Eternal Glorious Fountain Ministries (EGFM)
Programme: Lekki Soul Center (LSC)
Date: Wednesday, 13th October, 2021
Ministering: Pastor Thompson Ehima
Text: 2 Corinthians 4
To be a servant to sin is to be a servant to this world. This means a servant of sin is a servant of this present world. However, there are stratas of worldly service on earth. This is why there are also different stratas of ranking with respect to sin. The Israelites left a strata of sin after leaving Egypt; but they were still labouring in sin when they got into the wilderness. They laboured and resisted God in the wilderness to continue doing the works of sin (Num. 14:22). God knew that though they were not physically laboring; their souls were labouring in sin. This is why Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11: 28). It shows that the souls labouring in sin need rest.
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Matthew 11:29). To come into rest is to find settlement for your soul. This is what it means for a soul to be free from sin and be established in the life God has to offer. However, a work must be done inside our souls for sin to be dealt with. The Israelites were circumcised the second time before they could partake of the promised land (Joshua 5:8-11). The evil works that have been done in the soul are of different levels, so it will take the everlasting light to shine on certain things that are still hidden. It is only light that makes manifest things which are hidden (Eph. 5:13).
When light is given to the soul, judgement is given. Judgement is the light of understanding. One cannot function in the tabernacle without judgement. What a priest uses to judge are the seven lamps, which are the seven eyes of the Lord in the Sanctuary. On the other hand, the high priest uses the Urim and Thummim to judge in the Most Holy Place. The seven eyes of the Lord are used in searching the hidden parts of the soul (Zech. 4:10). They are the seven spirits designed to unveil the things of Christ for the raising of the soul (Zech. 4:9).
The seven eyes are the teachers of raising. This means they are designed to give us stature, for the administration of the operation of the word of His grace (Acts 20:32). You need upward growth to be raised into a building. When you have been raised by the seven eyes, then there would be an administration of the eye of the word of God or the two-edged eye where all things are open and naked, and is the discerner of thoughts and intent of the heart. This is where all creatures are made manifest (Heb. 4:12-13).
"Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God." (2 Corinthians 4:1-2). The ministry here is the ministry of the word of God. However, you cannot receive this ministry except mercy has visited you. You cannot come into this zone until you have obtained mercy and you keep receiving mercy. The day you have a breakthrough into the word of God, the mercy of the word of God has visited you. What is resting upon the ark of God is the mercy seat (Exo. 25:21). We are recipients of this mercy through which the word of God can be downloaded to us.
The provision of the seven eyes in the Sanctuary is to teach the things of Christ. The doctrine of Christ can only be done when wisdom oversees it. After receiving the doctrine of Christ, one needs wisdom to begin to live by it. One needs wisdom to raise a building (Prov. 24:3). The building will not take place in you, if there is no application of wisdom. After acquiring knowledge and you have come into understanding, you move into the season of wisdom.
Understanding is meant to establish a man. When a man has fully obeyed the doctrine of Christ, he can move into the season of the mercy of God which Apostle Paul began to speak of in 2 Corinthians 4:1. The ‘we’ here are not the general church; they are those who have received the ministry of mercy. This ministry is a season that brings a people into the life of God, which the word of God opens.
There are hidden things of dishonesty that will not be brought to the open except during the season of the word of God, which is the season of the ministration of everlasting life. One of the things we must do this season is to own the judgement being given to us. There are things of dishonesty we would never know of except the word of God reveals them. What makes you put pressure to get what you want outside God’s standard is dishonesty in the heart. As a wife or a husband, you can put pressure on your partner to do what you want. This is not the order; we are supposed to serve each other selflessly.
Hidden things of dishonesty are a type of uncleanliness that can still be purged. However, this uncleanliness cannot be purged when it graduates into full iniquity. When a man gets to the end of iniquity, he has become a wicked man. Many times, we come into zones of argument in our hearts when we have to make a decision to be purged of our uncleanliness. Whenever we are in such a terrain of argument in our thoughts, we are to fight with our weapons of warfare (2 Cor. 10:4-5, Eph. 6:11-13). Satan’s weapons of warfare are thoughts; he wages war with us through our thoughts.
The Bible says Balaam had a vision of the Almighty (Num. 24:4). However, Balaam had a craft that was able to make him a stumbling block for God’s people. Balaam was a craft master. A man cannot be crafty if he does not have enough skill for it. Therefore, we need much help from the Spirit to be able to break free from craftiness. Dishonesty and craftiness cannot be easily seen. Balaam was a false prophet because he had alien substances hidden within him. To ‘clean the slate’ with respect to our souls goes beyond removing offences from our hearts; it also includes cleaning our hearts of dishonesty and craftiness.
"And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against…" (Luke 2:34). The 'fall' here is like saying "except a corn falls to the ground and dies, it cannot be raised" (John 12:24). This means without being pulled down from your state, you will not rise above your state. Every arrangement that man naturally represents is nothing, so it must go. Scripture says “Every tree that my father has not planted shall be hewn down.” (Matt. 15:13). Only the person of Jesus can do this in the soul of a man. The person of Jesus will cause men to fall so that they can truly rise again. He will cause everything within you (all that you represent) to fall. If you are not made/raised after Jesus' similitude and pattern, you cannot stand in the judgement of everlasting life.
The ministry in 2 Corinthians 4:1 will not be given to a man who has not obeyed the gospel of Christ. What makes people turn back from the realm of Christ is shame. This is why Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy to encourage him: "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God…" (2 Tim. 1:8). The gospel which is according to the power of God is the gospel of Christ.
The gospel of Christ teaches us what we must do to come into the momentum of what God wants to give. However, men are ashamed of the gospel of Christ because of fear. The heart of man is deceitful because of fear. What made Demas depart from Paul and from the faith was fear. "And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." (Hebrews 2:15). Fear is a lifetime project that Satan designed for men; but we can be delivered from it with the help of the HolyGhost.