The Word of God and our Most Holy Faith

[Speaker 1] We thank Him for His love, for His mercies, for His goodness, for His grace, for all that He is to us. We bless Him for His wonderful gift of life. And of course, we thank Him for this period. He has been wonderful to us, He has been good to us, and we trust Him again that as we fellowship together physically, observing the preventive measures stipulated by the government, and online for those of us who are linking up and connecting with us, we trust the Lord that it's going to be a blessed time again today. Praise be the Lord. Just before we pray, I want to remind us of our journey so far, and then we'll have a word of prayer and then move on from where we stopped last week. We have been considering kept by the power of God through faith. We have considered, we have raised and considered several issues, particularly the fact that God has an inheritance for us, and God wants to make sure that we enter into that inheritance. Because God needed to do that, God decided that we should be kept, we should be preserved unto that inheritance. But in doing that, we are kept by the power of God through faith. And because we are kept by the power of God through faith, it has become very, very important, it became very, very important because of our discussion to look at the subject matter of faith. We have considered the life, the woman with the issue of blood, we have considered Jairus' daughter, and last week we were looking at the connection between the word of God and our most holy faith. And in doing that, we saw that faith cannot come except by the word of God. We are kept through the power of God, we are kept by faith through the power of God, but we saw that faith cannot come, faith cannot become active, faith will be dormant where the word of God is absent. So we saw that faith comes by hearing, and hearing the word of God. So a man that cannot hear cannot have faith. If a man is deaf, spiritually deaf, no matter how much he can see, he cannot have faith. Faith comes by hearing, you must hear. We noticed also the word of God in John 6:63, where Jesus said, "Flesh and blood profits nothing. It is the spirit that gives life. The word which I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." So we saw again that Jesus came to give life, that life abundantly. But in giving that life, the life is given through the word that He speaks. So He said, "I have come that they may have life." And yet He said, "The word which I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." So we said if a man cannot hear Jesus, then he cannot have life. Eternal life is on the basis of hearing Jesus. And so our main text for last week was Luke 24:13 from 13 to around verse 24 thereabout, where Jesus engaged the two disciples on their way to Emmaus. And we saw that their eyes were restrained from recognizing Jesus. While on the other hand, Jesus engaged them in the scriptures. And by the scriptures, He kept engaging them, engaging them. We saw that it was as a result of that engagement that the disciples said, "Didn't our heart burn within us when he was speaking this word with us?" We also noticed that Jesus told them that they are fools in not believing the scripture. So we came, we saw something very clear last week, that except the Lord engages us in His word, then there is a problem. All that we have will be Bible knowledge; you cannot know the truth. And we said Bible knowledge is not the knowledge of the truth. The truth is a person. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." And I remember I said something last week, that you will find situation where professors of CRK, professors of theology don't know salvation. Why? Because what they know is Bible knowledge, not the truth. The truth is a person. Until there is a personal encounter with Jesus, all you will have is Bible knowledge, not the truth. So we saw that Jesus engaged those disciples, and our prayer last week is that may the Lord engage us. The Lord must engage us in scripture. He must call our attention, He must expand it for us, He must break the bread for us. Bible says as He break the bread for them, as He broke that bread for them, what happened? Their eyes were open. So we moved on last week to look at so many things and then we stopped when we got to Psalm 105:17 and 26, 107:20, and 111:9. I will be taking the fellowship today from that point. So let's have a word of prayer. Almighty God, we are grateful unto you again for this day. We commit our gathering into your hand, both physically and online. We are praying this morning, this evening, that Lord, let there be an entrance of your word in the name of Jesus. Lord, our God, the scripture says Paul plants, Apollos waters, but it is the Lord that gives increase. Lord, we are pleading, we are asking, we are praying, give increase to this meeting in the name of Jesus. Meet with us as individuals, meet with us as a group, meet with us as your body. Cause your mercy to avail for us this evening in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you, eternal Father. In Jesus' name we pray. So we will take the matter today from exactly where I left it last week, and we trust the Lord that we will be concluding this theme we have been considering, kept by the power of God through faith. And our topic for last week and this week is the word of God and our most holy faith, the relationship between the word of God and this most holy faith. And I want you to remember what we said at the very beginning, that this faith that was authored by Jesus is a faith that can stop the mouth of the lion. It's a faith that can quench the fire. It's a faith that can make people to obtain promises. It's a faith that can subdue kingdoms. It's a faith that does the miraculous. It is not a faith that can be conquered. It is a conquering faith. It is a victorious faith, this faith that Jesus is the author and the finisher. So we are looking at the word of God and this faith. Let's look at that Psalm 105 again verse 17 and 26. Psalm 105:17 and verse 26. The Bible says something there about the sending of God's word. Psalm 105:17 reads like this: "He sent a man before them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave." These were the scriptures the text we were reading last week when we had to pray. Now in verse 17, we saw that the Bible says that God sent a man before them. The 'them' here are the Israelites. And that man was Joseph. In verse 26, the Bible says He sent Moses His servant and Aaron whom He had chosen. We are looking at the word 'sent.' In 17, He sent. The person sent here was Joseph. In 26, He sent. The person sent here is Moses. And when you look at the scripture, I said last week that look at what Joseph and Moses did. What did they do? They were deliverers. They were deliverers. If you look at all that Moses did, Moses did that why? Because he was sent. Look at all that Joseph did. Why was he able to do it? He was able to do that because he was sent. Now if you correlate this side-by-side Psalm 107:20, 107, just the next chapter, verse 20. Two chapters, please, not the next. Psalm 107:20. If you look at what the Bible says there, the Bible says He sent His word. Are you seeing this matter of sent? The way Joseph was sent, the root word for this sent is the same in all these references. It's the same word, the same Hebrew word. He sent Joseph. He sent Moses. And when you get to verse 20 of 107, Bible says He sent His word. Which means the way Joseph was an individual with a capacity to deliver, the same way Moses was an individual with a capacity to instruct, to correct, to teach, to set order, to put right, and to deliver. It is in the same way that the word of God is an individual. The word of God is not just a thing. Word of God is not just a theory. Word of God is not just a philosophy that you believe. The word of God is actually a minister. The word of God is a messenger, He's a carrier of God. He's a carrier of the presence and the person of God. And if you correlate this with John 1:1, the word of God is God himself. The word of God is God himself. So when Bible says He sent His word and healed them and delivered them from their destruction, we are seeing something very, very important about the place of the word of God, the relationship between this word of God and our most holy faith. Then last week too, we read Psalm 111:9. Psalm 111:9. We read that scripture also. The Bible says He sent redemption to His people. He commanded His covenant forever. Holy and awesome is His name. Now when you look at redemption again, what did the Bible say? He sent redemption. He sent redemption. All I'm trying to make you see is that if God want to do anything in the life of a man, what will God do? He will send His word. He will send His word. It's as good as sending himself. And why is it so? Let's take our mind back to the matter we were looking at in Luke chapter 24. What did Jesus do? He took the scripture, the Bible says beginning from Moses and the prophet, He began to explain to them things concerning whom? Concerning himself. This was the resurrected Lord. This is the risen Lord. And the risen Lord wanted men to know that yes, I'm alive. What did He do? He took the same scripture and was engaging them by scripture. He was sending scriptures. He was engaging them. He was sending it back. He was sending His word. God was sending the word. The word again is God. And I want you to look at just the verse 1 and 2 of many of the minor prophets. Can we just look at them quickly? Many of the minor prophets. Let's look at just a few of them, the minor prophet. Can we look at Micah chapter 1 chapter 1 verse 1 and 2? Can we look at Jonah chapter 1 verse 1 and 2? Can we look at Haggai chapter 1 verse 1 and 2? Can we just look at those scriptures? What do you see in the verse 1 of Micah chapter 1? What is there? The word of the Lord that came to Micah. Who was Micah? A man that was a prophet to Israel, is that not? But what is that thing that raised Micah from an ordinary Micah to a prophetic Micah? What raised him? Bible says the word of God came to him. But you understand what happened to these men was that Bible says they were speaking and they were writing by the Holy Spirit. Is that not? So which means when the word of God came, what were the things that came? The spirit of God came, the power of God came, the presence of God came. Are you understanding me? But in putting all those things together, what did the Bible say? The word of God that came unto Micah. What I'm trying to make you see is that the word of God can come. And until He come, until He comes, a man remains ordinary. And please be understanding when I'm saying the word of God comes, I'm not talking about intellectual capacity of looking at the Bible. I'm talking about when the word of God come in the power of God's spirit, in the person of God himself, for the word of God is Jesus. When He comes, that man to whom He comes cannot remain the same. Look at the same thing, let's look at Jonah. We're just trying to make reference to some important things in the Bible. Can we see Jonah? Can we see the same thing again in Jonah? Jonah chapter 1 verse 1. What do we see there again? The word of the Lord that came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying. And if you look at it in this place, do you agree with me that when Bible say the word of God came, look at how the Bible puts it in Jonah. It's so interesting to me. I don't know how other translation puts it, but the way the King James Bible puts it, says, "Now the word of God came unto Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying." What does that tells you about the word of God? It speaks. The word of God came and the word was saying. What I'm trying to make you see is this connection between the scripture, the word of God, and our most holy faith. And when we're talking about the word of God, we're not just talking about just the knowledge of the Bible. We're talking about the word of God in the capacity of the living word of God, in the capacity of Jesus, in the capacity of Jesus coming to you and saying. When we say the word of God comes to a man and he's saying, you know that the word of God is coming as an individual. He's coming as a person. He's coming as the Lord. He's coming as the spirit. He's coming in power. He's coming in grace. He's coming in mercy. That is what we are saying. It is the hearing of this word that the Bible is connecting with faith. Bible says faith comes by hearing, and hearing what? The word of God. Now if you, I want us to journey a little further. I want us to look at some scriptures together. We said, kept by the power of God through faith. I know for the first one, virtually everybody here will be able to read it, be able to say it offhand. Joshua 1:8. This book of the law should not depart from thy mouth. Some people are not talking. They are not too sure. But some people are speaking confidently because they are very, very sure. Hallelujah. Now if you look into that, this book of the law should not depart from thy mouth. Other translation says the book of the law shall not depart from thy mouth, but thou must meditate on it day and night, so that. So the purpose of meditation is for something. The meditation is not in isolation. Says so that you may observe what does it mean to observe something? What does it mean to observe something? That you may observe to do according to all that is written therein. I want you to get something very clear. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you are to meditate on it day and night, so that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein. So the basis for the meditation is so that you will have the capacity, you will be able to do what is written. You may be doing so many things, but it may not be what has been written. Let me give you a good example. The Pharisees came to Jesus and they said, can a man put away his wife for any reason? What was Jesus' answer? Jesus said, "Have you not read that he who make them from the beginning made them male and female?" So which means that question wouldn't have been necessary if not for their ignorance of scripture. They ignore to meditate, they became ignorant. Are you understanding it? And I'm telling you, so many questions about life that believers are asking today, if Heaven is to respond, Heaven will say, "Have you not read?" You say, okay, that was Jesus when He was still alive, maybe there will be a different presentation. That was why I begin with you with Luke 24 last week. After Jesus resurrected and He came to His disciples, what did He do? He restrained His eyes from recognizing Him. Is that not? What did He do again? He said, "What are you talking about?" And then they began to tell Him, "Are you a stranger? Are you this? Are you that?" I don't want to go back to that scripture for this week. That was what we look at extensively last week. "Are you a stranger and all of that?" Then the Bible says Jesus said, "O fools and slow to believe all that the scripture have spoken. Ought not Christ ought to suffer these things before He enter into His glory?" Beginning from where? From Moses to the prophet. So what did Jesus do? That was the risen Lord. So He began, look at Genesis, look at Exodus, look at this, look at this. What was He doing with His disciples? Is it different from what He did with the Pharisees? Is it different? No. The reason why they were wondering and why they were perplexed is because they did not meditate. They did not have an encounter with the scriptures. They were saying all the nonsense that they were saying. They said, "This man, we have thought that he will be he will restore the kingdom back to Israel. And moreover, some of the our women, they surprise us. They said they went to the tomb, they found that he is risen and we were amazed." And Jesus said, "Oh foolish people. Why are you this foolish?" What I'm trying to make you see as we journey on this evening is that if a man don't observe to stay by scriptures, doubt, wondering about what God has said, about what God is doing, about what God will do, will be what will crowd his life. His life will be crowded with maybe the reason why God, maybe, you will just see men walking in the valley of decision, unable to make correct decisions. You will see men whose life does not carry any pointed weight but like cutlasses that are blunt that are eating wood that they are using to cut wood and yet there is no correct impact. That is how those men will remain. You will notice that the disciples, their life became very, very useless to the matter to what God was doing at that particular time, why? Because they were ignorant of the things that had been written. The word of God did not come to them. And you remember two weeks ago I did mention that Jesus said, "These are the word which I spoke to you when I was yet with you." Before I go to that matter, the first thing I first want you to see before I go to that matter is that the scripture says, "This book of the law should not depart from your mouth. You should meditate on it day and night, so that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein." So meditation, the basis for meditation is so that we'll be able to do what is written. And consequently, another thing will now happen. That will make thy way prosperous and thou shalt have good success. Now I want to ask you, what was Joshua about to do when God gave this word? He was about to go into the ministry of preaching and teaching. Was that? Joshua was about to be commissioned as the next high priest in Israel. Was that? What exactly was God commissioning Joshua for? What was he commissioned for when he was taking over from Moses? Was it to be like Moses in terms of priesthood, prophet? Moses did different men have different dimensions in their operation in ministry. Moses had been leading them all the while. We saw the dimension of Moses. What was to be the dimension of Joshua? The dimension of Joshua was the dimension of warfare. Am I not correct? He was to lead them in battle to engage them, the enemies. Mind you, listen, the engagement in battle was preconditioned on the eternal truth that those lands were already given to the Israelites. He said, "See, I've given you this land. Now engage them in battle, so that." I'm showing you something. When we're talking about victory as believers, the victory we're talking about, that we are taking over, is not a victory we are hoping we will get. It is a victory that Jesus already He has settled it. We are only asked to engage those occupying and take in terms of everyday experience the things that have been given to us. For example, at the point of conversion, how do you describe a believer? If someone today has accepting Jesus and there was a conversion, and indeed he receive the right to become a child of God, at that instanter, what is he in terms of holiness? He's a saint. He's a saint. You know that it's not until he dies that he become a saint? "Saint this," if you want to say "Saint." It's not the dead ones that are saint. It's living men by the reason of the Father, just as He told them, "See, I've given you the city. Engage them in battle." At the point of conversion, we're already holy. So when we say live holy life, it's not as if we are now trying to get the holiness. Rather, we are insisting on the holiness that we have been given. Are you understanding what I'm trying to say at all? You have to make it a reality of everyday experience. You discover that after you become born again, there will be tendencies of sinfulness. Are you understanding me? But you begin to engage yourself. "No, the word of God said, the word of God said, the word of God said." And with that, what happens? You begin to enter into that victory. Am I very clear? I'm showing you something between Joshua 1:8 as we are considering this matter of the word of God and our most holy faith. I'm showing you that Joshua is about to take a victory, victory of taking over the land, a land that has been given. And is to engage in a military warfare. Believers are people that the Bible says Jesus, having spoiled principalities and powers, He already He has made a open show of them, triumphing over them by the cross. So I'm not engaging the devil as to looking for victory. That's not the issue. I'm engaging him as to make real in my everyday life what has been settled for me by Jesus. It's settled, it's a settled thing. The same thing every other thing about God. But what I'm trying to make you see in this matter is the relationship between this most holy faith and the scriptures. Because the Bible says, "This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith." First John 5. It is the victory that overcomes is our faith. Now, Joshua was to engage people carrying bow, sword, arrow, the weapons of war of that time. Now I want to ask you, ordinarily, what is the relationship between shooting arrows, using sword, using shield, and meditating on the word of God? Joshua was to lead them to take the possession. God did not say, "Joshua, make sure that all the swords are prepared, sharpen. Make sure that the soldiers increase in number. Joshua, make sure." What God told him, that if you want to make your way prosperous, this battle you want to go and fight, if you want to make it prosperous and you will have good success, this is my recommendation. This book of the law should not depart from your mouth. Meditate on it day and night so that you'll be able to observe to do all that is therein, then I tell you as you are fighting this battle you will be winning. Why? Because they are going to take over the land. Psalm 44. Not by their sword, not by their bow, not by their arrow. But by who? By the Lord, by the light of His countenance, because He favored them. It's not going to be even though there will be sword, there will be arrow. You see, I want you to understand something about the word of God and our most holy faith. What I'm trying to make you see is that if you translate to our own time again, it's the same thing as saying, "Not by power, not by might, but by my spirit." It means if the word of God don't come, you can be sure you will win no battle. You can be sure. If all that your life can gather is Bible knowledge, you're a useless person. You will win no battle. You'll just be a religious folk going to church, coming back, you know. When Bible says they have a form of godliness, but what? Deny the power. Go and check what the Bible says about those people. Go and check what the Bible says about their life. Said perilous time shall come, men shall be lover of this, they shall be that, they shall be that, they shall be that, they shall be that. It is in that category that He said they shall have a form of godliness, but they will deny the power thereof. It tells you that men who are like that cannot amount to anything in the kingdom. What I'm trying to make you see is that if the Lord don't personally engage you in His word, like just as those disciples were engaged and He was opening the scripture to them, showing them through Moses, through this, through that, and He was showing them, He was having a personal engagement. If the Lord don't engage you, if the person of the Lord, the person of Jesus, don't engage you in scriptures, expand scriptuers, and all that you could gather is just head knowledge, is just some religious belief, I am telling you you will win no battle. Because you will notice that what God was telling Joshua is that listen, listen to what God was telling Joshua. What God was trying to make Joshua understand is this: "This book of the law should not depart out of your mouth. Meditate on it day and night." What was the law? All that is written down by Moses, there was written down by Moses, isn't it? Now is to be reading it, observe it. "Okay, the law of God said this, the law of God said that, the law of God said this," and as He obeyed. "No, we cannot do this, the word of God says this. No, the word of God says this." As that thing rules his life, what will be fighting the battle for them? The Lord. Because you must understand that by natural strength, the Israelite cannot face their enemies. He says, "These nations," Deuteronomy chapter 7, "they are greater and they are mightier than you." If you want to understand the principle very well in that thing that happened when Moses and Joshua went to the battle with the Amalekite, anytime the hand of Moses is up, once his hands are up, what happened? They will prevail. Once his hands are going down, what happened? The enemy will prevail. So they have to bring two stone for him to sit down, then Aaron and Hur have to hold the hands up. And as those hands were up, not one of the Israelites died in that battle. So while it looks as if the battle is physical, while it looks as if job, money, riches, health, marriage, that, they are physical thing, you miss the point. It looks physical. It looks like some intellectual engagement. It looks like it is the bow and the arrow that you are going into the real thing. But in the actual reality, what was in the thing? The Lord. So what I'm trying to make you understand is this: for Joshua to have victory, the Lord said, "This book should not depart from your mouth. Meditate on it day and night so that you can observe to do all that is there." Now, the point we are making is this: is what was said here, is it different from what Jesus said in John 8:32? Is it different? What is in John 8:32? That's a very popular scripture. What is just there? "You shall know the truth." You shall know the truth. Is it different from what God is telling Joshua here? So let's look at it like this. Can we reverse that statement? You will know the truth and the truth shall set you free. So you will not know the truth. Now, look at something in that scripture. Look at that John chapter 8. I just want to call your attention to something there. John 8, I want you to look at it from verse 30. "As he spoke these words, many believed. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believe in him." Please, look at this thing very well. "As he spoke these words, many believed. Then Jesus said to those Jews," He's speaking now to who? To the believers among the Jews. Is that not? To we now, what will Jesus be saying? He'll be speaking to we the Gentiles who believe. Are you following me? The Gentiles who believe. And what did He say? Please, read your own translation. "If you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed." Please, how is this different from what was said in Joshua? Is there any difference? Is there any difference, brethren? Please, I want response. Is there any difference? It is not the one that did not believe. For those who does not believe, the word of God is useless to them. But do you know what I find in our generation? That just as the word of God, this scripture, is useless to the unbelievers, it is the same way it is useless to the believers today. The way the unbelievers look at the word of God, and it does not make any impact, it does not make any relevance, it does not make... what do you think will make a man to look for something to tie here, ifupa, and something to tie in his waist as protection? Why? Because when the word of God says, "I am your deliverer and your shield," it does not make any meaning to them, does it make any meaning? The man may be active inside the church, he may be a leader or something. But why is he doing all those things? You may see some who are not even in the church, drunkards, this, that. Why are they like that? Why is the word of God not making any meaning to them? The word of God to them is what? Is useless. But do you notice that the same way that word, that scripture, do you know that when disciples they were confused and they did not know what to do, what was the problem? When Jesus died and resurrected, what was their problem? Why were they like that? I'm trying to point something to you about the word of God and our most holy faith. John 20 around verse 9. Can somebody read that place for me quickly? What was their problem? "For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead." Now, when Mary Magdalene brought the message that they took the body of Jesus away, why did they believe that story and they were confused that the body was taken away? Because as at that time, they did not know the scriptures. What I'm trying to make you understand, there is something about us and the scriptures. There is something about the victory that you have been given and the scripture. If in... please, listen, because I will soon close up this meeting. Until you see the truth of your life in the scripture, you will never live your real life. You will die living a life different from your real life. I want you to get that very, very clear. It's just as... oh, Lord Jesus. I'm looking for a way to communicate this truth to you that it will come naturally to you. Do you know that if Joshua, if Joshua does not meditate on that law, meditate on that law, so that he can do what is there, "No, we must observe, no, we must..." let me give you a good example, something came to my mind now. At a point, the Gibeonite, they wore torn clothes, they came with dry bread, I don't know whether you remember that story, the Gibeonite. They came to Joshua. Mind you, they were neighbors, they're supposed to be killed. But they camouflage and they came. When they came, they said, "We came from very, very far and this and this and this and that, make covenant with us that you will not kill us and everything." Go and check that scripture in Joshua chapter 9. The Bible says they entered into covenant with them, but they did not take counsel from the Lord. Do you see that that area of Joshua's life that he failed to observe to do was the area that problems came into their life? What I'm trying to make you understand, the truth you have not known about any area of your life, until you know that truth, you will never live your real life. You'll be living another life. You'll be living a fake life. Until the truth comes, you will never live a victorious life. Says, "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free." It means until the truth about that matter in your life comes, you can never be free. Now, listen. Listen. As I try to round up, listen. You see truth, this truth that we are talking about, don't forget, we said Jesus is what? The way, the truth, and the life. Now when He said, "You will know the truth, Joshua, observe to do. You will know the truth, the truth shall set you free." Not you will know the truth and you will be free. You will know the truth, the truth will set you free. Please, what's the difference? You will know the truth and you will be free. You will know the truth, the truth will set you free. Please, what's the difference? In the... yes, you want to say something, my brother? [unclear] Okay. You will know the truth, and then the [unclear]. You will know the truth, you can just have knowledge. Of course, it's a good attempt. You will know the truth and you will be free. It means once you know the truth, consequently you will be free. That's the first one. You will know the truth and the truth will set you free. The second one is saying that you will know the truth. It is that truth that you now know that will come and begin to set you, begin to loose you and make you to be free. Why? Because the truth is a person. In other words, the truth is talking about, is not like a head knowledge. You will know me, then me, the me that you know, I will set you free. It is the same way in that Joshua. While he's meditating on those scripture, look at the Psalm. Look at the Psalm, Psalm 44. It said meditate on those scripture so that he can do what is there. "No, we must observe. No, we must..." Let let me give you a good example. Something came to my mind now. At a point, the Gibeonite... oh, Lord Jesus. Am I making you see why people may handle the Bible as Bible? I pray that Heaven will open your eyes to understand that it is not just Bible. It is the word from God. It is not just Bible. It is the word from God. It is the word from God. May you come to scriptures seeking an encounter with Jesus. May you understand that this book of the law should not depart from my mouth. There be place of subjecting my life to it, of meditating, of separating myself to it. To observe to do, to observe to see, to observe that Jesus, I want to know you, I want to meet with you, that there may be an entrance of His word, an entrance of His word. When the word comes, when He opens the door, when He comes, when He enters, you will notice that all the while Jesus had been speaking with His disciples, but that entrance was not there. But when the entrance came, He gave light and understanding. What I want you to see is that there is a strong connection. If the book of the scripture is useless to you, then your life is not different from pagans. No, what ought to be is that by the reason of scriptures, we should encounter who? The Lord. As we give attention to scripture, what I'm trying to make you see is that the nucleus of your life is in that relationship with the priority you give to scriptures. The nucleus of your life, whether you will live a real life, or until you will die as a believer, you'll be living a fake life, fake life, a life that is not yours. When the Gibeonite begin to live in the midst of the Israelites, was that their life? It was not their real life. In their real life they're supposed to have killed Gibeonites. But they neglected scriptures at a point. Let us pray. Let us pray. I want you to talk to the Lord. Am I making you see why people may handle the Bible as Bible? I pray that Heaven will open your eyes to understand that it is not just Bible, it is the word from God. It is not just Bible, it is the word from God. It is the word from God. May you come to scriptures, seeking an encounter with Jesus. May you understand that this book of the law should not depart from my mouth. There be place of subjecting my life to it, of meditating, of separating myself to it, to observe to do, to observe to see, to observe that Jesus, I want to know you, I want to meet with you, that there may be an entrance of His word. Entrance of His word! Entrance of His word! Entrance of His word! As many believers, they are living fake lives today. They are not living their real life. They are living outside the reality of their life. The reality of your life is the coming of the word of God. When the word of God has not come to you, you are not living the real life you are supposed to live. You are living outside your life. Micah remained ordinary, remained ordinary until the word of God came. Jonah remained ordinary until the word of God came. Joel remained ordinary, but when the word of God came to these men, when it came, they entered into a prophetic life. May you enter into a prophetic life. May you enter into a prophetic life. May you enter into a prophetic life, a life of speaking the scripture and fulfilling the scripture in the name of Jesus! These men were ordinary. Talk to the Lord. That your word may come. That your word may come. I don't want to remain ordinary. I want to enter into my prophetic life. I want to enter... look at Jesus. He said, "I come in the volume of book that is written of me." He was coming with a prophetic life. He said, "I come. I am coming. Look, I know what is written concerning me. I know it, and I am coming in that volume. I'm not going to live my life outside that volume." There is a volume. There is a volume in the word of God. He says, "I come," and then when He opened the book of Isaiah, and He read it, oh, there is no time, but I trust God we'll get there next week. He opened the book of Isaiah, He said, "This day this scripture is fulfilled before you," because He was coming in the volume of the book. Sister, brother, look, you cannot afford to live a fake life. You cannot afford to do so. Talk to the Lord. I cannot live a fake life. Until the word of God comes to you, you are not living your real life. You are living outside your life. Thank you, eternal Father. Blessed be your holy name. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. [Speaker 2] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry. It's 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 heats. Our regular activities are: Discipleship class every Monday 5:00 to 6:30 PM, Adolescents and Singles club every first Saturday of every month 10:00 AM, Marriage forum second Saturday of every month 10:00 AM, family life seminar, 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 Verajoy filling station, along Ije-Are road, Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.com. Our phone numbers are 0803361136, 07033613848. God bless you all.