Biblical Concept of Faith (3)

[background music] [Speaker 3] Church is the fellowship that cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God will always have a godly home. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 1] Praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. We thank our God again for today. We thank him for another time in his presence. We thank him for his love, we thank him for his mercies, we thank him for his goodness, we thank him for his grace. Abba Father, we worship you. Let's just take this song together. [Speaker 1 & 2] We are grateful, O Lord. We are grateful, Lord. We are grateful, O... Hallelujah, for all you have done for us, Amen. Hallelujah, we are grateful, O Lord. We are grateful, Father. We are grateful, O Lord. We are grateful, Lord. We are grateful, O Lord. For all you have done for us, Amen. Hallelujah, we are grateful, O Lord. We want to say that you are good, Another miracle you've done, Our God has done, And we are changed, another hope we have, We place in you right now. Father, we declare, Father we declare, That we love you. We declare an everlasting love for you. O Lord, we declare, Father we declare, That we love you. We declare an everlasting love for you. [Speaker 1] Our Father, indeed we thank you. We bless your holy name. This is the last Monday in the month of January, the first month of the year. Wow, how it looks as if yesterday was January 1st. Today we are talking about the last Monday in the first month of the year. Lord, we are grateful. Thank you for preservation. Thank you for peace. Thank you for rest. Thank you for quietness. Thank you for bringing us together again. We who are here physically, our brethren who are joining us on Telegram, our brethren who are joining us on Mixlr, Lord God, we commit ourselves into your hand. As we fellowship together this evening, Lord, we pray, let your Spirit move within us among us in the name of Jesus. Lord, we pray, let it be for each and every one of us a time of encounter. Lord, let it be a time for refreshment. Lord, let it be a time for meeting with you in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray that you meet us in those areas of our lives where we need you most. You will instruct our hearts. Thank you, Eternal Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Yeah, we started the series, Biblical Concept of Faith. And we have gone through the first series, the second series. Today we are having the third series of it. And today too happens to be our last Monday when we try to create a little more time to be able to pray, normally our usual practice. We try to pray a little more every last Monday than every other Monday of the discipleship class. So, I'm hoping that and trusting the Lord that we'll be able to wrap up all the teaching around 10 minutes to 6:00 or 6:00 o'clock thereabouts, and then we take time to pray for about 15, 20 minutes thereabouts, and then we close for today. So, let's go to our text that we have been considering. Yeah, we have been looking at this matter of Biblical Concept of Faith. And we began with the book of James. And we have been exploring a lot of things about the book of James. Please, if you have not been with us from the part one of this series, please, I want to beg you, join us on Telegram or link with us on Mixlr and listen to part one and part two. It will help you to appreciate the part three that we are in. Essentially, so far, we have told ourselves that according to the Word of God in the book of James, it is important to see that faith is not a matter of what is in your heart. Faith is something we should be able to see. Number two, it is important to know that men of faith are not men of vain works. They don't just speak. They say what they mean and they mean what they say. They are like their Father. When they say something, they watch over it to perform it. The Bible says God watches over his word to perform his word. So, men of true faith, men of biblical faith, they are like what our Lord Jesus said, "Let your 'yea' be your 'yea' and your 'nay' be your 'nay'." They are no men who talk, talk, talk and not watching over their words, not making sure that "this thing that I'm saying, I'm not just saying it for exaggeration, I am saying it because I'm going to do it." That is God. When God speaks, God brings it to pass. And so, men of true faith don't talk anyhow. And last week we were able to tell ourselves that we should be careful not to be satanic. We should be careful not to be satanic. What does it mean to be satanic? To be satanic is to acknowledge Jesus as Lord, but we don't do the will of Jesus. When you acknowledge that Jesus is Lord, but you don't do what he says, his principle, his precept, his counsel—like I was speaking with someone, a believer who is having an unbeliever as somebody to be married to. And I was trying to query it, and the person was saying that, "You know, it's evangelism strategy. By the time she relates with him, gradually he will become a Christian and that way, a soul would have been won for the kingdom." And I said, "This is foolishness. The counsel of Jesus is clear: 'Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.' I wonder how you got your own evangelism strategy." Not being satanic is taking the counsel of Jesus seriously. When the Bible says, "Wife, submit to your husband," are you submitting as a wife to your husband? The Bible says, "Husband, love your wife," are you genuinely loving your wife? The Bible says, "Let us forbear with one another," are you forbearing with fellow Christians? You see, don't be satanic. That was our emphasis last week. Where we read that James said, "You believe that there is one God, you do well. Even demons believe and tremble." (James 2:19). And we noticed last week, we concluded with our Lord Jesus said, "The only way to know a true believer is by their fruit." It is by their fruit you will know them. So, and that is what James is saying. If as a Christian, your life is not bearing the fruit of a Christian life—please for the sake of emphasis, in case you don't know what those fruits are, please check Galatians chapter 5. The fruits are there, they are clearly spelled in Galatians chapter 5. The fruit of the Spirit, they are clearly spelled in that place. Galatians 5:22: "But the fruit of the Spirit..." and note, it's not fruits, it's fruit. "The fruit of the Spirit is love." How loving are you? "Joy," how joyful are you? "Peace," how peaceful are you? "Longsuffering," how longsuffering are you? "Kindness," how kind are you? "Goodness," how good are you? Goodness is a fruit of the Spirit, to be good, to be full of good works, that's a fruit of the Spirit. "Goodness, faithfulness." How faithful are you? And like I mentioned last week, how faithful are you to your marriage vow? How faithful are you to the covenant you have with Jesus? "Faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." These are the fruit of the Spirit. So, today we want to move on beyond all of these points. We want to move a little again today looking at that book of James chapter 2. We have been able to look at verse 19 where it says, "You believe that there is one God, you do well. Even demons believe and tremble." And I pray we will not enter through the broad gate, we will enter through the narrow gate in the name of Jesus Christ. Now, in verse 20 downward, it continues, "But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?" (James 2:20). You know one thing that first struck me in this passage that we just read, this verse, is that the Spirit of God is trying to make us know something. You see anybody who thinks that faith is about something that is just in their heart, something that has to do with their just relationship with God, it's not having a direct impact on people? The Bible says such people are foolish men. Anybody, anybody that is thinking like that is a foolish man. It is foolishness to be thinking that you can be calling Jesus Lord and you are not doing what he says. Anybody who thinks that way, anybody whose faith cannot be seen in the fruit of his life, the Bible says he's a foolish man. That's the thing that first struck me in this verse 20. "But do you want to know, O foolish man?" And the way the Bible says "O foolish man," that's an emphasis. That is if after all that we have been saying, you are still thinking the way you are thinking, "Oh, you are a foolish man." You are a foolish man. If after all that Jesus did, the only thing we can see in your life is that you say you are born again, but it is not having a direct impact on people? Look at where the Bible says: how can you say you love God that you don't see, when you have not loved men that you can see? It says, are you not a liar? So, when somebody is talking about God, God, God, God, and we are not seeing the direct effect of that thing on horizontal relationship—like I mentioned last week, beginning from within the family. You to your wife, you to your children, your neighborhood, your next door neighbor, your colleague in the office, like that, like that. If that faith is not having a direct impact there, the Bible says you are not only satanic, you are a foolish man. That person is foolish. And it's very important. Do you know why I'm saying it's very important? Because when I look at the book of Psalms, the Psalmist says: "A fool says in his heart, there is no God." (Psalm 14:1). So, when you equate that to what we are discussing, the person who says there is faith in his heart but it's not manifesting in works, in fruit that impact other people, that person is equally saying there is no God. That's what he's saying. It is very important. "But do you want to know, O foolish man?" May we not be foolish. May we not be foolish. Please let us wise up. Don't let us be foolish. Let us be wise. "So, do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?" Faith without work is dead. That's where I'm going. Faith without work is dead. It means faith can be dead. It means there is a dead faith and there is a living faith. There is a faith that is living, and there is a faith that is dead. May your faith not be dead. May those who are around you see in you a faith that is living in the name of Jesus. So, the matter we are raising indeed, when someone is satanic—I explained that, in case you don't know what that means, please go and listen to our last week message on this matter. When someone is satanic, number one. When the person is foolish, number two. The faith of that person is a dead faith. So, there are people inside our assemblies that their faith are actually dead. So, there is a dead faith. How do you know a dead faith? The person acknowledges Jesus as Lord. When the person talks, when the person preaches, when the person acts, when the person sings, when the person behaves sometimes, you say, "Ah, this person loves Jesus." The person can sing it, the person can preach it, the person can say it, but the person cannot do it. Anybody who can preach the gospel, who can sing the gospel, who can act the gospel, who can preach the gospel, but does not do the gospel, are you with me? He's practicing a dead faith. The faith is a dead one. Should I take that again? Should I take that again? Anybody who can preach the gospel, who can act the gospel, who can sing the gospel, but cannot put the gospel into practice, he's practicing a dead faith. The faith is a dead one. Because such people are equated in the Bible with Satan. Satan believe. Do you see where Satan was preaching the gospel to Jesus? He said, "It is written, he will give his angels charge over you. You just fall down from this place." So, that somebody can preach the Bible, preach the gospel, does not make someone a Christian. What the Bible is set to make us see from the biblical concept of faith is that preachers of the gospel, they are not Christians. No! Those who act, dramatizing the gospel, is not sufficient to call them Christians. Those who sing the gospel, they are not sufficient to be called Christians. What is sufficient is that after you have preached it, after you have dramatized it, after you have sung the gospel, it is very paramount that you are a doer, a doer. You do, you put it—we can see the fruit. The gospel you preach, the gospel you sing, the gospel you dramatize, there is a direct impact of that gospel, beginning from within the family. Your wife can feel the gospel, your children, your husband can feel the gospel. Your immediate neighbor can see the fruit of your life. It is by their fruit that we can know them. They can eat it. When they touch your life, when they touch your behavior, when they touch your actions, in secret and in open. I was telling somebody, I said, "Look, the strength of a chain is the weakest point of that chain." Do you get that? If you want to know how strong a chain is, you don't look at that chain from the strongest point. It is the weakest point of the chain that is the strength of the chain. Because when you pull the chain, or when you use the chain to pull something, it's like if you want to use a trailer to pull a truck out of a ditch, and then you apply chain. When that trailer is pulling the truck, the point where the chain will give way is the weakest point. If the chain cuts into two, it will cut into two at the weakest point. So, the actual strength of a chain is the weakest point of the chain. You know what that means for our life? To know who you are, it is who you are when you are under pressure. When you are under serious pressure, that is when you know who you really are. When you are not under pressure and everything looks okay, you still don't know who you are. It is pressure that helps you to know who you are. When you press and press and press a life, what is truly inside will come out. When a life has not come under pressure, it can still be giving decoration, cosmetics, armor that are not real. The life can be pretentious. But when you bring lives under pressure, what you see them display is the core thing that they are. So please listen, I want to beg you. My question to you this evening is: are you practicing a dead faith or a living faith? So, when we say is dead faith, please understand that from what we have been discussing, on the matter of biblical concept of faith, which is our focus in the last three weeks that we have been taking gradually. If you are not getting our definition very well, please go and listen to part one and part two. From biblical concept of faith, any individual who is satanic or foolish—if you want to know what that is, go and listen to our part two—who is satanic or foolish as far as this faith is concerned, that person is practicing a dead faith. That is what the Bible says about such a person. It says, "But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?" Faith without works is dead. And then Abba begins to give examples to show something about faith in another direction again that we want to look at this evening. Please note that verse 21 to 25 were just example, example, example, example. They are just trying to amplify what verse 20 is saying. So, as we look at 21 to 25, we want to amplify what verse 20 is saying. Let's amplify it. And it will make us to see something very crucial about biblical faith. There is something crucial about biblical faith that the Lord, by Apostle James, is making us to see in this place. In 21, he says: "Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?" (James 2:21). James 2:21: "Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?" "Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?" Now, you see, he's trying to amplify a very crucial thing, a very crucial thing. Something very crucial for us as Christians today. Now, let's look at Abraham. It's a very familiar story that he's making reference to in this place. That should be Genesis chapter 22. That should be Genesis 22, when God asked Abraham to offer up Isaac. He's drawing on a very, very crucial matter in that place, 22, particularly verse 1 of that chapter 22, Genesis chapter 22. It says, "Now it came to pass after these things." I want you to know the Bible said, "After these things." It is good to go and know the things that passed, so that you understand what James was trying to say when he said, "Was not Abraham our father justified when he offered up Isaac? After which things?" Listen. The things that happened were that there was Ishmael. Along the line, God visited Sarah. God promised to visit Sarah. Eventually, Sarah was visited. When God was to promise to visit Sarah, Abraham did not understand very well. Abraham said, "O that Ishmael may live!" God said, "No, no, no, no. Ishmael is your business. Me, I don't have business with Ishmael. Ishmael was your own agenda. I am telling you that Sarah will give birth to a child. Me, I don't have business with Ishmael, oh. Your generation will not be called Ishmael. Ishmael was your own alternative." And I pray for you, may you not alternative God. Because every alternative we build with God becomes a problem later in life. Ishmael was your own alternative. My agenda is in Sarah. Then when God was bringing the matter to Abraham and Sarah, Abraham was wondering, can Abraham who is a hundred years old have a child? By the time the matter came to Sarah, Sarah laughed that, "Ah, how can it be? How can someone who is old like me still give birth to Isaac?" Now, along the line again, there was a contention between Sarah and Abraham. Sarah said, "Abraham, cast away Hagar and Ishmael." Abraham, because of his alternative agenda that he's still running with, did not want to cast away Ishmael. But God spoke to Abraham. He said, "Abraham, go and listen to Sarah. I have told you I don't have any agenda with Ishmael. Cast away that woman and that child. Go and listen to Sarah." Abraham listened to Sarah. So Abraham's alternative was dealt with. It was taken out of the way. So the only hope now that Abraham had was Isaac. So it was after these things, Ishmael was no more there, alternative is gone. This boy we are talking about, this boy cannot bear a child become again. It was after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham." He said, "Here I am." Then he said, "Take now your son, your only son, Isaac." Have you seen it? As far as God is concerned, how many sons did he have? One. "That only son." Then as if the man did not know, God reminded him again, "whom you love." Go and offer him. Now, the point is this. The point is this. Do you know what we are trying to say in this place? I want you to know what James is calling works. So you can understand works. If I can be free with you, because he made reference to Abraham when he was trying to define this work. So you can know the work he's referring to. Now, in this place, what is the work that James is referring to? What is the work? What is the work that he's referring to? The work that he's referring to is that don't you see that it was when Abraham obeyed what God said that proved that he actually had faith in God? I want to tell you something. Any faith that lacks obedience is not the biblical faith. The true test of faith is obedience. The true test, the true test is obedience. The true test of faith is obedience to what God said. Anybody who is not obeying what God said, he's a vain person. Let him be a pastor, let them call him bishop, apostle. Let me tell you what, you may be gifted and be making use of your gift, even among the people of God, and yet you are practicing a dead faith. You may be committed to the assembly, your assembly, very active in your church, very active in your assembly, but as far as heaven is concerned, you are a prodigal son. You are because you are a vain person. Please, I want you to understand why Jesus said, "On that day, some will say to me, 'We cast out demons in your name, we did this, we did that, we did that, we did that in your name, we prophesied in your name,' but I will tell them to their face: 'Depart from me, workers of iniquity.'" You see, it is not how gifted a man is that makes you to know that he's a Christian, oh. Please listen to me very well, oh. It is not how committed to a particular assembly a man is that defines him to be a Christian. You can be committed to an assembly. You can be gifted. You can be putting your gift to practice. You can be a worker of miracle, sign and wonder can be happening through you. You can be very active in your subgroup in your church, but as far as heaven is concerned, your faith is dead. What makes your faith to be a dead faith is that you don't obey what God says. And when I say what God says, please get me very simply, very, very simply. For example, let me give you a very good example. God simply tells us, God tells us: do not resist an evil person. God says, "If your enemy is hungry, give him to eat." God says, "Don't let the sun go down on your wrath." God says, "If your brother sins against you, forgive him." God says, "Husband, love your wife." God says, "Keep to your vows." God says, "Let your 'yea' be your 'yea'." Look, I'm trying to make us understand. We measure Christianity by simple, simple, simple, simple things. It's not the big, big things, oh. God says if you want to pick a bishop, this is how you pick a bishop. I don't know how we pick bishops these days. He said to pick a bishop, a bishop must be faithful to his wife. That is the first thing. I'm telling you it's simple, simple, simple things. God says don't lie to one another. God says we should be true. God says we should be upright. Which type of Nigerian are you? As a teacher, as a worker, as a lecturer, as a businesswoman, as an accountant. I don't know what your profession is. On your profession, how true are you with the business? How true are you? How true are you? It is simple, simple thing. Jesus went about doing good, healing all that were oppressed of the devil. You, you go about breaking the hearts of people. You break the heart of your neighbor, you make people sorrowful, you break the heart of fellow workers, you are not sincere and true to people. When you borrow things of people, you don't return. You say some things, you don't do one. What am I trying to show? Faith is in obedience. Faith is in obedience. Faith is in obedience. You see, look at how Jesus put it: "If you love me," do what? "Keep my commands." (John 14:15). He said, "He who has my word," that's John 14:15 you can check it. Then John 14:21: "He who has my word and puts it into practice is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father. My Father loves him and so I will love him and we will come and make our abode with him." See, the true test of faith is simple obedience to what God said. Anybody who cannot follow, obey simple, simple, simple things. I was talking with someone who said, "Wow, Nigeria will outwa, Nigeria will outwa, oh God, Nigeria will, O Lord." I said, "Bro, this is a lie. The Bible says we should not lie to anyone." You see, we do a lot of things that are contrary, it's a sign that we don't understand biblical faith. Biblical concept of faith says that faith is not faith until it daily obeys God. On a daily basis, we can see obedience in your life. I was somewhere talking to someone, it was a big forum. Talking to a group of people in a big forum. Actually, we were invited to a church to speak, myself and my wife. The topic was the primary assignment. We were to speak on home to be the primary assignment before the church which is the secondary assignment. And we were raising the matter of "husband, love your wife as Christ loves the church." And then somebody raised an objection: "Sir, I want to ask to what extent should we love our wife?" And I asked the person, to what extent did Christ love the church? There was no response. I said Christ loved the church and he gave himself for the church, to the point of death. He said, "Ah, but the Bible says: suffer not a witch to live. That if your wife is someone who is acting like someone who is a witch, should we allow her to be?" And I just smiled. I said Jesus all the witches and the wizards of the earth, Jesus also died for them that they may be saved. So if you have one in your house, die for that one to be saved. You see, we have a heart that is not prepared to obey God. That is what I'm noticing about today's Christianity. We have prepared our hearts in disobedience. What makes us Christians is obedience. To obey the Word of God to the letter. That is what James was also saying. When he says that don't be hearers of the word, but what? Be doers. He said because the hearers, they are not justified. He said but the doers, those who do the word, they are those that are blessed. It is in your doing. That is what I'm trying to say. So what's so in Abraham? You know why I'm saying Jesus said, "Love your enemies"? Because you know what I've discovered? I've come to discover that we are fond of obeying God in those things that are simple and easy. We bring excuses for those things that look difficult and strange to us. That is why I want to show you Abraham. After all these things, God called him. "Hello, Abraham! You know that Isaac, whom you love, in case you forgot that you love him, go and sacrifice him." It was a difficult task. It was a difficult task. I'm telling you, if you are sticking to obey God only on those things that are convenient, your faith is a dead faith. If you are sticking to obey God only on those things that are convenient, your faith is a dead faith. You don't have a living faith. It was a difficult task for Abraham. The only hope that he had. Ishmael is gone. God had promised Isaac. And now God said, "Go and kill him." That is why, when you notice this matter, in Hebrews chapter 11, please look at Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 makes reference to Abraham. Look at Hebrews 11, Hebrews 11, look at what the Bible says about Abraham. Abraham and the offer of Isaac. Now look at what the Bible says in verse 17: "By faith Abraham, when he was tested." Let me tell you one thing, before God can trust you, he will test you. Brethren, brethren, before God will commit things into your hand, he will first test you. May you not fail in the test of faith. May you not fail, because once you fail the test of faith, what I want you to know is that Baba will never commit anything again into your hands. I want you to get that very clear. For God to commit things into your hand, you will notice Abraham had been walking with God, walking with God, walking with God, walking with God. But the covenant was not confirmed to him until he passed this test. It was after he passed this test that the covenant was now confirmed to him. God said, "Now I know that you fear me. In blessing, I will bless you. In multiplying, I will multiply you." It was after he passed the test. Before you pass test, God don't know whether you fear him, oh. Abraham had been walking with God, God called him at 75. He had been going with God, Baba is still looking for the opportunity to test him. So that you have been walking with God, you have been preaching in your church, you have been demonstrating faith, you have been doing that, you have been doing miracle, you are in this ministry, you are in that ministry, bro, God is still waiting for your test before we can trust you, we will test you. When God brings you to the dreg of the dreg of tests and God sees that you remain faithful, that God knows that truly you fear him. That is the way of God, oh. That is the way of God. It is when God brings you, he will bring you to a corner. He will bring you to a street. He will bring you to a place and he will say jump down. That was what happened to Abraham. Abraham, that Isaac, that your only son, that one that you love, can you go and kill him for me? And God just wanted to see whether Abraham would just say, "Abba!" And we begin to drag feet. You know how people drag feet? When people are facing challenges sometimes and you say, "But bro, the Bible says," you say, "Look, look, look, forget what. Look, look, look, forget what Bible says now. Let's face reality." My brother, if your reality is different from what the Bible says, your faith is a dead faith. Your faith is a dead faith. Your reality should not be different from what the Bible says. I have seen people do this in different ways. In as far as their marriage vow, in as far as their commitment to Nigeria as a nation. "Nigeria will outwa, Nigeria will outwa," and you see people do certain things. People do, you see, you don't understand biblical faith. Biblical concept of faith says that we Christians must be faithful to our masters. We must serve them as if we are serving God, knowing that our reward comes from God. You will see people who call themselves Christian civil servants, who call themselves Christian police, who call themselves NEPA officers that are Christians, who call themselves different ways, saying Nigeria will outwa. Pro, see, your faith is a dead one. The pressure in Nigeria, God may not be using it to test whether your faith is alive or dead. God wants to see whether you will begin to rush for sharpness or you will say no. Even though the young lions do lack and suffer hunger, we who fear the Lord will not lack anything good. God wants to see whether you will continue to demonstrate your fear for him, even in the face of very stringent and difficult situations. But many times, what do we do? Bro, I want you to talk to God. Lord, help me. I will not miss out like Saul. I will not miss out like Saul. I will get it right like Abraham. I will get it right like Abraham. I will not miss out like Saul. I will not miss out. I will not miss out. And if there are areas you begin to look into your own life now, and it looks like, ah, there are areas Baba is still bringing things around my life. Can you just recommit yourself now to the Lord? Can you reconsecrate yourself to him and say, Lord God Almighty, the biblical concept of faith is that faith will be tested with obedience in the face of difficulties. Yes, that's the biblical concept of faith. Biblical concept of faith, we are going to look at more things. We are just beginning from somewhere. We are not rushing this topic at all. We are taking it small, small, small, small. We want to try and look into what the Bible calls faith. And we began with James. This is just our third series in this matter. I don't know how far, how many journey God will take us in this topic. But we are beginning to see some very serious issues. And the very serious thing I'm bringing to you as a prayer matter today is that you must beg God that God, the true test of a living faith is obedience at difficult times. Obedience, when it looks like, if I follow God in this matter, things will just end like that. If I follow God in this matter, what is my gain? What do I stand to gain if I follow God? Will this thing lead to anywhere? You can imagine Abraham. Hebrews 11, the Bible says: by faith when he was tested, offered up Isaac. And he who had received the promise offered up the only begotten son. He had received promise: it is through this son that you will be blessed, it is through this son everything will come. The only hope that he had in life, God placed it on the line. The only hope, you can imagine when God placed your only life line. Sometimes it may be your job, and the only way God wants to see you is that the only way to keep that job is that your employer is going to ask you to do something that is contrary, something dishonest. They are going to tell a lie, and God is expecting you to say, "I'm sorry. I will not be able to tell this lie, because this thing is not correct." But that employer can also fire you. He can relieve you of your job immediately. And God just wanted to see whether you will say, "Even if I have to remain jobless in obeying God, I will be jobless." And say, "Ah, Dad, I am very sorry. As a Christian, I cannot do dishonest thing. I cannot change one million to one billion. I cannot tell a lie. I am sorry, I will not be able to do it." He said, "No, I'm going to fire you!" You say, "Ah, I am sorry I cannot do it." God just wanted to see: can you place your only life line? Can you place it on the line and say this, as long as this is what God is asking for, I am going to do it? That was what God was looking for. That is what makes us to know if there is a faith that is living. The test of faith that is passed. The Bible says, he having received the promises, offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called." Have you seen it? The Bible says, concluding that God was able to raise him up even from the dead. Do you see his conclusion? Bro, what is your conclusion? Bro, what is your conclusion? Sister, what is your conclusion? Abraham's conclusion was that, ah, even if he die, God knows what to do. God will raise him up from the dead. All I know is that he asked me to go and kill him, so I'm going to kill him. Oh, where are men of faith today? Where are men that can wait for God? Where are men that can stay with God? Where are women of God today? Where are women that can stand? Where are people that can say no, as long as God said so? Even if it will mean we die here. Oh, it pays to serve Jesus, I speak from my heart. It is always the wisdom if we do our part. There is none... I'm losing the word, but I want to go to the chorus. I will love him far better than in days of yore. I will serve him more truly than ever before. I will do as he bids me, whatever the cost. I will be a true soldier, I will die at my post. Will you be a true soldier? Will you be a true soldier? Talk to the Lord wherever you are. Talk to the Lord. Talk to the Lord. Lord, in this matter of faith, I will pass the test of faith. My faith will not be dead. I will not be satanic in my faith. I will not be foolish in this faith. My faith will be a living faith. My faith will be living. My faith will be living. And I want you to pray: as far as Nigeria is concerned, Baba, I will not fail. Lord, as far as Nigeria is concerned, no matter how difficult it's going to be, I will not fail you. Lord, no matter how it's going to be in my marriage, I will not fail you. No matter how it's going to be in my workplace, I will not fail you. I will remain true to my covenant. I will remain true to what you have told me. I will remain true to your word. No matter how tough it is, Lord, I will not fail. Lord, I will not fail. Lord, I will not fail. Lord, I will not fail. Lord, I will not fail. Lord, I will not fail. Lord, I will not fail. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Thank you, Father. Last, I want us to pray: O God, wake up your church. Lord, wake up your church. Everywhere there is deadness. Everywhere there is deadness. Lord, wake up your church. Lord, wake up your church. Lord, wake up your church in this nation. Lord, wake us up. Lord, wake us up. Lord, wake us up. Lord, wake us up. Lord, wake us up. Lord, wake us up. Lord, wake us up. Thank you, Father. Let me call on my wife to round up this meeting this evening. [Speaker 3] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. And so, Heavenly Father, we thank you. Thank you for speaking to us again. Thank you for sending your word to heal and to deliver. And we believe, we declare that the Word of God that has gone out this evening will heal every hearer and it will deliver us in the name of Jesus. Amen. Every one that will yet hear through any means this message, Lord, they shall be healed. Amen. They shall be healed from dead faith. They shall be delivered from every form of life that brings them in disobedience to the Word of God in the name of Jesus. Amen. Lord, we receive this word and we go in this strength, our lives will not be as though the seed of the Word of God that has come upon us this day our hearts will not be a fertile ground. It will not be the rock. It will not be the sideway. It will not be the one among the thorns. But it will be a fertile ground that the word that has been sown in our heart today. Help us, bring increase. Bring increase upon this word in the hearts of your children. In the name of Jesus. We pray in the name of Jesus. We pray in the name of Jesus that this word will produce faith in us. They will help us to bring forth in the life of God in us. Amen. We'll be doers and not hearers only. Amen. By the aid and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus. Amen. Thank you, Faithful God. Thank you for your son, we pray, O Lord, that you will water him afresh. Amen. Help him, O Lord, to forever be a tree planted by the riverside. Amen. Bringing forth his fruit in his season. Amen. Lord, and whatever he does shall prosper. Amen. Thank you because you have heard us. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. [Speaker 1] 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. Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! [Speaker 3] God bless you, God bless you. [Speaker 3 / Outro recording] 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 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 out-reaches; and everyday counseling. For further counsel, you can reach us at our location, Life Camp by the first bridge, Elere community opposite Borer-joy filling station along Ijede 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. [music fades out]