Ridding your home of evil

[background music] [Narrator] Churches and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly home front. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 1] Last month, second Saturday of July, we were looking at "In the fear of the Lord: My life, my marriage in the fear of the Lord." And today we trust God to move on to look at "Ridding your home of evil." Our today's discussion is actually an offshoot of our last month's discussion. Ridding your home of evil is an offshoot of my life, my marriage in the fear of the Lord. There is a connection between being in the fear of the Lord and ridding your home of evil. Before we move on this morning, I would like us to have a brief word of prayer. Almighty God, we are grateful unto you. We thank you for the privilege of knowing you and making you known. It is a great privilege. We are saying thank you. And as we come into your word again this morning, Lord we pray, there shall be seed for the sower and bread for the eaters in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, those of us physically present for the meeting and a host of us linking up online, Lord I pray, meet with us all in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you, everlasting Father. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. I said earlier that we are looking at the topic "Ridding your home of evil." Quickly, let me go through a brief conceptual clarification or trying to explain the words in the topic. Of course, ridding is coming from the verb "rid." And to rid is to free something of something. So, ridding our home of evil is freeing our home of evil, freeing our home from the operation of evil, breaking it off, not allowing evil to take root or gain ground or stronghold over our homes. And the word evil can be explained from several viewpoints. But for the purpose of our discussion, I want to explain evil from about two or three scriptures in the Bible. The first one for my definition of evil, the evil you need to rid your home of, because the word evil has several meanings depending on who is speaking and the background from which you are hearing the word. Now, let’s look at John 3. John chapter 3, looking at the word of our Lord Jesus Christ there from John 3:18 through 21. [Speaker 2] "He who believes in him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be revealed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God." [Speaker 1] So, evil—the first explanation I'm giving for evil—is that which is contrary to the truth. It says, "But he who does the truth comes to light. He who does evil does not come to light." When a man lives contrary to the truth of the scripture, his practices are evil. When a man lives contrary to the word of the Lord, his practices are evil. When a man hates light, when a man does not want his deeds to be exposed, his practices are evil. Then if you look at it again, it says, "But he that does the truth comes to light, that his deeds may be clearly seen that they have been done in God." Again, evil is that which is done outside God, something that is done without regard for God. When you do things without regarding God, when you set God aside to go your own way, then your practices are evil. We are talking about ridding your home of evil. Again, another way to look at what we are discussing, this evil that we are talking about, is to go to Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 3, the popular verse 5 to 7. [Speaker 2] "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil." [Speaker 1] So, looking at this text again, we are defining evil from the standpoint of when a man thinks that he has this false impression about himself. He thinks he knows better. God has said certain things, God has given instruction for how we should live, God said this is what we should do and not do, but an individual feels that no, I know what I am doing. And so he feels he is wise in his own eyes. So every time a man don't acknowledge God, when a man does not acknowledge God, then you say such a man is not departing from evil. He is not departing from evil. So evil, again, from this standpoint, is something that is done, again, not accepting the wisdom of God about a matter. Something is happening in your home, something is happening around you, and there is a wisdom of God of how these things should be handled, of how these things should be done. Something is happening between you and your spouse, something is happening between you and your husband or your wife, and there is a clear word of God. Scriptures are there to tell you how you should respond to such actions, but you feel no, I know better. I will not respond that way. And you refuse to respond the way God in his wisdom has given us. And so you decided to respond your own way to what is happening in your home. Then in that way, you will be doing evil. You will be doing evil. So we are looking at ridding your home of evil. How do you rid your home of evil? Again, I want to define evil from the last point of view now. We’ll be looking at that in Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. Let's get to Matthew chapter 5. We want to look at finally how we should look at evil from our discussion. Now, we are looking at evil according to the word of—this is the direct word of the Lord Jesus. He said, Matthew 5 from verse 38, please, from verse 38. [Speaker 2] "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." [Speaker 1] From verse 38, the Lord was trying to teach his disciples and the multitude principles of the kingdom. And in this place, we have a very instructive discussion from the Lord. The first is that the law teaches that an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. But the Lord was telling them that they should not resist an evil person. So anybody who takes revenge is doing evil. Once you say an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, and so on and so forth, you are an evil person. A revengeful person is an evil person. It's an evil person. So the Lord said, "I tell you, do not resist an evil person." You slap him and he slaps you back, that person is an evil person. So the person who takes revenge is somebody who is an evil person. So taking revenge is doing evil. It's doing evil. He said, "I tell you, do not resist an evil person. Whosoever slaps you on the right cheek, turns the other to him also." That looks like an impossible thing. But the truth is that it is possible. It takes knowing the Lord and walking with him to be able. It takes the strong to do it. The weak cannot do so. Weak people cannot do so. It takes men that are strong, men who know their God. "The people who know their God shall be strong." That is why if you look at that scripture, he said, "Be like your Father." Men who are like their Father, who are mighty like their Father, who are great like their Father, who are like their Father, men who are not spiritual bastards, who can replicate the character of their Father. They are men that can do it. But men who have not known him, who does not understand him, who are not walking with him—if you slap the person on one cheek, the person cannot turn the other. The person would rather take revenge. The person will take revenge. But we can be like our Father. I'm saying all of this as background definition so that you can understand when we are talking about ridding your home of evil, what we mean by evil. Because sometimes you'll be thinking that evil can also be bad happenings. Evil can, you know, evil has a lot of meaning. That is why I want to do a proper conceptual clarification so that you know what we are talking about, what you want to rid your home of. We are talking of ridding your home of things that are not in agreement with the truth. He who does not practice the truth comes to light. He who does not—ridding your home of things that are contrary to the instruction of God, not acknowledging God, not fearing God. Again, it is—we are talking about ridding your home of revengeful actions. Ridding your home of revengeful actions. You not being an evil husband. You not being an evil wife. Once you are revengeful, you are an evil husband. If you are revengeful, you are an evil wife. Any person who revenges is an evil person. So you are ridding your home of evil. So you understand the kind of evil we are talking about. You understand what you want to rid your home of. You want to rid your home of—if you read on, the Bible says that if anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. Whosoever compels you to go one mile, go two miles with him. People who compel people against their will, who try to frustrate people, are actually evil people. Again, you notice something there about evil. He said you have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy," but I say to you, "Love your enemy, bless those who curse you, and do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." Now, it tells you something again, that your—people you may count as your enemy, people who persecute you, people who spitefully use you—people who are like this are those you may count as your enemy. You may also count them evil people. People who try to frustrate others and make a mess of their life are evil people. But you notice something here, it says God makes his sun to rise upon both the evil and the good. So in any case, what are we saying? A husband or a wife who spitefully uses the spouse—when the husband spitefully use the wife, the husband demonstrate the character of an evil person. When the wife spitefully do things to the husband, the wife display the character of an evil person. Now, when you are somebody who hates your spouse, when you hate your spouse—you just hate your wife, you hate your husband—then who are you? You are an evil person. But again, you see what the Bible is saying here. It says God makes it to rise upon the evil and the good. So ridding our home of evil, I believe from all of this explanation, we have been able to bring out a proper clarification as to where we are going in what we are trying to look at. When we say ridding your home of evil. Now, having done that conceptual clarification, I want us to go to 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2. We want to look at something there from around the verse 13 through 15. Verse 13 through 15, 1 Peter. It says, "Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to the governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." We are looking at a very, very important principle here. The Bible says it is important for us to submit to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to the governors as those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. So we talk about evildoers, we talk about those who do good. Now, the Bible is teaching us a very important principle. The Bible says the reason why we submit to the ordinance of man is because God has a will. God has a will. What is the will? "For this is the will of God, that by doing good you will put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." Now, the Bible is saying that if you follow our definition of evil, which we did at the commencement of this meeting, we said evil is not practicing the truth. Evil is not acknowledging God in what we do. Evil is being revengeful. Anybody who practices revenge is an evil person. Now, the Bible is saying that when men practice evil, God has a will. The will of God is that by doing good, we can put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. Now, I am showing you something about how to rid our home of evil. Ridding your home of evil. Ridding your home of evil. Now, if you take yourself back to the scripture that we read in Matthew chapter 5, that scripture we earlier read, Matthew chapter 5 from verse 38, where Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. But whosoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone want to sue you to take your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whosoever compel you to go one mile, go two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. You have heard, love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I tell you, love your enemy, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven." Do you notice that this scripture we just read is not different from the 1 Peter chapter 2 that we read? In 1 Peter chapter 2, the Bible said, "This is the will of God, that by doing good you will put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." Now, I am showing you something about how to rid our home of evil. A will of God that is often neglected today among spouses. You find husband, you find wife today not key into this principle. And so many times, instead of ridding our home of evil, what we do many times is that we multiply the seed of evil. And then we start wondering, why is my marriage like this? Look at the principle. The Bible says that if you want to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, men who practice evil, men who take revenge, men who does not live in accordance to the truth, men who does not acknowledge God—if you want to silence them, what do you need to put them to silence? The Bible says by doing good, you will put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. Many times, what couples don't realize—what couples don't realize—is that God has a way of addressing the manifestation of evil in your home. God has a way. And when I say the manifestation of evil now, I believe I'm very, very clear from our definition. Those times when your husband or your wife does not live in accordance with the truth. Those times when your husband or your wife does not acknowledge God in his ways. Those times when your husband or your wife decides to spitefully use you. When your husband spitefully do things to the wife, the husband display the character of an evil person. When the wife spitefully do things to the husband, the wife display the character of an evil person. When your husband or your wife decide to frustrate you, those times when they do things that—it says when they constrain you to go one mile. When it becomes a constraint and say, "No, get this thing done." Things that looks like oppression in your home. When you see such things, how do you rid them of your marriage? One common mistake that people make today is to try to get rid of evil by evil. That is one common mistake today. People think by evil, we can get rid of evil. But the Lord is showing us a principle that anybody who does evil, that person is ignorant of God. Is that not? Is that not? It is ignorance that will make a husband not to live in accordance with the truth in relating to his wife. It is ignorance that will make a wife not to acknowledge God in relating to the husband. It is ignorance—and what we mean by ignorance, we mean ignorance of God. Is that not? But many times we find this same thing in many Christian homes, when our life is not different from the life of the unbelievers. You say it is not possible among Christians. It is possible. Because the Bible gave us a very good example with what happened with the church of God in Corinth. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. If you look at the church of God in Corinth, there was something among them. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, I read from verse 1. Verse 1 to 3. It says, "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ." Are you seeing this? It’s possible that sometimes the husband becomes a babe, he acts as a babe in Christ. And sometimes the wife can act as a babe in Christ. It says, "I will not address you as spiritual, but as carnal people. I fed you with milk, not with solid food, for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able, for you are still carnal." Where there is envy, strife, division among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? What are we saying? Is that how do you rid your home of a situation where your wife is carnal? How do you rid your home of a situation where it is the husband that is carnal? Where the wife is carnal, where the husband is carnal—particularly where one—we said something about evil, where one happens to be somebody who is revengeful. How do you rid your home of carnality? How do you rid your home of ignorance? You see what Apostle Paul is saying here. He said, "I fed you with the milk, not with the solid food, for until now you're not able to receive it." He’s telling you that the Corinthian church was displaying a level of ignorance. Carnality, once displayed among unbelievers, it is because they don't know God. That is their life. But when Christians also live like them, they display a high level of ignorance. Now, the Bible is teaching us that how do I silence the ignorance of the foolish? And it is so important for you to know from others we are discussing, that when you as a husband or as a wife does not acknowledge the truth, does not fear God in your action, when you tends to be revengeful, you only display a high level of ignorance. Ignorance. So how—and if a wife does that, what is she displaying? A high level of ignorance. That you are ignorant. It is the way of men, mere men. We are behaving like a mere man. But the question is this, which is our focus: ridding your home. Ridding your home of this kind of evil. How do I rid my home? How do I get it out of my home? If it is in the life of my spouse, how do I rid it? If it is in the life of my boss, how do I rid it? If it's in the life of someone relating with, how do I get rid of it? The Bible is saying here, and I want you to see this thing very clearly. Even though we want to apply it, Peter eventually applied this matter to marriage. But I want you to see that he was applying this principle as a general Christian principle. As a general Christian principle, he's trying to make us to see that God has a will. And that will is that by doing good, you can put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. That is the will of God. God has a will. Just as I was telling somebody, sanctification is a will of God. It says, "This is the will of God, even your sanctification." That people get born again is a will of God. It says this is the will—God is willing that all men be saved. The same way, using good to silence the ignorance of foolish men is what? Is a will of God. The reason why I'm saying it's a will of God is that this matter of God's will actually is the hallmark of our Christian life. What do I mean by that? Jesus said, "Not all who call me Lord, Lord shall do what? Shall enter into the kingdom, but those who do the will of my Father." So you see that the hallmark of our Christian life is actually doing the will of God. The hallmark of Christian life is not that I'm born again. It's not that I attend church. It’s not that I'm in the choir. Please, there's nothing wrong with all of this. There's nothing wrong with all of that. It's not that I'm a preacher, I am this. These are good things. But it is very important to know that the hallmark of who is a Christian is doing the will of God. When a man speaks in tongues, a man display spiritual gift and all of that, but he's not doing God's will, he is as far as heaven is concerned, he is not fit for the kingdom. So when the Bible says, "This is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men," it means if you try to silence the ignorance of foolish men by doing their own ways, by going their own way, by doing what they do, what are you doing? You have left the will of God. That is why Jesus was saying, "They have said before, an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, but I tell you, don't resist an evil person." So if somebody give me—it says if somebody slap you on the left, turn the other. That is one method. So let's try to look at it practically. If somebody slap me on the right, [slap sound], then I turn, I give him my own back, [slap sound]. I am putting to silence his ignorance. Is that not? Is that not? That's my way of doing it. It's my way of doing it. You say you do me, I do back. God no vex. It is because we are ignorant. If you are not ignorant, you will know that God don vex. Because the will of God is what? You should put to silence this ignorance by what? By doing good. Now, I want to mirror this into your home. But what I want you to see, that this thing was used as a general Christian principle. It's a general Christian principle. It is not just about husband and wife. Even if you want to put to silence the ignorance of your boss in the office, if you want to put to silence the ignorance of your neighbor, if you want to put to silence the ignorance of your brethren, you want to put to silence the ignorance of—you understand me? It’s a general Christian principle. But it is something that, having raised this principle, Apostle Peter brought it into the concept of marriage. The Lord brought this matter into home, into the marriage. He brought it into the marriage, he brought it into the home. Particularly, he was using it to address service and then Christian home. This principle was used to address two things particularly: our relationship with our superior, our boss, because it was used to address servants. And then it was used to address wives and then used to address husbands. That is what makes it very critical for us. It was a general principle, but it was brought into addressing our relationship with our employer, our relationship with our spouse. And that's what make it very critical for us as married people, and for those who may not be married that are working towards it. It's a very important principle. All I want you to see as we look at this matter is that there is this will of God that you must acknowledge as a husband. You must acknowledge as a wife. And then, which is our focus for this morning—if we are to be looking at general Christian principle, we’ll say you must acknowledge as a worker, either under the government or under somebody. I hope I'm very clear. But our focus is about—it's a marriage forum. It’s our marriage forum. So we are looking at how it applies more to wife and husband. But please, our emphasis is that this is the will of God. Now, is it only Peter, is it only Peter that brought this to for? It is not only Peter. Even if you look at this same thing, you find the same thing—it was the same principle that the Lord raised. Don't resist an evil person. It was the same principle that the Lord raised directly in his own teaching so that you can be like your Father in heaven. Apostle Paul raised this same matter. He raised this same matter in Romans chapter 12. We’ll get there very soon. But look at the application. Having said that it is important to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, "for this is the will of God, that by doing good you might put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." Look at the next thing that the Bible says. It says, "As free, yet not using your liberty as a cloak for vice," that is for evil, "but as bondmen of God. Honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, and honor the king." Now what is he trying to say? He's trying to say that, many times we have our Christian liberty. He says you are free. Sometimes because under grace we talk about what I don't feel like and what I feel like. Many times, what we do with our liberty—with our liberty, we are many times not using good to silence the ignorance of foolish men. So he's saying as free, although you are free, but don't use your liberty outside being God's servant. You are free. You may say, "He did that and that is why I did this." But don't use your liberty outside being God's servant. And then look at the application. When I said application to career, in verse 18, it says, "Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. This is commendable, if because of conscience towards God, one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For this—for to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow in his steps. Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth. Who, when he was reviled, did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously. Who himself bore our sins in his own body on the cross, that we, having died to sin, might live for righteousness, by whose stripes we were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your soul." I don't know whether you understand that. I don't know whether you get that. The other thing what he's trying to make us see, the Bible is saying that using good to silence the ignorance of foolish men—in the verse 15 of that Peter, he said, "This is the will of God." Now Peter wanted to show by scriptures, he was speaking on that further. He now said, "Look, don't you understand that it is to this that you are called?" It is our Christian calling to silence evil with what? With good. If I want to get rid of evil under God, and I want to remove it from my family, I want to get it out of my home, I want to get it out of my relationship with my spouse, the way to rid evil is by what? Is by doing good. God don't have any other method. Any other method you want to use will be counterproductive. When your husband display ignorance—when your husband display ignorance, when your wife display ignorance, when your wife in any way does what is evil, what is wrong, what is not correct, and you want to silence that—you want to silence it, you want to rid your family of that evil, how do you do it? You do good. That is the will of God. It is to this that you are called. Anytime you do otherwise, what is happening is that one, you have left the will of God. Two, you are living contrary to the call of God upon your life. There is a call of God. This is our call as Christians. Because someone was asking me one day, he said, "I don't even know what is the specific call of God for my life." I said, "Yes, while you are trying to know that, there is a general call of God for us." That call of God for us, until you discover the specific call, there is a call of God. That call of God for us is that Jesus has left an example and we are to follow that example. And one of those example is that when he was reviled, he did not—when he was suffering, he did not threaten. How many times are we threatening people? How many times have we threatened our spouse? "E de mo mi o! E de mo mi o! E de mo mi o! To ba de le ti apayin o ni ka o, e mo mi o!" [Nigerian language] It looks like you are expressing yourself. What are you doing? What are you doing? You are threatening. You are threatening. You are threatening. I remember a brother who said, "Hen, you know, my own madness is more than your own o!" And I laughed. I said, "Why do you say so?" He said, "Oh, I just want her to call herself to order before I change." I said, "Brother, what will you change to?" He said, "Oh sir, you know, I'm just trying to express myself." I asked him, I said, "Brother, what do you want to change to?" He said, "No, uncle, e je ka fi sile, e je ka fi sile, e je ka gbagbe." [Nigerian language] But I'm trying to get—I'm trying to make something clear. See, ridding your home of evil. Ridding your home of situation when your spouse does not live according to the truth. There is a truth. This is the truth. When you're not living according to the truth, your wife is doing what? Your spouse is doing what? Evil. We have defined that before most of us arrived. But that was it, evil. Anytime you don't live according to the truth, Bible says, "He who lives in the truth comes to light." He who does not come to light, he who does not practice the truth, it's because his deeds are evil. So when somebody does not practice the truth, he's an evil person, he's doing evil. When somebody does not acknowledge God in his ways in your marriage, your wife did not, your husband did not—nkan to n se yi, [Nigerian language] you can see that he's not acknowledging God in our relationship or her relationship with you. He doesn't fear God. And it's clear you can see it and you know it. And your husband is doing it, and your wife is doing it. You can see it in the life of your husband. Or we also defined evil that it is when somebody is revengeful. You notice that you have a spouse who retaliates. And then you want to get rid of that in your home. You want to remove it in your home. You don't want such things in your marriage. How do you rid it? How do you get—how do you free your marriage from it? The method is not plenty method. It’s that you can put to silence this ignorance by doing good. You can put to silence, you can silence it, you can rid your home of it by doing good. It is possible because, number one, you notice that the Bible is saying here, in applying this to servant, in applying this principle to servant, it says servants should submit to their employers whether good or bad. That if they continue to do good even when they suffer wrongfully, it is the will of God. With that, they’ll be able to put to—put to silence the ignorance of their masters that are not good. Having said that, in chapter 2, and bringing it to a close, he now began to relate that to our Christian call, our life. But I want you to see something. Look at something in verse 24 of that chapter 2, 1 Peter 2. It says, "He himself bore our sin in his own body on the cross, that we, having died to sin, might live for righteousness, by whose stripes we were healed." Please, do you get—do you get something there? Do you get the application? We, having died to sin. He's addressing something. He was addressing what? Putting to silence the ignorance of foolish men. So we want to look at this scripture. This scripture has a broad application, actually. But specifically to what he is speaking, what is he trying to say? He said Christ died for us. That dying for us that Christ died for us, he did something for us, that we, having died to sin. What is the sin here that we are dying to? What is the sin that we are dying to? Trying to put to silence evil by doing evil. That we should live righteously. We should live righteously. What is that telling you? When you try to put to silence evil by any other method apart from doing good in return to that evil, what are you doing? You are living contrary to what? The righteousness of who? Of God. There is a righteousness of God. It is your Christian call. It is your righteousness. Anytime you do otherwise, you're unrighteous. Not only that, that is the indication that this brother or this sister has returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of his or her soul. Any people that live contrary—won o ti pada. [Nigerian language] They have not. Don't eat back. Have regard for good things before all men. It does not look like a method that will work. Do you agree with me? It does not look like a method that will work. And that is where the problem is. It does not look like a method that will work, but that is the method of God. That's the—it's not only God's method, it is God's will. Not only God's will, to this you are called. You not only to this you are called, that is your righteousness. Anytime you do otherwise, you are unrighteous. Not only that, that is the indication that this brother or this sister has returned to the Shepherd and Bishop, to the Shepherd and Bishop of his or her soul. When people that live contrary—they have not. Don't eat back. Have regard for good things before all men. It now says if it is possible, if it is possible as most as depends on you, I want you to note that word. "If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men." Why did the Bible say "if it is possible," and then quickly add, "as much as depends on you"? And I want to apply this more—this is our general Christian call. We only apply it to marriage and career. But particularly marriage for marriage forum. Why the Bible says "if it is possible"? You know that sometimes you have people that will call "difficult people." There is nothing you do that pleases them. There is no how you do it. They say, "Look, I don't like people who shout," and then you don't shout, you're talking small-small. "Ah, what is your problem? Can't you talk loud?" When you talk loud again, "Hen, you are shouting on me." I don't know why you understand people—you know there are people that are that difficult? "Anything the problem?" "No, there is no problem." "Okay." And then you are going. "Hen, you don't want to discuss the matter abi?" No, [unclear]. Some people can be—may God deliver us from difficult people. Amen! Some people are difficult. I mean so difficult to relate to. They can be neighbors, sometimes they can be husband or wife. That is why we must—we must be pray for God to lead us in creating a life partner. So that you don't select a prayer project, not just a prayer point. Some people are prayer points, but some are prayer projects. It's a lifetime project. It's—honestly, I encourage young people to be careful about how you—how you go about making selection. Let God guide you. Some people are prayer points, but some are prayer projects. But anyway, that's just by the way. But I'm talking of difficult people. People that are so difficult to please. The more you try to do it, the more they find fault even in your—in your effort. You know, it's difficult to please if two people live and they are very, very happy. It's not because they perfectly please themselves. I hope you know. There will be some area you are tolerating and enduring the person. That's the truth about life. You can't find somebody that is—except you have to go out of earth and go to heaven. Maybe you will have to marry an angel or you marry the Holy Spirit. No! But I know that even the angels themselves were deceived and they fell alongside with Satan. So I don't know, maybe you have to marry God. But that—these are not possible—these are not possible. But to live with any human being because of his or her humanity, you can't find two people—two people can be happy even you don't perfectly please themselves. They tolerate, they endure, they carry themselves, they—they accept themselves. And those things that looks like the weakness in that person, you accept it with joy. That's the truth about it. But we are talking about people that you try to still do everything to please. Even the more you try to please them, the more it is so difficult. Because even trying to please somebody that both of you are trying to please yourself is still difficult. That's why the Bible says, "Seek peace and then do what? Pursue it." The more you seek for peace, the more peace will be running away, even in normal relationship. So you seek for peace, but don't stop there. As you try to seek for it, still pursue it because the more you look for it, the more it's running away. Pursue it until you get it. Now, the Bible says "if it is possible, as much as depends on you." What he is saying is that there are individuals, there are people, sometimes it can even be your spouse, they can be your husband, your neighbor, your boss. No matter what you do, no matter how you do it, you—it’s difficult to be at peace with them. Wise in one thing or another. "Make sure you come early to office." "Yes sir." You try to come very, very early all the time. Every time you are there early. And one day when you want to talk in the meeting, "Some people are here, they come early just because of food they will eat. I know such people. They think I don't recognize them." "Okay." Then you begin to think again, "This man said I should be coming early." Now he is questioning my motive. I know some people—you know, difficult people. But what the Bible is saying is that under such circumstances, as much as it lies in you, that is in those circumstances, you be sure that you don't repay evil for the evil. As much as it lies in you, you don't—whatever the person is doing, even you have tried and tried and tried and tried and tried and tried, as it lies in you, just continue to seek peace. There are people like that. That is how you can live with them. But there are people that when you begin to do them good, you begin to find out that you cannot give good away. They will begin to give you good back. You know there are people like that. Those ones is easier. So it—it will not only lie in you. It will lie in both you and them. It will not only lie in you, but in both you and them. So the point I'm trying to make is that the Bible says even when you come under situation where you are the only one to be seeking the peace, continue. But I pray that we will not have such as husbands or wives. Because such people, their yoke is not easy, their burden is not light. But as much as it lies in you, you continue, you continue, and continue. Look at the next thing. "Beloved, do not avenge yourself, but rather give place for wrath; for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, and I will repay.' Therefore 'If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him to drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.' Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." [Romans 12:19-21] You know what the Bible is saying as we conclude? It’s saying that when you decide to give back evil for evil, what is indication? What is that indicating to you? You have been overcome by evil. When you begin to give evil for evil in your marriage, what are you doing to your home? You are making your home to be overcome by evil. Don't allow evil to overcome your marriage, to overcome your home. Don't allow it. So, it says even if your enemy—and so we now bring it down. That is, make your wife or your husband your enemy. Assume, calculate it that okay, my husband or my wife is my enemy. Is not even my husband or my wife. Even if that person is your enemy, that person you are calling your husband is your enemy, what do you do to him when he's hungry? You feed him. But may it not—may our marriage not get to a point where our husband in our perception and in our impression is an enemy. But the Bible is saying that even if it gets to that point, but like I said earlier, because with those we perceive as our enemies as Christians, we don't give them to eat when they are hungry or don't give them to drink when they are thirsty. That is why when we get into our marriage, even our wife who is not our enemy, she just did something that is painful, something that hurts you, she hits you, what do you quickly do? You hit back. And the more you hit back, what is happening? You are not ridding your marriage of evil. What are you doing? You are only sowing the seed of evil. Every action is a seed and every seed will germinate. And every germination will bear fruit. So we should be mindful of this. Every action is a seed. Every seed that you sow, your action, they will bear their fruit. And later you also reap this fruit. Please be careful about this matter. You look around us today, I see couples not ridding their homes of evil. I see them taking on one another. I see them hitting back on each other. I see them—that seems to be the commonplace. May we not be wise in our own eyes. May we fear the Lord and depart from evil. Just as we round—as we try to close, I want to give room for questions and for contribution. Question, contribution? Question or contribution? We are leaving the remaining 15 minutes to that. Okay, we want to get from you. Can we get the other mic? [Speaker 3] Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. I came late but when I came in, Daddy was talking about silence. At times, being silent too, can it not mean that someone is doing bad thing or somebody is doing something contrary, but instead for you to refrain or retaliate you now decided to keep quiet? Or do I call it avoidance? You know, when you don't talk, they don't know what is in your heart because you have not spoken anything, so they cannot quote you say you said this or that. That silence sir, can we use as alternative, I mean, to overcome evil? [Speaker 1] Okay, can we use silence as an alternative to overcome evil? The—the way to overcome evil is by doing good. If that silence is good for that hour, that is when we say you are using it to overcome the good. But if that silence is a revenge—you know there's a way you can use silence too for a revenge? Silence can be malice. Silence can be, "Okay, shebi tori pe mo n da e loun lo se n roro so, by the time I don't answer you, by the time the person talk and talk and you don't answer, your head will be straight." [Nigerian language] So, the—the issue here is what is the purpose of the silence? There are people who for instance will not—when they are seriously provoked on a matter. I know a brother like that. Once he gets very, very provoked by the wife, you know what he will just do? He will just say, "De mo n bo, mo n bo," [Nigerian language] he’ll just carry the car, he will go out. Go out and then try to talk to his head. "She is your wife, she is your wife. Ah ah, calm down, calm down! I have spoken since, etc." and then he has been able to calm himself. He will now call home, "Ibo le wa? Mo n bo nle yen beyen." [Nigerian language] He’ll now come back o. That may look like somebody went out of the house, but if you look at the motive, it was not—I hope you get what I’m saying? Somebody can say, "Ehen, just say what you be done now and get out." That’s a different thing. So two actions can—the same action can have different meaning and motive. I hope I’ve been able to answer that question. But you know—but our focus is that let us deliberately in our home—then from here it will graduate to other relationship. Deliberately start it with your spouse. Start it! Deliberately tell yourself, "Look, no! I will rid my home of this thing. I will rid my home. I will not repay evil for the evil. I will not—when the person go contrary, I will be right." And the more you keep doing—doing that, what will happen? I will harvest it. You will be able to put to silence that thing in your home. Let's make it a decision of mind. That is our concern this morning. Question, comment? Question, comment? Question, comment? Can we—oh, I wanted to close the meeting. [Speaker 4] Relating with maybe friends or colleagues or any other relationship in this that we are discussing, where do you put the place of adjustment? This person did something to me, I didn't realize I retaliate, but there is tendency that next time he might still do the same thing to me and I will not want it. So where do we put the place of adjustment in such relationship? [Speaker 1] Let others to talk before I talk. Does anyone want to answer that question before I give an answer? Not really avoiding, but for instance, let me use this practical way. I sit, somebody is passing and step on me and didn't even acknowledge that they step on me. I'm just using it as a case study. And then it will be foolish of me to still put my leg there, because there is tendency that when she—he or she is coming back, may step on me again. So I need to adjust my leg even though I do not react negatively to what he or she has done to me. But I try to adjust so that such situation will not arise again. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. My submission to that question is in two ways. The adjustment, if it is not out of, just like we have mentioned, I don't want to—I don't want to have—it’s easier with friends, colleagues, you just try to redefine the relationship, particularly when you know it's getting into trouble. But when it comes to marriage—even if you shift your leg is moved out of the way, [Nigerian language] he may want to go there and step on it. So therefore what do you want to do about that? And to adjust is good. But it—it is also adjustment when we talk about I borrow somebody, I’ve been borrowing the person the thing, and the person have been misusing, maybe the thing will get lost and, you know, there's trouble. It's adjustment if the person is also in need and I say, "Ah, please, that thing, borrow me." "No, no, no, mi o—I have adjusted that I don't want to give anything away. I'm not going to borrow you again." You know, that is an extreme. That is an extreme. And in adjustment, what I want to talk about is that there's nothing wrong when we are talking about not repaying evil with evil. It's different from also calling—it’s like we want to avoid that. There is a place of also calling. Bible says when your friend has a fault or you have towards the person, call the person. The person that stepped on me may not even know. And my adjustment may be just I just make up my—I just felt it is intentional. It's good to call the person, "You stepped on me." It's not that you want to fight. Bible says you go to the person with intention of winning the person. Even if the person has intention of doing you evil, you are going with a mind of winning. And when you go with a mind of winning, you will not go in a retaliatory way, coming to retaliate. So the adjustment will be necessary after we have first of all discussed. Let the person know, [Nigerian language] it won't work. I think we can amend with your friend. "I don't like—how do you see about this?" If it is an outsider, at the end of the day, [Nigerian language] he knows you have mentioned it, he knows you have done it, he may just [Nigerian language] and leave you. But when it comes to home, in discussing with one another, this problem—this problem, just like the servant of God have said, we pray that we will not have people that are difficult to win over. In the home front, the issue of discussing your fault to one another with intention of winning the person is very important. Don't say because God said there should not revenge, that means I will just keep quiet. The person may not even know what he's doing is wrong. You are to help one another in this correction, in this calling one another attention to things. You are helping the person in your relationship with one another, and also helping the person in his or her relationship outside there. Because if that nature and attitude is there, you are not the only one that will be suffering it, he will also be doing the same elsewhere. So the place of correcting one another in love is important. Haven't corrected and you could not see changes, then you now be the person that as much as lies within you, you also make sure you follow it. There are some things that cannot change. There are some things—I by the grace of God I've married my husband for about 23 years now. There are some things—if it is not—it's not a simple thing, but attitude that personally I discussed, I don't like, I have talked and talked, talked, talked, talked. Now I'm just discovering, with the help of God, we are enjoying it now. I say, "Hmm, it is well." But it's no longer very painful as at before when we first got married. Now I have seen him as part of me. In fact, it's like I could not even say anything wrong with it again. You know, when—when two people are in love, there is a way you accommodate each other’s fault. And when [Nigerian language] if you do it to an outsider, it will bring problem. So if the true love is there, even if the person you have corrected and is not changing—let's even assume that it’s deliberate. God forbid that we have such spouse. But even if it is deliberate, then God expects us to do what? There is no place for adjustment. The only adjustment is that, "Where I will not even—I will cut you off." Is that allowed? No! But for us to do what? To keep, you know, as much as lies in us to keep working out and following peace with the other person. The Lord will help us in Jesus’ name. I think that's a comprehensive answer. I don't think I need to add anything to that. It has gone through the various dimensions I would have wanted to include. I think that has been included in that answer. Any other comment? Comment, question? Okay. [Speaker 3] Just to add to what Mommy said, there's this thing I use to do. I give people benefit of doubt. Not benefit, benefit of doubt. You don't all the time allow your instinct to judge somebody immediately. You don't use your instinct. If you use your instinct to judge somebody immediately, you may want to cut off. But you give that person benefit of doubt. You give that person benefit of doubt, then let the Holy Spirit work on your instinct. The discerning spirit is very, very important. When the Holy Spirit ministers to you about somebody, he can give a revelation of who that person is, in and out. Then you know how to handle such an individual. Maybe God is programming that person on your path so that you can be of help to that person. That is why God is bringing the person, bringing the person to hurt you, just to correct something in the life of the person. So you give people benefit of doubt. You don't allow your instinct to judge instantly. The place of the Spirit of God, being sensitive to the Spirit of God is there. The place of prayer for divine revelation and that particular person is also there. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. [Speaker 1] Praise the Lord. Is there another comment or contribution? Okay. Ma, you may have to move a little because of—of [noise]. [Speaker 4] To add to what has been said, our adjustment will not be to retaliate. It's not what we will do that will say, "Ah, at least I will show this person that I'm not—I'm not a fool." It's not good. What we can do, we should be to help the person. Even the person may not know that we are being hurt by what he or she is doing. As Mommy has rightly said, we need to inform the person that what you are doing is not right. And some people, they may take it up. "How can you blame me that what I'm doing is wrong?" There is a way we will put it. And if the person wants to change, he will change. If the person wants to take us up, we need to—to do it patiently, God helping. [Speaker 1] Amen. The Lord will help us in Jesus’ name. You know, my—my prayer is that—because we know that ordinarily, marriage should involve two believers that are constantly changing from glory to glory. That's what we expect the Christian marriage to be. From earthly to heavenly, the Lord is changing them and they’re getting better and becoming better and better in the image of Christ. So our prayer is that, fundamentally, our spouses will be people who God is daily changing. And then, secondly, God will help us at our individual level that while God is busy changing, those things that still grieve us about them, we will not—we will not further contribute to those things by trying to repay evil for evil. But rather we will be part of those people helping God to work. Because when you keep using good for those side that have not changed, then you are helping God to silence that thing that God want to change in him. Let us be those who are working with God to change our spouse by our action. And lastly, I want to also pray that the Lord will help that our home, our homes on a daily basis, will enjoy the mercies of God. And for those of us who are yet to make choices, my prayer is that what we said last month, Marriage Forum, there are sisters who are not wife material and there are brothers who are not husband material. Sisters who don't have a personal walk with God that makes them fear the Lord. They may be—they may look spiritual, they may look gifted, but they are not wife material. Brothers who look gifted, but who cannot be led of God, are not people that are husband material. It takes him that is ahead to be the head. If a man cannot be led of God, then he cannot lead another life. These are very crucial things for us who have not made choices. May the Lord help us in our choices that at the end of the day, it will always be that, "Lord, I have a prayer point about my husband," and not that I have a husband or a wife who is a prayer project. In the name of Jesus Christ. There's a great world of difference between those two things. Praise the Lord. Can we close the meeting for today? Let's just talk to the Lord. Let's talk to the Lord. Let's talk to the Lord. Particularly about making up your mind. Four things about ridding your home of evil by using good to silence the ignorance of the other person is that: one, it is the will of God. Please don't forget these four things. It is the will of God. Two, it is your Christian call. You are not living the Christian life when you don't with good silence evil, ridding your home of it. Number three, it is your righteousness. It is your righteousness. You are living contrary to your life we have been made right by Christ. Number four is that you must remember that is the hallmark that you have returned to the Shepherd and the Overseer of your soul. That you can trust your life to God. You can lose it because God said, "Lose it, don't worry." You can trust it to God. You can live it with God. Thank you, eternal Father. Blessed be your holy name for today. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Almighty God, we thank you for today. And we commit ourselves into your hand. Lord, we pray that God, help us that by our life, our practices, our daily lifestyle, we would be ridding our homes of any form of manifestation of disobedience to the truth, not acknowledging the Lord, or revengefulness in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, help us. Help us, help us. That your blessing may be upon our homes, for the scripture says the blessing of the Lord is upon the home, is upon the house of the upright. That your blessing may be upon our home daily in the name of Jesus. Thank you, eternal Father. In Jesus’ name we pray. Let's share the grace together in fellowship. 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. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives, and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever and ever. Amen. [Narrator] 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 p.m. Adolescent and Singles Club, every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 a.m. Marriage forum, second Saturday of every month at 10:00 a.m. 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, Ileri community, opposite Verajoy filling station, along Ijede 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: 080-338-61136, 070-336-13848. God bless you all.