Eternal Glorious Fountain Ministry
Programme: School of the Spirit (SOS)
Date: Thursday, 16th September 2021
Minister: Pastor Tunji Adegoke
As a generation of young people, one of the things that the Lord is helping us with is the purification of our earthly sojourn. By mercy, the Lord is helping us to lay emphasis on the things that truly matter and to de-emphasise things that have no eternal weight. We are supposed to build upon every level of understanding (or light) that is given to us in our journey towards the fullness of God. The Lord is precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little. It is a very deliberate work because there is a finished product that the Lord is expecting at the end.
“He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar–jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 16:15-17). It was an alien thought when Peter made this statement by the inspiration of God the Father; it almost sounded heretical. Jesus was taken aback by that entrance that was given to Peter because up until that time, the Father was not talking to any man but our Lord Jesus. So Jesus knew that Peter received that inspiration from the Father.
“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matt. 16:18). Jesus was not saying that Peter was going to become the foundation for the Church. Though that could be true in some sense but that was not what Jesus meant. Jesus meant that the Church will be built upon the revelation that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of the living God.
The revelation of Jesus as the Christ is the foundation stone of the Church. Jesus Christ is building His Church and we must know that our Lord Jesus is not like some earthly governments who start projects and do not complete them. If our Lord Jesus starts a thing, He will finish it. The Church is already being built and no persecution or plans of the adversary can stop it. The Church cannot also be eradicated. There may be movements around the Church, but the Lord will keep His Church from going into extinction. As long as Jesus remains, the Church will remain.
We should prioritise the things that are most important as we journey unto God. There are many things we do on earth that do not exist or have any significance when they are checked in the realm of the spirit. The adversary is a champion in making men exhaust their energy on doing things that are non-existent when brought into the realm where things really matter. A man can spend eighty (80) years on earth, but when his works throughout those years are moved into realms where things really matter, they amount to nothing. Some men have even done things that seem noteworthy on earth, but when such men are zoomed into the realm of the spirit, they are yet naked (Rev. 3:17-18).
“If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:3-5). Though the Church of the living God is the house of God, we need to know that it is not just a building but also an altar (1 Tim. 3:15). The Church is a mighty altar where sacrifices should be offered up to God. The purpose of making sacrifices to God is to cut covenant with Him.
“Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” (Psalm 50:5). Until we cut a covenant with God, we are not yet His (2 Tim. 2:19). Our relationship with God is supposed to grow from one covenant to another covenant. A man who is making any significant progress in the spirit is one who is cutting covenants with God. Cutting covenants is not a spooky or esoteric looking thing. Many times, it is just a particular heart posture that is needed to cut a covenant, whether for good or evil.
There are many covenants that must be made before the main covenant will be cut. There is always a main covenant that must be cut for a major shift to occur in the realm of the spirit. We don’t shift or change estate in the spirit without cutting covenant. There is a major covenant that believers need to cut with our Master (Psa. 50:5).
The Church should offer up spiritual sacrifices in order to cut covenant with God. However, we need to be built up spiritually before we can offer up spiritual sacrifices. If we are not spiritually built up, we will never get to the point where we will make a major covenant with God. There are sacrifices that the Lord is expecting to come from the Church, such that would close this age. It’s the unprepared state of the Church that is still making this present age to remain. When we are able to offer up spiritual sacrifices, we will call for the everlasting covenant that will end the age.
The Church is a building, and every building requires raw materials. It is only lively stones that can be used to build the house of God. There is no believer who started as a stone, we all started as grasses or flesh. There is a natural mechanism on earth that turns grass to stone; but there is also a spiritual mechanism that can turn us from a grass to stone. It is only a stone that has a place in the spiritual house. We have been called to this purpose of becoming the house of the Lord and we ought to make our calling and election sure (Eph. 2:21, 2 Pet. 1:10). This means that we should ensure our place in the building because the building that God is raising will never lack stones, even if we don’t respond (2 Pet. 1:10). God can never lack stones and Jesus also said that He would raise stones if men do not praise Him (Luke 19:40). This tells us that stones are very much alive because they can respond to God. It’s only the Satan and his cohorts that cannot respond when God calls them; they are dead stones.
God will not lack stones, and this is why our heartfelt prayer should be that we don’t lose our place in the building. God is a God of abundance; He won't lack resources. We should check ourselves if we are ready to go through the process of becoming stones. As we are being made into stones, we must learn to endure the process. Converting us from grass to stone is not the end, we would also be shaped to occupy a particular position in the building. Everyone needs to stay in his or her place in the building, occupy it well and be faithful because each person is completing the whole building. We should not compete among ourselves because we are all serving different purposes in the formation of the building.
Whatever labour that we enjoy or delight in that is not primarily tied to being part of the building that the Lord is raising, is a non-existent labour or work in the spirit. The soul likes to rest and truly the Lord has called all souls to come into rest (Matt. 11:29). However, we must understand that we need to labour to enter that rest (Heb. 4:11).
“Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.” (John 6:26). Seeking Jesus for things that perish will not bring Him (as a person) to us. Apostle Paul said we are only practicing miserable Christianity if all our understanding of the hope of Christianity is tied to this present earth (1 Cor. 15:19). The proof that some of us are still in this practice is that we become troubled and sad when we are denied of certain things in the natural, or when some favourable looking occurrences are not happening to us as expected. God can meet our natural needs but we should not judge the faithfulness of God to us based on those things. If a man’s validation of God’s faithfulness to him is not based on how he is being raised as a stone in the house of God, then he is practising miserable Christianity. And Satan will use those other things that the man is seeking against him.
We must understand that anything we are doing on earth to make ends meet is a side hustle. We should see our jobs or vocation in the natural as a side hustle because there is the main vocation that God has called us to be primarily engaged in. This vocation is one of growing up to become God’s habitation (Eph. 4:1). Satan taught us to make side hustles our preoccupation on earth. We pray so hard to God concerning our earthly vocation but abandon our main occupation. Whosoever does not engage in his heavenly vocation or calling will not be rewarded by God (Rev. 22:12).
We must learn to judge true progress rightly. Some of us cry in situations where we should actually be giving thanks to God, because we are making progress in the sight of God. One wisdom we must learn is to know or have access to the thoughts of God. There is no season that comes over a man under the supervision of the Holyghost that is not a tool in God’s hand. The end of our lives is beautiful and we must be rest assured. Some men will be subject to some tough dealings of the Lord, but it will make them connect higher things in the spirit. We must all come to that point where the Lord can freely work in us. When we often murmur about how the Lord is leading us, He can suspend the work for a while. The danger of that is that darkness is already on rampage and it can catch up with us in that moment.
Your relevance in the whole building of God is particular to the way the Lord is raising as an individual; but it’s all to fit into the entire building. The idea of standing alone is anti-Church. Any stone that wants to stand alone cannot be part of God’s building. Most of the popular, logical and righteous looking thoughts that are peddled in the western world are actually designed by Satan to attack our being raised as a stone in the building of God. God is crafting each stone as a building for His habitation.
“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21). Those who can be given these commandments are those whose eyes of understanding have been enlightened. Commandments are substances of our Lord Jesus that will cause us to change when obeyed.
“Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” (John 14:23). The use of the word “make” implies that the man will be used as a raw material to make God’s abode. Whosoever arrives here will be moulded into an abode for God. The reason for all our buffeting, trials, temptations, and pressures, is to turn us from grass (or flesh) to stone. No one smiles when under heat and pressure but when we are under such conditions, we should look to Jesus instead of Satan.
A building begins with its foundation. Every stone is a complete work that is added to the building. “For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 3:9-11). This foundation is the revelation of Jesus as the Christ. If Christ is not being taught to a Church, it means that the people have not touched the foundation at all. However, Christ Himself is a complete building.
“Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;” (1 Cor. 3:12). Nobody lives inside the foundation of his house. So having the foundation of Christ in our souls is not the end of being built as a spiritual house; there is need to be built on this foundation.
“Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.” (1 Cor. 3:13). These works are not referring to obvious sins or offences. They are works in the souls of men that can survive the realm of the spirit.
“If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” (1 Cor. 3:14-15). If we stop at learning Christ and do not go on to access the next level of mysteries (Col. 2:2), then we would suffer loss. Understanding is no longer negotiable. We must labour to understand the declarations of the Lord to us in this season. There must be panting in our hearts concerning the next allocation of God. The foundational stone of Christ will survive this fire that is meant to try the works of men, but we must allow the Lord to add to that foundational stone. We shouldn’t get battle weary. We should trust God for energy to be built up beyond the stature of Christ that we have previously acquired.
We can tell the state of a man or what moves his motion by what makes him sad or happy. A man who is truly seeking the Kingdom of God will not be satisfied even when all other things in the natural are added to him (Matt. 6:33). Seekers are not satisfied with any other thing except what they are looking for. Our hunger should be greater than any opposition in the natural.