burnt with these things. When the scripture describes that elements will be burnt, we should not just think that houses will collapse because houses already collapse with natural disasters like earthquakes. Instead, it is the things that frame this world, that rules this world — the understanding that gives Satan the power to stay in the air that will be burnt up. But in the day of the coming of the Son of God, They are going to give certain meats to people to be able to grow above the elements.
We must be able to shun these things. Apostle Paul said there was a time the Ephesians walked according to the course of this world and the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2); the spirits in the air are the ones that frame these understanding. They framed it so much that the things they framed have become our prayer requests. They have become the things that we are looking for. Even though these things are stress, we want the stress. We pray for it, we desire it. We envy each other because someone has got better stress. Someone once said that in a rat race, the person who wins is still a rat. So when we live according to this mindset, we are limited.
The declaration, what the Son has brought, is His Father. He has come to declare His Father and His God, and it is this message that will raise us above the elements. What the coming of the Son of God will do is to deal with things in us.
Everything that has been addressed in this convention are not things that the world reckons with; they are the materialities of our own elements and the materialities that will frame us. The materialities that frame this world are envy, jealousy, malice, lust, dishonesty of the heart and the likes; and those who have used the world the most have these things intact in them. But the materialities of our Lord are what are being discussed here: longsuffering, forbearance, brotherly kindness. In correcting, if the Lord permits it, it must be done with kindness. They want to wire us, this is why the gospel is foolishness to the greatest of men on earth, but the greatest of men on earth are still subject to the elements of this world. So the coming of the Son of God will bring meals to us: it will bring understanding to us.
And in receiving the Son of God, God wants to firstly change our orientation to know that the coming of the Son of God is not just to wait for rapture. This is because if one has this mindset, he would not do anything. He would just be going to church expecting rapture, which is not so. The coming of the Son will bring an understanding that will raise the stature of the Son in us. This stature will deal with the elements of hell and death so that we can function eternally. Scriptures talk about priests not being able to continue because of death (Heb. 7:23). God's intention is that man continues eternally.
“But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. [25] Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” (Heb. 7:24-25). The Lord's intercession is the giving of things — meat. This meat removes infirmities in us - they deal with the things that limit us from growth and access.
Blessings!