Reflection on Micah 6 Part 3

[Intro Voice] Churches and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly home for you. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 1] Monday. What a beautiful Monday. According to history, resurrection was yesterday, and Jesus met with the disciples at Galilee today, Monday. That is why we talk about the Good Friday, then the Sunday, and then Easter on Monday. We thank God for this beautiful Monday that brings us to the Easter. We thank Him for His preservation. We thank Him for His deliverances, provision, support, assistance in everything we do. To Him be all the glory, all the honor, all the praise in the name of Jesus Christ. Today we are here again to continue from where we left the matter last week. We have been considering a reflection on Micah chapter 6. We have been looking at some very basic things about our lives as disciples of the Lord. We opened up on the reflection of Micah chapter 6 two weeks ago, and we noted that it is a matter with God for His people to have God as their pride. God does not want anything before Him, and God will not compromise that relating to any Christian. If God doesn't come first in your life, then the matter is that He will not come at all. God must be first, or God will not come at all. That was the first thing we saw in the book of Micah, when God was addressing the people of Israel and He was telling them what is their problem, that what exactly is making them not to rest on the Lord, not to stay with the Lord, not to walk with the Lord. Why is it that they are constantly turning to other gods? Why are they constantly turning to other gods? That was the matter between them and the Lord. Then the week that followed, we saw another requirement of God from His people, which is to love mercy. We expanded that matter of loving mercy, whether we are like God or we are not like God. We saw that to be like God, you must be merciful. Once you are not merciful, then you are a spiritual bastard. You are not like your Father. We saw that God makes it to rain upon both the good and the wicked. He makes it to rain upon both the just and the unjust. We sounded something very strong last week that you will notice that, because we were relating that to Titus chapter 3. In Titus chapter 3, the Bible says God saved us, not according to our works, but according to His mercies, which He gave us in Christ. So, we observed from that Titus chapter 3 that actually the basis of God giving us salvation has nothing to do with our works, whether we are good or not. No, it has nothing to do with it. So, we now noted very strongly last week that if you realize that the only basis for which you do good to people is based on their works, then you have a spiritual problem. Your spirit is not normal. There is something wrong somewhere. You should be able to do good to people regardless of their works. That is why the Bible says when your enemy is hungry, do what? Give him to eat. When your enemy is thirsty, give him to drink. Leave vengeance for God. So, we noted that it is being like God when you can extend good to people not according to their works, but according to your own mercy, according to you exercising mercy, according to you exercising goodness. We noted that last week very strongly. We want to move on from there today to look at one more scripture before we go to walking humbly with your God, which is what we will consider today. But before I do that, does anybody have anything to say from those of us who were here last week? Does anybody have anything to say in terms of what was a major takeaway for you last week, something that was a challenge to you, something that you reflected on, or something that you want to talk about today? Is anybody having such things before I move on? Okay, two people. Let's have Sukomi first, then Gospel next. [Sukomi] Last week, the major thing I took was about how if the basis of us being merciful to others is because of what they've done. When we read from Matthew, it was talking about how we should not be like the Pharisees, that do we expect a medal if we only do good to people that do good to us and we only love those who love us? I think reading from Message translation, it was talking about that do we expect a medal, do we expect to receive a reward for that? So, from Micah 6, it was talking about how the second requirement of God from us is that we are able to love mercy. We also read the Beatitudes, talking about how we should be merciful so that we can also obtain mercy from God. So, the major thing that I took home was that I should not show mercy to people or love others because of what they've already done. I should just do it, because the Bible says that we should owe no man anything and we owe every man love. So, that's what I took home. [Speaker 1] Thank you very much. I'm just trying to go through that scripture in Matthew. Gospel, please come up. [Gospel] Praise God. Part of the things I was able to pick home was in Proverbs chapter 3, verse 3 and 4. It said that we should not forsake mercy and truth, that we should bind them round our neck, that we should write them upon the tables of our heart. By so doing, we will be able to find mercy and understanding, favor in the sight of God and men. So, one of the answers to the prayer we used to pray that God, let us find favor in the sight of men, is actually we being merciful. If we can be merciful, we will actually find understanding and mercy in the sight of men and God. [Speaker 1] Thank you very much. Yes, that was where we rounded up with. Thank you very much for reminding us of that again. Thank you so much. Somebody said, "You don't trust me," and my response was that when somebody says they don't trust you, trust is not something people give you. Trust is something you earn. If you are not trustworthy, you cannot be trusted. So, you earn trust. So, the same way is favor and good understanding. It's something to be earned. There is nothing wrong praying for favor, "God favor me," we said that last week. But it is good for you to also know the principles of walking in favor. It's the principles of living. The principle of getting favor with God and man, one of the major things, apart from being truthful, is that you must be merciful. If you are not merciful, you are not likely to obtain favor with God and with man. That was in Proverbs chapter 3. It said, "Do not let mercy and truth forsake you. Do not let them. Tie them." It can be difficult sometimes, but tie them there. He said, "So you will obtain good understanding and favor with God and man." And what Sukomi made reference to, I think it's something to remind ourselves of again. That is Matthew chapter 5, from verse 43. "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be the sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even tax collectors doing the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do the same?" So we saw that we should live life that is different from those of pagans and tax collectors. As we close this issue of loving mercy, there is this scripture that I also want us to consider. It is this scripture, Matthew 23:23. I want us to see that scripture. It's a very familiar scripture, anyway. By the time you read it, you know it's familiar. But I'm just trying to make us see that no scripture is in isolation. Scriptures connect with scriptures, and it's always good to allow scripture to explain scriptures. If you look at Matthew 23, verse 23. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone." So, we notice that it is not throwing one away, but knowing which one is more important. He said, "You have neglected the weightier matters of the law." What is the first thing? Justice. What's the next thing? Mercy. Look at where we are coming from, a reflection on Micah chapter 6. "He has shown you, O man, what the Lord requires from you," how He wants you to live. What's the first thing? To do justly. What's the next thing? To love mercy. Those scriptures, are they not explaining themselves? He said, "What does God require from you?" What does He require? What is God looking for? It's not about sacrifice. It's not about sacrifice. The first thing to God is not service, it is correct living. It's not service. We made the statement two weeks ago: God is more interested in the life of the laborer than in the labor. He's more interested in their life, the life of the laborer, how they are living, than the sacrifice that they are offering. So you see the Pharisees, they are bringing tithes, they are bringing offering, they are bringing all of that. And Jesus said, what did He say to them? "Woe to you." Why? Because the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination unto God. They are bringing the tithe, they are bringing the offering, as so many people today. You sing in the choir, you minister to people, you are a discipler, you are a preacher, you are a singer, you are this, but you have neglected some very weightier things, the weightier matters of the law. And what is that? You must be just. Owe no man nothing. Live a just life. Be sure you give honor to whom honor is due, you give tribute to whom tribute is due, you give love to whom love is due, you give forgiveness to whom forgiveness is due. Owe no man nothing. Be just in all your ways. And then what's the next thing? Mercy. Be merciful. These are the weightier things. These are the real things. These are the weightier things about the law. He said, "This you ought to do, and you ought not to have left the others undone." So there is nothing wrong doing that. But let us be sure our life is in a balance. Our life is in a balance. So, we move on to Micah chapter 6, verse 8. "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" Today we want to look at this matter of walking humbly with the Lord. The first thing we want to do in looking at it is to look at various renderings from different translations of that statement, "to walk humbly with your God." Can we try different translations first? Let's see different renderings from different translations. NIV says, "to walk humbly with your God." Yes, let's see other renderings. You tell us the translation that you are reading. The Message: "Don't take yourself too seriously—take God seriously." So, one way to look at walking humbly with God is not taking yourself too seriously, take God seriously. Let's see other renderings before we begin to expand the scripture. That's the Message. Yes? Amplified: "And to walk humbly with your God [setting aside any overblown sense of importance or self-righteousness]." I believe the matter is coming out gradually. Is it not coming out? You know, sometimes when you look at different renderings of the Bible, it helps you to grasp some things better. So, to walk humbly with God is not taking yourself too serious, not making yourself the serious matter. God is the serious thing. Somebody was so much anxious about his life one day as a Christian, and one day I just asked him... I don't know what—and since that day it became a message to me myself. It's a two-edged sword. I think the Lord first spoke that word to me somewhere before I said it to that person. I can't remember too well now. But I just told the person, I said, "The shepherd and the sheep, who have more stake over the sheep?" I said, "Why are you so anxious about you not failing God? God should be more concerned with you not failing Him." It just became a light for the person. I said, "God has more stake over your life than you have a stake over your life." I said, "And that God said be anxious about nothing. So this your anxiety is not godly, it's not scriptural. The person who has the stake says be anxious about nothing." So this one, "I hope I won't fail God, I hope I will get to heaven," I said this thing is not biblical. It's not correct. It's not spiritual. It's not a sign of being righteous. It's ungodliness. And so we are talking about not taking yourself too seriously, seeing that God is at the center of it all. Humility is seeing that God is the one at the center of it all, not making yourself the serious thing. You know what I just remembered? Hallelujah. Please, there is nothing wrong, it all depends on how God is with every man, the measure... I'm going to show that very soon. But there is nothing wrong if people say they are founders of a particular ministry and all of that. But just that one day I was just reflecting, and suddenly I just began to have this understanding that if you give the driver your car to drive to deliver a message or to do something, does the car become that of the driver? Even though he sits and drives and does all of that, it's still the owner's. He's just running an errand. And then the matter just ran down to the matter of the vision, that we are the workmanship of God created in Christ unto every good work He has prepared. So the work is even His work. I said, "So when did it become my own?" He prepared them. So I began to ask myself, "I found the work, or I was found to come and do the work?" Do you get the point I'm trying to bring? And suddenly the matter of calling yourself a founder... You know, I became so afraid. I became so afraid. That is why I said that. It does not mean that the person is arrogant, please. I'm only talking about how God deals with us, the measure of faith. We'll soon see that about what my wife just read. So, number one is not taking yourself too seriously. You are not the one at the center of the thing. God is the one at the center of it. so when you see them happening, don't take yourself... don't put yourself at the center. You are not the one at the center. God is at the center of it. Number two, it says this sense of importance, an overblown sense of importance and righteousness. Sense of righteousness, sense of importance, this overblown thing. So how do we know when it is overblown? As we are going on, we will be getting it. Any other translation? We are still comparing translations. Good News: "And to live in humble fellowship with our God." So, walking humbly is being in humble fellowship. We are trying to expand that fellowship. Any other translation? [Sukomi] Amplified translation said, "more humbly with your God." [Speaker 1] "More humbly with your God." Okay. Another translation said, "humbly with your God." So, the common rendering is the use of the same word. [Speaker 2] Yoruba Bible: "Ki o rin ni irele pelu Olorun re." [Speaker 1] "Ki o rin ni irele pelu Olorun re." Some Yoruba people are also laughing, as if they are not Yoruba people. We should not read Yoruba Bible again. All right. "Ki o rin ni irele pelu Olorun re." Now, we are trying to expand this matter of walking humbly with your God. And I want us to begin... you see, we will look at how God has dealt with people and what the Lord said, then we'll now be able to come to understanding of this. But I think that the Message Bible and the Amplified have given us a key into the direction that we are going. I believe that. So an example will just help us to expand that a little further. Now, when you look at Romans chapter 12, Apostle Paul was showing something very, very important for us by the leading of the Holy Spirit. That is Romans chapter 12, from verse 3. "For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then use it in proportion to your faith." You see, Apostle Paul was addressing something very clear in that place. What is he addressing? If we want to make it very clear, it's to relate it to what he said, the body. For example, the eye. Our eyes cannot relate with pepper, but our hands can do. Do you get it? The reason why the hand will relate with pepper is because of the grace that was given to it and the work that it was supposed to do. Are you getting it? And that is why sometimes it is very important not to be unnecessarily critical about people in respect to how God is dealing with you. Am I very clear? Not unnecessarily critical about people, because we are called to different things. We are called for different purposes. That you don't understand somebody, you don't understand something, does not mean you should speak evil about it. It is because they did not understand Jesus, that was why they killed Him. Are you aware? They thought they were doing something to God, but unfortunately, they were not doing something for God, they were doing something against God. So it is important first to know that in our walk with God, we are differently gifted. We are differently talented. We have different gifts. And as a result, God deals with us differently. There are captains over thousands, there are captains over fifty, there are captains over ten. You understand this. We are in different measures of grace. However, the reason why he says every man... why we are different, it is important however for all of us to realize that we are members of what? One body. That is, actually, no matter how gifted or graced you are, if you stand alone, you will die. Once you remove a member from the body, it will die. So any operation in your life that wants to make you feel "I alone know it all, I alone understand everything, only me can be correct," is dangerous. It's a dangerous tendency. Tendencies that make you to feel away with the brethren, "I know what I'm doing," be careful. Be careful. The best way to slaughter a man is to isolate him. Be careful about operations in your life that make you want to separate yourself, particularly from accountable figures. Something making you say "Don't let them know, they don't..." I'm handling a case presently, it is after the person got into trouble that he now remembered that there was somebody that he had been discussing with. He now called that person, said "I regret that I did not discuss with you at the beginning." Now, what am I trying to say? Number one, humility makes us to know that we know in part and we understand in part. Humility makes us to know, we're talking about humility before the Lord, that we know in part, we understand in part. There is nobody who alone knows all of God. We all know in part, we all understand in part. There is no matter how much of God you know that you cannot still be blessed by the body of Christ. There is no matter how much of God you know, you only still know in part and you still understand in part. It is important. Humility helps you to know that. I'm taking it from how the Bible began to speak about this thing. Number two, humility helps you to know, it helps you to know, that no matter how gifted or graced you are, you are just a part of the whole. You are not the whole. Humility helps you to know that we know in part, we understand in part. There is nobody that is the custodian of God. So no matter how much you know, you can still be blessed by the body of Christ. There is still something you can learn from somebody. If humility will make you when you get in... "what does he want to say? What does he want to say about faith? What new thing does he want to say about marriage?" Because you are marriage minister. "What does he want to say again about wisdom? God has taught me about wisdom." Be careful with those tendencies. Be careful with them. They are arrogance. They are thinking above the board. He says we are of different parts. So no matter—let me use it physically—no matter how good an eye can see, one nose is still better to breathe with. You can't breathe with the eye. You can only be good at seeing, you cannot do the work of breathing. That's the point the Bible is making. So, and that is why we must learn—the Bible says we must learn to submit to one another in what? In the fear of God. We must learn how to submit to one another. We should avoid this feeling of superiority complex by the reason of abundance of revelation, abundance of teaching, abundance of inspiration that the Lord will give you, abundance of insight you might be given. You must learn to submit. You must learn to submit to the ordinances of man. You must learn to respect. You must learn... it is something that must be in your life. Because sometimes, your climax in a particular dimension is just the foundation of somebody else. Mark my words. Your climax in a particular dimension is just the foundation of somebody else. Don't forget, we are in measures. We're talking about walking humbly before our God. I just want to expand some things in the New Testament, then I will now go to some biblical examples in scriptures, both in the old and in the new. So, you see the Apostle Paul speaking to us in respect to our gift, our grace and our calling, that we should remember that we are just a part of a whole. No part makes the whole, and no part that is separated from the whole can stand alone. It is very, very important for you to see the blessedness of being in fellowship, not avoiding the assembly of one another. Connect with people, connect with that, relate, be humble, learn to know that you are just a part of a whole. You are just a part of the whole and you also know in part. It's a very, very important thing in your work with God. So when you see a man whose sense of grace, whose sense of revelations, whose sense of insight, whose sense of understanding of the things of God make him to see himself as the whole and not a part of the whole, make him to feel that he does not understand in part, that he knows all of God, then it becomes an overblown sense of importance. We should work to know who we are. We are children of God, we pride ourselves in that. You should be able to know, you should be able to know that by the grace of God, God has made me a teacher of the word of God. You should be able to know who you are under God. That is not arrogance. It's not arrogance to be able to know who you are. The eye cannot say "I'm the leg." The eye should be able to say "I'm the eye." If you cannot say who you are in the things of God, please, where are you graced? What do you think God has helped you to know? "I'm just a brother, nothing." That is not humility. It is ignorance. It's ignorance. The eye knows it's the eye, and that is why it will not go near pepper. The hand knows it's the hand, and that is why it can work with pepper. Everyone should be able to know who you are, because if you don't know what you stand for, then you will fall for anything. But it becomes putting yourself at the center of it all when you don't realize that despite who you are and what you know, you only know in part and you are a part of a whole. The next scripture I want to point us to, let's go to the book of John. The gospel according to John. John chapter 1, I want to read from verse 19. "Now this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, 'I am not the Christ.' They asked him, 'Then who are you? Are you Elijah?' He said, 'I am not.' 'Are you the Prophet?' He answered, 'No.' Finally they said, 'Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?' John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet..." May you know the scripture that is written of you. May you understand the scripture that carries your destiny message in the name of Jesus Christ. There is a scripture that is written concerning you. John replied, "I am the voice." Where is this man quoting from? Isaiah chapter 40. The man has discovered what? His scroll in the scripture. Have you discovered your scroll? That is the real beginning of humility before the Lord. "This is who I am. This is what God is making me." Recognizing what God is making out of you and standing within that place. The eye can never be the nose, cannot be the leg, cannot be the hand. You can't be the jack of all trade. You learn to submit. When it comes to some things, you submit to other men. When it comes to this, you give credit to others because you are not made in that direction. With a heart ready to learn, knowing that that function, everything the hand is doing is not for the sake of the hand, it's for the sake of the body. Does the eye see for itself? Who are they seeing for? The body. Nobody is gifted for himself, he's gifted for the body. So the gift in the life of that your brother is for who? It's for you. Why are you so arrogant that you are not receiving the grace that is in his life? That thing in his life is for your sake. And I keep telling people, as glorious as the sun is, it cannot light stove. Even the most insignificant grace has their place in our lives. All matches can do is "piii." Say "it's not as bright as the sun," but tell sun to come and light stove. That's why you know that that small thing... may God help us not to ignore people. May God help us not to despise people. It's something we must learn as people of God. Don't despise people. Don't look down on people. Don't because of what God is doing in your life begin to feel that others are ignoramus. We need to be careful. I'm talking about humility. At a point, the disciples came to Him, "Master, master, master, we saw some stupid people. They are using your name to be doing something and they didn't join our group." Jesus said, "He that is not against me is for me." That they are not in our group, there is no need for us to fight them. Some of us have this mentality: if they are not in your group, then they are not going anywhere. It's arrogance. We are the one that have the custodian. Who can have the custodian of God? Let us learn... these are important about walking with the Lord. Sectarian spirit. If they are not here, what stupid thing are they doing? We are the one. But I'm saying all of this begins from: have you discovered the scroll that is written concerning you? Where is your scroll? People say "Young man, have you discovered your scroll?" Say "Sir, which one is my scroll?" Say "it's like you have not started." What is God telling you about your life, what He's making out of you, that is written in this scroll? We find God in this scroll. Something is written concerning you here. Jesus our Master found His own. John found His own. There is something that is written concerning you here. He said, "In the scroll something is written concerning me." There is a word of God that has gone ahead of your life and you must locate that word. You must locate it. Locate your own word so that you can have direction for your life. John answered them, "I am not Christ, I am not the Messiah, I am not the prophet, I am not Elijah. If you want to know who I am, I know what is written concerning me. I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord.'" How does that sound? You are voice. What is voice? But that is who he is. That is who he is. He was able to tell them who he is. Now when you look further into that scripture, verse 24. "Now some Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, 'Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ...?'" Hallelujah. You know what I'm trying to make you understand, brethren? Your generation will ask you question. Your generation will want to confuse you. Your generation will want to mislead you. Your generation will want to misdirect you. But you must know where you are going. You must know where you are going. You remember the young prophet? Remember the young prophet and the old prophet? He was told "go, prophesy, then go by that way, don't return by that way." That was what? The scroll that was written concerning him. And he went to the place, he made the prophecy. "O altar, O altar, a child will be born in the house of David, his name shall be this, he's going to do this, he's going to do that," and all of that was said. And immediately the sign happened, the altar was broken and the sign was given immediately. And he continued in the scroll that was written concerning him and it was cool. And then a prophet came to him. "Oh, young prophet, cool down, cool down. This your zeal is not correct." I'm talking about walking humbly before... why you must know who you are. So that sometimes when you say, "With all humility sir, I will not be able to go this direction," sometimes it is not arrogance. It is walking humbly before the Lord. Are you understanding me? The other prophet came and said, "You see, you don't understand. There is a higher revelation more than your dimension. It's going at a frequency that is not your frequency. It's going at a frequency of angel and angelic manifestation." You know the way men can come with all kinds of sweet words, high-sounding words of vanity. Be careful of men that are clouds without rain and are wells without waters. And then he came with all kinds of... I don't know how he was able to bamboozle that man. I'm just giving some element of how you can bring some of this word. There is a new dimension in the angelic dimension that come with a manifestation in the angelic spirit and it just come, a manifestation that is beyond just hearing a word, in angelic form manifesting with the cherubims and the seraphims and they are coming in a dimension that is different and higher than where you are coming from. I don't know how he was able to bamboozle that young prophet. I don't know how he did it. But I'm only talking of men that come with high-sounding words of vanity. And then he said, "You see, you need to cool down. Now, you are going to come back with me, we are going to dine together, and then you are going to go back. There is nothing wrong about that." And I just see the man quote, he said, "Laborer is worthy of his wage." Is he not a laborer? Is he not worthy of his wage? "How can you just pass through this place? The place of assignment is the place of honor. It's the place of eating, it's the place of getting, it's the place of blessing. You must be blessed here." And then the man settled down to eat. And as he settled down to eat, he was still eating when the word of God came to the same old prophet. "Sorry man of God, you ought not to return by the way you went. Because you have disobeyed... you see, you have left your scroll. You are no more walking humbly before the Lord. You have left your place. You have left what He has told you. You have left the place. The mark is to be in that place. Sorry, as you are going now, you will not arrive safely. You will be killed by a lion and all of that." The same man. And then that happened exactly as he said. Then they saw the prophet and that same prophet went to carry him and bury him. He thought he was walking in humility, but that was arrogance before the Lord. I don't know whether you understand what I'm trying to... that's why I'm trying to talk about walking humbly before the Lord. And I'm trying to make it very clear to us. I want to make it very, very clear. So that humility is not "yes, yes" to everything. I hope you're understanding me. It's not about that. I'm trying to make it very clear according to the scripture. It's not also about "no, no, no" to all things. No, it's not about that. It's about something. It's about knowing who you are. It's about standing in that place. It's about understanding that you are a part of a whole. It's about agreeing that you know in part. But it's about also knowing who you are. It's about knowing your commission. It's about knowing that as eye you cannot play with pepper. It's about knowing that as nose, you cannot put pepper inside there and still be normal. It's about knowing why the hand can be doing with that. He said, "You see, all things are lawful but it's not helpful for me." Are you understanding me? "It's not helpful for me. If I get into these things, I will destroy myself. I can't get into this because that is not my area. This is where I stand." And that is why the Bible says all things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. So, you see what John did here. Said "Why then do you baptize if you are not Christ? I baptize with water," John replied, "but among you stand one whom you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I'm not worthy to untie. This all happened at Bethany." Now look at something again in the next verse, verse 29. "The next day, John saw Jesus coming towards him and said, 'Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I meant when I said, "A man who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me." I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that He might be revealed to Israel.' Then John gave this testimony: 'I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, "The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain, He will baptize with the Holy Spirit." I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.'" Look at what happened though. The next day, John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God." When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Now, Jesus saw them following and asked, they said "Rabbi, which means teacher, where are you staying? Come," he replied, "so you will see." So they went and saw where he was staying and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour. Now, on and on, what I'm trying to make you see was that Jesus began to increase. And when they got to a point in the chapter 2, when they got to a point, they were telling John that, "Don't you notice that this man is increasing more than you?" And he said "No man can receive anything except it's given to him from above. He must increase while I must decrease." Why was this man not envious? It's his mandate. So when you come before somebody and the person is rising more than you, the reason why you are trying to suppress him and kill him and you begin to fight everything is because you don't even know who you are. It is His time. He must increase, me I must decrease. I'm just trying to show you dimensions about walking in humility before the Lord. So that sometimes when some people seem to go higher than you, it doesn't mean that you don't know how to do ministry. It's God who gave them grace to do it. You begin to look for charms, you begin to look for [Yoruba word], you begin to look for something. "Ah, this boy that just started, hey, he has become everywhere. Me that have been there for the past 17 years. In fact, I remember when I discipled him, I was the one that baptized him." You because you don't have your own direction. I'm talking about humility. Humility before the Lord that comes with having direction for one's life. Now, the other one I want to show you—oh, it's already 6:30, but let me just quickly get to that. I want to get to that, we may not finish that. I want to show you something Acts of the Apostles about humility. One, you must there's a place of knowing what is written concerning you. Look at something in Acts. Acts of the Apostles. Just for us to see, just to compare some things and relate them one to another. I believe you are familiar with the story of Peter and John healing the man at the beautiful gate. You are familiar with that story now. Let's trace some of the reading. Let's go to chapter 3, let's go to around verse 9. Or, because after the man... from verse 8, he said, "He jumped up on his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple, walking and jumping and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the man who used to be... who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. While the beggar held onto Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. When Peter saw this, he said to them, 'Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned Him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead. We are the witnesses of this. By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through Him that has given this man complete healing, that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.'" Can you follow what is going on here? Please, what is going on here? The people ran to them. But do you notice the spirit of "I must decrease, He must increase"? There was no spirit of self-marketing. There was no spirit of self-promotion. Are you seeing that? They did not market themselves. They did not promote themselves. You notice they did not attach, they did not put themselves at the center of it all, where we are coming from, those translations we read. "Lose, don't see yourself as the most important things. Place the importance on God." They removed themselves from the center of the scene and brought Jesus to where? To the center. I'm showing you humility. They were able to make it clear, and it was made clear in their statement that, "See, we are not the Messiah. We are not the Savior. We are not the Healer." What are they doing? They are walking humbly according to what is written concerning them. What did they call themselves? "Awa la jeri, we are witnesses." That's why somebody was saying one day—that's why I said it depends on how God is dealing with us—he said while apostleship is a grace and a gift, it's not a title. He said Paul will say, "I, a servant of Jesus Christ, an apostle of Jesus." Paul will not say, "I, Apostle Paul." He said that is why he will not call himself an apostle, he will call himself a servant of Jesus Christ even though he has an apostolic gift. You see, God deals with us differently. He said apostleship is not a title. It's a grace, it's a call, but it's not a title. That's how God has dealt with him in his own measure. What I'm trying to bring out for us is that you notice that these people did not market themselves. They didn't bring themselves to the center. They turned the direction. They turned it back. They showed where it was coming from. They were able to make them see that we are mere channel, we are not the source. They didn't cover Jesus up. They were not discipling men for themselves. They were not raising a kingdom for themselves. They were not cutting people off from Jesus and putting themselves in the forefront. They were saying, "We are the channel to this person. It's flowing from here and we are the channel. We are channels of this person and we are flowing to you." Humility before the Lord. Humility before the Lord. These are very, very important things for us to think about. They are very important things for us to think about. We'll pick this matter from here next week by God's grace. We are looking at walking humbly before the Lord. Walking humbly is so important. If you must last, if you must last, God must take you through the path of humility. You remember the Lord Jesus said, "I am meek and lowly in heart." You know who He was, you know who He is. But you remember, He will tell you, "I am meek." Bible says let this mind be in you which is in Christ. Humility is something that if you must be preserved, it's something God must wrought in you. Let's go ahead to pray this evening. I want to thank my wife for calling my attention that, "Mr. Man, you are going too far beyond time. You need to round up." Let's close for today. I don't know what I have been able to tell you. As a young man, do you know the scroll that is written concerning you? You know your scroll? Have you discovered your path? Do you have direction in God? Do you know your giftings and your calling? Do you know where you stand? We must appreciate all of this. And as you have known where you stand, you have known all of this, you realize that you are just a part of a whole, and you also know in part. Beyond all of that, be careful about self-marketing. Be careful about self-promotion. Be careful about discipling men and raising men for yourself. Be careful about disconnecting men from Jesus and connecting them to yourself. Be careful to connect men directly to Jesus. Let them see you as a channel. Let them know that Jesus is the ultimate that they need and not you. Let them realize that Jesus is the ultimate they need. I'm talking about humility. Talk to the Lord this evening. Pray and ask the Lord for help. Pray and ask the Lord. Talk to the Lord, talk to the Lord. Funmi, can you please come and close this meeting? [Funmi] Awesome God, we bow before your throne this evening. Thank you, Lord, for your word. Lord, we ask that in your mercy, you deliver us from every pride in whatever form that it comes, in whatever form that it has taken. We ask, Lord, that the strongholds of pride in our hearts will be melted down today in the name of Jesus. Lord, all those self-aggrandizement, all those seeming spiritual humility that is a cover-up for pride, I ask, Lord, that you unmask them, and you, Lord, will cause them to melt down in us in the name of Jesus. Lord, we are weak before you this evening. We just submit to you and we ask, Lord, that you will clothe us with humility. You will teach us humility. You will baptize us with humility in the name of Jesus. That Lord, it will be the testimony of our lives from now henceforth that we walk before you in humble fellowship in the name of Jesus. Lord, we desire preservation. We have discovered this evening that humility is the preservative for men. Humility is how God preserves his own vessels. Lord, we pray and we ask that Lord, anything that will rid us of humility, you will cut it off from us, Lord. Don't allow us to lose humility, that we may be preserved, that we may run this race and run it to the end, and run it and win in the name of Jesus. Help us to walk humbly with you, oh God, in the name of Jesus. Thank you for your son that you have used to speak to us this evening. We ask, Lord, that your grace upon him will not dwindle in the name of Jesus. But that, Lord, the extent of preservation upon his life will continue to increase in the name of Jesus. Thank you for Family Tent Ministry. Oh Lord, we ask that your blessing will continually be upon it in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's share the grace in fellowship. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forevermore. Amen. [Outro Voice] 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; Adolescents 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, Ilowe community, opposite Very Joy filling station, along Ijaye 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.