A new commandment I give to you (Part 1)

[background music] The church as a spiritual community cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. Build the individual, build the family. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. Remain blessed as you listen. [singing in Yoruba] [Speaker 1] Wherever you are, let’s take that song once or twice more just to worship the Lord. Wherever you are physically here or on Mixlr or on Telegram, wherever you are, let’s take that song once or twice more just to worship the Lord. Soluwatofeshe nanu yi duro. Oluwa tofeshe nanu yi duro. Oluwa tofeshe nanu yi duro. Baba tofeshe nanu yi duro. Oluwatofeshe nanu yi duro. Olorun wa tofeshe nanu yi duro. Oluwa tofeshe nanu yi duro. Baba tofeshe nanu yi duro. Oluwa tofeshe nanu yi duro. Lord, we are so grateful. We are grateful for the death and resurrection of Jesus. We are grateful for the gift of eternal life. We are grateful for adoption into the family of God. We are grateful for justification from the guilt, from the influence, from the power, from the dominion of sin, and although from the wrath that is to come, the judgment that is to come. We say thank you, Oh Lord our God, that we become sons and daughters of God. We thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit. We thank you for the Holy Spirit Himself. We thank you for living the Holy Spirit with us. We thank you for the comfort of the Spirit. We thank you for light and direction. We thank you for strength in the days of discouragement. We thank you, Oh Lord our God, for hope even when there is no reason to hope. We thank you, Oh Lord our God, for this anchor that you have for our soul, an anchor that holds within the veil. Jesus, our High Priest, our forerunner, has gone ahead of us to make intercession for us. Oh Lord, we thank you. Lord, we are so grateful. We thank our God again for another time in His presence, a time for our discipleship class. We are particularly grateful to God again that we are gathered here to learn at His feet. Our upper week, it was "So Great a Salvation." Honestly, incidentally, in the last two, three weeks after that message of "So Great a Salvation," different brethren that have called me—some within the country, some outside the country—I told them go and listen to the discipleship message that we had two Mondays ago. It will answer this your question. Brethren who called me, incidentally they were doubting whether God still loves them. There was so much trouble around them that they were wondering if God loves them, why did He do like this? And I just told them go listen to this "So Great a Salvation." It will be something again that will reawaken your faith. Last week it was "Little Foxes, Hindrances to Reward." We took our text from the Songs of Solomon Chapter 2 about the little foxes, hindrances to reward. And like our usual practice, brethren who are online, if you have testimonies—in fact, brethren online, you can even make us have your testimony before today so that today we’ll just be reading it. If you have comments to make about any message, please put your comment on the Telegram page or on the WhatsApp page or on the Mixlr page. Let's have your comment or your testimony so that when we just get there we’ll just be reading it. It would only be the brethren who are here physically that we’ll be asking. Is there anything you have to say? Was there any particular takeaway from "Little Foxes, Hindrances to Reward"? Does anybody have anything to say? Before we move on again today to look at the topic we have for today. Does anybody have anything to say? Let me allow others to say one or two things before I say what I have to say and then we move on to what we have today. Okay, we have just one person having something to say. [Speaker 2] Praise the Lord. What I have to say is a challenge that the message posed on my personal heart because if it is a big sin, obvious sin, you see people around you that will say the way you are going like this, you better be careful. But little foxes, they are very quiet according to the message. They are unpronounced. Sometimes they are hidden and the only person that knows it is the person that is doing it. If self-deception enters and you say it doesn't matter, it will be growing. That's a challenge to my heart that I need to keep doing soul searching for me to be sure that I'm not indulging some little foxes in my heart. If it's fornication, somebody will see you and say catch you, if it is lying, but they are small, they are seemingly insignificant and it pose some fear into my heart to keep doing soul searching to be sure that none is trying or working in my vineyard. Praise the Lord. [Speaker 1] Thank you so much our sister for that. It was when the Lord was pointing my attention to the issue of little foxes that honestly I began to appreciate many prayers of David who walked very closely with God. At a point, David said, "Lord, please keep me from presumptuous sin. Don't let them have grip over me." At another point again, he said, "Search me, Oh Lord, know my heart. Try me, Oh Lord, know my thoughts. See if there is any evil way in me and lead me in the path of everlasting life." Men who walk very closely with God, you find this same thing. You find Paul saying the same thing, "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." You find Jeremiah saying the same thing, "Let us return to God and examine our ways." You always see this likelihood of little foxes. I could think back to some things that one did one did not even notice it but the Lord calls one attention. I don't know whether I've said that here before. I was to pay somebody some money with some notes. One of the notes was not very good. Incidentally, somebody gave me that note with the money and I didn't see it. So I wanted to spend that particular note out of the money. When I wanted to pay the person I wanted to buy something from, I deliberately put that note in between good notes so that the person will not see it. Then I gave the person. So the person just counted and I was going when the Holy Ghost said, "Wole, what have you just done?" I didn't really see what I did. He said, "What have you just done?" "What have I just done? Nothing. Oh, so you can now do to people what you pray men don't do to you. So you could now give to people something consciously and deliberately that you know if they see it they will not take it and you gave it to them deceitfully. When did you become this deceitful? Because of just a note, just a 200 or 100-naira note you cannot be honest and true." That was when I realized. "Abeg, they gave me too and I'm giving it out. That was how they gave me too." I had to call the person and say, "Sorry, one of the notes..." You know that subsequently when I have a note that is not good and I want to give to somebody, the correct thing is now, "Madam, see this note oh, please don't mind it’s not too good." "Ah, no problem Nigeria money, Nigeria money Madam give me." So you gave the person consciously. You know, sometimes the foxes already accumulate and you just say Nigerian way of life, Nigerian mentality. We are privileged here but we don't have an abiding city here. We have a goal here. Our abiding city is in heaven. We are not here. May God help us honestly. May God help us. It's something that as our sister said, a cause for cross-examination, a cause for us to know that if you are not humble in heart, and I mentioned that last week, it calls for humility. If you are someone who is arrogant, the proud in spirit, you will not even when the Holy Ghost is correcting you and He's calling your attention you’ll say, "So what?" You’ll start justifying even the evil that you are doing. So honestly, that's what I want to bring out. For the kind of urgency we give to evangelism because evangelism has to do with when He was about to go. Before that, when He was about to die, He was to leave them. They are to remain. He now said look, there is a commandment I want to give you. You see this one cannot operate among men who are not disciples indeed. Among disciples indeed, in my words, you are my disciples indeed. Now, look at something that makes me afraid. It is those disciples indeed that will know the truth. So that a man believes and does not continue in His word, he's not a disciple indeed. And the unfortunate thing for such people, even though they believe, is that they will not know the truth. They will not know the truth. They will have given their lives but they will be in several bondage. Because it is the truth that sets free. There are several people inside church today that are still in bondage to so many things. Some are in bondage to their anger. It’s a minister will say, "Jesus apart, I will deal with you. God apart, I will deal with you." So I don't understand, where you want to reconcile the statement? When you see when some believers get angry, what they do in their anger, you will know that they are under bondage to that anger. There's nothing wrong about being angry, in fact the Bible says it, be angry but sin not. To me sir, some people said because I do get angry that I'm a sinner, that I'm not a good Christian. I don't understand that preaching. What I understand is that your sun should not go down on your anger. What I understand is that when you are angry, you don't sin. You still are able to have control of yourself and not because you are angry, you can say anything, you can do anything, you can act anyway and you say, "Actually, you see it's because I was angry." See the desire to grow. You get the point I'm making. Everything is in levels. I keep telling people, growth has to do with levels. It's just like I was speaking with somebody, I don't know what I said. He said, "No, sir, it’s not ge-ar, it's gear. It's G-E-A-R, so it cannot be ge-ar, it's gear." That was the first time I was hearing that. You get the point I'm making, that knowledge is in level. It's the same thing. You find it in physical life. Look at what happened in my backyard some months back. Two bricklayers and a laborer, they were working behind in the backyard of our house. They saw a rabbit home. They wanted to kill the rabbit. They began to dig the whole compound. They dug, dug, dug, dug. When I came, what happened in this place? Who entered this place? What? Then they said, "Ah, Daddy, Mommy, we saw the hole, a rabbit and we were trying to make sure they pull use the rabbit. That's why we have dug this place." They dug from morning till around that time, they didn't find the rabbit. About three weeks later, my plumber came to work. After they had finished the fence we were now to run our own water way behind that fence that they did. So my plumber came there to run the water point for us. But my plumber just as he was walking, "Ah," he said, "Daddy, there's a rabbit here." I said, "Eh? How do you know?" He said, "I know now." He said, "Okay, okay. This is the hole." He didn't do any digging. "How do you know?" He said he knows now that that's what they do when they were growing up. And he went, he took a plantain in my backyard, took one plantain, cut it to have a short like a something not too long, then he now removed the main back. You know the plantain, if you are opening it, it will be acting like a pipe. Blow into the plantain leave, took it inside the hole, kept on blowing through that thing with his mouth. Rabbit came to that place and died and then he brought it out without any digging. Some three men dug the whole compound, they did not kill the rabbit. You get the point I'm making. What I discovered about this matter of growing, what I discovered is that when people try to follow the word of Jesus, for example, if they slap you on the right, you let them slap you on this, turn the other, do good to your enemies. When somebody tries to do that by his own power and he could not, instead of doing it through Jesus that is in us, you know we cannot live the life of God by our power. That's another mistake some believers are making. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me because it's able to live through Christ, some believers don't even know it. So they want to do things by their power. If they could not do it, you know he’s not able to do it, what the next thing? They will now be preaching and talking as though those things are not possible. That's why they stop continuing in His word. When you now say look, "Bro, no, the Bible says we should not resist an evil person." He’ll say that one is the Bible, let's face reality. But because they have tried it and it was not their reality, you get the point I'm making, so they don't think that anybody will be able to do that. And I'm telling you, that is what has defined the message of some pastors. That is what has defined the message of some teachers of the word of God because they tried in their strength and they failed, they now begin to talk and act as though this thing is not possible for us as believers. As a result, continuing in the word of Jesus now becomes, you know, impossible. Everything is in levels. I keep telling people, growth is in levels. We can still go a little deeper. Jesus' love can be sweeter. Take me, Lord, a little deeper, deeper. Deep-er. Take me, Lord, a little deeper, Jesus' love can be sweeter. Take me, Lord, a little deeper, deeper. You know, we can still go a little deeper. We can still go forward. That's the first thing that I'm calling to our attention. There is a greatest commandment which is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. And the second is like unto it, that you love your neighbor as yourself. And Jesus said on these two hang all the law and the prophets. That is a level. It’s a commandment. It is one good way to know evil. But that's not the level that we are dealing with today. But even if you can get to that level, is it not a great level? It’s a great level. There's now a new commandment that is now higher than that. And this one that is higher is saying a new commandment I give you. There were two, these two have always been. When they were asking Jesus, "What is the greatest command?" He said the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul. The second like unto it. But the same person at the point of His death now said, "I have a new commandment for you." This one is not meant for men who are at the periphery. It's not meant for men like Judas. It's not meant for such kind of people. They don't get there. They can never reach there. They are still struggling with loving people as themselves. Look at the kind of love that that man has. Look at the kind of love! Is it a prayer that somebody should do that to you? Is it a prayer? Is it a desire? You know, there are men like that. They are among us but they are not of us. They are not of us. I want you to pray that God, men who are not of us, men who are not of us, Oh God Almighty, choose for me my friends. Choose for me my partners, choose for me in relationship, choose for me in my husband, choose for me in my wife, choose for me in my companion, choose for me, Lord, choose for me, Lord, you who know the hearts of all men. You who know the hearts of all men. You know the hearts of all men. And I also want us to pray for the church. Oh God Almighty, Baba, Baba, break us. Baba, send awakening into the church. Lord, send awakening. Lord, awaken us. Lord, awaken us. Lord, awaken us. Lord, wake us up. Lord, steer us up. Oluwa so wa ji. Oluwa so wa ji. Oluwa so wa ji. In the name of Jesus. Thank you, Everlasting Father. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Our Father in heaven, we are grateful for Your word that You have sent to us again. Thank you for the authenticity of Your word and the validity of Your word. We have heard You. We heard You loud and clear, how that Lord, even if we can just reach the point of loving our neighbor as ourselves, we will have been great. But Lord Your desire for us is that we grow greater, we go higher, and that's why You are giving a new commandment. And You have expressed it that it is for disciples indeed. Because it is not something that is going to be very, very easy. Oh Lord our God, we fall back on You. We are asking the Lord You will release grace upon us to move to this higher realm in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, we cannot do it on our own. It is not of him that will nor of him that runs, but it's of You that show mercy. It is You that work in us both to will and to do of Your good pleasure. Lord, please, let there be an outworking of this that You have said in our lives in the name of Jesus. As many that have heard this word and as many that will still hear it, Father we are asking Oh Lord by the power of Your Spirit, in Your infinite mercy, let there be an outworking of this word in our hearts and in our minds in the name of Jesus. In this generation, Lord, at this time that everybody is concerned about his or her own things, we are asking Oh Lord that You will move us to this higher realm that You are talking about in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Everlasting Father. Thank you for Your son that You have used again tonight. Oh Lord our God, let this be practical in his life in the name of Jesus. Let there be a practical outworking of this word in his life in the name of Jesus. Let him be an evidence of this that he has spoken, that You have spoken through him, make him an evidence of it that we will know, yes, it can work in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you for hearing us pray. As we go, please keep raising this word in our heart until it becomes flesh in us and dwell among us. For it is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. The grace in fellowship. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forevermore. Amen. 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 hit. Our regular activities are: Discipleship class, every Monday 5:00 PM; Adolescent and singles class, 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 outreaches, and everyday counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location, Life Camp by the First Bridge, Ilere community, opposite Berejoy filling station along Ijeere 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.