Childlessness and Marriage (1) 4 Biblical Examples

[Background Music] [Announcer] Church or fellowship cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God who designs a godly home, these are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness on Family Tent Ministry. Will you be blessed as you listen? [Speaker 1] Almighty God, indeed we are grateful again today as we come into Your presence. We bless You again for another Saturday in the month of August. We appreciate You for bringing us to the second Saturday again for our another episode of our marriage forum. Lord our God, we pray that as we come together, our brethren who are on Telegram, our brethren who are on Mixlr, and we who are here physically as we gather together, Lord we pray that You will indeed speak to our hearts. Lord, You will meet with us. Lord our God, we look up unto You, we ask, let it be again a time of visitation for us. Let it be a time of refreshment. Let it be a time of instruction in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, let it be a time of comfort and encouragement, particularly as we begin a very critical topic again this August. We are having the first episode today: childlessness and marriage. Lord our God, we just pray that homes, families that need instruction, that need encouragement, that need comfort, that need direction, that need strength this period, Lord You will grant in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank You, Eternal Father. Blessed be Your holy name, our God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So, last month, which was the month of July, we came to the conclusion of "Life and Your Marriage." That took us six episodes, and we were able to conclude "Life and Your Marriage." In case you have not been able to follow us at all on that episode, you can just go to our website. All the messages are there: familytentministry.org. Just click, you will find the Marriage Forum album, and then just look through from the month of April. You will find—from the month of February, you will find the series there. Today we are starting another very, very important series. Not only that is it important, it is also a very crucial one for us. Childlessness and marriage. Childlessness and marriage. We want to consider four biblical examples. Four biblical examples. And our trust is that as we go through this biblical example—we are starting it up today. We don't know how many series it will take us, but we are starting the series today. As we consider each of these couples in the Bible, my prayer is that every young person looking towards marriage, every one in a relationship about to marry, everyone who is just getting married, everybody who have been there for over five years, who have been there for over a decade, for decades, I'm just trusting God that regardless of where we are, whether we are going through childlessness as a challenge in our marriage or we already have children, my prayer is that the different things to learn from the different angles—there are so many angles to this matter. For those who may be having a challenge, for marriages who may be having the challenge, for young people who are looking forward towards marriage, and for people who are in relationship who are about to marry, honestly, so many lessons to learn from each of the angle. So wherever you are, whichever point that you are, my prayer is that what God wants you to take home from this series that we are starting today, you will take it home. And the Lord will keep us all, starting the series together and joining through the series together. I trust the Lord to do this for us in the name of Jesus Christ. So, we are starting up today. Childlessness and marriage. Let's quickly look at the terms in the definition. Childlessness is a very, very clear thing. It's a situation where of course there is no child. That's what it means to be childless. Where there is no child in the marriage. What—how do we look at it, taking examples from these four marriages we want to consider? Where there is no child in a marriage. And of course, marriage. Marriage is clear. Marriage simply means a relationship between a man and his wife. When in the relationship of a man and his wife, ordinarily the desire, the prayer, the expectation from all angles—the mother-in-law, the father-in-law, the families, everybody connected to the couples—the expectation will be that in nine months' time there should be a child. Then nine months, one year, two years, the child is not coming, all of that. But we are looking at it in relation to marriage, not in relation to family or extended families. In relation to the man and his wife. And that is the primary thing that matters. How the man and his wife handle childlessness will determine the position that every other person will take. Depending on their attitude to it, will determine the attitude of every other player, every other stakeholder. Their action will be determined by the action and inaction of the two people that are involved. So the two people that are involved, the man and his wife, these key players are the ones we are looking at. Because they are the critical people in the situation. So, that's what we are looking at. Situation when there is no child, the relationship between a man and his wife. The issue of childlessness is not a new thing. That's the first thing I want to say. Let's look at the first biblical example I want us to look at, which is in Genesis, the case of Abraham. Abraham and his wife, Sarah. The Bible makes us understand that there was no issue in the marriage. And the actions, the response and attitude that goes in that first marriage we want to look at, I just want to use that as a background to call our attention to some things about childlessness in marriage. I want to use this as a background to call our attention to some things as we look at Abraham and Sarah. Let's look at what happened in that episode of Abraham and Sarah. In Genesis chapter 12, we learned that God called him. It said, "Now," from the verse 1, it said, "Now the Lord had said to Abram: 'Get out of your country, from your family, from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'" [Genesis 12:1-3] Now, this story opens, giving us an understanding that there was a relationship between Abraham and God. There was a relationship. That is, Abraham is not just anybody. Abraham is somebody who has a walk with God. He had a walk with God. He's a Christian. As we can see, it was God who came to him. God called him out from his people. And the first thing I want to make you see in this series is that childlessness is not just a thing for those who are unbelievers. Don't think that because God called anybody, if there is the case of childlessness, it's because they are ungodly. We have a way of thinking like this many times. We have a way of thinking that once a marriage is childless, then the people, they must be sinners. There must be something that they have done. They must be evil that they committed. There must be something and that God is—you know, we have this way of looking at childlessness as a product of some punishment for sin, or it is meant for people who are not believers, people who don't have a walk with God. So the first thing I want to call your attention to is that the first example we are trying to look at, Abraham, Abraham was a man that was called of God. Let's take it that for instance, he was first an idol worshipper. As an idol worshipper, he was a barren—the marriage was barren. There was no child in the marriage. We learned that at a point, God separated him. We were all once unbelievers, and God called us. So he was once an unbeliever. He was worshipping idol. And God called him out of darkness into light. You will be thinking that because he has been called into light, all problems will just be solved. Everything, there will be no problem again. That's why I take you to—Abraham was not just anybody. Abraham was somebody that it was God who called him out of darkness into His marvelous light. God called Abraham, and God intended to walk with Abraham, to have a relationship with him. That's what we are seeing. Now, so, and God gave him a very wonderful promise. If you look at the promise, God said—look at the promise—"I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." [Genesis 12:2-3] Now, when we look at this promise, is this promise showing anything like there's going to be a problem along the way? It's not showing anything like that. It's showing something like, "Wow, everything will be great, everything will be fantastic, everything will be wonderful, everything will be rosy and fine. Oh, God is going to make me great, He's going to make my name great, He's going to bless me, He's going to increase me. In fact, all my enemies, they are in trouble, because anyone who curses me, God is going to finish that person." And that looks very, very great. And I'm trying to say that sometimes you may be entering into your marriage, into your relationship, and as you are getting married, the Lord gives some wonderful promises. The Lord is telling you, "I will do this, I will do that, I will do this, I will do this, I will do that, I will do this for you." And you have entered into the marriage. And now there is childlessness. And you are wondering, was it God who gave me all those promises at first? You may not need to doubt it. God can give wonderful promises, but it may not immune us from some critical challenges. That's the second thing I want you to see. We are taking these lessons one by one. And I want you to be taking these lessons as we travel. Number one: those who are called of God can have challenges, the challenge of childlessness. Anybody who is called by God can have it. So don't begin to stigmatize, don't begin to have some kind of negative thought about any marriage where there is no issue. Don't begin to think that, "Ah, we are better than them. That is why God gave us straight as we wanted to give, as we just married, piam piam piam, all my children are here. Maybe those people, they are not as blessed as us." Please remove those kind of thinking from your mind. Don't look at it from that angle. It is very, very important. And then number two, the second lesson that we are taking is that God may give promises. God has spoken to you about your wife. God has spoken to you about the person you want to marry. "I'm going to make you great. I'm going to fight those who fight you. I'm going to curse those who curse you. I will defend you. Through you nations will be blessed. I will make you great," and all of that. That does not necessarily means that if a challenge come, those promises, they are not true. No, they are true. They are true. Don't allow what I call "fayed expectation" to get you discouraged. And those of us who are not yet married, our young men and women who are looking towards marriage, I want you to take an example from here. It's very, very important. Don't because you have entered into your marriage with some great promises, and it looks like there are some challenges, and then you become so discouraged and you throw away your confidence that, "Ah, after God has said, there shouldn't have been a challenge. Everything should have been rosy and fine." It is not always so. It is not always so. I want us to note that. That's the second lesson that we are taking. And you will notice what happened with Abraham. The Bible says that so Abraham departed as the Lord has spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abraham was 75 years old when he departed from Haran. Now the Bible tells that Abraham took his wife, they passed through the land, they travelled to obey the Lord. In the verse 7, it said, God appeared to Abraham when he got to Canaan and said, "Build an altar here, that is where I want you to be." And Abraham built the altar and began to call upon the name of the Lord. You know what I want you to see? Abraham had a progressive walk with God. What I'm meant to make you see was that God called Abraham out of darkness into light. And the Bible began to record that Abraham did not disobey. Immediately he obeyed. He went to a land that I will show you. He did not know the land, but he obeyed God, he was moving. And as he was moving again, the Bible made us to see that God was with them. That's the record. These are very, very important things. These are very, very crucial things. Don't think that when people have challenges, it means God is not with them. No! No! The Bible began to record that God was with them. The Bible said God appeared to him, and God told him in the verse 7—then God appeared to Abraham and said to him, "To your descendants I will give this land." Now, if God comes to you and tell you that, "To your descendants I will give a land," will you be thinking of barrenness? You will not be thinking of childlessness. Abraham, I mean, childlessness was the least expectation following the kind of promise when they got to the land again. As they step into the land, God said, "Look, to you and your descendants I will give this land." Now listen. Listen to this. I don't know the age at which Abraham married Sarah. But the Bible makes us to see that their journey began when they were—when Abraham was 75. Which means the issue of childlessness did not start at age 75. I don't know whether you are following me. While they were still worshipping idols, while he was still in his father's house, Abraham and Sarah did not have issue. At a point, they had encounter, they became new creation. God appeared to them and God said, "Follow me," and he followed God. And as he was following God, God spoke to him. God said, "Look, to your descendants I will give this land." Now listen to me. If you have been barren, if you have not been issue—if the marriage has been childless, and then as you are now walking with this God, that God now came to you and said to you and your descendant—what will you tell your wife? "Ah! We are getting closer. All the issue of childlessness when we were worshipping idol is gone. We have entered a new chapter. Baba said to we and our descendants." And I just see a jubilation that, "Sarah, Sarah! That problem is over. Thank God we followed God. Thank God we left idol worship. Thank God we are walking with this God. Wow, this is great. We can now be sure that there will be a child." I'm trying to make you see the situation of men who walk with God. I'm trying to make you understand some things about practical Christianity. I'm going to make you take this lesson. That's why I'm saying that as we look through these four marriages, everybody, everybody, whether you are having children, whether you are childless, whether you are not yet entered into marriage, whether you're about getting into it, whether you are single, whether you are married, whether you are a grandma, whether you are a grandpa, wherever you are, there is so much to learn. Whether you are a mother-in-law and you've been looking at maybe your son or your daughter, there is childlessness in that marriage, and something is telling you, "Heh, it is because these people, God is punishing them now." Or maybe—I don't know how you are looking at it. I want all stakeholders to be very, very careful. I want all stakeholders to be very, very careful so that with your mouth you don't put yourself into trouble. Don't jump into people's story that you don't fully understand and begin to talk and talk and talk what you don't know. That is why we are looking at these examples so that we can learn from them. And don't say because God has given you a child, there is this brother or couple in your fellowship that their agrada is too much. And something begins to tell you inside your heart, "It is because of their agrada, they are not godly, that is why God didn't give them a child." Please be careful with what you say. We are looking at people who have a correct walk with God, and they are having this challenge. Don't forget that that was the mistake of the friends of Job. They concluded that God was punishing Job for a sin that Job had committed. And Job was saying, "Look, I did not sin." And they became very angry with Job, and they began to say all manners of things against Job. They began to say all manners of things against Job. And as they were saying that, and they were saying it and they were saying it, what eventually happened? God said they have sinned against God and that Job needed to pray for them so that they can be healed. So let us be careful, brethren, about what we say and how we say it when we see couples having challenges, particularly the—we are dealing with the challenge of childlessness. That's what we are dealing with. So, we move on with this example. Biblical example. And we are looking at the first one, which is Abraham. We have four examples to look at, and we have a lot of things to learn from all of these examples. And that's why I said that I don't know how many series it will take us. But I want to beg you, don't come alone when you are coming. Brethren who are here physically, come with family. Online, gather family. Childlessness is a very critical matter today. And we are trying to learn issues from the point of the Bible. Whether you are single, whether you are married, there is so much to learn from these biblical examples. Please don't come alone when you are coming. Tell people to connect with you. Send the link to different families. Tell them to join us as we gather together to learn from these things. Now, we move on. So Abraham journeyed, he got to the land and everything—everything seems okay, and they were there. Eventually, Abraham went to Egypt, but eventually he came back again to the land where God had showed him, the land of Canaan. Now when he came back to the land of Canaan, back again, in the chapter 13, we saw how Lot and Abraham parted ways. Lot and Abraham parted ways. That is not our focus. We are just taking areas that affect the marriage of Abraham. So in chapter 13, we saw Lot and Abraham, they parted ways. Abraham remained in the land of Canaan and Lot moved to the land of Sodom and Gomorrah. In the chapter 14, we saw how Abraham was able to deliver Lot when he was taken into captivity. And then that happened in chapter 14. So that is not also a focus for us. It is still about Abraham and Lot. I move to chapter 15. Look at what happened in chapter 15. Chapter 15 open our eyes to the struggles of Abraham and childlessness. And this is very, very important for all of us. Because sometimes when you see people, when you see a marriage that is childless, and it looks like sometimes they are depressed, it looks like sometimes they are worried, you say, "Ah, what's wrong with you? Don't you have faith? Ah, be a woman of faith, be a man of faith." What I'm trying to make you see is that childlessness is a very, very critical challenge. And the Bible recorded it as so. Please I want you to understand that childlessness is a very, very critical challenge. When we see people going through childlessness in their marriage, please I want you to know that they are going through critical challenge. They need all the support that we can give them. They need all the prayers that we can offer them. They need all the encouragement that we can give them. Whether you are married, whether you are not married, if you know people around you, maybe your elder brother, your younger brother, maybe a cousin, an auntie, somebody, a brother in the fellowship, a sister, a family—if you know anybody around you like that that are going through childlessness, please I want you to know that they are going through critical challenge. That's what chapter 15 want to make us to see. Let's see what the—let's see how the Bible reads and let's see the lesson that we can pick. But that's just what I'm trying to bring out, a major thing out of that chapter. After these things—God have been speaking with Abraham, he had been working with God—the Bible says, after these things, Abraham was a man of war. He has gone to—he was a man of peace. He told Lot, "Whatever you want to take, you can take. If you go north, I will go south." A man of peace. Again, he's a man of strength. He was a man of strength. When Lot was taken captive, he mobilized his servants, they went, they delivered Lot. And God gave him victory. That is this man, Abraham. He had so many areas where God is doing wonders with him. He's a man of prayer, he has an altar with God. He's a man that has a walk with God. Look at how he was going on with God. And for you to know the close fellowship he had with God, the Bible says after these things, the word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision. You see, he was somebody that was hearing God. He was someone that God was speaking with. I want you to see the intimacy he shared with God. In a vision saying, "Do not be afraid, Abraham. I am your shield, and your exceedingly great reward." But look at what Abraham said. But Abraham said, "Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless?" I want you to be looking at this matter. This is a man who is a mighty warrior. This is a man of peace, a man that Lot cheated and he never mind. I want you to see the level—the level of—when the Bible say, "Follow after peace and holiness," that was Abraham. A man of peace, a man walking with God. A man of spiritual and physical strength. He went, he delivered Lot. Look at the things that he was doing here and there. A man of the altar. A man who hears God per time. The word of God came to him again and said, "Look, Abraham, don't be afraid. I am your shield and exceedingly great reward." But you see what Abraham said? He said, but Abraham said, "Lord God, what will You give me?" Are you seeing something? All that God had given Abraham, to Abraham all of those things, they are looking like nothing because the marriage is childless. Look at all that Abraham—look at all that he was. Look at all that he has. I'm going to make you see how critical childlessness is. Look at all he had. He was telling God that, "Lord, what will You give me?" In other words, "God, You have not given me something. Lord, You have not given me much. Lord, You need to give me something." Will you say Abraham have not been given something? A man that his cattle, his head, everything, they increased so much that there came a battle between the herdsmen of Lot and the herdsmen of Abraham. There was a battle that they have to separate. Look at the walk that he had with God. Look at the fellowship. Look at what Abraham is enjoying. Called out of darkness into marvelous light. Look at how God defended Abraham in Egypt. God went to Pharaoh and said, "Look, that man is my prophet. Give him back his wife." Look at how God was with Abraham. But look at what Abraham said. He said, "God, what will You give me?" I'm trying to make you see that in the midst of all of all those things, there was a deep struggle. There was an emptiness in this father of faith. There was something. And I'm trying to make you see that that is why we who think that couples who are childless, "What is wrong with them first? Why—ah ah! Can't she just? Can't he just? Can't—" and instead of giving support and encouragement many times, believers abandon these people. And when they begin to misbehave, we begin to blame them. we begin to say all kinds of things. And many times some of these things happen because we didn't give them support. Some of these things could have been evaded if we had given them support. If there had been a counseling somebody, if there had been a listening somebody, for somebody to tell you when he says, "Ah, I'm just fed up." I wish there was a sister there to tell the wife, "Sister, don't be fed up. God will still do it. God will do it." I wish there was a brother there that will tell the husband, "Let us just keep holding on. Our God will visit us. I know the way it is, but God will do it. Have you tried this? Can you do this? Can you use this method? Have you tried this method? Why not do something like this?" I wish we give support. What I'm trying to make you see is that childlessness is a very critical thing. People may have so much, and they may still be feeling very empty because they are childless. And the people I'm talking about, I'm not talking about believers—I'm not talking about unbelievers, sorry. I'm talking about not just believers, I'm talking about believers who are walking with God. Believers who share intimacy with God. Believers who God has blessed with riches. Believers who God has established. Believers who God has given so many things. And you are looking at them, you think, "Ah, these people, they are enjoying oh!" Childlessness can make them to be feeling empty. Childlessness can make them to be envying a sister who is struggling to feed the only child they have. I mean, another marriage that has only one child without any money, and they are struggling to live. Such brethren you are looking at up up, they may be envying such people. And they may be saying, "God, ha! Shebi You are the one that did it for these people? God, remember us. God, remember us." Childlessness can create a serious feeling of emptiness in the marriage of people who are truly godly. I want you to note that. So people who are truly godly, who may be going through this challenge, they need all the support, encouragement that we can give them. They need all our prayers. They need all the counseling that we can offer. They need everything we can do to support them. Don't think that because they are heroes, don't think because they are looking very strong, don't think because they have a walk with God, don't think because they are going out, ministry, conquering nations, conquering city—look at how Abraham went to deliver Lot. Look at the things that he was doing here and there. Don't think that because of all of that they don't have a struggle inside them. Don't think that they are not—they are still not praying inside them about that thing and saying, "God, please remember us too. Help us too that we too may have a child." And when you see such people who have such rating like Abraham, and they just tell you that, "I'm just feeling discouraged, dear, you know we don't have a child." Don't say, "Ah! So despite their spirituality, this kind of small thing is still bothering them." You know the way sometimes we talk? The way sometimes we behave. And we begin to have some kind of attitude. Say, "Look at these people, with all that God has given them, they are not even contented. Look at them, they are not even—" May God—may God forgive some of our negative attitude towards marriages that are childless. I am not justifying the struggle, but I'm saying that childlessness can bring such struggles. Childlessness can bring it! And what they need to get over it is support. For you to know that what they need is support, look at what God did to Abraham. That's what I want to show you. And that is what many times we don't do. When Abraham said, "Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless? And the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus." You know what he meant by that? That it is Eliezer of Damascus that will inherit all his property. That's what he meant. Look at what God said. He said—then Abraham said, "Look, You have given—You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir." Look at what the Bible says. The Bible says, "And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 'This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.'" [Genesis 15:4] Do you see that God did not say, "Abraham, you must be stupid to have made that statement. After all that I'm doing for you, after everything that I've given you, why are you making such a statement? Why are you bringing such to me?" And that is where we miss it many times with brethren. When brethren show up with challenges, they become object of gossip. They become object of ridicule. Look at them. A brother—a brother came to you even with minor problems, other problems who may not even be childlessness. You say, "I just don't understand. This job that I'm doing, I'm not just satisfied. I'm trusting God for a better opening." The next thing you will begin to hear around, "Don't mind that sister. She is a federal government worker. She's saying she's not even contented. People—there are people who don't even get job." Foolishness, complainers, murmurers. And before you know it, you begin to spread negative things about people. When people show up about things that bothers them, they are not saying they don't believe God. They are not saying that they don't have a walk with God. They just need a word of encouragement. They just need somebody to say, "Don't worry, God will do it." They just need somebody to say, "Oh, brother, sister, be encouraged. Can we just pray together? Can we just do this together?" That is what I'm showing you. Abraham was childless. God has done so much for him. God said, "I am your shield." He told God, "Which reward? You have not given me anything." Please, has God not given Abraham some things? God has given Abraham so many things. And God now spoke to Abraham, "Don't worry, don't worry." [In Yoruba: Ame yebo lapo ni, mo n bo mi o ti de.] "I am coming. Soon and very soon, I will visit you. Relax." And I pray for you listening to me. Soon and very soon, the Lord will visit you. Soon and very soon, the Lord will change your story. Soon and very soon, the Lord will make you a testimony. Soon and very soon, the voice of thanksgiving, the voice of melody, the voice of rejoicing will break forth out of your life, out of your marriage, out of your home in the name of Jesus! It does happen! A critical challenge in the life of those who walk with God. I don't know what may be critical in your own life. Maybe you have not entered into marriage, but some things are so critical and it looks like, "Ah ah! But I'm a child of God. But I am a Christian. I have been walking with God. And God has been speaking to me, has been having a walk with God. Is it that God is punishing me for one sin? Is it that—" oh! Please rest your mind. I encourage you, don't cast away your confidence. The Lord is coming. The Lord will surely come. The righteous will not be forsaken. It may—God has His own plan. There is a plan for your life. He told Jeremiah, "While you are in your mother's womb, I knew you." Before you were born, God knew you. Before you came out, before you were fertilized in your mother's womb, He had a plan for you. And He will get you to that place. He will get you there. Please don't be discouraged. Please! If you are having a walk with God, and you know you are working with God, and it looks like—"Is it oh, ah! Is God punishing me for this? Is it because of this? Maybe this, maybe that." Please be anxious about nothing. Be anxious about nothing, but in everything, through prayer, supplication and thanksgiving, let your request be known to God. And the peace of God, the peace of God which passes all understanding, will keep your heart in the name of Jesus Christ! In the name of Jesus! So that is what we are seeing. God encouraged Abraham. I want you to make up your mind, "I will be an encourager to every believer, to every brother, every sister, going through one critical challenge or the other." We are looking at barrenness—childlessness. It may be the issue of delay in marriage. It may be the issue of joblessness. It may be the issue—there may be so many other things that are the challenges of brethren. But please make up your mind today, "I will be an encourager to the body of Christ. I will be a Barnabas." I will be a Barnabas, that a child of consolation. I will be somebody who prays, I will be somebody who listens, I will be somebody who encourages. The Bible says, "And the word of the Lord came to Abraham to encourage him." May the word of the Lord be what will come from your mouth to encourage brethren who are going through some very critical challenges in their lives in the name of Jesus. May you not be a gossiper. May you not be a despiser. May you not be somebody who tear down lives and family. May you not be somebody who tear down home. May we be builders. May we be pillars in the life of our brethren in the name of Jesus. Childlessness and marriage. It can be a very, very critical challenge. Very, very critical challenge. And it can be something that bothers—that seriously creates emptiness in the lives of those experiencing it. No matter what it seems that they have, the emptiness may just be there. And that is why I don't know whether you notice? You will find out that sometimes unbelievers who are going through these things, they will go to any extent. They will go to any length to go and get a child anyhow. They will visit, they will do all kinds of fetish things. They will go to any extreme to just get a child anyhow. They will do all kinds of unimaginable things that you don't believe that anybody will do, because they just wanted a child. The difference between the unbeliever going through it and the godly going through it is God makes the difference. God makes the difference. If God is not there, and the word of God to come to you, honestly, it can be something that can be overwhelming. Childlessness is a critical challenge. It can be overwhelming. And I pray the Lord that couples who may be experiencing this, may you smile this year in the name of Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus. So let's move on. We are looking at how God came to Abraham. Let's see. Number one, it says the word of God came to Abraham saying, "This one will not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir." Then look at what God did. Look at what God did for you to know that God really understand how deep, how deep childlessness can be in the heart of His own. Look at what God did. Then God—He brought him outside and said, "Look up towards heaven and count the stars, if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." Are you seeing what God is doing? God did not only speak to him, God also envisioned him. God spoke to him and God envisioned him. God said, "Look up, look up!" God envisioned him. God gave him vision. And what happened? Look at what the Bible says. And he believed the Lord, and He counted this to him for righteousness. Are you seeing that? God did two things for Abraham. And let me tell you—let me tell you this very important thing. It makes me to remember SS & S—SS & S 516. No, not 516. I'm trying to remember the number now. "O Jesus, I have promised to serve Thee to the end. Be Thou for ever near me, my Master and my Friend. I shall not fear the battle if Thou art by my side, nor wander from the pathway if Thou wilt be my guide." Then there's this stanza three. It says, "O let me hear Thee speaking in accents clear and still, above the storms of passion, above the murmuring of self-will. O speak and make me listen, my Savior and my Friend." You see what I'm trying to make you see, brethren? You see what—what makes the life of the godly different from the life of the ungodly? It's the word of the Lord and the vision of the Lord. What makes the life of the godly different from the ungodly? You know what I'm trying to say? When a marriage is going through a critical challenge like childlessness, what can keep them to remain godly so that they don't jump into godlessness? First and foremost is the word of the Lord and a vision from the Lord. The Bible says where there is no vision, the people perish. [Proverbs 29:18] What can keep people? What I'm trying to make you see is that childlessness can cause great emptiness in a marriage. Childlessness can cause great emptiness in a marriage. That vacuum, what can truly fill it? During the waiting period, money cannot fill it oh! Riches cannot fill it! There is no material thing that can fill that emptiness. What can fill that emptiness and truly fill it—you see the Bible says, "And Abraham believed God." You know what that means? Abraham stepped out of the worry. Abraham stepped out of the depression. Abraham stepped out of the emptiness. He had been following God, but there was a deep emptiness inside him. There was a hollow in his heart. The hollow was there as he was following God, he was carrying that thing. And one day when God came to him and said, "You see, I am your shield and your reward." Ah! He could not take it again. He said, "God, which reward? You have not given me anything." That's the way I'm looking at it oh! That's the way I'm looking at it! "What will You give me? You didn't give me a child. Everything You give me now, one slave-boy will carry everything away. So You have not really given me anything because there will be no continuity. Once I die, all is gone. So what is the essence of everything?" That was the deep hollow in his heart. He had been following God, he had been working with God. And what I—what I'm meant to make you see is that childlessness is—creates a deep hollow, a deep, deep thing in the heart of people. They could be other critical challenges, but we are dealing with childlessness. And we are looking at biblical example. It can create a deep—very deep hollow, very deep one! So that even though a man is walking with God, even though a man is victorious, even though a man have riches and everything, he's still feeling that he has nothing. And what will make that man to remain godly—I mean, what can take such a deep hollow out of the life of people? What can fill it and it is truly filled, and they can get out of it and step further? Is when the Lord comes to them. It said the word of God came to him. The Lord visited him by His word. Not only that, the Lord envisioned him. And wherever you are today, I want you to pray for people you may know. I want you to pray for brethren you may know that God—God, Lord please, for so-so-so brethren, so-so-so brother, so-so-so sister, so-so-so family, Lord oh God, let Your word come to them. Lord, please envision them. Lord, bring a vision, bring envision them. Lord, fill the hollow in their life. Lord, deal with the emptiness that they are experiencing. Lord, answer for them. Make 2025 a year of answer. Lord, make 2025 a year of answer. And if you are there and you are also listening to me, and you are also experiencing this kind of deep hollow in your life, something is giving you this kind of deep hollow that one can fill it is God coming to you and God envisioning it. I want you to pray, also pray for yourself and say, "God, fill this hollow. Fill it for me. Lord, fill this hollow. You—it is You, nothing can fill it but You. Lord, fill it for me. You see the word—the word of God came to him and then God brought him out. Said, 'Look, just look at the sky. Look! Try to look at it!' God envisioned me. God give me a vision of where You are taking me to. Cause me to see afar! Cause me to see 10 years to come. Cause me to see 20 years to come. Cause me to see what is coming, so that my behavior can be correct, so that my life can be correct. Help me to see afar!" God helped Abraham to see afar. He helped Abraham. Said, "God, help me to see what is to come. Envision me! Envision me! In this area of physical challenge, Lord envision me. Cause me to see afar. Cause me to see what is to come. Cause me to know it, cause me to see it in the name of Jesus Christ! In the name of Jesus! In the name of Jesus! In the name of Jesus! Thank You, Eternal Father. Blessed be Your holy name, our God. In Jesus' name we pray." Now, we move on. Brethren please, so far that we have spoken, don't forget our tradition. If you have a question, maybe a question is generating in your heart from the things that we have said, please you can put it online. Brethren who are here physically can write it and bring it, and if they want to put it online, they can put it online, we will always see it. Anyhow, so that once it is the appropriate time, I will respond to question. If you already have the question, don't wait, please just put it online. Put the question online. And brethren here, if you want to write it and bring it in paper, whichever way, either online or paper, we will attend to them. If there's a question now, please let it come online. Now, before we—we close for today, I want to draw something to your attention. Now, we are looking at this first marriage. The first marriage is a monogamous marriage. A man and his wife. And what do you notice in this monogamous marriage? In this monogamous marriage, where it is just a man and his wife, the reality that there is no child makes the marriage, makes the man, the couple, to have emptiness. We are looking at it from the side of Abraham, how he was—he was feeling empty. But I want you to know that it's not just only Abraham that was feeling empty. I want you to make you see that even Sarah herself was also feeling empty. Look at the next chapter. Look at the next chapter. It says, "Now, Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no child. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, 'See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please,'" [Genesis 16:1-2] are you seeing the word? "Please, please, go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children by her." And Abraham heeded her voice. You know what I'm trying to make you see? This is a monogamous marriage, and both the man—the emptiness is not only in the man, the emptiness is also in the woman. Both of them are experiencing the emptiness. Both of them are feeling it. Everybody from his own angle. I don't know whether you are getting what I'm trying to say. In a monogamous marriage, you see how challenging childlessness can be. Now what do you think will be the magnitude of the challenge in a polygamous marriage? In a polygamous setting? What do you think it will look like? Of course, it's going—it's going to be something—something more critical. Something very, very critical. And that is why you will notice when we come to Leah and Rachel. And Leah was busy having children, Rachel did not have any. You notice what Rachel said? It says Rachel went to Jacob, and she said to Jacob, "Give me children, or I die." [Genesis 30:1] You know what I'm trying to make you see? What I'm trying to make you understand? It is very, very important for you to know that we—we create more, more problem for society, we create more challenge, more challenge for our life, for ourselves, we move from what God had ordained. We move from what is monogamous. We move from the pattern that God has set. I will speak more on this later. I will speak more on this later. There is a pattern. God took a bone out of Abraham—out of Adam and out of that one, He formed a wife and called his wife, not his wives. The godly pattern. The godly pattern. What we don't see is that if a woman and just the—the man, they are inside a marriage, and the woman is carrying a load of, "God, do something for me, I must have a child. God, do something for me, I cannot be like this." Do you know what critical problem we cause for breaking the covenant of marriage? And going into a monogamous marriage—a polygamous marriage? Do you know what greater trouble we cause? But the point I'm trying to bring out is that for now, what I want us to see is this. It is important for you to know that once a marriage is childless, every—the two people involved carries the burden in different ways. I was to—I was to handle a matter of a marriage where there was childlessness. And the in-laws were in one marriage—in one of the marriage, they were busy persecuting the husband because they want their daughter to have a child. It was the in-law, the—the parents of the wife. In another one, it was the parents of the husband that were busy persecuting the wife. "Look, give our son a child." In the other one, it was the parents of the husband persecuting the husband. "Ah! Look, you better be a man! What kind of—are you really a man?" And you know, I'm coming from different counseling experience. You see what people don't understand? The stupidity that is in this action? Is that you need to understand that once there is childlessness, the two individuals are carrying the load in their different ways. Don't think a woman who does not have a child is thanking God, "Hallelujah, Hallelujah, I am childless!" Don't think that way. She's carrying a very heavy burden in her heart. She's trusting and hoping that the problem will be solved. And so coming with whatever you want to say and say, "Ah! Look, why don't you do this? You need to do this!" And beginning to create unnecessary pressure where there is already pressure is complete wickedness! It's complete wickedness! What I'm trying to say is that individuals who put childless marriages under pressure are wicked people! If you don't know, I'm trying to make you know. Brother-in-law, sister-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law, whichever one you are, friend, colleague, brethren, who are—who are putting couples—don't mind your wife, don't mind your husband, this and this—and you are doing this to further increase pressure in a childless marriage, you are a wicked person. You are a wicked person. If you don't know today, I want you to know. And if you have people who are doing it, please tell them. Please tell them that they are wicked people. Make them to know that they are wicked. And I'm telling you, I'm telling you, God may have a way—God will have His way of punishing the wicked oh. Don't let us be wicked people to a marriage that is going through a challenge. I remember going to—I don't want to mention where, but I was in a state for a ministration. And the—it was a childless marriage. And then I learned that some of the elders in that assembly went to encourage the husband that, "Look, you—you cannot remain childless oh. Do anything, do anything, even if you have to go and impregnate somebody outside." I'm talking of a living church. That's why I don't want to mention the state, I don't want to mention—I was in a state for a ministration. And that became a matter. Some people got to know what the elders told that husband. So it became a trouble in the church, in the—in the Christian assembly. May elders who are blind not be your mentors. May elders who are blind not be your counselors. May elders who are blind not be your—your role models in the name of Jesus Christ! All I'm saying this morning is that please, husband and wife who—who are going through a childless marriage, they are carrying the burden in different ways. Abraham was feeling so empty, just as Sarah was feeling so disgraced that, "Please, please, just so that at least I can—something can cover me. Just maybe you can have a child, I will be—taking it as if it's my own child, so that this disgrace can go." She was just looking for a way to get out of it. And then somebody somewhere is saying that, "You this woman, won't you give birth? Eh? What's your problem? Heh! This, that, that, this!" Or you this man. Please, I want us to know what we are doing to marriages that are childless. I want us to be careful. We will not lay foundation for our life or our children that will make God say, "Because you have done this, okay you too will experience it." You know there's a way God does this kind of things sometimes. When God was speaking to them in Israel, He said, "Look, look after the widows and the fatherless, lest if you oppress them and they cry to me, I will make your children orphans and your wives widows." So what does God mean by that? That God can also kill those husbands, those men who are doing that, men who oppress orphans, men who oppress widows. So sometimes widowhood may—you know, your wife may become a widow, our children may become orphans because of the actions we take. God forbid that that will be our story. But I'm only saying let us be careful what we do to people. Childlessness is a load that is carried by both the husband and the wife. And please, my final counsel this morning is to husband and wife inside the marriage. Please, I want to encourage you, if you have people who are going through it or you are going through it, I want to beg you, I want you to know that you are both carrying the burden. Don't think the other partner is enjoying it. You need to stand by one another. You need to be there for one another. Don't look down on your husband. Don't look down on your wife. Don't—don't—I'm saying these things because sometimes as we will see later—you know it's a series, we are travelling—you will discover that sometimes you may do all kinds of tests and discover that the problem is from the husband. Sometimes you may do all kinds of tests and discover the problem is from the wife. Sometimes you do the test, the problem is both. Depending on—I'm talking about clinical examination. We will come to handling this—this challenge later. What can Christian couples do? We will come to all of that later. We'll mention different things, different situations and different solutions. We'll come to all of that. That's why I said I don't know how long this—this episode will take. It's a very—it's a—it's a path-filled episode. And we are not going to rush anyone. From the fundamentals just like that we will be taking it one by one, taking it one by one, addressing different areas of this problem so that we can all learn together. That's why I said please, gather people, don't come alone. Let us learn together. This matter is becoming so serious in Christian community today. I think in the recent past, in the last six months, I know—I know three marriages that are experiencing serious crisis because of childlessness. And that is what gathered my heart into "let us look at this matter as Christians." Let's look into it as believers. How do we—what are the solutions? What can we do? What can we learn from the Bible? May the Lord help us all in the name of Jesus Christ. So husband and wife who are experiencing it, if you are not experiencing it you know people who are experiencing it, please tell them to stand by each other. Whether you have done a test you discover that it is the wife who is the problem is from, it's not that—you just—you have done the test you discover that it is the husband who is having the problem, and both of you have come to see what the problem is, please stand by each other. For whatever reasons for which barrenness—childlessness come, the two people are carrying the weight. For whatever reason it may come. Both of you are carrying the weight. So stand by each other! Stand by each other! Stand by each other! When one chase a thousand, two will chase ten thousand. And as you both stand in agreement, the Lord shall grant your desires in the name of Jesus Christ! Let's see if we have questions this morning so that we attend to them. It's already time to look at questions before we close for today. I can see two questions—I don't know, I can see some readings. Let me just go through—let me see two questions. The first thing I see here, question, there's a Bible text here. It says Romans chapter 9:11 and 13. [Speaker reads question from a device] "In the light of the above scripture, is it better to be barren till such a time that God want to send an elect to the world, so that one will not give birth to child or children that God won’t save like Esau that He already hated from the womb, and in the scripture He called him a people that is angry with forever?" I'm just paraphrasing. "Is so, that God is angry with forever. Is it better to be like Abraham, barren till God was ready to send Isaac, an elect and a destiny child? Then in comparison with Malachi 1:3-4." But—okay, it's just making reference to that. Okay, I think I—that answer that question for us already. It's just made reference to that reading. Okay, that's okay. That—that answer that—that—question for us already. Then there's another question here that says, "Is it okay for Christians not to want children in marriage?" This is another dimension again. All right, let's try to relate to them. Now, it is important for us to know as believers that when the scripture is speaking, the scripture must be understood within the context with which God is speaking. What normally give people problem many times is when you are taking a scripture out of the context in which the scripture is speaking. And when you take it that way, you may find yourself going into—um, what will I say? Sometimes you don't go into error. You may see yourself raising a matter that you will not be able to get clarity about. Now, the—the—the scripture, which is Romans chapter 9, Romans chapter 10, 11, 11—in chapter 12, it now told us that therefore because of all these things, let us bring our body a living sacrifice. That—these three scriptures, they are speaking specifically about the sovereign mercy of God. They are not speaking in relation to childlessness or childbearing in marriage. What those scripture want to make us see very clearly is that when it comes to mercy, there is a mercy of God that is sovereign. God choose to have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and God choose not to have mercy on whom He will not have mercy. And you cannot question Him. That is what the context of that scripture wants the believer to see. As to when it comes to children, what the scripture makes us to understand is that children are gifts from God. They are heritage of God. They are heritage of God. And that children, they are reward of the womb. And that may our quiver be full of them. And that the man who have them in his quiver will not be ashamed when he comes to the gate. [Psalm 127:3-5] Now, it is quite a completely different thing from the topic of God's sovereign mercy. The topic of God's sovereign mercy goes beyond every man. It's something we cannot fully and truly explain. Because when you look at that scripture, if you read that Romans chapter 9 and you go down down later, it says, "You will then ask me, 'Why does God then still find fault, since He has said He will have mercy on one, He will not have mercy on the other one? Why is God still punishing Pharaoh?'" You know He used that example. God said, "I raised up Pharaoh, and yet I will punish Pharaoh." Then you will be questioning God, "You raise a man for this purpose, then You are punishing him again. Then why are You doing that? God is not righteous." What was the answer in Romans chapter 9? It said, "Who are you, oh man, to question God?" [Romans 9:19-20] So, what the Bible is teaching in that place is that we must understand something: that whatever we get from God—that is what that place is teaching us—whatever we get from God, please be careful not to boast. Be careful not to boast. Be careful not to glory over people because you have certain things and some people don't have it. Be careful because whatever we get from God, the Bible makes us to understand there is a place of God's sovereignty in our lives. And it is something we cannot fully and completely explain. Because if you look at that scripture, it makes us to see that it has nothing to do with whether somebody has done evil or he has not done evil. It has nothing to do with it. And you cannot question God about His sovereign mercy. That's what the Bible is trying to make us see. So that when you happen to enjoy certain things in life, be careful not to boast about it. Let us be careful, let us be watchful. That place is teaching us that we should run away from all kind of arrogance. That is the context of that scripture. As to the issue of fruitfulness, it's a different thing completely. The Bible says that—if you look at that same Malachi, it said, "Why did He make them one? Because God desire what? Godly seed." Malachi chapter 2, from around verse 15. It said, "Why did God make people one? Why did God ordain marriage?" It said God is looking at it because God seeks godly seed. And the Bible also told us something that we must hold to as believers, even when we cannot fully completely understand the mercy—the sovereignity of God. It said, "The—the—the godly man walk in his uprightness; his seed, they are blessed after him." [Proverbs 20:7] So why not hold to God in faith that God, my own coming together with my wife will bring godly seed, the godly seed that will be blessed after us? I think that is the correct perspective to look at childlessness and barrenness. If we want to explain within the context of God's sovereign mercy, we will be handling another completely different thing entirely. And that is why I keep encouraging believers, please study scriptures within their context. It is very, very important to follow what the Holy Spirit is saying on a matter, truth, so that you can begin to be able to use it to explain another matter. When you just pick them out of context, you will run into trouble. Because the ways of God, they are unsearchable. His judgment, they are pass—pass logic. They go beyond human understanding. Please note that. So, I would answer this question trying to make the—the believer to see that Romans chapter 9 is not having anything to do with selecting which kind of child. When it comes to children, the Bible has told us what the righteous should believe. God seek godly seed. There is parental responsibility, as God showed us in the life of Eli. "Train your child in the way he should go." [Proverbs 22:6] That's the command from the Lord. And when he is grown, he will not depart. That is the word of God for you. God has spoken within those context. Believe God for what He said. Why did He make them one? To bring godly seed. As you bring them, while they are there, prophesy over them. That is the word of God. We must learn always to pray and not to faint. These are very, very important things. Very, very important things. And many times I tell people, please don't misunderstand also the scriptures. This is the last thing I will say about that. The Bible did not talk about hatred of Saul—hatred of Esau. That word there is not hatred the way you understand hatred. It's very, very important for you to note that. The Bible says, "For God so loved the world." [John 3:16] The word that is used in that place is talking about preference. The root word is preference. That God preferred Jacob to Esau. There was a preference for one than the other. God defended Esau in making Jacob come back to beg him. God defended Esau in telling Jacob that they must not touch the land of Edom when they were coming out of Egypt, because He had given it to Esau. [Deuteronomy 2:4-5] It is important for us to note scriptures and look at them holistically. Very, very important. The matter is about preference. Please let us note that. So when it comes to children, please I want to beg you, go ahead to trust the Lord for godly seed. Train your children, believe God that He has said that your children will be godly, and trust the Lord as they are coming, begin—begin to pray for them, and honestly, it will be something great for you and for me in the name of Jesus Christ. There's another question here quickly that I want to respond to. It said, "Is it okay for Christians not to want children in marriage?" I don't really know what you mean by "whether it is okay." But if you mean that because the word "okay" is not really giving us a direction. If what you mean is that can they delay children and later have children, like family planning? A couple may give—may marry—Do you mean that they don't want to give birth at all in the marriage? They don't want to have children at all? Is that what the person—is it okay for Christians not to want—want have children? Not to want to have children may be for a time, let us be clear. Oh! [A comment from someone off-mic] They don't want to give birth at all! Okay, the person has clarified further. They don't want children at all. The question then is that—the answer then is that it will not be—it will not be right for them to um, not want to have children. It may not be right. I don't want to say whether it is a sin or it is not a sin. Because for those who are childless, they have not sinned. But the issue is that when people go into marriage, the issue will be that: is it the husband that don't want a child, or the wife that don't want a child, or the two of them? If one want a child and the other don't want a child, they need to come to a balance. If it is the two of them that don't want it, then ordinarily—ordinarily one would—one would wonder why. Because the Bible says He made them one because God seeks godly seed. It is in Christian marriage that God really need children. Because God want godly seed. God is a God of generation. So when Christians—it is—it should even be Christians that should raise children and make them godly. Is it unbelievers that should be raising children and making them ungodly? These are fundamental questions. You know, so I wouldn't want to say whether it is a sin or it is not a sin. But I would rather want to answer that it is more—it is more proper that Christians should raise godly seed because God is a God of generation. He said that thing you received, don't let it die with you. Give it, begin to pass it on to other faithful men. So you raising faithful men is—is a very, very important thing for us as believers. It is something proper and to be desired. That's how I will answer that question. If it is discovered in courtship that one of the parties involved may not be able to reproduce, is it okay to go back? Should one still continue? Should—what should be done? Please, it depends on the two of you. As long as marriage has not been contracted, it is not a case of divorce. It's not. If both of you—and that is why people must be plain to each other. If you know that you cannot give birth to a child and you are looking towards marriage, you allow the other person to know. That, "Bro, Sis, something has happened to me, I will not be able to give birth." Please listen to me. Don't think because it is when people are immoral that it can happen. It may not be because of immorality. It may be an accident. It may be a birth defect. It may be anything. And it could be because of immorality sometimes, such a thing happen. But if that is there and you have become a Christian, the Bible says there is no charge against the elect of God. [Romans 8:33] But you allow the other person to know. If you are the sister, "Bro, I will not be able to carry a child because of this reason." If it is the brother, "Look, I will not be able to impregnate you because of this reason." And both of you look at it. If you are persuaded to go on, then go on. The other person have counted the cost before both of you enter. You may both decide that by the time we enter, don't worry, since I know you cannot give birth, what we are going to do, we'll start adopting children. Immediately we get married, we adopt children. We adopt two, three children. And when we adopt them like that, we do every other thing, we leave that—we leave that environment, we go elsewhere, nobody will know our story. And we'll continue our life. I don't want you to go, let's stay together. You can do that. It depends on your persuasion. And you can say, "Ah, my faith no carry am. I no fit go ahead again. I want to retreat." You can retreat. It all depends on you. It all depends on your persuasion. It said let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. [Romans 14:5] But you have not done anything wrong if you want to retreat. And that's why I also encourage young people, please before you enter—before you get into marriage, don't create problem for yourself that will make you to start hiding. We know of a case, myself and my wife, where a lady had such a problem because of she had been promiscuous. And then eventually when she want to go into marriage, she didn't tell the young man. And they were both entered into the marriage, they were going to church and they were praying and believing God, and the woman did not see anything until during several clinical examinations, they now got to know. That scattered that marriage. So it is very, very important. Let us live in a way that we don't cause problem for ourselves. But I know for some people, the problem may not be because they caused it for themselves. It could happen—accident could happen. It could be an accident case, it could be a birth defect, and anything can just be that was not quickly seen and corrected. Anything can be. But you are free if you want to go back and you are free if you want to continue. I think all the questions online—okay, we want to have contributions further? [Speaker 2] Praise the Lord. [Crowd] Hallelujah. [Speaker 2] I want to, on the issue of the fear of not having children, the fear of not having children of—that God has rejected. Purely just like what Daddy has said, the—the issue of Esau and Jacob, their matter is purely purpose. And that is for every life. And even if you don't want to have children, if God gives you one because He has a purpose, you can't stop Him. And by the time he comes, you become a criminal as far as God is concerned if you discard such a child because, "Ah me, I'm running away from a child that does not have purpose of heaven or whatever." Esau and Jacob is purely about law and grace. And we saw that in—in Jacob, that line at the end of the day, the seed of Abraham and all of that we have is—is Christ Jesus. So it's purely about that. He was chosen, not because of anything that any of them have done. And don't let us be deceived that maybe we won't see Esau in heaven. You may be shocked. Bible talked—told us in Revelation chapter—let me quickly read that place for us, I've tried to put it out because of our time. And in Revelation chapter—what now? Revelation chapter 7:9. "After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people..." the Edomite, you may find them in heaven. Everything is still coming back to grace. Even Israel that is a nation now, we have many of them that are not saved. So what we should know is that purpose, purpose, purpose. All tribes! All tribes! You may find—you may find Esau in heaven. So please, let's leave their matter. God knows what He's saying. And God is also making us see, just like Daddy have said, that "I hated" is just preference for what I want to use at that moment. Preference. God was trying to talk about what we have now, and that is Christ, and law and grace. So please, let us be sure of what we are doing. Don't let us begin to be pessimistic and don't let the devil deceive us. All of this can bring a lot of contamination in our hearts. They are not of Christ. They are not of Christ! Please, let us pray God to help us, to help us see correctly what we need. The whole Bible, everything is pointing to us knowing God's counsel, following Him and getting, you know—not even gan gekere ni. What is your influence and impact here on earth? If God has said that your children, He has plan for them, and you are thinking of "I don't want a child," that means you are in variance to God, in mind, in thought, in communion. Before because you couldn't even know what He's saying in the first place. So, that is the first one. And on the other one concerning when it comes to childlessness, not wanting to have children in marriage. I only want to add this. Having children in marriage does not only come from your biological children. I just wonder because we have it happening now, there is a lot happening in the world, Christians inclusive. It is more—it is more in the domain of the unbeliever. Now they will—they will marry, they say "no children." Some will even go and do the one that is just artificial way of getting it. But please as children of God, I want to believe we have a Lord. You don't own yourself. That is the first thing. If it is just by living by sensual direction, I can—I want to say practically here that you are not under the leadership of a Lord that we call the Lord God. Our lives are not our own. If God says "no children," then we know that it is you and God. And but why is the marriage brought forth? But please let us know. It's possible to have adopted children. It's possible. But who is telling you to do what you are planning to do? That is the bottom line. Who is telling you? Who is leading you? Where is your source? Where did you get that from? The Lord will help us in Jesus' name. Amen. [Speaker 1] Thank you, thank you for the contribution. Thank you for that contribution. I think we have been able to treat all the—all the things we have online. We don't know whether brethren online, do you have something you want to say? Brethren online, is there anything? Somebody is saying that—okay, let me try to unmute participant over there. Somebody want to say something. Let me unmute the participant online so that we can hear you. Okay, I've done that. You can speak. You can speak please. Go ahead to speak. Can you hear me? Can you hear me please? Oh, we—we are not hearing the person. You have the floor now, please go ahead to speak. Okay, technical is telling us that they don't think that the person can speak. I thought if I've unmuted the person here, the person will be able to speak. Yes. Technical please, is there a way they can make the person to speak? Let us know. Is it possible to make the person speak? [Technical pause] The person is not online? Okay, technical said there's no way we can make the person to speak. Oh! Okay, okay, okay. Please maybe you—but can the person send a voice something that we can listen to, or can the person write what the person wants to say? I really wish we could—get online brethren make contribution, because it's a very practical discussion that we'll be having and it will be going online like this. So we may have to work around this technical, to see how we can make brethren who are online to make contributions, so that we can take their questions. They said she can write what she wants to contribute. So our brethren online, technical brethren, please let us see how we can work towards it. This is a very critical topic. We don't only want to speak to people, we want to hear them. You know, want to hear them so that we can all fellowship together. So please the person who could not speak today for technical reason, we will discuss with our technical people, we'll see how we can work around so that brethren who are online can bring their contribution, raise questions, or reacts and make comments so that we can all learn together. And please we are begging you, don't come alone. Invite people. Childlessness and marriage is a very, very critical one. Many homes are falling apart today, and it's because help are not coming. They are neglected, they are forgotten. And that is why we are looking at this topic together. Let us close for today. Please join us online next month, September, so that what you want to say today we can still have it. We just started today, the series just started. We can still have that contribution against next month. Hoping that we will have solved the problem and you will be able to—or we would have seen how we can go about being able to hear online brethren. Thank you very, very much. Let me ask my wife to close the meeting this morning for us. [Speaker 3] Heavenly Father, we are grateful unto You. Thank You for speaking to us again. Thank You for blessing us. Thank You for sending Your word of life, healing, transformation. Lord, we return all glory unto You in the name of Jesus. We pray, oh Lord, that we will not be hearers only, but You make us doers of this word in Jesus' name. We pray for all our waiting mother and father, Lord God Almighty, that Lord Your visitation will come speedily in the name of Jesus. We pray, Lord Jehovah God, that You will surprise them. You will surprise them beyond their expectation. Lord God Almighty, we pray Jehovah God, this period of waiting, please help them, oh Lord, that their hearts will stay on You. Help them, oh Lord, to overcome all the challenges we have seen today, no matter the realm one may seems to have been. Lord, we—we can be—we can be discouraged in the journey. We can be tired. We can have fears. Lord, we pray that Lord in all of this, as You never left Abram and Sarah, You kept coming, strengthening their heart, You kept calling their attention, even when there are—when they even made mistake and invented their own way, You still came back. You involved—You were involved. You did not leave them. You caused them to learn the lesson and to know to go past it. We pray this help will come to our waiting brethren in the name of Jesus. And not, oh Lord, only for them, we also pray for all of us that are around them. Please help us to be indeed a—a help indeed, correct help for their lives and the purpose of God in Jesus' name. That does not be like Job's friend, that God had to—to—to tell them to go and apologize and for Job to pray for them. Only God knows what had happened to them when they were running their mouths. We pray God that we will not be partakers of another man's sin. We pray God that there will be encouraging—encouragement to people. We will be encouragers to everyone, even in their difficult times in Jesus' name. We don't know whosoever is passing through challenges that is not even in child-like form. We pray God Almighty, the same principle remain. Please help them to know that You are not far. Help them to know that You are close. Help them to know that there is no help anywhere else but in You. Help them to stay, help them to keep looking up in the name of Jesus. And we know You will come. Oh Lord, You will come. You will not tarry. We pray their visitation will come speedily in the name of Jesus. Thank You for Your son that You have used. We pray, oh Lord, more of You, Lord. More of Your grace, more of unction, more of revelation insight, more of Your life that Lord will ooze out of him in this generation and everyone that You have sent him to in the name of Jesus. Thank You, Eternal Father. As we go, we pray gather us again in Your presence. We don't leave us at this point. Continue with us even in our different closets. That Lord Jehovah God, this word, oh Lord, will manifest in our lives in the name of Jesus. Thank You, faithful God. In Jesus' unfailing name we pray. Amen. [Crowd] Let's share the grace in unison. May 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. 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. [Background Music] [Announcer] 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 p.m. Adolescent and Singles club every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 a.m. Marriage forum, second Saturday of every month at 10:00 a.m. Family life seminars, regular school out-reaches and every day counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location: Life camp by the first bridge, Ilere community, opposite Gloryjoy Filling Station, along Ijede Road, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are: 08033861136, 07033613848. God bless you all.