Programme: Lekki Soul Centre (LSC)
Date: Wednesday, 26th July, 2023
Transcript Summary
1. (John 5:19-30). Generally, the definition of the works of God the body of Christ is exposed to is focused on our external devotion to Him and things we do for Him as in ministry. While that is wonderful, the definition of works in the Scripture above is far higher than what we get done for God. There is a work in the Bible that God designed the saint to carry out.
2. "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Eph. 2:1, 10). The kind of works God expects of us are works to be “walked” in. This gives us an idea of what sort of work it is. They are not miraculous works, as one does not “walk” in miracles. This work speaks of paths and our obedience to fulfilling Someone's pleasure. These works have a long-age destiny, which God purposed in Himself. We were not created to do just anything. Christianity is directional and specific, and we ought to find out what God wants us to do – His works.
3. This work is a general demand of heaven for everyone that has been raised (quickened) from the dead, to carry out a work on earth. Any believer who is unable to do it would not necessarily miss heaven, but would have fallen below God’s expectations. This work transforms one into an instrument of pleasure.
4. Jesus had not started ministry when He was declared to have pleased God. This is to tell us that there were things He was doing which were not externally seen, such as preaching or raising the dead, yet God said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matt 3:17). One does not please God being idle, one must have done something to please Him. There can be no pleasing without obedience or doing.
5. (Col. 1:9-10). One cannot get this work done until one is empowered to do so. This spiritual empowerment means to be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; or as put in Ephesians 1:17 as, “the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.” The “knowledge of Him” is “the knowledge of His will”. The work that God expects from every child of God is the work in His will. the will of God is a work(s). If these works are not being done, there is no way a believer can translate into the desired personality that can please God.
6. The Lord God must be pleased. The Firstborn of the Church pleased God from the start to the cross. His entire thirty-three years on earth was a pleasing thing to God. However, doing the will of God is an uphill task, which we must face nonetheless. It is an uphill task because we have an adversary, Satan, and his angels, who are against the will of God. The will of God cannot easily be discovered except God shows one mercy, hence Paul’s prayers for the churches (Eph. 1:15-16).
7. The fact that one is born again and filled with the Holy Ghost does not automatically make one start doing the will of God directly. This is because the will of God is an uphill task for flesh. The will of God is the answer that will correct flesh from being flesh to what God wants. As long as a person is a child of God, even though such remains ‘flesh’, such a person would still go to heaven.
8. One can love all the saints, yet such is not in the will of God (Eph. 1:15). The will of God in this context is not referring to things like who to marry, what school to attend, or what jobs to undertake and ministry to join. Those are services that have nothing to do with one’s transformation from flesh to spirit. There is something that God wants to do with the ‘being’ called man. He sent a man to be the propitiation (that is, the answer) to that state called “flesh” (1 John 2:2).
9. The will of God is a thing of the heart. This tells us that the duty of God towards man is about man's heart. The throne of God has invested so much on how to relate with the heart of man. What moves God is your heart state, because God is a heart being. God said, “I have found David, a man after mine own heart” (Acts 13:22). The issues stemming from God’s heart are the things He wants, which is called His will. It is not easy to find a man who likes God’s heart. David’s predecessor, Saul, had so much power but was weak to do what was in God’s heart. That was why he fell as a shepherd, exposing Israel to death.
10. The will of a man makes him selfish and limits him. Until a man finds God’s will, such a man cannot really find fulfilment. Every saint should be an interpreter of the will of God. Jesus lived for nothing but to please God, and until a man comes to this status quo, he has not really started what God wants a man to do.
11. The purpose of man on earth is to do the will of God. Adam fell short of this but Jesus came to correct it. This is a heart matter but Satan has weakened our hearts. So our hearts are not sincere to get the will of God done. But we can be empowered and helped. This is the reason for the Church (Ekklesia) – to train men to do the will of God. A church who does the will of God is a successful church, and this is what the Church should be known for. God designed the Church to build men and give them the capacity to be what He wants them to be.
12. “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;” (Col. 1:10). “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Eph. 2:10). Note the terms ‘walk’ and ‘work’. For a saint to locate and do this ordained work, such must be “tuned” to work it. So if God wants a church to discover His will, He would bless them with eyes to see the will. He would equip them to locate the will because the will of God is not in the sphere where man is.
13. Therefore, Paul prayed for the Ephesian church for their eyes to be open so they can come to know why they have been called to be Christians (Eph. 1:16-17) – to do God’s will. The will is meat (1 Cor. 3:2). It is not easy to bear the will of God. This is why the Scripture says it is not those who call Him ‘Lord Lord’ that will enter into the Kingdom but those who do His will (Matt. 7:21). A man can see the will and intentionally close his eyes to it because of the task the will demands. Meanwhile the task is not injurious nor grievous. Rather, it is to make a man emancipate out of the flesh.
14. There is a lot of investment involved for the will of God to reach a man. It is the life changing ministry of the Spirit flowing to reach one so that one will not remain below the expectation of the will. One great fear is to reach heaven, and knowing what one ought to have become, but having not become it. Fulfilling God’s pleasure is not just a gain to God but majorly for our own profit. A heart that truly loves the Lord would seek to please Him without desiring any reward for doing so per se. The pleasure of God is in the will of God (Eph. 1:19).
15. Some people accuse God of being unfaithful just because they think He has not rewarded them for doing His will. The promises that God gives to us are for encouragement so that we can be what we are supposed to be – which is, to break free from the pact we have formed with the enemy before we met God. It is to come into an ability to hate those who hate God. A man may love his father’s enemy. No man at the core of his heart truly wants to end up with Satan but somewhere, we still do Satan's things; and that can only stop when we find God’s will and have the power to get it done. Change comes when we begin to do His will. So, it is not just the hearer that is justified but the doer (Jam. 1:22-25).
16. (1 Cor. 10:1-4). Meat and drink as seen in this Scripture constitute the will of God, which naturally, a man cannot discover unless such is helped. This is because it is a mystery (Eph. 1:19). Paul was an apostle produced by the will (Eph. 1:1). This is why he was a preacher of God’s will. This was what made Paul a wise master-builder (1 Cor. 3:10). He could build men from the state of corruption to the place of the incorruptible.
17. A preacher who preaches the will of God is doing the people great good. When teachings go in this direction, Satan often comes to lie to the hearers that such a preacher is making the Bible appear difficult or is going overboard with things—that the Bible is simple. The Bible is not simple. The devil is also not simple; this is evident in the great hold he has on the souls of men. If he was simple, men would have been free from his oppression and hold by now; and he would not be able to take down Christians, including ‘men of God’. So, Satan is not that simple. We need to be complicated/complex to deal with him. Simple and shallow Christianity cannot handle Satan. The Bible calls him the great red dragon (Rev. 12:3). The dragon is not a simple animal.
18. Although the dragon has been defeated by the Lord Jesus, he is wiser than many believers because he has witnessed many ages. Therefore, one who is not rooted in mystery will not be able to deal with him, because the iniquity he teaches is also a mystery (2 Thess. 2:7); and only a mystery can deal with another mystery.
19. It would be unwise to think that because Jesus already defeated Satan, one can go to sleep. Satan has enough humility to make a man ride on him and feel like his king. It is all in a bid to put such a person on a lying pedestal so that he would do nothing about the will of God that is meant to actually place him above and make him walk in the deliverances which God has ordained before the foundation of the world unto our glory. This is not for us to fear Satan, but to show us standards that exist in the spirit, and that it takes some things to overcome him. Anyone who is not “coming over” him would be stoppped by him.
20. Paul, in his high estate knew that he still needed to put his body under, lest he becomes a castaway (1 Cor. 9:27). He was not boasting about his strength. Oftentimes Reverend Oyegoke inquires of the Lord, “I hope I have not been castaway?” “Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.” (Ps. 51:11). This Scripture is not referring to the infilling of the Holy Ghost, but the very presence of God.
21. There is a task that must be done and God has found us all worthy to get it done. This task is the will of God and it is profitable to us. The will of God is God's good pleasure which He has purposed in Himself for us. It was given to us so we could appreciate and become better than where the adversary has placed us.
22. The purpose of the meetings we attend is to first of all get us healed, that is, to heal our sins. Forgiveness of sins is synonymous to healing (Matt. 13:15; Mark 4:12). It is not wrong for preachers to be concerned about the natural affairs of their flock, but Satan would keep creating avenues of needs just to distract the saints. In the garden of Eden, Adam did not need a car or house, we have the same body as he did though his body was upgraded to live under a particular climate. However when he sinned, his eyes were opened and he began to see needs. Therefore, to fight that battle of needs, we have to seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness (Matt. 6:33).
23. Seeking the Kingdom does not imply that people should resign from secular jobs; rather we are to do all that our hands find to do with all our might (Eccl. 9:10). Doing a secular job does not in any way affect one’s seeking first the Kingdom. Seeking first only shows the position of our hearts, how we ought to rearrange it and make the will of God the first priority in our hearts, allowing it weigh upon souls, else, we would not get the Kingdom.
24. One cannot do the will of God on earth, and not be grateful to God for it. Doing the will of God gives one unlimited peace in the soul – the kind of peace that is devoid of guilt. This is because one is empowered to invest on what pleases God – which is, the good will, acceptable will and perfect will of God (Rom. 12:2). The good will changes a man from flesh to a man that God desires. This is followed by the acceptable will. To be acceptable is to become a man that God can bring closer and accept. Moses became this kind of man. Moses had access to God such that God could speak to him face to face (Num. 12:6-8). The perfect will grants a man access to the Father.
25. Hebrews 12:22-24 which speaks about coming to Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God etc., is an admonition to Christians who have been accepted to go into perfection, because they have done wills. The Hebrew saints did the will of God to the point where the Holiest of All was open to them. The Holiest of All is open to all who would do all the will of God on earth. The greater the will one is doing, the more plenteous the mercy shown such. The heavier the weight of mercy, the stronger the peace. It is possible to tell a man by his peace. A man in the presence of God has great peace and nothing offends him (Ps. 119: 165). When the gift of this kind of peace is found in a man, he is settled. The two gifts men need on earth are grace and peace. Everything in the universe revolves around these two commodities.
Blessings!