The Hedge Vs The Foundation

Church fellowship cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly home from. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Life Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 1] The consequence was death. It was full of death. God help us. We have said he should help us, and we know he is going to help us. He will carry us in our weaknesses, in our shortcomings, in our—some of us have a personality of playfulness. Personality of over-seriousness sometimes when you ought to smile. You are too serious. "No, I didn't know, I'm a serious person." And so many things you just take casually, they have serious consequences. But God has promised to help us. And I believe that he will help us. Honestly, I have so much faith, so much belief, so much trust in God that 2018, God will visit his people. Visit his people. And it will not elude us in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you so much, Segun. That's a very critical point. Do you have any addition to make? [Speaker 2] Yes. I just want to add that every action we take today is a seed. It is wisdom for us to learn as we learn about fear. And when seed can be planted so small, so insignificant as we are saying, it may not really be a seed that is so big. But when the harvest comes, it is plenty. That is true. So what that means is that the consequence of every action will be bigger than the action. There are so many things we do carelessly, like we are saying, and we will not see anything so wrong about it. And it is seed, every action. So it calls for being watchful of what we do at every point in time, especially to human beings around us. How we relate with them, how we handle what belongs to another person, how we talk to another person. [Speaker 1] And if you are not vigilant, some things may just happen and say, "Ah! From today, I will never welcome anybody again to this house!" You got the point I'm making? "Me? I will never again—in fact, let the person be crying and be weeping. I will not help anybody again. I've made up my mind." And sometimes, that may be the thing that will block how you ought to be visited. So sometimes, it's just—I agree with you, to be careful and watchful, be careful about the seed we sow. The Lord will help us in Jesus' name. [Speaker 3], is there anything you want to add from another perspective? Any other thought? [Speaker 3] I just think—both scenarios, that of Esau and Jacob. Ah, thank you so much. There's always repercussion, there is always an after for everything that we do. The foundation. And please don't forget the background from where we are coming. The background from where we are coming is that God has set this year to visit his people. That was the focus. I don't want to say "Year of Visitation" like people normally come up with an acronym, the year of—they will come up with a theme. I don't want to say "Ministry Theme." Rather, I want to call it a vision to run with. It is under that vision of running that I said several things are coming as specific burdens. The whole burden that we are looking at is about one big thing. But as they come, we try to break them into topics so that we can follow it sequentially and make sense out of them. [Speaker 1] The matter of the foundation led us to take back again some of the things I gave in the background last week that we did not expand. You know last week I made mention of the hedge. You remember? We noticed that there was a hedge. What I want to try to do today is, first and foremost, to relate the matter of the foundation to the issue of the hedge. We will now begin to look at, as God will help us, more and more characters. You have checked on characters and notice what I emphasized last week. I said we should not lose sight of the fact that Isaac, Jacob, Esau, Rebekah, they are all believers. They are the believers of that time. So that the things that we are narrating, don't be thinking that those kinds of conspiracy and deceit is only among unbelievers. We said the two children, they were product of much prayers. The action of Rebekah, we said, could be anchored on a divine leading. The Lord spoke to me that the elder will serve the younger. So it was not just something coming out of the blues as—so she began to conspire. "Look! Look! There is a divine mandate over your life. Your brother should serve you. So anyhow you can get the birthright, make sure." And Jacob began to get them, began to look for opportunity. "Oya, sell me your birthright if you want to eat porridge." And Esau was just living casually. Didn't know there was a battle. And no, you can see that it is a fallout. Some of the things we are calling seed that can become problems to us, they are not seed that are necessarily born out of a desire to do evil. Some of them are born from something that look godly. Something that look like—you get the point I'm making? Some are born and they are not found only among sinners. They are find among the saints. So that's why we're looking like, among the saints, how some of these things can be sown. I remember speaking with somebody, and I was just asking about the marriage and everything. And the person said, "Actually, there was a man of God, and then not only that man of God, but some people of God. They came and the prophecy was very clear. It was a clear prophecy that unless there is a situation in which she and the person she wants to marry first get pregnant, their marriage will be desolate. If they don't first get pregnant before the wedding day, their marriage will be desolate." And so, to avoid desolation, she has to make sure that there was an arrangement and that she was pregnant so there would not be desolation in the marriage. Specific prophecy. What I simply ask her was, "Who delivers from desolation?" And she said, "God." "Sin against God, and God will deliver you from desolation. Does it make sense in that?" You know what she said? She said for the first time in her life, she had never seen it like that. This was the first time she's seeing that, "Wow! This prophecy is not correct. Oh! It is true! You can't be sinning against God." All I am trying to—there is a lot of things about foundation, a lot of things about actions. Some of the things that some people do, it is not because they want to do evil. I don't know whether you understand this matter of foundation we are talking about. Not because anybody wants to do evil, but so many things can contribute to—and that's why we are looking at it. We are looking at Rebekah. We won't just label Rebekah as an evil woman for conspiring. She is a believer. But you can see that—that's why I gave a contemporary example. Our thinking then was that there was a prophecy. I'm just thinking. That is why I gave this corollary of a modern one. It was a specific word of prophecy. "Thus says the Lord, this and this and this." And she believed it. And she ran by the prophecy. Only for years later to begin to think that, "Ah! What's happening? Why is it like this? Why? This is not possible. God have spoken." May God grant us to be discerning in the name of Jesus Christ. So I want to link this matter of the foundation that we are raising gradually to the matter of the hedge that I put in the background last week. I want to bring the matter of the hedge to the forefront now. And it is because I believe so much that apostolic teaching, they are—apostolic teaching are actually bringing the mind of God to bear on present prevailing situations. Those are—we say they continue in the apostle doctrine. Now, you know we referred to Job last week. Job. Let's get back to that point again. We referred to Job 1:10 last week. We are familiar with the book of Job, so we will not be taking the story one after the other. We are familiar with the story of Job. The richest man in that place. He had sons and daughters, he was wealthy. And the children normally go from house to house celebrating. Job will do sacrifice to keep them pure. But there was a day the sons of God came to visit God, and then Satan also came along with them. And he was asking him, "Have you seen my servant Job? A man who fears God and eschews evil." And then there was a response. There was a response. What was the response we made reference to last week? Satan replied to the Lord, "Does Job fear you for nought?" That is King James Version anyway. "But Job has good reason to fear." Read on. We want to finish. Move to 10 then. Move to 11 now. No, that was nine. "You have always put a wall of protection around him." You have always put a wall of protection around him. What does King James Version call that wall of protection? Hedge. You have always put a hedge around him. And not only around him, around what again? "His home and his property." His home and his property. You have always put a hedge around him. Now, that gives you an insight that there have been several attempts. Do you agree? There have been attempts by the enemy to harm Job, but he couldn't. There have been attempt to fashion out something against him, but he couldn't. If he had not done that, he could not have been speaking that, "Ah! He has good reason now. Ah!" [sound of illustrative music] Because they could not kill him. Every device could—the man did not die. "This time you see if he will not die inside this one." They heat and heat—you can see the wickedness in the heart of men. Heat and heat the thing, throw him inside. And if I am to add the drama, they just say, "Heh heh! Maybe the man first went down. Ah! Ah! Why not die, idiot? I've killed him now." Then suddenly, they saw something coming over—out of the oil, boiling—boiling oil. And then it came out. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." And at that point they surrendered. "Ah! This man, the only way to kill him is to go and throw him off." But I am trying to look at—that was a physical scenario. I am thinking that there was a spiritual scenario between Satan and Job. That he has tried and tried, Job may not be seeing it. But for him to say that, "I tried him, he could not." Around his home. It means he went against the home. When he could not get him, it did not work. Ah! He now went again to his property. That is why the Bible was taking time to mention the man, his home, and his property. So he has tried all the three stages. So the Bible make us know that this man was prosperous in these three ways. Himself, his home, his business was booming. That is why I tell people that I don't believe that a Christian should necessarily be poor. God can give you a business that can be booming, and you have money. And the Bible could say that warn the rich among you not to be high-minded. It means among the brethren some people can be very rich. It is just that prosperity has been preached in a way that make certain thing look somehow. Over-emphasis of—over-emphasizing some things. But this one was a prosperous man, that is what I am trying to say. And he was godly. So that a man is prosperous don't mean that the man cannot be godly. Now, but the point I am making is that the mention of those property, of the man, his home, and his life, was to make us see—because Satan mentioned each of the categories. He said about him, about his home, about his property. "I have tried to enter. I couldn't. Now you remove it so I can do something, and you will see whether—" It means he has always wanted to destroy. You see, that scripture give us a clear picture of the constant intention of hell, even when they seem to be smiling at us. When the serpent was smiling with Eve, don't know—we know where the serpent was going. "Did God say? Ah no! You will not die." Even when he is smiling, it make us see that the intention of the gates of hell is always to steal, to kill, and to destroy. There is nothing—there is nothing it offer us, there is nothing the world offers, no matter how fascinating it is, the end product is always those three things. So we should not be deluded by whatever offers sin may be tagging itself to think that there can be some prosperity in whatever will be offered from the other side. And so he said you have placed everything around him. And God said, "Okay. Okay. Now you go and do something." And you could see the—as if Satan went on rampage. You know it's like what you've always wanted to do so that before God will quickly place the hedge again. You can see that he went quickly to all because he afraid that if they put the hedge back, there will be no opportunity again. He maximize the opportunity in one day! For you to tell you how much he has always wanted to get this man. And the fear that if the hedge—"You see, okay, so you see you have killed all his cow now. Nothing. So you see, the man is through. So don't touch him again." The fear of not touching all the rest. So everything at once. And with the hope that he will have frustrated what he—you know what he wanted to do. But of course he was disappointed because after everything, Job just said, "God has given, God has taken, blessed be the name of the Lord." And like I said in one of our other meetings, that was our family altar, I am sure the devil went crazy. I am sure if he was to be human being, he will have hypertension. "You have done your worst!" And the other person just smiled. You know, for him it was confusion. And oh, my prayer every time I look at that, of this matter of the hedge, is that may our life always be confusion to the gates of hell. That—"What kind of human being is this?" May that be our testimony. And so, but what I want to bring out of that story is that there was a hedge. God placed a hedge around Job. And we have scriptures to make this very clear. Psalm 125:1-2, Psalm 34:7 are all pointers to this. Psalm 125:1-2 tells us that they that trust in the Lord—please read. They shall be like what? Mount Zion. Yes, please read for us. "They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abideth forever. As the mountains round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is—" Hallelujah! Is there a hedge? Is there a hedge? Where is the Lord today? Around his people. The Lord is around his people. Don't let anything make you doubt that. Psalm 34:7. "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him and delivereth them." Is there a hedge? Beloved, there is a hedge. What is making you afraid today? What is giving you fear? There is a hedge. There is a hedge round the people of God. There is a hedge. I hope this will not—I hope that will not—I hope this will not—I hope that, I hope this, I hope—this one that they say, I hope this, I hope that. Let me inform you. When Moses told the Israelites to go and spy the land, and they went and they spied. And then they came back. And two people said, "Since God is with us, we are able." The other ten said, "We are not." What actually destroyed the other people? It was their doubt. There is a hedge. There is a hedge round about the people of God. There is a hedge. To tell you that it is only the Lord that can remove the hedge. That hedge, Satan can't do anything about the hedge. It is the Lord. If you look at that picture, it is only the Lord. He has tried, the person was godly, he has tried, he had gone, he had moved, he had been mad, he had been crazy, he had done all he could do, and that was why when he said, "Is it not because of the hedge? Hedge!" That tells you that was a problem to him. Brethren, there is a hedge. Don't let about us doubt it. Please don't live in fear. There is a hedge round about our life. A hedge that hell can do nothing about. Then, you remember the second scripture that I gave in the background last week about the hedge. Ecclesiastes chapter 10 verse 8. There is something before that. "He who—" No, no, no, there is something before the hedge. "When you dig a well, you might fall in. When you demolish an old wall, you could be bitten by a snake." Okay, that is the same translation. "He who diggeth a pit shall fall into it, and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him." He who dig a pit will fall into it. He who break the hedge, the serpent will bite him. You know, the what give me curiosity about that verse, the first aspect of the verse, that when it says "the person who dig the pit will fall," because the person who dig the pit know that the pit is there. So why will he fall again into the pit? That was the background I was giving you last week. The Lord said, "They that live by the sword will die by the sword." Fret not thyself because of the evildoer. Fret not because of the evil doer. When—remember what bring evil to come to pass, since some anger and forsake wrath, it will only lead to evil, and evildoers shall be cut off. Do you get what I am about to say? He is saying that no matter what circumstance or situation makes you to do evil or to dig a well, you can be sure it's not against the person you are doing it against. It is only against yourself. That's why the Bible says, "Don't be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good." If they curse you, what does he say you should do? Bless them. If your enemy is hungry, give him to eat. Because anybody who dig a pit is coming back inside. Evil will follow the evildoer. There is no two way of escaping. Now, by the time we move further, it come back again to the matter of the devil. I wonder why he didn't say a scorpion or a lion or—do you understand me? It is a serpent. He says, "He that breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite." So again we are seeing other scriptures that give us other angle to the matter. God places the hedge and he alone can remove it. God places the hedge, and the man inside the hedge can break through it. And that person that there is no time we are ever at the mercy of the devil. There is no time if that hedge come down. It is either about God or about man. It is never about the devil. It is never—it is good to get some of these things very clear. Take it back to the story of the beginning. The serpent did not have any power over Adam and Eve. Did the serpent have power over the two of them? All the power, everything that the serpent can muster—does he have power over them? No. But he ruled over them. How? When they first break the hedge. It was when the hedge was broken that sin entered, and death by sin, and the enmity took over, and man became a captive that now need a savior. If hedge was not broken, Satan has no power. So what I'm point I'm making is that there have not been any time the Bible make paint a picture that the believer is at the mercy of the devil. Either in the Old nor in the New. What the Bible have always placed before us, that's why we're talking on the matter of the foundation. Be careful the seed that you are sowing. He who dig a pit will fall into it. It is to be careful about the seed. That's where the matter is. The matter is not "Satan! Satan!" No! That's not where the matter is. That's why we're talking about be vigilant, be sober last week. Don't be careless, don't be casual. What we was talking about. There is a hedge around our life. Brethren, there is a hedge. God have not called us to live in fear. We have not been called to live in fear. "Ah, ah, ah, in my village, some witches were flying. Ah, in fact, they were children in broad daylight. Ah, I won't go to my village oh. Once they see my car now, before we get back home, there will be accident, the car will pack up." Some people will not go to their village. We are never at the mercy of principalities, of powers, of rulers of darkness, so with wickedness. We are never at their mercy. There is a hedge. And the picture the Bible draw about the hedge is that God can remove the hedge purposefully because he want to achieve some things, like we saw in the case of Job, like we saw in the case of Christ. They have tried and tried and tried, they could not do anything to him until the time came when he must submit to death, so the hedge was removed. And then, principalities and powers, they went into—you see it was very, very fast. Yes, crucify him! Kill him! Kill him! If they had known, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of glory. The point I want to draw out is this. Please look at these two things. When it comes to power, brethren, we are ahead. There is a hedge that he cannot cross. Our God is a hedge. The person in whom we believe, in whom we trust, in whom our life is hidden—our life is hidden in Christ in God. The person in whom our life is hidden, the person who is our life and our salvation, when it comes to power, he is a hedge. Until he remove the hedge, the enemy cannot do anything. Look at it again. When it comes to wisdom, he is ahead. You said the enemy is crafty, he says, "Satan—be wise as serpent," telling you that there is some wisdom in serpent. Is that not true? Look at the way he got Adam and Eve. There are some—you get the point I'm making? But again our God is ahead. You notice that despite all his craftiness, arrangement was made for him. And he went and went and went and went and went with all their wisdom and manipulation, they killed the King of glory. If they were really wise, they didn't know that by death, the power of death will be taken from them. And as they were rejoicing—"Wow! Ah! He's gone! They have been released!" He led captivity captive and he gave gifts unto men. When it comes to wisdom, our God is ahead. There is no picture where the believer begin to live in fear. "Lest he, lest he—" No! That the picture is not there. The picture is of our making sure we don't break through the hedge. That's the picture. That's the picture. And if we could quickly take the picture of a story in the Bible. Let's look at Numbers. I just want to draw your attention to some aspect of Numbers. I want to read—I want to see how the story of Balaam and Balak. I believe you're very familiar with that story. Now, Balak brought Balaam to do what? To curse the people of Israel. Of course when they came, three different times. You know at three different points. Why couldn't Balaam curse Israel? What rather was the confession of Balaam at every time he wanted to curse Israel? What was the confession? He said, "God have not find iniquity in Jacob." And so there will be no enchantment against Jacob, there can't be divination against Israel. Because God have not found any iniquity in Jacob. He tried and tried and tried and tried, but the three times what happened? He blessed the people of Israel. Now, you see, if you look at that picture, you will know that there is a strong relationship between the foundation and the hedge. The foundation will lay—I said every action is laying of a foundation. You are laying something down. And what you are laying down is either you are gradually digging through the wall. The hedge is a protective wall. You are either digging through the wall, you are digging through the wall, you are digging through the wall until suddenly you will break out at the other side of the wall. Because you must remember something. Judgment upon an evil work is never executed speedily. Are you familiar with that scripture? Let's see that scripture. Ecclesiastes chapter 8 verse 11. 8:11. Yes, please read it for us. "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Though a sinner do evil an hundred times and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him. But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he feareth not before God." Is that not contradictory? Brethren, is that not looking contradictory? In verse 11, let me read some very interesting translations here. Ecclesiastes chapter 8. Look at some interesting translation. NLT: "When crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong. But even though a person sins a hundred times and still live a long life, I know that those who fear God will be better off. The wicked will not prosper, for they do not fear God. Their days will not grow longer like the evening shadows." Is that not contradictory? Amplified says: "Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, the heart of the sons of men is fully set to do evil. Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and his days seemingly are prolonged in his wickedness, yet surely I know it will be well with those who fear God, who revere and worship him, realizing his continual presence. But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow because he does not fear and worship God." You know it sounds contradictory. He said even though he do evil a hundred times and his days is prolonged, it will not be well with him. He said okay, the days of a sinner will not be prolonged. So what exactly is he saying? Who can bring out the mind of the scripture here? What exactly is he saying? It looks contradictory, but you know it's not contradictory. It's not contradictory at all. It's establishing something. It's establishing the fact that even when we seem not to sow the right seed, even when the foundations are not correct, even when things are not built correctly, even when a man keep continually hitting at the wall of the hedge around his life—and it looks like nothing happens, everything is okay, everything is well—he's saying that the matter is that everything is not really well, even though it looks as if everything is well. You see, the point the Bible is making is that when we say be careful about the foundation, to build correctly, to sow correctly, don't begin to think that once you just go out now and you just tell one lie, Satan will just kill you. You may keep telling lie, you may even begin to fornicate, as you're fornicating your ministry is booming. You are riding jeeps and car. You will marry and have children. It looks as if there's no—do you understand what I'm trying to bring out? That's what that's trying to say. "Even though it looks as if there's no contradiction." He said look, let the godly be watchful. There is really no contradiction. Those who build correctly will be better off. There's really what looks contradictory, is not really contradictory. The hedge is there by the Lord, and the hedge is broken and can be broken by the person that is inside the hedge. Don't let anything make you feel because many people seems to do things and they look as if there's nothing happening about them—the heart of men is set to do evil. It looks as there's no consequence for planting wrong seed. But God said there are and there is. There are and there is. There are and there is. So, two things that is clear to us this evening as we try to pray is that number one, there is no reason why we must live in fear. Brethren, there is no reason. There is no reason. Today, this happened, that happened. And as the Bible now said, the Bible spoke much, much earlier, the Lord said—you shall hear of war and of rumors of war, see that you be not troubled. I want to ask you. All the while when the servant of the man of God, Elisha, was shaking—"Aah! Aah!" Was it that there was no hedge? Was it that there was no hedge? There was. But the person who had a better understanding and will not live in fear simply told him, "They that be with us are more than they that be with them." Brethren, they that be with us are more than they that be with them. Is it the herdsmen? They that be with us are more than they that be with them. Is it the kidnappers? They that be with us are more than they that be with them. Is it the ritual killers? They that be with us are more than they that be with them. Is it accident on Nigerian road? You are afraid of traveling? They that be with us are more than they that be with them. Is it economic recession? "Hey, hey! They said they will not pay salary in twelve months! They said in the next two months they are going to retrench all workers! Ah! You better build against your future so that you don't live in poverty!" And you begin to live in fear—it's not about fear, brethren. If the economy fail, there was no economy when God fed our fathers in the wilderness. There was no economy. Was there an economy? Who was sowing? Who was planting? Who was harvesting? Who was selling? They were just going and for forty years they were eating and they were drinking. There was no economy. There was no tailor, their cloth was growing with them. There was no shoemaker, their shoes did not go bad. As they grow, the shoe grows with them. I don't know how God was doing all of that. They were just moving on and everything was going. There was no economy. Even when the economy fail, our God economy cannot fail. So what is the fear? What is the fear? They that be with us. That's what the Lord is bringing so strongly into my heart—"There is a hedge around your life. Why are my people living in fear?" And that is why we don't position ourselves. Instead of praying in faith and saying, "In the name of Jesus, we stand." Look at what Elijah just did. He just prayed: "O Lord my God, shut the eyes of these people. Smite them with blindness." He was speaking in faith. Did God smite them with blindness? Yes. But if that man was afraid, "Please don't kill me! Ah please! Ah!" would there be anything going on? Our fear don't make us any better, it only reduces us. It reduces our ability to face the situation. Brethren, I bring a news to you from the Lord. They that be with you are more than they that be with them. They that be with you—you know they we are talking about? He said the Lord surround his people. He said the angel of the Lord encamp around those that fear him. Who want to break through your Lord? Who is there to kill his angel? And I also want us to pray. "Lord, thank you for the hedge that you have placed around our life." Lord, thank you. Lord, I want us to worship God. I want us to worship God. "God, thank you for the hedge that is around my life. For they that be with me are more than they that be with them. They that be with me are more than they that be with them. They that be with me are more than they that be with them. They that be with me are more than they that be with them." Let that be our confession when our fear shows up, when the host of Assyria, when they surround our wall, and it looks like where is the way of escape? Can you speak to yourself? "They that be with me are more than they that be with them." When it looks like, "Ah, hey, hunger will kill you. You better lie to pick a job. You better compromise to get out of it." Tell the pit, "They that be with me are more than they that be with them." When it looks like, "Ah, hey, the economy will fail." When it looks like, "Ah, hey, this journey, I hope I will come back. They said, they said, you know Nigerian road, they do this, this will happen." Tell yourself again, "They that be with me are more than they that be with them." They that be with me. They that be with me. They that be with me. They that be with them. He holds your future. The person who holds your future is greater than your future. The person who holds your future is greater than your future. Look at those things around your heart. Look at those things around your life. And tell yourself there is a hedge. There is a hedge. There is a hedge. There is a hedge. There is a hedge. There is a hedge. Our brother John put it in another way. Our brother John that we were looking at his testimony. He said look, he that is born of God overcometh the world. He that is born of God overcometh the world. He say for greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. That was that our brother that they killed and killed and killed they could not kill. Look at his testimony. Look at his testimony. He said greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Whosoever is born of God overcometh the world. There is a hedge. Brethren, let us walk in faith. Let us live in faith. Let us live in fear—there is a hedge around our life. The madness of Satan cannot break it. His madness cannot break it. Principalities and powers can do nothing about it. Thank you, Blessed Father. Thank you, Almighty God. Blessed be your holy name. Blessed be your holy name. Blessed be your holy name. Blessed be your holy name. Blessed be your holy name. In Jesus' name we pray. Segun, please round off for us.