Dearly Beloved,
We live in days when the pride of life is an instituted norm, when lust
has become a better substitute for love, when being humble is equated with
stupidity, when Christians rather learn everything from Jesus but lowliness and
meekness. Self (me, myself & I) therefore continues to escape many
halfhearted ministrations from the pulpit to the pew.
Contrary to
sound counsels of the Lord in the book of Psalms and beyond, we have been taught from childhood to defend ourselves, be a
go-getter, strive and raise our voices in the streets (Matt. 12:19) and we have
thereby preserved the fallen nature. But blessed be God for new avenues to be
reconciled unto childlikeness through ministrations of the engrafted word
which only the meek (Ps. 25:9/ Jam. 1:21/Job 22:22) can receive.
Heaven is set to reap children of the kingdom who would be higher in
soul state/stature than a John the Baptist (Matt. 11:11C), children who would
be naïve in malice (1Cor. 14:20) amongst other various works of the flesh (Eph.
4:31/Gal. 5:20-21). A new conversation where believers would prefer one another
(1Tim. 5:21) is emerging on earth and many would be adopted (Eph. 1:5) into CHRISTLIKE
CHILDLIKENESS, with CHRIST being the MOST LITTLE CHILD
(Matt. 18:2/Isa. 11:6D) amongst them
The following
transcribed message attempts to pay homage to this truth as we prepare for
Believers Convention 2014 and I trust that we would patiently read.
Graceful
reading!
Non-Negotiable
Counsels of God's Kingdom - Part 11
The nature of the Father is the nature of the Lamb who is the exact
image of the Father (Jn.
14:7-9/Heb 1:3). Jesus is a Lamb, but the Father is a greater Lamb because the Father is greater
than the Son (Jn. 14:28). GREATNESS IN THEIR REALM IS MEASURED BY HOW LOW ONE CAN GO. The more ‘lambish’
one is, the greater
one becomes. The Father is the greatest because He is the meekest and the
lowliest. This is the same order that God is unveiling to the body of Christ.
If you desire
to be great in God’s sight, just go down. We have been called into the
fellowship of Lambs and we cannot afford to be goats.
We are meant
to be moving from one realm of fellowship of the Godhead to another, but there are things that our souls
have married which has limited us but it’s high
time for us to let them go! There are sins and weights
that have beset us for a long time, issues of flesh
that
have hitherto limited our fellowship,
but in this season, there is a need for a definite move and we must believe God
to come into such.
God wants us to occupy a particular space in him right now and the
demand or conversation for such is that of soberness (1Thes. 5:6/Tit. 2:6/12). We
should not just learn or hear revelation but turn every revelation into a walk.
When you
follow the Lamb and live with Him, the
result is that He makes
a lamb out of you. This followership is to beat down every other contrary nature inside. We cannot walk
the path of the Lambs and not become a lamb. One who sets out on a journey with the Lamb looks foolish to a natural man, but as
he keeps on walking and following, he is gradually being conformed into the image of the Lamb.
The Lamb has
His way (path), which is very different from
the way of the
present man and except we find and walk in it, we cannot
arrive at the image of the Lamb. Most of the time, our judgment seems right to
us until the
Lamb brings a higher judgment (Isa.55:9/Prov.16:2).
The end time move is actually a move of salvation (1Pet. 1:9), so God
is raising men from every nation who would be saved and delivered from the
constitution of man. The present man (old man) has been pronounced obsolete
but we still have his ways intact in our souls after the new birth and this is what heaven seeks to erase
(Rom. 7:18). Jesus WALKED in the REVELATION that the FATHER gave to Him
and BECAME the LAMB and this is how real men are produced. A real man is he who is able to receive the teachings of the Father
and turn it to walk. John the Baptist introduced Him as the Lamb of God that
takes away the sins of the world (Jn. 1:29). JESUS WALKED AND OBEYED UNTIL HE BECAME THE LAMB
THAT WAS SLAIN. HE WAS NOT JUST A LAMB, BUT WENT AHEAD TO BE SLAIN.
The demand of
the Lord in this season is that we must
become lambs and be slain because He is taking us to the realm where Lambs
abide.
This is the realm of great honour, glory and blessing
for those who dare to become lambs and take a
step further by allowing themselves to be slain. TO
BE SLAIN IS TO YIELD TO THE DEMANDS OF THE NAME AND THE LIFE OF THE LAMB WHICH
IS MEEKNESS AND LOWLINESS. As we yield to
the demands of the Lamb, we lose our reputation and shed
off the old life. As the old life is being shed off, a new glorious man emerges that is free from spiritual death.
The path of life demands that we count all our earthly advantages as dung, just as Apostle
Paul did (Phil.3:8). This is not pleasant for the flesh but it is the only way to
glory. Apostle Paul weighed the glory of his former achievements
(that of a flower) with the glory that excels (2Cor. 3:10), and he had to let go of
it and he could do so because God by revelation had turned him into a lamb. It takes a lamb to be
able to discern the Lamb properly.
As we count all things but dung, we are changed into lambs, and the crucified
life is exalted in us, giving us access into the knowledge
of the Lamb. This is when the way of
the Lamb will make sense to the soul. As long as dung (our achievements) still makes sense to us, the
knowledge of the Lamb will not make sense us. The wisdom of God is a learning
of an entirely different way which does not
seem right to a man, but end of which is glory and honor.
Obeying the
life of the lamb that comes via revelation of the gospel is the only thing that
is right and approved by God (Isa. 28:16), though rejected by men. This is the
only lifestyle that can earn the glory and honour of the Father.
Learning the Lamb is learning that which is approved of God, learning of Him (Matt.11:29/Eph.
4:20)
The fellowship of the triune God is a fellowship of lambs which they
have had for ages and God has been able to contain the foolishness of man for
long because of that nature. Our Father Himself is the
greatest lamb, and our Lord Jesus
Christ whose image we have been predestined to conform to (Rom 8:29) is also a
Lamb. The reason why we are not enjoying the fellowship of our Father is
because we have not yet come into His full image. Our Father is
large-hearted; He does not snap at our short comings. He would rather come down to our level
to explain why He is giving us certain
instructions when we are weary of His correction and why we need to bear it. It
is just like trying to help someone that is fighting you. He can do this
because He is saved and he is also a competent savior. As He brings us these lambish commandments, the
right response of our hearts should be quick obedience which comes through tenderness.
Many of us do not like the nature of the Lamb and the
reason is that we
think people will take us for granted. Those that
would attain unto the company of the Lamb,
who stood with Him on Zion (Rev. 14:1) did every biding of the Lamb
without questioning.
OUR JUDGMENT OF SPIRITUAL THINGS IS LOW AND IT IS BECAUSE
OUR EARTHLY WAYS ARE STILL IN US. The Godhead had practiced
their lifestyle from everlasting to everlasting and it has not failed or
reduced them. Now, they are bringing it to us because our paths
have been darkened and we have remained natural men for too long. We
should hate the carnal life and all it infirmities so that we can willingly receive that which God is
bringing to us.
The Lamb of God is harmless and gentle, but we
are not; we are harmful and that is why we wrestle with his
dealings. As long as we remain men, we will remain harmful. That state of harmlessness is a childlike state
and one of the ways that the adversary fights us out of that state is by bringing to our memory, thoughts
of past offences. When we are treated unjustly, we are not to keep
memory of it, for love keeps no record of wrongs. That is the way of a child;
that is the way of love, and that is the way of victory, but the enemy does not
want us to achieve that state and from time to
time, he
brings back those thoughts so
that we can lose our childlikeness.
Our thoughts
dictates our
walk. Our walk is our thoughts in motion. The thought we fellowship with will eventually govern our walk and that is
why we should be vigilant in the realm of thoughts. We should be quick to track
down satanic thoughts and trash them immediately they come.
Instead of
taking those thoughts, we should
rather tell the devil, ‘I have forgiven my brother, I do not know what you are talking about’ and then you move on. Your
brethren are also called into one salvation as you were called, so if Satan
succeeds in stopping your brethren, you have also been
stopped. There should be no more remembrance of sin. The way of
life is that we
forgive and forget. We are meant to
take only God’s thought and
that will
enable us to walk
in the way of the Lord
Through the
wisdom of the epistles, we see the
Lord urging us to ENDEAVOUR to keep the unity of the Spirit (Eph.4:3). This
means, unity of the spirit does not come automatically;
we
have to consciously work at it. When we have true fellowship of love with one
another, we have fellowship with the Godhead (1Jn. 1:3)
We have come
to a time of being children in malice, having fervent love for one another. A
time where we must prefer one another and love one other fervently, when we
should delightfully lay down our life for others. As we come against
circumstances and situations, the Lord will tell us
how exactly to react and we should react
that way.
When we respond the way
lambs do, we die to self (1Cor.
15:31). God kills the life of self in
us through dealings, leadings, through circumstances and situations that He brings our way. As we obey, we come into soberness, and remain in the light.
The instruction may look
foolish to man, but that is the
right way to live. As we do
these instructions, entrance into the fellowship of the Lamb is ministered to
us.
The fellowship
of lambs is a place of blessing and people that fellowship with the Godhead are people who have continued to obey instructions until they finally emerged as lambs, having
inherited the conversation of the Lamb. God makes us lambs by speaking the incorruptible word of life to us. It is that word that has ability to reconfigure our nature so that we can stand on
Zion with the Lamb of God and this is
the actual redemption meant for the soul (Eph. 1:7/14).
Bless
You!
Rev.
(Mrs.) Helen Oyegoke
Fellowshipping
With the Nature of the Lamb (Part b)
1st
May, 2014.
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