Cdc — 26 MAR 2018

[Speaker 1] Churches and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly home front. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Time Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 2] Today we want to transact some of the matter, avoiding the snare. We have looked at why men break the hedge. That was what our father was able to remind us of over and over again. Men ordinarily don't want to break the hedge, but severally people break the hedge, and they get trapped severally. If you look into the world today, those who don't break and those who break, those who don't break, they are very few. This illustration every time, even when I speak with adolescents, I gave the adolescents the example sometimes not too long ago in one meeting that we had, that every categories of people at every age and in every age group or range, you always divide men into three groups. I normally use a hypothetical story to illustrate it. Three young men are walking along a path, not a way, a path. I hope you understand between a way and a path. A path is a narrow way that can take just one person at a time, while a way is a broad path that can take two or three people walking abreast themselves. I hope you understand me. Hypothetical three young men walking on a path. Unknown to the three of them, there is a serious ditch. Very deep with very sharp objects, stone, whatever, down somewhere. As they were going, not seeing the ditch, the first person in front fell. By the time he got down the ditch, it was his head on a sharp stone. Of course, the injury was severally unrepairable. The second person in line saw what happened to the first and said, "Ah look, is this what happened to this person? Is this this serious? Is it not possible to just see how it feels?" And the person jumped through into the ditch, thinking he will land on his feet. Unfortunately, he landed by the side and broke the ribs. Then the third person got close to the ditch. To the two sides of the ditch are thorns because the path is narrow, but the person managed and managed and managed and managed and got to the other side of the ditch and continued the journey. And I often ask, how do you describe the three people? Of course, the first person was ignorant. Isn't it? One class of men in this life, they are ignorant. But that doesn't mean they will escape the ditch. You see, my people are destroyed because of lack of knowledge. It doesn't mean they will escape it. There are several men in that category. Ignorant of God's purpose, ignorant of God's will, ignorant of God's vision, ignorant of God's blessing, so ignorant, so vain, full of philosophy, full of ambition, full of this, full of that. They are just jumping and at a point they will fall through the ditch and that is just the end of them. The second category, how will you describe the second person? When I ask the children in the meeting, the children said he is a useless person. Very useless. One said he is a foolish person. I finally got it back on them. I said as you are seated here, some of you, you are foolish and you are useless. That is another category. Another category of men, they are foolish, they are useless. They are not ignorant, but they are foolish. The greatest foolishness in them is that the purpose of history is to learn from history. But their greatest undoing is that they don't learn from history. For example, what finished Samson? You see Samson men of God today. What slaughtered Achan? Covetousness. You see slaughtering many men. What finished Amnon and Tamar? Lust. It is still slaughtering our youth. They are so foolish. They cannot just learn. They can't see. People are going down the drain daily and yet somebody is saying, "Don't worry, I will get around it, let me just see how it feels." Oro ko se dada, emi o mo bi emi o se dada. That's another category at every age, at every place. The last category is the wise. Men who see that some have gone down, men who realize that some are foolish, and they carefully navigate the ditch of life. Even though they get injured by the thorns, they face many things. They face many things. They normally get wounded, but they don't mind the thorns. They go, they go, they go. It said, "Those that will live a godly life in Christ will suffer persecution." They will go through the thorns, the thorns will come, but they will get to the other side of the ditch. If you look at the hypothetical story, it was one third that is wise. Two thirds are the other side. Majority of men are either ignorant or foolish. Only a few are wise. It is so in every generation. It is so in every grouping. It is so in every age. You can always group men into these three categories: the ignorant, the foolish, the wise. So what am I trying to say? We have seen that ordinarily men don't want to break the hedge, but the attractions across the hedge take so many men outside the hedge. Last week we were able to see avoiding it, and what I took time to speak about was the revelation God gave me that I should tell my brethren that why are we leaving the fountain of living water and we are carrying around broken cisterns of water? For how long will a broken... I hope you know what a cistern is. Old pots of those days, ikoko yen, eyi to ti fo, inu e la gbomisi. When there is a fountain of living water. That as led by the spirit of God are the sons of God. We have the Holy Spirit. He has come down, He said when He comes, He will lead you, He will tell you of things to come, He will guide you, He will bring you to all truth. That water will live. We leave that fountain and keep following general principles, general things of the world, start looking at how it is generally done. "Okay, that is what people are doing, let me go that way." We just keep following and we leave the fountain of living water. I spoke particularly about how even in the church, so many great things of marriage we have replaced with substitute. We have brought dating, we have brought compatibility, emotional compatibility, physical compatibility, age compatibility, academic compatibility. When all those ones were not working, we have begun to ask sexual compatibility so that we can check all the compatibility before we enter. Has it worked? Has it worked? If all these things are working, look at the rate of headache we have in these current days and marriage. We are leaving the fountain and that was our emphasis last week. Let us personally return to this fountain. God is calling people back into His presence. That was our emphasis last week. This week I want to expand the matter, avoiding the snare. To talk about what I call the residual from the fountain. It is very simple. What I want to talk about is very simple, but it is just to remind us again of a truth we have always known. You will see that in Proverbs. Most of the things we are discussing they are in Proverbs. You see that also in Proverbs 11. Just before we look at that Proverbs, let me emphasize something that I want to link with today's discussion more specifically. You know last week, what do we face the fountain? It says the law of the wise is a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death. There is something I needed to link it with so that before we now go to that Proverbs 11, you will see that in Proverbs 14:27. Proverbs 14:27, just to remind us of something that we made mention of last week. "The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death." Now please look at something about fear, but fear of the Lord as we try to look at the residuals from the fountain. Look at Proverbs 15:16, just to emphasize some things. "Better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith." Okay. Look at Proverbs 15:33. "The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom; and before honor is humility." Okay. Proverbs 16:6. "By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil." Okay. Look at Proverbs 19:23 now. "The fear of the Lord tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil." We have been following the matter of this fear of the Lord. It is a fountain of life, it tends to life, the people who have it will abide satisfied, he shall not be visited with evil. Now look at the last thing about this matter of fear. We want to read Proverbs 23:17 and Proverbs 24:21 and Proverbs 29:25. Let's take the first one. 23:17, "Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long." 24:21, "My son, fear thou the Lord and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change." Proverbs 29:25, "The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe." That is where we want to start from. The matter was about the fear of the Lord and we relate it to the fountain of life. We have seen so much about this fear, diversely emphasized. In Proverbs 29:25 it says the fear of man bringeth a snare, but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. So there is the fear of the Lord that makes a man to put his trust in the Lord. But there is also the fear of man. You know we were saying something last week. It is not by how much calculation you can make. When you look, calculation, "Eh, hi, ko ni bosi, je n se eleyi," the fear of man. It was the fear of man that put Lot into trouble. The fear that, "If I choose the part that is not good, the sheep, they will not have something to eat. If I choose the good part, there will be food for them to eat." Do you understand what I am trying to bring out? The snare of man, the fear of man bringeth a snare. Now brethren, we want to look at this matter of residual or what I call spillover from His presence. When a man stays in the Lord's presence, when a man stays in the presence of the Lord, let's return to His presence, let's stay there, let's this fountain keep coming. When the fountain of the Lord keeps coming in the life of a man, there are certain things that become a mold or it will cast something. It will lead to something, it will bring about something in the life of that man. That is what I call the residual. They are actually a product of a man staying consistently in the presence of the Lord. These things that come out, the byproduct or the end result of constantly staying in the presence of the Lord. When a man constantly stays there, some products that I call the residual, they come out. And those residuals, they become very, very important. They are also things that come out of that fear. That fear is a fountain. You get the point I make? But inside that fear look at something. Look at Proverbs 15:16 where the Bible says "Better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith." What is He saying? What is the residual that is coming out of staying in God's presence in that place? Contentment. Are you understanding me? I'm talking about certain things that become a fallout, that become the end product. When a man begins to constantly stay in God's presence, there is a fountain, a spring that springs. But apart from the fact that there is a constant fountain that springs, the fountain that springs is when God is speaking what God is saying per that time. There is a matter, it is what God said, this is what God is telling me to do, this is what God is saying now. But when we stay so much in God's presence, certain things become built into our life. They become they start, it is just like when Moses stayed so much in God's presence, there was a residual, there was a byproduct. What was the byproduct? His face started shining. You get it? When a man constantly stays in the fear of the Lord, one thing that becomes a matter is that a residual that comes out... we see contentment. You will be wondering what the purpose of these things but I want to show you how these things keep men from snare. I call them "When God seems to be quiet." You may not have experience, and you might have experience. When God seems to be quiet. God is not quiet. God will be expecting that certain mold has been cast, that they form basis for decision. Do you understand me? If the only way I can make a little more money is to be dishonest, I would rather not make that little more money and remain honest. At those times of taking those decisions, it may look as if God is not speaking. It may look as if God is quiet. It may look as if the Holy Ghost is saying nothing. The Holy Ghost is not as if the Holy Ghost is saying nothing. Rather, the Holy Ghost is saying that to whom much has been given, much will be expected. When a man begins to stay over and over in God's presence, some things are built in. And those things, they become a man's value, the value system. How a man values things. How he arranges things, how a man arranges his priorities. What is more important to him as against what is less important. I hope you get the point I am making. Now when a man begins to stay so much in God's presence, those things begin to become a fallout. And if you look again into that scripture beyond 15:16, if you look at it in 16:6, it says "by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil." Now what is that building in? The first one talking about contentment, isn't it? What of the second? Uprightness. I'm trying to make you see that when you say somebody is wise, what we are calling this wisdom is that some categories of men as they stay over and over in God's presence, wisdom has become profitable in contentment. Are you understanding me? Some categories of men, as they stay so much in God's presence, a wisdom has built in. What is the wisdom? Uprightness. If the thing is not up and right, they will depart from it. It may seem God is quiet. But these people, they are wise. There is a residual that is coming out of God's presence. It is still a product of God's presence. It is a product of staying in His presence. It is a product of being there. It does not just come. It comes as men stay over and over in His presence. Suddenly you see a man, something is happening, he says, "No." E fila, he says, "No." "Ah, but..." he says, "Rara, e fi le." He says, "But..." he says, "Mm-mm, e ma worry." He says, "But..." he says, "Mm-mm." And it looks as if this person is not moving like others. Over time you will discover that the man is not among the ignorant, he is not among the foolish, he is wise. What made him wise is the residual from His presence. Where God continues to flow continuously through a man. I am showing you what will characterize those men. If you want to know whether God is flowing through you constantly, if these things are not building into your life, be careful. What is flowing may not be God. There may be a mistake somewhere. There may be a fundamental problem somewhere. That is why you may be surprised or let me put it like this again so that it may look as if I'm taking an extreme position. If these things are not building in, you may not be having what Apostle Paul calls, "I did not withhold anything from you." Have you read that scripture before? That is in Acts 20:27. Let's see that scripture. When Paul was about to leave the elders in Ephesus. Acts 20:27, "For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." Please note that word. What is it? All. Whole counsel. There is a counsel that is not whole. When a counsel is not whole, let me tell you the truth, they are more dangerous. They are more dangerous for the sheep. Because that aspect becomes the poison, it is satanism. That is one of the quickest methods of the devil. "Eat it, you become like God. Your eyes will be opened." All those they were true. But the truth is that they will die. He said they will not die. There is a whole counsel and the counsel which is not whole. There are men who don't carry the total counsel of God. That's why I'm speaking about this matter of the residual. When a man is constantly staying in God's presence and God's presence is flowing through this man, certain things must begin to come out of that life. Certain things must begin to come out as power in his life or you may say as the value in his life. What becomes his value system. Look at what he says again even in verse 30. "Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after themselves." So what is happening today is history. Who was I telling that? I was telling one of the youth that in a church, the man of God was announcing to the church that, "I'm putting away my wife and announcing the wedding with a new lady at the end of that year." And said, "Shout a shout of jubilee!" Real life story. I don't want to mention the name and the church. Real life story. If I even mention, you will say, "Is it him?" If I mention the man of God, many of you may even know him. So you see, the point I am making is he said even among you men will arise speaking perverse things. So when you see men that started together begin to say strange things, why are you bothered? Why are you bothered? You see the first set of people, I want you to see two sets of people in this reading. The first set are those who will enter stealthily, won wole bi ole. They are wolves, but they will wear sheep clothing. They will not spare the sheep. Won ma pa won je ni nkan nkan. They look as if they are milking the cow, but they will not be giving it grass. Do you understand? After they will kill what is left for meat. But the cow will think these are good shepherds. That's one category of leaders. Another category of men of God. These ones they are bold. They will be speaking perverse things. That first ones, let me explain. A man wants you not to mention you don't give five naira for offering, but he enters stealthily. He says, "Brethren, bring out your offering, whatever you have decided to give to the Lord, now let us wave it to God, let's wave, let's wave to God." You know where he's going. That is stealthily. If you are thinking of five naira before, to wave five naira, ah, won wo mi pe ah, emi level 14 officer, de ki lo fifty naira. "Wave it to God, just wave. In the Bible, in Exodus, Moses waved the offering, there was a wave offering. Just wave it, brethren, wave it." After they have waved, "Oh ya, pray over it, let us pray." Then when they want to give they say, "No, use the open tray, use the open tray." You know what you are doing, you know where you are going. Those are the ones that enter with sheep clothing even though they are wolves. But there is this other one. This is the one that happened live. The man of God just came up and said, "We are taking the offering now, and the Lord is saying nobody should give less than 300, the Lord said." That was the word. Nobody should give less than 300 naira. Offering was taken. For me that is even nothing, God can say. If God chooses to say so, that's not even the problem. But where I had problem was when later other ministers were discussing with the man of God. "Ah thank God so much came in today" and all of that. And he said, "At least that word of God that people should give not less than 300." He now began to... "Olorun o so nkan nkan, bi mo se wo owo s'ile niyen." Those are men speaking perverse things. I'm trying to make you see what will characterize those men. If you want to know whether God is flowing through you constantly, if these things are not building into your life, be careful. What is flowing may not be God. There may be a mistake somewhere. There may be a fundamental problem somewhere. I said that the fear of the Lord... we saw that it's a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death. That is God speaking into our situation. We saw that last week. I was giving an example. God told the king don't go this way. There are some brothers that God is speaking and He's speaking to depart because you cannot see the snare. Some snares are even inbuilt that their product will come out after 20, 25 years that immediately you cannot even see unless God says, "Look, the end will not be well, go this way." You cannot see the snare. Now we are saying that if there is this flow and this flow is flowing continuously through a man's life, we saw contentment growing out of the man. We saw another thing again grow out of the man: uprightness. If the thing is not up and right, they will depart from it. They are wise. There's a residual that is coming out of God's presence. It's still a product of God's presence. It's a product of staying in His presence. It's a product of being there. It does not just come. It comes as men stay over and over in His presence. Proverbs 19:23, "The fear of the Lord tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil." What will be coming out of this life again when a man is staying constantly in that presence? It tends to prolong the life of a man. Because what causes life to be short is a snare. Some snares are inbuilt. I was giving an example one time, though I don't know the man's story, I don't know to what extent he was a Christian or not. But I was just talking about even men who have some of these things by collective virtue, maybe by constant exposure to these things by their parents. You know in those days, if you go back to history, among the Yoruba, something that is so prevalent is oruko rere. Everybody began to make reference to this. People who over time by that constant picking of parents who took that culture, that's why I said morality is not salvation. You will notice that I was looking at that with Adekunle Ajasin when Buhari and Idiagbon took over in December 31, 1983. Military took over from civilian. Those of us who are of age, if you remember the story then, several of the governors were thrown into life imprisonment, 36 years in prison, 35 years in prison, all of that. But by the time they come to Baba Ajasin's case, what did they see? They just said, "Baba, e sa ma lo ile, your account is clear." What I'm trying to say is that a thousand fell to his side, ten thousand to his right hand side, but it did not come near him. Only with his eyes he behold the reward of the wicked. That man was governor, he didn't build another house. Ile e to ti ko lo si government lo pada si. How many governors are like that today? I'm talking about just that a good name... it tends to prolong life. He that has it abides satisfied. It tends to make men enjoy life. You will be wanting to feel you are having a better car than them, you are having a better house than them. You will not be enjoying life the way these people are enjoying life. What makes a man to enjoy life? Three ingredients that money cannot buy: number one is peace. How much do you buy peace? Do you know that this whole city can be troubled and somebody will just be at peace? Gbogbo aye n sa siri-kiri. You'll be wondering what is giving them peace. The Bible says the peace of God that passeth all understanding. You'll be wondering, you hear that there's recession in the country, won ma fe le awon staff, won fe sack 25 workers, o se n je pe awa lara won. Somebody just at peace. You will be wondering what gives this person peace. These are things money cannot buy. He said God gives His own peace. Peace that you cannot explain. What do you think could make a man lose everything that he has in one day and say, "God has given, God has taken, glory be to the name of the Lord"? I'm not talking of the peace where everything is peaceful then you are at peace. There's a kind of peace that money seems to buy. Why is it that if riches, affluence, and power mean safety, have you ever asked yourself this question? Why is it that it is the rich, the powerful, and those who have affluence that build high fence around their houses? Look for all kinds of Alsatian dog, Rottweiler, and put them there. And put heavy gates and get policemen to stay around their house. And yet you will see that man there, no door, no window, he has been sleeping in his house and waking up. If more money means security, why is it that the more people have, the more they are afraid? But there is a peace. There is a peace that is amidst... these are things that would come out of the fear of the Lord. They rescue men from the snare. I wish there is time for us to take this thing more and more and expand this matter. But I want us to pray, our time is fast spent. Pray. Ask the Lord. "Lord, I just want to be where you are. I don't want to worship from afar, I don't want to be a tangent. A tangent that touches the circumference of the circle. I want to go inside. Enter into the core." These are the things that deliver men from snare. They rescue men. Let me cite the example of Paul. Do you remember one point in the life of Paul, what scattered himself and Barnabas? Disagreement over who? Over Mark. The Bible says there was no small argument between the two of them that they had to part way. Barnabas took Mark, Paul took Silas. But as Paul continued to stay in the presence of the Lord, what happened? Look at at a point he said, "Bring Mark to me for he's profitable to me." When Paul was writing to Timothy, what did he say? He said a man of God must not strive. Do you see how being in His presence brings certain virtue? Certain things begin to rub off on a man. I'm talking about character, behavior, conduct. The way you conduct yourself among people. There's a tradeoff. You cannot be by this fountain and then you stay the same. I'm talking of character, behavior, conduct. People will blow in tongues, there's no character. People will blow in tongues and yet they argue over money. There's no tradeoff. They will be in church, but there's no tradeoff. It is because we are not emphasizing these things again. There is a whole counsel of God. Don't desire to operate outside the total counsel. Desire to be within the total counsel. There's a whole counsel. Let us pray.