Eternal Glorious Fountain Ministry (EGFM)
Programme: Lekki Soul Center
Date: Wednesday, 15th September 2021
Ministering: Pst. Thompson Ehima
(Message begins…)
Repentance is generated from godly sorrow. And only a man who is being made godly can generate godly sorrow. You cannot generate godly sorrow in someone that is ungodly because it is a sorrow unto life (2 Cor. 7:9). Repentance is a nature of this season and a cloud everyone should be under. We should be seeing our selfishness in all our dealings -- dealings with our brothers, sisters e.t.c and how we have retained our lust. Selfishness is the root of our sin and that is what God want to cleanse us from.
In the ministry (EGFM) and across our various churches, teachings to further expand or break down what is going on are being taught to us from the basics to the heights because God wants us to be entire, lacking nothing. From the basics, He is narrowing down even to the issue of the sanctification of our bodies, because the body is for the Lord and the Lord is for the body. We are in a major shift in the spirit and God’s work is more holistic in this season. For example, in the Old Testament, everyone could go to the high priest whenever they err and he atones for their sins. However, on the great day of atonement, he still atones for every sin, even after atonement has been done individually. The individual atonements are potent but the sacrifices are being officiated from the Outer court and Holy place where, year in year out, there is still a remembrance of sins (Heb. 10:3 However, the place of addressing the conscience is in the Most Holy place.
“But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.” (Heb. 10:3). Atonement was designed majorly to deal with sin in the conscience. We sin because we lack knowledge or don’t have enough knowledge, and the conscience is a place where the mind processes understanding. The conscience holds back from doing some things, but sometimes does not because the man does not have what he ought to do registered in his conscience -- that is, there is no evidence in the conscience that what he wants to do is wrong. Sin responds to stimulus. There are sins you think of before you do while some are out of reflex - a flow (Heb. 12:4). Sin takes occasions to kill (Rom. 7:11).
When sin was atoned for in the Old Testament, the maximum they could reach was the sanctuary. All the feasts they performed were tied to celebrating issues of sin. It was carried out year in, year out but it could not address sin in the conscience. It was not addressed because the blood ought to communicate something to the conscience. It ought to be the vehicle for transporting judgement to the conscience but it could not achieve it because the blood was of bulls and goats (Heb. 10:4). The season of Christ does something to the conscience but there are different stages of the conscience. The season of the Father should also do something to our conscience. Conscience can be good but there is what is called pure conscience.
"Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience." (1 Tim. 3:9). You can hold the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience, but faith does not end in the sanctuary because there’s a most holy faith to contend for (Jude 20). In recent times, God has been giving more strength to the voice/speaking of faith -- which is the teaching of the faith. More light has been shining on faith. Faith is available in a heart when it has substance (Heb. 11:1). And “substance” in the light of the day we are in is commandment and instruction. If revelation/understanding is coming to you and there is not yet commandment and instruction given, you just have hope (desires). Revelation will generate a desire for everlasting life. It will generate expectations of God in your heart.
Every allocation of the word when it is coming, has a hope it gives (Eph. 1:18-19). An expectation is first set in the heart because if it is not set, hope (desire) will not be satisfied by God in the heart. As the word of God increases, expectation increases. That is why the milk of the word cannot preach the hope of Eternal life. Even when it does, it is not clear because the light is limited. The milk of the word is from God but it is limited. It is in Christ’s light we see life but it is also a measure of life in the whole concept of life that God has promised us. Christ is a component of all the measurements of life. So, the first thing the word of God paints to us is desires or expectations to bring hope.
God sets expectations in our relationships with everyone via understanding. When we see this picture/expectation, we must wait for the substantiation by commandment and instructions. When faith comes, we must walk (2 Corin. 5:7). To walk means to keep commandments, that is, having a substance to walk/engage with. There is no faith if we are not walking. Faith means to walk and not merely to wait on our desires. It is the granting and bringing forth of further understanding on what to do as/while we wait.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1). Faith is the substance of what we desire and of the expectations of God. It is the substance of the hope of God. The substance is the commandment (Rom. 16:26). The commandment of the everlasting God is that obedience to the faith should be generated. Faith is a stretch; the more we move into deeper allocations of the word, the higher the strength/voice of faith becomes. There is a faith allocation that sanctifies us in Christ, and there is also the faith that takes us in and causes us to be planted in the Most Holy Place (Jude 1:3). This is Eternal Life.
Faith dwells in every realm of God’s court, even in the camp of God’s people (the milk of the word - faith in the Lord Jesus). It keeps abiding (1 Corin. 13:13). As we move from one realm to another, faith becomes stronger. The speaking of faith becomes higher; the speakings of faith are commandments. Faith is commandment; it is instruction; it is the substance being given to us. And we ought to walk with it. In the light of Christ/New Testament, ‘word’ is called commandment. To receive the word is to receive commandments/instructions because it generates a conversation that cannot be obtained from those who do not have the word. The substance of faith is the delivery of commandment and instruction to hearts. For example, “Charity does not behave unseemly”, which means we have an instruction we must keep (1 Corin. 13:5). This commandment can only be discerned by a spiritual mind.
The voice of faith is becoming stronger amidst us to deliver the commandments of everlasting life to us. The end of the commandment is unfeigned love -- the love of the Father or the love of God (1 Pet. 1:22). The essence of the commandment is to bring us into love, to exercise the heart in different strata and states of love. The natural mind cannot fathom the love of the Father dwelling in us but by obedience to commandments, our heart rapports with this reality. The commandment of faith in the teaching of the revelation of Christ and the commandment of the most holy faith causes us to relate with different love statuses (1 Tim. 1:5).
At the initial entrance into the Outer Court, the essence of the commandment of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is for us to embody, house and become a dwelling for the love of the saints. Further on, as we keep the substances prescribed in the faith of Jesus Christ, we come into the unfeigned love of the brethren; while the realm of everlasting life would bring us into keeping ourselves in the love of God (Jude 1:21). At this point, nothing would be able to separate us - neither from the love of Christ nor the love of God that is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:35-39). In every allocation, our evil conscience is purged and moved to being good and pure (Heb. 10:22).
The Lord wants to move us further. The Spirit would help us cooperate with the work of God ongoing within us by continuous repentance in response to the word. The Lord has specifically commanded that we judge ourselves, for it is time for judgement to begin in His house (1 Pet. 4:17). In the Book of Revelation 2,3 and 4, the churches were judged. He that sat on the throne judged them. The season of the revelation of Christ and God is the season of judgement. If we do not judge ourselves, we would be judged with the world (1 Cor. 11:31-32). Judging ourselves makes the laws of God sit in our conscience. It distils and stays in our conscience to hold back a future occurrence of sin or shortcoming. When God sheds light on us, the seat of selfishness in us is dealt with.
Jesus prayed to the Father to be glorified with His Person (John 17:5). He prayed against His own will; He could not allow selfishness at that juncture. The Father’s will delivered the Father’s glory to Him -- it is a prerequisite (Luke 22:42). In John 17, Jesus acknowledged that He was only a trustee/steward of all the Father had given Him, and He transferred them back to His Father. Iniquity is an inability to see that all things are of God. We must acknowledge that of ourselves, we can do nothing (John 5:30). We should serve God with no profit or gain for ourselves in the picture. We are expected to be spent for Him.
Jesus suffered for us in the flesh, not for Himself. He became Christ (Godlike) for us through suffering. After attaining Christ, He had to suffer again to be the Son of God (Heb. 5:8). His suffering is attached to dealing with sin in us. We should suffer for righteousness and endure shame while doing the Will of God -- good, acceptable or perfect (Rom. 12:2). The dealing of the gospel of Christ casts shame on us, on our reputation and men’s expectations of us. This is why Paul admonished that we should be unashamed of the gospel (Rom. 1:16). A good man would not abort the word of God; he receives it until it is buried and becomes flesh in him. A heart is tested to be good by its response (fruitfulness) to the word (Luke 8:15; Mark 4:20).
Although human suffering is defined/characterised by lack, our Lord Jesus suffered for sin. His suffering did not only begin on the cross. He needed to live His life without spot to be acceptable to God. He suffered many things to become fit as a sacrifice/offering for sin. Jesus lived (denied Himself) for us because He needed to be a lamb without blemish. Moreso, He remained unmarried to attend to the Will of God without distraction, and God gave Him grace (1 Cor. 7:34-35).
The mind of Christ is very high (1 Cor. 2:16). This is the mind that can do the perfect will of God. The conversation here was that of the hidden wisdom of God, which the Holy Ghost teaches (1 Cor 2:6-10). No man will be able to process the perfect will of God without the mind of Christ. No man will be able to compare the spiritual with the spiritual without the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:13). This mind of Christ is spiritual. One who can relate with the mind of the Lord is he who has the mind of Christ. The component of the mind of the Lord is the hidden wisdom, things spiritual. We ought to arm ourselves with this mind (the mind of God), and this armour can only be worn by Christ.
One of the comforts that God brings to us is love walk. Love is a comfort. It is where God dwells. A sign that we are being built up is by walking in love. Love is the totality of the commandments. We know how much we are fairing by how much love we are coming into. How we know that we have passed from death to life is that we love the brethren. How we know that we have moved from corruption to incorruptible is that we love the Father. Love is our seal; it is a banner (Song of Solomon 2:4). The knowledge of being loved makes us feel secure. Love is a zone/realm of experience; any heart that experiences it cannot deny it. When you love someone, you feel vulnerable around your lover. These are glorious estates in the spirit. He that is in love is in life.
Philippians 2:1-3 reveals commandments of everlasting life. Most times, the requirement of making our brother happy doesn’t make us happy. Only Christ rejoices at such instances. Jesus could have chosen an easy way. He could have liaised for another way. Jesus went to hell, stripped of all powers. He went as the best of sinners. He must have been troubled with many thoughts and visions of the pain He would go through in those three days. What He went through in hell was more terrible than what He suffered in the hands of the Roman soldiers.
The striving of man shows that we are still men (Deut 33:8). There are some striving that we might not be able to do again. We may not be able to strive with unbelievers but we can strive with our hearts and by saying some words. Defending oneself is also striving. We can strive through words or actions. Trying to make men understand you is striving. Some things don’t look like striving but they are (e.g. setting the record straight). Moses strived with God when He led the people in the wilderness. The way to the holiest is to heal us of all these things. That is the essence of teaching us. One of the things set out to be achieved in us is holiness.
Upon Mount Zion, there shall be holiness (Obad. 1:17). When you are below Zion, that is Christ. The tail (base) of Zion is Christ. If you are not Christ, you are not in Zion yet. Zion is the mountain we are approaching. Climbing Zion is ascension. Names (natures) are being acquired while climbing. Zionic company are those that have arrived in Zion. They have been gathered from whence they have been scattered. Deliverance is being wrought on the mountain. The holiness requirement here is different. It is the holiness of the holiest that is needed to stand on Zion. The season of revealing the Son who is at the right hand of God is the season of revealing the Father.
When we see the Son, we have seen the Father; and when we see the Father, we have seen the Son. The revelation of the Fatherhood of God is the revelation of the Son. A teacher of everlasting life must unveil the mystery of the Son of God and the Father (Rom. 1:3-4). God wants us to judge ourselves by the revelation of the Son. Where the judgement of the Son is, is in the mind that Christ has. We can’t judge angels if we have not judged ourselves (1 Cor. 2:15). It’s time for judgement to begin in the house of God. To judge angels is to discern them. We cannot attain a pure conscience if we are unable to judge ourselves. God wants to sprinkle our conscience with water and the blood of the everlasting covenant that carries judgment.
Blood is used to judge sin. When sin is judged, the standard of righteousness is being laid on the conscience. By writing laws upon our hearts and our minds, work is being done on our conscience. This is to make the conscience void of offence before the day of Christ (Acts 24:16). The Godhead are bringing us into the day of Christ to judge things in us. All the saints must appear before the judgement seat of Christ to judge the mind. The essence of the everlasting gospel is to judge ourselves so that we wouldn’t be judged. A spiritual man will judge all things because he has access to knowing what is in the mind of the Lord. The mind of the Lord knows all things (1 Cor. 2:15-16).
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. [18] And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Cor. 5:17-18). Reconciling iniquity is judging ourselves by the knowledge of what the mind of the Lord holds. The Lordship of the Lord is the things that the Son gives. To be Lord of all is to own things. The Son of God owns everlasting things. To know what constitutes the Son is to possess the mind of Christ. The essence of having this mind is to judge the things of God, men, and Satan (Mark 8:33). This is to be able to discern things that are contrary to the things of God. What constitutes all things is the mind of the LORD, which is everlasting life. What God will use for reconciliation are everlasting things.
To strive is not to put up a physical fight but we can strive with our words. Sometimes we strive by withholding love which is iniquity. Iniquity is that which is not equal or falls below standard. Falling below standard is disobedience. The responses of our hearts in matters that concern our brethren can show strive. Disputing, engaging in endless genealogies can also lead to strive (1 Tim. 1:4). Meekness, contentment are tools to fight good warfare. Apostle Paul warned Timothy against giving heed to strive, endless genealogies and disputing, because it doesn’t bring forth edification nor does it lead to building.
Scripture describes sin as our members (Col. 3:5), and the conscience is part of the soul members. Exercising ourselves in sin has erased the laws of righteousness written in us and raised another standard. As much as we allow sin to prosper in our members, it will dull our sensitivity to its deeds. The more a load of sin is erased and suppressed in us, the more the stimulus of sin is being slowed down. The ability to express carnality becomes stronger based on the load of sin our members carry. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). This scripture implies that sin might have been reduced drastically in us but its residual remains.
Our focus should be that we reduce the viral load of sin to become slow to speak and slow to wrath (James 1:19). When we reduce the load, we show more meekness than our haughtiness. God is increasing light for us because sin also morphs. More light is given so that load of sin might reduce, and righteousness would also increase. Abiding righteousness is everlasting righteousness. We come into abiding righteousness by our deeds; that is, we do righteousness until it becomes a memorial which heaven recognises. As we are coming to know the mind of the Lord, which is the essence of revelation, we must be able to judge ourselves.
Message Ends