The Cord of Three Strands

[Music: Hymn singing] Glory be to God in the highest. Amen. Hallelujah for His mercies endure forever. Amen. Hallelujah for His mercies endure forever. Amen. Two more times, glory be to God in the highest. Amen. Hallelujah, glory be to God in the highest. Amen. Hallelujah for His mercies endure forever. Amen. Hallelujah for His mercies endure forever. Amen. For the last time, glory. Oh, glorify the Lord. Glorify the Lord. His mercies have brought us into 2022. His goodness, His favor. Glory be to God in the highest. Amen. Hallelujah for His mercies endure forever. Amen. For His mercies endure forever. Amen. [Speaker 1] Lord, indeed, glory be to your name. January to December 2021, you carried us. Every second Saturday for our Marriage Forum. And your mercies and power have brought us again into 2022. This is the first Marriage Forum for the year 2022. We are glorifying you. We are blessing your name. We are lifting you high. We are saying, if not on account of your faithfulness and mercy, what would have been our story? Lord, if not for your presence, if not, oh Lord, that you daily give utterance, Lord, how would it have been? We say, Lord, to you be all the glory. To you be all the honor. To you be all the adoration. Blessed be your holy name, our Father. Thank you, our God. We are commencing again for this year’s Marriage Forum, our first episode of our Marriage Forum this January. Lord our God, we pray into 2022 that you will go ahead of us. As we commence again this year, you will go ahead of us. Lord, you will guide us all the way through. You will instruct us in the path to go. You will carry us. You will bear us up in the name of Jesus Christ. We will mount up with wings as eagles. We will run, we will not be weary. We will walk, we will not faint in the name of Jesus. And Lord, as we fellowship together this morning, as we interact in this forum, as we look into matters and we take questions and answers and we look at all of this, Lord, we pray, let your spirit work within us. Lord our God, Paul plants, Apollos waters, but it is only God that can give increase. Give increase to every heart. Let grace, oh God, be imparted in the name of Jesus Christ. Let there be seed for the sower. Let there be bread for the eater in the name of Jesus. Thank you, eternal Father. Blessed be your holy name. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Praise the Lord. We are starting up again for the year and I want to say welcome to everybody on board. Our brethren who are linking with us online, either on Mixlr, we say you are welcome again to the year 2022. Our brethren joining us on Telegram, we say you are welcome into the year 2022. We trust the Lord that the Lord will carry all of us through in the name of Jesus Christ. So, whether we are here physically or we are online, the Spirit of the Lord will meet with us all in the name of Jesus Christ. We are starting up this year in a very unique way. You remember that we have been considering a series from last year: God, Sex, and Marriage. The connection between God, sex, and marriage. We noted something very serious when we started that series, that once you remove God from sex and marriage, what you will have is confusion. Because sex and marriage, they are two things that have their origin in God. The two of them have their origin in God. It is not that a man was thinking about marriage and God said, "Okay, let Adam come and marry." It was God's idea that it is not good for him to be alone, let him have a wife. And everything about having that wife, the reproductive organ, the sexual organ, the hormones, the genotype, everything, just think about everything, they were all God's idea. So, we have been looking at that topic and what we want to do particularly today is, we have considered, we have been looking more at marriage and sex. We are still going to see how we go under that umbrella, but under that big umbrella, we are bringing out something very specific for today’s meeting. This aspect of God, this aspect of God, particularly as we are beginning the year. We are saying that actually, on one hand, God is the Creator. If somebody has not met with God, God is the Creator. On the other hand, if the person has met with God, God is both Creator and Shepherd. I hope you get the point I am making. Whether somebody is a believer or not, God is his Creator. God must have a way of taking care of His creation. Then if for any reason you have become born again, then you have double blessing. God is not just your Creator, He is also your Savior, He is your Lord, He is your Shepherd. So, under that capture of God being our Shepherd, we want to look at this topic: The Cord of Three Strands. The cord, C-O-R-D, of three strands. And I took that topic from Ecclesiastes chapter four. The topic is taken from Ecclesiastes chapter four. Let’s see that Scripture. Ecclesiastes chapter four. Are you there? I will read from verse nine, but I will read the verse 12. I would like us to look at it in the NLT translation. I am reading the NIV Bible now. From verse nine: "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls, his friend may help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up. Also, if two lie together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?" The third importance: "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." That’s where we took our topic from. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Now, that looks like something figurative in that verse 12, doesn’t it? Let’s check it in the NLT. It brings it out very well. NLT translation, who is having NLT Bible? "A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken." Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not quickly broken. There can be storm, there can be wind, but if it is three, it is not quickly broken. And it is that cord, that third cord that we want to talk about. If your strand, if your relationship, if your togetherness, if it is just about the boy and the girl, the brother and the sister, it is good, but there is something better than that. If your relationship is just you and the person, it is good, but three is better. There is nothing wrong with two because, of course, if you look at it, it is not only Christians that marry. Is that not true? Muslims marry. Unbelievers marry. Isn't it? So, you find some two. There is nothing ordinarily, it looks like nothing is wrong with two. It looks like, "Okay, two can go on now. What is the essence of the third cord?" But if you are used to a cord, if you are used to a cord, you notice that—you know what I am calling a cord? A rope. Do you notice how many strands are in a rope? Three. Go and check your rope. I have one rope here. Should we take one here and check it quickly? Okay, please just go outside the door, Emmanuel, just go outside the door—oh, there is even one there. Oh, okay, bring that one. That will help us to see. Can it come out quickly? If it cannot, okay, bring that one. Look, this is a cord. You see the cord? Do you notice the three? Do you notice? Three. Praise the Lord. So, we continue from where we are. Our brethren online, we are linked, we are very much with you. Now, look at this. You see the cord. Do you see it? This one is not two. Take cords, you always see three. If you want to know it, look at when women weave their hair. It is three. Why do they make it three? Two will go together, the third one is for tying. You understand? Because if you make it two, it will stay together but as you are leaving it, it will be untying. So, the cord of three strands gives you a cord that you cannot easily lose. It gives you something that stays together. And this third strand, who are we talking about? We are talking about if it is you, the sister, and the Lord. If it is you, the sister, and the Lord. If it is you, the sister, and the Lord. If it is you, your wife, and the Lord. That’s why the Bible says, "Ah, a cord of three strands, three is even better." Three is better. It is better. And quickly on a very general background, we will ask ourselves, just on a general background before we begin to enter some very, very specific things because I want to answer some very specific questions. On a general background, the Bible in Psalm 127 says what? Psalm 127 verse one: "Except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it." You find the same thing also in Hebrews chapter three. Look at Hebrews chapter three. You find a similar thing there in Hebrews chapter three, talking about the building of a house. Hebrews chapter three, look at verse four. Can we see that? Are you there quickly? Hebrews 3:4. NIV says, "For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything." Are you seeing it again? Any other translation? Can we have some other translation? [Speaker 2] KJV says, "For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God." [Speaker 1] He that built all things is God. It is God. When they build without God, you can be sure they will build outside purpose. When we build without God, we will build—when God was bringing in marriage, what was in the mind of God? Was God thinking primarily about Adam? Was God thinking primarily about Adam? What was God thinking primarily about? His purpose. Why was Adam created? Why was man created? Primarily and fundamentally, it was stated in Genesis: to have dominion over every other thing. Isn't it? When man was created, was he omnipresent? He was not omnipresent. So how can he dominate this earth if he does not multiply? Just imagine that things are just the way they were. There was no sin. Animals are increasing. Animals can—they are growing geometrically. You know there is no defined sexual partner. This will sleep with that, that will sleep with that. Gorillas, they are just multiplying. All of you are multiplying. Then man, no business of multiplication. Just try to look at it. One just ran from America, ran to Akure, came back, then he will run again because he wasn't omnipresent. So, what did God say when He was bringing in marriage, when He brought in Eve? The Bible says He blessed them and said what? "Be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth, fill it." Then what will you now do? "Have dominion." So, when God was bringing marriage, God was thinking of His purpose. He was not thinking about man. He wasn't only thinking about man. It was not just about man. The reason why it is not good to be alone is that the purpose of God would be mortgaged. So, when the third person is not there, marriage cannot serve the purpose for which God brought it. The marriage will be directionless and that is what you find. It will be purposeless. So, the God factor gives the marriage the purpose for marriage. We are not marrying because of marriage. No. That is what happens outside the kingdom. That’s why I said Muslims marry, unbelievers marry. They marry for marriage. What are the marriage for marriage? What are the things for marriage? When they ask you, "What is your marital status?" You say "Married." You can say, "Meet my wife." Because when you say you are not married, it looks somehow. Say, "Meet my wife." Then you are thinking of children. Is that not? "I want to have children." Just that that is what you are thinking about as a Christian, you don’t understand the purpose of God for marriage. Marriage is beyond just a purpose—marriage is not for marriage. Are you understanding it? Or else you are not a kingdom person. Marriage is for the kingdom. Marriage was for God’s purpose and that is the third strand we are talking about. A cord of three strands. Number one, it brings marriage not to be for the purpose of marriage, but to put marriage in the place of serving His purpose. Now, we now want to answer some very, very specific questions this morning. And the first one is, when we talk about the kingdom, when we talk about the kingdom—I have said it is not only Christians that marry, but when we talk about Christians, the kingdom, because our focus is that we know when Jesus came, He took us out of one kingdom into another kingdom. I’ve always told people, it is about kingdoms. Always be kingdom-minded in everything you do. Be kingdom-minded. You are either in the kingdom of darkness or in the kingdom of light. Nobody is anywhere else. Nobody is anywhere else. If you are not here, you are there. If you are in the kingdom of light, you are not in darkness. If you are in darkness, you are not in light. And each kingdom has its lifestyle. Each of them, they produce different lifestyle. So, in the kingdom, relationship in the kingdom, number one: Who is fit for a relationship? The question of who. Who is fit for a relationship? And I will answer that again from the Scripture. I want to see if I can do everything and put all I want to say together so that around now, I would have spent about an hour, then I’ll be able to entertain one or two questions. Who is fit for a relationship? Who? Let’s see how we started. We said relationship started with who? It was whose idea? God. So, if we want to know who is fit, let's look at God’s conception. We need to look at God's conception of the whole matter. So, let's look at God's conception of it to quickly answer that. Genesis chapter two. Let's quickly answer that from Genesis chapter two. Who is fit for a relationship? Our first question we want to answer this morning. The third cord, the third strand in the cord, a cord of three strands. God is that strand, is that third one. And I am telling you three is far better than when it is just two. Are you there? Look at Genesis chapter two. I want to read from verse 15. God made the man before verse 15. I am just trying to skip the story. In the earlier verses, He said, you know, God made man, then the breath of life, he became a living being, a living soul. You understand that. So, after he has been made, let's see what God did. Number one, in verse 15, 16, 17 into 18. That’s what we want to check. Who is fit for a relationship? As far as the kingdom is concerned, not outside the kingdom but within the kingdom. "Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 'Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.' Then verse 18: And the Lord said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone.'" You see the procedure. Number one, who is fit for the kingdom is that individual who shares intimacy with God, that can converse with the Lord. You have a way God can relate, you have a way God can lead him. You have a way God can speak to you. Outside the kingdom, it is a different—if you are outside the kingdom, the first thing to do is to become born again. You become born again because if you are not born again, you cannot even enter that kingdom or converse in that kingdom. But if you are born again, you don’t just stop there. You must be somebody who is growing in grace and the knowledge of the Lord, and you have come to a point that God, you have, God can interact with you. "Emmanuel, come. I want you to do this for me." And you can understand where God is talking to you. If you have not come to that point, you are not fit for a relationship. You are not fit for a relationship. You still need to work on your life. Anyhow the relationship wants to start, you can’t remove every house is built by somebody, but the actual builder is God. It's God. He must be there to be able to give His instruction, to give His leading, to give His approval. You must be able to take your bearings from Him. He says, look at it, "He who hears my word and do it." You know, that’s what I know about the kingdom. In the kingdom, there are two categories of people: those who can hear and do, and those who hear and will not do. Those who can’t hear anything, we don’t count them in the kingdom. Do you understand me? Do you understand me? Those who can’t hear anything, we don’t really reckon with them because the Scripture says, "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." There must be a place of God being able to lead. So, if you have not come to that point, you are not yet—okay, if we are to use that word figuratively, as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are what? Sons of God. Let’s use the word figuratively. You know the difference between a child and a son? What’s the difference between a child and a son figuratively? What does childhood connote and sonship? [Background response] Uh-huh. So, as those that cannot be led, those who are in the kingdom that cannot be led, they are still children. Children don't marry. It is sons that marry. You get the point. So, get out of childhood, get out of grow up in the kingdom. Dagba. Grow up. If you are not born again, then that’s a different thing entirely. You need to first come into the kingdom and then we are talking of doing it the kingdom way. Don’t forget, there are—you can do it outside the kingdom. Are you understanding? Get my point very clear. But the kingdom way, you come into the kingdom, you become a babe in Christ. Is that not? And the babe, they are used to milk, isn’t it? That person taking milk to grow, you grow, you grow. Then you begin to put away malice, put away that. Those are the things that scatter marriages. It is husband keeping malice with the wife. He gets all kinds of childish behavior when people get married because these people, didn't they grow up? They just grew old. They didn't grow up. They are still children. They think like children, they talk like children. They cannot sacrifice, they cannot make because there is nothing called compatibility. There is nothing called compatibility in marriage. You work out compatibility when you get there. Anybody God gives you, there is still a place of working. That person God will give you, there is a place of working. God called the children of Israel out of Egypt. He said, "Let us go together to Canaan." There was a place of working, isn't it? When God saved them, what saved them? "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." But they were still children, so they need to be trained. They need to start. When they started the journey, what happened that they could not get there? Was it because God was not intending to take them there? The Bible says, "So we see that they could not enter into their rest because of unbelief." They could not. God wanted to take them there. So, there is the place of God leading, there is the place that God has brought somebody. Compatibility is something you work out. The ingredient of incompatibility is selfishness. So, grow up from childhood. You grow up and when do we say you become a son? When are you a son that you can be talking about marriage, about a relationship? When? When you can be led. If you cannot be led, oh, ti dagba, omode sin ni e, o dgba. You need to grow up. Number two, if you look at that Scripture, you will notice that, "And the Lord God commanded the man." Sorry, "Then the Lord God took man, put him in the garden to tend and to keep it. The Lord God commanded the man of every tree of the garden you may eat freely, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you shall eat it you shall surely die." Do you notice something there? That he was somebody that could take what? Was there no assignment? Was there no assignment? Was there no assignment? I ask you, what is your assignment for God that you are thinking of relationship? What’s your assignment? I don’t want to say ministry so you be thinking of which church. Assignment. What is your assignment in life? You need to understand your assignment because if you don’t—if you don’t know where you are going, where are you leading the person to? Into which assignment? So, you will think assignment is just to give birth, take care of the house, sweep the floor, cook your food. There is nothing wrong with that, but if that is the whole purpose of marriage, that is outside the kingdom. It is not within the kingdom. Beyond cooking your food, it is not—beyond washing your clothes. I even—I don’t know why people even think about food cooking, washing clothes, and all of that. Because I remember one young man when we were growing up there as a young man. God had been dealing with my own heart. So, we were just talking, my colleagues. He said, "Ah, once I marry like this, eh, ah, thank God. No more cooking, no more washing clothes, no more market. Ah, thank God." Then I just—I just said this jokingly, but I was serious what I was trying to say. I said, "Then you may not need a wife." Rowale, ah-ah, what do you mean? I said, "You just need a househelp." A househelp can do all those things now. He said, "Are you saying that our sister will not be cooking?" I said, "That’s not what I am saying." I said, "But if you narrow marriage, I am only saying that your heart is myopic. Your heart is small. You don’t understand marriage beyond the concept of culture." Don’t you know that if the woman become a househelp, she will no more be a help for you? She was designed to help you. But if you reduce her to a househelp, she will help the house, she will not help you. Do you understand? I am trying to say that as a believer, you have an assignment and the primary purpose of bringing her is to help your what? Your divine assignment. Adam had an assignment. It is to have dominion. The purpose why Eve is coming is for him to be able to do what? Multiply, replenish, fill, and then be able to do what? Do the assignment. So, if you reduce her to househelp, how does she help your assignment? But what I am trying to say, who is it that can go into relationship? The man, that individual who has a work with God and that individual who can take assignment from the Lord. We have seen that on the part of the brother. What of the sister? What of the sister? Can we demonstrate for the sister? Let’s demonstrate for the sister. Victor, can you go and stand at that end there? Let’s demonstrate for the sister. Stand at that end. He was asleep, we took a bone out of him. We are making him Adam. We have taken the bone out of him and we have molded the sister called Eve. After we have finished molding the sister, what did the Bible say God did? [Background response] God brought her. She was brought. She was brought. So, let me bring her. Oya. [Humming a wedding tune]. This is her. That is he. We are to—what are we doing? We are working together. So, a sister who cannot work with the Lord is not a marriage material. There must be a working. She’s not a marriage material. If you marry her, you will have a lot of challenges. There must be a work. We are answering the question: Who can go into a relationship? Who can go into it? You see for the man, there was a work. For the sister, there was also a what? There was a work. Things to check for. As you are praying, "Father, Father, Father, lead me," watch and pray. Things to watch out for. It is not whether she has first class in chemical engineering or whether she is a medical doctor, be able to support the house with her salary. Those aren't the things to be watching for. Those are small-small things. Those are "as well as." First seek the kingdom of God. Those other things, they will be added. No, these are the things to watch out for. In the part of the sister, we are watching out for an individual, a young man, who number one has a work with God. He is no more a child. There is a work. Because if a man—he takes in that is ahead to be the head. He takes in that is ahead to be the head. So, he who cannot be led cannot lead another person. That’s the truth about it. And on the part of the brother, who are you looking for in a relationship? Who is actually that is fit? You are checking that there is a work with God. There is a work with God. Then we saw that after God was through with that, before God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone." Now, he has—he knows his assignment. He is working with God. Then at that point now, what can we say? It is not good for the man to be alone. If you have not gotten to that point, it is good for him to be alone, oh. [Laughter] He good that he is alone. Let him be alone. Let him be alone. Do you know why? If he is alone that way, at least there will be nothing to fight and fight with about compatibility and re-compatibility because I am telling you, marriage calls for constant adjustment. Relationship calls for constant adjustment. You don't say, "Leave it like that. That is how I talk. If you don't take it like that," no. You have to start adjusting. You have to start bending. You have to start bending here and there. You have to start compromising a lot of things. You have to start putting a lot of things so that the thing can work. When butter meets flour and they are thinking of making cake, butter don’t say, "You see, you know I am very, very flexible. I don't like contours around me." and flour won't say, "You know I am very dry. I don't like moisture, you know. Moist, normally," no, no, no, no, no. If they want to really make cake, butter must be ready to enter into what is wet. Flour must be ready to enter into what is moist. Butter must be ready for what is dry. And they both mix, mix, mix, mix. And at the end of the day, you can’t say, "This is flour." You can’t say, "This is butter." What you have is cake. But all these, "You know me, I am very—" [makes noise]. You don’t understand. You don’t understand it. So, who is fit for it? It is that person who has a what? A work with God, His assignment with God, a sister who has a work with God. These are people that can come into relationship. These are people and we are going to see that by the time we come to how can couples have one mind. Because I am going to answer that question too very specifically. How to become oneness of mind in marriage? By the time I come to the marriage. Another thing we want to answer is when. What time do I go in? What time do I go into marriage? "Oh, you know I have graduated now, so I must marry now. I've finished service. It’s time for marriage." Or maybe [Speaker name inaudible] will just say that now you see I have finished service and the next thing now is marriage. Is that how it works? "Ah, [Speaker name inaudible] is getting married, oh. Me too, ah, we finished school together. Ah, me too I should be marrying my own now." [Laughter] [Speaker name inaudible] is that how it works? No, that’s not how it works. Emmanuel, after all I’m taller than you are. How can you be marrying and I’m not married? I should walk my own. Is that how it works? No. So when? Because these are very critical questions to answer. When? Is it because I’m 30 years old, I’m 25 years old? You know, people sometimes link it so much with age. And that is why by the time you see the girl start becoming 25, the father will say, "M-m-m... no, nobody is even—you are not even bringing somebody to come and greet you. Eh? What’s up?" And the girl will say, "I know." And you will say, "Young man, ah, old man ti de fe pe 30 years nibe yen nkankan ko. Ki lo n sele? Let us—" You start seeing small-small pressure coming. It starts coming from church. "Any relationship? Any relationship?" Because—yes, there is nothing wrong about relating it with age in a way. In a way. Generally speaking. Generally speaking. Because of course, the Bible says the wife of your youth, not the wife of your old age. You get the point. You don’t become 90, you say, "Yes, where is that woman I want to marry?" You get the point. So, it is not the wife of your old age, it is the wife of your youth. But it is not strictly about age, so to say. That’s what I’m trying to say. It’s not strictly about age. Look at what the Bible says. We are answering that second question very quickly now. What does the Bible say? The Bible says in verse 28, the popular Scripture—what does the Bible say? In verse 18, what does the Bible say? "And the Lord God—" Who was saying? Who was saying? It was the Lord saying. So, if you have a work with God, go and check this with Psalm one. It says, the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, does not stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. In the law of the Lord, he meditate how? Day and night. He shall be like a tree planted where? By the rivers of water. What’s the next thing? He brings forth his fruit, when? In his season. You have your season. As you walk with God, you will know your season. You will know your season. So it’s not primarily about biological age. You will know your season. You will begin to sense it in your spirit. It was God who said, that is why—how—are you seeing the thing? You see how they build together? Who can? He has a leading. He has an assignment. Who is the she? She has a leading. When is the timing? As they walk with God, they will bring forth their fruit where? In their season. So, somebody may be 21, another may be 31, another may be 25, another may be 28. Everybody is in their time zone. No one is ahead of the other. In some countries, they are nine hours ahead of us. Some are seven hours behind us. Everybody is in their time zone. You don’t tell—you don’t tell corn—maize to produce and get mature like coconut. Maize and coconut, do they work with the same timing? All the life of maize from planting to harvest, how many days? In fact, how many years? [Background response] Oh, thank God. Some of you, I thought you wanted to say two years. I would have said ah-ah, agbado to n je lojojumo. Who knows how many days for maize? [Background response] Three months. Yes. Have you seen—are you seeing maize where? Where is maize? In its time zone. You will see some people—[makes noise]—90 days, they are through. Another one is coconut. Hallelujah! [Laughter] Ah! After one year it is still growing. You say, "Ah, but both of them, both of them are crops." No, it’s in its time zone. That’s why it’s not—are you understanding me? You are in your time zone. Don't begin to compare, "Ah, me and Bolarinwa finished together, oh. Olorun o!" Don’t—that’s not the way it goes. That’s not—that’s not how it works. Be in your time zone. In your season, you will do what? You will prosper. prosper. If you lead coconut—coconut is even too far because coconut will give you about five years. You can take guava. Another one again is guava. That one is three years. After corn will have grown and died and finished everything it wants to produce, they are still growing. Aren't they in their time zone? Watermelon, four months. Okra, 70 days. Have you seen all of these things? Please, I prophesy concerning your life: in your season, you will bring forth your fruit. Amen. That is the answer to that question: When? Please, it was the Lord who said. If you stay with Him, if you stay in your work with God, you will understand it. You will get it. You will understand—you will understand your—your timing. The third question I’m answering—we have answered who can go into relationship, we have answered when is the time for relationship—we are going into how do I identify the person. The third question: How do I identify the person? How? We are just looking at the Lord’s manual to find answer. And that’s why I tell people, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. If you really want to be wise in life, relate with the God of life, then you be wise in life. You will not just exist, you will live. Some people are just existing. You know animals are just existing. Do you understand me at all? Animals exist, they don't live. Man go beyond existing, man lives. We were alive before, before Jesus came to give us life. Were we dead? Were you dead when Jesus gave you life? You were alive, but that life that you are existing—you were just existing. Outside the kingdom, men exist. Inside the kingdom, men live. They are not different from animals. They are just there, they marry, they do that, they grow old, they do that, then they die. What you find in the book of genealogies: This was 100 years old, he grew to 200 years, he married, he gave birth to this, then he grew, he died. That one too grew to 30 years, he took a wife, and then he brought forth a son, he grew and he died. This one again did to—and then he did this. Don't just be a genealogy. Make impact in life. You understand? Don't just exist, live. Because you are not different from animals. Even science call man higher animal. Am I correct? Even science don't call man animal but [Speaker name inaudible], won ni aya. So ki lo yato si awon lion, awon kini? It will just like lion, you grew up, then you took a wife, then you gave then occupy your kingdom, then you die. Then if that is all you did, you are just—Methuselah, 969 years. God summarized that life in just—in just six verses. Just six verses it was summarized. Yet David lived for 70 years, heaven could not summarize his life. 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings. Come to New Testament, he will sit on the throne of his father David. Are you understanding me? They could not summarize that life, it was just 70. Don't just exist, live. It is a very important thing. Are you understanding me? Live. Don't just exist. Live. It’s a very important thing. And how do you live? That’s why I started from that point: understand your assignment and be purpose-driven. Pursue your assignment. Pursue your assignment. That is how we are different from animals. Animals don’t have any particular assignment from God. Is there any particular assignment? No particular assignment. Go and check when they were creating them. "Let there be this, let there be that, let there be this, let there be that, let there be this, let there be that." But when it came to man, man was not like that. "Let us create man in our own image... let them," there was a purpose. So don't just live as "Let there be that, let there be this." and that’s how some people are living. "Let there be this, let there be that, let there be this, let there be that." They are just there like that, not serving any kingdom purpose, any kingdom interest. They are just there like—that should not be our life. Please, don't just exist. You are not an animal. Even if you want to use science, tell yourself I am a higher animal. Mo gbodo better ju awon nkan. E ma je ka gbe gbogbo ere—just climb down, climb down, and that’s how some people die. It goes—just go, get certificate, after certificate pick one woman, then begin to give birth and then—and you are gone. You say you are—which life did you fulfill? You are just animal. You’re no different from animals. Please live, we need to live. He came to give us eternal life. And what is eternal life? What is eternal life? John 17, John 17. What is eternal life? Verse two. Is it just Jesus Christ? Go to John 17. Can you take it in the—in the Amplified Bible? Can you take it in the Amplified Bible? John 17 verse two. What is eternal life? Amplified Bible. [Speaker 2] "And this is eternal life." [Speaker 1] And please that "this," is it "these" or "this"? How many thing? One. Eternal life is not two things, it's just one thing. What is the one thing? [Speaker 2] "It means to know..." [Speaker 1] It means to know... [Speaker 2] "...to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand you..." [Speaker 1] And understand you... [Speaker 2] "...the only true and real God—there are several gods..." [Speaker 1] There are several gods. Money too is a god today. There is a true and real God. The true and real God. Uh-huh. [Speaker 2] "And likewise to know Him, Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. That is eternal life." [Speaker 1] So, anybody who don’t come into intimacy with God to take assignment from Him, to relate to Him, that’s the third strand in that cord, is actually a dead man. He’s just existing. When God said they will die, were they not existing? When they died, were they not existing? They were still moving around. They were marrying, they were giving birth, but actually as far as God was concerned, what were they? They were dead. So, please let us live. It is a very important thing. How do I identify? From the manual of God. From the manual of God. How do I identify? Let’s see how it happens. Let’s see how it happened in Genesis. Let’s see how it happened. When God said it is not good for him to be alone, what happened? He say, out of the ground the Lord formed every beast of the field, every birds of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatsoever Adam called each of the living creatures, that was its name. So Adam name—Adam gave name to all the cattles, to all the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But to Adam there was not found a help comparable to him. So, we are looking at how to recognize. That’s what we want to answer now. How do I recognize the person? The first thing we saw in this place was that God did not bring the person. Did God bring the person at first? What did God bring? Animals. But what do we see in Adam? He was naming them. He was naming them. Do you get that? He was naming them. I want you to understand, please note something. God brought, he named. God brought, he named. God brought, he named. Before Adam got to the point of identifying who was—who was his own, there have been several stages in his life that God had been bringing, identifying, identifying, identifying. Eve was not the first time to identify. There have been several bringing. Secondary school, you will meet with some ladies. University life, some. Service year, some. In your fellowship, that. You will be meeting several. Do you have the capacity to name them correctly? "Oh, this one—ah, this is a destiny helper. Oh, this is a friend. This is that." Identifying and naming. It was not something new that happened at the time of Eve. It was something—there had been—don't forget where we started. There had been a work. There had been assignment. In relation to the assignment, in relation to the work, Adam had been identifying. That’s why people come to me and say, "How do I know who I will marry?" I will ask them, "How have God been speaking to you?" "What about when lion came, did you identify lion? When gorilla came, you understand? Have you been identifying from that work?" That work he had with God. That work he had with God, he was already doing what? He was still putting into practice identifying this, identifying that. And again that makes you to see also that when we are talking about identifying, it makes you to also see that in this—in this thing we call identifying, there is—there is the place of naming correctly. God brought them to him. But because there was a work with God, they were both able to name. Adam will name, God will have found. Are you seeing something? The third—we are talking about the third cord. "Lion, I get it. Lion leleyi, oun ko. Lion eleyi o si nbe. Ah, tiger leleyi, tiger omo dada ni yen. Ki lo n pe? Ah, elephant o, oh, good boy, bami lowo, bami lowo, o get e yen." What is it? "Oh!" Wonderful. You can see the relationship with God. But when God bring at the point of choir and both of you are in the choir and then because—ah, eleyi—and then you begin all kinds of immoral relationship. Is that how God named it? No. That’s not a correct naming. So be careful. You can see that it’s not just identifying is not just an event that just take place in your life. No. It’s a life process. That’s what I am trying to make you see. It’s a life process. It’s not just—you just wake up one morning, "Oluwa, Oluwa, Oluwa, Oluwa, se ohun ko? Se ohun ko?" It’s not—it's not fire brigade. It's not fire brigade. Look at it again in Proverbs: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding." Are you seeing processes? There is trusting. There is what? Not leaning. There is acknowledging. Then what now happens? He direct. It's a process. But involved in that process is the fact that that process is enabled by what? By who is the person. Are you seeing where the thing is coming from? Who is the person. If you have a work with God, you have a work with God, you have been able to recognize your assignment, you have been able to also recognize as you go on that which fits your what? Your assignment. That was what Adam was doing. And eventually what happened? Let’s see the last thing in this place about how do I identify. Then eventually God brought Eve. And what did Adam say? "This is now what? Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh." Please, I want you to look at that verse 23 a little closer. "She shall be called what? Woman." She shall be called what? Woman. In your Bible, is the woman small letter or capital letter? Of that "woman," capital. What is that in the rule of English? It's a proper noun. What is that in the rule of English? It's a proper noun. So, what is a proper noun? When he says she shall be called "woman," what was Adam saying? [Background noise] No. If you are writing a sentence, you now write something in capital—you are naming some—you know he called her that. [Background noise] Yes. So, that "woman" there is not generic woman as we use women. No. He’s used as a name as Yinka, as Bola. What I’m trying to make you see, what that Adam said, "She shall be called woman," because she was taken out of me. The naming of Adam, was it wrong? Was the name she called her wrong? When she was being taken, was he awake? He was asleep. So how did he know that she was taken out of him? [Background noise] It was revealed to him. What am I trying to say? That there is the place of revelation in identification. There is the place of revelation. There is the place of a revelation. That revelation gives you the actual—let me explain it. I want to quickly—this identifying, so that you understand me. You know that name that he called Eve, that is the actual thing that Eve is or Eve was. He was molded out of him. So, Adam was naming her. [Moderator addressing people] Emmanuel, please come again. Victor too, come. I just want to make you see something. Adam was naming her, not by the container, but by the content. Not by, "She’s two by—ah, omo yi fine, omo yi, ah, ewo skirt e, ewo e," no. "Ah, omo Yoruba, omo—ah, omo Pastor, omo—" he read about—no, those are not the thing. He was naming her by the content. The content of that life was that she was taken out of him. That’s the content, not the container. But when you want to run it by the other method, which has become very common now: dating. "Let me date, date, date to be able to know, to know, to know, to know," without revelation. You know what dating will do for you? Dating will help you to know the container very well. "We are mentally compatible, we are that compatible, I should read this, she that," you will know the container very well. But revelation gives you what? The content. And let me tell you, what you are marrying is the content, not the container. What you marry in people is first, primarily, the content. Who really they are. Please go and sit down. So, we saw—we can see the process of identifying. There has been a work with God. There have been different time of naming. God has led you, "How did you get the course you are reading? How do you name this? How do you name—" there have been a work. It is not—that will not be the first thing you are naming in your life. No. It should not be the first thing you are naming. No. You must have been naming. There has been a work. You have named lion, you have named tiger, you have named, you have named, you have named, you have named, different issues, different things. So, when you now get to that point, you will not be running from pillar to post. "Mommy woli, Daddy Prophetess, ejoo, e bami gbadura, e bami wo, se Kasali ni abi Kasala? Omode yi sagbe, omode yi dudu," you start running. No. That is what is happening today. You want to run here and there. That is in identifying. And the last question I want to answer—the last question I want to answer—we have answered who can go into relationship, we have answered when is the time for relationship, we are going into: How do I attain same mind? You have identified, you have married, you have entered into marriage. I have climbed quickly from that of the single now. You have left singlehood, you are now married. If you are now married, how do we attain same mind? You will see this third factor again. You will see this third factor again in achieving same mind. When you look at it in Genesis, you notice that it says, "For this reason, a man shall leave father and mother," and they shall become one flesh. Please note, sisters, by the time you will marry, will you remain in your father's house? But Bible didn't say you will leave your father and mother. But is it that you will be in your father's house? Is it that he will go and join her in her father’s house? He will take his wife from the father—I was somewhere yesterday, a marriage retreat, couples’ retreat. And the woman said the day she was leaving her house, her father called her. "Look at this your room. As you pack your load outside this room to go with this man, understand there is no vacancy in my house for you again. Never ever return to this room. As you are going now, go with him, oh, and stay with him." She was telling us what happened in the day of her wedding. I said, "Wow, your father must be a very—" You know, all of us in the retreat, we laughed at that. "Ah, Daddy, you tried, oh." But the point I’m making is that the sister leaves the parents’ house. But the emphasis is on who? Is on the man. That’s what I first want you to see. Because I’m going somewhere. The God factor is what I want to talk about: same mind in marriage, the third cord. Again you notice, it says the man shall leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two become one flesh. Who does the joining? Who is joining? The man. Note again, the woman is not joining, the man is joining. All of these have implications. We are going somewhere. The man leaves, he take his wife and joins himself. It’s all about, you see the man, the man, the man. Okay. Let’s now go to Ephesians chapter five, as we try to answer how do we achieve same mind in marriage. How do we achieve same mind in marriage for those who are married? How do we achieve same mind? Ephesians chapter five. Ephesians five. Are you there? Thank you. Now, when you look at Ephesians chapter five, you will see that the Bible says—it's a very popular Scripture we use most times in marriage. But I want to go beyond that popular side. The popular one starts from verse 22: "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is," and on and on. Then verse 25: "Husbands, love your wives." We are familiar with all of that, I believe. Isn’t it? Now, so I want—but I want you to come to verse 29, 30, 31. "For no one has ever hated his own what? Flesh. But he does what? He nourishes and cherisheth it, just as the Lord the church." So, we notice from all the ones that you are familiar with that they are likening marriage to what? Relationship between who? Christ and the church. Okay, we are going somewhere. Now look at something. It says, "Just as the Lord the church." Verse 30: "For we are members of his bone, of his body and of his flesh and of his bone." What happened with Eve? What happened with Eve? He was a member of what? His body, his flesh, his bone. Are you seeing the same Scripture following themselves? The bone of—this is the bone of my bone, the flesh of my flesh, she shall become. "For we are members of his body, his flesh, and his bone." Are you following something? Are you seeing similarities? How do we achieve same mind? Now immediately he said, "For we are members of his body, his flesh, and of his bone," what was the next thing? "For this reason, a man shall leave father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become what? One flesh." What is the next thing? "This is a what? A great mystery." This is a profound mystery. What you find in most cases is that people are not one. "My money, your money." "My this, your that." They don’t become truly one. If they become truly one, it means they were able to catch up a revelation. They were able to get a revelation. The two of them were able to see something that is the common ground for their marriage. I wish there was a board and I want to draw a triangle. You know a triangle? The man is here, the woman is here. After they have been led, that's why I say you work it out. There is somebody at the top, that is Christ. He is the profound mystery. As long as the man enters into marriage and all he wants to do is to mirror Christ. No, Christ is the Lord, the body—my wife is the body. So, even if she’s a sinner, I am to pray for her. Even where she’s at fault, I am to make sure she lives. Even when I know she is to deny me, I am to pray for her faith. Are you understanding me? The more he looks as Christ—the more he adjusts, the more Christ is in my marriage—the more he really wants to submit to Christ. It begins with him. "I submit to Him as Lord. The church see the Lord as their shepherd." They submit in trust to the Lord. I’m to trust my life into His hand, I’m to submit it and leave it. I don’t go into try to fight for it and take it. I’m to leave it. As he looks as the Lord, the church and the Lord, we follow the Lord by faith. Is that not true? We trust Him. We obey Him. Do you know why most women contend for their life? Because they want to save the life. That’s why they don’t submit it. But you see, you don't understand something. The truth is that you need to always first remember that before you are the wife of somebody, you are a child of God. Leave the life in His hand. He becomes accountable for the life. You say, "What if he scatters my life?" You need to understand, your Father cannot be alive—even the very hair of your head, they are numbered. Nothing can happen to your life because you are trusting it into your Father's hand who asked you to do that. You see the third factor? So, a brother who cannot see Christ, all what Christ did for the church, on a continuous basis, will want—he will want to love his wife because his wife first love him. That's not the—we love him because he first—so Christ did not die for the church. He died for a wicked people, rebellious people. So you don’t wait for your wife to be obedient and submissive for you to—you are looking for what? So, as they are both looking at Christ, what happens? They will be moving towards each other. Triangle. But if they look away from Christ, they will be two parallel lines. This one will be going his way, that one will be going his way. But if they start looking at Christ—so what am I telling you? Let this mind be in you which was in Christ. And that is the mystery. You need to check when you are marrying. What are you to check? Ephesians chapter 5 verse 21. What do you see there? What you are to check for when you are marrying. "Submitting..." Do you see it now? Why is the woman, why is the man—when Christ was dying on the cross, it looks as if he was a mumu. Is that not true? If he want to come down from that cross, can't he come down? Those people that killed his wife, no, he stays at work because there is—so he is submitting out of what? Fear of God. He is looking. What of the wife? He is submitting to the husband out of what? So, if that factor is not there, there cannot be one mind. It is the third cord that is the basis of one mind. If you are looking into marriage, if you are looking into relationship, these are the things to look out for. If a brother can say, "Look, look, look, that’s the Word of God, oh. Me, I want to live my life," they are not marriage material. By the time he enters, he will tell you, "Wo, Jesu Solomon ba... emi le, I will deal with you if you misbehave." You are not looking at the Lord. When you see sisters that cannot work in congress with the Lord, they have not learned submission to the Lord before they get married, when they enter, they cannot submit to a man. Because the basis of that submission is the Lord. So, he has—she has not submitted to the Lord. She cannot submit to the man. So, you see that the third factor, that third strand is what? Is the real thing that ties the what? The two together. Do you see why it is better? Do you see why three is better? A cord of what? Three strands. Be sure it is not two. From the foundation to the relationship, be sure it is not two. Make up your mind that it is not two. You may look at it "Two are better than one," yes, but I am telling you—every house is built by somebody, but the true builder—you can’t remove the planner of marriage and you want to run marriage. You can't throw away the divine plan and want to run it correctly. This is what we came to address this morning. I don't know one or two things that you have learned in all that we have said. But I want to say from all that we have said, is anybody having any particular question they want to ask? You want to—please come, come and ask. You have to use this. There are people online so that they can get your question. [Speaker 2] Okay, the recap. Okay, the recap. On the Telegram, just play it, you will—but in recapping, anyway, is to—all that we have just simply said is that we are trying to answer—we said God is the builder of all things, He is the principal person in marriage. Your marriage must have the third cord. This was our illustration, that a cord must have three strands and God is the most important strand of the two. And that who can go into relationship? Who has a work with God, who has wrote his divine assignment for the male. For the female, the female must have a work with God. And then we came to what is the time? How do I know my time? I think you met that. You met that. So, that was the major thing we said before you came. So, by the time you listen, but that was the major things we said. Any other question? [Speaker 3] Okay, my question is that: is it possible to miss the time, the season? You said "What time do I go into marriage? In my season." So, is it possible to miss the season? [Speaker 1] Somebody is asking that since we said it is in your season, that is it possible to miss your season? I will just give you a very quick answer. When we are talking about season, what do we call it? Ability to recognize what the Lord is telling you per time of your life. You remember Joshua? When he was leading the Israelites, he was not to make a covenant with the Gibeonites. But they came with different kinds of things and the Bible said he considered it. Instead of—the Bible says they did not seek counsel from the mouth of the Lord and entered into the covenant. It is only telling you that the Lord is our Shepherd. Aja ti o ba sona ko ni gbo fere ode. So, it is possible. It is possible. Just like any other thing in life. It is possible to miss your step. It is possible. But as to whether God will leave you all together forsaken, it’s another thing because He is our Father. And that is why the Bible says, "Do not walk as fools." Be what? Be circumspect. Redeeming the time for the days are evil. There are so many things that could make you miss your timing. And we have mentioned some of them: pressure from this, pressure from that. I remember a case of somebody who said, "I never wanted this man, but my mother insisted. And now see where I am." That’s—"How did you get there?" She said, "It was because my mother insisted. I did it because of my mother." I said, "Ah, why?" So, you get the point I am making? There are several things can pressurize us. There are several pressures today. But the truth is we must learn to work with God in everything so that we don't miss our timing. There is a timing of God for your life. Okay. Please if there is any question on Telegram or anything you let us have them. Or Mixlr, let us have them. [Speaker 4] It’s a simple question. I just wondering that is it possible that God can bring the woman can be older than the man? Is it—is it biblical? [Speaker 1] I have gotten the question. Of course, the woman can be older. There’s no—culturally speaking, people don’t like it. The reason is this, very simple from the point of culture: people feel since the man is the leader, he should be older. You understand? Then that if the man is older, the woman is more likely to respect the man. I am telling you the cultural aspect of it. Olaniyi ba d'oro e, ewo l'aburo mi to so—you know there's this tendency to want to behave like that. Biologically and medically, the reason why they feel the man should be older is because—below ten, medically speaking, below ten, for a male and a female, the boy is about five years older than the girl biologically. That’s why a boy of five can beat a girl of ten in terms of strength. Do you get what I’m trying to say? These are medical things. Then after the production, after 25, 30, all those things, a woman is about five years older than her mate because of the body situation, particularly after giving birth to children. That’s why they depreciate faster than the male. Are you getting the point I am making? These are just medical things. That’s why I said "about, about, about." You get the point. That’s why for example at 90, a man can still impregnate a woman. But after 60, except God does a miracle, a woman cannot give birth again. You get all those biological things. So that's why they feel a man should be older. But when you say biblically, we said your divine assignment, is that not what we talk about? So by divine assignment, Joseph was much more younger than his brothers, yet he was to lead them. Are you seeing that it does not relate to age? It relate to spiritual maturity. Are you seeing the point? And divine purpose. Peter was much more older than Jesus. Yet Jesus was their Savior and their leader. That’s why I said if you want to say biblically, you cannot say that anybody who marry somebody he has sinned against God. We can’t preach that with Bible. We cannot. So that’s why I said for me, I know people who are my friends and the wife is older. And the marriage is fantastic. Except they tell you, you will not even know. Because for me, most of these things, some people will just be 25, they can’t relate with younger people again. "Se mo n se egbe e? Kini yi?" They carry age as if age is not a gift. That you are born earlier, the other person is born, it’s just a gift. You didn’t determine when you will be born. While some people, they may be even 50 and they can still relate with people far younger than—you understand me? So many of these things has to do with your mindset. So it has to do with your mindset. If you feel that if I marry a younger person I will not be able to—aburo mi, bawo? Please don’t marry such a person. But if God have liberated your mind, I’m telling you where the Spirit of the Lord give there is liberty. There is nothing really, really wrong. But these are things to check. So if the boy—if the girl should be older, I will not advise that the gap should be too much because of these medical issues. I hope you get it. If a girl is 30 and a boy is 20, you get the point I am making? It may not be very, very, very, very—because by the time the person will still be very, very active, the lady will have become very, very old in a way. Because it is a life journey. You know, so but there is nothing—if somebody come today and say the person is 50, me I am 20, we want to marry. You cannot—you cannot say—you cannot—I hope I have answered your question. Okay. [Speaker 3] Sir, I know that tribe does not matter in the kingdom. Yes, but I still want you to explain to me. Tribe and, you know, to the sister, you’ve received maybe the brother that to you tribe does not matter, but you have family members and all. That ah, o le lo fe omo Igbo, abi o le lo fe another tribe and all. Like, what can the person do? Like, and that is like your family are against it that rara o, ma lo fe another tribe and all. Then Daddy, can God's will come in? Like maybe a brother, various brothers, can they be God's will? But one must particularly fit your assignment. But what I—my question is that: can God's will be more than one, more than two, more than three? [Speaker 1] All right, thank you. For the first one you have answered the question yourself. Tribe does not matter as far as God is concerned. Very specifically. But we know societal pressure. Some parents don’t want their children to have inter-tribal or inter-cultural marriage, marriages. Just because of the fear of this adjustment and compatibility. If your parents are really disturbed about it, but you are sure that this is what the Lord is leading you to do, just be patient with your parents. If the way of a man pleases the Lord, He will make his enemy to be at peace with him. Just be patient with them. Prayerfully, you don’t need to fight them. They are also concerned, "Ah, omo mi," that’s why they are—it is not a bad—it is just that it is not biblical, but it is not really evil so to say. It is out of concern and fear. More so if you look at Nigeria today, they will tell you, "Nigeria o se o kankan mo," you know all those kind—there are many factors to make any parent afraid. I hope you agree with me. So, please be patient with your parents. It is the place of God leading, it is the place that God has brought somebody. God will work it out. He will make them to be at peace with you. He’ll make them to be at peace with you. I will not encourage people to go outside their persuasion. Because if you marry outside your persuasion, by the time issues begin to come out, you say, "He-eh! He-eh! Maybe I should have married—the reason why this—maybe because I didn't marry—" You understand? By the time maybe for example issue is not coming very early, maybe you are waiting for five, ten years. "He-eh, mo daro." And you know the devil too will come. "Yes, you miss the Lord. You didn't—" You know that is accuser. He begins to take advantage of that loophole in your life. What I call the recurring decimal. So avoid the recurring decimal. It’s good to know how God speaks to you. And when people say no, it is not like that, you—Bible says with—with patience, you explain yourself to people. Just over time, over time, in prayers, they will come to understand. And then can—can five brothers like in a case where five brothers proposed to a sister? And then I remember when I was serving, it was three ministers—no, four—that proposed to Sister Enkechi. And they all said God said. A pastor, one of the executives, one evangelist in town, and then one man like that, whether a general overseer. Four mighty men, so to say, the "Jim-men" so to say. And they all said God said. Sister Enkechi ran to me. I said, "Rowale, he-eh, my life just scatter, oh. He-eh, God, waitin' I go do?" You know she’s Igbo. "Ah, hey God, which one?" You know. Of course, it is either all of them are wrong or one of them is right. You get the point I am making. But as to can five, six people be the will of God? We have said something now about timing. Don’t forget that for every Saul, there is a David. I have rejected Saul, David will do it. If men will not cry Hosanna, God will raise us stone to do it. There is nobody that is indispensable in the purpose of God. God can displace anybody and replace that person. What did they say about Judas? His office, let another take. Do you get it? So, the normal thing is this. The normal thing is that I said you prosper in your season. So, if I’m in my season and God is leading me, for example, God is leading me to a sister and I approach the sister. Okay, now from a sister’s side. It is her season. Okay, whichever way. In her season she does not recognize it and the brother speak to the sister, "I want to marry you." But the sister, for whatever reason, did not consent to the brother. The brother goes back to the Lord. That’s why I said that we have a Shepherd. There is a third factor. He go back to the Lord. "Lord, I’ve made proposal, oh." The Lord may tell you to wait, that, "Don’t worry, I will bring her. I will make her see that it is." And it is possible that while you wait, the Lord tells you, "You don’t need to wait any further. I have chosen another king for you in another place." For whatever factor. Just like David was used to replace Saul. I hope you get it. Don’t ever forget that as far as the kingdom is concerned, marriage is not about the individual, it’s about the purpose of God. Don’t forget where we started. All of them build together. It’s about the purpose of God. So, you can have that situation where for instance, a sister is in her season and there is a brother for that season and the brother is not recognizing, is not seeing, is not getting into that. It is either God bring the brother into that season depending on how God will work with that brother. I hope you get the point I am making. You prosper in your season about missing your season. I hope you know what we have just discussed. And then if that is not coming forth, because that other person should not miss her season, for every David there is a Saul. For every Judas there is a Matthias. No one is indispensable in the purpose of God. No one. But it is different from the idea of having four or five brothers at the same time per time. Then God become the author of confusion. God is not the author of confusion. Seven person per time cannot be the will of God. It is one person per time, per season. Do you get the answer? That’s why for instance, if somebody for example got married and one die, what happened? The Bible say the person should not remarry? The person can remarry and he’s marrying in the will of God. The Lord will lead the person again. So, you can see that there is no life that is indispensable in the hand of God. And that is why it is important in the kingdom that we all grow. You get the point I am making? Move out of being childish. Grow. Because there is your season. You prosper in your season. You move in your season. You grow up in your season. You get established in your season. These are very important things in the kingdom so that you don’t—we don’t run into unnecessarily, unnecessarily affliction that is not meant—like it’s not meant for us. So, five, six person can be the will of God, but understand what I am trying to say in terms of what I have said. It can never be at the same time. What I mean by that is that there is no body that is indispensable than for God to change His purpose. God will replace the vessel. I hope you get what I’ve just said. I hope I’ve answered your question. So, let us close for today. I didn't ask other people that have questions. Wait you are raising up your hand? You didn't raise it up. It’s just coming now. [Laughter] Victor oya ask now, ask. Come now, come and hold the mic be fast please. What if someone is scared of marrying? What can he do? If someone is scared of marrying... what can he do? Why are you scared? [Laughter] Why is he—okay why is someone being scared of marriage? Mommy please come and answer it for them. Mommy please come and answer it for them. [Applause] [Speaker 2 - Mommy] There could be addition from some other people too. There could be several factors. All that we have mentioned today, they are factors. In a situation where somebody don’t have a work with God, when God is not your Shepherd, you will want—one of the wants is being scared, being afraid, not knowing what the future holds. Nobody knows it, but you know it in God. If God had given you a word, if He is your Shepherd, He is the one leading your life, you will be talking about the future as if it is in your hand. Not because the power is with you but because of what God have said, because you have Him as your Shepherd. That could be a factor. If God is not your Shepherd, you will want, you will be afraid. There is a lot about life to be afraid but it’s not only marriage. The second thing I also think could be a factor is looking at what it takes when we are talking about the kingdom life. Looking at what it takes. You might have seen so many things about different kind of marriages. Of course, you might have—let’s even leave the one that is outside the kingdom. Let’s look inside. There are a lot of ugly things. You will say, "These people are bishops, these people are, you know, ah, they have the oracle." But we’ve seen it here. Anyone who does the will of God... the will of God is clear. Why would Jesus say, "Leave them, let them grow together. I will separate it." By the process of you pulling out the chaff from the wheat, you will—you will—you will destroy the original. Because the will of God is clear, but we have the option. The option, the onus lies on us to choose. So when you look at all that, "Ah, marriage eleyi i fe... this is a man of God... this is this..." But I can assure you, God is no respecter of person. Eh? Even you could be the one God had given the oracle to. It talks about the Pharisees, the teachers of the law. They have the law, they have the Word of God. But because they are not submitting to that, God bypass them and begin to look for people out there. So God is no respecter of person. That somebody is a servant of God, somebody is—we go into the church, we see marriages failing. It’s not God failing. Check what is making it to fail. We have people that follow the Word of God and it’s working. The first thing about the Word of God is you follow it by faith. Even if you want to enjoy God, it’s not by, "God, let me see, put all the cards on the table so that ki n ma ba bo yapa o ma work." You can't get anything in God because the just shall live by faith. For your first encounter, your first entry into God, you come by what? Everyone who believe, abi? If you come, He gives you power. It’s the same in everything from your—from the moment you breathe your last. It must be that you keep going by faith. "God said this," and you believe it. And you believing and following, I can assure you, you cannot get any other result apart from the result of what? Of God. So people are disregarding God’s principle. People are disregarding God's method. They want to run it by their own mind. They want to run it their own way and they can’t get God’s result. But please, I can assure you if you will follow God, eh? You won't see all these testimony we are seeing today. Even in the will of God where there is challenges, God may allow that. As long as you keep following, what will happen? You will surmount that problem. You are going to last-last. You are going to get the water. Look at the issue of Isaac with the—with the Philistines in Gerar. God asked him not to go to Egypt. "Stay in this land, I will prosper you." When he started prospering, what happened? Opposition came. [Laughter] They began the contention, the hatred, the enmity. This man had the option to say, "Ah, o ti e da, se mi mo fe lo Egypt tele? Olorun lo ni duro. Olorun se ti bayi k'opposition? There is challenges in this your will, oh. Oya eniyan, let’s gather our bag and go to Egypt." But he knows that God said he should do. When they said, "Okay, leave," he got to a time they said, "Oya carry your thing and leave this place." Bible says he moved towards the valley of that same Gerar. Abi? He didn't naturally leave the place. He moved out a little away from them. And even in that place they also come, they came and there was contention. And it got to a time when the contention ceased. Abi? And they no longer contend with the well. And Bible recorded that. As the servants of Isaac kept digging, they began to see more spring, more water and at the end of the day, what happened to these people? They came with their king, with their people to come and meet him there. "We know God is with you." Is that not a victory at last? Why? Because he chose to do the will of God. In the will of God there could be challenges. But if you will obey, you only need one person to do the right thing. You get? If you will do the right thing, if you will sow the right thing, you will not reap the wrong. That is the law of life. Sow what God said you should do. I can assure you there is no climate condition, demonic from the pit of hell from anywhere that can change it if you will sow the right, you will reap the right. If you sow love, you will reap... keep sowing revenge, contention, "o se fun mi, ko obey," you will reap it. And that is what we are having today. So whoever is afraid, maybe you have not seen God to be your Shepherd. God is your Shepherd. If He says you should go, Lord relax in his hand. And if in the—even if you see people that say, "God has led me," ask them: are they following the Lord, the principles of the Lord? Are they following Him? Have they followed? If they say "I’m following," ask them when there are challenges, what are they doing? Are they giving up? Or are they still saying God, in spite of this, I will sow love? It’s easy to love anybody that loves you. Abi? But it’s difficult to love somebody—Bible says even we should love our enemy. Not to talk of the one with you. But even in that difficult, you choose to do what? No. You sow hatred and bitterness, I will give the other. I tell you, it’s going to change because the Word of God will never fail. You will enjoy your marriage. Your testimony will be different from all the testimony you’ve been hearing. Because that was what eventually be the lot of Isaac. His testimony changed. Plenty-plenty blessings came. And at the end of the day what happened? Even the enemy came to—to make treaty, to submit, to—to acknowledge God. The Lord will help us in Jesus' name. So, can we close for today? Can we close? Can we close? Ah, we thank God. Let us pray. What are you taking home today? What are you taking home? God, Sex, and Marriage. Once you remove sex, once you remove God from sex, matter of sexual relationship, the matter of marriage, what you will have will be confusion. That was our first major instruction. The second thing we saw is that God is the only one that can build. Except the Lord builds, the builders they labor in vain. The next we we saw as instruction was that God was dealing with a man who can hear Him, who have recognized his divine assignment as a brother. Have you recognized your divine assignment? Are you having a work relationship with God? Are you moving? That was what Adam was. It is—when that has been done, when that is fully done, that you begin to talk of a relationship. That’s what we saw in Adam. As a sister, can you be brought? Do you have a work with God? Or you are not a relationship material? You are looking for a good husband, but you are not a good sister. It can go the other way too. You are looking for a good wife, but you are not taking time to be the good brother. Everybody looking for what is good. That’s not the way to it. You be the good person. Wherever the carcass are, there the eagle—there the eagles will gather. Light will beget light. Be the right person. Be the correct person. And you will see that your life will beget the correct person. You will be able to recognize what is not correct. But if you are not correct yourself, you cannot recognize even if the right thing come you will not recognize it. The first thing is about your life. It’s about your life. It’s about your life. We saw how do I recognize? We saw that you can’t remove revelation. There must be—you must be able to know how God speaks to you. It is—it is a crucial point, so that you can—you can understand the content of the life that you are marrying. Don’t become too familiar with the container by dating. You unnecessarily close, you date and date and date and you become so familiar and then you take—you just take the container. But the container may not fit your divine assignment. Because that container may have a—a content. Water and acid look—look alike, but their consequences are different. If you pour the two of them into a bottle, and you drink from that bottle, while one will live the other one will die. Because it is the content of a life that you are marrying. It is the content. The content of any life is by revelation. Adam said, "This is now bone of my bone. She was taken." He was able to see the content. The same thing for you as a sister. What decision are you taking today? And for those of us who have entered into marriage, as a brother, are you looking towards Jesus? Are you understanding that Jesus is the mind, He is the mystery? Don’t look at what your wife is doing. Don’t look at how she is behaving. You don’t need to look at all of that. You need to look at the Lord Jesus and you begin to follow His example. As a lady in marriage, how do you attain same mind? How do you move on? You need to understand the principle that submission to the Lord begins with submission to the husband. You need to understand that this is as to the Lord. It is as to the Lord. It starts here. It starts here. I tell people, some of the respect you give to men of God, if you give half of it to your husband, your home will be stable. Some of these respect you give to men of God, you are kneeling down, you are prostrating. Once they come into the house, you go, you run, you go and bring the best of your—of your—of your plate. You cook the best of the food. The man of God is around. But you don’t think of that about your husband. You don’t use—listen, these are complications. These are—I’m not saying it is wrong to respect ministers, but I’m saying that respect in a—in a married person, respect in marriage begin with understanding that there is a Lord in my house. There is a Lord. It begins from that point. That is the mind that brings unity. That is the mind that brings oneness. That is the mind in the kingdom. That is the mind in the kingdom. You need to take a decision today. Pray and take a decision. Decide, decide. Decide on something. Take a decision about how you want to go. The Lord our Shepherd. The Lord our Shepherd. He is the third strand in the cord. He is the one that ties everything together. Precious Father, we thank you for today. Almighty God, we give you praise and glory. We worship you. Lord our God, we thank you for our brethren here physically. We thank you for our brethren joining us online. We give you glory and praise our Father. We pray that Lord... Lord... Lord... you are our Shepherd. We will not lack. You are our Shepherd. We will not lack. You will make us to lie down in green pastures. You will lead us in righteousness for your name’s sake. Lord, even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil. Lord our God, even in the presence of our enemy, you will prepare a table before us. Lord, you will anoint our head and our cup will run over. And Lord we pronounce over our life in 2022 that surely... surely... goodness... mercy... shall follow us. Shall be our portion. Shall envelop us. Shall be our allotment. When we go out, when we come in, in every matters of our life. In the name of Jesus. Thank you, almighty 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 forever more. Amen. [Music: Closing hymn] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in enriching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development, and mission aid. Our regular activities are: Discipleship class every Monday, 5:00 PM. Adolescents and singles club, every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM. Marriage forum, second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM. Family life seminars, regular school outreaches, and everyday counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location: Life Camp by the first bridge, Ilere community, opposite Rejoice 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.