Date: Wednesday, 25th August. 2021
Ministering: Pastor (Dr) Oladotun Lamikanra
The theme of this convention is "The Leaf for The Nations". This may seem esoteric to a person who is not given to doctrine; but the reason why we have these kinds of themes is to push our boundaries of knowledge. The Beings we are required to know – the Son, the Father and God – are mysteries (Col. 2:2). As such, it will not be far-fetched for the things which characterize the meetings where we learn of Them to also be mysterious. The significance of the Leaf is for medicine; and it brings about healing (Eze. 47:12). We therefore need to understand the nature of the healing.
The soul needs to keep coming into life until it is fully healed. Everlasting life is the life that can sustain a man; and it is brought about by the everlasting gospel. It is possible for a soul to have more life impacted to it. The soul of man is supposed to progress from the life that is Christ to Everlasting Life and then, Eternal Life.
The commission of Apostle Paul was to turn men from the power of Satan unto God through the preaching of Christ; and this is so that they can serve the Living and True God (Acts 26:16-18). The Living God refers to Everlasting Life while the True God refers to Eternal Life. In John 10:10, Jesus said He came to give life and give it more abundantly. The first life is the life in Christ, and it will go on to become more abundant. The more abundant life comprises two lives: Everlasting life and Eternal Life.
There are also two deaths in the terrain of life that Satan has to offer: there is "sin and death" (Rom. 6:23) and "hell and death" (Rev. 20:14). Sin and death is the lesser death while hell and death is the greater death. This greater death is the second death (Heb. 10:26).
"Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. [15] Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves…" (Isa. 28:14-15). The evil of the second death is that men would have made an agreement with hell and death. Anyone who goes into hell and death is finished because it leads to lake (Rev. 20:14). Sin and death can however be reversed because there is an antidote to the first death. This antidote is the Lord Jesus Christ.
"This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, [18] Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart…” (Eph. 4:17-18). The Gentiles walk in the vanity of their minds because they do not have Christ. Before the New Birth, we Gentiles. When we journey further from the New Birth to the level of Christ, we come into a power that is able to keep us. However, we must understand that this is not a place of absolute safety because we are still susceptible to corruption at this level.
"Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: [23] Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." (1 Pet. 1:22-23). “Loving one another with a pure heart "fervently” refers to charity, which is the utmost level in Christ. We should however not remain at the level of Christ; we should move from being born by the Word of Christ to being born again by the Word of God. The Word of God takes us from the life that is in Christ into Everlasting Life; this is the tail of Eternal Life. If we keep on holding this tail, it will lead us to Eternal Life. The antidote to the second death is the incorruptible word; and it will enable a man to continue in life (Everlasting Life) until he comes into another life, which is Eternal Life.
The beauty of what we are learning now is that we are beginning to see the unity in the scripture. Genesis to revelation is actually one book with many chapters, and Jesus said that not one word from it will be unfulfilled (Matt. 5:18). There have been many attacks against the church and a lot of inconsistencies have arisen about the Word due to lack of understanding. We must however bear in mind that the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is spiritual.
Everlasting Life is made up of two works: the living and the abiding works (1 Pet. 1:23). The "living work" is the first work and it is the beginning of awakening. The "abiding work" is the last work called the completion of the work.
When we describe God as the Father of lights, it is because He is made up of different lights that bring forth different levels of the total package of the Godhead. As such, the Holy Ghost, Christ, the Father and God are all various levels of light. We need to move along the course till we get to Everlasting Life. We need to also understand that the covenants of hell and death are the works of the devil (Isa. 28:15). The Son of God was therefore manifested to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).
The manifestation of the Son of God is that which teaches us the commandments of Everlasting Life; and enables us to begin to do the works of God. Before the works of God can be done however, the works of the devil must be destroyed. We must understand these sequences and the steps towards Eternal Life which, God in His wisdom, has laid as a pattern in Christ (Col. 1:19).
While Jesus was on earth, He kept moving from one level to another. He grew to a point where He obtained mastery of the life of Christ; and then moved further to another level of life which He began to both teach and do (Acts 1:1). These things He did and taught bordered on Everlasting life.
The humility of Christ was such that He did not teach about Himself, even though He attained unto the mastery of life. He commissioned Paul to preach about Him, after His resurrection and departure from earth (Acts 26:16-18). In the future, we will also see the teachings in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), which are records of Everlasting life, begin to unfold.
Although the Apostles were commissioned to teach at certain levels of the word, they came into a greater life than the level of those words which they preached. John came into Eternal Life, while Paul and Peter came into Everlasting Life (and perhaps, Eternal Life). They were restrained to teach the word they were commissioned to teach. It is only Satan that does not remain where he is told to stay. People who live by obedience are those who will not depart from where they are told to stay. A major characteristic of iniquity is that it does not stay where it is put.
We need to be thankful to God fo those through whom he is expounding these words to us because; although these things are all over the scriptures, we need help and power to be able to ascertain, teach, and lay them in order. Everyone whom the Lord God has raised to give us understanding of these things is worthy of double honour (1 Tim. 5:17). These mysteries are such that although God wants them to be revealed to men, there is a necessity to withhold them from men who are unworthy of them. The man whom God will rather commit these words to is one who has proved himself worthy of obtaining it. He can only do this when he has seen the importance of this life.
We should rejoice that the Lord is beginning to open these things to us at these times. He is also helping us to begin to live this life because there is a difference between hearing and doing. The benefits of this word are in doing them. There are benefits all across the course of learning; there is a benefit that comes along the Way (Christ) and a profit at the end of it. There is also profiting as one begins to gather and live that life. What imprints that life on the heart of a man is obedience. The covenant of hell and death will lead to the second death; and this is the work of the devil. However, the revelation of the Son of God, and our obedience to it, is what brings about Everlasting Life.
Even as the Son of God will be revealed to us, there are commandments that will follow His manifestation, and we have to obey them. There is a life that is higher than the life in Christ, which is Everlasting Life. This life is not a preservative, in the sense that the life of Christ is. In Everlasting life, the things that cause decay and corruption will be completely taken away. The works of the enemy have to be destroyed and the works of God have to be done. Until the works of the enemy are taken away, you cannot begin the works that have to do with Everlasting life (1 John. 3:8).
"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Heb. 4:12). The Word of God is able to destroy the works of the enemy and start up the works of God. The teachings of our Lord Jesus to the Apostles on the mountain spoke of a higher life than what mere men could comprehend (Matt. 5:1-48). It takes a lot of strength for man to come into the kind of life that Jesus described on that mountain. It is only a man that has grown in stature that can turn the other cheek to be slapped again, or that can take no thoughts for his life. There is a tendency for the enemy to come against us consistently with thoughts which will make us lose life, if we engage them.
"And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. [2] In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." (Rev. 22:1-2). The healing of the nations refers to the healing of souls. What will take away the things that are responsible for decay and corruption is Everlasting Life; and the grace of this life must be found in us, so that we can continue in it. As we keep journeying on this path, we find that our conversations have become different from the conversations of the people we knew before encountering this path. Many of us still, however, have earthly standards which culture death in us and hinder us from coming into Everlasting Life. The generation of men in the world today do not only lack faith, but also lack understanding. This is what causes many to run into death.
Everlasting Life is a teaching, learning, lifestyle, and an obedience; its standards are high. As such, we cannot speak about it with men who do not have its manner of understanding. We must go through the pattern of learning of the mysteries of the Son, the Father, and God; because the previous is a foundation for the next learning.
The spices that were used on Jesus Christ (aloes, myrrh and cassia) were bitter spices and there is a purpose in that bitterness (Psa. 45:8). This bitterness (sobriety) has to come into our world to dislodge the things that the enemy has woven into the fabric of this life. Without this bitterness, men will continue with the normal course of their lives.
One would have expected that men would become more sober after the COVID pandemic hit the earth. Unfortunately, men still do not have soberness to even consider the things of God. Things have normalized and men are still degrading in their souls. The bitterness of the leaf has to play out in all aspects of our lives; and also in the lives of those who are yet to come into the things of God.
Bitterness is needed in the world because vanity is everywhere. It is when men begin to experience the pressure of hunger and lack that they will begin to look for God. It is the fullness of bread and the abundance of idleness that will not make men seek God. Many countries even have support systems that will make men continue in idleness. What we however need is to understand God's program of Everlasting Life, so that we can change.
May we continue to have hunger for the things of God as light comes to us. As we understand the program of God and lend ourselves to it, God will pour so much of His honour and glory on us. We will also have men who will carry glory from one nation to another; beginning with where we are and then further to other parts of the world.