Programme: School of the Spirit (SOS)
Date: Thursday, 25th January, 2024
Ministers of Christ are stewards of the mysteries of God. One of the interests of the Lord in a Christ company is for them to abide. Christ makes one abide; Christ is a dispensation of a word and a work. Christ must be formed in the soul (Gal. 4:19). Thus, if Christ has to be formed, then Christ is a work. The word of God is massive, so Christ is a fraction in it.
“For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little…” (Isa. 28:10). God does not rush; He brings word dispensations that will commandeer works. Christ being formed in a soul is the accomplishing of the work within the soul.
The formation of Christ in a soul affects the mind. It takes away the carnal mind and makes it a spiritual mind, which is a great work. This change in the mind comes as a result of the allocation of the word. When a soul responds to the instructions of the allocation of the word, substances would be deposited in the soul. These substances are substances of faith. Substance does not come by hearing the word alone, but by obedience to the instructions that come with the word.
“And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.” (Acts 22:14). One needs to hear the voice of the Lord before such can see the Just One. We hear when we gather together in a meeting; and we must never drop in the exercise of hearing because it is necessary to bring us the secondary hearing – the hand of the indwelling Spirit on our inside.
The constant instruction to the seven churches in the book of Revelation was for them to hear what the Spirit was saying unto the churches (Rev. 2-3). The stars of the churches gained entrance into the things that were being said to the churches because they had attained stature in the spirit. The Spirit gave directions to the stars on what should be emphasised to the churches. The stars of the churches are higher than the candlesticks (churches) because they were already in God's hands.
The stars of the churches are the ministers of Christ; they are stewards of the mysteries of God. Things are committed to stars because stars are beings in the firmament. They have been received into the heavens from the earth and are the first set that the husbandman has received. The stars are the wise ones in the churches; they have been wise in a measure unto salvation (2 Tim. 3:15). Thus, salvation is no longer strange unto them.
“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). The stars in God’s hands are men that salvation has cultured. Such men have used the season of salvation, they have used the dispensation of the word of God; they have used the commandments and the good tidings of good that publishes salvation (Isa. 52:7). We must discern stars among us because they are the gateways to candlestick churches.
“And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” (Dan. 12:3). The shining of the stars is not to stand out, rather, it is for the candlesticks. The shining is to communicate the light of salvation to the candlesticks.
John the Baptist was both a burning and a shining light (John 5:35). When he began to shine, many began to rejoice in his light. Candlestick churches ought to rejoice in the light of the stars that have been raised for them. Thus, we should rejoice at the raising of stars because they have been set for the bringing in of salvation.
“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor. 4:6). By reason of mercy, many churches in our company have been raised as candlestick churches. God looks at us corporately and He is seeing the harvest of the white field. As such, He is sending labourers to the harvest of the white field. The harvest of the white field is the harvest of the golden candlestick churches. Labour must be carried out upon these churches. As such, we must labour in prayers for our parents and pastors this season, so that they can be strengthened to labour more in this field.
There must be a work of turning in our hearts. The work of stars in the churches is to turn many to righteousness. This is not just the righteousness of faith, but an everlasting righteousness. It is not easy to turn many to righteousness, as some may labour for years and are only able to turn a few. However, God is interested in many being presented before Him; His heart is that many must be turned to work everlasting righteousness.
We must never stop the first hearing, which is for us to consistently attend meetings, but we must also not stop the secondary hearing, which is in the hand of the Spirit over us.
“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches…” (Rev. 3:22). It is what the Spirit is saying that would birth instructions a man. It is in the second hearing that we receive lines, but the first hearing will give us precepts. Until we perform the second hearing, we have not received substance.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Rom. 10:17). It is in hearing and hearing by the word of God that we receive substance – either the substance of faith or the substance of the righteousness of salvation.
There are two degrees of righteousness: there is the righteousness of faith which the soul will receive through the preaching of the gospel of Christ, and there is the righteousness of salvation. Righteousness of salvation is the righteousness that a soul fetches from handling judgement of most holy things. The judgments of most holy things are appraisals, evaluations and thoughts that salvation resolves. The righteousness of salvation is fetched from the judgement of salvation.
Everlasting righteousness is a by-product of the judgement of salvation; it is when judgement has been resolved in the soul that righteousness can be fetched out. Everlasting righteousness comes as a result of judgement of the truth. It is what the truth says that is true righteousness. A man does not know what is right until judgement has been passed down to him.
“Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.” (1 Cor. 4:5). It is the coming of the righteous Judge that will make a man know what is right. It takes judgement to visit a soul for the soul to truly know what righteousness is. Hence, the Lord instructs us not to judge anything before the right judgement comes.
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God…” (Rom. 10:17). To hear by the word of God is for the Spirit to instruct a soul. The Spirit brings judgments to us which are not within our terrain. What the Spirit brought to the seven churches was judgement. The church in Pergamos would not have known she had the doctrine of Balaam until the judgement came (Rev. 2:14). The church never knew they had been taught by another doctrine; it took judgement for them to see righteousness. The Spirit was laying judgement to lines (Isa. 28:17).
The Spirit was laying judgement upon judgement. All the things He was telling to the churches was the laying of judgements. Those layers the Spirit was saying to them was to measure them up. The Church needs the laying of judgements. When judgement is laid, it would be used for measurement; we would measure ourselves against the judgement laid. Judgement comes to us when we are doing the secondary hearing, which gives us substance.
Salvation has its righteousness just as faith has its righteousness. The substance of faith is the righteousness of God revealed. Righteousness is a substance; it is a standard. When a man lives by the righteousness of faith, such a man would abide (1 Cor. 13:13). It is good to abide but one can still be removed (Gal. 1:6). The grace of Christ is the gospel of Christ. The reason for the Lord’s coming to us (the great appearance that has been promised to us) in this season is for us to be moved from not just abiding, but to a place where we can abide forever.
The key to abiding forever is in the incorruptible seed. Incorruptible men are those that can abide forever; they are those who have been born of the incorruptible. These seeds can abide forevermore. They shall be like mount Zion which cannot be moved, for they shall abide forever (Psa. 125:1). The essence of the righteousness of faith is to abide, but God wants us to move into a state where we can abide forever. This is so that we can appear before His presence and not just appear before His presence, but come at His right hand.
“I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” (Psa. 16:8). The place of His right hand is a place that cannot be moved. Nothing can remove a man planted at the right hand. There are spirits coming upon the earth and these spirits moved the Galatian church through the Jews. There were Jews that call themselves apostles who came to the Galatian church and moved them from being steadfast into legalism. These men came to trouble the Galatian church, and they perverted the gospel the church was holding.
The church of Philadelphia had the word of His patience and because of that, they were not removed (Rev. 3:10). It is the word that would bring the dispensation of works in a man so he can abide forever. The word of God is meant to make us incorruptible. God wants to do an incorruptible work in our midst in this season that would enable us to abide forever.
“Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. [5] Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” (Rev 2:4-5). A candlestick can be removed. As such, Jesus warned the church in Ephesus to return to their first love and do the first works. The first love and first works are part of the provisions to make a man abide forever to a state where nothing can pluck such.
We must be grateful to God for the work that is making us abide – the work of faith, hope and charity in the soul (1 Cor. 13:13). The Lord is yet bringing further understanding that we should move into, which is the place of unfeigned love of the brethren (1 Pet. 1:22).
The word and works are being heaved up. We are moving from fervent charity to unfeigned love of the brethren. Unfeigned love is love in the everlasting realm. God’s intention for us is to bring us into the everlasting realm by the allocation of the word coming to us by the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God sending Jesus the second time to us is to manifest His word and works to us. What makes a man abide forever are works, for there are things we must do.
“Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? [2] He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.” (Psa. 15:1-2). The holy hill here is the holy mountain. He that would abide in the tabernacle must work righteousness; he must speak the truth to his own heart. One cannot speak truth to his own heart if it has not been revealed to him. To speak truth to one’s heart is to meditate and ponder on the truth. This is done by allowing truth to search our own heart.
Truth here refers to “revealed righteousness”. God desires truth in the inward parts and that we know wisdom in the hidden parts (Psa. 51:6). Truth is the standard of righteousness; it is what God has approved by the reason of the dispensation of the coming of the Son of God to us.
“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth…” (3 John 1:4). Walking in truth is the prosperity of the soul and the body because if the soul prospers, the mortal body would be affected. Apostle John rejoiced when he heard his children walking in the truth. He also rejoiced when he heard Gaius whom he loved walking in the truth (3 John 1:3).
“If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: [7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. [8] If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:6-8). Truth is the revelation of righteousness. The truth revealed upon our heart is the judgement that the Spirit laid as lines in our hearts. God wants us to fellowship with these things. Fellowship is devotion; we must never stop having devotion. The fellowship of truth must constantly be in our hearts.
We must speak truth in our own hearts. For us to abide forever is to come to a state where we cannot be moved. Those who can abide forever are those who can stay in presence. This is the essence of the promises.
“Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.” (Rev. 3:12). One who can be moved in the soul is because of the presence of the elements of corruption in the soul. The things that prevent us from abiding forever are things that make us depart from the living God.
The Hebrew church no longer wanted to go on to the salvation of the soul, and instead, wanted to draw back unto perdition/destruction/second death (Heb. 10:38-39). The Hebrew church was following the principles of the doctrine of Christ but they began to become faint. There are things that war against men that are abiding and one of them is weariness.
“Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall…” (Isa. 40:30). Weariness and fainting are things that those in the season of Christ would fight. Weariness and fainting are substances of corruption in the soul; they are operations of iniquities within the soul. They are hidden works of darkness which may not find expression yet, but would show up eventually. This is because Satan has gone ahead to do some work in the soul.
The works of iniquity are not what we think it to be. Adam was fainting and getting weary of the process. The tree of life has twelve manners of fruits (Rev. 22:2) which he would eat each month and he became weary of the process. The greatest warfare to those who are abiding is weariness and fainting. Weariness would make the hands hang down and the feet turn out of the way. There is the highway of holiness which is ordained for wayfaring men to walk.
“And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.” (Isa. 35:8). The way of righteousness should connect the way of everlasting life; we should walk in the way that connects to the highway. Instead of the Hebrew church connecting the highway, they wanted to draw back and go to the byway. It was Satan that was fighting them, thereby, making them weary. The essence of this warfare is so that men would not be able to abide.
The destiny of the incorruptible seed is that it lives and abides forever. Thus, we ought to be born of the incorruptible. The essence of the appearing of the Lord is to birth men that are incorruptible and can live in His sight. Such men would not just live in His sight, but they would also abide in His sight forever. There are forces that prevent men from abiding and that is the need of the appearance of the Lord.
“But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.” (Heb. 6:9). We must move from the place of abiding into a place where we can live in the sight of “O God”. To live in the sight of “O God” is to appear before God.
“How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! [2] My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.” (Psa. 84:1-2). His tabernacle is the land of the living where we must live and abide. It is good that Christ be formed in us and we should celebrate this because becoming Christ is not a small work.
“Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah. [5] Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.” (Psa. 84:4-5). There are ways of the courts of the Lord. Every court has its ways. Jesus was consecrated in the New and Living Way which leads to the Holiest of All. If that way is not in one, such cannot find it. The court one appears in is the line(s) that is in such a person; it is the person’s dwelling place, where such a soul has found and called home.
The ways of the courts is to construct instructions and commandments in a soul. Obedience to the way will fetch one the substances of the way, which becomes the inheritance and portion of the person in God. A man’s portion can be the living God as one can live before Him and live in the living God. A soul can live and appear before the living God.
“And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (2 Cor. 6:16). When the Lord works in us, He measures out standards. When God is working, He is measuring steps so that He can make ways in us so we can find our way into Him. The Lord needs to work in us to reveal standards and show us how to walk in His steps so we can enter into Him. By continuous walking, we will enter into God and the Lord will not only dwell in us, but we will dwell in Him. The cycle is not complete if He is the only one working in us; for He needs to work to show us how we should walk, so that we can fulfil the cycle and dwell in Him.
God’s intention is for us to be born of the incorruptible seed by the word that liveth and abideth (1 Pet. 1:23). The word that liveth is the living God who dwells upon Mount Zion and so every soul must be received up (Heb. 12:22). The souls of men who have ascended make up the city of the Living God. These are men who are not satisfied with the first dispensation of the word, but have a desire, hunger and longing for the appearing of the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16).
There are kinds of men that the gates of hell cannot prevail against (Matt. 16:16) and God wants to build us as such men. An intention of iniquity is to prevent men from entering and abiding in the temple of the living God. This is why the season of the appearance of the Son of God is to come and deal with issues in our heart because iniquity hides in the heart. Satan manipulates things within us and he conditions the right environment that will awaken his things in us.
The mystery of iniquity is not external because its already at work (2 Thess. 2:7) but by obedience of the first allocation of the word and the gospel, a work can be done where freedom is received from the work of sin and death (Rom. 6:18). We can have liberty from sin and death and move from being servants of righteousness unto everlasting righteousness. This is where we can both appear in the living God and move into abiding forever.
The church in Laodicea were neither cold nor hot and it shows the work of iniquity in the soul and their attitude to what they were receiving (Rev. 3:15). The essence of the speakings of the stars to the churches was to generate in them a walk. To be hot or cold in that dimension is a walk, not corruption. We think that ‘cold’ means backsliding but it is a walk. There is a state that a soul should be in as a result of the work done in the soul.
There is a walk a soul carries out that should produce life in that soul. The church in Laodicea was called “lukewarm” (of room temperature) because they had been conditioned by their environment; they had been conditioned by the civilisation of this world. However, God wanted them to go against their arrangement, but they were unable to do so. Thus, they became lukewarm as a result of their environment.
The church is a new nation in the midst of the corrupt nations of the earth. To be cold or hot is to be subjected to a process. The Lord said He will spit the church out of His mouth (Rev. 3:16). This means the church was already being conditioned as a result of being in God’s mouth, but they refused to be conditioned.
God is very particular and deliberate about this year. As such, 2024 is a year that we must do works. God kept this church in His mouth and was sustaining them with words, but they refused to be conditioned. His words are meant to carry out a work in us; He wanted to move the church from being neither hot nor cold, but He could not achieve it.
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:3). The essence of His coming is for Him to come again; and the essence of His coming again is to come and prepare a people that are compatible for what He has prepared. The essence of His appearance is to carry out a work.
This work is done firstly by words. Thus, we need to hear what the Spirit of God is saying to the churches. The ability to hear what He is saying and respond to it is necessary for Him to commit a better and enduring substance to a soul. He has prepared a place and a name for us. As such, when one takes his place, he has a name in it. In the New Jerusalem, we have a place and a name. The apostles also have their places and names there.
We must allow the words that are coming to us, and the subjective leading of the Spirit, to subject our hearts to a work— that He that is coming will come and show things that are in us. This is because there are things in us that are not compatible with where They want us to occupy. The different comings of the Lord are necessary because there are things to be dealt with. Thus, His coming will deal with our carnality, which is as a result of the law of sin and death in us.
The Lord is working on us and dealing with the issues of sin and death that will not enable us obey the Lord. We must allow the leading of the Spirit to subject our heart to a work that would cause He that would come to come and show the things that are in us. There are things in us that are not compatible with where He wants us to occupy. As such, His comings are necessary to deal with natures in us that are as a result of the law of sin and death in us. These carnal natures can still be found in our community, across nations of the earth.
The law of sin and death reduces the ability of a soul to respond to God, thereby, preventing a soul from serving righteousness, for there would be conflict. Hence, the need for the Holy Ghost to give us commandments to separate, sanctify and keep us from the world of the ungodly in our minds and hearts. The heart and mind are framed in a way that makes it hard to separate it from the world, especially when we love it.
We all love this world at different measures as we use it. We fall more in love with a life as we use it and this is why the Lord wants us to use faith. As we use faith, we are being crucified to this world (Gal. 2:20), leading to a sanctifying work within the soul to separate it from the world. Separating a man from the world is not the end, for when the word of God comes, there is still need for a piercing and dividing of souls and spirits, and bones and marrow; because this world is part of what shaped us (Psa 51:5, Heb. 4:12).
Satan strongly believes that no man can overcome him; he is so confident of what he did with the first man, Adam, and the presence of his works in our genes; but thanks be to God because Jesus knows how to lead men in triumph. Jesus specialises in leading men in a triumphant procession over works of evil spirits, darkness and wicked works, which are ways and thoughts of darkness in men.
“For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. [5] Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.” (1 Cor. 4:4-5). One of the purposes of the Lord’s coming is to judge; He is coming to judge with glory. If the appearance is great, then the judgement coming with it must be great. His judgement is bringing us a high standard of righteousness. When the Lord heaves up a standard, we should not faint. Satan knows how to use God’s standard to weary men by whispering thoughts of how difficult it is to please God.
“He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” (Deut. 32:4). His works are measured in judgement. The work inside God are ways and those ways are judgements. When God comes with His works, He is coming with His ways. His manifestation of His works are His ways. God’s first and last works are His ways, which are also judgments. When we call for His ways, we are calling for His works and judgements. It is in judgements that we know everlasting righteousness. We will not know what is right without His judgement; we cannot work righteousness without His coming to us.
Judgement is being raised in our midst and they are righteousness because righteousness is the high standard of God. The great appearing is a great judgement; it is the great standard of God being heaved up for us. As a church, we have walked in a standard, but it is being raised again. The Lord is coming to heave it up and the essence is so that a people can live and be born. We are going to be born of the incorruptible by reason of everlasting righteousness and judgement.
Judgement is a tool for birthing; it is a womb for birthing the incorruptible. Judgements are birth canals for souls to use to become incorruptible. God wants to raise incorruptible men, who abide and cannot be moved; men that cannot be perverted, turned or twisted. God wants to start raising incorruptible men that have used everlasting judgement and ways this year. As such, we should not faint or be discouraged or be weary.
When everlasting ways and thoughts are being shown, they visit one as thoughts that can easily slip away, if one does not know how to trap them. One of the things that characterizes the Lord’s appearance is that things become clearer. Light here refers to understanding. When the Lord comes, He brings more precise understanding.
God commands light when He comes and illuminates understanding. We fall short in areas where we do not have understanding and judgement. One of the reasons God appointed priests is to teach, not just the law, but judgements, statutes, standards and testimony, because a priest has better judgement than the people. This is because a priest can see judgements, statutes, precepts, testimony and teach them for the people to see. The Lord is both a teacher and a judge and He is coming to teach us better.
“And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.” (Isa. 30:21). One thing that is prevalent this season is that we will hear a voice and we will hear a word. The Lord comes with light and understanding to teach us and this is how covenants are made with man.
The Lord that comes teaches men, but He does not take away the ministry of the pastor. This is because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word (Rom. 10:17). The second hearing is the Lord’s. The Lord's appearance is to come and teach us the way we should walk. Our pastors will not be with us all the time, but the Lord is with us all the time. He will not leave us, for He will abide with us and show us how to walk; He will bring to remembrance what we have been taught by our pastors. Therefore, the Lord’s coming is to instruct us on the way to walk by bringing understanding and teaching.
“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2 Cor. 3:17). The Spirit of the Lord leads us and works out liberty in us. Therefore, judge nothing before it is time until the Lord comes. David said it is the Lord who instructs him (Ps.16.7). As such, when the Lord appears, He comes with instructions and counsels as a judge.
“For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” (Acts 20:27). He that is coming to us is a judge because He counsels. The everlasting realm is not about reading scriptures, but it is a life. There are some that cannot love their parents, siblings or other close relatives and it is because of a lack of counsel.
A lot of issues we have will not occur if there is counsel in the heart. One of the things that would be repaired in the season of everlasting judgement is the strengthening of relationships. There is a wisdom for every relationship in our life. God will exalt relationships in the days to come. Although men can be overbearing, charity bears all things (1 Cor. 13:7) because we have substance to bear all things, thereby, becoming more beautiful in the spirit.
The essence of His coming is to make us appear before Him, live inside of Him and lay judgement to lines. Every man shall have the praise of God (1 Cor. 4:5), which is entrance. Praise is entrance; it is access. The law that comes and reveals righteousness gives one praise of Him.
The Lord’s goods are His substances. When God is training us, it is so that we can have His substances because they are our lot. When we obey God, we obtain better and enduring substances, from forbearing, to suffering long and to walking in love.
Blessings!