Powered by: Eternal Glorious Fountain Ministries (EGFM)
Programme: Tuesday Prayer Meeting (TPM)
Date: Tuesday, March 22nd 2022
Minister: Pastor Thompson Ehima
The Lord is shining light on the incorruptible inheritance that fades not away and is undefiled (1 Pet. 1:4). It has become evident from scriptures that flesh and blood cannot inherit the incorruptible seed (1 Cor. 15:50).
The law of the flesh/carnal man is an aspect of the law of sin and death. However, in this context, flesh is beyond sin and death. “And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” (Gen. 6:3). When God referred to man as flesh, He was not referring to the works of the flesh (Gen. 5:19-21), but to the wickedness of the thoughts of man and the imagination of his heart (Gen. 6:5). God was also referring to the ways of man.
As such, flesh can be summed up as issues of the heart and ways. By these two things, God concluded that man was corrupted in his ways (Gen 6:12). Flesh is sin while ways are iniquities (Ezek. 28:15). What is referred to as the laws of sin and death are products of thoughts and ways. A man may be free from the law of sin and death but may not be free from the ways of iniquity. The doctrine of Christ makes us free from the laws/strength of sin and death (Rom. 8:2).
Jesus was manifested to take away our sins (1 John 3:5). The purpose of the manifestation of Jesus is to destroy the works of the devil. Jesus will not only make a man free from sin, He also intends to take sin away completely until it cannot be remembered again (Heb. 8:12).
The provision of the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus is to make a man free from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2). Being free from the law of sin and death does not cease the existence of sin in a man. When a man obeys Christ unto charity, such a man has been made free from sin. By the use of all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3), a man will be made free from unrighteousness and ungodliness.
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ…” (Tit. 2:13). The appearance of the great God is to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify unto Himself a peculiar people. Life and godliness gives us freedom from the strength of sin and death. Until a people are free in this measure, they will not have the capacity to generate the strength required to break free from iniquity.
For sin to be taken away completely, one must generate a very high obedience. God's first line of action in destroying the works of Satan in a man is to make him free from sin, that is, to weaken the strength of sin in a man before bringing the knowledge of Himself that will take away iniquity.
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good” (Rom. 12:2). There are particular thoughts that we must receive of the Lord so we can overcome negative thoughts. God gives thoughts (Matt.16:16), but not to a man who is still under sin and death. The thoughts of God cannot come to such a man because the heart of that man is yet to be prepared for the seed of God to fall on. This is why a man's heart must be made fleshy by being made free from sin and death.
God brings His thoughts to a people who are being made from the laws of sin and death and He does not wait until they are completely free from sin and death before bringing His thoughts to them. As we are being made free from the laws of sin and death, God gives us everlasting thoughts.
The essence of the knowledge of God is to prepare us to receive the thoughts of God because there must be a ground for His thoughts to come into. Satan's first gift is knowledge. In the same way, God gives His knowledge first. Thoughts and ways are fruits (products) of knowledge. When a man takes the thoughts of God, it is that which the knowledge of God has borne. Knowledge is what brings forth. A man can have knowledge and may not be fruitful. In order for the knowledge to become fruitful, it must come as instructions so that it will produce a manner of life when obeyed.
The Son of God is consecrated in His flesh, He has in His flesh the new and living way. He has in His flesh the strength that can make you live. The way in the Son of God is an everlasting way, but not of the present. Sin and death and hell and death are of the present everlasting order but what the Son of God has consecrated in His flesh are not things of the present.
The discipline to overcome the present is to continue and we do not determine the length of our discipleship; knowing the truth will make us free. What Jesus was teaching here was everlasting life — deliverance from them that hate us. You need to continue to be able to abide because in your continuity, you wear out sin. To wear them out means they lose their strength and die off. God wants to destroy the works of sin and death in us.
The flesh and blood (of Jesus) is meant to destroy all the works of the devil. God wants to destroy sin in us; although sin has been destroyed, its conversation must be destroyed in us.
Iniquity is the blood of the fallen Cherub. Sin is of spiritual wickedness, we need to keep waiting on the Lord to begin to load us with thoughts that will generate commandments. You wear out flesh and blood (of the negative order) by obeying commandments.
"Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared…" (Heb. 5:7) Fear is a way; it is an arrangement of thoughts and sight. The conversation of Satan to make Job curse God was a conversation of fear. There was a thing that Job knew that made him overcome the traps of Satan. Our warfare is to hold on to God's thoughts and ways until flesh dies and blood is drained.
The strength of continuity is what is needed to destroy ignorance in a man and make him stay in the way. The way of everlasting life is in the scriptures but we need to receive the thoughts of God to see it. However, you cannot find the key without knowledge. The labour of our parents is to create an environment that is conducive for God’s thoughts — the giving of knowledge.
A fool despises knowledge. Knowledge teaches how to respond and conduct yourself. To refuse and choose is a way. Obedience to everlasting commandments shows in your decisions. These commandments must be written on fleshy tables of the heart (2 Cor. 3:3)— flexible hearts. As we give ourselves to these words, we are resisting unto blood and striving against sin.
We have things that flow in us and have stuck with us but it does not mean we cannot overcome them because what flesh (sin) does is that it makes you descend at every point. God eventually dealt with the reproach of Egypt when the Israelites got to Gilgal. God wants to give us a strong consolation that those who have fled for refuge shall lay hold of the promise (Heb. 6:18).
God is serious with us and it is possible for a people's sins and offerings not to be remembered anymore by one offering. Jesus went into heavens to purge our sins and iniquities. Sin and iniquities are heavenly. God physically purged heavens when He sent Satan and evil spirits away and Jesus did it also. But they want to administer the blood that purged it to us.
How you calibrate what you eat is in your body. Likewise, when we obey commandments, we inject life into every fabric of our soul. Every obedience is important. Sin and iniquity is being weakened in us, we are changing by the words coming to us. We need to be consistent and keep yielding and we would see that the veil of sin is being destroyed. We would come to the point where we will not find any trace of sin again.
God told the Israelites they won’t see the Egyptians anymore (Ex. 14:13). We should have confidence in the words we are hearing. The Lord is raising us to become a people in whom sin and death will be broken. There is a power that has brought us here, there are forces beyond us that are pushing these things and they will do it.
Summary
1. When God referred to man as flesh, He was not referring to the works of the flesh (Gen. 5:19-21), but to the wickedness of the thoughts of man and the imagination of his heart (Gen. 6:5). God was also referring to the ways of man. As such, flesh can be summed up as issues of the heart and ways. By these two things, God concluded that man was corrupted in his ways (Gen 6:12).
2. Flesh is sin while ways are iniquities (Ezek. 28:15). What is referred to as the laws of sin and death are products of thoughts and ways. A man may be free from the law of sin and death but may not be free from the ways of iniquity.
3. The doctrine of Christ makes us free from the laws/strength of sin and death (Rom. 8:2). Jesus will not only make a man free from sin, He also intends to take sin away completely until it cannot be remembered again (Heb. 8:12).
4. Being free from the law of sin and death does not cease the existence of sin in a man. When a man obeys Christ unto charity, such a man has been made free from sin. The appearance of the great God is to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify unto Himself a peculiar people (Tit. 2:13).
5. For sin to be taken away completely, one must generate a very high obedience. God's first line of action in destroying the works of Satan in a man is to make him free from sin, that is, to weaken the strength of sin in a man before bringing the knowledge of Himself that will take away iniquity.
6. The essence of the knowledge of God is to prepare us to receive the thoughts of God because there must be a ground for His thoughts to come into. The thoughts of God cannot come to a man who is still under sin and death because the heart of that man is yet to be prepared for the seed of God to fall on. This is why a man's heart must be made fleshy by being made free from sin and death.
7. The Son of God is consecrated in His flesh, He has in His flesh the new and living way. He has in His flesh the strength that can make you live. The way in the Son of God is an everlasting way, but not of the present. Sin and death and hell and death are of the present everlasting order but what the Son of God has consecrated in His flesh are not things of the present.
8. The discipline to overcome the present is to continue and we do not determine the length of our discipleship; you need to continue to be able to abide because in your continuity, you wear out sin. To wear them out means they lose their strength and die off.
9. The strength of continuity is what is needed to destroy ignorance in a man and make him stay in the way. The way of everlasting life is in the scriptures but we need to receive the thoughts of God to see it. However, you cannot find the key without knowledge.
10. Every obedience is important. We need to be consistent and keep yielding and we would see that the veil of sin is being destroyed. We would come to the point where we will not find any trace of sin again.