Day 2: Morning Session

Date: Thursday, 27th August 2020

Speaker 1: Pastor Emeka Egwuchukwu

Text: Hebrews 8:10-13

First Message

Whosoever is drawing nearer to God must not love anything above Him, God is supposed to be all in all. Not even the “love for the brethren” should take the place of the love for God in our hearts.

The love for other things subtly creeps into our hearts and take God’s place — this disqualifies us from partaking in His incorruptible nature (1 Corinth. 15:5; 2 Pet. 1:4). We should desire to come to a state where we are inseparable from the love of God (Romans 8:39).

The borders of the love of God can be known, and its dimensions clearly defined (Eph. 3:18). This love is the “love of Christ that passeth knowledge” (Eph. 3:19).

The love of Christ is beyond charity; it is the love that consists of the first and last works of God (Rev. 2:19). It is a love beyond human comprehension, and it takes all of the constitution of man (spirit, soul and body) to arrive at this love.

The realm of God is a realm where the jealousy of God is displayed, in that it consumes the entirety of man, leaving no space for anything else (Deut. 4:24). This jealousy was displayed against the Church that allowed another doctrine called ‘Jezebel’ (Rev.2:20).

God cannot cut covenant with a people without putting His laws in their hearts and minds (Hebrew 8:10). There are two laws in the New Testament: the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus and the law of Eternal Life (Romans 8:2; James 1:25).

The law of the Spirit of life is a law that works from within the soul; unlike the law of the Old Testament which works from without No one is Christ’s without having Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9).

Similarly, whosoever doesn’t have the Spirit of God is none of His. God must first dwell in us for Him to be called “our God” and this cannot happen without a total agreement with Him (2 Corinth. 6:16).

God must first put His spirit or law within us, for us to be able to walk in His statutes (Eze. 36:26). As we walk in the statutes of God, He is also working in us to become His habitation (Philip. 2:13; Ephesians 2:22).

Day 2: Morning Session

Date: Thursday, 27th August 2020

Speaker 2: Rev. Busuyi Olabode

Text: Romans 7:22-25

Jesus paid for so many provisions that we enjoy in Christianity, this includes the infilling and gifts of the Holy ghost. However, certain works have to be wrought in our souls to qualify us for the receiving of the inheritance (Acts 20:32).

Those who would be partakers of God’s love must have been made free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). Apostle Paul indicated that he still found a contrary law within the members of his soul despite that he had grown to a measure (Romans 7:23-24).

He discovered that there was still a tendency for disobedience despite that he was born again. In other words, New Birth doesn’t set a man free from the law of sin and death.

The receiving of the law of Christ is very pivotal to the salvation of the soul (James 1:21).

There is no hope of receiving eternal salvation without the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9). Every being is run by various laws, including the Creator and creatures. As a man consistently transgress the law that is laid out for him, he becomes more skillful at it, until that law is broken.

We do not receive the God’s covenant at the New Birth. It is received by the writings of the law (of Christ and God) that comes by teachings (Psalm. 132:12).

In the Old Testament, God was supposed to make covenant with the whole nation of Israel by speaking to them from the mountain (Exodus 19:20-23).

However, they fled because they did not have the spirit of faith in their hearts before approaching this mountain. The spirit of faith must have first been worked out in our hearts for us to cut covenant with God.

The medium of communicating the law is by speaking. We cannot obey the speaking of the Son if we have not first been strengthened enough to bear His words.

In the Old Testament, there were promises attached to covenants for various levels of service (Romans 9:3-4). Believers, who are Israelites in the New Testament, also have various promises ahead of them. These promises all climax in the ultimate promise of rest — Eternal Life (Heb. 4:1). We must be conscious of these promises because their fulfillment guarantees the inheritance of the ultimate promise of Eternal Life (2 Corinth. 7:1; 1 John 2:25). One of the promises of the New Testament is for believers to come into priesthood (1 Pet. 2:9).

God does not instantly make us priests at New Birth; He accomplishes the work in us by taking us through the right process. The essence of hearing is to keep believing until we are born of God (1 John 5:1). Obedience becomes difficult if the demands of hearing is yet to be fulfilled.

In other words, our success in making covenant with God is tied to perfecting our hearing. The more excellent name that Jesus obtained enabled Him to inherit all things of God and all the worlds of God (Heb. 1:1-4).

There were certain things of the Father that Jesus already declared to His disciples while He was on the earth. These things were for the salvation of their souls. Yet, they still needed to hear about Christ and the promise of life, which the coming of the Holy Ghost was going to reveal (John 16:13).

We can’t know God except He is revealed through Jesus Christ. The essence of covenant is to first ensure that whosoever will have the hope of Eternal Life would have its laws. Whosoever does not have the law do not have hope of attaining God. For a soul to be without God is to be without the hope of Eternal Life (Eph. 2:12; Titus 1:2).