0:07 First question is, how can we be sure we are rejecting self-condemnation over confessed sin and not just taking sin lightly. Self-condemnation is 0:29 something that comes to all sensitive believers in the early stages of their Christian life. Uh self-condemnation and spirit of discouragement. 0:47 Those who are not sincere or hypocrites, they never feel it because they just carry on sinning and take the Christian life lightly. But anyone who takes the Christian life seriously can go through period of self-condemnation and it is 1:02 totally wrong to have it because Romans chapter 8 and verse 1 says there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. And it's important for us to understand 1:21 the context in which it comes. I've often said that you must ignore chapter divisions when you study the because in the original there were no 1:39 there were no chapters in the original letters. So when you read just as a principle of Bible study whenever you come to the beginning of a chapter, I would always encourage you anywhere go back to the last three verses of the 1:56 previous chapter and see if there's a connection because you'll see a many times you'll see something. In the same way when you come to the end of a chapter, try and read the next two three verses to see if there's a connection before you close your 2:10 reading. So here listen to this and see if it sounds right to you. The last part of verse 25, on the one hand 7:25, I myself with my mind 2:27 serve the law of God. But with my flesh I'm serving the law of sin, but there's no condemnation. How do you work that out? My flesh is serving the law of sin and there's no condemnation because I'm in Christ. 2:46 I don't know how many of you have linked those two verses together and tried to understand it. So it uh it's it's requires a whole Bible study starting from 7:14 to 25. If you're seriously interested in that 3:06 I'd say go to the CFC website and go to the New Testament verse by verse and look up that section. I understand it like this. My mind means what I'm choosing of my own free will. I'm serving the law of God. I want to do 3:23 all of God's will. But unconsciously I'm doing a lot of things that are not Christ-like. Because I've not yet become like Christ. I will none of us will become totally like Christ until he comes again. 3:41 And it's in this unconscious area where we are un-Christ-like and that is some when we get light on it it becomes a conscious area. And then we can get into condemnation when we slip up. And the other thing is when we 3:59 are seeking for a life of victory we are frequently defeated in the early stages. We don't come into a life of victory as soon as we ask for victory. It takes time and uh you alone know whether you're taking sin lightly or not. 4:19 If you take sin seriously you need never condemn yourself. That I can say. Because it's we don't come to victory like that. It takes a while to come to a place where 4:35 sin does not have dominion over us. He is Think of a person who's just converted and his sins are all forgiven. He's absolutely sure. He comes here and hears about the life of overcoming. Sin shall not have dominion over you. 4:50 For you're not under law but under grace. But the fullness of that grace has not come in and so he's still defeated. And that's the time when he can be condemned. Now only he himself can know whether he's taking sin lightly or not. 5:08 Sin must never be taken lightly. And if you're in a if it's a doubtful area, consider it a sin. Whatever is doubtful is sin until you're if you're crystal clear that is not sin. And the way to check is is my will 5:25 set to accept it or reject it? I see something and I say my will is set to reject it. But I slipped up here. Then I confess it immediately and we must believe what it says in 1 John and chapter 1. It's the verse we must 5:43 always remember. 1 John and chapter 1 and verse 9, if we confess our sins he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And also verse 7 if we walk in the light as he's in the light 6:02 to walk in the light basically means to be absolutely ruthlessly honest. In other words don't pretend that it was not lust when it was. If you're in doubt, call it lust. 6:20 You're absolutely sure you're not it's not. And we have to be careful since sometimes you try and find an excuse for looking at a pretty girl and saying, well, I was only admiring the beauty of God's creation. That's exactly what the 6:36 devil wants you to say. So that you will never overcome it. So call sin sin. It's better to call it by the worst possible name. And then you'll steer away from it. Okay. Next question is we see more and more men falling away 6:55 in the sexual area. And that's happened recently in many reports in Christian circles of people at top pastors being pastors for years who are in their 60s and 70s falling into sin. It's absolutely amazing. People who nobody expected it. They've been removed 7:15 from their from the ministry after having been in the ministry for 30, 40 years. What practical advice would you give us men, married and single, to ensure that we all maintain the highest standard of purity in the sexual area? 7:31 See, Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5 that lusting with our eyes is so serious that you can go to hell. There are only two places in Matthew 5 7:51 in the whole Sermon on the Mount where Jesus spoke about hell. Only two places. And one was related to anger in verse 22 and the other was related to lusting with the eyes or sinning sexually with your hand, verse 8:11 30. Both are mentioned here. 29 and 30. You can sin sexually with your eyes or with your hands. And both of he says you can go to hell. So when I see that that's what that's what the Lord thinks about uh sexual sin without committing adultery 8:31 physically then we take it very seriously. If that is something that can send me to hell I don't think most even most Christians believe that's a serious thing. Cuz he says, I'm not harming I'm not harming anybody. I'm just looking. Anger at least you 8:51 hurt somebody by your anger. That's understood. But you can say with a lust of my eyes or sin with my hand who am I nobody. Why should that send me to hell? That's an interesting question. 9:10 So it it is because it pollutes my mind and pollutes my heart. And if I'm asking now as far as an unbeliever is concerned, he can do what he likes. But if Christ is dwelling in our heart I must not allow anything 9:28 to pollute my heart. So if I take that as my standard and seek to fight sexual sin in the level of uh the level of my eyes I'll never fall into the type of sexual sin a lot of these other people are falling into, adultery. 9:47 It requires a ruthless attitude towards the eye. It requires a turning away our eyes from anything that's tempting us. And if it is something on our phone or the internet pornography of any sort we have to turn 10:05 away from it immediately. Because these images that come into our mind even if you've seen it only for a few seconds remains in our mind much more than a lot of other things 10:22 that we put into our mind. And perhaps all men know that there are things in their mind which they never seem to get rid of. Because sometime in the past they put some of these dirty sexual images 10:42 into their mind watch seeing it somewhere and uh it just stays there forever. And the Lord has left it kept it like that so that we hate it and keep ourselves pure. So the mind is very important for as far 10:59 as God is concerned in this area. Uh to lust after a woman whom God has not given us to be our wife is to desire something which God has not given that's a form of covetousness. That's why the Bible says better to burn 11:19 better to marry than to burn. That God gives us a wife you get married and be satisfied with your wife. And until you get married of course fight the battle that fighting the battle until you get married is a very good habit because I asked I asked the Lord 11:36 once Lord why did why do you allow this desire for attraction to the opposite sex to come up in a young boy when he's 13 or 14 years old. Just this attraction to a girl. 11:53 It can very lead down later on to sexual temptation and now in many places it starts even earlier. So I said Lord why didn't you allow this attraction to come up when you're 24 or 25? You know till then we behave just like 12:12 innocent little boys and girls towards each other. And the Lord said it's because I want all young men to overcome that before they get married. That's why God allows us to be tempted in the sexual area almost from the age 12:30 of 13 or 14 years. And so that by the time you get married at 24 25 30 or something you overcome it. Now very few people are faithful in that area but that is the reason why God allows us to be tempted in a at a very young age with it. 12:48 So we must take that very seriously and if he's take lusting with the eyes very seriously then I believe God will never allow us to fall physically into sin. 13:06 And not just physically it can even you know I uh I like this verse in 1 Corinthians and chapter seven seven and verse 13:32 verse one the second part is good for a man not to touch a woman. So this hugging women and all is not a good habit at all. I never do it. It's we have to be very careful. It's very 13:51 easy to be tempted. Anyone that's not your wife it's better to keep a respectable distance. And better not to touch at all. It's better not to I mean I suppose shaking hands with people any other type of touch is something that you avoid as far as 14:10 possible. And if you are utterly faithful in this area and if you slip up even slightly in your thought life where you maybe you saw a poster or some page in a magazine and quickly a thought came into your mind confess it immediately. 14:29 And be ruthless and say Lord I committed adultery. If we call it by the worst possible name then there's some chance of our overcoming it. But if you say well that was a slight slip up you'll be defeated perpetually. Always call sin by the worst possible 14:47 you name you can call it. So this is a very serious area because if we don't overcome in this area before you get married you'll be defeated don't think marriage will solve your problem. 15:06 You'll be defeated even after you're married for years. So it's wonderful if you can really take it seriously and say Lord before I get married I want to get complete victory over this and have an attitude of immediately turning away 15:22 from anything that brings lust into my mind. And if you find that certain even news programs tend to There are there are different news programs some are a little cleaner than the others in the sense that 15:41 it's not that they are advertising uh dirty pictures but some news programs have advertisements with more provocative pictures of women dressed immodestly than other news programs. 15:59 So be careful about what you watch. And then you can protect yourself and you'll have a very happy marriage with your wife. Okay next question is how does one bridle our tongue while at work and facing accusations? The Bible says that we run the race 16:20 looking unto Jesus. So Jesus is the great example who when he was accused falsely of some terrible terrible things it says in Matthew 27 and verse 16:39 12 while he was being accused by the chief priests and elders he did not answer. And Matthew 27 verse 14 and Pilate asked him he did not answer him with with God to even a single charge. 16:58 Even though they were accusing him falsely. All the accusations were false but he didn't defend himself he just left it. And that is our example. So for that we need to ask God for the power of the Holy Spirit. See I believe that when on the day of 17:16 Pentecost when they were filled with the spirit and they suddenly began to spoke speak in unknown languages which they never knew it was the Holy Spirit controlling that tongue and speaking forth words which they didn't know was another 17:34 language. But I believe that one of the things the Lord was trying to teach them through that was that the tongue would be the main instrument main part of the body that God is going to use in this new covenant age 17:51 for spreading his word and for building the church. The tongue is the main and secondly that the tongue is the one part of our body that we really need to bring under the control of the Holy Spirit. So that is the 18:11 meaning I see of the gift of tongues which many people haven't understood. So we must prepare our heart beforehand and as I said how shall we bridle our tongue by looking at the example of Jesus. Everything looking unto Jesus is the way 18:27 we run this race. And asking to be filled with the Holy Spirit. You can say the two secrets of the Christian life are to be filled with the Holy Spirit and ask the Holy Spirit to show us the life of Jesus. The combination of these two will make us 18:40 fight and resist sin and overcome. I want to say one more thing in relation to condemnation and that is we must believe with all our heart what it says in Hebrews 8 and verse 12. Verse 18:58 that when the Lord says I will not remember their sins anymore. So that means we don't have to keep remembering the past our failures. I failed then I failed then the Lord says you have asked forgiveness cleansed in the blood 19:16 I will not remember it anymore that's it. And take the Lord's word for it. Okay the next question is how do you hear God speaking to you do you hear him speak to you every day? Are there times when you have not heard from the Lord? 19:30 What practical advice do you have for those who want to hear God speaking to them every day? As it says in Matthew 4:4 which is man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God which is a very important verse. 19:46 In other words to live according to Matthew 4:4 you need to hear what God is speaking. In other words, without hearing what God is speaking according to Matthew 4:4, you will not be able to live the Christian life as God wants you to. 20:05 And the other verse quoted here is Isaiah 50 and verse 4, which is also a very, very important verse. Isaiah 50:4, the middle of that verse says, "God wakes me up morning by morning." "He wakes my ear to listen as a disciple." 20:25 This is a verse that I have tried to live by for many years. Uh in the early days, not consistently, but now consistently since quite some time. That when I wake up in the morning, 20:44 it's good to believe that it's the Lord who woke me up. Well, there may be another circumstances, but the Lord woke me up. And the purpose of waking me up is so that he wakens my ear, my inner ear, 21:01 to listen. As a disciple, to listen saying, "Lord, what do you want me to do today? What do you want to tell me today?" And so, if when I wake up in the morning you say, "Lord, I believe you want to wake up my inner ear to hear what you have to say to me. 21:18 So, I want to hear." It's the best way to begin the day. I've been saying repeatedly over the last few weeks, when you before you get out of bed, either while you're lying there with your head awake or you sit up in bed 21:34 and say, "Father, I want to hear you." Or similar words. I want to hear what you're saying to say to me today. It'll always be a word of comfort, encouragement, victory, triumph, 21:52 something to praise God for. And to show me, like it says in this verse, to listen as a disciple. That means maybe something I have to obey in some area. Right from that time onwards. 22:12 So, that's a very good thing to develop a daily discipline to hear as soon as you wake up in the bed before getting out of bed. Once you get out of bed, you you get distracted with so many things. And then later on, you can read 22:28 your Bible portion whenever you get time, but spend a few minutes. If you can spend 15 minutes before you get up, excellent. But even if you can spend only 5 minutes as soon as you get up, very good to make you aware that 22:43 you have to listen to God. And it doesn't mean that I've listened for 5 minutes and I close my inner ear. No. I've opened my inner ear in the morning to listen throughout the day. God may speak to me anytime. And uh 23:00 the other verse quoted here is Psalm 1, verse 2 and 3, where it says that he delights in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. He doesn't read the Bible day and night, but he meditates on it day and night. 23:18 He will be like a fruitful tree. So, that prompt There's a promise there. If you keep listening to the Lord whenever throughout the day in your different situations, "Lord, what are you trying to say to me?" Your life will be fruitful. 23:33 Okay, then what are some of the day practical daily disciplines that you have have that helps you to be effective in accomplishing the work God has called you to do? I think we must discipline our time in how we spend our time. 23:50 And that is we need to ask ourselves our I'm not saying that we become so crazy that every single minute must be uh accounted for and we can't relax or or daydream. There's nothing wrong in that. But there 24:08 must be uh say, "Lord, I want to make full use of today. I don't want to waste waste any day." And help me to be disciplined throughout during the day in the middle of your work, if you find a break, good to get into the habit of saying, 24:26 "Lord, is there anything you want to tell me?" In between when you are when you're free from your work, say, "Lord, is there anything you want to you have to hear you want me to hear?" That's a good habit to have. And the other area of discipline is 24:42 eating and sleeping. I believe we all need to get the necessary hours of sleep on an average, 8 hours if possible. Sometimes you can't. You've got a lot of work to do. But we need to get enough rest to be 25:00 fit. And the other thing is particularly more than sleeping, I think, is our eating. Uh if we are not disciplined daily discipline, if you are not disciplined in our eating, you know, the Bible speaks of the possibility of New Testament Christians 25:20 making their stomach their god. That's one of the warnings given us in Philippians in chapter 3. Speaks about disciplining our appetite. Philippians chapter 3 and verse We must begin at verse 18. 25:44 The last part it speaks about those who are enemies of the cross of Christ. Now, you think that this people are some heathen religion who are enemies of the cross of Christ. But who are these enemies of the cross of Christ whose end is destruction? 26:02 They are those who worship their stomach and their appetite. Their appetite is their god. And God is someone who tells you to do something, you do it. So, your appetite tells you do this or eat this and eat this and 26:20 indiscriminately we follow our appetite without any without controlling it, then it has become our god. And then it says you're an enemy of the cross of Christ. And Paul is so concerned about that, he says in verse 18, he's weeping. 26:40 I tell you, even weeping. He's so concerned that there are Christians who are ruining their effectiveness for God because they don't control their appetite. Their glory is in their shame, and their mind is constantly set on 26:53 earthly things. So, when you think of discipline, here is a major area where we should all discipline ourselves in the matter of eating. Uh that means we must be controlled in our eating. Like I read someone say, the best 27:12 push-ups that you can do are the push-ups from the table. When you're eating. Uh because if you learn to discipline your appetite there, it can help you very much in the Christian life. 27:30 Paul says in 1 Corinthians in chapter 9. 1 Corinthians 9, verse 24 to 27 is all section on 27:50 discipline. Daily discipline. He says, "You know, like in the Olympic races, everybody runs, only one receives the prize." And he's telling all these Corinthians, this is the interesting thing, "All of you can come first." This is the 28:06 wonderful thing about the Christian life. Everybody can come first. He's not saying only one person won. "All of you Corinthians, who are such a carnal bunch of Corinthians Christians they were, run in such a way that you 28:18 will win." So, all of us can win the prize. But if you want to win, it says like these people who win in the earthly races, they exercise self-control, verse 25, in all things. They do it to receive some gold medal or something, but 28:35 So, he says, "I also run in such We earn imperishable reward." So, he says, "I discipline my body, verse 27, and make it my slave." Or in other words, I tell my body what it should do. My 28:53 body doesn't tell me uh what it should do. In other words, it's not my appetite that's going to tell me. We all have appetites. Sleep, sex, food. These are the three main. Sleep, sex, and food. 29:13 These are normal normal to sleep. It's normal. There's a normal sex in marriage. And it's normal to have want food and water. But these normal appetites can we can become enslaved to them that they become our gods, like it says there, 29:28 whose god is their appetite. That means they have no self-control. And a lot of sicknesses, like blood pressure and diabetes and high cholesterol levels, all come very often through indisciplined eating. 29:48 And God wants all of us to live long lives. He doesn't want any of our lives to be shortened. And I feel if any of us come to the end of our life and we discover that our life was shortened because of an indisciplined eating habit 30:06 or indiscipline in the area of sex, etc. We'll have a lot of regret when we stand before the Lord. I I often feel that way. I have said to the Lord, "Lord, I want to live every single day that you have planned for me before I was born." 30:25 It says in Psalm 139, "The number of my days were 16 was planned before I was born." So, if God has planned the number of my days before I was born, I say, "Lord, I want to fulfill all of it." And that's not going to happen 30:39 automatically. I have to cooperate with God by disciplining myself and not especially in the matter of eating and sleeping. And in the sexual area, these are the three areas where we need discipline. And if we do that, we'll have the joy 30:56 when we come to the end of our life saying, like Jesus said, "I have finished the work you gave me to do." You know, all of us want to glorify God. The Bible says, "Whatever you do." 1 Corinthians 10:31, "Whatever you do, 31:11 do for the glory of God." That's whether you eat or drink. 1 Corinthians 10:31, "Eating and drinking, you must do for the glory of God." Now, how can I say at the end of my life that I have glorified God? There's only one way. 31:26 The way Jesus said at the end of his life, John 17 and verse 4, John 17:4, Jesus said, "I have Father, I have glorified you on Earth by finishing the work you gave me to do." That's why Jesus couldn't take a holiday 31:48 to Rome. Because that is not the Father Father's plan. A wholehearted disciple of Jesus will really seek to fulfill God's plan in his life. Now, don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying taking a holiday is wrong. I think it's perfectly okay. 32:08 But what I'm saying in Jesus' case, he wouldn't do it. Uh We have to see, "Lord, I've got only one life. And I want every day of that to count for you in some way." By what? Not by running around and preaching and always reading the Bible. No. 32:26 Fulfilling God's plan for our life by saying, "Lord, I don't want to waste one day. I want to live every day in a with clean mind and a clean heart and listening to you. And I don't necessarily hear every day what God wants me to do. 32:45 But if I live with a clear conscience, that's all. If I live with a clear conscience and discipline myself, you can be absolutely sure when you come to the end of your life, you would have finished the work God gave you to do 32:57 without having God having to say to you every every day what to do. Okay. How are both these next question true in the life of a dis- life of discipline? True two statements, "Go and sin no more." Well, you know, you must always hear 33:16 quotation in its context. Where do you know where that comes? Anybody? Woman caught in adultery. Mhm. Yeah. The woman caught in adultery. John chapter 8, where this woman uh Jesus forgave her 33:35 and said, John 8:11, "From now on, sin no more." He was not saying that you're going to have total victory over sin from now on. No. He was saying, "Don't commit adultery again." You uh always understand a word in its context. 33:53 So, that's how we understand that word in that situation. Of course, we should avoid sin. But we will not be completely free from unconscious sin until the Lord comes again. But we must seek to be free from conscious 34:11 sin in the beginning, all conscious sin. Everything that you know to be sinful, you must say, "Lord, give me the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome that." And then, "Lord, give me light on the areas of unconscious sin 34:27 over which I need to which I need to overcome." I pictured my it's something like this where I were to draw a diagram. My flesh is like a big black circle. And in the beginning, I've got a light on just a little bit on the rim. 34:43 So, that becomes white. But then, where the white touches the black, I'm battling, battling, battling, battling. Uh Draw zigzag lines along there. And I overcome a little bit of that black. So, the white increases. This size the 34:59 thickness of that white circle becomes more. I've overcome some of this black area. And then I keep fighting, fighting, fighting, fighting. The black is the unconscious area unconscious sin in my life. And a little more. That's how 35:11 progressively we overcome sin more and more and more in life. That which becomes unconscious, that which is unconscious becomes conscious. Or to use an illustration, if there's a cube cube of ice in this class, 10% of that ice is above the surface and 35:30 90% is hidden. It's a picture of conscious area, unconscious area. So, if I take a knife and slice off that top 10% of the piece of ice, that's overcoming victory over conscious sin, immediately little bit of that bottom ice which is below the surface of 35:48 the water comes up. I get a little more light on hidden areas of my life then I battle with that. Then I slice off that part, some more comes up. This is how we grow in grace and grow with overcoming sins which once we did not even know were sin. 36:07 But now I know it is sin. So, that is how we progressively become more and more Christ-like. And so, this statement, "Little by little he's changing me," is another question. What How do you understand these statements? 36:24 Well, that's a chorus, "Little by little he's changing me." It's true he's changing me, but he does not change me without my cooperation. See Philippians in chapter 2. The way God leads us to victory, it says here in Philippians in chapter 2 36:42 and verse 12 and 13. First of all, verse 13. Why do I say that first? Because the word verse begins with the word for. For means because. So, whenever I read 37:01 for or because, I must start with that verse. It is God who is at work in you. God is working inside you. That means that's always referring to the Holy Spirit. God working outside us is Almighty God working the Father, but 37:16 inside me means it's always the Holy Spirit. What is he work in me? Two things. One is to desire his will and to do his will. To will and to work his good will. So, God is at work in me. So, because God is at work in me, 37:36 verse 12, it says, "You must work out your salvation from the sin you're getting light on with fear and trembling." That's the connection between these those two verses. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling because 37:51 God is at the first of all being doing some work inside you. So, it's a tremendous encouragement for us to know that the Holy Spirit always working inside us to do what? Verse 13. To desire his will and to do his will. I need 38:09 the desire to do God's will. Some of us may think that we had it ourselves. No, it's conceited. Pride to think I had a desire to do God's will. Not at all. No man in the world has got any interest to do God's will. If you have an interest to do God's 38:25 will, it is the Holy Spirit produced it in you. But that's only half his job. The Holy Spirit wants to do the second part, which is to work his will. To will and to do. So, the the Holy Spirit to produce the will will also enable you to do it. You 38:41 must just But there you have to cooperate with him and work out your salvation from your sinful nature from the sin in the flesh with fear and trembling. Why fear and trembling? Because it's it's so subtle. Sin is such a 38:56 subtle thing. We can sin without even realizing it sometimes. So, there must be fear and trembling in me. Okay. Another question is concerning our relationship with our wives. How do we This is for married people. How do we encourage our wives or women 39:16 in the church that their labors are not in vain in vain and that they are just as valuable as the men when most scripture puts men in the place of authority and prominence? Well, history the history of the Christian church 39:33 is full of examples of some wonderful women missionaries who've done a tremendous work for God in areas where men could do almost nothing. See, to work among 39:50 the women and widows in India, no men man would would do it because the widows and women will not allow a man to come near them in the villages in India. But there were women missionaries like Amy Carmichael who went and 40:05 helped many of those people, took care of their orphan children, etc. So, women have had a tremendous ministry through the years, missionaries and others, and so I believe that every sister in the church 40:22 has some ministry to accomplish. To other sisters primarily. And that need not be many often many people think ministry is only in the church. Okay. On Sunday after the initial sharing, the mic is passed around 40:41 they can share, but that's not the only time they can share. When it says in 1 Corinthians and chapter 14, 1 Corinthians 14, 41:05 pursue love, it's addressed to everybody. Every brother sister must pursue love and earnestly desire spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. So, can a woman prophesy? Sure. Because you got to understand what 41:25 prophecy is. It says here is defined prophecy is defined is not like the Old Testament prophecy which is foretelling the future. New Testament prophecy is speaking to people, verse three, for building them up, challenging them, comforting them, 41:44 encouraging them. Exhortation means challenge plus encouragement. Edification is building them up. Consolation is comforting them. When a sister speaks to another sister on the telephone, she can do all of that. 42:03 Prophecy. It's not only in the church at all. It's can be in ordinary conversation. When they visit one another. So, it's it's a something that we should encourage our sisters to they're in touch with God. You never know how one word that you 42:22 share, you tell your wife, and that one word that you share with another sister can encourage her. So, try to be in touch with the Lord. We must tell our wives, read the scripture, something God may put something on your heart that day. 42:35 If you're consistently reading the scripture regularly in a disciplined way, I found often God gives me a word from scripture. God gives me guidance very often. So, it's a habit that we should encourage all our wives and sisters to do. 42:55 Sometime during the day. I remember when our children were very small and they'd all be awake and crying in the morning and they need mommy to help them, Annie would never get time in the morning. She she would have her quiet time mostly at 43:09 night after the children are gone to bed. So, it doesn't matter when, but we must encourage our wives to take some time to listen to God's word. You know, if you can have it on audio, they can be listening to it while they're feeding the baby or something 43:27 like that. So, it's it's easy, you you know, there are we can listen to something while we're doing something else, while they're cooking or anything. But it's very important if they can hear something and then they're blessed by 43:39 it. And you never know they may come an opportunity during the day to share that with somebody who calls them up on a phone. And to say, "Well, after finishing the conversation, say, "Well, sisters, I just thought I'd share 43:52 this one word with you." Just 1 minute. And it's a prophecy. You never know it may be of help to that other sister at the other end of the line. So, we should encourage all our not to become preachers and not to say, "Okay, every single time 44:08 I'm going to give give an exhortation to the other person." They'll get fed up of listening to you. But be sensitive and there's a prompting to share something or somebody comes to visit you, you share something. See, most women are such experts at 44:24 gossiping that they're communicating with the only thing is they're communicating the wrong thing. So, we should encourage them to share something which is of value. And so, they are of as valuable as the men. And uh even though men have got authority in 44:43 the home, anyone can prophesy, men or women, you know that. It says in 1 Corinthians 11, 1 Corinthians 11:5, even in the church, a woman who has her head uncovered while 45:02 praying or prophesying disgraces her head. That means she can prophesy, only thing she's got to cover her head. Prophecy is what? We already saw that in 14 and verse three. So, even in the church, a sister can share something that will be a blessing 45:16 to others. It all depends on whether she's keeping herself in touch with God and keeping a clear conscience. That's all that's required. You don't need to know great knowledge of the scripture. They're not called to be teachers. But you keep a clear 45:31 conscience. I believe God will speak to every sister who keeps a clear conscience and will give her some opportunity to share maybe something with another person, maybe once a month or once in 2 months, whatever. Doesn't 45:45 have to be every day. Okay, how do we husbands, next question, practically love our wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her as it says in Ephesians 5 and 25. Well, Christ is our example. And when he 46:06 washed the disciples' feet, he was doing the job of a slave. Slaves are the ones who washed feet in that culture. He was doing a dirty job for his disciples. He that that feet needed cleaning, he cleaned it. In 46:26 other words, he was willing to do any lowly job. There was no sense of false sense of dignity that I'm the leader, how can I do that? Sometimes husbands can feel that way, some husbands anyway. And how can I do that? Well, why not? 46:44 There's nothing too lowly for a husband to do. So, we should not our we love and our love produces service and should make us sensitive 47:01 to her temperament and her need. What does it say in 1 Peter chapter 3 about husbands? 1 Peter chapter 3:7, what does it mean when it says live with your wives 47:21 in an understanding way? That's a command to husbands. You husbands, in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way. So, let me read it continually. 47:36 Live with your wives understanding that she is a weaker vessel. I'm just reading the same verse. And understanding that though she's a weaker vessel, she's still an equal heir. Sitting on your throne is on the same level as 47:54 yours in the grace of life. And if you do that, your prayers will be answered more quickly. So, a husband has to understand that the woman is a weaker vessel and not she's weaker emotionally, she's weaker physically. Some things that don't disturb you at 48:14 all will disturb her, so don't ask her stupid questions like, "Why does that disturb you when it doesn't disturb me?" Well, the answer to that is you're a man. That's all there is to it. "Why does it disturb you when it doesn't 48:26 disturb me?" You're a man and he's a woman. Simple answer. She's a weaker vessel. I use the example of when you travel, if there are two suitcases, I hope you as men lift the heavier one. And she can't lift the heavy one. She's 48:44 weaker in every way. Remember that also in I'm not saying that you got to do all our odd jobs for her. She's God's called a woman mainly to be a worker at home. So, there are a lot of jobs in the home that she does. But there's one thing we can do and that 49:01 is to encourage her. And whenever whenever possible, if you encourage her, that can make a big difference. Encouraging gives a boost to a person in the work they're doing. So, that's one practical way in which you can love your wife and show 49:20 your love for your wife. Uh how do we practically love our wives as our own bodies like it says in Ephesians 5:28? Well, you know how we care for our own bodies. I I often thought of when it says the husband is the head of 49:36 the wife. There are two things this head does. One, it tells parts of the body to do something, pick up that, or tell the legs to go here. But the other thing the head is does is very sensitive. If a 49:56 mosquito comes and sits on my hand, my head immediately knows it and drives away that mosquito. So, to me that's a picture of Think of your head if your wife your head is your wife and you're the head. Something that's troubling your wife, 50:13 a mosquito sitting on the hand, you must be sensitive to it. And help her to be free from it, just like you drive that mosquito away. The head drives away the mosquito from the body. So, husbands love your wives like your 50:26 own body. And you can apply that in many other ways. Meditate some of these verses, you know. You'll never What I'm telling you, you'll find yourself if you just meditate on it. Uh many people, unfortunately, just read. They 50:42 don't meditate. If you meditate, you'll get a lot of light on how you must love your wife as your own body. Okay. What are some practical ways for husbands to safeguard against becoming bitter without being harsh towards our wives? 51:01 That's from Colossians and chapter 3 and verse 19. Husbands, love your wives and don't be bitter against them. See, bitterness is usually 51:17 something the result of an accumulated feeling of something that's disturbed you about your wife's behavior or something you feel she should have done for you, not to did not do. And you keep that in mind. If you keep something 51:36 in your mind, it'll make you bitter. Best is to get rid of it. Or discuss it with her and clear it off immediately. But if you keep something in your mind, she didn't do this, or she did this, or she said this, or she should have told me this earlier, 51:56 and you keep that in your mind, it will lead to some type of bitterness. It makes you weak, you know. And then, when you're when you're weak, the next time some temptation comes, you won't be strong enough to overcome it. 52:10 Some temptation, I mean some provocation in relation to your wife, you'll get upset. Or you'll raise your voice. And then you'll feel sorry afterwards and ask forgiveness. That is second best. Best is no, you don't raise your 52:21 voice at all. So, as soon as something comes up in your heart which you feel your wife should have done or did not do, or did or she should not have done, if there's scope for bitterness there, get rid of it. If it's something to be 52:38 clarified, clarify with her. Best is ignore it, forget it. Because most of these things that disturb us are trivial, unimportant things or not even worth talking about. How do I know? I've been a husband for 56 years. 53:01 That's why I know. A lot of trivial things that And I've learned through experience to just forget it. Don't let it disturb you. And then life becomes very peaceful. You can have a heavenly atmosphere in your home. Yeah, otherwise it's very easy. If you 53:21 keep anything in your mind, I tell you, over a period of time, it will develop into bitterness. It's like an infection, you know. You get a cut and it's infected, and you don't wash it off or you don't put any medicine there, it will get 53:38 infected. So, natural tendency of the body is towards getting infected. You got to do something to prevent it. So, the natural tendency when you feel something should have been done, or was or should not have been done, 53:53 if you keep that in mind, it'll get infected. So, best is to clear it off, get rid of it from your mind, because most of these things are so trivial and unimportant that it's ridiculous to even keep such a thing in our mind. 54:08 Okay, this now the next section is on work, physical exercise, and hobbies. How do we balance seeking to advance in our jobs by studying or learning in order to remain relevant to 54:27 the company we work for and also keeping up with the rising cost of living while still seeking the kingdom of God first? Seeking the kingdom of God first is not a matter of number of hours a day. Got nothing to do with that. 54:46 You can be busy the whole day in your secular work and still your basic desire in your life must be the kingdom of God first. So, we shouldn't think seeking the kingdom of God first is doing certain things for the Lord, 54:59 witnessing to somebody today, then I've sought the kingdom of God first. No. Something that liberated me was when Jesus said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God." I said, "Let me compare scripture with scripture." 55:15 What is the kingdom of God? Romans 14 and verse 17. This is what liberated me. Cuz earlier on I thought seeking the kingdom of God first first means every day I must witness to somebody or give out some tract. And that is seeking the 55:33 kingdom of God first. But the compare scripture with scripture. Romans 14:17 says, Here is a definition. The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, 55:48 peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Okay. So, what do we mean by seeking the kingdom of God first? I must seek righteousness in the Holy Spirit first in my life. I must seek to always be at peace, the peace of the Holy Spirit. 56:06 Always, that must be first. And the joy of the Holy Spirit always, that's first. So, to seek the kingdom of God first is primarily seeking for righteousness, being absolutely upright in every area of my life, living in constant peace in my heart, 56:23 inwardly and outwardly with all people, and having an inner joy which is others may not be able to see, but you know that Old Testament verse, Nehemiah 8:10, which says, "The joy of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10. It applies in the New 56:43 Testament, too. I have found if you are rejoicing, it's a much easier to get victory over sin. And if you're the complaining, grumbling type, you'll be defeated by sin. So, joy has got a tremendous ability to enable us to be overcomers in our 57:01 daily life. So, seek the kingdom of God first, righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. And then, as God gives you opportunity, we seek to be witnesses to others. So, don't condemn yourself that seeking the kingdom of God 57:16 first is doing something for the Lord today or witnessing to at least one person today. Now, some people may have that type of calling, but you can read somebody's testimony and say, "I wish I could do that." But all don't have that calling. 57:29 So, anything that condemns you, forget it. And seek for this, righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. And as you get opportunity, seek to uh witness to others whenever you get a chance. In other words, I must always be 57:46 alert all the time for any opportunity I get to witness. Yes, but I don't condemn myself if I don't get that opportunity. Uh here's a Specifically, my industry has been in a slump for over a year. I'm just getting by. 58:04 Doing part-time work until things go back to normal. However, I have a lot of time on my hands and I've been meditating or for a while on starting my own business. Would this be a wise pursuit? These are things which you one cannot tell for 58:19 another, but coming back to seeking the kingdom of God first and seeking to advance in our jobs, we must be realistic. Must realize that fields like computer science is a constantly developing 58:38 subject. And if you're just keeping in touch with what it was a year or two ago, you're out of touch and you may if you don't keep pace with the development in that sphere, you could even find yourself inefficient in your job 58:53 and unable to do it. So, you must keep in touch with the latest developments in your field, and that's just computer science I'm thinking of. It could apply to other areas, too. We must therefore There's nothing wrong in 59:08 doing a course or seeking some type of study in order to advance in our jobs. I believe we should seek to advance in our jobs, definitely. I don't believe we should remain in the same level in any job. You enter a job, you should 59:23 seek to get as many promotions as possible without spending all your time pursuing that and ignoring church and Christian activity. But there's a balance which only you can decide depending on your particular profession. 59:41 And whether you should start your own business or not, I've discovered that some people just have a knack for business. I met some people like that. You know, they do something and they prosper like anything. If I ever went into business, I'd be I'd 59:57 be a total failure, I know that, because I don't have that type of mindset. Uh but some people have it. And they they take some risks and they accomplish a lot. So, one shouldn't go into a field if you're not too sure that you have some ability for it. 1:00:16 Better to start with something that you can handle and that you have a inclination towards before you You know, there's this the proverb in English which says, "Look before you leap." Before you jump, have a look where 1:00:35 you're going to land. So, this is also true that this says, "My industry has been in a slump for over a year." There are different jobs you find gradually there's a lot of people being laid off in many jobs. So, I believe that we should, as far as 1:00:52 possible, acquire as many uh professional skills as we can. Even if it needs takes time to doing a particular course outside of my particular present boundary. That's good. If you can do it, do it. Because it'll give you a wider scope to 1:01:12 get a job when there are layoffs and things like that. This is an individual thing and I believe that if you have any doubt about it consult with older brothers in the church who have got more experience who will be able to guide you. 1:01:31 So, the next question is, "The apostles had sleepless nights. They went hungry, thirsty, without shelter and without any exercise because Paul was sitting in a house for 2 years. How should we think about bodily health and prioritize it? 1:01:50 Is there any point in our pursuit of the Lord or work of the Lord when we should hit the brakes if it damages our health or sleep? Or should we expect that everything done by faith of the Lord will outweigh any physical harm? 1:02:00 What should our overall attitude towards our physical health be?" I believe we should be sensible to recognize that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. And just like a church building you know we clean the building, we maintain it 1:02:16 and if you neglect it, even a building will collapse. Now, our body also, if you don't do anything, if you don't follow the laws of the body you can get sick. Like I said earlier, if you eat unwisely, you can get sick. If you eat too much, you can get sick. 1:02:35 I don't think any of us are in danger of eating too little. Mostly the other way around. Uh but we have to be wise in this area and we need to sleep as well. Sleep is also necessary for our physical health. So 1:02:52 and if and any type of exercise or playing games I think is a very good thing. I find for myself, you know, as I get older I felt I must do some walking every day. And sometimes it's the climate is too cold for me to go 1:03:08 outside, so I got a treadmill. So, I can do all the walking inside the house as much as I want every day. And keep myself fit. The the doctors say you must walk for at least 150 minutes in a week. Which, I mean, they've calculated that 1:03:27 or a lot of researches to keep yourself fit, which is about 25 minutes a day on 6 days of the week to walk or some type of exercise that we need to to keep ourselves physically fit. 1:03:45 And it should we Otherwise, you know, we can lose our health and shorten our life. I personally have been very careful about I mean, that's partly because I have a doctor for a wife to in my eating 1:04:02 and drinking that I don't you know eat the wrong type of food or things that will or eat too much. I want to I check my weight almost every day to see if it's going up to control myself. I think it's a useful to have a weighing machine in the 1:04:22 house. And uh like saying, "If you want to be spiritual, get a weighing machine." Because you you got to be healthy, you know, sometimes you don't realize your weight goes up and you don't realize it and then then you have to try 1:04:36 and bring it down. So, it's good to check these things and if you're young enough to play games, I would encourage you to do that. That would also build fellowship with others in the church who are younger. I'm too old to do that now. 1:04:53 But when I could I did. And if you have any doubt about these things, you consult the older brothers in the church or if you've got a health problem, consult your doctor before you 1:05:12 do something which is excessive. What should our attitude be towards hobbies? Uh I think for children hobbies are very good and it depends on how much free time you have. Hobbies are extra things beyond our work. 1:05:31 Is relatedly, is it wise to intentionally look for opportunities to meet others in the community or be around unbelievers for the purpose of hoping to make an impact on them for the Lord possibly through hobbies, volunteering, 1:05:45 kids activities consistent patronage of a business, etc. Now, I'm not so keen on consistent patronage of a business. Uh some people who want to do that, they can do that, but I think we we're not so wealthy to throw around money and all that. 1:06:03 But if there's are there, you know, children a lot of things like there are children's a lot of home schooling people. They get the opportunity to meet other home schooling moms and children and to get involved in their activities. 1:06:20 And it can give you an opportunity to witness to them and I know people in some of our churches who have come to the church through being through witnessing that came through home schooling opportunities with the parents. 1:06:34 So, that's a good to take advantage of. I believe we should look for every possible opportunity to be a witness for Christ. And And one way we can uh be a witness, not by preaching. And the first thing we should try to do 1:06:49 is to encourage people. The world is full of people who are discouraged. So you look around and say something cheerful to encourage people. Don't witness to them straight away. Get become friendly by 1:07:08 encouraging them and then sometimes an opportunity may open up to put in a word. And if someone you meet regularly, you don't have to preach the whole gospel in one day. But little by little become friendly. 1:07:26 And with the aim, "Lord, I want to People I'm knowing for so long. I don't want them one day to tell me you knew about Jesus and you never told me." I mean, if it's just somebody I meet occasionally, it's another thing, but if 1:07:44 I'm regularly with somebody and I don't let it know of me known that I'm living for eternity, not for this world. And how we present it is another issue. We should not be crude or rude. 1:08:02 But I think it's important for people to know that I'm a Christian. I felt when I was working in the Navy that all the people who work around me should somehow know that I'm a different type of Christian than the others. 1:08:17 And there were various ways in which I could do it. I could keep a New Testament or a Bible on my table. Just keep it there. Or you know, when all the others are drinking alcohol, drink a glass of orange juice or something. 1:08:32 And I wouldn't usually thrust myself on others in witnessing. But if I'm a little different, they would come up and ask me, "Why you like this?" And they would open the door then. And I tell them why I'm like this. I uh 1:08:50 If I And the other very big thing we can do, I feel I was greatly encouraged by you know, Joseph in prison. He saw these two Pharaoh's butler and baker. How did Joseph become next to the Pharaoh? It's very interesting to see it. 1:09:06 It was because he had the ministry of encouragement. He uh even though he was in prison, he didn't feel sorry for himself and sit and moan over his own problems. He saw these two, the Pharaoh's butler and baker lying there 1:09:24 uh wine bearer and baker there discouraged and he went up and said, "Hey fellas, why are you discouraged?" That opened the door, which ultimately led to his coming before Pharaoh, if you read that story. And that's something, you know, that you 1:09:41 look around and you see somebody in your office, perhaps, who you know well, and he's feeling a bit down, and if you know him well enough, you can ask him Don't ask him any details about what's the reason. But hey, can I encourage you? Can we 1:09:59 can we go out for a cup of coffee or something and sit and encourage him? His spirit is lifted little by little. He may open the door for him to to give you to give him the gospel. So, there are many ways if you are always 1:10:13 alert, the Lord will open the doors for us. Okay, the last question is fellowship with brothers in the church. What does fellowship among brothers practically look like? I think basically it means being 1:10:31 open to encourage whenever there's an opportunity, and to inquire, is there something I So, if you see somebody weighed down, to find out is there's Is there a problem? Can we pray for you? 1:10:51 And interest in the other person to encourage, or to ask if you can help. That builds fellowship. And if you're always alert to that, not in an artificial way, I believe that the Some people's temperament is like 1:11:09 that. They automatically do it. But some people like me, that's not my temperament. My basic temperament is more reserved and shy and quiet. So, I have to come out of my shell when I go to someone and share something. But some of you are already sort of 1:11:28 extroverts, then it's easy for you. But it's good for the rest of us to try and be open towards You know, if you share a word of encouragement, particularly with younger people, 1:11:45 it's easier. You're an older person. You meet some young brother. I've never tired of repeating the fact that when I was a very young person, about 30 years old, someone I was in another country, and a much older person, I think he must 1:12:05 have been six double my age, and he didn't know much very good English, either. All he could say to me is, "Brother, God has got a plan for your life." That was enough. It boosted me like anything. Because I was young, 30 year 1:12:20 old, discouraged about certain things. I didn't know what God's plan for my life was. He just encouraged me that out of the blue this person said this. So, sometimes a word like that can encourage someone, and it doesn't 1:12:35 cost much. It doesn't can build fellowship, too.
