Eternal Glorious Fountain Ministry (EGFM)
Programme: School of the Spirit (SOS)
Date: Thursday, 29th September, 2022
Our conversation, which is in heaven, must be brought to earth. It is then we can say the will of God has been done on earth as it is in heaven, and then there will be legitimate ground for God to come into the midst of men, because there would have been a tabernacle of men who can house God. The house the Father will live in is going to be one built according to a specification of wisdom. This is the wisdom that is spoken to those who are perfect and who have experienced redemption in Christ (1Cor. 2:6). A believer will still struggle to comprehend the speakings of this wisdom because he has not yet comprehended the wisdom of Christ. He has not yet been built with the wisdom of Christ to have the foundation that can receive the speakings of God.
What the Lord is doing in our midst is to upgrade our conversation. There is a wisdom that raises the new man, Christ (1 Cor. 13:11). Becoming a man is a result of wisdom. As long as a believer does not have the full age of Christ, he will still have conversations that are childish (1 Cor. 13:11). Childishness is different from childlikeness. Christ has a childlike nature; He is a child in the Kingdom, but He is not childish. We will still be childish when we are not using the wisdom or sense of Christ.
One way to tame the old man is by walking and living in the spirit. One way to walk in the spirit and live in the spirit is to be subject to our spirits because our spirit is Christ. We need to strengthen our partnership with our spirits and be subject to our spirits. When we have prospered with this, our souls would have ascended to where our spirits are seated. One provision we often despise, which was given to us by the Lord, is the provision of speaking in tongues. Men like Paul said, “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:” (1 Cor. 14:18). This was part of the wisdom by which a soul would journey to a place where he is childlike at heart.
Praying in the spirit always is a premium value in the New Testament. There are many conversations in our day-to-day lives where we are not in partnership with our spirit; and one way to build that atmosphere and power is by praying in tongues. Praying in tongues often enables us to be able to live in the spirit or live from a heavenly place where the spirit is. Even though we have read about Paul’s statement, ‘I pray in tongues more than ye all’ and believed it, somehow, our faith in that commandment waned. One way to live a fasted life is to punctuate our day with speaking in tongues. With that, we would be able to keep the right atmosphere over our hearts and hold up the shield of faith.
There is a journey to being a wise man; and he is the man who will be given increased knowledge of God (Jam. 3:13, Col. 1:10). Thus, there are some seasons when the Godhead are not measuring out an increased knowledge to one as an individual, because we are expected to fulfil a curriculum of having the wisdom of Christ. Although They may speak to us corporately from the dimension of increased knowledge of God - things everlasting and things Eternal - They expect that what They have spoken to us concerning the wisdom of Christ should be kept as a treasure.
A wise man is wise because of what he did with the knowledge that was given him (Matt. 7:24). There is a wisdom that makes us meek enough to learn (Jam. 3:13). We came across this word of righteousness because God showed us mercy and blessed us with a meek spirit to learn. This does not mean that we were meek but were blessed with a meek spirit that makes us acknowledge that we are sinners. With that state of heart, the things that a man will hear will bring him into a wisdom, and one of the genetics of that wisdom is its meekness.
What James referred to in James 3:13 as the ‘meekness of wisdom’ was not just a meekness after the wise man – Christ, but the man that has been endued with revelation knowledge, which will enable him to bring forth good works, which are also known as good conversations (Matt. 5:16). 1 Peter 2 and 3 show us the activity of good works that are traceable to the light of salvation and there are those who would use that light to convict Gentiles. The men in 1Peter 2:9-12 are peculiar by calling, not yet by experience. Praises are written in conversations. Praise, honour and glory constitute praises. What we have now is a calling; we are not yet necessarily officiating the marvelous light, which is the good and perfect gift (Jam. 1:17).
This is the calling that is hanging over us now (1 Pet. 2:9). The conversations that will come from the good light will make men marvel. God expects praises from a christ who has done faith, hope and charity, and is now keeping the commandment of everlasting life. The actual praise the Father expects from us is that which comes from our conversation. This is where sons in the season of everlasting life will begin to manifest.
What God is doing in our midst is the hope of our generation. Knowing this will unlock a commitment as we see in our spiritual parents to lay our lives down. When you become a people of God, you become irresistible to God (1 Pet. 2:10). Although, presently, because of the absence of the laws of God, we are still resistible to God. However, a time is coming when we will be able to approach the light that Timothy spoke of (1 Tim. 6:16).
In a household of faith, amongst the various degrees of flock, there are some who have moved from being the flock of Christ, as elect, to being sheep that are childlike in the sanctuary; and are now moving into the season where they are beginning to pierce into becoming the flock of God. It was by feeding and keeping faith with the dealings that came across his way that Peter became an elder, who could also write to elders who were meant to have oversight over the flock of God (1Pet. 5:2).
The world is a house of idols, of vain thoughts and of things that quietly steal our trust in the Lord (1Pet. 2:11, 1John 5:21). Vain thoughts are vain conversations and the person that is good at tracking vain thoughts is the spirit man (1 Cor. 2:11). The spirit knows every conversation that comes short of life and peace, and those that are traceable to sin and death. Anything that one can legitimately use or own can become an idol. One can abstain from idols in a season, and not abstain in another season. In fact, Satan can use the same idol that a man has abstained from in one season to get him in another season (1Pet. 2:11).
Anything that one can legitimately use or own in this world can become an idol that would clamour for more than is being selflessly used. Outside the selfless use of things, there is another life hanging around them. An idol is any perishable thing or asset that gives us a sense of security, or an edge over men. What the Lord is doing in our midst is to bring dealings our way, so that perhaps, when some extravagant wealth comes our way, we would be able to handle it without making an idol out of it, whilst knowing it is for use.
1Peter 2 & 3, refer to a holiness that is of the Father or is according to salvation. This holiness is a conversation of everlasting life. There are some conversations that are after the order of everlasting life, such as the instruction that wives be subject to their own husbands (1 Pet. 3:1-2). This is a conversation that is born out of the incorruptible seed and is aimed at pressing out a life while the soul seeks the Father or the blessed hope, or divine nature.
Thus, the conversations Peter was expecting from them are conversations of a lamb, or those that would take place after they have been free from spots (1Pet. 1:17-19). What spots us is the world and it is only washing by the water of the word that can deal with that spot. The course of washing off the filth of the flesh culminates in cleansing. Cleansing is a consecration of life that will see us being able to handle the conversation of charity. When this washing has been completed, the soul is in Christ and it becomes a new man just like the spirit man who had always been in Christ. This man has the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
A soul who has become Christ is not corrupt, although he is not yet incorruptible. Such a saint has been cleansed from spots and the wisdom of the world, so certain conversations would not be seen amongst him, but the possibility of sin still exists in him. Hence John’s admonition in 1John 2:1 shows that there are occasions when a saint who has done faith, hope and charity may fall short of his christ-hood.
For any assembly where the carnal nature has been dealt with, what the Lord would be bringing to them would be things around the Father; things of everlasting life. This pertains to how they would yield to a divine consecration and be holy. Therefore, a christ still needs to be holy. It is through being holy that the tendency and nature that still makes him not incorruptible will be dealt with. What is ongoing now is that a Christ company is being reconciled to the hidden wisdom of God. Something has begun in our midst that will build up like a chain reaction that can see us demonstrate, before principalities and powers, what they saw for the first time in the person of our Lord Jesus (1 Tim. 3:16).
When Jesus was raised from the dead and presented to all of heaven and earth, the angels saw a conversation, which they did not have and could not handle, manifested on earth (1 Tim. 3:16). Even when the angels worshipped God, He was still veiled to them. But through Jesus, they saw that they were not meek like Him, because if they could demonstrate the meekness that Jesus demonstrated, they would inherit His nature. Angels know that there is a wisdom ongoing in preparing the world to come that is still in God. Men like John were able to break into it by vision. Thus, the angels are waiting for that world to come and are ministering to those who should wait for that world and hasten unto it. There is a certain nature that is limiting us from hastening into that world. That nature will only be dealt with by contradictions.
God wants to raise witnesses in our midst and the sufferings of Christ are the greatest temptations before them (1 Pet. 5:1). The temptation before a company of Christ is to despise these sufferings. Peter was writing to the church because He had partaken of the glory. One of the reasons we hear what we are hearing is because God was able to raise a witness in our midst. God's race in every generation is to raise witnesses. Witnesses are a reference and motivation in the spirit, and every man that beholds their conversation is meant to embody it. God would judge those who come short of the conversation that they have the opportunity to see in such men.
God was able to raise a witness in Paul. 2 Corinthians 4:2 shows that Paul's walk, not only His preaching, could be used by God. God could use Paul's obedience to upgrade knowledge in the conscience of men. When we pray to God to show and give us mercy, He replies that He has embodied everlasting life and Eternal Life in men who are a model in our midst. We have models of everlasting life in our midst, but there are still some things we still do in our closets that come short of what we see in them. The conversation of our parents who are as models comes to check us and straighten us from being lackadaisical, and from being at ease in Zion.
Peter could write to elders because of what He had partaken of. Those elders who are raised over the flock are racing to become the kind of elder Peter was. John also wrote to fathers who had an appointment to keep with the realm that John was then living and operating from. Paul wrote to Timothy, asking him to fight the good fight of faith and lay hold on Eternal Life (1 Tim. 6:12). To lay hold on Eternal Life is to have inherited everlasting life. The legal ground Paul had to tell Timothy to keep the commandments is because He also had kept the commandments (1 Tim. 6:14). Similarly, the legal ground our parents have to instruct us is because they have also kept those instructions.
A time would come when we would gather a good measure of life that even the Gentiles would see and be convicted, just as men could not ignore Jesus, not because of the miracles but because they saw something in Him. The manifestation of sons is in degrees. There is the manifestation of sons in the season of everlasting life. The manifestation of sons is a manifestation of wisdom. What principalities and powers in heavenly places are waiting for is to see a kind of wisdom. James calls this the wisdom of meekness which starts by being pure (Jam. 3:17). This wisdom would also morph by reason of knowledge to something higher (Luke 7:35).
Any manifestation of sons that does not start and end in meekness is not the true manifestation. The manifestation Paul was campaigning for is a manifestation that would be pressed out of the seed which is called the incorruptible seed. God wants to show us mercy, especially in our relationship with those in authority. We are warned of speaking ill against dignitaries and we need to repent. When the political situation of the nation comes to our minds, there are thoughts that readily follow and there is a way to respond to those thoughts. We do not yet have a nature that can combat the evil that is arranged concerning the political world. Irrespective of what they are doing wrong, God expects us to continue doing what is right. What is right can be found in scripture and this we do when we gather for prayers collectively (1Tim. 2:1-4). This is a commandment.
We pray for them when we gather collectively but we do not have the heart posture to relate with them. God does not want them to perish. They are perishing and we do not bother praying for them. We do not have compassion for evil-doers. This is a conversation of everlasting life. We have been reviled by them, their policies, and bad governance; and through these, the world is reaching us but somehow, we lose out in that warfare.
The Lord wants to bless us with the wisdom to be doers of what we have read for years. This will guarantee a quick work in righteousness. The man-child company will be quickly raised to a point where they are invincible to the operations of iniquity and death; because death is also a spirit. They would do nothing to some measures of opposition and Satan would not be able to reach them. As such, they will be like lambs who are led to the slaughter.
Jesus was a lamb before Pontius Pilate and His response to accusations was as a sheep led to the slaughter. He was being accused and He said nothing. Pilate could not understand or gainsay that wisdom. This wisdom led to the mistake that princes of this world made by crucifying our Lord Jesus (1Cor. 2:8). If evil spirits are commanded not to tempt the Christ company, the man-child company will never be raised. Spirits must tempt us like they tempted the apostles and churches, and we must overcome them.
Immediately Satan’s wisdom was corrupted, God knew that He would have to judge that tendency in man. The proof that Satan is not wise is shown in how he does not know how not to tempt men, and we must take advantage of it. If Satan was wise, he would have let Jesus be when He was on earth. Jesus knew his weakness and He is exposing his weakness to us. Those whom Satan raises as vessels of wrath lack wisdom. Pharaoh was one of the most foolish men that lived, and this is evident from the way he perished.
Many of the things that we are feasting on come from the visitations and appearances of just men that came our way as a company in the past. One of such visitations is recorded in Romans that we should not be overcome with evil (Rom 12:21). We are to overcome evil with good (Rom. 12:21). The good is the judgement of this path or the conversation that is coming from the meekness of wisdom. This implies that there is no spirit that we cannot wrestle with by it. This wisdom will bless us with a sense that would not make us see ourselves. When we have this wisdom, we will not see our past but will lay it at the feet of the Lord Jesus. The pains of our past can be laid before Jesus and used to worship Him. This is the way to hit back at the enemy.
Sometimes the Lord would lead us through certain paths alongside the preaching of the word in order for us to make resolutions. We should make the resolve that nothing should be able to get us offended at the Lord, like Daniel who proposed in his heart not to defile himself with the king’s meat (Dan. 1:8).
We pass from death to life because we have the ability to love unconditionally (1John 3:14). The disciples walked as Jesus walked and we also ought to do the same. As much as we can understand and discern the revelation and commandments of the divine nature, we are expected to not deny the conversation of that life. We should walk differently from our old conversation.
When we can cooperate with certain dealings, we will occupy a heaven we did not previously occupy. In our midst, people are accessing a heaven that they did not previously dream about. God is initiating men as long as they are not denying His faith or His name. There is a wisdom that would make us demonstrate and register our presence in heaven (2 Tim. 3:15). By the faith of the Son, we would write our names in and occupy a heaven. Spirits know when we occupy a heaven that we did not previously occupy. Some of the things we are facing are reactions from spirits because they can see that we are on course.
Spirits know when the Holy Ghost is policing a man and when he has been imprisoned (1Sam. 2:9). They know when his coordinates are different from that of natural men. They know they would not only lose that man, but that man would become an example to many. God hid a wisdom that is elusive to the princes and to evil spirits (Eph. 3:9). The wisdom of Christ and all the mysteries (Col 2:2) were hidden but God has been bringing it gradually to us.
Jesus obeyed the Father by communicating the gospel, however, whenever and wherever the Father wanted Him to. Jesus could of Himself do nothing. One of the things that the Lord wants us to overcome in this season is offence at the Lord. What gives God glory is not what we think gives Him glory; those things that are painful and have to do with longsuffering are the things that give God Glory. In this season, many would be tempted to be offended at the Lord, and to question Him in their hearts. If we are sensitive, we can see when an offence or a question is rising; but we must use the strength of the meal we are eating to wrestle the thought down.
We are being trained to be content with the dealing of the Lord. We must derive joy and contentment in the training or dealings that we are allowed to go through. It is wisdom to be open. Many people have struggles, issues that have lingered, reservations, questions, warfares over their hearts, and they cannot speak out or talk to a pastor, brother or spouse. This is a nature that we have not yet overcome. It takes a lot of help to be naked and not ashamed, first before your spouse as a married fellow before even the brethren or pastor. To get there, God would have to arrange a season where they would imprison us and deal with things they want us to get right.
We must learn to be open, naked and unashamed, otherwise sin will not be limited. Sin will thrive when we know how to cover our secrets or our faults. Being open to our spouses is a conversation of meekness; it makes one look weak. Submitting things to the other to judge a matter because the Holy Ghost insists, even when we know what the scripture says about it, may appear weak, but there is a strength that is born out of it.
Marriage is one of the best things God provided to deal with evil spirits. When a believer is not having victory like he ought to in some seasons, he should check his relationship and response to his wife. Many men or women are so strong towards their spouses. One of the persons we are meant to exercise ourselves with in that weak frame is our spouses. We need power to do this. Having an understanding that we are meant to be saviours will make us take the lead and agree with the process of becoming weak. This is called the foolishness of God. It looks foolish but it would disarm spirits.
There was an obedience that Jesus had fulfilled by the Mount of Transfiguration experience that gave Him a legal ground to say some of the things that are captured in the book of John (Matt. 17:5). Jesus could give a new commandment in John 13:34 because He had kept and embodied that same commandment. If we understand what the Lord is saying in our midst, we would relate with them with a more serious attitude. Some have embodied this conversation of everlasting life and it is to impart a strength to babes and sucklings. Babes and sucklings are more of those who are children in the Kingdom of Christ, whom the Father can now reveal the Son to.
It is a season of perfection, and we are going to be perfect by what has been written in scriptures. God wants to find the walk in our feet. We must entertain God by how we would wrestle with spirits like we have never done. The revelation of everlasting life is to strengthen us. We need strength and increased strength to live out the conversation of everlasting life which is higher than what we previously had; that is, Christ. By this conversation, we would still the avenger and God’s enemies (Psa. 8:2).
Our Lord Jesus would not tell us to learn of Him if He had not learnt something and became what He learnt. He is saying to us, in this season, that we should learn of Him; He is meek and lowly at heart. He is more meek and low than we are and we must make a commitment to take His yoke. The words coming to us are like commandments that are meant to yoke us to be able to walk like He walked, till we can follow Him wherever He goes. We must take this learning, go against the inferior conversation and walk, and bring God pleasure. As we do so, the marvelous light can flow through us -- the good works of the father, first works and last works -- would be able to flow freely through us.
Blessings!
Summary
-
The house the Father will live in is going to be one built according to a specification of wisdom. This is the wisdom that is spoken to those who are perfect and who have experienced redemption in Christ (1Cor. 2:6).
-
There is a wisdom that raises the new man, Christ (1 Cor. 13:11). As long as a believer does not have the full age of Christ, he will still have conversations that are childish (1 Cor. 13:11). Christ has a childlike nature; He is a child in the Kingdom, but He is not childish. We will still be childish when we are not using the wisdom or sense of Christ.
-
There is a journey to being a wise man; and he is the man who will be given increased knowledge of God (Jam. 3:13, Col. 1:10). Thus, there are some seasons when the Godhead are not measuring out an increased knowledge to one as an individual, because we are expected to fulfil a curriculum of having the wisdom of Christ.
-
An idol is any perishable thing or asset that gives us a sense of security, or an edge over men. Anything that one can legitimately use or own in this world can become an idol that would clamour for more than is being selflessly used.
-
Cleansing is a consecration of life that will see us being able to handle the conversation of charity. When this washing has been completed, the soul is in Christ and it becomes a new man just like the spirit man who had always been in Christ. This man has the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
-
A soul who has become Christ is not corrupt, although he is not yet incorruptible. Such a saint has been cleansed from spots and the wisdom of the world, so certain conversations would not be seen amongst him, but the possibility of sin still exists in him.
-
For any assembly where the carnal nature has been dealt with, what the Lord would be bringing to them would be things around the Father; things of everlasting life. A christ still needs to be holy. It is through being holy that the tendency and nature that still makes him not incorruptible will be dealt with.
-
The manifestation of sons is a manifestation of wisdom. What principalities and powers in heavenly places are waiting for is to see a kind of wisdom. James calls this the wisdom of meekness which starts by being pure (Jam. 3:17). This wisdom would also morph by reason of knowledge to something higher (Luke 7:35).
-
There is a wisdom that would make us demonstrate and register our presence in heaven (2 Tim. 3:15). By the faith of the Son, we would write our names in and occupy a heaven. Spirits know when we occupy a heaven that we did not previously occupy.
-
Sin will thrive when we know how to cover our secrets or our faults. Being open to our spouses is a conversation of meekness; it makes one look weak. Submitting things to the other to judge a matter because the Holy Ghost insists, even when we know what the scripture says about it, may appear weak, but there is a strength that is born out of it.