A Faithful Spirit

[Intro Message] Church fellowship cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God will still desire a godly home. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. Will you be blessed as you listen. [Singing] Day after day I will live for Jesus. Day after day I will live for Jesus. Let's come what may, the Holy Spirit I will obey. I will live for Jesus day after day. Day after day I will live for Jesus. Day after day I will live for Jesus. Let's come what may, the Holy Spirit I will obey. I will live for Jesus day after day. [Speaker 1] Almighty God, we are indeed very, very, very, very grateful. Thank you for bringing us again into the third month of the year, the month of March. We are indeed very, very grateful. Thank you, our Father, for your mercies, for your love, for your goodness, for grace imparted, for justification, for sanctification, for righteousness. Oh Lord, for abundant grace that has been given to us. For all blessings in the heavenly places that we have been blessed with in Christ. For an inheritance that cannot fade, Oh Lord, that you have reserved for us. We thank you for the inheritance of the saints in light that you have brought us into. We worship your holy name for you have broken the wall of partition. You have taken away the enmity and you have brought us to yourself to become your people. We who were one time were no people and now are people of God. We are grateful, our Father. We thank you for Lord for this great love, for what manner of love is it that we should be called sons and daughters of God. Lord, indeed we are grateful. We commit ourselves into your hand, Oh Lord our God, we who are physically here, our brethren who are joining us on Telegram, our brethren who are joining us on Mixlr. Lord our God, we put ourselves together and Lord, we say as we worship together this morning and study your word together, Lord we pray let your spirit work within us in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray that you will indeed speak to our heart. You will indeed meet us where we need you. You will indeed, Oh Lord, grant us encounter, encounter, Oh God, that will conform us into your image and your likeness in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you, eternal Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. We're all welcome again to our program for this month, our Singles' Club for the month of March. We want to thank God for this great grace and mercy that have brought us into the third month of the year. And as it is, time flies. It was like January was yesterday. Now we are talking about March. February has ended, we are talking about March. Before you know it now, you'll be talking about 2027. Oh, may we be deliberate with time. May we be conscious of time. May we, may we learn to apply our hearts to wisdom because actually, time waits for no man. Like somebody said and I strongly agree with him, he said you can never waste time. It's not possible to waste time. Nobody can waste time. Time is supreme because time came out of God. Or the only thing that is supreme over time is God. Bible says He changes time and season. But no, any other, there is no being anywhere under heaven, in heaven, anywhere that moves over time. The only person who changes time and season is God. He's the only person. Every other person is subject to time. They are subject to time. So you cannot waste time. What you did is that you waste your life. You waste your future. You waste your destiny. You waste your purpose. You can't waste time. You can't waste time. If by the time you ought to have become teacher, you still have it that somebody should teach you again, then you have only wasted purpose. It is you that is being wasted. Nobody can waste time. We only waste ourselves when we think we waste time. May we be conscious of time and apply our hearts to wisdom in our use of time in Jesus' name. Yes, our Singles' Club of today, we are coming again with a very, very, very vital topic for us to look at, both as young people and everybody who is connected with us because I got to know that a lot of people who are even married connect with Singles' Club. So all of us who are connected together today and we are learning together under our forum Singles' Club, we are looking at a very crucial topic today which is "A Faithful Spirit." A Faithful Spirit. I said our Singles' Club for the month of March will focus on "A Faithful Spirit." May you be blessed as you join us. A Faithful Spirit. That's what we want to look at in the next one hour. A Faithful Spirit. And what does it mean when we talk about a faithful spirit? What I want to do is first to try to explain the words in the topic. "A" is an indefinite article, so there's nothing special about "A." Everybody knows what "A" is. Then "Faithful" and then "Spirit." I think the spirit is talking about anything can replace the spirit. It can be a faithful person, a faithful wife, a faithful husband, a faithful brother, a faithful sister. It can be anything. The word "spirit" there is trying to say having a kind of attitude, having a kind of orientation towards life, your orientation about life, your philosophy about life, your belief about life, your mindset. Yeah, that's another very good word, your mindset. So you can say a faithful mindset, you can say a faithful attitude of heart towards people, you can say a faithful orientation. So it can be anything. That word "spirit" can be replaced by as many things as are appropriate. Then what of the word "faithful?" What does it mean to be faithful? Some people have tried to break that word into two: "faith" and "full." They say it is to be full of faith. [Speaker 2] When somebody is full of faith, the person is faithful. And what does it mean to be faithful? Of course, a lot of words can replace faithful. It is to be trustworthy. To be trustworthy. You can be trusted. You can be depended upon. You can be relied upon. Somebody can be sure that if you are in a matter, you are going to protect the interest of that person. That's why we say God is faithful. Look at how even when we were sinners, when the Christ died for us. Didn't he die for us? Was it when we became godly? No, it was when we were sinners. See, even when we were sinners, Christ died for us. So even when we were still enemies of God, God was faithful to us. Not to now talk of now that we are children. So faithfulness has to do with being trustworthy, being dependable. You can be relied upon. You can be somebody that people can rest upon and they can be sure that the rest won't break. That is what it means. So we are looking at a faithful spirit, a faithful mindset, a faithful individual, having an attitude of faithfulness, having an attitude of trustworthiness, having an attitude of protecting the interest of the person who committed something into your hand. Something has been committed into your hand and you are doing everything to protect the interest of the person who committed it into your hand. That's why some people say that to be faithful is to be loyal. When you are, when you remain loyal to a cause, or you remain loyal to a person. And you see, faithfulness has nothing to do with the person watching you. [Speaker 1] Once you are watched for you to be true, you are not a faithful person. So it has to do with you are not watched. Nobody is watching, nobody cares what you are doing. But by the time they come and look at what you are doing, if for example that thing that you are doing when nobody is there, when nobody knows, by the time they now, did you know that it was being recorded? By the time you have lived it, you have done it severally, they now take the video, they are now playing the video. Oh, by the time they play, everybody just began to [unclear: shouting] Eh! Eh! Ah! This sister! This individual! Wow! It's like the way, like I was telling some people in our discipleship class some times ago, that I hope you know that Joseph, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they were not acting drama. They didn't know the end, how it was going to end. They were acting, you know in drama you know where it's going to end. So when you are acting you know that once I slap you, you will not slap me back, eh? I will give you a slap. You already predict the end. But Joseph was just living his life. Joseph didn't know that that thing will be recorded. He was just with that woman in the room and he said, "No, I can't do it. Ah, I fear God." He wasn't expected, he wasn't thinking that record will ever become public. That's faithfulness. He wasn't doing it because he was trying to impress that by the time they now play... you know when you know something will be played, you'll begin to decorate it. Am I correct? Am I correct? Yes. You begin to decorate it. He wasn't decorating anything because he never knew it's going to come to a public sphere. The same thing other people like that. So faithfulness is the ability to remain loyal even when you are not watched. Nobody is watching you. Nobody is seeing you. That's what we mean by a faithful spirit. A faithful spirit. Anybody that has to be watched, no matter how little, they have to come and see, "Eh, eh, what are you doing? What did you do?" Once there is that element about your life, then you lack a faithful spirit. Once the public changes the way you behave, what you would have done something else, oh, but now seeing that, ah, quickly you now do it so that... then you lack a faithful spirit. Changing living in order to look acceptable to the public. This is what Apostle Paul was describing in Ephesians, also in Colossians. He said we should not be, we should not do eye-service as men-pleasers. We should avoid eye-service as men-pleasers. People who are, people who do eye-service, they can never be acceptable to God because they lack a faithful spirit. The reason why they cannot be acceptable to God is because unfaithfulness is not in the image and in the likeness of God. God created man in His image and in His likeness. Man is designed to reflect the image of God and the likeness of God. That's why you know that Jesus said something in Matthew 5:48, the last verse. What did he say? He says, "Be you perfect, even as what? Even as your heavenly Father is perfect." So what Jesus wants from us is that we are like our Father. Once you lack a faithful spirit, then you are, you are ungodly. You are not like God. You are an ungodly person. You are not conducting yourself like God. God is forever faithful. God is forever true. God defends the interest of His own. God stands by His people. The Bible says even when we are not faithful, what does God do? He remains faithful. That is God. So anybody that lacks a faithful spirit, it's either that person have not been born of God or he does not know God. There is no other way to explain it. Once you are somebody who lacks a faithful spirit, it is either you are not born again. I'm saying that because there are too many kinds of people inside our churches today. Different kinds of people. But please, that is not a strange thing. I have often told people who are so worried about the way the church is today, "Ah, you see this brother? You see that brother? You see this sister?" I said, "It's like you're not reading your Bible." Jesus is very, very explicit about this matter. When the sower went to sow, 75 percent had error. 75 percent of where the seed fell was error message. The one that fell by the wayside, the one that fell among the thorns, the one that fell on the rock. It is only one, 25, that was not error message. Jesus is actually showing the nature of God's kingdom. Everywhere the kingdom is preached, men who will have a faithful spirit will always be few. The majority will not be. So you must get that very clear. It's not something... don't ever think that, "Ah, despite that we are preaching..." No. Anywhere, pick any church, pick any congregation, pick any assembly. When you pick people like that, that's what Jesus is saying about that parable of the sower. Anytime this word of God is being sown, anytime the seed goes out, 75 percent will not bring something that will come to perfection. It is the same thing when he gave us the parable of the net. The net catches all kinds of fish, but at the end, they put the good one into it and throw the bad ones away. It has always been the pattern. From the beginning, our Father, as at the time of Noah, the whole world, how many were taken? Eight. If you leave that time again, jump to Sodom and Gomorrah, how many were taken? Just two. Is it not one, two, three, four? Eventually became only three because Lot's wife became a pillar of salt. And the Lord Jesus wants us, remember Lot's wife. Telling you that look, remember, always remember that it is very, very important for you to know that at the end of the day, a lot of things will attract a lot of people away from being faithful. She was told don't look back. She began to look at her interest, her interest, her interest, her interest. And as she was looking for her interest, what happened to her? She lost a faithful spirit. She was not faithful to what she was told and she became a pillar of salt. Look at the whole of Sodom that only three escaped. So that has always been the pattern. If you are not looking into scripture, if you leave that time again, go from the time when our fathers were taken out of that place, out of Egypt and they were going to Canaan. How many eventually got there of the original population? Only two. Joshua and Caleb. So if people talk today that, "In fact, I want to run a church, they are not this, they are not..." I just laugh. What are you expecting before? If you don't feel... you should understand this thing. And that is why I feel people who normally say that, "Well, after all, a lot of people are doing it, so it is right." It is not the law of number when it comes to the kingdom. It is the law of the truth. We better know the truth. Don't be moved by the law of number. A lot of people are doing it because a lot of people are doing it, like in recent time because a lot of people have begun to expose the thigh, you find even our sisters exposing their thigh everywhere they go. The Bible is clear about it. Anything above the knee is your nakedness. You are just naked. The world may now call it nakedness, they may call it fashion. You are naked. There is no way to explain it. That everybody is doing it doesn't make it right. It is wrong. So it's not a law of number. You must get that clear. The point I'm trying to make is that the Bible says something very, very, very critically, very, very critically. And I want us to see that as the first thing I want us to see. Look at what the Bible says about faithfulness, about a faithful spirit. Look at the first thing the Bible says about that, the faithful spirit. I tried to define faithfulness, what faithfulness is, the various ways we can look at it. And I'm trying to make us now see what the Bible says categorically about faithfulness and faithful men. Proverbs 20:6. Proverbs 20:6. Look at what the Bible says about faithfulness and about faithful men. Look at what the Bible says about that, the faithful spirit. Proverbs 20:6. I will read different translations from here. I'm first reading English Standard Version, then I will read NLT, I will read NKJV, I will read NIV, just for us to see the various ways that text was rendered. Proverbs 20:6, English Standard Version: "Many, many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?" Are you seeing that? I take that in NLT. NLT say: "Many will say they are loyal friends, but who can find one who is truly faithful?" Do you see the question? Question mark. Who can find? So please, what is that telling you? Faithful people, are they many? Can they easily be found? They are not readily found. Most people are never faithful. You need to get that very clear. You should understand that. That is what life is. And that is why most people, they will say, "Ah, we serve God, we do good." You see, God is a rewarder. God knows what type of work you are doing. God can never be mocked. God knows if... the reason... maybe because... even though I will be rounding off with some of these things. Important to know that it is God who rewards faithfulness. So and God knows who is faithful and who is not faithful. Even when people say you are faithful and you are not, God knows what to give you. A minister was speaking one day and he just said this in Yoruba. He said, "Mo se re ko gbe mi, itade wa nbe." He said that that day and honestly that word remained with me. It was one of our fathers, we invited that man, a minister in our church. The meaning of that... for those who cannot speak Yoruba that are listening to me, what he's saying is that "I have done good, but eventually I got evil in return. It must be that in that good that you were doing, there was some element of evil." There was some element of evil. You know, he made that statement then and for months I was thinking about that statement. I was looking at that statement. It remained... that was... in fact three things that the minister said that day. He said so many things, but three things stayed with me from that message. And this is one of them. That wow. So many people said that, "Oh, I love my children, my children didn't do this. I did that for them, I did they didn't do that." Hmm. There must be an element, there must be something that God saw. People may not see, but God saw it. God saw it. And that is the point that faithfulness is something that all people say they are good, they are good, they are good. But a faithful spirit is not common. It's not a common thing. It's a rare thing that you find. And that's why I tell people if God give you a faithful friend, God have given you a gracious gift. If God give you a friend who is faithful. What some people don't know is that when God gives people to you, it's a great thing. It's a great thing because faithful people, they are not common. That's what I first want us to see. NLT, King James says... New King James: "Most men will proclaim each one his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man?" NIV: "Many, many a man claims to have unfailing love, but a faithful man who can find?" Amplified: "Many a man proclaims his own loving kindness and goodness, but a faithful man who can find?" So the Bible already make us to see very well that people who are faithful, people who are truly loyal, people who are not acting the stage, you know what I mean? When they see you, they... when it is that they are watched, they are seen, there's a way they live, there's a way they act, there's a way they talk. People who act the stage are many. People who will not change what they are doing when they discover that they are now being watched are people who are truly faithful. So faithfulness has to do with, it has to do with a spirit. It's an attitude of the heart. It's an atmosphere around an individual. It's not a common thing you find everywhere. You don't find it everywhere. Faithful husbands are scarce. Faithful wives are scarce. They are not everywhere because faithful people are scarce. It is these people that will also enter into marriage. They will say Christian marriage, they will say disciples' marriage, but faithfulness in them may be rare. And that is why you have so a lot of problem too with Christian marriages. And I keep saying it and I will keep saying it. There are always two fundamental problems. The first one is that the people you are dealing with, it is either they are not born again. They are just church people. They are religious. They have been reformed but they have not been transformed. Every time there's opportunity to show their true nature, they will show it. There's no transformation in them. They look Christian, they speak Christian, but once you put the cat to the meat and you are not holding the cane to watch them, they will tell you that you don't ever trust me as a cat with meat. Don't you know that I've not yet been transformed to a goat? I'm still a cat, even though you see me wearing goat skin. The cat in me is still there. A lot of people are like that. So they are not really born again. The second challenge we are having, which I think that is what is more common today in our fellowship, in our churches, is it's not as though people are not born again, but the challenge of they don't know God. You see, faithfulness has to do with increasing knowledge of God. The more people know God, the more people fear God, the more people understand God, the more people become like God, then they start becoming faithful. So it is more of knowing God, encountering God, impartation from God. The more they rub on God and God rubs on them and that faithfulness in God begins to also rub on them. They start becoming true and faithful. They start becoming like their Father. Just like the Bible talks about love. "Love your enemy, do good to them that hate you." If you look at that Matthew chapter 5, verse 48 that I was quoting, he was talking there about love. He said, "Love your enemy, do good to them that hate you. If you only greet those who greet you and love only those who love you, how are you different from tax collectors and sinners? So that when you do like that, you'll be like your Father who makes it to rain upon both good and evil. That's why he said be you perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect." So do you see that? It is the more you become like God that you can love your enemies and do good to those who hate you. It is the same thing with faithfulness. The more you rub... the more God rubs on you, the more you know God, the more you encounter God, you cannot but have a faithful spirit. So what is going on today is that most people who become born again, they don't enter into the process of daily knowing God. It is a different thing to grow in church and to grow in grace. They are two different things. People grow in church, they become committed to church activities, they become more prominent, they become good, they grow and they move on, they move on. But they may not be growing in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord. They may not be growing in that. And so because they have spent so much time in church and of course they are born again, you now begin to look at their maturity based on their commitment to activities. Because they come very early, by 7 o'clock they are already in church. And because they should come there by 5, they are there by 5. They are there every day. They are the teenage church teacher, they are the Bible study teacher, they are the foundation class teacher, they are the pastor, they are the conductor. Because they are doing those things regularly and continuously, you now begin to equate it with the spirit of faithfulness. They are two different things. I don't think like I said one time, if you look at Nicodemus, although no, let me use two people: Joseph of Arimathea and Judas. Who do you think should be exercising more faithfulness? You would think Judas because Joseph of Arimathea was an online follower. Judas was a physical follower. If I use our days, Joseph of Arimathea was not with Jesus, he was following from afar. But Judas was with Jesus, going out, coming in. He was the one that went when they sent out the seventy, when they sent out the twelve. He was committed. But it was Arimathea that gave his grave and everything. He went to demand for the body of Jesus. He went boldly, he was not afraid. Demanded, "Make a place for him so that he can be buried in his own grave." It was Judas who was following constant that betrayed him. So people normally look at because people are constant activity they are faithful. It is not. You see, we need to understand that people can be growing in church, they may not be growing in grace. They may not be growing in the knowledge of God because the more you grow in knowledge of God, you exercise more grace. And that's why I tell people you don't need to be praying, "God give me grace." All these "God give us grace." There's nothing like God give you grace. Grace have been given. But as you grow in the knowledge of the Lord, grace increases. You begin to encounter it more, you begin to experience it. I tell people we don't receive Holy Spirit two times. You receive Holy Spirit when you gave your life to Christ. But Holy Spirit may not be doing anything inside you because you have not been made to understand that it is by looking at Jesus that the Holy Spirit can work. See, there's a lot of, there are a lot of funny things today inside the church. I'm hoping that very soon in our series as we are going, we'll soon come to experiencing God. That's a topic I'm trusting God that in the course of the year, we'll get to. Experiencing God. People don't know how to experience God. So they just grow more in activities. It is a different ballgame to be growing in grace. So you find a lot of people today, not like they are not believers, they are children of the devil. Some are not children of the devil. That's the point I'm making. They are not children of the devil. Some actually got born again. But the challenge is that when they got born again, they were not put into the process of knowing Jesus, of growing in grace and the knowledge of the Lord. They were put in the process of growing in church. So they grew and grew and grew in church. Nobody grows in church and come to have a faithful spirit. It's not possible. Because you must understand that in the actual sense of it, God is not in any temple. God lives inside people. In our own days, there's no temple where God lives. There is no temple, the temple, there's nothing like that. We are the temple of God. So if you are thinking that God is inside one temple, no, there's nothing like that. Human beings are the temple. So the kingdom of God is in us. It is he. That's what Jesus told them. He said, "The kingdom of God is in you." It has to be he. It's not in one gathering. No, it's not in one gathering. When we come together, we have God meeting us, encountering us. That's why we don't avoid the assembly of one another. But the dwelling place of God is man. In our own days, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. It need to be clear to us. So if I don't want you to think that that person who did this, who did that, that person is not a Christian, he's not a... he never got born again. No, it's not always like that. I've often tell leaders many times, many of these things default, they came from us. We brought people into the kingdom. Jesus did not say bring them into the kingdom. That's not what Jesus said. He said bring them into the kingdom and teach them to observe. There's a place of discipling people. There's a place of making people to come into knowing Jesus. Or else there's a big problem. And that is why you will notice that Apostle Paul consistently saying, the desire of God is that all men will be saved. That is one. And what's the next thing? That they may also come to the knowledge of the truth. So the desire of God is not just that people should be saved. No, that's not the... that is just a part of it. That's one side of the story. The other thing is that they must come to the knowledge of the truth. The truth is Jesus. Don't be thinking of some lectures here and there. Truth is not something, it's not a philosophy to believe. Truth is a person. That is come to the knowledge of Jesus. That's what the Bible is saying. They must come to know Jesus. They must come to have a daily encounter with his person because without that, the Holy Spirit cannot do anything in anybody's life. And nobody can by himself follow God. It is God who work in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Nobody can by his will serve God. That's why a lot of believers are struggling today. You cannot by your... it is the Holy Spirit that work the work of God in us. That's the truth about our Christian life. So a lot of Christians struggling and struggling and struggling because they are looking at the wrong... instead of looking at the cross, they are looking elsewhere. There is no solution to any problem outside the cross. And when I mean cross, I mean Jesus and him crucified. I'm not talking about something you hang on your neck. Some people put signs, "Holy Father" etc. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about something you put on your doorpost, something you put under your pillow. I'm not talking about the one you carry inside church, name of the "holy" etc., or the one you draw in your cathedral and you... I'm not talking about... that's not the cross I'm talking about. I'm talking about Jesus and him crucified. Paul said, "I resolve to do nothing among you except Jesus and him crucified." You know, so it is very important. The reason why I'm bringing this to us because there is we, as we traverse several churches today, I begin to see people talking and talking and saying there are no Christians again, this and that. Yes, the complaint is everywhere. But we need to sit down and pray God. It is because we left the method of God. We left the cross. We are no more showing Jesus to people. So people who got born again began to know activities instead of Jesus. And they cannot just become faithful because they are not knowing God. So we need to change what we are doing in our gatherings. We need to re-orientate. And as a young man, my question to you listening to me today is where are you? Faithful men are not common because it is just the same way when he said broad is the way, wide is the gate that lead to destruction. What happened? Many. Why? Because straight is the narrow is the way and straight is the gate that lead to life. Few. So it is the same thing. It's few that is, it's always few. So the matter is about finding the way. Finding the way. It is that few that will also be faithful. That's the truth about it. This is the reality that we are facing today. And so we must as a people address the matter of faithfulness, a faithful spirit. Faithful spirit is not a common thing because God is not everywhere. Faithful spirit is being like God. That's the truth. That's the point I'm making. Faithful spirit is being like God. To be like God. And I pray that the church will experience a revival. The church will experience a turn around so that we can begin to have a revival of the... you know, Jesus and him crucified coming to the center of our worship again. So that we can begin to grow faithful men. Because at the end of the day, when you hand over things to men who are not faithful, there will be a gap in the generation. That's what you don't realize. He said, "What I have given to you, what you did, hand it over to who? To faithful men." Who will again do what? Hand it over to faithful men. If you don't raise faithful men, the agenda of God will be compromised. It will get missing. There will be a gap somewhere when we don't raise faithful men. We need faithful men today. We need faithful men. And when I say men, I'm talking about men as men, gender. I'm talking about individuals, people. Talking about male and female, faithful people. We need to raise them because they will become wives, they will become husbands, they will become fathers, they will become mothers, they will become governors. Many of these governors, senators, that you are shouting, they are corrupt, they are stealing. Go and ask, many of them grew up in Christian homes. They are committed to different churches. Even today, they are committed to churches. And don't only point your hand at the one you call Christian. What of the one that you call Muslims? You say Nigeria problem and Nigerians, nobody is faithful. Many people today go to different religious centers, whether to traditional worship or to mosques or to church. And yet we cannot find faithfulness in people. Because it's not about these religious centers, it is an encounter with the person of Jesus. It's not religiousity. It's about a person. It's about the truth. It's about an encounter with God in the person of Jesus, in the finished work at Calvary. That's why you don't find differences in all of them. Anyone they attend, they are all the same thing. The people you are crying over today, go and check, they were once in Sunday school. They were once here, they were once here. And even till today, they are still committed to these Sunday schools and churches. But why is governance like this? Why is it like this? I hear God say very clear in my spirit, "Son, it is time to raise faithful men." It is time to dedicate ourselves to raising faithful people. If everybody, some will be raising two people somewhere, two, two, three, four, so faithful men will spread. They too will raise some other way. It's not just activities that we need. We need to sit down and enter into the deliberate consciousness of raising faithful people. Start at our family level. Can we raise our sons and daughters to be faithful? Leave everybody inside the church. Raise your son and your daughter. Make them to be faithful. Leave honey to that place. That your roommate, start to raise him to become faithful. Let it begin from somewhere. It is time to raise faithful people. We are facing it today, both politically, educationally, economically, religiously, all institution. Look at what is happening to many Christian homes today. Because wives are not faithful, husbands are not faithful. It is so very rare today. Confusion, weeping, no peace, no rest, no quietness. But because of lack of faithful men. We need people that are faithful. We need faithful people. People who are loyal, who are trustworthy. People who are not acting scenes, who don't have double life. People who will believe they are constantly in the public. Look at Joshua for instance, Joseph for instance. He said the master did not care again what, what is in his hand, does not count it again. And yet he did not, he was not stealing. If we happen not to be counting for some people today, we just be using Nigeria money the way you like it, just make sure that everybody is doing well. I wonder how many men will still be faithful to that money. So faithfulness has to be a spirit. Faithfulness is an attitude. Faithfulness is a consciousness. Faithfulness is a personal encounter. Faithfulness is not just an activity. It is an individual, it's a mindset. It's a mindset, faithfulness. And I tell people to now be careful. Everybody you are relating with, you are relating with a mindset. You don't marry what people wear, you don't marry what they say, you don't marry what they do, you marry their mindset. It is their mindset. Everybody have a mindset. Faithfulness is a mindset. May we have the mindset of faithfulness. May God bring a revival. May God, may God grant us a revival. Honestly, faithful men are scarce. They are scarce. And here, look at what the scripture says in Proverbs 28. Proverbs 28, that the second text we want to quickly consider. Proverbs 28:20. Let's see Proverbs 28:20. Proverbs 28:20. Let's see that scripture. And that is what most people don't know. The Bible says in Proverbs 28:20, what does the Bible say? It says, "A faithful man will abound with blessings." Hallelujah. A faithful man will abound with blessings. But whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished. That's what most people don't know. A faithful man, let's see some other translation, how they rendered that scripture. New King James: "A faithful man will abound with blessing, but he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished." Almost similar to English Standard Bible. NLT: "The trustworthy will get a rich reward, but the person who wants to get rich quickly will only get into trouble." NIV: "A faithful man will be richly blessed, but the one eager to get rich will not go unpunished." Amplified: "A faithful man will abound with blessing, but he who makes haste to be rich at any cost shall not go unpunished." So you see something coming very clearly to us. What people don't realize today is that there is a difference between seeking to be rich and seeking to be blessed. What I discover today among people is that people are seeking to be rich. What is in the mind of the average person today is how to be rich. And this is something today that is controlling both young and old. You will say, "Ah, young people, that the one doing Yahoo." I just laugh. It's not a young people's problem. It is something I find across even people in their 50s. People in their 50s. That's why I'm asking you what make our leaders to behave so foolishly? And when I say leaders, please don't be thinking of only political leaders. Anytime I say leader, people always think of those in politics. As if it is only politicians that are having problems. As if lecturers are not having problems. As if teachers are not stealing. As if civil servants don't have problems. As if policemen are not corrupt. As if people when you think a leader, you start following church in one direction. As if we don't have wives who are not true to their husbands, husbands who are not true to their wives. You see what people are not realizing is these people you call political leaders, where do they come from? It's not from society? The leaders are reflection of those in society. That's the truth. That's the truth. I'm trying to call your attention to something. It is something I find across. Don't you think we make a big man to leave office and he is searching everywhere? Is he a youth? Is he himself just young people? What will make some of some men over their 50s, 60s, accumulate and accumulate, accumulate money, steal money up till today when they leave when they leave office they start tracing them for one billion from one billion? Are they youth? They are not youth. They are adults. So it's not a youth problem. Although, this is the truth again. That's why I tell people be careful about the matter of age. People think because people are old they are wise. The truth is also that fools also grow old. So there are some people today who are already adult, but their foolishness began from when they were youth. So they grew old, the foolishness they took as young people also grew with them into old age. So that is why you find both young and old. Somebody who is still a fool when he's old, start when he was young. That's also the truth. Because aging is a process. Whether you like it or not you will be old. So whether you are growing wise or you are not growing wise, you will be growing old. Am I correct? You'll be growing old. You see, I noticed today a very, a very serious trend. Most people are seeking to be rich. Unfortunately, the Bible says we should not desire to be rich. Then you'll be wondering, does it mean that people who follow God can't become rich? That's not what I'm saying. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying something entirely different. The Bible also because the Bible says in 1st Timothy chapter 6 from verse 17, it says, "Command those who are rich among you not to be high-minded." So Christians can be rich. So please don't get me wrong. Christians can be, they can be wealthy, they can be very, very wealthy. Don't get me wrong. But I'm going to make you see something in this scripture. It says a faithful man will abound with blessings. But whosoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished. It's telling you that the truth is that faithfulness brings blessing. Faithfulness brings blessings. And you'll be wondering, why am I talking so much, why am I looking at this a little closely this morning? The Bible says the blessings of God makes rich. Faithfulness brings blessings. The blessings of God makes rich and adds no sorrow. Faithfulness brings blessings. The blessings of God makes rich. So when a man is not faithful, a man cannot be blessed. Of course, the man can be rich, but the rich will come with trouble. He who makes haste to be rich will not go unpunished. You can be rich, you can have a lot, but punishment is coming. Evil is coming. Sorrow is coming. Visitation is coming. Because the riches did not come by blessing. The blessing comes by faithfulness. I don't know whether you understand me. I don't know whether you understand me. When a man is faithful, he will abound with blessings. That blessing will make him rich. The blessings of God makes rich. I was telling somebody, if you have to labor for all that you have, it means that you are not blessed. It means that you are not blessed. You see, what I want to make you see is that, I remember preaching this thing in a Yoruba church and I try to explain something very, very clearly to them. If you look at it the way the Yoruba Bible puts it, "Ibukun titi Olorun o n mu n'ila." When it is the Lord that is adding to you, "ibu" to bu, that is to take, and "kun," ko bu kan si kun. If it is the Lord, if it is the Lord that is adding to what you have, it will make you rich. The blessings of God makes rich. "Ibukun titi Olorun, ti Olorun ba n bu to n si n kun." It makes rich. Now, this "ibukun," when it is the Lord that will be adding to the things that you have, it says it makes rich and it adds no sorrow. That's the truth about it. The truth about a faithful spirit is that it brings you to the place of blessing. And blessings bring you to the place of riches. It is a great thing when as Christians we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and these things... what are those things? You know what those things are? Go and check it. What to eat and what to drink. The two things that is the bottom line of human wickedness and evil today. What to eat, what to drink. He said these things the Gentile seek. These things the Gentile seek. Please, if there are questions, brethren who are here, please if there are questions, please write and send it. If there are questions, please write and let us have it. Brethren who are here, who are in the hall, brethren online, if there are questions, please place it on the page. Brethren who are here, please write so that we can have it. Please put it in writing so that we can know that there are questions, we can begin to look towards those questions. So I want to beg you today listening to me, we are discussing faithfulness and we have looked at just two scriptures to explain this thing. In our April edition, we'll look at biblical examples, biblical examples and implication of faithfulness. The Bible records a lot of things for us to learn from. The Bible records a lot of things, we just don't give attention to scripture. Bible have enough records for us. We'll just look at biblical example, then we'll relate it to what is happening to us today. Today we are trying to define faithfulness, and we have looked at what it is. We have tried to look at why we must pursue this spirit of faithfulness. It is because a faithful man abound in blessing. I have always tell people everywhere I go, I seek to be blessed. I don't seek to be rich. I don't seek to be rich. And I could testify today like David said, "I once was young and now I am old." I understood this principle, I began to understand the principle very early in life as a Christian. I began to understand it very early in life. And we began to pursue these things through our undergraduate days. Began to pursue it, pursue it, follow it. Through our service year, we pursue this thing. We were looking very stupid to many of our colleagues. We were looking, "Olayiwola, you no want make am for life? You no go make am oh!" And they were looking like will you ever be able to feed yourself? But we look back today and we can say, "I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed beg for bread." That was the testimony of David. Said, "I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor the seed of the righteous begging for bread." I want to beg you wherever you are, don't labor to be rich. Labor to be blessed. Choose to be true. Choose to be faithful. Everywhere you find yourself, be a Joseph. Everywhere you find yourself, be true in whatever you are doing. I just look at different opportunities for Joseph to be rich, but he chose not to be rich. He chose to be blessed. He chose to be blessed. He chose to remain a faithful slave. And you will think he will die a slave. You will ask how his life will end. But it did not end that way. Do we understand the mysteries of life? I'm begging you as a believer, don't go the way of the world. Don't go the way of the world. There's a question here that we have: "When disappointment happens in the course of being faithful, like issues between Joseph and Potiphar, these things allow one to be discouraged and relax in intensifying of service and loyalty. What should one do?" Is there anything that does not have discouragement in life? One has those who are not faithful, whether they don't face discouragement too. They also face discouragement. Discouragement is a part of life. Discouragement is a part of life. Disappointment is a part of life. Disappointments are failure. I'm picking them: discouragement, disappointment, failure. They are all part and parcel of life. But they don't take away the principles for living. That is what we must be careful about. Let me show you... I want to read a scripture just in answering that question. But because it's a popular scripture, let me just quote it off-hand so that we can be faster with the question in case there are other questions that might come. The Lord said, "He who hear my word and do it, I will liken him to what? To a wise man, is that not? Who build his house upon what? Upon the rock. And he who hear my word and does not do it, I will liken him to a what? A foolish man who build his house on sand." So one of them heard the word of God and obeyed. The other one heard and he did what? He disobeyed. But do you notice something about both of them? Do you notice something about the two people? Do you notice something about them? Let's see it. I want us to see it together. Matthew chapter 7, verse 25 and verse 27. Please compare it. Compare those two verses and tell me what the difference is. Please look at your Bible. Compare the two and tell me where the difference is. Matthew chapter 7, verse 25 and verse 27. Please compare the two. The one founded on the rock was able to stand. Okay. Why the one founded on sand could not withstand it. Okay. So that's the difference. What's the similarity? Is it only rain and flood? Look at it very well. What are the three things? Rain, flood, and wind. The one that came to the person who was building on rock, was it different from the one that came to the person building on sand? They experienced the same thing. That's what I'm trying to make you see. People normally think that because you are following God, you should not see rain. You should not see flood. You should not see wind. Whether you obey God or not, whether you follow God or not, expect the rain. Expect the flood. Expect the wind. That's the correct attitude to life. The only difference that you will find is that if you keep following God in the rain, you will stand. In the wind, you will still remain. In the flood, you will still remain. Those who live the principles of God. In the rain, they will fall. In the flood, they will stumble. In the wind, they will be scattered because they cannot go unpunished. That's just the difference. So disappointment, failure, discouragement, I tell people they are part of life. They are the inevitables of life. I don't know why people talk as if Christians should not go through these things. They are the normal things. Do you know how many times Jesus was discouraged? He got to a point, he said, "My mind, my soul is even sorrowful. Pray for me, pray for me." And his people were busy sleeping. Jesus said, "Hello!" Look at disappointment from even his own disciples who have been with him for three and a half years. "Ah, that brother can lie. Oh, he failed me. I won't forgive him." I say you are not wise. You don't even know what the time is anymore. It doesn't mean when people fail at a point, it doesn't mean because... that's why I said that faithfulness is a growth. Or it's good for people to be knowing God. The Peter who failed Jesus at a point, how did he die? Peter failed Jesus twice, fundamentally. He failed him at denying him. Jesus died again and it looks like, "Aboy, eh, if we continue waiting like this, we'll not feed our family, eh? Let's move from where to feed our family." He said, "Brethren, me I go fishing." Quickly return back to fishing. Jesus came to him again, "Peter, Peter, do you love me more than this?" Because he was thinking, he wanted to be rich. But the matter was that not because... that's why I said that people who misbehave, don't think that some of them are not born again. It shows that they don't have... they have not come to know God. That's why I tell anybody who get people born again and don't sit them down to know God, that person, that person is doing more evil. But when people get to know God, you get people born again, you don't just leave them. See how, because it's not just that God want people to be saved. But if they are saved and they don't know God, they will not be different from non-believer. They will not be different. And that's a major problem fellowship and churches are facing today. A fellowship president dating six sisters. You find pastors telling lies to congregation so that they can bring more money. He's thinking of his own selfish end. He's not thinking of his... he thinks the reason why he's bringing that preaching is so that he can milk them. Not only because he has something. Different kind of people today inside the church. But it doesn't mean that all of these people at some point they didn't encounter Jesus. Yes, there are those who don't because the Bible, the Lord also told us, said the enemy planted this one. There are those that are planted by the devil. So there are people who are among us but they are not of us. That must be clear. And that is why I tell people you must be discerning. Who are among us, they talk like us, they speak in tongues, they do everything, but they are not of us. But there are people who are also among us, it is because they are still carnal. That's what Paul was telling Corinthian Christians. Say you are still carnal when you ought, you ought to grow, grow. Look at the Hebrew Christians when you ought to be teachers, you only have that somebody should teach you again. Such people will be misbehaving. They don't be different from non-believer. But you see, it's a very, very important thing. You look at you see how Peter, who was the most vocal, was the one used by the devil at one point. You will know that Jesus said, "Satan, get thee behind me." Okay, they got to another point again. Peter, James, and John were the three. He came back and met the three of them sleeping. "Ah!" He died again, went, "let's go out fishing." But Jesus could see a man who is struggling. Not a man who does not love him. And eventually, eventually Peter come to know what faithfulness really means. He came to know it. And that is the mystery most people don't understand. It was, you notice that when Peter was standing before the Sanhedrin, Bible, Bible say Peter being filled with the Holy Ghost. People think by some personal effort we can follow God. That's one great mistake. Christianity is not religion. Christianity is the work of the Holy Spirit in us. And today, the work of the Holy Spirit is so de-emphasized. We don't even tell people how to work in, how to experience God. You just give people told, "do this, do that." Nobody can serve God without God. People don't know. Think by some personal effort you can. Look at how Peter was falling and falling and falling and falling and falling and falling and he was looking like he was not a serious person. Until he came to a point, Bible says Peter being filled with the Holy Spirit. You know, so it is very, very important for us to understand some of these. But the point I'm making is that disappointment, discouragement, Jesus our Master experienced it. All the multitude that he was healing and saving, that is why the previous day they were shouting, "Hosanna! Hosanna!" The following day, the Pharisees just went among them and said, "Ah!" and then they shouted again, "Crucify him!" These were the multitude that he prayed for. "Father forgive them, they know not what they do." So disappointment, failure, discouragement, they are just part and parcel of life. Expect them, expect them, you will see them here and there. Expect them, you will see it here and there. But don't be, don't be discouraged. Don't be, don't give in, don't give up. Disappointment are part and parcel of life. But you must not leave the principle. The principle is that a faithful man will abound in blessing. That is the principle. You see, God, God... we are discussing this in Abounding in Goodness in discipleship class. God, God can never be mocked. If a man don't reap what he sows, God ceases to be God. That's what you don't know. That thing that you sow, you must reap it. Whether you are dealing with a wicked man and you are not doing wickedness and you keep doing good, good, good, you keep following God and doing good, the wicked man will reap his wickedness. And you, you will reap your goodness. You are both in the same situation. You will reap your own goodness, he will reap his own wickedness. And I'm telling you, God can also use that wicked man to be the one that will also good come out of him towards you. That's why Bible says that if the way of the man pleases the Lord, he make even his enemy to be at peace with him. I've seen where somebody who planned out to make sure that I am cut down became the very person that was used to lift me up. Very recently, something that happened in the space of just some months ago. Not many, many years ago. I mean the table was set, everything was planned that yes, and events just began to happen, things just began to turn, things just turned. See, you what people don't understand is... may we live deliberately and consciously. Everything in life is the law of harvest. It's the law of harvest. Nobody plants orange and harvest bitter leaf. And nobody plants bitter leaf and harvest apple. It is that thing that you put into the soil of your life. Every action you take is a seed. Every action is a seed. It will sprout, it will take root down, it will come with fruit, it will come back to you. If you understand life that way, you will know how to take action. You will know how to take action. You'll be deliberate and conscious about your action. Because I, I place something on a group, I actually saw it somewhere about a dog. You know, life, life is never bad or kind. Life is not good or evil. Do you get it? What comes to you is what you sow into life. It is that thing that you put into it that will come back. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will men give back to you. That's how God have designed life. So you don't actually escape with anything. That's why people hear, "Ah, I went, you just escape with..." No, there's really nothing. Nothing really goes away. What goes round comes round. That is the truth. May the Lord help us. So please, I want to beg you, you will meet with discouragement, you will meet with disloyalty, you will meet with all kinds of things along the journey. Ah, I just remember this song as we close. Let's take this song: It's not an easy road. We are traveling to heaven and many others on the way. Oh, it's not an easy road, but our Savior is with us, his presence gives us joy every day. Oh, no, no, it's not an easy road. No, no, it's not an easy road. But Jesus walks beside us and brighten the journey and lightens the burden on the way. Let's talk to God this morning. A faithful spirit. A faithful spirit. It's a mindset. It's an attitude. It's an action. Anyhow you look at it. It's loyalty. It's a life that does not need to be watched. It's the same in secret and in open. It's not double life, it's not true, it's just one. One pure thing. That's one thing about it. It's like God, our God is faithful. It's godliness, it's being like God. Different way to define it that we are trying to define it today. That's one thing we did, we defined it. The second thing we did was to establish that only few are faithful. That's the second thing we did. Very few people are faithful. So don't think a lot of people are faithful. But what you need to do is to remain faithful so that you too will not harvest what the majority will harvest. The majority will harvest what they have harvested in their unfaithfulness. That's why life generally looks like, "Ah, evil everywhere, this and that." It's because of what people are sowing into it. What people are sowing into it here and there. That's why it looks like life is like this. Because God must be just. God is a God of justice. By him all actions are weighed. The one you did in secret, the one you did in open, the one you did when nobody is seeing you, when nobody is seeing you, God is a God of knowledge. By him all actions are weighed. And because people constantly don't do good, people constantly are not faithful. That's why it looks as if life is full of all kinds of things today. Because people sow to reap here and there. They also reap here and there. They sow in the... you know, it looks like, but I'm telling you, faithful people are not many. Need to understand that. Need to understand that. So don't be too disappointed. Don't be too discouraged. Don't be this, don't be that. Even you yourself who is trying to be faithful, don't forget that you're also growing in faithfulness. There are some times too you will do some things, say, "God, I'm sorry." That's why the Bible says that, you know, he who confesses his sin and turn away from it shall be shown mercy. Faithful men, you know because it's a growth. Look at Peter, at a point he wasn't straight, but he repented. At another point again he wasn't straight, he repented. You know, when they see, "Ah, I've not done it well," they repent. They turn from it. They don't continue in it. You see, so they will reap mercy instead of judgment. It will be mercy because they have turned away. That's one good thing about about God and faithful men. I don't say faithful men are perfect. Because they are also growing in faithfulness. When they miss their step, they transform it. They say, "God, I'm sorry." They run back into God and so mercy speaks for them. Judgment don't speak because mercy triumph over judgment. But men... but Bible says he who is constantly being reproved but hardness his neck, continue in it, remain in that path, what will happen? Bible says he will suddenly fall and that beyond remedy. So God knows that human beings too have their infirmities. So God too have put check and balances inside him. Mercy will speak for those who are repentant. Mercy will speak for those who are broken-hearted. Mercy will speak for those who are merciful. Mercy will speak for them. God have a way of making sure that as we are growing in this faithfulness, we are not scattered. We are not shattered because we joy in him. We become better and better in him. We become stronger in him. So just period of when we fall, we stumble, oh God have put in mercy through repentance. If we confess our sin and show mercy, mercy speak against judgment. Mercy speak against judgment. I'm trying to make you see God. Oh, oh God is good. Olorun tobi, Olorun dudosi, Olorun lagbara. Ah! Olorun to si, Olorun to si mi le. That is our God. That is our God. He's just... he have made so much provision for man. So much provision. He understand our infirmity. He understand our weakness, our failure. He know who we are. And he have put everything in place so that all can be well. But many times, man, man, man don't fear God. Man don't, man don't see God in this life. Ah, it is his foolishness that destroy him. The foolishness of man turned to the Lord. A faithful spirit. A faithful spirit. A faithful spirit. In the next edition of our next Singles' Club, we'll be looking at, you know, biblical implication of these things. Look, just look at these stories in the Bible. They are written for our learning. They are written for our learning. We'll try to look at them again closely and take lessons from them. Ah, I will be, no matter how few they are, I will be among the faithful. No matter how few, no matter how few. Talk to the Lord that no matter how few they are, I will be found faithful. He that is faithful over little, much should be given. He that is not faithful over little, much should not be given. He that is... even that, even that which he has will be taken from him and will be given to the person that has because the person is not faithful. May the Lord help us. Lord, we thank you for this morning. We thank you for our Singles' Club of this morning. We appreciate you, our Father. We bless your name again for another time of looking through scripture, learning from your word. Lord, we pray. Lord, we are asking that you will help us. That Lord, it will be a life of ever-increasing faithfulness in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, no matter what the world is sowing, help us not to, not to be envious of wicked men. Help us not to desire to be in their company. Help us to go the way of life, the way of truth, no matter what is around us. That may we go the right path. Thank you, eternal Father. Blessed be your holy name, our God. In Jesus' name we pray. Let's share the grace together. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forever more. Amen. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives, and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever and ever. Amen. [Outro Message] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in enriching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development, and mission aid. Our regular activities are: Discipleship Class every Monday 5:00 PM, Adolescent and Singles' Club every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM, Marriage Forum second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM, Family Life Seminars, regular school outrages and every day counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location: Life Camp by the first bridge, Ilere community, opposite Very Joy filling station along Ijeare road, Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are 08033861136, 07033613848. God bless you all.