Be Ye Holy for I Am Holy; Dynamics of Holiness 4

[Intro Voice] Churches and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly home from us. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 1] Let’s take one or two songs together and then we start this evening. [Singing] I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart. I will enter His courts with praise. I would say this is the day that the Lord has made. Oh, I would rejoice for He has made me glad. He has made me glad. He has made me glad. Oh, and I’m so glad. I would rejoice for He has made me glad. I would enter, I would enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart. Lord, I would enter His courts with praise. I would say this is the day that the Lord has made. Oh, I would rejoice for He has made me glad. He has made me glad. He has made me glad. And so I am so glad. Oh, I would rejoice for He has made me glad. Hallelujah, He has made me glad. And so and I am so glad. Oh, I would rejoice for He has made me glad. [Speaker 1] Lord, indeed we would rejoice because You have made us glad. Lord, unto You we give glory. Unto You we give honor. Unto You we give adoration. We appreciate You for Your love. We thank You for Your mercies. We are so grateful, Lord our God, for preservation. Thank You for preserving our lives. Thank You for preserving our expectations. Thank You, Lord, again for another time to gather to fellowship together. Thank You for the workings of Your Spirit in our midst. Thank You for Your Word that You have sent to us. Thank You for Your Word, O Lord our God, that will work in our midst by the power of Your Spirit. Thank You for Your presence here. We say, Lord, be exalted in the name of Jesus. Almighty God, unto You we gather. The Scripture says the house of Jacob will not seek You in vain. Lord, we have come. We are persuaded we will not seek You in vain in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord God, we connect together this evening with our brethren who are joining us on Telegram, with our brethren who are joining us on Mixlr. Lord, we all connect together and we say, Lord, let there be a free course for Your Spirit in our midst in the name of Jesus Christ. We pray: bread, seed for the sower, bread for the eaters. Lord, we are asking in Your mercy, let there be seed for the sower. Let there be bread for the eaters in the name of Jesus. Thank You, Eternal Father. Blessed be Your holy name, our God. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. We have been looking at "Be ye holy for I am holy." That's serving like a theme that we have been considering now for almost the past three months. Under that theme, in the past five weeks, we have been considering "The Dynamics of God’s Holiness." Holiness, the dynamics of God's holiness, is talking about what are those things that come together or that constitute holy living. What are the things that constitute it? What are the things that come together that we can say, "Yes, this is what it means to be holy"? Holiness is not about a state. Our state as believers is that we are righteous. That's our state as believers. We are righteous. By the reason of our being born again, we are the righteousness of God in Christ. So, holiness is not about a state as far as the Bible is concerned. What is about a state for us—our position—is righteousness. No believer is trying to be righteous. Every believer received the gift of righteousness. Righteousness is a gift for every believer in Christ. The Bible says you are the righteousness of God in Christ. God gave us that along with righteousness as a means to live holy. So, when we are talking about holiness, it’s about conduct. Somebody positionally may be righteous but may not be holy in conduct. The connection between these two things is when holy conduct doesn't emanate from a believer, then we begin to wonder whether that person actually met Jesus. The essence of that righteousness is that their conduct can become holy. That is the connection. The whole essence of our righteousness is that we might become holy. So, holiness is about conduct. What are those things that come into this conduct is what we have been considering for weeks now. We have been using Leviticus chapter 19 as our text. We have read from verse 1 through verse 15. Last week, what was our major concern? We looked at what it means not to cheat your neighbor. You should not cheat your neighbor. You should not rob your neighbor. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning. You shall not curse the deaf nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am the Lord. You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor nor honor the persons of the mighty. In righteousness, you shall judge your neighbor. So, holiness is about the need for us in our relationship with our neighbor, with the other man, with that other person—the need not to cheat, the need not to rob, the need not to take advantage of, the need to make sure that we are careful not to place a stumbling block before the blind. We are careful with our liberty that by the reason of my life, I don't make somebody to fall. I don't make somebody to stumble. We must be careful about injustice, particularly when it looks as if we have an upper hand in a matter. Today, I want us to move on to verse 16. "The Dynamics of God's Holiness." I am trusting the Lord that we should be able to look at verses 16, 17, and possibly verse 18 and try to look at the matters here that constitute the holiness, the dynamics, or that constitute the holiness of God. In Leviticus chapter 19 verse 16, the Scripture says: "You shall not go about as a tailbearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord." "You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him." I’ve been calling it Deuteronomy. Sorry, we are looking at Leviticus 19. That tells you, even at his best, man is still man. Even at his best, man can never be God. He is still man. Sorry, we are reading Leviticus 19. That's the text we have been using all the while. Today we are moving to verses 16, 17, and 18 if we can finish all of that. I’m trusting the Lord we’ll be able to journey far within our time and be able to finish those three verses. "You shall not go about as a tailbearer." What is one thing that characterizes holiness from that statement we just read? Gossip. Backbiting. Backlashing. To the people of God, that conduct is a conduct that does not befit the holy people of God. When you conduct your life—and it's something very common today—sometimes we don't know how much God takes these things very seriously. Tailbearing. Before I take the other one—"nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor"—what it’s trying to say there is if you are taking your stand against the life of your neighbor, a tailbearer is likely to bear false witness. When you tailbear, what you are also doing by implication is that you are standing against the life of somebody. Do not spread slanderous gossip among people. Do not try to get ahead at the cost of your neighbor’s life. I am the Lord. The backbiter, the tailbearer, what is he trying to do? He's trying to get ahead. He’s trying to bring somebody down to be ahead. I want us to see something in Psalm 34. Let's look at Psalm 34 from verse 11. [Speaker 2] "Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord." Verse 12: "Who is the man who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good?" Who is the man? Who is that person? Number one, you love life. Number two, who loves many days? Then the answer that will follow will be what it takes to have it. Look at the answer that follows in verse 13. [Speaker 3] Keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. [Speaker 4] Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. [Speaker 1] If anybody wants to live long, wants to see good days, look at it. It’s not "go and do," it's "not doing." Keep your tongue from from what? From speaking evil and then from telling lies. We have looked at the issue of telling lies—"do not cheat your neighbor, do not lie to your neighbor." We have looked at that earlier. But what I want to make you see: are you seeing a connection between you not seeing evil, you living long, and the use of the tongue? Once a tongue does evil—how do you do evil with the tongue? That is what we are reading where we are coming from. "Do not go about as a tailbearer." Don't go about backbiting. With every backbiting is a deduction from your lifespan because if you look at it, it says, "How many of you want to see good? And you want to live long? You want to see long, prosperous days? And the first requirement for that is don't be a tailbearer." Why? Because everybody who is a tailbearer stands against the life of another person. Everybody who is a tailbearer is standing against the life of another person. And so you cannot want to live long and be taking life. You can't be sowing pepper and expect to harvest orange. So, the first thing about living long—not only that, seeing good—is not only "Precious Father, preserve me. Lord God, that which is happening in Nigeria, Lord, please preserve me. I will not share in the evil of Nigeria." Wash your tongue. Wash your tongue. Wash what you say about others. Wash what you say about people. Because every tailbearer stands against the life of another person. But our concern is that tailbearing is an unholy conduct. A believer should conduct his tongue. Holiness in the tongue is no tailbearing. Tailbearing is evil. Backbiting is evil. You see, the matter of God's holiness affects every area of our life. I want to tell you something: it is in the worship of God that there is a demand for responsible living. Go and watch it. People who worship Ogun, is there any demand upon how they live? It is in the worship of God that there is a demand. Why? Because you must not forget something very crucial about the kingdom. "Thy throne, O Lord, is forever and ever. The scepter of Thy kingdom is of righteousness." The scepter of God's kingdom—you know what is a scepter? Sign of authority. What gives God authority, the authority of God's kingdom, is righteousness. "Because you have loved righteousness and have hated wickedness, therefore the Lord Your God has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your fellows." One serious demand of being a Christian is the use of the tongue. It's a very strong demand for being a Christian. Using the tongue not to destroy. Using the tongue not to kill. Using the tongue careful about backbiting. One thing I've come to realize about backbiting: when somebody backbites, somebody tells about people in a very wrong way to you, and you enjoy listening, you can be sure that he's also talking about you to some other people. What people say about others tells me so much about who they are. What people say about others, what they say about them, what they want you to see when they want to talk about them, and what they keep putting emphasis on they want you to see, tells you so much about them. You know why? You see the connection. You will see that love covers; hatred spreads strife. Hatred spreads strife. Love covers. While you are thinking that tailbearing brings down somebody to your profit, I want you to know as a Christian, if you are into tailbearing, just know that for every tailbearing, it has a corresponding deduction from your lifespan. Not only that, it also bears on the good you will enjoy in life. It says, "Do you want long life and do you also want to see good?" Two things. Then begin with your tongue. Mind what you say about people. Tailbearing. You see how this thing, so much is the emphasis on this thing, that you will notice that in 1 Timothy chapter 5—look at 1 Timothy chapter 5. Look at what the Bible says about widow marriage, widowhood. My focus is not so much on widowhood, but I want to point out something. It says from verse 9: "Do not let a widow under sixty years old be taken into the number, and unless she has been the wife of one man, well reported for good works; if she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the saints' feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work." Verse 11: "But refuse the younger widows (young women who lose their husband). Refuse the younger widows, do not take them into the list. For when they have begun to grow wanton against Christ, they will desire to marry, having condemnation because they have cast off their first faith." Verse 13: "And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not. Therefore I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully." Are you seeing something very vital? The idea here is not about whether people should remarry or not remarry. That’s not my focus. If you decide not to marry, if there's a situation where the husband died and the wife is still young, or the wife died and the husband is still young, there's room for remarrying. Those who preach that the love is both in life and in death, people who remarry are not good Christians—I don't know where they got it. When somebody dies and somebody is still young, there's provision to remarry. But the matter is not remarrying. That’s not what I'm focusing on. The matter is that there is a concern about gossip and busybody. There is a serious concern that, "Look, so if you are not remarrying, that’s not the issue. If you are not remarrying and you are committed to Jesus, you are busy doing what is right, there's no problem about that." But what I want to make you see is that there is a divine concern that God is concerned about what people say about people. That is what I'm trying to make you see. That moreover if they don't marry now, they will become busybodies, beginning to say what they ought not to say. Beginning to go about with tailbearing, saying things. Please make them remarry, the younger ones, so that such things will not happen. The burden I'm communicating to you is not whether you are marrying or you are not remarrying. I'm showing you a divine burden that it concerns God so much what we say as individuals about other people. It’s something that bothers God. And it is one strong conduct in our holiness. It's one thing that if you want to have a walk with God, if you want to live a holy life, you must wash your tongue. Why so many things come into holiness? One primary thing about holiness is the tongue. People may say so many things about holiness, but we are looking at the real issues about the dynamics of God's holiness. It's something that affects the totality of our life, particularly about the way we use our tongue. And why is God particular about it? It is he who is a tailbearer stands against the life of another. I want to tell you two things about that. Number one is about those who are unbelievers. Look at that Leviticus that we are looking at. Leviticus chapter 19 verse 16. Look at that scripture now very closely. It says, "You shall not go about as a tailbearer where? Among your people." "Nor shall you stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord." To be a tailbearer generally is to stand against the life of people. To be a tailbearer among your people is even more serious. You will say, "How?" Look at what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. I want to show you something here. Something very they thought it was nothing too serious, but look at how the Bible looked at it. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, just follow the reading from verse 1. "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as spiritual people but as carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, 'I am of Paul,' and another says, 'I am of Apollos,' are you not carnal? Who then is Paul? And who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord God gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him." What is that telling you? That when it is among your people, what are you destroying? So, you are not only standing against a life, you are also destroying God's temple, and then God will destroy you. The reason why we are saying these things is because as we march through the year 2023, we said our focus this year is the understanding that as far as the earth is concerned, there are just two classes of people: those who have hope and those who are hopeless. Be careful not to live your life as men who do not have hope. Because He said, "I come quickly, and my reward is with me." That statement was made now how many years ago? So, by now will it be quickly? If it was said as at then, and we are waiting, how do we describe it now? It should be, "I come very, very quickly now." If he said that was then and he's not telling a lie, if we are to now count time, he meant by that quickly then is two million years. We must deduct that time from it. So, the bottom line I'm calling our attention to is that tailbearing among the people of God is even a more serious thing. Because it brings two things together. Number one, you are standing against people’s life when you are a backbiter, when you are a tailbearer. When you now do it among God's people, you are not only standing against human life, you are destroying God's temple. And then I then wonder where you stand to pray to that God. Where do you stand? That's why many times I tell people the greatest enemy of man is himself. The greatest enemy of man is himself. Once you don't conquer yourself, the devil will conquer you. The enemies that you say on the some will say, "My brother, my mother’s elder sister, my mother, the second wife of my father, all this enchantment against me," those are not the real enemy. You see, the Bible says there's no enchantment against Jacob and there's no divination against Israel. But when Israel went to put their hand into sin, 24,000 died in one day. So, if you don't break the edge, the serpent cannot bite. What I'm calling your attention to this evening, brethren, is that one crucial part of holy living, one crucial part of living a Christian life, is this tongue. How many people have you destroyed? How many lives are you standing against? When you speak, be careful. When you stand to speak, be watchful. When you stand to speak and it's about human being, it's about people, be much more careful. And in fact, when it now becomes about a believer, be much more careful. Leviticus chapter 19. We have looked at verse 16. "Do not go about as a tailbearer among people, among your people, nor stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord." Don't shorten your life. Don't reduce the goodness you will receive. Don't shorten your life. Don't reduce the goodness. Don't shorten. Don't bring evil around yourself. It's not only about prayer. I read something and honestly I agree with it so much. The person just wrote: "That which is to be done by character, prayer cannot replace it." And I agree strongly with it. "That which is to be done by character, prayer cannot replace it." The person gave two examples—and incidentally, those are examples that I myself I know too well. The first example the person gave was the example of Abraham. He said Abraham had been praying all his life. Praying, praying, praying, praying for a child. In fact, he had prayed, he had prayed, he had prayed, he had waited at different points, and at some point in his life, he even misstepped. He went into Hagar; Ishmael came because of this singular blessing. He said but eventually when God was to visit Abraham to answer that prayer, God came in a way that character became the connecting point. He just saw three visitors. And he said, "Hello, you are just walking past. You can't just go like that. You have been walking through this is a desert. Please come and refresh yourselves." They said, "No." "So that you can pass the night here and tomorrow you will continue your journey. It’s getting dark. Come and eat with me." They said, "No." He constrained them to come and eat. The Bible says he never knew they were angels. It says show hospitality to strangers, for some have entertained angels unawares. They didn't know they were angels. And then as they were eating and they were eating, the Lord said, "According to this time next year." He gave that example. He said what if Abraham decided was somebody who is stingy? "Who are you? I don't have enough food." What if Sarah was to bring the food and say, "Is that how we'll just give our food to anybody?" The visitation was for the two of them. But look at how God brought it. He just gave an example. And honestly, I keep telling people, some of the adversities we face in life, they are product of our tongue. Your tongue can cut your life short. Your tongue can withhold good from your life. Let us wash our conduct. Holy living is a very important thing. And that’s why I said if we live holy, who are we doing good? God or ourselves? Ourselves. The husbandman that labors is the first partaker of the fruit. You are the first partaker. And if you are not laboring too, the hunger that will come, you are the first partaker. The Lord will help us in the name of Jesus Christ. Quickly following that of the tongue, we begin to talk about the heart. Holiness. Holiness. Holiness. "I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto the Lord, which is your reasonable service. Do not conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, pleasing, and acceptable will of God." You may be able to prove it. Let us daily renew our mind. Your problem is your mindset. The matter is about your mind. The battle is a battle of the mind. Let us renew our mind. Let us daily renew our mind. The more you renew your mind, the better you live. And there's nothing better about in your living than holy living. Holy living is the better living. I tell people holy living is not a church doctrine. Holy living is the product of the grace of God in us. It’s not a doctrine of a church. Because some have thought holiness to be it is one church that preaches holiness. Their own is holiness. One church, their own is love. One church, their own is faith. And that’s why I tell people I’m not a denominational person. If you said, "I go to holiness church," what happens to love? If I go to "love church," what happens to holiness? If I go to the "church of faith," what happens to—so you know what I do normally? Is God raising a man to teach love? I listen to him to learn love. Is God raising a man to teach wisdom? I listen to him to learn wisdom. Is God raising a man to teach holiness? I listen to him to get holiness. Is God raising a man to be apostle, to be pastor, to be evangelist, prophet? For the perfecting of the saint. I'm not a denominational person. I seek to tap from the grace of God in every life. There is a grace in every life. There's nothing like "my denomination, this is what we believe," because all is about God. And let me tell you, there is no one man that is all of God. There is no one man that is all of God. Every man is an aspect of God. And in fact, let me tell you, an infinitesimal aspect of God. Just a small aspect of God. Another man again, small aspect of God. Another man again, small aspect of God. They are all small, small aspects of God. And that is why I've talked about this before: it calls for humility. No matter how much you know, you are just an aspect of God. And that is why no matter how much you know, it calls for humility of mind. Don't come to where you just feel nobody you can't learn from anybody again. You just feel, "No, this is my level of revelation. There's nothing anybody want to—what do you want to say?" You just conclude. It's an unfortunate thing. I tell people the only thing, the only blessing that arrogance give you: destruction. That’s the only thing you get from arrogance. It says, "Pride goeth before a fall, a haughty spirit before destruction." The only thing that is in pride and arrogance is destruction. There's nothing else. There's nothing else in it. Now, having talked about the tongue, we begin to talk about the heart. These two things are connected. Brethren, what did I say? Connected. Do you know why? "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." So if you are struggling with your tongue, the problem is in the heart. If you are struggling with your tongue, the problem is in the heart. And what is it in the heart? That's why I was just going through this scripture. I've read this scripture all my life anyway, but not until lately last year the Lord said, "Come, let me show you the dynamics of my holiness." And I was thinking whether it's going to be a New Testament scripture. Again, I just and the Lord began to expand matters that were foreshadowed here but the essence of it in the New Testament. But they were completely foreshadowed here. Do you know that for you—two things the Bible says—for you to speak evil of your neighbor, or for you to deceive your neighbor or tell lies to your neighbor, there must be hatred in your heart. That is the reality of it. There must be hatred. There must be hatred. And when we say hatred, hatred is not just I'm not just talking about hate. I'm talking about ill feeling. I'm talking about hurt. I'm talking about grief. I'm talking about bitterness. There must be that element. There must be in your heart. I posted something on my Telegram page—I mean on my status three days ago. I said, "The devil reigns where hatred, dissimulation, envy, and enmity prevails." Anywhere you see hatred, anywhere you see envy, anywhere you see enmity, the devil reigns. The Bible consistently connected hatred and devil. Consistently. James chapter 3:13 to 17. 1 John chapter 3:11 to 15. You will see it. The Bible connect hatred and devil. In that of James, it says, "Anywhere there is envy and self-seeking, there will be confusion and every evil work." In that of John, he said, "None of you should be like Cain who is of who? Who is of the devil. He murdered his brother. Why? Because there was hatred in his heart. He is of the devil." You see, many times, may the Lord grant us understanding. May the Lord grant us insight. May we not be a people that lack understanding in the name of Jesus Christ. May we not cut short our future with our own hands in the name of Jesus Christ. You know that many times when the Bible says, "Be vigilant, be watchful, for your adversary the devil goes about," I was telling somebody this afternoon, I said many times you know what people do? "Ah, don't go to your village, oh. If you go to your village, there's one—you know the stepmom? The elder brother? He is a serious herbalist. You know, once he just see you like this, they will carry your future away. You know there is this, that your neighbor, oh, be careful, oh. He can just put something inside your food and he will just kill you." And then you see people, they will cut off from their parents, cut off from their younger brothers, cut off from their elder brothers, cut off from this in the name of witchcraft, in the name of that. But let me tell you one thing that people don't know. One major door, one major thing that opens the door for the devil is hatred in the heart. One major thing. When the Bible says, "Be vigilant, be sober," be vigilant about the state of your heart. Be vigilant about the state of your heart. The Scripture says you will eat deadly thing, it will not what? It will not harm you. The things you ought to fear, you are not fearing them. It is the idea of the witch that is flying that you are afraid of. No, they can't they are not the real enemies of your life. The real enemies of your life are the thing to first look into. They cannot prevail. Yoruba has this adage: "Ti ogiri o ba lanu..." (If the wall doesn't split, the lizard cannot enter). You see, what you need to watch is the splitting of the wall. The splitting of the wall is about the matter of the heart. The splitting of the wall. People don't know that anywhere there is hatred, anywhere there is enmity, anywhere there is envy, self-seeking, this competition—"I will revenge, I will take revenge"—anywhere there is this kind of thing, the devil reigns. Afflictions of the devil, suggestion of the devil, manipulation of the devil, conquering of the devil, they will reign. While you are busy thinking of one thing that the herbalist is doing, what will make that thing work in your life is the hatred in your heart. Watch! Be vigilant. Be sober. The Bible says in Leviticus chapter 19, it says, "You shall not hate your brother in your heart." Brethren, this task is not a small task, oh. Do you know why? That your fellow brother or sister that we are talking about, that fellow individual, he has his shortcomings, he has his limitations, he can provoke you sometimes, he can get you angry. Am I not right? Am I not correct? And I want to tell you, if the Bible is saying, "Don't hate your brother in your heart," what do you think is the place of a woman who hate her husband in her heart? What is the place of a husband who hate his wife, who hate his wife in his heart? And then he’s shouting, "Ah! In fact, I don't know. They, you know, there's this spiritual manipulation upon my life!" The manipulation is the hatred in your heart. We don't understand that there is a it is the spiritual that rules the physical. Are you aware? Are you aware of this divine truth? That it is the spiritual that rules the physical. There is nothing that has physical manifestation that does not have their origin somewhere in the spirit. Because the Bible says we need to understand that by faith we understand that the universe was framed by the Word of God, so that the things that are seen, they are not made from the things that appear. What does that tell you? Everything that you can see, everything that you call matter, has space, occupies space—what they call in science. What produced that thing that you are seeing is not what you are seeing. What produced things that you see is that there is an eternal decree, there is a Word, there is a Word governing the Word. There's something governing the universe. Can somebody read for me Hebrews chapter 1? If you have the Amplified Translation. Hebrews 1:3. Amplified. [Speaker 3] "He is the sole expression of the glory of God, the Light-being, the out-raying or radiance of the divine, and is the perfect imprint and very image of God's nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power." [Speaker 1] Upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power. What is maintaining the universe? The mighty word of His power. What is upholding the universe? The mighty word of His power. What is guiding the universe? The mighty word of God's power. What is propelling the universe? The mighty word of God's power. Did you see that? One person, one thing—you are deceiving yourself. What is the way everything is going—the universe—it didn't say the earth, oh. You know what you mean, the universe? Everything, all galaxies, space, the universe, the sea, everything you can see, the whole universe is being propelled, maintained by the word of power. Earth is just a tiny thing in the universe. It’s ruling everything. God is busy propelling everything. Earth is too small. He’s ruling everything by the word of His power. That tells you that there is nothing—and that’s why I tell people, if you don't build your spiritual life, you are shortchanging yourself. That is where life is. That is where the real thing is. That’s where the real thing is. Until they are concluded there, they will not manifest here. Please, when was Jesus crucified? Before the foundation of the world. And then what eventually happened later? Over 2,000 years ago, it appeared in the physical. But that was not when He was crucified. There is nothing you are seeing manifesting; the spiritual world rules the physical world. What I am making you see is that many things you joke with about our life, they are the things ruling your life. When you open your life to hatred, when you open your life to hating people, you are opening your life to the devil. Look at one thing that the Scripture says in 1 John chapter 2. I want us to look at that, then we come back to this place again. 1 John 2. 1 John chapter 2 from verse 7. "Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining." Please note, oh: "the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining." May your life not be in darkness. May your life not be in darkness. But look at something please. Because darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is where? Please look at your Scripture, is where? In darkness until when? Until now. Let me tell you, when you hate people in your heart, your life is in darkness. These are spiritual realities. And that’s why many times, "A-se-ni-se-ra-re" (Yoruba proverb meaning he who does evil does it to himself). That word is a word that stick with me till today. It was a song, it was even a moral song. It was not sung by a Christian, it was a moral song when I was young. Many times "A-se-ni-se-ra-re" (he who does evil does it to himself). Somebody you think you want you think you are "Yes, I've given him! Yes, I do something!" Look, the truth is that the Bible says darkness is passing away, light is coming. Now it simply means, please let me tell you something, brethren: if anybody says he is in the light but hates his brother—the hatred now we are talking about the heart, that's why we are coming from. The manifestation could be in your backbiting, in your gossiping. That’s the manifestation. But we are dealing with the root now. He who hates his brother is in darkness until now. Now look at the reverse. "He who loves his brother abides where? Abides where? In the light. And there is no cause for what? For stumbling in him." Let's look at that in the Amplified translation. [Speaker 3] "Whoever loves his brother abides, lives in the light and in it and in him, there is no occasion for stumbling or cause for error or sin in him." [Speaker 1] There is no occasion for stumbling or cause for error or sin. Have you seen that? The person who loves his brother is in the light. In that light or in that person, there is no occasion for stumbling or for error or for sin. Do you know that when you hate, you go into error? Do you know why some people enter into doctrinal error, spiritual error, decision error, judgmental error? It was because of the hatred in their heart. When there is hatred in your heart, there is occasion for stumbling. You will stumble. There will be error. Error! And then people are praying, "Lord, don't let me stumble. Jesus, don't let me stumble." I say it’s good, but also wash your heart. Also wash your heart as you pray. There are spiritual principles. There are conducts of holiness. There are things we must not conduct our life in. Look at it. The Bible says God is light. The Bible says God is love. The Bible says God is holy. The three of them, they are the same thing. Love, holiness, light—they are talking about the same thing. God is holy. God is love. God is light. God is life. God is the way. Do you see it? When you love, there is no occasion for stumbling. You won't miss your way. All of these things, they are so there is this spiritual connection in all of these things that when you get out of one, you get out of all. And so be vigilant! Be sober! To live a holy life! To conduct yourself in holiness! He said, "Anyone—look at it—I read on verse 11: But he who hates his brother is in darkness (number one) and walks in darkness (number two) and does not know where he is going (number three) because the darkness has blinded his eyes." [Speaker 3] "But he who hates, detests, despises his brother in Christ is in darkness and walking living in the dark. He is straying and does not perceive or know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes." [Speaker 1] So, please, what happen when there is hatred in your eye, in your heart? No direction. Do you see that hatred also cloud your spiritual vision? And what the Bible says: "Where there is no vision, what happens? The people perish." Hatred also cloud your vision. When you are saying, "Open my eyes to see Jesus," first deal with your heart. First deal with your heart! Address your heart! And let me tell you sometimes, I want to tell you this truth, maybe some of you may not know this: when you see people saying, "I've prayed, prayed, prayed, prayed, prayed, prayed, prayed, prayed, prayed! In fact, I don't know what God is saying. I've been praying for all these years, God did not give me direction," they may need to go and check their heart. Go and check your heart. You know what He said? He said, "My sheep, they hear my voice." They hear my voice. Some people say, "I don't even know what God is saying. I'm so confused, I'm so confused! And it's like that, like that! I've still been seeking His face, I've still been seeking His face, up till now I still don't know!" I see some people they said they have been praying for the past four, five years to know who to marry. I keep wondering, is it that God—you know—the question I asked in my heart, I say, "Sometime you may go and check your heart." Go and check your heart. You are praying for direction somewhere, you are tailbearer in another place. You are standing against the life of people, and you are wanting to have good, you want to have revelation. You see these things? They are so connected! Do you know why? Because the Bible says, "In Him, all things just what? All things hold together. They hold together in Him." It is in Him that all things consist. Once you remove Him—you know the bicycle wheel? You know it has spokes? Are you familiar with the spokes? Spokes from different direction. Then something will hold them at the middle, that you call the [inaudible]. You know the bearing? There's one thing at the middle that hold all the spokes together. You know there is one thing—the bearing. But I'm using something that you can know what I'm talking about—the bearing. It should be at the middle of the whole tire like this. Then there will be one thing at the middle, spokes will now come, and they will now from there go up to meet the wheel itself. God is that bearing. Once you remove that bearing, what will happen to all the spokes? Once you remove all the spokes, what will happen to the wheel? Because it is the wheel that is making the those spokes that is making the wheel not to collapse. So, those things they derive their strength from the bearing. They are seated on the bearing, holding the spoke, holding the wheel up like that. All of them, they are holding it. So as it's turning, they are holding it. But their positioning is in that bearing. Once you remove the bearing, there will be nothing for them to sit on, then the wheel will collapse. So, for several people today, because they remove this bearing, they put in the center—this is the center—they remove what ought to be there. What ought to be at the center is love. What ought to be at the center is love. Once you remove that bearing, what happens to the wheel of progress of their life? It collapses. Let us pray. Don't remove the wheel of your progress. Don't remove the wheel of your progress. Do you know that when there is light, there is progress? "Okay, let’s do this, let’s go and do that." Once there is no light again, everywhere is dull. Oh! Light is glorious! Love is a glorious thing. There is life, there is joy! You just see people, "Okay, let’s do this, let’s iron, let’s pump water, let’s do that. I want to wash clothes." There is progress in life! Don't hate your brother in your heart. So, I wonder about people who hate their spouses in their heart, who hate their children in their heart, who hate their parents in their heart. Some will even hate their leaders in their heart, and then they will be expecting the blessing of that leader to be upon their life. Ha! I don't know how you live, but I'm showing you spiritual reality. Let us be God's holy people. Let us live like the holy people of God. Let us conduct our life in within the context of God's holiness. Just talk to the Lord. Just talk to the Lord. My prayer is that we will not be in the dark. We will not be in the dark. Lord, we pray, Lord help our life. We will not be in the dark. Lord will not be in the dark. Lord, we will see good. We will see many days. We will live long, and we will see good. There will be many days, and there will be good. Goodness all around us. Goodness all around us. Lord, I will see everything turning around for my good. Goodness will be my portion. The fatness of the earth will be my allotment. The dew of heaven will be my portion. Light all around my life. Light in all my decisions. Light in all my ways. Oh, my vision will not be blurred. My vision will not be blurred. I will see accurately. I will hear accurately. I will perceive accurately in the name of Jesus. I will not be a tool in the hand of the devil. I will not be available for Satan. I will not be available for Satan in the name of Jesus. Thank You, Eternal Father. Blessed be Your holy name. Thank You, Jehovah. In Jesus’ name we pray. May you not walk in the darkness of this life. May the light of the Lord be your portion. May your life be centered in His love. You will not err in vision. You will not err in judgment. You will not err in revelation in the name of Jesus. You will not give heed to seducing spirit in the name of Jesus. Rather you will remain in light. You will walk in light. You will radiate light in the name of Jesus. Thank You, Eternal Father. Lord, keep us going. Lord, uphold our life. Thank You, Baba. In Jesus’ name we pray. Let's share the grace together 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 forever more. Amen. [Outro Voice] 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 p.m.; Adolescents and Singles' Club, every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 a.m.; Marriage Forum, second Saturday of every month at 10:00 a.m.; 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, Ile-ere community, opposite Very Joy filling station along Igbatoro 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.