My Peace I Give Unto U the Path to Peace (biblical Examples 4)

[Singing in Yoruba and English] I will praise Him from everlasting, everlasting to everlasting. I will praise Him from everlasting, everlasting to everlasting. I will praise Him from everlasting, everlasting to everlasting. I will praise Him from everlasting, everlasting to everlasting. Ma yin Oluwa titi lailai, titi lailai, titi lailai. Ma yin Oluwa titi lailai, titi lailai, titi lailai. Ma yin Oluwa titi lailai, titi lailai, titi lailai. Ma yin Oluwa titi lailai, titi lailai, titi lailai. Ma yin Oluwa titi lailai, titi lailai, titi lailai. [Speaker 1] Our Father, we worship You. Almighty God, we praise Your name. Indeed Lord, we will praise You from everlasting to everlasting, for You are God. The Bible says You have been our dwelling place from all eternity. Lord, You have been our refuge, You are our stay, You are our buckler, You are our shield, You are our defense, You are our help, You are our light, You are our salvation, our Redeemer, our Helper, the lifter of our head, our Savior. We worship You. We give You glory. We give You honor. We give You adoration. We give You praise, oh God, in the name of Jesus Christ. Almighty God, we commit ourselves into Your hand again as we move on today. Lord, considering the matter, the path to rest. And Lord, also taking time out, being the last Monday of the month to pray. Lord, we pray that You will go ahead of us in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord our God, we pray that Your spirit will work within us in the name of Jesus Christ. As we fellowship together again this last Monday for the month of November, Lord, our eyes on You, that Lord You will meet with us at the point of our need in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray for our brethren joining us online. Lord, we pray everywhere they are, connecting with us, connecting with this meeting. Lord, we pray that You will meet with us all, both we who are physically here and brethren who are online, in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord our God, our eyes on You. Let nothing prevail against Your purposes for our lives in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank You, Eternal Father. [Music/Chanting Interlude] [Speaker 2] Churches and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly home from us. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 1] Eternal Father, blessed be Your holy name our God, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Please let's have our seat. We have been considering this series for a while, "My peace I give unto you." You remember that when we started, we began with this statement that Jesus made to His disciples at a time when their heart was exceedingly sorrowful and they were wondering what is going to happen, what is going to be their stake, what is going to happen to them. And then Jesus Christ spoke to them in John 14:27. He said, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give you peace. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." We have been considering this series for a while now, and our major highlight has been that one, there is a peace that is not like the peace that the world gives. Number two, only Jesus owns that peace because He's the one that mediated for that peace. He paid the sacrifice for that peace. There is a peace that Jesus can give, that peace that comes from Him. And we have been considering, how do we enter into this peace? We saw in Matthew. In the first place He said, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and I will give you rest." [Matthew 11:28] And then in the second place He said, "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in spirit, and you shall find rest for your soul." [Matthew 11:29] So we discovered that there is a peace that comes when we give our life to Jesus. But that peace is the eternal rest that Jesus gives. There is another one that comes as we listen to Him. He said, "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me and then you will find rest for your soul." So if our soul must find rest, we must listen, we must take His yoke and learn from Him. And we defined what it means to take His yoke. We said in a very simple and fundamental manner is to say, do what He says. Whatsoever He says, when we do it, we'll discover that we'll find rest for our soul. And then we began considering that when we went to Philippians 4:6, where the Bible says, "Be anxious about nothing, but in everything through prayer, supplication and thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God, and then the peace of God that passes all understanding will keep your heart and soul." So we saw in that scripture that it is crucial for us to know that one instruction the Lord gave is that if we must find peace—that was under when we were considering the path to this peace—is that we must learn to cast all our cares. We must just learn to do so. And then when He said that, He said be anxious about nothing. And then when we were talking about the peace of God, He said the peace of God that passes all understanding will keep your heart. We noticed that when God wants to address our situation, God don't first address the situation that surrounds us. God first address the situation of our heart. What make us to worry is not the situation that we are facing. It is the situation of our heart towards the situation that is giving us worry. So when God wants to deal with us in any situation, the first thing that God does is to deal with our heart. Before God deals with the situation, God deals with our heart. The first thing God does in any matter about our life is to first deal with our heart. So the first thing that the peace of God does is to guard our own heart, not the situation. It is to guide our heart. And then we left all of that, we moved on to begin to consider biblical examples of pathway to rest, this pathway of God. We saw the case of Jairus, what Jesus did with Jairus. And then we entered, we saw that for Jairus, Jesus told him, "Only believe, do not be afraid." Jesus have not raised the dead, the dying girl, but Jesus first addressed his heart. His heart was addressed by Jesus. He said, "Look, only believe, don't be afraid," before Jesus now went ahead to raise the dead. And then we began for about two weeks now, we have been looking at Jacob. Jacob. And in Jacob, the Lord has been helping us to raise a lot of matters. In the first instance about Jacob, we saw something very, very crucial. What we saw is that Jacob did not understand that he is part and parcel of a great plan. He was part of a great plan. And we said the first path to peace is for us to know that our life is not accidental. Our life is part of a great plan of God. God has spoken to Abraham long ago that see, your children they are going to be slaves in a strange land and in that land they will suffer for four hundred years and then I will bring them out. So when Jacob was about to travel to Egypt, it was not a new agenda. It was an agenda God started from the time of Abraham. So we must understand that our life is not just something that is just starting. The plan of God for our life is eternal. God's plan for our life is something that started even before the foundations of the world. I took us to Ephesians to see something there, that the Bible says that He has predestined us before the foundation of the world. So God's plan for our life started even before the world started. So there is really nothing that can alter that plan. And then last week, we came to the point of looking at the man Jacob in Genesis 46. Genesis 46, that was where we were last week. I want to bring us to some points this evening and then like as our usual practice, the last Monday we create a little time to pray. We would create time to be able to pray. But I want to just quickly do some touch on the matter we left last week. In Genesis 46, we saw something very well from verse 1. "So Israel journeyed, Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices to the God of his father. Then God spoke to Israel in the vision of the night and said, 'Jacob, Jacob,' and he said, 'Here I am.' So He said, 'I am the God, the God of your father. Do not fear to go down to Egypt for I will make of you a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt and I will also surely bring you up again and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.' Then Jacob arose from Beersheba and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones and their wives in the cart which Pharaoh had sent to carry him." [Genesis 46:1-5] Now, this was where we read last week. And we have been able to raise last week that number one, we noticed that although Jacob started this journey, but he started the journey in fear. He was going to Egypt, but he was not at peace. And we gave the background to why he was not at peace. His father, there was famine. God told his father, "Don't go to Egypt, come back, leave that place." That was his grandfather, that was for Abraham. For Isaac again, he wanted to go, God said, "Don't go there when there was a famine." And now it was Jacob's turn, there is famine. And he knew that the land of Canaan is the Promised Land. He was wondering. And so, we saw Jacob taking the pattern that God taught us. The pattern was that he brought the matter to God in prayer. And you see the response of God like I said last week, God did not change the situation. What did God change? The circumstance of his heart. "Jacob, don't be afraid." The problem is not in the situation. Where is the problem? The problem is in your heart. The problem, what is making you fear is not the economy of Nigeria. It is not the situation that surrounds you. It's not the banditry. It's not the killing. It's not the thoughts. It's not the herdsmen killing. It's not the kidnapping. It's not the accident on the highway. What is making you fear is the state of your heart. And so we saw that God dealt directly with the state of the heart of Jacob. God was not addressing the situation. God was addressing the state of the heart of Jacob. And that brought us to a very vital matter where we closed the meeting last week. When God was addressing Jacob in this place and God was telling him, "Do not fear." I said it becomes very, very crucial for us to get something very, very clear about God. Why is God, and I want you to I'm gradually trying to enter into this week ministration. I want you to go back to check everywhere that men ran to God. The first thing God will always tell them is what? "Do not fear." And we began to build the basis of that last week when we took our journey to 1 Corinthians 10. I think that was where we left the matter last week. 1 Corinthians 10:13. We saw that the Bible says that no temptation, no trial, no difficulty, no challenge, nothing that comes into your life that are no different from what others experienced. And we made something very clear last week. It is important for us to know that there is nothing your life want to experience that is new under the sun. There is nothing. We said it is important for us to know, understand this pathway to rest, this pathway of God. There is nothing that is happening around you that you can describe as something new. It is something that by the time you count three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten persons, you will discover that what is happening to you is common to men. There is nothing strange under the sun. Why Jacob was trying to look at that thing as a strange thing, for God there was nothing really, really strange. There was nothing strange. And then we mentioned another thing last week where the Bible said in that 1 Corinthians 10:13, it says, "And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can't stand against it." King James says, "But God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted, to be tried beyond what you are able." Amplified, I like it so much in Amplified. It says, "For no temptation, no trial regarded as enticing to sin, no matter how it comes or where it leads"—please note that, no matter how it comes or where it leads—"has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man. That is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, that is not adjusted, that is not adapted and belonging to human experience and such as man can bear." There is no one. He's talking about a hand that is adjusting it, a hand that is adapting it, a hand that is making it to be within human experience. He now said, "But God is faithful." Look at how he put it here. He said, "But God is faithful to His word and to His compassionate nature, and He can be trusted not to let you to be tempted and tried beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure." We can trust in the faithfulness of God that whatever will be coming will not be beyond your ability and your strength and resistance and power to endure. He says, "But with the temptation, He will always also provide the way out, the means of escape to a landing place that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently." I don't know whether you are getting something here. Now the Bible is saying something. Don't forget where we are coming from. We are looking at the life of Jacob. That was the thing that brought us to this scripture. Now the Bible is saying that one thing that God does is that God will make sure that with the trial, with the trial, there is already what? A way out. With the trial. Now I want us to now look at some other examples that we have checked. You know I said something last week. Moses was born at a time that it was not something good for a male child to be born. That was when Moses was born. Now when Moses was born at that time, for the parents, looking at the situation immediately, was there a way of escape? Was there a way of escape? But look at it. If you look at the whole life and everything about Moses, when he was born, the timing of his birth and the purpose of God regarding that life, please, with that temptation, with that trial, was there already a way of escape? Was there already a way of escape? There was. Because as far as God is concerned, Moses was to learn the ways of the Egyptian and he must grow up in the palace of Pharaoh. So if he gave birth to Moses at a time when that decree had not been made, nothing will make the mother go and put the baby by the stream. The mother will take care of the baby. But Moses must come at a time that something will compel the parents to say, "Let us just see what God will do." So you discover that while the person might be saying, "Why now? Why did I give birth to a boy at this time? Why now?" As far as God is concerned, that "now" was the "now" for that boy. Because with that trial, there was already a way of escape. Let's look at another example that we have been considering. You remember that Jacob came to a point in his life that the children must go to Egypt to go and look for food because there was famine everywhere. In looking for that food, you remember that Joseph retained some of the brothers that they must bring Benjamin. You remember that they must bring Benjamin. Mind you, because Joseph and Benjamin, they were the two sons of Rachel. Jacob will never release Benjamin. But there was a trial. Some of the children were detained. Food was running out. Jacob first said they will not go. But when hunger and death became imminent, what happened? He said, "Okay, if Benjamin dies then you know that you will not see me alive again. Let Benjamin go with you." They went. When they got there, Jacob, the father at home, please, what will be the state of his heart as they were going with Benjamin? I want us to be very frank. As they were going now again with Benjamin, what would be the state of Jacob's heart? Fear, trembling. But I want to ask you, with that trial, was there already a way of escape? The reason I'm showing you these things is that many times when we read the Bible, we read it as if it is the story of some people and not something written for us, for us to take courage and learn. Do you know that with the trial of your life now, there is just by it a way of escape? Do you understand that if you look at the way God deals with His people, eventually that episode went, they brought food, they brought Benjamin. That trial was over. The second stage of the trial was that now Jacob was to travel down to Egypt. Joseph said he should come. But there was a fear in his heart. We have established that last week. What was the fear? When Abraham was to go, he went to Egypt and there was problem. Sarah was to be taken if not for God's deliverance. Anyway, he came up with an Egyptian, Hagar. That scattered that marriage. Isaac was to go, God said, "Don't go there. Stay here, Genesis 26, in this land. This is where I will bless you and I will establish my covenant. Don't go anywhere." Now no food around. Joseph is calling them to come over to Egypt. Is this leading of God? Is this thing of God? It was something that was shaking the person of Jacob. But brethren, look at the totality of the story. Was there already a way of escape? There was. Can we begin to multiply these examples? You will see it over and over and over and over again. But the one I particularly want to draw your attention to was one that even looked like something that is already overtaking and overwhelming the individual. But you will see that within that trial, can we look at that story please? Let's look at 1 Samuel. Anytime I read that story in 1 Samuel chapter 22. You will see what happened when David—sorry, 1 Samuel, not 2 Samuel, sorry please. I'm opening 1 Samuel, I'm telling you 2 Samuel. 1 Samuel chapter 22. I want to show you this particular episode in the life of David. And I want you to just see that there is a way that God does things that ordinarily when you look at it you will be wondering that, how come this thing could go like this? 1 Samuel 22 from verse 1. "David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and his father's house heard it, they went there to him. And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them." [1 Samuel 22:1-2] He became captain over who? People whose lives were disorganized. People who seemed to have no future. Now don't forget what led to all these things. David was running from somebody, he was running from Saul. We are looking at trial and the provision of God in every trial. "So he became captain over them and there were about four hundred men with him. David went from there to Mizpah of Moab and he said to the king, 'Please let my father and my mother come here with you till I know what God will do for me.' So he brought them before the king of Moab and they dwelt with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. Now the prophet Gad said to David, 'Do not stay in the stronghold, depart and go to the land of Judah.' So David departed and went to the forest of Hereth." [1 Samuel 22:2-5] Let me quickly jump some things. Just follow that story. And then people gathered to Saul, Ahimelech came out, eventually what happened to Ahimelech was that Saul killed Ahimelech, killed everybody and then Abiathar escaped from that point and went to meet David. Now when he escaped and he went to meet David, look at what eventually happened as we enter the next chapter. 1 Samuel chapter 23. Verse 14, "David stayed in the strongholds in the wilderness and remained in the mountains in the wilderness." As at this time now, somebody has come to join David, who? Abiathar. Saul was pursuing everybody. I hope you are following what is going on. David has four hundred men, even the priests had been killed. Saul became very ruthless. Anything that has to do with David must die. Hope you are following the situation. So it's like the gang up against David was getting stronger and stronger. "So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph in the forest. Then Jonathan, Saul's son, arose, went to David in the wood and strengthened his hand in God." [1 Samuel 23:15-16] I want to skip that, that place of the covenant. Now let's go to verse 19. "Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah saying, 'Is David not hiding with us in the strongholds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is in the south of Jeshimon? Now therefore, oh king, come down according to all the desires of your soul, come down, and our part shall be to deliver him into your hand.' And Saul blessed and Saul said, 'Blessed are you of the Lord, for you have compassion on me.'" Just see what is going on. Saul has gathered sympathy from everybody. So the gang up against David became more intense and stronger. I'm showing you trial. I'm showing you difficulty. I'm showing you the life of someone that was called of God. And I want to prove to you that with every trial, even at where it looks like the climax of that trial, there is a provision for your escape. And that is what should give us peace. It doesn't matter what the trial may be now for your own life. You need to understand that with every trial, if God don't provide a way of escape along with your trial, God sees this to be faithful. It is something we must understand and know and let our heart rest upon. "So Saul said, 'Please go and find out for sure and see the place where his hideout is and who has seen him there, for I am told he is very crafty.'" I don't know who is more crafty. "'See therefore and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides and come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. And it shall be, if he is in the land, that I will search for him throughout all the clans of Judah.'" "So they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain of the south of Jeshimon. When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David, therefore he went down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon. Then Saul went on one side of the mountain and David and his men were on the other side of the mountain. So David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were already encircling David and his men to take them." [1 Samuel 23:22-26] Look at what happened. What happened? The next verse. "But"—hallelujah—"but, but a messenger came to Saul saying, 'Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land.' Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David." At the climax of the trial, there was what? A provision for escape. The reason I'm showing you these things is that many times when we read the Bible, we read it as if it is the story of some people and not something written for us, for us to take courage and learn. Do you know that with the trial of your life now, there is just by it a way of escape? Do you understand that if you look at the way God deals with His people, when it looks like the thing—things are getting heightened. When you look around us today, it looks like the atmosphere is getting more tense. Sometimes when you follow social media news, like I was in one meeting one day and a woman said, "Ah! In fact, I have told myself, I will not follow social media news again." That she almost died. I said what happened? She said, "Ah, one said they are almost here, one said they are already here, one said..." She said before she knew it, her BP became so high that she could not sleep consecutively for nights, just following social media news. And I said, "Ma, the problem was not with the news. The problem was with the heart." Because what we were told is that you will hear of war and of rumors of war. See to it that you are not troubled. It means see to it that you are not natural but that you are spiritual. There is no natural man, even as we are here now, if we hear of rioting coming from [unclear], we will not be too much at rest here. Am I correct? So if the Lord is saying that you will hear of war, you will hear of rumors of war, see to it that you are not troubled, He is saying that if you are troubled, it's not because of the rumor and of the war, it's because of the state of your heart. That is the reality. It is the state of your heart. And that is what the Lord is addressing in this matter of the path to peace. Number one, we need to get something clear about our life. Our life have been programmed far before the world was made. We are not beings of time. We are beings of eternity. That was the first thing we need to make ourselves to realize. We are beings of eternity. The Bible says He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. Somebody was asking me, "How do we reconcile that?" I said I don't know. I know that at the point of salvation, whosoever believe. But having believed, I also know that actually I have been programmed before I believe. That is the Bible. It may sound foolish but that is faith. Before I believe, it is whosoever believe. But after I believe, I must understand that actually no body can come to God except the Lord draws him, that I have been programmed before time was. That we are part of a great plan. That our life is so much a small part of that old plan, that our life cannot fail because it's a small part of a bigger plan. And the second thing we are seeing this place is very, very clear, that should bring rest to our soul, is that God did not say there will not be challenges, there will not be trials, there will not be things making us—sometimes it will be heightened like we saw with David. The thing was getting, it was as if, it was as if, and then when it looks like, okay, it's over for you, that was when there was a miracle. But the truth was that the messenger that came to give the message had been part of the package of the trial. Do you agree with me? It was part of the package. The messenger will be made from the mess and the mess will become the messenger. Do you get that at all? It is the mess that become the messenger and the messenger gets his message from the mess. What I'm saying is, it was the trial that became the testimony. That is the way God have arranged it. So when it looks like you are inside something and it is becoming extreme, it looks as if God is not there with you. But you see that when it got to the point that looks like let us throw in the towel, that was when there was a miracle. May God surprise you with miracles. May God surprise you with a way out of your situation. Because David will just be there and will be wondering, "Ah, why are they going back?" May God surprise you with miracles. David will just be there and he will be wondering, "Ah, what is the situation? Ah." David will just be and then he will just see the armies of Saul going back. "What is the situation?" David will just be wondering, "Are we not seeing well? They are going. Ah." And then they will start jubilating. "God, thank You. God, thank You." But I'm telling you something. It is the same thing with our life. It's a thing we must understand. This scripture says God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tried beyond what you are able to bear. But and again, not only that, with the trial as God packages your trial, He packages your escape. Are you understanding me at all? It is a package. That is the truth about it. I'm talking about the pathway to peace. When it looks like—and again, so we can relate it now back to the situation in our land. The economy is failing. Insecurity is rising. I don't know whether you followed the media today on investigative journalism by one Joshua, I forgotten the first name now. And he was doing an investigation in the Southwest and brought out a lot of information as to the matter of kidnapping and the way the security outfit is almost not able to handle the situation because the people they want to deal with are far more superior to them in terms of firepower. What I'm saying is when it looks like the things—they are getting heightened. When you look around us just today, it looks like the atmosphere is getting more tense. Sometimes when you follow social media news—like I was in one meeting one day and a woman said, "Ah! In fact, I have told myself, I will not follow social media news again." That she almost died. I said what happened? She said, "Ah, one said they are almost here, one said they are already here, one said..." She said before she knew it, her BP became so high that she could not sleep consecutively for nights, just following social media news. And I said, "Ma, the problem was not with the news. The problem was with the heart." Because what we were told is that you will hear of war and of rumors of war. See to it that you are not troubled. It means see to it that you are not natural but that you are spiritual. There is no natural man, even as we are here now, if we hear of rioting coming from [unclear], we will not be too much at rest here. Am I correct? So if the Lord is saying that you will hear of war, you will hear of rumors of war, see to it that you are not troubled, He is saying that if you are troubled, it's not because of the rumor and of the war, it's because of the state of your heart. That is the reality. It is the state of your heart. And that is what the Lord is addressing in this matter of the path to peace. Number one, we need to get something clear about our life. Our life have been programmed far before the world was made. We are not beings of time. We are beings of eternity. That was the first thing we need to make ourselves to realize. We are beings of eternity. The Bible says He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. Somebody was asking me, "How do we reconcile that?" I said I don't know. I know that at the point of salvation, whosoever believe. But having believed, I also know that actually I have been programmed before I believe. That is the Bible. It may sound foolish but that is faith. Before I believe, it is whosoever believe. But after I believe, I must understand that actually no body can come to God except the Lord draws him, that I have been programmed before time was. That our life spans from eternity. Our life has its origin in eternity. And our life, we are part of a great plan. That we are our life is so much a small part of that all plan, that our life cannot fail because it's a small part of a bigger plan. And the second thing we are seeing this place is very, very clear, that should bring rest to our soul, is that God did not say there will not be challenges, there will not be trials, there will not be things making us—sometimes it will be heightened like we saw with David. The thing was getting, it was as if, it was as if, and then when it looks like, okay, it's over for you, that was when there was a miracle. But the truth was that the messenger that came to give the message had been a package, had been part of the package of the trial. Do you agree with me? It was part of the package. The messenger will be made from the mess and the mess will become the messenger. Do you get that at all? It is the mess that become the messenger. And the messenger gets his message from the mess. What I'm saying is, it was the trial that became the testimony. That is the way God have arranged it. That is the way God has arranged it. Now look at I want us to look at this matter from another presentation in Isaiah. Look at Isaiah 43. I read from verse 1. This is a very familiar scripture. "But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, oh Jacob, and He who formed you, oh Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine.'" What is the first thing you see again? Fear not. For I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are Mine. What is the next thing you see? When you pass through the waters. It's as if after all those CV, there should be no water. Are you understanding me? With the initial CV, it should be when you are enjoying. What is the thing that followed that mighty CV? When you are in the waters. Are you seeing something? It says when you are in the waters, I will be with you. What follows? Through the rivers. Are you seeing something? Do you get something? When you are in the water, I will be with you. Now that I'm with you did not turn the water to dry land. He turned the water to river. Are you following what I'm trying to say? First when you look at the CV, "I have redeemed you, you are mine, you are this," it will look like there should be no trial. It should look like there should be no trouble. It should look like there should be no situation around us that will want to make us fear. But after that CV, what follows that CV is that when you are in the water, I will be with you. And you'll be thinking that the "be with you" will make the water to be dry. The water did not get dry. What happened to the water? The water became river. Now He says, "When you are and through the rivers, they will not overflow you." So the water, don't worry I'm with you. But in case the water don't get dry, it becomes a river. Don't think I left you. My own plan for you is that it will not do what? For those people that stop at water, it because the overflow will drown them. Are you understanding me? What I'm saying is this. For somebody like Abraham, he was running a course that is to give him just one child. And as far as heaven is concerned, that trial is not above him. Do you agree with me? But at a point, Sarah thought it was above her. She alternated. And what is happening to us now with the alternative? What is happening to us now? With the alternative that Sarah—you know at a point Sarah alternated and said God have withheld me from having child, and brought she told Abraham, "Go into Hagar." They went into Hagar. Where are we and Hagar today? Where are we? That alternative, we are still in the problem. God has fitted that trial. Because when God was speaking to him, at the point when God called him, God did not say through your seeds, God said through your seed. Why? Because the life of Abraham was part of a bigger program. What is the program? That seed was to be Jesus. So if he becomes two, it does not go with the bigger picture that God has for his life. What I'm trying to make you see is that there is a bigger picture that you cannot see. There is a bigger picture ahead of you that we don't see. I'm talking about the issue of provision of escape. So for Abraham, for Sarah, God has fitted something for them to wait. But she did not wait. And then there was an alternative. But as far as God is concerned, was that trial above them? God has fitted them for that trial. God has fitted Abraham for one child. The water should not become river. If you go back and look at Jacob, Jacob was not fitted like that. Jacob was fitted to build the what? The twelve tribes. Are you understanding me? What I'm trying to say is that when we see water don't become river, we need to understand that for those that He stopped at the level of water, it does not become river, is because if it becomes river, it is more than them. For those that it became river for, it's because God knows that it cannot overflow them. So that because we are differently purposed, we are also differently designed to go through different trials. And for some people, they are going to stop at the level of water. But some, even after the water don't overflow them, they are still going forward, they are going to enter fire. Are you getting the point? That is why Abraham in his walk with God never got to a point where burning fire was burning somewhere and somebody says, "Bow down or you will die." If he could not stand the one of he was already alternating with thinking Hagar or no Hagar. The people that could stand that were the three Hebrew boys. What I'm saying in all of this is that there is no trial that the provision of escape is not packaged with. When God did not release, did not allow for a release for the three Hebrew boys at the point where they were being tied, at the point where they were being carried, where did God appear? God appeared in the fire. But when they entered the fire, what happened to them? Nothing happened to them. So you find out that for some, God delivers from the fire. For some, God delivers in the fire. But in all, what are we saying? There is a package for your escape. There is a package. We are saying this so that when we look at the life of Jacob, when he was thinking what will happen to these people if we go down to Egypt now, what is going to happen? How is it going to happen? What is going to happen is that they are going to become a great nation. That's what is going to happen. Even though Abraham got there and what he got there was that Sarah was to be taken. Isaac was not to go there, the covenant must be established for you. When Jacob entered the place, it's going to multiply and become plenty. Why? Because with that trial, what has happened? There is already a way of escape. Brethren, as we try to come to the point of prayer this evening, we'll be praying with some of these things that we have said. But I want us to pray from a burden of scripture that I've been having for this time of prayer. It's our last Monday, so we are going to take a little time to pray. There is this scripture that has constantly been coming to my heart that we will use to pray this evening. It's all around these things that we have been discussing. And if you see what the Lord says in that place, I want you to know that indeed and of a truth, it doesn't matter how it turns, there is a God and that God is our God and that God is able to help us and that God is able to lead us through. Isaiah 42:16. Look at what it says. It says, "I will bring"—are you there? What do you see there? "I will bring the blind by a way they did not know. I will lead them in the paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them and not forsake them." Brethren, as you look into these scriptures, ordinarily what will first come to your mind is that when God want to bring a man to somewhere, the man should not be blind. He says, "I will bring the blind. I will bring the blind." Ordinarily if you want to bring somebody, you remember when Eve was to be brought to Adam? There must be a what? If you are bringing somebody, what do you do? You walk together. But God said, "I will bring the blind." We are going to pray. It doesn't matter our inadequacies. It doesn't matter our helplessness. It doesn't stop God from bringing His own to where He wants to bring them. He said, "I will bring the blind." It doesn't matter the way it was coming to me that we are going to pray. You see it doesn't matter, you know something happened recently, very, very recently. My wife said, "Indeed, God was your shepherd." I was to help somebody start a foundation. Unfortunately when I made the measurement of the land, I took more than the pillar of that person without realizing it. The land was actually in a slant shape, so I took it straight instead of slanting it. But we wanted to start the foundation. Somehow, the portion of the land that is more difficult to build in, I just said, "Let us start from this side that is more difficult. We will now come back and put a bigger one on the plain part of the land." Do you know by the time matters will join matters and issues will be resolved, that aspect of the land that I felt it was plain and part of it was not part of the land at all? Mind you, I have raised foundation to about seven or eight courses. On the part that is actually the person's own. I was asked to start from here where it was plain and easy. I just said, "No, I want to start from where it is difficult. We will come back to the plain place where it is easy." But I want to ask, if we have laid foundation on where it was easy, then the owner of the land appeared and said, "Please carry..." How do we carry? How do we move a building? Mind you, I have made complete possession of everything, I have cleared everything. But somehow I just felt I will start from the most difficult place. Was God not leading the blind? Was God not leading the blind? I want you to pray this evening that God, Lord, You are able to lead the blind. That is Lord, even in the areas of my ignorance, in the areas of my helplessness, in the areas of my inability, Lord You are able to bring me. You are able to bring me to what You have prepared for me. Lord, my inadequacies cannot stop You. My short-sightedness cannot limit You. Lord God Almighty, Lord, my humanity, oh Lord, cannot stop Your eternal plans for me. Lord God, even in the areas of my blindness, the Bible says You are able to bring the blind. God You can bring the blind. He says, "I will bring the blind. I will bring them by the way they don't know." Lord God, I may not know the way. I may not know how to go about my life. I may not know how to particularly go about the project. I may not even be able to define how exactly it's going to work out. I can't really say how it's going to be. But Lord, I can lean on something, that You can bring the blind. You can bring them through the way they don't know. Lord, You can bring me through the way I don't know. You can bring me in my helplessness. You can bring me in my shortcomings. You can carry me. You can carry me. You can carry me. You can carry me. You can carry me. Lord, You can. Oh, thank You Jesus. Thank You Jesus. Lord, bring You bring us in through the way that we don't know. Even though we don't know the way, we don't fully understand the way, we cannot fully comprehend the way, but Lord You can bring the blind. You can bring us in our humility, You can bring us oh God in our simplicity, You can bring us in our helplessness, You can bring us. You can bring us. You can bring us. You can bring us. You can bring us. Thank You, Father. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. You know what just came to my heart was when Jesus turned to Peter and he said, "Peter, Peter, Peter, Satan desire to have you that he may sift you. But I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail." [Luke 22:31-32] Look at how the mercy of God was showing up for Peter. Peter was not even aware that there was an agenda for his life. But the Lord saw it. While Peter was still busy boasting, "I will die with you, I will somersault with you, I will do that for you," the Lord said, "Eh, I am praying for you." He says, "I will lead them in the paths they have not known." Peter did not understand that it is not by willpower. He did not understand that it is not by self-determination. He did not understand that it is by the power of the Holy Spirit. He didn't know that it is not by power nor by might. Can you speak to God this evening? Even where I don't really understand how to go about these matters, even where I don't really know it. You see Peter did not know it. Peter did not fully comprehend it. Peter did not really know it. Peter could not really see it. But you see that the Lord led him in the path that he did not know. He says, "I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail." I have prayed. The Lord was leading him in a path that he did not know. He was telling me, "Don't worry, Lord, me I will die with You. Everybody will forsake You, I will be there." Peter did not understand. Peter did not comprehend. Peter did not know it. Peter could not really see it. Can you talk to the Lord? That Lord God Almighty, even where I don't really see it, even where I don't really know it, even where I don't really understand it, even where I cannot really push them together. Oh Lord, Your word says You will lead the blind through a path that they don't know. Lord, You can lead the blind. This is Your word, oh Lord. You said, "I will lead the blind. I will lead them." In their blindness they can be led. In their blindness, in their ignorance, they can be led. Oh, I take your mind again, I take you back to Paul having several infirmities around him and he was thinking, "No, it is when this thing goes away that I can be well." But God told him, "My strength is sufficient for you. My grace, even in that weakness, my grace is sufficient for you." Paul need to come to understand. He did not really get the total picture, but God was there for him. God was there for him. God was seeing him through. Thank You, Father. Thank You, Lord. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. I'm still showing you this bigger picture, brethren, this bigger picture as we pray. If you look at 1 Corinthians chapter 7, Paul was speaking to the Corinthian church. He said it is good for a man to be like him, not to marry, because of the present affliction and suffering that they were going through. So Paul encouraged them that please try to be like me. Anyway, but if you marry you have not sinned though, only that I'm thinking that it is better that we don't marry because anyway the Lord will soon come. Please, when you get home, go and check that reading and see the way Paul was speaking. When you come to 1 Timothy chapter 5, Timothy was written towards the last days of Paul, when he was in the prison towards his last days. Paul was now writing to Timothy. Paul was telling Timothy that don't accept any young lady to be a widow except she's sixty years old. For younger women, tell them to go and marry. Tell them to go and marry. Now I'm showing you something about revelation. At one point, Paul was thinking everything will end with them. And so he was encouraging them based on that revelation that see, you don't even need to marry because everything will soon end. Look at the trouble we are going through. But later in his walk with God, Paul now said, "Know for sure that in the latter days..." Paul now saw a latter day, that there is a latter one. What am I trying to make you see? That even when our revelations are limited, it does not stop God from bringing us into everywhere He want to bring us to. What God wants from us is sincerity. Paul was able to finish his course because he was sincere. He didn't have the total picture, but he was following God. I'm trying to make you understand that God can lead the blind through a path that they don't know. God can carry them. God can carry them, brethren. Don't fear your future. Don't fear how it is going to look like. Can God—God can carry you. God, you are a part of the bigger picture. You are part of a bigger picture, even in your blindness, in your limitation. God can lead you through a path that you don't know. Paul was saying, "Don't marry oh, don't marry oh," but God was leading him. God was helping him through. And at a point God showed him, "Paul oh, look, you are going to be sacrificed. There is a latter time." So tell young women to marry. Tell them. You see, he began, he was able to come to the end of his course because there was a God that can lead the blind through a path that they don't know. My point to you this evening is that brethren, let look—Jesus said, "My peace I give unto you, not as the world give." Let your heart come to peace, come to rest, a sense of peace by the reason of the Lord Jesus, by His awesomeness, by His almightiness. The Lord is able to carry you. He is able to carry you. The Lord can lead the blind. Don't fear your shortcomings. Don't fear your ignorance. Don't fear, "I don't even know tomorrow. I don't know how it will be." Don't let those things intimidate you. God can lead the blind through the path that they don't know. Turn over, turn it over to the Lord. Turn it over to the Lord. Turn it over to the Lord. Just turn them over to the Lord. Turn your life over to Him. Turn it over to Him. He is able, more than able To accomplish what concerns me today He is able, more than able He can handle everything that comes my way He is able, more than able To do much more than I can ask or think He is able, oh more than able To make me holy, once me to be Oh, He's more than able To make me holy, once me to be Even in my blindness He can lift me He is able, He is able, He is able, He is able He is able. My peace I give unto you. My peace I give unto you, not as the world gives. Your trouble is not in your situation. Your trouble is in the situation of your heart. Let your heart turn to the Lord. For the Lord will keep in perfect peace The man whose heart is stayed on Him Because he trusts in Him. Let your heart turn to the Lord. Your challenge is not in your situation. What is troubling you is the state of your heart. Let the peace of God guide your heart. Oh, thank You Jesus. Thank You Jesus. Thank You Jesus. Thank You Jesus. Blessed be Your name. Blessed be Your name. Blessed be Your name. Blessed be Your name our Lord Jesus. Thank You, Father. Thank You, Lord. Lastly, I just want you to pray as we round up the month. By few days into this week now, we'll be in December and we round up the year. Can you say, "Lord, crown the year for me with Your goodness." Lord, crown the year for me with Your goodness. Oh Lord, crown the year for me with Your goodness. Oh Lord, crown the year for me with Your goodness. Crown the year for me with Your goodness. Oh Lord, crown the year for me with Your goodness. Oh Lord, crown the year for me with Your goodness. Crown the year for me with Your goodness. Oh make my darkness into light. Make my crooked path straight. Crown the year for me with Your goodness, Lord. Crown the year for me with Your goodness. Crown it for me with Your goodness. Thank You, blessed Father. Thank You, Abba Father. Blessed be Your holy name our God. Blessed be Your holy name our God. Crown it for us, oh Lord. Crown it for us, oh Lord. Crown it for us, oh Lord. Thank You, Father. Blessed be Your holy name Jehovah. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let me invite Mike to close the meeting. Michael please come and close the meeting for us. [Speaker 3] Our Heavenly Father, we thank You. Thank You for Your word tonight. Thank You for assuring us that You are with us. Thank You for giving us that courage, that hope, that understanding Lord, that no matter how terrible our situation, the situation, the plan in it contains our way out. In it consists Your provision for our wellness. That despite how tough it might look, when we are in the [inaudible], that particular point, if only we hold on to You, You have made a way out. Help us oh God in our day to day life, at the office, at work, in church, that when we get pushed to the wall, that we will still hold on to You. That we will not give up that which we understand is our calling, that which we understand is our faith and that which we understand is the purpose for why You have called us. That we will not try to alter things with our own wisdom, God. Help us that we will not get to point where we begin to doubt what You have told us before. Oh Lord, build our faith, help our unbelief oh God. Like You prayed for Peter, Lord pray for us. Help us and sustain us Heavenly Father. In the name of Jesus, You said in Your word that You lead the blind. Lord, even in areas where we are blind to what You are doing, help us not to miss our way. That when You are leading us, we are following oh God. In the name of Jesus. Lord, sometimes we can be ignorant. We can see in part oh God, and then we don't understand what's happening around us. But even in that our ignorance, Father let us know that You are with us. Help us to never get to a point in our lives where we don't feel You, where we don't know that You are with us. In the name of Jesus. Lord, much more help us to be light in our various lives. everywhere we find ourselves, help us to be light. That the light You are sharing in our hearts through Your word becomes a light to others around us in the name of Jesus. We pray oh God Almighty for our lives, that till You come, we will be holding the fort. That till You come, we will not give up. That till that provision comes in the thickness of the darkness, till that light shines, we will not give up. That we will hold on Father God, in the name of Jesus. Lord, this we ask by faith because we know that it is not of him that willeth. It is of God that shows mercy. And the race is not to the swift Lord, and we know that the arm of flesh will fail us. So our confidence is not in the flesh. Our confidence is in You and what You have already predestined for us. So we ask oh God that this knowledge will abide with us. This knowledge will become light in our hearts and it will transform our lives for Your glory oh God. In the name of Jesus. We pray for our son, our daddy that You have used to bless us tonight. We ask that You bless him, we ask that You increase him. We know oh God that You are his source. We pray that he will never depart from this source. [Speaker 2] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in enriching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development and mission aid. Our regular activities are discipleship class every Monday 5:00 PM, 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 at our location Life Camp by the first bridge, Ilere community opposite Rejoice filling station along Ijaere road, Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are 08033861136, 07033613848. God bless you all. [Speaker 3] In the name of Jesus. We pray that we all are light bearers as we go, we begin to shine forth the light in the mighty name of Jesus. Thank You so much for Your word Lord tonight. Thank You for blessing us with Your spirit and the flesh of Your word. We pray that this word will become light in our hearts and we will be better off for it in the name of Jesus. In Jesus' mighty name we have prayed. Amen. The grace together. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forever more. Amen. Thank You Jesus.