A Lifestyle Covenant - Part 6

“Even though God desires to demonstrate His anger and to reveal His power, He has shown tremendous restraint towards those vessels of wrath that are doomed to be cracked and shattered. And why is that? To make the wealth of His glory known to vessels of mercy that are prepared for great beauty. These vessels of mercy include all of us. God has invited Jews and non-Jews, insiders and outsiders; it makes no difference. The prophet Hosea says: I will give a new name to those who are not My people; I ‘ll call them “My people,” and to the one who has not been loved, I ‘ll rename her “beloved.” And it shall turn out that in the very place where it was said to them, “You are not My people”, they will be called “children of the living God.” Rom.9_22-26 The Voice Version of the Bible.

Beloved,

Greetings in His matchless name. It is with boundless joy that I speak to your heart and destiny about our common faith; to stir up your pure mind by covenant promises and blessings of our God and our Father. In Jn1_16,17, the Bible says: “For out of His fullness [the superabundance of His grace and truth] we have all received grace upon grace [spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, favour upon favour, and gift heaped upon gift]. For the law was given through Moses but grace [the unearned, undeserved favour of God] and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Beloved, there are two covenant characters of God that are preserved from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant; ‘mercy and truth or loving-kindness and faithfulness.’ 

In crafting the New covenant, God in His characteristic way went beyond the way of mortal and did exceeding abundantly above the imagination and the expectation of man. He made the New Covenant in such a way that all the grace in the Old are replaced in the New (correspondence). Moreover, the New supersedes the Old according to the Version quoted above, in that it is not just replacement but accumulation or accrual. In other words, it is; ‘grace upon grace; that is, spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, favour upon favour, and gift heaped upon gift.’ Praise God! He made our path like the shining light that grows as it

goes; ‘crescit uendo.’ We lost nothing rather we gained more and more, blessed be His holy name for ever and ever. Amen.

Let us bring it home to us individually by answering why this richness is not reflected in the lives of God’s people. One major reason is that we

have not given ourselves to the covenant demand as we ought to. Many are ignorant of the bilateral or reciprocal nature of the covenant; it is not a unilateral but a mutual agreement. In other words, there is what we must do and that puts a huge responsibility on you and me. The covenant demands our full engagement or total commitment rather than half and half as it is with many of us. Furthermore, we must be mindful of the fact that the Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of divine secrets or principles and your understanding of these secrets or principles; your insight into these divine secrets will determine your placement or rank in the Kingdom of God. Mat.6₃₃ & 13₁₁. The things of the Kingdom are concealed in mysteries not to hide them from us but for us. Remember, “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings to search them out.” Pro.25₂. It is the unfolding of these divine secrets or mysteries that is called revelation. Moreover, with every revelation comes faith and the power for its accomplishment. 

Therefore, when we receive these revelations we receive the wisdom of God, in fact the highest wisdom there is and is backed up by the power of God and cannot fail to deliver the intended result. Amen.

Friend, every champion in the Kingdom of God is made of divine secrets. What is the history of your discoveries of divine secrets? It is this divine secret that Job traded and became the greatest man in the East, Job1₃ & 29_3-4, Joseph engaged it in Egypt, Gen.41_37-41 and the unfolding of divine secrets enthroned Daniel and his three friends in Babylon. Dan.2_19-23. In other words, the hallmark of the champions in God’s Kingdom is the understanding of these principles (Covenant Principles for Distinction-CPD) and engaging them for our benefit. As an illustration of this principle, let us observe one of such secrets for our engagement and profiting. This divine secret transforms a curse to the highest blessing, it removes the covenant from generalisation to particularisation. It makes the covenant personal to you and puts it in the first person category. When you understand this principle and gainfully engage it, it cannot fail but will fasten the covenant upon you; it will single you out, it will concentrate and focus its blessings on you. It will make the covenant personal and real to you and your children’s children. It will put your signature on the dotted line. Oh for grace upon your life for this first-person-covenant-connection grace! What is this extraordinary alchemy?

If you study the accounts given to us in Gen.22_1-19, Lev.26_1-13 & Dt.28_1-13, you will observe that obedience, faith and love are integrated into the covenant and arise from the nature of the covenant relationship that is contemplated and are just the reciprocal response. But beyond this general requirements, there are things to do that focus the blessings of the covenant on you and put it in the first person basis. There is that which you ought to do, or must do that will make you stand out and make you outstanding. What then is it? The ‘zeal of God’ is this wonderful alchemy! The zeal of God and the zeal for God and His Kingdom is that rare virtue that draws from the richness of the covenant. It is a vital ingredient which commands the attention of God and wins His favour. Lev.26₉, Mal.2_4-5 (Dt.32_26-29 & 33_8-9), Num.25_10-13 and 1Kin.10_16,30 (2Kin.13_1,10; 14₂₃ & 15_8,12). And of course, the great example of zeal in the New Testament is Apostle Paul. Acts21₂₀; 22₃ & Gal.1₁₄. By his zeal, Apostle Paul, a man of great passion, puts out great exertion of strength in serving God and surpassed all the other Apostles. 1Cor.15₁₀.

Beloved, this is what Phinehas the son of Eleazar did and gained the blessings of an everlasting priesthood after he had demonstrated his zeal for God: “Wherefore say, Behold I give unto him my covenant of peace. And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.” Num.25_12-13. Can you see here that it was not by a general gift as it was to others but the covenant was made in particular and with respect to him and his children’s children? By his zeal, he was favoured above all others and so God singled him out and fasten His covenant blessings upon him. God singled him out, focuses and concentrates the blessings of His covenant on him. It is as though he has nothing else to do but reap the benefits of the covenant! Lev. 26₉. May God single you out for this kind of blessings in Jesus name. Amen.

What God did for him He repeated in the life of the Levites and their descendants and even the hypocritical Jehu became a beneficiary of this blessing because of his zeal. Please, it is important you see this and embrace it and make it part of your prayer life. God does nothing without His zeal. It is His zeal that gets His purpose accomplished. Isa.9₇, Ps69₉ & Jn2₁₇. That zeal is the flame which feeds on the oil of love in the heart. Sos.8_6-7. You already have it and you can give expression to it. May the good Lord implant this desire in your heart, make you burn with passion for your Master and single you out and focus the blessings of the covenant on you as He did of Abraham, Gen.22_16-18, Isaac in Gen.26_1-5, Jacob in Gen.28_13-15, Phinehas in Num.25_11-13, David in 2Sam.7_8-17, etc., etc., in Jesus name. Amen. Now, it is your turn in Jesus name. Amen.

               THE PEOPLE OF GOD: MEANING AND IMPLICATION

It is our desire in this write up to give us an unorthodox definition of ‘the people of God’ so as to empower you to take advantage of your privileges and rights as ‘the people of God.’ Adam was deceived by the subtlety of Satan because he knew not who he was, even so many of God’s people today are being robbed of their rights and privileges because of the wrong perception of who they are – a case of mistaken identity. With your permission therefore, I will give the definition of ‘the people of God’ in the broadest sense of the word so as to empower you. We shall do these from the passages of the New Testament and then we shall turn to the treasury of the Old Testament, the foundation, to clinch it. Always remember the sayings of one of the eminent divines: ‘The Old is the New contained, the New is the Old explained/revealed.’

Let us read from Rom.9_22-26 from The Voice version of the Bible. “Even though God desires to demonstrate His anger and to reveal His power, He has shown tremendous restraint towards those vessels of wrath that are doomed to be cracked and shattered. And why is that? To make the wealth of His glory known to vessels of mercy that are prepared for great beauty. These vessels of mercy include all of us. God has invited Jews and non-Jews, insiders and outsiders; it makes no difference. The prophet Hosea says: I will give a new name to those who are not My people; I ‘ll call them “My people,” and to the one who has not been loved, I ‘ll rename her “beloved.” And it shall turn out that in the very place where it was said to them, “You are not My people”, they will be called “children of the living God.” The people of God are special breed of people, chosen by Him and elected and are effectually called in due time as members of His spiritual Body. They are named ‘vessels of mercy’ because God intends to lavish His extravagant mercy on them. They enjoy unqualified acceptance with God as ‘vessels of mercy’ and are prepared and fitted with the capacity for the ‘wealth of His glory;’ to experience and express His glory. Just as gold is set on black foil to make them shine the better, so God contrasted the wicked, ‘vessels of wrath,’ against the ‘vessels of mercy’- His children. I want you to think about the special treatment God gave to the children of Israel in Egypt and contrast that with what happened to Pharaoh and his people, then you get an idea of what God is saying here. These ‘vessels of mercy’ are renamed, from ‘not My people,’ to ‘My people.’ Furthermore, they are not only loved but they are now “accepted into the Beloved” and are actually renamed, “beloved” and “children of God.” Hallelujah!

The second passage we shall employ in defining ‘the people of God’ is from Amplified version of the Bible in 1Pet.2_9-10: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a [special] people for God’s possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies [the wonderful deeds and virtues and perfections] of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light. Once you were not a people [at all], but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” The people of God are a chosen generation and this refers to both Jews and non-Jews who were chosen and called and are a generation or kindred. They have been born anew or being regenerate through the abundant mercy of God and born of the incorruptible seed, the word of God. They are born of God, He is their Father and they are His children by adopting grace through their new birth. In the same manner, they are akin to Christ, who is their head, husband, Father and brother and His members, spouse and children. And also they are related to other saints because they are of the same household and family in heaven and in earth; having the same Father, Lord, Spirit, faith, baptism and are all brethren. They are a chosen generation; being famous with God, held in high esteem by Him and accounted by Him for a generation. He chose them above all kindred, tongues, people and nations and that from all eternity for His own sovereign good will and pleasure. He chose them not on account of their faith, holiness or good works; but He chose them for His love and love them for His choice; ‘sed ex mera et mira misericordia.’ He chose them to the special benefits, to the relation and family that they are in, to grace and glory, to regeneration and sanctification and to salvation and eternal life. This is the same as He did for the Israelites as a nation, chosen above all others because of the love of God for them (and for no other reason), to many external privileges and favours which others did not enjoy. The source and the spring of all these blessings is the eternal election which provides and secures them and in which they are inseparably connected.

Now let us put the support under the New Testament assertions with the solid foundation of the Old Testament Scripture. The word “a royal priesthood” is quoted from Ex.19₆ where the children of Israel are referred to as “a kingdom of priests.” This is referred to in Rev.1₆ simply as “kings and priests.” This refers to all the people of Christ, whether Jews or Gentiles, who are all made kings through their relation to Christ. Ps45₁₆. They are at present have a kingdom which cannot be moved or taken away from them being brought into the Gospel dispensation, the kingdom of Messiah, having a right to all the privileges and immunities of it and also having the kingdom of grace set up within them. They have grace as a reining principle implanted in them as their nature, that is, “righteousness and true holiness.” Eph.4₂₄.

Moreover, they have inward peace and spiritual joy and they reign as king over sin, Satan and the world. To them has been given the riches of kings having the riches of grace now and glory begun in this world to the world to come. They live like kings, they wear royal apparel – the robe of Christ’s righteousness and sit at king’s table and feed on royal dainties/viands and are attended on as kings. Angels are their guards and ministering spirits to them and hereafter they shall reign with Christ on earth and that for a space of a thousand years and after that for ever.

Furthermore, they have been raised from a low estate to inherit the throne of glory, to wear the crown of life and righteousness and possessed the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world of which they are now heirs.

They are made “priests” as well as kings by Christ through His priestly office, anointed with the Holy Ghost and sanctified by His grace and allowed to draw near to God to offer up by Christ their spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise. They are enabled and assisted to offer up the sacrifice of a broken heart, their bodies and their lives also when called to it. The two offices of king and priest meet in Christ, Zec.6₁₃ and in His people.

They are a “holy nation”; still quoting from Ex.19₆ where the Israelites are so called. They have been separated by God from other nations and legally and externally sanctified by Him. This being in agreement with all true Israel of God who are sanctified or set apart by God the Father by eternal election to real and perfect holiness. This He has accomplished through the blood and sacrifice of Christ and the Holy Spirit.

In addition to the above, Ex.19₅ refers to them as “a peculiar people.” By this is meant that God’s elect are peculiar people for He bears to them a peculiar love and He has chosen them to be a special people above all others and have peculiar blessings bestowed on them. God takes peculiar care of them because they are the Lord’s, His treasure, His jewels, His portion and inheritance and therefore He will preserve and save them. They are a people for acquisition, purchase and possession as the words may be rendered. He has obtained, procured and purchased them with the precious blood of His Son. Therefore, they are “purchased with His blood,”- Acts20₂₈, “the purchased possession,” Eph.1₁₄ and “which are redeemed and purified to be a peculiar people zealous of good works.” Tit.2₁₄. Friend, this is your identity in a nutshell, your story in summary and your resume. This is who you are!

To what purpose has God done all these for His people? It is “to show forth the praises or virtues of Him, that is, God who has brought them into a spiritual relation and made them kings and priests.” All the mercies of God laid them under obligation to show forth with their lips and their lives and conduct, His “virtues” or “praises.” That is, His power, wisdom, goodness, love, grace and mercy of God. Others should love the image and grace of Christ dwelling in us. So ought we to walk so that others may see and love Christ dwelling in us. He is ‘totus desiderabilis,’ says the spouse in the Canticles, Sos.5₁₆, “altogether lovely” or “altogether desirable” and there is in Him that which may well attract all hearts unto Him. Glory!                                

In summary, the people of God have experienced a change of story, a turn-around: they are now God’s people who have obtained mercy. God has raised them into a place of eminence and prominence and a place of select society. They are royal priesthood, meaning that they add priestly sanctity to kingly dignity. They are not of the multitude because they have been chosen out of the world, distinguished by sovereign grace and written among the heavenly citizens. He did all these for them that “He may set them with princes, even the princes of His people.” Ps113₈. Let somebody shout for joy!!! To be continued.

Yours in His Service

………………………………….

Pastor David Adeyemi