Eternal Glorious Fountain Ministry
Programme: School of the Spirit (SOS)
Date: Thursday, 14th April, 2022
Ministering: Pastor Emeka Egwuchukwu
One of the essences of the incorruptible seed is to overcome the world. The world is characterized by its passing away. There is the world and there is the lust of the world, also referred to as ‘that which is in the world’ or ‘the things that are in the world’ (1John 2:15). This gives us an idea of what the world really is, including that it is more than what the doctrine of Christ can handle.
There is a level of the world that the doctrine of Christ can handle. The doctrine of Christ sanctifies and cleanses. It is those who are sanctified that will receive the inheritance (Acts 20:32). Although, this sanctification is a separation from this world, it does not guarantee that a soul that has partaken of it has been completely sealed against the world.
Having dealt with the filth of the flesh does not mean that one has fully overcome the world (1 Pet. 3:21). This means that the filth of the flesh is different from the flesh itself. It is only after the filth of the flesh has been dealt with that flesh itself can be dealt with. The filth of the flesh is very visible; anyone can easily detect it. The flesh, on the other hand, can be tricky and packaged in a way that appears clean. This is why Jesus often rebuked the Pharisees, calling them hypocrites who appear beautiful outwardly but are full of dead bones and uncleanness (Matt. 23:27).
There is a connection between the flesh and the world. Hence, when the things that are in the world were listed, the lust of the flesh was included (1John 2:16). The lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life, spell out different grades of the world. The lust of the flesh can be likened to the faith of flesh, while the lust of the eyes can be likened to the hope of flesh, and the pride of life is the charity of flesh. When the soul of a man has practiced all three levels, such a man becomes a man of sin. A man of sin is the man of this world.
Jesus said, “…My Father is greater than I.” (John 14:28). Therefore, the statement, “greater is He that is in you” (1John 4:4-5), was referring to those who have received the Father; that is, men who have received the laws and commandment so the Father. A believer may quote this scripture and still be under the influence of the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life – which are all elements of the world.
The Father is the greater One and it takes the greater One to overcome the world and its things. It takes receiving the law of the Father in the heart to come to a point where one can say, “He that dwelleth in me is greater than he that is in the world.” There is a ‘he’ that is in the world. He that is in the world is he who has been made a preacher of sin – the devil.
Those who have fulfilled the demands of the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life come to a level that is referred to as ‘he that is in the world’, that is, the devil. Who is a devil? Jesus was referring to Judas when He said, “…Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?” (Jn. 6:70). Judas must have taken in some things and the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life must have done a thorough work in him.
The Pharisees appeared humble, yet Jesus said concerning them, “ye are of your father the devil” (Jn. 8:44); and in another place, “…ye are from beneath; I am from above….” (Jn. 8:23). This world is the machinery of wickedness and there is nothing good about it. It has one intention – to turn souls into wickedness and make them entities of the beneath realm. This world is the gospel of the wicked one. A gospel that keeps men hearing it, even when they do not want to. It is a gospel of Satan unto corruption and it casts a spell upon men that makes them listen to its gospel.
“They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.” (1 Jn. 4:5). Men of the world, also referred to as devils, are those who have been made by world and speak of the world because the world is their origin and the world hears them. The world is a gospel and the preaching of the world begins with the lust of the flesh, which is followed by the lust of the eyes and concluded with the pride of life. As one continues to heed the gospel of the world, he is being raised into a man who will eventually become a devil.
The strength of this world are its preachers – false prophets. The devils that this world produces are false prophets and they speak of the world. The last days are the days when the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life has fully developed in men (2Tim. 3:1). These are the courses that raise men into being devils. The lust of the eyes has nothing to do with the physical eyes; therefore, a blind man can still be under its influence.
The lust of the eyes is an understanding that is entrenched within the soul, being a preaching/teaching of this world. Nimrod was a teacher of this world; the Bible refers to him as a great hunter before the Lord (Gen. 10:9). To fight the face of God, Nimrod must have been a devil. Another devil was Judas Iscariot. To have been with the Lord whilst developing contrary to Jesus’ teaching and discipling, he must have been a devil.
Nimrod was a preacher just like Noah. Noah, on the other hand, was a preacher of righteousness and the righteousness that Noah preached was not the righteousness in Christ, but the righteousness of God; that is, everlasting righteousness. We know this because what he preached relates to salvation.
The perilous times is as a result of things that have occurred in the soul which have resulted in the production of a strange breed of men (2Tim. 3:1). A lot of people are unaware that they are hearing another gospel. Men have heard the opposite of the gospel of Christ and are now beginning to hear the opposite of the gospel of everlasting life. This is what will bring perilous times. At this time, what has been planted in them has developed into the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life.
One who has been raised into being a devil is a man of destruction; that is, a man that has been destroyed. In such a man are works of the devil. “…For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” (1 Jn. 3:8). The devil does not refer to Satan only, but also includes his works as well as the men who bear them. His works in men are aimed at turning them into devils. Men are indeed turning into devils. Hence, we must continue to give heed to the teachings we are receiving.
We must continue to hear the word of God. This word shields you from becoming what the world is becoming. The souls in the world are becoming perilous as a result of what they are feeding on. This world also feeds men. Some pulpits have been hijacked by the spirit of this world for the purpose of raising perilous, dangerous souls.
Times are counted by the state that souls of men are in. These are perilous times because souls have become perilous. Over time, souls have been destroyed and are still being destroyed.
This is why we must continue the exercises of humility even as it extends to natural demonstrations such as bowing down to greet. Such demonstrations are very spiritual and we must not be discouraged or stop doing them because of what people think. As we continue exercising ourselves in them, these godly virtues would become a nature in us.
We must also remain under the atmosphere of the Spirit and the word continually. This kind of atmosphere does not allow the soul race into perdition and will not allow the lusts of the flesh to thrive. We are under the faces of Yahweh and the knowledge of the Almighty. Under this presence, many things are limited and will not show up until they are destroyed and removed.
Anyone that does not stay under the faces of Yahweh, the knowledge of the Almighty, would become perilous. This atmosphere is where seeds are preserved for God. Many cannot endure the atmosphere of the knowledge of God because, within it, the seed of the world cannot find expression. Under this atmosphere, the activities of the world cannot progress.
A soul is blessed when the activities of the world and its lusts are being limited, till it loses its strength. The gospel of this world teaches the soul to express himself and be whatever he wants to be. This is perilous and only makes room for a soul to do anything, including deciding that he is gay.
On the contrary, the word of God already prescribes what we should be like - we are to be like Christ. Romans 8:29 says, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29). We have a direction and cannot be whatever we please. The world lies to us by giving us wrong hopes and pursuits, which would only amount to destruction
This world has been preaching for a long time and the gospel of the world is preached everywhere. It is only when a soul begins to hear the gospel of Christ and the gospel of God that he is hearing something different. Everything else has been hijacked, including tertiary institutions and schools of trade. The pride of life is at work in most professions because of the mastery that they think they have.
We must keep ourselves under the face of Yahweh because we are being preserved there. We must not allow anyone to beguile us by telling us we are being caged, regardless of how spiritual they may sound. The world can even entice a soul and keep him occupied with ministry. The world and its philosophies lead only to destruction. They give a wrong fire. It is as we grow that we would understand that those are wildfires that make the soul use up its youthfulness in pursuit of vanity, even in the name of ministry.
Under the face of the Yahweh, we are being taught to abide. We must abide until things have been removed. Things are being removed consistently even when we are not aware of them. Every soul has innate properties that were put there by nature and acquired by interaction with the world. This is why it takes time for the word of Christ to purge us of old things. Many of us still have the attitude of taking back things that we have been purged from. However, by consistent exercise, our taste buds and desires would change till we can willingly relinquish those things. We must consistently appreciate God for the ongoing work of salvation going on within us.
This world is bad and wants to turn souls to devil. A man becomes a devil when he has been raised to the point of destruction. Therefore, we must consistently pursue after change until we can align with the life of God. Some souls can be present in church but be totally ignorant of the program of change. Thus, they go about doing their own things, including pursuing pre-eminence and all manner of things.
The Lord needs to keep us from destruction which is to keep us from this world and idols. He needs to keep us from lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life. The works of the devil must be limited till they are choked, uprooted and we are totally free from them.
What produces perilous souls is the preaching of the world (2Tim. 3:1-2). Perilous times arise when souls have become dangerous. There is a gospel that makes souls to love their self and that gospel is everywhere and is often dropped by evil spirits into men’s hearts as thoughts. Such messages promote going to places where you are celebrated.
Paul declared himself as the chief of sinners, not out of celebration (1Tim. 1:15). Such declarations are against this world. Men like Paul are everlasting men who are skilful to keep themselves from idols. We, on the other hand, can still be polluted by, entangled again with and fall back to the things we have been cleansed from.
Souls would become covetous (2Tim. 3:2). We still have covetousness, at various strengths, in our souls. Light unveils dark things so that we can be saved from them. We all still have amounts of darkness; the fact that they are not finding expression does not mean that they are not present.
Covetousness is the attitude of an idol (Col. 3:5. Anyone who idolises would be covetous. There are forms and shades of covetousness. It drives and pulls a soul towards things easily and can overtake the soul. Many young people are now extreme in their desire to make money at all costs. They now employ different covetous philosophies and do not even care if they die young.
That way of reasoning is death and destruction and make souls very reprobate when God begins to pour out His wrath. This community of Christ is for preservation. Part of what the antichrist is known for is that he speaks great swirling words because he had learned how to boast. This world will teach a soul to be a boaster, proud and blasphemous. To blaspheme means to hold holy things in contempt, as a profane fellow would. Anyone that profanes would blaspheme.
“For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy” (2Tim. 3:2). The attitude of disobedience to parents is now very commonplace. Unthankfulness is also a growing concern. When a soul can thank neither men nor God, such is a soul is perilous.
Some men do not want anyone to contribute to their lives simply because they want to own sole proprietorship of their lives. Such men do not want to bow down to thank others but would rather glorify their self. They do not want anyone else to take glory in their lives.
In order to help us, God often limits us so that we would require the help of others. God would make sure that we are broken to a point that someone has to help us. If we do not receive such help, the Lord would make sure we remain there till we understand that there is no such thing as a ‘self-made’ man; it is a deception that Satan created it and it is false. We are solely dependent on God who gives us air to breathe and water to drink freely.
When a soul is unthankful, he would be unholy. A thankful man is holy. Despisers of good are in existence today (2Tim. 3:3). We are in dangerous times that produce these kinds of men. These natures are destructions that waste at noon day (Psa. 91:6). When they are present in the soul, such a soul is a devil.
This world hates God and hates us. We must not love that which hates us. The world does not love God's people. When we begin to hear the Word of God and His seeds fall into our hearts, the world starts to hates us. Jesus told the Jews that the world cannot hate them but they hate him (John 7:7). On the contrary, He told His disciples that the world would hate them because it has first hated Him (John 15:18).
The point where the world starts hating us is the point where we receive everlasting life. In fact, when we start hearing Christ, the world begins to discern us and because we are being sanctified, begins to notice the activities going on in our souls that separate us. The world hates us because of the seed of God. Anyone that has that seed will hate the world, first of all inwardly.
The world wants to make a devil out of every man. These are false prophets or preachers of this world. John warns those who have been exposed to the Word of God of two people; a liar and the antichrist (1John 2:21-22). A liar is one that denies that Jesus is the Christ. This liar is a minister of this world. Just as the Lord called Paul to be a minister and a witness, the devil also calls his own (Acts 26:16).
The liar is a minister of the world first. He denies that Jesus is the Christ and he does this by preaching this world. The liar is of the world. He does not merely commit the sin of lying but is a minister and a prophet that brings forth life and hope in this world. He has a mouth to preach it. This world is a big lie and these are the ministers that preach it. The person who preaches this world speaks of this world and is a liar. This is why John would have us test every spirit. Many times, messages preached by a minister on the pulpit still contains this world and is heading somewhere that is not God.
Satan often utilizes scandals to push some of his ideologies. He often uses occasions of maltreatments in marriages to push his onslaught against marriage and family. Satan is intensifying his attacks in order to encourage man and woman to cohabit without marrying and becoming family. Satan wants to destroy family life.
Marriage has to be according to God's Word, by the instructions of the epistles. True marriage is what is prescribed in Ephesians 5:24-25. Anything apart from a man who loves his wife and a wife who submits to her husband is not marriage but is merely cohabitation.
Many antichrists have now arisen against the laid dictates of the Lord recorded in scriptures. These happenings are perpetuated by an antichrist Spirit. He is against Christ and hates everlasting life. The antichrist wants more violence because divorce is violence. The Church does not allow or endorse violence. Satan is only after the pastors and the antichrist spirit is against the Church and wants to make sure that pastors are no longer bold enough to declare the truth. Pastors must be bold enough to declare the counsel of God without dread or fear even in the face of contradictions.
The spirit of this world wants to tear families down so that there can be a lot of rebellious children and he can have more ground to raise souls that would go to destruction. Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and the pride of life would work better in the souls of such children. On the contrary, when families are in place, God can use parents to limit some lusts and clamp them down.
Satan is against spiritual authority. He knows that we need to hear so that we might live and he is pushing against it. He is a liar and the preacher of this world. The devil is a liar and the father of it (John 8:44). While he is the father of liars, there are also other liars, just as there is the antichrist as well as many antichrists (1John 2:18).
The world can turn a soul into a liar–who is a minister of this world, and an antichrist–who is a witness of this world. Being an antichrist, who is a witness, is higher than a liar who is a minister. The world wants to raise a soul to be both a minister and a witness.
The liar preaches this world to set souls against the Christ life because he knows he cannot condemn Christ but would rather make the soul reject it. He causes the soul to despise the led life and tag it as a life of bondage. The world wants the soul to not be led; therefore, it exalts the mind so that the soul can do whatever he wants to do.
The enemy is against the anointed life because the anointed life is the life of separation. The unction from the Holy One would lead and guide a soul into the truth of God (1John 2:20). The liar is against leading; he preaches a message that would teach a soul not to wait for the Spirit’s leading or agree with Spirit life.
We ought to be led. If the Lord does not lead us, we would never arrive at the point where goodness and mercy follow us (Psa. 23:1-2,6). We must follow the Lord who is our shepherd. We must have followed Him for goodness and mercy to follow us in return.
The liar attacks the led life, which is the Christ life that begins the work of separation from this world. The antichrist on the other hand, is a witness that this world raises and is one who is against everlasting life. A witness is a father. A father is raised to be a witness and is a carrier of the seed. He has fought his wars and the seed now abides in him.
Trees abide; they serve as a witness. Fathers are trees and they are witnesses. There is one who witnesses this world and preaches that the world does not pass away as against the record of the scripture that this world and its lusts passes away (1John 2:17).
The liar and antichrist are known by their message. They speak of this world and those that are of the world hear them. Only those who have received the word of Christ and everlasting life would not hear them. The messages of Christ and everlasting life blocks our ear from this world.
God's intention is that we would overcome this world totally. Overcoming the world is what makes it possible for the prince of this world to come and find nothing in us (John 14:30). The prince of this world has something in every man but, by many speakings, they would all be uprooted (Matt. 15:13). What Satan has planted in men should raise them unto destruction but the Lord would uproot them by the everlasting gospel. Satan would come to see that his things have been spoilt and we are no longer housing his things but the things of God (1John 4:4).
Summary
1. One of the essences of the incorruptible seed is to overcome the world. The world is characterized by its passing away. There is the world and there is the lust of the world, also referred to as ‘that which is in the world’ or ‘the things that are in the world’ (1John 2:15).
2. There is a level of the world that the doctrine of Christ can handle. The doctrine of Christ sanctifies and cleanses. It is those who are sanctified that will receive the inheritance (Acts 20:32). Although, this sanctification is a separation from this world, it does not guarantee that a soul that has partaken of it has been completely sealed against the world.
3. There is a connection between the flesh and the world. Hence, when the things that are in the world were listed, the lust of the flesh was included (1John 2:16).
4. What produces perilous souls is the preaching of the world (2Tim. 3:1-2). This world also feeds men. Some pulpits have been hijacked by the spirit of this world for the purpose of raising perilous, dangerous souls.
5. We must also remain under the atmosphere of the Spirit and the word continually. This kind of atmosphere does not allow the soul race into perdition and will not allow the lusts of the flesh to thrive. A soul is blessed when the activities of the world and its lusts are being limited, till it loses its strength.
6. The liar and antichrist are known by their message. They speak of this world and those that are of the world hear them. Only those who have received the word of Christ and everlasting life would not hear them. The messages of Christ and everlasting life blocks our ear from this world.
7. God's intention is that we would overcome this world totally. Overcoming the world is what makes it possible for the prince of this world to come and find nothing in us (John 14:30).