Programme: School of the Spirit (SOS)
Date: Thursday, 22 June 2023
Transcript Excerpt
God's plan for the Church is salvation, which are also called things everlasting and things eternal. We are at the point where we are knocking. The accurate understanding of the season we are in would help us position our hearts before the Lord to respond quickly. When Jesus said He will come quickly with His reward, the reward refers to Eternal Life. Everlasting Life is the work and Eternal Life is the reward to be given to every man according as his work shall be. This work is an everlasting work which is expected to be done in us. The work of everlasting life should be done in us. It is not ‘works’, it is a specific work. If it is according as his ‘work’ shall be, it means there is a particular work that is expected of us in this season.
Christ is a work of charity. We must perfect charity and become fervent so that we can cross to being born again of the incorruptible seed, by the Word of God that liveth and abideth forever. The incorruptible seed, the word of God that lives forever is the one that has the ability to produce this singular work in us. He is going to be looking for work to reward. We will still be working by the time He comes; whatever our work is when He comes is what He will reward.
1 Peter 1:3
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”
In works everlasting, there are graduations. There was a first begotten and there is another begotten again. We are being born again unto a lively hope, a living hope. It is the hope of things everlasting. It is hope for the living. The living here are those who are able to see the hope that is laid up in Him, the hope of things everlasting. We need to be able to see that. To see that, we must have lived to a measure to see that hope. The soul would come to a level of life that can appreciate hope of the living and not the hope of the dead. The hope of the living is not automatic to everyone who has experienced the new birth, though we need to be born again to be able to have this hope. The reason we still have the hope of the dead is because our eyes have not been opened to see the hope that is laid up in the Son of God. To be able to see the hope of the living, the Word has to be preached to us for us to be able to see it. The opening and enlightenment of our eyes is what would enable us to see the hope for to lay hold upon it. For example, The serpent preached to Eve until she could put forth her hand to lay hold on the fruit.
Genesis 3:6
“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”
The fruit is not just a food for the body but for thoughts. It would improve thoughts and bring one to a place of judgement where one would be able to partake of the things that God eats. God eats by thoughts. The tree of life is not like natural trees. The tree of life is not food until it is food for thoughts. The tree would open the eyes. What would satisfy the man that is hungry and thirsty, which is the soul, is a food for thoughts. The tree of life is a thought we are going to partake of when it is given to us. Eve had not eaten the fruit but she was already seeing the hope. We need to be preached to, to see the tree of life; we need to see the hope of the tree of life to desire to lay hold on it. This is the message of everlasting life.
It is those who are in everlasting life that can appreciate the message of God which is Eternal life. We have to be preached to, to be able to eat of the tree of Life. Satan employed the same method of giving hope and making man see. The tree of life would not be activated without seeing the hope that is in it. For it to be activated, we need to see the hope of Eternal Life (Titus 1:2). We need to see what God promised before the world began. Those who are in everlasting life must see the hope of Eternal Life because if there is no hope from the tree, the soul would not press for it.
When Eve saw, she saw that the fruit was able to make one wise. We need to see the hope. Satan is a fantastic teacher also. The serpent must have told Eve something that she could not resist.
Genesis 3:1-3
“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? [2] And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: [3] But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.”
It is possible Eve was not with Adam when God gave him the commandment and she was also possibly curious. Curiosity is flesh in manifestation.
Genesis 3:4-5
“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: [5] For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”
Satan took time to puncture everything God told them about the commandments. He deceived Eve to see the glory of the tree, and painted an estate to be like God to know good and evil. Through the message, Eve was able to see the hope and it was very clear until she could also preach it. What we see and hear is what we declare. Eve heard and also saw a hope and began to declare. Things that are pleasant to the eyes are things that can enlighten the eyes. Eve ate the fruit in hope, likewise we also ought to eat in hope. Before we can eat of the tree of Life, we must have come into the hope of it.
Living hope is a hope that can only be appreciated by reason of the words of everlasting life. In the word of everlasting life is the hope of Eternal Life. It is in everlasting life that we can appreciate being made eternal. The hope in Christ is everlasting life. Every Christ’s cry is to be made everlasting. We journey from hope to hope. To be made everlasting is to return to the Father; it is to go to the Father. How we know a Christ is that there is a desire for everlasting things. Christ desires things everlasting, that is the way to know one who is Christ. Knowing this, we can stratify ourselves by our desire and prayers. When we retreat from activities, we must check for the things we long for. The cry of our heart would be known when things are okay with us.
Irrespective of our natural satisfactions, we must forever have a cry. If we stop being thirsty and hungry for righteousness, that means the world has sapped life out of us. In every state, hunger and thirst for the things of God must be constant. We must consistently check ourselves and examine ourselves whether we still have a longing for everlasting life.
Philippians 3:16
“Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.”
There are different attainment levels, and wherever we are, we must keep panting till we arrive at Eternal Life. Until we get to Eternal life, we must keep crying, our hearts must keep panting. We must continue to hunger and thirst after righteousness. There are also different levels of righteousness to attain.
1 Peter 1:3
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is an experience the soul comes to. This is not just the resurrection we can quote but the one we should experience by coming to the knowledge of it.
Philippians 3:10
“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death…”
The power of resurrection is the power of separation. It is the power of holiness, that is the power God uses to give birth. Whenever God applies the power of resurrection to any soul, what comes out is nothing but the Son of God.
Everlasting life is the work that will be rewarded. All our works would not be the same quality in everlasting life. In Christ there are also different levels of works. In Christ, our charity must get to fervency before we can be born or begotten. There is a work God would reward.
The Lord gave Peter a higher wisdom. Peter was in the place of transition on how to cross. Paul gathered materials to enrich the saints but there is a wisdom to cross. It was Peter that told us that our love has to be fervent. Paul made us know that we have to do charity but Peter told us we have to do charity till it becomes fervent for us to be able to cross to the next allocation.
We are being born again to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled and that fades not away. All these things are calibrations of everlasting life: incorruptible, undefiled and that fades not away. These things need to be consistently preached so that we do not lose them. Many of us have them in our hearts like the seeds on the wayside. And for those in whom the seed has planted, there are still stones. At some other point, we will face cares of this life. We would be confronted with the different levels of the ground before it becomes a fertile ground. There are different cares, and they can be legitimate. Many of us still have cares that are choking the seed. These words must be stressed until they become a doctrine that we can hold and an anchor for our souls to be steadfast.
Revelation 22:12
“And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”
‘Incorruptible’, ‘undefiled’ and ‘fadeth not away’ are levels of this work. They are the calibrations of the work. One has to carry what is incorruptible to that which is undefiled until it fades not away. They can be considered as the trimesters of everlasting life. Some may not be able to go beyond the incorruptible. To go beyond the incorruptible, one needs to use it as a life. The life of incorruptibility needs to be practised until it becomes undefiled. Something incorruptible still needs to be upgraded. God's expectation is very high. Though we are in the fellowship of the incorruptible, He wants us to get to the uttermost. We must get to the peace of everlasting life. The state of being undefiled speaks of the soul acquiring these properties. There is one that is incorruptible, one that is undefiled and one that faded not away. Everyone's work would be tested with fire to be able to see what kind of work it is.
Micah 4:2
“And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
He would teach us His knowledge and His ways. God is going to teach us His everlasting life. The message of everlasting life is the only answer the earth needs. With the happenings on the earth today, the only solution is the message of everlasting life. The message of everlasting life is guarding our hearts by faith. Our hearts are being shielded by grace. Many things would yet happen but God will surely provide for His people. We will be at peace and not be troubled like mere men.
The inheritance reserved for us in heaven is a life that has to be brought here for us to live. The inheritance is not reserved there for us to go there to get it. People would live this life here on earth. We need to transition into everlasting life, but there is a work that has to be done. There is a work which would call for a reward. When everlasting life has been lived here on earth, we would also call for Eternal life to be lived here on earth. God would fulfil this promise. God who cannot lie promised, before the world began, that righteousness would kiss this earth and sin will not have the last say.
Blessings!