Understanding the Concept of Long Life (3)

[Speaker 2] [background music] Just as these fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them, God will ever desire a godly home. These are words of exhortation and instruction in righteousness from Family Tents Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 1] [singing] I will obey. I will live for Jesus day after day, day after day. I will live for Jesus day after day. I will live for Jesus, let come what may. The Holy Spirit, I will obey. I will live for Jesus day after day. [speaking] Our Father, we thank You again for this evening. As we gather together unto You, we bless Your holy name. We appreciate You. We thank You for all who You are and all that You are to us. We bless You, our God. We thank You as we gather unto You again this day to look into Your word and to pray. Our Father, we are asking that You will grant us understanding. You will grant us insight. Lord, You will speak to our hearts. You will open our eyes, O Lord, to see You afresh again and again. And Lord, You will grant us a spirit of intercession. You will help us to be able to pray. You will help us to pray accordingly. You will help us to pray aright, and You will help us to pray through in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank You, eternal Father. Blessed be Your holy name, our God. In Jesus' name, we pray. We want to welcome our brethren this evening as we all connect together. Our brethren joining us on Telegram, our brethren joining us on Mixlr. We want to thank God again that we are all here again together to look into scriptures. Particularly again, we want to round up this our topic on understanding the concept of long life and then also to be able to pray, bringing together the ultimate trophy to win and then God's concept, understanding the concept of a long life. We want to round up these two things together today, round up bringing everything together today, and then be able to pray. Be able to pray. So, if we are to look at it now, I think for the past six weeks, we have been on this matter. We began with "The Ultimate Trophy to Win." And in looking at the ultimate trophy to win, we were able to establish that the ultimate trophy, the best of all things to achieve in life, is ability for one to fulfill his purpose. And where does the purpose—how does this come about? We noticed that anybody who is sure that he or she is born again should understand that God did something. What God did was that God granted purpose and grace, and that is what is eternal life. That in giving us eternal life, what God actually gave us is purpose and grace. For every born-again person, there is this clear understanding that when the Bible says God gives us eternal life, what God actually gave us is purpose and grace. We were able to establish over time, too, that the purpose and grace we were given as good works that God has prepared in advance that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 says: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." God prepared these things in advance so that we are the workmanship of God created for good works, which God prepared in advance. Then we saw that the purpose and the grace that God gives is something that has a starting point and a finishing point. So that you can know when you start, and you can know when you finish. It is such that you can say, "I have finished my works," like we saw in the life of Jesus. Jesus said, "It is finished." We saw in the life of Paul, he said, "I have fought a good fight. I have kept the faith. I have finished my course." So we saw that it's something that you can know when you finish. And he said, "There awaits me a crown of righteousness, which God will give to everybody who loves Him." And then we saw that because this purpose was given, it was given in time. So it is time-bound. It is time-bound. Your prayer should be that by the time your time is up, you must have also finished your works. That is what it means to have a fulfilled life. A fulfilled life is a life that was able to finish its course. So the ultimate trophy to win is to be able to finish our course. So we saw that we could live for dead works instead of for good works. What are the dead works? Dead works come our way by way of the works of the flesh, the works of sin, giving attention to the world, or giving attention to the devil. So we noticed that when we don't deny ourselves, when we don't live victoriously over sin, when we don't live victoriously over the world and the devil, then we are not living good works; we are living for dead works. So we should be careful not to have a life packed full of dead works. Somebody who just existed but never lived. So we should live beyond existing. We should come to living, and living is the ability on a daily basis to follow through the works that God has prepared for you in time. So we must make effort not to live as dead men. Not to still be dead in our trespasses and sins. Bible says we were dead in trespasses and sin. Not to still live as dead men. The scripture says, "Wake up, awake from your dead, and Christ will give you the light." The Lord wants to give instruction, wants to give direction, wants to tell you what to do and what to live for. This is very important. And then we were now able to see, in summing up, that yeah, the concept of purpose that God gives every man actually determines the length of life that a man lives. So whatever purpose a man is coming with determines the length of life. So we were able to understand long life within the concept of purpose. Our purpose determines the length of days. And like we said, we noted that it is important to note that we don't begin to compare maize and cassava in terms of length of days. By the time God will have fulfilled the days of maize, it will be in 90 days. But fulfilling the days and fulfilling a full long life of cassava can never be 90 days; it will be about one year. So the purpose for our life determines the length of days. And then we were able to add something very important in putting these things together last week: that it is very important to see that God, in different scriptures, guarantees to us that with long life He will satisfy us. That our days He will fulfill. That length of days—and that's what—if you look at the matter again in Proverbs chapter 3. Let's see Proverbs chapter 3. There is something in Proverbs chapter 3 talking about the laws of God. Proverbs 3:1-2: "My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands; for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you." So we see God telling us something very seriously: that if we abide in Him, if we stay in His word, if we abide by His word, there is nothing that can shorten your days. Nothing can shorten it. Nothing can reduce it. Because we see again that last week we saw that He says, "He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, from telling lies, let him seek peace, let him pursue peace." We saw the example of what happened to Lot, we saw example of what happened to David. All of these things, they are pointing out to something very serious: that as long as a man sticks to the laws of God, abides in the laws of God—he who fears the Lord has nothing to fear. If you fear the Lord, you have nothing to fear. No scheme of man, no gate of hell can cause your days not to be fulfilled. No matter how they scheme and try—look, it is not possible. What we saw from the laws of God is that when we'll abide under the shadows—"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High," he who follows the laws of God, he who stands with God—the laws of God is able to guarantee long life. And let's look at something in Psalm 91. He said, "His truth shall be your buckler." When you live in the word of the Lord, the word of the Lord is a shield. The word of the Lord is something that you become impenetrable. But when you begin to deviate from His laws, when you begin to deviate from His command, when you begin to deviate from all of these things, then you begin to put yourself in a situation that that which God guarantees, that which God made available for you, that which God put in place for you, you begin to set yourself against it. And now, we want to look at something in the New Testament as we try to bring all of these things together so that we round up and then we close in prayers because I really want us to take time to pray today on all of these things that we have been taking time to look at over and over and over and over again. Let's look at what the scripture says in the New Testament. The first one I want to take us to is talking generally about beginning from the family. You always see me talking first from the point of the family because the family actually is the basic, is the fundamental institution that makes up the church. Whatever compromises the family compromises the church. That is the truth of it. No church can be more spiritual than the families that make up that church. Once the family gets strong, then our churches will be strong. If the family is weak, then our churches will be weak. That's the reality of it. When you look at something that began in this very popular scripture talking about the laws of the Lord and the fulfillment of our days, look at what Ephesians 6 says from verse 1, the popular scripture talking to children and the promise. Ephesians 6:1-3: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 'Honor your father and mother,' which is the first commandment with promise: 'that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.'" Now, what am I making you see? What I'm trying to make you see in this place is that you see that staying in the laws of God, beginning from a thing as simple as honoring parents, as simple as the small family unit—when people are true to themselves, when fathers don't provoke children to wrath, when husbands love their wives, when wives submit to their husbands, when children honor their parents, as simple as that may be, I want you to see that it's a buckler. His truth shall be your buckler. Do you want it to be well with you? Do you want your days to be fulfilled? Do you want to have days that we call long life, fulfilled days? It begins from a thing as simple as from within the family. What am I trying to make you see? That you notice that when a man, when an individual, stays in the laws of God, when an individual abides by the laws of God, the laws of God tend to life. It guarantees life. And because it guarantees life, it is impossible to cause the life of men who abide in God's law short. And it is very important for believers not to fear. Not to fear that one thing or something can cause their days short. Look at how our Lord put it in Matthew chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10, I will read from verse 25. Matthew 10:25: "It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household! Therefore do not fear them." You see the thing? The Lord is trying to compare our life with His life. The Lord is comparing our life with His life. He said, "It is enough for a disciple," what should be enough for me? What should satisfy me, what should be okay for me is that I be like my teacher. What I should be content with as a servant is to be like my master. He said, "If they call the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they do to those of his household!" Of course, if you can tell the father of a house that he is crazy, then you can say anything to his children; that's the point He's making. He now said, "Therefore, do not fear." Because the reality is that the way the life of our Lord was encapsulated, the way it was packaged, the way we saw it, the way we can read through it in scripture, we can be sure that for those who walk with the Lord, their story can never be different. It is enough. The servant should know that he will be like his master. There is no point for him to have that understanding. There is what He is saying—what He's trying to make us see—it is important for us to know. If they persecute Him, they will persecute us. If He suffered, we will suffer. But one thing that is sure is that for men who follow the truth, for men who walk with the Lord, everything that happened with the Lord was nothing outside that which the Lord purposed for His life. So you can be sure as a believer that as we walk with the Lord, look, nothing—I mean nothing—there is—I don't know what you fear. I don't know what you are anxious about. But what I'm trying to make you see is that the Lord is saying that it is enough for the servant to be like the master. Our greatest desire, our strongest desire, is that as it was with my master, so it will be with me. Nobody could stop Him. No gate of hell could kill Him. Nothing could finish Him. In fact, that He died, He said, "I submitted my life, and I will take it again." So it's not as if they were so powerful enough to have killed Him. No. Rather, they were only allowed to do that which the Lord had purposed for Him. And I want to make you understand every circumstance around our life, every situation around our life, when the Lord has given His word to us, we should have a clear understanding that we can walk, we can hold, we can rest our life on His word. He said, "Do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be made known. Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and whatever you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops." You know what He's trying to tell them? They don't need to be afraid that somebody can kill them. They don't need to be afraid that somebody can take their life. They don't need to begin to live in fear. "If I go, if I pursue purpose, I hope this person died in an accident, I hope I will not die in this accident, this person..." Look, you need to take all of these things off your mind. You need to have this rest of mind that the laws of the Lord tend to life. That the laws of the Lord grant length of days. That he who abides in the law, he who stays in the law, shall have his days fulfilled. And then, one thing is we don't need to have this fear of being cut short. We don't need to have this fear of something suddenly—no. What you should—like I've forgotten the father who said this. He said, "My greatest fear is the fear of not being with God." Your greatest fear should be the fear of not being with the Lord. If there's anything to really fear, if there's anything to be careful, to be vigilant, to be watchful about, is the fear of not being with the Lord. But as for happenings in life, as for things around us, as for whatever may be, let the mountains be removed, let the earth be shaken, let—just put anything in place. The psalmist said, "The Lord is our refuge, a very present help in trouble. Even if the mountains be removed, we will not fear." And you know, as I was preparing for this, you know I saw something in scripture. It was actually a reminder of something I saw in Isaiah. I will read that briefly since it's coming to my mind. Let me just quickly read that in Isaiah chapter 46. That which makes God God. Look at what He says in Isaiah chapter 46, taking our reading from verse 5. Isaiah 46:5-7: "To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal and compare Me, that we should be alike? They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver on the scales; they hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god; they prostitute themselves, yes, they worship. They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it and set it in its place, and it stands; from its place it shall not move. Though one cries to it, yet it cannot answer nor save him out of his trouble." Do you get what God is trying to say? God is trying to make us understand what ought to be God. If anything is God, number one, you should not be the one to bear that thing on your shoulder. That thing you call God should be the one to bear you up. Number two, you should not be the one to put that thing in its place. That thing should be the one to set you in your place. Number three, He says from that thing's place it cannot move. That is, that thing don't have the ability to take independent decisions. That which must be God must be able to take decisions on behalf of those that are worshipping him. Then look at what He says: "Though one cries to it, it cannot answer, nor save in the time of trouble." Whatsoever cannot save in trouble is not supposed to be a God. I'm trying to make you understand something. One thing for which God prides Himself is that when you call onto Me, I hear. When you cry to Me in trouble, I save. That is what makes Him God. That is one thing with which God boasts or prides Himself above every other god. Above anything that is called god. One thing about God is that God is somebody who takes pleasure in bringing trouble and delivering from trouble. In taking us through trouble and bringing us out so that we can know that He is a God who can deliver from trouble. Because it makes Him to be God. What am I saying this evening? What am I trying to make you realize? Is see, as we pursue purpose, as we live in purpose, we really have nothing to fear in life. We can be sure, we can have this understanding, we can keep holding to His word that with long life God will satisfy me. Look, my days, nothing will cause me short. Nothing happening around, nothing happening there. My days, I will fulfill it. And let me tell you something that most people don't understand. You will discover that men who walk closely with God, the closer we have with God, the more we begin to realize, the more we begin to have understanding of His dimension, His plan, and purpose around our number of days. If you look at Abraham, at a point God told him, "As for you, you will go to gray hair. In your fourth generation, I will bring this thing to pass." At a point God spoke to Daniel. He said, "As for you, you will rest in full old age. Don't seal up this thing because it's for a time to come." For Paul, what did he say? He said, "My time is about—the time has come, and I'm about to be offered." You find this for Peter. He said the same thing, that "I know that I will soon leave this tabernacle." You find for Jesus. He was able to know that the time of leaving was approaching. You see, what we should do more about our life is let us increase intimacy with God. Let's develop a closer and a closer walk with God. The more our walk get closer and deeper, you will come to what that hymn writer said: "Lord, lift me up and make me stand by faith on heaven's tableland." If you look at the second stanza, it says: "My heart have no desire to stay where doubts arise and fears dismay. Though some may dwell where these abound, my prayer, my hymn is higher ground." Look, so there is a place, there is a height, where doubt and fear dismay. This is one height in our walk with God. But the more we walk with God, we will come to a height where fear and doubt, they don't abound, they don't dismay. It is going in height. This thing have to do with going in height. Let us focus on eternal life. Let us put all ourselves in living this life that we have been called to live. The Lord guarantees us in Matthew. Let me finish that Matthew 10 that I was reading. Let me finish it up there. Look at what He said in verse 28. Matthew 10:28-31: "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for one copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will." Do you get what God is saying? Even ordinary sparrows, the birds of the air that fly, until God want them to die, no hunter can kill them. No trap can trap them. No matter how you try and set your trap, they will not die. It is when God want any of them to die that they will die. Look at what He now said: "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows." Brethren, I don't know how you stand about the concept of length of days, about the concept of time. But I'm trying to make you understand something very clear. Our starting point and our finishing point, our Father knows it. Before any of our days comes, they are written in His books. And I'm telling you, by two things in which it's impossible for God to lie—God made a promise and He sealed it with an oath—that His counsel for our life can never be altered. So because our numbers of days are with God, look at what the psalmist said: "My times are in Your hand." My time is not in the hand of adversity that is going on in Nigeria. My time is not in the hand of anything. There is nothing happening around, my time is not in their hand. My time is in the hand of my Father, and the days given to me in His book, nothing can cut it short. Nothing can reduce it. Stand up in confidence. Stand up to what God would have you do. Move from fear. Let nothing intimidate you. Get more and more intimate. You are getting—you are allowing doubt and fear to abound and dismay because you are not getting intimate. You are not focusing on the right things. If you focus on the right thing, you focus on Jesus, the more you get intimate with the Lord, the more you will discover your fear, your doubt, your worries, they will give way. They will give way for life. They will give way for specification. They will give way for assurance. Look at something that God told—look at something, for instance, that happened in Genesis 28:15 that happened with Jacob. Look at how assuring, look at how fulfilling that can be. Genesis 28:13-15: "And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: 'I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.'" Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know." Now I want to tell you something. As Jacob leave this journey and start a journey that looks uncertain, what do you think will settle in the heart of this man? "Nothing can kill me. I'm going to come back. Nothing. As I go now, I will come back. Nothing will take my life. Even when He goes and something intimidate, you tell him, 'No! God has said, God has told me something, that He's going to be with me and He's going to bring me back to my father. I'm going to come back.'" You see, what am I making you understand? Your fear is born out of lack of your intimacy with God. I want to encourage you, brethren listening to me wherever you are: our doubt and our fears about life, about time, about death, about things happening around us, they will begin to give way. We'll begin to focus more and more on the eternal life to which we have been called. And let us have this assurance that the commandment of God, they tend to life. Let us have this assurance that when we walk in His word, His truth is our buckler. Let us know, let us have a clear understanding that look, I can tread upon lion, I shall tread upon scorpion. He will give His angels charge over me. Why? Because I dwell in the secret place of the Most High. The scripture says the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him. We should have this understanding that even around me there is an encampment of angels because I fear the Lord. And why are they there? He said they are there to preserve them. So there are so many things that want to strangle life out of us: sickness, armed robber, theft, kidnappers, so many things happening around us today. So many things happening around us today that look like they will take our life. But we must come to an understanding. It was when there were so many things that could take the life of Moses, Moses was preserved through it because he must go on for 120 years. So Pharaoh could not stop him, and I'm telling you, that which is around you, they cannot stop you. Whatever is around you cannot stop you. The Bible says, "Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world." So what we should do rather is to focus on Him that is in us than to be focusing on what is around. What is around? What is around? Because He that is in you is greater than everything that is around you. Brethren, even the hair of our head, they are not just counted, they are numbered. The Lord said a sparrow that fly in the sky cannot just die except I want it to die. He says you worth more than many sparrows. Brethren, you cannot just die. You cannot just fall to the ground. Don't be intimidated by all that is going on in the nation. Don't be intimidated by the global crisis, the global calamity. Don't be intimidated. There is a God at who sustains, who maintains, who propels the universe by the word of His power. It is by the word of His power that we are kept and that we are preserved. Wherever you are, tell yourself that with long life He will satisfy me and I will fulfill my days. Nothing can catch me short. Nothing can—nothing can stop me. He that is in me is greater than he that is in the world. There is no enchantment against Jacob. There is no divination against Israel. I have a God who can deliver in trouble. When there is trouble, my God is a specialist. That's what makes Him my God. That's what makes Him my God. Even the very hair of my head, they have been numbered. I cannot just fall to the ground. That is the word of our Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot just fall to the ground. Now, as we try to close up all this matter of the concept of long life, coming from the concept of the ultimate trophy to win, look at how the scripture concluded this matter coming back to where we left it in Psalm 34 last week. First Peter chapter 3. First Peter chapter 3. [singing] Eternal, eternal life. Eternal, eternal life. I want to live eternal life, God save my soul. I want to live eternal life, God save my soul. Abundant, abundant life. Abundant, abundant life. I want to live abundant life, God save my soul. I want to live abundant life, God save my soul. [speaking] May we live beyond fear. May we live beyond restlessness. There is an abundant life of peace and rest and quietness. There is a place where you can be. He says you will lie down securely with nothing making you afraid. It's talking about abundant life. It's a life—but please, let us become more and more intimate with God. Abundant life! There is a life that is abundant. There is a life you don't begin to fear, "I won't go tomorrow, I hope this won't happen, I hope that." Look, there is a life, there is a life, and that life is in the eternal life. The eternal life is an abundant life. Nothing can take you before your time. And I speak over my own life. You can say the same thing wherever you are. Nothing will take me before my time. Nothing will take me before my time. To good old age the Lord will carry me. To good old age He will carry me. I will fulfill my days. Nothing will cut me short. Nothing will cut me down. I am living a life that is abundant. I will live abundant life. I will live abundant life. But I want to show you something in Peter. He says: 1 Peter 3:8-15: "Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, blessing, knowing that to this you were called, that you may inherit a blessing. For 'He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.' And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed. 'And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.' But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts..." [Speaker 1] Don't be afraid of what they fear. All you need to do in your heart is to sanctify the Lord. Sanctify the Lord in your heart. Don't call conspiracy what they call conspiracy. Don't fear what they fear. Don't call conspiracy what they call conspiracy. Don't fear what they fear. Don't call conspiracy what they call conspiracy, and don't fear what they fear. Isaiah 8:12: "Do not say, 'A conspiracy,' concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, nor be afraid of their threats nor be troubled. The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow; let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread." Don't call terror what the people call terror. Don't call calamity what they call calamity. All you need to do in your heart is to sanctify the Lord. As we begin to pray this evening, as we begin to talk to the Lord wherever you are, brethren wherever you are this evening, I want us take whatever position that you may take as we pray this evening. I want you to begin to—this evening, talk to the Lord: "Lord, Lord, Lord, grant me a clear understanding of purpose and grace." Because that is where the master—that is where the matter begins from. That is where the matter begins from. That the Lord will grant unto you a clear understanding of His purpose and grace. Eternal life is not just a particular emotion. It's not just like we mentioned at the beginning. It's not just that I'm a member of a church. It's not just that we read Bible in our home. It's not just that we go to church. "I am born to a Christian family; that's what makes me a Christian." You may be a pagan even though you are born by Christian family. What makes us Christian is an encounter with eternal life. A point in our life where we have submitted our life to Jesus. And having submitted to Jesus, what it simply means is that you have been given purpose and grace. Can you talk to the Lord this evening and say, "God, God, God, grant unto me a clear understanding of purpose and grace. Grant unto me a clear understanding of purpose and grace. A clear understanding, a clear understanding." In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. I want you to go ahead to pray this way. In Ephesians chapter 1, what is the prayer? I want you to—it says: Ephesians 1:17-18: "...that the Lord God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints..." Can you ask the Lord this evening: "God, God, beyond this my doubt and this my fear, I want to go—my heart have no desire to stay where doubts arise and fear dismay. I want to live abundant life, eternal life. Where I can lie down securely with nothing making me afraid." Not because there are no troubles around. You know what my mind is going to? Something myself and my wife were discussing some times back. We said it was a level of revelation that made Elisha, when he was surrounded in Dothan by the Syrians and their army, it was a level of revelation that gave Elisha quietness and rest. There was trouble all around. The city was surrounded by soldiers. The servant was disturbed. Elisha just said, "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." And then Elisha did not even pray for himself; he just said, "God, please open the eyes of this young one that is afraid." And then God opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that they were surrounded by chariots of fire. Then I believe his mind will come down. But you see, Elisha did not need to pray. He never prays to see that. It was a walk with God. I want you to pray that, "Lord, my heart don't have desire to stay where doubts arise and fear dismay. I want to live abundant life, eternal life. I want to live abundant life. That is eternal life. That is what it means to see good. Where the heart have gone beyond where doubts arise and fear dismay. Where whenever you lie down you can lie down quietly with nothing making you afraid." You know, I want to read something in Deuteronomy. I missed it in Deuteronomy last week. I went to check something there. God was telling them something. He said, "Look, I will bring affliction upon you, that when it is night, you will be wishing that it is morning. When it is morning again, you will be wishing that it should be night. When it is night, you will pray, 'Let morning come, let morning come.' When morning come again, you will pray, 'Let night come, let night come.' That is, there will be no time that they will have rest." May that not be our portion. There is an abundant life where whether come rain or sun, come day or night, you can lie down securely with nothing making you afraid. But brethren, it is a level of revelation. It is a level of intimacy with God. It is a level of eternal life. It is a level of abundant life. It's a level of good. He said, "The man that want to see good." It is such a great good, not to be able to lie down securely with nothing making you afraid. Can you ask the Lord: "Lord, Lord, grant me, O God, the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of revelation in the knowledge of Him." Lord, the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of revelation in the knowledge of Him. The spirit of wisdom. A clear understanding of purpose and grace. The spirit of wisdom, a clear understanding. I pray that your eyes of understanding might be enlightened. I pray that your heart will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future He has promised to those He called. Do you know why you are being perturbed? Do you know why you are being afraid? It is because your eyes of understanding have not been open to understand the wonderful future He has promised for those He called. Brethren, have you been called? Sister, have you been called? There is one more thing you must pray God for: you must pray God for your eyes of understanding to be open. If your eyes are not open, you will continue to live in fear because you will not see the future. Look, men who live above fear, they saw the future. What made Jesus to be at rest in the front of Pilate was that Pilate said, "Look, won't You answer me? Don't You know I have control over You?" Jesus answered, "You don't have control over Me, except it was given to you from above. And I tell you, the person who handed Me over to you is in greater trouble." Pilate became afraid. Why was Jesus talking like that? Because there was a clear understanding. There was a clear revelation. There was a clear insight. Why is it that when they told Paul that we can see that affliction and tribulation are waiting in Jerusalem, why do you think made Paul to say, "Look, forget all these things. Stop making my heart to fear. I'm not only ready to suffer in Jerusalem; I'm ready to go there to die." God has shown to me—I need to get there. What made these men fearless was revelation. Their eyes of understanding had been open. They could see the future that He promised them. I want you to beg God. Wherever you are, I want you to pray: "God Almighty, that my eyes of understanding will be open, that I may have a clear understanding of the wonderful future You have promised to those You called." The people that God called, I'm telling you, they are not ordinary people. Anyone who has received the call of God is not an ordinary person. Have you become born again? Are you sure that you have given your life to Christ? You have encounter with Jesus. Look, those that He brought into that thing, they are not ordinary people. There is a glorious future prepared for them. But if they don't see it, they will live anyhow. A man cannot live beyond his revelation. A man cannot live beyond his vision. The Bible say when people cannot see what God is doing, they will stumble over themselves. Another version says where there is no vision, the people perish. Pray for revelation. Pray for vision. The vision of where you are going. The vision of what God has called you into. Pray for insight. Pray for revelation. Pray for understanding to get into these things. Ask the Lord. Ask the Lord that my eyes of understanding might be open, that I may have a clear understanding to my purpose and grace. That I may have a clear understanding to this thing that You have called me. To this life that You have called me. You see, when you begin to understand what you have been called into, a lot of things will be giving you rest of mind. You will not be fearing what people fear. When you begin to have understanding of the direction that you are going. You know, what is just coming to my mind as we are praying now? If you put—from our discussion—if you put cassava beside maize, you know in about 90 days, maize will start drying up. If cassava don't know that it is not maize, cassava will start getting afraid. "This one that maize is going, this one that maize is getting expired, maybe me too soon expire now, maybe, eh, see oh!" Why? Because cassava don't know that it's cassava that is not maize. But if cassava knows that it's cassava and that it's not maize, he has nothing to fear. He has nothing to fear. You see, I'm trying to give you an understanding of something. I don't know how best to explain these things. But I'm trying to use simple things to illustrate it. That look, your fear, your doubt, they are product of your not being intimate with God. Pray God for revelation. Pray God for insight. Pray God for understanding. That you may understand the purpose to which you are called. That you may understand the purpose to which you are called. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 18: "I pray that your heart will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future He has promised to those He called." There are—God don't just call anybody anyhow. He has called you to something. He has called you for something. Your life cannot be terminated. Your life cannot be sidetracked. Your life cannot just be cut short nor cut down like that. No. You have been called to something. You have been called for something. You have been made for something. You have been preserved, you have been reserved for something. And I'm telling you, nothing can stop you from that thing. Pray the Lord. Pray for understanding. Pray for insight. Pray for insight in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Another prayer we are going to pray is in Colossians. Colossians chapter 1. Another prayer we are going to pray in Colossians chapter 1. We are just praying apostolic prayer this evening about all of this matter. Colossians 1:9-10: "...we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God..." I want you to beg the Lord and pray to the Lord that, "Lord, I want to be filled." You see, there's this thing that they normally say, that it is the empty barrel that make noise. An empty vessel makes a lot of noise. "Wha-wha-wha-wha-wha," afraid of this, afraid that. Anxiety, fear, this that. It is because the vessel is empty. When something is filled, when you hit it, it would just absorb it. Things that are filled, you cannot just push them to fall. Things that are filled, when something is filled, it has a powerful absorber unlike what is empty. I want you to pray to be filled. To be filled with what? Not with the works of the flesh. Not with the work of self. Not with self-will. Not with things of your—not with things of your own or of your mind. But to be filled with the things of God. To be filled with the things of God. I want you to pray that God, "Fill me." He says that verse 9: "...that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will." Filled with the knowledge of God's will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Talk to the Lord that, "Lord, I want to be filled with the knowledge of Your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. I want to be filled with the knowledge of Your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Lord, cause me to be filled with the knowledge of Your will in all wisdom, in all spiritual understanding, that I may walk worthy of You. Fully pleasing You, being fruitful in every good works." There should be no good works in which you are not fruitful. That is what you will be filled with. You are fruitful in every good works. You are fruitful in every good works. Fruitful in every good works and increasing in His knowledge. And increasing in His knowledge. Increasing in His knowledge. Increasing His knowledge. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Lastly, you are going to pray. You are going to ask the Lord. Lord, Lord, Lord. The Bible says, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadows of the Almighty." And I will say of the Lord, "He is my fortress, He is my refuge. My God in Him I will trust." He went ahead to say: Psalm 91:14-16: "Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; because he has known My name, I will set him on high. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation." People don't understand this matter of loving the Lord and fearing the Lord. Ask the Lord that, "Lord, incline my heart to Your love." "Because he has loved Me, I will deliver him." "Because he has known My name, I will set him on high." Incline my heart to Your love. Let Your love constrain me. Direct my heart to Your fear. The Bible says, "The fear of the Lord tends to life." The fear of God, it tends to life. That is, the fear of the Lord brings you into life. The love of the Lord is the same: "Because he has loved Me, I will deliver him. Because he has known My name, I will set him on high. I will be with him in trouble. With long life I will satisfy him. He will call Me and I will answer him." I want you to pray this evening as we close this meeting: "Lord, incline my heart to Your fear." It's not just being religious. It's not just saying, "I'm a good man. I'm a bad man." It's not about all of these things. It's about a life. It's about a life, a life that is a product of the fear of God. What you are doing is coming out of your fear for God. What you are doing is coming out of your love for God. Whatever you do at any point is a product of the fear of God and a product of the love of God. Ask the Lord, "Incline my heart to Your fear. Direct my heart to Your love. Lord God Almighty, incline it to Your fear, direct it to Your love." Thank You, eternal Father. Blessed be Your holy name, our God. In Jesus' name, we pray. Almighty God, we thank You for this evening. We give You glory and praise. We appreciate You for Your love. We appreciate You for Your mercy. We appreciate You for Your word. For this past seven weeks, it has been on this matter of the ultimate trophy to win and the concept of eternal life. Understanding—and the concept of long life. Long life, eternal life. Long life, good life. Long life, abundant life. Long life, a life of peace and rest and quietness. Long life, a life of rest, dwelling securely with nothing making us afraid. A life, O God Almighty, where none can harm us because we are followers of that which is good. A life of going about doing good. A life of doing good and healing all that are oppressed by the devil. A life of a deliverer and a savior. O Lord our God, we pray. More of revelation of You. More of revelation of You. More of the revelation of You. So that we can live correctly. So that we can live properly. So that we can live as we ought to live in this very life, in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord our God, we look up unto You. May we not be filled with dead works. Lord, empty us of every deadness. Cause us to be filled with life in all we think, in all we say, in all we do in the name of Jesus Christ. Deliver us from every distraction of self, of sin, of the world, and of the devil in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank You, eternal Father. Blessed be Your holy name, our God. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Let's share the grace together. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forever more. Amen. [Speaker 2] [background music] This message is coming to you from Family Tents Ministry, a Christian 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. Our regular activities are discipleship class, every Monday 5:00 PM; adolescent 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 outreach, and every day counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location, Life Camp by the first bridge, Ilere community, opposite Very Joy filling station along Ijera Road, Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytents@yahoo.co.uk, familytentsministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentsministry.org. Our phone numbers are 0803-386-1136, 0703-361-3848. God bless you all.