Remain Focused on the Lord

[Song playing] Church services and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly home. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. We thank our God again for another time in His presence, our discipleship class to reflect on the scriptures, to look at the ethics and the teachings of our Lord Jesus, and particularly what we have been looking at. Last week, our brother spoke on Gehazi, an example of a man who unfortunately missed out on eternal purpose. I just want us to go to the concluding part of what was raised last week, 2 Kings 5. Let's see the concluding part of what was raised last week as we try to navigate to what we want to do, look at today. When we were concluding last week, our brother laid emphasis on the matter of is it time? Is it time? What are you doing with this time? What are you laying emphasis on as at this time? We saw 2 Kings 5, the concluding part. 2 Kings 5:24: When he came to the citadel, he took them from their hand, that's Gehazi, and stored them. Then he let the men go and they departed. But he went in and stood before his master. Elisha said to him, "Where did you go, Gehazi?" And he said, "Your servant did not go anywhere." Then he said, "Did not my heart go when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you? It is the time. They have always been receiving things from different people to bring to the prophet and they share. But this particular time, it's not a time to collect. This time was a time to let go. Is it time to receive money, clothing, olive groves, vineyards, sheep, oxen, and male and female servants? Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and your descendants forever." And he left his presence leprous as white as snow. As our brother told us last week, who was supposed to take over from Elisha? Elisha took over from Elijah. Gehazi was to take over from Elisha. But at the point of death of Elisha, we notice that even his bones were still raising the dead because it wasn't transferred to somebody else. Two things that we are taking from last week and we are linking to what we want to do today. Our topic today is remain focused on the Lord. Remain focused on the Lord. Remain focused on the Lord. And the two things that I'm bringing out from last week's illustration is, number one, understanding time. For any man to remain focused, he must understand time. If you must remain focused on what you should focus on, then you must understand time. Another thing that is very important again, taken from last week, is that Gehazi lost focus. What was he focusing on? He was focusing on gain. He was focusing on gain, which is material, which is earthly. But I'm telling you today, remain focused on who? On the Lord. Remaining focused, this evening is actually a burden that I want to share with you. It's a burden, even though we'll go through scriptures one after the other. But it's a burden that the Lord keep calling my attention to this matter. Son, you need to understand the time. So, when our brother was speaking last week and he was saying, is it the time? Is it the time? Something was just echoing in my spirit about the matter of understanding time. Understanding time. And what is it that we want to do today? As we pray, I trust that the Lord will minister to our hearts in the name of Jesus Christ. Let's have a short prayer. Our Father, we are grateful. We thank You for Your mercies. We thank You for Your love. We thank You for all who You are. We thank You for all that You are. Lord our God, the scripture says, therefore, we must remain steadfast, unshakeable, unmovable, always abounding in the works of the Lord, for as much as we know that our labor in the Lord is not in vain. Our Father, as we interact together this evening, reflecting on scripture on the matter of remaining focused on the Lord, understanding the time, understanding that the Lord should be the focus, particularly at a time like this, understanding that there is serious consequence, there are serious consequences for those who look back. Lot's wife looked back, and we knew what happened. And You warned us some few weeks ago, we should not look back. The matter of focus keep repeating itself, even though in different shades, different shades, different coming in different ways. But one burden that keep pressing and pressing is we must be careful about what we are focusing on. We must be careful not to be like other children of Israel, but to be like children of Issachar who understand the time to know what Israel ought to do. Lord, as we look at what we ought to do, what we ought to realize this evening, as we look at the matter of focusing on the Lord, Lord, I just pray meet each and every one of us, our brethren who are joining us on Telegram, our brethren who are joining us on Mixlr, we who are here physically. Lord, meet each and every one of us at our various points of need. Thank You, Eternal Father. Blessed be Your holy name, our God. In Jesus' name we pray. I could take you to the book of Daniel, Daniel. The book of Daniel, that is something the Lord has been pointing my attention to over and over and over and over again, and it will be good that we look at it together. This dream of Nebuchadnezzar and what happened in the dream. Daniel 2. It's relatively a long reading, but we will try and skip some of the verses. It's a familiar reading. Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Daniel 2:1, in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams and his spirit was troubled that his sleep left him. What I quickly want to say from this place, because different burdens came as I was looking through this matter of being focused on the Lord. And the first thing I want you to quickly pray for yourself this evening, it was a prayer I prayed as this burden was coming. Nebuchadnezzar could not sleep. Sleep means what? Why do we sleep? To rest. Sleep talk about comfort. Am I correct? It's about comfort. It's about rest. But he could not sleep. Why? Because his spirit was troubled. His comfort was taken away. I want you to pray that God take me beyond my comfort zone. Lord, do something within me that will take me beyond my comfort zone and focus me on the Lord. Lord, stir up something in me. Set my heart ablaze for Your name. Set my heart on fire. Take me beyond my comfort zone. Take me beyond my place of relaxation. The hymn writer said, "Christian, seek not yet repose, cast your dream of ease away, thou art in the midst of foes, watch and pray." Can you tell the Lord that Lord, stir up something within me that will keep me watching, that will keep me praying. Lord, stir up, oh God, a burden within me, a burden of eternity, a burden of that which is to come, a burden of what is to come, a burden of what I ought to do. Gehazi was wrongly burdened. Lot's wife was wrongly bothered. They were bothered about what they should not be bothered about and they lose focus. Can you pray this evening, Lord, stir up something within me that what is bothering You may be what is bothering me? Lord, stir up a burden that it will come to pass that my sleep, my rest, my carelessness, my carefreeness, my ease, my nonchalant attitude, my not being vigilant, my not being watchful, my not being alert may be taken away from me. The Bible says those that sleep, sleep in the night, but we are of the day, we must not sleep. We are of the day. We must not sleep. We must be alert. We must be alert. Alert. Alert. Alert. Alert. Alert. Precious Father, thank You. Blessed be Your holy name, our God, in the name of Jesus. May your sleep be taken away. May you be alert and focused, awake unto what God is doing, in the name of Jesus Christ. So, his sleep that he could not sleep, then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dream. So they came and they stood before the king. And the king said to them, "I had a dream and my spirit is anxious to know the dream." Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, "Oh king, live forever. Tell your servant the dream and we will give the interpretation." The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, "My decision is firm. My decision is firm. If you do not make known the dream to me and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, your houses shall be made an ash heap. However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honors. Therefore, tell the dream and its interpretation." They answered again and said, "Let the king tell his servant the dream and we will give you the interpretation." The king answered and said, "I know for certain that you will gain time because you see that my decision is firm. If you do not make known the dream to me, there is only one decree for you, for you have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the time has changed. Therefore, tell me the dream and I shall know that you can give me its interpretation." The Chaldeans answered the king and said, "There is not a man on earth who can tell the king's matter. Therefore, no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician or astrologer or Chaldean. It is a difficult thing that the king requests. There is no other who can tell it to the king, except the gods whose dwelling is not with the flesh." For this reason, the king was angry and furious and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. So the decree went out and they began killing the wise men and they sought Daniel and his companions to kill them. Daniel too was among the wise men, and his companions, they have been appointed already to be among the wise men. The scripture now says then, with counsel and wisdom, Daniel answered Arioch, the captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of the king. He answered and said to Arioch, the king's captain, "Why is the decree from the king so urgent?" Then Arioch made the vision known to Daniel. So Daniel went in and asked the king to give time that he might tell the king interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house and made decisions known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So that Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said, "Blessed be the name of God forever, for wisdom and might are His. He changes times and seasons." He was responding to God having given him the dream and the interpretation. And so we move quickly to verse 24. Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him, "Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon. Take me before the king and I will tell the king the interpretation." Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king and said to him, "I have found a man of the captives of Judah who make known to the king the interpretation." Then the king said to Daniel whose name was Belteshazzar, "Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation?" Daniel answered in the presence of the king and said, "The secret which the king has commanded, has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets and He has made known to the king what will be in latter days. Your dream and the vision of your head upon your bed, these are." There's another prayer you are going to pray in that place. Lord, take me beyond what the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, take me beyond what they can do. Lord, oh God, cause me to share intimacy with You that will take me beyond what men say. The Bible says with God, nothing shall be impossible. They have said it is not possible. But there is a man here that has power with God. There is a man here who shares intimacy with God. There is a man here who knows the place of God. There is a man here who understands the secret place of God. Can you pray to the Lord this evening, Lord, I don't just want to be a church member. I don't just want to be in the fellowship. I want to be a man, I want to be that individual that shares such intimacy with You that Lord, with my life, the impossibilities become possible. What men say is not possible, what men say [Aramaic], these things they are not possible, oh Lord, may I be a light in darkness. May I be an answer to prayer. May I be a light to my generation. May I be a light to my family. May I be a light to my children. May I be a light to my nation. May I be a light to my society. Where men don't know what to do, where men are confused, may my life be an answer. Daniel was an answer. He was an answer. I'm showing you what characterizes men that are focused. Men who can give solution. Men who can speak life in the face of death. Lord God, Lord God, Lord God, men have lived. These men, they are men of like passion. They are not spirit. Lord God, Lord God, set my heart ablaze. Lord God, lift me up. Lord God, make me stand. Lord lift me up a higher place, a higher ground, a higher ground, a higher ground, where Lord, take me beyond where doubts and fear dismay. Daniel was beyond just all of these place. People were uncertain. People were afraid. They don't know what to say. They don't know how to go about it. But there was a man that have gone beyond the position of fear and doubt. He said, "Take me to the king." Take me to where men are running from. Take me to where men are afraid. Take me to that point. I will give an answer. But Daniel said the God of heaven is giving an answer. It was because he shared intimacy with God. Lord God Almighty, a life with God, a life with God, not just in fellowship. Lord, make me a man of God, a woman of God, a person of God, a brother of God, a sister of God, that person that shared intimacy with God. Thank You Father. Blessed be Your holy name, our God, in the name of Jesus. Let's move on again. Let's move on. Let's move on. Don't forget what we are looking at. Stay focused on the Lord. I've told you the first one about staying focused. The first one is a prayer. You must beg the Lord to take your sleep from you. Lord, those things that makes me careless, those things that makes me care free, those things that make me Lord, do something within me, do something within me that will cause me to become burdened with the things that are bothering God. What begin to bother me become what is bothering God. Number two, I'm showing you some things about staying focused on the Lord. There is a place to beg the Lord again, that Lord God Almighty, that I may share intimacy with You, real intimacy. Men who stay focused, they are not only men of burden, they are not only men of passion, they are also men of shared intimacy with God. If you don't share that intimacy with God, if you are not different from the astrologers, from the magicians, from the general people, you will not be different from them. You will fear what they fear. You will doubt what they doubt. You will do what they do. But there was a Daniel that was not a man of that class. Let be a man in the class of the Lord. May I share intimacy with God, in the name of Jesus Christ. So Daniel began to talk about the dream. And this is where I will also skip some verses again to the place that I'm going because I needed to buy time. I want to make sure I complete this burden with you this evening, so that we can take another topic next week. Now Daniel began to speak. And Daniel said, from verse 31, he said, "You, oh king, were watching and behold, a great image whose splendor was excellent stood before you and its form was awesome. This image head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly iron, partly clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. You, oh king, are a king of kings, for the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory. And wherever the children of men dwell or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You are this head of gold." What I want you to pick from this passage, please note it very well. Note something very well. He said, "He has given them into your hand." What I want you to see very practically, when men tell you that riches, kingdom, power, material abundance is something that God have singled out for you in Christ, tell them they lie. Tell them they lie. Without Christ, men can get glory, power, honor from God. God gives them. He said God has given you, God gave it out. "But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours, then another, a third kingdom of bronze which shall rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, in as much as iron break in pieces and scatters everything. And like iron that crushes that kingdom, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. The iron will make it such that there will be nothing again about the bronze or about the gold, what will remain will just be about iron. The iron will crush such that there will be nothing again about the gold, about the bronze, it will just be of iron." He said, "Whereas you saw the feet and the toes partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided, yet the strength of iron shall be in it just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. And you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men, but they will not adhere to one another, iron and clay cannot gum together, is that not true? Is that not true? Just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of these kings, the kingdom of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people. It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it shall stand forever. In as much as you saw the stone was cut out of the mountain without hand and it break in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, the gold, the great God has made known to the king that which will come to pass after this. The dream is certain and the interpretation sure." Brethren, what am I trying to point to us this evening? What am I calling our attention to? Stay focused on the Lord. I've told you the first one about staying focused. The first one is a prayer. You must beg the Lord to take your sleep from you. Lord, those things that makes me careless, those things that makes me care free, those things that make me, do something within me, do something within me, that will cause me to become burdened with the things that are bothering God. What begin to bother me become what is bothering God. Number two, I'm showing you some things about staying focused on the Lord. There is a place to beg the Lord again that Lord God Almighty, that I may share intimacy with You, real intimacy. Men who stay focused, they are not only men of burden, they are not only men of passion, they are also men of shared intimacy with God. If you don't share that intimacy with God, if you are not different from the astrologers, from the magicians, from the general people, you will not be different from them. You will fear what they fear. You will doubt what they doubt. You will do what they do. But there was a Daniel that was not a man of that class. Let be a man in the class of the Lord. May I share intimacy with God in the name of Jesus Christ. So Daniel now began to speak and Daniel said, "You oh king, were watching and behold, a great image." Go back to the words of Daniel. Look at what he said when God gave him the interpretation of that dream. Look at Daniel 2:21. What do you see in 2:21? What did the Bible say? "He changes the times and the season." Don't forget what we are discussing. That two things about remaining focused is about understanding the time. And number two, be sure you are not focused on that which is material, be focused on that which is the Lord. Stay focused on the Lord. Remain focused on the Lord. Now what did Daniel say when God gave him all those interpretation? He said, "He changes times and season. He removes kings and set up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding." So everything about that kingdom, about that dream, is about what? The changing of what? Of time and of what? And of season. What I want to call your attention to very quickly, and I want your pure conscience to be stimulated about this, is that of course the head of gold is gone. Is that not true? Babylon is gone. The bronze is gone. Is that not true? That's the Medes and the Persian kingdom. It's gone. The place of silver, then the place of bronze, the Greek kingdom, it has come, it has gone. What the fourth one? The iron. Gold, silver, bronze, then the fourth kingdom which is the strongest of them all, strongest of them that will break everything into pieces. Which kingdom is that? That's the Roman kingdom. The Roman Empire. That was the kingdom that break and scatter and shattered until today. What you have left today is the remnant of that Roman Empire. It was the remnant of that Roman Empire, they are the ones that conquered the whole of Europe, the whole of all those places. They have to gain freedom from them. That's why when you take your English today, you say English is a universal language. But when you look at English, what do you notice in it? Many things you call English, they are not English. What are they? Greek and Latin. Latin is the official language of the Roman Empire. So what you are finding today is the remnant of what? The iron. The iron is the remnant of the iron, that's what you are seeing all around today. Remnant, everything, when you want talk about look at us in sociology, when you want talk about you say look the founding fathers of this thing, we have to go back to Latin and Greek. When you want talk about this one they say look it began with an ancient Greek philosopher. When you want talk about everything the remnant of the iron and clay remains till today. The remnant of the iron remains till today. But you notice it now talked about clay. Is that not true? It talks about clay. And what did the Bible say that the clay like? Talk about that which is weak, that which is vulnerable, that which is not strong. And what did they say about the clay? He said the iron and the clay, what will happen? There will be complete mixture. I don't know whether you are marking time, whether you are observing what is going on. But let me tell you in case you are not observing. You will notice globally, there's an increase running to and fro of men. Do you agree with me? Do you agree with me? Let's take our nation Nigeria. Is it the last two, three years, what the level of movement from this country? What is the level? Very low? Very low? What is it like? Very, very high. I may not be surprised if some people who are still seated here already collecting passport to go out. I will not be surprised. I hope you tell the point I'm making. If you look at the rate, look, things are not just happening for happening sake. What am I trying to make you see is that there is so much movement today of that which is weak, mixing with that which is strong. Are you understanding me? The other time, the British government, United Kingdom government, raised an announcement. What was their announcement? Teachers, it is your turn. We need teachers in United Kingdom. Nigeria can send in teachers. The other time again, it was medical experts move and today there is so much medical even now, you see most of our parents, they are trying to make the children study what? Nursing and social work. Do you notice that? Because health, health, health. What I'm trying to make you see, I'm talking about time. I'm talking about understanding time. I'm talking about don't think all of these things that you are seeing, they are just happening for happening sake. What is it telling you? That the clay and what? And what? And the iron. What are they doing? They are mixing together. Do you agree with me? And now we are working on what? How to transport men like fire. Do you know that the next thing now? Are you aware? When you can just press button, bam, you're in London. The way you transfer fire. That's the next thing you are working on. Check and you appear, bam, I'm in London, bam, I'm back in Nigeria. Hey. The way we move fire. Everything is mixing together. But iron will not mix. I tell people, no matter how you do it and do it and do it, white will remain white, black will remain blacks. He said iron and clay did not mix. If you think that they will be come mixed, no, it will remain a mixture. They will be together but it will just be a mixture, not a solution. But that is where we are. So the time is short. Brethren, it's very short. Why were they so? Because they thought they were the iron and clay mixed together. Is that not true? Is that not true? They thought everything was ending with them. They gave us example. Thank God that these things were written. Example of what should be our kind of orientation, our orientation. I was telling somebody yesterday, I said you are still busy fighting with your wife. You are not busy fighting for the kingdom. You are busy focusing on she did this, she did this, she did that. You are not busy focusing on the devil is doing this, the devil is doing that. I said bro, be reconciled with your wife and focus on better things, focus on better battles. There are better battles to fight than the fight of selfishness. There are better battles. There are more significant battles. The battle to understand the time. The battle not to allow the enemy to derail you. The battle not to fall into temptation. Look, let me tell you. First half, second half, as significant as they are, they are not as significant as injury time. If you don't know that we are in injury time, what is that injury time? Just a few minutes. And in that few minutes they will say first to score. They will have fought all their lives, three, three, three, three. Then first to score. And in two minutes somebody may just score and yet the battle is over. May our head be above water when the music stops, in the name of Jesus. Can you talk to the Lord in one minute? When the music stops, my head will be above the waters. My life will be aboveboard when the music stop. When the song is over. Lord, my head will be above the waters. My head will be above the waters. My head will be above the waters. My head will be above the waters. My head will be above the waters. My head will be above the waters, because the one who began the work, Lord You are able to finish it. I stay steadfast looking unto Jesus, looking unto Jesus, looking unto Jesus. I refuse to look at the storm. I refuse to look at the storm. I refuse to look at the storm. I will stay focus, looking unto Jesus, looking unto Jesus, looking unto Jesus. I will not sink. I will remain walking under water. I will remain walking under water on the troubles, on the challenges, the tribulation, the temptations of this life. I continue to walk on them, I continue to triumph over them, in the name of Jesus as I focus on my Lord, in the name of Jesus. Lord, I remain focus. By Thy grace we will. Thank You Father. Thank You Father. Let's move on, let's move on brethren. Let's move on brethren. He says those who have wife should be as though they had none. Look at your Bible, verse 29, "But this I say brethren, the time is short." The time is short. The time is short. Why were they so? Because they thought they were the iron and clay mixed together. Is that not true? Is that not true? They thought everything was ending with them. The time is short. Brethren, it's very short. Now because the time is short, so that from now on, even those who have wife should be as though they had none. You are saying where men, that's why I'm telling you, may God trouble your heart and take you from your comfort zone. May God make what is bothering God begin to bother you, so that I want to sleep, I want to rest, I want to this, I want to that. Why those things are good will not be carried away by them, by the sleep there I'm talking about, the sleep of death, the sleep of not being alert. You understand what I'm trying to say. The sleep of not being alert, not being watchful, you understand what I'm trying to say. Not being watchful, not being alert, not being on your guard. He say be vigilant, be sober, the devil, your enemy goes about seeking whom to devour. When the burden of God begin to bother you start staying alert, you start staying away, you start staying away, you start becoming watchful. No, this is not correct. Ah, what is this thing that my wife did that is making me want to break the marriage? Why can't I just forget this for the sake of Jesus? Can't this be set aside? You start focusing on Jesus. You are behaving as though you are not. You are focusing more on the interest of the Lord than on your personal interest. You are forgetting about this, you are letting some things go. The Lord is still saying, "Son, there are battles that you should not fight again. Let them go because there are better battles to fight. There are better battles. There are more significant battles. The battle to understand the time. The battle not to allow the enemy to derail you. The battle not to fall into temptation. Look, let me tell you." He said look, he said such will have trouble in the flesh, but I will spare you this. What is the trouble? That's why I tell people, people think that marriage, when people think about marriage, they just think about the pleasurable side. They don't think about the sacrifice that makes marriage to work, the self-denial that makes marriage to work. The reason why we are having all these problem everywhere today is that people enter into marriage focusing on the privileges. I'll now have children, oh somebody will wash my clothes, somebody will cook my food, somebody will now take care of me, when they say "Bring your CV, single or married," hallelujah, "Married." Those things they are not wrong. I'm not saying they are not things of joy. Are you understanding me? But you see the focus on the privileges blindfold men from the responsibilities. So when they get into it, when it comes to look, deny yourself, die to yourself, things will be going on, and it looks like I am cheated, I am this, the Lord says do not pay evil for evil, husband be not bitter, love your wife, wife submit in everything becomes [grumbling] look, I know nobody forced you into marriage. Marriage has trouble in the flesh. If because we don't talk to people about these things that people enter into marriage just thinking about the pleasurable side. People enter into marriage this month they are seeking divorce. Enter into marriage one month they talking about take is what is happening today. Am I exaggerating brethren? I'm not exaggerating. Marriage has trouble in the flesh. When he says flesh, it's not as if the trouble is negative, but you see, a average man is self-centered. Man is self-centered. Marriage is die to self for marriage to work. The same way you follow Jesus. If any man want to follow Me, let him do what? Let him deny himself, forget himself, lose sight of himself and his own interest. If need be dying, let him follow Me. Marriage, redemption and marriage is the same thing. That's why husband love your wife as Christ loved the church and wife submit to the husband as the church submit to Christ. That kind of denial. But when people enter into marriage, they remember themselves. You mean I don't have a right to this? You mean I don't have a right to that? I have a place in this place. Women have their right for this. Me, look I married you with my money. I know what I'm talking about. I'm the man in this place. People begin to remember themselves. I'm trying to talk about brethren remaining focused. You see that men who were thinking that look, we are the fifth position. They didn't know they were at the fourth. They gave us example. Thank God that these things were written. Example of what should be our kind of orientation, our orientation. I was telling somebody yesterday, I said you are still busy fighting with your wife. You are not busy fighting for the kingdom. You are busy focusing on she did this, she did this, she did that. You are not busy focusing on the devil is doing this, the devil is doing that. I said bro, be reconciled with your wife and focus on better things, focus on better battles. There are better battles to fight than the fight of selfishness. There are better battles. There are more significant battles. He says look, he says such will have trouble but I will spare you this. He said, "But this I say brethren, the time is short." The time is short. The time is short. Why were they so? Because they thought they were the iron and clay mixed together. Is that not true? Is that not true? They thought everything was ending with them. The time is short. Brethren, it's very short. I am telling you for of our own it is real. We are at the point where iron is mixing with clay. Blacks are mixing with white everything, you see Nigeria here, Ghana here, that there, everywhere mixture, everything is becoming one, there is a serious globalization movement. Do you agree with me? There is a serious who and now we are working on how to transport men like fire. Do you know that the next thing now? Are you aware? When you can just press button, bam, you're in London. The way you transfer fire. That's the next thing you are working on. Check and you appear, bam, I'm in London, bam, I'm back in Nigeria. Hey. The way we move fire. Everything is mixing together. But iron will not mix. I tell people, no matter how you do it and do it and do it, white will remain white, black will remain blacks. He said iron and clay did not mix. If you think that they will be come mixed, no, it will remain a mixture. They will be together but it will just be a mixture, not a solution. But that is where we are. So the time is short. Brethren, it's very short. I'm trying to say, brethren, is that beyond the bronze, beyond the silver, beyond the gold, beyond the silver, beyond the bronze, beyond the iron, beyond the mixture of the clay and the iron, what is going to happen? What is going to happen? There's going to be a rock. Am I correct? Am I correct? That will be what? Cut out. Why is it hit it at the feet and not at the head? Because the head is gone. You get it. It's not going to hit it at the point of Babylon. No. He changes time and season. So by the time it will be coming, where will it be coming to? Is the leg, because as at this time the head of gold would have gone, the silver would have gone, the bronze would have gone. Where will it come to hit? What will be remaining? It's talking about time and season. Time and season. What I'm trying to make you see, brethren, is that while men are getting engrossed, seriously engrossed with this speed, this movement, this mingling together, I want you to also know that you must understand that beyond the bronze, beyond the silver, beyond the gold, beyond the silver, beyond the bronze, beyond the iron, beyond the clay, there's going to be a kingdom. What I'm trying to say brethren is that be careful. Be careful not to be submerged by the present running to and fro. Be careful not to put all your hope and become so desperate about this running to and fro. Because very soon, look at what the scripture says. Look at what the scripture says. Look at where we ended that interpretation. He says, it will blow them away, that's where I want to get, that verse. Now it says, as you saw, no let me take it to, and in those days the king of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, and it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Where I really want to read is not that. Where he talked about the wind blow everything away that you will not find a trace of it again. Okay, it is in verse 35. He says look at it, verse 35, "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, the gold were crushed together and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found." That's what I'm trying to talk about. What I'm trying to talk about brethren, what I'm trying to make you understand, very soon all of this striving for this, for that, for this, to take, to have, to travel, to be in Ghana, to be in Congo, to be in UK, to be in US, to be in Nigeria, to be here, to be there, all of these things will not find a trace of them again. There will not be any trace. What will be left will be what? That kingdom that is cut out without hand. What am I trying to make you understand brethren, is that as we mingle, as we mingle, as we turn it over, as we mix with the world, let us be what? Be alert. Let us be watchful. Let us be focused that see, see, very soon our Lord, the final thing we are waiting for, please, four kingdom, four seasons they are gone. We are in the fifth season. In the fifth season. Gold is gone, bronze, silver is gone, bronze is gone, iron is gone. Where are we? Clay and iron. That is the fifth season. God changes times and season. Be aware that soon and sooner than some of us may be thinking, there's going to be a change again of season. And this change of season, unlike what all others were, this change of season is about a kingdom. Of course you understand what that means. New Testament gives us a better understanding. We know that kingdom now. What is that kingdom? What is that kingdom? The kingdom of the Lord. As at this time it may not be clear, but for today we know what that kingdom is. We know what it means when He says that a kingdom will come. It's talking about what? The coming of who? Of the Lord. It's talking about the coming of the Lord. And I want to draw your attention to the matter that we have been discussing, putting all of these things together. When the Lord was speaking to His generation and He said, "Like the days of Noah, remember Lot's wife." What was He speaking about? What was He speaking about? When He made the statement, "But remember Lot's wife." What was He speaking about? He was speaking about His coming. He was speaking about His coming. And He was simply telling us that look, for us to be able to live correctly, for us to be able to live uprightly, for us to be able to live godly life in this present world, we must be careful not to be wrongly preoccupied. What did I say? You must be careful not to be wrongly preoccupied. What led to Lot's wife missing it? She was preoccupied with what? With what? What we left behind. If God has said leave and move on. There are many things now the Lord is calling our attention to. And what is it that he's calling our attention to about this matter? I want to show you a similar thing, a very similar thing to this. Because I hope you know that there's nothing new under the sun. Are you aware? There's nothing new under the sun. Paul, the apostle, they thought that the end was their time. Later they now saw what? In latter time. They now spoke about the latter time. As at their own time, what was still in power as at the time of Paul? The iron was still on ground. They are not through the iron will still live. Iron and clay will come. They could not see that. Now when they did not see that and they thought everything will end with them, because I'm telling you there is no kingdom again to come. Four kingdoms have gone. There is no fifth kingdom. The fifth is where we are now. Iron and clay. Iron and clay, that's where we are right now. Iron and clay. Now look at what they said as a kind of example for us today. Look at what they said. 1 Corinthians 7. 1 Corinthians 7. Look at what they tell as something for us to learn from. Something for us to learn from. 1 Corinthians 7, please go there. Are you there? 1 Corinthians 7. Now look at what they said. I'll be reading from something that looks not to be related. But so that we can understand the background. I'll read from verse 25. It will make us appreciate the background. Look at what it said. Men who thought the end was coming on them, who did not understand that it's going to be the fifth position of iron and clay. He said now concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord, yet I give judgment as one whom the Lord in His mercy has made trustworthy. I suppose therefore, I suppose therefore, that it is good because of the present distress. Are we in distress? Are we in distress today? Is the earth in distress today? Are we not in serious distress? Globally are we not distressed? Nigeria is in serious distress. He says I suppose because of the present distress that it is good for a man to remain as he is. Note, he said it is good. He didn't say it's a sin. What is good? What is expedient? I want to show you what is expedient about these people as an example for us to learn from. He says are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loose. If you have bound to a wife now, and all that is in your head is not how to focus on the Lord, how to focus your marriage on the Lord, you are still concerned with she slapped me, she pinched me, she pushed me, this and that. You are allowing bitterness and anger. You are still going to court filing for divorce here and there. You are a blind person. I'm giving example, example of men who were thinking that everything was coming to an end. The kind of thing that should become a burden in their heart and in our hearts. I'm talking of stay focused on the Lord. Staying focused on the Lord. He says are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loose. Are you loose from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But even if you do marry, you have not sinned. It's not as if it's a sin. And if a virgin marry, she has not sinned. Nevertheless, such will have trouble in the flesh, but I spare you this. What is the trouble? That's why I tell people, people think that marriage, when people think about marriage, they just think about the pleasurable side. They don't think about the sacrifice that makes marriage to work, the self-denial that makes marriage to work. The reason why we are having all these problem everywhere today is that people enter into marriage focusing on the privileges. "I'll now have children, oh somebody will wash my clothes, somebody will cook my food, somebody will now take care of me," when they say "Bring your CV, single or married," hallelujah, "Married." Those things they are not wrong. I'm not saying they are not things of joy. Are you understanding me? But you see the focus on the privileges blindfold men from the responsibilities. So when they get into it, when it comes to look, deny yourself, die to yourself, things will be going on and it looks like I am cheated, I am this, the Lord says do not pay evil for evil, husband be not bitter, love your wife, wife submit in everything becomes [grumbling] look, I know nobody forced you into marriage. Marriage has trouble in the flesh. Because we don't talk to people about these things that people enter into marriage just thinking about the pleasurable side. People enter into marriage this month they are seeking divorce. Enter into marriage one month, they talk about take is what is happening today. Am I exaggerating brethren? I'm not exaggerating. Marriage has trouble in the flesh. When he says flesh, it's not as if the trouble is negative, but you see, a average man is self-centered. Man is self-centered. Marriage is die to self for marriage to work. The same way you follow Jesus. If any man want to follow Me, let him do what? Let him deny himself, forget himself, lose sight of himself and his own interest. If need be dying, let him follow Me. Marriage, redemption and marriage is the same thing. That's why husband love your wife as Christ loved the church and wife submit to the husband as the church submit to Christ. That kind of denial. But when people enter into marriage, they remember themselves. "You mean I don't have a right to this? You mean I don't have a right to that? I have a place in this place. Women have their right for this. Me, look I married you with my money. I know what I'm talking about. I'm the man in this place." People begin to remember themselves. I'm trying to talk about brethren remaining focused. You see that men who were thinking that look, we are the fifth position, they didn't know they were at the fourth. They gave us example. Thank God that these things were written. Example of what should be our kind of orientation, our orientation. I was telling somebody yesterday, I said you are still busy fighting with your wife. You are not busy fighting for the kingdom. You are busy focusing on she did this, she did this, she did that. You are not busy focusing on the devil is doing this, the devil is doing that. I said bro, be reconciled with your wife and focus on better things, focus on better battles. There are better battles to fight than the fight of selfishness. There are better battles. There are more significant battles. The battle to understand the time. The battle not to allow the enemy to derail you. The battle not to fall into temptation. Look, let me tell you. He said look, he said such will have trouble but I will spare you this. He said, "But this I say brethren, the time is short." The time is short. The time is short. Why were they so? Because they thought they were the iron and clay mixed together. Is that not true? Is that not true? They thought everything was ending with them. The time is short. Brethren, it's very short. I am telling you for of our own it is real. We are at the point where iron is mixing with clay. Blacks are mixing with white everything, you see Nigeria here, Ghana here, that there, everywhere mixture, everything is becoming one, there is a serious globalization movement. Do you agree with me? And now we are working on how to transport men like fire. Do you know that the next thing now? Are you aware? When you can just press button, bam, you're in London. The way you transfer fire. That's the next thing you are working on. Check and you appear, bam, I'm in London, bam, I'm back in Nigeria. Hey. The way we move fire. Everything is mixing together. But iron will not mix. I tell people, no matter how you do it and do it and do it, white will remain white, black will remain blacks. He said iron and clay did not mix. If you think that they will be come mixed, no, it will remain a mixture. They will be together but it will just be a mixture, not a solution. But that is where we are. So the time is short. Brethren, it's very short. Look at what they say. Verse 29, "But this I say brethren, the time is short. The time is short. The time is short." Why were they so? Because they thought they were the iron and clay mixed together. Is that not true? Is that not true? They thought everything was ending with them. The time is short. Brethren, it's very short. I am telling you for of our own it is real. We are at the point where iron is mixing with clay. Blacks are mixing with white everything, everything [unclear: wa-bra-bra] blending. You see Nigeria here, Ghana here, that there, everywhere mixture, everything is becoming one, there is a serious globalization movement. Do you agree with me? And now we are working on what? How to transport men like fire. Do you know that the next thing now? Are you aware? When you can just press button, bam, you're in London. The way you transfer fire. That's the next thing you are working on. Check and you appear, bam, I'm in London, bam, I'm back in Nigeria. Hey. The way we move fire. Everything is mixing together. But iron will not mix. I tell people, no matter how you do it and do it and do it, white will remain white, black will remain blacks. He said iron and clay did not mix. If you think that they will be come mixed, no, it will remain a mixture. They will be together but it will just be a mixture, not a solution. But that is where we are. So the time is short. Brethren, it's very short. Now because the time is short, look at what the scripture says. Look at what the scripture says. In those days, the king of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, and it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it shall stand forever. Where I really want to read is not that. Where it talked about the wind blow everything away, that you will not find a trace of it again. Okay. It is in verse 35. Look at it, verse 35. "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, the gold were crushed together and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found." That's what I'm trying to talk about. What I'm trying to talk about brethren, what I'm trying to make you understand, very soon all of this striving for this, for that, for this, to take, to have, to travel, to be in Ghana, to be in Congo, to be in UK, to be in US, to be in Nigeria, to be here, to be there, all of these things will not find a trace of them again. There will not be any trace. What will be left will be what? That kingdom that is cut out without hand. What am I trying to make you understand, brethren, is that as we mingle, as we mingle, as we turn it over, as we mix with the world, let us be alert. Let us be watchful. Let us be focused that see, see, very soon our Lord, the final thing we are waiting for, please, four kingdoms, four seasons they are gone. We are in the fifth season. In the fifth season. Gold is gone, bronze, silver is gone, bronze is gone, iron is gone. Where are we? Clay and iron. That is the fifth season. God changes times and season. Be aware that soon and sooner than some of us may be thinking, there's going to be a change again of season. And this change of season, unlike what all others were, this change of season is about a kingdom. Of course you understand what that means. New Testament gives us a better understanding. We know that kingdom now. What is that kingdom? What is that kingdom? The kingdom of the Lord. As at this time it may not be clear, but for today we know what that kingdom is. We know what it means when He says that a kingdom will come. It's talking about the coming of the Lord. It's talking about the coming of the Lord. And I want to draw your attention to the matter that we have been discussing, putting all of these things together. When the Lord was speaking to His generation and He said, "Like the days of Noah, remember Lot's wife." What was He speaking about? What was He speaking about? When He made the statement, "But remember Lot's wife." What was He speaking about? He was speaking about His coming. He was speaking about His coming. And He was simply telling us that look, for us to be able to live correctly, for us to be able to live uprightly, for us to be able to live godly life in this present world, we must be careful not to be wrongly preoccupied. What did I say? You must be careful not to be wrongly preoccupied. What led to Lot's wife missing it? She was preoccupied with what? With what? What we left behind. If God has said leave and move on. There are many things now the Lord is calling our attention to. And what is it that he's calling our attention to about this matter? I want to show you a similar thing, a very similar thing to this. Because I hope you know that there's nothing new under the sun. Are you aware? There's nothing new under the sun. Paul, the apostle, they thought that the end was their time. Later they now saw what? In latter time. They now spoke about the latter time. As at their own time, what was still in power as at the time of Paul? The iron was still on ground. They are not through the iron will still live. Iron and clay will come. They could not see that. Now when they did not see that and they thought everything will end with them, because I'm telling you there is no kingdom again to come. Four kingdoms have gone. There is no fifth kingdom. The fifth is where we are now. Iron and clay. That's where we are right now. Iron and clay. Now look at what they said as a kind of example for us today. Look at what they said. 1 Corinthians 7. 1 Corinthians 7. Look at what they tell as something for us to learn from. Something for us to learn from. 1 Corinthians 7, please go there. Are you there? 1 Corinthians 7. Now look at what they said. I'll be reading from something that looks not to be related. But so that we can understand the background. I'll read from verse 25. It will make us appreciate the background. Look at what it said. Men who thought the end was coming on them, who did not understand that it's going to be the fifth position of iron and clay. He said, "Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord, yet I give judgment as one whom the Lord in His mercy has made trustworthy. I suppose therefore, I suppose therefore, that it is good because of the present distress." Are we in distress? Are we in distress today? Is the earth in distress today? Are we not in serious distress? Globally are we not distressed? Nigeria is in serious distress. He says, "I suppose because of the present distress that it is good for a man to remain as he is." Note, he said it is good. He didn't say it's a sin. What is good? What is expedient? I want to show you what is expedient about these people as an example for us to learn from. He says, "Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loose." If you have bound to a wife now, and all that is in your head is not how to focus on the Lord, how to focus your marriage on the Lord, you are still concerned with she slapped me, she pinched me, she pushed me, this and that. You are allowing bitterness and anger. You are still going to court filing for divorce here and there. You are a blind person. I'm giving example, example of men who were thinking that everything was coming to an end. The kind of thing that should become a burden in their heart and in our hearts. I'm talking of stay focused on the Lord. Staying focused on the Lord. He says, "Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loose. Are you loose from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But even if you do marry, you have not sinned." It's not as if it's a sin. "And if a virgin marry, she has not sinned. Nevertheless, such will have trouble in the flesh, but I spare you this." What is the trouble? That's why I tell people, people think that marriage, when people think about marriage, they just think about the pleasurable side. They don't think about the sacrifice that makes marriage to work, the self-denial that makes marriage to work. The reason why we are having all these problem everywhere today is that people enter into marriage focusing on the privileges. "I'll now have children, oh somebody will wash my clothes, somebody will cook my food, somebody will now take care of me," when they say, "Bring your CV, single or married," hallelujah, "Married." Those things they are not wrong. I'm not saying they are not things of joy. Are you understanding me? But you see the focus on the privileges blindfold men from the responsibilities. So when they get into it, when it comes to look, deny yourself, die to yourself, things will be going on and it looks like I am cheated, I am this, the Lord says do not pay evil for evil, husband be not bitter, love your wife, wife submit in everything becomes [grumbling] look, I know nobody forced you into marriage. Marriage has trouble in the flesh. Because we don't talk to people about these things that people enter into marriage just thinking about the pleasurable side. People enter into marriage this month they are seeking divorce. Enter into marriage one month, they talk about take is what is happening today. Am I exaggerating brethren? I'm not exaggerating. Marriage has trouble in the flesh. When he says flesh, it's not as if the trouble is negative, but you see, a average man is self-centered. Man is self-centered. Marriage is die to self for marriage to work. The same way you follow Jesus. If any man want to follow Me, let him do what? Let him deny himself, forget himself, lose sight of himself and his own interest. If need be dying, let him follow Me. Marriage, redemption and marriage is the same thing. That's why husband love your wife as Christ loved the church and wife submit to the husband as the church submit to Christ. That kind of denial. But when people enter into marriage, they remember themselves. "You mean I don't have a right to this? You mean I don't have a right to that? I have a place in this place. Women have their right for this. Me, look I married you with my money. I know what I'm talking about. I'm the man in this place." People begin to remember themselves. I'm trying to talk about brethren remaining focused. You see that men who were thinking that look, we are the fifth position, they didn't know they were at the fourth. They gave us example. Thank God that these things were written. Example of what should be our kind of orientation, our orientation. I was telling somebody yesterday, I said you are still busy fighting with your wife. You are not busy fighting for the kingdom. You are busy focusing on she did this, she did this, she did that. You are not busy focusing on the devil is doing this, the devil is doing that. I said bro, be reconciled with your wife and focus on better things, focus on better battles. There are better battles to fight than the fight of selfishness. There are better battles. There are more significant battles. The battle to understand the time. The battle not to allow the enemy to derail you. The battle not to fall into temptation. Look, let me tell you. He said look, he said such will have trouble but I will spare you this. He said, "But this I say brethren, the time is short." The time is short. The time is short. Why were they so? Because they thought they were the iron and clay mixed together. Is that not true? Is that not true? They thought everything was ending with them. The time is short. Brethren, it's very short. I am telling you for of our own it is real. We are at the point where iron is mixing with clay. Blacks are mixing with white everything, everything [unclear: wa-bra-bra] blending. You see Nigeria here, Ghana here, that there, everywhere mixture, everything is becoming one, there is a serious globalization movement. Do you agree with me? And now we are working on what? How to transport men like fire. Do you know that the next thing now? Are you aware? When you can just press button, bam, you're in London. The way you transfer fire. That's the next thing you are working on. Check and you appear, bam, I'm in London, bam, I'm back in Nigeria. Hey. The way we move fire. Everything is mixing together. But iron will not mix. I tell people, no matter how you do it and do it and do it, white will remain white, black will remain blacks. He said iron and clay did not mix. If you think that they will be come mixed, no, it will remain a mixture. They will be together but it will just be a mixture, not a solution. But that is where we are. So the time is short. Brethren, it's very short. Now because the time is short, look at what the scripture says. Look at what the scripture says. Verse 29, "But this I say brethren, the time is short. The time is short. The time is short." Why were they so? Because they thought they were the iron and clay mixed together. Is that not true? Is that not true? They thought everything was ending with them. The time is short. Brethren, it's very short. Now because the time is short, so that from now on, even those who have wife should be as though they had none. You are seeing where men, that's why I'm telling you, may God trouble your heart and take you from your comfort zone. May God make what is bothering God begin to bother you, so that I want to sleep, I want to rest, I want to this, I want to that. Why those things are good will not be carried away by them, by the sleep there I'm talking about, the sleep of death, the sleep of not being alert. You understand what I'm trying to say. The sleep of death, the sleep of not being alert. Not being alert, not being watchful. Be vigilant, be sober, the devil, your enemy goes about seeking whom to devour. When the burden of God begin to bother you start staying alert, you start staying away, you start staying away, you start becoming watchful. No, this is not correct. Ah, what is this thing that my wife did that is making me want to break the marriage? Why can't I just forget this for the sake of Jesus? Can't this be set aside? You start focusing on Jesus. You are behaving as though you are not. You are focusing more on the interest of the Lord than on your personal interest. You are forgetting about this, you are letting some things go. The Lord is still saying, "Son, there are battles that you should not fight again. Let them go because there are better battles to fight. There are better battles. There are more significant battles. The battle to understand the time. The battle not to allow the enemy to derail you. The battle not to fall into temptation. Look, let me tell you." First half, second half, as significant as they are, they are not as significant as injury time. If you don't know that we are in injury time, what is that injury time? Just a few minutes. And in that few minutes they will say first to score. They will have fought all their lives, three, three, three, three. Then first to score. And in two minutes somebody may just score and yet the battle is over. May our head be above water when the music stops, in the name of Jesus. Can you talk to the Lord in one minute? When the music stops, my head will be above the waters. My life will be aboveboard when the music stop. When the song is over. Lord, my head will be above the waters. My head will be above the waters. My head will be above the waters. My head will be above the waters. My head will be above the waters. My head will be above the waters, because the one who began the work, Lord You are able to finish it. I stay steadfast looking unto Jesus, looking unto Jesus, looking unto Jesus. I refuse to look at the storm. I refuse to look at the storm. I refuse to look at the storm. I will stay focus, looking unto Jesus, looking unto Jesus, looking unto Jesus. I will not sink. I will remain walking under water. I will remain walking under water on the troubles, on the challenges, the tribulations, the temptations of this life. I continue to walk on them, I continue to triumph over them, in the name of Jesus as I focus on my Lord, in the name of Jesus. Lord, I remain focus. By Thy grace we will. Thank You Father. Thank You Father. Let's move on, let's move on brethren. Let's move on brethren. It says those who have wife should be as though they had none. Look at your Bible, verse 29, "But this I say brethren, the time is short." The time is short. The time is short. Why were they so? Because they thought they were the iron and clay mixed together. Is that not true? Is that not true? They thought everything was ending with them. The time is short. Brethren, it's very short. I am telling you for of our own it is real. We are at the point where iron is mixing with clay. Blacks are mixing with white everything, everything [unclear: wa-bra-bra] blending. You see Nigeria here, Ghana here, that there, everywhere mixture, everything is becoming one, there is a serious globalization movement. Do you agree with me? And now we are working on what? How to transport men like fire. Do you know that the next thing now? Are you aware? When you can just press button, bam, you're in London. The way you transfer fire. That's the next thing you are working on. Check and you appear, bam, I'm in London, bam, I'm back in Nigeria. Hey. The way we move fire. Everything is mixing together. But iron will not mix. I tell people, no matter how you do it and do it and do it, white will remain white, black will remain blacks. He said iron and clay did not mix. If you think that they will be come mixed, no, it will remain a mixture. They will be together but it will just be a mixture, not a solution. But that is where we are. So the time is short. Brethren, it's very short. Now because the time is short, look at what the scripture says. Verse 29, "But this I say brethren, the time is short." The time is short. The time is short. Why were they so? Because they thought they were the iron and clay mixed together. Is that not true? Is that not true? They thought everything was ending with them. The time is short. Brethren, it's very short. Now from now on, even those who have wife should be as though they had none. Look at verse 30, "Those who weep as though they wept not." What is that saying? Those who weep, "I don't have this, I don't have that, I don't have this." Some things are there, oh you have not gotten this, oh, I've not attained this, oh my promotion, oh my God, oh my this, oh this money, oh this certificate, ah my mates are building houses, hey. Some things are making you sorrowful. Or maybe on the other way round, some things have happened, lost one, loved ones are lost, or some things have happened, sorrow can come in different ways. He says those who are weeping, they should not be so carried away by the weeping that they forget that look, very soon time shall be no more. There shall be no more tears, neither no more sorrow, neither shall there be any more pain. Hallelujah. That becomes your joy, that very soon, there shall be no more death, there shall be no more sorrow, there shall be no more weeping, there shall be no more crying, there shall be any of that again. Hallelujah, Jesus will soon be here. He says those who weep should be as though they are not weeping. Brethren, I'm talking about stay focus. I'm talking about some things God is bothering my heart with. Let's stay focus, holiness unto the Lord. Without holiness no man will see the Lord. Let's stay focus, let's live consistent life. In secret, in open, let's stay focus. These are not the days to cheat in exam. These are not the days to cut corners. We have gone beyond all of that. These are the days to be preoccupied, very soon a stone will be cut out without hand. That's exactly what the Lord told Noah, and for 120 years Noah waited. He was busy building that ark. He was busy doing it, he was busy doing it, he was busy doing it, and the rain came. I'm telling you the rock will come. It will come. That rock is coming. It looks like it will not come again in the days of Noah when he said it's going to rain, start building the ark. 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, 50 years, and it came. And the same flood that sank all humanity was the flood that lifted Noah. I pray for you, that which will sink humanity will be that which will lift you up. You will not sink with the ungodly. We will not sink with the ungodly. We will not sleep with them that sleep. We will be awake and alive, holding on to faith, standing in faith, waiting for the Lord, in the name of Jesus Christ. He says those who weep as though they weep not. Those who rejoice as though they rejoice not. Are you seeing the other one again? "Hey, thank God oh, God has given me a new car. God has built my house for me. Hey, you know I'm now married. You know ah, the last set of promotion, I'm among those now. Do you know that I'm among those promoted? I'm now the new manager. I'm now this." It's not as if it is wrong. It's just talking about different situations that these situations should not take us out of focus. Are you get what I'm trying to say? Are you getting it? So don't say you pass exam now, say "Now I don't want to rejoice, because that's not what we are talking about." That was my mentality some years back. I said ah, you are married, you are not a Christian. Why are you smiling like this? Ah, I didn't understand these things very well then. And I was bitter against men who are, ah what are you, what are you rejoicing about? What is it, what? Souls are perishing. And I did not understand that he was saying that we should not be carried away by the situation. That's what the Bible is telling us. We are still human, we are still here. If something negative happen to you, they say, "No, what happened? I lost my son." "No, no sorrow, we are the end time, no sorrow here." That's not reality. Are you understand what I'm trying to say? That's not reality. I'm trying to give context so you understand what I'm trying to say. Don't get me off context. I'm talking about not being wrongly preoccupied. Looking at the Lord, stay focus. No, no, no, the Lord said, the Lord said, the Lord said. That's the point we are making. He said those who weep as though they weep not. Those who rejoice as though they rejoice not. Those who buy as though they did not possess. Are you seeing it? Even in buying, buying, buying, as though you do not possess, as though you are not having. Look at it, the next one. "Those who use this world as not misusing it." Verse 31, "Those who use this world as not misusing it." Look, let me read that to you in NLT. I like it very well in NLT. He said those, look at it, "Those in frequent contact with the things of this world should make use of them without becoming attached to them." You should make use of them without becoming attached. You see now, they have said Jesus is coming, we should not touch anything in the world again. No, I'm not brushing my teeth, I'm not eating. No, I'm not going to school again. Jesus, that is not what the Bible is saying. We are in frequent contact with the world. Be careful not to become attached to it. Be careful. What this time is calling for, I pray again, may the Lord take your sleep from you. And I hope you understand what I mean by your sleep now. May the Lord take your sleep from us. May the Lord trouble your heart so that your sleep is taken away. Because this is not by power, it's not by might, it's by the Spirit of the Lord. Without the Lord we cannot stand upright. We need Him all the way. We need Him all the way. What am I trying to say in the world? You can see what he's trying to make us see, what should be our attitude to this time that we are in. Brethren as we bow down our heads to pray, this is 6:25, we must close this meeting now. I want you to talk to the Lord. I want you to talk to the Lord. I want you to talk to the Lord. Our focus today, the burden I brought to you this evening, is that the Lord is saying, "My daughter, my son, my son, my daughter, remain focused on the Lord. Don't be wrongly preoccupied. Remember our earlier topics. Remember them. We started with the matter of the family, godliness must begin at home. We move to the matter of remember Lot's wife. We move to the matter of Naboth, who contended for the inheritance that he was given. We move, we move to the matter of Gehazi. And what I'm trying to make you see in all of these things that the Lord is saying, my children, all I am saying in these things is remain focused. Learn from these examples. We are at the point of the clay and the iron mixing. A stone will soon be cut out. Every trace of what we are seeing now of the gold, of the silver, of the bronze, of the iron, everything, even the clay, everything about everything, everything, everything, the trace shall soon be no more. The trace shall soon be no more. Help us to focus on what cannot be taken away. Help us to focus on what will remain. Help us to focus on what will last. Help us to focus on what on what, oh Lord, the things that are not seen, for the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen, they are eternal. Lord, keep us, oh God, hearing You, seeing You, walking with You, sharing intimacy with You. Lord, keep us going. Thank You Eternal Father. Blessed be Your holy name, our God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's share the grace together. 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. [Song playing] I will live for Jesus day after day. I will live for Jesus day after day. I will live for Jesus let come what may. The Holy Spirit I will obey. I will live for Jesus day after day. Day after day, I will live for Jesus day after day. I will live for Jesus let come what may. The Holy Spirit I will obey. I will live for Jesus day after day. Day after day, I will live for Jesus day after day. I will live for Jesus let come what may. The Holy Spirit I will obey. I will live for Jesus day after day. Lord this is our cry, this is our cry. This is our cry Lord, this is our cry Lord. Take our sleep from us, take our sleep from us. Make us to be alert. Cause us to become burdened with what is bothering You. Focus our heart on eternity. The rock will soon be cut out. Every trace of what we are seeing now of the gold, of the silver, of the bronze, of the iron, everything, even the clay, everything about everything, everything, everything, the trace shall soon be no more. The trace shall soon be no more. Help us to focus on what cannot be taken away. Help us to focus on what will remain. Help us to focus on what will last. Help us to focus on what on what, oh Lord the things that are not seen. For the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen they are eternal. Lord keep us, oh God, hearing You, seeing You, walking with You, sharing intimacy with You. Lord keep us going. Thank You Eternal Father. Blessed be Your holy name our God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in reaching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development and mission aid. Our regular activities are: discipleship class every Monday, 5:00 PM; 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, Ilaro community, opposite Veryjoy filling station along Ijero 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: 080-3386-1136, 070-3361-3848. God bless you all.