Sc Sept 1 2018 Walking Acceptably 2

[Music] [Speaker 1] Churches 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 Tech Ministry. May ye be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 2] Last month, the first Saturday of the month, our focus was walking acceptably. And we were looking at Leviticus chapter 18. Leviticus 18, let's see that scripture. Leviticus 18. What the last speaker was trying to say, a crucial matter came up in verse 3. But let's read through from verse 1 again. [Speaker 3] And the Lord spoke unto Moses saying, "Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, 'I am the Lord your God.' After the doings of the land of Egypt wherein ye dwelt shall ye not do. And after the doings of the land of Canaan whither I bring you shall ye not do. Neither shall ye walk in their ordinances." [Speaker 2] What we were looking at last month is the fact that if you look at this scripture, there are two levels of defilement. The defilement in Egypt and the defilement in Canaan. The Egypt where they are coming from, they should not follow after their ways. The Canaan where they are going to, they should not follow after their ways. The issue we really raised last month is the fact that why? If you relate that to present time, it tells you that there are two levels of defilement we must watch out for. The world that we are repenting from and even the church that we are going inside. The church that we are entering into, we also need to be aware. We said because the kingdom of God is like a net that catches all kinds of fish, but at the end, they will sort out the good one and they will throw the bad ones away. So inside the kingdom that we are entering into, there are things to watch. There are ways of men you must not follow. There are people who are walking, but their work is not correct. So as you watch against the defilement in Egypt, you must also watch against the defilement in Canaan. We now gave several examples. Judas was among them. He was with Jesus, but his work was not correct. Demas was with Paul. His work was not correct. Paul was speaking again that there are some among you who are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, who mind earthly things. He said, "Mark them and don't follow their ways." So even inside the kingdom, there are men to mark and not follow their ways. And that was how we now talked about the necessity of what John just raised now. The necessity of if you don't have a personal walk, how do you even mark men? If you don't have a walk, how will you be able to mark men who are not walking correctly? It is somebody who is walking and walking correctly that can say, "Okay, this one is not walking correctly. I will not follow him." And so we now also talk about the matter of look, while there are men to learn from—Paul was telling Timothy, "What you have learned from me, what you have seen me do, then commit to faithful men"—at the same time inside the church, there are men we must mark and not walk after their ways. But the bottom line that we really emphasized that day is this matter of there are two levels of defilement. The one in Egypt where we are coming from and the one in Canaan where we are going to. And many times most people don't know that is the matter. That is the matter as far as Jesus is concerned. That is the real matter. He said, "Not all that call me Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom, but those that do the will of my father." He said, "Strive to enter through the narrow door for many I tell you will seek to enter but they will not be able." We talked about some familiars, and I think we have read that scripture before in our presence. That is the one we find in Luke 13. Luke 13 from verse 22. Let me read. I'll read the NLT and we compare with others. It says, "Jesus went through the towns and villages teaching as he went, always pressing on toward Jerusalem. Someone asked him, 'Lord, will only a few be saved?'" "Lord, will only a few be saved?" He replied, "Work hard to enter through the narrow door to God’s kingdom for many will try to enter but will fail." Another translation of that verse 24. [Speaker 3] And he replied, the Living Bible, "The door to heaven is narrow. Work hard to get in for the truth is that many will try to enter but when the head of the house has locked the door, it will be too late." [Speaker 2] NIV. [Speaker 3] He said to them, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door because many I tell you will try to enter and will not be able. Once the owner of the house—" [Speaker 2] No, just that verse 24. Do you notice what is the matter there? What was the question? "Will few be saved?" The answer that Jesus is giving, is he saying yes or no? Is he saying yes or is he saying no? [Speaker 3] It's a conditional statement. [Speaker 2] A conditional statement. Look at it very well. "Will only a few be saved?" Jesus replied, "You try to enter through the narrow door for many will try to enter but they will fail." Is he saying yes or no to the question? He's saying yes. He said, "Will few be saved? Try to enter through the narrow door. Many will try to enter but will not be able to enter." But for us to get it clearer, let's read on. "When the master of the house have locked the door, it will be too late. You will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Lord, open the door for us.' But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from.'" Now, please look closely at this category of people. Verse 26. "Then you will say, 'But we ate and drank with you and you taught in our street.'" Another translation. [Speaker 3] "Then shall ye begin to say, 'We have eaten and drunk in thy presence and thou has taught in our streets.'" [Speaker 2] Another translation. [Speaker 3] "But we ate with you and you taught in our street, you will say." [Speaker 2] What does that mean? To the people that are not entering, are they familiar people or unfamiliar people? Familiar people. Familiar people. So the people who will try to enter and will not be able are not strangers. They are people who have ate and wine with him. They are not necessarily people who don't know Jesus. They are people who know him. But what I'm trying to bring out is appreciating what I want us to appreciate in our walk with God. Because what is giving a serious concern today about walking with God is that there seems to be an understanding today among us. The understanding is that when a matter is generally accepted, then it cannot be seen as evil. Do you get the point I'm making? We normally think public acceptance makes something to be righteous. When generally accepted. But we are starting to see that no, it's not necessarily so. That generally something is accepted does not necessarily mean that thing is correct. What I'm trying to say is I was speaking with someone and I said, "Do you know that truth is not in the crowd?" Truth is not with the crowd. Truth is with the few. Go and check the Bible. Go and check the dealings of God all through the ages. Truth is never with the crowd. Truth is always with a few. The days of Noah, where was truth? The days of Lot, where was truth? The days of Abraham, where was truth? The days of Isaiah, where was truth? The days of Jeremiah, how many times they had to beat all the other prophets? You know he was the only one. The days of Elijah, where was truth? He said, "I alone I am left," but God said he had reserved another 7,000. You get the point I'm making. Now, I'm bringing this, there is this recurrence. In the days of Jesus, where was truth? Who was found to be true? The one man or the majority of the religious leaders? Hope you're following what I'm trying to say. So truth has never been with the majority. They have only been with a few. And that is why we are talking about this walking acceptably. Walking acceptably is bringing something to our mind that as far as the Lord is concerned, to walk acceptably there exist these two dimensions of defilement you must avoid. The one in the world and where? The one in the church. We have been so crowded with the one that is in the world. We always don't discern the one that is in the church. But that is what we are calling our attention to. Now, let's look at it again another way. How many of us were around when we spoke about the bride and the church in one of our sessions? I was talking about the first Adam and the last Adam. The first Adam was what? The first Adam was made of—the first Adam was a living soul. The second Adam is a living spirit. That is Jesus Christ. But don't forget that the first Adam is a type of the last Adam. Is that not true? Do we have any controversy about that? Just as for example, we are sinners not because we sin but because we were of the first Adam. Once you are born, you are a sinner. The same way too of the second Adam, we are righteous not because we do righteously. Once you are born again, you are righteous. The first Adam gave us what? Temporary death or eternal death? The first Adam gave us eternal death or temporary death? Is it temporary death? It's an eternal death. If the sinner don't repent, he goes to eternal destruction. And what made you a sinner is not because necessarily because he is sinning, but because he was born a sinner. So that even if he does not commit any sin, if it is possible, I don't know, but let's say it's possible not to commit any sin, not to break any law of God—impossible for the mango tree not to bear mango—maybe by some situation he will not bear any fruit. Does that change it from being mango? He's still a sinner because a sinner is a sinner not because he sins, but he sins because he is a sinner. Now, the point I'm making is that we were condemned eternally. The same way when we get born again, Jesus gives us what? "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have what? Eternal life, everlasting life." So you find that both are eternal. Now, the point what I am drawing you further and further to is when he was to make a bride for the first Adam, how was the bride made? From him. How many bones were in him? Several bones. How many bones was taken? Just one. He just took only one. And from that one, a bride was made. The same thing the second Adam. The bride will be what? Will just be one of the bones again of the several bones. So that the bride is a part of the church, not the entire church. Not the entire body. The bride is not the body, the whole body. No, they will remove the bride from that body. The point I'm trying to draw here is we need to live in this reality of if you want to work with God, there is this reality of understanding that look, there are two things to guide. And the importance of a personal work, the importance of knowing whom you believe, knowing where you are going. Because you see, it is easy somehow—although today it is proving as if it is not easy—it is much easier to be separated from the world. Although today it is proving not to be easy. Am I correct? Because even the things that are outright the world—fornication, lying, all of—we are all inside the church. But what I'm saying is that the deception, the cunning of Satan can easily be discerned from the aspect of Egypt than from the aspect of Canaan. Do you understand me? So if the church today, the believers today, are finding it even difficult to separate themselves from the defilement that is in Egypt, please, how would they separate themselves from the defilement that is in Canaan? You'll be trying to say, "This is not so." "Ah, no, it's not so, sir. The regional pastor of so-and-so is doing the same thing now. If it is wrong, why is he doing it?" "No, my pastor is doing it." As if that is the standard and the yardstick to measure righteousness. You are in some meetings and you are trying to put some things right, and they say, "No, excuse me, sir. A man of God came and he taught us that this matter is like this or it's like that." You get the point I'm making? So you find, you find, you find. And why is it a thing as we prepare to go back to Leviticus, why is it a thing to pay attention to in our walk with God is because of what Peter said. Please let's see Peter. Let's see what Peter said. Second Peter chapter 2. Second Peter 2 from verse 1 to 3. KJV. [Speaker 3] "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you, whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not." [Speaker 2] Another translation. [Speaker 3] "But there were false prophets too in those days, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly tell their lies about God, turning against even their master who bought them. But their master will be their swift and terrible end. Many will follow their evil teaching that there is nothing wrong with sexual sin and because of them, Christ and his way will be scoffed at. These teachers in their greed will tell you anything to get hold of your money but God condemned them long ago and their destruction is on the way." [Speaker 2] NIV. [Speaker 3] "But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed, these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them and their destruction has not been delayed." [Speaker 2] Look at Amplified. "But also in those days, there arose false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among yourselves, who subtly and steely introduce heretical doctrine, destructive heresy, even denying and disowning the master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their immoral ways, their immoral ways and lascivious doings. Because of them, truth—the true way will be maligned and defamed. And in their covetousness, lust, and greed, they will exploit you with false cunning arguments from of old. The sentence of condemnation for them has not been idle. Their destruction, eternal misery, has not been asleep." Please, what do you bring out of that? We are looking at where we are coming from, Leviticus chapter 18. He says the ways of Egypt where you are coming from, do not follow. Canaan where you are going to, you also need to watch out. Now, what can we pick out of this from what we have just read here? If you look at what we have simply read here, there is something that is coming out very, very clear. If Bible says many will follow their pernicious way, it tells you that a thing is not right does not mean it will not pull crowd. It's telling you that it will pull crowd. Crowd will—many would follow it. Many will go this way. Not few, many. And so the point we are making is this. The crowd of the defilement—the source of defilement is not outside. Where is it? It is within. Now, what will make many follow it is because it is from where? It is from within. It will be people that we expect that they know the truth. People will feel that this is the man of God, this is a brother of God, this is a—now that what I'm trying to say. This is somebody we think is of God. So many will follow. Now, if the matter has been cast like this, then it becomes very, very important when we look at walking acceptably to understand that there are two things to watch if we are really preparing ourselves for an acceptable walk with God. We must watch on this side the defilement of Egypt and we must watch on the other side the defilement of Canaan. The one outside the church and the one inside the church. It is not just about separation from the world. It is also about discernment within. Ability to discern also within or else our work will not be acceptable. So let's go back to our main text now from where we move all of these things. Let's go back to Leviticus. Where the whole matter started from. Leviticus 18. So if we now read back again and says, "And the Lord spoke unto Moses saying that 'Speak to the children of Israel and say unto them, I am the Lord. After the doings of the land of Egypt wherein ye dwelt shall ye not do. And after the doings of the land of Canaan whither I bring you shall ye not do. Neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.'" It becomes clear that we are watching against what? Egypt and what? Canaan. Canaan is the promised land. Canaan is the kingdom, the church that we have come into. That is where God brought us. And sometimes when we speak like this, some people feel that we are trying to malign them. That's not what we are saying. We are not saying that anybody is a false teacher. We are not trying to insult but we are trying to state that the matter the Bible raises is this matter. It's not about saying that this one is a false teacher, that brother is not good. It's about if anybody want to work acceptably with God, he must understand that for Canaan, there are things to discern that you must not follow. For Egypt, there are things to separate yourself from. Egypt is simple but like I said, it's not so simple today. Because even the normal Egypt, you find brothers sleeping with sisters in the name of brotherly affection. What they call brotherly affection is actually lust in the first place because love does not rejoice in iniquity. What grew to become that is not love in the first place. Love itself don't have iniquity. But the point I'm making is these are the days that it doesn't really matter. You find leadership, you find even the defilement, the outright defilement of Egypt, they are becoming the norm in the church. People will tell lie and they will tell you that, "You see, Nigeria allow it." Have you heard that statement before? Nigeria allow it. When Nigeria situation is difficult, Nigeria allow it. If God would help us. And so when you try to say that this thing is not so, "No, look, we have to be careful." Like somebody was telling me the other time on one occasion that she stop talking like this. "Everybody tell lies in this nation. We are all liars. Nobody is holy. I should leave that. All of us are liars." So I don't know when that has become—do you understand me? The fact that everybody lies, does it mean that when God want to judge, God will say, "You see, situation in Nigeria is difficult so I hereby change judgment"? Will God reverse? If everybody lie one to another, will God change—will there be a reversal of judgment? Will God reverse? If everybody cannot be truthful in Nigeria, then maybe everybody is not prepared for heaven in Nigeria. That's what it simply means. It does not reverse the fact that because everybody is telling lie, it will reverse judgment. That sounds stupid when they say "Nigeria allow it" as if there is a reversal. As if since nobody could—if it happened that there's nobody in Nigeria that could be truthful, will it make God to change and say, "See, everybody, everybody, it's tough, everybody, nobody could be truthful"? So for Nigeria people, let's allow that liars—will there be a reversal? It doesn't make any sense when you say that everybody is doing it and so we need to understand that even God understand. Understand that what? And that brought us to the matter I said we should discuss. The matter that Jesus raised is about his familiar. He said they will say, "I ate with you, you drank with us, we ate in your presence." He said, "I don't know you. I don't know you. We didn't—there was really no fellowship between you and me." If there was really a fellowship between you and me, there won't be darkness. God is light. In him there is no darkness at all. If anybody walk in darkness and say I have fellowship with God, he said what do you say about that man? He said the person is a liar. And the truth is not in him. So the matter is that if anybody have fellowship—if you have been fellowshipping with me, you can't remain the same. There will have been a gradual—Bible says, "As many as follow him, he also bring them to be conformed." There's this continuous conformation that marks true Christianity. A continuous process of conforming, conforming, conforming that daily we are becoming more like Jesus. So we look at that scripture, Leviticus 18. I just want to read down from verse 4. "Ye shall do my judgment and keep my ordinances to walk therein. I am the Lord your God. Ye shall therefore keep my statues and my judgment which if a man do, he shall live in them. I am the Lord. None of you—" Now, the next thing that follow after that is something that—I just want us to read through. We now begin to ponder on these things that are there. It says from verse 6, "None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him to uncover their nakedness. I am the Lord. The nakedness of thy father or the nakedness of thy mother shalt thou not uncover. She is thy mother. Thou shalt not uncover her nakedness." I hope you'll be noting the matter that we are raising here. "The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover. It is thy father's nakedness. The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father or the daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover. The nakedness of thy son's daughter or of thy daughter's daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover, for theirs is thine own nakedness. The nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister. She is thy father's near kinswoman." Maybe I should be reading from NLT just to give us the easy meaning of some of these words. Verse 13, "Do not have sexual relations with your mother's sister for she is your mother's close relative. Do not violate your uncle, your father's brother, by having sexual relations with his wife for she is your aunt. Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son's wife. You must not have sexual relations with her. Do not have sexual relations with your brother's wife for this will violate your brother." "Do not have sexual relations with a woman and her daughter and do not take her granddaughter, whether her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter and have sexual relations with her. They are close relatives and this would be a wicked act. While your wife is living, do not marry her sister and have sexual relations with her for they would be rivals. Do not have sexual relations with a woman during her period of menstrual impurity." "Do not defile yourself by having sexual intercourse with your neighbor's wife. Do not permit any of your children to be offered as a sacrifice to Molech, for you must not bring shame on the name of the Lord. I am the Lord. Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin. A man must not defile himself by having sex with an animal and a woman must not offer herself to a male animal to have intercourse with it. This is a perverse act." "Do not defile yourself in any of these ways for the people I am driving out before you have defiled themselves in these ways." Please, what do you think of that? What does this tells you? Do you get the kind of things that we have been reading? So what does—when he says these people you're going to meet, they have practiced these things. What does this tells you about sin and perversion? Do you see the gravity of the sin? The magnitude of the sin? When was this thing said? Not AD. BC. This around maybe say about 1 or 2 or 3 BC at about that time. Now, look at the level, the dimension, the magnitude of perversion. When you now look into the nation today, what is new? Is anything really new? You say who—you say a man having sex with animals? You say, "Ah, what kind of thing is that?" As at this time, the practice of the land is that men sleep with animals. Women offer themselves to male animals to have sex with them. I wonder which type of animal anyway. But that is the level of defilement that was ongoing. And as at that time, the Lord said they should not practice these things. Now, the point I want to call your attention to is which kind of perversion can go on today in the land that we can describe as strange? Which type? The reason I'm calling your attention to this thing is that anyhow you want to look at the matter of perversion, you will be naive to be thinking that the standard of our work with God has become—people say, "Ah, things are getting more difficult today." Have you heard that statement before? I don't think it's getting any difficult. I don't think it's getting any more complex. What is actually going on? Is it not just a repeat? It's a repeat, a repeat, a repeat. The point I'm drawing you to is that if God had described it as evil and God has punished it then, nothing can make it right today. In other words, if then it was described as evil—now, look at the verses that followed. It says, "Do not defile yourself in any of these ways. For the people I'm driving out before you have defiled themselves in these ways." And what happened? He says, "Because the entire land has become defiled, I am punishing the people who live there. I will cause the land to vomit them out. You must obey all my decrees and regulations. You must not commit any of these detestable sins. This applies to both native-born Israelites and foreigners living among you. All these detestable activities are practiced by the people of the land where I'm taking you and this is how the land has become defiled. So do not defile the land and give it a reason to vomit you out as it will vomit out the people who live there now. Whoever commit any of these detestable sin will be cut off from the community of Israel. So obey my instruction and do not defile yourself by committing any of these detestable practices that are committed by the people who live in the land before you. I am the Lord your God." Looking at this, I want to draw out three things. What is the first basis of understanding an acceptable walk with God? How do we understand—how can I understand? What is the first hallmark of identifying the man that is walking acceptably? Looking at this scripture, what is the first hallmark of identifying the man that is walking acceptably? The practice. Now, I want to relate something. How does that relate to faith today? Have we heard the statement before? "Faith is in the heart. It doesn't matter what we do." Have you heard that before? "Doesn't matter what we do. Doesn't matter what people wear. Doesn't matter what they put on. We are justified by faith. Through faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We are not righteous because of what we do. We are righteous because Christ has made us righteous." How do we relate that teaching with this matter? Does it mean what they are saying is not true? It's true. So what is not true about what they are saying? You will find out that this matter is not far-fetched. It's in the Old Testament too. Let's see Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 9 and 10. [Speaker 3] "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart and examine the mind to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve." [Speaker 2] Another translation. [Speaker 3] "The heart is the most deceitful thing there is and desperately wicked. No one can really know how bad it is. Only the Lord knows! He searches all hearts and examines deep motives so he can give to each person his right reward according to his deeds—how he has lived." [Speaker 2] So what is it? How do we bring faith and this matter together? The belief of a man will have expression in his work. That's one. There's another thing there in that Jeremiah 17. The belief will have expression. We have people that are believers. Their motives or their mindset—because whatsoever is in the heart is what is in the mind. The mindset is not according to God. Definitely it will bring out certain acts which people will see and which God calls a sin. So the thing is questioned by the mindset. So the judgment will not be on the faith. The judgment will not be on the prayer. The judgment will be according to the works, what everybody can see. Because you see, if you look at all of these things, everybody is right. The motive, the belief, but he's talking about the motive. It's really the motive, the intention. He says, "I, the Lord, I search." When Judas said, "This thing should have been sold and the money given to the poor," that expresses a good intention. But he said that because he was a thief. He was a thief. He had been stealing the money. And that is why it should not shock you if somebody was so close to Jesus and yet so far from Jesus. So close, yet so far. So what is strange today, somebody is so much inside the church and he's so far from God? If the physical Jesus, the living Jesus, carrying all the anointing, a man was beside him like this. The one that made me to tremble most was when Jesus said, "One of you will betray me." He has collected 30 pieces of silver in his pocket. And "Master, Master, is it me? Is it me?" I mean, you are before the Lord. If a man can be before Jesus, he knows this man understand all my thoughts and intention, and yet he thinks he is covered from him. When you say the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, I'm just trying to show you how desperately wicked the heart can be. So that if somebody can be beside you and he is the choir director or he is the youth leader or he is in whatever unit, very active, "So she can do such a thing?" Why are you shocked? When somebody was with Jesus, he's where? So close, yet so far. That mindset has its expression in works. You cannot separate eventually the mindset will display itself in the works. So which means something. One way to identify an acceptable work is that beyond the level of the mindset, there is a physical evidence that separate the ways of the man from the ways of the people. There is something we can see. I want to quote you something that the Lord said. He said, "By their fruit—" there will be a—you can't tell me that your work is acceptable and that work if it is truly acceptable and you are accepted by God in terms of your mindset, go and watch it. Men will see it and they will give glory to your father who is in heaven. He said, "Let your light so shine." It may be shining, but not so shining. When it is shining, it is not seen. It is still inside. When it is so shine, men will see it. When it is so shine, it will produce the fruit. So there are people who of course may be believers, who of course are Christians, who of course they are light, but there is a problem with the light. The light is shining, but it is not so shining. It must be visible. True faith must be visible. Go and check history. By God's providence, I taught history for 14 years in secondary school. I've read history. I've read true Christian history, history of America, history of Europe, history. Go back and check history. I tell people sometimes because we don't know where we are coming from, that's why we don't know where we are going. Everywhere Christianity entered, go and check, there was a change in the social life of the people. Everywhere. Christianity entered a town, a village, a city—one Christianity get into that place—after some period of Christianity, every beer parlor was closed. There is always a physical evidence of Christianity. It is one thing to be holy. It is entirely another thing to be seen as being holy. Why it is not bad to be holy, it is good. But I tell you it is better to also be seen as being holy. Good is not enough where better is possible. And better is not the case when we can attain the best. These are things that must be understood about our life, about walking acceptably with God. God said, "Observe my judgment. Observe my ordinances." These practices, there are things you cannot practice. There are things that cannot be done. Take Daniel. Where was his faith? Was it not in his heart? How do we know that there was a faith there? Everybody was eating. He said, "No, this thing is defiled." He looked like an extremist but was he? There was a physical evidence of that faith. And I keep saying go back and check the word of our Lord Jesus Christ. What did he say? He said you are the salt, the salt of the earth, but the light of the world. Which means the salt is not salt if the social environment, the physical environment does not feel the salt. Then it's not salt. The earth must feel the salt. You are not the salt of your heart. No. You are the salt of the earth. Then you are not the light of your spirit. You are the light of what? The world. If you put light inside darkness, will it not be recognized? That is the gap that is in the present-day practice of Christian faith. That is the gap. That is why many works today are not acceptable. "God knows I am right." God knows you are right but it would have been better if men can see you to be right. "God knows that I am not stealing." It would have been better. Do you know what Paul said? He said, "Living acceptably before men, providing honest report to men." One thing today that Christianity have lost is this matter. When we say somebody is a Christian—we are losing it. You can be a man of prayer, you can be a man of the word, but see, acceptable walk with God is a thing that sinners can see. It is a thing that men can see and you can give light to their life. Not because you are talking, but by your practice. That's the word. What you practice. By the way you live your life. Faith of our father, holy faith. If you are familiar with that hymn, it said we preach to the world by both word and by virtuous life. Can you look at Titus chapter 2, that should be around verse 14 and 15? Titus 2:14-15. [Speaker 3] "Who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." [Speaker 2] Another translation. [Speaker 3] "Zealous of good works. Who are zealous of—who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." [Speaker 2] Do you know what led to this statement? Let somebody read very fast that same Titus between 1 and 10. You will know what led to the statement. [Speaker 3] "But as for you, speak up for the right living that goes along with true Christianity." [Speaker 2] I like that already. "As for you, speak up for the right living." There is a living, there is a practice that goes along with what? Except when it is not true. Any other translation of that verse? That verse 1 that he read now. [Speaker 3] "But as for you, teach what is given and becomes sound doctrine, the character and lifestyles that identify true Christians." [Speaker 2] There is a character and lifestyle. It is not a thing inside the heart. There is a living. There is something that characterized true Christianity. There are practices. That's what we are talking about. Something will make you different from those in Canaan and from those in Egypt. And it's a practice. Please read on from 1 to 10. [Speaker 3] "The older men must be serious, and sensible, and knowing how to love and have patience. Older women must be quiet and decent in everything they do. They must not go around speaking evil of others and must not be slaves to drink, but they should be teachers of goodness. These older women must train younger women to love their husbands and their children, and to be sensible and clean-minded, spending their time—" [Speaker 2] Is it already affecting the family life? Is it affecting who is the husband? Is it affecting who is the father? Is it affecting—are you seeing true Christianity? All this—I tell somebody you can't be a bad child and be a good choir leader. There is nothing like that. It's not Christianity. You can't be an irresponsible husband and say you are a good minister. It's not possible. It's not Christianity. It's not. You can't be an insubordinate wife and say you are a good deaconess in church or a good prophetess. These things they are just deception. We must separate stupidity from Christianity. Most things we call Christianity today is stupidity. People are just stupid. Christianity is well-spelled out in the Bible. Christianity is clear. The effect of Christianity is obvious. They are salt and they are light. Christianity is clear. But there is a lot of religiosity that must be separated. Two things: stupidity and the other one is religiosity from spirituality. People are just religious. They are just religious. Spirituality is not "Hey! Get out!" and the demon fly away. That's not Christianity. Until we can see that that man depicts certain character. That man does not lie with that thing that he is doing. He is faithful to his wife. He is bringing up his children correctly. He is true to the government. He is not corrupt. That's when we can say there is Christianity or else there's just religiosity. Paul was mentioning something. There's a character. It touches behavior, it touches family life, it touches the life for the young man, for the old man. Please read on. [Speaker 3] "—and being kind and obedient to their husbands, so that the Christian faith cannot be spoken against by those who know them." [Speaker 2] What is that saying? Let's move a little bit toward that side. Let's move toward that side. [background noise] So that Christianity will not be spoken against by those who know them. What is the essence of true Christianity? Then too, so that others will not be able to speak evil against—no, it will be things people will see that "Ah!" Do you remember that there was a time in this nation that when industries, companies, want to employ people they will go to the churches, go and meet their pastors? Say, "Please give us one of your member. We need an accountant. We want Christians." People in the church. But today who does that? When even when—caught a man of God, pressing the breast of the SS3 student. In collar. He's a school pastor. Do we even trust those in collar today? There is an acceptable work. A work that is acceptable. And that work, if it is truly acceptable and you are accepted by God, people will see it. Christianity is something that affects the whole human being. It affects the spirit, the soul, the body. It will be obvious. You will see. The speech, the dressing, the walking, the lifestyle, the carriage, the manner. You see loose life among Christians. So loose. Dressing anyhow. "Ah! Take our picture!" Brotherly love. What is that? Please. Even inside church I had to correct some youth. Some sisters were sitting there and they crossed the hand across the neck in fellowship. I said, "Young man, that is an excess. Put down your hand." He now sat down very well. As if we are not in a disco hall. I used to be very, very evil before I came to God. So I know evil when I see evil. I know evil by practice because I have practiced evil. But we are saying that these things they are written. It's in the scripture. How does your version put that thing? Is it not speech? That what? Read it. [Speaker 3] "That cannot be condemned so that those of you are ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us." [Speaker 2] They have nothing bad to say about us. But today how many things bad? Lecturers will talk—"Lecturers are complaining that you don't have manner." "Are you a Christian?" "I'm the President of—" And it is because we are not looking at the fact that there's a reconciliation between motive, mindset—the mindset today is faulty. We have a faulty mindset. The mindset today is faulty. Please complete that reading. We are really wanting to—what led to that "peculiar people?" That's what we are reading. [Speaker 3] "But show yourself entirely trustworthy. This way then you make people want to believe in the same Savior you and I believe. For the free gift of salvation is now being offered to everyone. And along with this gift comes the realization that God wants us to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures." [Speaker 2] Along that salvation comes the realization. If it does not come, you are lost. Come the realization that what? [Speaker 3] "That God wants us to turn from godless living, sinful pleasures, and to live good, God-fearing day after day." [Speaker 2] "Looking forward to the wonderful times that we've been expecting when his glory shall be seen, the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. He died under God's judgment against our sins so that he could rescue us from the constant falling into sin and make us his own very—" Do you see it now? So what is the essence of salvation? To make us his own very peculiar people who are now zealous of good works. That is the new mindset. The zeal now is for good works. These were things that were written in the first century AD. At that time, there had not been things as bad as we have it today. But it has been written as of first century AD. We need to realize that we have been saved from godless, worldly lust, useless speech, dressing, talking, acting. Sometimes you see some Christian brothers, you don't know whether they are disco dancers or they are believers. The kind of hair on their head. "I just like it. It makes me look good." And I will ask, is it a matter of looking good or looking godly? That's a very important question. You don't think sensibly. You don't think deeply. You are not light-minded. You can't think deeply and see through things. That's discernment. You can think deeply and separate. We were watching a Christian drama one day in our house. They wanted to initiate a king. They now brought blood as part of the initiation. [Interjection in Yoruba language regarding drama]. What is the difference between those that are practitioners? I'm showing you the deception in evil. Evil is deep. If you cannot think deeply, you will be overtaken by evil. I end up with this reading and then we can pray. Look at this reading. I don't know, most of some of you might have seen it too. It's a WhatsApp something. It says, "China is currently the world leading economic power. In China, there is zero church. Zero, no church. Finland has the most stable economy in the world today. There are less than 20 churches in Finland. Switzerland has the second most stable economy in the world. Switzerland has fewer than 30 churches. Denmark is the third most stable economy in the world. There are about 23 churches in Denmark. These countries are considered to have the highest number of atheists but they are blessed." I hope you know what it means by the blessing that the economy is stable. But look, let's just read on. It says, "Come to Africa. There are more than 10,000 churches per region, including 4,000 churches in the city of Yaoundé alone. 4,100 churches in the only city of Abidjan, not the whole country. 10,000 churches in the only city of Lagos in Nigeria. Only Lagos have 10,000, not the whole Nigeria. Which is 430 times more numerous than the whole of Switzerland. In Africa, we have more churches than school and hospital combined. More pastors than doctors. Everyone is born again. Everyone is covered with the blood of Jesus. Jesus even became the husband of all single women according to them in revival churches. Everyone is filled with the Holy Ghost." "However, none of this claim reflect the moral elevation that is up for a society. None of this claim reflect the moral elevation. If this thing is true, there should be a moral elevation that is up for an institution. We are among the laziest, the most deceiving—the atheists, they don't deceive themselves. They are building their economy. We say they are atheists, they don't know God. We say we are Christians. But we are among the laziest, we are among the most deceiving, the most corrupt, the most hypocritical, the most hateful on the planet today, with all our Jesus and Holy Spirit." "They don't have Jesus, they don't have Holy Spirit. They could build things honestly. They could work, they could build their nation. We say they are atheists, they don't know God. But they don't know God but they could act sincerely. They could know that, 'No, this thing, let's work, let's build our nation.'" We say we have Jesus, we have God. He says, "Our people need to distinguish between religion and stupidity and between spirituality and tradition. Indeed, evil is deep." We need to sit down and this thing begin with personal, everybody one-on-one. Let's ask ourselves important question. You say you have all Jesus in you, you cannot show true love to your wife. You say you have all Jesus in you, you cannot show true love to your brother, to your neighbor. You say you have all the Jesus in you, you deceive others. Where is—do you understand me? Let's just look at one-on-one on what we do. We should have been better in terms of morality and stability. We should have been better since we have Jesus. That's just the argument. We should have been better, but we are not better. We are not better. Let's think, let's think, let's reflect. I was discussing with somebody who told me that Israel as a nation, if you marry more than a wife, you are sent out of the nation. Polygamy is a crime against the state. One wife. And we are busy here saying that it is not a sin if you have—"Show me where in the Bible God said a man who marry two wives will go to hell fire." Show me! We say we have Jesus Christ, we also know the one Holy Spirit. Honestly, we need to think of this working acceptably. Let everybody go and reflect. "Am I walking acceptably?" Praise the Lord. Let's close the meeting for today. Let's just pray. Let's just talk to the Lord. Let's just reflect and pray. Pray. Let's talk to the Lord. Am I walking acceptably with the Lord? [Music] [Music]