UNDERSTANDING AND PREVENTING ERRORS THAT LEAD TO SCANDAL IN MINISTRY

You're watching Ambience TV. So I want to teach on the subject title: Understanding and Preventing the Errors of Scandal in Ministry. Okay, understanding and what? Preventing the error of what? Scandals in ministry. So it means that we are going to be opening up the anatomy of a scandal, um, this to help those that God is preparing for the next generation And, um, if probably there's someone who is already making certain mistakes that can ground and destroy what God is intending to do with your life, you can learn. Is that okay? Now let me show you a scripture as we commence. First, turn your Bibles please to the book of 1 Timothy. We're going to start from there. Let's go to chapter number 3. 1 Timothy chapter number 3. I need you to pay attention to this. Says, but if I tarry long— so verse 15 now— that you may know how you ought to behave yourself in the house of God, which is the Church of the Living God, the pillar and the ground of what? Truth. You should— so there is something called Christian conduct. Are you feeling what I'm saying here? Listen to what I'm saying. There is something called what? Christian conduct. There are ethics or moral codes that guides our activities as believers, and much more serious codes that guide our activities as pastors, as leaders, as ministers of the church. We cannot afford to give ourselves to frivolities. So he said, if I tarry long, that you may know how you ought to behave yourself In the house of God, it is the church of the living God. It ought to be the ground and the pillar of truth, and it's the place where people come to model how to live. So what that means is that there are things that should not be heard amongst us. There are things that should not be heard among believers. It takes a bad Christian to produce a bad pastor. Let me say this to you: you don't become bad when you become a pastor. Your character already has kelek. What destroys men at the top did not jump to meet them there, it followed them there. So most times people manage things that should be dealt with, and you assume that certain things are attacks. So you as a believer— this is a very important subject— what is your view? What is your understanding of the Christian conduct? As a single guy, what's your understanding of sexual purity? As a single lady, what's your understanding of sexual purity? As a married man, what's your understanding of sexual purity? What's your concept of integrity, faithfulness with money, with women? Or if, if we say we practice any Christianity that you can't tame your sexual appetite, that Christianity is fake. So I believe that God wants to give his children the opportunity to be repaired. Do you hear what I said? The opportunity to be what? Repaired. Let me tell you something. As I teach on this subject, there's no stone I will not touch. And I'm going to tell you something. It is not everyone you see holding the mic that is a servant of God. There are beasts on the altar. There are crooks on the altar. There are potential crooks. There are believers who are trusting God will use them but they are potential crooks. Every organization they function, they messed up themselves. See, we understand that we say come the way you are. It is an abomination to remain the way you are. There must be a sign that Jesus is doing something in your life. Nobody cares about what has happened in the past. Remember not the former things, neither consider the things of old. But he said, I will do a what? A new thing. And now it will all spring forth. There are certain weaknesses you don't manage in your secret place. You lift your voice and cry to God, and there are things that no matter how you cry, without voice of accountability, they won't go away. One of the damages the devil has done to the Nigerian church, church is the lack of voice of accountability and voice of truth. That somebody can look at you in the eye and say, hey, we know you are doing well here, but we're observing that you have the character of a predator. They are not going to come to that church again. How would they talk to me like that? Do you know how much I give? To hell with that money. The church of the living God is the ground and the pillar of what? Truth. It is the place where we model what is correct. So it means as a pastor, necessity is laid on me to live a pure life, because they that bear the vessels of the Lord, they bear it in sanctification and what? You know, I, I observed something when I was teaching about dysfunctional background. All right, I observed some of the stuff about dysfunctional background. People are quick to say, oh yes, I came from a dysfunctional background, my father, my mother this. But I also observed in other births, they making decisions that is not putting the next generation in consideration. It is very easy to play victim. But what I want to teach you now is your own responsibility as a believer. Say I hear. We have a responsibility to live pure, to represent Jesus in life and in conduct. When a man fails to learn from the mistakes of others, the man will learn from his own mistake. But mistakes are avoidable. It is possible to live your life without scars. Don't prepare to have a scar, then heal. Avoid scars. Learn, all right? Wise people learn from mistake of others. I tell people, if you don't learn from history, you will repeat it. You repeat it. You want to live your life in honor, see Jesus at the end of— I, I want to ask, this Christianity we are practicing, do we still intend to see Jesus? Come on, talk to me now. Or they have convinced you that there's no heaven. Do you intend to see Jesus? As a pastor, do you intend to see Jesus? Be careful, very careful. Mistakes are avoidable. They are not necessary if you will take serious lessons from those who have gone ahead of you. Now, what is a scandal? A scandal is an incident or event that damages reputation. A scandal is an incident or event that damages what? Reputation of the person or organization involved. So when you have a scandal, your reputation is damaged. I want to show you a few scriptures. Proverbs chapter number 3, verse 35. Proverbs chapter number 3, verse 35. Proverbs chapter number 3, verse 35 says, the wise shall inherit what? Glory. But shame shall be the promotion of fools. It means that if you decide to live your life foolishly, you will always face shame. You will not face shame. Do you know one of the worst shame that a person face is when they begin to ask you that, but you call yourself a Christian? Not those who are trying to gaslight you. You know what that means? Or they look at you and say, Pastor, how did you get here? Here you are with all the anointing. Here's a small girl saying, he touched me, and they are saying, oh yeah, come and say your own. You will not be in such shoes. There's nothing pleasant about shame. There's nothing beautiful about reproach. When the devil begins to tempt you in certain area, think of consequences. Sin is poisoned sugar. It is sweet for a while, but the end of it, the man will live his life, live his life in bitterness, biting his finger, wishing he never did. And there are things that once you start, you can't stop. Once you start, you can't stop. In the book of Psalms chapter number 11, verse 3, the Bible says, if the foundation be destroyed, what can the righteous do? So the foundation is what gives firmness, what holds. It is the quality of the foundation that determines the longevity of what is built. So you should not joke with the opportunity to have correct foundation as a Christian, because once your foundation is wrong, you'll be disappointed when you start building. You just notice that there are things you have no ability to say no to because you were not taught One of the things I believe churches must be doing now is discipleship. You have to prepare people to survive the onslaught of the last days. It is more critical now. Everywhere you turn, there's something suggestive. And that's why we spoke against indecent dressing in church. People shouldn't fight temptation outside, come to church and be closing their eyes too. Understand that if you are living a life where you as a Christian, whether married or unmarried, you are breaking the covenant of marriage, it's nothing to you— hey, there are consequences. There are consequences, and the consequences are serious. If you have not started it, don't, don't, don't go that route. You won't come back. If you have started, nobody needs to know anything. While this thing is— cry your heart to God. Only you can help me. Samson was a powerful guy. As long as the consecration was intact, eh, nobody could bring him down. Samson will, with his anointing, go and sleep in the house of Harlot, and they will tell him, Samson, you are the anointed man of God. He will carry the gate of the city on his shoulders. He was using power and demonstration to answer the question of consecration. And what he didn't realize is that the, the moment you switch off a fan or you move from the plug, that's not when it dies, but it is dying. You must know when the flame is going down. Nobody fall into fornication once. It is a journey. The devil preps people, preps your mind, gets you comfortable with certain things. I just get used to it, huh? The fools, the Bible said they will inherit what? Shame. You will not know what shame looks like. Let me tell you something. There is something sweeter. It is the dignity of fulfilling God's plan for your life, the dignity of integrity, that your children can look at you in your old age and say, I want to pattern my life after you. Not like while you are still alive, they are praying— their most important prayer is never look like Daddy. Not like when you are still alive, their most important prayer is never to look like Mommy. You will not disappoint the next generation. To every route people decide to go, there are consequences. There are consequences. When we're on campus, many of the people who were powerful on campus and loud and were sleeping with girls or touching them. Many of them are no longer in ministry. And those who embrace the doctrine of lasciviousness, that sin is dead, you can do anything, he has forgiven you of the sins past and future. Unless there's repentance, many of them will be nowhere to be found. Sat down to study statistics, I've studied the life of those who lasted, and I've observed one of the prerequisites we see in their lives is a life of devotion to prayer, one. Number two, life of devotion to study, two. Number three, holiness. You can't preach the good news if your life is a bad news. It is your life first. It is your life first. It is our lives first. It is our lives first. Imagine holding the mic to preach and there are several girls looking at you in the auditorium. With the chat of the pastor on their phone where he was describing some dirty things, and he will still have the audacity to lay hands on them and say, take it now. You, you, the strange things we do, the strange things that happen around the church. Let me show you a scripture also. Proverbs chapter number 24, verse 6. Proverbs chapter number 24, verse 6. For by wise counsel, you will make your war, and in multitude of what? There is what? Safety. Hey. By wise counsel you will make your war. In multi of counselors there is what? There's safety. When God wants your life preserved, he's going to plant you in places where— let me, let me give you example what I mean. Let me explain. Somebody came from a family where what the devil has done to damage people in that family is immorality. All right, immorality, things, um, people were powerful, people have tried to rise with the call of God upon their lives, but they always fall for the sin of immorality and they are damaged. When God wants to help you, God is going to put you in a spiritual family that the lifestyle there, by aligning yourself with it, you have escaped that pattern. So don't pretend. Align, align. It is possible to be sexually pure. Oh yes, I believe that God is raising voices of truth. I didn't hear amen to that. People will not defile their bed. True shepherds who will not defile God's people. Let me show you what God said in the book of Ezekiel, chapter number 34. Now, this is a very, very scary scripture. Ezekiel 34. Now let's start reading from verse 2. Ezekiel 34, from verse 2. You look at it. Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say unto them, thus says the Lord God unto the shepherds: Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! Should not the shepherd feed the flocks? Verse 3: You eat the fat, you clothe you with the wool, and kill them that are fed, all right, but you kill not the flock. So it's not everybody who claims to be a shepherd that is keeping the flock. Some are killing the flocks. Mhm. There are wolves in sheep clothing. Don't become one. That's the first message. Don't become one. Don't become one. We must fear God. That one day, so it doesn't matter what the impressions of people are about you, you will stand before Jesus, the owner of the church, the one who shed his own precious blood for the church, and tell him what you did. Don't become one. Don't destroy yourself. Don't destroy God's people. When you as a pastor or as a leader or as a respected person begins to go in the path of error, particularly sexually around the opposite sex, you are damaging their conscience. I was in a place to minister And the Lord gave me a word of knowledge that there's a girl here who is— who has been abused by her pastor. See me privately. Girl came. The pastor was sleeping with her for about 3 years and will tell her to consider it a privilege that an anointed man disvagina A privilege. Unfortunately, not everybody holding the mic are prepared and trained for ministry, particularly in a place where there's no structure of accountability. And many of these things don't just jump. People start from the scratch. Don't start the journey you can't finish. It is corrupt Christians that become corrupt pastors. Oh yes, don't. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, you will finish well. Oh, I didn't hear that. Amen. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, you will finish well. You will not bring shame to the name of Jesus. You will not destroy the reputation of the cross. Let's turn our Bibles to the book of James, chapter number 1. James 1, from verse 13. We start from verse 13 to 14. Let no man say— James 1, from verse 13 to 14— when he's tempted, all right, that I'm tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil. Neither tempt he any man. Yes, but every man is tempted when he's drawn away in his own lust. They're enticed. Verse 15: Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bring forth what? Death. So the Bible is showing us that there's a journey. The journey is first it enters the gate of your mind through your eyes. When is the best time to deal with lust? The moment it's entering. The moment there's a suggestion, kill it there. That moment you look at that person and something just triggers your mind, curse it, shut it down. You notice you are getting sexually attracted to a person, then you are making occasions and avenues to be alone with the person. So you now cry and say, God, help me. So the Bible is saying this thing doesn't just start. It is first something you conceive as lust. Some things are only conceived because we are not conscious of the fact that we're in God's presence. That when you lock the door with that girl, her father is there. She may be vulnerable, but her God is watching. When you use your revered anointed seat to bring down ladies who honor you because of your office, the one who anointed you is watching. And he's asking, is this what I anointed you for? There are many ministries that become monument. What they have is the shadow of the past and how to manage it till they die. Can't destroy the future because of one feeling. Don't live a life that your children will struggle to walk on the street because their father could not zip up. At a certain point, it must be obvious that you're not living for yourself alone. That's leadership. Say it loud and clear: I am not living for myself alone. I am a good man. If a woman say, I'm a good woman and I fear the Lord. Uh-uh, say it again. I fear God. I fear God. I cannot get my hands into sin. I fear God. I fear God. If you are serving under a pastor who begins to touch you sexually, from the moment the fellow start touching you, he lacks the capacity to continue pastoring. Note it, he lacks the capacity. Your pastor can sexually, um, touch you, talking to you sexually, and you say he has repented, then you continue under that same pastor? No. It's a golden rule. It's a golden rule, and I'm saying this as a pastor. Cry to God for grace daily. Where sin abides, grace abides much more. Grace is not an antidote after sin. It empowers you above it. It empowers you to lead that life in Christ. There are, there are, there are more. The devil is a bastard. There are more interesting things. I'm telling you, think about the joy of pastoring young people, some of them from their secondary school days, and as they are maturing, you are handing them over to their husbands. You have not become a useless father, one that the husband will have to continue from where you stop. Are you aware there are people who sleep with girls and still wed the girl to another man and then still continues? One of the ways you know you are preparing yourself for a mess is that you struggle to preach against it so that you can create an atmosphere where it is normal. Oh yes, that's the journey. The moment you can't preach against it, it is so that you can be convenient in it. Can you boldly preach against sin? Lift your hands. Say, God help me. God help me. God help me. Say it again. Say, God help me. All right, in this teaching, I'm going to be looking more into errors that leads to personal scandals, not organizational scandal, personal scandals. Your life now, want to shine the touch where? On your own life. Your life. Take heed to your life and to your ministry. If you are going to last, there are lifestyles you can't build. Are you following what I'm saying here? If you are going to last, there are things you can't start. Then if you are going to last, there are people you can't move with because they don't share your value in fearing God, in revering him. It looks like there's a point in ministry that people get to that the fear of God dies. When you notice such in people, you can't move with them. Sometimes your pastor may not be in heaven, but it matters what he endorses. Okay, I want to be plea I want to make today is that you value what God has placed on your life before you become formally anointed. There's no beauty in being an ex-champion. There's no beauty, there's no glory in it. There is nothing the devil gives in this life that will not end in pain and shame. There's nothing. It is the pleasure of sin for a season. It is the pleasure for a season, then the regret catch up with the person. So let me begin to point your attention to the errors that leads to sexual scandals in ministry, and this is one of the very serious cause of church out. Many people went to church trusting God that they are safe, but they didn't know that they were safer in the club than the church they were now attending. Such will not happen amongst us. I didn't hear amen to that. Wisdom is always profitable to direct. Anywhere wisdom is in place, the result of that arrangement is glory. Anytime you choose to live by wisdom, you will inherit glory. But the moment you choose to live with foolishness, the consequence is the same— shame. It doesn't matter when. It may take time to catch up. It may take time, but it will catch up. So we are going to be examining step by step and step by step some of the things that leads to sexual scandals in ministry. Number 1: spiritual decadence. Write it down. Before you fall, the devil first and foremost will attack your spiritual life. I'm going to give you an illustration of what I mean now. If you are there, say amen. Amen. Now look at this. 2 Samuel chapter number 11. We'll start the reading from verse 1. 2 Samuel chapter number 11 from verse 1. And after— okay, so, and it came to pass after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, all right, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the children of Ammon. So this was the kind of battles that kings go for. Because the sovereignty of their kingdom is threatened. So the reason why David was able to see what he saw here was because when he ought to be in the battlefront, he was relaxing. So David, still at Jerusalem, verse 2 now. And it came to pass in the evening tide that David arose from his bed and walked upon the roof of the king's house. And from the roof he saw a woman washing herself, and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. He went on to describe. There's a very serious principle for honor in life. You want to live your life in honor? Go where you are told to go and do what you are told to do, period. That's the principle. Go where you are told to go, do what you are told to do. Go where you are told to go, do what you are— it's not difficult, it's not difficult, not hard. Go where you are told to go, do what you are told to do, period. Why did David not go to battle? And let me tell you, you are most likely going to fall The moment you start becoming big in your own sight, many of you are too quick to remove the memorials of your wilderness days. You are too quick to forget where God took you from. The days you could not even afford Gary, could you afford to book an hotel for a girl? How can God bring you out of that? And what you are thinking about now is to use the precious blessings of God to satisfy your own lust. Don't forget when you were small in your own eyes and God brought you up by himself. Deuteronomy chapter number 8. Now let's start the reading from verse 2. Led you these 40 years in the wilderness So don't forget your wilderness days. Don't, don't forget your wilderness days before you became this big man of God. Those friends that you were fasting together— hey, now you are big, but don't be quick to break that place because you want to prove that you're a big man. You will get lost without remedy. You should remember all the way which the Lord your God led you these 40 years in the wilderness, to humble you, to prove you, to know what is in your heart, whether you will keep his commandment or not. Meaning that your wilderness days is not a waste. Don't mourn it. The experience, the pain of when you have to wait to see answers is important. Keep it as a memorial. So that when you start feeling bigger than your— you remember where God took you from. Do you still remember where God took you from? Do you still remember the season that what you have now was a prayer point? The season that you look at a day like today and you never really thought it could happen? Money is not bad, but once it detaches you from the memory of the wilderness days, it will destroy you. Grow old, but don't lose your childlikeness. Remain that baby before God, one who trembles at iniquity, one who fears Huh? Remain that child he found. He told Saul, he said, when you were small in your own eyes, did I not pick you as a captain over my ship? The issue is that God lifts people, then the first person they fight is God. Lift your hand and say, I remember, I remember. Do you, do you know? Let me ask you, do you remember? Now let me ask you, do you remember? Do you remember where God picked you from? Do you remember? I do. I always remember. And when I remember, my heart trembles. That's why I share this story. In fact, you start knowing that you have problem when you start denying your own stories. Last year, Sphere of Light Church was not like this. The day we have 20 people on a Sunday morning, that's a blessing. I will come down on the street of Uyie and my shabatu will be walking and praying. God, we know you sent us here. When things begin to happen, I will not forget the consecration of those days. Anything can grow, but I'm see that child. Let God open the door of how many nation, I am see that child you found. If you master this principle, there's no door that open to you. God will be able to trust you much more. When people start becoming big, they start trimming off the voice of correction from their life so that they can do what they want to do. Don't be like that, huh? Now he said to know what is in your heart, whether you will keep his commandment or no. Now look at verse 3: And he humbled you and suffered you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you know not, neither did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God. Meaning that the wilderness days was a school. It was a school where God wants you to know that the most important thing you live with is the word. I beg you, I beg fathers, I beg mothers, I beg young boys, I beg young girls, I beg those who are divorced, those who are about you. Think. There are consequences. The moment you choose a direction, you can no longer stop the consequence. There are consequences. Ultimately, God is the lifter of men, not Nobody can lift anybody. Only God, who sees the intent of the heart, does. If we live that life that is pure before him, he will in no time lift us. And even if he doesn't, yet we will not deny him. There are consequences. The day I stood at the altar with my wife, and they said, do you accept this woman as your lawful wedded wife, to hold and to cherish, to love and to dwell, that till death do you part? And you said, I do. Ah, that's not a small word. There are consequences to that statement. When you say I do, stay by it. There is grace. I said there is grace. Let me say this to you: attraction is about focus. If you focus on your spouse, she'll become many things to you. If you— you cannot lust after another woman unless you have stopped seeing your own spouse, unless you get to the point that when you look at your spouse, you no longer see her. That's why I like to ask the question: do you still see your spouse? When you look at your wife, do you see her? Do you sometimes take your phone and stare at the picture of your own wife, not the picture of another girl? Do you check your wife's status and gush over the pictures? Oh, thank God for my wife. If you were not married to that your wife and she was that girl and still looking like this, you might have lusted after her. Lust is not about the person, it's about you. If you don't deal with it, you can lust after a mad woman. Uh-uh, it's not about the person. You are lusting not because the person is fine, but because there's a weakness there. Oh yes. When you look at your spouse, what do you see? Nothing is small unless it is compared. Nothing. The moment you say yes, I do, You know, in the East, when you serve your boss, they settle you, huh? That woman, God has settled you. There's nothing you are doing serving again. Leave the market. He has settled you. Go start your own shop. Once, once you say I do, break the antenna, lose the ability to pick signals again. Let me tell you this, you can either be a good husband, or you are hotspot. Hotspots that you can connect multiple Wi-Fi to. Shut your hotspot down. Stop connecting anywhere. You see virus, connect. There's nothing that is more dignifying than a life of integrity. Integrity is sweet, and God will keep you. So don't forget the days of hunger. Don't forget the days that he caused you to eat manna that you don't know anything about, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone. Hi. A boy went to serve, um, in one state years back. He became the papa of the Christian Fellowship. I don't want to mention which of them. He was sleeping with 3 girls in the family house, impregnated 2, then impregnated another woman in the PPA, a married woman. So it got her pregnant. The woman couldn't help, she, she couldn't hold it. She had to cry to somebody who now cried to the husband. When the husband heard, out of anger, he cut off the head of the guy. We are saying, go where you are told to go. And do what you are told to do, lest you give your honor to others. You're panicking. I, I saw a video one time. The guy was in the bed You know what I'm talking about. David, the phone rang. The wife was in the parlor. He came out with speed. The way he fell and hit his head on the ground, he could die. Why put yourself at such risk? He could die. Came out, boom, on the floor. Where's my phone? Where's my phone? Hey, so, so pick my call again. What are you hiding that is that serious? There's no peace for the wicked. Huh? True or not true? I said there's no peace for the wicked. There's no peace. You don't have peace. You don't have peace. Each time your wife rounds, you are checking, has she seen it? When will you rest? When will you rest? When will you rest? When will you rest? When will you rest? Look at your neighbor and say, rest. Preach the gospel to another neighbor. Say, you don't look like it, but I insist. Rest, rest, rest. I can't get the memory of that video off my head. He came out like the sun entered the bedroom. Pow! On the floor. The head, it was the back of his head. Where's my phone? Where's my phone? Okay, what if you die there? Some people use Face ID. The man is sleeping, the wife is trying to— no peace, no rest. Hey, they cut off that boy's head once. He was supposed to come back with NYC certificate, but they brought his dead body back home and they put it there. Before you get to the point where you are trying to pay many people to keep quiet, not to expose you, start saying, eh, don't let them know that this abortion— God is giving you a yoke that is easy and a burden that is light. It is light, and you are going to be able to sleep well and live a good life. It is light. At the end of my journey on earth, I want my life to be about serving God, that I came and I did my part. Not, uh, look at the number of girls he messed up. And he said he's a man of God. It won't be your portion. Ah, it won't be your portion. You won't taste shame. You are seeing victory now, you will not know defeat. It is first and foremost spiritual decadence. David was there. When he should be at the war front. So he said to someone, said, that girl that is bathing there, go and call her. And they called the girl. He was calling the wife of one of his trusted soldiers. People can be in the battlefield fighting for you, but you are here encroaching into their home. He called her. Delilah came— sorry, Bathsheba came. Ah, King David, you sent for me! I'm so privileged and honored. That girl that is saying, I'm so honored to shake hands with you, before she start calling you Femi Lazarus, say, how dare you talk to me like that? Hey, take caution. Ah, King David, such a privilege to be in the palace. This place is so beautiful. You know David has sweet mouth. Look at the Psalms. Give ear, thou Shepherd of Israel. You will lead Jacob like a flock. You dwell between the cherubims. Shine forth Copy and paste in human language. He slept with her, she went, then she came back. And when she came back, now she said, David, hey David, David, I'm pregnant. Well, we did. Do you know who had the audacity to call him David? Granddaughter of Ahitophel, his friend. Not daughter, granddaughter. When lust covers the eyes, you will not even see who it is extended to. The granddaughter. Say, you are pregnant? How do we do it now? Say, okay, I know what I'm going to do. Um, let's invite, um, Uriah. Let him come. Say, Joab, send me Uriah. After all, I'm the king. A privileged position. He called Uriah. Hey Uriah, how you doing? He said, fine. How is the battlefront? Fantastic. You will not be Uriah in Jesus' name, but come, come. So you even look like David. How is the battlefront? He said, fine, very fine. How is Joab doing? He said, very fine. Wow, you must be tired, Uriah. You should get some rest. I discovered that you got married 3 months before you went to war. According to the custom, you should not be fighting. You should be with your wife. That's another lesson for married people. Don't let overzealousness kill your time with your spouse. Uriah ought to stay a year with his wife before going. That's the law. But that's not the matter now. He said, Uriah, go in and meet your wife. Then Uriah said, oh King, I honor you, sir. Joab, my master, is in the field. The Ark of Covenant is in the tent. How can I go in to my wife? I can't. David said, really? Now you go. Then he said, come back. Then he got him drunk, so drunk, and he said, your house is just few blocks away. Now you can go. Now in his drunken state, he's left outside. The following morning, he said, 'You didn't go?' 'I didn't go.' What is the first lesson there? If God said, 'I have found a man after my heart,' that doesn't mean you are the best man. If it was about nobility, this guy is better. He will not even touch his own wife, but you had wives and you touch another man's wife. So David said, okay, since you have chosen this route, there's just one thing I can do. He wrote a letter, Joab, put this guy where the battle is hot. Where the valiant men are fighting. So when the battle becomes strong, let them withdraw from him. And he gave him, and he knew this guy will not open it. What is that telling David? You are about to kill the best of your men, or because they sin? You can destroy the best of your people that God has given you. Once lust comes in, you can destroy your own trusted soldiers, you can destroy your own trusted men. And Uriah said, thank you, sir, and took it there without opening it and gave it to Joab. Come. Joab was reading the letter and will look at Uriah. Read the letter and look at Uriah. Are you a fool? You mean you didn't open this? Maybe he asked him, did you open this? Did you know? Do you know what's inside? Say no. Say okay. Looked at him, looked at the letter. And Joab must have said, David is at it again. Where do you think Joab got the effrontery to kill Absalom when David said let no man touch him? Because of what they usually cook together. It's the life he led them to cook. When the battle became fierce, he must have met Uriah, very strong man. Today we are promoting you. You fight with the generals. That's where you belong. And I envision that he must have had a private meeting with those ones as the battle get fierce, watching. He's a zealous man. He fight without checking his company. Withdraw. And they withdrew till he was killed, regardless of the collateral damage. Then they went back, and David moved on like no man's business. The man after God's heart. Please sit down. So the armies of Israel moved on until Nathan came. He said, there's a man who has several sheep, and he has a neighbor that has one. One day he had a visitor, he took that of his neighbor, killed it. What do you think should be done for such a man? David said, hey, to pay tenfold, he should do this and do all that. Then Nathan said, you are the man. God said, when your master Saul died, did I not give you all his wives? If you needed more, would I not have given you? Say, but you went into the wife of your servant Uriah. You killed him and took the wife. If you read Matthew 1, you will see how God immortalized the guy. When Solomon was mentioned, he said the son of Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, not the wife of David. Such smooth work is not a day job. Be careful of the journey the devil is taking you to with daily negligence of devotion, daily compromising, daily breaking of the standards. Be careful, be careful. Jesus told Peter, he said, the devil has desired you that he might sift you like wheat. Said, but I've prayed for you. I stood outside here, I'll tell you, praying. People were walking. And I saw a spirit over this city, the spirit of immorality. The strategy is simple: smite the shepherd and the sheep will scatter. So it means, as a shepherd, you are a gatekeeper. And that's why you pray for your pastors. No, let's leave it. In the name of Jesus Christ, you won't fall. Amen. Each level of decline in your spiritual life activates something. Each level of decline in your spiritual life activates something. It's just like battery. When you ought to be 100% and you are 90%, there are possibilities that that reduction has activated. It could start with anxiety, it could be fears, it could be anything. They activated by the reduction. You go to 50%, More things have been activated, but they are all getting activated gradually. So you may not know. You get to 20%, ah, at such level you may not even be able to operate to save your life. You need spiritual resuscitation. Be in the company of those who get you fired up. One of the ways you know you are going down is when you start avoiding prayer gatherings, because there's no other way to be edified. Are you there? Some believers are running on 5%, and they will carry that 5% throughout the entire year. 5%. They can do well without prayer. They can do well without study. They can do well without fasting. They can do— they, they've just learned to have an economy of existence. You cannot function in the will of God without being on fire for him. Leviticus 6:12: The fire should not depart from the altar. The priest, you burn wood on it every morning. You cannot function God's plan for you without being on fire. Number 2, second error that leads to scandal: wrong association. Wrong association. The company of fools will always be destroyed. There are things you don't want to do, you don't do, but you are convenient around those who do them. You say, I don't drink. All your friends are drinking. I don't club. All your friends are clubbing. I don't do— I don't carry women. All your friends are carrying women. Now there are women carrying men. You stay there, it's not possible, they will carry you. You don't do all the— because now let me say this to you, what you see shows you what is possible. And as long as you believe it is possible, it's just a matter of time before you become convenient with it. What you don't do, don't excuse it. I don't move with friends who don't love their wives. Ah, ah, I don't want to repeat pattern. Say you don't love your wife every time. No, I can't deal. I can't deal. Number 3, third error that leads to scandals in life and ministry: lack of proper discipleship. Lack of discipleship. Some are simply not trained or refuse to be trained. Refuse to be discipled. Who discipled you? How did you get into ministry? Who is the voice of correction over your life? Who can tell you stop that nonsense and you stop? Whose name can your wife mention and she knows that your head will be correct? Or you are not afraid of anybody. I only fear God, don't fear any man. I'm a wall. It is sweet initially as a lady, you are marrying a man who is not answerable to anybody, till you begin to face the consequences. And I can tell you the consequences are deeper than you can think. And nobody can say, what are you doing? It doesn't matter how much you feel my teachings bless you. For my head to be correct completely, the voices that make sure that my head is correct— there are people my wife say, I will call now.— He's not up to that now. I was just playing. You adjust. Factory setting is restored because those things are there for your preservation. You gave yourself convenient doctrines. I just go to church. I don't do pastors. I don't really get close to anybody. Who wants to get close to you? Let's just go to church. Just go to church. Really? Really? And that girl too, as he's talking all those things, say, I just like my guy. That's my baby. Your baby is doing, "Go, go, go, go!" Yes, baby. I like it when you sound wild. I like when my man is strong. Strong and powerful. We'll see you in a matter of time. I said something, many of you didn't take it serious. I said before you say I do to a guy, go and check his Twitter account. At least that community give room for freedom of speech. When you are married, you will be free. So know what his freedom looks like. He's cursing, twang jabs, do all those things, trolling. I just like guys who are outspoken. That's, that's how I like them to be. I like them young, free, and wild. Amazing combination. Young, very free, wild. Wild animals. Wild animals ought to be in the zoo. Or in the forest. It doesn't matter how gentle a lion is, it needs to bite you just once. Unfortunately, the easiest way to be hated as a pastor is to counsel a girl who is in love with a foolish man. I say don't do it. They will come for you. Those who don't want us to get married, see what the Lord has done. They will even put Nathan Embasi there. See what the Lord has done. See what the Lord has done. How many pastors have decided not to be wicked? Say you like it. I like it. This is the guy. Say this is the guy. I sure, I sure. Are you sure? Father, heal the broken-hearted, mend the broken walls. I really am not a fan of counseling because many times people have made up their mind. They just want your endorsement. Endorse my rubbish. They told you to go and pray, and we shall be praying. Let me even say something, self. This one that you meet people in— maybe I should leave it. Okay, since you have asked me to talk, all right, just make sure You hear what I'm saying? Okay, well, let me say it. You know, when you give yourself time that I must marry, you also forget to add what you must marry. If a fool come within that time frame, I must marry. The culture that subdued women to a point that your destiny has not started till you are married. The wicked culture. A man will be making it, getting results, and fine as single, but a girl doesn't feel her life is fine. She mourns her single days and feels incomplete till a guy comes. And they say that men are the crown on the woman's head. Christ is the crown on your head, because a fool will make you look like a witch. They will mess up your life and still tell you you're at fault. Check what you want to marry. Wrong association. Before I move with any man of God or allow the person step on our platform, I want to see the person's relationship with the wife. The testimony of your Christianity is in that much more than the of your message. Fools can speak in loud tongues because the Holy Spirit doesn't check sanity. Oh yes, all the gifts of the Holy Spirit doesn't come and say, hey, hey, You say receive the Holy Ghost, say no, no, no, he's a narcissist, I will not enter. No, no, you will enter like that with the hope that begin to repair the person. Tongues is not an endorsement that he's a good man or a good woman. I tell you, somebody can finish praying the tongue, finish all those, go and stab the husband. Stab 12 times, man is dead. What I'm saying is dead. The day people married, the people that killed them, they danced, but they didn't know that a deal has been signed. Okay, one of the very important quality I was looking out for in a woman before I married was kindness. Are you kind? How do you treat people who are not as fortunate as you? Are you a true Christian? Are you a true child of God? Let me give you a gist as I begin to round up. If while you are single with your spouse you were messing up with her, then she has the right to struggle to trust you, because she what you were both doing. Okay, sorry, sorry. Are you still in church? Yes, sir. Number 4: improper structure around the opposite sex. Some of the errors that lead to scandal: improper structure. So there should be structure in everything. Communication structure. Don't use baby. Femi Lazarus is not your wife, or you are in a relationship together. Don't use babe. Don't say, you know, I just like to— I'm just a very sweet personality. No, don't use darling. Don't use dear. Hmm. Every time you want to hug, every time you want to hug, every time you want to hug. What fire are you quenching? She shakes, stretch her hand and shake you, say, come on, come on, every time you want to hug, hug. And when they hug you, don't release the person on time, you want to hold tight every time you want to hug. And there are people that when they, when they are talking to you, they don't even know boundaries. They are talking to you, they are touching your chest, That's sexual abuse. Female to male now, it exists. Oh yes, they almost touching your head and say, ah, see now, yeah. Have structure. Have what? Have what? I don't have female pié. Pié. Ah, ah. Improper structures around the opposite sex. Understand boundaries. Boundary— creating boundaries is a sign of humility that you don't overrate yourself. Don't overrate your strength. You are not as powerful as you think. Even mighty men fall. Why are the mighty falling? The weapon of warfare perish. There's nobody that can't fall. That's why we have boundaries. Number 5, unfaithfulness with money. Now we have seen that those who are unfaithful with money And mostly 90% of cases are also unfateful with women. Don't be imbezu. Before a pastor start having the effrontery to touch church money, touch church girls, he must usually first start touching church money. It is familiarity with that that get him convenient to go into other things. Be careful of creating an environment that accountability is missing. Let me tell you this, you can't really fall until you have found a way to demote your wife as a male. Yes, before— go and check. Let me just leave it. Any ministry that there is immorality, one of the ways you know is that the man of God will find a way to make sure the wife is not seen or heard. He's the big man, he's the only anointed. Be careful, don't create structures that will make it convenient for you to fall. Let me come again. Don't create structures that will make it convenient for you to fall. Create structures that will make it impossible for you to fall. Teach on what is right. Train anybody on what to do in case you lose your senses, so that you don't lose your senses. Oh yes, are you there? Huh? Be faithful with money. If a man is unfaithful with unrighteous mammon, how can he be trusted with more of the pleasant riches? Number 6, premature enthronement. Some of the errors that leads to scandals in ministry, also overrating people. Let me give a formula. Abraham armed his trained servant. You don't arm people before you train them. You train first. And in training people, you are not looking for charisma, you are looking for character. Don't put the one who has charisma above the one who has character. Charisma is loud, the crowd gather around it, but it's the man of character that will last. Look ye out among you, Acts 6, 7 men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom. Wisdom may not be loud, but it will last. Whom we can appoint over this work. So anybody who can't subscribe to training is not qualified to lead. And in order for you to know how to train people, be trained too, because any lesson the coach has missed will become the weakness of the team. If you trust and believe that God is preparing a future for you, you'll be trained for it. You will not fight training, you prepare yourself for it. Number 7, enthronement of a previous offender without due diligence to be sure that the fellow has repented. Maybe somebody has been caught. Bible says that a man be caught in immorality, let them with the spirit of wisdom, um, of meekness restore such a person. I have done several research done a lot of— some publications on the subject of cancer, breast cancer, other forms. One of the things we have found out is that cancers come from pre-existing cancers, meaning that one of the things that make people have the tendency to have it again is the fact that they have once taken one out. So when you want to operate a cancer patient to cut out the cancer mass, you understand that cancerous cells can spread without signs. So you want to go beyond the visible signs and get inside. That's why you hear that they operate on people, after some months they are seeing signs again, because it spread first without signals. If you know that some of the things I'm teaching today, maybe in the past you have fallen for it before, you have more work to do. Expose yourself to the ray of the light of the word to destroy those cells. That's why light is one of the things used in treating cancer. It can kill the cells. Allow yourself to be exposed to the word. Receive with meekness the engrafted word of God, which is able to save your soul. You will receive it with meekness. I have made this mistake before, but I don't want to live that lifestyle. You tell yourself that. I don't want to do it again. So what do you do? You build structures. You don't excuse it— I did— and create avenue for it to be thriving. God wants to sanitize his body, and I noticed that there's something God wants to do in this city. He wants to purge this city of impurity. He wants to purge the body of Christ of impurities, of lies, of deception. He wants to raise a new army without greed. He's starting something new and he's asking, can I count on you? Can I trust you with my girls? Can I trust you with my money? Can I trust you with all this? I'm not going to call any altar call, but I want to give us 2 minutes, everyone across all our centers. That 2 minutes, if you can lay on the floor, lay on the floor. If you can kneel, kneel. X-ray your heart before God. Is this something you are dealing with? Is it something you notice that, hey, if I keep on with this journey for the next 2 months, 3 months, I might end up there. But now I am seeing the wall. Lord, help me! Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me! Don't pretend, don't fake it, try to look special, don't try to look powerful. Don't deceive yourself, don't deceive yourself, don't deceive yourself. Don't try to pretend. See, he is God. He is faithful and just to forgive us and restore us. He doesn't throw away wounded soldiers. He heals them completely. He wants to heal you. He's not here to mock you, laugh at you, and say, look at you. No, he's your Father, ever reaching out his hands. I want to help you. I want to heal you. I want to restore you. Don't be hardened. Say, Jesus, help me, help me, help me, help me, help me. Restore me, Lord. Restore unto me the joy of my salvation and renew your right spirit within me. Restore the joy of my salvation. Jesus, help me. Restore me, Lord. It is possible to live a sexually pure life. It is possible to serve God with purity of heart. It is possible in this corrupt and perverse world It is possible to be genuine, and the Lord is giving you strength, is giving you grace, is supplying you with strength. Say, come unto me that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. I will give you rest. That's the rest he's giving you. That's the rest he's giving you. That's the rest he's giving you. He's giving you rest. Thank you, Lord. We bless your holy name. In Jesus' mighty name we're praying. Everyone, wherever you are, lift up your hands. Everyone. My Father, my God, I want to thank you because you are allowing this word to come at such a time as this, that you can do something entirely new with your children and give them the opportunity for a new beginning. I ask for strength for everyone here. Please release strength, Father. There's anyone here who is struggling I love you genuinely, but the struggle is real. I am asking my Father and my God, please supply grace. Is anyone here who is already face down, maybe in mess and situations they can't even explain? Restore them, Lord. We pray for the body of Christ. That you will restore every wounded soldier, every ministry that is at the verge of disintegration because the devil came in and broke the walls. Please restore them. I myself, as your servant, I receive grace for myself and my family. We receive grace. Strengthen everyone, Lord. Satan, you will not come near this place. And if there's anyone who is broken because you served under a wolf that looked like a shepherd, the Lord will restore you. He will heal your heart. He will bring you back to place. Grace is released in Jesus' mighty name. All right, have you been blessed tonight? Let's give Jesus big, big, big hand. Today is the day of salvation, and you know what that means? It is the day for you to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. God so loved you, he sent his only begotten Son to this world to die for your sins. There is no sin too big, nothing you have done that is beyond redemption. The hand of God is outstretched to you wide for you to accept him today into your life and end all that the devil is trying to do with your life. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, if any man be in Christ, a new creature, all things are passed away. And the Bible says all things are new. May I announce to you that all things can be new today. How do you give your life to Christ? Believe that Jesus is the Son of God sent to this world to die for your sins, and he rose on the third day for your justification. And today he's extending his hands to you to accept him as your Lord and Savior. And all you have to do is to hold out your hands and say these words after me: Lord Jesus, I believe that you came into this world to die for my sins. I believe that you died for my sins. I also believe that that you arose on the third day for my justification. Today I accept you as my Lord and Savior, and I accept this gift of eternal life. In Jesus' name, amen. May I announce to you, if you have made that decision, that there is so much joy in heaven right now. Angels are rejoicing, and there's so much joy. We have a contact on the screen and a barcode for you to scan if you have just made that decision. So that we will be able to reach you and help you get discipled and get you grounded in the rudiments of the gospel. I love you so much. We can't wait to see you again. Keep watching Ambience TV. God bless you.