Mf 12th Oct 2019 Aviod Profane and Godless Discussion

[background music] Glory, glory, hallelujah. Glory, glory, hallelujah. Glory, glory, hallelujah. His truth is marching on. Church fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God weekly desires a godly home. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tech Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 1] For another edition of marriage forum this 10th month, October 12th of October. I trust the Lord again that God will begin this program with us in June, take us yet further in the name of Jesus Christ. As we were preparing for today's marriage forum, I've been having a burden that flows from some of the things we shared in the discipleship class, particularly the last the penultimate one. I was in Akure last Monday, so I couldn't make it. But a fortnight ago, when we were in discipleship class, for those of us that were around for that discipleship class, we were looking at the Lord's body. The Lord's body, where we saw that the Bible says, "For this reason, some of you are sick, some of you are weak, some of you are sick, and some of you have died." How many of us were around for that teaching during that discipleship class? Since then, I've been having a recurring burden about relationship, about marriage, about people who are in marital relationship, people who are in courtship relationship trusting God to be married, and matured singles, singles that are matured. So many things were just going through my mind. Because that day, we saw that because people don't recognize the Lord's body, people don't have a right understanding of what we meant by the Lord's body, that the Lord's body is actually the Lord's people. The Lord's body are His people. There is no way you could say you love the Lord and you hate His body. We gave an illustration saying that the kisses of betrayal—I believe we could remember some of these things—that if somebody is taking time to kiss a woman, and as he is kissing the woman, the kissing is going on, but he pulled out a knife and start stabbing the body, start stabbing, you can be sure that that kissing is not a sincere kiss. You can't truly be in a romance and at the same time be stabbing the body. So we were showing that when the Bible says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind," and that the second is like unto it, that nobody can really say he loves the Lord and he's stabbing His body. That love you are claiming for the Lord cannot be true. We saw that the only way we can be sure that a man has genuine love for the Lord and that love is sincere is the kind of love he shows to the body, the body. You can't be romancing just the head and you are wounding the body. It can't be a true romance. We came to a conclusion that when the Bible says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself," what the Bible is saying is that the first is only evident in the second. Once we don't see the second, the first is not there. The first is not there. That's why he said the second is like unto it. The second makes the first one evident. The second makes the first one clear. We saw that God, for the Corinthian church, God decided. God made some of them weak, God made some of them sick, and God killed some of them because—and what they simply did was that they came to break bread. They did not fornicate. They didn't do anything that you may call evil. It's not immorality. It's not something. It was just that they came for breaking of bread, what we call the Lord's Supper. I normally say the Lord has eaten His supper and He's gone. What we have is breaking of bread. But they came to break bread. And when they came together, they did not wait for themselves. Some people quickly took and some did not get. God said, "So you don't understand that you are supposed to love your brother?" And God killed some of them because of that, just that they did not wait for their brother. Then how do we if we now begin to magnify it, what of the person who betrays his brother? What of the person who lies against his brother? What of the person—we begin to magnify, then what are the various consequences that will follow? Since that meeting, the meeting was two weeks ago in the discipleship class, I've been particularly burdened. Burdened about marriage, burdened about singles, matured singles, people that are of marriageable age, burdened about people in relationship. That if the matter is like this, then we really need to look at the simplicity of scripture and take heed to scripture. The simplicity of scripture. Scripture is simple. Just the simplicity of scripture. We need to take heed because—do you think there's anything serious? Ordinarily, there anything serious that we came to break bread, this is the bread. This portion of us—maybe myself, Brother Gbenga, Brother Ayo, and Brother Emma—this portion of us will just quickly eat the whole thing. And this portion of you did not get something to eat. Ordinarily, does that look like anything too serious a sin? [background noise] You won't count it like something like adultery, something like—you'll just look at it that, "Brother, what's wrong with you? Don't do like that." You'll just take it as something very light. But a matter as light as that, God killed people. As light. Then I want to ask you, I'm just trying to bring you some of my burden. When the Bible says, "Husband, love your wife as Christ loved the church," and it's taken for granted, "Wife, submit to your husband," "Brethren, be sincere to one another." I'm looking at the more other instruction. That one, the instruction is wait for yourself. They did not wait for themselves. 1 Corinthians 11. For that reason, God kills some, God brought sickness, and God made some weak. Now when you see weightier instruction like be sincere to one another, be true to one another. What are the weightier matters of the law? Love. No, what's another one there? Love and what? And judgment? Love and justice. They are the weightier matters of the law. Things like bring your offering, pay your tithe, they are not weightier matters as important as they are. They are not as weighty, they are not carrying weight as love and justice. So if "wait for yourself in breaking bread, make sure you eat it together," and God said they took that thing unto judgment, not discerning the Lord's body, and God visited them with such punishment. How do we handle the weightier matters of the Lord? That is the direction in which we want to talk this morning. I'm looking at weightier matters of the law in—for example, the Bible says something in Proverbs. He said, "Do not betray your neighbor, your immediate neighbor." Why? Why? He said, "Because his heart surely trusts in you." [background noise] Someone who both of you have serious intimacy of association because the person's heart surely rests on you. Now I want you to look at, before I come to the place of marriage, look at relationship between two people. I'm talking of believers. A believer trusts you as a brother, somebody sees you as a brother, somebody relates to you as a brother and he has known you and you have been relating together. Now what happens when you don't act sincerely to such people? What happens when you do things to such people, fellow believers, people who relate with? I'm not talking of courtship relationship, talking of just two believers. I'm starting from there. Two believers. But you are not dealing truly, you are not dealing sincerely. What are some of the implications for our own life in this thing? What are some of the implications for our own life? Look at something in Proverbs. I want us to look at two scriptures together. Luke 16 and Proverbs chapter 12. We want to compare these two scriptures together. Luke 16. I want us to read that Luke 16 from around verse 10. If you are there, please. Luke 16 from around verse 10. [Speaker 2] He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much. And he that is unjust in the least, is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? [Speaker 1] "He that is faithful in the least will be faithful in much." He that is unjust in least will be unjust in much. If with unrighteous mammon, you can't be faithful in unrighteous mammon, what is the question? Who will give you what? It means the key to the true riches is faithfulness in unrighteous mammon. If you are not faithful in unrighteous mammon, you will not get the true riches. So in dealing with a man, what do we first do with the life of a man? We give him unrighteous mammon. That we give him the little to see faithfulness in what is little before we give him much, before we give him weightier matters. Give him the least. Then the person who is not faithful in what belongs to somebody else, what did he say? [Speaker 2] Who shall give you that which is your own? [Speaker 1] Who will give you what is your own? So what is the way to get your own? Is faithfulness in another man's things. No man can receive anything except it is given from above. So when he says "who will give," who normally gives? God gives from above. So how will God give you your own? What is the basis of your own? It is to be faithful in another man's things. So it means even before you will get to a junction in life where maritally a man can truly prosper and find his own, he must have been true to what belongs to other men. He must have been true. You cannot find your own. It will be an endless search. And if you look at it, look at the rule of the game. "He that finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord." I hope you know that it's equally true for who that finds a husband. I hope you know that it's both ways. Now he says he that finds actually obtains favor from the Lord. Who normally obtains favor from God? Look at Proverbs 12:2. Proverbs chapter 12, verse 2. [Speaker 2] A good man obtaineth favor of the Lord. But a man of wicked devices will he condemn. [Speaker 1] A good man obtains favor from God. A man of wicked devices will be condemned. He that finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor. Are you picking something together? Let me just quickly put some biblical examples. How did Rebekah got Isaac? Found a man who said, "Please, fetch water for me." And she said, "Okay, don't worry. I will fetch the water and I will even fetch for the camels." Now listen. The man had prayed that, "God, you have sent me to look for this person. Let it be that the person that I will say do this, and will do that and will do that and will do that, let it be the house that I am going to and the wife for Isaac." As for Rebekah, she was not part of that prayer. She was just living her life. Saw the stranger, said, "Please." "Okay, don't worry. I will." She was faithful in what belongs to another man. It was only when she was true with unrighteous mammon that they now gave her the true riches. Am I not correct? For Joseph, you see it again. They didn't first give him the true riches. They first gave him unrighteous mammon. "Handle the unrighteous mammon for us." And Joseph was handling it faithfully. He didn't touch the man's thing. The second test, what belongs to another man was given again free of charge. And the woman had the one offering herself. Potiphar's wife was the one offering herself. Joseph was found faithful. He didn't touch the man's thing. It's all belonged to the master. He passed that test. Unrighteous mammon. Then what belongs to another man was brought to him and the woman was offering herself. What did Joseph do again? He said, "How will I be unfaithful to my master and do a wicked thing?" And eventually, what did Joseph enter into? His own riches, his own marriage. So I'm talking about this matter of the weightier matters of the Lord. This is what I'm trying to say. For those of us who are matured singles, the foundation for the marital future is constantly being laid by what we do in singleness. The foundation for marital future is laid. Whether you will find your own, whether you will get your own riches, whether you will not get it, all of those things, they are functions of faithfulness, how you are handling them, how you are holding them. And I want to tell you this truth, that if you are faithful with unrighteous mammon and you are true to what belongs to other men, nothing in life can stop you from your own. Nothing. And if it's the same way the other way around. Avoid godless, foolish discussions. Avoid godless, foolish discussions. Husband love your wife, shey you want to love them until death? Submit to your husband and so it is to the extent to which you can. Avoid godless, foolish discussions. When you see men who contradict the counsels of God, the laws of God, the testimonies of God, the predictions of God, what is the problem? There is no light in them. There is no truth in them. When you see men lifting themselves above it, it is because there is no light in them. And you see, I really want to say this. Let's be careful that the light in us does not become darkness. He said to him that have, more will be given to him that he may have abundance. But to him that have not, even the one that he has will be collected from him and given to the person that already have abundance so that he can have much more the more. Look at the name of these two brothers that Paul said they have overthrown and they overthrow the faith of some. 2 Timothy 2, from around verse 15, 16. Around verse 15, 16, he mentioned two brothers whose faith has been overthrown and overthrown the faith of others. [Speaker 2] And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus. [Speaker 1] Now go to the verse before that. [Speaker 2] But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. [Speaker 1] "Avoid godless, foolish discussions." That's what I really want to talk about. Avoid godless, foolish discussions. A lot of godless discussions are going on today. A lot of useless discussions when it comes to relationship between husband and wife, between people that are in relationship. I was somewhere, somebody said, "You better be sure that the lady is fertile because good to be sure some of these things these days. Some of you show the lady is fertile? How will you confirm that?" If a boy and a sister are in courtship, how will you confirm that she's fertile? And what have we done? Wisdom. That because the way things are today, they have seen where no issue has led to broken marriage. So you know, you do some of these things just to be sure that you don't have problem later. I was in one meeting, I went for a conference, and the minister said he was shocked when he got to a meeting, and the minister was talking to the young people and he was telling them about compatibility before marriage. Mental compatibility, he was okay with that, all the compatibility. But when it got to a point, he now said, "Even sexual compatibility is becoming very important." He said he began to ask himself, "How do you check that you are sexually compatible?" He said because there are marriages that sexual issue have led to crisis. And so sexual compatibility now—he said he was just wondering, "Am I in a Christian meeting?" So is it that you go and—how do you get how do you sure you're sexually compatible with somebody? Can you medically prove that? Even by go and taking the—you go and measure the inches of the penis, the size of the vagina so that—how did you check sexual compatibility? Those of you in science, is there a way you can test it without having sex? I'm talking of the Bible says, "Avoid godless and stupid discussions." Avoid it. Be sure you are not in such company. Be sure you are not in such fellowships. Be sure you don't make such a man your friend because e ba gbe lara ose a d’ose. Be sure of your companion. Evil communication corrupt good manners. Be sure of who you are associating with. If you are a married woman, who is that person you call your friend? What kind of counsel is she giving you as a wife? You are a married man, you have these colleagues in your office, what kind of counsel are you sharing? You are in a relationship with a brother you are not yet married. The person you are keeping companion with, your friend, what kind of counsel is she giving you or is she giving you? Just remember this case of this friend of mine. Thank God that today she's married. She married, the husband died. There are two children. So she was trusting God again that after a long time, after about 10 years or so, she knew God wanted her to remarry. So she was trusting God that it will come. She waited, waited, waited, waited, waited. Another 10 years had gone. She's getting much more older, climbing 50, and getting above 50. So one day somebody now showed up. When the person showed up, she now called one of her friends just to pray like a prayer friend she. That someone showed up, this is the case, this is the case. You know what that friend told her? She was the one that called me and she was telling me why she had to cut off from that friend. She said, "Sister S, please be smart. Just give him anything, even if it is sex. Just make sure you know, e ti pe. Just make sure that whatever, whatever, quickly just package it, package it." She said she was shocked. She said she was shocked because this person was somebody that had been both Christian, working together before, but they have not talked for a long while. So she was saying, "When did this sister become like this that I should just quickly make sure it works?" What's up about that? He said even if he's demanding for sex, don't delay. You know you are already delayed. Avoid godless discussion. Avoid godless. Be careful of your association. I just had this burden that when we meet today, we raise this warning. That I don't know who you are associating with, I don't know who you are talking with, whether at the level of married or you are in a relationship, a courtship relationship. Who do you take counsel from? Who are you talking with? Some things, men that disemphasize simplicity of the—it was so simple: wait for one another and break bread. That was a very simple instruction. It's not sounding like, "Wait for one another because an angel of God will be moving over the bread, and as you are doing that, the Spirit of God will envelop you." It was too simple. "Wait for each other and break bread." It's too simple a thing that can bring any serious consequence. So they just stopped waiting for one another. And when God was to visit, God brought weakness, sickness, and death. Just because they did not wait for themselves. Is it not so simple when he said, "Husband, love your wife. Wife, submit to your husband"? Is it not a very simple instruction? Does it look like anything so serious, anything so big? You are calling your husband, is it not the same Kayode that we know? I beg, what is serious about that? If somebody like—is it not the same Kayode that we—I beg, forget it. Forget it. Whether we submit or don't submit, I beg, forget it. Forget it. Godless discussion. I'm telling you, I was talking with somebody somewhere. And he said, "Who loves them till we die? There is an extent to this love." I beg, love, love, love, love. Who love them until death? There's an extent. Or they will misuse it. Just be careful just loving, loving, loving. I beg. I was talking to a brother. I wasn't talking to an unbeliever. Men who make light, who make light of divine instruction. They just trivialize divine things. They just trivialize divine oracles. They just throw away the sacredness of something. And I want to make you see that it is serious today because even things as serious as fornication have been trivialized. "You thought this age? That thing? That's their own time. You know? They couldn't afford some of these things. I beg, let them marry themselves. That's what is important." I beg. How you just trivialize something for which God killed 24,000 in one day. Not in one year. Not 24 people. I'm showing you God's attitude to something and man's attitude to it. I got a serious burden after that two weeks meeting discipleship class that, "Wole, warn your brethren. Just warn believers against trivializing divine things." Divine instruction. We just trivialize them. We just make light of them. We just laugh them off. We have become comedians. "Submit, submit, submit. I beg, this submission thing. I beg, put another thing beside." And then we just trivialize divine and everybody's just moving that way and it just looks like there's nothing serious about what God has said. And I just I was just trying to think, I'm unburdening myself now. I hope you are following me. The burdens I have in the last two weeks. Just trying to think, when I come to class and I teach my students, and after the class, they began to, "It's not serious. Nothing can happen with it. I beg. He said sociology is this. I beg, leave it. He said sociology is studying human behavior. It can also be giving somebody injection." And they begin to sociology is giving injection. And then I will pass them. I'm just looking at even ordinary educational things that we teach. If men trivialize it, it affects their life. How much more what God said? How much more divine instructions? How much more divine, divine, divine things, things that Heaven pronounced when men trivialize these things? That's why I'm showing you these two brothers. Avoid profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker. [Speaker 2] And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. [Speaker 1] "This kind of talk spread like cancer." Do you see? Do you see something? This kind of thing. What is cancer? It spreads. Whatever poisons two cells in the body, they take on their own mission and begin to infect other systems of the body. Do you know that cancer when is cancer best treated? At a very early stage, at onset. He said, "Avoid because it spreads like cancer." Faith comes by hearing, hearing the word of God. Doubt, all those things come by hearing. It's by hearing. It's by hearing something, by hearing it, by pondering it, by evaluating it. It comes by hearing. It spreads like cancer. It spreads quietly. Cancer starts in a way that you won't know that it's even there. It would just be going quietly. It spreads. Your spirit gets contaminated. Some of the things you really take serious, you begin to also—you begin to. It spreads like cancer. It spreads unconsciously. Things that you hold very sacred, things that you say, "No, the Bible, no." You just begin to, you get the point? It spreads like cancer. It spreads. "Hymenaeus and Philetus are examples of this. They have left the path of truth." You see what happened to these brothers? This is as at the first century. Some people because they didn't avoid godless discussion, they didn't avoid the kind of company that they were keeping. You say you are a married Christian, you fear God, who is your company? You say you are a sister in a relationship, what do you listen to? What do you hear? They didn't avoid godless, useless discussion. They didn't avoid this trivializing of divine things. They didn't avoid it. He said they are examples of this. That is as at that time when the pressure was still not very strong. I don't know what to be in our own time. How many men have been overtaken by this thing? Two brothers. They left the path of truth. And not only them. What now happened? [Speaker 2] Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. [Speaker 1] "They have undermined the faith of some." Talking about this faith, this thing, godless trivialization, godless discussion, a joy here, there, there, some of these things you pick here and there, and you know? Some of them sound like very powerful philosophy, you know? And they look, they sound very, very, very high-sounding knowledge. They look so refined. And then they push some of these things in a way that—and then you begin to wonder. Avoid godless discussion. Avoid foolish—be careful of your association. Because e ba gbe lara ose a d’ose. Be careful of your companion. Evil communication corrupts good manners. Be sure of who you are associating with. If you are a married woman, who is that person you call your friend? What kind of counsel is she giving you as a wife? You are a married man, you have these colleagues in your office, what kind of counsel are you sharing? You are in a relationship with a brother, you are not yet married, the person you are keeping companion with, your friend, what kind of counsel is she giving you or is she giving you? Just remember this case of this friend of mine. Thank God that today she's married. She married, the husband died. There are two children. So she was trusting God again that after a long time, after about 10 years or so, she knew God wanted her to remarry. So she was trusting God that it will come. She waited, waited, waited, waited, waited. Another 10 years had gone. She's getting much more older, climbing 50, and getting above 50. So one day somebody now showed up. When the person showed up, she now called one of her friends just to pray like a prayer friend she. That someone showed up, this is the case, this is the case. You know what that friend told her? She was the one that called me and she was telling me why she had to cut off from that friend. She said, "Sister S, please be smart. Just give him anything, even if it is sex. Just make sure you know, e ti pe. Just make sure that whatever, whatever, quickly just package it, package it." She said she was shocked. She said she was shocked because this person was somebody that had been both Christian, working together before, but they have not talked for a long while. So she was saying, "When did this sister become like this that I should just quickly make sure it works?" What's up about that? He said even if he's demanding for sex, don't delay. You know you are already delayed. Avoid godless discussion. I'm trying to bring out that—you see the point I'm making? This is somebody well-known, very committed to activity. So you see, it's a problem for our churches today where we measure spirituality by church commitment. Of course, if somebody is spiritual, he will be committed to the things of God. But somebody may be committed and not have any commitment to God. So these are things and that's where we need discernment. We need to be discerning. We need to be—God must help us to discern, to have so much light in ourselves. It's not a new thing. After all, Philip have baptized Simon the sorcerer, even though he was still a sorcerer. He did baptism for him and he was going with Philip as a Christian. It was when Peter and John came that they discovered that his heart is still not with God. But he had done baptism, he's in the church, and he was doing everything. "Oh Lord, my—" do you understand me? All those things were going on until somebody else came who could discover that. So you have all these contradictions here and there, contradictions here and there among us today. But the point I'm making—the point I'm making is—and that's why we are saying it. It comes—the reason why we are saying it, it comes. And that's why we are here discussing across churches. That's why we are trusting God that a program like this will increase. We can talk more and more several—it's a trend. It's a serious trend. Even this trend now to check fertility, it's a trend. The other trend that is not checking fertility but that is more common than that, as it relates with—we need to preach across churches—is this trend of—Paul was talking to Timothy. He said for older mothers, as—older women as mothers, older men as fathers, young men as brothers. But know when it came to sister, he said younger women as what? As sisters, with what? With all purity. Younger women as sisters with all purity. What does that tells you? As at the first century when the Spirit of God was speaking to a minister, He was telling him about the possibility of relating with sisters, younger women, without purity. A trend that is common today is relationship with sisters without purity. There may not be fornication. But several sexual perversions are going on. Not the act of sexual intercourse. That may not be there. But they will have sucked breasts, they will have put hand into the person's vagina, they will have done all kinds of things, and they are brothers and sisters. I mean where there is no purity. Where people relate with the opposite sex without purity. That's a trend again across churches. And when I say across churches, I mean both the conservative—among the liberal it is the worst. But even among the conservative. So you find all these kind of things and what is at the root of these things is this—trivializing divine instruction. We just—we just trivialize divine things. We just make them light. We have become comedian. "Submit, submit, submit. I beg, this submission thing. I beg, put another thing beside." [Speaker 2] To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. [Speaker 1] But do you know that people—he said, "To him that have, more will be given." Some are getting more light while the light of some is consistently being taken away. I'm telling you it is going on. It's a divine judgment on the church. Some men who are in the truth before, they were in the truth. We know them to be in the path of truth. Even the light that is in them is being taken away and it is being given to those who have more so that they can have more abundantly. So we need to check. If they contradict the law and testimony, there is no light in them. And it's a trend that is increasing. I just was trying to ask myself these questions. What is it that God knows? He said, "I know the mind of—" God knows more than any. But do you know that people like Daniel will get up to condemn us? Daniel will tell us that he was virtually almost the only Christian and he was serving a godless king and all the other people they were godless, that he was the only godly person and yet he could live godly. Yet in Nigeria, you are not the only godly person. There are people alongside with you that you are not just in the Daniel kind of case. And that single light could shine as light and overcome the city. In all our relationship, particularly in marital relationship, husband-wife relationship, let us have a consciousness that we are in a kingdom. We belong to a kingdom. That kingdom have rules and principles. We are not just of this world. Are we of this world? We are not of this world. We belong to a kingdom and the kingdom have a dictate. American citizen in Nigeria can't be behaving like a Nigerian. They spend dollar, they stay in their embassy, they live like Americans. You can't be here and be living like unbelievers, be living the way they live, be talking the way they talk, be acting the way they do. "God understands the Nigerian situation. God understands case of Nigeria because Nigeria is different." So when we lie here, it is not lie because it's Nigeria. When we steal, we did not steal because it's Nigeria. So the foundation of God's kingdom will not stand sure again that they who name the name of the Lord can continue in iniquity because we are in Nigeria. Is that what you are saying? That God understands case of Nigeria because Nigeria is—the way Nigeria is? God knows what? What is it that God knows? But do you know that people like Daniel will get up to condemn us? Daniel will tell us that he was virtually almost the only Christian and he was serving a godless king and all the other people they were godless, that he was the only godly person and yet he could live godly. Yet in Nigeria, you are not the only godly person. There are people alongside with you that you are not just in the Daniel kind of case. And that single light could shine as light and overcome the city. [crying baby] He said if they contradict the law and testimony, there is no light in them. And it's a trend that is increasing. We try to come to a close for this meeting. I want to call your attention to—I want to ask a question because I've not touched a last trend between husband and wife, which I want to touch very seriously before we close. But let me take your question. Okay, let me just take it. Please let's look at 1 Peter. 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 3. Let's read from verse 1 through to 7. But I'm going to speak on the 7. [Speaker 2] Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement. Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered. [Speaker 1] Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel and as being heirs together of the grace of life. That's where I want to end today. As being heirs together of the grace of life. Do you know what that means? Do you have a clear understanding that the person we call our wife is first somebody else's daughter? That sister is first a daughter of God before she's your wife. That brother is first a son of God before he's your husband. He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. That sister—I'm talking about the body, don't forget the concept of this body that we are talking about, that some not recognizing the Lord's body, they have been made weak, they have been made sick and God has killed them. He says, and as heir, joint heir of the grace of life. So it translate very clear that that person we call our husband or our wife, you cannot in any measure say that you love God, you have relationship with the Father, and the child of that Father cannot have rest dwelling with you. Your attitude, your lifestyle, your approach, your dealing with that person will make us to know whether you actually know God at all or you don't know God. It will make us to know. Someone says he has a very intimate relationship with me, say, "I like this person so much, she's daughter to me." Then when I see this one, I maltreat, I mishandle, I abuse her, and when I see this one I say, "You see, the Lord is with you, I love you, you are one of my wonderful daughter." Is that what I'm saying? Does it have substance? It doesn't have a substance. Now brethren, this is what I'm saying. If believers relate to believers not waiting for themselves and God killed them. Now a believer that God put in your life as wife is daughter, or His son, your husband, and you are not faithful, you are not true to that person. What happens to you? I'm trying to make you understand why several lives today are not finding divine expression in life. Why they'll be looking for certain spirit, certain demons that are on assignment. They did not understand that spousal relationship can bring weakness, sickness, and death. Spousal relationship. It's so crucial for us as believers to understand this. It's so crucial for us as Christians to know that trivializing the things of God. "She's my wife, she's my wife home, she'd I married her with my money. She'd—" like I normally say in some of our seminars, a man bought the car with his money but then will not obey traffic rule. So he overtake in corner. It's your money, no problem. You can go on. But what will happen to you and your money? It's destruction. If ordinary rules, human rules, even though it is your money, yet you must submit yourself to human rule so that your life can be preserved. And when men don't follow those human rules, I'm sure of accidents that happened because people overtake in corners. How many lives have been lost? How many wives have become widows? How many husbands have become widowers by this stupidity of "Must I not reach? I must reach." If men can pay such sacrifices, what happened to divine instruction? [crying baby] The dimension today is warning and prophetic. Warning in the sense that the Lord said, "Be careful that your light does not become darkness." Be careful that your light does not become darkness. For some men have been overtaken by useless and godless discussion. They were in the truth but they wondered from the truth. They too now become those that are overtaking the faith of many. Let's be careful. If light things as waiting for one another could be taken that serious, "But you didn't recognize my body in your brother." It's just any brother, a brother who is a child of God in the church, you didn't recognize and God brought weakness, sickness, and death. What happens to a brother who is joined to you that you know that your first responsibility in life is to take care of that person? That's your first responsibility. Husband, love your wife. Wife, submit to your—that's your first responsibility. The home front before any other thing. And then you neglect your first responsibility and then you are doing some other things. What severe judgment things come upon such people? What do you now talk about people in courtship relationship who are not yet married? The brother has already trust in you, his heart trust in you, and yet you are not true to the brother. Not being sincere, not being true. And suddenly we want to come to a point where all will be well. All cannot be well when there are serious instruction—if you're not true in unrighteous mammon, you will never get the true riches. If that thing doesn't belong to another man, you can never get your own. All these things, later you now begin to wonder. "Father, I seek an open door, a breakthrough." While you are taking dinner to lock all the doors of your life. You are sealing up and locking up everything. Later you'll be looking for breakthroughs. What is God giving you today that is the unrighteous mammon and you are not handling it correctly? What is it? What is it that belongs to another man that is in your hand now? Someone say, "Look at the man after he had served, served in government, eventually when he was supposed to be resting, he just went." We need to ask sometimes—I'm not talking of all cases—I'm saying that sometimes do we need to ask ourselves whether he was true to what belong to government? For how can he get his own? Was he true to what belong to government? How will he get his own? These things may be trivialized by unbelievers. "Nigeria ni, national cake, make I chop my own." Chop your own, chop poison. Keep eating. But remember God's method is the unrighteous mammon before the true riches. What belongs to another man before your own. God's method is if you don't recognize His body, He brings sickness, He brings weakness, He brings death. These are the ways of God. These are the paths of God. These are things we must lay to heart and be careful about in all our relationship. Particularly in marital relationship, husband-wife relationship, let us have a consciousness that we are in a kingdom. We belong to a kingdom.