Eternal Glorious Fountain Ministry (EGFM)
Programme: Lekki Soul Center (LSC)
Date: Wednesday, 19th January 2022
Ministering: Rev. Mrs. Helen Oyegoke
God’s business is to give life and He gives it to men continuously. God is life, for He has life in Himself (John 5:26). He is so magnanimous that He wants to give man this same quality of life that He has in Himself.
The Father Quickens with Life
“For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.” (John 5: 21). The Father’s business is to raise the dead and to quicken them. The Son, like the Father, quickens the dead. To quicken is to give life. It is the Father’s original business to give life, but the Son has been authorized to give life also. The Father is a quickening Spirit, so also is the Son (1 Cor. 15:45, Rom. 4:17). It is the nature and character of the Father to quicken the dead.
“I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. [31] If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.” (John 5:30-31). Jesus was a hearer of the Father. He was so attentive to the Father that He did not do anything the Father had not said. Man places so much value on earthly pearls and treasures because he does not know what is good. God is so awesome that He knows the value of those pearls -- how they will pass away.
“And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: [11] They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment…” (Heb. 1:10-11). God remains because of what He is made up of, and that is what He wants to give to us. God wants to make us beings that will not perish. It is almost impossible to believe that diamonds can wax old, but they will wax old since the scripture says it. People say “diamonds are forever”, but the scripture makes us understand that they are not everlasting.
“And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.” (Heb. 1:12). These things that are being said are concerning the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who was born as flesh. This is a man that is being spoken about. And it is because the Father downloaded the substances that made Himself up in the Son. The Father made the Son into who He was.
Jesus was not born with the characters described in Hebrews 1. We know this because when Herod wanted to kill Him as a baby, He could not defend Himself. An angel had to tell his earthly father (Joseph) to carry Him away to Egypt, for He was not yet made (Matt 2:13). If God thinks the way men think, He would not have sent Jesus out of Israel at that time. This act made it look like God was weak, but He really is not. Weakness is a wisdom; it is a wisdom for preservation.
Meekness, the Wisdom for Preservation
Gentleness is the wisdom of keeping until you are made. God could have killed Herod being one of His creatures; however, He chose to be weak. Many times we behave foolishly because we think we are strong. God is strong undeniably, and there is a way He could have preserved the Son showing that he is God Almighty, that would have drawn unnecessary attention to the Son. Still, He chose to be weak and ran away. God ran! The devil has cheated man too much. He taught us to be strong and to show how strong we are.
For a man to go low and ‘hide’ is an abomination in society. Nobody wants to be seen to be weak. It is the general way of thinking that a man is looked down on if he is weak. Man prides himself in having a response at every confrontation, not knowing that it is the response of death. That became man’s normal response and way to live, not knowing he is being bound in death by living that way.
God showed His nature by not fighting Herod, but rather asking that His Son be taken to Egypt. He would have exposed Jesus unduly by stationing angels around the house where Mary and Joseph were living. This was a way of preservation; it was a strong way to show that He is strong and mighty. He could have stationed angels and a flaming fire around Jesus, so that when the soldiers who intend to kill Him should see the fire, they would know that a Son of God was living there. But God does not do things that way, it is man who does.
Man tries to show his strength and boast in his power, which really is not power. The nature of our God is that He takes the lowly and weak path, and He taught Jesus to do the same. Our Lord Jesus is too calm and meek. He was not strong in Himself, even while He was on earth. He depended fully on the Father, therefore, He could receive life from Him. Jesus will not do a thing until the Father has told Him what to do. He will not judge, conclude or reason things out by Himself; He was totally dependent on the Father and was therefore quickened by Him.
We do so many things out of order and life because we are not calm enough to hear judgment and reasoning. This is crucial to us if we would be quickened how our Lord Jesus Christ was quickened. The Son was described as 'Him that remaineth' (Heb. 1:11). However, He was not born like that. It took God to raise Him to be that kind of person. God downloaded substances inside the Son. The substances downloaded inside Him was life.
All those descriptions in Hebrews 1 about Jesus are the same way you would describe the Father. The Bible calls Jesus the brightness of His glory, the express image of His person (Heb. 1:3). Jesus said "All things the Father hath are mine…" (John 16:15) - not some things but all things. He said in Hebrews 1 that Jesus was appointed heir of all things (Heb. 1:2).
Jesus is a man in whom the fullness of the Godhead was downloaded (Col. 2:9). His Father made him; He was not born so (Heb. 1:4 ). This man that was made, what was His attitude? What was His character? Why was it possible for God to make Him? Why did he not get to a point after Jordan and stop listening to the Father? He did not cut His journey short at Jordan; neither did He cut it short at the mountain of transfiguration. The reasoning pattern and thoughts of everlasting life are higher than the earth (Is. 55:9). The Father committed the way He thinks to the Son. Jesus said, “as I hear, I judge” (John 5:30). It takes meekness to wait on someone to tell you how to reason.
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 7:21). Entry into the kingdom is entry into the life of Christ. Only those who do the will of the Father will enter the kingdom; else, such will be rejected (Matt. 7:22). It is easier to do activities for the Lord under the influence of anointing than to yield to alterations to our nature. God wants to turn us in our souls and give us life so that we can be quickened. We need to learn ways (Ps. 16:11). God wants to teach our souls how to get Him.
“But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.” (John 14:31). Jesus made this statement towards the end of His physical sojourn on earth after He had acquired so much life in His soul. This is high meekness, and this should be the attitude of anyone who wants to be quickened. “Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.” (John 14:30). The prince of this world has his thoughts and manner of life in us, but Jesus never gave room to the prince of this world.
“And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.” (John 12:50). Jesus was a doer of God’s commandments all the days of His life. God quickened Jesus by His commandments, and the attitude Jesus had towards commandments is the same attitude God wants us to have. Jesus is the one whom the Father has given everlasting life, and if he was meek to get it, we must be meek to receive it from Jesus. We must be meek enough to confess that we do not know everything and that we do not know enough.
Authority over Ability
God decked Jesus with abilities, but Jesus was quick to say that He could do nothing of His own (John 5:30). Satan was also decked with abilities by God, but they puffed him up unto his doom. We have to constantly check ourselves because we all have these tendencies. Many people begin to look for how to overthrow leadership whenever they have some measure of anointing; they begin to see how they can do things better than their leaders. Everyone, especially the younger ones, has to be careful concerning abilities because they can rob one of the authorities of life. Abilities that God puts in a man can be used against him, such that it will destroy him and make him exactly like the devil.
The thief does not give up on his mission to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). From the time a man gets born again, Satan seeks to hinder the person’s growth and also kill such. When a man is learning Christ, Satan also wants to stop such. Even when a man is able to cross into everlasting life, Satan is still after the person. Until Jesus went to the cross, Satan never gave up on Him. Satan brought things to tempt Jesus out of life, but He was completely dependent on the Father. The Father taught Him meekness, and He communicated laws of escape to Him.
The greatest law of escape is meekness and lowliness. Be nothing! Do not try to show yourself to be something. The Lord wants man to be satisfied with what He has given him, that is, life. It is necessary that you concentrate on nature formation more than outright gifts of the Spirit.
Nature Formation Vs Manifestation
Nature is a hidden thing, while manifestation is outward. Manifestation brings forth praise from men, but nature that makes one little receives no praises from men. The devil configured us to want to be seen by men, and this breeds competition. However, the lack of some of these manifestations in us makes us dependent on our brethren. Everyone is to rely on each other and not be envious. We should not judge from the point of sin and darkness. We should appreciate what God is doing in others and then concentrate on what God is telling us.
Pay attention to God’s instruction to you and make sure you obey. As you obey, you gain life. It must not always be about us as this impedes us in the spirit. We are meant to appreciate our brethren for the blessing God brings through them. We should de-emphasize ourselves and then go on to obey those instructions given to us by God.
What is important is hearing instructions and doing it until we change. At the end of the day, who God seeks is the “brightness of His glory, the express image of His person” (Heb. 1:3). This does not come except by obedience. You can not obey God completely when you are not meek. This is because God moves against our arrangements, thoughts, mindsets, what we know, believe or what is accepted.
In addition, the path of everlasting life is not the path of celebration. Jesus died unsung. He died a shameful death (Phil. 2:8), and He did nothing to correct the controversy around His death. He did not care about how they perceived Him; He only cared about obedience to the Father. By the time Jesus rose from the dead, He did not go to show Himself off to Pilate. Many people would have defended themselves on the cross, but Jesus stayed there at the obedience of the Father.
An everlasting man does not need to show off to his enemies or those who have mocked him. He is only concerned about the way He is being seen by the Father. He is only concerned about the way spirits appraise Him. It is very difficult to kill these things of preeminence that are in us but God will lead us. When you are able to obey the Spirit of God, a lot of evil things will die inside you, even without your knowledge.
We have things in us that wants validation of men, but we should seek the honour that comes from God; the Lord said, “you will not believe me because you seek honour from men” (John 5:44). When God honours a man, He puts authority upon such by reason of life that He has raised in the person. Men like honour, but the one which comes from God is better. We will not look at our abilities, but we will seek authorization from heaven. Our ability makes us want to castigate authority.
Being able to share scriptures is not what qualifies a man to have his own ministry. Such will only expose themselves unduly to Satan. There are so many things we still don’t know. We don’t know that old serpent. He fell kings, prophets and sons; so we have to tread gently. God will help us and give us life (Amen). Our prayer to God this season should be that our abilities will not kill us. Instead, we would come down and be meek with it so that we can get all the things that God wants to give to us.
It is 'ability' that would make a woman not submit to her husband. A woman always thinks she knows better than her husband. She feels she has better ideas on how to handle things than her husband and because of this will not submit. Ability makes one rebellious. May God save us from it (Amen). Ability is a conviction about the best way to do a thing. There are so many areas where our abilities cheat us. It does not make us meek to look another person’s way; it rather makes us strong in ourselves.
A lot of people are agitated and go against God's standard because of the expectations of men. For example, unmarried sisters are sometimes sad because of what people will think about them. Men come under unnecessary pressure because of what people have to say about them. However, even when the things that we desire are not coming our way, we should keep pressing into everlasting life (Matt. 6:33). Men usually want the things that God said He will add to us when we have life, before looking for everlasting life itself. But may God help us to focus and press into life. When we do this, additions will come on their own without us exerting pressure.