Building to Last

[Speaker 1] On another first Saturday of the year, of the month, the first Saturday in the month of February 2023, another time again for our Singles' Club. We trust the Lord again that as we gather this morning, as we fellowship together this morning, the Lord Himself will meet with us in the name of Jesus Christ. We will be considering a very important topic today, which is "Building to Last." A very important topic for our singles and of course, even the married, those in relationship, those about to be, our teenagers. This topic is something that is beneficial for all: Building to Last. I remember that for the month of November and December, we considered "Lessons from the Fig Tree." The ability to bring together spiritual gifts and fruits of the Spirit. It is not just about the gift of the Spirit; there is also the place of the fruit of the Spirit. And in January, we were looking at "Take Heed How You Hear." Take heed, because how you hear goes a long way to determine so many things about your life. And we made our young men and women particularly to see the importance of what gets their attention. Because the first thing anything will do, either to destroy you or to make you, the first thing that thing does is to get your attention. We used the life of Moses, we used the life of Eve to demonstrate it, that there is a need for us to take heed how we hear. In doing all of that, we explained that as a young man, as we go through the year 2023, particularly starting the year, it was so crucial for us to look at the need for you to take heed how you hear. And that was why in January, first Saturday, we looked at "Take Heed How You Hear." Today, I said we will be looking at "Building to Last." As you take heed to how you hear, there is a need again, as we march through the year 2023, for us to consider this very important topic too: Building to Last. Before I go into the main thrust of the discussion for today, I would want to create some background, particularly with contemporary happenings around us today. A lot of things are happening around us, and it is very important for us not to take these things for granted. Very important. Globally, you can say there is global unrest, global economic pressure, global political pressure here and there, political overthrows, political upheavals, political challenges, war crimes, all kinds of things going on around us. As we narrow down to our own location, which is Nigeria, you will realize that in the last two, three months, a lot of things are just happening around us. And if you are not careful to respond to this correctly, you will be overtaken by the wind of the things happening around us today. In response to that, I just want to tell us that it is very crucial for us to know that there is an appropriate response to what is happening around us today. For today’s discussion, I will create a background with responding to what is happening around us today, and then we will go into the thrust of building to last. So we have the first part: "Lasting." How do we respond in a lasting manner, in a way that we will last, to what is happening around us right now? And then, how do I also build today to last? How would I build what will last? How do I build my life to last? How do I build such that I know that I am consolidating, I am not wasting away? These are things we want to discuss this morning. So let us have a word of prayer. Our Father, we thank You again for this morning. We bless Your holy name. We commit ourselves into Your hands. Our brethren who are on Mixlr, our brethren who are on Telegram, our brethren who are here physically. Lord, we pray this morning that as we fellowship together, Your Spirit will work within us. Your Spirit will work among us in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray that You will grant utterance. There will be utterance, and Your word will meet with faith in the heart of the hearers so that it can profit them in the name of Jesus. Thank You, eternal Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Now, I was saying that the first part is responding to what is happening around us today in a way that you don't get destroyed by what is happening around us today. The Bible talks about the Children of Issachar who know what Israel ought to do per season. It is important in responding to today's situation, I would like to take your mind back to a few things we discussed under this meeting. It's good for you to know that what is happening around us today, they are not strange. The more you think strange things are happening, the more difficult it will be for you to respond appropriately to the things happening around us. If you remember that message which I tagged "We That Are of the Day," you can go to our website or you can go on Mixlr to look for that message. I think we took that topic for about five weeks. But what I want to bring out of that is it is very important for you to understand that the Day of Pentecost, that day when the Bible says, "And when the Day of Pentecost was fully come, the Holy Spirit came down," the disciples were in the upper room praying and then the Holy Spirit came upon them. They began to speak in tongues and the nations gathered around them. When they gathered, Peter stood up with some others. What did he say? "Don't think that we are drunk. What is happening today is nothing but the fulfillment of the word of Prophet Joel, that in the last days, perilous time shall come." Or in the last days, for that of Joel is, "I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions." From that vision in Acts 2, we are able to see that the latter days began when? It began during Pentecost. Because Joel said it will come to pass in the latter days, it will come to pass afterward. And Peter said, "This is fulfillment of Joel's prophecy, that I will pour out my Spirit." So the latter days began as far back as Pentecost. So today, where are we? Where are we today? If the latter days began at Pentecost, where are we today? Apostle Paul now said something. He said, "Know for sure that in the last days, perilous times shall come." Paul again in his own time spoke about another latter day again. So Peter said the latter days were being fulfilled at Pentecost. Paul again towards his death said a latter time will come again. Telling you that there is a latter day, then there is a latter of the latter. And that is where we are today. One thing that is part of the latter days, this latter of the latter, is what? Perilous times. Another word for perilous times is difficult times. One version says it will be difficult to be a Christian. But I prefer to see it, why it would be difficult to be a Christian is true, but it is also true that the times will be difficult. He said men shall be lovers of themselves, they shall be betrayers, they shall be liars, they shall be this, they shall be stubborn, they shall be heartless, they shall be this. And what is going on today? What is going on? I would just like us to make just one or two responses to that. I just want us to go to that scripture quickly, just to say something about that. That should be 2 Timothy chapter 3. Are you there? [Speaker 3] "But understand this, that in the last days, there will come times of difficulty." [Speaker 1] "There will come times of difficulty." [Speaker 3] "For people will be lovers of self..." [Speaker 1] Now, what will make that time difficult? What will make it difficult? So the problem, what will make this period difficult, is what? What will make it difficult? Do you get it? It says, "Know that difficult times are come, for people..." So what is making it difficult? It is the people. It is the people. Do you get it? The people. That is what I want you to see. So what will make this period difficult is people. What is making Nigeria what it is right now? It is people. What is it about the people? [Speaker 3] "For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable..." [Speaker 1] People that cannot be pleased. You cannot placate them. [Speaker 3] "Slanderous, dangerous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness but denying its power. Avoid such people." [Speaker 1] So do you notice something? What will make this period difficult is what people are. So please listen. That people are becoming heartless and you are shouting, I am just wondering, what are you shouting about? Don't you know that people will become that? That people are loving money, loving themselves, people are doing things just let every other person die and me alone live. Is it something strange? It is not. What I am trying to make you see, brethren, is that one way to last this period is to understand that there is nothing new. Nothing is going on that has not been said. It is just what was said that is emerging. The word of God is only proving to be true. The recklessness, the wickedness that we are seeing today, it is only making you to know as a believer, "You mean the word of God can be so real? You mean the word of God can be so true?" But I see a response among believers. A response of, "Which kind of society are we in now? What is even going on now? People are bad oh. God come and save me oh." And then you begin to panic, you begin to get afraid, you begin to get troubled. No, that is not the correct response. That other way that you are responding, you are responding like natural men. You are responding like men who don't understand the times. So what are you supposed to do at a time like this? The Bible is showing you what you should do. The Bible is saying that first and foremost, how do you build in a time like this? How do you build in response to situation like this? In that place, it said, "Avoid such men," is that not so? How do you avoid a deceiver if you don't know a deceiver? How do you avoid a betrayer if you don't know that he is a betrayer? Can you avoid him? So what is the response? What you need to be doing this period instead of shouting and breaking your head on the wall and complaining about everything in Nigeria, your first response is to stay so much with God to increase your discernment. You will be able to discern who to avoid and who not to avoid. If such people be what? Avoid them. If you want to last today, you must develop your ability to discern. Or else very soon somebody will break your heart, somebody will scatter your hope, somebody will destroy your future. He told you this and he did that. I was reading something on the social media and the man said, "Look men, look, we are in a very dangerous time. You have to be very, very sure of who you are going out with." What happened? He had been relating with somebody for months or years now, hoping to settle down in marriage with the person. As the day of the marriage drew closer, he just said, "Let me even test the integrity of this woman I wanted to marry." And then what did he do? He arranged with a friend to arrange with this woman he wanted to marry that somebody will offer as much as half a million for just a round of sex, if she will be available for it. And when the person heard five hundred thousand, for somebody who is already planning, working towards marriage with another person, she quickly agreed and made a date. She said, "This day will be available for it." Because he was the one behind the thing, that very day that was the date, early in the morning, he drove to the house of the wife-to-be and pretended to be sick, in a very serious ailment, asking the woman not to go out to please take care of him. The woman now was bent on knowing that she must, okay that, "Okay, I will help him get some drugs, help him get whatever, whatever." She created all excuses why she must just quickly go out to come back, particularly to get the drugs that he will need. Because it was getting towards the time for the hotel date. Do you get it? So the woman said, "Okay, I will get to the market, buy some foodstuffs for the house, and then I will also buy some drugs that you will need. Let me quickly go." As the woman left, he too left the house, took his car, and drove to the hotel point and was waiting in the room. So the wife of course who claims to go to buy drug and whatever came for that day to get the five hundred thousand. The wife-to-be, sorry. When he opened the door, he met the husband-to-be. The woman fainted. Of course they resuscitated her and she was fine, but the man made up his mind again that he is not marrying. He was now the one arguing that, "Ah, men, people are wicked, people are evil. You need to know who you are going out with." Please, is it different from what the Bible has said? What I am trying to bring out is it is not about people are wicked, people are evil. The more you are in that place, the more you are doing that, what you need now is built capacity for discernment to know who to avoid. To know who not to go out with. To know who not to be in fellowship with. To know who you are relating with. You need to build this. That is response: Building so that you last. I have said three things about responding. Number one: know that the word of God is being fulfilled. It is not a time to see anything new happening. Number two: take time to build discernment. Number three: it will help you to know what to avoid. Avoid some categories of people that Bible says you should avoid. But number one is number three is impossible without developing number two. You get the point I am making. And what is this that I want to say lastly? Get something very clear. The Bible also says that evil men and seducers, they will do what? What will happen to evil men and seducers? They will wax worse and worse. So what does that tell you about this period? Telling you that the men will be moving from one level of heartlessness to another level of heartlessness. So if you are looking for a society where heartlessness will go, then you can now be at peace. Please, you better die now. Are you understanding me at all? Rather, what you need to do lastly if you must last, the Bible says "where sin abounds, grace does much more." So what is the only way to overcome the wickedness of men today? Grace. And what are you told in Peter? He said, "Grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord." How do you respond to today that you will last? What are you supposed to do? Grow in grace. And when you say grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord, how does grace come to us? How do we grow in grace? Getting more and more and more intimate with Jesus. Getting more and more intimate with Jesus. Young man, young woman, that is something you need to do today if you must last about what is happening around us today. What do we do? A lot of us are living in fear. A lot of us are panicking. This election, I hope I will still be alive. Whether you panic or you don't panic, let me tell you, the best response to this period is faith. "The just shall live by faith." And what does faith tells us? It says "Say unto the godly, say unto the righteous, it shall be well." And I want to read another scripture to that, then we move on to the thrust of the B part. Look at Isaiah. Old Testament now, Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 3. I want us to look at that of the chapter 3. It appears to be more straightforward to what I want. Look at something that is the background of that statement that we normally read. It says from verse 1, look at it whether it is different from what is going on today. "For behold, the Lord the God of hosts takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stock and the store." You know what that means? Maybe I should be reading simpler translation. The Almighty God, the Lord, will cut off the supply of food and water from Jerusalem. I hope it is clearer than the first one. Supply of water from Jerusalem. He will destroy all the nation's leaders: the heroes, soldiers, judges, prophets, diviners, elders. Is that not confusion? Army officers, honorable citizens, advisors, skilled magicians, expert enchanters. Is that not serious? "I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. People will take advantage of each other, man against man." You get to POS, sorry, new note, five thousand, five hundred. Old note, five thousand, two hundred. Which one do you want? You are now buying. Do you get it? People will take advantage of each other. You buy petrol, even when you get the regular one to buy, what do you do? Everything is costly oh. Taxi, two hundred naira. Everybody is taking advantage of everybody. And it is going on now. Some taking advantage of it towards election. Do you agree with me? I am trying to make you understand that please, what is happening to us now, is it new? This is strange oh, it has never happened before. You are just deceiving yourself. Men will take advantage of men. Look, neighbors fighting neighbors. Have you got to the filling station recent time? Do you see how people fight? Neighbors against neighbors. Young men, listen oh, young people will revolt against authority. Nobody will respect anybody again. We are going towards that gradually with the pressure that is going on now. People are breaking down, nobody wants to respect anybody again. If you misbehave now, some people are ready to just, "Look, don't let me kill you oh baba. You better, look, the way it is doing me now, it's like I could just be killing people oh. You better get out of here baba before I pull your cap." And while you are saying that you have used the car to hit the baba's head. "Baba, don't let me go further oh." Are you understanding me? There is nothing, I am trying to make you understand, responding, how to build towards what is going on. This is the A part of my message this morning. For young people, for young men, young women listening to me. Responding to contemporary happenings. And then I will now go to the B part: How do I build every areas of my life so that I last financially, maritally, academically? How do I build? I will come to that. But my first burden this morning is, I see young men, I was looking at a video, a young man undressed himself, walking naked, that if they don't give him the money, the new note inside the bank, he is going to kill anybody. They now took him somewhere. People are under serious duress. Do you know what is going on in Ibadan? Did you follow the news yesterday? People just destroying a banking house, throwing stone, breaking down the glasses, riots here and there. People are under so much pressure. What is bringing pressure is that some people, "for men shall be heartless." Mind you, I was following the news this morning, it was learned that some governors, the new note, they have stored for themselves up to five hundred million. When one man, one governor, you don't know how many governors will have stored their own. But if one governor stored five hundred million of new note collected from a bank, and that same bank is saying that they cannot give more than two-two thousand to generality of people. Are you understanding this? Men will become heartless. They will become self-centered. But I am showing you that it was nothing new. It has happened before. You see? Look at it. "When a man takes hold of his brother in the house of his father saying, 'You have clothing, come and be our ruler, and let this ruin be under your power.' In that day he will protest saying, 'I cannot cure your ills.'" That is no money. Everybody will just face his own life. "I don't have. Uncle, can I get? No, no, no, not this period. Not this period." Everybody will just look straight to family members. Are you understanding what I am trying to bring out? It is not anything new. It has happened before. He says, "I cannot cure your ill. Do not make me ruler of the people. For Jerusalem stumbled, Judah is falling, because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord to provoke the eyes of His glory." So what is bringing all the suffering of our people? Disregard for God. Disregard for God. And I want to ask you, young men, I want to ask you, disregard for God in Nigeria today, is it a problem of leaders? Do you know that people in society disregard God? So what I am trying to say is that why the whole thing is coming down is coming down because of what everybody too is doing. Civil servants, corrupt. Teacher, corrupt. Student, corrupt. Market women, corrupt. Husband, corrupt. Pastor, corrupt. Imam, corrupt. Police, corrupt. NEPA, corrupt. Even teenagers, corrupt. Even adolescent, corrupt. Are you understanding me? That is why you start to watch something and you see four years old boy in masturbation, in homosexuality. What is not corrupt? He says, "The look in their countenance witness against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom. They will not hide it. Woe to their soul! Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil on themselves." Are you with me? Do you understand what is going on in our nation? Woe to us! For why? Do you know that if somebody today, I want to use the example of even among students, young people are shouting, "Yes, something is going on," but do you know that if there is an upright lecturer today that will not want students to cheat in exam, that will catch everybody that is stealing, students can plan to kill that one. Am I telling a lie? They can plan to harm that one because he did not give them a free hand. But one that will say, "Eh boys, eh boys, yeah, continue, continue." "Ah, okay, okay, shey go ju, I am not watching, just do what you want to do." "Baba oh, baba oh, baba oh! Father!" Is that not what we want? So we are evil, but we don't want the consequence of our actions to come upon us. Are you understanding me? So what am I saying? I have said be discerning. I have said know who to separate yourself from. I have said separate yourself from them. Grow in grace. Grow in the knowledge of the Lord. What Peter said. And I am showing you a very, very crucial thing. Look at what He says. "They have brought evil on themselves." Look at it, verse 10. Verse 10. Verse 10. "Say to the righteous, it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings." So how will you in the midst of destruction, how will it be well with you? How will it be well with you? So how do you respond to this period? That is what I am trying to tell you. It says, "Say to the righteous, it shall be well with you." He says you will eat the fruit of your doing. So I tell people instead of getting afraid and living in alarm, be godly. But if you join them in telling lies, you join them in exam malpractices, you join them in deceiving people and you are saying evil will not come upon you, you lie. You lie. A response this period is to check your life instead of getting afraid and dying of hypertension. One thing to check beyond your blood pressure is to check your godliness. Because if your ungodliness is high, you are close to destruction. Just like if your blood pressure is high, then you are close to death. If your ungodliness too is high, you better go and check your conduct. Check the things you do. Check the things you say. Check your own life instead of looking at, "No, what are you? Who are you?" He says, "Say to the righteous, it shall be well with you." At the same time, look at what He said. "Woe to the wicked, it will be ill with you." Are you seeing it? "Woe to the wicked, it will be ill with you, for the reward of his hand shall be given to him." So how do we respond to what is going on in our nation today? What should be your response? Instead of taking time to fear, take time to watch your conduct. Take time to be sure. Take time to purify yourself. That is when you can enjoy mercy. Because I am telling you, except on account of mercy, what is coming on this nation, what is coming around us today, what we are seeing coming, it has not come. How people are feeling, when it comes, I don't know what people will do. The godly can say, "It shall be well with me." It shall be well with me. And you find the same thing, the same thing in Psalm 91. Look at Psalm 91. The same thing clearly written in Psalm 91. Responding to the situation of our nation today. That's what I am dealing with. "How do I build as a young man? What do I do this period? What should be my response?" That's what I am first talking about. I said grow capacity for discernment. Know who to separate yourself from. Separate yourself from them. Grow in grace. Grow in the knowledge of the Lord. Watch your conduct, your godliness gauge. Apart from watching your blood pressure, watching your bank account that it does not go down, watching your business, watch your godly conduct. Because it will not be well with the wicked. Everybody that joins the wicked will suffer wickedness. That's, I am not a prophet of doom, I am just quoting the word of God. The person that has guarantee when evil come upon a nation, the person that could say, "Mercy will avail for me," is who? The godly. That is the truth oh. But deceive yourself. Maybe you are married, you are not faithful to your wife, you lie to your wife. As a children, you lie to your parents, you deceive them. Handout is five thousand, you tell them seven thousand. You need two thousand, you made your own two thousand. If you have been living like that, you are wicked. In your own small circle, you have been wicked. You have not been godly. It will not be well with you. This storm that is coming, if you are not careful, it will blow you through away. So it is not how much shouting that will save us. Let us respond correctly. That is what we need, young men and women. Let's respond correctly so that you can say, "It doesn't matter how the wind blows, mountains don't bow." I just remember one quotation like that I heard. It says, "Anyhow the wind blows, mountains don't bow." Anyhow the wind blows, mountains don't bow. Have you ever seen mountain bow? No, mountain don't bow. We just stand. Anyhow the wind blow. That is what I will be talking about more in the B part of it. Anyhow the wind blow, mountain don't bow. May we last. May we outlive the storms. May we outlive what is going on in Nigeria today and come back to eat the good of the land. He says it will be well with us and we eat the fruit of our labor in the name of Jesus Christ. Look at what Psalm 91 said. Look, you find the same pattern again. Look at how the Bible puts it again. "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge, my fortress, my God, in Him I will trust. Surely, He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers and under His wings you shall take refuge. His truth shall be your shield and your buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness." Is that not what is going on in our nation today? Pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. Too many things just going on. A court session was going on day before yesterday in Imo State. Court session going on. Gunmen just came in while the court session was on, drew out the judge, killed him, and fled. I mean destruction by day, calamity by night. Then you will think it's in the night, no, court session going on. Are you understanding me at all? There is so much wasting and killing and destruction. The heart of people is failing. But I am showing you how to build at a time like this. "A thousand shall fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand. It will not come near you." But look at what he said in the verse 8. That's where I want to stop. What did he say in the verse 8? "Only with your eyes shall you look and see what? The reward of the wicked." So which means that if you will look and see the reward of the wicked, it means you too, you are not wicked. You get the point I am making. If you are wicked, you won't be able to stand to look oh. You will be in what is happening to the wicked. So please, what am I saying, young man, young woman? Keep clean hand. A clean hand. Be holy in all manners of your conversation. Be upright. Be sincere. Be true. Be faithful. Be transparent in all manner of your conversation. This is what you need in response to times like this, so that mercy can avail for you. "Except the Lord watches over the city, the watchman lies awake in vain." It's not how much we shout, how much you cry, and say, "I will not go out, I will hide under my roof so that nothing will happen." Even the roof, the house, the roof of the house can come down on you if you are a wicked man. Yet if you go out and on the way, just a minute to where evil will happen, something will just remove you from there. God has a way of doing it. God has a way of doing it for those who fear Him. Let us respond correctly to a time like this, and the Lord will help us in the name of Jesus Christ. Building to last. Building to last. So I have been able to first respond to the first one, which is building in such a time like this. The second one I want to talk about is how I am looking at the future as a young man, as a young woman. How do I build? How do I build? From this first part, please, if there are questions, let them begin to come. If there are questions, let's talk about it. Let me first answer some that are here. Is there any question from this first part? Anything like a question coming from this first part? Someone who wants to ask a question, please use the mic so that online can hear you. [Speaker 4] Praise God. Hallelujah. From what we have learned previous classes and what you started with today, from previous classes, there was a time you mentioned that both the wise and the fool builds upon the rock, then there came storm and rain, and the rain fell upon the house that they built. You explained it that day that despite who you are, that you must be affected by the difficulties in life. Now you are concluding that the righteous will be exempted from the hard times. So I don't understand how can you explain in relation with the house that the wise built on a rock and the rain, the storm fell on it. You explained it that day that despite who you are, that you must be affected by the difficulties in life. And now you have concluded that God has a way of exempting the righteous from evil. Please, I need more clarification. [Speaker 1] Okay, okay. Thank you very, very much. In fact, you have used the text I want to use for "Building to Last," because we are going to Matthew 7 to look at how do we build to last. How do you become a mountain that cannot be moved anyhow the wind blows? I said I would be talking that at the B part. And I said anyhow the wind blow, mountain don't bow. How do you become a mountain that will not bow? We are actually going to Matthew 7 to look at that. But in a quick response to what you have said is this: when we say it will be well with the righteous, when we say the Lord has a way of delivering the righteous, it does not mean that the righteous don't go through trials. That's not what it means. It doesn't mean that, for instance now, we can just be here and gunshot can just start and they are killing people and you are there. You will run like every other person will run. You will look for where to hide like every other person will hide. But those that will die and those that will not die has to do with the hand of the Lord. God has a way of delivering the righteous in such situation. It will not be because he was able to run so much, not because he was able to hide very well. In fact, the gunshot may even pass through you, and there's a way God will do it that you don't even know that gunshot passed through you. You will not even know. Why the gunshot that passed through you will kill somebody else behind you? You will not even be aware of that. And then by the time you say, "I don't know, they were just shooting, I was just running. In fact, it did not meet me." It would not be that it did not meet him, but God did not make it to have any effect. So don't you worry, the way everything will turn out, you will find out that it worked out for their good. You get it now? For example, let me give you a very good example that is biblical now. Joseph was godly. His brothers hated him. That's adversity. The hatred was so much that they betrayed him. It was so much they wanted to kill him. It was so much they sold him off. All that went on. He got to the place again, he narrowly became a slave. As he was, things were getting well again, Potiphar's wife appeared. From slave, he became a prisoner now. Have you seen adversity? But remove all those things, what would Joseph become? Remove all those things, he would just be in his father's house. He would just be in Canaan. In fact, when that famine came, he too would have died with everybody there. Have you seen how everything, have you seen something? That is how it is with the godly. I hope you can see, have I put it in a balance for you? So God has a way of delivering His own. The godly, it will not be ill with the godly the way it was ill with the wicked. When things ill happen around the godly, go and look at it, on the overall it will turn out for their good. Have you seen, have you seen that again? I hope I have answered that question. Okay. Now, we move to the B part. You have already made us give a brief introduction as we go to Matthew. That Matthew 7 that you made reference to, I just want to point to you in that place what you need to do as a young man if you must last. What you need to do as a young man if you must last. I want you to look at that passage in the context, you know that story of the wise and the foolish builder, you know it was actually premised on something. Are you aware? Let's go to that. I want us to now look at the premise of that parable. We want to look at: how do I build to last as a young man? This time now, I have finished the first part, what is happening around us, I have shown you how to respond to that. Now, I am looking towards the future. As a young man, I am still growing, or I am right now in my relationship, I am looking towards marriage. I am a student, I am looking towards a good job later, I am looking towards settling down. Do you understand me? How do I build to last? You get it? That's what we want to look at now: how do I do it? And I saw a pattern in that Matthew 7, and that is where we want to go. Look at Matthew 7. I want you to notice something very well that that wise and foolish builder is actually premised on something. Now Jesus began actually that matter from verse 21. From verse 21. Verse 21, what do you read? "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven." So Jesus was talking about what here? What was He talking about here? Those who will enter the kingdom of heaven and those who will not enter the kingdom of heaven, is that not so? "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven." So from this passage, we are learning that not everybody who confesses to be a Christian will enter into the kingdom of heaven. Either the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven, not everybody. We got that, abhi? So it means when it comes to the matter of the kingdom, we have two categories of people, is that not? Those that will do what? That will enter into the kingdom of heaven, and those that will what? That will not enter. He says, "But he who does the will of my Father in heaven." I want you to notice something very well in that place. I want to take that thing in NLT. "Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as Lord, but they still won't enter the kingdom of heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven." Are you following something? NIV: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." So are you following something? In the first part, "Not everyone." In the second part, he didn't say "those," "he." "Not everyone," but what? "He." What I am trying to make you see is building to last is not a matter for "those," it is a matter for "he." What I am trying to say is that there may be three friends, like the three of you now are friends. It doesn't mean that the three of you will be building the same way. The matter of building to last, I first want you to know that it is a personal decision. In other words, you must decide in your heart that "me oh, I want my case to be different." Decision. Number one: how to build to last, that's what we are talking about. Personal decision that makes you to be both deliberate and intentional. Personal decision that makes you to be both deliberate and intentional. We read on. It says, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Now, verse 22. "Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?' Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.'" Now, when Jesus, if we now go back to that verse 21, when he was talking about "not all who call me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven," you will know that by this kingdom of heaven here, he is not talking about being born again. He's talking about at last. I want us to look at it contextually. That at last, because somebody will say the kingdom of heaven also means the kingdom of God, so he's talking about those who will be born again, not everybody who calls him Lord, Lord are born again. That's not the matter he was addressing here. Of course, it is true that not everybody who calls him Lord, Lord are born again. That one is also true. But I am taking the context here of this discussion. The context here is that not everybody who is calling me Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord at the end, he says, "many will say to me in that day." Let's look at, can we see another translation for that? "On judgment day, many will tell me." So you can see that it was that heaven there, he was talking about judgment day. He was talking about a final day. That verse 21 is referring to finally, finally. Not everybody who claims to be calling Jesus Lord will finally, finally be with Jesus at last. That's what he's discussing here. Is that true from what you are looking at? Trying different translation, I believe it's clear using different translation. "Many will say to me on that day, the day of judgment." Let me see Amplified. "Many will say to me on that day, the day of judgment, Lord, Lord. In your name we prophesied, in your name we drove out, demons were driven out, and in your name we did many mighty works. And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.'" Now, it was having said this, please note something. It was having said this that he now said "therefore." Are you seeing that in verse 24? Look at your Bible. Please, let's look at the various translation. Is there any translation that is saying that, that is not saying "therefore" for verse 24? "Everyone then," so it is permission, what he was saying before. Is there any... I want you, I want to make you to see that that issue about wise and foolish builder was referring to what he was talking about. I hope, I hope we are clear about that. We are clear about that. So referring to what he was talking about. He said, "then anyone, therefore everyone, who hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock." Anyhow the wind blow, mountain don't bow. The rock they will be as they are standing. We are looking at building to last and we are trying to draw out principles from the word of the Lord. It says, "The rain descended, the flood came, the wind blew and beat on that house. It did not fall, for it was founded on the rock." So it means, if we take it literally for what he was talking about, it means those who hear his word and they obey him, they will be the ones that after all the struggles of life's journey, after everything, at last they will tell them, "Welcome, thou good and faithful servant." That is the literal translation of that. "The rain will come, the wind will blow, it will beat against the house, it did not fall because founded on the rock." It means on that day, after all the temptations, all the trials, everything they will go through in this life, when they get to the gate, they will find entrance. They will say, "Yeah! Welcome my son into your rest. Welcome, welcome." So at last they will not cry. At last they will not have regret. At last they will not weep. At last it will not be, "Ah, ah, no! But Lord, ah, why will you say I cannot enter? Why will you say you will not accept me? Hey, ah!" That is what he's saying from that parable, is that not so? So the other people too, that he now said the wind blew, the this, the this and beat against the house and the house spoiled and great was the fall. What he's been saying is that they are the ones on that day after everything they have gone through in this life, different trials, different troubles, because go and check it, whether you are believer or not a believer, there are troubles. You get the point I am making. No fuel, we are all inside. No new cash, no new naira note. We are all queuing. Are we not part of the whole thing? I was reading a news yesterday, a man slumped in the bank and died immediately. He was on the long queue. Maybe he was not particularly fine. And you know on that queue you will not be able to sit down. He was just standing oh, then he just slumped. Before they could rush him, the man was dead. Queuing for new currency. The man may not be a believer, the man may be a believer, we don't know. But he's saying that after all life's journeys, that's what he's just trying to say, after all life's journeys, at the gate of entrance on the judgment day, they will tell them, "Depart from me!" And then "yeah, great was this." That is the literal translation of that story. But from this story now, we can draw out wisdom. Wisdom about building to last. It tells me something, that financially, financially, if I listen to what God says about how to get money, how to spend money, where to spend money, the attitude towards money, the correct way to do it, if I listen to the word of God about it, on the long, long run, I will not have problem from money. Is that not what is saying? Is that not what is saying? It also means that maritally, maritally, if I listen to what God is saying, if I follow God's pattern, if I listen to what He has said and I build whatever I want to build according to that pattern, if I am following that pattern of Jesus, on the long, long, long, long, long, long run, I will not have marital issue as a point for why I will not enter. Because when he said "depart from me you work out of iniquity," in what were they doing iniquity? It is in those things that they did not obey God. Or what is iniquity? They didn't obey God in their life. And it could have been in their finances. Is that not true? Is that not true? It could have been in their marriage. They were not faithful to their wife. It could have been in their career. They were not sincere to their employer or they were employers they normally cut down on the wage of their workers. You know some employer they have two salary voucher: the one they use to collect money from government, then the one they use to pay the workers. The difference is in their pocket. Are you understanding what I am trying to bring out? So the point is this, young man, young woman: if I want to build to last, if I want my life to be solid, I am already seeing a light on what I should do and how I should do it. If I don't want to have financial crisis in life that is based on finance, what should I do about money? It means in getting money, in spending money, in using money, I should be sure that I take time to know what the will of the Lord is. Let me tell you, the bottom line to building to last is what the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5. Are you there? Ephesians 5. Are you there? Are you there? Are you there? Look at the word of God in that place. I want you to see what the scripture says in that place. Ephesians 5. It says, "See then," from verse 15, "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise." Where are we coming from? The foolish builder and the wise builder. Do you get it? Now, "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but..." No, no, no, look at your Bible. Look at what the Bible says. It says, "Therefore do not be unwise, but do what? Understand what the will of the Lord is." If I want to be wise financially, what should I do? If I want to be wise academically, what do I do? If I want to be wise maritally, what do I do? So it means the way to build to last is to understand what the will of the Lord is. Any matter you are building in your life that is not patterned according to His will, you are not building to last. Any matter in your life. And look at it. It says, "Therefore do not be unwise, but understand." It means we can understand the Lord's will. Are you understanding me? You can be understanding the Lord's will. The will of God can be understood. If it is not possible, it will not be telling us "Let us do what? Understand what the will of the Lord is." So building to last, build to last, every area of my life, every area, what am I supposed to be doing? Making sure I understand the will of God. And please, get something very clear that I want to make very, very clear, very, very clear to you. Because when we say now understanding the will of God, you know what some people are thinking of now. Anything they want to do until they close their eyes and they hear, "Victor! Mmmm... for you to know it is you that I am calling, Raji Victor. Now, now, now, listen properly. Don't tell lies. That job you want to take, make sure you live honestly on that job." Don't be expecting those kind of things. No. No. I tell people, "No." Those kind of things you should possibly expect them, possibly expect an audible voice or a spectacular encounter in matters that the word of God do not speak explicitly. For example, I give you a very good example. There is nowhere in the Bible where you will, there is no how much you study the Bible that you will see "Godwin should be in FUTA for his undergraduate." How often will you study the Bible to see where it is written "FUTA is where every Godwin should do their undergraduate"? In that, you need God to give some direction. Are you understanding me? What I am trying to say, when He says... please combine the two together. In Matthew, He said, "He who hears my word and does them." In Ephesians, He said, "Understanding what the will of the Lord is, don't be foolish." Are you getting it? When we talk about the will of God, the first and foremost thing we are talking about is what? Is what? Is the word of God. You will say, "But the word of God, is it the written word of God or the spoken word of God?" Because again, you have to divide it into two. I hope you are following me. I'm trying to make this thing very, very clear. Let's divide it into two again. Is it the written one or the spoken one? I want to call your attention to very, very, very, very crucial thing about the word of God. This matter about the word of God, I want us to see something in, I think it should be Mark if I'm not wrong. It should be Mark. Please let's go to Mark chapter 12. Mark chapter 12. Mark 12. Let's see Mark 12. Mark chapter 12. Are you there? Now, look at what scripture says in around verse 25, 26. It says... please take it from verse 23. Please use the mic so that brethren online can hear you. [Speaker 3] "In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife. Jesus said to them, 'Is this not the reason you were wrong, because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God?'" [Speaker 1] Why are they wrong? "Is this not the reason you were wrong, because you did not know the scriptures nor the power of God?" Please note that. People will always be wrong when they don't know scriptures. A believer that don't take time to know the scripture will always be wrong. I want you to note that. We are looking at the word of Jesus. Please read on. [Speaker 3] "For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the dead being raised..." [Speaker 1] So when Jesus was telling them they will not when they rise up they will be like angels, why didn't they know that? Because they didn't look at scriptures, abhi? Please read on. [Speaker 3] "...have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong." [Speaker 1] Now, do you get something in 26, 27? Look at 26 again. It says what? "But as touching the dead that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush, God said unto him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?" Do you follow something? "Have you not read?" Why are they having problem with the dead? These are the Sadducees. Why are they having problem? Now, what I am trying to make you feel is that when the Bible says "Understanding the will of the Lord," the first practical thing about the will of the Lord is the voice of the scriptures. What is written in the scriptures. You will see, but you read take heed. He said, "Look, and as touching the dead that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses?" Are you seeing how, look, look at something. I want you to note something again very importantly. He said, "how in the burning bush God spoke to him." Now, please, please, what is Jesus doing with the book of Exodus here? What is He doing practically with the book of Exodus here? He was showing that the will of God, that is true. He was showing them the will of God. That speaker is correct. Yes, what else again can we say? That's true. Yes, what else again? He was pointing to knowledge in scripture. Yes, that is true. That the truth is already in the scripture. That scripture should have helped them to know, abhi? That the truth is already in scripture. And do you notice something again very, very importantly? That He is also validating that when scripture speak, God spoke. He says, "Look at it oh, that God was telling Moses, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of this.' So God is not the God of the dead. If they are dead, God will not be saying 'I am,' telling meaning that they are alive. 'I am,' 'I am.' Do you get it? That 'I am the God.' He should have said 'I was' the God of Moses, 'I was' the God of Abraham. He said 'I am,' meaning that they are alive that they are with Him." Do you get the point? That "I am the God," He should have said "I was" the God of Moses, "I was" the God of Abraham. He said "I am," meaning that they are alive that they are with Him. Now, what did He want them to see? That don't you see God Himself is speaking? So many times when you are saying "God speak to me," many times I wonder if you give attention to scripture. You want God to tell you that you are not supposed to lie. You don't give attention to scripture. You want... maybe you just start to say something, "I don't even know what to do about this my marriage. You see my husband is tough, my wife is this." You know what to do. God said, "Husband, love your wife. Wife, submit to your husband." You know what to do. You are rebelling against God. And then you start going to this man of God, go to that man of God, go to this man of God, go to that man of God. "I don't even know, I don't even know what to do." You are wicked. And you will suffer the fruit of your wickedness. Scripture, as far as Jesus is concerned, I'm showing you that "When God said this, does that not answer everything about God that you want to know?" It's making us to see that when scripture speaks, God speaks. So when the Bible says "Understanding the will of the Lord," what am I telling you as a young man? If you want to build to last, I said you must understand the will of God. Is that not what I said? And I'm showing you, you will be asking me now, "Ah, this matter of the will of God again now, hey, how many months prayer am I going to pray now to know the will of God about money, to know the will of God this?" That's not what I'm telling you. I'm first saying that go and give attention to what the scriptures say about money. Go and give attention to what the scriptures say about sex. Give attention to what the scriptures say about about honesty. Give attention to what the scriptures say. Go and give attention to these things. Go and sit down. Go and bury your life in what the word of God says. Go and look at it. Go and give attention to these things. When you are doing that and you are yielding yourself to it, then what are you doing? You are building to last. You are building to last. So that about certain things, you don't need to, you don't need to know. Some people tell me that, "In fact, Holy Spirit just tell me that you know, I should forgive." The Holy Spirit had to be telling you, telling you because you are disobedient to the word of God. The word of God is clear. If your brother offends you seven times seven times against you, forgive him. Do you need the Holy Ghost to tell you? "Godwin, Godwin, this thing you are doing..." He's kept reminding you and telling you and telling you and telling you. Do you need that? And what you don't know, let me tell you this truth. That's the last thing I want to show you now and then. Please if there are questions, begin to come. We should be answering every question as at. It's because question have not come, that's why I am taking time. After I wrap up, I want to show you something about this matter of giving attention to scripture and the will of God. That's what some of us don't know. This Holy Spirit that you are saying that "I want the Spirit of God to lead me, I want the Spirit of God to speak to me, I want the Spirit of God..." Do you know that many people, many people are just living in witchcraft, in delusion? Many times not the Holy Spirit telling them anything. It's just their own mind and their impression. They don't give attention to the word of God. "I feel the Holy Spirit wants me..." many of these "I feel, I feel" may not have anything to do with the Holy Spirit. Somebody one time said, "I don't feel like I don't just feel like helping that person. I don't just feel like, you know, there's a way my spirit..." I said, "But all these days that you have been in this institution," those days when we were students, "you have never feel like not going to write exam." Why is it that that one is always that you should go for exam? "No, but you know that exam." I said, "Okay, so you don't know that you are supposed to love your brother." Your brother is in need, you want to feel the Holy Spirit to tell you whether you should help your brother. "See, you know there's a way my spirit is not just..." You know so many things today they are built on selfishness, selfish emotion, selfish feelings. We now begin to put spirit behind them. That we are just carnal people! And I'm telling you that if you want to really be in the Spirit, the first thing you must do is give attention to the scriptures. That's the reality. Look at what I want to show you as we close this morning. John chapter 14, verse 15, and then verse 21. The book of John, gospel according to John, chapter 14, verse 15, and then we also read through verse 21. Are you there? Are you there? John chapter 14. Are you there? I read from here. He says, I read from verse 15, "If you love me, keep my commands. If you love me, keep my commands. And I will pray the Father," please follow this thing oh, "and I will pray the Father, and He will give you another helper and He will abide with you forever." Now, are you seeing something? Those who love Jesus, they do what? They do what? They keep His command. For those categories of people, "I will pray the Father, He will give you another helper that will be with you forever." I'm showing the connection between the prayer of Jesus for the Holy Spirit and the life of those that the Holy Spirit is coming to. What's the connection? Those who love Him, they keep His command. They are the ones He's praying that the Father will give them the Holy Spirit that will be with them forever. Are you following something? Are you following that thing step by step? The next verse: "The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive." Are you seeing something that if you are carnal, if you are not following Jesus, you cannot receive the Holy Spirit. The world resists Him. That's why you know that when He's talking about the world here, get something clear. You remember that in Hebrews chapter 3, He said, "If you hear His voice, do not harden your heart." The world cannot receive Him because they harden their heart against Him. His sayings are foolishness. Like the things of the Spirit, they are foolishness to natural men. When they say the world cannot receive Him here, what He meant is that what He says, His words, they are foolishness to them. They slap you on the right, turn the left. Is that wisdom or foolishness? You are not talking to a physical man. "That's foolishness!" That's why they cannot receive Him. Because they will lean on their understanding. And I want to show you something very clear about this only Holy Spirit people are feeling about "Holy Spirit lead me, Holy Spirit speak to me, Holy Spirit let me be led by the Spirit." And you see people today, "Well, I was led to this sister, eventually she said it's like God did not lead me. I was led to do this, it's like I realized that the Holy Spirit did not lead me." Many of these things they are built on emotions. And I'm telling you how to build to last. About building to last. He says, "The Spirit of truth, the world cannot receive Him," the same thing with 1 Corinthians chapter 2, that the things of the Spirit they are foolishness to the natural man. They cannot receive them. They cannot. That is, they cannot listen to Him. They cannot yield to Him. They cannot agree with Him. Why? Because the commandment of Jesus is strange to them. If you don't follow His commandment, you cannot receive the Holy Spirit. That is, you cannot listen to the Holy Spirit. Are you following me at all? You will not submit to the Holy Spirit. You will not agree with Him. I'm showing you a strong connection between obeying commandments and the Holy Spirit. He said the world cannot receive Him. Look at it. "Because it neither sees Him or knows Him. But you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be with you. I will not leave you orphan. I will come to you." Please be following this thing one by one. "A little while longer, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in the Father, and you in me, and I in you." Verse 21. He now emphasized what He was saying in verse 15. He now elaborated it now. He says, "He who has my commandment and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father. I will love him and I will manifest myself to him." Judas, not Iscariot, said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us and not to the world?" They were wondering how everybody will see You now. Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him." So when He said, "You know the Holy Spirit and He will be with you," that Holy Spirit that is coming to be with you, is it not the Father and the Son again? I'm showing you why people cannot work with the Holy Spirit. So you want to hear God say something, but you don't want to submit yourself to the word of God. What's the essence? You don't give what is holy to the dogs. May that not be your life. That's a strong connection. That's a strong connection. Look at how he concluded in verse 24. "He who does not love me does not keep my word, and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me." When the Holy Spirit will come, He's coming to take from the Father to give to you. And when you don't receive the word, the commandment, so what is the Holy Ghost coming to give to you? Let us pray this morning. It's already 12 noon now, this afternoon. I want you to talk to the Lord. Building to Last. Building to Last. Two major things we did today. Number one is how to respond to the situation that we are in in Nigeria today. And number two is how do I build to last. How do I build? Financially, maritally, academically, how do I build? And essentially what we said about the second part is to build to last is to understand the will of God. And to understand the will of God is to give attention to scriptures and then you will have revelation. If you don't give attention to scriptures, Jesus will not manifest Himself to you. The Holy Spirit will not be active and powerful in you. It is the people who receive the commandment that the Holy Spirit is actually meant for. They are the ones that can receive Him. That is the matter of building to last. To last is to build is to know the will of the Lord. Is to know the will of God. Talk to the Lord this morning. Talk to the Lord. Building to last. Building to last. Building to last. Building to last. Thank You, Father. Thank You, Holy Spirit. Thank You, Holy Spirit. Let me welcome Jude to come and close the meeting. Jude, please come and close the meeting for us this morning. I hope that there is no question online oh. Okay. Our Father, we thank You for today. We are grateful for all You've done for us this morning. Thank You for the lessons. Thank You for the counsel, the timely counsel, and the edification of today. Father, we pray that indeed we shall build to last in Jesus' name. That we shall live our life seeking to know Your will in everything we do at every time in this name of Jesus Christ. For these words that we have heard today, Lord, we pray that we shall make wise use of them in Jesus' name. We shall bring fruits that shall abide in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Lord, we are praying concerning present times. Lord, that You also show us the need to live as these times in Jesus' name. Even though things are hard, but You have assured us in Your word that "Say unto the righteous it shall be well with you." And Lord, this is our, this is where we stand. This is where we stand. Our righteousness is of You. Lord, we pray that indeed the arrows that are flying, the harshness of these times shall not be our portion in Jesus' name. We shall only see them, but they shall not come near us in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. And Lord, we also pray concerning other areas of our lives and concerning the future also, that You help us to live, Lord, seeking to know Your will. Lord, Your word is already a light into our path and a lamp into our feet. Lord, we pray that we shall always give attention to them in Jesus' name. Thank You, Lord for answering our prayers. For in Jesus' mighty name we pray. Let's share the grace. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forevermore. Amen. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives, and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever and ever. Amen. This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in enriching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development, and mission aid. Our regular activities are: Discipleship Class every Monday, 5:00 PM; Adolescent and Singles' Club every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; Marriage Forum every second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; Family Life seminars, regular school outreaches, and everyday counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location: Light Camp by the first bridge, Ilere community, opposite Rejoice filling station, along Igbatoro Road, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are 08033861136, 07033613848. God bless you all.