Biblical Concept of Faith (8)

[Music playing] [Voice-over] Church is a fellowship of some of the most powerful and divine individuals and the families that constitute them. God the eternal Governor. These are words of illumination and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Music/Hymn] Thy word is settled in heaven, it is settled in heaven forever, forever oh Lord. Thy word is settled in heaven, it is settled in heaven forever, forever oh Lord. Thy word is settled in heaven, it is settled in heaven forever, forever oh Lord. Thy word is settled in heaven, it is settled in heaven forever, forever oh Lord. [Speaker 1] Our Father, we are grateful unto you. Our God, we thank you for another time again to be in your presence. We thank you for the third Monday in the month of March. We are grateful for your mercies, we are grateful for preservation, we are grateful for protection, we are grateful for your presence that is always in our midst. Lord, unto you we gather this evening. Baba, we pray. Our brethren who are connecting with us on Mixlr, our brethren who are joining us on Telegram, we who are here physically. Lord, we pray. Let your spirit work within us. Let your spirit work among us. Lord, meet with us at those junctions of our life where we live with you in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, forever your word is settled in heaven. Lord, let the counsel of your word prevail over our life. Thank you, eternal Father. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Amen. We are taking the matter from where we left off in our last meeting. Our topic is the biblical concept of faith. This is our episode eight on biblical concept of faith. We are moving on to look at the matters of how God spoke to Moses ever before matters began to come up and the big lesson that we could learn from that. Let’s go to that place as we continue today to where we left the matter. Exodus chapter 14. Exodus chapter 14 from verse one. "Speak to the children of Israel that they turn and camp before Pi-hahiroth between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal-zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.’ Then I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.’ And they did so." We were able to see last from that scripture that the situation that brought them to where the Red Sea was before them and the army of Egypt was coming close, the person who brought that situation was God. It was God who planned it so that the Egyptians will know that he is the Lord. He says they will know that indeed he is the Lord. And so, God can bring about situations so that his name can be glorified and his name can be known. And then when we got to verse 11, we saw how the people complained to Moses, how they were afraid. We told ourselves we must be careful about fear. And then we saw that even Moses himself did not know what to do. We stopped at verse 15. Exodus chapter 14 from verse 15. That’s where we stopped last week. We want to move on from there this week. Exodus chapter 14 from verse 15. It says, “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry to me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.’” Now, we read something last week about this thing at the point of where we ended the meeting. God already told Moses what he wanted to do. God told Moses, "Let the children of Israel encamp by the sea. I will harden Pharaoh to pursue them so that I can gain honor over Pharaoh so that everybody will know that God is mighty." That was what God wanted to do. And we said so when God brings difficult situations, sometimes those things that make us afraid, it is God that brought the situation. It is God that worked it, that brought it about because he wants to gain honor for his name. Now, but where we ended last week was that who was God speaking to? Moses. The children of Israel did not know what God was planning. So, Moses could speak to them with faith. Moses told them, “The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace. The Egyptians you see today, you will see no more.” Moses was speaking in faith because God had already told him what God wanted to do. But when we got to verse 15, we noticed something that the Lord says to Moses, “Why do you cry to me?” So, last week we ended by saying that God told Moses that his name will be honored. He should allow the people to gather by the Red Sea. He should look at it, there’s no way forward. Pharaoh will pursue them and then God will be able to kill everybody and then the people will declare the name of God. Now, but you see, God did not tell Moses how he's going to do it. He only told Moses what he's going to do. We ended last week, we said look, be careful. Even leaders don’t know everything about God. Even the leaders, they don’t know all of God. Moses knew that God planned the situation. Moses knew that God will be glorified. But Moses did not know how God was going to do it. So, while Moses took some sort of authority and the Red Sea was before them, what did he do? He cried to God. "Lord, what's next?" And God said, "Why are you crying to me? Tell them to keep going." That was not told before. Moses did not know that. He thought that what it will mean is that by the time they see Pharaoh, they should keep on going. Moses did not know that God will part the sea. What he only knew was that God will be honored. But Moses did not know how God will be honored. That was our conclusion last week. So, we want to continue from there today. Leaders at their best, they are still men. They are just mere men. They don’t know all of God. So, God had to tell Moses, “Why are you crying to me?” Moses didn't know what God wanted to do. So, what are the lessons we have to pick from there? That's where we are going on today. We are trying to look at biblical concept of faith and we are trying to understand faith from the point of the Bible. What is God calling faith? And we are looking at these stories. Don't forget why we always look at these stories. I've told us in advanced class over and over again. The reason why biblical stories are not just stories is in Romans chapter 15 verse 4. Can somebody get me that for us? I don't want to go to that place. Romans chapter 15 verse 4. The reason why biblical stories are not just stories is clear. Somebody can please read that for us. You will need to use the mic so that the brethren who are online can hear what you are reading. Have the mic. [Speaker 2] For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, so that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. [Speaker 1] So, that's one thing you must understand about the things that are written down. They were written down for your learning so that through these things that you see that God did, you can always have hope. Now, we are looking at this story. We concluded last week that even leaders don't know everything about God. Leaders are still mere men. Moses knew that God wanted to be glorified, but he doesn't know how God will glorify. So, when everything began to play out, Moses himself cried to God. "Lord, what next?" And God said, "Why are you crying to me? Tell them to march forward." That was something that was introduced. And what have we to learn from this? Brethren, please listen to me about biblical concept of faith. You see, from the Bible, the faith the Bible teaches is a faith that makes us to know that unless you share intimacy with God on a consistent basis, your faith will die. I'll take that again. The faith that the Bible teaches, when we are talking about living faith, what makes faith to be alive? Brethren, the faith that the Bible teaches, biblical concept of faith, what the Bible is telling us about faith is that that faith is a product of shared intimacy with God that is on a continued basis. If intimacy with God is sporadic, once in a while, occasionally, I am telling you your faith will die. It will become a dead faith. For your faith to be a living faith, you must have continued, consistent—and let me put it this way—you must have a personal, passionate, intimate, consistent, continuous relationship with God. The reason why many people are inside church and they are Christians inside church but they are pagans in their workplaces is because they don't share intimacy with God. The reason why people are like that, they say, "Yeah, they are Christians, they are Christians," but you don't see Christianity when they are behind the steering. They become like the normal garage drivers. "You are mad, you are mad! Crazy, crazy!" And when they enter church, "Holy, holy." The reason why faith cannot display behind the steering is because they don't share intimacy with God. For your faith to be living, you notice that Moses had a discussion with God. God told him in verse one, "Tell the people to stay by the Red Sea. I am going to be glorified. I will be honored over Pharaoh." Like we discussed last week. But God did not tell Moses that by the time Pharaoh comes, this is how I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it such that you will stretch forth your rod, the people will be going. As they are going, you will stretch forth your rod, the sea will open, and the fire that was going before them will come behind them. It will be darkness to Pharaoh, it will be light. God didn't give all those details. It was as matters began to play out that God began to give details. So, there's nothing like, "I have heard God." No. There's nothing like that. What makes faith to be alive is that "I am hearing God." Brethren, do you get that? I am hearing. Bible says faith cometh by hearing and hearing. You must be hearing. Faith comes by hearing. Faith does not come by "I have heard." Faith will die. Look at how Isaiah put it. Isaiah chapter 50. Look at how Isaiah put it. Isaiah 50. I read from verse four. "The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens me..." Please check your own version. Check whatever version. Brethren who are here, can we read it together? Check your version. What's the next thing you see there? My version, New King James, says, “He awakens me,” let’s read together, "morning by morning. He awakens my ear to hear as the learned." Have you seen that? Morning by morning! Morning by morning! There's nothing like sporadic intimacy with God. That is not the Bible. Intimacy with God must be continuous. Fellowship with God. If it is not like that, your faith will die. If it is not like that, you will miss God. Do you see that Moses had missed God already? What did God tell Moses? “Why are you crying to me?” What was he supposed to do? Tell the people to march forward. Why brought him back to the way? Shared intimacy with God. What allowed him to be able to speak as somebody who had learned God was that he heard God again. Have you seen? If not, he would have been saying, “The Egyptians you see today, you will not see them again. Yes, you will not see them again. Yes. God will just help us. God will just help us. God will just help us out of the situation. Let's trust God. God will just help us.” What happened to know what to tell them at that point was that the Lord spoke again. “Tell them to move forward!” May you have direction. Direction in God is a product of continuous intimacy. It's a product, or else you will lose direction. If you don't want to lose your direction, you must understand that intimacy with God, that is what the Bible teaches. That is faith. Faith comes by hearing. You are hearing on a daily basis, morning by morning, morning by morning, morning by morning, morning by morning, then you will not miss your direction in life. That's why I was telling somebody, please listen to me. Don't become too familiar with what God has said and less of what God is saying. That is the reality. God is constantly saying something. You cannot have all of God at a point in time. It's not possible. You'll be hearing God at every point in time. And what does this teach us about faith? The second point. The first point is on continuous intimacy. What does it teach again? It's telling you that biblical concept of faith makes us to see that the Christian life is a dependent life. The Christian life is a dependent life. The Christian life is not an independent life. Brethren, the Christian life is not an independent life. Kosi nkan to nje bee. [There is no such thing.] Awa yi la mo'lohun. [We are the ones who know God.] How we normally say to God on the table. Awa ti mo'lohun. [We have known God.] There's nothing like that. It's a dependent life. "Baba, please what are you saying? Baba, please what are you saying? How do I go about it? How do I go about it? What is the next thing to do?" The Christian life is a dependent life. It's a life of complete dependence. You are not trusting in yourself. You are not trusting in anything. You are not trusting in that you have heard God yesterday. Let me show you somebody who displayed that. 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel chapter five. We are looking at these stories as a way of understanding how God works so that we don't run adrift on what the Bible calls faith. Faith is not boasting. No. Faith is intimacy with God. Faith is total dependence on God. Let's look at the early chapter of 2 Samuel chapter five. Let's see something there with David. Men who understand this matter, how they live their life, and then you will see that honestly speaking, it is not just—the Christian life is a completely dependent life and not a life of independence. 2 Samuel chapter five from verse 17. Let’s see the story. "Now when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it and went down to the stronghold. The Philistines also went and spread themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. So David..." look at the matter morning after morning, “so David inquired of the Lord, saying, ‘Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?’ And the Lord said to David, ‘Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.’” Have you seen intimacy? Is it personal? Is it a personal intimacy? David asked from God through the priest. It was a personal one. Have you seen it? It was a passionate one. It was total dependence. Look at what the Bible says. "So David went to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there; and he said, ‘The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water.’ Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim. And they left their images there, and David and his men carried them away." Verse 22. "Then the Philistines went up once again and spread themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. Therefore David inquired of the Lord, and He said, ‘You shall not go up...’" Have you seen again? They came the second time. Did David go as he went the last time? Did he do that? What did he do again? He went back again to God to say, "God, they have come again. How do I go about it?" Have you seen? If he had gone up, "Ah, we know how they do it." "This is how they always do it." But he never did that. May we not lose direction. Direction in God is a product of continued intimacy. It's a product, or else you will lose direction. If you don't want to lose your direction, you must understand that intimacy with God, that is what the Bible teaches. That is faith. It's a product of intimacy. You must be hearing on a daily basis, morning by morning, morning by morning, morning by morning, morning by morning, then you will not miss your direction in life. Don't become too familiar with what God has said and less of what God is saying. God is constantly saying something. And look at what God told David. He said, “Therefore David inquired of the Lord, and He said, ‘You shall not go up; circle around behind them...’” another method! “...and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.” Have you seen something? Look at how the Lord is going to do this one. So, if David had gone up to go and fight, please, would God have gone before him? No. This time, God said, "Go behind. Just go and wait. Open your ears, oh. I'll be saying something. A new method this time. Once you hear [clapping] know that I'm already going. Go quickly, just follow me like that." [Speaker 1 responding to audience responses] Hallelujah. I'm talking about dependence on God. Dependence on God. No matter who you are. Moses had been hearing from God. It was God who called him. It was God who told him. Look at how God appeared to Moses. Look at how God called Moses. He saw the burning bush. He saw everything. But please, was he familiar with direction? He was not familiar. It was because he was depending on God. And what this is teaching us? The Christian life is a life of continuous dependence. Continuous dependence. And let me tell you something. Look at—I want to show you two scriptures to make you see that ultimately, to really know that you have become fully mature, that is what your life will become. To really know that you have become fully mature in God, that is what your life will become. Look at something in John chapter five. The gospel according to John chapter five. Let's see something in John chapter five. Let's see what Jesus said in John chapter five. Verse 19 and verse 30. I want to make us see something about our walk with the Lord. That actually, the more you share intimacy with God and the more you become dependent of God, then that is the sign that you are growing in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord. Just want to make you see. Look at what the Bible says. John chapter five verse 19. "Then Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself...’" What do you see there? Brethren, what do you see there? “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does likewise.” Please, how was the Son living? How was the Son living? He was living solely by what? Dependence on the Father. Total dependence. That's the Christian faith. The mighty Moses would have gone off direction if not that God spoke again at that moment. Look at how David, men who understood these things, the principle. You can see there. They asked God about everything. When the enemy came again, same enemy, they didn't say, "Ah, we know how they do it. We know how to settle it." They never did that. "Baba, they have come again. How do we go about it?" I'm showing you this from the Lord Jesus. You see that the Son... I want you to understand something. What's the difference between a child and a son? Maturity. You will never see Okpadere and child. It's Okpadere and sons. Emeka and sons. Child is talking about infancy. Son's talking about maturity. When you start becoming a son and no more a child, you know what will be happening to you? You start becoming "who can do nothing of himself or herself," but you begin to look, "Baba, what are you doing? What are you doing?" And whatsoever he does, that is what you are doing. And let me tell you the secret. That is the secret of prosperity. Let me tell you, if you must prosper in life, that is the secret. Once you are not doing what God is doing, you can never prosper. You will be struggling in life. Once you are not doing what God is doing, your life will be full of struggle. You will be struggling. I'm saying that about every area of life. Spiritually, maritally, financially, academically, health-wise, just every area of your life. Every area of your life, when you are not doing what God is doing, you will be struggling. Prosperity is seeing what God is doing and doing it. That is prosperity. Go and check it in Joshua. "This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth. You shall do and as you do, and as you..." What happened? You will have good success and then you will prosper. Prosperity is simply doing what God is doing. That is it. But what we are looking at this evening is that the more you can see what God is doing, that will be the sign that you are moving from childhood to what? To sonship. There's a movement in your life. The more you can still do things by yourself, you are not yet in the correct image of God. You are not entering that image correctly. Because let me tell you something. Originally, that was the original thing that was life. When you say life, that is the life. How do I know? When you check Genesis—it's a very familiar place, we may not have to go and read it—Genesis is familiar to virtually everybody. Now, when you look at the story, when God made man, God told man to name the animals. Whatever he called them, what did the Bible say? That was his name. Is that not true? That was his name. Good. Later, God made man to sleep. But please, don't be thinking of the sleep you sleep at night, that somebody will just touch you and you will wake up. Although some people can be so deep in sleep that even when you touch them, they won't wake up. Like some—after somebody slept until she turned and killed her baby, she didn't wake up. I don't know the kind of sleep that she slept. But you know the kind of sleep that she's talking about. The Bible says God made Adam to sleep a deep sleep. So implication, come together to know that it was actually the way doctors do anesthesia. They give you a particular injection and you sleep. You know that kind of sleep? That is the kind of sleep that Adam slept. So, God was the first medical doctor who gave anesthesia and then just gave Adam, went into that sleep because an operation was to be performed. A bone was taken out. The bone was built into a woman. And then the woman was brought. What did the man say? "This is the bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh. She was taken out of me. She shall be called woman." How did he know that she was taken out? How did he know that it was a bone? He was in a deep sleep. Even ordinary sleep, you won't know what is happening around you. Not to talk of anesthesia and you're in a deep sleep. How did he know? I'm telling you the man that God made at the beginning. Total dependence. Whatever he was saying was coming from who? From God. When he said, "This is the bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh," was there any argument? There was no argument. Later, the next statement—if not that we go to the New Testament where Jesus clarified it—theologians have argued about and both, but eventually it was resolved. The next statement that followed that statement... he said, “For this reason, a man shall leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” Some said it was Adam who said so. No, some said it was the record of Moses. Some said no, it is God. We concluded that it was God. Because Jesus in Matthew 19 said that he who made them at the beginning, made them male and female and said... But what I'm trying to make you see that it was difficult to separate between Adam and God who spoke. That is the image. Because that is how it has always been. Now, look at the next incident after this thing. That dependence was gone. When God now said, "See, man has become like one of us. He now knows good from evil, that he can take decision by himself without us. He can make choices without us. He can say no, I don't like this, I like this. He has become like a god. He has become a god for himself." Listen, it was in that state that he was a dead person. Because the day you become like this, what are you? You are dead. So even life, I want you to understand even this internal life. This life that we are talking about. Eternal life is what? Dependency on God. That thing that we are calling eternal life is dependent on God. When we are not dependent on God, we are not having eternal life. When he became like God knowing good from evil, he can act by himself, he became dead. He had an information. "Where are you?" What was his response? "I am naked." What was God's response? "Who told you?" which means that everything he had been saying before, he was normally told. Everything he had been saying before was something he was told. This time around, he said something. God said, "Nibode? [Where?]" Something has gone wrong. Something has gone wrong. This is not the man I created. Oh, may you be in the image of God. May you be in the image of God. May you be in the likeness of God. When a man is in God's image and God's likeness, man becomes totally dependent on God. Once man is not dependent on God, he has lost that image. He has lost that likeness. When you become like Christ, you know what happens to you? You can no more do anything of yourself. It will be what you see the Father do. What is the Father doing? What is the Father doing? What is the Father doing? That is why the Son said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” I am telling you the reality. Once faith becomes what I feel, what I think, and what I want, it is not biblical faith. I repeat myself. And I'm very emphatic about that. Once faith becomes what I feel, what I like, and what I want, that is not biblical faith. That is a dead faith. Biblical faith is about seeing what God is doing. Hearing what God is saying. Doing what God is doing. It's not, "This is what I like. I like this thing. I feel like this. I want this one." When you are at that state, you are dead. Your faith is no more living because eternal life, when man had eternal life and he was not dead, whatsoever he was saying, where was it coming from? He was told. When you begin to say what you are not told, when you begin to see what you are not shown, then you are not practicing the living faith. It has become a dead faith. You are a dead man. God told Adam, "The day you are able to do things by yourself, you become a dead person." That is why a lot of people are practicing dead faith today. Faith that is dead. Faith that is a product of what they feel. "Me, I cannot take that. My faith is in my heart." If your faith is truly the one that is of God, it's not a matter of your heart. What did the Bible say? "But let your light so shine that men will see..." as you give glory to God. It becomes a matter of your heart, it's not the one that we are talking about. That is the point I'm making this evening, brethren. That is what I want us to see about biblical concept of faith. No matter who you are, no matter your height in God. Look at how Moses started. Look at the extent he has done. Look at how God has been using him. Look at how his rod swallowed up the rods of Pharaoh. Look at how God used him to bring judgment upon Egypt. Yet, he does not know all of God. He got to a point, "Baba, Baba," and God said, "Ah, why are you crying to me? Tell them to march on." All of God is not in any man. God wants us to be continually sharing intimacy with him, to be continuous, you must be in intimacy with him and must be dependent on him. That is the biblical faith. No matter the height. No matter how you have worked. No matter what God is doing through you. You can still miss God. What I'm saying more today in the Christian faith is not biblical faith. What I see more today is a faith that is not Christ-centered but that is man-centered. 2 Corinthians chapter five. Let’s see that together quickly. 2 Corinthians chapter five. I read from verse 14 and 15. Look at what the Bible says. "For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again." Why did that happen? "He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live to please Christ who died and was raised for them." So, when you see a life that is lived to please yourself, is that internal life? Is that the eternal life? That is not the eternal life. When the love of God takes possession of your heart, what begins to control you is that "No, I no more live for myself. What will be the purpose of Jesus in this marriage? What does God want me to do with my husband? What does God want me to do with my wife?" That becomes your focus. "What does God want me to do?" Not "What will I get from this man? What will I get from this woman?" That is what so many things are in confusion today. Because we have been self-centered as singles. That's the same life we carry into marriage. People enter into marriage not because they are concerned about... people are thinking of what they can get. "When I marry now, I will no more wash clothes. Somebody will give birth to my children." What they stand to get. For the lady, "I will now have somebody that will be my provider, that will get this, that will do that." They are always looking at... it's about us. That's not why they get inside there. You are not getting what you are looking for. You begin to fight. "Where do wars and strife come from among you? Begun from your desires?" You want, you desire, but you are not getting, so you kill and you war because you are not getting. You have not because you ask not. And when you ask, you ask with ulterior motive, and so God does not answer the prayer. People enter into marriage not because they are concerned about people. They are thinking of what they can get. "Lord, give me a man that I can be a true helper. Give me a man that I can really support." And the man is praying, "Lord, give me a man that God, oh, I will be a true head. A true savior. Somebody that can save, somebody that..." in the other way round. "Oh, Lord, give me a man that cares, oh. Give me the one that will take care of me, oh. Give me..." it is so this man-centered. Dead Christianity. When maturity begins to come upon us, when we begin to become mature, it is no more what I feel, it is no more what I want, it is no more what I like. It has become "Baba, what are you shown? What are you... okay, what is God doing?" In this marriage, what is God doing? In this home, what is God doing? In my academics, what is God doing? In my career, what is... you begin to look for what God is doing. And let me tell you the truth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. They are the ones that will be filled. If you reverse that statement, it's not a good one. Cursed are those who does not hunger and thirst after righteousness because they will never come to the knowledge of the truth. They will not be filled. Until you hunger and thirst for righteousness, you can never be filled. That is why people today they are ever learning but they are never coming to the knowledge of the truth. They keep learning and learning and learning and learning and learning, but they are not coming to the knowledge of truth because their life is not God-centered. May we get it right. May we get it right. May we get it right. “For He died for everyone, so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live to please Him who died and was raised for them.” So what is my concern in every matter? How God will be glorified. I don't have any other concern. "Okay, what is... how will God be glorified?" If we begin to make that our state in every matter, I'm telling you, contention will cease. Strife will die. A lot of things will get out of our way. How will God be pleased? How will God be happy? That's my concern. What I really want here is how will God be pleased. It has become your concern. So many things will bog you down today. And Jesus could not be glorified in your life because your state on matters is, "Ah, they must not cheat me. No! I must not take it! No! I must get more! No!" It's always about this. That is why a man could be stoned and as he was being stoned to death, his concern was not how he was feeling. His concern was, "Ah, what is the interest of God that these men be saved? Lord, do not lay it upon them! Do not lay it upon them!" He was dying. Where are the saviors today? If Jesus had not done that, we are not saviors. We are not deliverers. And when the Bible says about us, he says, "Saviors shall come out to Zion." Saviors! Saviors! People who are saviors. People who want to pay the price for others to live. They will come out of Zion. But today, we can see people who want to live for others to die that are called Christians. Where are the saviors today? I'm just talking about the biblical concept of faith and I'm emphasizing this in our heart. Brethren, I beg you as we bring the matter to a close this evening. Biblical faith, biblical faith, one, is a faith that tells us that it is men who share intimacy with God that can practice this faith. Biblical faith is a living thing with a living God. It is not just a religious thing. "In our church, this is how they do. In my... in our church, this is how they do." That is not what we are talking about. I'm not talking about denominational conventions. Biblical faith is a living thing. It is practiced by men who share intimacy with God. Number two. That intimacy must be a consistent, continuous intimacy. It's a continuous hearing, morning after morning. And that is why I wonder today. The culture, the Christian culture of quiet time, is something that have died today among believers. That culture, that culture of quiet time, is something that have died today among believers. That culture, that culture of quiet time, that culture of coming morning after morning, hearing God morning after morning, morning after morning, morning after morning, hearing God, coming to God morning after morning, wanting to hear God, which is actually what the fathers called quiet time. A great while before dawn, you are already up. "Baba, Baba, another day is coming. Give me direction." That is what actually is quiet time. You have a clear understanding that, "Ah, if I'm not dependent, my own is finished." You have that clear understanding. That's what—instead of talking about quiet time, it was a life time. They only tagged it quiet, but it was a life that had a clear understanding that intimacy must be continuous. It will be morning after morning. "Baba, this morning has come. I've come again. I've come again. I've come again. I've come again." Or else you will lose your direction. You will miss God. That's the reality. You will miss God. Nobody is familiar with God. I'm repeating that again as we are closing this meeting. Those who become so familiar with God... and the third thing I said about biblical faith is that it is a faith that tells us that the Christian life is a total dependent life. A total dependent life. And that is the eternal life. That is the eternal life. When we are not totally dependent, then we are dead. We are dead. Don't practice a dead faith. Rise up to practice a living faith. A faith that is alive. A faith that whatsoever you are speaking is coming from what you were told. What you were told. What you were told. What you were told. And not "who told you?" Once there is "who told you?" there is already a comma over your life. Wherever you are this evening, it is time for us to start praying. Brethren, talk to the Lord. I don't know what you have learned this evening, but we're only looking at biblical faith. We are trying to understand this faith. We are trying to get to know it. We are trying to see what it is, what biblical faith is. Biblical faith is a Christ-centered faith. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. The love of God is the perfection of wisdom. Begin to move from the beginning. Begin to move to perfection where what controls you is "I just want to please Jesus. No matter what is happening, how can Jesus be pleased?" That is why somebody can slap you and you're not thinking of revenge. You are thinking of how to bless. You remember that to this that you are called. That's what takes away being revengeful from you. That's what makes you to be able to bless those who curse you. It is when Christ starts coming to the center and self begins to die that the Christian faith can come into reality. That's when good works can begin to come out of your life. That's when you can go about doing good. What is stopping you from going about doing good today is that you are still at the center. Become dependent. Start praying, start talking to the Lord. "Lord, Lord, You have altered my faith. I desire a perfecting of my faith." Start a hunger. Lord, create a hunger in me. Hunger for righteousness. Hunger to become like You. Hunger to be a true picture of Your image. Hunger to be a true picture of Your likeness. Hunger to reflect Jesus in everything I do. Oh, Lord, that my faith may be living. That my faith may be alive. That my faith may be real. That my faith may be living. The living thing. A faith that lives. A faith that is alive. A faith that is real. A faith that is real. Thank You, Almighty Father. Blessed be Your name, our God. Our Father, we thank You again for this evening. Thank You for instructions that are coming to our heart. Line by line, letter by letter, helping us to understand faith. What faith really means. We thank You, Holy Spirit. Lord, for that life that at some point, at a tangent left direction. Lord, for that life who at a point left direction. Lord, we are praying this evening. God Almighty, like Moses heard it clearly again, this is the way to go. May you hear the voice of the Lord afresh. May you hear the voice of the Lord afresh in your spirit, afresh in your heart in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. May the voice of the Lord become living in your heart again. May the fellowship with God become consistent again in the name of Jesus Christ. Our Father, we are praying tonight, oh Lord, we are asking that, Lord, help us that our life may be a true reflection of the life of the Son, not of a child, but of a son in the name of Jesus. May Jesus be the center of our existence in the name of Jesus. Thank You, eternal Father. Blessed be Your holy name, our God. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Let's say the grace together, brethren. 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. God be with us till we meet again next week in Jesus' name. Amen. [Voice-over] 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 heat. Our regular activities are discipleship class every Monday, 5:00 PM; adolescent and singles club every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; marriage forum second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; family life seminars, regular school outreaches, and everyday counseling. For further counsel, you can reach us at our location, Life Camp by the First Bridge, Elere community, opposite Joy Filling Station, along Igbara 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.