MODERATE YOUR LIFE STYLE.

First Lesson: 1st Corinthians Chapter 10 verse 12

"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."
Second Lesson: Galatians Chapter 6 verse 1
"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore suc
h an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempt
ed."
Golden Text: 1st Corinthians Chapter 6 verse 12
"All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are
lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any."
We are now going to be fed with another Word of God. Look unto the Cross which i
s the Word of God. Our salvation comes from this Cross. The word is salvation an
d good health. Those who are sleeping should wake up and those who are involved
in unnecessary conversations should discontinue forthwith and fix their gaze at
the Word of God. Listen attentively to the word of today because it is going to
be unique. If you go to somebody's house and you find that a cane is kept somewh
ere in that house, know there is an offender in that house who is always caned.
All the things you see in the world come with their own temptations. If you find
somebody always talking realise, there is somebody who excites him to be talkin
g all the time. Also, if you find an individual who is given so much to patience
, the day he will explode he will pull down the building. In the same vein, whoe
ver laughs and smiles all the time, you will think he is an easy going man, you
have to beware, because the day he frowns you will become scared of him.
At times you call somebody to come and drink with you, but he gives you an excus
e that since he was born he had never tasted drink, but for the sake of what he
knows best he says: let me take a little bit of it. And he will taste a little o
f the wine but instantaneously, change his countenance on the grounds, it does n
ot taste good. He will ask whether that is what you people have been drinking; a
nd will conclude, "I can never take that thing, you are very strong to drink tha
t!" The process of tasting the wine will continue unceasingly for many days. The
man may be tempted to taste the wine a second day, a third day, and on the four
th day he will still taste a little bit of it and as he tastes the wine his tast
e increases to such a climax, he can consume a whole container of wine which you
, who invited him cannot drink.
I have told you continuously, the wares that I have brought I am yet to open my
bag. The only requirement I want from you today is, you should lend me your ears
. I want you to listen attentively; I want you to fix your gaze at me and break
the walls of your heart and receive the gospel of this day. I sincerely implore
that nobody should disturb today. There is a local adage which says: "where a we
eping child points at, if you look at that direction, if the father is not there
, the mother will be there." And whenever a little child cries if you observe cl
osely you will discover, the child is afflicted one way or the other; or he is h
ungry, or the child is thirsty or looks for the mother or something else. There
is no child who cries without a cause.
God made this covenant: the Holy Bible, which contains His words, so it could be
used to groom us so, we will not perish. You have heard what our first lesson s
ays: "wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall," whoev
er thinks he stands should take heed lest he will fall. It could be light and un
important as you have heard, but should I expatiate on that statement it will ta
ke us years to finish. That explains why you cannot find a man of God that will
not forsake God either in life or death. But to such a person, at the sight of a
minute temptation he becomes weak and unable to offer prayers, cannot sing, and
discourages others from singing too. Did the Father not warn you, "whoever thin
keth he standeth should take heed lest he fall." When the Word of God falls on t
he ground it breaks mighty rocks and on getting up accomplishes the will of God.
When you hear one aspect of the Word of God, investigate it properly, pray ferv
ently for the father to reveal same to you, else, if you take it less important,
you will have yourself to blame. If you look at the entire world, mankind does
not take anything seriously. And because mankind does not take anything seriousl
y, he does not also give regard to his fellow man, and that accounts for man's d
emoralizing position now.
BE NOT CONTROLLED BY TRANSIENT THINGS:
You have heard what our second lesson says: "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in
a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness;
considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." That is the tap root of the dow
nfall of many people in the world. The golden text is more wonderful than the fi
rst and the second lessons. It says: "All things are lawful unto me, but all thi
ngs are not expedient." You should not be ruled or controlled by anything. Every
food is delicious; every song is melodious, and every dance is dexterous in the
eyes of the beholders, but do not allow these things to get control over you. I
f you allow yourself to be ruled by these things it means you have failed. That
is why, you are asked to be moderate in everything you want to do. Ask yourself
this question and search yourself. Are you not controlled by anger? If you ask s
omebody what rules over him he will conclude, he is always impatient and easily
given to anger. Are you not controlled by falsehood? For one minute if you do no
t tell lies you are uncomfortable. Are you not also controlled by food? At times
, you argue, you cannot fast for even one minute nor can you stay for some hours
without food, when you complain in this manner, don't you consider yourself bei
ng controlled by food? Are you not controlled by fish and meat? Are you not also
controlled by the spirit of backbiting and despising others? If you stay withou
t these atrocious behaviours you cannot sleep. What about wiles? Every person in
the world is trickish; there is no straight-forward person in the world. The bl
acks and the whites have become tricksters. Is the entire world not controlled b
y sins? That is why, it is said, all things are good but not everything is exped
ient to do.
If you do not take heed, there is abundance of drinks of assorted colours and ta
stes; abundance of all types of food; which you will drink and eat and meet your
Waterloo. Even now, you indulge in medication, tablets, injections and syrup. T
here are so many persons who are drug addicts. Others cannot stay for one day wi
thout swallowing tablets or being injected in one form or another. Don't you rea
lise, you are so used to all these things and you have given yourself to them to
control. There are also those who complain, they can't walk barefooted, they ha
ve to put on shoes before they can go on a walk; were you born with all these sh
oes and slippers? Realise, God arranges His things accordingly. He has made the
rain to fall and the sun to shine. If there is too much rain there will be delug
e and epidemic everywhere in the world. Also, if there is too much sunshine, the
re is no water, many people, including crops and plants will die. The same case
is applicable to harmattan. If you have a violent kind of harmattan it will star
t to kill people. If we have only a "Day" in existence, there will be this probl
em of pandemic death. God Himself has the power to cause the rain to fall until
there is a deluge. As it happened during the days of Noah, the rain fell until t
he entire generation was exterminated, except Noah and his family. That was exce
ssive indeed and such was not good for mankind. That is why, you are warned not
to allow anything to rule over you. Anything you do excessively is sin unto you.
This explains why God has time for rain, there is time for sunshine, there is t
ime for day and there is time for night. All these times and seasons are arrange
d in their order, because you are advised not to allow anything to rule over you
. And that is the example that God has set by doing things accordingly. As a hum
an being if you laugh too much it becomes disease unto you. If you drink too muc
h it becomes a sin unto you. That which is called "fornication", what do you thi
nk it is? It is that lust for all things. Even the food you eat can be to you a
disease if you sit down to consume at one meal a "mountain" of foofoo. If you ea
t like that it becomes a sin unto you. Water is necessary and is good to the bod
y, but excess of water becomes a disease unto you. It is hygienic for you to hav
e your bath but excess of it becomes a sin to you since you chose to bathe every
minute and you will become controlled by water. And the golden text has rightly
said: "...but I will not be brought under the power of any of these things." Bu
t your problem today is, you have allowed yourself to be controlled by all these
lusts. Don't you know, to anything you surrender yourself unto you are a slave?
Whether it is sin which leads unto death, or righteousness which leads unto lif
e eternal.
Everyday, you find, you cannot engage in any activity except you have brushed yo
ur teeth with the twin-stick and this act goes on every morning as soon as you w
ake up from bed. If you get yourself to be controlled by the use of twinstick ev
ery morning, you have created an avenue unto yourself to quarrel, fight and caus
e trouble indiscriminately with people if you don't get one; since you will deci
de not to eat except you use the twinstick first to brush your teeth. If you ask
for somebody to always greet you first, realise, you have created an attitude w
hich will bring trouble to you. At all times you expect benevolence, you want pe
ople to give you gifts, and except this is done you are not prepared in any way
to be generous too. If you have given yourself to that kind of attitude, and bec
ause you are controlled by that attitude, it becomes to you a sin. The take-home
-package is, from this day do not allow yourself to be controlled by any attitud
e or lust. Food, water, sun, clothes, and all others are good for man, but do no
t allow yourself to be ruled over by all these things.
Our Lord Jesus Christ had hinted: "Love not the world and the things therein, fo
r whoever loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." He also said:
"He that loveth his father or mother, daughter, or son, is not worthy of me." It
is because you have allowed yourselves to be ruled over by all these tendencies
and lusts, that is why you cannot listen to the Word of God, practise the Word
of God nor accept what you are told about the Word of God. Because of snuff with
which to load your nostrils, even though it is raining cats and dogs, you would
not mind going under the rain to purchase some. You also derail from the path o
f God because of fornication. You deny God because of juju and food. Tell me, wh
y you would not be ruled by all these attitudes and lusts. Can you see why our f
irst lesson advises: "wherefore let him that thinkieth he standeth take heed les
t he fall." You claim to be a man of God, but don't have enough food each day to
eat nor do you handle enough money. You don't also feel comfortable as a man of
God if you don't fornicate with a woman for one day; and if somebody does not s
how benevolence to you your heart cannot be at rest. If you behave in this manne
r why would you not stumble and fall? How can you, as a man of God, be ruled ove
r by all these tendencies. You also claim, you want to serve God but you wish th
at God should show kindness in form of gifts to you every day; you want God to m
ake things well with you; if you put up this attitude it means the day He (God)
will not do those things for you, you will start to accuse Him. That is why, our
first lesson advises: "....Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he
fall." Do not be surprised when you find somebody who claimed to be doing the wo
rk of God going to serve satan, because he is such a person who allows himself t
o be ruled by a particular situation.
You profess to be a man of God; you are diligent in the service of God; that is
so because you have got money, you have three square meals a day, you wear whate
ver you like and drive in your car. In addition, people love, respect, and obey
you. Supposing all these things are no more there, and nobody loves and respects
you any longer, because you are enslaved to these things, will you continue to
serve God? You will also discover that some people who have lusted after good th
ings, when they come into Brotherhood they are given clothes, food and money whi
ch are baits. Beneficiaries of such benevolence claim that Brotherhood is so swe
et and enjoyable; others avow, they will remain in Brotherhood forever, but when
his needs are no longer supplied he will yell out that nobody loves him any lon
ger and he will opt out. Others, arising from discontinuity in supply of their n
eeds, conclude that the type of love they met when they came into Brotherhood in
itially is no longer in existence, and some maintain that it has died a natural
death. By so doing you have fallen.
If you are the kind of person who is given to benevolence and you always often p
ray for people and they recover, and you are addicted to it, what will happen on
e day if you pray to somebody and the person does not recover? What will happen
to your faith? What will also happen if you go to a certain place where people b
eg for alms and you have no money in your pocket to meet their demands? Will you
not be troubled at heart? Don't you recall when Peter, James and John went to p
ray and they met that beggar. They charged the beggar to fix his gaze at them an
d the mendicant obeyed. They yelled out "silver and gold we have not, but in the
name of Jesus of Nazareth, rise and walk," and immediately the lame man stood u
p and walked.
If your duty to God is giving somebody food whenever he comes to your house, he
will always come to your house with the thought of eating and the day he will no
t come to find food already served on the table for him, he will not be pleased
with you and your friendship will end that day. This is true because by giving h
im food every time you have sold yourself to him, and his insatiable act has see
n him selling himself to you. Both of you have failed.
Brethren, the ways of God are not difficult and are less burdensome, the same is
enjoyable and good; but once a particular situation, attitude or thing rules ov
er your heart, it means you cannot succeed and you have failed. The worst sin wh
ich the inhabitants of the world have ignorantly committed is for them to allow
things to control them.
LIVE AN EASY LIFE WITHOUT EXCESSIVE LUST:
When you say, "I don't like somebody to be angry or fastidious with me, or abuse
my mother or I don't like to be falsely accused." If you are ruled by these ten
dencies it means you will fall. That is why, our first lesson says: "Let him tha
t thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." So, we may not fall, henceforth,
don't allow anything to rule over you. Whether it is life, or death, or food, o
r good health, don't be ruled over by any of them. Look at the whites, they take
a little of wine at a time. But a black man can finish six bottles of wine at a
time yet he looks for more. Whether it is food that a whiteman prefers to eat,
he eats very small. He is moderate in his taste. He eats little and is satisfied
. But a black man will pack the dining table full with all kinds of dishes and w
ill consume all at only a meal. As he eats he defecates and goes on eating witho
ut ceasing. If you joke with a blackman's food he will kill you. The quantity of
food a whiteman can eat for one month, a blackman can finish it at a meal. The
whitemen were like you, but have been changed by the Word of God. Excess of anyt
hing is a sin unto man. If you drink much water it becomes poisonous to your bod
y. If you talk so much it becomes a sin unto you. Whichever thing rules over you
or whatever thing you do excessively is sin. Songs, prayers, dances are good, b
ut don't do these things excessively and don't let these things, rule over you.
To be patient is good; to be out-spoken is equally good. But don't be extremely
patient and don't talk unceasingly, and if you dare act to the extreme it become
s sin unto you. Be moderate in all the things you do. Your take-home-package is
what you are hearing. The Word of God is preached unto you from the 1st of Janua
ry, to the 31st of December every year, yet you cannot grasp any of these teachi
ngs because you had allowed yourself to be ruled over by certain tendencies.
The scripture says: "surrender your heart not to anything except God." But now y
ou have surrendered your hearts unto fornication, diabolical practices, drinking
and food. This explains why you have problems arising from this ignorance of yo
urs, which no man took as sinful, this gospel has been sent to you. From today t
ake a little quantity of food, water, and don't let anything rule over you, and
you will witness a remarkable change in your life. The day you don't have anythi
ng don't bother yourself. Live your life the way you see it. If you have money u
se it. When the money is not there don't be bothered. Whether you have anything
or not should not bother you. It is only when you lack God that you should be bo
thered. The ability to practise the Word of God comes not from man but from Him.
Faith comes not from man but from God. If you claim, you are steadfast, but cov
ertly or overtly you are ruled by the urge for women, men, drinks and money, tel
l me why you will not fall. Are you aware, whatever thing a man surrenders himse
lf unto, he is a slave unto that thing? Do you know, whoever submits himself to
be ruled over by drinks is a slave unto drinks? Do you realise that person who a
llows himself to be ruled over by any mundane things of this world, is a slave u
nto carnal things? This is why all those, who profess to practise the Word of Go
d have failed. Our Lord Jesus Christ did not subject Himself to any mundane thin
gs nor was He ruled over by them. From this moment I charge that you should bris
kly withdraw yourself from the carnal things of this world which have been the m
ajor cause of your downfall in recent times. The book of Ecclesiastes chapter th
ree enjoins that God apportions time for everything under the sun; a time to be
born, and a time to die; a time people love or hate you; a time you are rich and
a time you are poor; having known this truth, why then would you allow yourself
to be ruled over by anything?
Our Lord Jesus Christ said: "I will dare not speak so much for the prince of thi
s world cometh but he shall find nothing sinful in me." Recall when Christ was m
arching towards Jerusalem, as the disciples were used to people accepting them,
when they came to a small city of Samaria which dwellers did not receive them as
they expected, the disciples sought permission from Christ that they should com
mand fire from above to consume the people. But Christ forbade them. That is why
, you should not allow anything to have dominion over you. If you allow yourself
to be ruled over by any tendency, assuming you are always received wherever you
go, but when, on one occasion you are not received you will get offended; and t
hat will become a sin unto you. I started fasting when I was not up to three or
four years old. I comported myself to such a fasting which I did not eat or drin
k because I realised, there was nothing in the world except Jehovah God and His
Christ whom we should surrender ourselves to and obey. The carnal things of this
world are deceitful to man. Has he not told you not to believe in anybody who b
reathes through the nostrils? And when you surrender your heart and body to some
body to rule over, is that not the fundamental cause of deaths and problems in t
he world? And if you surrender yourself to somebody, if he disappoints you, you
will swear to kill him if he does not succeed in eliminating you too. At times y
ou quarrel and fight and may even commit suicide because somebody you hoped on h
as jilted you. At some other time you allow your state of good health to have ru
le over you, you brag and boast of how healthy you are; but when you start emaci
ating your faith deadens, you become troubled at heart and lastly you start to a
ccuse people of bewitching you. It is in the wake of this Our Lord Jesus Christ
said, "be not troubled at heart, believe in God and believe in me also." Let Jeh
ovah God and His Christ have rule over you. Do not allow the things of this worl
d: money, building, man, food, cloth, etc. to rule over you. When they rule over
you it means you are finished.
IN GOD THERE IS NO DUPLICATION:
Recall when Our Lord Jesus Christ said to His disciples, he will "go to Jerusale
m to be beaten, tortured and be killed finally by the Jews." Peter stood up and
yelled, "such a thing cannot happen: far be it from thee, Lord." And Christ reto
rted: "get behind me satan, because ye thinketh not the things of God but that o
f man."
The situation of things in the world reveals that money rules over all of you, b
oth great and small. If a meager sum of money falls to the ground now every pers
on beholding it becomes alert and captivated. The infants and adults talk about
money indiscriminately. You allow yourself to be ruled over by money. Tell me th
e profit derived if you allow yourself to be ruled over by money or be bought by
fornication; you fornicate from infancy to death. What kind of human being are
you? Or are you a ghost? What do you stand to gain having eaten meat, fish, and
even frog and dog? Even at old age where you don't have teeth any longer you gri
nd them and swallow as one does a bolus. What manner of man are you? There are m
any people in this hall uptill this moment they continue to snuff but I don't wa
nt to mention names. There are also many people in this hall who are so given to
drinking. No matter the quantity of food the person will eat he will not fail t
o wash it down with at least a cup of drink. Though there are many such persons
here, I will not mention names. There are men and women also in this hall who ca
nnot sleep alone on the bed, and the person will exclaim, "how can I sleep alone
on the bed when I was not created alone, such cannot happen." There are others
who are given to quarrelling. If such persons don't quarrel in a day they can't
feel comfortable. Have you not heard the advice, you should not be so cool and d
o not be so hot; don't be so sweet and do not be so bitter. If you are so sweet
you will be swallowed and if you are so bitter you will be spat out.
When you declare that one person takes the likeness of the other, or the other p
erson resembles the other man, watch with extreme care because they do not resem
ble each other in all ramifications. On the course of looking closely you will d
iscover that the two people have different ears, nose and other body members. Th
at means you are seeing somebody close in likeness, or like the other person but
not that person actually. God does not duplicate a human being. Each day change
s. The first day cannot be the same with the second. Every man is sent into the
world with a specific assignment. All of us have our assignments which we have c
ome to accomplish. Nobody does another's duty. God does not subject Himself to a
ny of the things He created. I don't intend to overload you, I believe that, you
r eyes are opened today. The first lesson should be read.
First Lesson: 1st Corinthians Chapter 10 verse 12
"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."
TAKE HEED:
If you allow anything to rule over you, you will fall and you have fallen alread
y. It is advised, nobody should be angry, or fight, or make noise, or quarrel. B
ut eventually there is a power failure here at night, and surprisingly you begin
to whistle, sigh, and make noise. By so doing have you not fallen? Are you not
troubled at heart? You will start to run helter skelter to find lanterns or look
for torch light, others will query why there is a power failure at all? Or why
the plant operator has not acted promptly? But I will still remain at my corner
unperturbed. Did I come into the world with light? You will also realise that an
y day you come in here and there is nobody to play the organ you will become dis
turbed. You ask to know the whereabouts of the organist or why the organ is not
operated so the songs in this place will be controlled? You will be so disturbed
, you will find it uneasy to cope without the organ being operated. But I am not
bothered whether it is there for twenty years and nobody operates it, because I
did not come with it. Whether it is operated or not we are always going forward
. But you have given yourself so much to the organ that any day it is not operat
ed you are ready to fight and kill. Do all things moderately. Be moderate in you
r undertaking. It is good for one to drink. But when you want to drink or eat, t
ake a little quantity of water and food. If you have no food the next day, contr
ol and adjust your stomach so, you may not be troubled. But now you are troubled
at heart when you have been told already not to be troubled. This is eminent be
cause you allow food and water to dominate your life.
If somebody went to the church with an intention, when he abstains from stealing
, fornication, drinking and eating of meat he will have money, wife and children
; and yet having abstained from these things he does not possess all that he wan
ted, do you think such a person will go to the church any longer? That is why, s
ometimes you find somebody who decried meat and fish going back to eat them. By
so doing he has failed. He will console himself that since those things: childre
n, money and wife, are not forthcoming, he should go back to his old system, eat
ing of meat and fish.
At times you find somebody being regular in the church for quite a long time, bu
t after sometime you find him with diabolical things all over his body, preparin
g juju and charms. Why has he done that? He actually surrendered himself to one
of these tendencies, which flopped him, and because of that he derailed from the
path of righteousness. Upon the numerous women that replete the world, for your
wife to divorce you, you start to cause trouble and cannot even eat. With your
luxurious cars and wealth you cannot endure that situation. Why is it so? It is
because you have surrendered yourself to be ruled over by that woman. Upon all t
he women around you, don't you see them? Why then are you worried and peculiar a
bout your wife? For your husband to divorce you, you become sick an lean as a re
sult of not eating food because your husband has decided to divorce you? What sh
ould cause you to look so frustrated and desolate? What about these numerous men
around you? It is because you have lusted for that particular man and that is y
our problem. Is that not what has kept you in the position you find yourself? Is
that not what kills you? Then you begin to recount: I am always given up to ang
er and valour. Realise, whoever allows himself to be ruled over by anything is a
n easily angered human being, is a wicked man, a murderer, a thief and the same
is satan. Sometimes you give alms to a beggar, and expect him to greet you or to
appreciate your benevolence to him, but surprisingly he casts stones at you and
curses you. Only that behaviour of the beggar will force you to think otherwise
. By so doing, I ask, have you not fallen? You thought initially when you gave t
he beggar alms, he will kowtow and praise you with endless thanks but eventually
he surprises you. You may also give somebody money with a motive of sending him
on an errand, but as soon as you call on him he yells out an excuse. Will you,
at such an instance, not be troubled? To you, it will seem you are tricked. You
will even regret having given him money at all. Take heed, lest you fall. Have y
ou not heard what Our Lord Jesus Christ says: "that, whoever looks at a woman lu
stfully has, in his heart committed fornication with her." (Mathew Chapter 5 ver
se 28). It is further said, whoever covets his neighbour's property has stolen i
t, and therefore he is a thief. The bible enjoins, you should not covet thy neig
hbour's property. But if you do, you have offended, and you are worthy of death.
Your salvation lies in this gospel. The gospel of today is a powerful type of go
spel. Have you not seen the degree of deaths, hatred, and sins in the world? The
fact is, you have allowed yourself to be ruled over by the things of this world
, if you go out from this hall, if you don't find a taxi cab you can't go to 26
Mbukpa, because you are used to plying this distance with vehicle. Man is like a
fowl. And wherever you keep the fowl it starts to find its food there. That is
the type of life you should live. If you don't give yourself to be ruled over by
anybody or thing, you will live a problem-free life; you will not be angry, tel
l lies, nor covet another's property: and you will dwell with the Father.
If God were to be confident in man or surrendered Himself to him, do you think H
e would have made the sun to shine upon the roof of every person, and will he se
nd rain upon the just and the unjust? As long as you surrender yourself to a par
ticular thing, it means you are lost and there is no salvation for you, because
you have perished already. Whether money, man, life, good health, don't plunge y
our heart in them, but have your hope on God, repose your confidence in Him, tru
st Him and surrender yourself to Him and you shall be free. But don't dare surre
nder yourself to the things of this earth else, you have committed sin.
NONE IS GOOD EXCEPT GOD:
You can recall what Christ said when a certain young man approached Him and said
: "Lord charge that my brother should give me my share of the inheritance." Chri
st said: "O! man, who made me a judge and a divider over you? And he said: "take
heed of covetousness, whatever a man owns, his life is not in his hands." But i
n your own case if 1 naira is missing, you consult oracle to find out things for
yourself. You will continue to disagree and in the end you will even lose your
life. At times you are troubled if somebody accuses you of stealing and telling
lies. At that extent you become worried because in your heart you tend to believ
e, you are the only perfect human being; and because you are accused of what you
think you have never done, you decide to teach the person a lesson. While deali
ng with that person you incidentally deal with yourself. The situation of the pe
ople of the world and yours leaves much to be desired. I feel pity for you. You
allow the fowl, goat, ant and all creations to have rule over you. That is the c
ause of your problems even though you don't see it to be sinful. Whoever surrend
ers himself to anything is dead already.
You were born into this world and you grew up to be told, there are magicians, m
oney doublers, swindlers, and extortioners, or that such and such a person's mon
ey was swindled from him; and even though you have heard the story about swindle
rs and dupes, have they not duped you? They will continue to dupe you even for o
ne hundred years to come. Why are you still in this immature game? It is because
you have surrendered yourself to such tendencies.
You have been told, Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel and others died. People have been dyin
g from that time till date. But for mere hearing, your small child is dead you s
tart to shiver and weep. Why are you doing such a thing? Is it for the fun of it
? Are you not matured till now? Is death a new thing? It is bizarre for you to h
ave surrendered your heart to such things.
The same thing is applicable to somebody who is sick. You have heard, right from
Adam to the time of your forefathers people always desert the sick persons, and
then because somebody is sick you consciously forsake him. Why is it so? The re
ason is not far-fetched. You have grossly allowed the things of this world to do
minate your whole life. Brotherhood of the Cross and Star is God's kingdom. The
Cross signifies sufferings and tribulations which one has to bear. But when we h
ob around somebody in time of plenty only to desert that person when riches are
no longer there, then it tells on us, we had our hearts and soul controlled by t
he man's wealth. Every person does the same offence, the children, mother, fathe
r; or somebody deserts his friend and curses him; because he does not swim in we
alth any longer. Others will claim, nemesis has visited him, because he used his
money for drinking and frolicking with prostitutes. Are you not the ones who ca
used his money to be exhausted? If we were to submit ourselves to God and keep h
is injunctions, and stand firm with whoever is sick or dead and live less worrie
d, realising, there is no death, then you will be free. Why are you bothered, be
cause somebody is dead? There is nothing like death, sickness or lack; and there
is no problem. Surrender yourself not to the things of this world, but to God.
If you plunge your mind into the things of this world it shall yield you no prof
it and you will be troubled at heart, but with God you are free. What manner of
people are you that you cannot refrain from sins? Ever since Adam, Eve, Cain, Ab
el and others started committing sins in the past, are you not fed up now in thi
s act? Can't you return home now? You realize, Brotherhood has no business with
sinful acts. Why are you Brotherhood and yet when somebody offends you, you vow,
you will undo him so, he will know the type of family you come from. Your Fathe
r did same and had no reward. Enslave yourselves to God. Surrender yourself to G
od. Instead, you surrender your body and mind to mischievous activities, you at
times declare publicly, you are going to Akpabuyo, Uyo or Itu to prepare concoct
ion to teach somebody a lesson.
What actually are you doing? You are bought over by the lust for these tendencie
s. There is a movement and organization in overseas called Moral Rearmament; tha
t means when you are offended you do good to your offender. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe i
s a member of that organization. The motto of the organization is, when somebody
offends you, if you are a member of that organization, it is your duty to go an
d beg that person and plead with him to forgive you. You have to settle peaceabl
y your disputes. They are fed up with the atrocious life of the whole country an
d they decided to live that way. Such is the work of Brotherhood. Eversince we s
tarted taking vengeance what benefit have we and the inhabitants of the world ac
hieved? When you argue, you don't give up things easily, what about your forefat
hers who did what you are doing today? Are they still living?
If you go to the prison overseas, you will discover, prisoners are not tortured
and humiliated as done in Nigeria. Prisoners are not punished and they are paid
salary, they wear what they like. But in this part of the globe prisoners are ti
ed to stakes, and shot to death. Others are punished in various ways. Until now,
are you fed up in this atrocious act of yours? I want you to listen to our seco
nd lesson as it is going to be read. That is your homework: Take a record of you
r wickedness from Adam, and since you started killing, disgracing, defiling, dri
nking, fornicating, indulging in diabolical practices and doing other unseemly t
hings, yet to no avail. Now the whites have come to their wits end. They have se
en their ignorance, the Germans are not left out in this issue of eye opening. Y
ou have been fighting, quarrelling and killing. Do you eat the corpse of those y
ou kill? And even though you may eat it, will it satisfy you? If somebody dies,
will somebody not be born? What indeed is relatively new? We look for a new thin
g now. This is the new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Th
at is the new thing which we yearn for.
Second Lesson: Galatians Chapter 6 verse 1
"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore suc
h an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempt
ed."
RESTORE YOUR BRETHREN TO THEIR PREVIOUS STATE:
Have you heard that? Realise overseas, if you are reported to the police the pol
ice will not come and arrest you indiscriminately. Your telephone number will be
taken and somebody will dial your number and advise you to report to the police
station, and then will you go there. If any policeman attempts to arrest you, w
ithout following this protocol he will be charged for assault. That is the case
over there. They have realised, all this time they have been beating mankind, pu
nishing and torturing him, no benefit has come out of that. And all this time, y
ou have been bullying, cheating, beating up people and bearing malice against ot
hers, discriminating and charging others to court; you have imprisoned, killed a
nd tortured the rest, what good has come to your family? Have you lived long? Wh
ere are your parents and great-grand-parents? Are you not fed up with this act o
f gross sinfulness? Over here there is a death penalty for whoever commits murde
r, but in the western world such a thing does not arise. The culprit will be giv
en life imprisonment over there. He lives there permanently without going out ag
ain. But logically, if somebody kills and you kill him, don't you know you will
be killed? If you condemn somebody to death, note, you are also dead. The whites
have started to realise things which they did not know in the past because they
lacked the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is illuminating their path now. But ima
gine a large continent like Africa, instead for you to unite in one and form a f
ormidable front, you tend to segregate and avenge yourselves.
Over here, if you happen to be the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident,
and you have knocked somebody down, if you don't run away the inhabitants of tha
t area will surround you with sticks, clubs, matches and guns, set your vehicle
ablaze and finally kill you. At times it does not even concern them in any way,
and if you were up to two people, both of you will be killed, making the number
of corpses three. What profit is there in doing such a thing? In other words, yo
u cause somebody you suspected to have stolen your property to be apprehended an
d jailed. By so doing, have you retrieved your property? Is that thief in the pr
ison for your own good? What really is your gain? Combat does not terminate at t
hrowing down an opponent. The family of the person imprisoned and their communit
y members will challenge that act and it will not be that easy for you. That tro
uble caused by the two families or communities will raise dust. What goes on in
the world is "tit for tat." A great many mishaps we have heard about in the west
ern world occurred accidentally, but that of the blacks, they act devilishly and
unjustly. You are ruled by sins and evils. Sin has eaten deep into you as a can
kerworm. The infant, adult, young, old, man or woman commits evils. There is nob
ody who is ready to do anything good. You move about with your knife tied round
your waist. And the black man does not believe in the word "accident." That is w
hy, our second lesson says: "If a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spir
itual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest
thou also be tempted." But if we beat such a person, or punish him in what ever
way necessary, it means we have committed the worst crime. Who has not offended
amongst us? Right now as we are sitted here listening to the gospel, should anyb
ody now disturb either by shouting, or misbehaving any how, everybody will run t
o his direction. He will be captured; and before you know it he has been tied le
gs and hands and thrown on the ground, his legs twisted and his neck squeezed. H
e will be beaten and dealt with ruthlessly. When you act in this way, don't you
know, your punishment is greater than his. As Children of God if somebody does s
omething which is not good admonish him peacefully and gradually he will change.
And in the end you will show to him his fault without hurting his feelings and
yours too.
If somebody steals your property don't broadcast it. But get close the culprit a
nd exhort him peacefully and gently, in the end you will successfully make him r
ealise his fault without being angry with you. If you report a thief to the poli
ce and he is arrested don't you know, your sin is greater than his. If you take
him to the soothsayer, juju priest, or witch doctor to cast lots and know the tr
uth, don't you think, your offence is greater than his? If you curse and beat hi
m up, don't you know, you have also offended? That is why, you are asked to "tak
e heed lest you fall." That is the constituent of the teaching I impart to you.
Whoever says he stands should take heed lest he falls. When you curse people, ge
t angry, beat somebody up and punish others, don't you fall by so doing? You giv
e your car to somebody but incidentally he got involved in an accident and possi
bly damaged your car. You become so infuriated, you demand a new car as compensa
tion from him. What happens if you were the one driving the car and had the car
damaged? Would you not have said it was an accident? Why tell the driver to buy
you a new car?
LEAVE VENGEANCE FOR GOD, HE WILL REPAY:
You must have heard the testimony of that chief magistrate who said he had a cas
e of manslaughter in court; it is because of that type of situation. He said his
nephew was intimate with his daughter in his house the first time and he pardon
ed him. As if that was not enough, the nephew repeated the shabby act and becaus
e of that the chief magistrate admitted he sent the boy home and refused him edu
cation. But when the magistrate went home on one occasion he discovered, his nep
hew was still there. He was angry and he drove him away and got him seriously sm
acked. Along the line the young man died. When the boy died the chief magistrate
was charged for manslaughter. Brethren, if you are observant and thoughtful, yo
u will realise that the teaching I impart unto you is excellent.
Why is it, if you have a piece of land and somebody seeks for a portion of it, y
ou go to charge the person to court? At that juncture the struggle starts. Apart
from wasting your own money you are going to waste your time and energy, you wi
ll indulge in preparation of juju and concoction, tell lies and plot evil agains
t your offender. There is a massive expense of land even from here to India. Wha
t do you do with this land? If a parcel of land is taken away from you give it o
ut, for God will give you another parcel of land. For somebody to be indebted to
you, you sue him to court. Realise that by this singular act you have erred and
your sin is greater than this, and before you can collect your debt of say 10 n
aira from him, you will spend well over 60 naira in the end. And if it is so, I
ask, have you received back that money in essence? What is the wisdom in using o
ver 60 naira to recover a debt of 10 naira? What do you stand to gain?
You have heard the testimony given by one of our brethren, an army captain. He s
aid somebody violently took ownership of his parcel of land. He admitted, if it
were the time he was in the world he would not take it kindly with the man other
than to deal ruthlessly with him, but having come into Brotherhood he cannot be
have like that any longer. Furthermore, he added, his relations and friends rose
clubs and other weapons to wage war and retrieve the land, but he warned them n
ot to do that, telling them assuringly, he will personally go to address the man
. But the people threatened, the man will kill him but the captain said he debun
ked such negative perceptions. In the end that man came, called the captain's ca
rnal father and told him that his son (the captain) was a man of God. The man su
rrendered the land and reconciled amicably with the captain's family. The brothe
r said he had a revolver in his pocket the day the incident occurred, of which,
with that gun, he would have eliminated the other man who boasted, and he had on
him 10000 naira which he would have conveniently bribed the police to squash th
e matter but he was tolerant. In the end he triumphed over the temptation. Leavi
ng vengeance for God is the best thing a man should do. Your problem now is that
any little thing you have, your heart and mind is plunged in that thing so much
, if there is any trespasser you can fire a gun at him. If you find somebody goi
ng astray, instead of you to get close to him and rebuke him with meekness and l
ove, you stand somewhere and conclude that nemesis has caught up with him; or th
at the person has backslided from Brotherhood. At times you ridicule, jeer, disg
race, and speak disdainfully against him; by so doing have you not offended? Whe
n somebody is faced with difficulty, instead of us to help him out, we discourag
e him and get such a person dispirited with obscene statements that his sins are
the cause of his afflictions. What causes yours? Is it not your sins?
Somebody has a child and because the child is either seriously sick and dies in
the end, people will begin to speak discouragingly that the man has killed or sa
crificed his child for his diabology and juju. Instead of people to encourage th
e afflicted and feed him with the words of life, they will discourage him with a
ll types of obscene statements. If you have a husband and eventually he goes on
transfer, your in-laws will conclude, you have killed your husband. Will you con
tinue to live forever in a state of ignorance and foolishness? Killing here and
there and leveling allegations here and there? If you watch the trend of things
you will discover, wherever a man or woman dies those around will accuse the hus
band or wife of being responsible. If a child dies people will accuse the mother
. If a person dies somewhere his close friend or friends will be accused. That i
s the only gratefulness man can show to God. What is the gain in doing these thi
ngs? And having done so, have you not erred? It is said, a Child of God should s
peak no guile, should not curse, abuse, punish or cast aspersions at people. The
Children of God are expected to exhort and rebuke with meekness, love, truth, m
ercy and the Word of God, so as to gain the offender back to the path of rectitu
de. But have you accepted to do that? As long as you have not done it, realise,
your punishment is greater than the other man's. That is why, Brotherhood encour
ages you to leave everything unto the Father, because if he does not approve of
anything, nothing can happen. Always surrender all things to the Father. Whether
fire consumes somebody's property, or whether somebody's property got lost, you
have to encourage the person involved. You don't have to blame or beat the pers
on up or do anything that will hurt his feelings. You have to bless, console, co
mfort and speak good words which will draw the person to God. Even here in Broth
erhood, bickering and gossiping has its roots. A great many brethren here, becau
se of indiscriminate gossiping, their absence for one or more days at evening pr
ayers or services will be rumored, such persons have become ashamed of themselve
s and cannot embrace the kingdom as expected. You should get close to him and kn
ow his problem, exhort him and comfort him with good words. Regrettably, you tak
e to speaking disdainfully against persons. Leave people to themselves because G
od is monolithic and Omnipresent. Wherever man is found God is there with him. A
s Children of God you are expected to regard everybody as impeccable before you,
but you are expected to encourage, exhort, please, comfort and draw somebody wh
o strayed back to God. That is the work of Brotherhood. If you don't do that it
means you have offended. If you are reliably informed of your brother or sister'
s problems, if you don't go there and help sort out solutions to his or her prob
lems it means you have erred. If something happens and you begin to speak ill ag
ainst that person, it means you have also erred. At all times, "if a man be over
taken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of m
eekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." Let our golden text be
read.
Golden Text: 1st Corinthians Chapter 6 verse 12
"All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are
lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any."
BE NOT STRINGENT IN YOUR TASTE:
Can you now realise the cause of the fall of the inhabitants of the world. That
is the worst of all the sins which you have committed, and the same is the great
est sin. Why do you allow anger, drink, aggressiveness, money and a fellow man t
o rule over you? It is said, "all things are lawful unto me, but all things are
not expedient." Do not allow anything to have dominion over you. Initially you h
ad no money, but suddenly God gives you money. Whether a thief has stolen the mo
ney from where you have kept it, you become aggravated and angry to the extent,
you indulge in preparation of juju or charms to eliminate the thief, or quarrel
with him if possible. What are all these attitudes for? Is money God? Is money y
our life? What actually is money to you that you cannot go your way and rebuff t
hat? Don't take much food. Some days you can decide to stop taking food at all.
I told you, from my infancy, sometimes I do fast for three or four days. I did s
tay without food for days (even when there was food, enough and to spare). That
means if I go to a place where there is no food I can conveniently survive and I
am used to this system of life, but are you all attuned to this sort of life st
yle? I was born with these startling qualities. I can conveniently stand under t
he sun even for twenty hours unperturbed. I can stay in the water with my head o
n the shore and my body inside water and I am used to that. The rain has beaten
me from here to a far distant place without any umbrella; I didn't complain but
I enjoyed it. But your case is different. You will complain unceasingly, you are
a human being. Does that mean I am an apparition? The contention is, you should
not allow yourself to be ruled over by anything. If you put on shoes for someti
me, go barefooted; if you eat meat and fish, sometime take vegetarian delicacies
. If somebody serves you, after sometime decide to serve yourself and others so
the equation will balance. Don't be stringent, but adapt yourself to situations
and be moderate in your life-style. You are told not to lust for the things of t
his world. But now all of you are lusting after the things of this world thereby
allowing these things to have dominion over you. That is a great sin before God
.
One stroke of the cane is sufficient to the wise. I don't intend to take you fur
ther. Those who have ears let them hear. May God bless His holy word. Amen.
THANK YOU FATHER.