Eternal Glorious Fountain Ministry (EGFM)
Programme: School of the Spirit (SOS)
Date: Thursday, 20th January 2022
Minister: Pastor Thompson Ehima
In the season of Christ, we did not understand everlasting life particularly, but now by the incursion of light, we are coming into greater discernment and judgement. There was a time that God spoke particularly about Christ. In this season, we would start fetching the precepts of everlasting life. Everlasting life has its precepts just as Christ as its own precepts.
When we can clearly distinguish Christ from the things of everlasting life, clarity will be given to those who think that the gospel of the New Testament is only limited to the mystery of Christ. God wants to give everlasting life and He does so by giving its precepts. Christ has tenets which include faith, hope and charity. These tenets are different measurements of life in Christ.
In addition to being taught Christ, there are substantial life forms that we are to embody. Faith, hope and charity are lives because they carry light, that is, they communicate knowledge. Faith can be learnt and one can fetch understanding from it. In addition to understanding it, light and laws for living can also be obtained from it.
Light is present in laws (Isaiah 8:20) and laws can be learnt. Every law is alive and can generate a life force for expression. If men can learn the law of gravity, then the law of Christ can be learnt and embodied in its expression. The presence of Christ in a man indicates the presence of a light, an understanding and a life (Colossians 1:27).
By desiring to give us everlasting life, God wants to give us the tenets, commandments, light and understanding of that life (Isaiah 28:9-10). For us to embody the life that God is set to give to us, we must obey the precepts, laws and commandments of that life. Obedience is how we partake of life.
Thus, precepts must be upon precepts and line upon line, to understand the doctrine of everlasting life. The understandings and judgements of that life cannot be given all at once. Similar to the parable of the talents, we are given precepts according to our ability.
This year, God will be giving us the precepts of everlasting life, including the thoughts and judgements of that life. We will be visited in those still small voices which we may not recognize as thoughts of everlasting life and we must obey them. We must be able to discern and not despise that still small voice.
The kingdom of heaven or of God is the dominion of everlasting life. Earth speaks of Christ, while heaven refers to the kingdom of God. Christ is the earth of the world to come. The New Testament is established upon better covenants and promises; thus, in the new heaven and new earth dwells everlasting righteousness (Hebrews 8:6, 2 Peter 3:13). That world is powered by everlasting life.
Paul was an able minister of the New Testament and he affirmed that the world to come is what he speaks (2 Corinthians 3:6, Hebrew 2:5). Hence, what Paul was speaking concerning Christ are the things of the New Testament which are established upon better promises.The New Testament is powered by everlasting righteousness.
Adam operated in the created everlasting earth, while angels operated in the created everlasting heavens. What God wants to give is the everlasting earth and everlasting heavens of the Creator and it is entirely different from the created. Therefore, we are to start from Christ (Christ doctrine), who is the earth of the New Testament. We need to learn Christ and move into the perfect or godly man in order to move through the earth of everlasting life, that is, of the world to come.
Earth is more than planets. We should think of the earth as laws, an understanding or a precept. Adam had access to the air that is presently occupied by evil spirits. Christ alone cannot judge the world system. It took everlasting men to judge this world because it was fabricated by an everlasting being (Revelation 11:15).
Adam could access the life, law and understanding called earth because of what he was before he fell. Thus, he was regarded as earth because of the judgements and conclusions that were in his reach. After the fall, we lost judgement and darkness eroded every former understanding of the earth so that we began to use darkness to live.
Every law will cease to be a law if it is no longer alive. Every law has life and every life has light, which is the knowledge that it gives. Every life must have expression and expressions are powered by laws. One cannot access the law of a life without engaging or learning its light. The entrance of the word gives life only to the simple (Psalm 119:130). If one is not simple, the word will not give him/her light and understanding.
For us to receive the precepts of everlasting life as God intends, light and commandments would be given precept by precept. At the end of every season, we would be able to evaluate and know how much we have appreciated in life.
There is a kind of heart that can make profit with the word of everlasting life (1Peter 1:13). To access the grace of everlasting life, we need to be shown the revelation of Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:1, Galatians 1:15-16). Except He is revealed, we cannot have life. The Son is revealed so that we can see the laws and understanding that makes Him up, and so that we can obey them. There is a posture and state of the heart that we must have to receive the revelation of the Son, so that we will not lose out on it. Hence, Peter was instructing that we must gird up the loins of our mind (1 Peter 1:13).
To gird up the loins of our mind is to girdle up. There are things we must girdle our mind with so that we will not lose out on the grace that is supposed to come at the revelation of the Son. Humility of mind is one of the substances that we must guard our mind with.
The elect of God are those who have fulfilled the obedience of Christ and as the elect of God, there are things that we must wear our mind with, because what God wants to show and reveal to us can be lost without proper readiness of mind. To lose a thing is not that we no longer have a mental assent to it, rather, it is to lose the grace that accompanies the revelation which is supposed to do a work in us. Many might still have the knowledge but lack the grace to produce a commensurate work inside of them.
Just as there was a grace at the revelation of Christ that wrought the nature of Christ, there is also the grace of everlasting life that is to wrought everlasting nature in the soul. Grace carries substances. God is honorable and He would not give us revelation without the grace to do its commandments. Grace is what God uses to dispense His revelation and commandments.
When we are learning Christ, the grace of Christ is being given. As we engage with the Grace of Christ, the properties of the grace, which are designed to form and wrought Christ nature, would be accessed.
There is a grace that is allocated to fulfil the demands of the doctrine of everlasting life. Anyone that wants to run with knowledge only and without grace, would slip into religion and then legalism. That would be putting confidence in the arm of flesh. Though we are fasting and praying, we must lean on the sceptre of grace because our prayers and fasting are only to enable us to enter into a strong grace provision (Romans 9:16)
Grace and peace are multiplied as revelation increases (2 Peter 1:2). There is a grace that is coming at the showing of Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:1). The angel kept showing Jesus to John in the book of Revelation so that the Son would be well understood. The entrance of the word is to show Jesus, so that we might see the Father (Psalm 119:130). The teachings of Jesus from the age of 30, were to show the Father (John 14:8-9). Philip did not understand that the Father was being given by the many teachings that Jesus was doing.
There are things that must be present in the people that desire to see the Son, things that they must gird their minds with. Having bowels of mercies is a prerequisite to seeing the Son (Colossians 3:12). The elect of God must have these prerequisites to receive the everlasting light because, highlighted in 2 Peter 1:5-9, there are things that we must add to our faith so that we would not be blind and we can see afar off. God wants to raise His brethren the prophets that can see afar off.
Those who have the testimony of Jesus can see the life and testimony in the Son. They are not prophets by calling but by what they girdle themselves with. We have been elected by mercy to see the Son. Therefore, when we are told to make our calling and election sure, there are things we ought to do to guarantee the election of God upon us.
Eternal Life is received on the ground of mercy (Jude 1:21). In order not to be touched by the wicked one, you must keep yourself in the love of God. That means you should progress in love-walk until you arrive at the love of God, which is everlasting life.
Anyone who is desiring Eternal Life has to be merciful, that is, not judgmental (James 2:13). A merciful being possesses deep bowels of mercy and such a person looks on the shortcoming of a brother with mercy and compassion, and not with accusation. When Jesus was teaching this principle of everlasting life, He told a parable of the unforgiving servant, who after he was shown much mercy refused to show mercy to his fellow servant (Matthew 18:21-35).
We have received so much mercy from God, yet when our brother falls short of our expectations or slightly stumbles, we do not show mercy. We must have this posture of mercy if we would receive the grace that is to be brought to us. Therefore, as we seek for everlasting life and desire to see the Son, we must pray for so much mercy to be worked in our hearts.
The face of the Father is plenteous in mercy and gracious (Psalm 103:8). Everlasting life is received on the ground of so much mercy. Even while rebuking, our words must be seasoned with so much grace and mercy. People that will live these everlasting conversations have to be children. Even when lawlessness thrives, we must be powerful enough to show people mercy and still convict them of their wrongdoing.
God is rich in mercy. When a man has bowels of mercies, he is rich. The rod of iron that we will be wielding is mercy. When we become everlasting, we would have become as weak as lambs. It was a lamb that detonated sin and death, not a lion. We will be made so weak that we will be unable to glory in ourselves like our Lord who was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and opened not His mouth (Isaiah 53:7).
We will also become people who forgive easily as Matthew 6:12 instructs us. We are admonished to gird the loins of our minds because it has a tendency to be wild and refuse to do the laws of everlasting life. The Lord wants to show us attributes that we must covet after because they are precepts of everlasting life.
Another aspect we must prioritize is kindness (Colossians 3:12). Hence, we must do charity well. While charity is kindness to a measure (1 Corinthians 13:4), there is a greater demand of kindness that will be required of us, which Peter referred to as ‘brotherly kindness’ (2 Peter 1:7). Even when some people do not deserve our kindness, we must show it nonetheless. Kindness is one virtue the enemy is wiping off the earth; men are becoming mean and fierce.
We see that Satan is very busy scheming and plotting ‘legitimate’ areas for us to stumble at God’s laws, hence the need for the wisdom of God. A high wisdom is necessary to be able to discern Satan’s moves and stop his evil intentions from being accomplished in us. We must increase in kindness, especially to the household of faith (Galatians 6:10). In pursuit of laying hold on Eternal Life, Paul charges Timothy to learn to distribute to others (1 Timothy 6:18).
From Isaiah 55:1-3, we see that covenant is also enacted by food. The making of the covenant is aimed at the thought realm. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God’s ways higher than ours and His thoughts than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). Hence, Isaiah 55:7 instructs us to forsake our wicked ways and our unrighteous thoughts.
When one begins to think after the thoughts of everlasting life, kindness, bowels of mercies and humbleness of mind follow. Such are the things that constitute the elect of God and are the qualities required for coming into an everlasting covenant.
When God is trying to raise His standards and thoughts, there are strongholds in the mind that raise arguments against the thoughts of God (2 Corinthians 10:5). As we draw closer to certain zones of life, we will see strange conversations, contrary to the standards that the world has raised. The thoughts of everlasting life and Eternal Life have not entered into the heart of man because men do not think like this (1Corinthians 2:9).