Programme: School of the Spirit (SOS)
Date: Thursday, 23rd February 2023
Transcript Summary
1. There is a limit to learning God if a believer just stays on the letters of the word or the written Bible (Col. 1:9). However, the written word is a gift to students of knowledge (or precepts) and a balance to students who will go into the lines or ways of God. A believer cannot come into knowledge or precepts without being wise in scriptures. “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim. 3:15). It is not all scriptures that have the ability to make a believer wise. The scriptures that can make a believer wise are “holy scriptures”.
2. “Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit…” (Eph. 3:4-5). The phrase “holy apostles” here is not in terms of separation from sins, but that the apostles are set apart to the Lord to reveal holy scriptures or to show things that were kept secret. The sons of men vary through ages. The age ranges from those who are just “sons of men” to those who are “sons of God”. These men can see but the mysteries of Christ and God were not made known to them. Sons of men were some kind of men on earth; they were majorly prophets of old that God Almighty did not show these things that are now made known to His holy apostles and prophets.
3. The prophetic seasons were characterized by ages. It is not all the prophets that came in the same age. There are other ages. The age of Seth to Noah was an age but the mysteries of the New Testament were not revealed to them. Enoch prophesied concerning judgment to the ungodly at the second coming of our Lord Jesus (Jude 1:14). However, Enoch did not see the doctrine of Christ and of the Son of God. It was not revealed to men of that age. God only gave the understanding of the doctrines to His holy apostles and prophets of the New Testament. The reason we have the epistles is because God chose some men and made them His holy apostles. We do not have these kinds of holy apostles presently. They were holy to first detect the New Testament from the book of the prophets (by the Spirit).
4. There are many sincere ministers who have prophetic gifts and can be called prophets, but they have not yet grown spiritually. They have not entered the office of a New Testament prophet. One needs certain authority to step into the office of a prophet. When John the Baptist was in Israel in those days as a prophet, he hardly manifested things like the word of knowledge or physical visions. What was prevalent in John’s ministry is preaching and teaching. Prophets are way ministers. The New Testament or biblical pattern of prophets is more than its office in the five fold.
5. God Almighty loves growing prophets; He grew men like Abraham and Moses as prophets. The New Testament is also ordained to grow prophets. Apart from the office of the fivefold ministry, the growth of the prophetic nature is inclusive of the New Testament. Men like Abraham, Noah etc. were prophets, and this is not because they were standing in the office of a prophet like Isaiah did. The normal development of a man is that he should become a prophet. The raising of prophets is the growth of men in the order of God. Prophets are entities that the alignment of knowledge has produced. Growing in Christ is a prophetic nature. The nature of Christ is a prophetic nature. However, the Son of God is the actual prophet. In the New Testament, the office of the Son of God is the office of the prophet.
6. A prophet is he who does not have anything but God. A prophet is not afraid to lose it all. A prophet is he who can go through the path of sufferings. The nature of prophets is that they suffer. They are those who do the denials that the Holy Spirit demands of them. You will remain a mere man if you cannot suffer or do what it takes to become a prophet. When a man has done the will of God, he needs patience to inherit God (Heb. 10:36). Exercise in patience is what will show that a man has really changed. Such is not just a companion in tribulation, but he is patiently waiting for the promise (Rev. 1:9). This is where a man will possess his soul and overcome the dragon. This is where a man will become more patient than the devil. Patience can cook stone and Satan does not like it when a man is being patient. Satan understands suffering. So, we should not just endure sufferings; we should go on into patience. Prophets are made by the dealings of patience. They are special entities that can respond highly to God.
7. The prophecy in the book of Revelation is for man to use eternal light on earth, a light that the world to come will be hungry to see (Rev. 22:2-3). The new earth lived without this light for some time until there was an importation of the light through the kings of the new earth (Rev. 21:10,22-26). The preparation of men in the new earth for this light was done by the kings of the new earth. They made new earth men thirsty, then heaven opened, and the New Jerusalem descended. The New Jerusalem will not come from heaven to earth until after a long time (maybe 300-400 years) after the kings of the earth would have trained nations of the earth in preparation for this ministry of heaven. So, there must be a serious work done on the earth for heavenly things to condescend. To achieve this, God will have to produce men who will be able to teach both earthly and heavenly things.
Blessings!