TRANSCRIPT

The burden of this meeting is a significant one; it is the burden of the end. There would be no end of this age without witnesses arising; that is, the end of the age will climax with the revelation of the witnesses of God. The end would not be identified by atomic bombs, wars and pestilence, as these things have always been. However, the end would be characterized by the raising of witnesses.

Many believers ascribe the end to what the world would do, rather than what God plans to do. The church should have a right mind of things to come that God has proposed.

Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

The emergence of the witnesses of God will climax the end. It is our calling in Christ Jesus to be raised as witnesses of God to the nations of the earth. What would bring the end is not the raising of a body of ministers or preachers but the body of witnesses. 

In these last times, God would have to showcase to us the first witness of His life, Jesus. Before Jesus came, there have been diverse witnesses. Hebrews 1:1-2 speaks of the witnesses that have been — the Fathers. 

‍Hebrews 1:1-2 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds

One cannot be a witness of God if he is not a Father. God is a God of the Fathers; He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God raised the Fathers by various speaking through the prophets. The prophets were witnesses, who were to raise other witnesses. 

The intention of God from the beginning is to raise witnesses who are His representatives. Man ought to be witnesses of God even to angels. God in His full entirety is still invisible to angels just as angels are invisible to man. Although angels have a revelation of God in their proportion according to the breath that God gave to them. No creature can know God beyond the breath of God in them. 

Psalm 33:6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

God has different proportions of breath for everything He created. Man, as a living soul, lives by the breath of God. Breath is the proportion of the revelation of God and understanding given to His creatures. It is by the breath He gives that men understand and live by. 

To a degree, angels are witnesses of God in the present as they also witness according to the proportion of breath that God put in them. 

Psalm 103:21-22 Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. [22] Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.

The scripture above describes the calibrations of God's breath in all levels of creation. 

There are works God wants to do in the soul of man through which angels will see God. This has been the project from the beginning. A witness is someone who is able to represent another in every sphere; that is, when a witness is seen, we see the person that sent him. 

This intention of God could not fully be wrought in the fathers. The first man God created fell into the hands of the adversary; hence, God had to begin a work of restoration. Abraham, was a father was he unable to adequately represent God; he was only able to keep an order until the right person who could adequately represent God came in the person Jesus.

Hebrews 1 was written to define who Jesus is. At the time the book of Hebrews was written, the church did not know who Jesus really was. Although they knew Jesus as the messiah who died for their sins, they saw Him as one who will return to restore the kingdom to the nation of Israel. 

‍Acts 1:6  When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

They were unable to see Jesus beyond this. Paul had to write to them showing a comparison of Jesus with angels in the book of Hebrews. This shows that the Hebrew church at that time did not know that Jesus Christ was made so much better than the angels.  

Hebrews 1:4  Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

Paul in saying this was revealing to them the present glorious estate of Jesus because they were still seeing Jesus after the manner of His coming in the flesh.

2 Corinthians 5:16  Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

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Hebrews 1:1-2 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds

All that God has been trying to say in His project for mankind has been spoken in the Son. The Son is the speaking of God that God was unable to bring through the fathers and the prophets. The prophets and the fathers were unable to capture the fullness of God’s thoughts; they were limited because their spirits were still dead. 

Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high

The glory of God is far beyond the comprehension of man. The Israelites in the Old Testament could not draw near to God’s glory. When Moses was exposed to a level of God's glory, he had to cover his face (2 Corinthians 3:13). Jesus being the brightness (effulgence) of God’s glory means He is the one who can make the glory of God visible (understandable). 

John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

No man can be a witness unless he has seen; this means that He has been shown things. The Bible recorded that Moses saw God when he asked to see Him. But Moses did not see the fullness of the glory of God; the exact face of God. God’s response to Moses was that no man could see God and live.

Exodus 33:20  And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

This shows that the glory of God is in His face. However, Moses saw a similitude of God’s face, not God’s exact face hence he could not be the true witness of God. It is possible to be a third party witness who can also get out of what should be witnessed. We see this in Moses, who received all that he received of God by the administration of angels. Likewise Jacob was recorded to have seen God, but he did not see God in His fullness. 

Genesis 32:30  And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

There is a gulf between man and God, this gulf is death. And because of this gulf, none can see God in His estate. However, there is one man that saw God the way He is and He is the only one who can witness God. 

Revelation 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God…

Jesus being the faithful and true witness means that He saw and received all of God clearly. Although Moses was also called faithful, he was not called a true witness as he only saw the similitude of what God wanted to build (Hebrews 3:2). Jesus is the faithful and true witness because He saw God in His true form and estate. 

Jesus did not only see God in a form or figure, but saw His real components and properties. Jesus all of God in His full essence. The four living creatures see a figure on the throne, but they do not see the essence and the substances of God. 

Jesus in the days of His flesh saw God in a way that angels could not. Jesus on earth was on a vocation of being raised as a witness of God. Even though angels were ministering to Him, He was transacting and handling what was higher than what they had. The Father is hidden and so the work He was doing in the Son was hidden work.

Jesus, who has seen God is in the bosom of the Father, and is now declaring Him. Declaring God is not just about ministering or preaching, it is showing Him. Jesus had a manner of conversation; that is, lifestyle, that shows the express image of God’s person. This means that when we see God and Jesus, there is no difference. Express image is in its exactness, not similarities. This is what made Jesus and the Father one, making it the first time man came into oneness with God. Before Jesus, it was impossible for man to be exactly like God, but we see Jesus, a man, who became like God. 

John 10:30  I and my Father are one.

Jesus declaration of this stirred up contention against Him, amidst the Jews who were bound by hell and could not see Him for who He was. The Jews had witnessed greater miracles done by Moses and other prophets; thus, they were not moved by the miracles of Jesus. Jesus told the Jews of an estate of life that was meant for all of them—the first of its kind, which is coming into fellowship with the Father.

There are witnesses of God at different levels but a true witness is one who has embodied all the properties of God. This is our ordination from the beginning and Jesus is our representative. 

Just as the glory of an unlearned family is a person who gets the opportunity to be educated, the glory of humanity is Jesus Christ. Jesus cooperated with God as a man so our joy is that we can become what He became. Jesus became a man to teach us how to be witnesses of God. Everything Jesus is now aside His deity is what we are meant to become. Therefore, we cannot become witnesses of God without learning about Jesus. He must be made known to us. Hence our vocation as believers is to know Jesus and to see Him the way He saw God. 

Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high…

Sin truncated our process of becoming witnesses of God. Sin is an interruption in the way of becoming witnesses of God. Witnesses ought to be raised at different levels of the word of God. The reason we do not have these witnesses is because of sin. 

Sin is not man’s original commodity; it did not start with man. Man had his own life before sin. Sin is an alien life to man that developed from a fallen cherub who then sold this life to man. Hence when Jesus resurrected from the dead, He went to where sin originated and purged our sins.

Hebrews 1:3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high

There would be no harvest of witnesses until sin has been taken out of the way. Even though Jesus has purged our sins, the church must be made to know what sin truly is and that it is possible to overcome sin.

Overcoming sin is not the agenda of God for man as this was not the intention of God from the beginning; however, it is a stepping stone to what God wants to do in man in his present state. This is because sin came as an interruption to what God was doing with man; taking away sin is to create room for what God wants to do with man. Being made free from sin is not our ultimate attainment in God; although we ought to be free from sin and be assured of it.

In the early church, Paul wrote to the Roman church that he was free from sin and death. This was not a boast in the flesh but a work that had been done by the spirit of grace. 

Romans 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

This is an estate; a reality of life in God. 

Romans 6:17-18 “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. [18] Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”

Paul was talking to the Roman church — the Apostles knew what it takes to make them free from sin. The Apostles had remedy and program for the church to handle sin, but these things must be obeyed from the heart. This program is doctrine that can free a man from sin. 

We must know that we can be free from sin. Sin has become glorified in this time and many times a dread. Sin is an inhibitor for raising witnesses. Sin can make one inconsistent, but we must know that we can be free from sin. The original plan of God is more than sin. In Genesis, God said let us make man in our own image and likeness, at that time there was no sin with man. (Genesis 1:26)

If we are not free from sin, we cannot enter into the original plan of God. Sin is a limitation; there are different calibrations of sin. Fornication and adultery are lower levels of sin. We need the revelation of Jesus to know what sin truly is; it is not known by man. Anything an unbeliever outrightly calls sin is not what sin is. Sin is a life, and we can be free from it. 

There are layers of life in Jesus – we see this layer of life in the provision of meals to the church in milk, meat, and strong meat of the word. These are the buildings in Jesus that are being handed to anyone who is following Him.

We follow Jesus so we can be like Him. We are not following Jesus to make our carnal lives better, as what we call our life is sin. Jesus did not come to make our lives better but to crucify it.

1 John 3:5  And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

Our sin here is not just works of the flesh. For instance, there are unbelievers that do not fornicate yet this does not make them witnesses of God.

Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Sin is a life and conversation. An unbeliever may steal, but this does not make him free from sin, as he can still keep malice and harbor hate. 

Jesus is the Christ and He is the Son of God (John 20:31). That is, as the Christ He embodied substances. Christ is not the surname of Jesus; He was made Christ. He was the Son of Joseph, therefore, we can say His last name was Joseph. The Father handed over a form of doctrine to Him which He obeyed from the heart to become Christ (Romans 6:17). The way God built Jesus is how He is building us now.

Hebrews 5:8-9 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; [9] And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him…

What made Jesus a Son is that He obeyed the Father’s teachings.

Matthew 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

The acknowledgment above shows that Jesus was made Christ there. A beloved Son is Christ yet Jesus still had more to come into. To be a full witness, one must be perfect. Jesus as Christ was a witness of God but He was not yet a full witness hence He had to learn obedience by the things which He suffered. Jesus was not born perfect, but He learnt obedience until He was made perfect (Hebrews 5:8).

Many believers do not want to believe Jesus was made. However, if Jesus was God in the flesh we would never be like Him. When Satan tempted Jesus, he was tempting man and not God. (Matthew 4:1-11, James 1:13)

Abraham and David were men who were raised by God in different dispensations but they could not be such a manner of witness like Jesus became. Goliath’s cry to Israel to be given a man to fight is the manner of Satan’s outcry of defiance to God. 

1 Samuel 17:10 And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.

God gave David to the Philistines as an insignia of Jesus, who is an offspring of David. One who would soon become flesh to deal with the principal monster, the dragon.

Revelation 22:16 In Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

In presenting Jesus, God gave Satan a man. Jesus did not look like the kind of man Satan envisaged, as He was the son of a carpenter. Jesus, in His days on earth did not look like one who men could easily see as a witness of God. It was easier for men to believe in John the Baptist than Jesus, as there was no comeliness in Jesus’ background as opposed to John. John was a Levite while Jesus was from the tribe of Judah. 

Matthew 4:1  Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

Jesus was led to the wilderness to be tempted. Satan tempted Jesus the same way he tempted the first man, Adam, in the Garden of Eden. Jesus was a witness that was tested with three things; the lusts of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life yet He overcame. We can also overcome Satan regardless of our background. Jesus was raised in His father’s house as a carpenter yet He overcame. Likewise, we can be overcomers by what we are responding to even as we go about our day to day activities and jobs.

1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

Jesus received the doctrine of the Father and obeyed it. Hence He became an overcomer. As we are being taught doctrine, we must be obeying righteousness from our hearts. We can become witnesses if we are not given to obedience. A witness is more than a resolution. It is the obedience that we have done on our inside that will help us resist when pressure comes. 

God handed to Jesus the doctrine of Christ and He obeyed it, but there was more (Luke 4:13). Jesus had to keep learning and doing obedience even after He was tempted in the wilderness. Jesus obeyed until He was made perfect.

John 14:30  Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

A full witness is a perfected soul — a soul that has been made perfect. A perfect witness is not just a soul that has overcome sin but a soul that shares in the full nature of God. The nature of God is a nature that does not fade nor vary. 

Malachi 3:6  For I am the Lord, I change not

Jesus Christ also has this nature, He is the same yesterday, today and forever. This means He is consistent and unchanging.

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

A man like this is incorruptible, undefiled and unfading (1 Peter 1:4). This is how God wants to make us. 

A perfected soul is a soul that has the full nature of God - incorruptible, undefiled and unfading. Such a soul is a full witness. There is a higher learning called salvation which is to bring a soul to the full nature of God. 

Round up: Pastor Thompson Ehima

There are many kinds of witnesses. Hebrews 11 shows us an archive of witnesses. 

Hebrews 11:38-39 “(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. [39] And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise”

In Hebrews 12:1, we see that those listed in Hebrews 11 constitute a cloud of witnesses. However, this cloud of witnesses were not perfect because of the operation of sin and death.

Hebrews 7:19-20 “For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God. [20] And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest…”

The law made nothing perfect but the bringing in of a better hope did. 

Colossians 1:27 “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory…”

This better hope is Christ in us, the hope of glory. The bringing in of a better hope is the bringing in of a better law. Christ is also a law.

Romans 8:1-2 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. [2] For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”

The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus is to make us free from the law of sin and death. Sin is a law; it is a program; an invisible written code that is running man. 

1 Corinthians 15:53-56 “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. [54] So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory [55] O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? [56] The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.”

We are all mortals who must put on immortality. However, we may not attain this if we do not cooperate with the program that can bring us to the estate of immortality. 

Death has its victory and it hides its sting in sin. Through the sting of death, sin generates a law. Sin enforces its law. For instance, there is the law of gravity on earth and one cannot claim to not believe in it, because he is subject to it naturally. Likewise, sin has a law that it lives by. When death wants to function, it stings and its sting is inside sin. For instance, the sting of a serpent is to put its venom in man; the venom has one aim which is to travel around the body and eventually cause death. 

The answer that God designed to take care of the law of sin is Christ. Christ is the law inside God. 

John 4:24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

God also introduced His law (Christ) as an antidote to the sting of sin to take care of the law of sin in every man that man may be free. When we take care of the law of sin, we are weakening the law of death. 

Romans 8:2 “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”

The law is a driver of the sting of death, so by taking it away, man’s progression unto second death (perdition) is slowed down. 

Romans 10:4 (KJV) “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”

When Christ is introduced to a soul, it makes right the former law in the soul. God gave Moses the law but the law has commandments. Romans 13 explains the things that make up the commandments in the law called Christ.

Romans 13:9-10 “For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. [10] Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”

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Romans 14:17-18 “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. [18] For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.”

From Romans 14, we see that Christ is the provision of God to make us free from the law of sin and death. 

Sin was an intruder in God’s plan and purpose hence God made provision to take care of sin for His plans to continue. God wants to present man a witness. However, because of sin and death, the fathers and prophets could not become perfect. It is only a perfect witness that cannot lie. Lie here is what varies; that which is different from the person of God. A perfect witness is exactly like God. 

Jesus is the brightness of God's glory and the express image of His person (Hebrews 1:3). An express road is a freeway. Jesus Christ, as the Son of God, expresses God without any obstruction. 

Jesus talking to His disciples said that there are many with Him who would not see death until the coming of the Son of man in glory (Matthew 16:28). Days after Jesus said this, He took three of His disciples with Him to a high mountain where He was transfigured before them. Two witnesses - Moses and Elijah - appeared at the transfiguration of Jesus (Matthew 17:1).

Matthew 17:1–9 “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, [2] And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. [3] And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.”

Moses was a witness of the dispensation of the fathers while Elijah was a witness of the dispensation of the prophets. At the sight of these witnesses, Peter spoke of building tabernacles for Moses and Elijah, but just as he spoke, a voice spoke from above declared Jesus as the beloved Son, in whom God is well pleased, and instructed that they hear Him (Matthew 17:5-6). That is, Jesus is not to be compared with Moses and Elijah.

God spoke to the children of Israel through Moses and Elijah (Hebrews 1:1-2). But, Jesus is a perfect witness whom we should hear because there is no sin or death in Him.

Daniel 9:24 “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.”

Daniel prophesied that there would be an end of sin. The fulfilment of this prophecy: to make an end of sin, reconcile iniquity (death/lawlessness), and finish transgression, which characterizes the end of the age. 

Witnesses are men who have come to the end of sin in their lives and have reconciled iniquity, which is death or outlaw. A man can be without sin, this means they have changed the laws working on his inside. This is done by the formation of another law in us. This law is made available through the preaching of Christ.

Galatians 4:19 “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,”

To travail is to labour. Travail must be done until the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus that can make us free from sin and death is formed in us. Christ was formed in Jesus. Christ is a formation that God wants to do in us so that we can be free from sin and death. 

It is when a man is made free that he can start the journey of God’s program from the beginning. That is, Christ is a remedy to bring man to a place where man can be made incorruptible or a son of God who is a perfect witness of God. 

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