Programme: School of the Spirit
Date: Thursday, 18th January, 2023
As the tongue was being brought forth, a word kept on ringing in my heart, which God's servant, Reverend Kayode Oyegoke has also said, which is “to bring Jesus back”. One of the commissions of God’s servant, Reverend Kayode Oyegoke, is to help bring Jesus back. Jesus told Reverend Kenneth Hagin that He gave a name to his mother at his birth. This name was John and his mother also affirmed it. The angel told his mother that the child (Reverend Kenneth Hagin) would suffer persecutions which are because of his commission to bring the Lord back.
Reverend Kenneth Hagin brought Jesus back. In his early days of his life on earth, the Church was in so much ignorance, which is also darkness. It is ignorance that darkens the hearts of men (Eph. 4:18). A heart that is ignorant has a darkened understanding. Thus, to bring God to that heart, light must shine upon the heart.
When understanding (light) is brought, the Lord comes. The Lord had always desired to come to the earth again, but Satan succeeded in hindering His coming because He prefers that God’s presence is limited to the heavens.
The Yoruba word ‘Oluwa’ is “Lord” while the word “God” is translated “Olórun”, which means “He who owns or dwells in heaven”. Satan has succeeded in doing things on earth to sever the earth and the air (heaven of the earth) from God. He has done this by making the hearts of men ignorant, such that they believe that God is only reigning in the heavens and not on the earth. This belief is driven by the evil happening on the earth. Thus, such men in their ignorance, judge God to be unfaithful.
There are different ideologies and philosophies about God, and this is because of the happenings on the earth. Some men also believe they can handle the earth better than God because they think things are going bad under His oversight. However, this false judgement is as a result of an ignorance of the activities of the god of this world in the hearts of such men (2 Cor. 4:4).
The god of this world killed Cain in his soul because he wanted to sever the heaven and the earth from God; he wanted to wipe out the medium of men calling upon the name of the Lord to bring Him back to the earth. God then had to raise Seth and men began to call upon the name of the Lord (Gen. 4:26). The essence of calling upon the name of the Lord is for God to come to the earth. To call upon the name of the Lord is to call for salvation; it is a call for God to come and save.
The coming of God is a thought that would visit us consistently because there is currently no habitation for God on the earth. As such, He cannot stay on the earth. God has a company of beings He dwells with presently, so we cannot call God to come without any habitation prepared. To bring God down to the earth, beings must be raised that can receive Him. There is no creation that can contain Him. God will suppress the things that make Him up to be able to dwell in heaven. Nothing created can stand the presence of God.
“God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise…” (Hab. 3:3). God is coming from Teman, which means that He is coming from the eternal realms. It has always been the intention of God to reveal Himself. This is why He made the heavens and the earth with measures of everlasting substances.
God’s voice was coming to the earth in Eden, not His brightness. God needed to raise Adam to a state where he could receive Him. God’s intention is not for heaven and the earth to be separated from Him. The heavens and the heaven of the heavens are highly connected with God. The earth has its own heavens, which is called “the air” (Eph. 2:2).
When Adam sinned, Satan occupied the heavens of man, thereby, becoming the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2). Thus, the air is presently being occupied by evil spirits. However, God’s intention is to come back to the earth. Presently, God would be coming to the earth at intervals because there is not yet a permanent abode for Him on the earth.
The Bible is about bringing God back. It is by the appearing and the coming of the Lord that God is brought back. There should never be a time that the earth is independent of God; there should never be a time that God is not being called to come back to the earth. One of the essence of prayers is to call God down. Adam may not have needed prayers to bring God down because there was no hindrance between God and the earth before the fall.
There was no temple on the earth before the fall, but there was an altar. This altar was in the soul of Adam. An altar is the ancient way of bringing God. Anywhere an altar is erected, the essence is to bring God. Adam may not necessarily have needed to pray like we do now because there was an altar within him that was calling God perpetually.
We saw the pattern of the altar being described in Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18). At this time, most of the Israelites had become worshippers of Baal, but when they saw the fire come down upon the altar that Elijah made, they all turned. When they witnessed this, they exclaimed that the Lord God had come. As such, there was no longer a place for Baal, and the prophets of Baal were then killed.
The Lord would be coming to us at intervals until there is an abiding place for Him. The concept of prayer as we know it today was given later for the purpose of bringing God back. One essence of prayer is to bring God into a matter and to commune with Him. When we commune with God, we bring God’s attention into a matter. Prayer is really fellowship, it is communion; it is to build intimacy with God. However, prayer is currently no longer used for the purpose of bringing God back, rather, it is being used to meet our natural needs.
God was coming to the garden of Eden because there was an altar in the soul of Adam. An altar is designed to bring God. When Balaam wanted to bring God down, he used the whole mountain as an altar to call God. He was a man who had visions of the Almighty, so he knew how to raise altars that would bring God down (Num. 23:4). We must bring God because it is in bringing Him that we are perfected; it is in bringing Him that we receive inheritance.
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” (Isa. 52:7). The feet of Jesus come upon the mountain. When He comes, His work is before Him and His reward is with Him (Isa. 40:10); He comes to reward. Jesus Christ taught about the coming again of God through different parables. He taught about the coming of the Lord in the parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14), parable of the ten virgins (Matt. 25:1) and the parable of the Master and his servants (Matt. 24:44-51).
There should never be a time that God should not come to the earth. The coming of the Lord is the core of most of Jesus’ parables. God is so much interested in coming back to the earth. Rapture refers to the coming of the Lord in a measure (1 Thess. 4:15), but the coming of the Lord is much more than that. The coming of the Lord through rapture would be seen by every eye, but there are comings of the Lord that not every eye would see.
God would like to come, but He cannot come down if there are no men calling for His coming. There must be men calling for the Lord; there must be altars raised to call God. This calling is not with the lips alone, but altars being raised in the hearts, calling for His appearance. There are different manners of God’s coming, and we have enjoyed these manners in this community. The manner of His coming is according to the arrangement of the altar. The altar of the earth cannot bring the Lord of glory; it cannot command the appearance of the Lord of glory.
“Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.” (Jam. 5:7). The coming of the Lord is as the husbandman. If we are calling the Husbandman to come, then there must be precious fruits available or else, He would not come. The manner of the Lord’s coming is according to the altar (heart) calling for Him. It is the heart that determines the kind/manner of the operation, expression and manifestation of the Lord’s coming because there are different ways that the Lord can make Himself manifest.
“But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel…” (2 Tim. 1:10). In this scripture, the Lord is manifested as the Saviour who has abolished death. It is not every time that He is made manifest as He who has abolished death and brings life and immortality. An altar (the heart) that is without the camp cannot bring this kind of manifestation of the Lord.
Jesus went without the camp to suffer for sin and He carried the reproach of sin without the camp, which was Golgotha. What Jesus went to do without the camp is what we should do – we should go without the camp to meet Him and then journey back with Him till we reach the ultimate destination. The manifestation of the Lord without the camp is different from the manifestation of the Lord in the tabernacle.
The way He manifests Himself without the camp is to deal with the works of the flesh. The works of the flesh are dealt with without the camp. The altar without the camp is a representation of hearts that are far from God (Matt. 15:8). There is a heart that is far from God; they are such that cry for the coming of the Lord with their lips. Such hearts cannot bring the Lord back because their souls are not designed for that operation. Thus, they cannot receive the operation of the Lord in the sanctuary; they also cannot receive the operation of the Lord as the minister of the true tabernacle.
The heart that is without the camp needs to be cleaned and upgraded because what brings God back is the heart. What calls for the coming of God to come is the altar (heart). God kept visiting the garden of Eden because Adam and Eve had an altar that could bring the living God. Adam could bring the God of the whole earth (Isa. 54:5) because he was of the earth, earthy (1 Cor. 15:47).
The God of the whole earth was coming to Eden and He was coming to a man that was an olive tree. Jesus was also an olive tree of the earth. An olive soul is the holiest soul on earth. Jesus’ soul is the holiest soul that has lived on the earth, followed by Adam. Jesus fulfilled all the righteousness of the earth which Adam's soul could not attain.
The law and the prophets are everlasting earthly ordinances. This was what made them weak, and sin, being an everlasting ordinance, used the occasion to kill those who were under the law and prophets (Rom. 7:11). Jesus did not come to destroy the law and the prophets, but rather to fulfil it (Matt. 5:17). Therefore, the things which the first Adam could not fulfil, the last Adam did. As a result, He bore the name of the God of the whole earth.
Prophets are also called “the holy ones” and their holiness (separation) varies. Enoch is not as separated as Adam is. Elijah and Moses were olive trees, but Abel is a better olive tree. This is because he had a better testament than them, but Jesus is higher than them all, as He fulfilled certain things that they could not.
“And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.” (Rev. 21:6). Jesus Christ, the last Adam, fulfilled the ordinances of the olives of the earth. Jesus is the holiest Man that has ever lived. There are holy ones of the earth, but Jesus Christ is the holiest of all. The earth has its holinesses, which are separations that the soul comes into. The earth is everlasting but Jesus Christ finished the present and former heavenly holiness, standing out as the chief of the olives of the present and former creation.
The essence of this season is to talk about Him and make Him manifest. The angels Gabriel and Michael are olives. Olives are beings in the realm of the holiest, just like John the Baptist who came in the spirit of Elijah (Luke 1:17); he was an olive of the earth and not of the heavenly order. The olives of the heavenly order are angels in their different grades. The grade of holiness of an olive is tied to what the olive fellowship with—the thoughts, ways and altars weaved in them.
Altars are made by thoughts and ways and that is why Adam did not need a temple to call God. The essence of the altar is to call and bring God. The manner of manifestation and expression that the Lord comes with is according to the type of altar (heart). There are altars of earth, brass, silver and gold and the quality of the altars is what brings forth the manner of the quality of the manifestation of His coming.
An altar of clay cannot command what an altar of gold can bring about the Lord. The kind of manifestation of the coming of the Lord is according to the grade of the altar and so to move into a higher appearing of the Lord, the altar must be upgraded.
What brings the manifestation and appearance of the Lord is the keeping of the commandments of the Lord (John 14:21). His appearance is to them that love Him, which is dependent on the level of the altar calling Him forth. Thus, an altar that is low can only call forth a low expression of the Lord.
There are various appearances of the Lord, but when the altar is high and exalted, it will command exalted revelations and manifestation of the Lord. The manner of the altar will determine the way the Lord will visit that heart. This is because the Lord comes to us based on our soul state.
In the midst of corporate entrance (for a congregation), there is also the individual entrance because He cannot come to everyone in the same degree. When the Lord comes to an individual, He will upgrade the individual. One who receives rebuke by the church or brethren and cannot receive it in love, is not qualified for the stronger appearance of the Lord.
Adam did not need an altar to bring God because he had a facility within him that was bringing God. Jesus finished the curriculum of an olive tree and became born of the water and the spirit (John 3:12). There was a time God was speaking to Jesus about the new earth and not just the present earth and heaven. The Holy Ghost taught Him about the present creation of the heavens and the earth and He fulfilled them all. As such, we do not need to learn about the present and former ordinances because Jesus Christ has fulfilled them all.
Some prophets of old learnt the ordinances until they entered the holiest of the earth, but they could not travel further. However, men like Abel and Seth journeyed with the Lord and trapped life in their souls. Abel’s soul, which is of the present earth, is more holy than some Christians because such do not have the holiness of the new earth, as their souls are still in the present.
Jesus Christ learnt the earth and excelled, then God began to teach Him of heavenly things. He then moved from being an olive of the earth of the present creation to an olive of the heavens. Jesus mastered heaven and earth by learning, not by impartation; the Holy Ghost taught Him how to use the earth as He grew from a child to a man. It is by learning that one’s soul is moved into separation. Jesus fulfilled all learnings by obedience.
In the tabernacle of seraphims, Jesus will give better pleasure to God than them. This is because He finished the ordinances, even in the third heavens. Jesus can offer worship to God better than seraphims, even in their own realm. We can only roll away the old ordinances if we finish it. Jesus was able to author a new heaven and earth because He fulfilled the old heaven and earth. He took away the first to establish the second. Jesus saw all the glory of the present, but He did not settle for it because He was not distracted.
Satan put the glory of this present heaven in the tree of knowledge of good and evil and Adam was tempted. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was weaved by wisdom. Adam was an olive soul (holy soul); he was a type and shadow of the olive of the heavens, so he could read the pattern of that tree.
We must be ready for God to push us this year; we must be ready to leave where we are. Our altars need to call for what God is giving in these times and not call for something lower. This is because God will give what our altars call for. Our garment in the spirit is determined by what our soul calls for.
Jesus could walk on water but it was not a miracle. This is because He had fulfilled the ordinances of the earth, so they obeyed Him. He was managing the present, going to heavens and receiving emissaries of heaven. Jesus was taught by the Holy Ghost so we can be assured that we would finish our course, if we obey the Holy Ghost.
We are not called to learn the present but it was necessary that Jesus fulfilled the present creation before the one to come was opened. Jesus fetched His wisdom from the heavenly places in God; He learnt to be Christ. The appearance of Christ to Jesus is the commitment of the faith of the Son of God (Gal. 2:20) to Jesus. No man on earth had lived by that faith before Him. This faith was committed to Jesus after He fulfilled the present creation.
Christ is the new man; He is the new creation that had never existed. Christ is a thought, a way and a judgement couched in God. The old man was conceived in sin and iniquity (Ps. 51:5), but God thought of another Man and kept it in Himself. The thought was a mystery of a life that had never appeared to anyone. This thought of God can be lived out in the flesh.
God always had the thought of another man from before creation – a new creation man that is made after Him in righteousness and true holiness (Eph. 4:24). God did not share His thought with any other being until He raised a man qualified for it – Jesus. To qualify for it, Jesus had to fulfil the ordinances of the present heaven and earth. This was to prove that the old creation had passed away.
God will not share the thoughts in His heart until He has found someone who is qualified for it. The key to qualifying for the thoughts in God’s heart is fulfilling the ordinances of the former and the present heaven and earth. This is not our order, but in that time, God needed a man to take the new order. God decided that a Man who has proven that the old creation, which is heaven and earth, has passed away and has fulfilled it, can be taught the mystery of the new creation.
The new creation man has his foundation the same way the present creation has its own. The foundation of the world that is to come is Christ. The foundation of the new is a faith operation in God.
Flesh has its own kind of life but Jesus fully embodied the righteousness of the present. Therefore, He was taught the righteousness of God, which is the righteousness by the faith of God. Jesus authored this faith. This means that Jesus’ earthly sojourn was the first time a man used God’s thoughts to live on earth.
The man that used the faith of the Son of God had no sin; He was raised such that He knew no sin. The faith of the Son of God will cleanse us from sin, but to Jesus who knew no sin, it gave Him an inheritance. There is an inheritance and there is the inheritance. When we learn the milk of the word, there is an inheritance. Also, the Holy Ghost was given to us as the earnest of our inheritance (Eph. 1:14). The meat of the word also has an inheritance.
“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). This is the inheritance of Christ. There is the inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled and that fades not away (1 Pet. 1:4). There are successive measures of inheritance and the first measure of inheritance is Christ. Another way to define the formation of the life of Christ in us is to have a new life, a new heart and a new spirit.
The new heart is not the heart of the present creation, but of the new creation, and it is a product of the righteousness of faith. Jesus had no sin, though the faith that was given to Him can separate and sanctify. Sanctification is beyond just being set apart from sin. Jesus had to be sanctified; to be sanctified is to heave up. The essence of the faith of the Son in the life of Jesus was to heave Him up from the present and former creation into the zone of the beginning of the new creation unto God.
Jesus Christ, at the age of twelve, was no longer a being of the present. He took inquiring into the things of God as His business. Jesus knew, by the faith that was given to Him, that sitting and asking questions of the things of God was His business. Jesus was not sanctified from sin but from the present world. The faith of the Son of God is not just to sanctify us from sin, it also raises us above the present. Jesus found the righteousness of God by this faith, which is better than what Abraham found.
Jesus found power to generate a life that is superior to this present earth. The faith of the Son is a superior earth life. Beyond the faith that was in the living soul, Jesus was taught to use the new faith of the new creation to live in the present earth. As one lives by the faith of the Son of God, such is not just living against the arrangement of the former earth that has not fallen but also against the world which evil spirits created.
God created the earth, the world and they that dwell therein (Psa. 24:1). God wants us to live by the faith of the Son in this present, even amidst the wiles of the rulers of the darkness of this world. We should use the new living faith of God’s operation to live in this present. God created the heaven and the earth, but the fallen angels created a new world. This present world is being run by fallen heavenly laws.
There is an unholy accord between flesh and this world that Satan has designed. This is why our flesh easily yields to the motions of sin and death. Satan made sure there are beings to enforce this motion, which are known as principalities and powers, and rulers of this present world.
The faith of the Son is a life that overcomes this world (1 John 5:4); it is a law of righteousness and holiness. Jesus used this law and made the world so useless. Until then, Satan never knew this world was so inferior because no one has ever overcome this present world. Although all the prophets and heroes of faith fought a good fight, they never overcame. As such, they were given a good report (Heb. 11). However, Jesus Christ introduced the faith of the Son and Satan knew that his weapons had become obsolete.
God had to intervene on so many occasions when righteous men and prophets faced the evil world. He had to rescue them away from the earth because the wisdom to answer the evil world had not yet come. What they needed was a hidden wisdom to answer the evil world, but this was not available at that time.
The first time Jesus was opened to ministry, Satan became interested in Him. What Satan brought to Jesus on the mountain was the present evil world and He warred against this for the last three and a half years of His life. Hell and death, which is synonymous with this present evil world, were after Him; they were monitoring His every step, marshalling His thoughts and giving Him alternatives to the life of God.
Satan offered Adam an alternative to the life of God, which made Him fall. The present evil world offers alternatives. Even at the garden of Gethsemane, Satan was offering Jesus an alternative to the death on the cross, but He needed to die on the cross to fulfil His obedience. Jesus lived and used faith to overcome the present world. Although Satan knew that the weapon he fashioned were inferior, he still relied on hell and death because he had so much trust in the strength of hell and death.
Satan knows how to use weariness as a temptation to make men faint. These are not things of the present world but rather weapons fashioned against babes in Christ so that they do not ascend unto the things of Christ. The evil world is a weapon of hell and death that one would need the laws of the Almighty to overcome.
Satan fights men when they are moving into heavens because of joy. Heaven calibrates joy as conversions and Satan does not want anyone to come into that joy. They that sow in tears reap in joy. God’s people can sow; we should sow more to the spirit than the flesh so that we do not move into corruption. This is because sowing in the spirit is sowing into the spirit of God, the spirit of the living God and moving into the land of the living. This is the land where there is fullness of joy, but nobody moves there without sowing in tears.
Blessings!