Dearly Beloved,
Many have quoted “the secrets of God are with them that fear him” (Ps. 25:18), but a closer with the google of the Spirit reveals that KNOWING AND KEEPING WHAT GOD KEEPS can only be guaranteed as we migrate towards the end of faith (1Pet.1:9), the beginning of God’s love/fellowship/fear (1Tim. 1:5/1Jn. 1:3). JESUS KNEW ALL THE SECRETS OF GOD BECAUSE HE FEARED GOD TO THE UTTERMOST! (Heb. 5:7).
To access God’s secrets, we must walk through various Faith provisions documented in the book of Ephesians and then;
- Would we see the transition from Jn 8:31b/Eph. 1:15; where we are weaned from Our Faith/ Love), to Jn. 8:31c/Eph. 1:17-18/Isa. 11:2b; where we MUST engage the Spirit of Wisdom/Revelation and thereby KNOW what we only previously BELIEVED in.
- Would we graduate further into God by the Spirit of Counsel/Might (Eph. 3:16/Isa. 11:2c) and be ultimately cultured by the Spirit of Knowledge/Fear of God (Eph. 5:21/6:5/Isa. 11:d)
- Would we become PROFESSIONAL DOERS OF GOD (Acts 1:1/Jn. 6:46) and an ABODE FOR THE LORD THE SPIRIT (Isa. 11:2a/2Cor. 3:17).
Great Goodness and Mercies have been laid up for those that would fear and trust in God (Ps. 31:19/103:11). Such is the portion of disciples of truth, disciples of things to come (Jn. 16:13) who are being groomed by the seven Spirits of the throne (Rev. 1:4/5:6).
Graceful Reading!
Non-Negotiable Counsels of God's Kingdom - Part 23
Scriptural Text: 1 Peter 1:22
God is truth and coming into the knowledge of truth happens to a saint by a process of learning. Journeying into truth begins at new birth, but after a man is born again and filled with the Holy Ghost, he needs to sit under the tutelage of the word, and continue therein. It is continuity in the word that makes him a disciple. Having become a disciple, the Lord would then begin to introduce such to truth, which makes free.
Isa. 8:16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law (God’s secret) among my disciples. And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
All believers are children of God, but not all believers are disciples. 8:31). According to the above scripture, a disciple is a waiter, one who diligently seeks God. He would wait until God shows His face, in other words, he would seek God until he gets the reward for seeking and only such can see the testimony of God. A saint only qualifies to know truth when he has become a disciple. Actual discipleship training is anchored only by the Holy Ghost and under such training, the soul learns to wait upon the Lord (Isa. 8:17)
The house of Jacob is the entire body of Christ, but those who have come into the thought realm of the Lord are His disciples. Such are they who behold His face. It is not every saint that is interested in God’s face. That is why it is not easy to wean people from the ministry of His hands which we readily welcome.
When the Israelites asked God for food, He rained down manna. Later on, they asked Him to furnish a table for them in the wilderness and He brought forth quails. It was not in God’s plan that only two men (Joshua and Caleb) in an entire nation would be able to come into discipleship (Exo. 16). The people erred in their hearts because they were not ready to know God’s ways, God’s ways. All they wanted was for their needs to be met, and for the miracles to continue. They were not ready to see God.
The word ‘Testament’ means the very thing that fully describes God, the substance of His Person. The testimony of God is His law and that law is truth (Rom. 8:1-2). His laws and His testimony are the emissions of His face, and a man cannot know God except God opens His face.
The expression ‘bind up the testimony’ means that the unveiling of testimony must be only among disciples. That shows how delicate the issue of God’s face is. He would rather hide it away from His children, and show them His hands. The reason is because children cannot be trusted with that level of God’s revelation. If He shows His face to one who is not yet ready for it, there would be trouble. So it is an act of love when God keeps His face away from children; but when God begins to show His face to a man, such a man would begin to have the testament of God. He who has this testament has been set free.
Rom. 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
These ones who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit are disciples, and the reason they would attain liberty is that they would access a law higher than the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2) i.e. the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Walking after the flesh is what brings condemnation. Condemnation is not about about going to hell. It is the state of a soul that makes it impossible for him to come near God. It is just like it was in the old testament when only priests were ordained to come close to God. The entire nation was God’s precious heritage, but they were not permitted to draw near. Likewise in this new order, only those who are walking in obedience to the testament of life in Jesus are free from condemnation.
As children of God, we still live in our vile bodies, but that does not mean that we should walk in the flesh. The law of sin and death is operative in men but in Christ. It has been rendered inoperative by another higher law. However, that law (of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus) is not automatically operative in a saint at new birth; he needs to SEE the law, and SUBMIT to it.
A man receives that law by continuing with Jesus (discipleship) by holding His word until He comes to reveal the law. It is as the eyes of the soul are being enlightened that he starts learning to walk in the Law of the Spirit of Life. Rom. 8:3
Jesus did not only die for sin; He lived a life that condemned sin and stopped its reign in the flesh. He never allowed the power of sin and death to have dominion over Him, rather He used the Law of the Spirit of Life to override and condemn the law of sin and death. Having fulfilled that law, He became the owner of it. That is why the law is named after Him: the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. He authored it, finished it, sealed it, and as many as believe Him will have a right of way into it.
That law did not only condemn sin, it was also responsible for Jesus’ resurrection, and even right now, at the right hand side of the majesty on high, Jesus lives by that law. It is the law of God’s life, and God wants man to operate by it, that is why He introduced it to mankind through Jesus Christ while He was in the flesh, to show us that all men can beat the law of sin and death.
Rom. 8:4-5 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
It is not easy to stop flesh walk. As a child of God, you can stop smoking, you can stop fornicating, and cheating, yet you are still walking in the flesh. The order of walking in the Spirit far exceeds what many have hitherto been defined it as. That a saint has been able to deny certain works of the flesh does not mean he has attained a walk in the Spirit. When a man thinks within himself that he has attained, it shows that there is pride in his heart, and God will resist such.
It will take the coming of the Lord for a man to be set free from flesh walk. The coming of the Lord is an experience that begins when a saint has endured the discipline of holding the word and continuing therein. Then the Lord initiates a course of comings, visitations for to open the eyes and reveal Himself to such. When coming of light is the coming of the Lord.
The Lord is the giver of the testament, without the giving of His testament, there will not be walk in the Spirit. Our walk is our work. Enoch was not a preacher, yet he pleased God. On the other hand, a man could preach all over the world and yet not please God.
God does not judge us based on our works but based on our WALK. His evaluation of a man is based on how much of His life such has been able to acquire in his soul; how the soul has appreciated in the Spirit. A man who has appreciated in the Spirit will produce the fruit of walk, whichis freedom from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:1)
One the greatest pre-requisites for a soul’s migration into truth is loving the brethren. This is the life of the new creation man which the soul is commanded to obey in order to be ripened for the tutelage of truth. A saint cannot come into truth except his faith in the Lord Jesus has risen to the degree of loving the brethren. True faith in God should make a saint to love imperfect brethren. A lot of saints can move mountains with their faith but they cannot love a saint that belongs to a different denomination but this ought not to be so. Beloved, let us love one another in spite of our denominations, for love is of God.
From Eph. 1:15-20, we can see that there was so much demonstration of faith and love among the Ephesian brethren. They held on to faith and continued in Jesus’ word until God stirred Paul to pray for them so that they might begin to see truth and obey it. They had obeyed faith to a level. They had heart to love the saints. Anyone who can love the saints with an unfeigned love is qualified to learn of God’s love. (1Pet. 1:22)
The major discipline of truth is loving God and this is the law that tries and proves your heart to reveal whether or not you can love God. Before God brings the laws of His love to you, He would first give you His laws for loving your brethren. If you can pass the brotherhood love, then God will bring you into the terrain of His love.
Col. 1:9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing being fruitful in every good work....
To walk worthy of Him unto all pleasing entails a lot. The soul will have to be endowed with wisdom that comes by revealed knowledge. Wisdom is the principal thing that a soul needs to get, but but in all the acquisition of wisdom, the soul will also need to understand preciousness of what he is acquiring because wisdom can be lost if it is not understood.
By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established (Prov. 4:7, 24:3). The soul gathers treasures by wisdom, but understanding is what will interpret what has been gathered and properly appropriate them. It is not enough to gather spiritual treasures; there is need to now know what those treasures are meant for. When this is understood, the soul would be able to see the blueprint of God’s plan and also know the reason why God has filled him with wisdom. At this point, the programme of God’s will becomes clear to the soul.
Those that are filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding are those that will be able to walk against flesh. Jesus was able to walk against flesh because He was full of wisdom and He grew in stature. The Father took time to tutor Him in knowledge (Rom. 8:1-2, Luke 2:40).
John 5:22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
The phrase ‘all judgment’ means all things, all knowledge and all wisdom. The Bible says, ‘A spiritual man judges (discerns) all things.’ By reason of spiritual things/treasures that he has, he will come into judgment. He judges all things and himself is judged of no man. No man understands him because he has risen into a higher plane, the realm of God’s reasoning. He is acquainted with how God thinks, sees, judges and evaluates.
We have been ordained to walk in the Spirit but, the ingredients that will create the strength to take such steps must be set in place because there is already an ordained walk pattern (flesh walk) in the soul that must to be defeated and that walk cannot be taken away except there is a higher illumination. Our souls needs to be illuminated and strengthened to walk against the walk pattern that has built within us (Eph. 2:2). That pattern was designed by a wisdom that is higher than man so it cannot be easily taken away.
Even after people get born again, they still continue to walk after a worldly pattern. A pastor or an evangelist for instance, knows what to do without God’s word. He knows that he does not need the Bible to go about his life. He reads the Bible for the purpose of good character, but he knows what to do with his ministry. He has all the ideas and strength to drive them. But in the New Testament, God does not need any man’s ideas to run His agenda or will. All of man’s ideas and energies should be taken to the slaughter or else, such man would be a prey in the hands of the devil. He would spend his whole life running Satanic strategy without knowing it.
Satan is not one ugly being with horns. In fact he lives in the pleasure zones of the natural man, and the best of his strategies are good for a natural man. But that which seemeth right on the facial actually stands for evil and destruction, therefore it will take some spiritual understanding to beat such deception. Flesh walk can only be defeated by the light of truth.
Knowledge is illumination – light. The amount of darkness that is stored in our hearts before we got born again is what is responsible for our wrong steps, and one of the reasons why God made us His children is to expunge that darkness. As we allow the Holy Ghost to lead us, that darkness is being pushed out, and Satan is falling. That is why Satan does not want any man to walk in the Spirit. He would offer the soul options of other works that can keep him busy, but Satan would put up a fight once a man gets illuminated for Spirit walk.
Walking in the flesh is service to Satan. This is a hard truth, but it has to be said: many serve Satan without knowing, and before that service can stop, illumination must come. You can be a worker in the church, a pastor, a tongue talking saint, yet you have not been freed from that kind of walk. That is why we need to pray seriously for the church to sit up (Eccl. 5:1). We ministers have not been properly trained to remove darkness (Acts 26:18) from people’s hearts because we ourselves have not experienced liberty from flesh walk.
Christians have blindness, if not Paul would not have prayed for the opening of the eyes of our understanding. It takes time for the eyes of understanding to be opened, but God has already made provisions for the recovery of our sight, and He expects us to receive such provisions. Our eyes must be opened to the knowledge of Jesus for the darkness within the heart to be dealt with, and God set the five –fold ministry in the body as the instrument by which the saints would be healed of that darkness
Eph. 4 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
There is a work of ministry which the entire body of Christ is called to do. It is the high calling of the saints in Christ Jesus to serve our God as kings and priests, which is far higher than the five-fold ministry. However, the five-fold ministry is the tool by which the Lord Jesus wants to equip His church unto perfection, for to do that work of ministry. To this end, the body ought to grow and make increase. We need to be fed with the knowledge of the Son of God, which will bring us to the unity of faith and to the stature of a perfect man, till we are wholly filled with all the fullness of Christ
Eph. 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
The reason for church is to take darkness out of our understanding so that we might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing. It is possible to be a Christian and still walk the way gentiles walk. If all that a saint understands about the Christian life is: go to church, do evangelism, bring people to church, be in a department in church, and pay tithes, he is deficient in the knowledge of the Son of God and is not exempted from the gentilic walk. For the walk of the Gentiles to be defeated, believers needs to be exposed to the light that belongs to Jesus, which is called the knowledge of the Son of God.
A tree is a symbol of knowledge, and knowledge is what produces walk. In the garden of Eden, there were to trees, and both were trees of knowledge: one was the tree of the knowledge of life, and the other was the tree of the knowledge of death. The prince of the power of the air has an advantage over man as a result of a course which he has weaved by the knowledge of death, from the tree of the knowledge of (death) good and evil. That knowledge is what produces flesh walk
That tree of death rules the world of the carnal man, and we cannot gainsay its influence even in the church. By it, the entire universe fell into a learning in wickedness so the whole world is completely wrapped up by the light from that tree. It is sad to admit that in the church, the branches of that tree are still growing and bearing fruits, but God has ordained that upon this holy ground called CHURCH, that evil tree shall be judged, and the only way this divine ordination would come to fruition is by a greater knowledge coming against that tree (1Tim. 2:3-4)
It will take the knowledge of the Truth to erase the knowledge of good and evil. We have believed in God but we have not come into the abundant knowledge of what we believe in (2Tim. 1:12/Jn. 10:10). Some quote Hos. 4:6 ‘My people perish for lack of knowledge when they want to teach motivation, but the Church of Jesus Christ is not meant for motivational teachings; it is the ground and pillar of truth (1Tim. 3:15). What should be taught in churches is truth, and nothing else. That is the only way to deal with the world in the believer. We Christians should be armed with the knowledge of truth or else, the motions of sin in our souls would conquer our will and continue to reign over us.
Bless You!
Rev. Kayode Oyegoke
Topic: The Truth Walk
VGC Bi-Monthly Fellowship
3rd August, 2014.
