Life Foundation for Making Choices

[Speaker 1] When I look at the flyer, we think: crisis, single, and courtship. What ran through my mind in respect of courtship and relationship, the magnitude and the trend is actually worrisome. It's very, very worrisome. And so I believe that it's time indeed for society to rethink. It's time indeed for our generation, particularly those of us that call ourselves Christians, to rethink some of our values, rethink about our orientation and philosophy about life, particularly how they conform to the teachings of the scripture, how they conform to the ethics of Jesus. And so I'm glad to be with you, and I trust the Lord that as we fellowship together this evening, I'll be taking you through some very, very basic things about the matter of single and courtship. So that we can have a better focus, I tried to organize the talk with a theme: Understanding God’s Will in Respect of Marital Choice. That will be the theme under which I want to make the presentation or the discussion. And with that, I have two sections. The first section, I'll be looking at Life Foundation for Making Choice. And the other part, which we'll not get into today because we'll be looking at foundational issues today, is the process of making choice. So under the theme Understanding God’s Will in Respect of Marital Choice, today we'll be looking at Life Foundation for Making Choice. Under this topic, I have two sections. The first section is one, Vital Background to Our Discussion. Under that section, we have A, B, C, D, about three items to discuss. Then the other section, Adam and Eve Model. Under that section, we have two things to look at: the Adam model, then the Eve model. I believe by the end of the discussion, I trust the Lord that we'll have addressed the issues that relate to Life Foundation for Making Choice. Now, let me make some conceptual clarification. Now when I said Life Foundation, the matter of life there, I'm talking about life in respect of John 3:16 and John 17:1-3. In John 3:16, the Lord said, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life" or have eternal life, depending on the translation that you are using. Now why was God offering life to man? God wasn't offering life to men ordinarily that are dead. These men are alive, but that life is that they are merely existing. They were not living in respect of the life that God was talking about. So there is the life of God. When a man don't have that life, he's described as not alive or dead, although the man is biologically alive. So I'm talking about life, when I said Life Foundation, I mean life in respect of eternal life. When you look at John 17:1-3, the Bible says in John 17:1-3, that was the word of our Lord Jesus Christ himself. He said, John 17:1-3, let me quickly get there. Jesus spoke these words, lifted up his eyes to heaven. Are you with me? [Speaker 2] Yes. Yes, we are. [Speaker 1] Okay. Jesus spoke these words, lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son that your son may also glorify you. As you have given him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." Now if you look at the word of Jesus here, he was talking about eternal life. And the presentation here is, "And this is eternal life." "This" here is singular, demonstrative pronoun singular. This, not these. This is eternal life. Eternal life don't mean two things; it means only one thing, as far as Jesus is concerned. And for Jesus, eternal life is that you may know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. So when I said Life Foundation for making marital choice, I mean a foundation that is built on knowing God personally, having a personal encounter with God and with Jesus. That's what I mean by Life Foundation. So I believe I've been able to make some conceptual clarification about the matter of Life Foundation. Now under Life Foundation, I said I have two sections: Vital Background to Our Discussion and then Adam and Eve Model. So let's take the first one: Vital Background to Our Discussion. Under that, I have three subsections: A, B, and C. Let's look at Matthew 19 so that we can get the three subsections quickly. It is based on Matthew 19, the three subsections. The three subsections are based on Matthew 19. I take the reading from verse 3. This was the episode of the Pharisees and Jesus Christ. The Pharisees also came to him, testing him, and saying to him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?" He answered them and said to them, "Have you not read that he who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate." They said to him, "Why did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce to put her away?" He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your heart, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery." His disciples said to him, "If such is the case of a man and his wife, it is better not to marry." So Jesus Christ, I want to show you three important things that I said, the three subsections under Vital Background Discussion. The first thing you will notice here is that Jesus, in addressing the matter of marriage when it was brought to him, his first response was, "Have you not read what he who made them at the beginning? Have you not read that he who made them at the beginning? Have you not read?" For Jesus, when you want to address the matter of things that relate to the marital relationship that begins with courtship and then gradual process of time and then you enter into the institution of marriage. If you want to address anything that has to do with it, it is important for you to know what he who made them at the beginning said. He said, "Have you not read?" The person who made them at the beginning actually wrote down something. There is something that God said at the beginning. When those things were written down, they were written for our learning. We'll find that in Romans 15:1-4 and 1 Corinthians 10:1-10. The things that are written in former time, they were written for our learning. So the first thing about what I'm presenting to you is that a vital background to our discussion is that when you want to talk about the matter, if you want to address crisis today, if you want to address how should we think, we should think what has been written. We should think what God has said. Once we get out of that box, we will run into serious crisis, we will run into problems. The second thing I'm showing you under that is the nature of unregenerated human heart. They asked Jesus, they said, "But Moses allowed us to give a certificate of divorce." Jesus said that Moses allowed that because of the hardness of your heart. Now you must understand that under the Old Covenant, the laws of God were not written in the heart of the people. It is under the New Testament that he said "I'm going to make a new covenant in which I will take out from you the heart of stone, I will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spirit in you so that nobody would need to teach his neighbor 'know the Lord'". So before the coming of Jesus, we have this matter of men having a heart that is hard, a heart that is not yielding, a heart that is not submissive to the ordinances and the teachings of the Lord. And so he said, "Because of the hardness of your heart, Moses allowed you." If you look at Jeremiah 17:9-10, you see where the Bible says "the heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked". So you need to understand, you need to check: when you want to rethink, you need to ask yourself, am I looking at the matter of courtship, the matter of making a choice? Am I looking at this matter from the point of a regenerated heart or a heart that is not regenerated? With which heart am I looking at it? Because if you are looking at it with the heart that is not regenerated, then agreeing with the ordinance, with the teachings, with the ethics and the value that conform with the word of Jesus, will be very, very difficult. And so because of the hardness of your heart, you may find yourself doing certain things and going outside the teachings of God. And I want you to see something here: Moses allowed them. So there are certain things it may look as if you are allowed to do. They may look religious and sensible, but they may not agree with the divine intention of God. Moses allowed them, but from the beginning it was not so. So there are many things that may look very, very religious, that may look cultural, that may look acceptable. Moses allowed us to give a certificate of divorce, it's acceptable, it's okay. But Jesus told them that became acceptable and okay because of the hardness of your heart. So we need to check yourself: what is the nature of my heart? And then the third thing I'm showing you under this vital background is wrong attitude over the matter of God's will that have developed over time. When Jesus said all of this, his disciples said in the last verse there, they said in verse 10, "If such is the case of a man and his wife, it is better not to marry. It is just better not to marry." Now why did they say that? They are looking at the terms and conditions that Jesus was describing. Formerly, they were operating from "Moses allowed us to divorce", but now they are seeing the Lord himself appearing on stage and he's telling them categorically and authoritatively that in this matter, you need to abandon Moses. If you want to follow God, then understand what God has to say in this matter. For God, divorce is not possible. If it must come to pass, then it must be on the case of sexual immorality. Apart from that, any other thing else if you do so, then you have a problem with your maker. Then they started thinking, if it is like this, it is better not to marry. Now over time, a wrong attitude has developed about the matter of courtship, mate selection, and all of that. Over time, because of this "if you marry, you cannot divorce, you have to be very, very careful, don't make mistakes about that, marriage is for life". What has developed over time is that for many young people today and for even many adults, it looks as if it is only in the matter of making marital choice, mate selection, that the will of God becomes very, very vital. It looks as if it's only when you come to the issue of marriage, "I want to marry now, oh God, God, God, I need to hear you. What is your will for my life? What do you want me to know?" Now over time, that is the wrong attitude that has developed. It has developed because people now seem to over-emphasize the will of God so strongly only when it comes to marriage. "Please pray along with me, pray along with me." It's a wrong attitude. So as a result, you find a situation where people who have not been listening to God, who have not been walking with God, suddenly when they get to the junction of marriage, the God who has not been speaking to them in other areas of their life must now speak. That's what I call the fire brigade method. "Oh, God speak now, speak now, speak now." How will God, who have been a stranger to you all your life, suddenly begin to speak at the junction of marriage? Of course, with this kind of situation, we are heading for crisis. I think with that I have been able to capture what I mean by vital background to our discussion. I want to go to the second section of Life Foundation for Making Marital Choice. And this second section is about Adam and Eve Model. And what I did here so that you can get it very clearly, I'll be making the presentation on gender basis. Adam model, I'll be looking at the male. Eve model, I'll be looking at the female. And why are we looking at this model? Because Jesus said if you want to look at this issue of marriage institution, in entering into it, in approaching it, you need to go back to the beginning. Go back to the beginning, go and look at what has been said at the beginning. So we'll be looking at the Adam model and with that I'm speaking to the brothers. And I'll be very, very fast with that also. Now the Adam model, Genesis 1 and 2. The whole of the scripture will be using is Genesis 1 and 2, that is before the fall. Let's look at man before the fall. The fall brought several consequences that have serious implications for choice. But let's look at who we were before the fall. Let's look at the original plan. Let's look at what God designed at the beginning for the joy and the blessedness of mankind. So the Adam model, I'm speaking particularly to the brothers. Genesis 1:26-28. I quickly read that. Genesis 1:26-28. "Then God said, Let us make man in our own image, according to our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image; in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." So we are looking at the Adam model, particularly with those three verses of the scripture: 26, 27, and 28. The first thing you will notice here is man was created in the image and the likeness of God. That is clear from that verse. The second thing, we are looking at Adam, the Adam model for the male. Now two: purpose preceded and superseded man’s creation. What that means is that before God created man, God had a purpose in mind. There was a purpose in his mind. "Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness; let them have dominion." So there was a purpose that preceded and superseded the creation of man. In other words, unlike other animals, if you look at the creation from verse 1 before verse 26, purpose did not precede their creation. It was just "let there be this, let there be that, let there be this". But when it came to man, there was a direct "let us make man in our own image, let them have dominion". So man was created with a purpose which preceded him. In other words, if man don't work in purpose, in that purpose, he is useless. Three is man is to enter into this purpose step by step. If you look at the reading in Genesis 26 through 28, he said "then God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful, and multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, have dominion". Don't forget man was created for dominion. But in getting to dominion, the first thing is that man needs to be fruitful. Then he needs to multiply. He needs to fill the earth. He needs to subdue it. And then he will now enter into his purpose, the real purpose for creating him: he will now have dominion over all. When God was creating man, God was not creating a man that is omnipresent like God. So until he multiplies and fills the earth, he cannot have dominion over it. So he enters into that purpose step by step, a step at a time. The next thing you will see in this Adam model, speaking particularly to the brothers, to the male, Christian male, a Christian brother. Some of the things you need to look at into your life and think about. The fourth thing there is that there was a personal consistent relationship between God and Adam. You see that in Genesis 2:15-17. If you look at chapter 2, verse 15 to 17, you will see that there. "Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you eat of it, you shall surely die." So you notice in this place that man had a personal relationship between God and man. God could give man assignment: go and do this, this is the place you should stay, do this, take care of this, don't eat this, eat that. There was a line of communication. I'm looking at a brother who has a line of communication with God. I'm looking at a brother who understands that he was created in the image of God, in the likeness of God. He was created to represent God anywhere he is. He was created with a purpose which preceded and superseded his creation. And so he understands that I enter into this purpose step by step. This brother also understands that I must have a personal relationship with God, one on one. I can take assignment from God. God can send me on errand: do this for me, do that for me, okay do this, don't do this, don't touch this, don't touch that. There's a personal relationship. Again if you look at this reading, that's the fifth thing: though created on the same day, man was created ahead of the woman at creation. The man was created ahead of the woman. Although on the same day. In Genesis 1, the Bible says "let us make man in our own image", that is 26 to 28 that we read. You notice that he made them in his own image, and in 28 he blessed them. But you need to look at that vis-à-vis Genesis 2. Before he blessed them and said be fruitful, it was after Eve had been created. So the man was first made. He was given some things to do. Along the line, it was not good for the man to be alone. Then the woman came in line. So the man was created ahead of the woman. It takes him that is ahead to be the head. Brothers, I take that again: it takes him that is ahead to be the head. The man was created ahead of the woman in creation. Another thing you will see there, which is the sixth thing: Adam understood God’s timing. You'll see that in Genesis 2:23. In Genesis 2:23, you will notice that when God saw it was not good for the man to be alone, "I will make a help suitable for him", then God brought the animals to man and all of that was going on. And then eventually, Eve was brought. You notice the statement in Genesis 2:23. Adam said, "This is now..." That was an exclamation: "This is now", which means all the while he had been seeking. So when God said "it's not good for him to be alone", he was able to understand because he had a fellowship with God, that it was a time indeed to seek a wife. It was a time indeed to go into marital selection, to go into a courtship relationship for the purpose of marriage. He had been walking with God, and because he had been walking with God, he was able to design his time. If you look at Psalm 1:1-3, "Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, in the way he stands the way of the sinners, nor sits in the seats of the scornful, but delights in the law of the Lord and there meditates day and night". If you look at the next thing that follows that, it says "he shall be like the tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season". I want to announce to you that every man has his season. Everything under the sun, there is time and season. We need men, we need brothers, we need boys, we need people who are matured with God, who can understand their timing, the timing under God and season. It's not just that my mate marries, I need to marry. Dixon is now in a relationship, I must get into one. That is not the kind of brothers we are looking for. We are looking for brothers who can walk with God, who can design their timing. Now another thing you will see there, which is the seventh thing: Adam could be inspired by God. How do we know this? You will see that in what happened when he said, "This is now the bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, she was taken out of me, she shall be called woman. She shall be called woman." I want you to look at that very critically. At this time, the only two people that were in existence was God and man, in terms of I mean in that garden, the physical presence in that place. Of course there were angelic beings, there were several things, there were other creation, celestial beings and all of that. But in that garden, man there was no bishop, no pastor, no brother, no sister, it was just man. Eve was yet to come. But when the creature came and Adam saw the woman, and Adam said, "This is now bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, she was taken out of me." How did he know? The only way he could have gotten that information was that he could be inspired by God. He got that information from God, that she was taken out of you, she is the bone of your bone. If you look at Job 32:8, the Bible says "there is a spirit in man, it is the inspiration of God that giveth him understanding". What I'm trying to say is that the foundation that a young man must build before he gets into mate selection, all this matter of courtship to avoid crisis, the person must be sure that he is somebody who can be inspired by God. You have a work with God and God can inspire you. If you cannot be inspired by God, there is a problem. Because the Bible says "as many as are led by the spirit of God are the sons of God". It throws a doubt on your work with God. It throws a doubt on your sonship. It throws a doubt on your redemption if you cannot be led by God. So these are the kind of brothers with correct foundation that can make proper selection when it comes to selection. Now we go to the Eve model. We look at Eve. What is the Eve model, looking at the scripture? Number one is that Eve’s creation was consequent upon God’s eternal mandate for man and mankind. Eve’s creation was consequent, it was consequent upon God’s eternal mandate for man and mankind. Now what does that mean? What I mean by that is simply that at the creation of Eve, God said it's not good for Adam to be alone. You must get it clear. Why it was not good for Adam to be alone was not because Adam does not have a work with God. Adam could walk with God. Adam could hear God. Adam could take assignment from God. Adam was an intelligent being. He could name animals. There was this glory, because man was created with such a glorious man, a glory that was lost in Adam by sin and got back in Jesus Christ. Now the reason why he should not be alone, why it's not good for him to be alone, is that the step-by-step movement into God’s purpose, God created man and mankind that should come out of man. God created man and mankind for the purpose of dominion. And the only way to go into dominion is that first he must be fruitful. He must multiply. He must replenish the earth. He must subdue it before he can have the dominion. So the reason why man cannot be alone is that there is a step-by-step movement that must go on. So man must first be fruitful, and he cannot be fruitful alone. So a woman was brought so that the fruitfulness can start. So Eve’s creation was actually consequent upon God’s eternal purpose for man and mankind. It is important to know this in the life of a sister. So that the type of sister that want to go into courtship is not just thinking about just giving birth to children, multiplying, oh having cars, having building. "I want a man that have all the cars, all the material things to offer me. I can't marry somebody that cannot give all of this and all of all these things." You will notice that even though Eve will be giving birth, there will be a multiplication, there will be a replenishment, there will be a fruitfulness and all of that. That was not the primary intention of God. It was just a step-by-step thing so that man can come into dominion. So that the reason why God created man in his own image is that everywhere man is, the picture of God can be seen. And with this picture of God, man should dominate, so that everywhere a man is, God’s ambassador should be there. That was the purpose of God. And that was the reason why man need to multiply. That was why Eve was brought. Eve was brought so... when we're talking about a sister, we're talking about a sister whose primary focus in talking about courtship is about what is God’s eternal purpose? What is God’s eternal intention? It's beyond just reproduction. And I'm saying that very particularly. Because if you look at Genesis 1:21-22, you will find that this issue of blessing is not only to human. It's not only to human. The blessing was also to animals. In verse 22 of chapter 1, you notice God said, and God blessed them referring to the animals, "be fruitful and multiply, fill the waters in the sea, and let the birds multiply on the earth". So if life is just about multiplying, fruitfulness, materialistic things, then we are no different from animals. It's beyond that. There's an eternal plan of God. We are looking for sisters who have a work with God, that can understand this. Number two about the Eve model is that like Adam, she was molded and shaped by God. You will notice that it was God that took the rib and then began to do the molding, just like Adam was molded and then the breath of life was added and then became a living being. So the same way God shaped and mold Eve. We're looking for sisters that are in the hand of God, sisters that God can handle, sisters that God can break and mold. We're not looking for rebellious, stubborn, that submission becomes a very difficult thing. Obedience become a very difficult thing. They have not learned to be molded, to be shaped under the hand of God. If a sister cannot be shaped by God, if a sister cannot be molded by God, then how do we come into marriage? I'm talking about molding and shaping. It could be a very difficult thing. So we are looking for sisters who can be handled by God, who can be shaped by God in the hands of God. They must have been in the hand of God. Then the third thing you will see there about the Eve model is that she could be led by God. For it was God that brought her to Adam. You notice that after God was through with Eve, the Bible says in Genesis 2:22, "Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man, he made into a woman and he brought her". We're looking for sisters that can be brought, sisters that can be led. We're looking for sisters who cannot be led by God. So if we must avoid crisis, if we must enter into marriage and then there won't be crisis... This foundation must have been in place. But what you find today is that people get born again. Yes, honestly that is fantastic. It's such a wonderful thing that we are Christians. Wow! Another very good thing, attached to a fellowship. Honestly that is wonderful. Serving in the church, committed to one thing or the other. This is wonderful, it's good. And then they become renowned in the fellowship, well known in different things. That is also wonderful, it's good. But what you find more today is that people grow in church, but they don't grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord. There is no personal making in the hand of God for brothers, according to the Adam model. There is no personal making in the hand of God for sisters, in line with the Eve model. And so by the time they come to the junction of marriage, you find what is what I call a mind that has not been renewed. A mind that has not been renewed. You have all kinds of values, orientations, life that does not conform to what we describe as a Christian pattern, a biblical pattern. What is biblical? And please when I say biblical, I don't just mean the knowledge of the Bible. A sound knowledge of the Bible may not translate into knowing the truth. Truth is a person. Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life". Eternal life is to know Jesus as a person, a personal work with him. So you may have a sound knowledge of the Bible, but you may not know the truth. That is why a professor of religious studies may not know salvation. A student of the Bible may not understand what it's means to be saved and have eternal life. Bible knowledge is different from knowledge of the truth, but of course it's from the scripture that we know God. So what I'm talking about this foundation, I'm talking about young people, boys, girls, young men, young women, who have correct foundation. When this foundation is in place, then we can be talking about the process of making choice. But if these foundations are not in place, they are not in place, then the B part will become a very, very difficult thing. This process, now the process of making the choice. Because if you look at a building, once the foundation is faulty, of course you may build, but you know what will happen along the line. The strength of the building is the foundation. So when the foundation is faulty, a lot of things will go wrong. So if you look at the scripture, it says "if the foundation be destroyed, what can the righteous do?". So my challenge to you particularly this evening, before I start to welcome questions and all of that, because I'm... [Speaker 2] Hallelujah. We're opening the platform to questions now. And I believe the questions will be interpreted by Pastor Allo. So we'll just give you guys a bit of time to send in your questions. Amen. I've got a question here actually. And the question says, "is it okay to be involved with a non-Christian? If you already are, what can you do?" [Speaker 1] Like I said, we must go back to what has been written. That's the foundation. What has been written in 2 Corinthians 6... 2 Corinthians 6, let me quickly read that. What has been written for us as Christians, from verse 14 thereabout. The Bible says, "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? And what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?" "For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and I will walk among them. I will be their God and they shall be my people." So of course, it is not biblical, it is not correct, it is not according to the truth of the Bible. And what can you do? It's very simple. If you are to travel to the US, and you discover that along the road or along the way there is a problem. The means of the transport is going X-way. Of course what you do is not to continue on the journey. It's to cut the journey short and then retrace your step to where you missed it. So I will encourage such person to start all over as a Christian so that you don't have problem. [Speaker 2] Thank you, sir. And just one other question here. I think the question addressed to marriage or somebody says "it's every person destined to be married?". Do you believe everybody's destined to be married? [Speaker 1] For me, I don't believe that. I don't believe that everybody is destined... you need to define what you mean by destined anyway. But if what you mean is that must everybody marry? Everybody must not marry. You may choose not to marry. Paul chose not to marry. You may choose not to marry. If that is what the question means, then it means it is not compulsory that you must marry. But you must be sure, that's why the foundation must be correct. In your relationship with God, in your work with God, you must be sure God is leading you that way. That is what is important. In my own work with God for example, at a point in my life, I never wanted to be married. I just felt I'm enjoying my single. But as in my work with God, because I could be inspired by God, the Lord spoke to me, he led me and he told me, "if you don't marry you will not go far with me. To my purpose for you you must get married". So I had to rekindle my decision and I got married. So it's not compulsory. As you walk with God, if God is telling you you don't need to marry, then you don't. It's as simple as that. But the foundation must be correct. The matter is that who is speaking? From which foundation? From where is he taking his bearing? That is what is important. If the Lord is leading somebody into not marrying, then it is just okay. The Lord is able to keep you if it's the Lord is telling you not to. Honestly that's just the truth about it. Then the issue of soulmate. I know that when we are talking about this issue of soulmate, I'll just give this very, very simple answer to it. We need to understand that man is a tripartite being like God. God: Father, Son and Spirit. Man: body, he has a body, he has a soul, he has a spirit. The aspect of man that commune with God, man commune with God at the level of the spirit, not at the level of the soul. That is why even though we become born again at the level of the spirit, the Bible says we must renew our mind, we must do something about our soul. Our soul is not converted. Our soul is still unregenerated. It is the one that begins to conform it, begin to transform it so that we can be able to walk in what is true, what is good and what is acceptable to God. So the soul is not converted. So when you're talking about soulmate, I ask the question, I put a question mark. Who are we dealing with? Are we dealing with Christians or are we dealing with non-Christians? Talking about soulmate, maybe you are dealing with non-Christians. We are talking about believers. Believers understand that the soul was not converted at the point of regeneration. What was converted was the spirit. The spirit came alive and we became children of God, and we can cry Abba Father. And with that relationship we begin to convert the soul. We begin to regenerate the soul to agree with the values and the ethics of God. So are you talking about soulmate for a believer? So that is my response to that. I will encourage our youth today that they should please take time and build capacity. Grow in grace. Grow in the knowledge of the Lord. So that by the time it come to making decisions in life, you will not be running helter-skelter, the voice of God will not be strange to you like Samuel. God will not be speaking and you'll be running to Eli. Don't be a stranger to God. Fellowship with him, know him personally, have eternal life in you. That is eternal life: to know God. Grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord. So that the issues and the crisis today in marriage is honestly it's worrisome, particularly among believers. I don't know if I've answered that question, but that's just my take on that matter. [Speaker 2] Thank you very much, sir. Our time is gone for now. I'm sure we're going to continue this conversation next week. Let me just take about just two questions and then we can continue next week. Somebody has asked, "is God’s will take on human will and us as the will of God, and God respects our choices, right?" I think that's a question from someone. Okay, whether God respects our choices or not. You know some people talk about this matter of permissive will... let's go to Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12, let me quickly go there where that something is taken from. Romans chapter 12. I take it from verse 1, that is where that question is coming from. And that is where this philosophy of perfect will vis-à-vis permissive will, that all of that, that's where it's coming from. I read quickly. Romans 12:1 and 2: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." You see the matter of foundation in this place again. The first thing before he talked about the issue of will, is that we are talking to people whose mind have been renewed, whose mind have been transformed. People who can be led by God. You see the whole problem of the crisis we have today is that we have people who have who don't have the correct foundation. But we are looking at that question. I'm going to that question and we answer the question. But I'm just trying to point something to you. So for a Christian, things going in the way it should go and I'm praying that our young people will get it right. "Do not be conformed to this world, be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." You know people have come to this place and begin to say there is a will that is permissive, there is a will that is not permissive, there is a will that, several interpretations. But anyway, if I'm to answer whether God respects your choice, of course if you look through the Bible, you will notice God even speaking to the Israelites. God will say, "I lay before you this day, life and death. Choose life that you may live. These are the blessings and the curses. If you obey me, these are the blessings; if you disobey these are the consequences." So that is a choice. So you can choose, you can choose... I was telling somebody something sometimes, I said for example if God want to do something new, God can just make all the whole world, I mean everybody across the globe, at the same time at once, we are all seeing heaven and hell. And then a giant on one side, angel I don't know what other names we put again, Raphael or whatever, and then to the other side with their sword drawn, and then Jesus to count. And then everybody is looking at hell, everybody is looking at heaven. And then before the count of ten, decide for Jesus. One! Two! I'm sure before the count of ten everybody will move one way. But God will not do that. We still preach the gospel, you choose to believe or not to believe. So you when you come to the matter of choice, you make your choices. But the point the Bible is making here is that for us to even to understand what is good, what is acceptable and what is perfect. Because it is what is good and acceptable that will be perfect. What is not good or what is unacceptable cannot be perfect. If you want to understand that scripture very well, look at Ephesians chapter 5. I don't know why people make this division, but I'm going to clarify something for you. But God respects our choices, I've answered that question. If you look at Ephesians chapter 5, talking about the nature of God’s will, talking about the things that are in the life. Ephesians chapter 5, go and look at it from verse 8. He said, "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light." Look at the next thing, verse 9: "For the fruit of the spirit, or the fruit of that which is of light, is in all goodness, righteousness and truth." So the perfect will of God embraces these characteristics. It is good, it is right, it is true, it is acceptable. That's what the Bible is trying to make us understand. But as to whether you can be in a permissive will, of course you can decide to be in a permissive will, if that will mean that can I make my own choice and go my own way? Of course you can make your choice and go your own way. You can make your choice; Judas made his choice, Lot made his choice, Gehazi made his choice. God respect our choice, our choices. You can. But if your mind have been renewed, and you really understand the purpose of your creation, that you were created for God, you exist for the sake of God. You don't exist for yourself. You see you need to understand that. When God was making man, his intention is that I want something that will carry my picture, my image. If you go to redemption again in Christ, he said "as many as he foreknew, he predestinated so that they can be conformed to the image of the son". God is always concerned about his image. So if you are in that fellowship with God, I would not understand why you want to make choice or make a choice outside that fellowship. I don't really understand it. That's why the Bible says there is a need for us to renew our minds. I'm addressing this matter of this foundation. Once the foundation is destroyed, the process of making choice become problematic. Am I prayer today is that our generation will get it right. Our churches will get it right. Our young people will get it right, we can build young people who are not just growing in church, but they are also growing in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord. So that by the time it's come to making decisions in life, you will not be running helter-skelter, the voice of God will not be strange to you. God will not be speaking and you'll be running to Eli. Don't be a stranger to God. Fellowship with him, know him personally, have eternal life in you. That is eternal life: to know God. Grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord. So that the issues and the crisis today in marriage is honestly it's worrisome, particularly among believers. I don't know if I've answered that question, but that's just my take on that matter. [Speaker 2] Thank you very much, sir. Our time is gone for now. I'm sure we're going to continue this conversation next week. Okay, and wow! It's been a very enticing our topic today and the thing I was thinking about how powerful and the honest the distinction between each model and Adam model and Eve, and I'm sure that we have been blessed. And I thank God for your life, sir, and I thank God for the revelation today. And we look forward to next Wednesday to go deeper into this Life Foundation and to understand better the importance and distinction of Adam and Eve model. We're very grateful for your participation today. Thank you again, sir, for speaking. We look forward to seeing you next week. Have a great day and God bless you. Bye for now, till next week. Amen. Just before we go, may I just kindly announce that if you've got questions bothering you about marriage or courtship or some of these things that we had to cut short because of time, we'll continue next week. If you have questions you can send them to me, and you can be sure that they are going to be anonymous so we don't need to mention anybody's name. So please feel free to send them to me. You can send them to my WhatsApp or my email and I'll bring them in during the session next week. I look forward to your questions. Thank you very much once again, Pastor. Bye for now. Amen. Can we just say a prayer? Father, we thank you for tonight and we thank you for your word that was shared with us. This is indeed a time to rethink and to get back to and address foundational issues and get back to as at the beginning. Lord, as we part tonight, we pray that your spirit begin to minister to us and your word be expanded in our heart for understanding in the name of Jesus. If there be anyone who is struggling on foundations of God, we pray for that grace to be able to say yes to your spirit and to your way in the name of Jesus Christ. If there be any form of darkness in the form of foundation, Lord your light will shine on it in the name of Jesus. We pray for next week that Lord you will give a greater time for your name to be glorified for the rest of this month. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you everyone and have a good night and God bless. Thank you, Pastor. Bye. [Speaker 1] Thank God. Bye.