THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES || FROM DYSFUNCTIONALITY TO FUNCTIONALITY 2

Welcome to an encounter with the spirit, word, and prayer through the prolific apostolic and teaching ministry of Apostle Femi Lazarus, lead pastor of Sphere of Light Church Global. It is his vision to raise God's end-time armies.

God has not called you to prove you are the best. He has not. As a leader, you are a broker of gift and talent.

So brace up for an experience.

Today I'm teaching, um, still on the, the principal topic, From Dysfunctionality to Functionality. I'm teaching on a subtopic titled There Are Consequences. That's the title, There Are Consequences. Okay, there are consequences. And so that's my topic subtopic this morning, and I want us to pay, um, very important attention even to this. Amen. Exodus chapter number 25. Let's start the reading. Let me wait for you. Exodus 25, we'll start the reading from, um, Um, so contextually, God was instructing Moses as touching what to build and how to build. Okay, and, um, let me start the reading from verse 39. Exodus 25, from verse 29: Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it with all these vessels, and look that you make them after the pattern which was shown to you, um, shown you in the mount. So God was telling, um, Moses in a nutshell, um, that what you are to build, there is a pattern, okay? Um, the pattern exists in the spirit realm. God said, I've shown you, so your duty is to to duplicate according to that pattern. So there is a pattern for godly living. Is that okay? There is a pattern for, um, pastoring a church. Um, if you are going to be a leader, there is a scriptural pattern. If you are working under your boss, there is a scriptural pattern. Um, we don't model things up. You don't pray in tongues when you should walk. Uh-huh. Nobody can be blackmailed, and like the Gen Zs, we call it gaslighted. Uh-huh. Am I correct?

Uh-huh.

With the fact that you are not doing things according to pattern. In fact, in Romans 12, when the Bible says, I beseech you therefore, from verse 1, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God. He said, this is your reasonable— what? Service. So it means that, um, just contextually, it is only reasonable that if you are married, you present your bodies. Huh? If you marry somebody and you don't touch the person The Bible is saying it is not reasonable. So if you want to be a Reverend Father, be one. If you are going to be married, be married. Say I hear. I'm not going to face you today. It'll be fine. I might. Something will push me. Do you understand what I'm saying? And say, you know, I'm married, but I just love the Lord. I just love the Lord. I just can't imagine me touching you. Why? Rainika, Femi Lazarus, take a flogging. Oga, Oga, who will flog you? You are not building according to the pattern. Tell your neighbor there's a pattern. Tell your neighbor again, there is a godly pattern for building. So there is a pattern. Things will go bad when we deviate from the pattern, okay? Um, there are things that people have no business dealing with if they will stay with pattern. Is that okay now? People have no business dealing with— for instance, when Rachel said I don't have a child. Um, Jacob, take Bilia. That's not pattern. The fellow they learned that pattern from was Sarah, okay? And Leah saw that, oh, you give your husband your maid, okay, me too, I give him my maid too. That's not pattern. The fact that something has been repeated over time doesn't make it a godly pattern. Huh? That, um, I can't remember who was sharing a story with me of a man. His wife went to report him to a marriage counselor that my husband beat me, used to beat me. So the man said, my wife is too troublesome, she will misbehave. And do all those things and all they'll be looking. So one day he got frustrated and just pounced on her and beat the hell out of the woman. She was on the floor crying, and when she got up, she asked him, what do you want to eat? So the man thought to himself and said, ah, so this is the way to restore your factory setting. And from that moment, he began to beat the wife. The fact that what you did achieved what you wanted does not make it scriptural pattern. There are things that may work, but they are bad. That— do you know me? I don't take nonsense from any man. If my husband is trying to do anything, I know as I silence him, I don't— you are the one that is thinking that nonsense. You may silence him, but you can't silence God. See, my wife, all I have to do is to stop sending her money for like 2 months, she will adjust. She may adjust, but you must understand that you will answer before God, because marriage is to typify the pattern of relationship between the church and who? Christ. Anybody who knows me will tell you this man is not a relationship preacher. We are repairing broken bridges, huh?

Uh-huh.

And we're going to move from there. Say I hear. I hear. So there are patterns And we must build according to that— what? Pattern. Now, the one of the things we learned from the beginning was that the devil hates good patterns and he likes to offset balances. In fact, I want the media to project on the screen Psalms chapter number 82 from verse 1 to 5. Okay. God standeth in the congregation of the mighty, he judgeth among the gods. How long will you judge unjustly and accept the persons of the wicked? Defend the poor and the fatherless, do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy, rid them out of the hands of the wicked. They know not, neither will they understand. They walk on in darkness, and all the foundations of the earth— just stop here— are out of course. So the moment there is no illumination, we will offset balances. You see, let me tell you this: one of the ways you know you are living according to the pattern of scriptures is that you don't do things that benefit you. You have been bought with a price. No, if everyone should do what they want to do, there will be chaos, there will be destruction. Somebody said, 'An eye for an eye will make the world go blind,' or something like that. Am I correct? Do you know the things you want to do? There are times you don't even want to see the next day. We are not ruled by feelings. We are ruled by the word, the word of God. That's our light. That's the revelation that governs our existence. Say loud and clear, I choose to build according to pattern. Say it again, I choose to build according to pattern. I choose to live by the dictate of the word. Now look at what the Bible says. 1 Peter, um, chapter number 5. 1 Peter chapter number 5. We start reading from verse 8. 1 Peter 5:8 says, be sober Be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist steadfastly in faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished by your brothers in the world. So the Bible is saying that the devil keeps looking around, he's looking for whom He may what? Devour. So sometimes you want to ask, if there's problem in the home, there is a womb he wants to devour. There is a person. See, the devil doesn't just strike. If you don't know why he is around, you keep hosting him. You need to know why. Why are we having this problem now? Why are we having dispute now? Why are we having this argument now? Why is this fight? Some people fight at the helm of breakthrough, and just when they get into that, the breakthrough will look good again. So the devil— see, we are dealing with a very smart being. We are dealing with a being that is ancient, and you must understand that you need the wisdom of God that is also ancient to deal with that being. You cannot get modern wisdom to conquer an ancient devil. There is an ancient wisdom, and the wisdom is the wisdom of scriptures. There is nothing anybody wants to tell you that is new. I say, ah, see, no, the Bible is clear. There are things that humility will deal with effortlessly. The attempt to go another route is to build out a pattern, and it will bring chaos. It will bring chaos. So the devil is always— and you see, I've shown you before that lions don't attack animals in group. They wait for the isolated ones. They wait for the wounded ones. Meaning that you are most likely going to fall into trouble when you have wounds that are not healing, because that puts you back. It puts you back in a system where you are alone with your own thoughts. Have you seen people post things like, 'Alone with my thoughts'? No, you should not be alone with your thought. It is dangerous because at that point you are going to begin to think about things that is mixed with your experiences and pain and bitterness. And there you are wondering. You can laugh with your spouse, enter into the room alone with your thought, and come back seeing him as a beast because at that moment of isolation The devil has been able to attack your mind. He has been able to fight your thinking. What he wants to do is to put filters. If, um, is there anyone here with sunshade? A sunshade? Yeah, anyone? Who is the first person to give me a sunshade? Yeah, thank you. It doesn't matter what the color of this room is, the moment I put this on. What I see with is this. This alters my perception of this reality. This is a reality. This is for the moment. Pain is like this. It alters your perception about a reality. You look at the person and you can no longer see the person you used to love. No, you actually still love the person, but there is something altering your what? Reality. And that's the same way wrong counsels work. There are elderly people that should not be listened to. Elihu said, I thought that multitude of age should teach wisdom, but it is not always so. Because fools too survive. Foolishness kills, but some fools survive and they live long. And the fact that— see, the fact that people have podcasts and have things to say about certain genders and certain things doesn't make them good. They may be eloquent, but if you take those ideologies, they will destroy your home. You check all the screenshots you have of you on your phone, they they are a confirmation of your thought process and where you are going. No grief for any man. Now this, this is— you saved it because you agree. The day somebody will do something that will confirm that reality, you flip it out, then upload it on your status. Then they are asking, who is that for? Say, no, no, no, I was just thinking to myself. Now lie. I always advise, advise people When you are offended, stop posting status. You bleed on it. You bleed on it. Are you following what I'm saying here? You check what— who are you listening to? What are the thought process you are running with? There are men who believe that if you tell your wife everything about your life, she will use it against you. See, don't just go online and argue. Let's be smart people. When people talk, look at what they have said. It just shows you the mindset there is, that there is. See, um, I teach, and when I teach, you can relate with the things that I'm saying because I don't live in denial. I listen. Somebody can stand and insult me and insult me, and I'm looking at you and I say, these two exist. The only thing on my head is this one is just the manifested prototype of many hidden ones. How can we help them? I won't fight you. Say, am I the one you're talking— no, no, no, no, no, no, talk. I know you are just a captain of many. So the question is, we go back to the drawing board. This kind, how can we help them? What can we do? Give us the wisdom to reach them. Because ideologies, they form the filters with which you perceive life, and if they go bad, your perception will be bad. So let, let me teach you a principle. One of the things I do as a leader that has protected my heart over the years. Even when there is— or somebody has done something bad, and this is obviously bad, and they say, Apostle, are you coping with this person? I simply refuse to change my good perception of the person. As long as I refuse to change what I perceive about the person, you cannot get me into offense. You're a good man. I know you're a good man. I know you are just doing bad stuff. Maybe you have a bad day, but you're a good man. Sometimes you will have to hold fast the good things that you believe about your spouse. Ah, you're a good woman. Ah, I know, I know you're a good woman. But today, sometimes the food has been made and it look like they give extra salt. So the devil is always looking for things to do to fight individuals, to fight generations, to fight families, and to fight people. The Bible said we should resist him steadfastly. When you hear things as thoughts, you hear things as premonition in your heart that you know this is not God, resist the devil. Okay, resist the devil, resist the devil. I'm going somewhere. If you look at the book of 1 Samuel chapter number 15, the story of Saul, there is the consequence of forsaking God. Everything has consequences. There is a pattern God created for the society to work. The foundation of that pattern is the family system, and there is a foundation God has designed for the family system to work. The moment there is a deviation from divine pattern, you cannot shy away from the consequences. Once we separate ourselves from divine pattern, we cannot shy away from the consequence. There is the consequence that my— so I, I explained the concept and the concept was gotten wrong, so let me give clarity. See, um, there is a consequence of a father missing in a girl's life. There is the consequence of a father missing in a boy's life. The father forms the foundation of purity of affection and the life of a girl. The father is often referred to as the girl child's first love. If that role is missing in a girl's life, she develops what is called toxic love addiction. That is the need to want to be validated by those who love you. It is a reality. No amount of shouting on Apostle Lazarus can change it. It is a reality. But God helps. He sends people. He set the solitary in families. He put people in places where they can learn. If God has helped you such a way that you didn't go certain ways, then God has blessed you. But But there are billion people that will tell you this is true. A girl has finished a semester on campus, there's no home to go to. Some boys are going to take advantage of her. It's the reality. A man is missing a boy's life, he lacks identity. I understand that there are situations that necessitate separation. And biblically, there are situations that necessitate divorce. Oh yes, don't wait till anybody kill you.

There are.

But you see, the moment people are going that route, understand that what God has designed for two to nurture is now going to be nurtured by one. What are the likely consequences on that? Don't fight. No, no, it can happen. No, no, that is not intelligence. Understand the likely consequences such that you know you have to go these separate ways. How can God now help us on the— in the life of these children that this consequence will not come to a reality? It is just like the principle of anything that goes up surely comes down. So we now begin to check, what can I do? What can we do? What kind of school can they go to? What kind of church can they attend? What kind of messages can they listen to? There is a God who seals up loopholes and he helps us. But you must understand that there are consequences. If you will hit your wife and insult her in front of your children, there is a consequence to that. He said, what about not in front of the children? Beat your wife. Oh, and there are women that will beat your husband and beat the hell out of you. I'm telling you, with your mozu, they will beat you. You're in a relationship, the guy said, you are the one, you know. Oh my God. And you are saying, you know, it's just one of those things. When you are getting married, I have a gift for you. Iodine, plaster, paracetamol, bandage, clutches, because you will need many of those. We'll bind you up many times, again and again. There are consequences to all these actions. The moment we fail to build according to pattern, there are consequences. Please go back to this screen. There are consequences. So we stay with pattern. Let me tell you this, there are people that the moment you marry them, there is the consequence of not checking it through God before you marry them, and the consequence is that eventually you may not be able to live together. Yes. You may not be able to check it. If you fail to check it— you see, before you blame people who are single mothers and single fathers, try to understand the kind of person they ran away from. Sometimes it is important that before this person dies, please Separate yourself. And there are matters that even after the separation can no longer be settled by the both of you and pastors. There is a need for family involvement. Somebody has to sign a contract. I will not slap my wife again. I will not do this. I will not go out as a married man and sleep with other girls if I come back with disease and kill her. We don't excuse certain things and say, no, no, both of you are believers. No, no, this is a matter of life and death. Let's talk about it. No, no, no, no. So you to hug your wife, you to hug your— you've not settled anything. No, there are consequences. I told you on Tuesday, we are in a generation that your ex-boyfriend can become somebody else's wife. Ex-boyfriend. You are— you, you said that's my ex-boyfriend, but now it's somebody— or shim— is somebody else's wife. Hey, there are consequences for the direction this generation wants to head. Leave us to do anything, whatever makes you happy, do it. There is a consequence. Do what makes you happy. Do what makes you feel good. You see, that's not the life of someone who will go far. There are things that makes you happy but will destroy you. There are consequences. If we were to attend or to study the courses we study and go for lectures when we feel like, we will never graduate. By now I might still be in part 2. You think I really like exams? I might be busy up and down doing crusades. He said, Apostle, you have first semester. I said, ah, I'm coming, I'm coming. After all, I can go through this and then graduate whenever I choose to. But rules and laws are there to protect us from ourselves. Let me tell you something. In boxing— and by the way, I slept well tonight. Oh, if you don't know, you don't know. Forget about that. Ah, my wife said, babe, go and sleep. I said, I can't sleep. I need to have an idea what's going to happen tonight. Let's leave that. We leave the Jews out of this, okay? Now, in boxing— please come, um, Godwin, please come. Please stand here. So when two people are fighting and there's a referee in between them— set your punches. Yeah, set your punches. So when these people fight— no punch, and these people are fighting And there's a referee. The reason why the referee is there, number one, is to maintain the rules of the game. But ultimately, the referee is there to protect them, to protect him from himself, to protect him from himself. There is a kind of punch that if he receives twice, his destiny will go on strike. Have you seen where they punch people? The head is one side, the leg is misbehaving. But even in that state, it is possible that a man wants to continue because of ego, but the referee is there saying, no, I understand your ego wants to go on, but I'm here to protect you from yourself. The word of God is there to protect you from you. There are things I can do. So, Femi Lazarus, thank you so much. First, accept that you can be destructive. Accept that you can be bad. Don't bother putting this on my screen again. Accept is distracting me. Accept that you can be destructive. Accept that you can be rude. Accept that you have certain tendencies. You see, when you judge yourself, you will not be judged. So that by the time you start doing certain things and somebody complains, It is something you know that it's something I have the likelihood of. So when your wife said, you keep making decisions without telling me, because you have already told yourself, you say, it's true, I'm sorry. You see, you don't have to respond to every conversation with argument. What do you mean now, eh? That's how the other day too. You say, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Start by saying, I validate your feelings. I validate your feelings. So you keep doing so. My wife has big grammar. All these counselors, sometimes I don't know what she's talking about. This, this, this is the reality of this. It's true, I validate your feelings, provided that after this conversation I can go back to what I validate your feelings, woman of God. But when you already know yourself that I have this tendency You see, the reason why you fight when somebody confront you about what is bad is because you know that it is bad, but you have refused to accept the reality that you have something that is bad. Doesn't mean you are bad. Doesn't mean you are bad, but this thing is bad. Okay, this thing is bad. Your wife has been telling you, whenever you sleep like this, you snore. Say no, no, no, in my family no blow body snore. Don't wait till she records you. Now she has recorded you, now she's playing your snore. You say, who is running generator around here? Are you following what I'm saying here? And you too, the wife, don't tell your spouse you, you snore like an elephant. See, let me tell you something. There are things you tell men and you don't get solutions on, because in the place of doing that, you know something he should do well. Doesn't mean you must tear him down. No, no, no. You can be right, but on top of your voice, you are wrong. What you are saying is correct, but there's an how. Bible says that a good woman builds a house with her hands. But a careless one tears it down with her words. I see people say things like, who gave you the audacity to talk to women? The Bible gave me. Come on now, you think we're going to leave a generation to rot? That was how we abandoned men years back. No, no, no, we will tell you once it is scriptures. Are you following what I'm saying here? When you are going to build, soft words turns away what?

Rat.

That's what the Bible says. Let me tell you one of the very evident signs of low self-esteem. If you know people, one of the ways to know people that esteem is destroyed is that whenever they know something you don't know, the way they will push it on you, they will try to reduce you with this one knowledge so that they can look better. You see, That you know what I don't know now doesn't still make you better, and it doesn't make me better. We are just distinct. This is one of the rudiments for doctrinal fight in the body of Christ. Okay, now you have found that this is true. You see, once the devil can't stop you from knowing the truth, he can cheat you in the area of communicating the truth with grace. Now you know the truth, but the truth you now know is causing injury. Nobody is receiving it. Because with this same truth, you will insult this one and insult that one. No, that's not the Bible. I see some young people arguing, um, this, this, this. Actually, um, Joshua did not tell the moon, the sun to stand, the earth stop rotating. We understand that in geography and physics. Now that you know it, what do we do about it? So when you listen to people, what is the— what is their intention? As compared to what they have communicated. It is maturity to now put the intention over the communication and accept them from where they are. This is life. If you caught somebody who is wrong today, you can be wrong tomorrow. No, no, no, no, no, no, you don't put your shoe here. No, no, this is all of the problem with all of you guys. Then look at the people who go outside now, they think you're a good man. On top of shoe. Shoe. Is somebody learning something today? Are you sure? All right, pay attention to this. I want to list a few things that the devil has been able to push on this generation and also show you the consequence that is attached to them. Number 1, there is, or there are, consequences that comes with the mentality of entering into marriage while you perceive yourself or your gender as a victim. Or there is the consequence of having victim mentality. I'll tell you what that means. Victim mentality is when you are getting married or you are in a marriage with the thought of, aha, women are always the victim, or no, men are always the victim, or no, women at the receiving end. Whatever is happening to women, women, this is your own unique case. Let me tell you the danger of victim mentality. There will be things— are you following what I'm saying here? There will be things people will say as a mob because they have similar pain. You don't have that pain. Understand that you are different. What they are saying as a mob, if you import that consciousness to your home, it will create a system of fear that the pain your mob colleagues have, you will bet it in your own home. There are people trying to lead an army of women and say to them, no, no, no, no, no, you see. And I'm going to get to another very serious point now. No, no, no, women in marriages, women don't have— don't get to enjoy marriage. And there is also another school of thought that, you see, women are the ones that enjoy everything, men don't get to enjoy it. When a man becomes a CEO, it takes you of the mother, where is the father? And Mother's Day, Mother's Day, no Father's Day. In all honesty, men are not really built around so many accolades like that. Ah, I really don't have any business with Father's Day. Just serve me my food. I can't remember telling my wife— I can't— when last did you tell me, do you love me? What was my business with that? I know you love me, period. If you start talking like that as a man, something See, you've never told me this house that you love me. No, no, you put your hand like this. Okay, you've never told me this house that— you know, they shake chest. Men are not wired like this. Men are wired to be strong. We are strong beings. That doesn't mean we don't have emotions. That doesn't mean we don't like gifts. My wife promised me that she was going to give me a treat, and I preached a good message on Thursday. So after service, go and meet her. I've not seen my treat. Say, you preach good, I'm bringing Prophet's offering. I never see him. So just they talk so that I dare not hear that that thing is a peck. Peck is— amen. I want to beg you in the name of Jesus Christ, every woman under the sound of my voice, the fact that something is happening to women doesn't mean it will happen to you. Don't import their pain as a material to build your own homes. I beg you, they may misunderstand the things I teach, but you understand me. You are not a victim. You see, when you have that mentality, in all honesty, it doesn't matter how perfect you perceive any home to be, they deal with issues. The day you are dealing with your own issues that can be solved easily, you are going to kill an ant with sledgehammer. Because you are perceiving him based on what the women movement is saying. And then you say he's one of them. Men. The day you start referring to your husband as men, then there's problem. Ah, we know men. That's an import of certain ideologies. And there are men also who believe that only women enjoy the children at the end of the day. So let me enjoy my life now. Let me spend my own money now. Last last is their mother they will remember. And by time you do that, you will not be sacrificial as you should be as a leader. This is the divine order. A good man leaves good inheritance for his children. You are not going to live a life that if children has not bring money, you won't eat. That is the order. We make sacrifices as men and it may go unnoticed. When people say we want to celebrate Apostle— well, I thank God for it and I'm grateful. It's a privilege to pastor a generation like this. It is an honor. But you may never truly know my sacrifices. If I give you an hour to talk, you will say the things you know. You may not know my pain. You may not know the tears before I preach a sermon. You may not know. There are people I love so much, but they hate me. And at eternity, they will find out that somebody loves you. So you may never truly know. When we begin to have a generation of men who wants to begin to flaunt their sacrifices, then we are altering the divine order. The foundation will never come out and say, this is how strong I am. It remains there. That's the pattern. Oh, everybody talking about the fine paint. The paint is still standing because the foundation is there. You see, usually it is when men leave that their value is truly known in its full essence. Yorubas have an adage, they will say, "Tolo de o baku oju de onwu koriko." If the owner of the house is not dead, you will never find grass growing outside the house. Man, and the fact that we are designed this way doesn't mean that God hates us. It is divine order. And for everything he has designed you to be, he has given you strength to live with it. Are you following what I'm saying here? He has given you strength. A woman is to supply care, affection, nurturing in the family. The fact that there are women that married men who used it against them and maltreated them, and the women didn't have anything to themselves at the end of the day, doesn't mean that that is the experience you are about to have. Don't import their pain. Hear their story, pray for them, but know your journey is unique. Let me tell you one of the ways you know you believe what you have not said. Let me give you an instance. If you keep thinking about cancer, the day you will have stomach pain, you will say, finally, what I fear has come upon me. What I mean is, if you keep thinking about being a victim The day the man will do something that is not even up to that, you will say, that is it, that is it, that is what I've been saying, that is what Mommy told me, that is what my mother-in-law said, that is what my sister's husband's friend said. Their story is their story, yours is yours. You will not go through pain Is it possible for your spouse to do something similar to what you have always been afraid of? Yes, but you must understand that marriage is warfare. You stand your ground in the place of believing and confessing. It will not go that direction in the name of Jesus. I'm telling you. So when we have individuals going into marriage or trying to build a family with victim mentality, it will alter your perception about reality. It will alter your responses. It will alter every experience you are having. You are going to react when you should not react. You are going to say things you should not say. And one of the ways you know that is there is that you will always be eager to quit. Always. There are people who believe that for them to live the fullness of the life they want to live, they must get out from their marriage. So any small thing is— let me know if you are done. How do you say yes I do and yet you have decided in your option that there is an— in your heart that there's an option? The extent that people go in argument is sometimes a mirror of the fact that they have alternatives. No, I'm not looking at for better, for worse. If this won't work, I know what to do. I will take a walk. That's not divine pattern. If you have, um, 20 glass cups, um, and you are drinking water with this one, huh, you, you may be careless. You may put it at the side of the table where it can fall down and break, but if this is all there is, there is a way you keep it. The way you handle your spouse, is it reflecting the fact that he is all there is or that she is all there is? We must make a decision. Our problem did not start from the home first, it began from our minds. The mind, the the conclusions, the things you are saying, the things you are thinking, the decisions you have made. Amen. There is the consequence of building your home on media standard. Movie knowledge standard. I won't mention any movie company. Apostle Lazarus attacks, he's always doing it. Movie— there are movies you watch, the moment you, you watch that movie, at least you need a week to reset again. Because the movie is bitter, the storyline is painful. Um, somebody has married a girl, the girl was manipulated, and this is not your spouse. In fact, it becomes even more dangerous for those who are single. There are many single people that when they hear about— they are afraid to death. That you mean the freedom I have now, one man will come and everything— that's your thoughts, but that's not the reality. It is your fears changing your perception. I am married and I'm not dead. You need to see my picture before I got married. I thought I was fine. One time I looked at my picture, I started asking, so this person will break up with someone, the person will cry? Should have been happy. Like this, carry yourself and go. It does not yet appear. Oh, true or not true? Look at him, is he fresh? You shall be fresh. Amen. You shall be fresh. You will not even know that you can have beard till somebody is touching the beard. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Camera, don't show his face. Say I hear. Just leave me alone. All right, so that's the consequence. The ideologies on social media is not the Bible. The fact that it has 2,000 likes doesn't mean God likes it. No, you might just have community of hateful people, of deranged people. Who are Bandwagon following themselves? This is not— it's not— there are, there are women and men podcast you should unfollow now. I know of one platform on Facebook, I won't mention. I know the platform, I'm tempted to, but I will not. I don't know a woman who is on that platform who is not facing problem. I've counseled several. Don't ask me questions. People chat. I say, are you on that platform? Say, go and delete it. What happens there is that women will come and everybody's sharing painful stories about their husband. Everybody painful, painful, painful. So what happen as you are reading them daily, you are making decisions about what doesn't exist. You go back with that decision and anger and venom. You are looking for an innocent man and you vomit on him. Women are not victims. Stop the nonsense. Women are not victims. I shout that spirit down. I shut it down from this generation. I shut down the nonsense. Women, are you victims? Are you a victim? Women are not victims. Get out of that thing. We know ourselves, we are the ones that— no, you are not a part of them. Let me tell you this. Genesis 34 from verse 1. Genesis 34:1. And Dinah, the daughter of Leah, that she bore unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. That's the scripture. Am I correct? Project it quickly. Yeah, went out to see the daughter of the land. Yes. Verse 2 now. When Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the confederacy, he took her lewta. So there is the mentality of the daughters of the land, and it brings defilement. Men, say after me loud and clear: we are not victims. Come on, say it again, say it again. The fact that your birthday was forgotten doesn't make you a victim. The fact that they celebrate whether Father's Day or Brother's Day or whatever Once a year doesn't make us victims. We are not victims. Last week Sunday was Mother's Day, huh? It was on Monday I remembered that I did not even post my wife. She knows how busy my schedule— that's not an excuse, but imagine her as a woman who already have bad perception about me. I won't eat dinner that night. You see now? So this is your thought about me. So I— you see, let me tell you where the problem started from. The problem is that on your birthdays, you begin to check on WhatsApp status. Everybody will post, you, you re-upload. You are telling the devil that these things mean so much to me. In case it is missing, it also means so much to me. How do you So it shows that you are not yet busy as you ought to. Imagine having over a million people who has been imparted by your life. How many do you— I mean, come on, stop that. When something is hurting you, talk. Babe, you did not even put— it may not mean anything to my wife, that doesn't mean if it means something to you, because let me balance it. Somebody is— you see now, see, even, even I post to say no, no, remember So, no, you are not me. I don't know you, neither am I denying you. I know you in the spirit. Do what you should do. Me, I know as I take manova, when the thing don't bend. Ah, don't go and just hear one man of God say, I've never fought with my wife in this life. A girl, he know. You see one, never fought my— never argue with my wife. Seen two, they just open the curtain, the man is on his knees, baby, I'm sorry. You two, you go and form macho, just say I've never did— I don't, I don't take nonsense from women. You don't know what thing they do behind the scene. Don't take people's public opinion. They risky. Me, I cannot kneel down to propose to a woman. I can't. 7 girls don't bounce you. No, no, get with it. You see, it is sign that you are not complete inside, that you carry people's ideology and forget what you know. I know that's not the way life is designed to be lived. Are you following what I'm teaching here? Say I hear. I've heard many people say, I mean, how do you, me, an apostle like me, kneel down to propose to a woman? No, no need. How many sisters do you have? They will soon start finding women for you now, and all of them are saying, that your brother, no. That your brother, that one we get big head, no. Are you following what I'm saying here? Please, I want us to shout it again loud and clear: I am not a victim! If many people would believe what is written in the Bible the same way they believe what is on Facebook, on Twitter, and Instagram, their life will be better. This same you, you are the one on every blog, from InstaBlog to Yaba Left to something gossip to this one Aproko to that one The Look to all everything they are writing, you have liked. Who are you and what do you believe? Who are you? See, let me tell you something. If you are too free to be doing everything online, get a job where you can work online. If you so much like being online, be a content creator or something, manager for an organization. Channel your skill into that. You are the one that will mix groundnut and fried rice and then put a bit of mayonnaise on top, then add yam. You come back, you are distorted, your orientation is whack, nobody knows what you are thinking. Stop that. Look at the energy you feel when you press your phone and the weakness you feel when you hold the Bible. You drag, and now your mentality looks fixed. And what we are doing now is to try to mechanically re-engineer you. Maybe in this one lifetime you will be at least functional again, because there are dysfunctional individuals that produce dysfunctional homes. It's because of bad orientation. Bad orientation. Are you following what I'm saying here? Mm. Don't build your home on media standards. Not everybody on media have sense. Full stock Have you seen platforms you don't even know the name behind or the face? They are faceless and nameless. They cause trouble everywhere. They, they can tweet 1,000 things about marriage and they are not married. Somebody just reading and say, not true, not true, not true, not true, not true, not true, not true, not true. I agree. Even screenshot it and hide it. For the day of evil. Is somebody learning something?

Yes.

Ah, there are consequences that comes with running with destructive ideologies. I'm going to give you instances. If you look at the book of Numbers chapter number 23, um, Balaam had gone to contact Balak to curse the children of Israel, to use divination and sorcery. Um, I'm sorry, Balak had contacted Balaam to curse them and they could not be cursed. The Bible said he erected 7 bullocks and 7 rams on 7 different altars. That's 14 times 7. And each time he got— he tries to curse them, God rather will prophesy to him that you cannot curse a people that the Lord has blessed. He said, I see Israel gathered and the shape she takes like the shape of a lion. In fact, that's where you have the scripture in Numbers 23:23 that there is no divination against Israel. Neither is there enchantment against who? Jacob. But as we got to Numbers 25, so they could not— they were— it's where you can't curse the people that the Lord has blessed. But in Numbers 25 from verse 1, the Bible said, and it came to pass that the children of Israel began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. Very painful story, all right? And people got to commit whoredom with daughters of Moab. Very painful. And you check what happened, they started joining ideologies, they were fraternizing organizing and learning from their gods. And the Bible said, if you read down, in one day 25,000 people died. The people that sorcery could not kill, the people that even a prophet could not curse, the people that, that the gods of the earth gathered could not bring into judgment. But the fact that they joined themselves with people of wrong ideologies, they died in their numbers. Be careful. Who have you made your best friend who doesn't know God? Who have you called bestie? Show me your friend and I will tell you who you are. Do you— is your home so intact that your spouse can perceive that this is a wrong friend? I don't want to see this person in our house again, and you say thank you, all right. Both as a man and as a woman. You know, unfortunately, we're in a generation that the fact that you are seeing a male with your husband doesn't mean he's not cheating on you with the male. I'm trying to show you the level of decadence there is already. That's why I'm saying what I'm doing here is warfare. All these ideologies and many more, by the time the result of it rains on us— sometimes you don't— your husband doesn't have a man, maybe he's cheating with another man, that one get as be, but this man now is the one that introduces different girls. He's not cheating yet, but this guy is, and he's telling your husband. And you, you have an idea. If your wife tells you this person is against her home, do you have, um, the maturity it takes as a man to separate from that person? Let me tell you what I've learned. Women knows trouble before they come home. All the time my wife has warned me and I use ego to say no, I fell into trouble. 90% of the trouble I couldn't tell her. Say, why are you sad? You see, I've just been— it was— I was afraid of— did I not tell you? She just look at this. I said, be careful. I said, no, no, don't worry, I have it figured out. Now, now, now I'm in trouble. I come back, I say, hey, hey, say, you look down today. No, no, no, let me say there's a lifting down. There's— I'll say there's a— there's a lifting up. I'm not down, I'm not down. She go back, I put my hand, say, hey, Jesus. Many men would have lived longer if they listen to their wives. Many women too would have lived longer if they listen to their— Do you believe that when you are married, your husband is your covering? Don't operate outside of covering.

Don't.

And you too, don't marry a turn umbrella. So don't wait, don't marry what you marry and bring it like it's our problem. It's your problem. No, it's not our— it's your problem. We'll try to help you, but now your problem. Is that okay? You two check. No, are you following what I'm saying? Don't let shawarma blind you. Now I don't even think shawarma is romantic, I think it's petrol now. Amen. All right, see, the crux of what I've said now is just Perceive right. There is a way a girl will look at you. Your wife said, be careful, I don't like that girl. That don't say no, no, you this woman, you have hate in your heart. You see, all the things Apostle has been teaching, your mind has not been— no, this is your lifeline. This is your lifeline. After that one, the next thing that will happen is that you are in the pit. Don't say no, no, you don't have love in your heart, that's how you did your life. No, no, no, no. There's the consequence of shutting down your spouse, male or female. There's the consequence of having your way all the time. There's the consequence for that. You see, um, Your marriage is already bad and abusive if your spouse don't have their opinion. Yes. Say no, no, I know how to silence her. That's a dictator talking. That's a dictator. Are you with me? Now this is where it gets critical. The devil is raising a campaign to get men out of the equation of families. The devil is raising a campaign to get men out of the equation of families. There is a subtle ideology now that all you need a man for is to get pregnant and give birth, get out of his life and live your life. There is a subtle arrangement. The ones that that is not happening to, they are turning to women. They are doing hip enlargement. What does a man have to do with bum bum? They are making that one big too. They are saying put silicone in my chest. They start with lipstick. What is it about the male gender that the devil is after? Let me tell you, men, if we allow what is going on go on, in another 50 years you will not have relevance except you know God. I want to believe that is not happening here, but there's a subtle ideology. Just marry, if you do any nonsense, take care of your children. Face them with your life. Get out. It matters the orientation we are bringing in. It matters. It matters. Let me show you scripture for that. Turn your Bibles with me to the book of Exodus. Exodus chapter number 1. We'll start the reading from verse 15. If you're there, say amen. And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of one was Siphrā and name of the other was Puʿa. And he said, when you do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the stools. If it be a son, you shall kill him. If it be a daughter, she shall live. Men, the devil wants to kill you. He wants you dead, and it is not your wife he's trying to use to kill you. So let's get the balance right. The devil wants you out of the equation, and somehow the way many men are living, it seems as though they have agreed to die young. A man who abandons his wife and children somehow has said he has agreed to die young. It doesn't matter how sweet adultery is. It is poison sugar. It destroys. I've told you, before you learn anybody's ways, check the champions who have run with that pattern for long. When you get to an organization, check those who have spent 15 years there. That is the mirror of your own 15 years' time. The devil wants to kill you. Men, some men take unnecessary risk. They go out with people and they trust the people more than the wife. All the people that God used to protect— I know you may have trust issues, but at least trust in your home. Don't run with the idea that women this, this, this, this. And I beg you in the name of Jesus Christ, see I agree, I accept to be criticized for what I'm teaching. Oh, I accept. But let a generation hear my voice. In fact, the criticism will help those that will hear, hear that somebody is begging. Women, don't believe the ideology that the role of a father in the house doesn't matter. It does. The fact that you are submitted under a man doesn't make you a lesser human being. You are just functioning according to pattern, according to pattern. Remove the thought from your mind that my children don't need— if, if something has happened and you are both gone separate ways, I accept. God will help you. Because if there are issues that can be resolved, solve it. If there are issues that I am sorry, we'll take care of, say it. If there are issues that going on your knees, don't say, see, women, you could say, she's talking to me. No, that's victim mentality. If this is your own home, shut the door. The media that is encouraging you to break it, ask them, when I do, will you take care of my children? Will you play the role of their father? Will you pay their school fees? Will you be the one to communicate affection to my children? They will not. Don't let those who are killing theirs destroy yours. Those who are keeping theirs Don't make that decision. It is a subtle wind. It is coming. And I look around and I say, can the body of Christ see this? There's fire on the mountain. We are emasculating women. They are becoming men. Can't we see what is going on? Unfortunately so. Many men too have not learned to take responsibility and play their leadership role. Hence forcing a need for a resurgence. At certain age, it should not be a mystery what you do for a living. There should be a plan. What do you expect when women are left to fend for themselves? It's basic role of a man to provide. It doesn't make you less of a woman if a man provides for you. Don't say no, no, no, no, I'm a woman, I buy my thing myself. No, no, no, nobody has said you are not a woman because he buys it. No, you are reacting against what is not. No, we insult our mothers because they took rubbish. But their homes lasted. Am I saying take rubbish, kill yourself? No. Say, eh, we this kind of women that we are, men, I pay my bills, I do my stuff. Anything you want to say, say to your own pocket. You are not paying my bills. I'm this. No, that you pay your bills doesn't mean you should be arrogant. Humility is the ornament of a good believer. You are a Christian first. Be humble. Can there things happen in the house that for a season the woman is bringing in more resources? Yes. How do you handle that season? I hope the man will not come back and you sweep it in his face. That's your food, though. After all, your age mates are bringing money. Since you can't bring money, go and eat. And the man has learned the custom of coming back home late or not at all, because the only place he feels useless is with you. Everywhere else he's celebrated till he comes around you. And yet we blame that on the devil. We say men are king. You have destroyed the king in your own spouse and you honor another person's king. Don't emasculate women. And don't feminize men. Let's get the balance. Let's go back to the foundation. Let's go back to the original template. If you are a man, step up and lead. Lead your home as a man. Pray for her. Provide. It's not a big deal when you do it. It's your role. Step up.

Pray.

Lay hands. Do your priesthood duty. Inspire your children. You cannot take the back seat and expect her to sit down and die. Somebody will have to do the thinking. You must get the balance right and tell this generation, turn back from the path of destruction. There's no job yet, there's nothing yet, get out of the house, go to people, find something you can do. Don't lie down pressing phone, and this woman is thinking, I can't even buy bottled water, and he's there. Something will be— something will affect her mind. If nobody is going to sit at the driver's seat, the family will crash. Somebody will have to step up. So when we say women submit to be a man worthy of the submission, we must get the balance. If we don't function according to this balance, there are consequences, and the consequences are very bad, very, very bad. Amen. The hall is silent. Say, I hear. I hear. All right, all right. I have to round up now. There's also the consequence of perceiving marriage as a prison, that you are free until you are married. You are free until you are married. That's a bad ideology. That's a bad ideology. So I wrote here, and I'm going to wrap up with this statement, that the internet community that is validating what you are doing wrong will not be there with you to suffer the consequences. They won't be there to fend for your children. If you die in the process of what is wrong, your death won't make news. Let me come again. The internet community that is validating you to do what is bad, if you die in the process, no blog will post your body. Nobody will say you have died. It will look like the fall of an ant from a mountain. It will be unnoticed. Grow, build yourself. Don't overrate your importance. Don't die when you can live. Pay attention to details. Love God, love your family, and be very, very wise. Have you been blessed this morning?

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