Eternal Glorious Fountain Ministry (EGFM)
Meeting: School of the Spirit (SOS)
Date: Thursday, 24th February 2022
Minister: Rev. Kayode Oyegoke
Text: Hebrews 2:1-11
“For both He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren,” (Heb. 2:11). It is not every believer that Jesus will refer to as brethren. The brethren here are those who are able to receive what Jesus is about to declare to them. “Saying, I will declare Thy name unto My brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto Thee” (Heb. 2:12). These brethren are those who are worthy of hearing the declaration of the Father’s name. They are the ones to whom Jesus will communicate who the Father is.
The Father’s name holds the explanation of who the Father is. No one can make covenant with God without knowing who the Father is. It is not every believer that God can teach His name. It is not every believer that is worthy of learning who the Father is. While praying, Jesus hallowed the name of the Father because He knew the name. Many believers do not yet know the name (of the Father) that they claim to hallow when they say the Lord’s prayer. Jesus knew that His disciples did not even know how to hallow the name; so He only made them recite the prayer.
The key to prayer is the revelation of the Father’s name. The key to prayer is calling on the name of our Father. So it is important to know His name. Jesus knew how hallowed the name of the Father is. Jesus would always command heaven’s attention every time He prays because He knew the Father. The Father declared Himself to Jesus. God hears our prayers at different levels, especially when we were ignorant of the doctrine of Christ. However, the kind of prayer in Matthew 6 is a high-level prayer.
A man will not be known to the Father or the Father will not be known by a man if His name is not declared to the man. A believer can do many works in the name of Jesus, and yet Jesus does not know him. “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matt. 7:22-23).
Some people refer to these people as false prophets who camouflage as Christians, but that is not true. These are people who are born again, filled with the Holy Ghost but did nothing about their entrance into the Kingdom. They were not interested in entering the Kingdom. There are works or manifestations that a believer can do without having or knowing the Person of Jesus. A man can use the name of Jesus without knowing Him.
There is a provision for that in the New Testament, where you don’t need to know the person of Jesus in order to use His name. It’s possible that these people refused the revelation of the Person of Jesus. It was preached to them, but they rejected the order of His person and rather clinged to the words that gave them fame. This is why Jesus was angry, saying “you only used me for yourself”. Jesus reacted and spoke roughly to them, saying, “depart from me, I do not know you”.
A believer or minister can veil the person of Jesus with his actions. A minister, by his action, may never allow Jesus to be known. A minister can use the pulpit to exalt himself while still mentioning the name of Jesus. A minister of the gospel must have a willingness or desire to exalt Jesus. Many ministers have the fire for preaching, but God knows that their fire is not pure. A minister can use the name of Jesus for wonderful works and refuse to reveal the person of Jesus. It’s iniquity. Some ministers are in ministry just to be popular.
“Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.” (Heb. 2:12). These brethren were brought into this honour of the prophetic statement of Jesus. These brethren are the one who will eventually become the Church of the Firstborn (Heb. 12:22-23). So Jesus has His own Church, they are the ones who are written in heaven.
Jesus said, “Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20). Those who are written in heaven will form the body of the Church of the first begotten of the dead. Then Jesus showed us how to be written in heaven. “In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in Thy sight. All things are delivered to Me of My Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him.” (Luke 10:21-22). A man’s name can never be written in heaven except through the things that God hid from the wise and the prudent. The word “babes” here does not refer to baby Christians but to the quality of those to whom Jesus can teach things that are hid from the wise and prudent.
Initially, Jesus beheld Satan as lightning falling from heaven (Luke 10:18). This statement has not yet occurred, but Jesus saw ahead that it will happen. Satan is the one who will oppose men that should be written in heaven. So until a Church fulfils her heavenly cause, Satan will not fall from the air. Satan does not want anyone to bear heavenly resemblance, or to be written in heaven. It will take two revelations (the Son and the Father) to fulfil all the heavenly requirements of being written in heaven. To be written in heaven is in stages because heavens are in degrees. It’s not exactly the height of these present heavens that Jesus wants us to be written in, but a heaven higher than the present.
“Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus…” (Heb. 3:1). These are the people Jesus is not ashamed to call His brethren. At this stage, these brethren were about to be brought into being begotten into the Church of the Firstborn. However, they were already seen by Jesus and the Father as begotten. Paul referred to these brethren as “holy” because they have gone through the process of sanctification (Heb. 2:11). They have gained oneness with the Christ, this is because the ingredient used for their sanctification came from Him, or it was of Him. It was the Christ of our Lord Jesus that made these brethren holy.
The word “sanctified” means “separated by the gospel of Christ”. A sanctified brother is a priest. A priest is not just a believer who has forsaken obvious bad habits, but one who has been separated from the world by the gospel of Christ. Sanctification is the demand placed on a man who has come into the Holy Place. So a believer is not yet sanctified until he finishes his course in the Holy Place. Sanctification will help believers to attain a honour where Jesus is not ashamed to call them “His brethren”.
This is not to say that the Church or the body of Christ does not belong to Jesus. Rather, this is referring to experiences in the person who saved us and called us with His holy calling. This is because Jesus can call us (who are born again) unto holiness and we may not answer Him. This holiness has been preached in a measure or at a level, by teachings that focus on restraint from obvious offences. Those are necessary requirements in the Christian faith; however, they are not enough. Holiness is in degrees. It is only in the Holy Place that we can be taught on how to be separated from the world in detail and fully.
School of the Spirit is a school of separation, where Nazarenes are raised. A Nazarene is he who can learn how not to touch the unclean. Those Old Testament patterns or types of separation are a figure of the spiritual. You need to learn the difference between things that are clean (holy) and those that are not (unholy). To be separate is to be holy. So the word “clean” is higher than the word “holy”.
The lesson of touching not the unclean is a higher lesson than being separate; it’s a higher dimension of holiness required by God (2 Cor. 6:16-17). God used the Hebrew Church to teach us the mannerism of graduating from the holy dimension of the Lord to the holiness of God. Sanctification includes separation and learning the attitude of discernment of what is unclean and how to avoid it. The impression behind the phrase “unclean thing” is that it is something that is commonly used by everyone, and a man cannot be free from this until he comes into the Holy Place. This is where we can get the light that teaches how not to touch the unclean.
Discernment of the unclean is the beginning of the lesson of idols; there are idols even in the Most Holy Place. These idols in the Most Holy Place are called elohims; but they are not our God. This is why the being we have been called to know is called the only true God (1 Jn. 5:20). There are other gods that are not our God, so also there are other lords that are not our Lord. The unclean thing that believers will learn how not to touch are lords; they are lords of the lusts of this world. Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, Pride of life are lords in the world (1 John 2:15-16). They are in graduation.
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world…” (Titus 2:11-12). Ungodliness is very great. A righteous man is one who is no longer worldly; while a godly man is one who is no longer ungodly. These two things (worldliness and ungodliness) are idols (of Satan’s lordship). They are all lords and it can only take the lordship power of God to be free from them.
There are two realms of separation: Lord and God. There are idols in conflict with the revelation of our Lord and those in conflict against the revelation of our God. Idols against the revelation of our Lord are those that Apostle Paul referred to as the unclean (2 Corin. 6:16-18). There are worldly idols and ungodly idols. Ungodliness is a stronger lust than worldly lusts. Ungodliness is the head of the monster called this world. Ungodliness is the crown of the world. Another word for ungodliness is the peace of this world.
“According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue:” (2 Pet. 1:3). Paul was a foremost teacher of godliness; he taught until godliness was fully revealed. The law of godliness is Charity. Charity is what enables Christ-life to be sown in peace: it is the end of the commandment of Christ (1 Tim. 1:5). Charity is not just the picture of loving the brethren. If a man is not able to attain peace with God, he cannot stay with Charity. If you are unable to use the commandment of Charity, you will not be a peacemaker (Matt. 5:9).
“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” (Hebrews 12:14). Being at peace with all men goes beyond not being quarrelsome with men. One must have engaged the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ that would end up imparting Life and Peace in a soul. The law of godliness is Charity; this is when a believer will press into being godly.
The picture of Charity seats right at the centre of peace; peace is the centre of godliness. To be at peace is to be godly. To be godly is to be content. Godliness with contentment is a great gain (1Tim. 6:6). It means that a man at peace is not seeking anything but the things of the Most Holy Place.
A peace man is one who has won the war of denying or overcoming the world. A man of peace has worn the crown of victory over the world by engaging the faith in Christ overtime (1 Jn. 5:4). Jesus had to overcome the world before He started His journey in everlasting life. If a man does not overcome the world, the prince of this world will not come to him. The prince of this world came to Jesus because he was surprised that Jesus denied what he had sold to every man. However, Satan found nothing in Jesus (John 14:30).
Peace is the prerequisite or the last covenant of a priest. The major first covenant of a priest is life and the last is peace (Mal. 2:5). Those who have prospered with the law of life will eventually go into obeying the law of peace. These are the laws in Christ Jesus and they are not without contentions. These contentions are idols and only sanctification can get rid of idolatry.
What precedes God is the Lord. However, there are different levels even in Lordship. “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6). The Lordship of life (or righteousness) is lower than the lordship of peace. Our Lord Jesus was first a King of righteousness, then a King of peace and finally the Priest of the Most High God (Heb. 7:1-3).
There are also wars that a man of peace must wage in the Most Holy Place. Such is the war in the promised land against giants. The enemies in the promised land are giants and men of great stature, some of them have six toes and fingers (Numb. 13:12).
Paul did not say that he was not ashamed of the gospel of God, but the gospel of Christ. The gospel of Christ is the power of God unto God or salvation (Rom. 1:16). The gospel of Christ is the gospel of the Lord while the gospel of God is the gospel of salvation (Romans 1:1).
“And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:15). “Holy scriptures” here refers to the scriptures that will deliver the holiness of Christ or the separations in Christ Jesus to a man. They are God’s collation of thoughts that will make a man wise or holy unto salvation. Romans 1:16 said the same thing in another form. So the power of God in Romans 1:16 is the same as the wisdom of God. According to 1 Corinthians 1:24, Christ is the wisdom and power of God. Wisdom and power are the same.
The gospel of Christ is the wisdom and power of God unto salvation. “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30). It means that to be Christ is to be wise unto redemption. A man who has become wise unto redemption is he who has the power of salvation or one who can be saved. A redeemed man is a godly man. A godly man is a man who is seamlessly expressing the life of redemption. Charity is not just a passion we have for our brethren; it is a life expression in the Holy Place.
“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up” (1 Cor. 13:4). A man who envies will eventually vaunt. We should get to a place where we will not feel inferior when our brother or sister is being used by God in some ways. The fact that your brother is speaking higher revelation than you does not mean that he is higher than you spiritually.
The era of knowledge can be dangerous. Satan can use knowledge to tempt a man; but he cannot use a thing like long suffering to tempt a man. Knowledge puffs a man up, but Charity edifies. This is why we have to “add to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.” (2 Pet. 1:6-7). This tells us that Charity is a bond of many things of the new man.
“Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;” (1 Cor. 13:5). Ethics are ingrained in protocols. Protocols are some righteousness; they are not holiness. This is what scriptures mean by not behaving unseemly. Thinking no evil goes beyond not saying or thinking evil against your brother because there are ways that our souls have been wired with evil thoughts patterns.
“Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” (1 Corin. 13:7). If we limit the meaning of Charity to a man’s relationship with his brother alone, we will short-change ourselves. A husband should believe his wife, and a wife should do likewise.
The adversary is a master who paints disbelief in our hearts, so that we will not believe in our brother. Whosoever cannot believe his brother is not spiritually healthy. Many times, the reason why we cannot believe in our brother is because we feel we are higher or better than them. Anger often stems from a wrong position of righteousness that we have taken. It is easy for someone who is upright to fall into anger.
The secret of Charity is not the passion to love your brother, but counting yourself as a man of no reputation (Philip. 2:7). The secret of Charity is to not count yourself to be better than your brother. Husband should not count himself better than his wife. The moment a wife feels holier or better than her husband, Satan has crept into that family. We have failed in Charity the day we begin to see ourselves better than our brother.
Brethren will last together and become everlasting if they keep the law of the Godhead. This law has to do with not seeing or seeking your own. A brother should talk highly of the other, seek the things of other and not his own (Philip. 2:3-4). The Father does not talk about Himself, He speaks of others in the Godhead (John 16:15). The nature of Charity is elevated even in eternity.
“Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” (1 Corin. 13:7). These are the characters of Charity for transition into everlasting life, because the next level is that of “all things” of everlasting life. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation…” (2 Corin. 5:17-18). There are “all things” that are new and there are “all things” that are of God. If a man is unable to endure, hope, bear all things of Christ, he will not be able to bear all things of God. One of the characteristics of salvation is the ability to endure to then end (Matt. 24:13). Charity is the training for the next level of God.
“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” (1 Corin. 13:12-13). The season of “now” precedes the season of “then”. In the season of “now”, the three things that abides are faith, hope and Charity. Charity is the greatest of the three because it is the excellent way to the season of “then”. The season of “then” is the season of God or of everlasting life.
A truly godly man is content, and this contentment is both spiritual and natural. A contented man is not lacking, he is not cheated of God. The sin of Lucifer was that he was not content, he felt cheated by God. Charity does not leave the vacuum of incompleteness in the soul. Rather, you will be entire, lacking nothing (James 1:4).
You must be entire, lacking nothing to go into the perfect law of liberty (James 1:25). If you go into everlasting life without becoming entire and lacking nothing, you will use your wrath to work out the righteousness of God.
“But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” (James 1:4). A man who does not want anything has great contentment in his soul. Even when Satan tempts us to be covetous of spiritual things, we should not give in. It’s a lie, it’s carnal. What Satan coveted in the beginning was Eternity, it was not a carnal crave.
Satan felt he can also become eternal. Michael does not feel that need because God has made him complete. A man should come to a place where is okay with the finished work of God in his soul. If not, such will carry the satanic drive of not being content into eternity.
It is in the season of Charity that we begin to learn how to hate certain things. It is in the training of bearing and enduring all things that we develop the character that can take the doctrine of God. The nature of Charity is a background nature for taking oath with God. If you cannot believe all things of your brother, you will not be able to believe all things of God.
We need to believe to deal with Satan. Believing all things of Christ leads to believing in the Son. A Christian who cannot believe all things of the new man will be unable to believe in the gospel of the Son of God, for everlasting life.