Biblical Concept of Faith (1)

[Intro Voice] Church is a fellowship that cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God will ever deserve a godly fruit. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness with Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Group Singing] We are gathering together unto the Lord, Unto the Lord, We are gathering together unto Thee, Unto the Lord. Unto the Lord shall the gathering of His people be. We are gathering together unto the Lord. We are gathering together unto the Lord, Unto the Lord, We are gathering together unto Thee, Unto the Lord. Unto the Lord shall the gathering of His people be. We are gathering together unto the Lord. We are gathering together unto the Lord, Unto the Lord, We are gathering together unto Thee, Unto the Lord. Unto the Lord shall the gathering of His people be. We are gathering together unto the Lord. [Speaker 1] Our Father, we thank You again for this privilege to be here. We thank You as we gather unto You this evening. We give You glory, we give You honor, we give You praise. We give You adoration. We appreciate You, Lord, for Your mercies and love. We thank You, Lord, for Your goodness towards us. Lord, indeed it has been You. Lord, we believe it is still You and that it will yet be You in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, as we gather this evening unto You, Lord, we pray, let Your Spirit work within us in the name of Jesus. Lord our God, we pray for all of us together as we connect from different locations—those joining us from Mixlr, those joining us on Telegram, we who are physically here. Lord, we pray, let Your Spirit work within us. Lord, teach us Your ways. Lord, teach us Your ways. Lord, teach us Your ways. The Bible says You showed Your ways unto Moses, but the people of Israel only knew Your acts; they did not know Your ways. Lord, we pray as we commence this new topic, Biblical Concept of Faith, Lord our God, our prayer is that You will teach us Your ways. Lord, please teach us. Thank You, eternal Father, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So we are all welcome, everyone joining us this evening. Last week we were able to bring to a close "Through Him, By Him, From Him, and For Him are all things." Today, like I noted in our last meeting, I said we will be starting a new topic that has to do with faith. Faith. The biblical concept of faith. And as we gather together this evening, I am really trusting the Lord because the subject matter of faith is something so crucial to our Christian life, so crucial to our Christian walk. And we want to explore scriptures to understand this concept of faith. Just as a kind of preliminary statement or background statement, I want to call your attention to some particular references in scripture that make us to see that faith is a very crucial thing in our Christian walk. When we look at Habakkuk, the book of Habakkuk says "The just shall live by his faith" [Habakkuk 2:4]. The just shall live by his faith. Coming to Hebrews, the Bible says "Without faith, it is impossible to please God" [Hebrews 11:6]. Coming to the Gospel, the scripture says that Jesus could not perform a lot of miraculous acts in Capernaum because the people did not believe him. Jesus related to his disciples several times, he would tell them, "Oh ye of little faith. Why do you doubt?" Look at Peter when Jesus told him, "Come," and walking on the sea, when he looked away from Jesus Christ and he began to sink, the statement the Lord made was, "Peter, why did you doubt?" Again, the scripture says that it is by faith that the elders obtained a good report [Hebrews 11:2]. It's so crucial to see that the subject matter of faith is so important, so vital, such that it becomes a matter in considering. We are going to take our time to explore what the Bible truly says about this. And that's why I said, biblical concept of faith. And where it please me to begin from this evening is the book of James, where Apostle James, by the power of the Holy Spirit, was saying some very, very crucial thing about the subject matter of faith. James was trying to speak to the brethren, and he said some things. When I was much younger, when I joined the church—I think then I had not come into the faith, because it is a different thing to be a member of a church and a different thing to be a member of the kingdom. You may be a member of a church, but you may not be a member of the kingdom. So it is important, that's why I said I was a member of the church. I had not come into the faith then. At this time that I am talking about, I had not come into the faith. I used to understand something from this passage we want to go to, this book of James. What I was made to understand then—maybe we should first read the passage before I begin to say what I was made to understand. Let's go to James 2. We'll take our reading from verse 14. [Speaker 2] What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? [Speaker 3] If a brother or a sister is naked and destitute of daily food, [Speaker 2] and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? [Speaker 3] Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. [Speaker 2] But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. [Speaker 3] You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe and tremble! [Speaker 2] But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? [Speaker 3] Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? [Speaker 2] Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? [Speaker 3] And the scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God. [Speaker 2] You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. [Speaker 3] Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? [Speaker 2] For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. [Speaker 1] This is where I really want to begin from, this subject matter of faith. And I want us to explore this matter gradually so that we can have a correct understanding of the biblical concept of faith. Now, before I go to what I said I used to understand when I joined the church, before I came into the faith, I just want to make a comment that generally people have been thinking that James and Paul contradict themselves. Paul said we are justified by faith, not by works. And James is saying that faith without works is dead, that in fact faith is made perfect by works so that we are justified by works. I will come to that over time as we go on in this discussion. But let me just say this ahead: James did not in any way contradict Paul. It is, like I normally tell people, for you to have a clear understanding of any particular issue in the scripture, it is important for you to know that you must look at that matter within the context of the passage where you are considering it. When you take a particular topic outside that context, then the actual implication or meaning or intent of the Spirit might be lost. So within the context of the scripture in which James was speaking and Paul was speaking, Paul was not contradicting James, and James was not contradicting Paul. They were speaking in two absolutely different contexts. There's no contradiction in what they were saying. As we go on, I believe this assertion or this statement that I just made will be clearer. But for now, let's start gradually with what we are reading with James in the book of James. Now let me now comment a little on what I said I was made to understand when I joined the church before eventually I came into the faith. And I pray for you out there that may be listening to me, if in case you are just a member of the church but you are not a member of the kingdom, may the Lord deliver you. Because salvation is not by joining a church; salvation is in Christ Jesus. And except you have an encounter with Jesus, you are not different from the sinner out there who is not inside church. May the Lord deliver us from denominationalism. Denominationalism is something that, when not put in proper perspective, can become anti-God. So we need to be careful. Church membership is not the same thing as being a member of God's kingdom. It's not the same thing as being born again. So that was just... when I joined the church, what I was made to understand from this text—particularly from verse 26—it's that last scripture read, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead." I used to understand from this passage that if you are a Christian and you are not gainfully employed, you don't have a work, a job, a career path, a job that you are doing, a type of work that is fetching you money, that is a source of livelihood. If you don't have such a thing, then your faith is a dead faith. So the "work" then was literally translated to mean livelihood, a source of livelihood. So every time somebody doesn't have a job, or somebody is not doing a particular kind of job, you tell them that look, the Bible says faith without works is dead. So you must have works so that you can really be a true Christian. That's what I used to understand, that it literally means a source of livelihood. However, over time, when I eventually came into the faith and I began to study scriptures, and by the help and the mercy of God, I began to understand scriptures better. And by the mercy of God, I began to know Jesus better and better and better. I got to realize that what the Holy Spirit is pointing to us in this passage by this Apostle James is something far deeper, far deeper than that. It transcends that. Although I must also comment generally that if you are a Christian and you choose to be dependent on people, you are slothful, you are not hardworking, then you are also godless anyway. You are a godless person. You are not like God. The Bible in Genesis made us to see that God worked and worked and worked. And when God did the first day, God would look at His work, whether it is good or not, and say the morning and the evening, God saw that it was good. He moved to the second day, He moved to the third day. God, our God worked. He worked. He worked so much so that He needed to rest. So anybody who does not believe in working, laboring, working hard, diligent, doing something, that person is not fit to be a believer. So I'm just commenting generally. So don't think I'm saying that the scripture... when I said it is deeper than what I used to know, don't think I'm trying to say that indolence, slothfulness is correct. No, it's not correct. It's not correct in any way. I have cases of couples where husbands want to solely depend on the wife, that okay, since my wife is working, I may not need to work. Or wives who have opportunity to do one or two things that can also help the home, just feel that no, I don't want to do anything, dear. Being slothful, being lazy is not godliness. The Bible says he that does not work should not eat [2 Thessalonians 3:10]. The Bible says Christians should learn to work with their own hands so that they will not be dependent on people. It's not good to have a dependent spirit, when you begin to feel that okay, I should be able to get from that person, maybe I will get, maybe I will find some people like that, depending on their parents' wealth. "After all, my parents have made it, I don't need to struggle. Once they die, I will take over their wealth." This kind of dependency spirit, it's not a correct one. It's not a correct one. It is good to be diligent. It is good to be hardworking. No matter what you think you are or what you think your parents are, it is correct to be hardworking. So I'm not in any way contradicting hardworking. But I'm just saying that when I started much earlier, I used to think that I was made to understand that why James said faith without works is dead, it means anybody that does not have a source of livelihood, he does not have faith. But over time, I realized it is much more deeper. And what's what I began to realize over time in scripture? I want us to go to where the matter started. Like I said, it is looking at matter within the context of scriptures. Now, within the context of this scripture, let's see what James by the Holy Spirit, this Apostle, this father of faith, was addressing and trying to make us see. The whole matter began in verse 14. He said, "What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?" So that was a question. That if somebody says "I have faith," but that faith does not have works, can that faith save the person? He said it does not really save, that it is not profitable. There is no gain in saying "I have faith" and I don't have works. So what is he referring to by these "works"? He went ahead to give... the next verse 15 is actually an example. An example. He said, "If a brother or a sister is naked and destitute of daily food..." Suppose you see a brother or a sister without food or clothing. Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes or daily food—he's giving an example. Having said faith without works is dead, having said that faith without works doesn't really... it's not profitable, there is no profit in saying that "I have faith" and I don't have works. So he was now giving an example. Let's suppose a situation, let's imagine a situation where a brother or a sister don't have what to eat or drink. "And one of you says to them, 'Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,' but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?" You can see what he's trying to say. You say, "Well, goodbye. God bless. Stay warm. Eat well." But then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? Now, he's relating something together, that there is something about the act of saying we believe God can make provision for the brethren, and we believe, we trust the Lord. If you truly believe that God can make provision, then what it should be is that of that which you have, of that which is immediately available with you, you give. You give to that person. You don't just say you believe God will do. Now, he's trying to make us see a connection, a connection talking about believing, making pronouncement and acting on what we believe. So he's trying to make us see that when you're talking about faith and works, he's talking about action that shows, that displays faith. Actions, things we do that display that we believe in what we are saying. When I'm saying something, I do certain things to show that I believe. So if a brother is naked, he does not have what to eat, he does not have what to drink, and I can see that this person doesn't have what to eat and drink. And I believe that oh no, God can provide, God wants His people to have. Then that belief that I have should make me take action to show that belief. And the action in this particular context is that I don't just say "Oh bro, it is well with you." Yes, I'm confessing what I believe, but rather I should take of what I have and give to that person. Now, he's relating something together, that just speaking, just speaking, just talking about something without corresponding action, it may not be profitable to us. That is what he's trying to say from this passage. Just speaking about something, just telling my wife "I love you, I love you." But I'm not doing certain actions, certain actions. It's not enough to just be saying "I love you." Just telling my brother "You know I care, you know I believe in you." What will help my brother to believe is certain things and I do to demonstrate that belief. If I don't do something, if I just tell my brother "Oh, how I care for you, oh, you know, my darling brother, my darling brother." But I cannot see anything sacrificial. I cannot see any deliberate action. I cannot see physical effort being made. It is not a sign of faith. It's not a sign of faith, for faith there will be corresponding sign, there will be corresponding action. There will be action. Action follows faith. If there is faith, if truly what I'm saying is not just sweet mouth, it's not just vain thing, if truly what I'm saying is truly what is in my heart, what I truly believe, that thing that I truly believe will make me to put some effort. I give you a good example. Let me give you a good example. If you notice that you tell somebody that "Don't worry, I will see you within the week." And the person says "Anyway, when I see you... anyway, by the time I see you, sha." What that statement is telling you is that you have said that statement several times and the person didn't see you again until after five months. And when you see the person again, "I'll try and see you very soon." The person sees you again after two years. So the next time when you say it, the person says "Okay, when I see you, I believe." Instead of you to be fighting the person that "Ah, so you don't want to believe me abee? You think I'm just joking?" You don't need to fight the person. That's what I tell people, you are the one that make yourself to be trustworthy. You don't command people to trust you. You don't force people to trust you. It is by the action you took at certain point in time in your life that will make people to trust you or not to trust you. So you are the one that will make yourself to be trustworthy. So when you are struggling with people, "So you can't just believe me, you can't just believe me," and you are getting angry about that, you are the one that has a problem. It means you have been saying something, but that thing has not corresponded with effort. You have not made effort toward that thing you have been saying. So what James is trying to establish from this example is that actually if there is faith, it comes with certain things we do that show that there is faith in our heart. We don't just say it. There are certain efforts we do. There are certain things we do to demonstrate faith. That is what he's saying from this example that we have seen. And I want to beg you at this juncture, and I want to beg you as a believer, particularly your relationship with people, please, as much as possible, as much as the Lord will help you, always say what you mean. Or on the other hand, always mean what you say. It's very, very important. Be careful about just talking, talking, talking, talking, talking. The scripture says that in the multitude of words, sin will not be lacking [Proverbs 10:19]. When you talk, talk, talk without looking at the implication of what you are saying, without looking at how to make corresponding effort towards that thing, you are not acting like a Christian. You are not acting like a believer. The believer is slow to speak. The believer is quick to listen [James 1:19]. The believer, because when he's speaking, he has considered it. That's why you will see some brethren—please, there's nothing wrong if you say "Bro, please, can I borrow this thing from you? I will give you back." Please, there's nothing wrong if you have need and you need to borrow from somebody. So please don't think I'm contradicting that. But what I'm trying to say is this: You will see some brethren, they say "Ah, please, just borrow me 500 naira, I will give you back tomorrow." They don't really mean it. Tomorrow will come, they are not making effort to give you back that 500. Next tomorrow, one week, two weeks. Some brethren who are frank and assertive, they will speak to you and say "Ah, bro, yesterday you said I should give you 500 and you will give me back today. You are not giving me the money." And sometimes, even stupidly, some will say "Ah-ah, wait now, shebee I say I will give you now? You mean as if I will not give you?" That's not a Christian character. That's not a Christian behavior. You are not showing that you are a person of faith. That's what we are trying to say. You are not acting like somebody who has faith. You are like somebody who is a vain talker. You are like a vain person. That's the matter that Apostle James was addressing. And I want us to get this thing correctly as we are looking at biblical concept of faith. It's not a matter to rush. We are not rushing it. We are taking it gradually. I don't know how many weeks we will have to travel on this topic. But honestly, I have seen so many things happening around us. I've seen so many things happening in Christian marriage, happening in relationship. And people have destroyed very good relationship because they are not looking at this subject matter very well. That it does not profit to say "I have faith," and there is no action, and I'm not backing it with the necessary action, effort to make that thing to come true. Because if you notice God, the Bible says "I watch over my words to perform it" [Jeremiah 1:12]. When God make promise, when God make a promise, God will watch over it to perform it. He will make effort to bring it to pass. That's God. God is not a vain person. He doesn't speak in vain. He makes effort toward that thing. That's why we say "Man promise, performance, but God perform promises." God perform what He says. He will go ahead. He will make effort toward that thing. He will watch over it to bring it to pass. That is why we call Him God of covenant. May we be like God. May we be like God. May we be like our Father. May we be like Him. May we be like Him in the name of Jesus. May we check our life. This thing has destroyed very good relationship. This thing has destroyed marriages. The husband will say something, the wife will say something. Good Christian relationship. "I will, I will, I will." And eventually you sadden the person's heart. You make the person weak. And sometimes you don't even show... you don't even show the remorsefulness. Maybe you could not do it because you really couldn't do it because we are human. It's possible you say you want to do something and eventually you couldn't do it. Yes, it might happen that you say you want to do something and eventually you couldn't do it. Yes, it might happen. And if it happened that way, you show remorsefulness. The person sees that you are really remorseful. When you look at the circumstance, the person will know that ah, even if I'm the one in that situation, I wouldn't have been able to do that thing again. There are cases like that, we are human. But I'm talking about making a habit of vain life. Don't be a vain talker. Be vain in the things you do. Don't be vain. Don't be a variant person. Don't be vain. You know, somebody who is vain in his approach to life. Lots of Christians are guilty of this thing. And they carry it into their marriages. And you see "Ah, my husband, hmm, that's how he normally say." Or "My wife, hmm, hmm." It's not a good thing. It's not a good thing. It's a sign of faithlessness when you don't deliberately make effort towards the things you say. So be careful what you say. Be careful how you speak. Don't just want to do something. Like I remember talking about borrowing. Sometimes because you are in a difficult situation, you want to borrow something from people. And instead of sitting down well to evaluate the situation and say "Please, can you give me this amount? But please, I may not be able to pay until about six months' time o, will you be able to wait? Because this is the situation, this is the situation." Instead of you to give them that clear picture so that they can set their mind whether they can wait or not. But because you want them to quickly give you, which I call selfishness, you just say "Please, just borrow me, borrow me that money. Don't worry, I will give you very, very soon, don't worry, don't worry." Six months is not very soon. But you don't want to give them the reality of the situation. That's faithlessness. If you truly have faith, you won't talk that way. You will believe that if you tell the person the way things really are, if the person want to give, he will give. And if the person don't want to give, the person will not give. So you see, many times we demonstrate faithlessness in different ways. That's why James is saying "Supposing a brother is hungry," you can see that this person... don't talk of daily food. That's why he used the example of daily food. The brother came to me that "Ah, brother Wally, please, you know I've not... even last night, nothing. Me and the family. We just want to... let me just come to your house. What is there? Something we can just... how you can help." I say "You see brother, our God shall supply all our needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus [Philippians 4:19]. Our God is able." Yes, our God is able. Bro, you still have... check the storehouse. Check the storehouse. Somebody did not eat. You ate yesterday night. You still have what you will eat for the morning and the afternoon. Why not take out of it and give to someone who has not eat? If you believe God will supply our need, you will know that if you meet the need of that brother, God will meet your need. You will not be afraid that "Ah, the one I have for next month... ah, hmm. You see bro, God will provide." Yes, if you really believe God will provide, it will begin with you. It will begin by that little that you can quickly use to satisfy that brother. That little you have. That little you can use to satisfy that necessity. That's why he used a daily necessity. He's talking about a necessity. There is a necessity. There is something that is a necessity. And you are talking about "God will do it" when you can just quickly just do something about the necessity. That is what he's addressing. So brethren, let us be careful not to be people who speak and don't make effort towards those things we say. That is the first thing we are seeing with that example. So in verse 17, he now says "Therefore, also faith by itself, if it does not have work, is dead." Also faith by itself. Please be noting that he's yet to define faith. We have not even defined faith. We are just still looking at a matter here. Faith has not been defined. We can see the way we started. We have not even defined faith. But as we are looking through the scripture, we'll gradually come to a working definition. What will be the working definition for faith? How do we define faith? What essentially is faith? As we are looking at this scripture, please be writing down, be noting down. Because at some point, we will have interaction. I will not mute participants, particularly on Telegram. I will allow every participant to be able to talk. We will interact. I will ask so from what that we have been saying, what would you say faith is? So from all that we are saying, please be putting down your own note. What exactly is faith? How do we define faith? But let us journey gradually. Now, when you leave that point, we move on. He only said that "thus also faith by itself, if it does not have work, is dead." So he has been able to define "work" for us from the example, and able to give us an element of what faith want to look like. Faith will be speaking the word of God from what he said in the example, from what what it looks like. Now, but he now said "faith without work is dead." Now, when he entered into verse 18, he now says "But..." You see? A contrast. Somebody want to show that no, I am wise in my own eyes. I'm wise in my own eyes. "But..." So contrasting that idea. "I'm wise in my own eyes." But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." See, some people try to separate faith from works. They try to separate it. But someone try to make a separation. Now, he now wanted to address another issue. Another issue of trying to see, trying to imagine that the subject matter of biblical faith has no relation to works. Has no relation to action. Now, he now says, "But someone will say, 'You have faith, and I have works.' Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. I will show you my faith by my works." We'll want to round up the matter here today. We'll pick up the matter from this point again next week. We'll pick it up from here. We'll pick it up from this matter that he began to raise. I have showed the background. So this background is what will take us into verse 19 of the book of James. And on and on like that, we will travel verse after verse. And then we trust the Lord to carry us on in this journey. Wherever you are today this evening, I want you to begin to talk to the Lord. I don't know what you have heard from the things that we said. I don't know what you heard. I don't know what you have learned. But I want you to quietly talk to God. Number one, the first challenge before you is: are you a vain person? Are you somebody who don't make effort to watch over your word to perform them? Are you somebody who just say so many things? But it is not backed up with corresponding action, effort? Maybe you need to begin to retrieve your step, to begin to see that you mean. Begin to mean what you say, and to say what you mean. It's very, very important. It shows that you are a solid person. It shows it is a important aspect of our Christian faith. It is something that we have lost today in the body of Christ. People are not trustworthy. When people talk, "Hmm, that guy, hmm, anyway let's see." You know, everybody is living in suspicion of the other person. Wife don't trust their husband; husband don't trust their wife. Because many times we talk, we don't understand this thing of our Christian faith and we should not be vain talkers. We should have faithful spirit, faithful people. Number two, the second challenge that we have raised today to intercede: any light that is inside your heart that men cannot see, sorry, it's not correct. Let me just put it that way. It's not correct. It's not a correct one. The correct one, men must be able to see it and give glory to your Father in heaven. Because God want to be glorified in your life, in your office, in your home, in your marriage, in your relationship, in the church, in the community. God want to be glorified in your life. God want to be glorified. Remember Jonah? What was needed to save his generation was inside him, but he was asleep. Something was covering that light. Whatsoever is not allowing that thing that is in your life, that God has placed there—I don't know why this prayer is coming so serious like this. I don't know why. But it just occurred to me to pray for somebody as we take this journey in 2025. Whatsoever is affecting... it's not making what God want people to see in you, whatsoever is not allowing, is forming a covering cast, it's covering it, it's not allowing the thing to be able to to bless life, to reach life, to change life. Remember Jonah? What was needed to save his generation was inside him, but he was asleep. Something was covering that light. Whatsoever is not allowing that thing that is in your life, that God has placed there, that God has designed for the salvation of men, for for the help of men, to to turn the life of men around, to change your husband, to change your wife, to change your children, to change your community, to change your church, to change your colleague, that thing that is in your life that God have placed here, and it was placed here so that men can see and be able to glorify God in your life. I pray, whatever is covering it, by the power of the Holy Spirit, they shall be shattered! They shall be scattered in the name of Jesus! That is this second important matter that Apostle James, by the Holy Spirit, want to start addressing. That actually, actually if there is light, that light, if actually light is there, it should so shine that men, not God—it's not God that want to see the light. Any one that only God is seeing is not shining. It's not enough, or it is not there. The one that God places there is the one that can so shine that men can see it. If it is only God that can see it... you know we talk like that. Like this, "My faith is inside my heart. You know my faith is in my heart. My faith, believe it or not, me I'm a child of God. Whether you like it or not, me I know I love you, I know I love you." Look, you see when you are talking like this, you don't understand how... I don't just know what to call it. I don't just know the best word to describe you. When you begin to say "Olorun lo mo eni to n sin oun." I'm not saying that... the Bible says God knows those that are His own. I'm not contradicting that. But any brother who is serving God that men cannot see, I wonder where that light is coming from. It's not the one that Jesus spoke about o. The one that Jesus spoke about is the one that men will eventually be able to see. Men will see it so that they can glorify God. God wants to be glorified in your life. He wants men to see so that He can be glorified. Please, I'm not talking about boasting. I'm not talking about self-promotion. That is what we address in understanding that all things are from God, they are through God, they are by God, and they are for God. We have addressed that. If you are not clear about what I'm saying, please go and listen to our series that we just concluded. Go and listen to that series. I'm not talking about of bragging. I'm not talking about boasting. That's not what I'm talking about. What I'm trying to say is that if a light is actually correct, that God actually is working in a life and that God actually is working through that light, it will impact on men. It will impact on people. It will impact from the immediate environment. If you are married, your wife, your husband, your children, they begin to feel that impact. If you are not married, your brother, your colleague, your sister, your siblings, your parents, fellow brethren, fellow Christians in the church around you, and like that, the community. Anything that does not have impact on men is not God. You need to get that very clear. You need to get that very clear. It must... what give glory to God is that which is visible. It's not the one you say is inside my heart. God knows me. God knows that I'm sincere. God knows that I'm Christian. If God knows that you are sincere, it will be proved. You talk about that. You see, God knows that I'm sincere, God knows that I'm sincere. God knows that you are sincere. If truly you are sincere, God will prove it to the people. That light will eventually shine. Take for example, you know Joseph was sincere. He was very, very sincere when he said "I didn't sleep with my master's wife. I didn't sleep with her. E gba mi, I didn't sleep with her." And they said "Shut up there! Shut up there, stupid boy! Stupid boy! This cloth, how did it get to her?" "Ejo, it was when I was running away. I didn't want to sleep with her. I left the cloth and I ran away." "Shut up!" You left the cloth... you know that is how they would have talked about it. Isn't it? But in the process of time, when eventually he went to prison, and eventually he became the principal officer of Pharaoh, he became the Prime Minister. Don't forget that Potiphar is also a servant of Pharaoh. So Potiphar becomes a servant of Joseph. You know they will tell the story again. That's why the Bible says that God will bring your righteousness as the daylight. Go and read Psalm 37 [Psalm 37:6]. God will prove it. God will bring it out. God will make it visible to men. Let's share grace together in fellowship. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit rest and abide with us now and forevermore. Amen. Amen. [Outro Voice] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in reaching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development, and mission aids. Our regular activities are: Discipleship class every Monday 5 PM at Ebenezer Singles Club, every first Saturday of every month at 10 AM, Marriage Forum, second Saturday of every month at 10 AM, Family Life Seminars, regular school outrages, and everyday counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location: Life Camp by the first bridge, Ilere community, opposite Very Joy filling station along Igede 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 080-3386-1136, 070-3361-3848. God bless you all.