Estimation of Human Life

[Choir singing] Praise ye the Lord. We praise ye the Lord. We praise ye the Lord. Hallelujah for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah, hallelujah. [Speaker 1] Church fellowship cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness on Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Choir singing] Praise ye the Lord. We thank our God. Hallelujah for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Praise the Lord. [Speaker 2] Praise ye the Lord. We want to thank our God again for this first Saturday in the month of April. We bless his name. The Lord has kept us through the month of January, February, March, and here we are in the month of April. We are saying glory to God for his mercies. Glory to God for his goodness. Glory to God for his grace. We appreciate him for all who he is and all that he is. Honestly, it has been God. I believe it is God. It is still God, and it will yet be God. Let's go ahead to pray this morning as we commence the program. Almighty Father, we are grateful unto you. We thank you for your love and for your mercies. We thank you for your grace. We thank you, Lord our God. We are indeed very, very grateful unto you. We thank you for all who you are. We thank you for all that you are to us. Lord, we are really grateful. Blessed be your name, our Father, in the name of Jesus Christ. Almighty God, as we gather again this morning, brethren connecting with us on Mixlr, on Telegram, we who are here physically, Lord our God, unto you we gather. Lord, we pray, let indeed our gathering be unto you in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, our eyes on you this morning. We are asking, we are at different junctions in our lives. Lord, I just pray that as we look into this topic, particularly for our young men, our young women, not as though the matter does not rest squarely too on older adults, but Lord, we're looking at a generation that you said, "Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men shall see vision." Lord, there's something about the younger generation that is so crucial and essential to you. Lord, as we look at this matter, estimation of human life, Lord, I just pray, meet everyone connecting with this meeting at the point of their needs in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you, eternal Father. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Last month we were able to come to a conclusion on instruction. Instruction. And we saw how very important instruction is. Instruction is your life. Instruction is your rest. You must not allow instruction to be taken from you either by pressure. Pressure comes in different ways. Pressure may come as provocation, it may come as temptation. Do everything never to allow instruction to go. Take fast hold of instruction. Don't let her go. Keep it, it is your life. For those of you who were not here last month, please you can connect with that talk on our website to listen to it. The Lord bless you as you do. This month for our Singles Club, we are considering another very important topic: Estimation of Human Life. And quickly, I want to operationalize the topic. What is estimation? Of course, human life is very clear. The only word that looks complex here is estimation. Of course, estimation comes from the word estimate. To estimate is to try to know the value of something. To estimate is to try to understand the worth of something. When you are trying to estimate, you are trying to see what is the true value of something. What does this thing worth? Sometimes the worth may be in terms of money. How much will this thing worth if I'm to sell it, or will this thing worth if I'm to buy it? It could be in form of money. It could be in form of importance. How important is this thing to me? How important is something to me? That's another way of looking at estimation. So estimation has to do with trying to know the value of something, trying to know the worth of something, trying to know if you are to rate a thing, you are to rate it in relation to another thing, what is the value of that thing? And our focus this morning is on human life. It's on human life. And permit me to say that in a way, what we want to look at will be true estimation of human life or understanding the estimation of human life. That is, when you want to estimate human life, how do you estimate it? How do you know how important a life is, or how do you know the true value of a particular life? How do you rate people? How do you rate individuals? If you want to rate a particular individual, how should we rate the person? How should we consider the person? Oh, this person is indeed valuable. How do we bring values into people? And that's our concern. And honestly, what is bringing to this discussion, what is bringing to this our talk, is a statement that Jesus made in the book of John. Jesus made a statement in the book of John, and some some four weeks ago when I saw that statement, it has been something very, very serious in my heart. And I've been looking forward to this is something to share with a average young person. This is something to bring to their consciousness, something to evaluate. Because you must bear in mind that when Jesus was targeting his disciples, when he got to James and John, you will notice that the Bible says they were with their father, they were fishing together. But when Jesus got there, what Jesus did was merely to call the sons. He called James, he called John, but he didn't call their father. Not as if old men are not useful, but what I'm trying to make you see was that Jesus was targeting life, life that was at their prime, life that has all the energy to run and to go all the way for him. Jesus was not targeting lives that was retiring. He was targeting life because these young men have to run with something. They have to go all places to talk about Jesus. They have to go everywhere to introduce him to the world. They will be with him for three and a half years, and they will run with a race. They will run and run and run and run after Jesus would have gone. And so it becomes important when he was targeting people, he was targeting people with potentials. He was targeting people that can indeed go all the way for him. And so the statement of Jesus came when he was targeting men. He made the statement in the book of John. Let's see what happened when Jesus was gathering to himself young men, people that were to run for him, what he said when he had this encounter with Nathanael and the statement that Jesus made in that encounter with Nathanael. And that is what we want to consider as the primary scripture for us this morning. Let's turn our Bible to the book of John chapter 1. Jesus' encounter with Nathanael and the statement that Jesus made in that encounter with Nathanael. Let's turn our Bible to John chapter 1. Let's see how it reads. I want us to hear directly from the horse's mouth what Jesus said at the point where Jesus was bringing Nathanael to himself and the statement he made. I'm in John chapter 1. I read from verse 40. "One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, 'We have found the Messiah,' which is translated the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, he said, 'You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas,' which is translated a stone. The following day, Jesus wanted to go to Galilee and he found Philip and said to him, 'Follow me.' Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, 'We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.' And Nathanael said to him, 'Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?' Philip said to him, 'Come and see.' Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, 'Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit.' Nathanael said to him, 'How do you know me?' Jesus answered and said to him, 'Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.' Nathanael answered and said to him, 'Rabbi, you are the son of God. You are the king of Israel.' Jesus answered and said to him, 'Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these.'" That is the encounter between Jesus and the first few disciples that he was calling to himself. We want to now narrow down to the encounter between Jesus and Nathanael. The Bible says first, look at how this thing went. Jesus saw Nathanael under the fig tree. Jesus did not call Nathanael. It was Philip that went and called Nathanael and said we have found the Messiah. Nathanael was telling Philip that "look, can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip said come and see. Now, I want you to note something. I just want to say this as a opening remark and then we now go straight into our matter much more: estimation of human life. Jesus saw Nathanael under the fig tree. Jesus did not call Nathanael directly. Mind you, Jesus already had Nathanael in mind because by the time he came, Jesus began to discuss with him. So that makes us to see that there was a place for Nathanael in the program of Jesus. But when Jesus saw him, Jesus did not call him. It was Philip that went to call Nathanael and brought Nathanael to Jesus. Nathanael was even wondering, "Do I have any place in God? Do I have a place in Jesus?" You see, I just want to say this as a opening remark. It is very crucial for you to know that there are several people who God has a place for in his agenda. But God is waiting for you to go and call them. I just want you to note that. There are several young people, there are several lives, there are several men and women that Baba has a program for. He already has them in mind. There is a place for them in the matter and in the kingdom of God. However, there must be a Philip. There must be a Philip that will go and tell Nathanael, "Nathanael, come and meet the Messiah." Nathanael will say, "Look, there is nothing in the Messiah. What am I going to do there? Can any good thing come out of that place?" And Philip will say, "Come now, let's go there. Come, let's go there." I'm trying to make you see something very, very critical. It is crucial for you to know that be careful, be on your guard in the way God brings you across people and God make you to meet people. The way God makes you to meet people, the way God brings you across people, be careful to be sensitive to why the Holy Spirit might be bringing you across somebody, what the Holy Spirit may bid you to tell that person, to draw that person to what God has for that person. Jesus already saw Nathanael, but Jesus awaits that Philip will be the one to draw Nathanael to the place where Jesus will pick it up. There are lives like that. There are people like that. God is waiting for them and you are the link. As I'm saying this and as I'm rounding it up to go into the matter of our estimation, I want to make you know very well the song of that hymn writer. "Do not wait until some deed of greatness you may do. Do not wait to shed your light afar. To the many duties ever near you now be true. Brighten the corner where you are." Brighten that corner where you are. Brighten that corner where you are. Someone far from harbor you may guide across the bar. It's actually a hymn. [Singing] Do not wait until some deed of greatness you may do. Do not wait to shed your light afar. To the many duties ever near you now be true. Brighten that corner where you are. Brighten that corner where you are. Brighten that corner where you are. Someone far from harbor you may guide across the bar. Brighten that corner where you are. Nathanael needed to be guided across the bar. He was far from harbor. His harbor was the program that Jesus had for his life. But Philip was that bridge. I am telling you, God don't just invest into your life without making you a bridge. Young man, young woman listening to me, God don't just invest in your life without making you a bridge. You are a bridge to somebody. You are a bridge to someone. You are a bridge to someone out there. You are a bridge to one family. You are a bridge to even your family member. It was Simon Peter's brother that went to call Simon Peter. James went to call his brother. In different ways you can be a bridge. I pray everywhere you will be a bridge to Nathanael. May you not be that man that will not bring Nathanael to harbor in the name of Jesus Christ. That's the first thing I want to say about the man Nathanael before we come to the actual encounter. Please, I beg you, always be sensitive to God. Wherever you are, wherever you find yourself, in your marriage, in your home, in your family, please be sensitive to God. Be sensitive to God. You may be a harbor to the person you eventually marry, you may be a harbor to the person you married, you may be a harbor to your family members, you may be just that bridge. Sorry, I'm talking about the bridge, the bridge to climb. There are 1,001 lives that Baba has seen. Baba saw them afar. And all he is waiting for is for you to be that harbor, to be that bridge that will bring them to harbor. May you not miss your purpose in the name of Jesus Christ. Now to the man Nathanael. Finally, after Philip has said "come and see," Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him. He began to come towards the place of purpose because Philip had fulfilled his own purpose. Now Jesus said to him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit." Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit. Let me take NLT translation: "As they approach," that is Nathanael and Philip, "Jesus said, 'Here come an honest man, a true son of Israel.'" That's NLT. "Here comes an honest man, a true son of Israel." NIV: "When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, 'Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no falsehood,' no falsehood at all. There is no falsehood in him." I take the Message: "When Jesus saw him coming, he said, 'There is a real Israelite. Not a false bone is in his body.'" I take Amplified: "Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him and he said concerning him, 'See, here come an Israelite indeed, a true descendant of Jacob, in whom there is no guile, nor deceit, nor falsehood, nor duplicity.'" I'm trying to make you understand something very, very critical: estimation of human life. How to put worth in people. How to put value in people. Jesus saw a young man coming. And when Jesus looked at the young man, Jesus made a pronouncement. Please, I keep telling people, be on your guard. There is a difference between when people are writing about Jesus and when Jesus is speaking. I will keep saying this thing and I will always say it. That's why many hard Bibles will put the word of Jesus in red letter because you must understand that Jesus is not a servant of God the way prophets are, where God is speaking through them. I am a servant of God. God is speaking through me. In Jesus, it is God speaking. I don't know whether you're understanding me. It is God speaking in Jesus. It is not God speaking through Jesus. Jesus is God the Son. So when Jesus speak, Jesus is God. That must be very, very clear when you are looking at what the Bible takes the record of Jesus. And that's why men who had this clear understanding wrote hard Bibles in red letters, even soft Bible. You see soft Bible, everything where Jesus is speaking directly to be in red letter. Because of this clear understanding. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was with God at the beginning. Through him all things were made. Without him, there was nothing made that was made. And that Word was made flesh and we beheld the glory of God in him. So it was the Word was made flesh. And so when Jesus was encountering this man and Jesus made a statement and he said, "Can you behold a true Israelite? Do you see a real Israelite? Can you see a true descendant of Jacob? This is the true descendant. This is the real descendant. This is the actual one." What makes him actual? A translation said "an honest man." Another one said "a man in whom there is no falsehood." Another one said "in whom there is no deceit." Another one said "no duplicity, no falsehood, no deceit is in him." And I'm trying to make you understand something very, very critical, that the hallmark, the hallmark—I take that again—the hallmark of true believers, the hallmark of true believers is truth. When you find a man, please listen to me, when you find a man who has several other things that you may count valuable in God—maybe he's gifted, maybe he does miracle, maybe he's a pastor, maybe he has skill, he's talented, maybe he's very active in the church—you can just look at anything you may want to count. But if in that man there is no truth, may I announce to you that that life is not a real life? That person you are dealing with is not real, is not a real person. The hallmark of knowing a real Christian, the hallmark is what I'm trying to make you understand: estimation, value, worth. It is not how gifted a man is. It's not how the amount of revelation a man has. It's not the level of the grace of God that the man seems to carry. It doesn't matter the level of fellowship the man appears to share with Jesus. If you cannot find truth in a life, that life is not one of us. There are many people that are with us, but they are not of us. You'll be wondering what I meant by that. I'm only quoting the Bible. I'm quoting the Bible in what Apostle John said in 1 John. 1 John chapter 2 verse 18 and verse 19. But particularly the verse 19. It says, "They went out from us." That's verse 19. "They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that they might be manifest that they are not all of us." Are you getting that? Are you seeing a very serious statement in that at all? Do you get what the the Apostle is trying to say in that statement? Maybe I should read a simpler translation. Let me read 18 into 19 in a simpler translation. I believe it will be clearer. 1 John 2:18-19. "Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the antichrist is coming. And already, many such antichrists have appeared." Please note. "Already, many such antichrists have appeared. While we are waiting for the ultimate antichrist, the man of sin, there are several antichrists." And I'm trying to make you understand how you can recognize them. While we are waiting for the ultimate antichrist, the man of sin, there are several antichrists. I'm trying to well look at estimation of human life. And I'm speaking within the context of estimating human life when we talk about our relationship with men, women that we may call believers. A way to properly estimate people, a way to properly look at human life and bring value into this life. He said there are several antichrists already. From this we know that the end of the world has come. Please note. From these antichrists, these several antichrists, the many ones, we know that the end of the world has come. Who are these antichrists? Who are they? He say, "These antichrists, these people, these several antichrists that are everywhere, while we are waiting for the ultimate antichrist, these people left our churches." So they were with us. They were in our fellowship before. They seems to be of us because they never really belong with us. May you not be such men in the name of Jesus Christ. There are men who are with us, but they are not really of us. Jesus look at Nathanael and he said, "Wow, a real descendant of Israel." Why? Because there is no deceit in him. There is no falsehood in him. He's transparent. He's honest. There is no wayo wayo. There is no koni koni. He's straight. He's straight. He say "This is a real descendant." May you be real. I'm talking about estimation, estimation of people's life. It's not because of how many tongues you speak. Young man, young woman, listen to me. It's not because of how many tongues you are speaking, because you can do miracle, because you understand all mystery, because you can speak the tongues of angels, because you have so much and you can give and give and give, because you have all faith. Look, all of those things will still profit you nothing. I'm quoting the Bible. We are coming there. 1 Corinthians chapter 13. You may have all those things and you are still nothing. Because something crucial is not in your life. All of those things don't tell us they don't make us to know men who are really with us. They don't make us to know men who really belong to us. Men who really belong to us is not the giftings that they have that make us to know them. Please I want you to remember that Satan is also gifted. It is the gift and the calling of God that was not taken from Satan that you call the power of darkness o. What you call powers of darkness is the gift and the calling of God that is not taken from Satan. Power actually belongs to God. Nobody owns power. So what you are calling powers of darkness is actually the gift of God in Satan. He went away. They are still coming to subject him to punishment at last. So please, don't be thinking that because a man can conduct miracle, you are gifted, you are the leader, you are the president, you are the Bible study this, you have this, you have that, that is what make you to be real. No please. A real man you don't count a real believer from the gift and the callings in their life. No. No. That is not the way to rate men. That is not the way to look at human life inside the kingdom. Inside the kingdom, there is a way the Lord has showed us if we want to estimate human life. If you want to estimate a believer, if you want to estimate a man of God, if you want to estimate a sister or a brother. That is why you marry some people and at the end of the day you begin to cry inside that marriage. You begin to wonder what is happening. Because they may be gifted, they may be talented, they may be executive, they may be leaders, they may have all of those things. But they may not really belong to us. You did not check well their life. You didn't look out for the hallmark. You didn't check very well before you went into relationship with them. They were a bit deceitful and they were not straightforward. You didn't cross-check it. You were taking those thing for granted. Their gift and the grace they seem to be manifesting covered your eyes. You did not check for the real things. You didn't look for the correct things to look for. You were not checking for the estimation in the way the Lord taught us to estimate men. They went the wrong direction. There is a correct direction when you want to estimate people. And you listening to me, don't estimate me by my gift. Don't begin to think that ah, this brother who can teach this much, that makes him a true believer. No. Until you touch my life, until there is and there is something about my life that make you to see that there is no duplicity in this man. There is no deceit in him. This man is honest. This man is not buy buy buy buy. This man is straight. It is the straightness, the truthfulness, the sincerity—the no deceit in a life—that is the hallmark of measuring people o. He was speaking. These people left our churches because they never really belong with us. Otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left us, it proves that they did not belong with us. There are brothers, there are sisters, we call them brother, we call them sister, but actually they are "bro," they are not brothers. They are "sis," they are not sisters. We are the one that put the "sis," you are the one that put the "da" in the brother and the sister. As far as 7 is concerned, they are "sis." They are not sisters. They are "bro," but they are not brothers. Because when you check all inside those seemingly gift and grace that they are operating, you will see deceit. When you look inward, when you touch their life, you will touch duplicity. When you touch their life, you you will touch a lack of honesty, a lack of straightforwardness. A wayo wayo, a koni koni, awon ologbon eke, awon ologbon arekereke. They are like their father the devil. Don't forget that the antichrist, please listen to me, when you look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, so that you can understand antichrist. You know he said that you have heard that the antichrist will come. He said but already we already have several antichrist. Judas was with the 12, but he does not belong to the 12. What makes how do we know he does not belong? Because he's deceitful. He's deceitful. And what actually is Judas? Judas was the son of perdition. So there are sons that are sons of perdition. There are daughters that are daughters of perdition. They are "bro," but not brother. They are "sis," but not sister. If you if you go and call a "bro" brother and you begin to relate with a "bro" as a brother, ah, somewhere somehow you will suffer casualty one day. The same thing when it becomes sister in your life. When a "sis" becomes sister, it is just a matter of time. Casualty is coming. You can see the casualty that that Judas became. The casualty that he became. But you know what the Lord said? He said "I have lost none," because he never really belonged. None was actually lost. Anytime they go away from us, we have not actually decreased. If there are 20 people in a fellowship and 10 of them are actually sons and 10 are sons of perdition, by the time the church reduces to 10, the fellowship have not reduced at all. We have lost none. Oh, may the Lord give you understanding in the name of Jesus. There are lives that when we lose them, we have lost none. Because actually they did not belong to us. It's not a new thing o. It's not a new thing. It is something that is also in the law. It was foreshadowed in the law. How do you know it was foreshadowed in the law? Go and read go and read what Paul said in Romans. He said "they are not all Israel that are of Israel. Neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they counted for the seed. But in Isaac shall the seed be called." So even though they came through Abraham, they are not the children of promise. There are several Ishmael among us. They may come through Abraham, but the covenant is not with them. The covenant is not with them. They call them sons of Abraham. And say "Father Abraham had many sons, many sons had Father Abraham. I am one of them and so are you." May you actually be one. May you not be an Ishmaelite. And I'm trying to show you how you can how you can understand this thing. The hallmark of recognizing this matter in a life is deceit. When a life is deceitful, when a life deliberately, deliberately turn people around, deliberately, is not true among the brethren. When the when a life sincerity is not there. When when a life has duplicity. Life that are that have duplicity. When you begin to notice this in a life, when you begin to see this manifesting in a life, no matter how gifted, no matter how talented, no matter how seemingly active among us, we might be dealing with a son of perdition. We might be dealing with a daughter of perdition. Might not be dealing with a true Israelite. You might not be dealing with Isaac. You might you might be pitching your tent with Israel. Don't forget that at the end of the day, what did they say? "Cast away the bondwoman and her son." On the long, long road, we are going to cast them away. We don't need them actually. We don't actually need them. They are alternative agenda. They are the ones— Note what Jesus said as I'm bringing this meeting to a conclusion. Look at what Jesus said when talking about those he was speaking with Nicodemus. In that same John. In that same John chapter 3, he made reference to something. He was speaking to Nicodemus from verse 5. "Jesus answered, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh. That which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it goes. So is everyone that is born of the spirit.'" I want you to know something very, very importantly that Jesus was trying to make here. Because I want to relate it now to John chapter 1. He says "that which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the spirit is spirit." And you don't need to marvel about this, because it's something that is mysterious. Just as you cannot explain the wind, there is something about this being born of the spirit. Why why is there something about it? Look at John chapter 1. We are relating to the matter of the sons of perdition. I read John chapter 1 from verse 12. "But as many as receive him, to them he gave the right to become children of God. To those who believe in his name who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of man, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." There are men who are born of blood that are among us. There are men who are born of the will of the flesh that are among us. There are men who are born of the will of man that are among us. But there are those who are born of God. Those who are born by the flesh, those who are born by blood, those who are born by the will of the flesh, those who are born by the will of man, they are all sons of perdition. It is those who are born of God that we are actually relating with. Ishmael was born by the will of the flesh. It was not God's agenda. It was not God's agenda. Remember how Jesus put it again very clear to us. He said "while men slept, the enemy came and plant tears." He said "But please, don't remove the tears o, don't remove them. Let them grow together with the wheat. At the end, because when you want to remove them now, you may destroy the wheat. So please, let the two of them prosper." There are men who will prosper among us, but they don't belong to us. He said "Them, let them prosper till the last day. Let them grow on. Let them continue." They are "bro," but they are not brothers. They are "sis," but they are not sisters. Hey! I am pleading with you. You must consistently ask the Lord for discernment. And you need to check your life, you who is listening to me. Are you a "bro" or a brother? Are you a "sis" or a sister? Check your own life. Birds of same feather flock together. If you are thinking that you are you are manipulating, you are turning men around, don't worry. In your group, in your company, the men you will also gather around your life are men like you. The sisters you gather around your life are sisters like you. At the end of the day, that which you sow you will also reap. That's the truth. That which you sow you will also reap. But I want to beg you. I'm just talking about the estimation of human life. As we draw this meeting to a close, I'm just trying to show you how to estimate people. I'm not saying that giftings are not important. I'm not saying that grace they are not important. I'm not saying how active people are is not important. I'm not saying being committed to an assembly is not important. I never said that being able to displace signs, powers, and wonders they are not important. I am trusting God that I will be a burning and a shining light to my generation. I will manifest the power of God, the glory of God. I will conduct miracles. I will open the eyes of the blind. Men who are spiritually blind, men who are spiritually dead, I will raise the sick, I will raise the dead. It is my prayer I will be for a sign and for a wonders. So don't think I'm demeaning all of these things. God forbid I will never demean them. But I am saying they are not the hallmark to recognize those who truly belong to us. Those who truly belong to us, when you want to estimate human life, if you want to know the worth of anybody, what you are to check for is not only relation to you. Begin to check it. How does he relate to his parents? How does he relate to his brothers? How does he relate to people? Somebody is telling you, is discussing with you and he said "don't mind him. I'll just tell him this. When I tell him this, I'll just use that to find my way." Oh! and you call the person a true Christian. You forget that look, the way he relates to others is also the way he will relate to you. By their fruit you will know them. Don't be careless with your life. Don't be carefree with your life, young man, young woman. You have not entered relationship yet. You have not been hooked yet. Be discerning. Look beyond the giftings. Look beyond all of those things. I was called to handle they were discussing a case with me, a marital matter. I don't want to mention where and which fellowship and all. These are confidential matters. But this person was the the highest in rank of all the executive, maybe say the the president of of his gathering. And yet, this was somebody that in every way in his marriage, he reduced the sister he married to a punching bag. That was what they were discussing with me. Alupandugbe. Beating, I mean beating the sister. It was a case of domestic violence by a former general of the fellowship of the church who the sister married. And others were saying that "and he was our this o when we were together o." Look, it's not about the position. Please I'm not also against position. I am saying it so that you don't get me wrong, young man, young woman. Don't say "me, I don't want to be anything in the fellowship o." That is not what it's No, no, no. Please. I was once the the president of my fellowship. I was once the national Bible study secretary of Nigeria Christian Corpers Fellowship. I was once assistant general secretary. I was once a general prayer secretary. Please, don't think that all of these things they are bad. That's not what I'm talking about. Please, please. What I'm talking about is discerning, estimation, how to estimate people. Don't let all of these things, don't let them cloud you about people. Don't let them cover your eyes about people. Don't let miracle signs and wonders blind you. That's what I'm saying. They are important, but they are not the hallmark. They are good, but they are not the hallmark. The working of Satan is deceit. Look at how Satan got Eve. "Oh, you will not die when you eat this thing. You become like God." It was when Eve finished eating it that Eve knew that oh, ah, Satan, you deceive me. People whose true intention are not known in dealing with people, they are satanic people. They belong to him. He planted them. They are his children. No matter the gifting they are operating, they don't belong to us. They don't belong to us. Those who belong to us, you don't find deceit in them. They may not be perfect, they may have their short-coming, but they are truthful. They are open. They are truthful. They are sincere. The hallmark you must find among us in estimating us is about the integrity of the heart and the sincerity of the tongue. That's the true estimation of human life. Integrity of the heart and sincerity of the tongue. What is integrity in your heart? What is the sincerity on your tongue? That is how to get the true value of any human life. As we are bringing this meeting to a close, I don't know whether we have Okay, I'm just giving some time to relate to question. As we wait for that, let us begin to close. Wherever you are, begin to look inward and begin to talk to God. Talk to the Lord. Talk to the Lord. Check your ways. Check your ways. Do you really belong or you are a son or a daughter of perdition? Check your ways. You can begin to design where you belong. You can begin to understand where you belong. Look beyond your giftings. Look beyond all of that. Ask the Lord. Ask the Lord. I needed to be straight. I needed to be straight. I needed to be straight. Lord, work in me. Lord, work through me. Lord, I'm not a spiritual bastard. Lord, Lord, I must be straight. Straighten me out everywhere I am crooked. Lord, straighten me out. Because if I cannot be straightened out, it means I don't belong to you. If I truly belong to you, Lord straighten me. Lord straighten me out. Cause us to be straight in all our ways. People who are straight, people who are not crooked, people who don't practice duplicity. Oh God! Oh God! A good tree cannot bear a bad fruit. A bad tree cannot bear a good fruit. Lord, we are not spiritual bastards. Lord, straighten us everywhere we may be bent. Cause us to be straight. This is the hallmark of your kingdom. The scepter of your kingdom is the scepter of righteousness. The scepter of Satan's kingdom is the scepter of unrighteousness. The scepter of your kingdom is the scepter of righteousness. Cause us to walk in righteousness. Cause us to walk in the truth. Thank you, eternal Father. Thank you, Jehovah. Our Father, we thank you for this morning. We give you glory, we give you praise, we give you honor as we bring this meeting to a close. We pray, Jehovah God, Lord God Almighty, we are asking, Lord, that in every way, Lord, you will help you will work through us this good pleasure of your will. You will work in us, you will work through us this good pleasure of your will. Lord, please work in us. Lord, please work through us. Make us perfect in every good work to do your will. Make us perfect in every good work to do your will. Working in us that which is well pleasing in your sight. Cause us to be straight in all our ways. People who are straight. People who are not crooked. People who people who don't practice duplicity. Oh God! Oh God! A good tree cannot bear a bad fruit. A bad tree cannot bear a good fruit. Lord, we are not spiritual bastards. Lord, straighten us everywhere we may be bent. Cause us to be straight. This is the hallmark of your kingdom. The scepter of your kingdom is the scepter of righteousness. The scepter of Satan's kingdom is the scepter of unrighteousness. The scepter of your kingdom is the scepter of righteousness. Cause us to walk in righteousness. Cause us to walk in the truth. Thank you, eternal Father. Thank you, Jehovah. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. In Jesus' name. Till the month of May, first Saturday when we meet again for our Singles Club. I hope to meet with you next week for Marriage Forum. Let's gather for our Marriage Forum. The Lord bless you. Let's share the grace together. 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 and amen. In Jesus' name. [Speaker 1] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in enriching the lives of singles and marriage through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development, and mission heat. Our regular activities are discipleship class every Monday 5:00 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 outreaches, and everyday counseling. For further counseling you can reach us at our location: Life Camp 31st Bridge, Ileri Community, opposite Very Joy filling station along Ije 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.