Programme: Anamnesis 2023 (Day 3 - Morning Session)
Date: Friday, 8th December, 2023
“But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.” (Matt. 9:36). We have been hearing that Jesus is coming and He has been coming to us. But there is a coming that will climax all His comings.
“And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” (Rev. 22:12). There is a coming that will bring forth the reward of the work we are doing now. Our current works are being recorded and the manner of our rewards will be determined by the kind of works we are doing; that is, how we are responding to what we are being told, and the commandments and precepts that the Lord is giving to us. Anamnesis is not just a gathering to catch up with friends. It is an escape for us. God brought us to this mountain to help us escape a kind of corruption that is hanging around. He brought us to get some things grounded in us, so that when we get back, those things we have escaped from will not take us back.
We must be very careful to take heed to what we hear. As we hear, there is a work the hearing is doing. These are the things that will help us when we come down from this mountain (go back to our daily activities). Our coming down is for us to further our journey in Him. When God was to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, during the negotiations, Pharaoh agreed to let them go. But his initial condition was that they should not go far. The actual essence of their departure from Egypt was to go far, but he insisted that they shouldn’t. At another point, he said that only the men should go while the women and children should be left behind, so that the men would have reasons to return. He did not want their departure to be total, but God wanted them to completely go, so that they could serve Him. In the same way, we are also expected to depart from this world totally. The intention of God is not just to save our spirits alone, our souls and bodies must also be delivered. Our entire being must be set free to serve God and live for Him.
The work God has done in us is not just to make us physically richer but to make us look exactly like Him in His final coming. Therefore, we must make our hearts ready and available to take as much of Him as we can take now. It is not easy on us when the Lord brings us out of our comfort zones, but there is a reward that is coming to us.
Jesus will be coming to try hearts, to see whether or not we believe. A time will come where His coming will open us to other things and so, He will be coming this way to test us. The sign of His coming is not a physical one, so we have to believe it, both by the word and by the Spirit. The Spirit of God moved His ministers to proclaim that He is come. Indeed, the Lord has come and He wants to train us to believe, agree with Him and accept Him even when we don’t see Him physically. A time will come when immediately we hear Him, our hearts will connect to Him. We should hope till the end for the Lord’s coming and we must receive the necessary training for it.
Round off by Reverend Kayode Oyegoke
The Lord is here. The coming of the Lord will take care of natures we cannot control and there will be an inward change of our natures. We will become like little children who eat straw (Isa. 11:7), for He will carve in every person the nature of eating spiritual straw. This was what all the animals in Genesis ate while they were in the ark, for one hundred and twenty days, before the waters were abated. Noah did not store extra animals for the lions to consume; they all ate straw. This is what the presence of the Lamb can bring.
When the Lord says He has brought a blessing and a meal, its purpose is for conquering and suspending natures (Isa. 11:4-9). The natural meal of a cow is straw, but lions do not eat straw. The little child has a meal he eats; he brings his own straw. In that day, the cow will also feed on what he has brought— the little child’s straw. This is the provision of God, so that only one nature will remain. The holy mountain is a teaching of harmlessness and the essence of the straw is to make us harmless.
Blessings!