Eternal Glorious Fountain Ministry (EGFM)
Programme: Revelation Hour (RH)
Date: Saturday, 12th November 2022
“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, [14] Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” (Eph. 1:13-14). The inheritance in this church was the Holy Spirit of promise. As such, this Church had not yet been sealed with the name of Christ, which is another inheritance. If the Holy Spirit is a down payment of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, then the redemption should lead to the praise of God’s glory.
Salvation, according to that scripture, is the saving of the soul but it is good to see that the gospel here is not salvation gospel; it is a gospel that has a tie to salvation. The gospel is of ‘your’ salvation”. Ephesians 1:15 shows that ‘your salvation’ is your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love unto all the saints.
“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: [18] The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints…” (Ephesians 1:17-18) It is His calling and His inheritance in the saints, not “your’ own. There are allocations in God that are basically ‘your’ own. This ‘your’ provision did not change a person from flesh. When it changes to ‘His’, then it means it is no longer man’s. The down payment of your inheritance is the seal of the Holy Spirit. The things God did for us are tagged as ‘your’; this means that this salvation is ‘your’ gospel because we do not have ‘His’ salvation but ‘your’ salvation. His salvation means you will be saved as He is saved but ‘your’ salvation is that which is accounted for as your own, showing that you are not saved as He is saved. In the Book of the Acts of Apostles, the new birth is called salvation.
The redemption of the purchased possession is the redemption that connotes the forgiveness of sins (Eph. 1:7). This redemption is not that of the reconciliation of iniquity but to make an end of sin. Paul, who wrote to them, did not just have the Holy Spirit; he also had redemption. If he did not, he would not have been able to write this letter to the Ephesians, as well as the other Epistles. He was preaching from a redeemed soul.
“And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” (Acts 20:32). Paul was not referring to everlasting life but the word of sanctification. The inheritance we receive after receiving the Holy Spirit of promise is the inheritance among them which are sanctified (Acts 26:18). All that one receives after turning is the forgiveness of sins.
“And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.” (Acts 20:17). These elders of the church were the saints at Ephesus that all had the seal of the Holy Spirit, which is the earnest of our inheritance. Paul was commending to them the word of His grace. He taught at the school of Tyrannus; He taught them with insight so that they would be sealed. Paul taught faith in the Lord and love to all the saints. He must have taught in a way that the people would be able to carry the gospel to all parts of the earth (Acts 19:20).
The first inheritance of a believer is the Holy Spirit and He is a down payment. This shows that there are still more inheritances. The purchased possession is the soul or the Church of God (Eph. 1:14). God did not need to purchase the spirit of man or redeem it because it was completely dead (after the fall of man in Eden), but the soul was not. The soul was said to have gone astray in its own way (Isa. 53:6), but God called it back.
The soul is purchased so that God will have a legal right to work on it. This is because the soul has previously been a worker of sins and was alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance in it. Thus, it was darkened in understanding and separated from God's life, through the ignorance in it. This ignorance stems from the blindness of the heart (Eph. 4:18). The soul was bought with blood so that we would feel cleansed. The spirit was not washed in blood but quickened, but the soul was washed in blood.
"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost…" (Titus 3:5). The renewing of the Holy Ghost would lead to the sealing of the soul. The sealing of the Holy Ghost is an inheritance. Redemption is equal to sealing, therefore, redemption is equal to inheritance. A measure of the inheritance was given when the Holy Spirit sealed us. The Holy Spirit also knows about the promise of Eternal Life and leads us until we attain it. When we measure the level of our sealing, we know that we are yet to get to Eternal Life.
Majority of churches now have the Holy Ghost of promise as the measure of their inheritance. The sealing of a man starts with the infilling of the Holy Ghost and proceeds with the teaching of the name of the Holy Ghost. The Persons of the Godhead seal by giving a man their names. The Holy Spirit was sent to give this name at the allocation of the partial sealing (Eph. 1:13-14).
The fullness of the Spirit is a seal. Anyone who is full of the Holy Ghost is going to be faithful. The men of honest report are called faithful in Christ Jesus (Acts 6:3). When one is sealed by the Holy Ghost, the next allocation of the inheritance (Christ) can be communicated to them. The Holy Ghost prepares people for this next allocation, through His sealing. However, no sealing occurs without words. Beyond the manifestations, there are teachings and words of salvation. Stephen was not an intellectual but was full of the Holy Ghost. As such, men were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which Stephen spoke (Acts 6:10). He was a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost (Acts 6:5).
“Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. [6] And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.” (Acts 8:5-6). Philip’s message was a preaching of Christ. One cannot fully preach the revelation of Jesus Christ unto sinners but Philip could do so because he had gotten to a dimension where his measure of sealing (in the Holy Ghost) was closer to the revelation of faith — Christ. Philip did not teach but preached Christ with some measure of light. Peter also preached to him in a measure on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:36).
Paul called the gospel of Christ, ‘my gospel’ (Rom. 16:25). Philip also preached this gospel of Christ, but at a level.
“Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” (Eph 1:14). God purchased this possession (the soul) in order to redeem it. Every remission of sin is a redemption and as such, there is a buy-back. The sense of purchase is redemption, that is, to collect back what was lost. It is to reorientate the mind, who is a slave to sin, and make him no longer a slave to the elemental forces of his former master. The blood that purchased the soul is the same blood that would save it. The power that purchased the soul would be used in renewing the same soul.
“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace…” (Eph. 1:7). The blood is for the forgiveness of sins and the technology of forgiveness obeys the format of dispensing the riches of His grace. God’s people ought to receive the riches of His grace. Forgiveness is given through the riches of His grace. The church is made up of people (souls) who have been purchased by the blood of Jesus. This blood is also the tool for cleansing us from our sins, but in some churches, men do not see this blood as the tool for cleansing. This shows us how the slavemaster (Satan) is a hideous one, who does not give up. As such, he sends evil spirits to such churches to make them slave centres.
Just like the Father, Jesus takes risks. They sometimes hand over pastoral work to people who do not even know what ministry is. But some years from now, it will be difficult for a person without a redeemed soul to pastor a church. This is because God will move the work of the ministry higher, like in the days of the first apostles. Then, a newly born-again believer could not claim to be called to ministry by virtue of the manifestation of the gifts of the Holy Ghost because they knew the difference between performance of miracles and leading souls. This is the primary work of the five-fold ministry. The source of confidence in false pastors or leaders is darkness. We are in a world of blind people, but a time will come when the veil shall be taken away and we will see the false as they are.
The redemption of the purchased possession is the forgiveness of sins and it is according to the riches of His grace. We have redemption through Jesus’ blood (Col. 1:14). This is the same forgiveness of sins that was mentioned in Acts 26:18. While the blood is working forgiveness in a man, the inheritance is also being installed. When sins are being deleted, a space is being made vacant in the soul. Therefore, after our sins have been forgiven, we must plant and not neglect the installation of inheritance in that empty space. Redemption is ‘sins being remitted’.
Forgiveness of sins is also remission, which is redemption. It is the removal of a strange life that has made us alienated from God. There is a life that is of God. Our faith is different from this life. Our faith is both our life and salvation, but this redemption is the life of God. The life of God starts with the life that is Christ. Anything that is Christ is of God. Christ-life is God’s life that is customised for earth. So, we will first live in the gift of life given to us by the Holy Ghost. Then, the Holy Ghost prepares us for entering God’s life.
“And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: [12] That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.” (Mark 4:11-12). In this portion of scripture, Jesus had just told them a parable about the kingdom. The kingdom delivers redemption or forgiveness of sins to men. We got sins from the kingdom of darkness; it is the inputter of sin. If Christians have redemption through His blood, it means we have the provision for entering the Kingdom of God. The only way we can enter the Kingdom is by our sins being forgiven.
God has forgiven us of all our sins but we still have them. Therefore, this forgiveness firstly involves a conversion, and then, a removal. What the Kingdom is preaching is the removal of sins. In the past days of the teachings of holiness, people could not bear the standards of holiness at the time. But today, holiness is even preached with lies. Under the light of holiness, many of us would be sinners because the demand is more than our conduct. Rather, it is a life that we practise under the sun. We cannot stop that life because we actually don’t hate it, we do not even know that we have it. We call it ours unknowingly but Satan delivered this life to us by a power. Our eyes therefore have to be opened before we can be turned from that power. The reason for the opening of our eyes is for understanding to be granted.
“To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” (Acts 26:18). If we are not converted, we will not receive the forgiveness of sins. But before we can be converted, our eyes need to be opened. It may look like people love Jesus when we see the activities they do. But in actuality, what they love is what entices them to do those activities.; this is not the kingdom. People pray for their lives to be better, not knowing that it is that same life that is hindering them from entering the kingdom. That is what Jesus wants to remove from men, for that life is the reason for their sins.
“For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” (Eph. 5:5). Anyone who fits into this list has no inheritance in the kingdom.
“But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.” (1 Cor. 5:11). A railer is a brawler that fights regularly. We should not have anyone with these natures mentioned in the scripture above amidst us.
The Holy Spirit is an inheritance. Christ as an inheritance is a storage of persons, when preached to perfection. The Holy Spirit is present in our midst, therefore, nobody should play with or take advantage of the love of God that saints are showing. Ananias and Sapphira told partial lies and they died instantly. The Holy Ghost was enjoying the company of the brethren. But all of a sudden, Ananias and Sapphira invented lies from nowhere; this nature could have spread out to other saints but God stopped it (1 Cor. 5:6).
None of us will fall. God will keep us away from iniquity. He will purify us from all works of evil. However, we would do well if we give time to this message because people sin as a result of what they give time to.
Blessings!
Summary
1. The first inheritance of a believer is the Holy Spirit and He is a down payment. This shows that there are still more inheritances.
2. While the spirit of man died when man fell in Eden, His soul didn’t. Hence, the soul of man (or the Church) is the purchased possession (Eph. 1:13-14). God purchased the soul so that He would have a legal right to work on it.
3. Before the new birth, the soul had previously been a worker of sins and was alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance in it. Thus, it was darkened in understanding. This ignorance stems from the blindness of the heart (Eph. 4:18).
4. The sealing of the Holy Ghost is an inheritance. A measure of the inheritance was given when the Holy Spirit sealed us. The Holy Spirit also knows about the promise of Eternal Life and leads us until we attain it.
5. When one is sealed by the Holy Ghost, the next allocation of the inheritance (Christ) can be communicated to them. The Holy Ghost prepares people for this next allocation through His sealing. However, no sealing occurs without words.
6. God purchased this possession (the soul) in order to redeem it. Every remission of sin is a redemption. The sense of purchase is redemption, that is, to collect back what was lost. It is to reorientate the mind, who is a slave to sin, and make him no longer a slave to his former master.
7. If Christians have redemption through His blood, it means we have the provision for entering the Kingdom of God. The only way we can enter the Kingdom is by our sins being forgiven. This forgiveness firstly involves a conversion, and then, a removal of sin. The preaching of the Kingdom is the removal of sins.