The Blessedness of Walking in His Ways

[Music] Churches and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God rightly 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] We thank him for his goodness. We thank him for all that he is to us. Glory to his name in the name of Jesus Christ. As we come together again today, we trust in the Lord that it will be a time of refreshment in the name of Jesus. Let us have a word of prayer as we begin again today. Almighty God, we thank you for your mercies. We thank you for your love. We thank you for your goodness. We thank you for all who you are. We thank you for your grace. Lord, unto you again we gather this evening, and we are committing the fellowship this evening into your hand. Lord, we are praying, let your spirit work within us, among us, in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, we commit into your hands we who are here physically, our brethren who are joining us online on Telegram or Mixlr. Lord, our God, we pray, meet with us all in the name of Jesus. Lord, we are praying, you have said the house of Jacob will not seek you in vain. This evening we trust in you. We will not seek you in vain in the name of Jesus. Rather, Lord, there will be definite encounter according to the needs of every man in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you, eternal Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Last week we were able to consider still an important subtopic of the theme we have been looking at all the while, a reflection on Micah chapter 6 verse 1 to 8. For the past almost three to about four weeks now, we have been considering the last subsection of the verse 8 where the Bible says what does the Lord require of you. Let me go to that scripture so that I will just read from the text. It says, "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" So for the past almost four weeks now, we have been considering the matter of what does it mean to walk humbly before the Lord. Last week we were able to consider the final or the last biblical example we desired to look into. That was Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel. We considered that last week, and we were able to see that if there is anything that the Lord wants the living to know, is that the living should know that the Most High God rules among men. The Most High God rules in the kingdom of men. Before we proceed today, I don't know if anybody have one or two things that was a point of lesson that the person want to share with us this evening before we move on to see how we eventually bring this matter to a close gradually, the book, our reflection on the book of Micah chapter 6 verse 1 to 8. Does anybody have anything to say? All right, let's have our sister. [Speaker 2] We have always learned from the life of Nebuchadnezzar that God humbles men. But the point that struck me last week was the fact that even success in the realm of darkness is given by God. If God does not permit it, it will not happen. It shocked me, and I was, so even Satan has no power to do anything except the far that God allow him to do. So it was a reminder and it was a great lesson I learned again. [Speaker 1] Thank you very much, my sister. The astrologers, we can see how that God was able to make a fool of them. And indeed, power belongs to God. Power belongs to God. Power belongs to God. So today we want to try and see how we wrap up the whole matter with the blessedness of walking in the ways of the Lord. That's our focus this evening. And actually, the purpose of this focus is to wrap up everything we have been considering in the last six to seven weeks. Is to wrap it up. The blessedness of walking in his ways, the blessedness of walking in his ways. In looking at that topic, we want to try and remind ourselves again of some important things. We began this reflection on the book of Micah from verse 1, where the scripture says: "Hear now what the Lord says: 'Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Hear, O you mountains, the Lord's complaint, and you strong foundations of the earth; for the Lord has a complaint against his people, and he will contend with Israel. O my people, what have I done to you? And how have I wearied you? Testify against me. For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, I redeemed you from the house of bondage; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab counseled, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, from Acacia Grove to Gilgal, that you may know the righteousness of the Lord.'" (Micah 6:1-5) We started this book of Micah by calling our attention to what exactly is your price in life? We saw that God was contending with Israel, that what exactly had he not given them? And why should anything come before God in their life? We told ourselves that it is very, very crucial that nothing comes before God in our life. That was the matter God was raising before his people. That they should consider the righteousness of God, they should consider the goodness of God, they should consider all that God in diverse ways did for them. And that if they really consider it, nothing should come first in their life apart from God. So we told ourselves that if anything comes first in your life before God, it is because you are blind to the goodness of God. You are blind to the righteousness of God. You are blind to the mercies of God. You are blind to what God is privileging your life to enjoy under God. If a man is not blind to what God is doing in his life or has done in his life, nothing can come before God in a man's life. That was how we started. And then we looked at the fact that God was more interested, God is more interested in obedience than in sacrifices. He says: "With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you..." (Micah 6:6-8) So we came to, that was how we came to these important things that the Lord requires from us. That first, the Lord required that we do justly. The Lord required faithfulness and justice than sacrifice. We saw different scriptures under this subheading. That the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to God. We saw that to obey is better than sacrifice, to heed than the fat of rams. We saw that God is more interested in the life of the worker than in the sacrifice of the worker. He said we should do justly. We saw something in Matthew where Jesus said there are the weightier matters of the law, which is to do justly, to love faithfulness. And then we came to loving mercy. Apart from doing justly, the need to be merciful as God is merciful. The need to be merciful as God is merciful. And the Lord Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful, because they will also obtain mercy." We went extensively to see that if in your life people cannot enjoy your goodness, they must always earn your goodness, then in a large extent you are not like your father. We saw that God makes his rain to rain upon both the good and the wicked. God brings his rain, God... and the Lord was asking us that if you only do good to them that do good to you, how are you different from publicans and sinners? We saw all of that. And lastly, we came to the matter of walking humbly before the Lord, which we were able to bring to a point where we can leave the matter last week by looking at the life of Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel. So what are we trying to say today? What are we considering under our focus this evening? We said our focus this evening is the blessedness of walking in his ways, the blessedness of walking in his ways. We have been looking at the ways of God. We have looked at four crucial things about the ways of God. God must come first. We must understand that the Lord prefers obedience to sacrifice. We must understand that God wants us to be just. We must understand that God wants us to be merciful. We must understand that God wants us to walk humbly before him. So the question today is what is the blessedness of doing these things? What is the blessedness of walking in the ways of the Lord? How blessed is the man that walks in the ways of the Lord? How do we describe the blessedness? That is what we want to look at this evening. And for the purpose of that reflection, we'll be looking at the book of Psalm, Psalm 128 for the purpose of the reflection. The blessedness of walking in the ways of the Lord. The blessedness of walking in the ways of the Lord. How is an individual, how blessed is that individual? How do we describe the blessedness? That is what we want to look at. Psalm 128 verse 1: "Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord." Fearing the Lord makes us to be blessed. It says, "Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways." I want you to note the word "ways", not "way". The way of the Lord have dimensions. The way of the Lord has dimensions. And that dimension is what the Bible is calling "ways". So it says, "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways." Our concern today is we want to look at the blessedness of doing these things that we have been discussing in the past eight weeks. In the past eight weeks we have been for almost two months now, we have been reflecting on the book of Micah chapter 6, trying to understand the ways of God. The ways of seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. The ways of obedience as against sacrifices. Not as if it is wrong to sacrifice, but obedience to precede sacrifices. Sacrifice becomes nonsense when not preceded by obedience. The ways of doing justly. The ways of loving mercy. The ways of walking humbly before the Lord. These ways of God. The Bible says, "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord." And then very importantly, "who walks in his ways." So it is not just enough to fear the Lord. It is not just enough to fear the Lord. That fear of the Lord must be demonstrated in a practical way. How do you demonstrate your fear of the Lord is that you walk in his ways. There is no way we can know you fear the Lord if you are not walking in his ways. If the Lord don't come first in your life, if in your secret heart there are some other love that compete with the love of God, if in your life sacrifice you sacrifice to God even though you don't obey him. If in your life we are talking about doing justly, loving mercy, walking humbly before the Lord, these ways of God. If you truly fear the Lord, you will walk in his ways. When a man don't walk in the ways of God, it is a demonstration that the fear of God is not in his life. So the Bible says, "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord." How will I know that you fear God is that you walk in his ways. Note the matter of "ways". The way of God has dimensions. We have been looking at the various dimensions for the past two months. Now the Bible is now telling us that there is a blessedness. And that is what we want to consider. There is a blessedness in fearing the Lord and in walking in his ways. Now what are these blessedness? The Bible began to itemize them for us. Number one, the Bible says when you eat the labor of your hand, you shall be happy. May that be our portion in the name of Jesus. There are men who eat the labor of their hand in sickness. There are men who eat the labor of their hand in sorrow. They have labored, but when it comes to eating, it is mingled with sorrow. They have labored. When it comes to eating, it is mixed with weeping. That will not be our portion in the name of Jesus Christ. So the Lord is saying that when the Lord comes first in our life, when we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, the matters that we have been considering... I am only taking time to remind you and now to put this thing together for our own life. Blessed is the man who walks in the ways. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways. Ways are we talking about? Seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness. How obedience comes before sacrifice. Understanding that you need to do justly, you need to love mercy, you need to walk humbly before the Lord. The ways of God. When you fear the Lord, and that fear of the Lord is demonstrated by walking in his ways, the Lord assures, the Lord guarantees that when you eat the labor of your hand, you shall be happy. When you are eating the labor of your hand, it will not be in sorrow. Now, let me tell you something. A lot of things are happening around us in this nation. Nigeria is like a nation that is under a siege. Under a siege. The country is in a siege. And that siege, ordinarily, when you think about the siege, you will be wondering whether things will turn out well for you. When you look at the various things happening today in Nigeria... I was discussing with somebody, he said even to sleep, sleep in fear. Because nobody is just sure of what will happen next. Politically there is unrest. Security is at zero level. Protection from government is nothing to write home about. Protection from government is nothing to write home about. Evil, atrocity, wickedness pervades the land. Wickedness at the family level, wickedness at relationship level, wickedness in every institution, wickedness in the school, wickedness in the church, wickedness in religious centers, wickedness in the workplace. There is just wickedness abound in the land. And sometimes you are just worried. You are wondering how it's going to look. But the Lord is saying something. The Lord is guaranteeing something. That when you fear the Lord and that fear of the Lord is demonstrated by walking in his ways, the Lord is giving you a guarantee that as for you, it doesn't matter how things will turn. When you eat the labor of your own hand, you will be happy. It doesn't matter how pessimistic the whole thing looks. Honestly, the situation of our nation looks very dark. There is so much hopelessness. There is so much hopelessness. Look at the rate at which people are leaving this country. Look at the rate at which people are dying in this country. Look at the level of ethnic bigotry or religious bigotry or trying to prove ethnic superiority. Look at the level of ethnic division. Look at the way nation rising against nation, ethnic group against ethnic group, kingdom against kingdom. Look at how war, pestilence, destruction is just going on in the land. Look at the level of wickedness perpetrated even at the level of leadership. Sometimes you just wonder. How is it going to turn? We don't know how tomorrow look like. We don't know how things are going to be. But we can be sure that if we walk in the ways of the Lord, when we eat the labor of our hand, we will be happy. Number two, we are looking at the blessedness. The blessedness of walking in the ways of the Lord. The blessedness of walking in his ways. Number two, the Bible says and it shall be well with you. I pray for you wherever you are hearing me. I don't know what is happening around you. I don't know what is happening about you. But looking at the word of God, I pray for you according to scriptures that as you walk in the ways of the Lord, it shall be well with you. As you fear the Lord and you walk in his ways, I pray for you, no evil will befall you. He says the Bible says it shall be well with you. And you see there is a similar scripture that corroborates this matter that we are raising here. You find it in Isaiah chapter 3. Look at Isaiah chapter 3. You will see a similar thing about this matter of it shall be well with you. I pray it shall be well with us. When we go out, it shall be well with us. When we come in, it shall be well with us. In all our endeavors and pursuit, it shall be well with us. It shall be well with our homes. It shall be well with our marriages. It shall be well with our children. It shall be well with us. Don't let us fear as believers. The Lord is guaranteeing us that it shall be well with us. Even in the state of this nation, it shall be well with us in the name of Jesus Christ. Look at Isaiah chapter 3. You will see a scripture that compares favorably with this matter that we are raising in Psalm 128. Look at what the Bible says. A very similar thing with what is happening to us in this nation and what is happening globally. The Bible says, and I'm reading Isaiah chapter 3 from verse 1. It says: "For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stock and the store, the whole supply of bread and the whole supply of water; the mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet, and the diviner and the elders; the captain of fifty and the honorable man, the counselor and the skillful artisan, and the expert enchanter. I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them." (Isaiah 3:1-4) A country is not blessed when people that lack understanding are their rulers. Don't forget what we have discussed earlier, that he must not be a novice. But God was punishing Israel. He said I will give children for their rulers and babes will rule over them. When people who lack understanding rule, there will be problem. There will be problem. He says I will give them, I will give children for their princes and babes shall rule over them. Now going further, he says the people will be oppressed. Is that not what is happening to us in Nigeria now? Is that not what is happening to us in Nigeria? Our rulers today, how do you describe them? They remind me of, I don't know whether you have watched this, if you have been used to local chicken. When Mother Hen is going out with the chicks and then Mother Hen will see food and then he will call the chick, "Chick-chick-chick-chick-chick-chick," and then you will just see all the chick, "Vroom!" they will run to Mother Hen. They will pick the food. But you will notice something. The first chick that picks the food will carry the food and begin to run away. All other chicks will be pursuing that one. He will be running, running, running, running, running. He wants to make sure that nobody shares that food with it. He wants to eat the food alone. Mind you, there was a mother that gave the food. Instead of them to put it down for all the chicks to share, one chick want to eat everything. So when you see self-centeredness, when you see people concerned about themselves, it tells you that they are children. Our leaders are children. Our leaders are babes. The people who rule, they are children in heart. When people mature, sign of maturity is lack of self-centeredness. Self-centeredness is a display of immaturity. Self-centeredness is a display of lack of understanding. Mother Hen gave them to eat, and only one person... Mother Hen will call again, "Chick-chick-chick," he will give another one, only one chick will run with it. "Chick-chick-chick." So when you see men running only for their life, it's a sign that they are babes. Our politicians are babes. They are children in heart even though they are having gray hair. But they are children in heart. That is what God is saying. When he said I will give children to be their princes and babes shall rule over them. Not only our politicians, oh! Come to the civil service. Look at the level of corruption and wickedness. We just talked about a man that, was it eighty billion? Eighty billion fraud, Accountant General. So I'm talking about, somebody was making an analysis of that something. He said that money will pay the salary of every professor in Nigeria for one and a half years. I'm showing you babes, babes, children. So I'm trying to make you understand what God is saying here. When he said I will give children to be their princes. He said, so the people will be oppressed. That is the reality, once babes and children rule. If that not what is happening to us in Nigeria now? Each one by another and every one by his neighbor. Is that not what is happening to us today? Everyone by his neighbor. The child will be insolent towards the elders. Is that not what is going on with us today? The child will be insolent. You are talking to children, children will be talking to you as if, talking to adults as if they are their equals. Disrespect, despise for authority, disregard for parents. Everyone will oppress his neighbor, the children will be insolent to the elders and the base towards the honorable. When a man take hold of his brother in the house of his father saying, "You have clothing, you be our ruler. Let this ruin be under your power." In that day he will protest saying, "I cannot cure your ill, for my house is neither food nor clothing. Do not make me a ruler over you." Are you getting what is going on? People will be hiding from responsibility. You will call this one there's this problem in the family, come and... "Ah, wahala temi po, mi o ti..." evading responsibilities. Nobody want to take responsibility for anybody. Look at how it goes on. He said for Jerusalem stumbled and Judah is falling because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord to provoke his eyes to glory. The look on their countenance witness against them. They declare their sin as Sodom. They do not hide it. Woe to their soul, for they have brought evil upon themselves. What is happening to us today? But look at what he said in the verse 10: "Say to the righteous, it shall be well with them." That is where we are coming from in Psalm 128. "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord." As all of these things are going on in Nigeria, all of this wickedness are going on at the family level, at fellowship level, at church level, at office level, at political level, all of these are going on. As for the righteous, say to the righteous, it shall be well with them. That is what you find in the Psalm. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways. What did he say about him? When he eat the labor of his hand, he shall be happy. What the second thing? It shall be well with you. So it doesn't matter how dark the society may be, as long as you walk in the ways of the Lord, it shall be well with you. But let me tell you, if you partake in the wickedness of the wicked, go and check what David said in Psalm. "He that dwells in secret place of the Most High, abides under the shadow of the Almighty." (Psalm 91:1) It is that man that is said, "A thousand shall fall to your side, ten thousand your right hand side, it will not come near you. Only with your eyes will you behold the reward of the wicked." (Psalm 91:7-8) So if you join them in wickedness, sorry, oh, you will fall with them, oh! You cannot call "A thousand shall fall to my side, ten thousand... hey!" it's not for you. Shut up your mouth, it's not for you. But for the man who fears the Lord, who walk in his ways, when he eat the labor of his hand, he shall be happy. What the second thing? It shall be well with you. So it doesn't matter how dark the society may be, as long as you walk in the ways of the Lord, it shall be well with you. I just went there to show you a corollary scripture. That "Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walk in his ways." When you eat the labor of your hand, you shall be happy. You will not eat the labor of your hand in sorrow. You will not eat it in pain. You will not eat it in weeping. But you must fear the Lord, and you must walk in his ways. And we have been discussing his ways for the past two months. We made it very clear. Number one, you must seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Nothing must come before God in your life. If God don't come first in your life, then you are not in the ways of God. God will either come first or he will not come at all. God will not come second. He will not come third. Nothing must compete with the love for God. Nothing must be more important to you than God. That is the first ways of God. You must seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. All other things they come after. Other things can come second, can come third, but he must come first. The second thing about the ways of the Lord is the ways of obedience. That before you begin to sacrifice to God, make sure you are walking in obedience. God desire obedience more than sacrifice. Sacrifice is good, but God desire obedience before sacrifice. Don't be busy making sacrifices to God without obeying him. Because you're a wicked man if you behave like that. The Lord have more delight in obedience than in sacrifice. Don't be laboring in churches and in fellowship jumping here and there when you are disobedient to God. That sacrifice is an abomination to God. The ways of the Lord is the ways of obedience. The ways of the Lord is the ways of placing God first. Nothing comes before him. The third thing we mentioned about the ways of the Lord is that what does God require of you is that you must do justly. You must be a just man. In all your takings with people, in all you do, in all you say, you must be just. You must not owe anybody anything. You must be just. You give to every man as it is meant to them. You are not an unjust person. You are ever fair in everything you do. You don't cheat on people. You don't take advantage of people. You are just in all your ways. The fourth thing we mentioned about the ways of the Lord, the ways of mercy. The ways of mercy. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." (Matthew 5:7) Say if you only do good to those who do good to you, how are you different from sinners? But be merciful like your Father. If people must always merit things they get from you, then you are not like God. Nobody merits salvation. Nobody merits the love of God. And that is why sometimes when people talk about marital relationship and they are talking about merit, merit, merit, merit. I just know that these are hearts that don't truly know God. If you truly know God, your husband don't need to merit your love. Your wife don't need to merit your love. There is a mercy, there is an understanding that comes. He said God makes it to rain upon both the good and the wicked. (Matthew 5:45) But if you are that person that no, you only greet those that greet you, you only love those that love you, then you are not like Father. The ways of mercy. And then the last thing we talk about the ways of the Lord, the ways of walking humbly before the Lord. The ways of knowing that God is at the center of it all. The ways of prayer. The ways of prayer. The ways of constantly submitting, committing everything, talking about anything and about everything to God. The ways of accepting correction. The ways of not despising people. The ways of knowing that whatever you are, no man can receive anything except God gives it. The ways of not walking in the pride of life. The ways of humility before the Lord. The ways of knowing that God rules in the kingdom of men. The ways of humility. These are the ways of the Lord. The Bible says, "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord." And that fear is demonstrated by walking in his ways. When these things are evident in your life, I assure you, you will eat the fruit of your labor with joy. And in this very land, despite the darkness in this land, despite the wickedness in this land, despite the evil in this land. Nigeria has become so overwhelmed, so overtaken by wickedness. But I tell you that in the midst of this darkness, it shall be well with you. How are you to do it? What is the ways to it? Is what we are discussing. The ways to it is that you must fear the Lord and you must walk in his ways. You must fear the Lord and you must walk in his ways. And the matter of his ways have been made clear. If you have not been with us in the past two months, please go and listen to that other that we have discussed on a reflection on the book of Micah. Go and take all of those topic. About eight to nine different topic. Go and take them and listen to them again, one after the other. So that you can understand the ways of God. The ways of God. You shall be happy. Oh, look at how it moves again to the family life. "Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house." (Psalm 128:3) There is a way when you walk in the ways of the Lord, it becomes, it bring prosperity into your family. When a woman is like that, then the husband become a fruitful vine in his house. When a man is like that, you see, there is a blessedness that this thing brings into your family. But when you don't walk in the ways of the Lord, it will be the other way round. Instead of your partner being fruitful, what you will find is the other way round. The other way round. And I want to tell you for those of us who may not be married. I want to assure you. You see, when you walk in the ways of the Lord, you don't need to be afraid about, "I hope if I get married, my wife will be fruitful." I was discussing with somebody recently, even though the person is not even in Nigeria. Somewhere in United States of America. We're just conversing. And he said it's not only in Nigeria, said even over there too people are doing all kinds of before you marry now, you have to be sure that the person is sexually compatible. By that they mean that you have to be sure the person is fertile. You have to be sure that at least maybe you impregnate her first just to be sure at least she's carrying one child so that you can be sure before you marry her, because many families are not having children today. So you begin to see. How do you test fertility without committing fornication? Now, that is man's method of dealing with the future. "Hey, let me be sure." So I want to ask you. Do you know that somebody can be pregnant, lose the pregnancy and then still remain infertile? What guarantees that because she's pregnant, she is fertile? I'm showing you the best way. I'm showing you the right way. If you fear the Lord and you walk in his ways, I assure you, as you move on, the Lord will guide your path. The Lord will guide your ways. You don't need to fear the future. The way to deal with your future is what are you doing today? If today you are fearing the Lord, if today you are walking in his ways, I want to guarantee you, your family life will be okay. The problem of the future is not the future. The problem of the future is what seed are you sowing today? The seed you sow today, you will reap it tomorrow. Every action of your life is a seed. The harvest of your seed, they are coming. If you are sowing corruption, you will reap corruption. Prayer will not make you escape. Church attendance will not make you escape. Business in fellowship will not make you escape. If you sow to the flesh, you will of the flesh reap corruption. (Galatians 6:8) Because some people think that because of some sacrifices they are doing to God, they can escape the seed that they are sowing. Sorry, God has spoken. He said, "Do not be deceived, God cannot be mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, that is what he will reap." (Galatians 6:7) So it's not about jumping around fellowship and churches. That is not wrong. To be busy for our churches, to be busy in the church, to be active in the things of God is a wonderful thing. But don't forget that the ways of the Lord says that obedience come before sacrifice. You can't be keeping malice and be active in the choir and then you are expecting that you will not reap evil at the end of the day. I'm showing you why people a lot of things happen to people and they will be saying that, "And this person is actually a Christian, oh, and he's a Christian, oh." Look, there are things we need to check in our life. Yet I must also say that it is not in every situation of challenge that there is a sin. We saw the life of Job. There was no sin, but there was a challenge. But it's also true that if you sow evil, you will reap evil. But the point we are making. What is it that guarantees your future? You are not married. "I want to be sure my wife will be fruitful. I want to be sure my husband will be fruitful." It's not about sexual compatibility, going into fornication to test fertility. That's not the way to solve it. I'm showing you the right way to solve it. The way to solve it is to fear the Lord and walk in his ways. If you fear the Lord and you walk in his ways, your husband will be fruitful, your wife will be fruitful. The Lord will guide your path. The Lord will guide your ways. Because honestly, there are many deceivers today. Many people are in church and in fellowship that are deceivers. I was handling a case... a case was handled some years back. The sister has live her life recklessly. She have live her life recklessly to the point that her womb has been evacuated. And when she got to the junction of entering into marriage, she did not tell the young man that this was the situation. And that's why sometimes when people are in relationship, I wonder, what do you do with relationship? What do you do with courtship? What do you discuss? There are some questions that we must ask. There are things to discuss. There are things to engage one another with. As you engage yourself, deep will call to deep. Birds of the same feather will flock together. Birds that are not of the same feather, they will part ways. They enter into the marriage, and they were expecting children. The lady said nothing. They were praying, praying, Lord, give us... you can see the high level of deception. There are several deceivers even inside our churches, our fellowship and all of that. There are several deceivers. There are several wicked people. But when you fear the Lord and you walk in his ways, the Lord has a way of guiding our steps. But if you yourself you are wicked, why will you not reap wickedness? If you're a deceiver, you want, you are looking for a sincere person. Who will give you? You are in your business, you lie to people. You are in your career, in your profession, in the fellowship, you are deceitful. And then you are trusting God for an honest person to deal with. Who will give you? You must also reap what you are sowing. These are the serious matters about life. What am I saying? Is that if we walk in the ways of the Lord, there is a blessedness. And one of that blessedness is the guarantee of the future. Your wife will be a fruitful vine. It goes again to affect your children. He says, "Your children shall be like olive plants around your table." (Psalm 128:3) They will give you peace. It means the things that you are doing personally, for example, what scatter the children of David? Was it not going to sleep with Bathsheba and killing her husband? That brought a strange spirit upon the children. That Amnon went to sleep with Tamar and Absalom killed Amnon. It was something in David. Why is it that Rehoboam acted foolishly? It was because of the foolishness of Solomon when his heart turned away from God. And God said, "I'm going to divide the kingdom, not in your day but in the day of your son. And I will do that because of David. I will leave one tribe with Judah." So no matter what Rehoboam will do, he will act foolishly because the kingdom will be divided. Who laid the foundation for his life? His father. What are you doing as a father? What are you doing as a mother? Our actions and inactions, they gather together. They gather together. They will either be rains of blessing or storms of wild wind. They will gather, oh. The cloud of your actions are gathering. The cloud of your actions, they are gathering. Either they will come as rains of blessing or storms of adversity. So blessed is the man that walk in the ways of the Lord. Blessed is the man that fears the Lord and walk in his ways. In whose ways are you walking? Are your ways the ways of God? Are the ways of God your ways? Or you have your own way? The way of unrighteousness, the way of deceit, the way of hypocrisy, the way of disobedience. People have their ways. People have their ways today. The ways of unfaithfulness, the ways of the pride of life, the ways of arrogance, the ways of wickedness, the ways of taking advantage of people, the ways of deceit. What are your ways, brother? Secure tomorrow today. Your actions today determine what becomes tomorrow. The problem of the future is not about the future. It's the seed that you are sowing today. What seed are you sowing today? What seed are you sowing today? What seed are you sowing? What seed are you sowing? What seed are you sowing? Almighty God, we thank you for today. Almighty God, we give you praise, we give you glory. We give you honor, we give you adoration. Lord, we commit ourselves into your hand. Lord, our God, you are giving us encouragement, encouragement at a time like this when our nation is experiencing serious darkness, when our nation is experiencing high level of wickedness in all human institution. At the family level, at the educational institution, at the religious institution, at the military institution, the security outfit, the political institution, every institution of government, every institution of society today is collapsing. At such a dark time in the history of society, and yet it is not going to get better. Yes, because darkness will cover the earth, gross darkness the people. What is happening, they are not strange. You have told us that nations will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, there shall be war, there shall be famine, there shall be pestilence, there shall be all kinds of this going on. You have made us to understand that evil men and seducers, they will wax worse and worse. You have made us to know that men will run to and fro, knowledge will increase, wickedness will abound. You have made us to know how it's going to be at the end time. So we know that the earth will continue to sink. Nobody can hold it back because it has been programmed to sink. But Lord, there is a currency that can keep us. There is something that can hold us. As the earth is sinking, we can be floating. As the earth is sinking, it is not compulsory we sink with the earth. And you are showing us what we need to do so that we don't sink with the earth. The earth has been programmed to sink. In the same way, the fear of God and the ways of God has been programmed as a way for your people to overcome the darkness of the earth. O Lord God, we pray, help us not to join in the wickedness of the wicked in the name of Jesus. Help us not to go in the way of unrighteousness. We will not fall with the wicked. We will not fall with the unrighteous. We will not fall, O Lord, with the disobedient. O Lord, help us to go your ways. Help us to go in your ways. And as we go in your ways, O God, Lord our God, as darkness covers the earth, your glory will shine upon us. Your glory will shine upon us. Your glory will shine upon us. When men are crying down casting, we will be crying up rising, because the Lord our God will be our light in the name of Jesus Christ. You said even in the midst of the confusion, we can say to the righteous, it shall be well with him; that he will eat the good of his labor. Lord, this shall be our portion in the name of Jesus Christ. O Lord, cause us to fear you. Cause us to walk in your ways in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you, eternal Father. Blessed be your holy name, our God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's share the grace together. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forevermore. Amen. 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. [Music] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in reaching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development, and mission heat. Our regular activities are: Discipleship class, every Monday, 5:00 PM. Adolescents and singles club, every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM. Marriage forum, second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM. Family life seminars, regular school out-reaches, and everyday counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location: Life Camp, by the first bridge, Ilere community, opposite Veryjoy Filling Station, along Iji-Are road, Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are 08033861136, 07033613848. God bless you all.