Be Ye Holy for I Am Holy (4)

[Song plays] [Speaker 1] To achieve a fellowship cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly home. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 2] We thank Him for His goodness. Honestly, it has been God. We know it is still God and we are persuaded that it will yet be God in the name of Jesus Christ. Last week, we had some technical issues that could not allow us to that could not allow us to— [Background noise] Praise the Lord. [Unclear: technician?] is working. Don’t worry. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. We thank our God again as we commence this evening. We appreciate Him for His mercies. We appreciate Him for His love. Last week, I was trying to say that last week we had a little technical issue that did not allow our Telegram to be on. Even the Mixlr record, we later realized that it was not very clear. But what we intend to do this evening as much as possible, we will still try to recollect some of the things we raised last week. We recollect some of them today and then we will press on to the things we needed to look at this week. So as we connect together, our brethren on Mixlr, our brethren on Telegram, we trust the Lord this evening that it will be a time of refreshing in the name of Jesus Christ. So let's have a word of prayer. Let us pray. Our Father and our God, we thank You for Your love. We thank You for Your mercies. We thank You for Your goodness. We thank You for all who You are. We thank You for all that You are to us. Lord, as we fellowship together this evening, as we fellowship in the scriptures, as we fellowship one with another, Lord we pray: Let Your Spirit work within us among us in the name of Jesus. As we link up with our brethren on Telegram, as we link up our brethren on Mixlr, Lord we pray this evening that God Almighty, it will be a time that You will meet each and every one of us. Whether with that are here physically or online, You will meet us where we need You most in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank You, Eternal Father. Blessed be Your holy name, our God. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen. Now let’s go to the book of Peter. We have been considering First Peter chapter one. We have been looking at this matter of “Be ye holy for I am holy.” In the past three weeks of looking at that topic, we have been looking at First Peter chapter one from verse one. We actually stopped at verse 15 thereabouts. And what we have been looking at, I’ll just like us to read that text again as we try to press on in what we have to do today, while we will try as much as possible to recollect many of the things we said last week because the recording was not clear and we could not upload it for our brethren who want to listen to it on the website. So, 1 Peter 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into. Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to your former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’” So far in the past three weeks, we have been looking at this matter of “Be ye holy,” and what we have raised from the book of First Peter is that the reason why we must be holy in all manner of our conduct is because we are realizing who we are. We are not just anybody. We are not hopeless people. We are people who have hope in Jesus. Number two is the truth that God has prepared for us an inheritance, an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, that does not fade away, and is reserved for us in heaven. Again, the truth that even though we may be going through trials, some trials now, we can greatly rejoice because of what God has prepared for us which cannot be compared with any earthly things. And lastly, Peter told us that there is a need for us to realize that what was prepared for us is something the prophet of old prophesied about, is something angels desire to look into, is something so precious that we cannot afford to live anyhow, but to live in expectation of what God has planned for us. And so, it was based on that that Peter said it is important for us as obedient children, verse 14, not conforming ourselves to our former lusts, our life in ignorance, our life of sin, but as He who called us is holy, we ought to be holy in all our conduct because it is written, “Be you holy for I am holy.” Now last week, what we raised fortnight ago was that we are going to look at where Peter took this scripture from. “Be you holy for I am holy.” I said Peter took this scripture from the Old Testament. Mind you, His preference in this place in the verse 15, He said, “But as He who called you is holy, be you holy in all your conduct.” I said it is important for us to know that holiness relates to conduct. Righteousness is about faith; holiness is about behavior, how we behave. And I said that last week we’ll be looking at that dynamics of holiness. Now in our bit to look at that last week, we had a lot of technical issue that many of our brethren online could not join us. And so for the sake of so many of our brethren, we are doing what you may call a summarization of what we discussed last week. And then we move on further today. Now when Peter was talking about holiness in all conduct, holiness that affects all manner of our conduct, and he said, “Because it is written, ‘Be you holy for I am holy,’” I said when we go to where this scripture is taken from, Leviticus chapter 19, we will be able to understand everything that comes into this matter of our conduct in Leviticus chapter 19. That is where that scripture came from. Leviticus 19:1. The scripture says, “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.’” Now when you look at this scripture, this is where Peter was quoting from. Now when God raised the matter in this Leviticus chapter 19, the conduct, the issues that come into the matter of this holiness, the behavioral pattern, the conduct of the children of Israel that God was looking at and God was summarizing or God was to highlight as holy conduct, we can understand it from Leviticus chapter 19. That is why in Leviticus chapter 19, we can see the dynamics of God's holiness, that is the behavioral pattern that God was expecting from the people, the way they are to conduct themselves that God was expecting from them, which God was describing as holiness. So from this shadow, because the Old Testament is the shadow of the things that are to come, we will be able to have insight into the dynamics of God's holiness. What are the behavioral patterns that God considered with them as holy conduct? And then from that, we can begin to interpolate. We can begin to have a better understanding of manner of conduct that sum up into God's holiness. Immediately the Lord said, “Speak to the congregation of the children of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord am holy.” God began to highlight issues that come into this conduct for them to be holy just the way the Lord God is holy. And the first matter the Lord raised, beginning from the verse three, after He said, “Be you holy for I the Lord your God am holy,” the first matter the Lord raised was every one of you shall revere his mother and his father. NLT: “Each of you must show respect for your mother and your father.” NIV: “Each of you must respect his mother and father.” The Message: “Everyone must respect mother and father.” KJV: “Ye shall fear every man his mother and his father.” Amplified: “Each of you must give due respect to mother and father.” The matter is this: God was to begin to talk about what it means for them to be holy just the way the Lord God is holy. And the first thing the Lord said about His holiness, the behavioral pattern that God was expecting from the people, the first thing the Lord said was about the home. And you'll be wondering, “Why is it that the matter of the home is the matter that is coming first?” God wants to make them see that they need to be holy as the Lord God is holy, and the first thing the Lord said about His holiness was a matter of the home. And you'll be wondering, “Why is it a matter of the home?” I want you to understand this very well. If there is no home, there is no church. What you are describing as church or fellowship is not the building. Or is it the building? Is it the building? What do you call church? It's the people that are inside. Those people, where do they come from? They come from different homes. Is that not true? Now it means there is no fellowship or church that can be spiritual than the home that gather inside. It is the spirituality of the family that you see inside church. If families are not spiritual, no church is spiritual. Because what you are calling church is family that come. So if all the families are wicked people, what you are calling church is wicked church. If all the families are useless, irresponsible individuals, when they gather inside church, what are you calling church? Useless and irresponsible church. It is what is at home that gathers inside the church. I also need to tell you that before any kind of priesthood, before Moses, before the Law, before they began to talk about Covenant, the Levitical order, all those tabernacle of this, all those temple of Solomon, the first institution was the family. What I want to make you see is that family, marriage, home comes before any fellowship, any church, any kind of gathering that you may want to talk about. And it should also interest you that when you talk about workers, government workers, where do they come from? Home. When you say private sector, where do they come from? Homes. When you say employees and employers, where do they come from? Home. When you say students in our university, where do they come from? Home. A child cannot be a vagabond at home and be a responsible student in university. The troubles in the university is the troubles of our home. The troubles in the church is the troubles of the home. All things that you are seeing here and there, where is the root? The root is at home. The root is at home. And so, it is very, very crucial for you to see that when God was trying to make the Israelites to see the matter of holiness, the matter that God raised first and foremost with His people is the matter of the home. And I want to demonstrate something to us. We read this that scripture fortnight ago. We want to look at it side by side again as we look at this matter of holiness and the home. What I'm trying to make you see is that for example, you cannot be a wicked, a husband that is not faithful to the wife, and then you become a pastor that is faithful to the church. It's not possible. You cannot be a wife that does not submit to the husband and then you now become a submissive deaconess in the church. It is not possible. You cannot be a rebellious son or daughter and then you now become an obedient bachelor or spinster inside the church. Those things, they seriously are seriously interwoven. And I would that we see that scripture. Let's see that scripture we read when we were looking at the matter of grace. Titus chapter two. We'll also read Timothy again today just to buttress the point. We have looked at Titus chapter two before, so we just want to make reference to it as it connects to the matter of God's dynamics of holiness. God's dynamics of holiness opens with: No correct home, no correct church. No home, no church. No home, no church. That's the reality. Titus chapter two. I read from verse one. We have read the scripture before. “But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience. Older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things.” What will they be teaching? Verse four. What will they be teaching? That they may admonish younger women to love their husbands. Are you seeing something there? To love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. Please, if the word of God will not be blasphemed, where is the matter coming from? When you see people reproaching Christianity today, where is the problem coming from? It's coming from home. It says, “Likewise, exhort younger men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine, integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing to say. Slaves must obey their masters and do their best to please them. They must not talk back or steal, but they must show themselves to be entirely trustworthy and good. They will make the teaching about our God and Savior attractive in every way.” For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared. So what actually when grace came to make us to live holy, where is the first place that grace is applied to here? Where was it applied to? Home. So that a grace of God that is not showing forth at home, that is showing in the church, is a lie. It is not genuine. It is not real. It is not true. It is because people are fake at home, that is why you have several problems inside the church. So when you are looking at God's dynamics of holiness, the dynamics of God's holiness is that as far as God is concerned, when God wants to harvest the matter, when God wants to begin to look at the life of anybody, is God first coming to the church? Is he first coming to the synagogue? Is he first coming to the temple? Where is he first going to? Whether the home is in order. Because people that will go to the synagogue and the temple, they will be coming from where? They will be coming from the home. If there is no reverence for father and mother at home, if there is no faithfulness and truthfulness at home among spouses, whatever we want to have inside church, is for what? It's a lie. Look at how God put it again in Timothy. Just to make you understand this dynamics. This dynamics is so crucial that we understand this dynamics. Look at First Timothy chapter three. I begin from verse one. It's a familiar scripture, but I want us to look at it. This is where we will close today. Just comparing these two things and then we pray. “This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, what does he desire? A good work. A noble task.” NLT says: “A honorable responsibility.” If you want to be an elder, you want to be a president of the fellowship, you want to be the Bible study secretary, you want to be in charge of the technicals, like we have our technicals helping us to make sure that all our brethren are connecting with us everywhere they are, it's a wonderful thing to be in this service. You want to be a preacher of the gospel, it is a honorable thing. There's nothing bad about it. So don't think that I am ridiculing church. No, I am not. But I am only trying to make you understand the dynamics of God's holiness. If you want to understand the holiness of God, any man who does not put home right does not understand the holiness of God he wants to worship. He doesn't understand it. That person does not. If he truly understands it, he knows it begins with the home. It says it is true: If a man desire a noble task, then it went on: “Now the overseer or the bishop or the elder…”—because that word is used for bishop, is the word for overseer, is the word for an elder. So when you say bishop today, actually it just means an elder. It's unfortunate the way we have taken bishop and so many things that are wrong with us today. But bishop simply means an elder, an overseer. He says an overseer must be above reproach. It is important if you want to get anybody to oversee something in the house of God, he must be above reproach. Now he now began to list several things about this matter of being above reproach. Please, what is the first thing that is in your own Bible? What is the first thing in your own Bible? Must be the husband of one wife. Must be the husband of one wife. Are you seeing it? NLT says he must be faithful to his wife. You know what I mean by being the husband of one wife? It means he must not be a phone with two SIMs. You know what I mean by that? As he's having the wife at home, he's not true and faithful to that one. He's still doing some extramarital thing somewhere. He's not committed to that one. He's not real to that one. He's not true to that one. So when you find any man who is not true to the wife that he married, who is not faithful to that wife, who is not committed to that wife, and you place him over the things of God, you are a blind person. No matter what that man wants to do, he's not holy. He's not a vessel to bear the things of God. He's not a vessel to bear the things in the sanctuary of God. Have you seen the matter? If you read on and on, must be faithful to his wife, he must exhibit self-control, live wisely, have good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home. Have you seen that again? The home. He must be able to teach. He must not be given to wine. Not given to wine, not greedy for money, gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous. One who rules his house well. Have you seen three times now the matter have touched the home? Faithful to his wife, bring guests into his home, being very, very accommodating. You need to check whether he's someone that even his neighbors cannot greet him well. You need to know the kind of relationship he have with his neighbors. You need to know how accommodating he is. When he's someone that “They don't want to understand me, I understand myself,” don't make such men leaders. When people have personality problem, don't make them leaders. It is because we are not checking these things about people. You know what we normally check about people? We normally check their spiritual gift. Once somebody is very, very evangelical, he want 30 souls, he can speak in tongues, he can do miracle, he can raise the dead, we say, “Wow! He must be our leader.” It is not about spiritual gift. It's not about their gift. The matter of his wife, the matter of relationship to people at home, and you see, he says, “One who rule his house well, having his children in submission, he must manage his own family well, with children who respect and obey him.” Have you seen the matter? Where are we looking for leaders? In the church. Where is the basis to pick them? From the home. So don't come into church and say this brother normally raise the dead, this brother can cast out demons, and sometimes all his tithes always come, he support the ministry powerfully. Those are not the basis of picking leaders. What I'm trying to make you see is that the matter that God raised in that Old Testament when He said, “Be you holy for I the Lord am holy,” now in this matter of My holiness, the things to check: make sure that there is correct respect at home, make sure that home is okay. Do you see? Do you see that what God is saying is that this peace you want to put inside the temple, don't you see that when you put Hophni and Phinehas inside the temple, what happened in the temple? Men who disregarded their father and was busy sleeping with women that come for worship, was behaving with the sacrifice. Look at what happened to the whole of Israel. Look at how Israel was wasted and was useless because of the life of those two priests. Why? When you check family life, if they are sleeping with women in the temple, is that Hophni faithful to his wife? Is that how to be faithful to his wife? When Eli could not have his children under subjection, what do you see inside the temple? Is that not what we are facing today? Pastors sleeping with choir leaders. If we don't go with the pattern of God, we will always have problem. The dynamics of God's holiness is that the matter of holiness is first a matter of the home. It’s first a matter of let everybody look inward. What is your conduct at home? Who are you? Who are you at home? What kind of husband are you? What kind of wife are you? That's where it begins from. What kind of child are you? What kind of employee are you? What kind of employer are you? Are you an employee that make the word of God not to be attractive? Are you a wife or a husband that allow the word of God to be reproached? You cannot disgrace God and then now come and be doing one stupid useless service inside fellowship and say you fear God. No, no, no, it is not that way. It is not that way. In bringing that matter to a close, I want us to go back again to that Leviticus where we are reading from. Leviticus chapter 19. And the Lord said to Moses saying, “Speak to all the congregation of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. Everyone, each one of you must show respect for father and mother, and you must always observe My sabbath, days of rest, for I the Lord, I am your God.” Now you begin to see something very, very crucial in this place which I made reference to that time. If you look at this place, vis-a-vis Exodus chapter 20, you'll be wondering: These things, are they contradicting themselves? No. Look at Exodus 20. Exodus 20. Look at Exodus 20. Are you there? I begin from verse one. It's a familiar scripture, but I want us to look at it. This is where we will close today. Just comparing these two things and then we pray. And God spoke all these words saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the father upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands to those who love Me and keep My command. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath day of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gate. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the earth which the Lord your God is giving you.” Then it moves to: “You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house nor covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor.” God was speaking to the people. Now all the people witnessed the thundering, the lighting flash, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. When people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. And they said to Moses, “You speak with us, we will hear. But let not God speak with us, lest we die.” And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you that His fear may be before you so that you may not sin.” So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall not make anything to be with Me—gods of silver or gold, you shall not make for yourself.’” And then he began to raise many other things about that. Now when you look at this place, you know why I took time to read this thing? What do you notice in this place? When God was speaking directly to the people, you will notice that the things of God came first before the home and then the society. You see that divide? He first talk about God, then honor father and mother, He gave the promise, then He now moved to society, relating with society. He now moved to it. But when you come to Leviticus, you see reverence mother and father first before He now said keep My Sabbath. Are you getting the point what I’m trying to make you see? Now what is the connection between this and what we read in Leviticus? I will answer this question much more later as we go on. But let me just give the hints today. Romans chapter 13. I just want to give the hints today. Romans chapter 13. Are you there? I read from the verse eight. Please follow very carefully. I read from the NLT translation. “Pay all your debts, except the debt of love for others. You can never finish paying that. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill all the requirements of God's law. For the commandment, ‘You shall not commit adultery. You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. You shall not covet.’ If there be any other commandment, all are summed up in this saying, namely: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The hint I’m trying to make you see is that if there is any command that God has given, a love for God that does not show forth in our relationship with men is a scam. I take it again. A love for God, a fear of God, a worship of God that does not show forth in our relationship with men is a scam. A man cannot be false to his neighbor and say he's true to God. I will expand that much more later. But the reason I'm showing you the interplay in that place, why you see an interplay, you see in Exodus when God was speaking to them directly, He said, “These are My—this is what you must do towards Me, then towards parents, then towards your neighbor.” When it came with Leviticus, He said, “Moses tell them, reverence parents,” before he now talked about the Sabbath. It's because there is a strong connection between the two. When I want to show you again in that of the Lord Jesus, they asked Jesus which is the greatest commandment? He said the greatest and the first commandment, that you should love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. And the second is like it. You can't separate it from it. You can't separate it from it. You can't separate it from it. What I'm trying to make you see very, very clearly is that while God is the first object of our worship, what Jesus said, “Seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.” While God is the first object of our worship, we must understand that the kingdom of that God is about people. The kingdom of God is not in eating and in drinking, but in righteousness, in peace, follow peace with all men, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. That kingdom is about people. When God says, “Love me,” if love is for God, you cannot do to men what God says should not be done. If you truly love God, if God is truly feared by you, if God says honor father, if God is truly feared by you, you cannot dishonor father. If you dishonor father, it's not father who said honor me. It’s God who said honor father. So you cannot fear a God and dishonor father. Because it's not the father. In the same way, it is not the husband that says, “Wife submit to me.” It is not the wife that says, “Husband love me.” It is God that said, “Husband love your wife.” It is God that said, “Wife submit to husband.” So if you are running to one church to worship a God that you have disregarded, you are a liar. If you are running to one church to go and worship a God that you have disregarded, you are a liar and the truth is not in you. It is because people are fake at home, that is why you have several problems inside the church. So when you are looking at God's dynamics of holiness, the dynamics of God's holiness is that the primary place to the primary thing the primary place of holiness is the home. It is after that—you will see it. You will see in that Leviticus that we are reading. God first said, “Everybody should reverence parents,” before He now said, “Keep My Sabbath.” We are going there. If you look at that Leviticus 19 that we read, reverence father and mother, then keep My Sabbath. And you can see that when it comes to conduct, because anybody does not reverence parents, where will he be taught to keep Sabbath? Is it not at home you teach them about Sabbath? “Teach these things that I gave you, teach your children so that your children will teach their children.” So if you don't teach them, how will they reverence Sabbath? The dynamics of God's holiness: let everyone look outward. Look at home. First, let everyone look outward. Look at home. It’s not only about men, let's take it too about women. First Timothy chapter five. Look at what he says about women. I read from verse five. Let me start so it can be clearer to you. Let me take it from three. He says, “The church should care for widows who have no one else to care for her.” Are you seeing he’s talking about women now? “One who is fully alone in this world.” That is, no children to take care of the woman. Has placed her hope in God. Night and day she asks God for help and spends much time in prayer. Because no husband, no children. He now said, “But the widow who lives only for pleasure is spiritually dead.” When a widow don’t have husband, don’t have children, and she's even moving from party to party, drinking with this, drinking with that, being carried about by this man, carried about by another man, looking for several sugar daddies since there's no one particular husband now, that one is not a Christian. It’s spiritually dead. Look at the next thing, verse seven. “Give these instructions to the church so that the widows you support will not be criticized.” Verse eight: “But if anyone does not provide for his own, especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. But those who won't care for their own relatives, especially those living in the same household, have denied what they believe. Such people are worse than unbelievers.” Have you seen something? Have you seen how God placed our responsibilities within the family? So when a man closes his eyes, when somebody closes his eyes to be responsible at home and he's responsible in the church, what do you call that person? An unbeliever is better than that person. The person may be speaking in tongues, may be casting out devils. He may be using all kinds of charismatic ability. He may be able to teach. But check these things. It is not checking these things about people that is giving fellowships and churches today a lot of problem. We are not looking at what we should look at. We are placing too much attention on people's spiritual gift. Now, there's nothing wrong with spiritual gift. But we must put things in their balance. That's what we are saying. Now verse nine. He says in the verse nine, “A widow who is put on the list for support must be a woman who is at least 60 years old and was faithful to her husband.” Are you seeing that again? Are you seeing that again? A widow now she want to now take the widow you want to put on the list. When it comes to age, at least she should not be young people should be able to work now, let them also start and do some things. But let it be at least 60. That person will not be able to do anything again at that age. Some people retire at 60. Is that not true? So he’s looking at people who may not be able to do things again. It doesn't mean that widows who are 50 or 45 will not be supported. But the point here is looking at ordinarily at those who ordinarily will not be able to do anything again, meaning that because he has said earlier that younger widows should remarry. You get the point I'm trying to make? Now but you know where I'm going in that matter is that apart from the fact that she must be 60 years old, is the fact that she, that widow, that widow must have been faithful to her husband. It says, “unless she has been the wife of one man, well reported for her good works.” Look at the next thing. That good works, colon: “If she has brought up children.” So the first two things that they counted, where was it counted from? Home. So when you see a woman who is a widow and you see that before she became a widow, she has moved from Mr. Robinson to Mr. Robston to Mr. Robston to Mr. Robsen. Mr. Robsen to Mr. Robson. Are you understanding me? All of these kind of movement. He’s trying to make you see that a woman who could not successfully stay under one man is not really a spiritual material. If she's not accepting the authority of one, threw that one away, took another one, and what does the scripture teaches? Wife, adapt yourself to your own husband. So if the woman have been here and there, Papa is saying that she could not have been holy. Now, the reason why I take time to demonstrate all of these things to us is for us to know that several things today that we do in the church, we may be surprised on that day He will tell you, “I don't know you, you workers of iniquity.” What we are saying is that you cannot be a civil servant who is corrupt in the office and suddenly you're a pastor who is faithful in the church. That is a lie. You cannot be stealing government money and then say you don't steal God's money. You cannot be an employer who does not pay workers their salary and then suddenly you become a kind worker inside the church. There is a tie between who we are before what we do. What I'm trying to make you see about God's dynamics of holiness is that the life of the worker is more important than the work of the worker. The life of the worker. Where do you get their life from? From the home. The life of the worker is more important to God before the work of the worker. In the church, we are coming to fellowship. It is from the home we know the kind of people who gather in the church. This is a very, very, very crucial thing when we are looking at the dynamics of God's holiness. And so, it becomes so crucial to put these matters together. It becomes so crucial to relate these issues side by side in our understanding of our service to God today, to know that when we want to talk about believers in the church and we are talking about holiness in all manners of your conversation, we are talking about first and foremost: what is your conduct at home? Who are you? Who are you at home? Who are you in your workplace? What kind of person are you? That is very crucial to the Lord. And in bringing that matter to a close, I want us to go back again to that Leviticus where we are reading from. Leviticus chapter 19. It says, and the Lord said to Moses saying, “Speak to all the congregation of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. Each one of you must show respect for father and mother, and you must always observe My Sabbath, days of rest, for I the Lord, I am your God.” Now you begin to see something very, very crucial in this place which I made reference to that time. If you look at this place vis-a-vis Exodus chapter 20, you’ll be wondering: these things, are they contradicting themselves? No. Look at Exodus 20. Exodus 20. When God was speaking directly to the people, you will notice that the things of God came first before the home and then the society. You see that divide? He first talk about God, then honor father and mother, He gave the promise, then He now moved to society, relating with society. He now moved to it. But when you come to Leviticus, you see reverence mother and father first before He now said keep My Sabbath. Are you getting the point what I'm trying to make you see? It is because there is a strong connection between the two. You know He said these things that I gave you, teach your children so that your children will teach their children. So if you don't teach them, how will they reverence Sabbath? The dynamics of God's holiness: Let them show it at home and repay their parents. This is something that pleases God very much. This is something—have you seen the connection between the Old and the New? This is something that pleases God very much when God see children repaying their parents. It is something that pleases God very much. Now, the reason why I'm taking time to demonstrate all of these things to us is for us to know that why God is the first object of our worship, what Jesus said, “Seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.” While God is the first object of our worship, we must understand that the kingdom of that God is about people. The kingdom of God is not in eating and in drinking, but in righteousness, in peace, follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. That kingdom is about people. When God says, “Love me,” if love is for God, you cannot do to men what God says should not be done. If you truly love God, if God is truly feared by you, if God says honor father, if God is truly feared by you, you cannot dishonor father. If you dishonor father, it's not father who said honor me. It’s God who said honor father. So you cannot fear a God and dishonor father. Because it's not the father. In the same way, it is not the husband that says, “Wife submit to me.” It is not the wife that says, “Husband love me.” It is God that said, “Husband love your wife.” It is God that said, “Wife submit to husband.” So if you are running to one church to worship a God that you have disregarded, you are a liar. If you are running to one church to go and worship a God that you have disregarded, you are a liar and the truth is not in you. It is because people are fake at home, that is why you have several problems inside the church. What I'm trying to make you see about God's dynamics of holiness is that why God is the first object of our worship, what Jesus said, “Seek you first the kingdom of God.” We must understand that the kingdom of that God is about people. You can't separate it from it. You can't separate it from it. What I'm trying to make you see very, very clearly is that why God is the first object of our worship, we must understand that the kingdom of that God is about people. When Jesus said seek you first the kingdom of God, the Bible says the kingdom of God is not in eating and in drinking, but in righteousness, in peace, follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. That kingdom is about people. When God says, “Love me,” if love is for God, you cannot do to men what God says should not be done. If you truly love God, if God is truly feared by you, if God says honor father, if God is truly feared by you, you cannot dishonor father. Because it's not the father. In the same way, it is not the husband that says, “Wife submit to me.” It is not the wife that says, “Husband love me.” It is God that said, “Husband love your wife.” It is God that said, “Wife submit to husband.” So if you are running to one church to worship a God that you have disregarded, you are a liar. If you are running to one church to go and worship a God that you have disregarded, you are a liar and the truth is not in you. It is because people are fake at home, that is why you have several problems inside the church. If you don't go with the pattern of God, we will always have problem. The dynamics of God's holiness is that the matter of holiness is first a matter of the home. It is first a matter of let everybody look inward. What is your conduct at home? Who are you? Which kind of husband are you? Which kind of wife are you? That's where it begins from. Which kind of child are you? Which kind of employee are you? Which kind of employer are you? Are you an employee that make the word of God not to be attractive? Are you a wife or a husband that allow the word of God to be reproached? You cannot disgrace God and then now come and be doing one stupid useless service inside fellowship and say you fear God. No, no, no, no, no. It is not that way. It is not that way. We close the meeting here today. Let us pray. Let us pray. God's dynamics of holiness begins with the home. It is not something to joke with. It is not something to play with. It begins with the home. On that day, may our portion, may my portion, may your portion not be, “Depart from me, you workers of iniquity.” And then they are saying, “We cast out demons in your name, we prophesied in your name.” That is about your spiritual gift. But the matter is not just about your spiritual gift, it's also about the fruit of the spirit. It's also about the fruit of the spirit. I want you to talk to the Lord. Talk to the Lord. Talk to the Lord. God's holiness, when we want to talk about holiness, is about: which kind of husband are you? Which kind of wife are you? That's where it begins from. Which kind of child are you? Which kind of employee are you? Which kind of employer are you? Are you an employee that make the word of God not to be attractive? Are you a wife or a husband that allow the word of God to be reproached? You cannot disgrace God and then now come and be doing one stupid useless service inside fellowship and say you fear God. No, no, no, it is not that way. It is not that way. Talk to the Lord. Talk to the Lord. Talk to the Lord. Bring yourself to the Lord. Check your life. Check your life. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to God. You can't be wicked and then bring sacrifices to God. No, you can't. You know all those church life is useless. No family, no church. That is the position of God. That is the position of God. What is called church is just collection of families. That is the position of God and that is why holiness begins from there. Thank You, Eternal Father. Blessed be Your holy name, our God. Thank You, our Father. Our Father, we thank You for this evening. We just commit ourselves into Your hand. Our brethren on Telegram, our brethren on Mixlr, Lord, we commit ourselves into Your hand. Lord, our God, we are just praying: Lord, help us to get things right. Help us to place our priorities right. Help us, Lord, that we will live correctly as believers. Help us, Lord, that our conduct would be that which befits the gospel in the name of Jesus. Lord, may Your name not be reproached among the Gentiles as a result of our lives in the name of Jesus. May the Gentiles not say, “Ah, this one say he's a Christian. Ah, na wa. In fact, what is the benefit of being a Christian then?” May our life not send that kind of message to unbelievers. Help us, Lord God, that we may indeed, oh Lord, be holy in all manners of our conduct in the name of Jesus. Thank You, Eternal Father. Blessed be Your holy name, our God. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen. 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. [Speaker 1] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in enriching the lives of singles and marriage through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development, and mission help. 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 outreaches and everyday counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location, Life Camp by the first bridge, Ilere community, opposite Berry 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.