Faithfulness to Your Marriage Vow

[Choir singing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"] [Speaker 1] Church and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly home for us. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 2] [Background music] This great grace is a great privilege, is a great mercy. Lord, we worship you. We give you all the glory. We give you all the honor. We honor you, we adore you. Blessed be your name, our Lord and our Father, in the name of Jesus. You are God. You are not just big-o. You are not just large-o. You are a great God. Great, great, great, great God. You are God. You are not just big-o. You are not just large-o. You are a great God. Great, great, great, great God. You are big, big, big, big, big, big, big. Large, large, large. Great, great, great, great, great. You are a great God. Oh, you are big, big, big, big, big, big, big. Large, large, large. Great, great, great, great, great. You are a great God. In Jesus' name, we worship. Praise the Lord. Praise the living Jesus. We thank God for this time that the Lord has brought us here again because he is a faithful God. He said he would not ask the house of Jacob to seek him in vain. The Lord has brought us anytime we are in God's presence, we are here to be blessed by him. Anytime the Lord invites us to his table, it is to fill us to overflowing, to give us strength for many, many, long journeys. So when we come to his presence, our strength is renewed. Today, may the Lord renew our strength in Jesus' name. He will bless our lives, equip us again, feed us for the journey ahead of us. The Lord will also help us for the work he has committed into our hands. Ancient of Days, Everlasting Father, here we are again. We have come to learn at your feet. Oh Lord our God, the Great Teacher, the Spirit of Truth, we submit ourselves to you, Holy Spirit, that you will teach us, you will instruct us in the name of Jesus. We ask that you open our eyes of understanding. We ask that you give understanding unto every hearer and even the speaker. Lord, let us not be like the seed that fell by the roadside. We will not be like the seed that fell among thorns or on the rock. But we shall be like seed, we shall be that fertile ground that the seed of God finds root, germinate, increase, prosper, and bring forth fruit unto the glory of God. Father, we ask that you will have your way in us and through us in the mighty name of Jesus. Thank you, Everlasting Father. In Jesus' name we pray. This morning, by the grace of God, we want to quickly look at a topic. Today is our marriage forum. The Lord has brought us again to look at a topic: Faithfulness to your marriage vow. Of course, this meeting is basically for marriage issues when it comes to anything related to marriage. And we know that the Lord does not expect us to only be faithful as touches some other areas of our life, but in everything. Faithfulness unto the Lord, faithfulness in our workplace, faithfulness to our friends, faithfulness in everything. But we want to narrow it down to faithfulness to your marriage vow. That is, the concept we want to look at this morning is within the home, within the home concept. And not only that, if you are there and you are not yet married, the Lord also wants you to learn what it means first to be married and then to be faithful to the vow you would give yourself to in marriage. And the reason why it is very important, particularly for those of us that are not married, is for us to consider. There is an adage in the Bible that talks about, "If a wise man wants to build, the wise man will first consider it, he will analyze it, he will look at the cost before he starts." So that he would not have started and eventually discover that he could not finish it. And that is the reason why if you are there and you are not yet married, the Lord is calling you to pay attention so that you will listen again and again and reconsider whether you are willing to do, you are willing to go into this marriage because going there requires faithfulness to your marriage vow. As we go this morning, the Lord will help us in Jesus' name. As we consider this, we want to mirror this topic in the light of Mr. and Mrs. Zechariah, that is, Zechariah and Elizabeth. We will also take them side-by-side. They will be like the example for us to mirror as we look at what it means to be faithful to our marriage vow. Because we are mirroring this couple, let us quickly open to Luke chapter 1. First, we'll read from verse 5 to 24 and 57 to 80. Quickly, let me quickly read through. [Speaker 3] Luke 1 from verse 5: "In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, 'Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.' And Zechariah said to the angel, 'How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.' And the angel answered him, 'I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.' And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 'Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.'" Praise the Lord. Quickly, 57 to 80. "Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, 'No; he shall be called John.' And they said to her, 'None of your relatives is called by this name.' And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, 'His name is John.' And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, 'What then will this child be?' For the hand of the Lord was with him. And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, 'Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.' And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he lived in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel." [Speaker 2] Praise the Lord. It is indeed a long passage. There is a lot in it anyway. We may not have to read it as we continue. We'll just be making allusion to it. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Looking at the life of a family, we could see that the wisdom of God—it's by the wisdom of God that the Lord ordained marriage. Marriage is not the working or the wisdom of any man. It did not come from man. It emanated from God. God ordained marriage. We know where that started from, when he saw a need in Adam and decided to give him what? A help suitable for him. And since that, God laid that as a foundation. The reason why we know that as a foundation is when Jesus was talking in Matthew 19. Let me quickly read that. It will also be necessary for our text. Matthew 19 from verse 3. That is when the Pharisees came. "Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question: Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife for just any reason? Haven't you read the scriptures? Jesus replied. They record that from the beginning God made them male and female." So we can see that the beginning was with Adam and Eve. "And he said, 'This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.' Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together." Praise the Lord. Okay, I stopped at verse 6 because the other passage will also talk about it. Let me just stop at verse 6 because the other passage we'll need as we continue. Praise the Lord. So from this, we can see the wisdom of God, the precept of God, the ordination of God is that man and woman—man and woman. And when you are there, you are married to your wife or to your husband, you the spouse, any couple that is a man and a woman, you are taking up the ordination, the ordinance of God in marriage. And if that is what you have chosen, if that is what you have determined under God to do, then you need to come and follow the precept, the way, the principle, the rules, all that the Lord, the initiator, the person that has set it up has as to be the manual for running the marriage. The Lord will help us in Jesus' name. And we have seen that when it comes to God and in this concept, faithfulness. That is the reason I'm recording "faithfulness to our marriage vow." At that point where you have agreed together, at different points even through this medium, this ministry, we have talked about what it means—our marriage vow—that of course, the large part of the marriage vow is not at the wedding day where you read out a vow, maybe in the church or in the registry. But it began from when you have been courting, when you have decided to follow that brother and you have decided to take that sister and you have been encouraging each other into the marriage. That is when God has been paying attention. You know he told us in Malachi that he is a witness to the vow, to the wooing here, the encouragement here, the toasting here, things that make one to want to follow. And at that point, many a times, many people think we are just—as the Yorubas will say, "Ẹyẹ ni ko ṣa kọrin lori ọpẹ"—many people think we are just going to—God is paying attention. So if you think you don't mean what you are saying, please be careful because God is paying attention. When you bring that up and the person followed you, the wife followed you and the husband also see confidence that this will indeed a help and they have now decided to get to the point of coming to the people, declaring yourself husband and wife. God began to pay attention. He sees your vow starting from where the two of you have agreed to marry yourself and you have been encouraging yourselves, making up your mind until you clearly publicly declare it open to the people. And God says he's a witness. We find that in Malachi when he was telling them why their prayers were not heard, why their offerings were not received by him. He said they were unfaithful. They were unfaithful. God hates it. So God, one of the very important thing when it comes to our marriage is faithfulness. Before you can be committed to a thing, faithfulness is the first thing. If you are not faithful to a thing, you can't give yourself to it, you won't be committed. So when we are talking about faithfulness in our marriage, it is also in the process that at the end of the day, I want to give it all, all my time and everything to it. The Lord will help us in Jesus' name. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Looking at the life of this family, we could see that Bible record that they were faithful men. Zechariah was a faithful man. It talks about them being faithful, dedicated to the Lord. They are dedicated to the Lord. They are righteous. He was not talking about Zechariah alone, he said Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God's eyes, careful to obey all the Lord's commandments and regulations. Praise the Lord. Careful to obey all, not leaving out any. Not obeying when it comes to church, not obeying when it comes to some aspects, but obey even in their home. Obey all the commandments of the Lord. One of the commandments of the Lord is faithfulness to each other as spouses. And these people through their life, we could see that they were indeed what God said they were. Bible says they had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive and they were both very old. It wasn't at their old age that they discovered the inability of Elizabeth to conceive. That would have started right from their youthful age when they were newly married. When Bible is talking about that Elizabeth was unable to conceive, then by every medical standard or any research, they have gone to know that the fault was not even with Zechariah, that it is with Elizabeth. In recent times, it's also possible at any time that the fault of not being able to conceive may be that of the man. But here, it is with the woman. And they have discovered this from the onset. If the Bible is talking about them as being very old and they are still Mr. and Mrs. Zechariah together, committed, faithful, serving the Lord, loving God and his commandment in spite of their challenge, in spite of the fact that Zechariah knew he had all it takes to give a child, to bear a child, but for this woman. But Zechariah because he knew what the word of God says, stood with the woman. As long as I'm going to marry Elaine, we are in it together. And that is the reason why they continued. That's the reason why he continued with his wife, the wife of his youth even to old age, to very old age, serving God together. Are you there? What is your challenge? What is the problem you have in your spouse? What is that challenge? Your own may not even be bearing of children, inability to give birth. Some other challenge in your marriage. What is that challenge about your spouse? In this situation, we could see that even from the beginning, we don't know how old the marriage could be, but Bible made us to realize that they were very old in age. And I'm very sure they did not marry at that very old age. They'd married when they were at their youth. The problem, the challenge has been in Elizabeth from there. But Zechariah never backed down. Zechariah was not unfaithful. Zechariah did not divorce her. Zechariah did not begin to do some sinful game elsewhere. Zechariah did not even put her aside because in the Christendom today, you may see many of us put her aside, put away. They have put the spouse away in their finances because of the problem. They have put their spouse away even when it comes to conjugal relationship because of the challenge you have discovered. Maybe you have put your spouse away because of his or her attitude. That is unfaithfulness to your marriage vow. Your marriage vow is that till death do us part. And when Jesus was saying that, he said, "No man should put away what God has joined together." No man should put away. Even if there's any challenge about you, about your spouse, that is your problem. The only thing it made me to see, Zechariah was not even seeing it as Elizabeth not being able to bear child, he see it as our problem. And he would be a very mentally sick person that will have a challenge in his body and will be fighting the body. What you do naturally is to take care of that challenge. When you have a sickness, when you have a cold, when you don't ignore it, you take it, you take yourself to wherever that thing can be taken care of. And that is the same thing. Because your spouse is not another person, he's an extension of you. He's you, he's your person. And that's the understanding this man had. And when he discovered that his wife was not able to give birth, it is me, it is not about her. And everything that happened here, it is our challenge. And they were able to forge together. That is the faithfulness we could see in this life. They are challenging us today. No matter what it is, the challenge of your spouse, your husband or wife is yours. And you have to be faithful in spite of all challenges. Faithfulness is not only when things are rosy. Faithfulness is not only when it is according to your dream. In fact, how would one be able to measure your loyalty and faithfulness when everything is rosy, it's according to your dream? It is very, very difficult. If it is only then that you are faithful to your spouse, you are a fair-weather spouse. You are not all-time well. And as far as God is concerned, you are a fair-weather servant of God. You are a fair-weather follower of Jesus. You should know. When it comes to fair-weather, you will back down on God. You will despise his word. You will look for an alternative. You will not follow. And this has great consequence. Because anyone that will not follow the regulation and instruction of God through and through, God—Bible says the standard of God stands sure, having this seal: "The Lord knows those who are his." And anyone that names the name of the Lord should depart from iniquity. Iniquity include anything that is outside God's counsel and regulation, rules, ordinances, status for his children. So don't back out. Be faithful even while things are difficult. Be faithful to your marriage even when there is problem. The Lord will help us in Jesus' name. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. I hear that are you there? You call yourself a follower of Jesus and still hold your marriage vow in unfaithfulness? You're unfaithful to your partner? This is who you are. Let's quickly open to John chapter 6, verse 51 to 70. John chapter 6, if you are there, you hold your marriage vow in unfaithfulness. You're unfaithful to your partner. This is who you are. We'll see them in here. John chapter 6, 51 to 70. This is Jesus talking when he was teaching his people. "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever. And this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh. Then the people began arguing with each other about what he meant. How can this man give us his flesh to eat? they asked. So Jesus said again, 'I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. I live because of the living Father who sent me. In the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me. I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die, as your ancestors did, even though they ate the manna. But this one, the bread of life, will live forever.' He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. Many disciples said, 'This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?'" They didn't say many of outsiders, Bible says "many of his disciples." Verse 61: "Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, 'Does this offend you? Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human efforts accomplish nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But some of you do not believe me.' For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn't believe and he knew who would betray him. Then he said, 'That is why I said that people can't come to me unless the Father gives them to me.' At this point many disciples turned away and deserted him. Then Jesus turned to the twelve and asked, 'Are you also going to leave?' Simon Peter replied, 'Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe and we know you are the holy one of God.' Then Jesus said, 'I chose the twelve of you, but one is a devil.' He was speaking of Judas, son of Simon." Praise the Lord. Can you see from that passage what happened? All these people have been eating bread—bread, different bypasses of bread. Two loaves of bread and five fish. They have been eating with the Lord Jesus, dining. But when it comes to the matter of the truth, truth to them that is hard to believe. You know they said, "Wow, how can you say this? This is hard to believe." That is the attitude of some of us when it comes to the standard, the precept, the word of God in situation, in our everyday living. We only want to hear those things that are good, that will be going along with the world today. When he told them about—when he told them about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, Bible says many disciples deserted him. And he asked those ones, "Won't you go?" Simon Peter replied, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You are the ones that give eternal life. We believe and we know you are the holy one of God." When you are unfaithful to your spouse, when you're unfaithful to your marriage vow, you are among those ones that haven't gotten to a point where they said, "Ha! Hey! No alternative, but this is hard." You will reject, you will renounce, you will despise the word of God and say, "No, we cannot go. How can we eat his flesh and drink his blood? How can we do this? Our senses should tell us now, even our culture, even our parents. Even my parents told me, 'Are they not wise enough?' Even things that I've seen. Even my colleague in the office. Whose report are you believing?" You are among those people that would not want to follow the Lord even when it is hard, when it is tough. The standard of God is not only when things are good for us. Even when it is difficult, a true disciple of Jesus will follow through. We'll keep following that, "This is what the Lord has said. This is what the Lord has said until death do us part. If the flesh of me is brought out of me, this is my head, we are one, we are not two." This is the word of God. In situation that want to tell you that it's possible now, not in this matter, you can be two. Do you admit to it, or you say, "No, no. It's only you that have the word of life. I will not listen to that"? The Lord is challenging us this morning that we should know that faithfulness to our marriage vow shows how faithful you are to God. How willing, how submissive you are to his counsel, to his precept, to his kingdom principles. It shows because it is not unto your spouse, somebody gave you that way, somebody told you what to do. It is not your spouse that said do it, it is the Lord. Who then that will say, "No, this is too hard to believe" and you will depart from Jesus? "Or to whom shall we go? Because only you have the word of life. Only you are the only way. Your word is nothing but the truth." The Lord wants us to be true disciples, truly following the Lord. Not being a fair-weather Christian. Don't be a fair-weather follower or being obedient to the word of God. To only obey those ones that are convenient, or that you like, or that are no. That is not faithfulness. God wants you to obey him even when it is convenient, when it is not convenient. We'll follow him with your heart, not with your head. We follow the Lord through and through, that this is what the Lord has said, and there is no alternative to it. The Lord will help us in Jesus' name. And at the end of the day, what happened to the family of Zechariah? Because they continued faithfully, serving the Lord, serving each other as one, united, focused, not minding all the rumors and suggestion. Do you think they were not given advice? People will come and give them different other therapies. They give them different—they will even give them example of bishops, G.O.s that are even somehow highly ranked than them and how those people have looked for something else to do. But these people said, "No, it is only Christ, it is only him that has the word of life. It is only him that is life. We would not be among those ones that are falling apart." Those G.O.s you are talking about, good, they may be. Yes, there were some people too that were once at a time, they were disciples of Jesus. But when it got to a point where some teachings were hard, they fell away. "I won't be in that category. I will be in the category of those that will follow on even if it is difficult." And that is how Zechariah and his wife followed on because they know the saying, "To whom shall we go?" We would not go to anyone else. The Lord will help us in Jesus' name. And in following the Lord, we'll be set apart for a greater glory, even in their old age. Bible says God is a faithful rewarder. He honors you if you wait with him. If you are expecting—at least there's one that says, [Yoruba: "Ẹni to ba to'mi si le, a tẹ dẹ tutu"]. Maybe that is the kind you are doing towards your spouse. And the more you are giving, looking to him, looking to him or her for response and you are not getting. You can't get because he's not the one that will make you to tell your truth. Your reward is from the Lord. Bible says God is faithful. He will help you as unto the Lord, knowing that it is not the person but the Lord. When Zechariah and Elizabeth kept looking away from each other's crisis, each other's challenge, shortcomings, forbearing with each other, it was possible, it was so easy for them to keep moving on. It was easy. It was easy for them. You know why it is easy? Because they were obeying God. When you obey God, grace is made available. Strength is made available. The Lord will bear you up on eagle's wing. You will see that it is not your strength. Bible says if you honor me, I will honor you. One of the way God honors us in obedience to him is by giving us a backup. You will be doing the impossible that from human calculations, they will say we don't even know how they are able to do it. That is one of—that is just little of the honor you receive from God. Because Zechariah chose to cling to his wife in spite of his inability to bear child, and they begin to—they work together, serving the Lord, obeying God's regulation, what happened to them? The Lord preserved them. He made them very at early age. They had no child. But they continued. Another blessing, where will high blood pressure come from? Where will hypertension come from? Or all these sickness, different kinds of terminal sickness. You surrender all to the Lord. They have made up their mind to do the will of God. Because they have chosen to see the other—each other as one. [Yoruba: "A kò mọ́ bọ́ bọ́ bọ́ tọ́ bọ́ ya pa ń tẹ̀nṣọ̀n ni kọ́ mọ́ mọ́ mọ́ jẹ́ wọn mọ́ tọ́jú bó lè"]. Families coming here and there, people that have no genuine interest, you even invite them to complicate your problem. The Lord will help us. And God gave them a greater glory. Just like he did with these people. Even in their old age, they were still bearing fruit. They kept bearing fruit. And that is what God is challenging us today, the unwillingness—I don't want to say inability because we have all it takes to do it. But when we cooperate with the flesh, when we cooperate with the world, when we allow the world to give us the standard to follow, when we follow our flesh, we will be unwilling to obey. To be faithful—faithfulness in money, in conjugal relationship, in everything. In working together, in being truthful, being open, in forbearing, in loving, in submitting. When we choose not to do that, it will be difficult for us to bear fruit in old age. And what is the fruit I'm talking about here? You will be seeing yourself being drifted away from the Lord. [Yoruba: "Bẹ́ẹ̀ ni gàpù yẹn ṣe máa máa pọ̀ si i nìyẹn"] because you are drifting away. Every stage, it is fire, fire, fire. Go and check them. As they keep going, the gap—what they held onto five, ten years ago, when fifteen years time, they will be telling you it doesn't matter. They drift so far from what Jesus told them to do. He took him far from the presence of God. Where they would say, "Help me-o," nobody will come to rescue. That is the trick of the devil. Many people always say, [Yoruba: "Iṣẹ́ kankan mọ́ríìjì ni, kò dà mi kò dìn. What am I doing my head in for? Every thing that constitute your life enhances—will enhance and also hinder your eternity, even your child, your marriage. Because disobedience is disobedience as long as it's the precept of God. That's the reason why I said if you are not making up your mind, don't go. If you are not ready to follow the Lord true-through, think about it. The consequence can be grievous. For us to be bearing fruit in old age, our faithfulness to our marriage vow is very important. I say grace will abound. God forbid. We cannot continue in disobedience and say grace will abound. We cannot continue in unfaithfulness and you think God will continue. Who are you that God will lower his standard? And that is the reason why in a matter of time, they won't know when they are leaking. They are already leaking strength, grace, power because of unfaithfulness to their marriage vow. When they are choosing not to be faithful to what God has instructed through this medium, we have also made us to realize that as touches God, when you are the bride, he is the groom. Be faithful with that. So obviously, there is a problem with your journey—journey to eternity. May the Lord be gracious unto us that we will not lose heaven on the account of our marriage in the name of Jesus. Praise the Lord. And at this point, the family of Zechariah and Elizabeth, God came, God showed up. God showed up. For you to know that these people, as much as they work with God, it's not that they doubted God, but they have come to say, [Yoruba: "Fọ́lọ́run ò tiẹ̀ fẹ́ mọ̀ mọ́"], he is still our God. They continued with the work. The visitation came. [Yoruba: "Inú wọn orí wọn ń dẹ̀ yaya"]. What is that thing that you are—is charging you up? Is it that my wife or my husband, every—the result is not just anything about me, he's there's a problem with it? Or you have seen in this our little work, I've seen—I've seen marriage where just the temperamental issue is breaking them apart. The other one says he's not forthcoming, then I am not ready to give oneself for the interest of the other. Where is it in marriage? Where is it between the two that God called one? And when the Lord says they are one, honestly, that's why Bible says so that your prayers may not be hindered. And that is the reason why the blessing—that blessing—when it is—it is outright. So when these people waited, the Lord showed up. The Lord showed up that even when the visitation—sometimes because of the level of spirituality, Zechariah, you don't know where I am, Gabriel. Why will you not doubt me? You know when I look at that story, going down that chapter, that same thing was what Mary told Angel Gabriel. You remember? After Mary was visited by Gabriel and he said, "Blessed are thou, you are going to have—." And Mary said, "How can this thing be?" And Angel Gabriel said, "Holy Spirit, the power of the Most High will come upon you" and he told her. To whom was he—it was but somebody that loved God that was but this one had been in the service of God. So when you are comparing yourself with people—G.O.s, pastors, bishops, or whatever anointed that are obeying God—be careful. Be careful. But Zechariah, they were faithful, they continued steadfastly. God eventually visited them. God just used that to stand—[Yoruba: "Ẹmi i a de ti ń rẹ kọjá kò má ṣerú iyẹn mọ́"]—but the promise came. The promise eventually came. Elizabeth was pregnant, the time came, she gave birth. We could also see the unity in the two of them. We could see the unity in the two of them. Even when Zechariah was dumb and he couldn't talk, and the family said, "Now, his name? Give us a name." And John—and Elizabeth said, "He shall be called John." Our relatives, [Yoruba: "Àà! Níbo l'oti r'irú orúkọ yẹn f'ámílì wa? We will call him the name of his father." When the argument was—because eventually they said, "Let us ask his father." [Yoruba: "Taba tẹ bálá ofa òtọ̀òrìṣẹ dẹ ni mọ̀"]. Okay, give me a writing tablet. And he wrote it: "His name is John." Instantly, the mouth of Zechariah was opened and fear fell upon everybody in the neighborhood. They could see the neighborhood will be able to see the might of God in your life, in your marriage, if you allow God. If you allow God and you be faithful to your marriage vow, anything that is not glorifying God, if you allow God, you will be a wonder. The people in the neighborhood, they were wondering. They wondered. They also wondered what kind of child is this. God will make your children, the seed that will come out from families, homes that are seed of righteousness, [Yoruba: "Kí wọn ọmọ ọmọ wa mọ k'okunkun"] you will say, "Ha! Ha!" This is what will come with the might and the spirit of God. Where the enemy is able to come in and temper with our seed is they find the loophole. They find the wall when it's broken. There's an adage, [Yoruba: "Tí ẹ bá ti kẹrẹ òkìrì ò bá là l'ẹnu, ara ń d'ọ́dọ̀ dẹ́lọ̀ ó bá wọn bẹ́ẹ"]. Many a time, it's the fault of the parents. The fault may not only be that you did not teach them. The fault may be because of your faithfulness to your marriage vow. You may be teaching Bible morning to night, 24 hours every day, seven days, 30 days, 365 days, teaching and instructing. But the honor of the spirit is not the physical thing. We can't deceive the spiritual thing. The devil knows our unfaithfulness even if nobody knows. And that is the loophole for the devil to come in and temper with all the good things God has given to us. May that not be our portion in Jesus' name. So the Lord—the Lord said, "Okay, we are doing this." When everyone heard, that is where I stopped, wondered. Not in our family, from our home home children in Jesus' name. Then in verse 67, "Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Ghost and gave this prophecy." And this is during his naming. This man even became filled in operation. And he kept prophesying. He prophesied about the liberty and deliverance of Israel. Not only that, "And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High because you will prepare the way of the Lord." Exact. [Yoruba: "Orí ọ̀fẹ́ ni o"]. And this [Yoruba: "orí ọ̀fẹ́"] can be given to anyone that honors the Lord. If you honor God, he will honor you. The only way you honor God is by obeying him. Obeying your resources and you obey him. In fact, when the light is rejected, all is lost. But this man, he talked about the deliverance of Israel, still bearing fruit. Can you see him? He was still bearing fruit in the old age. He has to tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sin. Can you see? Declaring it. Heaven will be at—you know, affirm it because it—they were not fair-weather. Because of those tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the path of peace. And what is the next thing? And the child grew and became strong in spirit. That settles it. When a child, anybody is strong in spirit, mean every other area, you cannot be weak. But when you are a weakling in spirit of God, oh, no matter your strength in every other way, you may even have money, you may have affluence, you may have eloquence, you may have name. You are nothing. No wonder John was able to go forth to fulfill his purpose. Bible says he grew up. He grew up becoming strong in spirit. That is the family. The strength—after this popular saying, [Yoruba: "Abiyamọ tọ́ mọ bọ tọ́ mọ̀ jẹ́ bí mọ n'í old age ni. Tabati-"]. And do you know, psychologically, as couples advanced in age, looking after a child becomes a chore—becomes a day-to-day, middle adult. When you are older, that is the popular saying. But when you are somebody that work with God, somebody that is faithful, the Lord chooses to give you life. Your spirit will be what? Very strong. And that is what controls the physical. This family kept bearing fruit. What is your attitude toward your situation? You can only get it by honoring the Lord, by being faithful in your marriage, being faithful to each other. Being faithful to the Lord by obeying his word. Then you will get it. No, what you are running after using your senses, the wisdom of the world to get, you are only cheating on yourself. You are losing out. The devil is robbing you. No matter what you get there, he's going to be what? A sorrow. It will not make rich. It will add sorrow. Because it is only the blessings of God that does not add sorrow, that makes rich. Bible says [Yoruba: "Ẹnu ayé bá d'ẹ́mù lọ́rẹ, à kẹ́ tẹ tẹ dẹ lẹ d'ẹ rẹ r'ọ́wọ́ jẹ, tí i rẹ bá dẹ rẹ rẹ, á dẹ rẹ rẹ rẹ"]. It gives you a result but that result will give you—will add sorrow and will not make you rich. That result is already taken away, it's like [Yoruba: "fí fún ẹ ni kọ́bọ̀ tọ́ mọ tọ́ mọ̀ mọ kọ́n lọ́n mọ́ dẹ́ dẹ́ dẹ́ rẹ kẹ rẹ lọ́n mọ kẹ́ kẹ́ kẹ rẹ rẹ"]. But when you obey the Lord and follow God in faithfulness like this family, it will make you rich and add no sorrow. When he gives us instructions, go this way and you follow. Even when it does not make sense, we will see results. What we call miracle, what we call the unusual. They are not things you should be able to calculate with your—with your mind. What you just do is just you obey him. And when you want to see God, step by step, by faith, then you begin to see God-o. The Lord will help us in Jesus' name. So from this place, it shows to us that Jesus can be in your boat, you can experience storm. And whatever he asks you to do, do it. Stop taking instructions from anything that is outside the will of God, the word of God. The word of God is the will of God. Whatever the word of God tells you to do, do. That is the solution. Wait for him. Wait and do it. And you will see results. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. The wine may finish, call him. Call his attention on your marriage and he will be willing to take his counsel and to run with it. Don't take his counsel, it may look foolish and may not make sense, as I've said. It may not make sense to human reason. But that is the bread of life. Eat it. Eat his flesh and his blood. Take it, you will have life. Don't despise it. Don't run away from it. Don't look for anywhere else. When you have sought any other method, you are sinking. It will not make you rich. It will add sorrow. And at the end, it may be very grievous. Because you can determine your action, you don't determine the consequence. But we know that in the path of righteousness, there is what? Life. And in his path, there is no death. In the way of righteousness is the way of being faithful, being obedient to the word of God, being faithful to what God has told you as the wife, as the husband to do. And in that path, following him, you will have no death. You will have life and life in abundance in the name of Jesus. Obey his word. Follow his precept. Don't alternate the word of God. In fact, there is no alternative to it. Anything else is death. Anything else is what? Death. And the Lord is telling us he has come to give you life and that life is what? Is in obedience, is in following him. The Lord will help us. The Lord will cause us to—that's the reason why I said to those who are yet to come in, "Go and consider-o. [Yoruba: "Lọ rò dáadáa"]. If you are not willing to follow the Lord true-through, you are likely going to dig your grave. And the grave I'm talking about here could be an eternal one. If you are not there and you are unfaithful to your marriage vow, you won't be committed to doing the will of God, to obeying God. And you know what that is. Anyone who loves me will keep my commandment. So anyone who does not keep my commandment, they don't love me. And if you don't love the Lord, you know what that can mean. And at the end of the day, your life will not be like the life of this family. You will not bear fruit in your old age. You will not have testimony from the Lord that you obey him. And if the Lord does not honor, who will give you a reward? Who will crown you? There's somebody who is there in our wedding, taking record. All our path, our time is before him. If you don't follow the Lord in faithfulness, you will not bring forth fruit. We will not see the visitation of God. Our testimony, our testimony in our neighborhood and all around, it will be missing the name of the Lord. And at the end of the day, what will happen? We'll have regret. But let us be like this family, this family of Zechariah, this family that has chosen to follow the Lord, this man that has chosen to stand by his wife, even when it has been determined that she was unable to bear. And from their youthful, early adulthood when they married to their very, very old age, they were still bearing fruit. Being acknowledged by God, God knows them. And they were one. They kept declaring the counsel of God. And the enemy could not come into their home. Their seed were seed of righteousness. John fulfilled his purpose. They did not make any opening for the enemy to come in by their unfaithfulness. The devil must have been trying over them, just like he will try, he's trying over us. We have the same adversary just as we have the same Lord. And the same Lord that was faithful in keeping them because they honor him by obeying him, is the same Lord if you have surrendered your life to Jesus. And when you also obey the Lord, you honor him by obeying him, by being faithful, by doing what he asks you to do as touches the institute, institution of marriage. Then the Lord also will honor you. He will edge you like he edged who? Job. He will make sure the enemy don't have a loophole. Maybe the reason why you have all these challenges we are talking about, it may be man-made, made by you. Go and think about it. Consider your way. Go and look inward. Are you faithful? Even if it is not known to man, you know God sees. He knows all things. There is nothing hidden before him. The Lord will help us in Jesus' name. Shall we pray? I want us to commit ourselves into the hands of the Lord. I want us to beg the Lord to help us. I want us to beg the Lord to help us. Tell the Lord, "Lord, here I am. I am willing. It is so easy for me to alternate, so easy for me to submit to something else aside your word. Oh, I so take your word casual. I don't always submit to it. Oh, I believe more in my head. Oh, I don't follow the word of God. I don't follow the word of God. When it comes to this, I am so philosophical. No, no, no, no, no. I've chosen you, I've chosen to follow your word. Lord, show me mercy. Show me mercy because I've come to see today." Pray, pray, pray that the Lord will help us. Lord, help us. Here we are, oh Lord. Jesus, mercy. Help us, oh Lord. Help us, oh Lord. Help us to be faithful to our marriage vow, to be faithful all around. To do what pleases the Lord. Lord, let us always set you before our face. Help us to follow your word. When it comes to this, no, no, no, no. I'm choosing you. I'm following your word. Lord, show me mercy. Help me, oh Lord. Help me to honor you by obedience. Help me to honor you by following you. Oh Lord, help me. Pray, pray that the Lord will help us. Lord, help us. Here we are, oh Lord. Show us mercy. Help us, oh Lord. Help us to be faithful to our marriage vow. To be faithful in all areas of our life. Help us to be committed to doing the will of God. To do what pleases the Lord. Lord, let us always set you before our face. Lord, let us always set you before us. Help us, oh Lord. Help us to always remember that you are our Lord. We give you all the glory. We honor you, oh Lord. Be gracious unto us, Lord. Thank you, Everlasting Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Father, in the name of Jesus, Father, Lord, we thank you for this evening that we've gathered in the name of Jesus. Lord, we thank you because you have brought your word to us and our life. Lord, we pray that you would help us because your word says it's not of him that willeth or of him that runneth but the Lord that showeth mercy. Lord, you help us to receive your mercy concerning our lives in the name of Jesus. Lord, concerning marriages and couples, Lord, we receive mercy for marriages in the name of Jesus. Every home going through crisis, every home going through issues concerning faithfulness and unfaithfulness. Lord, you help them to see, to be committed to one another as you have instructed in the name of Jesus. Lord, for every home, Lord, we receive your grace for families in the name of Jesus. We receive your grace for couples in the name of Jesus that they will understand by your word that the essence of being one, that you will help us not to lose our soul on the account of not obeying your commandment. Thank you, Righteous Father, for answering our prayers. In Jesus' name we pray. This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in reaching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development, and mission aid. Our regular activities are discipleship class every Monday, 5:00 PM at our Life Camp by the first bridge, Ilere community, opposite Rejoice filling station along Ijede Road, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. Adolescent and singles club every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM. Marriage forum, second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM. Family life seminars, regular school outreaches, and everyday counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, or visit our website at www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are 08033861136 or 07033613848. God bless you all.