The Wisdom of God (9)

[Speaker 1] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, Ecumenical Ministry involved in reaching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's Word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development and mission aid. Our regular activities are: Discipleship class, every Monday at 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, Ilaro Community, opposite Total filling station along Ijegun road, Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are: 08033861136, 07033613848. God bless you. [Speaker 2] Praise ye the Lord! As we come into the first discipleship class for the year 2026, let's take one or two songs together to worship God, to appreciate Him, to thank Him for the year 2026. [Group singing] Oh glory be to God in the highest, Amen. Hallelujah, glory be to God in the highest, Amen. Hallelujah, for His mercy endureth forever, Amen. Hallelujah, for His mercy endureth forever, Amen. Hallelujah, glory be to God in the highest, Amen. Hallelujah, glory be to God in the highest, Amen. Hallelujah, for His mercy endureth forever, Amen. Hallelujah, for His mercy endureth forever, Amen. Hallelujah. He can never, never fail. He can never, never fail. He can never, never fail. Jesus the same forever. Hallelujah. He can never, never fail. Oh yes, He can never, never fail. Oh yes, He can never, never fail. Jesus the same forever. Oh He can never, never fail. He can never, never fail. He will never, never fail. Jesus the same forever. Hallelujah. He can never, never fail. He can never, never fail. He can never, never fail. Jesus the same forever. Hallelujah. He can never, never fail. He had never, never fail. He can never, never fail. Jesus the same forever. He can never, never fail. He had never, never fail. He will never, never fail. Jesus the same forever. He can never, never fail. He can never, never fail. He can never, never fail. Jesus the same forever. He can never, never fail. He had never, never fail. He will never, never fail. Jesus the same forever. He can never, never fail. He can never, never fail. He can never, never fail. Jesus the same forever. [Speaker 2] Our Father, we are grateful. You can never, never fail. You had never, never fail. You will never, never fail. You did not fail our fathers. You did not fail the prophets. You did not fail them. You did not fail the apostles. Oh Lord our God, we are persuaded. You can never, never fail us. We say Lord be exalted in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank You for a successful completion of the year 2025. Thank You for the ushering into the new year 2026. Thank You for the mercy that brought us this far. Thank You for the grace that gathered us today. Thank You our Father. We express thanksgiving. We express gratitude. Thank You Lord our God. Accept our thanks in the name of Jesus Christ. Our Father and our God, we open the year today in Your name. We are starting our discipleship classes again in Your name. We say Lord, go before us into the year. Be with us through the year. Be our rear guard through the year. Envelop us through the year. Carry us through the year again. As You have always been doing Lord, we commit each of the classes, Monday after Monday, January to December, into Your hand and we say Father, for January, have Your way. For February, have Your way. For March, have Your way. For April, have Your way. For May, have Your way. For June, have Your way. For July, have Your way. For August, have Your way. For September, have Your way. For October, have Your way. For November, have Your way. For December, have Your way. Lord have Your way through the year. Meet with us, oh God. Speak to our hearts. Give us sense of direction. Grant us our heart desires. Cause our expectations not to perish. Cause our hopes not to fail. As often as we gather, Lord give us direction. As often as we gather, oh Lord, please speak to us. We who gather physically, our brethren who join on Mixlr, who join on Telegram, every partner of the ministry, every friend and colleague, oh Lord our God, we pray, meet with us all. Bless our lives. Bless our homes. Bless our marriages. Let Your good hand be upon all our endeavors in the name of Jesus Christ. We declare the year blessed. We declare that we receive the year in Your name. And Lord, the Bible says the blessings of the Lord maketh rich; it adds no sorrow. We speak into the year because we receive it from the Lord. 2026, you will make us rich. You will add no sorrow. 2026, you will make us rich. You will add no sorrow. No sorrow to our lives in the name of Jesus. Lord, we go forth in Your name into this year. We go in the name of the Father. We go in the name of the Son. We go in the name of the Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus. Thank You eternal Father for all our meetings after meetings. Lord, Your presence will tabernacle with us. Thank You eternal Father. Cause Your people to be blessed. Cause Your name to be glorified. Cause Your church to be edified in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank You eternal Father. In Jesus' most holy name we pray. [Crowd] Amen. [Speaker 2] Well, welcome today being the very, very first meeting for the year 2026. What is in my heart almost immediately is I don't know whether any of us have anything we want to say. Is there any testimony you want to share? Is there something that was a blessing to you that you want to talk about? As we start for the new year, if anybody has something, please signify. Okay, one person. Okay, two persons. Okay, so let's have you as we start again the year, maybe something about 2025, maybe a blessing, maybe a testimony. Brother, the ball is in your court. [Speaker 3] Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Last year, the discipleship class was jump-packed. It was a lot. But the teachings particularly, the teachings I've had cause to repent. They were eye-opening to several ways I have been relying on my own wisdom. Some areas which I got that I should have waited before taking some decisions, before going ahead. The issues of AIDS, like Acquired Inspiration Deficiency Syndrome. Yes, that was the major problem with man, and grace came to close that eye that was open. So the teachings, because it was an accumulation of—it was a continuation of other things. So they were all eye-opening to several ways which I have actually been relying on my own wisdom rather than the wisdom of God. And I've had cause to repent about that. [Speaker 2] Oh, thank you so much! Thank you so much! And incidentally, we'll be consolidating on that matter today. Consolidating on that matter today, and the Lord is going—because today we actually are going to have what we call the opening charge for 2026. And the more I prayed and I prayed and I prayed, I see God telling us that, "Look, I've been speaking already. Just lay hold on what I've told you, and it will be well in 2026." So we'll be consolidating on that matter that you just started. Thank you very much. It's actually Acquired Inspiration Deficiency Syndrome. May you not walk in that syndrome in the name of Jesus Christ. So we have our second brother. Let's have you, our brother. [Speaker 4] Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! I'm Brother Deley [unclear: Adu]. I want to thank God I belong to this ministry and since I have been here, I have been blessed. Sincerely speaking, at times when you share some testimony, I tell my children that some things people have known early, maybe your life would have been better. And I told them when I was in Lagos, I'm serious, I have a great opportunity, sincerely, and wasted because of lack of direction, lack of being in the right place. Daddy used to say something, Daddy says you can be going to church, it's not about going to church, you can even be a pastor, you can even be anything there. He says there's a difference between you going to church, being committed, gets me right, you may be a choir leader, I have been all church I go to I have been leader there. When I was in Redeemed, I was a youth leader for 10 years, sir. They were even forcing me that I should go and do Bible school. "All the children you taught in teenagers, they are now provincial pastors." A pastor met me, sir, in Akure here. He told me that, "Pastor, where you know that you are going to be a pastor, why can't you put on when you are in Redeemed?" He said, "By now," he was telling me, he said, "No any doubt, nothing." He said, "I have all the qualifications. I have more than a provincial pastor." I said God never tell me to be a pastor. I'm just serving God in my own way. But we are serious. But our serious, we don't have a direction. We are serving God, we are serious, surely. I knew I love God myself. But you can love God and be going in a wrong direction. So when I joined this ministry, something will happen. I didn't even know that you know when we join us that you are showing us all our senior friends, senior friends. Bobai [unclear] says there's one brother in Benin, says was one of our president. I don't know that I get to know that Daddy and Mummy. But since I have been coming to this ministry when we are at this other side, Light Center, before Light Camp, yes Daddy, it's little by little, I know that God have added a lot of things, sincerely, to my life. Then in this last year that just passed, the last thing Daddy taught, this last quarters about Godly wisdom, the original purpose God has for us, that every one of us God had a plan. But when we follow our own human wisdom, we enter trouble. [Speaker 2] Exactly. [Speaker 4] So in the light of the series of the teaching about the God wisdom that Daddy taught us, so when I want to enter this year, sincerely, for the first time, sincerely, I deliberately determined, Daddy, you don't get three heads now. All the people you have been, these people, they come in line. You speak to them, they know exactly what you want for them. Daddy said something that was very hard for me to believe until after I have not seen the manifestation. Daddy said God told him, "You are reading accounting." The God says should go and read sociology. Ordinarily, I'm serious, ordinarily humanly speaking, it's not a wisdom. Daddy, if I'm your brother or your sister, I will join those people that fought you to fight you. This is crazy. I'm telling you, it's not Daddy, no any logic here. And another thing happened again about their marriage. Daddy says God said, but eventually, God justify His word. And I said no, it's good to have God's wisdom. And when it is God, no matter the consequence, at last, God will defend His name. So Daddy, I thank God in the light of that lecture we got last year, Daddy, I was able to enter this new year as a new person. [Speaker 2] Amen! [Speaker 4] Not the old Adam, but the new Adam. Praise the Lord! [Crowd] Hallelujah! [Speaker 4] And I hope God will sustain me. [Speaker 2] Amen! Amen and amen! May the Lord sustain us all. According to that, that is the plan of God for all of us. What he said may be sounding very funny, but look at what the Bible—look at something in Colossians. Let us look at something in Colossians. I don't know why my tab did not open, but that will not stop us from having all that we need to have today. Thank God that I'm familiar with what I wrote on my notes there. So I believe God that we'll be able to have—look at Colossians, Colossians chapter three. Colossians three. Look at something there. Just look at how it reads. Compare it to what our brother just said now. It says, I begin from verse one, just I'm just reading, just follow the reading and see something about the old Adam and the new Adam. "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on earth." Why? Why? Verse three, "For you died." May we always remember that—not that you will die. What did He say? Is that a past tense, present tense, or present continuous? It's a past tense. You died. Many times you don't know that you died. Actually, you died. That day you gave your life to Christ, you died. That was actually what happened to you. You died. That's the truth. You died. The reason why you did not fall to the ground was because another life was given. But you didn't know. And that's why you are still living the old one. You were given another one. You were given another one. You were actually given another one. He says, "For you died." Let me check some other translation to see what it reads in that. NLT says, "For you died when Christ died." Hallelujah! You died when Christ died. That's NLT. NIV, "For you died and your life now is hidden with Christ in God." The Message, "Your old life is dead." Not that it will die. Your old life is dead. It is not it will die. Many of us, we are trying to die because we don't know that we have died. We are still trying to die. You know when you are not aware of something, let me give you a good example. If you have 100,000 in your pocket and you are not aware—or let me give you a good example of something that happened to me. I wanted to buy bread. I didn't know I have cash in my bag. I was not aware. So when I got to the woman, I wanted to buy the bread. In the days when I still used to eat white flour product—I don't eat bread again now anyway. I don't eat white bread. If I must eat bread, it must be whole wheat. Now, so when I wanted to pay the woman with transfer, she said, "No, sir, they normally go with my money. I want cash." I said, "Ah." She now said, "There's POS at the other side of the road." So I have to cross to go and do the POS, collected cash, came back, bought the bread. So when I got home, I dropped the bread on the table. Then I was now going through my—I was bringing down the loads in my bag. I bought the bread 1,000. I have up to 6,000 in my bag. You know I have it, but I was not aware that I have it. So the reality of my life was that I have 6,000. I should have paid and have 5,000 with me. But I was living another life that is not my real life. That going to get POS, all those things was not my actual life. It was my life of ignorance. May you not live that life. So because I didn't know I have, that is why I had to go, cross the road, go and buy—I paid extra 200 Naira to get that money. All those waste, all those time would have been avoided if I was aware. So when you are not aware of what you have, you will not live your real life. You will live your ignorant life. The life of ignoramus, people who are ignorant of truth. That's why He said you will know the truth. If I was aware that particular time, the truth would have set me free. When she said, "No transfer," I just open my bag, "Hallelujah!" It would have set me free from wasting 200 Naira, from crossing the road to go and buy it. You guess all of that? So what I'm saying is that may you know that you have died. May you know that you actually died. May you become aware of it. You know, I'm going somewhere, where our brother said. He said, "For actually you died." Verse three, verse four, "When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." Therefore, because you have died, what He said you should do? "Therefore, put to death your members which are on earth." He mentioned all kinds of sinful things. When He mentioned all those things, when He got on and on, look at it when He got to verse 10. "And put on what? The new man," that's the new Adam our brother was talking about. "Put on the new man who is what? Renewed in what? In knowledge." May you not live in ignorance. That new man is a man of knowledge, renewed in knowledge. According to what? According to the image of who? Him who created him. And that's where we are going this evening. God created man in His image. That was what led to Acquired Inspiration Deficiency Syndrome. God created man in His image, but man was not like God, knowing good and evil. But he was in the image of God. He was in the likeness of God. In that image and in the likeness of God, he was alive. And he was alive. How did he come alive? How did he come alive? God made a cadaver, a cadaver. I mean a dead body. And then God took that dead body and God [makes blowing sound], the breath of life. And man became a living being. What makes him, listen, being, B-I-N-G, being. That being is what? Living. It was a living being. It's being. Are you getting it? You know, "be" and a gerund, "being". That's what you call human being. Human being. When talking about "being", that your "be" that "I'm being alive". Do you get me? So he became a living being by what? By breath. "Breathe upon me, breath of God." Inspiration, breath. The breath of God. The Bible says the scripture was not of the prophet's own interpretation, but they were carried on by what? By the breath of God. It made their being to be living. You get it? So man became a living being by the inspiration, the breath of God. When man now became like God, knowing good and evil, what happened? He became a dead being. A dead being. So his being, he was man, you know. He was giving birth to children. You know, Adam gave birth. Are you understanding me? But how was it now? It was a dead being, not a living being. So that dead being is that what now sustain his being is that knowledge of good and evil. That's his wisdom. "Ah, no, the real thing now is information technology. Me, I'm not going to read biology. I'm going to read computer science so that I can join the IT world." Where are you getting that from? Your dead being. That knowledge of good and evil. It's a different thing from when it comes as the breath of God. "Why are you in this thing?" "The Lord asked me to go this direction." That's a living being. That's what we said: once the Lord does not speak, you are dead. He speaks life. The word which I speak unto you, they are spirit and life. So if your marriage become alive, what will happen? God must speak. If that relationship will be alive, what must happen? God must speak. If that career will be alive, what will happen? God must speak. Once God says, "Hey, be a painter, not a driver," what happened to painting? Living painter. It is His speaking. That is the breath. It is the breath that makes him a living. Once the breath stop, what happen? He become a dead being. What's he leaning on now? The knowledge of good and evil. That's why he say, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding." Is it because it's a bad thing? Is it because it's a bad thing? No, not about that whether it is bad or not bad. It is because it's a dead thing. You are serving a living God. God is not the God of the dead. That's what Jesus said. He said God is the God of who? Of the living. God is not the God of the dead. God is the God of the living. That's what He told them. That's what Jesus told them. That's why he said do not lean on it. You are serving a living God. So be alive! Your God is living. He's not those gods upon earth that have eyes that cannot see, that have mouth that cannot talk, that have ear that cannot hear. This one can talk. This one you don't need to carry him in your pocket. He's the one that carries you. Are you getting the point I'm making? That is this one. He's alive! He has hand. He can carry people. He can sustain. He can bear them up. He's living, and so His people live. He said, "I have come that you may have life and that you may have it abundantly." And how will you get it? "The word which I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." So as I speak, you have abundant life. As I speak, you have life. As I speak, you have life. And that is what the Lord is trying to tell us. The more I was trying to pray to God, "What is the direction for 2026?" the Lord said, "Wole, under the anchor of this ministry and under this banner of my inspiration, you must become deliberate and intentional. Return, there is that matter that I was using to close the year is actually like when somebody is about to die." 2025 was about to die. You get the point? As it was ending, and you were saying, "Ah Lord, 2025 is ending, what do You have to tell me?" God said He was actually giving us direction for 2026. I said, "Oh, oh, oh." I said, "I see." He said, "So the more you can live, then the more there will be abundant life in 2026." The more you can live. You need to live. You are not a dead being. You get the point? You are not a dead being. You are a living being. You are a living being. Your being is living. Your being is not dead. It's a living one. And so you must understand that. You must get that clear that in the journey of 2026, the God I serve is not the God of the dead. He's the God of what? He's the God of the living. He's the God of the living. God is the God of the living. That is one thing that kept coming back. God is the God of the living. Ah, do you know—please let's go back to that Proverbs. Look at that Proverbs. What are we to do in 2026? We must live so that we can have abundant life. So when our brother said the new Adam, who is the new Adam? Jesus came. The Bible says as many as He predestined, as many as He foreknew, He predestined them to be conformed to the image of the Son. So the desire of God is to return us back to where, to be in His image and in His likeness, where our life was based on what? Those inspiration. When he was in God's image and God's likeness, but not like God in knowing good from evil, in being able to have information. You know, he used to say something there when we were studying the scriptures, we saw in December that when Adam said—I'm trying to give—let's just use—we don't know the actual name he was mentioning them, but let us just use the name we know them for now. When he said elephant, what did the Bible say? That was the name. When he said goat, what did the Bible say? That was the name. Anytime Adam speaks, what did you see God do? God affirms. When he came to Eve, "This is the bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man." What did God affirm? "For this cause a man shall leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one." God did not say, "Adam, what are you saying?" God affirmed that statement of Adam. Verse 23 was the voice of Adam, and the man said, "This is the bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh." Verse 24, the Lord Jesus told us, "He who made them at the beginning, made them male and female and said, 'For this cause a man shall leave father and mother...'" So you'll be thinking it was Adam who spoke those two things. So whether Adam or God, who was speaking? It was one person. He was one with God. So whether you say it is Adam, Jesus said it is God. Whether you say it is God, as whichever one, Jesus marked the two together. But we know very well in verse 23 that the Bible says "the man said". That one it was not God. "This is bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, she shall be called woman." That was the man. But the other one, "For this cause," that one was God. What was God doing? Affirming Adam. But it got to a point, he said, "I knew I was naked, and I went to hide myself." What did God say? "Ah, who told you that? Ah, have you become like me, knowing good from evil?" And that was how the man left from the point of life. God sent him away. And he has been living on that thing. He has been living on that "who told him". So who told him? The knowledge of good and evil. What is the inspiration behind it? Who was the originator of that thing? Serpent. Serpent is living independent of God. When God says don't fornicate, what does the serpent say? "Fornication is good." In fact, he calls it what? Love. That's why you even see people when they are talking, they say they are making love. Madness. Why? The Bible says God is love. So they have turned even fornication to love because there is a spirit who is living independent of God. He fears God, though. He knows that there is one Lord, though. But he's not subject to him. The same thing he has made us. We know, "Eru Olorun ba mi, Eru Olorun ba mi o. O to ba de’kun l’okan re, ko s’oun to o le d’adurom k’al’eni bo di. Ko s’ohun t’Olorun o le se." We say, "Ah, almighty God! Hey, God!" But we do our own things. How are we different from Satan? How are we different? Call any unbeliever, they acknowledge God. But how are they living? They live independent of that God. So Satan have produced his own image. Are you understanding me? Are you understanding me? When we live independent of God, we are in the image of Satan. That's what I'm trying to make you understand. As we march through 2026, in whose image do you want to live? That's why when our brother said the new Adam, that's what we want to affirm today. The new Adam is renewed in knowledge. Please go back to that Colossians. It's renewed in knowledge. Colossians 3:10. Let's see that place together. What did the Bible say we should do? "And put on what? The new man, who is what? Who is renewed in what? In the knowledge according to who? According to the image of him who created him." Let us go back to the image of him who created us. Don't walk in the image of him who deceived us. Somebody deceived us. Oh, are you following me? Are you following me, brethren? Are you following me, brethren? The Lord is saying for 2026, for 2026, let us work, let us put on the new man. Be deliberate. Be intentional. Deliberately put on the new man. I'm saying deliberately tell yourself, "I want to be renewed in what? In knowledge. I don't want to lean on my own understanding again." I don't want to lean on my own understanding again. I want to be renewed in knowledge. That knowledge that I have is in the image. What is that image? It comes by inspiration. Adam was having knowledge. Was he not having knowledge? "This is the bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, she shall be called woman. This is goat, this is elephant, this is tiger." Was he not having knowledge? Was he not intelligent? But it was the knowledge that was in the knowledge of Him who created him. But it came to a point in his life that there was another knowledge that was in the image of Him who deceived Eve. That was another knowledge. And God said, "Hey, in whose image are you working? In whose image?" And that was it. And to still work, still leaning on that knowledge of Him who was the tempter to humanity. What did he quickly do? He said, "The woman you gave—" Are you seeing him again? He was still on that. The Bible says he who confesses his sin shall be shown mercy. If he has said, "Lord, I am sorry. I ate it." "Who told you you are naked?" "It was because we ate it. Lord, please forgive me. Lord, I am sorry." I don't know what it would have turned out to be. I don't know what it would have turned out to be. But I know one thing, that God passed a pronouncement to Ahab. And God gave Ahab that pronouncement. When God gave the pronouncement that from beginning from Ahab, there will be no male in his lineage again. The Bible says Ahab humbled himself. He humbled himself. And when God saw it, God told Elijah, "Did you see how Ahab have humbled himself?" He said, "Go back to him. Go back. Go and meet him. Tell him that I said because you have humbled yourself before me, the thing will not start again in your day. It's going to start in the day of your son." So I don't know how it would have turned, but still in that image which many of us still work today, the image of we must pass the buck, self-justification. He was trying to justify. He was trying to push the fault from himself. Yes, actually the woman was deceived by serpent. That is true. That truth is there. The woman was deceived by serpent. And because nothing happened to the woman, she didn't understand the mystery of God, that it was when man had a need that a woman was created. When God had a need, a male was created. It was when God was saying it is not good for the man to be alone that the woman was created. So actually, just as the man was the image and the glory of God, the woman is actually the glory of the man. I'm quoting scriptures. I'm quoting 1 Corinthians chapter 11. The woman is not the glory of God. The woman is the glory of the man. So she does not understand that her life is inconsequential in terms of whether she eat that fruit or not. It is when the man eat it that the consequence will come because he is the glory of the man. Just the way the Bible tells us today, unto Him who is able to keep us from falling. Even though we are struggling not to fall, but because somebody is holding us. Are you getting the point? Are you getting the point? He who began the good work, He's able to finish it. If not because He can finish it, we won't get to heaven, oh. Don't think any of us can get to heaven of himself, oh. Yes, we must be watchful. Yes, we must be careful, but don't ever trust in yourself. Our trust is in the Lord. That is what Eve does not understand, that she's the glory of the man. She ate it and nothing happened to her, and then she told the man, "Ah, eat! You think there's anything you're afraid of yourself? Eat this thing! Nothing happened to me!" And the man listened to the voice of the woman. Adam was not deceived because God said, "Because you listen to the voice of your wife, I told you don't eat this thing. Somebody said eat this thing and you listen to that person. Oh, curse is the land for your sake." What I'm trying to bring out, yes, the reality was that did the woman tie the hand of Adam? And tie the leg of Adam? And close his eyes? And force the thing down his throat? So he should have said, "Lord, I'm sorry I listened to her. I shouldn't have done that." Yes, the woman has some fault in bringing it because she was punished. But the truth is that it is not her that is the cause of the—point I'm trying to bring out, he was still working in what? In the image of him who deceived them. But God is calling us in 2026 that look, put on the new man. Put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him. Very, very important. And lastly, look at that Proverbs. Proverbs chapter three where we read. Proverbs three. Let's look at it. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart," that is, have a working relationship with God. That's what it means. Have a working relationship with God because you cannot trust who you don't know. Can you trust who you don't know? You have to know somebody to be able to trust him. So be renewed in knowledge, be renewed in knowledge. You need to know Him. You need to know Him. You need to know Him. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, "do not lean on your own understanding." Somebody was asking me that is it a must that God must speak to us about who to marry? Somebody said that as long as you are compatible with someone, you can marry the person. And I said in any case, I don't want to go into unnecessary debate and argument. But what I want to tell you is that in whatsoever you don't acknowledge God, you are not alive. I said that's just all I want to tell you. And I said the other thing I told him, I said number two, one thing I know that Jesus said is that, "My sheep, they hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." I said, so if you cannot hear the voice of God, I wonder whether you are a sheep. That's the second thing I told him. I said I'm not saying it's asking me that must it be that I must hear audible voice, "Joe, stand up! Right turn! Marry Bola or else you will die!" I said that's not what I mean. I said what I meant is that every child of God must be able to know when Jesus is speaking to him. I said that's what I meant. Every child of God must be able to know when Jesus is speaking to him or her. I said whatsoever way God want to speak, every sheep must know how when Jesus is speaking to him or her. Anyone that does not know when Jesus is speaking is not a sheep. I said that's a capacity Jesus gave His sheep. He said, "My sheep hear my voice." Anyone that have made His own, they will hear His voice. If you cannot hear His voice, He has not yet made you His own. I said, so are you a spiritual bastard? He said no. He said, "I should be able to hear Him." Then third one that I told him, I said the Bible says, "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." If you cannot be led by God, you are not a son of God. That's what I told him. I said so Christianity is not just that "I'm a winners, I'm a deeper life, I'm Anglican." "Ah, you don't know me, I attend fire and miracle. You don't know me, I attend holiness inside holiness in holiness of God Bible church." Whichever one you are attending, my question is: is there relationship with God in which you can know when God is leading you? But if you must always run to—from pillar to post, you want to do a job, "Prophetess, please pray. I want to know whether I should be an accountant or this." You finish that one. "Prophetess, no this time prophet, from pillar to post. Prophet, please, I have Borsede, Borsewa, Borselo in my life. Please help me pray. Which one is it? The Borsede or Borsewa or Borselo? Because I want to know." If that is how you are living your life, you are not a child of God. I'm not saying that there are no prophets among us, but the New Testament prophets, they foretell. They don't stand as the Holy Spirit in the life of the believers. We must get that very clear. Every believer should be led by the Holy Spirit. The New Testament prophet actually affirms. Oh yes, that's according to the scriptures, because they are foretelling the scriptures. This spirit of prophecy is the spirit of scripture. So if anybody says he has the Holy Spirit of God and he's a prophet and he's speaking contrary to scripture, he's not of God as far the New Testament is concerned. The spirit of prophecy is the spirit of the scripture. Go and check Revelation. And that's the truth about it. We are foretellers. We don't take the place of the Holy Spirit in the life of people. We affirm. We join in prayer. We are able to bring, "Yes, that is the truth about the word of God." We confirm. We affirm. We are not the Holy Spirit in the life of people. Very, very, very, very important. That's the three things I told him. And so, as we journey in 2026, these are the questions you need to ask yourself. Are you a spiritual bastard? Number two, are you actually a son of God? Number three, do you not think when you don't acknowledge God, you are a dead person? Don't live in deadness in 2026. Let us live. He said verse seven, "Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from evil." What I'm trying to make you see, brethren, as I conclude this evening, is that every time we don't acknowledge the Lord, either in the voice—you know, if you have followed us, biblical concept of faith, please if you were not part of that, it has 35 episode. 35—from episode one, we did—we use 35 weeks for that episode. Please go and listen to that episode. Don't forget that under biblical concept of faith, that was what we concluded before we started the wisdom of God. I made it very clear that there's the voice of the scripture and there's the voice of the Spirit. For example, I don't need to ask God, "Holy Spirit, please speak to me. Should I lie? Ah, Lord, open my eyes. I want to hear You speak to me." Devil will speak to you. Because from the voice of the scripture, it is clearly written: put away lying in all its form. There's the voice of the scriptures. We have discussed that in biblical concept of faith, the biblical faith. The biblical faith is a faith of the scripture. "Your word have I hidden in my heart that I may not sin against you." It is the more we hide His word in our heart that His word become a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. And we begin to do that. Jesus says, "He who do that is the person who love me. My Father will love him. I too will love him." Then they will now come to the voice of the Spirit. "We will now come to him and manifest ourselves to him." So if you don't hear the voice of the scripture, you can't hear the voice of the Spirit. That's the truth about it. But go and listen to that episode. Very, very important. What is biblical faith? So there's a faith. We are people of faith. Faith in the scriptures. So that's what we say acknowledge God. When we don't live by inspiration, either the voice of the scripture or the voice of the Spirit, I want you to know whatever you are doing is evil. Do not be wise in your own eyes. Do what? Fear God and depart from what? Anything outside acknowledging God is what? Is evil. Please get it very, very clear. Let us depart from evil in 2026. Anything outside the voice of the scripture or the voice of the Spirit is evil. Run away from "that is the way I feel", "the way it made me feel", "that is what I like", "that is what I want". No. Be renewed in knowledge after the image of Him who created you. Let us close this evening. Talk to the Lord in prayers. Today is just a day of personal prayer, just to talk to God for your life. Just pray into 2026. Pray about your spiritual life, pray about your academics, pray about your future, pray about your marriage, pray about your children, pray about your home, pray about your relationship if you are not yet in a marriage, pray about your marital life, pray about your academic life, pray about your business, just pray. Ask the Lord that, "Lord, I will be a living being, a living being." The voice of the scripture, your word will be a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I will also hear the voice of the Spirit. Always know that you can hear. If you don't believe, you cannot experience it. Believe in your heart, "I am born again, so I can hear the voice of Jesus." That is what He said. He said, "My sheep hear my voice." Don't believe a lie. "Hey, how will you know the will of God? How will you know when God is speaking? How will you know? You can never know." That would be the voice of the devil. You, Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice." You can hear Him. He has given you that capacity. Don't believe a lie. Don't live your ignorant life. Move your real life. Live your real life! Your real life is that you can hear Jesus. Thank You eternal Father. Blessed be Your holy name, our God. In Jesus' name we pray. Our Father, we commit ourselves into Your hand. This is the opening word for 2026, that we must be renewed in knowledge. We must put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him. We must not work in the image of the deceiver. The image of the deceiver is our own understanding. He want us to be independent of You, just as he's independent. And today He's—the Bible says He's in the chain of darkness. So we call them powers of darkness. We call them rulers of darkness because darkness is a chain. They are chained in darkness. They rule in darkness. They reign in darkness because they are chained there. They wanted to be independent of You. They live independent of You. They know You, they fear You, they know that You are the Lord, but they are not subject to Him. The same thing he has made us. We know, "Eru Olorun ba mi, Eru Olorun ba mi o. O to ba de’kun l’okan re, ko s’oun to o le d’adurom k’al’eni bo di. Ko s’ohun t’Olorun o le se." We say, "Ah, almighty God! Hey, God!" But we do our own things. How are we different from Satan? How are we different? Call any unbeliever, they acknowledge God. But how are they living? They live independent of that God. So Satan have produced his own image. When we live independent of God, we are in the image of Satan. That's what I'm trying to make you understand. As we march through 2026, in whose image do you want to live? Lord, as we go through 2026, may we be who we really are in the name of Jesus. May we live our real life, not our life of ignorance, a life of deception. May we work in the image of Him who created us. May we be inspirational in all we think, in all we say, in all we do. The voice of the scripture, the voice of the Spirit in the name of Jesus. We pray for everyone connected to Family Tent Ministry. Some may not be listening to us now, but Lord, somehow, somewhere, may this message get to them. May they somehow come to this understanding, may they somehow come to this knowing, that the Lord is calling us to live. For You are not the God of the dead. You are the God of the living. You want us to live. Thank You Father. In Jesus' most holy name we pray. Let's share the grace together in fellowship. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all now and forevermore. Amen. [Speaker 1] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, Ecumenical Ministry involved in reaching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's Word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development and mission aid. Our regular activities are: Discipleship class, every Monday at 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, Ilaro Community, opposite Total filling station along Ijegun road, Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are: 08033861136, 07033613848. God bless you.