Time Must Be Shaped After Timelessness

[Music] Church and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God really desires a godly home for you. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Faith Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 1] Our Father, we thank you. Our Lord, we bless your name. We thank you for this time again in your presence. We thank you for how the day went. We thank you for the various intercessions, and we thank you that eventually we are here. We say blessed be your name in Jesus' name. Lord, we approach your word with humility and we pray that your spirit work within us in the name of Jesus. Thank you, everlasting Father. In Jesus' name, we pray. Last week, we actually did a reflection on the book of Ephesians. The major emphasis that we were drawing at last week was the fact that what God did eternally is so that in the fullness in time, what was done eternally should have a manifestation in time. That was our major emphasis. Is that not so? That was our major emphasis last week. Anything that God is doing, everything that God did, everything he did, he chose us before the foundation of the world. He has made us holy. We saw our position. We are made to sit in the heavenly places with Christ. We saw so many things last week, going to Ephesians 1, 2, 3, 4. We saw the privileges. They are things that you can say amazing grace. It's actually an amazing grace what God did for us. But we also emphasized that God did all these things so that in time they should have a physical manifestation. If there is no physical manifestation of those things, then we must know that anything, anybody who is claiming that God did something, that person did not encounter what God did. What I want to use for us to conclude 5 and 6 today and check something was this thing that I want us to look at. You know, as you take certain discussions and lessons, it should begin to merge more and more in your heart. Now, let's look at it like this, brethren. Let's take our cue. Every religion in the world today can be traced to somebody. Is that not so? Is there any religion that is not traced to somebody? There is no religion. There is no religion that is not traced to somebody. The only difference that Christianity makes is that Christianity is the only one that the person the religion is traced to makes it not to be a religion because the person died and rose again. See, it’s only Jesus that you don't say "late Jesus." You understand? He is the only one of all of them that we know is alive. And so what emanated from him was not a religion but a life-giving spirit. That's the major difference between Christianity and others. But what I'm trying to say is this. If you look at every religion that is traced to somebody, the only way to speak about that religion is to look at the belief of the person upon whom that religion is founded. Is that not true? Is that not true? So when we talk about Christianity, this way of life, we only look at it from Christ. Anything outside Christ, then it is not in Christianity. You will not be seeing Christianity, isn't it? Now, let's look at it like this. Christ died when? [Audience Member] Over 2000 years ago. [Speaker 1] You are correct. That was in time. Is that not true? What of before time? He died. So we can talk of the death of Christ in two ways. Is that not true? He first died eternally. Is that not true? Now, how did we know that Christ actually died eternally? How did we know? How did we know? Because the Bible says so that in due time, Christ died for us. Is that not true? Is that not true? Talking of the 2000 years, over 2000 years ago. Is that not true? So the only way we know that Christ actually, that God actually so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son was not the fact that he died eternally. It was that he died in time. If he did not die in time, please, we don't have redemption. But I want to ask you, did he actually die? I'm giving you my thinking pattern. If he didn't die in time, he only died before the foundation of the world, would we have redemption? No. So did he actually die? I want us to be very, I want us to be emphatic. Did he actually die? Okay, I want to ask you, the actual death, is it in time or in eternity? You said the two. Do you know why I'm asking you this question? Do you see that ordinarily, yes, do you see that ordinarily we have begun to struggle with what should be the answer? Is that not so? We are wondering, okay, maybe this, maybe that. The first thing I want to make you see that the Holy Ghost was making me also to see some very, very simple thing. You know, some of these things can be very, very funny. Do you know that? God is a humorous God. God has so many side. People don't know that God can laugh. People think God is just one stern person. God is always stern. God has diverse aspects of his life. God cry, Jesus wept. God can, you can see diverse aspect of God. Again, you can see the judgment of God, you can see the severity, you can see his love. There is this diverse aspect, just like you have anybody that have diverse aspect. All of us, we have diverse aspect of our life. You understand? That's the same thing with God. But you know what I'm trying to, what I'm trying to call the attention to is this. You know what the Holy Ghost was making me see? He said, do you see how you are struggling? The way I told you, the way I was struggling. This, although I have, eventually I was able to understand some things better. He said, but do you see that it's already becoming a maybe, it is this, it is not? He said that is how a life draws this question when what happened eternally don't have relevance in time. Such life raises question. Such life raises doubt. You begin to wonder, is he born again? Is he not born again? Is he of God or of the devil? Is he? Do you see the way you are? I'm just telling you from very, very simple thing and very serious lessons were coming to my mind. That do you see how the question, the first question was did he die in time or eternity? Which one is real? Eternity is real now. Yes. Okay. He said, do you see the way you are doing like this, like this? Do you see the way you are trying to pick it out? He says just know that your life raises question. It raises question when what is done eternally cannot be seen in time. Your life becomes controversial. Your life becomes a doubt. Do you see that we are saying that we are not too sure where it falls? We are wondering, is it in time or in eternity? We are trying to place it. We are saying okay, no, yes, he died in eternity. But if he didn't die in time, we are not redeemed. So when were we redeemed? Was it in time or in eternity? When were we redeemed? In time? We were redeemed in time? But check Ephesians. Ephesians say we were chosen in him before the foundation of the world. So when were we redeemed? And you are seeing that you can really not separate it. You don't, if you also say in time, you are correct. Is that not true? You are very correct. Because the Bible says in due time he manifested how God favors in acceptable time. Is that not true? He say in the acceptable time, he heard of. He says "seek God while he can be found." He's not talking of eternity. "Call upon him while he is near." Not talking of eternity, talking of what? Time. So when people say we are saved in time, it's not wrong. But you know what I'm trying to make you see is I'm seeing another thing that it is still inseparable. Because if eternity don't play out, then there is nothing in eternity. What play out in time was because it was already playing in the... So it's a thing that you cannot separate from themselves. That was the second thing the Lord was making me to see. He said the life who separates them don't understand them. That if you truly understand it, you will know that they are unseparable. It is just one thing. What makes it one thing was because the person who did it is somebody who does not live with time. It is you that live with time. It is for your own understanding comprehension that you talk about time. He came out of no time to create time so he's not time-bound. The spirit that operates this thing, if you really understand this, you will know that you cannot separate it. You cannot separate eternity from time. It's just like if God have not intended a definite plan far, ever before Moses was born, Joseph was born, all those things were born, God told Abraham, "I have a plan. The plan is that your children, they will go be in a land for 400 years. That land, that land will misuse them." Is that not? "After that, I will come back to deliver them. I will punish that land and deliver them." He says they will go away like that because the sin of the Amorite, it is not yet full now. But when by the time they will be coming back, their sin would have been full. I want to judge them for their sin. Now, I want to tell you, if those things were not there, would there have been a play out of Joseph going to Egypt? Israel coming to Egypt? So what played out in time was because there was a definite plan what? In timelessness. Time is ordered by God's spirit to play out what? Timelessness. So what time don't play out timelessness, there is not the spirit of God. What you are trying to say is that God don't have the capacity to bring to pass what he has planned. Do you get it at all? Do you get it at all? Do you notice that if you check everything, check for example, let's look at this very, very, very obvious one about Jesus Christ. As Judas consummate for his betrayal, he said, "The Son of Man goes as what?" "As what?" "The Son of Man goes as what?" "As..." Let's say it in full. You know he says it. "The Son of Man goes..." when he had consummate everything and wanted to say one of you will betray me. He said, "The Son of Man goes..." Ah, we must read it. Please, let's read it. I want us to read it. That is Matthew, let me get the actual verse. Matthew 26 verse is it 24? "The Son of Man goeth as it is written of him." 26:24? Yes. Okay, yes, 26:24. You are correct. Matthew 26:24: "The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born." So how the Son of Man goeth? [Audience Member] As it is written of him. [Speaker 1] He's going as eternity have arranged it. He's not going any other way. There's how eternity have arranged it. It had been arranged that one of the twelve, he say he who is at table with me will betray me. And not only that, for how much will they betray him? 30 pieces of silver. He say I'm going just as eternity has arranged it. So what I'm trying to make you see is have you ever wondered that when they got to the, when they got to, was Judas to do that when he went to make his bargain? You know it was a bargain and they agreed for how much? 30. Why couldn't they agree for 29.5? Why not 31? Are you seeing something? He was not with them. He said I'm going the way God has done. And they went there, they agreed 29, ah I cannot take 29. Take 50, no it's too much now. No, okay, okay, 35, ah I reduce now, that's too much. 30, 30, okay, okay, 30, 30. Deal or no deal? 30, deal. And then deal. And then deal. Oh, he wasn't there. Was he there? You see, when we say that God has chosen us to be holy and we cannot display holiness, we are saying God lacked the capacity to bring to pass what he has written. We are saying no, God only said it. He cannot do it. Because you need to understand that actually, the working out of holiness, righteousness is it ability of grace. What brings it to pass? Grace. The Bible says he worketh in us both to will and to do. [Philippians 2:13] So when a man says God has decided in eternity, he chose us to be this, but it may not really come out in time, you are only saying that God cannot work in us both to will and to do the good pleasure of his will. Because he had declared the good pleasure of his will ever before there was time. Salvation was his good pleasure. Redemption was his good pleasure. To make people holy was his good pleasure. These were his pleasure. And so that was the second thing that came out. The first one was, don't you see that your life will speak controversy? The second was men who separate these things, they don't understand them. He said these men, they assert and affirm what they don't understand. So look at it very well. And that's why I'm bringing it to us. It is just the thing that came to me and I'm bringing it to you. That if you sit down and look at the person from which Christianity originated, look at it, check it, check it, and then look back into history. So many things were just coming, coming, coming. Now, at a time God spoke through a young prophet to who? To Jeroboam. Jeroboam was raised by God. You remember when they rebelled and "to your tent oh Israel." Ten tribes went and then two remained with Rehoboam. And they wanted to go to battle. And a prophet rose up and said no, this is according to the word of God, that God has planned this thing. So they should not go to war against themselves. And that person there was no war because God had already told Solomon in the days of Ahijah, that because of David I will not do this thing in your own day, but I will do it in the days of your sons. That I will tear the kingdom away but again because of David. May our life be a mercy for our children. Solomon's life was a curse for Rehoboam but for David, it was the grandfather that God saw and said I will leave two tribe just because of David. If not for David, God would have done in Solomon's day. God would have scattered everything. But again because of David, God could not do it against Solomon. Again because of David, God preserved Rehoboam with two. And look at how a life can speak in his generation for mercy and for peace. May that be the kind of life that we live. So, but the point I'm making was eventually at the time Rehoboam was to be born, no matter the kind of investment you will make into Rehoboam, Rehoboam must still be a foolish boy because of the foundation that Solomon have laid. Are you understanding me? You know Rehoboam grew in the palace of wisdom and yet he lacked wisdom. By the time he was to display his foolishness, they gave him the offer. "Your father did this, do that." And then he rejected the counsel of the elder. He chose but eventually the prophet said this is of God. Jeroboam got the kingdom and left. When he left, Jeroboam because he was afraid that the Israelites might go back to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice and that way Rehoboam might get them back, he built the calf and said, "Israel, this is the God that brought you out of Egypt. Serve them." While he was sacrificing on that altar one day, a young prophet came and he prophesied against the altar while the king was there. "Oh altar, altar, a child shall be born to David in the house of David called what?" "Called Josiah." He said that child will break down this altar and he pour out the ash. You see the point I'm making and this will be the sign. And he gave that prophecy. About close to about 300 years later, a child was born to the house of David called Josiah. And he began the reform of Josiah. And when he got to that place, he break down the altar and he was pouring down the ash and he wanted to carry out some scavenge some from a place and say, "who's gazette is that?" And they now told him, "this is the grave of the man who prophesied what you are now doing." I'm showing you that when you say God cannot bring to pass in time what he has in eternity, you don't know the God of the Bible. You are serving a strange spirit. If the spirit of God lives in us, God will bring to pass what he has programmed in eternity for our lives. The spirit that worked in us is the spirit that can accomplish his purpose and his counsel. Don't be intimidated by what is happening around you. Don't be intimidated by the too much, "you know the weakness of man, can man ever live right?" The spirit, don't forget that it is God that worked in us both to will and to do. These are just the things that came in the course of leaving this place since last week and coming back today. Things just occur and they were just coming like rain. And I was feeling like, oh look, this thing is more serious than how some of us look at this thing. If the spirit of Christ actually lives in us, that spirit that dwells in us is a spirit that can accomplish the purpose of Christ. And lastly about this connection, do you notice something? I asked you just now. I said if Christ, if we were chosen in eternity, Christ died before the foundation of the world. If he didn't die in time, would we have been redeemed? No. Why? Why would we not have been redeemed if Christ did not die in time? He only died in eternity. Why would we not have been redeemed? [Audience Member] Because he didn't die from the beginning. [Speaker 1] You didn't get us from the beginning. Were you around last week? [Audience Member] I was around. [Speaker 1] We were looking at the part that he said he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. And that the Bible says he's the lamb of God that was crucified before the foundation of the world. Christ died ever before the world was created. You said okay the way you said okay you are not very sure. Are you sure? Do you know that Christ died before the foundation of the world? [Audience Member] The preparation for Christ to be slain before the foundation but his death before the foundation... [Speaker 1] It's in the Bible. I was taking it for granted that we are aware and everybody here was aware so I was just moving on. But if somebody raised a question about it, we'll find it in Revelation chapter 13 verse 8. Can you read it now? Revelation 13:8: "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." So when was Jesus slain? [Audience Member] From the foundation of the world. [Speaker 1] That was when Jesus actually, that was when the lamb actually died. And even the book of life, look at the next, look at the next verse. Look at Revelation chapter 17 verse 8. Revelation 17:8: "The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world..." So have you seen it again? When are people names written in the book of life? From the foundation of the world. Bible say he chose us before the foundation. These things we should, you see, we need to know who we are. Some people are now writing their name now, they will write your name now. It's just because certain things are not clear. You see, when people talk, they talk in time. But you see, we are dealing with a God, please don't forget to understand one thing, that God does not live in time. He is not subject to time. He pays no tribute to time and is not bound by time. Do you get that? That is why let me ask you, if God was 100 years old when he created the earth, how old is he now? [Audience Member] We are even counting years after the death of Christ. [Speaker 1] If he was 100 years old when he was creating the earth, how old is he now? [Audience Member] I know he will be up to maybe like 4000 to 5000 years counting from that time. [Speaker 1] But God is still 100 years old now. He does not live in time. He does not pay tribute to time. He is not subject to time. He does not live in time. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. So he's 100 years then, he's 100 years now. That's what we mean by timelessness. So the death of Christ, our redemption, the preaching of the gospel, everything for God happens now. There is no tomorrow. There is nothing like tomorrow. There is, it is now. Everything is now. God created the world now, Christ died now, everything is now. There is nothing like "tomorrow." So the creation of the world, the fall of man, the rebellion of man, everything, the resurrection, it's now. Now. That's why the Bible says 1000 years is like a day. After you have lived 1000 years, it will be like a day with God. So do you see that ever since man have lived, nobody have lived up to one day before God? Nobody have lived up up to one day. The oldest man, he didn't reach one day before God. He didn't reach one day. So the Bible tries to make us understand that there's nothing like time with God. You know he came out of timelessness. He now created the sun and the moon to determine both time and season. So in time, that was he created time. So if this is God now, this is eternity. No beginning, no end. So time is just something like this. God had been without beginning, he was coming. At a point he created time. Time will end again, eternity will still continue. God will still continue like this. So God is working both here, here and here. Time is just in between him. Time is just in between God. It's in between the eternity of God. It's just a fraction of God's existence. And a very, very small fraction. So insignificantly small about the existence of God. So if we understand this very well, the point now is this. Why is God so interested in this time? Such that this time, I've just given an example that this is eternity, no beginning. God now created the world. Before he created the world, everything he want to do from here to here has been finished. Do you understand me? Christ has died, redemption has taken place, the Bible, everything is finished. He now created time to manifest these thing. Everything is finished with him. He now created time to manifest it. The issue is this. Mind you, this time again is telling us that this time determines what happens at this side. I'm telling you a mystery. This time that he created again, he determined what happens at this side. Is that not a confusion? Is it not a confusion? You can see like this is a bit confusion. And that is why you will notice that the Bible says, "now we know in part and we understand in part." It says now we see as through a glass darkly. It says but a time will come, he says now we think as a child, we understand as a child. But when the perfection come, he says we will now know as we are known. What happens to us as man is that we see a part of the whole, but God see the whole in all of its parts. Are you getting something? I'm showing you why we must tremble before God. Because look at what we are discussing. Can you see that even the things that we are saying have begun to contradict themselves? Now if all is finished, but the question that I'm drawing to you about salvation is that there is something about time that is so crucial with God that made God to come out of eternity to create time such that he himself manifested in time to die. There is something about time. And so people who don't take time as a very serious thing to manifest the things of God, don't understand this God. There is something about time. There is something so crucial, so serious. Because ordinarily if it's no more time we need, no brethren, let's be very, very practical. What's the meaning of this time in all of the thing that we are discussing? What's the essence of this time? Is it not like headache? Is it not like headache? He manifested in time to die in time, to suffer in time, everything, everything, everything. And everything that he was saying in time were where? Were things that were before time. And so my own point for you because you ask the question about that aspect, but what the Holy Ghost was trying to make me see in all of these things is that why I had the question that if he did not die in time, would we have been redeemed? And we said no. And I said why? Somebody said because the prophecy will not have been fulfilled. No, not because prophecy will not have been fulfilled. If he did not die in time, we would not have been redeemed because actually, in the making of things, he actually made us as timed creature. Do you understand that when Adam died, if not that Adam sin, we would not have died. Do you understand that? No, we would not have died. We would have just been alive like that. All of us would have just been alive like that. We would be multiplying. Adam would have still been alive by now. And he would not have been anything old because he's living an eternal life. But a bodily eternal life where he represents God. Such that that was why somebody could live to 939 years. If you see my father now who is just about a hundred, you see my father, he's not dead he's around 100 but... so you see that it takes something else for this body to go beyond. You understanding? There was a life, the life was going the consequence of eternal life was dying out gradually, gradually because the more we move away from God, the more that life, the consequence of that life goes. You understand? That was why somebody like Moses for instance at 120, his eyes did not grow dim. His natural force did not abate. It was just like as a young man. That was why he was at 120. Why? He was so much in God's presence. The eternal life now that continued. You understand? But today, now we are moving far, far away from God. So the life too is getting short, short. 50 now we celebrate. 60 now we celebrate. 70, now we are celebrating. Because the eternal life is going more and more, that life that we understand. But if there was no death, how would things have looked like? If sin did not enter, how would it have looked like? You know we'll just be in our life like that, strong, hale and healthy. Is that not? But when sin entered, what happened to man? Death entered. Is that not so? So man that is born of a woman is of what? Is of what? Is of a few days and full of trouble. His days are determined. His month are numbered. He cannot go over it. Is that? So eventually when man is conceived, man is conceived as what? As a timed creature without life. So time became a crucial thing where God must manifest to redeem man and where God must manifest the power of redemption. Time is something so crucial. Time is, look at the way you spend your life. It is just, you can't undo time once time is over. You can't relive your life. There is nothing you can do about life that can make you repeat 17 years. You can't repeat it. It is gone and it is gone forever. But as you enter today, you either try to do things that will reduce the consequence, the negative consequence of yesterday. But you cannot change yesterday's own. If it is positive, to consolidate the positive. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? I want you to make you see the power of time. That once it is gone, it is gone forever. They can never repeat again in your life, yesterday. It's gone. Records have been taken. You move again to today, records have been taken. You move again to tomorrow and judgment will be based on those records. You see, the point I'm trying to make you see, I'm trying to make you see why the Bible says that when the grace of God first manifest in us, the first thing he make us to do is to live out soberly. It's not godliness. What's the first thing? Soberly. It make us to be people that think deeply. We think deeply. We think, it make us to think and reflect. We stop being impulsive, acting out of impulse. We start being reflexive. We are thinking deeply. We are evaluating our life. We are examining ourselves. We are checking, we are evaluating because we know that time is so crucial. There is so much about time that is so wrapped up like up was trying to hit on something, that is so interconnected with eternity. And let me announce to you, brethren, the interconnectivity is not totally understood. The interconnectivity is not totally understood. That is why even Moses that had the privilege of "I talk to him mouth to mouth," when he got to his conclusion, he said, "the things that are revealed are what? They belong to who? They belong to us. But the things that are not revealed, they belong to God." Apostle Paul, do you know Apostle Paul very well? You have a particular record about his life. When he said because of the abundance of revelation that was given to me, to keep me from being proud, God gave me a thorn in my flesh. God noticed that because of so much revelation he gave this brother, something want to start bringing pride. And you know the only preservative that God has for every instrument he raise is humility. That's the only thing that preserves us. The day a man starts becoming proud, God can clean him as though he never existed. That is the truth. So God has to do something about Paul. God put a thorn in his flesh. He prayed to God thrice for God to remove it but God now make him understand that no, we put this thing there just to keep you down. To make you know that you are man at your best, you are still man. You are not God. But let me tell you something about Paul. It was the same Paul who said "now we know in part and we will understand in part." Again, let me show you something again that made me tremble about Paul. Why he said this thing is not completely understood. You know the other thing again you see Paul said something? He was speaking on a matter and at a point he left it again and moved on. He said I wish that the whole of Israel were redeemed. Romans chapter 9. He says I, I plead every day for their redemption. Is that not true? He says but anyway, it's not as though the word of God has not taken effect because they are not all of Israel that are of Israel. Neither because they are seed of Abraham are they counted for the seed, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. So not all the children that are born of Abraham are actually of God. He now said just like our father Abraham, they call it in Isaac. Again like our father Jacob, he said Jacob I love, Esau I hate. He said God did this ever before these children have done any good or evil. He said God did this so that his own purpose according to election might stand, which is never of works but of him who calls. He says just like again he spoke about Pharaoh that for this very cause have I raised you up. He said so he have mercy on whom he have mercy and whom he will he hardeneth. He says so you will now say to me, "why then does he still find fault with man since nobody have resisted his will?" What followed? He say "who are you, oh man, that you are answering God back?" He said cannot the potter of the same clay make one unto honor and another unto dishonor? He said what if God wanting to show his great mercy, endure patiently the vessel of wrath fitted for destruction that he might show his mercy upon us even we that he has redeemed both of the Gentiles and of the Jews. Paul did not answer the question. He only said no man have the right to ask that question. Are you getting me at all? If I am to tell you one thing from my personal experience, the reason why there is so much, so much hidden sin, iniquity, so much today among Christians is because we don't know God. You see if you know God, if God help you to be knowing him, you will fear God. You will fear him because you will know also that as loving as God is, he is also sovereign. That he can do what he like. That God is not at your mercy. You are at his mercy at the same time he is Father. I think what covers God away most from us is the fact that we preach grace. But if you really look script- scripture, scripture never take time, scripture did not in any way say that grace remove the sovereignty of God, the power of God, the severity of God. It only tells us that God revealed grace in such a way in looking at man, God knows that man can never come to him except he comes to man. That is grace. When he's able to see that the problem of man is not, is not unwillingness but inability. So grace is that God saw beyond the fault of man to see the need of man. That is grace. So it is a love that passeth knowledge. You have offended me. I know you have offended. I have all the reason to kill you. But there is something again, there is a love that passeth knowledge. There is another knowledge of me that I know that there is nothing you can do about yourself. You will forever be offending me and so I must do something to save you. And so he died. And that is grace. So grace is God saving man. It's God coming to man and say look, I help you out of this thing and I will bring you out and I will work it through you. And that is why I keep telling people that if you truly understand grace, you will not limit yourself because grace is God's power. Grace is not man's ability. And if you truly understand grace, there will be no pride because you will know it's not about you but it's about God. But all the point we are making this evening is to bring us to one point. The point I'm emphasizing and just drawing before it became this big matter that we are discussing is the fact that the Holy Ghost asked me some question that begin to make me see the reason why time is so crucial. The first thing was what we said, your life become ambiguous, your life controversial, when what is done eternally does not manifest physically in time. Again it show you don't understand God. The third is that you are saying that God cannot bring to pass the good purpose of his will. And the fourth that we are saying, just this one that we are discussing, is that everything that was in eternity surrounds time. Time was just play in between eternity. And it was God that placed time in between eternity. And so he placed it in between eternity and then again says time molds and shapes eternity. That's confusion when you have said eternity shapes time. Have you not seen it? You said eternity. Is that not so? Is that not what you have just read? When was he crucified? From the foundation. Why was the name written? In foundation. Again you are saying again that time shapes eternity. That whosoever believe in time will not perish but have everlasting life. You are saying again that without holiness in time, no man will see God. You are saying again "don't harden yourself against me, behold my severity, fear me, live holy, be different from the world because my home will be different from the world. If they are not different then they are not my own." Brethren, are you, are you following me at all? What I'm trying to make you see is not to see confusion, but what I want to make you see is to make you see that the spirit that redeemed us, the spirit that worketh in us, the spirit that is redeeming us and the spirit to which we'll become accountable with in eternity, see time as crucial. And if you don't see time as crucial, it's an indication that you, a different spirit is working in you. It's an indication of a different spirit. A different spirit. The spirit of Christ manifested in time. The spirit of Christ died in time. Everything that was said about Christ, everything that was prophesied happened in time exactly as it was prophesied. Is anything missing? Then the consequences of that suffering and death, should there be anyone that will not follow suit? Would there be anyone? There will not be. I'm telling us, let us have faith. Let us not fear. Let us have faith. If in time everything that was said in eternity about the savior happened exactly the way it was said, practically, we saw it, then the consequences of that suffering and death that he said will happen in time for which he will now take his own to eternity, how will they also happen? They will happen exactly the way it has been said. And that is why I say that if we truly believe God, I keep saying it, that inability to live right, inability to serve God, inability to be holy, inability to be true and to be godly is a product of unbelief. It's unbelief. If you truly believe God that if the savior came and everything manifested practically, there is nothing about the consequence of that suffering and death. If that death took away my sin, if that death make me righteous, if that death make me holy, and that death connect me back to where? To eternity. Yes, somehow. It connects us back because when we preach, what is the message? Do God say go out, be looking for those that I have chosen? Is that what he said? What did he say? He said go into the world and preach the gospel. He who believe and he who repent, believe, baptized shall be saved. Is that not true? He didn't say as you are going you will be seeing my own, I have marked them with color red. They have color black. They are tall, they look nice, they don't look ugly. There's nothing like that. He said whosoever. So it means at the level of preaching the gospel, what is eternity saying? Whosoever believe. But when people believe and they come in time, they are connected back to where? You were chosen from the foundation of the world. But at the point of preaching, that is not what eternity says. Eternity says whosoever believe. Is that not in the word of our Lord Jesus Christ? Say I so love the world that I gave myself, anybody that believe. But you find out when they believe, it is not whosoever believe. It is he is the author and the perfecter of your faith. That you never believed, it was the thought I authored. I'm trying to show you things that this interconnectivity, this interconnectivity so that we can boldly and confidently say that for man to be man, he must remain a free moral agent. You know what that mean? He must remain a being that is eternally responsible for his action. That is why when you get to heaven again, you are not told, "after all I'm the one that saved you, no reward." You are rewarded again as if you are the one that did the work. Say, "ah, thou good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over this, have this. Okay, you have been obedient to me, you will do that." And those that are destroyed, he said because they refused to believe they are punished. So it means for man to be man, eternity sees man as a free moral agent. Yet for God to be God, his counsel and plan must remain immutable. Where these two meet remains a mystery. I'm trying to show you what makes us to tremble. Man is responsible for his action. That is what how eternity sees man and yet God is God, his counsel and plan remains immutable. That is what the Bible reveals. And that is why we say we know in part, we understand in part. But when we get over there, we get to know as we are known. I keep telling people the more you try to defend God, you will get out of Christianity. You don't need to defend God, just preach what God said and believe. You know why you cannot defend God? Because you don't have sufficient information to defend him. I was preaching somewhere, I'm telling you I'm preaching somewhere and somebody said, "ah please, a point of correction. You said Jesus Christ came." I said yes. He said, "do you know where he was between age 12 and 30?" I said no. He said, "but you saw him at 12 when he was in Jerusalem they missed him, then at 30?" I said yes. He says, "what happened between that 12 and 30? There's this understanding that you need to understand. Do you know that this and this and this?" and he spoke and he spoke. You know what I said? I said as a believer, I speak where the Bible speak, I'm silent where the Bible is silent. He said, "but you should be able to, you will not be an intellectual person." I said I'm not doing to the intellectual. I only need to believe. You see you cannot defend God. God has a lot of people criticizing, "no, Jesus just murdered himself, no, he... no, you don't..." you don't need that. Just Jesus loves you. If you believe in him, you will be saved. That's the gospel. Don't try to come with a special argument. "No, you see, you need to understand. Okay, look at Muhammad now, you know..." you just preach the gospel. I can tell you some places I've been to people have come with different things, different ways. I will be in a very serious argument. You know I'm a philosopher. Serious argument. Somebody came one day and said, "look, did you think the seven days in the Bible is seven 24 hours? Or it is seven million years?" He said, "do you know why I'm saying this? You know you said 1000 years is like a day and a day like a 1000 years. He said could it be that that seven days was 7000 days? And so it's not the week that we are counting say a week this, this, this, so that seventh day, Sabbath day from seven days. Is it just seven days like that, the first day and second day?" You know what I said? I said the Bible is not a complete record about God but the Bible gave sufficient information for us to know that Jesus is the Christ and that if I believe in him I have eternal life. Whatever don't contribute to this is not my focus. And they say, "no, you see, that is what they are saying, you are fanatical, you should defend..." I said I have nothing to defend. I only believed. It is the truth, we only believe. And this is serious. You notice so many people when they want to pick the Bible, they don't want to preach certain side of the Bible. Do you notice it? They'll pick selected aspect of the Bible. Do you know why? Somebody said because they are contradictory. I said look, it is because you are trying to explain God. Just preach God and believe God. If you believe God and you preach him, it means you bold on what you believe. It makes you practice what you believe. The world by wisdom will never find God. So why are you trying to discuss wisdom with them? They will never find God and that is what people are doing today. We are trying to reduce God to the wisdom of man. He say how, you know you don't understand, if we don't make the thing a little exciting... I was saying something, he said, "ah bro, this thing you said..." I said, "look, we need to make it a little exciting, a little attractive, you know when we make it a little exciting, a little attractive, we'll be able to attract them to Christ and then when we attract them to Christ like that..." I said look, it's not about attraction. It's about power. It is power that convicts men of sin. I said when you attract them and they get attracted, they only become reformed, not regenerated. And so we have a lot of people today who are reformed but they are not regenerated. They speak the language, "Brother this", they are busy in church, but they are not regenerated. They don't have anything to do with the spirit of Christ. That is how we find them right inside our churches and we call them "bro", we call them "sis". "He has backslidden." He never frontslidden. You only reformed him. There was no time he frontslidden. You only reformed him. These are very serious issues, brethren. But our burden for today, I thought we would depart from this burden honestly. I just want to raise the burden before we start coming around it. That our burden, the burden I'm communicating to you today, it's just that how do you see time? Do you know that by the time you get over there to say "God, you see I am holy," you have not done any service to God because before eternity he made you holy. The service you would have done to him is that in time you show to principalities and powers that you can be holy while in time. Because they manifested in time to destroy the work in time. And it's in time that we must show that I can build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail. It is in time. The matter is not about eternity. It is in time that God want to display to principalities and power. Have you seen that person? The matter is in time. So let us wake up. Let something arise in us. It's not about our, you know what is grieving, what is becoming a grief to me is that when you are saying we cannot live right, no man can live right. But we are saying God is working through men and men will live right. But you see we are saying that God is the one at work. Can you believe God that haven't made you holy before time was, he can, you can say of your life that as for me I am going as it is written concerning me. That is faith. It is unbelief to be saying that maybe I don't know, you know, knowing we are so weak. God help me, I don't even know if I will make heaven. That's not, that's not humility. It is making a caricature of grace. It's making grace to stand as if where sin abound, grace cannot much more be more abound. When you are looking at your weakness and so your weakness make you feel can I, can I ever live through a day and be right before God? Can't you look away from your weakness and look at what Christ have done and say no, I must go as it is written concerning him? And it happened word for word. Then it was written concerning me that he chose me in him to be holy and blameless. Then I will go. It is as we express and we confess faith that we please God and God work through us. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. We must believe. Time will soon be no more. It will soon be no more. All this "let's be holy", "let's be righteous" will soon be no more. Nobody will be talking about it again. We'll not be talking about the lust of the world, the pride of life. We'll not be talking about, you know, a peculiar people different from... you understand me? We'll not be talking about that in a few moments from now. All that will be over. The music has stopped, the song is over. But it is so crucial to the spirit of grace that in this time God can look at a marriage and can say "Wow, this is Christ and the church". Say "Satan, have you seen that one?" Christ can, you can look when you get over there there's nothing like Christ and the church again because we will become like angels. Do we marry again? There's nothing like husband and wife, "love your husband as Christ love the church." All those things they are gone. When it said "train up your child in the way he should go," all those things is only in time. You are not training any child by the time you get over there. All those things they are in time. What I'm saying is that let us look at time correctly. Let us look at time with the eye of eternity and know that by the time you get to him it will be, "Ah, in your marriage you are supposed to love your wife as Christ loved the church. You loved her but not as Christ loved the church. You disappointed me." It is in time that God later want to reward men. Because time is crucial to God. That God will say, "Yes, thou good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over this, I will give you this. Oh, you have been true to a man all through your life, you show that yes I hate divorce and you hate divorce. Now come and take this reward." It is in time. By the time we get... the music is over. The matter of... and that's why the Bible says "there is no knowledge, there is no wisdom, there is no understanding, there is no work in the grave where you are going." It didn't say the grave where you will go but the grave where, go and read your Bible, where you are going. You know what that means? I said you can't get tomorrow back. You can't get yesterday back. Yesterday is passed. If you were 3 million days to the grave by yesterday, it is 2 million 900 and something days to the grave. You are going to the grave every day. You are going to the grave. That should be clear to us. It's not a curse. The grave where you are going. That's where you are going. But when you get there, God said there is no knowledge, there is no wisdom, there is no work, there is no understanding, there is nothing there that profit God where you are going. It's judgment. It is here before you get to the grave. But you are going there. And that is why we should see time. 55 years to the grave minus a day. By the time you spend another birthday, it becomes 54 years to the grave. That's the correct way to put life. You can't recover that other year. Record have been taken. You are only moving on. So if you are properly evaluating, where did you score well? It's to try to better the score. Where you have scored well, it's to consolidate on the score because you must remember this, brethren. What I want you to take home from this place today, until time is lived with the consciousness of eternity, time has been abused. The only purpose for which God created time is so that what was in eternity before time was can come to be and that what is in time should mold what is going to be where? In eternity. So the only reason for time is eternity. Any other reason for time, I'm telling you, is an abuse of life. You are abusing this life. Don't abuse your life. Don't abuse your opportunities. Are you outside marriage? Understand how you want to live outside marriage. Are you moving towards it? Understand how you ought to live. Are you in it? Always be conscious of eternity using all, all because in all when you are saying "Hey, happy birthday to you," always also be conscious, a year out to the grave. And "Ah, I'm looking forward to this, I'm looking forward to that, I'm looking forward to this," the real looking forward is beyond all of that. I like this in Yoruba. Yoruba ni "ohun to n be l'eyin efa." What is beyond six is more than seven. Because you still have 8, 9, 10, 11, 12... Ohun to n be l'eyin efa, efa is six, o ju eje lo. It's more than seven. Look, what I'm saying is that when you are looking forward to this, you're looking forward to that, you're looking forward to this, the real looking forward is beyond all of that. It's not that I want to get a PhD, like I want to get one this year by his mercy. It's beyond I want to build a house. It's beyond I want to marry. It's beyond, it's beyond all of that. My child will grow, I will put him in so-so school, he will become a doctor. These are expectations. But ohun to n be l'eyin efa, o ju eje lo. There is still 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. Can you stop the counting? Uncountable. So let us not, let us not be blinded by seven. Because beyond seven is 8, 9, 10... it's beyond seven. When you live as though everything is in seven, as if once you get seven, everything is over. Seven only opens again to 8. 8 will open again to 9. 9 will open to 10. 10 will give way for 11. 11 will give way... do you see how when Peter said "if this thing does not increase and abound in you," he said it show that you are shortsighted. You are blinded in this your knowledge of the Lord. Shortsightedness is the bane of many believers. They live within the context of time. They don't mirror time with eternity. But always remember, this is time. There was eternity before time and there is eternity after time. Time was brought in to mirror what was before and to look forward to what is after. That is the essence of time. Let's look at time in this manner. Talking of the grace of God, when Jesus manifested in time, everything that was in eternity had their physical manifestation in time. Accuracy, exactly, precisely. Then I rise off to say the consequences of that thing in my life in time must be also precisely, must be exactly, must be accordingly. It must not vary because also I was chosen before time was. That is the burden of this meeting today. You are chosen before time was. Let faith arise in your heart. Don't fear your limitation, your shortcoming. Christ can work it in you both to will and to do. You must first believe. Hold God. Don't be limited by what you see. Don't fail in the meta-principles of this world. "Ah, do you know that that brother... do you know he's prone to sin? Me ordinary usher, would I be able to make heaven then?" Don't think that way, brother. Don't think that way, sister. What makes him to fall is not about whether the devil or sin is strong. It's because he didn't look up. If any man look up, everything about the serpent on the floor have been taken care of. Look up and live. Look beyond your weakness. Look at Jesus and say, "I can be right, I can be holy, I can be godly. I can live the life of the Bible." It is possible with me. Christ can work it in me. When the Bible says "husband love as Christ loved the church," it is possible for me to love as Christ loved. It is a possibility even though I'm a man. Christ can work it in me. He can work it through me. When the Bible says "wife submit," "young men flee youthful lust," it is possible for me to flee and to follow after godliness and holiness with them that call after, call upon God with a pure heart. Look beyond your limitation. Time was designed to mirror eternity. Some things have been done before time came. Nothing in time can change them. Time, time, I speak concerning you time. In my life, you must mirror eternity. You must mirror what was before you. My name was written in the book of life before time was. My name was there. Nothing in time can remove my name. Nothing in time can remove my name! That is what is written concerning me. And I shall go as he wrote concerning me. [Music - Hymn: What a Friend We Have in Jesus] In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. I just want to charge you as an individual. We need to stop because we are time creature, we are conscious of time. We have exceeded time we need to go. Even though we feel like praying and praying and praying. But get home, create time, spend time in his presence. Pray, open up yourself to him. "Lord, I must go according to what is written concerning me." These are things I have been saved. I am saved to be this. Look into time and say "Look, before you were, there was timelessness. You can't stop me, you can't break me, you can't separate me from what is the purpose for my life." It is as you stand about, you confess, you make the place of prayer, you make a warfare. He was talking about Timothy, he said "so that you are able to make a warfare." Make a warfare. Look into your eternity and speak. Reprogram your mentalities that you have believed. "Nigerians cannot be holy," "it is difficult to be pure." These are lies that we have believed. We can be pure! We can be wise as serpent and yet harmless as dove. Look at this bronze serpent that has been lifted up for you and look away from all these sleeping serpent on the floor and you will realize that you will tread on all of them. Anything somebody that want to make it in Nigeria must learn to tell some official lies. And you will see pastors preach telling you that no, it's not really lies, just official lies. Which one is official lies?