Eternal Glorious Fountain Ministry (EGFM)
Programme: Writing the Vision (April Edition)
Date: Saturday, 23rd April 2022
Speaker 1: Pastor Tunji Adegoke
There is a difference between the world and the things of the world (1 John 2:15). It would take the activity and the demonstration of the Holy Ghost to redeem man from the world and its things. We need the increased activity of the Holy Ghost in doctrine to rightly see the division between the world and its things. This activity of the Holy Ghost is not restricted to His leadings for our decision making in the natural.
The leading of the Spirit, as it pertains to natural decisions, ought to culminate to leading in doctrine. We must be led through the pages of scriptures, in order to form a lifestyle that can refuse the world and its things. We may have experienced victory over the love of the things of the world through the dealings of Christ, but we must also advance to receive the everlasting doctrine so that we can see the world for what it is and hate it.
The world is the producer of lust, which became a problem for man when Adam fell in Eden. God did not put lust in man (Jam. 1:14). As long as you can be tempted, you have the world in you. A man who is totally delivered from this world cannot respond to its pull — its glory. Adam was shown the glories of this world in the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and it led him astray. These glories were also shown to Jesus in the wilderness when He was tempted to bow and worship Satan (Matt. 4:8) but He refused them.
It will take an everlasting man not to fall into the trap of loving the world. Therefore, we need to be schooled in the doctrine of everlasting life so that we can have the ability to refuse the world at its peak. It is the workings of the Holy Ghost that will bring us to that level of understanding. The materials of iniquity are of everlasting quality. This is because Satan perverted everlasting components to invent iniquity (Eze. 28:15). You must have everlasting life before you can demystify iniquity. You have everlasting life when you understand it, and you understand the life by understanding its components.
One of the conceptions of iniquity is this world. This world is the operating system that runs the earth. A world is not first what is external because the external is a result of what is within a man. Therefore, the world is actually a system within a man. The city which Cain built was a product of his imaginations (Gen. 4:17), but this was an activity of iniquity in his heart.
A man may have dealt with the external causes of sin but if he does not deal with its roots, he cannot make progress in the spirit. The goal of everlasting life is to demystify and deal with the root causes of sin and iniquity, and then, bring total deliverance to a man.
"According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: [4] Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." (2 Peter 1:3-4). Although the operation of Christ will help us overcome the lusts of the world, we must still aim for a wisdom that is higher than this world. This is so that the world in us can be dealt with.
If we have dealt with lust but are yet to demonstrate a wisdom that is higher than the one concocted by this world, we are not yet free from it. The earth can be likened to a soul while the world can be likened to the lifestyle that runs a soul. Our souls are being run by a lifestyle (ethos), which is the spirit of our convictions.
When we are not living by the lifestyle of the Father, we are living after the product of this world. The activity of the Holy Ghost is needed to detect and reprove the world of sin in us. This world gave man an alternative source of life to run his soul. To deal with sin, everlasting judgment must work within our souls. This is because iniquity is not in the external but within the soul. This world is not what we think it is. Therefore, no man will naturally hate it.
The world has its facets, but it cannot be dealt with externally. However, by the influx of the understanding of everlasting life, we would learn to refuse this world. We need to demonstrate by our choices and conversations that this world cannot pull us because it does not mean anything to us.
While we are still on the face of the earth, our ambition should be to lightly esteem this world. We must profit with commandments until the world and its things can not be found in us anymore. The world is a trap setter. After leaving Jesus for a season in the wilderness, Satan kept coming through different ways to still tempt Him, so that the sacrifice for mankind would become spotted with sin. He even came through Peter (Matt. 16:22-23) but by the inspiration of the Spirit and by hearing the Father, Jesus overcame every aspect of this world.
Jesus was receiving from the Father consistently and followed Him all the way, to avoid this world. Therefore, the way to escape this world is to hear the Father. This world is also a father, for it provides things. If you yield to this world, it will give you enough alternatives, apart from God. Iniquity is also another way of life. Some men would reach a point where they would be so married to iniquity and would declare they do not want God when He shows up. Therefore, we cannot afford to trivialize the things of this world. After denying all the things of this world, we must also deny this world.
We must seek not to be identified with the world. The essence of the labour of everlasting doctrine is to overcome the world in all its ramifications. The world is designed to raise a soul to a point where he is so confident in his alternative way of life and then, refuses God. When the judgments of God are raised, we must love them. The judgment of God would be raised against our righteousness and the righteousness of this world.
This world has its own system of judgement. We use the righteousness of this world both knowingly and unknowingly. It would take teachings and judgment to not hate God when He raises His judgment before us. The judgment patterns of the Lord and that of the world are not the same thing. While on earth, Jesus never walked in His own will, despite His abilities. He only submitted to the ordinances of the Father. We must be crucified to this world and not be friends with it. We must desire to get to the point where we are useless to the world.
By our choices, we must refuse the world. Our whole lives are a sum total of the lives we chose; either of life or of death; either for this world or for the Father. Our souls must cry Abba Father to deny every source of existence outside the existence of the Lord (Rom. 8:15). We must hate the life that the world has given to us (John 12:25). We have all been infused with the wisdom of the things of the world and the world itself and we naturally live by them. However, we must, by revelation and obedience to doctrine, be crucified to this world. Man would outsmart evil spirits in all realms when he receives the everlasting doctrine.
We must take every opportunity to deny this world and possess the attitude of being diligent with the current commandments that are being meted to us. This is because the intent of every commandment is to deal with this world. We must deny the world daily (Luke 9:23) until it becomes tired of us. Men like John, Paul, and ultimately, our Lord Jesus Christ troubled/disconcerted the world and overcame it. We must also walk in this might.
Blessings!
Summary
1. There is a difference between the world and the things of the world (1 John 2:15). We need the increased activity of the Holy Ghost in doctrine to rightly see the division between the world and its things.
2. The activity of the Holy Ghost is not restricted to His leadings for our decision making in the natural. It is also to redeem man from the world and its things.
3. We need to be schooled in the doctrine of everlasting life so that we can have the ability to refuse the world at its peak. It is the workings of the Holy Ghost that will bring us to that level of understanding.
4. You must have everlasting life before you can demystify iniquity. You have everlasting life when you understand it, and you understand the life by understanding its components.
5. This world is not what we think it is. Therefore, no man will naturally hate it. To deal with sin, everlasting judgment must work within our souls.
6. Jesus was receiving from the Father consistently and followed Him all the way, to avoid this world. Therefore, the way to escape this world is to hear the Father.
7. This world is also a father, for it provides things. If you yield to this world, it will give you enough alternatives, apart from God.
8. We have all been infused with the wisdom of the things of the world and the world itself, and we naturally live by them. However, we must, by revelation and obedience to doctrine, be crucified to this world.