1st Lesson: Hebrews 13:4
"Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge."
2nd Lesson: 1st Corinthians 7:2
"Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband."
Golden Text: Matthew 19:6
"Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."
Brethren, the gospel of this morning will bring salvation to the entire world. This gospel has nothing to do with the marriage blessings of today, rather it is for the whole world. For this reason therefore, I want everyone of you to pay attention to it. Believe that God specifically choose the lessons of today so that He can use them to give salvation to the whole world. The entire world, and all that God created in the form of human being, regard fornication and adultery as the food of their life. There is no single person, both whites and blacks who know that fornication and adultery are mortal sins before God. It is something surprising to find a number of people going into the University to receive teachings. Having graduated with various degrees, they still lack knowledge about fornication and adultery.
Scientists have explored all the various planes to investigate and know all what is inside them, but it is surprising that they are unable to search and to learn about fornication and adultery. It is on account of fornication and adultery that destruction comes upon the children of men. Many people claim that they have mermaid, devil juju, witchcraft, demon and all the evils you can name, yet people believe that those things are the cause of what befall them in life. People have perished in the entire world, not on account of any other thing but because of fornication and adultery. In exactly the same manner as it happened to the children of Israel of old, so it happens today. God gave a law through Moses that nobody should commit fornication. A number of you will like to believe that what I am telling you now is a new thing, but it is something that had existed before the foundation of the world. Right from time immemorial, God created one man and one woman.
Our first parents were Adam and Eve. Adam was married to one single wife until the day he breathed his last breath. Also, Eve had one husband until the day she died. Adam had no dealings with any other woman throughout the 930 years that he spent on earth. Eve had nothing like what you now call boy-friend, apart from her husband, until the end of her life. Adam never thought of taking up another woman as a wife, neither did he attempt to divorce his first wife in order to take a second one. It is on account of this, that they lived a perfect life and for a long period of time.
I have delved into what happened to Adam and Eve so that you will not have excuse. When you claim that your father was married to 100 women, and that you can now marry 20, I tell you that Adam married one wife and had five children. Out of the five, Abel was killed by Cain and so four of them were left. Among the four, there were two males and two females. Adam pleaded with God to remove the spirit of fornication and adultery from him, so that he could live as a brother and a sister with his own wife. God answered his prayers and granted the request by taking away the sexual urge from him. So for the later part of Adam's life on earth, he had nothing whatsoever to do with any woman. I want you to take into serious consideration, what you have been told. If you cross-check this with what is going on in the world today, you will find out that fornication is rampant. Ask yourselves: "why did God destroy the first generation?" The answer is simple. It was because of fornication. You are the house of God, and it is in you that God dwells. God does not dwell in the sky, in the depths of the sea, the sun or moon, rather He dwells in man. Man is the house that God built for Himself, in exactly the same way as we have constructed the building we live in. So God has no reason to destroy the world. But if you imagine that after taking the trouble to construct and put a house in order, you enter inside and find that someone has already entered in and messed it up, would you be comfortable in such a house? And what would you do? Firstly, you will regret having built it at all, and then you will contemplate on destroying it. There is no other sin, that disturbs the flesh apart from fornication and adultery. Therefore anybody who commits fornication and adultery has not only offended his own body but God, as well.
When God sent Enoch to come and examine the whole world and find out what was going on, what He saw was that the world was filled with fornication and adulterers. This is why there are diverse problems in the world today.
When Noah was sent by God, he was married to one wife and had three children. The three children were married to one wife each, and so in all , the whole family consisted of eight persons. At that time God really used Noah. He spent the whole period of 120 years preaching. He preached that people should forsake fornication and adultery, but none heeded his warning. Due to this, Noah's generation was destroyed and all that was left was Noah and his family. This caused the destruction of subsequent generations, which indulged even more in fornication and adultery. On account of the same sin, 23,000 children of Israel perished in one day. It is the same offense that you take so lightly. So God is passing judgment on those who indulge in fornication and adultery, everyday.
Many people have problems because they indulge in fornication and adultery. God purposely brings these problems on them to see if they will change. The sin of fornication and adultery is great and the punishment is big. For instance, many people who would have been millionaires have become so wretched that they cannot even afford a meal in a day. Many businessmen operate at a loss simply because they allow this particular sin to govern their lives. Every facet of our society is afflicted today because of fornication and adultery. Children, adults, the aged and even graduates are not spared. Today people graduate from universities only to come and roam the streets. They are paying the price of their indulgence in fornication and adultery.
So brethren, you can see that the problems, tribulations and anguish which confront the world today, is due to no other crime, but fornication and adultery. God created man in his own image an likeness so that He could use him to reveal His glory. He created man also as his own house, wherein He can dwell. But because of fornication and adultery, man has turned God's own dwelling place into something else and so has suffered greatly tribulation, lamentation and anguish in the world.
Brethren, reflect on the time, Joseph, was in Egypt and if you examine him you will find that He was tempted by his master's wife to commit adultery with her, but he resisted the temptation. He refused and asked her: "Why do you want me to offend my own God?" From this, you should know that no fornicator or adulterer is righteous in the sight of God, rather, such a person is to receive punishment. A fornicator or an adulterer is a liar, indulges in murder and commits all kinds of evil. A fornicator is one who offends God, denies Him, and does not want to hear anything about God. This is so because God has denied him and driven him from his presence. Many people like to pray and ask God to save the life of a fornicator? A number of you pray that God should change you, why do you want this change? If only you can undertake this change right from now, you can be a tool that God will use for His work. Our Lord Jesus Christ, after shedding his blood on the cross pleaded with His Father to give Him time, so that He can nurture the soil, that is to change people so that God can keep them for His good works.
Fornication is committed by a woman who has no husband, but wanders from one place to another, having sexual relationships with men. On the other hand, a man who has no wife but, moves from one woman to another is a fornicator. Adultery is committed by a married man or woman who goes about having sexual relationship with other women or men, as the case may be.
The man who goes to a woman he knows to have been married, has committed double crime. If a woman leaves her husband's house and goes to another man who is married, she has committed double crime. Also, a man who has been separated from his own wife, for as long as that woman is still living, if he should go to another woman, that woman has committed adultery with him because he is still married to another woman. A woman is legally married to her husband for as long as that man is alive, even if they should separate temporarily. For example, if the husband travels to Britain or America, the woman has no right to have carnal knowledge of another man. If she does that, she has committed adultery. But if the man dies, she is free to take another husband. For as long as the husband is living, the woman must remain alone.
Moses granted a writ of divorce because of the hardness of men's hearts. In Christ Jesus, there is nothing like separation in marriage. Should you commit adultery, God must judge you. The world is facing tribulations because of this sin of fornication and adultery. Once you commit these sins, God is no longer with you. If you decided to go into marriage, you have to get this clear, that you have been legally bound, throughout your life and for eternity you and your husband or wife are one. If on the other hand, you have decided not to marry again you must remain single and not go to cause confusion, or cast your eyes on any other man or woman. Any day you do this, then your judgment has started. One of these things must happen in your life: It is either you marry or remain single. Once you have taken this decision, make sure that you abide by it. If you, who have married, and decide to separate from your wife you must remain alone. If you go to any other man or woman, from that day your judgment has started. If a man should separate from his wife and he remains alone, when he becomes tired of being alone, and wishes to be married again, he must go back to be with his wife so that they can be married again. The same rule applies to the wife who has separated herself from her husband. If you make the mistake that you have remained alone since you were separated from your wife or husband and decide to marry another husband or wife, from that moment you are in judgment.
You have now seen why there is so much suffering in the world. There is nothing like juju or witchcraft. All suffering is caused by indulgence in fornication and adultery. Once guilty, you are in judgment. A fornicator is a no body in the sight of God. He is like someone who smells bad. If you would like to hear and practice this gospel, it is up to you. If you do not like to, it is left for you. Nevertheless, God is the judge and will judge all those who do not take note of His words. No matter how a he-goat frowns his face, he cannot prevent himself from being sold. Take note: Whether you like to hear this gospel or not, if you do not change and lead a righteous life you will be judged. Let the first lesson be read.
1st Lesson: Hebrews 13:4
"Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge."
If you like, you can attend any church of your choice, and if you do not attend any church, you can stay as you are, provided you refrain from fornication and adultery. God is the owner of the heavens and the earth and all that it contains. Therefore it is God who has control of the entire world. Whatever church you go to, make sure that you do not commit fornication and adultery because once you do this, you are in judgment. If you examine the life of David critically, you will see the amount of punishment and suffering he passed through. "Why was he afflicted with all these punishments and sufferings?" It was because he took away the wife of a fellow soldier. God in His mercy sent a prophet to inform him of all the difficulties, he would pass through. I am not sure that God loves you more than He loved David.
What happened to Sampson is another test case. If I would enumerate, all the sufferings that people passed through on account of fornication and adultery, you will be cautious. Whether you are an adult or a child, refrain from fornication and adultery, because although you are a king, God does not respect any position. As long as you commit fornication and adultery, God will descend His anger upon you. It is a wrong belief for people to claim that God is good. I want you to know that God is unchangeable in His manners and conducts in all generations. If you claim that God is good, why do you not have peace if within you, and why are you not as good as God? Also if God is as good as you claim, why do people not abide by His ordinances? Why do people kill another? The answer is that right from the day you commit fornication and adultery, God has already sent you away from His sight.
The evil spirit has taken control of you, making you to go into hotels and bars to drink, making you to commit fornication and adultery, making you to indulge in concoctions, join secret societies, cults and the rest, because the Holy Spirit has left you. A number of people like to make claims saying: "My children do not obey me in my place of work, my subordinates do not respect me, they do not hear what I say." The government is already in trouble, nobody respects the government or wants to do whatever they say. How can fornicators and adulterers who are out-casts expect honor, respect or expect any good thing to happen to them.
God created man in His own image and likeness so that man can have perfect control of everything created under the sun. Nothing like the heat of the sun, will neither shine on you, but right from the time you commit fornication and adultery, the spirit of God leaves you, and so you find that what befalls you is tribulation, suffering and other problems. Examine the situation critically brethren. Even though you are a millionaire no matter how highly placed you are in the society, the moment you commit fornication and adultery, your own wife will begin to give you a knock and even push you herself. Nothing good will come your way. All you find in your life is trouble and lack of peace. Because of fornication and adultery, you are no longer at peace with yourself, you do not enjoy anything what is happening around you. You are always at war with yourself, always angry, annoyed with anything you see. This happens because God has left you completely. Adam and Eve had peace when they had not eaten of the forbidden fruit. The angels administered unto them; they had no problem in their life. They were not sick; rather they were very peaceful, comfortable with their life and enjoyed the environment they found themselves. But right from the time they ate the forbidden fruits, they were afflicted with sickness, pains, tribulation and all sorts of evil.
If you want to make a little test of what you are being told today, the best thing is to take a resolution from this moment, saying: "From today, I have decided never to commit fornication and adultery again in my life. And I will not like to look at any man or woman." See what is going to happen to you. You will see the glory of God revealed in you. Christ died and shed His blood, so that the blood may be used to wash away the sins of our first parents Adam and Eve. Now that the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit has come, why should we bother ourselves again? We should just accept what we are told.
Everyday, you continue to shout, "Jesus! Jesus!!" Where is the place you have prepared for Him to live in? Why not surrender yourself, by giving Him the house He had already prepared for Himself? Allow Him to enter into that house and dwell in it, that Jesus you are calling is not living anywhere else outside your body. He does not live in this Hall, in the sun or the moon. Why do you not surrender the house which is body, and which He had built for Himself? Surrender the house unto Him so that He can come in and dwell inside it. If this has not been clear to you, I want you to understand that you are the house of God. Now that you have made that house unholy, where exactly do you want Him to go to? It is said that you are the house of God and whoever defiles the house of God will perish.
You fornicators, have you not defiled that house of God? You adulterers, have you not equally defiled that house of God? Christ died so that he could use His own blood to redeem the whole of mankind. He did this so that you can live in Him, and He can live in you. He said: "As I go, I will go and prepare a place for you, and I will come back by myself and take you so that wherever I may be, you will be there also." Now that He has returned, has He been able to find you in that condition, so that He can take you to Himself to stay wherever He is? "Have you not defiled yourself?" Sometimes, you like to question the wisdom of God by asking "Why should God pursue men?" If it were you, what cause of action would you take, if after you have suffered to build a house, and coming to live in it, you find that it has been defiled? What else would you do, rather than demolish the person who had defiled your house?
Brethren tell the whole world, the Kings the Queens and Heads of Governments, that the anger of God has reached all mankind because of fornication and adultery. You have heard of wars, rumors of wars, fighting, people killing one another. All these are the punishment for fornication.
So many of us pray and wish that we should die, but death eludes us. All that God requires of you is to surrender that house to the owner, so that He can come to dwell in it. Some of you take poison in an attempt to take your lives, others would like to hang themselves. Upon all these struggles you cannot find death. God does not want you to die but to surrender His house to Him, so that He can live there. The present war that is being waged is a spiritual one. So you will find people suffering from dangerous diseases that cannot be cured with any kind of medicine. Tribulations and all kinds of sufferings abound, but the solution cannot be found because it is a spiritual war. Unless you refrain from fornication and adultery and surrender yourself to God you will never find peace.
Who is that man that can enter into the house of very strong man and remove his property without first of all taking hold of the owner of the house and tie his hands and his feet? The juju men will be lamenting that they no longer have any power, but still you continue to accord these people respect. If all these people declare and believe that they have no more powers, why are people complaining that the witches and wizards are responsible for these problems?
The Scripture says "As for the cowardly however, and the unbelieving, and the depraved, the murderers, the immoral, those practicing magic arts, and idolaters, and all liars, their lot is in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur. 'This is the second death.'" If you set aside the words of God and want to go to the native doctor for help, what do you think of your life? If the lots of fortune-tellers, juju priests and the rest of them are in the fire, which burns with fire and brimstone: why then do you desire to go to such a person. You complain of high blood pressure and other kinds of infirmities which afflict you, and behold you find this man who calls himself a doctor who is able to give you medication and for a short time the high blood pressure will be over, while the doctor himself suffers from high blood pressure. Why is it not possible for him to heal himself before he goes on the heal you? Brethren our salvation is in the second lesson that's going to be read.
2nd lesson 1 Corinthians 7:2
"Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband."
Brethren have you all heard that lesson? The lesson has not told us that a man should be married to many women, neither has it told us that a woman, should be married to many men. Rather the injunction is that every woman should be married to one man.
I wonder if there is any one of you, who has seen a single person using two spoons at the same time to take food and put into his mouth? You will find out that no one person has been able to sleep on two beds at the same time. Even if you keep two beds in your own room, you will always sleep on one at a time and if you are not satisfied with that one, you will leave it and take another one. As long as you sleep on one, the other bed will be vacant.
Of all the men and woman you find, all the colors that we find among the women, and all the colors that we find among men, these are all very deceptive. All the women are one, and all the men are one. This is the reason you have been told that every man, should be married to only one woman and every woman should be married to only one man. I want you to tell me one thing. By the time you leave your own man or woman and go to another woman or man, who is the woman or the man you left behind staying with? You will also realize the great love God has for mankind, because without such love, he would not have revealed this great lesson to us. "That every man be married to one woman, and a woman be married to one man only." That you all might forego the anger of God, the injunction has been given. If you do not want to commit fornication and adultery, you can stay on your own like John the Baptist and Our Lord Jesus Christ did. If you convince yourself that if is impossible for you to stay without man or woman, then you have to be married to one man or one woman only.
That is what you have to do, in order to avoid fornication and adultery: so that you can also escape God's anger. Right from the day you decide to take one man as your husband, and the day you decide to take one woman as your wife, no other man or woman has any right over both of you as long as you are married.
At the same time, none of the partners has the right to force the other to take an action that is against his or her will. Even if, it is so, let it be for a short period, because Christ alone is the bridegroom. And within this short period, you have to pray fervently for forgiveness because you have offended Christ.
Now that you have heard that you have to be married to one wife and to one man, a lot of you would like to thank God, because you have been told to have one wife or husband. I want you to know that often you can even fornicate with this one wife, or one husband.
Whatever belongs to someone else brings some trouble to another. The entire body belongs to Christ, and once you have gone into it, the best thing is to run out as quickly as possible. Brethren what we have been told and what is before us is not something to be laughed at. Rather it is something we should take very seriously, it should even cause us to cry. For our God really is a jealous God. Any time you have any contact with a man or a woman, you have defiled that house and the best thing is to fast and make it clean, and comfortable for the owner to come and dwell inside it. (1 Corinthians 7:5) "Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again., that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency."
Why God has decided to bring all of you into one fold? It is because, from the beginning of time, God created Adam alone. But in the course of time, He made Adam to go into a deep sleep. During the course of this deep sleep, He brought one rib out of Adam to mold Eve. You have found brethren that Eve came out of Adam. You will therefore not be surprised to find that Eve is brought back and joined together with Adam, so that Christ as the bridegroom might come to him. Any house which is separated into two, can never have a perfect standing. The woman is never a separate entity from the man, rather they are different pieces that can be assembled together. Once this is done, The Father, Son and the Holy Spirit will come and take perfect control of the entire house. For this sake we have to make ourselves perfect, Holy, so that when Christ comes into us, His own glory might be manifested in us, and we will have peace in us.
God is a Spirit and all those who worship Him, must do so in spirit and in truth. Christ also is a Spirit, that is why He made the statement saying " I and the Father are one" Therefore if the Father is a Spirit Christ also is a Spirit. If God dwells in man, Christ also dwells in man. Christ dwells in us as long as we hear His voice and practice it. If you do not obey the voice of God, then you have also refused life, peace and so failed to acknowledge all the good things of life.
Golden Text: Matthew 19:6
"Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."
Brethren have you heard all the text that have been read. At the beginning there was only one person. In course of time a rib was taken from that one person and another one was made. And so the two of them were brought together. That is why we have received the injunction that what God had put together let no man separate it. So you have these two people as brother and sisters. Christ Himself is the bridegroom and God Himself is the Father of the marriage. You should never have a thought that what God had put together any person can separate them.
Quite a number of ladies will like to make a claim, saying "I separated from my former husband, because I did pay all the money he paid on my behalf." As long as you make these claims, can you answer this simple question? "Are you able to pay back that blood of His which He gave to you? The men also on the other hand make the claim, saying, "I have been separated from that woman, I do not want any money I spent on her behalf" I am asking you, what of that blood which you gave to her, have you been able to collect it back?
What had been joined is not like a paper which you can join and then separate back. From the moment a man and a woman come together, they are joined by that blood. As long as you live, even if you are dead that blood can never be taken away.
Brethren I will want you to consider the scientists or all what they have done in the various universities, whether they have come into this perfect understanding. The wife is a part of the husband and the husband is also a part of the wife. And so the two of them have been made into one, and no matter how much you pray or fast, nothing on earth can be able to separate them.
Wherever you bless your marriage, whether it is inside the church or in the mermaid house, Ekpe house or the juju priest's house, this blood has been joined together: there is nothing on earth that can separate it.
Some people say, "I do not want to go to any Church to have my marriage blessed yet, I want to examine and see if this woman will be good with me." I want to tell you right away that such proposal is too late, because they had already been joined by their blood when they became intimate with each other. No one has any right to divorce his wife or her husband, because whatsoever God has joined, no one should separate it. Some people say, "My first wife worries me," others among the men will say, "My first wife worries me a lot and I am not comfortable." How has she disturbed you? Does she use any kind of stick to beat you up? Brethren the injunction we have had is that whatsoever God has joined, let no body put asunder. Why do all of you pay deaf ears to this? Do you all want to perish? A woman may go about saying, "This man has not gone to see my parents and has not paid any money on my head." How much did Adam pay for Eve? I want to reveal to you brethren that marriage has nothing to do with money, but everything to do with love. Once the two people have had that understanding and come together, that is marriage and nothing can separate them. Your punishment starts right from the moment and the day you take a decision to leave your husband or wife. Your judgments also start from that very day.
A man may also say, "My wife is giving me a lot of trouble. She has taken me to court, juju priest or done other evils." naming everything under the sun to have been his problems. This is because you have defiled the temple of the living God by way of fornication and adultery.
So brethren, if we can imbibe the gospel of today: "Avoid fornication and adultery, let very man have one woman and let every woman have one husband." Again it will be very well with us if we can take this injunction: "That whatever had been joined together nobody should separate it."
God does not desire that we should perish. Christ Himself does not wish that we should perish: rather Christ has come to dwell in us. Therefore whatever He commands us to do is for our benefit.
Brethren I do not want to be tedious with you, all those who have ears to hear let them hear, God bless His Holy Words. Amen!